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-the structure of the globe-the vegetation of plants -the formation of animals—the order and regularity of nature, with the changes that are perpetually taking place in it-the correspondency, the sympathy, the harmony, and the remarkable proportioning of one thing to another, which reigns throughout the universe-the power and the greatness of God, as seen in the minutest objects; with the striking difference between the works of nature and of art,—the contemplation of any of these, and especially of these in succession, has a most powerful effect upon the youthful disposition. You believe that God hath made every thing beautiful in its season and place; and you know that every animal, and vegetable, and mineral, has its own specific and appropriate use? Explain these, then, as far as you can. Such instruction from the lips of a Father or a Mother is invaluable. haps you can direct their attention to the forecast and industry of the ant-the ingenious and indefatigable labours of the bee-the instinct and affection of birds, in building their nests, and rearing their young-to the habitations of the beaver-the transformation of the caterpillar, or the silkworm ?-But I forbear; the theme is endless, and even infinite. Many of these subjects, if nature is not before you, you can find in books; but the more familiar operations of nature you cannot omit-such, for example, as the labours of the husbandman. Thus, even by your occasional conver sation, might you discover to your Children, that

"Religion does not censure or exclude
Unnumber'd pleasures harmlessly pursued;
To study culture, and with artful toil
To meliorate and tame the stubborn soil;

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To give dissimilar, yet fruitful lands,

The grain, or herb, or plant, that each demands—
These, these are arts pursued without a crime,

That leave no stain upon the wing of Time."

Do you ever walk with your Children, and observe them disposed to notice the earth, when it teems with fragrance, and is covered with beauty? Indulge them in such remarks; admire, with them, the works and wonders of your common Creator; and having so indulged them, you can easily discover to them that you derive your main enjoyment, from a filial confidence in Him who made them all.

Certainly it is to be lamented, that so many Christian Parents, seem not to be aware of the frequency, with which their own Redeemer conversed with the works of his hands, while here below; though if they only take up their Bible, and "walk with Him" through the evangelical history, they will find scarcely one chapter, in which Nature is not pointedly regarded. The shining of the sun, and the falling of rain; the light of the world, and the face of the sky; the aspect of the morning and the evening; the lilies of the field, and the birds of the air; the grass of the ground, and the salt of the earth; the dove and the sparrow; the sheep and the goat; the fox and the wolf; the ass and the camel; the serpent and the fish; the crowing of the cock; the hen and her chickens; the eagle pouncing on his prey: in short, nothing escaped his gracious and condescending eye. The artlessness of Children, and the harmlessness of doves, he recommended to his followers; and when he saw a multitude of sinful men, he was wont to be moved with compassion, and compared them to "sheep without a

shepherd." The operations of husbandry, he was ever commending to notice; and, to his eye, a lily in its native bed had more of outward adorning, than even Solomon, when arrayed in all the insignia of his kingdom. Adam, in perfection and innocence, when naming his animals, as their Creator brought them to his feet, or when conversing with his garden, was as nothing to this. Strange indeed! that those who listened to the Saviour's manner of reference to such objects, at all times so apposite, and often so affecting, could not descry the voice of Him, by whom all things were created, "whether they be things in heaven, or things on earth, or things under the earth." Nature, then, it is true, had met with her own Creator, and never, since the morning stars sang together, had she appeared so subservient to religious instruction and reproof, excitement and delight.

Now you have not been born too late to profit by all this. If Christian Parents, you live under the dominion of the Messiah, and possess every advantage in following his example, at whatever distance. The productions of his hand are ever the same, and, to the present moment,

"Still all are under one. One Spirit-His,

Who wore the platted thorns with bleeding brows,
Rules universal nature. Not a flower

But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain,
Of his unrivall❜d pencil. He inspires

Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues,
And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes,
In grains as countless as the sea-side sands,
The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth.
Happy who walks with Him! whom what he finds

Of flavour, or of scent, in fruit or flower,
Or what he views of beautiful or grand

In nature, from the broad majestic oak
To the green blade, that twinkles in the sun,
Prompts with remembrance of a present God.
His presence, who made all so fair, perceived,
Makes all still fairer. As with him no scene
Is dreary, so with him all seasons please."

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Were it at all necessary, I ought to have extended this section to various other subjects: such, for example, as those of Patience and Submission-Temper and Fortitude-the baneful Evils arising from Va, nity and Affectation-the Companions with whom your Children come in contact-and the imperious necessity of you, as Parents, making careful selection; for if Christians themselves are in imminent danger from "evil communications which corrupt even good manners," what shall we say of Children whose principles are not yet fixed-whose manners are not yet formed?

Not, however, wishing to extend the subject farther than what seemed necessary for the object in view, I would rather refer to such works as the Practical View of Education, by Mr Babbington-the anonymous author of "Hints for the Improvement of Early Education and Nursery Discipline"-the Parental Duties, by Mr Braidwood-Domestic Religion, by Mr Innes-and the various publications by the amiable family of the Taylors'-a family which

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* These poetical quotations, I hope the reader well knows, are taken from Cowper,- —one of those few poets whose writings will probably be quoted, even in the days when " one song shall employ all nations," and the knowledge of the Lord shall have covered the earth, as the waters do the sea.

has, as a Family, done more for Domestic Education, in the proper sense of the terms, than perhaps any other in Great Britain.

In conclusion, may I now presume that the reader is fully convinced, that a Parent stands on ground peculiar to himself-far above that of any mere teacher, and that his responsibility, both to God and to his Family, extends correspondingly?—He is to teach, it is true, but he is also to repeat, repeat, repeat with patience, and even pleasure. Here a little, there a little; as he rises up, as he lies down; as he sits in the house, or walks by the way: he or she it is who is to recall--explain-rectify-illustrate-enforce many things many times, or many times the same thing: he it is who is appointed to be the prompter of his Children--the instigator to good only: he it is, as has been said, who looks not to the infantile mind, as to an empty vessel, into which knowledge only is to be poured. The mind of his Child he would rather compare, in one sense, to the Bee in the first period of its existence, which is fed by the labours of others; but, ere long, as he expects, this little mind will rise, and lift its wings in vigorous employment, to collect sweets from every field or flower.

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