happiness at which he aims. "There remaineth" this last refreshment and salvation "for the people of God." Let us look up towards it, dear brethren, in our meditations and hopes. Let every Sabbath prepare us for its appropriate employment. Let the Holy Ghost, who on this day was vouchsafed to the church, to be the comforter, teacher, guide, sanctifier, and great Author of all grace under the New Testament, be adored and glorified. Let us implore of him the power to realize the promises of redemption, to view with gratitude the wonders of creation and providence, and to unite all with the prospects of the rest of heaven. St. Augustine considers the Sabbath as peculiarly the law of the Holy Ghost. The first two commandments he looks upon as relating to the honor of God the Father; the third, as especially referring to God the Son, the eternal word, whose name is not to be taken in vain, nor to be reduced to the rank of a mere creature; and the fourth, or sabbatical precept, he refers to the praise of the Holy Ghost, who, as the author of rest and peace in his church, is peculiarly honored on the day which agrees so entirely with his own office.* We enter not into a defence critically of the sentiment of the holy Father. We seize the thought; and glorify God the Spirit on the day which is to raise us by his inspiration to the foretaste and pledge of our heavenly

rest!

And now from these considerations on the practical duties of the Christian Sabbath, let us, in applying the dis

course,

I. Remark THE CONVICTION WHICH SUCH A DISCUSSION SHOULD FIX IN THE MINDS OF THE IRRELIGIOUS

AND UNCONVERTED. At what a distance are they from the true spirit and temper of the servants of God! They dispute against the divine authority of the Lord's day. They complain of the various duties we enjoin. They declare the impossibility of rising up to such a tone of piety. They invent excuses for absence and omission., But what do they in fact admit in all this, but their want of religious taste and feeling? What do they avow, but the want of spiritual judgment, pleasures, pursuits? The more they argue against the Sabbath, the more they condemn them

* British Review, viii. 483.

selves. The further they recede from devotional habits and delights, the greater distance do they place between themselves and God.

Yes, let such be induced to consider their own ways and turn to the Lord. Let them weigh the authority, and remember the duties of God's blessed day; and let them seek that fundamental change of heart which will render the devotions of the day a pleasure, its duties a choice, its proper exercises the spontaneous overflowing of gratitude and love. Then would these Sabbaths be the NUNDINE SPIRITUALES, the spiritual market-days (to speak with Bishop Andrews) to their souls; then would they be as anxious to carry away COMMEATUM ANIME, provision for the mind, for reforming the will, for regulating the affection, for illuminating the understanding, as they are careful to carry away provision for the body from the markets whither they resort.

But what can we say as to the spiritual state of those multitudes, who still continue to have little or no conscience about hallowing God's blessed day? Where shall we place them? Under what class are they to be arranged? Where is the indolent and sensual Sabbath-keeper, or rather Sabbath-violater to be placed, who rests only as his ox, or his ass, or his cattle? Where is the pleasure-taking Sabbathbreaker to be arranged? Where the gluttonous and winebibbing? Where the busy, mercantile, or professional Sabbath-breaker, who thinks that the hurries of his concerns excuse him from the worship of God? Where is the formalist's Sabbath, whose heart remains behind, when his person and his lips seem to approach his Maker and Redeemer? And what shall we say to the infidel's Sabbath, the scoffer's Sabbath, the debauchee's Sabbath? Alas! the heart turns sick at the fearful guilt of the numbers, who, with knowledge, and opportunities, and means of sanctifying the day of grace, abuse, neglect, despise, violate it. Let such awake, ere it be too late to their immense loss, as well as to their heavy criminality before Almighty God.

Shall God, my fellow sinners, have consecrated a day from the creation of man, and wilt thou stand out against his gracious command? Shall God have republished his will in the fourth commandment of the decalogue--shall he have enforced it by all the motives of his righteous authority--shall he have poured around it all the milder glories of

the new covenant, as well as the tremendous judgments of the old, and wilt thou not give God his due? Wilt thou not yield him the just rent which he demands upon the gift of thy time, thy health, thy property, thy six days' labor? Wilt thou remain insensible to thine eternal interest, thy present and future happiness, the preparation thou needest for death and judgment? O, consider thy ways, seek thy Savior's forgiveness, be ashamed and confounded for thy past neglect. Begin a new life. Enter upon a new course. Seek that holy taste and divine principle of life which will make the Christian Sabbath natural, interesting, pleasant, delightful, necessary.

Take at least the preparatory steps. If you cannot enter into all the engagements of the Sabbath, enter into some of them. By degrees new and better habits will be formed. By degrees the whole compass of sabbatical duties will become easy. Only begin in the strength of God, and relying on the operations of his grace. Take a view first of the great end of the institution, the sanctification of the soul. Then follow out the different classes of duties which spring from it, as branches from the parent stock. Next seek for something of the spiritual taste which forms the Christian temper. And lastly, let the grand blessings of creation and redemption, and the hope of heaven, be in some degree the topics of your praise.

II. But may we not, all of us, Christian brethren, disCover TOPICS ENOUGH OF HUMILIATION in the discussion which has taken place? Which of us discharges the duties of the holy day of God as we should? In fact, the Sabbath is so closely connected with Christianity itself, that as our Christianity rises or falls, so will our observation of the sacred season be elevated, or decline. Nothing is more difficult, considering our corruption and the snares of Satan, than a holy, wise, kind, and yet resolute government of ourselves and families on the Lord's day. All possible hindrances arise to oppose this duty. Especially in the management of our children and household, we meet continual obstacles to our best purposes. One remark, however, may be offered on the other side. We must preserve the amiable spirit of our Savior, and the gentle temper of his religion in our domestic arrangements. Few things are more important than to make the Sunday agree

able, in a proper sense of the term, to young persons and servants. If any thing morose and rigid is apparent in our manner, to those placed under our care, it will inevitably create disgust and aversion. And yet remissness, negligence, cowardice must not creep in. The wise balancing of these things, then, will require much consideration and prayer. Variety may be thrown into the duties, so as to interest the young mind, without lessening in the least their general effect. The reading of the Scripture-the writing or finding texts upon a given subject-the learning of hymns-catechising-the family devotions of the morning and evening-the public worship of God afford sufficient diversity, excite attention and dissipate lassitude. Much wisdom must, however, be employed, kindness of manner, consideration of age, health, circumstances. There should ever be a due admixture of firmness with benignity -all supported by an uniform example, and accompanied with fervent prayer.

Indeed prayer, especially for larger measures of the Holy Spirit, is indispensable to the right discharge of these important duties. If we can do nothing aright without prayer, much less can we sustain a course of obedience, with love and delight, in the consecration of the Sabbath, without the continual supplies of grace and strength. But these supplies will not be refused to us. Our defects will be forgiven us through the blood of Christ, our infirmities succoured by the power of the Holy Ghost. Thus will our Sabaths pour into our hearts the consolation of the promises, and will at length terminate in God himself who first instituted the day and is its highest consummation and end.

SERMON VI.

THE UNSPEAKABLE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIGHT OBSERVATION OF THE SABBATH, WITH THE EVILS OF THE OPPOSITE ABUSE.

ISAIAH lviii. 1,
2.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteously and forsook not the ordinances of their God; they ask of me the ordinances of justice, they take delight in approaching to God.

DOCTRINE is not enough, precept is not enough, on such a subject as that which we have been treating. We must address the conscience; we must be bold in our appeals to the heart of man--we must assert all the authority and majesty of truth. The minister of religion must not shrink from his task on such a question; he must "cry aloud, and spare not; he must show" the people of God "their transgressions, and the house of Jacob," the professed church of Christ, "their sins.” He must penetrate the thin disguises which a false religion assumes, and tear off the mask which a pretence of "seeking God and of delighting in his ways" may present: and must declare that the external advantages and opportunities of religion only increase. the guilt of the nation which tramples on that very day, when all these benefits would have their best effect.