EARLY INFLUENCE. At his first aptness the maternal love It turned to habit: and from vices free, -Dryden. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Corporal punishment might soon be suppressed, did parents make it their constant care to render it unnecessary. Begin with your child in the cradle, and govern him by gentle methods. Do not accustom him to be shaken or slapped every hour of the day. You can so train him that violence will never be necessary. It is possible to guide with a look, reward with a smile, and punish with a frown. Forbear threatening. It is probably even worse for a child's moral nature to be accustomed to constant threats of the rod, than to be occasionally punished with it. You are to excite a fear of doing wrong, not a fear of punishment. The former motive strengthens good principles; the latter, in its excess, always debilitates the character. Great harm is often done by punishing a child in presence of others. If whipping must be done, let it take place with the utmost privacy. This principle should be carried out in all methods of correction. Be sure a child understands your command before you rebuke him for disobedience.— Cobbett. HUMAN LIFE. Pliny has compared a river to human life. I have never read the passage in his works, but I have been a hundred times struck with the analogy, particularly amidst mountain scenery. The river, small and clear in its origin, gushes forth from rocks, falls into deep glens, and wantons and meanders through a wild and picturesque country, nourishing only the uncultivated tree or flower by its dew or spray. In this, its state of infancy and youth, it may be compared to the human mind, in which fancy and strength of imagination are predominant-it is more beautiful than useful. When the different rills or torrents join, and descend into the plain, it becomes slow and stately in its movements; it is applied to move machinery, to irrigate meadows, and to bear upon its bosom the stately barge; in this mature state, it is deep, strong, and useful. As it flows on towards the sea, it loses its force and its motion, and at last, as it were, becomes lost and mingled with the mighty abyss of waters. One might pursue the metaphor still further and say, that in its origin, its thundering and foam, when it carries down clay from the bank and becomes impure, it resembles the youthful mind affected by dangerous passions. And the influence of a lake in calming and clearing the turbid water may be compared to the effect of reason in more mature life, when the tranquil, deep, cool, and unimpassioned mind is freed from its fever, its troubles, bubbles, noise, and foam. And, above all, the sources of a river, which may be considered as belonging to the atmosphere, and its termination in the ocean, may be regarded as imaging the divine origin of the human mind, and its being ultimately returned to, and lost in, the Infinite and Eternal Intelligence from which it originally sprung.-Sir Humphry Davy. LOVE! Love, shall I read thy dream? oh! is it not Yes! lone and lowly is that home, yet there Something that mellows and that glorifies, Breathes o'er it ever from the tender skies, E'en like the soft and spiritual glow Kindling rich woods, whereon the ethereal bow Then by the hearth shall many a glorious page, And the rich unison of mingled prayer, Thence duly should arise; Lifting th' eternal hope, the adoring breath Of spirits not to be disjoin'd by death, -Hemans. PETTY EVILS, Remember that life is not entirely made up of great evils, or heavy trials, but that the perpetual recurrence of petty evils and small trials is the ordinary and appointed exercise of Christian graces. To bear with the feelings of those about us, with their infirmities, their bad judg ments, their ill-breeding, their perverse tempers; to endure neglect where we feel we have deserved attention, and ingratitude where we expected thanks; to bear with the company of disagreeable people, whom Providence has placed in our way, and whom He has, perhaps, provided on purpose for the trial of our virtue,-these are the best exercise, and the better because not chosen by ourselves. To bear with vexations in business, with disappointments in our expectations, with interruptions in our retirement, with folly, intrusion, disturbance; in short, with whatever opposes our will and contradicts our humour,this habitual acquiescence appears to be the very essence of self-denial. These constant, inevitable, but inferior evils, properly improved, furnish a good moral discipline, and might well, in the days of ignorance, have superseded pilgrimage and penance,-Hannah More. SWEET MANNERS. There are a thousand engaging ways, which every person may put on without running the risk of being deemed either affected or foppish. The sweet smile, the quiet cordial bow, the earnest movement in addressing a friend, or more especially a stranger who may be recommended to us, the graceful attention which is so captivating when united with self-possession,-these will ensure us the good regards of all. There is a certain softness of manner which should be cultivated, and which, in either man or woman, adds a charm that is even more irresistible than beauty.-W. Jones, F.S.A, AMUSEMENT AND RECREATION. I never lose any time. I do not think that lost which is spent in amusement or recreation, some time every day; but always be in the habit of being employed. Never err the least in truth. Never say an ill thing of a person when thou canst say a good thing of her; not only speak charitably, but feel so. Never be irritable or unkind to anybody. Never indulge thyself in luxuries that are not necessaries. Do all things with consideration; and when thy path to act right is most difficult, feel confident in that power alone which is able to assist thee, and exert thy own powers as far as they go.-Mrs. Elizabeth Fry. VISITING. If we engage into a large acquaintance and various familiarities, we set open our gates to the invaders of most of our time; we expose our life to a quotidian ague of frigid impertinences, which would make a wise woman tremble to think of.-Cowley. IMPORTANT. When your child is sent to school, be careful to stipulate that a chair be provided for it to sit upon, instead of that instrument of torture, a form. More young girls suffer from weakness in their backs from this cause than any other; and from the neglect of a little care in early life being bestowed on this subject, they are frequently made miserable for the remainder of their days. If all mothers insist upon this, forms will be abolished, and the next generation will bless you. THE HE following extracts, being a few quotations from the works of good men, are here noted down as a guide to prayer. Without it we are nothing, with it we are mighty. It is a glorious state to be in harmony with God; and by prayer, we assuredly learn His will, and act according to His teaching: When is the time for prayer?— With the first beams that light the morning sky, Lift up thy thoughts on high: Commend thy loved ones to His watchful care :- And in the noontide hour, If worn by toil, or by sad cares opprest, And He will give you rest. Thy voice shall reach Him through the fields of air :- When the bright sun hath set Whilst yet eve's glowing colours deck the skies,- For those who in thy joys and sorrows share :- And when the stars come forth When to the trusting heart sweet hopes are given, And the deep stillness of the hour gives birth To pure bright dreams of heaven, Kneel to thy God-ask strength, life's ills to bear :- |