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O PRINCETON, N. J. <^ 
 
 
 Presented by Mr. Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 1 
 
 
 BV 110 .S48 1852 
 
 Seven lectures on the 
 Sabbath 
 
 1 
 i 
 
^ E V E N 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 B©A?11, 
 
 DELIVBBED 
 
 BY REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE BETTER 
 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH, 
 
 IK THE 
 
 TOWN HALL, WOOLWICH, 
 
 IN THE MONTHS OF JURCH AND APRIL, 1852. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 NISBET & CO. BERNER'S STREET ; WARD & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 WOOLWICH: 
 
 E. JONES, THOMAS ST. ; W. P. JACKSON, " JOURNAL OFFICE." 
 
 1852. 
 
PRINTEP BY W, r. JACKSON, WOOLWICH. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 BY THE EDITORS. 
 
 The following Lectures on the Sabbath were prepared and 
 delivered in the Town Hall of Woolwich, at the request of 
 the Asseciation for Promoting the Better Observance of 
 the Sabbath in that town and neighbourhood. It was 
 hoped that the public exposition of the great principles 
 involved in the Sabbath question by Christian men represent- 
 ing different sections of the Church of Christ, might be the 
 means, under God, of diffusing sound and scriptm-al \*iews 
 upon the subject, and so of preparing the way for those 
 practical measures with which it was the desire of the Asso- 
 ciation that these lectures should be followed up. The Divine 
 blessing, it is believed, rested upon the effort thus made in 
 defence of the holy Sabbath. Public attention was awakened, 
 and the Hall was crowded by an intelligent audience on all 
 the successive evenings on which the lectures were delivered. 
 At the conclusion of the course, a very general wish was ex- 
 pressed by the Association, and other friends of the Sabbath, 
 that the lectures should be published ; both that an effort so 
 pleasant to all who had the privilege of participating in it 
 isiight have some permanent memorial, and also that the 
 
iv PEEFATORY NOTE. 
 
 statement of truth contained in them might remain a blessed 
 testimony to the love which all God's people bear to the day 
 of rest, and a standing protest against the desecration of that 
 day, -which exists to so alarming an extent in this town, and 
 tlii'oughout the land. To this application, those who delivered 
 the lectui-es, although deeply conscious of their many imper- 
 fections, could not but give theu^ consent, and this volume is 
 the result. If the lectui-es contained in it be made, by the 
 blessing of God, in any way instrumental in promoting the 
 better observance of the holy Sabbath, then to Him shall be 
 all the glory. The seed is cast upon the waters,— may it be 
 foimd after many days ! 
 
 The Editors cannot refrain fi-om expressing the feelings of 
 apprehension and dismay with which, in common with the 
 people of God throughout the land, they have learned the 
 proposal to open, and that by Royal Charter, the New 
 Crystal Palace at Sydenham, on the afternoon of the Lord's 
 day. Should this proposal be carried into effect, and the day 
 of God be thus nationally profaned, then, if the teachings of 
 God's word, and the lessons of His providence as gathered 
 from the history of other lands in connexion with this very 
 subject, are to be regarded at all, the divine judgments will 
 not be far distant. May the Lord of the Sabbath arise, and 
 plead His own cause, and may he do it in mercy and not in 
 wrath ! 
 
 The Editors cannot conclude this prefatory note without 
 alluding to the bereavement which the Church of Chiist in 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. V 
 
 this town has sustained in the death of their beloved brother 
 in the Lord, the Rev. Richard ]Martin. By him the last of 
 these lectures was delivered, and but a few weeks after, he 
 fell asleep in Jesus. To those who were privileged to hear 
 his lectui-e, his quotation from God's word is now peculiarly 
 applicable — " The Lord watch between me and thee when we 
 are absent one fi'om another." For himself, the earthly Sabbath 
 which he loved so well has been exchanged for the eternal 
 Sabbath of heaven, and in the light of glory he knows more 
 fully than he did while he was yet on earth, " the spirit in 
 which the Sabbath should be kept, and the blessings connected 
 with its spiritual observance." 
 
 IVoolwlch, Nov. 1852. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Lecture L — By ilie Rev. W. M. TnoMrsoN, Minister of the 
 Presbyterian Church — Subject, "The Sabbath — Its original 
 institution, as gathered from Gen. ii. — Its principles — Its 
 nature — Its spiritual meaning" 1 
 
 Lecture II.— By the Rev. A. De La Mare, M.A., Incumbent 
 of Saint Thomas'— Subject, "The Sabbath — Its universal 
 and permanent obligation" 22 
 
 Lecture III.— By R. D. Grainger, Esq., Surgeon, F.R.S.— 
 Subject, " The Sabbath — Its adaptation to the physical 
 nature of man — To his temporal well-being — especially the 
 well-being of the working classes" 44 
 
 Lecture IY.— By the Rev. J. W. Close, Wesleyan Minister- 
 Subject, " The Sabbath — Its adaptation to man's intellectual 
 and moral nature— To man as a spiritual being, specially in 
 his personal and family relationships" 62 
 
 Lecture V.— By the Rev. John Cox, Minister of Queen 
 Street Chapel— Subject, " The Sabbath— The opportunities 
 it supplies to the people of God for general usefulness in the 
 service of Christ" 85 
 
 Lecture VI.— By the Rev. W. Holderness, Chaplain to the 
 Thames Church Mission.— Subject, "The Sabbath— The 
 various ways in which it is desecrated — The bitter fruits of 
 Sabbath profanation to individuals and to communities". . . . 105 
 
 Lecture VII.— By the Rev. Richard Martin, Chaplain to 
 the Convict Establishment— Subject, " The Sabbath— The 
 spirit in which it ought to be kept, and the Divine blessing 
 connected with its spiritual observance" .,,,..,,, 128 
 

 L E C T U E E I. 
 
 BY THE REV. W. M. THOMPSON, MINISTER OF THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Subject. — " The Sabbath" its Original Institution, as gathered 
 from Gen. ii. — Its Princijjies — Its Nature — Its Spiritual 
 Meaning. 
 
 I do not know that I need to introduce the Course of Lectui'es 
 on the Sabbath, of which the first has been assigned to me for 
 this evening, by any lengthened statement explanatory of the 
 reasons which have influenced a number of christian men in 
 this town in coming to the resolution that such a coui'se of 
 lectm-es was necessaiy, and with the blessing of God, likely to 
 be useful in promoting the better observance of the holy Sabbath 
 among us. I need hardly say perhaps, that loving the Sabbath 
 themselves, and feeling in their own experience how blessed a 
 thing it is to have one day in the seven for rest, — rest to the 
 body and to the mind from the exhausting toil of physical and 
 mental labom% for such bodily and mental rest, that the entii'e 
 day may be cleared for the things of God, the soul, and eternity, 
 they earnestly desu'e that their fellow men may enjoy the same 
 blessing with themselves, — that their fellow sinners may come 
 M-ith them to prize the day as supplying a blessed season for 
 finding the rest of the soul by faith in Jesus Clu-ist, and through 
 him in God. Nor need I say, perhaps, that influenced by these 
 feelings, they are grieved at the amount of Sabbath profanation 
 that exists among ourselves — in the midst of our own population 
 — that they are moved with compassion towards those who know 
 no Sabbath — who deprive themselves of it by making it a dar 
 of pleasm-e or of trade, and whose -siolation of the day of rest 
 
2 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH, 
 
 supplies but too plain and palpable an evidence of their disre- 
 gard of the rest of God itself— of their neglect of Him, the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, in whom God rests now, and in whom alone the 
 sinner can rest— find rest from the fears of a guilty conscience, 
 and from the apprehension of the wrath to come. Nor need I 
 say, perhaps, that something of that concern for the honour of 
 God, as that is connected with His own blessed institution of 
 the Sabbath— and which is trampled in the dust when that day is 
 ■ profaned— which must exist in the hearts of all true Christians, 
 has constrained them to enter upon this efibrt, wliich if owned 
 by God, however weak or feeble the instrumentality that is 
 made use of, cannot fail to be the means of stemming and tm-n- 
 ing back the dark and tlireatening tide of Sabbath profanation, 
 w^hich is coming in like a flood among us, and which it is never 
 to be forgotten is both the cause and the effect of the decrease 
 and decay of religion in the land ; and need I say that a land 
 without a Sabbath is a land without religion, — a land of di-eary 
 and bitter bondage, — a land where God is unknown, save, it 
 may be, by his retributive judgments, — a land of fierce and cruel 
 passions, of social and bloody convulsions, — a land of moral pes- 
 tilence, — a land of spiritual death? Truly, as patriots and 
 Christians alike, as loving oui- beloved fatherland, and as loving 
 still more our blessed Lord, we need all of us to come forth, and 
 to unite in one band of holy brotherhood, and hasten " to the 
 help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." 
 
 I do not need to dwell on these things, though, perhaps, I 
 might, because I feel that in the midst of this audience we need 
 no laboured defence of the course on which we have entered, — 
 that the simple statement of these things will suffice to carry 
 your convictions as to yom- duty and ours in this matter ; and I 
 would dismiss these introductory observations with the expres- 
 sion of our earnest hope that yom' prayers may be offered with 
 ours for the success of this effort, and that as the blessed fruit 
 thereof, we may see not merely outward profanation of the holy 
 Sabbath-day among us brought to an end, but the hearts of om* 
 fellow sinners so reached by the truth through the Spirit's bles- 
 sing, as hereafter to prize this day of hallowed rest, and love it 
 above all the other days of the week, — and then our object will 
 be gained, and eternity will prove that this effort has not been 
 made in vain. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 3 
 
 The subject tkat has been assigned to me for exposition this 
 evening, is very much of an introductoiy nature. It begins with 
 the beginning — the original institution of the holy Sabbath, — 
 and it seeks to lay the foundation for all that is to follow, by 
 showing that the weekly Sabbath is coeval with the creation of 
 man ; so that no sooner had man entered upon his being than 
 he entered upon the observance of the Sabbath of God. And 
 then when this vantage ground has been occupied, and it has 
 been demonstrated that there never was a period in the exist- 
 ence of man when he was not blessed with the possession of a 
 weekly Sabbath, this Coui'se of Lectui'es will proceed to take up 
 that other subject which stands in close connection with the 
 fii'st, riz., the universal and permanent obligation of the Sabbath ; 
 the one subject tracing the Sabbath back to the creation of man, 
 the other showing its binding obligation so long as the present 
 dispensation shall endui-c, — till the Sabbath of grace be suc- 
 ceeded by the Sabbath of gioiy. Then we pass on in the Course, 
 to the moral characteristics of the Sabbath — to the mercifulness 
 of the day of rest as adapted to the physical nature of man, by 
 pro^iding for a cessation, dui'ing one day in seven, from bodily 
 toil. Then we ascend higher, and proceed in the next Lecture 
 to the adaptation of the Sabbath to man's intellectual and moral 
 nature — to man as a spiiitual being, as affording a blessed season 
 of good to his soul. Then to give a practical du'ection to the 
 whole discussion, we proceed to take up the Sabbath as supply- 
 ing a special season for usefulness to the people of God in the 
 service of Christ. Then we pass on to the consideration of the 
 way in which the Sabbath blessing is hindered, and man is rob- 
 bed of the day which God in mercy gave to him, — the various 
 ways in which the Sabbath is profaned, — the bitter fruits of 
 such profanation to individuals and to communities. And lastly, 
 as a fitting conclusion to the whole, we come to the spiiit in 
 which the Sabbath is to be observed ; thus ending as the Com'se 
 began, with the spiritual resting of man in God, with the resto- 
 ration of more than that rest which began in Paradise, the rest- 
 ing of the believing soul in Christ, and its joj-fiil resting on that 
 day, which is the type of its spii'itual rest ; and so the course 
 will end, as the earthly Sabbath itself shall end, when over a 
 redeemed chur;*h and a redeemed earth, God will again cast His 
 
 A 2 
 
4 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 eye, and beholding, as He did at fost, all things veiy good, will 
 again bless and hallow the day as the eternal Sabbath of gloiy. 
 
 Ill proceeding to take np the subject which I have to bring- 
 before you this evening, I would begin with remarking that the 
 history of the first Sabbath is given to us in the 2nd chapter of 
 Genesis, 2 and 3, " And on the seventh day God ended his 
 works which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day 
 from all the works which he had made. And God blessed the 
 seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had rested 
 fi'om all his work vrhich God created and made." The works of 
 creation were now finished, — as yet they were not polluted by 
 the entrance of sin. Coming fresh from the hands of God, they 
 were the emblems of his own character, and reflected his own 
 gracious and glorious perfections. God saw in them the mani- 
 festation of his own wisdom and power and goodness; and 
 especially in the noblest part of his works, his creatm'e man, who 
 came last from his creating hand. He saw the reflection of his 
 own image, — the beauties of his own holiness. The impress of his 
 own character was stamped upon all that He had made, and that 
 day which saw all God's works complete, and man whom God 
 had made especially for himself, as yet mifallen — radiant with 
 all the holiness of the divine image, was a blessed day. On it 
 God rested — rested not only from all his works which he had 
 created and made, but rested in them — had complacency and 
 delight in them, and that day w^hich was thus distinguished as 
 the begmning of God's rest, was blessed and sanctified as man's 
 sabbath. 
 
 And so also, when that other work of God, that greater and 
 more glorious work of redemption was finished — when Clu^ist 
 rested from it — when He had, by His own obedience unto death, 
 expiated the guilt of sin, satisfied all the demands of the di^'ine 
 justice, magnified the law, and made it honom-able; — in one 
 word, when he had finished the work of redeeming mercy, and 
 so laid the foundation of that glorious spiritual temple, in wliieh 
 God was for ever to dwell, — He rested from it, and God the 
 father rested in it, had complacency and delight both in the 
 finished work itself, and in Him who had accomplished it, and 
 in token thereof, He raised him from the grave ; and that day, 
 the first day of tlic week, wliich saw the Redeemer, declared to 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 5 
 
 "be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the 
 dead, was blessed and sanctified as the Chi'istian Sabbath. 
 
 FalUng back upon the liistory of the first Sabbath, in the 
 verses which we have just read, we find, as we remarked in 
 passing before, that the Sabbath was coeval with the creation, 
 and that man, being made on the evening of the sixth day, had 
 no sooner entered on his being, than he entered on the observance 
 of the Sabbath, which was made for liim. The institution of the 
 Sabbath does not, therefore, take date from the promulgation of 
 the Decalogue from Mount Sinai. The law of the Sabbath was 
 then given as it stands in the fom'th coimnandment. But the 
 giving of that law then, was but a repetition of the mind of God, 
 wliich had been intimated and revealed long before. There had 
 been indeed no positive and express commandment given in 
 respect of the Sabbath, mitil God spake the law fr'om the mount 
 in the wilderness, "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy." 
 But there was given fi'om the fii'st, fr'om the very creation of 
 man, what is equally binding mth a formally expressed law, 
 there was given an intimation of God's mind and mil with re- 
 gard to the Sabbath, by his own example, in resting upon the 
 Sabhath, and sanctifying and blessing it. God does not say in 
 the verses describing the fii'st Sabbath in Paradise — He does not 
 say to Adam, " Rest thou on the seventh day," — " Remember 
 the Sabbath to keep it holy." That would have been formally 
 pronomicing a law. He does not say that ; but God himself 
 rests thereon, and God himself blesses it and sanctifies it ; and 
 if it be a principle of a holy nature to fall in with the mind and 
 will of God, however that may be intimated and made known ; 
 yea, if it be of the veiy essence of a holy and spiritual natm-e to 
 be like God, then it follows of necessity that Adam, who was 
 at this time unfallen, — in the full enjojinent of that holy and 
 righteous likeness to God in which he had been made, must 
 needs act under the influence of that likeness. He must act 
 from the very instincts of his moral being, in conformity with 
 that mind and ^^ill of his God ; and so as his Creator rested 
 upon the seventh day, and blessed and sanctified it as the Sab- 
 bath, so must Adam, also, by the veiy consti-aint, so to speak, 
 and it was the constraint of love, of the unfallen spfrit within 
 him, so long as he was innocent, both rest on the seventh day 
 and bless it and sanctify it as his Sabbath. The creature wlio 
 
6 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 liad been made by the Creator like himself, could act in no other 
 way than in perfect harmony with that likeness, — that is, in 
 harmony with his own nature, and must be holy even as God 
 is holy, manifesting liis holiness by acts corresponding to the 
 holiness of God ; and therefore it is plain that Adam, so long as 
 he continued unfallen, and we know not how long that was, 
 must, from his very nature, from the Divine mind within him, 
 have kept holy the Sabbath of God. 
 
 Further, what he had done in the time of his innocency, and 
 of a free and mlling mind, his memory and reason would prompt 
 him to do after his transgression and fall. For if the Sabbath 
 were a blessing to him before, it would be infinitely more so 
 now, not only as ser\ing to remind him of the blessed seasons 
 which he had spent in communion with God, but also as sup- 
 plying a special means, by the grace of God, of assisting liim to 
 recover fr-om his fall, and of restoring him in a degree, however 
 loAV, to the privileges and intercourse he had before enjoyed. It 
 is, therefore probable, independently of all evidence in proof of 
 the fact, that Adam would observe and love that blessed insti- 
 tution, which he had brought with him out of Paradise, — that 
 he would transmit it to his posterity, and ensure, so far as he 
 could, to them, so precious an inheritance. And that this was 
 really the case, there are some remarkable facts, as well as inci- 
 dental notices, recorded in the sacred history, to prove, and 
 which form an interesting branch of the scripture argument, by 
 which the universal and permanent obligation of the Sabbath is 
 established, and to which your attention will be called in a suc- 
 ceeding lecture. 
 
 From this general survey of the history of the fii'st Sabbath, 
 as given to us in the passage in Genesis, to which we have 
 referred, there seem to be these three great principles lying at 
 the foundation of the original institution of the holy Sabbath, 
 viz. ; 1st, That the Sabbath was instituted at the creation of 
 man, not by the promulgation of a formal law, but by the ex- 
 ample of God, who liimself rested on it, and blessed and sanc- 
 tified it. 2nd, That it is not the seventh day, but a seventh 
 portion of our time, one day in seven, which constitutes the 
 essence of the institution. 3rd and last, That it is the sanctifi- 
 cation of the Sabbatli, not the mere resting from bodily labom*, 
 which is God's design in the institution, — the grace, — the glory 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 7 
 
 of the day. These three principles are of great practical im- 
 portance in the whole Sabbath question ; and to the illustration 
 of them we have now to beg Tom* earnest attention. 
 
 1st. The first of these principles, then, is this — that the Sab- 
 bath was instituted in Paradise, not by the promulgation of a 
 formal law, but by the example of God, who Himself rested 
 upon it, and blessed and sanctified it. Now, we have to remark, 
 that although God makes known to us his mind and will, in the 
 way of givmg to us his own example, rather than in formally 
 promulgating a law, yet we, as God's creatures, are bound to 
 recognize and reverence the revelation of God's mind contained 
 in that example, in the light of a law, and to obey it accordingly. 
 God's revelation of any truth, or of any institution, however that 
 revelation may be made to us, ought to set at rest at once all 
 questions as to our corresponding duty to believe and obey ; and 
 so if He hath made known to us his will as to the Sabbatic rest, 
 by resting upon that day Himself, the Divine example becomes 
 to us a law as fully as if He had proclaimed the Sabbath law in 
 Paradise, as He did afterwards in the wilderness, " Remember 
 the Sabbath day to keep it holy." The principle is the same in 
 both cases. It is God's will in the commandment that makes 
 the commandment binding, and it is God's will as gathered 
 equally from His example, that makes that example binding 
 also. And is not this of the veiy essence of the life of God in 
 the soul ? " He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also 
 to walk, even as He also walked," 1 John ii. 6. And so if we 
 pass onwards from the Adamic and patriarchial periods, omitting 
 for the present, the Mosaic dispensation, dming which the 
 formal Sabbatic law, as embodied in the fourth commandment 
 of the Decalogue, was in operation, to New Testament times, we 
 find the same principle hing at the foundation of the argument, 
 by which the Divine authority for the change from the seventh 
 to the first day of the week is established and maintained. After 
 the resurrection of our blessed Lord, we do not find him formally 
 commanding his disciples to keep holy the fii'st day of the week 
 instead of the seventh, in commemoration of the completion of 
 that glorious work of redeeming love which he had finished ; 
 but we find Himself resting from His work of redemption as 
 now completed, by rising ft-om the grave on that blessed day, 
 and sanctifying and blessing it by appearing upon it in the 
 
8 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 iiiidst of his disciples, as the beloved disciple so expressly assures 
 us, John XX. 19, 20, and pronouncing on them His gospel bene- 
 diction, " Peace be unto you." And gathering their Lord's mind 
 from His own example, we find the Apostles and early Christians 
 sanctifjdng and keeping holy the first day of the week as the 
 Lord's-day, — the Christian Sabbath. And if it be a principle of 
 the new creation in the soul, that Christ's will is the behever's 
 Mill, and Cln-ist's example that which he is not onlj^ bound to 
 follow, but which it is his delight to follow, then is it not plain 
 that the keepmg holy of the day which the Lord Jesus hath 
 sanctified and blessed by His own example, is, and must be, in- 
 dissolubly linked with a man's personal chi-istianity, that his love 
 to his Lord will manifest itself by his love to the day wliicli is 
 peculiarly and emphatically the Lord's-day ? 
 
 Now, if we take these two periods together — the period before 
 the giving of the law, — and the period that is measured by the 
 New Testament dispensation, along with Old Testament times, 
 which lie between them, we find a principle which, touching on 
 either side the Sabbatic law, as embodied in the fom-th com- 
 mandment, enables us to span the whole of tune — the example 
 of God in the original institution reaching onwards to the giving 
 of that law on Mount Sinai, and then the example of Christ at 
 the introduction of the New Testament dispensation for the 
 change of the day, I say we find thus a principle, spanning the 
 whole of time, and setting forth the Sabbath, like God's bow in 
 the clouds, spanning the heavens, a blessed symbol of God's 
 gracious covenant in Christ with men, of that blessed rest wliich 
 is to be found in the once crucified, but now risen and glorified 
 Redeemer, and which shall last till the Sabbath of a glorified 
 church, and of a glorified world shall dawn, and which proclaims 
 each week, as it retui'ns, God's ofier of that covenant — " Where- 
 fore do ye spend money for that wliich is not bread ? and your 
 labour for that which satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto 
 me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight 
 itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come mito me, hear, and 
 your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting covenant 
 with you, even the sui-e mercies of David." Isaiah Iv. 2, 3. 
 
 2nd. The second principle of the Sabbatic institution is, the 
 sanctification, not of the seventh day of the week, but of one 
 day in every seven. I do not mean by this that the selection 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 9 
 
 of that day is a matter of indifFerence — that it is left an open 
 question what that one day in every seven should be ; for this 
 God Himself hath determined and settled by His own example, 
 first, at the completion of the work of creation, and next at the 
 finishing of his still more glorious work of redemption. What 
 is meant is this, that in the principle of the Sabbatic institute 
 there is not involved the necessity of obsening the seventh day 
 of every week rather than the fii'st, or the fom-th, or any other, 
 such a necessity as would imply that under no ciixumstances 
 could there be a change of the day, from the seventh to the first 
 day of the week, for example, without a \'iolation of the law of 
 God upon the subject. We deny not, nor question for a moment 
 that the first Sabbath was the seventh, that succeeding Sabbaths 
 were the succeeding seventh days, that even subsequently in the 
 law of Sinai, the seventh day was specially recognized, and that 
 in commemoration of what God had done in the beginning. 
 But, notwithstanding all this, which is quite plain, and which 
 we do not need to question, we are prepared to shew that the 
 seventh day is not the principle of the Sabbath, but, to speak 
 with reverence, a kind of fortuitous or accidental cii'cumstance, 
 as it has been called, connected with its obsei'%^ance jfrom the 
 beginning and thenceforward. ^Miat is meant by the seventh 
 day being the accident and not the principle of its obsei's^ance, 
 may be easily explained thus : had God rested mid- way in his 
 work, on the fomth day, for example, instead of the seventh, 
 and subsequently completed that work, then there would have 
 been so ob\'ious a designation of the fourth day, as to leave no 
 room for questioning that that day was the special one ordained 
 for the Sabbath. But the case, as you know, Avas otherwise. 
 God steadily pursued His work from its commencement to its 
 conclusion, without resting till the whole was done. His resting 
 on the seventh day, after six days' laboui% was a necessary con- 
 sequence of the completion of his work, and thus it happened 
 that the Sabbath fell on the seventh day. 
 
 Hence, then, it is ob^dous that the sancification of the seventh 
 day in preference to any other, was no part, so to speak, of the 
 Sabbath principle. It was not essential to the appointment of 
 the Sabbath that it should be the seventh day. The passage in 
 Genesis is to be applied, not to the one oricfinal day, nor yet to 
 the periodical retui'n of that day, but according to the more ap- 
 
 A 3 
 
10 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 propriate principle, that one day in seven was to be kept holy 
 to the Lord. In a word, the true principle of the Sabbath is 
 the sanctification, not of the seventh day, but of one day in 
 every seven. 
 
 The example of God was six days for labour, and one for rest, 
 to be blessed and sanctified ; whether the one so recurring hap- 
 pened to be the seventh or not, was no part of the principle ; 
 one-seventh of man's time was to be sanctified to God. One day 
 retm'ning at this regular interval was blessed of Him. This is 
 the immutable principle of God, abundantly made manifest by 
 its own reasonableness, and its fitness and adaptation to the 
 bodily and spiritual wants of man. This is the inalienable pri- 
 vilege derived from God, who has so constituted this earth, that 
 though man must till it by the sweat of his brow, his six days' 
 labour, exercised with diligence, is abundantly adequate to cul- 
 tivate the soil, and to provide him sufficiently with food, so 
 leaving him the seventh day for the rest and refreshment of his 
 body, for the sanctification and good of his soul. 
 
 3rd. We have to beg you further to remark, that as the 
 seventh day is not the principle, but one day in seven, so also 
 the bodily restmg on the Sabbath is not the principle of its 
 observance, but the sanctification of it. The bodily resting is 
 but a means to an end, that end being the hallowing of the Sab- 
 bath day. Mere abstinence from labour can but affect the body, 
 but cannot of itself benefit the soul. The mere refraining from 
 ordinary labour, therefore, on the Sabbath is not the principle 
 developed respecting it in the beginning, nor that on wliich the 
 institution is based. The rest of the body, though profitable in 
 itei measm-e, is not the fullness of the blessing. This rest, though 
 needful, as clearing the day from worldly and distracting occu- 
 pations, and therefore so far well, is not the one thing needful ; 
 and if separated, as it too often is, from the essential principle 
 of the day, which is its sanctification, it is like all other blessings 
 conferred upon man, liable to be perverted to evil uses, by 
 affording- the opportunity of idleness for sin. The glory and the 
 excellency of the principle consist in sanctifying the Sabbath 
 day — in Iceeping the day of rest holy by refraining from worldly 
 occupations, and in giving it to God, and the soul, and the things 
 of eternity. " Be ye holy, for I am holy," was the great principle 
 and design of the law ; " and so every one that hath this hope 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. U 
 
 in hiin," — that is the hope of seeing Christ, and bemg like him, 
 — " puriiieth himself, as He is pui-e," 1 John iii. 3. And when 
 He, the pui'e and holy one, hath purified and sanctified the day, 
 then we also, if we hope to see him face to face, and be like Him, 
 must purify and sanctify the day as holy to the Lord. 
 
 Such is a simple view of the principles on which the mstitution 
 of the Sabbath rests — an institution as wisely adapted to the ab- 
 solute necessities of man, both temporal and spiritual, as it has 
 been mercifully vouchsafed to him by his Maker, and fully 
 justifying the gracious declaration of our blessed Lord, — " The 
 Sabbath was made for man," made for him above all in his 
 highest capacity, as a spmtual and immortal being, destined to 
 live for eternity, and needing, in order to that eternity bemg a 
 blessing to him, that change of heart, that new creation, that 
 resm-rection unto the life of God, for the accomplishment of 
 which the holy Sabbath supplies so blessed a season, and of the 
 means of producing which by the power of the quickening Spirit, 
 wliicli means are the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus the 
 Lord, the Christian Sabbath is so sweet and blessed a memorial. 
 This is the day which the Lord hath made, and on which he 
 specially works. God hath put his seal on that day as a day 
 that he specially loves. AMien at fii'st the Sabbath began in 
 Paradise, He blessed it and sanctified it; His word was in- 
 fluential and perpetual upon it ; that hallowed blessing im- 
 pressed it with a sacred character which is indelible, and which 
 the man of God both sees and feels in his own experience, with 
 a life and power which make even external natui-e, lovely as it 
 is, seem lovelier in his eyes then than on any other day of the 
 week. A\Tiat true Chiistian has not felt something akin to this 
 Sabbath feeling, when all creation seemed uniting to keep it, 
 and which, whether it proceeds fi*om serenity within, or impres- 
 sions fi'om without, is a feeling which no man that has expe- 
 rienced it, would willingly let die ? Thus has the Sabbath been 
 sanctified of God wholly to Himself for man's use and blessmg. 
 Man may disregard it, he may neglect and despise it, but he 
 cannot change its destiny. The sanctity of the Sabbath is im- 
 perishable. God hath blessed it, and who shall remove His 
 blessing ? So long as time shall endure, and until that eternal 
 Sabbath which remains for the people of God shall begm, 
 the earthlv Sabbath must maintain the nature given to it of 
 
12 LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 
 
 God, having this as the peculiar characteristic impressed upon 
 it by God Himself, " Holiness to the Lord." That blessedness, 
 indeed, which belongs to the Sabbath is spiritual, and the un- 
 spiritual man may not be able t© relish and enjoy it, any more 
 than the blind man can look up to the heavens and behold the 
 luminary that shines there. The Sabbath is a spiritual insti- 
 tution in its main design, and can only be spiritually discerned. 
 Those only discern and enjoy it whose eyes are open to see and 
 know its holy and sanctified nature. Others may refrain thereon 
 from worldly labour, and, as they imagine, rest from toil, even 
 while at the time they toil for pleasure ; but such persons must 
 learn, sooner or later, that with such an observance of the day, 
 it is no Sabbath to them ; and that this holy institution, like all 
 other blessings given to us of God, has no other grace or good- 
 ness belonging to it than what He has Himself impressed upon 
 it, and which he pronounced so solemnly amid the thunderings 
 and lightnings of Sinai, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
 it holy." 
 
 I have thought it necessary to dwell at this length on these 
 three great priciples of the Sabbatic institution, as they may be 
 gathered from the history of the first Sabbath in Paradise ; 
 because, an intelligent and firm hold of them, will enable the 
 man who loves the Sabbath to meet and overthrow the many 
 plausible objections wliicli are continually ui'ged against this 
 precious blessing of God. With the example before us of God 
 as the authority for its original institution on the seventh day, 
 and the example of Christ for its change from the seventh to the 
 first day of the week, and with the Sabbatic law embodied in the 
 Decalogue, and promulgated from mount Sinai by God Himself, 
 standing midway between these two examples, and the exponent 
 of them both, we can meet the man who would rob us of this 
 day, by resolving the Sabbath into a mere Jewish institution, 
 which has been abolished with that antiquated dispensation. 
 We can meet the objection by showing that the Sabbath 
 existed long before that dispensation began, — that it was coeval 
 with the creation of man. Again, with a firm hold of the truth, 
 that it is not the seventh day, but one day in seven, which con- 
 stituted the principle of the first Sabbath, we can meet and 
 ic[)el the objection, that the change of the day being a departure 
 fe^^m the original institution and from the fourth commandment, 
 
LECTURE 0\ TUE SABBATH. 13 
 
 tbat commandment ceases to have any obligation — either tliat 
 we must keep holy the seventh day, or cease to have any 
 authority for the Sabbath at all ; the truth, I say, that it is one 
 day in seven, not the seventh day, which is the Sabbath prin- 
 ciple, clears away at once this objection, and prepares the wa^^ 
 for the positive argument for the scriptui'al authority, for the 
 change of the day fi-om the seventh to the first day of the week, 
 which is the Lord's Day. And, lastly, with a fii-m hold of the 
 third of these Sabbath principles, that it is not a mere resting 
 from labom- that constitutes the end of that institution, but a 
 resting fi-om labom- as a means to an end, that end being the 
 service of God, we can meet and overthrow, if God's authority 
 be admitted at all, all those arguments for mere pleasm-e on 
 that day, all those pleas which are used in defending the various 
 ways which are devised for promoting amusement, or what is 
 called recreation, on that day, which are so common in the mouth 
 of a semi-infidelity and of an open and avowed disbelief in the 
 word 'of God ; God hath made it a day to be sanctified by a holy 
 resting thereon fi-om all worldly engagements, and that' charac- 
 teristic of the Sabbath is like Himself unaltered and unalterable. 
 II. But it is time that I shoTild glance for a few moments at 
 the second topic in connection with the institution of the day 
 which has been specified, namely, the natm-e of the Sabbatic 
 rest. The statement which has already been given of the 
 pi-inciples of the Sabbath, as gathered from the history of its 
 original institution in paradise, has anticipated much that might 
 have been said on this branch of the subject before us. The 
 tliird of these principles in particular, namely, that the bare 
 resting from bodily labom- is not the principle of the Sabbath, 
 but that its sanctification is that principle, brings out at once 
 into full prominence the essential features, or what the nature 
 is, of the institution. The grace, the gloiy, as we have already 
 seen in the statement and illustration of tliis thii'd principle, of 
 the whole Sabbath, is this, that it is a holy institution— that its 
 whole natm-e, its great and blessed design, is the promotion of 
 holiness in man, holiness to the Lord. And as the practical 
 application of this principle, we have to insist upon this point 
 all the more, that there are not a few in our day of men calling 
 themselves philanthropists, who would rid themselves of the 
 force and excellency of this divine and holy commandment, by 
 
14 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 pretending respecting it, that its main design was the relief of 
 man from bodily toil, and who hestitate not to affirm that those 
 who would make it a day to be devoted entirely to the service 
 of God, and not to pleasmre and amusement, divert it from its 
 intention, and tm'n that which was manifestly designed of God 
 for the refreshment of man from his daily labom- into a day of 
 gloom and weariness, frksome rather by its restrictions than 
 grateftil and blessed by its liberty. Plausible as such views 
 may be, and acceptable as they are to the irrehgious and 
 worldly-minded, and fr'equently as they are dwelt upon by those 
 who call themselves the friends of the people, they proceed upon 
 entire forgetfalness of the original circumstances under which 
 the principle of the Sabbath was fii'st made known. That it is 
 indeed a day of rest to man, and a blessed season of refr'eshment 
 to his wearied and exhausted body, is unquestionable ; and that 
 it is therefore in this respect an additional mercy to him in his 
 fallen state, that it is " Heaven's antidote to the cm'se of labour," 
 ought never to be forgotten or overlooked ; but then it should 
 also be remembered that the Sabbath existed in the time of 
 man's innocency, before he came under the influence of the cm'se 
 " In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread," and so before 
 there was that need for the rest of his toilworn body, which, 
 through sin and its effects, he is now made to feel. Besides, 
 what are the very words by which the fourth commandment is 
 introduced ? Are they not expressive, in the very strongest 
 way, of the holiness of the institution, " Remember the Sabbath 
 day to keep it holy ?" It is very true, that there immediately 
 follow in the body of that commandment various enactments, so 
 to speak, in which bodily labom' is forbidden ; but then all this 
 is plamly only in order to the great end of the day, the spii-itual 
 well-being of man in the promotion of his holiness. For if 
 labom* be done on that day, where will be the time that is in- 
 tended for its sanctification ? If labour be done on that day, 
 where will be the Sabbath at aU ? If labom* be done on that 
 day, may we not ask where will be religion itself ? Let France 
 without its Sabbath, with its uneasy, ceaseless, restless, seeking 
 after something wliich it feels it has not, and wliich nothing 
 but the Bible and the Bible's God, and the Bible's Saviour and 
 the Bible's salvation, and the Bible's rest, and the day of rest 
 can give, answer the question. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 15 
 
 Yet this is not all that needs to be said on this part of our 
 subject. For while the force of the preceding argument is 
 acknowledged, and it is admitted that by the authority of God, 
 bodily labour is forbidden, we do not seldom find men who con- 
 tend for the day, not as a day of ordinary week-day work, for 
 that they profess to believe is forbidden, but as a day of amuse- 
 ment and pleasui'e. Now, sm'ely if that which is necessary to 
 our subsistence on the other days of the week, man's daily toil, 
 be forbidden on this day, much more must that which is un- 
 necessaiy in the shape of such amusement and pleasm*e. If to 
 engage in bodily labom' on that day would liinder the great end 
 of the day — its being kept holy to the Lord — will the spending 
 it thus have less that effect ? Can there be a more gross mis- 
 application of the commandment, both in its letter and in its 
 spirit, than that of which men are guilty who say, *' Labour 
 indeed is forbidden, and may not be done ; but pleasui'e, how- 
 ever toilsome, is allowed ;" as if it were the pm-pose of the day 
 just to relieve man from toil, that they may have a holiday to 
 be spent in worldly pleasure and enjojTuent. Such may be the 
 tendency of our day. Such the direction in which covetousness 
 that grasps at the gold and silver of this world, regardless of 
 the means by which they are gained, is manifesting itself. 
 Such may be one of the ways in which Popery may be seeking 
 to gain an entrance among large classes of om* population, pre- 
 tending to give the sanction of religion to the grasping and 
 miprincipled covetousness of the capitalist on the one hand, and 
 to the love of pleasure of pleasure seekers on the other. But 
 woe be to this land, if the love of money shall be suffered to 
 blot out from our national character all regard for the fom'th 
 commandment of God's holy law ! Woe be to this land, if the 
 " Man of sin" shall be able to make that covetousness a vantage 
 ground in his desperate efforts to regain his long lost ascendancy 
 among us ! Oh ! that we were wise, that we could consider 
 these things ere it be too late ! Nothing less, suffer me to re- 
 mind you, with all earnestness, brethren and fifiends, nothing 
 less than keeping holy the Sabbath, will answer the require- 
 ments of the foui'th commandment ; nothing less than keeping 
 it holy win be agreeable to God. Refraining from labour is 
 well, as refreshing to the body, and clearing the day which God 
 hath ordained and sanctified for his own ser-vice. Refraining 
 
16 LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 
 
 from pleasure is well, as reverencing and not abusing God's 
 ordinance ; but these things are after all, as has been well re- 
 marked, only negative, — the jwsitwe grace and excellency, the 
 fulfilling of the commandment, is the keeping holy the Sabbath 
 day. 
 
 Thus, then, the grand distinguisliing featm'e of the Sabbath 
 is, the keeping of it holy ; and as the result of this the culti- 
 vation of holiness among those who obey and observe it. Holi- 
 ness is its design — holiness is its observance, and holiness is its 
 effect. And what is holiness ? It is the essential qualification 
 or fitness for li^^ng with God, and enjoying heaven, begun in 
 regeneration and carried forward in sanctification. " Without 
 holiness, no man shall see the Lord," is the infallible testimony 
 of God's word ; and the grand end and object of the day is just 
 the edification and growth of men in holiness,— hohness that 
 must ascend with us to the presence of God, if we are to be ad- 
 mitted there, — holiness that must accompany us as our meetncss 
 for communion with him,- — holiness the proper work of the 
 Sabbath, the only work that profanes it not, — holiness that will 
 remain and endure through eternity. 
 
 III. — But it is time that we hasten on to the last branch of 
 this subject, namely, to the spiritual meaning of this blessed in- 
 stitution. We have traced its principles ; we have dwelt upon 
 its natm'e ; and while in all these aspects of the Sabbath in 
 which wc have already contemplated it, the dr.y is very dear to 
 the people of God ; we have now to notice another view of this 
 day, that tends still more to enhance its blessedness in their 
 estimation, and to endear it to their hearts. The simple mean- 
 ing of the word Sabbath is REST, and the day is so called, be- 
 cause its original appointment was in commemoration of the rest 
 of God. And what is the rest of God ? It is not the mere 
 ceasing from the work of creation, as if wearied with the exercise 
 of that Divine power which He had put forth. No ; but it is 
 the I )ivine refreshment — the holy complacency — the sweet 
 satisfaction and deliglit which God took in the display of his 
 own perfections and attributes, which were so gloriously mani- 
 fested in tlie work which He had now finished, especially in the 
 crowning display of his wisdom and power in His creatm*e, man. 
 AA'hen all this was done, it is said that God " rested and was 
 refreshed," Exodus xxxi. 17. 
 
LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 17 
 
 And in token of His rest, He blessed the day on wliich He 
 entered into it as a day of complacency and satisfaction to Him- 
 self, and He blessed it that it might be a day of blessing to 
 man — his Sabbath. All this was altered when sin entered into 
 the world, and defaced the beauty of the holy creation of God — 
 then God could rest no more therein. He could rest no more in 
 His creatm'e man. Sin had destroyed God's rest in him, and if 
 nothing had been done to repau' the ruin wliich sin had wrought 
 God could not have rested in man again. Not God's rest, but 
 His cui'se must have rested upon him for ever. But it pleased 
 liim to devise a plan of redeeming mercy, in the accomplishment 
 of which there was to be a brighter display of power and wis- 
 dom and grace, of holiness and love, than even the original 
 creation afforded, when the morning stars sang together, and all 
 the sons of God shouted for joy. He laid help upon one that is 
 mighty to save — even Jesus Christ, the Son of His love. As by 
 Him He had originally framed the world, and called it into 
 being ; — so by Him also, having assumed oiu- natm^e into 
 union with the Di%'ine, He was pleased to lay the foundations 
 of a new creation. And so when that work of redemption was 
 finished, by the obedience unto death of His dear Son, in om- 
 nature on the cross, and his resui-rection fi'om the grave, when 
 God's justice had been satisfied in all its claims, and His law 
 magnified and made honoiu'able, then God rested in that work 
 of redeeming love. He had complacency and delight in it as 
 the brightest display of His holiness, power, and glory that the 
 world had ever seen, and thus it was fitting that the day which 
 saw that Avork completed, and God entering on His rest in it, 
 should be blessed and sanctified again, and made the Chi'istian 
 Sabbath. 
 
 Into the rest of God, when He rested after the creation, man 
 might at first enter, and he could not do otherA^-ise, for he was 
 made in God's likeness. God's natui'e was his own, and into 
 the same emotions of holy satisfaction in all His works wliich 
 God had created and made, which filled the Di^-ine mind, could 
 God's holy creatui-e man enter. He could sjTnpatliise Avith God, 
 and thus the rest of God became the rest of man. But when 
 sin entered, that rest was destroyed. God no longer rested in 
 man. He could not rest in him so long as there was sin un- 
 pardoned, — sin unremoved. God cannot rest in any object in 
 
18 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 which all His perfections are not glorified, and so man had no 
 resting place at all. So long as his consciousness of guilt 
 troubled his conscience, he could not rest in God, m whom he 
 could see only all that was fitted to fill him with despair. But 
 in Chi'ist Jesus and His work for sinners, God rests ; and so also 
 in Christ Jesus the sinner may enter, by faith, into the rest of 
 God. And thus the rest of God becomes once more the rest of 
 man, — the rest of the weary hea^y-laden sinner, in the experi- 
 ence of a full justification, through the blood and righteousness 
 of Emmanuel, and of a begun sanctification by the Holy Spirit. 
 And when tliis blessed change is accomplished, — this new 
 creation finished in the soul, then follows rest, — the rest of God, 
 and in God, and ivith God, as now a reconciled Father, and an 
 all-satisfj-ing portion. Into this rest the weary spirit may enter. 
 It is the believer's in Christ, in whom he is created anew. 
 " Come imto me all ye that labom- and are hea^y laden, and I 
 will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28. " Retui-n imto thy rest, O 
 my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." Psalm 
 cx^d. 7. 
 
 Now, of this spiritual rest of the soul, the Sabbath is the type. 
 It was so at its original institution, when in the same things in 
 which God rested, man, as made after God's likeness, rested too ; 
 and it is so again on the first day of the week, when Christ, who 
 is God's rest in his dealings with sinful man, becomes, by faith, 
 the rest of the sinner also, in his dealings with God, — Chi'ist 
 regarded with the same feelings by the sinner with which he is 
 regarded by the Father — Christ, the Father's chosen one — His 
 people's chosen one also ; Christ, precious to the Father — Christ 
 precious to His people also ; and thus God and the sinner are 
 once more at one, and Christ is the resting place of both ; of this 
 blessed rest the Sabbath is a most sweet and precious emblem, 
 as of the work that made that rest, it is an endming memorial. 
 
 And then while it is thus a tj^e of the spii'itual resting of the 
 soul in Christ, — of the rest into which the soul enters by faith, 
 the Sabbath is a blessed emblem of heaven, where that spiritual 
 rest is enjoyed in all its fohiess. It is recorded of Philip Henry, 
 that he would often say at the close of his Sabbath duties, — 
 " Well, if this be not heaven, it must be the way to it." Yes, it 
 is now that Clnistians often feel themselves to be like Jacob in 
 his vision at the gate ; they have earnests and foretastes of the 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 19 
 
 ffloi'v to be revealed. "VMieii that blessed morn duM ns it reminds 
 them of the dawn of the eternal Sabbath of God ; and when 
 they go up to the house of God, they remember that g-lorious 
 day when they who have come out of great tribulation, shall 
 come body and soul into the presence of God and the Lamb ; 
 when they sit imder the preached gospel, and hear the voice of 
 the shepherd leading and feeding their souls, they are reminded 
 of the day when the Lamb himself shall feed them and lead them 
 unto fountains of li%dng water. \Mien they join in the psalm 
 of praise, it reminds them of the time when they shall unite with 
 that great multitude, w^hich no man can number, who sing with 
 one heart and one voice the song of the redeemed, " Salvation be 
 unto God and to the Lamb." "When they retii-e and meet their 
 God in secret, they think of the day when they shall see God 
 face to face in that place of which it is written, " And I saw no 
 temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the 
 temple of it, and the city had no need of the smi, neither of the 
 moon, to shine in it, for the gloiy of the Lord did lighten it, and 
 the Lamb is the light thereof." Rev. xxi. 22, 23. 
 
 Can that day, which recalls thoughts like these be otherAvise 
 than dear to the hearts of the people of God ? Can they do 
 otherwise than love that day, which brings them as it were 
 into contact with heaven while here below, and reminds them 
 of that eternal Sabbath which shall be the measm'e of the 
 dui-ation of theii- full and blissful resting in God ? 
 
 WTiat a lesson does this %'iew of the subject teach to those 
 who have no love for the earthly Sabbath, except as a day of 
 amusement or pleasm'e. Multitudes cannot bear the society of 
 those who delight in giving the entire day to God. It is an 
 intolerable bondage to them — a weariness from which they long 
 to be delivered. A\Tiat prospect can such persons have for 
 eternity ? Heaven is an eternal Sabbath, and, if here the few 
 short hom's of the earthly Sabbath, as a spiritual institution be 
 so tedious and insij)id, how can they look for admission into 
 that place where the Sabbath never ends, and for the blessed 
 Sabbatic employments of which they cannot but feel themselves 
 to be utterly disqualified ? " Let the wicked forsake his ways, 
 and the um-ighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto 
 the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for 
 He will abundantly pardon." Isa. Iv. 7. 
 
20 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 Once more, the Sabbath calls us to look beyond all this, to 
 sometliing more glorious still, as being the consummation of the 
 whole plan of God's providence and grace since the fall. Now 
 God rests in Chi'ist and His work of meditation. Now, too, He 
 rests in His love towards all who are in Clii'ist Jesus new 
 creatm'es ; that is, he has infinite satisfaction and complacency 
 in His dear Son and His work for His people, and in them as 
 standing in Christ perfect and complete. And now in the same 
 order the believer rests first in Chi'ist, as finding relief from his 
 burdened guilty conscience, by the Redeemer's pardoning blood, 
 and as obtaining deliverance Irom the restless evil passions within 
 the heart, in the sanctification of his whole natm'e by the Holy 
 Spirit, and then thus resting in Chiist he rises up to God, and 
 in Chi'ist rests there and is at peace. So that this resting is 
 complete, God's resting in Christ, and so in all who are in 
 Christ, His people resting in Christ, and so resting in God, and 
 hastening on to that blessed heavenly rest, which shall be theirs 
 when they die in the Lord and rest fi'om theu' laboiu's. 
 
 But when this work of new creation in the souls of all the Lord's 
 redeemed shall have been completed, we are taught to cherish the 
 sm'e hope that the face of the earth itself shall again be renewed 
 for their habitation, when out of this present frame of things, 
 after its dissolution by fire, there shall emerge by His creating 
 poAver once more put forth, " The new heavens and new earth 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness," 2 Peter iii. 13. So sang the 
 sweet singer of Israel, when with prophetic eye he beheld afar 
 off the glorious consummation of all things. *' Thou sendest 
 forth Thy spirit, they are created, and Thou renewest the face 
 of the earth. The glory of the Lord shall cndm-e for ever. The 
 Lord shall rejoice in His works." Psalm civ. 30, 3L Then shall 
 the Lord again rest and rejoice in all that He has made, blessing 
 and hallowing a new and better Sabbath in our regenerated 
 world. 
 
 Meanwhile, till this glorious period shall arrive, when God 
 shall again rest from all His works, and looking over them, this 
 material world as well as His redeemed chm-ch, without spot or 
 blemish, and pronouncing them all very good, He shall rest in 
 them, — meanwhile, the primitive institution of the Sabbath is 
 sm-ely a delightful truth, and its observance cannot be but a 
 blessed privilege. This world, with all that it contains, was 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 21 
 
 made for man. Man himself was made for God, for cntering^ 
 into God's rest, and that he might do so, the Sabbath was made 
 for him. God blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it. The 
 blessing: is not recalled, the consecration is not repealed, there 
 remaincth a rest to the i)eople of God, and a day of rest also, as 
 its t^^-pe and foretaste. This type, or pledge of that rest of glory, 
 rcmaineth, perpetual and unchangeable as the promise of rest 
 itself — that hallowed type and pledge of it, instituted from the 
 beginning in the blessed rest of the weekly Sabbath. 
 
L E C T U E E II. 
 
 BY THE RET. A. DE LA >I-\RE. M.A., INCEHBEXT OF ST. THOMAS', 
 
 Subject — •■' The Sabbath ," its u/ticersal and permanent 
 ObJiaation. 
 
 Christian Friends, 
 
 The subject upon -which I am called on to address you this 
 evening, is of so much importance with reference to the entire 
 course of lectures, that I feel I shall best consult both tout time 
 and the interests of the question under consideration, if, -without 
 further introduction, I biing the subject under tout notice. The 
 importance of the branch intrusted to me. at which I have just 
 hinted, will. I think, be manifest fi*om the single consideration 
 of its bearing on the subjects which are to succeed, as well as on 
 that which has ah-eadv preceded it ; for it will be of little con- 
 sequence that we consider the influence of the Sabbath on man. 
 whether in his physical, social, moral, or spiiitual condition, 
 unless we feel the enquiiy to be personally interesting to our- 
 selves : in other words, unless we feel the sabbatic institution 
 binding upon ourselves : and as regai'ds the previous lecture, 
 although an enquiry into the principles, nature, and spiritual 
 meaning of the appointment may be full of int^est. as a general 
 question, the enquiiy will, as to all practical pm-poses. be wholly 
 inoperative, unless we feel that it was made for us. Perceiving 
 the importance of this branch of the subject. I confess that I felt 
 ht^sitation, not to say reluctance, in undertaking it ; at the same 
 time, when urged to do so, I did not feel justified in declining it. 
 The subject, as has just been announced to you by the Cliair- 
 man, is, •• The Sabbath — its universal and pennanent obligation.'' 
 
LKCTURE OX TIIK SABBATH. 23 
 
 Now this is eini)liatically a subject for e^'idencc. I can scarcelv 
 liopc to make such a lectui-e interesting, in the popular sense of 
 the word ; it is not a subject in which I can mtroduce anecdote 
 or illustration : I must look, therefore, to a higher purpose, and 
 seek to compass a higher end ; I must endeavom- to make it 
 nseful, and I shall tliiiik it no mean praise if I secm'e the nega- 
 tive commendation, that the effort has been not wholly without 
 interest. I would remark, also, that it is not my pm-pose to 
 touch upon any other subject contained in the com-se ; both 
 because I think it unfair- to enter upon the ground allotted to 
 others, and also because the subject entrusted to me will fully 
 occupy the time I may venture to claim. It is indeed a large 
 subject, affording much scope for treatment, and demanding no 
 casual attention. 
 
 The course I propose to myself is, to pm'sue our enquii-y under 
 two heads. To consider the universal and permanent obKgation 
 of the Sabbath, fii-st as a moral question, and secondly as a sub- 
 ject of revelation. 
 
 Now, either of these, if clearly established, will, I think, in- 
 volve both the points at which I am to aim. For instance, if 
 the Sabbath be shewn to be essentially moral, the iIle^itabIc 
 consequence ^vill be that it is binding on tnan, on man, as such ; 
 not on this man or on that, not on you or on me, but binding 
 on the whole human family, uni'versalli/ hincJim/. If moral also, 
 it is binding, through all ages ; not on om- generation and day 
 only, but, binding in Paradise and at the flood, it is binding 
 now. and it will bind to the end of time ; for morahty \^ fixed, 
 and an essentially moral obligation can never cease to have 
 effect on moral agents. Or if the Sabbath be she^NTi to be an 
 unrepealed command of scrip tm-e, then, even above its moral 
 obligation, it is binding «/«<;rtys and everywhere ; for it is binding, 
 not only on man as a social being, but on man as a creature of 
 God ; it is binding, not only according to the limitations and 
 abatements of social relations, but its obligation is co-extensive 
 with the letter, and the spirit of God's revelation : it is binding, 
 not according to the standard of human systems and man's 
 teaching, but answerably to the mind of God ; and that too 
 wherever we find that mind manifested, whether in the ex- 
 pressed word of a commandment, or in the implied commendation 
 of divine practice. 
 
24 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 I. Then we are to consider the Sabbath in its universal and 
 permanent obligation, as a moral question. Now moral philo- 
 sophy, moral science, and, as sometimes simply written, morals, 
 are all one and the same thing. Some writers have indeed 
 drawn distinctions between them ; such distinctions, however, 
 for the most jDart, are unimportant, and have no bearing upon 
 om' present enquiry. Some wi'iters, moreover, have represented 
 morals as co-extensive with metaphysics, the philosophy of mind 
 and intelhgence. Do not suppose that I introduce this to en- 
 cumber a simple and plain subject ; I do so only to rightly limit 
 moral science, and that we may see that the sabbatic question is 
 properly a subject for moral investigation. Now, moral philo- 
 sophy is, strictly speaking, the science of manners and duty — it 
 treats of the natm-e and condition of man as a social being, it 
 determines the duties resulting from his social relations, and it 
 supplies the reasons on which those duties are fomided. But if 
 this be a correct definition, surely the sabbatic question would 
 seem to be emphatically adaj)ted to moral investigation, and 
 that too with reference to either division. For instance, if we 
 regard man's natm'e and condition, how largely does the sab- 
 batic institution affect them ! — or the duties resulting fi'om his 
 social relations, how extensively are they involved in the same 
 appointment! — or the reasons upon which those duties are 
 founded, sm-ely so long as the Sabbath is kept out of sight, a 
 most important element, nay the very basis of many duties is 
 neglected! As strictly a moral question, then, let us now pui'sue 
 oui' investigation. 
 
 I shall fii'st apply our method in the most general form, and 
 then proceed to more exact considerations. I take it that, if we 
 may so speak, on the princij^le of constructive morality, or moral 
 obligation inferred from the mind and practice of God, the first 
 promulgation of the Sabbath (Gen. ii.) marks its essentially 
 moral character. For it must be admitted to be an absolute 
 truth, that the eternal God, the great fountain of moral obliga- 
 tion, could never command or commend what was not in itself 
 moral ; and assm^edly his practice, that is his mind acted out, 
 did on this occasion strikingly commend the Sabbath rest ; for 
 " God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in 
 it he had rested from all the work which God created and made." 
 Nor are we precluded from this kind of interpretation. AVe 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 25 
 
 apply it to earthly laws, we apply it to di\dne. Thus, where 
 direct evidence fails we employ indirect. "We admit constructive 
 treason in human courts ; we employ the constmctive method in 
 the spii-itual interpretation of the divine laws. For instance, 
 take the oth commandment, " Honour thy father and thy mo- 
 ther ;" we limit not the gospel obligation to the single relation 
 between pai'ents and children, we extend it to monarchs and 
 subjects, to masters and servants. Or the 6th commaridment, 
 " Thou shalt do no mui'der," the gospel interpretation limits not 
 this to the deed of blood — injuiy and even the motive to injury are 
 included and forbidden, for, " whoso hateth his brother without 
 a cause is a mui'derer." The Sabbath, then, by constinictive 
 moralitj', even in its first promulgation, devolved on man a 
 moral obligation ; for as God rested, so was man to rest ; as God 
 hallowed it, so was man to keep it holy. 
 
 But for the more manifest morality of the Sabbath, let us pass 
 on to the consideration of the decalogue, God's great moral law ; 
 and first, as to the method of its publication. The law was 
 spoken by the mouth of the Lord; yes, amid thunders and 
 lightnings, amid the most solemn indications of the divine pre- 
 sence, when the people, no, nor their priests, might approach 
 the mount, but Moses and Aaron only, the law was orally de- 
 livered from jNIount Sinai ; and amongst its injunctions the law 
 of the Sabbath. Now, could God, we ask, thus solemnly, thus 
 fearfully proclaim anything beneath an essentially moral com- 
 7nancl f Again, the ten commandments of the law having been 
 spoken by the mouth of God, they were next wi'itten by the 
 finger of God ; as if the former communication were thought too 
 insecure, too easily con-upted a channel, God w}'ote the whole 
 of the words with his own hand, yea, wi'ote them tie ice with his 
 own hand ; for when Moses, by reason of Israel's idolatry, which 
 he witnessed on descending the mount, cast the tables from him, 
 and they were broken, God fashioned vidth his own hands other 
 tables, and once again, with his own finger inscribed his vnll. 
 
 Fiu'ther, the law was M^^itten upon tables of stone. We know 
 the strong sjTnbolic character in early times of stones ; — a pillar 
 of stone, or a table of stone. Was a treaty to be entered into — 
 a column of stone was the memorial. Was a place to be espe- 
 cially remembered and held sacred, — it was marked out by 
 stones. Permanent in its own character and composition, the 
 
 B 
 
26 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 symbol of permanency was stone. Now, could that which not 
 only God spake, but wrote and re-wrote, and upon tables of 
 stone for a lasting memorial, be below an essentially moral com- 
 mand ? Mark, the whole work was of God, from beginning to 
 end. He descends from heaven, amid thunders and lightnings, 
 — ^he speaks — he writes — lie re-writes : and for what ? Surely to 
 proclaim the excellency of what he delivered. How different 
 was his method with the general law of Moses. The servant 
 of God was inspired, and it was left to his inspiration to publish 
 God's truth; and that too, containing many and important moral 
 precepts. Why this difference? Surely, because God would 
 mark the greater importance — the high eminency of the former. 
 Surely, because he would strikingly stamp the moral obligation 
 of his ten commandments, — amongst which we read, " Remem- 
 ber that thou keep holy the Sabbath day." 
 
 Next : the same conclusion may, I think, be arrived at, by 
 considering the languaye in which the command is couched. 
 Ethic -^Titers are accustomed to di'aw distinctions between 
 moral obligations, as that some are miiversal and some restricted. 
 For instance, they would represent that moral obligation as 
 imiversal, which is based upon an miiversal relationship, and 
 rests on principles applicable alike to all mankind. Thus, the 
 love of God is an universal moral precept. Again, where duties, 
 manifestly in themselves moral, are from circumstances imprac- 
 ticable, these are considered as restrictive moral obligations. 
 For instance, the duties of a parent to a child, or a child to a 
 parent, always binding where practicable, are impracticable in 
 the cases of childless parents or parentless children. Now, if 
 we test the sabbatic institution on this gromid, its universal 
 moral obligation will, I think, at once appear, — not only as based 
 upon an universal relationship as between God and man, and 
 resting on principles applicable alike to all, for it commemorates 
 that ill wliich all have one common interest ; but also because it 
 is impracticable by none : all can rest on the Sabbath day and 
 be refreshed, even as God himself rested. 
 
 Again, some writers difference between j^sitive moral obliga- 
 tions and negative, rej)reseiiting the latter class as more compre- 
 hensive than the former. Thus, the positive moral duty of love 
 to God, which is uni^'ersally binding, is not applicable in every 
 conceivable case. The hapless maniac, whom God has deprived 
 
LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 27 
 
 of his reason, and tlic poor idiot who exists in mental imbecilit}-, 
 are incapable of this exercise, and hence positive commands may 
 sometimcs not hold. But negative precepts are always ap- 
 plicable. For instance, " Thou shalt not steal." This injunction 
 is binding, whether the power to violate it be possessed or not. 
 The mind, the pui-pose to steal, is forbidden as distinctly as the 
 act itself. Thou shalt not steal if thou have the opportunity ; 
 and if thou have it not, thou shalt not indulge the desu-e to steal. 
 Now, applying this to the Sabbath question, the argument bears 
 in both cases. The Sabbath is commanded both positively and 
 negatively ; positively, '' Keep holy ;" negatively, '' Thou shalt 
 do no manner of work." This fact is indeed well worthy our 
 l)ai'ticular notice. Of the remaining nine commandments, some 
 are dehvered positively and some negatively. " Thou shalt 
 have none other Gods but me ;" " Thou shalt not make unto 
 thee any graven image ;" " Honom- thy father and thy mother ;" 
 but no one (this respecting the Sabbath excepted) is conveyed 
 under both expressions. Is this wholly without significancy ? 
 Is it not rather as if God, forseeing that men would ca^il, had 
 anticipated and guarded against the futm-e objection ? 
 
 Fm-ther, the position of the fom-th command in the Decaloo-ue 
 speaks strongly, to my mind, the essential morality of the ap- 
 pointment. The first table speaks of man's duty to God, as to 
 his supremacy, his jealousy, his eternal justice and mercy, and 
 the infinite holiness of his name. The second, of man's duty to 
 his fellow man, his duty in his moral and social character, his 
 dutj', as a creatm-e of God, to his fellows, the other creatui-cs of 
 God. Now, where is the ordinance of the Sabbath fomid but 
 between these two ? It stands as a connecting link ; it seems to 
 bind indissolubly together these two important diWsions of the 
 one great moral law. It would almost appear as the mercifully 
 appointed institution which in its means enables for both,— aii 
 institution bringing do^vn fi-om above, preventing and assisting 
 grace, and raising man's best aspirations to heaven. Yes ; in 
 this respect it well nigh realizes the holy vision of the patriarch, 
 the ladder on wliich he saw angels ascending and descending ; 
 for verily it links, as it were, heaven and earth together ; °it 
 bmds duty to God with duty to man, awakening to and 
 strengthening for both. And as to its full efficacy, the last day 
 alone shall manifest how many midying souls, as on the day of 
 
 B 2 
 
28 LECTURE ON THE SABBATS. 
 
 hallowed rest, have been gathered into the fold, built up, 
 strengthened, established, and sealed to everlasting life ! 
 
 Once more, the purposes of the law are moral, and as this ia 
 true of all the injunctions collectively, so is it true of each one 
 injunction separately: and, therefore, of the Sabbath. God not 
 only rested upon, but hallowed it, set it apart for holy ends ; 
 and man was to keep it holy— that is, to improve it to holy 
 purposes. This point, as belonging to the principles of the 
 Sabbatic institution, has been akeady fully set forth, and as a 
 separate subject for consideration, belongs to a future lectui-e. I 
 only therefore touch upon it thus briefly in this place, as being 
 applicable to the general argument. That which God hath 
 appointed for, and is capable of great moral results, must surely 
 be regarded as of moral obligation. Moreover, the j^crsons for 
 whom the Sabbath was designed, speak the morality of the 
 appointment. The Sabbath, said Chiist, was made for man. 
 We are not about to put a forced interpretation on these words, 
 and dissever them from the contrast in which they were placed ; 
 we may, however, faiiiy illustrate them. " The Sabbath was 
 made for man,'' for it commemorated the creation in which man, 
 as such, is interested. It was made also for man in his first 
 parents, and wMlst in paradise ; but as scriptm'c recognises the 
 children as in the loins of theii- fathers, it was not made for the 
 first parents only, but for theu' posterity also, that is for all 
 mayikind. Again, it was made for man before sin entered, for 
 man in his state of primal innocence ; but it was also made for 
 his posterity after sin entered, and therefore for all men. We do 
 not in what is here said, in the slightest degree impugn the 
 truth that the Sabbat rightly observed, was for a particular 
 sign to the Jews, and was enforced under strong supplemental 
 sanctions. Still it was made for man, and, moreover, for man 
 as a tnoral agent ; and hence its 7noral character. 
 
 Now, let us review the ground we have traversed. The Sab- 
 bath is a moral question, by reason of its author, the great foun- 
 tain of all moral obligation ; by reason of the methods of its 
 promulgation, pronounced by the lips, and written on tables of 
 stone by the finger of deity ; by reason of its position in the 
 decalogue, linking together the two tables ; by reason of both its 
 positive and negative injunctions ; by reason of the purposes it 
 was to promote, and the persons for whom it was designed. And 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 29 
 
 what is the conclusion we hence draw ? That if the Sabbath 
 be really a moral ordinance, it is of universal obligation. That 
 if it be moral in the abstract, a duty resulting from man's social 
 relations, and fomided on adequate reasons, it is all-comprehen- 
 sive. But this we trust we have sufl&ciently shewn, both ab- 
 sti-actedly and by the additional light of revelation, viz. : that 
 it is moral as amongst men, and moral before God ; we, there- 
 fore declare its observance to be of " universal obligation P Of 
 permanent obligation also. This position, as well as the former, 
 will, I trust, be more clearly established by what follows ; still, 
 if the Sabbath be really a moral ordinance, it must be peimanent, 
 for essential morahty changes not. A command cannot be moral 
 at one time and not moral at another. As, therefore, we infer 
 the permanency and universality of evenj essentially moral in- 
 junction, so we infer the Sabbath, appointed and hallowed of 
 God, to be of universal and permanent obligation. 
 
 We come now to our second consideration : — the universal 
 and permanent obligation of the Sabbath, as a subject of reve- 
 lation. This is peculiarly the sphere for christian enquiry, and 
 hence only do we profess to draw absolute proof. We do not 
 say that any legitimate mode of investigation is closed against 
 us, and therefore it is that we have not hesitated to consider the 
 subject first abstractedly and simply in its moral bearing. It is, 
 however, emphatically a question to be determined on scriptural 
 grounds, and to these, therefore, we will now apply ourselves. 
 We pm-pose to di^dde this branch of our subject also into two 
 considerations. 1st, Scriptural e\ddence, which may be termed 
 historical. 2nd, Incidental scriptural testimony. 
 
 In the first of these, the historical branch, I shall endeavour to 
 establish two points, \tz., that the Sabbatic institution preceded 
 the Jewish dispensation, and is therefore independent of it, even 
 as " the promise" preceded the law, and the law, which was 430 
 years after, could not disannul that it should make the promise 
 of none efiect : and again, that at the close of the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, the Sabbath was not repealed, but, on the contrary, 
 was enforced, spirituaKzed, and promised to be permanent. The 
 oiiginal institution of the Sabbath was in Paradise, (Gen. ii.) 
 Time, it is not conveyed in the positive language of a command, 
 but, as we have already remarked, it was commended to man by 
 both the mind and practice of God. The idea of this being an 
 
30 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 anachronism, that the mention of the Sabbath was then only 
 declaratory and by anticipation, and not as positively appointing 
 a day of rest, is not to be tolerated ; it is not borne out by the 
 arguments adduced in its support, and is at utter variance with 
 the undesigned evidence to be gathered from the early books of 
 scriptui'e; that perhaps best confutation which can be given, 
 both as being generally conclusive and least open to suspicion. 
 Let us call to mind a few instances of this kind of testimony. 
 Noah, by faith, builds an ark to the saving of his house, and he 
 is commanded to receive into it of the beasts of the earth and of 
 the fowls of heaven, and to preserve them alive ; and how is he 
 enjoined to receive them ? — by sevens. " Of every clean beast 
 thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female ; of 
 fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, for yet 
 seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days 
 and forty nights." Now, why particularly seven of each ? and 
 why an interval of seven days, on the supposition that the Sab- 
 bath was not at that early period observed, not promulgated 
 only, but actually observed ? We can discern no reason. Sup- 
 posing, however, the Sabbath to be in force, and we have ample 
 ground for the injunction. God having chosen the Sabbath on 
 which to make this revelation of his will, allots to Noah the six 
 days' period of labom- in which to carry out the command. Again, 
 Noah is in the ark, the flood has deluged the whole earth, and he 
 is desirous to ascertain if the waters have yet assuaged ; he sent 
 forth a raven, which went to and fro, and returned no more ; he 
 sent a dove also, but she finding no rest for the sole of her foot, 
 returned to him. Then he waited seven days, and sent forth the 
 dove again, and she returned with the olive leaf in her mouth. 
 And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, 
 which returned not again to him any more." Now why these 
 periods of seven days ? — ^these most marked and significant in- 
 tervals if the sabbatic institution were observed, but altogether 
 imaccountable on the contrary supposition. But examples of 
 this unexpected use of the number " seven" meet us again and 
 again. Jacob, hiding himself from the wrath of Esau, enters the 
 service of their uncle Laban, and desires his daughter to wife j 
 the terms of the covenant are seven years' servitude. Jacob 
 assents, but is deceived with Leah. He afterwai'ds desires 
 Kaohel also, and again the stipulation is seven years' servitude^ 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 31 
 
 We read also, more than once, " Seven days ye sliall eat un- 
 leavened bread The seventh day shall be an holy convocation. 
 The seventh day sliall be a feast." And, once more, on the seventh 
 day no manna should be soug-ht or found, on the sixth day there 
 should be a double portion, but on the seventh day none. Now, 
 if the Sabbath were not observed from the first, not appointed 
 only, but actually observed, whence all this ? fer these instances, 
 one and all, are prior to the promulgation of the law. l\Tiy 
 should the Lord wait seven days before bringing on the flood ? 
 A\Tiy should Noah wait again and again seven days ere he sent 
 forth the dove from the ark ? Nor let me fail to remark, that 
 such di^'ision of time is not the result of any natm'al law. Ac- 
 customed to the weekly di^-ision, we may, without examination, 
 be led to identify its origin with that of days, or months, or years. 
 Such, however, is not the fact. The rotation of the earth upon 
 its axis, gives us our day and night ; the circuit of the moon iu 
 in its orbit regulates our month ; and the revolution of the earth 
 about the sun determines our year. But what fixes our weekly 
 di\ision? Nothing in natm-e. No; the weekly division is 
 simply arbitrary, save on the supposition of an appointed and 
 an observed Sabbath. If it be said that seven is taken to repre- 
 sent a perfect number, — that it has some symbolical or mystic 
 excellency, — that we read of the " seven lamps," the " the seven 
 stars," the " seven spirits," — this is not explaining the difficulty, 
 it is but removing it one step further. Whence this alleged 
 perfection ? whence this symbolic or mystical character ? The 
 truth is, that the reference to a seventh day division is a dii-ect 
 reference to the primal rest of God, that it speaks distinctly the 
 obse^^'ance of the Sabbath in the patriarchal church ; in other 
 words, that the Sabbath was before and independent of the Jewish 
 dispensation. 
 
 Tliis truth is, I think, fui'ther established by the practice of 
 other nations, some of them wholly unconnected with the Jews. 
 Thus, the ancient classical authors, strange as it may sound in 
 christian ears, tell us, in so many words, that " the seventh day 
 is holy." In this Homer, Hesiod, and Callimachus all concm*. 
 Theophilus of Antioch calls the seventh day, " the day which all 
 mankind celebrate." Porphpy says that " the Phoenicians," and 
 Linus that " the saints or holy people consecrate one day in 
 seven as holy." Eusebius tells us the same of the i^liilosophers 
 
32 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 and poets. Clemens Alexandi-inus says, " The Greeks as well 
 as the Hebrews observe the seventh day as holy ;" and Josephus 
 the Jewish historian, how striking a testimony ! writes, " No 
 city of Greeks or barbarians can be found, which does not 
 acknowledge a seventh day's rest from labour." Now, whence 
 could this come ? An institution so widely spread and among 
 nations so wholly dissimilar ! The common consent of the world 
 for such an ordinance, for the language of Philo is, " The seventh 
 day is a festival to eveiy nation .'" Whence this, but from some 
 great primal tradition. Yes, christian friends, the Sabbatic in- 
 stitution we trace up to no less trusty practice than his who 
 peopled the earth afresh, and in tracing it to the ark, we trace 
 it to paradise, and in tracing it to paradise we ti'ace it to God. 
 The Sabbath then we conclude to be before and independent of 
 the Jewish dispensation. 
 
 That the Sabbath institution existed under the Mosaic law, 
 it is surely needless that we attempt to establish. The Sabbath 
 among the Jews was an institution which more or less entered 
 into eveiy part of their system ; it modified their national acts — 
 it interfered with their domestic arrangements — it stamped their 
 personal piety. It was moreover observed as a divine command ; 
 it was enforced by sanctions and guarded by denunciations which 
 could come fr'om none but God. Nay, its very enactments speak 
 its divine character ; for if we look into the Sabbath as practised 
 amongst the Jews, we cannot bar out the conviction, that no 
 nation would ever have imposed such a law upon themselves, 
 and no lawgiver, holding less than a divine commission, would 
 ever have been enabled to impose it on others. But if once 
 imposed as a divine law, if it be repealed at all, it must be re- 
 pealed specifically and in form. It is not enough to say the dis- 
 pensation, generally, has passed away and with it the particular 
 injunction. A divine law specifically and in form established, 
 must be in form and specifically abrogated. Now, the duty of 
 proof in this respect lies with our adversaries ; it is for them to 
 shew that the Sabbath, divinely enjoined, has been divinely 
 superseded. We will, nevertheless, endeavour to establish what 
 we have already avowed, that the Sabbath has not been repealed 
 by the introduction of Christianity: but, on the contrary, has 
 been enforced, spiritualized, and promised to be permanent. 
 After the abrogation of the Mosaic code (mark, not the moral 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 33 
 
 law, for the moral law stands to tliis hour to serve the high piir- 
 poses for which it was appointed) the e\ddence for a Sabbatic 
 institution is two-fold — negative and positive. The negative 
 evidence rests on the utter silence of the gospel as to its repeal, 
 and must be considered sufficient till our adversaries produce 
 their contrary testimony. And, Christian friends, it is not in 
 the spirit of defiance and boast, but in deep Christian thankfol- 
 ness that we add, we challenge them to the task : we challenge 
 them to lay the finger on any one text of scripture which, when 
 tiiirly interpreted, ^Ylll bear them out, or which, not in form 
 and letter only, but even in spmt, teaches that the Sabbath is 
 repealed. The jjesitive e^'idence we infer on the follo\Nang 
 gromids: — 1st. Christ enforced and spu'itualised the tvhole tnorol 
 law. He came not to destroy, but to fulfil it; and in various 
 parts of the gospel he has set forth in all theii* breadth indi- 
 vidual injunctions of the ten commandments. Herein, however, 
 he has enforced and spiritualised the Sabbath, for the Sabbath 
 is one of the ten, and in establishing the whole he established 
 each part ; the general, by comprehension, including the par- 
 ticular. Next, the Saviour censm'ed the formal, undue, and 
 unrighteous observance of the Sabbath, but none other, — we 
 read of no censm'e passed upon its spii'itual observance. Dm*ing 
 his earthly ministry he must have witnessed the sanctification 
 of the Sabbath by the faithful Jew, again and again; but we 
 hear of no condemnation uttered by him on this head, no hint 
 even that the Sabbath was to cease, an intimation more than 
 probable to have escaped his lips at such times, had such been 
 intended. AMiat then do we infer but that his censure of the 
 abuse, and his silence as to the repeal of the ordinance, speak 
 his will, even the keeping holy the Sabbath day. Again, he 
 observed the Sabbath himself. He entered the synagogue on 
 the Sabbath days ; he read and expounded the scriptm'es to the 
 people, and thereby distinctly sanctioned it. The apostles and 
 early disciples also observed it. His appearances after his resur- 
 rection at Sabbath intervals, I think, clearly marks this. The 
 Saviour invariably appeared to them after eight days, that is on 
 the eighth day ; and moreover also whilst it would seem that 
 they were engaged in Sabbath observances ; for we are told ilvcxt 
 the disciples were gathered together and the doors were shut 
 for fear of the Jews : but whv this fear, unless they were 
 
 B 3 
 
34 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 gathered togetlier as Christians, and in the performance of 
 Christian duties ? Now practice, I take to be the strongest con- 
 ceivable authority. Practice is the mind or word acted out. 
 Men will often commend and command what they will not 
 perform. The mind of Christ then, it seems, is clearly manifest 
 in his practice, namely, the observance of the Sabbath. He cen- 
 sures its abuse — he performs its duties — he inspires by his holy 
 spirit his apostles and early disciples to do the same. In other 
 words, as the Son of God he hallowed the Sabbath day. But if 
 this be true, a most important point is gained, the Sabbatic 
 Institution 2iasses into the Christian dispensation. It is not only 
 a divine ordnance before and during the Mosaic systetn, but sur- 
 vives it ; in one word, is a Christian Institute. 
 
 We may not here enlarge on the adaptation of the Sabbath to 
 the spirit and genius of Christianity, because that subject be- 
 longs more properly to a future lecture. We may, however, 
 refer to it as aifording a strong argument for the permanency of 
 the Sabbath. If an appomtment be manifestly fitted to promote 
 the glory of God and the welfare of His people, the two great 
 purposes of Christianity, and the two great objects of a sabbatic 
 rest, why should they not consist together ? The perpetuity of 
 the Sabbath, however, I am content to rest on one scriptm-al 
 argument. St. Paul, quoting the Psalmist, writes, " There re- 
 maineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God." In the scrip- 
 ture the reference is clearly to the Sabbatic rest, and, moreover, 
 as I shall endeavour presently to show, to the Sabbath under the 
 Christian dispensation : " This is the day which the Lord hath 
 made." In this ^dew, then, St. Paul makes the earthly Sabbath 
 to be a type of the final rest of God's saints in heaven. Now, it 
 is confessed on all hands that a type continues in force till its 
 antitype appears. If, then, the antitj^pe or consummation shall 
 not be manifested till all kindreds and nations and people stand 
 before the throne of God, it follows that the Sabbath must con- 
 tinue till then ; that is, till time itself shall be no longer. In 
 other words, the Sabbath is the type of which the antitype is 
 heaven. If, then, the Sabbath be from the beginning; if, 
 though peculiarly Jewish, it has been observed by other nations, 
 yea, even by all (for scarcely has a people been discovered wliich 
 has not regarded with greater or less approach to truth, the 
 sacred character of the seventh day) if, instead of being formally 
 
LECTUllE OJN THE 8ADDATH. 35 
 
 repealed, it has been continued under the Christian dispensation ; 
 and further, is promised to continue to the end of time ; from this 
 simple historical view, derived from scriptm-al truth, it follows 
 that the Sabbath is of imivcrsal and permanent obligation. 
 
 But secondly, we are to deduce the same truth from incidental 
 scriptm-al testimony. To establish this point, I shall select three 
 portions of scriptui'e, Psalm cx\'iii. 19 — 26, Isaiah M. 6 — 8, and 
 Rev. i. 10, all scrip tm-es well kno^vn as bearing upon this argu- 
 ment ; for I have not thought it needful to endeavour to lay new 
 things before you, so much as to select such as seem most appo- 
 site. Let us fii-st turn to Psalm cx^iii. 19 — 26, " Open to me 
 the gates of righteousness, I Mill go into them, and I will x)raise 
 the Lord : tliis gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall 
 enter. I ^\i\\ praise thee, for thou hast heard me, and art be- 
 come my salvation. The stone which the builders refused has 
 become the head-stone in the corner. This is the Lord's doing, 
 it is mars'ellous in om' eyes. This is the day wliich the Lord 
 hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I be- 
 seech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 
 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord, we have 
 blessed you out of the house of the Lord." The prophecy in tliis 
 passage St. Peter explains as belonging to Chiist ; we have no 
 fear, therefore, of misinterpreting it in this respect. But if this 
 be so, then under the Christian dispensation there was to be " a 
 day which the Lord had made," manifestly in a spii'itual sense, 
 for in a natural sense God made all days alike ; and the charac- 
 teristics of this day are noted — opening the gates of righteous- 
 ness, entering therein, praising the Lord, rejoicing and being 
 glad ; the Lord becoming man's salvation, sending prosperity, 
 blessing out of the house of the Lord. Who reads not in these 
 the characteristics of the Sabbath? that Sabbath being here 
 anticipated under the Christian disjjensation. Turn next to 
 Isaiah Ivi. 6—8, " Also the sons of the stranger, that join them- 
 selves to the Lord to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, 
 to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from 
 polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, even them Avill I 
 bring to my holy mountain, and make them joj'ful in my house 
 of prayer : theii" bm-nt offerings and theii* sacrifices shall bo 
 accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an 
 house of prayer for all peojfle. The Lord God which gathercth 
 
36 LEOTUBE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 the outcasts of Israel, saith, yet will I gather others to him, 
 besides those that are gathered unto him." From this passage 
 we infer one important truth, that when God's house shall be 
 called the house of prayer for all people, Sabbaths shall still be 
 observed. Now this anticipation cannot be said to have ever 
 been fully realized until the establishment of Christianity. It 
 certainly had not been realized in the day of Christ, for our 
 blessed Lord, as if with reference to the prediction, said of the 
 temple, the only house of God then acknowledged, " It is writ- 
 ten, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have 
 made it a den of thieves." The house of God, in its fullest sense 
 only became the house of prayer to all nations when Christ said, 
 " wherever two or three are gathered together, there am I in the 
 midst." Moreover, the persons for whom these Sabbaths seem 
 especially designed, " the sons of the stranger," the Gentile 
 world, speaks the same truth ; this declaration is only applicable 
 to the days of Christ ; of that time only is it that " the Lord God 
 which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, " yet will I gather 
 others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him." Hence, 
 then, again, there were to be Sabbaths in the days of Christ — 
 Sabbaths for " the sons of the stranger," or the Gentile world. 
 Once more, turn to Rev. i. 10, "I was in the spu'it on the Lord's 
 day." Here we have the " beloved disciple," under the imme- 
 diate inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recognizing such a day as 
 we have been led to expect — a day specially called by the name 
 of Him who appointed it — a day for holy things. St. John 
 himself was m the Spirit on the Lord's day. Here, then, is a 
 Sabbath openly declared by the apostle of Christ, or, he being 
 led by the Spirit of God, openly proclaimed by God himself. 
 This is no simple inadvertency. St. John could not teach erro- 
 neous doctrine — he could not sanction erroneous practices. And 
 yet, in so mentioning the Lord's day, if there were no Cliristian 
 Sabbath, he would have done both ; for he would have taught 
 that one day was above another, when all were alike, and would 
 have represented that as an appointment of God which God never 
 appointed. These scriptures, then, I think, all point to the continu- 
 ance of the Sabbath under the Christian dispensation. But if so, 
 be it expressly remarked, that under the Christian dispensation 
 every appointment isjixed to the end of time — it is a final dispen- 
 sation ; andif so, it isfixedalso /or all mankind. It is not only for 
 
LECTURE ON THE S.iBBATH. 37 
 
 US, or for the men of our generation, but for all who come after. 
 What then is the result of this view ? — the consideration of 
 incidental seriptm'al testimony ? Surely, that the Sabbath was 
 to come down to us, — to enter and become part of the dispensa- 
 tion of Jesus Clirist, and if so, that it is of imiversal and perma- 
 nent obligation. Our full and final conclusion, therefore, is that 
 on 7)ioral, historical, and revealed evidence, there is a Christian 
 Sabbath, — a day of pri%'ileged spiiitual rest ; that if it be 
 really a Christian ordinance, its universality and perpetuity fol- 
 low of necessity. In one word, that the Sabbath is of permanent 
 and universal obligation ; is the day which the Lord hath 
 made — is the day which shall be observed till the final and 
 eternal Sabbath be ushered in, — " the rest which remaineth for 
 the people of God." 
 
 We come now to a collateral subject, which must not be 
 omitted — the change of the day of Sabbath rest. The Jewish 
 Sabbath being kept on the seventh day, and the Christian 
 Sabbath on the first day of the week, it is necessary that we 
 allege sufficient grounds for this change. The principle of the 
 Sabbath rest, as has been most fully and satisfactorily explained 
 in the pre^•ious lecture, is that a seventh portion of time, not a 
 particular day, be set apart for holy uses. Accordingly, the 
 hallowed rest itself, and the day on which that rest is kept, are 
 separable ; and if we look to the words of the commandment, 
 this distinction seems sufficiently recognized. Thus God, we are 
 told, " Rested on the seventh day ;" but he " Blessed the Sabbath 
 day, and hallowed it." Still, the Sabbath having been once es- 
 tablished, andthat,too,byDi\'ine command, if changed, it should 
 be shewn to be changed for a sufficient cause, and on sufficient 
 authority. Let us, then, test these. The cause may be gleaned, 
 I think, fii'st from Psalm cxviii. ah-eady quoted. The day which 
 the Lord made in a spiiitual sense is, I think, manifestly the 
 day of Christ's resm^rection. In connexion with this day, it is 
 said, " The stone which the builders refused, is become the head 
 stone of the corner : This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in 
 in our eyes." And the Christian church is to celebrate this day ; 
 they are not to rejoice in the work wrought only, but in the day 
 on which it was wrought. " This is the day which the Lord 
 hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." But Clirist rose 
 from the grave on the Jirst day of the week. This, then, would 
 
38 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 seem to be the day appointed for the observance of the Sabbath 
 under the Chiistian dispensation. Again, Isaiah Ixv. 17 and 18, 
 " For behold I create new heavens and a new earth ; and the 
 former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be 
 ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create : for, behold, 
 I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." Here we 
 have two truths set forth, — that the work of redemption, or 
 the new creation, is far more important in the sight of God, than 
 the works of the six days ; and a prediction, that the fii-st creation 
 shall not be remembered by the chm^ch of Christ, by which I 
 imderstand should be subordinately remembered, not commemo- 
 rated. But the day which emphatically commemorates the 
 original creation, is the seventh day. The day on which the 
 new creation would be best remembered, is the first ; for on it 
 the work of creation was perfected; Chi-ist was declared to be 
 the son of God ^vith power ; and henceforth all were called upon 
 to become new creatures in Chiist Jesus. These two scriptures, 
 perhaps, sufficiently indicate the cause of the change. As re- 
 gards the authority on which the change was made, we remark, 
 generally, that the same power wliich is competent to make an 
 appointment, is competent to alter it ; and this authority we have 
 here. The original Sabbath was appointed in commemoration 
 of Clirist's work in creation, for God made the worlds by Jesus 
 Clirist. The present Sabbath is appointed in commemoration of 
 Chiist's work in redemption. What, therefore, God the Father 
 ordained in commemoration of the lesser vrork of his beloved 
 Son, we may well conceive that Son to have the power to transfer 
 to the greater work. Now, the teacliing of our Saviour on one 
 occasion is, I think, not without an intimation as to this change. 
 They come and complain to Clmst (Matthew ix. 14 and 1-3) that 
 whilst the disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted often, liis 
 disciples fasted not. Christ tells them, in reply, that the chil- 
 di'cn of the bride chamber cannot mom-n, so long as the bride- 
 groom is with them ; but that when the bridegroom shall be 
 taken away, then they shall fast. The reference in all this is 
 perfectly clear. Now, Christ died on the Friday — the bride- 
 groom was taken away. He rose again on the Sunday, — the 
 bridegroom was restored. The period of his absence, then, was 
 Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and then the disciples were to 
 fast. But the Sabbath was from the beginning a festival — not 
 
LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 39 
 
 a fast. If, therefore, Christ pointed out that clay as the season 
 in which his disciples were to fast, he seems to me to point out 
 also that such a day ceased to be fitting for Sabbath purposes ; 
 that the Sabbatic rest and festival must be ti-ansferred to another 
 day. Again, the practice of Chiist is equally, perhaps more sig- 
 nificant. AVe have akeady said that after Christ's resiuTection, 
 he appeared to liis disciples at Sabbath interv^als. "We may now 
 add to this, that these appearances were also upon the Christian 
 Sabbath ; they were on fhejlrst day of the week. The Jewish 
 chui'ch had, in fact, filled up the measure of its iniquity. It had 
 crucified the Lord of Life and of Gloiy, and God had cast it off. 
 Thenceforth the Church of Chi-ist was established ; and as its 
 object of worship was changed, no longer the Jehovah of the 
 Jews, but the covenant God of the Gospel, the ever-blessed 
 Trinity, so the day of worship was changed also. There was to 
 be no longer the Sabbath of the seventh day, but the Sabbath 
 of the fii'st. Moreover, the apostles' practice was in exact con- 
 formity with the Lord's. Divinely guided, they were ever found 
 of Chiist gathered together ; and for what purposes, we have 
 akeady noticed. As time rolled on, however, these were more 
 distinctly set forth. They are reported at such seasons to have 
 been engaged in '' the breaking of bread, and in prayer," — " in 
 making contributions for the poor saints ;" — in one word, in 
 Chi-istian worship and duty : whilst the first out-pouring of the 
 spiiit upon the church on the day of Pentecost, is, as it were, the 
 the seal fi'om Heaven upon the change. And, once more, St. 
 John, in the year 96, distinctly recognizes the alteration — de- 
 clares that there was then among Chi-ist's disciples the keeping 
 of a Sabbath, and that Sabbath the Lord's day. Need we any 
 farther authority? Christ's apostle, and therefore Christ; 
 the chm^ch inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Holy 
 Ghost himself; and if the Son, and the Spiiit, then the Father 
 that is one with them, the ever-blessed Trinity, has stamped ap- 
 proval on the change. God appointing, hath also altered his 
 appointment, and the Lord's day is for ever the Sabbath of God's 
 people. 
 
 The change thus sanctioned and established, the whole 
 l^atristic theology, the writings of the chi'istian fathers in the 
 earliest and pm^^st ages of the chm-ch, shows to have been 
 adopted and acted upon. Thus Ignatius, a companion of the 
 
40 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 apostles of Christ, says distinctly, " let us no more sabbatize," 
 an expression applied to tbe Jewish sabbath, " but let us keep 
 the Lord's day on which our Life arose." Justin Martyr, at the 
 commencement of the second century, gives this reason for the 
 change from the seventh to the first day of the week, " the day 
 called Sunday, on which the creation of the world began, and in 
 which Christ rose from the dead." Irenceus, a disciple of Poly- 
 carp, who himself was a disciple of St. John, writes, " on the 
 Lord's day, every one of us Christians keep the Sabbath." 
 Dionysius, contemporary with Irenoeus, says, " to-day we cele- 
 brate the Lord's day;" and Petavius leaves this conclusive 
 testimony, " but one Lord's day was observed in the earliest 
 times of the church." 
 
 We do not adduce the subject as evidence, although it is, 
 perhaps, not without significancy, and certainly all tends in the 
 direction of the scripture testimony, that even physical laws 
 dismcline us to entertain the idea that any given day, a certain 
 period of absolute time, was to be universally observed for the 
 Sabbath. The sphericity of the earth alone would prevent this. 
 Of absolute time, the people at the antipodes participate in only 
 one-half of our Sabbath, and conversely, so we in theirs. But if 
 all do not, yea, cannot enjoy and observe the same hom-s for the 
 Sabbath, and according to the degree of longitude of various 
 places, the inhabitants of the globe observe a Sabbath, in point 
 of absolute time, admitting much variety, one part in their horn's 
 approaching much nearer to the succeeding day than another, 
 then is the difficulty of a change of day much modified ; at all 
 events, the supposition that the Sabbath is necessarily fixed to 
 any one particular twenty-four hours, ceases. Moreover, ap- 
 parent conformity to the observance of every seventh day, might 
 imder given cii'cumstances, really become a non-observance of 
 the Sabbath rest properly interpreted, that is, of the seventh 
 portion of time. Suppose a circumnavigator to sail in the same 
 parellel of latitude westward till he reaches the port from 
 whence he set out, observing the Sabbath regularly dm-ing his 
 voyage. He would find, at the end of his travel, that he had in 
 this respect gained a day — his Sabbath would be one day out of 
 course ; yet would he, in the spirit of the injunction have kept 
 the command. Should he, however, persist in continuing the 
 observance of what was, relatively to his voyage, the seventh 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 41 
 
 day, he would not only unjustifiably, because without sufficient 
 grounds, introduce confusion, but he would actually, by an 
 adhesion to the letter, violate the spirit of the commandment. 
 Were he to circumna^^gate eastward, the sam« residt would 
 ensue, -vvith only this difference, that it would arise from the 
 loss instead of the gain of a day. One other circumstance, 
 without laying stress upon the remark, may perhaps be noted 
 here, — that the seventh day relatively to God, was the first day 
 relatively to man. Man was created on the sixth day, and God 
 rested from his work on the seventh, that is on the first day of 
 man's existence. "VMiat wonder, then, that under a new dis- 
 pensation, the fii"st day of the week should be appointed for his 
 Sabbath. Hence, then, the christian appointment of the Lord's 
 day, commemorates conjointly and severally the work of creation, 
 the work of the new creation, and man's primal day of rest ; the 
 former by the obseiTance of seventh-day intervals — the latter 
 two by the observance of the day on which the Saviour rose 
 from the grave, and of man's first Sabbath in Paradise. 
 Christian friends, may we, with Da-sid, not declare only, but 
 realize the truth, " this is the day which the Lord hath made, 
 we will rejoice and be glad therein !" May this be a day to be 
 observed tlu-oughout our generations for ever I May it be a 
 " perpetual covenant," that so God may be our God, and we may 
 be his people. 
 
 In conclusion, I may not trench on any future lecture, and for 
 the reasons I assigned at the commencement, I may, however, 
 in its bearing upon our present enquiiy, most briefly, glance at 
 God's manifest blessing on the institution. We are distinctly 
 told that we may neither add to nor take fi*om the word of God ; 
 much less then may we add to or take from his ordinances, his 
 mind acted out. If, then, the Sabbath be an appointment of 
 God, we may reasonably look for a blessing on its observance 
 — if it be an ordinance of man, pretending to the authority of 
 an ordinance of God, we may fear lest the blessing be turned 
 into a cm*se. We have said that we may not enlarge on this 
 point ; we cannot, however, forego one brief reflection, both 
 as to nations and indi^dduals. Christian friends, look for one 
 moment to France and her sabbath — and to Scotland and her 
 sabbath ! AMien on the former, some half or thi'ee-quarters of a 
 
42 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 century since, iniquity came like a flood, and ungodliness spread 
 itself over the land, what was well nigh the fii-st act of madness 
 of which the nation, as a nation was guilty ? They hlotted 
 out their Sabhaths; as if they thought that so long as even 
 the semblance of a recognition of God and revelation remained, 
 some barrier would be presented to their profligacy and 
 licentiousness — they altered the very calculation of time — they 
 no longer reckoned by weeks, the mark of the people of God, 
 they calculated their days by tens. What were the fruits? 
 Whatever dynasty, whatever authority was over them, the 
 fruits were these : their rulers were, one after another, destroyed 
 —their liberties were uprooted — theu^ faith was trampled in the 
 dust. This is the picture of France and her Sabbath. Now look 
 to Scotland. Time was when contending claimants warred for 
 her crown, when antagonist clans waged ceaseless strife, and 
 that beautiful land of mountain and glen was deluged by its 
 people's blood, But Scotland kept her Sabbaths — kept them 
 perhaps more sacredly than any nation in Christendom ; and 
 what are the fi-uits ? Wars have ceased, and factions are gone, 
 and in those places where once only danger and dread lurked, is 
 now peace. Yes, our beloved Sovereign may now traverse that 
 land from end to end, with one universal greeting, " God bless 
 her." Yes, Scotland's liberties are secm-e, and her faith intact. 
 And who shall say how much of this — of this national peace and 
 happiness — is the fruit of Sabbath observance. We may not 
 press this point to individual application, we will not appeal to 
 the individual Sabbath-observer and Sabbath-breaker ; we may, 
 however, appeal to our own hearts and our own consciences ; and 
 if we should ever have been led into either Sabbath desecration 
 or Sabbath neglect, we can decide for om'selves whether it has 
 or has not, in some shape or other, brought its own curse. I 
 hesitate not to record my inmost and solemn conviction that a 
 Sabbath profaned is storing up woe for the after day; a sabbath 
 sanctified is a blessing through the following week ; man goes 
 forth to his duties refreshed and encouraged, and the blessing of 
 God is upon him. Yes, Christian friends, God's blessing stamps 
 the institute. This is the perfection of evidence. You may ac- 
 cumulate testimony, you may weary the tongue to tell, and the 
 niind to grasp the witnesses to this truth ; the climax, the cul- 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 43 
 
 mination is God's approving seal. Yom* witnesses may, it is 
 true, be like the stars of heaven, given in mercy to cheer and to 
 avert the darkness of this life's night, but the blessing of God is 
 like the glorious sun in the ftrmanent, and flings vitality and 
 light and wannth on every side. Yes, God hallowed the Sahhath 
 at first. God hath hallowed it ever. God icill hallow it to the 
 end. Heaven itself is one eternal S.\bbath. " For he 
 that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased fi'om his own 
 works, as God did from his." 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 BY R. D. GRAINGER, ESQ., F. R. S. 
 
 Subject. — " TJie Sabbath" its adaptation to the Physical Nature 
 of Man — to his temporal ivell-being, especially the well-being 
 of the Working Classes. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, or, I would rather say. Christian 
 Brethi'en and Fellow Countrymen, — In addressing you on this 
 occasion, I feel that I labour under no ordinary difficulty. I do 
 not mean to say that it has not fallen to my lot to address large 
 masses of my fellow countrymen on other occasions ; but now it 
 is the subject on which I am to speak that makes the difficulty. 
 I feel it is no slight thing, after such addresses as you have heard 
 in this hall, touching the nature of man — his soul — his primseval 
 condition in Paradise, — the institutions he there received, of 
 which the most blessed still remains to us — the day of rest, 
 given in mercy, not only for the solace and elevation of the soul, 
 but for the refreshment of the weary body, weak and oppressed 
 by labour and toil ; — it is, I repeat, no slight thing, after the 
 contemplation of these sublimities, to enter upon the mere phy- 
 sical part of the great subject we are met together in this hall to 
 consider. Of the glories of man's first estate, all that remains 
 are the institution of the Sabbath, and that other ordinance, the 
 matrimonial union. These two things have sm*vived the wi'eck 
 of om* nature ; have come forth fi'esh from Paradise ; and in them 
 do we not all feel the gifts of our merciful Creator to om- now 
 fallen race ? 
 
 I have now to conduct you from things immaterial to 
 things material ; from things spiritual to tilings corporeal ; 
 from those deep, eternal, holiest things, which concern the 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 45 
 
 soul of man, breathed into him when he became a living 
 being, to the concernments of his material, perishable frame. 
 It is this great subject which we are about to discuss, — to pass 
 over from the immortal spirit to the bodily instrument; to 
 pass, as by a great step, fi'om the soul of man to his material 
 natui'e, to his bodily and physical being. Fitting and suitable 
 it is that I should, in some way, attempt to bridge over the great 
 chasm wliich separates the spii'itual fi'om the physical natm*e of 
 man ; some effort should be made to shew that in the laws of our 
 material nature, there still may be discovered unmistakeable 
 traces of the same ^visdom, the same perfection, the same 
 Almighty power as in the creation of the soul of man. It is 
 indeed this consideration that greatly relieves me in this task, 
 that we have still to consider the icorks of God, His c7«*ef work, 
 the construction of the human body, of that wondrous machine, 
 which is placed at the very height and summit of the whole 
 animal creation, and which is, as it were, the typical representa- 
 tion of the mighty w^hole. It is, then, I repeat, a great consolation 
 to my mind, that we have still to do with the works of the Lord, 
 and his laws. I say not this as a mere passing observation, for 
 I speak as in the presence of God himself. It is, then, with no 
 feeUng of that sort that I say these words, for they have a 
 reference to deep inherent truths ; to laws concerning the forma- 
 tion of the body of man ; to the fixed principles regulating its 
 actions ; to the immutable conditions under which he lives ; to 
 all that concerns the great laws of God as manifested in our cor- 
 poreal fi-amework. But I should have no hope of lea-vdng an 
 imprsssion of that subject on which I am to speak, unless I coidd 
 convey to your minds some of those laws under which your body 
 is formed, — under wliich you enjoy youi-life ; because if I do not 
 succeed in impressing you with some of these laws, I should only 
 add one to those many collections of detailed facts which exist, 
 pro%'ing that the human body is limited in its powers ; that ex- 
 ertion necessitates rest ; that prolonged labour demands a longer 
 inter^-al of rest. All this has been again and again proved ; but 
 I wish to place before you the principles on which all these re- 
 corded instances rest ; to show you that eveiy, the minutest 
 action, is regulated by law, and designed to an end; that in the 
 living, mo\'ing body, all is as exact as in physics or chemistry ; 
 and that no law, no condition of life, can be violated but under 
 
46 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 penalty. If I could but convey to you a titlie of the imijressions 
 that I hare in my own mind, of the exquisite beauty, the refined 
 formation, the delicacy of construction employed in this me- 
 chanism ; if I could but convey one tithe of all that I have in 
 my own breast on these thing's, I should have done more towards 
 shewing you the necessity of rest, of the necessity of the Sab- 
 bath to the body, than would a thousand special proofs. 
 
 One of the most fertile sources of physical evil in this nine- 
 teenth centuiy, is the want of knowledge of the conditions of 
 man's existence. People generally do not know what are the 
 conditions under which they liA^e. The conditions of health are 
 constantly violated. We do things not consistent with health, not 
 compatible with healthy existence, not knowing them to be such. 
 If it were possible for the great mass of men to have the know- 
 legde which the few possess, we should not have such fiightful 
 tales as these tables will tell us. There would not be such an 
 enormous sacrifice of life, of that existence given in mercy to 
 man, for the one purpose of preparing him for the life immortal. 
 
 (The Lectui-er then presented two tables exliibiting and com- 
 paring the range of life and death in the inhabitants of Surrey 
 and the population of the town of Liverpool, according to the 
 existing rate of mortality. From these it appeared that of 
 100,000 persons living in Surrey, one half, or 50,000, are dead 
 at fifty years of age ; whilst of 100,000 in the population of 
 Liverpool, one half, or 50,000, are deceased at five years of age.) 
 
 [As the coloured diagram exhibited by the Lectm-er cannot bo 
 introduced here, the following extract from the Registrar 
 General's Fifth Annual Report, is given which shews some of 
 the same facts : — According to the Sm-rey observations, 75,423 
 of 100,000 childi-en born attain the age of 10 years ! 52,000 live 
 to the age of 50; 28,038 to 70. In Liverpool, only 48,211 of 
 100,000 Hve 10 years; 25,878 live 50 years; and 8,373 live 70 
 years. The probable duration of life in Sm-rey is 53 years ; in 
 Liverpool, 26 years.] 
 
 The mass of the people live in ignorance of these facts, 
 whilst those whose duty it is in the sight of God and man, 
 that they should make themselves acquainted with them, the 
 rulei-s of this country, neglect that duty. I will mention one 
 or two facts for this assertion. It has pleased Almighty 
 God, in his bcnificence, to place in the hands of man a iicrfcct 
 
LECTURE ON THE S.VBBA.TII. 47 
 
 remedy, or almost a perfect remedy against one of the greatest 
 scourges of the hmnan race, the small pox. It is possible to 
 eradicate small pox. By what means ? By vaccination. There 
 are some doubts as to its perfect protective power, but it is cer- 
 tain, and admitted by all, that up to the age of five there need 
 be no death from small pox. What is the state of things ? In 
 the ten years from 1831 to 1841, there peiished in Ireland 
 56,000 persons fi'om small pox, out of which 56,000 persons 
 79 per cent., or 45,000, were childi'cn under the age of five years, 
 all of whom, had they been properly vaccinated, might, so far 
 as small pox was concerned, have been now alive. There is 
 then, you sec, a great deal to be done, but efforts are required 
 to overcome the prevailing ignorance, indolence, and selfishness ; 
 and those efibrts which ought to be secm'ed by the Legislature 
 of these reabns are not made, and so it comes to pass that year 
 by year, thousands of helpless children are sacrified as if offered 
 to Moloch, man m his blindness rejecting the antidote for this 
 loathsome disease, which is so mild and painless, that the infant 
 sleeping in its mother's arms need not to be awakened to insert 
 the vaccine lymph. Again, fever is one of the most destructive 
 diseases to which the human race is subject ; it kills thousands, 
 and it debilitates twenty-five for each one who is killed. Is 
 fever a necessaiy thing ? I saw last summer one house in a 
 court called Tindall's Buildings, in Gray's Inn Lane, from which, 
 in the short space of two months, twenty persons had been 
 taken to the hospital with tj^phus : it was, in truth, a veiy lazar 
 house. On the other hand, I examined every model lodging- 
 house in London last year ; decent, well-provided houses, vriih 
 all sanitary appliances. I found that out of these houses, with 
 1,500 persons, there had been but one case of typhus fever, 
 though some of these establishments had been open fom* and 
 five years. Inquii'ies Kke these, concerning the laws of life, 
 are intended to make known to the masses of the people the 
 conditions wliich mar health, and the circumstances which im- 
 prove health. 
 
 But I have now to keep in -siew the necessity of the Sabbath 
 rest. In the living body every thing is beautifully contrived ; 
 every act of life requires the concurrence of a vast number of 
 changes, of wliieh we know nothing till we have the light of 
 science. You ^^•ill find that every thing is as exactly regulated 
 
48 LECTURE OJf THE SABBATH. 
 
 as it is in gravitation — notliing takes place but what is pro- 
 vided for. We live, move, and have our being in the sight, 
 and under the superintendence of Almighty God. I wish to 
 impress these things upon you, to shew how carefully we are 
 sustained. It is indeed only the body, but the body proceeds 
 from the hands God ; in seeing these created things we see His 
 handiwork. If you take up a straw or a feather, you see the 
 hand of God. This is the only way in which the Christian can 
 approach these things ; he must ever look upon them as if he 
 were following his Maker's footsteps. 
 
 How great is the gift that man is permitted to know what is 
 the will of God in these things ! It is more than all other 
 knowledge, except the saving knowledge of Christianity. It is 
 a pure gift ; for it does not concern me or my present existence 
 that I should know the will of God in making these feathers ; 
 but I think you may draw from these a very satisfactory proof, 
 subordinate only to that in the revealed law of God, that man 
 has another, an intellectual existence, beyond the present : that 
 the mind of man is not to perish with the things of this world. 
 The proof lies in this, that he knows so much of the laws of na- 
 ture, which have and can have no use, no appliance in this state. 
 In every branch of learning and science, the highest truths have 
 no application to man's present existence ; he may pick out 
 from astronomy one or two particular facts, which may guide 
 his way across the pathless ocean ; but how does it concern him 
 to know the constitution of the milky way ? And yet he is per- 
 mitted to contemplate, that stupendous display of creative power. 
 Now, nothing is done in vain ; God has meted all creation. 
 Every thing is weighed as in a balance ; even the heavenly 
 bodies, where a grain would disturb their glorious movements. 
 Nothing then being given which is not required, why this know- 
 ledge ? Man is at once the only being that knows these noble 
 truths, these sublime laws ; and he alone of all animate creatures 
 has a reasonable mind, a responsible soul, to which last the pos- 
 session of these truths can alone apply. 
 
 I now approach that subject which has brought us together 
 this evening. Why is it necessary there should be rest ? You 
 all know that. You all know that rest is necessary after labor, 
 but what are the laws which make it necessary ? What are "the 
 limits of labour ? And what amount of rest is required ? This 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 49 
 
 is what I have to explain, and to do this, I cannot better com- 
 mence than by stating first of all, that there is no vital action 
 ivhatever but it causes a icaste of the living body, or of that pari 
 of the living body lohich is exercised. I move my arm, and a por- 
 tion of the muscles is by that act rendered unfit to move again, 
 and must be renovated. I think, a thought passes tlu'ough the 
 brain, and a certain part of the brain is used up. I breathe, and 
 a certain part of my body is burnt up to generate the animal 
 heat. There is no action, but a waste of the instniment 
 takes place ; this being so, the waste of the body is in proportion 
 to its use. The force which is employed is followed by coitcs- 
 ponding exhaustion. If the time of action is short, the time of 
 rest is also short. If the action is long, it matters not what you 
 speak of, muscles, nerves, or brain, the mterval of rest must be 
 also long. Actxon and reaction are equal ; there is no exception 
 that I know of. Vital force is a thing so subtle, so refined, so 
 marvellous, that it demands for its sustenance an immense 
 amount of action and change, much more than is known to 
 persons in general ; and this owing to the ease and harmony 
 with which the functions of the body are performed. AVe walk 
 and move, we see, and hear, and tliink ; we breathe ; and all 
 this owing to the benevolence and goodness of God, in so facile 
 a manner, that we are unaware of the amount of change and 
 action going on in the bodily organ. Take the instance of the 
 cu'culation. The heart beats seventy-five times in a minute ; at 
 each contraction, two oimces at least of blood is sent by the 
 right ventricle, and is carried to the kmgs; so that 150 omices 
 of dark blood pass thi'ough the breathing organs in a minute, 
 and about 24 hogsheads in 24 hom*s. That quantity, of course, 
 does not exist in the" body, but so much, by going round and 
 round, or cii'culating, does pass through the lungs to be purified. 
 Then, as to breatliing ; a person draws his breath about twenty 
 times in a minute, and at each time inspii'cs about twenty cubic 
 mches of atmospheric aii*, or no less than 36 hogsheads in 24 
 hom-s. This gives some idea of the immense activity of the 
 \\tdl processes. Now, let me allude to the intricacy and deh- 
 cacy of the instruments employed, and for this we may select 
 an organ much concerned with this question of daily labour, — 
 the eye. I cannot here speak of its nerves, of its millions of 
 blood vessels, all excited when the eye is being used. I will 
 
 C 
 
50 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 merely select that beautiful instrument, the crystalline lens, 
 which, like any common convex lens, forms those images of ex- 
 ternal objects, which are the essential condition of vision. It 
 consists, as you see here depicted (referring to the diagrams) of 
 concentric layers, of which 2,000 have been counted, each made 
 up of fibres, amounting in all to 5,000,000 ; and these fibres again 
 are joined together by little teeth, of which in the cod fish there 
 are no fewer than 62 billions. So much for the subtility of the 
 organs employed. 
 
 The next great principle to which I would direct your attention 
 is this, that all vital action is intermittent, and must speedily he 
 exhausted, much more so than is generally supposed. One of 
 the readiest, and therefore for this occasion the best test of this, 
 is the eye, the power of which is exhausted most rapidly. If you 
 steadily fix the eyes upon any object, and take care not to close 
 the lids, you will be conscious of fatigue, and of some degree of 
 obscm-ation in less than a minute ; and if you continue the expe- 
 riment, very soon the object becomes more obscure and lost. 
 Now, under ordinary circumstances we are not aware of this ; 
 because that momentary closure of the eye constituting winking, 
 which you will perceive on watching the eye of another person, 
 recruits the power of the optic nerve. Some may object, and 
 say, how can this be, for I am reading continuously, and I see 
 without interruption ? There is in all this a beautiful provision 
 — the impression made on the nerve remains for a certain time 
 after the object making it is removed, and so in the momentary 
 closure of the eye, we do not lose the perception of the external 
 object. Suppose a poor dress-maker straining this delicate organ, 
 and straining it for hours by candle-light, can you wonder that 
 it sufiers ? I know it suffers ; I have evidence to that effect, of 
 the eye being even lost by unremitted use. Those who know 
 these things must reflect on them ; not only the employers, but 
 ladies must consider, and they must know that if they will not 
 give proper time for the execution of their orders, then they 
 must hereafter render their account for such things. It is a 
 blessed circumstance that a great improvement has of late years 
 been, as we shall soon find, effected in the dress making business ; 
 but much, very much, still remains to be accomplished. We 
 may then judge from what has been stated of these laws of 
 sensation, that the eye is peculiarly liable to be injm-ed by pro- 
 
LECTURE ON THE S.^BA.TH. 51 
 
 longed labour, particularly in certain trades, as among needle- 
 women of all classes, stocking-makers, watch-makers, &c. 
 
 I now come briefly to speak of the laws or piinciples in what 
 more especially concerns the labouiing classes — muscular exer- 
 tion. And fii'st of all I would point out, that to produce the 
 results connected with so many industrial occupations, there 
 must be an enormous expenditure of force, not only fi'om the 
 nature of muscular action iti general, but also because there is 
 no animal which, to produce the same result, must make so great 
 an exertion as man. And why is this ? Because he is the only 
 being that stands erect on this earth, — the only being that moves 
 erect. Upright bij)eds there are, it is true, in the feathered 
 tribes ; but man is the only being among mammalia which moves 
 erect : and, for this privilege, he pays the penalty of enormous 
 muscular force. It is a great effort to stand on the two feet : it 
 is an art hard to be acquired, as we see in the young child 
 learning to walk. There is no animal not even among the 
 monkey tribe, as the ourang outang, in which the foot is placed 
 flat upon the ground, except man. There is none where the 
 heel touches the ground. Every muscle, from head to foot, 
 except the muscles of the face and arms, are required to main- 
 tain this posture. Look at the young child, does he stand up- 
 right ? Look at the person who has been exhausted by iUiiess. 
 It requires great force to stand upright. Is it nothing, then, to 
 stand twelve or foui'teen hours behind a counter, as the di-aper's 
 assistant ? Is it nothing to stand for hours, like a conductor, 
 behind an omnibus ? Is it nothing for a lace maker, or the 
 mechanic who ' minds' a lace machine, to stand in front of it 
 for many consecutive hom's, with his arms across, watching with 
 his eye, — how often have I seen this, — every thread in that com- 
 plex machinery ? It is a great effort ; standing alone on two feet 
 involves a great expenditure of force. But what is it to stand 
 with the body balanced on one foot ? A^Tiy, it requires some- 
 thing of the complex muscular actions demanded of him who 
 dances on a tight rope. But every time a person lifts his foot in 
 walking, he performs some such feat. !Man is the only mammal 
 that can thus support the body on one foot. Walking expends 
 an immense amount of force ; and when a person walks not only 
 the muscles of the leg, but the muscles of the anns play ; in fact, 
 all the muscles of the body come into play. Thus, we perceive, 
 
52 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 that man acts with great disadvantage, because he must sacrifiec 
 much of his power to stand upright ; that is, to bring himself 
 into a position to act. Horses are piquetted in camps for months 
 together without lying down, so little is the demand on their 
 muscles in standing. 
 
 But beyond all this, it is essential to explain that the muscular 
 effort of standing causes the heart to beat more quickly, and the 
 whole circulation to be accelerated— another source this of expen- 
 diture of vital force. In corroboration of this, it will suffice to 
 state that in a man 27 years old, the pulse in standing is 81 ; 
 sitting, 71 ; lying, 65 ; showing thus a difference of extremes of 
 15 beats in a minute, owing entirely to the muscular effort 
 required to support the body. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to explain that all violent exercise, of 
 whatever kind, enormously excites the heart's action and the 
 circulation, and induces a corresponding exhaustion ; this might 
 be substantiated by all laborious trades, but is sufficiently indi- 
 cated by locomotion, where fast rmining will cause the pulse to 
 beat half as quick again as when the same person is walking 
 slowly, or in the proportion of 150 to 100. 
 
 We have now to enter upon a question wliich is one of the 
 most important of the whole inquiry. We want to know what 
 is the i)roper limit to man's daily labour ? I feel it to be one of 
 the most imx^ortant questions to the whole world, as concerns 
 health, what should be the limit of a day's employment. Speak- 
 ing, first, of bodily labour, I find in the evidence which has been 
 taken on the factory and other questions, that all the most dis- 
 tinguished physicians and sm-geons of this country, have come 
 to very nearly the same conclusion. They have all considered, 
 that as to actual bodily laboui- day by day, it should not be con- 
 tinued more than ten hours, exclusive of meals. No man, with 
 reference to health, should work more than ten hours. This is 
 the common result of all medical experience. 
 
 Let me, in the next place, refer to another form of labom' — 
 that of the mind. Some people work with their hands ; some 
 with their heads ; both cause exhaustion, mental labom-, per- 
 haps, sooner than bodily ; so that those engaged in it assuredly 
 require the blessed day of rest as much, or even more than the 
 artizan or mechanic. I have consulted some friends of mine 
 upon the whole question of labour, and amongst the rest Dr. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 53 
 
 Carpenter, one of tlie most eminent physiologists in this country, 
 who ■wi'ites thus : — " My own opinion has long been very de- 
 cided, that ten houi's a day is the fullest amount that ought to be 
 assigned to continued bodily laboui', and where there is much 
 mental tension, I should say that even this is too much. I do 
 not think that more than eight hours a day can be given to 
 purely mental labour. I have heard that the late Mr. Simeon 
 was accustomed to say to the young men who were under his 
 influence at Cambridge, ' four and foui* make eight, but eight 
 and eight make only four,' a very significant remark, illus- 
 trating his experience of the effects of overwork. I believe that 
 it is the opinion of those who work many horses, in coaching, 
 &c., that it is better to work a horse (say ten miles a day) for 
 four days, and to give him an entire rest on the fifth , than to 
 work him eight miles a day for the whole five. My own expe- 
 rience is very strong as to the importance of the conij^lete rest 
 and change of thought once in the week." My own experience 
 entirely corresponds with these \'iews ; and I have known some 
 very painful instances of the efiects of excessive mental labour, 
 and especially of mental labour continued on Sundays. Under 
 such circumstances, the mind itself is liable to give way, and 
 insanity, and even suicide, have, in some celebrated instances, 
 been the result of -s-iolating the natui'al and revealed laws of God, 
 in respect to periodical rest. From all the inquii'ies I have 
 been able to make ; from the concurrent testimony of the most 
 distinguished medical and scientific authorities in this country ; 
 and fi'om my own official inquiries in the manufactui'ing dis- 
 tricts, I have arrived at the fixed conclusion that, so far as 
 health is involved, ten hours is the limit of daily labour ; if that 
 limit be exceeded ; if the natui'al laws be violated ; then the 
 penalty must be paid in some shape or other, — in unnecessary 
 sickness ; in prematm-e decay of the system ; or, as constantly 
 happens, in prematui'e death. 
 
 The question is, however, so momentous, that I was anxious, 
 if possible, to have the sanction of a natui-al law ; to learn from 
 natui'e herself how long muscular action might be continued 
 without injuiy, and A\ith this view I selected the heart. The 
 heart is a muscular organ, and most people would conceive that 
 it is in almost incessant action ; and, consequently, that here we 
 should have the exception, not the rule. But science, which 
 
 c 3 
 
54 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 reveals so many of the secrets of nature, teaches ns that the 
 chamber of the heart, Avhich propels the blood through the 
 body, acts twelve hours out of the four-and-twenty, and rests 
 twelve. It does not, however, follow, that because the left 
 ventricle, without injury, goes on working for twelve hours a 
 a day, that the common muscles can do the same ; for it is well 
 know^n to the physiologist that the fleshy substance of the heart 
 is more highly organized than the motive organs of the trunk 
 and limbs ; that it is more amply supplied with blood, and, 
 therefore, more capable of sustained action. The instance here 
 selected, gives us a kind of natural type, and goes to confirm the 
 general conclusion, that the muscles cannot be properly employed 
 in labour more than ten hours ; and even then a periodical rest 
 would be requisite. 
 
 Having submitted to your consideration some of the laws and 
 conditions of the economy, and having endeavoiu'cd to convey 
 to you some notion of the enormous demands on the frame to 
 sustain the vital actions, we will now consider practically some 
 of the actual e^dls of long work ; and, first, I would say, let 
 those speak who are best acquainted with the question, let the 
 labouring men themselves say what their experience is. I met, 
 by chance, the other day, the Secretary of the Early Closing 
 Association. He told me that some years ago he had been a 
 draper's assistant, that he stood fourteen hours a day, and be- 
 came so exhausted by Sunday, that he found either his body or 
 mind would give way under this excessive labour ; he felt he 
 must do something to maintain his system : he bathed, daily, 
 winter and summer, in the Serpentine, going there often before 
 it was light in the morning. He made the best use of the 
 Sabbath for recruiting his body, not neglecting the afiairs of 
 the soul ; and thus he, having strong powers, escaped. Now I 
 feel assured, that this is, and has been the case of thousands, 
 multitudes of whom have perished in the struggle. If you refer 
 to those excellent productions of the labouring classes — the 
 Essays on the Observance of the Sabbath — productions highly 
 creditable to their writers, and of which imj class of Society 
 might be proud, you will hear how they speak of these tilings. 
 " The Cm'se of liabour," telling of the exhaustion and prostra- 
 tion of the body ; — " Heaven's Antidote to the Curse of Labour ;" 
 ■ — " The Light of the AV^eek," proclaiming what they, by a 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 55 
 
 blessed experience, know to be the remedy for the awful penalty 
 inflicted on the first \'iolation of God's commandments. The 
 principal prize was awarded to John Allan Quintin, printer, 
 Ipswich ; the secend to John Yomiger, a shoemaker, of Rox- 
 burgshii'c ; the tliii'd, to David Farquhar, machinist, Dundee. 
 Let us honom' these names ; also, let us hear what they have to 
 say, — " Oh precious day ! the workman's jubilee — -the slave's 
 release — the shield of ser^dtude — the antidote of weariness — 
 the suspension of the curse. How it smoothes the brow of care ! 
 How it brightens the countenance of gloom ! How it braces 
 the enervated limbs of labour ! How it revives the di-ooping 
 spirit of despair ! How it gives wings to the clogged affections 
 and aspii'ations of the soul ! How it poiu-s some di'ojDs of sweet- 
 ness on the bitterest lot, and sheds some gleams of smishine 
 athAvart the saddest heart." Thus speaks John Quintin, and 
 not for himself alone ; he has in these beautiful lines expressed 
 the thoughts and sentiments of millions. 
 
 I have myself seen somewhat of these things. I have seen 
 in Nottingham, young women embroidering lace, who worked 
 from six in the morning, or even five, to nine and ten at night, 
 and this from one week's end to the other, so that, as they told 
 me, they never once in the week went out of theii* wi'etched 
 courts. I have known dressmakers work fifteen, sixteen, 
 eighteen, and twenty hours a day, and often on the Sabbath. 
 And what was the result ? A pale exhausted body ; sickness ; 
 loss of appetite ; severe indigestion ; distortion ; dimness of sight, 
 nay, a total blindness. I know fr'om the sm-geons who attended 
 those ^dctims of an e^il system, that many of them perished 
 from consumption, and were otherwise cut off, owing entii'ely to 
 theii' exhausting toil. In the great manfactiu-ing districts, the 
 clergymen have remarked that few or none of the young men, 
 overworked in the week, attended as Sunday teachers; they 
 were exhausted, and compelled to rest theii- weary frames. 
 
 The question, and it is an important one, arises, when does 
 this wear and tear show itself? In extreme cases, doubtless at 
 the time ; but often, although fatigue and exhaustion are felt, a 
 man in the prime of his life and A-igoui", may go on for years 
 working more than the body can bear with impunity ; but the 
 reckoning comes at last, in the shape of premature old age, 
 sickness, and death before the allotted duration of human life. 
 
56 
 
 LECTURE ON THE SABB.\TII. 
 
 It has been fomid by a large experience, derived fi'om benefit 
 societies, that even the average amount of sickness is not the best 
 test of the evils connected with difierent trades and occupations, 
 for a man may lose several years of his life, and yet have, on an 
 average, less sickness than another v^ho lives longer. The fol- 
 lowing table gives the experience of the Manchester Unity, a 
 fi'iendly societj^ having upwards of 600,000 members, with refer- 
 ence to a few trades : — 
 
 EXPECTATION OF LIFE AND AMOUNT OF SICKNESS. 
 
 Trade or Profession. 
 
 Clerks at 30 years of age 
 Printers ditto . . . , 
 
 Bricklayers ditto . . . , 
 
 Mill Operatives ditto . . . . 
 Stone Masons ditto . . . , 
 Tailors ditto . . . , 
 
 Spinners ditto . . . , 
 
 Wheelwrights ditto ... 
 Sawyers ditto . . . , 
 
 Town Labourers ditto ... 
 Weavers ditto. . . , 
 
 RuralLabourers ditto . . . , 
 
 Expectation 
 of Life at 30 
 years of a^^e. 
 
 Asgre; 
 Sioknes 
 years, fro 
 ol30 
 
 ?ate of 
 sin 10 
 tn the age 
 to 40. 
 
 TEARS. 
 
 WEEKS. 
 
 DATS. 
 
 27-77 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 28-86 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 29-66 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 30-45 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 30-41 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 32-51 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 32-42 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 33-87 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 30-06 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 33.65 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 35-55 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 37-71 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 From this and similar instructive evidence, it appears, after 
 making allowance for the fact, that a degree of sickness which 
 in one trade would prevent a man following his occupation, 
 and not in another, that the causes which sap and undermine 
 the powers of life, and so curtail existence, often do not manifest 
 themselves by an excess of sickness ; and thus we can readily 
 conceive that excessive labom*, which is one of the noxious in- 
 fluences, may kill a man prematurely, without for a time causing 
 any unusual sickness. It is necessary, then, in investigating 
 the effects of labour, to go into vital statistics, which reveal, 
 upon sure data, the true laws and phenomena of life. 
 
 I now come to consider, Is there any necessity for the Sabbath 
 rest to the body ? Let me first say — I do not presume to off'er 
 any mere human reasons to convince you or others, that the day 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 57 
 
 of sacred rest is adopted to the wants of man : the decree has 
 gone forth — it is the will of God ; let that suffice. Let not the 
 wise of the earth, in their wisdom, hreak the holy ordinance, or 
 like the French, in their admii'ation of the decimal calcvdation, 
 and in the wish to make all things square, attempt to substitute 
 a tenth for the seventh day of rest. But rendering homage to 
 the Divine law, do we not all recognize its fitness ? Docs not 
 every man who works, whether with his mind or his body, feel 
 tliis ? It is not, for obvious reasons, possible, at all events, in 
 the absence of an extended and special inquiiy, to give a de- 
 monstration of the special e"\'ils of Sabbath labour. This is so 
 much mixed up with the work of the week and other cu-cimi- 
 stances, as to render it difficult to separate the one fi'om the 
 other. An important inquiiy would be that relating to omni- 
 bus servants, and others, who labour incessantly on Sunday.' 
 But, in the absence of this special information, there is one test 
 which will take in a multitude of cases. Does a man work more 
 than ten hours a day ? If he does, it may be safely inferred that 
 to make up for the excess over and above what it has been 
 proved the system can bear, he reqiures the periodical rest of 
 one seventh to recruit the powers of life ; and even that, I feel 
 assm'ed, will not, si3eaking of the mass of mankind, fully com- 
 pensate for the habitual ^delation of the natural law. How 
 many of the industrious classes are compelled to exceed ten 
 hours' laboui' ? To all such the Sabbath is a blessed privilege, 
 by which alone they are enabled with tolerable comfort and 
 health to accomplish their daily task. If, by any mihappy 
 change, it were possible to rob the 600,000 members of the 
 Manchester Unity of this periodical rest, amounting to the 
 seventh part of our existence, does any reasonable man doubt 
 what would be the residt : would there not be an enormous in- 
 crease of sickness and demands on the funds of the institution. 
 
 As the committee of gentlemen to whom you owe these ad- 
 dresses, are striving to promote the glory of God, and the good 
 of his creatm-es, by inducing the people of this town to do away 
 with Sabbath laboui% it will not, I trust, be considered out of 
 place, if some facts are now adduced to prove, that the vanous 
 measures which have of late years been adopted for the curtail- 
 ment of excessive labom*, have been crowned with the happiest 
 results. I have consulted several medical men engaged as certi- 
 
^^ . LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 iH-ing sui'geons under the Factory Act, and who are consequently 
 well acquainted with the condition of the labouiing classes in 
 the manufactui'ing- districts, and they all inform me that since 
 the hom-s of work have been curtailed, as regards children and 
 young persons, there has been a visible improvement in their 
 health and general state. A similar amelioration has been 
 noticed by careful observers in the health of the drapers' 
 assistants, in those establishments where the early closing has 
 been adopted. Mr. Pearse, the head of the large estabHshment 
 of Waterloo House, Cockspur-street, says, " We have found very 
 little, if any, inconvenience, from the early closing ; and we had 
 the delight of witnessing a great improvement in the general 
 conduct of the young men in our establishment. The health of 
 our young men, too, has been materially improved, and has 
 never before arrived to that pitch, at which it now is. I feel 
 no hesitation in expressing my firm belief, that if the hours we 
 have adopted were to become general, we should soon find that 
 the greatest benefit would result to the assistants in the shops, 
 and that the whole of society would be very greatly improved." 
 I have had continual opportunities of knowing, that since the 
 hom^s of work have, thi^ough the efforts of the Association for the 
 Aid and Benefit of Dress Makers, been curtailed, and all Sun- 
 day labour abolished, the health of the young dress makers in 
 the Metropolis has decidedly improved, and we no longer hear 
 of those distressing cases of bodily suffering which were, under 
 the old system, but too common. This I state as the result of 
 express enquiries ; and as the above Association pro\ades me- 
 dical advice in cases of sickness, we have the means of procuring 
 certain information. This happy change, to secure which the 
 majority of the employers powerfully contributed, has in no 
 degree interfered with the success of the dress making business ; 
 in fact, both parties, principals and workwomen, have benefited. 
 It is still to be regretted, that the hours of work in several 
 establishments, both in London and in provincial towns, are 
 much too long. To show that diminished hom-s do not neces- 
 sarily imply diminished production, I may quote the authority 
 of Mr. Leonard Horner, one of the Inspectors of Factories. In 
 his last report he says, that the produce of the ten and a half 
 hours falls little short of that formerly obtained in twelve hours ; 
 and that in some instances it is equal. This is owing partly to 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 59 
 
 improved machinery ; but more to improved health, absence of 
 Aveai-iness and exhaustion, and to the cheerfuhiess and acti\^ty 
 of the work people. Mr. Horner adds, that the profits of the 
 manufactm-ers continue, as indicated by the continual attraction 
 of capital and erection of new mills. This is important, because 
 nothing but iniin was predicted when it was first proposed to 
 limit the laboui- of all under eighteen years of age. 
 
 If we tiu-n to other branches of trade, the same results have 
 been obtained. Some ^time ago, a large omnibus proprietor, 
 being pricked in liis conscience, manfully resolved to cease 
 working on the Sabbath. He gave up his license for that day, 
 and his people had the day of rest ; he also introduced other im- 
 provements, — paid his men on Friday, to enable theii- ^vives to 
 market on Saturday ; imposed fines for swearing in the yard, 
 to which he made himself subject. AMiat was the result ? He 
 expected to lose money ; but, after a short time, to his surprise, 
 he found, partly owing to the improved condition of his horses, 
 partly to the better conduct of the men, who now being well 
 cared for, brought him more money than they ever had before, 
 (a better plan this, than fines and imprisonment for fraud and 
 robbery) he found that he was no loser at all. 
 
 Some years since Sunday trading was very rife in a suburban 
 village known to me. The shops were open on Sunday morn- 
 ing, and all was unsatisfactory. An honest Christian man came 
 to this place, having bought a butcher's business. Although a 
 stranger and a new comer, he made his resolve, and said, " I 
 will sell no meat on the Sunday," doubtless thinking in his 
 heart, " As for me and my house, we -svill serve the Lord." 
 AVhat happened ? Many who had wished to amend matters 
 came forward ; efforts were made, and with success ; so that 
 Sunday trading was almost entii'oly abandoned. It is gratifying 
 to state, that the worthy man who initiated the improvement, 
 in no degree suffered ; he is one of the most successful trades- 
 men I know. Here is encom-agement, if such be wanted, for 
 all who are anxious to close their shops. This ought not to be, 
 and ^^-ith the true Christian never is, the actuating spring to 
 action. It lies deeper in the eternal relations existing between 
 man and his Maker, — in the primaeval laws proclaimed in Para- 
 dise, for the government of the body, and for the submission of 
 the soul. But poar human nature needs all aids to obedience ; 
 
60 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH, 
 
 and so the uniform success of ail past experience may be taken 
 as a security and encouragement for the future. 
 
 In conclusion, I would submit a few considerations on the 
 causes operating injuriously on the bodily health. I need not 
 tell you that there are other soui'ces of sicloiess, exhaustion, and 
 prematm-e death, besides excessive labour ; the wretched con- 
 dition of the poor man's dwelling; the want of good air, of 
 cleanliness, of pure water, the over-crowding. These lead to an 
 enormous sacrifice of life. There are other moral causes at 
 work : di'unkenness, the poisoning of infants by Godfrey's Cor- 
 dial and other forms of opium. In the manufacturing districts, 
 I feel certain, from my own official inquiries, that thousands of 
 lives are sacrificed by this awful practice, to which the Chinese 
 system of infanticide is mercy ; for here the innocent \dctims 
 suffer a lingering death. It may be said this is not true. I 
 answer, it is known to the medical practitioners of those 
 towns, to the di'uggist, and to the coroner. Dr. Lyon Playfair 
 states that one druggist sold in retail alone, about five gal- 
 lons of " quietness" — ominous term — ^besides Godfrey's cordial, 
 weekly. I ascertained that one di^uggist in Nottingham made 
 up thirteen hundred weight of treacle into this detestable 
 cordial in one year. The poisoning of infants by these means 
 is, in my judgment, an utter disgrace to this Christian land, 
 and especially to our rulers who tolerate it. Another soui^e 
 of prematui-e death is the mismanagement of the unfortu- 
 nate children in workhouses. IVIany of them are subject 
 to a most deleterious diet, such as never would be permitted, if 
 the Poor Law Medical Officers had the authority they in such a 
 case ought to possess ; and thus, by rearing a sickly and debili- 
 tated race, the demands on the public rates are increased. There 
 is still another cause to which I would refer, especially as it is 
 connected with this question of bodily labour. I allude to the 
 multitudes of children in the manufactm-ing districts, who, not 
 having the protection of the Factory Act, which is limited in 
 its operation, are, in many instances, over worked and cruelly 
 used. Some of the facts that have come to my knowledge, 
 sicken the heart. I have seen the imfortmiate childi'cn called 
 "pin headers," often not more than seven, eight; and nine years 
 old, after working from eight in the morning till eight in the 
 evening, beaten by the overlooker to keep them to their toil. I 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABPATII. 61 
 
 have seen a giii who had been beaten by a brutal foreman till 
 the blood ran down her back. All these things are recorded in 
 Parliamentary Heports ; but it seems there has been in the huiTy 
 of politics, no time to attend to them. 
 
 0^ving to these and the like causes, the manufactui'ing popu- 
 lation suffer frightfully as to health and life. Thus, as we have 
 already fomid, whilst in Surrey, of 100,000 childi-en who are 
 born, 80,000 are alive at the end of five years, in Liveri)ool, 
 Manchester, &c., half the whole number are dead. Again, the 
 operative loses 25 or 28 years of his life, when comjiared with 
 the gently : this is shown in the following table, Avhich also 
 proves that as regards the industrial classes, the state of things 
 in 1841-42, was much worse than it was forty years before. 
 Average age of Death in Liverpool. 
 From 1784 to 1810. 1841-42. 
 
 Gently 43 Years 43 Years. 
 
 Tradesmen . . 23i 19 
 
 Operatives . . 18 J 16 
 
 All classes . .25 20 
 
 In the interest of humanity, it is right for us to ask, is all 
 this di'cadiul mortality and its attendant misery inevitable, or is 
 it avoidable ? To those who have carefully investigated the 
 question, there is no difficulty in giving a negative reply. "V\Tiat 
 then is to be done ? To substitute light for darkness ; knowledge 
 for ignorance ; Christian love and vii'tue for cruelty and vice ; 
 when all shall be brought to perceive and understand their 
 mutual interests, and faithfully to discharge their duties — the 
 labourer, the employer, the legislator ; when this day shall 
 come, I see no reason why the great mass of the people should 
 not, under the Divine blessing, attain in health and comfort the 
 full period allotted to hmnan existence. 
 
 The good work has already commenced ; moderate hom's have 
 by law been secm^ed in the principal branches of oui' manufac- 
 tures ; the temperance movement has snatched many a drunkai'd 
 from his fearful career ; sanitary ameliorations have been initi- 
 ated and begun to bear fi-uit. Let us all then in om- several 
 stations be active in advancing this great work, and above all, 
 seek to call down a blessing on the land by fii*mly resolving that 
 we will remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 
 
 D 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 BY THE REV. J. W. CLOSE. 
 
 Subject — " The Sabbath ;" its adaptation to Man's intellectual 
 and moral nature ; to Man as a spiritual beitig, especially in 
 his personal and family relationshijjs" 
 
 The Subject of tliis eveniiig's lecture is " Tlie Sabbatli ; its 
 adaptation to man's intellectual and moral nature ; to man as a 
 spiiitual being, especially in his personal and familv relation- 
 ships." This you -will all admit is a subject of vast importance, 
 of extensive practical application, demanding our eai'nest and 
 prayerful attention. 
 
 The divine appointment and pei-petual obligation of the Sab- 
 bath have ah-eady been proved to you ; these, therefore, we will 
 assume as true. He, who is the Faithful "Witness, whose every 
 word is stamped with the authority of unquestionable truth, has 
 said " The Sabbath was made for man." As a divine institution, 
 its objects, obligations, and blessings relate to the human race 
 at large. It is not to be confined to any one dispensation, or 
 age, or nation, or people, but, wherever the sun shines and man 
 lives, there the Sabbath should be observed, and if observed will 
 exert a cheering and salutary influence. It is eminently suited 
 to the natm-e and wants of man. Its religious obser^-ance will 
 give tone, ^-igoul•, and sanctity both to the physical and mental 
 constitution of the human race ; it will bless them as citizens of 
 tliis world and as probationers for eternity. 
 
 In all the ai-rangements and works of God there may be dis- 
 covered a benevolent adaptation of means and agencies to the 
 accomplishment of certain pm-poses. The principle of adaptation 
 is seen in the outer world. Every part of physical natui-e bears 
 tliis impress of the hand di%-ine. The sun that lights the vault 
 
LECTURE ON THE SAB-BATH. 63 
 
 of heaven, the moon walking in her silvery path, the stars be- 
 spangling the firmament on high, the ocean rolling in massive 
 grandeur, the streamlet munnuring in the glen, and the insect 
 which flutters in the breeze — each, and all are adapted to their 
 spheres and uses. Light is suited to the eye, the atmosphere to 
 respiration, and darkness to repose and slumber. Nor is the 
 principle of adaptation less manifest in the religious and moral 
 economy which God has established. Man, as a rational and 
 immortal being, has aspirations, desires, and wants. He needs 
 direction, counsel, and help. God has not left him alone in the 
 world, ■\\-ithout pro^dsions to meet his case ; and amongst the 
 most gracious of these provisions is that of the Sabbath. Its 
 sacred duties, its halloAved rest, its soothing influences meet the 
 case of man as balm is suited to the woimded, and bread to the 
 hungry. 
 
 These remarks bring us more immediately to the subject 
 allotted to us this evening, %iz.. The adaptation of the Sabbath 
 to man^s mtellectiial, moral, sjnritual, and social nature. And 
 who will question for a moment the importance of expanding 
 the mind, cultivating religious sentiment, preparing for eternity, 
 and gathering around oui' homesteads the associations of piety ? 
 
 The first general observation to which I would invite your 
 attention is, that the Sabbath affords opportunity for intellectual 
 exercise and the cultivation of moral sentiment. It does this by 
 the rest which it gives fi'om the common avocations of life. 
 This part of the subject is most applicable to the working 
 classes. Toil, continuous and wearisome, is the common portion 
 of working men. They realize in their experience the literal 
 fulfilment of the sentence passed upon our great progenitor, 
 " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Then* skill 
 and strength are expended in the works of art, manufacture, 
 and husbandly. They build our ships, they weave our cloth, 
 they cultivate our fields, they spread our tables. Thousands 
 of them, week after week, are shut up in the unhealthy atmos- 
 phere of the mill, or in the bowels- of the earth. Thousands of 
 them toil at the an^il, the loom, the board, the workshop. By 
 these means the body is worn down, and the mind enfeebled. 
 The very nature of theu' occupations connects their thoughts 
 with those things which are mercenary and temporal. Too 
 often, association with theii- fellow workmen is injm-ious to their 
 
64 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 moral feelings. Constant contact with the world tends to make 
 them earthly minded. The business of life tends to divert theii* 
 attention from the cultivation of the higher faculties of their 
 nature, and seeking to gain the price of labour, they are prone 
 to forget the " pearl of great price." But the merciful institu- 
 tion of the Sabbath comes to their relief. It gives them a 
 respite. They may put the world away. The workshop is 
 closed and the sanctuary opened. The sound of the bell that 
 calls them to labour has given way to the meny peal of Sabbath 
 bells, calling them to worship and holy thought. ITie hammer, 
 the spade, the plough, and the needle are put aside, and the 
 book of God may be taken up. This day is not for work, but 
 for rest, — not for earth, but for heaven. AVhen the morning 
 light dawns upon them, they need not dread the frown of their 
 master, but may seek the smile of their Maker. Oh, the Sab- 
 bath is a haven of repose to the wearied sons of labour. And as 
 the eagle renews her strength and plumes her wings for fr'esh 
 and loftier flight, so on this day they may brace their hearts 
 afresh, bring theii' intellect into contact with Bible truth, and 
 then go forth to do better and holier battle with the things 
 of life. 
 
 On this point the enemies of the Sabbath have brought forth 
 an objection based upon a false philanthropy and wi^ong notions 
 of rest. They have said, " we wish to rob the working man of 
 his day of rest, by requiring him to spend it in religious duties." 
 They think it would be better for him to repose at home, or 
 seek the mountain breeze, or roam in the fields, or sail on the 
 river, or take excui'sions of pleasure. If man were a mere 
 animal there might be some force in all this, but when he is 
 %'iewed as an intelligent, responsible and immortal being, it loses 
 its weight. On this subject the Rev. Andi'ew Thomson, of Edin- 
 burgh, has well observed, " Doubtless it is most intensely to be 
 wished that far more time were allowed to the hard- wrought 
 masses of om- population for bodily recreation and amusement ; 
 and in a state of society, which the principles of the Bible 
 thoroughly leavened and regulated, this would most certainly 
 be sccm-ed. But are not the intelligence and morality of a 
 people of infinitely more importance, both to their individual 
 happiness and to national strength ? We wish to see secm'cd 
 for the artizan time for recreation, but we wish to see secured 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 65 
 
 for him time for religion too, and shall we be asked to sacrifice 
 the more important for the less important ? Would not recre- 
 ation itself, without intelligence and morality, rapidly degenerate 
 into brutal licentiousness ?" 
 
 But we maintain that a Sabbath of rational and religious 
 exercise, so far fi'om trenching upon the liberty of the common 
 people, is a rampart for its defence — a strong wall built round 
 about it, which says to grasping selfishness, " Come not here." 
 If the intellectual and moral clement of the Sabbath be once 
 given up, where is the secm-ity to the poor man that the strong 
 hand of his master will not bow his neck to the yoke of another 
 day's labom- ? Selfishness and oppression are not soon satisfied. 
 He who looks at the masses of the people in their merely phy- 
 sical constitution, as men made to work and then gather strength 
 that they may work again, will not stand at trifles, but would 
 soon bend that strength to his own use and profit. 
 
 Again, I think it is very questionable if the indi\dduals, who 
 spend the Lord's-day in mere bodily gratification, do gain as 
 much physical strength as those who sanctify the Sabbath by 
 intellectual and religious pursuits, in the duties of that " godli- 
 ness which is profitable unto all things ha^dng promise of the 
 life that now is, and that which is to come." The very tendency 
 of Sabbath desecration is to drunkenness, debauchery, and 
 crime, which not only blunt the moral feelings, but enfeeble 
 the body and debase the mind. You may see this exemplified 
 in those excm-sions of pleasm-e on the Christian Sabbath, which 
 are becoming, alas! a disgrace to our owti land. You see 
 hundreds of both sexes crowded upon the steam-boats, or seated 
 in the railway-carnages. You see them, rushing to public 
 gardens, or places of public amusement. You see them flocking 
 to Satan's own temples to inflame their passions with intoxica- 
 ting drink, and emaciate their bodies by excess. But it may be 
 said "All do not fall into these e^-ils,"— granted, but they are 
 the natm-al consequence of Sabbath desecration. And more- 
 over facts warrant us in saying that Sabbaths spent in worldly 
 pleasm-e do not fit man for the labour of the week, like a calm, 
 intellectual, holy day of rest. A man of great experience in the 
 working of silk and cotton mills in the north of England, after 
 much observation, has given it as his opinion that those, vrho 
 religiously observe the Lord's ])av, are better fitted for rc- 
 
 D 3 
 
6Gi LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 newing- their employment on the Monday morning, than those, 
 who spend it even in temperate worldly pleasures. We con- 
 clude then, that it is not true pliilanthropy which vrould simply 
 exchange animal laboiu' for animal rest. No ! he, %vho would 
 be a true friend to the working man must give him time for 
 rest, but must likewise teach him to elevate his mind by thought 
 and purify liis heart by holy exercise. He must lead liim to the 
 blessed sanctuarj^ where the poor and rich meet together, and 
 our common Saviour is worshipped and adored. " A Sabbath 
 of slimiber may refi-esh, or a Sabbath of amusement may in 
 some degree lighten the spirit, but it is only a Sabbath of 
 worship and holy resting, which, while it recruits the body and 
 cheers the mind, enhances the intellectual powers and leaves 
 the observer a wiser and a mightier man," Dr. J. Hamilton. 
 
 The Sahhath is adajjtecl to the intellectual and moral nature of 
 man, because its instituti07i brings tinder his notice subjects suited 
 for, and calculated to call forth, the loftiest contejnjilations. It is 
 connected directly, or indirectly, with all that is wonderful and 
 gracious in the doings of Jehovah. It calls for our contempla- 
 tion of Creation with all its magnificence, and wonder, and 
 beauty. To celebrate this vast work, was the design of its first 
 institution. When Omnipotence had been put forth in forming, 
 arranging, and beautifying this terrestrial system — when all was 
 finished, then the Deity looked upon the work of his own 
 hands, " And God saw everything that he had made, and behold 
 it was very good." " And on the seventh day God ended liis work 
 which he had made ; and he rested on the seventh day from all 
 the work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh 
 day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all 
 his work which God created and made." Genesis ii., 2 and 3. 
 One day out of seven, then, we are especially called upon to re- 
 member the " Sabbath of creation," to gaze upon the handy work 
 of Him, whose throne is in the Heavens, and whose " Kingdom 
 ruleth over all." As we study this mighty work — as we stand 
 in the courts of natm-c's temple, we cannot but exclaim, " How 
 manifold are Thy works ! in wisdom hast Thou made them all." 
 Who can contemplate the work of Creation in all that is vast, 
 all that is minute, all that is complicate, — the heavens above, 
 the earth beneath — who can think of Creation in its boundless 
 sweep and immeasureablc compass, worlds on worlds, systems 
 
LECTURi: OX Till: SABBATH. 67 
 
 on systems, rolling in solemn majesty, and not feel liis intellect 
 lired, and his soul stirred ? AMio can tliink of the mercy, the 
 wisdom, the power, that may he read in the volume of Creation, 
 and not he thankful that God has appointed a day to call them 
 to rememhrance, and lead us to holy meditation? In the six 
 days we are engaged with things of human skill, on the seventh 
 we are called to the study of " skill divine." In the week we 
 are occupied with trade and commerce, with literature and poli- 
 tics, though all these should be pervaded by a reference to God ; 
 but on the Sabbath we are invited to nearer intercourse with 
 God, and to the devout contemplation of his attributes and 
 works. And who can fail to discover the adaptation of the 
 Sabbath to the nature of man in this point of view ? for what- 
 ever tends to the devout study of the works of God, will lead 
 to deeper impressions of his majesty, power, and glory ; and 
 when these impressions are produced, the mind is expanded, and 
 the heart is softened. 
 
 The Sabbath is adapted to the intellectual and moral nature 
 of man, inasmuch as it brings under his notice the great truths 
 and mysteries of Redemptio7i. Creation is a great work — Re- 
 demption is a greater. Creation is rich in the development of 
 material for subjects of thought — Redemption is richer. Multi- 
 plied as are the objects of wonder and wisdom in the extenialworks 
 of God's hands, they are infinitely more so in the recoveiy of a 
 fallen world. This invites us to a region of thought more elevated, 
 to the contemplation of mystery more profound, and brings the 
 mind into contact with truths more pm-ifying than aught beside. 
 Here we see the depths of divine wisdom and holiness and love. 
 But human nature is prone to forget these tilings. The arrange- 
 ment of society, the necessarj^ blending of what is secular with 
 what is spiritual, too fi'equently diverts the thoughts from serious 
 subjects. The hurry and bustle of life, combined with our 
 natural apathy in things relating to God, tend to banish thoughts 
 of Redemption from oui' minds ; but when the Sabbath retui-ns, 
 we are again reminded of these holy themes. The Sabbath is a 
 pause in the world's excitement, saying to the common labourer, 
 the busy tradesman, the man of science, " Come up hither, and 
 behold the mysteries of Redemption." 
 
 But connected with Redemption, the Sabbath especially calls 
 to remembrance the Resiirrection of the Redeemer. The opening 
 
68 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 of its morning dawn reminds us of the opening of the Savioui-'s 
 grave. The rising of the Sabbath sun as it scatters the dark- 
 ness of the previous night, tells us that the darkness of death has 
 passed from the Redeemer's tomb, and that the Prince of Life is 
 " risen indeed." Here you have a depth of wisdom, of grace, of 
 love, which no human measuring rod can reach ; nay, in which 
 the plummet of an Archangel can find no sounding. Here, I 
 read the enormity of sin, in that the suffering and death of the 
 incarnate Son of God were required, before it could be expiated. 
 Here, I see the glory and power of the Redeemer, as he triumj)hs 
 over the King of terrors, and robs him of his spoil. Here, I see 
 the broad seal of Heaven's confirmation put upon the trutlis of 
 the gospel ; and here, too, I have a pledge of my own resur- 
 rection and eternal joy. 
 
 Now, who will question the benevolence or wisdom of the 
 institution, which seeks to engage the thoughts and moral 
 feelings of the human race on subjects of this kmd? No man 
 can be brought into contact mth these truths, Sabbath after Sab- 
 bath, (and how else, were it not for the Sabbath, would many be 
 brought into contact with them at all ?) but he must feel his 
 mind expand, the tone of hallowed feeling raised, and the aspe- 
 rities of his nature smoothed down and softened. And though 
 by a simple process of intellectual investigation his heart will 
 never be changed, yet he may, by that means, be restrained 
 within the bounds of morality. It does not weaken the force of 
 om- remarks to say, that there have been men of fine intellectual 
 developement, who have cared nothing for the Sabbath. They 
 are the exception — a somewhat numerous exception, — we 
 grant ; but, nevertheless, they are the excej)tion. As a general 
 rule, when the Sabbath is neglected the mind is bm-ied beneath 
 a load of business, or dissipated by licentiousness, or unstrung 
 by a too long continued exercise in one dii'cction. Facts might 
 be given to illustrate this ; but they are not needed. Neither 
 does it follow, that because intellect is developed, therefore, it is 
 well-directed. Many a noble mind and flashing genius have 
 been turned to evil ; but it is the characteristic of the Sabbath 
 that it gives to intellect a right direction and a proper bias. 
 
 But the second part of the task allotted to me this evening 
 leads me to view the subject from a more elevated ground, — the 
 adciptation of the Sabbath to man as a sjnrittial being. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABEATIT. G9 
 
 VCc have seen that the Sabbath gives time and material for 
 intellectual investigation and mental cultm*e. It is equally 
 suited to meet the sjnn'tual toants of the human race. But in 
 speaking of man's spiritual wants, ^'e must connect time "with 
 eternity — this world with another. I need scarcely remind an 
 audience like the present, that man has spiritual interests, an 
 that these interests are of all others the most important. Did 
 man's life end Avith the present world — did death extinguish his 
 being — were the last tlu'obbings of the pulse the harbingers of 
 anniliilation, then it might be a matter of comparative indiffer- 
 ence how our time was spent. But it is not so. The mind that 
 thinks in time, shall think in eternity. The soul that throbs 
 with emotion here, shall thi'ob with intensified emotion here- 
 after. The spirit shall not be blotted out when the body 
 crumbles into dust ; but with renewed vigour and extended 
 power of thought and sensibility, it shall live — live in all the 
 depth of hopeless despaii', or amid the bright effulgence of 
 Heaven's own light and love. It is an hereafter that gives to 
 the things of life a stern reality ; and our spiritual interests are 
 inseparable fi'om our immortality. 
 
 Another point not less clear is, that by nature and practice we 
 are alienated from God, and unprepared for a happy immor- 
 tality. It is necessary, therefore, that the required preparation 
 should be sought and obtained on earth ; and the institution of 
 the Sabbath is designed to aid us in this great work. And this 
 I conceive to be the grand design for setting apart one day out 
 of seven ; for, however important such an arrangement is, as 
 contributing to physical rest, the general order of society, and 
 the improvement of the mind, it is of yet higher importance, as 
 giving men the opportunity and fui'nisliing them with the 
 means of secuiing their spiritual interests in time and eternity. 
 
 To shew this more clearly, we remark, tliat the Sabbath in the 
 Bible is associated icith tidnc/s the most sacred, and that abundant 
 sj)i7'itual blessings are 2)ro7nised to its religious observance. There 
 is a deep sacredness connected wdth its first establishment at the 
 time of the creation. Of all the six previous days it is simply 
 said, " And the evening and the morning were the first day ;" 
 " And the evening and the morning were the second day," &c. 
 But of the seventh day it is said, " And God blessed the seventh 
 day and sanctijicd it." This di.'^tinguished it from all other 
 
70 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 days. It was rendered peculiar by this special utterance of Je- 
 hovah. He put upon it the broad seal of a significant appoint- 
 ment. Look at it in connexion with the Israelites. Its obser- 
 vance was imposed upon them with the force of a religious duty. 
 It was not a mere economical arrangement. It was not a thing 
 of temporal policy, but was to be held holy to the Lord. In 
 theu' sorrowful wanderings through the wilderness, when the 
 Lord rained manna from heaven, its hallowed hom-s were not to 
 be appropriated even to the gathering of the sustenance of life. 
 " And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice 
 as much bread — two omers for one man ; and all the rulers of 
 the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, 
 this is that which the Lord hath said, to-morrow is the rest of 
 the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus xvi. 22, 23. See it 
 again, in connexion with the moral law — the law which neither 
 time nor the change of dispensation will abrogate ; the law that 
 was written by the finger of God upon the tables of stone, — that 
 was given amid the flashing ikes, the rolling thmider, the im- 
 pressive grandeur of Sinai, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
 it holy." " The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." 
 To the children of Israel its desecration was visited with most 
 signal punishment. " Ye shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for 
 it is holy imto you ; every one that defileth it shall sm^ely be 
 put to death ; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul 
 shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be 
 done : but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the 
 Lord ; whosever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall 
 surely be put to death." Exodus xxxi. 14, 15. On the other 
 hand, its pious observance was accompanied with divine bene- 
 diction. Blessed is the man that doeth this^— that keepeth the 
 Sabbath fi'om polluting it." Isaiah Ivi. 2. " If thou tm-n thy 
 foot away from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasm-e on my holy 
 day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, 
 honourable ; and shalt honom' him, not doing thine own ways, 
 nor finding thine own pleasm'e, nor speaking thine own words, 
 then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause 
 thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee 
 with the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord 
 hath spoken it." Isaiah Iviii. 13, 14. 
 
 Coming down to the NeAv Testament, we find tliat this day is 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 71 
 
 maiiitaiiicd in all its sacred associations and spiritual claims. 
 He who came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it, declared 
 himself the Lord also of the Sabbath day. On this day his voice 
 was heard in the temple, or in the synagogue, teaching the people 
 " the word of life." As we have previously seen, it was con- 
 nected Avith His resurrection. On this day the Pentecostal 
 shower was given, and the infant church was baptized with, the 
 Holy Ghost and with fii-e : for although the day was changed, 
 the Sabbath remained the same. Our argument is this : The 
 Sabbath being a di^'ine appointment, a moral ordination, sup- 
 ported by j)enalties, its right observance is necessary to secure 
 our spii'itual and eternal welfare. 
 
 TJie Sabbath 2^i'07notes our sjiiritual interests, hy giving us 
 respite from the hustle and turmoil of worldly intercourse and 
 worldly society. The natural tendency of such intercourse is to 
 seculaiize oui' ^•iews and feelings ; and unless carefully watched, 
 it will drag the spirit down to earth. The element of worldly 
 society is not the most congenial to the growth of piety ; and 
 had the Cliristian no respite, no time in which he could put the 
 world away, and say to things of daily avocation, " Stand ye 
 there," his onward course would be exceedingly dilRcult, if not 
 impossible. Chi-istians in the ordinary commerce of life, must 
 interchange sentiment and words and actions with men who 
 mind earthly things alone. They must do business with the 
 sons of mammon. In these times of restless energy and eager 
 competition, they must be active or sink. The times seem to 
 get more and more worldly. The world is full of buijiness and 
 selfishness — almost every man making haste to be rich, and one 
 man's fall only making way for another man's advancement. 
 Day by day the votaries of wealth are sinking deeper into the 
 " idolatry of covetousness." The bustle of life is perpetual — it 
 is never out of our ears. The Christian cannot altogether 
 escape from the influence of these things. As a man of trade 
 he must, as far as is lawful and consistent, do as the world does, 
 but he often feels that the atmosphere around him is damp and 
 cold, and largely impregnated Avith that which is evil ; but then 
 his Sabbath is not far away, and he thanks God for it. It is to 
 him like a cool and shady scat by clear fresh fountains, where 
 'all things tell of another world. It breaks upon him like the 
 healing breeze of a summer morn upon the sickly invalid invi- 
 
72 LECTURE ON THE S.VBBATH. 
 
 ting to renew his spiiitual strength. No bustling after gold, no 
 hasting to the market, no running to the workshop, no dealing 
 out of weights and measures on this day, for it is holy to the 
 Lord. On the Sabbath day he goes not forth to meet the sons 
 of the world in their temples of commerce, but to join the sons 
 of God in the coui-ts of the Lord's house. 
 
 None will question that such a time of spuitual resting is 
 needed by the Chi-istian — needed, that his mind may recover its 
 balance and his spuit its wonted calmness — needed, that on the 
 wings of prayer and faith he may rise to the enjoyment of 
 celestial good — that he may rub off the rust of the world, and 
 gii'd his loins afresh — ^needed, that he may brace on the helmet 
 firmer, the breastplate closer, and hold the sword of the Spirit 
 with a stronger grasp — needed, that he may gather grace to 
 glorify his Father which is in heaven, and go forth with sanctity 
 in his life, and spiritual unction in his words. 
 
 The respite thus afforded to the Christian by the Sabbath 
 from intercourse with worldly men, and the deteriorating influ- 
 ence of their conversation and habits, may be turned to good 
 account hy communion ivith the people of God in friendly inter- 
 course. On this blessed day kindi*ed spirits meet together. Its 
 sacred hours should not be desecrated by feasts, by jovial 
 parties, by visits of compliment, by the chit-chat of common 
 life. These things bring guilt upon the conscience, and a blight 
 upon the soul. But it is well for good men to meet and talk of 
 " the things pertaining to the King," and the matters of the 
 spiritual kingdom. Duiing the week they have had perhaps 
 scarcely an opportunity to say a word of comfort and encourage- 
 ment to each other, but on the Lord's day they have time to tell 
 of their mutual hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, their 
 conflicts and triumphs. With grateful joy and gushing love, 
 they speak of God as their Father, of Clirist as theii* Elder 
 Brother and Mediator, of the Spirit as their Holy Comforter. 
 They speak of the shortness and uncertainty of hum.an life, and 
 anticipate heaven as their future home. Thus blending their 
 sjTupathies and their prayers, they strive to get near to the 
 Redeemer, and hide themselves more fully in the Rock of Ages. 
 Oh, how thankful we should be for the Sabbath that shuts out 
 the world, and bids the men of plcasui-e and of sin stand by, 
 while we gather strength and hope ! 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 73 
 
 Tlie Sabbath is adapted to confer incalcidable good both vpon 
 individuals and general society by affordiny opportunities for 
 public icorship. " Thou slialt worship the Lord thy God, and 
 hini only shalt thou serve," is a standing and unalterable law of 
 the Moral Governor of all things. And, moreover, men in all 
 ages and in all lands, Avith one or two very questionable ex- 
 ceptions, have felt the need of worship ; and midcr the impulse 
 of a deep conAiction of dependency, have worshipped gods of 
 one land or another. But the Sabbath, as a divine institution, 
 connected Avith the broad principles of Clu'istianity, seeks to set 
 the world right in this matter by teaching them to bow before 
 the throne of Him who is God alone. We grant that the 
 worship of God should not be confined to the open sanctuary 
 and the " great congregation." Every homestead should be a 
 sanctuary, and every heart a sacrifice, yet, nevertheless, public 
 worship is harmonious Avith the divine requirement, and of im- 
 mense good to the world at large. Under the Jewish economy 
 a temple was built, and a form of public worship established, 
 and men were required to " go up to Jerusalem " to present 
 thcii' offermgs. The Lord Jesus, as the Bringer-in, of a " better 
 covenant," did not do away vdih. public worship, but rather 
 confirmed it ; and ice are commanded not to forsake the as- 
 sembling of ourselves together. The truly pious have always 
 delighted in tliis service. " I was glad," said the Psalmist, 
 " when they said imto me, let us go mito the house of the Lord." 
 " Lord, 1 have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place 
 where Thi;ie honour dwelleth ;" and still the pious say, after 
 refreshing themselves in the sanctuary, '' How amiable are thy 
 tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts." For this holy service, the Sabbath 
 is especially adapted. Happy the men, happy the nations, who 
 thus employ the day of rest. Few scenes on earth can \ie with 
 a Sabbath's morning or a Sabbath's evening calm and tranquil 
 service. The minister, the messenger of Heaven, having the 
 word of life in his hand, and truth upon his lips — the parent 
 and the child, the husband and the wife, the master and the 
 servant, the rich and the poor, all met together, and bent in 
 revwent adoration before the Lord of all. Now is heard the 
 high song of praise, and prayer's deep holy breathing. Then 
 comes the forgiving mercy, the hallowing power, the subduing 
 grace, the outpom-ing of a Father's love. jSTow the ignorant are 
 
74 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 instructed, and the weary are at rest, and the sorrowful are 
 comforted, and the weak are strengthened, and many go away 
 as " giants refreshed with new wine." Let the Sabbath dese- 
 crator go to his folly and amusements ; let him revel in fields of 
 pleasui'e — he shall come from all dissatisfied and guilty ; but he 
 who sanctifieth the Sabbath to the Lord, shall have the reward 
 of a good conscience and a peaceftil heart. 
 
 This is the day which has done more to advance the spii'itual 
 interests of mankind, by religious services, than any other 
 day. Men have flocked to the temple, and heard words of life 
 they would not otherwise have heard or Imown. It is the day 
 for the lifting up of Jehovah's voice, and the putting forth of 
 the Spirit's mighty energy. On tliis day the terrors of the law 
 are thundered forth, and Calvary speaks in tones of solemn ten- 
 derness and power. It has been the birth-day of many souls, 
 and a season of holy rest to many weary pilgrims. It is the 
 world's abiding jubilee. " By this day earth is distinguished 
 fi'om hell, where there is no Sabbath ; and assimilated to heaven, 
 where all is Sabbath." In the eloquent language of Dr. James 
 Hamilton, " It is the day when, with our sinless progenitors, 
 you may take the tour of Paradise, and listen to the anthems of 
 a newly-created world. It is[the day when, along side of Enoch, 
 you may feed the flame of devotion, and try to divine the won- 
 der, and imbibe the ardour of a walk with God. It is the day 
 when you may bid Jacob's star twinkle anew, or Zechariah's 
 fountain flow amain. It is the day when you may take a pleasant 
 walk to Bethany or Emmaus, or a fourth disciple ascend Tabor 
 with Peter and James and John. It is the day when with Mary 
 you may clasp that cross which quivers no longer, and look up 
 to those pale and painless lips, which need never repeat, " It is 
 finished," and gaze on that countenance in death so divine, and 
 beneath its thorny crown so blissful and so benign, till it says to 
 you ' Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven.' " 
 
 This day fills the soul with thoughts of heaven. It points with 
 unquestionable clearness to the " better land," where there re- 
 maincth a rest, a Sabbath-keeping to the people of God. Its 
 holy hom-s whisper to us of the land of peace, where the wricked 
 tx^ouble not, and the weary rest. It is balmy with the breath of 
 immortality. It leads the spfrit onward to another life. It 
 would gladly stop the bad man in his folly, tell the worldling 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABB\TII. 75 
 
 that tliG time of final reckoning is at hand, and bid the philoso- 
 pher dip the pen of his learning in immortal springs. The 
 week is an emblem of life, w-ith its toils and conflicts, the Sab- 
 bath is an emblem of Heaven, Avith its pui'ity and love. 
 
 But there is one advantage flowing from the rccmTence of the 
 Sabbath, as a day of public worship, which has been ab-eady 
 alluded to, but which deserves more explicit mention. On this 
 day the word of God is unfolded and enforced. The preaching 
 of that word is the great instrument ahty for effecting the moral 
 renovation of the world. To us is committed the ministry of 
 reconciliation, that men may be instructed in the " mysteries of 
 the kingdom." The Gospel is to be proclaimed as the sovereign 
 antidote to the ills of mankind, but " even the Gospel without 
 the Sabbath would have done the world little good, for without the 
 Sabbath the world would never have taken time to attend to the 
 Gospel." I verily believe that in proportion as Gospel truth is em- 
 braced and loved, individuals will be happy and nations safe. To 
 the one it gives peace, and around the other it builds a strong wall 
 of defence. Bible truth is a mighty rock against which the waves 
 of democracy will dash in vain, and the shafts of infidelity fall 
 blmited and broken. It will plant an effectual barrier against 
 the deep and stealthy streams of Popery, and preserve to us our 
 Protestantism in its freeness and glory. But how little would 
 Bible truth be known were it not for the Sabbath-day. The 
 Bible and the Sabbath are so closely linked together that you 
 cannot separate them; united they are the stability of any 
 nation. 
 
 "VVe have recently seen the continent of Em-ope shaken to its 
 verj-- centre, and convulsed with the tlii'oes of terrible revolu- 
 tions. Governments have been upset, thi'ones demolished, 
 crowns dashed to atoms, sceptres tossed about as playthings, 
 kings and governors banished into exile, and yet England has 
 stood firm as a massive rock amid a raging sea, and appears this 
 day as a mighty mountain rich with verdant green, clothed 
 with joyous liberty. Why is this ? The reason, I believe, is, 
 that we have in some measure, as a nation, sanctified the Sab- 
 bath and honoured the Gospel. For the last few years we have 
 had to mark the struggles and anarchy of a neighbouring nation. 
 Many times has the demon of revolution driven its car over the 
 beautiful land of France, but almost invariably led by men who 
 
76 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 have despised the Sahbath. Often have her streets been crim- 
 soned with the blood of her bravest sons, and their dwellings 
 have been scenes of terror and alarm. My settled conviction is, 
 that the greater part of her calamities is brought about by the 
 wanton violation of the Sabbath and the consequent rejection of 
 the simple Gospel of Christ. I will not intrude upon the sub- 
 ject of Sabbath desecration, as it will be brought before you by 
 another lectm'er, but perhaps I may be forgiven if, for a moment, 
 I refer to Paris and its Sabbath profanation. I have laboured 
 there for a time, and seen it in all its appalling magnitude. 
 Instead of the Lord's day being honoured, it is, of all others, 
 the day for business and pleasure. Passing along the thronged 
 streets, we witness the open shops, the gay equipage, the noisy 
 carts and waggons, the multitudes at their business, the many 
 at their pleasm-es, the crowded gardens, the feasting restaui'ants, 
 the open theatres, the cafes, full of loungers and news-readers ; 
 you see men sawing wood, erecting buildings, making bargains ; 
 there is the " slaying of sheep and the kilhng of oxen ;" youi- 
 ears are assailed with the cries of showmen, jugglers, trick 
 performers, vendors of fruits, flowers, and various other things. 
 The day is not forgotten, but it is remembered for awful j)m'- 
 poses. Being a kind of market day for pleasure, the tradespeople 
 expect it will yield a better harvest than other days, and hence 
 all the shojjs are decorated with the greatest possible glare of 
 attractiveness. This is the day for all special and particular 
 festivals and sights. There may be seen promenades on the 
 Boulevards, races on the Champ de Mars, balloon ascensions at 
 the Hippodrome, dancing in the various gardens, and exhibitions 
 at the various theatres. On this day men flock to amusements 
 and sin with an eagerness which neither propriety nor religion 
 can restrain. How can God thi'ow his protecting shield around 
 such a nation as this ? How can He be expected to hold the 
 " wrath of man in bounds" when His name is blasphemed and his 
 authority trampled upon in such a wholesale manner ? The only 
 panacea for all the e\ils of France is to hallow the Sabbath and 
 obey the Gospel. Till then, her statesmen will legislate, her 
 poets sing, her philosophers write in vain. Where the Sabbath 
 is neglected and trampled upon, sin and darkness are rampant ; 
 but where it is revered and sanctified, grace and safety are the 
 heritage of the people. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 77 
 
 A day thus laden with blessing cannot be too highly prized. 
 Adapted as it is to oui' intellectual and moral natm-e, suited 
 to advance our religious welfare, thro^ving around oui" 
 nation a shield of defence, it becomes one of the richest of the 
 gifts of Heaven. And yet there are men who clamoui' for its 
 extinction, men who ask that it may be blotted out ; but it is 
 far too precious to the man and to the Chiistian to be blotted 
 out, — far too precious in its privileges and its blessings to be put 
 away. Blot out the Sabbath, and no longer will the salutary 
 lessons of the Bible lead ungodly men to repentance and life, — 
 no longer will the silver clarion of the Gospel proclaim liberty 
 to the captive, — no longer will the sacred thanksgiving of the 
 chm-ch on earth mingle with the sweeter and purer harmony of 
 the church above, — no longer will ordinances quicken, or the 
 soul be comforted, or grace be triumx)hant. " Blot out the Sab- 
 bath, and darkness will cover the earth, and gross darkness the 
 people ; sin will reign ; Satan will walk through the earth in 
 all the frenzy of his long-vdshed-for usui'pation, and death and 
 hell will follow in his train ; blot out the Sabbath, and in one 
 mighty crowd of pilgrims this world's population woidd march 
 quietly on to the gulf of remediless ruin." — Dr. Sirring. 
 
 It remains only that we xdew the Sabbath in its social aspect^ 
 or as it is calculated to advance our domestic comfort. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive of any arrangement more replete with 
 kindness to man than that of social life. God has clearly de- 
 monstrated liis wisdom and goodness by " setting the soUtary 
 in families," by dividing the great world into smaller cii'cles, and 
 thus calling forth mutual sympathies of the pm-est and strongest 
 kind. ITie advantages flo^ving from this arrangement are 
 incalculable. It is suited to oiu- natm-e and wants. It is essen- 
 tial to the preservation of social order and the practice of virtue. 
 Take away the barrier of domestic life, and you open a flood 
 gate of crime, and prepare the way for a general and rampant 
 licentiousness. The benevolent design of such a constitution of 
 things is unquestionable. It is a remnant of the holy and pure 
 life of Paradise. It affords opportunities of good which a 
 different state of things would not have given. It makes pro- 
 vision for the blending of feelings, the sharing of joys>nd 
 sorrows on the part of those who are bound together by the 
 closest and strongest ties. It throws around the helplessness 
 
 E o 
 
78 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 of infancy the guardiansliip of the purest love. In the little 
 world of home the character of man is to a great extent 
 moulded and the manners of the future formed. The influence 
 of the domestic circle is of all others the most endm-ing and 
 important. It is lasting as time, and extensive as the world. 
 It is felt in every ranlc, in every station, in every husiness of 
 society. It clings to us perpetually. We cannot shake it off. 
 What we are at home we shall be abroad — what we are in the 
 family we shall, to a very great extent, be in the world. If our 
 home scenes and home associations be elevated by piety, our 
 general carriage and deportment will be virtuous; but if, on the 
 other hand, they are connected with a neglect of religious duty, 
 om- conduct will at least be vacillating and uncertain. It is 
 important and necessary therefore, that every available means 
 and established institution of a religious kind, should be 
 brought to bear upon our domestic interests, and nothing will 
 more effectually promote these than a strict observance of the 
 Sabbath. We must have noticed that the social aspect of the 
 Sabbath is kept in view in that i)recept of the Decalogue which 
 enjoins its observance, " But the seventh day is the Sabbath of 
 the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor 
 thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid- 
 servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is witliin thy 
 gates." Exodus xx. 10. 
 
 But to be more particular : The Sabbath, by its very nature 
 and requirements, tends to j^romote our domestic interests, by 
 leading to economy, moderation, and social peace. Its right ob- 
 servance is part of that religion which rcquu^es that our " mo- 
 deration be knovv^i to all men," and that we live " soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in the present world." Where it is duly 
 regarded, health is promoted, the good things of life are ration- 
 ally enjoyed, and mutual help is cheerfully afforded. A Sab- 
 bath's influences, even on social arrangements, do not end with 
 the day, but are carried forward through the entire week, and 
 just in proportion as the day has been improved or abused, are 
 the members of families happy or wretched. Suppose there had 
 been no Sabbath, but life had been one long v/orking-day, — a 
 time of incessant toil — of labour, without any divinely appointed 
 interval of rest, how destructive this would have been of social 
 order and domestic happiness ! Health would have been wasted. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 79 
 
 the mind would liave become enfeebled, and the heart embit- 
 tered. Under the pressure of such continued labour, the spirit 
 would have sunk, and no time would have been afforded for the 
 cultivation of the sj-mpathics of our nature, or for the fostering 
 of those tender feehngs which give to domestic life so sweet a 
 charm. In such a state of things, we should have had nothing 
 but a stern winter and a dark day ; but the Sabbath brings light 
 to om- homes, and wi'aps around the family circle the evergreens 
 of mutual love and trust. The temporal advantages flowing 
 fi'om the right use of the Sabbath to families, and especially to 
 the families of the working classes, is proved by experience and 
 fact. By the arrangements of English society, the great majo- 
 rity of working people (and it ought to be so^vithout exception) 
 have its houi's to themselves. Now the difference of those 
 who keep holy the Lord's day, and those who desecrate its hal- 
 lowed houi-s is, in thousands of instances, marked and plain. 
 Often does it happen that the man who profanes it, takes his 
 week's earnings on the Saturday evening, or on the Lord's-day, 
 to the beer-shop, the tavern, or to the gin-palace, and there 
 squanders, in dissipation, that which should make his home 
 cheerful and his family happy. He riots on the Sabbath, and 
 almost star\'es dm-ing the week. Instead of being the light and 
 centre of the domestic circle, the strong arm on which the wife 
 and children can lean with confidence, he is its bane and curse. 
 But he who remembers the Sabbath-day to keep it holy, brings 
 home his honest gain, and his partner meets hhn with a smile, 
 and his offspring call him blessed. You may frequently see two 
 families dwelling in the same neighbom'hood,workiug at the same 
 emploj-ment, containing the same number of members, and in 
 all ordinary things having the same advantages. Enter the 
 dwelling of the one, it looks forlorn, desolate, cold, as if some 
 e\i\ genius had settled down upon it. Enter the dwelling of the 
 other, the fii-e bmms merrHy, and the hearth is clean, and the 
 fui-niture all bright and good, the family Bible is on the stand, 
 the head of the family is in his place. It is plain that harmony 
 dwells there, and the dove of peace has found a nestling place. 
 If you inquii-e the reason of this difference, you ^vill find the one 
 has ^-ii'tually no Sabbath, the other keeps it holy to the Lord. 
 But it may be said that tliis difference is not universal. We 
 readily admit that it is not. But he who passes through the 
 
80 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 world "vvitli an observing eye and an impartial mind, will find 
 that it exists to a fearful extent. Those who are called to visit 
 the working people in large cities, crowded towns, or even in 
 quiet villages, can almost at once point out the dwelling of the 
 Sabbath breaker by its squalid and cheerless appearance. On the 
 other hand, though the observer of the Lord's-day may be poor, 
 yet there is an external decency, a gentleness of demeanour, a 
 quiet air in his dwelling, that plainly says, " This is the abode 
 of a family who love the day of rest, and honom' Him who is 
 Lord of the Sabbath." Oh, how much family misery might 
 have been prevented by the strict observance of its sacred duties. 
 How many ample fortunes have been squandered, how many 
 honourable names have been stained, how many homes that 
 might have been happy have been broken up, by the evils con- 
 nected vvdth its neglect. Many a father has gone weeping to 
 the grave, many a mother has lain down in death vrith heart 
 bleeding and torn, many relatives have sat in hopeless grief, 
 through the dissipation of a profligate, whose first step in crime 
 was the violation of the Sabbath. 
 
 But the Sabbath, in its social aspect, is of im77iense value, by 
 reminding the different branches of the family that it is their 
 duty to impart and receive spiritual good, and by affording them 
 ample opportunities of doing so. Its influences upon a religious 
 household are salutary in the highest degree, and its advantages 
 are unbounded. It is so in reference to parents or the heads of 
 families. That divinely appointed ordinance whereby human 
 beings are bound together in the relation of husband and wife, 
 is of all earthly ties the closest and the holiest. It is an emblem 
 of that deep love which subsists between the church and her 
 Head. It gives rise to peculiar duties, and intimate is the con- 
 nexion between the right discharge of these duties and the keep- 
 ing of this day. Persons bound together in this relationship 
 have many wants in common, and many interests that are iden- 
 tical. They are one. They are bound to care for each other's 
 souls. They should strive with trembling to promote their 
 mutual advancement in holy things. Now the " sacred leisure" 
 of the Sabbath afibrds them an opportunity of doing this. In 
 the bustle of the week they can only speak hasty words; but 
 on Ibis hallowed day they have time for converse and prayer. 
 They go hand in hand, heart to heart, and bow before the thrcne 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 81 
 
 of Jehovah, and linger at the mercy seat of theu- Father God. 
 They go to the sanctuary in company, feed upon the bread of 
 life, and then return to the family to shed a blessed influence on 
 all around. 
 
 But closely connected with the duty of rendering assistance 
 to each other on the part of parents is that of instructing their 
 offspring, bringing them iij) in the nurture of the Lord, and as 
 far as possible leading them in the way of all truth. To the care 
 of parents are intrusted precious treasures, spirits destined for 
 eternity. The group of young ones gathered round them will 
 have to go forth into a world of wickedness ; they ^vill have to 
 fight the battle of life, and much depends upon their early train- 
 ing how that battle will be fought. The mother knows not 
 what the babe that hangs upon her breast is destined for. The 
 father knows not what the little boy who prattles by his side 
 may have to do in the world ; but this is certain, each is a can- 
 didate for another life. How heavy then is the responsibility — 
 how important the task — how momentous the consequences of 
 parental guidance ! There are thousands of parents who are 
 willing to testify, that while they endeavour to discharge their 
 duties in the fear of God, their efforts would be comparatively 
 abortive were it not for the help and the opportunities supplied 
 by the recmTence of the Chiistian Sabbath. I would not for a 
 single moment be understood to intimate that religious in- 
 struction and dii-ection should be confined to this day. God 
 forbid. The right-minded parent makes provision for the daily 
 sustenance of his offspring, and daily should he strive to set 
 before them the bread of life. Every day, if at all practicable, 
 should the word of God be read and expounded, that it may 
 become the guide of their future life. Every morning and 
 evening should the sacrifice of prayer and praise be placed 
 upon the family altar. With a father's authority and a mother's 
 tenderness should the children be led to the duty of private 
 devotion ; and yet the Sabbath is pre-eminently adapted for 
 the discharge of these duties. The quiet, the holy calm of tliis 
 blessed day is in unison with the holy work to be done. 
 
 We have sometimes heard it insinuated, that the necessity 
 for home instruction is in a measm'e superseded by the institu- 
 tion of Sabbath schools, and the services of public worship. To 
 these, children may be sent, and placed under the care of effi- 
 
82 LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 
 
 cient teachers. That Sabbath schools are an immense blessing 
 to the land, none ^vill sm'ely question. They are a part of the 
 glory of our nation — they are as a nursery to the church. As 
 institutions to meet the case of children whose parents care not 
 for the day of the Lord, who are regardless of the moral and 
 spiritual interests of their offspring, they deserve our warmest 
 support ; but it is a great mistake to suppose that they do away 
 with the duty of parental instruction. Nothing can supersede 
 that duty, and it is scarcely possible for any teaching to be so 
 effectual as that imparted in the sanctuary of home. The teacher 
 has not the same authority, he has not the same hold upon the 
 heart, he cannot have the same interest in the child, as the 
 parent. No, if you would have youi- children rightly instructed, 
 if you would have them rise up to call you blessed — if you would 
 have them become good citizens and useful men, you must 
 devote to them a portion of your Sabbath time. Make them 
 feel that on this blessed day you are alive to their spii'itual 
 good. Water your instnictions with your tears — harrow them 
 in by yom- prayers, and they will yield a goodly harvest of 
 precious fi'uit. 
 
 If the Lord's day be sanctified by social and cheerful devotion, 
 if everything gloomy and cold be excluded, if the head of the 
 family meet his childi'en and domestics with a Christian smile, 
 the constant recuiTcnce of this day is hailed with pleasui-e. 
 There is something exquisitely beautiful and irresistibly im- 
 pressive about a Sabbath thus spent. There is a blending of 
 hallowed feeling that cannot well be described. The father is 
 the priest of the family, the mother partakes of the same spirit, 
 the offering is put upon the altar, they adore the Crucified One, 
 they praise the Lord their Maker, they seek to robe the day in 
 all that is attractive and interesting. The day thus improved 
 opens a door for the " full influence of all that is most precious 
 and venerable in the domestic economy — parental instruction, 
 parental authority, parental wisdom, parental piety, and 
 parental love !" 
 
 Impressions made upon the yoimg and tender mind are of all 
 others the most endm-ing. They are engraven as on brass. The 
 roll of time cannot destroy them, the heat and bustle of the 
 world cannot burn them out, the waters of sorrow cannot wash 
 them away. No remmiscences are so grateful, or so frequently 
 
LECTURE OX THE SABBATH. 83 
 
 called up, as those connected with Sabbath scenes, Sabbath 
 duties, Sabbath prayers in a father's home. Many a son tilling- 
 the soil of a foreign land — many a daughter dwelling far fi'om 
 her native home — think upon the time when, with infant voice 
 they joined their parents in the Sabbath service of a quiet home. 
 "We grant that many have turned away fi-om such instructions 
 and associations, and plunged into fearful ciime. Parents can- 
 not give theii' childi-en grace, but Eternitj' alone will disclose 
 the numbers that have been brought to God by means of the 
 right improvement of the Sabbath in the domestic cii'cle. 
 
 How wide is the contrast between the families in which the 
 Lord's-day is broken -svith reckless wickedness, and those who 
 " call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honom-able !" 
 In the former, God has no altar and religion no sway. AVorks 
 of fiction are preferred to the oracles of truth, the society of 
 sinners to the fellowship of saints, and the pleasm'es of the 
 table, with the songs of the Bachanalian to the service of the 
 sanctuaiy, the joys of salvation, and the anthems of Heaven. 
 On such families the Sun of Righteousness shines not, and the 
 dews of Divine influence rest not. In them the storms of dis- 
 cord howl, the treasm-es of A\dckedness are laid up, and upon 
 them the fury of the Lord is sooner or later poured out. But in 
 the latter, grace and mercy dwell. Parents are affectionate, and 
 children obedient. Brothers and sisters are kind and gentle, 
 and servants faithful. Mutual love, like a golden chain, binds 
 them all together. Light is in theu- dwelling, and the God of 
 Jacob in their midst. He who blesseth the habitation of the 
 just, will have them in his keeping. They shall go in and out 
 before Him, and dwell securely. The keeping of the Sabbath 
 will help to strengthen them in love and grace, until they are 
 brought to mingle with the great family in the land of light 
 and glory, and for ever worship Him " of whom the whole 
 family in Heaven and earth is named." 
 
 In bringing these remarks to a close, let me m-ge upon all 
 present the duty of a uniform sanctification of the Lord's-day. 
 Thank God, we have a Sabbath. It is secured to us by Divine 
 appointment. It is our common bii'th-right, and no man can 
 rob us of it. As we love om' nation, as we prize om- privileges, 
 as we value om* liberty, as we care for om' families, as we are 
 anxious for the prosperity of Zion, as we are jealous for the 
 
84 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 honour of God, let us use it well. Its religious observance will 
 give stability to the throne of our beloved Queen, and add ano- 
 ther gem to her already brilliant crown. It will gird our nation 
 with strength, make our homes happj', our lives useful, our death 
 triumphant, and prepare us for the keeping of a holier Sabbath 
 in another and happier world above. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 BY THE KEY. JOHN COX, MINISTER OF Ql'EEN STREET CHAPEL. 
 
 Subject. — The Sabbath : — The ojjportiwities it siijyplics to the 
 peoph of God for general usefulness in the sei'vice of Christ. 
 
 The admiring Psalmist, while contemplating the character 
 and actions of Jehovah, exclaimed, " Thou art good, and doest 
 good." The Sabbatic institution is at once a proof of the truth 
 of these words, and a paraphrase upon them. It also affords a 
 special opportunity for experiencing that God is good, and of 
 imitating the Divine benevolence, " by doing good to all men, 
 especially to them who are of the household of faith." 
 
 Real religion consists in sympathy with God. Brutes cannot 
 sympathize, and mirenewed men will not, Ps. xcii. 5, 6 ; only 
 the people of God can or will do so, and to do this is theu" high 
 privilege. This sympathy mcludes delight in God's character, 
 diligence in his ser%'ice, and fervent desires for his glory. These 
 holy emotions and tendencies are the results of reconciliation by 
 the cross, and renewal by the Holy Spirit, while at the same 
 time they are evidences of interest in spiritual relationship ; for 
 all whose tastes and habits are Godly, are the sons and daughters 
 of the Most High God. 
 
 To sympathy with God in one di^ine institution, you are now 
 more particularly to be invited. You have had instruction on 
 this important point, and now, I beseech you to " suffer the 
 word of exhortation." The divine origin, permanent obhgation, 
 wise adaptation, and merciful design of the Sabbath, have been 
 clearly proved ; you have been shewn that it comes from God's 
 throne of authority, — reveals God's losing heart, and is identi- 
 fied with his honour and worship ; and surely it behoves us to 
 
86 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 ask how have we treated it hitherto ? — can we iii any way im- 
 prove upon the past ? — and are we willing, after seeking pardon 
 for our short comings, to devote om^selves more unreservedly 
 than ever to God's work on his own holy day ? 
 
 Without further preface, I will endeavour to glance at the 
 topics presented for our consideration this evening. There are 
 four subjects which may be pointed out by so many words, each 
 containing a question, which we ^\i\\. endeavour to answer — W/io, 
 what, ivhen, and why. Who — to whom shall we appeal ? — " the 
 people of God." What is called for ? — " usefulness in the ser- 
 vice of Christ." When is the best opportunity for this service ? 
 — " the Sabbath ;" and %ohy should the people of God thus em- 
 ploy their Sabbath time ? Various reasons will be hereafter 
 assigned. 
 
 We appeal to the jyeople of God. The people of God are a 
 covenant people, and as such we call upon them to glorify God 
 on his own day. The Sabbath was first instituted when man 
 was in covenant with God. Adam was peculiarly " the son of 
 God ;" and immediately after his creation, his heavenly Father 
 instituted and kept the Sabbath ; and by his example made it 
 obligatory on his new made son to do the same. Had Adam 
 continued in innocence, and become the father of a smless race, 
 there can be no doubt but that all his cliildi-en would have been 
 under obhgation to have kept the Sabbath also ; for they, like 
 then- father, would have been in covenant with God. We may 
 just observe, in passing, that sm'ely sin has not set duty aside, 
 however it may have destroyed inclination to duty, especially 
 if we consider Adam as the father and representative of all 
 mankind. 
 
 God gave Israel the Sabbath at the same time that he took 
 them to be his peculiar people and special treasure. He says 
 by Moses, " Verily ni}' Sabbaths ye shall keep : for it is a sign 
 between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may 
 know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you," Exod. xxxi. 
 13. For breaking this sign of the covenant, as much or more 
 than for any thing else, they were cast out of their own land, 
 and sent to Babylon. During these seventy years of captivity, 
 " the land kept its Sabbaths," while the people learned the value 
 of the institution, and the folly and danger of profaning it. God 
 grant that Britain may not by her imitation of their conduct 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 87 
 
 "draw down a similar chastisement from God. The histoiy of 
 Israel, in connection Avith the profanation of- the Sahbath, is a 
 most tellmg point, and worthy of being well searched out and 
 pondered. But we onlj* refer to it now in order to establish the 
 fact that it was as the people of God that the Sabbath was anew 
 committed to theii* trust, and to remind you of what the apostle 
 says, that the things wliich happened to them were for types 
 or examples to us. 1 Cor. x. 11 . 
 
 Advancing on to the Chi'istian Sabbath — the Lord's-day, it is 
 worthy of observation, that when the Lord of the Sabbath, the 
 Lord of GlorA', arose fi-om the dead, his very first words referred 
 to relationsltip. " go tell my brethren I ascend to my father and 
 youi' father, to my God and your God." To those bretlu-en he 
 appeared that evening, when met in solemn and sorroAvful 
 assembly, and breathed over them, and over the fii'st Lord's-day, 
 the calm, the consolation of his ovni blessed benediction, " Peace 
 be unto you." From that day to this, I believe, on every first 
 day of each retm'iiing week, some of his brethren have met to 
 receive his benediction, to rehearse his praise, and renew their 
 vows of loyalty and love to him. Here, then, we again find the 
 l^eople of God, or men in covenant with God, at the last altera- 
 tion which has taken place with reference to the Sabbath. 
 
 But there is one scriptm'e wliich was very appropriately cited 
 in a previous lecture, and proved to belong to times subsequent 
 to the Jewish dispensation, which I would again quote as appo- 
 site to my design ; it is Isaiah Ivi. 1 — 6, " Thus saith the Lord, 
 keep ye judgment, and do justice : for my salvation is near to 
 come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man 
 that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it ; that 
 keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand 
 om doing any e\il. Neither let the son of the stranger, that 
 hath joined hiniself to the Lord, speak, saying, the Lord hath 
 utterly separated me from his people ; neither let the emiucli 
 say, behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord, mito the 
 eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that 
 please me, and take hold of my covenant ; even unto them will 
 I give in mine house, and within my walls, a place and a name 
 better than of sons and of daughters ; I will give the man an 
 everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the 
 sjtranger that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to 
 
88 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that 
 keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my 
 covenant." Here we find the people of God, and the Sabbath 
 are associated together, and we are, I think, instructed in this 
 important truth, and this is the practical point to which I wish 
 to bring you, that none can keep the Sabbath aright who are not 
 in covenant with God. By being in covenant with God, I 
 do not mean any external connection, but an interest in that 
 spiritual relationship which includes union to Christ — adoption 
 into God's family, and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost : with- 
 out this, we have only " the form of Godliness without the 
 power ;" without tliis, religion is a solemn cheat practised upon 
 the soul ; without this, all Sabbath-keeping, however decorous 
 and devout, and however useful in some respects, will prove only 
 a clean road to the pit of destruction. 
 
 Ah me ! it is a fearful and terrible thought, — a Sabbath- 
 keeper lost for ever ! And it must be borne in mind that 
 the broad road is wide enough for the habitual Sabbath- 
 breaker, and the external Sabbath observer to be found among 
 " the mamj who walk therein." They may be so far apart 
 as scarcely to see each other; and yet both must meet at 
 last. If pride, covetousness, injustice, carnal-mindedness, and 
 unbelief, stain the hands and possess the hearts of profes- 
 sors of oui- holy religion, God says, " The Sabbath, the 
 calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, 
 even the solemn meeting." Are we then really and spiri- 
 tually the people of God ? Have we subscribed our hands unto 
 the Lord, and yielded ourselves to God ? God requires the 
 heart, and his own people long to give it him, wholly and for 
 ever. They delight themselves in the Lord, and though con- 
 stantly mourning over their coldness, and houiiy crying for 
 quickening grace, they really love Him supremely. Love is 
 loyalty, and those destitute of it, will not be owned by the great 
 heart-searcher. Just think of a disloyal or traitorous corn-tier 
 present at a royal feast, and drinking the sovereign's health ; 
 while all the time a weapon is concealed about his person, with 
 which he would fain take away the monarch's life, whose name 
 was recently di-opping from his lips in honied accents ! Think 
 of such an one, and then think of those whose hearts are un- 
 reconciled to God, who are his enemies by -wicked works, and 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 89 
 
 who yet are found in God's house on every Lord's day, using 
 the most loving and loyal expressions, and say is there no 
 similarity ? If such persons should enquire — " what shall we 
 do then, shall we give up our attendance, and join openly the 
 ranks of the wicked ? " I answer, what should the nobleman 
 do, whose case we have just supposed ? Would you advise him 
 to leave the court, draw out his concealed weapon, and use his 
 influence to induce others to join him in open rebellion ? Had 
 he not better tlii'ow away his dagger, confess his fault — submit 
 to his sovereign, and having obtained mercy, serve him with 
 gratitude and love ? With all affection and earnestness, we 
 would say to eveiy alienated heart, " Be ye reconciled to God.*' 
 Go to Chi'ist who invites you, and find rest ; and then you will 
 rightly keep the Sabbath. Abide in him, and then you will be 
 anxious to walk as he walked. This is his order ; do not seek 
 to alter it, " Come to me ;" " abide in me ;" " follow me." Man's 
 order is to endeavour to change his state by altering his 
 character. God's order is to change a man's state, and thus 
 renew and remould his chai'acter, first to pardon, and then to 
 pm-ify. " AATiat shall we do, (said the Jews to Jesus) that w^e 
 might work the works of God ? " The Lord did not tell them 
 to " Remember the Sabbath-day, or to honom- their father and 
 mother," &c. ; but he said, " This is the work of God, that ye 
 believe on him whom he hath sent." Till this is done, nothing 
 is done. The soul remains without God — without hope — with- 
 out strength ; but to those Avho receive Chiist, God gives power 
 to become his soils. He says of them, " They are my people, 
 and they say the Lord is my God." And then they say, " Lord, 
 ichat wilt thou have us to do." 
 
 This is om' second point ; and as we have considered " the 
 people" in connection with "the day," we shall do the same 
 as regards the service, and thus study the tchat and the when 
 together. This will conduce to greater unity, and the sooner 
 relieve your attention. 
 
 The people of God are described as "A peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works." God has provided in the chm-ch and 
 in the world a large sphere for the exercise of this zeal, and in 
 the constant recurrence of Lord's-days, a suitable season is also 
 furnished. Christ is to be served. The apostle says to God's 
 people, " Ye serve the Lord Ciirist ;" what a glcrious ma;;ter I 
 
 F 3 
 
90 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 what honoured and happy servants ! " His service is perfect 
 freedom." Christ should be served by inward and external 
 worship on the Lord's-day. The meditations of the closet, — the 
 worship of the family, — the prayers and praises of the sanctuary, 
 should all be attended to : all done heartily as unto God ; all 
 done in the name of our Lord Jesus. But we should serve him 
 also by " general usefulness." The Sabbath was originally de- 
 signed for contemplation, and when this is attended to properly, 
 communion will be enjoyed ; and if we realize fellowship with 
 the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, the result will be con- 
 secration to the service of God. The devotedness which springs 
 out of devotion will last longest, do most, and be the means of 
 stirring up and stimulating others. 
 
 The highest usefulness as regards man, is found in connection 
 with the service of Christ. Other eflPorts may make more noise, 
 obtain greater attention, and gain more plaudits and rewards 
 from man ; but the service of Christ is watchmg for souls, deci- 
 sion for God, and labour for eternity. To amend man's physical 
 condition, to refine his manners, to inform his intellect, or in 
 any way to lessen the aggregate of human ignorance and misery 
 is truly desirable ; and all efforts tending thereto are praise- 
 worthy ; but such labom's do not touch the seat of his disease, 
 or at all adequately meet the exigencies of his case. If you can 
 enlighten his dark mind, quicken his torpid conscience, restore 
 his alienated affections back to God, and induce him to choose 
 the better part, then you confer real blessings upon him. You 
 also do that for him which will powerfully tell upon him for 
 good, even as regards his physical and social condition ; you 
 have introduced him to real happiness in time, — to happiness 
 which eternity will mature and perpetuate. Such a great 
 change can only be effected by the power of the Spirit of God ; 
 but he works by the means of the truth, as ministered by the 
 instrumentality of those whom he has graciously renewed. 
 
 Sabbath endeavom-s to be useful in the service of Christ, should 
 have reference both to the souls and bodies of om* fellow crea- 
 tures. We should endeavour to disseminate truth for their 
 souls, and seek by every means to lessen or alleviate the pains 
 and wants of the afflicted and distressed. In thus acting, we 
 shall imitate Him who went about " Preaching peace, and doing 
 good." The Sabbath day was with the Lord Jesus a day of 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 91 
 
 preacliing and of healing. Then specially and plentifully truth 
 flo%yed from his Hps, and tenderness overflowed from his full 
 heart. It would abmidantly repay us to search the evangelical 
 narrative, in order to trace the Sabbath steps of Jesus. The man 
 with the withered hand, — the daughter of Abraham, bowed 
 dovm for eighteen years, — the poor cripple at the pool of Be- 
 thesda, who had lain thii'ty and eight yeai's in his sad case, — 
 the man with the dropsy, and the young man born blind, who 
 afterwards bore such a noble testimony for his kind healer, 
 Jolin ix., were among the trophies of the Sa\iour's Sabbath day 
 mercy. Then, too, he lifted up his voice in lo\'ing in^'itation to 
 the sick in soul, to the bm"thened in spirit, and shewed, both by 
 example and precept, " That it ivas lawful to do good on the 
 Sabbath day." His enemies tried to con\dct him of being a 
 breaker of the Sabbath. " Therefore, said some of the Pharisees, 
 this man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath 
 day;" they said that he could not be a prophet, because he 
 allowed the people to ceme and be healed on the Sabbath day, 
 and had bidden one whom he had healed " To take up his bed 
 and walk ;" but with all the meekness of wisdom, he rebuked 
 their foul calumnies, vindicated his own character, encom-aged 
 other needy applicants, and di'ew forth the plaudits of the be- 
 holders. AMiile thus labom'ing for the glory of God and the 
 good of man, he still kejjt the sabbath, both in its letter and in 
 its spii'it. He rested in God, while he labom'cd for man ; and 
 no tranquil Sabbath morn which ever dawned upon our 
 world, could adequately image forth the holy calm of that heart, 
 which was so full of love to lost man, FooKsh and ^\icked men, 
 to think to accuse him of breaking God's law ! ^^ hy, he was 
 the law personified, — a far more glorious representation of it, 
 than that written on stones. He was the \ii\\ fuljiller, " made 
 under it," — and here we find our righteousness. He was, and 
 is, Lord of the law ; and we are " under the law to him," and 
 consequently observ^e the Sabbath on his authority, and accord- 
 ing to his pattern. He came " not to destroy, but to fulfil ;" 
 and we are sure that he has destroyed nothing which is illus- 
 trative of his Father's goodness, and productive of happiness to 
 man ; and we believe that the Sabbath is both. 
 
 It may be well just to mention in detail some of those fields 
 of chiistian labour in which God's people should be found on 
 
92 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 the Lord's Day. Fii'st, in point of importance, is preaching 
 the word. This should be done in season, and out of season ; but 
 can best be done on the Lord's Day. Then the pastors address 
 the stated congregations over which God has placed them, and 
 the evangelists go forth to their work in the villages ; and all 
 honour to the men who, though working for six days for the 
 bread that perisheth, devote part of the Lord's Day in going out 
 into the highways and hedges, to compel men to come to the 
 marriage feast. Those persons must love order better than 
 souls who, in the present state of things, do not rejoice that 
 such an instrumentality is at work. Good Mr.Newton observed, 
 that if a destmctive fire was raging, and help was much needed, 
 who would complain that certain persons helped to extinguish 
 it who did not Avear a fireman's di-ess ? The Lord of the harvest 
 send forth more labom'ers into the harvest ! 
 
 There is the Sabbath School, a most important sphere of labour, 
 and one which should not only afford employment to our young 
 people, but in which christians of more mature knowledge and 
 piety should seek to do good. The beneficial influence of Sab- 
 bath Schools has been incalculable already ; and many more 
 benefits might result, if more prayer and piety were laid out 
 upon them. There are the sick and sorrowful! How cheering 
 the visit to the lonely room, or the lowly bed. Such labours of 
 love make the widow's heart to leap for joy ; and an abundance 
 of such cases may be found for those who, like the man of Uz, 
 search them out. There are the careless and ignorant. To many 
 of these easy access may be gained. A kind word may do won- 
 ders, and, under God's blessing, win back the heart from its 
 wanderings. The religious tract, of com-se, will be your com- 
 panion, and you will do well to sow the seed of truth beside all 
 waters. To those vidthin your own dwelling I do not refer, as 
 you were instmcted respecting this subject in the last lectm'e. 
 These, as well as friends and relations at a distance, will not be 
 forgotten ; and there may bq, cases in which a letter full of 
 Christian love and earnest pleadings, bathed well in prayer, may 
 be safely written on the day of God. 
 
 In these and other Christian efibrts, the Lord's day " sup- 
 plies an opportunity for general usefubiess in the service of 
 CJirist." We must not neglect other opportunities of doing 
 good, but should especially improve these. It is a sad sign when 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 93 
 
 professing Cliristians put away their religion with their Sunday 
 dress. This is formality of the worst kind. Such religion is an 
 isolated thing. It resembles a stagnant pool, instead of a flow- 
 ing brook ; but we feel persuaded that if persons acquire the 
 habit of zealous effort on the Lord's Day, they will be most likely 
 to carry their religion into the week, as opj)ortuiiity offers. 
 
 Activity is the genius of the Christian Sabbath. Herein it 
 differs in some degree from the Patriarchal or Jewish Sabbath. 
 The seventh day commemorated the fact of Jehovah resting 
 from all his works, the Christian Sabbath commemorates the 
 tnumph of Jesus, and his entrance upon a new life of ceaseless 
 activity and official ser-sdce. Dm^ing the Jewish Sabbath he 
 rested in the grave, early the next morning he left the tomb 
 triumphantly. The old Sabbath tells us of what was begun and 
 finished, the new Sabbath of what is so gloriously commenced, 
 and which must go on to the triumphant conclusion. Hence its 
 name, " the Lord's Day," the day which the Lord hath made, 
 — made special, — made sacred, — made sublime. Christians would 
 do well to study the Jirst Chi'istian Sabbath, even the day of the 
 Lord's resurrection, with reference to the activity displayed 
 therein. Oh, it was a day of intense excitement ! Not to dwell 
 on angelic ministrations and messages, not to linger round the 
 loving service and joyous journeys of the honom'ed women ; 
 think of Jesus, and trace the beginning of his resmTection life. 
 He rose early, and appeared first to Mary Magdalen, and pro- 
 nounced her name as he alone could do ; then he shewed himself 
 to the loving women, greeting them with " All Hail !" next to 
 Peter, how or where we know not, but so it was ; for Jesus 
 loved and still loves to diy up the mourner's tear, and bind up 
 the broken bleeding heart, on his own blessed day. After this 
 comes the wondi"ous walk to Emmaus, Avith its graphic and 
 heart-stiiTing incidents and disclosui*es ; and last, not least, in 
 the evening, " when the doors were shut where the disciples 
 were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in 
 the midst, and said, ' Peace be unto you.' " What zealous love 
 do we here trace ! and may we not infer that as he is still the 
 same Savioui", his people may expect on his own day special dis- 
 coveries of his grace and glory ? Should not the disciples of 
 such a Lord be active also ? If we possess his resurrection life, 
 
94 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 we sliould seek to imitate liis active love, and endeavour, in con- 
 formity to liim, on his o^vn day, to seek communion with, his 
 people, to spread the good news of liis victory, and to minister 
 comfort to the sorrowful and distressed. 
 
 In imitating the Saviour's activity, we shall share the Savioui-'s 
 rest. There is rest in ser^ice, there is comfort in duty. It is 
 said of those glorious beings in the midst of the throne, that 
 they rest not, day nor night, saying " Holy ! holy ! holy ! Lord 
 God Almighty !" yet have they no unrest ; so in a measure will 
 it be w^ith those who serve God. They came to Jesus to give 
 them rest. Yet he says, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn 
 of me, and ye shall fuid rest unto your souls." Rest in wearing 
 the yoke, in doing my will. Such go about doing good, but it 
 tu'es them not, because they have an unction from him whom 
 God anointed with the Holy Ghost and mth power. 
 
 While considering the duty of Christian activity on the Lord's 
 Day, we do well to bear in mind the difference in the nature of the 
 two clisjjensations. The Jewish religion, although it provided 
 for the reception of proselytes, did not lay upon its professors the 
 duty of seeking to convert persons to their faith. It was not 
 (i(/gressive in its character. But Christianity is aggressive, and 
 we have a command " to go and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature ;" and when should we be able to do this in om- busy 
 land, if we had not the Lord's Day ? The Christian Sabbath 
 supplies an opportunity for usefulness, and a season for labour, 
 of which we should gladly avail ourselves. Take away our 
 Sabbath, and how could we get congregations, or muster children 
 to be instructed ? The Lord's Day is one of the bosom friends 
 of divine truth. It provides a market day, during which a gentle 
 voice is heard, saying, " Buy the truth, and sell it not." It bids 
 Vanity Fair suspend its noise, and hide its worthless baubles, 
 while in tones of winning tenderness, it says, " Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and ye that have no 
 money, come ye buy wine and milk without money, and without 
 price ;" and then looking with deep compassion on the multi- 
 tude, again exclaims, " Wherefore do you spend your money for 
 that which is not bread ? and your labom' for that wliich 
 satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that 
 which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Alas ! 
 few heed the call, few hear the voice of the charmer, but all who 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 95 
 
 do, find the pro\'ision sweet, and the promise sui-c, and to all such 
 God's voice is,- " Let him that heareth say come.'^ 
 
 We may, then, with reference to the Christian Sabbath, use 
 the words of Jehovah in the Decalogue, " Rcmemhcr the Sabbath 
 Day to keep it holy." Remember it, and remember to hcej) it. 
 Keep God's end in ^•iew, cndeavoui" to have sjTiipathy with him 
 in liis wise and beneficent design. God from the beginning 
 blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, viz., " set it apart for 
 holy pm-poses." Let us also aim at this, while keeping the 
 Lord's Day, and diligently enquire, what is the natm'e of that 
 holiness which the Gospel requires on this holy day ? It is not 
 a mere ceremonial holiness, a cessation from worldly employ- 
 ments, or an attendance on di\-ine worship, but holiness of a 
 spiritual nature and benevolent character. An infallible ex- 
 pomider of the law tells us that its essence is love. It is all 
 fulfilled in one icord, " thou shalt /ore." We may be sure then 
 that the substance of the fourth commandment is love. It was 
 love which gave it, and the lo^'ing heart alone can really keep 
 it. " To be in the Spirit on the Lord's day," or, in other words, 
 to keep a Sabbath holy to the Lord, is to possess and manifest 
 a religion of love. To have " the love of God shed abroad in our 
 hearts," to feel the love of Christ constraining us to reahze the 
 love of souls as a strong and still deepening passion, is to have 
 the mind of Christ and the heart of Christ. 
 
 It remains, in the third place, to state some reasons why the 
 people of God should make the Lord's day a day of sei-A-ice, a 
 day of usefuhiess. The reasons for obedience, if rightly con- 
 sidered, will furnish inotives for action. These motives will be 
 mostly of a persuasive character for " tee are not come to the 
 mount that might be touched, to blackness, darkness, tempest, 
 the sound of a trimipet, and the voice of words, but we are come 
 to Mount Zion, to Jesus, the Mediator of the new Covenant, and 
 to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than the 
 blood of Abel." Still, it is added, "For om- God is a consuming 
 fii'e ;" jealous of liis honour; therefore we should all set oui" hearts 
 upon " ha%ing grace whereby we may serve God acceptably 
 with reverence and godly fear." Heb. xii. 24 and 29. 
 
 The obligations under which God has laid you as his people 
 should prompt to serve him. This subject is frequently refeiTcd 
 to in connection vrith the Jewish Sabbath ; take one illustration, 
 
96 LECTUUE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 " And remember tliat thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, 
 and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a 
 mighty hand and by a stretched out arm ; therefore the Lord 
 thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." The con- 
 sideration of their past misery, of God's great mercy, and of 
 their present state of privilege, were all facts which ought to 
 have weighed with Israel, and stirred them up to keep the day 
 of God according to the appointment ; and their neglecting to do 
 so in the face of all these inducements and motives, greatly in- 
 creased their guilt and punishment. But their deliverance, 
 brethren, was only a type of ours, and their privileges but 
 shadows of our far richer blessings. Our bondage was sorer, 
 our redemption infinitely more costly ; we are redeemed f)'om 
 iniquity, we are redeemed to God, redeemed b^ the precious 
 blood of Christ, redeemed for an eternity of blessedness and 
 service ; and shall not all this constrain us to active and zealous 
 effort? What things ought we not to accomplish with such 
 motive-power? " to what height should not our love ascend which 
 hath such steps to mount by ? " We are loved much, let us labour 
 much, and count not our lives dear, so that we testify the Gospel 
 of the grace of God. 
 
 Bear in mind that God especially calls you to this service. 
 When David, in the fulness of his heart's gratitude, presented 
 liis magnificent offering to God, he thus addressed his people, 
 " Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day to the 
 Lord ?" He expected a response, nor was he disappointed. The 
 Son of David thus addresses us, " If ye love me, keep my com- 
 mandments ; "occupy till I come;" "go work this day in my 
 vineyard." Shall we refuse him, or yield him grudging service ? 
 May love forbid it ! Let us study his zeal, his spirit of self- 
 sacrifice, and condescending love, until we become more and 
 more like him, and find it to be our meat to do his will. 
 
 As God calls you to labour for him, so he has given you 
 special encouragement. He promises that your labour shall not 
 be in vain in the Lord, " Cast (he says) thy bread upon tho 
 waters, thou shalt find it after many days." Every Lord's-day 
 labourer should study much the words of God by Isaiah, in order 
 to ascertain the state of feeling which God requu-es, and the 
 blessing which they may expect from him, " If thou turn away 
 thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasui-e on my holy 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 97 
 
 day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, ho- 
 nourable ; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor 
 finding thine o^^^l pleasure, nor speaking thine own Avords ; then 
 shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to 
 ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the 
 heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath 
 spoken it." Isaiah Iviii. 13, 14. Those who thus delight in 
 God, in his day, and his ser^dce ; who prefer his will and words 
 to theii' own ; and who seek his glory and others' good above 
 their own pleasure, shall prove that God delighteth in them, and 
 shall be cheered on in their work by the assurance that they 
 " are accepted in the beloved," and that God now accepteth their 
 works;" thus saved fi-om legal fear, and raised above self- 
 righteous motives, they shall " serve God in the newness of the 
 spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." They will rest in 
 Chi'ist's righteousness," while they follow after righteousness ; 
 they will " wait for the hope of righteousness by faith," even 
 that glory to which the obedience and death of the master whom 
 they serve entitles them, while they aim to do his will from the 
 heart. Thus will they '• serve the Lord with gladness," for 
 Sabbath serAice shoidd be gladsome and hopeful, and the bearers 
 of good tidings, the heralds of mercy, should have a cheerful 
 countenance and a rejoicing heart. Let such also consider the 
 noble compa7iy ivith wlwm they are associated in their good 
 work, and the jn-oofs which have accumulated in the histoiy of 
 the church, that God honours Lord's Day testimony and service. 
 On this day there are more conversions than on any other, and, 
 perhaps, than on all other days put together, and on it also the 
 tribes of our Israel go forth and frequently gather spmtual 
 manna for all the week, and thus prove that while they labour, 
 not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth 
 unto everlasting life, he whom God the Father hath sealed, 
 gives them such blessed provision that their souls are satisfied 
 as with marrow and fatness. Surely there is proof amounting 
 to full demonstration that God still blesses his own day, and 
 blesses the efforts which his people put forth upon it. '* He is 
 not imrighteous to forget their work and labour of love which 
 is shewed towards his name," whether in ministering to the 
 saints, or witnessing to the world ; and his notice, approbation. 
 
98 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 and reward, are far greater blessings than all the treasures of 
 earth, or the honours which man can confer. 
 
 If the people of God do not labour for Christ and for the good 
 of souls, 710 one else icill. Angels cannot do the service to which 
 they are called, and worldly men will not; while the wicked, 
 instigated by the Prince of Darkness, are zealously at work in an 
 opposite direction. Shall the enemies of soids be active in their 
 work of destruction, and the lovers of God and of souls remain 
 comparatively inert ? Surely this must not be. Christ has out- 
 done Satan, and Christians should aim to outdo Satan's instru- 
 ments. " This is a day of good tidings, and if we hold our peace, 
 some mischief will befall us." If we rob God, and are faithless 
 to om' trust, we shall injure ourselves. We have something at 
 stake, even as regards this life. If the tide of Sabbath desecra- 
 tion still roll onward, bringing every other sin in its train, and 
 Ave stand by and make no efforts to turn the current, and judg- 
 ments come upon the land, we may be chastised for our supine- 
 ness. Patriotism, as well as Christianity, love of country, as well 
 as love of souls, calls upon us to work for God, to witness against 
 sin, and to sow the truth broadcast. Let us then sigh and cry 
 for the abominations done in the land, and then come forth from 
 our chambers, and as the messengers of wisdom, " cry in the 
 high places of the city" to the simple and the heedless who madly 
 rush down the broad road, if haply we may save some of them. 
 That God who heard the prayer of Aaron for Israel, who 
 listened to the bitter cry of Mordecai, who blessed the x^erilous 
 intervention of Esther, and who succeeded the self-denying 
 labours of Paul, will not frown upon our efforts, nor turn away 
 our prayers. 
 
 Sabhath opportunities should he diligently improved, for they 
 are fast passing away. It may be, yea, it vnust be, that but few 
 Sabbaths on earth remain to some of us, " whatsoever, then, our 
 hand findcth to do, let us do with all our might." God's com- 
 mand to us is, " redeem the time," — buy up the opportunity, and 
 we may say, redeem, especially Sabbath time, from slothfolness, 
 dreaminess, and aimlessness. Buy up Sabbath opportunities for 
 communion and service ; opi^ortunity is the flower of time, surely 
 this is true of the Sabbath. Some of us have been favoured with 
 many Sabbaths. There may be some present who have lived 
 
LECIURE ON THE SABBATH. 99 
 
 fifty years since arriving at years of responsibility, and you, my 
 friends, have had seven years of Sabbaths. AATiat have you done 
 tcith them and upon them ? Have those years been to you an 
 apprenticesliip for heaven ? Is it not an awakening thought 
 that we have one whole year of Sabbaths in every seven years ? 
 Sm'ely, if we all rightly improved Sabbath time, we might 
 attain much sacred knowledge, and perform many works of 
 mercy. ^lay the time past suffice for coldness and selfishness, 
 and the time to come behold greater proofs of dcvotedness to the 
 cause of God. There is not a more lovely sight out of heaven 
 than an honest enthusiast in a good cause, — ^here is a cause 
 worthy of om' enthusiasm. Perhaps some one may say, " but 
 what can I do ?'^ Are you honest, my friend, in asking that 
 question ? If so, you ^^411 go and look for work, and when 
 you have found it (and you need not seek far, nor look long) set 
 heartily about it. Let us just ask those who have attended 
 God's house for many years, o?ie question^ did you ever try prayer- 
 fiilly and perseveringly to get one Sabbath-breaker, or neglecter 
 of God's house, to attend the means of grace? I have often 
 thought that if every one, who values spiritual things, would 
 make it a point to try to get some, person to go with them to the 
 house of prayer, that much good might be done. We ministers 
 cannot ask persons to come and hear us, but you could do so ; 
 and if it were done in a kind spirit and accompanied "with prayer 
 it might succeed in many instances. Let all try, and no one 
 say by their actions, " Am I my brother's keeper ?" A word of 
 caution here, — take heed your character and conduct recommend 
 religion as well as yom* words. " A^^len will you go mth me and 
 hear my favourite minister ?" said a young lady to her brother. 
 " "\\Tien I see that his preaching has had a good effect upon 
 you, " was the reply. Let us all take heed that oiu' good be 
 not e\il spoken of, and that we do not put a stumbling block, or 
 an occasion of falling in om* brother's way. We must shine if 
 we wish to allm-e. The tongue is sure to repel, unless seconded 
 by a holy life. There are some persons who do injuiy on the 
 Sabbath day, without thinking of it. I will mention one thing, 
 and introduce it by an anecdote. Queen Anne, on one occasion, 
 asked Bishop Bm-nett, to tell her some of her faults. Upon 
 being closely pressed, the prelate observed, that her Majesty had 
 a bad habit of sleeping at chmch. Now, I do not accuse you of 
 
100 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 doing this, nor is this the point to which I refer, for some people 
 come so late into a place of worship, and then want the ser\'ice 
 to be over so soon, that they have scarcely time to go to sleep. 
 To this sad and most injurious practice of late-coming I beg 
 especial attention. By it the more punctual worshippers are 
 disturbed ; the minister discouraged; and God's service con- 
 temned. It might and it ought to be remedied at once. Depend 
 on it that 
 
 " A little less indulgence in the bed, 
 A litle more contrivance in the head — 
 A little more devotion in the mind. 
 Would quite prevent your being so behind." 
 
 To return to the Queen and honest bishop, it is recorded that 
 her Majesty thanked him and said, " Now, my lord, tell me 
 something else," but that he prudently replied, " When your 
 Majesty has mended this fault, then I may tell you of another." 
 I will not now refer to any other occasion of stumbling, or 
 hindrance of right Sabbath-keepings, and sincerely hope that 
 this common fault will be at once amended. 
 
 Think of the hearing of your labours upon eternity. If yeu 
 succeed in not merely bringing persons to the house of prayer, 
 but in introducing them to the temple of mercy, to the marriage 
 feast, you do them an eternal good. You are the honoured 
 instruments of " saving souls from death," and building them 
 as lively stones on the living foundation, and this in addition to 
 all the benefits which you are the means of conferring upon 
 them for time. Your honour and happiness will be great, while 
 God will have all the glory, for though you "planted and 
 watered. He gave the increase ;" you are nothing, but he is all, 
 and this you will unreservedly own when on the morning of the 
 eternal Sabbath he will say, " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." In that joy you will 
 find perfect rest, and those to whom God has blessed your in- 
 strmnentality will rest with you. That will indeed be a Sab- 
 bath, the Lord's day emphatically. Then the weekly Sabbath 
 — the Sabbatical year — the jubilee — the rest of Canaan, and the 
 (iospel rest will all be cast into the shade, or rather will fi^d 
 their great antitype. The fii'st Sabbath said, " creation is done, 
 and beheld God resting from his works." The Christian Sab- 
 bath says, " redemption is done," and we behold God the Holy 
 One resting with delight in the Son of his love, and there every 
 
LECTUKJE ON THE SABBATH. 101 
 
 believer rests also. The final Sabbath will say, " salvation is 
 done," and then •will come the great jubilee — " the time of the 
 restitution of ail things." Heaven has ever been one unbroken 
 Sabbath, all calmness, love, worship, and serenity; and then 
 earth shall be made like heaven, for " God's kingdom shall come 
 and his will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." Then, 
 " God will be aU in all," and this renovated world and redeemed 
 man shall bear his own impress. This was God's great original 
 idea — and he will, in spite of hell and sin, gloriously and per- 
 fectly work it out. He was from all eternity " the blessed 
 God." His nature an infinite ocean of blessedness ; calm, placid, 
 peaceful ; unnifiled by passion, im^touched by change. ^\Tien he 
 made our world he left on his finished work the impress of his 
 own blessedness in the fii'st Sabbath's holy calm. Sin distm'bed 
 it, and introduced discord and war. The Gospel renews it ; 
 brings rest to all who trust the glorious name of Jesus, and to 
 such it is a prophet of rest — perfect and eternal ; ever whisper- 
 ing in theii' ears, " Labour on ! faint not ! hope ever ! for to- 
 morrow is the rest of the everlasting Sabbath!" And the 
 Gospel is a true prophet. It gives the earnest of the blessings 
 which it predicts, and not one of its words shall fail. Death 
 must die ; " sorrow and sighing must flee away ;" ** there shall 
 be no more pain !" The din of this great Babel shall be hushed, 
 and the confused noise of war and conflict shall be over, and 
 peace, rest, and love — the peace, the rest, the love of God — shall 
 evermore remain, and bear untiring testimony to the glory of 
 his work, who is now " our rest." 
 
 But this great Sabbatism will be one of constant emjjloyment 
 and ceaseless activity. The redeemed will be " kings and priests 
 unto God," reigning and ministering. They will be " Hke the 
 angels who do God's commandments, hearkening unto the voice 
 of his word," and at the same time perpetually celebrate his 
 glories. And from this glorious consideration our last argument 
 for Christian activity on the Sabbath is derived. All allow that 
 our weekly Sabbaths should be an earnest of, and preparation for 
 the eternal Sabbath. We should rest now where we shall rest 
 then. We should sing the same song now, which we hope hereafter 
 to sing in loftier notes of praise. We should seek the same 
 society as we shall then be introduced to, even the family of 
 God, the household of faith. We should servo the same Lord 
 
 G 3 
 
102 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 now, whom we hope to serve perfectly and perpetually. In all 
 the subjects just mentioned there are differences of degree, but 
 in one there is a contrast. Our service in eternity wiU be wholly 
 among the vdse, the holy, and the happy ; now it should be 
 among the ignorant, the unholy, and the miserable. We must 
 now have to do with many things which are repulsive and dis- 
 tressing, but should this dishearten us ? It is also true that 
 
 Dark signs are round us — let us look above. 
 
 And heed the voice which whispers through the gloom, 
 •' The scene of sorrow is a sphere of love ; 
 , Go forth, and occupy it till I come V 
 
 Yes, go forth \ " Sow in tears and ye shall reap in joy ; go 
 forth weeping, bearing precious seed, for ye shall doubtless come 
 again with rejoicing, bringing the sheaves with you." Go forth ! 
 for life once closed, you will never have the opportunity again to 
 all eternity of doing the work which now in\ites your prayerful 
 effort. Go, then, among those lost ones who are hastening 
 down to that dread world where there is no Sabbath, and from 
 whence there is no release. Go ! and tell them to escape for 
 their lives ; to do so while it is called to-day, lest " God swear 
 in his wrath that they shall not enter into his rest." Go ! and 
 the Lord work with you, and confirm his word by signs 
 following. 
 
 In conclusion, when the subject of the present lecture was first 
 mentioned to me, five things started up before the mind's 
 eye in connection with the Sabbath. Two of these are bad, and 
 two are good, and the third would fain pass for good, though 
 with little title thereto. It claims to be a kind of border-land, 
 and the people who dwell in it wish to be called neutrals. The 
 two first are Sabbath traffic and Sabbath travelling ; and the two 
 last are Sabbath teaching and Sabbath testimony, and the third 
 is Sabbath trijling. The two first you will have brought before 
 you in the next lectui-e, and I only mention them now just by 
 way of contrast, and to impress upon your minds the necessity 
 of diligent teaching and earnest testimony. What a contrast 
 between the bouncing of scales — the bellowing of beasts — the 
 rush of railroad cars — the tramp of horses and the oaths of their 
 master : and the quiet of the family where the holy book is read 
 — the hum of the Sabbath school, or the hushed silence of the 
 jsick chamber, where the Christian kneels to pray. But what of 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 103 
 
 the trijlers on the neutral ground ? Late risers from bed — late 
 comers to God's house — dozing and di'eaming away the sacred 
 hours. " ^^^lat meanest thou, O sleeper ? rise and call upon 
 thy God ! ^^^ly abidest thou among the sheep cotes to hear the 
 drowsy bleating ?" " Come to the help of the Lord against the 
 mighty." If thou art indeed a Chi'istian be in earnest. " Work 
 out your own salvation with fear and trembling," and seek also 
 " by all means to save some." " It is no time," as Matthew 
 Heniy says, " to paint your own cabin while the ship is sink- 
 ing." This is not an age for triflng in matters of business and 
 literature. He who would succeed must thi'ow his heart into 
 the work, and so it must be with the things of God. The work 
 to which God calls us is worthy of our whole heart's energies, 
 the wages he gives, even now, are abundant, for, '* in keeping 
 his commandments there is great reward," and soon our work 
 ^411 be over, and then — what next ? "I heard a voice from 
 heaven saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which die 
 in the Lord fi'om henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
 may rest fi'om their laboui's, and theu' works do follow them." 
 Do we need any thing beyond this ? It may be profitable to 
 take in connection with it, two sentences fi'om the lips of Jesus, 
 " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." " My Father 
 worketh hitherto and will ever work doi ng good to his creatures 
 at all times. In these instances, and in imitation of him, I work 
 continually, doing acts of mercy on the Sabbath-day, as well as 
 on other days." To us he says, " If any serve me, let him follow 
 me, and where I am there shall also my servant be ; if any 
 serve me him will my Father honour." 
 
 ^\'^ith thi'ee practical observations I conclude. 
 
 1. Those to whom the Sabbath has been a special blessing , 
 should be very generous. How much have you saved by it ? 
 A\Tiat would have been your condition in a wordly point of 
 view, if you had been to the present time a Sabbath-breaker ? 
 How much owest thou then to the Sabbath :^ Let this question 
 be honestly put, and then practically answered by a liberal sup- 
 port of the cause of God. 
 
 2. Those who ivo7-k for God on Lord's Days, should witness 
 for the Sabbath dming the week. The week is quite ready 
 enough to inti-ude upon the Sabbath. Let us be anxious to reta- 
 liate, and bring the Sabbath into the week. As Ministers are 
 
104 LECTURE ON THE BABBATH. 
 
 preparing through the week for the Sabhath, so should the 
 people ever keep it in view, and endeavour to act with reference 
 to it. 
 
 Lastly. God's people should combine together to carry out 
 God's requirements, and their own desires as regards the Lord's 
 Day. Let each one attempt something, and all unite to endeavour 
 to educate men for eternity, by aiming to bring them to worship 
 God in spirit and in truth, on his own blessed day. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 BY TUE REV. W. HOLDERNESS, CHAPLAIN TO THE THAMES 
 CHURCH MISSION. 
 
 Subject. — The Sabbath: The various ways in which it is de- 
 secrated, and the bitter fruits of Sabbath profanation, to 
 individuals and communities. 
 
 We need not occupy youi* time, Chi'istian Friends, by recapi- 
 tulating the heads of the previous lectures on the important 
 subject before us, for, from their character, the impressions pro- 
 duced by them must be permanent. Their sound reasoning, 
 their beautiful language, their interesting detail, their clear 
 aiTangement, their eloquent delivery, and the deep interest 
 Avhich they excited, alike forbid us to suppose that they have 
 vanished from our minds as a tale that is told; rather let us 
 hope and pray, that their practical result, their golden fruit 
 may exist long after every individual in this assembly has been 
 gathered to his fathers; yea, that they may continue until the 
 dawn of that eternal Sabbath which shall for ever terminate 
 this world's distracting care and labom*, — the beginning of the 
 never-ending rest prepared for the people of God. 
 
 No mortal can foresee the benefits which may flow from tliis 
 attempt to draw the attention of our fellow townsmen to a sacred 
 obligation and to a gracious pri^-ilege, fraught ■with rich reward ; 
 yet one salutary effect is certain, for it is already accomplished ; 
 the occasion itself will convince the world that although painful 
 feuds distract the Church of Clu-ist, yet when a cardinal principle 
 or doctrine is to be ^'indicated, there are not wanting Episco- 
 palians, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Baptists, and Independents, 
 who are glad of the opportimity of meeting on one broad plat- 
 form ; and trampling under foot prejudice and bigotry, they 
 exclaim, We differ in some minor points, but we will agree to 
 
106 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 differ, because we are as one in essentials, and we hold it as 
 essential to God's honour and glory that all men should 
 " Kemember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Behold how 
 good and how pleasant it is for brethi-en to dwell together in 
 unity." Psalm cxxxiii 1. 
 
 But leaving this refreshing contemplation, we must address 
 ourselves more immediately to the first part of our subject, — 
 The various ways in which the Sabbath is desecrated. It is a 
 distressing and a close topic. There is no one who can say " I 
 am not guilty ; I never did, and am not now in the habit of 
 desecrating the Lord's Day." Let us probe the wound as ten- 
 derly as we can, consistently with the safety of the patient. 
 
 I'll not easily offend, 
 
 Nor be easily offended ; 
 
 What's not right, I'll try to mend, 
 
 And endure what can't be mended. 
 
 We would not needlessly hurt a child's feelings ; we would not 
 gratuitously cause a moment's anger ; but as we value our own 
 and your souls, we must speak the truth and keep back no con- 
 viction that dwells upon our minds. We are satisfied that there 
 is no one here who would vdsh us to be unfaithful watchmen, 
 sleeping sentries, dumb dogs, prophesiers of smooth things, 
 detailers of deceits. Let no one entertain the thoughts of the 
 ferocious Ahab, when he said, " I hate Micaiah, the son of 
 Imlah, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." 
 It is with Sabbath breaking as with most other sins, each has 
 a favourite mode of transgression, upon which he looks with 
 complacency, calls by soft names, and half approves ; but his 
 neighbour's cherished sins he beholds with clearness and firmly 
 denounces. So appropriate is Cowper's reproof of this tendency 
 of our imperfect nature, that we cannot forbear quoting his 
 words. 
 
 Thus says the Prophet of the Turk, 
 
 Good Mussulman, abstain from pork — 
 
 There is a part in every swine 
 
 No friend or follower of mine 
 
 May taste, whate'er his inclination. 
 
 On pain of excommunication. 
 
 Such Mahomet's mysterious charge, 
 
 And thus he left the point at large : 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 107 
 
 Had he the sinful part expressed, 
 They might with safety eat the rest ; 
 But for one piece they thought it hard 
 From the whole hog to be debarred, 
 And set their wit at work to find 
 What joint the prophet had in mind. 
 Much controversy straight arose. 
 These choose the back, — the belly those : 
 By some 'tis confidently said, 
 He meant not to forbid the head ; 
 While others at that doctrine rail, 
 And piously prefer the tail : 
 Thus, conscience freed from every clog, 
 Mahometans eat up the hog. 
 
 You laugh, — 'tis well— the tale applied, 
 May make you laugh on t'other side. 
 Renounce the world — the preacher cries ; 
 We do, — a multitude replies : 
 While one, as innocent, regards 
 A snug and friendly game at cards, 
 And one, whatever you may say. 
 Can see no evil in a play. 
 Some love a concert or a race, 
 And others shooting and the chase. 
 Reviled and loved, — renounced and followed, 
 That bit by bit the world is swallowed : 
 Each thinks his neighbour makes too free. 
 Yet likes a slice as well as he : 
 With sophistry their sauce they sweeten. 
 Till quite from tail to snout 'tis eaten. 
 
 Tliese lines convey a moral to eveiy heart. 
 
 We must now leave the sublime theme of unfallen man's 
 Sabbath in paradise, and contemplate its desecration in this sin- 
 ful world, reminding' you affectionately once more, that we war 
 not against men, but manners ; we contend with principles and 
 not with persons ; we hate the sin, yet pity the sinner. Let no 
 one suppose that we desire magisterially to lord over God's 
 heritage, or with censorious pee%ishness to interfere with our 
 neighbours ; but rather believe us, when we declare, that we 
 have no other motive than the exaltation of God's glory, by the 
 extension of man's happiness. As ambassadors from the King 
 of Kings and the Lord of Lords, accredited to these courts 
 
108 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 below, we seek to warn and exhort every man who does any- 
 thing derogatory to himself and insulting to the Majesty on 
 High, and he does this who forgets the Sabbath day, by neglect- 
 ing to keep it holy. 
 
 For the sake of order let us take a rapid survey. 
 
 1st. Of Sabbath desecration in the world at large. 
 
 2nd. In Eui'ope more particularly. 
 
 3rd. In the British empire. 
 
 4th. In our own town. 
 
 5th. In our own house. 
 
 6th. In our own heart. 
 
 Our limits admit only of a brief consideration of that which 
 is most distant, that we may give more attention as we approach 
 nearer to our own homes and hearts. 
 
 Give then. Christian friends, wings to your imagination, and 
 soar aloft with me and behold the world lying as a map, far, 
 far below you. Its physical featm'es are grand and beautiful. 
 Every prospect pleases. See the vast panorama of earth and 
 ocean stretching before you until it meets the azure vault of 
 heaven in which you fly. Gaze with an eye of pity upon the 
 extensive peninsula of South America, where sixteen millions 
 of our fellow creatures know little of the sanctity of the Lord's 
 day. With but few exceptions, the most ignorant popery in 
 the world, and untutored heathenism, share the inhabitants ; 
 and we know what an enemy even educated popery is to the 
 due observance of the fom^th commandment. 
 
 Looking towards North America, the moral scene is not quite 
 so dark. The x^ilgrim fathers of the Saxon race, when they 
 left their native country, took to the land of their adoption the 
 knowledge of the Lord of the Sabbath, and made many a hill 
 and dale re-echo with his praise. Yet we cannot but sec a foul 
 blot on the escutcheon of the United States, the boasted land of 
 liberty. In the southern states, to the disgrace of our common 
 humanity, there are nearly three millions of the negro race in 
 an abject state of bondage; and their tyrants, in many instances, 
 systematically keep from their slaves all knowledge, human or 
 divine, and forbid any one to teach them to remember the Sab- 
 bath day to keep it holy. 
 
 Turning from this sickening sight, look at " China's garden 
 fields and peopled floods," see about a third of the human race, 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 109 
 
 about three hundred millions of people, " lost in sin's bewilder- 
 ing maze," knowing next to notliing of Sabbatic privileges and 
 duties. The contemplative Hindoo, the inscrutable Japanese, 
 the wild Tartar, the silent Mussulman, the exiles of Siberia, 
 yea, the Asiatics as a people, with rare exceptions, are utter 
 strangers to the feeling which prompted the Psalmist to exclaim 
 " a day in thy com-ts is better than a thousand ; I had rather 
 be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the 
 tents of wickedness," Psalm Ixxxiv. 10. It is mournful to tliink 
 of the ignorance respecting the true Sabbath, which is to be 
 fomid amongst the people dwelling in that very desert where the 
 Almighty restrained the manna from falling on His day of rest, 
 and for forty years ^^1•ought a weekly mii'acle, in preserving 
 from worms and corruption the food of his people Israel, that they 
 might have no gathering toil, no cooking cares, to hinder them in 
 the good work of remembering the Sabbath day to keep it hoi}*. 
 
 The thoughtless Arab as he passes by ancient Sinai, thmks 
 not of the glory and majesty, which attended the gi^Tug of the 
 fom'th commandment. In the very localities frequented by the 
 Lord of the Sabbath, when he went about doing good, is his 
 example unheeded ; those who live in the streets of Jerusalem, 
 on the Mount of Olives, or hard by the Garden of Gethsemane, 
 appear to have forgotten that the Sabbath was made for man. 
 
 But we must hasten fi-om Jerusalem and its interesting 
 subm'bs — interesting and dear to us even in thefr day of humilia- 
 tion — we must look, in passing; 
 
 " Where Afric's sunny fountains 
 Roll down their golden sand." 
 The soiTOwful sons of Ham know not the Lord or his day. 
 Here and there missionary exertion has created a verdant oasis 
 in the moral desert ; but in the main the natives of Africa "^re 
 covered with the deepest darkness; they wallow in sin and 
 superstition, and worsliip the de^il and the false prophet rather 
 than Jehovah. Israel in Egypt foimd no rest, it was to them 
 the house of bitter bondage and ceaseless toil, so these benighted 
 people are the slaves of Satan, and toil on in Sabbathless misery. 
 In many a lonely spot which God hath adorned with natm*e's 
 richest charms, you might stand and exclaim, 
 
 *' But the sound of the church going bell 
 These vallies and rocks never heard ; 
 Never sighed at the sound of a knell, 
 Nor smiled when a Sabbath appeared." 
 
 n 
 
110 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 Coming nearer home, what do we observe in Em'ope? 
 
 It is perhaps not easy to determine whether the Eastern or 
 Western Chm-ch has been most hostile to true religion, but 
 beyond all question, Poperj^ has been and is now the most dan- 
 gerous enemy which the Sabbath ever had. To enumerate the 
 various ways in which profanation is fostered by the Mystery 
 of Iniquity, would fill a volume, and far exceed our hmits. In 
 every country of Eui'ope where the Greek or Latin church is 
 dominant, there is a most awful and shameless desecration of the 
 Lord's Day. The Rev. Mr. Close has on a previous evening 
 shown us an appalling jjictm-e of a Parisian Sabbath ; the same 
 licentiousness jprevails in all PajDal cities, towns and villages, 
 in proportion to the number of their inhabitants. It is a part 
 and parcel of the system of Popery to annDiilate the Sabbath, 
 and no wonder, for the Sabbath is the support and bulwark of 
 true Christianity. Religion and the observance of the Lord's 
 Day sustain each other, they cannot exist apart. Take away 
 the one and the other falls. Satan knows this right well ; no 
 marvel then, if he expends much ingenuity and constancy in his 
 open or covert attacks upon the sanctity of the Sabbath. The 
 Prince of Darkness is well aware, that if he had prompted men 
 to openly deny the existence of the Sabbath in the least degree, 
 he would not have been successful in some nations, his design to 
 rob God of liis glory and man of his happiness, would have been 
 too apparent, the attempt would have failed. Therefore our 
 great adversary (who was subtle from the beginning) secretly 
 aims at the destruction of the Sabbath, under cover of plausible 
 pretences, and one of the most j)owerful engines of darkness 
 which he employs in sapping the foundations of our pearl of 
 days, is Poperj^ I ask you again to look at Spain and Portugal, 
 at Austria, Italy, and France, in fine, at any place which groans 
 under the incubus of Anti-Christ, and tell me whether Sabbath 
 observance or Sabbath desecration is encoui'aged by the priest- 
 hood of Modern Babylon. But do we hear any one say " The 
 priests of the scarlet harlot can no more prevent the desecration 
 of the Lord's Day on the continent, than the ministers of Christ's 
 religion can in England." "We answer, do they try ? If they 
 endeavoui'cd with all their powers (which are not feeble), if they 
 strove by precept and example (wliicli, miited, are very influ- 
 ential) to cause their flocks to remember the Sabbath Day to 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. Ill 
 
 keep it holy, would they not succeed ? Are we to believe that 
 the Church of Rome is powerless in this matter ? "Would not a 
 tithe of the care employed in the exclusion of the Holy Scrip- 
 tm'es fi'om thcii" parishes, close at least a few theatres, put an 
 end to the most glaring scandals. If they were in earnest for 
 the honor of God's Day and law, would they succeed no better 
 than they do ? Is theix) no efficiency left in the thunder of the 
 Vatican to drown the noise of Sabbath discord ? Will no bull 
 out-roar the strolling players in papal streets ? Is the jjrestige 
 of God's boasted Mcar on earth quite gone ? He that is said to 
 have the keys of heaven and hell, can he not lock up on the 
 Sabbath Day one place of public transgression ? AMiat are ye 
 doing, O ye terrors of purgatorial fii'es ; ye powei*s of the confes- 
 sional and the inquisition; ye man-named saints and saintesses 
 of the calendar, that ye cannot or will not restrain the madness 
 of the people ? Xo priesthood on earth ever had more power 
 than the Papal hierarchy, why then do they not use it, if they 
 are in earnest to promote the due observance of the Lord's Day ? 
 They are released fi'om the cares of matrimony and domestic life 
 that they might devote themselves more entirely to theu* work, and 
 yet they fail on the very thi'eshold of their duties ; with all their 
 real or boasted powers, they cannot, or do not, succeed in inducing 
 the people to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. 
 
 If it is not from want of power, we fear it must be from lack 
 of inclination. Do they reason thus : — •" If the people had 
 an entire Sabbath day for religious duties, they would want 
 something good to read, and this feeling would soon engender 
 a wicked desii"e to peinise the Bible ; reading might induce 
 reflection and praying on their own account, then om' craft might 
 be endangered, (great is Diana of the Ephesians), awkward 
 questions might be asked, and matters would soon grow fi"oni 
 bad to woi-se, until things were far from comfortable." No, 
 Rome is not in earnest in defending the foui-th or any of God's 
 commandments, which interfere 's^ith her arrogant pretensions. 
 AMierever Popery (Satan's master-piece of impostui-e) is in the 
 ascendant, there men will not be taught to remember the Sab- 
 bath day to keep it holy. 
 
 But it is now time to drop the wings which we borrowed at 
 the commencement, and to alight on our own native soil. Let 
 us begin in om- town, lest tune should fail, and I fear we shall 
 find most of the evils there v^hich arc common to the empu'e. 
 
112 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 Before we alight on British ground let us examine ourselves, 
 and take heed that we bring into oui' beloved island no con- 
 taminating principles or practices from the Papal countries which 
 we have mentally visited. We need a caution on this subject, 
 for sometimes English clergymen frequent continental mass 
 houses, and when they return to England, are made vicars of 
 Protestant parishes. E-sdl communications corrupt good man- 
 ners. We have seen that Popery is a deadly enemy to the due 
 observance of the Lord's day. And so is that dwarfed daughter 
 of Popery, called Tractarianism, alias Anglo- Catholicism, alias 
 Puseyism, who has been clandestinely smuggled into these 
 realms ; but happily our climate does not agree with her, she 
 requires Italian skies and warmer sun beams, to show her mere- 
 tricious ornaments to advantage. Some of the young clergy pay 
 her attention because she dresses, sings, and paints well ; but 
 the sober minded do not like her or her family ; they say she 
 too much resembles her mother of the Seven Hills, and wish she 
 would leave our country, and go home again to Rome. If we 
 have proved Popery to be inimical to the Sabbath, and if Trac- 
 tarianism be as much like Popery as it dare discover itself, then 
 Tractarianism must be also hostile to the light of the week. If 
 any doubt the resemblance between Popery and Tractarianism, 
 and will give us time and opportunity, we will prove it. Why do 
 Tractarians easily go to Rome ? because they have been brought 
 as far as Appii Forum by their first heresy. 
 
 If challenged to show the oneness of Popery and Tractarianism, 
 we will some day disclose very humiliating proofs of identity ; 
 we will show how they possess in common, tradition, apostolical 
 succession, auricular confession, priestly superiority, sacramental 
 efficacy, and, what is more to our present purpose, sabbath dese- 
 cration. Tractarians have bowed and grimaced before our com- 
 munion tables, until the " honest tables of wood" have been petri- 
 fied with astonishment into " altars" of stone. But is this foreign 
 novelty an enemy to the sanctity of the Lord's Day ? It is. Just 
 in proportion to its papistical character, is its anti-sabbatical ten- 
 dency. One of the leaders of the movement, one eminent for 
 the sickly sentimentahsm that coidd give bii'th to such an eflii- 
 
 sion as this, 
 
 ** Let laws and learning, trade and commerce die, 
 But God preserve our old nobility." 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 113 
 
 has avoTved liis desire to sec the Book of Sports rc-introduced 
 on the Sahbath afternoons, and after the parish church attendance 
 in the forenoon, — the rest of the day niig:ht be devoted to cricket, 
 foot-ball, and athletic exercises. What is this but mass in the 
 morning and games in the evening ? How like to Popery is her 
 Tractarian daughter. How at variance with God's command — 
 " Remember the Sabbath Day (the eutii-e day) to keep it holy." 
 Should this party ever rise to power in om* father-land (and 
 there are more improbable things), then farewell, even to the 
 remains of Sabbath observance, which has been upheld for three 
 centm'ies, from the pulpits of our Wickliffs, om- Latimers, our 
 AVesleys, our AMiitefields, our Simeons, our Venns, and om* Scotts, 
 not to mention an army of other holy men, whose names are 
 written in the book of life. Dark, dark will be that Sabbath 
 day when the retributive providence of God shall allow the hand 
 of unhallowed power to snatch from the pulpits the icord of 
 God, and i)ut in its place the Book of Sports. 
 
 There are in Woolwich tlu-ee som'ces of astonishment to 
 strangers, and of reproach to the inhabitants ; viz., 
 
 The flagrant violation of the Lord's day ; 
 
 The want of good roads and di'ainage ; 
 
 And the monument of a howling lion, erected to the memory 
 of a prize-fighter hard by the house of God, where people are 
 tauffht not to " smite ^vith the fist of wickedness." 
 
 At present we have to deal only with the fii'st of these crying 
 evils. 
 
 Last summer, a clergyman, (the son of an esteemed com- 
 mentator) was visiting me, and although he is well acquainted 
 Avith the wickedness of a port town containing 86,000 inhabi- 
 tants, yet he was deeply moved at the public scenes of vice in 
 the streets of Wool"v\'ich on the evening of the Lord's day, and 
 asked if there were any good ministers of the Gospel in the 
 town. 
 
 My reverend friend's amazement at the wickedness of this 
 modern Gomorrah on the banks of the Thames is fully accounted 
 for, when we read that in one district of 290 houses there are 
 200 families entiix-ly destitute of the Bible, between 800 and 900 
 persons who habitually neglect public worship, and out of 478 
 families composing tliis district, only six communicants could be 
 foimd. 
 
 II '^ 
 
114 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 On Lord's day February 15tli, 1852, there were 69 sliops open 
 in this district. In addition to the 290 houses, there are 33 
 brothels, with not less than 132 inmates, and it is believed that 
 a closer investigation would discover many more of the same de- 
 praved and miserable class. There are also 1 1 lodging houses, 
 containing from 130 to 150 inmates, and 23 public houses, in 
 which there is a fearful amount of drunkenness and its attendant 
 depravities. If we suppose Woolwich to be divided into five equal 
 districts, the following statement (for which we are indebted to 
 one of our laborious missionaries) will show the alarming amount 
 of Sabbath desecration in four of these divisions : 
 
 248 shops are open ; and out of 82 public-houses in these 
 districts, 81 are open on the Lord's Day. 
 
 Let no one delude himself by supposing that these public 
 houses are requii*ed for the travellers ; they are for the most part 
 filled with persons drinking, or, as it is called, tippling, and in 
 too many instances, with loose characters and persons in every 
 stage of drunkenness. The shop traffic and the boys and men 
 hawking and crying aloud in the streets, are quite unnecessary 
 and illegal ; and if the police, magistracy, and churchwardens 
 (who are under oath on this subject) feel their hands tied, because 
 of the supineness of the people, it behoves the good citizen to 
 help them, and to give timely warning to Sabbath breakers, that 
 he can have no dealings with those who thus attract God's wrath 
 upon our country. 
 
 If such be the state of 4 districts, what must be the aggregate 
 of this town's transgression on the Lord's Day, for be it remem- 
 bered Satan's hot beds of vice are most active and prolific on that 
 day which mortal men are commanded to keep holy. God is 
 augry with the wicked every day, but how hot must be his dis- 
 pleasure against them on the Sabbath, when, in all probability, 
 there is more wickedness committed than in the remainder of the 
 week ; how awful the fact that Jehovah is more insulted on His 
 own day than on all others put together ! Will not the sight of 
 the hulks and convicts restrain the giddy multitude, when they 
 consider the statement of the Clerkenwell Prison Chaplain, who 
 says that he never knew a capital ofiender whose career of guilt 
 did not begin with Sabbath breaking, and he also found it to be 
 thus, in 999 cases out of 1,000 which were not capital. 
 
 Leaving this quagmire of weltering filth and iniquity, we 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 115 
 
 ascend a grade higher, to consider how the Sunday is profaned 
 hy Buying and Selling. Happily in Woohvich, not the 
 slightest pretence can be found for opening shops or hawking on 
 the Lord's Day. At the Royal Dock Yard and Arsenal, wages 
 arc j)aid early on Satm-day, and in some eases on Friday, so that 
 most ample time is afforded for purchases to be made before the 
 week expires. Yet 69 shops in one district are opened. One 
 party states that she would wish to hallow the Sabbath Day, by 
 closing, but " the soldiers would knock her door down," and that 
 officers also send for articles, and woidd be offended if not sup- 
 plied. Sm-ely charity would suggest that officers' ser\-ants are 
 to blame and not then- masters ; for it could scarcely be supposed 
 that a gentleman enjoying the commission of Her Majesty, who 
 is the foimtaiu of law, and the enemy of ^-ice and immorality, 
 could tempt a tradesman to break the law of God and man ! One 
 flimsy excuse set up in defence of this sin is, that they have 
 forgotten to purchase some trifle on the Saturday, — then let them 
 feel its want, and they will remember the next time. Another 
 excuse urged for Sabbath traffic is, that the husband spends the 
 Saturday evening at the public-house, and will not give his wife 
 the wages. Such an one does not deserve a Sunday dinner, and 
 if he lost it sometimes, might be brought to see his degradation. 
 His family is to be pitied, but what can be done for unhappy 
 beings who are unfortunately connected with such an unworthy 
 head ? If men will transgress one law by drinking, is anotht r 
 to be broken to prevent the ill consequences of the fii'st sin ? 
 Many families demand our commiseration because of the depra- 
 xitj of the husband or father, yet om- sympathy for them must 
 not allow us to disobey God. Ten men, Avho habitually spend 
 their Saturday evenings in destructive potations, and give no 
 money to theu' families mitil the Sunday morning, may demo- 
 ralize a whole parish. Ten anxious wives besiege the closed door 
 of some butcher or baker, or green grocer, and beseech liim by 
 the value which he attaches to theii' futm-e patronage, by the 
 eager expectation of theu' little ones, and perhaps by tears, just 
 to open the door, and sell them what the remains of the wages 
 will allow ; a rival tradesman's boy, passing that way, and see- 
 ing the open door, and hearing the crash of the cleaver, or the 
 clinking of scales, goes and tells his master (not dreaming of the 
 bm-dcn he is preparing for his own back) that neighbour so-and- 
 
116 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 SO is carrying on an immense traffic, wliile the sultry Aveathcr 
 and the blue bottle are destroying his own stock. " O, if that 
 be his game," cries the rival, " next Sunday I will have my door 
 open and share his trade." Yet a few Sabbaths, and several 
 doors are open. If the butcher, why not the baker? If the 
 baker, why not any one else ? The people seeing so many doors 
 open, and now and then a fev/ shutters, are at first shocked, but 
 soon become familar with the unseemly sight, and grow in- 
 different to Saturday marketing, saying, " We can get it to- 
 morrow." The clergy, perhaps, do not like to preach expressly 
 against it, lest they should be called mcthodists or puritans ; and 
 often in London, chm-chwardens or overseers are interested in 
 property where the transgression is perpetrated. Thus the 
 plague spot increases, until whole towns are corrupted, buyers 
 and sellers suffer in the flood of guilt ; in a few years the moral 
 disease becomes chronic, hundreds of families lose theii* Sab- 
 baths entirely, or partially, vice is rampant, Smiday schools and 
 chm'ches decay, souls are lost, and Satan rejoices. 
 
 It would be some slight relief, if we could assert that the e\dl 
 last considered is confined to one class. But this is not the 
 case. The rich and the poor meet together in Sabbath trans- 
 gression. Without reference to rank or condition, the heart of 
 man by nature is deceitful above all thii gs, and desperately 
 wicked. Where are those nice joints of meat, that fish, and 
 fine vegetables going to on the Lcrd's-day morning ? Are they 
 destined for the dwelling of the artizan who v» as intoxicated 
 over night ? jSTo, no, the boys carry them to houses of higher 
 pretensions than even the model cottages of the working class. 
 Some plead that the comestibles were not ^mr chased on the 
 Sabbath, only delivered at the last moment from their ice pack- 
 ing. Will this plea avail at God's tribmial? Are there no 
 ])laces in our houses where a leg of mutton will hang from 
 Saturday to Sunday ? Are not six days in the week sufficient 
 for eating ice packed fish ? What right have we to deprive the 
 fishmonger and his servants of any of their Sabbatic hours ? 
 Friends, this practice will not bear investigation. It is not 
 remembering the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. 
 
 The Sabbath is desecrated by profane music. We speak feel- 
 ingly of this sin, for often in the summer months, over-crowded 
 steamers sweep past our floating Bethel, and attract for a time 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. IIT 
 
 the attention of tlio congregation by strains of music anything 
 but sacred ; this is illegal as well as highly improper ; but those 
 who have broken the laws of God, care little for the statutes of 
 men. 
 
 The Blackwall Railway Directors take the lead in this vice, 
 for they engage a band to play all sorts of airs on a covered 
 platform erected for this nefarious purpose on the Brunswick 
 Pier. It is idle to assert that there is no connection between 
 music and ideas. To raise emotion is the aim of the composer. 
 If any man has a soul for music, will he say that his feelings 
 are the same when he listens to the solemn organ, pealing forth 
 ^Martin Luther's Hymn, as when he hears " Roiy O'More" from 
 a hiu'dy-guidy. A person who knows not a crotchet from a 
 minim, may easily detect the difference between the " SauFs 
 dead march" in going to a funeral, and the lively strains when 
 retui'uing. The diversity of instruments is not greater than 
 the variety of aii's ; music, like words, may give any tone to the 
 mind, and is intended so to do ; hence we have Mendlesohn's 
 songs without words. ^Miosoever plays any but sacred music 
 on the Lord's day profanes it ; whether the notes proceed fi'om 
 ci^il or military instruments the offence is the same, or rather it 
 is an aggravation if the law of God be broken by those who are 
 more immediately the servants of her Majesty — the fountain of 
 law. Ixloreover any kind of music on the Lord's day is un- 
 seemly if it interfere with the worship of others. AMiy should 
 any body of men, whether in or out of uniform, be allowed in a 
 Christian country to drown the conclusion of a sermon by a 
 crash of drums and ti'umpets. Suppose that every one insisted 
 on liis right of going to and leaving his place of worship with 
 the sound of fifes and horns, or even of singing aloud, would the 
 noisy practice accord with oui* ideas of Sabbath tranquilKty ? 
 Such a plan might attract the attention, and perhaps excite the 
 admiration of the boys and giils in the streets, but who would 
 say that the system was well calculated to prepare the mind for 
 an humble confession of sins to Almighty God. In some 
 churches they will not even sing a psahn or h^Tun, until they 
 have acknowledged on theii' knees that they have erred and 
 strayed from God's ways like lost sheep. How inconsistent, 
 then, must it be for a multitude of her Majesty's servants to go 
 with a flourish of martial music into the courts of the Lord's 
 
118 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 house, there to prestrate themselves before Jehovah s awfiil 
 throne and cry, " Have mercy upon us, miserable sinners !" If 
 any audacious foe, any enemy to oin* Bibles, our Sabbaths, and 
 our country, should ventui-e to put his hostile foot on om* sacred 
 coasts, then " let the trumpets sound, and the brazen ones 
 reply," and Britain's sons, civil and ecclesiastic, as well as mili- 
 tary, wiU not be slow in obejdng the summons, and rush to the 
 defence of all that is dear to us ; but in a time of peace, let not 
 those very trmnpets be allowed to distm'b the quietude of His 
 day, who alone maketh us to dwell in safety. 
 
 The Sabbath is desecrated by the sale, delivery, and perusal of 
 neivspapers. 
 
 Every one should have authentic information concerning the 
 facts and events of the day. A reflective mind will observe God 
 in present as in past history. Some newspapers contain costly, 
 important, and instructive matter, wliich must benefit the 
 thoughtful reader, and be useful to society ; yet, can any "svitli 
 reason contend, that such vehicles of intelligence become the 
 hands of enlightened Christian men on the Lord's day, which is 
 to be hallowed and kept holy. Keep secular subjects for secular 
 days, and sacred things for God's day. Even when the heart is 
 kept with all diligence, worldly thoughts will too often intrude, 
 but he that invites them by Sunday newspapers will only have 
 himself to blame for the evil consequences. With respect to 
 the exciting tales, the horrid tragedies, the low priced and mi- 
 principled dregs of the press, which are exposed for sale in some 
 shops of this town, we have only to remark, that on the Sabbath 
 or any other day, they are disgraceful to all connected with 
 them, whether as authors or printers, buyers or sellers ; nay, 
 they are a blot upon the age in which we live. 
 
 Tlie Sabbath is profaned by the unnecessary use of private and 
 2)ublic conveyances. 
 
 The rest of childi'en, servants, strangers and cattle, as well as 
 of principals or heads of families, is expressly enjoined in the 
 fourth commandment, and cannot be broken with impmiity, 
 unless mercy or necessity demands it. 
 
 We freely admit there are cases where conveyances must be 
 employed to and from the house of God. None but strong swim- 
 mers could attend the services of the Thames Chui-ch Ship, were 
 all machines of locomotion absolutely forbidden ; all who come 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 110 
 
 there arc brought in boats. When we said that none but active 
 swimmers couki attend phices or sliips of worship in peculiar 
 situations, we were reminded of an interesting statement from 
 New Zealand, pro%'ing that " where there is a will, there is a 
 wai/.^' On a fine Sabbath morning, a friend of missions was 
 looking towards the ocean, when he saw in the distance some 
 black spots in the sea. "Wondering what the dark specks could 
 be, he drew the attention of his companion to them, asking him 
 for an explanation. " The black spots," said his associate, " are 
 men's heads, they belong to individuals who are coming to wor- 
 ship in yonder chm'ch ; these men swim a considerable distance 
 every Simday morning, rather than neglect the assembling of 
 themselves together in the comets of the 'Lord's house." Infii'm 
 and lame persons require some kind of conveyance, or must 
 neglect the assemblies of the faithful. AVe are told, that the 
 beloved apostle St. John was allowed to grow so old in his 
 Master's service, that he outhved his bodily strength, and that 
 when past preaching, he was sometimes carried into the church 
 at Ephesus, where, seated in his chair, he could only extend liis 
 aged hand, and say " Little children, love one another." In 
 every instance where infirmity or distance demand a conveyance, 
 care should be taken that the servants do not disturb the con- 
 gregation by coming in late, and going out early to fetch the 
 carriage ; and where there is but one invahd, and circumstances 
 will allow, the most desirable vehicle that can be used is a ivheel 
 chair, as it occasions the least work, there being no horses to 
 harness and unliarness, no livery stable keepers need be kept 
 from worship ; the moment the chau* is vacated, it can be placed 
 aside, and the servants are ready for devout worship before God, 
 and the strong are not tempted to ride with the weak, as they 
 often are, when more capacious vehicles are employed. 
 
 We knew an instance where right views of what is due, 
 even to temporary servants, led to pleasing results. An aged 
 and infii-m lady was anxious to hear regularly a favom'ite and 
 distant preacher ; this could not be done without a hii-ed vehicle, 
 as walking was quite out of the question. " Dear mother," said 
 her son, " you shall have a fly every Sunday, pro-sided ths 
 di-iver be allowed to worship with you." This kind suggestion 
 was carried out; the fly was engaged, on condition that the 
 horse should be stabied dm-ing divine seiwice, and the man be 
 
120 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 allowed to attend that service with the infirm lady. The con- 
 sequence was, the driver heard the Avord, and through the grace 
 of God, believed and became a new creatm'e, and we hope to 
 this day adorns the doctrine of God his Saviom*. 
 
 But what shall be said of those who use equipages on the 
 Lord's day for mere ostentation, under various pleas. We would 
 say, be sure yom* sin will find you out. It may be very pleasing 
 to the carnal mind to be driven to the house of God in a highly- 
 finished specimen of the coach-builder's art, drawn by handsome 
 horses, to be the focus of observation for a moment amongst the 
 loiterers at the porch, but how can such say with sincerity, after 
 reading the fom-th commandment, " Lord, have mercy upon us, 
 and incline our hearts to keep this law." Walking, in all ages, 
 has been considered as more humble than riding, and deep 
 humility becomes those who are about to use the penitential 
 language of the general confession. 
 
 If the imnecessary use of conveyances to and from the house 
 of God be a breach of the Sabbath, and we trust we have proved 
 it so to be, nothing need be said respecting the employment of 
 carriages for pleasure on the Lord's day ; it is a sin which bears 
 its condemnation on its forehead; it reminds us of Pope's 
 assertion, 
 
 " Vice is a monster of such frightful mien, 
 That to be hated, needs but to be seen." 
 If you wished to see this monster sin, we could take you to 
 suburban hotels, and show you as many as eighty carriages, 
 some of them adorned with coronets, waiting for their occupants, 
 who in the dusky evenmg of the Lord's day will return to their 
 homes in a state of hilarity, which the police reports sometimes 
 designate by a coarser term. 
 
 Public Conveyances. Ojnnihuses. — There are plyin^*^ in the 
 streets of London on the Lord's day as many omnibuses as 
 engage the time and attention of 10,000 men, as drivers, con- 
 ductors, stable men, &c. Many of these unhappy individuals 
 begin their duties at seven in the morning, and do not see their 
 own doors again until twelve in the evening. The Rev. William 
 Mackenzie was lately called in to see a di-iver who was near his 
 departure from this world of toil. On spealdng to him of his 
 preparation for a future life, Mr. Mackenzie said, " he looked 
 up in my face and with an affecting glance, such as I shall not 
 soon forget, he faintly exclaimed, ' I have had no Sunday, sir.' " 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 121 
 
 Sometimes these hardly used English slaves hold midnight 
 meetings to endcavom* to free themselves from then- yoke of 
 bondage ; bnt woe mito them if their iron-hearted masters hear 
 of it, for they are almost certain to be discharged. One miser- 
 able capitalist said to his oppressed servant, who spoke to him 
 concerning rest, '• Rest ! rest when you are dead !" These 
 modern Pharaohs mock their suffering people, when they cry 
 and exclaim " Ye are idle ; ye are idle ; get ye to yom- bm-dens." 
 We can, with a clear conscience, say little to our American 
 brethi-en respecting then- black slaves, lest they should remind 
 us of oui' white ones. Some have said, it is not compulsoiy labour. 
 The men can give it up when they like. Certainly the law docs 
 not force them to continue in their situation ; but cii'cumstances 
 do. A man, who from his youth has been only taught the art 
 of conti'olling a j)air of horses, is almost as much bound to that 
 kind of labour, as the cattle he di-ivcs ; he is fi-ee in name, but 
 not in reality ; he can remain and work, and groan, and suffer 
 for 16 or 17 houi's a day, and for 365 days in a year ; or he can 
 go to the workliouse, the lunatic asylum, to despaii', or to death. 
 If he should change his employers, it is only changing the loca- 
 lity of his thi'aldom ; it makes but little difference whether he 
 be worn out, or slowly mui'dered, on the Islington or the Pad- 
 dington Road. It is only adding insult to injmy to taunt these 
 sufferers with the name of liberty when they cry for mercy, and 
 tell them they need not stay except they wish ; the opening of 
 railroads, and eager competition, leave them chained to the one 
 calling of theii' youth, they are only nominally fr'ee men. 
 
 Steam Boats. — From the contemplation of slaves on shore, we 
 must now go and "sisit the galley slaves in my watery parish. 
 The severity of labom' much depends upon the state of the 
 atmosphere in which it is conducted. Dear fr'iends, you would 
 feel this remark deeply, if you had ever silent a simimer's day 
 in the engine room of a river steam boat, and fed the roaring 
 furnaces, amid the fumes of grease and the noise of machinery, 
 and you would feel it the more if you had done so all the year 
 round without intermission. If Mr. Grainger's proposition be 
 correct (and we have no doubt of it) that more than sixty horns 
 per week of labom* is injm-ious, then how much must the river 
 steam boat men suffer, who labour in the summer months for 
 iil)wards of 100 hours per week ! and with one pleasing cxcep- 
 
 I 
 
122 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH, 
 
 tion, wliich we shall shortly notice, have had no Sabbath. You 
 would not stand quietly by and allow a person to be knocked 
 down in the streets by your side, and robbed and maltreated, 
 without making any effort to save him ; and will you see these 
 patient hard-working fellow townsmen killed by inches, and do 
 nothing in their behalf? Is it manly — is it honest, to say in 
 such a case, " It is no business of mine ; I am not my brother's 
 keeper ?" Let the directors see to it. While the directors 
 charge the shareholders with urging them for dividends, and the 
 shareholders retort, they must keep faith with the public, — thus 
 the blame is bandied about from one party to another, as was 
 the guilt of the fii'st transgression in Paradise; meanwhile 
 the employes suffer, having (like many other classes of our 
 countrymen) no other market for their labour. 
 
 At this stage of our proceeduigs it will be well to remind you, 
 that there are many practicable bargains to be made in the world 
 which are not honest or legal. Men may not buy all that money 
 will command. It is possible to purchase smuggled tobacco, or 
 tea, at a low figure, yet I need not say that the transaction is 
 vile and illegal. Goods may sometimes be bought at such prices 
 as declare to the purchaser that they must have been stolen. 
 
 There are also commercial transactions which,though not illegal, 
 are highly disreputable. Some women, through deep poverty, 
 will sell their flowing locks for a trifle ; but who would like to 
 be the wretch who buys from the poor woman nature's covering, 
 taking advantage of her distress ? If a crew of shipwrecked 
 sailors found their way to a lone house on the coast, and asked 
 for bread, and the churlish owner said, " Yes, I have seven 
 loaves in my larder, but I shall demand seven sovereigns for 
 them, for I have a right to buy in the cheapest market, and sell 
 in the dearest," what should you think of one who would thus 
 take advantage of his brother's pressmg need, as Jacob did of 
 Esau ? I hope my meaning is now clear, and we fully under- 
 stand that capital or money may, and often does command con- 
 tracts which are not just and moral. Let us apply our propo- 
 sition to the case before us. 
 
 No man has a right to sell that which is not liis own, nor has 
 any one a moral right to purchase that to which the vendor has 
 no title. No one can honestly sell seven days' labour in the 
 week, for he has only six at his own disposal, the seventh is the 
 
LECTUUE ON THE SABBATH. 123 
 
 Almightj^'s, by Dmne and human la^Y. AVill a man rob God ? 
 Will a capitalist tempt a poor man to sell God's day ? 
 
 Suppose a building society were to engage workmen to labour 
 at theii' erections for seven days in the week, and the pressure of 
 the times left the operatives no alternative, but such unhallowed 
 toil or the workhouse ; the society might pay high wages, yet 
 the contract would be illegal and immoral, and honest men 
 would cry, shame ! If it is so manifestly wi'ong for a building 
 society to buy a poor man's bii'th-right for a mess of pottage, 
 can it be right for a conveyance company so to do ? A\Tiether 
 that mercantile association be a railway, omnibus, or steam-boat 
 company, the guilt is the same. AVe repeat, without fear of 
 contradiction, that no man has a right to buy or sell seven days' 
 laboui- in the week. If no remedy could be fomid, it would be 
 useless to complain ; but since relief is easily attainable, why 
 should oppressive labour be continued ? If the public, in this busy 
 age, must be conveyed early and late. Sabbath days and all 
 days alike, then sheer mercy and fairness (to say nothing of any 
 higher principle) demand two sets of servants to work for nearly 
 120 hours per week, admitting that 60 hom^s per week ai'e as 
 many as can healthily be devoted to work. 
 
 It siu'ely cannot be so very Puritanical to contend, 
 
 1st. That no man ought to be worked more than ten hours 
 per day on the average, and six days in the week : that is sixty 
 hours of laboiu' in the week ^ because we are taught by expe- 
 rience, that more than this is injm-ious, and much more is 
 destructive, and it could not be the design of the Almighty in 
 dooming man to labour, to kill him by the execution of the 
 sentence ; man was not condemned to be wrought to death. 
 
 2nd. That when commercial service requii'es 120 hours of 
 labour per week, two sets of men should be engaged, and to 
 expect one set of labourers to do the work of two, (even with 
 double pay) is cruel and unjust, as well as detrimental to those 
 employed, and to society at large. 
 
 Last winter, the Woolwich Steam-boat Company made an 
 arrangement, by which their employes had a release every 
 thii"d Sunday. This was a step in the right dii'cction, and we 
 hope next winter the directors of both companies will be en- 
 couraged to give their servants every alternate Sahhath-clay. 
 There is no real difficulty in the way ; the only obstacle is a 
 
124 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 financial one, wliich we purpose to meet tlius. ^Vlien a person, 
 who is a Mend to Sabbath observance is conveyed by the steam- 
 boats in question, let him ask for " a Sunday release tichct," and 
 pay for it one penny in addition to the fare. Thus the extra 
 expense might be met, and the public would have an opportmiity 
 for evincing their sincere desire of aiding the directors in a 
 merciful provision, and remarks could not be made concerning 
 " cheap sympathy." Who can tell but the example might be 
 followed by other conveying companies, and a new day dawn 
 upon an immense multitude of over-ivroiight men. 
 
 Mr. Chancellor has proved how advantageous it is to allow 
 his horses, vehicles, and men, to rest on the Sabbath day, in the 
 omnibus interest ; and why should it not be equally profitable in 
 every carrying department. The working man's Sabbath has 
 many foes, and some few hearty friends. Amongst the latter 
 must be enumerated Mr. Henderson, who so kindly offered prizes 
 for the best essaj^s on the Sabbath, to be written by working 
 men. These jDroductions were very creditable to the authors, so 
 much so, that the benevolent donor of the prizes has resolved to 
 put a copy of the most deserving work into the hands of every 
 railway director and servant in the land, and is jjrepared to 
 spend £7,000 in his noble pm-pose. 
 
 Mr. Henderson applied first to the directors of the Great 
 Western for their sanction of his design, but we regret to state, 
 that after tliree hom's debate the motion was negatived. On the 
 contrary, the North Western received the proposal with cheerful 
 alacrity, and courteously facilitated the measure, sending the 
 books to their servants, free of charge, as far down the line as 
 their control or influence extends — namely to Lancaster. 
 
 There are persons who seek to defend Sabbath pleasm^e trains 
 and steam-boats, by saying, " We must have fresh air after six 
 days' close confinement." Granted ; but are there no means of 
 obtaining wholesome breathing without depri\ing our fellow- 
 creatures of their Sabbath privileges? No one could censure a 
 pale father for taking his family into pure ak and sunshine on 
 some portion of the Sabbath, without interfering with public 
 ordinances and family devotion ; nor is there a blind alley in 
 the great metropolis, from wliich the inhabitants cannot reach 
 some open place by moderate walking (a most beneficial exercise 
 for persons of sedentary habits), but the moment they buy a ride, 
 or food, or di-mk, that instant they deprive some person or per- 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH 125 
 
 sons of tlic Sabbath rest, which themselves so highly esteem. 
 Many a selfish and thoughtless one cries, " I must have my fresh 
 air ;" forgetting the engineers and stokers broiling before their 
 furnaces ; heedless of thousands of clerks, guards, porters, &c. 
 who know no Sabbath, except by increased toil. Others say, 
 " The men should not lose theii' Simday if I could help them, 
 but as the train is going I might as well go also." 
 
 Most persons would be ashamed of such hollow reasoning, 
 for they know that the pubUc is composed of individuals ; take 
 away one by one and none will remain. When we travel on the 
 Lord's day for pleasure, the guilt is as much ours individually, 
 as though the conveyance were put in motion for us only ; but 
 this is so clear, that we need not dwell upon it for another 
 moment. 
 
 There can be no doubt, but the surrender of the Satm-day 
 afternoon to the working classes for recreation would be a 
 national boon, and tend to the reduction of Sabbath desecration. 
 Some leading houses in the city have tried the plan with much 
 success. The very name of Saturday afternoon fills the mind 
 with bright images of happy days for ever fled, when we as 
 released school-boys roamed over hill and dale in delicious sun- 
 shine. We would cry to stern commerce, " O, give the people 
 once again their Satiu'day afternoon !" 
 
 It is now high time to turn to the brief consideration of the 
 second part of our subject, — the bitter fruits of Sabbath profa- 
 nation to individuals and to communities. 
 
 Sabbath breaking is impious in itself, and leads to every other 
 vice, and wretchedness as natm'ally follows wickedness as the 
 shadow attends the substance. A nation's observ^ance of God's 
 commandments is the gauge of its happiness, the barometer of its 
 prosperity. Considering the advantages we have enjoyed as a 
 community, there is in the land a fearful amount of Sabbath 
 desecration and its consequent bitter fi'uits. Those who rob 
 God will cheat man. Sabbath breaking springs in a great mea- 
 sure from a strong desire for gain, or an undue love of self ; and 
 we know that the love of money is the root of all evil. 
 
 In 1845-6 the national probity received two severe blows, from 
 which we yet sufier. Om* rulers endowed with the public money 
 the Ma^Tiooth hot-bed of Sabbath sin ; and an unseemly haste to 
 be rich hurried our coimtrymen into a railway fever and mania, 
 
 I 3 
 
126 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 which left the patient's powers of moral perception prostrate. 
 WTien science had covered our land with a beautiful system of 
 iron net-work, calculated to mitigate the curse of labour, and to 
 economize time, so that man might give to God his own day in 
 grateful praise, instead of honouring Him from whom every be- 
 neficial idea comes, we have made these iron roads the swift 
 ways of systematized transgression, and turned the useful gift of 
 the Most High into an additional weapon of rebellion. 
 
 The thoughtftd observer of events will have marked with pain 
 the increase of crime in some branches, since the date above 
 mentioned. When we heard of men of money and standing 
 being dishonest, and calling their delinquencies by the softer 
 term of " making things comfortable,^^ what wonder if there were 
 soon many imitations in a lower grade, and a bitter harvest of 
 Saving Bank defalcations, violation of confidential trusts, which 
 had been sacred for years, poisonings to obtain bm-ial fees, 
 gambling through betting houses, evasion of taxes, adulteration of 
 human food, in short, a determination to have money on any terms 
 and at any risk. It has grown into a maxim with many, that a 
 man may acquire property in any way within his reach, pro- 
 vided he can keep beyond the grasp of human law, and in too 
 many instances if he can sin with impunity, he will not hesitate. 
 The " Lancet" has proved that almost every thing we eat or 
 drink is adulterated, frequently with deleterious substances. A 
 merciful Act demands that sailors on long voyages shall be sup- 
 plied with lime juice as a preventive against scurvy, but we have 
 seen a sample of vile stuff sold as lime juice, wliich would in- 
 duce rather than prevent scm-vy. Mammon tampers with our 
 very medicines, and makes them injmious rather than beneficial. 
 If it were not for the salt of the earth society would soon be one 
 mass of moral putrefaction. Those who enjoy their Sabbath 
 privileges, and eagerly make use of every appliance for stem- 
 mino- the evil cmTcnt of their own hearts, well know how hard 
 is the struggle, how fierce the confiict. Think, then, how easy 
 and imperceptible the path of vice must be to those of our mi- 
 happy countrymen who have no Sabbath, no faithful preacher 
 to remind them of their duty ; no Bible, no prayer, no self- 
 examination, no religious principles, and almost no God. 
 
 There are thousands, if not millions, of om- ncighbom-s in this 
 awful condition. AVc are told tliat there are, witliin eight miles 
 of St. Paul's Cathedral, a million persons who never go to any 
 
LECTrRE Oy THE SABBATH. 127 
 
 place of worship. If all the population of these realms were in a 
 similar state, we should not expect the empire to endm'e for 
 another half centmy. 
 
 We need not weary you with the contemplation of these bit- 
 ter fi-uits of Sabbath desecration. Let it suffice to say — the 
 Sabbath cannot be well observed and employed, and man 
 remain impious ; nor can the Sabbath be neglected, and man 
 continue a good citizen— to say nothing about his being a good 
 christian. Those who wish to see the monument of Sir Chi-is- 
 tophcr AVren, are told to " look around ;" and we have the same 
 ansAver for those who desire to see the bitter fruits of Sabbath 
 profanation. 
 
 One personal remark, m conclusion. You never will know, 
 dear fi-iends, the true value of the Sabbath, until you are born 
 
 ao-ain converted unto God — become new creatm-es in Christ 
 
 Jesus. AVithout this great change, you cannot enjoy earthly 
 Sabbaths, or enter upon the eternal Sabbath — the rest prepared 
 for the people of God. 
 
 Why should one of this assembly be absent from the innumer- 
 able multitude which is to usher in the blessed repose above, by 
 singing the new song of Moses and the Lamb ? 
 
 " O ! glorious hour. O ! blessed abode, 
 We shall be near and like our God." 
 
 There will not be one saint in glory, who ^vill regret his 
 endcavoui-s to induce himself and others to " Remember the 
 Sabbath Day to keep it holy." At the bar of God, no one will 
 venture to plead the flimsy excuses which now we hear. No 
 one will presume to charge the Almighty with giA^ing a com- 
 mandment which was better broken than observed. If there be 
 one here who is in the habit of acquiiing gain on the Lord's 
 Dav, we solemnly charge him to cease from that sin, as he 
 values his soul's salvation. You may make money (as it is 
 termed), but if you make God your enemy, what will it avail 
 you in a dpng hour, or in the day of judgment ? You may get 
 liches, (yet it is not certain), but if you also get the cm^se of 
 God with youi' wealth, what shall it profit you ? We charge 
 you, brethren, by our Redeemer's sufferings on account of this 
 sin—by the prospect of the great assize— by the glories of 
 Heaven— by the bitter pangs of Hell— by yom* hope of eter- 
 nal life— to " Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 BY THE REV. RTCHARD MARTIN, B,A., CHAPLAIN TO THE 
 CONVICT ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 Subject. — " The Sabbath : — The sjnrit in which it ought to he 
 kept, and the Divine Blessing connected re ith its spiritual 
 ohservance.^^ 
 
 I feel anxious to assure you that in undertaking the duty- 
 assigned to me in connection with the course of lectures on the 
 Sahbath Day, the concluding one of which I am now about to 
 deliver, I have not done so presumptuously, or in the suppo- 
 sition that I can do it justice ; but having been selected to this 
 post by others, I enter upon it in the fuller expectation that, in 
 answer to their prayers as well as my own, God will not with- 
 hold His blessing, and that He will sanctify my humble endea- 
 vours as an instrument whereby He may condescend to advance 
 His own glory. How great are the effects often produced by 
 trifling means ! See how nobly the ship, laden with the riches 
 of the East, moves along her destined com-se ; observe, how, as 
 by magic, she avoids the danger on tliis side or the other, and at 
 last is moored in safety within her desired haven. Now, how 
 trifling has been the means by which tliis has been effected — the 
 rudder, so small in comparison to the majestic ship, so worthless, 
 in comparison to the rich cargo. The rudder w^as the mean by 
 which all this was brought to pass ; but then it was in a master's 
 hands, one well skilled in its management, and he it was that, 
 through it, produced this magic influence. Now, if God but 
 guide us in this work and labour of love, His will be a master'' s 
 hand, and we doubt not but that He will be glorified in our very 
 weakness. To us, then, be all the weakness and imperfection, 
 to Him be all the proise and glory. In such dependence on the 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABEATH. 129 
 
 divine guidance, allow mc to call your attention to the subject 
 of this evening's lecture, " The Sabbath : the spirit in -which it 
 ought to be kept, and the divine blessing connected with its 
 spiritual observance." 
 
 The able lectui'es which have been already delivered, leave 
 mc nothing to say on the obligation we are imdcr to keep the 
 Lord's Day ; this has already been so clearly and logically de- 
 duced from Scripture and early history, that it would be but a 
 repetition of what you have already heard, were I to trespass on 
 this ground ; sufhco it to say, that for myself I feel deeply in- 
 debted to the preceding lecturers for the information I have 
 obtained on this and other questions connected with tliis impor- 
 tant subject, and for the deeper sense of the obligation to observe 
 the Sabbath which they have impressed upon my mind, and I 
 pray God tliat neither you nor I, my dear Christian fiiends, may 
 inciu- the sin, cither by carelessness or indifference, which would 
 now more fearfully than ever attach itself to us, of knowing our 
 master's will, and not doing it. It only remains for me to cull a 
 few of those flowers which still lie scattered in om- path, and so 
 to arrange them, that, with God's blessing, they may shed a fi^a- 
 grance around oui' Sabbath duties, and refresh us as we pass 
 along our Chi-istian com-se. 
 
 The fii'st subject of consideration to which I am to dii'ect your 
 attention is " the spirit in which the Sabbath ought to be kept." 
 
 Too often, alas ! is it the case that the spiiit, which is alone 
 the heart and life of the Sabbath, is lost sight of in the observance 
 of the day. Too many are satisfied with a formal routine of 
 duties, and we cannot wonder, therefore, that instead of its being 
 a delight to such, it is to them a weariness and a burden. Early 
 education, habit, and the fashion of the day, make some 
 more observant of its duties than either inclination or principle 
 would lead them to be. It may be, that such abstain from the 
 common occupations of Kfe, would not indulge in the week day 
 pm'suits of pleasm'e, and think themselves meritorious on the 
 conclusion of the Sabbath, because of their ha^'ing shared in 
 some of its public duties ; but this is not the spirit in which this 
 holy day is to be kept, as will appear more clearly when we come 
 to consider this point in a more positive and spu'itual manner. 
 
 Others, again, endeavour to mingle duty with pleasure ; in. 
 their "sdew of Sabbath observance, they join together what God 
 
130 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 ]ias forcibly put asunder. This is peculiarly the sin of the day, 
 and one which will assuredly advance with rapid strides, unless, 
 by God's blessing, it is arrested, by the miited, prayerful, and 
 energetic eiforts of those who worship God in spirit and in truth. 
 Some formal observance of its religious duties satisfies the reli- 
 gious scruples of those to whom we now refer, but pleasure is 
 the goddess they worship the remaining portion of the day. As 
 men sow, they also reap. The seed of sin scattered on the Sab- 
 bath by such means, produces a fearful crop of sin and depravity 
 during the succeeding week. By such fruits we know that this 
 is not the spirit in wliich God would have us to keep His holy 
 day, and we refer to this point, because too much of this spirit 
 prevails amongst om'selves. Whence otherwise the numberless 
 human beings hurried along in the pursuit of pleasure by our 
 railroads and steam boats ? Whence the multitudes that fill our 
 tea gardens and other sources of Sabbath desecration ? The pre- 
 tence that the hours of divine service are not interfered with, is 
 but a plausible bait with which the projectors of such practices 
 cover their own selfish designs, and ku-e men on to their destruc- 
 tion. They but daub over with untempered mortar their own 
 and other men's consciences. But whatever may be the source 
 of Sabbath profanation, or however gilded by plausible excuses, 
 we may well say in the language of that eminent servant of God, 
 Christopher Love, " Cursed is that gain, cursed is that recreation, 
 cursed is that health, which is gained by criminal encroach- 
 ments on the Lord's Day." 
 
 These circumstances are noted here, because they are master- 
 pieces of craft, by which Satan endeavours to prevent men from 
 rightly understanding and appreciating the spmt in which the 
 Sabbath ought to be kept ; and perhaps exhibit, by contrast, with 
 more expressive force the happiness which they enjoy who ob- 
 serve it in a scriptural spirit. 
 
 The first point in the observance of the Lord's Day, to which 
 I would invite your serious attention, is that of Faith, because 
 it is the foundation stone which supports the entire superstruc- 
 ture which we desu-e to erect, — the link which unites and binds 
 together the chain which connects our earthly Sabbath with our 
 Heavenly rest. " He that cometh to God must believe that He 
 is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." 
 Coming to God embraces the whole object of Sabbath observance. 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 131 
 
 To realize God's presence and God's power in its several ordi- 
 nances is our highest privilege, and to believe from the heart His 
 willingness and ability to reward those who diKgently seek 
 Him, constitutes our greatest encoui'agemcnt to draw near unto 
 Him. Qui' only warrant for the use of means is the promise of 
 God, and Faith is the hand by which we present and plead this 
 warrant before om* Heavenly Father. We ask because He pro- 
 mises to give. We seek, because He assures us we shall find. 
 We knock, since He testifies that He vdW open unto us. How 
 marked are the promises connected with a beheving use of 
 the Lord's day ! " K thou turn thy foot from the Sabbath fi-om 
 doing thy pleasm'e on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a 
 delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour 
 him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasui-e, 
 nor speaking thine o^vn words, then shalt thou delight thyself in 
 the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of 
 the eai"th, and feed thee ^vith the heritage of Jacob thy father, 
 for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah Iviii. 13 and 
 14. Sere, in plain language, is the believer's tear rant for Sab- 
 bath observance, and FaHNs plea for Sabbath blessings. Well 
 may he delight himself in such pursuits who beKeves that not 
 one word or tittle of this all-comprehensive promise shall fall 
 to the ground till all shall be accomplished in its full and Hteral 
 sense. If, then, we would share in the happiness of our common 
 Sabbath, Faith is pre-eminently " the spirit in which it ought 
 to be kept." 
 
 It has been well remarked by one of the preceding lectm'ers 
 that the Sabbath is the sign and seal of the Christian covenant. 
 Now, the peculiar feature in that covenant with regard to man 
 is " holiness unto the Lord." This was the great end of om' 
 blessed Sa\iom''s sufferings, " for by one offering he hath per- 
 fected for ever them that are sanctified." '' He gave himself for 
 us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
 himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." If, then, such 
 be the character of the thing signified, such must be the charac- 
 ter of the sign, and holiness ^^ill be the mind and disposition 
 which will most prevail in those who desire to observe aright 
 tliis holy day ; and the more this disposition prevails, so muck 
 the more will be the degree of enjoyment which they will find 
 in the religious duties of this da}'. They will share in the 
 
132 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 Psalmist's feelings when he said, " I was glad when they said 
 imto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." It is this which 
 makes the day to them a delight, and will explain at once the 
 diiference with which the spiritually minded man and the for- 
 malist \dew the duties of the day. Perhaps it cannot be better 
 illustrated than by referring to Adam, before and after his fall. 
 While in a state of holiness, how sweet was his communion with 
 his Maker ! How near and close the intercourse wliich subsisted 
 between them — spealdng face to face ! This was Adam's Sab- 
 bath. But view him as a fallen creature, without holiness, and 
 how uncongenial with his natm'e was it to hold any intercourse 
 with God. " I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid 
 because I was naked, and I hid myself." Now, while this latter 
 disposition in Adam prevails in any of us, there will be no delight 
 in the Lord's day ; but just so far as we are restored to the image 
 of God, in which Adam was first created, will be the happiness 
 we shall enjoy on this sacred day ; and " such is the spirit in 
 which it ought to be kept." 
 
 Again, what is the highest privilege which the Christian 
 enjoys as a member of the Christian covenant ? It is sonship. 
 " Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon 
 us that we should be called the sons of God." The Lord's Day 
 is that in which the sons of God hold most intercourse and com- 
 munion with Him. Every day is, indeed, to the child of God, 
 . in a certain sense, his Sabbath, the spirit of adoption is in con- 
 stant exercise ; but his week-day employments prevent him 
 necessarily from giving that iindivided attention to spiritual 
 duties, for which he is more at liberty on the Lord's Day. As a 
 child absent from the endearments and privileges of his father's 
 house, yet keeps up the remembrance of those privileges, and 
 still holds intercoui'se with his beloved parent by those means 
 most within his reach, but rejoices chiefly in the prospect of the 
 periodical return of such days as enable him to hold unreserved 
 and close intercourse with his father : so is it mth the child of 
 God ; he feels the Sabbath to be his festal day, and rejoices in 
 the prospect of meeting his Heavenly Fatlier in the various duties 
 in which he is permitted to engage. *' Abba Father," will be 
 the spirit of his devotional exercises ; and such is the spirit in 
 which the Lord's day ought to be observed : and the child-like 
 mind of the believer in his communion with God on this day, 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 135 
 
 will be consistent with our blessed Siwdom-'s definition of prayer, 
 *' He will worsliip God, who is a spirit, in spirit and in truth." 
 
 Wc have said that the Sabbath is tlic Chiistian's festal day : 
 hungry' and thirsty from his six days' intercourse with worldly 
 objects and occupations, his soul is ready to faint within him ; 
 but on this day is broken and distributed the bread of life, — on 
 this day is the fomitain of living waters more freely opened ; 
 and all that ^^^.ll are invited to come and take of the water of 
 life. Our blessed Saviour's banqueting-housc is thrown v/idc 
 open, and his banner over all is love. His people sit down under 
 his shadow "svith great delig-ht, and his fruit is sweet to their 
 taste. There are many chuice and excellent fruits in Christ, 
 which flow from him to believers, and Avith his permission be- 
 lievers eat and feed upon them ; and when thus partaken of, they 
 are found sensibly sweet and soul-satisfying. But observe, it is 
 as they sit under his shadow, and thus .partake of these fruits, 
 that they are refi-eshed and nourished by them. Xow, the op- 
 portunities which the Lord's Day aflPords them for meditation 
 on the Book of Life, is carefully observed by the hungry and 
 thirsty souls of whom we have been speaking. " Theu* delight 
 is in the law of the Lord, and in his law do they meditate day 
 and night." Meditation, as by an instrument, exti'acts food and 
 nom'ishment from the word of God, and lays up in store things 
 new and old. This makes the difference between the spiiit- 
 ually minded man and the mere professor. The former is like the 
 bee, which draws forth and lays up honey for its whiter use, " from 
 every opening flower." The latter is like the butterfly, ^^-hich 
 skips from flower to flower, and seems but to touch them, and 
 draws forth and lays up nothing for future wants. How diflxn- 
 ently, too, does the festive board appear to men in different states 
 of health. One loathes the very food which to another is sweet 
 and nourishing. Health or sickness makes all the difference : 
 and such is the case with regard to the reception wliich the 
 " feast of fat things," spread for us by God on the Lord's Day 
 receives. Some there are who loathe even angel's food, because 
 their souls are out of couise. " They feed on ashes ; a deceived 
 heart hath tui-ned them aside ;" but others find it " sweet to 
 theii" taste, — more to be desired than gold, yea, than much tine 
 gold ; sweeter also than honey, and the honey comb ;" and this 
 because of the healing influence which has passed upon their 
 
 K 
 
136 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 Bouls. Such will be the spii'it with which the Sabbath will be 
 welcomed by God's true worshippers. To such, then, it is our 
 privilege and our happiness to saj^, in the language of Christ — 
 " Eat, O Mends ; di'ink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." 
 
 Hoy/ manifest must it be to all that a spirit of joy and thank- 
 fuhiess should be cultivated througholit the Sabbath. Perhaps 
 there is no one thing in which spiritually-minded Christians are 
 60 entirely misunderstood by the world as on this point. "With 
 the world, to become religious, is synonymous with becoming 
 morose or low spirited. But this is not the case. The man of 
 the world very natm-ally supposes that his pursuits alone supply 
 objects of pleasm-e, and to renounce these must be, in his view, 
 the sum and substance of misery. But he forgets that there are 
 sources of spiritual as well as corporeal plcasm-e, and hence the 
 mistake. The believer has " pleasures which a stranger inter- 
 meddleth not with," and there is no period in his spiritual exis- 
 tence in which these are more fully exercised than on the Sab- 
 bath day. How clearly was this the spu-it in which the Royal 
 Psalmist ushered in his festal days. " Sing aloud unto God our 
 strength ; make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a 
 psalm and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp, with the 
 psaltry. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time 
 appointed, on our solemn feast day." And again, as more im- 
 mediately applicable to the Lord's Day. " This is the day the 
 Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be gbd in it." How 
 numerous are the subjects of gratitude and tbankfulncss which 
 will present themselves to the Christian's mind on the day the 
 Lord hath made. Goodness and mercy have followed us through- 
 out the previous week, and now we come together on this sacred 
 day, not only to praise God for " the blessings of this life, but 
 above all, for his inestimable love in the redemption of the world 
 by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the 
 hope of glory." A grateful spirit, a spirit of joy and thankful- 
 ness, is pre-eminently a gospel spirit. " We worship God," 
 saith the Apostle, " and rejoice in Clii'ist Jesus." Again — " Li 
 whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice, mth 
 joy unspeakable and full of glory." And shall we not on our 
 festal day give expression to this feeling ? Shall we not " offer 
 the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, givmg 
 thanks to His name ?" Like the early lark, who as he carols 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 137 
 
 forth his morning's song of praise to his Maker, increases in 
 sweetness and melody as he soars above the earth, and ap- 
 proaches nearer to the sun : so let the Christian's first Sabbath 
 thoughts be thoughts of praise ; and, as in his Sabbath obser- 
 vances, his thoughts soar above the things of time and sense, 
 and he obtains a nearer view of the Sim of righteousness — so 
 let his expressions of praise and thankfulness increase in int<?n- 
 sity and devotion, till, like the same lark, he concludes the day 
 at the setting sun, with hymns of redoubled devotion to the 
 praise of his Heavenly Father. This is in truth the spirit in 
 which the Sabbath should be begun, continued, and ended. 
 
 Charity is another grace which will be brought into lively 
 exercise on this day. By charity we mean love in its highest 
 sense — a love which knits us to God and man — to earth and 
 heaven. Sm'ely there is no one day in the seven m which thia 
 spirit may be more deeply cultivated than on the Lord's Day. 
 All the ordinances of religion, yea, the very day itself, proclaim 
 the love of God the Father who made us, of God the Son who 
 redeemed us, and of God the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth us. 
 The covenant which was perfected on this day, by the resur- 
 rection of Jesus Christ, and by the outpoming of the Holy 
 Ghost, reveals to us the love of the Triune Jehovah in om* salva- 
 tion. The garment of righteousness, which, as an old author 
 beautifully expresses it, " The Father hath chosen, the Son hath 
 wrought, and the Holy Spuit puts upon us," is then exhibited 
 to om' view, and love, infinite love, in all its length and breadth, 
 and height and depth, like the sun in meridian lustre, brightens 
 every step we take on this sacred day. Love begets love ; we 
 cannot be sensible of God's love to us without feeling its trans- 
 forming influence on our own souls. " AVe love God, because 
 he first loved us," and we spend the Sabbath to very little pur- 
 pose, and must have possessed Httle of the spuit in which it 
 ought to be kept, if w^e do not find on its conclusion something 
 more of " the love of God shed abroad upon our hearts," and a 
 deeper flame of love to God to have been kindled within our 
 souls. But this love, like the love of God to us, will be commu- 
 nicative in its efiect, — " If we love him that begat, we shall also 
 love them who are begotten of God." Such love takes in not 
 only the few with whom we are privileged to worship God, but 
 »]1 throughout the world, " who love the Lord Jesus Chi-ist in 
 
138 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 sincerity and truth," — the members of that one body, of which 
 Chi'ist Jesus is the head. The prayers offered in every assembly 
 of Christians on this day for the universal church are expressive 
 of this spirit, just as the prayers in family worship combine to 
 supplicate for those who are absent as well as those w^ho are 
 present, and show that a bond of love is sustained between all 
 the members of the family, however cii'cumstanced as to time 
 or place. 
 
 But see it also in its fruits, in those works of mercy which we 
 observe amongst all classes of Christians, as in the Sabbath 
 Schools, and other means of good, devised and carried out for 
 the well-being, both of the bodies and souls of men ; beginning 
 indeed especially with those who are of the household of faith, 
 but extending, like the spirit of the good Samaritan, to all sorts 
 and conditions of men. A day thus begun in a spii'it of faith, 
 and ended in a spirit of love, cannot but be a day of much hap- 
 piness — a day long to be remembered by those privileged to share 
 in it. Let us, then, in our observance of the Sabbath, " enter 
 into that which is within the veil, whither the forerunner is for 
 us entered." Let us place Jesus on his throne in our heart as 
 an Almighty, all-sufficient, victorious, approaching Redeemer; 
 and get our souls warmed into an humble, penitent, believing 
 frame, full of joy, full of glory, full of praise, full of grati- 
 tude. Let us get into the mount, and behold the promised 
 land, till every earthly thing is no longer valued, till inspired 
 with renewed zeal, we are ready to fight our way to the promised 
 inheritance, till all the afflictions we have to struggle with are 
 found light in comparison of that exceeding weight of glory we 
 have in our eyes. This is to sanctify the seventh day ; this to 
 remember a rilscn and exalted Redeemer ; this to foretaste the 
 everlasting rest, and to rest from sin ; and is not, dear Christian 
 friends, is not one such day better than a thousand ? 
 
 As practically connected with the spirit in which we ought to 
 keep the Lord's day, we should endeavour to realize the matter 
 in a personal way. The setting forth of certain principles, in 
 their general application to man, too often leads us to forget 
 and overlook their pei'sonal application to om-selves. When this 
 is the case, the subject is barren and unfruitful in its practical 
 effect, and we are in danger of earning for ourselves a similarity 
 to the character of those whom the Lord describes when he says 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 139 
 
 " Tliey speak one to another, eveiy one to liis brother, saying, 
 come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that coraeth forth 
 from the Lord ; and they come unto thee as the people cometh ; 
 and they sit before thee as my people ; and they hear thy words, 
 but they will not do them ; for %yith their mouth they show 
 much loye, but their heart goeth after their coyetousness, and 
 lo ! thou art unto them as a yery loyely song, of one that hath 
 a pleasant yoice, and can play well on an instrument, for they 
 hear thy words, but they do them notr There is a certain ap- 
 proyal of the doctrines taught, a certain admiration of the fitness 
 and applicability of the subject to the object contemplated ; but 
 it occui-s not to such to apply to themselves these statements, 
 and to say, like the apostle, — " Lord, is it I ?" But, we would 
 humbly, yet yery earnestly entreat you, my dear fi-iends, to en- 
 quire what, in di^^ dually, has been yom' practice, what your 
 feelings with regard to the Lord's Day ? The Sabbaths you 
 have enjoyed haye been either a blessing or a curse to you, 
 according to the .spii'it in which they haye been ^dewed ; and we 
 trust you will find no difficulty, if you apply to yourselyes what 
 has been said durmg these lectures, of discoyering what is the 
 yiew which you haye formed of the miture, — the ohligation, — and 
 the use of the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 But another practical yiew we should take of this subject, 
 should be in connection vdth. o^xr ciyil and social position. As 
 members of a Chi-istian community, we are under an obligation 
 to cultiyate a right spuit in the observ^ance of the Sabbath. We 
 little know how far om- spu-it influences others. " As ii'on 
 sharpcneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his 
 friend ;" or, " as in water, face answereth to face, so the heart of 
 man to man." The spark kindled within oui' own souls needs 
 but to be fanned to communicate its influence to others. If we 
 are cold and heartless in om- Sabbath obseryances, those around 
 us will be in danger of i^artaking of our spirit ; while a liyely 
 flame will be sure to spread itself far and wide. How often do 
 the minister's hands hang down, and liis knees become feeble, 
 because of the prayerless spii'it of his people : or, on the con- 
 trary, howfi-equently does he find himself blessed and a blessing, 
 for no other reason than that two or three had agreed together 
 to wrestle ^\dth God on his behalf, and their fcryent cft'ectual 
 prayei's are thus found to have availed. 
 
140 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 As members of* Chiistian families, how solemn is the responsi- 
 bility which rests on each, to observe in a right spirit the Lord's 
 Day ! Parents, by their prayers, by their instruction, and above 
 all, by their example, enjoy happy opportunities, on this day, 
 of building up theii' offspring in the faith and fear of God. 
 Children, equally enjoy with their parents, privileges, which, 
 if despised or neglected, may never be redeemed. Christian 
 parents, do you desire to be happy and blessed in your chil- 
 dren ? Oh ! then, " Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it 
 holy." Let your children, your servants, all connected with 
 you, and committed to your trust, be brought up to love the 
 Sabbath. No one can tell better than I, how many desolate 
 fathers, how many widowed mothers, have had to mourn the 
 downfall of their children in consequence of their own neglect 
 of Sabbath observances, and theii* indifference to their children's 
 employment of that sacred day. Even believing parents are not 
 guiltless in this matter, and often reap the bitter fruits of such 
 neglect, in their after years of disaj)pointment and sorrow. 
 
 Young Christian friends, love the Sabbath ! Be careful of the 
 
 fii'st step downwards. Listen to a little fact, which will illustrate 
 
 better than argument, the danger of permitting evil companions 
 
 to draw youi' feet away from Sabbath duties. A youth cf 
 
 Christian parents was induced by bad companions to absent 
 
 himself from the Sabbath school, and to wander with them 
 
 through the fields. Among other breaches of the Sabbath on 
 
 that day, he cut for himself a black thorn stick, of a peculiar 
 
 and marked shape, which he constantly carried with him in 
 
 after life. As yeais advanced, his love for the Sabbath grew 
 
 colder and colder, till all sense of its authority was banished 
 
 from his mind, snd he became the constant companion and the 
 
 willing abettor of wicked young men. A few years after his 
 
 first open breach of the Sabbath, a murder and robbery, under 
 
 very aggravated chcumstances, was committed in his neighbour- 
 
 hood, and for some time there was much difficulty in discovering 
 
 the perpetrator of those crimes. At last a stick was found near 
 
 the spot, covered with blood — the one by which the murder was 
 
 , accomplished. This stick, marked and peculiar as it was, was 
 
 known to be the constant companion of this youth ; and by a 
 
 remarkable providence, his first open Sabbath sin became the 
 
 means of bringing him to trial, and, with other circumstances, 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 141 
 
 of sho"\Ting him to be the guilty party. An ignominious end was 
 the final issue. "Who knows how dificrent might have been 
 the career of this youth, had he avoided this fii'st step in 
 Sabbath desecration. 
 
 The next subject to which I am to direct your attention is, — 
 " The divine blessing connected with the spiritual observance of 
 this day." 
 
 It is very clear from what we have already said, and from the 
 
 nature of this proposition, that it is pre-supposed that believers 
 
 alone, and not mere professors, are those to whom these blessings 
 
 belong. Blessings, whether of a temporal or spii'itual character, 
 
 belong to us only by covenant. The unbeliever who is without 
 
 the covenant may, in the goodness of God, be permitted to share 
 
 in many earthly blessings ; for God " makcth the sun to rise on 
 
 the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
 
 unjust." But as he enjoys not these mercies by covenant, he has 
 
 no security for their continuance : nor are they of a character to 
 
 reach beyond time. The Cluistian covenant, ordered in all 
 
 things, and sure, secures to the believer all it promises. We are 
 
 not, therefore, about to speak in conjectm'e, when we speak of 
 
 the di-\'ine blessing, as connected with the spiiitual observance 
 
 of the Lord's Day ; but as a subject not only of deep interest, but 
 
 one also of ti^iith and certainty, as we read in Psalm xxv. 10, 
 
 " All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as 
 
 keep his covenant and his testimonies." We acknowledge, 
 
 indeed, that even the outward observance of the Sabbath is 
 
 fruitful in many temporal blessings, to such as use it only 
 
 thus. But the divine blessing in its full extent, '• having the 
 
 promise of the life that now is, as well as that which is to come," 
 
 can be looked for and expected alone by those who " worship 
 
 God in spirit and in truth." 
 
 National blessings flow from the spiiitual observance of the 
 Lord's Day, — blessings in which we all share more or less. A 
 slight reference to the history of the Jews will illustrate this 
 question. National prosperity or adversity ever followed the 
 Jews in their conduct in connection with the Sabbath. A few 
 examples will suffice. In the days of Jeremiah, how solemn 
 were God's tlu-eateniugs against the Jews, as a nation, for their 
 neglect of the Sabbath Day. " If ye will not hearken unto me, 
 saith God, to hallow the Sabbath Dav, then will I kindle a fire, 
 
142 LECTURE ON THE SABEATH. 
 
 in the gates of Jerusalem, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, 
 and it shall not be quenched." Again, in Ezekiel, *' I would 
 not bring them into the land which I had given them, because 
 they walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths." 
 Again, " I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that 
 I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them 
 through the countries because they had despised my statutes and 
 polluted my Sabbaths." Now, contrast with this the days of 
 David and Solomon. Never was there a period in the Chm^ch of 
 God in which the Sabbath was more really and spiritually ob- 
 served than in the days of those kings. Witness the Psalms 
 written by both, for the solemn ordinances of the Sabbath Day. 
 And was there ever a period in the history of the Jews, in which 
 they were more prosperous ? Truly, they " delighted in the Sab- 
 bath, and they rode upon the high places of the earth." Surely 
 we may well say in the language of the Psalmist, " Hapi)y is 
 that people that is in such a case : |yea, happy is that people, 
 whose God is the Lord." 
 
 Nor are we to limit these threatenings and promises to one 
 period. We have been taught in these lectui-es that what was 
 once moral, is always moral ; and we may surely say, that what 
 was once the sanction of a moral law, /. e., the curse or the blessing, 
 must always be so. Besides, who can separate the promise or 
 threatening of the Old Testament from that of the New ? Are 
 w^e to enjoy lesser privileges under a higher dispensation ? Are 
 the Jews to be exposed to a severer punishment for then- rejec- 
 tion of such privileges, than we are for our rejection of privileges 
 of higher moment and deeper significancy ? If he that despised 
 Moses' law, died without mercy under two or three witnesses ; 
 of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who 
 tramples under foot " the laws of Christ ?" It cannot he : the 
 the whole history of the Christian Church, from the seven 
 churches of Asia, down to the present time, bears testimony to 
 the fact, that God has connected solemn sanctions of reward and 
 punishment with the neglect of, or delight in, his ordinances. 
 Yea, the neglect of the Sabbath but increases the judgment. 
 " The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be 
 forgotten in Zion, and hath despised, in tlie indignation of his 
 anger, the king and the priest." So contended Nehemiah, xiii. 
 17. and 18. " What evil thing is t]iis that ye do, and profane 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 143 
 
 the Sabbath Day ? Did not yom* fathers thus, and did not our 
 God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city ? Ye bring 
 more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath." It is not 
 too much to say, that much of om' prosperity, as a nation, must 
 be traced to our observance of the Lord's Day. AVofully defi- 
 cient as we are in this duty, still, as a national institution, sup- 
 ported by national laws, we profess to be Sabbath observers. AVe 
 honoui" God as a nation, and he vouchsafes to honom' us. 
 Besides, there are national blessings of a reflex natm'e, that 
 proceed fi'om a national observance of this da}'. The public 
 ministry of the word, — the weekly habit of setting apart one 
 day in seven for public worship, — the opportunities for mental 
 improvement which it affords, all combine to produce a civilizing 
 effect upon the nation, and to raise us in the scale of humanity ; 
 making us more capable of enjoying, and providing for us a 
 greater degree of political liberty, than any other nation on the 
 earth. 
 
 But it is to the church of our Blessed Lord — the spii'itual seed 
 of Christ, that this day, in a national jjoint of view, becomes 
 especially a blessing. To them is preserved by this sacred in- 
 stitution, times and seasons for spiritual improvement, which, 
 under other circumstances, would be denied them. " They sit, 
 every man under his vine, and under liis fig-tree : and none 
 maketh them afraid." And it is for them to show their value 
 of this privilege, by endeavouring to cultivate such a spirit in 
 the observance of the Sabbath, as may be conducive to their own 
 best interests, and, by God's blessing, may be the means of win- 
 ning over others to a love of tliis holy day. A contrast has been 
 already di'awu between this country and France, as connected 
 with the Sabbath Day. We shall only add here om' entire 
 conciuTence in these statements, and the arguments deduced 
 from them, without troubling you with a repetition of the 
 facts. And our only design in referring to the subject here is, 
 to express, as w^e are quite sure you will also do, joy at 
 having, at the court of France, an ambassador, as it is reported, 
 who was not ashamed to bear testimony to his own veneration 
 for his English Sabbath, by refusing to dine with the Prince 
 President on that sacred day, assigning, as his reason, that it 
 was not his habit to accept inAitations for that day. Xor can 
 we less admire the happy effect of such an example, in the fact, 
 
144 LECTURE ON THE SABBATTT. 
 
 as it is related, that the Prince President \Yillingly altered the 
 day of invitation from Sunday to Monday. 
 
 But it is our pain and grief to have to record an example 
 nearer home than that of France, of the sad effects of Sabhath 
 desecration. Who that has ever visited the Popish parts of 
 Ireland for a single Sabbath, has not been struck with the 
 fearful amount of Sabbath desecration which meets his view ! 
 And where is there on the earth a more fearful example of the 
 punishment that accompanies such desecration, than we observe 
 in the moral, spiritual, and earthly degradation of that people ? 
 Surely we should bless God, that " the lines are fallen to us in 
 such pleasant places ; yea, that we have a goodly heritage." 
 
 Family blessings ever accompany the family observance of the 
 Lord's Day. Those that resolve, like Joshua, " As for me and 
 my house, we will serve the Lord," find the Sabbath Day the 
 seed time, wherein they may scatter much good seed upon the 
 hearts of their children and dependants, and enjoy in their ovm 
 souls the happy fruits ever attendant on such labom's ; that 
 whilst they are watering others, they are themselves watered 
 of God. And such a bond of imion and happiness springs out 
 of employments of this character, as enables us to realize the 
 truthfulness of the Psalmist's declaration in the cxxxiii Psalm, 
 " Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell 
 together in unity ! It is like the precious ointment upon the 
 head, that ran down upon the beard, even upon Aaron's beard, 
 that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of 
 Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of 
 Zion ; for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for 
 evermore." The temporal respectability and advancement of a 
 family is much affected by a proper observance of this sacred 
 institution. What children are at home they will be also in 
 public. Are they disobedient to parents ? they will be so in 
 after life to masters. Ai-e they careless and heedless in the per- 
 formance of home duties ? such will they be in the more public 
 duties of life. Do industry and self-denial mark their every- 
 day employments ? such will be their career throughout their 
 lives. Do love and unity connect the family under the parental 
 roof? such will be the bond that shall unite them, however 
 different their after employments ; and if in the providence 
 of God, called upon to separate to a distance from each other, 
 
LECTURE ON TIIK SABBATH. H.") 
 
 tlieir prayer ^vill bo with a certainty of fultilmciit, — " The Lord 
 watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from 
 another." Shall we say that the neglect or observance of the 
 Sabbath has no influence in the fomiation of suc<ii characters ? 
 We have but to observe what is passing in our own streets on 
 the Sabbath Day, to be conA-inced of the contiary. See that 
 man on the Sabbath morn in his working di'ess, leaning listlessly 
 against the door-post of his house, smoking liis pipe ; mark his 
 wife gossiping ■^^-ith her noiglibom* about some trifling matter; 
 and as you advance in the next lane, observe the children of 
 these parents, ragged and neglected, playing marbles and other 
 games with cliildi-en equally neglected : what do you look for 
 in after life from these children ? Humanly speaking, notliing 
 but bitter fniits. God may, as by a mii'acle, pluck some of them 
 as brands from the biu'ning, but according to the common com'se 
 of events, such become either inmates of oui* prisons or bui*- 
 thens upon our poor rates. Xow, observe on the other side of 
 the street, on the same morning, a clean and tidy house, all 
 things conducted with apparent decency and order. " A place 
 for every thing, and every thing in its place," the parents 
 in their Sabbath di'ess and the children equally clean, and 
 tidy ; mark them after having enjoyed together the more 
 private duties of Sabbath observance, issuing forth together 
 hand in hand, (perhaps the mark of their opposite neighbom-'s 
 ridicule), to miite in publicly proclaiming themselves on the side 
 of Chi'ist, and to worship the God of theii- lathers. The day con- 
 cludes with them as it had begun, and imder the sought favour 
 and protection of God, " they both lay down in peace and sleep, 
 for the Lord makes them to dwell in safety." The after career 
 of this family will be very much according to this beginning, 
 and Christian parents are encom-aged and cheered to their duties 
 by examples and promises scattered throughout the word of 
 God ; such as that to Abraham, " For I know him, that he will 
 command his childi-en, and his household after him, and they 
 shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment ; 
 that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that wliich he hath 
 spoken of him." The cliildren of such parents are blessed, and 
 a blessing ; from such we would select om- servants, our appren- 
 tices, our friends. They caiTy with them a testimony in their 
 conduct, which recommends them to the respect and considera- 
 
146 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 tion of the good ; and in their succeeding week-day duties and 
 trials, they find the truth of a good man's experience, " that the 
 spiritual observance of the Sabbath is like the hem of a garment, 
 which keeps -all from ravelling out during the week." But it is 
 in its effects on Eternal things, that the richest blessings accom- 
 pany the family spiritual observance of the Lord's day. Do we 
 look to see a whole family in heaven ? Not one single member 
 of the whole absent on the great day of assembling before the 
 throne of God, to spend an eternal Sabbath in singing the song 
 of Moses and the Lamb ? This song must be learnt on earth 
 before it can be sung in Heaven. The Lord of the heavenly 
 Sabbath must be known, loved, and worshipped on his earthly 
 Sabbaths, and the^i our hearts and affections will be attuned to 
 praise and rest on him throughout eternity. Dear Christian 
 parents, bring your children to Chiist on His earthly Sabbaths ; 
 and you, dear children, submit with willing and child-like minds 
 to parental authority on this blessed day, and rejoice in your 
 Sabbath privileges; and you shall meet as a family with joy, and 
 not with sorrow, before the throne of God on his eternal Sabbath. 
 "With what happiness will such j)arents be enabled to approach 
 God, and say " Behold me and the children whom thou hast 
 given me." 
 
 Personal blessings accompany the personal, individual spiritual 
 observance of the Lord's day. " Blessed is the man that doeth 
 this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it ; that keepeth 
 the Sabbath from polluting it, and that keepeth his hand from 
 doing any evil." The personal, bodily and mental, rest provided 
 for on this day, is a blessing which few really understand, and 
 therefore little appreciate. So much so, that many spend as 
 much labour in the pursuit of pleasure as they do on their ordi- 
 nary day's employment. This point we have had so eloquently 
 and convincingly put forth in the third of these lectures, that I 
 am siu-e it will not easily pass from our remembrance ; as also 
 the consequences in impaired health, loss of property squandered 
 in the pursuit of that which satisfieth not, and entire prostration 
 of that strength and energy, which would enable them to begin 
 their six days labour with benefit to themselves and their 
 employers. 
 
 How different are the mind and body of him who has used 
 aright the blessed rest of this holy day ! Relreshed in body and 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABBATH 147 
 
 cheered in soiil, he enters upon his duties as the servant of God, 
 and not of man, and is prepared to suffer or rejoice in spii-it 
 according to the pro^-idencc that awaits him in the week. He 
 has learnt a lesson on his well-spent Sabbath which prepares 
 him for every event in the succeeding week, and Avhich enables 
 him patiently and cheerfully to fulfil the decree of his covenant 
 God — that " in the sweat of his brow he should eat broad." But 
 temporal blessings of a more positive natm-e often follow the 
 spii'itual observance of the Lord's day. And should God, to the 
 eye of sense, seem to withhold earthly prosperity, the eye of 
 faith, enlightened and strengthened by its Sabbath pri^-ileges, 
 sees tln'ougli the veil, and fully knows that what God withholds 
 is as much a blessing as what God bestows. " Unto the upright 
 there ariseth light in the darkness !" Though for a time indeed 
 his faith may be tried by seeing the prosperity of the wicked, 
 and the afflictions of the righteous ; yet, when, like Da^id, he 
 goes to the house of God, he understands what will be the end 
 of both, and why " a little that a righteous man hath, is better 
 than the riches of manv wicked." It is that " the blessins' of 
 the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." 
 
 The more immediate, because spiritual blessings which accom- 
 pany a personal observance of the Lord's Day, commend them- 
 selves to the mind of every believer. Weary and heavy laden, 
 with a sense of the sins by which he has been overtaken during 
 the past week, how grateful to his soul is it to come on this 
 sacred day to Jesus, that he may find rest, and to realize that 
 they who " wait upon the Lord, shall renew theu' strength." 
 Defiled by sin, he washes in that fountain wliich is then opened 
 to him for sin and for uncleanness ; and sensible of his proiie- 
 ness to evil, and his need of continual support, how is he blessed 
 and comforted in listening to the voice of the chief shepherd, 
 and in being thereby encom*aged to renew his covenant with 
 Christ to follow him whithersoever he may be pleased to lead 
 him. How are his graces quickened, liis heart enlarged, his 
 love inflamed, his resolution strengthened, his soul sanctified, 
 and his faith made more piercing than the eagle's eye, enabHng 
 him to look above the earth, and to fix all his thoughts upon the 
 sun of the spiritual fii-mament, till liis whole man becomes illu- 
 minated with the reflected rays of that brightness which fills 
 the glorious kingdom of the eternal Sabbath in Heaven. Tiim.- 
 
 L 
 
148 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH. 
 
 and eternity become thus closely connected in Ids mind, and as 
 hie improves and profits by his Sabbath privileges, his peace of 
 mind and foretaste of Heaven, enlarg-e like a river, and will con- 
 tinue to increase, till all be mingled with that ocean of eternal 
 pleasm-e " proceeding out of the thi^one of God and of the Lamb." 
 Such will be the present blessing, the future end, and the eternal 
 happiness of him, " who keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, 
 and that keepeth his hand from doing any evil." 
 
 But the CROW^NING blessing connected with a spiritual obser- 
 vance of the Lord's Day, is the meetness which it gives for the 
 enjoyment of that rest which remain eth unto the people of God. 
 
 Grace, or the renewing of the soul by the Holy Ghost, has 
 been compared to an exotic transplanted from a foreign land 
 into an migenial soil, and exposed to nipping winds, and there- 
 fore requiring constant care and culture to preserve it in life, 
 and to increase its growth ; but never wdll it attain to its full 
 growth, or be safe from external dangers, till it is replanted in 
 its pristine home. Now it is this grace which alone makes us 
 meet for the inheritance of the saints in Kght, (" for without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord,") and the possession of it, 
 as it is the earnest and foretaste of heaven, so is it the most 
 precious gift that could be committed to our care ; and we owe 
 it to om'selves and Him who is the author and giver of this good 
 and perfect gift, to employ such means as may best preserve 
 and increase its measure in us. The Sabbath, observed in a 
 right spirit, and its ordinances duly and spiritually employed, is 
 a chief mean, under God, not only of implanting grace within 
 the soul, but also of enabling us to " grow in grace and in the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord." Indeed, it is not possible 
 for us sufficiently to estimate the value of this holy, this merciful, 
 this blessed institution, as a mean of effecting so dcsii'able an 
 end. It is, in fact, this which connects it so closely with heaven. 
 Heaven is the Christian's home ; here he is a stranger and 
 foreigner, and whilst he treads this world's wilderness, and has 
 communion with strangers like himself, he is not forgetful of his 
 home ; " his conversation is in heaven ;" and the Sabbath, by its 
 regular retm^n and sanctified pm'pose, becomes a powerful mean 
 of thus cviltivating and keeping up this intercourse between the 
 soul and its eternal home. Besides, the Sabbath is a type of 
 heaven j it represents to us the rest of heaven, it sets forth the 
 
LECTURE ON THE SABRATH. 149 
 
 cmploynient of heaven, and it cxliibits in living- coloui-s the 
 character of those who inhabit heaven ; and as such it is intended 
 to be a mean of cultivating in God's people a fitness in each of 
 these particulars for their entrance into heaven itself. 
 
 Is not this then the crowning blessing connected with the 
 spiritual observance of the Lord's day ? " Blessed are they who 
 do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of 
 life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." And 
 shall not such a thought quicken us in om* love to, and ob- 
 servance of the Sabbath ? To fit us for heaven, to pmify oiu* 
 hearts, to new-create us into the image of God, and thus make 
 us capable of beholding his face in glory ; these are, and ever 
 will be, the blessed fi'uits of well-spent earthly Sabbaths. How 
 glorious is the prospect which this opens to the Christian's 
 view ! His Sabbath becomes to him the telescope by which he 
 looks through the mists of unbelief and sin, into the very pre- 
 sence and employment of those who are around the throne, and 
 enables him to realize his own interest in all tliat is transacting: 
 in the coiu'ts of heaven, where " angels and archangels, and 
 ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands 
 unite in singing with a loud voice, " Worthy is the Lamb that 
 was slain to receive power and riches, and "svisdom and strength, 
 and honour, and glory, and blessing." Yes, dear Chi'istian 
 friends, it is not indeed possible for us to unveil to you heaven, 
 for " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into 
 the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared there for 
 them that love him." But sufficient has been revealed to 
 quicken us to earnest longings after that eternal rest, and gladly 
 to avail ourselves of every stepping stone which brings us 
 nearer to admission into it." " Glorious things are spoken of 
 thee, O city of God;" and truly happy shall we be if an en- 
 trance be opened unto us for admission through its " golden 
 gate." Let us then, by the cultivation of a right spmt in the 
 obsen-ance of the Lord's day, seek for entrance into its earthly 
 portal, and we need not doubt that the Divine blessing will be 
 vouchsafed, and that the Lord of the Sabbath himself will not 
 only open wide to us the gate of entrance, but ^^'ill also be pre- 
 pared to receive us with his own expressed welcome. •' AW-U 
 done good and faithful servants, enter ye into the jov of youi* 
 Lord." 
 
1,30 LECTURE ON THE SABBATH 
 
 As then these lectures commenced by setting forth Adam in 
 his first Sabbath, holy and happy, so we would conclude by 
 earnestly and fervently praying, that our Sabbaths may be so 
 spent, that a better and more enduring Sabbath than Adam lost 
 may be our portiou, ''• When there shall be time no longer !" 
 
 rUIXll.r> 15Y W. V. JACKSON, WiuM.INCiTOX STKinrr, WOOl.WKll. 
 

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