that they do not absent themselves, They ought also to instruct them concerning their obligation to pray to God in their closets, and willingly allow them time for this duty.

The duty of servants. It is the duty of all, whether they he bond or hired servants, to be faithful in the business of their masters. They are, in God's word, cautioned against eye service; meaning that which they are prompted to perform by being under the master's eye, and which is suspended or relaxed as soon as they are out of his sight, Obedience belongs to the duty of bond and apprenticed servants; even such obedience as children owe to their parents, Paul says, "Ser. vants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh." Peter says, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." Col. iii. 22, 1 Pet. ii, 18. He speaks of that obedience which they should render in such trying circumstances, as peculiarly pleasing to God. Paul, in the last chapter of his first letter to Timothy, shows that an obedient and respect, ful deportment in Christian servants towards their masters, is needful to prevent the name of God and his doctrine from being blasphemed, If servants who profess to be converted to Christianity, do not improve in the discharge of the appropriate duties of their station in life, they will do essential injury to the cause of Christ, It was the expectation of the apostle, that the conversion of Onesimus to the Christian faith, would convert him from an unprofitable to a profitable servant. Phil. emon, verses 10, 11, Servants are under obligation to submit to in struction as well as to government. To this they should cheerfully listen; esteeming it a great privilege if they have a master or mistress, who is willing to devote time to impart instruction to them, Servants who corrupt one another, and who vitiate the morals of the children where they live, are doing a great evil in God's sight, It is a breach of fidelity in them to disclose things which concern the families where they live, and which do not concern the publie, To sum up the duties of servants in a word; they should, like the servant of Abraham, of whom we have a particular account in the twenty-fourth chapter of Genesis, make their masters' interest their own, The nearer they come to this rule, the better will they fill their place in society. And if they do all this in singleness of heart, as unto Christ, they will be sure to receive his approbation, See Eph, vi, 5-8.

It would be absurd to suppose that the religion of God's holy word should have no influence in improving the character of masters and servants, Look at Abraham and his servant, to whom allusion was just had, It was religion which made the one a good master, and the other a good servant, Look at Joseph, while he filled the place of a servant in Potiphar's house, Was it not manifestly his religion which made him the faithful servant? We may have religion, and yet never have opportunity to show its influence in forming the char acter of the master or the servant; but if these relations should be sustained, our religion must influence to the performance of the duties which they impose on us, In such circumstances we could not walk in the truth, without having respect to those commands of God which are particularly addressed to masters and servants,

The duties of husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers

and sisters, masters and servants, which have now been briefly con. sidered, comprehend those which are binding upon us in the capacity of families. They are what are more usually intended by relative duties. Besides the relations existing in a single family, there are others originated by consanguinity and intermarriages, which are sufficiently near to require some duties of the relative class. Among others, the scriptures recognize the relation of grand parent and grand child, of uncle and nephew, and of cousins. Timothy is reminded of the piety of his grandmother, as though it were a thing of much con. sequence to him. 2 Tim. i. 5. Nephews are, by the apostle, classed with children, as though they were under some obligation to provide for their widowed aunts who were indigent, as children were to provide for their mothers. 1 Tim. v. 4. Abraham and Lot sustained the relation of uncle and nephew ; and it is evident that Abraham considered it as a relation sufficiently intimate to impose relative duties. See Gen. xiii. 8 and xiv. 12, 16. The relation of cousins was the bond of kindred between the mother of John the Baptist, and the mother of our Lord; and it was not considered as too remote to be noted in the sacred history. Luke i. 36.

But with respect to those natural ties, and such as are still more re. mote, I shall content myself with merely reminding the reader of their existence, and suggesting the thought, that as these ties lead our rela. tives to take more interest in us, so they make way for our nearer ac. cess to them, and lay us under obligation to take the advantage of it to do them good, as we are able and have opportunity, both in the things of time and of eternity.

The relative duties are in harmony one with another. The duties of relatives are reciprocal; they bind on both sides. If the rulers are authorized to enact laws and execute them, the citizens must be under obligation to be subject to their laws and administration. On the other hand, if the citizens are under obligation to be subject to the laws, the rulers are under equal obligation to enact good laws, and rule in righteousness. Had the scriptures limited the obligation to one of these relations, there would have been an unnatural discord. It would have been so, had they obliged the rulers to discharge the duties of their office, and released the people from obligation to submit to their authority; or had they required subjection on the part of the people, without requiring a righteous administration on the part of the rulers. God has appointed that some should sustain the office of rulers, to enable them to do more for the public good; and as their work is honorable and arduous, they have a claim to reward, respect, co-operation, and fervent intercessions from their fellow citizens. Let the word of God be made the rule of conduct, and there will be no oppressive magistrates, nor insubordinate subjects.

There is the same harmony between the duties of the teacher and the scholar. If it is the duty of the one to teach, it is the duty of the other to learn and if it belongs to the teacher to be assiduous in

:

communicating, it belongs also to the scholar to be assiduous in acquiring knowledge. If the teacher is under obligation to watch over the moral and religious principles of his pupils, they must be under obligation to watch over their own morals and religious principles. And if it is the duty of teachers to have good order in their schools, it must be the duty of their scholars to be orderly by being subject to good rules. Let the religion of the Bible influence instructors and their pupils, and all will be harmony.

There is no discord between the duties of a pastor and those of his flock. He is required to preach the word to them, and they are required to hear the word from his mouth. He is required to preach the unadulterated truth, and this they are required to receive. As a father he is to watch over them in the Lord, and they are to be childlike in their behavior towards him. While it is made his duty to devote his time and talents to their spiritual interests, it is theirs, to provide for his temporal support. "Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel." 1 Cor. ix. 14. The duties of the pastor and his flock are mutual, and therefore they are harmonious.

There is an entire agreement between the various duties of domes. tic society. This is strikingly true of the duties of the conjugal relation. God has given the husband and wife their respective places, and pointed out the duties pertaining to each. Their obligation is mutual and permanent. The husband is not commanded to obey his wife; for the man is the head of the woman. But he is forbidden to

be bitter against her, and is required to nourish and cherish her as the Lord doth the church. It was of great importance to the comfort of this endeared relation, that the Creator himself should decide the question concerning precedence. And all that he has said about their respective duties, must be in harmony with this decision.

There is a harmony between the duties of parents, and those of their children. Parents are allowed to claim respectful treatment from their children, as being their elders in age, and, under God, the authors of their existence: and children are commanded to honor their parents. Parents are to rule, and children are to obey. If God had made it the duty of the parents to rule, and had not enjoined it on the children to obey, there would have been a manifest want of harmony. But the scriptural exhibition of parental and filial duties, is very harmonious. What a sweet harmony between parents being required to make provision for the natural wants of their children during their helpless age, and children being required to provide for the wants of their parents, when, through age or infirmity, they have become helpless and dependent. It has been shown that parents are required to care for the souls of their offspring, as well as for their bodies. Were they required to care only for their bodies, and allowed to neglect the culture of their minds, what manifest inconsistency would there be. Or were they required to provide for their bodily wants and for their mental improvement, but permitted to neglect their undying souls, the inconsistency would be still more apparent. There is a harmony between the differ. ent things which parents are laid under obligation to do for the spiritual interests of their children. They are required to pray to God

for his blessing on them; and also to train them up in the way they should go, by the united influence of parental authority, instruction, and example,

The obligation of brothers and sisters is reciprocal. of a family are all under obligation to love one another. that they should be required to dwell together in unity.

The children
How right

There is a harmony between the duties of masters and servants, God claims it as his prerogative to rule over both; and he as much requires masters to respect the rights of their servants, as servants to respect the rights of their masters. This was the view which was entertained by Job; as we learn from his protestations of innocence in the 31st chapter of his book: "If I did despise the cause of my man servant, or of my maid servant," &c.

The divine rules which are made to bind together the little society called a family, are all righteous and equal. There is not only a con sistency between the duties of the correlatives in each relation, as hus, band and wife, parent and child; but also between the duties of all the relations which constitute this interesting community. There is a perfect agreement between conjugal and parental duties, To be a good husband, or a good wife, is no hindrance to being a good father or mother; but is the best possible preparation for it. We can not conceive how bad husbands and wives can make good parents, And to be a good father or mother, is no hindrance to being a good master or mistress. The proper discharge of their parental duties, will constitute an excellent preparation for the duties which they owe to their servants. So the duties of children to their parents, have no disagreement with such as they owe to one another. The more filial they are in the relation of children, the more fraternal they will be in the relation of brothers. Let the law of God be the rule, and there will be no schism in the domestic society; all will be harmonious.

As the duties of the various relations which exist in a family, do not clash with one another, neither do they interfere with other relative duties. For example, the discharge of parental duties does not unfit a minister of Christ for the discharge of his ministerial duties. On the contrary, it is one of the specified qualifications of a good bishop, that he should be one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection. A man's discharging well the duties of a father, can form no disqualification for being a good monarch, or a good govern or, a good legislator, or a good judge; nor can it at all disqualify him for being a good and peaceable subject, And it is self-evident, that those children who have habituated themselves to yielding obedi, ence to the commands of their parents, must be better prepared than others to obey the laws of their, country, We can hardly imagine how obedient children can make seditious members of the state. And surely, no man ever thought that obedience to parents had a tendency to make disobedient and untractable pupils. The harmony subsisting between relative duties, is like that which appears in a well-framed building, where all the parts support and strengthen each other,

The duties comprehended in this Division, are in harmony with the whole system of divine truth,

There is no discord between relative and general duties. As the

scriptures do not require us so to love our own nation, as to disregard the rights of other nations; so they do not enjoin on us such duties to our relatives, as are at variance with the duties we owe to the public. The duties which we owe to our fellow men in general, were shown to consist in a proper regard to their persons, property, reputation, and eternal blessedness. In all these respects, we have peculiarly favora ble opportunities of being useful to those with whom we stand con. nected by some relative tie; and especially to those with whom we are united by the tender ties of the domestic circle: but the most faith. ful performance of the duties which one owes to his own family, has no tendency to make him a misanthrope an enemy to the family of man. A man may be tender of the persons, property, good name, and eternal interests, of his relatives, and not disregard those of his fellow men in general. Such parents as labor most to promote the salvation of their own children, are the very persons who will be the most apt to think of the salvation of other men, both young and old. They who are the most zealous in providing the means of grace for themselves and their families, are wont to be the most liberal in contributing for the spread of the gospel through the world.

Relative duties are not at variance with those which are immediately due to God himself. Indeed, he who neglects the latter, can not, in any proper sense, be said to discharge the former. We can not dis charge the duties of rulers and subjects, instructors and pupils, pastors and flocks, husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, or masters and servants, in the neglect of cither of the first three Articles of this class of duties; namely, prayer to God-attention to his holy word and the sanctification of his Sabbath. Nor can there be any inconsistency between acting up to the obligations of relative life, and making an open profession of godliness; the duty which was enforced under the fourth Article. Instances have occurred, where the hus band has opposed and denounced the wife, or the wife the husband, for resolving to unite with the church of Christ. The one remaining in unbelief, has seemed to address the other in language like this! "By joining yourself to the church and leaving me behind, you break the marriage covenant, and we can never hereafter consider ourselves as being one flesh." But such opposition is highly unreasonable; for though it is true that the believer, by his profession, comes out from the world, (not excepting his nearest relatives, if they remain in unbe lief,) and takes the side of Christ, yet his doing so does not dissolve any of the relations which he sustains in life. Will the husband who has joined the standard of the Redeemer, forsake or neglect his wife? Will his becoming a disciple of the meek and lowly Jesus, engender bitter feelings towards her, or render him less diligent to provide for her wants and those of his household? Surely, this will not be the effect of his conversion, (if genuine,) or of his incorporation with the church of the living God. Will a woman professing godliness, make a less amiable and obedient wife? Will she make a less attentive and affectionate mother? Let those children who have witnessed this transformation in their mother, answer the question.

It may be thought that there is a discrepancy between a man's duty to his family, and his obligation to make stated and liberal contribu