some days with an impetuosity unknown to former ages, and soon afterwards standing idle for many others on the bleak shore soliciting freight for their fragile vessels of industry—if not carried away by the boisterous waves of intemperance, or rendered incapacitated by previous merciless lengthened hours of labour—the natural sensibilities of many among them even to appreciate the temporal advantages of the Sabbath very often become chilled, and when that blest morn arrives they are frequently enduring the greatest possible privations, or else secretly if not openly working with an activity surpassing the legally appointed days for labour. Exposed to such temptations, or placed in such an uncertain condition, uninfluenced by the rays of heavenly light, they consent to the avaricious demands of their employers, fearful of dismissal from their ordinary toil as a consequence of their refusal, {8} and not unfrequently too become the deluded followers of men who are avowed disbelievers in the truths of Christianity—the blind adherents of what is falsely called Socialism! If, therefore, we have advanced in many respects, it is equally evident that stagnant and putrifying waters are still to be seen, in every direction, which emit a deadly influence over nearly the whole surface of the nation. It must be obvious then, avoiding all remarks of a political nature, that the present period is well-suited for the consideration of the temporal importance of the Sabbath. Without a _fixed_ Sabbath we should be reduced to a state of imbecility or else inflamed by unnatural excitement, and the greatest disorder would prevail throughout society, {9} which would render us unable to devise means to remove acknowledged evils, and to maintain those laws which are truly valuable and essential. The Sabbath affords a day for entire repose from all worldly cares, so that we may be in a better state, at other times, to devise such beneficial measures as cool deliberation might suggest. The following well-known lines, with the slight alteration of a word, may here be profitably applied:— “Would you then taste the tranquil scene? Be sure your SABBATHS are serene; Devoid of hate, devoid of strife, And free from all that poisons life.”