favorite individual; and they should be calculated to stimulate others to imitation, not to rouse

their envy.

The parent should most diligently guard against being captivated by the brilliant talents of one child, so as to pay a greater degree of attention to the cultivation and ornament of a fruitful soil, to the neglect, or at least to the heartless and spiritless culture of that which does not afford so good a promise of fruitfulness. The individual with fewer talents may constitute the finest character; and if not, to give a certain degree of prominence to the abilities of the one, so as to admit of a painful contrast by the more retiring and less dazzling, but perhaps exquisitely sensitive being, will be productive of great evil. The converse of this conduct is precisely that which the case demands; viz: to bring forward the abilities which lie concealed; to make their possessor forget his inferiority; and to employ the greatest delicacy in adapting our means of improvement to the actual deficiencies of the mental manifestations.

It is of the utmost consequence, that children should repose an entire and unshaken confidence in the parent; and should perceive that her conduct towards them springs from affection, and is influenced by inviolable truth and justice, which can never be the case unless the strictest impartiality be maintained; while upon it will hinge the parent's happiness, both immediate and remote; the return of affection from her offspring ;

her success in forming their minds, communicating instruction, and maintaining discipline; as well as their present peace, and future affectionate union.

There is no danger here of affection being placed on an improper object; but it may be led to attach too great importance to some one particular which is really of minor consequence. Thus, its energies may be directed to procure for its favorite, the appropriation of a supposed good; the development, for instance, of some prominent talent, the possession of which may be more shewy than intrinsically valuable. A preference is given to its evolution, and great pains are bestowed upon its cultivation, under the expectation, perhaps, that other desirable mental manifestations will follow in its train; and that those which we are anxious to repress, will be dispossessed and excluded by its first and greatest influence. Yet all this inconclusive ratiocination proceeds from the want of a due regard to that law of relation, which so extensively, and almost indefinitely associates each talent with others, both with those which are similar and dissimilar in their nature; and to the entire exclusion of that most necessary part of the mental husbandry; the eradication of its weeds.

Again, the acquisition of knowledge; the development of the mental manifestations; the habit of observation and reflection; the effort to induce a greater degree of fruitfulness, as well as to re

press excessive luxuriance; and the removal of morbid tendency, all require painful exertions: exertions, at least, which are at first painful. But affection may err in conducting this process: it may dislike to occasion the necessary pain; and from this motive, it may be induced to relax its strenuous endeavours; and to fail in enforcing vigorously and undeviatingly, that system of discipline which is really indispensable. In this way, many a desirable object will fail of being obtained; many an evil propensity will receive a degree of tacit countenance, which will give it strength, and render it difficult of after-subjection. This error proceeds from a forgetfulness of its being a part of the curse adherent to our fallen nature, that all our valuable acquisitions, together with every victory over selfishness, and the manifold evils connected with it, shall be procured only with difficulty. But we must never relax our judicious efforts to promote that which is good, because it may not be obtained with facility; never wink at that which might originate future unhappy consequences, because it may occasion disturbance to the present ease of ourselves and our little charge. That is the truest effort of affection, when, in opposition to inclination, we correct what is wrong; and when we prefer the welfare of our offspring, and obedience to the commands of God, before our immediate gratification.

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CHAP. III.

ON SELF-DENIAL, AS AN INFLUENTIAL PRINCIPLE OF PARENTAL EDUCATION.

It is manifest, from the train of reasoning pursued in the foregoing chapter, that the exercise of principled affection requires the constant habitual practice of self-denial. It has, indeed, been asserted, that the performance of those duties, which more particularly appear to be influenced by this principle is, in fact, nothing more than the refined gratification of one universally operative and absorbing motive;-viz: self-love. There is, however, a broad line of distinction, which, in practice, cannot be sophisticated. When we consult the dictates of selfishness, we act so as that we may secure our own immediate comfort; that we may obtain the good opinion of those around us, and conciliate their approbation of our conduct: but we are not anxious that the motives, the principles, and the object of our actions should be correct; we are not solicitous for the consequences of our opinions, as they may affect others; and we consult only that which will be most pleasing and grateful to our present feelings.

How exquisitely is this distinction exemplified

in the principled conduct of the maternal parent; in her incessant care; her deepening anxieties; her sleepless nights; her ever-watchful eye; her eager mind, uniformly on the wing; her physical powers (often inadequate to the task) energized in the pursuit of one great object; and that object involving a continued sacrifice of her own ease, pleasure, and convenience, to secure the welfare of her offspring. During its helpless years, her attention to its every want; her solicitude to preserve it from the slightest physical evil; and the cheerfulness and delight with which the pleasures of repose, selfish enjoyment, and even health itself, are voluntarily yielded to secure this boon, present a spectacle of most disinterested affection. The good of her children is the governing motive of a mother's heart; but its influence must be uniform, and she must not hesitate to extend that as a principle of action, which she has already adopted almost automatically and unconsciously, as a stimulus to exertion. She is not called upon to exercise it during the period of her infant's helplessness alone; she is not allowed to confine this influence to the necessities of its animal nature; but she is taught by these very circumstances, that if such be its physical wants, and such the abjuration of self required for their supply; how much more important will be the extension of this principle to the nascent manifestations of mind, the development of good, and the subjection of evil dispositions.