"O children,- happy word of peace—my jewels and my gold, TUPPER. DEVOUT and pious was Eli, the patriarch and high-priest of the Hebrews, the acknowledged servant of God, and one of the true and faithful; yet, at the very foot of the household altar "his sons made themselves vile," and went down to untimely and dishonored graves. Meek and holy was Jacob, the last of the "three illustrious fathers" of God's chosen people, the renowned and triumphant suppliant of Peniel, yet his sons, with a single exception, had a fame of infamy for their unfilial and unfraternal deeds. Humble and spiritual was David, the sweet singer of Israel, and the princely shepherd of Judea type of the great "Shepherd and Bishop of your souls," - yet among his children were numbered Adonijah, the unnatural and traitorous; Amnon, the profligate; and Absalom, the cruel and rebellious. -- Hume was reckless of the solemn verities of religion, a gifted and distinguished champion of infidelity, yet he was the son of a godly mother, the child of many pious instructions and prayers. Aaron Burr occupies no enviable place upon the page of American history, given, as were his splendid genius and ripest energies to reproach his country, and his country's God; yet he was the son of the pious and devoted daughter of President Edwards. "Train Why is this? Is God unfaithful? His words are, up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart f. mit." Yet, here are examples of the holi 66 eller hails the oasis of the desert. Take heed to your demeanfor it hath been said that a man's best fortune, or his worst, is his wife." or; HUSBAND AND WIFE! To-day a thousand endearments may promise, long, long years of this chosen union. Not a brier may spring in your path, nor a cloud gather in your sky, nor a sorrow reign in your hearts. But to-morrow your cup of joy may lay dashed in scattered fragments at your feet. The tie that now unites you may be severed, and the grave close over your perished joys. Love, as ardent as yours, has been disappointed and crushed in a single hour. Hopes, fairer than the rose of Sharon, in the richness of early bloom, have been blasted by death. I have seen the youthful bride, the pride and flower of her sex, and the joy and crown of her devoted spouse, committed to the dust within a single year after she laid her young heart upon the altar of love. I have seen the young husband, in the glory of his growing manhood, and in the unabated ardor of his "first love," fall as a flourishing cedar on the sides of Lebanon, and be no more. Thus the dearest relatives are unspared by the fell destroyer. Ponder the truth, and let it stimulate you to discharge with promptness your mutual obligations, that no regrets may wring the heart, when the loved object of your affection is consigned to the grave. Sad and bitter are those regrets that often rend the hearts of the living at the graves of the departed. The remembrance of some unkind word, some heartless neglect, some duty disregarded, often pierces the soul with many sorrows. Be watchful-be affectionate-be kind-be faithful-be true. CHAPTER III. THE PARENTAL RELATION. "O children,-happy word of peace-my jewels and my gold, TUPPER. DEVOUT and pious was Eli, the patriarch and high-priest of the Hebrews, the acknowledged servant of God, and one of the true and faithful; yet, at the very foot of the household altar "his sons made themselves vile," and went down to untimely and dishonored graves. Meek and holy was Jacob, the last of the "three illustrious fathers" of God's chosen people, the renowned and triumphant suppliant of Peniel, yet his sons, with a single exception, had a fame of infamy for their unfilial and unfraternal deeds. Humble and spiritual was David, the sweet singer of Israel, and the princely shepherd of Judea type of the great "Shepherd and Bishop of your souls," - yet among his children were numbered Adonijah, the unnatural and traitorous; Amnon, the profligate; and Absalom, the cruel and rebellious. - Hume was reckless of the solemn verities of religion, a gifted and distinguished champion of infidelity, yet he was the son of a godly mother, the child of many pious instructions and prayers. Aaron Burr occupies no enviable place upon the page of American history, given, as were his splendid genius and ripest energies to reproach his country, and his country's God; yet he was the son of the pious and devoted daughter of President Edwards. Why is this? Is God unfaithful? His words are, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart f.m it." Yet, here are examples of the holi est parents having the most incorrigible children. Is the declaration false? This, by fair construction, encourages us to believe that a proper religious discipline tends at least, to produce the best developed characters in children. "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it." If it be not a positive promise, the language is designed, certainly to create a positive expectation that a proper training of children will establish them in virtue.* Surely the fault is not in God. And yet, it has been adduced as evidence of Divine Sovereignty — that the base Absalom was the son of pious David, and good Hezekiah the son of wicked Ahaz as if there were little or no parental responsibility in the matter. We are far from denying sovereignty to God in this or other human affairs, but a glance at the facts in the several examples before mentioned will show that in the cases cited, if not in others, parental government was defective. Eli's sons were ruined by his excessive indulgence. God expressly declared that dire calamities were visited upon his family, "because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not." The fearful alienation, and almost tragical scenes that characterized the family of Jacob resulted wholly from his partiality to Joseph. The guilty brothers saw it undisguised in the "coat of many colors." David also was chargeable with immoderate indulgence; for it is said of his son Adonijah "that his father had not displeased him at any time, in saying, Why hast thou done so? With all his piety, he was also guilty of some gross immoralities, as a back-slider, which must have greatly hindered the force of his otherwise excellent example. * This passage is frequently construed as a promise in the literal sense. Although the phraseology favors that view, yet the difficulty of reconciling it with known facts has led the author to doubt whether the usual is the correct interpretation. For this reason he has qualified his language as above The mother of Hume, though a godly woman, and deeply anxious for his salvation, must have lacked the firmness and decision so essential in family government, since she afterwards embraced the infidel sentiments of her son, through his arguments and importunity. Of the mother of the infamous Aaron Burr, we may not speak as confidently, yet one fact deserves to be noticed. In infancy he was brought to the brink of the grave, (this his mother relates in a letter to her father, President Edwards,) and she besought God with great earnestness and distress to restore him to health, and "after a great struggle" seemed to be willing that he should die. Evidently before she thought herself resigned to the expected bereavement there was a hard struggle in her mind, and such an importunity at the throne of grace as lack of reconciliation begets. Might she not have been too earnest that her own will should be gratified? Dr. Calamy relates that he once visited a culprit, awaiting in his cell the hour of execution. He was accompanied by the prisoner's parents with whom he resided. In vain they exhorted the culpritson to repentance and confession. He only replied like a fiend incarnate, "Sir, I scorn any thing of this nature, and would rather die." With this unyielding, malignant spirit he went to the scaffold and was executed. While his father stood amazed at a career so strange and unaccountable, he was reminded of a prayer which he offered for this son when brought nigh to the grave in his infancy. He became so importunate that his wife expostulated with him, but, nevertheless, this expression fell from his lips: "Let him prove what he will, if he is but spared I shall be satisfied." He could not avoid connecting that petition with the dreadful end of his son. We speak not with assurance, but simply inquire, may not the example of Burr and his mother belong to the same class with that cited by Dr. Calamy? There may be exceptions to this truth, but facts show that there is a marked connection between the characters of men |