rop of
rain. No, I see her enter her door; it is my good neighbor, Miss--;
she is one of the excellent of the earth, but she is poor, old and
forsaken by all but the few who seek for those whom others forget.
She has no beauty, no celebrity; there is no eclat in noticing her;
there are those who will even laugh at him for his attention to her.

Stranger than all, there are two men, violent opponents in religion
and politics, walking arm in arm with each other. The Calvinist
extends to him whom he considers his erring brother a kindness as if
to a dear friend; for the Universalist is sick, and the Calvinist
tries to protect him from the shower while exposing himself; see, he
takes off his own cloak and puts it on him.

What does all this mean? Whence is this holy stillness? What day is
it?

It is the Lord's day! All these people are returning from the house
of prayer. It is this thought that makes the laughing girl restrain
her gayety, and teach her steps to keep time with her infirm old
friend.

The sinful old man abstains from his vicious habit out of reverence
for this holy day; he has lost his son too; and sorrow and the
weight of an evil conscience have driven him to the mercy seat; and
they who despised his drunkenness respect his misery.

The lady who led the little child so tenderly to its poor mother's
door is a teacher in the Sunday school; the book she gave tells of
the wisdom and goodness of God; she has awakened in her little
pupil's soul that princi-pie which shall never die, and taught her
to be a messenger of peace and joy to her poor, sick mother.

It is the influence of this blessed day that makes the usually
frivolous and thoughtless prefer a work of charity to the
gratification of vanity.

It is the Sabbath day, with its calm and elevated duties and holy
repose, that subdues animosity, lays the restless spirit of vanity,
checks habitual vice, and awakens all the charities and sweet
courtesies of life.

This is the true rest of the Sabbath; the rest from vanity, from
contention, from sin. This is the true preaching, the practice of
Christian duties, the performance of works of love, the exercise of
the holiest affections of our nature. This is the true service of
God; doing good to His human family. This is the true knowledge of
Him, "that we love one another."

Doubtless the instructions from the pulpit do, in many instances,
enlighten the ignorant, quicken the languid and the cold-hearte