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nopoly was to be besieged by Tippoo Sultan, he happened to be living in the fort of Trichinopoly. He was always travelling about from village to village, excepting the latter few years; and his name among the poor villagers is held in great veneration. The latter twenty years his labours were confined to Tanjore and its neighbourhood; and although he sometimes was rather weak, particularly during the hot season, still he continued to do his Master's work.

"On Ash-Wednesday he expressed a wish to preach once more to the natives. In his then weak state I was afraid he would not be equal to the task; and I wanted to persuade him to postpone it for the time; but he was so anxious to preach, and he said that the Lord would give him strength to go through it. He preached from the words, 'Come unto me, all ye that travail, and are heavy laden,' &c. On his return from Church he came to my house, but did not stay long, as he complained that he felt very much fatigued. He went home, retired into his room, and almost from that day he did not come out again. He grew daily weaker and weaker, lost all appetite, and his complaint terminated in dropsy. We had all hopes of his recovery; but about a week previous to his demise, his illness took such a decided turn for the worse, that his medical attendant gave up all hopes. He submitted to all his sufferings with the greatest patience, spoke constantly of the glory of a future world, 'the Christian's only home,' expressed his joy at the prospect of seeing Mr. Schwartz and other fellow-labourers again; and his mind was constantly directed to Him whose he was, and whom he served. On the afternoon of the 27th he was very ill indeed, and his son and myself put him on his cot. In the evening, about seven o'clock, he began to pray most fervently, but in short sentences, as, 'Lord receive me,' Lord relieve me,' 'lift me up, I am ready,' ' receive me into thy kingdom.' About an hour after, he repeated nearly the whole of the Lord's Prayer, and at nine o'clock he expired. He retained his memory until the very last; for any question which was asked he answered most distinctly.

"Such is a brief account of this venerable Missionary."

ADDRESS

FROM THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE DUE OBSERVANCE OF THE

LORD'S-DAY,

TO TRADESMEN AND SHOPKEEPERS.

CHRISTIAN FRIENDS,-Allow the friends of the above Society to address to you a few friendly lines, on the important subject of the due Observation of the Christian Sabbath. We are well aware of the difficulties with which some of you have to struggle. With a family to maintain, rent and taxes to pay, tradesmen's accounts to make up, with custom not very large, and profits but small; we wonder not, we rather commend you, when you appear anxious to seize every lawful opportunity for carrying on your business: the Bible itself commends

you.

"NOT SLOTHFUL IN BUSINESS," is one motto for the Christian tradesman; but “ SERVING THE LORD" is another, and equally important. And when we carry the business of the week into the Sabbath, we carry it where God forbids; we incur his displeasure, and can have no Divine blessing on the labours of the other six days. Accept the faithful hint. Is not this the secret cause why some of you, who strive and toil, early and late, from Sabbath to Sabbath, almost or quite beyond your strength, yet never seem to get forward in the world. A secret something hampers the machine, and makes it drag on heavily. May it not be this, that, though diligent, honest, civil, yet you are neglecting God on his own holy day?

But perhaps you prosper in the world; your gains on the Lord's-day are greater, it may be, than those of any other day. If, however, you will calmly consider, we will yet undertake to show that SABBATH GAINS ARE A REAL LOSS. Let us reason together upon this. Reckon up, as far as you can, all your Sabbath-gains; put them down on one side of a balance-sheet; and then over against them set the corresponding losses. There may be a loss even in hard money. This will surprise you. But still it is not certain that the man who opens his shop on the Lord's-day, takes more money in the whole week than his neighbour does, who, on principle, abstains from business on that day; and we think that we may

mention several real and undoubted losses which are incurred by this said Sabbath-trade. You lose that rest and refreshment of body and mind which are necessary to enable all to work with spirit through the week. You lose that domestic comfort which real Christians enjoy in meeting their family for religious instruction and Christian converse on the Lord's-day. You lose that retirement for private prayer, the study of Scripture, and selfexamination, so exceedingly necessary amid the cares and temptations of this life. But the worst losses are to follow. You lose the golden opportunities of public worship. Not having considered, you have, perhaps, no idea of the great things which are being transacted between God and his people in public worship. Prayer and praise ascend to his throne; the Word of Life is read and preached; the Holy Spirit works; sinners are humbled and convinced; penitents receive pardon; backsliders are reclaimed; believers are edified; mourners are comforted; the death, the sacrifice, the merits, the grace, and the various offices of JESUS CHRIST, are set forth and thus God is continually glorified amongst us in public worship. But where, meanwhile, are you? and what share have you in these great blessings? You are near in one sense, yet you keep yourselves far off. You are out of the way, and therefore you lose the blessing. In losing public worship, then, you suffer a loss which no worldly gains can compensate.

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And what if to all these losses is to be added the loss of the soul? You see not, perhaps, at present the danger. Yet if the Sabbath be neglected and abused, a plain command of God is broken, sin is committed, and we know that the wages of sin is death. If the Sabbath be neglected, Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, is neglected also; and without Him there is no salvation for any of us sinners. If the Sabbath be neglected, we are quite sure that prayer, and the Scriptures, and the Sacraments, and the other appointed means of grace, are neglected likewise. Can we obtain heaven without God's grace? Can we humbly expect that grace without using the means of grace? Now pause, and remember our Lord's solemn question, "What is a man profited, if he shall

gain the whole world and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Most of you, it is believed, will like this plain dealing. Now for a word of advice. Act honestly by the convictions of conscience, and resolve, through God's grace, to have done for ever with Sabbath traffic. Make the effort next Lord's-day. Let your customers know beforehand your determination; and when the morning of the Lord'sday comes, only leave the shop as it is, without taking down a shutter, and very few will ask you to sell. If they do, tell them civilly, yet firmly, your resolution; and depend on it every customer of good principle will respect your conduct. You will then have leisure, like other Christians, for rest and refreshment, and domestic comfort, and retirement, and public worship; and so you will find your Sabbaths, what God meant them to be, stepping-stones toward heaven.

men.

Yes, friends, the Christian Sabbath is one of the mild glories of our Religion. It is a day of rest for the weary, of instruction for the ignorant, of comfort for the afflicted, of mercy for the guilty, of life for the dying children of It is a golden link to connect time with eternity; earth with heaven; man, fallen and guilty as he is, with his Maker, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Its first breath in the morning says, Rest from labour; draw near to God; look unto Christ; prepare for death! Its last parting whisper to the faithful is, There remaineth yet a better rest for the people of God. Will you ungratefully throw back this boon, and for the sake of a few doubtful gains provoke God and grieve his Holy Spirit? Remember, that for every twenty years of life we see about a thousand Sabbaths, all to be accounted for at the Day of Judgment. Think of this. Consider, also, the influence of your example. If you neglect the Sabbath, your families, generally, will also. Would you like to have their souls to answer for as well as your own? And if you and they neglect the Sabbath, why may not all others? Yet, would it not shock you to see the time come when every shop shall be open, and all the business of this world shall proceed as usual on the Lord's-day? It will then no longer be the Lord's-day, but Mammon's.

We conclude with an earnest prayer, that He, without whom we can do nothing, may bless to you these affectionate yet faithful hints; and that He may henceforth prosper you more abundantly in your business, in your families, and, above all, in your soul's health.

REASONS FOR OPENING SHOPS ON THE LORD'S-DAY ANSWERED

FROM THE WORD OP GOD.

1. Every man has a right to do as he likes.

"Ye are not your own." (1 Cor. vi. 19)

"Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. xiv. 12.)

"Walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment." (Eccles. xi. 9.)

2. Others open their Shops, and why should not I?

"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” (Exod. xxiii. 2) "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." (Matt. vii. 13.) 3. I shall lose so much by closing my Shop, that myself and my family will be seriously injured in consequence.

"Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? . . . But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 31. 33.)

"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psal. xxxvii. 25.) 4. If I shut my shop, people will laugh at me, and say that I am over-religious, or that I am a hypocrite.

"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven." (Matt. v. 11, 12.)

Christ also said, "Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." (Mark viii. 38.)

"We ought to obey God rather than man." (Acts v. 29.) REASONS FOR CLOSING SHOPS ON THE LORD'S-DAY GATHERED FROM THE WORD OF GOD.

1. God has commanded that the day be kept holy. "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." (Gen. ii. 3.)

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