, yet all refuse to serve,
None weareth the crown, yet all usurp the scepter;
The mother, heart-stricken years agone, hath dropped into an early grave;
The silent sisters long to leave a home they cannot love;
The brothers, casting off restraint, follow their wayward wills."

Home is a little commonwealth jointly governed by the parents. It involves
law. The mutual relation of parent and child implies authority on the one
hand, and obedience on the other. This is the principle of all government.
Home is the first form of society. As such it must have a government. Its
institution implies the prerogatives of the parent and the subordination
of the child. Without this there would be no order, no harmony, no
training for the state or the church; for--

"Society is a chain of obligations, and its links support each other;
The branch cannot but wither that is cut from the parent vine."

The relation of the parent to the child is that of a superior to an
inferior. The right of the parent is to command; the duty of the child is
to obey. Hence it is the relation of authority to subordination. This
relation includes the principles of home-government. The parent is not the
author of his authority. It is delegated to him. Neither can he make
arbitrary laws for home; these must be the laws of God. It is as much the
duty of the parent to rule as it is for the child to be ruled.

The principle of home-government is love,--love ruling and obeying
according to law. These are exercised, as it were, by the instinct of
natural affection as taken up and refined by the Christian life and faith.
This government implies reciprocity of right,--the right of the parent to
govern and the right of the child to be governed. It is similar in its
fundamentals to the government of the state and church. It involves the
legislative, judicial and executive functions; its elements are law,
authority, obedience, and penalties. The basis of its laws is the Word of
God. We may consider the whole subject under two general heads, viz.,
parental authority, and filial obedience.

1. Parental authority is threefold, legislative, judicial and executive.
The two latter we shall more fully consider under the head of
home-discipline. The legislative authority of the parent is confined to the
development of God's laws for the Christian home. He cannot enact arbitrary
laws. His authority is founded on his relation to his children as the
author of thei