Sketch of the Author's Life.

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HE following sketch of my past history, which, at your request, I furnish, can be of little interest or value, any farther than perhaps leading the minds of Christian parents properly to estimate the importance of the duties devolving upon them, and begetting a higher appreciation of the value of the weekly rest, as affording an opportunity to all Christians, however poor their circumstances or laborious their employment, of imparting instruction to their offspring. It may tend also to show that no Christian mother with the Bible in her hand, and possessing the power of reading and understanding the blessed truths it reveals, can plead excuse if she allow her children to grow up in ignorance of those truths, the knowledge of which would lead them in safety and happiness through all the temptations to which youth is exposed in this world of folly and wickedness.

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If she properly estimates the importance of the blessings imparted by the knowledge of God, and really feels the power of the love of God in her own heart, poverty may surround her, the pressure of domestic cares may lie heavily upon her, or she may be engaged in the most menial and laborious employment, but, in the midst of all this, she will find opportunity to awaken and enlighten the young minds of her offspring. It is the duty of Christian parents, in whatever situation in life, to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and it is a duty which they can entrust to no one else without a direct violation of the command of their Saviour, and incurring a fearful risk as regards the well-being of their children.

Is it not a strange sight, to see a Christian parent so deeply involved in business, so engrossed with the cares of this life, or so occupied with other matters, however important, that he is compelled to entrust the moral and religious training of his children to a hireling?-a preacher so much engaged in proclaiming the Gospel to sinners in the world, that he has no time to lead his own little ones to the feet of Jesus?—a father so occupied with the improvement of his neighbours, with Sabbath-schools, prayer and class meetings, or even

ing lectures and sermons, that he has no leisure to lead, in proper season, the devotions of his own' little circle at home? Such a man substitutes his own way for the will of God; and, in so far as he does so, the consequences will be seen in the future character of his children; and even he himself will suffer loss in the health of his own soul.

Parents, with the Bible in their hands, and the word of God hidden in their hearts, having the blessed hours of Sabbath rest as their birthright, however humble their circumstances or toilsome their life, can never be entirely destitute of an opportunity for training and instructing their offspring.

In glancing back on the years of childhood, and tracing the influences which have surrounded me through youth, I am convinced, that, in so far as my mind has been awakened to intelligence, and my character formed to virtue, under God, I owe all to my parents, but especially to my mother: her earnest and indefatigable exertions, in the face of difficulties which would have deterred any common mind from attempting such a task, together with her ceaseless watchfulness, secured for us such an amount of knowledge, and formed in us such habits, as raised us above the temptations which usually beset youth in the humble walks of life.

While the constant necessity existed, as soon as we were able to do anything—for all our exertions toward the support of the family allowed us little time to cultivate acquaintance, whether injurious or beneficial-our mother's constant endeavour was, even through the very early years of childhood, to keep our hands and heads fully employed.

Memory carries me back to a period when my parents, with five little ones around them, tenanted an obscure garret in the outskirts of one of the principal towns of Scotland. By some of those vicissitudes common to all, my father was, at this time, out of employment; hardships were endured, pinching want sometimes visited their fire-side. Of these things I have heard, but have no recollection of them, as I could not then be much more than four years old. Yet a shadowy vision sometimes rises before me of a broad paved street, along which I was running on before our father in joyful haste, that I might be the first to apprise mother that the meeting was dismissed; but as to whether the place of assembly we had just left was an upper chamber where a handful of disciples met together, or a large and fashionable edifice, memory supplies nothing. A dim dreary scene, too, sometimes passes before me of some back yard or lane where I was standing with my hand in my father's, gazing with