Let the worldling remember, that if the sacred claims of home, if the privileges and affections of the Christian parlor and nursery, are too precious to be made an offering upon the altar of an imposing philanthropy, much less may they be immolated to the demons, which under the guise of amusements and games, insidiously frustrate the purposes of God, and the purest enjoyments of man.

There are, however, some considerations which, if duly weighed, would seem irresistible in urging regard to family religion. It is an acceptable homage to God. Other, more public, social acts of devotion are also tributes to the glory of God; but they are subject to vicissitudes, to intermissions of days, and sometimes weeks; and the little child, and the aged man bowed down with infirmities and years, are alike excluded from the sacred privilege. But family worship is like the perpetual incense which Aaron burnt upon the altar overlaid with gold before the veil of the temple. For the Lord had said, "Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning, and when he lighteth the lamps at even, and it shall be a perpetual incense before the Lord, and I will meet with thee there."* Where can we find language to describe the moral beauty of the spectacle, if a whole people, or a thronged metropolis, or even some secluded hamlet, were, from every dwelling, morning or evening, to

* Exodus xxx. 7, 8.

send up the voice of prayer and praise? In looking down upon a world so checkered with sorrows, and changes, and disasters, and crimes, with what delight would the angels of God fix their gaze upon such a town, or hamlet, reposing in peace and hope beneath the outspread wings of a special providence; defended from many of the calamities into which blind unbelief, or prodigal pleasure and ambition, are sure to run; and exhibiting upon the earth an humble, but still animating illustration of the ceaseless worship of the heavenly courts! Which of you can be indifferent to the pleasure of contributing to such a spectacle? Is not praise the most ennobling as well as delightful of our occupations while absent from heaven? Is not prayer the key to all the priceless blessings in the treasury of Jehovah? Could the fountain of devout gratitude be opened day by day in the hearts of a whole household, without purifying and exalting them in the scale of the intelligent creation, and adding sensibly to the declarative glory of their Author?

But if there be any unmoved by the influence of family religion upon the glory of God, its great power to advance the best interests of society must be acknowledged by all. It is a source of substantial confidence and satisfaction to the followers of Christ, that they may uniformly appeal to the experience of mankind at large, and to the honest convictions and judgment of the most intelligent

men, for the wisdom of the principles and provisions of the Gospel. Now are there any present who are willing to see the institutions of religion extirpated from society, or esteemed merely as instruments of human policy? Are there any who would have faith in Christ, and regard to a future state of rewards and punishment, discarded from the motives of all classes and ages; and the rules of conduct which we have in the Gospel, with its guide to the affections, and its consolation in sorrow and in death, all renounced, as a system of delusion and fanaticism, while the whole mass of society was left to the unrestrained development and guid ance of their natural passions? I appeal to the individual, whoever he may be, who feels that he is at this time farthest from entering upon the devout exercises that I am recommending, and who would blush to be found upon his knees, with his children around him, and Christ-according to his sure promise-in the midst, are you prepared to take the consequences for a single twelvemonth, of abolishing Sabbaths, rooting out the knowledge of the Bible, and banishing worship and religion from the public mind? Should we not speedily return to a condition worse than that of barbarians? Now family religion is the basis of national morals and religion. As the properties of the stateliest tree, which, through the storms of a century, has overshadowed the other children of the forest, were notwithstanding once all shut up in the minute

acorn, and then developed to the microscopic eye in a tender germ, so all government, and all fear, and all love, and all the means of nurturing, and strengthening, and ripening us for immortality, are comprehended in the discipline and exercises of a Christian household. Here the originally impetuous character must be taught to distrust its own first convictions; to subject its will to the law of another; to secure its most important interests by the compromise which takes care of the interests of others; to recognize grades and stations in the world; and to cherish that spirit of subordination which is essential to the peace and security of communities and nations. This is the training which is indispensable, under most circumstances, to make a good citizen. And if religion be thus necessary, it is obligatory upon all. As justly might one man require, or expect it of his neighbors, to pay his taxes for him, or to render for him any other duty which he owes to the protection and support of government, as to require that they should be careful in rearing their young in principles of subordination and true patriotism, while he may allow his own household to grow up pests and scourges in society. There is no resting place for a consistent rational man, who would not have the knowledge and worship of Almighty God banished from the land, short of setting up, under his own roof, an altar, and a daily sacrifice there. And there can be no positive difficulty in the discharge of the

duty, for almost every street in every town can supply volumes of devotion and instruction in ample variety.

But, lastly, if there be any one equally devoid of concern for the glory of God, and for the wellbeing of society, can there be any dead to the appeal which the dependence of his own children, and their unformed character, and their whole future destiny yet in his hands, make to him, thus to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord! Your own experience must long since have taught you, that after all that can be purchased by toil and ambition, true happiness depends not upon professional success, however brilliant; is not to be found abroad in intercourse with a world, selfish, heartless, and ostentatious;, nor in the more attractive amusements, which, changing with changing seasons, that world can afford; but must be looked for, and attained, if at all, in the society, and uniform habits, and amiable tempers, of a well ordered Christian family. And can there be any means more mighty, to bind together the affections of brethren and sisters, of parents and children, and to fill every heart in the sacred circle with a never dying love of each other, and of home, than this daily renewal at the footstool of Jehovah, of their united vows and prayers? Must not the act of social worship impose, throughout the household, a restraint upon evil tempers and habits, which solitary devotion might fail to produce?