over its influence, lest it should pervert all that is good into itself; for although this is impossible, where the heart is renewed by divine grace, yet it is hers to act, long before this renewal may have taken place to sow the seed, to water it abundantly, to wait for a blessing, for that early and latter rain which has been promised, and which will produce a harvest of good.

56

CHAP. XI.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED-ON DISOBEDIENCE TO PARENTS-ON THE LOVE OF PLEASURE-ON CARELESSNESS OF RELIGION.

DISOBEDIENCE to parents is often the result of pride and self-conceit, but it will also frequently be found to have existed long anterior to their possible influence. It is a disposition which is manifested with the earliest knowledge of the nature of a command; and the state of mind which produces it, the recoil from parental submission and filial duty will be perceptible, even before that mind has been sufficiently instructed to know, as a matter of reason, the nature of obedience, and the necessity for its exercise.

The influence of this principle is extensive, and gives a permanent tinge to the mental manifestations. Thus, the parent is the appointed guide, the guardian, the support, the counsellor and director of the child; but if her instructions be despised and contemned; if her guidance and protection be wilfully rejected; if her advice and her counsel be lightly esteemed and neglected, what must be the consequence? Left to the natural waywardness of its own heart, it must

wander in ignorance; having forsaken the guide of its youth, it will pursue a devious course of vice and folly-to its legitimate termination, disappointment, misery and woe: left to its own feebleness, it will yield to the rude blast of temptation; unsupported by parental knowledge and advice, it will become an easy prey to the sins of youth, and fall a victim to the specious fallacies of the designing sceptic; all hesitating, indeed, when the object of belief is present and eternal good; all credulous, however, when the voice of conscience, the declarations of Scripture, the examples of good men, aye, even the dictates of reason and natural religion, the power and authority of virtue, immediate usefulness, or the possession of present peace, and the good hopes of futurity are together sacrificed to an adherence to some speculative dogmas. The child is constantly receiving benefits from its parents, and therefore disobedience is the practical exertion of a principle of ingratitude. At this inlet to vice and error, it easily escapes from the path of rectitude, which has been hedged about by maternal solicitude, and defended by maternal affection; and having leaped the barrier of restraint, it is exposed to the influence of the world, and its snares and temptations, defenceless and unprepared. By the existence of active ingratitude, sin has gained a firm hold upon the mind, by which it not only maintains, but extends its empire over the heart; and where will its authority be arrested? how will its government be re.

strained, or its influence curtailed? The natural barrier is removed, and a change of principles, the renewal of the heart by the Spirit of Grace, can alone enable the young to cleanse their way, by taking heed thereto according to the words of divine truth.

The child should be the parent's comfort and support; and it will become so, when it seconds her efforts for its good; when it repays her anxieties, by following the way of truth, and is mindful of her wishes, to whom it owes so much, and whose constant efforts are perseveringly directed to its happiness; but if her designs be constantly frustrated by disobedience, sorrow rests as an insupportable yet unsurmountable weight upon her heart; disorder and misrule are introduced into the domestic government; anarchy and confusion mark the progress of democratic sway; the good of the individual, the peace of the family circle, the worth of its little subjects, the good order of society, the growth of virtuous feeling, the expansion of the benevolent affections, the designs of nature, the appointments of omniscience, the development of principle, the institutions of man, the laws of God-all, all are crumbled away before the slowly, but uniformly overwhelming action of the tide of this evil disposition. Disobedience hardens the heart, renders it less susceptible of the finer feelings; the admonitions of conscience become less frequent and decided, their impression less vivid and extensive, and the whole conduct is tinged with

impropriety. In its continued influence upon the mind, it presents an obstacle to the infusion of religious principle, to the reception of the word of God, and of the lessons of parental wisdom and experience, because it provokes a state of mind precisely opposed to that in which it would be possible to honour thy father and mother," to "hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother;" because it chooses the way of frowardness and selfishness, and will not allow the entrance of that wisdom into the heart, or perceive the pleasantness of that knowledge which are necessary, before" discretion shall preserve thee, or understanding shall keep thee;" and because it claims the right of private freedom of judgment and action; it is wise in its own eyes; it does not fear the Lord, or depart from evil; it does not trust in Him with all its heart, and lean not unto its own understanding; it does not in all its ways acknowledge him, or solicit the direction of his laws.

In this state of disposition, when the government of the mind is no longer vested in the parent, nor in the commands of God, it is scarcely possible to calculate the ravages of this fatal disorder; the equilibrium of moral action is destroyed; and the tide of its harmony is overborne by the fierce and desolating blasts of all that is monstrous in nature, or hateful in the sight of God-a child warring against its parent! As obedience is the strongest barrier to the influence of youthful temptation, so disobedience precipitates its victim along