6. "Oh! what a pretty little companion he will be for me!" said she. "But how soft his tiny head is! It is like a ball of cotton. If he was to fall, he would break it all to pieces."

7. "Certainly he would," said her father. "But we will take care that he shall not fall. Do you know, Fanny, that six years ago, you were as little as he is?"

8. "As little as he is!" cried Fanny. "Oh! papa, you are joking.'

9. "No, my dear," said her father. "Nothing is more true."

10. "Yet I don't remember it.'

11. "That I believe," said her father. "When your brother shall be as old as you are now, ask him if he remembers when he was a little baby, and you will see if he recollects it."

12. "What! and did my mother take such care of me as she will have to take with him?"

"You can

13. "Yes," said her father. never know all the pains she has taken for you. You were so weak, that we were afraid every moment you would die before our faces.'

14. "Ah! dear mamma," said Fanny, "it was you, then, and papa, that taught me to feed myself."

15. "Yes, my child," said her father. "Such were your mother's cares for nearly two years, every day, and at every hour of

the day. Sometimes when she had fallen asleep, worn out with fatigue, you would awake her by crying. Instantly she would rise, and run to your cradle.'

16. "But was there ever a time, papa, when I could not run? I that can run so well now. See, in three or four steps I am across the room. Who was it taught me this?"

17. "Your mother and I," said her father. 18. "I could never have thought that I gave you so much trouble. Was it you, too, that taught me to speak?"

19. "Yes," said her father. "If we had not taken all this trouble with you, if we had left you to yourself, what would have become of you?"

20. "I should have been dead long ago. Ah, dear good papa and mamma?”

21. "And yet," said her father, “you sometimes vex your papa; are sometimes disobedient to mamma.'

22. "I didn't know," said Fanny, "how much you had done for me. Surely I can never do so any more, as long as I live."

23. "Take notice," said her father, "of the attention that we shall pay to your little brother, and then say to yourself, 'I, too, have given my parents the same trouble.""

24. Fanny never forgot this conversation. When she saw all the tenderness her mother showed for her little brother; how anxious she was for his health; how patient in all

the trouble he gave her; what sorrow it gave her to hear him cry; and what pains both her father and her mother took to teach the infant to walk and to speak; she would say to herself, "My dear parents have taken the same trouble with me.” This thought made her so grateful and affectionate towards them, that she never after willingly caused them the smallest uneasiness.

Repeat the substance of this lesson. Who was it took so much pains and trouble with you, when you were a baby? Were you, or were you not, once a helpless infant like Fanny's little brother? Can you ever repay your parents for what they have done for you? Who is it that supports and takes care of you now? And do they do every thing for you, send you to school, and provide you with books and clothes? Would it not be wicked, then, not to love and obey them? When do you feel happiest, when you love and obey your parents, or when you disobey them? Who gave you a father and mother, and made them feel such love and tenderness for you Will he be pleased or displeased, if you vex or disobey them? Is it not a double sin, then-a sin towards God, and a sin towards your parents-when you do not love them? Has God commanded you to love and obey your parents? Repeat his commands? "Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Ex. xx. 12. "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Col. iii. 20.

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LESSON XV.

Gambling, Lying, Confession, and SelfImprovement.

1. LITTLE James was six years old, and yet he had never told a lie. His father and mother had never been harsh to him. They encouraged him to confess all his faults, by telling him frequently that they could forgive any thing but a lie. He had never done any thing very bad, and therefore had no need to hide the truth.

2. It would have been happy for James if he had always continued this practice of confessing his faults to his parents. But, alas! the best of children will sometimes do wrong. And poor James at last committed a fault, which he was ashamed or afraid to own, and was thus led into his first lie. I will tell you how it happened.

3. James had a cousin, called Robert, who was a very naughty boy. Robert came one day to see him; and James, to please him, asked him to play a game at chequers.

4. His cousin said he should like to play, if James would play for something. For a while he refused, but at last consented, and in half an hour lost every cent he had. James began to cry, but Robert only laughed at him, and went home with the money.

5. James's father was at this time from

home. When he returned he found James in tears.

6. "What ails you?" said he. "What has happened? You have been crying."

7. "Yes, papa," said James, "because my cousin has been here, and made me play with him at chequers."

8. "Well," said his father, "I see no harm in that. I allow you to play at But perhaps you played for

chequers. money?"

9. James blushed, and was silent for a moment, but at last said, "Oh, no, no, papa."

10. "Then why do you cry?" said his father.

11. "Because I wished to show my cousin how much money I had saved to buy a book. I had put it all away in my room. But when I went to get it, it was gone. Somebody had stole it."

12. James's father said nothing, though he was afraid this story was false. He went to see Robert; and, as soon as he met with him, said, "Well, my boy, you have been lucky, have not you, to-day?"

13. "Yes," said Robert, "very lucky, sir."

14. "And what did you win?"

15. Twenty-five cents," said Robert. 16. "What! so much! and did he pay you?"

17. "Yes, uncle; I have it in my pocket.'