ne is likely to exact, be well considered before you receive the gift. If it be the price of vice or folly, shun it, as you hope for peace and honest fame: each temptation you have avoided, will strengthen you against the next: custom will make the most difficult self-denials easy.

THE CHARACTER OF A GOOD SON.

The good and dutiful son is one who honours his pa rents, by paying them the utmost deference and respect by a becoming reverence for them, a filial affection for their persons, a tender regard for their safety and preservation, a constant and cheerful attention to their advice, and a ready and implicit obedience to their commands.

As he becomes every day more sensible of his obligations, he grows every day more solicitous to repay them. He employs his youth to support their age, his abundance to relieve their wants, and his knowledge and strength to support their infirmities. He is more careful of his character and reputation in the world, because their's depend upon it.

Ever anxious for their welfare, and attentive to their happiness, he endeavours, by every method in his power, to prolong their days, that his own "may be long in the land." He rests assured, that God will not only bless obedient children, but reward them with the possession of heaven, where it will be well with them for ever; and where we shall all join, son and father, daughter and mother, wife and husband, servant and master, to honour our great Parent, the Protector, the Lord, and the Master of us all.

THE BIRD'S NEST.

Yes, little nest, I'll hold you fast,
And little birds, one, two, three, four;
I've watch'd you long, you're mine at last,
Poor little things, you'll 'scape no more.
Chirp, cry, and flutter, as you will,

Ah! simple rebels, 'tis in vain,

Your little wings are unfledg'd still;
How can you freedom then obtain ?
What note of sorrow strikes my ear !
Is it their mother thus distrest!
Ah yes, and see, their father dear

Flies round and round, to seek their nest.
And is it I, who cause their moan?
I, who so oft, in summer's heat,
Beneath yon oak have laid me down,
To listen to their songs so sweet?
If from my tender mother's side,
Some wicked wretch should make me fly,
Full well I know 'twould her betide,
To break her heart, to sink, to die.

And shall I then so cruel prove,
Your little ones to force away?
No, no; together live and love;
See here they are; take them I pray.
Go, gentle birds; go free as air;
While oft again, in summer's heat,
To yonder oak I will repair,
And listen to your song so sweet.

WITH hasty steps, at the first dawn of day,
The cheerful traveller pursues his way;
But tir'd at noon, he seeks a shady grove:
Of lofty trees, whose branches meet above
Conceal'd beneath the grass the serpent lies:
The swain draws near, and by his venom dies.

Moral.

Thus he, who, leaving virtue's sacred ways,
Securely through the paths of pleasure strays:
Wounded by vice, his peace and honour lost,
Buys late experience at too dear a cost:
To him who perseveres, alone are giv'n-
Fair fame on earth, and endless bliss in heav'n.

A serpent concealed in the grass is an apt emblem of fraud and vice, concealed under specious appearances. The traveller goes on his road with cheerfulness, during

the morning hours; he doubts not but he shall soon get to his journey's end, and expects not to meet with the least obstacle in his way.

But when he feels the heat increasing, his vigour begins to relax when the hour of noon arrives, he is absolutely weak and faint. He beholds a woed, spreading its inviting shade; he considers not, that to enter, is to deviate from his road: he thinks not what dangers he may encounter there all his attention is taken up in relieving himself from a present inconvenience.

:

He enters the grove, and loses himself among its cool and agreeable windings. When he would return, he finds himself perplexed, as in a maze; and before he can regain the road, he is bitten by a venomous reptile, which was concealed from his sight among the grass.

He now wishes he had borne the heat of the day; his blood is consumed with fires more intolerable. He faulters, sinks under his pains, and falls a victim to his own imprudence.

Application.

Virtue is never safe but when she is secured by the guard of prudence: discretion is her handmaid, and wisdom her counsellor and instructer.

Caution is a necessary lesson to be learned by youth; and perseverance, one of the best qualities they can be endowed with.

When fortune smiles upon us, it is not so difficult to go on in the practice of virtue; a man may easily obtain the

reputation of being good, when he is so circumstanced, that he must become a monster of vice to be wicked.

But you who would attain to the end of your labours, be virtuous; and to your virtue join prudence; and to your prudence add perseverance; so shall you not fall into the snares of pleasure, nor feel the envenomed stings of guilt and remorse, whose fangs are sharper than those of the serpent, and whose poison is more deadly than that of the venomous adder.

When the love of pleasures and vicious companions 18 allowed to amuse young persons, to engross their time, and to stir up their passions, let them take heed, and beware!-the day of ruin begins to draw nigh. Fortune is squandered; health is broken; friends are offended, estranged; aged parents, perhaps, sent afflicted and mourning to the dust.

You are the children of one father, provided for by his care; and the breast of one mother nourished you. Let the bonds of affection, therefore, unite thee with thy brothers and sisters, that peace and happiness may dwell in thy father's house.

And when you are separated in the world, remember the relation that binds you to love and unity; and prefer not a stranger before thy own blood. If thy brother is in adversity, assist him; if thy sister is in trouble, forsake her not. So shall the fortunes of thy father contribute to the support of his whole race; and his care be continued to you all, in your love to each other.