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POETRY THE BENEDICTION.

are a man, and must not mind it." He promptly replied, "when I want pockets behind, you call me a little boy, but when you want me to go into the water you call me a man." The child saw the inconsistency of his mother, and as might be expected, continued to persist, in refusing to obey her. It is to be feared that many parents, in their daily intercourse with their children, are in the habit of practising similar inconsistency. It is believed parents would avoid many such mistakes, were they never to promise what they cannot, or do not intend to perform. Violated promises, not only tend to sour the temper of a child, but to stamp the character of the mother as a deceiver, and to prevent the good effect her example might otherwise produce. The beautiful unity between principle and practice should never, in one instance, be disconnected by the inconsistency of parents.

A widowed mother, on her death bed, called all her children to her bed side, and said to them, 'My dear children, now that I am going to die, who will take care of you! with whom shall I leave you? I will leave you with Jesus. You must love him, and pray to him, and he will take care of you.' Her little boy went immediately by himself to pray to Jesus. He said, 'I believe that Jesus will take care of us, because mother said he would, and I never knew mother to tell us any thing but what was true, and I never was so happy as while praying to Jesus.'

For the Mother's Magazine.
THE

BENEDICTION.

"AND THEY BROUGHT YOUNG CHILDREN TO HIM. AND HE TOOK THEM UP IN HIS ARMS, PUT HIS HANDS UPON THEM, AND BLESSED THEM."-Mark

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x. 13-16.

O see him through that throng now move!
With looks of kindness and of love;

And every infant he hath taken,
And to each mother kindly spoken,
And gently on each bending head,
His sacred hand in blessing laid;
And mothers are their charge receiving,
With throbs of deeper, holier feeling,
For every child that thus was given
Has now become an heir of heav'n.
And well they know the grace they need,
These plants to tend, these souls to feed
To guide them through this world of sin,
Yet keep them free from ev'ry stain.
To so instruct and train them all,
That when is heard the Master's call,
They may be fitted here to stand,
Firm in his cause, a holy band,

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To spread throughout this world his fame,
To put his foes to flight and shame,
Or, if it shall to Heaven seem good,
To seal her faith in martyr's blood.

E. D. M.

MRS. W.-While I was soliciting subscribers, I called at a house for the money where a lady had previously subscribed; her mother, an aged woman of eighty-five years, setting in the room, took the Magazine and read it, while I was conversing with her daughter; and as I rose to depart, she said to me with her eyes filled with tears, and a voice so faltering that I could hardly understand her, "Oh, how I should have prized such a work, could I have had it put into my hands when I had a young family. She handed me a dollar, and said, "Do put down my name, that I may give it away, and do all the good I can while I live, which will be but a short time." M. W.

THE

MOTHER'S MAGAZINE

FOR JUNE, MDCCCXXXIII.

For the Mother's Magazine.

INTERVIEW BETWEEN MRS. JONES AND MRS. SMITH.

"Do you ask, then, what will educate your son? Your example will educate him; your conversation; the business he sees you transact; the likings and dislikings you express will educate him."

"Dear Mrs. Smith, how glad I am to see you; I have requested this interview, that I may avail myself of your friendly advice. Your former admonitions were not lost upon me. I am as one awakened out of a criminal slumber, and can see nothing before my family but inevitable ruin. My children, who have been so long indulged in habits of disobedience and idleness, are now becoming vicious. Why have I not perceived my errors before their consequences became irreparable! I fear I am forever doomed to be an unhappy mother."

"Not quite so bad, I would hope, Mrs. Jones. Though your children are in a dangerous condition, yet I am persuaded that you gain nothing by complaining, nothing by despondency. Rather seek to know the worst of your case; lay your heart open still more to conviction. Be willing to be made acquainted with yourself, and your faults, even at the expense of a right hand, or a right eye. I would guard you against a very common error; instead of complaining of your unhappiness to your fellow men, confess to your heavenly Father your sins and your ignorance. In the former case, you will only harden your heart; in the latter, it will be made tender and susceptible of divine impressions."

"I acknowledge with shame and regret, Mrs. Smith, that I have often parleyed with an awakened conscience. I have never felt satisfied that it was right to have my boys saunter away their time in the company of the vicious and the idle. Still, I flattered myself that the evils which would result to them from such indulgences, might soon be done away by a few months' residence abroad. I hoped that when they became old enough to have fixed habits, they would listen to the voice of reason. Meantime my covetous disposition led me to believe that it could not be necessary, or even right, to spend my time, with my increasing little family, in attending either to their habits or their tempers. I trusted I could

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INTERVIEW BETWEEN MRS. JONES AND MRS. SMITH.

easily set them right by a few rigid lessons on the folly of indulging a perverse temper. And as their father and I have prided ourselves upon our industrious habits, by means of which we have acquired a competency, I expected, as a matter of course, that they would follow our example. The opinions I have so presumptuously entertained, now seem to be like the phantoms of a disordered imagination. I have been led so far astray by a worldly spirit, that I despair of a reformation in any of my family.'

"It is too apparent, my friend, that your children are in a sad way, and that you will have much to contend with. You will labor under many disadvantages in correcting their faults, and yet, I apprehend that your chief difficulty will be found in changing your own ways."

"I am greatly distressed, Mrs. Smith, to find that one trouble seldom comes alone; and what especially alarms me is, that one sin brings in its train others, so appalling to my awakened conscience, that they even now seem to hiss upon me like a nest of young vipers; but still I have not told you my heaviest misfortune. I feel like the unwary traveller, who, having heedlessly lost his way, is not merely ashamed to retrace his steps, but unwilling to avow the fact to others. I have not only lost the little influence I once possessed over my children, but my husband's manner is exceedingly changed. While our children were young, he was a most affectionate husband; but now, when I more than ever need his advice and assistance, in the management of our turbulent children, he often justifies them, and condemns me. If I reprove them for glaring offences, he thinks I might have done it in a less objectionable manner. Though he does not always say this in words, yet the looks and gestures of my boys plainly indicate that in their opinion their father is right, and their mother is wrong; so that when this subject is brought up for discussion, it produces altercation, and usually ends in crimination and recrimination."

"You have presented a mortifying picture of the state of your family, Mrs. Jones. No wonder that you consider your children in a hopeless condition. Their insubordination would be awfully alarming, if you and your husband were at this moment, perfectly agreed as to the best mode of regaining your lost advantage over their hearts, minds, and consciences. You and your husband profess to be governed by the precepts of the Bible; but you will allow me to say that your daily conduct is at variance with its plainest dictates. Did I not hope that your heart was touched by the Spirit and grace of God, I should consider it fruitless to suggest any motives, however imperative, even for your consideration. It is worse than idle for you and your husband to spend your time in settling the question who is right, and who is wrong. If you knew that your house was enveloped in flames, and that both of you had been the means of the conflagration, would you spend your energies in settling the question, which was the most in fault? A bystander would be shocked on witnessing such a contest, or listening to altercations under such appalling circumstances?

"I fear, Mrs. Jones, you have fallen upon an error, which has destroyed many families. In such cases both parents are commonly to blame. I well remember, however, an instance to the contrary. While I was residing in L. Mrs. R. and myself were on terms of the greatest intimacy. She had been

INTERVIEW BETWEEN MRS. JONES AND MRS. SMITH.

85

blessed with a superior education. When I first knew her, I felt that nothing was wanting but piety, to constitute her just the friend I should choose to supply the place of my excellent sisters, from whom I had so recently been separated. One year after our acquaintance, she became a decided Christian. The father of her husband was an eminent divine, and his family were of the first grade, both as to intellect and rank in society. My friend's husband had therefore enjoyed every advantage which an enlightened and Christian education could afford. For a considerable period I was left to conjecture the cause of his acquiring habits of intemperance, especially as his home was rendered enchanting to the virtuous and intelligent, by the smiles and graces of such a good, dignified, and accomplished lady and housewife. But I subsequently learned that this son was the pet of his mother. She always thought her darling son must have every thing he wanted. Thus a habit of eating and drinking too freely, commenced in childhood, but ripened into excess after he became a husband and a father. Such was the commanding influence of this young man, when I first knew him, that it was often remarked, that if Mr. B. were a Christian, he might do more good in society than even our minister. But unfortunately his influence was thrown into the opposite scale. His business, if not wholly neglected, began to decline; his temper, naturally amiable, became at length austere and irascible. What a trial for the mother of five precious children! Though my intercourse with this lovely woman was more intimate than usually subsists between sisters, yet the unfortunate habits, the neglectful treatment, the unkind language, which this Christian sister continually received from the father of her children and the friend of her youth, was never, in a solitary instance, named, or even alluded to, by either of us; and it is believed that this good wife, on no occasion, ever broached this painful subject to any earthly friend. Her husband was always treated with courtesy and affection, and as became the master of his family; and thus he was honored in the sight of his children and servants. As might be expected from the judicious conduct of such a wife and mother, her children, who are nearly reared to manhood, promise to become the ornaments of society and the defenders of the faith.

scene.

"A number of years since, I was visiting in the family of one who bore the office of deacon or elder in the church, where I witnessed a most mortifying A contest arose between the husband and the wife. The wife insisted that John should take out a log from the back of the chimney, as it would occasion a smoke. The husband, on the contrary, contended that as he had ordered it, and was master of his own house, the servant boy should put it on. Three interesting children were present to witness this pernicious example. What a triumph it must be, which arises from seeing the partner of one's bosom vanquished, either by overpowering arguments, or made to submit to superior strength!

"I once had occasion to point out to a Christian mother some defects I had discovered in her daughter, a promising girl of fourteen, who had spent some weeks in my family, when, in an almost despairing manner, she replied, 'I fear the inevitable ruin of that daughter. Her father thinks I am much too severe in my regimen with her, and I know he is too remiss; so that between

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us both, I expect she will be ruined." How important that parents, instead of comparing their views with a defective and partial standard, should consult the 'oracles of divine truth.' There is a standard of right and wrong, which is

unerring.

"As I have had occasion to reside in many different families, it has often required but a few days' observation, to perceive that the intercourse between many a husband and wife, might be pronounced a game at even and odds.' If you became acquainted with the opinion of one, you might be sure to find that of the other would be directly opposite.

"When I was a child, I was very fond of the writings of Dr. Watts. I well remember the effort I made to comprehend this sentiment: 'Happy matches made in heaven.' Little did I then dream of the living comments on this subject which I should witness in after life. I am indebted to a lady of my acquaintance for the following statement: 'It is but justice to the living virtues of my aged and hoary headed father to say, that his own blessed example furnishes a model for the imitation of every husband and father. My mother's birthday happened on the 22d of February, the same day of the month with that of Gen. Washington. This day was therefore always celebrated as com memorating the birthday of two very important personages, Gen. Washington and my mother. Every child in the family was prompted by the example of papa, to exhibit unusual marks of respect and affection for this best of wives and mothers, who was represented by her affectionate husband, to be as truly distinguished for her piety and good sense in her appropriate sphere, as Gen. W. was in his. How opposite this conduct from that displayed by many a husband, who fears to elevate the mother of his children to the dignity of "mistress of ceremonies" in his family, from the mistaken apprehension that in doing this she may infringe upon his own rights. In speaking of the special attentions given to my mother on her birthday, I would not be misapprehended. So invariably polite has my father ever been to my excellent mother, and so unconsciously has his respect been manifested, that you could not question the fountain from whence it flowed. There was no "scrupulous exactness in paying those minute attentions" which should constitute the warp and woof of wedded love; they rather seemed like the descent of showers from clouds surcharged with moisture, or like emanations from the glorious orb of day, whose beams, while they enlighten and warm, exhilarate all surrounding nature.'"

For the Mother's Magazine.

THE INFANT.

ESSAY NO. II.

A few days since, I called on a pious mother, the circle of whose responsibilities, duties, and affections, has been recently enlarged by the addition of another immortal mind to be trained for God. I sat in silent admiration of the beautiful casket which contains a jewel more precious than rubies, and which all the gold of Ophir cannot buy-a precious, undying soul, whose future character and final destiny are to be determined by parental influence. My friend

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