prayer, for it is associated with an invincible desire of drawing assistance from that inexhaustible source of strength and holiness and happiness. Prayer is a part of our nature; it is the sigh of the captive soul, in anticipation of its deliverance; a presentiment of eternity.

This act of prayer, so natural in itself, is still more so to little children, whose life is passed in a series of petitions. Our language in addressing the Deity is almost all borrowed from theirs; so striking, though imperfect, is the resemblance between their relation to us, and ours to God. In their little distresses they cry out "my father," as we also appeal to our Father in Heaven. From the moment that their souls have been penetrated by a ray of Divine light, they feel the duty of prayer.

With regard to prayer, as indeed to every thing else relating to religious worship, the only way to render it a spontaneous and involuntary impulse is to begin by making it a regular exercise. Every morning we should endeavour to raise the infant mind to its Creator, without even waiting for the time when what may be called. instruction begins. The name of God is hardly. ever entirely unknown to children; they have heard this holy name pronounced with love and reverence long before they could attach to it any distinct idea; and thus have their hearts been prepared for the reception of the sublime idea

of a communion with God. If you perceive such an impression to have been made, cherish and strengthen it by degrees, taking care that it remain a gentle and happy feeling. If you have older children who already partake with advantage in the blessing of prayer, bring in the youngest towards the conclusion of this exercise of devotion; hold him in your arms, join his little hands together, and in a short simple prayer, implore the blessing of the Almighty upon him, and upon his brothers and sisters. This should last only a moment; but that moment will suffice for the putting forth a tender bud, which will every day expand more and more.

Even if you have no older children, you may, at a very early age, allow your child to join with you in prayer. Teach him to say, “Oh, my God, I love Thee, Thou art so good, and I beseech Thee to love me." If these simple words are uttered with genuine feeling, they will soon convey a general meaning to the child; they will at any rate excite in him a tender feeling, and this is all we can desire. He will most likely inquire whether you can see God, and you will tell him that you cannot, but that He always sees you, that He hears and knows every thing, and that He loves children who try to be very good.

It will be remarked that in practice I would

have a certain degree of religious instruction and religious worship accompany each other; but were it necessary that one should precede the other, I should begin with the latter. If we were speaking of earthly objects, no doubt they must be known before they can be loved: but with regard to God, it is only by adoring that we are able to comprehend Him: our knowledge springs from our love.

An intelligent and forward child of about three years old is generally capable of receiving the first dawnings of religion into his soul, and consequently of joining in religious worship. This period may be retarded; some very pious mothers do not teach their children to pray before they are seven years old. If feelings of piety have been given in some other way, and the hope of being allowed to pray has occupied the mind as much as the act itself would have done, this delay may have the advantage of reserving the novelty, and consequently the strongest impression, of prayer to an age when children are less docile and more apt to escape from our authority. But on any other supposition I would never advise the sacrifice of the certain effect of habit, for this sort of economy in the employment of means which may not be always at our disposal. We risk too much when we trust, for this less manageable age, to a re

itself of our child renders

Not to mention the most important benefit of prayer, the mercies it obtains from God,it may, if directed by an intelligent mother, be made a most useful instrument in forming the character of a child. Nothing so immediately influences the spirit of religion as the assistance which we implore in aid of our religious feelings. То pray that we may love God more and more, will tend to imbue our hearts more deeply with his love to implore that we may be inspired with a piety, tender, active, and charitable, towards our fellow creatures, is to conceive what such a feeling ought to be. Of course it must be understood that the child is not to be made to repeat a mere form; every word that he utters must come from the heart. The moral influence of prayer is also great. Make your child repeat after you, sentence by sentence, little prayers as simple as possible in his own language, and varied to suit different occasions, and you have thus an easy and pleasing means of communicating to him all those feelings with which you wish him to be inspired. Gratitude towards those who take care of him, gentleness, docility, zeal in the performance of his little duties, in short, all those dispositions which are most desirable for children of this age, may be cultivated by means of religious worship.

In order to fix the wandering attention of the child, and to bring before his mind the great object of religious adoration, his mother may begin in her own name with an invocation more solemn than I dare take upon myself to dictate; such a one may easily be selected from any of our best devotional writers.* But as regards the child, in order that what I mean may be clearly understood, I subjoin a few simple little prayers, such as may easily be comprehended by children of three years old. I have expressed only such feelings as they may themselves have experienced, without attempting to introduce any points of doctrine. No doubt much better and more perfect might be composed, for in order to suit them to the mind of very young children I have confined each prayer to a single subject, either of petition or thanksgiving; but I may be permitted to add that these have been used with very good effect.

"Oh my God, Thou takest care of me, and hast pity on me! Thou knowest that I am little

* In the original, a short introductory prayer by M. Cellerier is given here: but the translator has preferred leaving the choice of one to individual parents. For the same reason only a few from amongst a number of prayers for children have been translated. Parents will easily see that extreme simplicity is the great object, and will adapt the subject of any prayer to the particular disposition of their child.