which they regarded as authority for setting apart that day as one of sacred rest. To this example, also, all the Christians of the early ages, with one consent, gave heed, as having all the force of divine command. Such is the testimony of the ancient fathers.

The division of time into WEEKS, is presumptive evidence that the Sabbath has been observed by some, in all ages of the world. "The period of seven days," says MRS. SOMERVILLE, in her work on the Physical Sciences, "by far the most permanent division of time, and the most ancient monument of astronomical knowledge, was used by the Brahmins, in India, with the same denominations employed by us, and was alike found in the calendars of the Jews, Egyptians, Arabs, and Assyrians. It has survived the fall of empires, and has existed among all successive generations, a proof of their common origin."

S. J. BUCKINGHAM.-Sacredness of the Number Seven.

"One of the features by which the Nile was distinguished from most other streams, was that of its having seven separate mouths, or estuaries, by which it discharged its waters into the Mediterranean. Now, the Egyptians venerated the Nile, as 'the seven-mouthed stream,' because, among them, this number seven was regarded as a sacred number. Nor were the Egyptians singular in this respect; for among the Hebrews, the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, the same regard was shown to this number; and the Greeks and Romans, after them, partook of the same feeling. The Hebrew Scriptures, it will be remembered, are full of instances in which this number is used in reference to holy things: it is seen in the Pentateuch, and in the Prophets; and in the New Testament, the Apocalypse of St. John furnishes almost as many examples of this as the Old. Indeed, it is believed that there are no nations, of ancient or modern days, in which some trace of this veneration for the number seven, as a sacred number, may not be found. Among a people so little known as the Thugs, of Hindostan, whose peculiarities have been but recently investigated and described, we find that there were seven original clans of that people that the first seven days of their expeditions were

to be regarded as days of separation from all others; and that they ate no animal food until the seventh day, this period being called Satha—a very probable corruption of Sabbatha. Indeed, I cannot but be impressed with a belief, from all the consideration I have been enabled to bestow upon the subject, that this almost universal veneration for the number seven, and the seventh day, is a remnant of the ancient observance of a day of Rest, which had its origin in the first ages of mankind, which was observed before the flood, and communicated by the descendants of Noah to the early inhabitants of the world after the flood, through whom it passed into all lands, and became partially or perfectly known to all people. The reason assigned for the institution of the Sabbath, that it was a commemoration of the rest of the Deity from the labors of the creation, which were completed in six days, and from which the Almighty rested on the seventh-would lead to the inference that the Sabbath was an institution coeval with the first parents of mankind: and the language in which the commandment respecting the Sabbath is couched, in the decalogue, greatly strengthens this supposition. All the other commandments, except this, are positive in their injunctions, whether the command be positive or negative to do or to abstain from doing-and make no reference to any other code or institution of an earlier date. But this begins with the words, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day'-as if it referred to some previous observance, not now instituted for the first time, but which was to be held in recollection as a thing before known and practised, and which was now enjoined to be continually remembered: a phraseology, it will be observed, confined exclusively to this commandment alone.

"Of the benefits of this divine institution to man and beast, in a purely physical and mental point of view, without reference to its obligation as a religious observance, my own experience will abundantly testify. During all the time I held a maritime command, it was my constant practice to give my crew the indulgence and enjoyment of the Sabbath, by an entire cessation from all the ordinary labors of their profession: and the repose, and ablutions, and changes of apparel, and relaxation of mind afford

ed by these periodical returns of the seventh day, were, I bélieve, highly favorable to the health, dispositions, and morals of the seamen.

"In England, whenever the question of passing laws for the better observance of the Sabbath was raised in the British House of Commons, during the five years that I held a seat in that body, I always advocated such a law, on the ground that whatever difference of opinion might exist among men as to the mode of observing it as a day of religious worship, no one could doubt but that, as a mere civil ordinance and institution, it is of the highest value to the laboring classes, and especially the poor-as valuable, indeed, to the brute creation as to man: and an essential part of that great system of periodical change which runs through all nature—which recruits the exhaustion of the day by the repose of the night: which balances the heat of the summer by the cold of the winter: which alternates the autumn with the spring: and which was designed by a wise and beneficent Deity to give to his creatures that expansion of heart, and cheerfulness of mind, and serene and satisfactory enjoyment of body, which the observance of the Sabbath as a Day of Rest, brings to all.

CLEVELAND, OHIO, July 17, 1840.”

"We find, from time immemorial," says the learned PRESIDENT GOGUET, "the use of this period among all nations, without variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and, in a word, all the nations of the earth, have, in all ages, made use of a week of seven days." Here is a universal fact stated; and no one acquainted with the history of the Jews, though ignorant of that of other nations, can deny it with respect to them. And scarcely any country can now be found, where time is not reckoned by weeks of seven days. The Mosaic history of the creation gives a satisfactory and philosophical explanation of this fact, otherwise unexplained. If any man rejects this, let him give a better. But if this be received, then the doctrine of the original institution of a Sabbath for man, is also received. The conclusion cannot be escaped.

If any one should not be satisfied with the statements of Pre

sident Goguet, Mr. Buckingham, and Mrs. Somerville, we can refer him to others, equally entitled to respect and confidence, who tell us that the same custom existed among the Persians, the ancient Romans, Britons, Germans, Gauls; the nations of the north, and of America.

The OLD TESTAMENT tells us that the antediluvians had their months and years, and why not weeks? Certainly they were recognized by Noah, and in Gen. 29, weeks are mentioned. "The months of the ancient Scandinavians were divided into weeks of seven days; a division which prevailed among almost all the nations of which we have any knowledge, from the extremity of Asia to that of Europe."

HOMER, 907 B. C, says, " then came the seventh day, which is sacred or holy."

HESIOD, 870 B. C. styles the seventh day the illustrious light of the sun, and speaks of it as holy.

"As to the seventh day, which was honored by some pagans, and of which they have spoken, as a holy day, it was either dedicated to Apollo, or it was an imitation of the Jewish Sabbath, which some pagans held in honor, either out of superstition or devotion."

"The learned GROTIUS tells us that the memory of the creation's being performed in seven days was preserved, not only among the Greeks and Italians, but among the Celts and Indians, all of whom divided their time into weeks."

CALMET says: "MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL assures us that, according to the tradition of the ancients, Abraham and his posterity, having preserved the memory of the creation, observed the Sabbath, also, in consequence of the natural law to that purpose. It is also believed, that the religion of the seventh day is preserved among the pagans; and that the observation of this day is as old as the world itself."

From the history of CAIN and ABEL, bringing their offerings unto the Lord, as well as from that of JOB and the patriarchs, may also be gathered presumptive evidence of the fact above stated.

"Some RABBINS inform us, that Joseph also observed the Sabbath in Egypt."

"LAMPRIDIUS tells us that ALEXANDER SEVERUS, the Roman

Emperor, usually went on the seventh day into the capitol, there to offer sacrifices to the gods."

"Almost all the philosophers and poets also acknowledge the seventh day as holy."-CALMET.

PORPHYRY says: "the Phoenicians consecrated one day in seven as holy."

According to PHILO, of the first century, "The Sabbath is not a festival peculiar to any one people, or country, but is common to the whole world; and it may be named the general and public feast, or the feast of the nativity of the world."

According to JOSEPHUS, "There is no city, either of Greeks or barbarians, or any other nation, where the religion of the Sabbath is not known, a seventh day of rest from labor." He certainly ought to know the truth, for he was governor of Galilee, about thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ, and had most ample opportunities of information.

REV. E. JOHNS says; "The living remnant of the ancient Britons, call the first day of the week dydd sul. The double d sounds like th, in the; and u somewhat like the same vowel in French. The Latin dies solis is evidently a modification of the British phrase, and Sunday is a literal translation of both. Now, since the worship of the heavenly bodies, was the most ancient kind of idolatry, it was natural for apostates from the worship of Jehovah to render the homage due to Him, to the principal luminary, the king of day, and to act thus on the day sacred to the divine Creator."

It may be well to add the following from the same writer; "The language of the Celts is the most ancient living tongue known to us. It is more ancient than Latin; since a vast portion of the Roman language consists of Celtic materials; and all the terminations of Latin verbs in the third person plural are borrowed from the Celtic. Moreover, the Celtic abounds in words evidently of Hebrew origin, while its syntax is as simple and governed by the same rules. Besides, the Celts are known to have been very numerous and widely spread in Europe, when the Roman people, as such, were in embryo. The etymology of the Greek language proves it to have been of Hebrew origin; but its state of high improvement and the complexity of its syn