honor which cometh from men.

But at the time we speak of, the desires of the mother were narrow and
selfish. Yet, it is remarkable with what courtesy Christ treated her and
her sons, while at the same time he gave them to understand that they
did not know the nature of their request, nor the great matters involved
in it.

Passing from the contemplation of the prayer of Salome for the temporal
advancement of her sons to the prayers of many parents, at the present
day, for the salvation of their children, have we not reason to
apprehend the prevalence in them, if not of a similar ambition, of a
similar selfishness? I would wish to speak with just caution on a
subject of so much interest to parents, and one on which I may easily be
misunderstood. And yet a subject in reference to which the most sad and
fatal mistakes may be made.

God in his providence has intimately connected parents and children. In
a sense, parents are the authors of their being; they are their
guardians; they are bound to provide for them, educate them, teach them
the knowledge of God, and use all proper means for their present and
eternal welfare. In all these respects, they are required to do more for
their children than for the children of others, unless the latter are
adopted by them, or come under their guardianship. It is doubtless my
duty and my privilege to seek more directly and more assiduously the
salvation of my children than the salvation of the children of others.
This seems to be according to the will of God, and according to the
family constitution. And, moreover, it is most reasonable and right.

And if parents have a just apprehension of their responsibilities, they
cannot rest satisfied without laboring for the salvation of their
offspring, and laboring assiduously and perseveringly for its
attainment. And among other things which they will do--they will _pray_.
The Christian parent who does not pray for his children, is not entitled
to the name of Christian. There is no such Christian parent, and we
doubt if there can be.

But it is obvious that the spirit of Salome, at least in the selfishness
of that spirit, may sometimes be even the governing principle of the
parent in his prayers for the salvation of his child. Knowing, as he
must know, something of the value of his child's soul, and the eternal
misery of it if finally lost, how natural to desire his conversion as
the only means of escape from a doom so awful! And we admi