cause that even this humble
sketch shall serve to strengthen you in virtue, and to deter you from
the paths of the Destroyer."

Can any child read this narrative without trembling at the thought
of disobedience, even in the most trifling affair? If you once
disobey your parents, it is impossible to tell to what it will lead.
Crime follows in the steps of crime, till the career is closed by
irretrievable disgrace and eternal ruin. The consequences reach far,
far beyond the grave. They affect our interests and our happiness in
that eternal world to which we are all rapidly going. Yes; the child
who utters one falsehood, or is guilty of one act of disobedience,
may, in consequence of that one yielding to temptation, be hurried on
from crime to crime, till his soul is ruined, and he is shut up, by
the command of God, in those awful dungeons of endless despair
prepared for the devil and his angels.

And how ungrateful is disobedience! A noble-hearted boy would deny
himself almost any pleasure; he would meet almost any danger; he
would endure almost any suffering, before he would, in the most
trifling particular, disobey parents who had been so kind, and had
endured so much to make him happy. How different is such a child from
one who is so ungrateful that he will disobey his parents merely that
he may play a few moments longer, or that he may avoid some trifling
work, that he does not wish to perform! There is a magnanimity in a
child who feels so grateful for his parents' love that he will repay
them by all the affection and obedience in his power, which attracts
the respect and affection of all who know him.

Suppose you see a little boy walking before his mother. The boy's
father is dead; he has been killed in battle. You see the orphan boy
carrying upon his shoulder his father's sword and cap. You look at his
poor mother. She is weeping, for her husband is dead. She is returning
in sorrow to her lonely house. She has no friend but her dear boy. How
ardently does she love him! All her hopes of earthly happiness are
depending upon his obedience and affection. She loves her boy so well,
that she would be willing to die, to make him happy. She will work
night and day, while he is young, to supply him with clothes and with
food. And all she asks and hopes is, that her boy will be
affectionate, and obedient, and good.

And, oh! how ungrateful and cruel will he be, if he neglect that
mother, and by his unkindness cause