the righteous. Lay out your family-fins, wants and mercies fully and plainly before God in family prayer. II. Confer about the fermons, and repeat over what you have heard; for the Lord, Deut. xi. 18. 19. requires you not only to lay up God's words in your hearts, but alfo to "fpeak of them when you fit in your houfes, and to teach them your children." You ought alfo to call your fervants and children to an account, as to what they remember, and how they have profited by the fermons. When you fend your fervants to the market, you examine what market they have made: Now, the public ordinances are heaven's free market for their fouls, and will you never enquire what they have gained thereat? This way of rehearsing the fermons, is very refreshing and advantageous, and hereby one of you would be useful to another; for, what one forgets, another may remember. III. Let parents and heads of families take fome time this evening in catechifing and inftructing their children and fervants in the knowledge of the principles of religion, and of their duty towards God, their neighbours, and themselves. We may obferve, from the iv. of Mark, and xiv. of Luke, that after our Lord had inftructed the people as a public preacher on the Sabbath day, he afterwards did examine and teach his twelve disciples as a private master of a familly. 1. Begin with children, as foon as they are capable, and inform them, that there is fuch a Being as God, whom they ought to honour, reverence and love above all things: That they are his creatures, the work of his hands: That he preferves them, and gives them all the good things they enjoy; and that every good thing is to be fought from God by prayer, and thanks returned to him for the fame. Shew them the evil and danger of fin, and how much God hates it: That they have immortal fouls: That there is a life after death in another world, wherein men fhall receive a great and eternal reward, or a fearful endless punishment, according as they have done or neglected their duty in this world: And that God loves thofe who keep his commandments aud pray to him; but hates wicked men, and thofe who do do not pray. If these principles were early inftilled and rooted in children, they would in fome measure stick with them all their days. Likewife, as they are capable, fhew them the great degeneracy and corruption of human nature, derived to us by the fall of our first parents: Alfo, fhew them the way of our recovery from this miferable state by Jefus Chrift, who was fent by God to redeem and fave us from the bondage of fin and fatan, and from the damnation of hell. 2, Before they are capable to read, or get and repeat our Shorter Catechifm, you ought to frame many fhort queftions and anfwers concerning the forefaid principles, fuch as they are able to mind, and frequently examine them upon them: And, for your help in this matter, you may confult the little catechism I have published, called The Mother's Catechifm for the young child. But affoon as your children are able to repeat our Shorter Catechifm, injoin them, and your fervants alfo, to commit it to their memories, prefcribing so much of it to them every week, and duly examine them upon it every Lord's day for it contains an excellent fcheme both of the principles of our religion which we ought to believe, and alfo of the duties thereof which we should practise. And is it not far better to repeat this, than ballads and idle ftories, wherewith many burden their memories? 3. As you ought to learn them to read, so you fhould this day folemnly injoin them to read the bible and other pious books, and enquire at them what they have been reading through the day and the bygone week. And because of the natural backwardness that is both in young and old to holy duties, you ought to contrive the most wife and effectual methods you can think on, to engage them to delight and diligence in reading of the bible; fuch as thefe; viz. Teach children. the most profitable, pleafant and affecting hiftories and paffages of the bible; fuch as, " the creation of man, Adam's fall, the flood, the deftruction of Sodom, the facrificing of Ifaac, the felling of Jofeph, Pharoh's cutting of the infants, and Mofes's prefervation; Mofes his going up to the mount, and getting the tables of the the law; the paffages concerning Samfon's killing the Philiftines, and David's killing Goliath; the forty-two children destroyed by bears; the three children in the fiery furnace; Daniel in the lion's den; Jonah in the whale's belly; Herod's deftroying the young children," and the like. Endeavour to tell them thefe paffages as much as ye can in their own language, and this will engage them to the greater delight and attention, and cause them to remember them the better; alfo, you would put them to rehearse them over again to you. Again, cause them read a chapter of the Bible every night, and tell you fome of the principal things in it before they ly down; or, when you read a chapter in the family, appoint each of them fome one verfe of it to repeat the next day. Moreover, when they come to learn to write, it is a good way to give them paperbooks, to write down what paffages they think most confiderable in the Bible, or what remarkable fayings and hiftories they find in other books. They might well spend the Saturday's afternoon this way, when they have most leifure. In the next place, it would be of good ufe, when you examine them, to teach them to prove every point of religion by fome pregnant place of fcripture. This would be the way to beget in them firm, ftrong and fixed perfuafions of the truths of Chriftianity. Many, alas! profess Christianity, merely because it is the national religion, and they were fo educate: They build their faith more upon the affertions and teachings of men, than upon the fure foundation of God's word, and all because they were not put to it when young, to acquaint themselves with the fcriptures, or to bring proofs from them for the truths they learned. Are not there many profeffors of Christianity, who, if they were put to it, could not give one text of scripture to prove fo much as the great fundamentals of their religion? It cannot be expected that fuch will be clofe adherers to it in a day of trial and perfecution. A good way to mend this fault is, to get the Confeffion of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechifms, which are printed with the VOL. IV. fcripture F f fcripture proofs fet down at large, and make much ufe thereof. Laftly, As you ought to cause them attend punctually this day upon the ordinances, so you ought carefully this night to afk an account of the text, and their notes of the lecture and fermons; reprove them for carelefs hearing, encourage them when they give any tolerable good account, and promise them fome reward to do better the next Sabbath. 4. You ought this day to learn and enjoin your children to pray, and to ask a bleffing, and give thanks for their meat: you may fee fome helps for them in the end of the Mother's Catechifm before mentioned. Children cannot pray at first without help: Therefore it is fit to teach them fome fhort forms; and, in the first place, the Lord's Prayer, the great pattern of all prayer. Teach them to retire every morning and evening to pray, and to pray frequently on the Lord's day; and alfo caufe them go and pray together by turns; this would be a good mean to engage their love to one another, and to cause them ftudy to be more grave and exact in their prayers: and therefore it were fit alfo to cause them pray fometimes in your own hearing. Enjoin them alfo to be fervent and fincere in prayer, and to pray with a lively fenfe of God's all feeing eye that beholds in fecret, and with an awful regard to the judgment of the great day. Likewife, when they come to any capacity, tell them, That they must not restrict themTelves to their forms, but muft make additions of their own framing; tell them, That God loves these words beft that come from the heart; and, for their help therein, tell them often of their fin and mifery by nature, and of their need of Christ, and his blood to wash and fave them; direct them frequently to say, "Lord teach me to pray, give me thy Spirit to help me to pray." Alfo every Sabbath night enquire at them what new words and expreffions they have got and added to their prayers, and encourage and reward them according to their diligence. O parents, neglect not to teach your poor children to pray and read: Will you teach them to work, and not teach them to pray? if you do it not, the devil will teach them to ban, lie, and play 1 play on the Lord's day. And will it not be a fearful 5. It is very proper on this day, affeon as your children are capable, to take them afide, and folemnly to tell them the vows you took on at baptifm in their name, and as fponfors for them, and how you publicly engag-. ed" that they would be the Lord's, and renounce the world, the devil, and the flefh:" And therefore, for your own exoneration, you should take them folemnly engaged to do and perform all thofe things which you promised in their name. Put them to it perfonally and explicitly to own and renew their baptifmal covenant, to fhew themselves Chriftians, not only by their parents dedication, but also by their own deed and voluntary confent. Let each of them ptofefs and fay, "I chufe God the Father for my God and Father, I chufe God the Son for my Redeemer and Saviour, I chufe the Holy Ghoft for my Guide and Sanctifier, God's word for my rule, God's people for my companions, holiness. for my way, and heaven for my home." 6. Take care this evening to give both them and your fervants, many ferious and affectionate admonitions concerning their fouls, and their duties to God. and man. Warn them folemniy against fin and vice, and particularly thofe vices that are too common among us; study to check and difcourage the beginnings of vice in children; obferve and watch the firft appearances thereof, and pluck them up by the roots: For, if vice be connived at in the beginning, it will turn afterwards too ftrong for you; but when it is never suffered Ff2 toq, |