slave to the superstitious dread of apparitions! How easy and how salutary a task must it then be, to imbue the mind with the rational and filial fear of God-a fear which grows with the powers of the understanding, and increases with the devout affections of the heart! There is certainly no other sentiment, in the entire range of virtuous feelings, calculated to be so powerfully and so permanently influential on human conduct, as a reverential and abiding sense of the constant presence and providence of the Supreme Being. Even before the eyes of their fellow-mortals, men are deterred from committing acts of indecency and criminality; and surely, if they could be induced seriously to consider, that the eye of Omniscience is the perpetual witness of all their thoughts, and desires, and actions, the most powerful barrier would be erected against the inroads of all impiety and immorality. It appears to be upon this principle, that the fear of the Lord' is so emphatically called in Scripture, the beginning of wisdom;' and therefore it is a matter of the highest importance, to ascertain in what manner a sentiment so valuable may be most effectually attained. gard to the period of life, at which this important principle ought to be inculcated. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth,' is a precept received with universal approbation. But, whilst this perfect accordance of opinion exists with respect to the paramount importance of endeavoring to infuse principles of piety into the human mind at a very early period of existence, there is by no means the same agreement of sentiment as to the best means of accomplishing so desirable an end. I shall not occupy time, by examining the various opinions.

All men are agreed with re

which have been advanced upon this subject, but content myself with explaining a very simple method, which, from experience, I would recommend as efficacious in raising the minds and the affections, even of very young persons, to the glorious Author of all good.

It may be safely laid down as an incontrovertible position, that the mere use of words, how proper soever in themselves, to which the person employing them attaches no meaning, can never have the smallest influence, either upon the heart or the understanding; and I think it is equally evident, that no external form or ceremony, the design and tendency of which are totally incomprehensible, can in any degree accomplish the object for which it was instituted. Let us apply these plain principles to the ordinary method of inculcating early sentiments of reverence towards the Deity. The child is compelled to kneel down at its mother's knee, to assume a grave countenance, to join its little hands in form of devotion, to repeat words of which it no more comprehends the meaning than if they were Hebrew, and to go through an irksome ceremony, from day to day, with a listless heart and an uninterested mind. Is it any wonder that, under such a system, the poor child should so often cast its eyes from object to object, or that it should become intolerably drowsy, or that it should manifest innumerable symptoms of uneasiness, whilst it repeats a task which it learned with no feeling but that of pain? Is not such a system, I would ask, eminently calculated to defeat the very end which it desires to promote, and to associate the service of God, in the mind of the child, with feelings directly opposed to those of reverence and devotion?

Nor is it a less injurious plan, when children are a little farther advanced, to attempt instructing them in the general principles of Christianity, by requiring them to commit, as an irksome task, volumes of hymns and books of scripture in which drudgery the memory is, almost universally, the only faculty employed. If to this we add the consideration, that these painful exercises are usually connected with the Lord's day, we perceive the completion of a system, preeminently adapted to render the bible anything but a pleasure,' and the sabbath anything but a delight.' Surely, it is as impolitic as it is unjust to make religion thus appear to the youthful mind, as if it were unfriendly to happiness, and to connect its principles and ordinances with unprofitable labor and painful sacrifices. Such a mode of instruction has a natural tendency to destroy the feelings of genuine piety, to produce a constrained and hypocritical profession for a season, and to terminate in eventual infidelity. I have known several instances of such a melancholy progress, in the children of sincerely pious, but excessively rigid parents. This circumstance amply proves, how delicate a task it is to regulate the human mind; to preserve the proper medium between a criminal neglect, which would permit evil propensities to grow without control, and an injudicious severity of discipline, that would create a rebellious impatience of restraint, and an insatiable craving for the cup of forbidden pleasure. I am fully persuaded, that such a happy medium can only be attained, by making religious education an affair of the heart and the understanding, instead of a mere matter of words, or formal profession, or abstract theory.

I would therefore teach the first lessons of piety to the young, in the fair and glorious book of Nature. I would lead them through the cultivated fields, and the pleasant pastures, and the flowery meadows, and the leafy groves. When the husbandman casts his seed into the bosom of the earth, when the green blade springs forth, and when the ripe ear yields abundance, I would show them the providence of God, in the mode of supplying their daily wants. When they listened with joy to the music of the groves, when they looked with delight on the peaceful cattle feeding upon the green pastures, when they remarked the industry of the bee, or the sportive fluttering of the butterfly, or the happiness of the myriads of beings that were enjoying existence in the air, in the waters, or upon the earth, I would lead them to consider the infinite goodness of God, in the diffusion of such unbounded enjoyment. In the refreshing breeze, the reviving shower, and the animating sun; in the formation of every tree, and plant, and flower, as well as of every animated being, I would lead them to admire the transcendent wisdom of their Creator. And when the dews of evening should begin to fall, when they were returning to their peaceful homes with invigorated bodies and joyous spirits, I would point to the fair moon, rising in tranquil beauty, and to one star after another, appearing in the glorious firmament of heaven; and I would lead them to reverence the power and majesty of Him, who had formed all the starry worlds which they beheld, and who had, no doubt, also peopled them with inhabitants! At the season of refreshment I would remind them, by the devout expression of my own gratitude, and by recalling to their recollection what they had themselves witnessed, to whom they were

indebted for all their comforts and blessings. When the hour of repose drew near, I would kneel down in the midst of my children, as every christian parent is bound to do; I would praise my Creator for all his mercies, supplicate a continuation of his bounties, and fervently implore him to bless my little ones. And when they afterwards addressed their 'Father in Heaven' in personal prayer, before retiring to rest, they would no longer offer a heartless and a mindless service; they would know whom they worshipped, and feel why they ought to be grateful. Thus, might the hearts of the young become truly interested in the cause of religion, and imbued with the sacred odour of piety, which would ever retain its freshness, although they should be broken by the shocks of misfortune, or withered by the winter of age.

I know it may be said by many, that what I have been advancing is all visionary and theoretical; but I am not afraid of its being so considered by the wise and the experienced, who have carefully studied human nature, and observed the progress of the human mind. Children think much sooner, and much more accurately, than most persons imagine. Indeed, fond and partial parents are always sensible of this in their own offspring. They are quite delighted with their shrewd remarks, and often astonished and puzzled by their curious questions; but they take it for granted that these are only indications of extraordinary talents in their own children, and that all others are comparatively ignorant and uninteresting. This, however, is a mere error of parental partiality; for the mass of other children are fully equal to their own; and all are much more, and much earlier the objects of religious and moral culture than is generally believed.