to all that is perfect, fair, and good, -to know, that "God is the rewarder of all them that seek Him," will stimulate him in the race of Christian duty; to know that there is a day in which God will judge the world, will quicken his preparation for that day.

As he advances in age and knowledge, impress upon his mind, that in that day of awful inquisition, he must stand unconnected, single, naked! It is not the best attachments he may have formed, the most valuable societies to which he may have belonged, that will then stand him in any stead. He must, therefore, join them now with a pure and simple intention; he must not seek them as something on which to lean, as something with which to share his responsibility; this is his own single, undivided concern. It is vain to hope that by belonging to any society, however good, to any party, however honourable, he can shrink from his own personal, individual accountableness. The union of the labourers gives no claim to the division of the responsibility. In this world, we may be most useful among bodies of men; in the great judgment, we must stand alone. We assist them here, but they cannot answer for us hereafter.

From his Bible, and from his Bible only, let him draw his sense of those principles, of that standard by which he will hereafter be judged; and be careful ever to distinguish in his mind between the worldly morality which he may learn from the multitude, and that Christian holiness which is the dictate of the Scriptures, and of the

Scriptures alone. Teach him to discover there,he cannot discover it too soon, that it is not a set of proverbial moral maxims, a few random good actions, decorous and inoffensive manners, the effect of natural feeling, of fashion, of custom, of regard to health, of desire of reputation, that will make a truly valuable character. This is not to be acquired by certain popular virtues, or rather fractions of virtues; for there is no integral virtue where there is no religion. Pleasing manners will attract popular regard; and worldly motives will produce popular actions: but genuine virtue proceeds only from Christian principles. The one is efflorescence, the other is fruit.

After all, though you cannot by your best exertions, seconded by the most fervent prayer,without which exertion will neither be rightly directed nor successfully' prosecuted, — command success; yet what a support will it be under the possible defeat of your fairest hopes, that you strove to avert it! Even if, through the prevalence of temptation, the perverseness of his own nature, and the malignity of his corruptions, the barbarous son should disappoint the best founded hopes of the careful parent; what a heartfelt consolation would it afford you, under this heaviest of all trials, that the misconduct of the child is not imputable to the neglect of the father! The severest evil — and this perhaps is the most severe is supportable, when not aggravated by the consciousness that we have contributed to bring it upon ourselves. Though it will not pluck the

sting from his guilt, it will render the poignancy of your own anguish more tolerable.

But let us indulge higher hopes and brighter prospects for our country. We refer to those hopes with which the first chapter of this little work concluded; namely, the rich provision which God has put into our hands for accomplishing his great designs in our favour. The hope there expressed, and the means humbly suggested for accomplishing it, was the reformation of the British character. We have here, feebly indeed, but honestly, shown what obviously appears to be the best security, the most effectual barrier against the vices and contamination of our prolonged continental intercourse. Religious education, with God's blessing upon it, which every truly Christian father will not fail to invoke, is all in all towards the restoration, the elevation, the preservation of our national character. And let it never be forgotten, that it is the education of the rich which must finally determine the fate, at once of rich and poor; and, by consequence, which must determine the destiny of our country.

Here then is Britain's last best hope; and when we consider the unparalleled advantages we possess in a learned and orthodox clergy, who instruct us in the sanctuary, and who preside over our public and private seminaries, why need we despair? Why need we doubt, that the Christian religion, grafted on the substantial stock of the genuine British character, and watered by the dews of heaven, may bring forth the noblest productions of

which this lower world is capable; though neither the security nor the triumph will be complete till these "trees of righteousness" are transplanted into the paradise of God?

Reader, if you are indeed a Christian father, anticipate in idea that triumphant moment, when, having cast your crown at the foot of the eternal throne, you shall be called upon to give an account of your own conduct, and, as far as had depended on you, of that of your offspring! Think of the multiplied felicities of meeting, in the presence of God, those whom your example and instruction have, through his grace, contributed to bring thither! Think what it will be, to be able, amidst all the hosts of heaven, amidst the innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect; - think of being able to say to the Universal Father, "Behold, I and the children whom thou hast given me !”

258

ON

DOMESTIC ERRORS

IN OPINION AND IN CERTAIN PRACTICAL HABITS.

ON SOUNDNESS IN JUDGMENT, AND
CONSISTENCY IN CONDUCT.

As a preliminary to the following pages, the writer begs leave to observe, that they consist rather of miscellaneous observations on a variety of topics, than in an attempt at a systematic view of religion or morals. She does not pretend to present an exhibition of Christian doctrine or to prescribe the duties of a Christian life. It is presumed that the generality of readers who shall honour these pages with their attention are already, in a greater or less degree, religious characters; consequently, standing in little need of such information as her humble talents could have imparted. But as religion is become a subject of increasing and more general interest, it may not be unseasonable, as we proceed, to point out some of the dangers to which the less advanced Christian may be liable, as well as some of the evils which may subsist with a high outward profession. To those who are beginning to see the importance