of the human race would have been, if left entirely destitute of
religion, from our intercourse with those who, though perversely
refusing submission to its government, have, while their being was
dawning, their mind and habits forming, been surrounded by its light
and influences, and who, in their childhood and youth, have partaken
largely of the blessings which this heaven-bestowed institution, the
Christian Sabbath, affords. No; it is only from the condition and
character of those tribes of mankind who have little or no vestige of
revelation among them, that we are enabled to form a correct idea of
what our state would have been, had the pure light of Christianity
never dawned upon us. So, in like manner, in judging of the importance
of this Divine institution, we must compare the condition and the
habits of a labouring population who have never known a Sabbath, whose
bodies the Sabbath rest has never refreshed, and whose minds Sabbath
instruction and Sabbath exercise have, to no extent, strengthened or
cultivated, awakened or enlightened. We must compare their character
and condition, their hearths and homes, with the hearths and homes,
the state and character, not of the mere Sabbath sleeper, or Sabbath
dresser, or even of the mere church attender or sermon hearer, but
of those who, with activity and energy, avail themselves of all
the opportunities of self-improvement and family culture which the
Christian Sabbath is so well fitted to afford, before we can have any
correct idea of even the merely temporal benefits which the Sabbath is
calculated to confer upon the labouring population, or of the immense
loss its discontinuance would prove to the temporal interests of
society.
Even as a cessation from labour, as a rest to the worn-out frame,
the Sabbath is no trifling boon to the bowed-down sons of toil.
When we look upon it merely as a day on which the most toil-worn
drudge unchidden may stretch his wearied limbs upon the couch of
rest; whereon the most dusty, sweaty, dirt-smeared endurer of the
consequences of man’s transgression may wash himself clean, dress
genteelly, and enjoy the society of his fellow-men; a day when he,
who, during the six days of labour, must eat his dry, cold, hurried,
and comfortless dinner alone, can sit in leisure and comfort, in the
society of beloved relatives, with the clean, shining, glad faces
of his little ones around him, and his wife, clean and neat, as upon
her bridal-day, by his side, and enjoy his neatly-prepared, though
homely, repast; a day when brothers and sisters, early forced, by
necessity, from the parental roof, to seek a hard-earned subsistence
elsewhere, may weekly enjoy each other’s society amid the blessed
influences of the home of their childhood--the Sabbath, though looked
upon as bestowing only privileges like these upon working men, must
command the respect of every enlightened and philanthropic mind.
But when viewed as a day in which all this is associated with the
hallowed influences of religion--in which man enjoys the pleasures
of social intercourse blended with, and elevated by, the most sacred
and purifying associations--in which the body enjoys repose, not
only that the mind may be fitted for exertion, but that it may engage
in the study of subjects supremely important to man, that it may
apply itself to the contemplation of themes the most sublime and
interesting--a day in which men not only meet together that they may be
instructed, strengthened, and refined, by intercourse with each other,
that mind may have communion with mind, and heart with heart; but in
which they are invited to meet with God himself; that their minds may
have communion with His mind, and their hearts with His heart; that
they may be instructed, strengthened, and refined, by the wisdom and
love of God; that they may be moulded in His image, and renewed in
His likeness;--it seems strange that any one who believes man to be
possessed of a moral and intellectual nature, capable of improvement,
should set light by, or trifle with, such an institution; and passing
strange, that those who name the name of Christ, who profess to be His
followers who emphatically taught that the Sabbath was made for man,
should despise such a privilege, fling away its hallowed restraints,
and disregard its sacred obligations.
It needs but a glance at the toilsome life of our rural or our
manufacturing population, to convince any one that the Sabbath, viewed
merely in relation to man’s temporal well-being, is of great value to
the working man. The important influence which the frequent return
of such a day, with all its cheering and inspiriting exercises and
associations, must have upon the health of those who observe it, is not
to be overlooked. The wearied frame is refreshed and invigorated, the
depressed spirits enlivened, and the flagging energy restored;--while
its public observances call for such attention to personal appearance
as cannot fail to have a beneficial effect at once upon the habits and
the constitution, as also to form a strong inducement to exertion for
the improvement of their condition. Hence it is, that, when we enter
the house of the church-going, Sabbath-keeping labourer, we generally
find a marked difference between it and the home of him who rarely or
never enters a place of worship, and who regards not the sacred claims
of the day.
In the house of the Sabbath-observing, church-attending labourer--even
though, as is too often the case, he should know little or nothing
of the vital power of religion, though his observance be mere
outward observance, and his religion but form--we observe useful,
though sometimes rude furniture, clothing, and food, cleanliness and
comfort, a cheerful fire on the hearth, and a few books on the shelf;
everything indicating some little relish for the conveniences and
comforts of civilized life.
On Saturday evening, there is washing of little faces, combing and
brushing of flaxen heads, laying out of clean little frocks and
pinafores, or jet black shoes set ready for little feet, that, without
hurry or confusion, clean and neat, they may be ready on Sabbath
morning to accompany father or mother, or, if possible, both, to the
place
“Where Christians meet to praise and pray,
To hear of heaven, and learn the way;”
or that they may trip joyously to their beloved Sabbath-school, there
to sing of that happy land where every eye is bright, of that glorious
city, the streets of which are of pure gold, where the water of life
is continually flowing in a broad river, clear as crystal, from the
throne of God and of the Lamb, into which nothing that defileth can
enter, neither whatsoever loveth or maketh a lie; to learn, that to
depart from evil is the highway to those blessed mansions of love, and
joy, and life everlasting--that that highway is called holiness; and to
be told, in childhood’s own simple language, of the love of Him who is
himself the way, for he shall save his people from their sins; how he
said, “Suffer little children to come unto me,” and took them up in his
arms, and blessed them; how, when they have journeyed along the rugged
path of this toilsome life, those that come unto God by him shall never
again taste of death or sorrow, pain or disease; for the Lamb, which is
in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and lead them to living
fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
What do we find in the place of all this, in the home, and among
the children of the working man who profanes the sacred hours of
the Sabbath? Squalor and wretchedness force themselves upon our
observation. The appearance of the house and its inmates tell, in
language not to be mistaken, what would be the condition of working
men, were this blessed day, with all its exalting and purifying
influences, set aside. How often, on Saturday night, are the children
tossed into bed unwashed and uncombed, while the mother puts their few
rags of clothing in the washing-tub, and then hangs them up by the
dusty hearth, that they may be dry in the morning! Even this little
attention to cleanliness, partial as it is, is of some benefit, and
the benefit, so far as it goes, is from the Sabbath; for, were it not
for that regard to appearance, and those ideas of decency which the
public observances of the Sabbath have introduced, the skin and the
clothing of the working man and his children would seldom indeed be
subjected to the refreshing and purifying process of washing.
[Illustration:
See page 74]
Of the truth of this, did the limits of this little essay permit, or
did the time and circumstances of the writer allow of such researches,
I venture to affirm that abundant evidence could be presented from the
state and habits, in regard to personal cleanliness, of the labouring
population of any country where the Sabbath is disregarded, as compared
with the condition and habits of the same class in countries where the
Sabbath is observed as a day of public assembly for religious worship;
or from the habits of the lower classes of our own, or of any other
country, before the introduction of the Christian Sabbath, as compared
with their habits in this respect, after the Sabbath has been for some
time received and regarded among them, as at once a day of cessation
from ordinary labour, and a season for public religious observances.
And if the important influence which cleanliness has upon health and
comfort be taken into account, the improvement of their habits in this
respect will be allowed to be no trifling advantage resulting from the
Sabbath to the labouring population.
But to return to the family where the Sabbath is not regarded as a day
sacred to the worship of God: how frequently do we find the father,
with his equally reckless companions, taking on Saturday evening
his seat in the house of the spirit-dealer, there to waste, in the
gratification of his debased and depraved appetite, his hard-earned
wages! But what need to describe the Sabbath hours of such a family?
Who that has been at all conversant with the labouring population
of this country, but has witnessed the comfortless and fretful
confusion of the morning? while the succeeding hours are devoted to
the preparation of the noonday meal, the one great feast of the week;
and, perchance, the fields, the public promenade, or a trip by railway
to some place of public resort, is the occupation of the evening.
And thus are all the rich opportunities which such a day affords for
self-improvement and family culture, trampled under foot. And what is
the condition of the children of such parents? Do they not grow up in
ignorance and vice, in utter neglect, unless, indeed, they are gathered
together for Sabbath instruction by the enlightened and benevolent, who
would seek to do what in them lies to rescue their fellow-creatures
from ignorance and degradation? This, however, will but slightly supply
the want of the fireside instruction of a Sabbath-keeping family; and
is it likely that these children will ever attain to that degree of
mental culture, or be governed by those moral principles which would
enable them to obtain an equal standing in society with the children of
those who conscientiously observe the Lord’s-day? Let those who think
so, enter the house of him who keeps holy the Lord’s-day, and the home
of the Sabbath-breaker; let them converse with their children, observe
their habits, and then answer. Those who feel inclined to trifle with
the sacred obligations of this day would do well to consider, ere they
slight its beneficial restraints, what a blessed privilege they fling
away--what a glorious birthright they would barter for less than a
mess of pottage! A birthright, the due appreciation and the proper
use of which would soon enable them to cast off that yoke of bondage,
those servile feelings, with which the working classes too often regard
their superiors in circumstances; would enable them to stand erect and
unabashed in the presence of their fellow-man, whatever his wealth or
rank, as brother in the presence of brother; would give them power of
their own minds--a conscience illuminated by the light of heaven, and
unfettered by subjection to man. Moreover, if the imbecility of mind,
the consequent limitation of resource, and liability to become the
dupes of imposture, the tools of crafty, selfish, and unprincipled men,
be considered, which usually result from the dependence of one class
of men upon the mind and will of another class, this will appear to be
no mean advantage, as regards temporal condition, which the proper
observance of the Sabbath is calculated to confer upon the labouring
population. For proof that such happy results do invariably follow the
introduction of the Sabbath among the working classes, in proportion
to its proper observance, we have only to glance at the character and
condition of the people in countries where the Sabbath is, in some
measure, rightly understood and observed, as compared with the state of
the people in lands where the Lord’s day is unknown, or devoted to mere
amusement.
The rest of the Sabbath is invaluable to the labourer who is desirous
of cultivating his own mind by study, of strengthening and gaining
the control of his intellectual powers, or of increasing his stock of
knowledge by reading. When he returns from his daily labour, to enjoy
his brief hour of leisure in the evening, his system is too much
exhausted by his previous exertion, and, consequently, his animal
spirits too much depressed, for close application of mind or energy
of thought. If he attempt to peruse any really serious and useful
author, he not unfrequently falls asleep with the book in his hand. The
lighter pages of the novelist, with their intellectual intoxication,
and too often pernicious views of human life and human nature, may
be able, by their excitement, to overcome, for a time, his fatigue;
and, therefore, if he reads at all, for these, the works of the
natural and moral philosopher, of the historian, the moralist, and the
theologian, are laid aside; and thus his moral and intellectual nature,
not receiving wholesome food or healthful exercise, becomes weak and
diseased, and unfitted to fulfil the offices of enlightening him; his
passions and appetites, unrestrained by an enlightened conscience and
cultivated understanding, lead him captive at their will; and his whole
character and condition strikingly prove, that, as a general rule, the
degradation of one part of man’s nature is the degradation of the whole.
Is his temporal condition abject, his body subjected to unremitting
toil?--his intellectual condition, too, is debased, and his mind
enslaved. Is his intellect uncultivated, and his moral nature
vitiated?--his outward appearance[2] and condition are degraded, rude,
and comfortless. The Sabbath, by the repose it affords, not only renews
man’s physical energy, renovates his animal system, it also qualifies
his mind to apply itself to self-culture and to the acquisition of
solid and useful knowledge. Nor does it stop here--it leaves him not
unaided and unguided to grope in darkness for the knowledge which is
essential to his well-being; it pours upon his path a flood of light,
opens wide the gate of knowledge, and bids him enter. It leaves him not
to mope alone over the dreamy speculations of sceptical philosophers
who have attained to no belief, who have no certainty or knowledge, but
have chosen their perpetual abode in those gloomy regions of darkness
where the dense fogs of doubt are for ever settled, till his mental
energy is exhausted and his mind unhinged. No; it calls him forth in
exulting joy to seek the society of his fellow-men, that mind may
awaken and strengthen mind, and heart warm heart--that they may ponder
together the meaning of facts--facts attested by incontrovertible
evidence--facts the most sublime and interesting that have ever engaged
the attention of man. It calls men together to study, in each other’s
society, a system of morality pure and perfect, founded upon these
facts. It furnishes him with subjects surpassingly glorious, in the
contemplation of which he may exert and cultivate his intellectual
powers. It inspires him with hopes which give him fortitude to endure
the unavoidable evils of his condition, and energy to surmount its
difficulties. Yes, the Lord’s day, with its communion with God, its
memorials, its exercises, its instructions, and its social intercourse,
ever as it returns gives a fresh impulse to human advancement. It is,
truly, a fountain whence spring innumerable benefits.
[2] This is strikingly verified by LAVATER, in his celebrated work on
Physiognomy.--ED.
Not only does each returning Sabbath give a new and powerful impetus to
man’s advancement in his heavenward course; but in so doing, it urges
him onward and upward in civilization, refinement and comfort.
A day of rest, of cessation from active and toilsome exertion, is,
doubtless, as ministering to the health and vigour of the animal
system, of immense value to working men. I have no hesitation, however,
in affirming, that, amongst those who view it in no other light than
as a day of rest and recreation, as a season set apart to no higher
purpose than that of refreshing and invigorating the body, it generally
fails of accomplishing even this: they almost invariably devote the
day to the service of their divers lusts and pleasures, while the
neglected appearance of their families, and the jaded and abused state
of their bodies, wofully testify to the degrading effects of misusing
its hallowed hours; and clearly demonstrate, that it is “_the Sabbath
of the Lord_,” the Lord’s day alone, as appointed by himself, which is
really calculated to benefit mankind, and not a day of man’s devising.
And why? Because the Sabbath-day is appointed by our all-wise Creator,
by Him who knoweth what is in man, and what is needful for man. And it
is exactly suited to man--it meets the wants at once of his physical
and intellectual constitution, and of his social and spiritual nature.
He who wears purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day,
whose hand has never been hardened, nor his brow moistened by toil,
whose every day makes him the companion and instructor of his family,
and who, fresh and unwearied, can seat himself in his quiet study, and
enjoy his daily returning hours of leisure, may slight the obligations
of the Sabbath, and break loose from its restraints, without, in the
eye of his fellow-man, appearing to suffer in mind, character, or
condition. But on him whose daily returning wants call for strenuous
and incessant exertion, that they may obtain a needful supply, the
abuse of Sabbath hours is soon visible in a beggared and degraded mind,
a depraved moral character, and a consequently degraded condition in
society; in squalid, untrained children, and a comfortless home; and
not unfrequently, in absolute want of the very necessaries of life.
It might easily be shown, that, among the numerous advantages which the
weekly rest affords the working man, is this, namely, that it gives him
its rest, without diminishing, in any degree, his means of subsistence
and comfort. By preventing the seventh day from being brought into
the labour market, it enables him to procure a remuneration for six
days’ labour equal to that which, were there no such day, he would be
able to obtain for seven. Although those who degrade the Sabbath from
its place as a religious institution, to a day of mere bodily rest
and recreation, enjoy this advantage in common with him who regards
the day in its proper character, as a day set apart for the public
worship of God and the study of his word; yet, they are generally by
far his inferiors in comfort and independence. It is no uncommon thing
to find them, while actually engaged in some kind of employment which
brings higher wages than the occupation followed by their neighbour
obtains, before the close of the week begging or borrowing from him the
necessaries of life. Few will have mingled much among labouring men and
their families, without meeting with many instances of this kind, all
demonstrating the truth of what has already been advanced, that it is
the Christian Sabbath, observed as appointed by our Lord himself, that
can ever really improve even the temporal character of the labourer,
and that no human institution ever can supply its place, or have the
same beneficial influence upon society.
To the husband and father, whose family require his daily labour for
their support, and who is anxious to impart to them that instruction
which is so necessary to the perfect and healthful development of their
mental powers, the Sabbath is of inestimable value. Dearly as he loves
to meet the joyous welcome of his little ones upon his return from
his day’s labour, pleasant as it is for him to enjoy their childish
prattle, while they are seated together around the evening fire, yet,
having just returned, exhausted by a day of toil, while they climb
his knee, and chat over the little adventures of the day, they are
more to him as playthings, than as beings the training of whose minds
and habits for after life is entrusted to him. This, during the six
days of labour, devolves, almost exclusively, upon the mother, or, as
is too often the case, it is utterly neglected, because it requires
the most incessant and laborious exertions of both father and mother
to enable them to obtain a subsistence for themselves and their
offspring; and were it not for the weekly return of Sabbath-rest, and
its opportunities for improvement, they would grow up untrained, as the
wild ass’s colt. But the Sabbath places the Christian father refreshed
and vigorous in the midst of his family, his mind enlightened and
enriched by its instruction, and his feelings soothed by its devotional
exercises; thus fitting him to impart instruction, in a manner at once
calculated to reach the understandings and win the hearts of his little
ones.
[Illustration:
See page 95]
What a delightful scene of tranquil enjoyment is to be met with in the
family of the labourer where the Sabbath is properly appreciated
and actively improved! Has the reader ever spent a Lord’s day in such
a family? has he seen the children, awaking from the light slumbers of
the morning, glance round on the more than usual order, cleanliness and
quiet of the humble apartment, and then ask, Mother, what day is this?
and heard the reply, This is the Sabbath, the best of all days, the day
which God has blessed! Has he seen their father dandling the baby, till
their mother should finish dressing the elder children, and then, when
all were ready, heard the little circle join in the sweet morning hymn,
and seen them kneel together, while their father offered up a simple,
but heart-felt thanksgiving for life, health, and reason preserved,
through the toils of another week; and for the privilege of being
again all permitted to enjoy, in each other’s society, the blessed
light of the first day of the week; that morning-light which brings
to mind an empty grave, and a risen Saviour; those peaceful hours
which, undisturbed by the labour, hurry, and anxieties of the week,
they can devote to the advancement of that spiritual life in their
souls, which shall outlive the destruction of death itself? Has he
heard the words of prayer, the questions of the father, and the replies
of the children; and has he not felt assured that the mind-awakening
influences of such subjects of thought, and such exercises, would be
seen in the after years of these children?