صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

124

TEAZE HER, AND SHE'LL LET YOU GO.

one more, mother, just one more," pleaded the little one. "Be quiet, be quiet, dear," responded Mrs. Jennings. "Just one more, ma, just one little one." "Will you not ask for another to-night?" "No, mamma." Mrs. J. offers him a small one. "I want a big one, ma, a big one." She replaces the apple upon the fruit dish, and the child screams. He is, however soon silenced by a big one. Mrs. J. remarking to the company, as she gave it to him, anything for a quiet life."

66

When will mothers teach their children that yes means yes, and no means no? I could relate many instances that have come under my own personal knowledge, even in a more aggravated form than this. How often would parents blush to see their say ings and doings with reference to their children narrated on paper! Still, their children read them "like a book," and take lessons from them far more effectually than from any book that can be written.

But to return to Eliza. She became a fascinating young lady; still she had sense enough not to be vain and foolish. She was scarcely seventeen, when a respectable young mechanic, who had just established himself in our village, paid her his addresses. Eliza had sense enough to love him. She dismissed half a score of foppish, butterfly lovers that surrounded her, for the intelligent and sensible Mr. B. Her parents had but one objection to her marriage her extreme youth. They thought it by all means desirable that their union should be deferred for a few years; but, "she teazed," and they consented. Eliza's mother wept; she, too, had married young, and she felt her own deficiency most deeply; she felt, too, that Eliza was by no means qualified to meet the responsibilities she had assumed. Eliza was possessed of more strength and energy of character than her mother. This, Mrs. J. knew; she related to Eliza her own difficulties, and begged her to be firm, and overcome the bad habit she had contracted during her childhood. Eliza thanked her, but felt that there was not the least need of the caution. Surely," said she, "I shall never teaze him." But it is not to be expected that she would entirely overcome a habit so early formed, and so long indulged. She had set her heart on spending a few weeks at the springs. It was particularly inconvenient for Mr. B. to leave; his business must suffer in consequence: but "she teazed," and he went. Although "love in a cottage" was very pleasant in contemplation, yet Mrs. B. soon found her house too small. She could not even receive company genteely; and as for

parties, they were quite out of the question. A beautiful house in the village was to be sold; it was cheap-so cheap! There certainly never would be another such opportunity. Her husband urged many objections; he needed his capital in business; he could could not possibly afford to buy it; but "she teazed," and he purchased it. And though she promised when it was bought, that she could get along very well with only one parlour, she soon found that she was no better situated then at the cottage. "She teazed," and the house was furnished. And here I may as well remark, that Eliza was not conscious of teazing: she would have been surprised, shocked if any one had accused her of it. Of all bad habits that can be contracted, teazing is one of the most difficult to eradicate. The reason is, you can never make one in this habit really conscious of the wrong they are doing, of the unhappiness they are producing. I know of mothers, who I truly believe would sa crifice their lives for the good of their families, who will not, for the sake of their happiness, overcome their habits of fretfulness. They throw a dark cloud over the spot that is dearer to them than all others; they live in its shade, regretting it, and wondering why the sunshine of light and love does not visit them as it does others. Trifles, it is often said, make up the sum of human things. We should bind those around us to us, by bright smiles and kind words upon all ordinary occasions.

Eliza's

Eliza soon discovered that it was not very agreeable to be the wife of a plain cabinetmaker, who employed only half-a-dozen men, and who, as she told him, was himself obliged to labour hardest of all. If he were only a merchant. She could not bear to see him subjected to such toil. father remonstrated in vain. In vain Mr. B represented that both his capital and his knowledge of the business rendered it impracticable. It was his weakness to idolize his wife, and though he was not insensible to her faults, he could not resist her importunities. He became a merchant; Mrs. B. was happy. "The only thing that mars my happiness," said she to Harriet one day, "is, that my Charley will teaze; give him everything he wants, and still he will teaze. I think he will forget it as he grows older. "Don't you remember how I use to teaze when I was a child?" The colour rose on Harriet's cheek; she wished to tell her that she had not yet forsaken the follies of her childhood; but she was silent.

About three years after Mr. B. became a merchant, the news was spread about our village that he had become a bankrupt, and

THE BEST ORNAMENT.

that he had left the previous night for parts unknown, and that Mrs. B. was in a state of desperation. I wept, for I sympathized with him in the mortification that had come upon his proud spirit. About three months after, Mrs. B. followed her husband to the "Far West." And now, what mother does not see that if her habit of "teazing" had been subdued in early life, she would have madǝ a happy and useful woman? Do not even imagine your children will forget bad habits as they grow older. They will usually grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength." You can

66

125

not tell how far these habits will widen and deepen. They may finally prove a sea of trouble that shall drown even life itself. Happy indeed will it be for them, if the flood does not rush from the stream of Time into the great ocean of Eternity; happy, if the grace of God rescues them from the doom which your ignorance or culpable neglect planned for them. Would you have your children rise up and call you blessed? Be a blessing to them, then; and then they shall be thy blessing in time, and blessed in eternity.-Mother's Magazine.

Our Young people.

Remarks on Byron.

BY THE REV. J. A. JAMES.

As for Byron, his exquisite pathos, and almost peerless beauty, can make no atonement for his vices, and should have no power to reconcile us to his works. He is, indeed as he has been styled, the master of a Satanic school. Infidelity and immorality never before received such patronage from the poetic muse. Never before was genius seen in a closer union with vice. His works are enough to corrupt the morals of a nation, indeed they seem to have been written for this purpose; and Byron appears to have been stirred up by an evil spirit, to attempt to accomplish, by his fascinating poems, that mischief, which the wit of Voltaire, the subtlety of Hume and the popular ribaldry of Paine, had in vain endeavoured to achieve. At length, the indignation of Heaven seems to be roused, and to have scorched with its lightning the wings of his lofty, but impious genius; inasmuch as his later productions evince a singular destitution of that talent, which characterizes the earlier effusions of his muse. One can scarcely suppose it possible, that even he could read his last cantos of his most vicious work, without secretly exclaiming, under a consciousness of their inferiority, "How am I fallen!! What have I done?"

If young men would not be cursed by the infidelity and immorality which lurk beneath his pages, let them beware how they touch his volumes, as much as they

would to embrace a beautiful form that was infected with the plague.

An Affectionate Son on the Death of his Mother.

THY kindness and maternal care,
Thy heartfelt wish, thy earnest prayer;
Thy mild reproof, thy good advice
Thy joy at virtue, grief at vice;
The bright example of thy life,
Both as a mother and a wife;
Thy reverence of the word of God,
Thy interest, too, in Jesus' blood;
The last expressions of thy tongue,
The triumphs of thy dying song;
And even in death the placid smile,
The whisper "yet a little while";
The solemn charge, the hand that press'd,
The sigh that heaved thy sinking breast;
The love that shone with heavenly beams,
The tears that fell in copious streams;
The vict'ry of thy dying hour,
The faith, the overcoming power!—
All, all awake the feeling heart,
And cause a momentary smart;
But Jesus whispers" Weep no more—
She is not lost, but gone before—
Soon you shall meet to part no more.”

The Best Ornament.

NOTHING sits so gracefully upon children, and nothing makes them so lovely, as habitual respect and dutiful deportment towards their parents and superiors. It makes the plainest face beautiful, and gives to every common action, a nameless but peculiar charm.

Sabbath-school Treasury.

Scripture Chronology

IN teaching the history of the Bible, it is important that some general insight into the chronology of the period, before the birth of our Saviour, should be conveyed to the mind of even the youngest student. The principle to be kept in view in teaching chronology is the same in all departments of the study. Let a general knowledge of the length of the period over which the history extends be first given, then cause that period to be broken up into portions easily distinguished, and afterwards refer all additional knowledge to its proper position in the outline so framed. With regard to the forty centuries before the birth of Christ, the severance into such periods happens to be very simple, on account of the coincidence of some of the most important events with the arbitrary divisions of time. For instance, the four millennia may be distingushed as commencing respetcively with Adam, Enoch, Abraham and Solomon. It will also be seen from the annexed table that the Exodus of Israel took place about the middle of the third millenium, and the building of the second temple in the middle of the fourth. The teacher will find that a useful preliminary exercise may be formed by requiring these dates to be written out with large intervals of space, for the pupil to fill up with the names of as many events and persons as he can place in their proper order. With this basis, all subsequent lessons on particular portions of the Bible history will contribute to the gradual completion of the outline, and the relation in time of the several transactions recorded in the sacred narrative will become easily apparent. In the following table are indicated epochs of greatest importance. By the help of these data, and the ages of men, and other specific periods mentioned in the sacred text, the pupil will find but little trouble in greatly amplifying the list. For instance, the time of Joshua will be associated with the expiration of the forty years immediately after the departure from Egypt.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The chronology followed is that of vived; and, having, after a time, discovered Archbishop Usher.

[blocks in formation]

his retreat, they often made urgent but vain entreaties that he would return to civilized 4004 life. He persisted in refusal till far advanced 3017 in years; and when at length persuaded to

PRAYER.

make a visit to his kinsmen, he found two objections to the adoption of their habits, -first, he could not endure the taste of salt, the Indians having always preserved their meat by drying; and next he utterly abhorred falsehood, in all its modifications and disguises, as indicating a mean and cowardly disposition; and when pressed on the subject of religion, he answered in a manner of caustic reproach, that he could not believe the Great Spirit to be the patron of a nation of cowards and liars.

This little story illustrates the torce of

127

educational habits, and suggests how important it is to 'train up a child in the way in which he should go; but it shews also, in a strong light, the impressions which the aggregate character of a professedly Christian people makes upon untutored minds, and exhibits to Christian communities the necessity of walking in wisdom toward those who are without.' Is it not true of many a people in the present day, as anciently it was of the Jews, that 'through them the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles?'

Alone.

'Twas midnight, and he sat aloneThe husband of the dead,

Poetry.

That day the dark dust had been thrown
Upon her buried head.

Her orphan children round him slept,
But in their sleep would moan;
Then fell the first tear he had wept-
He felt he was alone.

The world was full of life and light,
But, ah! no more for him!

His little world once warm and bright-
It now was cold and dim.

Where was her sweet and kindly face?
Where was her cordial tone?

He gazed around his dwelling-place,
And felt he was alone.

The wifely love-maternal care-
The self-denying zeal—

The smile of hope that chased despair,
And promised future weal.

The clean bright hearth-nice table spread
The charm o'er all things thrown-
The sweetness in whatever she said-
All gone-he was alone!

He looked into his cold, wild heart,
All sad and unresigned:

He asked how he had done his part
To one so true, so kind?
Each error past, he tried to track-
In torture would atone-

Would give his life to bring hers back—
In vain he was alone.

He slept at last; but when he dreamed
(Perchance her spirit woke),
A soft light o'er her pillow gleamed
A voice in music spoke-

"Forgot-forgiven all neglectThy love recalled alone;

The babes I leave; oh, love, protect! I still am all thine own.'

Prayer.

Go when the morning shineth,
Go when the noon is bright,
Go when the day declineth,
Go in the hush of night.
Go with pure mind and feeling,
Fling earthly thoughts away,
And in thy chamber kneeling,
Do thou in sacret pray.
Remember all who love thee,
All who are loved by thee;
Pray too for those who hate thee,
If any such there be.

Then for thyself in meekness,
A blessing humbly claim,
And link with each petition,
Thy great Redeemer's name.

Or if 'tis e'en denied thee,
In solitude to pray,

Should holy thoughts come o'er thee,
When friends are round thy way.
Even then the silent breathing,
Of thy spirit raised above,
Will reach his throne of glory,
Who is Mercy, Truth, and Love!
Oh, not a joy or blessing
With this can we compare,
The power that He hath given us,
To pour our souls in prayer!
Whene'er thou pin'st in sadness,
Before his footstool fall,

And remember in thy gladness,
His grace who gives thee all.

Lord Morpeth.

66

THE EMPEROR CONFounded.

Varieties.

"You teach," said the Emperor Trajan to Rabbi Joshua, "that your God is every where, and boasts that he resides among your nation. I should like to see him.' "God's presence is indeed every where." replied Joshua, "but he cannot be seen; no mortal eye can behold his glory." The Emperor insisted. "Well," said Joshua, 'suppose we try to look first at one of his ambassadors." The Emperor consented. The Rabbi took him into the open air at noon day, and bade him look on the sun in its meridan splendour. "I cannot," said Trajan," the light dazzles me." "Thou art unable," said Joshua, "to endure the light of one of his creatures, and canst thou expect to behold the re-splendent glory of the Creator? Would not such a light annihiliate thee.

G.

It is safer to be humble wi.h one talent than proud with ten; yea, better to be an humble worm than a proud angel.-Flavel

THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN. The first thing in the morning light, The chief thing thro' the busy day, And th' last thing ere you sleep at night, Should be to watch, reflect, and pray. G. MODESTY.-Elian relates, that it was a saying of Xenocrates, who was a desciple of Plato, that the intrusion was the same, whether a passenger in the streets should enter or stare at a house with whose inmates he was not acquainted; for he transgressed, who turns his eyes where it is not proper to look, as much as he who enters where it is not lawful. LYCURGUS enjoined on his pupils when in the street to keep both hands under their cloaks, walk along in perfect silence, looking only at what was before their feet. What a lesson for us!

VALUE OF TIME.-The difference of ris

ing every morning at six and eight, in the course of forty years amounts to upwards of 29,000 hours, or three years, one hundred and twenty-six days, six hours; so that it is just the same as if ten years of life were to be added, of which we might command eight hours every day for the cultivation of our minds or the dispatch of

business.

OF SPEAKING OF ONE'S SELF.-"It is a hard and nice subject for a man to speak of himself," says Cowley: "it grates its own heart to say anything of disparagement, and the reader's ears to hear anything of

praise from him." Let the tenor of his discourse be what it will upon this subject, it generally proceeds from vanity. An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking on his own dear person, -Addison.

THE OBJECT OF EDUCATION.-The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think than what to think-rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men.-Beattie.

[blocks in formation]

ployment.

Pursue either of these ways, and you will experience a most marvellous deliverance, or will have to mourn over a debased and ruined child! Thousands have realized the sad result, and have gone sorrowing to the grave.

INTERESTING FACTS.-Gibbon, who in his celebrated History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has left an imperishable memorial of his enmity to the gospel, resided many years in Switzerland, where, with the profits of his works, he purchased a considerable estate. This property has decended to a gentleman, who, out of its rents, expends a large sum annually in the promulgation of that very gospel which his predecessor insidiously endeavoured to undermine, not having had courage openly to assail it. VOLTAIRE boasted, that with one hand he would overthrow the edifice of Christianity, which re

quired the hands of twelve apostles to build up. At this day, the press which he employed at Ferny to print his blasphemies, the holy scriptures. is actually employed at Geneva in printing Thus the self-same engine, which he set to work to destroy the credit of the Bible, is engaged in dissemicumstance, also, that the first provisional nating its truths. It is a remarkable cirmeeting for the reformation of the Auxiliary Bible Society at Edinburgh, was held in the very room in which Hume died.

Printed by JOHN KENNEDY, at his Printing Office, 35,

Portman Place, Maida Hill, in the County of Middlesex, London.-August, 1850.

« السابقةمتابعة »