as well as the mirth and the innocence which have girt this great word round about with its bright girdle of true glory.  “Suffer little children to come unto me,” says the Lord Jesus, “and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  We may say likewise, following the beauteous expression of our Savior, “Suffer little children to come into our homes, and forbid them not their mirth and their joy, for their contentment is now the one lesson that will take deep hold on their lives, and their souls will grow rapidly in such surroundings.”  Says the poet Southey:  “A house is never perfectly furnished for enjoyment unless there is a child in it rising three years old, and a kitten rising six weeks.”

“He is the happiest,” says Goethe, “be he King or peasant, who finds peace in his Home.”  Especially should

THE YOUNG MAN

be taught the value of a Home.  If his advisers lay before him the lesson of life in all its aspects, he will indeed be a prodigal if he have not a Home of his own almost immediately upon leaving the fatherly roof.  There are no reasons, no exceptions, which relieve the healthy, able-bodied young man from an early advance on the enemies who threaten the welfare of the citizen.  The strongest fortification which the human heart can throw up against temptation is the Home.  Certain men are almost invincible against the onslaughts of the many base allurements which wreak such misery on all sides of us.  Why are they so firm?  It is because a glorious example has stood before their minds, a liberal and older knowledge of the world has aided their early endeavors, and a plentiful advice has fastened in their understandings the wisdom of virtue and industry.  If your sons have Homes of their own, you can leave them, as a great General leaves his lieutenants to occupy a country, here a fortress held in safety, there a cantonment with natural defenses, and there a “city on a hill,” while you advance into those other regions which are written on the map of your destiny, “sustained by the unfaltering trust” that you have kept the great obligation imposed on you, and handled your forces for the best advantage of the cause you served.

[Illustration]

DUTIES OF PARENTS.

     Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
     To teach the young idea how to shoot.—­Thomson.

By the general voice of mankind, children are held to be a blessing to the good.  Where the bonds of love do not tighten as the children grow, it is like those cases where the chords and muscles do not fasten together after a hurt—­there has been malpractice.  Let us not live like quacks.  There are some general rules in life which will lead us toward a greater enjoyment of our children’s lives.  Through them and their issue we become immortal on this earth.  Death cannot sweep us down entirely.  We leave our lives set in a younger