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