alone who can convey to them instruction in that tone of parental tenderness which no other human voice can imitate, and to which God hath opened every fountain of the infant heart.

Under the deep impression of this time, and of these duties, I wish, my brethren, to offer to you, in the course of the season, some observations on the conduct of religious education; on its conduct more particularly, in the early ages of children, from that infant period when they first hear the name into which they were baptized, until that greater hour, when you are to present them at the altar of their Lord, to take upon themselves the vows of that baptism. Upon so great a subject, I can dare to promise you only a few imperfect reflections; but it is a subject, I know, to which every parental ear will listen; and there is an Almighty Spirit around us, "which can make even the weakness of man to praise ❝him.”—There is something, undoubtedly, very solemn in the task of religious education. The subjects to be taught are so great, and the consequences of errour appear so infinite, that many a conscientious parent trembles at the difficulty; and I know not if it be not chiefly to this cause, that we are to attribute that neglect of this great duty, which is unhappily so apparent in the higher ranks of life, and which has produced that unnatural system, by which they attempt to compensate this neglect, by devolving it upon those assistants whom wealth is ever able to purchase. In answer, then, both to this diculffity and this neglect, Iam to entreat you, in the first place, to

remember, that to Christian parents this difficulty is removed; that they in fact are not left to their own wisdom; and that a system of instruction is provided for them by Heaven itself, in which they are only called to be the instruments of a greater wisdom. To them, the book of salvation is given; a book not composed by mortal wisdom, but given by "the inspiration of the "Almighty," by which they are enabled to teach even their "little children," the doings of God to man; and in which, in the moment almost they leave the cradle, they may learn all that the Son of God hath said, and done, and suffered for their sakes. To such an advantage, no other religion that ever existed can pretend. It makes the humblest parent the instrument of communicating instruction from God himself. It replies unanswerably to all the fears which modesty can feel, and all the excuses which neglect can offer; and while, like the radiance of the sun, it shines with equal ray upon the cottage and the palace, it summons the inhabitants of both "to "suffer their little children to come unto their Sa"viour, and to forbid them not.”

While the mercy of Heaven has thus afforded to you, my brethren, these means of instruction, let me remind you, in the second place, how exquisitely these means are accommodated to the feelings and the character of the young. There is no book (as you all must have observed) so acceptable even to "the "little children," as that which records the history of Jesus Christ, and the incidents of his life. The plainness of the language, the familiarity of the

events, the progressive interest of the story,-and the simplicity of the principal personages, are all adapted to the character of their minds; and lead them on to truth, in a way so artless and unpretending, that they are unconscious of any thing else but interest in the narration. It is still more remarkable that there is no character so intelligible or so affecting to the infant mind, as that of their Saviour. Into the character of those whom the world calls great, they do not and cannot enter. But the character of the Saviour of the world is one which they understand, I believe, much better than the world itself. Its simplicity accords with what they feel within themselves; its goodness with what they as yet believe of the world around them. In his wisdom there is so little pretension,-in his actions there is so little effort, that they approach him with affection like one of themselves; and though they read the story of his sufferings with tears, they are tears that are mingled with admiration, and which dry up in exultation, when they witness his triumph over death, and over all the powers of his enemies. "Suffer the "little children to come unto me," it is never to be forgotten, are his own pathetick and paternal words. They signify, that "the little children" are dear to him, and that He is acceptable to them. They signify, that while the waters of baptism are poured even upon the cradle of humanity, the moment they leave it, the arms of a friend and of a Saviour are prepared to receive them.-They signify, but too prophetically, that times would come when the folly and the

presumption of man would find out other and artificial modes of education, when the young would not be "suffered," but "forbid to come to Him;" and they seem even to supplicate the Christian parents of every future age, to "suffer their little children to "come to him," with the earnestness of a dying father, who fears that his children may fall into weaker and unwiser hands.

With regard, therefore, to the first period of education, my brethren, to the method of educating your "little children," the great and the only advice I have to offer you is, that which his direction has sanctified," suffer them to come to Him." Spread before their infant eyes the Gospels of their Lord; read to them these sacred books, as they advance, with those tones of solemnity and interest which parental love every where assumes; and when they are able themselves to read, let them be the constant and regular study of their earliest years, in all the hours that are dedicated to domestick piety. In such a method of education, there is nothing difficult or laborious. It is a duty which the poorest man can execute, and from which the greatest is not exempt; and while it can illuminate the desponding gloom of the cottage, it is able also in mercy to dim all the dangerous lustre of the palace.

In what manner the early acquaintance of "little "children" with the gospels of our Lord has these important advantages, you will permit me in a few words to attempt to remind you.

1. It is its first advantage, that it presents to their infant eyes the example of the highest excellence of which their nature is capable, and by this means awakens them to a sense of all the dignity of their own being. When they follow the life and history of their Saviour, they are not learning cold and abstract maximns of morality, which they can repeat without interest or understanding, and which must be forgot the moment they leave the school. They are following the footsteps of one they love, and in whose fate their hearts are interested; they attend him into solitude as well as into society, and are made acquainted with every sentiment of his mind, as well as every motive of his conduct. They are following, still more, the footsteps of a perfect model; of one whose thoughts were ever great, and whose actions were ever good; in whose sentiments towards God, Devotion assumes all its sublimity, and in whose sentiments towards men, Benevolence appears in all its beauty;-and yet in whose astonishing character all these divine qualities are "so "veiled in humility," that the infant eye can look upon them with love, and recognize the perfection which itself is formed to pursue. Who is there that can remain insensible to the incalculable advantage of such a model being presented to the minds of the young? In what work of human wisdom shall we find any thing that can thus waken all that is great or good in the infant bosom? And where is the parent whose heart does not throb with thankful