CONTENTS.

[CHAPTER I.]

THE HOMESTEAD.

The house—Court-yards—Garden—The well—"Oaken bucket"—The fields—Flocks—River—Fish—Forest—Church

[CHAPTER II.]

THE BIRTH OF CHARLES.

Effects on the parents—The Joneses—Parental expectations—An instance of disappointment—Ann's prophecy

[CHAPTER III.]

HIS EARLY TRAINING.

Opinions—The Durans indulgent—The sulks—They produce blindness—"I will"—"I won't"—Faults of parents

[CHAPTER IV.]

CHARLES DURAN AT SCHOOL.

Good children at home are good in school—Conduct—Inattention to studies—Unkind to his school-mates—Samuel Howard—Helen Fay—John and Louisa—Severe whipping—Mr. Spicer—Charles expelled from school

[CHAPTER V.]

CHARLES'S HABITS.

Good habits—Proverbs of the Rabbins—Charles not improved—Idleness—Fishing and hunting—No idle boy can be good—Shooting—Roughness of manners—One vice is followed by another—Lying—Sabbath-breaking—Intemperance—A standard of wickedness

[CHAPTER VI.]

THE FATAL NIGHT.

Village balls—Description—Culpability of parents—Demand for money—Fit—House stoned—Windows broken in—Mr. Duran with the bag—Charles's wrath appeased—The ball—Charles intoxicated—Falls to the floor—Brought home speechless—Laid upon his death-bed

[CHAPTER VII.]

SICKNESS AND DEATH.

Sufferings from the debauch—Crisis—Favorable change—Hopes of recovery cut off—Consumption—Contrivance to change his position—State of mind—The minister visits him—No evidence of penitence—The dying scene

[CHAPTER VIII.]

THE CONCLUSION.

The way of transgressors hard—Disobedience to parents a fearful sin—Parental restraint—Pleasures of parental approbation—Disobedience in scholars—Reflections—Sporting habits in children not to be encouraged—Importance of early religious training—History of young Duran a warning to Sabbath-breakers, &c.—Beware of the first sin—The End