not, then he believes not in the renewing operations of grace, the sovereignty of the Redeemer's salvation, the eternal blessedness of his kingdom.-Then-he is no Christian!

But believing these truths, should he not apply their whole force to the constraint of his soul towards the fruit of his body, and turn every holy energy of his spiritual faculties towards the great object of the salvation of his child; which, if not SAVED, had been better never to have been born?

Impressed with such heart-affecting and solemn facts, can a parent be unmindful there is not a moment to lose? For though salvation is not our work, the seeking it is our duty; and that which we greatly covet, we shall greatly strive for. Prayer, example, and prccept are parental duties, confiding in the promises attached to them, and in the all-sufficiency of the blood of Jesus. I say then, there is not a moment to lose! The child no sooner draws the breath of natural life, than it becomes a human being, no longer in embryo, but developed in all the faculties of human nature! O with what anxiety the mother inquires whether her offspring be perfect in all its parts-whether it possesses all its senses-and whether it can receive and digest its proper nutriment. So much for the body! and no inward interest for the soul! that the spiritual nature may be equally the care of the great Creator, and that it may, both body and soul, live and move, and have its being in Him!

But is that the first moment that the parental anxiety is felt and expressed? I know not the mother, who whilst bearing the precious burden as yet unborn, does not feel her dependence on the Lord the Creator, that whilst he fashions all its members, they may be

fashioned aright, and that it may be nurtured unto

full maturity for birth. thus early think of the mortal being,-who thus early lift the soul in prayer to the same creating power of God, that whilst it is moulded in its natural likeness to its earthly parents, it should be so remoulded in the image of God, as to make it indeed a new creature in Christ Jesus.

But, I know not many, who immortal interests of the im

And yet the scripture inculcates this lesson by the impressive examples of a few instances to which it would be well did parents take heed. See (1 Sam. i. 11,) in Hannah's supplications to the Lord, the out-pouring of her heart, and the solemn dedication of even the hoped-for blessing of a child, that if granted should be actually given to the Lord-and thus asked in the sincerity of the heart, when granted it must needs have been a sacred pledge of the Lord's open ear to her petition and her vows, and that he accepted her offering and regarded the desire of her heart; whilst bearing such a gift, would she not consider it as not her own but as the Lord's? and the influence upon her mind and conduct during the time, we must be certain, would be very peculiar; for it is evident she was fully bent on her obligation when she named him Samuel, as a memorial that she had asked him of the Lord; and with total resignation, and complete self-denial, she steadily persisted in the discharge of her duty, until she deposited her child, under Eli's care, in the Temple of God. The same early care, as a mother's duty, is indicated by the direction of the angel of the Lord to Manoah and his wife, Judges xiii. The same again of the Lord's purpose so early put in preparation towards the sanctification of Jeremiah,

Jer. i. 5. The same also in the extraordinary instance of the mother of John the Baptist, the frame of whose mind may be discovered when she retired from public life to meditate on the Lord's dealing towards her, Luke i. 24; and by the manner in which the sacred strain of praise and prophecy broke forth from her lips, when she heard the salutation of the mother of her Lord; and, to sum up all, in the example of the Virgin mother's own state of mind and soul during the same period.--Though the case was such as can never have a parallel, and though the sacred charge was such, as, in itself, to sanctify the mother as the chosen one who was thus highly favoured among women,-yet bearing "that Holy thing” that should be born of her, and whose name was fore-ordained Emmanuel, Jesus-she was engaged in the devotion of her soul, in tracing the wonderful purpose of God in the fulfilment of his promise, and the remembrance of his mercy.

Let parents meditate upon these instances. Fathers may take this lesson from Elkanah, "Do what seemeth thee good; only the Lord establish his word," 1 Sam. i. 23;-from Manoah, "O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send, come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.-How shall we order the child? and how shall we do unto him?" Judges xiii. 8, 11, – from Zachariah, whose loosed tongue declared the deep impressions of his soul, and how he knew his child should be called The Prophet of the Lord, and go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, Luke i. 76,-from Joseph, who was obedient to all that the angel of the Lord had bidden him, Matt. i. 24, and ii. 14, 21, 23. But more especially mothers,

let their meditation be on the Lord's word and grace; let their habits be temperate, retired, holy.— Let her prayer of faith be, that her child may be an offering to the Lord from the womb.-Let her manifest her devotion to the Lord by constant humility of soul before him; knowing her own unworthiness, "Whence is this to me!" but confident in the great grace of the Lord, let her soul magnify the Lord, and her spirit rejoice in God her Saviour. Such dispositions sought for will be granted-granted, they must be exercised-and exercised we have as much reason to expect that the Holy Spirit will prevail, and influence the yet unborn babe, as that the natural affection and desires should influence. Both the natural and the spiritual formation is a mystery to us, how the faculties are imparted and the impression of good or evil conveyed; but the certainty of this should lead mothers to a special attention—the subject is most important, and the happiness of themselves and offspring intimately connected with it.

To see so much indifference to this momentous period in a child's existence, and a parent's responsibility, is disgraceful to human nature, as though unconscious of the high destination of man, and of the wonderful creation of the image of God. Nor let parents wonder, when themselves unmindful of their duty, that their children should be as thorns in their side, and bring down their grey hairs with sorrow to the grave; or, if they escape, through preventing mercy, the more acute afflictions through their ungodliness, yet they need not wonder if their children, contented with their portion in this world, shall be, in the future, in vain sought for among the heirs of glory.

Whilst engaged in writing these reflections, I meet

with an interesting passage in an author, which bears so directly upon the point I wish to enforce, that I cannot forbear giving the extract here. (See Christian Theology, translated from the Latin of Benedict Pictet, by Frederick Reyroux, B. A. pages 209, 210.) 'An infant, while in the womb of its mother, and, therefore, most intimately united to her, has the same impressions made upon its brain and heart, by different objects, as are made upon the brain and heart of its mother. We know that the soul and body are so closely united, that the ideas of the former and the motions of the latter mutually affect each other; whence it may follow that the motions which take place in the brain of infants and make impressions on it, have the same influence on them as they have on their mothers, namely, to bind down their newly created souls to sensible and carnal objects. This may be illustrated by the following example: Supposing God to place a body, into which he intended to breathe also a soul, in the midst of some burning liquid; the very moment the soul entered that body, it would be sensible of a very grievous pain. Thus it is that the body of the infant in its mother's womb is moved in the same way as the body of its mother, who sins every moment; and, therefore, from the time that the soul enters the body so affected, the same affections or inclinations are stirred up within it as are stirred up in the mother, according to the corresponding motions of the body in some such way as this we imagine sin to be propagated. We shall only add, that it is no wonder that man, from the time of his birth, becomes continually more and more corrupt, for he sees nothing but bad examples, which surround him on every side, and by the most