all those who have felt sorrow,' and to whom ' sorrow is a sacred thing,' it will be no matter of surprise, should they meet with some imperfections, or the repetition of a similar idea. As to the subject itself, with the exception of only one, which he will not mention here, a more important one, and one more necessary to the vital interests of his native country, at the present moment, the writer is not able to conceive; and though placed in circumstances in some respects unfriendly to composition, he felt it incumbent upon him, if he could, to engage the ear, as well as the deliberate attention of Parents and the Heads of Families; more especially those Families where the Children are yet in infancy. The young and rising generation have also been kept in view throughout, so as, if possible, to interest the minds of those, who will become the parents of a future age. In the meanwhile, could I but hope to reach the ear of Parents, whether in cities or in the country, whether in Great Britain, or in Ireland in whose welfare the writer has long felt so deep an interest, perhaps a perusal of the following pages might be of some service to them, and, as a consequence, to their Children; and though, at first sight, it may not appear, let them observe whether the subject here presented before their view, besides more important benefits, does not furnish one antidote, to the verbal acknowledgment only, or mere profession, of Christianity, as well as to reckless, not to say unjust, commercial speculation. EDINBURGH, 28th June, 1826. PART FIRST. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN FAMILY, OR DOMESTIC CIRCLE; INCLUDING ITS VARIOUS CONNEXIONS AND PECULIAR SANCTIONS; THE MORAL POWER OF WHICH IT IS SUSCEPTIBLE; WITH THE DANGER AND VANITY OF INTERFERENCE. Reduce things to the first institution, and observe wherein and how they have degenerated; but yet ask counsel of both times of the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest. BACON. Persons are elements of families; families are the elements of which both Churches, and Kingdoms, or Commonwealths, are composed and made up: and as the one sort of these is purely civil, the other purely sacred, that which is elementary unto both must be both. HOWE. PART FIRST. SECTION FIRST. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. The state of Judea at the period of the Messiah's Advent, conveyed to us in terms illustrative of the domestic Constitution, and the extreme degeneracy of the Nation. AMONG the various remarkable eras, to which the human mind can be directed, there is not one to be compared, in point of interest or importance, with that in which the Saviour entered our World. The state of all nations, in remote or immediate connexion with this mysterious event, may be and should be investigated; but the sources from whence information can be drawn, though not vague or uncertain, are open chiefly to the learned and the studious. The moral and religious condition of that peculiar people, among whom he condescended to appear, is however not so veiled in obscurity; nay, it is remarkable that, to infinite wisdom, it seemed meet to foretell minutely, not only the time and circumstances of the Saviour's appearance, but the precise state of the Jewish nation at the moment of his |