there; the cobweb lines of etiquette are drawn there; a panorama of social fascinations pass before the youthful eye there,—­these make the parlor the most dangerous department of home.  There the young receive their first introduction to society; there they see the world in all the brilliancy of outward life, in the pomp and pageantry of a vanity fair.  All seems to them as a fairy dream, as a brilliant romance; their hearts are allured by these outward attractions; their imaginations are fed upon the unreal, and they learn to judge character by the external habiliments in which its reality is concealed.  They estimate worth by the beauty of the face and form, by the cost of dress and the genuflections of the body.  They form their notions of happiness from fashion, fortune and position.  They become enslaved to love-sick novels and fashionable amusements.  There, too, they make choice of companions; there they form matrimonial alliances; there their hearts are developed, their minds trained for social life, their affections directed, and influence brought to bear upon them, which will determine their weal or their woe.

If such be the influence of the home-parlor, should it not be held sacred, and made to correspond, in all the uses for which it is set apart, with the spirit and character of a Christian family; and should not its doors be effectually guarded against the intrusion of spurious and demoralizing elements of society?

Parents should teach their children all about the character, interests and deceptions of parlor-life.  They should undeceive them in their natural proneness to judge people from the standpoint of character assumed in the parlor.  They see the lamb there, but not the lion; the smile but not the frown; the affability of manner, but not the tyranny of spirit.  They hear the language of flattery, but not the tongue of slander.  They see no weak points, detect no evil temper and bad habits.  There is an artificial screen behind which all that is revolting and dangerous is concealed.  Who would venture to judge a person by his mechanical movements in the parlor?  Many are there the very opposite to what they are elsewhere:—­

  “Abroad too kind, at home ’tis steadfast hate,
  And one eternal tempest of debate. 
  What foul eruptions from a look most meek! 
  What thunders bursting from a dimpled cheek! 
  Such dead devotion, such zeal for crimes,
  Such licensed ill, such masquerading times,
  Such venal faiths, such misapplied applause,
  Such flattered guilt, and such inverted laws!”

One of the most dangerous periods of life is, when we leave the nursery and school, and enter the parlor.  With what solicitude, therefore, should Christian parents guard their parlors from social corruption.  They should prepare their children for society, not only by teaching them its manners and customs, how to act in company, how to grace a party, and move with refined ease among companions there, but also by teaching