habit, and ever after he rose with the sun. And he has declared that he considered himself indebted to this poor servant for at least a dozen of the volumes of the works he afterwards wrote! Young reader, "Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty!" But adopt the wise resolution of President Edwards, "Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can." CHAPTER IV. FILIAL DUTIES. "Honor thy father and thy mother." THE duties which we owe to our parents all will admit to be very important. Yet it is to be regretted that they are not more regarded. Children too often treat their parents as though they were under no obligation to them, and regard their laws with contempt. But every child who walks in virtue's pleasant ways, and strives to please God, will be very careful to treat his parents with that respect and honor which are due to them. A chapter on this subject, therefore, in such a book as this, will not be out of place. Filial duties necessarily arise from the state and condition of parents and children, and they must be respected, or there will be but little virtue or happiness in the world. They always have existed, from the day when Cain was born, and always will exist, till the last day of the world. Let us, then, consider these several duties. LOVE.--This is the first duty we owe to our parents; and he who disregards it, unless the fault is with the parent, is a monster indeed. If we love our father and our mother, we shall always treat them well, and seek to make them happy; if they are poor, we shall not despise them; if they have faults, we shall conceal them; and if they are ignorant, we shall bear with them. In short, we shall wish to see them happy and comfortable in this world, and with good prospects for the world to come. There are many instances of peculiar filial affection on record, which will illustrate and enforce the duty better than any thing I can say. Let us notice some of them. When Elijah called Elisha to, follow him, that he might be anointed a prophet, the latter replied, "Let Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee;" thus showing his tender regard and affection for his parents. The case of Ruth, also, presents an affecting illustration of filial piety. When Naomi, her mother-in-law, was bereft of her husband and sons, she determined to go back to her own people, and requested her two daughters-in-law to return back to the land from whence they came. But "they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people." Again, Naomi urged them to leave her, and one of them obeyed; "but Ruth clave unto her. And she said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." Thus spake the affectionate daughter-in-law; and she was faithful to her word. Our Saviour, too, set us a bright example of filial affection, as he did of every other virtue. -- When suffering the unutterable agonies of the cross,-when bearing in his body the sins of a guilty and lost world,and when the Father's face was hid from him, even in that trying moment he remembered his mother. Casting a tender look upon her, and pointing to the disciple whom he loved, he said, "Woman, behold thy son!" And then, addressing the disciple, he added, "Behold thy mother!" We also find many similar instances of filial affection in profane history. Pliny tells us of a daughter who, when her mother was condemned to be starved to death, obtained permission of the keeper to visit the prison daily, and there nourished her parent from her own breast. In a later period, another instance of this kind occurred, in which the daughter nourished a father in a similar way. The Roman Senate decreed that the father of this affectionate child should be liberated, and ordered a temple to be built on the spot where the prison stood, to be dedicated to filial piety. Two individuals of Sicily were honored in ancient story for their kindness |