carth." And what is so marked as the immediate cause of the widespread depravity which called for the destruction of a world, is equally marked in other parts of the Scriptures, as the grand source of ruin to the nations whose history they record. Have you never observed how frequently they allude to the mothers of Israel and of Judah's kings, when in the days of the nation's decline the throne passed in such rapid succession from one king to another, "who did evil in the sight of the Lord"? The career of guilt and declension was sometimes checked by the raising up of one good king who walked in the way of the Lord. Such was Josiah, of whom we are told, "his mother's name was Jedediah ;" a name which at once announces her piety and worth. But see how the parentage of the wicked and idolatrous kings is noted. We are told Abijah, the grandson of Solomon, who was perhaps the first who filled the land with idolatry, that his mother's name was Maachah. Of Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, who did evil exceedingly in the sight of the Lord, we are told that his mother was Jezebel, who stirred up his father Ahab to sin. In like manner we are told of Jehoahaz, that his mother's name was Hamutal; of Jehoiakim, that his mother's name was Zebadah; of Jehoiachin, that his mother's name was Nehushta: names which, taken in connexion with their history, sufficiently show the evil courses they pursued, and the consequent evil influence they would exert.

Now, why was this all so carefully noted? It was to show that the bane of the nation was found in the nurseries of her kings, where their infant minds were tainted and poisoned by their Jezebel mothers; and that being thus early led into sin, when in after-life they gained the throne, their baleful influence was felt in spreading wickedness around them, till their nation was carried away into captivity, and their land left a desolation. It was the corrupt queen-mothers corrupting the minds of their infant sons, who were to be, in future, kings that primarily and mainly drew down the anger of God; nor was it till this insidious source of evil had been for generations at work, that hope finally perished. But if maternal influence is thus powerful for evil, it is equally powerful for good, when rightly and wisely employed. Nor do I believe the assertion at all too strong, when I say, that the greatest and best of those whom we count among the great and good of our race, have always derived the elements of their characters from maternal care bestowed on them in childhood. If, in all the annals of the human race, there be an exception to our position, let it be named; let us be told where it is. It cannot be found in the pages of sacred history. The testimony here, respecting those whose names it has embalmed for immortality, is all one way. Such, it tells us, was the training under which the childhood of Moses was passed. The faith and piety of his mother was so strong, that "she did not fear the king's wrath ;" thus showing herself a fit mother for a son who was to be the deliverer of Israel from

And

Egyptian bondage, and the lawgiver to the redeemed nation. who does not see the hand and design of God in that wonderful train of events which secured to the child of such high destiny, the care of a mother so peculiarly fitted for her task. Under a like happy influence was the childhood of David passed, as he acknowledges in his subsequent days of power and fame: "O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord :" thus in the days of his highest prosperity and greatest fame, recognising his pious mother's influence, not only as having mainly contributed to elevate him to Israel's throne, but as having been the bright star which kept alive his hope in the darkest hour of his previous troubles. To the same cause, as already observed, in the case of Josiah, are we taught to attribute, in great measure, the wisdom and power which distinguished such of Judah's kings as "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord." Again : John, the forerunner of our Saviour, is said to have had none greater than himself of all who had been born of women. But his mother was Elisabeth, a woman who "walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." Again among the apostles of our Lord was one distinguished as "a son of thunder;" and another privileged to "lean on his Master's bosom," and to receive very special tokens of His love. But when we are told of the piety and holy ambition of their mother, we may account, at least in part, for their distinction among the twelve (Matt. xx. 20. 21). And not to mention others from the sacred Scriptures, as Timothy, whose "unfeigned faith dwelt first in his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice;" on whom, let me ask, has the Saviour's mantle ever fallen, or in whom has His Spirit ever dwelt, with peculiar manifestation, who may not be added to the cloud of witnesses on this point? In far-gone times, look into the biographies of Polycarp, Augustine, Justin, Gregory, and others of the Fathers and in latter days, look to the childhood of Matthew Henry, Edwards, Dwight, Payson, and the whole army of those, at home and abroad, who are this day owned and hailed as the champions of truth, and you will find them all, without exception, to have been the sons of pious and faithful mothers. Nor is it only from the great and illustrious in the Church that we may collect such facts. Look around you, and see what are the families from which religion derives its most devoted and faithful friends. From what dwellings come the sacramental host who fill the Lord's table when it is spread, and not only there confess His name before men, but are the foremost in efforts to spread His name through the world? Do they come from families where the mother, though she may rule as a queen of fashion, and is perhaps rich in every worldly endowment, yet loves not God, and finds no place for Him in her heart and her labours? Far from it. They

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come, and come almost exclusively, from households where the mother is a Christian; where the nursery for the family is a nursery for the Church; where the first lispings of childhood are accents of prayer, and the first thoughts of the heart thoughts of God and of His Christ.

"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."

But who bends the twig? Who has the mind or character in hand while it is yet so flexible and ductile that it can be turned in any direction, or formed in any shape? It is the mother. From her own nature, and the nature of her child, it results that its first impressions must be taken from her. And she has every advantage for discharging the duty. She is always with her child -if she is where mothers ought to be-sees continually the workings of faculties; where they need to be restrained, and where led and attracted. Early as she may begin her task, let her be assured, that her labour will not be lost because undertaken too soon. Mind, from the first hour of its existence, is ever acting; and soon may a mother see that, carefully as she may study her child, quite as carefully is her child studying her. Let her watch the varying expression of its speaking face, as its eyes follow her, and she will perceive its mind is imbibing impressions from everything it sees her do; and thus showing, that, before the lips have begun to utter words, the mind has begun to act, and to form a character. Let her watch on; and when, under her care, the expanding faculties have begun to display themselves in the sportiveness of play, how often will she be surprised to find the elements of character already fixed, when she has least expected it. She has but to watch, and she will find the embryo tyrant or philanthropist, warrior or peace-maker, with her in her nursery: and then, if ever, her constant prayer should be, How shall I order the child, and what shall I do unto him? for, what he is to be, and what he is to do, in any of these characters, she must now decide. It is a law of our being that makes it so; a law that I could wish were written on every mother's heart by the finger of God, and on the walls of her nursery in letters of gold, that the mind of childhood is like wax to receive, but like marble to hold, every impression made upon it, be it for good or for evil. Let her then improve her power as she ought, "being steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work" which God requires at her hands; and let her know that her labour is not in vain in the Lord. For, even though her own eyes may not be privileged to witness in her child all that is noble and great and good, she may at least save him when her course on earth is finished. It is no picture of the imagination that I hold out, when I ask you to come and see the son of a faithful mother, who has long pursued his course of crime, till he seems hardened against everything good or true; yea, at times "sits in the seat of the scorner," and scoffs at everything holy and good—

but yet, hardened and dead as his heart may seem, as to everything else you may urge, there is one point on which, till his dying day, he can be made to feel. You touch it when you remind him of what he saw and felt when a child under the care of a tender mother. His sensibilities there he never utterly loses; and often, often, by that, as the last cord which holds him from utter perdition, is the prodigal drawn back and restored; so that, though "dead, he is alive again," though once “lost, he is found."

Such are some of the illustrations of a mother's power to do good to those most dear to her, and of the responsibility that springs from it. There is no influence so powerful as hers on the coming destinies of the Church and the world. She acts a part in forming the ministers of religion and the rulers of the land, without which all subsequent training is comparatively vain. And to her, also, it falls to train those who are to be mothers when she is gone, and to do for their generation what she has done for hers.

BORROWING TROUBLES.

THAT was sensible advice which was given to the young bear, puzzled to know how to walk:-" Shall I," said he, "move my right front paw first, or my left, or the two front paws first, or the two hind ones, or all four at once, and how?" The old she-bear came to his relief with the advice, "Leave off thinking, and walk.”

It is not uncommon for men to place themselves in the predicament of the young bear; to involve themselves in needless complexities, by trumping up imaginary difficulties, or by timorously looking forward to the future. There are some who appear to take pleasure in casting a dismal horoscope of their lot; and there is no one who does not suffer, more or less, from dangers and perplexities, from trials and sorrows which have no real existence.

As a general thing, one who is over-anxious about doubtful duties, may be sure that he is shirking present and plain duties. It seldom happens that the duty of the present moment cannot be discerned. If that is done, it becomes a torch, throwing light on the duty next at hand.

In every department of life, the habit of borrowing trouble is found crippling action and sound thought. In religious experience it is often a hindrance. Its victim, while neglecting palpable duties, bemoans his present condition, and laments that he has not the emotion which he should like to have, and torments himself with doubts and fears. And more devout faith would lead him to walk, cheerfully and step by step, his appointed path, and to believe that the merciful power which had upheld him hitherto would shield him to the end.

FARLEY COURT.

CHAPTER III.

MISS FARLEY'S SACRIFICE.

Two days after Miss Farley's visit to Martha Hill, there was a social gathering at Farley Court, and the long room, with its blazing wood fire was almost deserted; while in a smaller but more elegant room were groups of happy, joyous young people, gathered around the fire and in front of the grand piano. But in the chimney corner of the silent room sat the mild, grave, patient master of Farley Court, and at his feet, curled up, lay his huge, faithful dog. Presently a light, graceful figure was moving about so noiselessly in the deepening twilight, that, but for the rustle of the silk dress, Mr. Farley might have wondered how it happened. that his slippers were resting on the edge of the brick hearth to warm, and that at his elbow lay his long pipe. When Miss Farley had finished these little attentions to her father's comfort, she took a seat on the other side of the fire.

For a little while neither spoke, but the flickering flames, as they leaped up the wide chimney, cast their uncertain light on the white head and the kindly face of the father, while the pensive blue eyes of his daughter—which had in them a look of quiet earnestnessrested confidingly upon him. The twilight faded into darkness, and still the shutters were left unclosed, and no candles were brought. A by-road, partially hid by an evergreen hedgerow, bounded the pretty little lawn in front; and the passer-by might well have lingered to look on such a picture of quiet happiness. It was indeed the evening of Miss Farley's youth, and the autumn of her father's life; but who would have changed the look of chastened Christian sweetness, so plainly depicted on Miss Farley's face, for the careless joys of youth ?-not she herself; unless, by retracing her steps, she could have gathered into Christ's fold more wayside wanderers. And the hoary headed father-would he have changed his silver hairs and bent form for the vigour and elasticity of youth? No; for through many battles with the flesh, he had come off more than conqueror through Christ, and now he was waiting in full assurance of the rest that remaineth for the people of God.

Ever and anon the stillness of the room was broken by the sound of music and singing in the other. And at length Mr. Farley said, "Millie, do you prefer the quiet of this room to the music and merriment of the other?

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Only because I was thinking," replied Miss Farley; "and it is easier to meditate on a serious subject beside you, than it would be in the other room. Besides, I want your consent to a little plan of mine."