he comes in tired and wanting refreshment; he will be much more likely to sympathize if you wait for a while and consider his comfort. "A woman who lived very unhappily with her husband came to a great divine to ask his counsel. 'Always meet your husband with a smile,' said the wise man. She followed his advice, and very soon returned to thank him for the blessing of a happy home."

Let your husband's clothes be kept in as nice repair as possible, and your fingers be always busy, making the most of the means at your command. Beware of slovenliness: I have before warned you against love of fine dress, but the opposite fault is nearly as bad. If you have to work hard, or to nurse children, it may be difficult to make yourself look neat and clean, but, at least, try your best to do so, that a man may not see the wife he used to admire as a nice, tidy girl, grown into a slovenly, slip-shod woman. It may be that you have little to depend upon, small, weekly wages, which, when the rent is paid, go but a little way towards feeding and clothing a family. If this be the case, and you cannot have more than the bare necessaries of life, then let your cleanliness and diligence improve to the utmost what you have—it is wonderful how much may be done by active fingers

and let your good temper sweeten all. If the little things which promote happiness in a home be neglected, if a man returns wearied from his work to a cross wife, crying children, and a dirty room, no wonder he should prefer the alehouse and his gay companions there; no wonder his wages are not brought home to one who does not consider his comfort; and thus, step by step, poverty comes on, not that decent poverty which is God's appointment for some, but a squalid wretchedness and a gradual sinking down into sottishness and vice. Oh, wives and you who are about to become wives, think how much rests with you, and pray fervently to your heavenly Father for grace to enable you to live as Christians!

And now, in conclusion, I beseech you, husbands and wives, by the love of God, and by all the blessings of a happy home, to think on these things. Let your daily prayers be offered up to God's throne, for yourselves, each other, and those whom God may have given you; let the Word of God be a lamp to your feet, and a light to your paths; read together morning and evening some portion of it, however small. Let the Lord's day

be hailed as a day on which to refresh your bodies and minds by rest from labour, and your souls by communion with God and holy

things in His Church. Neglect not the Lord's Supper, in which we meet Christ more closely than in any other way, and may obtain more of His Holy Spirit. If you partake together of the body and blood of a crucified Lord, it will knit you closer together in the double bond of husband and wife and fellow-Christians, looking for the same blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. May He finally bring you to His kingdom, where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage; where perfected love will need no earthly tie, for you will be as the Angels of God, in a closer union, absorbed in each other, and both in the Eternal Love.

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TRACTS ON PRACTICAL SUBJECTS,

ADDRESSED TO

THE WORKING CLASSES.

No. III.

TRAINING OF YOUNG CHILDREN.

Bring them

up

in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."-EPHESIANS Vi. 4.

THE history of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, taking young children into His arms, and putting His hands upon them, and blessing them, is always instanced as a proof of His tenderness towards the little ones of His flock. Many are the prints and pictures we have of this happy scene, and no subject is more popular with children and with Christian mothers. We like to think of the Great Master, the Divine Lord, who always went about preaching the kingdom of God and high things, yet stooping with such tenderness to the little infants, and rebuking those who would have thrust them away as too small for His notice. We linger upon the loving words, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of God1;" and think how kind and gentle He was.

A

2

Let us remember, as we ponder the words, that they teach us not only what His tender mercy was, but what our own reverence should be for little children. Yes, reverence, I repeat it; for did He not say, "Of such is the kingdom of God?" and at another time, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven " ?" "What is there in a child that should inspire us with reverence?" some may ask ; "it is a helpless little creature, dependent upon the care of others for its life and food. Its helplessness may awaken our tenderness, but not our reverence." I will answer by quoting a passage which I was once struck with in a German author. "Childhood and old age appear to me equally worthy of reverence; the former, because it seems just to have come from the hands of God; the latter, because it is returning thither." And thus, we should look upon an infant as fresh from the Creator's hands, "an heritage and a gift that cometh of the Lord," just having received the breath of life, whereby it becomes a living soul. Such thoughts as these might well come into our minds while bending over a new-born infant. As the child grows, its earthly passions develope, but still we see in it traces of those qualities which led our Saviour to hold it up as a pattern to His disciples. The simple affection, the ready forgiveness, the trust in those around

2 Matt. xviii. 3.