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am quite sure of having often done or thought so wickedly, as that I cannot reasonably hope "to be forgiven by a God of perfect purity, "whose laws I thus have broken, without some "satisfaction made, of power to reconcile him to

me. Now, we ourselves can make no worthy "satisfaction; since even our best thoughts, and "actions, and desires have much alloy of evil "mixed up with them. But Scripture tells us "that our Saviour Jesus Christ has made this "satisfaction for us. We are all of us, therefore, "God's property, redeemed by a great price: as "such I present you thus to him, and may he mercifully look upon you, and accept you! "True, you may do this for yourselves in private, every one of you; and I would have you do that too; there will be nothing rightly

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done, where that is left habitually undone but "there is nothing in that exercise, if used alone, "to lead us to the feeling of another most import"ant truth-that we are brethren; and bound, "in consequence, to love one another. True "also, you may worship God in public, in the "assembled congregation; and there you may

undoubtedly confess this brotherhood, of which "I speak. But there is something very differ"ent between the sense of it which we feel

Great

"there, and that which we may feel here. "numbers of a congregation commonly are mere

strangers to us; we meet them in the house of "God, but have no further intercourse: here we "all know each other, and our happiness and "comfort day by day depends materially on our "treatment of each other. Therefore, for this again I would desire that we should daily "kneel together before God, to seek his blessing.

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He only (let it well be understood) can make you holy. I cannot do this. All men "have not, because all men will not seek, nor "yet accept, the gift of faith; and it may be, "that some of you will not. But you shall at "the least possess the means of believing, so far "as depends on me; and you at least shall un"derstand, that there is such a truth to be "believed as that of our redemption by the "Son of God, and reconciliation freely offered, through his intercession, to all that bear the name of Christ. So, therefore, construe the "intention of our worship, and prosper as ye shall believe !"

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Now suppose that, instead of idly covering sin with unreal excuses for neglect of Christian duty, fathers of families were in general—with any thing like one consent-to act in some such

way as this among their households; is there no wisdom to be learnt, nor any fruit to be expected, from it?

To take the question, however, not on grounds of truth alone, but as a matter of plain reason— let us propose a simple question, concerning them who would so generally thus become the subjects of such discipline. Is it likely to be no check on sin—no restraint, at least on gross offence-thus to be subjected, if it shall be at first only to a form of Christian discipline; only to an act of outward homage to the Lord "in whom we live, " and move, and have our being?" Apply but one or two familiar instances by way of test. What reasonable man would like (for instance) to return home from meetings of business, or meetings of pleasure, in the unchristian state of drunkenness, where he should know, that at the stated hour of devotion he must either proclaim his own shame and condemnation, or else neglect, or else insult and mock, his Maker, and Redeemer, and Sanctifier? Or who (again) would like to steal forth privily in the night to mischief, saying, "Who seeth me? I am compassed with dark66 ness; what need I to fear'?" that has just been making confession on his knees, that "unto

Ecclus. xxiii. 18.

A a

"God all hearts are open;" and who knows that the morning must bring him back to a like sentence of self-condemnation ?-Oh! none but the utterly unbelieving, and impenitent, and incorrigible! And are these the persons, think you, by whom our exercise of Christian practices is to be fixed, or regulated, or restrained?

I will not say, indeed, that better persons may not go astray, in spite of all their prayers and in the breach of all their resolutions, for a season; but if there be a good seed in the heart at all, they will not go astray for ever. The act of worship which takes no effect upon a conscience dead in sin, will not be equally without profit to one that has at least the principle of life still stirring in it, and is uneasy under its misdoings. Verily, though an offender might perhaps not ever be brought to repentance, if left entirely to the thought of his own heart; yet, because of the importunity of that inward sense which should rebuke him thus continually in the act of prayer, he may at last arouse him from the yoke of sin, under such discipline," and Christ shall give him

light." How much more, then, does the discipline constrain the ruler of a household to some more just reflection on his own condition! And in proportion as a humble and believing master,

or parent, is better than a proud or unbelieving, so much the better prospect is there, in all human reason, of the existence and the growth of Christian graces in his family.

This rather, therefore, is the kind of view we ought to take of all particular Christian exercises; remembering always for our consolation, that the effect of them is in far better hands than ours; and that the Lord, to whom they are addressed as offerings of a believing heart, has blessings in abundance to bestow on them, if HE shall be so pleased.

Add only to these thoughts the solemn recollection, that every ruler of a family is surely more or less accountable before the judgment seat of Christ, for his neglect or care of those entrusted to him; and if we cannot see at least enough good reasons for the special exercise of "family religion," it is not easy to pronounce what proper and sufficient reasons are. The usage of pious believers, of all times and countries; the special instances in holy Scripture of persons crowned with the distinguished favour of God; the voice of reason, speaking fairly from its own judgment; the dictates of all natural affection; the miserable state of many Christian families, from whatsoever cause proceeding, as the world now is; in brief,