sublime presence Let the annals

sitting upon the throne of David?' Let the infidel and crushing domination of the false prophet, over their once royal city, answer the question. Where are the palaces of Jerusalem,' with its gorgeous temple, in which the of the Deity condescended to manifest itself? of ancient Rome tell the appalling tale! Let the desolating sword of the victorious Titus, bathed in the blood of the rebellious nation, and the blazing torches of his infuriated soldiers, confess to the fact of the fulfilment of this awful denunciation. Have they not been devoured with fire?' Has not the ploughshare passed over their very foundations? Were not their innocent and helpless children slaughtered to serve for food in the straightness of the famine? He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," said the minister; and he closed the Bible.

"I cannot but admire your zeal," observed Mr. Stately, "while, at the same time, I consider your interpretation of the commandment much too strict. Then, according to your doctrine, a gentleman's horses are not to be used on the sabbath day under any possible contingency."

"Not exactly so," replied Mr. Davies. "God is not a hard task-master, my dear sir. He does not require impossibilities from his frail and fallen creatures, but graciously permits a qualification of such a law as we are now considering, to be made in cases of moral and physical necessity, and for the performance of works of mercy and charity.

"The compassionate Jehovah hath declared, for the great comfort of His people-'I will have mercy and not sacrifice.'* He hath also said-'The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.'+

"If, therefore," he continued, "infirmity of body, or sickness, or debility, should disable a person from walking to his ↑ Mark ii. 27.

Matt. ix. 13.

church, I, then, humbly believe that the mercy spoken of in the text just referred to will, under such circumstances, sanction an exception being made to the strictness of the command. Nevertheless, to justify him in such employment of his cattle,' it must be for the indispensable purpose, and that alone, of conveying him to and from the house of God. But, in thus stating the case," remarked Mr. Davies, "I must be clearly understood to say, that the necessity must be so real and conscientious as to spiritually justify to the believer's own soul, and before his Maker, the act of exception on which he so ventures in faith of the mercy promised in the text. As to the practice of driving about in carriages, or riding on horseback, on the Sabbath day, for the purpose of taking the air,' as the fashionable world express it, or of visiting their friends, nothing can be said of it but that it is wanton and unmitigated sin, and an awful breach of the holy law of God, and which, if unrepented of, God will bring into judgment at the last great day.

"For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. *

"You have admitted," remarked the man of fashion, "that, in extreme cases, horses and carriages may be lawfully employed on the Lord's day. Now, I feel curious to know how you will solve the following question. Suppose there are two churches; one in which is preached what you would call the Gospel,' and the other where it is not preached; the former being so distant from your residence as to make it absolutely necessary, if you attend it, to use your carriage and horses; while the latter is accessible on foot. Are we

* 2 Cor. v. 10, 11.

called upon in such a case to forego the higher spiritual advantage by going to the nearer place of worship, to which we can easily walk, or may we lawfully enjoy the more enlightened doctrine, by driving to that which is further off?"

I humbly conceive," replied the minister, "that there can be no doubt on the subject. You are bound, above all things, to obey the word of God, and leave the issue in his hands; and this word requires you to walk to the nearer church instead of driving to the one more distant. The Lord can make all good things abound to you whether you hear or hear not; and He will assuredly do so, as long as you be found faithful, and in the path of duty. At the same time, it will be your privilege, as well as a religious obligation imposed upon you, under such circumstances, to pray for the spiritual enlightenment of the minister whose church you thus attend, as a point of conscience. And we know, from the highest authority, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.'"*

6

"But, supposing," said the magistrate, "that your residence is so distant from even the nearest church as to prevent your walking to it at any time."

The only answer to such a question," replied Mr. Davies, “is, that the responsibility rests upon the owner of the house for having chosen such a residence, and thus made the necessity inevitable."

A pause of a few moments here took place, of which our worthy friend, Mr. Gracelove, took advantage, by observing, that "nothing he had read in the Scriptures illustrated more strongly the severe requirements of the law on this subject, than the example recorded in the 15th chapter of the book of Numbers.

"He should not apologise," he observed, "for introducing the Bible, any more than his reverend friend;" a small edition of which he drew from his pocket, and turning to the passage read as follows:

* James v. 16.

" And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath-day.

"And they that found him gathering sticks brought him. unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

“And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

666

'And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

"And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.'

"It was, undoubtedly, an awful and severe judgment," observed Mr. Stately. "But this occurred," he said,-wishing to escape from the pressure of the argument, Jewish dispensation, which has been abolished."

"under the

"Its rites and ceremonies have been abolished," resumed our host, "but not the moral law. The types and symbols of the former, foreshadowing a coming Saviour, naturally ceased when the great Antitype himself appeared; but the latter shall

never cease.

"That such is the case we have the infallible authority of the adorable Redeemer himself, in whom all these types centred, and who was the end of the law, as He was the originator of it in the bosom of the Father. And what is the emphatic language that our gracious Lord condescends to employ in confirmation of this holy truth?

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the

prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil

"For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

* Numb. xv. 32-36.

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Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'*

"Again, in the Gospel of St. Luke xvi. 17, the Saviour, with divine emphasis declares, that 'It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.'

"We read also in Isaiah this distinct affirmation by Jehovah himself: The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness” sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.'+

"In fact, my dear sir," continued Mr. Gracelove," the moral law, so far from being abrogated or even relaxed in its vital energy, and in its discipline over the human heart, which you would seem to infer, is much more stringent and severe under the Christian than under the Mosaic dispensation.

Pray permit me to call your attention to the following passages, which are taken from the chapter just cited, and irresistibly prove the truth of my statement; attesting by infallible sanctions, because divine, the purer and more extended spirituality of the law of Christ than what existed in the days of the ancient Israelites. The better law of the Gospel is indeed a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,' which we look for in vain, at least as regards proportion and degree, in the Hebrew, as compared with the Christian, code of ethics.

"Listen, then, to the words of our blessed Lord, from the 5th chapter of St. Matthew:

"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his + Isa. xlii. 21.

Matt. v. 17—19.