for this danger, and, by withdrawing attention from the drudgery of worldly employments, gives ample scope for the exercise of the mental powers. A new train of thought is excited, which circumstance is of itself a means of arousing the energies of man. The current of ideas, which, flowing continually in one and the same course, benumbs every faculty of the soul, is diverted into a different and pleasing channel. The very change is awakening, and the mind, through the excitement of a pleasurable emotion, opens and expands with unshackled freedom. The intellect is invigorated by whatever rouses it from the torpor of a uniform train of thought. Nor is this excitation the only advantage; the multiplied means of instruction afforded by the sabbath must operate extensively in the moral culture of the people. Supplying a grateful relief to the body, it stimulates the mind to activity, and to such activity as promotes the civilities of social intercourse. Combining all these things together, it would be difficult to point out aught which has a more powerful influence in urging on the career of national improvement.

But the greatest benefit of the sabbath, and that which renders it a real blessing, is its being destined to moral and religious edification. Of all important matters the most important, and of all needful concerns the most needful, is religion.

Amid the diversified ranks of society, and through all the chequered scenes of life, from the monarch to the mendicant, from the cradle to the grave, it is the vivifying principle of spiritual health and enjoyment. Without the softening influence of religion, the great and powerful become the scourges of the human race, capricious in their tyranny, licentious in their cruelty, implacable in their revenge. Without religion the active and aspiring press onwards, unrestrained in their pursuits, boastful of honour, yet as much the slaves of selfishness as obsequious to the whirlwind of their passions. Without religion the learned and contemplative but abuse their powers; whether penetrating the mines of science, or exploring the regions of literature, in heart they are unsanctified; their intellectual ken, though piercing the confines of illimitable space, never soaring to heaven; and in their most admired researches, in their proudest attainments, diffusing a poison the more deadly as it is the more subtile, and the more dangerous by being disguised among the flowers plucked from the gardens of learning. Where religion is wanting, all is wanting that dignifies man, all that ennobles his nature by unequivocal distinction, above the herds that graze the field, or that roam the forest.

To preserve a sense of religion upon the mind, and to foster its influence, which is apt to be

subdued by the distractions of the world, some portion of time must be dedicated to sacred offices. Were this omitted, the voice sounding forth in such sweet and soothing accents in the word of God would be drowned amid the clamour of earthly occupations. The evangelic call would be made in vain to men wholly immersed in care and business, or giddy with the incessant round of amusement and voluptuousness. Opportunity, then, must be afforded both for the religious instruction of the many, and for the renewal of those holy impressions which, even in the sincerely pious, would decay in an uninterrupted intercourse with the world. In this pilgrimage of life it is no easy task to preserve an abiding sense of religion, and to acquire a heavenly-mindedness while surrounded with so many things to retard the Christian's progress. The world is ever stealing in upon the affections, pleasure allures, interest tempts, cares perplex; a variety of objects which lie around in gay and enticing profusion, find too ready an entrance into the heart; and the soul, even in its very aspirations to Heaven, is often compelled to struggle against the intrusion of the senses. Every candidate in the Christian race must have experienced this; and is it too much to infer that, if the weekly day appointed for the spiritual nourishment of the soul were rendered common, scarcely any would persevere

in the prescribed course? Is it too much to believe that the flame of piety, which, under all advantages, is not kept alive without difficulty, would in that case expire, or at least burn faintly in the heart?

Happy, then, is it for the frail children of the dust that the law separates a stated portion of time for solemn and religious offices. It is a valuable privilege, which those who are hastening in earnest towards the celestial Zion will accept with feelings of grateful joy. It supplies a spiritual refreshment to the soul, encumbered as it is, in this stage of existence, by the burden of the flesh, and the traitorous solicitation of the world. While travelling the journey of life, whether the path lie through a bleak and barren waste, or through verdure and flowers, mankind, unless frequently reminded of the end and object of their pursuit, would faint under the difficulties to which they are exposed. On the seventh day they are so reminded; on that day they are cautioned of the danger of loitering in the way; the all-glorious reward of victory is laid before them, and they are exhorted to press forward towards the mark for the prize of their high calling in Christ. On that day they are invited to lay aside the thoughts and cares which distract the mind, to rest from the turmoil of busy life, and to devote the sacred hours to the concerns upon which an eternity

depends. Recalled from the fascinations of what pleases only to betray, they are admonished to raise their contemplations to that which is most worthy of all love, and veneration, and praise,the Tri-une Deity. In the appointed ordinances of religion, in public worship, in private prayer and meditation, the soul enjoys devout commu→ nion with its Creator, and extends its view beyond the limits of visible nature. The exercises of a pure devotion, while they withdraw the affec tions from earth, cherish the ardour of exalted piety; and, while they animate the holy desires of the heart, teach it to confide in that plan of redemption which, in the councils of eternal mercy, has opened the gates of Heaven to mankind.

The object for which the seventh-day festival was ordained, the associations which it excites, the solemnities with which it is accompanied, are well adapted to disengage the mind from the va nities of the passing scene. "The very rest," says a pagan writer," withdraws the mind from human occupations, and turns it towards God"." The weekly return of sacred ministrations must have some effect, transient as it unfortunately too often is, in awakening, even in the most careless, sentiments of seriousness and piety. With those

* Ητε γαρ άνεσις τον νουν ἀπαγει ἀπο των ἀνθρωπινων ἀσχολημάτων, Tov de oùrwy vovv tρETει TOOL TOν DELOV. Strabo, Geogr. lib. x. p. 717. fol. Amstel. 1707.