Fight-fight-fight! Not 'neath a tyrant's ban, Press on bright Being's plan, Fight-fight-fight! Not for an hour, a day! Fight-fight-fight! From daily morn till even! For ever here, unshriven; A. W. M. The Children's Gallery. 66 "DO GET THE BIBLE AND LOOK." "MOTHER," ," said little Henry, on a Sabbath morning, "is it right for father to go to the office to-day?" A hard question for that mother to answer. She could not express approbation of the violation of God's law even in her husband, and she could not bear to diminish her child's reverence for his parent. The mother hesitated. The child growing impatient, cried, "Mother, do get the Bible and look." parents? Do your companions tell you there is no harm in it?" Get the Bible, and look for the command, "Honour thy father and thy mother.” As you grow older you will leave the examples and restraints of your father's house. Then you may be tempted to read an irreligious book, or walk for pleasure on the Sabbath. Conscience makes you hesitate. "There is no harm in it," repeats the tempter. Get the Bible and look; and from Moses to Malachi you will find judgments de- | nounced against those who break the Fourth Commandment, and blessings promised to those who find not their own pleasure on the Lord's holy day. It was wrong for Henry to be impatient. Perhaps it was wrong for his mother not to answer immediately; and yet I have always remembered the incident with pleasure. It showed that Henry had early learned what is "the only and sufficient rule of faith and practice." Are you tempted to disobey your Conscience says, "My parents would A new temptation arises. Your companions urge you to join them in the dancing-school and the ball-room. not approve." But, whispers your heart, "My parents are quite too strict in such matters." You get the Bible and look, thinking there to find it coincide with your wishes. You rejoice to see Miriam the prophetess, David the psalmist, dancing; and in triumph you read Solomon's assertion, that "there is a time to dance." look thoroughly. Is your dancing an act of worship like that of Miriam and David? Are you sure that the time for you to dance has come? Surely not before you have given your heart to Christ and are prepared for eternity. But On a winter's evening the theatre opens its doors attractively to you. You are about to enter, when the question arises, What saith the Bible? "Lead us not into temptation." Strengthened by former regard to God's word, you now turn away, feeling that it would be mockery to offer that prayer in the morning, and to visit such scenes in the evening hours. I see you next in the active business of life. Circumstances occur in which a little fraud, the practice of a little deception, might make you rich. The fortune for which you are daily striving seems brought within your reach. But you hear the Apostle Paul say, "Let no man go beyond and defraud his brother;" and you retain your priceless uprightness. But it is not merely in the daily business of life that you need the guidance of the Bible. The Holy Spirit enters your heart, and, alarmed and distressed, you feel yourself to be a lost sinner. "What shall I do to be saved?" you cry. Memory answers "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." Peace fills your soul as you read of "the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world" Henceforth, guided by the Bible, may you hope for a happy life, a peaceful death, and a glorious immortality! A FATHER'S PRAYER. IN a certain town in Massachusetts, a club of young men who were accustomed to meet to enjoy themselves, as they called it, had gone on from one step to another until they had become full-grown, bare-faced infidels, strong in the faith. There was one who had been taught the truths of the Bible in the Sunday-school. He far exceeded all the rest, and by his knowledge of that sacred book, would turn its most their im golemn words into the vilest ridicule. He would take the parables of Christ, and by interspersing obscene jests and vile remarks, turn port into scorn. He would lift his hands, and with a solemn countenance and reverential words, say, "Let us pray;" and commencing in a manner seemingly becoming an address to the Majesty of Heaven, and with such an expression of awe as to strike horror even into the minds of his infidel companions, would soon turn the whole into the utmost heaven-daring and God-insulting ridicule. On one occasion, very late in the night, he was met, not a great distance from his home, the conversation, said he to his comby one of his companions, and during panion, "John, I don't go home very early now-a-days. I come down here, and if I see a light over home, I walk about the road here, but I don't go in. I used to go home almost as late as twelve o'clock sometimes, but I would find my old father and mother sitting there, and the old man would speak in a tone of paternal mildness and tenderness, It is rather late, William; your mother and I have been waiting some time for you, so we will have prayers now.' But O, I can't bear to hear that old man pray-I can't bear it! So, if I see a light there I don't go in." "What have you been doing to your sister? I see her lying there on the gravel walk; you have torn her frock, and pushed her down. I am afraid you forgot my caution to be gentle." "Gentle! boys can't be gentle, mother it's their nature to be rough, and hardy, and boisterous. They are the stuff soldiers are made of. It's very well to talk of gentle girls, but a gentle boy-it sounds ridiculous! I should be ready to knock a fellow down for calling me so." "And yet, Julius, a few years hence, you would be very angry if any one were to say you were not a gentleman." "A gentle man! I never thought of dividing the word that way before. Being gentle always seems to me like being weak, womanish." "This is so far from being the case, my son, that you will always find the bravest men are the most gentle. The spirit of chivalry that you so much admire, was the spirit of the noblest courage and the utmost gentleness combined. Still I dare say you would rather be called a manly than a gentle boy ? 1' "Yes, indeed, mother." "Well, then, my son, it is my great wish, that you should endeavour to unite the two. Show yourself manly when you are exposed to danger or see others in peril; be manly when called to speak the truth, though the speaking of it may bring reproach on you; be manly when you are in sickness and pain. At the same time be gentle, whether you be with females or with men; be gentle towards all men. By putting the two spirits together, you will deserve a name, which, perhaps, you will not so greatly object to." "I see what you mean, dear mother, and I will endeavour to be what you wish-a gentle-manly boy." HONOUR YOUR PARENTS. "THERE is Henry," said a bright-eyed little boy of about six years of age, "there is Henry Saunders; let us go where he will not see us, for I don't want to play with him." Why not?" asked his playmate. "Because he says wicked words." "What words does he say ?" "Oh, they are very bad words, and my mother says we should not mention them after him, or think them over even either, if we can think of something else." I thought, surely this child has a good mother; the little boy's answer gave me this opinion of her. He honoured her, that is, he made her appear good. If you should see a person's picture, you would judge at once whether the person was handsome or not. So this child, by his conduct, showed me a picture of his mother's character. THE DEATH OF A CHILD. AH! not for thee was woven That wreath of joy and woe, That crown of thorns and flowers Which all must wear below. We bend in sadness o'er thee, Yet feel that thou art ble-t, Loved one! so early summoned To enter into rest. E'en now thy bright young spirit From earthly life is free; Unsullied as thou art, We can but look to thee! As did thy blessed Son; Thy will, not ours, be done." The Cabinet, HOUSEHOLD PIETY. Ir is now about two hundred years since Philip Goodwin, of much venerated memory, addressed himself to the Parents of the land on the subject of Family Religion, which was then in a state much requiring revival. That zealous man of God took a very sound view of the subject, correctly holding that parents and pastors, to a vast extent, held in their hands the interests of true religion; it was for them, he held, in a very great degree, to say whether it should advance in the earth, or retrograde. This is the view we are, on the present occasion, anxious to impress upon the mind of our readers. To accomplish this would be to attain a great object for the piety of England. The Pulpit and the School are agencies of the highest moment; our desire is, to enhance, not to diminish, the popular estimate of them: but we contend that both will mainly depend for success on the Family. Were our pulpits filled by Apostles, and our schools taught by Evangelists, while there was, in the family, neither instruction nor example, neither rule nor worship, it would be impossible for the work of God to advance apace among men; while, on the contrary, with an enlightened and vigorous household piety, it may proceed gloriously, with a very moderate degree of external assistance. The strength of religion in the earth is, the Family. In times of terror and distress, it has always fled thither, as unto a place of refuge; and there it has subsisted, when the synagogue has been levelled with the ground, and the servants of the Lord compelled to flee for their lives to dens and caves of the earth, or to foreign lands. It is recorded of the Palladium in Troy, that while that image remained there, the city was impregnable; and till the Greeks found out the stratagem to steal away that idol, they could not conquer the city. The classical fiction has its moral. No cities with ramparts are so strong as those in which God hath appointed "salvation for walls and bulwarks." The heart, the family, the town, the city, or the nation, that is the dwelling-place of the living God, is far beyond the reach of danger. Luther reports of a Bishop of Magdeburg, who, hearing how the Duke of Saxony was preparing war against him, began reforming his family, and amending what was amiss in the church under his charge. One of the Duke's spies in the city, observing the Bishop made no warlike provision for his own defence, came and asked him if he did not know what the Duke was about. “Yes,” said he, “I know; but I will look to my work, and leave my defence to God." The Duke hearing this, disbanded his forces, saying, "I shall be too weak to deal with that man who engages God in the quarrel." To further the object we have in view at present, we would cite and press upon the hearts of our readers, with all affection, the words of Solomon: "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flock, and look well to thy herd; for riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens." We may call these the godly parents' texts, and the texts of the Christian master. Diligence is the great idea here set forth. In Eastern countries, where pastoral life so extensively prevails, the terms, taken literally, have great force; but in proportion to the literal is the metaphorical bearing. As heads of houses, our families are our flocks; our households are our herds; every parent, every master has the care of the souls residing under his roof, and vast will be the reward of their proper culture. These are the subjects to which he does well to look. To "know the flock" is a term of high significance. In the primitive tongue it is full of emphasis—“ Knowing, know thou the face of thy flock.' Happy they who, in some good measure, come up to this duty The Eastern shepherd knows the very face of his sheep, which, in spiritual import, is to understand the cases, conditions, capacities, dispositions, necessities, tastes, tendencies, and habits of those with whom we have to do. A curicus old divine, Bede, paraphrases it thus: "Take thou exact knowledge of all under thy charge, so as to correct and amend whatever amongst them thou findest amiss." "Look well to thy herd." The literal import of the Hebrew is remarkable: "Put thy heart into thy herd." Thus, a man's herd is to be hid in his heart; his heart to involve his herd. According to Philip Goodwin, "a man's family, though they may be sometimes out of his house, yet they should be at no time out of his heart, nor his heart out of them; but ever studiously striving and always solicitously set to do them good. The good, the eternal good of their immortal souls should ever be upon his heart, and his heart thereupon in daily diligence: Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flock, and look well to thy herd.'' Every parent should solemnly remember this great duty, and |