REMEMBER a great man coming into my house, and seeing all my children standing in the order of their age and stature, once said to me," says Bishop Hall, "These are they which make rich men poor.' But he straight received this answer: 'Nay, my lord, these are they which make a poor man rich; for there is not one of these whom we would part with for all

your

wealth.'" True, they bring with them many anxieties and cares, and some of them live to occasion much grief and sorrow, but after all the world would get on very badly without them, as Longfellow well says:

"Ah! what would the world be to us

If the children were no more?
We should dread the desert behind us
Worse than the dark before.

"What the leaves are to the forest,
With light and air for food,
Ere their sweet and tender juices
Have been hardened into wood-
"That to the world are children;

Through them it feels the glow
Of a brighter, sunnier climate

Tuan reaches the trunk below."

But children, "precious darlings" as they are, bring their little wants, and manifold claims, and it is to these we wish to call attention.

Every mother is a queen of her little kingdom. By the laws of God and the nature of things this has been arranged, and as the sovereign over her subjects, she should seek to "rule well her house, and those of her household." To do this well she will need to remember that to make a model kingdom she will have to practise herself and to teach those around-1. METHOD; 2. OBEDIENCE; 3. LOVE; 4. DILIGENCE. These should form the proper basis for bringing up the "precious darlings" in the way they should go. Let us then glance at some of the things which you will need to attend to, if good results are to be expected.

I. Method. This means doing things according to some understood or recognised plan, order, or system. All children should be early taught that certain things have to be done at a certain time and in a certain way, and the earlier you begin to teach them this the better. Don't be afraid to SOW YOUR SEED EARLY. When a lady once told Archbishop Sharpe that she would not communicate religious instruction to her children until they had attained the years of

discretion, the shrewd prelate replied, "Madam, if you do not teach them, the devil will." Nor is it difficult to understand the wisdom of this, for as it has been wisely said, "Custom in infancy becomes nature in maturity."

Napoleon said one day to Madame Campan, "The old systems of instruction are worth nothing. What is wanted in order that the youth of France be well educated ?" "Mothers," replied Madame Campan. This reply struck the Emperor. "Here," said he, "is the system of education in one word. Be it your care to train up mothers who shall know how to educate their children."

Every father also ought to be ready and willing to take some part in the training of "the precious darlings." Indeed, we are strongly of opinion that in no way can he better promote his own happiness, than in manifesting a deep interest in their wellbeing and happiness. Children have a wonderful influence in softening down the hardness of man's nature, and in bringing out into activity some of his finer powers. Be it your effort, then, to place yourself in a position to become influenced for good by your "darlings." In the winter evenings gather them round you and tell them a story, or read them one out of the many little publications which are so well adapted to help you. Explain the pictures, get them to sing a little song, or in some way develop their musical taste. Let them look forward to your coming home as a ray of sunshine entering into the house. It will do you a world of good to hear their little voices say, "Here's father coming. I'm going to have the first kiss." Indeed, as Taylor says, "No man can tell but he that loves his children how many delicious accents make a man's heart dance in their pretty conversation. Their childishness, their stammering, their little angers, their innocence, their imperfection, their necessities, are so many little emanations of joy and comfort to him that delights in their person and society."

And when the summer evenings come, take them, when

the weather is warm and dry, into the park or green fields, and have a good romp upon the grass with them. Don't be afraid of a game at ball, or picking them a few buttercups. and daisies to take home. If you can manage to have a little garden to grow some of the simplest flowers for them all the better. You will be astonished at the deep interest they will take in watching their own seeds come up, and the pleasure they will experience in showing you their own flowers. Make it your study to study the darlings, and you shall experience the blessedness of knowing what it is to be sincerely loved by your children, and in like manner to be reverenced by your wife. The shortest way to a mother's heart is her baby. "Tell it that it is the sweetest little beauty you ever saw," and your wife will butter your bread, if needful, both sides for you, in return, and in a thousand ways manifest that she rejoices in having such a husband and such a father, for her precious darlings.

Strive, therefore, to have some clear defined course of action yourself, and resist doing things by fits and starts. Be sure that a good habit is a faithful servant, while a bad habit is always a cruel master. Among a few general maxims may be named the following, which will help to suggest what can and ought to be done :

:

1. Never give a child a thing merely because it cries for it. 2. Never promise anything unless you feel quite sure you will be able to give what you promise.

3. Teach them from their earliest days always to speak the truth on all occasions.

4. Never allow them to shuffle or deceive you in small things, for if you do they will get to do it in greater ones. 5. Always punish a child for wilful disobedience. Be calm in doing so, but firm. Be sure and correct when needful. 6. Never lose your temper with a child. It feels you strongest when you're mild.

7. Seldom threaten, and be always careful to keep your word. Avoid angry words and hasty blows, and do not be

always correcting your children nor seeking to terrify them.

8. Never encourage any immodest action, or show your aproval by a smile of anything said in that direction.

9. On no account allow them to do at one time what you forbid under similar circumstances at another.

10. Teach them self-reliance and the habit of discrimination.

11. Teach them to say No! and mean it; or Yes! and stick to it.

12. When you tell them to do a thing or not to do it, do so without thinking of giving them your reason for doing it. 13. Teach them to be considerate and kind to other people, and to avoid being haughty, overbearing, and unkind. 14. Train them to preserve and control their temper. Say, "Master your passions and tempers too,

Or else they will cruelly master you."

15. Do not allow them to be away from home at night without you know where they are.

16. Teach them to be prudent, economical, and to live within their income, and that wilful waste makes woeful want.

17. Teach them what is likely to be most useful in after-life. 18. Be very careful what company you allow them to keep, and teach them to avoid the immoral, the spendthrift, and the ungodly.

19. Caution them against inconsistency in word or action. 20. Seek to make them useful as soon as they are able, and be on the look-out for something for them to do as far as you can, so as to get them into the habit of doing it.

21. Train your daughters to be neat and useful rather than to be fine and helpless. See to it that they learn to help themselves in all proper matters. Teach them to make, wash, and mend plain clothes, cook plain food, and to do marketing.

22. Teach your boys industrious habits, and seek for them a good trade rather than a genteel profession.