the opposition of it and laugh at or rather pity the rest of the World that could be so servilely blind as seemingly to conspire in the belief of so monstrous an Absurdity And in like manner if any Church should declare that Images are to be worshipped or that the Worship of God is to be performed in an unknown Tongue and that the H. Scriptures which contain the Word and Will of God and teach men what they are to believe and do in order to their eternal Salvation are to be lock'd up and kept concealed from the People in a Language which they do not understand lest if they were permitted the free use of them in their Mother Tongue they should know more of the Mind and Will of God than is convenient for the common People to know whose Devotion and Obedience to the Church does mainly depend upon their Ignorance Or should declare that the Sacrifice of Christ was not offer'd once for all but is and ought to be repeated ten Millions of times every Day And that the People ought to receive the Communion in one kind only and the Cup by no means to be trusted with them for fear the Profane Beards of the Laity should drink of it And that the saving efficacy of the Sacraments doth depend upon the intention of the Priest without which the Receiver can have no benefit by them These are all of them so plainly contrary to Scripture and most of them in Reason so absurd that the Authority of no Church whatsoever can oblige a man to the belief of them Nay I go yet further that being evidently contrary to the Doctrine of the Gospel though an Apostle or an Angel from Heaven should declare them we ought to reject them And for this I have St. Paul's authority and warrant who speaking of some that perverted the Gospel of Christ by teaching things contrary to it Though we says he or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before so say I now again though an Apostle though an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which ye have received let him be accursed Gal. 1. 7 8 9. You see he repeats it over again to express not only his own confident assurance but the certainty of the thing And here is an Anathema with a witness which we may confidently oppose to all the Anathema's which the Council of Trent hath so liberally denounced against all those who shall presume to gainsay these New Doctrines of their Church which are in truth another Gospel than that which our B. Saviour and his Apostles taught And yet on their Side there is neither an Apostle nor an Angel from Heaven in the Case To give but one Instance more If Bellarmin shall tell me as he expresly does That if the Pope should declare Virtue to be Vice and Vice to be Virtue I were bound to believe him unless I would sin against Conscience And if all the World should say the same that Bellarmin does namely that this Infallible Declarer of Virtue and Vice were to be believed and followed yet I could not possibly be of their mind for this plain and undeniable Reason because if Virtue and Vice be all one then Religion is nothing since the main Design of Religion is to teach men the difference between Virtue and Vice and to oblige them to practise the one and to refrain from the other And if Religion be nothing then Heaven and Hell are nothing And if Heaven be nothing then an infallible Guide thither is of no use and to no manner of purpose because he is a Guide no whither and so his great Office ceases and falls of it self And now lest any should think me singular in this Assertion and that thereby I give a great deal too much to the single Judgment of private Persons and too little to the Authority of a Church I will produce the deliberate Judgment of a very Learned Man and a great Assertor of the Church's Authority concerning the matter I am now speaking of I mean Mr. Hooker in his deservedly admired Book of Ecclesiastical Policy His words are these I grant says he that Proof derived from the Authority of Man's Judgment is not able to work that Assurance which doth grow by a stronger proof and therefore although ten thousand General Councils should set down one and the same Definitive Sentence concerning any Point of Religion whatsoever yet one Demonstrative Reason alledged or one Testimony cited from the Word of God himself to the contrary could not chuse but oversway them all In as much as for them to be deceived it is not so impossible as it is that Demonstrative Reason or Divine Testimony should deceive And again For men says he to be tyed and led by Authority as it were with a kind of Captivity of Judgment and though there be Reason to the contrary not to listen to it but follow like Beasts the first in the Herd this were Brutish Again That the Authority of Men should prevail with Men either against or above Reason is no part of OUR Belief Companies of Learned Men though they be never so great and Reverend are to yield unto Reason the weight whereof is no whit prejudiced by the simplicity of the Person which doth alledge it but being found to be sound and good the bare Opinion of men to the contrary must of necessity stoop and give place And this he delivers not only as his own particular Judgment but that which he apprehended to be the Judgment of the Church of England I have produced these clear and positive Testimonies of so learned and judicious a Person and of so great esteem in our Church on purpose to prevent any misapprehension as if by this Discourse I intended to derogate from the Authority of the Church and her just and reasonable Determinations in things no wise contrary to plain Reason or the Word of God And beyond this pitch no judicious Protestant that I know of ever strain'd the Authority of the Church I proceed now in the Second place to vindicate the Reasonableness of this Resolution from the Objections to which this singular and peremptory kind of Resolution may seem liable as Obj. 1. First it may very speciously be said that this does not seem modest for a man to set up his own private Judgment against the general Suffrage and Vote And it is very true as I said before that about things indifferent a man should not be stiff and singular and in things doubtful and obscure a man should not be over-confident of his own Judgment and insist peremptorily upon it against the general Opinion But in things that are plain and evident either from Scripture or Reason it is neither immodesty nor a culpable singularity for a man to stand alone in the defence of the Truth Because in such a Case a man
you understanding in all things Concerning FAMILY-RELIGION A SERMON Preached at St. LAWRENCE JURY JULY the 13 th 1684. JOSH. XXIV 15. But as for me and MY HOUSE we will serve the Lord. I Shall now proceed to the Second Point contained in the Text namely II. The pious Care of a good Master and Father of a Family to train up those under his Charge in the Worship and Service of the true God As for me and MY HOUSE we will serve the Lord. And this is the more necessary to be spoken to because it is a great and very essential part of Religion but strangely overlook'd and neglected in this loose and degenerate Age in which we live It is a great part of Religion for next to our personal Homage and Service to Almighty God and the Care of our own Souls it is incumbent upon us to make those who are under our Charge and subject to our Authority God's subjects and his Children and Servants which is a much more honourable and happy Relation than that which they bear to us Our Children are a natural part of our selves and the rest of our Family are a Civil and Political part And not only we our selves but all that we have and that belongs to us is God's and ought to be devoted to his service And they that have the true Fear of God themselves will be careful to teach it to others to those especially who are under their more immediate Care and Instruction And therefore God had so great a confidence concâ—rning â—braham as to this particular as to undertake for him that being so very good a man himself he would not fail in so great and necessary a part of his Duty For I know him says God of him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment God passeth his Word for him that he would not only take care to instruct his Children and the rest of his numerous Family in the true Religion but that he would likewise lay a strict Charge upon them to propagate and transmit it to their Posterity And this certainly is the Duty of all Fathers and Masters of Families and an essential part of Religion next to serving God in our own Persons to be very careful that all that belong to us do the same For every man must not only give an account of himself to God but of those likewise that are committed to his Charge that they do do not miscarry through his neglect In speaking of this great and necessary Duty I shall do these four things First I shall shew wherein it doth consist Secondly I shall consider our Obligation to it both in point of Duty and of Interest Thirdly I shall enquire into the Causes of the so common and shameful neglect of this Duty to the exceeding great Decay of Piety amongst us Fourthly As a Motive and Argument to us to endeavour to â—etrieve the practice of this Duty I shall represent to you the peâ—nicious Consâ—quences of the neglect of it both with regard to our Selves and to the Publick In all which I shall be very brief because things that are plain need not to be long I. I shall shew wherein the Practice of this Duty doth consist And in this I am sure there is no need to be long because this Duty is much better known than practised The principal Parts of it are these following First By setting up the constant Worship of God in our Families By daily Prayâ—rs to God every Morning and Evening and by reading some Portion of the H. Scriptures at those Times especially out of the Psalms of David and the New Testament And this is so necessary to keep alive and to maintain a sense of God and Religion in the minds of men that where it is neglected I do not see how any Family can in reason be esteemed a Family of Christians or indeed to have any Religion at all And there are not wanting excellent Helps to this purpose for those that stand in need of them as I think most Families do for the due and decent discharge of this solemn Duty of Prayer I say there are excellent Helps to this purpose in the several Books of Devâ—tion calculated for the private use of Families as well as for Secret Prayer in our Closets So that besides the reading of the H. Scriptures which are the great Fountains of Divine Truth we may do well likewise to add to these other pious and profitable Books which by their plainness are fitted for the instruction of all Capacities in the most necessary Points of Belief and Practice Of which sort God be thanked there is an abundant store but none that I think is more fitted for general and constant use than that excellent Book so well known by the Title of The whole Duty of Man Because it is conveniently divided into Parts or Sections one of which may be read in the Family at any time when there is leisure for it but more especially on the Lord's Day when the whole Family may the more easily be brought and kept together and have the Opportunity to attend upon these things without distraction And which I must by no means omit because it is in many Families already gone and in others going out of Fashion I mean a solemn acknowledgment of the Providence of God by begging his Blessing at our Meals upon his good Creatures provided for our use and by returning Thanks to him for the benefit and refreshment of them This being a piece of Natural Religion owned and practised in all Ages and in most Places of the World but never so shamefully and scandalously neglected and I fear by many slighted and despised as it is amongst us at this Day And most neglected where there is greatest Reason for the doing of it I mean at the most plentiful Tables and among those of highest Quality As if Great Persons were ashamed or thought scorn to own from whence these Blessings come like the Nation of the Jews of whom God complains in the Prophet Hos 2. 8. She knew not that I gave Her Corn and Wine and Oyl and multiplied her Silver and Gold She knew not that is She would not acknowledge from whose Bounty all these Blessings came Or as if the poor were obliged to thank God for a little but those who are fed to the full and whose Cups overflow so that they are almost every day surfeited of plenty were not at least equally bound to make returns of thankful acknowledgment to the Great Giver of all good things and to implore His Bounty and Blessing upon whom the eyes of all do wait that He may give them their meat in due season O crooked and perverse Generation Do you thus reason Do ye thus requite the Lord foolish and unwise This is a very sad and broad Sign of the prevalency of Atheism and Infidelity among us when
when he employed him in that great Affair of the Marriage of his Son Isaac what pains did he take what prudence did he use what fidelity did he shew in the discharge of that great Trust giving himself no rest till he had accomplish'd the Business he was sent about God seems purposely to have left these two Instances upon Record in Scripture to encourage Fathers and Masters of Families to a Religious care of their Children and Servants And to shew the power of Religion to oblige men to their Duty I will add but one Instance more How did the Fear of God secure Joseph's fidelity to his Master in the Case of a very great and violent Temptation When there was nothing else to restrain him from so lewd and wicked an act and to which he was so powerfully tempted the consideration of the great trust his Master reposed in him and the sense of his Duty to him but above all the Fear of God preserved him from consenting to so vile and wicked an action How can I says he do this great wickedness and sin against God So that in prudence and from a wise consideration of the great benefit and advantage which will thereby redound to us we ought with the greatest care to instill the Principles of Religion into those that belong to us For if the Seeds of true Piety be sown in them we shall reap the fruits of it And if this be neglected we shall certainly find the mischief and inconvenience of it If out Children and Servants be not taught to fear and reverence God how can we expect that they should reverence and regard us at least we can have no sure hold of them For nothing but Religion lays an obligation upon Conscience nor is there any other certain bond of Duty and Obedience and Fidelity Men will break loose from all other Ties when a fit Occasion and a fair Opportunity doth strongly tempt them And as Religion is necessary to procure the favour of God and all the comfort and happiness which that brings along with it so it is necessary likewise to secure the mutual Duties and Offices of men to one another I proceed to the Third thing which I proposed namely III. To enquire into the Causes of the so common and shameful Neglect of this Duty to the exceeding great decay of Piety among us And this may in part be ascribed to our Civil Confusions and Distractions but chiefly to our Dissentions and Differences in Religion which have not only divided and scattered our Parochial Churches and Congregations but have entred likewise into our Families and made great disturbances and disorders there First This may in good part be ascribed to our Civil Confusions and Distractions which for the time do lay all Laws asleep and do not only occasion a general Licentiousness and dissoluteness of Manners but have usually a proportionable bad inâ—luence upon the order and Government of Families by weakning the Authority of those that Govern and by giving the opportunity of greater License to those that should be governed For when publick Laws lose their Authority it is hard to maintain and keep up the strict Rules and Order of Families which after great and long Disorder are very hard to be retriev'd and recover'd Secondly This great Neglect and Decay of Religious Order in Families is chiefly owing to our Dissentions and Differences in Religion upon occasion whereof many under the pretence of Conscience have broke loose into a boundless Liberty So that among the manifold ill Consequences of our Divisions in Religion this is none of the least that the Religious Order of Families hath been in a great measure broken and dissolved Some will not meet at the same Prayers in the Family nor go to the same Church and Place of publick Worship and upon that pretence take the liberty to do what they please and under colour of serving God in a different way according to their Consciences do either wholly or in great measure neglect the Worship of God nay it is well if they do not at that Time haunt and frequent Places of Debauchery and Lewdness which they may safely do being from under the eye of their Parents and Masters However by this means it becomes impossible for the most careful Masters of Families to take an account of those under their Charge how they â—pend their time on the Lord's Day and to train them up in any certain and orderly way of Religion And this methinks is so great and sensible an inconvenience and hath had such dismal effects in many Families as ought effectually to convince us of the necessity of endeavouring a greater Union in matters of Religion and to put us in mind of those happy Days when God was served in one way and whole Families went to the House of God in Companies and Fathers and Masters had their Children and Servants continually under their eye and they were all united in their Worship and Devotion both in their own Houses and in the House of God and by this means the Work of Religious Education and Instruction was effectually carried on and a steddy Authority and decent Order was maintained in Families men were edified and built up in Religion and God in all things was glorified And we may assure our selves that till we are better agreed in matters of Religion and our unhappy and childish Differences are laid aside and till the Publick and unanimous Worship of God do in some measure recover its reputation the good Order and Government of Families as to the great ends of Religion is never likely to obtain and to have any considerable effect Which I hope will make all men who heartily love God and Religion to consider seriously how necessary it is to put an end to these Differences that in our private Families as well as in the publick Assemblies of the Church we may with one mind and with one mouth glorify God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ I beseech you therefore Brethren as St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1. 10. by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment that is so far as is necessary to the keeping of the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace and to prevent Divisions and Separations among Christians I proceed to the Fourth and last thing I proposed and which remains to be very briefly spoken to namely IV. The very mischievous and fatal Consequences of the neglect of this Duty both to the Publick and to our Selves First To the Publick Families are the first Seminaries of Religion and if care be not there taken to prepare persons especially in their tender years for publick teaching and instruction it is like to have but very little effect The neglect of a due preparation of our Children and
does not oppose his own single and private Judgment to the Judgment of Many but the common Reason of Mankind and the Judgment of God plainly declared in his Word If the generality of men should turn Atheists and Infidels and should deny the Being of God or his Providence the Immortality of mens Souls and the Rewards and Punishments of another World Or should deny the Truth of the Gospel and of the Christian Religion it would not certainly be any breach of modesty for a man to appear single if no body else would stand by him in the resolute defence of these great Truths In like manner when a whole Church though never so large and numerous shall conspire together to corrupt the Christian Religion so far as to impose upon Mankind under the name of Christian Doctrines and Articles of Faith things plainly contrary to the Sense and Reason of Mankind and to the clear and express Word of God why must a Man needs be thought immodest if he oppose such gross Errors and Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine And what reason have the Church of Rome to talk of modesty in this Case when they themselves have the face to impose upon Mankind the belief of things contrary to what they and every man else sees As they do in their Doctrine of Transubstantiation And to require of them to do what God hath expresly forbidden as in the Worship of Images besides a great many other Idolatrous Practices of that Church To deny the People the free use of the H. Scriptures and the publick Service of God in a known Tongueâ— contrary to the very end and design of all Religion and in affront to the common Reason and Liberty of Mankind Obj. 2. Secondly It is pretended that it is more prudent for private Persons to err with the Church than to be so pertinacious in their own Opinions To which I answer that it may indeed be pardonable in some Cases to be led into mistake by the Authority of those to whose Judgment and Instruction we ought to pay a great deference and submission Provided always it be in things which are not plain and necessary but surely it can never be prudent to err with any number how great soever in matters of Religion which are of moment merely for Numbers sake But to comply with the known Errors and Corruptions of any Church whatsoever is certainly damnable Obj. 3. Thirdly It is pretended yet further that men shall sooner be excused in following the Church than any particular Man or Sect. To this I answer that it is very true if the matter be doubtful and especially if the Probabilities be equal or near equal on both Sides But if the Error be gross and palpable it will be no excuse to have followed any number of Men or any Church whatsoever For here the competition is not between Men and Men but between God and Men And in this Case we must forsake all Men to follow God and his Truth Thou shalt in no wise follow a Multitude in a known Error is a Rule which in Reason is of equal obligation with that Divine Law Thou shalt in no wise follow a Multitude to do evil or rather is comprehended in it because to comply with a known Error is certainly to do Evil. And this very Objection the Jews made against our B. Saviour and the Doctrine which He taught that the Guides and Governours of the Jewish Church did utterly differ from Him and were of a contrary mind Have any of the Rulers say they believed on him What will you be wiser than your Rulers and Governors What follow the Doctrine of one single Man against the unanimous Judgment and Sentence of the Great Sanhedrim to whom the Trial of Doctrines and pretended Prophets doth of right belong But as plausible as this Objection may seem to be it is to be considered that in a corrupt and degenerate Church the Guides and Rulers of it are commonly the worst and the most deeply engaged in the Errors and Corruptions of it They brought them in at first and their Successors who have been bred up in the belief and practice of them are concern'd to uphold and maintain them And so long a Prescription gives a kind of Sacred Stamp even to Error and an Authority not to be opposed and resisted And thus it was in the corrupt State of the Jewish Church in our Saviour's Time And so likewise in that great Degeneracy of the Christian Church in thâ— Times of Popery their Rulers made them to err Insomuch that when Martin Luther appeared in opposition to the Errors and Superstitions of that Church and was hard prest with this very Objection which the Pharisees urg'd against our Saviour he was forc'd to bolt out a kind of unmannerly Truth Religio nunquam magis periclitatur quà m inter Reverendissimos Religion says he is never in greater hazard and worse treated than amongst the most Reverend meaning the Pope and his Cardinals and all the Romish Hierarchy who had their dependance upon them Obj. 4. Fourthly it is Objected That as on the one hand there may be danger of Error in following blindly the Belief of the Church so on the other hand there is as great a danger of Schism in forsaking the communion of the Church upon pretence of Errors and Corruptions Very true but where great Errors and Corruptions are not only pretended but are real and evident and where our Compliance with those Errors and Corruptions is made a necessary Condition of our Communion with that Church In that Case the guilt of Schism how great a Crime soever it be doth notâ— fall upon those who forsake the Communion of that Church but upon those who drive them out of it by the sinful Conditions which they impose upon them And this is truly the Case between Us and the Church of Rome as we are ready to make good and have fully done it upon all Occasions and they have never yet been able to vindicate and clear themselves of those gross Errors and Corruptions which have been charged upon them and which they require of all their Members as necessary Conditions of Communion with them here and of eternal Salvation hereafter For we do not object to them doubtful matters but things as plain as any are contained in the Bible as every body would see if they durst but let every body read it The Worship of Images is there as plainly forbidden in the Decalogue as Murther and Adultery are The Communion in both Kinds is as express an Institution of our Saviour as any in all the New Testament and even as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper it self only that Church pretends to a Dispensing Power as a Priviledge inherent in theâ—â— Church and inseparable from it And to add but one Instance more Publick Prayers and the Service of God in an unknown Tongue are as plainly and fully declared against by St. Paul in a long Chapter upon this
I mean in not teaching them to govern their Passions is the true cause why many that have proved sincere Christians when they came to be Men have yet been very imperfect in their conversation and their Lives have been full of inequalities and breaches which have not only been matter of great trouble and disquiet to themselves but of great scandal to Religion when their light which should shine before men is so often darken'd and obscured by these frequent and visible infirmities 2 dly To the government of their Tongues To this end teach Children Silence especially in the presence of their Betters And assoon as they are capable of such a Lesson let them be taught not to speak but upon consâ—deration both of what they say and before whom And above all inculcate upon them that most necessary Duty and Vertue of speaking truth as one of the best and strongest bands of Human Society and Commerce And possess them with the baseness and vileness of telling a Lye for if it be so great a provocation to give a man the Lye then surely to be guilty of that Fault must be a mighty Reproach They who write of Japan tell us that those People though mere Heathens take such an effectual course in the Education of their Children as to render a Lye and breach of Faith above all things odious to them Insomuch that it is a very rare thing for any Person among them to be taken in a Lye or found guilty of breach of Faith And cannot the Rules of Christianity be render'd as effectual to restrain men from these Faults which are scandalous even to Nature and much more so to the Christian Religion To the Government of the Tongue does likewise belong the restraining of Children from lewd and obscene words from vain and profane talk and especially from horrid Oaths and Imprecations From all which they are easily kept at first but if they are once accustomed to them it will be found no such easy matter for them to get quit of these evil Habits It will require great attention and watchfulness over themselves to keep Oaths out of their common discourse but if they be heated and in passion they throw out Oaths and Curses as naturally as men that are highly provoked fling stones or any thing that comes next to hand at one another So dangerous a thing is it to let any thing that is bad in Children to grow up into a Habit. Thirdly As the principal and essential Parts of Religion and Virtue let Children be carefully bred up 1 st To Sobriety and Temperance in regard to themselves under which I comprehend likewise Purity and Chastity The government of the sensual Appetite as to all kind of Bodily pleasures is not only a great part of Religion but an excellent instrument of it and a necessary foundation of Piety and Justice For he that cannot govern himself is not like to discharge his Duty either to God or Men. And therefore St. Paul puts Sobriety first as a primary and principal Virtue in which men are instructed by the Christian Religion and which must be laid as the foundation both of Piety towards God and of Righteousness to Men. The Grace of God for so he calls the Gospel that brings Salvation unto all men hath appeared teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world It first teacheth us to live soberly and unless we train up Children to this Vertue we must never expect that they will either live righteously or godly in this present World Especially Children must be bred up to great Sobriety and Temperance in their Diet which will retrench the fewel of other inordinate Appetites It is a good Saying I have met with somewhere Magna pars virtutis est bene moratus venter a well manner'd and well govern'd Appetite in matter of meats and drinks is a great part of Virtue I do not mean that Children should be brought up according to the Rules of a Lessian Diet which sets an equal stint to all Stomachs and is as senseless a thing as a Law would be which should enjoin that Shooes for all Mankind should be made upon one and the same Last 2 dly To a serious and unaffected Piety and Devotion towards God still and quiet real and substantial without much shew and noise and as free as may be from all tricks of Superstition or freaks of Enthusiasm which if Parents and Teachers be not very prudent will almost unavoidably insinuate themselves into the Religion of Children and when they are grown up will make them appear to wise and sober Persons phantastical and conceited and render them very apt to impose their own foolish Superstitions and wild Conceits upon others who understand Religion much better than themselves Let them be taught to honour and love God above all things to serve him in private and to attend constantly upon his publick Worship and to keep their minds intent upon the several parts of it without wandring and distraction To Pray to God as the Fountain of all Grace and the giver of every good and perfectâ— gift And to acknowledge Him and to â—render Thanks to Him as our most gracious and constant Benefactor and the great Patron and Preserver of our Lives To be careful to do what He commands and to avoid what He hath forbidden To be always under a lively sense and apprehâ—nsion of his pure and all-seeing Eye which beholds us in secret And to do every thing in obedience to the Authority of that Great Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy and with an awful regard to the strict and impartial Judgment of the Great Day 3 dly To Justice and honesty To defraud and oppress no man to be as good as their word and to perform all their Promises and Contracts and endeavour to imprint upon their minds the Equity of that Great Rule which is so natural and so easy that even Children are capable of it I mean that Rule which our B. Saviour tells us is the Law and the Prophets namely that we should do to others as we would have others do to us if we were in their Case and Circumstances and they in ours You that are Parents and have to do in the World ought to be just and equal in all your dealings In the first place for the sake of your own Souls and next for the sake of your Children Not only that you may entail no Curse upon the Estate you leave them but likewise that you may teach them no Injustice by the Example you set before them which in this particular they will be as apt to imitate as in any one thing because of the present worldly advantage which it seems to bring and because Justice is in truth a manly Virtue and least understood by Children and therefore Injustice is a Vice which they will soonest practise and with the least reluctancy because
Offspring Good Children are the hopes of Posterity and we cannot leave the World a better Legacy than well-disciplin'd Children This gives the World the best Security that Religion will be propagated to Posterity and that the Generations to come shall know God and the Children that are to be born shall fear the Lord. This was the great Glory of Abraham next to his being the Friend of God that he was the Father of the Faithful And the careful Education of Children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is so honourable to Parents that God himself would not pass it by in Abraham without special mention of it to his â—verlasting commendation I know Abraham says God that he will command his children and his Houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do Justice and Judgment Gen 18. 19. Fifthly Consider yet further the great Evils consequent upon this neglect And they are manifold But not to enlarge particularly upon them they all end in this the final miscarriage and ruin of Children Do but leave depraved corrupt Nature to its self and it will take its own course and the end of it in all probability will be miserable If the generous Seeds of Religion and Virtue be not carefully sown in the tender Minds of Children and those Seeds be not cultivated by good Education there will certainly spring up Briars and Thorns of which Parents will not only feel the inconvenience but every body else that comes near them Neglectis urenda filix innascitur Agris If the Ground be not planted with something that is good it will bring forth that which is either useless or hurtful or both For Nature is seldom barren it will either bring forth useful â—lants or Weeds We are naturally inclined to Evil and the neglect of Education puts Children upon a kind of necessity of becoming what they are naturally inclin'd to be Do but let them alone and they will soon be habituated to Sin and Vice And when they are once accustomed to do evil they have lost their Liberty and Choice They are then hardly capable of good counsel and instruction Or if they be patient to hear it they have no power to follow it being bound in the chains of their Sins and led captive by Satan at his pleasure And when they have brought themselves into this condition their Ruin seems to be sealed and without a Miracle of God's Grace they are never to be reclaimed Nor doth the mischief of this neglect end here but it extends it self to the Publick and to Posterity If we neglect the good Education of our Children they will in all probability prove bad Men and these will neglect their Children and so the Foundation of an endless Mischief is laid and our Posterity will be bad Members both of Church and Commonwealth If they be neglected in matter of Inâ—â—â—ction they will either be ignorant or â—rroneous Either they will not mind Religion or they will disturb the Church with new and wild Opinions And I fear that the neglect of instructing and Catechising Youth of which this Age hath been so grossly guilty hath made it so fruitful of Errors and strange Opinions But if besides this no care be taken of their Lives and Manners they will become burthens of the Earth and Pests of Human Society and so much Poison and infection let abroad into the World Sixthly and Lastly Parents should often consider that the neglect of this Duty will not only involve them in the inconvenience and shame and sorrow of their Childrens miscarriage but in a great measure in the guilt of it They will have a great share in all the Evil they do and be in some sort chargeable with all the Sins they commit If the Children bring forth wild and sowre Grapes the Parents teeth will be set on edge The temporal Mischiefs and inconveniences which come from the careless Education of Children as to Credit Health and Estate all which do usually suffer by the vicious and lewd courses of your Children these methinks should awaken your care and diligence But what is this to the guilt which will redound to you upon their account Part of all their wickedness will be put upon your score and possibly the Sins which they commit many years afteâ— you are dead and gone will follow you into the other World and bring new fewel to Hell to heat that 〈◊〉 hotter upon you However this is certain that 〈◊〉 must one Day be accountable for all their neglects of their Children And so likewise shall Ministers and Masters of Families for their People and Servants so far as they had the Charge of them And what will Parents be able to say to God at the Day of Judgment for all their neglects of their Children in matter of Instruction and Example and Restraint from evil How will it make your ears to tingle when God shall arise terribly to Judgment and say to you Behold the Children which I have given you They were ignorant and you instructed them not They made themselves vile and you restrained them not Why did not you teach them at Home and bring them to Church to the publick Ordinances and Worship of God and train them up to the exercise of Piety and Devotion But you did not only neglect to give them good Instruction but you gave them bad Example And lo they have followed you to Hell to be an addition to your Torment there Unnatural Wretches that have thus neglected and by your neglect destroyed those whose Happiness by so many bonds of Duty and Affection you were obliged to procure Behold the Books are now open and there is not one Prayer upon Record that ever you put up for your Children There is no Memorial no not so much as of one Hour that ever was seriously spent to train them up to a sense of God and to the knowledge of their Duty But on the contrary it appears that you have many ways contrived their Misery and contributed to their Ruin and help'd forward their Damnation How could you â—e thus unnatural How could you thus hate your own Flâ—sh and hate your own Souls How much better had it been for them and how much better for you that they had never been born Would not such a heavy Charge as this make every joint of you to tremble Will it not cut you to the heart and pierce your very Souls to have your Children challenge you in that Day and say to you one by one Had you been as careful to teach me the good knowledge of the Lord as I was capable of learning it Had you been but as forward to instruct me in my Duty as I was ready to have hearken'd to it it had not been with me as it is at this Day I had not now stood trembling here in a fearful expectation of the eternal Doom which is just ready to be pass'd upon me Cursed be the Man that begate me and