al worth, is beyond the power of man to destroy; no enemy can rob them
of those virtues which a well-developed mind and heart afford; they will
be to them a standing capital to enrich them in all that is essential to
human happiness.

2. A good occupation is another patrimony which should descend to the
children of a Christian home. Bring up your children to some useful
employment by which they may be able to make a comfortable living; and you
thereby give them hundreds, and, perhaps, thousands of dollars per year;
you give them a boon which cannot he taken from them. Many parents, hoping
to secure for their children a large pecuniary patrimony, will not permit
them to learn either a trade or a profession; but let them grow up in
indolence and ignorance, unable as well as unwilling, to be useful either
to themselves or to others, living for no purpose, and unfit even to take
care of what they leave. And when their wealth descends to them, they soon
spend it all in a life of dissipation; so that in a few years they find
themselves poor, and friendless, and ignorant of all means of a livelihood,
without character, without home, without hope, a nuisance to society, a
disgrace to their parents, a curse to themselves! But as we have already
dwelt upon this subject in the chapter on the choice of pursuits, we shall
not enlarge upon it here.

3. True religion is another inheritance which should descend to the
children of the Christian home. This is an undefiled and imperishable
treasure, which does not become worthless at the grave, but which will
continue to increase in preciousness as long as the ages of eternity shall
roll on. If through the parent's pious agency, the child comes into
possession of this invaluable blessing, there is given to him more than
earthly treasure, more than pecuniary competency, more than a good name, or
a fair reputation, or a high social position in this life; he receives a
title to and personal meetness for, the undefiled and imperishable
inheritance of heaven, composed of glittering crowns of glory, of
unspeakable joys, and sweet communion with all the loved and cherished
there. Thus the fruits of a parent's labor for the salvation of his
children constitute an infinitely more valuable patrimony than all the
accumulated fruits of his industry in behalf of wealth. All the wealth, and
rank, and reputation which may descend from parent to child, can not
supersede the necessity of a spiritual patri