preserved, even though the authority of
God has been condemned; and even the annals of heathenism afford us very
many displays of those kindly feelings, which adorn and beautify human
nature. These would not have existed, had not the heart been cultivated
in the family; and where religious principle is added as the guiding
influence of the circle, the family becomes the nursery of all that is
great and good in our nature, it becomes the very type and antepast of
heaven. Now, the great development of this religious principle would
chiefly show itself in obedience to the apostolic injunction in the
precept, "Be kindly affectioned, one to another, with brotherly love; in
honor preferring one another." I do not, however, so much seek just now
to urge upon the members of the family the existence of kind feelings,
for I take it for granted that in obedience to the call of nature, and
the ties of blood, these feelings are already in existence; but what I
desire to present is the duty of always making these feelings apparent
in common intercourse, for just in proportion to the neglect of this, is
the family influence on the happiness of its members affected. If you
would combine the greatest possible elements of unhappiness you could
not imagine any which would surpass that of a family of brothers and
sisters, hating each other, yet compelled to live together as a family,
where no word of kindness passes from one to the other, where no act of
kindness draws out the affections, where the success of one only excites
the envy of the others; no smile lights up the countenance; no gladness
found in each other's society, the aim of each to thwart and annoy the
other. In such dwellings there would be no light, no peace, no joy, no
pleasant sounds. Indeed such a picture does not belong to even our
fallen world, it is the description of the misery of the lost. A
picture, perhaps, of a family in hell. The further, therefore, from
this, my friends, that you can remove your own family, the greater will
be your own happiness and comfort, and you must remember that the
responsibility of this rests upon each one of you individually. Let your
brother or sister never receive an unkind, unbrotherly or unsisterly
act, never perceive an unaffectionate look, nor experience an
uncourteous neglect, and you will do very much towards making your
family the abode of as perfect peace as can be enjoyed upon earth, and
cause it to present the loveliest and