mon wants, our common weakness, our common guilt, our common duty, our common obligations, our common faith, and common hopes, all demand it. If, in a temporal point of view, we cannot doubt the justice of St. Paul's declaration, that, "if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel;" how much more forcibly must the reproach, conveyed in that declaration, apply to the neglect of making spiritual provision for those of his own house! How completely infidel must be that man's indifference, who is regardless of the spiritual welfare of his family, and who cannot feel any sympathy with them in their acts of prayer and praise, nor in the common dangers and necessities, hopes and fears, joys and griefs, to which those acts relate!

66

The last reason which I shall here state for the practice of family prayer, is, that it is a means of drawing down God's favour and blessing on that family, and on all that belong to it. Ask, and ye shall receive," is the universal rule. As private prayer is necessary for private blessings, public prayer for public blessings, so is family prayer for family blessings. He that made the promise to prayer generally, will not be wanting to fulfil it to family prayer. And family prayer, as well as other prayer, has in its very act a tendency to accomplishi the lawful objects of prayer. The Spirit of holiness and peace will shed its precious influence over the Y y

VOL. II.

master, and his assembled worshippers. Religion will enter in and dwell in that family, bringing with her the graces that wait upon her-love, joy, peace, gentleness, integrity, diligence, cheerfulness, and purity.

And what are the pretexts and excuses on which the neglect of this important and most profitable duty is palliated? Flimsy and vain as such excuses are, they prevail, unhappily, to such an extent, that we must endeavour to show their emptiness, and the sin of yielding to them. It is not their intrinsic weight that gives the power, but the indolence, and the want of thought, of those who yield to them.

One excuse is, that a convenient time cannot be found for it. If any of my readers urge such a plea, let me ask them this question; would they, on the day of judgment, under the searching eye of the all-seeing God, venture on such a plea? Would they, if then condemned and found wanting in the works of the Spirit, because they had not sought Him, as directed by the Word of God, in prayer, would they think of excusing themselves in the sight of God, by saying, I could not find time convenient to ask for that, which was so indispensably needful for my salvation? Would they dare to offer a plea so audacious, and (if to such an awful subject the term could be applied) so ridiculous? Know, brethren, that there is a time for all things; and that, if there were not, you are bound, at any inconvenience, or any sacrifice whatsoever, to find time for God and your souls-this is the one thing needful.

But, in truth, there is no inconvenience or sacrifice in the case. What inconvenience or sacrifice can there be in the master, (or, in his absence, some member of the family,) before he sits down to his breakfast, kneeling a short time, and praying with his servants, and those of his family who are ready; and doing the same at the hour at which his servants retire to rest? The plea is nothing but the delusive pretence of indolence, indifference, or love of pleasure. I cannot scruple to speak thus of it, for I speak from experience. My own family is numerous, and my hours generally occupied from morning to night in the discharge of public and private duties; but I have never found the least difficulty in allotting time to family prayer. The only difficulty I can conceive, is that of making a beginning that once done, you will not feel inclined to discontinue a practice, of which you both see and feel the pleasantness and advantage. You may feel, perhaps, a little timidity at first, but a single day's effort will conquer that; and were it to require a greater exertion, no man, who thinks at all, will suppose that he may, from bashfulness or weak fear, abandon his Christian duty. Neither need you be at any loss for words; there are abundance of excellent publications for this purpose, and, not so much for the purpose of recommending one in particular above others, as by way of avoiding the embarrassment of choice to any person who may be induced, by these remarks, to begin the

practice of family prayer, I mention a very cheap and useful manual, by the present Bishop of London', and circulated by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Another obstacle to the practice of family prayer is the fear of being thought hypocritical, or over religious. If there were any ground for this fear, it would be a bad reason for neglecting your duty. Your own conscience and your God should be the sole judges of your motives; and to shrink from what you are convinced is right, because you fear man's judgment, is as base and foolish, as it is wicked and dangerous. But at present there is not the slightest ground for this unreasonable fear. There is now, whatsoever might have been the case, nothing singular in family prayer; it is a general practice; comparatively few well-regulated families are without it; and the singularity is rather in the neglect, than in the observance of it. And I will add, from my own experience, that you will find your family and servants not only ready to acquiesce in your regulations respecting it, but evincing their satisfaction in it, and showing their sense of its advantages and comforts.

Let not your previous neglect of this wholesome and holy practice, stand in the way of your amending your error. Do not let the fear of your household wondering at, or censuring, your not having

1 Blomfield's Manual of Family Prayer, price (to the public) 1d.

begun before, scare you from beginning now. If such remarks do occur, they will pass away with the very first day of their occurrence, and are too futile and unimportant to deserve a moment's consideration. Every master had a time when he began to do what is right in this respect: the sooner you begin to do so the better; for wrong doing will not be palliated by persevering in it; and it will be wiser and safer to encounter the momentary criticism of man, than to continue under the abiding censure, and to defy the terrible wrath of God. I will conclude this discourse with the impressive admonition of Skelton.

66

Upon the whole of this matter, let every master thus question with himself: is it not for great ends and reasons that God has placed me at the head of a family? Am I not accountable to Him for the discharge of this important office? Do not the future welfare of my children and servants depend very much upon the education they receive from me? If I do not instruct them in the principles of religion, and breed them up to virtue, where shall they get instruction? Is there any thing dearer to me than those who work for me, and depend on me? Can there be a greater crime than to neglect and defraud their very souls? souls? Does not the providence Is not God the founder

of God govern the world?

and preserver of societies, and of families in particular? Can they subsist without religion? Shall I then suffer my family to want religion? Shall I