told a friend that the secret of his
long life is that amid all the pressure of public cares he never
forgot the sabbath, with its rest for the body and the soul. The
constitution of the United States protects the president in his weekly
day of rest. He has ten days, "Sundays excepted," in which to consider
a bill that has been sent to him for signature. Every workingman in
the republic ought to be as thoroughly protected as the president. If
workingmen got up a strike against unnecessary work on the sabbath,
they would have the sympathy of a good many.

"Our bodies are seven-day clocks," says Talmage, "and they need to be
wound up, and if they are not wound up they run down into the grave.
No man can continuously break the sabbath and keep his physical and
mental health. Ask aged men, and they will tell you they never knew
men who continuously broke the sabbath, who did not fail in mind,
body, or moral principles."

All that has been said about rest for man is true for working animals.
God didn't forget them in this commandment, and man should not forget
them either.

II.--RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

But "rest" does not mean idleness. No man enjoys idleness for any
length of time. When one goes on a vacation, one does not lie around
doing nothing all the time. Hard work at tennis, hunting, and other
pursuits fills the hours. A healthy mind must find something to do.

Hence the sabbath rest does not mean inactivity. "Satan finds some
mischief still for idle hands to do." The best way to keep off bad
thoughts and to avoid temptation is to engage in active religious
exercises.

As regards these, we should avoid extremes. On the one hand we find a
rigor in sabbath observance that is nowhere commanded in Scripture,
and that reminds one of the formalism of the Pharisees more than of
the spirit of the gospel. Such strictness does more harm than good. It
repels people and makes the sabbath a burden. On the other hand we
should jealously guard against a loose way of keeping the sabbath.
Already in many cities it is profaned openly.

When I was a boy the sabbath lasted from sundown on Saturday to
sundown on Sunday, and I remember how we boys used to shout when it
was over. It was the worst day in the week to us. I believe it can be
made the brightest day in the week. Every child ought to be reared so
that he shall be able to say, with a friend, that he would rather have
the other six days weeded out of his memory than the sabb