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SCRIPTURAL VIEWS 
 
 THE SABBATH OF GOD. 
 
 KEY. JOHN JORDAN, B.A. 
 
 VI( AR OF ENSTON'F., OXOK. 
 
 " Ye shall keep. the Sabbath; for it i.s holy unto you : Six days may 
 work be clone ; but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest ; holy to the Lord." 
 
 E\o(l. xxxi. II, \j. 
 " The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabb.nth." — Luke vi, T). 
 
 LONDON : 
 PARTRIDGE & OAKEY, PATERNOSTER-ROW 
 
 PUBLISHERS TO TJIE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 
 
 AGENTS: M'COMBE. GLASGOW; ORR, I1>UnLIN. 
 1<S4S. 
 
TYLER AND REED, 
 
 PRINTF.RS, 
 BOl.T-COURT, FLEET- ST RKF.T 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The work now presented to the reader is 
 the fruit of long, and frequent, reflection 
 and preaching upon the subject by the 
 Author. It is not therefore hastily got up 
 for the present necessity, when the sabbath 
 is demanding in its defence all the efforts 
 of those who know its value and love its 
 blessedness ; but it is nevertheless, as the 
 writer would persuade himself, peculiarly 
 adapted to the urgency of the moment, 
 as endeavouring to fortify this holy ordi- 
 nance from the armoury of God's Word, 
 and to secure its principles and practice 
 upon that which is, and must be, its 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 only foundation, — the Holy Scripture. So 
 many, various, and contradictory, are the 
 popular, and even the theological views, 
 prevailing with respect to the sabbath, 
 that there seems to be the call as of old, 
 " We have need that one teach us again 
 which be the first principles of the oracles 
 of God." To comply with this demand 
 has been the single aim of the Author, in 
 treating of the principles upon w^hich the 
 sabbath can alone be based. He pretends 
 to nothing more than to have attempted to 
 follow the direct leadings and instruction 
 of Scripture respecting it, and he trusts 
 that he has been enabled to do this in such 
 a way, as neither to force Scripture be- 
 yond its meaning, nor to miss any of the 
 matter that it contains illustrative of his 
 subject. He has earnestly striven in this 
 particular to obey the precept of the great 
 lawgiver of Israel, '' Thou shalt not add 
 thereto, nor diminish therefrom." 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 In these times of controversy respect- 
 ing Church Principles, the change of day, 
 for the observance of the sabbath, from 
 the seventh day to the first, is one of those 
 points which persons of High-Cliurch 
 views are accustomed to pride themselves 
 upon, as a proof of the authority of the 
 Church, in other words, of Tradition ; and 
 to contend that this is an undeniable in- 
 stance of the exercise of such authority, 
 for that there is none in Scripture for the 
 change, and it was wholly and entirely 
 done by Church authority. The writer 
 confidently trusts that he has altogether, 
 and for ever, silenced such a boast as this ; 
 for he is convinced that he has shown 
 such proof from the New Testament, as 
 he was himself surprised to find when he 
 came to search the point out fully, and as 
 he feels assured must foreclose the argu- 
 ments of all gainsayers. That which he 
 has thus succeeded in, respecting one such 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 topic, involved in what are called Church 
 Principles, he is well persuaded may be 
 shown to be equally true as regards other 
 points, and he hopes ere long to have 
 an opportunity of explaining what his 
 own views are of real evangelical Church 
 Principles. 
 
 It has been the writer's privilege to be 
 allowed to bear a part in the preparation 
 of the *^ Tracts on the Sabbath,'' which 
 are now in the course of publication, and in 
 the composition of his own Tract he had 
 occasion to adapt and use some few of 
 the arguments that are contained in this 
 volume. Having thus referred to these 
 tracts he cannot forbear acquainting the 
 reader with the fact, that the same man 
 of God, to whom the religious world is 
 indebted for the origin and wide circula- 
 tion of them, has been in a great degree 
 instrumental in the appearance of this 
 volume. Consideration for his friend's feel- 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 ings forbid the Author to say more, but his 
 own will not allow him to say less. May 
 that friend not be disappointed, but may 
 the work, of which he is a sharer, effect 
 its desired end, — the glory of God, and the 
 increase of piety amongst our fellow-men. 
 
i\§jy 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PACE 
 
 Introduction xi 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Institution of the sabbath, and its principles as deve- 
 loped therefrom ,1 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 Primeval history of the sabbath 18 
 
 CHAPTER III, 
 
 Law of the Decalogue respecting the sabbath, and its 
 principles . 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 History of the sabbath during the Mosaic dispensation . 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Teaching of Christ and his Apostles relative to the sab- 
 bath, and substitution of the first day for the seventh . 84 
 b 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Testimony of profane -writers to the primitive institu- 
 tion of the sabbath 113 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Testimony of secular men to the fitness and blessedness 
 
 of the sabbath 154 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Practical application of the great principle of the sab- 
 bath 197 
 
INTRODUCTIOlSr. 
 
 In our title we have styled the holy day 
 of which we treat, " The sabbath of 
 God," and that not without a purpose, 
 In the first place, we believe this de- 
 signation of it to be both scriptural and 
 true. It is expressly so termed in Exod. 
 XX., being called, " The sabbath of the 
 Lord our God." This alone, then, would 
 justify our appellation of it, if we had 
 not an object in so naming it. But it 
 does seem to us essential, in this our day 
 of rebuke and blasphemy, distinctly and 
 avowedly to recognise it as the sabbath of 
 God. It was, indeed, as our Saviour 
 declares, mercifully " made for man," 
 but it was so made by God, and there- 
 fore is the sabbath of God; it was not 
 only so made, but first observed by God, 
 62 
 
XU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for when he had ended all his works that 
 he had made, he rested on the seventh 
 day and sanctified it, and it became there- 
 fore, by his observance as well as appoint- 
 ment, the sabbath of God. But do men 
 regard it as the sabbath of God ? — Do 
 they not rather practically, by the man- 
 ner in which they misapply it, lay claim 
 to it as their own, and not God's day ? 
 — Is there not a common notion abroad 
 in the world, that, to use this day to the 
 glory and honour of God, in works of 
 devotion and spiritual exercises, is to de- 
 prive men of a day which is theirs for 
 pleasure, and amusement, and relaxation ? 
 Surely this notion is the very root and 
 foundation of all the evils connected with 
 sabbath desecration. Men seem to think 
 it is their day, not God's day, and that, 
 having been made for man, man may use 
 it according to his own will, rather than 
 God's will. Now it is just to combat 
 this error, and to expose its fallacy, that 
 we desire to elevate the sabbath to its 
 proper dignity, place, and worth, by hold- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 ing it up to the contemplation of the 
 world as no day of man, but as the 
 sabbath of God, 
 
 The term sabbath, when used as 
 the title of that day, which under the 
 Christian dispensation is set apart as the 
 weekly day of rest and devotion, is a 
 term against which exception is taken by 
 various persons upon diiFerent grounds. 
 It is objected by some, that the term 
 being judaical savours of phariseeism, 
 and so originates a prejudice, by its very 
 name, against that beauty of holiness and 
 excellency of purpose which properly 
 belong to it, as primarily designed by 
 God. In this, however, there is a very 
 great mistake ; for, with respect to the 
 use of any term whatever, we may very 
 justly adopt the reasoning of the great 
 dramatist, and ask with him, 
 
 *' What 's in a name ? 
 
 A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" 
 
 But since the name rose is associated 
 in our thoughts with the delightful odour 
 of its balmy fragrance, the term rose 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 revives within us, by its very expression, 
 the remembrance of the flower's season 
 and its pleasures ; and roseate, or rosy 
 become synonymes of grace and elegance, 
 denoting in us sensations agreeable to 
 those derived from the flower, whose fra- 
 grance originated the whole train of our 
 ideas. And just so is it with the word 
 sabbath. If a pharisaical severity be 
 inculcated as the principle of the sab- 
 bath's observance, instead of that glad, 
 and joyous, and free spirit, which belongs 
 unto holiness and the presence of the 
 Lord, — for ** where the Spirit of the Lord 
 is there is liberty," and there too are 
 always found the concomitants of the 
 free spirit, ''joy and peace in behev- 
 ing ;" — if, instead of these, the sabbath 
 be made sad and austere, no wonder 
 that the term conveys to us such asso- 
 ciations as we have unhappily been ha- 
 bituated to, and thus the word itself 
 seems to lose that beauty and grace which 
 God intended it to teach. If again, on 
 the contrary, there be inculcated as the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 principle of sabbath observance, not a 
 hard service and bondage, making the 
 day irksome and heavy to be borne, but 
 those spiritual and sanctifying views of 
 it, which are revealed to us in Scripture 
 as the design and purport of its appoint^ 
 ment by God, then will the term sab- 
 bath not prejudice us against the grace 
 and blessing of the Lord's day ; then 
 will it not be associated in our mind:- 
 with Pharisaical severity or judaica! 
 strictness ; but it will teach us to under- 
 stand and know the full excellency of 
 the term itself, that sabbath is rest, that 
 its very signification denotes that which 
 the weary and heavy-laden need, and 
 would gladly partake of, and that it is, 
 as declared upon the authority of God 
 himself, " a dehght, the holy of the Lord, 
 honourable," Isa. Iviii. 13. 
 
 Again, it is objected, for much the same 
 reason as the former, that the term sab- 
 bath is puritanical, and therefore dis- 
 tasteful, and so prejudicial. The historian 
 Hume, writing of the reign of Charles L, 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 says, *' The House of Commons enacted 
 laws for the strict observance of Sunday,, 
 which the Puritans aiFected to call the 
 sabbath, and which they sanctified by the 
 most melancholy indolence. It is to be 
 remarked, that the different appella- 
 tions of this festival were, at that time,, 
 known symbols of the different parties."" 
 The Scripture vfell instructs us,, that, '^ the 
 wrath of man worketh not the righteous- 
 ness of God;" and it is not amongst the 
 strife of parties, where one side at leasts 
 the Royalists, had run into such extremes,, 
 as to have trodden dov^^^n with their dese- 
 crations God's holy day, and where, con- 
 sequently, there were great temptations 
 and peril to the other side of being swayed 
 too far in the op|x>site direction ; it is 
 not, I say, to such contradictory and 
 erroneous doings as these, that we are to 
 look for wise, and good, and faithful prin- 
 ciples respecting the day of peace, and 
 rest, and holiness. In judging of what 
 was puritanical and what not, let us 
 beware, that, in rejecting what we are 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVll 
 
 disposed to condemn as such, we do not 
 reject what was scriptural, although it 
 may have been puritanical also ; but let 
 us sift the chaff from the wheat, and, 
 separating the base metal from the pure, 
 cast away the dross as worthless, but trea- 
 sure up the fine gold of Ophir as an 
 offering worthy of Him who made it. 
 
 It may yet be said, why persist in the 
 use of a term w^hich has been misapphed, 
 and is susceptible, therefore, of so much 
 misconception ? The unimpeachable reply 
 to this is, because it is the scriptural 
 term, and w^e are bound to be jealous of, 
 faithful to, and conservative of all that is 
 scriptural. But here we are met with a 
 new objection. It is allowed to be scrip- 
 tural, but is represented as Mosaical, and 
 therefore no more to be conserved and 
 used under the Christian dispensation, 
 than all else that was Mosaical. Now if 
 it were only scriptural because Mosaical, 
 that is, because so peculiar and proper to 
 the Jewish dispensation, that it passed 
 away with it, and can have no place in 
 
XVIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Christian, that indeed, if proved, 
 would be a reason for renouncing not only 
 the name, but the institution itself. Biit 
 we contend, that the scripturality of the 
 sabbath, if the expression may be per- 
 mitted to us, is not Mosaical alone, but 
 was Adamic, Noachial, Patriarchal, Mo- 
 saical, and Christian ; that the sabbath, 
 in all its principles and excellences, is 
 adapted to, was recognised by, and is to 
 be found in, every era of Scripture, and 
 every dispensation of God ; that this its 
 scripturality gives it an authority with 
 all who believe the Scriptures to be the 
 inspired revelation of God's will to man, 
 and a claim, therefore, to their devout and 
 holy reverence of it as a Divine institu- 
 tion ; and that, since it is thus seen to 
 be an essential constituent of that reli- 
 gion which God has vouchsafed to man, 
 therefore the sabbath, both in name and 
 in spirit, is to be treasured up by man, as 
 a sign between his God and himself, that 
 He is our God; and we are privileged to 
 be his servants by observing his sabbath 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 day, and remembering it to keep it 
 holy. 
 
 This, then, is the main object of the 
 following pages, to exhibit the scriptu- 
 rahty of the sabbath, and, by drawing forth 
 in review before the reader the truths of 
 Scripture respecting it, to prove to him 
 that it is of God, that it is an institution 
 mercifully designed as a blessing for all 
 mankind, and one therefore that we, as a 
 people professing godhness, are bound to 
 uphold in all its integrity and beauty, and 
 to enjoy in all its sanctity and goodness. 
 The times are such as make this duty 
 at present fearfully incumbent upon us. 
 Sabbath desecration is walking abroad 
 through the length and breadth of the 
 land. It is becoming rapidly, if it have 
 not already become, a national sin. It 
 traverses and pervades that intricate net- 
 work of railway communication, which is 
 diffusing itself over the three kingdoms, 
 and threatens there to involve us in its 
 ironbound and inextricable meshes. It 
 rejoices in steam-boat excursions, flooding 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the banks of our rivers with that impious 
 revelry, and those unholy gratifications, 
 which sabbath-breakers are invariably ad- 
 dicted to. It desires to increase and mul- 
 tiply the burthens of life, by making the 
 post-office, that hitherto undiscovered won- 
 der, a machine of perpetual motion, so that 
 to those employed in it, as well as to those 
 who shall be purveyed to by it, the Sun- 
 day shall be no sabbath day. It seeks to 
 rob the labouring man of that portion of 
 time which God has given to him for his 
 own, and to appropriate to the benefit 
 and profit of the employer the additional 
 work, which the labourer may thus be 
 constrained to do ; for sure we are, that 
 eventually there would be no additional 
 pay for Sunday work, however much 
 the labour therein may be increased. It 
 enters into an unjust, unwholesome, and 
 demoralizing competition with the fair and 
 honourable tradesman ; for it is notorious 
 that those who traffic on the sabbath, are 
 not so just and upright in their dealings 
 as those who do not : nor is there any 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 marvel in this, for those who defraud God 
 of the honour due to Him on this day, will 
 care little how much they defraud their 
 fellow-men. In a word, it is found un- 
 dermining, and threatening with ruin, our 
 whole social system, wasting men's bodily 
 strength^ overtaxing their mental powers, 
 robbing them of the spiritual edification 
 and privileges that belong to them, leav- 
 ing them in heathen darkness and igno- 
 rance, hardening them by habitual defiance 
 of one of God's plainest and most blessed 
 laws, and, as the natural result and issue 
 of all this, multiplying iniquity, and crime, 
 and sin. 
 
 And what is the Church of God and of 
 his Christ doing all the while, for the con- 
 servation and holiness of the sabbath of the 
 Lord our God ? While worldly men feel 
 the need of the blessing of rest provided for 
 them in the sabbath, and are struggling in 
 various ways to obtain for themselves the 
 enjoyment of the blessing ; while public 
 meetings are being held to petition the 
 Legislature for help, and demanding that 
 
XXU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this Christian nation act out its Chris- 
 tianity, and maintain the privileges which 
 have hitherto exalted it as a nation, but 
 which are now well nigh being over- 
 whelmed by the flood of sabbath desecra- 
 tion that is everywhere breaking in ; while 
 men of business are complaining aloud 
 against the danger they are in of being 
 deprived of relaxation, and refreshment 
 from toil, upon the weekly day of rest; 
 w^hile they are stating the absolute, ac- 
 tual, and tangible practical grievances 
 which they feel and know by sad and 
 bitter experience ; while there is all this 
 direct testimony upon their part to the 
 evil they have to endure, and to the value 
 of the privilege they are deprived of; 
 what is the Church, the religious portion 
 of the community, engaged in ? They are 
 discussing and weighing, first, the nature 
 of the sabbath, and then how much, or 
 rather how little, of the sabbath principle, 
 is in our day to be turned into practice, 
 and made effectual. Now we contend 
 that the sabbath principle is one and in- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIll 
 
 divisible. We ask for the sabbath that 
 which our laws accord to every other day ; 
 that each one is a whole, and that no por- 
 tion of one can be taken apart from the re- 
 mainder, so that the law knows no part 
 of a day. We demand this for the sab- 
 bath. We ask no part of it, but a whole 
 sabbath. We cannot break or lessen the 
 principle of God's law, " Remember the 
 sabbath day to keep it holy." That law 
 in its integrity, unmutilated, and unde- 
 tiled, is all we ask. We claim what God 
 has given. We will not exorbitantly de- 
 mand more, but in faithfulness we cannot 
 accept less. We remember that our God 
 is a jealous God, and justly so towards us 
 his creatures 3 respecting all his laws and 
 enactments. In jealousy for his honour 
 as bound up in the day which he has 
 graciously bestowed upon man, we claim 
 the whole principle of holiness, and its 
 application to the sabbath in such a way 
 that the whole day be kept holy. A sab- 
 bath, a whole sabbath, and no less than a 
 sabbath, is all we ask, and is what by the 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 written word of our God we know that 
 we are entitled to. 
 
 This, then, we repeat again, in conclu- 
 sion, is the main object of the following 
 pages, in which it has been attempted to 
 exhibit, and to base upon the unerring 
 foundation of the incorruptible word, that 
 principle of holiness which we beheve to 
 be the one chief and pervading principle 
 of the sabbatical institution. It is a holy 
 day, made holy of God, to be kept holy 
 by man, and to be made obvious as hoh- 
 ness unto the Lord. This is what we are 
 persuaded is the truth of Scripture re- 
 specting it ; and this, we trust, will be fully 
 made manifest in the chapters that suc- 
 ceed. May they be blessed of God to his 
 own glory, to the hallowing of the sabbath 
 day, and thereby, as a means of grace, to 
 the sanctification of those souls, who may 
 be led by it to think more worthily of 
 God's day, and to remember it to keep it 
 holy more faithfully for the future. 
 
 Enstone, Oxon, Nov. 18, 1847. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH, AND ITS PRINCIPLES 
 AS DEVELOPED THEKEFKOM. 
 
 " Hath it not been told you from the beginning ?" 
 Isaiah xl. 21. 
 
 In the time of man's innocency in Paradise, 
 there was imposed upon him by his Creator 
 only one law, — " of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil, thou shalt not eat," Gen. ii. 17. 
 But while thus exempt from all other com- 
 mandments, certain principles , incidental to his 
 nature, and needful for the good of himself and 
 his posterity, were revealed to him, as rules of 
 action, and as expressing the Divine will for his 
 and their guidance during their sojourn upon 
 earth. Such, for example, was the holy prin- 
 ciple upon which is founded the solemn bond 
 of marriage, and which is recorded in these 
 words, " Therefore shall a man leave his father 
 
2 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH ; 
 
 and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : 
 and they shall be one flesh/' Gen. ii. 24. For 
 this, as recorded by Moses, is not given in the 
 form and manner of a law, hut as a just and 
 necessary inference from what God had just 
 done for Adam. He had made for him one 
 wife, and only one, and this of course estab- 
 lished the principle, that man should have but 
 one wife, and " forsaking all others should 
 keep her only unto him so long as they hoth 
 should live." — Accordingly Moses, having 
 stated the fact, as recognized and acknow- 
 ledged by Adam, *^ This is now bone of my 
 bone and flesh of my flesh," proceeds to record 
 also the general principle arising out of the 
 fact, *' therefore shall a man leave his father and 
 his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and 
 they shall be one flesh." This principle, how- 
 ever early disregarded, — as evidenced in the case 
 of Lamech, Gen. iv. 19, before the flood; how- 
 ever much forgotten, and therefore neglected, 
 in the tunes of the patriarchs, who allowed 
 themselves concubines, as well as in some cases 
 more than one wife ; however much relaxed by 
 the law of Moses, who, " because of the hard- 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. S 
 
 ness of men's hearts, suffered them to put away 
 their wives," Matt. xix. 8, — still endured, like 
 every other principle uttered by the Divine 
 mind, immutable in nature, though not incor- 
 ruptible in practice. The practice devolved 
 upon man, and has partaken therefore of his 
 corrupt and fallen condition ; but the nature of 
 the principle being Divine, is, like everything 
 of God, unchangeable and invariable. Accord- 
 ingly, when our Divine Redeemer was appealed 
 to upon earth respecting this very matter, and 
 was asked whether the holy bond of matrimony 
 might be broken, — as it then commonly was for 
 every and for any cause, however slight or fri- 
 volous, — he reverted at once to the original 
 principle upon which marriage was founded ; he 
 reminded them of its primitive institution, and 
 asked them, " Have ye not read, that he which 
 made them at the beginning made them male 
 and female : and said, For this cause shall a 
 man leave father and mother, and shall cleave 
 to his wife : and they twain shall be one flesh," 
 Matt. xix. 4, 5. 
 
 But if our Saviour thus recognised, and has 
 taught us to reverence one such principle as this, 
 B 2 
 
4- INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH ; 
 
 which was revealed in the time of man's inno- 
 cency in Paradise, surely it is but just and reason- 
 able to argue, that any other principle we may 
 discover, as there revealed, must be like the one 
 we have been considering as immutable and in- 
 variable ; and however much it may have been 
 from age to age neglected and disregarded, is, 
 nevertheless, equally binding and influential now 
 upon us. And just such a principle is that of 
 the Sabbath, which is thus propounded. ** On 
 the seventh day God ended his work which he 
 had made ; and he rested on the seventh day 
 from all his 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," Gen. ii. 
 2, S. Now, here is no law, in the sense of a 
 commandment directing something to be done 
 or avoided, but a grand principle, having refer- 
 ence to the time then present, and to all time 
 thereafter. God does not say to Adam, ** rest 
 thou on the seventh day, and remember the 
 sabbath day to keep it holy ;" but God himself 
 rests thereon, and God himself blesses it, and 
 sanctifies it; and it must be self-evident to 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. O 
 
 every understanding mind, that Adam, who 
 was at this time in the full enjoyment of that 
 holy and righteous likeness to God, in which 
 he had been made, must needs, out of the in- 
 fluence of that likeness, act in conformity with 
 the mind and will of God ; and as his Creator 
 rested on the seventh day, and blessed and 
 sanctified the sabbath day, so must Adam, 
 also, perforce as it were of the spirit within 
 him, so long as he was innocent, both rest on 
 the seventh day, and bless and sanctify the 
 sabbath day. The creature, who had been 
 made by his Creator like unto himself, must 
 needs act in conformity with that likeness, 
 that is, in agreement with his own nature, and 
 must be holy even as God is holy ; manifesting 
 his holiness by acts correspondent to the holi- 
 ness of God. Consequently there can be no 
 question whatever, that Adam, as long as he 
 continued innocent, and we know not how long 
 this was, must from his very nature, from the 
 divine mind within him, have kept the sabbath 
 of God. 
 
 What he had done in the time of his inno- 
 cency, and of a free and willing mind, his 
 
6 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH ; 
 
 memory and reason would have prompted him 
 to, after his transgression and fall. For if the 
 holy sabbath was a blessing to him before, it 
 would be infinitely more so now, since it would 
 not only serve to remind him of those blessed 
 seasons spent in communion with God, but 
 would also be a special means under the grace 
 and favour of God of assisting to recover him 
 from his fall, and to restore him in a degree, 
 however low, to the privileges and intercourse 
 he had before enjoyed. It is therefore " apt, 
 and of great credit," that Adam would observe 
 and keep the principle that he brought with 
 him out of Paradise, would transmit it to his 
 posterity, and ensure, as far as he could to 
 them, so blessed an inheritance. And that this 
 was really so, we trust to be able to prove by 
 some remarkable facts, that are to be elicited 
 from a careful examination of the history, 
 which will be referred to in a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
 Meanwhile, we will consider the essential 
 points of the principle, upon which the sabbath 
 has been instituted, and which have not, as we 
 conceive, been rightly discussed and discerned. 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. 7 
 
 In the first place, we would remark, that al- 
 though we have spoken of the words in Gen. 
 ii. 2, 3, as revealing a principle to us, rather 
 than formally expressing a law, yet we as God's 
 creatures are bound to recognise and reverence 
 the revelation of such a principle in the light 
 of a law, and to obey it accordingly. For this 
 our Saviour has taught us with respect to the 
 principle of matrimony. That principle is re- 
 vealed in Gen. ii. 24, just as this one is, and is 
 not formally expressed as a law, yet our Lord 
 has taught us to use and apply it as such, and 
 as such therefore are we bound to receive it. 
 So must we do the very same with the principle 
 respecting the sabbath which God has revealed 
 to us. His revelation of it, as being his will, 
 makes it to us a law, and thus the sabbath 
 principle becomes a law to us. Again, it is to 
 be observed, that many contend that in the 
 principle of the sabbath institution is involved 
 the necessity of observing the. seventh day of 
 every week, rather than the first, the fourth, or 
 any other. Now this we regard as an error. 
 This we conceive to be " serving in the oldness 
 of the letter, not in the newness of the spirit." 
 
8 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH ; 
 
 We deny not, nor question for a moment, that 
 the first sabbath was the seventh day, that suc- 
 ceeding sabbaths were the succeeding seventh 
 days, that even subsequently in the law of Sinai 
 the seventh day was specially ordained, and that 
 in commemoration of what God had done in 
 the beginning ; but for all this we are prepared 
 to contend that the seventh day was not the 
 'principle of the sabbath, but, so to speak, and 
 with all reverence, the accident of its obser- 
 vance from the beginning, and thenceforward. 
 What we mean by the seventh day being the 
 accident and not the principle of its obser- 
 vance, may thus easily be explained. Had the 
 Almighty rested midway in his work, on the 
 fourth instead of the seventh day, and subse- 
 quently completed it, then there would have 
 been so obvious a designation of the fourth day, 
 as to leave no question that that was the espe- 
 cial one ordained for the sabbath. But since 
 He steadily pursued his work from its com- 
 mencement to its conclusion, not resting until 
 the whole was done, resting the seventh day 
 after six days' labour, was a necessary conse- 
 quence of the completion of his work, and 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. V 
 
 thus it happened that the sabbath fell on the 
 seventh day. 
 
 Hence, then, it is obvious that the sanctifica- 
 tion 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 appoint- 
 ment of the sabbath that it should be the 
 seventh day ; for if this were to be insisted on, 
 if the letter were to be adhered to, and not the 
 spirit of the principle, then could no more than 
 this be shown — that that first seventh day, and 
 none other, was blessed and sanctified. Let 
 this point be well weighed and considered by 
 the advocates of the strict literal application of 
 the passage to the seventh day only, and it will 
 be seen that, to be consistent with themselves, 
 they must allow, that not each and every re- 
 turning seventh day was sanctified, but only 
 that single and solitary one on which God 
 rested from creation ; a conclusion to which 
 they will hardly like to come, though an in- 
 evitable one, upon their own showing and 
 arguments. The just and reasonable mode of 
 escaping from such an inference is, that under- 
 standing of the passage which applies it, not to 
 
10 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH ; 
 
 the one original day, nor yet to the periodical 
 return of that day, which might be lost ; but 
 according to the more appropriate principle, 
 that one day in every seven was to be so 
 honoured. 
 
 In fact, 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 to man was, six days 
 for labour, and one for rest, to be blessed and 
 sanctified. Whether the one so recurring hap- 
 pened in fact to be the seventh or not, was no 
 part of the principle. One-seventh of man's 
 time was sanctified to God ; and as none but 
 the present is our own, so we must render pay- 
 ment of the debt as it recurs. One out of 
 every seven days was sanctified of God. One 
 day, returning at this regular interval of time, 
 was blessed of him. This is the immutable 
 principle of God, abundantly made manifest by 
 its own reasonableness, fitness, and adaptation 
 to the bodily and spiritual wants of man. This 
 is the indefeasible privilege of man, derived 
 from God, who has so constituted the earth, 
 that, though man must till it in the sweat of 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. 11 
 
 his brow, his six days' labour, exercised with 
 diligence and faithfulness, is abundantly ade- 
 quate to cultivate 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 renewal of his 
 soul. 
 
 For it is further worthy of remark, that as 
 the seventh day is not the principle, but one 
 day in every seven ; so also the resting on the 
 sabbath is not the principle of its observance, 
 but the sanctification of it. The resting is but 
 the means to an end, that end being the hallow- 
 ing the sabbath day. But, mere abstinence 
 from labour can but affect the body, and as the 
 cipostle Paul admirably remarks, " Bodily exer- 
 cise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable 
 unto all things," 1 Tim. iv. 8. Therefore the 
 mere refraining from labour on the sabbath is 
 not the principle developed respecting it in the 
 beginning, nor that on which the institution is 
 based. The rest, though profitable in its de- 
 gree, is not the fulness of the blessing ; the 
 rest, though needful, as clearing the day from 
 worldly and distracting occupations, and there- 
 
12 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH ; 
 
 fore so far well, is not '* the one thing need- 
 ful ;" and if divorced, as it too often is, from 
 the essential principle of the day, its sanctifica- 
 tion, it is capable and liable, as all blessings 
 conferred upon man are, of being perverted to 
 evil uses, by affording the opportunity of idle- 
 ness for sin, and confirming in a notable in- 
 stance the truth of the poet's v\^ords, that 
 
 " Satan finds some mischief still 
 For idle hands to do." 
 
 But the glory and excellency of the principle 
 consist in sanctifying the sabbath day ; in keep- 
 ing the day of rest holy; in refraining from 
 Vi^orldliness, and being exercised in godliness; 
 in being as it v^ere " dead in the flesh, but 
 quickened in the spirit," 1 Pet. iii. 18 ; '* dead 
 indeed unto sin, but alive unto God." " Be 
 ye holy, for I am holy," was the great prin- 
 ciple and design of the law ; " every one," 
 sajs St. John, " that hath this hope (of seeing 
 God) in him purifieth himself, even as he is 
 pure ;" and when He, the pure and holy one, 
 has purified and sanctified one day in every 
 seven, if we would be like him, and hope to 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. 13 
 
 see him face to face, we also must purify and 
 sanctify the day to Him. 
 
 Such, when stripped of all adventitious cir- 
 cumstances, which the learning, wit, and in- 
 genuity of man have contrived from age to age 
 to heap upon it, encumbering and beclouding 
 the subject, rather than relieving or enlighten- 
 ing it ; such is a simple and unsophisticated 
 view of the origin of the principle, on which 
 rests the institution of the sabbath ; a blessing 
 of God, as wisely adapted to the absolute ne- 
 cessities of man, both temporal and spiritual, 
 as it has been graciously vouchsafed to him 
 by his Maker, and amply justifying the reason- 
 able declaration of our Lord, " the sabbath 
 was made for man, and not man for the sab- 
 bath." When the Almighty spake the primitive 
 blessing upon the seventh day, and sanctified 
 it, his word was as influential and perpetual 
 upon it, as when he blessed Adam and Eve, 
 and said unto them, "Be fruitful, and mul- 
 tiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it ;" 
 and as surely as this latter blessing endures and 
 prevails upon our kind, so surely does the 
 former, which rested upon the sabbath day to 
 
14- INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH; 
 
 its sanctification. That hallowed blessing im- 
 pressed it with a sacred character, which is in- 
 delible, and which the pious believer never fails 
 to see, and feel, and experience, with a power 
 and vitality, that make the same sun, and air, and 
 trees, and all creation, seem lovelier then than 
 on any other day. Who has not felt this glow 
 of the sabbath, when all nature seems con- 
 spiring to keep it, and which, whether it pro- 
 ceeds from sensations within, or impressions 
 from without, is a feeling which piety knows 
 and delights in ? Thus the seventh day is sanc- 
 tified of God, to be holy to himself for man's 
 use and blessing. He may disregard, neglect, 
 and despise it ; but he cannot change or alter 
 its destiny. "Loving darkness rather than light, 
 because his deeds are evil ;" he may turn day 
 into night, and scorn the value, and the glory, 
 and the blessing of that luminary, which shines 
 with his meridian splendour in the firmament ; 
 but the sun still holds on his course unremit- 
 tingly in the heavens as God has ordained ; he 
 rises, shines, and sets — yea, though all men re- 
 fuse his genial rays. None can blot him out, or 
 draw a cloud athwart his light, though many 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. 15 
 
 shun his radiant glory. He can neither move, 
 nor change, nor diminish, but at the bidding of 
 Him who created him. The same is the im- 
 perishable sanctity of the sabbath. " God hath 
 blessed^ and who shall reverse it ?" So long as 
 time shall endure, and until that eternal sab- 
 bath, which remaineth for the people of God, 
 shall have begun, the earthly sabbath must 
 maintain the nature given to it of God ; and 
 the seventh day, that is, the one-seventh portion 
 of time, must be sanctified, as it has been by 
 the fiat of the Most High, to his own special 
 service and honour. It is separated from all 
 the rest of time, and hallowed of God. This 
 is its own peculiar characteristic which God 
 has impressed it with, that it is *^ holiness 
 unto the Lord."* 
 
 If it be objected, as it may be by some unin- 
 structed persons, that our comparison of the 
 sabbath to the sun is unapt and untrue, for that 
 the sun is palpable to the visual ray, and 
 obvious to the sight ; but that the glory of the 
 sabbath is not so discernible, and is not dis- 
 
 * Exod. xxxi. 15, where the marginal reading is "holi- 
 ness," &c. 
 
16 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH; 
 
 coverable where unobserved: we answer un- 
 hesitatingly, that the error is with the objector, 
 and not with us. What, if one incapable of 
 vision, should elevate his sightless eyeballs 
 towards the firmament, and because he could 
 not discern the glory of the luminary that 
 shone there, should deny its existence and its 
 splendour ? Would his denial lessen the 
 brightness of the orb, obscure its rays, or 
 hinder our enjoyment of its light ? The fault 
 is in him who wants the faculty to behold the 
 sun, not in the sun itself, or in us who are per- 
 mitted to see it. And just so it is with the 
 sabbath. It is spiritual, and can only be spi- 
 ritually discerned. Those only discern and 
 enjoy it whose eyes are opened to see, and 
 know its holy and sanctified nature. Others 
 may refrain thereon from worldly labour, and, 
 as they imagine, rest from toil while they toil 
 for pleasure ; but these must, sooner or later, 
 learn that, with such an observance of it, 
 
 " The Sunday shines no sabbath day to them;" 
 
 and that this, like all other blessings given to 
 us of God, has no other grace or goodness than 
 
ITS PRINCIPLES DEVELOPED. 17 
 
 that which he has impressed upon it, and which 
 he pronounced so powerfully from Mount 
 
 Sinai 
 
 (( 
 
 REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT 
 HOLY." 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 PRIMEVAL HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient 
 times." — Psa. Ixxvii. 5. 
 
 It has been again and again argued by some, 
 who contend that the sabbath was first insti- 
 tuted at Mount Sinai, that there is no record 
 of, or reference to the observance of it, until 
 that period, and that it is inconceivable, if it 
 were in use during so long a time, that it 
 should never once be mentioned in the history. 
 Plausible as such an argument at first view 
 appears, we trust to be enabled to show, that, 
 if true in fact, the silence upon which it is 
 founded would not warrant such a conclusion ; 
 but that in reality the very contrary is the case, 
 and that there are some very strong and forcible 
 indications of the observance of the sabbath 
 from, and through, the very earliest ages of the 
 world. 
 
PRIMEVAL HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 19 
 
 We will first consider the supposed silence 
 of the history. From the Creation to the 
 Deluge was a period of 1655 years, during all 
 which time it is said there is no mention of the 
 observance of the sabbath, consequently, it 
 could not have been observed. But long as 
 this period was, what are the facts recorded of 
 it? Most surprisingly few, only just enough 
 to show the cause of the multiplication of sin, 
 namely, the unhallowed marriages of the sons 
 of God with the daughters of men, and that 
 extreme intensity of human corruption, which 
 required the baptism of the Flood to purge 
 away, and justified this righteous and most ter- 
 rible judgment of God ; but in none of these 
 does the opportunity of direct reference to the 
 sabbath occur, and the paucity of the fticts 
 might fully explain the silence alleged. 
 
 Again ; from the time of the Deluge to the 
 call of Abraham was a period of 428 years, and 
 the only incident mentioned during that space 
 of time, is the confusion of tongues at Babel ; 
 but this again does not afford room in the his- 
 tory for any statements relative to the observ- 
 ance of the sabbath. During the patriarchal 
 c2 
 
20 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 times, indeed, the history was more full ; but if 
 at that distant period, from the enunciation of 
 the principle of marriage, we find the greatest 
 neglect of that principle prevailing, what won- 
 der that the sabbath should have been neg- 
 lected also, although the memory of it was not 
 wholly lost ; as we will presently endeavour to 
 show from some very remarkable references in 
 Scripture hardly noticed hitherto. Meanwhile, 
 however, and just for the sake of argument, 
 let us suppose it to be proved, that no primitive 
 traces could be found. What then ? — Will the 
 absence of any records of the observance of a 
 law prove that the law has never been enacted ? 
 It might afford presumption of this, but no 
 more ; and presumptions of this kind are always 
 very questionable, as we can show by offering 
 one on this very subject exactly similar, and 
 which is, nevertheless, contradicted by the record 
 of the law of Sinai itself. From the period of 
 the final review of his dispensation by Moses, 
 Deut. v., about 1451 b.c, to that of Amos the 
 herdman of Tekoa, whom some place as late 
 as 787 B.C., and others as early as 810 B.C., 
 that is, for a space of probably 66^! years, but 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 21 
 
 certainly not less than 641 years, there is no 
 reference at all to the sabbath. But does this 
 long silence prove, or even give colour to the 
 presumption, that the law of Sinai v^as never 
 delivered? And if it cannot do so with re- 
 spect to that law, it must be with the greatest 
 caution indeed, that we pretend to use it with 
 respect to the original one in Paradise, so 
 plainly announced by Moses in the beginning 
 of Genesis. But, in fact, the silence alleged 
 will be found to be incapable of proof, and we 
 trust to be able to show in the following pages 
 that there are, both in sacred and profane his- 
 tory, some very plain indications of an institu- 
 tion such as that, which Moses has recorded the 
 origin of in the time of man's innocency, while 
 yet he was in the enjoyment of Eden. 
 
 The first that we meet with is the expression 
 in Gen. iv. 3, referring to the time when Cain 
 and Abel nrutually brought their offerings to 
 the Lord. The very fact of their coming to- 
 gether, and that for the purpose of worship, 
 would of itself lead to the supposition that the 
 time must have been a stated one, and well 
 known and recognized by both ; for otherwise 
 
22, PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 we cannot conceive what could have induced 
 the jealous Cain to unite with the pious Abel 
 in the worship of Jehovah. Had there not 
 been a special day set apart for worship, we 
 should rather have expected Cain to avoid that 
 which Abel chose, from hatred and envy of 
 him. It is however plainly implied, that there 
 was a certain known time at which they both 
 together worshipped God. The expression 
 denoting this is rendered in the text of the 
 Bible, " In process of time it came to pass ;" 
 but in the margin, *' At the end of days it came 
 to pass." Now this latter is not only prefer- 
 able as a construction of the original, but it 
 directly points to that day which was ** the end 
 of days," the last that is of the seven, the 
 seventh day, on which God ended the work 
 that he had made, and which he had blessed 
 and sanctified, because that in it he had 
 rested from all his work which God created 
 and made. And thus we have the seventh day 
 plainly indicated to us as that which was com- 
 monly used for the public worship of God, and 
 was thereby hallowed and honoured in agree- 
 ment with its Divine appointment. 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 23 
 
 Already, too, we find the number seven em- 
 ployed as a number of peculiar force and 
 power, such as we shall have many instances of 
 to produce hereafter. For when Cain trem- 
 bled for himself, because of the curse pro- 
 nounced upon him, and feared that every one 
 that found him would slay him, the Lord said 
 to him, " Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, 
 vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." 
 Now, it might be inferred from hence, that the 
 Lord himself originated this use of the number 
 seven ; but we incline to a different opinion. 
 It seems more agreeable to God's dealings with 
 man, in which he delights to show his con- 
 descension to his creature, in order to win him 
 to himself, that he should adopt and use a 
 phrase well known to his creature, rather than 
 originate one for the occasion ; and therefore 
 we infer, that it had an existence and use 
 amongst men previous to its employment by 
 the Lord, and indicates amongst them some 
 institution or custom, whence it must have 
 been derived. And this view of the subject is 
 confirmed by the manner in which Lamech, in 
 his own case, multiplies the expression, when 
 
24 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 he says, " If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, 
 truly Lamech seventy and seven fold." We 
 conclude, then, that here already there are 
 hints, if not much more than hints, v^^hen we 
 consider the extreme paucity of the records 
 themselves, indicating just such an institution 
 as the weekly or seventh-day sabbath was. 
 
 But we have still more remarkable evidence 
 than this to produce, connected with the period 
 of the Deluge. Of this occurrence, and of the 
 circumstances connected with it, we have fuller 
 and more detailed, accounts than of any other 
 event of the age. Compared with the rest of 
 the history of this era, the account of the Flood 
 is remarkably precise, accurate, and extended. 
 Here then, if anywhere, we may expect to 
 find traces and indications of the sabbath ; and 
 here, as we believe, and trust to be able to 
 prove, they will be found to be very clear and 
 decisive. We will endeavour to exhibit the 
 evidence to be gleaned from the occurrences 
 connected with the Flood, in as concise and 
 plain a manner as possible. The attentive 
 reader of the history will observe, that there 
 are a number of days mentioned with consider- 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 25 
 
 able care ; and we will, therefore, first explain 
 and connect these in a general view. In doing 
 this it will be our object to show respecting 
 them, first, their several positions throughout 
 the year, as days of the year, numbered in a 
 continuous series, from 1 to 360 for the year; 
 and then to point out, as may be easily done, 
 the places in the weeks, which such days may 
 severally be conceived to have occupied, upon a 
 supposition which will then be explained. In 
 pursuing this inquiry there is but one particular 
 to advise the reader of, and that is, that in 
 these early periods, the months were always 
 reckoned as containing thirty days, and the 
 year, consequently, as being of o60 days 
 only ; and that these records of the Deluge 
 abundantly prove this. We proceed, then, to 
 arrange the days referred to in the history 
 accordingly. 
 
 1. In Gen. vii. 4, 10, 11, will be found two 
 days described ; the one as occurring seven 
 days before the seventeenth day of the second 
 month of the 600th year of Noah's life ; 
 the other, as being the seventeenth day itself. 
 Now the former of these will be found to be 
 
»b PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 the fortieth day of the year, and the latter 
 the forty-seventh. 
 
 2. In Gen. xii. 17, it will be seen that the 
 flood was forty days upon the earth ; that is, 
 it rained forty days and forty nights, the last of 
 which period would be the eighty- seventh day 
 of the year. 
 
 3. In Gen. vii. 24, and viii. 4, it will be 
 seen that the waters prevailed 150 days; and 
 that on the seventeenth day of the seventh 
 month, the ark rested on Mount Ararat. These 
 two days will be found to coincide, and to be 
 the 197th day of the year. 
 
 4. In Gen. viii. 5, will be found a day de- 
 scribed as the first day of the tenth month, 
 which is the 27 1 st day of the year. 
 
 5. In Gen. viii. 6 — 12, will be found four 
 days described, the one as being forty days 
 after the mountains were seen, and as that on 
 which the raven was sent out ; and the other 
 three as occurring each at intervals of seven 
 days, and these will be the 311th, 318th, 325th, 
 and 332nd days of the year. 
 
 6. In Gen. viii. 13, will be found a day, which 
 was the first of the first month of the 601st 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 27 
 
 year of Noah's life ; and which, carrying on 
 into this year the same series of numbers com- 
 menced in the preceding, would be the 361st 
 day. 
 
 7. In Gen. viii. 14, is described the seven- 
 and-twentieth day of the second month ; which, 
 according to the same plan, would be the 417th 
 day. 
 
 Having thus drawn out these various days, 
 in such a manner as to know their exact rela- 
 tive positions throughout the years, we can now 
 the more easily inquire if they can have any 
 further positions assigned them, so as to deter- 
 mine what days of the week they were. And 
 this we think can be done, very satisfactorily, 
 upon one hypothesis. There are four days 
 specially noted as occurring at regular intervals 
 of seven days ; and this fact alone might lead 
 us to regard them as having something peculiar 
 about them. They are signalised, moreover, as 
 the days on which the raven was sent out once, 
 and the dove three times. Being thus remark- 
 able in every way, both as seventh days and for 
 their events, we conceive it to be in the highest 
 degree probable, and certainly very plausible, 
 
28 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 that these were the regularly recognised seventh 
 days of each week, that is, the sabbath days. 
 
 But this being admitted, or assumed, all the 
 other days described above, must range in the 
 weeks throughout the year, according to their 
 position in the years relatively to these four, 
 and we shall find them to stand thus : — The 
 40th, 47th, and 271st, were second days of 
 the week; the 87th, 311th, 318th, 325th, and 
 332nd, were seventh days of the week ; the 
 197th was the fifth day of the week ; and 
 the 361st and 417th were first days of the 
 week. 
 
 Now the appropriateness of these days to their 
 several occurrences will, we think, further tend 
 to illustrate and confirm the view we take of 
 them. Thus, for example, the fortieth was the 
 day on which Noah entered the ark, and the 
 forty -seventh was that on which the flood 
 began, and both of these were second days of 
 the week. But since it had been on the second 
 day of the week of creation, that God had 
 divided the waters which were under the firma- 
 ment from the waters which were above the fir- 
 mament, so when he reversed his decree for a 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 29 
 
 time, and the windows of heaven were opened, 
 to pour down upon the earth the waters above 
 the firmament, the second day was most suitable, 
 as reminding the world, that he, who can make 
 by his word, can unmake by the same word ; and 
 that he, who had originally ordered all things 
 good, was now pleased in judgment to undo his 
 own work for a season. So again, the 271st day, 
 being that on which the tops of the mountains 
 were seen, was appropriately a second day, as 
 reminding Noah and his family that God would 
 restore all things as at the first, and that the 
 waters were being gathered once more above 
 the firmament, and stored there to drop fatness 
 upon the earth. 
 
 That the eighty-seventh day, being the con- 
 clusion of the forty days during which it ceased 
 not to rain night and day, should be the seventh 
 day, was appropriate, as denoting God's resting 
 from his work of judgment, and affording Noah 
 and his family opportunity for praising him for 
 his salvation to them ; while the days on which 
 the raven and the dove were sent forth, seem 
 peculiarly suitable as seventh days — days of holy 
 worship — when the inhabitants of the ark were 
 
OV PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 seeking to discover the mind of the Lord, and 
 inquiring of his Providence to direct them in 
 their going forth. 
 
 That the 06 1st day, being that on which the 
 ark was uncovered, and the 417th day, being 
 that on which Noah and his family entered once 
 more into possession of the earth, should be 
 first days of the week, seems also appropriate, 
 as denoting the commencement, as it were, of 
 a new creation, since the earth came forth from 
 the flood baptized of the moral defilements 
 that had previously polluted it. Nor should it 
 be forgotten, that, since these were first days, 
 those preceding them — that is, the day before 
 uncovering the ark, and the day before their 
 quitting it — must consequently have been sab- 
 bath days, and so have been peculiarly adapted 
 to such remarkable occasions, as preparing for 
 the labours of them by their religious solem- 
 nities and devotions. 
 
 We think, then, we may say in conclusion, 
 that with respect to these days and incidents in 
 the account of the Flood, they greatly tend to 
 the conviction that such an institution as the 
 sabbath had a primitive origin ; they clearly 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 31 
 
 and certainly prove a division of time into 
 weeks, and that of itself alone is a strong pre- 
 sumption in favour of such a conviction ; and 
 they afford unmistakeable traces and indications 
 of that Divine appointment, vv^hich Moses 
 declares was made in Paradise itself. 
 
 But there is besides, in the patriarchal 
 times, the plainest evidence of a division of 
 time into weeks, or periods of seven days. 
 Thus when Jacob had earned the wife of his 
 choice, but was deceived by Laban substi- 
 tuting her sister instead ; and when he re- 
 monstrated with Laban on account of the fraud 
 thus practised upon him, the father pleads as 
 his excuse, that it was contrary to their custom 
 to give the younger in marriage before the 
 elder, and promises Jacob that if he will ^^ fulfil 
 her weekf'^ he will give him her sister also ; and 
 Jacob complied and *' fulfilled her week," Gen. 
 xxix. 27, 28. The word used here in the 
 original for " week" is the veiy same that 
 occurs in every other place in Scripture, so that 
 there cannot be the slightest doubt about the 
 term ; and as we find it employed in later 
 times to signify such a period, so we may be 
 
32 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 sure that its sense originally must have been 
 the same ; nor can we have stronger proof than 
 this of a division of time indicating a regular 
 return of the sabbath. 
 
 Again ; the period during which Joseph 
 mourned for his father in Canaan, when he 
 brought him there to bury him, was, " seven 
 days," Gen. 1. 10 ; and this also indicates that 
 in his time the same period was as well recog- 
 nized, and in use. 
 
 Another, and an independent testimony it 
 may be called, is that of Job, who, though 
 living in the patriarchal times, was yet not con- 
 nected with those from whom the Israelites were 
 descended, and yet amongst him and those 
 who conversed with him, and who were all of 
 different tribes at least, if not of different na- 
 tions, the same division of time was known ; for 
 his three friends " sat down with him upon the 
 ground seven days and seven nights," Job 
 ii. 13. 
 
 Now the division of time into weeks of 
 seven days was a system suited neither to their 
 months, which consisted of thirty days, nor to 
 their years, which consisted of 360 days ; and 
 
OF THE SABBATH. S3 
 
 which could not therefore result from any sub- 
 division of these, nor they from multiplication 
 of seven days. Such a week is in fact altogether 
 unsuited to any natural year like the solar, or to 
 a month such as the lunar, and could not there- 
 fore have originated with them. We seek in 
 vain, therefore, amongst natural phenomena 
 for such an origin of it, while the institution of 
 the sabbath, and the reasons of that institution 
 taught by Moses, at once point to one which 
 there is no disputing. Now that this mode of 
 dividing time was well known in the ages re- 
 ferred to, is obvious from the facts mentioned 
 respecting Jacob, who, marrying two sisters, 
 first fulfilled the bridal week to one, and then 
 to the other. Gen. xxix. 21 — 30. That these 
 were weeks of seven days is certain from the 
 fact, that the same Hebrew word is employed 
 here to mean "week," that is everywhere else 
 used throughout the Bible, and is further evi- 
 denced from what occurs at the bridal feast of 
 Samson, who puts forth a riddle for a reward, 
 "if it can be certainly declared within the 
 seven days of the feast." Such a division, 
 then, of time we feel justified in presenting, as 
 
 D 
 
34 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 a traditional custom, indicative of the primitive 
 institution of the sabbath. 
 
 Equally remarkable is the fact, that amongst 
 the very family, and people, we have now been 
 referring to, the number seven was regarded 
 with a mystical and superstitious reverence. 
 Seven ewe lambs did Abraham present to 
 Abimelech, in token of his forgiveness for the 
 injury done to him regarding Beersheba. Seven 
 times did Jacob bow before Esau, in proof of 
 his contrition and submission to him : seven 
 years did he serve Laban for Rachel, and seven 
 more for Leah. Thus the number had, for 
 some reason or other, obtained special favour 
 and regard in the family of Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob ; and what is more natural than the 
 conclusion, that all this had its origin in that 
 institution which commemorated the course and 
 progress of God's great and gracious work of 
 the creation of the world ? 
 
 We may observe further, while upon this 
 particular topic, that in the later periods of 
 the Mosaic dispensation there are multi- 
 tudes of instances of this use of the number 
 seven, though doubtless it will be said of 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 35 
 
 them that they may have had their origin in the 
 law of Sinai, and so testify to it, but cannot aid 
 us in our proof that previous to that law there 
 was some more primitive institution of the sab- 
 bath. We hesitate not to confess that this is 
 perfectly correct; but then, while we do so, 
 we are justly entitled to urge, that if one class 
 of facts subsequent to the law of Sinai point, 
 as we freely concede to it, and claim an origin 
 therefrom, so have we an equal right to demand 
 that a precisely similar class of facts, previous 
 to that law, be allowed their due weight and 
 influence, and then of them it must in justice 
 be conceded, that they also point to some in- 
 stitution as having originated them, and thus 
 corroborate our inference, that the sabbath had 
 an origin long antecedent to the giving of the 
 law to Israel. 
 
 The institution of the ordinance of the Pass- 
 over furnishes us with another example of the 
 division of time into weeks. Seven days are 
 the people commanded to eat unleavened bread 
 in all their houses, and whosoever eateth lea- 
 vened bread from the first day to the seventh 
 should be cut off. Now it might be pretended, 
 d2 
 
36 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 that this appointment was made in anticipation 
 of what was to be enacted at Sinai, but, besides 
 that such a plan seems inconsistent with God's 
 general dealing with man, it is much more 
 agreeable with the condescension he has always 
 mercifully shown, to understand that this divi- 
 sion of time was already well known to the 
 people, for it is spoken of as if it were ; and 
 that God therefore graciously adopted it, as the 
 period of the ordinance, because it was one 
 with which the people were well conversant. 
 But this being so, it is therein implied that the 
 people had amongst them the use of this divi- 
 sion of time, which, as we have already seen, 
 must have had its origin in that primitive insti- 
 tution, which appointed the seventh day to be 
 observed as a day of holy rest unto the Lord. 
 
 To bring down our evidence from this source 
 to the latest period possible, we must refer to 
 the circumstances that occurred in the camp of 
 Israel immediately antecedent to the giving of 
 the law at Sinai, and the relation of which will 
 be found in the sixteenth chapter of the book 
 of Exodus. There can be no doubt whatever 
 that the facts here narrated took place nearly a 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 6i 
 
 fortnight — that is, they commenced more than 
 a fortnight, and had all occurred more than a 
 week — before the giving of the law at Sinai. 
 The people came to the wilderness of Sin, 
 where they occurred, on the fifteenth day of 
 the second month after their coming out of 
 Egypt, and the circumstances referred to then 
 immediately took place. But the law was not 
 given at Sinai until the third day of the third 
 month after the exodus, that is, the eighteenth 
 day after they came to Sin. But, as the facts 
 we are about to refer to took place during the 
 first seven of these days, so they had all oc- 
 curred at least ten days before the giving of the 
 law. Now this is most important ; for since, as 
 we shall have occasion to see, the circum- 
 stances plainly indicate an acquaintance with 
 the sabbath, so is it thereby made evident, 
 that such their acquaintance with it was pre- 
 vious to the giving of the law, independent 
 therefore of it, and plainly indicative of an 
 origin of the sabbath antecedent to the law of 
 Sinai. 
 
 Let us now observe the course of events, 
 which are as remarkable as they are instructive. 
 
38 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 The people having come to Sin, murmur for 
 want of food, and God in mercy to them thus 
 addresses Moses : " Behold, I will rain bread 
 from heaven for you ; and the people shall go 
 out and gather a certain rate every day, that I 
 may prove them, whether they will walk in my 
 law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on 
 the sixth day they shall prepare that which 
 they bring in ; and it shall be twice as much as 
 they gather daily." Now what is the law of 
 God here spoken of, respecting which the peo- 
 ple were to be tried and proved ? — Certainly 
 not that of Sinai, for it is yet eighteen days 
 before the giving of the law there. That it is 
 a law relating to the sabbath is beyond all 
 question ; for when some of the people went out 
 upon the seventh day and found no food, the 
 Lord said unto Moses, " How long refuse ye to 
 keep my commandments and my laws ? See, 
 for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, 
 therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the 
 bread of two days." But, since it was mani- 
 festly a law relating to the sabbath, respecting 
 which the people were to be proved ; and since 
 the law of Sinai had not yet been given, there- 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 39 
 
 fore the law referred to must have been the pri- 
 mitive one given in Paradise ; and this is fully 
 confirmed by the words of Moses to the people, 
 when the rulers of the congregation came to 
 announce to him the fact, that on the sixth day 
 every man had gathered twice as much as on 
 each of the preceding five days. " This," said 
 he, " is that which the Lord hath said, To- 
 morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the 
 Lord." 
 
 In fact, throughout the whole of this narra- 
 tive there were evidently in the mind of the 
 writer two facts assumed, without regard to 
 which the account is unintelligible. The first 
 is, that the people had some knowledge, how- 
 ever vague and obscure, of the law by which 
 they were to be proved, and the purport of 
 which was now to be indicated to, and revived 
 in them by the deposit of manna during six 
 days, and not on the seventh ; the second is, 
 that already, and that previously to the pro- 
 mulgation of the law at Sinai, there existed a 
 law of God relative to the sabbath, the observ- 
 ance of which the people were expected to 
 understand and keep. And both these as- 
 
40 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 sumptions plainly evidence an original of the 
 sabbath as a Divine ordinance of the Lord pre- 
 vious to the period referred to, and must there- 
 fore point back to that when it was first com- 
 manded at the Creation. 
 
 The sending of manna, which was to be daily 
 and continually supplied to the people, was the 
 first occasion, since the commencement of the 
 world, of God continuously working in behalf 
 of his people, and this consequently was a 
 very suitable one for exhibiting his own con- 
 sistency with regard to his own principles. 
 If from the foundation of the world his prin- 
 ciple was six days' labour and one of rest, so 
 now, when he was about to work for the people 
 and supply them with daily food, we might be 
 sure that God would act in strict agreement 
 with his primitive principle, and provide manna 
 during six days and rest on the seventh. Ac- 
 cordingly this is exactly what occurs, — and 
 although for five days the people all gather an 
 equal quantity, so that he that gathered much 
 had nothing over, and he that gathered little 
 had no lack ; iincl although when they attempted 
 to save some until the morrow it bred worms 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 41 
 
 and stank : yet on the sixth day every man, to 
 his own amazement, had gathered double, and, 
 as was subsequently proved on the seventh day, 
 it stank not. But when they came to inquire 
 concerning this of Moses, he had his answer 
 from God, " This is that which the Lord 
 hath said. To-morrow is the rest of the holy 
 sabbath unto the Lord : bake that which ye 
 will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe ; 
 and that which remaineth over lay up for you 
 to be kept until the morning. And they laid 
 it up until the morning, as Moses bade : and it 
 did not stink, neither was there any worm 
 therein. And Moses said. Eat that to-day; 
 for to-day is a sabbath unto the Lord : to-day 
 ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye 
 shall gather it ; but on the seventh day, which 
 is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And 
 it came to pass, that there went out some of 
 the people on the seventh day for to gather, 
 and they found none. And the Lord said unto 
 Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my com- 
 mandments and my laws ? See, for that the 
 Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he 
 giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two 
 
42 
 
 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 days ; abide ye every man in his place, let no 
 man go out of his place on the seventh day. 
 So the people rested on the seventh day," 
 Exod. xvi. 23—30. 
 
 Here, then, we have the sabbath existing as 
 an institution previous to the giving of the 
 fourth commandment, and confirmed as an or- 
 dinance by a continuing series of miracles. 
 Thus, on every sixth day a double quantity of 
 manna is supplied to the people, and though 
 the excess would not keep upon any other day 
 of the week, it remains fresh and good, neither 
 breeding worms nor stinking, on the seventh 
 day ; while upon that day none falls, and God 
 rests from his labour of providing for their sus- 
 tenance thereon. All these special miracles 
 are wrought of God in observance of the sab- 
 bath, all occur previous to the law being given 
 on Mount Sinai, and all, therefore, prove a 
 previous origin and existence of this holy and 
 blessed institution. We do not argue from 
 this, as some have done, a previous observance 
 of the sabbath amongst the people of Israel, for 
 we do not think that this is to be inferred. 
 But what we contend for is this ; that on this the 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 43 
 
 first occasion of God's continuously working in 
 behalf of man since the Creation, he acts upon 
 the same principle that he did in the begin- 
 ning; for he works six days and rests the 
 seventh, telling the people, through Moses, that 
 It " is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the 
 Lord;" and this being done previous to the 
 giving of the law on Mount Sinai, plainly im- 
 plies a previous origin and existence of the in- 
 stitution, that is, the primitive origin and exist- 
 ence that it had in Paradise. 
 
 And agreeable to this previous existence of 
 it are the words of the Most High, propound- 
 ing the law for its observance, and which are 
 remarkably peculiar ; for while all the other 
 commandments commence with an express and 
 decisive form of command, this speaks of the 
 sabbath as something already known, to be 
 remembered as already known, and to be kept 
 in remembrance for the future as an ordinance 
 of God. For all this seems to be implied in 
 the words, " Remember the sabbath day, to 
 keep it holy." And this sense and understand- 
 ing of it are much confirmed by the manner 
 in which the circumstance is referred to in the 
 
44 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 book of Neliemiali ; for the Levites, in their 
 address to God, say, " Thou earnest down also 
 upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from 
 heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and 
 true laws, good statutes and commandments : 
 and madest known unto them thy holy sab- 
 bath," Neh. ix. 13, 14, — for these words, 
 " madest known thy holy sabbath," imply the 
 revelation of an ordinance already instituted, 
 rather than one then first appointed. 
 
 Now it may be said of all this evidence, that 
 it does not fully and undoubtedly prove the 
 sabbath to have been observed and kept by 
 the people in those early times. And this we 
 freely grant, not desiring to push the inferences 
 to be gathered from the facts one degree far- 
 ther than the facts themselves will warrant. 
 But granting this, and even for the sake of ar- 
 gument, dropping the question of observance al- 
 together, let us consider whether there is not 
 here sufficient testimony of such an early insti- 
 tution of the sabbath, as to leave it beyond a 
 doubt, that it was first appointed in Paradise, 
 as the account of Moses, according to the plain 
 and simple understanding of it, relates. Let it, 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 45 
 
 then, now be remembered, that we are not 
 so much concerned to prove its observance, as 
 its primitive institution, and the consequent 
 obligation upon all men to keep it, because 
 it was " made for man," that is, for the 
 whole race of man, and not, as some would 
 have us believe, for the one nation of Israel 
 alone. Now the early history of the world 
 would lead us to expect that the sabbath was 
 then neglected, for where sin so abounded as to 
 call forth the judgment of the Deluge, the sab- 
 bath itself must have been long disregarded, 
 before sin could have gained such an ascendancy 
 over man. The same state of things followed 
 speedily after the Deluge, and prevailed all 
 through the patriarchal times, not excepting 
 even the family of Abraham, for they were 
 early tainted with idolatry, as recorded by 
 Joshua, and must consequently have lost this 
 ordinance of the God they had forsaken. To 
 expect, then, any direct mention of an institu- 
 tion which the condition of the world testified 
 to the utter neglect of, and to argue that, be- 
 cause there is no direct mention of it under 
 circumstances where such mention is impro- 
 
46 PRIMEVAL HISTORY 
 
 bable, not to say impossible, therefore it could 
 never have been instituted in these early times 
 — seem to be assertions equally unreasonable 
 and unjust. Idolatry abounded in the king- 
 dom of Israel, so that the true God, who had 
 revealed himself to them, was entirely for- 
 gotten and neglected. But this does not 
 prove that he had never revealed himself. 
 Just so the non-observance of the sabbath, 
 because of the abounding iniquity of mankind, 
 and all silence in consequence respecting it, 
 do not prove that it was never instituted. 
 The original principle of marriage was so disre- 
 garded, that Abraham took a concubine besides 
 his wife, and Jacob had two wives and two con- 
 cubines; but these facts cannot disprove what 
 our Saviour himself declared was the principle 
 of marriage from the beginning. In a word, 
 the neglect or disuse of an ordinance or law is 
 no proof whatever of its not having been insti- 
 tuted, and consequently no neglect of the sab- 
 bath, the observance and memory of which 
 were committed to man's care, can prove that 
 it had not been instituted. 
 
OF THE SABBATH. 47 
 
 But now, upon the supposition, we may say 
 the belief, that it had been instituted at the 
 time of the Creation, as Moses' history evidently 
 implies, and further, upon a review of the 
 condition of mankind all through the early 
 periods of the world's history showing the 
 depravity of mankind and the neglect of the 
 sabbath, first as a cause, and then as a conse- 
 quence, of that depravity — what, upon these 
 considerations, should we expect to find in the 
 history ? Why, just such references to circum- 
 stances, and occurrences, as we may properly 
 suppose would grow out of an institution like 
 this, and which the history does, in fact, contain. 
 Such, for example, are the allusions to certain 
 particular days of every seven all through the 
 period of the Deluge, the division of time into 
 weeks as known and used in Laban's family, 
 the mourning for seven days by Joseph, and 
 other mystical, or, it may be, even in some cases 
 superstitious uses of the number seven, which 
 are not unfrequently met with. Now all this 
 we say is so natural, as arising out of the insti- 
 tution that Moses relates the origin of, as mate- 
 
48 PRIMEVAL HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 rially to confirm and establish the belief of that 
 account of it as true, and to convince us that, 
 from the very first, and even in the time of 
 man's innocency in Paradise, *^ the sabbath was 
 made for man." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LAW OF THE DECALOGUE RESPECTING THE SABBATH, 
 AND ITS PRINCIPLE. 
 
 " The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, 
 and good." — Rom. vii. 12. 
 
 Never has there been a law commented on, 
 and interpreted according to such strange and 
 contradictory notions, as that respecting the 
 sabbath promulgated on Mount Sinai. Man is 
 by nature so averse to holiness, which is the 
 essential characteristic and purport of the sab- 
 bath, that it is not so much to be wondered at, 
 as it is to be deplored, that he has felt the 
 nature of the sabbath uncongenial to his own 
 nature, has struggled against the enjoyment of 
 it, because, until converted, he knows not its 
 blessing and delight, and has striven to set him- 
 self free from the influence of a statute which 
 is irksome to his mind, because he compre- 
 hends not its nature. Were man still innocent, 
 
 £ 
 
50 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 righteous, and holy, as Adam was in Paradise, 
 he would, like him, adopt and exercise the pri- 
 mitive principle of the sabbath, keeping holy 
 one day in every seven, with a glad and willing 
 heart ; but it is because he is a sinner, and 
 therefore unholy, and incapable of understand- 
 ing, appreciating, and enjoying the holiness of 
 the day, that he resists the ordinance, and 
 rejects its blessedness. And since it is the 
 nature of sin to blind and darken the under- 
 standing, as seen in the case of the idolater 
 described by Isaiah of old, who says of him, 
 that " a deceived heart hath turned him aside, 
 that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there 
 not a lie in my right hand ?" just so is it with 
 respect to the sabbath. It is a spiritual thing, 
 which can only be spiritually discerned ; and 
 sin so darkens the mind respecting it, that men, 
 yielding to their natural dislike of its holiness, 
 suffer themselves to be betrayed into all kinds of 
 foolish and frivolous pretences, dignified by the 
 name of reasons, for ridding themselves of it. 
 
 Such an one is that which affirms that the 
 law of the sabbath contained in the decalogue, 
 and delivered on Sinai by the voice of God 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 51 
 
 himself, is only a part of the ritual and ceremo- 
 nial law of Moses, and consequently was abro- 
 gated when that law was fulfilled by Christ, 
 Never was there a pretence so unreasonable as 
 this, for to what does it amount ? — Just to this : 
 that one law, which is part and parcel of a certain 
 Divinely-appointed moral code, does not belong 
 to it — is not to be understood as the rest of the 
 code is — is to be of less permanence and au- 
 thority, and, though ordained by God, may be 
 repealed by man. Why should this, which 
 belongs to the Divine moral code of Sinai, be 
 lowered at man's bidding from its exalted sta- 
 tion, and placed amongst mere ritual and cere- 
 monial laws ? — How can we shift a law of this 
 kind from one code to another ? Should we do 
 so with any of man's framing ? Should we 
 thus shift an ecclesiastical canon from its own 
 code to a civil or criminal one, and attempt 
 to deal with an ecclesiastical ofifender by civil 
 action or criminal process ? Such a notion 
 would be at once discarded as preposterous and 
 absurd in the extreme, and no civil or criminal 
 court would listen for a moment to a charge 
 purely ecclesiastical, but would dismiss it to its 
 E 2 
 
52 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 own jurisdiction. And yet this reasonable 
 mode of procedure in the case of human laws, 
 is entirely disregarded in respect of this Divine 
 one ; and men, with the greatest readiness, and 
 with a show of wisdom which all the worldly- 
 minded hail and applaud to the very echo, 
 pronounce upon the fourth commandment, that 
 it is no part of the moral law, displace it from 
 its righteous position, cast it amongst the abro- 
 gated ritual and ceremonial laws, and quietly 
 rid themselves of a law which is holy, just, and 
 good, because they comprehend not its beauty, 
 nor value its privileges and blessings. 
 
 We assert, then, in behalf of tliis neglected 
 and ill-used law, in behalf of His honour who 
 gave it unto man, in behalf of man whose pri- 
 vilege and grace it is, that it is as much an 
 integral and imperishable portion of the deca- 
 logue, as all the other nine are ; and that, how- 
 ever men may dare, and attempt to degrade it, 
 it stands, like all the rest, immutable and in- 
 alienable. Not only is it a moral law, but it ren- 
 ders complete the first table of that law, which 
 is expressly appropriated to instruction respect- 
 ing the honour and glory of Him who is a jea- 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 53 
 
 lous God, and will not yield aiij portion of that 
 which is righteously his due. While the first 
 commandment teaches the knowledge of God, 
 and reveals Him to the house of Israel as spe- 
 cially their God, because he had " brought 
 them out of the land of Egypt, out of the 
 house of bondage," and so introduces God to 
 them, at the beginning of the code, as their 
 Saviour and Redeemer, the fourth command- 
 ment reveals Him as not only the God of 
 Israel, but as the God of all the earth, and car- 
 ries the people to a higher and nobler concep- 
 tion of Him, as the Creator of the world and 
 all that is therein. The God of Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the house of 
 Israel, w^as not the God of that one nation only, 
 but of every people, nation, and language ; so 
 that in every nation he that feareth Him and 
 worketh righteousness is accepted of Him, who 
 hath made all men of one blood to dwell toge- 
 ther upon the face of the whole earth. But, 
 in the midst of the heathen and idolatrous 
 nations that abounded in the earth, the special 
 glory of Israel it was to know the Maker of 
 the universe, and to know him as the God of 
 
54 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 Israel ; and this knowledge was revealed in the 
 fourth commandment, and gives to the whole 
 code that true impress of divinity, which with- 
 out it would be wanting, for this exhibits the 
 God of Israel as not one amongst the gods of 
 the nations, nor yet the chiefest of them, but as 
 God alone, *'for in six days He made heaven 
 and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." 
 How vain, then, to pretend that a law of such 
 an import was a ritual or ceremonial one, to be 
 abrogated and abolished, and to deny it to be 
 what it really is — a moral and religious one, of 
 universal and perpetual obligation. 
 
 But another device, no less extravagant and 
 absurd than the preceding, has been imagined, 
 for getting rid of the force, efficacy, and excel- 
 lency of this Divine and holy commandment. 
 It is pretended respecting it, that its main 
 design was the relief of man from bodily la- 
 bour, and that those who would make it a day 
 of religion, and not of pleasure and amusement, 
 divert it from its original purpose, and turn 
 that which was mercifully intended of God for 
 the refreshment of man from his earthly toils, 
 into a day of gloom and moodiness, a puritani- 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 55 
 
 cal ordinance as they term it, irksome by its 
 restrictions rather than grateful by its liberty. 
 Plausible as such a plea is to the irreligious 
 and worldly-minded, and frequently as it is 
 made use of by those who pretend to be the 
 friends of the people, it is founded upon entire 
 forgetfulness of the original circumstances 
 under which the principle of the sabbath was 
 first taught. That it is, indeed, a day of rest to 
 man, and a blessed occasion of refreshment to 
 his wearied body, is unquestionable ; and that it 
 is, therefore, in this respect, an additional mercy 
 to him in his fallen state, ought never to be for- 
 gotten 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 judgment, "in the sweat 
 of thy face shalt thou eat bread ;" and, conse- 
 quently, before there w^as that need for the rest 
 of his toil-worn body which sin and its effects 
 have caused him to know. For, as has been very 
 pertinently remarked by Lord Bacon, among 
 the first of his Divine proofs of the excellence of 
 learning, in his treatise on " The Advancement 
 of Learning" — " After the creation was finished, 
 
56 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 it is set down unto us, that man was placed in 
 the garden to work therein, which wor^, so 
 appointed to him, could be no other than work 
 of contemplation ; that is, when the end of the 
 work is but for exercise and experiment, not 
 for necessity ; for there being then no relucta- 
 tion of the creature, nor sweat of the brow, 
 man's employment must of consequence have 
 been matter of delight in the experiment, and 
 not matter of labour for use." And this fact 
 alone ought, if wisely considered, to arouse 
 these contemners of this Divine ordinance to 
 inquire more carefully into its origin and design. 
 Now, in order to do this properly, we only 
 make this reasonable demand, that this law 
 shall be construed and applied upon the same 
 rational principles that human laws are. All 
 such laws may be regarded as consisting of two 
 parts : the preamble^ which sets forth the object 
 aimed at by any particular statute, and the several 
 provisions for ensuring, as far as it can be en- 
 sured, the accomplishment of the object. Thus, 
 to adopt a most pertinent illustration, the 
 statute, 1 Car. i. cap. 1, recites in its pre- 
 amble : " Forasmuch as there is nothing more 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 57 
 
 acceptable to God than the true and sincere 
 service and worship of Him according to His 
 holy will; and that the holy keeping of the 
 Lord's day is a principal part of the true service 
 of God, which in very many places of this 
 realm hath been and now is profaned and ne- 
 glected by a disorderly sort of people," &c. ; 
 and after having thus explained its object, 
 namely, to ensure " the holy keeping of the 
 Lord's day," it proceeds to enact, that various 
 things that then interfered with it should be 
 condemned and punished, with a view to their 
 entire prohibition. Now, who that reads this 
 law would be so unwise as to say — or what 
 judge from the bench would declare respecting 
 it, that the only object of it is to put an end 
 to bull-baiting and other sports on the sabbath; 
 and would not rather affirm, that, in forbidding 
 these things, it did so only as a means to an 
 end, that end being the main object of the law, 
 " the holy keeping of the Lord's day ?" For 
 since bull-baiting and other sports then frus- 
 trated the design of the sabbath, just as labour 
 if persisted in also would, so these sports were 
 forbidden, not as the end and object of the 
 
58 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 statute, but simply as a means to accomplisK 
 its end and object ; that so the sabbath, which 
 in those times had been abused, might be re- 
 lieved from these great abuses — might be 
 cleared of all hindrances to its great design ; 
 and being so cleared, might be employed for its 
 own good, and gracious, and merciful purpose, 
 as originally ordained and given by God. 
 
 Now, the great moral statute existing in the 
 fourth commandment is founded on exactly 
 the same plan as this statute of the realm of 
 England. The two are as strictly parallel and 
 analogous as it is possible for any two laws to 
 be. They both aim at the same object, and in 
 the same way. The fourth commandment, like 
 the statute, has its preamble, setting forth its 
 object and design, " Remember the sabbath- 
 day, to keep it holy ;" and then, exactly like 
 the statute again, it proceeds to forbid certain 
 things, the doing of which would altogether 
 hinder and frustrate its one main design and 
 purport; and since our necessities demanding 
 our labour would most obviously occasion the 
 sabbath to be profaned, therefore even our 
 labour — that which is necessary to our very 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 59 
 
 existence; for *' he that will not labour, neither 
 shall he eat," is forbidden to us ; in order to 
 teach us, that if that which is necessary must 
 yield place to the holiness of this day, much more 
 must that which is unnecessary — our amuse- 
 ment and our pleasure. And yet obvious and 
 rational as this interpretation is, men misapply 
 the commandment, and say labour is forbidden 
 and may not be done, but pleasure, however 
 toilsome, is quite admissible, for this is evi- 
 dently the purpose of the day, to release men 
 from labour, to give them a holiday, and 
 thereby to afford them opportunity for worldly 
 pleasure and enjoyment. 
 
 Now the true understanding of the law is 
 this : its design was to have one day in every 
 seven observed as holy, so that all done thereon 
 should be holiness to the Lord, and that those 
 who kept it holy might themselves increase the 
 more in holiness, and grow in grace and in the 
 knowledge of their Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. But since works of labour would be 
 a most specious and fruitful pretence for break- 
 ing the law and disregarding its design, there- 
 fore all labour was forbidden thereon. The 
 
60 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 grand principle of the law, then, is not cessa- 
 tion from labour, for that is but a subsidiary 
 provision ; neither yet is it only rest from 
 labour, for that, though blessed, is again only 
 subsidiary ; but it is this, ** Remember the 
 sabbath day, to keep it holy." Nothing less 
 than the keeping it holy will answer the re- 
 quirements of the law : nothing less than the 
 keeping it holy will be agreeable to God ; 
 nothing less than the keeping it holy will be 
 a loyal and dutiful obedience unto God. Re- 
 fraining from labour is well, as refreshing to 
 the body and clearing the day which God hath 
 ordained and sanctified. Refraining from plea- 
 sure is well, as reverencing and not abusing 
 God's ordinance ; but these, after all, are only 
 negative : the positive grace and excellency in 
 fulfilling the commandment is, " the keeping 
 
 HOLY THE SABBATH DAY." 
 
 It may be questioned by some, if this were 
 really so, how it is that the main stress is laid 
 upon cessation from labour, and the more im- 
 portant part of the commandment is made so 
 much less of ? We answer to this ; first, that 
 it is a mistake to suppose it is made less of, for 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 61 
 
 it is placed prominently forward in the com- 
 mandment ; but it will be found to be the 
 nature of all similar laws, that the preamble, 
 though expressing their main design, is neces- 
 sarily short, while long provisions are needed 
 to ensure the accomplishment of it. And this 
 is the consequence of man's cunning and sinful 
 craftiness, wdiich will always devise a hundred 
 ways of escaping the good intended him, if not 
 carefully shut up by enactments to the necessity 
 of doing it. But, secondly, the very same 
 remark applies to the statute of Charles I., 
 which has been already referred to. The object 
 of that law will be found in a few words in its 
 preamble, while there are long provisions for 
 securing its object; and more than that, it 
 became necessary afterwards to enact a second 
 statute to the same effect, 3 Car. I. cap. 1 ; and 
 even a third, 29 Car. 11. cap. 7. And the reason 
 of all this has been well explained in reference 
 to a somewhat similar subject by Dr. Paley, who 
 explains why there are no laws compelling 
 parents and children mutually to love one an- 
 other. He remarks : " The law never speaks but 
 to command, nor commands but where it can 
 
62 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 enforce obedience ;" and since it cannot compel 
 parents and children to love one another, it 
 does not command them to do so. What it 
 can compel, that they mutually provide for 
 one another when able, it does command. Just 
 so respecting the Lord's day. The law com- 
 mands and enforces, in a variety of ways, cessa- 
 tion of labour, and refraining from amusements ; 
 but it cannot compel a holy observance of it, 
 though it can restrain an unholy one. And so 
 of the fourth commandment ; it strictly forbids 
 labour ; but while it exhorts and enjoins the 
 keeping holy the sabbath day, it does not enforce 
 and compel it, for the service of God is perfect 
 freedom, and the Lord loveth a cheerful giver. 
 
 The grand and main purport, then, of the 
 law of the sabbath is, the keeping the day 
 holy, and as the result of that the cultivation of 
 holiness amongst those who obey and observe 
 it. Holiness is its design, holiness its observ- 
 ance, and holiness its effect. And what is 
 holiness ? It is the essential fitness for living 
 with God and enjoying heaven. ** Without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord," is the faith- 
 ful assurance of Scripture ; and the great end 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 63 
 
 and object of this day is the edification and 
 growth of man in holiness. And yet, for all 
 this it is said, that this commandment is no part 
 of the moral law, and consequently was ab- 
 rogated with the other ritual and ceremonial 
 laws ; and this specious pretext for the neglect 
 of it is repeated by commentators apparently 
 wise and grave, and is approved of as if it were 
 a settled and undeniable point. Now we ask 
 with all confidence, what is there ceremonial 
 or ritual in the fourth commandment t We 
 ask with equal confidence what is there cere- 
 monial or ritual in the statutes of our realm 
 that have been cited above ? Just as much in 
 the one as in the other, and that is just nothing 
 at all, either ritual or ceremonial. We defy 
 any one to point out in the sabbatical com- 
 mandment anything whatever peculiar to the 
 Mosaic dispensation. Not even the ground on 
 which the sabbath is ordained is peculiar, for 
 that is the creation of the world, which is 
 common to every race of man, and to all dis- 
 pensations of grace. We urge this point the 
 stronger, and with the more confidence, because 
 so much has been made of the pretence we are 
 
64 . SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 combating, and so many, in various ways, have 
 upheld it, without intending to damage the 
 principle of the sabbath, until at length it has 
 come to be regarded as something undeniably 
 proved and settled. Now to all such we put 
 the same question. Produce anything that you 
 can in the law of the sabbath, either ceremo- 
 nial or ritual — show in any one particular that 
 its principles are so peculiar and essential to 
 the Mosaic dispensation, as that it must have 
 terminated with it, and we will be prepared to 
 entertain the inquiry as to whether it is part 
 or not of the imperishable laws of the deca- 
 logue ; but until then we shall contend, and 
 maintain as incontrovertible, that it is as much 
 and as integral a portion of the moral law, as 
 any one of the six commandments that follow 
 it, and which no one dreams of pretending to 
 have been abrogated, however much they may, 
 some of them, particularly the seventh, be 
 disregarded. 
 
 For if, indeed, the fourth commandment be in 
 any sense not a moral one, it can be only in 
 that sense which exalts it above moral laws, 
 and makes it a spiritual one. Those that are 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 65 
 
 ordinarily allowed to be, and are cherished as 
 moral laws, that is, the six of the second table, 
 have respect after all only to our duty to man, 
 and must eventually perish with the using ; for 
 the fashion of this world passeth away, and we 
 shall be adapted hereafter to a spiritual and 
 holy life. But this of the sabbath hath respect 
 to our duty to God, whose day it is, and whom 
 therefore we are bound to honour by the ob- 
 servance of it ; and the effect of this day is not 
 a fashion that can change, is not an act that 
 can perish with the using, or change with our 
 change of state through death to immortality, 
 but holiness, the essential principle of the day, 
 must ascend with us to the presence of our 
 God ; holiness must accompany us, as our qua- 
 lification for communion with him ; and holi- 
 ness, the proper work of the sabbath, that only 
 work that profanes it not ; — holiness will sur- 
 vive and endure through eternity, when all the 
 requirements of the moral law will have passed 
 into perpetual desuetude. 
 
 There is yet one particular in which this law 
 differs from all ordinary ones, and which tends 
 materially to prove its endurance and per- 
 
66 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 petuity, and that is its concluding and com- 
 memorative clause. It is, indeed, seldom, if 
 ever, that such a clause is found amongst 
 human statutes, and the law and its observance 
 made the means of recording, as it were, and 
 keeping in remembrance, such a great and glo- 
 rious truth as this contains. It does therefore 
 strongly tend to prove and establish the con- 
 tinuance of the law. The fact thus ordained to 
 be kept in remembrance is all-important to 
 man. The primary idea of God, that the 
 human mind is susceptible of, is that of our 
 Creator. " He that Aade all things is God," 
 is the first axiom in the knowledge of God. 
 Would you teach a child an idea of God, you 
 render him sensible that " one is his Maker, 
 even God." Would you instil into any, young 
 or old, a notion of the almighty power and 
 wisdom of God, you do so by directing their 
 minds to the contemplation of his works, and 
 teaching them to recognize in the wonders of 
 creation the master mind that contrived, and 
 the hand that made them all. And this is the 
 very design of the commemorative clause in 
 this commandment. It is to keep alive the 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 67 
 
 knowledge of the truth, that ** in six days the 
 Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
 that in them is." Had this law been, as is pre- 
 tended, so peculiar to the Mosaic dispensation 
 as to have been part of the ceremonial and 
 ritual law, here would have been the clause in 
 which its peculiarity must have been found ; 
 here would have been the place for such a 
 declaration as the first commandment contains, 
 ** I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee 
 out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 
 bondage ;" here we should have found refer- 
 ence to the peculiarities of the Mosaic dis- 
 pensation, and not to a fact which belongs to all 
 mankind and to all dispensations alike. But a 
 law, that contains in it such a clause as this, 
 that is founded upon this fact, the remem- 
 brance of which it is designed to commemorate, 
 and which is one that must never be forgotten, 
 either in this life or that to come ; — such a law 
 so founded, must have been intended to be, and. 
 must be preserved as perpetual, in all its vital' 
 and essential principles. 
 
 And what are these principles ? — Even those 
 that were spoken from the beginning, and are 
 F 2 
 
68 SABBATH PRINCIPLES 
 
 never to be disregarded or overlaid. It is a 
 strange thing, indeed, that in the eighteenth 
 century of the Christian era, v^e should be told 
 to return to " the oldness of the letter," and not 
 to trust to and rejoice in " the newness of the 
 spirit." The oldness of the letter would have 
 us take the law literally ; would have us believe 
 that one special day of the week, the seventh, 
 is involved in the faithful observance of the 
 sabbath ; would have us content ourselves with 
 regarding cessation from labour as the design 
 of the commandment, instead of being merely 
 the means to the great end and object of it — ■ 
 sanctifying the day. And thus it is that a 
 I)rofessed adherence to the letter robs this law 
 of its spirit and grace. The newness of the 
 spirit, on the contrary, teaches us to regard and 
 respect the spirit of the commandment as more 
 essential than the letter. This spirit is identical 
 with that which was spoken in the beginning, 
 and is founded on the same wondrous facts, 
 that in six days God made all things, and both 
 rested on the seventh, and blessed and sanc- 
 tified it. The very essence of this spirit is the 
 sanctification of one day in every seven to the 
 
OF THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 69 
 
 glory and honour of God, and the recognition 
 thereby of his mercy and goodness as the 
 Creator, Provider, Saviour, and Sanctifier of 
 man. 
 
 The law of the sabbath is not a bond of 
 restraint, but a charter of liberty to every 
 soul of man, to Greek and Jew, barbarian, 
 Scythian, bond and free, to high and low, to 
 rich and poor, to one with another. It is sanc- 
 tified of God, separated unto holiness, and 
 blessed by His hallowing Spirit ; and we know 
 that ** the Lord is that Spirit, and where 
 the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," 
 2 Cor. iii. 17. " Whoso looketh into this per- 
 fect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he 
 being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the 
 work, this man shall be blessed in his deed," 
 Jam. i. 25. It ensures to every man, at the 
 command of God, liberty of action and of mind, 
 freedom of body and soul, exemption from toil 
 and care, that all may sanctify the day, and 
 themselves be sanctified thereby. This is its 
 grant of liberty, to which even the bondsman and 
 the slave is entitled, and which none can rob 
 him of without committing the highest offence 
 
70 SABBATH PRINCIPLES, ETC. 
 
 and indignity against God. It is a great and 
 noble bill of rights, graciously conferred by 
 God's free favour and love upon all men; and 
 let all beware how they despise his goodness, 
 since they will thereby most assuredly rebel 
 against Him. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH DURING THE PERIOD OF 
 THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION. 
 
 " Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep : for it is a sign be- 
 tween me and you throughout your generations ; that ye 
 may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." — 
 Exod. xxxi. 13. 
 
 It has been already remarked in a previous 
 chapter, that from the time of Moses, that is, 
 from the period of the final review of his dis- 
 pensation, Deut. v., about the year 1451 B.C., to 
 that of Amos the herdman of Tekoa, v^hom 
 some place as late as 787 B.C., and others as 
 early as 810 B.C. ; that is, for a space of pro- 
 bably 664 years, but certainly not less than 
 641 years, there is no reference at all to 
 the sabbath, in the historical or other books of 
 Scripture. The lavrs of the Mosaic economy 
 were completed by the great lawgiver himself, 
 under the immediate direction and inspiration 
 of God, and he so settled and confirmed them 
 
12 SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
 
 hy all necessary additions during his life, that 
 there needed none subsequently. Such as 
 occasion rendered requisite, to explain or en- 
 force what had already been enacted, were 
 given from the same source and by the same 
 authority, that the originals of them were, and 
 just as we find explanatory additions made to 
 others, as to the sixth respecting the distinc- 
 tions between manslaughter and murder, and to 
 the eighth respecting the degrees of turpitude, 
 between common theft, burglary, and the like ; 
 so also as regarded the fourth commandment, 
 additional enactments, such as would now be 
 called declaratory statutes, were made respect- 
 ing it, explaining both its design and object, 
 and enforcing both by precept and example the 
 law, which God with his own voice had pro- 
 mulgated, and with his own finger had in- 
 scribed, for man's edification, comfort, and 
 blessing. 
 
 The design and object of the sabbath are 
 very pertinently and plainly taught. They 
 were, rest for the body, and sanctifi cation for 
 the soul of man. The rest and refreshment of 
 the sabbath are distinctly set forth in these 
 
BY THE JEWISH NATION. {3 
 
 words : " Six days tliou shalt do thy work, and 
 on the seventh day thou shalt rest : that thine 
 ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy 
 handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed," 
 Exod. xxiii. 12. And lest any pretence or 
 excuse should arise for infringing this rest of 
 the sabbath, as some might at times be desirous 
 of alleging, the most plausible of such pretexts 
 was forbidden, and consequently all others ; for 
 we read, "Six days thou shalt work, but on 
 the seventh day thou shalt rest : in earing time 
 and in harvest thou shalt rest," Exod. xxxiv. 
 21. Now in earing time and harvest the ex- 
 cuse of urgent necessity for breaking the sab- 
 bath might arise, or be alleged ; but since these 
 very times were especially named, and the pre- 
 tences originating in them disallowed, therefore 
 it is obvious that other similar excuses were 
 equally forbidden, and a faithful observance of 
 the seventh day as a sabbath of rest was en- 
 joined. But in these enactments let it be ob- 
 served, that no penalty whatever is attached to 
 them. They enjoin and prescribe rest, but they 
 do not affix any punishment to the neglect of 
 that rest. It is when the sabbath is viewed in 
 
74 SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
 
 another light, when it is regarded not merely as 
 a day of rest, but as " holiness unto the Lord," 
 and when the breaking its rest is shown to be a 
 defiling of its holiness, and consequently a 
 despising of the Lord that sanctified it, that the 
 heavy penalty of death is denounced against 
 the sabbath-breaker. This will at once be 
 observed to be so in both the passages that con- 
 tain the penalty of death, that is, in Exodus 
 xxxi. 12 — 17, and xxxv. 2, 3. In both these 
 places the sabbath is expressly spoken of as 
 " holiness unto the Lord ;" its rest is declared to 
 be with this object, and in the former of them 
 an entirely new element was introduced into 
 the institution, namely, that it was to be a sign 
 between God and his people throughout their 
 generations, " That," says he, " ye may know 
 that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." 
 Now this view of the institution is most im- 
 portant ; for it does, we submit with much con- 
 fidence, absolutely and entirely get rid of the 
 notion commonly abroad, that the Jewish sab- 
 bath was a mere ritual observance, the very 
 design and essence of which was only rest, 
 abstinence from labour, and that this is no 
 
BY THE JEWISH NATION. 75 
 
 longer incumbent upon us, who are released 
 from the law of Moses, and its burthensome 
 services, and especially from the bondage of the 
 law in regard to the sabbath, which admits of 
 no exertion or labour, whether for work or for 
 pleasure. The Jewish sabbath was designed 
 for rest unquestionably, but rest was by no 
 means its chief design. That which was to be 
 regarded as '* holiness unto the Lord;" which was 
 not to be defiled by any work, not even by one 
 so apparently needful as the kindling a fire 
 thereon; which was to be a memorial to the 
 people that the Lord was their sanctification ; 
 which was to be a sign between the people and 
 God; and which was protected by the same 
 penalty that was denounced against idolaters, 
 blasphemers, witches, wizards, and the like ; 
 such an institution as this must have been 
 designed, as in effect it was, for a far higher 
 and nobler end than the mere refreshment and 
 rest of the body. He who reverenced it as 
 ** holiness unto the Lord," and who, by keeping 
 it holy, learned to look upon the Lord as his 
 sanctifier, such an one must himself, by such 
 exercises, have been growing in holiness, yea, 
 
76 SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
 
 *' perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 2 Cor. 
 vii. 1. And thus the sabbath, by being sancti- 
 fied and hallowed of man, was applied to its own 
 great original and primitive design — the sanctifi- 
 cation of man, and as a sign between him and 
 his Maker, became a merciful and efficient 
 means of recovering man from his debased con- 
 dition under sin, of reviving in him thoughts of 
 God and of heaven, and of renewing in its 
 degree that blessed communion and intercourse 
 which had existed between God and Adam in 
 Paradise. 
 
 One instance only is recorded, during the 
 sojourning of the children of Israel in the wil- 
 derness, of a sabbath breaker being put to 
 death. A man was found gathering sticks on 
 the sabbath, with what intent does not appear, 
 but it may be presumed for the purpose of kind- 
 ling a fire. Now this was especially forbidden 
 in Exod. xxxv. 1 — 3, where the penalty of 
 death was enjoined. Yet Moses and Aaron 
 seem to have had doubts as to the punishment 
 due to this offence. It may have appeared to 
 them too small an offence ; or since the man 
 was only gathering sticks, and had not kindled 
 
BY THE JEWISH NATION. 77 
 
 a fire, they may have judged the sin incomplete, 
 and the capital punishment not merited. But, 
 however this might be, they were unwilling to 
 decide the matter themselves, and they waited 
 therefore to receive from God the declaration 
 of his will concerning the man. " And the 
 Lord said unto Moses, the man shall surely be 
 put to death : all the congregation shall stone 
 him with stones without the camp." This 
 resolution of the matter, so entirely in accord- 
 ance with the law previously referred to, could 
 not fail to have its influence on the nation at 
 large, and teach them " to remember and do 
 all his commandments, and to be holy unto their 
 God," Numb. xv. 40. 
 
 But although no additions were, or could be, 
 introduced into the law of the sabbath after the 
 time of Moses, efforts were occasionally made 
 by some of the prophets and holy men, who 
 from time to time had influence with the people, 
 to recall them to a sense of their duty to God, 
 to the day, and to themselves. Thus we read 
 of Amos rebuking them, because they found 
 the sabbath a weariness, saying, " When will 
 the sabbath be gone, that we may set forth 
 
78 SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
 
 wheat ;" viii. 5, and charging them at the same 
 time with the necessary consequences of thus 
 despising the sabbath, — the growth and increase 
 of oppression and wrong amongst them. The 
 prophet Isaiah, again, as became his evangelical 
 spirit, strove to raise the dignity and worth of 
 the day, and to elevate it in the affections and 
 interest of the nation. Accordingly he pro- 
 claims at one time, "Blessed is the man that 
 keepeth the sabbath from polluting it. Every 
 one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, 
 and taketh hold of my covenant, even them will 
 I bring to my holy mountain, and make them 
 joyful in my house of prayer," Ixvi. 2, 6. At 
 another time he declares, " If thou turn away 
 thy feet from the sabbath, from doing thy plea- 
 sure on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a 
 delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and 
 shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, 
 nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking 
 thine own words : then shalt thou delight thy- 
 self 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," Iviii. 13, 14. 
 
BY THE JEWISH NATION. 79 
 
 Subsequent to the time of Isaiah, and after 
 the captivity in Babylon, Nehemiah was, under 
 God, the great instrument for restoring the 
 sabbath to its honour, and even to the privi- 
 leges and graces of it. In his hymn of praise 
 to God, wherein he commemorates the mercies 
 vouchsafed to the nation, he enumerates 
 amongst these, " the sabbath having been 
 made known to them," ix. 14 ; and in agree- 
 ment with this profession, he bound the people 
 " by a curse and an oath, to walk in God's law ; 
 and if the people of the land brought ware or 
 victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that they 
 would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on 
 the holy day," x. 29 — 31. Nor did he hesitate 
 with all his authority to enforce the agreement 
 that had been so solemnly entered into, as he 
 thus relates : "In those days saw I in Judah 
 some treading wine-presses on the sabbath, and 
 bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also 
 wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of bur- 
 dens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the 
 sabbath day: and I testified against them in 
 the day wherein they sold victuals. There 
 dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought 
 
80 SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
 
 fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the 
 sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in 
 Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles 
 of Judah, and said unto them. What evil thing 
 is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 
 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God 
 bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city ? 
 Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by pro- 
 faning the sabbath. And it came to pass that 
 when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark 
 before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates 
 should be shut, and charged that they should 
 not be opened till after the sabbath : and some 
 of my servants set I at the gates, that there 
 should no burden be brought in on the sabbath 
 day. So the merchants and sellers of all kind 
 of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or 
 twice. Then I testified against them, and said 
 unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if 
 ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From 
 that time forth came they no more on the sab- 
 bath. And I commanded the Levites that they 
 should cleanse themselves, and that they should 
 come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sab- 
 bath day. Remember me, O my God, concern- 
 
BY THE JEWISH NATION. 81 
 
 ing this also, and spare me according to the 
 greatness of thy mercy." Neh. xiii. 15 — 2.^. 
 
 As the Jews had heretofore been shamefully 
 neglectful of the sabbath, and as the national 
 sin of sabbath-breaking had been one of the 
 reasons of their being subjected to the seventy 
 years' captivity, as recorded in 2 Chron. xxxvi. 
 21, so after their return from Babylon they 
 entered upon such a strict observance of it, that 
 they fell into the opposite error, of conceiving 
 themselves to be so tied and bound by the sab- 
 batical law, that they were not at liberty to do 
 the strongest act of necessity, that of self-pre- 
 servation, that can befal man. Accordingly, in 
 the times of persecution and of war, when, by 
 ordinary exertions on the sabbath, many might 
 have saved themselves from certain destruction, 
 they refused to do so, conceiving that they 
 were bound rather to perish miserably than 
 to break the laws. Thus, in the time of Antio- 
 chus, no less than a thousand persons, men, 
 women, and children, who had hid themselves 
 in a cave, were cruelly put to death, advantage 
 being taken of their known resolution respect- 
 ing the sabbath, their stedfastness to which 
 
 G 
 
82 SABBATH OBSERVANCE 
 
 was the occasion of their destruction. In con- 
 sequence of this, xMattathias and his followers 
 obtained a law, that they might defend them- 
 selves on the sabbath. But in the time of 
 Pompey this also was turned against them ; for 
 though they would defend themselves if at- 
 tacked, they would not obstruct the enemy in 
 the prosecution of his works against them, and 
 thus the enemy could in safety carry on his 
 preparations on the sabbath day without fear 
 of injury or molestation. — Prideaux's Cojinec- 
 tioHf vol. ii. pp. 170, 411. 
 
 The straitness and severity of observance 
 which the Jewish nation had thus learned to 
 practise under the influence of persecution and 
 war, eventually grew into a rigid and supersti- 
 tious formality, which allowed no relaxation, 
 and became the occasion of captiousness and 
 strife. Thus, when our Lord had healed the 
 man with the withered hand in the synagogue 
 on the sabbath day, he knew that his act of 
 mercy was an offence to their minds, and he 
 reasoned with them to show them that "it is 
 lawful to do well on the sabbath day," Matt, 
 xii. 12. So again, when he loosed of her in- 
 
BY THE JEWISH NATION. SS 
 
 firmity the woman who had been bowed toge- 
 ther eighteen years, and did so in the syna- 
 gogue on the sabbath, the ruler objected, " There 
 are six days in which men ought to work : in 
 them, therefore, come and be healed, and not 
 on the sabbath day." But our Lord rebuked 
 him as an hypocrite, and exposed the folJy of 
 his objection. The same thing occurred when 
 the dropsical and the paralytic were healed. 
 And at length exception was taken by the 
 people to the simple act of our Lord's disciples, 
 in plucking, rubbing, and eating a few ears of 
 corn in the fields as they passed along. Our 
 Saviour, in defending them, showed that the 
 priests in the temple, by the performance of 
 acts of worship laboured, and so profa.ned the 
 sabbath, but were blameless ; and that David, 
 in taking the shewbread, was justified by hh 
 necessity. From whence he infers, that the 
 sabbath, being made for man, may yield occa- 
 sionally to man's necessities, and concludes 
 with the important claim for himself, and de- 
 claration of his own right, that " the Son of 
 man is Lord even of the sabbath day." 
 
 G ^ 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TEACHING OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES RELATIVE TO 
 THE SABBATH, AND SUBSTITUTION OF THE FIRST DAY 
 FOR THE SEVENTH. 
 
 " The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."— Mark ii. 28. 
 
 It was an essential principle of the gospel 
 dispensation, that God was thenceforth to be 
 worshipped and honoured, not merely as the 
 Original Creator of man, but as his New Cre- 
 ator, " for we are his workmanship, created in 
 Christ Jesus unto new works." The proper 
 and full divinity of the Son, " equal to the 
 Father as touching his Godhead," was to be so 
 manifested, that " the Son of man should be 
 glorified, and God glorified in him." " For the 
 Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all 
 things that himself doeth ; and he will show 
 him greater works than these, that ye may 
 marvel. For, as the Father raiseth up the dead, 
 
THE lord's day THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 85 
 
 and quickeneth them; even so the Son quick- 
 eneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth 
 no man ; but hath committed all judgment 
 unto the Son: That all men should honour 
 THE Son, even as they honour the Fa- 
 ther," John V. 20 — 23, Now, when we find 
 the gospel exhibiting to us such a principle as 
 this, and when moreover we find it recorded 
 by three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and 
 Luke, that Jesus declared of himself, ** the Son 
 of man is Lord also of the sabbath," when we 
 find him, everywhere throughout the new dis- 
 pensation, manifesting forth his glory, and 
 shining as the sun, and centre, and chief excel- 
 lency of that wondrous scheme of salvation, 
 whereby *' he is made of God unto us wisdom, 
 righteousness, sanctification, and redemption ;" 
 what marvel is it further to find, that the 
 observance of the sabbath principle, which had 
 originated in Paradise, and been ratified at 
 Sinai, should be rendered accordant with, and 
 subservient to, the spiritual graces of the gos- 
 pel ; and since " the sabbath was made for 
 man, and not man for the sabbath," that it 
 should now be adapted to the new state of 
 
86 THE lord's day 
 
 things that had begun in the earth, and be em- 
 ployed to commemorate the great first act of 
 the new creation, the rising again from the 
 dead of Him who, having power to lay down 
 his life, yielded up the ghost on the cross for 
 man's redemption ; and, having power to take 
 it up again, rose from the dead for man's 
 justification. 
 
 The change of the day seems most natural 
 and a}3propriate to that new state of things, in 
 which all honour was to be so rendered to 
 Jesus, that he declared, *^ He that honoureth 
 not the Son honoureth not the Father which 
 hath sent him." There was no variation of 
 principle, no shadow of turning, in this; but 
 that which bad been from the beginning con- 
 tinued still immutable. One day in every 
 seven was still to be observed as holy unto the 
 Lord. Six days' labour, and one of rest, to be 
 sanctified and honoured as the sabbath, was the 
 same constant and stedfast principle. The 
 mere day might be changed, the identical round 
 of hours might not be preserved, but the prin- 
 ciple in spirit and in truth was unmutilated. 
 The old sabbath, so to speak, was entombed 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. bt 
 
 with Christ in the sepulchre, but the new one 
 rose again with him from the grave, and opened 
 to the world a more jubilant hope, inasmuch as 
 it was thenceforth to be the testimony of the 
 new creation in Christ Jesus, rather than of the 
 old creation of man in the flesh ; and was, 
 moreover, to be a sign the most appropriate 
 that " all men should honour the Son, even as 
 they honour the Father." 
 
 We shall find these views very materially 
 confirmed and established, if we take a survey 
 of the manner in which our Lord dealt with 
 the sabbath, and observe how he gradually 
 developed and exercised his divine authority 
 respecting it. The mission with which he was 
 charged was a renovating, quickening, and sanc- 
 tifying one. He " came not to destroy the 
 law or the prophets, but to fulfil them," and 
 thereby to render them more edifying and 
 efiicacious, than in the hands of the stiffiiecked 
 and uncircumcised house of Israel they had 
 hitherto been. Few things will better show 
 the renewing and restoring influence of his 
 work upon earth than his dealing with the sab- 
 bath. It had been distorted by the Jews, as 
 
88 THE lord's day 
 
 observed in the last chapter, into a wearisome 
 and formal day of service, affording occasion for 
 the display of pharisaical captiousness, rather 
 than *^ godly edifying v^^hich is in faith." To 
 break through this perversion of so holy and 
 sanctifying a blessing as the sabbath, and to 
 restore it to its original design when made for 
 man, as a privilege and grace, not as a burden 
 and a toil, was the object at which our Saviour 
 steadily aimed, and in order to accomplish 
 which he claimed his own divine authority 
 respecting it. 
 
 The first occasion on which we read of his 
 doing any act that was opposed to the Jewish 
 errors respecting the sabbath, is that recorded 
 by St. Mark, i. 21 — 27, when, at Capernaum, on 
 a sabbath, he cast out an unclean spirit in the 
 synagogue. The assembled congregation was 
 amazed at his authority, and ventured not to 
 dispute it. Not so, however, on the next occa- 
 sion, which is related by St. John, v. 1 — 18. 
 Jesus not only healed the impotent man, but 
 said unto liim, " Rise, take up thy bed, and 
 walk." But while the Jews did not yet venture 
 to find fault with the miracle he had done, they 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 89 
 
 did with the man who had been healed, for car- 
 rying his bed on the sabbath day. He pleaded, 
 indeed, and that justly, the authority of Him 
 who had healed him ; but the Jews denounced 
 Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had 
 done these things on the sabbath day. He 
 met and refuted them, however, by an argu- 
 ment so bold, and yet so incontrovertible, that 
 their very enmity was appalled, though in no 
 degree allayed. He " answered them, My Fa- 
 ther worketh hitherto, and I work." 
 
 The intimation conveyed in this assertion 
 was too plain to be misunderstood, and they in 
 their anger " sought the more to kill him, be- 
 cause he not only had broken the sabbath, but 
 said also that God was his Father, making him- 
 self equal with God." In thus announcing his 
 equality with the Father, he thereby claims for 
 himself the authority respecting the sabbath 
 which the Father who instituted it had, and 
 prepares the way for the declaration of that 
 truth which the next occasion afforded him an 
 opportunity of. This was the occurrence re- 
 lated by St. Matthew, xii. 1—8 ; St. Mark, ii. 
 23—27; and St. Luke, vi. 1—5. His dis- 
 
90 THE lord's day 
 
 ciples passing tlirougli the corn-fields plucked 
 some ears of corn, rubbed them in their hands, 
 and ate them. Here, apparently, was an abso- 
 lute infringement of the law of the sabbath. 
 Healing was an act of mercy, and justifiable, as 
 well by their own practice of leading a beast to 
 water, or saving it from destruction, as by the 
 undeniable principle, " it is lawful to do well 
 on the sabbath day." But the preparation of 
 food, which the gathering and rubbing the ears 
 of corn were, had no such plea ; and, doubtless, 
 the Jews thought they had convicted Jesus and 
 his disciples of neglect of God's law. He first 
 exposes the folly of their objection by two 
 notable instances, that ought to have been 
 well known to them : the first, that of the priests 
 who laboured in the temple service, and so pro- 
 faned the sabbath, yet were blameless ; and the 
 second that of David, who in his extremity 
 took the shewbread, which none but the priests 
 might eat, and both ate of it himself and gave 
 it to them that were with him; the greatness of 
 his emergency justifying departure from a law 
 which was made for man, not man for it. But 
 having thus exposed their ignorance of the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 91 
 
 principles of Scripture, which they were pro- 
 fessing to defend, and which teacVi us that 
 *' God will have mercy, and not sacrifice," he 
 no longer hesitates to announce that grand 
 truth, which is the ruling principle of the sab- 
 batical institution, under that dispensation 
 which he has founded and sealed with his 
 blood. " The Son of man is Lord even of 
 THE SABBATH DAY." This principle once an- 
 nounced was adequate to all future difficulties, 
 and was exercised by him in various w^ays, to 
 moderate the Jewish severity of the sabbath, 
 and to renew it to holiness in the fear of the 
 Lord. On another sabbath, therefore, instead 
 of waiting for their objections, and aware that 
 they would advance them if they dared, he 
 opposed them with the inquiry, '* Is it lawful 
 to do good on the sabbath day, or to do evil ; 
 to save life, or to kill ? " And when they held 
 their peace, having looked upon them with 
 anger, being grieved because of the hardness of 
 their hearts, he healed the withered hand, and 
 silenced them, St. Mark, iii. 1. At another 
 time, when about to heal a poor afflicted woman, 
 who for eighteen years had been bowed with 
 
9^ THE lord's day 
 
 her infirmity, the ruler of the synagogue inter- 
 posed witli the remark, " There are six days in 
 which men ought to work : in them therefore 
 come and be healed, and not on the sabbath 
 day." But the Lord rebuked him for his 
 hypocrisy, and showed that if the ox or the ass 
 might be loosed and led to water, so might this 
 woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom 
 Satan had bound for eighteen years, be loosed 
 from her bond on the sabbath day : St. Luke, 
 xiii. 11 — 17. A similar case is recorded also 
 by St. Luke, xiv. 1 — 6. But sufficient has been 
 said to show the authority that our Lord 
 claimed, which of right belonged to him be- 
 cause of his divinity, and by the exercise of 
 which he intended to raise and elevate the nature 
 of the sabbath from its hard servitude under 
 Pharisaical exactions, and thereby to prepare 
 the way for its restoration to its original and 
 primitive principle, of a day sanctified to the 
 honour and glory of God, and by him gra- 
 ciously and mercifully bestowed upon man for 
 the refreshment of his body, the edification of 
 his spirit, and the sanctification of his soul. 
 Our Saviour, then, especially claimed the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 93 
 
 sabbath as his own. He claimed to exercise 
 supreme, independent, and Divine authority 
 over it in his lifetime, even to bind or to loose 
 his apostles in respect to it, according to his 
 own will and pleasure, and consequently the 
 ordinance was then, thenceforth and for ever, 
 at his disposal and appointment. If he made 
 none specially by recorded law and command- 
 ment, as had been done before at Sinai, this is 
 not at all to be wondered at, because, as he pro- 
 mised to be with his apostles again through the 
 Comforter, saying, '* I will not leave you com- 
 fortless, I will come to you," so he could, as he 
 did, prompt them, from time to time, to ex- 
 hibit, by example rather than by precept, w^hat 
 the Spirit guided them to do among the 
 churches. Nor was the sabbath thus less 
 regarded than other things of a similar kind 
 under the Christian dispensation. It is the 
 very essence and nature of Christianity to im- 
 press spiritual principles upon, rather than to 
 prescribe services and forms to, its members. 
 It enjoins baptism and the Lord's supper, and 
 plainly states the essentials of those sacra- 
 ments; but the form and manner of their 
 
94 THE lord's day 
 
 administration it leaves to men to develop. It 
 directs that *' men pray everywhere, lifting up 
 holy hands, without wrath or doubting ;" that 
 " supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giv- 
 ing of thanks be made for all men ;" but the 
 mode of doing so, whether liturgically, or ex- 
 temporaneously, it leaves wholly to men to 
 determine. And just so it is with the sabbath, 
 — its principle was adopted and practised, but 
 nothing in the nature of a statute was enacted 
 respecting it. Accordingly, though there be no 
 prescribed law for the substitution of the first 
 day instead of the last, there is that which in civil 
 matters supplies the place of statute law, and 
 out of which the great body of the common law 
 of this land has grown — prescribed and known 
 custom, whereby they tliat have not a law, by 
 doing the things, become a law unto them- 
 selves, Rom. ii. 14. Thus the practice of the 
 apostles in this matter works itself into a law, 
 and becomes a guide and authority, and so in 
 effect a precept to us who believe in their in- 
 spiration, and trust them for those truths by 
 faith in which we look for salvation. 
 
 That this point may be m.ade abundantly 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 95 
 
 manifest, since upon it rests the authority for 
 the observance of the first day of the week as 
 the Lord's day, rather than the last as accord- 
 ing to the law of Sinai, we will consider more 
 at large the proof that the Scripture affords of 
 this, for it is said very confidently by many 
 classes of persons, from various motives, that 
 there is no direct scriptural authority for the 
 substitution of the one day for the other, and 
 for the change of the first day of the week for 
 the last. Some object that there is no authority 
 in Scripture for substituting the Lord's day 
 instead of the sabbath, and contend that the 
 sabbath was entirely done away with, together 
 with all the ceremonials of the Jewish law, and 
 that the Lord's day was a new institution, 
 founded on new principles, and susceptible of 
 a new mode of observance ; while others, ad- 
 mitting the perpetuity of the sabbath principle, 
 contend that the Scripture affords no authority 
 at all for the change of the first day for the 
 last ; that this change rests upon church autho- 
 rity, not that of Scripture ; and so would they 
 exalt the church, that is, tradition, to the place 
 and power of Scripture. Now, with respect 
 
96 THE lord's day 
 
 to tlie first of these, it will be necessary to 
 observe, that such objectors, in order to favour 
 their own view of the matter, altogether misstate 
 and misrepresent the true point for considera- 
 tion, and then very easily, from their own false 
 premises, deduce the conclusions suitable to 
 their own fancies. What they affirm in this 
 matter is, that we have no authority for sub- 
 stituting, instead of the sabbath, the Lord's 
 day. This is very like the charge often made 
 against Trinitarians, that they make three Gods 
 one God, v/hereas the true doctrine is three 
 persons but one God; for we do not substi- 
 tute the Lord's day for the sabbath ; on the 
 contrary, we contend that we conserve most 
 faithfully the sabbath in all its integi'ity, in the 
 fulness of the principle of keeping holy one 
 day in every seven. What we really do, and 
 that for which we contend that we have ample 
 authority, scriptural and apostolical, is the 
 substitution of the first day for the last, and 
 the commemoration thereby of our new crea- 
 tion in Christ Jesus, to the glory and praise of 
 God, the sanctification of every seventh day, 
 and our own holiness thereby. In all which 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 97 
 
 we contend, that we are acting in compliance 
 with Divine principles, and faithfully employ- 
 ing the sabbath principle which was made for 
 man. 
 
 We have intimated above, that the law 
 for the observance of the Lord's day, or first 
 day, as the sabbath, instead of the last day, 
 grew up under the Christian dispensation from 
 custom ; and being founded on custom, ob- 
 tained, and has, all that legal force and energy, 
 which, under similar, though inferior circum- 
 stances, the common law of our own land has, 
 having grown up in like manner, and having 
 its foundation likewise in custom. At the 
 same time it is absolutely essential in such a 
 matter as this of the sabbath, to distinguish 
 carefully the kind of custom that is essential to 
 establish such a law. It is not the custom of any 
 men or ages that will effect this, for so we should 
 be in danger of allowing equal force to eccle- 
 siastical customs, that is, to tradition and its 
 dark cloud of vanities. But it is only one kind 
 of meny whose custom could be allowed in such 
 a case to originate and establish a law of this 
 kind ; — they must be inspired men, that is, the 
 
 H 
 
98 THE lord's day 
 
 same kind of persons as those from whom we 
 receive in other spiritual matters our only laws 
 and rules ; — they must be such as we can wisely 
 and reasonably rely upon as men guided by the 
 Spirit into all truth, and whose regular and 
 confirmed customs in such a matter we may 
 safely adopt and exercise, nay, rather are bound 
 to accept with thankfulness, just as we would 
 their distinct declarations of truth in other 
 matters ; and, above all, we must have the evi- 
 dence of their custom from their own records, 
 that is, from the inspired Scriptures. Nor will 
 it be sufficient that we meet with only hints 
 therein as to what may have been their custom, 
 and then bring proof from others to prop this 
 up and render it more probable. The evidence 
 of Scripture itself must be plain and undeni- 
 able : and though, indeed, it may be profitable 
 to us to carry our examination of the question 
 beyond Scripture times, so as to mark the con- 
 tinuance and permanency of the apostolical 
 custom, we must not rely upon this evidence 
 as of authority, in any degree whatever ap- 
 proaching that of Scripture. The Bible is the 
 only authority upon which we may rest for 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 99 
 
 proof of such an act as that of the changing 
 the sabbath from the last to the first day of the 
 week. With this understanding, then, of the 
 evidence that we are about to adduce, we may 
 now proceed to consider in detail the origin 
 and progress of the change alluded to. 
 
 As our Lord had risen on the first day of the 
 week, according to the concurrent testimony of 
 all the four evangelists, so it was on the very same 
 day at evening, that His disciples being assembled. 
 He came and presented himself to them. And 
 after eight days again, (that is, on the following 
 first day,) the disciples having met together on 
 this day, evidently in commemoration of the fact 
 of the resurrection ; and Thomas, who had been 
 absent on the previous occasion, being now with 
 them (see John, xx. 19, 20,) Jesus came the 
 second time, in the same miraculous and mys- 
 terious manner that he had done at the first, and 
 showed himself openly to them all. Now, since 
 we know that the apostles did, long after this, 
 continue to use the temple worship, and, no 
 doubt, therefore, to keep the Jewish sabbath, 
 which still endured amongst the people of Israel, 
 we may justly conclude that they would be all 
 H 2 
 
100 THE lord's day 
 
 together on the sabbath day that succeeded the 
 resurrection of Jesus ; but since the Lord did 
 not choose on this occasion to manifest himself 
 to the disciples the second time, but waited until 
 the weekly return of the day of His resurrection, 
 and preferred that one to the day of the Jewish 
 sabbath, we conceive that here, by example, is 
 such a designation of that day, as necessarily 
 originated the custom of its observance under His 
 immediate sanction, and which custom eventu- 
 ally grew into the force and efficacy of law. To 
 begin with, we may observe, a very striking fact 
 in the twentieth chapter of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, which is thus stated : — " We sailed 
 away from Philippi after the days of unleavened 
 bread, and came unto Troas in five days, where 
 we abode seven days." Now we know that at 
 this very time Paul was hastening on his way to 
 Jerusalem, to be there by the day of Pentecost, 
 and would not even deviate from his course to 
 visit Ephesus, but sent for the elders of that 
 church to meet him at Miletus. Why then did 
 he tarry at Troas seven days ? The answer to 
 this question is most obvious. He waited for 
 the^r^^ day of the week, when he might have an 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 101 
 
 opportunity of addressing the Churcli at Troas ; 
 for we read, that, " Upon the first day of the 
 week, when the disciples came together to break 
 bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to de- 
 part on the morrow." Now had the Jewish 
 sabbath been still in use amongst the disciples 
 at Troas, it would have occurred the day pre- 
 vious to this first day, and the apostle would have 
 availed himself of it, as we know that he con- 
 tinually did amongst the dispersed Jews, to preach 
 to them the gospel. But the silence respecting 
 the sabbath, on the seventh day, the delay of St. 
 Paul a whole week on purpose to be at Troas on 
 the first day, and the coming together of the dis- 
 ciples on that day to break bread — to unite, that 
 is, in the most solemn and blessed rite of our re- 
 ligion ; all these conspire together to assure us, 
 that, in the church at Troas at least, the first day 
 of the week was that of their solemn assembly ; 
 was that which they sanctified by holy worship ; 
 was that in fact which they employed, according 
 to all the primitive principles of the sabbath day. 
 It is evident, too, that Paul only waited for this 
 day, thereby confirming and approving the cus- 
 tom, for he was " ready to depart on the mor- 
 
102 THE lord's day 
 
 row," and so to hasten on to Jerusalem. But 
 that which we thus find to be the custom in one 
 Christian church, confirmed and reverenced by 
 the apostle himself, we may well believe to have 
 been the practice of other churches under his 
 direction : and this we find to have been the case 
 in that at Corinth ; for the apostle, writing to 
 them, exhorts them to do that which he had 
 directed the churches of Galatia also to do; 
 and thereby show, that amongst the Corinthians 
 in Europe, and the Galatians as well as Troades 
 in Asia, — in the churches, that is, both of the 
 West and the East ; the observance of the first 
 day of the week had become a fixed and regular 
 custom (1st Cor. xvi., 1, 2,) It had the full 
 sanction and approval of the apostle, as com- 
 pletely as it is possible for any such thing to 
 have, and must therefore be regarded as an ordi- 
 nance of divinely-inspired authority. 
 
 But yet it is said, in answer to all this — there 
 is no distinct commandment, there is no definite 
 law on the subject. Granted. And what then ? 
 There was no law of the sabbath even from the 
 first, but only the enunciation of a principle ; 
 but those who believed the principle acted it 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 103 
 
 out, and so by doing it, made it a law to them- 
 selves. True, in the case of the Christian sab- 
 bath, there is not an absolute commandment, 
 but there is the exhibition of a principle by 
 example, if not by actual order, as in the case of 
 the churches of Troas, Galatia, and Corinth; 
 (observe well, 1st Corxvi., 1, 2-,) and that prin- 
 ciple was the use of the first day of the week 
 instead of the seventh, and consequently the 
 authoritative substitution of the one for the 
 other. 
 
 That which we find thus ordained by apos- 
 tolical example, concurrence, and approval, in 
 the churches founded by the great apostle of 
 the Gentiles, we subsequently find confirmed 
 by the apostle St. John, when he wrote his 
 Apocalypse, and the very name bestowed upon 
 the day, and well known in his time, which has 
 continued ever since to be the proper and dis- 
 tinguishing appellation of the Christian sabbath. 
 St. John calls it " the Lord's day," and he tells 
 us, that being " in the Spirit on the Lord's day," 
 (Rev. i. 10,) those wonderful revelations were 
 made known to him, which form the most asto- 
 nishing series of prophecies that the Scripture 
 
104 THE lord's day 
 
 contains. This, again, is a direct approval of 
 the day by inspiration ; for since the Spirit pre- 
 ferred this day whereon to communicate with 
 the divine St. John, what is such an act of the 
 Spirit but a confirmation of the practice which 
 had already grown, and a re-stamping as it 
 were with His authority the custom of thus 
 employing the first day, which had become 
 now a fixed one in the Christian church, under 
 the title of the Lord's day ? 
 
 That which had thus been originated by our 
 Lord himself, who preferred it for the occasion 
 of showing himself after his resurrection to all 
 his disciples ; which had been introduced by St. 
 Paul into all the churches that he had founded ; 
 which St. John was well acquainted with the 
 use of; and which the Spirit had confirmed, by 
 honouring it as the season of His wondrous 
 revelations ; that same day we afterwards find 
 in use in the church, spoken of by the same 
 name, separated to the holy exercises of the 
 sabbath, and yet distinguished from the vain 
 and superstitious employment of that holy day, 
 which had grown up amongst the Jews. For 
 Ignatius, one of the generation immediately 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 105 
 
 succeeding to the apostles, writes thus concern- 
 ing it : — " If, then, they who, having had their 
 conversation in the old law, have attained to 
 newness of hope, no longer keeping the sabbath 
 as the Jews do, but living in conformity with 
 the Lord's day, on which also He who is our life 
 rose again of himself," &c. — Ignat. : to the 
 Magn : IX. Tertullian also gives it the same 
 name, and distinguishes it from the Jewish sab- 
 bath, thus, ** the sabbaths and Lord's day in- 
 deed being excepted." — De Jejun. ex. v. Upon 
 the authority of Eusebius, in several passages 
 of his history, we learn that others also com- 
 monly spoke of it as the Lord's day, for Diony- 
 sius of Corinth, writing to Soter of Rome, 
 says, " To day we have passed the Lord's holy 
 day, in which we have read your epistle," iv. 2S. 
 And Melito, of Sardis, wrote a sermon " on the 
 Lord's day," iv. 26 ; and Irenseus wrote an epis- 
 tle, " in which he maintains the duty of cele- 
 brating the mystery of the resurrection of our 
 Lord only on the day of the Lord," v. 24. So, 
 that it is quite evident that this day, which was 
 the first day, was reverenced as the Lord's day, 
 and observed on the principles of the sabbath 
 
106 THE lord's day 
 
 day, the practice having originated with our 
 Lord and his apostles, and having been duti- 
 fully and faithfully kept by the believers after- 
 wards. 
 
 In deference to the heathens, however, to 
 whom the Christian teachers had to address 
 themselves, and in consideration of their igno- 
 rance of the Lord's day and its signification, 
 they made use of another term, Sunday, which 
 was understood by them, because it denoted to 
 the heathen that particular day of the week, 
 which as the Lord's day was thenceforth to 
 enjoy and exercise the principles, graces and 
 privileges of the sabbath. Thus, Justin Mar- 
 tyr in his Apology writes, " We all come toge- 
 ther on the day of the sun (Sunday) ; because 
 it is the first day upon which God, having 
 changed darkness and matter, created the world; 
 and Jesus Christ our Saviour rose again from 
 the dead on this day.'* — ApoU. ii. p. 99. This 
 is a remarkable passage, for it expressly points 
 out the substitution of the first day, known to 
 the heathen as the day of the sun, the day of 
 light, and very beautifully adapts the fact of 
 God having created light on the first day, and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 107 
 
 SO connects it with our Lord's resurrection on 
 the first day, as to exhibit Him as the Light 
 risen upon the world ; " the true Light, which 
 lighteth every man that cometh into the world;" 
 the " Sun of righteousness that had arisen with 
 healing in his wings ;" and whom, therefore, 
 they were thenceforth to worship as the true 
 God, instead of that material luminary, which 
 hitherto they had served in darkness amid all 
 his meridian light and glory. And to this pur- 
 pose, Tertullian, writing to the heathens, who 
 imagined, that, because the Christians met for 
 worship on their day of the sun, therefore they 
 must honour the sun, explains, that, in " using 
 the day as one of joy and gladness, they do so 
 from far other reasons than the adoration of 
 the sun." — Apoll. c. xvi. The term Sunday, 
 came more and more into use, as laws of the 
 empire were enacted for enforcing the obser- 
 vance of the Lord's day ; for the Emperors 
 Constantine, Yalentinian the elder and the 
 younger, and Theodosius the elder and the 
 younger, all thus style it, though sometimes 
 taking care to distinguish it as the Lord's day ; 
 thus in an act of the younger Valentinian, " On 
 
108 THE lord's day 
 
 Sunday, which our forefathers have rightly and 
 customarily called the Lord's day." And the 
 day so observed and notified by imperial laws, 
 be it remembered, was still the first day of the 
 week, and was treated with all the reverence 
 and respect which the most ancient sabbatical 
 principles prescribed. 
 
 Hence, then, we have learned the origin of the 
 common name of the sabbath — Sunday, or the 
 Lord's day ; but, under both appellations, we 
 learn that it was the first day of the week that 
 was so designated, and that it had become sub- 
 stituted throughout the Christian world, and 
 wherever Christianity prevailed, as the weekly 
 day of assembly for religious worship among 
 the believers, and for all the holy and sanctified 
 uses, to which the sabbath had been from the 
 beginning ordained. Thenceforth hath it con- 
 tinued a time-honoured ordinance, and hence- 
 forth, even for ever, may it, as indeed it must 
 and will, endure, until merged in the eternal 
 sabbath which remaineth to the people of God. 
 
 It has been asserted above, that while there 
 is no statute, or commandment, directly substi- 
 tuting the first day of the week for the sabbath 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 109 
 
 instead of the last ; that is, while there is no 
 statute law for the change, there is that which 
 is always deemed equivalent to such law; 
 namely, custom or common law. And we have 
 shown this custom, first, in the case of the 
 Saviour himself and his apostles, and then the 
 continuance of it in the church subsequently. 
 Now we desire to distinguish again very care- 
 fully between these two classes of evidence in 
 proof of the custom. Were this any mere 
 temporal matter, the custom and practice of 
 any class of persons would be sufficient to 
 prove it, and thereon to establish legal force 
 and power. But, in a matter of the spiritual 
 nature of the sabbath, no such species of evi- 
 dence would be adequate ; for to allow this, 
 would be to open the floodgates of tradition, 
 and to overwhelm us with its monstrous errors 
 and absurdities. Unless we could show an 
 apostolical origin and sanction for this custom, 
 and that directly and plainly recorded in Scrip- 
 ture ; that is, unless we could show a distinct 
 Scriptural origin for the custom, we should not 
 allow or contend for it. But since, as we have 
 done, we have shown our Saviour himself first 
 
110 THE lord's day 
 
 adopting it, then the apostle Paul following 
 him in all his churches, St. John acknowledg- 
 ing the same, and the Spirit confirming it by 
 gracing it with the abundance of the revela- 
 tions, — we feel perfectly safe in coming to the 
 conclusion, not on the authority of tradition, 
 not on ecclesiastical authority, but on the 
 authority of Christ, His apostles, and the Spirit, 
 that the first day of the week, under the title 
 of the Lord's day, had succeeded to all the 
 honours, dignity, precedence, sanctification, and 
 blessing, which its great progenitor, the sabbath 
 day, had so long enjoyed. 
 
 The observance of the first day of the week 
 rather than the last, as the Christian sabbath, is, 
 indeed, wisely adapted to the dispensation of 
 grace and hope under which we live, if we do 
 but rightly consider*dts propriety, and profit by 
 the lesson of its appropriateness. The law 
 could not give life, the gospel can. The cove- 
 nant of works was deadly, that of grace is life- 
 giving : " What the law could not do, in that 
 it was weak through the flesh, God sending his 
 own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for 
 sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righ- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. Ill 
 
 teousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, 
 who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit." — " The commandment which was or- 
 dained to life, was found to be unto death." — 
 But " the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin 
 and death." The observance of the seventh 
 day was remarkably appropriate to the latter 
 law : it was like offering a recompence for the 
 sins that were past, and to which we were, in 
 fact, dead. The sabbath was the note of death 
 to the week that had passed away. To adopt 
 the language of Dr. Young, — 
 
 " We take no note of time but by its loss ; 
 To give it then a tongue were wise in man." 
 
 The sabbath on the seventh day was a sign that 
 six more days were past, and that another 
 period of our life had sped away. It was a 
 continual record of our dying, so that on it, 
 
 " The man kept following still the funeral of the boy." 
 
 How different is the Christian sabbath ! What 
 is it but the receiving of life from the dead ? — 
 It is a perpetual rising again to newness of life. 
 It is no day of sorrow, sadness, and mourning. 
 
11^ lord's day the christian sabbath. 
 
 but one of joy and gladness, as when the bride- 
 groom Cometh. It is not a day of death, but of 
 life. It throws not a shadowy gloom over the 
 days that are past, but cheers us with bright 
 prospects for the future. It is a day of hope. 
 It casts its genial rays on those that are 
 coming. It beams mildly over the future, 
 and rejoices the heart of the Christian with 
 its grateful anticipations : " Forgetting those 
 things which are behind, and reaching forth 
 unto those things which are before," it teaches 
 us to "press toward the mark for the prize of 
 the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF PROFANE WRITERS TO THE PRIMITIVE 
 INSTITUTION OF THE SAr>BATH. 
 
 In order that we may rightly appreciate the 
 testimony, afforded by other writers than those 
 of the Holy Scripture, to the primitive institu- 
 tion of the sabbath, it will be well to observe 
 upon the sources, whence such traditionary 
 knowledge, however much adulterated by fic- 
 tion, was derived by them, and has been trans- 
 mitted to us, so as to show that they are inde- 
 pendent witnesses, though originally claiming 
 their instruction from the same primitive 
 fountain. 
 
 In entering upon this task, we are, as already 
 intimated, to extend our researches beyond the 
 records of Holy Writ, and to seek in profane 
 history such traces, as we believe do plainly 
 indicate the origin of such an institution as that 
 of the sabbath. In doing this, however, we must 
 I 
 
114 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 adopt an entirely new arrangement, in order to 
 give full effect to the circumstantial evidence 
 we are about to produce ; and in order to ex- 
 plain the method of this, we must remind the 
 reader of certain facts, which, though well known 
 to him, he must nevertheless, for this purpose, 
 regard in the light we are about to present them 
 to him. Let it be borne in mind, then, that 
 the whole channel of primitive history, and 
 especially of the records of the sabbatical insti- 
 tution, were by the deluge brought within the 
 confines of the ark, were limited to the single 
 family of Noah, and thence must have de- 
 scended by the streams, originating in this 
 salient fountain of humanity, to the different 
 families, tribes, or nations, amongst whom we 
 propose to trace them. We must briefly state, 
 without attempting to discuss the matter here, 
 that mankind having emigrated from Mount 
 Ararat, in Armenia, where Noah had come 
 forth from the ark, where the ark itself rested, 
 a monumental relic of God's mercy and justice, 
 and where the first altar had been erected to 
 his honour, followed the course of the Eu- 
 phrates until they reached the plain of Shinar, 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 115 
 
 and there perpetrated that great act of rebel- 
 lious pride, the building of Babel, " to make 
 them a name, lest they should be scattered 
 abroad upon the face of the whole earth." To 
 punish them for such a daring act of impiety a*nd 
 pride God confounded their language, and all 
 history conspires to assure us, that the three 
 families of mankind were from that time sepa- 
 rated from one another, and have thenceforth 
 continued to disperse, and spread themselves 
 over the earth. Japheth, the elder son of 
 Noah, appears to have led the way in this 
 dispersion, and to have been drawn towards 
 Armenia, the resting-place of the ark and the 
 locality of the primitive altar. In the same 
 direction, and probably with the same object in 
 view, Shem pursued the same route, and press- 
 ing upon the rear of Japheth, compelled him to 
 cross the Caucasus, and so to enter Europe. 
 Shem and his posterity settled around Mount 
 Ararat, and to the westward and eastward of it, 
 in positions that we have not space here to 
 explain; while Japheth, having crossed the 
 Caucasus, spread himself according to the words 
 of the prophecy, " God shall enlarge Japheth," 
 I 2 
 
116 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 far and wide, over the larger portion of the 
 globe. Ham and his posterity continued still 
 to occupy the scene of man's rebellion, until 
 they at length separated, and betaking them- 
 selves to Canaan, descended into Egypt, and 
 thence dispersed themselves throughout the 
 torrid wilds of Africa. It is evident, then, 
 that we thus open up three distinct main chan- 
 nels of tradition, for any such fact, as the 
 primitive institution of the sabbath, being 
 transmitted to future ages ; and it is in these 
 natural channels, that we now propose to trace 
 such indications of it as history may afford. 
 
 We will begin, however, with mentioning one 
 fact tiiat is common to both the Shemitic and 
 Japhetian races, and which is stated in these 
 words by Mrs. Somerville in her " Connexion 
 of the Physical Sciences.'* — " The division of" 
 the year into months is very old, and almost 
 universal ; but the period of seven days, by far 
 the most permanent division of time, and the 
 most ancient monument of astronomical know- 
 ledge, was used by the Brahmins, in India, with 
 the same denominations employed by us ; and 
 was alike found in the calendars of the Jews, 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 117 
 
 Egyptians, Arabs, and Assyrians ; it has sur- 
 vived the fall of empires, and has existed amongst 
 all successive generations, a proof of their com- 
 mon origin." First — let the reader observe that 
 thes Brahmins, that is, the Hindoos, are of the 
 Japhetian race ; while the Jews, Egyptians, 
 Arabs and Assyrians are of the Shemitic. And 
 whence, then, the origin amongst them all of a 
 division of time according to weeks, which Mrs. 
 Somerville justly observes is a proof of their 
 common origin as races. Such a division is not 
 a natural one, nor did it accord with the number 
 of days in their months and year ; for we know 
 that the former contained thirty days, making 
 the year consist of 360, without intercalations, 
 and even with them, in order to complete the 
 earth's full course in her orbit, the number of 
 days will not divide into weeks. Periods of seven 
 days are not adapted to either the moon's or the 
 earth's courses in their orbits, and could not 
 therefore have resulted from natural divisions of 
 time. They must have had some other origin, 
 and that of weeks, commencing from the creation, 
 according to the account of Moses, and handed 
 down by tradition, is so obvious as at once to 
 
118 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 afford the right one, and thereby to indicate the 
 primitive design and appointment of the sabbath, 
 recurring every seventh day. In the case of the 
 Hindoos this evidence is most remarkable, be- 
 cause, as stated by Dr. Robertson in the Appen- 
 dix to his " Disquisition on Ancient India,'* 
 p. 819, the most accurate astronomical records 
 that they possess commence at a period not less 
 than 5,000 years from the present time, are more 
 accurate in the earliest periods than in those 
 nearer our own times, and consequently lead to 
 the inference, that they must have been made 
 from observations at the time, and have not been 
 compiled from subsequent retrospective calcula- 
 tions. If this is to be considered as proved, and 
 if with it may be combined the fact of a division 
 of time according to weeks, then have we a high 
 and valuable testimony to the origin and use of 
 the sabbath, and one altogether independent of, 
 because prior to, the account of Moses, and rest- 
 ing therefore upon an authority different from 
 his ; for the Hindoos, being of the Japhetian 
 race, must have had their tradition from Japhet, 
 who of course had it from Noah : and thus while 
 it came from the same source as that of Moses, 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 119 
 
 it came clown through a different channel, and 
 consequently affords an independent proof of the 
 early institution and remembrance of the sab- 
 bath. 4 
 
 I. The Shemitic race. 
 
 In first directing our attention to the sabbati- 
 cal traditions of the Shemitic race, independent 
 of those which the Israelites and Moses afford, 
 the Scriptures will furnish us with some of the 
 earliest and best-authenticated proofs of these. 
 
 The oldest upon record is that occurring in 
 the history of Job the Idumasan, the period of 
 whose trial has been accurately fixed by Dr. 
 Hales in the second patriarchal age, 184 years 
 before the birth of Abraham. This is long ante- 
 cedent to, and therefore altogether independent 
 of, the giving of the commandments at Sinai ; and 
 what is more, Job has an express revelation for 
 what he does. But as it has ever been the nature 
 of God, to condescend as much as possible to the 
 righteous doings of men, in their service of Him, 
 so we may understand, that what in this case He 
 commanded to be done by the three friends of 
 Job, was not only agreeable to himself, but ac- 
 cordant also with the religious rites of the nation 
 
120 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 amongst whom it was to be done, and may be 
 regarded therefore as a well-known ordinance of 
 devotion. The offering then of seven bullocks 
 and seven rams may be regarded as proofs of a 
 tradition, retrospective of the primitive institu- 
 tion of the sabbath amongst the Idumaeans, and 
 commemorative of the facts of the creation out 
 of which it originated. 
 
 Another similar case is that of Balaam of 
 Pethor, in Mesopotamia, who, coming from the 
 country in which Abraham had been born about 
 500 years before, and which he had quitted at 
 least 430 years previously (Exod. xii. 41), must 
 be regarded as a witness of the preservation 
 in that country of religious rites and customs, 
 evidently having their origin in such an insti- 
 tution as the sabbath, and thereby serving to 
 prove its primitive origin and continued com- 
 memoration in that land. Balaam, an unrigh- 
 teous and unprincipled prophet or priest, is 
 brought, in defiance of God's commandment, 
 and in manifest ignorance of the true God, to 
 curse, at the desire of the king of Moab, God^s. 
 chosen people, whom he has brought out of 
 Egypt, and to whom he has given his command- 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 121 
 
 ments at Mount Sinai. Balaam, therefore, 
 cannot possibly know anything of these com- 
 mandments, or of the sabbatical institution as 
 confirmed by them. He must have had his 
 glimpses of the sabbath, if indeed he had any 
 idea at all of it ; — but certainly he must have 
 had his traditions, which had survived the ob- 
 servance of it, from some other source than 
 that of the ten commandments. In fact, he 
 must have had, and there must have endured 
 in his nation, some primitive tradition to occa- 
 sion the preference and use of the number 
 seven, that he shows in the religious rites which 
 he directs the king of Moab to engage in. 
 Three times does he officiate for him, hoping 
 to propitiate the favour of the God of Israel, 
 and to wean him from his chosen people, and 
 each time does he erect seven altars, and sacri- 
 fice upon each seven bullocks, and seven rams. 
 Is there not in this so remarkable a coincidence 
 with Abraham's peace-offering to Abimelech 
 of seven ewe lambs, as plainly to indicate a 
 common origin of such a use of the number 
 seven, and that long previous to the giving of 
 the commandments, and so an evidence of a 
 
1^2 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 traditionary knowledge of the sabbath and its 
 primitive institution ? 
 
 There still survives amongst the Arabians 
 such a mystical and superstitious use of the 
 number seven as we have had occasion elsewhere 
 to remark upon, and which clearly indicates an 
 origin of no ordinary kind. For though traces 
 of this are observable even in the Scriptures 
 themselves, yet this was not the sort of thing 
 that Mahomet in forging his false system was 
 likely to have culled from thence, but is much 
 more likely to have existed amongst the de- 
 scendants of Ishmael, as a tradition handed 
 down to them from their very origin, that is, 
 from the time of Abraham, and indicating, 
 therefore, in the patriarchal times a similar 
 tradition, if not the recognition and observance 
 of the sabbath. We learn this mystical use of 
 the number seven from the celebrated traveller 
 Burckhardt, who has given to the world the 
 only authentic account we have of the city of 
 Mecca, of the holy temple there, and of the 
 ceremonies required of all the faithful that 
 perform pilgrimage to it. He tells us, that 
 the approach to the Kaaba, that is, the most 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 123 
 
 lioly place, is across an area surrounding it by 
 seven paved causeways. The principal ceremony 
 to be performed there is the towaf, or circuit 
 of the Kaaba, which every pilgrim has to go 
 round seven times. Again, at the spot called 
 Meroua, seven perambulations have to be 
 made. At Wady Mura is the scene of Abra- 
 ham's contest with the devil Eblis, who as- 
 saulted the patriarch three times, and each 
 time was repulsed by seven stones with which 
 Abraham pelted him. Three pillars mark the 
 spots where these attacks of the evil one took 
 place, and at each of these every pilgrim has to 
 cast seven stones. Three days successively is 
 this ceremony repeated, on each of which the 
 seven stones are three times cast. Immediately 
 upon their return from Wady Mura, the pil- 
 grims have, for the second time, to make seven 
 circuits of the Kaaba, and seve7i perambulations 
 at Meroua ; and a third time, before their pil- 
 grimage is complete, have the seven circuits 
 and seven perambulations to be performed. 
 And here, beyond all doubt, is the mystical 
 and superstitious use of the number seven 
 which we have remarked upon. 
 
I2i INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 2. The Japhetian race. 
 
 That there was a mystical and sacred use 
 of the number seven from the earliest times 
 amongst the Greeks, is evidenced from the 
 manner in which Homer employs it: for he 
 constantly applies epithets compounded of this 
 number to subjects that demanded excessive 
 praise, as he calls Thebes, the city of the seven 
 gates, 
 
 'H/xetj KoX G)ijj3r]s ebos eiXoiiev kuranyXoio ; 
 and describes the shield of Ajax as formed of 
 seven bulls' hides, 
 
 *0j ol €7lOiri(T€V aUKOS CLLokov, ^TTTajSoiiov, 
 
 But some have even supposed, that, besides 
 this indication of a primitive acquaintance with 
 the sabbath amongst the Greeks, they had a 
 more direct knowledge of it, and understood 
 something of its sacred and holy character. 
 So at least, for one, did Clemens Alexandrinus, 
 who, writing upon the subject, observes, 'AAAa 
 Kol TTjv kjSbofx-qv Upav 6v ixovov OL '^EjSpabOL dXka 
 KCLL oL^EXXrjves t(ra(TL. Stromatum, lib. v. " But 
 as for the seventh day, not only the Hebrews 
 but the Greeks also know that it is sacred." 
 This, his assertion, he proceeds to fortify by a 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 125 
 
 number of quotations from various authors; 
 all of which we will present to the reflection 
 and judgment of the reader. His flrst au- 
 thority is Hesiod, from whom he quotes two 
 passages : — 
 
 TTpQdTov tvrj rerpa? re kol ejSbofiov Upov rifxas ; 
 in which the seventh day is said to be sacred ; 
 and again, 
 
 €^bojJLaT7], b'av6i9 kapLTTpov (pdos rjeXioio — 
 implying that the seventh day is the splendid 
 light of the sun. He then refers to Homer ; 
 from whom he quotes — first, 
 
 k^hoiiarii, h^T] ireiTa KaTrjXvOev upov i]\xap. 
 
 " Then came the seventh day that is sacred ;" 
 and secondly, 
 
 k^hopiov rjijiap h]v koX rw rereAeoro anavra. 
 
 " It was the seventh day, and on that all 
 things were made perfect." 
 
 To these a third quotation, of similar import, 
 from Homer may be added, although it is not 
 amongst those referred to by Clemens. It 
 is this, 
 
 e^bofXT] rjv tep?/. 
 
 ** The seventh day was sacred." 
 
 The next authority cited by Clemens is Cal- 
 
12G INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 limachus; from whose writings he gives the 
 following passages : 
 
 (jSboixdrri rjOi Kal oi t^tvkovto airavTa. 
 ** The seventh day, wherein all thing swere 
 created." 
 
 e/BboiXT] kv ayaOoidi kul I/35o/x?? ecrrt yevidkr}. 
 " The seventh day is amongst our blessings, 
 and the seventh day is the nativity (of all 
 things)." 
 
 e/35o/x77 €v TTpoiToicn Kal k[3b6jjir] eort reAeir;. 
 " The seventh day is among our choicest 
 things, and the seventh day is (itself) perfect." 
 ^Etttcl 6e TTCLvra t€tvkto kv ovpav^ acrT^poevrt 
 
 'Ej; KVkXoKTI <j)aV€VT €7TLT€kk0IJ,iv0 is htaVTOLS, 
 
 " All things were made perfect (seven) in 
 the starry heaven, as they appear in their 
 orbits through revolving years." 
 
 And, lastly, Clemens cites from Lucian of 
 Samosata, the words, 6 5e ^ElBbofxrjv on uxnr^p bi 
 TToibes kv rat? ijBbofxats, which he understood as 
 implying that boys had the seventh day allowed 
 them as a holiday ; and inferred that the origin 
 of this was in the original separation of the 
 seventh day as the sacred day of rest. Nor is 
 such an inference without plausibility, since 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 127 
 
 we see in our own day many holidays and fes- 
 tivals surviving, although the origin of them is 
 altogether lost in remote antiquity ; and no im- 
 probable thing is it, that the schoolboys' holiday 
 should be retained, even though the occasion 
 that originated it might have been first neglected, 
 and subsequently altogether forgotten. 
 
 The evidence of the Roman people to a tra- 
 ditionary acquaintance with the weekly or 
 sabbatical division of time, has hitherto been 
 regarded as not affording much aid in the matter, 
 but we trust to be able to show in the follow- 
 ing observations, that this idea has arisen from 
 their division of time not being properly exa- 
 mined and reviewed in the light of this inquiry, 
 and that there was amongst them quite as full 
 a knowledge of the subject, as they could be 
 expected to have acquired from tradition. 
 
 Adam, in his "Roman Antiquities," remarks, 
 " The ancient Romans did not divide their time 
 into weeks, as we do in imitation of the Jews. 
 The country people came to Rome every ninth 
 day, (see page 78), whence these days were called 
 
 NUNDIN^ QUASI NOVENDINiE, having SCVCU 
 
 intermediate days for working, Macroh. i. 16." 
 
128 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 In confirmation of which statement from Ma- 
 crobius, Adam gives, at page 78, to which he 
 refers, the following passage, " Nundince a 
 Romanis nono quoque die celebratce ; intermediis 
 septem diehus occitpahantur ruri^' Dionys. ii. 
 28; vii. 58 j *^ reliquis septetn rura colehant!'' 
 Varro de Re Kust. prasf. 11. But yet these 
 " seven intermediate days, forming a week of 
 working days, are exactly such an imperfect 
 resemblance of a proper week, as we should 
 expect w^ould occur in the lapse of years, hav- 
 ing an affinity of form to the original and pri- 
 mitive week, but not the very substance of it. 
 Another imperfect resemblance, to the same 
 effect, is also mentioned by Adam, who says, 
 ** The comitia were not held on the market 
 days, nundinis, because they were ranked among 
 the fericB, or holy days, on which no business 
 could be done with the people, 3Iacrob, i, 16 — 
 (7ie plebs rustica avocaretur, lest they should be 
 called off from their ordinary business of buy- 
 ing and selling). — Plin. xviii. 3." All this is 
 quite natural, for, observing that their acquaint- 
 ance with the sabbath must have been tradi- 
 tionary, and consequently very imperfect, it is 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 129 
 
 easy to see how, after seven days had been 
 taken for the week of working days, every 
 ninth day came to be regarded as holy ; and 
 how the people, while they claimed exemp- 
 tion from all legal claims upon their time on 
 this day, because it was holy, allowed them- 
 selves at the same time the use of it for gain 
 and for pleasure, — the manner in which the 
 sabbath day is commonly employed even in 
 these times in Roman Catholic countries. 
 
 Adam further tells us that " the custom of 
 dividing time into weeks, hehdomades — vel 
 dee, vel septimaiice, was introduced under the 
 emperors. Dio, who flourished under Severus, 
 says it first took place a little before his time, 
 being derived from the Egyptians ; and uni- 
 versally prevailed," xxxvii. 18. Now this very 
 correction is also confirmatory of the principle 
 on which they had hitherto acted. They had 
 gone upon an erroneous conception of the 
 proper week of seven days, making it, in fact, 
 eight, and treating every ninth day as a holy 
 day ; but no sooner do they receive through the 
 Egyptians the true and proper account of the 
 weekly division of time, as testified to by uni- 
 
 K 
 
130 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 versal practice, than they correct their own and 
 adopt the more general and useful one. 
 
 Of such an use of the number seven, as im- 
 plies a mystical or superstitious reverence for 
 it, and therefore some old and sacred origin of 
 it, there are abundant proofs. Thus Virgil 
 relates that the Athenians were doomed to 
 make an annual offering of seven youths as an 
 atonement for the assassination of Androgeos, 
 the son of Minos, king of Crete : — 
 
 " In foribus Lethum Androgeo: turn pendere poenas 
 Cecropidae jussi, miserum, sepiena quotannis 
 Corpora natorum." 
 
 Other authorities make the offering seven 
 youths and seven virgins, and the period of its 
 presentation every seventh year, or every ninthj 
 which last even agrees with the ninth day being 
 regarded as a holy one, as noticed above. 
 Again ; in remarkable similarity to the offering 
 of seven ewe lambs by Abraham to Abimelech, 
 of Balaam and Balak offering seve7i bullocks 
 and seven rams on seven altars, and of Job 
 offering, as an atonement for his friends, seven 
 bullocks and seven rams, is the command of 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 131 
 
 the priestess Deiphobe to ^neas to offer seven 
 bullocks and seven ewes : — 
 
 " Nunc grege de intacto septem mactare juvencos 
 Prsestiterit, totidem lectas de more bidentes." 
 
 In the fable of Orpheus and Eurydice he is 
 represented as bewailing her loss for seven 
 months : — 
 
 " Septem ilium totos perhibent ex ordine menses, 
 Rupe sub aeria, deserti ad Strymonis undam 
 Flevisse. " 
 
 Whenever it is desired to express some vague 
 yet imposing number, seven is the one pre- 
 ferred. Accordingly the depth and heaviness 
 of the Scythian snows are thus represented : — 
 
 " Sed jacet aggeribus niveis informis, et alto 
 Terra gelu late, septemque assurgit in ulnas. 
 
 So again the serpent is described as coiled in 
 his seven circles : — 
 
 adytis cum lubricus anguis ab imis 
 
 Septem ingens gyros, septena volumina traxit." 
 
 The life of bees is supposed to be limited to 
 seven years : — 
 
 " Neque enim plus septima ducitur sestas." 
 
 k2 
 
[32 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 Shields, the most useful weapon of defence in 
 war, and therefore prepared with most peculiar 
 and superstitious care, are constantly repre- 
 sented as of sevenfold structure ; thus, — 
 
 " Ingentem clypeum informant, unum omnia contra 
 Tela Latinorum; septenosque orbibus orbes 
 Impediunt." 
 
 So again when Turnus is transfixed, — 
 
 " Volat atri turbinis instar 
 Exitium dirum hasta ferens, orasque recludit 
 Loricse, et clypei extremos septemplicis orbes." 
 
 But even the seventh day itself was accounted a 
 propitious one, a remnant of its original sanctity 
 thus surviving all the corruptions and abuses it 
 had undergone : — 
 
 " Septima, post decimum, felix, et ponere vitem, 
 Et prensos domitare boves, et licia telse 
 Addere." 
 
 A passage which may thus be freely rendered : 
 " Next to the tenth day of the month the 
 seventh is the most auspicious for planting the 
 vine, breaking in the captured oxen, and joining 
 the woof to the web." For although it has been 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 183 
 
 suggested that septima post decimum may mean 
 the seventeenth day of the month, this woukl 
 not agree with the context, which first refers to 
 the fifth as an unlucky day, then, as here, to the 
 seventh, and afterwards to the ninth. 
 
 What we have thus gleaned from Virgil we 
 find confirmed by Horace, who uses the number 
 seven in the same manner, thus, 
 
 " Dimi septem donat sestertia, mutua septem 
 Promittit." 
 
 That the Persians, who were a people of Ja- 
 phetian origin, had some traditionary, though for 
 that very reason uncertain, knowledge of the 
 sabbath, is implied by Tertullian when he 
 writes of them, " ^que si diem solis Igetitiae 
 indulgemus, alia longe ratione quam religione 
 solis," (Tertull. Apol. versus Gentis. xvi.) 
 " If we, like them, celebrate Sunday as a day 
 of rejoicing, it is for a reason very different 
 from that of the worship of the sun." From 
 whence it is to be inferred, that, while Chris- 
 tians reverenced the Lord's day, which amongst 
 some nations obtained the name of Sunday, the 
 Persians used the same day as a weekly festival 
 
134 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 in honour of the sun, as we shall presently see 
 that other nations of Japhetian origin did. 
 
 It may be proper here to introduce the evi- 
 dence of two celebrated Jewish writers, who 
 have borne their testimony to the universal ob- 
 servance of the sabbath, and thereby to its prim- 
 itive institution. Josephus, in his second book 
 against Appian, observes, " there is not any city 
 of the Grecians, nor any of the barbarians, nor 
 any nation whatsoever, whither our custom of 
 resting on the seventh day hath not come." Again 
 Philo, discoursing on the creation of the world, 
 remarks, " and when the whole world was com- 
 pleted, according to the perfect nature of the 
 number six, the Father hallowed the succeeding 
 seventh day, praising it, and calling it holy. For 
 it is a feast not of one city or country, but of 
 every one ; which also properly deserves to be 
 called the only universal feast, because (as it 
 were) the birthday of the world." Now, although 
 both these authors being Jews attributed the 
 general prevalence of the sabbatical institution, 
 which they observed amongst the nations, to 
 their own peculiar laws, as it was but natural 
 that they should, conceiving such to be the fact, 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 135 
 
 yet we have not to do with this their conjecture, 
 but simply with the fact to which they attest. 
 It was natural for them to imagine that the na- 
 tions thus did homage to their institutions ; but 
 it is unreasonable, from what we know of the 
 Jewish law, that this could have been the case. 
 It was purposely designed to keep Israel distinct 
 as a people from the Gentiles, by excluding 
 them from all participation in the privileges and 
 blessings secured to the Jews. Thus the Jews 
 were at enmity with all mankind, esteeming 
 them uncovenanted sinners and the enemies of 
 God; while the nations despised or hated the 
 Jews, and were therefore altogether unlikely to 
 adopt any of their feasts. But since we find the 
 testimony to the fact of a feast existing amongst 
 the nations similar to that of the sabbath, the 
 only conclusion we can draw is, that it had its 
 origin in a different source, that is, in the primi- 
 tive one, whence doubtless it had descended by 
 tradition. 
 
 We have already referred to the traditionary 
 testimony afforded by the Hindoos in their divi- 
 sion of time into weeks, and the highly interest- 
 ing conclusions to be drawn from that fact, com- 
 
136 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 bined with their very early and most accurate 
 astronomical records ; and now having reminded 
 the reader of this, we will adduce some other 
 proofs to the same effect, which will, we think, 
 strongly confirm the impression, that these 
 people had amongst them some traditions which 
 occasioned them to account the number seven as 
 something mystical and holy. India is famous 
 for its pagodas, which are evidently formed upon 
 the model of the pyramids, these having, as we 
 believe, their prototype in the tower of Babel. 
 Be this as it may, some of the pagodas of India 
 are of the very highest antiquity, and are es- 
 teemed as most sacred by the people. These 
 occur chiefly in the south of India, where the 
 extreme vehemence of Mahomedan zeal did not 
 reach, so as to eifect their destruction. Such 
 an one is that of Chillambram, near Porto Nevo, 
 on the Coromandel coast, held in high veneration 
 on account of its antiquity. But superior to it 
 in sanctity, as well as in grandeur, is the pagoda 
 of Seringham, on the island of that name. " It 
 is composed," writes Orme in his ^ History 
 of Military Transactions of Hindostan,' vol. i. 
 p. 178, " of seven square enclosures, one within 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS, 137 
 
 the other, the walls of which are twenty-five 
 feet high, and four thick." The sides of 
 these squares, as in the case of the pyramids, 
 face the four cardinal points, and the place is 
 highly venerated, and resorted to as a place of 
 pilgrimage. There are also remarkable excava- 
 tions in a mountain at Mavalipuram, near 
 Madras, which is well known on the Coromandel 
 coast by tlie name of the Seven Pagodas. 
 
 There is a very strong indication of acquaint- 
 ance with and remembrance of the creation, 
 and of a period of seven days, in the ancient 
 accounts that have come down of the origin and 
 number of castes in India. Dr. Robertson, in the 
 Notes and Illustrations to his " Disquisition on 
 Ancient India," writes, '* According to all the 
 writers of antiquity, the Indians are said to be 
 divided into seven tribes or castes. — Strabo, lib. 
 XV., p. 1029, c, etc. ; JDiod. Sic, lib. ii., p. 153; 
 etc. ; Arrian, Indie, c. 10." But although he 
 regards this as an error of these authors, because 
 there are at the present day only four castes, and 
 because the sacred books of the Hindoos name no 
 more ; yet the source from whence these histo- 
 rians, Strabo, Diodorus, and Arrian, obtained 
 
138 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 their information, was one likely to be well in- 
 formed on the subject from a personal residence 
 in India during some years, and an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the manners of the people in his 
 time. This was Megasthenes, who visited India 
 on an embassy from Seleucus Nicator, king of 
 Syria, about three hundred years before the 
 Christian era, and who wrote a history of his 
 sojourn there, which is no longer extant, although 
 the substance of some portions of it are pre- 
 served in the writers already referred to. Me- 
 gasthenes distinctly names the castes as follows : 
 — 1, philosophers; 2, agriculturists ; 3, herdsmen 
 and hunters; 4, handicraftsmen and artizans; 
 5, warriors ; 6, public inspectors ; 7, royal coun- 
 cillors. The first of these, the philosophers, 
 correspond with the religious caste, the Brahmins, 
 and so are suitable to one holy day in the seven ; 
 while the remaining six rise in the due orders of 
 society, as they exist amongst ourselves, from 
 the lowest of the labouring classes to the chief 
 officers of state. All this the more confirms the 
 evidence of Megasthenes ; and if in subsequent 
 times some of these castes have been merged in 
 others, so as to reduce the primitive number 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE AVRITERS. 139 
 
 seven to four, this is no more than often happens 
 in the vicissitudes of human affairs : nor is there 
 anything so excessively immvitable in the nature 
 of caste to render this either impossible, or 
 improbable even, for changes are still going on; 
 and although nominally four castes still exist 
 in India, yet one of these is properly extinct, 
 for the kshatriza, or military class, is said by 
 the Brahmins to be lost, they themselves having 
 succeeded to their calling, as they have done 
 indeed to every other, even condescending to 
 cook the victuals of an inferior class ; while 
 sudras on the other hand, although the lowest 
 and most degraded class, have risen into royal 
 power, and have frequently, when enriched by 
 their own industry, employed even Brahmins as 
 their cooks.* There is nothing then so certain 
 in the system of castes in India as to render it 
 probable that they have always been four, or 
 improbable that they may not have been seven ; 
 nor any reason therefore to doubt the direct 
 testimony of Megasthenes, which was early 
 received and confided in. 
 
 The traditionary origin of the Hindoo castes, 
 * See Penny Cyclopaedia, Art. Hindostan^. Caste*. 
 
140 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 referring as it does to tlie creation, strengthens 
 the deduction we would make from the fact of 
 their number having been originally seven. It 
 is said that in the first creation by Brahma, 
 Brahmanas proceeded, with the Veda, from the 
 mouth of Brahma, and other castes from various 
 limbs. This proceeding from the mouth of 
 Brahma agrees exactly Avith the truth of man's 
 creation, when God spake and he was made ; 
 and the formation of seven classes, six of them 
 secular men and the seventh religious, is 
 equally suitable to six days of labour, and one 
 a holy one. 
 
 In an Indian History of the Deluge, translated 
 by Sir William Jones, and to be found in the first 
 volume of the " Asiatic Researches," occur the 
 two following verses: — ^^ In seven days from the 
 present time, O thou tamer of enemies, the three 
 worlds will be plunged in an ocean of death ; 
 but in the midst of the destroying waves a large 
 vessel, sent by me for thy use, shall stand before 
 thee. Then shalt thou take all medicinal herbs, 
 all the variety of seeds, and, accompanied by 
 seven saints, encircled by pairs of brute animals, 
 thou shalt enter the spacious ark, and continue 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 141 
 
 in it secure from the flood, on one immense 
 ocean, without light, except the radiance of thy 
 holy companions," (26, 27.) The first observation 
 that must strike us on perusing, not only the 
 above passages but the whole account, is, that 
 they contain the facts of the occurrence suf- 
 ficiently clear to show that the writer must have 
 derived his knowledge of them from a source 
 identical with that whence Moses derived his, 
 while at the same time there is that adulteration 
 of them by traditional and visionary lore, 
 which at once distinguishes them from the 
 simple and unvarnished tale of the inspired his- 
 torian, and makes his rudiments of truth appear 
 the more pure and excellent. In fact the moral 
 of our comparison between this account and that 
 of Moses is, but for his inspiration to guide him 
 into all truth, in what follies should we as well as 
 the Hindoos be involved. But when we come 
 to look at that account by the side of that of 
 Moses, we cannot fail to observe this remarkable 
 testimony to their common origin. The inspired 
 history represents God as saying, " for yet seven 
 days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth, 
 &c. ;" and the traditionary one makes **The 
 
142 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 Lord of the Universe" thus instruct " the holy 
 being, named Satyavrata, a servant of the spirit 
 which served on the waves, and so devout, that 
 water was his only sustenance," thus, " in seven 
 days from the present time, the three worlds will 
 be plunged in an ocean of death." At the same 
 time we may remark the mystical use which the 
 number seven had already attained, for the king 
 was to be "accompanied by seven saints." 
 
 As to the antiquity of these writings. Sir W. 
 Jones says, (p. 340,) " The laws ascribed to 
 Mesech, and received orally from him, (vol. ii., 
 p. 164,) in whatever age they might have been 
 first promulgated, could not have received 
 their present form above 3000 years ago." 
 The Brahmins, however, attribute them to the 
 first age of the world; and even on Sir W. 
 Jones's hypothesis, they must have had an 
 origin anterior to the time of Moses, and 
 though coming from the same source whence he 
 derived his, must have descended by another 
 and an independent channel, namely, that of 
 the family of Japheth, the great progenitor of 
 the Hindoo nation. 
 
 That our Saxon ancestors had amongst them 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 143 
 
 traditions, implying an early acquaintance with 
 some institution or original, such as that of the 
 sabbath, is evident from various customs that 
 still prevail. Southey, in his ** Book of the 
 Church," observes on this very point, "The 
 heathenism which they introduced bears no 
 affinity, either to that of the Britons, or of the 
 Romans. It is less known than either ; be- 
 cause, while it subsisted as a living form of 
 belief, the few writers who arose in these il- 
 literate ages were incurious concerning such 
 tlungs ; but it has left familiar traces in our 
 daily speech, and in many of those popular 
 customs which in various parts of the country 
 still partially maintain their ground." Now 
 one of the most obvious of these, and one that 
 agrees exactly with the subject we are con- 
 sidering, is their use of a week of seven days as 
 their division of time, all the names of which 
 days are still in common use amongst us. 
 Thus our Sunday is derived from their Sun's 
 day, Monday from their Moon's day, Tuesday 
 from Tuisday, "Wednesday from Woden's day, 
 Thursday from Thor's day, Friday from Friga's 
 day, Saturday from Seater's day. There is an 
 apparent resemblance in the names of some of 
 
144 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 the days to those which the Romans apphed to 
 their days of the week, and which ^vere named 
 after the several divinities, Apollo, Diana, 
 Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn; but 
 there is at the same time that disparity that 
 shows their traditions to have flowed in dif- 
 ferent channels, though their primitive origin 
 vras doubtless the same. But as we know that 
 the Romans obtained their weeks of seven days 
 from the Egyptians, the Saxons must have 
 derived theirs from another source, and obvi- 
 ously from the northern families of the Japhe- 
 tian race, with which they were immediately 
 connected. 
 
 S. The Hamitic race. 
 
 The last channel of information that we 
 have proposed to open up, is one that, like 
 the swarthy complexions of the race com- 
 posing it, is so dark and mj'sterious, from 
 the absence of all literature, records and his- 
 tory amongst them, as to afford but slender 
 hopes of much being derived from it. The 
 children of Ham, known in modern times as 
 the Africans, have amongst them none of the 
 ordinary means or sources of information that 
 the civilized nations of the earth have enjoyed. 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 145 
 
 and amongst the existing tribes of that de- 
 graded people it would be exceedingly difficult 
 to attempt to pursue such an investigation as 
 we have engaged in. It must not, however, be 
 forgotten, that in some of their original sites 
 and localities they have left behind them some 
 memorials of their pristine daring and grandeur, 
 and these we think will furnish us with indica- 
 tions of their having at one time been in pos- 
 session of such an institution as the sabbath. 
 It is well known to every student of history, that 
 the children of Ham continued in possession 
 of the tower of Babel in the plain of Shinar, 
 the origin of the subsequent mighty city of 
 Babylon, and that when they separated thence 
 they descended into Egypt, the ancient name 
 of which, and that by which it is still known 
 amongst the Arabs and the Hindoos, was Miz- 
 raim, that being the name of the son of Ham, 
 who settled with his family here, and first pos- 
 sessed the country. We propose, therefore, to 
 search amongst the earliest remains both of 
 Babylon and Egypt, for such traces as they 
 may afford of an early traditionary knowledge 
 of the sabbatical institution. 
 
146 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 Babylon at this day offers not a vestige of 
 information. The Birs-Nimroud stands a 
 blackened and smouldering heap, testifying 
 strongly indeed to the predicted vengeance, 
 that it should be as when God overthrew 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, but revealing no more 
 of the past than that lake of oblivion, the Dead 
 Sea itself. But Babylon and the temple of 
 Belus were visited by the father of profane his- 
 tory, Herodotus, while yet it stood in primeval 
 glory to tell its own tale, and he has left us a 
 most memorable description of it, which runs 
 thus : " The temple of Jupiter Belus, whose 
 huge gates of brass may still be seen, is a 
 square building, each side of which is two fur- 
 longs. In the midst rises a tower, of the solid 
 depth and height of one furlong ; upon which, 
 resting as upon a base, seven other lesser towers 
 are built in regular succession,^' (Vide Calmet's 
 Die, Frag. III. 269.) Now whatever difficulty 
 we may have in imagining from this account 
 the general form and contour of the edifice, 
 which would seem nevertheless to have been 
 pyramidal, there can be no doubt as to the 
 principal features of the plan, which consisted 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 147 
 
 of a vast base, surmounted by seve7i other struc- 
 tures ; and thus we have that peculiar use of 
 the number seven, which implies its mystical 
 character, and indicates an origin of no ordi- 
 nary kind, and which seems alone capable of 
 satisfaction, when we trace it to the Divine 
 institution of the sabbath at the Creation, and 
 recognise in it a faithful memorial of that hal- 
 lowed ordinance. 
 
 We further believe that a similar testimony 
 is to be traced in those mighty monuments of 
 antiquity, the stupendous pyramids of Egypt 
 or Jizeh. The largest of these is confessed by 
 all to be the most ancient, and the common 
 surmise respecting it is, that it was the tomb of 
 a certain king, Cheops. We doubt this en- 
 tirely, and will endeavour to give our reasons 
 for this as briefly as possible, and yet, as we 
 think, conclusively against it. The authority 
 for assuming it to have been the tomb of 
 Cheops is that of Herodotus, who was so in- 
 formed by the priests of Memphis, and that 
 the time of its erection was about 900 B.C., 
 or about 450 years before he visited Egypt. 
 Others, however, have referred it to an earlier 
 L 2 
 
148 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 period still, and supposed that the children of 
 Israel were engaged in the labour of its con- 
 struction while in bondage in Egypt. All 
 these, and similar inquiries, appear to have 
 entirely overlooked one remarkable fact, which 
 will, we think, tend, more than anything else, 
 to give an idea both of the age and people, 
 by whom these oldest pyramids were built. 
 Associated with them is the extraordinary co- 
 lossal figure of the Sphynx, carved from the 
 living rock in its native bed. Now the fea- 
 tures of this figure are so decidedly Nubian, 
 a variety, that is, of the African family, that 
 there can be no mistake respecting the race 
 they represent. But African, or Mizraitish 
 dominion had been long overthrown in Egypt 
 before the exodus of Israel, and, without enter- 
 ing particularly into the question at this mo- 
 ment, was, we believe, so overthrown when the 
 new king arose who knew not Joseph. Nor 
 was African power ever after in the ascendant 
 there. Could it be probable, then, that the 
 African features should be selected for so noble 
 a work of art after the dominion of that race 
 was past ? The thing seems wholly incredible, 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 149 
 
 while the contrary is most plausible, that the 
 Africans, the children of Mizraim the son of 
 Ham, were in undisturbed possession and en- 
 joyment of the land, whenever such a work as 
 the Sphynx was conceived and executed. But 
 the Sphynx and these early pyramids are mani- 
 festly of one date, and the pyramids therefore 
 were also built by the children of Mizraim. 
 That they were not tombs, but temples. 
 General Wilford has shown by a great variety 
 of arguments in the " Asiatic Researches ;" and 
 the general conclusion to which we are led 
 respecting them, but especially respecting the 
 largest, (for to that one more particularly do 
 all our remarks tend,) is, that the building of 
 it, by the sons of Ham upon their entrance 
 into Egypt, was but the repetition of the sin, 
 which had been already committed at Babel, 
 and evidences the justice of the prediction 
 awarded to the whole race of Ham, " Cursed be 
 Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto 
 his brethren." 
 
 We believe, then, that the first, the oldest, 
 and the largest pyramid was the work of some 
 of those very hands that had laboured at Babel, 
 
150 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 and, coining thence, they brought with them not 
 only the conception of the original structure, 
 but some of the primitive traditions of their 
 race ; and of these we would suggest that there 
 are indications of the sabbatical institution 
 similar to those which Herodotus has recorded 
 respecting the temple of Belus. Whoever 
 examines the plan of the pyramids, which is 
 to be found in the great French work, " De- 
 scription de I'Egypte," must observe, that, on 
 the same level with the great pyramid, and on 
 a platform apparently prepared for them all, 
 there are placed at equal intervals along the 
 southern side of its base six lesser pyramids, 
 all of equal size ; and thus we have not only 
 the number seven indicating its mystical use 
 again, but while the six small pyramids denote 
 the six days of labour, the mighty and majestic 
 seventh pyramid elevates itself to the heavens, 
 an appropriate symbol pointing to the heavens, 
 and intimating expressively, that the glory of 
 the seventh day far transcended that of all the 
 other six. 
 
 But even in modern times, there have been 
 remarked by missionaries in Africa some in- 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 151 
 
 dications amongst the aboriginal inhabitants 
 of the primitive institution of the sabbath. 
 Some traces of it have been found in the terri- 
 tory of Ashanti. The arbitrary division of 
 time by weeks, which can only be satisfactorily 
 accounted for by the original institution of the 
 sabbath, was evidently known among them 
 before they had an opportunity to learn it from 
 Europeans. The names of the days in the 
 week, in the several branches of the Inta, or 
 Ashanti language, are native terms ; and may 
 be traced in the national customs, backward to 
 remote antiquity. The same day of the week 
 is not, however, universally observed as the 
 sabbath. When Mr. Freeman preached at 
 Fomeenah, and explained the decalogue, Korin- 
 chi afterwards referred to the fourth command- 
 ment, and said he had entertained the belief, 
 that God had appointed for each nation its own 
 sacred day ; that he had set apart one day for 
 the Ashantees, another for the Fantees, a dif- 
 ferent one for the Wassaws, and others for 
 other people. He could not, of course, sup- 
 port his belief by any show of argument : he 
 had received it by tradition ; and referred 
 
152 INSTITUTION OF THE SABBATH 
 
 Mr. Freeman for proof to the wonderful old 
 Fetish man in the interior, who is supposed 
 to know all things, and to be able to do all 
 things. But the apprehensions expressed by 
 several who were present at the discussion, 
 that they would expose themselves to great 
 danger, should they substitute the Christian 
 sabbath for their own weekly Fetish day, is 
 evidence of the influence which their super- 
 stitions exert on their minds. In all countries 
 along the coast, the regular Fetish day is Tues- 
 day, the day which is observed by the king 
 of Ashanti. Other days in the week are held 
 sacred in the Bush. On this weekly sabbath, 
 or Fetish day, the people generally dress 
 themselves in white garments, and mark their 
 faces, and sometimes their arms, with white 
 clay. They also rest from labour. The fisher- 
 men would expect, that, were they to go out 
 on that day, the Fetish would be angry, and 
 spoil their fishing ; and in the interior, should 
 a man go into his plantation on the sabbath, and 
 by chance see a panther or a leopard there, it 
 would be concluded that the Fetish, who knew 
 his intention to labour, had sent its messenger 
 
PROVED FROM PROFANE WRITERS. 153 
 
 to prevent him from carrying his purpose into 
 effect. 
 
 Such, then, in conclusion, are some of the 
 indications or traces that traditionary knowledge 
 aifords us of an institution, that was beyond 
 all doubt originally designed for the benefit 
 and blessing, both temporal and spiritual, of 
 the whole human race. And when we observe 
 these traces of it running through the three 
 great channels of mankind, and in various ways 
 evidencing their common acquaintance with it, 
 what can we thence infer, but that it was of 
 primitive origin, and that its first original must 
 have been in some long remote period of anti- 
 quity, when there was a common connection 
 and common bond of union amongst the fami- 
 lies from which all the present nations of the 
 earth have descended ? 
 
CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 TESTIMONY OF SECULAB MEN TO THE FITNESS AND 
 BLESSEDNESS OF THE SABBATH, 
 
 " The sabbath was made for man." — Mark ii. 27. 
 
 In the view that we have hitherto taken of the 
 sabbatical institution, we have chiefly regarded 
 that which we believe to be its main end and 
 design, the sanctification of man by means of his 
 obedience to the commandment, " Remember 
 the sabbath day to sanctify it." In this way, and 
 to this purpose, do we primarily and principally 
 understand the declaration of our Lord, " the 
 sabbath was made for man." It was not need- 
 ful to God, for He is perfect in holiness ; and 
 the sanctifying this day and employing it as He 
 has ordained, cannot avail to the increase of His 
 sanctification. The glory and the honour, in- 
 deed, are His, and meetly due to Him ; but all 
 the profit of the day, all the edification and 
 spiritual improvement that it is capable of 
 affording, these are His blessings, graciously 
 
BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH, ETC. 155 
 
 and freely bestowed upon man, for whom " the 
 sabbath was made," that he by it, that is, by a 
 faithful and hallowed observance of it, might 
 grow in grace and in the knowledge of his Lord 
 and Saviour. 
 
 But besides this blessed and hallowing in- 
 fluence of the sabbath, which is profitable to 
 man's soul, there is also a benefit to his body 
 arising out of the rest enjoined thereon, and 
 which tends to the refreshment, renewal, and 
 invigoration of his frame. Man, says the 
 psalmist, is " fearfully and wonderfully made," 
 and this chiefly in respect of his body. He is 
 a marvellous machine, most curiously and inge- 
 niously fashioned. Without use, that is, with- 
 out exercise, his limbs fail to attain their full 
 vigour, and his health is precarious ; used too 
 much, and overburdened with continual toil, 
 his frame becomes enfeebled and decays pre- 
 maturely. . The necessities of life compel him 
 to exert himself for his own subsistence. His 
 exertions are repaid by the profits of his toil. 
 His gains become an additional excitement to 
 labour. He no longer works for subsistence 
 only, but for the reward of gain, for the in- 
 
156 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 crease of his wealth, — in a word, for " filthy 
 lucre." But now he is under temptation, and 
 the lust for treasure urges him to task himself 
 beyond his strength, to allow himself no relax- 
 ation, and to strive unremittingly to multiply 
 his riches. Thus would he labour on a toil- 
 some life of slavery, till death should teach him 
 that he brought nothing into this world, neither 
 can he carry anything out, unless there were 
 some interruption to his labours, something 
 that should interpose to give rest to his body, 
 relief and relaxation from his toil. This, which 
 he so much needs, and yet would not provide 
 or allow to himself, God, his Father and his 
 Friend, more careful, considerate, and compas- 
 sionate of him than he is of himself, has gra- 
 ciously provided for him, and has so mercifully 
 and wisely supplied him with a special season 
 of rest and refreshment from toil, as he has of 
 food and nourishment for his body. And in 
 this way therefore it is manifest, that " the 
 sabbath was made for man." 
 
 Now we might be quite sure that this decla- 
 ration of the Son of man is reasonable, right, 
 and just, because He has made it; for to the 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 157 
 
 believer His word alone is sufficient. But since 
 we have to write in defence and confirmation 
 of its reasonableness, therefore it is most satis- 
 factory to find eminently learned men, and such 
 as are capable of judging in a matter of this 
 kind, willingly giving their testimony respect- 
 ing it, and by their evidence, the result of their 
 own careful observation and lengthened expe- 
 rience, explaining and justifying the Divine 
 appointment. Thus, for example, a physician 
 of more than forty years' very extensive prac- 
 tice in the city of London, Dr. Farre, in the 
 course of an examination he underwent before 
 a Committee of the House of Commons, gave 
 the following highly valuable statement : — 
 
 " I have been in the habit during a great 
 many years of considering the uses of the sab- 
 bath, and of observing its abuses. The abuses 
 are chiefly manifested in labour and dissipation. 
 The use, medically speaking, is that of a day 
 of rest. In a theological sense it is a holy rest, 
 providing for the introduction of new and sub- 
 limer ideas into the mind of man, preparing 
 him for his future state. As a day of rest, I 
 view it as a day of compensation for the 
 
158 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 inadequate restorative power of the body under 
 continued labour and excitement. A physician 
 always has respect to the preservation of the 
 restorative power, because if once this be lost, 
 his healing office, is at an end. If I show you, 
 from the physiological view of the question, 
 that there are provisions in the laws of nature 
 which correspond with the Divine command- 
 ment, you will see from the analogy, that * the 
 sabbath was made for man,' as a necessary ap- 
 pointment. A physician is anxious to preserve 
 the balance of circulation, as necessary to the 
 restorative power of the body. The ordinary 
 exertions of man run down the circulation every 
 day of his life ; and the first general law of 
 nature, by which God (who is not only the 
 giver, but also the preserver and sustainer of 
 life) prevents man from destroying himself, is 
 the alternating of day and night, that repose 
 may succeed action. But although the night 
 apparently equalizes the circulation well, yet 
 it does not sufficiently restore its balance for 
 the attainment of a long life. Hence one day 
 in seven, by the bounty of Providence, is 
 thrown in as a day of compensation, to perfect 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 159 
 
 by its repose the animal system. You may 
 easily determine this question as a matter of 
 fact, by trying it on beasts of burden. Take 
 that fine animal, the horse, and work him to 
 the full extent of his powers every day in the 
 week, or give him rest one day in seven, and 
 you will soon perceive, by the superior vigour 
 with which he performs his functions on the 
 other six days, that this rest is necessary to his 
 well-being. Man, possessing a superior nature, 
 is borne along by the very vigour of his mind, 
 so that the injury of continued diurnal exertion 
 and excitement on his animal system is not so 
 immediately apparent as it is in the brute ; but 
 in the long-run he breaks down more suddenly : 
 it abridges the length of his life, and that 
 vigour of his old age, which (as to mere animal 
 power) ought to be the object of his preserva- 
 tion. I consider, therefore, that, in the boun- 
 tiful provision of Providence for the preserva- 
 tion of human life, the sabbatical appointment 
 is not, as it has been sometimes theologically 
 viewed, simply a precept partaking of the na- 
 ture of a political institution, but that it is to 
 be numbered amongst the natural duties, if the 
 
160 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 preservation of life be admitted to be a duty, 
 and the premature destruction of it a suicidal 
 act. This is said simply as a physician, and 
 without reference at all to the theological ques- 
 tion ; but, if you consider, further, the proper 
 effect of real Christianity, namely, peace of 
 mind, confiding trust in God, and goodwill to 
 man, you will perceive in this source of re- 
 newed vigour to the mind, and through the 
 mind to the body, an additional spring of life 
 imparted from this higher use of the sabbath as a 
 holy rest. Were I to pursue this part of the ques- 
 tion, I should be touching on the duties com- 
 mitted to the clergy ; but this I will say, that 
 researches in physiology, by the analogy of the 
 working of Providence in nature, will establish 
 the truth of revelation, and consequently show 
 that the Divine commandment is not to be con- 
 sidered as an arbitrary enactment, but as an 
 appointment necessary to man. This is the posi- 
 tion in which I would place it, as contradistin- 
 guished from precept and legislation ; I would 
 point out the sabbatical rest as necessary to 
 man, and that the great enemies of the sab- 
 bath, and consequently the enemies of man, 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 161 
 
 are all laborious exercises of the body or mind, 
 and dissipation, which force the circulation on 
 that day in which it should repose ; whilst re- 
 laxation from the ordinary cares of life, the 
 enjoyment of this repose in the bosom of one's 
 family, with the religious studies and duties 
 which the day enjoins, not one of which, if 
 rightly exercised, tends to abridge life, con- 
 stitute the beneficial and appropriate services of 
 the day. The student of nature, in becoming 
 the student of Christ, will find in the principles 
 of his doctrine and law, and in the practical 
 application of them, the only and perfect science 
 which prolongs the present and perfects the 
 future life." 
 
 In the succeeding parts of his examination 
 Dr. Farre was pressed very strongly upon the 
 subject of the beneficial influence which tea- 
 gardens and places of amusement are supposed 
 by many to have on the labouring classes, who 
 commonly spend the greater part of their sab- 
 baths there, and after strongly contesting the 
 alleged benefit of such places, he was asked, " If 
 those tea-gardens were stripped of pernicious 
 liquors, do you think they would be hurtful 
 
 M 
 
162 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 to the health of society, or to those who fre- 
 quent them ?" To which inquiry he made the 
 following faithful reply ; "It is a dangerous 
 question. To man, considered in his lower or 
 animal nature, it w^ould not be so prejudicial ; 
 but man is something better than an animal, 
 and I think that devoting to pleasure the day 
 of repose (which should be given to the rest of 
 the body, and to that change of thought and 
 exercise of the mind which constitutes the real 
 sources of invigoration), amidst the multitudes 
 congregated for purposes of pleasure, actually 
 defeats the primary object of the institution of 
 the sabbath, as adapted to the higher nature of 
 man." 
 
 He then goes on to state thus, in answer to 
 various other questions : " I have found it es- 
 sential to my own well-being to abridge my 
 labour on the sabbath to what is actually neces- 
 sary. I have frequently observed the prema- 
 ture death of medical men from contined ex- 
 ertion I have advised clergymen, in 
 
 lieu of the sabbath, to rest one day of the 
 week : it forms a continual prescription of 
 mine The working of the mind in one 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 163 
 
 continued train of thought is destructive of 
 life in the most distinguished class of society, 
 and senators themselves stand in need of reform 
 in that particular. I have observed many of 
 them destroyed by neglecting this economy of 
 life. 
 
 '* All men, of whatever class, who must ne- 
 cessarily be occupied six days in the week, 
 should abstain on the seventh, and, in the course 
 of life, would assuredly gain by giving to their 
 bodies the repose, and to their minds the 
 change of ideas suited to the day, for which it 
 was appointed by unerring wisdom." 
 
 This evidence is, perhaps, the most valuable 
 that has ever been given on the subject of the 
 sabbath, and is a beautiful instance of the 
 application of science to prove how the Divine 
 institutions are not only graciously but wisely 
 adapted to man, both as a temporal and eternal 
 being. If the Scriptures teach us that man 
 is ** wonderfully and fearfully made," and that 
 *' the sabbath was made for man," science, as 
 applied by Dr. Farre, here steps in, and shows 
 us how these are to be reconciled and under- 
 stood, — that as a creature man is wonderfully 
 M 2 
 
164 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 contrived and fashioned, and is so fearfully 
 made that he J'daily needs replenishment and 
 refreshment ; but that even his daily portion 
 of rest is not adequate to all the depression 
 and exhaustion, induced by over-excitement of 
 mind, or too great exertion of body, and con- 
 sequently that he needs additional rest to renew 
 and restore him ; and, lastly, that the sabbath 
 was wisely, mercifully, graciously, and lovingly 
 bestowed upon man, to provide him that help 
 which his exhausted nature and wearied frame 
 demand. How greatly, then, ought man to 
 prize and treasure this blessing, how thankfully 
 to enjoy it, how wisely to use it, and how faith- 
 fully to profit by it ; while in all of these, the 
 profit, use, enjoyment, and prizing of it, all 
 should be done to the praise and glory of the 
 Giver, by acting in accordance with his will, 
 and endeavouring to promote the improvement 
 and sanctification of our souls. 
 
 There are various classes in the community, 
 whose occupations make them dependant upon 
 the goodwill of others, their customers; and 
 who are often forced by the thoughtlessness 
 and indifiference of the latter into a neglect of 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 165 
 
 the sabbath ; and are in effect deprived by 
 them of the right, blessing and privilege that 
 God has bestowed upon them. The evidence 
 given by various classes of tradesmen, both 
 masters and journeymen, is largely to this 
 effect, and cries loudly against the injustice 
 done them by those who sacrifice these trades- 
 men to their own pleasure, and, as it appears, 
 too often to the gratification of their own sins. 
 Mr. M*Ewen, a master baker at Hampstead, 
 states, that the charge for baking a dish of 
 meat is twopence, and that the same meat 
 might be boiled or roasted at home for three- 
 pence, so that the saving of expense is trifling ; 
 again, that some one member of a family being 
 always left at home, that one might do the 
 cooking without inconvenience, so that nothing 
 is gained in that respect ; further, that the trade 
 of baking is very laborious and exhausting, so 
 that the men absolutely require the physical 
 rest for which the sabbath was designed ; and, 
 lastly, that there are not less than four thou- 
 sand men in the trade who are debarred from 
 rest and religious edification on the Sunday, 
 by being compelled to work on that day. 
 
166 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 The evidence of another master baker, Mr. 
 Ellis, of Pimlico, is very just and expressive. He 
 says : " I make no exception, that the feeling of 
 the respectable part of the trade is, that our time, 
 and that of our men, should not be devoted to 
 the accommodation of the other part of the 
 community. We feel, as men, that we ought 
 to enjoy the day of rest, both mentally and 
 morally ; that we ought to be favoured, like the 
 rest of her Majesty's subjects, with the freedom 
 of the sabbath, to devote it in what way we 
 thought proper. "We cannot conceive that 
 4,000 or 5,000 bakers on the Sunday should 
 be employed to cook the dinners of a great part 
 of those dissipated characters, who, instead of 
 attending a place of Divine worship, only spend 
 their time in an immoral way, and who are 
 tippling in the public-houses, and oftentimes 
 coming for their dinners, after we have cooked 
 them for them, in a state of intoxication. There 
 can be no person who desires the welfare of the 
 community at large, that could wish his fellow- 
 creatures to be employed on that day ; and any 
 man of proper feeling would not wish for a 
 moment that his dinner should be sent to the 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 167 
 
 bake-house to be cooked ; he would rather say, 
 * No, let that man have the liberty of enjoying 
 his Sunday to himself.' Another very great 
 hardship is, that many young men come up to 
 us from the country, who receive in their early 
 days a religious education — when they come are 
 obliged to devote nearly the whole of the sabbath 
 to the toil and labour of the day ; they feel them- 
 selves degraded and lost in the scale of society, 
 and not to hold that place which they ought to 
 do ; and those good and moral impressions which 
 they first received in their early days are en- 
 tirely lost, from the continual practice of work- 
 ing on the sabbath day. It was my case. I 
 received a religious education, and fortune drove 
 me up here, after being five years and a half 
 under proper tuition ; and the bake-house 
 where I was, was opposite the church. I heard 
 the bells of the church chime for Divine service 
 on the Sunday when I was at work, but I was 
 unable to attend it. I was then working in 
 the heat of nearly 100 degrees during the 
 morning, and that quite unfitted me to attend 
 any place of worship afterwards, with any de- 
 gree of instruction or satisfaction to myself; 
 
168 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 and I can but say, as a man, that I felt myself 
 degraded in the scale of society, that I was 
 not entitled, like any of my fellow-crea- 
 tures, to attend a place of worship as others 
 were." 
 
 Six other master bakers — Mr. J. Clew, of 
 Carnaby-street, Golden-square ; Mr. A. Hill, 
 of Great Coram-street ; Mr. W. Wighton, of 
 Pimlico ; Mr. J. Sweetland, of Howland-street, 
 Fitzroy-square ; Mr. J. Digby, of High Hol- 
 born; and Mr. A. Hannah, of Dorset- street, 
 Manchester-square ; all of them fully concurred 
 in, and confirmed the previous testimony re- 
 specting their trade. Several journeymen 
 bakers then gave evidence agreeing with that 
 already given. Thus Joseph Marter, a jour- 
 neyman, knew it to be the desire of the bakers 
 generally, both from his own acquaintance, and 
 from his having to do with a petition signed by 
 6000 or 7000 men, to have the Sunday secured 
 to them by law as a day of rest. He says : "I 
 can speak for myself : when I go to work I am 
 so affected in the breath, from the heats and 
 colds, that I can hardly stand in the bake- 
 house ; and the seventh day being made a day 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 169 
 
 of rest to me, would tend materially to prevent 
 the effect upon the constitution which at pre- 
 sent I am liable to, and would renovate the con- 
 stitution very muchJ" Again, he says : " I have 
 attended many public meetings of the journey- 
 men bakers, and think that a great many of 
 them, from conscientious motives, desire to 
 have a day of rest, and feel themselves de- 
 graded by the present practice." Charles 
 Viner, another journeyman, expressed himself 
 quite as strongly as the preceding, and was 
 confirmed by three others, John M'Ewen, 
 James Shepherd, and James Moss. 
 
 Other trades besides were examined, and 
 gave similar evidence. Thus Mr. J. Holling- 
 worth, a butcher, in Paddington-street, Mary- 
 lebone, speaking for himself and his next-door 
 neighbours, Mr. Singleton, a fishmonger, Mr. 
 Bolton, a cheesemonger, says, that " they 
 would consider a more strict law not as a re- 
 straint, but as a privilege ; they would take it 
 as a blessing." In addition to the foregoing, 
 poulterers, greengrocers and fishmongers were 
 examined, and all concurred in the benefit that 
 would arise to all parties concerned, buyers and 
 
170 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 sellers, if there were a law protective of the sab- 
 bath, and protective of tradesmen on the sab- 
 bath, so that they should not be necessitated, 
 as at present, in self-defence, to continue 
 Sunday trading. 
 
 There are two classes of facts occurring in 
 this evidence that demand the solemn con- 
 sideration of all, and for that purpose require 
 to be placed in such juxtaposition that they 
 may be properly estimated. The one class is, 
 that all the bakers, both masters and journey- 
 men, and all the butchers, are unanimous in 
 asserting, that the great mass of their Sunday 
 purchasers are the dissipated, the drunken, 
 the dissolute ; those, in fact, whose habits of 
 life make them indifferent to the real bless- 
 ings of the sabbath, and that for them the 
 tradesmen are compelled to labour on the Sun- 
 day. The other class of facts is, that the poul- 
 terers and the fishmongers complain that they 
 are hindered of their sabbath, by '* all the great 
 men ; the members of both Houses, and mem- 
 bers of the administration likewise ;" and that, 
 in most fishmongers' shops, " masters as well as 
 men are wholly employed during the day, and 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 171 
 
 more so orx Sunday, because many noblemen 
 and gentlemen who are members of Parliament, 
 have more company on Saturday and Sunday, 
 those being the only leisure days their parlia- 
 mentary duties afford them." Leaving, then, 
 these facts to speak for themselves, and being 
 well satisfied with the evidence which these 
 men of business have given as to the benefit 
 and blessing that they know the sabbath to be 
 capable of, we will proceed to adduce some 
 from other sources. 
 
 Considerable care was taken some few years 
 since to obtain information respecting the opi- 
 nions and feelings of the large stage-coach 
 proprietors, who, by running their coaches 
 on the sabbath, both desecrated the day, and 
 caused numbers of those employed in their 
 service to neglect it, and the eternal welfare of 
 their souls in consequence. This was felt to be 
 so great an evil by the Rev. Herbert Smith, 
 of Stratton, in Hampshire, in whose parish 
 several coaches changed horses every sabbath, 
 that he entered into a correspondence with some 
 of the largest and most influential proprietors, 
 and obtained very satisfactory replies from almost 
 
172 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 all of them. They were Mr. Chaplin, Spread- 
 eagle, Gracechurch-street ; Mr. Mountain, Sa- 
 racen's-head. Snow-hill ; Mr. Nelson, Bull-inn, 
 Aldgate ; Mr. Horn, Golden-cross, Charing- 
 crossj Mr. Charlton, George-ian, Hounslow; 
 Mr. Dore, Egham ; Mrs. Scarborough, Bagshot ; 
 Mr. Forder, and Messrs. Curtis, Basingstoke ; 
 Mr. Wells, Winchester ; and Mr. Caiger, 
 Southampton. They all of them concurred, 
 more or less strongly, in their desire to have 
 the benefit of the sabbath for their establish- 
 ments, and two of them in particular wrote 
 thus upon the subject. The one writes : " I 
 not only give my free consent to discontinue 
 running our coaches on Sundays, but shall be 
 most happy to render you any assistance in my 
 power to obtain so desirable an object ;" and 
 the other states : "I am quite ready to enter 
 into any engagement with the other proprietors 
 to prevent running on Sundays in future, and I 
 trust no one I am concerned with will raise an 
 objection to so desirable an object. I have 
 expressed my disapprobation of stage-coaches 
 travelling on the Lord's day, and no one would 
 rejoice more at its discontinuance than myself, 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 173 
 
 being satisfied it would be for tlie general good, 
 and which, I sincerely hope, may be accom- 
 plished through your kind interference." 
 
 Similar to this testimony, and more recently 
 still, is that of Mr. Chancellor, who was well 
 known as one of the largest and most respectable 
 proprietors of carriages let out for hire in the 
 neighbourhood of London. At a public meet- 
 ing in favour of a better observance of the 
 sabbath, held at Chelsea, Mr. Chancellor spoke 
 as follows : " About four years and a half ago, 
 it pleased God to turn my heart to Him, and I 
 need not tell my Christian friends, that when 
 the heart is changed, the conduct will be changed 
 also. It then came into my mind that I was 
 acting wrongly in allowing my public convey- 
 ances to run on the sabbath day, but I had 
 great doubts what to do, for I knew that if I 
 gave it up, it would be a loss of 500/. a year to 
 me, and my family was large. I made it a 
 subject of prayer to God, and at length my 
 mind was quite made up on the subject. It is 
 impossible to describe the peace and happiness 
 which I have enjoyed since I made this resolu- 
 tion. I would not return to my former practice 
 
174 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 if you were to lay 10,000Z. before me. I always 
 now, too, pay my men early on Saturday 
 morning, instead of Saturday niglit ; and great 
 is the benefit which has resulted from it. I 
 used often to hear of their joining in riots at 
 the public-houses near on Saturday nights ; but 
 now nothing of the kind occurs — not one of 
 my men is ever drunk, nor do I hear of their 
 using improper language. Our Sunday is really 
 a day of rest. It is delightful to me to see my 
 men at church, and reading their Bibles ; my 
 wife and I distribute tracts among them on 
 Sunday mornings, and they often come and ask 
 me such questions about religion as quite 
 stagger and astonish me. I desire not to speak 
 thus in my own praise — to God be all the 
 glory, for He has done it all. I wish many 
 of my neighbours might be induced to follow 
 my example ; for they would find happiness 
 from it here, and I am sure they would in 
 heaven." 
 
 Societies have been formed at various times 
 for the purpose of protecting the sabbath, and 
 ensuring a more faithful and religious observ- 
 ance. The resolutions engaged in by these 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 175 
 
 societies are most valuable, as being the testi- 
 mony borne by those who entered into them, 
 as to the nature and blessing of the sabbath, 
 and the obligation upon all men to keep it. 
 Such are those that were carried at a meeting 
 held in the parish of St. Giles's, London ; at 
 which Mr. Justice Parke, Mr. Justice Patterson, 
 Sir John Richardson, Sir James Burroughs, Sir 
 George Rose, several gentlemen of rank, and 
 many tradesmen of great respectability were 
 present. The resolutions carried at this meet- 
 ing were as follow : — 
 
 I. That it is our duty as Christians to ob- 
 serve the Lord's day religiously ourselves, and 
 to promote its religious observance among 
 all within the sphere of our influence and 
 example. 
 
 II. That it is our duty to make such ar- 
 rangements in our families, that ourselves, and 
 every one of our household, may habitually 
 attend divine worship ; and not to employ 
 unnecessarily any one to labour for us on that 
 day. 
 
 III. That we ought never to allow any pur- 
 chases, except in cases of sickness or other like 
 
176 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 emergency, to be made on Sunday, either in 
 the street or at a shop, for ourselves or our 
 families ; nor suffer any article of food or cloth- 
 ing to be brought unnecessarily into our houses 
 on that day. 
 
 IV. We ought not to carry on business our- 
 selves, nor to countenance such tradesmen as do 
 it unnecessarily. 
 
 V. We ought to make our payments at such 
 times as will enable those to whom our money 
 is paid, to make their purchases before the 
 Sunday. 
 
 VI. We agree to form a society on the prin- 
 ciples of the above resolutions, and to use our 
 best endeavours to cause the sacredness of 
 the Christian sabbath to be observed among us, 
 in a manner more worthy of a people fearing 
 God. 
 
 In the same spirit, and with the same object 
 in view, a declaration of the Bishop V^ear- 
 mouth, Sunderland, and Monkwearmouth Aux- 
 iliary Society, for the promoting the due ob- 
 servance of the sabbath, was drawn up, contain- 
 ing the following resolutions : — 
 
 I. We declare, that we will labour, by the 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 177 
 
 help of God, to keep the sabbath day ourselves, 
 by a regular and conscientious attendance at 
 the house of God ; by abstaining, on that day, 
 from any worldly business, from all parties at 
 home and abroad, of worldly pleasure or amuse- 
 ment ; from attendance at the news-room, and 
 other places of worldly intercourse ; and from 
 all journeys which shall not be absolutely 
 necessary. 
 
 " II. That we will labour to have the sabbath 
 day kept holy in our families, by requiring our 
 children and household servants to attend at a 
 place of public worship; by not permitting them 
 to pay or receive visits on that day, except in 
 cases of necessity or mercy ; by affording them 
 every reasonable opportunity, and holding out 
 to them every proper inducement for the dis- 
 charge of their private religious duties ; and by 
 refraining altogether from employing persons 
 in our service on the sabbath, in any way, not 
 strictly necessary. 
 
 *' III. That we will also labour to promote 
 the observance of the sabbath day in the place 
 and neighbourhood wherein we dwell, by using 
 our influence to prevail on those who have 
 
 N 
 
178 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 workmen under them, to pay them on or before 
 the Saturday morning; by discouraging the 
 habit of sabbath breaking; by uniting with 
 others in the endeavour to reclaim the sabbath 
 breaker; and by spreading information on the 
 subjects of the obligation to keep the sabbath, 
 and the manner of keeping it, (especially by a 
 due attendance at public worship.) to the utmost 
 of our power." 
 
 Another society of the same kind was formed 
 at Brentwood, the rules of which were as 
 follows : — 
 
 " I. That no person entering this society pay 
 his labourers on the Saturday or Sunday. 
 
 " 11. That no member of this society purchase 
 goods on the Lord's day. 
 
 " III. That no member of this society request 
 any trades-person to send in any goods on the 
 Lord's day, except dinners which may have 
 been baked, 
 
 *' IV. That members of this society pledge 
 themselves not to exercise their callings on the 
 Lord's day, otherwise than is allowed by law. 
 
 " V. That every member of this society en- 
 deavour to do his utmost in his parish and 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 179 
 
 neighbourhood to promote the reverence of the 
 Lord's day, both by example and exhortation." 
 
 So, again, in the deanery of Cricklade, in 
 Wilts, a similar society was formed, the rules 
 of which, agreed to by the members, were 
 these : — 
 
 " I. That we will personally endeavour, by 
 the help of God, to abstain on the Lord's day 
 from all business and intercourse of a merely 
 secular nature, works of necessity and mercy 
 excepted. 
 
 " IL That we will not pay our servants, 
 labourers, workmen, or other persons employed 
 by us, either on Saturday or Sunday. 
 
 " III. That we will close our shops and 
 houses, so far as relates to the purposes of 
 traffic, during the whole of the sabbath, and 
 that we will ourselves abstain, and so far as our 
 influence extends, we will require others to 
 abstain, from all buying and selling on that 
 sacred day," 
 
 This society was so successful, that, in many 
 
 parishes, its declaration was most numerously 
 
 signed, and that by all the most respectable 
 
 farmers and shopkeepers, vvdth scarcely any 
 
 N 2 
 
180 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 exception ; they thereby bearing their testi- 
 mony to the value they attached to the sab- 
 bath, to the blessing they found it to be pro- 
 ductive of to the masters and their dependants, 
 and thereby to the truth of the Scripture that 
 declares, " The sabbath was made for man." 
 
 But there are not wanting others, great and 
 memorable for their learning, who have left 
 upon record their judgment respecting the in- 
 stitution or excellency of the sabbath. Thus 
 Lord Bacon, in his " First Book of the Pro- 
 iicience and Advancement of Learning, Divine 
 and Human," when tracing the gradual exhibi- 
 tion of knowledge or wisdom from God, its 
 fountain or source, to spirits, thence to sensible 
 and material things, the first of which was light, 
 immediately thereafter remarks : '' So in the 
 distribution of days, we see the day wherein 
 God did rest and contemplate his own works, 
 was blessed above all the days wherein he did 
 effect and accomplish them." 
 
 Sir Matthew Hale, in a letter to one of his 
 children, thus records his testimony to the ex- 
 cellency of the sabbath, derived from his own 
 experience : ** I have by long and sound expe- 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 181 
 
 rience found, that the due observance of this 
 {the Lord's) day, and of the duties of it, has 
 been of great advantage to me. God Almighty 
 is the Lord of our time, and lends it to us : and 
 as it is but just we should consecrate this part 
 of that time to Him, so I have found, by a 
 strict and diligent observation, that a due 
 observance of this day hath ever had joined to 
 it a blessing upon the rest of my time ; and the 
 week that hath been so begun, hath been 
 blessed and prosperous to me. And, on the 
 other side, when I have been negligent of this 
 day, the rest of the week has been unhappy, 
 and unsuccessful to my secular employment ; 
 so that I could easily make an estimate of my 
 successes, in my own secular employments of 
 the week following, by the manner of my pass- 
 ing this day. And that I do not write lightly 
 or inconsiderately, but upon a long and sound 
 observation and experience." 
 
 In another letter of advice, written in his 
 sixty-fourth year, and addressed to his grand- 
 children, he thus more fully explains to them 
 the result of his experience : — 
 
 '* I will acquaint you with a truth, that above 
 
182 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 forty years* experience and strict observation 
 of myself hath assuredly taught me. I have 
 been near fifty years a man conversant with 
 business, and that of moment and importance, 
 as most men, and in all this time I have most 
 industriously observed in myself and my con- 
 cerns these three things : — 
 
 " 1. That whensoever I have undertaken 
 any secular business upon the Lord's day, (which 
 was not absolutely and indispensably necessary), 
 that business never prospered or succeeded with 
 me. Nay, if I had set myself that day but to 
 forecast or design any temporal business, to be 
 done or performed afterwards, though such 
 forecasts were just and honest in themselves, 
 and had as fair a prospect as could possibly be 
 effected, yet I have always been disappointed 
 in the effecting of it, or in the success of it; 
 so that it grew almost proverbial with me, when 
 any importuned me to any secular business that 
 day, that, if they expected it to succeed amiss, 
 then they might desire my undertaking it upon 
 that day. And this was so certain an observa- 
 tion to me, that I feared to think of any secular 
 business that day, because the resolutions 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 183 
 
 then taken would be unsuccessful or disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 " 2, That always the more closely I applied 
 myself to the duties of the Lord's day, the 
 more happy and successful were my businesses 
 and employments of the week following ; so 
 that I could, from the strict or loose observance 
 of this day, take a just prospect and true cal- 
 culation of any temporal successes in the en- 
 suing week. 
 
 " 3. Though my hands and mind have been 
 so full of secular businesses, both before and 
 since I was a judge, as, it may be, any man's 
 in England, yet I never wanted time in my six 
 days to ripen and fit myself for the businesses 
 and employments that I had to do, though I 
 borrowed not one minute from the Lord's day 
 to prepare for it by study or otherwise. But, 
 on the other side, if I had at any time bor- 
 rowed from this day any time for my secular 
 employments, I found it did further me less 
 than if I had let it alone ; and therefore, when 
 some years' experience upon a most attentive 
 and vigilant observation had given me this 
 instruction, I grew peremptorily resolved never 
 
184 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 in this mind to make a breach upon the Lord's 
 day, which I have strictly observed for above 
 thirty years ; this relation is most certainly 
 and experimentally true, and hath been declared 
 by me to hundreds of persons." 
 
 The same eminent and pious judge was also 
 the writer of the following admirable and in- 
 structive stanza: 
 
 " A sabbath well spent 
 
 Brings a week of content, 
 And health for the toils of the morrow ; 
 
 But a sabbath profaned, 
 
 Whatsoe'er may be gain'd, 
 Is a certain forerunner of sorrow." 
 
 Another eminent authority is the learned 
 Mr. Justice Blackstone, who, in his celebrated 
 " Commentaries on the Laws of England," 
 writes thus : " Profanation of the Lord's day, 
 vulgarly (but improperly) called sahbath break- 
 ing, is a ninth offence against God and religion, 
 punished by the municipal law of England. 
 Eor, besides the notorious indecency and scandal 
 of permitting any secular business to be pub- 
 licly transacted on that day, in a country pro- 
 fessing Christianity, and the corruption of 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 185 
 
 morals which usually follows its profanation, 
 the keeping one day in seven holy, as a time of 
 relaxation and refreshment, as well as for pub- 
 lic worship, is of admirable service to a state, 
 considered merely as a civil institution. It hu- 
 manizes by the help of conversation and society 
 the manners of the lower classes, which would 
 otherwise degenerate into a sordid ferocity and 
 savage selfishness of spirit ; it enables the in- 
 dustrious workman to pursue his occupation in 
 the ensuing week with health and cheerfulness ; 
 it imprints on the minds of the people that 
 sense of their duty to God, so necessary to 
 make them good citizens ; but which yet would 
 be w^orn out and defaced by an unremitted con- 
 tinuance of labour, without any stated times of 
 recalling them to the worship of their Maker." 
 Again, in one of the numbers of the " Ram- 
 bler," by Dr. Johnson, there occurs a letter 
 written by an imaginary person signing himself 
 " Sunday," and both complaining of insults 
 offered to him, and setting forth the benefits he 
 is capable of affording. He thus writes: *' I 
 am liable to meet with perpetual affronts and 
 injuries. Though I have as natural an anti- 
 
186 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 pathy to cards and dice, as some people have to 
 a cat, many and many an assembly am I forced 
 to endure ; and though rest and composure are 
 my peculiar joy, I am worn out and harassed to 
 death with journeys by men and women of 
 quality, who never take one but when I can be 
 of the party. Some, on a contrary extreme, 
 will never receive me but in bed, where they 
 spend at least half of the time I have to stay 
 with them ; and others are so monstrously ill- 
 bred as to take physic on purpose when they 
 have reason to expect me. Those who keep 
 upon terms of more politeness with me, are 
 generally so cold and constrained in their beha- 
 viour, that I cannot but perceive myself an 
 unwelcome guest ; and even among persons 
 deserving of esteem, and who certainly have a 
 value for me, it is too evident that generally, 
 whenever I come, I throw a dulness over the 
 whole company, that I am entertained with a 
 formal, stiff civility, and that they are glad 
 when I am fairly gone. 
 
 *' How bitter must this kind of reception be 
 to one formed to inspire delight, admiration, 
 and love ! to one capable of answering and 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 187 
 
 regarding the greatest warmth and delicacy of 
 sentiments ? 
 
 " Woukl men but receive my visits kindly^ 
 and listen to what I would tell them — let me 
 say it without vanity — how charming a com- 
 panion should I be ! To every one I could talk 
 on the subjects most interesting and pleasing. 
 With the great and ambitious, I would dis- 
 course of honours and advancements, of dis- 
 tinctions to which the whole world should be 
 witness, of unenvied dignities and durable 
 preferments. To the rich I would tell of 
 inexhaustible treasures, and the sure method to 
 attain them. I would teach them to put out 
 their money on the best interest, and instruct 
 the lovers of pleasure how to secure and im- 
 prove it to the highest degree. The beauty 
 should learn of me how to preserve an ever- 
 lasting bloom. To the afflicted I would admi- 
 nister comfort, and relaxation to the busy." 
 
 Again, we find Dr. Johnson, according to 
 an entry in his journal, July 13, 1755, resolv- 
 ing thus ; — 
 
 " Having lived not without an habitual reve- 
 rence for the sabbath, yet without that atten- 
 
188 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 tion to its religious duties which Christianity 
 requires, — 
 
 " I. To rise early, — and, in order to it, to go 
 to sleep early on Saturday. 
 
 " II, To use some extraordinary devotion in 
 the morning. 
 
 "III. To examine the tenour of my life, 
 and particularly the last week; and to mark 
 my advances in religion, or my falling off. 
 
 " IV. To read the Scriptures methodically, 
 with such helps as are at hand. 
 
 "V. To go to church twice. 
 
 " VI. To read religious books. 
 
 " VII. To instruct my family. 
 
 " VIII. To wear off by meditation any 
 worldly evil contracted in the week." 
 
 In introducing the name of Wilberforce 
 amongst secular authorities, I almost feel con- 
 strained to apologize for doing so. He was so 
 much the man of God, so spiritual in his affec- 
 tions, so holy in his principles, a scribe so well 
 instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, that he 
 seems more worthy to be regarded as a divine 
 than a secular man. But since he was not a 
 clergyman, though of laymen most clerical ; 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 189 
 
 since he was so distinguished a philanthropist, 
 so eminent a member of the British Legisla- 
 ture, and a man such as nothing but the grace 
 of God could make, his testimony respecting 
 the sabbath, his exhortations as to its use and 
 excellency, must needs be peculiarly deserving 
 of our regard and attention. Faithfully re- 
 buking the grievously inadequate conceptions 
 that prevail respecting true practical Christian- 
 ity, he eloquently exclaims, — 
 
 " Let us appeal to that day, which is espe- 
 cially devoted to the offices of religion. Do 
 they joyfully avail themselves of this blessed op- 
 portunity of withdrawing from the business and 
 cares of life ; when, without being disquieted 
 by any doubt whether they are neglecting the 
 duties of their proper callings, they may be 
 allowed to detach their minds from earthly 
 things, that, by a fuller knowledge of heavenly 
 objects, and a more habitual acquaintance with 
 them, their hope may grow more * full of im- 
 mortality ? ' Is the day cheerfully devoted to 
 those holy exercises for which it was appointed ? 
 Do they indeed * come into the courts of God 
 with gladness ? ' And how are they employed 
 
190 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 when not engaged in the public services of the 
 day ? Are they busied in studying the word of 
 God, in meditating on his perfections, in tracing 
 his providential dispensations, in admiring his 
 works, in revolving his mercies, (above all, the 
 transcendent mercies of redeeming love) in 
 singing his praises, ' and speaking good of his 
 name ? ' Do their secret retirements witness 
 the earnestness of their prayers and the warmth 
 of their thanksgivings, their diligence and im- 
 partiality in the necessary work of self-exam- 
 ination, their mindfulness of the benevolent 
 duty of intercession ? Is the kind purpose of 
 the institution of the sabbath answered by 
 them, in its being made to their servants and 
 dependants a season of rest and comfort ? Does 
 the instruction of their families, or of the more 
 poor and ignorant of their neighbours, possess 
 its due share of their time ? If blessed with 
 talents or with affluence, are they sedulously 
 employing a part of this interval of leisure in 
 relieving the indigent, and visiting the sick, and 
 comforting the sorrowful, in forming plans for 
 the good of their fellow-creatures, in consider- 
 ing how they may promote both the temporal 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 191 
 
 and spiritual benefit of their friends and ac- 
 quaintance ? or, if theirs be a larger sphere, in 
 devising measures, whereby, through the Divine 
 blessing, they may become the honoured instru- 
 ments of the more extended diffusion of reli- 
 gious truth ? In the hours of domestic or 
 social intercourse, does their conversation mani- 
 fest the subject of which their hearts are full ? 
 Do their language and demeanour show them 
 to be more than commonly gentle, and kind, 
 and friendly, free from rough and irritating 
 passions ? 
 
 " Surely an entire day should not seem long 
 amidst those various employments. It might 
 be deemed a privilege thus to spend it, in the 
 more immediate presence of our Heavenly 
 Father, in the exercises of humble admiration 
 and grateful homage ; of the benevolent, and 
 domestic, and social feelings, and of all the 
 best affections of our nature, prompted by their 
 true motives, conversant about their proper 
 objects, and directed to their noblest end ; all 
 sorrows mitigated, all cares suspended, all fears 
 repressed, every angry emotion softened, every 
 envious or revengeful or malignant passion 
 
19^ BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 expelled ; and the bosom thus quieted, purified, 
 enlarged, ennobled, partaking almost of a mea- 
 sure of the heavenly happiness, and become for 
 awhile the seat of love, and joy, and confidence, 
 and harmony. 
 
 " The nature, and uses, and proper employ- 
 ments of a Christian sabbath, have been pointed 
 out more particularly, not only because the day 
 vi^ill be found, when thus employed, eminently 
 conducive, through the Divine blessing, to the 
 maintenance of the religious principle in ac- 
 tivity and vigour ; but also because we all must 
 have had occasion often to remark, that many 
 persons, of the graver and more decent sort, 
 seem not seldom to be nearly destitute of re- 
 ligious resources. The Sunday is v^ith them, 
 to say the best of it, a heavy day ; and that 
 larger part of it, which is not claimed by the 
 public offices of the church, dully drawls on in 
 comfortless vacuity, or, without improvement, is 
 trifled away in vain and unprofitable discourse. 
 Not to speak of those who, by their more 
 daring profanation of this sacred season, openly 
 violate the laws and insult the religion of their 
 country, how little do they seem to enter into 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 193 
 
 the spirit of the institution, who are not wholly 
 inattentive to its exterior decorums ! How glad 
 are they to qualify the rigour of their religious 
 labours ! How hardly do they plead against 
 being compelled to devote the whole of the day 
 to religion, claiming to themselves no small 
 merit for giving up to it a part, and purchasing 
 therefore, as they hope, a right to spend the 
 remainder more agreeably ! How dexterously 
 do they avail themselves of any plausible plea 
 for introducing some week-day employment 
 into the Sunday, whilst they have not the same 
 propensity to introduce any of the Sunday's 
 peculiar employment into the rest of the week ! 
 How often do they find excuses for taking 
 journeys, writing letters, balancing accounts ; 
 or, in short, doing something, which by a little 
 management might probably have been antici- 
 pated, or which, without any material incon- 
 venience, might be postponed ! Even business 
 itself is recreation compared with religion ; 
 and from the drudgery of this day of sacred 
 rest, they fly for relief to their ordinary 
 occupations. 
 
 " Others, again, who would consider business 
 o 
 
194 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH 
 
 as a profanation, and who will hold out against 
 the encroachment of the card-table, get over 
 much of the day, and gladly seek for an inno- 
 cent resource in the social circle or in family 
 visits, where it is not even pretended that the 
 conversation turns on such topics as might 
 render it in any way conducive to religious in- 
 struction or improvement. Their families, mean- 
 while, are neglected, their servants robbed of 
 Christian privileges, and their example quoted 
 by others, who cannot see that they are them- 
 selves less religiously employed while playing 
 an innocent game at cards, or relaxing in the 
 concert-room." 
 
 This quotation has been a long one, but I 
 feel assured that it will not have been tedious 
 to the reader, excellent as it is, from first to 
 last. Coming, as it does, from one who, though 
 a secular man, and one always deeply engaged 
 in the duties of a legislator, and those of no 
 ordinary kind — no mere honorary and indolent 
 office, was, notwithstanding all his many avoca- 
 tions, " a master in Israel ;" replete as it is 
 vdth such admirable and pointed admonitions ; 
 bearing testimony, as it does, to all the holy 
 
CLAIMED BY SECULAR MEN. 195 
 
 purposes of the sabbath day ; it is most pecu- 
 liarly valuable in the light we are now revie\v- 
 ing it in, namely, that of a secular man testi- 
 fying to the nature, use and efficacy of the 
 Lord's day. 
 
 Nor w^as his a barren testimony, devoid of 
 fruit, to attest the soundness of the root that 
 was in him. He was himself an example of 
 what the Christian should be on the sabbath. 
 The Rev. J. Scott, of Hull, in his funeral ser- 
 mon for Mr. Wilberforce, observes, when speak- 
 ing of his high veneration for the holy day : — 
 " On each returning sabbath his feelings seemed 
 to rise in proportion to the sanctity of the day, 
 to a higher degree of spirituality and holy joy, 
 which diffused a sacred cheerfulness to all 
 around him. I have often heard him assert, 
 that he never could have sustained the labour 
 and stretch of mind required in his early 
 political life, if it had not been for the rest of 
 the sabbath ; and that he could name several of 
 his contemporaries in the vortex of political 
 cares, whose minds had actually given way 
 under the stress of intellectual labour, so as to 
 bring on a premature death, or the still more 
 o2 
 
196 BENEFITS OF THE SABBATH, ETC. 
 
 dreadful catastrophe of insanity and suicide, 
 who, humanly speaking, might have been pre- 
 served in health, if they w^ould but have con- 
 scientiously observed the sabbath." This testi- 
 mony, again, is most important, and such as 
 many legislators, lawyers, ministers of state, 
 and others similarly employed, would do well 
 to ponder over and take warning by. 
 
 We trust, then, that enough has been said 
 upon the subject indicated by the title of this 
 chapter, to satisfy the reader that it is not 
 clerical men only who desire to see the sabbath 
 recognised and honoured, as the infidel and the 
 scoffer would insinuate, for their own benefit, 
 and for the encouragement and support of 
 priestcraft ; but that there are many secular 
 men who know and value the physical and 
 spiritual blessings of the sabbath, and who 
 rationally understand, and would faithfully 
 apply the truth, " The sabbath was made for 
 man." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE GREAT PRINCIPLE OF 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 " If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing 
 thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a delight, 
 the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour him, not 
 doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor 
 speaking thine own words : then shalt thou delight thyself in 
 the Lord." — Isaiah Iviii, 13, 14. 
 
 . We trust that we have made it sufficiently 
 clear in all the preceding chapters, that the 
 main characteristic, grace, and efficiency of the 
 sabbath, consist in that impress of holiness 
 stamped upon it by the primitive blessing pro- 
 nounced when God rested from all the works 
 that he had made, and blessed and sanctified 
 the seventh day. And if in aught we have 
 failed to accomplish what for the glory and 
 honour of our God we have striven to do, 
 we trust that the beautiful words of Isaiah 
 
198 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 prefixed to these introductory observations, will 
 supply what may "be wanting, or confirm what 
 has been rightly advanced, and lead us at once 
 to the contemplation of this concluding branch 
 of our subject, in which we propose to sketch 
 the practical application of the principles we 
 have endeavoured to develop. 
 
 Let us first, then, observe, that these prin- 
 ciples are twofold ; the one requiring, that one 
 day in every seven shall be cleared of all 
 worldly occupations, engagements, thoughts, 
 and conversation, so that earthly things shall 
 be abstained from, and the day left free for 
 other interests, employments, feelings, and in- 
 tercourse ; the other requiring that every 
 seventh day so set apart and cleared, shall be 
 dedicated to the honour and glory of God, 
 sanctified to his service, observed as holy in his 
 sight, and regarded from first to last, from its 
 commencement to its close, as " holiness unto 
 the Lord." 
 
 These twofold principles necessarily carry 
 with them twofold privileges ; the one bestow- 
 ing upon all men the rest and refreshment from 
 toil, which nature itself dictates as needful for 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 199 
 
 the body, exhausted with six days' labour ; the 
 other bestowing upon all men this special period 
 of time, as a holy and sanctified season, wherein 
 to pay regard to the spiritual nourishment of 
 the soul, and by a faithful observance of the 
 commandment, that is, by keeping the day 
 holy, themselves to be exercised in holiness, 
 themselves therefore to grow the more in grace 
 and in the knowledge of salvation, and thus by 
 continued sanctification to become more and 
 more meetened for that state, where all who 
 come must be holy even as God himself is holy. 
 It must, however, be obvious to every thought- 
 ful and reasonable mind, that, while the prin- 
 ciples and the privileges we have referred to 
 are both of them twofold, the first of each, 
 namely, the clearing the day from worldly uses, 
 and the rest from worldly engagements, are, 
 both of them, though highly excellent and 
 gracious favours to man, yet only subsidiary 
 and preparatory to the second of each, which 
 require the day to be sanctified, and man him- 
 self, by sanctifying it, to be exercised in holi- 
 ness. The sanctity of the day, then, the 
 keeping it holy, the honouring it with holy 
 
^00 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 thoughts, feelings, and pursuits, these are the 
 essential part, principle, and glory of the whole 
 institution ; and, in order to render it the 
 more effectual to this, its good and blessed 
 design, we propose, first, to show what the 
 Scripture teaches respecting the clearing of and 
 resting upon the seventh day, and then to 
 exhibit, in all its fulness, grace, and glory, the 
 application of the principle of keeping the day 
 holy. In order to effect this the better, we 
 will glean from Scripture as well its precepts as 
 its examples on this point, and will classify them 
 for consideration under the obvious heads of 
 what may he done, and what may not be done, 
 on the sabbath. 
 
 Of those things that may be done, the first 
 to be noted is all that is needful in the engage- 
 ments and exercise of public worship, for this 
 is expressly provided by our Lord himself, as 
 well as by the law of Moses even ; for, com- 
 menting upon the requirements of that law, he 
 observes, that *^ the priests in the temple pro- 
 fane the sabbath, and are blameless." All exer- 
 tion, then, requisite for the due performance 
 and participation in Divine worship is here 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 201 
 
 allowed ; and included in this, of course, is all 
 necessary journeying to the house of God and 
 back, provided, of course, that nothing more 
 than is absolutely necessary is here allowed. 
 This, in fact, was the principle of the sabbath 
 day's journey of old, which was not some sup- 
 posed distance as arising out of peculiar circum- 
 stances, but it was expressly and only the 
 journey to the house of God and back. This 
 distance might have been, as it now often is, 
 long or short, and is to be regulated, of course, 
 by local circumstances. Its having come to be, 
 as in the New Testament, a certain measure of 
 distance, is only one example among many of 
 the Jews regarding the sabbath in too rigid and 
 Pharisaical a spirit. The real principle of a 
 sabbath day's journey is not to be satisfied by 
 defining and fixing some exact limit, for this 
 might, in many rural places at the present 
 time, hinder many from profiting by the sab- 
 bath ; but the real principle is to church and 
 back. Neither more nor less than this will 
 satisfy the just demands of the day and the 
 commandment of God. More than this is unde- 
 niably wrong, and consequently all journeying 
 
202 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 on the sabbath, other than to the house of God 
 and back, is contrary to God's law. Less than 
 this is insufficient, and without this just and 
 reasonable journey we are not fulfilling the 
 law of Christ, but are neglecting to assemble 
 ourselves together in the presence of God. 
 
 What an awful system, then, is that of rail- 
 roads, steam-vessels, and other public convey- 
 ances, which ply so largely and extensively on 
 the sabbath, for the avowed purpose of facili- 
 tating journeys of pleasure away from the house 
 of God, and encouraging sabbath days' jour- 
 neys, which are all to the dishonour of God, 
 the unnecessary toil and over-excitement of the 
 week-wearied artizan or labourer, and the waste 
 of that precious time and opportunity which 
 the day is designed to afford for their souls' 
 health and refreshment by spiritual edification, 
 and exercises of devotion and piety ! How 
 much have they to answer for who thus tempt 
 men from the service of their God and the 
 care of their own souls, for the sake of that 
 profit, which, being ill-gotten, must needs be 
 eventually a loss instead of a gain. 
 
 Our Lord has given to us another great prin- 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 208 
 
 ciple to regulate the things that may be done 
 on the sabbath ; for in this matter it is at once 
 easier and safer to indicate principles than to 
 discuss the exact and precise application of 
 them. He has laid it down as a rule, that " it 
 is lawful to do well upon the sabbath day," and 
 he illustrated his principle by many acts of 
 mercy — healing, charity, and even necessity, 
 that he either did or commanded to be done 
 thereon. In the application of this principle 
 every man must judge for himself. Only let 
 him beware, that, in whatever he does, he " is 
 fully persuaded in his own mind ;" and that he 
 has his conscience in that happy state, that 
 " he condemneth not himself in that thing 
 which he alloweth," but enjoys the satisfaction 
 of knowing, that, whatever he does on the 
 sabbath day, is all done to the praise and glory 
 of God. 
 
 As regards the things that may not be done 
 on the sabbath, the Scripture teaches us very 
 plainly respecting them, if we will heed its in- 
 structions, and not fritter them away by such 
 pretensions, as that they are unsuitable to our 
 age, manners, and circumstances. These last 
 
204} GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 are the variable things of life, whereas the prin- 
 ciples of the sabbath, having come from God, 
 are, like their author, permanent and un- 
 changeable. Thus, no ordinary work might be 
 done on the sabbath, and all food was to be 
 prepared the day before, as evidenced by the 
 peculiar circumstances connected with the giving 
 of manna in the wilderness. This was so strictly 
 enforced, that no fire even was allowed to be 
 kindled. All professional business, all trading 
 engagements, all mercantile pursuits, are neces- 
 sarily suspended on this day of the Lord ; in a 
 word, all that may interfere between God and 
 man, all that may distract man's mind from a 
 faithful and glad communion with his God on 
 his own holy day, all this is contrary to Him 
 who hath hallowed the day, or dishonour to His 
 gracious appointment, and a destruction on our 
 own part of the privileges, blessings and graces 
 designed for us in it. 
 
 II. But while these two classes we have been 
 considering serve to indicate to us what we 
 should refrain from, and what we may allow 
 ourselves to do, upon the sabbath day, yet such 
 is the frailty of man's nature, such is his natural 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 205 
 
 antipathy to the most merciful and gracious 
 designs of God, that he will be continually 
 wearying himself, straining his conscience, and 
 rendering the day irksome to him, so long as 
 he contents himself with such considerations as 
 these, and shrinks from the spirit and better 
 principle of the day. So long as a man is 
 looking to a law, and to certain prescribed rules 
 of action, his religious principles, though so far 
 well and profitable to him, are nevertheless 
 wearisome and grievous, and this is the reason 
 why so many feel the sabbath a burthen, instead 
 of a delight, holy of the Lord, and honourable. 
 What we have to strive for is the influence in 
 our hearts of that spirit of holiness that sanc- 
 tifieth the sabbath day, in order that we may 
 full} enter into the spirit and principle of the 
 day. Then shall we not be asking whether 
 this thing is allowable and • that forbidden, 
 whether here w^e must refrain and there may 
 indulge ; but we shall have a certain test of all 
 things, a safe principle to guide us, and a 
 steady rule that will neither forsake nor mis- 
 lead us. 
 
 The day is holy ; we therefore must be holy ; 
 
206 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 all that we do must be consistent with holi- 
 ness ; and since holiness is to be its distinction 
 and grace, the test of everything we do will be, 
 is it holy — is it consistent with holiness — is it 
 that which will be acceptable to the holy God 
 — is it holy as he is holy ? Let us observe how 
 this principle would be our guide. It is pro- 
 posed that we go to call on some friend, and to 
 pay a visit to him ; let us first ask ourselves, is 
 the purport of our visit holy — holy to God, holy 
 to our friend, or holy to ourselves ? If not, it 
 is not consistent with keeping holy the sabbath 
 day. We are asked to join some party, either 
 in an excursion abroad, or in society at home ; 
 let us ask ourselves again, is holiness the object 
 of the invitation ? will it be consistent with 
 keeping holy the sabbath day ? If not, it is 
 contrary to the mind of Him who says, " Be ye 
 holy, for I am holy." — Do we find ourselves 
 either accustomed to engage in, or suddenly 
 pressed with some worldly business on the day, 
 let us candidly consider, is this keeping it holy, 
 is it holiness to the Lord thus to act ? If not, 
 it is offensive to Him who requireth holiness 
 in the inward part. A journey seems urged 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 207 
 
 upon US by circumstances that appear to con- 
 strain, and thereby to justify it, and we readily 
 yield to occasions of this sort, easily conceding 
 the necessity for them ; but let us view them in 
 the light of holiness, and reflect how far they 
 are consistent with it, and there may be a reso- 
 lute defiance of the principle, but there can be 
 no deception about it ; for where we might 
 pretend to necessity we cannot to holiness, and 
 that which is inconsistent with holiness is in- 
 consistent also with the holy day. Do we 
 allow of and join in the desecration of the 
 sabbath by the running of railway trains, the 
 voyaging of steam-boats, the plying of public 
 carriages on the day ? Let us reflect seriously, 
 solemnly, and honestly with ourselves, as we 
 shall do hereafter in the sight of God when we 
 appear before him, as we shall do when we 
 come to die, and shall wish that we had long 
 before ; and let us faithfully ask ourselves, Are 
 these things holy ? do they promote holiness 
 unto the Lord ? do they add to the sanctity of 
 the day ? do they aid the growth in holiness of 
 those who employ, or of those who are em- 
 ployed in them ? If not, they are inconsistent 
 
SOS GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 with tlie holiness of the day, and with Him 
 who made it holy. Are we ourselves desirous 
 of going forth upon the sabbath day to places 
 of public resort, whether merely for exercise, it 
 may be, as we profess, or for the pleasure of 
 mixing in the crowds that there do congregate, 
 to see the dresses and appearance of the com- 
 pany, their equipages and steeds ; let us first 
 reflect whether these things encourage or dimi- 
 nish holiness, whether they partake of holiness 
 at all, and whether amid such scenes we ^an be- 
 come more holy, or the day be treated as one 
 nade holy of God ? If not, we are violating 
 :he command which says, " Remember the 
 abbath day to keep it holy." Or, it may be, 
 hat, shunning publicity, and preferring the 
 nore quiet enjoyment of a rural walk, apart 
 rom the busy hum and noise of more labo- 
 •ious pleasure-seekers, we hope to find in 
 .he meadows and fields seclusion suitable to 
 our more peaceful feelings, and even to gra- 
 tify ourselves, while we admire the beauty 
 of the scenery, with this **lust of the eye." 
 Let us still beware that we mistake not con- 
 stitutional or habitual dislike to a crowd, a 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 209 
 
 preference for quiet, and an agreeable placidity, 
 for that essential spirit that belongs to the 
 sabbath, and on account of which it was made 
 for man. None of these things are that " ho- 
 liness without which no man shall see the 
 Lord." The highest intellectual admiration of 
 the beauties of nature is no part of what the 
 Scripture calls holiness. It may be applied to 
 devotion, and warmed into religious adoration 
 of God the Maker of all things, but it has often 
 been found in men utterly wanting in holiness, 
 and has even encouraged them so much in their 
 own views of natural religion as to make them 
 disregard the essential and distinguishing cha- 
 racteristic of revealed religion — holiness, as God 
 is holy ; and unless this be the object of your 
 ramble, the most innocent one is inconsistent 
 with the sanctity of the sabbath. 
 
 III. The INFLUENCE, which these holy sab- 
 bath principles cannot fail to have, ought not 
 to affect the day alone, but should pervade the 
 whole week, and by their weekly permanence 
 assist and encourage the sanctification of our 
 whole life. To promote this most desirable 
 object, each sabbath day may be regarded as 
 
210 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 the centre of each week, sheddhig its beams 
 both prospectively and retrospectively, as we 
 approach, observe, and retire from the holy day; 
 and under these three heads we propose, in 
 conclusion, to consider the sanctifying influence 
 that the sabbath is capable of. 
 
 1. Approaching the Sahhath. — He who is a 
 faithful and humble believer in the sabbath day 
 will always live in a state of general and cus- 
 tomary preparation for the sabbath. His house- 
 hold will be so regulated, his children and 
 domestics so ordered, that the day shall be 
 distinctly appropriated to its own hallowed de- 
 sign. His occupations, duties, business, avo- 
 cations, professional engagements, or whatever 
 may be the week-day order of his life, shall 
 be so arranged and subordinated to the object of 
 the sabbath day, that, as he debars not his body 
 of the opportunities that six days afford him 
 for labouring in its behalf, so he shall not mer- 
 cilessly rob his soul of the seventh day that 
 belongs to it, but render to it its due, and 
 secure to it the season given to it by God for 
 working out its own salvation, and dressing it 
 for its eternal state. Although there are, I 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 211 
 
 fear, very many men of business, who more or 
 less violate the sanctity of the sabbath, by 
 giving heed thereon to secular concerns or pro- 
 fessional calls upon them, I know but one 
 profession that can ever have the pleas of ne- 
 cessity and mercy for doing so, and that is the 
 medical. But even that profession would do 
 well to attend to the admonition of the apostle : 
 " Happy is he who condemn eth not himself 
 in that thing which he alloweth." I remember 
 once being present when a celebrated metro- 
 politan physician was asked, how he reconciled 
 to himself Sunday practice, which he engaged 
 in quite as largely as on week-days, and his 
 answer was, that he was compelled to sacrifice 
 himself for the benefit of others ; to which a 
 boy who stood by replied in the well-known 
 words of Scripture, *^ to obey is better than 
 sacrifice." I have heard the very same reason 
 assigned for Sunday bakings, that the man en- 
 gaged in it sacrificed himself to allow others to 
 attend the worship of God. 
 
 Now if there were no profit attending such 
 sacrifices as these we might be disposed to 
 allow some credit to them, though that credit 
 p2 
 
212 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 would not diminisli tlie peril to the soul of 
 him who made it. But when we see the 
 alleged sacrifice turned to the profit of the in- 
 dividual, we call to mind again, and reiterate, 
 the caution of the apostle, " Happy is he who 
 condemneth not himself in that thing which he 
 alloweth ;" and we say to all such sacrificers, 
 *^ have faith in God," and exhibit that faith by 
 obeying the commandment and reverencing the 
 ordinance of God. But besides the medical 
 profession there is no other that can even make 
 the semblance of a pretext for violating the rest 
 and sanctity of the sabbath. The legal pro- 
 fession, which often does so, has no shadow of 
 excuse for it. An instructive maxim of British 
 law it is that Sunday is no day, that is, is not a 
 legal day ; so that certain legal acts are in- 
 capable of being done upon that day. And 
 this maxim, so well known to all the profession, 
 ought to be a continual warning to its members 
 of the nature of the sabbath, since it is founded 
 upon the separation of that day from secular 
 uses, and its restriction to religious services 
 alone. And if professional men, and men of 
 business would learn to regard the day in the 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 2\o 
 
 same way that the law does, and clear it of all 
 occupations, and hindrances to its sacred em- 
 ployment, they would soon he led on, hy the 
 blessing that rests upon it, to holier views and a 
 more faithful application of it. And thus they 
 would be constantly prepared for it, having 
 their ordinary occupations so planned that none 
 of them should intrude upon the day. It was 
 an honour to the legal profession, and one that 
 deserves to be recorded of them, that, when a 
 few years since proposals were made for a Sun- 
 day delivery of letters in the metropolis, an 
 immense body of the solicitors signed a protest 
 against the plan, claiming for themselves that 
 exemption from secular business which the sab- 
 bath of God has given to them, and the bless- 
 ings of which they had from experience learned 
 the value of. They were thus righteously 
 engaged in securing for themselves that general 
 preparation of the sabbath, which it is the 
 bounden duty of all men to make, and they 
 were in this matter an eminent and noble ex- 
 ample well deserving of imitation. 
 
 But besides the general preparation thus 
 spoken of, there is a special one also, that needs 
 
214 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 to be particularized, as a guide and encourage- 
 ment to those who would faithfully sanctify the 
 day. George Herbert has well said, — 
 
 " Let thy mind's sweetness have its operation 
 Upon thy body, clothes, and habitation." 
 
 And if there be one occasion more than an- 
 other when this should be so, the sabbath is that 
 occasion. How do we dress and prepare our- 
 selves ; how do we order, decorate, and arrange 
 our rooms when company is expected, and 
 when we have invited our friends to a feast 1 
 Then are we to be seen in our best and hand- 
 somest attire, then are our reception-rooms 
 relieved of all ordinary signs of occupation and 
 work, and then are all things made ready, that 
 our invited and expected friends may have 
 fitting entertainment, and nothing may appear 
 to mar their enjoyment. And should we do 
 less upon the sabbath day ? — Is it not God's 
 festival, when He graciously offers to visit us ? 
 — Shall we be unwilling and unprepared to 
 entertain him, when He is waiting at the door 
 and asking admittance ? This day is an high 
 day, — one dedicated to the noblest intercourse, 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. ^15 
 
 the most blessed entertainment. If some, re- 
 ceiving strangers, have entertained angels un- 
 awares, here is One waiting thy reception on 
 the Lord's day, who is the Lord thy God ! Oh, 
 give Him welcome salutation ! — Be ready for 
 his coming. Let thy week-day way of life be 
 laid aside, and let holiness to the Lord be on 
 this your prime occupation. Let your tables 
 be cleared of all ordinary things, and prepared 
 meet for God's day. Let the Saturday even- 
 ing be employed to this purpose, so that the 
 work-box and the knitting-basket are set aside 
 for the sabbath. Let all books of secular in- 
 formation, and especially all newspapers, be 
 carefully put away, and not suffered to tempt to 
 the desecration, or cast a blot upon the sacred 
 day. And, above all, let the meals be prepared, 
 let the viands for the day be made ready, and 
 let there be no hindrances of any kind to the 
 full enjoyment, and the faithful sanctification, 
 of the day which God delighteth to honour. 
 
 It is indeed a hallowed and delightful feel- 
 ing with which we can sit down on the Satur- 
 day evening, our worldly cares and business laid 
 aside, our tables cleared for the coming sabbath. 
 
216 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 our minds directed towards its advent, our hearts 
 in order, and we waiting for the coming of our 
 Lord. What refreshment to the wearied body 
 and jaded mind, to anticipate the morrow's rest, 
 and the morrow's sanctification. A day of peace 
 is at hand : a day of holy joy and devout medi- 
 tation. We go to rest expecting to wake up 
 in rest, and to experience by faith a type, in 
 its degree, of that Divine and heavenly rest 
 that remaineth for the people of God. What 
 glad and holy thoughts, then, should be ours ! 
 glad at the approach of the appointed season 
 of rest, holy as of Him whose season it is, and 
 whose fiat has ordained it hallowed. We 
 should prepare ourselves for it as if we were 
 about to enter into His presence ; we should 
 retire for the night with the faith of the 
 psalmist, when he said, " I will lay me down 
 in peace, and take my rest, for it is thou. Lord, 
 only that makest me dwell in safety ;" and when 
 we rise on the sabbath morn it should be with 
 the feeling that the patriarch had when he 
 awoke from the glories of his beatific vision 
 and said, " This is none other than the house 
 of God, and this is the gate of heaven !" 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. ^'1 < 
 
 2. Observance of the Sahhath. — And now at 
 length the day of sacred rest has dawned. 
 The morn itself glows with a feeling all its 
 own. The busy hum of occupation is hushed. 
 The toiling sons of earth refrain from their 
 accustomed labour, and there is for the time 
 a suspension of that part of the curse, which 
 Adam's disobedience brought upon men, and 
 which ordains, that *' in the sweat of his face 
 shall he eat bread," Gen. iii. 19. To-day they 
 " eat their meat with gladness and singleness 
 of heart, praising God," Acts ii. 46, 47. The 
 silence of the hours, disturbed only by the 
 music of the morning chimes, affects the heart, 
 and distinguishes the morning from others less 
 sacred. The faithful heart, responsive to these 
 holy sensations, feels itself attuned to the 
 sounds and silence of the day, and sends up a 
 grateful echo from its inmost seclusions. The 
 deep piety of the renewed soul is awakened to 
 hallowed thoughts and devout communings with 
 God. He whose day it is, the Giver and the 
 Sanctifier of the rest it brings, is felt to be 
 nigh at hand, even at the door. His entrance 
 is desired, and is vouchsafed to faith. And 
 
218 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 the believer, realizing to himself the primitive 
 appointment of the day, is made conscious of 
 the verity and excellency of the word, " God 
 blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: be- 
 cause that in it He had rested from all his work 
 which God created and made." 
 
 One of the most comfortable sensations of 
 rest from temporal care that I enjoy upon the 
 sabbath, arises from the circumstance of my 
 not being liable to intrusion and disturbment 
 by the arrival of the post on that day. It is 
 now some years since I forbade the delivery of 
 my letters on the sabbath morning, and often 
 when I have had reason to expect communica- 
 tions of a painful or perplexing character, it 
 has been an inexpressible relief to know that 
 on that day at least there is nothing to fear. 
 For the day there is relief from anxiety or 
 vexation, and the interval thus secured has 
 given such refreshment, and consequent vigour 
 to the mind, that the news when received on 
 the morrow has been much more easily endured, 
 than before it would have been. Those who 
 have not tried this relief to the mind, can but 
 little understand its efficacy, and the blessing it 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 219 
 
 would be to all rural districts, to be exempt 
 from the intrusion of the sabbath-breaking post 
 upon the day of rest. Instead of the governors 
 of that wonderful system of communication, 
 which gives no rest day nor night to its func- 
 tionaries, endeavouring to introduce a metropo- 
 litan delivery, upon the plea that the rural one 
 that exists is beneficial and right, they should 
 reverse their argument, and correct such a per- 
 version of it, by showing, what is the truth, 
 that the metropolitan relief from delivery is the 
 blessing that sliould be extended to the country, 
 and that the exemption enjoyed by London 
 should be secured to all the remotest parts of 
 the kingdom. Why is it that hitherto London 
 has been blessed by this freedom ? Because to 
 do otherwise was felt to be sabbath-breaking, 
 upon too great a scale for the legislature to 
 sanction. The minor evil, as it was so termed 
 wrongly, for " all unrighteousness is sin," was 
 deemed admissible because it was small. But 
 now it is pretended that the inferior and avow- 
 edly wrong example may override the larger 
 and the right one, and that the greater and bet- 
 ter must give place to the less and the worse. 
 
220 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 Is this the even-handed justice of Protestant- 
 ism ? Does it not rather savour of Jesuitism, 
 which does not sanctify the sabbath, or even of 
 Infidelity, which abhors it? Surely Englishmen 
 will never be so untrue to themselves as to sub- 
 mit to such an infliction as this. But if they 
 do, if they will be so pusillanimous in behalf 
 of God's holy day, then turn we to Scotland, 
 and there invoke the ardent sanctity of her 
 sons, and summon them to the rescue, and to 
 the defence of the Lord's day against the 
 mighty. 
 
 What impressions, indeed, does a sabbath 
 spent in Scotland make, and how delightful is 
 it from time to lime to revive them in all their 
 fulness. Long may I remember how, on one 
 occasion, I stood on a sabbath morning in Edin- 
 burgh, at the window of a friend's house, and, 
 conversing with a truly Christian believer on 
 the exemplary observance of the day, we gave 
 utterance, with one voice as it were, to a com- 
 mon sentiment, that for the moment pervaded 
 our thoughts. Not long before had we returned 
 from an early service in a neighbouring church, 
 and calling to mind the striking solitude of 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 221 
 
 tlie streets we had traversed, and now looking 
 abroad upon those in our immediate vicinity, 
 we mutually expressed the thought, that '* the 
 city seemed more like the abode of the dead, 
 than that busy scene of life and intelligence 
 which the day before it had presented." 
 
 And yet, anon, we had to witness a change 
 and a contrast as extreme as could well be 
 imagined. The bells commenced their calls to 
 morning worship, and we turned from our con- 
 templation to obey their summons. We went 
 forth into the streets, and took our way to our 
 chosen place of worship. But, now, what a 
 sudden change had come upon every street and 
 square ! All that before was apparently lifeless 
 and void, was now thronged with flowing streams 
 of faithful and devout worshippers going up to 
 worship their God, and to do public honour to 
 the day of His appointm.ent by keeping it holy ; 
 and themselves thereby increasing in holiness. 
 Animated by one heart and one mind, and 
 obedient to the common call, the whole city 
 seemed upon the instant to be summoned into 
 life, and to be raised up at the cry, " the Bride- 
 groom Cometh," to go forth at His bidding. 
 
222 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 and to enter into His gates with praise. Well 
 would it be for England, if, instead of striving 
 for the sake of the gain that perisheth to in- 
 trude her sabbath- breaking railway trains upon 
 Scotland, she would in her own metropolis 
 emulate the devotion of her sister, and remember 
 the Lord's day to keep it holy. 
 
 Chief amongst the means of doing this, that 
 is, keeping holy the sabbath day, is a constant 
 and devout attendance on the public services 
 of the sanctuary. It is an apostolical injunction, 
 " not to forget the assembling ourselves to- 
 gether, as the manner of some is." The honour 
 we are bound to pay to the day, and thereby to 
 the Lord, is not to be done in a corner. I have 
 known the avowed infidel seclude himself on 
 that day, because he would not pay even 
 worldly respect to it, by habiting himself in his 
 better garb, but purposely dressed himself 
 worse on that day than on any other, to mark, 
 as he thought, his neglect of it. I have known 
 the careless and unawakened sinner refuse to 
 come to the public means of grace, because he 
 was indifferent to the eternal welfare of his soul. 
 But I never, never knew the sincere beHever 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 22o 
 
 absent himself without urgent cause, — nor in 
 fact would it be possible for him to do so, since 
 he could not refrain from joining in the public 
 exercises, of prayer and praise, to which his 
 faith, his hope, and his heart's best affections 
 prompt him. Nor is he contented with only 
 one attendance at the house of God. With 
 him, to sanctify the day is not to visit once only, 
 and formally, the place of worship ; but it is to 
 be there whenever it is opened, and the oppor- 
 tunity is afforded him of renewing the praise 
 and thanksgiving which are due to God, and of 
 profiting by the word preached. There, on the 
 day of God, he comes into the assembly of 
 God's people ; there he rejoices to maintain, 
 not a solitary and secret communion with God, 
 but an open and a public one ; — one in which 
 heart unites with heart, and tongue responds 
 to tongue. There does it rejoice him to be, 
 " believing with the heart unto righteousness, 
 and with the mouth making confession unto sal- 
 vation ;" there does he join, in "making suppli- 
 cations, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks 
 for all men ; for kings, and for all that are in 
 authority ; that we may lead a quiet and peace- 
 
224> GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 able life in all godliness and honesty ;" and there 
 does his soul rejoice, and his spirit is made 
 glad, in singing psahns, and hymns, and spiritual 
 songs, and making melody in his heart to the 
 praise and glory of God. 
 
 One most admirable and instructive mode of 
 employing a portion of time on the sabbath, 
 and so diversifying its hours, is by assisting in 
 the spiritual nurture of the young, and guiding 
 them in the ways and counsels of God. A 
 more profitable sanctifying of the sabbath, both 
 to ourselves and to others, than attending and 
 assisting in sabbath-schools, there cannot be. 
 It were almost to be wished that the name of 
 school, which implies labour and compulsory 
 instruction, could be withdrawn from such 
 meetin<^s, and they solemnized by prayer and 
 praise into devotional reading of the Scriptures 
 suitable to the day. 
 
 As in public worship and in the house of 
 God the day is to be sanctified, so also it is to 
 be in our family converse, and at home in our 
 own abodes. In public worship there are that 
 order and continuance in the service, that leave 
 no opportunity, save to the indifferent, for the 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 225 
 
 mind straying from the main glory of the day, 
 and neglecting to sanctify the Lord God in 
 the heart. At home, however, and in the 
 family, there is danger of our forgetting it, and 
 suffering our thoughts and conversation to 
 return to the world and its engagements. How 
 many, as they pass the threshold of God's 
 house, seem to think that they are relieved 
 thereby from all further reverence for the day ; 
 that, having attended public worship, there is 
 no further privilege to enjoy ; and that, because 
 they have quitted their place of worship, they 
 have returned again to the world and its occu- 
 pations. Yet it is quite as needful, and quite 
 as blessed, to sanctify the day in our family, as 
 in the congregation of the Lord : only in doing 
 so we may safely and wisely relax from the 
 strictness of order and method that are required 
 in public. There may be a variety in our 
 ministrations at home. There should be read- 
 ing of the Scripture, and singing of hymns, 
 and these, especially the latter, may be much 
 diversified, according to the taste a>nd pro- 
 ficiency of those who join in them : only let 
 there be caution that the hymns be really edi- 
 
 Q 
 
226 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 fying, and that the music also be ojily unto 
 edification. Some deceive themselves by allow- 
 ing the enjoyment of sacred music on the 
 sabbath day. Now music, however enchanting 
 to the senses, is not edifying to the heart and 
 affections. Music can never convey to us spi- 
 ritual knowledge. It can excite the affections, 
 but cannot spiritualize them. Music alone, 
 therefore, without edifying and instructive 
 words, that is, sentiments and thoughts, is no 
 means of sanctification ; — consequently music 
 alone, even sacred music, is not suitable to the 
 Lord's day. On the contrary, it might, if in- 
 dulged in, mislead us into the notion, that, 
 because denominated sacred, it must be sancti- 
 fying, and so occasion us to miss entirely the 
 one great design and end of God's appointment, 
 even the sanctification of our soul. 
 
 In reading Scripture, as in singing, we 
 should be careful to make edification, real spi- 
 ritual, scriptural edification, our single aim. 
 Here, again, we are liable to deceive ourselves. 
 Neither the history, nor the poetry, nor the 
 marvels even of Scripture, are necessarily 
 edifying. Bear in mind that golden canon for 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 227 
 
 reading unto edification, ** the letter killeth, 
 but the Spirit giveth life." We may find our- 
 selves deeply interested in knotty points of the 
 history of God's people, we may be charmed by 
 the poetical beauties of the word, we may ad- 
 mire the wondrous miracles which God's power 
 hath wrought ; but all these may be of no avail 
 to us in enlightening and sanctifying our soul. 
 We must endeavour to spiritualize what we 
 read, not by any fanciful perversion of our own, 
 but by drawing forth from the portion read the 
 lessons of love, mercy, condescension, and grace, 
 which are to be found as fine gold, running 
 through the text of Scripture, as the rich ore is 
 to be traced and followed through the parent 
 rock in which it is secluded. We must search 
 for the deep things of God ; — we must unravel 
 the mysteries of His providence and grace. 
 Like Daniel, the man greatly beloved, we must 
 use such means as we have to understand all 
 mysteries ; and if, like him, we apply ourselves 
 " to understand by books the number of the 
 years, whereof the word of the Lord hath come 
 to the prophets," we may be sure that God will 
 give us " the spirit of wisdom and understand- 
 Q 2 
 
2U8 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 ing, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of 
 the Lord, and shall make us of quick under- 
 standing in the fear of the Lord." 
 
 There is, innate in man, a fondness for in- 
 quiry into secret things, and discovering the 
 design and purpart of revealed mysteries. This 
 disposition often wastes itself, in the vain and 
 ridiculous practice of striving to solve frivolous 
 and impertinent involutions of words and things, 
 purposely perverted to perplex, and so to ex- 
 cite and exercise that ingenuity of mind, which 
 has been wisely given to us of God for great 
 and noble uses. To this excellent end does 
 the skilful mathematician w^orthily direct those 
 mental energies, which others debase to the 
 unravelling of some charade or conundrum, and 
 thereby show what man's reasoning intelligence 
 is capable of attaining to, when wisely and 
 faithfully directed, in the exploration of the 
 wonders of creation in space, and the exhibition 
 of God's great power and wisdom. And why 
 should not the Christian philosopher be em- 
 ployed in the examination of God's grace re- 
 vealed to us in the sure record of prophecy ? — 
 Whether we desire enigmas to charm, dark 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. QZO 
 
 sayings of old to unravel, mysteries of Provi- 
 dence to scan, or wondrous revelations to unrol, 
 where shall we find any so worthy of our in- 
 tellect, as those which God, the Almighty, the 
 Allseeing God, has written for our edifica- 
 tion in prophecy ? And if we desire variety of 
 reading for the sabbath day, and exercise for 
 our intellectual powers, always, of course, under 
 a spiritual influence, what better subjects can 
 we have, than those prophetical Scriptures 
 written for our learning, and upon the perusal of 
 which the blessing is recorded, "Blessed is he 
 that readeth, and they that hear the words of 
 this prophecy, and keep those things which 
 are written therein : for the time is at hand ?" 
 
 But if the sabbath is suited for, and sanc- 
 tified by, public and family devotions, not less 
 is it adapted to, and hallowed by, private com- 
 munings with God. How pleasant and how 
 profitable it is, to retire as it were into one's 
 self, to converse alone with God, to examine 
 our own hearts in His sight, and to experience 
 the blessedness of the promise, '' Draw nigh 
 to Me, and I will draw nigh unto thee, saith 
 the Lord." What day or what occasion can be 
 
280 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 more suitable than the sabbath? It would lead 
 us too far astray from our preseiit more hnme- 
 diate object, to attempt to touch upon the 
 subject of such communings. Suffice it, that 
 we thus point out this as one of the most 
 effective modes of sanctifying the sabbath day. 
 
 Some over-scrupulous exactors of sabbath 
 discipline have objected to walking upon the 
 day, as if inconsistent with the notion of rest. 
 Now rest is not mere repose, for even that may 
 become wearisome, and by being so destroy our 
 rest. But rest is the placid and untoilsome 
 exercise of the body, tending to the refresh- 
 ment and comfort of our limbs, and to this end 
 walking, in moderation and peacefulness, will 
 often be an assistant. If, in addition to this 
 our walking be, not amid the busy throng of 
 the worldly and dissipated sabbath-breakers, 
 but in quietude, amid the works of nature, that 
 is, of God, in sweet converse with friends of con- 
 genial and spiritual minds, such walking is 
 quite as faithful a sanctifying of the sabbath- 
 day, as the most solemn sedentary intercourse at 
 home. Did not God customarily walk with 
 his new-made and holy creature Adam in the 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 2S\ 
 
 cool of the day ; and must not such walking 
 have been blessed rest and refreshment to our 
 prime father ? When Isaac went forth to me- 
 ditate in the field at eventide, was not his oc- 
 cupation a devout and hallowed one ? And 
 so may any act of ours, within limits due 
 and prescribed, be made to us a means of 
 sanctifying the sabbath, and honouring God 
 thereby. 
 
 But beware lest walking be suffered to 
 degenerate into straying idly, or journeying 
 wantonly on God's day. Against the latter 
 especially there is the greatest need to be on 
 our guard : the mischief done by it is very 
 fearful ; for often it is ourselves w^ho are least 
 affected by it, while multitudes are involved in 
 our sin. It may be that we do so only now 
 and then, but once or twice in a year ; not 
 habitually, but occasionally ; and that only as 
 some apparently urgent necessity demands ; and 
 thus we think our fault venial because small, and 
 become indifferent to it. But that which we do 
 now and then, others think themselves at liberty 
 to do now and then, — and thus the evil is multi- 
 
232 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 plied. But worse than this, our occasional sin 
 is the cause of constant and habitual sin in 
 others. Our occasional sin encourages travel- 
 ling on the Lord's day, and multitudes are kept 
 waiting and looking out for the occasional tra- 
 veller, from sabbath to sabbath, who else would 
 not be tempted away from their allegiance to 
 God and his holy day. Oh that there were 
 such love to God, and to the souls of our fel- 
 low-men within us, that we would remember 
 His commandment, and have such compassion 
 upon others, as never to cast a stumbling-block 
 in their way, nor by any act of ours cause our 
 brother to offend, and destroy him for whom 
 Christ died ! 
 
 3. Betiring from the Sabbath. — How is it 
 with the world, and with pleasure-seekers ? As 
 men return from the market or the fair, what 
 are their thoughts as evidenced by their conver- 
 sation? — Of buying and selling, of bargaining 
 and gaining, of profit and loss, of the rise and 
 fall of prices, of their probable increase or 
 decrease for the future. And why is this ? — 
 Because their interest, their hopes, their trea- 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 2So 
 
 sure are iii these things, and therefore their 
 heart is there, for " where the treasure is there 
 is the heart also;" and '• out of the abundance 
 of the heart the mouth speaketh." Again; as 
 men return from the theatre, the race-course, 
 the pleasure fair, or any place of public amuse- 
 ment, what are their thoughts as evidenced by 
 their conversation ? —In the spectacle they have 
 witnessed, the mimic representation they have 
 seen, the company that was there, the dresses 
 and looks of the people, the richness and the 
 splendour of the equipages, the excellency of 
 the horses, the fairness or unfairness of their 
 management. And why all these topics ? — Be- 
 cause these were the objects for which they 
 went, upon these were their whole thoughts 
 and minds intent; they return absorbed in the 
 interest of these ; their hearts are full of them, 
 for they are the day's treasure, and " out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." 
 But with how many of our sabbath worship- 
 pers is it thus ? How many even on that holy 
 day, when they have passed the threshold of 
 God's house, think of the Scripture they have 
 
234 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE 
 
 heard read, or the word that has heen preached ? 
 In how many hearts lingers there yet any echo 
 of the hymn that has been sung, professedly to 
 the praise and glory of God ? Few, few are 
 they, who thus find treasure there, and carry it 
 forth with them. Their hearts are not engaged, 
 and they have no abundance of spiritual things 
 for the mouth to proclaim. And is it not too 
 often thus, alas ! in the end of the sabbath, in 
 retiring from the sabbath ? And should it be 
 thus ? Oh, surely not. Let us reflect upon 
 what should be our thoughts and feelings on 
 leaving this holy day, and what the impressions 
 we ought to carry thence with us. 
 
 If our sabbath has been spent in faith and 
 calling upon God, we have been nigh unto Him ; 
 we have felt His presence, we have experienced 
 the joy and delight of communion with our 
 God and Saviour. The influence of these feel- 
 ings we ought to carry away with us, so that 
 they shall be seen and known to the world, and 
 men may " take knowledge of us that we have 
 been with Jesus." But chiefly we ought to have 
 them in our own hearts, impressing us with 
 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 2S5 
 
 holiness, peace, rest, and quietude. Our sab- 
 bath occupations should dwell in us and be 
 with us ; they should strengthen us to meet, to 
 engage with, and to overcome the temptations 
 that our daily avocations bring wath them. 
 Oh, if our sabbath resolutions were more re- 
 membered, if the mind and the spirit with 
 which we participate in the holy services of the 
 day, or which are excited in us by hearing the 
 word preached, were more heeded and trea- 
 sured up, were carried away with us in our 
 heart, allowed to have their influence there, and 
 thence to pour forth their abundance in sin- 
 cerity and truth, how blessed indeed would the 
 effects and increase of such sabbath be. We 
 should then retire from it, not with lightness of 
 thought and feeling as if ridding ourselves of a 
 burthen, not as if throwing off some trammel to 
 our worldly course and duty, but comforted, 
 and invigorated by it for our business, glad- 
 dened and delighting in the thought that it 
 would return again, and rejoicing that we had 
 gathered from it so much experience of the 
 employment of angels, and of the spirits of the 
 
236 GREAT SABBATH PRINCIPLE, ETC. 
 
 just ; and we should be confirmed and strength- 
 ened in the conviction, that, as on earth there is 
 a weekly sabbath of rest for those who confide 
 in their God, so in heaven above and in the 
 presence of the Most High there remaineth a 
 sabbath of rest for ever and ever. 
 
 Tyler &; ILeed, Frliiti;rs, Bolt court, F.eet-btieet. 
 
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