M 6^h -N O - -■ C! W r [^0 0) r^ HI -H Q H. «-«.«,w {\< 1 . V :3 -^ rO TJ a rH C ■H O O rH O in B (0 C '^ B •H -H :3 U ^ > Jh O O* PQ Q W SOCIAL DUTIES ON CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. SOCIAL DUTIES CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. BY HENRY DRUMMOND. AL. C FOURTH EDITION, ENLARGED. LONDON: J. HATCHARD & SON, 187, PICCADILLY. 1839. LONDON : PRINTED BY IBOTSON AND PALMER. SAVOY STREET. PREFACE. The following Essay is not intended to supersede the use of any similar treatise on Domestic Duties : on the contrary, it is dis- tinctly avowed, that this will furnish an in- complete manual without others, such as those of the Rev. Messrs. Morison, Ander- son, and James. In dwelling, however, upon what ought to be the practice of Christians, the above excellent works have not stated out fully the theological principle from whence their several duties emanate, although they have all alluded to it. Many points will here appear, for the same reasons, to be passed over too slightly, and others enlarged upon with disproportionate minuteness. But it VI PREFACE. was needless to say that which had been well said already; and the object was not repeti- tion, but to be strictly supplemental to what had been written before. This Essay, there- fore, is only to fill up what was lacking in others ; necfungar inani munere, if no other effect is produced by it, than that of causing them to be more read. Something of the kind was required, for it is not uncommon to hear persons, in every rank of life, speaking as if religion were a thing separate from duty ; that is, as if it consisted in the belief of a proper creed, and in the performance of acts of mercy and cha- rity ; but that all the business of life was a hindrance to the proper spiritual practice of a christian man. So far, indeed, as religion consists in, or rather is to be acquired by, reading God's word, and meditation thereon, so far is the business of life an hindrance to religion ; but so equally is visiting the sick, or any other act of social intercourse with our fellow-creatures. We find a labourer hasting to get his daily task finished, in order that he may resume some other occupation PREFACE. Vll which he calls more religious ; he fancies that his religion has been left when he quitted his home and his Bible, and that he is not a reli- gious man until he returns to it. The lawyer hastens to get through his causes, because he thinks that a court of law is not a place in which it is possible to be religious : and the merchant leaves his counting-house to attend a committee of a society, supposing that the latter is in performance of a rehgious duty which the former is not. But digging a field, pleading a cause, and sitting behind a coun- ter, are as much religious duties to persons in those respective classes, as any other employ- ment can be. Religion means a system of obligations ; of bindings of man to God, and of man to man : the bands which hold are the ordinances of God's appointment ; and every individual is religious or otherwise, ac- cording as he sees God in the sphere in which he is moving, and fulfils to Him the purpose for which he is placed in it. The Bible or Word of God gives indeed an ac- count of God ; and the hfe of the Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded by the Evangelists, and Vlll PREFACE. his Operations detailed in the Apocalypse, show God in act ; but it is only in his ordi- nances that the Christian can walk with Him — have fellowship with Him — live with Him. The Bible does not make the ordinances, but reveals them, in order that that servant of God may understand their meaning, and conduct himself in them as unto his Master which is in heaven. POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. Some friends, for whose judgment the utmost respect is entertained, have found fault with expressions in the following pages respecting the persons professing what is called Evan- gelical Religion. No one ought to be more offended at the use of this abstract term, than at the words Calvinism, Arminianism, Me- POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. IX thodism, Protestanlism, Papism, &c. If any- thing is blamed in either of these systems, it does not therefore follow that it is denied that really pious Christians exist in such commu- nions, but simply that the system contains in it the error complained of. In like manner, by pointing out the deficiencies, if not the errors, of many who call themselves Evan- gelical, it is not asserted, nor even insinu- ated, that there are not many true Christians amongst them ; but it is asserted that certain opinions or views prevail, tending to the subversion of those principles which it is the object of this volume to uphold. The objec- tion is, that if individuals of this class profess the opinions imputed to them, they do so in spite of, and not in consequence of, their Evangelicalism. But the answer to this is found in the fact, that amongst the three par- ties who call themselves religious, the Popish, the High Church, and the Evangelical, these opinions are found chiefly amongst the latter. It is quite common among such persons to hear inculcated the notion that religion is a purely selfish thing, the end of which is self-preser- vation, tending indeed to guide the conduct of a single man, but not the conduct of a X POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. body of men. Hence, that a king has nothing to do with religion, farther than to be reli- gious himself; that he is not bound more than any other individual to promote the re- ligious instruction of his people: that minis- ters of God's church are to be attended to only so far as the people whom God has ap- pointed those ministers to instruct, judge them to be competent to perform such office : in short, setting aside in every case the ordi- nances of God, and paying no respect to those who bear rule in his name, as unto Him. Thus many of these persons maintain, that no connexion ought to exist between the State and the Church. It is owing to these opinions that there has been established a sectarian system of societyship, in order to effect that which should be effected by God's appointed means of kingly and ecclesiastical government; a system supported by false representation of what is actually done ; false expectations of what is to be attained ; and false professions of love and zeal in those who carry it on. It does not, however, 'follow that all who belong to these societies are hy- pocrites, or that any are so ; but the system being one of duplicity, the characteristic of POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. XI men who are deeply imbued with it is the re- verse of openness and sincerity. Since it is love to man which induces any one to point out the delusions of the Papish Apostasy, or the tendency of perverted doctrines to Antinomi- anism, or to self-righteousness ; so is it real love to Evangelical men which urges these warnings against the errors into which they are most liable to fall ; and there is no genu- ine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ w^ho will not gratefully receive warning against the fol- lowing of any other master than Him alone. Another error, which prevails to a great extent, is the drawing a distinction between important and non-important parts of the re- vealed mind of God. This can only arise from the false notion, that men are saved in consequence, or in virtue, of their belief of certain doctrines, or of certain verses in the Bible in which those doctrines are contained. A man may be anxious to escape from hell, without having the smallest anxiety to be con- formed to the image of God. Natural con- science is quite sufficient for the one, while the omnipotent power of the Holy Ghost alone can ejQfect the other. Any one, there- fore, who says, " I trust to Christ for salva- Xll POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. tion, and want to know no more of what is contained in the Bible," does virtually say, " As long as I escape hell, the less I know of God the better." A doctrine, although the very truth of God, may thus be perverted into a mean of leading from God, instead of leading to God, as election and predestination are often made to do by Antinomians. Sal- vation consists in conformity to the whole re- vealed character of God ; and whoever desires that conformity, must earnestly seek after and rejoice in every word of the book which has been written for the special purpose of making that character known. It is impossible to be acquainted, however slightly, with the Periodical Journals called Evangelical, with- out perceiving that there is quite as much discouragement given to the study of the larger portion of the Bible, as there is en- couragement held out to attention to the smaller. The subject of the following Essay is the performance of Social Duties ; and whatever pre-eminence may be justly claimed by the Evangelical party on other grounds, it cer- tainly cannot be granted to them here. If they who have still less religious principle, POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. Xlll take advantage of the censures which are applied to these, in order to sneer at the devotion to God testified in other points, on their own heads be the blame. It is one thing to have error mix in our service of God; it is another to live in contempt of his word. But to enter into controversy is no part of the intention of this volume. " I extend," says Mr. Cecil, " the circle of real religion very widely. Many fear God, and love God, and have a sincere desire to serve Him, whose views of religious truths are very imperfect, and in some points per- haps utterly false. But I doubt not that many such persons have a state of heart acceptable before God. *' The religious world has many features which are distressing to a holy man. He sees in it much proposal and ostentation, covering much surface. But Christianity is deep and substantial. A man is soon enlisted, but he is not soon made a soldier. He is easily put into the ranks to make a show there ; but he is not so easily brought to do the duties of the ranks. We are too much like an army of Asiatics — they count well, and cut a good figure ; but when they come XIV POSTSCRIPT TO SECOND EDITION. into actioiij one has no flint, another has no cartridge; the arms of one are rusty, and another has not learned to handle them. This was not the complaint equally at all times. It belongs too peculiarly to the present day. The fault lies in the muster. We are like Falstaff— he took the king's money to press good men and true, but got together such ragamuffins, that he was ashamed to muster them. What is the consequence ? People groan under their connexions. High preten- sions to spirituality, and warm zeal for cer- tain sentiments ! Priding themselves in Mr. such-a-one's ministry ! But what becomes of tlieir duties ? Oh, these are beggarly elements indeed ! Such persons are alive to religious TALK ; but if you speak to them on religious TEMPERS, the subject grows irksome." What is conveyed in Mr. Cecil's language will be better received than what is expressed in mine. CONTENTS. Chap. I. Husband and Wife II. Parent and Child . III. Master and Servant IV. Minister and People V. Rulers and Subjects Page 1 . 67 , 102 . 138 . 163 SOCIAL DUTIES, &c. CHAPTER I. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work ; but it was man whom Jehovah formed in the image of himself. In the likeness of God made He man. Man is the image of God; the representative of creation's uni- versal Lord. Dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, was given into his hands. Man is the vicegerent of God over every living thing that creepeth ¥pon the earth. But man has higher destinies still. He is to show, in the ages to come, the exceeding riches of God's grace in his kindness towards us. through Christ Jesus. (Eph. ii. 7.) Man 2 SOCIAL DUTIES ON is ordained to set forth throughout eternity the being, attributes, and character of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, God will gather under the head- ship of Christ, all things which are in heaven and in earth. (Eph. i. 10.) They who are born, not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God, by the Spirit, thereby united to the Son, constitute the body of Christ, which, under Him as their Head, do form the kings and the priests, who are to cany on the rule, and conduct the worship, of the regenerated creation. The Holy Spirit is shed abroad in the hearts of Christ's members, as the earnest of the inheritance, until they enter into the promised possession ; and in order that they may be made to know Him, and through him know the Father, that God may be honoured, loved, and worshipped aright : likewise, that they may discern, by» comparing themselves with Christ, and with the written word, how far they are removed from that standard of holy manhood in which alone God delights ; how unholy, CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 3 unthankful, unrighteous ; how perpetually debtors to his sovereign, free, and unbounded mercy. As the life of the Lord Jesus presents to us God in act, so does the Bible set before us God in word. The written word of God is given to mankind, to teach them to acknowledge Him in all their ways ; to show to kings, generals, statesmen, and rulers, that their power is confen-ed by Him, who is acting in and by them, to fulfil his purposes : to warn them at the same time against supposing that it is their own wisdom that causes their suc- cesses; as we see in the cases of Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, Tyrus, &c. ; and to declare various relationships assumed by God towards man, and various institutions appointed by God, in order to keep these relationships ever in man's remem- brance. Such are national governments un- der a Supreme, who is God's Vicegerent : churches under Pastors, who are in the stead of Christ : families, in the different con- nexions of Husband and wife, Parent and child, Master and servant. b2 4 SOCIAL DUTIES ON " The original intention and idea of God in the formation of man was to have domi- nion over the works of his hands. Therefore the church sang, ' Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father,' that is, to be used by his God and Father in the government and lordship of all things." — Irving' s Lectures, 1075. If it were required to be answered shortly. What is the subject of the Bible ? it might be replied. The setting up of the God- man as king upon the earth. The mode by which it is brought about is revealed, because God has been pleased out of the plenitude of his love to offer to men to partake of this rule. Every part of the revelation is subservient to, and consequent upon, the leading idea; but all have reference to it directly or indirectly. We are instructed by the Catechism of the Church of England, that a Sacrament con- sists of two parts : of an outward and visible sign, and of an inward and spiritual grace. It is of much importance to bear this in mind with reference to all ordinances insti- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 5 tuted by God. The value of ordinances consists in their being of God's appointment ; and their efficacy to those who partake of them lies in their being seen to be his ordained channels for the communication of blessings to mankind ; and in believing, and in expecting a benefit to accrue through their observance. This is not the consequence of caprice in God. The source and reason of it is, that the manifestation of himself, his being, and his attributes, (his love prompting him to will the participation of his own blessedness by others,) must be the ultimate end of God in all his acts of creation : since the existence or non-exist- ence of the works of his own hands can nei- ther add to, nor take away from, his own per- fect self-originating and unchangeable feli- city. The communication of perfect blessed- ness, which is alone to be found in Himself, is the object of his work, in, by, through, and for the Lord Jesus Christ. To this all his dealings with mankind tend. His chastise- ments for sin bring his children to himself: which is the clue whereby we may unravel all 6 SOCIAL DUTIES ON his dispensations, whether towards nations, churches, or individuals : and having been pleased to create such beings as we are, as best conducing to his ultimate end, it will be proved hereafter in the " day of the reve- lation of the righteous judgments of God," (Rom. ii. 5,) when we shall " all stand be- fore the judgment-seat of Christ, to receive according to the things done in the body," (•i Cor. V. 10,) that God could have acted in no other way than that in which He has acted, consistently with the properties which He has bestowed upon his intelligent creatures. God has vouchsafed to reveal himself: conformity to Him insures the happiness of the creature : non-conformity to, which is rebellion against. Him, insures the misery of the creature. This comes to pass, not in consequence of any arbitrary decree, ordering the one and the other, but arises out of the essential and indestructible properties of holiness and sinfulness, creator and creatureship. As the blood proceeding from the heart is designed to carry warmth to the extremest CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 7 member of the body, yet does it flow through the arteries and veins alone ; and the part that is nearest to the heart cannot partake of the benefit of the circulation, until the blood has been oxygenated through the lungs, and made the whole circuit of the frame: or, as the root and trunk of a tree is ordained to swell and to increase in bulk, yet cannot do so from the sap as it passes by into the branches, arrest- ing it in its progress, but must wait until it has ascended into the minutest twigs, has been altered in the leaves, and then returned down the inner bark, to be converted into wood ; so are the graces of God not scattered abroad promiscuously, but ordained to flow in certain channels ; first to Christ as head, then to the members of Christ ; yet not di- rect from Him indefinitely, but through the channels and ordinances of his appointment; to nations, through their Sovereign; to churches, through their Ministers ; to chil- dren, through their Parents ; to families, through their Heads ; to individuals, through Preachers. (Rom. x. 14.) " Hence, when nations are sunk in depravity, their rulers are S SOCIAL DUTIES ON addressed ; when churches are corrupt, their pastors; the leader of an army is held responsible for his men ; the guide and super- cargo of a vessel, for the vessel itself, and all on board." — Anderson. Christ is the head of all things ; all things were made by Him, and for Him ; Christ is God, and Christ is man ; the end of all crea- tion is the manifestation of God in Christ. All things are seen by the Christian in re- ference to him : He is the author and source of all rule and government; to portray Him do all constituted authorities exist : as they plan and act with reference to Him, so are they holy ; as they plan and act without reference to Him, so are they unholy, and in rebellion against Him. The Christian sees Christ as the head of all things. He not only, as the natural philosopher, and the heathen man, sees God in the flowers of the field, and the firmament of heaven ; but he sees Him in all his duties of subject and citi- zen ; in his country, in his county, in his parish, in his home. Whatever his rank or station may be, he sees himself in it CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. V as placed there by God to be his ambas- sador, in that particular sphere. The more important the station, the more he sees his responsibility increased ; and thus he is secured from pride in the most exalted, and from abjectness in the most humble, employ- ment. " There is no time, no place, nor condition, which ought not to be occupied in the wor- ship of God : that worship is not with the bended knee, nor the outstretched hands, nor the uplifted voice completed, nor to the church, nor to the house, nor to the closet, confined ; but is accomplished by the will of every power and faculty of body and mind, in all times and seasons of this our mortal estate. He that believeth hath everlasting life ; not a life which acts by fits and starts, but a life which ever dureth. Wherefore it is written by the apostle, ' Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God :' and again, ' Whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.' " — Irving' s Lectures^ 1080. In the commencement of his letter to the 10 SOCIAL DUTIES ON Ephesian Christians, the apostle has declared the good pleasure of the Father's will, to make us acceptable to himself by putting away our sins through the blood-shedding of his dear Son, and the renewal of our souls by the operation of his Holy Spirit ; by which Spirit implanted in us, we are as completely and really united to Christ, as our limbs are to our own bodies ; by virtue of which union, we are partakers of all that Christ is, of all that He has done, and of all that He shall inherit; that the object of the Father's will in having so done by us, is, that we may manifest hereafter to all creation, the riches of his free and unbounded love, in communicating of his own blessedness to us ; but until the dispensation of the present times is completed. He has appointed us to make all around us see in this world our fellowship of this mystery, and to walk in a manner conformable to this high vocation wherewith we have been called. The apostle then proceeds to remind us that the head of all visible things is Christ, and to point out how every relationship in CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 11 society shadows forth Christ under some view or other : that it is through Christ every good gilt we are possessed of has come to us ; that He is the Head of that whole body of persons who partake of the same faith as ourselves ; that each of us possess a different gift, not for our own private and selfish benefit, but for the benefit of the rest ; that each should, therefore, respect the gift of the other, and not be jealous and envious if we ourselves possess not the same ; that each should be ready at all times to forgive the other, remembering how many and great offences Christ had forgiven us. The principle^ therefore, upon which we overlook the provocations we receive, is that alone which distinguishes the conduct of a Christian in this respect from that of amiable and benevolent infidels ; and the apostle states this first inducement, as a motive which is applicable to the whole body of Christians, before he enters into more distinct details. It is not to be expected that Christians will not receive provocation from their brethren ; for if they did not, there would be no means 12 SOCIAL DUTIES ON of their showing forth this principle of christian forgiveness ; and the suffering pa- tiently, and with a silent prayer for those who oifend us, the contumely, or slight, or may be insult, which is cast upon us by a christian brother, is the partaking of the sufferings of Christ, the imitation and fel- lowship of his patience of wrong, to which it is our honour to be called. In modem Pharisaism there is no room for the exercise of this christian grace. Professors of reli- gion have renounced their christian liberty of speaking freely upon the great and holy mysteries of revelation, as the Spirit shall give them utterance : so that no brother is honoured and valued for his particular gift, but every one has been reduced to the dwarfish dimensions of what the most timid and ill-instructed Christian can bear. This has falsely assumed the name of brotherly love, whereas it is in truth nothing but a contempt of God's truth, and a disrelish for all parts of it which are not palatable to other men, and which will not draw forth their approbation. Instead of speaking the CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. ]3 truth in love, it is a system of withholding the truth in hypocrisy. Moreover, if any one does make use of his christian liberty, and speak at large and without suspicion, his expressions are seized hold of, their meaning perverted, and he himself charged with hold- ing heresies which his soul abhors. Hence every one feels bound to speak, not as in the presence of brethren who will put the most favourable construction upon what is said, but as in the face of an enemy ; and hence, also, there is no fruit of the exercise of genuine christian love to our brethren, for there is no root in genuine love to the truth of God. The patient endurance of wrong upon this principle is true nobility of soul ; it is the unerring mark of being high bom, of being born of God ; of being heirs of a kingdom, and of a throne of immortality ; in compa- rison of which, the frowns of this life are as dew-drops on the lion's mane. It is the very opposite of that meanness and baseness of spirit, which often puts up with insult from insensibility to a feeling of shame, and 14 SOCIAX DUTIES ON which assumes to itself the flattering title of humility. True humility is that which bows alone to the will of God, and commits itself to Him that judgeth righteously; does not seek to avenge itself, but appeals to the Searcher of hearts, and looks to the example of Him, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. True humility consists in re- fusing to submit to the dictation of the popes of the day, be they who they may; (for every day and every class has its pope:) whoever will be a faithful servant and soldier of the Lord Jesus alone, must watch over himself with jealousy, lest any mortal assume that mastery over him, to which the Master who is in heaven has alone a right. After having spoken of that bond which unites every member of Christ in one com- mon tie, namely, that of forgiveness, whicli God has vouchsafed them on his account, the apostle comes to the most intimate union which can exist, namely, that of Husband and Wife. He directs us to " submit our- selves one to another, in the fear of the Lord:" not merely in the fear of that power CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 15 which the strong always exercise over the weak, a power emanating directly or indi- rectly from the possession of mere brute force, but to submit " in the fear of the Lord :" remembering that this inequality of power is also an appointment of Christ. " Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord : for the hus- band is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church ; and He is the saviour (or preserver) of the body ; therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." To the Colossians the same apostle writes, " Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." The submission, then, of a wife to her hus- band, is not merely that which physical de- bility must ever pay to the stronger ; nor is it simply an arbitrary command given by the sovereign lawgiver : but it is the holy and mysterious counterpart and representation of that submission and relationship, which the church bears to the Lord Jesus himself. In 16 SOCIAL DUTIES ON order then to see the proper deportment of a christian wife, we must meditate on the standing which the church bears to her Lord. She is taught to rely upon her lord's power and love for all her support ; she is to re- ceive at his hands all needful supply, and administer the same to the family : she is to give him her imdivided affection, and pre- serve unsullied all the ordinances of his house : she is to pour forth her complaints and sorrows to him, and make known to him the wants of those who are dependent upon her : she is to seek for her highest enjoyment in his society alone, and ever to be expecting and longing for his appearance and presence : she is to know no will but his, and acknow- ledge him her lord in everything. Perhaps, in the practical application of this picture to domestic life, the last is the most difficult of attainment. The curse pronounced upon the first wife was, '' Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee :" and the utter renunciation of self-will to the will of another, has been often found to cause a severe struggle. The constitution CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 17 of the female mind renders this, however, comparatively easy to some : and the warmth, devotion, and disinterestedness of a woman's affection, will often make the performance of this duty a source of delightful enjoyment. Let us not mistake, however, the effect of natural affection, lovely in the highest degree though it be, for the result of christian duty ; and let all women, whose hearts are so bound in sympathy to their husbands, that this duty is easy, nay, even gratifying to them, praise the Lord the more for that additional blessing, which he has poured into the cup of their wedded life; but at the same time let it be remembered, that as sub- mission is a duty enjoined, so assuredly will Satan tempt her to rebel against it, and to render it reluctantly, if at all. This remark is applicable only to that happiest of all situations, of which the pre- sent condition of the world admits, fallen as it is under the dominion of the Evil One, who is its " God," and '^ who now ruleth in the children of disobedience," namely, that in which the hearts of husband and wife are c 18 SOCIAL DUTIES ON united together by a bond which is not only the strongest here, but which, by uniting them also to one common and indestructible head, insures their union throughout eter- nity. There is, however, another, and far different lot, common to many of the daugh- ters of Eve ; namely, where the Holy Spirit has opened the eyes of the wife, to see her lost state by nature, and the recovery of it in the Lord Jesus; and has consequently im- planted in her breast a principle of new life, and a spring of action, and an object to be attained in all her ways and works, after an union has been effected with a husband for mere worldy purposes, and who remains in- sensible to that new principle which actuates her. If to a wife in this situation, her hus- band has been from her tenderest youth the object of her first, and purest, and freshest love, bitter indeed will be the pangs which, by crucifying all earthly ties, leaves this world a dreary blank. Who but her that is placed in such circumstances can conceive, far less describe, the poignant anxieties which she must experience for the welfare of the soul CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 19 of him, whose earthly presence has hitherto constituted so large a portion of her bliss ? Blessed be God, this case is provided for. Having spoken of the subordination of all men to the king as supreme, and unto governors, and of servants to their masters in every case '' for the Lord's sake," another apostle is directed to instruct us, " In like manner, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives ; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear : whose adorn- ing let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel ; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price ; for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands : even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord ; whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well, and are not c 2 20 SOCIAL DUTIES ON afraid with any amazement." (1 Pet. iii. 1-6.) The example cited by the Holy Ghost through the apostle Peter, is very remarkable. It is mentioned in Gen. xviii. 12, where Sarah is expressing her unbelief in the truth of God's promise. In calling her husband " lord," at this time, the apostle seems to intimate that she expressed her obedience to him, notwithstanding the rebellion of her heart to God's revelation ; and that in this act of obedience she was owned and blessed, though in such circumstances. The directions here are very plain ; the wife is not to become the teacher of her hus- band, because that would be usurping autho- rity over him, and so subverting the ordinance of Christ, w^hich must, by the subjection of the woman to the man, show forth that his church is in subjection to Him. The blessing which is promised to her for her husband's soul, is not to her teaching, but to her ex- ample without the word ; to a deadness to the finery and frivolity of dress, that is so great a snare to her whole sex, and which is CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 21 specially inculcated here upon christian wives. The connexion in which this injunc- tion, to be simple and unadorned in her out- ward attire, occurs, is the more remarkable from its being mentioned in the case of a believing wife, with an unbelieving husband ; in which we should have been led to argue, in our canial wisdom, an exception might have been made in such unimportant things as dress, lest her husband should have been unnecessarily offended. But God's ways are not as man's ways ; and instead of indulging in dress as a means of winning her husband, she is specially enjoined to abstain from it for that very end. In few things does the unsanctiiied cha- racter of female professors of religion show itself more clearly, than in their contempt for the directions given in the passage here quoted. This ought not to be. It comes of the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, which comes of the world that is at enmity with God, and which ought to be mortified and kept down. The mortification of lust, that is, the keeping down of desires to the level of 22 SOCIAL DUTIES ON God's written directions, is perverted by the Papists to become a meritorious suffering by the denial of natural gratification ; and scarcely less perverted by Protestants, who, although rejecting the popish idea of penance, consider it as an arbitrary command of God, to which they are to yield a constrained, irksome, and blind submission, merely because He requires it. This latter notion, if followed up, savours not a little of imputing tyranny to God; tyranny consisting in requiring that which it is not agreeable to give, without any reference to the welfare of those on whom it is en- joined. Such ideas must arise where the ordinances of God are not seen to be patterns of spiritual realities, and consequently the only channels in which blessings can flow. Thus in the case before us, our kind heavenly Father, desirous that the hearts of husband and wife should be knit in one holy fellow- ship and identity of communion, indicates the only path by which this can be effected. They, therefore, who believe God's word, and are anxious to attain the end of their calling in each particular state in which they CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 23 are, thankfully follow God's directions for the same : and the temporary gratification by disobedience, is not thought of in comparison of the joy, in its several kinds, which is set before them. In his epistle to Titus, the apostle directs his son in the faith to '' speak the things which become sound doctrine :" that "the aged women be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (Tit. ii. 1 — 5.) It is in the fulfilment then of these duties, that the wife is to seek for the blessing of God upon her example, in pro- ducing an effect upon her unbelieving hus- band. Temptations not only vary with every situation, but with every age, and with every clime. The customs of worldly society mo- dify all, and correct some, vices, whilst they encourage others. To be '^ given to much wine" is seldom found in this country at the 24 SOCIAL DUTIES ON present time in any woman above the lowest class ; but the " false accusation," which is more or less the inseparable companion of idle conversation and society, even though that society be composed of religious persons, and the not " keeping at home," are, next to " wearing of gold, and the putting on of apparel," the most usual means by which christian women now cause the "word of God to be blasphemed ;" that is, lightly esteemed, and considered a thing which may be observed or not, with little or no detriment to the soul. The christian wife must expect to receive many taunts and many unjust reproaches on account of her religion, from an unconverted husband. Perhaps she may be required by him to do some things which the word of God forbids her to do. In such circumstances she must refuse compliance: but instead of al- lowing her husband's unkindness to produce alienation, and sullenness, and discontent, let it rather stimulate her alacrity to the per- formance of all those domestic duties to which she is bound, and to the increased CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 25 readiness to obey any wish of his in all un- forbidden things. It would be impossible to detail all instances which might occur, so as to suggest counsel for every such occasion ; but let her cast herself wholly, and without reserve, upon the power and promises of the Lord Jesus Christ; nothing doubting but that He will enable her by his own Almighty Spirit to glorify his own ordinance of marriage, and portray the conduct of his own faithful spouse towards himself. Let her rest assured that if it be the Lord's will to change her husband's heart, that event will be more likely to take place from her plain obedience to his precepts than from any plan which she can form, or from the most eloquent and endearing reasoning she can use. Sometimes excessive affection, pro- ducing anxiety for the eternal welfare of a beloved object, becomes irritable, and puts on the appearance of ill-temper and fretfulness, from disappointed purpose. Cast thy way on the Lord ; patiently leave all to Him ; rely upon his word, though you never live to see the fruit of your pious love. 26 SOCIAL DUTIES ON It is difficult to enter into the minutiae of domestic life, and especially the most trivial part of it, such as personal attire, without appearing ridiculous. Neither is it the ob- ject of this essay to touch upon points which have been already w^ell handled by others ; and the reader is strongly recommended to consult the admirable treatise of Mr. J. A. James, entitled, " The Family Monitor ;" and also the works of Mr. Morrison and Mr. Anderson, for much which is omitted here : and from which some extracts adorn these pages. The Lord has, by his pro- phet Isaiah, (ch. iii.) censured in detail the dress of women in his time, and caused his apostles to reiterate the same. " Two apos- tles, who both wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, have denounced as improper, and as unbecoming a profession of godliness, a taste for immodest, expensive, or decora- tive dress. By what sophistry can the letter, much more the spirit of two passages of holy writ, so very plain and express in their terms as these, be set aside ? That they are set aside is evident, by the appearance of almost CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 27 every congregation into which we could en- ter on the Sabbath-day. It is time for the christian teacher to call back the women professing godliness from their wanderings in the regions of fashionable folly, to the holy scriptures ; for the holy scriptures, it should be remembered, have laid down a law for regulating the dress of the body as well as that of the mind. I contend that Christian females ought to abstain from expensive, showy, and extravagant fashions in dress, jewellery, and all kinds of personal decora- tion. I am not arguing for a sectarian cos- tume, for a religious uniform, for canonical shapes, and colours ; nothing of the sort, but for simplicity, neatness, economy." — James. Let every one take heed how they call that trifling which God has thought worthy of his remark. It is by dress more than by any single thing that can be named, that the object of a woman's heart is seen to be the admiration of men, or the approbation of God. What can be said too strong in censure of that vanity w^hich induces a woman to make herself appear that which she is not ; to be a 28 SOCIAL DUTIES ON walking lie ; to have really the baldness of winter, and to show the flowers of spring ; to daub over the wrinkles of age with the meretricious affectation of the roses of youth ? Reverence for gray hairs can no longer be felt, for no gray hairs are now seen to excite it. Neither is it to the Christian alone that women's conduct in these particulars is seen to be improper; every clear judging satirist has ridiculed the same. Lord Byron, de- scribing an evening assembly, says it is A dazzling mass of artificial light. Which show'd all things, but nothing as they were. There age, essaying to recal the past. After long striving for the hues of youth At the sad labour of the toilet, and Full many a glance at the too faithful mirror, Prankt forth in all the pride of ornament. Forgot itself, and trusting to the falsehood Of the indulgent beams, which show, yet hide, Believ'd itself forgotten, and was fool'd. The christian church never shone in gor- geousness and precious stones until after her affections were weaned from Christ, and until she committed adultery with the kings of the CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 29 earth. When her heart was right with her Lord, her outward attire was plain and homely. The christian wife may hence learn what to shun, and what to imitate. In every country into which the light of gospel truth has not shined, women are treated with inhuman cruelty. But whilst Christianity elevates them to their due equality with men, great evils have occurred by their overstepping the bounds which the word of God prescribes. " We know," says Sir George Rose, " how honourable was the situation of the women in ancient Israel. We have Miriam, Deborah, Hannah^ as it were before our eyes, but the Jewess of these days is treated as an inferior being. Neither re- ligious nor moral instruction is vouchsafed to her." In christian countries, having set God's precepts aside, not only with respect to their dress, but also with respect to being- keepers at home, they have been the causes of much evil. The secret memoirs of every court in Europe abounds with details of the ill effects of female interference in matters too high for them. It is the same spirit, un- 30 SOCIAL DUTIES ON der another fonn, breaking out in women professing godliness, which shows itself in frequenting assemblies, chiefly of their own sex, to discourse on, or to hear discussed, religious subjects. Assemblies, under the pretext, not false but real, of religion, are not religious but irreligious meetings; de- votion and true feeling cannot be expressed to crowds, although it may be acted before them : and study can only be earned on over the Bible. All society out of her own home, except that into which she is taken by her husband, is unlawful to the christian mistress of a family. The injunction to be " keepers at home" will appear with the stronger force, when it is considered how little women mix in society in the East ; and how totally un- known to the ancients of the apostles' time were those assemblies which are become so common in towns in our time. The practice of foreign travel is the very antipodes of God's command; which, however, will be considered hereafter. I once heard a person obsen e, concerning a young lady who had learned to speak six CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 31 foreign languages with great fluency, " Then she has six different ways of expressing her folly." When the evils of garrulity are so universally complained of in common life ; when the temptation of females to run into this is the unanimous testimony of all man- kind in all ages ; when the apostle's remarks are so severe upon the use of the tongue ; when our Lord sets us the example of ex- pressing all wisdom in few and plain sen- tences ; when he sets us further the example of the necessity of retirement for meditation and prayer, and of avoiding conversation in times of trial, (John xix. 30,) it is inconceiv- able that women, professing to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, should not be more on their guard against this sin which does so easily beset them, and avoid as much as pos- sible all society, the end of which is idle and unprofitable talk. Instead of which, provided it is what they call with religious people, they scarcely seem to think it an evil at all. The next class to *' wives, " which the apostle addresses, is " husbands," whom he •32 SOCIAL DUTIES ON enjoins to *' love their wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water, by the word ; that He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy, and with- out blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies ; hethatloveth his wife loveth himself; for no man ever yet hated his own flesh ; but nourisheth it, even as the Lord the church ; for we are members of his body, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mys- tery, but I speak concerning Christ and his church ; nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the w^ife see that she reverence her hus- band." We have here, as in the former instance of wives, husbands exhorted to look to the rela- tionship existing between the Lord Jesus Christ and the church, as the great exem- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 33 plar of their own conduct towards theii* wives. Let us therefore, as we did before, consider what it is that Christ is now daily doing for his church. He is watching over her w ith unceasing sohcitude ; He counts the wrongs that are offered to her as done to Him- self; He provides for all such necessities ; He pardons, for the great love He bears to her, all her offences ; He directs Her by his coun- sel ; He supports her in every difficulty ; He lends a ready ear to all her complaints ; He sympathises with all her weaknesses; He partakes of all her sorrows. " Thus, lest there should be any mistake or misunderstanding, it is expressly revealed, that in the management of the common fa- mily, the husband stands in a situation ana- logous to that in w^hich even Christ stands to the church. Nothing being so essential to mutual harmony and harmonious operation, as an explanation of the groimds of authority, and the true character and connexion of such an intimate relation as this ; in addressing the wife, she is informed, not by the husband, but by God himself, that as Christ is her D 34 SOCIAL DUTIES ON gov eriior in the church, so is her husband in the family. His authority over her there, however, like that of the Saviour over the church, is founded in the love which he bears to her, the protection he affords, and the provisi on which he makes for her, of all the necessaries, and, if possible, all the con- veniences of life. What a serious situation, then, and how full of responsibility, is that of every husband ! The obedience enjoined by God is, it seems, not for the husband's gratification merely, but for a higher end ; and in return for the honour which is put upon him, he is bound to the fulfilment of corresponding duties." — Anderson. To the like purpose it is said, in the mar- riage-service of the church of England, — " Matrimony is an honourable estate, insti- tuted of God in the time of man's innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his church : which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought in Can a of Galilee, and is commended of St. Paul to be honourable among all men." CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 35 After the minister lias, in God's name, de- clared the parties wed, the congregation implores God's blesvsing upon them in these words : — ^' O God, who hast consecrated the state of matrimony to such an excellent mys- tery, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual marriage, and unity betwixt Christ and his church, look mercifully upon these thy servants, that both this man may love his wife according to thy word, as Christ did love his spouse the church ; who gave him- self for it, loving and cherishing it even as his own flesh ; and also that this woman may be loving, amiable, faithful, and obedient to her husband." In every country, but especially in chris- tian countries, the laws affecting man and wife do accurately set forth the offices of Christ and his church. The wife, upon her marriage, loses her own name by its being absorbed into that of her husband; so the church is no longer sin and folly, but righteousness and wisdom in Christ. The wife, however mean her born condition, be- comes equal in rank to her husband, even to D 2 36 SOCIAL DUTIES ON be, by marriage, the partner of a throne ; the poor mortal, dying church shall sit upon Christ's throne, and be, as He is, a sovereign and a priest. The wife, whatever may be the amount of her debts, is not answerable, but the husband must defray them all; in like manner the church, who was ruined, and had nothing wherewith to pay, has had every obligation discharged by the wealth and love of the Lord Jesus. The line, then, of the husband's duty toward his wife, is according to that which the Lord pursues towards his Church. In the parallel passage in his epistle to the Colossians, the apostle says, '' Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." Although he told the wives to " sub- mit," he does not order the husband to " rule." Directions are seldom given to urge us to do that which we are inclined to do, and all mankind have " the love of sway." Whenever a direction is given for any duty, we may rest assured that it is a warning to us that we are naturally disposed to violate jt. As, therefore, it is natural for a wife to CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 37 dislike to submit to her husband^ so is it na- tural for a husband's love to diminish towards his wife. The definition of what God means by love is given in the epistle, addressed to the Corinthians, the parts of which that are principally applicable to the present case are, that it " suffereth long, and is kind — is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil — beareth all things — hopeth all things — endureth all things." O how genuine affection frames excuses for its object ! How it puts the most favourable construction upon actions ! How reluctant it is to impute unworthy motives ! The injunction, however, of the apostle im- plies that husbands are tempted even to be " bitter." Yet what can they have to bear from their wives in comparison to what Christ had to bear from them; if Christ were not to ^' suffer long and be kind," what must become of all husbands, from the days of Adam down to the day of judgment } If Christ were " easily provoked," where would any one be at the present moment ? Where could love for their wives be manifested in these parti- culars, if their lives were one unceasing round 38 SOCIAL DUTIES ON of tenderness and affection ? How would this earth prove itself the universal abode of sin, and misery, and evil, if from these, any one relationship was wholly free ? Wherein could they testify love, if they found nothing to cross their wills ? And, above all, where could the long-suffering of Christ towards his church be manifested by husbands, if they met with nothing to call it forth ? Observe how Christ's labour for his church is insisted on : his giving himself for it ; his sanctifying it ; his cleansing it ; his washing it ; his teaching it by his word : all this that it may be glorious, without spot, or blemish, or any such thing. Is not this too to instruct husbands how they should labour to preserve the spirits of their wives unruffled ? How they should teach them, and keep them pure in doctrine, and from all mental, as well as personal, defilement ? Surely, that does not deserve the name of love which is only adapted to the few moments of sunshine that brighten the path of the most highly favoured, and cannot abide the clouds, and perhaps the storms, of the realities of human life. For CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 39 although wedded love is not heaven, it is the nearest state to it which this present dis- pensation can produce ; and the more Christ is seen in it, and the more Christ's love and long-suffering of his church is practised and kept constantly in view, the more like heaven will it become. Whatever hypocrites austerely talk, Of purity, and place, and innocence. Defaming as impure what God declares Pure ; and commands to some, leaves free to all. Our Maker bids increase ; who bids abstain. But our destroyer, foe to God and man ? Hail wedded love ! mysterious law, true source Of human offspring, sole propriety In Paradise ! of all things common else. By thee adulterous lust was driven from men Among the bestial herds to range ; by thee. Founded in reason, loyal, just, and pure. Relations dear, and all the charities Of father, son, and brother, first were known. Far be it that I should write thee sin or blame. Or think thee unbefitting holiest place ; Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets. Whose bed is undefiled, and chaste, pronounced. Present or past ; as saints and patriarchs used. Here Love his golden shafts employs, here lights His constant lamp ; and waves his purple wings ; Reigns here and revels. — Milton, book iv. 744. 40 SOCIAL DUTIES ON Notwithstanding the variety and beauty of the language and imagery which has been employed by the greatest poets, and by wri- ters of the most refined affections in every age and clime, to celebrate the power of love, there is nothing more remarkable than to ob- serve, that with the exception of Milton, their labom's have been employed to depict its effects, whether in its ennobling or brutifying results, without ever attempting to describe or to define in what true love really consists : so that while it is a subject which has furnished materials to some for the expression of more or less disguised sensuality, or to others for the most violent abandonment of reason, it is supposed, and justly supposed, by such as contemplate it only through such distorted media, to be too mysterious, or too dangerous for calm meditation. The Christian alone knows love to be the desire of contributing to the happiness, in the intimate society of its object. Many a base and sordid passion which dignifies itself with the name of love, will fly before such a test as this. Christ desired the happiness of his church, and that she should dwell in intimate union with him- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 41 self for ever : she was not only unworthy, but insensible of the favour conferred upon her : to take her into his society all polluted, and hating Him, and hating all the glories of his nature, his purity, his spirituality, his meekness, his humility, would have conferred no happiness upon her, nor would she have been in this state a companion meet for Him ; therefore He undertook to shed abroad his own Holy Spirit into her heart, to lead her to study his character and person more and more, that she might see and meditate on all the proofs He has given of love to her, and thus constrain her to love Him, to love holi- ness, to love all the graces which shine in himself, and which are ever ready to be put forth for the increase of her felicity. The way by which He draws forth the love of his church, is by continually increasing ma- nifestations of his love to her, showing him- self to be the only object capable of con- ferring true happiness upon her. The hus- band's constant study should be to soothe the cares, support the weaknesses, relieve the burdens, instruct the mind, repress the 42 SOCIAL DUTIES ON errors, nourish the affections of his wife : in fine, to prove how worthy he is of her love. The most perfect description of love is, that it '' seeketh not its own." God's love to man is never so justly appreciated as when the mind is full of the idea of the essential perfection of God's own felicity in himself, to which a thousand creations could not add. His beneficence willed Him to communicate of that felicity to others : and on this glorious errand came out of his bosom his only- begotten Son. He created the world for him- self, (Col. i. 16,) and placed it under the vicegerency of a being formed in the image of God. This lord of creation, Adam, re- volted, and transferred his allegiance to another ; but instead of dashing into nothing the emanation of his power, he came down into the low estate in which man's apostacy had reduced the whole race, joined man's weak and wretched nature into one eternal and indestructible person with himself, and so raised man to a higher glory than he pos- sessed before his fall. In all this he did not seek his own things, (1 Cor. xiii. 15,) but CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 43 man's things. He never renounced his right over that which He had created for himself : ^' He came to his own, but his own received Him not." He emptied himself of all the riches of his creation, and reduced himself to the low estate of his wretched creature. Born in a stable, obliged to fly for his life from the sword of a tyrant ; pinched with hunger; without a friend or home ; condemned as a blasphemer against that God, w^hom He alone, of all beings, duly honoured ; put to death like an accursed slave ; only " by strangers honoured, and by strangers mourned ;" and all this without the possibility of reaping the smallest advantage to himself, but exclusively with the view^ of contributing to the happiness of those who hated Him. " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He first loved us, and sent his Son to die for us." St. Peter's injunction to husbands is ana- logous to that of St. Paul : — '' Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them (your wives) ac- cording to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of God, that your 44 SOCIAL DUTIES ON prayers be not hindered." (1 Pet. iii. 7.) Here the husband is reminded that, though the wife be the weaker vessel, she is equally with himself the heir of glory, and thereby entitled not only to his tenderness, but reverence. Probably no man can tell, as he undoubtedly cannot feel, not merely the pains, but the num- berless disquietudes and irritations arising from the greater delicacy of bodily structure, and from the sufferings peculiar to their sex. There are few persons who are not aware of the influence which bodily health exercises, not only over their own temjjers, but upon the colour of their religious impressions ; all of which things produce a sensitiveness, more or less degenerating into irritability, for which men seldom make suflicient allowance. The happiness of women is much more de- pendent upon men, than that of men is on women, in general. Aet yvraiKCQ ejdTroSiOP rate ^vjU(f)OpaiQ ^(pvaay ap^pi^v^ irpoq to Evrrrv^earepov, The structure of the female mind is as de- licate as that of the body. Love is jealous, CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 45 and seeks the approbation of the object upon which it is set. A word, a look, a gesture, may plant a dagger into the breast of anxious affection, which he that plants it would have rather cut off* his hand than have occasioned, and which would not have been felt by a heart less alive to him. If such may be the result of the involuntary first risings of im- pulse, even from those who are most aware of their effect, and most anxious to prevent it, what may not be produced by those who are not on their guard, or who have had their feelings deadened by the heartlessness of worldly society ? Let all look to the conduct of the Lord Jesus towards his church ; see his continued tenderness ; her waywardness, and bis constancy ; her discontent, and his never-ending consolations. The Lord Jesus Christ takes us not only for better, but for worse ; and husbands vow at the altar to do the same by their wives. A feeling is sometimes put down to the score of vanity, which, however, is founded on much morepraiseworthy motives, namely, the mortification at finding the charms of person 46 SOCIAL DUTIES ON which first fascinated, gradually withering under the unalterable law of the decay of all created beauty. Le Pauvre en sa cabane ou le chaume le couvre, Est sujet a ses lois : Et la garde qui veille aiix barrieres du Louvre N'en defend point nos rois. Beauty is felt by every woman to be precious, as a mean of contributing to the happiness of those on whom her affections are bestowed. She is probably the last person to be sensible of its decline, and the first moment that she becomes conscious of the change, she appre- hends that she has lost at least one tie to her husband's attachment. It is on this account that she mourns over a loss which, had she been single, she might hav^e contemplated with greater indifference : and the regret she experiences has more of disinterestedness than those who are little acquainted with the ex- quisite sensibility of female affection can easily comprehend. This feeling may be an element in the considerations which actuate those who endeavour to conceal the advances of time by exterior decorations ; but to do CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 47 this is useless, because it does not remedy the evil in fact, while it could only deceive, even if effectually practised, the casual stranger. I cannot avoid inserting here the exquisite and touching appeal which Mr. Jay puts into the lips of married women to their husbands : — " Honour us ; deal kindly with us. From many of the opportunities and means by which you prociure favourable notice, we are excluded. Doomed to the shades, few of the high places of the earth are open to us. Alternately we are adored and oppressed. From our slaves you become our tyrants. You feel our beauty, and avail yourselves of our weakness. You complain of our in- feriority, but none of your behaviour bids us rise. Sensibility has given us a thousand feelings, which nature has kindly denied you. Always under restraints, we have little liberty of choice. Providence seems to have been more attentive to enable us to confer happi- ness than to enjoy it. Every condition has for us fresh mortifications ; every relation, new sorrows. We enter social bonds ; it is a system of perpetual sacrifice. We cannot 48 SOCIAL DUTIES ON give life to others without hazarding our own. We have sufferings which you do not share, cannot share. If spared, years and decays invade our charms, and much of the ardour produced by attraction departs with it. We may die. The grave covers us, and we are soon forgotten ; soon are the days of your mourning ended, soon is our loss repaired ; dismissed even from your speech, our name is to be heard no more ; a successor may dislike it. Our children, after having a mother by nature, may fall under the con- trol of a mother by affinity, and be mortified by distinctions made between them and her own offspring. Though the duties which we have discharged invariably, be the most im- portant and necessary, they do not shine ; they are too common to strike ; they procure no celebrity ; the wife, the mother, fills no historic page. Our privations, our confine- ments, our wearisome days, our interrupted, our sleepless nights, the hours we have hung in anxious watching over your sick and dying offspring. — But we forbear." On the other hand let the wife be on her CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 49 guard against allowing the infirmities of the body to engender infirmity of mind, and still more against justifying herself in irritation of temper upon the plea of constitutional dis- ease. Let her guard herself against a mor- bid sensibility that takes umbrage at slights which are never intended. Let her consider that whatever cares of sustenance, whatever labour, whether of mind or body, to provide for their worldly necessities, the family re- quires, falls upon her husband, who must often have his thoughts distracted and filled with anxieties, which, however she may share his confidence, she is unable to appreciate ; especially should his worldly calling or oflice be of such a nature as to require great exer- tion of mind. Let her, as the church loves to receive communication fi'om the Lord, re- joice also when he is made the confidant of her husband's difficulties; but let her not attempt to pry into, and meddle with, more than he pleases, and judges right to declare. Their prayers should have a special refer- ence to these ordinances ; that the wife may be enabled to " submit," and the husband to E 50 SOCIAL DUTIES ON *' love;" the children enabled to " honour," the parents not to " provoke" them ; the ser- vants enabled to be " faithful," and the mas- ters to be ''just." And let them nothing doubt that in acknowledging God in these his ordi- nances of domestic life, they will be abun- dantly heard and answered. If their dispo- sitions are different, let that which predomi- nates in one, supply the deficiency of the other for the general good of the family over which God has placed them. Should one be capricious, let the stern and settled unbending tenor of the other prevent the evil which would otherwise accrue : if one be harsh, let the softness of the other counteract it : if one be irritable, let the quiet of the other neutra- lise it. Let each remember, too, and espe- cially the wife, that the husband must or ought to be for some hours alone every day : above all, the wives of ministers, for which good directions are to be found in the work of George Herbert. In the parallel which is set forth in Scrip- ture between Christ and his church, and be- tween husbands and wives, there is one essen- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 51 tial distinction which must not be lost sight of, because, if it be, the parallel will prove rather deceptions than instructive. It is, that Christ is alone pure and spotless ; the church only perfect in Him, while in herself she is all vile and loathsome ; but that husbands and wives are equally sinners in God's sight, and equally offenders one against the other. In God's dealings with men in all their various rela- tionships, He looks upon the head as respon- sible for all the evil which he finds in the body. Thus nations at large are addressed in the name of the king : and churches are rebuked, warned, and encouraged in the name of their angel or bishop. The most profli- gate of libertines have remarked that it is extremely rare to find an instance, even in foreign courts, of the infidelity of a wife to her husband, except where he had given the first provocation. It cannot have escaped notice that, although the variety of interrup- tions to which the continued happiness of wedded life is liable must be infinite, yet the word of God points out but two remedies, namely, obedience and submission on the e2 5*2 SOCIAL DUTIES ON part of the wife, and love on the part of the husband. Casual observers of mankind have perceived the wonderful constancy of affec- tion in women under persevering ill treatment from men on whom their affections are fixed : examples of which are to be found even in the lowest and most abandoned classes. Thus God indicates in his word that which is an ordained constitution of the female mind; that it is not in struggling, but in submitting even to harshness and injustice, that the path of happiness is to be sought. In the most dissipated families, it may be observed, that where mutual disputes have led to resistance on the part of the wife, and final separation, the future circumstances of the unhappy parties have been less prospe- rous than in those families where she has continued to fulfil her relative duties, not- withstanding multiplied and reiterated pro- vocations. This state is particularly ob- servable where there are children. Should any female servant of the Lord Jesus be in this miserable situation, let her not withdraw herself from beneath her husband's roof; if CHRISTIAJ^ PRINCIPLES. 53 he withdraws from her society, on him be the consequence ; but let her still continue to show the duty and submission, by which it is the will of God that she should glorify his name and power. A delusion often comes upon young Chris- tians, against which they ought to be put especially on their guard, by those of their brethren who have been longer in the faith. It frequently happens that they have formed attachments in those days when they knew not the Lord ; and find themselves, upon their conversion, entangled in a conflict of duties, out of which they know not how to escape. Too honest and conscientious to be willing to deceive the other party, and too much be- wildered by seeing as yet only spiritual things " as trees walking," and by more or less love for their favourite object, they usually make known to the other the change that has taken place in themselves ; but partly from obscurity of view, and partly from a secret fear of doing it in such a man- ner as shall break off the connexion, they express themselves so darkly, that the other 54 SOCIAL DOTTES ON coincides as a matter of course. Most young men, when they marrj^, mean to be quiet and steady, and moral and religious, and to seek for happiness only in the bosom of their family ; and it is not till some time after the union has taken place, nor till after long struggles to hide from themselves that which is evident to all the world besides, that the wretched conviction is forced reluctantly upon them, that they had become, in fact, united in wedlock, not to a member of Christ, but to a member of Belial. It is seldom that the result of this union is not to unspiritua- lise the one, instead of spiritualising the other; and, as far as my observation serves, I have generally seen that the female through harder struggles has, in such cases, been a more consistent Christian, than when the situation was reversed. It has been already remarked, that all the relationships of life have corresponding duties annexed to them, because they all shadow forth, or are types, or patterns of relation- ships which God has assumed for the purpose of communicating of his own blessedness to CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 55 tlie redeemed from among his fallen crea- Uires ; for this reason it comes to pass, that these duties have varied under different dis- pensations. Abraham, the friend of God ; and David, the man after God's own heart ; and Solomon, the eminent type of Jesus, the Prince of Peace ; had each several wives, and were not blamed : and the Jews practise poly- gamy to this day. Under the christian dis- pensation, and without any express injunc- tion to the contrary, the practice has ceased, and one man is united but to one woman, as in the days of our first parents. We cannot suppose that that which is lawful in one age can be sin in another, or that which is sin at any time can ever be right. We must there- fore look for the cause of alteration in the practice, to the alteration in the thing to be manifested ; and we shall find that to Abraham a double promise of a double blessing was promised— one to his seed after the flesh, another to his seed after the Spirit. There were two lines of seed, and two corresponding lines of blessing. But, under the christian dispensation, there is but one blessing, the 56 SOCIAL DUTIES ON highest of all, that of being a member of Christ ; and He has not many spouses, but one. It is the fidelity and union of Him to his one Church, which is the thing signified and to be represented; and therefore it is the fidelity and union of one man and one woman, which must now be manifested in the present dispensation. It is for similar reasons that we never find a blessing, but, on the contrary, a curse, fol- lowing a violation of the due observance of these duties. The thing to be set forth requires the subjection of the wife to her husband. Now it sometimes happens, no matter from what cause, whether fi'om the unreflecting fancies of childhood, or the mer- cenary calculation of parents, that an union takes place between parties where the hus- band is inferior in judgment, and every other intellectual capacity. As in reasonable beings, power resides in the intellect, the wife in the case supposed is, whether she wishes to be so or not, the more powerful party of the two ; and it is impossible to imagine a more difli- cult situation arising from the conflict of CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 57 opposing duties, than that which a woman in such a case has to encounter. It requires the utmost effort of an abiding sense of her duties, for a wife in such circumstances to preserve her proper place. Examples of this difficulty are to be found in every rank of life: and from the duchess down to the lowest artisan, there is scarcely an instance of the family being blessed, and prosperous, and happy, where, yielding to the temptation of her lot, the wife has usurped dominion over her lawful lord. Sometimes also, but more rarely, a man with a soft, and easy, and affec- tionate, but weak disposition, so pampers the irritability of a mind weakened by sickness, and rendered selfish by infirmity, if not by original constitution, that instead of making use of his own strength to counteract the caprice of his wife, he becomes its victim, and the pander to its diseased appetite. The cause is irrelevant ; the effect is the same ; the type is broken ; and the family conse- quently disorganised and miserable. Such consequences of the wife's usurpation have been observed, while the cause has been un- 58 SOCIAL D CITIES OX kiiowiij and made the favourite theme of" satirists and moralists in every age ; Juvenal, Boileauj Moliere, and Pope, have all ridi- culed them, men whose talent consists in the accurate observation and exposure of the errors of human actions. Pope, in describing the perfection of a gentle wife's disposition, says, O blest with temper whose unclouded ray Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day ; ***** She who ne'er answers till a husband cools. Or if she rules him, never shows she rules ; Charms by accepting, by submitting sways, Yet has her humour most when she obeys. And the classical scholar will remember the sentiment of Euripides : dvTT) re TravTU (TVfK^epovcTa^ r^irep fxeyL(TTr} yiyveTca crojrtjpia oray yvyij Trpoq avdpa urj ce^o(TTaT>i. The two extremes to be guarded against, are the lawful authority of the husband de- generating into tyranny ; and the neglect of the proper exercise of that authority, allow- ing the wife to usurp above her proper CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 59 sphere. Each age and rank will modify these dangers at different periods, making this more prevalent at one period, and that more com- mon at another. In the present circum- stances of Christendom, the insubordination to proper authority is in every situation the evil of most frequent occurrence. There are some families which are con- ducted in a manner that is evidently con- trary to the wishes of the head, with respect to the expense of personal decoration on the persons of the female members, whether wife, or daughter, or both ; the worldly things, which cannot, by any perversion of reasoning, be construed into being conducive to Chris- tianity, such as dancing, in which the chil- dren are instructed : the kind as well as extent of company with which she passes her time. Still the husbands do not directly forbid these proceedings, partly from hoping that as their wives advance in the divine life, these frivo- lities will fall off; and partly from not wish- ing to require anything from them which it is feared might be looked upon in the light of a sacrifice, and be painfully felt, 60 SOCIAL DUTIES ON and perhaps not given up without resistance and a struggle. The wives think themselves all the while the most obedient creatures imaginable ; they have fallen in with the re- ligious views of their husbands ; they neither go to operas nor playhouses ; and therefore they suppose that they do not live in the world. But the change of conversation which takes place when religious or worldly people are present ; the anxiety to be prepared with different kinds of books that shall be seen on the table according as persons are ex- pected to inspect them ; the never-ceasing round of frivolity on which their thoughts are fixed and time spent, and a thousand other trifling indications of a similar nature, proclaim with sufficient clearness, to an ob- servant bystander, the real state of the heart within. Husbands should clearly imderstand the painful truth, that the compliance with their wishes in religious observances shown by their wives, would have been equally shown had they themselves turned to worship Jug- gernaut, instead of Jehovah. As they value CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 61 the souls of their wives, let them remember that they, and they alone, are responsible for the governance of their families : that if they wish God to bless their prayers for the salva- tion of their wives and children, they must compel them, by their authority, to walk in the path of christian duty and consistency : they must not fear to excite the wrath, which has, perhaps, never till now, been excited against themselves : they must take up the cross of Christ in that situation in which He requires them to do so ; they may rest assured that God will bless his own ordinance : that He has not vested power in the man over the woman, for the purpose of being used as an instrument of tyranny and gratification to man, but as a mean of conducing to the eternal welfare of both husband and wife. With all love then, with all gentleness, with all delicacy, with all tenderness, nay, if they will, with all playfulness, provided only it be with all firmness, let them tell their wives, '* These things must not be ; I love you, but I love and fear God also : his book and my own conscience tell me that the course we are 62 SOCIAL DUTIES ON pursuing is not right." Her conduct is very possibly actuated by an erroneous estimate of what is agreeable to her husband ; and let him only say that his love for his wife will be increased by her compliance, and he may rest assured that God will honour his word, that says of the woman, " thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee," and that his family will be blessed with an hundredfold of increase of love, and peace, and harmony. It is well known that in England the wife can do no legal act relating to property with- out the consent of her husband, being in technical Ismgimge femme couverte ; this will be readily accounted for in a christian coun- try. The state of the law, however, in ancient Greece, was precisely the same in this parti- cular. " When a married woman was cited to appear before a magistrate at Athens, her husband was also summoned in this form, Ty]v cetva /cat roy Kvptoy, SUch CI WOlliail and her lord; because wives being under the government of their husbands, were not per- mitted to appear in any courts without them." CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 63 It is remarkable, that in all nations, and in many creeds, where the true origin is un- known, the marriage union is considered indissoluble. But as this indissolubility has been found a great bar to the unlimited indulgence of passion, various expedients have been hit upon to set it aside. In Mahometan countries, marriages are less frequent than looser connexions ; but when once they have taken place, no divorce is permitted. After the restoration of the House of Bourbon to the throne of France, when the Duke de Berri was married to a Sicilian princess, one of her attendants re- peated frequently during the ceremony, Ah ! le bon roi, il n^a rien omis. A bystander overhearing the remark, requested to be in- formed what it meant ; and was then told that whenever princes of the blood in Popish countries were married, it was customary to omit some part of the ceremony, which might be subsequently construed into being ma- terial or immaterial, according as it might turn out agreeable or not to set the marriage aside as bad ah Initio : but that, in the 64 SOCIAL DUTIES ON present instance, the king had omitted no- thing: since therefore nothing was imperfect in the ceremony, no human power could dissolve the union. In England divorce is permitted only for the single crime of adul- tery, which is required to be proved in several different courts; and nothing but the highest judicature in the realm can ulti- mately authorise it. In ancient Greece, if we may judge by another expression of Euripides, in the same tragedy which has just been quoted, divorce was confined to cases of adultery, and the woman was not allowed to divorce her husband : ov yap evKXeeiQ aTraWayai yvvai^iy, ov^' oiov t ainjvaffdai iroatv. The indissolubility of Christ's union with his church is set forth in Scripture by some of the strongest images, and most touching figures in nature. " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." I am aware that the mystery of Christ CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 65 with his church contains deeper matter than any that has been set forth in these pages, but which is not entered into because it would be foreign to the object of the essay. We learn by Psalm xlv., Rev. xxi. 2, 3, Matt. XXV. 10, and many corresponding- passages, that this marriage is celebrated at the second advent of the Lord to this earth. Concerning this, however, it will only be observed, that the institution of marriage is for fruitfulness : that the first Adam was the progenitor of a seed in his own nature : that THE Christ is to be a Father, and this in no sensual signification, but in the same that God is called a Father. As God's purpose in creation was not complete in the formation of Adam, with Eve in him, nor even after she was brought out of him, and presented to him, but from thence began to evolve generations of beings like themselves through many ages, so is God's purpose in the Christ constitution not completed in the incarnation, nor even in the glorification of his Son. In the present dispensation a church was necessary to the F 66 SOCIAL DUTIES ON design of God for the purpose of setting forth as much of himself as is thereby capable of being set forth, and of communicating bless- ings to mankind. This church must, like other things which are to portray God, be both visible and invisible ; so that while some men deny the one, some the other, and some both, all who deny either, miss the end and purpose of God. When that church which is now invisible shall be pre- sented visible to her Lord, then the mystery of the age that now is, must be finished, and a new history commence to be evolved. CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 67 CHAPTER II. The next relationship to which the apostle refers, is that subsisting between parent and CHILD : '^ Children, obey your parents," but he adds, " in the Lord ;" carrying this too beyond the mere brute instinct which teaches all animals to fear during the helplessness of infancy, and sanctifying the obedience by directing its observance as unto the Lord : " for this is right. Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long in the earth." To the Colossians he says, " Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." The directions here are exceedingly short, because the state of child- f2 68 SOCIAL DUTIES ON hood is evidently such a one as admits of but little independent action. The word " child" in the church has no reference whatever to natural age, but to growth and attainment in scriptural principles ; the child of the church is arrived at years of discretion whenever it is judged fit in point of knowledge to sit down at the Lord's table. The word child, in the passage under consideration, relates in certain points to the whole period of its life during which its parents are preserved in being. To them it is the child's duty to show undiminished honour to the latest hour of existence. The commands of parents should always be in reference to the Lord ; and if they are, the child's duty will admit of no- thing but implicit obedience ; and the only case in which difficulty arises is that, where the child has arrived at its natural, as well as ecclesiastical, years of discretion ; and where the parents, unmindful of their duty to the Lord, require from their child compliance with something which is contrary to the will of their common Father, who is in heaven. In such instances there can be no doubt but CHRISTIAN PHINCIPLES. 69 that the command of their heavenly Father is of superior obligation ; but the disobedience to the earthly parent should be accompanied with more tender deference, respect, and affection in al] lawful things. There is a great evil often inculcated in tracts, and much fostered, if not altogether engendered, by the system of modern schools, and religious societies, which is the encou- raging of children to become the teachers of religious knowledge to their parents. This utter subversion of the ordinances of God, this violation of the universal practice of mankind from the days of Adam to the pre- sent hour, this outrage upon common de- cency and common sense, is not for a moment to be tolerated. Nor is it any answer to this that the Lord should, in the exercise of his absolute sovereignty, send his Holy Spirit into the heart of some child in the midst of a family, which is living in total disregard of God and of his ways. God is a God of order, and not of disorder. He has promised to bless his ordinances ; and because He may please on some occasions to act otherwise 70 SOCIAL DUTIES ON than through the instrumentality of those ordinances, that is no reason for his creatures to despise his ordinances, or to expect a bless- ing when acting contrary to them. The directions for the wife with the husband who " obeys not the word," are equally applicable for the child w^hose parents are disobedient to the word. The parents like the husband, must be worked upon, not by usurping of authority, which teaching is, but by example without the word. Satan often attacks chil- dren upon this point, and induces them, by unsanctified zeal for the spiritual welfare of their parents, to violate those very ordinances, and that honour, deference, and respect, the showing of which would have been the most probable means of rescuing their parents from his clutches. This he knows, and there- fore he works upon their love for their parents to fan the desire for their salvation ; then he plays upon their vanity, and pride of conscious knowledge of something of which their parents are ignorant; and by all the avenues of the human heart, to which he possesses such abundant access, does he in- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 71 flame what is bad, and over- stimulate into disproportion what is good, that the praise- worthy object of the child may be frustrated, and great dishonour brought upon God's holy ordinances. If God vouchsafes to be- stow upon any child in the midst of a family which forgets Him, a saving knowledge of his salvation, let that child account it a double honour, and cast itself wholly upon the strength of the Lord for guidance, and lean not to its own understanding in any thing ; and especially let it seek the Lord in fulfilling its appointed respect to its earthly parent. Let it not doubt but that it will be guided to do the Lord's will, though perhaps in an unknown manner. If in this situation it is called to suffer, let it count it all joy that it is appointed to be a witness for the Lord Jesus in the midst of those about whom its strongest affections are entwined. " To the method proposed by some, of heginniiig with the children, it might be re- marked that, were a constitution of things founded in nature by God himself, with such designs in view, and existing alike wherever 72 SOCIAL DUTIES ON human nature exists, not standing before us ; and were education to be summed up in the mechanical arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the communication of know- ledge only, instead of its embracing also the communication of wisdom and the formation of habits, then some such theory might be applied, and its effects watched. But it is in vain to contend with nature, and her phy- sical impossibilities. While the child re- mains in the daily or even the nightly pos- session of the parent, how little can any such plan radically accomplish! and yet what- ever is done upon system, however kindly meant, which either at first or ultimately weakens this connexion, is a proportional advance to the brink of ruin ; and take the child away in a nation, and that nation is ruined. The entire fabric of society is af- fected ; a CONSTITUTION of things is invaded and broken down ; and the God of all the families in the earth would rise up in judg- ment. No ! — human expedients, however spe- cious, and beautiful, and well intentioned they seem at first sight, often in the application CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 73 prove hideous and cruel ; and if they, I do not say run counter to a constitution of God's own creation^ but if they pass by, or even slight it, they will prove vain and weak in- deed. In modern times, it seems to be un- known to many, that whatever may be done for the children of a nation, they will ever go on, not merely to receive a tinge, but to take their character from those with whom they speak, and eat, and sleep. To fall in, there- fore, with the all- wise arrangement of the God of nature and revelation is our only wisdom." — Anderson, To parents the directions are, '' Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The same is repeated in the Colossians, " Fathers, provoke not your chil- dren to anger, lest they be discouraged." Fa- thers are addressed here without mention of mothers, because, as we have seen already, bodies are addressed in their head, who is responsible for the evil of the whole. The affections of a mother for her offspring are also stronger than those of a father, and 74 SOCIAL DUTIES ON therefore more likely to restrain any tempta- tion to undue severity. But the apostle's injunction indicates that parents are tempted to irritate their children, and excite their anger; and there is little doubt but that much of the bad tempers which are exhi- bited by children, are the effects and reflec- tions of those of the parents. No person, be they parent or other, can be a Christian, who wilfully and systematically gives way to ill -temper. But tempers are as various as every other disposition, and when bad, indi- cate unsubdued pride and selfishness. Irri- tability is a concomitant of some bodily dis- orders, and doubly difficult to control. These things should be felt, and confessed by parents, in order to be combated, resisted, and prayed against. With reference to children, they should be also acknowledged, that parents may take care never to speak to them, still less to punish them, while under the influence of passion. Let them remem- ber the heathen aphorism, ira furor brevis est. The remarks of Miss Edgeworth on this, as well as on every other branch of me- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 75 chanical education, cannot be too much studied. In general, mothers are more se- vere towards their daughters, than towards their sons. As sons grow up, they should early be made the partakers of their parents' cares, business, occupation, and employments of every kind. The father stands to the unconscious little one as God ; as the author of its existence ; the giver, and preserver of its life. The mother stands as the Church, which is the mother of us all, to whom the instruction in all godliness and righteousness of her lord's children is entrusted. Thus the parents' faith becomes in a great degree the faith of the child. " Say to yourself, although the extent of my dominion is the smallest upon earth, why is the authority given me the most extensive out of heaven ? Within my own family, there is no one who can, none who should, dispute this with me ; and of those around my dwelling, from the highest authority in the state to my next door neigh- bour, there is no one disposed to interfere. Above myself upon earth there is none ; and 76 SOCIAL DUJIES ON to myself T sometimes feel as though, in this matter, I were only next under God. True, as it regards mankind in general, whatever be yom' station, low or high, as parents unquestionably, you are next under God — whose name is Jealous, and the Father of Mercies. A position more solemn than yours, as it regards relative duty, I confess I am unable to conceive." — Anderson. High and ennobling dignity joined to an awful responsibility ! In early times, and even down to the establishment of Christianity by Constantino, the father had power of life and death over his children, as well in- deed as over all the other members of his family. And though this was undoubtedly in its results an evil, yet the existence of such a custom from the earliest antiquity, is an additional confirmation of the principle from which it arose. Parents in the present day are greatly re- miss in not requiring from their children more formality and outward marks of re- spect. A very few years back, no child in a well-ordered family would have been allowed CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 77 to remain seated, when a parent entered the room. " I am of opinion that parents let down their dignity, and undermine their authority, by allowing the same rude and boisterous behaviour in their presence, as in their absence. This should not be. When reason is expanding in children, they should be made to understand and feel the truth of what I have already affirmed, that there is an outward respect due to the very presence of a parent. All rude and noisy rushing in and out of a father's or mother's company is unmeet. It is the etiquette of our court that no one shall enter the royal presence without obeisance ; nor, in retiring, turn his back upon the sovereign. I do not ask for the same obsequiousness in families, but I ask for the principle from which it arises, a respectful deference for authority." — James. It may be as well to mention here another duty which parents should inculcate on their children, and which is fast going out of sight altogether, like every other worthy act, while religious people are overwhelmed in the vanity of thinking themselves more religious 78 SOCIAL DUTIES ON than their ancestor, and that is — deference to age. Each must judge by that which he himself has witnessed : in my childhood I was not only taught, but I was made to prac- tise, to rise whenever an old person entered the room, and to attend to them until they had obtained the seat, or the book, or the paper, or whatever the object might be which they desired. I have known, and still know, many worldly families, in which the children are so brought up ; but I was never yet within the walls of a house, where the heads of the family made a profession of Evangeli- cal religion, and I saw any more attention paid to the aged than to other guests. Parents should be very cautious respecting the companions of their children. Relations ought not to be permitted to have free inter- course with children, unless they are edu- cated in the same principles. This may be avoided without giving offence; but if not, then offence must be given ; for the first duty of parents is to their own offspring. As the children grow up, the males go forth into the world in their several callings, but CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 79 the females remain until they are married, under the parents' roof, and consequently under the parental control. This control ought to be exercised with respect to those who have unrestricted intercourse with daughters, and a vigilant parent ought not to suppose that every female acquaintance is a companion devoid of danger to them. This vigilance is commonly supposed to be neces- sary only with respect to male companions ; yet as far as my knowledge of the world goes, I believe the conversation of women, when men are not present, more detrimental to the purity of the female mind, than that of men. To furnish instances of this, would be to pollute these pages with matters very foreign to their main object; but it is at the instigation of some of the most refined orna- ments of their sex, that this hint is thrown out for the consideration of parents. Middleton, in his life of Cicero, remarks, that there are few examples of men who have attained to any great renown, who have not been indebted to their mothers for the 80 SOCIAL DUTIES ON earliest training of their minds. Anderson, p. 87 — 149, applies the same observation to the most religious men, and shows how much these were indebted to the piety, as those to the mental powerS; of their respective mothers. A practice has sometimes prevailed, chiefly indeed in the higher classes, so much in vio- lation, I will not say of christian principle, but of mere animal affections and propensi- ties, that it need not be dwelt upon at length, although it is not entirely to be overlooked in a treatise like the present. I allude to a mother refusing to suckle her own off'spring, and, without any real necessity, transferring that duty to a wet-nurse. The motives which have led to this custom have not been so dis- gusting in some cases as they have in others : yet setting aside the consideration of the or- dinance of God, which every she- wolf and cow fulfils better than such unnatural mo- thers, and looking at the subject merely with a view to health and morals, the evils which flow from it are incalculable. The deaths caused to the children of the poor mothers CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 81 who are thus bribed to neglect their own charges : the ill health engendered in after life to those mothers who have done so great violence to the healthy constitutions which God gave to their youth, are all additional reasons to induce christian women never to abandon so plain and important a duty. The essence of Pharisaism consists not in doing that which is wrong, but that which is right in such a manner as to make it wrong; to magnify a small duty, so as to make it obliterate a greater. It was not w^'ong to contribute money or precious stones, to adorn the temple ; but it was wTong to say, " Cor- ban," and give to that purpose the money w^hich ought to have been devoted to the support of a poor relation. It may be right for women to attend to committees of bene- volent societies for the purpose of contri- buting Bibles, or clothes, or food, to the des- titute poor ; but it is decidedly wrong for mothers and mistresses of families to neglect their domestic duties, which are of God's appointment, in order to attend committees of societies, which are not ordinances of his G 82 SOCIAL DUTIES ON appointment. Yet it is by no means uncom- mon to hear parents, professing to be religi- ous, allege their want of time to educate their own children, at the very moment that they are recounting the extent of their at- tendance on Bible, School, and Missionary Committees. There is one point in the relationship be- tween parent and child which is unique, in- asmuch as it is the only one which can repre- sent in kind, however inferior in degree, the love of our heavenly Father for us. No one but a parent can conceive the love of a pa- rent for a favourite child ; wholly irrespec- tive of its deserts, and frequently bestowed in fullest force on objects perfectly insensible to, and unworthy of it, in the estimation of indifferent persons, whether in mind or body ; and continued in spite of unremitting ingratitude and provocations. I know of no spectacle to be compared with that of watch- ing a young mother's countenance whilst clasping to her bosom a wayward, resisting, lighting infant : to observe the impassioned affection which sparkles in her eyes ; to see CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 83 all her energies and intelligence exercised in anticipating its wishes, and possible sources of disquietude, while the urchin remains not only unconscious of the feelings which it is exciting, but struggles to break away from her arms, ignorant of the danger that awaits it, if it should be allowed to succeed. The application is sufficiently obvious. If the precious honours which are put upon parents, even to be as God, the source of life to immortal beings, whom they are to rear up to be fit partakers of the throne of Imma- nuel, the future sovereigns over all created intelligences, and the priests to offer up the praises and hallelujahs of a redeemed and re- generated world, had not been lost sight of, Christians would never have followed the practices of the world to do evil, and would not have abandoned the education of their offspring, and consigned them into other, generally into ungodly, hands. In this respect the infidel w^ill rise in judgment against christian parents : for there are many of these unhappy persons who still g2 84 SOCIAL DUTIES ON desire that their wives and children may be religious, though they know not what true religion is ; but we often find christian pa- rents saying that they do know what true re- ligion is, and yet acting as if they were willing that their children should be infidels. To cover this delusion, recourse is had to the greatest self-deception, if not hypocrisy ; and the very persons who will at one time talk the loudest about the necessity of sepa- ration from the principles and practices of a world that lieth in wickedness, and who will maintain that, however outward conduct may differ, yet that the heart which is unregene- rate, not born of God, not inhabited by the Holy Ghost, is still at enmity with God, — these very persons will quibble about the increased morality of our public schools and universities, and madly persuade themselves that they are performing their duly towards God and towards their children, in consign- ing such awful charges into the hands of the directors and masters of these places of in- struction. CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 85 Cowper, in all the delicacy of a poet and sentimentalist, appealed to the affection of parents, and to the natural instinct of their animal feelings, with a power which, if any- thing of that nature could, would have stemmed the fatal torrent. There is scarcely a writer of eminence upon the subject, who has not shown how ill adapted these places of instruction are for the accomplishment of those objects which they profess to have in view. The most popular periodical writers, the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, abound with excellent remarks condemnatory of them. But no — nothing will do: they seem to be the first stepping-stones to the power, and favour, and wealth, which this world can offer, and, in order to gain these ends, the souls of the children are esteemed a trifling consideration. Much of the trash which is attempted to be crammed into the heads of children, is desired merely for the purpose of gratifying the vanity of the pa- rents ; just as we see, for the same reason, a beautiful, though delicate child, run the risk of laying in a weakly constitution for 86 SOCIAL DUTIES ON life by insufficient clothing, that the admirers may cry out — Benedetta sia la madre Chi la fece cosi bella. In early infancy the mind should not be strained at all. " According to Aristotle, more care should be taken of the body than of the mind for the first seven years. The eye and ear of the child should be most watchfully and severely guarded against con- tamination of every kind, and unrestrained communication with servants be strictly pre- vented. Even his amusements should be vuider due regulation, and rendered as inte- resting and intellectual as possible." Another mania, lately sprung up amongst parents, is to habituate them early to artificial gymnastic exercises. Now the more strength and acti- vity a child can exercise in play the better ; and it is not likely that, if left to companions of its own age merely, it will ever exceed its powers so far as to be detrimental. " Aristo- tle had strong objections to the more violent exertions of the gymnasium during early life ; as he considered them injurious to the growth CHEISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 8/ of the body, and to the future strength of the adult. In proof of this, he adduces the conclusive fact, that in the long list of Olym- pic victors only two, or at most three, instances had occurred, in which the same person had proved victor in youth and in manhood. Premature training and over-exertion he therefore regarded as injurious to the con- stitution." — Life of Alexander the Great. The most eminent physicians ascribe many diseases of the brain, and other disorders and debilities, to the mania for forcing the minds of young children. One chief hold of delusion in this matter is confounding Instruction with Education ; terms often used as synonymous, but the im- port of which is essentially different. In- struction is a duty of far inferior importance to education ; the former refers to the intel- lect, the latter to the affections : the former may be delegated : the latter neither may nor can ; it is the former only that is, or that can be, attended to in schools : the latter is the province of the parent alone. Education is habit derived from example. " You may 88 SOCIAL DUTIES ON engage a master or masters, as numerous as you please, to instruct your children in many things useful and praiseworthy in their own place, but you must, by the order of nature, educate them yourselves : you not only ought to do it, but you will perceive you must do it, whether you intend it or not. The parent, says Cecil, is not to stand reasoning and cal- culating. God has said, that his character shall have influence ; and so this appointment of Providence becomes often the punishment of a wicked or a careless man. Rest assured, and lay it down to yourselves as a cardinal principle, that the business of education, properly so called, is not transferable." — James. " In the proper sense of the term, educa- tion is a thing of great scope and extent; and within the doors of a household it is of far more important and extensive character, than anything for which the children can be sent to schools of any description whatever. It affords, however, matter at once for surprise and deep regret, to observe how much this superior department of education, which no CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 89 wealth can purchase, has been overlooked : more especially since it is one in which the rich have little, if any, advantage, over the poor ; for education, in its largest sense, as it is en- joined in the word of God, includes the training up of a child — the bringing him up or educating him in the nurture and admoni- tion of the Lord; so that education, in this sense, includes the whole process by which a human being is formed to be what he is, in principles, and habits, and cultivation of every kind. Now, whatever proportion of all this may be in the power of parents, a smaller still, and that which has much less influence in forming the character, can be directed or acquired by purchased tuition of any kind. Besides, it is, and must be, by far the most valuable part of education which cannot, by any possibility, be purchased with money : neither can this parental department of education, by any ingenuity of man, be transferred or undertaken by others ; for it will be seen, after every vain expedient, that parents will and do and must here educate their children. In one word, as neither love, 90 SOCIAL DUTIES ON nor friendship, nor wealth, can turn the course of nature, so neither can they relieve parents, whether rich or poor, from those obligations which God and nature, and their interest too, alike demand and enjoin. Let not the reader search about for exceptions. Exceptions may and do exist ; but such, after all, is the course of nature, or, in other words, the will of God. '' Under these circumstances, let no parent complain of his limited means, of his other occupations, or of any disadvantages in his situation ; let him only fix his eye with vigi- lance on that department of parental training, which is at once unpurchaseable and untrans- ferable. You engage for your children, and with considerable anxtety, even the best mas- ters in every department, and you do well, and nothing more than is incumbent ; but in the business of education, properly so called^ they can do little for you. After all, it is the sentiments you let drop occasionally ; it is the conversation they overhear, when playing in the comer of the room, which have more effect than many things that are addressed to them directly in the tone of CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 91 exhortation. Besides, as to maxims, ever remember, that between those which you bring forward to their use, and those by which you direct your own conduct, children have almost an intuitive discernment ; and it is by the latter they will be mainly governed, both during childhood and their future exist- ence. Your example will educate them : your conversation with your friends, the business they see you transact, the likings and dis- likings you express — these wull educate them ; the society you live in will educate them ; your domestics will educate them : and what- ever be your rank or situation in life, your house, your table, and your daily behaviour there — these will educate them." — Anderson. Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed ssepe cadendo. " The influence of the parental character on children is not to be calculated. " Consistency is the great character in good parents which impresses children. They may witness much temper ; but if they see their father keep the even tenor of his way, his im- perfections will be understood and allowed for 9'2 SOCIAL DUTIES ON as reason opens. The child will see and reflect on his parent's intention; and this will have great influence on his mind. '' Parental influence must be great, because God has said that it shall be so. The parent is not to stand reasoning, and calculating. God has said, ' that his character shall have influence.' " The whole chapter '^ on the in- fluence of the parental character," in Cecirs Remains, from which these few sentences are transcribed, is well worthy of perusal. Nor will God suffer his ordinances to be despised with impunity. He has appointed, as we have observed before, certain duties annexed to certain relationships ; because they are types or patterns of the relationships which he has assumed for the purpose of benefiting his creatures. If his blessing were to accompany a violation or abandon- ment of the duty growing out of any given relationship, he would bless a lie ; a thing that had not a reality ; a thing that might, or that might not be; and therefore the same motive which should induce him to bless the observance of his ordinance, must induce CHRISTIAN PEINCIPLES. 93 him to curse the violation or abandonmeut of it ; the curse on the violation setting out by the negative the same truth that the blessing on the observance sets out by the positive. While, however, the practice is to torment young children, to the imminent danger of their health, especially girls, by the length of time they are required to devote in learn- ing music — an equally, or perhaps more, pernicious custom is, to consider them as arrived beyond the reach of parental control at the age of sixteen or seventeen : whereas, from that time to twenty or twenty-five is the most valuable period for embodying and bringing into due harmony and proportion all that has been acquired previously. It is at that period only that the true beauty of poetry can be tasted, the philosophy of his- tory understood, or the deeper metaphysical mysteries of the christian religion be duly appreciated. I was myself sent for upwards of nine years to one of our largest public schools, and, subsequently, to the most numerous college at one of our universities, and T am 94 SOCIAL DUTIES ON therefore well qualified to judge of their merits and demerits. But it does not rest upon individual testimony, but upon the evidence of common sense, when it is asserted, that wherever a number of boys are congregated, without the presence of a controlling superior, every form of profligacy and vice may manifest itself; and that the only limit to its exercise is the physical power of the boys themselves. There is not, there can be not, one single form of vice in the world w^hich may not be, and which is not practised in our public schools ; and if any deny it, it is only because they are ignorant of the practices which are there carried on. The public schools of England, as they have been constituted for nearly the last cen- tury, have no parallel in the world. Cruel and barbarous as was the treatment which boys received in the schools that were esta- blished after the revival of learning, the parents were poor, and had no power to pro- tect their offspring ; but at least they never wholly lost sight of them by sending them to a distance. It was a thing unheard of in CHRISTIAN FRINCIPLES. 95 ancient times, for children to be sent, some- times hundreds of miles from their parents' homes, to take the chance of the companion- ship of associates whose very names, far more dispositions and propensities, were unknown to those who sent them. To our chartered schools indeed they were sent, but these were ecclesiastical establishments, and purposely designed to bring up the children, not only in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but also for his peculiar service, and on that account the masters were always ministers of religion. It is beyond dispute that example has a far greater influence upon all human beings than precept, and that the influence of those of the same age is much more powerful than that of those who are older or younger. " The children reason thus : — My parents tell me that their chief anxiety is for my salvation, and the formation of my religious character; but how does this comport with their selecting for me a school where religion is the last thing attended to ? With their instnicting me in some things, which as reli- gious people I hear them condemn ? How is 96 SOCIAL DUTIES ON it, that all the anxiety of their conduct, whatever their words may say, appears to be to make a fine scholar ? I am told that reli- gion is the first thing, but I am educated for the world." — James. The masters of the public schools have never pretended to exercise any habitual con- trol over the boys, but have avowed that the system was confined to the acquisition of two dead languages alone. Their principal support has been derived from two sources : first, the wilful distaste of parents to fulfil their duties towards their children, and find- ing them impediments to their getting so much money in their various businesses, or hindrances to that round of ceaseless frivolity in which the more opulent classes dissipate their time. The second source is vanity, and an anxiety for some advantage which is supposed to accrue from having been at school with noblemen. In the olden time instruction was wont to be conveyed by the schoolmaster of the parish, or by one resident in the families of the more wealthy ; but the parents' home was the alone residence of their CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 97 offspring. The present practice marks more strongly than any other the decay of the foun- dations of society, because it had to war with, and overcome, the strongest instinct, namely, that of a parent's love ; and to the honour of the sex be it acknowledged, that it found a resistance in the strong citadel of a mother's breast, long after it had dislodged every other opposer. But this subject would lead us too far from the purport of this essay : suffice it to say, that the more it is sifted the more it is opposed to every maxim of religion, mo- rality, and affection ; and it would not be more incongruous for a man to call himself a Christian, and be an habitual drunkard, or swearer, than it is for him to do so whilst thrusting his children out of his own home, and consigning their education to irreligious teachers. It is a plausible excuse to some parents that there is so much difficulty in finding proper persons to assist them in con- ducting the education of a numerous family at home, owing to the persons who offer them- selves for the situation of tutors and gover- nesses never having been themselves taught H 98 SOCIAL DUTIES ON the art of teaching. This is indeed true ; but those parents who can bring themselves to banish their children from home are not likely to be very scrupulous about any other me- thod. It must be admitted, however, that it is scarcely possible to find a domestic tutor or governess who understand their business. Governesses are generally of indolent habits, and morbid ill-regulated feelings, who seek that situation because it gives them less trouble than manual labour. A specimen of the kind was lately set forth in an advertise- ment in the Record newspaper, which is here subjoined, with the comment of a very affec- tionate and anxious mother : — " Wants a Situation, as Governess in a religious family, a lady, whose sole motive in desiring the above is a sphere of useful- ness, and an increase of religious privileges. She is capable of grounding her pupils in the essential points of education, combining, with a thorough knowledge of their own language, a general summary of history and geography, and would take them for the first year into French and music. A highly respectable CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 99 reference can be given to a lady she has recently left." That is, for doing that which can be done by any femme-de-chamhre ; she, who, as she shows, is unable to write her own lan- guage grammatically, will incur to the pa- rents a cost of at least one hundred pounds per annum in board, accommodation, jour- neys, sickness, washing, &c., &c., besides salary : upset all former plans with the chil- dren, without having one of her own ; write cross-barred letters every day, while they are at their lessons, to all her female acquaint- ance, complaining of everything she eats, sees, and hears ; be an obstacle to all family conversation and confidential intercourse be- tween those of whom she knows nothing, or think herself neglected ; uninformed in mind, and idle and high in habits, who avows that her sole motive is, not to do her duty towards the children, nor to render back service for what she receives from her employer, but an increase of religious privileges ; that is, gossip about preachers and societies. This is too accurate a description of the generality h2 100 SOCIAL DUTIES ON of those who write such advertisements as that abov e. On the other hand, anxious parents require more from persons in the situation of governesses than is to be found combined in any human beings. In all cases it should be remembered that the good in every character has its corresponding evil. Where strength of mind prevails, we may expect want of ten- derness, and coarseness : where there is de- licacy of feeling, we must lay our account for morbid sensitiveness and irritability. Moreover, their situation is anomalous ; they are neither equals nor inferiors, and yet are both; while the unfeeling treatment they receive in some, and are liable to receive in all families, makes them suspect want of kindness w^here it is never intended. Before quitting the subject of the consti- tution of parent and child, it may be w^ell to point out another spiritual truth which is portrayed by it. The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and its attendant blessed- ness to the whole creation, is represented by the figure of a woman bringing forth a child, John xvi. 16 — 22 ; Jer. xxx. 6 — 9 ; Isa. Ixvi. CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 101 5 — 10. The present dispensation, therefore, is analogous to the life of a child in the womb ; alive, indeed, with all the properties and faculties of a man, but undeveloped ; a life hidden, and not seen ; and its future ma- nifestation apparent only to faith ; receiving all its circulation and nourishment from her within whose life its own is involved, and only to be produced by the most violent throes which nature can endure. In this state lies the whole mystical man-child, Christ, or the invisible Church ; and its type, or outward sign and representative to the world, the Jewish nation. But this is by the way. 102* SOCIAL DUTIES ON CHAPTER III. The next relationship is that of master and SERVANT, which, though primarily referable to the inmates of the same house, is equally applicable to every situation where degi'ees of superior and inferior are found ; the responsi- bility of it is commensurate with the extent of the superior's jurisdiction ; be it over one household servant ; or over a number of agri- cultural labourers ; or over a body of manu- facturers ; or over a regiment of soldiers ; or over a ship full of sailors ; or over a province ; or over a kingdom. " Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in single- ness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 103 from the heart : with good will doing service as to the Lord, and not to men ; knowing that whatsoever good thing a man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threaten- ing ; knowing that your Master ^Iso is in heaven ; neither is there respect of persons with him."— Eph. vi. 5 — 9. In the Epistle to the Colossians the same directions are re- peated. " Servants, obey in all things your masters, according to the flesh ; not wdth eye- service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God : and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ; knowing that of the Lord ye shall re- ceive the rew^ard of the inheritance ; for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respect of persons." It is worthy of observation, that the direc- tions to servants are extended to a much greater length than those to any of the other relationships ; and servants are certainly more liable, and more easily tempted, to breach of 104 SOCIAL DUTIES ON duty than any other persons. They are re- minded that their real service is not to their earthly, but to their heavenly employer ; that in the lowest offices, they are cleaning dishes, floors, &c., because the Lord requires them to clean dishes, &c. Thus, if they work for Him, their zeal will never flag, for He is not a master of whom they can ever have reason to complain ; and in working for Him, as if He were standing by, and in his sight, will they alone work well and faithfully for their earthly employer. The great temptation of servants arises from their being habituall}^ engaged with the property of others instead of with their own : they, therefore, feeling no ill con- sequences from waste and extravagance, cease to regard it as an evil against which it is their duty to guard. Upon the same principle, bailifls, and overseers of farming and other country business, invariably conduct it upon a more wasteful and extravagant plan than they would if it were their own ; and in this warning of the apostle, servants are reminded that they are tempted to act in a different manner, behind the backs of their masters, CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 105 from that in which they act before their faces. The expression, threatening, which masters are desired not to use, is more properly, in common language, scolding, that is, not tell- ing the servant of his fault calmly, but by loudness of voice, and volubility of words, showing more ill-temper in themselves, than honest and conscientious wish to suppress what is wrong, as unto God; feeling offended in their own personal convenience, more than in their character of office-bearers for Christ. It is not many years since the far larger proportion of domestic servants were born and bred on the estates, and among the de- pendents of the noblemen in whose houses they afterward entered as servants. Small wages were given, for there was little money in the land. The retainers were clothed with the cloth manufactured on the estate, chiefly by women and children, in their leisure hours, which was delivered to all at Christmas, and hence called their livery. Their keep was from the mutton, beef, wheat, barley, and hops of the manor farm, which was abundant. The family was conducted with greater com- 106 SOCIAL DUTIES ON fort to the servants, and less trouble to their employers, since there was less of that per- petual struggle between vanity and avarice, which is now become universal. If this state of society, would return, the solid strength of the country, and the religious obligations of society, would be greatly increased. In those days also, it was much more the habit than it is now, for a chaplain to be resident in the mansions of the aristocracy, and to assemble the inmates to morning and evening worship. In a lower sphere, the business of tradesmen and artificers was carried on by the help of apprentices, the form of whose indentures by which they were bound still witness that they were looked upon in the light of chil- dren of the family, as the eye of the law still regards them. In farm-houses, the chief part of the labourers were lodged, and cot- tages were few and little needed. Whence this state of things has ceased to be, and a new mode of life has been superinduced, it would be foreign to our present purpose to inquire ; but it is obvious that the change has been detrimental to the moral influence CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 107 and control of the masters over their de- pendents in all these several stations. In the largest families of our aristocracy, the heads do not know the names, or ever see the faces, of the inmates of their own houses. Our extensive manufacturers make use of those in their employ as mere machines, to be cast off as worthless the moment they cease to be profitable, that is, to make money for their masters ; and the most unbounded licen- tiousness is permitted to exist among them, unchecked, and even unrebuked. The mas- ters having lost sight of their duty to Christ, the dependents have necessarily forgotten theirs also ; the one is served, and the other serves, only as far as it is to his pecuniary advantage so to do. No part of the master's interest is attended to but that which is sti- pulated for ; the waste and wanton destruction of his property is thought to be no crime by the servants ; and the turning a dependent out, houseless and homeless, nay, even de- fenceless females, amidst the profligacy of the metropolis, is considered by the master as the 108 SOCIAL DUTIES ON natural punishment of every slight misde- meanour. '' Servants are not mere speaking brutes, but rational men and women, who are bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh, and who, on the ground of natural equality, covenant with you to deliver so much service for so much wages. They are your equals in the eye of the law of the land, and are as much protected as you are ; equal in the eye of God, who is no respecter of persons ; equal in personal formation, having the same cor- poreal senses, members, and beauty, and the same mental faculties ; equal in the church of God, being redeemed by the same blood of atonement, regenerated by the same Holy Spirit, and entitled to the same heaven ; and on all these grounds entitled to the respect that is due to a man and a Christian ; as such they are to be addressed and treated, and not spoken to and oppressed like beasts." — James. It would be wide of the present purpose to discuss the causes of a fact which has been noticed by many travellers, namely, that of CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 109 all the nations of the earth, the English are the most proud, overbearing, and insolent to their inferiors ; and that this prevails more in the lower and middling, than in the higher ranks of life. Kindness and urbanity have no connexion whatever with improper fa- miliarity ; and none are so far removed from the latter as those who exercise the greatest portion of the former. The cause is pro- bably to be found in wealth, the god which is worshipped more in this country than in any other ; and certainly it is an idolatry which more degrades and debases its votaries, than pride of ancestry, or of intellectual su- periority. But be this as it may, it is a most unchristian act to behave with haughtiness or violence to inferiors. When a servant enters a family, he ought to be considered as an inmate for life, or until unforeseen circumstances break up the esta- blishment. Instead of this view, both mas- ters and servants consider them as merely hired for a short job. Frequent changes are much less common in the largest families of the highest rank, than in the middling and 110 SOCIAL DUTIES ON lower walks of life : and in all well-regulated houses servants are to be found who have passed their whole lives upon the estates of the landlords. A master of a family, composed of wife, children, and servants, is an epitome of a kingdom, and of the world. As Moses was as God to the house of Israel, so is the master as God to the household over which the Lord has set him. In his relationship to his wife, he sees Christ and his church; in his children, he finds the objects of his particular and distinguishing love ; in his servants, he beholds how all mankind do contribute and minister to the fulfilment of the designs of the great Master of all, and specially with a reference to his church and children. As Christ offers up the prayers of his whole family to his heavenly Father, so does the master of the christian household offer up the morning and evening tribute of gratitude to their common Master which is in heaven. There is no part of a Christian's dut}', the difficulty of which is much enhanced by the CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. Ill present circumstances of society, that more calls for prayer, and for the direction of the Lord, than that of the righteous govern- ance of a family in his fear. A christian master and mistress ought to be very earnest with God to pour out upon them the spirit of rule. That it is not so easy to govern properly, as many seem to suppose, is proved from the fact, that few who are elevated to a station in which they were not born, ever attain to it. An account recently published, of the family and generals of Napoleon, con- firms this remark in a very striking manner ; for we therein see that the very same men, who evinced the greatest military talents in the field, were utterly incompetent to rule in other situations. The talent for government is a gift from God. Let heads of families especially imitate the example of God, in his long suffering of offenders against him- self, while he abhors the offence. It is possible, indeed, that faults may be com- mitted which require prompt and summary notice of them to be taken, and even punish- ment inflicted ; but these instances must be 112 SOCIAL DUTIES ON very rare in comparison of those which per- mit of the delay of a few hours, and perhaps days. No complaint ought ever to be made by the master, at a moment when his own temper, or that of his servant, is excited; and as the casting off a sinner is only done by the great Master of us all, after we have ob- stinately and repeatedly refused to repent and live, so ought we not to cast off a servant from being a member of our family, until he have repeatedly refused to observe the laws and ordinances of our house. One of the most indispensable things, for the orderly regulation of a family, is punctu- ality in the observance of all that is fixed for stated times, with which nothing must be suffered to interfere. The period for rising in the morning and retiring to rest must not be infringed. Some servants must be up before the heads of the family, and before the children, and these should retire proportionately early to rest. The periods for meals, and for family worship, are gene- rally observed with tolerable accuracy ; but it is no less essential to observe the times for CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 113 seeing and giving directions to servants, and all others in our employment; for instructing the children, for private study, reading, exercise, and all other duties : for nothing except confusion can ensue, if, because a thing may be done at any time, therefore it is done indiscriminately at all times ; and a wife or husband with desultory or unpunctual habits, will spend their life in incessant toil to accomplish ill, what a system of arrange- ment, accurately adhered to, Avould enable them well and with ease to perform. In large families, the head servant must equally be a servant of regular habits. As most men have some business, and as all who have, are com- pelled more or less to be precise in their divisions of time; and as all who are not obliged to do a particular thing at a stated moment, are in danger of becoming unpunc- tual and desultory, it is more necessary for the wife than the husband to be on her guard against this, since it is a temptation more likely to befal her than him ; and her home will be the more uncomfortable, the more she strives to conduct it with propriety. It is I 114 SOCIAL DUTIES ON discouraging to any one, who is labouring hard and conscientiously, to find their efforts useless: and yet this frequently happens merely from working upon a wrong plan, and from not bearing in mind, that " order is heaven's first law." The christian servant will perceive, that his master is God's appointed mean for fur- nishing him with house, food, and clothes : and that under whatever roof he sojourns, the interest of that master, in every part of his property, is to be his first concern. He must by no means suffer his master to be wronged, not only directly by seeing robbery in others, nor indirectly in committing, nor in suffering others to commit, waste. His examples must be Joseph and Daniel ; and, by looking steadily to the Lord's appoint- ment in this relationship, both master and servant will preserve their due proportionate respect for each other ; the former vi ill be saved from arrogance on the one hand, and the latter from insubordination and servility on the other, by remembering that they each occupy the station in which the Lord has CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 115 seen fit to honour them, by being his am- bassadors of mercy to others^ in that precise sphere in which, for that purpose. He causes them to mov^e. Every situation of life has its particular cross, and the difficulty attendant on the ful- filment of its duty in Christ, is that suffering for his sake which he will honour and bless. There is none more difficult than the religious government of a family. Servants are as fond of frivolity and dissipation as their su- periors; but this must be repressed in a christian household. The happiness of such persons consists in the gratification of their animal passions : frequenting theatres, danc- ing, drinking, among the men ; cards, dice, and finery of dress, among the women : all these must be prohibited, and the last by no means the least, because its indulgence is usu- ally among females of that class the first step to a life of vice and infamy : nevertheless, expensive dress to the utmost extent of, and even beyond, their lawful means, is commonly enjoined upon female servants in worldly families. These amusements being all con- I 2 116 SOCIAL DQTIES ON sidered harmless, irreligious persons dislike the restraint, and either will not enter, or will not long remain in, families, where the indulgence of them is impracticable. Inferior servants, indeed, who are ignorant of their business, may be induced by high wages to abide for a while, but not knowing how to discharge the duties of their station, the do- mestic economy gets into confusion, the ser- vants do not please their employers, disorder ensues, or double labour is thrown upon those among them who are better instructed. From all these causes combined, those masters who will say with Joshua, " as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," must find greater difficulty than those who care not for anything so long as they get a certain quantum of good service, and allow their servants the indulgence of any pleasures which do not interfere with their own selfish ease. Hence, too, there are more frequent changes in religious families than in others. The best political economists, Adam Smith, Mr. Macculloch, and Mr. Senior, consider that the evil example set by the servants of large CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 117 establishments is more than equivalent to any good which the personal character of the no- bleman or gentleman at the head of them can effect : and neither of these writers take up the subject on religious, but solely on moral and economical grounds, so that instead of its being a blessing to a country population that gentlemen should reside among them, it is a positive evil. This arises from the ser- vants being generally hired in London, and having no bond, by birth or local association, with the house of their master. Neither is the case greatly mended by an endeavour to have none but religious ser- vants. The misrule of the heads of our ec- clesiastical establishment has brought it to pass that the lower orders in large towns are excluded, by the system of pew-letting, from the parish churches ; so that the great body of them, who frequent any place of worship, are dissenters. This circumstance, joined to the " heady, high-minded," spirit of insubor- dination to authority which is everywhere abroad, is the cause that almost all religious servants are dissenters ; and as most dissenters 118 SOCIAL DUTIES ON are now also schismatics, religious servants commonly think it a point of conscience not to attend the worship of the Church of England, despise her ordinances, and affect a great superiority over their fellow- servants. They generally presume upon their profes- sion of religion, to insure their enjoying a greater share of the master's favour than the other servants ; and commonly make use of this privilege, real or supposed, to neglect their work, and thereby throw an increased burden upon others. The irreligious ser- vants hate them for their profession, and doubly for their cant and hypocrisy, which is productive of increased trouble to them- selves. The master has the difficult point of determining how much of the complaints that are made is true, and how much ex- aggerated by the hatred of religion ; and the professors are sure to censure him for not taking their side of the dispute, whether right or wrong. It is a common snare of Satan to endea- vour to make young Christians of every rank dissatisfied with their stations : sometimes CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 119 this is done by suggesting an excess of zeal, in supposing they could glorify God, or be more useful to man in some other sphere ; and sometimes by holding out a hope that they might escape the difficulties of the cross which press upon them. Thus the higher want to become clergymen, and the lower desire to go out as missionaries ; the single want to be married, and the married lament the difficulties which they suppose the cares of a family present to a close walk with God. But each ought to be sure that he is exactly in the state in which God intends him to be, and it should be his constant endeavour to remain in it, and to fulfil the duties of it, and in it, as unto Him. The three several states of husband and wife, parent and child, master and servant, varying in nearness of intimacy, as well as in the depth of mystery which they set forth, define also the limits, and furnish a reason for the limitation of resistance to the command of the superior in the several degrees. No command of the master to the servant ought to be disobeyed, except such as is contrary to 120 SOCIAL DUTIES ON the written word of the master's Master, which is in heaven, and such as would oblige the servant to violate the higher duty which might be due to a parent or a child, a husband or wife, or to the king. It seems to be a refinement of barbarity that could only be found in a place where Satan's influence was undisputed and unresisted, by which we see that the men-stealers in the West Indies com- mand the wretched objects of their fiendish cruelty to be the instruments of torture to their dearest relatives ; so that we read in the Jamaica Gazettes of husbands being ordered to flog their wives, parents their children, &c. (Oh God ! what horrors are there not yet unrequited in that land ! O Lord, hear the sighing of the captive, for there is none that fighteth for him, but only thou, O God.) If a command be given bj a parent to violate a duty to a husband or wife, that command ought not to be obeyed. Occasions for call- ing this to mind are by no means uncommon. It frequently happens, that when mothers, who have been long accustomed to be the chief object of a daughter's attentions, find, CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 121 upon marriage, that daughter's affections transferred to her husband, they uncon- sciously imagine that their child has ceased to love, and has begun to slight them. This feeling often leads to remonstrance, and an endeavour to prevent the husband being the exclusive possessor of that attention which the mother used aforetime to share, and many a domestic coolness has been thereby engendered. But whatever the motive may be, and whoever the person is, be they parent, or other relation, who attempts, by any means whatever, direct or indirect, to produce dis- union, or anything but the strongest and most indissoluble oneness of affection and interest between man and wife, is to be ac- counted by both as their bitterest foe, and cast from them as an accursed serpent in their path. In like manner is to be treated any one who would sow discord between parent, and child, particularly between widows and their children. The dissolution of all the bonds of society is more apparent in the case of servants and masters than in any other situation. The 12*2 SOCIAL DUTIES ON universal system pursued by tradesmen, even by some who make great professions of reli- gion, of paying servants a per-centage upon the amount of their masters' bills, is a direct premium upon waste and dishonesty in every department which is entrusted to the servant's care. Instead of looking upon themselves as parts of one family, which has but one in- terest, they enter their master's service for the purpose of indirect plunder, by means of which they intend to procure a provision against future contingencies for themselves. The heads of the families are kept in inten- tional ignorance of any evil that arises, and it is considered a breach of duty in one ser- vant to report the misconduct of another : the extent of this is so great, that it is absolutely impossible for any large family to counteract it. The heads of many families, who are called religious, know as little what takes place amongst their servants as the most worldly ; and though there are some religious servants who are conscientious in certain things, there are scarcely any who do not wink at the misdemeanours of their fellow- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 123 servants, rather than perform their duty to their employer. Nor, indeed, can it be other- wise, since social duties are not inculcated either in the schools or from the pulpits of modern religionists, but only those which are personal and selfish. In all ages and countries of the world these several relationships have been held especially sacred, as the peculiarity of the laws by which they are severally defended does testify. As the king is directly the re- presentative of God, so the highest crime in that relationship is unpardonable, and high treason against the sovereign authority is always punished with death in every com- monwealth, whether the supreme sovereignty be vested in one or more individuals. In like manner an adulterer or adulteress has always been an object of marked detestation, quite as much among the licentious Greeks and Romans of antiquity, as amongst the inhabitants of the countries in which Christi- anity has been established. The child, under a certain and fixed age, is a legal nonentity for many purposes, and i*24 SOCIAL DUTIES ON is seen by the eye of the law only in its father ; it can do no act ; it can express no will in all those cases in which it stands solely in the relationship of child to its parent ; though in other relationships it is held as a responsible being. The church accepts the father's faith for the child's faith, and re- ceives it as a member of herself before it can give any account of its own ; and the word piety has more frequent reference to respect for parents than for the gods. The law affords special protection to ser- vants from the maltreatment of masters, and the heaviest pecuniary damages are awarded against him who lifts his hand against a do- mestic servant. For all demurs in receiving their stipulated wages, servants in trades have special and summary redress by summoning their masters before a single magistrate, who has power to settle the dispute, without the process of an action, with all its expenses and delays, in the higher courts of law, which in every other case must intervene. On the other hand, the crime of defrauding a master, and stealing his property, by a servant, is CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 1*25 never pardoned, but meets a sev^erer punish- ment than theft in any other circumstances. All these peculiarities mark the additional sanctity of the relationship around which they are thrown, and which God has ap- pointed to teach us that they are states to be specially reverenced. The rules for right conduct, in all their varieties, which are daily witnessed, might be extended to any length, but are unnecessary, because they have been entered into with great minuteness in other works, particularly in those which have been already mentioned, and to which the reader is referred. But with whatever power of eloquence the observance of rules may be enforced, and with whatever minuteness the several relationships of life may be analysed, much must still be overlooked and unpro- vided for ; and therefore it is of importance to have the principle, out of which the sacred- ness of these duties arises, fully impressed upon the mind, because it is equally applica- ble to all circumstances that can arise. In every difficulty, let the Christian meditate upon that spiritual truth which the ordinance 126 SOCIAL DUTIES ON out of which his duty aiises, is intended to set forth ; and whether as husband, parent, or master ; wife, child, or servant — rule on the one hand, or subjection on the other, will be made clear. It is not intended to enjoin marriage as the duty of every Christian, since the Lord has given directions upon the subject calculated for each particular case ; but it may fairly be predicted, that no family is properly consti- tuted that has not both a master and a mis- tress. " It is not good for man to be alone" in such a situation ; and the cases are the exceptions, not the rule, in which it can be advisable for a man, who has a fixed resi- dence and occupation, not to be married. On the other hand, those who have no fixed resi- dence, such as missionaries, soldiers, sailors, &c., entail upon women many additional evils to those which, under the most favourable circumstances, attend married life, in uniting themselves in these hallowed bonds. The female mind is constituted like that plant to which it is often compared, the ivy, and thrives best when it can lean upon another CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 127 more unbending than itself. It is not formed for independence ; and, in very far the ma- jority of instances, a woman is more happy with an indifferent husband, than with none at all, provided only that no christian woman can lawfully unite herself with an irreligious man. But I speak here only with reference to the family, not with respect to herself, which has been already discussed. The anxiety expressed by the Jewish wo- men, in the Bible, to be married, is generally attributed to their hope of becoming the mother of Messiah. Such may have been the case to a certain extent : but since in every nation it has been considered more happy for a woman not to be single, the feeling must lie deeper than in anything peculiar to one people alone. In a ballad, sung about the streets of the Grecian towns by boys, pre- served by Athenaeus, (and no stronger proof of popular opinion can be found,) we read : — Maiden, for this favour done. May thy fortunes, as they run, Ever brighten ; be thy spouse Rich, and of a noble house ; 12S SOCIAL DUTIES ON May thy sire, in aged ease. Nurse a boy who calls thee mother ; And his g-randam, on her knees. Rock a girl, who calls him brother ; Kept as bride, in reservation For some favoured near relation, &c. &c. ^' Toute maison bien ordomiee est rimage de Tame du maitre. Les lambris dores et le luxe, et la magnificence n'annoncent que la vanite de celui qui les etale ; au lieu que partout ou vous verrez regner la regie sans tristesse, la paix sans esclavage, I'abondance sans profusion, dites avec coniiance, c'est un etre heurenx qui commande ici. Pour moi, je pense que le signe le plus assure du vrai contentement d'esprit, est la vie retiree et domestique ; et que ceux qui vont chercher sans cesse leur bonheur chez autrui, ne Tout point chez eux-memes. Un pere de famille qui se plait dans sa maison, a pour prix les soins continuels qui'l s'y donne, la conti- nuelle jouissance des plus doux sentimens de la nature. Seul entre tons les mortels, il est maitre de sa propre felicite, parce qu'il est heureux comme Dieu meme, sans rien desirer de plus que ce dont il jouit. Comme cet CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 129 Etre immense, il ne songe pas a amplifier ses possessions, mais alesrendre veritablement siennes par les relations les plus parfaites, et la direction la mieux entendue ; s'il ne s'en- richit pas par des nouvelles acquisitions, il s'enrichit en possedant mieux ce qu'il a. II ne jouissoit que du revenu de ses terres; il jouit encore de ses terres memes, en presi- dant a leur culture, et les parcourant sans cesse. Son domestique lui etoit etranger, il en fait son bien, son enfant, il s'approprie. II n'etoit maitre qu'a prix d'argent ; il le devient par Tempire sacre de I'estime et des bienfaits. Que la fortune le depouille de ses richesses, elle ne sauroit lui oter les coeurs qu'il s'est attaches ; elle n'otera point des en- fans a leur pere ; toute la difference est, qu'il les nourrissoit hier, et qu'il sera demain nourri par eux. C'est ainsi qu'on apprend a jouir veritablement de ses biens, de sa famille, et de soi-meme ; c'est ainsi que les details d'une maison deviennent delicieux pour I'honnete homme qui sait en connoitre le prix ; c'est ainsi que loin de regarder ses devoirs comme une charge, il en fait son bonheur, et qu'il K 130 SOCIAL DUTIES ON tire cle ses toucliaiites et nobles fonctions la gloire, et plaisir d'etre homme." — Such is the beautiful language of Rousseau — a man who furnishes an awful instance of the facility with which truth can be held in the imagi- nation, without influencing the affections and the will. If a family lives in peace and harmony and righteous discipline, let each member of it acknowledge daily that this blessing comes from God, from whom alone any good can flow. If, on the other hand, any evil arises among them, let them see in it that which would have been their continual course, but for the restraining hand of their merciful Father ; and thank Him for having permitted it, whereby they have been reminded again of their continued innate depravity, which is ever ready to break out. The earliest priesthood on earth was that of the heads of families. The Levitical priesthood having ceased when sacrifices ceased, there is no longer a priesthood upon earth. Every true believer is, indeed, a spiritual priest, but that is only in the resur- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 131 rection body of the Lord Jesus. The title of priest is one of the absurd perversions, when applied to the christian ministry, of the Bishop of Rome. No person has a right to take the office of instruction to the family out of the hands of its head. The head, in- deed, may invite a christian brother, whether clerical or lay, to be his deputy for a season, in the insti'uction of the family, in heading its worship, or in invoking God's blessing on his bounty, furnished at its meals ; but it is still only as the deputy of the head of the family that any clergyman can so act, not in virtue of any sacerdotal character. An essay on a practical subject should apply itself to the customs, follies, and vices of the time in which it is written, because that form of these several evils which is most prevalent in the world, is also that which is most likely to offer the strongest temptation to professors of religion: for this reason, some remarks are necessary upon a i'ew points which the afore-mentioned excellent works have left untouched. The following obser- vations are from one of our most popular £2 132 SOCIAL DUTIES ON literary journals, upon the subject of tra- velling in foreign countries, a mania which has seized many families professing religion, as well as others, and who ought to have had better employment for their money and their time. " The tide of travel has of late set im- petuously over every part of Europe, carry- ing with it all sorts and conditions of people. The wonted habits of social and family life amongst us have all been modified more or less by this cause. We will not indulge in declamation on the honourable condition of an English gentleman residing the greater part of the year on his estate ; the centre of family connexions; preserving the attach- ment, encouraging the industry, sustaining the moral habits of his tenantry, and per- forming his various local duties. What is the condition of the country-seat of the absentee proprietor ? the mansion-house de- serted and closed, the old family servants dismissed ; the surrounding cottagers, who have derived their support from the vicinage, deprived of this, pass into destitution and CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 133 wretchedness, either abandoning their homes, throwing themselves upon parish relief, or seeking provision by means yet more despe- rate. The charities and hospitalities which belong to such a mansion lie dormant : the clergyman is no longer supported and aided in his important duties ; the family pew in the church is closed ; and the village church- yard ceases to be a place of pleasant meeting, where the peasant's heart is gladdened by the kindly notice of his landlord. Is it to be wondered at, that distress and crime should follow close upon all this ? and if it be so, are those altogether innocent who can con- sent to forfeit the fair condition in which Providence has placed them, as the protec- tors of the happiness and virtue of others } " Tn some instances it has been in our power to trace this debasement of life through all its stages ; in many we have seen it in its results, and extending alike to the other parts of the family. They are detached from all habitual duties : the salutary feeling of home is lost. One circumstance must be added further to this outline ; we mean the 134 SOCIAL DUTIES ON detachment from religious habits which attend residence abroad. The means of public worship exist to our countrymen but in few places, and these under circumstances the least propitious to such duties. Days speedily become all alike : English families removed from out of the sphere of these proper duties, common to every people, and from all opportunities of public worship or religions example, incur a risk which is very serious in kind, especially to those still young and unformed in character. " All these objections we have already stated, apply with twofold force to the female part of families so circumstanced. The de- tachment from former habits is here more complete, and the mode of life is one yet more at variance with the peculiar duties and graces of the sex. We shall be censured as old- fashioned monitors, if we talk of ' the worthy knowledge which belongs to the vocation of the English housewife :' but it can never be out of season to speak of those endearing domestic qualities which refuse foreign nur- ture, even under the warmest suns and CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 135 fairest skies, and can nowhere be so well fostered as in the tranquillity of home. The objects and motives which best give guidance to conduct are wanting abroad ; and their place is too often usurped by others, of harmful tendency to the reserve and delicacy of the female character. It has too frequently occurred to us to see young Englishwomen, who, living at home, would have been the ministers of innocent cheerful- ness to their own families, and of charity and consolation to the poor around, become, when transplanted to a foreign town, either insig- nificant idlers, or, yet more bold and unfe- minine, and too prodigal of their favour to the doubtful society which so often surrounds them. " The return of a family to their native seat is not always a replacement of things as they were before. Habits are altered, ties and associations broken ; a vague desire of further changes supplants often the tranquil feelings of a domestic life, and interferes with its duties. Restlessness is a quality which 136 SOCIAL DUTIES ON propagates itself; and this is no less true with regard to families than to individuals. " The importance of speaking foreign lan- guages, and especially French, early and well, is the argument we perpetually hear urged for residence on the Continent. By some process of reasoning, to us not very intelligible, it has been made to appear that the speaking of French is essential to female education, and that a young lady is barely presentablein society without this acquisition. It is fair and reasonable to rate the speaking French well as an accomplishment; but too much may be ' paid for this whistle.' This fashion of speaking foreign languages pre- vails most in the female education of the day, where it may fairly be presumed to be the least needed, and where indeed it is often of very doubtful utility. Here it has even dis- puted the palm of precedence with music. " It has been our especial object to show that the man who makes his natural soil his home, brings to himself more dignity and re- spect; to his family more peace and virtue; CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 137 to his dependents more happiness ; and to his country more usefuhiess ; than he who with his family squanders in an idle life else- where, the talents and the time which might have been employed well and honourably here." 138 SOCIAD DUTIES ON CHAPTER IV. The two relationships which remain to be considered are of a public nature. It is not necessary to repeat here, what may be found better stated in other places : and the awful responsibilities and duties of the ministerial office have been ably set forth very fre- quently. A MINISTER of God's word in Christ's Church is one who has a right to speak with authority in the name of his Master. The private Christian is indeed bound to dissemi- nate, within his sphere, all the knowledge of God's truth which he has been taught, but he must not dogmatise, that is, teach as one having authority. His province is to CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 139 read, and submit to the judgment of others his views of the right meaning of God's word. The father, however, and head of a family, stands towards his children and servants in a higher character than that of a mere private Christian. To these he must of necessity so far dogmatise as to give explanations, which the tender years and inferior learning of those whom he addresses, preclude the possibility of their doing otherwise than receive on his authority. The ministers of Christ's Church, indeed, do not lose their dignity on entering the door of a lay brother, but still they are but " strangers within his gates." Whereas heads of families often seem to consider it improper in them to exercise their office of instructors, and leaders of worship, in their houses, in the presence of ministers : where- fore it seems to have come to pass, that in general the labours of ministers, on these occasions, are not so much owned and ho- noured of God towards families, as they are in their pulpits. Let heads of families feel and understand the difference between de- puties and substitutes ; betv> een requiring help 140 SOCIAL DUTIES ON to perform their own duty, and casting off that duty on the shoulders of others. The popish priests, taking advantage of the difference which was their due as ministers in the Church, set themselves up for a distinct body from the rest of the community, and assumed titles, authorities, and immunities, which are not wholly rejected even in Pro- testant countries to the present day. But the office of priest in the Church can strictly be fulfilled only by a peculiar class of men, and only exercised in one particular place, as we learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews, where one altar and one sacrifice is declared to per- tain to the priests of the order of Aaron, and another altar and another sacrifice to the priests after the order of Melchizedek. In each case the office of priest can only be per- formed at the consecrated altar in the midst of the great congregation, and not in a private room. This evil arises from not giving that re- spect which is due to the ambassador of Christ, and from giving a deference which is not due on false grounds ; and which again CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 141 arises from losing sight of the ordinance of God, and the meaning of the functions. The office is described in Scripture under the term minister ; that is, a servant of the people, who is to administer, or convey to them, the food which is sent them by the Lord. The very meaning, therefore, of the word shows the absurdity of a system which would convert a servant into a superior. Another term is pastor ; that is, one who is to conduct the flock to the food which their Master has provided, and has desired him to give them. Another term is bishop or over- seer; that is, one who overlooks the people, warns them of any danger which is coming to them ; observes it as itarises, and, by per- forming this duty, enables the people to pur- sue their avocations with less interruption. Another term is angel, or the messenger to carry Christ's message to the Church. The most extensive, and at the same time the most detailed instruction for christian minis- ters, is to be found in the three first chapters of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We are informed therein, that the Great 142 SOCIAL DUTIES ON Universal Bishop holds the angels of churches immediately in his own right hand, and that no one intermeddles between him and them. In that beautiful passage the Lord Jesus is exhibited, in vision, in the dress which the high-priest wore, not within the veil, which was of linen, but in the golden vesture which he wore when he came out to bless the people : to indicate that the vision relates to what takes place in the Church on earth, not in the Church in heaven. An enumeration is given of the whole of the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ, which combined description is after- wards divided into seven different parts, one of which is prefixed to the head of seven separate Epistles, directed to seven separate Churches. It will be found, on examination, that the warnings, given to these several Churches, contain all the evils into which it is possible for a Church to faU ; and that the peculiar character of Christ, which stands at the head of each Epistle, is that, by the con- templation of which, the Church, which has fallen into that evil, will be delivered from it. Thus there is no evil which a watchful, and CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 143 active, and jealous minister of a Church can detect in the flock over which he is the over- seer, for which he is not here provided with an antidote. It is to be observed in these Epistles, that Christ views the Church in its minister, and addresses him as responsible for the state of the Church under his charge. As is the minister, so is the Church; and whatever is the distinguishing characteristic of the minister, such is the characteristic of the Church : so that let any one quality abound in undue proportion in the minister, so will it be the predominant feature of the people to whom he ministers. By reflecting on the office of a shepherd, we perceive the duty of a spiritual pastor. It is his province to give to the sheep what- ever food the Master has furnished him with for that purpose. A faithful shepherd will not presume to say, " this food is not proper for the flock, and therefore I will withhold it from them ;" but he will say, " it is my Master's business to furnish what is proper for the sheep committed to my care ; and 144 SOCIAL DUTIES ON whatever He gives to me, that will I give to them." This is so obvious, that the contrary could never have escaped censure, still less could it have drawn forth expressions of approbation, if the foundation of the respon- sibility had been kept in mind. Yet the conduct of Mr. Cecil, in withholding a por- tion of the food w^hich God had given him to convey to the people, has been held up, by some of his brother clergymen, as an example worthy of imitation. But another character of the minister of a Church sets this in a still clearer point of view, which is that of an ambassador. The business of an ambassador is to deliver the message with which he is charged. The con- sequences of his doing so, must be left to the management of Him who sent it. In all cases preachers of the" Gospel are witnesses for God. A common delusion which attacks ministers is, that it rests upon their exertions whether men are converted or not ; for this is true only in a very limited and secondary sense. Their principal object ought to be, CHRISTIAJ^ PRINCIPLES. 145 to declare all the truth of God that they know ; whether men are converted by it or not, is no business of theirs. A notion has crept in amongst persons professing evangelical religion, that they, as laymen, can interfere with, and ought to con- trol, the ambassadors of Christ, in the mes- sage which these, in his name, announce to the people. This has probably grown out of an abuse which arose at the time of the Refor- mation, by which the right of presentation to livings in the Church of England were allowed to come into lay hands, and be a matter of sale. The evil, however, in the case of chapels, both in the Church of Eng- land, and amongst dissenters, is carried to a much greater length, as may be seen in a review of another work by Mr. James, entitled, "The Church of England and Dissent," published by Seeley. The people who exercise control over ministers cannot be blessed. It is essential to the holiness of God, and to the sanctity of his ordinances, that He should curse such congregations, as that He should curse a family in which the L 146 SOCIAL DUTIES ON husband or wife lived in adultery ; or where children were brought up in disobedience to their parents ; or where they and the servants were uninstructed, and allowed to commit iniquity unrestrained. This alone is suffi- cient to account for the low state of religion in dissenters' congregations. As God's bless- ing must follow the observance of his ordi- nance, so must his curse follow its violation. We are constantly in the habit of calling on the faithfulness of God to fulfil his promises of blessings on the observance of his ordi- nances, whilst we commonly forget that the same faithfulness must make Him withhold those blessings from their violation. Where- as we act as if God were a positive in respect to what we like to do, and only a negative with respect to what we neglect. It is owing to the blessing attending the ORDINANCE, and not the character of the man, that the successes which attend the labours of a minister are so various. We often see many turned to the service of God, by the preaching of one whose knowledge of divine mysteries is slight, and whose powers CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 147 of expression are feeble, while no such effect attends a superior divine and more eloquent orator. In the latter case, both preacher and hearers are apt to be drawn away from the audience to the individual; in the former, conscious weakness produces more frequent and more fervent aspirations for support from on high, more distrust of ingenious expe_ dients and of plans for making Christians ; and more unreserved proclamation of all the truths that God has taught. Wherever there exists amongst a congregation a spirit of sit- ting as critics upon their ministers, it is im- possible that that congregation can grow in grace, because they thereby prove that they are not looking to the ordinance of God, but to the talents and powers of man. This is a new evil which has appeared in the church in the present day; and amongst non-conformists that plague is universal which they charge upon established churches, namely, that lay- men exercise power over the priest's office. In America, the people hire a minister for a few months : in Guernsey, though professing to be members of the church of England, l2 148 SOCIAL DUTIES ON they hire one on a lease for five years. In the Isle of Man a minister of an Independent chapel was dismissed by the congregation, because he taught them a portion of divine truth with which they were previously un- acquainted. The root of all these evils which are now overrunning the church, is in not perceiving that it is THE ORDINANCE which God blesses, and not the individual. One great delusion of popery consists in transferring that power which belongs to the invisible, to the visible ; and Protestants fall into similar errors, who, instead of looking to the ordinance, look to him who performs its functions. Thus the Papists see in the persons of individual priests that power of absolution which resides only in the ministrations of the church ; that effi- cacy in the water of baptism which belongs only to the rite ; that flesh in the wafer, which can only be eaten by faith. In like manner, Protestants often look to that efficacy from the talents of a preacher, which is only to be found in his office ; and the preachers them- selves are too apt to cherish a delusion which CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 149 flatters their vanity, by becoming mounte- banks, in order to attract the admiration of a crowded auditory ; while the people attend them as critics, rather than as persons receiv- ing a message from Christ to their souls. It is quite common to hear it inquired whether a minister was much blessed ; by which question is meant, whether he attracted a crowd of hearers, and whether he gained many persons to assent to his doctrines. If the minister has been honestly stating all that he knew and believed to be truth, without holding back any portion of it from a false suggestion of Satan that he would thereby better serve God, he ought not to doubt but that God ha^ effected, by his ministry, what- ever it was his purpose to effect. The church has ever held that the character of the minister or person who administers an ordinance, did not in anywise affect the validity of the rite itself; as is well expressed in the twenty-sixth Article of the Church of England : — '' Although in the visible church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the ministra- 150 SOCIAL DUTIES ON lion of the Word and Sacraments, yet foras- much as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving of the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the gTace of God's gifts diminished from such as by faith and rightly do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them ; which be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men." Something analogous to this takes place among men. The value of a gift does not depend upon the quality of the material by which it is conveyed. The private character of an ambassador has no connexion with the purport of the message with which he is charged. If a person arrives in a foreign country, alleging that he is appointed to bear a message from his royal master, the sove- reign of that country has simply to be satis- fied of the validity of his credentials ; that is, of his having been truly sent by him on CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 151 whose business he pretends to have come ; but the personal character of the messenger is no concern of him to whom the messenger is sent. Hence we perceive the error of those who suppose, that because the ministers of any church act in an irreligious manner, and testify by their conduct that they are unworthy of their high dignity, that that church thereby ceases to have a necessary characteristic, and a right to be considered an integral part of the Church of Christ. The duties of a Pastor are more large than those of a Minister, and by no means limited to the services of the church. He must be assiduous in visiting his flock, and making part of the domestic circle of the poorest of its members. But if he wishes due re- spect to be shown to his own oifice, he must set the example of respecting the office of others. He must remember that in the cot- tage of the labourer the father is the head, and he only a stranger within the labourer's gate; there must be no dogmatizing here. The pulpit is the place from which he may teach ex cathedra ; but out of it he is only 152 SOCIAL DUTIES ON such another man as themselves, and must condescend to men of low estate. Neither can he expect much credit for feeling for the souls of the poor, unless he be constant in his attention to their bodies also. It is a charge brought with some justice against many of the evangelical clergy, — that they have less sympathy for the temporal distress of the poor, than many of their clerical bre- thren who do not profess to be so much enlightened in spiritual truth. This is a temptation of Satan to mar their success. Sickness is an occasion on which the pastor ought never to omit the opportunity of ad- ministering relief: almost all the diseases of the poor arise from debility, and require more nursing and attention than medical skill. Clean linen is an article they always want ; and somebody to attend to their children and household matters while they are confined. Much suffering and subsequent misery is brought on women by being obliged, by other domestic calls, to move about too soon, and exert themselves too much after confinement in child-birth : here the supply of a nurse CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 153 would be doubly advantageous, not only for the present necessity, but also by preventing future misery. This is a more religious sphere of duty also for the single women in the pa- rish than attending committees. Medical men are frequently compelled to withhold pre- scribing for the poor, because, since their ail- ments arise chieily from deficient noiuish- ment, the restorative medicines and food ne- cessary for their cure are so expensive, as to be quite out of their power to procure. Here, too, the pastor might aid the physician, and with soup and wine do more than the whole materia medica besides. The habitual attend- ance on the poor, in the company of the ordi- nary medical practitioner, will speedily give to the most ignorant an adequate knowledge of common sicknesses ; and he who has " first a willing mind," will quickly find it the most valuable of all seasons, if duly attended to, for winning the kind regards of those who are not to be won by any other means. The Bishop of Winchester has sts^id in his late charge, that a minister " must grudge no teaching which may tend to build up his peo- 154 SOCIAL DUTIES ON pie in their most holy faith, and withhold no good office which may minister to iheir earthly well-being. In the words of that old author, to whom I have already alluded, he will de- sire ' to be all to his parish, and not only a pastor, but a lawyer also, and a physician.' He will not think the name of temporal guar- dian, protector, and friend of his people, ill assorted with that of spiritual guide ; so that he may smooth the ruggedness of their earthly path, and carry them on with him, through the working of their natural affection, in the way that leads to eternal life." — p. 36. It is not only in times of sickness that the affectionate solicitude of the pastor should be shown. He should upon all occasions be the patron and the friend of the labourer ; to advocate his cause against the oppressor, whether it be the master, the overseer, the magistrate, or a powerful neighbour. He must be the peace-maker of all differences that arise ; he must insinuate himself into the confidence of the worst characters in his parish. But in all these cases he must not go as a perpetual sermon-maker ; but show CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 155 that he possesses common sense for the ordi- nary details of secular life. If the clergy- man betrays that he does not know a cabbage from a potato, such of his parishioners as know little else, will shrewdly suspect that he has as little wisdom in the affairs of the next world, as he manifests in those of this. If he has nothing on his lips but a never- ending sermon, he will be shunned as a pest by all who do not hold the same amount of scriptural truth as himself, be it much or little. The knowledge of the labourers, and even of the farmers, and indeed of country gentlemen, is far behind those of correspond- ing rank who reside in towns. A few cheap periodical publications, pointing out the most recent improvements in cottage and agricul- tural economy, might be let out with advan- tage as well to their moral as to their physical culture. The system of universal and gratuitous education by means of the Bell and Lancas- trian plans has been adopted throughout Great Britain, by which the advocates of schools expected the morals of the people 156 SOCIAL DUTIES ON were to be much improved. The result has by- no means justified these expectations, and in- deed, as far as it was an experiment, it may be safely pronounced to be a total faihire. This will not be matter of surprise to any who can enter into the principles set forth in these pages. The case of Scotland, which was fre- quently but erroneously quoted in support of the plan of educating the poor by the instru- mentality of societies, is, when rightly con- sidered, an evidence on the other side. The Scotch schoolmaster is a subordinate to the pastor of the parish, so that the whole system is strictly ecclesiastical, and the children only leave the eye of their parents to be under the eye of the minister of God. In England these societies stepped in not only between the parent and the child, but between the pastor and his flock also ; thereby subverting the ordinances of God, and necessarily incul- cating contempt for them: since the more the children valued the advantage of instruc- tion, the more were they taught to consider their lawful superiors as persons who were either incompetent or unwilling to confer CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 157 Upon them that boon. Wherefore it is not to be doubted that the school societies have contributed more than all other things to introduce that spirit of lawlessness, and irreverence for all the institutions of God, which is universally perceived and deplored. The evil is not so glaring in some parishes where the minister is really the spiritual fa- ther of his flock, and knows the temporal and ghostly condition of every member of it. But these cases are very rare, and the schools are ordinarily mere affairs of charitable pa- rade, ^nd are superintended from a love of §tage effect, more than from the spontaneous influence of unobtrusive benevolence. Suc- cessful education must proceed from moral culture given by genuine affection, whether from parent, pastor, or preceptor ; and from unaffected love for what is helpless. It is an imperative duty to provide for the christian instruction of the poor ; but the system built up for it in these days is useless, since it is purely mechanical, does not touch the heart, nor form the character ; and therefore is in no sense education. The present plan has its 158 SOCIAL DUTIES ON reward in its own hollow sound of self-gratu- lation. Poverty is quicksighted, particularly in childhood, and that which does not come from the heart of the teacher can never reach the heart of the learner. Ministers of the Gospel are apt to run into two very opposite and contradictory errors. There is a great disposition in the weaker and worst instructed part of their congregations to idolize and flatter them, which arises from such hearers looking to the man, and not to the ordinance ; this leads to priestcraft, that is, to an assumption of authority to themselves as individuals, which is only due to their office. While there is such a tendency in one part of their flock to like to be priest-ridden, begetting in the minister a spirit of domina- tion, there arises in another part of their con- gregation so much disgust and repugnance at this, as to produce an undue re- action to the other extreme, in not paying proper deference to the word of Christ speaking in his ambas- sador. The other error into which ministers are apt to fall, is speaking contemptuously of other ministers j more especially of such as CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 159 are in any way eminent for their gifts in the pulpit. Contemporary poets can admire the merits of each other's writings : officers in the army give their due meed of approbation to the skill of their brethren : young beau- ties can speak with kindness of the different charms in which they severally excel : but it is very rare to hear one preacher speak of another but in terms of disparagement. The effect of this is not only prejudicial to their own characters, by marking how little they remember the recommendation of the apostle, for each to value the difference of gift in a brother, but it also produces, in the people, a most pernicious spirit of cavilling, and of attending the ordinances of God in a spirit of judging, rather than of receiving instruction : so that they are led to look upon preaching in the light of any other declamation on which the audience are to sit in judgment, and act accordingly. I have myself heard some ministers mention, in their pulpits, others of their brethren, by name, from whom they differed — or rather from whom they thought they differed; when they had not 160 SOCIAL DUTIES ON had the common decency, and common can- dour, to inquhe of those brethren themselves concerning the sentiment which they publicly and falsely denounced. All the foregoing directions for husbands, fathers, and masters, apply with tenfold force to a minister, since God says, " A bishop must be one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity ; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God ?" The deacons, too, it seems, must be men "ruling their children and their own house well ;" not indifferently, but well. The Church is the mystical body of Christ. As the person of Christ is the manifester of the Father, so are the members of Christ the manifesters of the Holy Ghost. As Christ is risen, and glorified manhood has sat down where no other individual ever shall, or ever can sit, even in the Father's throne, so shall the members of Christ sit where no other creatures ever shall, or ever can sit ; namely, with Christ on his throne. When Jesus ap- pears in glory, with a consuming fire before CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 161 and around him, all things shall be destroyed at his presence, save those individuals in whom the person of the Holy Ghost shall be found residing. The Holy Ghost was the GIFT which Christ received for men, and gave to his church at his ascension, to be resi- dent in her, empowering her to do all the works which Christ himself had done, and even gTcater. (John xiv. 1 — 28.) She was to be led into all truth : she was to be the ulti- ma ratio of all disputes that should arise amongst her members, (Matt, xviii. 17,) whereby no quarrels, wars, or fightings, would have waged. Some of her members would have exercised the power of healing the others : some would have prophesied for the edification of the rest : some would have used the faculty of speaking with other tongues for the pmpose of gathering into the christian fold the elect vessels out of the heathen world, &c. &c. By all which exer- cises the members would have been closely knit to one another through the participation of common and reciprocal benefits. (1 Cor. xii. xiii. xiv.) By this mean, also, the Holy M 162 SOCIAL DUTIES ON Ghost would have been ever visibly displayed upon the earth. But, alas ! almost during the lifetime of the apostle the church began to forget her high vocation, and while the Popish part has perverted that truth to the fabrication of lying miracles, the Protestant part has departed still further from the truth, by denying the visible agency of the Holy Ghost in men at all ; and consequently de- nying the manifestation of the Spirit in this dispensation, which is emphatically styled, the dispensation of the Holy Ghost ; and the only dispensation to which a promise of superhuman power was given even to the end. (Mark xvi. 15—20; James v. 16—18. CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 163 CHAPTER V. The last, and, in some respects, the largest, since it enfolds, as it were, all the rest, is the relationship of sovereign and subject. " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God." (Rom. xiii. 1.) " By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." (Prov. viii. 15, 16.) " God changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings." (Dan. ii. 21.) The awful judgment which fell upon the heathen king Nebuchadnezzar, was to teach him the responsibility of even those rulers that have not come into God's Church, as it is their duty to do : " till thou know that the most High ruleth in the m2 164 SOCIAL DUTIES ON kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomso- ever he will." (iv. 32.) This, then, is the sanction of all government, upon which it claims the obedience of every subject to the laws. If the government enacts laws which are contrary to the will of God, it is the duty of every Christian to refuse submission to them, and to abide the consequences of that refusal, whether it involve the loss of pro- perty, of liberty, or of life. " The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God : and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same ; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." Of all national blessings which can be conferred upon a peo- ple, none is comparable to that of equal and settled laws. " For this cause pay ye tribute CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 165 also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour to whom honour." Thus we find that respect to all the deputies of the Singly authority, to the persons who, in his name, carry on the subordinate details of his office, stands upon the same motive and precept that it is enjoined towards the king himself. The doctrine of passive obedience is the only christian doctrine. Active resist- ance means the right in extreme cases to cut off the king's head ; a case neither contem- plated nor provided for by the apostle, no more than the rebellion of a child against its parents, or of a wife against her husband. It is not unusual in ill-mannered societies to hear a woman spoken of as mean-spirited for her meek submission to a querulous husband : and the Christian must expect to be taunted with being a slave, for refusing to lift his hand against the Lord's anointed. Herein lies the cross of the christian statesman, and the duty of putting down rebellion. The apostle in the 166 SOCIAL DUTIES ON l^assage just quoted, asserts the divine right of tax-gatherers, so that it is strange that the flippancy of Paley should have been counte- nanced by any who calls himself a Christian, who tried to burlesque this, by speaking of " the divine right of constables," in order to throw ridicule upon the christian doctrine of the divine right of kings : yet let it be ridi- culed as it may, or perverted as it may, the doctrine is not less true, and has ever been held by the greatest statesmen and noblest examples which history affords. When Henry V. found fault with the Chief Justice for having punished him for some im- proper conduct when Prince of Wales, Shaks- peare makes the Chief Justice defend himself by saying, that at the time when he sent him to prison, — I then did use the person of your father. The image of his person lay then in me; And in th' administration of his law. While I was busy for the commonwealth, Your Majesty pleased to forget my place, The majesty and power of law and justice. The image of the King whom I presented, And struck me in my very seat of judgment j CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 167 WJiereon, as an offender to your father, I gave bold way to my authority. And did commit you. If the deed were ill. Be you contented, wearing now the garland. To have a son set your decrees at nought ; To pluck down justice from your awful bench. To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword That guards the peace and safety of your person ; Nay more, to spurn at your most royal image, And mock your working in a second body. This is not a fiction of the poet, but the doctrine of all lawyers. Bracton, one of the oldest of our law books, says of the king, ^' that God only is over him." (Lib. i. c. 7.) Mirror relates, that the independent princes who governed in various parts of Britain, placed themselves under one head : and hence some have fancied the vain notion that a king was elected by his subjects. Selden, in his Titles of Honour, says, " As the supremacy of princes and their government is delegate from the Highest, their judgments being also called his; so in a general name they are titled gods, even by God himself, because here on earth they should, for their power, be his imitators. And, therefore, they may also in 168 SOCIAL DUTIES ON that same be styled divi or dli. ' Divi Chris- tiani reges^ saith Contzen, the present Pro- fessor of Divinity in Metz, ' vocari possunt €0 modo quo dii, quia Dei sunt vicarii, et Dei voce judicaiity The most common word by which the Deity has caused himself to be expressed, is Elohim — D^n^K ; and this same name God has himself made use of in Scrip- ture to designate all rulers of his appoint- ment. (Exod. iv. 16. Ps. Ixxxii. 6.) '* The abstract theory of the English con- stitution clothes the monarch with every de- gree of power, and every kind of perfection. According to this theory he is absolute ruler of the state ; supreme judge among its inha- bitants; sole owner of its land ; commander of its forces ; representative of its existence abroad ; fountain of its honours. He is also, in the eye of the same law, immortal, in- fallible, everywhere present, and incapable either of doing or of meaning wrong." — " The same scheme may be traced in the polity of all the European nations which arose out of the ruins of the Roman empire. The lan- guage of the law is everywhere nearly the CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 169 same." — Edin. Rev. ciii. 144. It is needless to remark, that this is a character truly ap- plicable only to Christ himself. The neglect of the duty of superintending those over whom God has placed us, whether arising from voluntary or involuntary causes, is always attended by a curse. The distant provinces and colonies are never so happily governed as those which are nearest to the seat of government. The estate on which a proprietor does not reside is never so produc- tive, nor so well regulated, as that which is under his immediate eye. Children who have been bred up away from their parents never cling together in one band of sympathy, affec- tion, and interest in after life. The associa- tion of happiness with the smiles of their bro- thers and sisters has been broken ; each has become an insulated being, or has formed other objects of attachment. But those who have been accustomed to share every pleasure with a parent, or with a brother or sister, never afterwards find their affections so fully drawn out as round their own domestic hearths. The English have been ridiculed 170 SOCIAL DUTIES ON for making their salutations to each other as if they were physicians inquiring after the state of their patients' health. Be this as it may, the second question is always, " I hope your family is well." A delightful involun- tary testimony, that in the well-being of the domestic circle, the happiness of each mem- ber is indissolubly involved. In France, and in many other foreign countries, to ask a man after the health of his wife and children, would be considered much in the same light as it is here to inquire about his horses and hounds. Confonnably to these maxims, when Buo- naparte wrote to his exiled heir, and rightful owner of the throne of France, to offer him some independent possessions in Italy, if he would renounce his claim to hereditary rights, Louis replied — " I do not confound Monsieur Buonaparte with those who have preceded him. I esteem his bravery and military genius ; I owe him good- will for many of the acts of his government, for benefits done to my people I will always consider as done to me. But he is mistaken if he supposes that my rights can ever be made the subject of CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 171 bargain or compromise. What the designs of God may be for me and my house, I know not : but of the duties imposed on me by the rank in which it was his pleasure I should be born, I am not wholly ignorant. As a Christian, I will perform those duties while life remains. As a descendant of Louis the Great, I will know how to respect myself, were I in fetters. As the successor of Fran- cis I., I will at least say with him, ' all is lost except honour.'" With the same just views, when restored to the throne in 1814, Louis XVIII. did not hesitate to date his first act as in the twentieth year of his reign ; and though he issued a charter, conferring, as from his own free-will, every privilege which the senate claimed for themselves and the nation, he refused peremptorily to concede them as emanating from that body or from the people. " Our religion," says Mr. Roberts, " is a part of our common law ; and the genius of our polity is christian throughout. No man can expound it or apply it correctly, without thus understanding it." There cannot be a 172 SOCIAL DUTIES ON maxim more entirely subversive of the Divine institution of monarchy, and contradictory of that truth which it is intended to typify, than the sentiment, " the people are the only source of legitimate power." It is as monstrous as to say that God rules by the appointment of his creatures : and this doctrine, long promul- gated, has at length become to be so univer- sally recognised, that it must destroy mo- narchy, and every other legitimate and sove- reign rule. A truth, however, is often added to this, which is, " that power is a trust to be used for the benefit of the people." All God's gifts are conferred upon men for the purpose of glorifying Him, and of dispensing happi- ness to others. But kings, and all who pos- sess power, in denying the former, refuse their assent to the latter also, and pervert and mis- use these gifts for the indulgence of their own passions and lusts, of oppression and cruelty to their inferiors. It is not kings only who are tyrants : captains of ships ; governors of colonies ; owners of slaves ; colonels of regi- ments ; landlords of labourers' cottages ; over- seers of the poor; country justices; all men CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 173 in short who possess power, in whatever form it may be exercised, may become tyrants, who do not consider that gift as rendering them doubly responsible to God, and who do not employ it as unto Him. To restrain this universally acknowledged evil propensity, the most intelligent people bind their kings by codes of laws, or constitutions, according to which alone they oblige them at their corona- tion to swear to rule. It is comparatively of little importance where the sovereign autho- rity is lodged, whether in one or more per- sons. In every state there is an ultimate power, against which there is no earthly ap- peal ; and it is to this power, and to the per- sons who exercise it, to whom the precept iipplies. It is remarkable, however, that al- though nations, at least small communities, can be governed, in times of peace and ordi- nary tranquillity, by the sovereign power being divided and shared amongst many ; yet that in all times of danger and difficulty, the usual course must be suspended, and the people have found it necessary to invest some 174 SOCIAL DUTIES ON individual with exclusive power : of which examples may be found in the difficult crises of all republics. '' I desire," says the apostle to Timothy, who was appointed the bishop of the church of the Ephesians — " I desire that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty ; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." In like manner St. Peter directs, — " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; whether it be to the king, as supreme ; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well : honour all men ; love the brother- hood; fear God; honour the king." The expression, " every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake," must be confined to those ordi- nances which are of God's appointment, and not extended to voluntary associations. Yet, CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 175 oven ill these, order is found to be so neces- sary, that men are obliged to elect presidents and other officers, under whom they may range themselves, and without whose gover- nance the objects for which they associate together cannot be carried on. The law of subordination seems from its universality to be necessary to the existence of every depart- ment of animal nature, for it is found to per- vade all brutes equally, whether in a tame or in a savage state. Birds of passage fly under the guidance of a leader. One stag is king of the forest ; one ram is master in every flock ; one bullock in every herd ; one hound in every pack. This too is the true foundation upon which the allegiance of Christians is paid to sovereigns, let their per- sonal characters be what they may : it is on this principle that the apostle commanded prayers to be offered up for the Pagan Roman emperors; and that the church of England styles her king, let him be who he may, " most religious ;" that is, him to whom fealty as a religious duty is due. Shaks- peare has beautifully expatiated upon the 176 SOCIAL DUTIES ON necessity of order and subordination, which is found to run through every class of created things. The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre. Observe degree, priority, and place, Insisture, course, proportion, reason, form, Office and custom, in all line of order : And therefore is the glorious planet, Sol, In noble eminence enthroned and sphered Amidst the other. ***** * O when degree is shaken, Which is the ladder of all high designs. The enterprise is sick ! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities. Peaceful commerce from dividable shores. The primogeniture and due of birth. Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels. But by degree, stand in authentic place ? Take but degree away, untune that string. And mark what discord follows ! each thing meets In mere oppugnancy ; the bounded waters Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores. And make a sop of all this solid globe : Strength should be lord of imbecility, And the rude son should strike his father dead : Force should be right ; or rather, right and wrong (Between whose endless jar justice resides,) CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES 177 Should lose their names^ and so should justice too. ****** And this neglection of degree it is. That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose It hath to climb. The general's disdained By him one step below ; he, by the next ; That next by him beneath : so every step, Exampled by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, grows to an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation. A beautiful lesson on this subject is taught in Rev. v., where the crowned elders cast their crowns at the feet of Him that silteth on the throne, saying, " Thou art worthy to receive the glory, and the honour," &c. " Oh, what a lesson of instruction ought this to be to kings, and what a lesson of in- struction it ought to be to the angels of churches ! Methinks this exhibition of the crowned ones of heaven evermore prostrat- ing themselves before heaven's King, might set the question to rest as to the origin of power, whether it be from God, or whether it be from the people ; and it might also set- tle the question, for whom power is held, and unto whom its gifts should be presented, N 178 SOCIAL DUTIES ON whether to God or to the people : but, alas I the time is gone by for men to learn their politics from the word of God : the church is become too evangelical to meddle with matters political, and the poor statesmen are left to make the best shift for themselves."— Irving. It is sometimes said by persons who are ill-informed upon such subjects, that the expression of a king being the " father of his people," is a figure derived from the simi- larity of a nation to a family, but that it is nothing more than a figure. This is very erroneous : the king is in fact the " father" in all cases where the natural author of the child's being abandons his duty towards him. In early ages, when the nature of pro- perty was such that it could not be enjoyed by infants and females, as for example in a migratory life, or where law afforded scarcely any protection, and the only defence of per- son or goods was military prowess, the juris- diction of the king had little room for its exercise, and the natural father exercised power even of life and death over his child. CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 179 But Still he was answerable to the king, until the law of the twelve tables gave an undefined power to Roman fathers, which seems never to have been called m question till restrained by Trajan, and finally abolished by Con- stantine. When, however, the northern hordes of Scythian origin, with customs de- rived in more unmixed succession from the patriarchal times, broke in upon the western empire, the power and importance of each sovereign being in exact proportion to the number of his retainers, the life of a subject was worth preserving, and the rights of infants were defended by the king in all cases where the father was inclined to violate them. When, in more settled times, infants and females became entitled to property, either in possession or in reversion, their rights too were preserved to them during their nonage by the power of the crown. The barbarity of the Roman law was but an extension, by those savage heathens, of the principle which antecedently existed : and the subsequent mitigation still leaves the principle untouched, that the king is the n2 180 SOCIAL DUTIES ON father of every child in his dominions, and the guardian to insure to him the perform- ance of those duties which his parents neglect. On this sound view of national, and espe- cially of christian law, did Lord Chancellor Eldon, using the king'*s power and authority, refuse to allow an avowed infidel, Shelley, and a notoriously w icked and abandoned man, Wellesley Pole, to have the guardian- ship of their own children. It is wisely expressed by the greatest phi- losopher, and one of the greatest statesmen and divines that ever lived, Lord Bacon, that " a king is a mortal god on earth, unto whom the living God hath lent his own name, as great honour. He must make religion the rule of government, and not to balance the scale ; for he that casteth in religion only to make the scales even, his own weight is con- tained in those characters, mene, mene, tekel^ upharsin — he is found too light, his kingdom shall be taken from him : and that king who holds not religion the best reason of state, is void of all piety and justice, the supporters CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 181 of a king." To the same purpose speaks a philosopher and republican, but a pious man and great statesman. " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable sup- ports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happi- ness, the firmest prop of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their con- nexions with private and public felicity. Let it be simply asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ; and let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be main- tained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of 182 SOCIAL DUTIES ON religious principle." — Washmgton, quoted hy Anderson. The special purpose for which the whole frame-work of human society is suj^ported, is in order that it might be a scaffolding, by means of which the living stones of the spiritual temple of God may be brought together, and fitted into their particular and appointed places. God upholds Christen- dom only until the number of his elect shall be accomplished. As soon as that has taken place, the whole fabric will be taken down, and the pure and beautiful church and city of the new Jerusalem alone appear. The first object, therefore, of a christian king should be the Church of Christ — its protec- tion, its encouragement, its enlargement. The office of preserving peace within the borders of his state, and of defending it from external aggression, is of far inferior import- ance to this. Yet so great is the perversity of man, that a wise legislator, and a skilful warrior, has ever attracted more of the world's applause than a pious king. As a CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 183 christian king cannot preserve peace and suppress evil, without the aid of judges and other instruments of justice; and as he cannot protect his territory without armies and fleets, so neither can he promote the increase of the Church of Christ, without a body of persons thereunto especially ap- pointed. For as it would be very absurd to suppose that each man could protect his property by his own craft and care ; or that the state could be defended by the desul- tory bravery of the inhabitants, without the aid of persons put apart especially for those purposes ; so is it equally absurd to suppose that the christian religion could exist, be protected, or extended by the un- combined exertions of individuals, without any authority or facilities being afforded them by the sovereign. For a state to exist without a religion of some sort being united to it, is a solecism in the world, the new revolutionary democracy of America being the first that ever attempted it : so that the experience of four thousand years in every corner of the globe, might have taught 184 SOCIAL DUTIES ON some diffidence to those who fondly dream that the christian religion wonld thrive equally well if the king were an atheist, and if it had no more protection or encourage- ment from him than Mahometanism, Ju- daism, or Deism. Woe be to that king and to that nation in which such maxims shall ever prevail ! The remarks of Mr. Anderson respecting the father of a family, are equally applicable to the father of a people. ^^ When God places any man at the head of a family, does He not say by such a step, ' T con- stitute you as the trustee, the guide, the guardian, of this part of mankind ; all under the roof are your charge, and to you en- trusted ? Now, for what end? to be ruled, or not ? to be instructed, or not ? to be by your example and your precepts led to heaven, or not ? the negative in such cases is not merely monstrous — it is profane." In unison with the same sentiments does the Church of England pray for the king, " that he, knowing Whose minister he is ;" and " we duly considering Whose authority he hath," CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 185 may fulfil his and our several duties ; and in a subsequent prayer, speaks of the people " committed to his charge," whom he is to " study to preserve in godliness." It is not to be denied that the christian principle upon which the observance of moral duties is enjoined in holy Scripture, is as much lost sight of by the religious, as by the irreligious part of the community ; and that there is as systematic a violation of them by Ev^angelists as by Papists. If children are abandoned by their parents, it matters nothing, as far as their welfare and God's ordinance are concerned, whether the parents profess one creed or another, or whether they pass their time in a ball, or in a committee-room. If parishes are neg- lected by their pastors, it is immaterial, as far as the poor are concerned, and as far as the studies of the minister are concerned, whether he is at a fox-chase, or travelling for a society ; whether he spends his time at Bath and Cheltenham, or at Geneva and Rome. If the king's vicegerency for Christ over his kingdom and over his church is to be gain- 186 SOCIAL DUTIES ON said, it does not signify, as far as the consti- tution of a christian state is concerned, whether it is by infidel republicanism, or by unsanctified liberalism. This condition of things has been brought about very much by a system of religion of human invention, a compliance with which has been substituted for respect to the ordinances of God. Such was Pharisaism of old, and such was the system which received its consummation in the Popish apostasy, and such is the system which has caused men professing Evange- lical religion to become amalgamated with the Infidel apostasy of these days. At no period since the promulgation of a free salvation to Eve, Noah, and Abraham, could men deny that salvation was to flow through faith in some sense or other. The Pharisees only begged that it might be seen to be influential in broad phylacteries and clean hands ; the Papists only insist that it should be mani- fested by good works ; and Evangelicals only urge, in addition, the fruits of the Spirit. The Pharisaic and Popish system had at least this advantage, that it was visible ; and CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 187 no one could make a pretence to religion, while living in open contradiction to his own maxims, without being detected to be a hypo- crite. But the chief evil of the Evangelical system is, that it is invisible ; that it con- sists in a set of inward frames and feelings, upon the perception of which the devotee concludes himself religious or otherwise ; so that his mind is continually set upon their cultivation, while the ordinances of God's institution are lightly esteemed ; and thou- sands live in utter ignorance and despite of them, who nevertheless are believed to be, and believe themselves to be, most eminent saints of God. Thus they congregate into a sect, which they call the religious world ; making a rend and faction in the body of Christ's baptized people, in defiance of every sound principle, and even of the secret mis- givings of those who are really spiritual among them. To the wheels of this system they are chained like the veriest slaves, and all the personal freedom of the man, and all the fulness of the Holy Spirit's teaching, is 188 SOCIAL DUTIES ON circumscribed within its trammels, its per- missions, and its prohibitions. Nevertheless God has a people in it, as He has too among the Papists, and as He has in the midst of that world which Evangelicalism looks down upon. God will honom' them that honour Him in his ordinances, however obscure may be their views upon other points ; and many, who, in the ordinances of his church reverence the great High Priest, whom these ordinances do set forth, and who, in the king, reverence the vicegerent of the only King of kings. Lord of lords, and Ruler of princes, will be found to have a place in that kingdom on this earth, which shall be under One absolute autocrat ; with a church and state inseparably united ; with a Priest on a throne ; where there shall be no toleration, no republicanism, no liberalism ; and where those who say that the people are the only source of legitimate power, shall be held accursed ; while many who have been worshipping idols set up in their own hearts, and refusing to have this Man to rule over CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 189 them, and trying by societies to establish a millennium without him, shall be cast out. The christian king knows that, as Christ's delegate, he dare not delegate again that authority which he has received from Christ, to Christ's enemies. A protestant christian king dare not place Christ's church under anti- christian legislators, anti-christian judges, or anti-christian rulers. Yet the king is no discerner of spirits ; he must, therefore, apply to the Church to know who are its members The Church replies, " whoever is baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and who receives the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper." To such alone, then, dare the king entrust the exercise of any part of his kingly authority. He may extend the protection of a civilised and well-ordered police over every sojourner within his nation's gates ; but the sojourner must not be admitted to the prero- gatives of a member of his national family. A christian man is a fallen, but redeemed creature, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, and enables, by his power, to walk in the ordi- 190 SOCIAL DUTIES ON nances of God blameless. If he be an insulated being, it is sufficient that he preach not only by his lips, but by his life, in that solitary capacity; but if he be united in fellowship with others, he is endued with the additional prerogative of preaching also in that collec- tive capacity. As a husband, he and his wife must preach to other husbands and wives. This sermon can only be read to those who live with them ; to an intimate circle of near relations and a few friends, who know the dispositions, situations, circumstances, trials, and difficulties, which assail them in the performance of that social duty. As parents they must set forth by example, rather than by precept, the blessedness of being the wilHng and conscientious educators of their own children ; and they must make their family preach, not as an unconnected assemblage of orderly people, but as a body united under one head by an ordinance of God's appointment. For, as a shipful of men do not constitute the crew of the vessel, unless united under one commander ; and as a rabble, with arms in their hands, do not com- CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 191 pose a regiment, unless under officers of various degrees of subordination ; and as a number of persons, living within certain geo- graphical limits, do not form one nation, un- less under the rule of one king, or subject to one code of laws ; so the inhabitants of the same house do not necessarily make one family, unless knit together in bonds of mu- tual dependence under one head, supreme within its walls. The cross of Christ is to be taken and borne in all the relationships of life in which God has called us. The husband must be the ruler, and the wife the ruled; yet all with love, and by love: the sweet contraint of duty to God and affection to each other ; undiminishing, yea increasing, as the shadows of life lengthen upon them. The husband must not permit the outgoings of vanity, ex- travagance, ostentation, and waste. The wife must frame herself and her household upon her husband's estimate of what is right and fitting, without complaint and without mur- mur. He, however, if he be either a wise or 192 SOCIAL DUTIES ON a good man, will determine nothing with re- spect to their mutual interests, without con- sulting his wife ; for he may rest assured that there is no one so capable, or so wiUing, to give him honest and disinterested counsel. Let neither seek the advice of others, how- ever near or dear, in what concerns them- selves. They must remember that they have left all others, in order to cleave to one alone. The wife must expect to hear frequent soli- citations from false friends to dispute her husband's authority ; and the husband to neglect, and treat with cold indifference, his wife : but they must spurn such advisers as the direct emissaries of Satan. In the management of their family, too, " all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution ;" but they must not be intimidated from putting away all workers of iniquity from beneath their roof, lest they should be worse served by better principled servants ; or through fear of acquiring the reputation of making frequent changes. It need scarcely be said, that they should CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 193 retain a real disciple of the Lord at all ha- zards. As members of the church under the Pastor whom the great Bishop has set over them, let them highly esteem him for his work's sake. If they perceive his errors, let them counteract the harm which might ac- crue, without censuring or judging the man : let them be more obedient to the ordinances of the Church than others, even where the minister himself is an unworthy servant and traitor to his Master : let them, in every case, make him a subject of earnest prayer, and distinguish the ordinance of Christ from the functionary who conducts it. As subjects of Christ, the King of kings, let them be obedient, not only by compulsion, but from the heart, to the laws of Christ's vicegerent, who is amenable to Christ alone : but the details, embracing the whole range of political duty, are too copious to be dis- cussed here. Their way in all these paths will be often dark, and often stormy; but they will be led by the Spirit of their God to glorify o 194 SOCIAL DUTIES ON Him in modes they little think of, and quite unconscious to themselves. In praying to be conformed to the image of Christ, we pray to become daily more and more unlike all earthly beings ; more and more objects of scorn and derision to man. We pray that our chil- dren and families may be more unlike the children and families who have no inheritance in the kingdom of God and of Christ. At times, parents v/ill feel appalled at the ap- prehension, that their children will be de- prived of the external advantages which are fitting to their station ; that they will grow up outre both in mind and body. Satan will hint that religion does not consist in outward things ; and that peculiarity will be ensured without genuine piety as certainly following. O let parents beware here, for Satan has in this found out their tenderest place ! Parents, if this bugbear of the imagination haunts you, conjure up this : picture to yourself your child on its deathbed, and the convic- tion flashing on your mind, that had you but served your God with half the zeal you taught your child to serve the world ; had CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 195 the hours which were spent with the dancing- master been passed with the Bible, the eter- nal destiny of that child had been reversed Be assured that happiness in this world is as effectually secured, both to yourself and to your child, by following the directions of God, as it is in the world hereafter. You cannot have your children brought up for the world to come, without exciting the hostility of the world that now is. As a child cannot be diligent at school, that it may be fitted for its part in the great drama of after-life, without exciting the ridi- cule of the idle urchins who prefer their hoop and their marbles ; neither can we learn in the school of Christ, the rules of his house, the laws of his kingdom, the service of his temple, so that we may be fit to in- herit the reward of government over one, five, or ten cities, in the regeneration, with- out drawing upon ourselves the sneers of those who have no such hope set before them. We cannot have a christian family which shall not be a standing reproach to our neighbours, and which the devil and man o2 196 SOCIAL DUTIES ON will not be in league to destroy. We cannot be consistent churchmen without being con- sidered as Papists by some, and despised for being in bondage by others. We cannot submit to the powers that be ordained in the land in all things, without hearing sneers at " the Divine right of constables," and as be- ing hostile to civil liberty. This is your cross. But fear not; in due time you shall reap, if you faint not. Never expect, how- ever, that you can lay aside your armour : you may repose, indeed, but you must rest upon your sword, and on no other pillow than your shield. Neither in yourselves, your family, your parish, your country, can you ever find this world other than a continued fight : blessed contest ! certain victory ! glo- rious reward ! — a kingdom ! a crown ! a throne ! Remember the Lord's Prayer — " Give us day by day our daily bread." The only law- ful request, " bread:" that which is abso- lutely necessary, and nothing more: this not in store, but " day by day :" and of this not enough for contingencies, but " daily." They who see the secondary causes through CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 197 which their daily food is conveyed to them, can scarcely pray this prayer with sincerity, and from the heart. But let every one, who is so circumstanced, apply it as follows : Let wives pray day by day to be daily en- abled by God's grace to be submissive to their husbands; and let husbands pray in like manner for the gift of love and affection towards their wives. Let parents pray day by day that their children may receive that day the quantum of education which is best for them ; and rely upon God bestowing according to their request, however tutors, governesses, and masters, may seem to have failed. Let heads of families pray for that " daily" measure of power to rule those under them ; and servants for a daily measure of fidelity and subjection. But let none pray for, or expect to have, a store of any of these graces laid up, to make them feel independent of the continual and daily bounty of their Lord. Thus, in looking back on the close of any series of years, they will see cause to rejoice in things being exactly as they are at that moment, notwithstanding the failure of many 198 SOCIAL DUTIES ON plans, the disappointment of many hopes, the crossing of many fond expectations, the breaking of many heartstrings, the blighting of many objects of love. Let members of every church pray that the Angel who is set over them may receive great enlightening from the universal Bishop, and that the Spirit may give the church an ear to hear what He says. Let pastors pray for the whole of the sevenfold gifts, that they may not be eminent in one only, but complete in all the various w^orks they have to perform ; and be more anxious to speak what God has taught them, than what they think will bene- fit the j^eople. Let all rulers pray that they may remember that power is a trust from God, to be used for the benefit of others, and not for the purpose of gratifying sloth, sensuality, or pride : and let all who are under subjection pray against a spirit of '^ rebellion which is as the sin of witchcraft :" remembering that no circumstances whatever can justify their resistance to " the powers that be :" neither let them flinch from de- claring the truth of God in all places, and at CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 199 all seasons, testifying against evil and wicked- ness, and violation of God's commandments, whether in kings, clergy, or private indivi- duals. If called, indeed, to exercise authority^ and rule, then let them use the lawful power which they have to repress evil in all over whom their jurisdiction extends; but in no other case let them attempt to correct evils however glaring. Should their faithful testi- mony cause them to suffer, happy are they, for the Spirit of God rests upon them. A principle of duty, real or imaginary, is that which has alone, in every age, led to the performance of great, disinterested, and noble acts. Love for country ; devotion to a mis- tress ; admiration of art ; have each produced enthusiasts, who will risk their all towards the attainment of their purpose. But every lofty feeling has withered under the chilling- grasp of expediency, and nothing is now esti- mated either with regard to God, to king, to parents, to children, to wife, or to friend, but according to the profit which it will return. The fatal alteration is well told in the follow- ing passage from the Quarterly Review ; — 200 SOCIAL DUTIES ON ^' The warm and tender feelings which riveted each man so firmly to his kindred, friends, and neighbours, have now lost much of their former vigour. They were the secu- rities which each man gave and received for the amiableness and integrity of his conduct, and could not be forfeited without reducing him to the condition of a stranger or an out- cast. But little of any such check on irregu- larity now exists. The bonds of society now sit so loose, and connexions are contracted and dissolved with so much ease and indif- ference, that persons of almost every rank may float along the stream of life, without taking, or exciting, much real interest in a single human being. Attachment to place has nearly become extinct also. That rush of recollection, which made the tear start and the heart throb on revisiting the scenes of in- fancy or youth, is felt no more, or has dege- nerated into a transient and almost impercep- tible agitation. All deep impressions are obliterated by perpetual change of company and abode, and their place is supplied by pliability of disposition, civility of manners. CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 201 and a sort of indiscriminate and inactive good- will towards all mankind. We neither desire to elevate past times, nor to depreciate the present. The objectis simply to point out one of the most universal and essential changes in society which the age exhibits. The change itself may be unavoidable, but its conse- quences are inevitable also. They have long been felt, and now begin to be acknowledged and deplored in the ordinary intercourse of social as well as in the closest relations of domestic life. We possess the external means of enjoyment to a degree which our ancestors never dreamt of, but they are coun- terbalanced by much of that selfishness and indifference which have been ranked among the most fatal destroyers of human happi- ness in the last stages of social luxury and national degeneracy." The principles and meaning of every ordi- nance of God have departed from the ken of men. They are become like the day-dreams of times long gone by. It is not in the power of individuals to revive them ; but we may observe their decline, and thence learn to •202 SOCIAL DUTIES ON know the hour in the world's chronology at which we are arrived. " Watchman, what is the news of the night ?" The watchman answers, '' the morning cometh." The morn- ing of THE DAY, the day of Christ ; the *' day of the revelation of the inghteous judgments^ of God;'''' which judgments are now hid ; for wicked men, under the god and prince of this world, the spiritual arch enemy of Christ, and of Christ's church, have, to all appearance, the mastery. Wherefore says the Lord, " Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee ; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indigna- tion be overpast ; for behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity : the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Enter into the chambers of Social Duties ; those common every-day du- ties which furnish neither themes for the poet, nor food for the historian, nor subjects for the painter, nor ingredients in the character of a heroine of romance, but which produce a rich and never-failing crop of the purest and most CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. 203 heavenly enjoyment. Here Christ is seen, and is manifested to others, in and by king and SUBJECT ; PASTOR and flock ; husband and WIFE ; PARENT and child ; MASTER and servant. Here Christ dwells in us, and we in Him ; and here do we dwell in unity of love, and '' love is heaven, and heaven is love." the end. LONDON : PRINTKD BY IBOTSON AND PALMER. SAVOY-STREET, STRAND. NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY 1. A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION of the ACTS of the APOSTLES, in the form of Lectures, intended to assist the Practice of Domestic Instruc- tion and Devotion. By John Bird Sumner, D.D., Lord Bishop of Chester. 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