The result
has been, that society has been 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.
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