a direct reference to Christ, so should also the day on which that worship is publicly performed. The Evidence for the Change of the Sabbath: (1.) The practice of the Apostles and first Christians. (2.) The declaration of the Apostle John in the isle of Patmos. (3.) The testimony of ancient uninspired writers. Mr. Glen also devotes a chapter to the manner in which the Christian Sabbath should be observed, and another to the advantages which result from keeping it holy.

We now turn to Mr. Macbeth, whose plan is in a great measure similar to Mr. Glen's; some sections of the two treatises being almost identical in their ground-work, and sometimes in their language. Each writer, however, has distinctive matter of his own, and even on their common topics there is often considerable variety of illustration. As we have given Mr. Glen's table of contents, it will perhaps best answer the purpose of justice to both authors, and also vary the subject to our readers, to glance over a few particulars in the body of Mr. Macbeth's work. In his preface he states, that

"The subject is one respecting which mankind are very much divided in opinion; and he is not without hope that the present work may prove useful, by calling the attention of the reader to a view of it, which has not been very generally contemplated. He is sensible, that there is much omitted, which might, in the opinion of others, have been introduced;

and the discussion of some controverted

points may not be so full as a polemical writer would exhibit or expect. But it has been the author's study, to reject all extraneous matter, to avoid all unnecessary controversy, and to state and illustrate arguments, which might contribute to advance the knowledge and piety of the reader, rather than display his own acuteness or dexterity." Macbeth, PP. 1v, vi.

In a short introduction, the temporal value and expediency of the Sabbath are thus adverted to :

"In the view only of affording relief to bur/toilsome condition, the appoint

ment of one day of rest in seven, must appear peculiarly seasonable and salutary. If we do not regard the bulk of mankind toil in hopeless poverty, while the higher as mere drudges, whose destiny it is to classes draw from their labours, the means of ease and luxury-if we admit that all men have a right to personal enjoyment, and have certain duties to perform, as rational and accountable beings-it must be allowed, that it is of the highest importance to their intellectual improvement and happiness, that there should be regular and fixed intervals of rest, devoted to the cultivation of moral and religious truth. This is one end of the institution of the Sabbath.' Macbeth, pp. 13, 14.

But this is comparatively a very confined and inferior end of the most ancient and venerable institution known to human society. As the means of uniting us in fellowship with God, and of recalling to our minds his creating power and redeeming love; as the symbol of that blessedness which awaits the faithful, in the land of uninterrupted purity and rest; there is no appointment of Providence, and no ordinance of religion, which points. more directly to the present dignity of man, and his future destination to glory. With these views of the importance of the Sabbath, Mr. Macbeth proceeds to trace its origin and antiquity to the creation. The tradition concerning the space of time employed in the creation of the world, and the ordinance of God respecting the sanctification of the seventh day, published immediately after that event, can alone satisfactorily account for the antiquity and universality of the custom of computing time by weeks consisting of seven days. We believe with both our authors, and with all the best writers on the subject, notwithstanding the objechave as full evidence as the nature tions of Paley and others, that we of the case will admit, that the practice of computing time by week prevailed among the Patriarchs; and

that there can be no reasonable. doubt, that it was a practice coeval with the history of man, and ob

served by him in honour of the creation. Our readers may refer, for a brief but satisfactory view of this part of the argument, to Mr. Scott's paper above mentioned.

A distinction has been very generally adopted, respecting the nature of some of the Divine commandments, which Mr. Macbeth thinks has had a very extensive and pernicious influence in relaxing the obligations to obey that one in which the duties of the Sabbath are enjoined. He alludes to the common classification of human duties into moral and positive; that is, duties founded on the fitness of things, and duties which became such merely by their being prescribed. He considers that too much stress has been laid upon this distinction; and that it is not, to the extent which has been alleged, founded on the nature and philosophical relations of the human mind.

"Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about the eternal fitness of things, sympathy, a moral sense, and public utility, as tests of virtue, we cannot give up the conviction, that the safest the broadest, and the most universal standard of duty, is the will of God." Macbeth,p.39.

"We do not believe that the human mind is, of itself, capable of discovering and feeling all the obligations of moral duty; that is, we do not believe that the bare perception of what is good in any action, constitutes in the estimation of man, the obligation to its performance; or, that the perception of what is bad constitutes the obligation to avoid or resist it." Ibid. p. 48.

"The doctrine of the eternal fitness of things, as it is generally understood, and of the immutable distinctions of right and wrong, discovered and established by human reason, as a rule of duty, is calculated at once, we think, to exalt natural religion above revealed, and to render man independent of the knowledge of the will of God. We believe, then, that although we admit, and this we most readily do, that there is an eternal fitness of things, and an essential and incommutable distinction between right and wrong, mankind are not, in all situations, or in all cases, able to perceive them, or to feel the obligations to their observance." Ibid. pp. 49, 50.

This reasoning is undoubtedly just. Revelation became necessary, because our reason could not discover the knowledge of those truths in which our present and future happiness is involved. As it is given to assist us, where reason entirely fails, or can only conjecture, its dictates demand implicit submission. Even as regards many points of morals which to us appear among the most obvious, such is the variety of opinions among men that a positive ordinance, or appointment of Heaven, could alone give efficacy to the natural distinctions of virtue and vice, and establish their obligation and observance on broad and indisputable grounds. Mr. Macbeth goes on justly to observe:

"The will of God, revealed as the rule of our faith and practice, can alone give a beneficial direction to the fears and the

hopes of the human mind, and bind us to the performance of the great duties of holiness and justice, benevolence and integrity, and restrain us from their violation, by the consideration of a future and eternal retribution. In this sense, then, all the moral duties of religion are positive: that is, their obligations rest upon an express statute of Heaven." Macbeth, pp. 51, 52.

"The dedication of one day in seven, memoration of his creating power and wisto the public worship of God-to the comdom, and redeeming goodness and love,is not an act which reason, of itself, could have discovered to be obligatory on man; but, when it is revealed to him as a Divine ordinance, its wisdom and utility at once recommend it, and we are constrained to acknowledge, that it ranks among the highest duties imposed upon us. If what we have already stated, however, be correct, the very same character belongs to all the other commandments of the Deca

logue; and thus the distinction which has been made between the Fourth and the other nine, is founded on error, calculated to mislead men in their notions of moral obligation, and productive of very baneful religion." Macbeth, pp. 55, 56. consequences to the general interests of

We must pass over the fifth and three following sections, in which Mr. Macbeth proves the moral obligation of the Sabbath from the primary end of its institution, reviews the objections urged against the an

thors earnestly address themselves to the hearts and consciences of their readers, and make a close application of the principles of the Gospel to their different characters. Each has also a concluding chapter on the advantages attending the sanctification of the Sabbath.

"We believe," says Mr. Macbeth on this subject," that none but such as have become dead to all sentiments of virtue and piety, by the debasing influence of infidel principles, or profligate habits, will deny, that the observance of the Sabbath -that the dedication of one day in seven, to a respite from secular labour, and to the attainment of religious instruction-the enlargement of moral enjoyment, and the contemplation of the great and momentous concerns that belong to our everlasting peace, is calculated in the very highest degree, to promote the spiritual and temporal happiness of all ranks and professions of men.' Macbeth, pp. 227, 228.

"It is in the sanctuary of God's house alone that we behold this pleasing spectacle of a mingled multitude, composed of the high and the low, the rich and the poor, assembled on the first day of the week, having their hearts warmed by the same gratitude, animated by the same hopes, and united in the same bonds of benevolence and peace. It is there only that they appear possessed of the same substantial and glorious privileges, in virtue of which they can draw near to the Throne of Grace with confidence, as children to a Father, who is able and willing to help them in every time of need." Macbeth, p. 239.

We have taken the above passages from Mr. Macbeth's work, for the sake of unity of plan in our series of extracts; but it would be unjust to Mr. Glen not to allow him also to address our readers in his own words. We shall, therefore, extract his concluding remarks on the advantages of keeping holy the Sabbath day. He had premised that the evils to be abstained from on that day are, every thing sinful, all worldly business, all worldly pleasures, all worldly thoughts; and that the duties to be practised are, a devout and joyful attendance on the public service of God, including prayer, praise, partaking of the Lord's supper, and hearing the word

of God preached, the domestic duties of watchful inspection of the conduct of our families, the instruction of our children and servants, and the worship of God in the family,-and the private duties of devout meditation, self-examination, reading the Scriptures and devout books, and prayer; also, in general, works of piety, necessity, and mercy. He then sums up the benefits, such as the refreshment of the body, the prevention of irreligion and infidelity, the promotion of our progress in holiness, the enjoyment of the Divine favour, and the increase of our consolations in the pilgrimage of life. On this last topic he remarks:

"In the present world, the Christian is exposed to various trials, which are apt to press upon his spirits, and to unnerve his exertions. From the power of remaining corruption within him,-for it is never wholly subdued while he continues on earth,-he is sometimes ready to exclaim with the Apostle, 'O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' And, from the temptations and distresses which assail him from without, arising from the relations and circumstances in which he is placed, he may be led, at an unguarded moment, to sin against God, by yielding to the one, or repining at the other.

"Now, in these cases, religion alone can administer relief, by reminding us that 'the Lord will never cut off his people. nor forsake his inheritance;' that he will 'strengthen them, yea, will help them, yea, will uphold them with the right hand of his righteousness;' that he who hath begun a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.' But it is especially on the season which he has consecrated for his immediate service, that the springs of consolation are opened, and the Divine promises exhibited, explained, and applied. Yes, by the devotional exercises in which we then engage, our hopes are brightened, our confidence increased, and our souls replenished and refreshed. The views set before us of the heavenly Canaan, our meditations on the glory to

be revealed, and the intercourse we hold with the Father of our spirits, combine to cheer and support us amid the trials of our pilgrimage, and stimulate us with renovated zeal and vigour to perform the duties, and to prosecute the journey, of life.

"Again, the sanctification of the Sabbath prepares us for looking with comfort on the approach of death. For if we keep that day as we ought, we are not only regaled with the assurance, that beyond the confines of time, there remaineth a rest

for the people of God;' but are convinced that, having laid hold on the hope set before us, and withdrawn our affections from earthly objects, for us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.' And with this conviction, we can contemplate, without regret, our departure from a world which faith has enabled us to overcome, and from which our hearts have been already abstracted." Glen, pp. 235-237.

Both our authors have an appendix of notes, some of which are remarkably coincident; for instance, note B. in each volume, is devoted to a critique on the phrase "God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it," with an examination of Dr. Kennicott's translation of that passage, taken from his dissertations on the oblations of Cain and Abel. So again in note A. of Mr. Macbeth, and note D. of Mr. Glen, there is the same line of argument, to shew that the seventh day was

deemed sacred among the ancient heathen, with the same quotations in proof of the point from Linus, The coincidence was unavoidable; Hesiod, Homer, and Callimachus. for the old authorities were necessary to be produced, and new ones were neither to be expected, nor even wished for. We impute no unjustifiable plagiarism to authors who have to write on exhausted topics, that they are obliged to use in comlaborious hands of their predecesmon the materials laid up by the sors. The new book may circulate where the old is unknown or neglected: it may also be free from its defects; it may likewise combine, in a compendious form, the different excellencies of several distinct trea tises, and add something at least of its own to the common stock. In this view we are thankful to both our authors for their labours; and we trust each of their volumes will prove, by the blessing of God, useful for checking the deplorable evil which they so strenuously and Christianly deplore.

GREAT BRITAIN. PREPARING for publication:-Aids to Reflection; or, Aphorisms extracted from the Works of Archbishop Leighton; by S. T. Coleridge;-Ezekiel's Temple, with a ground plan and bird's-eye view; by S. Bennett-A complete History of London, from Public Documents; by J. Bayley: Original Letters illustrative of Eng-. lish History, from the autographs; by Dr. Ellis The Library Companion; by the Rev. T. F. Dibdin;-The complete Works of the Rev. P. Skelton, with his Life; edited by the Rev. R. Lynam ;-The Remains of Hearne; by P. Bliss.

In the press Tour through France, Holland, &e, with eight Original Letters of Bonaparte by Co Tennant;-Voyage to Brazil, and Residence there by Mrs Grahang Memoirs of the Founders and Benefactors of Oxford and Cambridge; by CHRIST, OBSERV. No. 267,

A. Chalmers ;-Olympia and the Ruins of Elis; byJ. S. Stanhope ;-An Anglo-Saxon Grammar; by the Rev. J. Bosworth;The Economy of the Eyes; by Dr. Kitchener';

The Influence of the Holy Spirit, traced through successive Periods of the Church! of God, from the Formation of Man to the Consummation of all Things; by the Rev. T. T. Biddulph, M.A.; Douglas,{ on the Miracles; abridged and revised by the Rev. W. Marsh, of Colchester;-The Cross and the Crescent; an Heroic Metrical Romance; by the Rev. J. Beresford, M.A.;-Edinburgh Sacred Classics; to consist of a Series of the most interesting Religious Works in the English Language -Gesta Romanorum; or, Moral Stories, invented by the Monks; translated com the Latin, and illustrated with Notes by the Reva Stran with the preliminary Observations of Warton and Douce;2 B