Let me carnestly entreat you to have your set times for prayer, at least as often as morning and evening; and never suffer yourself to neglect them. And, especially, do not adopt the unseemly practice of saying your prayers in bed, but give to God the brightest and best hours of the day, and offer not to him the blind and the lame for sacrifice. You will find the regular and stated habit of prayer thus formed in early life, of great value to you as long as you live.

But let me once more caution you not to trust in your prayers, for they cannot save you; and do not think because you are regular and habitual in attending to the outward forms of duty, that you must be a Christian.

Prayer, if sincere and true, will prepare you for engaging in the duties of the day, or for enjoying calm repose at night. If, for any cause, you neglect prayer in the morning, you may expect things will go ill with you all the day. You can do nothing well without God's blessing; and you cannot expect his blessing without asking for it. You need, also, that calm, tranquil, humble spirit which prayer promotes, to prepare you to encounter those things which are constantly occurring to try the feelings, and to enable you to do any thing well. Therefore, never engage in any thing of importance without first seeking direction of God; and never do any thing on which you would be unwilling to ask His blessing.

CHAPTER X.

KEEPING THE SABBATH.

O ME people esteem it a hardship to be compelled to keep the Sabbath. They think it an interference with their liberties that the State should make laws to punish them for breaking it. This disposition very early shows itself in children. Often they think it is hard that they are restrained from play, or from seeking their pleasure, on the holy Sabbath. But God did not give us the Sabbath for his own sake, or because he is benefited by our keeping it. The Bible says, "The Sabbath was made for man." God gave us the Sabbath for our benefit, and for two purposes. He has made us so that we need rest one day in seven. It has been proved, upon fair trial, that men cannot do as much, nor preserve their health as well, by labouring seven days in a week, as they can by labouring six days, and resting one day in a week. If there were no Sabbath, you would have no day of rest. You would grow weary of school, if you were obliged to attend and study seven days in a week. If you are kept at home to work, you would soon tire out if you had to labour every day in the week. But by resting every seventh day, you get recruited, so

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that you are able to go on with study or work with new vigour. The Sabbath, in this respect, is then a great blessing to you; and you ought to be so thankful to God for it, as to keep it strictly according to his command.

Another object of the Sabbath is, to give all people an opportunity to lay aside their worldly cares and business, to worship God and learn his will. The other design of the Sabbath was, to benefit the body; this is, to bless the soul. If there were no Sabbath, people that are dependent upon others would be obliged to work every day in the week; and they would have no time to meet together for the worship of God. And, if every one were allowed to choose his own time for worshipping God, there would be no agreement. One would be at church, another would be at work, and others would be seeking their pleasure. But, in order to have every one at liberty to worship God without disturbance, he has set apart one day in seven for this purpose. On this day, he requires us to rest from all labour and business, and spend its sacred hours in learning his will, and in acts of devotion. The Sabbath thus becomes a means of improving the mind and the heart. It furnishes the best opportunity for social improvement that could be devised. It brings the people together in their best attire, to exercise their minds in understanding divine truth, and their hearts in obeying it. And the same object and the same spirit it carries out in a family. If, therefore, you ever consider the duties of the holy Sabbath irksome and unpleasant, or feel uneasy under its restraints, you perceive that you must be very unreasonable, since they are designed for your good. You will not then find fault with me, if I am rigid in requiring the strict observance of the Sabbath. One thing I would

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HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH.

have you remember: If you would receive the full benefit of the holy Sabbath, you must form right habits of keeping it early in life. To give it full power over the mind, it must be associated in our earliest recollections, with order, quiet, stillness, and solemnity. If you are in the habit of disregarding it in early life, you lose all the benefit and enjoyment to be derived from these sacred associations.

You must turn away your foot from the Sabbath, not trampling on it by doing your own pleasure, instead of the pleasure of the Lord. Your foot must not move to perform any act that is contrary to the design of this sacred day; and especially, must not go after your own pleasure. You must not do your own ways, nor find your own pleasure. These things may be lawful on other days; but on this day, everything must have reference to God. But you must not only refrain from these things; the Sabbath is not properly kept, unless its sacred services are a delight to the soul. If you are tired of hearing, reading, and thinking of the things of another world, you do not keep the Sabbath according to these directions. To one who enters truly into the spirit of God's holy day, it is the most delightful of the seven. You remember, in the memoir of Phebe Bartlett it is stated, that she so loved the Sabbath that she would long to have it come, and count the days intervening before it. Such are the feelings of those who love God and sacred things.

Having made these general remarks, I will give you a few simple directions for making the Sabbath both profitable and delightful. The evening before the Sabbath do everything that can be done, to save doing work on the Sabbath.

Let your morning prayer be a thanksgiving to God for his mercy in preserving your life, and giving you another holy Sabbath, and pray for his

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presence and blessing through the day. If you are called by your father or mother, for any service of the family, go to it heartily; and as soon as you can retire again, read a portion of Scripture, and pray to God for such particular blessings upon yourself as you feel your need of, and for his blessing upon others on his holy day. If you attend the Sabbath school, you will need to look over your lesson for the day, and endeavour to apply it to your own heart; for you should not put off the study of your lesson till Sabbath morning.

Never stay at home from church, unless you are necessarily detained. Make it a matter of principle and calculation always to be there. On your way to the house of God, do not engage in such conversation as will divert your mind, and unfit you for the worship of God. Go directly to your seat, in a quiet, reverent manner; and if any time intervenes before the commencement of public worship, take the opportunity to compose your mind, to call in all vagrant thoughts, to get your heart impressed with a sense of God's presence, and to lift up your soul in silent prayer for his blessing. Or, if the time be long, you can employ a part of it in reading the Bible, or devotional hymns. These will tend to prepare your mind for worship.

I have often witnessed what I think serious improprieties in the house of God. I have seen young people whispering and laughing during the sermon ; and it is a very common thing to see them gazing about during the singing, as though they had nothing to do with the service. I have also seen them engaged in reading, in the time of sermon, or of singing. Some, also, are seen, in time of prayer, with their eyes wide open, gazing about. Such conduct would be very unmannerly, if nobody were concerned but the minister; for it is treating him as though he