One step only seemed necessary to complete the entireness and solemnity of his devotement, and this our young friend did not decline. In the best times of the church, formal personal covenanting with God has been followed with the happiest results. By such an express surrender of the person and energies to the Lord's service the 'ear is bored to the door of his house; and when temptations afterwards solicit the soul to turn aside, or difficulties present themselves in the path of duty, a ready and powerful answer is found to them in the solemn remembrance, 'I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back.' In imitation of many of God's saints in former and later times, James, at this time, drew up and signed such a deed. It was done in the retirement of his closet, at that last communion to which we have referred, and found among his papers after his death. It is too long for insertion here; and it is the less necessary as, though in his own language, it corresponds, in form and substance, with similar documents already before the public. We cannot refrain, however, from copying the concluding paragraph, both for the spirit of deep and ardent piety which it breathes, and the solemn and almost prophetic aspect with which it appears to look forward to that affecting consummation which was so soon to follow. That he actually anticipated so early a close of his earthly course there is no reason to conclude, but he could not have prepared for it in exercise more appropriate.

'I take heaven and earth to witness that I desire to be saved in the method of free grace; that I distrust my own resolutions and my own strength; that I make all my purposes and promises in Christ's strength; that I rest not at all in my promise made to him, but in his to me, that he will never leave me nor forsake me. O Lord Jesus, in thee only have I righteousness and strength! Be surety for thy servant for good, and undertake for all that God requireth of me, and for all that I have promised to him. Dispose my affairs, O God, in a manner which may be most subservient to thy glory, and my own true happiness; and when I have done, and borne thy will upon earth, call me home at what time, and in what manner thou pleasest; only grant that in my dying moments, and in the near prospect of eternity, I may remember these my engagements to thee, and employ my latest breath in thy service. And do thou, O Lord, when thou seest the agonies of dissolving nature upon me, remember this covenant too, even though I should be incapable of recollecting it. Look down, O my heavenly Father, with a pitying eye upon thy languishing, thy dying child; place thine everlasting arms underneath me for my support; put strength and confidence into my departing spirit, and receive it to the embraces of thine everlasting love! Welcome it to the abodes of them that sleep in Jesus, to wait there that glorious day, when the last of thy promises to thy covenant people shall be fulfilled in their triumphant resurrection, and that abundant entrance which shall be administered to them into thine everlasting kingdom. And when I am thus numbered among the dead, and all the interests of mortality are over with me for ever; if this solemn memorial of my transactions with thee should fall into the hands of any surviving

friends, may it be the means of making serious impressions upon their minds. May they read it not only as my language, but as their own, and learn to fear the Lord my God, and with me put their trust under the shadow of his wings, for time and for eternity!'

[Signed at Aberdeen, 20 minutes to 12 P.M., on the Fast-day before the Lord's Supper, 6th Oct., 1841-JAMES AITKEN. And renewed, with humiliation and prayer, at Aberdeen, 30th December, 1841, previous to my entering on my first session at the Hall, with a view to the service of God in the holy ministry.-J. A.]

On the study of divinity it is to be feared many have entered with too much dependance on their own efforts, and with too slight an impression of the importance and responsibility of the sacred calling. How refreshing to find one in the bloom of youth, thus girding himself in the strength of his divine Master, and devoting himself heart and soul to his service! That service might be longer or shorter, harder or easier; to him it was enough that it was the work given him to do; and like the man after God's own heart, he says, 'O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid, thou hast loosed my bonds.' How he was enabled by divine grace to fulfil his vows, will appear in the sequel.

SABBATH PROFANATION

AND THE MEANS OF CORRECTING IT.

WITH regard to those means which should be employed in order to restore Sabbath keeping, and to prevent Sabbath desecration, we would suggest, in the first place, that legislation is loudly called for on this subject, by those who have the public management of the outward order of society. Let those laws which bear upon this matter, and which are already on the statute books of the realm, so far as these are in accordance with the Bible, be promptly and strictly enforced; and let others which may be thought necessary and proper be enacted, so that all within our gates' may see that our public allegiance to the King of kings is something more than a mere form-not a mockery of the God of heaven. At the same time, impartiality should mark the enforcement of these laws. So long as our legislators, and princes, and great men take the lead in acts of Sabbath desecration; so long as we have the disgraceful facts blazoned in our public prints, that what are called 'cabinet meetings' and 'cabinet dinners' are held upon Sabbath, any laws enacted by such a government must of necessity be despised, instead of being respected by the great body of the people. True, it may be said, you must greatly alter the manners of the higher ranks, before you get them to desist from their parade, and bustle, and frivolity on the Lord's-day; yet why should not the attempt be made amongst all classes, to bring back the manners of former days in Scotland with regard to the keeping of the Sabbath?

It is surely not because it would be unfashionable to remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, that we ought to sit still; but because it is a great and ruining sin to go on as we are doing, that we should put our hand to the good work of restoring the religious observance of the Sabbath, which is so intimately connected with our temporal as well as our spiritual advancement, and which is so much endangered by prevailing habits and practices.

The exercise of ecclesiastical discipline may, in the second place, be mentioned, as another means of correcting the evils of which we have been speaking. Were the courts of God's house to enforce discipline on those who openly violate the sanctity of the Sabbath, there might be some hope of at least lessening the evil. It is a notorious fact, that persons who profane the Lord's-day, in one, or other, or many of the ways we have mentioned, are to be found in full communion with the different denominations of professing christians in the land. Again, we ask, Why is it so? The only answer is, The church has grown remiss in her duty. It is, we think, incontrovertible that the church is bound immediately to take up such cases as come to its knowledge, and to deal gently yet firmly with the delinquents. We have often thought, surely the clergy of Scotland are either ignorant that their hearers and fellow-church-rulers act as we have represented; or they have imbibed sentiments concerning the Sabbath and its observance which cannot be enough guarded against and deplored. Why is the man who regularly attends to a public conveyance on Sabbath for hire, and the publican whose doors are open to all comers, and who, either with his own hands or by means of some members of his household, retails to them his goods or liquors, and that at all hours of the Sabbath, except, perhaps, during what is called divine service, when in some places the vigilance of the local magistrates prevents him, allowed to continue in the full possession of church privileges, and that more especially after he may have been remonstrated with in vain as to the sin and scandal of his conduct? Why, to refer only to one other case, and yet one exceedingly common, why permit those to remain in church fellowship who give evidence of their Sabbath desecration by their non-attendance on public worship, with the exception of once or twice previous to the dispensation of the Lord's Supper? The church cannot be guiltless in thus not only 'suffering sin to lie' on her members, but also in prostituting the most solemn ordinances. It is high time for the courts of Christ's house to wipe off such blots upon their character, and to do what in them lies to put down the two great evils' of the neglect of the duties of the Sabbath, and the commission of open acts of Sabbath profanation. Let it be attempted, and let it be a combined effort-an alliance in behalf of church discipline. Let it be a rule in every denomination, that crime shall not be sheltered in any one of them, when the person threatened with exclusion from church privileges flies off from that to which he belonged. Duty, no doubt, is discharged by the faithful party, and yet it is exceedingly heartless to witness refugees from discipline admitted, without either remonstrance or examination, into another denomination, the office-bearers or the private members of

which may be perfectly cognisant of the reasons why they have been expelled from the other. If only a part of the zeal which characterised the Church of Scotland in her best days were to be manifested, there might be some hope, under the blessing of God promised to the faithful, of remedying the evil. Expediency in church discipline has too long been the rule, as it has been in other matters connected with the cause and glory of God; and our Scottish Sabbaths are lost if the check is not speedily interposed in families, sessions, assemblies, and civil courts. Let impartiality, however, characterise the proceedings of the church. There must be no distinction made between the absenteeism from church, the dinner parties, and jauntings of the rich, and the strolling, the merchandise, and the debaucheries of the lower orders.

It has been frequently said, especially of late, by some of the more worldly professors of our holy religion, 'There is no reason for all this ado about the fourth commandment; see how the others are neglected and profaned, and little or nothing said about it.' It might be sufficient to say, in answer to this, that it only makes matters worse. It should be remembered, however, that while the secret violation of any of the precepts of the divine law cannot be matter of discipline, the open violation of any of them ought to be so. Atheism and blasphemy are punished both by church and state. Idolatry ought not certainly to be allowed in any christian society. Perjury is reckoned a crime that should be punished by the judge; and habitual cursing and swearing surely unfits any one for admission into the church. Known open disobedience to the lawful commands of superiors is not certainly to be overlooked. Murder is and ought to be capitally punished; and no drunkard ought to be allowed to partake of the sacramental cup. The unclean person cannot be admitted to sealing ordinances in any denomination of christians having the shadow of discipline. The thief is banished, and the slanderer is handed over to the civil magistrate. Why then single out the Sabbath-breaker as being amenable to no law,-as responsible to no power on earth? How can those societies professedly christian be freed from the charge, not only of unfaithfulness to God, and deep guilt in his presence, but also of cruelty to the souls of men, which continue to retain in their fellowship, individuals who deny that the Sabbath is now binding on any, and that the better way to observe it is, by enjoying ourselves simply as creatures, as mere animals, or, if they will, mentally, but not spiritually and after a godly manner, according to the fourth commandment?

A third mean of preventing Sabbath profanation is, the proper exercise of domestic discipline. This is exceedingly important. It lies at the foundation of the expected success of any of the other human endeavours to attain this most desirable end. Much, very much, depends on parents as to how the Lord's-day shall be observed. Much depends on them as to what the state of the church and the country shall be in coming generations. The fourth commandment in a special manner addresses men as heads of families; and while it establishes their authority over their households, it at the same time

teaches their subordination to the great Father of all, and that their influence should be employed in maintaining order and piety in their domestic circles. Now, there can be but one opinion, we think, as to the part which the relaxing of family discipline has had in bringing about the present state of matters in regard to the Lord's-day. We could scarcely believe it possible that within so short a period as thirty or forty years, so marked a change as to the observance of the Sabbath could have taken place, had it not been that parents professedly christian have in a great measure neglected that religious and moral discipline which it is their sacred and imperative duty to maintain in their families. Let there be, therefore, an immediate returning to the good old habits of our fathers, who devoted time and labour to the instruction and warning of their offspring. While orphans and outcasts should by all means be looked after by the church, let not christian parents remit what is emphatically their duty to others, be they what they may. Let parents be careful to maintain that authority which belongs to their station; let them superintend the daily habits and conduct of their children; let them affectionately warn them against the contagious example of Sabbath desecration; let them never permit them to be unnecessarily absent either from domestic or public worship, nor allow them to go abroad on Sabbath to visit their acquaintances, nor admit others to engage their own young immortals in improper exercise and conversation on God's holy day. Let parents also study to deserve the respect of their households by a holy example in keeping the Sabbath of the Lord their God. Were this to become general, universal, as it should be, among professedly religious families, there might be some good reason to hope that the tide would be driven back-that the sin of Sabbath desecration, with the manifold evils which necessarily follow in its train, would be prevented, and that the righteousness which exalteth a nation, both temporally and spiritually, would be greatly increased.

In the fourth place, we would suggest, as a means of correcting the evil of Sabbath profanation, that professing christians should abandon every practice which may seem to countenance the growing iniquity. If, for example, many employ the precious hours of the Sabbath in visits, excursions and recreations, then, the professing christian who unnecessarily commences or ends his journeyings for secular purposes on that day; who, without a good reason, leaves his dwelling on that day and goes to the dwellings of others, or roams the fields, is chargeable with the sin of offending God, and with the sin of encouraging others who may go greater lengths in profaning the sacredness of the Lord's-day. The walk of a Sabbath evening, for which so many plead, has done very much to increase the evil by keeping those in countenance who more grossly profane that day. Neither the motives nor the alleged employments of our so-called 'religious, sober Sabbath-walkers,' are known to the profane and the dissolute, nor if they were would they be regarded. We take the liberty of quoting the following sentences from the writings of the late Dr Andrew Thomson as expressive of our sentiment on this point: Suppose,' says he, 'I were to walk in my garden on a summer Sabbath evening,