Every man shall eat in safety
Under his own vine what he plants; and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours ;
God shall be truly known,

-And [men] shall read the perfect ways of honour.
Shakspeare

Man's safety must his liberty retain ;

All join to guard what each desires to gain.
Forced into virtue thus, by self-defence,
E'en kings learn justice and benevolence;
Self-love forsakes the path it first pursued,

And sinks the private in the public good.-Pope. Virtutes multæ in comitate et beneficentia positæ sunt. -Cicero.

In rusticis moribus multa maleficia gignuntur.-Cicero. Exculto animo nihil agreste, nihil inhumanum est.— Cicero.

CONCLUSION.

THEME LVIII. Family Disagreements are injurious to Morals as well as to Happiness.

INTRODUCTION.

1ST REASON. They drive the membere of a family from home to seek enjoyment and quiet elsewhere; and as no habits are so virtuous as those of a domestic nature, whatever tends to destroy them, must be accompanied with injurious moral consequences.

2ND REASON. The necessity of seeking tranquillity and comfort away from home involves great expenses, unseasonable hours, gay companions, a love of excitement, and often habits of gambling and of the grossest sensuality.

3RD REASON.-Family disagreements sour the mind,

spoil the temper, suggest ill-feelings, paralyse the kindly affections and humanising sympathies of the heart, and introduce, instead, habitual bickerings, dissatisfaction, and . contempt.

4TH REASON. When the members of a family are divided against themselves, they lose all respect for each other; and thus the strong inducement for self-denial , being withdrawn, every one gives full swing to his own evil propensities, regardless of the annoyance he may cause to others; selfishness is the motive of every action, and an uncompunctious indulgence of all the mean suggestions of an embittered spirit.

5TH REASON. Neither personal nor family religion can have any hold upon minds which are filled with rancour; and, without the wholesome restraint of religious neples, there is no safeguard against the commission of grievous crimes even for an hour.

61H REASON.—As every one in a quarrel seeks to justify himself and criminate his antagonist, the fatal evils of lying, slander, exaggeration, and malice, are the natural fruits of domestic broils.

7TH REASON. For husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, to hate one another, is to draw down the anger of the Almighty, who has attached the promise of worldly prosperity to those families which are cemented by love.

SIMILES.If the planets were to jar against each other, the whole system of the universe would be disorganised.

When boiling water is poured into a glass, or delicate china cup, it is destroyed, because the part touched by the boiling water expands faster than the rest of the vessel: This disagreement in the family of atoms, associated together in a glass, or china cup, is fatal to its beauty, service, and value.

The atmosphere is a family of gases (nitrogen, oxygen, carbonic acid, vapour, &c.); so long as each retains its

normal proportion, the air is a blessing to man; but im mediately the quantities are disturbed, the most fatal consequences ensue.

While the planks of a ship remain firmly united, the vessel can " walk the waters as a thing of life;" but the moment they separate by a leakage, the ship and all its crew are in imminent peril of destruction.

A united family resembles a perfect lightning conductor, down which the "fire of heaven" will run innocuously: But a jarring family resembles the same conductor broken; soon as a storm gathers over the house, the electric fluid, unable to reach the earth, dashes the edifice to pieces.

A family, in which hostility and rancour prevail, is like the cauldron which Ezekiel filled with spices and bones, and then set empty upon the coals of a fierce fire, till the brass was hot, and the filthiness molten in it.Ezek. xxiv. 10, 11.

Quarrels in a family are like a cuckoo's egg in a sparrow's nest; soon as the egg is hatched, the unnatural mother loses all regard for her own offspring; and the young cuckoo has no rest till the brood is expelled, to perish from hunger and cold.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. . . . .

QUOTATIONS.-Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.-Matt. xii. 25.

From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts, that war in your members.--James, iv. 1.

Family quarrels, like religious wars, are always the most bitter.-Maunder.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that went down to the skirts of his garments: As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that de

scended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.—Ps. exxxiv.

Let brotherly love continue.-Heb. xiii. 1.

The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with.—Prov. xvii. 14.

A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city; and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.Prov. xviii. 19.

There should be no schism in the body, but the members should have care one for another.-1 Cor. xii. 25.

It is a soure reek when the good wife dings the good man.- Scotch proverb.

It is Satan who sets a family in a blaze.-Spanish proverb.

'Tis a smoky house, and the sooner out of it the better. -Harris.

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. -Prov. xi. 29.

It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.-Prov. xxi. 9. see ver. 19.

The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.-Prov. xxx. 17.

Ex inimicitiis, jurgia, maledicta, contumelia, nascuntur. -Cicero.

CONCLUSION.

THEME LIX. To be good is to be happy. INTRODUCTION.

1ST REASON.-One essential to happiness is an approv

ing conscience.

Remorse for sin, the agony of self-re

proach, and the stern accusations of a guilty heart, are utterly at variance with true happiness.

2ND REASON. That which produces substantial happiness must be accommodated to all times and places; it must not be fitted to the ball-room, and unfitted for the closet; it must not be fitted for to-day and unfitted for tomorrow; it must not be a mere holiday-suit, which cannot be worn except upon rare occasions. This is the case with the mirth of carnal pleasures, but not with goodness and virtue. Rectitude of conduct is alike suited to adversity and prosperity, to private and public life, to peace and war, to vigorous health and the hour of death.

3RD REASON. True happiness must be self-derivative. It must not depend upon accidents or externals, but be wholly independent of men and things. The happiness of a good man emanates from the heart.*

4TH REASON. True happiness must be indeprivable; it must not be able to be taken from us by the caprices of fortune or of men, like fame and riches. Such is the peace of a virtuous mind.

5TH REASON.—It must be durable, and not ephemeral, like a flash of mirth, or the excitement of sensuality. Goodness is not a feeling, but a principle; not an occasional act, but a continuous habit; and its happiness will be as enduring as the principle which produces it.

6TH REASON. The very spirit of a good man's mind conduces to his happiness; he bears no malice, he plots no evil, he is disturbed by no masterless passions: he thinks only of doing good; and the spirit of his mind is harmony and peace.

7TH REASON. A good man's happiness is still further increased by the assurance that God approves of “that which is lawful and right;" and "verily there is a reward for the righteous."

SIMILES. A righteous man (says David) is like a tree

*Thus Cicero says, "Nemo potest non beatissimus esse, qui est totus ex se, quique in se uno sua ponit omnia."-Parad. 2.