Is it too much to require that you should obey your parents? Surely it is not; "for this is right." Is obedience hard? Then it is because it is not cheerfully rendered. It was not hard for Martin Luther to obey; for he could say, "I had rather obey than work miracles." You can do nothing that will please and honor your parents more than cheerful but implicit obedience; for, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

case.

But obedience must be prompt and cheerful, or it ceases to be a virtue. He who always obeys with a sour countenance and angry words, is brother to the openly disobedient. For instance, let us suppose a A father calls his eldest son, and requests him to go and do an errand. But the child, who has long been used to disobedience, openly refuses to do it. He says, "I have done the errands long enough, and it is not my business to do them now; let some of the younger boys do them." The father then calls the next eldest, and requests him to do the errand. He says nothing, but indicates by his looks that he

will go. But he does not start, and the father again reminds him to go. "I'll go in a minute,” he replies, and soon tries to forget all about it. He is not so bold in disobedience as his elder brother, and dare not tell his father that he will not go; still he is determined that he will not go, if he can help it. The father now calls his youngest son, and tells him to do the errand. He reluctantly obeys, and the surly looks, the pouting face, the slow step, the slam of the door, all bear witness how much virtue there is in his obedience. Now, which of these children was the most disobedient? It would be difficult to tell; for there was not much difference in their wills and hearts, though there was in their actions.

The case of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, presents a striking contrast to the foregoing illustration. He was a pattern of filial obedience. When a child, no threat or punishment was ever necessary to make him obey; for a word, or even a look, was sufficient. He was always much grieved when his mother seemed displeased with

him, or spoke to him less kindly than usual. On such occasions, he would often weep, and say to her, "Dear mother, pray do not be angry with me; I will do what you please." Happy the parent who has such a child as Louis, Duke of Burgundy.

Filial obedience is carried to a great extreme among some of the pagan nations. The Chinese, for instance, believe that the child who disobeys his parents is liable to the special judgments of heaven.

Let us now consider several reasons why we should love, honor and obey our parents. We have already seen that it is the command of God so to do, and that blessings crown the head of him who obeys this command. But there are other reasons, which have not yet been mentioned. The first is, that it is the just debt we owe to our parents. From the earliest hours of your infancy, that father has toiled to supply you with bread. That mother, too, has spent many a sleepless night over the couch of her darling, and has cheerfully suffered for its good. In these self-denying, but to her, pleasant duties, she has spent

her strength and health, till the bloom of her cheek and the buoyancy of her heart have fled. And shall no return be made for all this kindness? Are we under no obligations to our parents? Surely we are; and it is therefore our duty to love, honor and obey them, as the only return we can make.

Another reason why we should do this is, that we shall be sorry hereafter if we do not. The wayward youth may now dishonor and disobey his parents; but when those parents are laid in the grave, and he begins to see his folly and wickedness, sad, sad will be his reflections. Even the best of children often mourn, when they think how many times they have disobeyed and offended their departed parents. An amiable youth was thus once lamenting, in a way that showed his sincerest grief, the death of an affectionate parent. His companions endeavored to console him by telling him he had always behaved with tenderness and respect towards his departed parent. But he replied, "So I thought, while my parent was living; but now I

recollect many instances of neglect and disobedience, for which it is too late to make atonement." Young reader, if you would not have such feelings arise in your soul, when called to weep over departed parents, beware how you treat them now. Many a child has wept burning tears over the coffin of a beloved mother, as he has thought of past transgressions, and vainly wished that those sealed lips might but speak the words of forgiveness.

And now, if any one, after all that has been said, is determined to persist in dishonoring and disobeying his parents, I will say to him that they have the power to make him obey them, or to punish his disobedience; for God has wisely given them. this authority. If you doubt this, turn to Deut. 21: 18-20. You will there find that if a man among the Jews had a stubborn and rebellious son, who would not obey his father or his mother, and who, when chastened, refused to hearken unto them, the parents were commanded to lay hold upon him, and carry him unto the elders of the city; and then all the men of