led them, and for which they have
neither inclination nor talents, and in which they would, perhaps, not only
ruin their own souls, but contribute to the damnation of others. "There are
diversities of gifts and of operations." All are not called nor fitted for
the ministry. Children soon give indications of specific talents and
suitableness for a calling in life. We should critically observe their
early propensities. These will indicate their peculiar talents. Unfit for
and disliking an occupation, they will become unsettled, and dissatisfied,
and at best will be but mimics and quacks. Their business will make them
sullen slaves. It is because of parental disobedience to this law of
adaptation that we have so much humbuggery in the world at the present day.
Study, therefore, the infantile predilections of your children to
particular employments. These will be an index to their providential
calling, and should govern your choice for them.

The social position of the child should also be considered. If possible,
the character of his pursuits should not conflict with those social
elements in which he has been reared up. It should not detract from his
standing in society, nor disrupt his associations in life. Many parents,
for the sake of money, will refuse to educate and fit their children for
sustaining the position they hold in society. They bring them up in
ignorance, and devote them exclusively to Mammon; and then when thrown
upon their own resources they are qualified neither in manners nor in
pursuit for a continuance in those peculiar relations to society which they
at first sustained.

The exigencies of the child should also be considered. If his home can
afford him no patrimony, it is then more important to consider the
lucrative character of the pursuit chosen, and also the demands of that
social position he is to maintain in life. Its profits should then be fully
adequate to these demands, and suited to the emergencies which are peculiar
to his circumstances. The capital required to engage in it, and its bearing
upon the health of body and mind, should also be regarded. This is an
important consideration, and not sufficiently attended to by parents. How
many children are forced into employments which they have not the means of
carrying on, and for which their state of health altogether unfits them! A
pursuit involving sedentary habits does not suit a child whose state of
health demands exercise.

You should ma