Page:Sermons on the Ten Commandments.djvu/90

 By this commandment, in the widest sense, is meant, that men should love their country, because this nourishes and protects them."

It would seem superfluous to dwell long upon the necessity of observing this Commandment, considered in its literal sense. The duty of paying honor, respect, and attention to parents, is universally recognized by the common instincts of mankind, and an ungrateful child is looked upon with abhorrence. It may be well, however, in a few reflections on the subject, to recall some of the grounds on which obedience to this Commandment is so imperative on all. Children need to have these considerations impressed upon their minds, as they are apt to be thoughtless and unreflecting; and parents themselves need to be familiar with them, in order to impress them upon their children.

Let children, then, consider what a vast debt of gratitude is due to their parents. In the first place, to them they owe the blessing of existence itself (I say the blessing of existence; for though in states of great trial and suffering, existence may sometimes seem a burthen rather than a blessing,—yet these are but temporary states of feeling: in the long run, every one—at least, every good person—enjoys life, even in this world: but it is when the rapturous joys and glories of the future state are considered, that existence is seen to be truly, and in the loftiest sense, a blessing.) It is true, indeed, that the Lord, the Divine Creator, is our Father: from Him alone flows the current of life: human parents are merely the