sessing an extra sanctity, and a special obligation, which do not appertain to the other parts of the day, proves, that the Reformation was incomplete, and that Protestants have much to learn, both in respect of duty and of privilege.

This distinction has not even the shadow of scriptural authority; and, if admitted, it would utterly destroy the harmony which exists between the type and the antitype, the earthly and the heavenly rest. It is obviously based on the impious assumption, that our obligations to keep the day holy are human and conventional; and it involves the double guilt of taking from, and of adding to, the things written in the book of God. It implies, that the duty we owe to God is altogether public and ceremonial; that family worship, the religious training of our children, and the cultivation of a devout spirit, are matters of trivial importance, and may be neglected without loss, or guilt, or any great risk. Nay, more: it implies, that God has claimed an undue proportion of our time; that his Sabbath is a tax on our temporal interests, and a bar to our happiness; and that, consequently, we do well to alienate part of it to business or pleasure, as we may feel inclined. These are some of the guilty assumptions with which this irreligious mutilation of the Lord's day is chargeable; and the bare mention of them is sufficient to inspire each lover of the Sabbath with holy indignation. Every sound argument which can be adduced, to prove that a part of the Sabbath ought to be sanctified, when carried to its legitimate issue, would prove that the entire day is holy, and ought to be employed in the public and private exercises of religion.

Let none, therefore, deceive themselves, by imagining, that if they attend a place of worship once or twice, they are at liberty to spend the remainder of the day in journey ing, pleasure excursions, domestic amusements, or preparatory arrange ments for the business of Monday. God is not mocked." The day, the whole day, is his, and he com

He

mands us to keep it holy. scorns a divided allegiance; and it is at our peril if we divide its hours between his worship, and the service of mammon. If we mar the type, we dishonour its Author, we destroy its efficacy, and we forfeit our interest in its heavenly antitype. Το rob God of a part of his day in private, after we have been professing to worship him in public, is rank hypocrisy; it is to enact the sin of Ananias and Sapphira; and if we become partners in their guilt, we shall, sooner or later, be made sharers in their punishment. If we condemn the secularity of the Jews, who turned the temple into a house of merchandise; and abbor the impiety of Belshazzar, who, "with his Princes, his wives, and his concubines," in their proud revelry, "drank out of the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem;" let us shrink from the no less palpable sacrilege of prostituting the evening hours of the Lord's day to the purposes of worldly toil, or domestic conviviality. If we would escape the curse of him "that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully," there must be no mistake in this matter,-no halting between two opinions, no trimming between God and mammon. The "sign: " will take effect, proving, either that we are for the Redeemer, or that we are against him; that we are of those who gather with him, or that our ignominious employment is to scatter and destroy. The commandments of the Lord are not grievous; and be will not allow us, with impunity, to asperse him, either by word or deed, as if he were an austere master, "reaping where he had not sown, and gathering where he had not strawed."

"But wisdom is justified of her children; " and the sons of God confess, that "his service is perfect freedom." "A DAY in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a door-keeper" (or, as the margin reads, "I would choose rather to sit at the threshold ")" of the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." This

is the genuine language of all that love God. To them the Sabbathday is the best and brightest of the seven. They long for its dawn; they regret its decline; they rejoice, that on it "God rested from all his work ; " and that he has instructed them to keep it holy, from its commencement to its close. They exult in the fact, that their Lord broke from the captivity of the grave "very early in the morning, while it was yet dark;" and ceased not to commune and to break bread with his disciples, till it was "toward evening, and the day far spent." Whether they consider the example he has set them, the commandments he has given them, the claims of his love, the interests of his cause, the happiness of their fellow-men, the wants of their own souls, or the fatigues of their bodies; they dare not alienate any part of it from its divine and legitimate uses: and to all who tempt them to join in its desecration they say, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" The sanctification of the Sabbath implies,

3. That we make timely preparation for it before it arrives.

Religion is no enemy to industry. On the contrary, the Scriptures commend it as a virtue, whilst they denounce idleness as an odious and destructive vice. The fourth commandment, in particular, is not more explicit in enjoining that we rest on the seventh day, than that we labour and do all our work on the preceding six days. It is the will of God, that we so dispatch and arrange our worldly and domestic affairs during the week, that they may stand still, without detriment to them, or distraction to us, while we wait upon God on his own day. The history of each religious family in the land proves, that such a plan is both practicable and profitable.

"REMEMBER the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy."-That is, look before you to the conclusion of the week. Do not allow yourselves to be so immersed in the affairs of the world, that the Sabbath shall come upon you unawares: have respect to it through the whole of your week-day

employments. Enter into no engagements which will entangle your consciences, or lay you under temptations to neglect its duties, or to desecrate its hours. The Jews were led, by this solemn injunction, to spend the day before their Sabbath in preliminary duties; and hence it was called, "the day of preparation." At a Convocation of Scottish Clergy, held in Perth, in the year 1180, it was ordained, "that every Saturday, from twelve o'clock, should be set apart for preparation for the Lord's day; and that all the people, on Saturday evening, at the sound of the bell, should address themselves to hear prayers, and should abstain from worldly labours till Monday morning." In 1644 the English Parliament enacted, "That the Lord's day ought to be so remembered beforehand, as that all worldly business may be so ordered, and so timely and seasonably laid aside, that they may not be impediments to the due sanctification of the day when it comes." The prac tice which still prevails in some parts of the country, of liberating servants, labourers, and scholars on the afternoon of Saturday, had its origin in a laudable desire that they should "remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy."

Had those professing Christians who are shareholders in railways, and other Sabbath-breaking companies, remembered this divine injunction, they would have demanded a legal pledge, that no Sabbathtrading would, under any circumstances, be allowed, before they bought a share, or subscribed a pound. But they forgot, if they did not disregard, the word of the Lord; and they are now paying the penalty. Had some professing parents remembered it, before they apprenticed their children to Sabbathbreaking tradesmen, they would not now have had to deplore, as they have, the irreligion and undutifulness of those who ought to have been the joy and the glory of their declining years. And of others it may be said, that if they had so remembered it, as to stipulate with their employers, that they should

neither work at home, nor travel abroad, on this holy day, they would not have been so lost to God, to virtue, and to honour, as they unhappily are.

Neither the Sabbath nor its ordinances operate as a charm on the soul of man. It is awfully possible for us to enjoy the day, without answering its design; to be in the house of God, without realizing his presence; and to hear his Gospel, without feeling its power. These results are not only possible, but they will infallibly ensue, unless we "set the Lord alway before" us, and so order our worldly affairs, and prepare our hearts, that we may wait only upon the Lord," yielding ourselves up to his teaching with meek and undistracted attention.

Considering how intimately the efficacy of ordinances, and the salvation of men, are linked with the observance of the Sabbath, and how essential previous preparation is to its sanctification; those masters incur a fearful responsibility who, by tasking their servants, by giving them extra wages, or by postponing the payment of their wages till a late hour on Saturday night,-lay them under strong temptations not only to neglect all preparation for the services of the day, but to desecrate the day itself. Those heads of families also are culpable, who permit their children and servants to leave certain departments of household service to be performed on the Lord's-day morning, which, with management, might have been done on the previous night; or who, to save time, encourage them to anticipate certain duties on the Sunday evening, which properly belong to the following morning. We are fully aware of the temptations which some tradesmen have to break the Sabbath; but no temptation, however strong, can justify the breach of the law of God. There is such a thing as suffering for righteousness; and to them that do so, even to the forsaking of "houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands," the Redeemer has promised

"an hundred-fold now, and in the world to come eternal life." Sufferings and losses are not to be chosen for their own sake; but when they can be avoided only by the sacrifice of a good conscience, it is at once our duty and our gain to embrace them, in their most aggravated forms.

The inefficacy of Gospel ordinances is a ground of grief and surprise to all godly persons and faithful Ministers. With a ministry which is plain, powerful, and persuasive, and with the most unrestrained liberty to profess and practise true religion, a large proportion of those who attend our sanctuaries remain unsaved. Without denying the existence of auxiliary hinderances, it is our firm conviction, that a chief cause of the inutility of Gospel ministrations, with multitudes, is, the hurry and distraction of mind induced by the cooking, cleaning, dressing, and visiting which are crowded into the Lord's day. If the ground be unprepared, it avails nothing though the seed be good, and the sower diligent,-for it will lie on the surface; and, in that case, it will either be devoured by the birds of the air, or scorched by the sun, or choked by the briers and weeds. If we grieve the Holy Spirit during the week, how can we hope he will comfort us on the Sabbath? If we do not supplicate his aid in private, how can we expect to be blessed with his celestial influences in public? The Sabbath must be remembered before it comes, in order to be enjoyed when it comes. Sabbath ordinances must be approached in a Sabbath frame, otherwise they will harden, rather than soften, and blind, rather than enlighten and, to secure this frame, we must not only lay the world aside with our hands, in proper time, but eject it from our hearts; praying, with all prayer, that the Lord of the Sabbath would possess them, and subdue all things to himself.

:

Anciently the people of God met as regularly, though not so numerously, for Saturday-evening prayers, as they did for Sunday-morning worship. In this, as in other points,

Methodism is a revival of primitive Christianity. In most of our town chapels devotional services are held on Saturday night; and those who frequent them are witnesses of their utility in disburdening the mind of worldly care, and in preparing the soul for beholding the beauty of the Lord in his temple. These meetings, like the pulse of the body, indicate the healthiness or sickliness of our societies. When the power of religion is low, they languish; when it flourishes, they prosper. To some, we are aware, they are inaccessible; but to those who can attend, we earnestly and affectionately recommend them. What can be more appropriate, than for Christians to meet together, to give God thanks for the mercies and deliverances of the week which is drawing to a close; to praise him for the prospect of another Sabbath on this side of heaven; and to crave his blessing and presence in those ordinances, with which their salvation is so closely identified? Our confident expectation is, that, in proportion as our own and other churches become leavened with the power of godliness, these services will be multiplied; and that a majority of the Lord's people will be found worshipping in them. The sanctification of the Sabbath implies,

4. That we not only avoid the sins forbidden in the other precepts of the law, but that we also rest from worldly employments and recreations.

Swearing, lying, thieving, drunkenness, disobedience to parents, and lewdness, are aggravated offences, at any time, and under any circumstances; but when committed on the Lord's day, they indicate the deepest depravity of heart, and the highest possible contempt of God. Transgressors cannot give a more unequivocal proof of proficiency in vice, than to sin openly on the Sabbath. The law, however, not only forbids sin, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but worldly employments and recreations.

"In it thou shalt do no work." The nature of the case, as well as

other texts of Scripture, require, that this prohibition be so interpreted, as to except works of necessity and mercy. Our Lord taught, that it was lawful to heal diseases, to flee from danger, to do good, to satisfy hunger, to save life, to pull an ox or an ass out of a pit, and to loose and lead cattle away to watering. These exceptions are obviously specimens, rather than a perfect catalogue, of permitted works. No one can doubt, that it is lawful to quench fire; to defend ourselves from aggression, whether of war or of robbers; to guide the helm and shift the sails at sea; to visit the sick; to prepare necessary food for our households; to make collections for the poor and the cause of God; to teach the children of the poor and the profligate to read the word of God; and, when it cannot be delayed, to bury the dead. But, while we glorify God, and exemplify the benignant character of Christianity, by engaging in exercises which are clearly works of necessity and mercy, we need to guard lest sloth, or self-interest, plead necessity where none exists. Medical men often impose on themselves in this way. Except in seasons of epidemic disease, and on some other extraordinary occasions, they might generally, by diligence and prudent foresight, secure time for attending public worship. The scepticism which prevails in the medical profession is, no doubt, nursed, if it be not occasioned, by habitual absence from the means of grace; and young practitioners, who yet believe there is a God, that man has a soul, and that Christianity is divine, will do well to "remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," lest they also be given up to strong delusions." Captains of vessels, and seafaring men, generally err in this matter. Under the pretence, that the Sabbath is a lucky day, that the tide serves, or that the wind is fair, they contrive to make it a common day for fitting out, and for leaving the harbour; as if chance, and not Providence, ruled the winds of heaven, the tides of the ocean, and the affairs of men; as if God could be

propitiated by a practice implying a direct breach of his law, or could permit those to be ultimate losers, who prefer the interests of eternity to those of time, and the glory of his name, to the favour of men and the figments of superstition! No class of men can be trained to habits of religion and morality, without Sabbath worship; and the prover bial irreligion of those sailors who are debarred from it, constitutes an argument in favour of the sanctification of the day which, we trust, will, ere long, lead to the discontinuance of the practice of which we complain. The owners of fac. tories, and other public works, greatly err, if they think they are justified in repairing their machinery on the Sabbath, on pretence, that they thereby prevent their hands from losing a day's wages.

No! such men seek their own interest, not that of the poor; and while the harsh clanking of the Sunday hammer publishes their profanity in the ears of men, the pretence on which it is wielded proclaims their hypocrisy in the ear of God. Neither can those shopkeepers be exculpated who trade on the Sabbath, on the plea, that they deal in perishable articles. In most instances, the supply of such articles can be regulated according to the demand; and, admitting that, occasionally, some loss be sustained by preserving a good conscience, it is our duty to keep the law of God at all hazards, and despite of all sacrifices. "The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."

We

have known many tradesmen and shopkeepers, who were poor and ignoble while they traded on the Sabbath; but who, from the day they sacrificed their ungodly gains, prospered, and grew in favour both with God and man. And we could specify many powerful firms that have been ruined, and rich families which have been impoverished, whose contempt of the Sabbath was notorious. In those factories in which the practice of repairing machinery on Sunday is kept up, re

pairs are continually required; which may be accounted for on the ground, that fractures are aggravated by postponement, that the repairs made on Sunday are often necessarily superficial, and that they are effected by men destitute of religious principle.

The law of the Sabbath pre-supposes the existence of a remunerating and retributive Providence; and it is so framed, as to confute and silence the unbelieving fears and avaricious reasonings of the human heart. "In it thou shalt not do any work." As if He had said, "However low your wages, or large your family; however elevated your rank, or extensive your trade; however threatened by your employers, or tempted by your customers; you must on no account rob me, and wrong your own souls, by doing ordinary work on my holy day." Such is the sovereign will of God; and though, by a strict adherence to it, we may be overtaken by difficulties, and may have to sustain losses, yet our salvation depends on our fidelity; and though we may not be remunerated in time, we shall in that day, when we enter into the "rest which remaineth for the people of God."

It may be affirmed of all who buy, or sell, or labour, on this holy day, that they neither fear God, nor regard man; for they violate the laws, and invade the rights, of both. They manifest an atheistical distrust in Providence; they pour contempt on one of the most benignant institutions to which the God of mercy has given existence; they betray an utter indifference about the enjoyment of God's favour, and a total disregard of his threatened vengeance. It strikes us as a remarkable fact, that while common trading and ordinary shopkeeping are generally regarded as flagrant breaches of the Sabbath, the sale of spirituous liquors is scarcely reckoned a sin. In London, porter is openly hawked about the streets; and those families are thought excessively precise, who do not take it in on the Lord's day. In the country, public-house keepers who will not entertain com