Is it true that God has abandoned us to the storms of this wide and boisterous sea, without compass, chart or helm ?

Should we take it for granted, that there was no law requiring our first parents, and the antediluvians, to keep a day of rest, because none was then written, we must also conclude that there was none against murder. But God certainly did punish Cain for the murder of his brother, showing that he had in some way made known such a law. For where there is no law there can be no sin. For the same reason, the antediluvians must have understood his will, or they would not, for acting contrary to it, have been buried in one common grave. Yet there is not the least allusion made to any of the ten commandments in the history of the old world. On the other hand, suppose it were indisputably proved that there was no Sabbath instituted, until after the flood, this would not prove the Sabbath to have been intended only for the Jews. It would only be presumptive evidence, that God could not keep men from wickedness, and lead them to himself by oral instruction, without a particular day set apart, to give and receive such instruction, and that therefore He established a new dispensation, wrote the commandments, and appointed one day in seven, when they should be read and expounded. But there is not, in our mind, a shadow of doubt, that the Sabbath was given in Eden, and designed for all men, and of perpetual obligation. Nor can there be any doubt, that all the moral laws were understood by the inhabitants of the old world. Else, the destruction of the antediluvians, is wholly unaccountable and unjust. From God's dealings also with Sodom and Gomorrah, it is evident that they were held accountable for their conduct. This would not have been, had there existed no law; yet they were destroyed, before Israel, as a nation, had come into existence.

From the dealings of God with the Jews, and from what is recorded respecting them before the giving of the law on Sinai, we are irresistibly led to conclude, that they were, previous to that event, acquainted with and governed according to the laws contained in the decalogue. We find indisputable evidence that they were acquainted with the laws in regard to the Sabbath, marriage, and murder. From plain allusions, it is obvious,

that idolatry, adultery, covetousness, and theft, were also understood to be sins against God, by the Jews, in this early stage of their history. The manner in which the law was given, was admirably suited to impress on their minds the importance of obeying it, and to fill them with awe and reverence for the character of the terrible Lawgiver. The commandments were repeated in the hearing of all Israel amidst thunderings and lightnings, and quakings of the earth, and the voice of a trumpet, waxing louder and louder, that the people might believe them, and they were written that they might remember and do them. The whole transaction seems designed, not so much to give the people information on the subject of their duty, as so to impress the commands on their minds, that they might never forget them.

There are expressions in the commandments which show that they were not at that time new to the people of Israel. In the second, for instance, God speaks of showing mercy unto such as love him and keep his commandments-not these commandments, as though they were now for the first time promulged' but " my commandments," as if they were already acquainted with them. Again, the fourth commandment commences " Remember the Sabbath day." But we cannot remember what we have never known, and to suppose that God was calling on the people to remember what was then entirely new to them, is to suppose that He, who is infinite in wisdom, would speak non

sense.

Prior to the giving of this law to Moses, God had been dealing with men as moral and accountable creatures. They owed to God and one another the same moral duties as we do. What is right morally now, was right then, and vice versa. The same moral duties must also be equally necessary to their happiness and holiness as to ours.

But though all, from the creation to Moses, were under a common law, it was not written. Hence it was necessary that the same law, which was at first spoken, and committed to the keeping of a few, though published to all and intended for all, should be given in a new form, i. e., on imperishable tables of

stone.

Wicked men were prone to forget God and his word. Almost all had become idolators. The knowledge of God was scarcely to be found. It became necessary, therefore, to make choice of a certain family, instruct them, and make them the depository of his revealed will.

The same grand moral principles by which all past generations had been governed, must now be written. The writing of these moral precepts must not be left to Moses, but be done by the finger of God. Other laws were given at the same time, very important for the religious improvement of the Jews, to whom this precious treasure was committed. But they were ceremonial, only designed for them during their scholarship, and these might be written by Moses. They were types and shadows of things to come; yet were they practical lessons, adapted to deepen the impression on their minds. The chosen people too, were so far gone in wickedness, so ignorant of the divine character and government, that they were kept forty years, as it were, in one vast camp-meeting, learning the mind and will of God, and forgetting wickedness and idolatry.

At length we find them prepared to come out among the Gentiles, with those moral laws so indelibly written on their memories, as well as on tables of stone, that they could never be entirely effaced. These laws were now to speak to them instead of God; and are also to be to us in his stead. For he does not communicate his will to us, as he used to do to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets.

These same commands were often repeated, in substance, after the transactions on Sinai, which seems to show, that, very probably, they had often been before.

The fact that there were many laws given to the Jews not contained in the ten commandments, and which cannot be inferred from them, furnishes additional proof that God made a distinction between these and other laws, which were given only for the Jews as a nation. A distinction was obviously needed between those, which, from their very nature, are binding on all men, whether Jews or Gentiles, and those which referred only to one nation, and embraced only a limited period of time.

We may safely infer that God intended the Sabbath for the Gentiles, because the reasons for its observance apply to them as much as to the Jews. They, and their servants and cattle, as much need the refreshment of a day of rest-they have as much cause for gratitude and adoration in view of the work of creation-God's resting is as much an example for them as for the Jews. If the Jews had an additional reason in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, much more has the Christian in his deliverance from bondage to sin and Satan. But when we say to objectors, if the Jews, in their sinful state, needed a Sabbath, to give them an opportunity to think of God, recount his mercies, admire his works, and prepare for heaven, then the Gentiles, for the same reason, certainly need one;—and if it was the duty of the Jews to commemorate this day, on account of so great an event as the work of creation, it is no less a duty which the Gentiles owe to God, for the same common, though most stupendous blessings, wrought by the finger of their common Parent. They often inquire, why then did not God command other nations to keep the Sabbath? The question may with equal propriety be asked, why God did not forbid other nations to kill, to steal, and to covet. This he did not do, nor did he formally give any commands to other nations; nor is there even an allusion to one of them, any more than if they had not existed, except in the phrase "thy stranger," in the fourth commandment; yet, what believer in the Bible ever supposed these commandments not to have been intended for the Gentiles?

PROFESSOR AGNEW, in speaking of the Perpetuity of the Institution, remarks, "If we now advert to the end, or object of the institution, we shall perceive them to be adapted equally to the whole human family, and not peculiarly to the Jews. And hence its perpetuity is inferred. Was it intended to relieve both man and beast from the wearisomeness of uninterrupted labor? Then do all need it as much as the Israelites. Was it designed to be commemorative of the eternity, independence, self-existence, and all the glorious perfections of Deity, as evinced in the work of his hands? Then are all, equally with the Jews, interested in this commemoration. Was it provided as a means of man's growth and establishment in holiness? Then does its

end proclaim it loudly to be the birth-right of every intelligent creature on God's earth, a common inheritance to all the sons and daughters of Adam.

"Who is the Jew, that his constitution alone, and that of his servants and beasts, require a regular return of freedom from the exhausting fatigues of constant labor? Who is the Jew, that he only may set apart one day in seven for singing the high praises of God—that he only is obliged to bear in remembrance the power, and wisdom, and goodness of God, displayed in his completed work of creation? Who is the Jew, that he only needs this pre-eminently blessed mean of attaining and securing conformity with the image of God? No! Verily, you and I, and Adam and Noah, are, as much as he, interested in this heavenly attainment. We, equally with him, must commemorate the six days' work of Jehovah. And our constitution, as well as his, was so made as to require the rest of the Sabbath."

PROOF FROM THE BIBLE.

It is evident, from the language of the fourth commandment itself, that it was adapted and designed for the Gentile, because it makes special provision for him. "Thy servant," and "thy stranger," does not refer to the Jews. To them, as the keepers of the sacred oracles, was the decalogue principally addressed, yet "thy stranger" was included. We learn from their history, that a mixed multitude went with them from Egypt; some, perhaps, from curiosity, others from affection to the Jews, and others, it may be, from attachment to their religion. These were undoubtedly the " servant" and the "stranger" who were among them at the time the law was given. From time to time, individuals, some as bondmen, and some as citizens, from neighboring nations, were joined unto Israel. Such were always required, after a suitable season of probation, to become circumcised; and were expected to obey the laws of God. "When the stranger shall sojourn with thee, one law shall be to him that is homeborn and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you." In Isaiah lvi., we find most rich and precious promises definitely made to the sons of the stranger, even to "every one that keepeth the Sabbath, from polluting it." "Even them,"