because God forbids to his family all strife and angry contention whatsoever. For the most part they are some little matters of selfish encroachment, of selfish tenaciousness: they may be the offspring of the most malignant passions, such as envy, jealousy, and revenge; or they may be the effect of mere physical irritability, of which the poor child is the almost unconscious victim. In no case, however, can the indulgence of the disposition be beneficial to the child. All quarrelling and bickering ought, if possible, to be prevented. To accomplish this, it must be established as a principle, that all angry contention is sinful in itself, apart from the right and wrong of the subject in dispute : and the watchful parent or teacher should put an end to it the moment it is observed, either by separating the children, or commanding them to silence. It will be time enough afterwards to adjust the cause of quarrel, if it appears to be such as needs interference. The first lesson to be conveyed is, that right or wrong, for anything or nothing, they are not to quarrel. The boy who is accustomed angrily to maintain the superiority of his top, will, when a man, angrily maintain the superiority of his creed; the girl who is allowed to quarrel for precedence in the use of a toy or a book, will, when a woman, disturb the peace of her family by jealous contention and pertinacity.-Mrs. Fry. THE FAITHFUL FRIEND. THE green-house is my summer seat; Two goldfinches whose sprightly song They sang as blithe as finches sing But nature works in every breast; The opened window seemed to invite And Dick although his way was clear, For settling on his grated roof, Nor would forsake his cage at last, O ye, who never knew the joys bird BENEFIT OF AFFLICTIONS. THE following extract from a letter which Oberlin wrote to a lady, who had been tried by many successive bereavements, in the hope of convincing her that such dispensations are permitted, to strengthen our graces, and to promote our spiritual refinement, will illustrate his lively faith and fervent piety, as well as the simple and original mode in which he was accustomed to pour out the language of his heart in epistolary converse. "I have before me two stones, which are in imitation of precious stones. They are both perfectly alike in colour; they are of the same water, clear, pure, and clean; yet there is a marked difference between them, as to lustre and brilliancy. One has a dazzling brightness, while the other is dull so that the eye passes over it, and derives no pleasure from the sight. What can be the reason of such a difference? It is this. The one is cut but in a few facets; the other has ten times as many. These facets are produced by a very violent operation; it is requisite to cut, to smooth, to polish. Had these stones been endued with life, so as to have been capable of feeling what they underwent, the one which has received eighty facets would have thought itself very unhappy, and would have envied the fate of the other, which, having received but eight, had undergone but a tenth part of its sufferings. Nevertheless, the operation being over, it is done for ever! the difference between the two stones always remains strongly marked; that which has suffered but little, is entirely eclipsed by the other, which alone is held in estimation, and attracts attention. May not this serve to explain the saying of our Saviour, whose words always bear some reference to eternity: Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted?-Blessed, whether we contemplate them apart, or in comparison with those who have not passed through so many trials. Oh! that we were always able to cast ourselves into his arms, like little children-to draw near to him, like helpless lambs-and ever to ask of him patience, resignation, and entire surrender to his will; faith, trust, and a heartfelt obedience to the command which he gives to those who are willing to be his disciples." Memoirs of Oberlin. AS THY DAY, SO SHALL THY STRENGTH BE. WHEN adverse winds and waves arise, When, with sad footstep, memory roves One trial more must yet be past, That" as her day, her strength shall be." Mrs. Sigourney. THE REVOLUTION OF A YEAR. THESE regular returning aspects of nature, which divide man's time into equal parts, and which he has only to number as they succeed each other, like the lettered stones erected on the sides of our roads, to inform the traveller what space of ground he has traversed, serve to give notice to the passenger through human life, how far he has proceeded in his path to the grave. The divine wisdom which has thus measured our time, more especially appears in that annual division of it, which periodically calls our attention to the lapse of those larger parts of the life of man, the susceptible departure of which excites, of necessity, a peculiarly alarming sense of diminution of our days. Nor is that wisdom less conspicuous in the striking nature of those signs in the system around us, which indicate the departure of the perpetually perishing parts of our time. Most pointed are the marks, most forcible are the mementos of their expiration. They irresistibly rouse our attention to the wings of time and force us to take notice of his flight. Nature signifies it to us by no faint intimations: she proclaims it with a loud voice-she paints it in strong colours. The monitor must and will be heard. Vegetation starts from the ground-a green resurrection surprises the eye-the leaf fades; and falls—the forest is strippedthe shower is frozen-and the waters are fettered to spur to his duties irresolute and procrastinating man! repeated proclamation of nature to mankind, which revolving seasons successively utter, that their years are rolling swiftly, once in every year it is their custom to echo. Once in every year they tell each other what nature tells them more than once that those longest This periods of their time are passing rapidly from them. Another of those years, of which only a few make up the life of man, is become a part of the irrevocable past? A year is a season of magnitude in the little life of man. It is an ample stride to the tomb. A few more steps will bring us all thither.-Fawcett. TIME. TIME speeds away-away-away : Time speeds away-away-away, The friends that loved-the friends that blest: Time speeds away-away-away: |