grievous to add, many of the poor are so meanly clothed, that they will not be seen at the church in the day time; and yet, [in the winter season] will steal in to hear an evening sermon. This is the only time when such persons can be met with; and not few of them have, by means of such opportunities, been brought to repentance unto salvation. Finally, in many places, ap prentices and servants, having been kept in during the former part of the day, are released from restraint on the Sunday evening, and employ it too commonly in corrupting themselves and others. Infinite mischief is thus produced; not a little of which would be prevented, or counteracted, by an evening service,"

LECTURE VIII.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

IN bringing the present course of lectures to a close, it may be useful to remind you, That the scope of our former discourses has been to explain the nature of the christian Sabbath, and to enforce on our audience its proper and constant observance. In this concluding address, we propose to amplify some of our former arguments for sanctifying the Lord's day, and to add such new incitements as have hitherto been necessarily omitted. If, therefore, the motives already brought forward have been insufficient to induce you religiously to observe this day, we hope that those, which we are about to submit to your serious and candid consideration, will have the desired effect. May the Lord so impress his blessed word upon your hearts, that from this time you may feel its gracious influence, and cheerfully obey its sovereign commands!-We shall notice

SECONDLY, The Motives for better Observing the Lord's day. As the good example

of other men has a great influence in regulating our conduct, we propose, (in addition to what we have said of a similar nature,) to enforce a proper sanctification of the Sabbath

(1.) From the Feeling of Emulation.-From the example, First, Of Individuals. Of Lord Harrington. It is said of this young nobleman, "That though he was of elevated rank, and frequently attended the court, he did not allow those things to lessen his reverence for divine institutions. His calling often occasioned his being far from any place where the gospel was preached; but he overcame these difficulties, by travelling every Lord's day several miles to enjoy it. He was a most attentive hearer of the word. He knew that he was in the presence of God, who is no respecter of persons, that he heard not the word of man, but of his Maker; and he willingly laid all his honours at the Saviour's feet. Immediately after sermon, he retired from the company of his best friends for half an hour, to meditate on what he had heard, and to apply the truth to his own soul. And his attention to the spiritual interests of his domestics, was hardly exceeded by that which he paid to himself.”—Of Queen Mary, This Princess was very exemplary in her conduct on the Sabbath. As a proof, it is recorded, "That when she was at the Hague, a vessel was stranded on the Saturday evening, which multitudes went to see; and which she also wished to have seen, But to some who solicited her to go, she said, She thought it too

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late that night, and she supposed it would be shivered to pieces by Monday morning: Yet I am resolved, she added, not to give so ill an example as to see it on the Lord's day."-Of King George the Third. "When the king was repairing his palace at Kew, one of the workmen, a pious character, was particularly noticed by his majesty, who often held conversations with him on serious subjects.

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Monday morning the king went, as usual, to watch the progress of the work; and not seeing this man in his customary place, he enquired the reason of his absence. He was, at first, answered evasively by the workmen. At last, however, upon being more strictly interrogated, they acknowledged, That not having been able to complete a particular job on the Saturday night, they had returned to finish it on the Sunday morning; which this man refusing to do, had been dismissed from the employment. Send for him back immediately, said the king; the man who refuses doing his ordinary work on the Lord's day, is the man for me!'"'

Secondly, Of the Antient Clergy. In the year 307, a Council of divines, assembled at Illiberis, a town in Spain, ordained, “That if any man dwelling in a city should keep from public worship three Lord's days together, [without good and sufficient reason,] he should be suspended from the communion of the church." About the year 772, a Synod of Bishops, met at Dingofolinum, ordained as follows: "Let every man abstain from profane employments,

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and be intent on God's worship. If any man shall work his cart on this day, or do any such common business, his team shall be presently forfeited to the public use and if the party persists in his folly, let him be sold for a bondman."-" We forbid," says a Council, held at Arles, in 813, "public markets, civil disputes, and pleadings, on the Lord's day; as also husbandry, and all manner of work, except such as is proper for the day, and becoming divine worship."-A Synod, held at Tours, in the year 1583, "Prohibited, under pain of excommunication to the offender, all rioting, public feasts, dancing, morrices, hunting and hawking, sales of wine or victuals at inns or cook-shops, (except to strangers and travellers,) all prizes and other plays, all stage-plays, comedies, and all other irreligious spectacles of the like nature, on the christian Sabbath."-Such was the zeal of the antient clergy: would to God that our modern ministers were equally concerned for the sanctification of the Lord's day!

Thirdly, Of the Multitude. It was sanctified-By the Bohemians. Comenius tells us, "That the Bohemians sanctified the Lord's day in the following manner: First, by Cessation. Every Saturday evening before sun-set, all desisted from external labours, and with the evening begun the day sacred to God. On the Sabbath, they rested from all outward labours and negociations; that their servants and beasts might have breathing time. They abstained from the works of the flesh; such as drinking,