{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63764/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63764","id":"gutenberg_63764","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63764","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sabbath","Sunday"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1849 Partridge and Oakey edition by David Price.\n\n                [Picture: Decorative cover from pamphlet]\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   THE\n                   Chelsea Working-Man\u2019s Sabbath Essay.\n\n\n                                  ~~~~~~\n\n                              DIVINE MERCY;\n\n                                 OR, THE\n\n                   TEMPORAL ADVANTAGES OF THE SABBATH.\n\n                            INTERSPERSED WITH\n                          EXPOSTULATORY REMARKS.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                             BY GEORGE BRYAN,\n        ONE OF THE LATE COMPETITORS FOR THE SABBATH ESSAY PRIZES.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n    \u201c\u2019Tis not in artful measures, in the chime\n    And idle tinkling of a minstrel\u2019s lyre,\n    To charm His ear, whose eye is on the heart;\n    Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain,\n    Whose approbation prosper even mine!\u201d\u2014COWPER.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                  PARTRIDGE AND OAKEY, PATERNOSTER ROW;\n                  W. F. RAMSAY, BROMPTON ROW, BROMPTON;\n         J. L. POUTER, SLOANE STREET; AND D. ROBERTSON, GLASGOW.\n\n                                   1849\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 CHELSEA.\n                   PRINTED BY T. WILSHER, MANOR STREET.\n\n\n\n\nTO THE\nRIGHT HON. THE EARL OF HARROWBY,\n_&c. &c. &c._\n\n\nMY LORD,\n\nTowards the termination of the year 1847, J. Henderson, Esq., of Park,\nnear Glasgow, a gentleman distinguished for his piety and universal\nbenevolence, offered prizes for the three best Essays on \u201cthe Temporal\nAdvantages of the Sabbath, and the consequent necessity of preserving its\nrest from all the encroachments of unnecessary labour.\u201d  In the short\nspace of three months 1045 Essays were forwarded by Working-Men to the\nAdjudicators.  Some time afterwards, ten additional prizes were\nmunificently given by His Royal Highness Prince Albert, in addition to\nmany others which had been previously announced.\n\nOne month had elapsed before I was informed of the original intention,\nand at that period the health of my wife was in a very precarious state,\nbesides which I was myself labouring under great distress of mind.\nNotwithstanding these evident disadvantages, the subject being congenial\nto my feelings, I resolved on making an effort to express my individual\nviews respecting the temporal value and importance of the Sabbath-day.\n\nAlthough unsuccessful in obtaining a prize, there were reasons which\ninduced me to conclude that my Essay, in its original state, maintained a\nmost favourable position amidst the host of its competitors.  Since its\nreturn to me I have made several material amendments\u2014which I deem it\nright to acknowledge in justice to the arduous duties of the\nAdjudicators.  Several Inhabitants of Chelsea, who had perused my amended\nEssay, expressed a desire that it should be printed; and, having since\nreceived increased encouragement, I have been induced respectfully to\nsubmit it to the ordeal of Christian opinion.  It is entirely my own\ncomposition, even to its final revision for the press.\n\nIt may be necessary for me to inform your Lordship, in order to remove\nany doubts as to my being a working-man, that I was apprenticed to the\nlate Messrs. Tilling and Hughes, Printers, then of Grosvenor Row,\nPimlico; the latter gentleman was a son of the Rev. J. Hughes, M.A., one\nof the Founders of the British and Foreign Bible Society.\n\nPermit me, my Lord, to express now my heartfelt gratitude for the prompt\nand kind permission to dedicate the following feeble production to your\nLordship.  I am aware that it must be very imperfect, but I know that God\ncan impart a blessing even to the most apparently futile means to promote\nHis glory.\n\n                     I have the honor to be, my Lord,\n\n                               Your Lordship\u2019s obliged and humble Servant,\n                                                             GEORGE BRYAN.\n\n6, _Little Camera Street_, _King\u2019s Road_,\n                  _Chelsea_, _Oct._ 1849.\n\n\n\n\nDIVINE MERCY; _&c._\n\n\n    \u201cGod blessed the seventh-day, and SANCTIFIED it.\u201d\u2014GEN. ii. 2.\n\n    \u201cRemember the Sabbath-day to keep it HOLY.\u201d\u2014EXODUS xx. 8.\n\n    \u201cIf keeping holy the seventh-day were only an human institution, it\n    would be the best method that could have been thought of for the\n    polishing and civilization of mankind.\u201d\u2014ADDISON.\n\nBarren and debased must be that man who is insensible to the lovely\ncharacter and genial influences of the Sabbath-day!  It is a day on which\nthe heart, if only susceptible of the ordinary feelings of conviction,\nmust ever beat with the sweetest emotions of gratitude for the many\nblessings which it confers; for, in whatever condition we contemplate the\nvaried members of society, whether individually or collectively, it is\nalike beneficial and indispensable.  Hence the first dawn of the Sabbath\nbeams with sympathy towards every human creature.  To despise such an\ninvaluable boon\u2014by a wilful violation of the beneficent but absolute law\nof God\u2014is to be utterly regardless of life in this world, and to exhibit\nno desire to participate hereafter in the blissful joys of heaven!\n\nBut we have to consider more especially the temporal advantages to be\nderived from the Divine institution of the Sabbath.  It having been\nstated, however, that the working classes were willing to be employed on\nthis sacred day for the benefit of themselves and families, and that they\nwere indifferent to the agitation of our question, a few preliminary\nremarks cannot be considered as irrelevant; but, on the contrary, may\nfairly be admitted as introductory or collateral arguments in support of\nour general proposition.  We need not enter into any lengthened\ncontroversy to prove that the first statement is a mere subterfuge to\nevade the responsibility of Sabbath desecration, nor do we intend to\nrefer to any speculative opinions as to the causes of the asserted\ndeclension, as implied in the second declaration.  It will be sufficient\nto confine ourselves here, as we shall occasionally do throughout our\nobservations, to undeniable facts\u2014not offered in extenuation, but simply\nto account, if true, for such flagrant and sinful anomalies.\n\nDuring the last comparatively few years, in consequence of the vast\nincrease in the population, and a more universal extension of knowledge,\nmany great and salutary improvements have been adopted in this country.\nBut notwithstanding this, and all the continued indications of\nprogression, there is much over which the Christian must necessarily\ndeplore.  If the once quiet village has now become a populous town, and\nthe busy town a mighty city, it must be admitted, that, while these\nchanges are evidences of the magnitude of our trade, &c., they have also\nbeen accompanied by an immense amount of poverty, immorality, and\nirreligion. {7}  It is true also that the swampy level has been elevated\nand magnificent buildings now occupy its place, still the streams of\niniquity flow around them with almost irresistible rapidity.  The\nblessings of education have likewise been very properly diffused\u2014and it\nis to be hoped that they will be far more extended, and based on a\nrecognition of Christian principles\u2014yet who will deny that there is much\nin our literature, and more particularly in our minor publications, which\nsubvert the minds of youth, and too often lead them ultimately to\nentertain sentiments averse to religion, and detrimental to the general\ninterests of society?  Utilitarianism is not always associated with\nChristianity.  Again, the Beer Act Bill must ever be regarded as having\nhad a very injurious tendency on the morals of the rural and suburban\npopulations, while the costly edifices in our large towns and cities, for\nthe retail sale of ardent spirits, which have been so unaccountably\ntolerated and sanctioned by the Legislature, have most direfully\nincreased pauperism and crime.  Lastly, the labour performed by a large\nportion of the working classes has either been oppressive or altogether\ninadequate to their necessities.  Impelled by the current of trade on\nsome days with an impetuosity unknown to former ages, and soon afterwards\nstanding idle for many others on the bleak shore soliciting freight for\ntheir fragile vessels of industry\u2014if not carried away by the boisterous\nwaves of intemperance, or rendered incapacitated by previous merciless\nlengthened hours of labour\u2014the natural sensibilities of many among them\neven to appreciate the temporal advantages of the Sabbath very often\nbecome chilled, and when that blest morn arrives they are frequently\nenduring the greatest possible privations, or else secretly if not openly\nworking with an activity surpassing the legally appointed days for\nlabour.  Exposed to such temptations, or placed in such an uncertain\ncondition, uninfluenced by the rays of heavenly light, they consent to\nthe avaricious demands of their employers, fearful of dismissal from\ntheir ordinary toil as a consequence of their refusal, {8} and not\nunfrequently too become the deluded followers of men who are avowed\ndisbelievers in the truths of Christianity\u2014the blind adherents of what is\nfalsely called Socialism!  If, therefore, we have advanced in many\nrespects, it is equally evident that stagnant and putrifying waters are\nstill to be seen, in every direction, which emit a deadly influence over\nnearly the whole surface of the nation.\n\nIt must be obvious then, avoiding all remarks of a political nature, that\nthe present period is well-suited for the consideration of the temporal\nimportance of the Sabbath.  Without a _fixed_ Sabbath we should be\nreduced to a state of imbecility or else inflamed by unnatural\nexcitement, and the greatest disorder would prevail throughout society,\n{9} which would render us unable to devise means to remove acknowledged\nevils, and to maintain those laws which are truly valuable and essential.\nThe Sabbath affords a day for entire repose from all worldly cares, so\nthat we may be in a better state, at other times, to devise such\nbeneficial measures as cool deliberation might suggest.  The following\nwell-known lines, with the slight alteration of a word, may here be\nprofitably applied:\u2014\n\n    \u201cWould you then taste the tranquil scene?\n    Be sure your SABBATHS are serene;\n    Devoid of hate, devoid of strife,\n    And free from all that poisons life.\u201d\n\nHappy would it be for each of us if we possessed more of this necessary\nserenity of mind, and if all our efforts, whether in connection with\npolitics, science, social improvement, or our daily pursuits, were\nconducted in strict accordance with the revealed will of God!  The latter\nis an essential without which we can neither enjoy individual happiness\nor experience national mercies.  Past and present events most painfully\ndemonstrate that a country may abound with wealth; that it may be fertile\nin its productions and possess great resources, and that the\nphilanthropist may gaze with delight on its many noble Institutions;\nstill, if its inhabitants daringly attempt to abrogate the Divine law of\nthe Sabbath, a dark cloud will assuredly be seen that will cast a fearful\ngloom over the most highly-favoured land.  \u201cThere is none like unto thee,\nO Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.  Who would not\nfear thee, O King of Nations! for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as\namong all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there\nis none like unto thee.\u201d  Jer. x. 6, 7.\n\nWe will now proceed more in order with our subject, and, in doing so, it\nis necessary we should remember that we intend to confine ourselves\nalmost exclusively to \u201cthe temporal advantages of the Sabbath to the\nlabouring classes, and the consequent necessity of preserving its rest\nfrom all the encroachments of unnecessary labour.\u201d  This mode of\nprocedure is in agreement with the contemplated object, viz. to procure\nfrom the sons of toil themselves an evidence of the mercy and love of God\nin commanding one _special_ day in seven to be devoted for rest from\nlabour.  To contemplate and enforce the importance of the Sabbath, in a\nspiritual view, is a duty which is being continually discharged by the\nMinisters of religion.\n\n1.  The Sabbath is indispensable, as a day of rest, both to body and\nmind; without it neither could be exerted with natural vigour.\n\nThe BODY of man, although admirably adapted to perform the varied and\narduous duties of life, is nevertheless compared in Scripture to the\nfading flower and the withering blade of grass.  The material from which\nthe Creator formed us, in his infinite wisdom, seems at once to convey an\nidea of its frailty and tendency to bend downwards, when overcome by\nexcessive fatigue, to its separated component part.  This is confirmed by\nexperience, for we know that long continuous labour, without adequate\nrest, is certain to impair health, and to destroy the body before the\nallotted period for human existence.  The usual hours for repose,\nexcluding the Sabbath, are not sufficient to re-invigorate nature.  We\nneed not only to rest on our beds at night, but it is necessary that we\nshould rest at suitable short intervals for an entire day.  In thus\nreasoning, however, let it not be considered as encouraging slothfulness\nor inactivity in business.  Honest labour is an essential duty, the\nproper discharge of which is incumbent on us as members of the community,\nin order that we may supply our absolute necessities and procure the\nconveniences and comforts of life, by doing which we promote the general\nhappiness of mankind.  Religion and reason equally enforce it.  But\nslothfulness, or habitual idleness, is not justly attributable to the\nworking classes.  True, the number of those who are addicted to\nintemperance is very great, and it may be said of such that they are\nindolent men; yet, taking another view of them, they are the most\nslavish\u2014and they endure more bodily and mental fatigue than any others of\nthe human race\u2014\n\n                     \u201cLabour dire it is, and weary woe;\u201d\n\nbut our remarks have reference only to the excessive labour of the\nsteady, industrious, and persevering man.\n\nThis leads us to notice the close connection between the LATE HOUR SYSTEM\nand SABBATH DESECRATION\u2014a system which has been justly denounced as\n\u201creducing man to a state little short of slavery.\u201d  When God divided \u201cthe\nlight from darkness,\u201d there can be no doubt that one of His merciful\nobjects was to give us an opportunity to obtain suitable repose.  Indeed,\nthis is quite evident from many passages of Scripture which we might\nquote.  We will merely select one single sentence from the Psalms, to\nshew that night work is contrary to the general tenor of the Word of\nGod\u2014\u201cMan goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour, _until the\nevening_.\u201d  Here we see a clear and defined limitation to the hours of\nlabour.  To this it may be replied that the altered state of society\nrenders it necessary that men should toil much longer now than in more\nprimitive days.  We are perfectly aware that there may be occasional\nperiods, under peculiar circumstances, when this suggestion might be\nconsidered conclusive.  It is not, however, to the _occasional_ or\n_accidental_ infringement on an extra hour or two that we object\u2014it is to\nthe _system_ of compelling men, almost habitually, to labour far beyond\nthe period which DIVINE MERCY has evidently intended.  Is not this the\ncourse pursued in many of our workshops and in various retail trades?  It\nis a well-known fact, as regards the former, that it is a common practice\nfor the same men who have been toiling all the day to continue their\nlabour until a very late hour, if not throughout the whole night, and not\nunfrequently during the entire Sabbath-day!  What must be the melancholy\ncondition of the men and boys employed in such places?  The Sabbath is\nawfully desecrated; the doctrines and precepts of religion are rendered\nnugatory; public morals are totally disregarded; and the bodies and souls\nof youth and age are alike sacrificed as victims to the idol of the\nworld\u2014WEALTH!  Let us now refer to the indisputable testimony of Dr.\nJames COPLAND, who may be considered as one of the most eminent\nphysicians of the present day, in reference to the latter class:\u2014\u201cIt is\nwell-known to medical men that the labour in shops, which extends to\nfourteen or fifteen hours a day, is the most fruitful source of disease\nwhich is furnished in the Metropolis.  We are sure to see induced more or\nless slowly those insidious diseases which undermine the constitution,\nand which perpetuate themselves to the third or fourth generation.  I\nbelieve that no less than three-fourths of the diseases to which human\nlife is liable in the Metropolis actually arise from this cause.\u201d  What\nan awful subject does this afford for the serious consideration of\nmasters, parents, and especially the Christian community!  Nor is the\nmagnitude of this source of sickness, sorrow, and death, attested and\ndeplored alone by the Medical Profession.\n\nLord John RUSSELL says, \u201cIt is, I think, one of the greatest evils of\nthis country that toil has become so excessive, that all considerations\nof health\u2014all attention to intellectual improvement, and even all that\ntime which ought to be devoted to spiritual worship\u2014is lost in that\nexcess of labour which the people of this country are compelled to\nundergo.\u201d  Lord ASHLEY, in commending the efforts of \u201cThe Metropolitan\nEarly-Closing Association,\u201d {14} likewise most justly asserts, that \u201cthe\nstruggle which is taking place at the present time is neither more nor\nless than a great conflict between materialism and spirituality.  It is a\nstruggle between things temporal and things eternal\u2014it is a struggle\nbetween the creation of wealth and the objects for which wealth should be\ncreated.\u201d\n\nBut let us briefly reflect on the melancholy statement made by Dr.\nCopland, and we shall see that late hours of business inevitably destroy\nthe sacred character of the Sabbath, and cause many to spend it in some\nof those modes of desecration for which the facilities are now so\nnumerous and so seductive.  The Writer of this Essay has two sons who\nhave been brought up to respectable retail trades; the youngest was\ncompelled, some short time since, to attend a shop from seven in the\nmorning until eleven at night, and on Saturday it extended frequently to\none, making it nearly two o\u2019clock before he could possibly retire to\nrest.  When he came home, on the Sabbath, instead of being enabled to\nattend a Church or Chapel, it became absolutely necessary that he should\nagain obtain additional sleep during the greater part of the day, thus\ncompletely depriving him of the opportunity to be present in the\nsanctuary of God.  This youth formerly attended the Park Chapel Sabbath\nSchool, at Chelsea, and the conviction naturally is that to this\niniquitous and baneful cause may be attributed much of the demoralization\nwhich is so painfully apparent in many of those who have been similarly\ninstructed.\n\nThe present century has unquestionably presented some of the most\nmournful and singular anomalies which it is possible to conceive.  We\nhave seen the rich Indian Proprietor expending large sums of money in\nthis country for general charitable purposes, and devoting his most\npowerful energies to obtain justice for every British subject, while, at\nthe same time, the winds that howled around him, as he softly reposed on\nhis luxurious couch, echoed an appeal from his more distant fellow-man to\nbe emancipated from the chains of slavery!  Nor has the conduct of _some_\nemployers towards their workmen been less paradoxical, although the\nnature of their oppression has been of a widely different character.\nThey seem not to understand that there are relative essentials, secondary\nonly to the payment of wages, which it is their duty to encourage and not\nto oppose.  As we shall, however, have occasion to refer to such\ninstances, as we proceed, it is unnecessary now to dilate on them.  It\nwill be seen that the inconsistencies to which we allude are subversive\nto the best interests of masters, and are still more injurious to those\nthey employ\u2014they excite more debasing desires, which unfit them for\nlabour, and they snap asunder the link of confidence and kindly feeling\nwhich ought ever to unite them.  Alas! how many seem to consider the poor\nlabouring man almost as a mere machine, without a frame susceptible of\nfatigue, destitute of the least intelligence, and without a soul to be\nsaved!\n\nIt appears quite unnecessary further to prove that the seventh-day is\nabsolutely requisite for bodily rest, even were the hours for labour\nlimited universally to a just and natural period.  Ask the poor factory\nchildren, the domestic servant, the apprentice boy, the mechanic, the men\nwho work in pits and mines, the ill-paid but industrious needlewomen, the\ntradesman and the shopman, the merchant, the man of literature and\nscience, the senator\u2014nay, ask our august and beloved QUEEN and her ROYAL\nCONSORT\u2014each will readily acknowledge the vast utility of the Sabbath as\nan indispensable means to maintain their bodily strength.\n\n    \u201cRest! without thee what strength can long survive,\n    What spirit keep the flame of Hope alive?\u201d\u2014BLOOMFIELD.\n\nAll nature is loud in its cries for rest.  The powerful horse becomes\nweary, and treads instinctively into his stable, and the little birds are\nglad to rest on the slender branches of a tree.  It is the universal\nrequirement of all animated creatures.\n\nThe MIND, if it is possible to consider it as distinct from the body,\nequally demands the preservation of the Sabbath.  The entire separation\nof them, however, is impracticable.  We all know that it is impossible to\nproceed advantageously with our daily employment if the mind is not\nintently fixed on the object of labour.  When oppressed, by unremitting\nexertion, it is deprived of its influence, and cannot effectually govern\nthe actions of the body.  It would be, indeed, as absurd to suppose a man\ncould perform his work, under such circumstances, as it would be for him\nto expect the corn to ripen without the genial influence of the rays of\nthe sun.  The supposition is not tenable.  Whenever the mind appears to\ntriumph over the body it is caused by violent excitement, passion, or\npowerful stimulants, which operate on the brain, the organ of the mind,\nso as to effect temporarily the mechanism of the body, as with those who\nresort to spirituous liquors, {18} after a hard day\u2019s work, to deaden the\ndepressive sensations produced by subsequent prostration of strength.\nBut this instantaneous relief is only of short duration\u2014it is, in fact,\nthe brain and mind operating conjointly on the body in the same manner,\nonly _at first_ in a less degree, as it does on the maniac!  The ultimate\neffect of a stimulated brain is to corrode and weaken the mind, and, when\nthis is the case, the brightness of its comprehension is at once\ndarkened.  We will endeavour to proceed a little further with this very\nimportant part of our subject, as drunkenness, by producing a temporary\naberration of the mind, is one of the principal causes of the desecration\nof the Sabbath.\n\nThe clouds are generally said to be formed of the vapours and moisture of\nthe earth, and the body of man was created from the dust of the earth.\nThere is here something like an analogy, viewing the body previous to\nlife being imparted, which, although it may appear in some respects not\nquite parallel, we will admit to be so.  The beauty of an evening cloud\nis caused by the reflection of the sun, which gives to it various bright\nhues and colours.  Without such an agency it would impart no pleasure\nwhatever to the eye of the beholder.  The body of man, too, became\nappreciated only when it received vitality from the Creator.  We here\nperceive two evident influences\u2014a lesser and a much greater\u2014the\nbrilliancy of the rays of the sun on the otherwise darksome cloud, and\nthe pure breath of the Almighty infused into worthless dust!  Let the\nsplendid sun withdraw, by the power of Omnipotence, and the cloud\nimmediately loses its attraction\u2014it is then simply the vapours and the\nmoisture of the earth.  Now, the mind\u2014which may be considered as the\nintellectual luminary\u2014gives value to the body, and excites likewise\nterrene attraction, in the same manner, although in a far more important\nsense.  But if the mind is obscured, the capabilities of the body are\ndeteriorated, while the cloud, notwithstanding the absence of its\nbeauteous influence, retains its original ordained utility.  Rain\ndescends from it, which refreshes the inhabitants of the earth, and makes\nall nature smile.  Man, when his body is greatly depressed, although the\nmind is partially operating on it, becomes an abject mass\u2014of no benefit\nto his fellow-creatures.  Still, let it not be forgotten, that the mind\nis the _expression_ of the soul, and that the soul will exist when all\nclouds and this earth shall have passed away for ever!  How important is\nit, then, to preserve the mind, seeing that it governs the body, the\nactions of which, if not directed by the Spirit of God, decide the\neternal destiny of the soul!  What, we ask, can possibly more effectually\nmaintain both body and mind in their primitive vigour\u2014so as to enable us\nnot only to discharge satisfactorily our relative duties in this world,\nbut to share that sweet and eternal \u2018rest which remaineth for the people\nof God\u2019\u2014than the strictest adherence to the Divine commandment, \u201cRemember\nthe Sabbath-day to keep it holy?\u201d\n\n2.  The Sabbath is necessary for the preservation of health, on account\nof the impurities of the atmosphere, arising from a variety of pernicious\ncauses.\n\nThe unwholesome impregnations of the atmosphere, in densely populated\ncities and towns, afford another reason for strictly enforcing the Divine\nlaw as regards working on the Sabbath.  The great amount of mortality,\nattributable to this cause, has of late happily excited the most intense\ninterest.  It appears that many thousands of the labouring classes are\nannually consigned to the grave through inhaling obnoxious air.  If we\nrequired proof of this fact we need only observe the pallid cheeks and\nsunken eyes of too many working-men\u2014not those who are unemployed, and are\nin a destitute condition, but those who labour daily in places and\nsituations where the refreshing breeze never scarcely penetrates.  We may\nattribute much of this to the erection of Gas Works, Varnish and other\nManufactories, which emit their abominable and destructive effluvia in\nthe very centre of our large cities and towns.  To the men employed in\nsuch places, and to the inhabitants who dwell around them, how peculiarly\nbeneficial must be the return of the Sabbath!  Again, fully admitting the\nundeniable fact that gas is an incalculable benefit, we know that to toil\nthroughout six evenings in the week, and occasionally whole days at\nparticular seasons of the year, in addition to the oppression arising\nfrom breath and the frequent want of proper ventilation, particularly\nwhere there are many men employed in the same room, too often terminates\nin Consumption, {21} or some other fatal disease.  Gas is of great\nutility; but if, for illustration, the sun reflected equal intensity of\nheat _every day_ alike, it would not only destroy all vegetation but\nevery human creature\u2014withholding its influence at intervals, when it\nshines forth with meridian splendour, it makes the seed prosperous, the\nvine fruitful, and imparts cheerfulness to man.  Thus it is as respects\ngas, the Sabbath is a grateful relief, and affords a highly necessary\ncessation to re-supply the waste of strength which is incurred by it.\n\nWe might proceed to a very considerable length with this part of the\ndivision of our subject, but it really would appear superfluous.  The\nfollowing startling and melancholy facts must be considered conclusive.\nIn a late Return of the Registrar-General, it is stated, that the average\nlife of a gentleman in London is 43, while that of the artizan, &c., is\nbut 22 years!  The same official document informs us that the chances of\ndying among men above 35 years, in London, is to that in the country as\nthree to two!  With such statements before us, is it not a duty we owe to\nourselves and families to maintain inviolably the Sabbath?  It was\nordained by the Creator in mercy to man, and shall we daringly reject and\ndespise such a gracious boon?\n\nSome latitudinarian and impious persons have boldly asserted that the\nlabouring classes have no desire for religious instruction\u2014on what\npositive evidence this general accusation is made it is impossible to\nconceive\u2014and that therefore the Sabbath may as well be considered as an\nordinary day.  This idea is as unjust as it is monstrous.  Because the\nSabbath is not by the majority esteemed as a sacred day, is that a\nsufficient reason why it should be desecrated by labour?  Many do exhibit\nan utter indifference to its lovely character and genial influences, but\nare others in consequence to be deprived of its inestimable blessings,\nand are the great mass of the people tacitly to bow with submission at\nthe shrine of infidelity?  Because many descend into the dark abyss, are\nnone to take their flight to heaven?  It has been said, likewise, that\nmany young men, not so utterly debased, make our foregoing argument a\npretext for resorting to distant places where the Sabbath is most\ndaringly profaned, and where maddening pleasure is the sole inducement,\nand that the occasional restriction of employment is of no importance.\nTo admit the soundness of this expedient defence would be to destroy all\nreligious and moral obligations.  The _natural_ inclinations of youth are\nthoughtless and volatile, and it is the duty of the more reflecting\nportion of the community to check their vicious career, by pourtraying\nthe inevitable fatal consequences which must ultimately attend them.\nPerhaps the following beautiful lines, which convey a just and stern\nreproof, may possibly attract the attention of some among the number:\u2014\n\n    \u201cThy thoughts are vagabond; all outward bound;\n    \u2019Midst sands, and rocks, and storms, to cruise for pleasure;\n\n                                  * * * * *\n\n    Fancy and sense, from an infected shore,\n    Thy cargo brings, and pestilence the prize.\u201d\u2014YOUNG.\n\nBut, happily, there are multitudes of working-men and youths who \u201ccall\nthe Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable,\u201d and who look\nforward to its return, in order to enjoy its spiritual as well as\ntemporal advantages, with almost more anxiety than the husbandman, in\nanticipation of his gains, to the produce of a bountiful harvest.\nWithout a Sabbath man would become puerile, sickly, and spiritually dead.\n\n3.  The Sabbath affords an opportunity to the labouring classes to attend\nto one of the greatest social duties\u2014CLEANLINESS.\n\nIf there is any truth in the preceding remarks, the necessity for keeping\nthe body properly cleansed, and changing every seventh day our\nhabiliments, is so palpable that any arguments to enforce either the one\nor the other would almost appear unnecessary.  Let us reflect, however,\nfor a short time on this part of our subject.  The injurious properties\nmixed up in the materials used by many trades are of a nature that\nrequire more than customary slight ablutions to prevent them from\npenetrating into the system.  When the working-man returns to his home,\nat night, he is generally so exhausted that he finds scarcely the least\ndisposition to undergo the process of \u201ca thorough good wash;\u201d and, in\ntruth, although in no respect regardless of becoming decency, or ignorant\nof the benefits which it would confer on his health, he rests satisfied,\n_for this once_, with a slight rince of the hands and face, if he does\nnot yield to the suggestion that it may be dispensed with altogether\u2014but\n\u201cthis once\u201d has sometimes no defined period for termination, at least not\nuntil the Sabbath morning arrives.  In such cases, considering the short\ntime allotted for social and other purposes, and the great depression of\nbody and mind, the evil is more the result of uncontrollable causes than\nof wilful disinclination to perform a salutary duty.  There is, however,\nno palliation for an habitual daily deviation from a procedure which is\nso highly beneficial to health and comfort.  But, observe this toil-worn\nlabourer on the Sabbath, and then there will be seen a man whose general\nappearance denotes that he is fully sensible of the advantages to be\nderived from cleanliness.  It is, nevertheless, much to be regretted that\nany portion of the working classes should be so much harassed, when in\nemployment, as to render it justifiable that a considerable portion of\nthe early part of the Sabbath should be devoted to such necessary\npurposes, in order thoroughly to purify themselves for another week.\nStill, in a temporal view, how salutary is the seventh-day to these\nindividuals!  There are others for whom we can offer no such excuse\u2014who\nseem to place no value whatever on propriety of appearance, and who\ndisplay no outward respect for a proper observance of the Sabbath.  The\ncharacters to whom we here allude may be seen standing at the corners of\nour streets, or strolling along the public pathways, covered with the\ndirt of their weekly occupation on the Sabbath morning.  These men\naltogether reject the implantation of wholesome and necessary duties.\nThe orderly and cleanly apartment of an industrious wife affords them no\ndelight.  They can witness, unmoved by shame, their neighbours dressed in\ntheir best attire, and many of them repairing, with cheerful hearts, to\nthe house of God.  These latter partake even now in part of the eternal\nrest of heaven!\n\n                 \u201cThe Sabbath gathers to their common home.\u201d\n\nBut it may be truly said of the former that they have not yet learnt\n\u201cwhat is their chief business upon earth, and what is the reckoning that\nawaits them at the Divine Tribunal.\u201d\n\nAnother class of working-men habituate themselves to a custom, in some\ntrades more prevalent than in others, which is particularly censurable,\nand the impropriety of which deserves their most serious consideration.\nWe refer to the practice of wearing an apron on the morning of the\nSabbath.  Surely the journeyman and the labourer behold the emblem of\ntoil sufficiently during the six days without unnecessarily exposing it\nto public gaze on the Sabbath-day!  It is a usage which is generally\ncondemned.  The worldling objects to the practice, because it does not\nharmonize with the fashions and gaieties of life; the moralist\ndisapproves of it as not consonant with secular polity; but the Christian\ncondemns it, from a pure and holy motive, as giving countenance to a\nbreach of the law of God!\n\nStill, notwithstanding, how delightful it is to observe the universal\nappearance of cleanliness on the Sabbath-day!  In whatever house we\nenter, with few exceptions, we see on this special day every thing in\ncomparative order; the inmates neatly attired, and the furniture cleansed\nand placed in its proper position.  If we look at the exterior of our\ndwellings, we see a public evidence of the value of female industry.\nWithout a stated Sabbath this could not be the case.  One family would\nselect a different day to another, while the sloven, not being forced by\ngeneral example, would certainly pay far less attention to the discharge\nof these salutary duties.  Indeed, it is very doubtful, under such\naltered circumstances, whether contagious or other diseases would not\ndepopulate, to a most awful extent, the inhabitants of our crowded cities\nand towns.  Thus we again see the importance of the Sabbath, as regards\ncleanliness, both to individuals and the nation. {27}\n\n4.  The Sabbath is essential for the preservation of SIGHT.\n\nMuch as we are impressed with the wonderful construction of the various\nparts of the human frame, in respect to their applicability to perform\nthe respective functions assigned to them, the eye unquestionably creates\nthe greatest interest, on account of its vast utility, the Divine\ningenuity of its mechanism, and its liability to receive injury from the\nslightest accidental cause.  The sight is one of the most invaluable\nblessings.  The rich who are deprived of the faculty of vision, although\nthey may possess extensive domains in a country whose vallies are as\nEschol, whose forests are as Carmel, and whose hills are as Lebanon,\ncannot enjoy the magnificence and beauty of the scenery which surrounds\nthem; but they can listen with almost unalloyed pleasure to the melodious\nnotes of the warbling bird, or to the sweet and powerful intonations of\nmusical sounds, and their wealth supplies every other earthly luxury and\nenjoyment, which tends materially to lessen the otherwise severe\npoignancy of their deprivation.  How widely different is the melancholy\nsituation of the labouring man, when his eyes are impaired by weakness or\ndisease, or when he is totally deprived of sight!  At once he is reduced\nto abject poverty, and becomes either the recipient of private charity,\nor the inmate of a workhouse.  The fine landscape, much as he too may\ndesire to gaze on it, is to him of trifling or no consideration\u2014it will\nnot satisfy the hungry stomach, nor shelter the body from the midnight\nblast!  Such is the mournful effect of the loss of sight to the labouring\nclasses.  How important is it, then, that they should avail themselves of\nevery established right to abstain from work, in order that this\nsusceptible and essential faculty may receive additional strength?\n\nWe have previously shown that the prolonged hours of labour are\nincompatible with bodily health and mental vigour, and that the Sabbath\nis absolutely requisite to enable man to perform his accustomed\nemployment\u2014so it is with regard to the eye.  The vision is affected by\nlengthened intensity of observation on any one particular object.  It\nrequires variety and relief, both of which the Creator has abundantly\nprovided.  The variegated flowers, the different shades of colour in\nminerals, the lofty trees and the little plants, the mountainous\ndistricts and the level plains, the brilliant and diversified hues that\nfrequently decorate the heavens, all combine to testify that the eye\ncannot retain its perfection, if it is continually fixed on the same\nscene.  The poor needlewomen, who sit the entire day, and sometimes do\nnot cease from their tedious and spirit-subduing work until the light\ndawns on the following morning, afford a very striking exemplification of\nthe great and unspeakable advantages of the Sabbath.  What would be their\nsad condition\u2014wretched and deplorable even as it is now\u2014were it not that\non the seventh day the eye was relieved of its monotonous and weary\napplication?  Alas! many of these pitiable females, even with this\ngracious opportunity to repair the injury inflicted by almost incessant\ntoil, are often at an early age incapacitated, by defective vision, from\npursuing their ill-paid occupations, and are then left destitute of their\nformer scanty pittance to procure even sufficient sustenance to preserve\nlife.  Take, also, the men who work in pits and mines\u2014where the\nglimmering lamp is the only source of light, and where all else around is\nchaotic darkness\u2014how essential and benignant must be the Sabbath to them!\nDefective vision would completely prevent such men from pursuing their\nhazardous employment.  Thus we once more prove the temporal advantages of\nthe Sabbath to the labouring population.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nHaving directed our attention to these four important divisions of our\nsubject, we will now proceed to make some promiscuous observations in\nconnection with them.  Reckless competition, in order to acquire wealth\nat all hazards in an unusually short period\u2014not the competition which\nemanates from a natural and laudable desire to increase trade by\nequitable and just efforts\u2014and the secret influence of infidel\nimpressions, may generally be considered as the two primary causes of\n\u201cSunday labour.\u201d  The plea of necessity cannot be admitted.  We often\nhear it asserted, however, especially in reference to the periodical\npress, that there exists this \u2018necessity,\u2019 in order that the public may\nnot be disappointed in receiving on a precise day their publications.\nBut surely the page of classic lore, or the Magazine of Literature, Arts,\nand Sciences\u2014the bright gems of civilization\u2014need not the foul impress of\nSabbath labour!  A very little judicious extra arrangement would render\nit entirely unnecessary, and the same remark is applicable to every other\ndescription of work on the seventh-day.  Is it not a most humiliating and\ndistressing fact, that, on some of the most interesting and valuable\nliterary and scientific productions of the present age, there are\nthousands employed on the Sabbath-day?  It is impossible to contemplate\nthe probable baneful effects, which are almost certain to be produced on\nthe minds and bodies of those industrious young females who on that day\nfold and stitch the sheets, without apprehending the most fearful\nconsequences, even as regards their temporal welfare.  The statistics of\nPolice Courts disclose many melancholy facts in corroboration of this\nalmost general result.  Now, will any reflecting practical man justify\nthe word \u2018necessity\u2019 as applied to this description of Sabbath\ndesecration?  None whatever.  Then there can be no vindication for an\nunnecessary act which is so injurious to morality, and which induces so\nfrightfully to the commission of sin.  It is quite clear, as regards the\ngeneral performance of trade labour, that, if consistency of moral\nprinciple\u2014we say nothing of religious conviction\u2014was duly appreciated, a\nmost cheerful negative would be given to all such propositions, the\nresult of which would be far more satisfactory at the termination of the\nyear.\n\nWe must not pass over the sad condition of many of the journeyman\ntailors.  Here is a trade where it may be truly said that \u2018reckless\ncompetition has destroyed by want, or excessive labour, hundreds of its\nmembers,\u2019 and has undoubtedly led them to disregard the Divine origin and\ntemporal advantages of the Sabbath.  We will prove our assertion.  Many\nof the fashionable master tailors, as well as the large establishments\nwhich continually advertise cheap clothing, allow the work to be taken by\nthe journeymen to their own lodgings, or some hired room for the purpose,\nwhere, according to one of their statements, \u201cthe families of those\nunfortunate men are in a great measure totally neglected, their wives\nbecome careless and void of all cleanliness, and often contaminated by\nthe obscene language of the men, even while at work frequently during the\nSunday.\u201d  If we look at the splendid shops of their employers on the\nSabbath, we see every outward indication of a strict observance of it\u2014but\nturn to the above demoralized neighbourhood, glance at the filthy garret,\nand what a wretched and revolting scene is exhibited!  The heart sickens\nwith disgust, pity is mingled with abhorrence.  What can such masters\noffer in extenuation for such wilful neglect of the religious, moral, and\nsocial happiness of those they employ?\n\nIn speaking to a very poor journeyman tailor, some short time since, he\nsaid it was not an unusual circumstance for him to be employed on the\nSunday in making a suit of mourning\u2014a very frequent but reprehensible\npractice which prevails amongst dress-makers, &c.\u2014and that often they\nwere the garments intended to be worn by those he esteemed as Christian\nindividuals, who, if they had thought that such must have been the case,\nwould most assuredly not have permitted it.  The Christian community must\nbe held responsible for much of this species of Sabbath labour.  We do\nnot expect the worldly-minded would forego any desired request, but the\nmembers of a Christian church\u2014those who profess to love God\u2014we have a\nright to conclude would delay for a short time, by making some temporary\nsubstitution, what otherwise must be considered as one of the last\nmanifestations of mournful respect to a deceased friend or relative.  It\nwould be well if Ministers of religion would occasionally impress on\ntheir congregations the possibility of their becoming, through an\ninconsiderate desire to have their orders completed at a certain\nunreasonably short period, the unintentional instruments of sin in this\nway.  In most cases the \u2018necessity\u2019 might be easily removed.  Let the\ntradesman frankly state that Sabbath labour must be the consequence of\ncompliance, and that the command of God is clear and imperative: \u201cSix\ndays shalt thou labour, and do all thy work.  But the seventh day is the\nSabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.\u201d  There\ncan be no doubt that the effect of such a reply would be, as an especial\nmark of approbation for his pure and conscientious motives, the\nrecommendation of many additional customers.  But the truth is that many\nemployers are apprehensive that they may disoblige their patrons, and to\nsecure their support, as they think, they sacrifice the health and\nhappiness of their workmen, and destroy any latent inclination to the\nformation of religious habits.\n\nMuch of the discontent and bad feeling, which at present exists between\nworking-men and their employers, might be removed if the Apostle\u2019s\ninjunction was more mutually respected:\u2014\u201cLook not every man on his own\nthings, but every man also on the things of others.\u201d  Is this the\nprinciple manifested in the present day?  We admit our many\ndelinquencies, but are not many masters equally culpable?  It has been\nalready proved.  If employers evince no sympathy for the steady and\nattentive workman\u2014if they view him as a mere inanimate instrument to be\nused only as occasion requires, without the least knowledge of his social\ncondition, and utterly regardless of his happiness, what otherwise can\nnaturally be expected than that he should be indifferent to the promotion\nof their interests?  The subject is a serious one, and it is to be hoped\nthat these observations will tend to check a continuance of such\nunquestionable evils, and to create a more reciprocal feeling of\ngood-will between them.  The situation of the working population is at\npresent most painful, and we unhesitatingly affirm that Sabbath\ndesecration renders it still more so.  Man in general, by strictly\nadhering to an observance of this sacred day, would possess not only\ngreat temporal advantages, but enjoy an inward peace the value of which\nthe wealth of this world cannot purchase.\n\nIt will be well here to remember that it is the _universal_ observance of\nthe Sabbath which is commanded.  The day was made for man\u2014not for a\nportion of the human race\u2014and it is consequently a general law, which, as\nregards at least public labour, {35} cannot be accommodated to suit the\ncircumstances or peculiar dispositions of any class of individuals.  This\nremark is extremely applicable to railway and other excursions on the\nSabbath.  We are fully aware that the above mode of reasoning is not\ncongenial to the natural inclinations of man, and that some very\napparently plausible objections are frequently urged to prove its\nfallacy.  The only course, however, which the Christian can take to\ndecide the question is by a direct reference to the Word of God.  There\nis nothing contained in the Bible which is inimical to the welfare of\nmankind.  The restraints which it imposes are in reality the most evident\nproofs of the love of God.  Whatever He has commanded, we may rest\nassured is for the universal benefit of His creatures.  The believer is\nexperimentally acquainted with this fact, and he therefore considers a\ncheerful and strict obedience to the laws of God both a duty and a\ndelight.  Now, in reference to the great national and social importance\nof railways, it must be admitted that the most evident general beneficial\nproposition may be alloyed with objectionable considerations, the\ndismemberment of which is a positive duty.  Such is the view which the\nChristian takes of railway and steam-boat excursions on the Sabbath.  But\nit is said that they are indispensable for the preservation of the health\nof the labouring population.  It is true that rational recreation and\ndiversified scenes are essential to them, still, we must repeat the\nquestion, Why should the hours for labour be so protracted that the\nSabbath must be almost exclusively devoted to temporal enjoyments?  The\npoor man has no just right to work in this way until his strength is so\ncompletely exhausted that it becomes a \u2018necessity\u2019\u2014in order to preserve\nhis very existence\u2014that he should violate the command of his merciful\nCreator.  Is the Sabbath the only day when the labourer is to partake of\nthe sweet fruits of his industry?  Are all the endearments of life, the\ncaresses of his children, and the comforts of the domestic circle, to be\nonly enjoyed by him on the Sabbath?  Is his little garden, should he\nhappily possess one, to exhibit nothing but wild weeds throughout the\nyear unless he cultivates it on the Sabbath?  The evergreen and the\nbeauteous flower would equally as well thrive in the soil that is\nattached to the humble abodes of the mechanic and labourer, provided they\nhad time to attend to this elevating source of delight, {36} as they do\nin the ornamental parterres of the rich in this world.  Again, we ask,\nwhy should every moral, intellectual, and social duty be reserved for\nperformance on the Sabbath?  Those who advance such false sympathy for\nthe working classes are themselves supporting a system which perpetuates\ninjustice and deprives the poor of true earthly happiness.  Let the\nadvocates of Sabbath railway and steam-boat excursions apply their minds\nmore closely to the consideration of our social condition, and they will\nlearn that the \u2018necessity\u2019 is to be solely attributed to the avaricious\nor thoughtless disposition of man, in despite of the intervention of a\nmerciful Creator.  The defence is a most wilful imputation on the wisdom\nand universal beneficence of God.  A strict compliance with the Divine\nlaw, in any state of society, infuses peace and joy into the dwellings of\nthe poor, and sheds a bright beam of hope across the rugged path they\ntread!\n\nWe cannot avoid here referring to a reply, and to a certain extent a just\none, which is almost invariably made whenever any remark is offered\nrespecting the desecration of the Sabbath either by labour, railway and\nsteam-boat excursions, or by journeys taken in vehicles.  Not to do so\nwould be partial and unjust.  The reference is to the number of\ncarriages, belonging to the wealthy, which are seen in the metropolis on\nthat sacred day.  It is easy to understand the motives which govern the\nfashionable _\u00e9lite_, who exhibit their splendid equipages in our\nbeautiful national Parks on the Sabbath, but it appears and is altogether\ncontradictory when we see the more reflecting and domestic portion of the\nNobility and Gentry pursuing the same gay and sinful practice, and thus\nsetting a baneful example to those around them who occupy a more humble\nposition in life.  \u201c_They_ have,\u201d it is said, \u201csix other days in the week\nwhen they can take their salutary \u2018carriage-airings\u2019\u2014it is not so with\nthe poor mechanic.\u201d  Nor can we pass unnoticed the number of carriages\nwhich are seen every Sabbath at the entrances to our Churches and\nChapels\u2014even while some faithful Minister of Christ is sounding the\ntrumpet of alarm to impenitent sinners\u2014with the servants waiting outside,\nunconscious of the awful warnings which are being uttered within those\nsacred edifices.  Can it be said, in all such cases, that bodily\ninfirmity, age, distance, or even the state of the weather, renders it\nnecessary?  Does it not more resemble the boisterous and imperious\nswellings of the reckless wave than the gentle flowings of the calm\nwaters?  While such inconsistencies prevail, the infidel will exult for a\ntime over his supposed triumph, the ribaldist will continue to sneer at\nthe efforts of Christians, and the more cautious worldling will not fail\nto advance it as a justification for Sabbath desecration.\n\nLet us now make a few consecutive observations on the religious, moral,\nand social divisions of our subject.  At the commencement nearly of this\nEssay, we observed that it was the temporal advantages of the Sabbath to\nwhich our especial attention was to be directed; but true morality,\nsocial happiness, and even intellectual attainments, are all so closely\nblended with religion, or ought to be, that they cannot properly be\nseparated.  \u201cIt would be absurd,\u201d says a popular author, \u201cto treat first\nof the advantages of virtue, and next of those of justice or temperance,\nbecause the first head evidently comprehends the second.\u201d  So it would be\nif we were to attempt to exclude religion from the consideration of moral\nand social principles.  Religion is the parent, and the others are the\nlegitimate offspring.  This has been most eloquently enforced by a writer\nwell-known for his piety:\u2014\u201cEvery thing which wants religion wants\nvitality.  Philosophy without religion is crippled and impotent; poetry\nwithout religion has no heart-stirring powers; life without religion is a\ncomplex and unsatisfactory riddle: the very arts which address themselves\nto the senses, never proceed so far towards perfection as when employed\non religious subjects.\u201d  May we not, then, fairly attribute the failure\nof many schemes, intended to improve the condition of the working\npopulation, to the entire absence of religious considerations?  Such\npropositions may be congenial to the thoughtless multitude and the\ninfidel, but they invariably terminate in disappointment\u2014because the\noverruling providence of God is not acknowledged, nor are His daily\nmercies at all recognised.\n\nWe will now first notice the origin of the Divine obligation for ceasing\nfrom labour on the Sabbath.  It is not essential that we should here\ndiscuss the question respecting the Christian or Jewish observance of it,\nnor is it absolutely material whether it is designated the Lord\u2019s-Day,\nthe Sabbath, or Sunday, although the two former appear to be the most\nappropriate. {40}  There can be no doubt, notwithstanding all that may be\nadvanced to the contrary, that the Sabbath was instituted by God at the\ncreation of the world.  \u201cThe heavens and the earth were finished, and on\nthe seventh-day God ended his work which he had made; and God blessed the\nseventh-day and SANCTIFIED it.\u201d  If there is any intelligible inference\nto be drawn from this simple narration, it must be plain that it was the\nDivine intention to separate one day from the other six for sacred and\ndevotional purposes, and to afford man an opportunity to obtain repose\nfrom labour.  God not only blessed this day, but he _sanctified_ it,\nthereby imparting to it a peculiar heavenly and hallowed influence.  We\nwill pass over any intermediate passage in the Old Testament which might\nbe brought forward to prove our conclusion, and quote the positive\ncommand given by God on Mount Sinai\u2014\u201c_Remember_ the Sabbath-day to keep\nit HOLY.\u201d  Here is a plain and indisputable enforcement of the original\nobligation, laid on man, to preserve the Sabbath as a previously\n_sanctified_ day.  The same injunction, in a variety of ways, is enforced\nthroughout the entire Word of God.  If, in the New Testament, it is not\nso explicitly commanded, there are abundant instances where Christ\nhimself inculcated and respected a proper observance of the Sabbath.  The\nearly Christians universally considered it as a sacred day, and nearly\nall the ancient writers testify to its being a day set apart for at least\noutward recognition.  Josephus asserts, \u201cThere is no city or nation,\nGreek or Barbarian, in which the custom of resting on the seventh-day is\nnot preserved.\u201d  Philo Jud\u00e6us declares, \u201cIt is a festival celebrated not\nonly in one city, but throughout the whole world.\u201d  Justin Martyr also\nsays, \u201cWe all meet together on Sunday (_diem Solis_), on which God having\nchanged Darkness and Matter, created the world; and on this day Jesus\nChrist our Saviour arose from the dead.\u201d  This last record particularly\nconfirms our previous assertion respecting the origin of the Sabbath.\nThese questions now naturally arise:\u2014Shall the present generation\nimpiously attempt to disannul the prim\u00e6val law of God, which all ages\nhave formally respected?  Is the power of wealth to bid defiance to the\neternal law of God?  Are the pleasures and luxuries of this world to be\nheld in higher estimation than the undescribable joys of heaven?  Is\ninfidelity, in a word, to triumph over Christianity?  The Writer must\nhere pause and seriously reflect, and he entreats the reader to do so\nlikewise, on the melancholy if not awful consequences that have befallen\nindividuals, even in this world, who have wilfully violated the\nSabbath-day.  TRUTH MAY WHISPER DIVINE MERCY RESCUED THEE. * * * If we\nhave done so in an humble and contrite spirit, we ought at once to\nexclaim, with the penitent Psalmist, \u201cHave mercy upon me, O God,\naccording to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy\ntender mercies blot out my transgressions.\u201d\n\nThe adoption of this course will assuredly lead to a great improvement in\nour present temporal condition.  The testimony of Judge Hale, although so\nfrequently adduced, seems to force itself on the memory:\u2014\u201cI have found,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cthat a due observing of the duty of the Lord\u2019s-day hath ever\njoined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time; and the week that hath\nbeen so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and, on the other\nside, when I have been negligent of the duties of that day, the rest of\nthe week hath been unsuccessful, and unhappy to my secular employments.\u201d\nBut what is the assurance and the promise contained in the Word of God?\n\u201cBlessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.\u201d  Isaiah\nlvi. 2.  \u201cIf thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy\npleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the\nLord, honourable; and shalt honour him, _not doing thine own ways_, _nor\nfinding thine own pleasure_, _nor speaking thine own words_; then shalt\nthou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the\nhigh places of the earth.\u201d  Isaiah lviii. 3.  God will bless us in this\nworld, and we shall enjoy hereafter an eternal Sabbath in the Celestial\nCity, where we \u2018shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; for the\nLamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us\nunto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from\nour eyes.\u2019  Rev. vii. 16, 17.\n\nThese are, however, truths which but few seem to believe.  No doubt the\nwilling compliance of masters to make their men work on the Sabbath has\ncreated much scepticism.  It conveys to the unenlightened mind an idea\nthat religion is a mere speculative theory, and hence that day is treated\nwith but little veneration, if not with perfect indifference.  When such\nindividuals are told, in justification, that \u201clittle differences about\nreligion may occasionally be waived when business requires their\nattendance,\u201d the effect must be, in a greater or less degree, to create a\ndislike for all subjects which have a religious reference.  Do we not\nobserve this in many working-men, who decry everything which relates to\nreligion?  Honesty and general morality they can clearly understand; but\ntheir souls are too barren and unproductive to appreciate the loveliness\nof those things which relate to another and a better world, and are\nconsequently unable to discern the unsullied purity of the Divine\ncharacter.  Hence it is that we so frequently hear it asserted in the\nworkshop that the Bible contains a strange admixture of virtuous\nprinciples and gross immorality.  The best reply to such wicked and\ndepraved assertions may be found in the words of a most distinguished\nMinister of the Church of Scotland, whose writings in defence of\nChristianity, together with the force and beauty of his compositions,\nhave gained for him universal celebrity amongst Christians of every\ndenomination:\u2014\u201cThe Scripture is an exact portrait of man; if it shews the\nbright in his character, it also records the black; if it proclaims that\nwhich ennobles and exalts him, it discloses that which tends to depress\nand humble him.  There is also, in the present day, what is thought\ndelicacy of language, which was unknown even two or three centuries ago,\nand still more so when the Bible was written.\u201d {44}  To this we may add,\nthat the Christian reads every sentence in the Word of God with the\nsimplicity which denotes his profession, being too much influenced by the\nmany precious promises which it contains to cavil about the expediency of\naccommodating the ancient custom of phraseology to suit that of modern\ntimes.  It is the sceptic and the sensual who alone raise the objections.\nWe may remark, as regards the Bible containing the details of the\ndepravity of man, that they were placed there in order to warn us, and to\nremind us of the justice as well as the unbounded love of God.  Let us\nillustrate our meaning by a reference to fading creation.  How often do\nwe view with ecstacy some lovely garden, admire its varied compartments,\nand gaze with pleasure on the choice flowers which adorn it, yet, at the\nsame time, see many obtrusive blades of grass, or straggling weeds, which\nare intended to convey a silent but serious reproof to us?  The scattered\nblades of grass, if united in close compact, would excite our admiration.\nWho can behold the simple but beauteous appearance of a lawn, or the\ngrass that covers the distant hill, and not feel emotions of delight?  It\nis their isolated and estranged position that creates our censure.  Just\nso it is as regards the Bible.  The sinner, while living apart from God,\nis compared to the weeds and stubble, and is threatened, unless he\nrepents and believes in the Saviour, as \u2018willing and able to save all\nthat come unto Him,\u2019 to be also condemned and to receive that awful\nsentence which awaits the impenitent.  When pardoned, however, he is\nbrought into close communion with God, and, being united, becomes a\nlovely plant in the garden of the Lord.  If our hearts were more fixed on\nthe entire purity of God, we should peruse the Scriptures with an\nemphatic earnestness which would elevate us far above sensual and infidel\nconclusions.\n\nThe real character of many of the declaimers against the Bible is thus\nportrayed:\u2014\u201cIn the middle classes, among the half-thinking,\nhalf-instructed young men, a sort of infidelity is not unfrequent, which,\nafter deducting something for the influence of worse motives, is\nattributable to affectation more than to any other cause.  It is a mere\nimpertinence, and indicates a want of sense, or profligacy of manners.\u201d\n{46}  And, now, what says the late eloquent and pious Robert Hall?\n\u201cSettle it in your minds, as a maxim never to be effaced or forgotten,\nthat infidelity is an inhuman and bloody system, equally hostile to every\nhuman restraint and to every virtuous affection\u2014that, leaving nothing\nabove us to create awe, nor round us to waken tenderness, it wages war\nwith heaven and earth; its first object is to dethrone God; its next to\ndestroy man.\u201d  Would that these sentiments, so forcibly expressed, could\nbe engraven on the hearts of the rising generation throughout the world!\n\nThe greatest researchers after truth, and the most eminent philosophers,\nhave borne witness to the exalted worth and power of the Holy Scriptures.\n\u201cI thank God,\u201d says Mr. Locke, \u201cfor the light of revelation, which sets\nmy poor reason at rest, in many things that lay beyond the reach of its\ndiscovery.\u201d  Lord Bacon observes, \u201cIt was only by the light of Scripture,\nand the exercises of devotion, that I attained to that acquaintance with\nGod, which I had sought for in vain amidst the hurry of secular affairs,\nor in the course of my philosophical pursuits.\u201d  And yet there are some\nmen\u2014possessing very extensive knowledge on nearly all other subjects\u2014who\nimpugn the truths of Christianity without anything like close and serious\ninvestigation.  They possess a Bible, but, with the exception of a few\nabstract and familiar sentences, they are entirely ignorant of its\ncontents.  Is it surprising that such individuals merely consider the\nSabbath as a day for cessation from labour, altogether irrespective of\nits being first sanctified by God, and afterwards enjoined to be kept as\nan holy day?  Such persons are naturally, when interest or desire prompts\nthem, willing either to labour or to seek worldly pleasure on the\nSabbath.\n\nWe have made the above somewhat lengthened remarks because the entire\nquestion of Sabbath desecration, after all, rests on a firm belief in the\nScriptures.  The Divine commandment is contained therein, and if the\nBible is rejected, or believed only in part, our main argument must fail\nto produce conviction; but, if implicit credence is given to it, then, we\nassert, the law of God is absolute and universal.\n\nIn order to confine our observations within a limited space, although our\nsubject is as prolific as it is important, we must now shortly bring them\nto a conclusion.  The effect of an abrogation of the Divine law of the\nSabbath would be most fatal, as we have already proved, to religion,\nmorals, the advancement of intellectual knowledge, and even the existence\nof man.  Who can depict the horrid condition of the poor factory children\nif they were deprived of a Sabbath?  Why, our manufactories\u2014wherein are\nproduced some of the richest fruits which emanate from refined taste and\nfrom rapid progression in the arts and sciences\u2014would then become\nnational nurseries for prostitution and general profligacy, or else the\ninfected receptacles of emaciation and disease!  Such a supposition may\nbe ridiculed by the tolerants of infidelity, and even the pure and tender\nfeelings of sympathy may suggest a doubt as to the possibility of such an\nawful event, but the same iniquitous motive that lately consigned\nchildren to twelve and fourteen hours labour each day\u2014until the voice of\nChristian humanity declared it should no longer be tolerated\u2014is equally\nlikely, if not resisted, to deprive this infantine section of the\ncommunity of the spiritual and temporal blessings of the Sabbath.\nBesides, it is just in proportion as we permit the rest of the\nseventh-day to be taken away from the adult, that we weaken the barrier\nthat protects youth from its encroachments.  But we may extend these\nconsiderations to the children of the entire population.  Were it not for\nthis blest day they would be reduced\u2014in civilized England, with the lull\nand benign beams of Gospel light shining now in every city, town, and\nvillage\u2014to as low a state of degradation and barbarism as the\nunenlightened savage.  The latter are totally uninstructed, (what a\npowerful incentive is this fact for increased Missionary exertion!) and\nthey therefore roam about in the wildness of their natural state.  In\nthis country crime is progressive.  The boy who is a pickpocket to-day\nmay become a burglar to-morrow; the youth who purloins from his master\u2019s\ntill not unfrequently commits afterwards a more daring offence; and the\nonce little innocent girl, who was permitted to roam in the streets,\nbecomes too often the future companion of thieves, and herself branded\nwith infamy.  It was as remedial measures that Sabbath and Ragged Schools\nwere established; yet, with all these and other Christian efforts, the\nnumber of juvenile offenders has immensely increased.  What would be the\ncondition of children, and more advanced youth, were it not for the\ninstruction afforded to them on the Sabbath?  Every species of crime\nwould be considerably augmented, and life and property still more\nendangered.\n\nHow appropriately might we here dwell on the value and importance of\nSabbath Schools!  They would afford almost an endless theme for the most\nconsolatory and sublime considerations.  But our space will not allow us\nto enumerate the many temporal advantages which such institutions confer\non society, and man can never pourtray the heavenly bliss of the myriads\nof once otherwise neglected children, who, having been first taught in\nthese Schools to lisp their Saviour\u2019s praise, are now singing continually\n\u201cthe song of the Lamb\u201d in the kingdom of their God!\n\n    \u201cOn harps of gold they praise His name,\n       His face they always view;\n    Then let us followers be of them,\n       That we may praise Him too!\u201d\n\nIt is impossible adequately to estimate the temporal advantages of the\nSabbath.  The opportunity which it affords for parental and social\nintercourse is most important.  The industrious classes have scarcely any\ntime, unless it is on that day, to discharge their responsible duties,\nand consequently their children are exposed to every species of\ndepravity.  It is true that a Christian mother is daily with her\nchildren, and, possessing perhaps a greater natural warmth of affection,\nis more likely to be a blessing to them than the father; still, how very\ndesirable is it that the latter, particularly as they advance in years,\nshould exercise a judicious superintending control, and thus strive to\nmaintain the discipline, and carry out the instructions, which have been\nso anxiously and affectionately imbued by the mother during the six days?\nDeprive us of our Sabbath, and fatherly influence is as unproductive as\nthe soil of the desert!  We lose one of our greatest privileges\u2014the\nnatural right to assist in the formation of the religious, moral, and\nintellectual characters of our offspring.\n\nAgain, as respects the adult population, has the preaching of God\u2019s Word,\nand the congregating of all grades in society on the Sabbath, no effect\non the mass of the people?  Does it not, leaving out of consideration the\neternal results, create deeds of charity which impart temporal relief to\nthe poor?  The Sabbath is the peculiar day when the streams of\nbenevolence flow rapidly through the land.  It is principally by the\ncontributions then given that our humane and benevolent Institutions are\nsustained.\n\nWe might also prove that civil governments rise or fall in proportion as\nthe people venerate and observe the Sabbath, but it is assuredly\nunnecessary.  If it is an institution of paramount importance to a\nfamily, it must be equally so to a nation.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nWorking-Men! the subject which we have been discussing demands your most\ncalm and serious consideration.  If we tacitly permit the Sabbath to be\nwrested from us, even in part or whole, we give up the most invaluable\nright which we possess\u2014a right which the Almighty Creator conferred on\nman when He first gave him existence, and which no earthly power can\njustly take from us.  Shall we then bear the yoke of continuous labour\naround our necks?  The Sabbath is a fixed and indispensable day of rest,\nand we should therefore manifest a decided determination to resist all\nencroachments on it.  Let us remember that by working on this sacred day\nwe destroy the universality of it, which is the essence and beauty of the\nSabbath.  When we are so requested to labour, let us respectfully but\nresolutely decline it.  Considerate employers will respect our motives;\nand, in order fully to prove that we are sincere, we should evince a full\nsense of the value of our right by a constant and assiduous attention to\nour respective duties.  May the dawn of a happier day be not far distant,\nwhen the dark clouds which now cast such a fearful gloom over our country\nshall be dispersed, and when both masters and men shall unitedly resolve\nto obey the law of GOD\u2014\u201cREMEMBER THE SABBATH-DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY!\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 THE END.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 CHELSEA:\n                   PRINTED BY T. WILSHER, MANOR STREET.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{7}  \u201cThe progress of bricks and mortar and of inclosures has sadly\nrestricted the spaces on which the English peasantry could take healthful\nexercise.  Respectable people keep away from these crowded spots.  The\ninfluence of their example is lost, and in its place is substituted the\ninfluence of the idle, the dissolute, and the depraved.\u201d\u2014_Moral Economy\nof Large Towns_, _by_ Dr. W. C. TAYLOR.\n\n{8}  The Writer was, some years ago, addressed in the following manner:\n\u201cIt is monstrous, you have no right to let _your religious opinions_\ninterfere with business in this way.\u201d\n\n{9}  In the French revolutionary mania, in 1800, \u201cthe year was divided\ninto twelve equal months, of thirty days each, completing the year by the\ningenious invention of five complemental days.  The month was divided\ninto three decades, or weeks each of ten days, by which the days of rest\nwere reduced to three in each month, which were substituted for the four\nSundays. * * * * In some towns, workshops and warehouses were closed (on\nthe regular Sunday), in others they were closed upon the Decadi (or tenth\nday); nay, frequently, in the same town, in the same street, THE CONTRAST\nPRESENTED THE SPECTACLE OF A MISCHIEVOUS DIVERSITY IN THE IDEAS AND IN\nTHE MORALS OF THE PEOPLE.\u201d\u2014_Thier\u2019s History of the Consulate and the\nEmpire_.\n\n{14}  There are some very excellent little Tracts published by this\nAssociation on the above subject, which can be procured by application to\nJ. Lilwall, Esq., the Secretary, 32; Ludgate Hill.\n\n{18}  Although the Writer was at no period of his life \u201ca dram-drinker,\u201d\nhe has nevertheless suffered severely from occasional intemperance, and\nhe would therefore most earnestly commend the consideration of this\nsubject to the labouring classes.\n\n{21}  \u201cOf the 45,000 deaths occurring every year in the Metropolis, about\n5,600 arises from this fatal disease; and upwards of 11,000 persons,\nbeing about one in 170 of the entire population of the metropolis, and\nmore than one per cent. of the adults, are constantly wasting away under\nthe attacks of this lingering malady.  Of these 11,000 cases, about\nthree-fourths occur in males, of whom a large proportion are working-men,\nunable to provide for themselves and families.  Many\u2014very many\u2014of these\npoor sufferers are the acknowledged victims of unventilated workshops,\nill-constructed dwellings, vitiated atmosphere, long hours of work, and\nthe want of open places for exercise and recreation.\u201d  There are 81\nPatients at present in the Hospital, and the number prescribed for daily,\nas Out-Patients, is at the rate of 36,000 in the year!\u2014_Report of the\nHospital for Consumption_, _and Diseases of the Chest_, _at Brompton_,\n1849.\n\nThe Writer of this Essay cannot refrain from making a most earnest appeal\nin behalf of this truly Christian Institution.  Gratitude prompts him to\nthe discharge of this duty, and he trusts that his humble position in\nlife will not weaken the effort to promote the interests of a Charity to\nwhich himself, three sons, and seven daughters, are so greatly indebted.\nDuring the period in which he was engaged in the composition of this\nEssay, and for nearly 18 months previous, his wife was receiving the most\nkind, attentive, and skilful treatment from the Physicians of this\nHospital, who considered her case as almost beyond medical relief.  She\nis now in a much improved state of health.  Surely this simple statement\nwill be deemed as sufficient evidence of the value of this Institution.\nIt depends principally on the amount of its Annual Subscriptions for\nsupport, and it would be a source of great pleasure to the Writer, if it\nshould be found that, through the publication of his feeble Essay, only\nONE Benefactor had been added to the list of its Patrons!\n\n{27}  It is very pleasing to observe that many thousands of the working\nclasses avail themselves of those admirable places for the preservation\nof health and happiness, the Public Baths, which have been some time now\nestablished.  We may also notice the laudable efforts recently made to\nencourage Open-Air Bathing in the Serpentine.  A very interesting and\nimportant pamphlet on this subject has been lately written by Thomas\nEmbling, Esq.  It really appears essential that every Bather, and\nespecially youth, should peruse a copy of this invaluable\ntreatise.\u2014_Published by_ W. F. RAMSAY, 11, _Brompton Row_, _Brompton_.\n\n{35}  \u201cThe Divine law prohibits civil labour, or work in the way of trade\non the Sabbath, but acts of mercy are acceptable to God on any day.  We\nhave several instances of this recorded in the New Testament, in\nreference to Christ and his disciples.\u201d\u2014Dr. S. SMITH\u2019S _Dissertations on\nthe Bible_, 1737.\n\n{36}  \u201cThe flowers of a garden\u2014those silent preachers to which Christ\nhimself referred his disciples as eloquent witnesses of the bounty of\nProvidence\u2014speak lessons of loveliness to the soul, and give an immediate\ncheck to gross vice and foul pollution.  We too often forget the\nhumanizing and moral effects of a garden.\u201d\u2014Dr. W. C. TAYLOR.\n\n{40}  The Writer, since the completion of his Essay, has perused the\nFirst Volume of _The Apocalypse Interpreted in the Light of the Day of\nthe Lord_, by the Rev. JAMES KELLY, M.A., Minister of St. Peter\u2019s\nEpiscopal Chapel, Queen\u2019s Square, St. James\u2019s Park, from the Preface to\nwhich he has gleaned the following particulars:\u2014\u2018The word _Sunday_ is a\nvery ancient Heathen appellation, the days of the week having been called\nby them after the names of the planets.  The first day was denominated\n_the day of the Sun_, or _the Lord Sun_.  All the Oriental nations gave\nthe Sun the title of Lord.  No doubt the early Christians elevated its\napplication.  For this ennobling of the common term, they considered that\nprovision had been made by God himself, in the setting forth of Christ as\n_the Sun of righteousness_.  Malachi iv.  By most of the early Fathers,\nand from their time onwards, the term Lord\u2019s-Day has been used to\ndesignate the Christian Sabbath.\u2019  The Writer of this Essay, therefore,\nhumbly submits that Christians should now call the seventh-day either the\nLord\u2019s-Day or the Sabbath-Day.  In the present times this \u201cennobling of\nthe common term\u201d seems peculiarly necessary.  The above Work explains\nmany hitherto apparently mystical passages in the Revelations, and a\nperusal of it, in a right spirit, will supply arguments which will at\nonce silence the sceptic, and, at the same time, confirm the reader in\nhis belief that there is nothing contained in the Holy Scriptures, which\nshall not be made manifest to those who seek to be enlightened by the\nSpirit of God.  It is published by Messrs. NISBET and Co., London.\n\n{44}  The reader is entreated to read \u201cIs Christianity from God?\u201d and\nalso \u201cGod in History,\u201d by the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D.D.\n\n{46}  History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times, by\nJAMES TAYLOR.","title":"Divine Mercy; or, the temporal advantages of the Sabbath","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12928}