2. On Parental Affection.

I. Parental affection implanted by Providence for the preservation of the species.

II. We are, therefore, indebted for it to the great Father of all.

III. Remarkable instances of parental affection.
IV. The corresponding duty of children.

3. On Generosity.

I. Generosity is doing more than we are obliged to do. II. We must do justice to escape the censure of the laws; but to be generous we must do more than the laws require.

III. Christian morality is true generosity.

IV. Generosity produces generosity.

V. Remarkable examples of generosity.

4. On Politeness.

I. The origin of the term.

II. The ordinary acceptation of it.

III. Politeness ought to express that benevolence artificially, which religion requires in reality.

IV. What Christian maxim is the foundation of all true politeness?

V. Correspondence between politeness and religion.

5. Sympathy.

I. What is sympathy?

II. It at once supports and adorns human nature. III. It guards our infancy, instructs our childhood, and performs all the kind offices of friendship in riper years.

IV. It consoles us in our last moments, and defends our character after death.

V. A person without sympathy, and living only for himself, is the basest and most odious of all creatures.

6. On Education.

I. Education consists not only in acquiring knowledge, but in the formation of such habits as determine the character.

II. The station of men in society, more dependent on education than on birth or fortune.

III. Fortune may descend to us from others; but education must be acquired by ourselves.

IV. Alexander the Great said he was more indebted to his tutor Aristotle, than to his father Philip.

V. The superiority of one man to another, owing more to education than to nature.

VI. How many have remained in inferior situations, who might have risen to eminence, but for the want of education!

VII. Much may be done in the way of educating themselves afterwards, by those whose education has been neglected in childhood and youth.

VIII. We ought to cherish gratitude to the friends who have bestowed upon us this blessing, and respect for the institutions in which we ourselves have been educated, or which place education within every one's reach.

7. On the Love of Order.

I. Order is of the utmost importance in the affairs of life.

II. A love of order is a love of beauty, propriety, and harmony, in the material and in the moral world.

III. A love of order appears in the regulation of our expenses, in the spending of our time, in the choice of our companions, and even in our amusements.

IV. Arguments for orderly habits from the Scriptures. V. Connexion between the love of order and other virtues.

8. On Affectation.

I. Affectation is apparent hypocrisy.
II. It has its origin in vanity.

III. Affectation hurts the pride of others, by endeavouring either to impose upon them or to excel them, and therefore makes them its enemy.

IV. Nothing more exposes affectation than contrasting it with its opposite. Affectation wears a disguise, is a double character, and creates suspicion; simplicity is what it appears to be, has a unity of character, and creates confidence.

V. Affectation is a folly by which we gain nothing but contempt.

VI. An affected character may be compared to a palace built of ice.

VII. Affectation tarnishes the most shining qualities.

9. On Composition.

I. The general meaning of the word, its application to particular arts, and the branch of study to which it is usually limited.

II. The importance of studying composition, knowledge being of little use without the art of communicating it. III. The best means of acquiring this art.

10. On Conversation.

I. Ability to converse little appreciated, because of familiar use.

II. The improvement derived from conversation.

III. The pleasure derived from conversation.

11. On Reading.

I. Reading compared with conversation.

II. Reading more conducive to improvement than ordinary conversation.

III. Its effect upon the mind of the student.

IV. Its effect upon his language.

12. On Memory.

I. Memory the storehouse of the mind.

II. To some not a treasury of things, but a lumber-room of words.

III. What ought to be the effects of observation, discourse, and reading?

IV. To what persons will memory bring constant causes of regret and misery?

V. To whom is it a never-failing spring of pleasure?

13. On Curiosity.

I. Curiosity a useful or a pernicious principle according as directed.

II. What we owe to well-directed curiosity.

III. The effects of ill-directed curiosity.

IV. Character of a person notorious for ill-directed curiosity.

14. On Filial Duty.

I. The earliest virtue we can practise. What may be reasonably hoped of the child that displays it.

II. It is a virtue of the heart: it has also the sanction of the understanding.

III. Remarkable examples of filial duty.

15. On Patriotism.

I. A sentiment inculcated by nature; for as we naturally prefer our kindred to ordinary acquaintances, and the latter to strangers, so do we prefer our native country to every other.

II. How this sentiment should operate.

III. Remarkable examples of patriotism.

16. On the Art of Printing.

I. When and by whom discovered and improved. II. In what way has it operated in the diffusion of knowledge?

III. What have been its effects?

IV. What benefits may we yet hope from it?

17. On Knowledge.

I. We are provided with faculties for acquiring know

ledge.

II. What may be inferred from this?

III. The advantages of extensive knowledge.

IV. The dangers of false or pernicious knowledge.

18. On Obedience.

I. What depends upon obedience?

II. When does it cease to be a duty?

III. The evils of disobedience.

IV. The most remarkable example of obedience.

19. On Self-Denial.

I. Consists in abstaining from present indulgence for the sake of greater expected good.

II. A great principle both of religion and of morals.
III. To a certain extent necessary to real enjoyment.
IV. Remarkable examples.

20. On Piety.

I. Necessary to virtue.

II. Necessary to happiness.

SECTION IV.EXPOSITORY THEMES.

An Expository Theme treats of an abstract subject, applying to it a formal method, for the purpose of explaining its nature, causes, effects, and other circumstances about it. Exposition is simply description applied to ideas and scientific truths, instead of to sensible objects.