It furnishes him with subjects surpassingly glorious, in the contemplation of which he may exert and cultivate his intellectual powers. It inspires him with hopes which give him fortitude to endure the unavoidable evils of his condition, and energy to surmount its difficulties. Yes, the Lord’s day, with its communion with God, its memorials, its exercises, its instructions, and its social intercourse, ever as it returns gives a fresh impulse to human advancement. It is, truly, a fountain whence spring innumerable benefits. [2] This is strikingly verified by LAVATER, in his celebrated work on Physiognomy.--ED. Not only does each returning Sabbath give a new and powerful impetus to man’s advancement in his heavenward course; but in so doing, it urges him onward and upward in civilization, refinement and comfort. A day of rest, of cessation from active and toilsome exertion, is, doubtless, as ministering to the health and vigour of the animal system, of immense value to working men. I have no hesitation, however, in affirming, that, amongst those who view it in no other light than as a day of rest and recreation, as a season set apart to no higher purpose than that of refreshing and invigorating the body, it generally fails of accomplishing even this: they almost invariably devote the day to the service of their divers lusts and pleasures, while the neglected appearance of their families, and the jaded and abused state of their bodies, wofully testify to the degrading effects of misusing its hallowed hours; and clearly demonstrate, that it is “_the Sabbath of the Lord_,” the Lord’s day alone, as appointed by himself, which is really calculated to benefit mankind, and not a day of man’s devising. And why? Because the Sabbath-day is appointed by our all-wise Creator, by Him who knoweth what is in man, and what is needful for man. And it is exactly suited to man--it meets the wants at once of his physical and intellectual constitution, and of his social and spiritual nature. He who wears purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day, whose hand has never been hardened, nor his brow moistened by toil, whose every day makes him the companion and instructor of his family, and who, fresh and unwearied, can seat himself in his quiet study, and enjoy his daily returning hours of leisure, may slight the obligations of the Sabbath, and break loose from its restraints, without, in the eye of his fellow-man, appearing to suffer in mind, character, or condition. But on him whose daily returning wants call for strenuous and incessant exertion, that they may obtain a needful supply, the abuse of Sabbath hours is soon visible in a beggared and degraded mind, a depraved moral character, and a consequently degraded condition in society; in squalid, untrained children, and a comfortless home; and not unfrequently, in absolute want of the very necessaries of life.