nothing in the room of them but the grossest ignorance and superstition.

If men have so much reason as to be able to discover their duty without assistance, as those who would deliver them from the bondage of instruction suppose them to have, it is certain they have reason enough to distinguish between truth and falsehood, when proposed to them by others, and are not therefore in any more danger of being betrayed, in acting contrary to their reason by instruction, than by being left to themselves: and as for those who have not reason enough to enable them to direct themselves, or to make them capable of receiving instructions from others, they are fit only to be governed by other methods.

It is very certain that general errors have been perpetuated by traditionary instruction, as well as general truths: but if for this reason an end must be put to all instruction, what one thing of use can be preserved in life, if we will be so fair as to carry the argument to its full extent? Many die daily by eating and drinking what then? Must the world be starved, because you can tell us of some who have suffered by intemperance? or is there a greater reason to leave the world in ignorance, because some, through false teachers, have been miserably deceived?

But the strongest objections lie against the use of correction in matters of religion. All are so sensible of the necessity of punishments to preserve the peace and order of the world, and to protect the innocent against the violence of sinners, that the magistrate is allowed on all hands a right to punish all crimes which are prejudicial to the public, or to the interest of private men. A concession this not to be despised in behalf of religion; for our duty to God does so concur in all things with our duty to our neighbor, that he who punishes offences and injuries offered to men, will undoubtedly so far punish vice and immorality. And this concession being made, the plea for excluding the magistrate from matters of religion can only affect such cases where the honor of God alone is concerned; for all offences against men are allowed to be punished. There remain only then the offences against God to be exempted from the terrors of this world; such as profaneness, impiety, and the

like; on which they think there ought to be no restraint from the magistrate.

The great reason assigned for all this is, that punishments inflicted by the temporal power cannot make men religious; they can only constrain men to a compliance with the law in their outward behavior, but cannot reach to the purifying their hearts and consciences, in the clearness and integrity of which the virtue of religion does consist.

But it ought in the first place to be considered that such impiety is truly prejudicial to the public, as it tends, by the contagion of ill example, to corrupt the members of the commonwealth. The reverence men have for God, is the very best foundation of obedience to temporal governors: this makes them willing to discharge their duty faithfully to the public and to private men. Take away this reverence and regard for God, and few will see any reason to obey the laws of man any farther than is necessary to their own security. But what an alteration would it make in a government, were the subjects, instead of being willing to obey, to lay hold on all opportunities of offending with impunity? No vigilance of the magistrate could be sufficient to restrain the iniquity of multitudes inclined to do evil. Whoever therefore makes way for this corruption of manners, so prejudicial to the welfare and happiness of mankind, is liable to punishment even as an enemy to the state; and the concession made the magistrate to punish offences against the public, will intitle him to inflict vengeance on those who openly affront the majesty of God, either by denying his being, or his government of the world.

But, secondly, it is want of the knowlege of human nature. which leads men to make this objection: for though it is very true that the sinner, who abstains from vice or immorality merely out of the fear of temporal punishment, cannot be said to act on a religious principle in so doing, or to render an acceptable service to God; yet we must consider not only the immediate influence which punishments have, but the consequence which they are naturally apt to produce. If you keep a sinner from vice through fear at first, it will by degrees grow habitual to him to do well; his relish for vice will abate, and by the length of practice he will come to take pleasure in virtue, how uneasy

soever it might sit on him at first; and whenever this change is effected, the man is truly religious: for what is a religious disposition, unless this, to take pleasure in doing well? This happy change often proceeds from less happy beginnings. We see in children every day, that their propensity to some vices is by degrees wholly removed by the watchful eye and hand of a good parent; and we may observe the same effect in men from like causes. And will you say that when a man is grown to be habitually virtuous, that he has no true religion in him, because he was at first reclaimed from vice by temporal fears? If not, you must allow that these fears are not destructive of religion.

But I have said enough to show, and also to justify the means necessary to be used in discharging the duty recommended in the text. And I shall apply myself, in what remains, to exhort every man to do his part, and to make all, as far as his influence reaches, keep the way of the Lord, and do justice and judgment.'

The magistrate is, in the first place, concerned to be watchful over the manners of the people, and to be jealous for the honor of God. In this consists the stability of nations; for 'Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is the reproach of the people.' This case descends from the supreme head of justice to every officer in the kingdom, in proportion to the power communicated to him; and every magistrate who connives at open impiety, is false both to God and the king. But I shall press this part of the exhortation no farther, which may perhaps concern but very few in this place. But give me leave to add under this head, that private men, who are vested with no part of the public authority, are capable of doing great service even by showing themselves pleased that others should do their duty. It is a great discouragement to magistrates when they have not only the violence of sinners to contend with, but also the resentments and indignation of the innocent. A consideration that ought to be maturely weighed, in an age that is not, I am sure, too good to stand in need of reformation.

Next to the magistrate, the chief care of virtue and religion lies on fathers and masters of families. The kingdom is one great family, and it is made up of the small ones; and if due

care be taken in private families for the government and instruction of youth, the public will soon see and feel the happy effects of it. Permit me therefore to remind all parents of the duty they owe to God, their country, and their children, to take care that those who are by the laws of God and man committed to their government, be virtuously educated and instructed in the way of the Lord. This God requires of you; his creatures they are, whom you call your children: they owe obedience to him in the first place, and it is his authority which you exercise over them; and if they perish for want of timely instruction and correction, he will require their souls at your hands.

Parents have a trust likewise reposed in them by their country. There is nothing of greater consequence to the public than that the youth of the nation should be trained up to virtue and industry; that the seeds of religion should be sown betimes in their hearts, and cherished by proper encouragement. These are the only methods from which we can have any hopes to see our country supplied with honest and worthy men. It is but reasonable to expect from parents that they should out of natural affection seek to promote the happiness of their children; and since the same care which is necessary to form them to be good subjects, is also necessary to lay the foundation of their own happiness and prosperity in the world, this care is wholly intrusted to parents; who ought to look on themselves as responsible to their country for the future behavior of their children.

But farther; if parents would but consider the condition of those children whom they have brought into the world, they would find themselves obliged, by the strongest ties of natural affection, to guard them against the certain miseries of this life and of the next, by seasoning their minds with principles of virtue and religion. How wretched, do you think, are those parents who live to see their children made miserable by vice? And what an addition must it be to their misfortune, if it is attended with this reflexion, that it was want of early care in them which led the way to this ruin and misery? How often is it that men remember with detestation the negligence and indulgence of their parents, when either they find themselves useless to the world and themselves, for want of that early care which

should have been bestowed on them; or exposed to misery, to an untimely end, or to a life of shame and reproach, by those evil inclinations which grew headstrong in them for want of being pruned in their tender years!

You see then what strong obligations parents are under to be diligent in the discharge of this duty; which they owe to God, their country, and their children: and we might promise ourselves happy days to come, were there a performance answerable to these obligations. In many cases indeed parents are disabled from discharging this duty through ignorance and poverty; and what must become of such families, where the fathers and mothers can scarcely, with all their labor, provide food and raiment; so far are they from being able to attend to the education and instruction of their children? And this necessity of many poor families among us gave rise to the institution of public schools, maintained by contributions for the instruction and education of the poor: an institution which, however serviceable to the poor of our country, is calculated to promote nobler views than those of private interest and advantage to any one set of men, and tends directly to the public good, and the benefit of all.

The passions of men considered, it is not to be expected that those who are permitted to go wild and untamed in their youth, should prove harmless, much less useful and beneficial to society, in their more advanced years. Necessity is a great temptation to wickedness, and leads men to use fraud or vio lence to support their vices; and if they have nothing but their corrupt affections to direct them, can it be hoped that they should withstand these temptations? Idle and undisciplined boys commonly prove loose and vicious young men, and often fall a sacrifice to the severity of the law before they become old ones. Thieves and robbers must be punished, or the innocent must be ruined; so far the rigor of the law is justified: but is it not a deplorable case, and to a Christian country a great reproach, that great care should be taken to punish wickedness, and little or none to prevent it? And yet this is the case where the instruction of the poor is neglected, and they are left to pursue the corrupt inclinations of nature to their own destruction. This mischief is in some measure provided for by