humored to a eriminal degree; its miscarriages and faults overlooked, or thought to be virtues; till at length it will, instead of being a comfort and a credit, become a cross and a curse to the family as it grows up, and be itself ruined; for it is grown up to a proverb, that fondlings are generally unfortunate. 16. Add to this, that this unreasonable partiality will tend to discourage the other children, so that they will be indifferent whether they please or offend, and will not be emalous 'to excel, because they will despair of obtaining the affections and confidence of their parents, if they endeavor ever so much after it; and thus instead of peace, order, and harmony subsisting, which are the comfort and credit of society, nothing but anarchy, mutual hatred, and confusion, can be expected to prevail in such ill fated and ill governed families. 17. One thing more I beg leave to observe, and that is, that parents, who, by the law of God and nature, are constituted both preceptors and governors of their children, ought to teach by example as well as by precept. They ought to set the example, therefore, of denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and of living soberly, righteously, and godly; for where this is not the case, the best instructions, and the best maxims and rules for the government of families will have no weight, but the end of all will surely be defeated. How justly might it be retorted on such unqualified instructors and governors, when they are pretending to be reformers, Physician, heal thyself!" only set us the example, and we will follow it! བས་ས་ རྣ་པས ་པ་བཔ་ 18. And I intreat that it may be observed, that both parents, i. e. both father and mother, should unite thair O pa. cromeut, and never oppose each other therein. rents! I beseech you to consider the importance of the trust which is committed to you; consider the importance of the work itself, and the good or ill effects which a wise or unwise conduct may have upon your children, and on your children's children, and on those of future generations. 19. Learn to despise and abhor those opinions of weak or wicked men, which make light of family instruction; and family religion and government; consider them as subversive of all order and morality in society; and let the awful example of the righteous displeasure of God against Eli and his house ever be before your eyes:. 1 Sam. iii. xiv, "I have told him," saith the Lord, "that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not." And let the character which the Lord gave of Abraham animate you to your duty, and determine your conduct, Gen. xviii. 19, "I know him, that he will command, his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord," &c. PART II. THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. No. I. INTRODUCTION. IN the works of the great Jehovah, harmony is a leading characteristic; each part illustrates and beautifies the whole; and all unite to proclaim his glory. The traces of that wisdom, power, and love, which his blessed gospel displays in their full lustre, are to be mativa faintness. in the works of Nature. "The spacious earth and spreading flood WATTS. 2. A pious author (Mr. Newton) has observed, that "the Most High God, in condescension to the weakness of our faculties, the brevity of our lives, and our many avocations, has comprised all the knowledge conducive to our real happiness, in four comprehensive volumes, the Bible, the book of Creation, the book of Providence, and the book of the Heart.” 3. The design of Christian Philosophy is to assist the reader in the study of the second of these. "The lines of this book, though very beautiful and expressive in themselves, are not immediately legible by fallen man. The works of creation may be compared to a fair character in cypher, of which the Bible is the key; and they who know God in his word, may find both pleasure and profit in tracing his wisdom in his works. 4. The Lord has established a wonderful analogy between the natural and the spiritual world. This is a secret, known only to them that fear him; but they contemplate it with pleasure; and almost every object they see, when they are in a right frame of mind, either leads their thoughts to Jesus, or tends to illustrate some scriptural truth or promise." 5. The Book of Nature may be read with advantage, when we hold in our hand the book of Revelation, and view it in this Divine light. Philosophy is no natural enemy to religion; but a mighty incentive to it, when properly used. We find the inspired writers frequently directing our attention to the works of Nature. 6. To illustrate the greatness of his power, our God is represented as measuring the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meting out the heavens with a spao; as weighing the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance. The heavens declare his glory in silent but forcible language; a language which may be heard and understood throughout all the earth, by men of every color and of every tongue. When the prophets would illustrate those infinite resources of wisdom and knowledge that guide his conduct, they tell us "That as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts." 7. Objects, beautiful or sublime in the world of Nature, are alternately borrowed as simities to express the glories of God, manifest in the flesh: The sun shining in his strength, resembles the splendor of his countenance; the whiteness of snow, the color of his hair; and the roar of many waters, the sound of his voice. And though we know that the whole realm of Nature would be examined in vain, to find a metaphor that would completely express "his worth, his glory, or his grace," yet these similitudes afford some faint ideas of his greatness; and are adapted to the littleness of creatureminds. It 8. Just views of the works of God in creation, while they teach the glory of the Divine Architect, are calculated to impress our minds with a lively idea of the weakness and insignificancy of man. We are told, Psalm exi. 2, that The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." is also said, Job, xxxvi. 24, “Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold." It is our intention, in a few occasional Essays, to attempt a religious improvement of those discoveries which have been made in the works of Nature. Philosophy has often been made subservient to the purposes of infidelity; and modern Deists have asserted, That the only Revelation the great Creator ever made, is in the book of Nature.' 6 9. It is hoped, that the subsequent papers will shew that there is a perfect harmony between the word of God and his works; and that Philosophy, when not perverts ed from its proper object, leads us to the admiration and Jove of Him, whose wisdom, power, and goodness appear in the most minute, as well as the most magnificent of his works. No. H.. THE SUN. The IN the centre of the planetary system to which our earth belongs is the Sun, round which, at different distances, all the planets perform their revolutions. proportional magnitude of the Sun to the earth is as 1,380,000 to one. By the help of the telescope, spots are discovered on the Sun's disk, or face: they appear in various forms and numbers, the larger ones sometimes exceeding the bulk of the earth. 2. Though these spots are generally to be seen, there have been periods of more than seven years, in which none have been observed; at other times, their number has been so great as almost to obscure the brightness of the Sun. For several days together, in the year 1547, the Sun appeared little brighter than the Moon in her total eclipse, from this cause." All the spots have an apparent motion from west to east; which proves that the Sun revolves on his own axis in this direction. The period of his revolution is observed to be about twentyfive days. From the line in which the spots move, it is discovered that his axis makes an angle with the ecliptic of about seven degrees. "Sir Isaac Newton supposed the Sun to be a mighty earth, vehemently hot, and that the heat was preserved by the amazing size of the body, and the mutual action and reaction of that and the light emitted from it." 3. Dr. Herschel conjectures that the Sun is surrounded with a transparent atmosphere, like the earth; that this is again encompassed by a kind of shell, which he calls the Lucid Atmosphere, from whence light proceeds to the whole system, and from which the Sun also, through its transparent atmosphere, is enlightened with a perpetual day. The appearance of spots, he thinks, to be occasioned by a small part of the lucid atmosphere being, by some means or other, removed. That these spots are not the smoke, or the opaque matter, thrown up from volcanoes, as some have imagined; but real cavities are evident, from their appearance through a large telescope; first one side of the cavity presents itself to a spectator; as the Sun revolves round its axis, he sees down into the cavity, and, when it has advanced still farther, the other side becomes visible. Whatever theory of the Sun the ingenuity of man may invent, we know from experience, that "truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." 4. Were we to be shut up for a short time in total darkness, we should doubtless perceive a greater force in this observation of the wise king of Israel, than we can now imagine. A faithful sufferer in the cause of God and truth, who had been kept in a dark dungeon in |