o be rather a
serious affair for Bill, as his good father was in the practice of
enforcing truth and duty by certain modes of moral suasion much
recommended by Solomon, though fallen into disrepute at the present day.

This morning picture may give a good specimen of the whole livelong
Sunday, which presented only an alternation of similar scenes until
sunset, when a universal unchaining of tongues and a general scamper
proclaimed that the "sun was down."

But, it may be asked, what was the result of all this strictness? Did it
not disgust you with the Sabbath and with religion? No, it did not. It
did not, because it was the result of _no unkindly feeling_, but of
_consistent principle_; and consistency of principle is what even
children learn to appreciate and revere. The law of obedience and of
reverence for the Sabbath was constraining so equally on the young and
the old, that its claims came to be regarded like those immutable laws
of nature, which no one thinks of being out of patience with, though
they sometimes bear hard on personal convenience. The effect of the
system was to ingrain into our character a veneration for the Sabbath
which no friction of after life would ever efface. I have lived to
wander in many climates and foreign lands, where the Sabbath is an
unknown name, or where it is only recognized by noisy mirth; but never
has the day returned without bringing with it a breathing of religious
awe, and even a yearning for the unbroken stillness, the placid repose,
and the simple devotion of the Puritan Sabbath.

ANOTHER SCENE.

"How late we are this morning!" said Mrs. Roberts to her husband,
glancing hurriedly at the clock, as they were sitting down to breakfast
on a Sabbath morning. "Really, it is a shame to us to be so late
Sundays. I wonder John and Henry are not up yet; Hannah, did you speak
to them?"

"Yes, ma'am, but I could not make them mind; they said it was Sunday,
and that we always have breakfast later Sundays."

"Well, it is a shame to us, I must say," said Mrs. Roberts, sitting down
to the table. "I never lie late myself unless something in particular
happens. Last night I was out very late, and Sabbath before last I had a
bad headache."

"Well, well, my dear," said Mr. Roberts, "it is not worth while to worry
yourself about it; Sunday is a day of rest; every body indulges a little
of a Sunday morning, it is so very natural, you know; one's work done
up, one feels like taking a