As God was free to form them at the first,
Who, in his sovereign wisdom, made them all.
Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons
To love it too. The spring-time of our years
Is soon dishonour'd, and defiled in most
By budding ills, that ask a prudent hand

To check them. But, alas! none sooner shoots,
If unrestrain'd, into luxuriant growth

Than cruelty, most devilish of them all.
Mercy to him that shows it, is the rule

And righteous limitation of its act,

By which Heaven moves in pardoning guilty man;
And he that shows none, being ripe in years,

And conscious of the outrage he commits,

Shall seek it, and not find it, in his turn.'

Generosity. In the study of the Jewish economy, you will find many things powerfully calculated to enforce this disposition. The original division of the land among the several tribes, being according to their families, each tribe was settled in the same district, and each family in the same barony or hundred. Thus, domestic virtue and affection had an extensive sphere of action. Not only was provision thus made for the happiness of moral and rural life, but the poor might everywhere expect more ready assistance, since they implored it from men whose sympathy in their sufferings would be quickened by hereditary friendship, if not by natural connexion. Besides the tithe every third year for the poor; and the seventh year, when the indigent, the widow, and the stranger, were free to use whatever the ground brought forth of itself; to them annually belonged a share of the olive and the vine; nor was there a corner of a single field, over the whole land, which was not to be left for them. Yes, left for them; for though thus permitted to enter, in their season, into private property, they

were not to be idle, but to gather and collect their sustenance. Nor was even this all

"When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it : it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. When thou beatest thine olive tree thou shalt not go over the boughs again it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow."

Now, high as this ground may seem, teach your Children, in regard to the incumbent and delightful disposition of generosity, that we, as Christians, stand upon higher still. Point them to the "Father of Mercies" above, "from whom cometh down every good and every perfect gift." In our world, he has much to do, every hour of the day, and every season of the year. On the produce of that year depends the existence of the world; but teach them to observe, that it consists, uniformly, of two parts-not only bread to the eater, but seed to the sower. Inform them, that the property of the Christian, if not of man, consists also of two such parts; that though the poor call one of these their savings, and the rich, their fortune, that both parties often labour under a great mistake. Ask them, What would become of the husbandman, were he to act by his seed-corn as the poor often act by their "savings," and the rich by their "fortune?" and ask them, What can become of the professing Christian who disregards that law of Heaven" He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully,

shall reap also bountifully?" Can such a man, say you, lawfully expect that " He who ministereth seed to the sower, will both minister bread for his food, and multiply his seed sown, and increase the fruits of his righteousness?" Certainly not; he never did, and he never will. Tell them, that this man even reaps sparingly, and that, even in this life: tell them, that if God does not keep him poor, which he often does, he may not grant him contentment; or that the evidences of his Christianity must remain, to his own mind, confused or dubious, and that the consolations of God are small with him!

Early, therefore, train your Children to the habit of giving away, freely. Mutual presents may be of service; but distinguish, as soon as may be, between the giving of that which costs nothing, and true generosity, which involves self-denial. Inform them, plentifully, of truly bountiful men, and repeat, again and again, generous deeds. Admire, in their hearing, Araunah the Jebusite; and David, the king of Israel; and Nehemiah, the cup-bearer; and the poor widow that cast in all that she had, even all her living! but, oh! above and beyond all, Him who," although he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich."

Accustom your Children, from early life, to observe, that "this is the way to thrive," whatever the selfish and the covetous may say; and that, if Christians, and if (disgusted with the cheap and ostentatious giving which is still consistent with covetousness), they should only act on these scriptural principles, aiming after secrecy and delicacy in all that

they do; then may they have even engraven on their tomb-stone, what was once placed over the grave of a good man, properly so called

"What I spent, I have lost :

What I once possessed, now belongs to another;
What I gave away, remains with me."

In regard to Christian generosity, however, a disposition which is yet far from being fully exemplified, never forget, that, as to your family, every thing will depend upon you, yourselves, acting on these principles. Then only will your Children experimentally understand, and admire, that saying of our blessed Lord, which, though not recorded by any of the evangelists, had sunk down into the ear, or rather lay embalmed in the heart of the primitive Christians" It is more blessed to give than to receive."

The Love of Nature.-It is certainly not a little extraordinary, that so many Parents have overlooked, or at least neglected, this most powerful assistant, in training the dispositions of their Children. In building cities, had men succeeded also in banishing from them the admiration of nature, or had only certain individuals of the species been susceptible of interest in her wonderful productions, this neglect might have been regarded only as a consequence; but the reverse of all this is the fact:

""Tis born with all; the love of Nature's works
Is an ingredient in the compound man,

Infused at the creation of the kind.

And though the Almighty Maker has throughout
Discriminated each from each, by strokes

And touches of his hand, with so much art

Diversified, that two were never found

Twins in all points; yet this obtains in all,

That all discern a beauty in his works,

And all can taste them: minds that have been form'd

And tutor'd, with relish more exact,

But none without some relish, none unmoved.

It is a flame, that dies not even there

Where nothing feeds it: neither business, crowds,
Nor habits of luxurious city life,

Whatever else they smother of true worth

In human bosoms, quench it or abate.”

Children are fond of tracing effects to their cause; and should they wish you to account for this innate disposition in the compound man, that much-neglected book, the Bible, will assist you in this, as in all other things, with reference to whatever is either useful, or valuable, or necessary, in the analysis of the mind, so far as the bulk of mankind is concerned: for

"The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field!"

Were I not afraid of extending this volume too far, already perhaps too large, I should have dwelt upon this important branch of Education. Remember, however, it is at once your business and your office, to excite and cultivate this disposition in your Children. The contemplation of the heavenly bodies