fitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.' But true as the statement is which I have just made as the result of experience, I advise no one to refrain from Sunday trafficking merely from this fact; but let every one rather count the cost, and be prepared to expect (at least for a time) that some little worldly loss may attend the discharge of this bounden duty, and if at any week's end, when the proceeds of it are counted up, and the balance being against you, you be tauntingly asked-"What has your religion done for you?-How stands your profit and loss account?" Answer, "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith." "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Yes; lose his soul! here, here, is the grand point: men will not believe it, but the ministers of God must, and through His aid they will assert that the soul's salvation is jeoparded-is put in danger by every one who wilfully and presumptuously breaks any of the divine commandments. Sunday profaners may pass comfortably well along in the crowd-their numbers may keep one another in countenance, and their hard speeches against those whom they deem precise and over-particular, may even cause a laugh, and excite the merriment of the thoughtless and irreligious; but let each of these triflers remember that there is such a place as the bed of sickness, that there is such a time as the hour of death, that there is such an existence as an eternity of divinely-inflicted punishments!

These remarks apply not exclusively to one class of the community, but to every class, to the occupiers of wharfs, of warehouses, of vessels, as well as to shopkeepers, or the poor venders in our streets; though to the former, to those whose position in society gives them an influence and control over others, this further remark belongs, viz., that while the greatest of men possess not the least privilege over the meanest to break the laws of God, those in a higher station (if they do break them) incur a heavier responsibility: for evils committed by those in our employ, whom we might restrain therefrom, we are as much accountable as though those evils were

committed by ourselves. Reading in Holy Scripture of certain Divine denunciations, I tremble for those persons who cause others to sin by connivance, yea (sometimes I fear), by their positive commands. While required not to work ourselves on the Lord's day, we are also required not to let our man-servant nor our maid-servant work either; and by consequence more peremptorily still are we forbidden by God to impose work upon others by the fearful threat, that if they work not on the Sabbath, they shall not work for us on the week-days.

With regard to selling in shops and in the streets on the Sabbath-day, this evil would at once cease, if people would act but a Christian part and refrain from buying, which is quite as much a point of duty as to refrain from selling; indeed, in a certain point of view, buyers are more to blame than sellers: if there were none of the former there would be none of the latter. Buyers make sellers; they throw temptation in their way; and in many cases cause great mental distress to those who are convinced of the sin of selling, and yet have not resolution enough to resist the temptation thereto. A positive act of grievous oppression is it for any one to say to a poor widow, for instance, struggling hard to sustain her bereaved self and children, "I will have no dealings with you on the week-day if you refuse to serve me on a Sunday." To any poor widow thus addressed, I say it is a hard and cruel thing to be thus spoken to. But heed it not; trust God; obey Him; have faith in His promises; act resolutely; reject the wages of iniquity; and you will have peace, whatever else you have not. To buyers I say, I entreat you, do not thus speak, do not thus act; you know not what a grievous sin you are committing: it is more than enough to have our own sins chargeable upon

us.

What a weight to have the sins of others added

thereto !

But as my concluding remarks generally to all, I repeat what has been already stated, that the sin of buying or selling, of working yourselves or causing others to work, is an offence not only against the laws of the land and well-being of society, but is a jeoparding of your own souls, and of the souls of your children, your apprentices,

of the entire people of your neighbourhood. To what cause is the demoralized state of our population owing? Why, to the want of religion; the restraints of religion. have no influence. And to what cause mainly is the want of religion owing? Unquestionably to the neglect of a due observance of the Lord's day. Through this neglect the mind becomes completely worldly; not any opportunities are afforded for the holy principles of piety to be implanted or excited; the Church and its sacred ordinances, expressly appointed for man's moral renovation, are forsaken; and men live and die in a nominally Christian country to all intents and purposes as ignorant of God and Christ, and as destitute of that inward change and "holiness, without which no one can see the Lord," as though they had lived in a heathen land.

Be roused, I beseech you, by these fearful considerations, to a correct view of the subject I have again brought before you. It is not from any personal interest your minister can have in the matter, beyond the deep concern he feels for you as the people committed to his spiritual charge, and whom, if he neglect to warn, he must expect to have among his accusers at that day when ministers and people shall stand at the judgment-bar to be through Jesus Christ absolved, or through impenitency and unbelief to be condemned. Read the following declaration of God to each of His duly-appointed ministers, and you will not be surprised at any one of them addressing you as I have now humbly and affectionately endeavoured to do: "Son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: when I say unto the wicked thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand "." Your Friend and Pastor, J. C. ABDY.

7

Jan. 1, 1844.

7 Ezekiel iii. 17.

THE VINE.

FIRST FIVE YEARS' MANAGEMENT.

THE time to transplant the vine is directly after the fall of the leaf. Make the soil very fine, and if possible put two spits of well-rotted dung, and mix it well. The vine must now be carefully taken up, with its roots as entire as possible; and if any of them be bruised, prune them back to the sound parts; put the vine in a hole made with a stick, with its stem about three inches from the wall, and let the bottom bud be just even with the ground; spread the roots right along the ground, and at the same distance from one another, like the spokes of a wheel, and now fill up the hole with the soil, and cut the vine down to its two lowest buds. Transplanting should always be done in dry and still weather, and the removal be carried on as quickly as possible. The moment there is any frost, a good covering of litter or well-rotted manure must be spread as far as the roots extend.

March 1st of the 2nd year.-Remove the covering, and fork up the face of the ground three inches deep, that the sun and air may be freely let in; in fact, the border should always, if possible, be kept clean from weeds, or any plants, leaves, or the like.

May 1st.-Now remember, that though two buds are left, only one of them is to be trained all through the summer; two are left, in case one should fail. If any shoots have pushed besides these two, rub them off. As soon as the buds have grown about a foot in length, nail them to the wall; as soon as they shall have grown six inches from their last nailing, they must be nailed again; as the tendrils and side shoots appear, pinch off the former when they are three or four inches long, and the latter to an inch beyond the first eye.

June 1st. When the ground is parched, give the roots once a day about half a gallon of soap-suds or dung

water

July 1st.-Unnail the weakest shoot of the two, and cut it down close to the stem, and make the wounded part quite smooth and even.

Nov. 1st.-Cut the vine down to the two lowermost buds, and cover the ground as before.

March 1st of the 3rd year.-If any fruit show itself, pinch it off immediately.

Nov. 1st. The stem of the vine will now be more than two inches round, and therefore two leading shoots are to be kept throughout the next year; for this purpose cut the vine down to the three lowermost buds. The roots will not now require any covering.

May 1st of the 4th year.-As soon as the shoots are long enough nail them carefully to the wall, and rub off all others. If fruit show itself, pinch it off as before. From this point the management of a vine which has been cut down to a stump is the same as that of a young plant.

July 1st.-Unnail and cut out the weakest of the three shoots, and train the two remaining ones carefully during the rest of the season.

Sept. 1st.-Pinch off the top of the shoots: now, in an old vine, if the arms are wanted to cover a good extent of wall, this must not be done, but it is much better to plant another vine if the wall be too long for one properly trained, than to lengthen the arms to cover the wall.

Nov. 1st.-As the size of the stem will now be not less than three inches round, the vine may be allowed to ripen fruit the next year, not exceeding five pounds' weight. Therefore cut down each of the two shoots to the seven lowermost buds (this of course, as before stated, will not apply in an equal degree to an old tree); prune away the tendrils and dead wood, close to the shoots, and cut out carefully all the side shoots close to the lower end of the fruiting buds: if the outer bark be decayed, peel it off clean, and then nail the shoots just for a time.

Feb. 1st, 5th year.-Cut out of each shoot the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth buds; then bend the two shoots carefully down, and fix them in straight lines.

May 1st.-Train the shoots which push from three and seven in an upward direction.

Sept.-Pinch off the tops of the shoots.

Oct. 1st. As soon as the fruit is gathered cut back two of the branches, one and three, to as many shoots as are thought necessary for the quantity of fruit it is supposed the vine can ripen. The two other branches to