The aids to an intelligent interest in the Bible-books are now so
plentiful, and the human charm of them is so great, that it ought to be an
easy thing for a parent to awaken a real fondness for these immortal
writings. The best safeguard against bad taste in literature or life is
the formation of a good taste. These are books, to learn to love which is
the making of a man. Our children may not grow into the genius, but they
will grow into somewhat of the goodness of the illustrious and saintly
John Henry Newman, if, in after years, they can write the first lines of
their autobiographies in the words which open the biographical part of the
_Apologia Pro Vita Sua_:

I was brought up from a child to take great delight in reading the
Bible.

(d.) _Train the children to commit to memory the choicest passages of the
Bible._

John Ruskin doubtless, at the time, rebelled against the strict rule of
his good aunt, which kept him busy on the Sundays memorizing the
Scriptures; but he is thankful now, as he has owned, for the discipline
which stored his mind with their creative words. What a treasury of holy
thoughts and influences does he carry within him who has written on his
mind such passages as the nineteenth, twenty-third, ninety-first, one
hundred and third, and one hundred and thirty-ninth Psalms; the third and
eighth chapters of Proverbs; the fortieth chapter of Isaiah; the sermon on
the mount, the parable of the prodigal son, and the thirteenth chapter of
first Corinthians. Happy he who, like the palm tree in the desert, can
strike his roots below the arid surface of the world into fresh and living
waters, and thus keep life green amid the droughts of earth. The parable
of the temptation of Christ should teach us how to arm our children
against the wiles of the Evil One, whom they must surely meet: "And he
said, It is written." In the stress and strain of conflict, when the air
is dimmed with the dust of the contending forces and the vision grows
confused, it is a saving sound to hear the ringing call of Duty, from the
hills where One watcheth over the battlefield. When sore pressed by the
foe, it may prove our victory to fall back against the strong stone wall
of an external authority, that can hold our lines unbroken. It is no
wonder that the tempting sailors could do nothing with the cabin-boy who
was "chock full of the Bible."

(e.) _Teach your children, as you teach yourselves, to hearken through
thes