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into nothing; and which shall survive when he has set to rise no more. My brother, my friend, the whole human race, must think and believe as I do, or I sweep all away to utter destruction. What then am I, to arrogate to myself such a power, when the Almighty Governor of the Universe diffuses blessings innumerable on the meanest and most unworthy of his creatures! If we contemplate the starry heavens, and suppose that each of those stars, whose numbers are not to be counted, may be a world infinitely larger than the one we inhabit, and peopled by beings of an intelligence superior to ours, let us be humbled to the dust with a sense of our own littleness: this world shall pass away, and the stars shall fall from their courses, but charity endureth for ever.

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THE perception of our existence is quickly followed by that of the existence of God, or rather, they grow up together. The pleasures of novelty and beauty and grandeur are early felt; it seems possible to excite, even in the minds of children, a reflection on the author of those pleasures. Children are indebted to their parents for food and clothes and other comforts, and they feel gratitude and attachment. But who makes the sun to rise, and the flowers to grow, and fruit to ripen? They are the questions of

This was printed in loose Hints, in the year 1781, and is revised by the author.

children, the seed of an answer is in their own mind, it only needs to be unfolded. By beginning here, the first idea of God is that of a benevolent Being, and the first devout sentiments are those of gratitude and admiration. Gloomy views of the Supreme Being, and of the service which he requires, have the worst effects on the minds of youth. The celebrated Boyle, when a young man, visited the scenes of St. Bruno's solitude. The stories and pictures of that Saint overwhelmed him with melancholy. The misery of his creatures seemed to be the sacrifice which God required. According to his own account, "nothing but the forbiddenness of self-dispatch prevented his acting it.

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In unfolding a truth which affects the imagination and the heart, proper seasons must be chosen. When the sun rises from the sea, and dispels the clouds, and gilds the mountains, while birds sing and the air is fragrant, you may aid your pupil's contemplation on that power which daily renews

our joy. In the silence and solemnity of a starry night, his thoughts ascend to the Creator. While it thunders, he readily perceives that reverence is due to the Almighty. There are seasons when the doctrine of Providence, and of immortality, a branch of that doctrine, may be deeply impressed. Recoveries, and escapes and deliverances are often experienced in youth; when your pupil has experienced any of these, with the slightest aid he will recognize a Providence. Your disease was extreme, the physician gave no hope, your companion was carried to the grave. What power restored you to your sorrowing friends? What gratitude is due to that power? What love to those friends who took so deep interest in your affliction? You have escaped an accident which the next moment had proved fatal. Who preserved your life? For what end was it preserved? Marcus Antoninus was thankful to Providence that his mother recovered from a sickness which had like to have cut her off in her youth. Such an in

terposition duly weighed, leaves a more powerful and permanent impression than profound reasoning, and awakens a lively gratitude. Those who have cultivated piety, and, like Antoninus, recorded its progress, have all been touched with early interpositions of providence, and treasured them up as memorials of Divine Goodness, and grounds of hope. Youth seldom passes without a time to weep. The death-bed of a parent, or of a young friend, melts the heart. Concern and attachment grow as the hour approaches. Death leaves him inconsolable. Immortality is the source of consolation, and now is the time to open it. It accords with lively sorrow, which clings to a departed friend, and dwells on the thought of an everlasting union. Divine Goodness, which the shadow of death had veiled, shines forth again. Were dying parents, in the solemn hour of separation, to awaken a sense of God and immortality in the minds of children, it would make an indelible impression. The steps by which your pupil

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