Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

THIS Command includes the duty of children towards their parents, and the promise of reward to their fidelity.

The ten commandments written upon two tables may be divided into two parts. The first contains duties to God, the second those to men. The first command of the first table requires us to honour our heavenly Father; the first command of the second table requires us to honour our earthly parents, as a kind of terrestial gods, who preside over our happiness. In this view the wise Romans seem to have considered parents: an obedient regard both to the Deity and to parents is, in their language, called piety; the same word serves for both of these duties.

The precept of honouring parents is a precept which directly requires a duty; the others seem to be rather of the negative kind, and forbid certain crimes; Thou shalt not do this or that and it is a remark of the Jewish writers that when God forbids, he threatens a punishment; when he requires, he promises a reward. The duty here enjoined is the honouring of parents; and by it is principally required that children should entertain a sincere love and respect, and cherish a natural affection towards them; for this is the principle and the spring whence a suitable behaviour will certainly proceed. Children are required to honour their parents, to be respectful in their behaviour to them, to assist them, to obey their commands, and to follow their directions in all things that are reasonable and contrary to no known duty; and, in points which seem doubtful, to prefer the judgment of their parents to their own, to comfort them in afflictions, and to bear with their infirmities. In the duty of honouring parents is also included the duty of supporting and maintaining them, if they are in distress and unable to help themselves, which children are bound to perform to the utmost of their abilities. The duty of submitting to the will of parents is a duty which relates chiefly to a state of minority. When children are of age, the laws of nature, and of nations, allow them more liberty of judging and of acting; and revealed religion says nothing against it: but honour and respect are duties which ever continue in force. That children should thus honour their parents, is a dictate of affection, of gratitude, of nature, of reason, and of common policy; and it is one of the laws which have been generally received by mankind for plain and important causes.

The dutiful behaviour of children to parents may be justly ranked amongst those things which St. Paul calls comely, beautiful, and of good report, universally approved and admired, not only in the christian world, but by all reasonable people in all times. We read in ancient history of sons, who, for having signalized themselves in affection to their parents, for having saved their lives at the hazard of their own, in times of pressing danger, had divine honours paid to them by posterity. And indeed this seems to have been one of the most pardonable instances of pagan idolatry, and like that of raising statues and temples to Virtue.

There are many instances in the Bible of exemplary obedience to parents, but the most interesting is that of Jesus Christ. In all things he was subject to his parents, and on the cross provided for his mother.

Ir a person threatened my life, or the life of my wife, or any one of my family, this command does not forbid my defence to the utmost. If base rulers enter a country wantonly to pillage and conquer, resistance of such is clearly right. Revelation was never intended to rise on the ruins of natural religion-it is a voice which harmonizes with nature's, and is designed to add emphasis and authority to it. The gift of life begets the love of it, and these contain an inherent right to defend and preserve it.

These principles have the sanction of the Jewish code; and the mild and spiritual gospel of Christ, though it requires lenity, and patience, and forgiveness of injuries, yet it leaves the rights of mankind, the privileges of citizens and subjects, the authority of magistrates, and the civil government of nations, as it found them.

Wars waged by christian nations are notorious offences against this sixth command. Christianity also forbids murder, and those disorderly passions whence conflicts arise. In all the wars which are waged, one side is in fault, and sometimes both; and in this case war is no better than robbery and murder, the guilt of which lies, I do not say upon the soldiers, but upon those in whose hands is lodged the power of declaring war. Duelling is another open breach of this command. Christianity and the law of the land forbid it as murder, while the law of custom and the law of honour, require it under the penalty of disgrace. The duellist thus lives under two inconsistent codes. Who is to blame? The government. They are bound to protect the lives of citizens, and should execute with exemplary strictness the laws against duelling.-Self-murder is another violation of this law, Nature shrieks in horrour at the thought of self-murder. Religion forbids it. Christianity requires man to act the part allotted him with persevering fidelity, and he is, like a soldier upon duty, not to leave his post until the supreme Ruler orders his dismission or release. Christianity requires from us a submission and resignation to God's holy will, reliance upon his promises, faith in him, and patience under affliction, and this is, in reality and by plain consequence, a prohibition of self-murder.

There are things as dear to man as life-viz. his moral character, reputation, health, peace of mind, liberty, and the prosperity of his family. He who deprives another of these, is a murderer, in the moral sense.-"He that hateth his brother, is a murderer." Are you a parent, and do you by unkind tyrannical treatment, by unjust exactions and base examples, drive your children to desperation, are you not their murderer? Are you a husband or wife, and do you by ceaseless complainings, counter plans, malicious irritability and cold distrust, gradually wear away the spirits, affection and life of your partner, are you any better than a murderer ?

Let us cast our eye at the example of Jesus Christ. In his soul dwelt unalloyed kindness and humanity. In no instance was he cruel or unjust. If we would reach his mansions and enjoy his presence, we must be like him.

O, how benevolent and kind!

How mild, how ready to forgive!
Be this the temper of our mind ;
And these the rules by which we live.

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.

NOVEMBER 23.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.-Keep thyself pure.

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NEXT in atrocity to the violation of the sixth command, is the violation of the seventh. Of such criminals, the New Testament expressly declares, "they shall not inherit the kingdom of God."—I shall speak of the government of the thoughts.-The crimes which are acted over in society, are but thoughts embodied in actions. Our Saviour put the check just where it should be. His religion requires the timely controul of every passion, the useful direction of every energy and the innocent exercise of every thought. He would make the streams of life salubrious, by keeping its fountains pure. The government of the thoughts embraces all the operations of our mental and moral faculties; and it cannot be commenced too early. We are not to wait till sin has grown and flourished, but we must root up its seeds as they are bursting into life. The first shadowy notion and the first definite conception, are to bow to the controuling conscience, and take their power from this deity within the breast.

It is necessary that our thoughts should be under regular discipline, in order to the full and successful exertion of our mental powers. What is called a vigorous and active mind seems, after all, to mean only a mind, of which the thoughts are all subjected to the authority of its governing powers, and may therefore all be brought to bear, with their whole force, on the business in which it is occupied. That our thoughts should be brought under discipline, is necessary for our happiness in actual life, and to fit us for its common scenes and duties.-But the necessity of regulating our thoughts will appear more serious, when we consider their influence on our moral character. All action has its origin in the mind. The thought is the rudiment of the deed. Meditation produces desire, and desire leads to practice. If then we would have our actions right, we must make our thoughts pure, and learn to forbear to think on what we are forbidden to do.

We are thus irresistibly led to the conclusion, that he who would govern his actions by the laws of virtue, must regulate his thoughts by those of reason and religion. It is not possible that a man should walk outwardly in the law of God, who is constantly feeding his imagination with the pleasures of sin. The passions will at last act. It is difficult to stop when we have inflamed ourselves with every possible incentive to advance; to abstain when appetite is sharpened to its keenest edge. Of what therefore we are forbidden to do, we must learn to forbid ourselves to think; and make the propriety of action a test of the propriety of thought. If it is wrong to gratify revenge, it is wrong to dwell on it in the imagination. If we must resist the allurements of pleasure, we must refuse to contemplate them. We must not seek to indemnify ourselves for the restraints which we impose on our actions, by the sinful indulgencies of the imagination. There must be no discordance between the inward and outward man; thought, word and deed, must be constantly and inseparably united.

However we may succeed in concealing from man our impure thoughts, there is ONE whose eye is always open on our hearts; and He will bring into judgment every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

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EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.

NOVEMBER 24.

Thou shalt not steal.

As the former command requires purity in our thoughts, so this requires honesty and openness in our dealings. It carries such internal light of its excellence and importance, that it has been advocated by all ages and governments. It springs up as an unpremeditated resolve of reason. To disobey this command, then, is to do violence to the natural promptings of the human mind, to a universal sense of justice-a crime, whose enormity is not easily measured. The New Testament joins the Old in promising to the of fender, the most terrible punishments.

The great christian rule is very explicit, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them." To feel the force of this rule, we must change places with the person towards whom we intended to be unjust, or with whom we are about to deal. Whatever we have to transact with another, though perhaps we might take such advantages of him as he might never be able to know, to prevent or repair, yet let us ask our consciences, if we could be content, or deem it just and honourable, to be so used ourselves? and if not, whatsoever the temptation be, either of gain, pleasure or renown, let us reject it with scorn, as that which would make us violate the first principle of honesty among men, and expose us to God's promised displeasure.

Theft is an unjust taking or detaining what is lawfully another's. This may be done by fraud or force. Theft includes oppression and unreasonable exaction; taking advantage either of the weakness or necessity of others, and imposing such unequal conditions upon them as they cannot bear without their detriment or ruio. Unmercifulness and hard dealing is an evident form of theft. To withhold a labourer's hire, for slight or mercenary motives, is another form of this sin. In trade, the common processes of over-commending or undervaluing goods, for the sake of advantage; the using false weights and measures, the giving those descriptions to counterfeit wares, which belong to real, all these are so many violations of the eighth commandment.

To prevent theft, let every person have some distinct profession, trade or calling-let him labour in this faithfully and industriously, and then let him be content with what God pleases to bestow on his fidelity and perseverance.

There are other forms of theft, not amenable to human laws, and therefore the more aggravated. He who robs an individual of virtue, breaks the eighth commandment. The common robber who perishes on a scaffold before a crowd of gazers is ignominious enough, but does he truly rank in villany with the robber of another class, who, by incessant falsehoods and ingenious simulation, leads captive the confiding female, and carries her off from the innocence and happiness to which she is never to return ?-Most deeply criminal, also, is he, who robs an individual of the affections of others. Affection is one form of wealth possessed, for which a price of similar affection has been paid, and to which the laws of friendship have given a legal and holy title. Now he who would deprive us of this possession, must extinguish every spark of humanity and sympathy within him. He rushes wantonly into the inmost recesses of our soul, he lays sacreligious hands on the ark of our comfort.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

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THIS Command requires abstaining from every word which might injure our neighbour's character, comfort, interest or hopes. As the former command is intended to defend our property from invasion and plunder, this is designed to preserve our good name from malicious abuse.-It forbids bringing false accusations or giving false testimony against any one in courts of justice; and withholding or concealing any fact or sentiment, which prevents evil by being divulged. It forbids lying, since this prevents the end of speech, and since there is a tacit agreement among men to speak the truth to each other.-It forbids that common detraction which consists in lessening the influence or worth of another.-It forbids flattery, that insinuating vice, which attacks a person where he cannot defend himself, and calls evil, good; and good, evil; light, darkness; and darkness, light.-It forbids all scoffing at others, accompanied with that playful wit which is deemed innocent. That person wants proper principles who subjects his fellow men to the jeers of raillery. -It forbids speaking evil of the absent. It is a duty in a christian to defend those who are not able to defend themselves.-It forbids whispering, which is relating men's failings in private, with the injunction of secresy; which injunction secures their circulation. The meanness of such a disposition, it is hard to overrate.-In short, it forbids all malice, revenge, hatred, cruelty, dishonesty, and every form of passion which is opposed to strict justice and enlightened charity.

The

It particularly forbids slander. The slanderer is like the incendiary, who lights his fire where he knows it will rage, and God only can tell where the multiplying miseries of the conflagration will be arrested.—The extent of the injury which we may occasion to any one, by wounding his reputation, is not to be estimated merely by the advantages which a pure and honourable character directly affords. It is necessary to take into account also, the value, above even its high intrinsic excellence, which every individual from the very constitution of our common nature, is led to attach to it. conscience of the virtuous is, indeed, in one sense of the word, sufficient to itself. It cannot be unhappy, while afflictions are all from without, and there is no self-reproach within, to lay open the bosom to their cruel power; yet, even to the virtuous, the approving voice of those who are moving along with them in their earthly path, is one of the most pleasing accessions which their happiness can receive; and to rob them of this voice, or to convert it into murmurs or whispers of reprehension, is to do all the evil which malice, that can not rob them of the consciousness of merit itself, is able to effect. The consciousness itself, indeed, is happily not within the power of the calumniator. But if it were within his power, who can doubt that that power would be gladly exercised ;-that he who defames at the risk of detection, would, if the virtues of others were submitted to his will, prevent all peril of this kind, by tearing from the heart every virtue, of which he must now be content with denying the existence, and thus at once consign his victim to ignominy, and rob him of its only consolation? If even one of the many slanderers with whom society is filled, had this tremendous power, there might not be a single virtue remaining on the earth.