A good example evermore before the eyes of children, will tend to make every part of religion seem more lovely to them, and every thing that is sinful more sinful. It will make the moral sense of the children quick to discern between good and evil, and so render their feelings more acutely painful, if they should attempt to do any thing wrong.

Every thing a child learns from the examples of his parents, and from answers to those inquiries which those examples may call forth, he will think upon more frequently, and retain in his mind a longer period. It will be woven into his whole soul, and into his whole character; and it will influence his judgment, his feelings, his affections, and his conduct. It will make resistance to his parents' wishes a most grievous conflict; it will make forbidden pleasures bitter as wormwood. It will not only influence the children while in their infancy, but when they grow to manhood, and exert an energy which will be felt through every future period of their life. If this influence be strengthened by a prudent exercise of authority, the manly youth will be as pliant as the child had been, and walk by his parents' side in the ways of holiness and heaven with delight. It will make transgression tenfold more painful, and it will make perseverance in evil a struggle almost intolerable.

The following may serve to illustrate these statements: A minister at his ordination gave the following account of the means by which he was led to give himself to God. "At one period of my life," said he, "I had nearly been betrayed into the principles of infidelity. But when assailed by infidel reasonings, there was one argument in favour of revealed religion, which I could never get the better of; the consistent Christian conduct of my own father." In speaking of the commentator Thomas Scott, Daniel Wilson observes, "He carried his religion into his house, and placed before his family the doctrine he taught, embodied in his own uprightness. He exhibited to his household a holy, amiable pattern of true piety, and this consistency in personal religion, instructed his children better than a thousand set lessons.

Accordingly, all his children became, by the divine mercy, his comfort during life, and now remain to call him blessed, and hand down his example to another generation."

And now let me exhort you to consider seriously the immense power which God hath enabled you, by your example, to exert over the character of your children: and let me urge you to resolve, so to order all your conduct, that it may in all things operate in favour of your children's souls. Expect nothing good from your offspring, if your example be faulty; but if your example be that of å Christian, never fear but that it will produce upon their minds a happy and a mighty influence. Let your holy example meet them from their birth: let your example be as perfect as possible from the beginning; and let the example of the father and the example of the mother bear both one way. As far as your circumstances will admit, be what you would have your children to be, and do what you would have your children to do. Bear it in mind, that to be Christians, is the best way to have our children Christians; and that the first and principal thing, so far as our instrumentality is concerned, in order to secure the salvation of our household, is to adopt the resolution of the Psalmist, "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way: I will walk before my house with a perfect heart."-Psalm ci. 2.

The influence of Religious Instruction upon the character of Children.

The second means by which parents may exert a powerful and salutary influence upon the hearts and lives of their children, is religious instruction. As it is impossible to communicate to children a knowledge of religion, or to bring them to imbibe its spirit and to obey its precepts, without the assistance of a good example, so also is it impossible for a good example to exert all its blessed influence upon the souls of our children, unless it be accompanied with religious instruction. Much that we have said in the preceding chapter, on the efficacy and utility of a pious example, supposes that example to

be united with instruction. Much of the advantage of a good example consists in its tendency to excite inquiry after religious truth, to prepare the mind to understand and love the truth, and to assist and guide our children in their endeavours to obey its dictates. Example and instruction should therefore go hand in hand in every family, and both may be made exceedingly useful, in promoting the welfare of the souls committed to our care.

The same Jesus who commanded his disciples to seek the salvation of men by their good example, commanded them to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," that by its truth and energy, all nations might be converted to the Lord. The Redeemer himself set them the example, by "teaching every where," and after his resurrection they went forth, "turning men," by the preaching of the Gospel, "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." "The word of truth," as well as "the armour of righteousness," were the weapons by which they shook "the strongholds of sin," and established the empire of the Saviour among the nations. The Gospel is appointed by God to be the great instrument in the regeneration of the world; it is wonderfully adapted to the purpose, and God has declared, that "as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither again, but watereth the earth, and maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Isai. lv.

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Parents are especially commanded to instruct their children in religion, and they are encouraged to expect that the result of well-conducted instruction will be, that their children will be led to love and honour God. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and

when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and on thy gates." Deut. vi. 6-9. The same injunction is repeated in the eleventh chapter, and similar injunctions are given in other parts of the same book; and in all cases it is intimated that the tendency of such instruction is to promote the piety of the rising generation.

In the New Testament, parents are commanded to I bring up" their children" in the nurture and admonition of the Lord:" and in the case of Timothy, the early instructions he received from his parents, are spoken of as the means of his conversion. "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned; that even from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. iii. 4, 5.

(To be continued.)

WHAT TRUE REFORMERS MUST LOOK FOR.

GOOD men must never look for their reward from men. They must be willing to spend their life and employ their talents in doing good, without receiving any kind returns from their fellow men. Nay more; they must be willing to do good and suffer evil; they must be willing to spend their all for the good of their fellows, and be repaid with calumny and persecution in return.

I do not say that good men will be always treated ill, much less that they will be treated ill by all: I only say that this is possible, and that every man should be prepared for it. I know that some great philanthropists obtain a great share of public favour, and that all obtain the approbation and friendship of some individuals. I also know that the reproaches cast upon them while they live, are often removed when they are dead; and that posterity often pay the debt of praise which their contem

poraries withheld. I know all this; but it still remains true, that good men will be greatly disappointed, if they look for the reward of their well-doing from men.

age:

I was led to make these remarks by a perusal of the life of William Penn. A nobler and a worthier man scarce ever lived. He was pious, benevolent, and courageous; he was peaceful, forbearing, and forgiving; he was learned, laborious, and disinterested; he possessed the whole round of Christian graces, and he exemplified, in his whole character, in all his dealings with his fellow men, the spirit and the principles of his Master Jesus Christ. His name is honoured at the present day in almost a hundred lands, and his memory is held in veneration by almost every sect. The history of his life is hardly any thing else, than a long story of labours and sufferings in the cause of truth and human happiness. He became a minister of the Gospel when about twenty years of he was made a prisoner for attending a religious meeting about the age of twenty-three; and about the age of twentyfour he was imprisoned seven months for his religion in the Tower. During his confinement he wrote several treatises, one of which was his famous work entitled "No Cross, No Crown." When about twenty-six, he was tried at the Old Bailey, on which occasion he defended himself, and pleaded the cause of liberty in such a manner as to confound his persecutors, and astonish his generation. From this time to his seventieth year he abounded in benevolent and godly labours, both in England, on the Continent, and in America. He used his influence with king Charles the Second, king James the Second, king William the Third, and Queen Anne, in succession, in favour of religious liberty; and wrote not less, perhaps, than twenty works against the principle of persecution. He visited prisoners, and got them set at liberty; and attended to the families of the persecuted, and expended large sums of money in works of charity both to the bodies and the souls of men. He planted the colony of Pennsylvania, gave it a liberal constitution, and expended on it many thousands of pounds. He formed alliances with the Indians for their