Anonymous

“ Humility is a very pretty flower. It does not make much show, for like the sweet violet it hides itself among its own leaves. If you mark it well you will see its delicate and sweet-smelling blossoms. But there are tall and showy weeds called Pride and Vanity, which, though they please some eyes, are very hurtful to the flowers. Truth is another plant in these gardens, but the hurtful weed of Falsehood will come up by its side, and cause it soon to wither and die. ”

“ Are you like the boy who does not honor his parents? Then you do not fear God nor obey his word, and he is angry with you every day. Or, are you like him who would rather have the scorn and bad name of the rude lads than disobey his mother? ”

“ Then they said, “Come with us, William, and see the gentlemen and ladies at the flower show.” “Yes,” said William, “if my mother will give me leave: I will run and ask her.” “O, O! the baby!” they shouted aloud; “so you must run and ask your mother!” “I did not ask my mother,” said one boy. “Nor I,” said two or three more. “Come along with us,” they still said, “if you do not want to be called a coward as long as you live. Do you not see we are all waiting?” ”

“ This little boy has a kind mother, and she wishes that he should grow up to be a useful and pious young man. Yet, sad to tell, he does not himself care to do right, or to obey his parents, or to please God. There can be no doubt that he has a very hard and wicked heart; for when he is naughty, and grieves his mother, he does not care for her tears. ”

“ He never grieved his mother’s heart by a sullen or evil temper, nor made her shed a tear by any unkind conduct. O, how much did Mary love the holy child Jesus! But the [Pg 24] little boy of whom we write does not wish to be like Jesus. He does not love to hear about him as a kind Saviour. I do not think he ever truly prays to God to change his hard heart, and to give him the grace of his Holy Spirit, that he may be a better child. ”

“ A horse [Pg 44] is very swift, but swift as he is, he does not fly. No, no! Let people say what they like,
There is no such thing
As a horse with a wing.
The other day, when the sun was very bright, I saw some gnats at play under a tree. How they did fly up and down! Well, all at once, what should one of them do but settle on my nose! when I spoke to him—
“O, O! Mr. Gnat,
Pray, what are you at?”
Soon he flew away again, and began to play as before.
I once heard of a gnat that teased a lion half out of his senses. What the lion had done to make him angry I do not know. ”

“ What is to become of this little boy, if he does not seek for grace to turn him from his evil ways? He will certainly grow worse. He will walk in the path of the wicked all the days he lives on earth; and then, when he dies, how sad will his end be!
Now, let us look at another picture. It is that of a little boy who obeys his parents, because it is right, because they love him, and because God has said, “Honor thy father and thy mother;” one who is as [Pg 25] careful to obey them when out of sight as when under their eye. There are several lads seen standing at the corner of a street. ”

“ If God had not been very wise he would not have known how to make so many live things unlike each other, and if he was not very good he would never have made them so happy. See how the gnat sports in the sun! ”

“ And blooming Hope will appear in all its beauty; you will look forward to the happy time when you shall be removed from the Lord’s garden on earth, the church of Christ, to flourish in his heavenly courts forever. ”

“ It was a cold, bleak night, and John had been out all day, “looking for a place.” He had tried hard, until it was quite dark, and then gave up, thinking his mother must be tired of waiting for him.
John’s mother was a widow, and a very poor one. She had kept herself by needle-work, till a severe trial of sickness had confined her to her bed, and she was unable to do more. She told her little son to sit down by the fire, while she got him some food. ”

“ Then we talked about the great God, who made all these beautiful creatures, and how he loved dear children to be kind to one another, and to poor dumb animals that could not tell when they were in pain. ”

“ A naughty little wren, wishing to build herself a nest, instead of looking about to find straws and hair, comes every day and takes them from the chipping bird’s nest. I think I shall not love her as much as I did before. I think I shall call her a little thief, instead of a little wren. I think little children should learn a lesson from the birds, and not take what does not belong to them, for they will be called thieves, and no one will love them if they do.”
[Pg 19]
INSECT LIFE AND ITS LESSON.
What a beautiful creature is the gaudy butterfly! ”

“ The little children love the birds. No kind and gentle [Pg 17] boy will rob their pretty eggs or their tender young. But you may be happy in watching their graceful forms and varied colors, as they glide through the air or hop about on the ground. Our heavenly Father made them, and they praise him in their many toned songs. He feeds them, and teaches us thus to trust in his care. ”

“ Ah! many men have been hung for murder, or sent to the state’s prison, just because they cultivated such bad dispositions when they were boys like you. They commenced becoming cruel to animals first, and then to other boys, and so, little by little, their hearts became hardened, till they could even kill a man. ”

“ Never cause any thing, that has feelings, pain, if you can possibly help it. I am afraid if you begin with tormenting the poor, innocent brutes, you can, after a while, injure your playmates and associates. ”

“ When the little leaves and stems began to peep above ground, Arthur and Jane watered them every day; and as the plants grew, they took care to keep them free from all insects, and to shade them when the sun shone too strongly. ”

“ How many living things there are in the world besides boys and girls, and men and women! Some of them have legs, and they creep and run on the ground; some have fins, and they swim in the water; and some have wings, and they fly in the air. ”

“ And when he is told of a fault, he is stubborn, and will not ask to be forgiven, nor show any desire to amend.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world to die for sinners, was once a little child. He has left a pattern for children who wish to be like him. ”