fresh efforts to please, in all things which are lawful. If such a line of conduct should subject you to reproach, anger, and persecution, a most painful and by no means an uncommon case, you must possess your soul in patience, and commit your way to Him that judgeth righteously. Many a persecuting husband, has been subdued, if not to religion, yet to kinder conduct, by the meek and uncomplaining temper of his wife.

To conclude. Let us all seek after more of the spirit of true religion, the spirit of faith, of hope, of prayer: a faith, that really believes the word of God, and looketh habitually to the cross of Christ by which we obtain salvation, and to the eternal world where we shall fully and for ever enjoy it: a hope that lives in the expectation and desire of glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life: and a spirit of prayer which leads us daily and hourly to the throne of divine grace, for all that aid of the Holy Ghost, which we need, not only for the duties that refer to our relations to another world, but for those which devolve upon us, in consequence of our relation in this. "Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come." The same principle of divine grace which unites us to God, will bind us closer to each other. Religion contains in it, not only the seeds of immortal virtues, but of such as are mortal: not only the germs of excellencies which are to flourish in the temple of heaven, but which grow up in the house of our pilgrimage upon earth, to enliven with their beauty, and to refresh with their fragrance, the domestic circle. A good christian cannot be a bad husband, or father; and other things being equal, he who has most piety, will shine most in all the relations of life. A Bible placed between man and wife as the basis of their union, the rule of their conduct, and the model of their spirit, will make up many a

difference, comfort them under many a cross, guide them in many a strait, wherein flesh and blood will be confounded and at a loss, support them in their last sad parting from each other, and re-unite them in the world where they shall go no more out.

"Those married pairs that live, as remembering that they must part again, and give an account how they treat themselves and each other, shall at the day of their death, be admitted to glorious espousals; and when they shall live again, be married to their Lord, and partake of his glories. All those things that now please us, shall pass from us, or we from them; but those things that concern the other life, are permanent as the numbers of eternity: and although at the resurrection, there shall be no relation of husband and wife, and no marriage shall be celebrated but the marriage of the Lamb, yet then shall be remembered how men and women passed through this state, which is a type of that; and from this sacramental union, all holy pairs shall pass to the spiritual and eternal, where love shall be their portion, and joys shall crown their heads, and they shall lie in the bosom of Jesus, and in the heart of God to eternal ages." Amen.

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CHAPTER III.

SOME REMARKS ON THE FORMATION OF THE MARRIAGE

UNION.

"Methinks it is a misfortune that the marriage state, which in its own nature is adapted to give us the completest happiness this life is capable of, should be so uncomfortable a one to so many as it daily proves. But the mischief generally proceeds from the unwise choice people make for themselves, and an expectation of happiness from things incapable of giving it. Nothing but the good qualities of the person beloved, can be a foundation for a love of judgment and discretion; and whoever expects happiness from any thing but virtue, wisdom, good humor, and a similitude of manners, will find themselves widely mistaken." SPECTATOR.

THE preceding chapters make it evident, that marriage is a step of incalculable importance, and ought never to be taken without the greatest consideration and the utmost caution. If the duties of this state are so numerous and so weighty, and if the right discharge of these obligations, as well as the happiness of our whole life, and even our safety for eternity, depends, as they necessarily must do, in no small measure upon the choice we make of a husband or wife, then let reason determine, with what deliberation we should advance to such a connexion. It is obvious, that no decision of our whole earthly existence requires more of the exercise of a calm judgment than this, and yet observation proves how rarely the judgment is allowed to give counsel, and how generally the imagination and the passions settle the business. A very great portion of the misery and of the crime with which society is depraved and afflicted, is the result of ill-formed marriages. If mere passion without prudence, or covetousness without love, be allowed to guide the choice, no

wonder that it is improperly done, or that it is highly disastrous in its consequences; and how often are passion and covetousness alone consulted. To use the beautiful language quoted by me in another work, where I have treated briefly the subject of this chapter, I would remark, "that they who enter the marriage state, cast a die of the greatest contingency, and yet of the greatest interest in the world, next to the last throw for eternity. Life or death, felicity or a lasting sorrow, are in the power of marriage. A woman indeed ventures most, for she hath no sanctuary to retire to, from an evil husband; she must dwell upon her sorrow, which her own folly hath produced; and she is more under it, because her tormentor hath warrant of prerogative, and the woman may complain to God, as subjects do of tyrant princes, but otherwise she hath no appeal in the causes of unkindness. And though THE MAN can run from many hours of sadness, yet he must return to it again; and when he sits among his neighbors, he remembers the objection that lies in his bosom, and he sighs deeply." If however, it were merely the comfort of the married pair themselves, that was concerned, it would be a matter of less consequence, a stake of less value; but the well being of a family, not only for this world, but for the next; and equally so the well being of their descendants, even to a remote period, depends upon this union. In the ardor of passion, few are disposed to listen to the counsels of prudence; and perhaps there is no advice, generally speaking, more thrown away, than that which is offered on the subject of marriage. Most persons, especially if they are already attached to a selected object, even though they have not committed themselves by a promise or even a declaration, will go on in the pursuit, blinded by love to the indiscretion of their choice; or desperately determined, with the knowledge of that indiscretion,

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to accomplish, if possible, their purpose. Upon such individuals, reasoning is wasted, and they must be left to gain wisdom in the only way, by which some will acquire it, painful experience. To others who may be yet disengaged, and disposed to hearken to the language of advice, the following remarks are offered.

In the affair of marriage, BE GUIDED BY THE ADVICE OF PARENTS, OR GUARDIANS. Parents have no right to select for you, nor ought you to select for yourself, without consulting with them. How far they are vested with authority to prohibit you from marrying a person whom they disapprove, is a point of casuistry, very difficult to determine. If you are of age, and able to provide for yourselves, or are likely to be well provided for by those to whom you are about to be united, is a question whether they can do any thing more than advise and persuade; but till you are of age, they have positive authority to forbid: and it is an undutiful act in you, to form connexions without their knowledge, and to carry them on against their prohibitions. Their objections ought always, I admit, to be founded on reason, and not on caprice, pride, or cupidity: for where this is the case, and children are of full age, and are guided in their choice by prudence, by piety, and by affection, they certainly may and must be left to decide for themselves. Where, however, parents rest their objections on sufficient grounds, and shew plain and palpable reasons for prohibiting a connexion, there it is the manifest duty of sons and especially of daughters, to give it up. A union formed in opposition to the reasonable objection of a discreet father or mother is very rarely a happy and the bitter cup is rendered additionally bitone; ter in such a case, by the wormwood and gall of self reproach. What miseries of this kind have we all seen! How many beacons are set up, if young people would but look at them, to warn them