From joy to joy, for she can so inform With quietness and beauty, nor sneer of selfish men Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold Is full of blessings." Such scenes as those I now allude to strengthen also the attachments to home of every one who may enjoy them, and those attachments insensibly widen into patriotism. Now, after the lapse of many years, I remember distinctly that well-bred Scotchman, McGregory, who always called me, on account of my frequent visits, "his little bairn," and see, in fancy, his small cottage, crowning a high bluff, around which the Winooski winds in the same majesty and with the same musical ripple as in centuries gone by. How often, when driving the cows home from his interval* pasture along the banks of the same stream, have I stood and listened to the wild music of that bag-pipe which he had kept as a relic of the Highlands, when, driven by fate, he came an exile to the shores of New England, and wondered why, at gloamin' time, he delighted to play those old Scotch tunes with his face invariably turned towards the Green Mountains that lifted up their bald heads all along the East. Once, I recollect, my curiosity conquered my modesty, and I asked him why he did not play to the West as well as to the East for it, I thought, was much prettier with its fading crimson. "Natie, my little bairn," said he, and I thought his eyes looked tearful, "I maun play to the East for it brings anent my een the Highlands, the gowany glens, and croonin' waterfa's o' my native land. They were the sympathizing companions of my childhood and I lo'e them still." Then patting me on the head, he said, "ye shall gang to the Highlands wi' me," and sang, as I listened with unspeakable plea sure, 66 My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here My heart's in the Highlands a chasing the deer; A chasing the wild deer, and following the roe My heart's in the Highlands whe'ever I go. The hills of the Highland forever I love." McGregory, thou friend of my youth, thou art not forgotten. Although I cannot go to the Highlands with thee, for thou art now sleeping in the silent grave, away from the land of thy birth, yet thy songs and chats about Old Scotia, are still lingering with me, unworthily called "thy bairn." Could I now visit thy grave, I would weep there in remembrance of thy noble soul, the glow of whose patriotism exile never dimmed. * A term applied to a track of lowland along the banks of rivers, generally very fertile on account of deposits made there by floods. † Scotch, for child. YE stars! which are the poetry of heaven, If in your bright leaves we would read the fate That in our aspirations to be great, Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state, A beauty and a mystery, and create In us such love and reverence from afar, That fortune, fame, power, live, have named themselves a star. GOLDEN THOUGHTS FOR PARENTS. FROM THE GERMAN BY REV. B. BAUSMAN, THE fourth and fifth years usually form an important epoch in the history of human life. Here commences the period of playful amusements and of grouping together in youthful society. The child assumes the task of distinguishing and asserting its individual character, and naturally begins to cultivate a feeling of independence. We may regard it as a happy advantage, if it has been prepared for this task amid a circle of childern pretty much of its own age. Mingling with other children brings it into new relations. Here it learns to know many virtues, and also enters a sinful atmosphere, whose corruptible influence it can not wholly evade. It commences a contest with sin outside of itself, whereas hitherto its parents battled with and tried to subdue its sinful nature for it. We can, therefore, easily see that, from this time on, the mother should be far more cautious, careful, and rigid in her training. It is difficult to lay down definite rules. The first is self-evident -that only such children should be chosen for associates of whose character and training the parents approve, so that the child, from the start, may not learn to love and practice what is rude and wrong. It is true we have no certain assurance for the piety of those whose training has been correct on the part of their parents. Educated with blameless care, they are yet often exposed to the tuition of corrupt servants, who aid them in cultivating bad habits. It is here as it is with all human plans. Man may devise means and measures, but God must direct and bless to secure the end. Human wisdom will not suffice if holy angels will not hover around the child, and lead it with their guardian-guiding hands. Just think what often happens among the lower classes. A child of this age is put out on the street, lives and mingles with corrupt companions, sees and hears nothing but evil; and yet, as it often happens, it is preserved from vice and evil in their worst forms. We often can not understand why children who are so much exposed to evil, have such pure and pious dispositions. Occasionally we meet with such, and they are striking testimonies of the wisdom of God's providence and government, before which we should bow with the deepest reverence and humility of heart. Therefore let parents do their duty; choose companions for their children whose piety and good habits are beyond dispute, and thus commit them, with their fervent prayer, to the care and protection of Our Father in heaven. Secondly, the mother should carefully watch and examine the conduct of the child, whenever it has been in company with others. VOL V F The father often may not discover any essential change in the child for months, when the mother, in a few hours after the change is effected, can already observe, or rather feel, the clearest traces of a growth in sin or in piety. Then commences her solicitude and labor. How often must evil impressions be wiped away! How often can a single afternoon pervert and poison the whole previous training of a child. Now, the indispensable remedy is unbending rigor. There is a wide difference between the poison of sin which is developed from within out of man, and that which is infused from without into him. We find a similar difference between the disease of the body in the system and the poison in the atmosphere or elsewhere, which will destroy life if taken into the system. The foreign poison operates much more violently, and is far more destructive in its results. So soon as parents discover the symptoms of this alarming infection they should treat it with unsparing severity. By this means alone they can succeed in expelling the enemy and make his future entrance more difficult. By this, I mean that every sinful habit, acquired in this way, should be directly and severely treated with bodily punishment. Still, let not the child feel that its fault has been acquired from this or that companion. The reason of this is obvious. To regard others as the originators of its own sins, will give rise to a feeling of superiority and pride. It will excite a species of mistrust against the mother and the punishment she inflicts. It will look upon other children as happier in their sins, because less punished, and increase the desire of making common cause with them. Another very injudicious custom is that of giving parties to children. These are very popular in some communities and families. Here all their companions are formally invited as guests, and treated with all the lavish extravagance of a soiree. Candies, cakes, and luxuries of every variety are served up in the most costly style. Little boys and girls, like men and women in miniature, romp and revel to their ample satisfaction. They usually disperse at a late hour. Perhaps near midnight you can see these little men, laced in aprons, tripping along the street, with their little ladies by their side, practicing the rudiments of gallantry and courtship. These parties are excellent schools of levity and fantastic flourishes. They furnish these little ones with material for silly gossip, with which they anticipate the folly of riper years. For days and weeks following you can hear little girls, from six to eight years old, discuss, after the fashion of their mothers, the merits of the last party-the brilliant dress of one, and the antiquated tinsels of another; the sweet manners of the ladies and the gallantry of their beaux. And in addition to all this, some parents will yet tease their children about their childish courtships. To some parents this may, perhaps, seem like intelligence-youthful cultivation; but it is a dangerous method of training up souls for the solemn responsibilities of life and the glories of heaven. If there is any thing on earth calculated to obscure, pervert, and destroy the child-like simplicity in the soul of a child, it is this fantastic treatment of children. A pious mother can neither approve of it in her own family, nor have any patience with those who are guilty of it. Finally, I would yet mention obedience as a matter of primary importance in family training. Precisely on this point a great many parents, and especially many mothers, are most deplorably defective. Obedience is the pillar of all educational training, and, without exception, the ground-work of every regulation and order in the family. The whole life of the Christian is a continuous exercising of the graces of a cheerful obedience. Obedience, therefore, is the first duty and the most effective means to diminish sin in the world, and in the human heart. Obedience must at all times be unconditional. Wherever this is not the case, parents weaken their authority, the child daily grows more untractable, and its sinful nature will unfold itself with a fearful rapidity. There are parents and even teachers who are of the opinion that every command or prohibition imposed upon the child should be attended with a satisfactory explanation. They must be made acquainted with the reason of every parental request. Thus to enforce obedience to their commands, they will deliver long moral disquisitions to their children on the reasonableness of doing their duty. But if you do this you come down upon a level with your children, and treat them not parentally but childishly. You need not wonder nor try to restrain them if, in such a case, they urge objections from their own point of vision, which often can not be controverted. They will try to twist and find fault with your commands, and neither learn to obey their parents nor their God. Thus Our original sin consists in disobedience. We will not have God to rule over us. We would rather gratify our own pride, carnal inclinations, vanity and selfishness. Moreover, did God ever assign any reasons when He prohibited sin in Paradise? Did He tell our first parents why they should not eat of the forbidden fruit? We have the prohibition and the consequence-The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die-nothing more. it is in the training and education of children. The command and the punishment as the consequence, without expressly mentioning the latter in every instance. The experience of the child must teach it that disobedience invariably deserves and must receive punishment. Should the child come with its "Why?" the only reply can be, because the parents will have it so; or if its age and intelligence are more mature, the only safe reason to be assigned is, because God will have it so. Let a child constantly feel that it must do all things, because it is the will of its parents, and through them the will of God, and you apply the surest and safest remedy |