wished to command fire to come down to consume the intolerant Samaritans, thus guilty of the worst of all heresies? "He rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."a What is Paul's decision with regard to points which misguided Christians have considered as of mighty importance? "Who art thou that judgest ano

ther man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth." He declares, (how justly!) "that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Yet he says also, that "if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh whilst the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." Who ever so strenuously asserted the purity of the faith as this apostle ? Here is, however, the true spirit of Christ. Blush ye sticklers for forms and rites, and own that, wanting charity, you are "as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." To the general head of offices, strictly due by man to man, may be referred the reciprocal duties of the different relations of domestic, social, civil, and religious communities; such as those of husbands and wives; of parents and children; of masters and servants; of civil rulers, and those who are subject b Rom. xiv. 4, 17.

a Luke ix. 51-56. c 1 Cor. viii. 13.

See Part ii. chap. 3.

d 1 Cor. xiii. 1.

to their authority; of pastors and their flocks. Our Saviour, having prohibited polygamy and divorce, unless on account of adultery, adds, "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” Hence, it is easy to deduce all the affectionate, endearing, and strictly obligatory duties of the holy connexion of wedlock. His apostles, however, have specified them in the following manner: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." "Likewise dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered." "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in every thing." "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they may also without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they

behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price." The duties of children towards their parents are expressly injoined in the fifth commandment," and, by fair inference, the reciprocal duties of parents, as well as those of masters and servants, of civil and ecclesiastical rulers, and of those who are placed under their authority and direction, may be easily deduced. All these are, besides, specifically inculcated in the sacred scriptures. A peculiar promise is, in this commandment, attached to that love and respect which are due from children to parents, and to the faithful discharge of all the filial duties. It is in the domestic circle, and by parental authority, that the human race are trained to civil obedience, and to a due sense of their obligations as subjects and as citizens. As the happiness of nations depends on legitimate subordination, so their preservation and continuance in the land which they possess, may still be considered as connected with that filial reverence and affection which lead to that just and lawful sub

a Eph. v. 25-27, 29, 30. Eph. v. 22-24. Col. iii. 18.

Col. iii. 19. Tit. ii. 4, 5. 1 Pet. iii. 7. 1 Pet. iii. 1-4. b Exod. xx. 12.

mission by which states and civil government, their animating principle, are preserved. Disobedience to, and contempt of parents, are threatened in scripture with the most severe judgments, expressed in the strongest figures of language. "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."a The contrary duties are strongly injoined, both in the Old and in the New Testament. "Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Thy father and mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice." "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.' But all duties are reciprocal. Hence, parental obligations are enforced with equal cogency. Parents are bound to provide for children's maintenance, to give them a good and pious education, to treat them with all tenderness and affection, and to set before them a virtuous and devout example. "If any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of

a Prov. xxx. 17.

b Prov. xxiii. 22, 25.

e

Eph. vi. 1.

the Lord." "As for me and my house," says Joshua, "we will serve the Lord." "The Lord established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children." Servants are bound to obey the lawful commands of their masters, to be diligent and honest in their service, to perform even more than what may be strictly required of them, to fulfil rather the spirit than the letter of their contract, to honour their masters' persons, and to desire their good and that of their families. They live under their protection, eat their bread, and receive from them the means of comfortable subsistence. If a master is not of a depraved character, all these circumstances, joined to daily intercourse and communication, will, in the mind of every well-disposed servant, excite feelings of good will and attachment towards him to whom he stands in this relation. If this does not take place, either the master or the servant must be extremely vicious. For the honour of human nature, however, mutual attachment generally prevails, and tends to soften both superiority and dependence. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye

a 1 Tim. v. 8. Prov. xxii. 6. Eph. vi. 4. Col. iii. 21. Josh. xxiv. 15. Psal. lxxviii. 5.