in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched”Jer. xvii. "And I will scatter you among the heathen, and draw out the sword after you, and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye shall be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths"-Lev. xxxvi.

It must certainly be admitted that these quotations express, as clearly and forcibly as language can express, the high and holy displeasure of God against Sabbath-breaking. The crying national sin, (with the single exception of idolatry,) contributed more than any other to bring wrath upon Israel, and to sweep them into captivity. Now the only question is, whether God regards Sabbath-breaking with equal displeasure in other nations. And why should he not? He is the same holy Being that he was three thousand years ago. The nature of sin is the same. The moral law, including the fourth commandment, is the same. Human obligation is the same. Nations are regarded and treated as moral persons now, just as the Jews were under their judges and kings; and national sins have the same tendency to sear the public conscience, and undermine the foundations of social order. Why then should not these sins be punished with divine retributions, equally terrible? We have not room, here, to enter into a discussion of this subject, though we can hardly think of one more important. It must, it will, be fully discussed by some of those able men, in this great Christian community, who fear God and love their country.

In the mean time, let such as deny the doctrine of national accountability, for cherished and even authoritative violations of the fourth commandment, "mock on." God will vindicate the honor

of his own law, however it may be assailed, whether by ingenious sophistry or open defiance. One of the first acts of avowed atheism in revolutionary France, was to abolish the Christian Sabbath; and the Lord came out against her with "fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire." Well appointed fleets and armies have often been discomfited in their offensive operations on the Sabbath. Three remarkable instances occur to us at this moment, in the history of the last war. The first was the attack of the British and their total defeat on Lake Erie. The second was the battle on Lake Champlain and at Plattsburgh. The third was the last assault upon the American lines, before New-Orleans. All these sanguinary battles were fought, unless we are greatly mistaken, on the Lord's day; in each the assailant met with a signal overthrow. Let politicians and historians ascribe all this to valor, or chance, or whatever else they please, we shall still regard such events as no equivocal testimony of the anger of God against the despisers of his Sabbaths.

If from the sins and punishments of nations and armies on the Lord's day, we pass to those of individuals, we are brought to the same conclusion. Who does not know, that in almost every confession from the gallows, Sabbath-breaking is mentioned as one of the principal sins which gradually led on to robbery, rape, and murder? Were a Howard to go through all our prisons, and take the honest confession of every wretched inmate, who can doubt, that nine tenths of the whole number would put down their disregard to the Sabbath among the causes of their ruin? And what an affecting view is here of the anger of God, against the crying sin of which we are speaking. It is as if all the dread machinery of capital punishments

-the bolts, and cells, and chains of every prisonhouse in the land, were to speak out as witnesses of God's indignation.

We say little here of the multitudes who are suddenly hurried into eternity, in the very act of profaning the Sabbath-of the dying shrieks which come up from the bosom of the closing waters; and the habiliments of mourning which tell of husbands, brothers, sisters, and children, who went out for pleasure when the bell called them to the sanctuary, and never returned! Let those who see no sign, and hear no voice of high and dreadful displeasure in all this, account for it as they may. The record of facts speaks for itself, and the record will stand, that thousands thus perish suddenly in all the glee and temerity of transgression.

God also often frowns upon the despisers of his law, and manifests his holy displeasure by the manner in which he takes from them their Sabbath-day earnings.

So recent is one instance, that the fire has scarcely gone out which was set by a man in the town of to a small piece of cleared land, which consumed his barn, together with a valuable horse and other property, and from which his house was with difficulty saved. "This very unprofitable piece of business to a poor man," says the account, "should operate as a caution to all who are inclined to use holy time for worldly purposes, as well as to those who deny the doctrine of retributive justice."

Another instance which now occurs to our recollection, is still more striking. A few years ago, a person owning a piece of land which was so situated that he could labor upon it without exposing himself to public view, determined to spend his Sabbaths in bringing it under cultivation. Accordingly, he cleared and burnt it over on

the Sabbath. He ploughed and sowed it on the Sabbath. The produce was a fine crop of wheat, which he harvested on the Sabbath; and deposited on the Sabbath in a large and valuable saw-mill, which stood upon the premises. And the very next Sabbath, the whole was consumed by a flash of lightning! "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

That there is nothing miraculous in any of the cases which have been mentioned, does not militate in the least against the position we have taken, unless it be proved that God cannot punish communities and individuals in any other way. But who will attempt to prove this? Surely no one, so long as he is in his right mind. "God is Governor among the nations;" and he can never be at a loss how to employ natural agents and moral causes, either to chastise, or utterly to destroy the despisers of his law.

Who, then, in this great controversy, is on the Lord's side? Who is in favor of the Christian Sabbath, and who against it? There is no such thing as neutrality, when the claims of the divine law are brought to bear upon the conscience. Do you then reverence the Lord's day, in the spirituality of your affections, and honor it by your example, and strive to shield it from profanation by your influence?

Professors of religion, members of the church, to whatever denomination you belong-the Lord of the Sabbath expects much from you. You have publicly sworn allegiance to him, and he requires you to redeem your solemn pledge, by rallying round the sacred institution. Especially does he require the most unequivocal proofs of loyalty, in your personal obedience to the law of the Sabbath. If you break the law, how can it be expected that others will respect it? If you engage in any secular business whatever, if you are seen in stages, and steam-boats, and canal packets, or traveling

for business or pleasure in your own private conveyances on the Lord's day, you not only sin against your own souls, but lend the whole weight of your example, to embolden others in transgression. Dare you advance in a course like this? What! see you not the angel of the Lord, standing in the way with a drawn sword in his hand to oppose you? Neutral ground you cannot take; for if you are not openly for the Sabbath, you are virtually against it.

Come up then, at once, to the help of the Lord, grasping the "weapons of your christian warfare which are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong holds." Much, very much, dear brethren, might you do with such weapons, and in so holy a cause, if you could muster no more than ten, to a thousand of your enemies. But you are very far from being this small and feeble minority. Including all Christian denominations in the United States, you number at least NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND, who have sworn allegiance to the King of heaven; and, if you are despised-if your suppliant voice is not heard in the high places of power-if your civil rights, and your rights of conscience, are deliberately disregarded, it must be, in a great measure, your own fault. It must be, because you have not done what you could in the circles of your Christian influence-because sectarian jealousies have been diligently fomented by your common enemies, to prevent you from uniting in those measures, to rescue the Sabbath from profanation, which your privileges as freemen, and your duty as Christians, so imperiously urge you to adopt.

"The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." Their motto is, Divide and Conquer. Hence, as they perceive that your more frequent intercourse and