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treaties, however importunate, can procure a single | in quest of water. The messengers, however, had not drop; for of what use would all the wealth of the In- proceeded far ere one of them dropped on the ground, dies be in a place where death would be the inevitable through perfect feebleness, and, unable to speak, merely consequence of parting with the precious beverage? The waved his hand to his companion to leave him, and to master of a whole caravan is then not better privileged | return with water as quickly as possible. The survivor than the meanest of his slaves; and, as the desire of accordingly continued his solitary and now almost hopeself-preservation triumphs over every consideration, less task,-for so great was his own debility, and the when one drops the victim of thirst, his companions, excessive thirst that preyed on him, that his eyes behowever they may commiserate the sufferer, are ob- came dim, and he lost the road, though he was well liged to pass on without delay, and abandon him to his acquainted with the situation of the spring. Having fate. And how terrible such a situation, to be ex- wandered about a long time he alighted under the shade posed in a savage interminable desert! In vain does of a tree, and fastened the camel to one of the branches, be exert his expiring energies, in a last effort to cry out but the impatient beast having scented the water, broke for help, or to hoist the signal of distress. Not a soul its halter, and, wearied as it was, galloped off at a fuis near to whisper the accent of sympathy, or to pour rious rate in the direction of the well, which, it aftera crop of water on his burning lips, not even an echo wards appeared, was about half an hour's distance. The responds to his cries, and he lies there, dreaming of the servant well understood the movements of the camel, murmur of limpid streams, and of wandering along the and hastened to follow it, but after advancing a few verdant banks, and stooping to swallow the delicious hundred yards he fell exhausted on the ground, and had draught, till the effort to obey the impulse of imagina-lain a considerable time, expecting nothing but death, tion dissipates the enchantment, and awakens him to all the horrible realities of his situation, a helpless and forsaken wanderer, perishing for thirst in a vast howling wilderness!

No general description, however, of the misery of such a situation can convey so vivid a picture of Ishmael's distress as the unvarnished and circumstantial narratives of those who have had the courage to brave, and the good fortune to survive, the perils of the same, or a similar scene. And, to the reader of the Bible, who meets, both in the story of the son of Hagar, and the travels of the Israelites in the wilderness, with several notices of this kind of distress, which the rapid narrative of Moses introduces only by incidental allusion, an important and grateful service may be rendered by subjoining the most interesting particulars of the accounts of some individuals who have felt all the horors consequent on a failure of water in the Arabian desert. The following story is given on the testimony of the celebrated Burckhardt, who travelled over that dreary region; it relates to a small caravan of five merchants, with about thirty slaves, and a proportionate number of camels, who were passing, for the purposes of trade, from Berber to Egypt, and having received intelligence that they were to be way-laid by a band of robbers at a well which lay on their road, they determined on choosing a more easterly route, by another well of no less repute with travellers. They had placed themselves under the conduct of a trusty and experienced guide, but as the way they had chosen was not much frequented, they soon wandered out of the proper track, and for five days could not discover where they were. Meanwhile their stock of water failed, and as their necessities were increasing every hour, they determined to direct their course by the setting sun, in hopes of reaching the Nile. After having sustained the pangs of thirst for two days, fifteen of the slaves and two of the merchants died. Another, who was owner of the camels, conceiving that the beasts might, by sagacity or instinct, be more successful than their masters In discovering the situation of water, requested his companions to tie him fast to the saddle of his stoutest remaining camel, to prevent his falling through weakness, and then allowed the animal to carry him in whatever direction it chose; but neither the merchant nor his camels were afterwards heard of. Meanwhile the caravan, now diminished to a little party, came in sight of the mountains of Shigrè, which they recognised, and where they knew they were certain of finding water; but they were so greatly enfeebled, through fatigue and privation, that neither men nor beasts were able to proceed any further. Throwing themselves down at the foot of a projecting rock, whose shade promised them a little respite from their misery, they despatched two servants with two of the strongest remaining camels,

when a kind Providence directed a Bedouin of the neighbourhood to that place, who threw a little water on the face of the expiring man, and in a short time succeeded in restoring him. They proceeded together to the spring, and after filling as many skins as they could carry, returned to the stragglers of the caravan, whom they had the satisfaction of finding still alive.

A French traveller relates an occurrence similar to this, but which awakens a more melancholy interest, both from the greater number of persons who were overtaken with the calamity, and the disastrous consequences with which it was attended. The caravan belonged to a Turk who speculated in the slave trade, and who having with great care, and at a great expense, reared and educated some female slaves he possessed, was on his way to dispose of them at the market of Bagdad. They had taken with them a copious supply of water, and had calculated on being able to renew it at a well which they had to pass; but, to their great disappointment, they found it completely dried, and they were reduced, in consequence, to the greatest distress. The first object that struck the eye of the Frenchman as he approached, was the owner of the caravan running about in a state of distraction, and bewailing, in most doleful terms, his situation, and the ruin of his fortunes; on a nearer view a spectacle was disclosed that would have wrung pity out of the hardest heart. In the midst of twelve eunuchs and about a hundred camels, was a band of two hundred girls of most exquisite beauty, of from twelve to fifteen years of age, lying on the ground in a state approaching to insensibility, produced by excessive fatigue and thirst. Some had already sunk under their distress, and were thrown into a pit dug for the purpose; the greater part, however, showed, by their panting bosoms and imploring looks, that they were still alive, but so faint and feeble that had water been within their reach, they could not have made the necessary exertion to carry it to their lips. The air was rent with the piercing cries of the dying girls, and many a wistful eye was cast on the traveller and his companions for a drop of the precious fluid. Deeply affected by such a scene, he was proceeding to open his leathern bottle, and to distribute its contents among as many as possible of the pitiable objects, when his guide rushing forward with the peremptory exclamation: "Madman, wouldst thou have us also perish of thirst," dashed off the unfortunate slaves, seized hold of the water skin, and threatened with instant death the first who ventured to touch it. The traveller, knowing that the ruthless Arab was in the right, and was acting as his own friend, was obliged to yield to the cruel necessity; and, as their departure from the scene of horror took away the last ray of hope from the perishing girls, a shriek of despair was raised, every one crying out with frantic vehemence for death to come and

relieve them from their sufferings. It was a most dis- | regularly constructed according to the first of the two tressing scene; even the Arab, not unused to such spectacles, could no longer resist; he took one that lay nearest him, poured a drop of water on her burning lips, and placed her behind him on his camel, with the view of presenting her as a present to his wife. The poor slave fainted several times as she parted from the spot, -but being borne across the desert at a rapid pace by her deliverers, was spared the agony of witnessing the death that inevitably awaited her less fortunate companions.

ON THE ARRANGEMENT OBSERVED IN THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM. BY THE REV. DUNCAN MACFARLAN, Minister of Renfrew. FREQUENT notice has been taken of the extraordinary simplicity of arrangement and depth of thought observable in the Assembly's Shorter Catechism. Of the former, I have just had a remarkable proof, in reading over Dr Chalmers' Preface to the first volume of the new edition of his works. With his usual clearness and analytical acumen, he proposes two methods of studying Theology. According to the one, the first object of contemplation is the Divine Being; and then the history of his doings in this world, detailed in natural, if not chronological order. The other fixes at once on some awakened sinner, and accompanying him as he advances in knowledge and holiness, describes progressively the discoveries which he makes, or which are made to him, in the word and works of God. The former considers God abstractly, and follows out the other branches as so many of his works. And divinity taught upon this principle, recommends itself to reason, as regularly deductive and capable of systematic arrangement. And accordingly, this is the principle on which catechisms and systems of divinity are usually constructed. The other, instead of the matter observed, takes up the observer; and simply recording what he is supposed to see and feel, as he advances towards perfection, the same subjects pass in review; but they are seen from different points, and under different lights. They are seen, not as abstract truths, but as practical directions. And this, therefore, is the view of divine truth best fitted for the guidance of the heart and conduct. The principles thus referred to, are, if we mistake not, the same with the categories of Aristotle and the first principles of Bacon; the one assuming, as the basis of his arrangement, being, or the things about which men think; and the other, the powers | of mind by which these are known and enjoyed. Now, it is perhaps new to some of our readers to be told, that the profound distinctions of an Aristotle and a Bacon, are employed in the construction of that humble Primer called the Shorter Catechism; and that the prolific mind of a Chalmers could not have selected a finer example of its own original speculations, than is to be found in this directory for catechising such as are of a weaker capacity.

The number of Questions in this little manual, is, in all, one hundred and seven. The first three are introductory-God's chief or principal end in creating man, the rule by which man may attain to that end, and the principal branches into which that rule may be divided, are the topics thus introduced.

From the beginning of the fourth Question, to the end of the thirty-eighth, we have a system of divinity,

principles explained. Every thing stated under these questions, is laid down speculatively; that is, as a matter of study and contemplation, not of command and direction. Each answer tells us what is, and not what should be. The arrangement of topics, also, is such as to shew their consecutive dependence on each other, so that, like so many links of a chain, they are all suspended from the primary Question,-" What is God ?" This will be observed in a mere rehearsal of the subjects, of which the Questions are composed ;-the being and attributes of God,-the persons in the Godhead — the divine purposes or decrees,-the execution of these in creation, their fulfilment in providence, the special providence of God towards man, in an unfallen state,— in the fall and its consequences,-in redemption from these, in the character and offices of the Redeemer,— in what he did on earth to redeem man, and in what he is raised to in heaven, for the farther purposes of redemption,-in applying to sinners the blessings of redemption by the Holy Spirit,-his operations in effectual calling, justification, adoption, and santification,—and the fruits of these in life, at death, at the resurrection, and throughout eternity.

From the beginning of the thirty-ninth Question, to the end of the book, the topics are strictly practical, and they are so arranged as to furnish an appropriate directory for every stage of Christian advancement, The subjects introduced, are not presented speculatively, but as pointing to the conscience and the heart, and as leading forth the mind, and guiding the conduct, intą the ways of God. And accordingly, the arrangement, instead of assuming some principle in the matter of contemplation, assumes a principle in the man, and proceeds to address and direct him in all his advances onward to perfection. It is in this way that the thirty-ninth Question commences with what "God requireth of man?" It is thus the first arrow driven from this quiver, is so pointed as to aim at the conscience, God's witness in man. And the commandments which follow, are as a bundle of these. They are variously pointed, yet all have a point; and this very diversity only fits them the more for the diversified circumstances in which man is found. One, for example, is aimed at the conscience of such as worship strange gods,-another at those who worship even the true God, through the medium of images,-a third at the blasphemer,-a fourth at the Sabbath-breaker,—a fifth at children who are disobe dient to parents,-a sixth at murderers,—a seventh at adulterers,—an eighth at thieves,-a ninth at liars, and a tenth at the covetous.

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these sharp as a "two-edged sword," there is under
And to render each of
each, first, what concerns the "want of conformity to,"
and then, what belongs to the "transgression of;" in
other words, a
occasional reasons also annexed. Nor does each com-
required," and a forbidden," with
mandment point only to as many individual sins or du-
ties, but under these, to as many classes of both. It is
therefore scarcely possible to conceive of any arrange-
ment better fitted to bring home guilt to every con-
science. And it is accordingly followed by other ques-
tions, respecting man's inability to keep the commands,
the sins of which he thus becomes guilty, and the eter-
nal judgments to which he is exposed. By these, he is
left helpless and hopeless, under a sentence of condemna-

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But if I were asked for a practical guide, to lead men to Christ, and to train them to holiness, I would say, Begin at the thirty-ninth Question, and be guided by those which follow, onward to the end."

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3. Even children might, on these principles, be taught to greater advantage than they usually are. Instead of beginning to instruct a child, respecting the abstract character of God, the distinctions of personality in the Godhead, the doctrine of decrees, and other matters of difficult comprehension, I would begin my attempts to instruct him, with the meaning and application of each succeeding commandment, and onwards to the end; by which time, he would have materials out of which to conceive of God, of his purposes and works; and his mind would be also, in some measure, prepared for more abstract processes of thinking.

tion, and is thus driven to enquire, what he must do to | Catechism."
be saved. Here the very next question takes him up,
tells him how he may escape the wrath and curse of
God due by sin, and explains this, under the heads of
faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, and the or-
dinary means of grace. Even in this subordinate ar-
rangement, the condition of the enquirer is kept steadily
in view. The only direct answer which can be given
to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" is
repent and believe ;" and agreeably to this, the only
points immediately explained in the Catechism, are faith
in Jesus Christ, and repentance unto life. Repentance
is the turning of the heart from every thing else to God,
as reconciled in Christ; and faith is the looking at Christ
believingly, as the gift of God, and receiving him as the
salvation of the soul. But this very "looking at Christ,"
and “turning of the heart" to God, as reconciled in
Christ, imply some knowledge of his will, and create a
desire for the enjoyment of other ordinances. And
these next follow, under the teaching of the word, the
observance of the sacraments, and the exercise of prayer.
An awakened and repenting sinner seeks early and ear-
nestly to know the will of God. The Catechism meets
him, offering instruction respecting the profitable read-
ing of the word, and waiting on the ordinance of preach-
ing. But supposing him to be in some measure in-
structed, he yet desires to receive seals of the covenant,
and may never before have partaken of any of its signs.
The nature, use, and proper observance of the sacra-
ments are therefore now unfolded. And last of all
comes prayer, not as if the individual were up till this
time considered prayerless, but because it is now that
he especially requires to be taught how to pray for such
things as he ought; and this, because it is now that he
declares himself to be an heir of those promises on which
prayer rests, and through which it obtains blessings.
The prayer of the soul, like breath in the natural body,
is essential to life, and, like it, begins properly as soon
as we are born anew. But though this be its begin-
ning, its end is unseen. The renewed soul becoming
more and more conformed to the will of God, enters
more and more into the spirit of prayer, and finds, in
the simple but comprehensive example with which the
Catechism concludes, materials more and more fitted
for guiding its intercourse with the Father of spirits.

4. Much of the apparent abstruseness of this little work would in this way disappear, and on the same principle on which science becomes comparatively easy, when perceived in a proper course and by proper means. Depart from the arrangements of a Linnæus and Jussieu, and the beautiful order observable in botany will appear confused and perplexing; or invert the order in any process of mathematical enquiry, and the evenness of the way along which we find an easy path, will be rugged to the master, and impassable to the pupil. And strange were it, indeed, if an arrangement so exact and so well adapted to its own special ends as that of the Catechism, should nevertheless leave each Question to be taken up, like some cube cast on a gammon board, in any order and with equal intelligence.

5. If these principles and distinctions were more observed, more justice would be done to the merits of the work, and it would be rendered more generally useful.

Burying alive of Widows in India.-The burying alive of widows manifests, if that were possible, a still more abominable state of feeling toward women than the

burning them alive. The weaners (caste or tribe of
weaners) bury their dead. When, therefore, a widow
of this tribe is deluded into the determination not to
survive her husband, she is buried alive with the dead
body. In this kind of immolation, the children and re-
lations dig the grave. After certain ceremonies have
been attended to, the poor widow arrives, and is let
down into the pit. She sits in the centre, taking the
dead body on her lap, and encircling it with her arms.
These relations now begin to throw in the soil; and
after a short space, two of them descend into the grave,
and tread the earth firmly round the body of the widow.
She sits a calm and unremonstrating spectator of the
horrid process.
She sees the earth rising higher and
higher around her, without upbraiding her murderers,
or making the least effort to arise and make her escape.
At length the earth reaches her lips covers her head.
The rest of the earth is then hastily thrown in, and
these children and relations mount the grave, and tread

1. By using the Catechism in the right observance of these distinctions and principles, we shall be better able to understand each question in its true and proper meaning; and the reason why such questions as Effectual Calling and Justification are so far separated from Faith in Jesus Christ and Repentance unto Life; and how, in general, the doctrines of the gospel, as contained in both parts of the Catechism, should not be together. These things happen, simply because we have, in the first, a speculative system, and, in the latter, a practical down the earth upon the head of the suffocating widow -the mother!-Why, my dear friend, the life of the directory. The doctrines of the Gospel are necessary vilest beast that walks upon the earth is never taken to both, but require to be presented in different forms, away by a process so slow, so deliberate, so diabolical so as the more perfectly to secure the different ends con- as this. And this is the state of your sex in British templated. India!-In how many situations, where we expected it not, are we reminded of the testimony of the divine 2. Each division may thus be turned to its own pro-word; in every part of the heathen world, in the miseper use. Suppose, for example, that I were asked in what book a clear outline of the Christian faith might be found and studied, I would at once say, "In the first thirty-eight Questions of the Assembly's Shorter

rable state of woman, what a confirmation of the denunciation,-" To the woman, He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow."-Genesis, iii. 16.

Ward's Letter to Miss Hope of Liverpool,

SACRED POETRY.

TO A FRIEND ENTERING THE MINISTRY.

HIGH thoughts at first, and visions high
Are ours of easy victory;

The Word we hear seems so divine,
So framed for Adam's guilty line,
That none, unto ourselves we say,

Of all his sinning suffering race,

Will hear that Word so full of grace,
And coldly turn away.

But soon a sadder mood comes round-
High hopes have fallen to the ground,
And the ambassadors of peace

Go weeping, that men will not cease

To strive with Heaven, they weep and mourn, That suffering men will not be blest

That weary men refuse to rest,

And wanderers to return.
Well is it, if has not ensued
Another and a worser mood,

When all unfaithful thoughts have way,
When we hang down our hands, and say
Alas! it is a weary pain,

To seek with toil and fruitless strife-
To chafe the numbed limbs into life,
That will not live again.

Then if spring odours on the wind
Float by, they bring into our mind
That it were wiser done, to give
Our hearts to nature, and to live
For her or in the student's bower

To search into her hidden things,
And seek in books the wondrous springs
Of knowledge and of power.

Or if we dare not thus draw back,
Yet, oh! to shun the crowded track

And the rude throng of men! to dwell
In hermitage or lonely cell,
Feeding all longings that aspire

Like incense heavenward, and with care,
And lonely vigil nursing there
Faith's solitary pyre.
Oh! let not us this thought allow-
The heat, the dust upon our brow,
Signs of the contest we may wear :
Yet thus we shall appear more fair
In our Almighty Master's eye,

Than if in fear to lose the bloom,
Or ruffle the soul's lightest plume,

We from the strife should fly.
And for the rest in weariness,

In disappointment, or distress,

When strength decays, or hope grows dim,
We ever may recur to Him,

Who has the golden oil divine,

Wherewith to feed our fading urns, Who watches every lamp that burns Before his Sacred shrine.

REV. C. TRENCH.

THE FOOLISH LOVE OF THE WORLD.

Judge in thyself, O Christian! is it meet
To set thine heart on what beasts set their feet?
'Tis no hyperbole, if you be told,

You delve for dross with mattocks made of gold.
Affections are too costly to bestow
Upon the fair faced nothings here below:
The eagle scorns to fall down from on high,
The proverb saith, to pounce a silly fly;
And can a Christian leave the face of God
T'embrace the earth, and doat upon a clod!
JOHN FLAVEL, 1680.

"AS THY DAY, SO SHALL THY STRENGTH BE.
When adverse winds and waves arise,
And in my heart despondence sighs,-
When life her throng of care reveals,
And weakness o'er my spirit steals,-
Grateful I hear the kind decree,
That "as my day my strength shall be."
When, with sad footstep, memory roves
'Mid smitten joys, and buried loves,-
When sleep my tearful pillow flies,
And dewy morning drinks my sighs,-
Still to thy promise, Lord, I flee,
That " as my day my strength shall be."
One trial more must yet be past;
One pang, the keenest and the last;
And when, with brow convulsed and pale,
My feeble quivering heart-strings fail,
Redeemer, grant my soul to see

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That "as her day her strength shall be." LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY.

It is to the children of God you are obliged for the support of the world; they, as it were, bear up the pillars of it; and that moment God has called in his last elect, the world will be burnt up. When Lot lingered, the angel took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hand of his two daughters, and brought them out of the city, for the angel said, "I cannot do any thing till thou be come to Zoar," and when he had got safe to Zoar, God rained fire upon Sodom.-M. Wilks.

Interesting Facts.-Gibbon, who in his celebrated History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has left an imperishable memorial of his enmity to the Gospel, resided many years in Switzerland, where, with the profits of his works, he purchased a considerable estate. This property has descended to a gentleman, who out of his rents expends a large sum annually in the promulgation of that very Gospel which his predecessor insidiously endeavoured to undermine, not having had courage openly to assail it. Voltaire boasted, that with one hand he would overthrow that edifice of Christianity, which required the hands of twelve apostles to build up. At this day, the press which he employed at Ferny to print his blasphemies, is actually employed at Geneva in printing the Holy Scriptures. Thus the self-same engine, which he set to work to destroy the credit of the Bible, is engaged in disseminating its truths. It may also be added as a remarkable circumstance, that the first provisional meeting for the re-formation of an Auxiliary Bible Society at Edinburgh, was held in the very room in which Hume died.

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CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH.

66 THE FEAR OF THE LORD, THAT IS WISDOM."

VOL. I. No. 2.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 1836.

THE DIVISION OF MANKIND INTO FAMILIES.

BY THE REV. JAMES BUCHANAN,

Minister of North Leith.

THE Family Arrangement is a divine institution. It is not a creation of human policy, nor a result of human contrivance, but the wise and well-ordered product of divine wisdom and benevolence; and, indeed, it is one of the most admirable of God's arrangements. His wisdom is not more displayed in the construction of an individual man, than in the construction of the social system in which every such individual is placed. God has chosen that the whole race should be divided into so many little communities, each of which is under the superintendence and government of its natural head, and all its members bound together by the ties of natural sympathy and affection. For this end, he has so arranged the economy of his providence, that men are brought into the world in a state of absolute helplessness-the helplessness of infancy; and that from their earliest years, they are placed in a state of entire dependence on their parents, and of absolute subjection to their authority. They are not created in a condition of solitary independence, but born in certain social relations, which make their very birth a bond of mutual interest and endearment, and provide for them a company of friends and protectors on their first entrance into the world.

The parent is invested with absolute authority; -but that this authority might be tempered in its exercise with mercy and compassion, and that power so despotic might not degenerate into tyranny, God has implanted in every parent's heart a love for his offspring, insomuch that, although previously he may have neither felt nor shewn any peculiar liking for children, yet no sooner is his child born, than the instinct comes into play, and his heart yearns over the little one with a new and hitherto unknown tenderness. This parental affection is perfectly disinterested, being irrespective of all personal profit or advantage, and contemplating only the comfort and welfare of its objects; and it is not only so disinterested, but so strong and self-denied, that it prompts the parent to subject himself to many hardships and privations in the upbringing of his children, which nothing else

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except a strong natural affection would prompt him to undergo. But for this natural instinct, the Family Arrangement could not serve the beneficent purposes for which it was designed.

These purposes are, to draw forth into exercise, and, by exercising, to develope and strengthen, the moral and social affections of infant humanity-to bring children from their earliest infancy under a course of training-to form in them habits of subjection to authority-of submission to a superior will-of order, and regularity, and self-denial in their daily conduct, and thus to prepare them, as it were in a private nursery, for the intercourse, and business, and duties of manhood;—these, in reference to the present and visible world,—but far more in reference to the world invisible and eternal,-to secure for them, from their earliest infancy, the benefit of a father's counsel and a father's care: to teach them betimes the lessons of piety, commended with persuasive power by the lips of a parent, whom God would have to be at once a master and a priest in his own house, and to give them, by the type of an earthly father, some idea of the character in which He himself best loves to be known, even as their Father in Heaven!

The institution of families seems to be one of God's chief ordinances for the education of the world. Even did the children of a family receive no set lessons--they are so placed by a wise Providence, that they cannot fail to derive from their connections a large amount of useful information; they pick it up, day by day, from the conversation and example of those who are older and more experienced than themselves; and all the advantages which they derive from the intimate and familiar intercourse of domestic life, must be ascribed to that wise arrangement by which one generation of human beings is linked to another— so linked, that the current experience and knowledge of the world, are transmitted imperceptibly, and almost without an effort, from sire to son continually.

Here, then, is the whole human race divided, as it were, into myriads of little communities, each with its own natural head and protector, to whom, by a powerful instinct, every child looks up with reverence, and from whom he hears without quarrel, and believes without hesitation, the instruc

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