Year: 1859

| FOR the Register.


The Sabbath-Day-A Day of Rest.


Out of the numberless blessings which


have been conferred upon our world, we


select one for remark, which, in an


eminent manner, not only has conduced


to our moral, but also to our physical


well.being. The institution of the Sab.


bath.Day dates from the remotest times,
and it is not, as at present great many


will make the people believe an ecclesias.
tical policy, but it is a blessing to all
classes of men; for in whatever position
of life we may he placed, it is needful for
us to have an opportunity of rest. No
man can for any length Of time pursue
one avocation or one train of thought
without mental and, therefore, bodily in
jury-nay, without insanity. The consti.
tuition Of the brain is such that it must
have its time of repose Periodicity Ia
stamped upon it. Nor is it enough that
it is awake and in action by day, and in
the silence Of night obtains rest and re-
pair that samo periodicity which belongs
to it as whole, belongs to all its constit-
uent parts. One portion Of it cannot be
called into incessant activity without the
risk of injury. Ita different regions, de-
voted to different functions, must have
their separate times of rest. The excite.
ment of one part must be coincident with
pause in the action Of another. It Is
not possible for mental equilibrium to be
maintained with one idea, or one monoto.
nous mode of life. There is a necessity
even for men of great intellectual endow.
ments, whose minds are often strained to
the utmost, to fall back on other pursuits,
and thus it will always be that one seeks
refuge in the pleasures Of quiet country
life, another in foreign travel, another 10
social amusements. One seeks a relaxa.
tion from the cares Of politics in the ex.
citement Of the chase; another finds re.
lief and consolation in the rod and line;
and among men whose lot is cast in the
lowliest condition, whose hard destiny it
is to spend their whole lives in the pursuit
of their daily bread, with one train Of
thought and one unvarying course of
events, the same principle ingeniously ap.
plies 1t is often said that the pleasures
of religion are wholly prospective, and to
be realized only in another world; but in
this there is mistake, for those consola-
tions commence even here, and temper the
bitterness Of fate. The virtuous laborer,
though he may be ground down with the
expressions Of his social condition, is not
without his relief at the anvil, the loom,
or even the bottom of the mine be is
leading double existence-the miseries
of the body find contrast in the calm of
the soul, the warfare without is compen-
sated by the peace within, the dark night
of life here serves only to brighten the
goriea Of the prospect beyond. Hope is
the daughter of despair. And thus a
kind Providence so overrules events that
it matters not in what station we may be,
wealthy or poor, intellectual or lowly, a
refuge is always at hand, and the mind.
worn ont with one thing, turns to another,
and its physical excitement is followed by
physical repose. Inarticulate Nature her.
SELF as if spell-bound, seems to acqui.
esce in the tranquility of the Sabbath.
Day, and to assume an air of rest. G.