occasionally, followed by the impressions of their earlier days, and as having high claims upon Methodistic attention. "Our fathers where are they?" and can we anywhere so reasonably look

for successors as among their children?

But this may furnish a topic for some future communication, and I have perhaps already extended the article too far. A. E. F.

THE disposition of some men, professing Christianity, to ask peremptorily for a particular precept in all cases of incumbent moral duty, is one which every Christian would do well to examine; not only that he may never be troubled with it himself, but that he may be at no loss in answering such a man, if he is called to converse with him. The particular duty to which he refers, say, for example, Family Worship, is comparatively of small account. His question itself, is indicative not merely of great ignorance; it is symptomatic of the want of religious principle. When a man says, that he can only be bound to such a duty, a moral duty, by a positive and particular precept, I am satisfied that he could not perform it, in obedience to any precept whatever; nor could he, even now, though he were to try. The truth is, that this man has no disposition towards such worship, and he rather requires to be informed of the grounds of all such obligation.

If you have been accustomed to look a little deeper than the surface of human character, you will find that men of this description secretly cherish the idea, that they have found out the way of living happily enough without holiness; and should they also seem to have drunk deeply into such principles, I should as soon expect to cure insanity by reasoning as to cure them. They know not, as yet, what Scripture has so empha

tically called," the plague of their own heart;" but while to this alone we can direct them, there are not wanting individuals who require to be fortified even against such poor sophistry.

The duty of Family Devotion, therefore, let it be remembered, though it had been minutely enjoined as to both substance and season, would not, after all, have been founded only on such injunctions. I want the reader thoroughly to understand the character of a Christian, the constitution of the Family; and out of this character and that constitution, he will find certain duties to arise necessarily; that is, they are essential to the continuance and wellbeing of himself as a Christian Parent, and of the constitution over which he is set. In this case there can be no question as to their obligation, and for a precept there is no necessity. The Almighty, in his word, has not only said nothing in vain, but nothing except what is necessary. Now, as to Family Worship for a particular precept, I have no wish; no, not even for the sake of others, because I am persuaded that the Christian, in his sober senses, will freely obey, and no other can.

To apply, however, this request for a precise precept to some other branches of Family duty, what would be thought of me, were I to demand an express precept to enforce my obligation to feed my children, and another to oblige me to clothe them? one to express my obligation to teach them the use of letters, and another to secure my training them to lawful or creditable professions or employments? "All this," very properly you might reply, "is absurd in the highest degree; your obligation rests on much higher ground; nay, doth not nature itself teach you in this, and

much more than this?" Very true, I reply; and is renewed nature, then, not to teach me far more still? To what other nature are such words as these addressed: Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things?" Yes, God in his word has addressed us, not as men of perverted reason, but as accountable beings. If we out of generals collect not particulars, and infer not from plain grounds the necessary conclusions, woe is unto us it will go ill with us in this world, and in that also which is to come. It becomes not the majesty of God to trifle with his creatures; and if, in his public edicts, his mind is expressed, it were unworthy of him to descend to what is already enough revealed. In his word I expect that a grandeur will be found worthy of the supreme Lord of all; and I adore Him, that, having put the heart right, he hath in many ways left room for all to ascertain whether it really is so. If, therefore, nature itself is supposed in Scripture to teach me so much, assuredly the renewed nature is there also supposed to teach me much

more.

These observations may enable the reader to account for the fact, that the world had gone on for many ages, and been favoured too with no small portion of divine revelation, without prayer, in any form, having been once enjoined or instituted as a duty, whether in the closet, the family, or the church; a division, by the way, which, though proper enough for the sake of illustration, is but of comparatively modern date. No; from the beginning the piety of the the heart led men to take up this subject in the only way which was natural, and proper, and safe; from the beginning such men had always prayed and worshipped, and that thousands of years before Paul had said to Timothy,-"I will that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."

"

The very first injunction in Scripture, therefore, respecting such a moral duty, was likely to occur not in the way of positive institution, as something which then only had begun to be incumbent, and then only to be begun, and much less something which was before unknown. Accordingly, it turns out, that the "first injunction respecting prayer, in the Volume of Inspiration, the terms of which regard it, as in any sense generally obligatory, does not occur until the world was at least three thousand years old, and the Jewish church about eight hundred. (Psalm exxii. 6.) Perhaps the passage which might be styled the second, does not occur till at least two hundred years later." (Jer. xxix. 7.)

At the same time, the manner, the seasons, the spirit, the constancy, the universality of prayer, as the attendant of piety, I find scattered over the whole volume, from the earliest times. Nay, it is not a little remarkable, that the very first passage in which prayer is recorded, happens to be the supplication of a Parent,-the fervent wish of a Father for his Son; (Gen. xvii. 18;) and the very next presents this same Parent before us, interceding with peculiar earnestness for the vilest of men. (Gen. xviii. 24.)

To return, however, let it be observed, that the human family, being of God's own creation and institution, it owes him, on this account, corresponding acknowledgment and worship. All his works, in all places of his dominion, are therefore called upon to praise him. All things which have been made by him, were made for him; and if this was the end he had in view, when nature itself was framed, it was especially the end with regard to man, in his individual, and relative, and social capacity. If this is true, as to nature in all its branches, it is still more so of the system as a whole : if it is true of the individual, it is still more so of the systems or constitutions which he has framed: if true, of the man as a solitary being, still more so of the Family: if true, as to the Christian, still more so of the Church.

With regard to a Family, in particular, it is more especially bound to own its dependance upon, and subjection to, its Divine Author, because it is the foundation or first cause of all society, whether moral, political, or religious. Hence Abraham obtained the testimony of God's highest approbation: hence, long before the Mosaic economy was in existence, there were sacrifices peculiar to families, when the Father acted as the administrator. Thus, Job offered burnt-offerings for himself and for his children, and Jacob for his. This is particularly worthy of remark, since, though we have no intimation whatever on the subject, there must have been a revelation here from God; for though the duty rises necessarily out of the constitution itself, the form of it must have been regulated by his will. For the office and duty of a Priest, or an offerer of family-sacrifices, neither Job nor Jacob had their warrant from the light or law of nature. Such an office depended on institution; and this institution proves to demonstration the early and peculiar regard of God for the family of human beings. Nor did even the Mosaic economy altogether abolish a practice, which stood on far more ancient grounds. So the family of Jesse had a yearly sacrifice, that is, a free-will offering and sacred feast, when the various branches all assembled, even in mature life, to acknowledge a source from whence they had derived such blessings. (1 Sam. xx. 6.) Granting that, in this instance, the whole were pretended, no such pretence would have been sustained, had such things not been customary, to a certain extent, although not so frequent as in the patriarchal age, or before the appointment of the tribe of Levi to act as Priests.

Independently, however, of all this evidence with any rational Christian parent, I may confirm and establish his mind on much higher ground than even that which these pointed examples afford. To such a Parent I might say, Without hesitation, you will admit that your obligations to your family are to be measured now, and on the day of

final account, by your capacity; as a Man by your natural, as a Christian by your spiritual, capacity? And however you may feel conscious of falling short daily, that you are under obligation to honour God to the utmost limit of this capacity? You will also allow that, standing where you do, you are not now, like a solitary orphan without relatives, to be regarded only as a single individual? God himself, your Creator, your Saviour, and your Judge, regards you as the head of a family, and therefore, in possession of a sacred trust, you have the care of souls. Now, if you really do measure obligation by capacity, then will you also at once allow, that you must do what you can, that He may, from your Family, have as much honour as possible.

Without hesitation you will also allow that God daily preserves you. And does he not also preserve your family? But if he preserves, he has a right of property in each and all under your roof. Shall He not, therefore, have from you acknowledgment of this? If daily he preserves, shall he not be daily acknowledged? And if acknowledged at all, how ought he to be so, if not upon your knees? And how can they know this, if they do not hear it?

Without hesitation you will also allow that you are a social as well as a reasonable being. And often have you, therefore, felt how much the soothing influence of their sweet society has sustained you under cares, and trials, and grief itself. O! surely then, as a social being, you owe to them social worship; nor should you ever forget that, in ancient days, there was social worship here before it could be any where else. Nay, even after the gates of Zion were known, next to them, Jehovah continued to love the dwellings of Jacob. And why? Because, though less public, they furnished the nearest resemblance to those gates; and his regard for the church is magnified by its rising above that of the family. The love of God is represented as being greater in degree; it

was therefore on the same account.

To some minds, the obligation to

family-worship will receive additional support, from reference to the connexion in which prayer is enforced. But before noticing this, it may be remarked, that between all the relative duties incumbent on man, there is not only a powerful and natural connexion, but the performance of one such duty often only lays the foundation for the performance of others, or naturally leads to them as incumbent. The division of the sacred writings into chapters and verses, useful only for reference, has not only obscured this connexion, but, in the course of ages, it has created a number of false associations, as well as prevented many from feeling, as they ought, the indissoluble obligations under which they are laid. This connexion is indeed apparent, and often striking, even as the Scriptures are generally printed; but, owing to the divisions referred to, it requires to be much more frequently pointed out.

Thus, after the relative duties of parent and child, of servant and master, are mentioned by Paul in his Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, and by Peter in his First Epistle, it has been remarked, that the subject of prayer, one of the most important branches of familyworship, is introduced. In the Colossians this connexion is very obvious and striking. "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal: knowing that ye also have a master in heaven. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."

In conclusion, I query if that beautiful form of prayer which our blessed Lord gave to his followers, does not involve an argument in favour of family-prayer, nay, of daily familydevotion. It is worthy of remark, that, in the sixth chapter of Matthew, after he had directed his disciples with regard to private prayer, he did not stop there. In the seventh verse, he begins to use the plural number, and, proceeding to a social act of worship, he refers to the prayers of such as could pray together daily. In this most comprehensive prayer, after giving to God that place and

honour which correspond to the first table of the moral law, he descends to matters of daily and common interest in a family; and among these, here instructing the poorest parent how to dismiss inordinate anxiety as to the common provision for this little band, he directs him to pray,"Our Father who art in heaven,give us this day our daily bread." The petition immediately preceding this had been,-"Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." Now, I would only ask, if, over the wide world, the will of God were done, by whom would, nay, by whom could this petition, in general, fall to be offered, if not by the parent at the head of his family, to whom, as an instrument under God, we look for the provision of such daily sustenance? Or, I ask, can a more beautiful morning-picture be conceived, than that of the fathers below thus beginning the day? Meanwhile, should the solitary Christian, retiring to his closet, and carrying the social spirit of Christianity along with him, use this form, unquestionably he will be heard; and in the house of God, leaving the world behind us, let us do the same; but still in form and spirit, this will ever remain a week-day social family-prayer.

THE BEST SEASONS FOR FAMILY DEVOTION.

Obliged as I am to worship Jehovah in my family, and possessing the only spirit which he will or can accept in every service, a willing mind,—and therefore inclined, nay, bent upon this delightful service,-then will I find some time for it, and my family must find time to come together. The ordinances of day and night, and the regularity of their succession, alike admonish me to regulate my affairs accordingly. As there is One above who maketh the outgoings of the morning to rejoice, and the evenings to descend in peace over me, at these seasons especially should I acknowledge Him: at these seasons should I seek him who, not only in the beginning made the seven stars and Orion, the greater light also to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, but who now also,

with so much merey and long-suffering, and with such regularity, "maketh the day dark, and it is night, and then turneth the shadow of death into the morning."

Have these daily alternations no voice? Do they carry with them no signification whatever? How was it then that the morning and evening were so generally regarded, even by heathen nations, as the appropriate period for some acknowledgment of God? And if Paul could refer to nature's teaching, about a matter comparatively so insignificant as the hair of the head, shall we not here appeal to the plain and unerring dictates of nature? That we should be compassed about daily with the vast and merciful vicissitudes of day and night, without any disposition to daily adoration, must argue great stupidity and ingratitude of mind indeed. The Christian who contemplates even the material universe only, with the persuasion that it is at once the workmanship and the property of the Almighty, cannot possibly so proceed. "It is a good thing," he says,

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,

And to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

To show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning,

And thy faithfulness every night ;For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work:

I will triumph in the works of thy hauds."

The mind of the sacred writer seems so fully made up on such principles as these, that he immediately signifies it to be only a "brutish man" who knoweth not; nay, even a fool, or foolish man, who doth not understand this. (Psalm xcii. 1—6.)

With regard to the seasons for devotion, however, we are not left to be regulated only by the signs of heaven, or the voice of nature. There have been ordinances of divine serIvice intended to enforce the same subject, and at these seasons. Has the reader never marked one condition, on which Jehovah condescended to meet with the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle

of the congregation, and there speak to them?-the condition, on which he would dwell, or, as Lewis, in his Hebrew Antiquities, has said somewhat quaintly, "keep house" among them, and be their God?-the condition, on which they were from generation to generation to be confirmed in the persuasion, that he was the Lord their God who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that he might dwell amongst them? All these favours he suspended, upon condition of their offering, without intermission, the morning and evening sacrifice. Now, if the primary design of these sacrifices was to remind the people of God at that period of the sacrifice of Christ, by which alone at last they were taken away, shall we not remember Him, at these seasons, who was the substance and fulfilment of them all? And even then, when these were offered, how are we to suppose the inmates were employed, at such seasons, in those "dwellings of Jacob" which Jehovah is represented as loving next only to the temple and the temple-worship? It would even seem, that, when driven out, or far separated from his tabernacle or his temple, the pious Jew could not forget those devoted hours. Looking in that direction, his language then was," Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up my hands as the evening sacrifice."

There are, however, other considerations than these, which might be adduced for enforcing the important duty of prayer or worship in the morning and evening of every day, not only in the chamber, but in the family. "Stated and regular seasons are indispensable to the effectual performance of all business. Method, proverbially styled the soul of business, cannot exist without such seasons. Irregularity, which is the prevention or the ruin of all valuable efforts, grows of course out of irregular distributions of time. That which is done at accidental seasons only, is not done at all; but no duty demands regularity and method more than prayer. There is in all men naturally a strong indisposition to pray. Stated seasons, therefore, re