to the burial-places, and strew the graves of their parents with consecrated flowers. Young reader, will you not always endeavor to obey the fifth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother!" Strive, then, always to treat them with reverence and respect; and be careful never to speak of them but in a respectful manner. Then shall you be the glory of your parents, and not their shame and reproach.

As this chapter has extended so far, I will devote one more to this important and interesting subject.

CHAPTER V.

FILIAL DUTIES CONTINUED.

"Children, obey your parents in all things." "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man.”

In the preceding chapter, we considered our duty to love and honor our parents, and also the consequences resulting from the manner in which we treat them. There is one more duty to be considered, viz.:

OBEDIENCE. The command, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right," is of high origin. The same writer has also said, in another place, "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Solomon, also, has said, "My son keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother." And he has uttered this

dreadful curse against those who refuse to obey their parents: "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."

We see from these passages of Scripture how God regards obedience to parents. Let us now look into the Bible, and see how he has rewarded those who practised it.

In the thirty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah, we have a short account of the Rechabites, or sons of Rechab. It appears that Jonadab, the son of Rechab commanded his children to drink no wine for ever. And though God sent Jeremiah to bring the whole family into the house of the Lord, and to give them wine to drink, and although pots of wine and cups were set before them, yet they said, "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, commanded, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, ye, nor your sons for ever." This obedience to the command of their father pleased the Lord; and he sent Jeremiah unto them with the following mes

sage: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab, your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you, therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."

But was this prophecy fulfilled? Where now are the Rechabites? Has God forgotten their obedience, and his promise? O, no! though this prophecy was uttered nearly 2500 years ago, it has not been forgotten by God. Near the city of Mecca, in Arabia, the Beni Rechab, or sons of Rechab, are still to be found, living witnesses to the faithfulness of God's promises, and to the truth of the Bible. They boast of their descent from Rechab, and profess pure Judaism. Their number is about 60,000. They were visited in the twelfth century by a traveller, and also recently by Mr. Wolff, who heard a Rechabite cavalier testify that there was not wanting a man to stand up as the son of Rechab.

What a reward was this for obedience to a parent! Since the prophecy concerning them was uttered, mighty nations have sprung up, swayed their sceptre over the world, and again sunk into oblivion. Still this little band remains, in the midst of fallen kingdoms and the ruins of thrones, unmoved by all the assaults of time. Still it remains, surrounded by the followers of the false prophet, yet uninjured from all their attacks. And all this, be it remembered, is owing to the obedience of a family to the commands of their father! What an encouragement is this to obey our parents!

It has sometimes been said that disobedience to parents is the beginning of all crime. If this is true,-and to a great extent it undoubtedly is,-how important that the habit of disobedience should never be formed! Beware, young reader, how you disobey the slightest command of your parents; for it will lead you to disobey others, and then to disobey the laws of your country, and the laws of God.