ments, given in a more solemn manner by God himself, was released by our Saviour in person, being, as he styles himself, Lord of the Sabbath-by virtue of which authority, he ordered the paralytic to carry his bed on that day--a work, be it observed, neither of necessity nor mercy.

The question now returns-What authority have we for observing our Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of the seventh? The answer is-The authority of the Church, and no other. Our Lord, it is true, may have given some express command to his Apostles on the subject; we may suppose, if we choose, that he did; or possibly he may have contented himself with intimating by his conduct, that such an observance would be acceptable to him. This, however, is mere conjecture, and the New Testament is silent on the subject. We are, therefore, obliged to have recourse to the authority of the Church for the appointment. To the Church was committed the power of binding and loosing, with a strict injunction, that whosoever would not hear the Church, (in the just and lawful exercise of its authority), was to be regarded as a heathen or excommunicate. The doctrine of the Church on this subject, at the time of the Reformation, (and at all times previous to the age of Puritanism), appears from the fol lowing extract from Archbishop Cranmer's Catechism. "And here note, good children, that the Jewes in the Old Testament were commanded to keep the Sabbathday, and they observed it every seventh day, called the Sabbath, or Satterday. But we Christian men, in the New Testament, are not bound to such commandments of Moses' law concerning differences of times, days, and meats, but have liberty and freedom to use other days for our Sabbath days, therein to hear the Word of God, and keep an holy rest. And therefore, that this Christian liberty may be kept and maintained, we now keep no more the Sabbath, or Satterday, as the Jewes do, but we observe the Sundays and certain other days, as the magistrates (meaning the chief power in the Church) do judge convenient, whom in this thing we ought to obey."

It follows from hence, that the observance of the Lord's day rests on precisely the same authority as that of Christmas-day, Good Friday, and the Saints' days, and on no higher; and therefore, those who purposely work on those days, considering them ordinances

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of man, as distinguished from the Lord's day, shew that they are unacquainted with the real state of the case, and are removing the obligation of the Lord's day from a foundation which is able to support it, viz. the authority of the Church, to one which is not, viz. the Mosaic Law.An over-strictness about the observance of Sunday, savours more of a legal and Pharisaical than an evangelical spirit; and it is feared, is too often adopted as a sort of permission to devote the other six days entirely, and without remorse, to the service of Mammon. As a caution against this mistake, it may be observed, that the Church has provided no service peculiar to the Sunday, none which is not appointed either for every day, or at least, for the holidays as well abstinence from worldly callings, enjoined by the civil magistrate, being in fact the only distinction, nor even that entirely, for Christmas-day is included. It

is not meant to be denied, that the circumstance of a positive institution obtaining a place in the Decalogue among moral precepts, is one of great weight, and seems to intimate that the spirit and intention of the observance was to be retained; and it is only with respect to the spirit and intention of it that we can properly pray, at the end of the fourth commandment,"Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law,"-meaning, that God would dispose us by his Spirit to serve him readily and gladly under the Gospel, with the same zeal and devotion with which he was served under his former dispensation of the Law. A true Christian will endeavour, as much as possible, to be in the Spirit, and to serve his God every day of his life.

As to the degree of strictness with which the Sunday should be observed, "let no man judge his brother." If recreations after the hours of divine service be deemed lawful, let it be next considered how far they are expedient-whether they interfere with the rest which God has mercifully provided for man, and even for the brutes-and whether they set a bad example to those who, having but one day of leisure, ought to devote as much of it as may be to their religious improve. ment. It may be remarked further, that Christian friendship and charity belong to our religious duties, as well as the more immediate acts of worship.

THE PSALMS.

PSALMS.

PSALM It

The Righteous and the Wicked.

1 THE man is blest that hath not lent
To wicked men his ear;
Nor led his life, as sinners do,
Nor sat in scorner's chair.

2 But in the law of God, the Lord,
Doth set his whole delight;
And in the same doth exercise
Himself both day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree that is
Planted the rivers nigh,

Which in due season bringeth forth
Its fruit abundantly.

4 Whose leaf shall never fade nor fall,
But flourishing shall stand:
E'en so all things shall prosper well,
That this man takes in hand.

5 As for ungodly men, with them
It shall be nothing so;

But as the chaff, which by the wind
Is driven to and fro.

6 Therefore the wicked men shall not
In judgment stand upright;
Nor in th' assembly of the just
Shall sinners come in sight.

7 For why? the way of godly men
Unto the Lord is known;
Whereas the way of wicked men
Shall quite be overthrown.

+ Some few pieces from the Old Version, such as Psalm i., xviii., civ., and cxxv., are decidedly superior to any version whicih has Een since composed.

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