judgment, and amiable, conciliating manners,-in strengthening the cause, by drawing to your aid the support of most of the sisters in India,-I do feel, that to one who has done so much good, who has brought so much honour on your sex in this country, a work like mine, which has the same ulterior object for which you labour, could not be more fitly inscribed by,

My dear Madam,

Your very sincere friend,

Barrackpore, 1828.

THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTION.

race.

SELF-INDULGENCE in vicious practices has a mortal effect upon many of the human The effects of our evil passions, also, on the constitution, are seen in lingering and fatal diseases. To counteract these is an object of the first importance; and no means are more likely to be successful than religious instruction. The natural relation and office, therefore, which parents sustain, involve the wellbeing of their offspring, in as much as this depends upon the principles which they inculcate, and the examples which they place before them.

The following concise histories, derived from Sacred Writ, the Author earnestly prays, may be an easy and interesting mode of assisting parents in leading their children into the "paths of pleasantness and peace," and

of inclining them to read and prefer Holy Writ before the works of heathen, profane, and unprofitable composition. If we permit the spontaneous growth of weeds, instead of preventing their noxious spread on their first appearance, the labour of eradicating them afterwards will be found difficult, if not impossible; the infant mind, left without tuition and religious cultivation, is in danger of arriving at a state, in which vicious principles become so deeply rooted, as to render the bestowment of labour for its improvement a work of doubtful success. Early attention and watching, however, will enable us to direct to a line of conduct amiable and excellent; whereas early neglect will induce to more painful attention and watching in eradicating evil. We shall find that good example will invariably supersede the rigor of precept: the former tends to produce good habits, and to render them permanent, while the latter merely erects a baseless fabric of rules, perhaps promising fair for a

time, but, like the wind, it is variable, and with every gust of novelty and change of season, its instability will indisputably appear by the trembling of the edifice, till finally all will fall to the ground, and the labour will be lost.

Obedience will be our next object to inculcate. To command is but vain, if we do not teach how to obey. The man who assumes that he has the right of a king, will seldom be found to submit with the obedience of a subject; and he who is proud and haughty will seldom dress himself in the robes of humility: the teaching will therefore be opposed to the system which advocates pride and vain show, since the proud are averse to obedience, and love contention. If a haughty principle is therefore engrafted in the infant mind, it will grow up an enemy, for ever fighting for the things and rights of others. With this will, also, spring up the evils of discontentment, and either a spirit for ever seeking revolution in sentiment, in

family order, in the laws of the state, or in sytems of government. Such an education is opposed to obedience; and will, according to the power of the mind, form a Robespierre, or a shameless renegado.

As a general principle, it is always better to sacrifice present for future gain. Let not the follies of youth be indulged, either for recreation or pleasure. We may allow the infant mind to enjoy its pleasures, and to delight in occupations from which advantages to itself and others may be derived. In the habitual exercise of youthful amusement, let it always be adorned with practical piety. If an infant by accident destroys an insect or wounds an animal in its playful rambles, it is better to encourage the child to express feelings of pity and sorrow at misfortune, than to smile, and boast of the occurrence. If a poor person appeals, in accents of commiseration, at the threshold of the parent for charity, it will be, to say the least, more judicious to give, however small the gift, than to