where the strong ties of friendship and affection, of kindred and relation, and the range of endearments circumscribed by the closer barriers of domestic and family connection, exist, certainly have paramount claims on each other, to manifest a peaceable disposition. The propriety of such a course of action should often be impressed on the minds of children. They have eyes and ears, and are often close observers, when those of riper years are not aware of the fact.

Where a haughty and contumelious spirit and an ill-regulated mind exist, they will not allow their unhappy victims to resign the least iota of the point in dispute, or to make the first advances to reconciliation and peace, when true magnanimity would have led to generous acknowledgments. Such, whether they are children or adults, are usually haughty in their claims, dogmatic in their opinions, and unlovely in their behavior. Am I wrong, dear reader, when I trace all this to the absence of attention to the disposition on the part of those who had the training of the child, who has now become a man possessing qualities of mind which render himself unhappy, and when Peace knocks at the door of his habitation, she is not permitted to enter? If you think my conclusion wrong, just go with me into yonder neat, white cottage, and you shall see the household where the elements the principles which constitute the peaceable disposition, are inculcated and exemplified.

SALE OF THE PET LAMB.

BY PROF. W. J. WALTER.

THE little inmates of a cot,

The youngsters will recall the day,

On which, though fortune now smiles Though many a month has rolled away,

not,

Something of better days is shown,
Nor gentle feelings are unknown,
As witness in yon vase of flowers
That scents the room at morning hours,
In yonder neatly trailing vine,
Whose clusters o'er the porch incline.
Nor, least of all, in that PET LAMB,
Which, yeaned untimely by its dam,
Was brought for shelter to their hearth,
And since has shared their woes and
mirth.

Since their kind father, in his arms,
Shielding its life from threatened harms,
Brought the poor tottering stranger

home,

From that day forth no more to roam.
The winter's lingering snow was still
Upon the plain, and drear and chill
The wild blast whistled from the hill;
How did they nurse the feeble thing,
And with what fondness did they bring
The lukewarm milk to cheer its heart,
And every soothing care impart.

In one sense man is an isolated being. alone. He suffers and enjoys alone. alone. He abides his time and meets his destiny alone. True, he leaves his impress on others as he passes on; but after all, the mind, which constitutes the man, like a solitary traveller, comes and goes alone. No other person shares in the final retribution of his crimes, or reaps the permanent reward of his virtues.

LIFE'S DARK NIGHT IS CLOSING ROUND US.

MUSIC COMPOSED FOR THIS WORK BY L. H. SOUTHARD.

THE STRENGTH OF PARENTAL AFFECTION.

BY REV. J. G. D. STEARNS.

PARENTAL affection is one of the deepest principles which God has implanted in the soul of man. It is seen in the untiring efforts of parents for the welfare of their offspring. It is manifest in the unutterable solicitude which swells the heart of the parent, when sickness or peril betides the children of his love. It is felt in all its powers, when death snatches them away, and the heart of the parent is rent with anguish. There are tears, and there is a grief which none can know, but those whose inward fountains of feeling have been opened, who are called in person to pass through the deep waters of affliction. Happy for such, if they can cast their burden upon the Lord, and acquiesce in his perfect will.

In the strength of parental affection we see illustrated the wisdom and the benevolence of the Creator. He has thus provided, in the very constitution of human nature, for the care of infancy and childhood. God takes a deeper interest in the welfare of children, than the kindest earthly parents. He gave them their deep love for their children. The unseen hand of his providence often preserves the little ones from perils which no mortal could foresee. In his word he has given parents instructions to guide them in promoting the welfare of the children. If parental affection were always guided by heavenly wisdom and true benevolence, by a wise regard to the whole well-being of the child, his temporal and his eternal welfare, the results would be most happy. Suitable provision would be made for his physical wants. His social nature would be cultivated, and he would be prepared to enjoy the comforts and to discharge the duties of social life. His intellectual nature would be educated, and his mind well furnished with useful knowledge, preparatory to the active business of life. Above all, his religious education would receive that attention which its superior importance demands.

The moral and religious training of the young claims a greater amount of attention than is usually given to it. The education of the child for the life that now is, for its duties, its success, and its happiness here, is an object noble and grand, worthy of more wisdom