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    those dear pledges of her affection many years of happiness and honour . Her morning care , her daily watchfulness , her nightly thought , and her prayer to heaven , are all for their prosperity The object which is dearest to her eyes is the smile of their faces ; and the music which is sweetest to her ear is the cheerful sound of their voices . And shall those who are thus cherished , who are thus beloved , turn , with the fabled ingratitude of the

    serpent , and fix a deadly sting in the very bosom that warmed them into life ? O , r » y young friends , if Heaven , in its inscrutable wisdom , has deprived , or should deprive , any of you of one parent , do not , by your perversity and ingratitude , * bring the other with sorrow to the grave ; ' but let it be your happier and better part to supply , as far as possible , by your affectionate respect and good conduct , the loss which has been sustained . To treat a widowed mother with ingratitude is one of the most degrading and heartless crimes in the whole catalogue of human offences . "—P . 413 .

    There is such extensive variety among the discourses intended for the instruction of the family circle , that we must make some attempt at classifying ' them , before we cam enter on a review of their merits . They must be classed according to their degrees of usefulness and fitness for the purpose they were designed to answer . Those which declare the design , illustrate the doctrines , and teach the value of Christianity , are , beyond all question , the most valuable class of sermons . The next place we would assign to those which illustrate Scripture characters or facts of the Scripture history ,

    following up such illustrations by judicious practical applications . The third class may include those which enforce morality with a clearness which shall be universally intelligible , accompanied by a refinement of thought and polish of style which shall make them as acceptable to the educated as to the uninstructed . A lower place must be assigned to those which teach plain truths in the plainest manner , which may be understood by all , but Tely for their interest upon their truih alone . In the last class are those which are addressed to the finer sensibilities of refined minds , and whose influence ,

    however powerful and salutary where experienced , is confined to a . few . It must be distinctly understood , that this classification regards general usefulness ; and that , in particular instances , the order of the five classes we have mentioned , may be , if not reversed , at least changed . There may be minds which would derive more improvement from an appeal to the finer sensibilities than from the most eloquent enforcement of moral truth ; and in other cases , the most homely application to self-interest may do more good than the beautiful development of a striking Scripture character . It must also be remembered that the merit of these classes is comparative , and

    that there is often so much positive usefulness as well as beauty in those to which we have assigned the lowest place , as to excite our high respect and warm approbation as well as sympathy . Such are the sermons before us on the " Mutual Support and Comfort of Virtuous Kindred , " on the " Union of Religion with Friendship , " and " On the Example of Christ in the Formation and Conduct of our Friendships . "

    In all these discourses , so beautiful a picture is given of virtuous friendship , whether between members of the same family , or where the kindred * is only spiritual , that their practical efficacy must be great on those who are fitted to read them with true understanding and enjoyment . Husbands and wives may read them together : an affectionate family may draw together in the retn ement of their quiet home to profit by them : when friends lament their temporary separation , they may here find consolation : when a survivor mourns a deeper bereavement , he may by these be brought to look with complacency on the jiast and with hope on the future : and those

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    Sermons fvr Families . 453

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 453, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/5/