Of the truth of this, did the limits of this little essay permit, or did the time and circumstances of the writer allow of such researches, I venture to affirm that abundant evidence could be presented from the state and habits, in regard to personal cleanliness, of the labouring population of any country where the Sabbath is disregarded, as compared with the condition and habits of the same class in countries where the Sabbath is observed as a day of public assembly for religious worship; or from the habits of the lower classes of our own, or of any other country, before the introduction of the Christian Sabbath, as compared with their habits in this respect, after the Sabbath has been for some time received and regarded among them, as at once a day of cessation from ordinary labour, and a season for public religious observances. And if the important influence which cleanliness has upon health and comfort be taken into account, the improvement of their habits in this respect will be allowed to be no trifling advantage resulting from the Sabbath to the labouring population. But to return to the family where the Sabbath is not regarded as a day sacred to the worship of God: how frequently do we find the father, with his equally reckless companions, taking on Saturday evening his seat in the house of the spirit-dealer, there to waste, in the gratification of his debased and depraved appetite, his hard-earned wages! But what need to describe the Sabbath hours of such a family? Who that has been at all conversant with the labouring population of this country, but has witnessed the comfortless and fretful confusion of the morning? while the succeeding hours are devoted to the preparation of the noonday meal, the one great feast of the week; and, perchance, the fields, the public promenade, or a trip by railway to some place of public resort, is the occupation of the evening. And thus are all the rich opportunities which such a day affords for self-improvement and family culture, trampled under foot. And what is the condition of the children of such parents? Do they not grow up in ignorance and vice, in utter neglect, unless, indeed, they are gathered together for Sabbath instruction by the enlightened and benevolent, who would seek to do what in them lies to rescue their fellow-creatures from ignorance and degradation? This, however, will but slightly supply the want of the fireside instruction of a Sabbath-keeping family; and is it likely that these children will ever attain to that degree of mental culture, or be governed by those moral principles which would enable them to obtain an equal standing in society with the children of those who conscientiously observe the Lord’s-day? Let those who think so, enter the house of him who keeps holy the Lord’s-day, and the home of the Sabbath-breaker; let them converse with their children, observe their habits, and then answer. Those who feel inclined to trifle with