Chapter II: Part 2

We will now first notice the origin of the Divine obligation for ceasing from labour on the Sabbath. It is not essential that we should here discuss the question respecting the Christian or Jewish observance of it, nor is it absolutely material whether it is designated the Lord’s-Day, the Sabbath, or Sunday, although the two former appear to be the most appropriate. {40} There can be no doubt, notwithstanding all that may be advanced to the contrary, that the Sabbath was instituted by God at the creation of the world. “The heavens and the earth were finished, and on the seventh-day God ended his work which he had made; and God blessed the seventh-day and SANCTIFIED it.” If there is any intelligible inference to be drawn from this simple narration, it must be plain that it was the Divine intention to separate one day from the other six for sacred and devotional purposes, and to afford man an opportunity to obtain repose from labour. God not only blessed this day, but he _sanctified_ it, thereby imparting to it a peculiar heavenly and hallowed influence. We will pass over any intermediate passage in the Old Testament which might be brought forward to prove our conclusion, and quote the positive command given by God on Mount Sinai—“_Remember_ the Sabbath-day to keep it HOLY.” Here is a plain and indisputable enforcement of the original obligation, laid on man, to preserve the Sabbath as a previously _sanctified_ day. The same injunction, in a variety of ways, is enforced throughout the entire Word of God. If, in the New Testament, it is not so explicitly commanded, there are abundant instances where Christ himself inculcated and respected a proper observance of the Sabbath. The early Christians universally considered it as a sacred day, and nearly all the ancient writers testify to its being a day set apart for at least outward recognition. Josephus asserts, “There is no city or nation, Greek or Barbarian, in which the custom of resting on the seventh-day is not preserved.” Philo Judæus declares, “It is a festival celebrated not only in one city, but throughout the whole world.” Justin Martyr also says, “We all meet together on Sunday (_diem Solis_), on which God having changed Darkness and Matter, created the world; and on this day Jesus Christ our Saviour arose from the dead.” This last record particularly confirms our previous assertion respecting the origin of the Sabbath. These questions now naturally arise:—Shall the present generation impiously attempt to disannul the primæval law of God, which all ages have formally respected? Is the power of wealth to bid defiance to the eternal law of God? Are the pleasures and luxuries of this world to be held in higher estimation than the undescribable joys of heaven? Is infidelity, in a word, to triumph over Christianity? The Writer must here pause and seriously reflect, and he entreats the reader to do so likewise, on the melancholy if not awful consequences that have befallen individuals, even in this world, who have wilfully violated the Sabbath-day. TRUTH MAY WHISPER DIVINE MERCY RESCUED THEE. * * * If we have done so in an humble and contrite spirit, we ought at once to exclaim, with the penitent Psalmist, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

The adoption of this course will assuredly lead to a great improvement in our present temporal condition. The testimony of Judge Hale, although so frequently adduced, seems to force itself on the memory:—“I have found,” said he, “that a due observing of the duty of the Lord’s-day hath ever joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time; and the week that hath been so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of that day, the rest of the week hath been unsuccessful, and unhappy to my secular employments.” But what is the assurance and the promise contained in the Word of God? “Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.” Isaiah lvi. 2. “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, _not doing thine own ways_, _nor finding thine own pleasure_, _nor speaking thine own words_; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth.” Isaiah lviii. 3. God will bless us in this world, and we shall enjoy hereafter an eternal Sabbath in the Celestial City, where we ‘shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.’ Rev. vii. 16, 17.

These are, however, truths which but few seem to believe. No doubt the willing compliance of masters to make their men work on the Sabbath has created much scepticism. It conveys to the unenlightened mind an idea that religion is a mere speculative theory, and hence that day is treated with but little veneration, if not with perfect indifference. When such individuals are told, in justification, that “little differences about religion may occasionally be waived when business requires their attendance,” the effect must be, in a greater or less degree, to create a dislike for all subjects which have a religious reference. Do we not observe this in many working-men, who decry everything which relates to religion? Honesty and general morality they can clearly understand; but their souls are too barren and unproductive to appreciate the loveliness of those things which relate to another and a better world, and are consequently unable to discern the unsullied purity of the Divine character. Hence it is that we so frequently hear it asserted in the workshop that the Bible contains a strange admixture of virtuous principles and gross immorality. The best reply to such wicked and depraved assertions may be found in the words of a most distinguished Minister of the Church of Scotland, whose writings in defence of Christianity, together with the force and beauty of his compositions, have gained for him universal celebrity amongst Christians of every denomination:—“The Scripture is an exact portrait of man; if it shews the bright in his character, it also records the black; if it proclaims that which ennobles and exalts him, it discloses that which tends to depress and humble him. There is also, in the present day, what is thought delicacy of language, which was unknown even two or three centuries ago, and still more so when the Bible was written.” {44} To this we may add, that the Christian reads every sentence in the Word of God with the simplicity which denotes his profession, being too much influenced by the many precious promises which it contains to cavil about the expediency of accommodating the ancient custom of phraseology to suit that of modern times. It is the sceptic and the sensual who alone raise the objections. We may remark, as regards the Bible containing the details of the depravity of man, that they were placed there in order to warn us, and to remind us of the justice as well as the unbounded love of God. Let us illustrate our meaning by a reference to fading creation. How often do we view with ecstacy some lovely garden, admire its varied compartments, and gaze with pleasure on the choice flowers which adorn it, yet, at the same time, see many obtrusive blades of grass, or straggling weeds, which are intended to convey a silent but serious reproof to us? The scattered blades of grass, if united in close compact, would excite our admiration. Who can behold the simple but beauteous appearance of a lawn, or the grass that covers the distant hill, and not feel emotions of delight? It is their isolated and estranged position that creates our censure. Just so it is as regards the Bible. The sinner, while living apart from God, is compared to the weeds and stubble, and is threatened, unless he repents and believes in the Saviour, as ‘willing and able to save all that come unto Him,’ to be also condemned and to receive that awful sentence which awaits the impenitent. When pardoned, however, he is brought into close communion with God, and, being united, becomes a lovely plant in the garden of the Lord. If our hearts were more fixed on the entire purity of God, we should peruse the Scriptures with an emphatic earnestness which would elevate us far above sensual and infidel conclusions.

The real character of many of the declaimers against the Bible is thus portrayed:—“In the middle classes, among the half-thinking, half-instructed young men, a sort of infidelity is not unfrequent, which, after deducting something for the influence of worse motives, is attributable to affectation more than to any other cause. It is a mere impertinence, and indicates a want of sense, or profligacy of manners.” {46} And, now, what says the late eloquent and pious Robert Hall? “Settle it in your minds, as a maxim never to be effaced or forgotten, that infidelity is an inhuman and bloody system, equally hostile to every human restraint and to every virtuous affection—that, leaving nothing above us to create awe, nor round us to waken tenderness, it wages war with heaven and earth; its first object is to dethrone God; its next to destroy man.” Would that these sentiments, so forcibly expressed, could be engraven on the hearts of the rising generation throughout the world!

The greatest researchers after truth, and the most eminent philosophers, have borne witness to the exalted worth and power of the Holy Scriptures. “I thank God,” says Mr. Locke, “for the light of revelation, which sets my poor reason at rest, in many things that lay beyond the reach of its discovery.” Lord Bacon observes, “It was only by the light of Scripture, and the exercises of devotion, that I attained to that acquaintance with God, which I had sought for in vain amidst the hurry of secular affairs, or in the course of my philosophical pursuits.” And yet there are some men—possessing very extensive knowledge on nearly all other subjects—who impugn the truths of Christianity without anything like close and serious investigation. They possess a Bible, but, with the exception of a few abstract and familiar sentences, they are entirely ignorant of its contents. Is it surprising that such individuals merely consider the Sabbath as a day for cessation from labour, altogether irrespective of its being first sanctified by God, and afterwards enjoined to be kept as an holy day? Such persons are naturally, when interest or desire prompts them, willing either to labour or to seek worldly pleasure on the Sabbath.

We have made the above somewhat lengthened remarks because the entire question of Sabbath desecration, after all, rests on a firm belief in the Scriptures. The Divine commandment is contained therein, and if the Bible is rejected, or believed only in part, our main argument must fail to produce conviction; but, if implicit credence is given to it, then, we assert, the law of God is absolute and universal.

In order to confine our observations within a limited space, although our subject is as prolific as it is important, we must now shortly bring them to a conclusion. The effect of an abrogation of the Divine law of the Sabbath would be most fatal, as we have already proved, to religion, morals, the advancement of intellectual knowledge, and even the existence of man. Who can depict the horrid condition of the poor factory children if they were deprived of a Sabbath? Why, our manufactories—wherein are produced some of the richest fruits which emanate from refined taste and from rapid progression in the arts and sciences—would then become national nurseries for prostitution and general profligacy, or else the infected receptacles of emaciation and disease! Such a supposition may be ridiculed by the tolerants of infidelity, and even the pure and tender feelings of sympathy may suggest a doubt as to the possibility of such an awful event, but the same iniquitous motive that lately consigned children to twelve and fourteen hours labour each day—until the voice of Christian humanity declared it should no longer be tolerated—is equally likely, if not resisted, to deprive this infantine section of the community of the spiritual and temporal blessings of the Sabbath. Besides, it is just in proportion as we permit the rest of the seventh-day to be taken away from the adult, that we weaken the barrier that protects youth from its encroachments. But we may extend these considerations to the children of the entire population. Were it not for this blest day they would be reduced—in civilized England, with the lull and benign beams of Gospel light shining now in every city, town, and village—to as low a state of degradation and barbarism as the unenlightened savage. The latter are totally uninstructed, (what a powerful incentive is this fact for increased Missionary exertion!) and they therefore roam about in the wildness of their natural state. In this country crime is progressive. The boy who is a pickpocket to-day may become a burglar to-morrow; the youth who purloins from his master’s till not unfrequently commits afterwards a more daring offence; and the once little innocent girl, who was permitted to roam in the streets, becomes too often the future companion of thieves, and herself branded with infamy. It was as remedial measures that Sabbath and Ragged Schools were established; yet, with all these and other Christian efforts, the number of juvenile offenders has immensely increased. What would be the condition of children, and more advanced youth, were it not for the instruction afforded to them on the Sabbath? Every species of crime would be considerably augmented, and life and property still more endangered.

How appropriately might we here dwell on the value and importance of Sabbath Schools! They would afford almost an endless theme for the most consolatory and sublime considerations. But our space will not allow us to enumerate the many temporal advantages which such institutions confer on society, and man can never pourtray the heavenly bliss of the myriads of once otherwise neglected children, who, having been first taught in these Schools to lisp their Saviour’s praise, are now singing continually “the song of the Lamb” in the kingdom of their God!

“On harps of gold they praise His name,
His face they always view;
Then let us followers be of them,
That we may praise Him too!”

It is impossible adequately to estimate the temporal advantages of the Sabbath. The opportunity which it affords for parental and social intercourse is most important. The industrious classes have scarcely any time, unless it is on that day, to discharge their responsible duties, and consequently their children are exposed to every species of depravity. It is true that a Christian mother is daily with her children, and, possessing perhaps a greater natural warmth of affection, is more likely to be a blessing to them than the father; still, how very desirable is it that the latter, particularly as they advance in years, should exercise a judicious superintending control, and thus strive to maintain the discipline, and carry out the instructions, which have been so anxiously and affectionately imbued by the mother during the six days? Deprive us of our Sabbath, and fatherly influence is as unproductive as the soil of the desert! We lose one of our greatest privileges—the natural right to assist in the formation of the religious, moral, and intellectual characters of our offspring.

Again, as respects the adult population, has the preaching of God’s Word, and the congregating of all grades in society on the Sabbath, no effect on the mass of the people? Does it not, leaving out of consideration the eternal results, create deeds of charity which impart temporal relief to the poor? The Sabbath is the peculiar day when the streams of benevolence flow rapidly through the land. It is principally by the contributions then given that our humane and benevolent Institutions are sustained.

We might also prove that civil governments rise or fall in proportion as the people venerate and observe the Sabbath, but it is assuredly unnecessary. If it is an institution of paramount importance to a family, it must be equally so to a nation.

* * * * *

Working-Men! the subject which we have been discussing demands your most calm and serious consideration. If we tacitly permit the Sabbath to be wrested from us, even in part or whole, we give up the most invaluable right which we possess—a right which the Almighty Creator conferred on man when He first gave him existence, and which no earthly power can justly take from us. Shall we then bear the yoke of continuous labour around our necks? The Sabbath is a fixed and indispensable day of rest, and we should therefore manifest a decided determination to resist all encroachments on it. Let us remember that by working on this sacred day we destroy the universality of it, which is the essence and beauty of the Sabbath. When we are so requested to labour, let us respectfully but resolutely decline it. Considerate employers will respect our motives; and, in order fully to prove that we are sincere, we should evince a full sense of the value of our right by a constant and assiduous attention to our respective duties. May the dawn of a happier day be not far distant, when the dark clouds which now cast such a fearful gloom over our country shall be dispersed, and when both masters and men shall unitedly resolve to obey the law of GOD—“REMEMBER THE SABBATH-DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY!”

* * * * *

THE END.

* * * * *

CHELSEA:
PRINTED BY T. WILSHER, MANOR STREET.

FOOTNOTES.

{7} “The progress of bricks and mortar and of inclosures has sadly restricted the spaces on which the English peasantry could take healthful exercise. Respectable people keep away from these crowded spots. The influence of their example is lost, and in its place is substituted the influence of the idle, the dissolute, and the depraved.”—_Moral Economy of Large Towns_, _by_ Dr. W. C. TAYLOR.

{8} The Writer was, some years ago, addressed in the following manner: “It is monstrous, you have no right to let _your religious opinions_ interfere with business in this way.”

{9} In the French revolutionary mania, in 1800, “the year was divided into twelve equal months, of thirty days each, completing the year by the ingenious invention of five complemental days. The month was divided into three decades, or weeks each of ten days, by which the days of rest were reduced to three in each month, which were substituted for the four Sundays. * * * * In some towns, workshops and warehouses were closed (on the regular Sunday), in others they were closed upon the Decadi (or tenth day); nay, frequently, in the same town, in the same street, THE CONTRAST PRESENTED THE SPECTACLE OF A MISCHIEVOUS DIVERSITY IN THE IDEAS AND IN THE MORALS OF THE PEOPLE.”—_Thier’s History of the Consulate and the Empire_.

{14} There are some very excellent little Tracts published by this Association on the above subject, which can be procured by application to J. Lilwall, Esq., the Secretary, 32; Ludgate Hill.

{18} Although the Writer was at no period of his life “a dram-drinker,” he has nevertheless suffered severely from occasional intemperance, and he would therefore most earnestly commend the consideration of this subject to the labouring classes.

{21} “Of the 45,000 deaths occurring every year in the Metropolis, about 5,600 arises from this fatal disease; and upwards of 11,000 persons, being about one in 170 of the entire population of the metropolis, and more than one per cent. of the adults, are constantly wasting away under the attacks of this lingering malady. Of these 11,000 cases, about three-fourths occur in males, of whom a large proportion are working-men, unable to provide for themselves and families. Many—very many—of these poor sufferers are the acknowledged victims of unventilated workshops, ill-constructed dwellings, vitiated atmosphere, long hours of work, and the want of open places for exercise and recreation.” There are 81 Patients at present in the Hospital, and the number prescribed for daily, as Out-Patients, is at the rate of 36,000 in the year!—_Report of the Hospital for Consumption_, _and Diseases of the Chest_, _at Brompton_, 1849.

The Writer of this Essay cannot refrain from making a most earnest appeal in behalf of this truly Christian Institution. Gratitude prompts him to the discharge of this duty, and he trusts that his humble position in life will not weaken the effort to promote the interests of a Charity to which himself, three sons, and seven daughters, are so greatly indebted. During the period in which he was engaged in the composition of this Essay, and for nearly 18 months previous, his wife was receiving the most kind, attentive, and skilful treatment from the Physicians of this Hospital, who considered her case as almost beyond medical relief. She is now in a much improved state of health. Surely this simple statement will be deemed as sufficient evidence of the value of this Institution. It depends principally on the amount of its Annual Subscriptions for support, and it would be a source of great pleasure to the Writer, if it should be found that, through the publication of his feeble Essay, only ONE Benefactor had been added to the list of its Patrons!

{27} It is very pleasing to observe that many thousands of the working classes avail themselves of those admirable places for the preservation of health and happiness, the Public Baths, which have been some time now established. We may also notice the laudable efforts recently made to encourage Open-Air Bathing in the Serpentine. A very interesting and important pamphlet on this subject has been lately written by Thomas Embling, Esq. It really appears essential that every Bather, and especially youth, should peruse a copy of this invaluable treatise.—_Published by_ W. F. RAMSAY, 11, _Brompton Row_, _Brompton_.

{35} “The Divine law prohibits civil labour, or work in the way of trade on the Sabbath, but acts of mercy are acceptable to God on any day. We have several instances of this recorded in the New Testament, in reference to Christ and his disciples.”—Dr. S. SMITH’S _Dissertations on the Bible_, 1737.

{36} “The flowers of a garden—those silent preachers to which Christ himself referred his disciples as eloquent witnesses of the bounty of Providence—speak lessons of loveliness to the soul, and give an immediate check to gross vice and foul pollution. We too often forget the humanizing and moral effects of a garden.”—Dr. W. C. TAYLOR.

{40} The Writer, since the completion of his Essay, has perused the First Volume of _The Apocalypse Interpreted in the Light of the Day of the Lord_, by the Rev. JAMES KELLY, M.A., Minister of St. Peter’s Episcopal Chapel, Queen’s Square, St. James’s Park, from the Preface to which he has gleaned the following particulars:—‘The word _Sunday_ is a very ancient Heathen appellation, the days of the week having been called by them after the names of the planets. The first day was denominated _the day of the Sun_, or _the Lord Sun_. All the Oriental nations gave the Sun the title of Lord. No doubt the early Christians elevated its application. For this ennobling of the common term, they considered that provision had been made by God himself, in the setting forth of Christ as _the Sun of righteousness_. Malachi iv. By most of the early Fathers, and from their time onwards, the term Lord’s-Day has been used to designate the Christian Sabbath.’ The Writer of this Essay, therefore, humbly submits that Christians should now call the seventh-day either the Lord’s-Day or the Sabbath-Day. In the present times this “ennobling of the common term” seems peculiarly necessary. The above Work explains many hitherto apparently mystical passages in the Revelations, and a perusal of it, in a right spirit, will supply arguments which will at once silence the sceptic, and, at the same time, confirm the reader in his belief that there is nothing contained in the Holy Scriptures, which shall not be made manifest to those who seek to be enlightened by the Spirit of God. It is published by Messrs. NISBET and Co., London.

{44} The reader is entreated to read “Is Christianity from God?” and also “God in History,” by the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D.D.

{46} History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times, by JAMES TAYLOR.