The reason assigned in Scripture for the selection of the seventh day is, because on that day the work of the creation was finished: no time was suffered to intervene between the completion of the world and the appointment of a sabbath for its first inhabitants, and our then innocent progenitors began at the same moment their week of labour and looked forward to their day of rest. The holy custom thus ordained, of "mortalium vitam miseratos, in laborum remissionem so"lennia sacra festaque instituisse....Ceterum usque adeo 66 a rebus laboriosis abstinebant in festis ut Antinous * "pronuntiet, ne arcum quidem tendendum, quia Apollini "festus sit dies :— 66 .... τίς δέ κε τόξα τιταίνοιτ'; ἀλλὰ ἕκηλοι “Κάτθετ' 4.” Here we have both the divine institution and rigorous observance of days of rest, or of remission from labour. Not even a bow was to be strung. The ancients, says Athenæus, in the passage above referred to, thinking the gods were peculiarly present on those days, passed them in decency, temperance, and piety; but the more modern practice had grievously deteriorated. * Odyss. xxi. v. 259. + Feithii Antiquitates Homericæ, Lib. I. c. 10. § 8. dedicating one day in seven to the service of our Maker, has been followed to the present time by all those who had any knowledge of the one true God. The sabbath, therefore, began with the world, and will only cease when the world shall be no more. There is something so awful in the facts relating to this sacred day, that they cannot fail, when considered, of making a deep impression on the mind. To the descendants of Abraham were consigned the oracles of truth, and they and all the people upon earth were guarded with the strictest care from the debasement of polytheism and the hideous vices of idolatrous worship. To this end the observance of the sabbath, imposed with awful rigour, and under the penalty of death, most powerfully conduced-" Verily my sabbaths ye "shall keep; for it is a sign between me " and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth 66 66 sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath, therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work 66 66 therein, that soul shall be cut off from e among his people "." But no sooner had the Jews become a great people than a priesthood was necessary, and was ordained by God for the consecration of his sabbaths, the preservation of religious impressions, and the diffusion of religious instruction; and when they ceased from being a wandering race, and their civil polity was fully established in the promised land, a permanent temple was ordained by God for the reception of the ark of the covenant: there the priests ministered, and there the people observed their sabbaths and solemn days. "And the word of the "Lord came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, if "thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them, then will I perform my word with thee which I spake unto 66 66 66 66 66 David thy father, and I will dwell among the "children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel. So Solomon built the house 66 • Exod. xxxi. 13, 14. "and finished it." The dedication to God of this magnificent temple is perhaps one of the most striking passages in the Jewish history; and it so well explains the purpose and uses of these sacred buildings in Christian ages and nations, that I feel bound to repeat it. The ark of the covenant being brought by the priests from Zion, where it had remained in the time of David, and placed in the temple, then "Solomon 66 66 66 66 66 stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: and " he said, Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less "this house that I have builded? Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord, my God! that thine eyes may be open "toward this house night and day, even to"ward the place of which thou hast said, 66 66 66 My name shall be there: that thou mayest "hearken to the prayer which thy servant f 1 Kings vi. 11-14. "shall make toward this place. And hearken "thou to the supplication of thy servant, "and of thy people Israel, when they shall 66 pray toward this place; and hear thou in "heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive. If any man trespass 66 against his neighbour, and an oath be laid 66 upon him to cause him to swear, and the "oath come before thy altar in this house, "then hear thou in heaven, and do, and "judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, 66 66 66 66 to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel be smitten down before "the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, "and confess thy name, and pray, and make 66 66 supplication unto thee in this house, then “hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin "of thy people Israel, and bring them again "into the land which thou gavest unto their 66 fathers. When heaven is shut up, and “there is no rain, because they have sinned 66 against thee, if they pray toward this place, "and confess thy name, and turn from their |