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plete with similar testimonies, indeed there is scarcely one to be selected in which it may not be found. And I earnestly recommend my dear brethren and sisters of every rank, and of every age, to be more conversant with the writings of our worthy predecessors. We have many advantages, and I wish it may be our concern to improve them to our present and everlasting interest; that so the lamentation may never be taken up concerning any of us" My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

I have felt much concerned as I have passed along, for those who are parents, that they may be brought into a capacity to train up their children in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord." Great indeed is the responsibility of those in this station. And should any be more concerned for their children's advancement in wordly things, than to see them attain to an establishment in the truth, what a fearful account will these have to render in a day that is approaching. I have thought that the careless manner in which part of the first day of the week is spent by many, frequently in loitering about, and in unnecessary, and very unprofitable visiting; the very great neglect of collecting families together at suitable opportunities for the purpose of reading the holy scriptures, and other useful publications, and for the mutual help and edification of each other, have had a strong tendency to produce increasing lukewarmness to our religious testimonies, and have been ar incalculable injury to the rising generation; many of whom have so lost the mark, that in a great many instances which have come under my notice since I have been among you, I had no apprehension that they were under our name; and from what I have seen and felt in many places, I have no doubt but it has proceeded from the negligence of parents, in that wholesome and timely restraint of their children, that would have redounded to the peace of their own minds, and to the present and everlasting happiness of their tender offspring. Were we, who are parents, enough concerned to instruct our children in the law of the Lord, and do as they were commanded to do under a former dispensation, viz. "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thine heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy son's sons,-were we thus concerned for the everlasting salvation of our own souls, and the souls of our offspring, I believe many parents would be stirred up to great

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er diligence, and more would mourn over the deviations from plainness of habit and manners so obvious in their children. There may be instances of rebellious children who will not take counsel, but I have no doubt, from my own experience, that much may be done to "prepare the way of the Lord," in the youthful mind; and by neglecting the proper opportunity, parents are instrumental to prepare the way of the enemy and the destroyer. What concern can those parents have in these things, or what hope of exercising any proper restraint upon their children in a future day, who deck and adorn them even in infancy, with apparel wholly inconsistent with our profession of plainness and simplicity? If we wish to train up our children in the way they should walk, it must be done by early and diligent care, by timely subjecting their will to prudent and christian restraint in divers respects. I believe there have been few more fruitful sources of the deviation of our youth, than that of parents suffering them to associate with improper company, and to be too frequently from under their notice. The propensity of many who are heads of families, to visiting, and being visited, very often to the neglect and obstruction of their own domestic concerns, and the scattering of their minds from all that is serious, has produced similar habits in their children, and which I have no doubt in many instances have been a fruitful source of pain to both at a season when their habits have been so confirmed that it was difficult to find a retreat. By this habit of what is called visiting, much precious time is wasted, frequently many things neglected at home, and an inducement excited to much nicety and sometimes great extravagance in dress, &c. Hereby many unprofitable acquaintances have been formed with persons accidently met with where they visit, and in some instances ruin to families or to the unguarded youth has ensued, I have no wish to prevent a profitable and friendly intercourse and interchange of sentiments one with another, but I do believe, that were we living under the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should be more willing to submit to its restraints, and our conduct and countenances would more evince that we had been with him. Time at most is very short to us all, for the great and important business of our day, and those who have large families committed to their care, had need to husband their time well to discharge their duty in all its branches, so that they may feel clear of the blood of their tender offspring in the awful day of account. I greatly long that our "sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, and our daughters as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace," that so there may be a succession of standard bearers in our society, and that the cause of truth may prosper in their day. As a father, and as a friend, I affectionately intreat the youth to enter early into covenant with God, to serve him all their days; the Lord loveth an early sacrifice, and has graciously promised, that "those that seek me early shall find me." I much desire that the minds of our youth may be early imbued with the christain principles of our religious society; that so they may become proof against the antichristian doctrines so prevalent in the world. I remember the apostle's advice to the Colossians, and it may be very suitable counsel for us in the present day; "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power." And if the rising generation could be encouraged to enlist under his holy banner, I have no doubt but that judges would be raised up as at the first and counsellors as at the beginning, and so the waste places in our borders would be repaired: and however gloomy things may appear in some places, I have no doubt in my mind but that the Lord will in his own time bless the dust of Sion and satisfy all her poor with bread: That he will give his church, the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. I have sometimes believed that the Lord will raise up from among the rising generation, those who may be gifted for the promotion of this great and good work. I feel very tenderly for the youth among us, and know that in many places there are neither, "nursing fathers," nor "nursing mothers," but if they are in good earnest concerned to " seek the Lord and his strength, he will supply all their need, and fulfil his promise, "I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Come then ye dear young people, and enter into covenant with the God of our fathers. Remember the advice David gave unto his son Solomon-"Thou Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; if thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off forever." By your thus seeking you will be favoured to find, for the gracious promise remains in full force, "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find: knock and it shall be opened unto you." The retrospect of early dedication to the Lord's service will afford more consolation in a dying hour, than all the possessions of the perishing things of time. I have secretly mourned many times, and in many places, since my lot hath been cast in this land, to see so many lovely young people giving an unworthy preference to the things of time, and so much carried away by the follies of a deluded age, that thus the simplicity truth leads into in dress and behavior is wholly departed from; and though, in many instances, this is more chargeable to the negligent parent than to the inexperienced youth, my desire is, that both parents and children may let the time past suffice, and that all ranks and ages among us may heartily enter into the work of individual reformation, that so every man may be engaged to repair the breach in the wall before his own house; and if we are thus engaged, I have no doubt but that our society will again put on her beautiful garments and become the admiration of surrounding beholders. The principles we hold are the principles of Truth, they have long stood the test of investigation our worship and discipline are evidently not the product of the contrivance of man, and there is nothing wanting but consistency on our part, to enable us to hold up to others the inviting and encouraging language of the prophet Isaiah, "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our King, he will save us." And in order that these precious experiences may be yours, I affectionately salute all ranks among you, and in gospel love fervently desire that you mind your calling, brethren; for as we are all engaged to mind our calling and to be faithful to what is committed to our trust, we shall be enabled to fill our ranks in righteousness, to the praise of his grace who hath called us unto glory and virtue. A diligent attendance of religious meetings, patient reverent waiting therein for the renewal of strength, frequent retirement at home, and frequent

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perusing the holy scriptures, are duties within our reach; and as we are found in the exercise of them, I have no doubt but that He who is rich in mercy to all that call upon him, will in his own time (which no man can hasten) favour us with a renewed evidence that we are not forsaken. And that although we are weak, he remains to be strong, and as we are obedient to the manifestations of his grace, we shall, through his power, obtain the victory over the "world, the flesh and the devil," and be bound together in the bundle of love, and be thereby strengthened, "to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace;" till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive: but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

Thus, my dear friends, if our eye be kept single in our holy Head, we shall come to know an establishment on the ancient foundation that standeth sure; be preserved amidst all the changing scenes of the present life, and through the adorable goodness of God in Christ Jesus, be favoured to finish our course with joy.

Thus it was with the primitive believers, who counted all things but as dross and as dung, that they might thus win Christ and be found in him. This experience can never be attained by any empty speculations in religion, nor without our passing through the inward work of sanctification, which work can only be begun, carried on, and completed by the power of him who has all power in heaven and in earth.

And when this blessed experience becomes ours, we shall be willing to lay all at the feet of Jesus, and thank God for his "unspeakable gift," and be enabled to adopt the expressions of the apostle Peter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season (if need be) ye are