CHAPTER FOURTH.

THE LAW OF CHILDREN.

I SHALL consider in this chapter the duties and the rights of children, and their duration.

THE DUTIES OF CHILDREN.

I. Obedience. By this I mean, that the relation between parent and child obliges the latter to conform to the will of the former because it is his will, aside from the consideration that what is required seems to the child best or wisest. The only limitation to this rule is the limitation of conscience. A parent has no right to require a child to do what it believes to be wrong; and a child has no right in such a case to obey the commands of a parent. The child must obey God, and meekly suffer the consequences. It has even in this case no right to resist.

The reasons of this rule are manifest.

1. The design of the whole domestic constitution would be frustrated without it. This design, from what has been already remarked, is, to enable the child to avail itself both of the wisdom, and knowledge, and experience, of the parent; and also of that affection which prompts the parent to employ all these for the well-being of the child. But, of these advantages the child can never avail himself, unless

he yield obedience to the parent's authority, until he have acquired that age and experience which are necessary to enable him to direct and to govern himself.

2. That this is the duty of children is made apparent by the precepts of the Holy Scriptures:

Exodus, xx. 12. "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." This, as St. Paul remarks, Eph., vi. 2, 3, is the only commandment in the decalogue, to which a special promise is annexed.

In the book of Proverbs no duty is more frequently inculcated than this; and of no one are the consequences of obedience and disobedience more fully set forth.

A few examples may serve as a specimen :

Proverbs, i. 8, 9. "My son, keep the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. They shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head (that is, a graceful ornament), and chains about thy neck."

Proverbs, vi. 20. "Keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother."

Proverbs, xiii. 1. "A wise son heareth his father's instructions, but a scorner heareth not rebuke."

The same duty is frequently inculcated in the New Tes

tament:

Ephesians, vi. 1. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." The meaning of the phrase, "in the Lord," I suppose to be, in accordance with the will of the Lord.

Colossians, iii. 20. "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." The phrase, "well pleasing unto the Lord," is here of the same meaning as "in the Lord," above.

The displeasure of God against those who violate this command, is also frequently denounced in the Scriptures:

Deuteronomy, xxvii, 16. "Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother; and all the people shall say Amen."

Proverbs, xv. 5. "A fool despiseth his father's instructions."

Proverbs, xxx. 17. "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." That is, he shall perish by a violent death; he shall come to a miserable end.

From such passages as these, and I have selected only a very few from a great number that might have been quoted, we learn, 1. That the Holy Scriptures plainly inculcate obedience to parents as a command of God. He who is guilty of disobedience, therefore, violates not merely the command of man, but of God. And it is, therefore, our duty always to urge it, and to exact it, mainly on this ground.

2. That they consider obedience to parents as no indication of meanness and servility; but, on the contrary, as the most honorable and delightful exhibition of character that can be manifested by the young. It is a graceful ornament, which confers additional beauty upon that which was otherwise lovely.

3. That the violation of this commandment exposes the transgressor to special and peculiar judgments. And even

without the light of revelation, I think that the observation of every one must convince him, that the curse of God rests heavily upon filial disobedience, and that his peculiar blessing follows filial obedience. And, indeed, what can be a surer indication of future profligacy and ruin, than that turbulent impatience of restraint, which leads a youth to follow the headlong impulses of passion, in preference to the counsels of age and experience, even when conveyed in the language of tender and disinterested affection?

II. Another duty of children to parents, is reverence. This is implied in the commandment, honor thy father and thy mother. By reverence, I mean that conduct and those sentiments which are due from an inferior to a superior. The parent is the superior, and the child the inferior, by virtue of the relation which God himself has established. Whatever may be the rank or attainments of the child, and how much soever they may be superior to those of the parent, these can never abrogate the previous relation which God has established. The child is bound to show deference to the parent, whenever it is possible, to evince that he considers him his superior; and to perform for him services which he would perform for no other person. And let it always be remembered, that in this, there is nothing degrading, but every thing honorable. No more ennobling and dignified trait of character can be exhibited, than that of universal and profound filial respect. The same principle carried out would teach us universal and terder respect for old age, at all times and under all circumstances.

III. Another duty of children is filial affection, or the peculiar affection due from a child to a parent because he is a parent. A parent may be entitled to our love, because he is a man, or because he is such a man, that is, of such excellencies of character; but besides all this, and aside from it all, he is entitled to our affection on account of the relation in which he stands to us. This imposes upon us the duty, not only of hiding his foibles, of covering his defects, of