Now, it is in view of the reality and strength of these parental regards, thus flowing from a father’s or a mother’s heart upon their children, that we bid you see the force, the reason, and the right of the direction, Be kindly affectionate in all your intercourse with them.  And it is in the same view that we appeal to your own hearts, and ask whether it be not most revolting and wrong for a son or daughter to utter the word, or dart the look, or feel the feeling which is prompted by wickedness; a disdainful son or disrespectful daughter is a sight most painful to every right-minded man.

But while I mention this as the rule which should govern the family in their treatment of those who stand at its head, I would also beg leave to remark, that this same law should govern the heads of the family towards each other and all the members.  This is the only way by which reciprocal affectionate regard and treatment can be inculcated and insured.  The Holy Spirit has deemed this so important, that He has given the express injunction to parents:  “Fathers, provoke not your children;” and it is an injunction which parents need constantly to remember.  The natural and necessary subjection of the children to parental authority, unless the hearts of the parents be guided by religious principle, will often induce an arbitrary and enforced obedience, which, unless guided and controlled by affection, will have only the appearance of harshness, and will only produce unpleasant feeling.  Parents should never forget that it is always as unpleasant to a child to have his will and plans crossed as it is to themselves, and that, therefore, it is their own obedience to the injunction, Be kindly affectioned, which alone can make their authority both strong and pleasant.  There are again so many cares and anxieties connected with the details of family arrangements, and there are so much thoughtlessness and perversity in the depraved hearts of the most amiable and properly disposed children, that the patience of even the all-enduring mother will often be tried in a manner which nothing but divine grace can sustain.  Ill health and natural irritability, so constantly exposed to attack, will often increase the difficulty, and thus make the injunction, Be kindly affectioned, one of the most arduous duties of life.  But the triumph of principle will always be accompanied with corresponding valuable results in the happiness and comforts of the whole family circle.

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Original.

KNOW THYSELF.

Many instructive lessons may be conveyed to the minds of children in story and in verse.  We do not now remember who is the author of the story we are about to relate.  It may be familiar to many of our readers.  We venture, however, to repeat it in our own words, as it has an important moral worthy the attention of the old as well as the young:—­

A man and his wife were hard at work in a forest, cutting down trees.  The trees were very hardy and tall, and their axes were dull; the weather was cold and dreary, they were but poorly clad, and they had but little to eat.