sprout in the ear. Monday it may rain again. Now, the question is, does our Saviour's exposition of the fourth commandment allow him, even in this extreme case, to go and gather his grain on the Sabbath? The case turns on the point, Is it a necessary work of MERCY? Is it present suffering which is to be relieved? No. His family are all in health. They have at present a supply for their wants. They are in no immediate danger of starvation. The case then does not come within the exception. He ought not to gather his grain on the Sabbath day. He ought to obey God, and leave the result with him. His command is, "Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest." "Trust in the Lord and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed."

But he may reply to this, and say, "I expended much labor in preparing that field for a crop. God has blessed the work of my hands, and brought my crop to maturity; and now, does he not design that I shall gather it on the Sabbath, rather than lose it entirely?" My answer is, that this reasoning does not invalidate the rule, "Thou shalt not do any work." The law is to be obeyed. And besides, it is not certain that God intended he should enjoy the crop, because it is brought to maturity. Often has he blessed the labors of the husbandman, and caused his crops to ripen, and given him a favorable opportunity for harvest, and then sent the lightnings of heaven and consumed the whole, after it was deposited in the barn. It is the duty of every one to obey God, and leave all consequences to his disposal.

"But," says another, "I keep a livery stable. Myself and family are dependent on that business for support. I can let more horses and carriages on the Sabbath than on any other day of the week, and I cannot sustain myself if I do not let them on the Sabbath. Is it not right for me to continue the business?" The answer turns again on the point, whether it is a necessary work of mercy to let his horses and carriages on the Sabbath. It is his duty to let them to physicians, who have no other means of conveyance to visit their patients, and to other persons, whose absent friends are sick and are in pressing need of their assistance. These, and similar cases, come within the exception. But to let them to all persons indiscriminately, for purposes of recreation or gain, is a palpable violation of the Lord's day.

"But," says the man, "I am not in the habit of inquiring after other people's business. I do not know whether their friends are sick, or in

health. I am applied to for means of conveyance, and may I not in all cases furnish them?" Jesus Christ, by his recorded expositions of the law, has settled the point. You have the means, or you may have them without any impertinent inquisitiveness, of knowing whether you let them for purposes of pleasure or profit, or for those which the "Lord of the Sabbath" approves. You are therefore bound to discriminate, and never to furnish the means of conveyance to persons, who you know will employ them in violating the Sabbath.

The same rule applies to the hiring as to the letting of means of conveyance. No man has a right to hire them, or to use his own on the Sabbath, except it be to perform a necessary work of mercy a work of mercy, which cannot be postponed to another day. What an amount of guilt, then, attaches to the multitude in our large cities, and towns, and villages, who charter hundreds and thousands of conveyances by land and water, and drive over and trample under foot the Sabbaths of Him, who has commanded us all to remember them and keep them holy !

Take another case. In a large manufacturing establishment, it happens, that, just at sunset on Saturday, a principal wheel in the machinery breaks, and it will take five men a whole day to repair it. A hundred, or perhaps two hundred persons cannot proceed with their business till the repair is made. Now, the question is, must this repair be made on the Sabbath, or must it be deferred till Monday, and the numerous operatives lie still, on expense, a whole day? Bring the case to the test of the principle established by our Lord, and what is the decision? Is it a necessary work of mercy to make the repair on the Sabbath? Whose life or health will be placed in jeopardy by the delay of one day? Nobody's. It is then a mere question of property-of profit or loss. If five machinists may on the Sabbath repair the broken wheel, on the same principle, the farmer and the mechanic may repair their tools, and other trades ply their respective occupations. The difference in the magnitude of the concern, in the one case and in the other, makes no difference in the principle involved. It is still a mere question of property, and therefore the propriety of the repair is not admitted by our Lord's construction of the fourth commandment.

Suppose another case. In this manufacturing establishment, there are some hundreds of persons, who are almost incessantly occupied with business during the week, and, on the Sabbath, a strong temptation is presented to spend a part of the day, at least, in walking the fields and streets, or in riding into the surrounding country. Now, does their confinement during the week give them a dispensation from the duty of remembering “the Sabbath day to keep it holy?" Not at all. Spending the day, or any part of it, in mere recreation, is positively forbidden. To spend it so, is to incur the wrath of Heaven.

But here is a young man, who wishes to go and see his friends, some ten or twenty miles distant, and he can save the wages of a whole day, by visiting them on the Sabbath. Has he not a right to go? No. It is not a necessary work of mercy. His friends are in health, or, at least, he knows nothing to the contrary. His object is merely the gratification, which a visit to his friends would afford. His duty therefore is plain. He must forego the gratification of a visit, and keep the Sabbath holy.

There are many other usages of society which fall under the condemnation of the fourth commandment, which I have not time to notice at large. Among them may be mentioned the transportation of the mail on the Sabbath, the opening of post-offices, the delivery of letters, the posting of books, the loading and sailing of vessels, the