ly be required of him; who does not know why his child is entitled to his respect, his attention, his constant fostering; who cannot show good cause why he hopes that child will be a useful member of society, happy, and the cause of happiness to others. Let us point out the source of these responsibilities with a view to aid parents in forming definite ideas respecting the duties they owe their children. The child is susceptible to the slightest impressions. The whole constitution, mental, physical, and moral, of the young human being, is liable to be modified, in its condition and character, by the most trivial occurrences. Circumstances which, to the mature man, are unimportant, and which pass away leaving hardly a shadow behind, impress themselves upon the child with a depth and power that influence his whole existence. The very toys with which he amuses his infantile hours may give shape and color to his future life. The miniature cannon with which young Napoleon diverted himself was, possibly, the cause of that warlike disposition which, combining with his inordinate ambition, made him the terror of Europe, and the author of an incalculable amount of human misery. The little chisel which the nurse of Michael Angelo gave him as a plaything, perhaps gave direction to that genius which "made the senseless stone to breathe and speak." Had the chisel been given to Napoleon, and the cannon to Angelo, the latter might have been the warrior, and Napoleon have attained a more enviable immortality as a peaceful sculptor. Or, if this is an over-estimate of the power of circumstances, this, at least, will be admitted, that the exchange of toys might have greatly modified the character of the two, and led the one to adopt a less sanguinary mode of gratifying his ambition, and the other to make the creations of his genius embodiments of the spirit of war and violence. So true it is, that little causes acting on the young mind produce great and permanent results. "Scratch the green rind of a sapling, or wantonly twist it in the soil, The scarred and crooked oak will tell of thee for centuries to come; How important, then, that at this decisive period of existence the mind and heart should be moulded aright, that no crooked or unsightly growth may mar their beauty, or distort their fair proportions! The habits then acquired will always be powerful, if not unconquerable. The principles of action then adopted will control the future life. The ideas then impressed upon the memory will remain engraven there in indelible characters. How important, then, that those ideas should be pure and ennobling, that those principles should be of the loftiest morality, that all those habits should be made subservient to virtue, and conducive to the health both of body and soul! The object upon which the attention of the parent is bestowed is of priceless value. It is a mind endowed with high faculties, which may be so developed as to advance the glory of God, or to bring a curse upon the world- -a soul formed in the image of its Creator, and capable of reflecting that image, yet subject to sin and liable to contamination from a thousand sources. This soul and this mind are intrusted to the care of the parent, and who can estimate their worth, or adequately conceive the responsibility incurred in assuming the care of them? The potter, as he fashions his vessels of clay, bestows but a moderate degree of attention to the work in which he is engaged; for his material is of small value, easily procured at first, and as easily replaced if rendered useless by want of skill. The worker in precious metals and stones approaches his work with greater caution, and bestows a more assiduous attention upon the costly materials with which he designs to make an ornament for the halls of nobility, or a diadem to encircle the brow of royalty. But the sculptor, as he stands before his block of purest Parian marble, in which his kindling eye already sees the noble statue which shall stand for ages, a monument at once of the character of its subject and the skill of the artist-with what intense anxiety does he regard each stage of his progress, with what scrupulous exactness does he direct each stroke of the chisel, with what patient attention does he seek to transfer to the marble the idea which with the most profound thought he has elaborated in his mind, for the results of his labor are to be seen and admired by coming generations. But how worthless are the richest materials on which human labor is bestowed, compared with the soul even of the lowliest child that ever claimed a parent's care! Destined to live forever-purchased at the infinite price of a Saviour's blood-capa ble of enjoying inconceivable and immortal happiness—what, compared with this, are the costliest gems that ever Eastern monarch wore, the purest marble that ever felt the magic touch of Canova's chisel? When the marble shall have crumbled into dust, when the lustre of the diamond shall have faded, the soul of that child will be enjoying the happiness, or enduring the misery of eternity. Parent, it may depend upon your conduct toward your child, whether it will join in the song of the redeemed, or unite in the wailings which ascend from the world of woe. Awful, yet unavoidable responsibility! Help from above alone can enable you rightly to estimate it, and rightly to acquit yourself of the duties which arise from it. "The child is father of the man." If the parent will contemplate his children as they are soon to be, he will appreciate more truly the responsibilities of his position. Now their minds are feeble, their knowledge limited, their judgments weak, their capacity to receive, very narrow; their power to execute, almost nothing. But a very few years will work a great change. Soon these children will take their places as active members of society, the leaders of thought, the directors of action, as the divines, the lawyers, the physicians, the statesmen, and the judges of the land. They will be the fathers and mothers of coming generations, on whom will depend the welfare and the right training of all the families in the nation. What a privilege, what an honor, what a responsibility to have the training of these future men and women! But the progress of the rightly educated child does not end with this life. Those affections, now beginning to develop themselves, may glow with seraphic fervor before the throne of God. Those minds, now so feeble, may be enlarged so as to understand the mysteries of eternity, and to comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ. Surely the training of minds and souls of such qualities, and with such destinies as these, is an honor to which kings might aspire, and a responsibility from which angels might shrink. Happy the parent who rightly conceives and faithfully discharges the duties of the parental relation; bitter the retribution which awaits those who will not know, or knowing, will not perform them. P. H. W. NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS THE MONUMENTS OF EGYPT; or, Egypt a Witness for the Bible. By Francis L. Hawks, D.D., LL.D. New York: Geo. P. Putnam. Pp. 162. THIS Volume opens to us a subject of great interest, and while the author styles himself a compiler, we cannot but admire in him the thoroughness of the scholar, the eloquence of the master of language, the benevolence and faith of the Christian. He has given to us the results of varied rosearch, and laborious processes of thought in clear and concise statements; and while we are occupied with time-worn monuments, old and confused records, and sculptured riddles, we feel all the interest we could take in the high-wrought scenes of fiction. To the general reader will be disclosed, in this work, some of the most valuable revelations which science has brought to view, through the personal sacrifices and intense study of her devoted disciples; and the Christian will have his faith in the "living oracle" confirmed, when he hears the voice of monuments, tombs, and palaces of a people long since perished, now at last adding testimony to their truth, to whose silent but authoritative tones learned infidelity must yield. We are glad that the interpretation of this mysterious language has been given to us— -the unlettered, and yet the believing-who have not the power to travel through the vast accumulations of history and science, nor the genius and patience to discover the hidden meaning of symbol and pictured representation, yet who have the heart to love truth, and who welcome with intense delight all which throws light on the sacred page, whether it come from the researches of the traveler to the Holy Land, or from the gloom and silence of the Dead Sea and the vale of Siddim-from the buried wonders of ancient Nineveh, or from enduring chronicles of tomb, and obelisk, and pyramid of renowned old Egypt. The plan of the work-after giving a short account of late discoveries, and of those to whose genius and martyr-spirit we owe such an increase of knowledge—is simply to follow the narratives of Moses, in those parts which are connected with the country of Egypt, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants, and to bring witnesses to their truth, from monuments, and sculptures, and paintings, preserved in undecaying freshness, left as undesigned testimonies by a heathen people, to a record of a nation whom they oppressed and enslaved, and of the Deity, to whom their armed hosts and multitude of chariots were but as the dust of the balance. We hope that this work, so admirable in design and execution, will not be neglected among the many books which issue from a teeming press, and that it may not only enlarge the understanding, but strengthen the faith of many readers. Original. CHRISTIAN TEMPER AND CONDUCT. WE often hear the remark, "I can bear with patience those trials which are providential, but I can not well submit to those which are caused by the selfishness and malice of my fellow-men, and which I feel are undeserved." But can it be said, with truth, that any of our trials are undeserved? That they are inflicted without the agency of Him "who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will?" No; these very trials, which are the most difficult to bear, are doubtless among the most important instrumentalities which God employs to frustrate the malice of Satan; to purify, strengthen, and multiply the graces of His dear people; by means of which He designs eventually to increase the temporal and eternal happiness of those "who through faith and patience inherit the promises." The poet said, with truth— 66 'They are the sword, the hand is thine." Who of us is so wise, so good, so without alloy, as not to need to be purified so as by fire? We do not live in an age of persecution, and yet we need continually the spirit and grace of God, to bear with patience even the petty trials of every-day life. Many who claim the name of Christians exhibit a temper and conduct under slight provocations, totally at variance with the precepts and example of the blessed Savior, who, when reviled, reviled not again. When accused by the Jews, before His crucifixion, though He could have summoned to His rescue twelve legions of angels, yet He answered nothing. When forsaken and even denied by His own disciples, He employs no invectives against them, but commiserates their infirmities. When Peter smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear, not only did Jesus, with a divine touch, heal the wound, but mark His conduct even in the presence of His betrayer and bitter persecutors. He rebukes His disciple, saying, "Put up thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." But behold Him in His last conflict with His cruel persecutors. How beautiful His temper and conduct, VOL. I.-NO. v.-9 |