He gently reproves them, when they do ill; and sweetly encourages them to do well, by his kind words, and looks, and by every little reward which he can bestow upon them. He delights to see them do well, and to hear them praised; and above all, to think that they are loved, and blessed, by the great God.

The good mother tenderly nurses her little children. She denies herself many comforts, and indulgences, that her dear children may want for nothing; and when the meals are scanty, she always takes for herself the smallest share. She never thinks she can work, or do, too much for them. When they are sick, she tends them, often all night long; and prays to the Almighty, and does all she can, to make them well again. As soon as they can understand her, she tells them of the great God who made them, and all persons; and she teaches them to pray to him, and to worship him. Seldom a day passes, but she teaches them something good. She is never tired with the questions which they ask her, about what they see, and hear, and think; she loves to talk with them, and to instruct them. She teaches them to read; and she teaches them to work. She joins heartily with their father in labouring for them ; and contriving things for their good. She prays earnestly for them; she watches over them; she never forgets them.

The good father and mother love all their children alike; and are alike kind to all. They pray to God for his grace, that they may be able to teach their children what is good and proper, and to set them an example of it; and that their children may attend to their instructions, and their example.

The children in the happy family, are obedient to their parents; and honour them. The first thing

which they are taught, is, to love and to obey. Before they can walk about, or speak, they learn to obey their parents, and to be kind to their brothers and sisters. They do what their parents require of them, whether it pleases their own little fancies or not. They speak the truth. They do not attempt to deceive. When they have done wrong, they confess it at once. They talk, and behave, very kindly, to one another. If one of them is in trouble, or disgrace, the rest are sorry, and try to comfort and assist him. They do not rudely contradict any body; nor mock and vex any body; nor play silly, mischievous tricks. Neither do they fight, and quarrel, and call names, and tell tales. They never torment poor, dumb creatures. They do not play at any game for money; nor keep company with wicked children. They are cleanly and tidy. It is a pleasure to look at their clean, healthy, goodhumoured faces. Nobody needs be afraid of coming near them, or of touching them: the children of the greatest lady in the land, have not cleaner skins, and cleaner hair, than they have.

They learn betimes their duty to the great and good God. In the evening, when their father prays, and reads aloud in the Bible, they are quite still, and listen very attentively, even before they thoroughly understand what he is about. They walk reverently to and from the house of God; and when they are there, they do not laugh, nor stare about them, nor speak a word to any body. They know that the house of God is not a place to laugh, or play, or talk, or sleep in: but that people go thither, to pray to the great God; to sing his praises; and to hear his most holy Word. They do not understand all they hear; but there is

always something which they can understand, and remember. They love the house of God, and his day, and his holy Book. Though they do not work, nor play, on the sabbath, the time does not seem long to them. They repeat little hymns, and texts from the Bible, and read: and their parents read to them; and talk to them, more on that day than on any other, about God, and Christ, and Heaven; and tell them many beautiful and excellent things that are in the Bible; and ask them questions about what they have read, and learned, and done, in the week that is past.

Even when they are very young, they try to do all they can, to serve and help their parents, and their brothers and sisters. They love to be employed; and they love to be useful. One or other of them is often saying: "What can I do now, mother? Cannot I do something? I think I can. Do let me try." Before they are six years old, they learn to read; and they learn many kinds of work. The good mother contrives to have enough for them to do at home, that they may not be idle, when they cannot earn wages by working out for other people. She sets them to weed the garden, and help to keep it in very nice order; to look after the poultry and the pigs; to spin in long winter evenings; to knit stockings and gloves; to plat straw for their bonnets and hats; to mend their stockings and other clothes; and to do many little jobs in the house. The elder girls learn to wash and dress their little brothers and sisters, and to take care of them; to clean the house; to get the victuals ready; to wash and iron linen; and to make, and cut out, almost all the clothes that are used in the family. "If we do not earn a great deal," says the good mother, "by

such kinds of work, we save a great deal; and, as the proverb very truly says, 'A penny saved is a penny gained. Besides, children learn by them, to be industrious, and managing; and that, especially when they grow up, is one of the greatest gains a large family can make."

SECTION 4.

The happy family continued.

THE good mother studies how to earn most, and to save most; and to keep things clean, and neat, and in order and she teaches her children to do so too. In her family, nothing is wasted; nothing neglected, that can possibly be turned to any good use. Every little end of thread, cotton, or worsted, every little rag, is put into the rag-bag, to be sold to the ragman; the bones that have had all the meat cut off, are broken, and boiled for broth; the wash of the house, and every bit of refuse food, are saved for the pigs, or for manure. There is no new bread eaten in the family; and no tea-drinking, except on Sunday afternoons, and other great days. "I believe," says the frugal mother, “ many women are so foolish as to spend most of their own and their children's earnings, in buying tea, and sugar, and butter; and waste a great deal of precious time over their tea whilst their poor little boys and girls run about dirty, and almost naked; and learn not to be ashamed of their raggedness and filth. This is not the case with us. We have plenty of good, substantial food: which makes our children healthy and thriving; and gives all of us strength to do our work. We have nice gruel, or milk porridge,

or rice milk *, for breakfast and supper; and potatoes, and other vegetables, out of our garden, and cheap soups, broths, and puddings, and many kinds of wholesome dishes, for dinner. And we have plenty of whole, clean clothing; almost all of our own spinning and making. It is not fine, to be sure, nor very handsome but it is all of a piece: it makes us look, and feel, decent and comfortable; and we have been very much praised for it, by some of the wisest and best people in our parish."

The good and wise parents never allow their children to glean in any field, or pick up any waste bits of wood, or shavings, without leave from the owner. If the neighbours say they may go into their fields to glean, before the shocks are taken away, the good mother is almost afraid to let them go, lest they should put forth their little hands into the shocks, and steal: and she never lets them go, till she has strictly charged them, if the devil puts wicked thoughts into their minds, not to heed them; not to bring their poor mother to shame; and not to offend the great God, who sees, and knows, whatever they do. Very strictly too are they forbidden by their parents, ever to break their neighbours' hedges, or trees, for firing: or to pluck any flowers that grow in their gardens; or any fruit of

* In many places, people who do not keep cows, find it difficult to get milk. Persons well skilled in farming business, say that if farmers and cow-keepers would make the experiment, they would find that it is more profitable to sell milk, in small quantities, than to make it into butter or cheese; and they would, at the same time, have the satisfaction of thinking, that they very much assist their neighbours, particularly those who have large families.