20. Is it not astonishing that serious considerations on the sin and ruin of such pursuits, should never cross the minds of men of this description! It is indeed easy to conceive that, during the heyday of folly, and while the delirium remains, there can be but little time for reflection; but oue might be led to hope that, when the effervescence of the pleasureable moment had subsided, men could not be prompted to prosecute the same everlasting chase from one Sabbath to another.

21. It is difficult to believe that any, even of the most abandoned Sabbath-breakers, can have his mind so hardened, through the deceitfulness of sin, as cordially to approve what he is nevertheless perpetually pursuing Suppose the question were proposed to him at the cool of the evening, and be were asked, Whether the day had been spent by him in such a manner as, upon due reflection, he could wish it to have been ?-whether it meets his perfect approbation ?-and whether he supe poseth that God approves of it also

22. As these thoughts occupied my mind, the turnpike-gate, which I had seen in the morning, opened again to my view, and the multitude were as numerous as ever. I felt a disposition to go towards it. Perhaps an opportunity may present itself of being useful. It is possible that one or another of the thoughtless throng may have a mind open to conviction. The idea pleased me, and I determined to make the experiment.

23. With this view, 1 turned aside from the street which led to my home, and crossed to the gate. To & mind unaccustomed to what passeth in the world on a Sabbath when the day is fine, what astonishment would be excited were he to come forth amidst the busy pleasure-pursuing multitude! The imagination indeed is not sufficiently capacious to form an adequate conception of the various scenes which present themselves in every direction.

24. As I passed on, mine eyes and ears were made continued purveyors of evil. Apple-stalls in the open road, children of all ages, and young men and girls of stouter years, of all descriptions, as much engaged in their pastimes as on the common days of the week. Shops here and there half shut, as if to put a little

blush upon it; but in reality to say, We admit of no restraint to our traffic.

25. Troops of servants, of both sexes, in the enjoyment of what is called their Sunday out;-and multitudes of higher rank, by way of example, in proof that they kept no Sunday in. The mind sickens in the prospect. Like the patriarch at Gerar, every lookeron, not totally lost to feeling, must make the same reflection as he did; "Surely, the fear of God is not in this place!"

26. And who shall calculate, in the aggregate, the sum total of Sunday profanation on the more retired paths of it, when we behold with what unblushing confidence men come forward, in open day-light, as if to tell the world they despise all laws respecting it, both human and Divine? Surely, if the Jew we read of, was counted worthy of stoning, because he had gathered sticks on the Sabbath-day, the character calling himself Christian, can hardly flatter himself that he shall escape with impunity, under a more daring violation of the Lord's Day!

27. Indeed, is not the general disregard of the Sabbath, which the present period abounds with, among the crying sins of the nation, eminently alarming? Doth not this species of transgression erect itself into a more daring form of defiance, as peculiarly directed towards God and may we not hear a voice walking through the land," Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord shall not my soul be avenged of such a nation as this ?"

28. I pause one moment, to congratulate the people at large that there is yet a seed which serve God. And I pause another, to remind the people of God themselves of their happy privileges. Your mercies, in this respect, are incalculable, in whose hearts and in whose houses the fear of God is. To be kept even from beholding the whirlpool in which the mass are engulfed on those sacred days; to stand in a place of safety, where the high water-mark of their sin and destruction cannot reach, and to be exempt from the very circle of temptation, is an unspeakable blessing, of the extent of which you are not fully aware.

29. I know indeed that many gracious souls complain of the leanness of ordinances, and of their own barrenness under them; but I know also, that those very com. plaints do, in a great measure, refute themselves; for they actually prove, that the desire of the soul is for greater and closer communion with the Lord; and it will be well for such to inquire of their own minds, Whether the Lord doth not sometimes throw a damp upon the sweetest ordinances, on purpose to teach that it is the Lord of ordinances and not the ordinance itself, which can truly satisfy the soul?

30. And if means become less profitable, in order to endear him the more to the heart, surely what seemed a loss, becomes ultimately a gain; and that man is truly taught of God who knows how to spin comfort, even from the entangled and thready fragments of life; which, though they yield not in themselves profit, become the means of leading to it. In this sense, the least solemn periods of this holy day, though not engaged in Divine exercises, minister to good; for they keep from the world, into which it is impossible to go forth without meeting at every step we take, like Jacob's daughter, circumstances to offer violence to the chastity of the soul.

31. As I prosecuted my path amidst these scenes of general dissipation, distressed with all I saw, and not a gleam of hope from the countenances of any I met of being useful, one object, of more than common at. traction, caught mine eye, which seemed to wage war with all the sanctity of the Sabbath: it was one of those modern hotels where the invitation to jollity that it might not be mistaken, was placed over the door in the most conspicuous characters, " An Ordinary here every Sunday." Admirable expedient, I exclaimed, to ensure success! Sunday, forsooth, must be the day, and every Sunday too! Had such entertainments been in repute when Bunyan wrote his Pilgrim, they would have made a striking figure in the scenes of his Vanity Fair!

82. I paused as I read it. Would the gentleness of expostulation (I said to myself) operate upon such minds, were it to be called forth? Would any of this

description listen to reproof? Alas! would not the glow-worm of resentment rather redden through the whole countenance ? Most likely, lenient measures would lose all efficacy; and to rouse from such a state of conduct, can only be the result of caustic applications; but, had I the power and opportunity, like the herald of Philip, though on a commission of higher moment than his, I would, morning by morning, cry aloud, through all the chambers of the heart, "What is a man profited if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?"

33. The evening was far advanced. It was high time to return from my fruitless expedition; besides, the sacred employments of the day had suffered much by the interruption. I hastened home, under the impressions of the happiness of those who have God for their portion, and the enjoyment of his Sabbaths, the blessed privilege of his people here below. I recollected what David had said, and I felt the full sweetness of it,

"Blessed are they that dwell in God's house; they will be still praising him!"-and, if there be a heaven upon earth, it must be in such employments!

34. Reader, what are your sentiments on this subject? Can you, and do you, join issue in it? Surely, Charity herself, with all the energies she possesseth, cannot hope that a heart deadened to Divine impressions upon earth, can be alive to their enjoyment in heaven! And certain it is, if we do not relish the sweet pleasures of devotion God hath appointed for men here below, never shall we attain, or even if attained, truly relish, the felicities of that rest which remaineth for the people of God. R. HAWKER.

DAVID HUME, ESQ.

THE following admirable remarks on the death of the celebrated infidel. David Hume, in the Eclectic Review, have excited general attention. We avail ourselves of the liberality of its conductors, to gratify such of our readers as are unacquainted with that work, by

inserting an extract from a critique on Ritchie's Life of Hume:

2. His death,' as the Reviewer observes, will probably be admitted, and even cited by infidels, as an example of the noblest and most magnanimous deportment in the prospect of death, that it is possible for any of their class to maintain; an example, indeed, which very few of them ever, in their serious moments, dare promise themselves to equal, though they may deem it in the highest degree enviable. It may be taken as quite their apostolic specimen, standing parallel in their history to the instance of St. Paul in the records of the Christians, I have fought a good fight,' &c.

1

3. For a short time previous to his death, he amused himself with playing at cards, making whimsical legacies, and other trifling occupations. As an instance of his sportive disposition,' notwithstanding the pros pect of speedy dissolution,' his biographer relates, that when reading Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead, he diverted himself with inventing several jocular excuses which he supposed he might make to Charon; and in imagining the very surly answers which it might suit the character of Charon to return to them: "Upon further consideration," said he, "I thought I might say to him,

Good Charon, I have been correcting my works for a new edition. Allow me a little time, that I may see how the public receive the alterations ?'

4. But Charon would answer, "When you see the effect of these, you will be for making other alterations. There will be no end of such excuses; so, honest friend, please to step into the boat." But I might still urge,

Have a little patience, good Charon: I have been endeavouring to open the eyes of the public. If I live a few years longer, I may have the satisfaction of seeing the downfall of some of the prevailing systems of superstition.' But Charon would then lose all temper and decency. "You loitering rogue, that will not happen these many hundred years. Do you fancy, I will grant you a lease for so long a term Get into the boat this instant, you lazy, loitering rogue."

5. This anecdote is acompanied with the following just and striking reflections on the part of the Re