CHRISTIAN NURTURE. BY HORACE BUSHNELL. "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be *Isaiah, liv. 13. CHARLES SCRIBNER, 124 GRAND STREET, 1861. 01126.7.34 17.05 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 1863, Aris 25. 140 Gray Funil. 5 ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1860, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER, IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR R. H. HOBBS, STEREOTYPER, HARTFORD, CONN. VIII.--The out-populating power of the Christian stock,.. 195 PART II. -THE MODE. I.—When and where the nurture begins,... 227 II. Parental qualifications,. 252 III.-Physical nurture, to be a means of grace, . 271 IV. The treatment that discourages piety,.. 295 V.-Family government,. 314 VI.-Plays and pastimes, holidays and Sundays, 338 VII. The Christian teaching of children,. 366 VIII.-Family prayers,.. 385 PREFACE. THE subject of this volume is one of the highest, in the order of consequence, both as respects the welfare of religion and of human society. No apology therefore is needed, for the giving to the public of any thing concerning it, which is honestly meant, and thoughtfully prepared. I should have preferred, on some accounts, to write a proper treatise on the subject-which this volume is not. The shape it has taken will be sufficiently explained, by the facts and considerations, that have been determining causes, in the process of its construction. Thirteen years ago I was drawn, by solicitation from others, into the publication of two discourses, the first two of this volume, under the title CHRISTIAN NURTURE. Afterwards, these were republished with another, the fourth of the present volume, and with other articles variously related, under the same title. These publications have been out of print for some years; for I have preferred the discontinuance of publication, till I might be able to present the subject in a more adequate and complete The present volume is the result. manner. In preparing it, I could not easily consent to lay aside, or pass into oblivion, the two discourses above referred to; for, under the fortune that befel them, they had become a little historical. In this fuller treatment of the subject therefore, I have allowed them to stand, requiring the additions made, to |