as the other is too terrific. It is glory, honor, and felicity too great to be imagined. And beyond all this, everlasting ages remain, for the child to be blessed with salvation, and the parent to be blessed with the consciousness of having been the happy instrument of eternal blessedness to his own offspring. 11* CHAPTER V. THE DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Honor thy father, and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephes. vi. 1, 2, 3. "My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother; bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee." Proverbs vi. 20, 22. "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. Proverbs, xxiii. 24, 25. PERHAPS there is no duty, the obligations of which are more generally acknowledged, than filial piety; none which in the performance yields greater pleasure, or which, if neglected, brings a more severe or righteous retribution. All nations, however sunk in barbarism or elevated by science, have admitted the strength and justice of parental claims, and the unhappy youth who resists them, stands convicted, condemned and reprobated before the tribunal of the world. On the other hand, an eminently dutiful child is an object of delight, admiration and esteem, to all who have an opportunity of witnessing his conduct; he goes through society surrounded by a glory purer than that of fame, and far more conducive to his own comfort; he is a blessing to his parents, and is blessed himself. Children, may all of you be such: and for that purpose, I ask your most fixed attention to the statement of your duties, as set before you in this chapter. The obligations of social life are reciprocal. If your parents owe to you all that I have enjoined upon them how much do you owe to your pa rents? I have been your advocate with them, I now become theirs with you. Consider well the relation you sustain to your parents. There is a natural connexion between you, inasmuch as they are the instruments of your very existence; a circumstance which of itself seems to invest them, as I have already said, with an absolute authority over you. The commonness, the universality of the tie, takes off the mind from contemplating its closeness, its tenderness, its sanctity. You are literally parts of themselves, and cannot dwell for a moment upon your descent, without being struck, one should think, with the amazing and solemn weight of obligation that rests upon you towards a father and a mother. But consider there is not only a natural, but in reference to duty, an instituted connexion between you; Jehovah himself has interposed, and uniting the language of revelation with the dictates of reason, the force of authority, to the impulse of nature, has called you to filial piety, not only as a matter of feeling, but of principle. Study then the relationship, look narrowly and seriously at the connexion subsisting between you. Weigh well the import of the word PARENT: think how much is implied in it towards its appropriate object, how many offices it contains in itself, guardian, ruler, teacher, guide, benefactor, provider; WHAT THEN MUST BE THE OBLIGAtions of a CHILD? The following is a brief summary of filial duties: 1. You ought to LOVE your parents. Love is the only state of mind from which all the other duties that you owe them can arise. By love, we mean complacency: and surely this is due to a father and mother. The very relation in which you stand to them demands this. If you are destitute ofthis, if you are without any propensity of heart towards them, you are in a strange and guilty state of mind, Till you are married, they ought, in most cases, to be the supreme objects of your earthly affections. It is not enough for you to be respectful and obedient, and even kind; but, where there exists no reasons for alienating your heart, you should be fond of them. It is of infinite importance that you should watch over the internal state of your mind, and not suffer dislike, alienation, or indifference, to extinguish your regards. Do not take up a prejudice against them, nor allow an unfavorable impression to be made upon your mind. Respect and obedience, if they do not spring from love, are valueless in their nature, and very precarious in their existence. If you love them, you will delight to be in their company, and take pleasure in being at home with them. It is painful to them to see that you are happier any where than at home, and fonder of any other society than theirs. No companion should be so valued by you as a kind father or mother. If you love them, you will strive in all things to please them. We are always anxious to please those whom we regard, and to avoid whatever would give them pain. If we are careless whether we please or displease any one, it is obviously impossible that we can have any affection for them. The essence of piety towards God is a deep solicitude to please him; and the essence of filial piety, is a solicitude to please your parents. Young people, dwell upon this single, simple thought: A CHILD'S PLEASURE SHOULD BE TO PLEASE HIS PARENTS. This is the essence of love, and the sum of all your duty. If you would adopt this rule, if you would write this upon your heart, if you would make this the standard of your conduct, I might lay down my pen, for it includes every thing in itself. O that you could be brought to rea son and to resolve thus:-"I am bound by every tie of God and man, of reason and revelation, of honor and gratitude, to do all I can to make my parents happy, by doing whatever will give them pleasure, and by avoiding whatever will give them pain. By God's help, I will from this hour study and do whatever will promote their comfort. I will make my will to consist in doing theirs, and my earthly happiness to arise from making them happy. I will sacrifice my own predilections, and be satisfied with their choice." Noble resolution, and just and proper! Adopt it, act upon it, and you will never repent of it. Do not have any earthly happiness, that is indulged at the expense of theirs. If you love them, you will desire their good opinion. We naturally value the esteem of those to whom we are attached: we wish to be thought highly of by them: and if we are quite careless about their respect for us, it is a sure sign we have no regard for them. Children should be desirous, and even anxious to stand high in the opinion of their parents; and nothing can be a more decisive proof of a bad disposition in a son or a daughter, than their being quite indifferent what their parents think of them. All love must be gone in such a case as this, and the youth is in the road to rebellion and destruction: commendation has lost its value, censure its efficacy, and punishment its power. 2. REVERENCE is the next duty. 66 Honor," saith the commandment, "thy father and mother." This reverence has respect to your feelings, your words, and your actions. It consists in part, of an inward consciousness of their superiority, and an endeavor to cherish a reverential frame of mind towards them, as placed by God over you. There must be high thoughts of their superiority, both natural and instituted, and a submission of the heart to their authority, in a way of sincere and profound respect. Even your love must be that which is exercised and expressed towards a superior. If there be no reverence of the heart, it cannot be expected in the conduct. virtue, whether it be that higher kind which has respect to God, or that secondary kind, which relates to our fellow creatures, we must have a right state of heart; for without this, virtue does not exist. In all Your words should correspond with the reverential feelings of the heart. When speaking to them, your address, both in language and in tones, should be modest, submissive, and respectful: not loud, boisterous, impertinent or even familiar: for they are not your equals, but your superiors. If at any time you differ from them in opinion, your views should be expressed, not with the flippancy and pertinaciousness of disputants, but with the meek inquisitiveness of pupils. Should they reprove, and even more sharply than you think is due, you must lay your hand upon your mouth, and neither answer them again, nor show resentment. Your reverence for them should be so great, as to impose a considerable restraint upon your speech |