praised and loved by their parents, and by God Himself. But if we do not address ourselves to these feelings; if we present to them only a dry and generally wearisome rule of conduct, we must soon have recourse to the idea of future rewards or punishments; and more especially to the latter, as they make the greatest impression on their minds. Fear, of all feelings the most injurious to this age, predominates in such impressions; and it is a barbarous and wanton opposition to the evident intention of Providence, thus to disturb the security of infancy. As a compensation for their want of strength, Heaven has endowed children with a confiding disposition: and to represent God to them otherwise than as a good God a kind Father is both false and blasphemous. Not however that we are to separate the idea of God from that of holiness; we should err on the other side if we did not occasionally present the sublime image of the Deity with a countenance of severity. God's hatred of evil, his anger when his justice is outraged, are the necessary consequences of his most benevolent attributes. The conviction that almighty power is constantly employed in maintaining the order of the universe, and enforcing obedience to the laws of duty, is almost necessarily connected with a feeling of fear in the minds of children ; though this fear may be absorbed in the prevailing idea of the goodness of God, and of the protection afforded to the weak by his perfect justice. He is in a particular manner the Father of little children: He cherishes and protects those who are good; He listens to their prayers, assists them in their endeavours to obey Him, and pardons on repentance their involuntary faults. No doubt He abhors evil, and will not dwell with the wicked: but He loves the work of his own hands; He opens his arms to receive them as soon as a true repentance has changed the evil propensities of their heart. Jesus Christ has interceded, has sacrificed himself for man; and when the sinner invokes his holy name, he is pardoned, and his sins are washed away. even restored Such is the evangelical doctrine of which a slight sketch may be given to children. The idea of the almighty power of a pure and holy God, and of the love of this God, which is in proportion to the efforts made by children to obey Him, will by degrees form their code of morality. The influence of gentle and tender sentiments of piety is naturally more salutary, as well as more lasting, than that of fear; for children, owing to their volatile disposition, easily throw off the idea of a God whom they do not see, and whose punishments do not always immediately follow any deviation from duty. With regard to the union, so important and so desirable, of religion and morality in education, it is of great consequence to ascertain exactly in what it consists. Certainly we can have no proof of the progress, or even existence of religion in the human breast, but what is derived from the power it exercises over the conduct. The moral point of view is that to which we must continually recur, as it is from this alone that we can judge of the sincerity and right direction of our ideas of religion. But these ideas place our eternal interests in the highest rank; they teach us to consider the fulfilment of our duties in this world as the necessary condition of our future union with God; and if we invert this order of things, if we make this life alone "our being's end and aim," even though our aim may be to pass through it prudently and honourably, we yet deprive religion of all its strength and virtue. Taking it as a means only, it must fail. The essence of religion consists in the love of God: if then you wish that religion should serve as a foundation for morality, inspire your children with this feeling; make them regard the Almighty as the author of every good, and the dispenser of every enjoyment, before you represent Him as a judge, or a perpetual censor. Why should we cultivate the feeling of piety in a different manner from that which we adopt in VOL. I. ! order to cherish an earthly affection? The mother caresses her infant long before she corrects it: she is anxious to express her gentle and affectionate feelings, in order that the recollection of her tenderness may at some future time temper the effect of her severity. And in the same manner God himself acts towards little children, making Himself known to them by his benefits, before He reveals Himself by the more severe voice of conscience. It is an act of injustice towards the Most High, if we may use such an expression, to present Him to children under a form which He has not chosen for Himself, and which we do not choose for ourselves. The love of God is the root of all piety; but in our too eager desire to gather the fruit, we are apt to neglect the necessary cultivation of the root. CHAPTER IX. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. UNLESS the desire to render to God the homage of adoration become, throughout the course of a religious education, stronger in proportion to the progress of instruction, the knowledge of the most sublime truths will not fructify in the mind. Nature and the Gospel alike reveal to us a Creator; but it is only by means of religious worship that our souls can enter into communion with Him. Without this, we should remain strangers to God, indifferent to his perfections, little solicitous of approximating to them even in that slight degree of which we are capable, and deprived of that succour which religion, - a religion lively, active, and fruitful in good works-yields to every individual. The worship of the heart is no doubt the most perfect of all the homage thus involuntarily offered is more energetic, more really sincere, than that which is produced by example, nurtured by habit, and guided by prescribed forms. But how can children be led to this pure adoration? How can we first excite, and afterwards continually renew that sublime |