Much as we are impressed with the wonderful construction of the various
parts of the human frame, in respect to their applicability to perform
the respective functions assigned to them, the eye unquestionably creates
the greatest interest, on account of its vast utility, the Divine
ingenuity of its mechanism, and its liability to receive injury from the
slightest accidental cause. The sight is one of the most invaluable
blessings. The rich who are deprived of the faculty of vision, although
they may possess extensive domains in a country whose vallies are as
Eschol, whose forests are as Carmel, and whose hills are as Lebanon,
cannot enjoy the magnificence and beauty of the scenery which surrounds
them; but they can listen with almost unalloyed pleasure to the melodious
notes of the warbling bird, or to the sweet and powerful intonations of
musical sounds, and their wealth supplies every other earthly luxury and
enjoyment, which tends materially to lessen the otherwise severe
poignancy of their deprivation. How widely different is the melancholy
situation of the labouring man, when his eyes are impaired by weakness or
disease, or when he is totally deprived of sight! At once he is reduced
to abject poverty, and becomes either the recipient of private charity,
or the inmate of a workhouse. The fine landscape, much as he too may
desire to gaze on it, is to him of trifling or no consideration—it will
not satisfy the hungry stomach, nor shelter the body from the midnight
blast! Such is the mournful effect of the loss of sight to the labouring
classes. How important is it, then, that they should avail themselves of
every established right to abstain from work, in order that this
susceptible and essential faculty may receive additional strength?
We have previously shown that the prolonged hours of labour are
incompatible with bodily health and mental vigour, and that the Sabbath
is absolutely requisite to enable man to perform his accustomed
employment—so it is with regard to the eye. The vision is affected by
lengthened intensity of observation on any one particular object. It
requires variety and relief, both of which the Creator has abundantly
provided. The variegated flowers, the different shades of colour in
minerals, the lofty trees and the little plants, the mountainous
districts and the level plains, the brilliant and diversified hues that
frequently decorate the heavens, all combine to testify that the eye
cannot retain its perfection, if it is continually fixed on the same
scene. The poor needlewomen, who sit the entire day, and sometimes do
not cease from their tedious and spirit-subduing work until the light
dawns on the following morning, afford a very striking exemplification of
the great and unspeakable advantages of the Sabbath. What would be their
sad condition—wretched and deplorable even as it is now—were it not that
on the seventh day the eye was relieved of its monotonous and weary
application? Alas! many of these pitiable females, even with this
gracious opportunity to repair the injury inflicted by almost incessant
toil, are often at an early age incapacitated, by defective vision, from
pursuing their ill-paid occupations, and are then left destitute of their
former scanty pittance to procure even sufficient sustenance to preserve
life. Take, also, the men who work in pits and mines—where the
glimmering lamp is the only source of light, and where all else around is
chaotic darkness—how essential and benignant must be the Sabbath to them!
Defective vision would completely prevent such men from pursuing their
hazardous employment. Thus we once more prove the temporal advantages of
the Sabbath to the labouring population.
* * * * *
Having directed our attention to these four important divisions of our
subject, we will now proceed to make some promiscuous observations in
connection with them. Reckless competition, in order to acquire wealth
at all hazards in an unusually short period—not the competition which
emanates from a natural and laudable desire to increase trade by
equitable and just efforts—and the secret influence of infidel
impressions, may generally be considered as the two primary causes of
“Sunday labour.” The plea of necessity cannot be admitted. We often
hear it asserted, however, especially in reference to the periodical
press, that there exists this ‘necessity,’ in order that the public may
not be disappointed in receiving on a precise day their publications.
But surely the page of classic lore, or the Magazine of Literature, Arts,
and Sciences—the bright gems of civilization—need not the foul impress of
Sabbath labour! A very little judicious extra arrangement would render
it entirely unnecessary, and the same remark is applicable to every other
description of work on the seventh-day. Is it not a most humiliating and
distressing fact, that, on some of the most interesting and valuable
literary and scientific productions of the present age, there are
thousands employed on the Sabbath-day? It is impossible to contemplate
the probable baneful effects, which are almost certain to be produced on
the minds and bodies of those industrious young females who on that day
fold and stitch the sheets, without apprehending the most fearful
consequences, even as regards their temporal welfare. The statistics of
Police Courts disclose many melancholy facts in corroboration of this
almost general result. Now, will any reflecting practical man justify
the word ‘necessity’ as applied to this description of Sabbath
desecration? None whatever. Then there can be no vindication for an
unnecessary act which is so injurious to morality, and which induces so
frightfully to the commission of sin. It is quite clear, as regards the
general performance of trade labour, that, if consistency of moral
principle—we say nothing of religious conviction—was duly appreciated, a
most cheerful negative would be given to all such propositions, the
result of which would be far more satisfactory at the termination of the
year.
We must not pass over the sad condition of many of the journeyman
tailors. Here is a trade where it may be truly said that ‘reckless
competition has destroyed by want, or excessive labour, hundreds of its
members,’ and has undoubtedly led them to disregard the Divine origin and
temporal advantages of the Sabbath. We will prove our assertion. Many
of the fashionable master tailors, as well as the large establishments
which continually advertise cheap clothing, allow the work to be taken by
the journeymen to their own lodgings, or some hired room for the purpose,
where, according to one of their statements, “the families of those
unfortunate men are in a great measure totally neglected, their wives
become careless and void of all cleanliness, and often contaminated by
the obscene language of the men, even while at work frequently during the
Sunday.” If we look at the splendid shops of their employers on the
Sabbath, we see every outward indication of a strict observance of it—but
turn to the above demoralized neighbourhood, glance at the filthy garret,
and what a wretched and revolting scene is exhibited! The heart sickens
with disgust, pity is mingled with abhorrence. What can such masters
offer in extenuation for such wilful neglect of the religious, moral, and
social happiness of those they employ?
In speaking to a very poor journeyman tailor, some short time since, he
said it was not an unusual circumstance for him to be employed on the
Sunday in making a suit of mourning—a very frequent but reprehensible
practice which prevails amongst dress-makers, &c.—and that often they
were the garments intended to be worn by those he esteemed as Christian
individuals, who, if they had thought that such must have been the case,
would most assuredly not have permitted it. The Christian community must
be held responsible for much of this species of Sabbath labour. We do
not expect the worldly-minded would forego any desired request, but the
members of a Christian church—those who profess to love God—we have a
right to conclude would delay for a short time, by making some temporary
substitution, what otherwise must be considered as one of the last
manifestations of mournful respect to a deceased friend or relative. It
would be well if Ministers of religion would occasionally impress on
their congregations the possibility of their becoming, through an
inconsiderate desire to have their orders completed at a certain
unreasonably short period, the unintentional instruments of sin in this
way. In most cases the ‘necessity’ might be easily removed. Let the
tradesman frankly state that Sabbath labour must be the consequence of
compliance, and that the command of God is clear and imperative: “Six
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” There
can be no doubt that the effect of such a reply would be, as an especial
mark of approbation for his pure and conscientious motives, the
recommendation of many additional customers. But the truth is that many
employers are apprehensive that they may disoblige their patrons, and to
secure their support, as they think, they sacrifice the health and
happiness of their workmen, and destroy any latent inclination to the
formation of religious habits.
Much of the discontent and bad feeling, which at present exists between
working-men and their employers, might be removed if the Apostle’s
injunction was more mutually respected:—“Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others.” Is this the
principle manifested in the present day? We admit our many
delinquencies, but are not many masters equally culpable? It has been
already proved. If employers evince no sympathy for the steady and
attentive workman—if they view him as a mere inanimate instrument to be
used only as occasion requires, without the least knowledge of his social
condition, and utterly regardless of his happiness, what otherwise can
naturally be expected than that he should be indifferent to the promotion
of their interests? The subject is a serious one, and it is to be hoped
that these observations will tend to check a continuance of such
unquestionable evils, and to create a more reciprocal feeling of
good-will between them. The situation of the working population is at
present most painful, and we unhesitatingly affirm that Sabbath
desecration renders it still more so. Man in general, by strictly
adhering to an observance of this sacred day, would possess not only
great temporal advantages, but enjoy an inward peace the value of which
the wealth of this world cannot purchase.
It will be well here to remember that it is the _universal_ observance of
the Sabbath which is commanded. The day was made for man—not for a
portion of the human race—and it is consequently a general law, which, as
regards at least public labour, {35} cannot be accommodated to suit the
circumstances or peculiar dispositions of any class of individuals. This
remark is extremely applicable to railway and other excursions on the
Sabbath. We are fully aware that the above mode of reasoning is not
congenial to the natural inclinations of man, and that some very
apparently plausible objections are frequently urged to prove its
fallacy. The only course, however, which the Christian can take to
decide the question is by a direct reference to the Word of God. There
is nothing contained in the Bible which is inimical to the welfare of
mankind. The restraints which it imposes are in reality the most evident
proofs of the love of God. Whatever He has commanded, we may rest
assured is for the universal benefit of His creatures. The believer is
experimentally acquainted with this fact, and he therefore considers a
cheerful and strict obedience to the laws of God both a duty and a
delight. Now, in reference to the great national and social importance
of railways, it must be admitted that the most evident general beneficial
proposition may be alloyed with objectionable considerations, the
dismemberment of which is a positive duty. Such is the view which the
Christian takes of railway and steam-boat excursions on the Sabbath. But
it is said that they are indispensable for the preservation of the health
of the labouring population. It is true that rational recreation and
diversified scenes are essential to them, still, we must repeat the
question, Why should the hours for labour be so protracted that the
Sabbath must be almost exclusively devoted to temporal enjoyments? The
poor man has no just right to work in this way until his strength is so
completely exhausted that it becomes a ‘necessity’—in order to preserve
his very existence—that he should violate the command of his merciful
Creator. Is the Sabbath the only day when the labourer is to partake of
the sweet fruits of his industry? Are all the endearments of life, the
caresses of his children, and the comforts of the domestic circle, to be
only enjoyed by him on the Sabbath? Is his little garden, should he
happily possess one, to exhibit nothing but wild weeds throughout the
year unless he cultivates it on the Sabbath? The evergreen and the
beauteous flower would equally as well thrive in the soil that is
attached to the humble abodes of the mechanic and labourer, provided they
had time to attend to this elevating source of delight, {36} as they do
in the ornamental parterres of the rich in this world. Again, we ask,
why should every moral, intellectual, and social duty be reserved for
performance on the Sabbath? Those who advance such false sympathy for
the working classes are themselves supporting a system which perpetuates
injustice and deprives the poor of true earthly happiness. Let the
advocates of Sabbath railway and steam-boat excursions apply their minds
more closely to the consideration of our social condition, and they will
learn that the ‘necessity’ is to be solely attributed to the avaricious
or thoughtless disposition of man, in despite of the intervention of a
merciful Creator. The defence is a most wilful imputation on the wisdom
and universal beneficence of God. A strict compliance with the Divine
law, in any state of society, infuses peace and joy into the dwellings of
the poor, and sheds a bright beam of hope across the rugged path they
tread!
We cannot avoid here referring to a reply, and to a certain extent a just
one, which is almost invariably made whenever any remark is offered
respecting the desecration of the Sabbath either by labour, railway and
steam-boat excursions, or by journeys taken in vehicles. Not to do so
would be partial and unjust. The reference is to the number of
carriages, belonging to the wealthy, which are seen in the metropolis on
that sacred day. It is easy to understand the motives which govern the
fashionable _élite_, who exhibit their splendid equipages in our
beautiful national Parks on the Sabbath, but it appears and is altogether
contradictory when we see the more reflecting and domestic portion of the
Nobility and Gentry pursuing the same gay and sinful practice, and thus
setting a baneful example to those around them who occupy a more humble
position in life. “_They_ have,” it is said, “six other days in the week
when they can take their salutary ‘carriage-airings’—it is not so with
the poor mechanic.” Nor can we pass unnoticed the number of carriages
which are seen every Sabbath at the entrances to our Churches and
Chapels—even while some faithful Minister of Christ is sounding the
trumpet of alarm to impenitent sinners—with the servants waiting outside,
unconscious of the awful warnings which are being uttered within those
sacred edifices. Can it be said, in all such cases, that bodily
infirmity, age, distance, or even the state of the weather, renders it
necessary? Does it not more resemble the boisterous and imperious
swellings of the reckless wave than the gentle flowings of the calm
waters? While such inconsistencies prevail, the infidel will exult for a
time over his supposed triumph, the ribaldist will continue to sneer at
the efforts of Christians, and the more cautious worldling will not fail
to advance it as a justification for Sabbath desecration.
Let us now make a few consecutive observations on the religious, moral,
and social divisions of our subject. At the commencement nearly of this
Essay, we observed that it was the temporal advantages of the Sabbath to
which our especial attention was to be directed; but true morality,
social happiness, and even intellectual attainments, are all so closely
blended with religion, or ought to be, that they cannot properly be
separated. “It would be absurd,” says a popular author, “to treat first
of the advantages of virtue, and next of those of justice or temperance,
because the first head evidently comprehends the second.” So it would be
if we were to attempt to exclude religion from the consideration of moral
and social principles. Religion is the parent, and the others are the
legitimate offspring. This has been most eloquently enforced by a writer
well-known for his piety:—“Every thing which wants religion wants
vitality. Philosophy without religion is crippled and impotent; poetry
without religion has no heart-stirring powers; life without religion is a
complex and unsatisfactory riddle: the very arts which address themselves
to the senses, never proceed so far towards perfection as when employed
on religious subjects.” May we not, then, fairly attribute the failure
of many schemes, intended to improve the condition of the working
population, to the entire absence of religious considerations? Such
propositions may be congenial to the thoughtless multitude and the
infidel, but they invariably terminate in disappointment—because the
overruling providence of God is not acknowledged, nor are His daily
mercies at all recognised.
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!”
* * * * *