On this page

• Text (3)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    On -early Reli ' gious Education . No . l . It is a fact of high importance fa the welfare of mankind , and necessarily follows from the constitution of the mental frame , that

    the parental affection will always exist iu great strength and vigour , wherever it is not overwhelmed by the most degrading kinds of selfishness . It the general

    principles of the Qospel have acquired any power in the heart , they will support and cherish it ; so that it will be impossible for anyone

    under the influence of those principles , to be so far deficient in affection to his offspring as to make him neglectful of their welfare . His affection may not be an enlightened one ; and he may some . times be led astray from that

    conduct to which an enlightened af-I fection would direct : he may err with respect to the effects of pre - sent impressions , and the value of the usual objects of human pursuit : he may in consequence , by false indulgence , lay the

    foundation of vice and wretchedness ; or he may himself be too much attracted by the good things of this world , and thereby lead his

    children to seek them too eagerly : but aftei all , a person who is only in a moderate degree under the influence of Christian principles , cannot be unconcerned about the

    well-being of his offepring ; he canno t be without a great affection for them . Parental affection necessaril y arises from the nature w Wch God has given us , if we do n stifle it at its origin , or overwhelm it by the inordinate power ?* lWove t and religion cherishes l removes what would hinder its

    P&wth , restrains only its excesses , « W guides its impulses .

    Untitled Article

    If it be our own duty to love and fear and obey God , —if it be our own duty to Jive uprightly , to do good as we have opportunity , to cultivate strict sobriety , to deny all sinful desires , and to be moderate in the indulgence of those which are innocent *—if

    piety , justice , benevolence , and self-government are our duties , it must be our duty to lead others also to obey them if we can , and this in proportion to our power , and consequently in a peculiar and eminent degree , with respect

    to our children , whom God has made to depend upon us in a great measure , net only for the supply of their natural wants , but also for the formation , or at least the cultivation of those dispositions and habits of action which he has

    enjoined , and which are necessary to their well-being . If all men are to liye again in a state of exact retribution , and it is consequently our duty so to live that we may stand approved at the righteous

    bar of God , it cannot be otherwise than our duty to aim , by all the means which we possess , by wise instruction , good example ^ and suitable discipline , to bring

    up our children so that they too may pass through life a £ having higher objects in view than any , the greatest , good which this world can bestow

    It cannot be , necessary to prove that godliness is an essential part of the Christian character , without which we cannot hope for the present favour of God f nor for hig final acceptance : it cannot be j iecessary to prove , that even the duties which we owe to others and

    to ourselves , can seldom , if ever , be property and fully discharged , where religious principle is wanU

    Untitled Article

    0 n vatly Religious Education * 145

    Untitled Article

    *** .. vi . u

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1811, page 145, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2414/page/17/