Man, that it is his Duty to obferve it.-These may be urged for the worst, as well as for the beft Religion; and therefore it ought to be the Parent's chief Concern, that his Child be well informed, as foon as he is capable of it, of those fure and unalterable Foundations upon which the Christian, and no other, is built.This only can keep him steady and unmoved, by fhewing him the Reasonableness and the Certainty of his Faith, and thereby prevent his being carried about with every Wind of Doctrine, by the Craftiness of those who lye in wait to deceive.-Chriftianity requires this Examination of all its Profeffors; the farther we enquire into the Truth of its Doctrines, the firmer will be our Faith, and the greater our Satisfaction in them; and it is but Justice therefore to their Religion, as well as to their Children, that Parents fee them fully informed as their Understandings ripen, not only of the Matters which they are to believe and do, but likewise of the Reasons for which they ought to believe and do them. Publick Inftructions of this kind are indeed a Part of the ministerial Office; and the Church ftrictly requires of us that it should be punctually performed; but then it is the Parent's and the Governor's Duty to fee that due Attendance be given to those Instructions ; this being one wife and excellent Means of bringing Children up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord.-Such, I conceive, is the Debt Debt which every Parent owes his Child, with regard to their Education and Instruction in Religion; and in order to excite and encourage him to the careful Discharge of this Duty, I now proceed, IIdly, To point out to them fome of those Advantages which would flow from thence, as well to themselves as to their Children.-And with regard to the Children, all I shall remark of the Benefits they will reap from fuch an Education fhall be contained in thefe Obfervations, that they will thereby be guarded with the best Prefervative against the Misfortunes of this Life; that this will teach them the trueft Enjoyment of any of this World's Goods ; and above all, that this will shew them the Way, and make it easier for them to attain to eternal Happiness in the World to come. And with regard to the Parents, the happy Effects of their careful Discharge of this Duty will be thefe, that if their Children prove bad, the Parents will have nothing to reproach themselves withal; and if they prove virtuous and good Men, the Parents will reap great Honour, and greater Comfort from their Virtue. The first Obfervation is, that a pious Educution will guard Men with the best Prefervative against all the Misfortunes of this Life.Man is born unto Trouble, fays holy Job, as the Sparks fly upwards; and every one therefore muft muft expect his Portion of it.-And fince no Man can either totally avoid Calamities, or know beforehand what Afflictions the good Providence of God may allot him, it is a great Happiness to be early provided with the beft Support under them when they come.And this is only to be had from religious Principles; from a firm Hope and Trust in God, the Author of them; and from a Knowledge of his good and gracious Defigns in bringing them upon us.-Thefe will fupport a Man in the most afflicted State, and fill his Mind with Confolation and Peace, when all outward Comforts have forfaken him.-Thefe will direct him to the strongest Tower of Defence, and teach him to have recourfe to an infallible Refuge, by making his God his Confidence.The Chriftian Religion efpecially is of all others the best adapted to give Men Strength and Comfort, when Calamities overwhelm them. By fhewing us the wonderful Condefcention and Sufferings of our great Redeemer, it gives us the most undeniable Proofs of his ftupendous Love for us; and what fo reafonable as to infer from thence, that he who has given us his own Son to die for us, will never leave us deftitute, or forfake us?-By fhewing us the Vanity and Uncertainty of this Life, and that it is not our refting Place, or abiding City, the Holy Scriptures furnish us with the most substantial Arguments for being the less concerned at what befalls us in it; and by clearly H XVI. clearly reprefenting to good Men the ineffable Blifs which is purchased for them hereafter, it arms them with the jufteft Grounds for Fortitude and Refolution under any Difficulties they may have to encounter in their Way to it. For what Calamities can be too great, what Afflictions too pungent, for a good and wife Man to bear with Steadiness, and even with Comfort, when he can look through them to his Bleffed Redeemer at the right Hand of God, where he is ready to receive him to eternal Glory? - Again; if on the other hand it be the good Pleasure of God to blefs Men with a great Share of this World's Goods, they may likewife reap this Advantage from a pious Education, as the learning from thence the beft and the trueft Enjoyment of them.-Which will not be found to confift in Riot and Excefs, but in a temperate and religious Ufe of the Bleffings which are vouchfafed us. - Indeed, if Men confider themfelves upon a Level with the Beasts, they may then confiftently enough place their Happiness in beftial Gratifications. But if they confider themselves as reasonable Creatures, their Happiness as fuch must be rational. It muft chiefly confift in the Peace and Compofure of their own Minds, in being fatisfied themselves with their own Conduct, and in knowing that their Enjoyments are reasonable and juft.—And if fuch be Men's Views in the Ufe of their Poffeffions, Chrifti anity has the best Claim to direct the Application of them. And they will find it their Happiness to have been early grounded in that Love of God and of their Neighbour, which will make the Will of the one, and the Good of the other the Rule and Measure of their Conduct.―They will find it their Happiness to have been early taught and perfuaded, that the true Ufe of Power is to punish Vice, and protect Innocence and Virtue; and the noblest Employment of Riches, to relieve the Diftreffes of Mankind; because this will enable them to share that Comfort which they themselves fhall beftow upon others; and every Act will be a very juft and reasonable Caufe for their own Hearts to leap for Joy. And, Laftly, whatever Men's Circumftances are, whether good or bad, the greatest Advantage of a pious Education is, that this shews them the Way, and makes it easier for them to attain to eternal Glory in the Life to come.Present things, after all our Care, will still be apt to make too ftrong and too lively Impreffions upon us. And fince our Happiness cannot confift in them, whatever tends to leffen our Affections to them, and place them on thofe Objects which alone can fatisfy, must be of the greatest Ufe and Advantage to us.And this is the true and direct Tendency of a Christian Education.-It is Chriftianity alone that |