Susan.

Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we loves
But there's a nobler rest above;

To that our longing souls aspire,
With ardent pangs of strong desire.

No more fatigue, no more distress,
Nor sin nor hell shall reach the place;
No groans to mingle with the songs
That warble from immortal tongues.

No rude alarms of raging foes;
No cares to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,
But sacred, high, eternal noon.

Around thy throne grant we may meet,
And give us but the lowest seat,
We'll shout thy praise and join the song
Of the triumphant, holy throng,

EVENING VIII.

SABBATH NECESSARY FOR SOCIETY.

Uncle John told me, mother, last week, said George, that there ought to be no laws to compel men to keep the Sabbath. He said all ought to do

as they please about observing it. If they choose to rest, very well; and if they do not choose to rest, it is no one's business.

Mrs. M. Does your uncle John think it right to make laws that no one shall commit murder, or steal, or be guilty of perjury?

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George. He must think such laws would be right.

Mrs. M. Why would it be right to make laws against murder, theft, and perjury?

George. Because men could not live together without such laws.

Mrs. M. You mean that these laws are fitted to the condition of man in society, and that this is a reason why they should be made, even if God had not forbidden men to murder, and steal, and lie.

George. Yes, mother.

Mrs. M. If the Sabbath, then, is fitted to the condition of men living together in the same neighborhood, town, or state, would it not be right to make laws requiring them to keep the Sabbath?

George. I do not see, mother, why it would not be as right as it is to make laws against murder, and theft, and perjury.

Mrs. M. The Sabbath is fitted to promote the welfare of society.

This is the reason why, in almost all christian countries, laws have been made to secure it from violation. These laws are not made merely because

God has sanctified the Sabbath, but because such laws are of as much use to society as laws that forbid murder, theft, and perjury.

George. I wish, mother, you would show that the Sabbath is fitted to promote the welfare of society; for uncle John says, the Sabbath often does society a great deal of hurt. He says when men are idle, and have nothing to do, they are much more likely to get into mischief than when they are busy at work. He says that laboring men often spend on the Sabbath, in amusement and in drinking, all they earn during the week, and leave their families to suffer, if not to starve. He says it would be much better for them to work on the Sabbath, than to be idle and spend all they earn, and get sick or wounded from their frolics on that day.

Mrs. M. Are not most of the crimes which we hear and read of committed in the night?

George. Yes, mother.

Mrs. M. The apostle calls these crimes the works of darkness. But because some men who ought to be asleep, spend the night in doing mischief, would you have no night in which men could repose? And because some men abuse the Sabbath, and do what God forbids, would you not have any Sabbath? If God had commanded men to frolic on the Sabbath, to spend the day in gambling, and drinking, and dancing, and fighting, your uncle John might say, with more reason, that men had better

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work on the Sabbath. But God commands men to rest, and keep the Sabbath holy. It is not the Sabbath, which God has sanctified, that does so much mischief, but the Sabbath as kept by wicked men. We have no right to profane the Sabbath, and pervert it to wrong uses, and then complain that it does much injury, and say that we could do better without it.

The Sabbath, which I shall try to show you promotes the welfare of society, is a day of rest from our common business; a day devoted to the worship of God, to public and private instruction, to religious reading and meditation, and to works of kindness and mercy. These duties are all interwoven in the Sabbath; or rather, I might say, make a part of it. I agree with Dr. Rush, that " ments of every kind, on the Sabbath, beget habits of idleness and a love of pleasure, which extend their influence to every day of the week." I condemn them utterly, and as heartily as your uncle John. Better have no Sabbath, than spend it in dissipation and amusement.

amuse

The original meaning of the Sabbath is rest from labor. As a day of repose, the Sabbath is of great use in promoting order and good morals in society.

You remember, George, that you read to me, a few evenings ago, from Russel's History of Modern Europe, an account of the Truce of God, in the eleventh or twelfth century.

George. Yes, mother, and you told me it was a sort of Sabbath, and if men had only kept this truce, it would have been very useful in preventing mischief.

Charles. What is the "Truce of God," which brother George read about in that book you mentioned ?

Mrs. M. Many centuries ago, all the nobles and great men in Europe claimed the right of going to war with each other whenever they pleased. This was called the right of private war. You know that only kings and governments are permitted to declare war now, and the wars which they make are called public wars. The Arabs still go to war with each other, and any one else, as often as they choose, and they are not punished for it, because it is the custom of their country.

These private wars had become so troublesome and dangerous, that the governments of several countries in Europe, about seven or eight hundred years ago, tried to put an end to them. But men love to fight so well, that the governments could not stop the nobles from going to war, whenever one thought another had insulted him, or done him an injury.

Men at that day were very ignorant, and very superstitious. It was therefore thought best to try what superstition could do in stopping these private wars. So it was pretended that a letter had