ships now effaced by time or separation or broken by the rude hand of death, were fresh and vivid. Who does not sigh at

the remembrance of the bright hours when earth was as a Paradise before him, and the sweet waters of affection's fount lay unsealed and sparkling in the dewy freshness of life's morning hours! It is a beautiful idea of Wordsworth, that "heaven lies about us in our infancy;" but as years increase, the glories of that bright world are lost amid the gloom of earth, to be again perceptible only when the soul has thrown off her earthy covering, and emerges into the full blaze of its meridian splendor.

There are pleasures of maturer years, whose memory lingers in the soul. They were - and are not. We cannot recall them, for "passing away " has ever been inscribed on our dearest earthly joys. Since man's first transgression drove him from the bowers of Eden, the glory and beauty, the light and loveliness which sometimes break suddenly on our delighted vision, find no worthy resting-place on earth, and are soon transplanted to the brighter Eden above. The flowers which waft their fragrance on the gales of Spring, and the green leaves whose shade refreshes the weary traveller in the scorching heat of summer, fade and fall before the chilling blasts of Autumn. The bright birds die, and their melody vanishes like a forgotten dream; the gorgeous clouds of sunset melt away into the darkness of night. Yet, were there not lovelier visions taken forever from earth, we might live on, forgetting that this is not our home. The chain which bound friends together is broken; one by one the golden links are severed, to be joined no more on earth.

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They pass from us like stars which wane,
The brightest still before,"

Some to the depths of the wild western forests, some to sunny southern climes, some to roam over the far blue sea, and many to sleep that last long quiet sleep, where no earthly sorrow comes to disturb their repose.

There is something in the memory of the past which raises

us, as it were, above the world, and, awakening the noblest feelings of which human nature is capable, gives us an ideal existence, purer and holier than all else which appertains to earth only. These remembrances nothing can take away; they are a part of ourselves, which will live while we live, and now and then rush over us,

Striking the electric chain wherewith we are darkly bound."

And can it be that these pure, guileless, and spiritual emotions, are to be transient and evanescent, that the wells of

the soul's depths are ever to be choked by the petty cares or bitter trials of life? Let us rather hope, that the rays which light up the memories of the Past, are but bright glimpses of an unseen Future, where the heart shall be purified from the dross of earth, and pervaded with affections intense and holy, increasing in fervor and purity through an infinity of years.

THE CHINESE FATHER.

BY REV. 8. CUMMINGS- MISSIONARY TO CHINA.

THE Chinese father is ignorant. He knows nothing of the true God, or of his obligations to love and worship him. Consequently, he believes himself and teaches his family to believe, that there are "gods many," and even gods of a very ignoble and hateful character, which yet ought to be feared and worshipped. In this city [Fuhchau] and its suburbs, events are frequently occurring which painfully substantiate these remarks. Within a short distance of some of the missionaries' residences, stands a temple of "a hundred gods." Thither, when some member of a family may be sick, the father and other members may be seen wending their way, bearing baskets of provisions to be offered in sacrifice to the divinities of the temple. Their object is to propitiate the god, who has control over the disease; and they come to this temple, because they suppose he must be one of the hundred there. Having reached the place, the offerings are presented,

and the persons themselves commence a process of frantic shrieking, and leaping, and swinging of the arms, which is continued until the favor of the divinity is thought to be obtained, when the party returns home in the vain belief, that something has been accomplished for the benefit of the sick. But if the inquiry should be made, "What is the character of these gods?" we can only answer, they are senseless blocks of wood and earth, the work of men's hands, and many of them unsightly in form.

The Chinese father is also ignorant in respect to his own heart. He is unconscious of its exceeding sinfulness. He believes the heart is not corrupt by nature, but is originally virtuously disposed, and becomes depraved only by the influence of example and other external causes. Consistently with this belief he acts as a father. The first sentence of the first book he puts into the hands of his sons to read, contains the doctrine of the original virtue of man's nature. Further on in their reading they meet with the following passage of Mencius, whose maxins are regarded as oracles: "If you remark the natural dispositions, you may see that they are towards virtue; hence, I say that man's nature is virtuous. All men have compassionate hearts. A compassionate heart implies benevolence; one which respects and reveres, a sense of propriety; one ashamed of vice, rectitude; and one that clearly distinguishes right from wrong, wisdom. Now the principles of benevolence, propriety, rectitude and wisdom, are not infused into us from without; we certainly possess them ourselves." With these sentiments, the minds of Chinese children are thus early imbued. They grow up in the belief of them. Their hearts become callous in respect to the nature of sin, and they pass through life as their fathers have before them, the most insensible of men to their own wickedness in the sight of heaven.

The Chinese father is ignorant of the immortal nature of the soul and the destiny that awaits it in another world. He believes it may exist after death; but in what state or form, he is wholly uncertain. It may pass into a state of Elysian

happiness, or descend to a Budhist hell; it may take up its abode in a hen, or a pig, or wild animal, or in the person of some other human being. In this state of uncertainty respecting the future, the Chinese father dismisses the subject of his own immortality as much as possible from his thoughts, and leaves the impression on the minds of his offspring, that the eternal interests of their souls are to be little cared for in the present life. The effect of this course upon them, as might be anticipated, is disastrous in a high degree. The levity and indifference in respect to their future existence. which it produces in their minds, is painful to behold. If one asks them in the most serious manner, "To what place their souls will go at death?" they will reply, " We do n't know ;" and the reply will be accompanied with a ridiculing smile, which says more forcibly than words could, "We do n't care." Now, what can be more deplorable than such indifference to eternal realities? Yet it prevails here among the young and the old almost universally, and the missionaries witness nothing, over which they mourn so deeply.

The Chinese father holds despotic control over his own household. In his hand is the power of life and death, as it is sometimes styled, respecting his offspring. At his pleasure he can cause his sons or his daughters to be put to death, or do it with his own hands. The desire of posterity to perpetuate his name, however, has induced him for the most part, — yet not always, to spare the lives of his sons. But no such cause has prevented him from imbruing his hands in the blood of his daughters, as we shall see hereafter. The high and unnatural prerogative, of which we now speak, is not only sanctioned, but even fostered by government. As Confucius in his political creed made the family the model of the government, so the government has taken care to make the family a fit representative of its own despotic character. In its legislation, therefore, the child is taught to reverence paternal authority as he does that of the emperor. Disobedience to his father he must avoid as he would rebellion in the state; for it is a crime deserving similar punishment. But with such power in his hand, we hasten to observe,

The Chinese father is often cruel. By this it is not meant that he is destitute of natural affection. This he does possess, but the exercise of it is not regulated by any fixed principle. Hence, it affords no assurance to his children of constant kindness or safety from him. Excessive indulgence to-day may be followed by the coldest indifference tomorrow. The idolizing of a son during the day will not prevent the murder of a daughter in the darkness of the succeeding night. For, shocking as it may seem to the feelings of Christian parents, the drowning of an infant daughter is a very common deed of the Chinese father. Among the poorer classes of this place, we have been told, that two or threetenths of all the girls born thus fall victims by his merciless hand. It is true, that others do the work for him. But they are only his instruments; he is mainly responsible, as the following extract from a native work shows: "The drowning of infants, though it be the work of cruel women, yet results from the will of the husband; if the husband be determined against drowning the infant, the woman can have nothing in her power."

Such, then, in some respects, is the Chinese father. If the Christian fathers who read this should discover a radical and vast difference between his character and their own, we only ask, that they should inquire seriously, what has caused the difference? And on whom will rest the responsibility, should it continue for ages to come?

EDUCATION.

THE real object of education is to give children resources that will endure as long as life endures; habits that time will ameliorate, not destroy; occupation that will render sickness tolerable, solitude pleasant, age venerable, life more dignified and useful, and death less terrible. Rev. Sydney Smith.