Covenant, and perhaps to the law which doomed the disobedient son to be judicially cut off from the people. But still, as repeated by a New Testament writer, it must, to a certain extent, be in force still. Dr. Dwight has the following remarks on this passage which deserve consideration. "In conversing with the plain people of this country, distinguished for their good sense, and careful observation of facts, I have found them, to a great extent, firmly persuaded of the verification of this promise in our own times; and ready to produce a variety of proofs from cases, in which they have seen the blessing realized. Their opinion is mine, and with their experience my own has coincided. "Indeed no small measure of prosperity seems ordinarily interwoven with a course of filial piety. Tho comfort which it insures to parents, the harmony which it produces in the family, the peace which it yields in the conscience, are all essential ingredients of happiness. To these it adds the approbation of every beholder, the possession of a fair and lasting reputation, the confidence and good will of every worthy inan, and of consequence an opportunity of easily gaining those useful employments which good men have to give. Beyond this it naturally associates itself with temperance, moderation, and sobriety, which furnish a solid foundation for health and long life. In my own apprehension, however, these are not all its blessings. I do not say that miracles are wrought for its reward. Neither will I say that purer gales breathe to preserve its health; nor that softer suns arise, or more timely rains descend to mature its harvests; nor that more propitious winds blow, to waft its ships home in safety. But I will say, that on the tide of Providence multiplied blessings are borne into its possession, at seasons when they are unexpected, in ways unforeseen, and by means unprovided by its own forecast, which are often of high inportance; which, altogether, constitute a rich proportion of prosperity; and which, usually, are not found by persons of the contrary character. At the same time, those who act well as children, almost of course, act well as men and women; and thus have taken, without design, the scion of happiness from the parental stock, and grafted it upon other stems, which bear fruit abundantly to themselves. Here, in the language of Dr. Watts, "It revives, and bears, "A train of blessings for their heirs." If motives so forcible and tender as these, have no effect, nothing is left me to do, but to remind the children of disobedience, of that day of judgment, which God hath appointed to judge the world in righteousness, by Jesus Christ, and to give to every one according to the things done in the body whether they are good or bad. "In that most awful season, when the wicked shall see the judge sit above them, angry and severé, inexorable and terrible; under them an intolerable hell; within them, their consciences clamorous and diseased; without them, all the world on fire; on the right hand, those men glorified, whom they persecuted and despised; on the left hand the devils accusing;" then shall it be found that the severest sentence of the Almighty, and the bitterest dregs of the vials of his wrath, will be poured out on the disobedient and ungodly child of those parents who trained him up in the nurture of the Lord. CHAPTER VI. THE DUTIES OF MASTERS. Ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening; knowing that your master also is in heaven: neither is there respect of persons with him." Ephes. vi. 9. "Masters give unto your servants, that which is just and equal." "A party of friends setting out together upon a journey, soon find it to be best for all sides, that while they are upon the road, one of the company should wait upon the rest, another ride forward to seek out lodging and entertainment; a third carry the portmanteau; a fourth take charge of the horses; a fifth bear the purse, conduct and direct the route; not forgetting, however, that as they were equal and independent when they set out, so they are all to return to a level again at their journey's end. The same regard and respect; the same forbearance, lenity and reserve, in using their service; the same mildness in delivering commands; the same study to make their journey comfortable and pleasant, which he whose lot it was to direct the rest would in common decency think himself bound to observe towards them, ought we show towards those, who, in the casting of the parts of human society, happen to be placed within our power, or to depend upon us." PALEY. "There are duties which we owe to the lowest of those who serve us, that are not fulfilled by the most bountiful allotment of wages, and lodging, and sustenance. Of these duties, which are not duties of superogation, hut flow from the very nature of the bond which connects the master and the servant by reciprocal benefits, the surest rule is to be found in that brief direction which Seneca, in the spirit of the noble christian precept of morals, has so happily given us in one of his epistles, in which he treats of the cruelty and contumely of Roman masters. So live with your inferior, as you would wish your superior to live with you Dr. THOMAS BROWN. "It has been justly remarked, that all authority over others, is in fact, a talent with which we are entrusted for their benefit, as well as our own; and so the discharge of our duty to them is only, in other words, securing our own interest as well as theirs. This, however, is especially manifest in the case of servants, dwelling under our roof, as members of the same family. Thereby how much our care over the souls of our servants contributes to their knowledge of God and themselves, so far have we secured their conscientious regard to our interests, and furnished them with principles, which will not only augment the stock of domestic happiness, but certainly contribute towards the divine favor resting on our dwelling, as well as on all we possess. Thus, then, is the fear of God in master and servant, found to be at once the only foundation of relative duty, and the only effectual security for the discharge of it." ANDERSON. "The highest panegyrick that private virtue can receive, is the praise of servants: for they see a man without any restraint or rule of conduct, but such as he voluntarily prescribes to himself. And however vanity or insolence may look down with contempt on the suffrage of men undignified by wealth, and unenlightened by education, it very seldom happens that they commend or blame without justice. "The danger of betraying our weakness to our servants, and the impossibility of concealing it from them, may be justly considered as one motive to a regular and irreproachable life. For no condition is more hurtful and despicable, than his, who has put himself in the power of him, whom, perhaps, he has first corrupted, by making him subservient to his vices, and whose fidelity he therefore cannot enforce by any precepts of honesty or reason. From that fatal hour when he sacrificed his dignity to his pas sions, be is in perpetual dread of insolence or defamation; of a controller at home, or an accuser abroad." JOHNSON. It Or all the domestic connexions, that between master and servant, is perhaps least understood, or at any rate, most neglected. In the two preceding cases, nature, imperfect and corrupt as she is, has come in with her aid: but this is a connexion, affecting very extensively the vital interest of the family, but which is left by God to conscience and scripture alone. Should these two be neglected, what wonder, if the duty on either side is not fulfilled. It is not a connexion founded in mutual love, like that of man and wife; nor in consanguinity, like that of parent and child, or brother and sister; but in mere convenience. It seems at first sight, a destruction of the natural equality of the human race, and an invasion by one party, of the righ.s of the other. did not exist originally, but soon grew out of the natural course of things, such as the varied degrees of men's acquired property; the love of ease on the one hand, and the urgency of necessity on the other. It was wealth or power that made the first master, and want or weakness that made the first servant; and the very same circumstances which originated the relation preserves it. No one is a servant by choice, but of necessity, and becomes a master as soon as he can. All this shews that there is great propriety and importance in stating with clearness, and enjoying with frequency the duties of this connexion; and that there needs great impartiality in adjusting the claims of both parties so as to prevent the master from becoming a tyrant, and the servant from becoming a rebel; in other words to guard the master against the disobedience and dishonesty of the servant, and the servant against the oppression and cruelty of the master. To the right performanee of the Duties of Masters and Mistresses, the following qualifications are necessary. 1. A correct view of the nature and design of the family compact as intended to train up all the members that compose it, to be good members of the civil community, and of the church of Christ. They must keep in constant recollection, that the domestic constitution has a reference to religion, to heaven and to eternity; and that they who are appointed to be the head of it, are accountable to God for the manner in which they give it this direction. Every household is intended to be a seminary for virtue and piety, of which the master and mistress are the teachers; the servants and children the pupils. 2. They should be partakers of true religion. Hence you are directed to consider, that they have a master in heaven, and to perform their duties with a believing and constant reference to their accountability to Christ. Without personal religion, they cannot of course seek on behalf of their servants the highest end of the domestic constitution, i. e. their spiritual and eternal welfare. Nor can they, without religion, be so well prepared to discharge even the ordinary duties of their station. True religion will not fail, wherever it exists in full vigor and operation, to teach a man, in reference to every thing, the best rules and ends, and measures of action: and especially will the grace of God, in this case, prevent that pride, passion, cruelty and unkindness, which make a man a bad master; and at the same time it will implant those virtues which are the germs of a master's greatest excellence. Religion is the strongest basis and the firmest support of authority; it not only renders all the commandments which are delivered, holy, and just, and good; not only infuses wisdom and equity into all the laws which are enjoined, but invests the lawgiver himself with the beauty of goodness, and the awful power of sanctity. A peculiar awe and dread seem to have been upon the inferior creatures, for man in his innocence, as a kind of reverence for the divine image which man bore; and the more holiness there is in a man's character now, the more power is there in his authority, and the more nearly does he come back to his original dominion, at least over the rational creation. If we would govern well, and easily, and pleasantly, we must inspire reverence rather than fear, and nothing does this like religion. "Them that honor me, saith God, 1 will honor" this is never more remarkably exemplified, than in the case of eminently holy masters and mistresses. 3. They should entertain correct notions of the pature and design of the relation they stand in to their ser |