The Christian family is, or should be, the very type of heaven. To promote religion in the family, therefore, is to minister to the highest joys which are here available to us; to add the crown of grace to that which is loveliest in nature, and to exalt and ennoble with heaven’s own likeness the fairest scenes of earth. More than this, it is to promote religion in every sphere and relation of life; for the family is the basis of the social fabric, the foundation of the state, the empire, and the race.

All will perceive that if the living streams of humanity are to be purified and made better, we can nowhere begin more appropriately than at these their fountains. It is necessary, in order to a proper understanding of our subject, and a correct estimate of its magnitude, that we consider the foundation, nature, and importance of the family constitution.