When hearts are of each other sure;
Sweet all the joys that crowd the household nook,
The haunt of all affections pure."





PREFACE.


It is a fact conceded by all, that the constitution of the Christian
family, and its social and spiritual relations, are not as fully developed
as they should be. In this age of extreme individualism, we have almost
left out of view the mission of home as the first form of society, and the
important bearing it has upon the formation of character. Its interests are
not appreciated; its duties and privileges are neglected; husbands and
wives do not fully realize their moral relation to each other; parents are
inclined to renounce their authority; and children, brought up in a state
of domestic libertinism, neither respect nor obey their parents as they
should. The idea of human character as a development from the nursery to
the grave, is not realized. Home as a preparation for both the state and
the church, and its bearing, as such, upon the prosperity of both, are
renounced as traditionary, and too old and stale to suit this age of
mechanical progression and "young Americanism."

As a consequence, the influence of home is lost; the lambs of the flock are
neglected, grow up in spiritual ignorance, and become a curse both to
themselves and to their parents. The vice and infidelity which prevail to
such an alarming extent in the present day, may be ascribed to parental