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 ADDRESS 
 
 I THE BAPTISTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH : 
 
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 IP TB 
 
 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST GENERAL CONFERENCE. 
 
 N E VV - Y R K : 
 
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 AN 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 BAPTIST DENOMINATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES, 
 
 ,ON THE 
 
 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH: 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST GENERAL CONFERENCE, 
 
 " Com* now, let us reawn togeth."-IJah 1: 18, 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 ^'.WINCHESTER, NEW WORLD PRESS, 
 
 30 AKJT.gTftEBT. 
 
 1843.

 
 The General Conference of Seventh-Day Baptists was convened at Plainfield, New 
 Jersey, on the 3rd day of September, 1843. The delegates were generally impressed 
 that the time had come when the denomination should make increased and vigorous 
 efforts to promote the doctrine of the Bible concerning the Sabbath. The following re. 
 solutions were therefore submitted by Paul Stillman, of New- York, and unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 " Resolved, in view of the imperious duty devolving upon us to publish the truth of 
 God to the world, that it is advisable to make an appeal to the various orders of Christians, 
 in reference to the Sabbath of the Bible, urging them to a thorough examination of the 
 subject, as one of great importance to the cause of God. 
 
 " Resolved, in accordance with the object of the foregoing resolution, that a committee 
 be appointed to prepare an address to our brethren of the Baptist Denomination, to be 
 issued under the sanction of the General Conference." 
 
 Thomas B. Brown, Paul Stillman, and Nathan V. Hull, were appointed a Committee 
 for the above purpose, who subsequently presented the following addresa, which was 
 unanimously approved by the Conference ; and measures were taken for its publication, 
 and extensive circulation among the order of Christians particularly addressed. 
 
 DAVID DUNAT. Moderator. 
 
 THOMAS B. BROWN, Recording Secretary. 
 
 PAUL STILLMAN, 2 . '**' 
 
 A. D. TITSWORTH, \ As918tant Recording Secretaries.,
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST GENERAL CONFERENCE, TO THE MEMBERS 
 OF THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, 
 HOLDING TO THE OBSERVATION OF THE FlRST DAY OF THE WfiEK 
 AS A DIVINE INSTITUTION. 
 
 BELOVED BRETHREN : 
 
 When our Divine Redeemer dwelt on earth, he 
 
 prayed that all his disciples might be "made perfect in one." As this 
 prayer was in harmony with the sure word of prophecy, which instructs 
 us to look for a time when " the watchmen shall see, eye to eye, and 
 sing with united voice," we are sure that it will ultimately be answered. 
 We see nothing, however, to warrant us in looking for such a happy 
 consummation, while we contemplate the multiplied divisions of the 
 Christian world, perpetuated, as they are, by the selfishness of human 
 nature. Here the prospect is dark indeed. But we have an unshaken 
 confidence in the power of God to bring about his own purposes, notwith- 
 standing all the devices of men. "The hearts of all are in his hands, 
 and he turneth them whithersoever he will." He that made " the multi- 
 tude of one heart and of one soul," in the first age of the church, can 
 again concentrate his scattered bands, break down every wall of separa- 
 tion, and enlighten every mind by the effusion of his Spirit. Then shall 
 Zion move forth " clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." 
 We rejoice, brethren, that you, as well as ourselves, are looking for 
 this day of glory. Moreover, we have knowledge of your firm persua- 
 sion, that this glorious union of the now scattered forces of Israel, can be 
 effected only upon the basis of divine truth. With a single glance you 
 see the fallacy of that reasoning, which calls upon you, for the sake of 
 union, to sacrifice the least particle of God's word. You have learned
 
 6 APPEAL FOR THE SABBATH, 
 
 that the smallest atom of truth has sweetness in it, like its Author, and 
 is more precious than fine gold. That meagreness of piety which finds 
 " non-essentials" in the appointments of Jehovah, you cannot abide. 
 Your language is, " We esteem ALL thy precepts concerning ALL things 
 to be right, and we hate EVERY false way." 
 
 We know, moreover, that it is the desire of your hearts, that all dissen- 
 sions between Christians should be for ever ended. For this object you 
 are laboring and praying : and while you are doing so, you have the en- 
 lightened conviction, that your labors and prayers will be more abundantly 
 successful, in proportion to the amount of truth with which your own 
 minds are imbued, and which you can bring to bear upon the minds of 
 others. Laboring as you do to expound to others the way of the Lord 
 more perfectly, we cannot suppose that you are yourselves unwilling to 
 learn. We, therefore, approach you with confidence, affectionately and 
 earnestly requesting you to take into consideration the subject which is 
 the only ground of difference between you and us. We conceive it to be 
 a subject of great importance ; and though some of you may have made 
 it a matter of thought, we are persuaded that the great body of your de- 
 nomination have dismissed it without any particular investigation. Indeed, 
 we speak not unadvisedly when we say, that on this question, the whole 
 church of God have been hushed to sleep. In urging it upon your atten- 
 tion, we think you will not charge us with wishing to raise disturbance 
 in Zion. We indulge the hope that you will impute to us the same dis- 
 interestedness of motive by which you yourselves are actuated, when you 
 boldly proclaim your denominational sentiments upon every high place, 
 and scatter your publications in every direction. Your course springs 
 not from any wish to foment disturbance, but from the pain which your 
 hearts feel to see the institutions of Christ made void by the traditions of 
 men. Our action in this matter springs from the same principle. We 
 feel in regard to the Sabbath just as you do with regard to baptism. 
 We declare before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are governed 
 by a desire for your good and God's glory. 
 
 When we look over your large and influential denomination, we find, 
 that, in reference to the subject upon which we now address you, you are 
 divided into about three classes. I. Those who, acknowledging the per- 
 petuity of the Sabbath-law, enforce the observance of the Sabbath by the 
 fourth commandment, but change the day of its celebration from the 
 seventh to the first day of the week. II. Those who see the impossibility 
 of proving a change of the day, and, therefore, regard the commandment 
 as abolished by the death of Christ. But, at the same time, they consider 
 the first day of the week as an institution entirely new, to be regulated as 
 to its observance wholly by the New Testament. III. Those who con- 
 sider neither the Old nor the New Testament to impose any obligation 
 upon them to observe a day of rest, and advocate one merely on the 
 ground of expediency.
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE BAPTISTS. 7 
 
 I. First, we address those of you who acknowledge the obligation of a 
 Sabbath, but change the day of its celebration from the seventh to the first 
 day of the week. We may be wanting in discernment, but it really ap- 
 pears to us, that in making the particular day to be observed to stand 
 upon New Testament authority, and yet deriving all the obligation to 
 sabbatize on that day from the Law, there is a departure from the great 
 principle contended for by Baptists, that the extent and bearing of a law, 
 both as to the duties it enjoins and the objects on which it terminates, are 
 to be learned from the law itself, and not from other sources. On this 
 principle you reject the logic of Pedobaptists, who, while they find the 
 ordinance of baptism in the New Testament, go back to the law of circum- 
 cision to determine the subjects. You tell them, and very justly too, that 
 the law of the institution is the only rule of obedience. But do you not 
 fall into the same error, when the argument has respect to the Sabbath ? 
 We can see no more fitness in applying the law of the Sabbath to the first 
 day of the week, than in applying the law of circumcision to the subjects 
 of baptism. For the law of circumcision was not more expressly confined 
 to the fleshly seed of Abraham, than was the law of the Sabbath to the 
 seventh day of the week. The true principle is that every institution is 
 to be determined by its own law. Therefore, if the first day of the 
 week is an institution binding upon us, the law to regulate its observance 
 should be looked for where we find the institution. Be pleased, brethren, 
 to review this argument, and see if you are not treading on Pedobaptist 
 ground. 
 
 In justification of this change of the day, we often hear you plead the 
 example of Christ and his apostles. But where do we find anything 
 to this effect in their example ? Did the apostles sabbatize on the first 
 day of the week? Did the churches which were organized by them 
 do so ? Observe with marked attention, the question between you and us 
 is NOT, Did they meet together and hold worship on that day ? BUT, Did 
 they sabbatize ? that is, did they REST FROM THEIR LABOR on the 
 first day of the week ? Did they observe it AS a Sabbath ? This is the 
 true issue. We have often asked this question, but the only answer 
 that we have received has been, that they assembled for worship. But 
 this is not a candid way of meeting the point. It is in reality an answer 
 to a very different question from the one we ask. Brethren, act out your 
 own principles. Come up square to the question. When you ask a 
 Pedobaptist, Did Christ baptize, or authorize the baptism of little children? 
 you expect him to make some other reply than, " He put his hands on 
 them and prayed." When you ask, Did the apostles baptize infant babes ? 
 you are not well pleased with the reply, They baptized households. Your 
 question was \vith regard to little babes -the baptism of them. If, there- 
 fore, when we ask you, Did the apostles and primitive Christians sabbatize 
 on the first day of the week ? you merely reply as above, we do not see 
 but you are guilty of the very same sophistry you are so ready to charge
 
 a 
 
 upon your Pedobaptist brethren. Your adroit evasion of the real ques- 
 tion seems to place you much in the same predicament as were the 
 Pharisees, when Christ asked them whence was the baptism of John. It 
 appears as if you reasoned with yourselves, and said, " If we shall say 
 they did sabbatize on the first day of the week, the evidence will be 
 called for, and we cannot find it ; but if we shall say they did not, we 
 fear the day will lose its sacredness in the eyes of the people." We do 
 not by any means wish to charge you with a Phari aic lack of principle, 
 but we put it to your sober judgment, whether your position is not an 
 awkward one. Brethren, reconsider this point, and see if you are not on 
 Pedobaptist ground. 
 
 If the apostles did not sabbatize on the first day of the week, then it 
 follows, as a matter of course, that whatever notoriety or dignity belonged 
 to it, they did not regard it as a substitute for the Sabbath. Consequently, 
 unless the Sabbath law was entirely abrogated by the death of Christ, the 
 old Sabbath, as instituted in Paradise, and rehearsed from Sinai, con- 
 tinues yet binding, as "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." 
 
 But more than this. Even if it could be proved, that the apostles and 
 primitive Christians did actually regard the first day of the week as a 
 Sabbath, it would not follow that the old Sabbath is no longer in force, 
 unless it could be proved that they considered the new as a SUBSTI- 
 TUTE for the old ; or, that so far as the particular day was concerned, 
 it was of a CEREMONIAL character. But where do we find proof for 
 either of these ? In the whole record of the transactions and teachings 
 of the apostles, where do we find this idea of substitution ? Nowhere. 
 Where do we find evidence that, so far as the particular day was con- 
 corned, it was ceremonial, and, therefore, to cease at the death of Christ ? 
 Nowhere. The same argument that proves the Sabbath law not to be 
 ceremonial, proves the same of the day. Did the Sabbath law originate 
 in Paradise, when man was innocent, and had no need of a Redeemer ? 
 So did the day. It was then sanctified and blessed. Does the Sabbath 
 law take cognizance of the relation on which all the precepts of the moral 
 law are founded, viz., the relation we sustain to God as creatures to Cre- 
 ator ? So does the day. It is a memorial of this relation, and of the 
 rest entered into by God after he, by his work, had established the rela- 
 tion. It appears then, that neither the Sabbath law, nor the day it enjoins, 
 was of a ceremonial character. True, it is not moral, in the strictest 
 sense, but rather positive. Nevertheless, by divine appointment it be- 
 longs to the same category with the moral law, and must be considered a 
 part of it. If this course of reasoning is correct and if it is not, we hope 
 you will point it out it would not follow that the old Sabbath is done 
 away, because Christ and his apostles sabbatized on the first day of the 
 week ; but only that there are two Sabbaths instead of one. 
 
 But we ask, by what right could Christ or his apostles alter the 
 law of the Sabbath ? Do not be startled. We do not question our
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE BAPTISTS. 9 
 
 Saviour's divinity. We recognize him as over all, God blessed for 
 ever. But in all his ministry he acted under the appointment of the 
 Father, and according to such restrictions as were contained in the law 
 and the prophets. By those restrictions, no laws were to be set aside 
 at his coming, except such as were peculiar to the Jewish Econo- 
 my ; such as " meats, and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordin- 
 ances, imposed until the time of reformation." Heb. ix. 10. To set aside 
 these, the law gave the Messiah an express grant. Heb. x. 9. But 
 the very moment he should attempt to go beyond the limits of that grant, 
 he would destroy all the evidence of his being the Messiah promised 
 and appointed. For it was by his exact conformity to the law, that his 
 claims were established. Hence early in his ministry he declared that 
 he " came not to destroy the law or the prophets." Matt. v. 17. The 
 divinity of the Saviour gave him no authority, therefore, to set aside any 
 laws, except those which were "a shadow of things to come." Other- 
 wise we should have God denying himself ! God contradicting himself! 
 On this account we say that neither Christ nor his apostles had any 
 right to alter the Sabbath. The New Testament records not a single 
 instance of Christ's claiming such a right. When he avowed himself 
 Lord of the Sabbath, he claimed no such right. He only claimed to de- 
 termine what was the proper method of keeping it, what were breaches 
 of it, and what were not. The Sabbath was made for man, and conse- 
 quently it was his prerogative to decide what acts and duties answered 
 to the nature and design of the institution. THEREFORE, the Son of 
 man is Lord of the Sabbath. Mark ii. 28. It is worthy of being observed, 
 also, that our Saviour does not claim even this authority on account of 
 his divinity, but AS the Son of man. 
 
 In regard to the obligation resulting from apostolic example, it appears 
 to us that you have fallen into some errors. We are not convinced thai 
 the example of the apostles can be justly pleaded for anything else than 
 the order and arrangement of the church. However proper it may be to 
 imitate them in other respects in the duties of the moral law for instance 
 yet, if it were not known to be proper, independent of their example, 
 we cannot suppose their example would make it so. We must first as- 
 certain, by some settled and infallible rule, whether their practice, is 
 worthy of imitation. In regard to the ordering of church a/airs there can 
 be no doubt, for they were sent upon this very errand, with the promise 
 of the Holy Spirit to qualify them for the work. But the Sabbath is not 
 a church ordinance. It is not an institution for the church as such, but 
 for all mankind. All reasoning with reference to it, from apostolic ex- 
 ample, must therefore be very inconclusive. Even if we should admit 
 that the church is bound by such example with regard to the first day 
 of the week, yet this is the utmost extent to which our admissions can go. 
 We cannot see how the institution becomes binding upon the world at 
 large. Consequently we are compelled to maintain that an institution
 
 10 APPEAL FOR THE SABBATH, 
 
 which was originally given for all mankind, remains unaltered. We 
 are willing that the example and practice of the apostles should regulate 
 the church as to its ordinances and government, and herein we claim to 
 follow them as strictly as you do ; but when they are pleaded for any- 
 thing more, we want first to know whether they conform to the express 
 law of God. Otherwise we must consider them as no more binding than 
 an apostle's quarrel with Barnabas. Acts xv. 39. 
 
 If this argument is well founded, we are led to a very satisfactory dis- 
 posal of a question often proposed, viz. : Why do we never read in the 
 New Testament of Christian assemblies being convened as such, on the 
 Sabbath ? For if the Sabbath be not a church ordinance, but an institu- 
 tion for mankind at large, it can be of no importance for us to know what 
 Christian assemblies as such did with regard to it. All that is of real 
 importance for us to know is the precise bearing of the institution upon 
 man as man upon man as a rational and accountable creature. On 
 this point the information is clear and decisive. 
 
 The controversy between us and you appears to be brought down to a 
 very narrow compass. Did the apostles and primitive Christians sabbatize 
 on the first day of the week ? And, Is the WORLD OF MANKIND bound to 
 imitate their example, or only the CHURCH ? If upon a solemn and pray- 
 erful consideration of this subject, you are persuaded that there is no 
 proof that the early Christians regarded the first day as a Sabbath, (sub- 
 stituted in place of the seventh,) and will come out, and honestly avow 
 your conviction, we have no fear that the controversy will be prolonged. 
 For should you still be of opinion that some sort of notoriety was attached 
 to the day, and that Christians met for worship, we shall not be very soli- 
 citous to dispute the point. The apostolic rule, " Let every man be fully 
 persuaded in his own mind," will then govern us. (See Rom. xiv. 5, 6.) 
 Our concern is not that you keep the first day of the week, but that you 
 keep it in place of the Sabbath, thus making void the commandment of 
 God. If once you discover, that Sunday is not the Sabbath by divine ap- 
 pointment, and therefore cannot be enforced upon the conscience, we are 
 persuaded that your deep sense of the necessity of such an institution, 
 will soon bring you to the observance of the ancient Sabbath. 
 
 II. But we proceed to address those of you who regard the sabbatic 
 law as having been nailed to the cross, and consider the First Day of the 
 Week as an institution entirely new, regulated as to its observance wholly 
 by the New Testament. 
 
 You, whom we now address, are exempt from some of the inconsisten- 
 cies which we have exposed ; but your theory labors under very serious 
 difficulties, and is to be regarded, on the whole, as more obnoxious to the 
 interests of religion, than the one we have been considering. 
 
 According to your position, the New Testament recognizes no Sabbath 
 at all. Do not start at this charge. That it is repugnant to your feel-
 
 ADDRESSED VO THE BAPTISTS, 11 
 
 ings, we allow. You have never thought of anything else than entire 
 abstinence from labor on the first day of the week. It is your day of 
 rest, as well as tvorship. But on what ground do you make it a day of 
 rest ? What example have you for doing so ? What law of the New 
 Testament requires you to lay aside all your secular business? As sin 
 is the transgression of the law, and where no law is there is no trans- 
 gression, i. John iii. 4, Rom. iv. 15, how do you make it appear to be 
 sin to work on the day in question ? It is by the commandment that sin 
 becomes exceeding sinful. Rom. vii. 13. By what commandment do 
 you make it appear sinful to work on Sunday ? These are questions of 
 the highest importance. 
 
 Now suppose one of your brethren attends public worship on the first 
 day of the week, and to make his conformity to what is supposed to be 
 apostolic example as perfect as possible participates in the breaking of 
 bread. He then goes home, opens his shop, and commences labor, or into 
 the field to drive his plough. By what law will you convince him of 
 sin ? Not the law of the Sabbath as contained in the Decalogue, for that 
 you hold to be abolished. Not any law of the New Testament which 
 says " keep the first day of the week holy ; in it thou shalt not do any 
 work," for there is no such law. Not the law of apostolic example, for 
 there is no proof that the apostles ever gave such example. The very 
 utmost that you can with any show of reason pretend of their example, 
 is, that they met together for worship and breaking of bread. To this 
 example your brother has conformed to the very letter who can say, he 
 has not in spirit also ? What now will you do with him ? " The Bible, 
 and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants." The Bible, therefore, 
 is the Rule by which he is to be tried. Convict him of sin by this Rule, 
 if you can. 
 
 But the case becomes still more difficult, when you come to apply it to 
 those who are without the pale of the church. We have already seen 
 that apostolic example concerns merely the ordering and arrangement of 
 the church. ' Attempt now to convince the unbeliever of sin in working 
 on the first day of the week. In order to do this, charge Apostolic exam- 
 ple upon him. What is his reply. " / know not," says he, " that, I am 
 bound to imitate them in this matter. How does it appear that lam ? I will 
 admit, for argument's sake, that they celebrated the Resurrection on Sunday 
 by religious worship ; but they also broke bread and partook of it by way of 
 celebrating his death. If their example binds me in one particular, why not 
 in the other ? Prove to me," says he, " that any hit the church assembled 
 on the first day for worship, and I will do so too. But in the absence of all, 
 such proof I must conclude, their example has nothing to do with me ; unless, 
 indeed, you can make it appear, that their example and practice were in con- 
 formity to some law, which commanded them as rational creatures, indepen- 
 dent of their relation to Christ and his church. When you can produce that 
 lav)) then I will feel bound to obey it, and imitate the apostles in their obedi-
 
 12 APPEAL FOR THE SABBATH, 
 
 ence to it; lut not till then." Such is the reasoning by which an unbe- 
 liever may set aside all your attempts to charge sin upon him. Where, 
 brethren, is your law which, like a barbed arrow, pierces the very soul, 
 and fastens guilt upon the conscience ? Where is that law which speaks 
 out its thunders, saying, thus saith the Almighty God, the Lord, the Maker 
 of Heaven and Earth, it is the Sabbath day, in it thou shall not do any 
 work '? To throw aside the law, which cuts and flames every way, reach- 
 ing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, in order to deal with the ungodly 
 by mere apostolic example, is like muffling the sword for fear it will 
 wound. Apostolic example is indeed powerful with those whose hearts 
 have been made tender by the Spirit of God, but with others powerless. 
 
 We are persuaded, brethren, that your conscientious scruples about 
 laboring on the first day of the week, never resulted from the mere con- 
 templation of apostolic example. Such example, it is true, is all the law 
 you acknowledge ; but this is the theory you have adopted since you came 
 to maturity, and began to think for yourselves. Your scruples have an 
 earlier and different origin. They commenced with your childhood, when 
 you were taught to consider the day as holy time. It was then impressed 
 upon your mind, that God had, by express law, forbidden you to desecrate 
 the day, and that you would incur his displeasure in case you should do 
 so. The idea was them imbibed, that if you did not keep the day, you 
 would violate the fourth Commandment. This idea has grown with your 
 growth, and strengthened with your strength. It has obtained such com- 
 manding influence over your feelings, that you cannot forbear keeping a 
 day of rest, though your theory does not require it. Even to this day a 
 strong impression rests upon your minds, that the fourth Commandment 
 contains much of moral excellence ; too much to be thrown altogether 
 away, notwithstanding your system of theology teaches its abrogation. 
 Such is the true secret of your tenderness of conscience. Apostolic ex- 
 ample has in reality nothing to do with it. Following the secret monitions 
 of conscience, your prosperity is promoted in spite of your theological 
 system. But sound reason discovers, that your experience and your the- 
 ory are in opposition to each other. Some of the more thinking ones among 
 you are aware of this, and are continually aiming at such a modification 
 of their theory, that their experience will harmonize with it. But be as- 
 sured, here will be an everlasting conflict, until you come to acknowledge 
 fully and heartily the claims of the sabbatic law. 
 
 We are aware of that system of theology, which regards the New Tes- 
 tament as furnishing the only code of laws by which men are bound since 
 the death of Christ. We have looked at this doctrine with attention ; and 
 so far as the order, government, and ordinances of the church are con- 
 cerned, we admit its truth. As the laws and ordinances of the Jewish 
 church were determined by the Old Testament, so the laws and ordinan- 
 ces of the Christian church are determined solely by the New Testament. 
 Therefore, we should say at once, the argument is yours, if the Sabbath
 
 ADDRESSED TO*THE BAPTISTS. 13 
 
 Xvere a church ordinance. In such case, however, none but the church 
 has a Sabbath. But the question is not concerning church ordinances. 
 In these we follow the New Testament as closely as yourselves. The 
 question is concerning an institution which has respect to mankind at 
 large ; to man as man ; for the Saviour teaches us that the Sabbath was 
 made for man. Now it will be a very hard matter to prove, that when 
 men as rational creatures are concerned, the only code of laws by which 
 they are bound, is the New Testament. Let us put the matter to the 
 test. How will you prove that it is unlawful for a man to marry his sister, 
 his daughter, or any other of near kin ? The New Testament utters not 
 a word on the subject. It is not enough to say, it is implied in the law 
 which forbids adultery ; for it must first be proved to be a species of adul- 
 tery. Nor will it do to say, the common sense of mankind is a sufficient 
 law on the subject. For the moment we suppose that its unlawfulness is 
 to be determined in this way, we abandon the argument that the New 
 Testament is the only code of laws, and resort to the common sense ot 
 mankind as furnishing a part of the code. But if the common sense of 
 mankind shall furnish a part of the code by which we are bound, who 
 shall undertake to say how large a part ? Besides, on this principle, the 
 book of divine revelation is not complete and perfect. It is a lamp to our 
 feet only in part, and the common sense of mankind makes out the defi- 
 ciency ! You are, therefore, driven to take your stand again upon the 
 New Testament. Finding you there again, we repeat the question, How 
 do you prove by your code, that a man may not marry his sister ? It is im- 
 possible. You must, of necessity, look to that division of the scriptures 
 usually called the Old Testament ; for the New says not one word about it . 
 
 Let Us turn now to the 18th chapter of the book of Leviticus, and we 
 shall find a collection of laws exactly to the point. " None of you shall 
 approach to any that is near of kin to him," &c. v. 6. The degrees of 
 kindred are then expressly marked. Will it be objected, that these laws 
 were given particularly to the Jews, and to no other people ? We admit 
 they were given to the Jews, as indeed was the whole system of revela- 
 tion in that age : but we cannot admit that they concerned no other class 
 of people. For it is expressly shown in that chapter, that the matters of 
 which they took cognizance, were regarded as abominations in the Gen- 
 tiles. Because of such things, the fierce wrath of Jehovah came down 
 upon the Canaanites, and they were cast out from the land as loathsome- 
 ness. y. 24-30. If these things were viewed as abominable in the Ca- 
 naanites, they surely were not ceremonial pollutions. They were not 
 mere Jeioish laws. The fallacy of the doctrine is therefore sufficiently 
 exposed. 
 
 We think you have fallen into error concerning the nature and design 
 of that division of the scriptures commonly called the New Testament. 
 We regard it not as the Law Book of mankind, in the strict and proper 
 sense ; but rather as a Treatise on Justification, in which are contained such
 
 14 APPEAL tOB. *HE SABBATH, 
 
 references to the law, and such quotations from it, as are necessary to 
 the complete elucidation of the subject. The preparation of this treatise 
 was of necessity delayed, until the great sacrifice for sin had been offered, 
 and our High Priest had entered into the holy place. For as the sacrifice 
 and intercession of our High Priest constitute the sole foundation of our 
 justification, so " the way into the holiest of all was not yet made mani- 
 fest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing." Heb. ix. 8. So much 
 of the plan of justification was illustrated to the people, as could be by 
 means of the ritual service ; and that, together with the prophecies, laid 
 a foundation for them to believe that, in some way or other, they would be 
 just before God. So that by faith the patriarchs were justified. Heb. xi. 
 They knew it was to be somehow through the work of Him, who was 
 typified and promised as the great Redeemer. But understand the plan 
 they could not, until the Redeemer came and died for them. 
 
 Because this treatise on justification could not be prepared until after 
 the death of the High Priest, therefore it was not proper to organize gospel 
 churches. The only church that was suitable for that age was found 
 in the Jewish nation, and from its very nature was unfit for the world at 
 large. It was, therefore, confined to that people. Moreover, because it 
 was not proper to organize gospel churches, until the way of justification 
 was fully laid open, it was also not proper to lay down the laws and 
 ordinances of the church until that time. This accounts for the laws of 
 the church being found only in the New Testament. 
 
 Now, if the New Testament is to be regarded as a treatise on justifica- 
 tion, with such references to the Old as are necessary for the elucidation 
 of the subject, rather than as the Law-Book for mankind at large ; the idea 
 that the Sabbath ought not to be looked for in the Old Testament, falls 
 to the ground. Nevertheless, to some minds it appears strange, that 
 while the New Testament writers mention all the other duties of the 
 Decalogue, this is apparently omkted. In speaking of the sins of which 
 Christians were guilty before their conversion, not one word is said about 
 Sabbath breaking, though upon other sins they dwell with emphasis. But 
 this admits of a very easy solution. Those writers addressed two classes 
 of converts ; those from among the Jews, and those from among the Gen- 
 tiles. As to the former, they were already rigid to an extreme in keeping 
 the Sabbath. All that was necessary to do in their case, was to vindicate 
 the institution from Pharisaic austerities, and determine what was lawful 
 to be done, and what was not lawful. This was done by Christ. But as 
 for the Gentile converts, to charge them with having been guilty of the 
 sin of Sabbath breaking in their state of heathenism, would have been 
 manifest impropriety. For the Sabbath being for the most part a positive 
 rather than a moral precept, it could not be known without a revelation. 
 But as the Gentiles had no revelation, this is a good reason why the 
 apostle dwelt not upon this sin to charge it upon them, but only upon 
 those which were more obviously breaches of the Moral Law. Thus it
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE BAPTISTS., 15> 
 
 appears, there was no necessity for any more particular mention of the 
 Sabbath to be made in the New Testament, than what is made. 
 [. But it is not our object in this address to cover the whole field of argu- 
 ment. We design simply, by presenting some of the strong points, and 
 exposing your inconsistencies, to stir up your attention to the subject. 
 We are sure that the great majority of you have never given it a, thorough 
 investigation. For a complete discussion of the whole ground wo refer 
 you to our publications. Will you read them ? Will you anxiously 
 inquire, What is truth? Will you pray over the matter, saying, -'Lord, 
 what wilt thou have us to do ?" Or, will you sleep over it, as if it were 
 of no great, pressing, practical importance ? 
 
 III. But we must address that class of Baptists who consider neither 
 the Old nor the New Testament to impose any obligation to observe a day 
 of rest, and advocate one merely on the ground of expediency, in. some 
 sections of our country, Baptists would consider it almost a slander upon 
 their denomination to intimate that there were persons of such anti-Sab- 
 bath principles, wearing their livery. But any one, who is conversant 
 with the order at large, knows very well that it is no slander. There are 
 those who boldly avow such doctrine, and many others who do not deny 
 that it is their real sentiment, though they are not anxious or forward to 
 proclaim it upon the house tops. Whether this class embraces a very 
 large proportion of the denomination, it is not necessary to inquire. It is 
 our impression that the proportion is sufficiently large, to justify an effort 
 for their conversion to right views of Divine Truth. 
 
 If there is no day of rest enjoined by divine authority, and the matter 
 rests wholly upon expediency, we see no reason, except that the voice of 
 the multitude is against it, why you cannot as well observe the seventh 
 as the first day of the week. There would be no sacrifice of conscience 
 in so doing, while it would be a tribute of respect to those who feel that 
 the keeping of the seventh day is an indispensable part of duty. But it 
 is not on this principle particularly that we desire you to change your 
 ground. Feeling that it is not our party that must be honored, but rather 
 divine truth, and our party only for the sake of the truth, we would much 
 rather correct your doctrinal views. 
 
 Of course, you do not deny that a day of rest was once enjoined upon 
 God's chosen people. It is only under the gospel that you suppose all 
 distinction of days to be annihilated. If then it is expedient, that a day 
 of rest should be observed, it follows irresistibly, that the annihilation of 
 all distinction in days by the gospel, was very INEXPEDIENT ! And 
 thus, whatever blessings the gospel dispensation brings to the human 
 race, a strict following out of its principles would be INEXPEDIENT ! 
 and farther, that the Law, which enjoined a day of rest, had more of an 
 eye to expediency, than the gospel has ! Consequently, that the gospel, 
 though d-eclared to be faultless, and capable of perfecting those who
 
 Iti APPEAL FOB, THE SABBATff, 
 
 believe, must nevertheless, FOR EXPEDIENCY'S SAKE, borrow a little help 
 from the abrogated rites of the law ! In other words, God, in setting 
 aside a day of rest, committed an oversight, and left his work for man to 
 mend ! ! Brethren, we see not how it is possible for you to escape such 
 monstrous conclusions. They are the legitimate result of your princi- 
 ples. Such principles you must have adopted in hot haste, without con- 
 sidering where they would land you. For we are not disposed to believe 
 you so completely destitute of piety, as willingly to abide by the result 
 of them. We entreat you to reconsider them, and adopt such as are 
 more in accordance with the spirit of our holy religion. 
 
 When you advocate the observance of a day of rest on the ground of 
 expediency, we are persuaded that you do so in view of the bearing you 
 perceive it to have upon the well-being of mankind. But still the ques- 
 tion will arise, Has the gospel less regard to the well-being of mankind, 
 than the law had ? Look at the humanity of the institution. How ne- 
 cessary that both man and beast should rest one day in seven. How 
 evident that they cannot endure uninterrupted toil. How perfectly well 
 established, that, if doomed to constant labor, they sink under the prema- 
 ture exhaustion of their powers. So well is this established, that we can- 
 not put such a low estimate upon your judgment, as to suppose it neces- 
 sary to enter upon any proof of it. But the question returns, Does the 
 gospel breathe less humanity than the law ? Or, consider the bearing of 
 the institution upon the interests of religion. It affords opportunity for 
 men to be instructed in the great things which pertain to their salvation ; 
 and unless they were thus called away from their labors, it would be im- 
 possible to bring religious instruction into contact with their minds. Does 
 the gospel afford less advantage in this respect, than the Law did ? Did 
 the Law provide a season for instructing the people in religion as it then 
 stood ? and does the gospel provide no season for instructing them in re- 
 ligion as it now stands ? Must they be instructed in types, but not in the 
 substance ? in prophecy, but not in the fulfilment of prophecy ? No 
 one will be responsible for the affirmative of these questions. 
 
 If the New Dispensation actually has abrogated the Sabbath, we do not 
 believe that it is expedient to observe it. We cannot believe, however, 
 that an institution so important to the civilization, refinement, and reli- 
 gious prosperity of mankind, has been abrogated. We refer you to our 
 publications, and to the publications of those who have, in common with 
 us, defended the perpetuity of the sabbatic law ; and we entreat you to 
 reconsider your ground. The doctrine of expediency ! What a fruitful 
 source of corruption has it been to the church of God! Not an anti- 
 Christian, popish abomination, but what pleads something of this kind. 
 Do, dear brethren, let ^t be expunged from your creed. 
 
 BRETHREN OF THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION. You are a great and 
 growing people. Your influence is felt throughout the length and breadth
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 of our land. We rejoice in your prosperity. " May the Lord make you 
 to increase and abound in love one towards another, and toward all men." 
 In your prosperity we behold, in a measure, our own. Your baptism is 
 our baptism. Your church government is our government. Your doc- 
 trinal principles are ours; and there is nothing which constitutes any 
 real ground of separation, except the great and important subject we now 
 urge upon your attention. 
 
 The popularity you have gained as a Denomination, however, is not 
 owing to your Sabbath principles. It is founded entirely on your views 
 concerning the initiating ordinance of the gospel. These views are char- 
 acterized by that perfect simplicity, which markes every divine institution. 
 Hence you have won the affections of the common people, while, if you 
 had attempted to operate on them by a more complicated theory, failure 
 would have been the result. 
 
 This induces us to urge upon your notice the exceeding simplicity of the 
 Sabbatarian argument, compared with all those theories which stand in 
 opposition to it. It is adapted to persons of weak capacities, of whom 
 there are thousands in the kingdom of Christ. Any illiterate person can 
 open the Bible, and point to chapter and verse saying, "the seventh day 
 is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." This is plain ; he can understand 
 it. But talk to him about redemption being greater than creation ; re- 
 demption finished by the resurrection of Christ ; an event so important 
 ought to be commemorated; in order to do this, the day of the Sabbath 
 was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week : for all 
 which there is not a single "thus saith the Lord," nothing but the uncer- 
 tain deductions of human reason. Can he understand it ? No. It 
 requires an elevation of intellect which God has not given him. The 
 inferences and deductions are beyond his capacities. How then is he to 
 render an intelligent obedience ? If he conform his practice to the theory 
 thus set before him, it will not be because he understands it, but because 
 he is willing to trust the guidance of his mind to those who, he thinks, 
 know more than he does himself. This; therefore, is strong internal evi- 
 dence, that the keeping of the first day is not of God. For God's Book 
 is adapted not only to those of elevated intellect, but to the ignorant and 
 rude. Everything concerning our practice is plain even to wayfaring 
 men. Were it otherwise, we should conclude that the Bible is not an 
 inspired production. If it did not come down to the capacities of all, we 
 should infer that it was not made by Him who made all minds. Indeed 
 it would not, in such case, be a revelation to all, but only to the more 
 talented. But it is a revelation to all ; and he that obeys God, must do 
 it for himself; he that repents and believes, must do so for himself; and 
 at the great day, every one of us shall give account for himself unto 
 God. It is of the very last importance, therefore, that every one know 
 for himself the foundation of his faith and practice. 
 
 In thus urging the simplicity of the argument for the Sabbath, we are 

 
 18 APPEAL FOR THE SABBATH, 
 
 but doing what you do in regard to Baptism. Compare the cases. A 
 man of considerable intellect can reason from the Abrahamic Covenant, 
 lay propositions together, and draw inferences and deductions, until, finally, 
 he makes it pretty clear to his own mind, that the children of the flesh, 
 these are the children of God; Paul to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 But how is it with some good old Baptist sister, who can hardly lay two 
 ideas together, and draw a logical inference from them? Why, she 
 cannot tell anything about this reasoning from the Abrahamic Covenant. 
 Jt is something she does not understand. But she can open her Bible, 
 and point to chapter and verse for believer's baptism. She puts her finger 
 upon something that is just adapted to her capacities. As she has a soul 
 to save, an obedience to render, and an account to give, all for herself, 
 her practice is accordingly. Brethren, think this matter over, and see 
 whether ) r our reasoning on the Sabbath, is not very much akin to that of 
 those, who reason from the Abrahamic Covenant to Baptism. Think 
 seriously, whether it does not render intelligent obedience impossible to 
 vast numbers of Christians. Think whether a course of reasoning which 
 darkens a very simple subject, is not more specious than solid. 
 
 Again, your children are to be early instructed in this matter. How 
 do you succeed in making them understand it? Is your little child 
 capable of comprehending all this argument, which you found upon the 
 finishing of redemption by the resurrection of Christ ? Can you point 
 him to any plain passage, where Christ authorizes a change of the Sab- 
 bath ? How do you feel, when the little creature says, in the simplicity 
 of his heart, " Father Mother, does not the fourth Commandment require 
 the observance of the seventh day of the week ? But do we not keep the 
 first day ? I should think this is not keeping the Commandment." One 
 would think, you would bq forcibly reminded of that scripture, " Out of the 
 mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast ordained strength." Ps. viii. 2. 
 
 The extensive operations in which you are engaged for the conversion 
 of the world, render it in the highest degree important, that you should 
 not err on a question like this. If you are right, you ought to be very 
 certain of it. Among the heathen you are extending the observance of 
 Sunday, along with all your other sentiments. If you are thus sowing 
 the seeds of error instead of truth, the evils who can calculate ? Hence 
 you cannot too early begin to review your ground. Consider the diffi- 
 culties your missionaries already have to encounter, because of unscrip- 
 tural sentiments propagated among the heathen by those who loved their 
 souls. The poor, perishing idolators are witnesses to the clashing of 
 doctrine between Jesus Christ's men, and they ask, " Why is this ? You 
 have come to give us a gospel which professes to make its followers 'perfect 
 in one,' and yet you yourselves are divided." Yet you cannot in conscience 
 abandon your principles, nor dare you, in your translations, give to a 
 sentence or a particle one single turn, which will not fully express the 
 mind of the Holy Spirit. Dare you, then, without feeling the most entire
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE BAPTISTS. 19 
 
 certainty, teach them that God says " Remember the first day of the week 
 to keep it holy." The responsibility of the missionary, in this respect, is 
 not less than where his translation is concerned. Does he feel the same 
 awful sense of responsibility ? 
 
 From the heathen turn to the contemplation of the Jewish nation. The 
 time cannot be far distant, when those who " as touching the election are 
 beloved for the fathers' sakes," shall be called to behold the glory of 
 God in the face of Him they have so long long rejected. But in order 
 to this, a voice from the divine word cries, "Cast ye up, cast ye up, 
 prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my 
 people." Have Christians seriously considered what this stumbling-block 
 is ? For our own part, we are persuaded that nothing can be more justly 
 called by this name, than the general abandonment, on the part of Chris- 
 tians, of the Sabbath of the Lord. The Jews, taking it for granted, with- 
 out examination, that this abandonment is really taught by the Christian 
 religion, suppose that its author cannot be the true Messiah. They have 
 seen through every period of their nation's history, that God has put sig- 
 nal honor upon this institution. They have seen its sacredness elevated 
 high above that of the ceremonial institutions. They have heard their 
 prophets dwell upon the profanation of it as the crying sin of the land, ou 
 account of which the sore judgments of heaven came down upon it. If 
 is true, some teach that the whole Mosaic system was clothed with as 
 much sacredness as the Sabbath ; and that it was not for the sin of Sabbath 
 breaking, any more than for a disregard of the ritual service in general, 
 that they suffered the wrath of Jehovah. But such persons must have paid 
 only a superficial attention to the subject. The attentive reader cannot 
 but be struck with the fact, that while in the prophets the Sabbath is 
 exalted as of vast importance to the nation, and all its prosperity, and the 
 favor of God, seemingly suspended on the proper keeping of it, ceremo- 
 nial usages are comparatively depreciated. 
 
 Since the Sabbath holds such a sacredness throughout the ancient ora- 
 cles of God since the Israelites have taken their lessons of obedience to it 
 under " the rod of his wrath" since no grant was given to the Messiah 
 to set it aside, nor the least intimation ever made to the Jews that it would 
 be set aside can we wonder that they think that teacher to be an im- 
 postor who should break this Commandment, and teach men so ? 
 (, But there is a crisis approaching the day is near, and it hastoth 
 greatly when it will be indispensable that all those who truly love tho 
 Lord Jesus Christ, have their "loins girt about with truth." Popery is 
 preparing for another desperate struggle. The great principle of the 
 Reformation, that " the Scriptures are the only Rule of faith," is to be 
 discussed anew. In the Church of England this discussion has already 
 commenced. Rome has opened her sluices, and anti-Christian corruption 
 again threatens to flood the Church of God. As the water naturally seeks 
 such channels as may be already prepared, so will it be with this doc-
 
 20 APPEAt FO* THE 
 
 trine. What branch of Zion will foe next troubled ? Probably that which 
 makes the next widest departure from the great Protestant principle. 
 Then that which is next in order ; and so on. For it cannot reasonably 
 be expected to stop, until it reach that order of people which is governed 
 by the Bible alone. Upon all others the desolation must be more or less 
 extensive. For those who acknowledge the principle of departing from 
 the Bible in ever so small a degree, may be expected to exemplify it to 
 an indefinite extent, when the circumstances of the times are so modified 
 as to give occasion for it. As for yourselves, you do not admit the prin- 
 ciple of departing from the scriptures, but rather hold it in abhorrence. 
 The language of your creeds is explicit on this point ; and we know of no 
 denomination so forward to plead a strict conformity to this principle as 
 yourselves. Yet it is impossible for you to pretend, with any show of 
 modesty, that the scriptures expressly enjoin the keeping of Sunday as a 
 Sabbath to the Lord. You cannot say, from scripture authority, that the 
 apostles observed it as such. Nevertheless, your creed declares that it ought 
 to be so observed ; and your practice accords with your creed. Where- 
 fore it is as evident as mathematical demonstration, that you do depart 
 from the great Protestant principle. Consequently, if our views be correct 
 in regard to the crisis which is at hand, the time cannot be far distant, 
 when your own denomination will in some modified form be affected with 
 the heresy. You will then be compelled to abandon every principle and 
 practice, which can give the heresy the smallest advantage. 
 
 Do you think, brethren, that in your present position, you are prepared 
 for the great struggle ? When the Puseyite, replying to those who con- 
 tend for the Protestant maxim, refers to the observance of Sunday, and 
 says, " Here we are absolutely compelled to resort to the aid of ancient 
 usage, as recorded not by the inspired, but by the uninspired writers ;" 
 are you ready for the issue ? Can you confute what he says ? When 
 another one says, " The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : 
 we celebrate the first. Was this done by divine command ? No. I do 
 not recollect that the Saviour, or the apostles, say we shall rest on the first 
 day of the week instead of the seventh ;" and then concludes, " The same 
 reasons which urge you to dissent from the observance of the three grand 
 festivals of the Church of England, ought to operate with you respecting 
 the Sabbath ;" are you prepared to join issue with him ? Can you jus- 
 tify yourselves on your own principles ? If you can, we will confess our 
 short-sightedness. But indeed we fear, we tremble, in view of the crisis 
 which is approaching, when we look at the traditional usages prevailing 
 among Christians, and consider with what a tenacious grasp they are held. 
 O Lord God Almighty ! Thou who hast sworn that 'thy kindness shall 
 not depart from thy church, nor the covenant of thy peace be removed ;' 
 let not thy truth fall in the contest. 
 
 We mean not to goad your feelings, by charging upon you any of the 
 abominations of Popery. We are sure you would not cherish one of them,
 
 21 
 
 if you were conscious of it. But we take it for granted, that those who 
 are forward to take the mote out of their brother's eye, are willing to have 
 the beam taken out of their own. You have charged Pedobaptist denomi- 
 nations, over and over, with upholding Popery's chief pillar. You have 
 told them, that their zeal against the man of sin would avail them but lit- 
 tle, until they first rid themselves of his traditions. You have talked feel- 
 ingly of the sin of encumbering the ordinances of God with human inven- 
 tions. You have read the church of Christ many a good lesson on the 
 importance of holding the truth in its purity. In all this you have, doubt- 
 less,, been sincere. We have no fault to find with you ; for you have only 
 followed the Bible direction, " cry aloud, spare not, show my people their 
 transgression." In conformity with this direction, we would endeavor to 
 act our part, as faithful reprovers. Yet our desire is, to do it with meek- 
 ness, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. It may be we 
 know not that some of the abominations of the man of sin are cleaving 
 to us. If so, " let the righteous smite us, it shall be a kindness ; let them 
 reprove us, it shall be an excellent oil which shall not break our head." 
 Turn, brethren, to the 7th chapter of the prophecy of Daniel, and 35th 
 verse. You there find one spoken of who " shall speak great words 
 against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, 
 and think to change TIMES and LAWS." You have had no difficulty in 
 finding in this prophecy a reference to the law of baptism, as one of the 
 laws which this great power has changed ; but you have not shown satis- 
 factorily what are the times. You have usually referred them to the nu- 
 merous festivals and holy-days, which have been multiplied by the church 
 of Rome. But these were, times ESTABLISHED ; not times CHANGED. Will 
 you please to expound this passage a little more clearly ? Will you tell 
 us whether, under the gospel, there is any sacred time except the Sab- 
 bath ? We will not be unreasonably confident, but we are much mista* 
 ken, if you can give any clear and satisfactory construction to this pro- 
 phecy, without finding that something of Rome still cleaves to you. 
 ; Suffer us here to declare our conviction, that you could take no more 
 effectual step, toward converting the Christian world to right views about 
 baptism, than to embrace the Sabbath of the Bible. In your discussions 
 with Pedobaptists, you are constantly referred to the change of the Sab 
 bath, as proof that some things may be binding, which the scriptures do 
 not expressly enjoin. You have never met this argument fairly and 
 fully. To be sure, you always make an attempt to meet it. But how 
 do you do it ? By proving that Christ expressly enjoined his followers to 
 saotatize on the first day of the week ? By showing from express scrip. 
 ture testimony, that the apostles did actually rest from their labors on that 
 day ? No. Neither of these things have you ever shown : nor can you 
 show them. The whole head and front of your proof if proof it may be 
 called amount only to this; that the apostles and primitive Christiana 
 met together for worship on that day. It is true, by such a course you
 
 22 APPEAL FOR THE SABBATH, 
 
 have generally talked your opponents into silence, because by exposing 
 fully the defect of your reply, it would only render their own transgres- 
 sion the more glaring. But while you silenced them, you did not con- 
 vince them. While they saw that for one of your own customs you could 
 not plead a " thus saith the Lord," they felt comparatively easy under 
 all your rebukes, and naturally enough thought it not very important, 
 that they should have a "thus saith the Lord," for the sprinkling of 
 babes. 
 
 But a most important consideration, in view of this subject, is the influ- 
 ence of your large and powerful denomination upon an unconverted 
 world. Whatever your theory about the perpetuity of the sabbatic law 
 whatever your doubts and scruples about the use of the term Sabbath 
 under the gospel you cannot rid yourselves of a deep sense of the im- 
 portance of a day of rest to the world at large. Hence the resolutions of 
 your churches and conventional bodies, with regard to the profanation of 
 what you call the Lord's Day. Hence your plain, out-spoken censures 
 of running cars, stages, steamboats, and other public conveyances, on this 
 day. Hence your griefs and lamentations over those who make it a day 
 of recreation, or mirth. Hence your readiness to cooperate with those 
 bodies which are organized to suppress, if possible, the violation of the 
 Sabbath. We admire the principle which governs you in all this; but 
 we lament that it is not regulated by a better understanding of the sub- 
 ject. If you would promote right principles, you must be careful that 
 your proofs, and examples for illustration, are pertinent, and free from all 
 uncertainty. We are fully persuaded, that your Recommendations and 
 Pledges, your Resolutions and Associational Acts, will always meet with 
 defeat, until you can back them up by an express law of God, which will 
 urge and goad the violator's conscience wherever he may go. The con- 
 sciences of guilty men cannot be reached by the method you are pursu- 
 ing. You behold them desecrating the Sunday, and, in order to make 
 them lay it to heart as a sin, you bring down upon them what ? Apos- 
 tolic example ? New Testament intimations, and far-fetched inferences ? 
 No. None of these do you think of employing. But the Law, the all- 
 searching, sin-rebuking Law of God, is the only means you think of in 
 such a case. Nothing else suits your purpose, be your theory what it 
 may. But hear their reply. " Is the law of the Commandment upon us 
 TO-DAY ? That it was YESTERDAY, we allow ; for it says, ' the 
 seventh day.' That the law of the Commandment lies against us every 
 day, you will not pretend ; but only one day in seven. If that one day 
 was yesterday, you are yourselves as guilty as we ; and we, therefore, feel 
 comparatively comfortable. To be sure, some sense of the necessity of 
 keeping the Sabbath holy, does at times rest upon our minds ; and our 
 consciences, for the moment, reproach us ; but when we see you, and all 
 the Christian world, living in the neglect of it, we feel quite easy again, 
 and think our sin to be but a light one," Such may not be their precise
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE BAPTISTS. 23 
 
 language, but it is the exact expression of their hearts' feelings. Thus 
 even the Law fails in your hands, because you attempt to make it speak 
 what it will not speak. 
 
 If you ask its, " Do you meet with success in attempting to reach the 
 consciences of guilty, unbelieving men ?" we reply, that we have no 
 difficulty, except so far as you, and the whole body of First-Da^ Chris- 
 tians, stand in the way. We bring them to admit, openly and honestly, 
 the claims of God's law, and a sense of guilt momentarily rests upon 
 them. But immediately they turn to contemplate your practice, and their 
 hearts become hardened. We do, therefore, affectionately, but earnestly, 
 invite you to consider, how tremendous is your influence toward perpetu- 
 ating Sabbath -profanation in the land. Your numbers, your learning, 
 your talents, your wealth, your general respectability, all combine to 
 operate with overwhelming effect in this matter. 
 
 Our observations, if correct, go to show what a source of danger the 
 Sunday heresy is to the Moral Law. The Sabbath is a most important 
 precept of this law ; " the golden clasp," as an old writer quaintly observes, 
 " which joins the two tables together ; the sinew in the body of laws, which 
 were written with God's own finger; the intermediate precept, which par- 
 ticipates of the sanctity of both tables; and the due observance of which 
 is the fulfilling of the whole law." This important precept is either set 
 aside entirely ; or its edge, and keenness, and all its power to cut a sin- 
 ner's soul, so muffled by a transfer to another day, that the united efforts 
 of the church can do little or nothing toward impressing it on the con- 
 science. Here, then, is a relaxation of the standard of morality ; and 
 while the standard is relaxed with regard to this one precept, in vain do 
 we look for the Law, as a whole, to appear glorious in the eyes of men. 
 
 This remark will be strengthened, if we consider to what inconsistencies 
 the advocates of Sunday are driven. Some, in their zeal to defend it, 
 even go so far as to deny the Moral Law to be a rule of conduct to Chris- 
 tians. Others, though they admit the Law to be a rule of conduct, can- 
 not relieve themselves of, at least, seeming to undervalue it. When the 
 Sabbath discussion is out of sight, they speak out clearly, and without 
 equivocation, giving the fullest proof that they regard the Law as the un- 
 changeable standard of obedience. But, at other times, they reason from 
 the New Dispensation, in a manner so vague, and indefinite, that one is 
 puzzled to tell whether they regard the gospel as enforcing strict obedi- 
 ence to the Law, or not. Now he that is established in the clear truth, is 
 hampered with no such difficulties. There is, with him, not only the 
 naked and abstract admission, that the Moral Law is unchangeably bind- 
 ing ; but there appears such a beautiful, and perfect conformity between 
 this admission and the principles he inculcates, that the most common 
 minds are struck with it, and every doubt is scattered. 
 
 While you are fettered by such difficulties, is there no danger that the 
 Law will lose its sacredness ia the eyes of the people ? Surely there is.
 
 24 APPEAL FOR THE SABBATH, 
 
 * 
 
 There is danger, also, that your system of theology will be corrupted in 
 other particulars. Error goes not alone. Could an opinion exist in the 
 mind, circumscribed, and isolated, without affecting any of our other 
 principles, it would be comparatively harmless. But it is not more of a 
 truth, that a man who utters one falsehood, is obliged to tell twenty more 
 to hide it ; than that he who supports one error, is obliged to forge num. 
 berless others to give consistency to his creed. It is also a truth, which 
 reflection and daily observation will confirm, that nearly, if not quite, all 
 the heresies which ever infested the church of God, are traceable to some 
 loose motives concerning the Moral Law. Nothing, therefore, can be 
 more necessary, than that our creed give the greatest possible prominence 
 to the law as a standard of holiness ; and that our customs be in perfect 
 conformity with our creed. 
 
 Brethren, can we hope that the subject on which we have addressed 
 you, will receive your prayerful attention ? Almost your entire denomi- 
 nation has slumbered over it ; but may we not hope, that you will now 
 awake ? May we not hope, that it will be discussed in your private cir- 
 cles, and in your public assemblies ; in your Bible classes, and in your 
 Sunday schools: that it will be studied by your ministers, and by the 
 people in general ; and that every one will, in the deep desire of his soul, 
 pray, " Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may discern wondrous things 
 out of thy Law." 
 
 But if, on the other hand, we see a disposition to pass it by with cold 
 neglect an unwillingness to look the question in the face an attempt, 
 on the part of your teachers and leaders, to hush it up as a matter of no 
 importance -a studied effort to lead the people away from it, when they 
 are disposed to examine or teaching them that it is the spirit, rather 
 than the letter of the law that God requires we shall be constrained to 
 apply the language of him, who spake as never man spake " EVERY ONE 
 
 THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, 
 LEST HIS DEEDS SHOULD BE REPROVED." John ill. 20, 
 
 T HJB E y D
 
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 THE SABBATH VINDICATOR. 
 
 THIS PERIODICAL is designed to be published monthly by the GENERAL SABBATH TRACT 
 SOCIETY, under the editorial charge of Rev. George B. Utter, for sale and gratuitous dis- 
 tribution. The contributions to the funds of the Society do not yet warrant the Directors 
 in announcing its regular issue ; until which, additional numbers will be added from time 
 to time as circumstances will allow. 
 
 It will be. neatly printed on eight quarto pages, and published for the Society by J. "WIN- 
 CHESTER, at the New World Office, No. 30 Ann street, and by I. P. LABAGH, 138 Fulton 
 street. It is hoped that such as are desirous of seeing the Sabbath restored on the sound 
 basis of the Commandment, will interest themselves to give it the widest circulation. To 
 encourage this, it will be mailed to Subscribers at the following rates: 
 
 Single Subscribers, 50 cents a year, or 12 numbers. 
 
 4 copies to one address, (2 sheets,) .... 1 00 " 
 10 " " (5 ").... 2 00 " 
 
 40 c 5 00 " 
 
 90 " " 10 00 
 
 To Churches, Societies, or individuals, wishing them for distribution, they will be sold 
 as follows: 
 
 70 cooies sent to one address, by mail, $1 00 
 
 100 " " 1 25 
 
 1000 " " " " 10 00 
 
 VALUABLE TfOEKS ON THE SABBATH, 
 
 FOR SALE FOR THE GEN. SAB. TRACT SOC. BT 
 
 E. WALKER & CO. 114 FULTON ST. 
 
 DIFFERENT SENTIMENTS ENTERTAINED IN CHRISTENDOM RELATIVE 
 TO THE WEEKLY SABBATH. By Rev. R. Burnside, of London. A few copies 
 only on hand. 
 
 LETTERS ON THE SABBATH, between Wm. Parkinson and Wm. B. Maxson, con- 
 taining the whole correspondence. 
 
 Atso, the following numbers of a Series of 
 
 SABBATH TRACTS. 
 
 No. 1 An Apology for introducing the Sabbath of the fourth Commandment to the con- 
 sideration of the Christian Public. 28 pp. 
 
 No. 2 Moral Nature and Scriptural Observance of the Sabbath. 52 pp 
 No. 3 Authority for the Change of the Day of the Sabbath. 28 pp. 
 No. 4 A History of the Observance of the Sabbath since the Apostles. 46 pp.