6 vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.' * And the Lord graciously heard the voice of her weeping, and granted the object of her anxious prayers; and she bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord.' And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.' And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him: therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.'t "We have to remark here," said the pious ex pounder, laying down the Bible," the happy effects that characterised this little history, thus far as we have traced it. We perceive, at the very commence+ 1 Sam. i. 20-28. 1 Sam. i. 11. ment, and as the best originator of all blessings, the efficacy of prayer, which, like a golden chain, draws down from heaven the objects for which we have petitioned. We cannot but admire, in the next place, the faithful adherence of Hannah to the vow she had made, although it must be evident that the parting with her only son, for whom she had so fervently supplicated, must have occasioned her many painful emotions. But her fidelity had its bright reward; for the bringing up of her son in the way he should go,' in the temple, and in the service of his Maker, was followed by the sure and happy result, that when he was old he departed not from it; and not only saved his own soul, through the righteousness which is of faith, but also the souls of many among the lost sheep of the house of Israel, whom his advice and ministrations converted from the error of their ways. 66 "We have also," continued Mr. Gracelove, an interesting example of early and sustained piety, arising from the application of Solomon's wise principle, in the person of the youthful Josiah, king of Jerusalem. He was but eight years of age when his reign commenced in the capital of Judea. In proof of the blessed effects of religious educational training, which signifies nothing less, in other and better language, than bringing up a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,'* and which, in the instance of Josiah, must have begun in his infant years, we are informed by the sacred historian that 'He did that which was right in the sight of the * Eph. vi. 4. Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.'* 66 The name of the mother of this pious child was Jedidah; and though we are not specifically told what were the details of the religious education in which she brought him up, yet may we most rightfully presume that she was, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, a lamp unto his feet, and a light unto his path.'† For we must not be misunderstood, when we thus insist on the absolute necessity of the early training of children, as if intending to have it inferred that the virtuous preparations of the heart by a righteous father or mother are all that is needful. By no means. Our blessed Saviour says, Without me ye can do nothing. ME, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.' And we are told, in another Scripture, how that divine aid is to be obtained, In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.' § He that abideth in "That Josiah did not belie his early training in his mature age, nor depart from the way in which he should go, even to the close of his pious reign, is graciously testified by Jehovah himself. He was spared also the fearful sight, as a divine condescension to his piety, of all the desolations that were about to be poured out upon his devoted capital,the leprous city of Jerusalem. The vials of the Almighty's wrath were ready to descend on the heads * 2 Kings xxii. 2. John xv. 5. Ps. cxix. 105. § Phil. iv. 6. of its doomed inhabitants, when the merciful God thus compassionately addresses his faithful servant, - Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, *** behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.' 66 I shall now conclude," said Mr. Gracelove, "the observations I have deemed it profitable to make on the interesting passage I have selected for our contemplation, by referring you, as the last instance I shall adduce, to that faithful patriarch who was emphatically called the friend of God.' For thus it is declared of Abraham by the omniscient Spirit of the Almighty, before the birth of his son Isaac, in whom, and in whose posterity, were to centre the divine promises,—' I know him, that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.' And we perceive, in the subse‡ quent history of this child of promise, on whom rested a heavenly benediction, as also on that of his son Jacob, a fulfilment of the divine prescience thus condescendingly announced. "Let these holy examples then," said this zealous instructor, closing the Bible, " of a faithful training up of children in the way they should go,' be treasured up in your hearts. Those whom I address may be called hereafter, in the good providence of + James ii. 23. * 2 Kings xxii. 19, 20. Gen. xviii. 19. God, to fill the important and responsible situations of parents themselves. Would they therefore inherit a blessing, as well as communicate the same to those whose welfare must be the dearest to their affections, they must commence, in early childhood, the education of their offspring on the basis of the Holy Scriptures; following it up, as they increase to maturity, with that perseverance and patience of hope' which shall have, in the end, a great reward." Laura now rose, and having given a couple of hymn books to the servants, opened to a particular page, copies of which she had previously presented to her parents, and to her brothers and sister, proceeded to the piano; and being, though so young, a very tolerable proficient in sacred music, sang the following beautiful hymn of Wesley, in which the whole family joined. Jesus, refuge of my soul, Till the storm of life be past; -O receive my soul at last! Other refuge have I none, |