by "the laws of nature," is, God's usual methods of procedure in the natural world; and we ascertain what they are by revelation, and by careful and continued observation.

me."

And we assert, it is the same in the spiritual world. His methods of procedure are not more arbitrary or mysterious in the kingdom of grace, than in the kingdom of nature; and these laws, or methods of procedure, may be ascertained in the same manner; that is, by the study of his word, and by observation. And it is as much in accordance with God's purpose, that the children of his people should be also his, as that the branches of the olive tree should bring forth fruit like that of the parent stock. Some of the branches may be cut off, because of their barrenness, and others may be grafted in, but the natural order remains the same. Where "the incorruptible seed"-the word of God-is sown in a good soil, there it springs up and produces immortal fruit; and where no fruit is brought forth, the ground has not been broken up, and mellowed, and prepared; the seed has not been properly sown; or thorns have been allowed to absorb the strength of the soil, and to choke the seed. And what process so likely to make the young heart hard as the beaten path, as the hourly influence of irreligious parents? The mere ABSENCE of a decidedly religious influence, strengthening the natural disinclination of the heart to that which is spiritual and holy, is enough to form an irreligious character in your children. In no connection is the saying of Christ more true," He that is not with me, is against How tremendous, then, the responsibility of parents who are not, themselves, decidedly religious! They are bound to give up their children to God; to educate them for him, with a constant reference to his will, and a supreme regard to his glory; to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." But will the irreligious parent do this? Can he give his child to God, if he has not given himself? Can he teach his children to "remember their Creator in the days of their youth," to love him supremely, while he refuses to give his supreme affections to God, and yield his own life to His control? Can he pray for his children, and bring them up in the habit of prayer, while prayer for himself is undervalued and neglected? How evident is it, that, while parents remain destitute of a decidedly religious character, they are utterly unfitted to give their children a religious education! What is to be expected, but that the children will grow up irreligious;-walking in the way of their hearts, and in the sight of their eyes, in the broad path of unbelief and sin, to endless ruin? God may, indeed, interpose, and change their hearts, and save them by his grace; but this ought not to be expected, cannot be reasonably expected; and if, in such cases, they are saved, they are saved notwithstanding parental example and influence; not by means of that example and influence, as he requires. If the natural inclination to evil in the heart, and the temptations and unfavourable influences of society, be such, that the children of religious parents are sometimes dragged down, notwithstanding the

influence of piety at home, what can be expected where no such preserving influence is exerted, but that their course will be downward and ruinous? "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" If children are to become early religious, the parents must possess real religion.

II. If you would reasonably expect religion to be perpetuated in your family, and the blessings of God's covenant to descend to your children, there must be

DEDICATION TO GOD! Serious, heartfelt, prayerful consecration. No thoughtful or observant man can fail to perceive, that parents necessarily exert a powerful influence in the formation of their children's characters. Home influences, whether good or bad, may perhaps be counteracted in after life; but you admit that an influence is exerted, an influence of amazing power, because constant. Now, what we want is, that this influence shall be of the right kind; that while the metal is yet soft, it may be poured into the right mould. But, as we have already observed, there is a point beyond which human instrumentality cannot go. There is a work to be performed for your children, which GOD alone can perform; and therefore the truly Christian parent brings his child to God, and says, "Lord, thou hast lent this child to me, bidding me train it for thee,-for heaven! I accept the charge with fear and hope! Conscious of my weakness, I ask wisdom and strength of thee! Knowing thy condescension and faithfulness, I believe in thy readiness to aid me, and to save and bless my child. I therefore bring him to thee. Regard him as thine; let the blessings of thy gracious covenant be granted to him; renew and sanctify him by thy Spirit; write thy law upon his heart; and, whatever thou ordainest for him on earth, grant him to live with thee in heaven, and thy name shall be praised forever."

If this dedication be sincere,-heartfelt-it will be frequently renewed in prayer. The necessity of divine influence to guide the parent, and to regenerate and save the child, will be deeply felt. And all will admit, that if the soil of the heart be divinely prepared, and good seed be sown, and heavenly influences descend like the dew and rain, the light and warmth, there will not fail to be "the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear.' If, then, the harvest be not produced, it must be that the seed was not good, or the proper method of husbandry was not pursued, or the required divine influence was not bestowed. And I have never yet met with a Christian parent who dare say, that the cause of failure was more probably on the part of God, than on his own part; and yet, it is no uncommon thing for parents to fail in the accomplishment of their work, and then to lose the benefit which they ought to derive from that failure, by referring it to the sovereignty of God, instead of concluding, at once, that the cause of failure was human and not divine, and then setting themselves to find out what that cause was, and how it might best be removed. Christ has compared the heart to the soil, the word of truth to seed-corn, and the spiritual to the natural harvest;

and we have no reason to suppose that God acts arbitrarily in the one case more than in the other. But there is one important point in which the two cases differ; the ground is prepared, the seed is sown, and God "maketh his sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." These necessary influences are not made to depend upon special prayerfulness; but the divine influences necessary to secure the spiritual harvest, he has made to depend on that prayerfulness; so that if all other means be used, and this be neglected, failure will be the natural, and ought to be the expected result. If we want anything analogous to this in the natural kingdom, in order to illustrate this point, we must suppose that God had given us reason to expect neither sunlight nor rain, unless specially and continually sought in prayer! or, that the seed was sown in a covered garden, so that the gardener must not only have good soil and good seed, but must raise the covering, and thus let in the light, and warmth, and moisture, which the seed, or rising plants, required. The presentation of the child to God in infancy, and his repeated presentation in prayer, would be like opening the garden to the genial influences of the sun and dew,-a perpetual acknowledgment of dependence, an expression of desire for the needed blessing.

Some may put this down as fanciful, a mere creation of the imagination; but there are both parents and children who know it to be all reality; an imperfect, but not an incorrect illustration of the truth. The youth has felt his heart softening, and opening to divine impression, as the parent has affectionately reminded him of his dedication to God in childhood; and the parent has seen that heart silently but certainly imbibing those precious influences, as parental affection has overflowed in prayer, or as the child has offered its own simple, earnest prayer to God. If you are a parent, and yet a stranger to all this, wonder not if your children are strangers to the blessings of the covenant of grace. Reasonably to expect that these blessings will descend to your offspring, there must be that serious, heartfelt, prayerful consecration which is breathed forth in continual prayer, and woven into the life of the child, as well as professed in baptism.

III. THERE MUST BE INSTRUCTION! It must be evident, that, to enter fully upon this part of the subject,--to specify the great lessons which should be taught, and the best method of teaching them,would require a distinct essay. But this will not be necessary, because the importance of instruction will be universally admitted; but there are two or three considerations of vast importance, which we must briefly place before you.

First, and principally, let it be remembered that some of the most important lessons of practical piety must be conveyed by your conduct, before their minds are sufficiently expanded to receive what is usually called instruction. If they do not imperceptibly imbibe, from your example, a reverence for God, a value for the Scriptures,

a sense of the duty and privilege of prayer, long before you would think of giving them homilies on these points, depend upon it, all your exhortations and reproofs will do very little towards forming the character you desire them to possess. "Do as I say, and not as I do," is a doctrine which the mind of a child will not understand, and which you ought not to expect it to regard. If you would have him reverence God, you must maintain a holy fear; it must be evident that you realize his presence, venerate his name, love his word, hallow his day. If you would have your children make the word of God the guide of their youth, they must see that you delight in it. And the same with prayer, they will soon know whether you attend to it as a duty, and delight in it as a privilege; and nothing that you can say of its importance will effect much, if prayer in the family and in private be neglected. What you would have your child become, that you must be; nor expect that he will have more reverence, or love for the Scriptures, or prayerfulness, than you manifest.

Secondly. Direct instruction in the duties and in the doctrines of religion, should be given at a very early age.

The duty and privilege of prayer,-the nature and necessity of love to Christ, the evil of sin,-the nature of the present life,-and the existence of a future state,-may all be made comprehensible by very young children. A mother's affection and tact, if her own mind be enlightened, and her heart be warmed by the possession of true piety, will enable her to make her instructions upon these important topics, sources of real enjoyment to herself and to her child. The use of well-selected catechisms may be of great advantage at a more advanced period; but there should be something before these, something more interesting and more effective. Take, for example, the scene sketched with such inimitable beauty by the sacred writers, the Saviour taking young children in his arms, laying his hands upon them, and blessing them. Do you think even a very young child would not be delighted with the gentleness and benevolence beaming in his countenance, in every word, and every movement? Now, only let a mother's heart be filled with love to this blessed Saviour, and present this scene to her child, and speak of him as a really Christian mother can speak of Jesus, and there is a channel opened in which the gentle stream of infantile affection may flow forth towards the Good Shepherd! And then, how natural and easy to show the evil of sin,-because it is displeasing to him; the privilege of prayer,-which enables us to converse with him; the desirableness of another state of being,-where his presence and his love shall be enjoyed perfectly and forever. Prayer is not then a cold, unmeaning form,-a mere exercise of the memory, but the cheerful, pleasing utterance of the heart. Death is not the dark, dreadful passage to the grave, but the lowly, yet safe pathway to heaven. O! there is a simplicity and a beauty in divine truth suited to the tenderness of childhood, as well as a dignity and a depth, demanding the reverent and intent study of manhood. "It is not the will

of your Father that one of these little ones should perish." He says to the parent, as the daughter of Pharaoh said to the mother of Moses, "Take this child, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." Such instruction will assuredly benefit the parent, and will, we believe, instrumentally, save the child.

IV. If you would have the blessings of God's covenant descend to your children, there must be RESTRAINT, the maintenance of parental authority; which will enable you to "keep them back" from sin.

Greatly as the other parts of a religious education are neglected, yet this is the great deficiency of the present time. It might easily be shown, that the neglect of this is destructive to the parent's happiness, injurious to the character of children, the effect of weakness or selfishness, and the cause of perpetual disquietude. But we are speaking to those who admit the authority of God's word; who profess to take it as their guide in training their children for God and for heaven; and there can be no doubt as to the mind of God in this respect. We have purposely avoided all reference to our text, under the previous heads, that your attention may be concentrated upon this point.

Eli seems to have been a good man: he was not an irreligious parent; his children were presented to God in their infancy, and the seal of God's covenant set upon them. He had instructed them, and, when they sinned, he reasoned with them, and reproved them; but, through natural timidity, or indolence, or indulgence, or feebleness of mind, he did not exercise parental authority to restrain them. He at first did not, and then he could not, GOVERN THEM.

Is it not often thus with religious parents now? Some are too indolent, some too indulgent, some too weak. When we see them vainly talking to children that heed not, or becoming slaves, lest their children's liberty should be abridged; or lamenting (perhaps in their children's presence) that they cannot do anything with them, we can only sigh over their self-inflicted misery, and the perilous condition of the self-willed children.

Away with every excuse! Are you more wise or kind than GOD? He knew what would be most for your children's happiness, and he bids you govern them; and by wise, and kind, and faithful government, train them up for HIS government. And if you dare to abuse the trust reposed in you, then read our text, and tremble! "In that day will I perform against Eli all things which I have spoken_concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him, that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not!" He could have done it, or this language would never have been used; and so can you.

In order to this, you must begin early, and persevere; act not only with kindness, but with consistency and firmness; and set before them a good example.