Sabbath Day Cheese-making not a work of necessity; or, Dialogues between a Country Clergyman and his Parishioners. By the Rev, J. Armitstead, M. A. Vicar of Sandbach.

DIALOGUE I:

Clergyman.-Good morning, Mr. Fairman. A fine morning this; it does one good to be out, every thing looks so bright and cheerya real spring-day. How is your wife? She has had much to harrass

her.

Mr. Fairman.-Pretty well, I thank you, Sir; and my daughter Mary is so much better, thank God for it, that there is no further occasion for alarm. I trust this charming weather will complete her cure.

Cler. I am glad to hear it. I was on my way to call upon her, and I shall go with a lighter heart after this good report. I suppose you are busy with your seedness, and the time will not be long before your wife and daughter will be more full of business than you yourself. The cows must be dropping their calves by this time, and you be beginning to think about cheese-making.

Mr. Fair. Why, yes, Sir, I suppose we shall be before long, but our cows are chiefly late, and what have calved, do not give much more milk than the calves take. On dry fodder they are not so fluent as they will be when grass comes; still we have made a few small cheeses for family use, though they are hardly worth talking about. By and bye, they will be busy enough.

Cler.-Indeed they will; I do not know any class of people that toil more laboriously, or a greater number of hours, than those who are occupied upon a dairy farm.

Mr. Fair.-You are quite right, Sir. I do not think that there is any; from light in the morning till dark at night, they are, as one may say, never still.

Cler.-I suppose the interest they take in their employment lightens the toil; and the knowledge that the success of the farm depends so much upon themselves, cannot fail to make them exert themselves the more. There is a little pride too, in having as good a dairy of cheese as their neighbours, let alone regard for their husband's interests.

Be

Mr. Fair.-You are not far wrong, Sir, in any of your reasons. it, however, as it may, we Cheshire farmers must confess that our wives and families take at least their full share of the anxieties and labours of the farm. Time was, when we were told that all fell upon them; but that is not true now, whatever it may have been.

Cler. No, indeed; the improved state of things out of doors proves the contrary. To pay your rent, I imagine, your dairy must not only be good in quality, but considerable in quantity.

Mr. Fair. And that cannot be, if the land is neglected. It is very grateful, and will pay back again; but it must have help, and be well managed too, or things won't go on well long.

Cler.-Like every thing around us, Mr. Fairman; it bears its testimony to the truth of God's Word, Gen. iii. "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;" reudering necessary what follows, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."

Mr. Fair.-Indeed, it does so. I often think of that.

Cler. And yet, the very necessity for labour, and the reward that follows, are merciful provisions in our present fallen, sinful state. In the garden of Eden, ere sin had defaced the image of holiness, in which man was made, every want was provided for. "Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." And upon introducing man to this terrestrial paradise, He bade him "freely eat." Notwithstanding this, we read that the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it, and to keep it." From which we may gather, how necessary it is, even in a state of innocence, that man should have employment to complete his happiness: much more in a state of sin, employment then becomes doubly necessary; nay, occupations the most laborious, by affording food for the thoughts, as well as work for the hands, have a tendency to check the growth of the evil dispositions of the natural man. Idleness is, indeed, fruitful in evil. Hardly a day can pass. in which this truth is not forcibly brought home to us.

Mr. Fair. That it is. I always pity those who have nothing to do; they seem so wearied with their very idleness; but, now I' see, want of occupation brings with it many temptations.

Cler.-True; but not only that, there is also much encouragement to the diligent, in the recollection that God will bless his labours. Man sows the corn, but it is God that gives the increase. "He left not himself without witness, (saith the Apostle,) in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Acts xiv. 17.

Mr. Fair—It is something to know that God works with us.
Cler.—But to know that, our works must be lawful.

Mr. Fair. Certainly; but there is no employment more innocent, and therefore more lawful than our's.

Cler. Generally, I think so; but there are several lights in which an action may be viewed. It may be perfectly innocent, and therefore lawful, but not at all times: for instance, you may employ your men in ploughing or any other work on the week-days, whilst it would be wrong to do so on the Sabbath.

Mr. Fair.-I understand you; but then we do not do so, because we know it would be wrong to break the Sabbath.

Cler. Very true; yet I much question whether you do not break the Sabbath in other matters, for all that. You make cheese on the Sabbath.

Mr. Fair.-Yes, but that we cannot help, and I often lament that we cannot. You do not see any harm in that, Sir; do you?

Cler. To answer that question satisfactorily will require a good deal to be said. I would not wish to offend you, but if I must give a direct answer, I must in conscience say, I do.

I ask

Mr. Fair.--Well, I am sorry to hear you say so, for I know you have good reason for saying it, or you would not say it; but may your reason? Cler.-Allow me, first, to say a few words on the divine appointment

of the Sabbath. In six days God made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day, and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, or made it holy, because that in it He had rested from all his work, which God created and made. In remembrance of his goodness and power in the work of creation, both before and subsequent to the fall, it was observed as a day of holy rest, more or less, till a further sanction was given in the law delivered unto Moses upon Mount Sinai, in which the Israelites are called upon to remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, in allusion clearly to its previous institution at the creation. It is again solemnly called to their attention, Exod. xxxi. 15, where the awful threat is added, "Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath-day, shall surely be put to death." This awful threatening we find fearfully fulfilled in the fifteenth chapter of the book of Numbers. We there read of a man, who for gathering sticks on the Sabbath-day, was, under the immediate direction of God himself, stoned by the whole congregation till he died. Throughout the prophets the observance of the Sabbath is repeatedly insisted upon. Upon obedience many blessings are promised, whilst disobedience to this sacred command is more than once numbered amongst the causes that led to the many distresses and ultimate captivity of the Jewish people. Such, then, in a few words, are the grounds on which we observe the Sabbathday to keep it holy.

Mr. Fair.-I am much obliged to you for bringing the obligation of the Sabbath so clearly before me, but more so for the references, that I may read the passages in my Bible that you point out, which I certainly will do; but, may I ask, are we, under the gospel, to suppose that God requires as strict an observance of the Commandments from us, as He did from the Jews that were under the law.

Cler. St. James tells us, "With Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." His very nature implies that He is immutable. He can no more forgive sin now, without an atonement, than He could then. His justice forbids it. A single breach of the Sabbath, without atonement, must entail death; but, blessed be His name, the penitent transgressor can plead, through faith, the merits of Christ as satisfying the demands of divine justice, which satisfaction God hath declared his willingness to accept, in the place of the death of the sinner himself: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life;" realizing the words of the Psalmist, " Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." To be continued.

The following account of the death of a pious Female, (who, having heard of the operations of the" Sunday School Society for Ireland," became in her humble station, and in the most unobtrusive manner, a contributor and collector in aid of its funds) has been communicated to a friend of that institution, by the gentleman in whose service she had formerly been employed for many years.

May 8th, 1840 My Dear Sir,-My present communication refers to one subject only

-in part this is owing to my inability to write at length, but more particularly because I consider that subject to be paramount to any thing else on which I might address you. Your poor simple hearted friend, and the poor but very sincere friend of your Society J— L is dead; she departed in peace on the 30th ultimo, and was interred last Sabbath day.

It pleased God for the trial of her faith, to appoint to her many wearisome nights and days prior to her last change, but it also pleased Him to afford her grace and strength in such a measure, that patience truly had its perfect work: amidst prolonged and intense suffering no breath of impatience was uttered, nor the shadow of a doubt exhibited, that Jesus was conducting her through these dark and thorny ways to his everlasting rest. The night before her last-a night of even more than usual pressure, her spirit seemed to rise in prayer just in proportion to the increased degree of affliction with which her Heavenly Father saw it good to visit her. Among her petitions I did not hear of one which asked for either a removal, or an alleviation of her sufferings— her relatives one by one-her friends one by one-and the various Institutions for the spread of the Gospel, whether in our own or distant lands, were severally commended in panting breathings to the care and blessing of the Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift. I need scarcely say that she did not forget in these exercises, your Society, of which you well know she has been, according to her power, yea, and beyond her means, a steady unobtrusive friend. A simple circumstance illustrative of her unaltered attachment to your cause, I beg to mention. You are aware that the fruits of her little endeavours, on behalf of your Institution, were deposited in a box* which was kept at my office-these she continued to transmit, until obliged by the progress of her disease, to remain in bed. When thus cut off from intercourse beyond those who visited her little chamber, she desired that a small box which she had in the house, might be furnished with a written inscription, "Sunday Schools for Ireland," and placed upon the drawers by her bedside, for the purpose of receiving any trifling donations, which sympathising friends might feel inclined to bestow. Many a time has her languid eye been lighted up, and her worn countenance glistened on noticing a penny dropped into her little treasury—once she told me, (and it seemed to operate like a drop of dew upon a withered flower,) that a shilling had been kindly bestowed. These small offerings and the prayers already adverted to, constitute poor J- L's legacy to your cause—the trifle composing the one will be handed you on your next visit—the benefit of the other will, I trust, be felt, through the Divine blessing, in the increase of every spiritual gift on all the means adopted by you, for spreading the knowledge of the Redeemer's kingdom, throughout the length and breadth of the land.-I remain, &c. &c.

* Her Box Collection for the year 1839, amounted to £4. Os. 10d.

Printed by T. Thomas, Eastgate-street Row, Chester.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT SERVANTS, AND PARTLY ADDRESSED TO THEM.

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WHOSO LEADETH A GODLY LIFE, HE SHALL BE MY SERVANT."-Ps. cI. 9.

THE gospel of domestic life is as much the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as the gospel of the assembled Church.

There are some who would restrict the gospel within very narrow limits. If a minister of Christ should speak to Christian statesmen of their duties as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is thought by many to be too political; if, on the other hand, he should speak to the household servants, or to the apprentices in a Christian family, of the temptations of their peculiar callings, he is thought to be bringing religion too low, out of its proper province.

Others again may not see the necessity which is laid upon the servant of God to bear the gospel message to the perishing heathen, or to preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, to the dispersed and blinded Jews. They are half inclined to judge the minister to be going out of his sphere if he is in earnest on these points, and often brings before his congregation the claims both of the heathen and of the ancient people of God.

The truth is that it is the positive duty of the minister of Christ to preach the gospel to every separate person as an individual concern. Without being personally invidious to any, he should endeavour to make every one to whom he addresses himself feel as if religion were his own individual concern, as if the condemnation of the sinner were deserved by himself alone, as if the invitation of the Saviour were made to himself alone.