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SERMON XXII.

ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

JOHN, xiv. 15.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

THAT faith is nugatory, unless it be productive of good works, or, in other words, that faith can in no other way be known but by its fruits, is a truth so evident to natural reason and common sense, that it would never have been called in question by the wildest enthusiast, unless, from some error in their religious education, men had been accustomed to separate in their minds the doctrines of religion from its practical influence, and to rest their thoughts on the former of these, unaccompanied with any reference to the latter. It is this error which has infused into religious controversy so dark a spirit of malignity and virulence, which has disgraced the Christian church in every age, by vain attempts to penetrate into mysteries totally removed from the reach of the human understanding, and which has clouded in a veil of unmeaning words, even from the eye of child. hood, those simple truths which at once meet with the assent of the uncorrupted mind to which they are pro

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posed, and which lead so naturally to the love and the practice of goodness.

To obviate this error, and the fatal consequences to which it leads, I recommended it to you, my brethren, in a former discourse, to fix the views of your children on those parts of religious instruction which are quite plain, and which must be interesting to them, leaving, till they arrive at a maturer age, those doctrines which they cannot now comprehend, and which to them have no practical consequences. It was the practice of St. Paul to feed "the babes in Christ with milk, and not with meat:" a maxim, which, if Christian instructors had in general been as anxious to imitate the profound sagacity and the liberal spirit of this great apostle, as to perplex themselves and their disciples with those passages in his writings which even St. Peter acknowledges are hard to be understood, would have freed the world from much bigotry, much fanaticism, and much infidelity.

The compilers of our catechism, having, in this spirit, instructed the young in the first plain truths of religion, proceed to render these truths important to them, by showing their connection with the duties of life. They have, first of all, pointed out some of the most striking of these duties, in that form of words which was of old delivered to the people of the Jews; and they afterwards concentrate the spirit of the ten commandments under the two heads, of duty towards God, and duty towards our neighbour. The general result of the whole is still more shortly expressed by our Saviour in the well-known passage, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all

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thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

There is something in the character of childhood which easily receives the impression of this law of love. When the infant mind is elevated to a sense of Deity, it naturally recognises in the Supreme Being the image of parental affection; and, when it is not misled by an unhappy education, it is disposed to look up to God with that "love which casteth out fear." It is at this period easily impressed with the feeling, that to "serve him truly all the days of our lives" is the first of duties, and one which must render us happy in the performance. In like manner, a benevolent interest in the good of our fellow-creatures is easily recognised by a young mind as the dictate of the heart; and, whenever any circumstance is mentioned which may excite its compassion, or whenever its sense of justice is awakened, it will often be found to possess these sentiments in much higher perfection than after it has been trained in the discipline of the world. It is accordingly of great importance in education to exercise the moral sensibility of children; to state to them imaginary cases, or to take advantage of real incidents, by which their moral judgments may be exerted, and by which their attention may be withdrawn from their own selfish feelings, to a quick sympathy with the feelings of others. But, on these general principles of religious and moral education, I cannot pretend, my brethren, to afford you any instruction; and I am the less induced to enter upon

the subject, when I recollect the many excellent works* •which have been written upon it, and which are in the hands of every parent.

Among the ten commandments there are two which, in a more peculiar manner, interest the minds of the young, that which enforces the observance of the Sabbath, and that which requires duty to parents. They are the commandments which have most efficacy in guiding their steps into the paths of piety and virtue. The institution of the Sabbath is the great means by which a sense of religion is kept up in the world. It is a standing memorial of the divine administration; and cannot fail to impress, even the youngest mind, with feelings of reverence for that great unseen Power, before whom the children of men are taught with one accord to bow, and for the sake of whose worship a stop is regularly put to the common occupations and amuse. ments of life. It is under the influence of such feelings that religious impressions spring up at first in the human heart; and the most common symptom of their departure is shown in a disregard for that sacred institution by which they were originally fostered. Let it, therefore, my brethren, be an object of your care, to impress the minds of the young with a reverence for this sacred day. Let them be early accustomed to apply it to the purposes for which it was designed; to such meditations upon God and his laws as are suited to their opening minds; and whenever they are capable of the exercise, let them on this day join you in your public and private devotions.

* Mrs. Hamilton, Miss Edgeworth, &c.

At the same time, be careful that they associate with the return of the Sabbath no ideas of gloomy restraint. Bear always in mind, that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; and, while on this day you lead their hearts to the feelings of piety, at the same time show them, that the day which God has set apart for himself, is a gift of unspeakable mercy to man. Show them, upon this day, the labourer reposing from his toil, and in the bosom of his family, and in the house of his God, feeling, notwithstanding the hardships of his humble condition, that he too possesses the best blessings of life, and the well-grounded hopes of futurity. Show them, upon this day, even the lower animals partaking in the general repose, and the same watchful goodness which gives relief to the man-servant and the maid-servant, providing likewise for the comfort of the cattle. If they are required on this day to suspend the ardour of their common amusements, yet show them, by your own example, that there are occupations suited to it, which may fully interest and employ their minds. Carry them along with you to visit the houses of poverty; let them witness the joy and the gratitude of relieved indigence; and impress them with the feeling, that they are then most truly worshipping God, when they are his ministers of good to man. To minds thus early trained in the true spirit of the Sabbath, that day will through life continue to return with a cheerful and animating aspect; and, instead of becoming a source of weariness, as it too often is to the higher ranks of society, or of being profaned by unsuitable cares and amusements, it will for ever protect them from the contagion of an ir

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