return in copious showers of blessing at a distant period. But if, on the contrary, the wisdom of science be constituted the chief concern, and religion be made the secondary consideration; then the vanity which is consequent upon such acquisitions, will prove to the mere votary of intellect, an obstacle to the reception of the truths of the gospel; a deceived heart will have turned him aside, and he will have greedily devoured the empty husks of literature, from which the pure juice of the grape has been expressed, by some more cautious traveller.

In conducting the process of education, let parents beware that the flowers of rhetoric be made subsidiary to the fruits of piety. Let the truths of religion be first inculcated; and let all other knowledge be considered as inferior to it, as the atmosphere which is necessary to diffuse the light and heat of the sun of righteousness; and valuable only in so far as it tends to make its possessor more actively and more extensively useful. In this way, intellect will hold its proper place; for it would be dearly purchased, if obtained by the sacrifice of religious hope, and joy, and duty; it would be dearly purchased, if the reputation for mind here had been received in exchange for a futurity of peace and happiness; for "what is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" The anxious parent will take care to provide religious reading for her child; such as will mould its principles, and store its understand

ing, and soften its heart, and lead it to Jesus the kind shepherd, who carries the lambs in his arms; she will also shew the continual dependence of every part of conduct upon the precepts of the gospel, and of every good, and wise, and holy thought, upon the teaching of the Spirit of God: and she will follow up this impression by all the means in her power, particularly by writing from recollection the sermon which it may have heard, or by committing to paper its own views of different texts, which she will select according to the capacity and the peculiar wants of the child; thus shewing that the arts of human learning lead to the improvement of time, to works of benevolence here, and to a preparation for heaven.

Still there will be danger that intellectual attainments may be over-valued, and that the heart may be engrossed by amassing these treasures, these corruptible riches, of which at best, the rust of old age will destroy the value, if it may not have been previously devoured by the moth of disease; it will therefore always be necessary to keep steadily in view, the insufficiency of human learning, however valuable, to confer happiness, to supply strength and consolation in difficulties and trials, or even so to guide us in prosperity, as that we may be enabled to keep the straight path of everlasting truth; it will be necessary to shew its dangerous tendency in alienating the heart from God and its best interests; together with the absurdity, as well as wickedness of constituting this the god of our idolatry, and of placing

on its altar the sacrifice of our peace, in the hope or vain expectation, that it would be consumed by the fire of the spirit: it will be necessary to explain the narrow boundary within which all our inquiries are confined, and the ultimate limit which is placed every where to our researches; it will be right to preserve a lasting and lively impression of the comparatively small portion we can acquire, even of that which is already known; it will be requisite to estimate properly the very minute sphere of our actual scientific knowledge, compared with the imperfect distant glimpses which we occasionally catch of that which is hidden from our sight in the immensity of the universe; it will be desirable to enforce the insignificance of this transient knowledge on the bed of death, when the soul is fast bidding adieu to every earthly association, and entering upon those untried scenes of joy or sorrow which exist beyond it; and how contemptible it will then appear, when contrasted with ardent thirsting after God, seeking to do his will, contemplating his mercy and love, and ascertaining our own interest in these, or at least proving our belief in them by the fruits of constant obedience. How trifling are the stores of wisdom and learning, and the highest acquisitions of literary fame, compared with the depths, yet the simplicity and beauty of the scheme of Christianity; to comprehend which, men become fools in themselves, that they may be wise in Christ, that they may be wise to eternity, and find the way to heaven.

The world may celebrate its heroes; celebrate its heroes; it may load

its statesmen with honours; it may accumulate wealth, and power, and influence, around its merchants; it may confer the boon of reputation upon its philosophers, and it may canonize the recollection of its literati; but the church of God dwells on the memory of the just, of those who walked with God; of those who being dead yet speak, and who were, and are witnesses of the redeeming love of the most High God; the angels of God, rejoice over one sinner that repenteth, and findeth mercy; and Christ himself delights to dwell in the humble and the contrite heart; in the bosom of him who, with child-like simplicity, seeks for wisdom from on high, and cultivates present knowledge as subsidiary to that which is more important. These are the only truly honourable, and learned, and wise, and powerful; these are they which have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and are brought out of much tribulation, to a crown of glory, who possess the palm of victory, and are entitled to that acceptable inheritance, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and which fadeth not away.

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CHAP. XXIII.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

HAVING fostered, and encouraged and developed a taste for reading, the parent must now instruct that taste, and guide its operation according to her peculiar design and the necessities of her little pupil; and this principle immediately involves the selection of literary pursuit, as well as the choice of books, which are to forward its acquisition.

The nursery library is abundantly stored with works suited to the capacity of children of different ages, and among these there will be found an excellent variety; but the very profusion with which they abound may throw the parent off her guard, and lead her to permit to her offspring an indiscriminate access to these little books which are to form the mind and influence the character. Yet in this abundance there are many which should be cautiously withheld, and therefore the instructor should first become acquainted with the nature of the work she places in the hands of her child, and should exercise a rigid criticism, and a sound discretion in her choice.