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Means, according to the ufual Difpofition of the Divine Providence, to put us into good Circumftances of Living; fo it is the only means of making our Circumftances happy to us, if they be good; or of making them eafy and fupportable, if they be bad.

I do therefore moft earneftly recommend it to you, as you defire that either you or yours may profper; Nay, as you would not be very miferable, be not contented with a fuperficial outfide Religion, but affect your Minds as deeply as is poffible with a Sense of God, and what you owe to him; and endeavour to imprefs the fame Senfe upon your Friends and Children, and all that are about you. The Truth of it is, fo much doth our prefent Happinefs, as well as our future, depend upon this Belief of God, and Love to him, and Hopes of his Favour; that were it not for this, the prefent World, with all the imaginary Pleafures and Glories of it, would appear, to all Wife and Good Men, not only an empty, dull, unfatiffactory Place, but a difmal melancholy Prison. If it was fuppofed, that all Things here were the Effects of Blind Chance or fatal Neceffity, and that there were no Wifdcm and Goodness that did prefide over the World, or took Care of Mankind; no confidering Man could defire to live here.

The Second Thing I would leave with you, is this, That after you have got into your Minds a hearty Senfe of God and his Providence, and his Prefence and Goodness; fo as that you mean to make it the Business of your

Lives to recommend yourselves to him; you would, in the next Place, take care to keep up that Senfe by a conftant and daily Worship of him.

For God's fake, and for your own Soul's fake, do not neglect your Prayers. You must never think that God will bless you, if you do not make a Confcience of daily paying him your Tribute of Honour and Worship.

Be fure therefore, you be conftant in your private Devotions. As you every Day receive the renewed Pledges of God's Love and Goodnefs towards you in a Thousand Inftances; fo let every Day your Affection and Gratitude be expreffed to him, by hearty Prayer and Thanksgiving. This is abfolutely neceffary to be done, as I have often told you, if you mean to preferve any hearty Senfe of Religion in your Minds.

But befides this, I have another Thing to recommend to all those that have Families : They are Heads and Governors of a Society. For, indeed, the firft Notion of Society is that of a Family. Every Family is a little Kingdom; and every Kingdom is, or ought to be, a great Family. Now is it natural, is it decent, that there fhould be any Society upon Earth, wherein God fhould not be owned and worshipped? And yet, Woe be to us! how many Thousands of Families are there in this Kingdom, nay, I am afraid, even in and about this City, wherein God is not so much as named in publick, unless, perhaps, by the way of Affront, by the way of Curfing or Swearing.

We deservedly complain of the great Loof nefs, and Profaneness, and Irreligion that hath overfpread the Face of this Nation. O! I doubt a great deal of the Blame of it lies upon the Houtholders, the Mafters of Families among us. If they would take better Care of their Children and Servants, and let them know what it is to worship God, Things would not be fo bad among us. But how

can we expect better, when there is no Religion either taught or practifed in our Houses? We give our Domefticks Opportunities enough of Learning all our bad Qualities; but we give them none of learning our good ones, if we have any.

They fee us offending God by many rash Words and finful Actions; but they do not fee us repenting and asking God's Pardon by our folemn Prayers and Applications to the Throne of Grace. Let us therefore seriously Jay this Point to Heart. I am fure we have juft Cause to do it. Let us bring Religion into our Families, and not be contented, that once a Week, fome of our People in their Turns fhould hear fomething of it. Let us every Day call our Family together, and pay our common Tribute of Prayer and Praife for the Mercies we do daily receive in common.

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Methinks our Saviour feemed to have a Refpect to this very Duty, and to charge it mightily upon us, when he made us that gracious Promife, that even where Two or Three were gathered together in his Name, there would He be in the midst of them. Sure, his Words

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have most naturally a Refpect to the Worship of God that is performed in Families; as hath likewife the very Contrivance of the Lord's Prayer: All the Petitions thereof being fo framed, as to be most proper to be faid by more than one, and yet too when we have fhut our Doors for that purpose. But,

Thirdly, As you ought to take Care about the Worship of God in your Closets, and in your Families; let me add, that it equally concerns you to frequent the more publick Worship of God in his own Houfe. It is a bad Sign of fome very ill Principle or other, for any Man to be much a Stranger there. Even to have the Liberty and Opportunity of Worshipping God in publick, is one of the greatest Bleffings and Privileges that we can have in this World; and hath by good Men always been fo accounted. Now fure, if we have this Notion of it, we fhall think ourfelves mightily concerned to take all Opportunities that come in our way, not only on Sundays, but on other Days, of reforting to the publick Affemblies, and joining with them in the folemn Sacrifice of Prayer and Thankf giving; and thinking it a good Day to us, wherein we have thus employed ourselves.

The Sacrifices of this kind that we offer to God with an honeft and devout Mind, wę cannot doubt will always find Acceptance, and produce their Effects; nay, perhaps, when our Closet-Prayers will not. For there are certainly more Promifes to publick Prayers, than to private ones. Though yet both are

very good, nay, both are abfolutely neceffa ry. But to proceed,

Fourthly, Being upon this Argument of the Means and Inftruments of Religion, you may be fure I cannot omit the mentioning of another Thing, as one of thofe Points that I would most seriously recommend to you; and that is, the folemn Observation of the Lord's Day.

I am not for laying ftrefs upon the keeping of this Day, or any other, more than the Nature of the Thing requires. I am fenfible that the Doctrine about the Obfervation of the Sabbath, as it is delivered by fome Men, is fuperftitious enough, and oftentimes, where it is believed, proves rather a Snare to Mens Confciences, than of Ufe, to make them more Religious. Far therefore am I from defiring you to be nice and fcrupulous about the Punctilio's of the Lord's-Day-Service. The Laws both of God and Men have, in that - Matter, left a great deal to your own Difcretion, and the Circumftances you are in. But however, thus much is neceffary, that every Man who profeffeth himself a Chriftian, fhould bear a conftant Religious Regard to the Lord's-Day, by Devoting it to Spiritual Ufes, more especially the Publick Worship of

God.

I do not much doubt of the Truth of the Obfervation, which fome good Men have made, viz. That a Man fhall profper much better, both in his Spiritual and Temporal Affairs, all the Week after, for his careful Obfer

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