hopeless condition by Nature was truthfully displayed, and the hearers were earnestly exhorted, at the same time, to flee to Christ as the only way of salvation. The boy listened with feelings of reverence and awe, and thought that all who believed the words of the preacher, after having been warned of their danger, would at once leave the business and pleasures which before had engaged their attention, and gladly avail themselves of the offered means of escape. "Sound doctrine, Sir,"

said the father to a friend as they left the church. "Then it is all true," was the child's inward reflection, as with a bursting heart he took his seat by his parent's side in the chaise that was to convey them home. He wanted to speak to his father, but natural timidity kept him silent, still he hoped and expected that his parent would talk on the subject as it was one of such tremendous importance.

Presently, however, his father began to whistle! and when they reached home, instead of collecting the family together and telling them the awful truths he had heard, as the child thought he would do, he listlessly threw himself into his easy chair and took up a newspaper. The boy felt surprised, but he did not say anything. His mind was not, however, to be silenced so quickly. He began to question the preacher's veracity; he felt sure that his father did not believe the assertions which he

had made; others who had heard the sermon did not act as if they believed it. At length he came to the conclusion that it was not true, but that he had been trifled with and deceived.*

Mother! that infant which is cradled in your arms is an heir of immortality-that little helpless being you are watching with anxious love has a principle within which will never die—that bud just bursting into life will either bloom throughout eternity in the heavenly Paradise, or linger on in hopeless misery for ever.

Oh! think of that word Eternity! The seed you sow in that child's mind may perhaps decide his state throughout eternity. The shades you throw in to that unformed character may, perhaps, grow deeper and deeper throughout eternity. You,

* We must not infer, from the above related anecdote, that religious truths were then, for the first time, brought before the mind of the youth, but that he was more powerfully affected by them than on any former occasion. His father was an excellent man, and sincere in his Christian profession, and the Doctor gives the following description of his mother:

"The most remarkable trait was the rectitude and simplicity of her mind. She was true, in thought, word, and life. She had the firmness to see the truth, to speak it, to act upon it. She was direct in judgment and conversation, and in my long intercourse with her, I cannot recollect one word or action betraying the slightest insin cerity,"

like the Painter, are painting for immortality !* It is true you cannot create in your child a clean heart, or renew a right spirit within him, for conversion is the work of God.

This fact does not, however, lessen your moral obligations; for God makes use of human instrumentality in accomplishing his gracious purposes, and he says to you what he said to Peter, "Feed my lambs."

The operations of Divine grace are often compared to vegetation in nature. With what reason would a husbandman look for an abundant crop in harvest, if in the Spring he had neglected to till his fields, and sow the grain? And, in like manner, the parent has no just ground to expect piety and moral excellence in her son's manhood, if in his youth she allow the weeds natural to the soil to grow unchecked, or permit others to sow the seeds of error.

In some cases a consideration of her awful responsibility has induced the mother to examine her own state, in the sight of God; and the disco

The Rev. Leigh Richmond, when speaking of his own responsibilities as a parent, says,-" I can hardly pronounce it without some degree of fear and trembling. TEN immortal souls!-souls allied to my own by ties inexpressibly tender and inviolably dear-souls committed to my charge not only as a minister, but also as a parent. Who is sufficient for these things?'"

very of her unfitness for the discharge of the duties she owes to her children has led to her own conversion.

One of the most beautiful pictures presented to the moral vision, is a mother surrounded by her little ones, when she is directing them in the path to heaven.

"When, as a bird each fond endearment tries,
To tempt her new-fledged offspring to the skies,
She tries each art, reproves each dull delay,
Allures to brighter worlds, and leads the way."

A pious lady, the mother of a large family of girls, once remarked "The care of most people is how to get good husbands for their daughters; but my care is to fit my daughters to be good wives, and then let God provide for them."How are they to be fitted for wives? By early religious instruction. Religion, alone, can give stability to the character; it is the foundation of every moral virtue; and any system of education, which does not regard Religion as its groundwork, will be found defective, and fail in its proper results, however much it may tend to the cultivation of the intellect.

Mother! to you, then, is committed a precious trust the happiness of your children, the welfare of mankind, and the glory of God, depend

Your influence, your

upon your exertions. instruction, your example, and your prayers, are means placed within your reach. Use them in sowing the Gospel seed, and God will not withhold the increase. Use them aright, and at the Last great day, when you will be called to His bar, to render an account of your stewardship, you shall not only hear those delightful words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," addressed to you, but your children will also "rise up and call you blessed."

B