the week, as well as on the Sabbath? Through the strength of Him who has promised to "help her, and that right early," will she not do infinitely more than ever for suppressing drunkenness, as well as Sabbath profanation? If she will not, and particularly in connection with public-houses, may she not be said to act like the husbandman, who nursed the serpent that stung him? Or, if she will not, can she be free from sin, or guiltless of the blood of souls? Must not the confession rather be made, "verily we are guilty of the blood of our brother;" and not merely of one, but of many, if not of millions?

However, altogether apart from the duty of the Church in this matter, by entreating her members to keep free, or to disentangle themselves, from "the spirit trade," as a pursuit, let us bear in mind that the Church, as a Body, never gave her consent, or approval, to such an occupation as being a Christian occupation. At the same time, let none soothe their consciences by saying, that when such and such office-bearers do their duty, then we will do ours. For, while we are not to " compare ourselves with ourselves," or with others, even with the best, but with the standard of the word, by which we shall at last be tried; need we add, that the

non-performance of duty by one party, cannot be accepted as a pretext or plea, as an apology or justification, for the non-performance of duty by another. On the contrary, for the reasons above stated, as well as from a principle of love to their fellow-creatures and fellow-Christians, and which is one of the most powerful principles of action-should not all who call themselves by the name of Christ, "not be conformed to this world" in any pursuit which fosters or facilitates drunkenness, any more than any other sin, although that pursuit is legalized by the State, and likewise prosecuted by officebearers and members of the Church? Should they not be, in this, as in all other things, "not of the world;" and between them and the men of the world, should there not be, in this sense, also, the greatest difference? With you, my dear readers, who profess to be Christ's, is it so in this respect? Are you, in this pursuit, free from all participation of the sin of others, and likewise "not suffering sin upon them?" If not, we cannot but add, although with extreme reluctance and the greatest regret, that you are not true practical non-conformists to the world, nor true Christians, and especially in the present times.

CHAPTER XVI.

NON-CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD

IN FOSTERING SABBATH PROFANATION.

"How welcome to the saints, when prest

With six days' noise, and care, and toil,

Is the returning day of rest,

Which hides them from the world awhile."

ONCE more, all true Christians must "not be conformed to this world" by engaging on the Sabbath in any pursuit, which, although lawful on other days, fosters, or facilitates, Sabbath profanation. Like uncleanness and drunkenness, Sabbath profanation is one of the most prevalent sins of the times; and that, not only in the way of practices, but of pursuits; not only in speaking and doing what should neither be spoken nor done, but by engaging, more or less regularly, in occupations, which, on that day, should be abstained from. For, while it is the command of God to all, from the highest to the lowest, "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," it is added, "six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the

Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work," any mercenary as well as unnecessary work—" thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Being, also, as the Sabbath is, not a Mosaic, but a Paradisaic institution, it must be of perpetual obligation, till that day shall be ushered in, in which all future days shall be merged, and which shall be a nightless, as well as an everlasting day. Just, then, as in the preceding cases of theft, uncleanness, and drunkenness, so, in this case, not only must every thing like Sabbath profanation in practice be avoided, but also, on this day, every thing in pursuit that tends to promote it.

This is so clear from the terms of the law of God, and follows so necessarily from the chain of reasoning which we have been pursuing, that it is almost superfluous to subjoin a single word by way of illustration or support. We may safely, therefore, assert, that to question the sinfulness of following after any worldly pursuit on the Sabbath, is to deny the permanent obligation of the Sabbatic institute, and to doubt the perfection of

In like

the moral law, of which it forms a part. manner, to speak of the altered state of society as being such at any time as to demand a relaxation of that law, is at once to impeach the wisdom, to arraign the justice, and impugn the goodness, of God. Neither of these things, however, can be. Yet, although the fourth, in common with each of the other commandments of the moral law, stands impregnable in all its fulness, and in all its force, alas! how common is Sabbath profanation, more or less, in the way of business of one kind or another, among too many professors, as well as non-professors, of religion. For, making all due allowance for works of necessity and mercy, which can ever be attended to with the strictest propriety, and without the smallest sin, whether they refer to men or the lower animals, among the numerous avocations which exist in the world, and which are lawfully prosecuted during the week, how many persons unlawfully engage in the same, more or less, on the Sabbath; and not merely occasionally and irregularly, but constantly and systematically!

For example, what a multitude, like a host of locusts, were, till very recently, in the habit of trading in spirituous liquors on the Sabbath, and of regarding that day, in a pecuniary sense, as