Count o'er those lamps of quenchless light,
That sparkle through the shades of night;
Behold them!-can a mortal boast

To number that celestial host?

Mark well each little Star, whose rays
In distant splendor meet thy gaze;
Each is a world, by Him sustained,
Who from eternity hath reigned.

Each, kindled not for earth alone,
Hath circling planets of its own,
And beings, whose existence springs
From Him, the all-powerful King of Kings.

Haply, those glorious beings know
No stain of guilt, nor tear of woe;
But raising still the adoring voice,
For ever in their God rejoice.

What then art thou, oh! child of clay!
Amid creation's grandeur, say y?

E'en as an insect on the breeze,
E'en as a dew-drop, lost in seas!

Yet fear thou not !-the sovereign hand,
Which spread the ocean and the land,
And hung the rolling spheres in air,
Hath, e'en for thee, a Father's care!

Be thou at peace! the all-seeing eye,
Pervading earth, and air, and sky,

The searching glance which none may flee,

Is still, in mercy, turned on thee.-Mrs. Hemans.

ON AUTHORITY OVER CHILDREN.NO. I.

SHOULD any one charged with the management of children ask, "How shall I govern the children committed to me, so as to secure their virtue and happiness ?" we should answer in the following manner:—

Obedience is absolutely necessary to the proper government of children; without this all other efforts will be in

vain. By obedience I do not mean a languid and dilatory yielding to repeated threats; but a prompt and cheerful acquiescence in commands. Neither is it enough that a child should yield to your arguments and persuasions, it is essential that he should submit to your authority.

Suppose, for instance, one of your little charge is sick, you go to her with the medicine which has been prescribed for her, and the following dialogue ensues: "Here, my child, is some medicine for you."

"I dont want to take it, ma'am."

"Do take it, my dear, it will make you feel better." “No it wont, I dont want it.”

"Yes it will, my child, the doctor says it will." "Well I dont like it, and I dont want it."

The nurse or mother continues her persuasions, and the child persists in its refusals; after a long and wearisome conflict, the nurse is compelled either to throw the medicine away, or to resort to compulsion, and force down the unpalatable drug. She fails, because instead of appealing to her own authority, she is appealing to the reason of the child.

It is certainly the duty of teachers or parents to con vince their children of the reasonableness and propriety of their requirements; this should be done to instruct them, and to make them acquainted with moral obligation; but there should be always sufficient authority to enforce prompt obedience, whether the child can see the reason of the requirement or not; indeed it is impossible to govern a child by mere argument, many cases must occur in which it will be incapable of seeing the reasonableness of the command, and often its wishes will be so strongly opposed to duty, that all efforts to convince it will be in vain. The first thing, therefore, to be aimed at, is to bring your child under perfect subjection, teach him that he must obey you; accustom him to immediate and cheerful acquiescence in your will-this is obedience, and this is absolutely essential to good government.

But how is this habit of obedience to be established? It is not so difficult a matter as some imagine: the principles by which we are to be guided are very simple and very plain.

Never give a command which you do not intend shall

be obeyed. There is no more effectual way of teaching a child disobedience than by giving commands which you have no intention of enforcing; a child is thus habituated to disregard its instructors.

Mary, let that book alone," says a governess to her little pupil, who is trying to pull the Bible from the table. Mary stops for a moment, and then takes hold of the book again.

Soon after her governess looks up and sees that Mary is still playing with the Bible, "Did you not hear me tell you to let that book alone?" she exclaims; "why don't you obey me ?”

Mary takes away her hand for a moment, but is soon again at her forbidden amusement. By and by, down comes the Bible upon the floor. Up jumps the governess hastily, and giving the child a passionate blow, exclaims, "there, then, obey me the next time." The child screams, and the governess picks up the Bible, saying, "I wonder why these children do not obey me better."

Is it strange that a child thus managed should be disobedient? No. She is actually taught to pay no heed to the directions given to her, even the improper treatment which sometimes follows transgression is not inflicted on account of her disobedience, but for the accidental consequences. In the case above mentioned, had the Bible not fallen, the disobedience of the child would have passed unpunished.

We will suppose the case of a mother who has taught her children prompt and implicit obedience. She gives three of them, perhaps, some blocks, in one corner of the room, and tells them that they may play at "building houses," but that they must not make much noise, for she wishes to finish some work. The other three she places in another corner of the room, with their slates, and tells them that they may play at "making pictures." The children, accustomed to such orderly arrangements, employ themselves, very quietly and happily, for perhaps three quarters of an hour. The mother goes on uninterruptedly with her work. Occasionally she raises her eyes, and says an encouraging word to her children, now noticing the little architects in the corner, and now glancing her eye at the drawings upon the slates; thus shewing the chil

dren that she sympathizes with them, and takes an interest in their enjoyments. The children are pleased and happy; the mother undisturbed.

She does not let them continue their amusements till they are weary of them. But after they have played, perhaps, for three quarters of an hour, she says,

"Come, children, you have played long enough; you may take up all your little blocks, and put them away in

the drawer.

"Oh," says Mary, "do let me play a little longer, for I have got my house almost done."

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Well, you may finish it," says the judiciously kind mother; "but tell me as soon as it is done."

In a few minutes Mary says, "There, see what a large house I have built!" The mother looks at it, and adds a pleasant word of encouragement, and then tells them to put all their blocks in the proper place. She tells the children to hang up their slates, and put away their pencils; so that the next day, when slates and blocks are wanted, no time may be lost in searching for them.

Perhaps some one will say, this is a pleasing picture, but where are we to look for its reality? It is, indeed, to be regretted that such scenes are of so unfrequent occurrence; yet there are many such families of happy parents and affectionate children. And these families are not confined to the wealthy and the learned. It requires not wealth, and it requires not extensive learning to train up such a family. The principle of government is simple and plain. It is to begin with enforcing obedience to every command; it is to establish the principle that a command is never to be disregarded.—Abbott.

PLAYTHINGS-AMUSEMENTS-EMPLOYMENTS. THE following observations will be useful to those who have the care of children in infancy and childhood:

In infancy, the principal object is to find such toys as are at once attractive and safe. During the painful process of teething, a roll of Indian rubber is good, on account of the ease it gives the gums; it should be fastened to a string, but not a green one, or any other from which a

child can suck the colour. Painted toys are not safe at this age, when children are so prone to convey everything to the mouth. An ivory ring or a bunch of keys are favourite playthings with babies. Indeed anything they can move about, and cause to produce a noise is pleasant to them. I have seen infants amuse themselves, for hours, with a string of very large wooden beads, or shining buttons; perhaps it is needless to say that no buttons but steel, wood, or ivory, are safe; if they have any portion of brass about them, they are injurious. When children are a few months older, blocks of wood, which can be heaped up and knocked down at pleasure, become favourite playthings. Such toys are a great deal better than expensive ones.

As soon as it is possible to convey instruction by toys, it is well to choose such as will be useful. The letters of the alphabet, on pieces of bone, are excellent for this purpose. I have known a child six years old, teach a baby-brother to read quite well, merely by playing with his ivory letters. In all that relates to developing the intellect, very young children should not be hurried or made to attend unwillingly. When they are playing with their letters, and you are at leisure, take pains to tell them the name of each one, as often as they ask; but do not urge them. No matter if it takes them weeks to learn one letter; they will not want their knowledge in a hurry. Do not try to teach him a new word until he is perfect master of the old one: and do not try to force his attention to his letters when he is weary, fretful and sleepy, or impatient to be doing something else. Among instructive toys may be ranked balls arranged together so as to be counted.

Every step of infantile progress should be encouraged by expressions of pleasure. When a child is able to spell a new word, or count a new number, kiss him, and shew delight at his improvement. Benjamin West relates that his mother kissed him eagerly, when he showed her a likeness he had sketched of his baby-sister; and adds, "That kiss made me a painter !"

For children of two or three years old, pictures are great sources of amusement and instruction. Engravings of animals are very good things. It is a great object to