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 4647 
 
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 1852 
 
'^), Filial Piety a Blessing: Its Opposite a Curse. i% 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 DEUVKEED IV 
 
 THE TRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, F STREET, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, MARCH 7, 1S52. 
 
 BY THE REV. J. M. DICKEY, D. D., 
 
 OF OXFORD, PA. 
 
 WASHINGTON: ' 
 
 I PRINTED BY KIRKWOOD & McGILL. ofq 
 
 'I 2 
 
 ' 1852. ^^ 
 
 
 .^i£.«n^S:^3* ^^^t^m 
 
<i^»TO?^.. 
 
Fil-cl Piety a riecsing: Its Opposite a Curse. 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 rrLITEEED IS 
 
 THE rPiESBYTEEIATs^ CHUECH, E STEiEET, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, MAECH 7, 1852. 
 
 BY THE REV. J. BI. DICKEY, D. D., 
 
 OF OXFORD, PA. 
 
 WASIIINGTOTT: 
 
 PRINTED BY Kl UK WOOD &, McCILL. 
 
 1862. 
 
CUL^Xl^^ 
 
 / 
 
 Washington, March 22, 1852. 
 Reverend and Dear Sir : A number of young men who had the pleasure of 
 listening to your most excellent discourse on Sabbath morning, the 7th of this 
 month, from Proverbs xx. 17, desire to obtain a copy for publication. This 
 request is made from a firm conviction that its circulation will result in much 
 good, by calling attention to and enforcing a lesson so deserving particular at- 
 tention. 
 
 By complying with this request, you will greatly oblige 
 
 Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 W. H. F. GURLEY, 
 S. W. K. HANDY, 
 ROBT. M. PATTERSON, 
 
 AND Others. 
 
 Oxford, March Tl, 1852. 
 Gentlemen : Your favor of the 22d inst. I have just received, and would say, 
 in answer, that it gives me pleasure to comply with your request. The im- 
 portance of the subject may compensate for the deficiencies of the sermon. 
 Very respectfully, yours, &c., 
 
 JOHN M. DICKEY. 
 To Messrs. W. 11. F. Gcrlet, S. M. K. Handy, Robt. M. Patterson, and 
 others. 
 
SEimON. 
 
 PROVERBS, XXX. 17. 
 
 "THE EVE THAT XKX.'KETH AT HIS FATHEK, AND DESPISETH TO OBEY HIS MOTHER, 
 THE RAVENS 01' THE VALLEY SHALL PICK IT OUT, AND THE YOUNO EAGLES SHALL 
 EAT IT." 
 
 This passage of Scripture may be considered as set over against 
 another which is found in Exodus xx. 12, as Mount Ebal was 
 set over against Mount Gerizim — the one containing the curse, 
 the other the blessing. It is here said that he who shall mock 
 at and despise parental instruction and authority shall die the 
 death of the outcast ; he shall die while he is yet young, his eye 
 full, and his limbs not shrunken, offering food for the eagle and 
 vulture. It is implied, also, that he shall die alone, with no 
 friends near to drive from him the birds of prey; and that he 
 shall have no burial, but be exposed above the ground, unsightly 
 and loathsome. In the dark and silent valley, where the raven 
 flaps her wing over the carcass ; under the shadow of the moun- 
 tain, where the eagle seeks her food — there, the poor outcast 
 from friends and home shall lie down to die ; he shall have no 
 mourner and no monument. A strong case is stated, and set 
 forth in glowing Eastern language ; but who will say that the 
 case has not actually occurred, or that the description at all ex- 
 ceeds the reality ? 
 
 But look at the other side of the picture ; hear the voice from 
 Mount Gerizim: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy 
 days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth 
 
thee." A dutiful and obodlent child shall live to a ripe old ftge. 
 The land of Cana:in, that "good land," shall be his portion. 
 His eye, beaming with kindasjs, tho raven shall not pick out. 
 He shall have honor on earth, and a place in heaven. Our sub- 
 ject, then, is sufficiently clear — the evil consequences of rejecting 
 'parental government and instru'^tion. A few things it is neces- 
 eary to premise before these evil consequences are stated. The 
 harshness expressed in the text is designed to guard against the 
 consequences; and certainly those who arc parents must feel a 
 deep interest iu the subject. 
 
 1st. There are three oi'dcrs or kinds of government in tho 
 world — the Divine, the Civil, and the Parental — embracing three 
 societies — the Church, the State, and the Family, — all ordained 
 of God, all essential to the happiness of men, all established at 
 the creation of our race, and the last as important as either of 
 the others, preliminary to them in a measure, and designed for a 
 particular class — for the young. Connected with this, we would 
 remark, farther, that there is a period on which the whole future 
 life depends, a period over which civil law docs not profess to 
 assume much control — the period of minority; short, it is true, 
 in itself, but almost equal to the average life of man — the average 
 life being thirty, ^nd the time of minority twenty-one — a periud in 
 which the law of Go^l even is not fully known, when its power is 
 not fully felt upon the heart, and during which that law must bo 
 taught. There are, in thii period, no fixed principles or habits; 
 there is an incapacity for self-government; there is no strength 
 of purpose, no sternness of resolution. It is a period in which 
 a visible eye is needed as a watcher, as well as the unseen eye of 
 Jehovah. For this period, the instruction of the family is pro- 
 vided — the sanctuary of Home. God has ordained the house- 
 hold for this period, not only sheltering our cradle and gathering 
 us in youthful years to its fireside, but long after, with its tutors 
 
and governors, our school, our refuge, until education is complete. 
 All through the early period of life, when the world is new, and 
 when incxpeiicnce, fickleness, and 'wild passions toss the adven- 
 turers to and fro upon a stormy ocean, threatening them every 
 moment with wreck, where is the hand tliat should reach forth to 
 rescue them, if not that of a parent? God has most graciously 
 and beautifully grouped the inhabitiints of tlic world together 
 to attain this end: the gray locks of the old man shadowing 
 the golden rino-lets of the grandchild; the venerable mother 
 teaching, from the Scriptures, sons and daughters never too old 
 to learn from such lips ; experience teaching inexperience in the 
 beginning of life ; the impetuous and rash restrained by the gentle 
 and firm government of more mature years. 
 
 2d. The existence of certain obligations supposes the existence 
 of certain rights. If this hold good in other respects, it hokb 
 good here. If parents have duties, and the young have advan- 
 tages growing out of those duties, then the parents are invested 
 with privi!eg3s corresponding to the duties. They are God's 
 officers, and are clothed with nuthority. He sustains and protects 
 them, both in their persons and in their offices. He has thrown 
 a defence around them, in sacredness, second only to that around 
 Deity itself; and the hand which is lifted to touch a parent, 
 except in honor, almost touches God. We are commanded to 
 rise up before the hoary head, and we are admonished by the 
 punishment of the mockers of Elisha. There is due to them honor 
 and reverence. Their superior knowledge, their more advanced 
 age, their responsibility in regard to the young, demand it. 
 They are the source of our being ; and for this reason should be 
 treated with respect. They also claim our gratitude. What have 
 they not done for us in infancy, in sickness, and in distress? 
 They have sheltered us by exposing themselves to suffering, and 
 in many instances would have died to save us. Their affections 
 
6 
 
 are garnered up in their children. It was not the Roman mother 
 only ^'.lio could say that they are her jewels and her pride. 
 You cannot know, but by experience, their anxiety on your 
 account. In her growing dependance and helplessness, what so 
 beautiful as the strong arm of the son supporting the steps of 
 the feeble mother ! She may have wealth to purchase such 
 attentions, but no stranger's hand is so grateful. While a son's 
 hand smooths the pillow for the head, affection soothes the heart. 
 If ever love might claim love, that of a mother should claim it 
 from a son. There is also due to them obedience. They are 
 commanded to rule their household. If this is expected of them — 
 and God will call them to account for the performance of their 
 duty — surely it is the duty of those who compose that household 
 to obey. We will not discuss the question how long they are to 
 obey, or to Avhat extent, or by what means submission is to be 
 enforced. We speak only to your reason and to your affections ; 
 and if you follow them in this, they will not lead you far astray. 
 
 Again, their instructions should be received, and their wishes 
 complied with. We have a Divine example of filial reverence 
 and love in our Lord Jesus Christ, all through his life on earth, 
 and while on the cross, when He said to John, " Behold thy 
 mother!" To Mary, the Son of God gave reverence and love. 
 There may be those disposed to give to Mary idolatrous worship 
 as the "Mother of God," who refuse, in their own case, after 
 Christ's example, to give to a mother honor for her love and 
 kindness. 
 
 3d. The young are in great danger of committing the sin 
 which is spoken of in the text. The pulse of early life beats 
 wildly, and the spirit is then impatient of control. I have known 
 a mother say of a daughter advancing to womanhood, "Would 
 she were again an infant in my cradle, or upon my bosom !" The 
 young, then, have the most need of instruction and restraint, and 
 
the least disposition to receive them. They are passing the 
 rapids in their perilous voyage of life, and a steady hand is 
 needed at the helm, for they feel not their danger. We have 
 just passed, as we hope, through a period of danger to the Con- 
 stitution of our country. A spirit of insubordination and of 
 unwillingness to submit to law has tried the integrity of the 
 Union, and, we thank God, our flag is safe. But yet this 
 spirit, we may say, is the spirit of our age — we will not say of 
 our country. We do believe, however, that the reverence for 
 parental authority is Aveaker among our people than ever before, 
 and weaker in our land than in any other land where it is at all 
 felt. Indeed, it would seem as if that portion of the table of stone 
 upon which God's finger inscribed the fifth commandment had 
 been broken ojQT, and fallen upon some other continent than this. 
 Heathen as they are, they seem to know more of it in China 
 than we do ; and who can tell but that a large measure of their 
 prosperity and perpetuity has been owing to their faithfulness in 
 this duty? 
 
 Will my friends who are here bear with me Avhile I advert to 
 a few facts, more fully illustrating our subject? "The eye that 
 mocketh." It is done with the eye. It is not presumed that 
 there is gross violence ; it is not even said that the language is 
 improper ; it never passes further than the eye ; and Ave will not 
 press the words of the text bej^ond their literal construction. It is 
 done, again, with the heart: "■despiseth to ol)ey." It is rather 
 the not doing Avhat is desired than doing anything in opposition. 
 The opinions of parents are not treated with proper respect; 
 they are regarded as foolish or antiquated ; they will do very 
 well for persons advanced in life, but not for the young ! These 
 cannot see why they should receive them with more respect than 
 the opinions of other persons. It matters not upon what subject 
 the opinion may be expressed — whether on the subject of religion, 
 
8 
 
 or the arrangement of business, or even on matters of the most 
 trivial kind. Sometimes vre are pained to see that persons, long 
 members of the church, and high in public confidence, are every- 
 where regarded with respect but by those who sit round their 
 own table. A teacher's opinions should be reverently received; 
 and parents are seldom treated as they should be in this respect. 
 The society of parents is often avoided. It is not to the taste of 
 the young; hence their evenings arc not spent at home. They 
 seek amusement among those of their OAvn age; they seek it in 
 the club-room or at the theatre, and they lose in this way the 
 advantage to be gained by intercourse wiJi those who have ex- 
 perience, and so sin against the arrangement of God's providence. 
 Tiie young often deceive tleir parents, and impose upon their 
 credaloas pai tiality, as to their expenditures, associates, and em- 
 ployment of time. A young man told me, a short time ago, that 
 he had incurred a debt, years before, when at college, and that 
 he had been suficiing ever since from constant fear of exposure, 
 and from the compunctious of conscience, over an error which he 
 T.-as still unwilling to confess. AVe say, keep no secret from a 
 mother, especially if she be a child of God. 
 
 The young are sometimes ashamed to honor tlieir pare its if they 
 arc igao;ant or poor. This is certainly the "mocking eye." A 
 refasii.1 to comply with the wishes of parents in the matter of 
 atitenJance upon leligious duties is to mock at God; and to mock 
 at religious Avorship in which a parent is interested, kills the heart. 
 Many parents die from anxiety on account of children who go away 
 from homo. The children are careless about giving intelligence 
 of their comfort and happiness, and thus cause those who love them 
 most to pine away, unuer the apprehension that they are in dis- 
 tress. Lastly, there is sometimes a Avant of tenderness towards the 
 infirmities and Aveakncases of parents, den^^ing that attention which 
 is necessary for their support, making no requital for years of 
 
tenderness spent in ministering toi the wants of their children. 
 I trust such instances are rare. 
 
 This brings us to the evil consequences flowing from such con- 
 duct. "We have, in these three preliminary remarks, prominently 
 set forth — 1st. That there is a parental government as cci'tainly 
 ordained by God as the government of the Church or of the 
 State ; 2d. That parents are invested by God with certain oflices, 
 duties, and privileges ; and 3d. That the young are in great 
 danger of committing the sin spoken of in the text. 
 
 Now, we ask, as involving the consequences of this conduct, 
 why so many of our youi'ig men die early, failing of the promise of 
 cither long life or prosperity, and even literally meeting the end of 
 the outcast, with hopes blasted for this Avoild, and a cloud, at 
 least, thrown over the anticipations of the next ? Do not regard 
 me as saying that no yoimg men who are truly pious and beloved 
 of God die early. They are sometimes taken from the evil to 
 come. The rule, like every other rule, has its exceptions ; btit 
 still we must regard the fact as an appalling one, that multitudes 
 of young men are brought to an untimely end. Noble eflbi ts arc 
 made to reclaim them from intemperance, to give them insti no- 
 tion, to win them over to religion and vii tue. Appeals are made 
 to their honor and worldly hopes, and yet they die in multitudes 
 while young. You may know the history of families in this city, 
 as I know the history of faraihes in other places. As the reaper 
 makes broad lanes in the ripe grain fields ; as the grape-shot from 
 the cannon's mouth opens avenues through the ranks of a living 
 army, so the silent reaper is cutting down multitudes of young 
 men. We strive, by all means, to bring them to the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ ; but, of the whole number, a remnant only is saved. 
 Now, since God gives life and prosperity, and we can derive them 
 from no other source — if we find one particular statute which has 
 attached to it this promise, and a violation of the statute involves 
 
10 
 
 the particular penalty of the text — and if we find that multitudes 
 of young men do die prematurely, — may we not reasonably con- 
 clude that it is because this statute is not regarded ? Would God 
 be true if one of his laws revealed from Sinai be disregarded, 
 and no punishment follow? May not war with all its desola- 
 ting horrors, may not intoxication, with all its consequences, be 
 but the instruments of judgment, sent by God to punish men for 
 trampling upon this statute, and insnlting his authority? Can a 
 young person prosper, can he hope for long life, who tramples upon 
 a parent's heart ? Heaven, Earth, and Hell answer. No ! Can a 
 young person prosper who throws away all the influences of home, 
 who refuses all the instruction and authority of experience, mocking 
 at the counsel of parents, and following his own unrestrained will ? 
 If there be order in nature, if there be a plan in God's providence, 
 if there be truth in the Almighty, death and wo will follow the 
 breaking loose from these bonds. 
 
 I have heard the venerable Dr. Mason, of New York, an old 
 preceptor — and there are none who can give testimony to the 
 w^orth of the authority better than the two pastors of this con- 
 gregation* — remark, that a Highlander was seen on the thresh- 
 hold of his cabin, dragging an aged father by his locks. He 
 was reproved for his brutality, but the dying man rebuked the 
 reproof, saying, "Just so far as to this threshhold I dragged my 
 aged father, and so far has God, in his retribution, permitted my 
 son to drag me." 
 
 The Apostle, when he speaks of murderers of fathers and 
 murderers of mothers, may mean others than those who commit 
 the acts by instruments of steel. God's judgment is retributive 
 judgment. The very means provided and neglected, and the train- 
 ing for such a life, prove to us that there can be no other conse- 
 quences than those which the text speaks of as the sure reward. 
 
 * Dps. Laurie and Junkin. 
 
11 
 
 A second consequence : Why are so few young persons, espe- 
 cially young men, converted? The great thing at which all 
 who come into this world ought to aim, is to be born again. 
 To live and be prosperous here — this we have spoken of; the 
 more important is to live and be blessed above. For either of 
 these, all who are born again have a bias and a disposition 
 before they pass out of their minority; and, if they are eventually 
 lost, they are confirmed in habits of sin, and utterly ruined, be- 
 fore they pass this period. This fact need not be proved ; it would 
 be an insult to your good sense and observation to stop to estab- 
 lish it. Upon the training during that period, for which the 
 family instruction and influence are provided, the whole destiny 
 in many cases depends. May we not even say, that "the eye that 
 mocketh at his father" shall not see God? He Avho hateth his 
 brother, much more his parents, whom he hath seen, how can he 
 love God, Avhom he hath not seen? Submission to parental au- 
 thority, and teachers, and family government in early life is the 
 surest precursor of submission to God. A disobedient son will 
 not be likely to be converted. What is the reason why there is 
 such a stable government in Scotland, and so general a regard 
 to the authority of Heaven, and the reverse of this in France? 
 Personal inspection would lead those who make the investigation 
 concerning this matter to the conclusion that it is because Scot- 
 land has homes, household, parental government, and instruction, 
 and France has none. We must first say, "I will arise and go 
 to my father," ere we will take our journey back to God. Give 
 us the son who has been dutiful to his parents at home, or to his 
 family bound by those golden chains which encircle it, and in his 
 ear we may hope successfully to speak of his Father in Heaven, 
 and of his Son whom He sent to save the world ; to such a one we 
 may, with confidence and hope, repeat the story of the cross. 
 
 La&tly, the training of the family is necessary to form, in all 
 
12 
 
 respects, the character and virtues in all the relations of life. 
 Look at the composition of the family: the stern yet tender 
 father; the self-denying and gentle mother; the kind and affec- 
 tionate brother; and the loving sister, so mild and dependant. 
 It is almost heaven on earth. What is there to form character 
 that is not here? ]\Iock not at these things; if you do, you 
 mock at God's institution! 
 
 lie ^vho?c youth is spent at a boarding-house, where there is 
 no interest beyond that "which is mercenary, and his evenings at 
 at a club-room, mny have a merry life, but it will be a short one. 
 He who is trained in the counting-room may become a rich man, 
 but he will be a se]flt^h one. He who is trained altogether in a 
 college study may be learned, but he will not be useful. God's 
 government, in every institution, meets our wants. 
 
 In conclusion, I would say to the young of both sexes. Have 
 you a home? Be not in haste to leave it. You may have, but 
 one, and may sigh over the deserted hearthstone long after its in- 
 mates have been scattered, never to meet again on earth. You 
 go into temptation when you leave it, and you need its influence 
 in this cold, unfriendly world. Have you parents? — cherish 
 them ; never give them, by your conduct, an unnecessary pang. 
 They are your best friends. Yield kindly to their authority and 
 instruction, even after your childliood is over. Crod will not pass- 
 it by. Obey for His sake who has interests for you beyond this 
 life. They are His representatives here. Do your parents act 
 unworthily? Oh! mock them not! Remember Ham, and sec 
 the far-reaching, indelible character of his curse. Is a father or 
 mother dead ? Remember their instructions ; cherish the thoughts 
 of their kindness. When you see the wrinkled brow and wasting 
 form of a living parent, remember that they are passing away. 
 Are you going to a strange place ? Go not without a letter of 
 introduction, and seek a kind adviser where your lot is cast. 
 
13 
 
 There are pastors of churches, and good men, in every city and 
 in every country place of our broad land, under Avhosc shelter 
 and protection the young may be placed. 
 
 You may say this is all ^vcll ; but that the great object we have 
 in view is to bring about the conversion of the heart. I have 
 little faith in those conversions which arc not founded on a true 
 basis; I have little faith that any will be good ^citizens, under our 
 civil government, who have not been well trained in their family 
 relations; and I have but little faith that any will be brought to 
 God who have despised, rejected, and cast from them the au- 
 thority, instruction, and influences of home. 
 
 May God, in His infinite mercy, and for Christ's sake, grant 
 His blessing, so that our households may. be types of the great 
 household above ! Amen I 
 
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