to the will of the other is an evil of sufficient magnitude; but the act of punishing a child who knows that he is deemed guiltless by one of his parents is unqualified madness.

2. In civil tribunals, we expect to see the mind of the judges free from prejudice; and where this is not the case, we do not look for an impartial administration of justice. The same is true in reference to parents. Notwithstanding the affection which a parent feels for his children, the admonition to beware of prejudice can never be out of place. For even the most affectionate parents very frequently acquire habits of suspicion and feeling in reference to particular children or particular faults, that absolutely disqualify them for acting impartially. A parent who has for a long time labored unsuccessfully to correct the faults of a heedless and indolent child, is in great danger of becoming discouraged, and of settling down upon the belief that the case is beyond the reach of remedy. If he yields to such a state of feeling, he will soon become the victim of prejudices that will certainly paralyze his influence; and he will ever afterwards look at the conduct of such a child through a false, or discolored medium, calculated to mislead his judgment in every case of supposed delinquency. Another parent may err on the opposite extreme. Blinded by an unregulated affection for his children, he is always ready to pronounce them innocent without taking the trouble to look at the facts. If one of his children should be accused of a crimeno matter what may be its nature-or what the evidence going to establish its guilt-the mere accusation would be sufficient in his estimation to stamp its accuser with infamy. His children are altogether too good to commit such an offence. Both these states of feeling are utterly inconsistent with parental fidelity. The child that is always suspected of evil, will soon become a hardened transgressor; and the child that is never deemed capable of sin, will soon learn to take advantage of his parent's credulity, and to "sin as it were with a cart rope." A municipal judge who was known to be thus influenced, would be branded in the public estimation, as worthy of instant impeachment. He would forfeit the respect of the whole community. Equally disastrous would be the consequences of parental prejudice.

It must ultimately subvert the very foundations of parental authority.

3. When a parent has reason to believe that his child has broken his command, it is his first duty to inquire into all the circumstances, and to ascertain its guilt or innocence, and if guilty, the exact amount of its criminality. The process of forming a just conclusion in relation to such matters, is often a thing of very great difficulty; yet to neglect it on this account, would be to encourage the child to adopt a course of still more open rebellion. Every transgression ought to be followed by a conviction of the offender, even in those cases where on the whole it is deemed best to pardon him; for without a conviction, a pardon would be as useless as it would be unwise. It would not be appreciated. In deciding on the guilt or innocence of his child, the parent acts as a judge, and he is bound to frame his judgment according to evidence. In other words, every child that is accused of transgression, has an indubitable right, previous to his condemnation, to a fair and impartial trial—a trial that involves an examination of all the evidence, both for and against him. The child knows full well that his parent is not omniscient, and it is exceedingly hazardous to pretend to a degree of knowledge unsupported by the evidence; for every error of this kind amounts in the end to a conviction of ignorance and rashness. But in our further remarks under this head, which will be resumed in the next number, it will, perhaps, be well to be a little more specific. THETA.

Brooklyn, N. Y.

Original.

PECULIAR ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY.

BY REV. N. E. JOHNSON.

EVERY intelligent mother must be aware of the infinite importance attached to the early conversion of her children in view of their constant exposure to death, and of the divine claim to the early as well as later years of their existence.

In addition to the direct and obvious considerations which enforce this conviction, several important reasons may be suggested.

A child who is converted young is prevented from doing much mischief in the world which he would otherwise do. Every child has an influence for good or evil on his associates, and if he remains impenitent until he becomes a man he will produce many bad impressions on the minds of others which he may never afterwards do away. Many a man has sighed over the untimely death of his early associates, and has carried through all his subsequent life the painful impression that had his own example been different, their doom might have been different also. Should not the mother be anxious to prevent the sting of such a memory, as well as the evil of such an influence?

A child who is converted in early life will accomplish much good which otherwise he would never accomplish, Every real Christian does some good. A child whose heart is spiritual is a most efficient Christian. Among his playmates he exerts a blessed influence by his correct deportment, his cheerful temper, and his prudent advice. I have now a lad in view who is the ornament of the circle in which he moves, and whose light is poured upon many an elder eye, compelling men of many years to see and acknowledge the loveliness of early piety. From childhood to youth, and thus to manhood, such a child will prove a blessing to his family, his neighborhood, and thus of course to his country and his race.

A child converted in the morning of life will avoid contracting many bad habits, which he would otherwise contract.

We all know the force of habit. To say nothing about the tendency of evil habits to prevent a child's conversion in after years, it is a painful fact that evil habits contracted in childhood and youth often exert a mournful influence on Christian character after conversion. They cling with a tenacious grasp to their old possessions, and love their old haunts. Hence the severity of the conflict is increased, and the evil influence of these wrong habits follows them even to the grave. desire to shield her child from this

Shall not the Christian mother abiding curse?

A child early converted to God will form many good habits, which otherwise he would never have formed. Think of the difference between two young persons, one of whom has been in the constant habit of reading the scripture and of secret prayer from three years old to twenty-one, and the other in the habit of regarding all such practices with aversion. How vast a difference in knowledge, in moral discipline, in stability of character and in salutary influence, would be seen, other things being equal, even to the dying hour. "Because-that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures." Extend this remark to every other subject, and a similar difference will be seen. The reading, the company, the employment, the style of conversation, the habit of thought and feeling, the general tone of benevolent affection, all these will be influenced by real piety, and will adorn the life where piety dwells.

A child early converted to God will be trained for the great moral enterprises in which the church of Christ is engaged. It was a great advantage to Hannibal that he was trained to hostility against Rome under the discipline of his father Hamilcar even from his earliest childhood. The church needs faithful and disciplined soldiers. She needs men who have long been familiar with her benevolent operations, who have long labored for the conversion of the world, and have become well accustomed to all the gospel armor. Such men can only be found among those who were the servants of Christ in the days of childhood and youth.

A child converted early will have a truly venerable age. Old age never appears so beautiful as when it is attended with the memory of a well-spent life. When from early childhood piety has habitually shone in the conduct and conversation, and all the while there has been a growing communion with God in the closet, it crowns old age with a splendor surpassing the gems which deck the brow of royalty. There are some of us who will never experience such an old

age even though we live a

hundred years. How anxious should every mother be to secure such a crown for the child whom she rocks in the cradle'

Selected.

THE INFLUENCE OF A CHRISTIAN MOTHER.

WHAT a public blessing, what an instrument of exalted good, is a Christian mother! It would require a pen superior to mine, to trace the merits of such a character. How many, perhaps who now hear me, feel that they owe to it all the virtue and piety that adorns them; or may recollect, at this moment, some saint in heaven that brought them into light, to labor for their happiness, temporal and eternal. No one can be ignorant of the irresistible influence which such a mother possesses in forming the hearts of her children, at a season when nature takes in lesson and example at every pore.

Confined by duty and inclination within the walls of her own house, every hour of her life becomes an hour of instructions, every feature of her conduct a transplanted virtue. Methinks I behold her encircled by her beloved charge, like a being more than human, on whom every mind is bent, and every eye directed -the eager simplicity of infancy inhaling from her lips the sacred truths of religion in adapted phrase and familiar story, the whole rule of the oral and religious duties simplified for easier infusion, the countenance of this fond and anxious parent all beaming with delight and love, and her eye raised occasionally to heaven in fervent supplication for a blessing on her work. Oh, what a glorious part does such a woman act on the great theatre of humanity, and how much is the mortal to be pitied who is not struck with the image of such excellence. When I look to its consequences, near and remote, I see the plant she has raised and cultivated, spreading through the community with richest increase of fruit. I see her diffusing happiness and virtue through a great portion of the human race. I can fancy generations yet unborn rising to prove and hail her worth, and I adore that God who can destine a single human being to be the stem of such extended and incalculable benefits to the world.

DEAN KIRMAN.