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or modern.* But man, whose unhallowed hand pollutes and degrades every portion of revelation which he attempts to improve has either endeavoured to set aside the literal and sublime references of these divine compositions, or to substitute in their place the vague and extravagant fancies of weak and injudicious minds, for directing the devotional exercises of Christian churches. As the book of God is the only correct standard of religious worship, so our devotional exercises, both in public and in private, ought to be chiefly, if not solely directed by the examples of devotion contained in the inspired writings, which are calculated to regulate and enliven the pious exercises of men of every age and of every clime.

But, the celebration of the work of creation is not the only, nor the principal exercise to which we are called on the Christian sabbath. Had man continued in primeval

See particularly Psalms 8, 18, 19, 29, 33, 65, 66, 63, 74, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 100, 104, 107, 111, 135, 136, 139, 145, 146, 147, 148, &c. &c.

† I here allude to several collections of Hymns, which have been introduced into the public worship of Christian societies-many of which, contain a number of vague and injudicious sentiments, and extravagant fancies, while they entirely omit many of those subjects on which the inspired writers delight to expatiate. This position could easily be illustrated by abundance of examples, were it expedient in this place. I am firmly of opinion, that the praises of the Christian Church ought to be celebrated in Scripture-language-that selections for this purpose should be made from the book of Psalms, the prophets, and the New Testament writers, which shall embody every sentiment expressed in the original, without gloss or comment, and be as nearly as possible in the very words of Scripture. This has been partly effected in many of the Psalms contained in the metrical version used in the Scottish Church, in which simplicity, and sublimity, and a strict adherance to the original, are beautifully exemplified. In this case there would be no need for a separate hymn-book for Baptists, Methodists, Independents, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians. But, when a poet takes an insulated passage of Scripture, and spins out a dozen stanzas about it, he may interweave, and most frequently does, as many fancies of his own as he pleases. Were the ideas contained in certain hymns to be painted on canvas, they would represent, either a congeries of clouds and mists, or a groupe of distorted and unnatural objects. And why should such vague fancies, and injudicious representations be imposed on a Christian assembly? What a disgrace is thrown upon Christianity, when the different sects of Christians cannot cordially join together in the same songs of thansgiving and praise to their common Father and Lord!

innocence, this would probably have constituted his chief employment. But he is now called to celebrate, in conjunction with this exercise, a most glorious deliverance from sin and misery, effected by the Redeemer of mankind. And, for this reason, the sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, in memorial of the resurrection of Christ, when he was "declared to be the Son of God with power." In this deliverance, as in the first creation, a variety of the grandest and most interesting objects is presented to our view :-The Son of God manifested in the flesh-the moral image of the invisible Creator embodied in a human form, displaying every heavenly disposition, and every divine virtue, performing a series of the most astonishing and beneficent miracles, giving sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, making the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb to sing, restoring the infuriated maniac to the exercise of reason, commanding diseases to fly at the signal of a touch, recalling departed spirits from the invisible world, raising the dead to life, and, on every occasion, imparting heavenly instructions to attending multitudes. We behold this illustrious personage suspended on the cross, encompassed with the waters of affliction, and with the agonies of death; the veil of the temple rent in twain, from the top to the bottom-the rocks of mount Calvary rent asunder-the sun covered with blackness--darkness suroundding the whole land of Judea-the graves opening-the dead arising, and the Prince of Life consigned to the mansions of the tomb. On the third morning after this solemn scene, "a great earthquake" having shaken the sepulchre of the Saviour, we behold him bursting the prison-doors of the tomb, and awakening to a new life, which shall never end-we behold celestial messengers, in resplendent forms, descending from the ethereal regions to announce to his disconsolate disciples, that he who was dead "is alive, and lives for evermore;" we behold him, at length, bestowing his last benediction on his faithful followers, rising above the confines of this earthly ball, winging his way on a resplendent cloud, attended by myriads of angels, through distant regions, which "eye hath not seen;" and entering "into heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us." In the redemption achieved by this glorious person, we are directed

to look back on that scene of misery in which sin has involved the human race, and to those "regions of sorrow and doleful shades, "from which his mercy has delivered us; and to look forward to a complete deliverance from moral evil, to a resurrection from the grave, to a general assembly of the whole race of Adam-to the destruction and renovation of this vast globe on which we dwell, and to the enjoyment of uninterrupted felicity, in brighter regions, while countless ages roll away. Such are some of the sublime and interesting objects which we are called upon to contemplate and to celebrate on the day appointed. for the Christian sabbath-objects which have a tendency to inspire the mind with sacred joy, and with an anticipation of noble employments in the life to come.

Again, the Sabbath was appointed as a stated season for the public worship of God. As mankind are connected by innumerable ties, as they are subject to the same wants and infirmities, are exposed to the same sorrows and afflictions, and stand in need of the same blessings from God, it is highly reasonable and becoming, that they should frequently meet together, to offer up in unison their thanksgiving and praise to their common Benefactor, and to supplicate the throne of his mercy. These exercises are connected with a variety of interesting and important associations. In the public assemblies where religious worship is performed, "the rich and the poor meet together." Within the same walls, those who would never have met in any other circumstances, are placed exactly in the same situation before Him in whose presence all earthly distinctions evanish, and who is the Lord, and "the Maker of them all." Here, pride and haughtiness are abased; all are placed on the same level, as sinners before Him "who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;" the loftiness of man is humbled, the poor are raised from the dust, and the Lord alone is exalted in the courts of his holiness. Here, cleanliness and decency of apparel are to be seen, and human nature appears, both in its physical and its moral grandeur.* Here, civility of

* What a striking contrast, even in a physical point of view, is presented between a modern assembly of Christian worshippers, and the hideous and filthy groupe of human beings that are to be seen in the kraal of a Hottentot, or in the cave of a new Hollander.

deportment, and kindly affections are generally displayed. Here, we feel ourselves in the immediate presence of Him before whom all nations are as the drop of a bucket; we feel our guilty and dependent character, and stand as suppliants for mercy to pardon, and for grace to help us in the time of need. Here, knowledge of the most important kind is communicated to assembled multitudes, almost "without money and without price." Here, the poorest beggar, the youth, and the man of hoary hairs, may learn the character of the true God, and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent the way to eternal happiness-the sources of consolation under the afflictions of life-and the duties they owe to their Creator, and to all mankind. In a word, here the sinner, in the midst of his unhallowed courses, is aroused to consideration; and here the saint is animated and encouraged in his Christian journey, and enjoys a foretaste of the blessedness of heaven, and an earnest of the delightful intercourses and employments of "the saints in light."

Let us now suppose, for a moment, that the Sabbath, and its exercises, were universally abolished from the civilized world. What would be the consequences? The knowledge of the true God, which the institution of the Sabbath, more than any other mean, has tended to perpetuate, would soon be lost, his worship abandoned, and religion and moral principle buried in the dust. In Pagan countries, where the Sabbath is unknown, the true God is never adored, the soul of man is debased, and prostrates itself before the sun and moon, and even before demons, monsters, insects, reptiles, and blocks of wood and stone. In France, where the Sabbath was for a season abolished, an impious phantom, called the Goddess of Reason, was substituted in the room of the Omnipotent and Eternal God; the Bible was held up to ridicule, and committed to the flames; man was degraded to the level of the brutes; his mind was assimilated to a piece of clay, and the cheering prospects of immortality were transformed into the shades of an eternal night. Atheism, Scepticism, and Fatalism, almost universally prevailed; the laws of morality were trampled under foot; and anarchy, plots, assassinations, massacres, and legalized plunder, became "the order of the day."-With the loss of the knowledge of God,

all impressions of the Divine presence, and all sense of accountableness for human actions, would be destroyed. The restraints of religion, and the prospect of a future judgment, would no longer deter from the commission of crimes; and nothing but the dread of the dungeon, the gibbet, or the rack, would restrain mankind from the constant perpetration of cruelty, injustice, and deeds of violence. No social prayers, from assembled multitudes, would be offered up to the Father of mercies; no voice of thanksgiving and praise would ascend to the Ruler of the skies; the work of creation, as displaying the perfections of the Deity, would cease to be admired and commemorated; and the movements of Providence, and the glories of redemption, would be overlooked and disregarded. The pursuit of the objects of time and sense, which can be enjoyed only for a few fleeting years, would absorb every faculty of the soul; and the realities of the eternal world would either be forgotten, or regarded as idle dreams. In short, were the Sabbath abolished, or, were the law which enforces its observance to be reversed, man would be doomed to spend his mortal existence in an unbroken series of incessant labour and toil; his mental powers would languish, and his bodily strength would be speedily wasted. Habits of cleanliness, civility of deportment, and decency of apparel, would be disregarded; and the persons, and the habitations of the labouring classes, would soon resemble the filthiness and the wretched objects which are seen in the kraal of a Hottentot. Their minds would neither be cheered with the prospect of seasons of stated repose in this world, nor with the hope of eternal rest and joy in the world to come.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.

"Honour thy Father and thy Mother."

The four preceding commandments, whose importance I have endeavoured to illustrate, were written on a separate tablet from those that follow, and have been generally considered as enjoining the practice of piety, or those

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