ed his fault, gave signs of true penitence, was added to the church, and never after heard to blaspheme the worthy name.

Q. 56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?

A. The reason annexed to the third commandment is, That however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will hot suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

An elector of Cologne, who is likewise an archbishop, one day swearing profanely, asked a peasant, who seemed to wonder, "what he was so surprised at ?" To hear an archbishop swear," replied the peasant, I swear," replied the elec tor, “not as an archbishop, but as a prince." "But, my Lord," said the peasant, when the prince goes to the devil, what will become of the archbishop?"

A person who lived in the parish of Sedgley, near Wolverhampton. having lost a considerable sum by a match at cock-fighting, to which practice he was notoriously addicted. swore in the most horrid manner, that he would never fight another cock as long as he lived; frequently calling upon God to damn his soul to all eternity if he did, and with dreadful imprecations, wishing the devil might fetch him if he ever made another bet. It is not to be wondered at, if resolutions so impiously formed, should be broken; for a while, however, they were observed; but he continued to indulge himself in every other abomination to which his depraved heart inclined him. But, about two years afterward, Satan, whose willing servant he was inspired him with a violent desire, to attend a cocking at Wolverhampton; and he

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complied with the temptation, When he came to the place, he stood up, as in defiance of Heaven, and cried, "I hold four to three on such a cock.' "Four what?" said one of his companions in iniquity. "Four shillings," replied he. 'I'll lay," said the other. Upon which they confirmed the wager, and, as his custom was he threw down his hat, and put his hand in his pocket for the money; when, awful to relate; he instantly fell a ghastly corpse to the ground. Terrified at his sudden death, some who were present, for ever after desisted from this infamous sport; but others, hardened in iniquity, proceeded in the barbarous diversion, as soon as the dead body was removed from the spot.

Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sab bath-day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh-day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it,

Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment? A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word, expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

That great man, Sir Matthew Hale, thus speaks of the Sabbath: “I have," says he, by long and sound experience, found that the due observance of this day, and of the duties of it, have been of singular comfort and advantage to me. The observance of this day hath ever had joined to it, a blessing upon the rest of my time; and the week iza

that hath been so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of this day, the rest of the week has been unsuccessful and unhappy to my own secular employments; so that I could easily make an estimate of my successes the week following, by the manner of my passing of this day: and this I do not write lightly or inconsiderately, but upon a long and sound observation and experience."

It is said of the pious and learned Mr. Gouge, that as he forbore providing suppers on the eve before the Sabbath, that servants might not be kept up too late, so he would never suffer any servant to tarry at home to dress any meat on the Lord's day for any friends, whether they were mean or great, few or many.

A girl of only eight years of age, seemed always much impressed by what she heard at school, and often rehearsed it to her mother after she

came home. One evening, the teacher had been speaking against the evil of Sabbath profanation, and little M- returned as usual. deeply affected by the teacher's remarks. In order to see if she still recollected this subject, her mother requested her one Sabbath morning, a short time afterwards. to go to the well and fetch some water. She looked her mother in the face, and replied with tears, "But God will see me, mother; for he sees and knows all that we do. Have you forgotten what we heard in school about the evil of breaking the Sabbath? I will rise early tomorrow morning, and bring you as much water as you please."

Q. 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrec tion of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the world which is the Christian Sabbath.

Mr. Philip Henry used to call the Lord's day, the queen of days, the pearl of the week, and observed it accordingly. His common salutation of his family or friends, on the Lord's day in the morning, was that of the primitive Christians; "the Lord is risen! he is risen indeed!” making it his chief business on that day, to celebrate the memory of Christ's resurrection; and he would say sometimes "Every Lord's day is a true Christian's Easterday."

On Easter Sunday, the Greek church are accustomed to perform a solemn service in honour of our Lord's resurrection. On Easter Sunday in 1814, the Emperor of Russia, &c. &c. not being able as usual, to assemble for this purpose in their cathedral met, with the whole Russian army, in the palace of Louis the XV. at Paris, when the service was performed by seven of the priests. The Emperor kneeled down as did his 80,000 soldiers and all united in solemn thanksgiving to God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The French soldiers and innumerable spectators, though ignorant in a great measure of the intention of the ceremony were deeply affected with the spectacle and burst into tears.

Mr. John Knox, a little before his death, rose out of his bed; and being asked, “ Why he rose, being so sick?" he answered, "That he had had in the night sweet meditations on the resurrection

of Jesus Christ; and now he would go into the pulpit, and impart to others the comforts he felt in his soul."

Q. 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

A little boy in London, who attended a Sabbath School, having occasion every Lord's day to go through a certain court, observed a shop always open for the sale of goods. Shocked at such a profanation, he considered whether it was possible for him to do any thing to prevent it. He determined to leave a Tract, on the Lord's Day," as he passed the shop in the course of the week. He did so; and on the following Sabbath observed that the shop was shut up. Surprised at this, he stopped, and considered whether this could be the effect of the tract he had left. He ventured to knock gently at the door; when a woman within, thinking it was a customer, answered aloud, "You cannot have any thing; we don't sell on the Sunday!" Encouraged by what he had heard, the little boy still begged for admittance; when the woman recollecting his voice, said, "Come in my dear little fellow; it was you that left the tract here, against Sabbath-breaking; and it alarmed me so, that I did not dare to keep my shop open any longer; and I am determined never to do so again while I live."

A woman who always used to attend public worship with great punctuality, and took care to be always in time, was asked, how it was shy