THE SABBATH. 79 



I do think that we are all of us bound at least to spare one 

 whole day out of the seven, if not altogether for religion, at 

 least for rest and reflection, and as a slight mark of gratitude 

 towards Him to whom we are indebted for all the good we 

 enjoy in this life. I well recollect that even in " the bush," 

 and on " the diggings," the Sunday was always at least a day 

 of rest, if not of devotion ; and although not probably one 

 of us in a hundred had the opportunity of attending a 

 place of worship, still the early lessons of an English home 

 were never entirely forgotten, and even the bush tent wore 

 a quieter and a different aspect on the Lord's Day. Pro- 

 bably a clean shirt and a cleaner face might be the principal 

 outward observances of the bushman's Sabbath, and the 

 Sunday was hailed by most of us as a day of rest from 

 our weekly toil, in the true sense of the word. But still 

 the Sunday was as much Sunday in the bush tent, as in the 

 quiet village cottage at home, and the calm stillness of the 

 day was not altogether without its fruits, for it carried the 

 wanderer's mind back to the scenes of childhood and home, 

 and opened once again the only page of life's history which 

 could be said to be without a blot. It would be hard to 

 say what thoughts were passing through the mind of the 

 rough bushman as he lounged upon his rude bed in the full 

 enjoyment of his Sunday's rest and a short black pipe ; but 

 I will venture to say that in nine cases out of ten, if his 

 mind's tablets could have been laid bare at that moment, a 

 small village church and perhaps a grey-haired parent, or a 

 little sister with her hand fondly clasped in his own as he 

 led her up to the old grey porch, would have been found 

 engraven there in characters too indelible, for the rude 

 waves of the stormy sea of life ever to obliterate. " The 

 sound of the church-going bell " had, however, never broken 

 the deep solitude of the forest in which his tent is 

 now pitched. His mates might be engaged in some of 

 the necessary occupations of every-day life. One might 

 be washing a shirt, another cooking dinner, while 

 others might perhaps be seated in careless conversation 

 round the camp fire. But there was even still a something 



