to church, to understand the prayers and SERM. sermon. Will knowledge so limited as this make a man imagine that he is fit for the senate, the pulpit, the bar, or the counting-house? I should rather suppose, that instead of making those who acquire it dissatisfied with their stations, it will have exactly the opposite effect; that instead of leading to discontent and envy at those above them, and making them fretful and idle, it will rather prevail on them not to covet nor desire other men's goods and conditions, but to learn and labour truly to get their own living, in that state of life unto which it has pleased God to call them. Let me appeal to your experience; most of you, doubtless, at one time or other, have employed servants or labourers, who had arrived at the degree of knowledge of which we speak; could you perceive that this circumstance weakened either their inclination XXI. XXI. SERM. clination or their ability to serve you? Did their having been early taught their duty to God, and being frequently able by books to remind themselves of it, make them less attentive to your concerns? Did their having been betimes instructed, that they ought to do unto their neighbour as they would wish their neighbour to do unto them, render them more ready to impose on you themselves, or to suffer you to be imposed on by others? Did their knowing how to spend a part of the sabbath with their Bible in their hands, or in some other useful reading, cause them to handle the plough, the spade, or the flail, with less strength or dexterity? The idea is ridiculous! Having thus addressed myself to those of my audience, who are to bestow this charity, I will now say a few words to those who are to receive it. Remember then (it is to the parents that I speak, to those XXI. those parents I mean, who are themselves SERM. unable to give their children an education) remember that the plan which we are now forming is to confer on your children the greatest of all possible benefits; it is to confer on them the knowledge of God, and of their duty towards him; it is to teach them how to behave themselves properly towards their neighbours, and consequently the way to be loved and respected; it is to enforce on them the necessity of being honest and industrious, which is the surest means of gaining a livelihood, and getting forward in the world; it is to inculcate upon them their obligation to be sober, chaste, and temperate, without which virtues no man can be either amiable or happy; and, lastly, above all, it is to put them in the way of obtaining eternal salvation. Let me entreat you, then, not to be backward in profiting by this useful institution; VOL. II. Y SERM. tution; seek to get your children admitted XXI. into it, and do all in your power to make them observe its rules; take care that their attendance be constant, and that they come at the appointed hours, and send them as neat and as decent as your circumstances will admit. Nothing, I can promise you, shall be wanting on my part to their improvement; and there is every reason to hope, from the circumstances of our society, that we shall raise such a subscription as will enable us to confer rewards on those children who shall most distinguish themselves by their regularity, good behaviour, and proficiency in learning. SERMON SERMON XXII. THE EVILS OF BAD COMPANY. 1 CORINTHIANS XV. 33. Evil communications corrupt good manners. AMONG the many dangers to which we are SERM. exposed during our earthly pilgrimage, there are none against which men, in every period of life, should be more on their guard, than those which arise from bad company. It is dangerous to our character, dangerous to our fortune, dangerous to our quiet, dangerous to our morals, and, lastly, it is dangerous to our eternal salvation. The young and inexperienced are with difficulty made to comprehend, and to believe this assertion; well assured of their present Y 2 XXII. |