he iron
nerve into the heart of that nation, and caused her sons, in the wild
tumult of battle, "either to live behind their shields, or to die upon
them!" Her influence fired them with a patriotism which was stronger than
death. Had it been hallowed by the pure spirit and principles of
Christianity, what a power for good it would have been!

But alas! the home of an Aspasia had not the heart and ornaments of the
Christian family. Though "the monuments of Cornelia's virtues were the
character of her children," yet these were not "the ornaments of a quiet
spirit." Had the central heart of the Spartan home been that of the
Christian mother, the Spartan nation would now perhaps adorn the brightest
page of history.

But the family, whether Christian or heathen, exerts an overwhelming
influence over the state. It is on the family altar that the fire of
patriotism is first kindled, and often, too, by a mother's hand.

"It hath led the freeman forth to stand
In the mountain battles of his land;
It hath brought the wanderer o'er the seas,
To die on the hills of his own fresh breeze."

The same, too, may be said of the influence of home on the church. It is
the nursery of the church, lays the foundation of her membership, and
conditions the character of her members. The most faithful of her ministers
and members are those generally who have been trained up in the most
faithful families. Wherever there is the greatest number of such homes,
there the church enjoys the greatest prosperity.

What a fearful responsibility must rest, therefore upon the Christian
home! If its influence is for good or for evil, for weal or for woe, for
heaven or for hell; if it is either a powerful emissary of Satan for the
soul's destruction, or an efficient agent of God for the soul's salvation,
then how responsible are those who wield this influence!

"Upon thy heart is laid a spell,
Holy and precious--oh! guard it well!"

Are you not, Christian parents, responsible to God for the exercise of such
sovereign power over the character and well-being of your dear children?
And will not the day soon come when you must "give an account of your
stewardship?" Oh! what if it be exerted for the ruin of your loved ones,
and they "curse the day you begat them?" What if, in the day of final
reckoning, you find your hands drenched in the blood of your offspring, and
hear the voice of that blood cry out from the hallowed ground of home
against