and evening to implore God's blessing and protection.

How unbecoming a Christian must that man be, who can see his family disperse of an evening without any religion, and meet again of a morning, like the other animals about his house, only to be fed; and never think of making so much as the poor returns of a grateful heart for all the blessings he enjoys from his most gracious and bountiful Creator.

When this is the case, (and God knows it is too much the case) it is a sad indication of a latent infidelity, which, if not speedily rooted ont, will, I am afraid, be the ruin of many families.

What a dreadful account must he expect will be required of him, by his Creator and Judge, who not only neglects his duty in this respect, but, by his bad example, encourages his wife, his children, and servants, to forget their Maker, and live without God in the world? Surely, every master of a family should lay this home to his serious consideration! But, alas! go into many houses, and, I am afraid, we may say as Abraham said to Abimelech, Surely the fear of God is not in this place! So far from finding any family worship, we shall find strife, contention, and animosity, prevail; so far from hearing the language of charity, that we may hear the reputation and good name of some one of our neighbours treated with cruel aspersion, and wicked calumny.

This is not to act like that devout man Cornelius, who feared God with all his house,

and prayed to God always. It is not following the example of Job, who, when the days of the feasting of his sons and daughters were gone about, offered burnt offerings, according to the number of them all, for fear that they might have committed some sin during the time of their mirth and jollity: and this he did not once or twice, but continually. Neither is it acting like Joshua, who declared, that as for himself and his house, they would serve the Lord. But it is acting (I cannot say like heathens: for they, even at this day, have their household Gods, and call upon them morning and evening, but) like persons who have no serious thoughts of God and religion, and, by the most monstrous ingratitude, declare themselves unworthy of his blessing and protection.

How is the blessing of God to be expected upon a family who have no thoughts of him? Is there not much greater reason to expect a curse?

What! though God sends his rain upon the just and on the unjust; grants many an ungrateful sinner an abundance of outward enjoyments, such as riches, honour, and pleasure; and delivers him from many calamities, and sustains him in bodily health, yet these enjoyments commonly prove a snare to him, by his abusing them to wicked purposes; and though, in this life, he may have his fill of worldly enjoyments, yet he may wish, hereafter that he never had been rich, great, and prosperous; and find, to his unspeakable grief, that he has no portion allotted him in the kingdom of heaven!

Many imagine, that if they offer up their prayers to God in private, it is sufficient; but this is to act like a hermit, or one who shuts himself up in a cloister, and cares for none but himself. For though a man may be very exact in his own private devotions, and trust to each one of his family to do the like, yet he may be deceived; and if he is deceived, he will have no prayer at all in his family, at least none but his own. And though sin lies at the door of every one in his house, who neglects to pray in secret, yet it will be his fault that there is this neglect. And the miscarriages of many families, it may reasonably be presumed, proceed from this source: children grow undutiful, idle, and wicked; servants disobedient, guilty of eye service, as men pleasers, and not fearing God. The governor of the family looses that respect which is justly his due; and which, if he had kept up a sense of religion in his house, he would, in all probability, never have had reason to complain of. For, when children and servants are taught duty and disobedience for conscience sake, they will then chearfully act agreeable to their stations. And though after all endeavours to make children and servants religious, they should prove otherwise, he has the comfortable satisfaction to think he has done his duty; and that God, the righteous Judge, will reward him for it at last.

Besides, every family, as so many servants of God united under one head, have all some common sins to confess, some common blessings to ask, some common dangers to fear, and some

common mercies to give thanks for; it is there fore highly reasonable that the governor should call them together, as many as can be at leisure, twice a day, in the morning and in the evening; and, by himself, or some one of the family, confess their sins to God, offer up their prayers for what they want, and their thanksgivings for what they enjoy.

Gratitude and self-interest require this.

Gratitude for those common blessings which they enjoy from the best of Beings; for their existence, their health, their continual preservation, and, above all, for their redemption from sin and death, by the blood of Christ.

Self-interest also requires this.

For promoting family religion is the best means of promoting the temporal as well as the eternal welfare of the whole family; because godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as that which is to come. And, on the other hand, when it is neglected, we may reasonably expect, that God will, according to the prophet Jeremiah, pour out his fury upon the families that call not upon his name.

And not only the reasonableness of the duty, but the practice of our blessed Saviour, and the example of the primitive Christians, enforce it. We read that our Saviour was often alone praying with his disciples, who were then his little family. And the primitive Christians were so. exemplary in this particular, that St. Paul, in his epistles, often styles the house of such families, a church: Salute the brethren, says he, which are in Laodicea, and Nympas, and

the church which is in his house, and in several other places.

I think I need say no more to convince you that family prayer is a Christian duty; I shall, therefore, proceed in the

Third place, To consider the objections that may be made to this duty.

And one may be, that as family prayer is now almost totally disused, at least by the generality of those who profess themselves to be members of the church of England, a man who attempted to introduce this in his family would be looked upon by his neighbours as a singular, precise fellow; and, perhaps, be branded with the name of a Methodist.

Now, as to the singularity of it, I am willing to hope, that it is not so singular as many imagine: I hope there are many families who make a conscience of performing this duty, and yet are no Methodists. Strange! that what has been universally acknowledged as fit and reasonable by the best and wisest of men, and enforced by the example of Christ, should, in these days, be thought an exercise only becoming a mad Enthusiast.

Surely, this is doing great honour to the cause of Methodism, and is a great reproach to us of the established church. What! cannot a man worship God in his family without being a Methodist? Surely he can. It only becomes a Methodist to assert such a thing; and too many of them, I am afraid, have too much cause to assert it.

However, if we will consider, we shall easily

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