66 a brighter) to the traveller in distant climes or the exile in lonely banishment, the earthly Bethlehem of his hopes. O, make it the nucleus around which a cluster of hearts, with hopes brighter than the burning seven of Pleiades, shall gather from their scattered pathways to take sweet counsel, and trim their lamps for the bridegroom's coming! Live ye as one together in all that appertains to love and duty, and your early friendship will grow and mingle with advancing ycars, as two trees, planted near cach other, interlock their spreading branches and blend their foliage, as time rolls on. THOU FAITHLESS HUSBAND! forgetful of the marriagevow, and looking down upon thy second self," as the “weaker vessel" in an humbling sense, thou hast yet to learn that in much she is thy superior. In her keen percep tion, her common sense and sound judgment, in her refined taste and lasting fidelity, she excels thee by a lengthy stride. Thou hast more head than she, perhaps, but she hath the larger heart. Her strong affections live amid all thy coldness and neglect, as when first she became thy bride. More faithful and confiding she turns to thee with a trusting spirit when thy own base heart is treacherous as the sca. She loves on with the ardor of her carly love through all the storms that gather on thy brow, and all the tempests that thunder on thy tongue, and all the alienations that rankle in thy heart. Yea, if drunkard were thy name, and thy visage blotched and ulcered till the human were wellnigh stricken out, and thy manliness were gone, and thy body sinking to decay, she would love thee still, and her warm affections would cling to thy wasting self like "ivy to the falling tower." Pattern of fidelity! Love's traitorless dc fender amid a wreck of hopes! Then, regard her not as the “weaker vessel” in any inferiorsense. She was not “taken from thy head, to rule thee; nor from thy feet, to be trampled on and crushed; but from thy side, to be equal with thee; from beneath thine arm, to be protected; and near thy heart, to be beloved." I repeat, love her. Protect her. Confide in her. Think not she has too little sense to be consulted in thy business. Poor compliment to thee, if this be true, for a choice so wretched! What! have the world believe that you have chosen a fool for a partner? If not, love, cherish and honor her as thy better half." Let the face of thy wife publish abroad thy conjugal fidelity; for it is a truthful saying, "observe the face of a wife to know the husband's character." AND YE WIVES! sharers in the bliss or misery of married life; know ye for what these nuptial bands are tied? It is not that ye may flirt, or gad, or live at case; but to counsel and comfort, reflect and toil — to be a help-meet in scasons of prosperity or adversity to diminish trials and multiply joys. Listen to these quaint words of an eccentric counsellor. "There are three things which a good wife should resemble, and yet these three things she should not resemble. She should be like a town clock, keep good time and regularity she should not be like a town clock speak so loud that all the town may hear her. She should be like a snail- prudent, and keep within her own house. She should not be like a snail, carry all she has upon her back. She should be like an echo -- speak when spoken to. She should not be like an echo, determined always to have the last word." Practice upon the spirit of this advice, and let the wedded life be seasoned with love, cheerfulness and content, making the best of the little ills and vexations of the domestic circle, and ossibly the unfeeling, unloving husbands many not be so cruel after all. Let home be cheered by your smiles, and made joyous by the exercise of glad affections; let your husbands find in you confiding and unwavering spirits; let the duties of your respective spheres be discharged in good faith and cheerily; and HOME will be the spot dearer than all others to your toiling partners, hailed at the close of each wearisome day as the worn and jaded trav eller hails the oasis of the desert. Take heed to your demcanor; for it hath been said that "a man's best fortune, or his worst, is his wife." 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 fect. 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 carly 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 — bo true. CHAPTER III. THE PARENTAL RELATION. "O children,―happy word of peace-my jewels and my gold, 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. Meck 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. Humblo 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 occupics 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 arc, up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart f.m it." Yet, here aro examples of the holi 58 est tents 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 ho has qualified his language as above |