accompanied him into the camp and the cabinet, into the closet and the family circle; and his example is particularly worthy of our notice, because it is that of a man who did not consider himself in any degree exempted from the most sacred obligations of domestic life by the many duties of his public and elevated station. Let us, then, take occasion from it to make some remarks upon the importance of religion in the family. And we do not intend by this expression the tacit acknowledgment of it by the members of a household; but we refer to the profession of Christianity, and the maintenance of its authority in their proper relation to one another. Each family is a small community distinct from every other, and placed by Divine appointment under one head. must, as such, possess a certain character with respect to religion. It may be, that the domestic abode is not the haunt of dissi It pation, ignorance, and vice; it may be, that immorality, or whatever might be supposed to lead to its practice, is discountenanced by its inmates, and that a commendable regard is paid to the public ordinances of God. There may be much of social affection and tenderness felt and seen in their intercourse with each other; much that is really generous, lovely, and of good report, in the estimation of the world: nor may there be wanting those who know the truth, and feel its vital power. Thus far it is unquestionably well. But no family can properly be called Christian or religious whose members do not worship God in their associate and domestic capacity. If all the churches throughout our land were demolished, and there were no public homage paid to the Creator, we might, it is very true, worship him as individuals, or in the more private relations of life; but should we be a religious people? Certainly not; for we should disown the Ruler of the world in our proper character as a nation; and supposing such a melancholy state of things to continue, we might justly expect the awful execution of the Divine judgments upon us. So it is with respect to domestic religion; and it, moreover, supposes that there is such a system set on foot, and carried out into practice; that there is such an arrangement of the internal economy and discipline of the household as is fitted to promote the spiritual welfare of its members, and give to God the glory which he claims from them as a community. Now amongst the means of grace requisite for these purposes, a high rank must of course be assigned to the stated worship of Him who fixeth the bounds of our habitations, and who expects to be suitably acknowledged in all the relations of life. The worship of God consists essentially in supplication and praise. It cannot, therefore, be reasonably denied, that the family which habitually neglects these duties disowns the profession and authority of religion; it allows of a radical defect in its economy, which admits of no excuse and no compensation; and where prayer is not a mere form, it will usually be followed up by such other arrangements as, under the Divine blessing, are best fitted to secure the grand objects of the little society. They who are invested with authority will be concerned to tread in the steps of the patriarch Abraham, who "commanded" his children and household after him, that they should "keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment before him." In short, a religious family is a sanctuary for God; it is, in a manner, a little church, where the authority of Christ is acknowledged and upheld by those who are placed at its head; it is a house, which, like that of Joshua, is professedly devoted to the service of the Lord; a domestic temple, with the altar and priest, the sacrifice and the incense of praise. Its members will not neglect the duties of this life; but they will pursue them under the influence of Christian principle, and in connexion with the higher objects of their fellowship. But instead of enlarging upon the duties of domestic religion, our principal design, at present, is to offer some remarks upon its vast importance; nor do we even here intend to urge those general arguments and considerations of duty, which reason itself teaches, and which revelation most impressively enforces, by doctrine, precept, and example; but our aim will be to point out the great advantages which family-religion cannot fail to secure, and thus shall we attempt to recommend it on the broad and tangible ground of its practical importance. I. We observe, then, in the first place, that domestic religion tends evidently to promote the temporal welfare of families. The truth of this remark will be doubted by none who are acquainted with the principles of the Gospel, and with their actual operation. The prosperity of every family (considered as the result of human conduct) depends upon the right spirit and practice of its members. In the natural course of things, it is to be looked for only as the reward of virtuous and well-directed industry; it is consequent upon harmony and order, sobriety and diligence, discretion and integrity, in the affairs of life. We do not, indeed, mean to say, that these habits will always ensure the temporal welfare of a family; for in a world like this, their beneficial tendency may be checked and counteracted by a variety of unforeseen circumstances. The providence of God may permit many exceptions to the general rule; and that for the wisest reason, to secure the ends of his gracious discipline. But what we unhesitatingly affirm is, that the habits which true religion creates and maintains are closely connected with the temporal prosperity of families, as well as of individuals and nations. This is so evident from the nature of the case, no less than from universal experience, that it requires no illustration or argument to make it matter of conviction. The religion of Christ is friendly to all the virtues and practical habits which go to promote the welfare of man in his individual capacity, and in all his social relations. It enjoins the conscientious discharge of all the duties we owe to our fellow-creatures; it enforces them by the most powerful motives. While it teaches those who are invested with domestic authority to be themselves examples of all virtue and godliness, and encourages their diligent efforts by the assurance of the Divine benediction; it solemnly requires children to be obedient to their parents in all things, and servants to be faithful to the interests of their employers. And will the authority of the parent or the master lose aught of its force? Must not its weight be very greatly increased, when it is backed by the efficient aids and sanctions of religion? It is unquestionable. The care of the soul, or a conscientious zeal for God, is, indeed, not unfrequently represented as something in itself opposed to the diligent and efficient pursuit of worldly affairs; nor can it be denied, that this unfounded impression does sometimes receive support from the conduct of those professing Christians who may allow the more direct claims of religion to interfere with the duties of their secular avocations. But our obligations are not in reality opposed; and the impression in question arises from the too common habit of looking upon the service of God as consisting chiefly, if not entirely, in the exercises of devotion. There are multitudes who evidently seem to regard it as something which is wholly detached from the ordinary details of life, or at least which has little to do with them. But what, in fact, is religion when it is confined to the sanctuary or Sabbath, cut off from those larger portions of times and spheres of action, which are given for active duty? It is, in such a case, manifestly nothing but a service of delusion and hypocrisy. True wisdom is at variance, indeed, with all avarice, injustice, and corroding care. It teaches us It teaches us to do all things decently, and in order. But it is practical as well as contemplative. It directs us to honour God in the lawful service of the world; and when a man acts from a conscientious regard to the Divine glory, and the good of his fellow-creatures, he is as certainly in the path of religious duty in the counting-house or the exchange, as in the closet or the temple. He is required to let the light of his holy example shine before men; and to be diligent in business, as well as fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. The true Christian is, in short, "the highest style of man." The principles of his religion ought to make him (as, if duly acted upon, they certainly will make him) a wiser and a better man in all the walks of social life, whether he is called to act in the capacity of a merchant or a labourer, husband or parent, master or servant. Godliness has the promise of this life, as well as that which is to come. What are the qualities and conditions upon which, under the Divine blessing, in general depends the prosperity of a family in the world? What are the means by which even they who have perhaps little regard for religion ordinarily attain to secular power, respectability, and wealth? They are, industry, prudence, integrity, temperance, united effort, and the like. But these, as we have said, are the virtues which religion enjoins and most effectually secures. If you suppose the fear of God to be banished from any family where it is the controlling principle, is it to be imagined that its members would be better disposed towards each other, and more exemplary in the discharge of their social duties? Impossible. What is it that so often disturbs the peace of families? What is it that turns the sanctuary of home into the theatre of strife and passion? What is it that sows amongst its inmates the seeds of discord; that so often brings upon them the manifold evils of disgrace, disease, poverty, and wretchedness?-the want of religion. II. But, further; family-religion is recommended by the substantial support and comfort it affords in all seasons of domestic trial and affliction. Every household has not only certain duties of a social and secular nature to discharge, but a course of trial to undergo, which calls for patience and resignation to the will of God. Its members are placed by the wise Disposer of all events in a state of discipline, which (as it may be often painful) requires the seasonable aids and consolations of religion. We need not descant upon those afflictions of domestic life, which so often turn the abode of joy into the scene of heart-rending sorrow. The best and most prosperous family is, we all know, liable to those disappointments, losses, and sorrows, which are common to society in every form. The edifice may seem to stand on a solid foundation; and it may be the plentiful storehouse of all such earthly things as can contribute to the comfort or happiness of its inmates. enjoy a cloudless sky; and the whole aspect of its external circumstances may appear serene or fascinating to the eye: but within that family are the seeds of sin, sorrow, and death. The cloud of adversity may gather unheeded in the distant horizon of its prospects; the storm may unexpectedly arise the tempest set in; and the scene of worldly enchantment may be speedily turned into one of gloom and lamentation. Now the trials of a family closely united in affection and much reciprocal enjoyment, are of all others the most distressing and acute; for there the strong and tenderest sympathies of humanity are to be found; and, in proportion to their force, must they become alike the source of exquisite pain or pleasure. How pitiable, then, in seasons of deep distress, is an attached family destitute of the comforts and alleviations which religion imparts to the disquieted mind and wounded heart! When the domestic habitation is invaded by sorrow and care; when its unsuspecting inmates are perhaps suddenly called to endure the painful reverses of life, and to exchange ease or affluence for circumstances of embarrassment or poverty; when they are doomed to see their confidence betrayed, or their fondest hopes blasted; when death comes, like an armed man upon them, and tears asunder the bonds of nature and affection; when the desire of their eyes is taken away at a stroke, and they are called to mourn over the remains of those who were in a manner parts of themselves, O, what is there under such visitations that can effectually bear up the drooping spirit, and mitigate the anguish of the heart? Nothing, we unhesitatingly answer, but religion. And if they have learned to regard this as their chief concern, they will discern in the severest trials the hand of their heavenly Father; while each extends towards the rest the exercise of a sacred sympathy, they will lean together upon the mighty arm of God. Turning from the shallow and uncertain streams of earthly enjoyment, they will repair to the Fountain of all blessedness. The voice of prayer with the melody of praise will be heard in their righteous tabernacle; and the eye of faith will be turned towards that better country, where holy friends, after a short season of separation, will be reunited in the bonds of a perfect and blissful immortality. It is thus that the members of a family, in which true religion hath found a sanctuary, are prepared in the time of trouble to weep as though they wept not, and to receive the severest trials as the expressions of infinite love. III. Family-religion is, moreover, powerfully recommended as ranking, under the | Divine blessing, amongst the most efficient means of promoting the cause of truth and godliness. The service of God is the grand object for which human beings are united together under the domestic constitution, and endued with the mighty power of the social affections. If you look for the final end in any thing short of this, it must be something limited merely to the objects of a transitory life, and falling therefore immeasurably short of all that relates immediately to the interest of sinful and immortal creatures. What, apart from this, is wealth or honour, authority, power, or any other earthly advantages, which a family may secure to itself? They rank at best amongst the fleeting possessions of a day; and, by their perversion or abuse, become the occasion of threatened and awful condemnation in the life to come. The power emanating from the intimacies and affections of domestic life, is a talent of unspeakable value. It brings the deepest responsibility, and it can only be turned to a good account in the service of God. Now the great importance of family-worship, in reference to the grand designs of the domestic constitution, must be evident under whatever aspect you consider the subject. 1. If you contemplate it in reference to those who are entrusted with household authority, it must manifestly be of great advantage to them in the discharge of their sacred duties. The parent and the master are, as such, accountable to the Judge of all for the manner in which they act in regard to the precious means of usefulness placed at their disposal. The souls of their children and domestics are entrusted to their care. They are laid under a solemn obligation to do all that in them lies to promote the spiritual welfare of their charge. But the worship of God, the recognition of his authority, the supplication of his blessing in the stated exercises of domestic devotion, cannot fail greatly to assist them in the performance of their duties. It must operate as a salutary restraint upon their own spirit and practice; it must tend to keep alive a due sense of their responsibility-to inspire them with a well-founded confidence in the particular care of Providence,—and, above all, to bring down upon their efforts the especial blessing of God; it must tend to infuse the spirit of religion into all their domestic transactions-to cement and sanctify the bonds of social union, as well as to maintain that consistency of character,—that becoming example, without which other means will be in general of little avail. 2. The worship and fear of God in families must directly tend to restrain the evil tendencies of those who are placed under authority, and to promote most effectually their portant institutions for the instruction and training of the young. But the best efforts of society will never supply the place of the endeavours which parents and guardians are able to make under the domestic roof, for the purpose of bringing up their charge in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. With them is entrusted a most powerful influence, which gives to the young their first impressions, and which afterwards may be employed most effectually to help forward, or to counteract other means for their welfare. It is therefore to the prayers, the example, and the efforts of parents and guardians within the circles of private life, that the Church must, in a great measure, look for the maintenance and diffusion of religion in the world. spiritual welfare. Every household which | by furnishing means, and setting on foot imduly recognises the authority of the supreme Parent in the stated exercises of devotion, is a most important school for the acquisition of the best principles and habits. In consequence of the closeness and constancy of the intercourse subsisting amongst its members, there is a mighty influence at work for good or evil, the full amount of which it is impossible to estimate. The remark of course holds generally true; but its importance must be especially seen in reference to the young and rising generation. The education of a child comprehends much more than the term is usually supposed to denote. It includes, not merely the exercise of intellectual and secular discipline, but the whole process which forms his moral and religious character. It begins with the first thoughts which arise in his mind, with the first affections of his heart, with the first notices of conscience; and if the power of example, backed by close and constant association, is, generally speaking, great, often beyond calculation, what a mighty influence must it exert in the earlier periods of life! The immense importance of familyreligion in this respect is too evident to require illustration or proof. Deep and indelible are the good impressions which, under the blessing of God, are usually made upon the infantile mind by the hallowed example of a parent seen to act as the priest of the domestic temple, and to walk before his house in the fear of the Lord. It is no human authority that has said, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The best efforts of the parent, indeed, are not always crowned with success. A variety of unfavourable circumstances may interpose and thwart his endeavours. But we believe, that cases of failure are few in comparison with the instances which verify the words of the wise man. The counsels, prayers, and virtues of Christian parents are never obliterated from the memory of their offspring in more advanced life; and by reviving the salutary impressions of youth, they no doubt frequently become the means of reclaiming the wanderer from the paths of error and misery. 3. These remarks will suffice, moreover, to shew the vast importance of family-religion in relation to the general interests of Christianity. It is to education conducted on religious principles, that the world, under the Divine blessing, will always be principally indebted for whatever it shall possess of genuine wisdom and goodness. But how inefficient must all education be, which is not carried on with the co-operation of individuals in the circles of domestic life! The friends of religion may do much for this great cause, Happy, then, thrice happy is the family which is animated by the spirit of devotion, and regulated by the principles of Christianity! In a world of sin and sorrow it presents a scene most refreshing to the eyea home of peace and blessedness--a garden of the Lord, where the trees of righteousness are seen to grow and blossom with the fruit of immortality. It is a sacred asylum from the turmoils and sorrows of the world, a tabernacle of the Most High, and a nursery for that better region where the soul will find unbounded scope for its best affections, and realise the satisfactions of perfect friendship. But, on the other hand, melancholy is the aspect of the present subject towards every household that is not walking in the fear of the Lord. In common with all other families, it contains within itself the principle of dissolution. The last enemy is gradually undermining the earthy foundation of that social fabric, and will ere long reduce it to dust. The husband will soon be separated from the wife, the parent from the child, the brother from the sister, and the master from the servant; and while death consigns their bodies one after another to the grave, he will transmit their spirits into other spheres of existence. What, then, is a family, or any other association of human beings, which is not sanctified by religious principle, without the common and imperishable bond of faith in Him who is "the resurrection and the life?"-it is, at best, no more than a frail and perishable structure. Being cemented only by earthy materials, and standing on a foundation of sand, the coming tide and tempest threaten to sweep it away, and to leave not a wreck behind, on which the heart will be able to repose. In short, every human compact will be dissolved, and nothing will remain but the elements of happiness or misery which will arise out of its moral character or relation to an eternal world! Considerations such as these should surely make those who are entrusted with household authority zealous for the maintenance of domestic religion. The families over which Providence has placed you are vineyards consigned to your especial care. There lies, for the most part, your chief responsibility-there are your principal spheres of usefulness-there the spots which, according to the nature of the seed sown, will yield an abundant harvest of joy or sorrow. If any, then, have hitherto neglected to imitate the example of David, who returned from his public duties to bless his household, consider for a moment that you are chargeable with great unfaithfulness to your trust, and that you have reason to fear the wrath God has threatened to pour out upon the families which call not upon his name. Live no longer in the disregard of a duty so reasonable, pleasant, and profitable. The excuses which are commonly offered for the neglect of it will not bear examination. They are usually the pleas of ignorance, unbelief, and ungodliness. But domestic devotion, to be effectual, must be followed up by a consistent course of spirit and practice. Parents are bound to exercise their authority with firmness tempered with affection, and to make on all requisite occasions a decided stand in favour of virtue and religion, holding in remembrance the awful judgments brought of old upon Eli and his house, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. In conclusion, we would exhort those who enjoy the inestimable advantages of parental and religious discipline, to remember their great responsibility to God, and to consider well how much depends upon the improvement of their privileges. We beseech you to reflect upon the reasonableness and vast importance of dutiful and affectionate respect towards your natural and divinely appointed guardians. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth." Forget not to implore the blessing of God upon them and yourselves. Take heed, lest by the disregard of your baptismal vows, you should bring heavy condemnation upon yourselves. Do all, I pray you, that lies in your power to encourage the labours and fulfil the most sacred desires of those who are your best and dearest friends on earth, who regard you with a depth and tenderness of solicitude which it is impossible for you fully to conceive; who from day to day, and from year to year, are making the greatest sacrifices for your welfare, and who, all the while, look for their richest recompense in the returns of your grateful affec tions, and in the salvation of your souls. If these parents are neglected, you will suffer immense loss, which will never admit of being wholly repaired. Seek, then, the Lord in the morning of life, for precious is the season of youth. It is the spring of your existence on earth-the time which will determine the character of every subsequent period-the golden opportunity for the acquisition of all useful knowledge, all virtuous habits, and all Christian graces. Look, then, well to yourselves, and see whether there be the promise of future respectability, peace, and usefulness in the world; and if no seed is sown in the spring, what becomes of the harvest? When there are no vernal blossoms, who expects autumnal fruit? May you, then, be faithful to yourselves, and finally inherit eternal life. RELIGIOUS DESTITUTION OF THE COUNTRY.* FROM an agricultural, we have become, in a great measure, a commercial and manufacturing people. In many districts villages have swelled into towns, and towns into mighty cities. The population of several counties has increased with a rapidity unexampled probably in the history of the world, certainly without parallel in any long-settled and civilised country. In Lancashire, which, in the year 1700, contained 166,000 souls, there are now 1,336,854. The population, therefore, has been multiplied more than eight times. In the West Riding of Yorkshire again, in parts of Staf fordshire, Warwickshire, and several other counties, the process has been and is proceeding with no less rapidity. The metropolis, too, has wholly changed its character within the same period. The cities of London and Westminster, it is well known, at no distant period were separated by fields and gardens, and connected chiefly by the Thames. The population swarmed about the great marts of commerce, on the north bank of the river, in parishes astonishingly numerous and subdivided, now abandoned chiefly to warehouses and offices. A little to the west of Temple Bar were the pleasant gardens and houses of the nobility, extending along the Strand of the river, then no crowded street; and in many respects answering to those which may now be seen in the neighbourhood of Brentford and Twickenham. And this is the space which now teems with immortal beings, and which we have neglected to subdivide into new ecclesiastical districts as occasion arose, and as ancient example, and indeed the principle of the parochial system, required. And now the overgrown parishes, which on every side surround the city of London, witness by their rural names against the remissness of a generation, which in so many cases has left under the care of a single pastor a district, which, when sprinkled with villas and cottages, gave him full occupation, and in which every cellar and garret is now the abode of families, whose numbers, by precluding all attempt at due pastoral superintendence, From "The Parochial System." Prize-essay. By the Rev. Henry W. Wilberforce, M.A. 2d edit. Rivingtons, 1839. |