wisdom, of their parents, and of their own inferiority in all these respects. Their thoughts and affections towards them ought, universally, to spring from this sense of their superiority: a superiority, originated by the creating hand of God, and consummated by his most holy law. To this sense ought all their views to be conformed. The beginnings of irreverence, the first tendencies towards disadvantageous, light, disrespectful apprehensions concerning them, they are bound to crush in the bud, and to cultivate with watchful care every affectionate and respectful

emotion.

By the Providence of God it is frequently brought to pass, that parents are in humble life; uneducated; ignorant; little regarded by the world; irreligious; not unfrequently openly vicious, and sometimes plainly scandalous. Here, filial piety, it must be acknowledged, becomes a harder task; and especially in the last mentioned cases, is attended with serious difficulty in its various duties. Children, are however, to remember, that God has given even the children of such parents no dispensation, with respect to their filial duties. The Command in the text is addressed to them no less absolutely than to other children. As their case is more difficult; they are required to make more careful and vigorous exertions; to forget the personal character, and to remember only the parental. The children may be better educated; may know more; may have better dispositions; and may sustain better characters. Let them remember, that to God in the first place, and, ordinarily, to these very parents in the second, they owe these blessings: and let them show their gratitude, their superior understanding, to the eye of Him, from whom they derive their all, by cultivating the sentiments which I have urged, and by resisting effectually those which I have condemned. He who gave them parents, he who made them children, he who said to them, Honour thy father and thy mother, has an indisputable right to require this conduct at their hands. If the duty is difficult; it is proportionally excellent, honourable, and lovely.

2. The same exercises of filial piety are to be manifested in the Words of children.

The words, uttered by children, which respect their parents

in any manner, are to correspond with the thoughts, which have been here recommended, and, if effectual care is taken to make the thoughts right, the words will be right of course.

When children speak to their parents, they are required ever to speak modestly, submissively, and respectfully. Whatever opinions children may entertain, which may differ from those of their parents in any case, it is their duty to propose with humility, meekness, and respect. They are to address them, not as disputants; not as equals; but as children; as modest inferiors. Both their words, and their manner of uttering them, should bear unequivocal evidence, that they are conscious of this cha

racter.

When children speak of their parents to others, they are bound to speak with the most exact caution, and with similar respect; and never to say any thing concerning them, which they would be unwilling to say to them, when present. It is their duty invariably to endeavour, so far as truth and propriety will admit, to render the character of their parents respectable in the eyes of others. The faults of their parents it is their duty to conceal; their excellencies always readily to admit; and to experience, and manifest, their satisfaction, when others admit them. They are not, indeed, to boast of the good qualities of their parents; as they are not to boast of any thing else; but with modesty and propriety to welcome them, when mentioned by others; and, when they have a becoming occasion, to speak of them themselves.

Sometimes children are compelled to the mortification of hearing their parents ill spoken of by others. Their duty then requires them, whenever they can do it with success, to repel the ungenerous attack, and to defend the character of their parents. If this is not in their power; they are bound to manifest their indignation and disgust by such declarations, as the nature of the case demands; and at least to prevent themselves from the pain, and mischief, produced by such conversation, by withdrawing finally, from persons of this unreasonable and abusive character.

3. The same spirit ought to appear in all the Deportment of Children.

The deportment of children, when their parents are present, ought to exhibit every mark of respect. The honour, required in the text, ought, in the literal sense, to be here invariably rendered without qualification, without reserve, without reluctance. However humble the station, the circumstances, the education, or the manners, of parents may be ; the child, instead of discovering, that he is ashamed of them, or of assuming to himself airs of importance, is bound cheerfully to acknowledge their proper superiority; to exhibit towards them a respectful deference; and always to prevent even a remote suspicion, that he is reluctant to give them their proper place.

II. Children are bound to obey the Commands of their parents. That it is the province of parents to govern, and that of children to obey, will not be questioned. Nor will it be doubted, that children are equally bound to abstain from things, prohibited by their parents, as to perform those, which they enjoin. this obedience it may be observed,

Of

To the universality and that is when the The obedience of

While it is the duty

1. That it ought to be uniform and faithful. Children, says St. Paul, obey your parents in all things; for this is right, and well-pleasing to the Lord. of this precept there is but one exception; injunction is contrary to the Law of God. little children ought undoubtedly to be implicit. They are plainly incapable of directing their own conduct; and parents are appointed by God himself to direct it. of the parent to instruct his child in the nature of moral conduct, and the reasonableness, and rectitude, of his own commands, as fast as the understanding of the child will permit; and to give no commands, which are not agreeable to the will of God: it is undoubtedly the duty of the child to obey every parental precept, except such as are of this nature. To this rule I know of no exception.

Filial obedience is commonly rendered without much difficulty, when parents are present. Every child should remember, that his obligations to obedience are not lessened by their absence; that God is then present; that he has required them not to obey with eye-service; and that he records all their conduct in the book of his remembrance.

They are, also, ever to keep in mind, that they are required to obey difficult commands, as well as those which are easy; those which require much self-denial, labour, and trouble, as well as those which are attended only with pleasure; those in which their disobedience will never be detected, as well as those in which it will certainly be known. No other obedience deserves the name of faithful.

2. Filial Obedience ought to be ready and cheerful.

This is the only obedience which commends itself to the common sense of mankind, or which is of any value in the sight of God. In this obedience the heart is concerned, and the child active. Every thing else, which goes under this name, is constrained; hypocritical; a cheat; a sin. No other is regarded in the Scriptures. To sustain this character, the obedience of children should be rendered without opposition, and without delay. A great part of the value of Filial Obedience arises from the manner, in which it is rendered. God himself loves the cheerful giver. Mankind have exactly the same views of this subject; and universally consider that, which is done grudgingly, as little better, and often worse, than if it had not been done at all.

III. Children are bound to do whatever will reasonably contribute to the happiness of their parents, whether commanded or

not.

The modes, in which this part of filial duty is to be rendered, are so numerous, that it is impossible to recite them. It will be sufficient to observe, at the present time, that no filial piety is more lovely, or more accordant with the text, than that, which attentively prevents the wants, the commands, and the wishes, of parents; which adds to their comforts, and lessens their troubles, in a thousand indescribable ways, readily offering themselves to the mind of a dutiful child.

One of the happiest modes of obeying the text is found in the discreet, amiable, and virtuous, behaviour of children. Parents are delightfully honoured, when their children exhibit excellent conduct before mankind; and thus acquire the approbation and good-will of those around them. In this case they render a very pleasing, and very honourable, tribute to the parental wisdom, care, and faithfulness, employed in their education; and show in

the strongest manner, that the precepts, by which they have been trained up, have been received by them with such reverence and piety, as to have a commanding influence upon their lives. In this manner children become the glory of their parents, and the crown of grey hairs.

The duties of children obviously change with the change of age, and circumstances. When they are very young, their obedience, as I remarked, must be implicit. They are to obey without investigation, inquiry, or doubt; for this plain reason, that they are incapable, altogether, of judging for themselves. But they are to be taught to judge, as early as their years and understanding will permit. This is indispensable; because by learning, habitually, the reasons, on which their parents commands are founded, they will soon learn to think, that they are all reasonable; and obey them with more readiness, and exactness, on this account; and because many cases will occur, in which their parents cannot be present, and in which, therefore, they must judge for themselves. This, it is plain, they cannot do, unless they are taught. As they advance in years and understanding, the nature of their obedience will vary; chiefly from this circumstance, that they understand their duty, and the reasons on which it is founded; and are therefore required to perform it from a due regard to its nature and importance, to the law of God which established it, and to the character and kindness of their parents which demand it from their reverence and their gratitude. In other respects, their obedience is founded on the same principles, during the whole period of their non-age.

Nor do the same rules apply to them in a very different manner, after they have arrived at adult years; so long as they continue in their father's house, and are members of his family. In this situation, however, the circumstances of both parents and children vary so much, that the relations and duties of both are usually modified by some plan, or compact, between them, sufficiently understood to serve as a rule, by which the conduct of the child is to be directed. I shall, therefore, think it necessary only to observe, that, when children have faithfully performed their duty to this period, they rarely fail of performing it afterwards.