102 IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY OF THE SABBATH. bounty of Providence, is thrown in as a day of compensation, to perfect, by its repose, the animal system. You may easily determine this question as a matter of fact by trying it on beasts of burden. Take that fine animal, the horse, and work him to the full extent of his powers every day in the week, or give him rest one day in seven, and you will soon perceive, by the superior vigour with which he performs his functions on the other six days, that this rest is necessary to his wellbeing. Man, possessing a superior nature, is borne along by the very vigour of his mind, so that the injury of continued diurnal exertion and excitement on his animal system is not so immediately apparent as it is in the brute; but in the long run he breaks down more suddenly: it abridges the length of his life and that vigour of his old age, which (as to mere animal power) ought to be the object of his preservation. I consider, therefore, that in the bountiful provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, the sabbatical appointment is not, as it has been sometimes theologically viewed, simply a precept partaking of the nature of a political institution, but that it is to be numbered amongst the natural duties, if the preservation of life be admitted to be a duty, and the premature destruction of it a suicidal act. This is said simply as a physician, and without reference at all to the theological question; but if you consider further the proper effect of real Christianity, namely, peace of mind, confiding trust in God, and good will to man, you will perceive in this source of renewed vigour to the mind, and through the mind to the body, an additional spring of life imparted from this higher use of the Sabbath as a holy rest. Were I to pursue this part of the question, I should be touching on the duties committed to the clergy; but this I will say, that researches in physiology, by the analogy of the working of Providence in nature, will establish the truth of Revelation, and consequently show that the Divine commandment is not to be considered as an arbitrary enactment, but as an appointment necessary to man. This is the position in which I would place it, as contradistinguished from precept and legislation; I would point out the sabbatical rest as necessary to man, and that the great enemies of the Sabbath, and consequently the enemies of man, are all laborious exercises of the body or mind, and dissipation, which force the circulation on that day in which it should repose; whilst relaxation from the ordinary cares of life, the enjoyment of this repose in the bosom of one's family, with the religious studies and duties which the day enjoins, not one of which, if rightly exercised, tends to abridge life, constitute the beneficial and appropriate service of the day. The student of nature, in becoming the student of Christ, will find in the principles of his doctrine and law, and in the practical application of them, the only and perfect science which prolongs the present, and perfects the future life. THY WILL BE DONE. [Extract from a Sermon on Matt. vi. 10. By the Rev. ROBERT ANDERSON, of Brighton.] WHEN the question was once put by a Christian minister to the children of his Sunday-school, "How is the will of God done in heaven?" one of the children answered, "It is done by the angels in heaven immediately, diligently, always, altogether, with all their strength, and without asking any questions about it." And our answer would be, in substance, the same, if, with Leighton*, we were to describe the obedience practised in heaven, as being a cheerful and universal obedience. 1. The obedience of the angels in heaven is a cheerful obedience. The Psalmist after describing the angels of the Lord as "excelling in strength," (Ps. ciii. 20,) immediately adds, that "they do his commandments." And from the connexion, therefore, in which these words are placed, we find it to be the proper employment of the "strength" in which the angels "excel," that it should be entirely actuated by the will of God. The angels are endued with such excellent strength for this one end, viz. that they may "do his commandments." In like manner the believer will devote all his strength to the fulfilment of God's commandments, and he will always experience the most inward joy and gladness when he keeps the closest to the Divine will. For the law of God is not to the believer as it is to others, a force from without, urging him on violently against his own rebellious will; but it is a power lodged within his heart, and it sweetly inclines and enables him to pursue the path of God's com * See Archbishop LEIGHTON, on the Lord's Prayer. mandments. As the believer, therefore, increases in strength, he will run, with fresh alacrity, the way of these commandments. And he will experience more and more and more of the blessedness of those "whose strength is in the Lord, and in whose heart are his ways." Not only are the feet of God's children in his ways, but, as it is here declared, "His ways are in their hearts." The 2. The obedience of the angels in heaven is also universal. For, in the same passage in which the angels are described as those who "excel in strength," and who "do his commandments," it is beautifully said of them, that they "hearken unto the voice of his word," (Ps. ciii. 20.) angels never turn away their ears from any the least of God's commandments. No, they wait but for a word from Him, and that is enough for them. And, in like manner, the believer will desire to "have respect to all God's commandments," (Ps. cxix. 6,) and to "set the Lord always before him,” (Ps. xvi, 8,) in an uniform, constant regard to his will. He will offer up his heart to God, that it may be fashioned and moulded by Him to his will. He will desire to resign it up to his Lord, and to be himself as a piece of wax in God's hand, pliable to what form He will. His prayer will be, that the Lord would be pleased to banish from his breast whatever may be displeasing in his sight, and that He would fill it with his good Spirit. It will be his constant desire that he may have no will but God's; and that he may be altogether subject both to his commanding and to his disposing will; being always prepared to do what He commands, and, in all his dealings with us to be pleased with what He does. In one word, the language of the believer will be: For my actions, let God's word be my guide. And, for the events of things, and all that concerns me, let his good pleasure, and his wise disposal, be my will. Yea, let me give up the rudder of my life into his hand, to be steered by Him towards the haven of everlasting rest. And, amidst all the changes of this lower world, let me have grace to say, from my heart, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth:" let me never 66 turn away from after thee !" Jer. iii. 4, 19. 66 Behold the mark at which you are commanded to aim: viz., an obedience to God's will, as cheerful and as universal as that of the angels which are about his throne. This, remember, is the lofty standard by which you are to measure all your performances: this is the scope which you profess to set before you as often as you repeat the words of the petition, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven!" [Church of England Magazine.] DIRECTIONS FOR VISITING THE SICK. 1. In your arrangements for visiting and relieving cases of sickness among the poor, he always on your guard against imposture. Go forward freely and openly to the relief of suffering wherever you find it, but be constantly awake to the probability that you may in any case be deceived. Nothing surpasses the readiness with which the vicious poor resort to a feigning of sickness and suffering in order to procure undeserved charity, unless it be the adroitness with which they carry their wicked schemes into effect. Sometimes the disease is entirely a fabrication, and sometimes a little reality is made the basis of long-continued indications of suffering. In fact, we often, by our own indiscreet and profuse benefactions to a sick family, actually produce such a state of things, that recovery would be a calamity. We place them under a strong temptation to dissemble, and the lesson once learned is not soon forgotten. 2. Be still and delicate and gentle in all your intercourse with the sick. In fact, the same principle, in this respect, applies to moral and physical treatment. That attendant will do most towards promoting recovery, who can carry the required measures into the most regular and complete effect, and yet in the easiest and gentlest manner,-the one who can open and shut the door most quietly, and manage so as to have occasion most seldom to do it at all; the one who can replenish the fire so as least to attract the patient's attention, and give the fewest directions in his hearing, and have the medicine or the drink at his lips at the proper time with the least bustle of preparation; the one who walks softly, whose tones are gentle, whose touch is delicate, and whose countenance exhibits an expression of cheerful repose. Such an one is most successful in soothing and quieting the sensitive susceptibilities of acute disease, and facilitating the sanative influences which medical skill, conjoined with the spontaneous efforts of nature, have diffused through the frame. * * 3. Be frank and open with the sick. Gentleness and delicacy must never be allowed to degenerate into indirectness and artifice. Be open, and frank, and honest, in all you do. This is the only safe principle, in fact, in all modes of religious influence. If you want to pursue a course which shall do the least good, and give the greatest offence, your wisest way is to adopt a system of manoeuvring, and hints, and inuendoes. When we attempt to convey secret reproof or instruction by the language of indirectness or insinuation, in order to save offence, we lose our labour if we are not understood, and we give offence in the most awkward and unpleasant manner possible, if we are. * * * 4. While we are plain and direct in dealing with the sick, we must remember their weakness, and not exhaust them by such a course as shall force them to active effort in our intercourse with them. So far as intercourse with us is concerned, the more passive we leave them the better. Every exertion, mental or bodily, fatigues them. Forming a mental conclusion on the most simple point is often a burden. * * * 5. We must remember that it is not alarm or agitation, or the giving up of theological errors, or perceiving new theological truth, which can prepare the soul for death;but a change of heart. This alarm or agitation, or this change of theological opinion, may often be, especially in cases of health, the antecedent step; and the labours of the preacher may often be directed to the production of them. But they are only means to an end, and there are some peculiar reasons why, in sickness, the attempt to produce them should be avoided. In sickness, the enemy is as it were disarmed. He lies defenceless and helpless in the hands of God, and our policy is to come to him in the gentlest manner possible, out of regard to his physical feebleness, and just lay before him the bread of life, in hopes that the Holy Spirit will dispose him to eat of it and live. * * * I need scarcely say, that the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, is the main truth to be thus presented to the mind of the sick or dying sinner. The need of a Saviour is felt then, though it may have been denied and disbelieved before. * * * * when he gazed upon the word Remorse, |