many servants, beside a girl to attend to the baby?"—"Dear father," replied William, "I know this, that I owe every thing to the kind and liberal conduct of yourself, and my eldest brother. If you had not sent me that handsome present of three hundred pounds, which you will not allow me to call a loan, things would not be as they are now. That money from you, gave a turn to my affairs, just as I was beginning to get quite out of heart; it met one or two pressing demands, enabled me to make a few purchases that I could not well have done without, and here we are as you see us; I am making money, I may tell you, as fast as I could wish, you shall see my books to judge for yourself, and am, in a manner, becoming daily more independent."-"I see you are," replied the father. "There is such a thing as an honest independence among men, which I approve most highly; I do not say you are without it, but there is alse an impious independence of God, the giver of all our good things; have you not, dear son, too much of the latter? I must own, I trembled less for you, when you lived in that little comfortable abode in Sand-lane, at the back of the town, when with as much honest independence among your follows, you seemed to hang in utter dependence on the Father of Mercies. I have heard you then pray with your family, that God would deliver you from all over-anxiety, and enable you to put your trust in no arm of flesh, no where indeed but in

Him.

'Give us this day, our daily bread,' was then I fear more the prayer of the heart than it is now. I loved your quiet, self-denying, watchful, humble ways at that time. I see now too much of that frame of mind that makes a man cry out, 'Soul take thine ease;' and to tell the truth William, I don't admire your way of getting money, at least one of your ways. Why is the shop open till ten o'clock every Sunday morning?"—" I can't say I approve its being open, or wish to keep it open," replied William; "but you see, father, there are so many of our neighbours who open their shops, that really in self-defence, and not to lose my customers, I open mine. There are the Hopkinses opposite, and Smith and Thomas's only a few doors off, and Mrs. Jeffreys and,"-"Pray don't trouble yourself to make out a longer list," said the old man, "but just let me ask you a question ?" "Suppose Mr. Hopkins and Mrs. Jeffreys, and all the set of them, chose to appear with their faces blacked, or with one of their hands cut off, would you think it necessary to appear in the same trim? No, you say to yourself, I should not be required to do what could not answer any interest. What should I be the better for a blackamoor's face, or for the loss of a hand; I should only be making a fool of myself, in doing as others did in such a case. Now, I must tell you that your far higher interests are at stake, in the matter of profaning the Lord's day, and that you had

better lose even your right hand, than sin against God, at the risk of your own soul. Remember who hath said, 'it is better to enter into life halt or maimed, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into hell fire.' You had better be without that member of the mortal body here, than profane the day of the Lord your God, and run the risk of being cut off from living membership with the great Head of the body of vital Christians, the Church of Christ.

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'Besides, let me tell you that you are taking an unfair advantage of your more loyal and more godly neighbours, if you open your shop;-their obedience to the laws of the land, their conscientious observance of the God's holy commandments forbid them to think of worldly interest on that sacred day of rest. I know, for I could easily give a list of some of your godly neighbours, that nothing would force Mr. Hilton, and you know he is the head tradesman of this town, to open his shop on the Lord's day, and if you tell me that his fortune is made, and he has no need to do so, I would ask you what principle is it, that forbids poor widow Barnes, the most indigent shop-keeper in the whole parish, a widow with a large family, or that thrifty couple the Alfords, to buy or sell on the Christian Sabbath. "Tis the law of the land,

what the Levitical law

which ought to be to you, of Moses was to the Jews, that you are breaking as well as the holy moral law, given by God, not

for the Jews only, but for the uttermost ends of the converted Gentile world. Not one jot, or

one tittle of this law shall pass away, till all things be fulfilled.' There was the king's proclamation, too, read the other day, in the great congregation, commanding you on pain of his heavy displeasure, not to break the laws of the land, and profane the Lord's day. Therefore you are a disloyal subject to your own king of England, and a despiser of the laws of your country, as well as of God's laws and ordinances, if you persist in this unholy custom."

"But many of my customers are poor labouring people, who cannot get paid by their masters till late on the Saturday evening, and they have no account with me, for indeed I think it a bad plan to let them run into debt: they bring their money in their hands, and buy what they want.". "Depend upon it, William," said the old man, "there is an easy way of obeying a plain and easy command. Suppose you were to tell your poor customers, that nothing should make you keep open your shop on the Lord's day, that you were ready to supply them with what they needed on the Saturday evening without their money, on this condition, that the wives brought the sum of money due from the Saturday, on the Monday morning. Suppose you kept a book for the names of these customers. You would soon see who were true to their engagements, and on the following Saturday, (or perhaps after trying them a week or

so,) you would have it in your power to refuse supplying those who were unfaithful to their word. Or if you object to this plan, suppose you were to allow every customer to be one week behind-hand in their payments, in this way, to take their provisions as usual, and not to pay till the following Saturday, leaving an additional penny every following Saturday till the first week's debt was quite paid. In short, William, any thing is better than your present habit. Where there's a will, there's a way, depend on it. You had better give them the provisions for the first Saturday out of your own pocket, as you are in so thriving a way; and if you did it out of love to God, you would be no loser; or you had better lose the custom of the poor fellows altogether,-you who have had more religious advantages than they,- than help them to do what is wrong before God and man. Another thing I must add, with all this outcry about labouring men who cannot get paid till Saturday night, are there not?-can you tell me that there are not,many of your idle or ungodly neighbours who do not depend on the late Saturday evening payment, and who are permitted to lounge into the shop, and buy what they want on the Sunday morning? Have you ever sent one such customer away? Where there is a will, I say again, there is a way,' and may God send His Spirit to set you right on this subject, and give you an honest and good will, and you will soon be able to make a