perity-a revolting spectacle of moral corruption. Among the nations that have trampled upon the Sabbath, France may be taken as a fair illustration. In 1793 the enemies of truth triumped in Paris, plundered the churches, and instituted the worship of Reason, in the form of an abandoned female, once in ten instead of seven days. The Sabbath was thus obliterated. Once in ten days infidel preachers proclaimed atheism from the pulpits. On the public cemeteries was placed the inscription: "Death is an eternal sleep." This state of things continued seven years, during which time the people plunged deep into vice and crime. The state of morals became so deplorable that Napoleon restored the Christian Sabbath, and the worship of the true God, as the only way to save the nation from utter ruin. But, to this day, France has not recovered from the terrible shock. So it has been with all nations. God declares that the destruction of the Jewish capital, in the days of Nehemiah, and the captivity of the Jewish people, were partly occasioned by their violation of His Sabbath. Hence, after their return from captivity, and after they had completed the walls of Jerusalem, their first care was to guard the Sabbath from violation. On the evening before the Sabbath, the gates of the city were closed, and were not opened again until after the Sabbath had passed. Markets and warehouses were shut, and buying and selling prohibited. By these measures prosperity returned.

Such things shew that God is mindful of respect for His holy day, so that the man who regards it has more hope of success in life. The history of the world is an illustration of this truth from beginning to end. Per

haps the reader may know some person in his own place of residence who habitually violates the Sabbath. Now, is he in a high degree prosperous? Is he eminently successful in his business? No. Providence does thus appear to bless those who hallow His Sabbath above all others. Many employers, observing this fact, require reverence for this day by their employees. In the city of Manchester, New Hampshire, where about six thousand operatives are employed in the mills, a whole year has been known to elapse with only a single offence, worthy of trial in the police court, committed by one of this class. This state of things is ascribed mainly to the following regulation :

"A regular attendance on public worship on the Sabbath being necessary for the maintenance of good order, all persons in the employment are required to be constant in attendance upon public worship at one of the regular places of worship in this place, and those who neglect this regulation will not be employed."

Experience and observation have proved to this company that their enterprise will be more successful if their labourers observe the Sabbath. Why is not the same true of every company, and of every individual?

The distinguished painter, Hogarth, executed a series of pictures illustrative of "The Rake's Progress," of which the first is an apprentice playing at marbles on Sunday, and the last, his end on the gallows. In his view, the proper observance of the Lord's day had not a little to do with the moral character of the young.

The reader will be tempted to the minor violations of holy time in almost every place. If he is in the city,

buying Sunday papers, attending Sunday concerts, taking Sunday walks, making Sunday visits, are among the violations of the Fourth Commandment, which even some Christian people perpetrate. If he is in the country, indolence and surfeiting at home, improper reading, and possibly a little work, may be temptations to which he will yield. His employer may require him to render some service in his business on this day, and he must submit, or sacrifice his place. Now, unless he is determined, come what may, to regard the Sabbath, he will be likely to yield to these influences, and thereby commence a course that will end in open desecration of this time.

We have seen, in another place, that young Lawrence rode during the Saturday night to visit his parents, so as not to violate the Sabbath. Such faithful regard for the day was likely to beget a habit of strict regard for other greater and lesser things. Nor did he ever forsake the principles thus early practised. He not only observed the day himself, but he earnestly laboured to have it observed by all persons in his employ. He once wrote to the agent of a manufactory in which he was largely interested :—

"We must make a good thing out of this establishment, unless you ruin us by working on Sundays. Nothing but works of necessity should be done in holy time, and I am a firm believer in the doctrine that a blessing will more surely follow those exertions which are made with reference to our religious obligations, than upon those made without such reference. The more you can impress your people with a sense of religious obligation, the better they will serve you."

Happy would it be for the young, yes, and for the old, too, if all employers entertained similar opinions, and put them in practice.

On another occasion he wrote to his younger brother in England:

"My next direction will be to keep watch over yourself, that you do not fall into habits of vice; and, as a means of preserving yourself, I would most strictly enjoin that your Sabbaths be not spent in noise and riot, but that you attend the public worship of God.

These words cannot leave us in doubt in regard to his opinions about the value of the Sabbath to the young man. He would make a strict observance of this day "a means of preserving" him from "habits of vice." His words also shew that the brother to whom he wrote, the late Hon. Abbott Lawrence, was "in the habit" of regarding the Lord's day. Who will say that it had not much to do with the development of that character which gave him commanding reputation on both sides of the Atlantic?

That the Sabbath holds this important relation to purity and success, is sustained by still another view. One seventh part of our time is holy. That is, three years in every twenty-one years we live, is time which we are commanded to devote to moral and religious duties. One year of Sabbaths in every seven! The influence of so much time for good or ill cannot be small. Improved or misspent, it must tell upon character. It is abundant time to establish good or bad habits, that will go with us to the grave. If we had no other time in which to attend to our morals, we should be for ever without excuse, should we live and die vicious.

The following incidents in the lives of two of the Presidents of the United States may close this chapter. When Washington was President, he was riding in a town in Connecticut, when the roads were in a very bad condition, and Saturday night came on before he reached the village where he designed to spend the Sabbath. He accordingly stopped where the night overtook him, and, on the following morning at sunrise, started for the inn near the place of worship where he thought of attending. He had not proceeded far when a man came out of a cottage, who proved to be an informing officer, and inquired of the coachman what was the necessity of his travelling on the Lord's day. Washington at once put his head out of the carriage, and explained the matter to the officer, at the same time commending him for his fidelity, and expressing the most hearty approval of the Sunday laws of Connecticut.

When John Adams was President, he was unexpectedly called home to his family in Boston, in consequence of sickness. It was in the winter season, and a snow-storm blocked up the roads when he was within twenty miles of Boston. The first day on which the roads became passable was the Sabbath. Should he proceed to Boston on that day? The clergyman of the place thought that the circumstances not only justified his travelling, but made it his duty to go. After reflecting upon the subject, he concluded to wait till Monday. "For," said he, "the justifiable occasion in this case will not prevent the bad influence of my example on those who might see me travelling on the Sabbath, without knowing the cause."