avail nothing. It includes the thousand influences of a well-ordered religious home, constantly, and to himself perhaps unconsciously, surrounding the child, and as by silken threads leading him in the way that he should go. Happy the child that is thus led; happy the home to which that child belongs, and in which such influences dwell.

§ II.-DUTIES OF CHILDREN.

The duties of the parent and of the child are, for the most part, reciprocal - the obligation resting upon the one necessarily implying a corresponding obligation on the part of the other. The obligation of the parent to govern, implies the duty of the child to obey; the obligation of the parent to educate, involves the duty of the child to yield to and be guided by this care and culture.

There are also duties arising from the relation in which the parties stand. The superior wisdom and intelligence of the parent, no less than his authority, demand respect and reverence from the child. The care and love which have watched over the helplessness of childhood, and provided for its wants, and sacrificed much for its good, demand in return filial gratitude and affection. These, then, as determined by the nature of the case, are the principal duties of the child toward the parent, viz., obedience, docility, reverence, filial affection.

1. OBEDIENCE.- It is the duty of the child to yield unreserved and unquestioned obedience to the authority and commands of the parent; and this obedience must be irrespective of the why and wherefore of the command, of the wisdom and necessity of the course prescribed; it must be rendered as obedience to authority, and to the

will of the parent, because it is his will. In no other way can the end of family government be attained, the peace and order of the household be promoted, the welfare of the child secured.

The duty of obedience is manifest not only from the nature of the case, and from the end of family government, but from the word of God. No duty is more explicitly and emphatically enjoined in the Scriptures than this: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right" (Eph. vi. 1). And again, "Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord" (Col. iii. 20). To disobey the commands of the parent, is, then, to be guilty of a double crime: it is to violate at once the law of the household, and the law of God.

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Limit of Authority. But here an important question arises, respecting the limits of parental authority. Are there any limits? Is the child under obligation to yield obedience to any and all commands of the parent, whatever they may be? Suppose the parent order him to do that which is manifestly wrong, as, to break the Sabbath, or to steal, or to lie, or in any manner to break the laws of the state, or the laws of God; is he then to obey?

I reply, by no means. The parent has no right to give such commands, and, therefore, they are not binding on the conscience of the child. Whenever the child is ordered to do that which he knows and fully believes to be wrong, he is under no obligation to obey; nay, he has no right to obey. When the law of the parent comes into conflict manifestly and directly with the law of the state, or with the law of God, these, which are higher laws, must be obeyed. The authority of the state is above that of the parent; and the authority of the Supreme and Almighty Ruler is above both. The child must do right, and suffer the consequences; the responsibility rests with the parent.

When there is any doubt as to the real character of the act required, any uncertainty whether it is, in fact, a wrong act, and in conflict with the divine commands, it seems to me that the authority of the parent should in all such cases be held as decisive, until at least clearer light can be obtained as to the path of duty. Under ordinary circumstances, the parent, from his superior intelligence, and greater experience, is certainly more likely to know what is right and proper than the child; hence, in matters of doubtful character, it is safer to follow the decisions of the parent, even at the risk of doing wrong, than to incur the at least equal risk of doing wrong by disobedience.

2. DOCILITY. As the duty of the parent is to teach, to educate, so the duty of the child is to learn. It is for him to yield, with docile spirit, to the culture and training. which the parent sees fit to adopt. In physical nature, and mental discipline; in the education of the manners and the heart; in all that pertains to the culture, in its highest and most comprehensive sense, of body, mind, and soul, the child is to hold himself ready, within those limits already specified, to be instructed, moulded, trained, by parental wisdom and care. In fault of this, all efforts of instruction will be unavailing, and the great end of family nurture and discipline will be unattained. A stubborn and unyielding spirit, that sets itself in opposition to the wisdom and the counsels of the parent, and refuses to be guided thereby, is in itself a sin most deserving of rebuke, and which incurs, wherever found, the special displeasure of God. Very marked is the condemnation bestowed upon this sin in the Scriptures. Under the Jewish law, it was even punishable with death. "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened

him, will not hearken to them: then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; and they shall say unto the elders of his city, this our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones that he die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear” (Deut. xxi. 18-21).

Very full and explicit are the precepts which inculcate the duty of cherishing the opposite spirit. "My son, keep the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. They shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck" (Prov. i. 8, 9). "Keep thy father's commandments, and forsake not the law of thy mother" (Prov. vi. 20). "A fool despiseth his father's instructions" (Prov. xv. 5).

"A wise son heareth his

father's instructions, but a scorner heareth not rebuke" (Prov. xiii. 1).

3. REVERENCE. - It is the duty of the child to treat his parents with that deference and respect that belong to those who are his superiors in age and wisdom, as well as in authority. Nothing is more unbecoming in a child. than any want of respect toward his superiors, and especially toward his parents. They sustain to him a relation which peculiarly demands of him this deferential regard. They are the authors of his life. To them he is indebted for the care and attention which have watched over him from infancy, provided for his wants, directed his education. To them he is rightfully subject by the laws of God and man; and to those sustaining to him this relation, and exercising this authority, he is bound, by the laws of nature

and reason, to yield a respect and reverence which are due to no one else on the earth.

Nor is this claim abrogated by any rank or attainments on the part of the child, or by any deficiency of intellectual, social, or even moral worth and rank, on the part of the parent. These circumstances alter not the relation of the two parties. The child, as he grows to maturity, may come to be wiser, wealthier, more distinguished, more virtuous even, than those who gave him birth, and brought him up from infancy to youth and manhood. He is not, on these accounts, excused from paying to them, so long as he lives, and they live, that respect and reverence which are still their due, and which every generous and manly spirit will esteem it a delight and an honor to show.

The end of the family institution, so far as the child is concerned, is to fit him for the service of the state, and the service of his God; to be an honorable and useful member of society, and a candidate for immortal blessedness. In no way is this end more surely defeated, than by the want of due respect toward the parents; in no way more directly promoted, than by the careful observance of this duty. He who has not learned, or who has scorned to pay due respect and reverence to his parents, will not be likely to bow with submission and reverence before the majesty of the law. He who is wanting in deference to his earthly superiors and protectors, will not be likely to yield the homage of the heart to his heavenly Father, or to humble himself, in adoration and lowliness of mind, before the Majesty of heaven and earth. He is poorly fitted for the duties of life, for the service of the state, and the service of his God, who knows not how to honor his parents.

Nothing is more graceful and fitting, nothing more honorable and ennobling to the character, than the exercise of this virtue; nothing, on the other hand, more unseemly,