A Goodly Custom.—Dr. Kennedy, in The Minister of Killearnan, refers to a custom, now, alas, like many another good custom, almost unknown. In a reference to his grandfather, Donald Kennedy, he says:—”In his management of his household he was peculiarly conscientious. It was his habit, as it was that of his father before him, when each of his children reached a certain age, to retire with them to a quiet spot in the wood, and there, after spending some time in prayer, after explaining to them the nature of his engagements, in their behalf, at their baptism, and appealing to their conscience as to his manner of fulfilling them, directing them to the only source of strength, he took them under vow to seek and serve the Lord.”
“They shall eat Bread by Weight.”—These words are part of a message by the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Judah,
The message reads:—”Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment; that they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity” (Ezekiel iv., 16, 17). We as a nation are not yet face to face with famine, but, to use the language of a Member of Parliament, its gaunt form can be seen in the distance, and surely the above words are being fulfilled in Britain to-day.
Ploughing on the Lord’s Day.—The effort of those in authority to make provision for the feeding of the people of these islands, while highly commendable in itself, assumes quite a different aspect when frantic attempts are made to get farmers and their employees to till the ground on the Sabbath. Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury has been appealed to, and given his sanction to this open desecration of the Lord’s day. God’s law is plain enough, and anything the Archbishop of Canterbury may sanction in its breach only makes it plain that the meat that periseth is more to him and others than to do the will of God. The plea of necessity here is beside the mark. With greater reason it might have been urged in connection with the manna, but God gave express commandment that it should not be gathered on His day. All the efforts to till the land cannot produce a harvest, and it would be well for our legislators and people to remember that God who has not left Himself without a witness, in that He gave rain from heaven and fruitful seasons. Without His countenance all the labour on the land will be in vain. Since the preceding remarks were penned, we regret to observe that Dr. Brown, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, has written to the Press in a manner similar to the Archbishop of Canterbury.