Wife. I believe we may both say as the disciples at Emmaus-" Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked to us by the way?" For my part, I am amazed when I look upon the child. But when I look in, and reflect how I have neglected the great duty of instructing, not this child only, but all my children, I am confounded, and not able to lift up my head. How justly may my children reproach me, not only with omitting to teach them to do good, but with abominably encouraging them to vanity, and neglect of God, by my example! OI have ruined all my children!

Husb. No, no, you have not ruined them; it is I have ruined them; for it was my duty to have exercised the authority of a father, and of a governor of a house, or have set up the worship of God in my family; to have prayed with them, and instructed them to pray for themselves, They could not have asked me then, whether they might pray to God, or whether ever I prayed to God or no?

Wife. And I have been a great cause of your neglecting that part too; for I have slighted it, and ridiculed it in others, and thought it mere ostentation and form, as if none but persons of bigher quality should have prayers in their family, and thought it looked too big for us?

Husb. Ay, but my temptation has been of another kind. I have thought it a solemnity I was not fit for; I have questioned my own performance: I have often thought, if I were a nobleman, I would keep a chaplain. I was ashamed to pray in the hearing of my servants and children, as if that were dishonourable and mean which was my natural duty; or, as if I were ashamed to own that which is the glory of a Christian, viz. to worship and call upon Him that made him; as if nature, which dictates to the least child, to call and cry to its father and mother for bread when it is hungry, did not dictate to me, and to every rational creature, to worship that God in whom we live, move, and have our being!

Wife. And what course shall we take now?

Husb. There is no difficulty in resolving what course to take with this little infant. He is taught from Heaven, and the Spirit of God is visibly working in him. If we do not instruct him, he will every day instruct us, and reprove us too. But what shall we do with our other children, who are grown up, and have imbibed a course of vanity and levity without any restraint? There will be our difficulty.

Wife. And who are very likely to be impatient of restraint, and perhaps not so easy to be governed now. For my part, I do not think I shall ever be able to break my daughter from her foolish habits; such as, playing all night at cards, going to the play-house, wearing patches, reading foolish romances, singing idle songs, taking God's name in vain, and an intolerable looseness of behaviour, which I have too much given her a liberty in, and encouraged her also from my own example.

elder sons.

Husb. 1 shall have as hard a task with my They have got a habit of company, of ill words, and of idleness. It is impossible to reclaim them! They are gone too far! What shall be done! They are lost through my neglect! and justly may they lay their ruin at my door, both of body and soul.

Wife. My dear, we are in a sad condition; and mine is worse still; for I have not only neglected my duty to my children, and praying with my children, but my duty to God too; I mean my private duty; for I neither prayed with them, nor for them, nor by myself, nor for myself; the common going to the public worship excepted, which I have passed over as slightly and unconcerned also, as if it were only a thing of course.

Husb. This touches me too, my dear; for it was my duty not only to have prayed with my children, and with my family, both in private with you, and for you; but we both ought mutually to have assisted, encouraged, and exhorted one another in and to our duty. I ought to have watched over you, and moved you, and persuaded you to our duty, and you me, both as to private and family worship.

It all lies at my door; and at my hand will God require the souls of those he has put under my roof.

Wife. I have been as guilty as you, for I have shown a general contempt of this duty. I have never encouraged you to it, or shown you in the least that I desired it, or would be willing to join in it: on the contrary, you have always seen me as wild, and as vain, as if I were not the mother of a family, but a single person, without any relative obligations on me.

[Here both husband and wife, not able to refrain tears, from the power of their conviction, the discourse breaks off for a time, till the husband reviving it, goes on.]

Husb. Well, it must be done, however difficult, however seemingly fruitless and to no purpose. By how much the greater it has been a sin in us both to neglect it, by so much stronger is the obligation upon us both to undertake it. The poor children are well nigh undone already. It is never too late. Who knows but God may bless instruction, though begun at an unseasonable time, It may be we may meet with success in the way of our duty. If not, we must leave that to God: we must begin and go on; for as we both know it is our duty, our children may be still lost, notwithstanding our endeavour; but we are sure to be lost if we wilfully neglect it.

Wife. Alas? what can we do? Where can we begin now? Which of our children will mind what we say? How will they humble us, by throwing our own example in our way, and object our former practice, as an answer to all our future instructions? I think verily it is too late now. It will be all to no purpose to go about it; it will have no effect at all.

Husb. My dear, you say you are sensible it has been a sin that you have not encouraged me in it, and joined with me in it before. It must therefore still be a sin to continue to do so, and a greater sin than before, by how much we are convinced now that it was our sinful neglect before.

Wife. Nay, I will not obstruct it. God forbid! I only

say,

I fear in the event it will not answer; and I am at a loss which way to go about it.

Husb. I'll tell you, my dear, which way we will go about it. Let us first join together sincerely to God in prayer, acknowledging, with a deep humility, and hearty repentance, our great sin in neglecting his worship in our family, as well as in private, and our dishonouring him in our conversation: imploring, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate, pardon for those our past sins of omission and commission; seeking his blessing upon our resolution and amendment; and begging, that our instructing our family and children, however late and long omitted, may yet be successful, and have a double effect, to the salvation of the souls of our children, and to the glory and honour of sovereign grace.

Wife. My dear, however doubting I am of the success, yet I'll join with you with all my heart in that, and in every thing else that I can, which may serve to reform, reclaim, and restore our poor children, whose danger is so plainly occasioned by our neglect.

Husb. As to my family, I'll tell you what I purpose to do. I desire you to let your daughters know, that we are resolved to reform several practices which we do not like in their behaviour; that their father dislikes their general conduct, expects they'll use more modesty in their dress and conversation, will have them wear no more patches, go to no more plays, spend no more precious time at cards, nor walk out in the park or fields any more on the Lord's day; but, on the contrary, that they apply themselves to reading the Scriptures, and to think of worshipping God after a different manner than they have hitherto done. And I shall take care to do the same by my sons.

Wife. I will do all I can with them, though I fear their compliance.

Husb. Then, as soon as they come home next Sabbathday from the sermon, 1 will call them all together; and, to the best of my capacity, tell them their duty in general,

both to God, themselves, and their parents; and that whereas I have thought they have taken too much liberty for the time past, because I have not restrained them, and showed them their duty, they shall have no reason for the future to make that excuse from me; but that from this time I resolve to oblige all my family to serve God both publicly and privately, as much and as well as I can, that they may both incline to pray to God themselves, and know how to do it. I shall, beside the public worship of God, which I shall expect they constantly attend, always have proper times set apart for worshipping God together in the family, I will pray with them and for them as well as 1 am able; and having said thus, I will begin with reading the word of God to them; and then, as well as I can, will go to prayer with them myself.

Wife. My dear, I'll be glad of this with all my heart, and rejoice at the thoughts of it. But, O! my soul trembles for the poor vain creatures, our children, especially our two eldest, son and daughter. I am certain they will but laugh at it, and despise it; they are run on too far; we should have begun this when they were young. I know it by their temper and carriage in other things.

Husb. My dear, it is our duty to do it, and it is our duty to make them observe it; and though they are too old to correct, yet I assure you, if I don't find a ready compliance with it, I shall find ways to show my resentment; for we have too long dallied our duty already; and as God will not be mocked by us, so we must not be mocked by our children.

Wife. My dear, I am most desirous of the thing, only my heart fails in case of success.

Husb. We must do our duty. If God will bless us in doing it, he will bless the work too, and will cause such an awe of his majesty to go with the performance, as that they shall not dare to despise it, or to show any contempt of us for it.

Wife. The God of heaven give it such a blessing, if it be