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How may I teach my child Sincerity?
That children are naturally indisposed to
sincerity must be admitted. A propensity
to dcceiye by word and act is among the
bitter fruits of our common apostacy. ■'■The
wJeked” saith the Psalmist, “ are, estranged
from the womb ; they go astray as soon as
they are'born, Idling lies." One of the
first things observable in children is an ef
fort to deceive. To exonerate themselves
from blame, or fiee themselves from antici
pated punishment,. th#y falsify their word,
or cover up what truth and duty demand
should be exposed. Very important, there
fore, is it to prevent this—to nip this? evil
propensity in the bud, and cultivate a frank,
open, sincere disposition. How may this
be done? I suggest four things :
1. Impress them deeply with the crimi
nality and odiousness of insincerity. This
may be done by reading and expounding to
them portions of Scripture bearing upon
this point, and making them commit to
memory those portions of Scripture.
2. Always be sincere with them; never
allowing yourself to deceive them in any
particular, or for any cause. There is often
a temptation on the part of the parents to
do the opposite of this. It is often quite
convenient to deceive a child ; but he who
does it, does it to the child’s moral injury
and his own guilt. lie teaches falsehood
by example—the most effective of teach
ing—and the pupil will most surely learn
and practise deceit himself.
3. When your children commit an of
fence and confess it, commend them for the
confession, and forgive them the wrong
done.
4. When you detect your child in a lie,
invariably punisli him for it. Whatever
other offence goes unpunished, let not this.
If Jehovah regards lying as a crime, that
parent who omits severe discipline in ease
of falsehood, is certainly deserving of cen
sure.
Our Saviour tells us that he who lies
bears Satan’s image. “He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not iu the
truth, because there is no truth in him.—
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh his
own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.’’
And Jehovah hath said: ‘ All liars »hall
have their part in the lake that burneth
with fire and brimstone.”
While the path of sincerity is straight
and plain, and file sunlight of heaven rests
upon it, and while it leads upwards to the
home of God and truth, the paths of dis
simulation are dark and crooked, and lead
down to the abode of the prince of dark
ness. ■ Can we he too careful that our child
ren should be kept in the way of the bather
of lights, and out of the tortuous, snaky
course of the infernal serpent?— Mother’s
Magazine.
Comfort.
When Dr. Watts was almost worn out
and broken down by his infirmities, he ob
served, in conversation with a friend : “ I
remember an aged minister used to say, that
the most learned and knowing Christians,
when they come to die, have only the same
plain promises of the Gospel for their sup
port as the common and unlearned ; and so,”
said lie, “ I find it. It is the plain prom
ises of' the Gospel that are my support; and
I bless God they are plain promises, that do
not require much labor and pains to under
stand them ; for I can do nothing now but
look into my Bible for some promise to sup
port me, and live upon that.”
This was likewise the case with tiro pious
and excellent Mr. Hervey. He writes,
about two months before his death : “ I
now spend almost my whole time in read
ing and praying over the Bible.” And
again, near the same time, to another friend:
“ I am now reduced to a state of infant
weakness, and given over by my physician.
My grand consolation is to meditate on
Christ; and I am hourly repeating those
heart-reviving lines of Dr. Young:
“ This —only this —subdues tlie fear of death.
And what is this ? Survey the wondrous cure,
And at each step let higher wonder rise [
I. Pardon for infinite offence ! —2. And pardon
Through means that speak its value infinite!
3. A pardon bought with blood! —4. With blood
divine.
5. With bl*od divine of him I made my foe! —
6. Persisted to provoke!—7. Though woo’d and
aw'd,
Bless’d and chastis'd, a flagrant rebel still!
8. A rebel 'midst the thunders of Bis Throne.
9. Nor I alone I —lo. A rebel universe 1
11. My ipeeies upin arms! —l2. Not one exempt!
13. Yet for the foulest of the foul He dies!
14. Most joy’d for the redeem’d from deepest gulf!
15. As if our race were held of highest rank,
And Godhead dearer, as more kind to man.”
A Day of Reckoning.— Men may cheer them
selves in the morning, and they may pass on
tolerably well, perhaps, without God at noon ;
but the cool Qf the day is coming, when God
will come down to talk with them.— Cecil.
THE ARMY & NAVY HERA'LD.
“ Enter into thy Closet.” „
We do not need to enter the closet in !
order to find the Lord. He is ever near to"
us. But we enter it in order to escape from !
distractions, and in order to regain those ]
associations, and, it may he. to surround |
ourselves with those .mementoes which we |
formerly found helpful to our prayers. One j
who has great powers of may!
take refuge from surrounding bustle in the j
depths of his own spirit, and pass along the
crowded streets in th* perpetual hermitage !
of his own self seclusion, undiverted and*!
uadistracted by all that is whirling round
him. But few have this talent of inward
sequestration—this power to make a closet
of themselves; and, in order to find for
their thoughts a peaceful sanctuary, they
must find for their persons a tranquil asy
lum. It matters little where or what it is.
Isaac wegfc cut into the field, and Jacob
plied his night-long prayer beside the run
ning brook. Abraham planted a grove, and,
iu the cool shadow of his oaks at Becrsheba,
he called on the name of the Lord. Abra
ham’s servant knelt down beside his camel..
And it would appear from some of his
psalms, thata*cave. a mountain fastness, or
a cavern in the rocks, was David’s frequent
oratory. Peter had chosen for his place of
prayer the quiet and airy roof of his sea
side lodging, when the messengers of Cor
nelius found him. It would seem that the
ope* air—the noiseless amplitude of the
“ solitary place ” —the hill-side, with the
stars above, and the shadawy world below—
the fragrant stillness of the garden, when
evening had dismissed the laborers, were
the places where the Man of Sorrows loved
to pray. It was in the old church of Ayr
that John Welsh was wont, ail alone, to
wrestle with the Angel of the Covenant.;
find we have stood in the wild rock-cleft,
where Peden found frequeit refuge from
his persecutors, and whence he caused his
cry to ascend “unto the Lord most high.”
It docs not need four walls and a bolted door
to make a place of prayef. Retirement and
silence, and a sequestered spirit will create
it anywhere. By the ahore of the sound
ing sea—in the depths of the forest—in the
remoteness of the green and sunny upland,
or the balmy peacefulness of the garden
bower—nay, amidst the dust of the dingy
ware-room, or the cobwebs of the owlet
haunted bars—in the jolting corner of the
crowded stage, or the unnoticed nook of the
travellers’ room, you have only to shut your
eyes, and seclude your spirit, and you have
created a closet there. It is a closet wher
ever the soul finds itself alone with God.—
“ Mount of Olives ”
Dr. Stone.
This eminent surgeon delivered a lecture
on the treatment of wounds before a large
audience of surgeons and .citizens in New
Orleaus, on tha 30th ult. The True Delta’s
reporter gives a synopsis of his re»iarks.
which, for the benefit of the profession
here, we publish :
Dr. Stone confined himself principally in
this lecture to wounds in the abdomen, and
the course to be pursued in cases where the
bowels have been punctured. He strong!v
recommended the immediate use of opium,
to be continued, so as to keep the patient in
a perfect state of rest for seventy-two hours,
iu order that the exudation of lymph might
have an opportunity to unite the borders of
the womb, or to attach them to the wall of
the abdomen or the adjoining bowels. In
case the patient was permitted ‘to toss rest
lessly about, the excretions would in all
probability be forced through tiie wound
into the cavity of the body, and fatal inflam
mation ensues. lie opposed the use of pur
gatives, as attendant with some danger. The
extensive experience of the lecturer ena
bled him to cite numerous cases illustrative
of his subject, which, added to the plain,
practical manner in which lie argued the dif
ferent points, made all clear to the most
uninitiated mind. Dr. Stone also opposed
the administering of liquors “brandy,
whisky and other vile compounds,” to woun
ded meu against their inclinations. He
thought liquor might be used beneficially
when the patieut really desired it, but
as the result of his observation, he de
clared that when it was forced upon him,
the stomach of the patient revolted and it
was thrown up. His policy had always
been to foster and strengthen the stomach,
in order that lost blaod and strength might
be recovered as speedily as possible, and he
began using beef tea and other nutritious
articles as soou as possible. Beef teainjec-
also beneficial in those cases.
Such is the natural propensity of man’s
heart to the way of the law, in opposition to
Christ, that, as the tainted vessel turns the
taste of the purest liquor put into it, so the
natural man turns the very gospel into law,
and would transform the covenant of grace
into a covenant of works.
Warning to the Impenitent.
(From the Uidem Greet;.)
Reflect dm that, divine grace which is held
out to thee, to lead thee to salvation—that
grace, O impenitent sinner ! which unceas
ingly guards thee from destruction, and
draws thee towards repentance —that grace
which, if still despised, must ultimately be
withdrawn.
“ I have planted thee,” saith the Lord,
“ like s vineyard—not in a trackless desert,
nor in a rugged soil, but in a verdait spot.
I caused thee to be born, not of Jewish or
Mohainmadan, but of Christian parents, and
to be nurtured with the milk of the Gospel.
To guard thee from danger, I surrounded
thee with a trench, built a tower, and fenced
thee with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
| What could have been done more to my
vineyard that. [ have not done in it? I
looked that it should bring forth grapes,
but it became wild, and brought forth
| only thorns. Teachers, preachers, spiritual
i guides ! judge now betwixt me and my vine-
I yard ; decide regarding my long-suffering
| and its ingratitude, and tell me what, after
i sc much love, so much patience, 1 ought now
jto do. This I will do. 1 will demolish the
; tower, and thieves will plunder it. I will
i pull down tls* fence, and passengers shall
1 enter and trample it. 1 will command the
, clouds of heaven not to rain unon it, and it
! shall benome de*>!fite'.”
I Are not these terrible words by which
| God threatens to abandon the impenitent,
! and to change his forbearance to indigna
tion, and his patience into fierce anger?—
| God so graciously calls to thee, waits for
I thee, and thou despisest his proffered mercy?
j Tha cord of God’s love draws thee towards
repentance; but thou resistest with all thy
might—the cord breaks, and thou tuinblest
to perdition. God tenders thee all the trea
•ures of gracs, and thou convertest them
into treasure# of wrath. But strict retalia
tion shall be thy punishment. Thou fer
j gettest God-—he will forget thee. God
entreats, and thou wilt not heed. Thou wilt
implore, and God shali refuse to hear !
Bishop Meniates’ Servian.
[lt is a remarkable circumstance, that the
sermon, from which the preceding powerful
extract is taken, was preached.in the eitv of
: Nauplia, two or three years before the see
i end Turkish conquest of the Morca, and
that for upwards of a century the voice cf
the Gospel ceased to be heard within the
walls of Nauplia, the Turks having always
prevented any Christian service in that
place. The warning voice of the preacher
seemed almost prophetic.]
! The Jews—-“A People Scattered”
“ Their restless feet are pressing at thin
very hour the snows of Siberia and the
burning sands of the desert. Our friend
! Gobat found numbers of them in the elevt
’ ted plains of Abyssinia, eighteen hundred
miles to the south of Cairo; and when
: Denham and Clapperton, the first travellers
that ventured across the gregt Sahara, ar
rived on the banks of the Lake Tchad, they
also found that the wandering Jew had pre
ceded them there by many a long year.
When the Portuguese settled in the Indian
| Peninsula, they found three distinct classes
: of Jews; and when the English lately took
j possession of Aden, in the south of Arabia,
1 the Jews were more in number there than
! the Gentiles. By a census taken within
I the last few months ia Russia, they amount
| to two millions two hundred thousand; so
j that their population in that immense em
pire exceeds that of our twenty-two cantons.
Morocco contains three hundred thousand,
and Tunis one hundred and fifty thousand.
In the one small town of Sana, the Capitol
; of Arabia Felix, they assemble together in
| eighteen synagogues. Yemen counts two
hundred thousand. The Turkish empire two
hundred thousand, of which Constantinople
alone contains eighty thousand At Brody,
where the Christians, who are ten thousand
in number, have only three churches, the
Jews, twenty thousand in number, have one
hundred and fifty synagogues. Hungary
has three hundred thousand. Cracovie
twenty-two thousand. In a word, it is im
agined that, were all the Jews assembled
together, they would form a population of
seven millions ; so that, could you transport
them into the land of their fathers this
very year, they would form a nation more
powerful and more numerous than our Switz
erland.”—Prof. Gauzscn of Geneva.
“Will you have some mustard?” asked some
one, to a hungry soldier.
“No, I thank you,” said the soldier, “I have
! been mustered enough to my hearts content, for
; the last four years.”
- .
Railing.— . There is no kind of revenge so
poor aqd pitiful as railing; for every dog can
bark : and he that rails, makes another noise
1 indeed, but not a better.— Dr. South.
The Sabbath.
BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.
The world is full of toil;
It bids ihe traveler room,
It binds the laborer to the soil
The student to his home.
The beasts of burden sigh,
O'erloaded and opprest—
Ihe Sabbath lifts its banner high,
And gives ihe weary rest.
Die worul is full of care ;
The haggard brow is wrought
In furrows as of fixed despair,
And check and the heavenward thought;
Rut witii indignant grace,
The Sabbath’s chastening tone
Drives money-changers from the place
Which God doth call his own.
The world is full of grief:
Sorrows o’er sorrows roll,
And the far hope that brings relief
Doth sometimes pierce the soul.
The Sabbath’s peaceful bound
Bears Mercy’s holy seal—
A balm of Gilead for the wound
That man is weak to heal.
The world is full of sin ;
A dangerous flood it rolls,
The unwary to its breast to win,
And whelm unstable souls.
The Sabbath’s beacon tells
Os reefs and wrecks below,
And warns, though gay the billows swell,
Beneath are death and woe;
There is a world, where none
With fruitless labor sigh !
Where care awakes no lingering groan,
And grief no agony ;
Where Sin, with fatal arts,
Hath never forged her chains,
But. deep enthroned in angel hearts,
One endless Sabbath reigns.
Looking closely into tlie career of that
most wonderful man, the great Napoleon, we
shall find that his success depended in a
great degree upon his power of infusing into
the minds and hearts of his lieutenants
and those around him, the stern, unyielding
spirit of his own unconquerable will. Look
at Massena, overwhelmed with numbers,
shut up in Genoa with an army doopied to
sacrifice for the public good, contending
with the pestilence and famine, yet defend
ing himself to the last extremity, and thus
rendering possible the movements and combi
nations which enabled Napoleon to finish
Italian campaign by a thunder clap at Ma
rengo! Look too, at Kleber, on the bur
ning sands of Egypt. The English refused
to ratify tiie treaty of the French. Kleber,
the perfection of manly beauty—his noble
countenance, expressing all the pride and
energy of bis haughty soul—rides along the
ranks of that devoted army.—“ Comrades!”
says he, “we must fight ! They demand
the dishonor of the array of Italy. My
friends, treachery has left you in Egypt only
the ground you stand upon—one step back
ward, and you are lost!” But that “one
step” was never taken ! Here’ on one sid#
stood an army of ten thousand men, far from
France, and cut off from all hope of succor.
In their front stood an army of seventy thou
sand men. But, ere the sun had set, that
army of seventy thousand had been scattered
like chaff before the wind, and the army of
Italy had gathered fresh laurels on the
plains of Heliopcilic. Such is courage—the
gift to man ,of a God like power ! In the
bands of.genius, it is a moral lever by which
the world may be upheaved from its old
foundations. Diffuse it through the hearts
of a people, and they are unconquerable.
Combine it with the sentiment of honor and
patriotism, and shot and shell may tear the
bleeding ranks of an army, but its march
will still be onwards.”— Richmond Sentinel.
Nature.—We arc for bringing to Christ;
and that must not be. Not a penny of na.
ture’s highest improvements will pass in
heaven.
When nature is hard put to it by guilt or
wrath, it will fiy to its old haunts of self-right
eousness, self-goodness, &c. Only God’s
infinite power can cast down these strong
holds.
Nature would do anything to be saved
rather than go to Christ alone, and close
with him. Christ will have nothing; and
-yet the soul will force something of its own
on Christ.
Nature cannot endure to think that the
gospel is only for sinners. It would, if left
to itself, rather choose to despair than jo to
Christ upon such terms.
It is a terrible stroke to nature to think
of being stripped of all, and not to have a
rag of duty or self-righteousness left t* look
at. — Wilcox.
Opinton or Others.—ls any slight, thee, be
neither dejected nor provoked ; and do not val
ue men according to their esteem of thee, but
according to their true worth.— Adam.
Fear God and keep Ilis oommandments.
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