st chapter, described to you, to the house of
correction, and the wretched boy to the gallows. Oh, beware how you
think it is a little thing to disobey your parents! Their happiness
is in a great degree in your hands; and every thing which you
knowingly do that disturbs their happiness in the least degree, is
sin in the sight of God; and you must answer for it at his bar.

If you go into any state prison, you will see a large number of men
working in silence and in gloom. They are dressed in clothes of
contrasted colors, that, in case of escape, they may be easily
detected. But the constant presence of vigilant keepers, and the high
walls of stone, guarded by an armed sentry, render escape almost
impossible. There many of these guilty men remain, month after month,
and year after year, in friendlessness, and in silence, and in
sorrow. They are in confinement and disgrace. At night, they are
marched to their solitary cells, there to pass the weary hours, with
no friend to converse with, and no joy to cheer them. They are left,
in darkness and in solitude, to their own gloomy reflections. And,
oh! how many bitter tears must be shed in the midnight darkness of
those cells! How many an unhappy criminal would give worlds, if he
had them to give, that he might again be innocent and free! You will
see in the prison many who are young--almost children. If you go
around from cell to cell, and inquire how these wretched persons
commenced their course of sin, very many will tell you that it was
with disobedience to parents. You will find prisoners there, whose
parents are most affectionate and kind. They have endeavored to make
their children virtuous and happy. But, oh! how cruelly have their
hopes been blasted! A disobedient son has gone from step to step in
crime, till he has brought himself to the gloomy cell of the prison,
and has broken his parents' hearts by his disobedience.

The chaplain of the Massachusetts state prison recently communicated
to the public the following interesting narrative of the progress of
crime.

"A few weeks since, I addressed the congregation to which I
minister, on the importance of a strict attention to what are usually
denominated little things; and remarked, that it is the want of
attention to these little things, which not unfrequently throws a
disastrous influence over the whole course of subsequent life. It was
also further remarked, that a large proportion of the events and
transactions