all that befals them, we should betimes initiate them into the habit of thinking of Him--we should endeavour to excite their affections, and their sympathies, by teaching them, as soon as they are capable of understanding, how much that Being deserves their love, who has suffered, to purchase eternal happiness for them. We should detail to them, in simple language, cases of his watchfulness over, and protection of, those who have faithfully served him, of the severe punishment he inflicted on those who rebelled against Him, the endless happiness he has prepared for his followers, and the threats he has denounced against those who “live without Him in the world." The Scriptures afford ample supplies of food to satisfy the eager mental appetites of children. They contain an infinite variety of matter, calculated to excite their curiosity, and their inquiries, provided that you dress your instructions in the pleasing garb of a little history, instead of arraying them in the formidable shape of a hard lesson. I have known children, at a very early age, take a great interest in the story of "Joseph and his Brethren," and with enthusiasm express their joy at his deliverance, and their admiration of his kindness, in forgiving those who had tried to take his life; and it is easy to point out to them simply and clearly, that it was by God's peculiar care that he was preserved from the designs of his enemies. The story of "Daniel in the Lion's Den," is at once calculated to excite, and to exercise the faith of a child, provided that proper comments be made by those who relate it.

These are but two examples out of an infinite number which might be pointed out; but they may suffice to explain the nature of that religious direction of the mind, which I think cannot be entered upon too soon; and were volumes to be written, it would be impossible to give all the instances in which it may be done. If the principle be laid down, and admitted, opportunities will of course continually arise, in which it may be called into exercise, according to the judgment of parents, or teachers: and, perhaps, the most profitable instruction of all, in such matters, is that by which the mind is constantly and imperceptibly led to reflect upon religion, and by which all the concerns of this life are brought to bear upon it; for however some may condemn such a training of the flexible infantine capacities, we have the highest authority for pursuing it. "Out of the mouths of babes

:

and sucklings thou hast perfected praise." Such a teaching is also peculiarly calculated to lead ultimately to the fulfilment of that command-" Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." It would be absurd, as well as cruel, and unnatural, to attempt to restrain the innocent and playful amusements of children; but the enjoyment of these is perfectly compatible with an impression of the presence of God at all times, which is so calculated to check the temptation to anger, deception, and all those sins to which children are the most liable and as this life is intended by the author of our being, only as an education for eternity, it should be our main business to fit ourselves for that state, instead of wasting our best energies upon interests that terminate in the perishable things of time. If, then, we would as much as possible interweave religion with our nature, which is so lamentably averse to it, we should take care that it is one of the first things to be taughtfor the earlier the impression, the more certain it is of being durable. By some it may be urged, that children should not be talked to of God, and of Christ, when they are very young, because they can form but very indistinct notions of what you wish to convey; but I am sure that love, and reverence, and fear for their Creator and Redeemer, may be inspired into their minds, as soon as they are capable of these feelings for any other object; but even should we sometimes be disappointed as to the immediate results of our labours, we may depend upon it that the "bread which is cast on the waters will be found after many days," and that if the seeds of piety be sown early, they will, with the dew of the Divine blessing, progressively spring up, and bud, and blossom, and ultimately "yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness."

I am, Sir,

Your's, &c.

A MOTHER.

I 2

IN

SIR,

THIN SHOES.

To the Editor of the Family Monitor.

In your last number, you gave your female readers a hint about tight stays, and I hope they will have the good sense to profit by it. By your permission, I will follow it by one on THIN SHOES, which I do with a melancholy impression on my mind of the folly of wearing them. I have just been visiting the mother of a young family in the last stage of a consumption; her frame literally reduced to nothing but skin and bone, attended with excruciating pain; yet this young person, not twelve months since, she tells me, was as hearty and robust a woman as you commonly see! She has but lately come into my parish, from a distant county, and therefore I was not much acquainted with her history; but as she ascribed her illness to a cold, I asked if it arose from any particular cause? "Cause !" said she; "I know it too well; and what is more, I can date the moment of it, for I felt the chill run through me, and have never known an hour's health since." The cause I soon found to be this-thin shoes. She had imprudently gone to a wake in a pair of them, when she had better have been at home attending to her family: the ground was damp; and hence originated her malady, which no human power can arrest. From her long sickness, which she has patiently borne and profited by, I trust this poor woman is prepared for that great change which must soon take place; but for the sake of her little family around her, how often does she lament the wake, and the vanity that led her to appear in shoes that were not worthy of that name.

I fear, Mr. Editor, this is but too common a case, and that many of your readers, if the truth were known, could trace their colds and coughs to the same cause, which, let it be remembered, are often only the beginning of a long train of diseases. May this poor victim, however, to such an absurd fashion, snatched from her sorrowing husband and helpless babes, be a

hint to females of every rank and condition, if they value health, to place some thicker substance than an almost imperceptible sole between their feet and the cold ground.

Your obedient Servant,

A CLERGYMAN.

VALENTINE'S DAY.

As that day, of all days most troublesome to the postman, will shortly arrive-a time, however, when many letters are penned with feelings far different from those that originate in jest-I hope our young friends will excuse our introducing that pretty fable of Cowper's--

"It chanced then on a winter's day,

But warm, and bright, and calm as May,
The birds, conceiving a design

To forestal sweet St. Valentine,

In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
Assembled on affairs of love,

And with much twitter, and much chatter,
Began to agitate the matter.

At length a Bullfinch, who could boast
More years and wisdom than the most,
Entreated, opening wide his beak,
A moment's liberty to speak;
And, silence publicly enjoin'd,
Deliver'd briefly thus his mind :—
'My friends! be cautious how ye treat
The subject upon which we meet ;
I fear we shall have winter yet.'

A Finch, whose tongue knew no controul,-
With golden wing, and satin poll,
A last-year's bird, who ne'er had tried

What marriage means, thus pert replied:
'Methinks the gentleman,' quoth she,
Opposite on the apple-tree,

By his good-will would keep me single,
Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle;
Or (which is likelier to befal)

Till death exterminate us all :

To marry without more ado—

My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?'
Dick heard, and, tweedling, ogling, bridling,
Turning short round, strutting, and sideling,
Attested, glad, his approbation

Of an immediate conjugation.
Their sentiments, so well express'd
Influenc'd mightily the rest.

All pair'd, and each pair built a nest.
But though the birds were thus in haste,
The leaves came on not quite so fast;
And destiny, that sometimes bears
An aspect stern on man's affairs,
Not altogether smil'd on theirs.
The wind, of late breath'd gently forth,
Now shifted east, and east by north;
Bare trees and shrubs but ill, you know,
Could shelter them from rain or snow.
Stepping into their nests they paddled;
Themselves were chill'd, their eggs were addled :
Soon every father-bird and mother

Grew quarrelsome, and peck'd each other;

Parted without the least regret,

Except that they had ever met;

And learn'd in future to be wiser
Than to neglect a good adviser.

MORAL.

"Misses! the tale that I relate

This lesson seems to carry—
Choose not alone a proper mate,
But proper time to marry."

ON MACHINE BREAKING.

MANY breaches of the peace, occasioned partly by the pressure of distress, but still more by the suggestions of designing and wicked persons, have marked the latter months of the year 1830 with fear and sadness. Englishmen, forgetting their character for frank, and manly, and open hostility, have lent themselves to acts of baseness and wanton cruelty; and have sought the covert of night to destroy by fire the property of an unsuspect