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 BM 685 .B3 1857 
 Baylee, John T. 
 History of the Sabbath 
 
HISTOEY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SABBATH, 
 
 DAY OP HOLY REST. 
 
 / BY 
 
 JOHN T. BAYLEE, B.A., 
 
 OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN - , 
 
 CLERICAL SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE LIE 
 
 OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD's-DAY. 
 
 ^uMb^cb tg ^ttbstnpttojT. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY 
 
 C. F. HODGSON, 1, GOUGH SQUAKE, 
 
 FLEET STREET. 
 
 1857. 
 
LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY C. F. HODGSON 
 
 GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET 
 
PKEEACE. 
 
 The object of the Author in this little Work has 
 been to put the reader in possession of information, in 
 a condensed form, on the subject of the Sabbath. The 
 word " Sabbath " has been deliberately chosen, in the 
 title of the Book, as representing an idea which belongs 
 to the Christian dispensation equally as to the Patri- 
 archal or Jewish. 
 
 The quotations from the Fathers have been extracted 
 from the original writers by the Author himself; a 
 course which, although it involved much labour, he 
 felt would be more satisfactory to his readers than 
 if he had limited himself to references or extracts from 
 other writers, however great their accuracy. The same 
 remark applies to all the other quotations, with one or 
 two unimportant exceptions. 
 
 Many opinions of a conjectural character, on both 
 sides of the question, have not been noticed; simply 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 because it was felt desirable to limit the account of the 
 Sabbath to those positive statements regarding it which 
 are to .be found in the Word of God, and to those 
 views which directly controvert them : in a word, the 
 endeavour of the Author has been to make the Work 
 as much as possible one of a matter-of-fact character. 
 
 The Author has carefully avoided saying anything 
 offensive to individuals; he has deemed it better to 
 let conduct speak for itself, and that the reader should 
 draw his own inference respecting it. 
 
 The Book was in a great measure prepared in the 
 year 1856, amid many public anxieties ; but thankful 
 shall the Author be, if it be made in any degree, how- 
 ever humble, conducive to the observance of the Lord's- 
 day, and, so, instrumental to the edification of the 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 Canonbury, London 
 March. 1857. 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Origin of the Sabbath, or Day of Holy Rest 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Erroneous Theory, that the Sanctification of the Sabbath in 
 
 Genesis is by Anticipation 4 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Sabbath, or Day of Holy Rest, in the Patriarchal Ages. . 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Traditional Knowledge of the Sabbath 21 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Sabbath after the Exodus 24 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Sabbath, or Day of Holy Rest, in the Decalogue 30 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Sabbath in the Levitical Dispensation 42 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Page 
 The Sabbath in the Interval, from the Close of the Canon of 
 
 the Old Testament Scriptures to the Coming of Christ ... 58 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Sabbath in the Time of our Blessed Lord 61 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Lord's-day, the Christian Sabbath 79 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Lord's-day, or Christian Sabbath, in the First Four 
 
 Centuries ,.., 97 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A Summary of some of the principal Laws regarding the 
 Lord's-day, which were made from the Fourth to the 
 Twelfth Century ]18 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Summary of Constitutions and Canons relating to the Lord's- 
 day up to the Sixteenth Century 122 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Laws regarding the Lord's-day made in England before the 
 
 Norman Conquest 129 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Summary of the various Laws respecting the Lord's-day which 
 have been enacted in England, from the Norman Conquest 
 to the present Time 133 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Page 
 Ecclesiastical proceedings in England regarding the Lord's- 
 
 day after the Norman Conquest 150 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 United States of America — Laws, &c. in regard to the Lord's- 
 
 day 175 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Laws, &c. regarding the Observance of the Lord's-day on the 
 
 Continent of Europe 184 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Teaching of the Church, when Reformed, regarding the Lord's- 
 day 195 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Lord's-day, or Christian Sabbath, in Modern Times in 
 
 England 211 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Proceedings of Sir Andrew Agnew in Parliament regarding 
 
 the Observance of the Lord's-day 222 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. y 
 
 The Post Office — Travelling — Trading — Public-houses and 
 
 Amusements on the Lord's-day 237 
 
 Index 275 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 11, Note, for ovZi]rl(rov, read ovdriricrow- 
 
 Page 66, in note, for " muliebribus," read "mulieribus.' 
 
 Page 92, for Serr}, read Se rfj. 
 
 Page 121, for " Commenus," read " Comnenus.' 
 
 Page 199, for " impartially demands," read " impartiality demands. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE SABBATH, OR DAY OF HOLY REST. 
 
 The Sabbath, or day of weekly rest, has God for its 
 author. The account of its appointment is contained 
 in the commencement of the Book of Genesis. We 
 have recorded there the history of the first seven days, 
 in which God is the sole actor ; the proceedings of 
 each day are narrated in regular succession, and 
 with great minuteness. After giving an account of 
 the first six days, the inspired historian relates thus 
 the history of the seventh, Gen. ii. 2, 3: "And 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 
 rf seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he 
 " had rested* from all his work which God created and 
 
 * i"Q$ Sbabath. The word occurs as a noun, Exodus xvi. 26. 
 
 _ T 
 
 B 
 
2 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " made." In this passage we first meet with the word 
 Sabbath, as a verb; the meaning of it is "rest" — a 
 privilege in which the Church of God in all ages is 
 interested, and also entitled to use the name which 
 represents it. 
 
 Such was the first Sabbath. God rested from that 
 finished work, which He pronounced to be " very good." 
 And man spent this the first day of his existence in 
 contemplating with adoring love and admiration the 
 glorious handiwork of his Creator. Heaven itself re- 
 sounded with the praises of the Maker; for we are 
 told, on the completion of the work, " the morning 
 stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted 
 for joy." (Job xxxviii. 7.) 
 
 Man was thus taught by the example of God to 
 measure time by weeks ; and to divide each week into 
 two principal parts — six days for work, and one day to 
 be sanctified, or set apart as a day of holy rest — for, from 
 the beginning man had occupations to employ his time, 
 in addition to those exercises which were more exclu- 
 sively of a spiritual or religious character, as we read 
 in Gen. ii. 15: "And the Lord God took the man, 
 and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to 
 keep it." 
 
 Thus was the Sabbath instituted at the Creation, 
 by God himself, to be sanctified without limitation 
 to race or dispensation, and a blessing was attached to 
 its observance. The great object of the institution was, 
 that man should rest, in the contemplation of the Divine 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 glory, iii a special manner, one day in every seven. As 
 it was physically impossible that exactly the same 
 hours could be so devoted in all places, it is manifest 
 that perfect uniformity in this respect was not an 
 essential part of the institution. 
 
 b 2 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ERRONEOUS THEORY, THAT THE SANCT1FICATION OF 
 THE SABBATH IN GENESIS IS BY ANTICIPATION. 
 
 Notwithstanding the plain account in the Book of 
 Genesis of the appointment of the Sabbath, or day of 
 holy rest on the seventh day, the singular theory has 
 been broached by some Jewish writers that it was not 
 actually sanctified, or devoted to religious purposes, 
 till 2500 years after the creation of the world, in the 
 time of Moses ; and that the mention of it in the 
 Book of Genesis is by anticipation, or a figure of 
 speech called prolepsis. This extraordinary opinion 
 doubtless owes its origin to the jealousy felt by many 
 of the Jews towards the Gentiles, and to their wish 
 to claim for the descendants of Abraham exclusively 
 all the blessings of Revelation. It has, however, been 
 adopted by some Christian writers, to whom in all 
 probability the idea would not have occurred had it 
 not been suggested. 
 
 Never was an opinion hazarded which has so much 
 the character of a mere assertion. The application of 
 a figure of speech is justifiable only when a passage 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 5 
 
 manifestly requires it in order to make its meaning 
 plain ; but no such necessity exists in the case in 
 question ; on the contrary, the clearness and simplicity 
 of the whole narrative is destroyed by it ; besides, in 
 those passages where the institution is subsequently 
 mentioned, it is on no occasion spoken of as then 
 for the first time announced, but as one known 
 before. In Exodus xx., where its observance is com- 
 manded, the original cause of the institution is as- 
 signed ; as in Genesis ii., — the proceeding of God in 
 making the world in six days, and resting on the 
 seventh : nor is it at all probable that the cause and 
 the actual observance of the institution would be sepa- 
 rated, and at so long an interval, especially when the 
 appointment was one at all times promotive of the 
 glory of God and conducive to the welfare of man. 
 
 As Heylin, (who, in the reign of Charles I., wrote a 
 history of the Sabbath,) is the great advocate of this 
 view, to whom, as an authority, many writers on the 
 same side since bis time appeal, the best course will 
 be to lay before the reader the arguments he adduces 
 in favour of it, and to examine them, with a view of 
 ascertaining whether they are sufficiently strong to 
 justify his assertion. He begins, in the first place, by 
 quoting Tostatus. Now it will be well to inquire who 
 Tostatus is, and whether his opinion is really deser- 
 ving of the great weight and importance Heylin at- 
 taches to it. 
 
 Alplionso Tostatous was Bishop of Avila, in Spain, 
 
O HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 and lived in the fifteenth century : he wrote a Com- 
 mentary on the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Mosheim, the Ecclesiastical historian, thus speaks 
 of him : — 
 
 " Among the greatest part of the interpreters of holy 
 Scripture who lived in this century, we find nothing 
 worthy of commendation, if we except their zeal and 
 their good intentions. Such of them as aimed at some- 
 thing higher than the character of mere compilers, and 
 ventured to draw their explanations from their own sense 
 of things, did little more than amuse, or rather delude, 
 their readers with mystical and allegorical fancies. At 
 the head of this class of writers is Alphonso Tostatus, 
 Bishop of Avila, whose voluminous commentaries upon 
 the sacred writings exhibit nothing remarkable but their 
 enormous bulk."* 
 
 But it will be well to let Tostatus speak for himself, 
 and state the grounds on which he holds the opinion, 
 that God sanctified the Sabbath at the Creation ex- 
 clusively for the Jews, who lived two thousand five 
 hundred years after. He says, — 
 
 "It was not necessary to give such a command, — as 
 that men should abstain from labour, and direct their 
 attention to the contemplation of Divine things on those 
 (Sabbath) days, owing to their not being able to do it 
 < >n working days ; because in the first ages there was, 
 as it were, continual repose : they had little c* no labour, 
 for they used simple food and clothing, for which daily 
 toil is now necessary, and because nature supplied what 
 they required for sustenance ; nor is the saying, ' in the 
 
 * Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, 15th cent. chap. iii. sec. 8. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 7 
 
 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,' opposed to this 
 view, because this applies rather to their posterity than 
 to the first men ; nor even if it be said that ' Cain was 
 a tiller of the ground,' because this was rather with a 
 view to exercise than from necessity ; and of this opinion 
 are all the doctors and most antient writers ; for thus 
 speaks Ovid of this early age : — 
 
 " ' Devoid of care, exempt from toil, 
 In peaceful ease their years flow'd by ; 
 For, tho' untill'd, the kindly soil 
 Yielded for each a rich supply.' " 
 
 "These men, therefore, enjoying such constant rest, 
 were able to contemplate God; nor needed they any 
 special day for the purpose. But afterwards, the earth, 
 thrown into a state of confusion by the flood, with diffi- 
 culty yielded a sufficiency of food to great and constant 
 labours. When, therefore, daily assemblies could not be 
 held, it was right that one day should be appointed for 
 the purpose. 
 
 "Likewise because, if this command had been given 
 from the beginning, all men naturally would be under 
 obligation to obey it ; as in that case it would not be given 
 specially to any one people, but to all, like moral precepts, 
 which are the dictates of the law of nature ; since, there- 
 fore, other nations would not have kept this precept, they 
 would have been guilty of mortal sin. But that they have 
 been guilty, is not true; because all the Gentiles who 
 existed before the preaching of the Gospel, were saved, 
 provided they observed the precepts of the law of nature, 
 namely, to love the true God more than themselves, and 
 not to injure their neighbour, in which the whole Deca- 
 logue is included ; and on this ground many place among 
 
8 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the saved, Socrates, Plato, and others, who nevertheless 
 kept not the Sabbath."* 
 
 The reader is left to form his own opinion of the 
 conclusiveness of this reasoning, and how far it jus- 
 tifies the high opinion Heylin would have us form of 
 the judgment of Tostatus, as an authority to whose 
 ipse dixit we should bow. 
 
 The next authority Heylinf quotes is Josephus. 
 
 * Et patet, quia a principio non erat necesse dare tale mandatum, 
 quia hoc est, tit homines vacent a laborious, et intendant divinae 
 contemplationi in illis diebus, quod facere non possunt in diebus non 
 vacativis. In prima autem setate erat quasi continua quies; modicum 
 enim, vel nihil laborious mtendebant, quia paucis cibis utebantur et 
 vestibus : pro qui bus nunc quotidianus labor est : et quia ea, qua3 in 
 cibos sumebant ipsa natura propinabat. Nee obstat si dicatur, quod 
 in sudore vultus tui vesceris pane tuo; quia hoc magis convenit 
 posteris, quam primis hominibus : — 
 
 Xec etiam si dicatur quod Cain erat vir agricola, quia hoc erat 
 ad aliquod exercitium magis quam ad necessitatem. Et hoc volunt 
 omnes doctores et antiquissimi Cronotistae. Sic enim dicit Ovidius, 
 Metamor. lib. i. loquens de ista prima aetate : 
 " Mollia secure agebant otia gentes. 
 Ipsa quoque immunis, rastroque intacta, nee ullis 
 Saucia vomeribus per se dabat omnia tellus." 
 
 Poterant ergo isti in tarn continua quiete Deum contemplari, nee 
 aliquo speciali die ad hoc indigebant. Post autem terra confusa 
 deluvi'S, vix magnis, quotidianisque laboribus cibos gentibus ad 
 sufficientiam confert. Cum ergo non possint quotidie convocari, 
 conveniens fuit unam diem assignari. 
 
 Item quia si hoc preeceptum datum fuisset a principio conditionis 
 humanac, omnes homines naturaliter ad hoc tenerentur; cum non 
 e?set datum specialiter alicui populo, sed cunctis, sicut praecepta 
 moralia, quae sunt a dictamine juris naturalis. Cum ergo aliae gentes 
 non servassent hoc prseceptum, peocassent omnes mortaliter, &c. &c. &c . 
 (Alphons. Tostatus, Abulensis Episcop. Commentarum in Genesim.) 
 
 f Heylin, History of the Sabbath, chap. i. par. 1. p. 4. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 9 
 
 " Moses saith, the world, and all that therein is, was 
 " made in six whole days, and that upon the seventh 
 " day God took rest and ceased from his labours ; by 
 " reason whereof we likewise desist from travail on 
 " that day, which we call Sabbath, that is, repose." 
 So that the institution of the Sabbath by Tostatus 
 (continues Heylin), and the observation of it by Jose- 
 phus, are both of them referred, by their us and we, 
 unto the time of Moses, and the house of Israel. 
 
 Now Josephus here clearly limits his statement 
 respecting the Sabbath to the Jews, simply because 
 the Jews alone observed it, and for the reason above 
 assigned; but he does not thereby necessarily imply 
 that the reason applied only to the Jews. With as 
 much force might it be asserted, that those persons 
 who in England say they observe the Sabbath for the 
 same reason, thereby wish it to be understood that 
 the obligation to observe it is limited to them; which 
 would be absurd. 
 
 Josephus is giving an account of his own country- 
 men, and he therefore naturally speaks in the first 
 person, and confines his remarks to them. 
 
 The third and last authority named by Heylin is 
 Solomon Jarchius, a Jewish Rabbin, who lived in the 
 twelfth century. The following is his commentary on 
 the words of Moses, as quoted by Heylin, and also by 
 Selden,* " God blessed the seventh day, that is, ill 
 " manna ; because for every day of the week an omer 
 * De Jure Xaturali et Gen., lib. 3. chap. xiii. 
 B 3 
 
10 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH 
 
 <' of it fell upon the earth, and a double portion on 
 " the sixth; and ' sanctified it/ that is, in manna, 
 " because it fell not on the seventh day at all. And 
 " in this place Scripture speaks as of a thing that was 
 " to come."* We have no doubt that this singular 
 mode of interpretation will not raise in our estima- 
 tion the opinion of Rabbi Solomon Jarchius. 
 
 But an authority of far greater antiquity and weight 
 than Jarchius can be produced against his assertion — 
 that of Philo-Judseus, who declares, that " when all 
 " the world had been created in six days, the Father 
 " honored the seventh day, having blessed and sanc- 
 " titled it ; for it is a festival not of one city or region, 
 " but of all, which alone is pre-eminently deserving of 
 " the name of universal among all people, and the 
 " birth-clay of the world.^t This quotation is found 
 in Philo's Treatise on the Creation of the World ; 
 and doubtless expresses the views entertained in his 
 day. Philo lived at the time of our Blessed Lord : he 
 was of the sect of the Pharisees, and was intimately 
 acquainted with the Old Testament Scriptures. Home, 
 speaking of his Works and those of Josephus, expresses 
 himself thus respecting the superiority of their autho- 
 rity over that of the class of writers to which Jarchius 
 
 * Heylin, Pt. i. chap. i. p. 5. 
 
 f 'E7rel 8' 6 avpnras Koa/xos ireXaccO-n Kara. tt?j/ e|a5os api6fj.ov reAe'tatt 
 $>v<tu>, rrjv tiriovcrav rj/xepau ^SSfiTjv, iae/xvcoaeu b iraTrjp, eiraivco-as ical 
 aylav -n-pocrc-iirctii/. koprr} yap ov paas iroAtws tf x^P as " rT '» / 5 aKKa rov 
 Tzavrus, t\v Kvpias a^iov Kal /jlSutjv travZ^ixov buop-d^iv, Kai rov Koafxov 
 yevlviov. (Philo-Judseus de Munch' Opifico.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 11 
 
 belonged : — " More valuable in every respect than the 
 " Talmudical and Rabbinical writings, are the works 
 " of the two learned Jews, Philo and Josephus."* 
 
 Joseph us also says, that " there was no city of the 
 Greeks, or of the Barbarians, which the custom of 
 observing the seventh day as a day of rest had not 
 reached, "f 
 
 Nor are authorities wanting among the Rabbinical 
 writers in favor of the view that the Sabbath was sanc- 
 tified from the creation of the world. 
 
 Calmet quotes Manasseh Ben-Israel, chief of the 
 Synagogue of Amsterdam, an eminent Jewish Rabbin, 
 who asserts that the tradition of the antients is that 
 Abraham and his posterity, having preserved the me- 
 mory of the Creation, also honored the Sabbath. This 
 Rabbin likewise thinks that the passage in Gen. xxw. 5, 
 "■ Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my 
 " charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my 
 " laws," refers to the observance of the Sabbath. J 
 
 The reader has now before him the foundation on 
 which rests the assertion, that the actual sanctification 
 of the Sabbath was suspended in the interval of two 
 thousand five hundred years from the Creation to 
 Moses, in opposition to the plain and obvious meaning 
 
 * Introduction to the Study of the Sacred Scriptures, Vol. ii. 
 p. 419. 
 
 f Ou5e i(Tri ov irSXis 'EAAr)vav ovdrjTicrov ouSe fidpfiapos, ovdh '4v 
 %6vos, %vQ<x [XT] to tt)s lj35o,ua8os t\v apyov/xeu ^ue?s, to eQos ov Sicnre- 
 (poiTrjuev. Josephus Contra Appionem, liber secundus. 
 
 X Calmet on Genesis; Note on bk. 3. chap. ii. 
 
12 IIISTOHY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of the text : an assertion which denies the privilege of 
 a Sabbath to God's Church in that long period. This 
 is the best foundation which even the talent, ingenuity, 
 and research of the learned Heylin was able to con- 
 struct. Tostatus affirmed it; Josephus said what mul- 
 titudes at the present day would say, without in 
 the remotest degree implying a limitation of the 
 Sabbath to themselves ; and llabbi Solomon Jarchius, 
 in the twelfth century, commented to the same effect, 
 in a way, the force, or indeed the application of 
 which at all, it is difficult to discern. Where pri- 
 vileges are concerned to which the Gentiles might 
 lay claim, the opinions of Jewish Rabbins are to be 
 received with great reserve; for they are but too often 
 influenced by a jealous and exclusive spirit, which 
 would shut tut from participation in them all except 
 the children of Israel. In keeping with this is what 
 Selden relates : — 
 
 " In their oldest liturgies they have prayers and hymns 
 appropriate to the Sabbath, in one of which is inserted 
 that passage in Exodus xxxi., where the Sabbath is called 
 1 a sign between God and Israel,' to which is added : 
 * And thou hast not given it, O Lord our God, to the 
 nations of the earth ; nor hast thou given it as a pos- 
 session or inheritance. our King, to the idolaters; nor 
 will the ungodly inhabit its rest, since thou hast given it 
 to thy people l*i ■; el ; from thy love to the seed of Jacob, 
 because thou delightest in them."* 
 
 But many of the anticnt Jewish masters entertained 
 
 * Selden, I)e Jure Xaturali, lib. 3. c. x. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 13 
 
 opinions on this subject of an opposite character, and 
 held that the Sabbath was set apart to holy purposes 
 for all men. The Talmudists were accustomed to say, 
 that he who denied the Sabbath, denied the whole 
 law ; that the creation of the world was the foundation 
 of their law, and articles of faith ; that he who denied or 
 violated the Sabbath, denied the work of Creation, and 
 so denied their law.* 
 
 Quotations from the Fathers are adduced in order to 
 prove that the Sabbath was unknown before the time 
 of Moses. Were such the case, it would not be a 
 reason for rejecting the plain, clear, and continuous 
 narrative given in Genesis, of the history of the pro- 
 ceedings of God in the first seven days ; but the pas- 
 sages referred to are capable of a very different expla- 
 nation. Whenever the Fathers use the word Sabbath, 
 except when speaking spiritually or allegorically, they 
 mean the Saturday, or the Sabbath, not merely as 
 directed to be observed by the Jews, in Scripture, but 
 also often as encumbered with the onerous, puerile, and 
 frivolous traditions of the Jewish doctors. Justin Martyr 
 says: "Thus circumcision began from Abraham; and 
 from Moses the Sabbath, and sacrifices and offerings 
 and festivals.'^ Now it cannot for a moment be sup- 
 posed that Justin thought there were no religious sacri- 
 
 * Selden, De Jure Naturali, lib. 3. c. x. 
 
 f 'Hp|aTO, ws, olv, airb 'Appaa/u. TreptTOfxr], ko.I airb Mavirews ^afrfrdrov 
 Kal Ovaiou koX irpotrQopal na\ koprai. Just. Mart, Dialog. cumTryphon, 
 43rd paragraph. 
 
14 HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. 
 
 fices nor offerings before Moses ; so that, doubtless, lie 
 is speaking of these ordinances, and of the Sabbath, as 
 enjoined to be observed in the Levitical ritual. He 
 knew well there were ; for, in the same dialogue, proving 
 that circumcision was not always necessary, he says, 
 " Nor would God have regarded the offering of Abel's 
 sacrifice in uncircumcision."* Justin also says, in the 
 same paragraph, "Whence God, suiting himself to this 
 " people, commanded them to offer sacrifices also to 
 " his name, that they should not worship images ; and 
 " therefore He commanded them to sabbatize ;" which 
 does not mean that they were then for the first time 
 made acquainted with sacrifices and the Sabbath, but 
 that both were then enjoined with ceremonial peculi- 
 arities unknown before. 
 
 It may be desirable to say something here on the 
 subject of the figure' prolepsis, or anticipation, which 
 has been made such use of by Heylin, and other 
 writers who concur in his view of this subject. 
 
 An anticipation speaks of a thing in order of nar- 
 rative before it has actually taken place. 
 
 Now the following may be laid down as rules regard- 
 ing the use of this figure in Holy Scripture. When the 
 words can be explained literally, without a manifest 
 necessity for explanation by a figure of speech, the 
 application of a figure would then only destroy the 
 sense of the passage. 
 
 * Ou5e e7r6/3Aei^ei eVl rots Swpois rod eV aKpo^varla aapKos irpofcvey- 
 nayros Buaias, "A/3eA. Justin Martyr, Dialog, cum Tryphon, par. 19. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 15 
 
 There is no instance of an anticipation in any insti- 
 tution of God's appointment. 
 
 The thing anticipated happens in a short interval ; 
 mention of it being generally made in the same book or 
 in the same chapter. The following are instances of the 
 use of this figure in Scripture. The inspired historian 
 says, in Genesis xxxi. 21, that Jacob, in his flight from 
 Laban, " set his face toward the Mount Gilead :" but 
 he tells us, in the 47th verse of the same chapter, that 
 the mountain was not so called till after Laban had 
 overtaken him. 
 
 In Judges ii, 1, the inspired writer tells us, that 
 " an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to 
 Bochim :" and in the 5th verse he informs us that 
 the place was called Bochim in consequence of the 
 weeping that took place there on that occasion. 
 
 The difference between these passages and the one 
 in question in Genesis, is obvious, and also the entire in- 
 applicability of a figure to the latter. 
 
 Sufficient has now been said to confirm the reader in a 
 view which his own common- sense and unbiassed judg- 
 ment would of themselves lead him to adopt. He will 
 perceive that the opinion of Heylin is a mere assertion, 
 supported only by assertion, and that of persons whose 
 authority possesses no weight in the Church of Christ. 
 Of this view of an anticipation in Genesis ii., the 
 most noted advocates in modern times are — Heylin, 
 who lived in the reign of Charles I.; Archdeacon 
 Paley, who lived in the eighteenth century; and Dr. 
 
16 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Whately, Archbishop of Dublin, in our own days. 
 And yet the admissions of these writers, if considered 
 together, may be said to yield the question in dispute.* 
 Heylin, in Part I., chap. 4, Sec. 3, of his "History 
 of the Sabbath/' says, — " Hesychius was deceived in 
 " taking this command as only ceremonial, whereas 
 " indeed it is of a mixed or moral nature. Moral 
 " it is as to the duty that there must be a time ap- 
 " pointed for the service of God." 
 
 Archdeacon Paley, in his " Scripture Account of 
 Sabbatical Institutions/' chap, vii., admits, " If the 
 " divine command was actually delivered at Creation, it 
 " was addressed, no doubt, to the whole human species 
 " alike, and continues, unless repealed by some subse- 
 " quent revelation, binding upon all who come to the 
 " knowledge of it." 
 
 Dr. Whately allows that "it is more probable than 
 " not that the patriarchs had some Sabbatical observ- 
 " ance, though less strict than the Levitical law en- 
 " joined ; else ' the Lord's Sabbaths ' would hardly have 
 " been a ' sign between him and the children of 
 " Israel.' "f 
 
 In the Epistle supposed to be written by Bam abas, J 
 
 * The Author's attention was first directed to this point by that 
 valuable little Treatise on the Lord's-Day by Dr. Heurtley, Margaret 
 Professor of Divinity, Oxford, entitled "The Lord's-Day, and the 
 Blessings consequent on its Due Observance." 1856. Parker, Strand, 
 London. 
 
 t Whately, Thoughts on the Sabbath, p. 14. 
 
 X Epistola Barnabi, p. 44. Tb 2a/3/3aTov \eyei 5 6<!os eV apxn t?is 
 kt'ktcus . And he then quotes, word for word, the passage in I renesis ii. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 17 
 
 the writer says, that " God mentions the Sabbath at 
 the beginning of the world/' 
 
 St. Chrysostom says, that " from the very beginning 
 of the world God taught us to set apart and sanctify 
 one day in every recurring week to spiritual exer- 
 cises."* 
 
 But the word of God, in its plain and obvious mean- 
 ing, is our only sure and safe guide in forming our 
 opinions on this subject ; and it may be unhesitatingly 
 asserted that, if read with singleness of purpose, unin- 
 fluenced by a controversial bias, it is wholly opposed to 
 the view of the appointment of the day of holy rest in 
 Genesis being by anticipation. 
 
 The great fact stands undeniably established in the 
 word of God, that from the very beginning of the 
 Creation one day has been appointed in every seven 
 to be a Sabbath, or day of holy rest. The trans- 
 lators of our English version of the Bible were clearly 
 of opinion that in Genesis ii. we have an account of 
 the sanctification of the Sabbath, for in the heading to 
 that chapter, containing the Contents of it, the leading 
 subject is, "The First Sabbath." 
 
 * ^HSe ivrtvQtv e/c Trpooi/xiw]/ alviyixaruooos 8i8a(Tica\lav tj/jai/ 6 6ebs 
 irapexerai, Traidevoov tt]v fxiav rjfxepau ip t£ kvk\co rr)s e/35o/xa5os airacrai 
 avo.nQevai nal atyopi^eiv rfj ruu irvevf-iariKuv epyatrla. Homil. in 
 Genesirn. par. 7. p. 80. 
 
18 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE SABBATH, OR DAY OF HOLY REST, IN THE 
 PATRIARCHAL AGES. 
 
 It is but reasonable to suppose that, after the fall, 
 God would continue the Sabbath to Adam and his 
 posterity, having graciously promised that "the seed 
 of the woman should bruise the serpent's head," and 
 that He would leave them in possession of a privilege 
 which would mitigate the penalty of labor — be a pledge 
 of his favor — a means of acquiring and increasing the 
 knowledge of God, — and a type of that eternal Sab- 
 bath, destined to continue till its glorious antitype 
 should be fulfilled; and it is equally reasonable to 
 suppose that Adam would instruct his children and 
 posterity in its observance. 
 
 There is no direct mention of the Sabbath Insti- 
 tution from the Creation to the Exodus, which by no 
 means warrants the inference that it was not observed 
 in that interval. The omission of the mention of it is 
 no doubt owing to the exceeding brevity of the history 
 of so long a period, which rendered it necessary that 
 every thing should be left out which could be dispensed 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 19 
 
 with. From the death of Abel to the Flood, nearly 
 1700 years, there is no mention of sacrifice, or of pub- 
 lic worship ; nor of the Sabbath from the time of 
 Joshua to David, an interval of five hundred years ; 
 nor in the period of fifteen hundred years from Joshua 
 to the birth of Christ, is circumcision named, except in 
 a figurative sense; but no one would therefore con- 
 clude that these institutions did not exist, or were not 
 observed. It would, indeed, be a dangerous rule of 
 interpretation to lay down that the silence of Scripture 
 respecting any ordinance or institution once solemnly 
 established is to be regarded as an evidence of its non- 
 existence : as dangerous as violently to wrest an event 
 from the place in which it stands in the word of God, 
 and to transpose it to a time far removed from it, 
 thereby destroying the continuity of the narrative and 
 an order of events which proceed in numerical succes- 
 sion — measures to which the advocates of anticipation 
 are compelled to have recourse in order to support 
 their theory. But although there is no direct mention 
 of the Sabbath from the time of its institution till after 
 the Exodus, yet there are what may fairly be deemed 
 allusions to it. It is supposed by some that the words 
 in Genesis iv. 3, " In process of time," — or^ as the 
 marginal reading renders it, " at the end of days," — 
 refer to the day of rest which ended the labors of the 
 week, on which Cain and Abel were employed in wor- 
 shipping God ; an explanation of the passage not at all 
 improbable. The three intervals of seven days each, 
 
20 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 which Noah allowed to elapse between sending the 
 dove from the ark, seem to be the weekly admeasure- 
 ment of time. (Gen. viii. 10 — 1.2.) That this division 
 of time was known in the patriarchal ages, is manifest 
 from the use of the word " week " in the history of 
 Jacob and Laban (Gen. xxix. 27, 28,) implying a 
 knowledge of the Sabbath, or day of holy rest. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Traces of a knowledge of the seventh-day of holy rest 
 have been found in almost all the nations of antiquity ; 
 and in cases where such knowledge was evidently 
 handed down by tradition, and not derived from inter- 
 course with the Jews. Laplace, in his explanation of 
 the system of the world, bears testimony to the preva- 
 lence of the admeasurement of time by weeks. 
 
 " Such is the week which, from the most remote anti- 
 quity wherein its origin is lost, without interruption 
 circulates through ages, mixing itself with the successive 
 kalendars of different races It is very remarkable, that it 
 is found identically the same all over the world, whether 
 it be viewed relatively to the names of the days of the 
 week, regulated as they are on the most ancient system 
 of astronomy, or in reference to their correspondence to 
 the same moment of time. The week is perhaps the most 
 antient and incontestible monument of human knowledge, 
 it appears to point out a common source whence that 
 knowledge proceeded."* 
 
 * " Telle est la seinaine, qui depuia la plus haute antiquite, dans 
 laquelle se perd son origine, circule sans interruption a travers les 
 siecles, en melant aux calendriers successifs des difi'erents peuples. 11 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Mrs. Somerville, in her work, " The Connexion of 
 the Physical Sciences/' bears similar testimony. " The 
 " period of seven days, by far the most permanent 
 " division of time, and the most antient monument of 
 " astronomical knowledge, was used in India by the 
 " Brahmins with the same denominations employed by 
 " us, and was alike found in the Calendars of the 
 " Jews, Egyptians, Arabs, and Assyrians. It has 
 u survived the fall of empires, and has existed among 
 " all successive generations, a proof of their common 
 " origin." 
 
 The most antient book of the Chinese, even before 
 the time of Confucius, says that men should worship on 
 every seventh day the Supreme Unity. 
 
 The Phoenicians, and also the Druids of Britain, 
 regarded one day in seven as sacred.* 
 
 The Saxons, also, in their heathen state, were ac- 
 quainted with the weekly division of time ; as appears 
 from the names of their days, as still retained by our- 
 selves. 
 
 Among the Greeks, at a very remote period of their 
 
 est tres remarquable qu'elle se trouve identiquernent la rnerue sur 
 toute laterre, soit relativement a. la denomination de ses jours, reglee 
 sur le plus ancien systeme d'astronomie, soit par rapport a leur corres- 
 pondance au nieme instant physique. C'estpeut-etre le monument le 
 plus ancien et plus incontestable des conuaissances humaincs, il 
 parait Lndiquer une source commune d'ou elles se sont repandues." — 
 (CEuvres de Laplace, Tome sexieme, Paris, 1846, Exposition du Systeme 
 du Monde, page 20, livre premier.) 
 
 * Perennes de FInstitution du Dimanche, p. 54. Also Patriarchal 
 Religion of Britain, by Rev. D. James, 1836, p. 54. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 23 
 
 history, the seventh day was regarded as sacred; as 
 appears from passages in Homer; and also in Linus 
 and Hesiod, collected by Clemens Alexandrinus, and 
 Eusebius ; and before their time by Aristobulus, a 
 learned Jew.* 
 
 The quotations from Linus say, that on the seventh 
 day every thing was completed : that the seventh day 
 was among the best, and that it was the creation or 
 natal day ; that the seventh was among the chiefest ; 
 and that the seventh day was perfect; in seven was 
 made every thing in the starry heavens, which appeared 
 performing their periodical revolutions. Both Hesiod 
 and Homer call it the seventh sacred day. 
 
 * 'E/35o,uaT77 5t? o'l TereAecr^ueVa irdvTa t4tvkto,i. 
 'Efi86/j.r) iu aya6o?s, nal efi86fxr) ecrri ysveQAt). 
 
 'EjSS^UTJ iu TTpCOTOltTl, KO.I l/35(fywj %<TTl TzXu'lT) 
 
 'Eirra 5e Trdvra TervKrat iu ovpava acrrtpdevTi 
 
 'Ev kvkAoTcti (pavivr* i-iriTe\Ae/j.ei/ois iviavrois. — LlNTTS. 
 
 UpwTou evr), rerpas re, teal efido/j.7) Up6u r}jj.ap 
 
 'EfidofxaTT] 8' av6is, Aa/xirpSu cpa6s 7]e\ioio. — HESIOD. 
 
 'Efi8ofj.a.T7} 5' 67r6iVa Ka.T7)\vQev, 'Upov y/JLap 
 
 'EfiSofxou ri/nap ojj', teal t&J TeTeAeaTo airduTa. — HOMEE. 
 
 As quoted by Eusebius, Prseparat. Evangel, lib. 13, chap. 12; also by 
 Clemens Alexand. Stromat. lib. 5. 
 
24 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SABBATH AFTER THE EXODUS. 
 
 Some Jewish writers hold that, in the 15th chapter 
 of Exodus and the 25th verse, there is an account of 
 the institution of the Sabbath. 
 
 When the children of Israel, after their departure 
 from Egypt, had come to Marah, " there (we read) 
 He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and 
 there He proved them." The statute and ordinance 
 are said to refer to the appointment of the Sabbath ; 
 but this most untenable and unsupported conjecture 
 is only mentioned to be dismissed without further 
 observation. 
 
 The first mention of the Sabbath in the history of 
 the children of Israel is found in the 16th chapter of 
 Exodus, on the occasion of the giving of the manna. 
 The announcement of the Divine intention was made to 
 Moses in these words, verse 6 : — " 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." The 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 25 
 
 question suggests itself here, What law it is to which 
 reference is made ? There can be little doubt, judg- 
 ing from what subsequently occurred, as related in the 
 following part of the narrative, that it was the ob- 
 servance of the Sabbath. The Lord proceeds to say, 
 u It shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they 
 " shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be 
 " as twice, much as they gather daily/'' (verse 5.) 
 
 Now this direction is evidently given with a view to 
 the Sabbath, and without any further explanation or 
 mention of the institution ; because no mention of it 
 was necessary, the intention of God being at once 
 apparent to Moses, who, in common with the Israelites 
 generally, was well acquainted with the history of 
 the creation and the sanctification of the Sabbath ; 
 although, doubtless, the observance of it was much 
 interrupted, if not wholly suspended, during the period 
 of their hard bondage in Egypt. It is only on the 
 very natural supposition, that they possessed a know- 
 ledge of the Sabbath ; that this part of the narrative, 
 as well as the subsequent portion, can be satisfactorily 
 explained. Moses, then, in general terms, communi- 
 cates to the people that God would supply them with 
 food; and afterwards, when the manna appeared, he 
 says, verse 16, "This is the thing which the Lord hatli 
 u commanded, Gather of it every man according to 
 " his eating, an omer for every man, according to the 
 " number of your persons ; take ye every man for 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " them which are in his tents. And the children of 
 
 " Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 
 
 " And when they did mete it with an omer, he that 
 
 " gathered much had nothing over, and he that 
 
 " gathered little, had no lack ; they gathered every 
 
 cc man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let 
 
 " no man leave of it till the morning." This is the 
 
 account of the first day on which the manna was 
 
 supplied ; and as the circumstances did not require it, 
 
 no mention is made of the Sabbath ; only a prohibition 
 
 is given against leaving any till the morning; which 
 
 some of the people not observing, it corrupted, and 
 
 became unfit for use.* On the sixth day, however, 
 
 we read, "they gathered twice as much bread, two 
 
 omers for one man." Now this proceeding seems to 
 
 have been the voluntary act of the people themselves, 
 
 * The remarks of Hengstenberg on this passage, if translated 
 correctly, do not appear to be borne out by the words of the Bible. 
 He says, — " When a double portion fell on the sixth day (for which 
 God had prepared Moses, though the latter had certainly not 
 mentioned it to the people), the rulers came and told it to Moses." 
 They are astonished at the pi-ovidence of God — that they had found 
 a double quantity of manna, and ask what they are to do with it ? 
 — (Dr. Hengstenberg, Professor of Theology at Beidin, on the Lord's- 
 day. Freeman, London.) Now, it is clear from the narrative itself, 
 that the people gathered a double portion on the sixth day, and that 
 it was as to the propriety of this proceeding that the rulers con- 
 sult i d Moses, and not why it was that a double portion was stipplied 
 by God. The actual supply on the sixth day was not double, but the 
 same as on any other day ; but the double portion was given by con- 
 ferring on what was collected and kept for the day following — the 
 quality of sweetness and fitness for use. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 27 
 
 who knew that the observance of the Sabbath was 
 commanded by God, and that it was their duty to 
 provide for it. No direction of Moses to the people, 
 to collect a double portion on the sixth day, is re- 
 corded. And as the command of Moses, to collect for 
 the day only so much as sufficed for its wants, is strict 
 and unqualified, tbe rulers are naturally perplexed, 
 and consult him ; — " and all the rulers of the con- 
 gregation came and told Moses." It is difficult to 
 conjecture what other circumstance, on the occasion, 
 sufficiently important, could have induced the body 
 of the rulers to have recourse to the judgment of 
 Moses, except that of an apparent collision between 
 two duties enjoined upon them ; namely, collecting the 
 manna every day without leaving any, and the observ- 
 ance of the Sabbath. 
 
 The reply of Moses is precisely such as would be 
 elicited by the circumstances detailed; but most un- 
 like the announcement of a new institution, " This 
 is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the 
 rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord."* And he 
 then directs them to lay up of the manna sufficient for 
 the wants of the morrow ; and we are told, " It did not 
 stink, neither was there any worm therein," nor was 
 any manna supplied on the Sabbath. 
 
 Notwithstanding, some of the people went out to 
 
 * $"Ip~n2t# "pn^-Dr. Benisch, Professor of Hebrew, trans- 
 lates these words ; " A strict rest of the Sabbath of holiness." 
 
 c2 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 gather it on the Sabbath, but found none ; on which 
 God said to Moses, i( How long refuse ye to keep my 
 commandments and my laws?" And he then explains 
 why it was he allowed a double portion to be collected 
 on the sixth day : " See, for that the Lord hath given 
 " you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth 
 " day the bread of two days ; abide ye every man in his 
 " place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh 
 " day ;" that is, to collect manna. 
 
 Nothing can be more clear, and free from diffi- 
 culty, than this portion of Scripture, if in reading 
 it we understand that the Sabbath was previously 
 known to the Israelites : but if otherwise, it is a con- 
 fused and entangled account. Nor is there anything 
 in it which supports or countenances the assertion that 
 on this occasion the Sabbath was first instituted : it 
 certainly cannot but excite surprise that such an 
 opinion can be entertained, whilst the plain and con- 
 secutive account of the Sabbath in Genesis exists. 
 The impression cannot fail to be made on most readers 
 of the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, that the Sabbath is 
 spoken of there, and referred to, as an institution well 
 known to Moses and the Israelites long before. The 
 withholding of the manna on the seventh day, and the 
 peculiar quality of freedom from corruption conferred 
 on the portion reserved for use for that day, must 
 have deeply impressed the Israelites with reverence for 
 the institution. The periodical suspension of creative 
 power every seventh day, which was in exercise on 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 29 
 
 the other six days, was also strikingly in keeping with 
 the course of proceeding which God adopted at the 
 creation of the world; and intimates, that to rest one 
 day in every seven is a rule which God wishes that His 
 Church, in all dispensations, after His example, should 
 observe. 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SABBATH, OK DAY OF HOLY REST, IX THE 
 DECALOGUE. 
 
 When the children of Israel had fully escaped 
 from their Egyptian task-masters, and were consti- 
 tuted an independent people, God gave them laws for 
 their government. These laws were threefold in their 
 character. One part comprised those principles of 
 duty towards God and man, by which the Church is 
 in all dispensations bound, and which are obligatory 
 upon the members of it under all circumstances. 
 Another division of these laws regulated the religious, 
 and the third the civil polity, of the Israelites. The 
 first division constitutes the Decalogue, or Ten Com- 
 mandments. They stand distinct from the other two ; 
 they are announced at a different time and under 
 different circumstances; they were spoken by God 
 himself in a manner the most solemn, amid thun- 
 derings and lightnings, from the top of Sinai; 
 they were written by the finger of God on tables 
 of stone; and were deposited by themselves apart 
 from other laws, within the Ark of the testimony, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 31 
 
 where the Divine glory was specially manifested.* 
 Their nature and character are such as all who ac- 
 knowledge and honour God must allow to be binding ; 
 and their order and sequence, forming one uninterrupted 
 chain of duty, show their unity and completeness, — 
 that each one is needful to the perfection of the whole. 
 If the Commandments be examined singly, each one 
 will be found to be an essential part of the two great 
 duties — to love God and our neighbour — which are 
 carried into practice by obedience to it, and violated by 
 disobedience. And these remarks apply to the Fourth 
 Commandment equally with the others. The distinc- 
 tion between these Ten Commandments, and those 
 other laws peculiar to the Jewish religious and civil 
 polity, is further strikingly indicated in Deuteronomy 
 v. 22, where, after Moses has repeated the Ten Com- 
 mandments, he says of God, when he had spoken 
 them, "and He added no more,"— meaning that they 
 constituted a complete and perfect code in themselves ; 
 for God gave other laws, but they were very distinct 
 in character from these Ten. 
 
 In the repetition of the Fourth Commandment in 
 Deuteronomy v., the Israelites are enjoined to secure to 
 the " stranger " also, the rest of the Sabbath— a duty 
 which they are called upon to discharge with the more 
 willingness, because they themselves had been strangers 
 in Egypt, where, in their state of bondage, they doubt- 
 less experienced difficulty in observing the Sabbath, or 
 
 * Exodus xxv. 21 : Hebrews ix. 4. 
 
32 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 were altogether prevented doing so : this is an ad- 
 ditional reason given to the Israelites for observing 
 it, superadded to that derived from the sanctification 
 of the Sabbath at Creation. 
 
 The conclusion to which the mind would naturally 
 come, is, that all these Commandments, thus solemnly- 
 spoken at one and the same time by the Great Law- 
 giver, are all co-extensive in their obligation. Bat there 
 are those who make an exception in the case of the 
 Fourth Command; although its observance is en- 
 joined, not only on the Jew, but also on " the stranger 
 within his gates :" the very cattle are included in its 
 merciful provisions, which of itself is a presumption in 
 favor of the universal obligation of the command. 
 
 But, if it be said that the Decalogue was addressed 
 to the Jews, and it might therefore contain in it a law 
 applicable only to them, and equally binding on them 
 as the other commands, but not therefore similarly 
 obligatory on all mankind ; the reply to this is, that the 
 Sabbath was sanctified, or set apart to holy purposes, 
 long anterior to the Jewish dispensation ; that its 
 observance rests upon a cause, of interest to the whole 
 human race, namely, the example of God at the cre- 
 ation of the world ; and that our Blessed Lord has 
 confirmed this view by proclaiming that " the Sab- 
 bath was made for man." 
 
 If the command be analyzed, and each of its clauses 
 examined, we shall discover in them nothing un suited 
 to the Christian dispensation. We are required to 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 33 
 
 " remember to keep holy the Sabbath-day," or day of 
 rest;* the word "remember" showing that the institu- 
 tion was known before ; to devote six days to labour ; 
 but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath of the 
 Lord our God, to do no manner of work, neither we 
 nor any over whom we have influence. And for this 
 division of our time, the same cause is assigned as in 
 Genesis, a cause which had its origin in the example of 
 God, who made the world in six days and rested on 
 the seventh ; clearly proving that God spoke the com- 
 mand, not as one intended for that dispensation alone, 
 or as one then first enjoined, but as a privilege which 
 belongs to His Church in every dispensation. 
 
 In regard to the prohibition to " do no manner of 
 work," it is one which must be explained and inter- 
 preted by those limitations which both Revelation and 
 reason suggest. It is ordinary labour which is pro- 
 hibited; — works required by piety, charity, and ne- 
 cessity, may, and ought to be performed. An in- 
 terpretation of an opposite character would be at 
 variance with the object of all the Divine commands, 
 under whatever dispensation given, namely, the glory 
 of God and the welfare of man. 
 
 * Archbishop Whately says,— " This (that is, public worship 'and 
 religious studies and exercises) in the Jewish Sabbath, seems to have 
 been the secondary , and rest the primary circumstance." (Thoughts 
 on the Sabbath, p. 16.) The italics are the Archbishop's ; but with all 
 respect to His Grace, we may ask, Why was it, then, that God 
 places first in order the injunction — to keep the Sabbath holy, and 
 the rest second ? 
 
 c3 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 But it is objected that the Fourth Commandment, 
 differs from the others in this respect, that they are 
 moral, and it is in a part of its provisions what is 
 termed positive. Moral and positive are terms invented 
 to distinguish between duties. Those duties are said 
 to be moral which naturally commend themselves to our 
 reason. Positive duties, on the contrary, are described 
 as those which claim our obedience simply because 
 they are commanded ; and which, had they not been 
 commanded, would not have suggested themselves to 
 the mind as duties. This distinction and these terms 
 were much used by the schoolmen in the Middle Ages, 
 and have been adopted by modern writers. But whilst 
 we may see a distinction in the character of com- 
 mands, we should strenuously protest against erecting 
 this distinction into a standard wherewith to measure the 
 Law of God ; to regulate the degree of obedience we 
 should yield to it; or to decide upon the extent or 
 duration of its obligation. It is to be lamented that 
 divines of all denominations, even those who contend for 
 the universal and permanent obligation of the Sabbath, 
 have consented to consider the subject in reference to 
 this rule of the schools, for which there is no warrant 
 whatever in the word of God, it being purely of human 
 invention. The consequence is, that, according to this 
 unauthorized standard of judging the Divine command, 
 writers who deny the universal obligation of the Sabbath 
 have succeeded in attaching a mark of inferiority and 
 a ceremonial character to the Fourth Commandment, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 35 
 
 which God never intended it should have ; and thus 
 their objections have derived a weight which, hut for this 
 distinction, they never would have had. The duty of 
 man is to inquire and ascertain the will of God from the 
 word of God, and, having discovered it, to obey it impli- 
 citly in all things that He enjoins, as well in those the 
 object of which may not be so apparent to the human 
 mind, as in those in which it is more apparent. It is 
 most dangerous to make distinctions of this kind ; the 
 inevitable result of doing so is, that we also make a 
 difference in the degree of respect and obedience we 
 render, where that respect and obedience should be 
 equal. We may rest satisfied that our Heavenly Father 
 will lay no command upon His Church that is not for 
 its good. The appeal, then, should always be "to the 
 "law and to the testimony : if they speak not according 
 H to this word, it is because there is no light in them." 
 This is one of the numerous instances which the history 
 of the Church of Christ affords of the injury the cause 
 of Truth has suffered by philosophy, falsely so called. 
 
 It should be remembered, that the law which our 
 first parents broke, and which has entailed such un- 
 speakable woes on their posterity, was what the school- 
 men would call a positive law. These so-called positive 
 laws are essential parts of our moral duties, because 
 they are at once the expression of them, and the test of 
 their influence on our minds. 
 
 Viewing the subject solely in the light of God's 
 word, and repudiating a mode of judging the Com- 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 mand, not only not warranted by God, but even pre- 
 sumptuous and dangerous, there can be no hesitation 
 in affirming that God has given to the Sabbath the 
 same sanction, authority, extent, and permanence of 
 obligation as to the other nine commands. Nor, as 
 compared with the other duties of the Decalogue, do 
 we find in God's word a single circumstance to derogate, 
 in the least degree, from its importance. 
 
 But the inquiry suggests itself, Does not the duty, 
 of resting our minds and bodies after six days' labour, 
 also commend itself to our reason through the medium 
 of our experience ? 
 
 The testimony of French writers is valuable on this 
 point. The words of Chateaubriand testify to it in 
 his book, " Genie du Christianisine," speaking of the 
 suspension of the Sabbath, or seventh-day rest, in 
 France, by law, in the year 1793 : — 
 
 " We know now by experience that the fifth day is a 
 day too near, and the tenth day a day too remote for 
 rest. Terror, which affected every thing in France, was 
 never able to force the peasant to 'fulfil the decade,' 
 because there was a want of power in human strength to 
 do it ; and also, as has been observed, in the strength of 
 animals. The ox was unable to labour nine days suc- 
 cessively. At the end of the sixth day his lowings 
 seemed to demand the hours appointed by the Creator 
 for the general rest of the creature."* 
 
 * On sait maintcn.mt, par experience, que le cinq est un jour trop 
 pres, et le dix un jour trop loin pour le repos. La Terreur, qui 
 
 pouvait tout en France, n'a jamais pu forcer le paysan a remplir la 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 37 
 
 The evidence of Dr. Farre, a London physician of 
 great eminence, given before the House of Commons, 
 confirms the same view with regard to the mental as 
 well as physical powers of man. He states : — 
 
 " I have been in the habit, during a great many years, of 
 considering the uses of the Sabbath, 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 sublimer 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 
 inadequate restorative power of the body under con- 
 tinued 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 ques- 
 tion, that there are provisions in the laws of nature 
 which correspond with the Divine commandment, you 
 will see from the analogy, that ' the Sabbath was made 
 for man,' as a necessary appointment. A physician is 
 anxious to preserve the balance of circulation, a? 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 him- 
 
 decade, parcequ'il y a impuissance dans les forces humaines, et 
 meme, corame on l'a remarque, dans les forces des animaux. Le 
 bceuf ne put labourer neuf jours de suite ; au bout du sixicme, ses 
 mugissenients semblent demander lesbeures marquees par le Createur 
 pour le repos general de la creature. (Genie du Christianisme, 
 torn. 2. c. iv. p. 78.) 
 
38 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 self, is the alternating of day with 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 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 per- 
 forms 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 
 preservation. I consider, therefore, that, in the bountiful 
 provision of Providence for the preservation of human life, 
 the sabbatical appointment is not, as it has been sometimes 
 theologically viewed, simply a precept, partaking of the 
 nature of a political institution, but that it is to be num- 
 bered amongst the natural duties, if the preservation of 
 life be admitted to be a duty, and the premature destruc- 
 tion of it a suicidal act. This is said simply as a physician, 
 and without reference at all to the theological question ; 
 but if you consider further the proper effect of real Chris- 
 tianity, namely, peace of mind, confiding trust in God, and 
 good will to man, you will perceive, in this source of 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 39 
 
 renewed 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 question, I should be touching on the duties 
 committed to the Clergy : but this I will say, that re- 
 searches in physiology, by the analogy of the working of 
 Providence in nature, will establish the truth of Reve- 
 lation, and consequently show that the Divine command- 
 ment is not to be considered as an arbitrary enactment, 
 but as an appointment necessary to man. This is the 
 position in which I would place it, as contradistinguished 
 from precept and legislation : I would point out the sab- 
 batical rest as necessary to man ; and that the great ene- 
 mies of the Sabbath, and consequently the enemies of man, 
 are all laborious exercises of the body or mind, and dissi- 
 pation, which force the circulation on that day in which it 
 should repose : whilst relaxation 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, — constitute the beneficial and appropriate ser- 
 vice 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." 
 
 Mr. Bagnall, an iron-master, of West Bromwich, 
 gave evidence before a Committee of the House of 
 Lords in 1841, which shewed that on his work-people 
 being permitted to rest twelve hours on the Lord's- 
 day, contrary to the practice before observed in his 
 works, more material was produced, which Mr. Bagnall 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 attributed to the accession of strength gained by them 
 in consequence of this rest from toil : — 
 
 " Used it not to be the impression formerly, that it was 
 impossible to stop the iron-works on Sundays ? — It was. 
 
 " What has been the result of your own experience ? — 
 We have made rather more iron since we stopped on Sun- 
 days than we did before. I have stated that at public 
 meetings, and any gentleman may come and refer to our 
 accounts. We thought we should have great difficulty in 
 getting our men into the arrangement ; instead of which, 
 they were all prepared for it, and we had no difficulty 
 whatever. 
 
 " To what do you attribute the enlarged make ? — To 
 the men having a day's rest : we have made more iron 
 since. 
 
 " You mean that your workmen, labouring for six days 
 with one day of rest, make more iron than if they were 
 worked incessantly without a day of rest ? — We have 
 found it so : it increases their physical powers ; they like 
 to get a little more money (not a great deal) by working 
 six days than seven."* 
 
 Mr. Swan, a superintendent of machinery in the 
 service of the South-Eastern and Continental Steam- 
 packet Company, in a Letter to the Secretary of the 
 Lord's Day Observance Society, testified that the men 
 in the employment of the Company, on being permitted 
 to rest on the Sabbath, performed an amount of work 
 
 * Extract from Report of the Select Committee of the House of 
 Lords, appointed to inquire into the Expediency of restraining the 
 Practice of carrying Goods and Merchandise on Canals, Navigable 
 Rivers, and Railways, on Sundays. 1811. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 41 
 
 which they were unable to do before such permission 
 was given. 
 
 These facts surely appeal to reason, and prove that 
 what is called by some the positive part of the Fourth 
 Commandment, also has in it a fitness and adaptation to 
 man's nature which commends it to his understanding. 
 Clear and satisfactory indeed ought their reasons to be 
 who deny the obligation of the Fourth Commandment, 
 singling it out from the midst of the Ten, where it 
 stands, like the central and binding link of the chain, 
 the Command which connects the two tables, which 
 being disregarded, experience amply proves, indiffer- 
 ence to the other injunctions of God's law is sure to 
 follow; and dangerous is that rule of human invention 
 which sits in judgment on a Command of God — a rule 
 which, if admitted, would go far to abrogate the second 
 and third and sixth commands of the Decalogue, as well 
 as the fourth. 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE SABBATH IN THE LEVITICAL DISPENSATION. 
 
 We have seen the Sabbath as the fourth in order of 
 the Commandments, which are admitted to be univer- 
 sally binding; which were uttered by the voice of God 
 himself from the top of the Mount ; written twice on 
 tables of stone — the first tables having been broken by 
 Moses — and placed by themselves in the Ark. 
 
 Never was there a subject, the statements con- 
 cerning which are more clear and intelligible, and the 
 conclusions more natural, whether we regard the nar- 
 rative of the appointment and sanctification of the 
 Sabbath in Genesis, or the position it holds in the 
 Decalogue. And never was there a subject so involved 
 in difficulty by the bold assertions and unauthorized 
 interpretations of some authors, who have viewed it, 
 not as it is presented in the word of God, but through 
 the medium of Rabbinical traditions, or who have 
 measured it by a standard which God has nowhere 
 authorized us to apply. 
 
 Even were it certain that the opinions of these Jewish 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 43 
 
 writers respecting the Sabbath were those which were 
 held by their Fathers anterior to the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, yet Christians should not the less receive 
 these opinions with reserve and distrust, and prefer to 
 exercise their own judgment in ascertaining the mean- 
 ing of the word of God from what is written therein ; 
 for they should remember, that this same class of in- 
 terpreters, whose authority is represented as of such 
 weight, are those who called forth the strong censure 
 of our Blessed Lord, because they made void the law 
 of God through their traditions ; and that their de- 
 scendants have, many of them, by their frivolous and 
 puerile explanations of Scripture, and of the Fourth 
 Commandment in particular, not secured the respect 
 nor merited the gratitude of mankind. 
 
 Another circumstance in this controversy, for which 
 there is no foundation, is the very general but vague 
 and groundless impression entertained, that the Sab- 
 bath, in the Levitical dispensation, presents an aspect 
 repulsive and severe, loaded with restrictions, rendering 
 it a burden rather than a blessing. And it is some- 
 times more than insinuated, that this character essen- 
 tially belongs to the appointment, and so renders it 
 unsuited to the Christian dispensation. 
 
 The prohibition to " do no manner of work," is ex- 
 plained as though it admitted of no exception whatever, 
 under any circumstances, in its application to the Jews : 
 and A as if this were a truism, the inquiry is made, 
 Can it be possible that such a prohibition applies to 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Christians ? But the answer is, that it was ordinary 
 work which was interdicted to the Jews : it was their 
 duty to perform works of piety, charity, and necessity 
 on the Sabbath-day. The Fourth Commandment, like 
 the other nine, is an expression, in part, of love to 
 God and our neighbour, and by these great compre- 
 hensive duties must it be interpreted, whether by Jew 
 or Christian ; and any view of it which violates either 
 of these principles is an erroneous one, because it is 
 opposed to the supreme end and object to which the 
 command was but a means. For the Jew to have 
 omitted performing works of piety, charity, and neces- 
 sity on the Sabbath, would have been doing evil, and 
 would have been neglecting to do that good which is 
 always lawful, and not less so on the Sabbath than on 
 other days. This is also precisely the view of the 
 command which the Christian should take. It would 
 be an unjust imputation on the Divine wisdom and 
 love to suppose that God ever gave to man a command 
 which was not to be interpreted by the law of love, and 
 that He laid upon him an injunction which, if fully 
 obeyed, would often lead to the sacrifice of his life and 
 happiness. 
 
 But it will be well to view the Sabbath as it appears 
 in the Levitical dispensation. 
 
 We first meet with the mention of the Sabbath as a 
 part of the Levitical dispensation in Exodus xxiii. 12. 
 It there comes after the injunction respecting the Sab- 
 bath of the land, and is followed by the command to 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 45 
 
 observe the three great annual festivals, and that 
 " three times in the year should all their males ap- 
 " pear before the Lord God." The learned Lightfoot 
 observes on the mention of the Sabbath in verse 12, 
 — " The Jews had not sworn to observe the decalogue 
 " at all ; and therefore they had not sworn as it there 
 " occurs ; but they swore only in regard to the fifty- 
 " seven precepts written in the Book of Moses, an/1 
 " to observe the Sabbath as there enjoined, Exodus 
 " xxiv. 7." He further adds, "The object the ceremo- 
 " nial Sabbath of the Jews had in view, was the remem- 
 " brance of their deliverance in Egypt, as it is written 
 " in Deut. v. 15 ; ( And remember, that thou wast a 
 " servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy 
 " God brought thee out thence, through a mighty 
 IC hand, and by a stretched out arm; therefore, the 
 " Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath- 
 -day.' " But, he continues, "the moral Sabbath of 
 tl the two tables is in remembrance of the rest of God 
 " from the work of Creation." * 
 
 We meet with it as one of the judicial laws of the 
 Israelites, in Exodus xxxi. After God had given 
 
 * "Nam primo, Judsei non juraverant in Decalogum omnino, atque 
 idcirco nee in Sabbatum ut ibi occurrit : sed solummodo in quin- 
 qnaginta septem precepta scripta in libro Mosis, atque ita in Sab- 
 batum, ut ibi invenitur. Secundo — finis Sabbati ceremonialis Judae- 
 orum erat in memoriam liberationis ipsorum ex ^-Egypto. Deut. 
 v. 15. Sed Sabbatum morale duarum tabularum est in recordationem 
 quietis ab operibus Creationis." — Lightfoot in Exodum, § 28, 
 p. 177. 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Moses directions for the details of the Temple worship, 
 he sums up all by again enjoining- the observance of 
 the Sabbath, 13th and following verses : " Verily my 
 " Sabbaths ye shall keep : for it is a sign between me 
 " and you throughout your generations; that ye may 
 " know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." 
 And in the 17th verse, the same object of the Sabbath 
 is repeated : " It is a sign between Me and the children 
 of Israel for ever." And then the original cause of 
 the institution is repeated : " for in six days the Lord 
 made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he 
 was refreshed." Nearly the same words are used to 
 describe the objects of the Sabbath in Ezekiel xx. 12, 
 when it is said, " Moreover also, I gave them my Sab- 
 baths," &c. ; from which some have endeavoured to 
 prove that the Sabbath was given exclusively to the 
 Jews as a sign between God and them : but the mention 
 of the original cause of the appointment stated here, as 
 also in Genesis xxxi., precludes this limited interpre- 
 tation ; and also the consideration, that it is equally 
 important that the objects of the Sabbath, as there 
 stated, should be answered now as then ; and there is no 
 more effectual "sign" between God and a nation now 
 than the observance of the Sabbath, or day of holy 
 rest, or no more effectual means of promoting the 
 knowledge of God and the sanctification of man to His 
 service; besides, were it granted that the expression, 
 " I gave them my Sabbaths," limited the appoint- 
 ment to the Jews, it might, on similar grounds, be 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 47 
 
 concluded that those other statutes which God " gave" 
 them at the same time, and which included the other 
 commandments, were also for the first time given in 
 the wilderness, and intended for the Israelites exclu- 
 sively, which no one will be disposed to concede. 
 The Lord proceeds to say (ver. 14) : — 
 
 " Ye shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy 
 unto you : every one that defileth it shall surely be put to 
 death ; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul 
 shall be cut off from among my people : six days may work 
 be done, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy 
 to the Lord : whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath- 
 day, he shall surely be put to death : wherefore the chil- 
 dren of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath 
 throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant." 
 
 There is but one instance recorded of the punish- 
 ment of death being inflicted for the breach of the 
 Sabbath. It is mentioned in Numbers xv. 32 and 
 following verses : whilst the children of Israel were in 
 the wilderness, a man was found gathering sticks on 
 the Sabbath-day; he was put in ward till the Divine 
 decision regarding him should be ascertained; that de- 
 cision was that he should be put to death by stoning, 
 which was accordingly done. 
 
 This event is related immediately after presumptuous 
 sins are denounced, of which God says (verses 30, 31), 
 " The soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether 
 " he be born in the land or a stranger, the same re- 
 " proacheth the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 u from among the people." The case of this man 
 would seem to be an instance of this description of sin. 
 The importance thus attached to resting from ordi- 
 nary work on the Sabbath, proved, among other advan- 
 tages, a great protection and blessing to the Jewish 
 people ; for it presented a very effectual barrier against 
 the undue encroachments and exactions of human 
 selfishness, always prone to sacrifice the general weal 
 to its own indulgence, on the time and labour of the 
 humbler classes. God thus interposed the shield of 
 His prohibition between the feeble and the powerful. 
 The seventh-day rest constituted a kind of property, 
 which every man, however poor, possessed. Such a 
 common possession contributed to preserve and promote 
 the feeling of brotherhood which existed among all the 
 children of Israel, however unequal their circumstances ; 
 and no doubt the repose both of mind and body, and 
 the concentration of their attention on holy things, 
 conduced greatly to the diffusion of moral principle, 
 and the elevation of the national mind. Any man who 
 followed his ordinary labour on the Sabbath, not only 
 violated an express command of God, but did that which, 
 if permitted in one case, would be sure to be followed 
 in many others; and thus he endeavoured to rob 
 society of* an invaluable boon, and to let in, particularly 
 on the poor and feeble, a tide of oppression which, 
 but for the intervention of God, they could not resist, 
 and by which they would speedily be overwhelmed. 
 The result would be, that they would soon become 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 49 
 
 objects of contempt, and subjects for oppression, as a 
 legraded class, to those who would be the cause of the 
 jalamity. Care was taken, by an express injunction, 
 that, even in "earing-time and harvest, they should 
 rest" (Exodus xxxiv. 21), lest any pretext should be 
 used for employing the labourer on the Sabbath : this 
 prohibition is included in the more general one, to do 
 qo manner of work ; but it is specifically mentioned to 
 )bviate mistake, as some might have pleaded neces- 
 sity or mercy for work at those seasons. 
 
 It has been assumed that, as the penalty of death is 
 10 longer attached to the breach of this command, the 
 command itself has been abrogated; but a similar 
 penalty was inflicted for the violation of the first and 
 second commandments. (See Deuteronomy xiii.) The 
 blasphemer was also put to death (see Leviticus xxiv. 16); 
 ikewise the rebellious son (see Deuteronomy xxi. 18, 
 md following verses) ; but because the same penalty is 
 10 longer inflicted for the breach of these laws, no one 
 vould argue that therefore they have ceased to be 
 )bligatory. The punishment was evidently peculiar 
 
 the dispensation, and therefore ceases to attach to 
 he breach of these duties, without in any degree re- 
 axing their claim on our obedience. 
 
 Some have regarded the injunction, Exodus xvi. 29, 
 ' See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, 
 ' therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of 
 
 1 two days ; abide ye every man in his place, let no 
 'man go out of his place on the seventh day," — as 
 
 D 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 a general law, applying to the Israelites under all cir- 
 cumstances ; but though doubtless the fourth com- 
 mand prohibited laborious journeys on the Sabbath, 
 this injunction has reference to the particular circum- 
 stances mentioned in the context. It arose from some 
 of the people having gone out to collect manna on the 
 Sabbath ; on which God says, " How long refuse ye to 
 keep my commandments and my laws V and then, 
 having mentioned the merciful provision he made for 
 the wants of the Sabbath, He forbids their going out 
 to seek for manna. 
 
 In Exodus xxxv., Moses again solemnly enjoins 
 on the assembled people of Israel the duty of observ- 
 ing the Sabbath, and adds, " Ye shall kindle no fire 
 throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath-day." 
 Here we have an injunction, evidently restricted by 
 climate and locality, to be dispensed with as mercy or 
 necessity might require. 
 
 With regard to the religious ceremonies in the public 
 worship of the Israelites on the Sabbath-day, they are 
 very few indeed, although the general impression is 
 otherwise. All that God required more than on other 
 days, was (see Leviticus xxiv. 8) the renewal of the 
 shew-bread, and the offering of two lambs morning 
 and evening instead of one (see Numbers xxviii. 9), 
 the meat offering and the drink offering being also 
 doubled. 
 
 It is deserving of observation, that on two occasions 
 (see Leviticus xix.) God mentions the Sabbath in con- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 51 
 
 lection with those two duties which have the strongest 
 :laims on human obedience, thus associating the Sab- 
 bath and identifying it with them. We read in the 
 hird verse, " Ye shall fear every man his mother, and 
 lis father, and keep my Sabbaths : I am the Lord your 
 jod." And again, in the thirtieth verse, " Ye shall 
 teep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary : I am 
 :he Lord." 
 
 On a review, then, of the Sabbath, as it appears in 
 ;he Levitical dispensation, the peculiarities attached to 
 it are very few ; nor is there the least mention of those 
 numerous traditions with which the Jewish teachers 
 subsequently encumbered the command : that it was 
 looked upon as a blessing, and as a spiritual, and not 
 mere ceremonial institution, appears from the very 
 beautiful description of its due observance in the fifty- 
 eighth chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah : " 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 : 
 a then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I 
 " will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the 
 " earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy 
 " father : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." 
 (Vers. 13, 14.) 
 
 The prophetic declarations contained in the same 
 prophecy respecting the extension of its privileges to the 
 
52 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Gentiles ; its identification with that universal homage 
 which shall be rendered to God ; and its observance 
 in the distant future of the Church's history,— all prove 
 the spirituality and perpetuity of the institution.* 
 Nor do we find enjoined in the writings of the Pro- 
 phets who lived subsequently to Isaiah, any other ritual 
 requirements in addition to those two before speci- 
 fied. Jeremiah, in the seventeenth chapter of his pro- 
 phecy, 19th and following verses, t solemnly warns the 
 
 * " For thus saitli the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sab- 
 baths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my 
 covenant ; 
 
 " Even unto them will I give in mine house, and within my walls, 
 a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters : I will give 
 them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 
 
 " Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord, to 
 serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every 
 one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of 
 my covenant ; 
 
 " Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them 
 joyful in my house of prayer ; their burnt-offerings and their sacri- 
 fices shall be accepted upon mine altar : for mine house shall be called 
 an house of prayer for all people. 
 
 " The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet 
 will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto 
 him." — (Isaiah lvi. 4 — 8.) 
 
 " And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, 
 and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship 
 before me, saith the Lord." — (Isaiah lvi. 23.) 
 
 f " Thus saith the Lord unto me ; Go and stand in the gate of the 
 children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by 
 the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem : 
 
 " And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of 
 Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter 
 in by these gates : 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 53 
 
 shildren of Israel against the breach of the Sabbath 
 >y carrying burdens; promising great national bless - 
 ngs to obedience, and denouncing fearful punishments 
 n case of disobedience! But this was nothing more 
 han a more specific repetition of what had been before 
 mjoined in the Fourth Commandment, called for by the 
 Drevalence of this species of profanation of the Sabbath. 
 The prophet Ezekiel also, in the twentieth chapter 
 >f his prophecy, when commissioned by God to remind 
 ;he children of Israel of the sins of their race, gives 
 
 " Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden 
 >n the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem ; 
 
 " Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath 
 lay, neither do ye any work ; but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as 1 
 commanded your fathers. 
 
 " But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their 
 ieck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 
 
 "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith 
 bhe Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the 
 Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein ; 
 
 "Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes 
 sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, 
 they, and then* princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem : and this city shall remain for ever. 
 
 "And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places 
 about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, 
 and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, 
 and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices 
 of praise, unto the house of the Lord. 
 
 " But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, 
 and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem 
 on the Sabbath day • then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, 
 and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be 
 quenched." — (Jer. xvii. 19 — 27.) 
 
54 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 special prominence to the desecration of the Sabbath, 
 as one great cause of the Divine displeasure. 
 
 The importance of the Sabbatical principle was still 
 further impressed upon the Israelites by the institution 
 of the Sabbath of the land, which is thus appointed : — 
 " But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest 
 unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord : thou shalt 
 neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard." (Levit. 
 xxv. 4.) The same principle was also impressed upon 
 them by the year of Jubilee, at the expiration of 
 every forty-nine years. (Leviticus xxv. 8 — 13.) It is 
 well to observe here, that in every aspect the idea 
 of privilege is associated with the Sabbath in the 
 Jewish dispensation, as presented to us in the word 
 of God ; a fact opposed to the general and erroneous 
 impression on the minds of men. 
 
 A Sabbath was always an encouraging object in the 
 prospect of the Jew, in his course through life. He 
 began his weekly labours with the pleasing feeling that 
 the seventh day would be a day of rest, which was 
 secured to him against the attacks of human selfish- 
 ness by God himself. He looked forward to one year 
 in every seven, as a year of special exemption from toil 
 and care, and of special blessing from on high. And 
 the way-worn pilgrim in life's journey who had lost 
 lands and liberty, still endured his lot with patience, 
 until the year of Jubilee should come, which would 
 restore to him once more his home and his freedom. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 55 
 
 And there could be no stronger proof of tbe alienation 
 of the nation from God, and of its insensibility to his 
 distinguishing mercy to Israel, than their disregard of 
 an institution, the source to them of so many blessings. 
 
 After the return from the Captivity, the Jews do not 
 appear to have profited by experience. In Jerusalem, 
 agricultural business, and traffic of various kinds, pre- 
 vailed on the Sabbath. And it would seem that not 
 only the natives of Tyre, and the humbler classes of 
 the Jews, but the nobles also, were involved in this 
 sin; for Nehemiah strongly remonstrates with them, 
 and reproves them for it (ch. xiii. 15 and following 
 verses) : "he contended with the nobles of Judah," 
 and reminded them of the sin of their fathers in 
 this respect, and of its consequences ; — " 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 profaning the Sabbath," (v. 18). Nor 
 did he content himself with words : he also took active 
 measures to prevent it ; he directed that the gates 
 should be closed during the Sabbath, and set his 
 servants there to see that no burden should be brought 
 in; and when the merchants and others lingered out- 
 side the walls of Jerusalem, in hopes of an opportunity 
 of pursuing their unholy traffic, he threatened he would 
 lay violent hands upon them. There can be no doubt 
 that these decisive measures put a stop to the open 
 desecration of the Sabbath during the administration 
 of that eminent legislator and patriot. 
 
 The Command that the Sabbath should be a day of 
 
56 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " holy convocation/' * was doubtless observed, not only 
 in Jerusalem, where alone the Jewish worship could 
 be performed in its fulness, but likewise throughout 
 Judea. This seems to be intimated in Leviticus xxvi. 
 31, where God threatens, as one of the penalties of dis- 
 obedience, " I will make your cities waste, and bring 
 your sanctuaries into desolation." Here it is evidently 
 contemplated that there would be " sanctuaries " in 
 their cities. That synagogue services were generally 
 established, appears from Psalm lxxiv. 8, in which 
 it is said, " They have burned up all the ' syna- 
 gogues ' of God in the land;" also Psalm xxvi. 12. 
 seems to allude to it, — "In the ' congregations' will 
 I praise Thee;" and Psalm lxviii. 26, "Bless ye God 
 in the ' congregations/ even the Lord, from the foun- 
 tain of Israel." 
 
 That such services existed, also appears from the 
 inquiry of the husband of the Shunammite woman 
 (2 Kings iv. 23) ; " And he said, Wherefore wilt thou 
 go to him to-day ? it is neither new moon nor 
 Sabbath." 
 
 St. James, in Acts xv. 21, bears testimony to the 
 same effect : " Moses of old time hath in every city 
 them that preach him, being read in the synagogue 
 every Sabbath day." 
 
 Some writers are of opinion, that synagogue services 
 were not established till after the return from the 
 Babylonish captivity : but it seems improbable, almost 
 
 * " Six days shall work be done ; but the seventh day is the Sab- 
 bath of rest, an holy convocation." — (Levit. xxiii. 3.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 57 
 
 incredible, that no provision should have been made 
 before that period for the public instruction in religion 
 of the Jews in the land of Judea generally, especially 
 when we remember how strongly God inculcated on 
 them the duty of transmitting from generation to 
 generation the memory of his great acts, and the 
 observance of his laws. The visit of all the males 
 three times yearly to Jerusalem scarcely sufficed for 
 this purpose. (Exodus xxiii. 7.) 
 
 Such visits conduced to teach them the system of 
 worship peculiar to the Temple, but which they could 
 not observe elsewhere ; so that a kind of necessity 
 existed for the appointment of synagogue worship ; 
 and the dispersion of the Levites through forty-eight 
 cities in Judea, seems to have been a provision to 
 meet this requirement. 
 
 The learned Lightfoot holds this view strongly. He 
 asks : " Had there not been religious services for the 
 Jews generally, besides the Temple worship at Jeru- 
 salem, would not the nation have entirely lost the 
 Sabbath, law, religion, all knowledge of God, and of 
 themselves?"* He thinks such services are of Divine 
 3rigin, and very antient, even from the time of Moses. 
 
 The existence of synagogue worship after the return 
 ? rom the Captivity, is admitted on all hands. 
 
 * "An non legem, Sabbatum, religionem, omnem Dei suiqueniet ip- 
 iorum notitiam, penitus amisissent ?" — (Lightfoot, Harmonia Quatuor 
 Svangelistaruni, vol. i. p. 474.) 
 
 D 3 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SABBATH IN THE INTERVAL, FROM THE CLOSE OF 
 THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES 
 TO THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 The Jews, in the interval above mentioned, seem to 
 have retained a great reverence for the Sabbath : it 
 was one of the duties, the observance of which was 
 denounced and made penal by Antiochus, when he 
 endeavoured to force the Jews to apostatize. We read 
 in Josephus, that they sometimes carried their respect 
 for the Sabbath to the extreme of not resisting their 
 enemies. Some remarkable instances are on record in 
 which advantage was taken of this feeling. Ptolemy 
 Soter entered Jerusalem on the Sabbath day under 
 pretence of offering sacrifices, and took possession of it 
 without opposition, about 320 B.C.* 
 
 Philip the Phrygian, whom Antiochus had made 
 governor of Judea, about the year 175 B.C., on the oc- 
 casion of the revolt of the Jews, which took place under 
 Mattathias, laid siege to a cave in which were one thou- 
 
 * Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 1. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 59 
 
 sand Jews : he kept his men quiet till the Sabbath, 
 when he made an assault on the cave, and slew them 
 unresistingly, men, women, and children. Mattathias 
 was greatly distressed at this calamity ; and, in order to 
 prevent the recurrence of a similar affliction, he con- 
 sulted with the priests, elders, and principal men ; 
 when a resolution was adopted, to the effect that the 
 law of the Sabbath did not bind on such occasions, 
 and they determined, whenever they were assaulted 
 on the Sabbath, to resist : this decree was published 
 throughout all Judea, and ever after considered the 
 rule of action in such circumstances.* 
 
 But even this decision did not allow sufficient liberty 
 of action ; for Pompey subsequently took advantage of 
 their superstitious regard for the Sabbath. When be- 
 sieging the Temple, he perceived that the Jews did 
 not obstruct the progress of his works, nor attempt to 
 destroy his engines on the Sabbath, and that, in a 
 word, they kept perfectly quiet, except when actually 
 assaulted ; he then gave orders that on the Sabbath 
 days his soldiers should be employed wholly in con- 
 structing works and erecting engines. In this way 
 he filled up the ditches with which the Temple was 
 fortified, and succeeded in taking an important tower, 
 which soon enabled him to gain possession of the 
 Temple. Amid the fearful slaughter that ensued, 
 the priests persisted in proceeding with the religious 
 
 * Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 6. 2. Prideaux iii. 11. 
 
60 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 services in which they were then engaged, and their 
 blood was mingled with the sacrifices — a devotion 
 which excited the admiration of Pompey. 
 
 The capture of the Temple by Pompey took place 
 63 B.C., on the same day of the year on which Jeru- 
 salem and the Temple had been taken by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, king of Babylon, and which therefore was 
 observed as a great fast day.* 
 
 A similar instance of extreme observance of the day 
 of holy rest occurred in New Zealand, in 1846, when a 
 pa, or strong fortification, was taken by assault on the 
 Lord's-day, by the British troops : the New Zealanders 
 offering no resistance on account of its being the Chris- 
 tian Sabbath, f 
 
 A commendable case of regard for the Sabbath during 
 war, occurred in the recent attack on the forts defending 
 Canton, when the admiral, Sir Michael Seymour, sus- 
 pended hostilities on the Lord's-day. 
 
 * Prideaux, lib. vi. pt. 11. 
 
 + The Southern Cross, by Miss Tucker, page 224. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 61 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SABBATH IN THE TIME OF OUR BLESSED LORD. 
 
 On examining the various passages in the New Tes- 
 tament Scriptures in which our Blessed Lord's name 
 appears in connexion with the Sabbath, the following 
 conclusions will be fully warranted : — 
 
 That there is no instance on record of his having 
 disregarded any one of the Commandments of the 
 Decalogue. — That there is no proof whatever of his 
 having omitted to observe the Sabbath, as enjoined in 
 the Levitical dispensation. — That, on the contrary, he 
 fully obeyed the Ten Commandments. — That he care- 
 fully enjoined the observance of the peculiarities of the 
 Levitical dispensation. — That he asserted the Divine 
 authority and perpetual obligation of the Sabbath. — 
 That he contemplated its existence and observance in 
 the Christian dispensation. — That all those explanations 
 and reproofs, to which he gave utterance in connexion 
 with the Sabbath, were directed against the views of it 
 entertained by the Jewish teachers ; and which views are 
 
G2 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 not only not found in Scripture, but are opposed to 
 the principles of the word of God. 
 
 When it pleased God to " manifest himself in flesh/' 
 he took upon him the seed of Abraham : he became a 
 Jew — he was born under the law ; and it became him 
 to fulfil all righteousness, as required by the law. We 
 find our Blessed Lord very particular in inculcating 
 the duty of observing the law of Moses. When he 
 had healed the leper, as related in Matthew viii. 4, 
 he commanded him, " Go thy way, shew thyself to 
 the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, 
 for a testimony unto them." Again, in Matthew xxiii. 
 3, when denouncing the wicked hypocrisy of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, he says, " The Scribes and the 
 Pharisees sit in Moses' seat : all, therefore, whatsoever 
 they bid you observe, that observe and do." 
 
 He paid the tribute money, which some suppose was 
 a free-will offering paid by every male towards the 
 expences of the Temple worship : and he wrought a 
 miracle, that he and Peter might discharge this duty. 
 (See Matthew xvii. 24.) He observed the Sabbath — 
 he kept the Passover : in a word, he was perfect as a 
 Jew, walking in all the ordinances of the Law blameless ; 
 and thus he was the Lamb without spot or blemish, 
 who took away the sin of the world : he came to fulfil 
 the law, not to destroy it ; to fulfil it in its letter as 
 well as in its spirit : he came to do the will of God, 
 and the observance of the ceremonial law continued to 
 be the will of God till Christ the Sun of Righteous- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 63 
 
 ness arose from the grave : then, and not till then, did 
 the shadows disappear. 
 
 Our Blessed Lord frequently enjoined the keeping 
 of the Commandments, and the Fourth Command 
 is nowhere excepted. In Matthew v. 19, he prefaces 
 his explanations of the spirituality of the Decalogue 
 thus : " Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of 
 " these least commandments, and shall teach men so, 
 " he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven : 
 " but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same 
 " shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 
 And that he was speaking of the Decalogue, is ma- 
 nifest ; for he proceeds to comment on the Fifth 
 Command, — the Sixth, the Seventh, the Ninth, and 
 the Tenth Command. 
 
 If it be objected, that the Fourth Commandment is 
 not included, the reply is, that this did not arise from its 
 being of less importance, but because it was a part of 
 the First Table of the Law, none of the Commandments 
 of which are mentioned, on account of their being so 
 universally observed, at least externally. Were the 
 omission of the Fourth to be regarded as significant 
 of its inferiority, what reply can be made to any who 
 might insist on a similar conclusion with regard to the 
 first three Commandments ? 
 
 Again, in St. Mark, chap, x., our Lord says, — in reply 
 to the inquiry, " What shall I do that I may inherit 
 eternal life ?" — " Thou knowest the Commandments." 
 And he then puts it beyond doubt that he means the 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Decalogue, for he proceeds : " Do not commit adultery j 
 do not kill, do not steal, do not bear* false witness ; 
 defraud not ; honour thy father and mother." As on 
 the former occasion, he does not mention any of the 
 Commands of the first table ; but no one will attempt 
 to assert that he, therefore, intended to exclude them. 
 
 We now come to consider those acts of our Blessed 
 Lord performed on the Sabbath day, which some 
 regard, as did the Scribes and Pharisees, as violations 
 of the Fourth Command, and which can be explained, 
 if violations, only on the supposition that our Lord 
 adopted this mode of signifying to his followers that 
 the Command was abrogated. 
 
 The first passage we shall examine is the incident 
 related in Matthew xii. 1—8 ; Mark ii. 23—28 ; and 
 in Luke vi. 1 — 5. It is as follows, as related by St. 
 Mark : — 
 
 " And it came to pass, that he went through the corn- 
 fields on the Sabbath day ; and his disciples began, as they 
 went, to pluck the ears of corn. 
 
 " And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they 
 on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful ? 
 
 "And he said unto them, Have ye never read what 
 David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, 
 and they that were with him ? 
 
 " How he went into the house of God in the days of 
 Abiathar the high-priest, and did eat the shew-bread, 
 which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave 
 also to them which were with him ? 
 
 "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for 
 man, and not man for the Sabbath : 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 65 
 
 " Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sab- 
 bath." 
 
 We have here a charge brought against the disciples 
 of our Blessed Lord, of committing an unlawful act, and 
 our Lord's defence of what they did ; and that defence 
 consisted in a denial of its unlawfulness ; he proves 
 his point by an illustration from Scripture, and by the 
 statement of a most important principle, which con- 
 demned their views on this subject on the present 
 and similar occasions. When the Pharisees asserted 
 that the act was unlawful, they meant, as being 
 prohibited by the traditions of the Elders. There is 
 no prohibition of such an act in the Bible : on the 
 contrary, there is a permission given to do what the 
 disciples did, without any restriction as to days, pro- 
 vided the sheaf of the wave-offering had been presented 
 to God. In Leviticus xxiii. 14, we read — 
 
 " And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor 
 green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an 
 offering unto your God." 
 
 This had already been done ; for we read in the sixth 
 chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, that it was " the second 
 Sabbath after the first"*— that is, the first Sabbath 
 subsequently to the day on which this offering was 
 made, which day was observed as a Sabbath; the 
 Israelites having been commanded thus ; — Leviticus 
 xxiii. 15 : "Ye shall count unto you from the mor- 
 
 * 2a/3/3aTCj; SevrepoirpuiTa) . 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " row after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought 
 " the sheaf of the wave-offering ; seven Sabbaths shall 
 " be complete." 
 
 The general permission to do what the disciples had 
 done is given in the following words in Deut. xxiii. 25 : 
 " — When thou comest into the standing corn of thy 
 " neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with 
 " thine hand ; but thou shalt not move a sickle to thy 
 " neighbour's standing corn." Here there is not a word 
 of the Sabbath day : they might do it on all days alike. 
 But the wicked and foolish traditions of the Elders 
 interposed. They said it was unlawful, for it was " a 
 work." The Talmud asserted that the plucking of ears 
 of corn on the Sabbath was as bad as reaping : nay, 
 more, they pronounced it sinful to eat fruit which had 
 fallen from a tree on the Sabbath day, to write a letter 
 of the alphabet, or for a woman to look in a mirror on 
 that day.* 
 
 Our Blessed Lord asserts that such an interpretation 
 of the Sabbath as made the act of his disciples a sin, 
 was directly opposed to the object of the institution — 
 the welfare of man. His disciples were hungry, and 
 they plucked the ears and ate to sustain themselves : 
 just as David disregarded a stringent regulation of the 
 Temple worship, and was blameless ; because he and 
 his followers needed food, he did that which was not 
 ordinarily lawful, but which was lawful under the pecu- 
 
 * Speculum inspicere muliebribus Sabbato non licet, si modo pariete 
 affigatur. — (Lightfoot, Horse Hebraicae in Evangel. Matt. p. 337.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 67 
 
 liar circumstances of the case. In Matt. xii. 25, our 
 Lord refers to the instance of the Priests, who on the 
 Sabbath day profane the Sabbath, and are blameless ; 
 that is, who make exertions such as, under ordinary 
 circumstances, would be a profanation of the Sabbath. 
 And he then adds, u The Sabbath was made for man, 
 and not man for the Sabbath." This is the great rule 
 by which we are to interpret the Command : when the 
 welfare of man absolutely demands it, we are justified 
 in deviating from the letter of it. It does not apply 
 in such a case. To do otherwise — to sacrifice that 
 welfare — would be to frustrate the object of the insti- 
 tution : it would be to make the means more important 
 than the end — the Sabbath than man, for whose good 
 it was instituted : and this the Pharisees did by their 
 traditions. It is worthy of observation, that our Blessed 
 Lord here asserts the permanency of the Sabbath insti- 
 tution when he says, the Sabbath was made for man ; 
 whilst, at the same time, he divests it of the erroneous 
 interpretation with which the Pharisees had encum- 
 bered it. His concluding remark, " Therefore the Son 
 of man is Lord also of the Sabbath," is confirmatory of 
 the same view, in whichever sense we regard it, whe- 
 ther as asserting that man is superior to the Sabbath, 
 and that it must subserve to his necessities and true 
 interests, or as meaning that our Blessed Saviour is 
 Lord of the Sabbath ; for according to the analogous 
 reasoning in Matt. xxii. 31 and following verses, where 
 our Lord argues, that because God calls himself the 
 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, after the decease 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of these patriarchs, they must be still living, for he is 
 not a God of the dead but of the living \ so must the 
 Sabbath, of which the Saviour proclaims himself the 
 Lord, be a living institution, and not one which he was 
 then actually abrogating. 
 
 The next incident we shall mention is that which oc- 
 curred immediately after, and is related by St. Matthew, 
 in the twelfth chapter, at thelOth and following verses ; 
 by St. Mark, in the third chapter, at the 1st and follow- 
 ing verses; and by St. Luke, vi. 6 — 10. 
 
 St. Mark's account is as follows : — 
 
 " And he entered again into the synagogue, and there 
 was a man there which had a withered hand. And they 
 watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath 
 day, that they might accuse him. And he said unto the 
 man which had the withered hand, Stand forth : and he 
 said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath 
 day, or to do evil ? to save life, or to kill ? But they held 
 their peace. And when he had looked round about him 
 with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, 
 he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he 
 stretched it out : and his hand was restored whole as the 
 other." 
 
 The conduct of the Pharisees, in this instance, was 
 not sanctioned even by their traditions, for it was per- 
 mitted to heal on the Sabbath.* But here again our 
 Blessed Lord lays down a principle which always 
 applied to the Sabbath, namely, that it was lawful to 
 do good. He says not a word in derogation of the 
 institution, but corrects the Pharisees, who thought 
 
 * Maimonides de Fundamentis Legis, chap. vii. part 11. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 69 
 
 a work of mercy (which, in truth, never could be 
 out of place at any time,) was unsuitable for the 
 Sabbath, in the same way as, in the case of pluck- 
 ing the ears of corn, they thought a work of necessity 
 unjustifiable. Our Lord evinces his displeasure at 
 their hardness of heart in thus wilfully perverting 
 an institution which was designed to promote at once 
 the glory of God and the happiness of man. But 
 in neither of these cases can we discover any sanc- 
 tion, on the part of our Saviour, to the violation of the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 In the thirteenth chapter of St. Luke, there is recorded 
 another instance of the same character : our Blessed 
 Lord loosed a woman from " a spirit of infirmity, from 
 " which she had suffered for eighteen years : he laid 
 " his hands on her, and immediately she was made 
 " straight. And the ruler of the Synagogue answered 
 " with indignation because that Jesus had healed on 
 " the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There 
 " are six days on which men ought to work : in them 
 " therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath 
 " day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou 
 " hypocrite ! doth not each one of you on the Sabbath 
 " loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him 
 " away to watering ? And ought not this woman, 
 " being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath 
 " bound, lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this 
 " bond on the Sabbath day ?" His adversaries "were 
 ashamed,^ being convicted by their consciences that, 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 from their hostility to the Lord, they were wickedly 
 perverting the command of God. Our Blessed Lord, 
 before healing the man who had the dropsy, as related 
 in Luke xiv., inquires of the Pharisees if it were 
 lawful to heal on the Sabbath day; which when they 
 were unable to deny, he heals the man. We see, then, 
 in this instance, as in the others mentioned, he does 
 not in the remotest degree detract from the obligation 
 of the Sabbath : he only asserts that it was lawful to do 
 good thereon j that to heal on the Sabbath could never 
 be other than good; and that no command of God 
 would prohibit it or pronounce it sinful. 
 
 In St. John v. is recorded the case of the impotent 
 man at the pool of Bethesda, who was healed on the 
 Sabbath day ; and as the instance is an important one, 
 as bearing on the subject under consideration, the 
 account shall be quoted at length : — 
 
 " After this there was a feast of the Jews ; and Jesus 
 went up to Jerusalem. 
 
 "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep-market a 
 pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, 
 having five porches. 
 
 " In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of 
 blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 
 
 " For an angel went down at a certain season into the 
 pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after 
 the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of 
 whatsoever disease he had. 
 
 " And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity 
 thirty and eight years. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 71 
 
 " When Jesus saw" him lie, and knew that he had been 
 now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou 
 be made whole ? 
 
 " The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, 
 when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool : but 
 while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 
 
 " Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 
 
 " And immediately the man was made whole, and took 
 up his bed, and walked ; and on the same day was the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 " The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It 
 is the Sabbath day; it is not lawful for thee to carry 
 thy bed. 
 
 " He answered them, He that made me whole, the same 
 said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 
 
 " Then asked they him, What man is that which said 
 unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk ? 
 
 " And he that was healed wist not who it was : for Jesus 
 had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that 
 place. 
 
 " Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said 
 unto him, Behold, thou art made whole : sin no more, lest 
 a worse thing come unto thee. 
 
 " The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, 
 which had made him whole. 
 
 " And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought 
 to slay him, because he had done these things on the 
 Sabbath clay. 
 
 " But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh 
 hitherto, and I work."— (St. John v. 1—17.) 
 
 The Jews took offence at the man taking up his bed 
 on the Sabbath ; which was the direction our Blessed 
 Lord gave him in healing him. 
 
72 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 The carrying of burdens was prohibited by the Fourth 
 Command, when a work of ordinary labour, and it is 
 specifically mentioned in Jeremiah xvii. 21. The Jews 
 included under this prohibition the least, even almost 
 involuntary effort on the Sabbath-day : they pronounced 
 "■ that he who carried any thing in his right hand on 
 " the Sabbath, or in his left, or in his bosom, or on his 
 " shoulders, is guilty/'* 
 
 They would not clap their hands together, nor 
 strike their thigh with their hand, on the Sabbath, f 
 But the burden meant in the passage of Jeremiah, 
 the carrying of which was forbidden, was a load borne 
 without any requirement of piety, charity, or necessity ; 
 but in the case mentioned in this chapter, the bed 
 was, in all probability, nothing more than a light mat, 
 which might with ease be carried in the hand, involv- 
 ing no fatigue, and altogether distinct from ordinary 
 work. Our Lord, in his defence of his conduct, ac- 
 knowledges the obligation of the Sabbath, but at the 
 same time shows that works of a certain character, such 
 as those censured, were appropriate to it : " My Father 
 worketh hitherto, and I work." He here refers to the 
 Divine example, which is the foundation for the observ- 
 ance of the Sabbath, or one day of holy rest in seven, 
 
 * " Qui autem quidpiam Sabbato dextra gerit, aut sinistra, aut in 
 sinu suo, aut super humeros, reus est." — Tbalinud in Sabbat., as 
 quoted by Ligbtfoot, vol. i. p. 534. Harmonia Quatuor Evange- 
 listarum. 
 
 f " Non coniplodunt nianus, non percutiunt manu femur." — 
 (Buxtorf s Lexicon.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 73 
 
 and for the mode of its observance. He says that 
 his Father, although he rested from his work of 
 creation, yet continued to do works of mercy — of 
 providence and of grace, on the Sabbath-day ; and 
 though he rested on the Sabbath, he also, like his 
 heavenly Father, performed acts of mercy thereon^ 
 and yet did not violate it. Thus the Divine ex- 
 ample, appealed to by our Blessed Lord, is at once 
 a reason for the observance of the Sabbath, and a 
 key as it were to the right interpretation of its re- 
 quirements. It teaches us that the great objects 
 of promoting God's glory and man's good, were 
 superior to all other considerations ; that all God's 
 Commands being given in reference to them, they 
 should be explained and observed so as to accord 
 with those objects : and that when man so viewed the 
 Commands of God as to contravene those great and 
 primary purposes, he greatly erred, destroyed the har- 
 mony which exists in all the Divine arrangements, and 
 violated the duties of love to God and his neighbour. 
 But here, there is not a word against the Sabbath, 
 only an assertion that there were works suitable to 
 that day and all days, and which should never be 
 suspended — works of piety, charity, and necessity. 
 Our Blessed Lord "had broken the Sabbath," judg- 
 ing according to the anti- Scriptural traditions of the 
 Elders, which made void this as well as other Com- 
 mandments ; but he had done what was specially 
 appropriate to that day, according to the word of God. 
 
 E 
 
74 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 In the ninth chapter of St. John's Gospel, from the 
 first verse, is related the miracle of giving sight on the 
 Sabbath-day to the man who had been born blind. On 
 this occasion also, the Pharisees accused him : they 
 said, " This man is not of God, because he keepeth not 
 the Sabbath-day." They probably objected chiefly to 
 what they, according to their wicked traditioDs, would 
 deem " a work/' namely, the making clay of spittle, 
 and anointing the eyes of the blind man. Here, again, 
 the object of our Lord was not to abrogate the Sabbath, 
 but to correct erroneous views regarding its observance ; 
 in a word, practically to explain the proper purpose of 
 the institution, from which it was perverted by Jewish 
 teachers. 
 
 Never was there an assertion more groundless than 
 that our Blessed Lord broke the Sabbath. He ob- 
 served it according to the intention and objects of 
 the Command : he corrected and censured with just 
 displeasure, both by act and word, those traditions of 
 human invention which were in direct opposition to the 
 will of God. 
 
 There is one other mention of the Sabbath by our 
 Saviour, to which it is important to call attention, 
 because it predicts the existence and observance of the 
 nstitution by his own followers after his ascension, at 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. The passage referred to 
 occurs in that remarkable discourse of our Blessed Lord 
 related in the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, at the 20th verse : — " But pray ye that your 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 75 
 
 flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath- 
 day."* 
 
 Now every one will admit that at the siege of Jeru- 
 salem, nearly forty years after the resurrection of our 
 Saviour, the Christian Church observed the first 
 day of the week as their sacred day, and that they 
 were fully aware that the seventh day of the week was 
 no longer to occupy the same position in the Christian 
 dispensation that it had done in the Jewish. Our 
 Blessed Lord, therefore, manifestly had in view the 
 day of rest — the Sabbath of his own dispensation, the 
 Lord's-day. He likewise foresaw that the necessity for 
 flight on that day, however justified by the circum- 
 stances, would be regarded by his disciples as an aggra- 
 vation of their calamities. t It is also remarkable that 
 he associates the mention of the Sabbath with winter, 
 one of those seasons which, we are told, shall never 
 cease (Gen. viii. 22) : "While the earth remaineth, 
 seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer 
 and winter, and day and night, shall not cease." 
 
 But it is impossible to read this chapter without 
 seeing that, in the predictions uttered in it, our Saviour 
 had in view not only the calamities which, on the 
 dissolution of the Levitical dispensation, were to come 
 
 * MrjSe cra/3/3aTw. 
 
 f " Flight on the Sabbath was permitted by the Traditions of the 
 Jews, when gentiles or robbers pursued." (Mairnonides de funda- 
 mentis legis, cap. vii. pt. 2.) The Rabbins held that Jacob fled 
 from Laban on the Sabbath-day; David also, and Moses; and that 
 Jericho was taken on the Sabbath. 
 
 £ 2 
 
76 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 upou the Jews, in which his own Church would be in 
 some measure involved, but also events still more 
 remote, which were to happen in the Christian dispen- 
 sation, and near the termination of that dispensation ; 
 so that even then, the Sabbath is to exist, and will be 
 regarded with reverence by the true members of Christ's 
 Church ; they will fly with reluctance even from death 
 on the Sabbath. This view of the existence of the 
 Sabbath in the distant future of God's Church is further 
 confirmed by the prophecies of Isaiah to the same 
 effect, quoted in a former part of this book. It is 
 remarkable, and confirmatory of this opinion, that on all 
 the occasions on which our Saviour uses the word " Sab- 
 bath," he never once employs it solely with a view to 
 designate the seventh day in the order of the days of the 
 week, but as the Sabbath, or day of rest in the abstract. 
 Notwithstanding the extreme views which the Jews 
 in general entertained regarding abstaining from all 
 kind of effort or exertion on the Sabbath, the day was, 
 as popularly observed, one of self-indulgence. Their 
 traditions were so interpreted as to permit this. Their 
 Sabbath, properly so called, commenced at sunset and 
 continued till sunset the following day. The three hours 
 previous to the commencement of the Sabbath, were 
 called the preparation for the Sabbath : the Jews then 
 ceased from work of every kind ; they would not sit in 
 judgment, nor even eat, till the Sabbath commenced. 
 They washed the face, hands, and feet, with warm 
 water, for the arrival of the Sabbath : they, also, in 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 77 
 
 this interval of the preparation, on the approach of the 
 Sabbath, lighted candles in their houses ; a practice 
 which was observed by the poorest among them. It 
 was the special office of the females of the family to 
 attend to this duty. They also prepared a feast for the 
 Sabbath; immediately on its commencement, the head of 
 the family took wine and blessed it, repeating the words 
 of Genesis ii., giving an account of its institution : he 
 then drank of it, and, after him, all the other members 
 of the family. They then partook of the feast which 
 had been prepared. Early in the morning they went 
 to the Synagogue to prayer ; then returned home, and 
 partook of a feast ; afterwards, the custom was to go to 
 a theological school, where they remained some hours. 
 On their return home, they again feasted, and conti- 
 nued at this meal till the termination of the Sabbath.* 
 
 With regard to the traditions, the Rabbins regarded 
 them as of equal authority with the word of God. 
 They said that they had been given by God to Moses, 
 but that, in his anger, he forgot them. The laws 
 which they say he forgot, and which the traditions 
 professed to supply, are those regarding the Sabbath ; 
 respecting brazen vessels, and the prohibition on 
 mourners to partake of the sacred offerings, f 
 
 Nor must we conclude this Chapter without making 
 some observations on that Sabbath, on which our Blessed 
 
 * Lightfoot, vol. ii., " Chronica temporum et ordo textuum," pp. 
 15, 16. Editio Rotterd. 1686. 
 
 f Lightfoot, " Horse Hebraicse, in Evang. Johan." vol, ii. cap. ix. 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Lord lay in the grave. It was, properly speaking, the 
 last Sabbath of the dispensation : it was from the be- 
 ginning associated with a Creation which God made 
 fair and lovely, but which had been marred in conse- 
 quence of man's sin. It was now to be also comme- 
 morative of an act which was a temporary triumph of 
 the Evil One, and a proof, than which no more con- 
 vincing one could be given, of the utter alienation of 
 man from God and of his subjugation to Satan. The 
 Church of God had crucified the Son of God; had 
 rejected as a guilty criminal " the brightness of the 
 Father's glory, and the express image of his person." 
 It is true that God's mysterious and boundless mercy 
 overtopped as it were, and rose above man's guilt, 
 and made that very blood-shedding the only means of 
 cleansing from sin, and that death, the life of the world. 
 But this does not diminish the enormity of the crime, 
 nor the sadness of the associations of that Sabbath, pre- 
 senting such a contrast to the first Sabbath our father 
 Adam, yet unfallen, spent; when the morning stars 
 sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for 
 joy ; on which God, reviewing his glorious work, pro- 
 nounced it to be "very good." On this last Sabbath 
 an awful and preternatural darkness spoke the Divine 
 displeasure. Nature put on mourning, and Satan and 
 his angels alone — if they can do so — rejoiced : this 
 Sabbath ceased for ever to be the day of joy and 
 gladness of God's Church ; necessarily ceased : it be- 
 came a day of humiliation. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 79 
 
 CHAPTER, X. 
 
 THE LORD'S-DAY, THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 
 
 Viewing it as a question of probability, every thing 
 would seem to favour the idea that the Sabbath, or day 
 of rest, would be continued to the Church of God in 
 the Christian dispensation. Associated with the Creation 
 itself, — established, in the first instance, by the example 
 of God, — in both which all men are equally interested, — 
 a type, with its antitype yet unfulfilled — standing in 
 the midst of other laws, the obligation of which must 
 be admitted to be universally binding, — it might natu- 
 rally be expected that the institution would be perpe- 
 tuated in our times. 
 
 Calmet, in his remarks on Exodus xx. 8, although 
 he attributes to the Church what he ought to have 
 attributed to its Head, and is fettered by the distinc- 
 tion of human invention between what is moral and 
 positive in Divine laws, yet says much that is to the 
 point : — 
 
 " Man is bound, by the law of nature, to give to God 
 all his time, to devote to him all his being and all his 
 
80 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 actions ; but in the necessity in which he finds himself to 
 divide his attention among a great number of necessary 
 occupations, to maintain life and to satisfy the laws of that 
 society in which he is placed, God has appointed one day 
 of the week in which he wishes that, freed from all other 
 cares, he should apply himself more particularly to His 
 service. Thus the law of the Sabbath determines the law 
 of nature : and this determination or regulation of it being 
 but of positive right, the Christian Church has had the 
 power of transferring to the Lord's-day, on which she 
 commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the obli- 
 gation of consecrating one day in the week to the service 
 of the Lord."* 
 
 Most insufficient are the objections to the view of 
 the perpetuity of the Sabbath. They may be said to 
 rest mainly on a far-fetched conjecture — for in truth it 
 can be called nothing more — respecting the account of 
 the institution of the Sabbath, or clay of rest, in the 
 second chapter of Genesis ; it being asserted that it was 
 not then appointed — or if appointed, not sanctified — till 
 some two thousand years after, in opposition to the 
 natural sense of the words and the order of the narra- 
 
 * " L'bomme est oblige par la loi naturelle de donner a son Dieu 
 tout son temps, de lui rapporter tout son etre et toutes ses actions. 
 Mais dans la necessite ou il se trouve de se partager dans une infinite 
 d'occupations n£cessaires, pour conserver sa vie et pour satisfaire aux 
 loix de la societe dans laquelle il se trouve engage ; Dieu a fixe un jour 
 de la semaine, auquel il veut que, degage de tout autre soin, il s'appli- 
 que plus particulierement a lui rendre ses devoirs. Ainsi la loi du 
 Sabat fixe la loi naturelle; et cette determination n'etant que de 
 droit positif, TEglise Chretienne a pu transferer au dimanche, ou 
 elle honore la resurrection de J. C, l'obligation de consacrer un jour 
 de la semaine au service du Seigneur."— Calmet on Exodus xx. 8. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 81 
 
 tive, which, being a history of seven successive days, 
 leaves no room whatever for doubt or difficulty. 
 
 The following are the passages in the Epistles of 
 St. Paul, which are frequently quoted in proof of the 
 abrogation of the Sabbath, or day of holy rest, in the 
 Christian dispensation ; and in order to their being 
 fully understood, so much of the context as is deemed 
 necessary for that purpose is also added : — 
 
 " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to 
 doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may 
 eat all things : another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let 
 not him that eateth despise him that eateth not ; and let 
 not him which eateth not, judge him that eateth : for God 
 hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another 
 man's servant ? to his own master he standeth or falleth. 
 Yea, he shall be holden up : for God is able to make him 
 stand. One man esteemeth one day above another : an- 
 other esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully 
 persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, 
 regardeth it unto the Lord ; and he that regardeth not 
 the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that 
 eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; and 
 he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth 
 God thanks." (Rom. xiv. 1 — 6.) 
 
 " Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service 
 unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after 
 that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, 
 how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, 
 whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage ? Ye observe 
 days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of 
 you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain." 
 (Gal. iv. 8—11.) 
 
 e 3 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircum- 
 cision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, 
 having forgiven you all trespasses ; blotting out the 
 handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was 
 contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to 
 his cross ; and having spoiled principalities and powers, 
 he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in 
 it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in chink, 
 or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the 
 Sabbath days : which are a shadow of things to come ; 
 but the body is of Christ." (Col. ii. 13—17.) 
 
 We shall first consider what these passages cannot 
 mean, comparing them with other statements of the 
 same inspired Apostle. They cannot mean that no 
 time whatever was to be observed by Christians ; for 
 St. Paul himself thus exhorts, — " Not forsaking the 
 assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some 
 is."* Nor can it mean that no stated day was to be 
 observed ; for it undoubtedly w 7 as the custom of the 
 Christians, in the Apostle's time, to meet together for 
 public worship on the first day of the week. (See Acts 
 xx. 7.) The Apostle himself acknowledges the exist- 
 ence of this arrangement, and sanctions it, by recom- 
 mending the Corinthians to avail themselves of it, in 
 order to make collections for the Saints : and he 
 further informs us, that a similar practice prevailed in 
 the Churches of Galatia:f we cannot suppose therefore, 
 
 •--* Heb. x. 25. f 1 Corinth, xvi. 1. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 83 
 
 for a moment, that St. Paul, writing as he does under 
 the teaching of inspiration, would at one time blame 
 an arrangement which at another he himself observes 
 and sanctions. Neither can these remarks of the 
 Apostle be directed against any command of the Deca- 
 logue ; because we find him, in the thirteenth chapter 
 of Romans, quoting five of the Commandments of 
 the Second Table; and no one will be found to sup- 
 port the view that he omitted the others because he 
 considered them to be abrogated; on the contrary, 
 their omission by our Blessed Lord, and also by St. 
 Paul, arose from the universal admission of their obli- 
 gation, concerning which no doubt whatever was enter- 
 tained, and from the universal observance of them, at 
 least outwardly. Again, the same Apostle recognises the 
 order of the Commandments of the Decalogue, in the 
 sixth chapter to the Epistle of the Ephesians, verses 
 1 and 2, " Children, obey your parents in the Lord : for 
 " this is right. Honour thy father and mother, which 
 ' ' is the first Commandment with promise ; that it may 
 " be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on 
 " the earth." So that the Apostle could not mean, in 
 his observations in another part of his writings, to in- 
 clude the Fourth Commandment as one of those ordi- 
 nances which Christians might disregard. 
 
 But the question now arises, What, then, do the 
 observations of St. Paul, contained in the quotations at 
 the head of this Chapter, mean ? It would be amply 
 sufficient for our purpose to show that they cannot 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 relate to the Fourth Commandment, but still it may be 
 well to explain what they refer to. 
 
 The conversion of the Gentiles was effected, in the 
 first instance, through the instrumentality of Jews. 
 They had been brought up from earliest years to the 
 careful and scrupulous observance of the Levitical 
 ceremonial. It enjoined, besides the seventh-day holy 
 rest, the observance of other days and seasons peculiar 
 to the dispensation : such were the Feast of the New 
 Moon, which was celebrated every month (Exodus 
 xii. 2; Numbers x. 10; xxviii. 11); the yearly Festi- 
 vals, viz., the Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, the 
 Feast of Tabernacles (at these great Festivals all the 
 males were required to appear before the Lord) ; the 
 Feast of Trumpets ; the great Day of Atonement. To 
 these were added, in later times, the Feast of Purim, 
 and of the Dedication of the Temple. There was then 
 the Sabbatical year, or the sabbath of the land, which 
 was to lie fallow every seventh year : also the Sabbath 
 of one year's continuance, called the Jubilee, at the 
 expiration of every forty-nine years. All were 
 known by the general name of Sabbaths, Lev. xxv. 4. 
 Scripture informs us that at a very early period of 
 the Christian Church an effort was made by Jewish 
 converts to blend the two systems together — the Law 
 of Moses with the Gospel of Christ. Nor were the 
 Judaizing teachers content with insisting on their own 
 countrymen, when converted, continuing to observe the 
 Law of Moses : they also taught the Gentiles, who had 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 85 
 
 become Christians through their instrumentality, to 
 observe it as far as they could do, remote as they were 
 from Jerusalem, and consequently unable to participate 
 in the Temple-worship, its offerings and sacrifices. 
 
 The Gentile converts were but too prone to adopt 
 many of these observances, especially those regarding 
 days — being, in their unconverted state, in a kind of 
 bondage with respect to lucky and unlucky days. To 
 this no doubt St. Paul refers in the fourth chapter of his 
 Epistle to the Galatians, when he says, addressing the 
 Gentile converts, speaking to them in reference to their 
 superstitions when idolaters and unconverted, " How- 
 " beit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service 
 " unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, 
 " after that ye have known God, or rather are known 
 " of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly 
 " elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bond- 
 " age ? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and 
 " years." 
 
 Now the great object of St. Paul, in his Epistle to 
 the Galatians, is to counteract this erroneous teaching 
 of his Jewish countrymen j and the same object is kept 
 in view in his Epistles to the Romans and Colossians, 
 particularly the latter. Amongst other errors he warns 
 them against this also ; he* says that Christ having 
 blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was 
 against us, and having taken it out of the way — 
 namely, the ceremonial law, and its worship limited to 
 one place, which formed a barrier, a middle wall of 
 
86 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 partition, between Jew and Gentile — and having nailed 
 it to bis cross, no man should judge them with regard 
 to meat or drink, or in respect to a feast day, or a new 
 moon, or of " Sabbaths," using the plural number ; 
 and in the 22nd verse he plainly tells us that he is 
 speaking of the commandments and doctrines of men; 
 not of the commandment of God, but of those ordi- 
 nances of the Mosaic Law which laid down certain rules 
 regarding food and days to be observed. 
 
 In the fourteenth chapter of the Epistle to theRomans, 
 5th and 6th verses, the Apostle seems to refer not so 
 much to the peculiar observances of the Levitical dis- 
 pensation, as to those scruples which weak minds, 
 under all dispensations, entertain, attaching undue im- 
 portance to things indifferent, making the observance 
 of a day not enjoined by God, of vital moment ; 
 perhaps insisting that Christians should keep the 
 Jewish Saturday as well as the Lord's-day, and limit- 
 ing themselves in food to herbs only, thinking it a sin 
 to eat meat. These passages, viewed in their proper 
 light, and in connexion with other statements of St. 
 Paul, are wholly inadequate to bear the weight placed 
 upon them, and evidently have reference to the ob- 
 servance of days and times enjoined in the Levitical 
 dispensation. 
 
 There is one other passage in St. Paul's Epistles to 
 which it would be well to refer. In the fourth chapter 
 of Hebrews the Apostle speaks thus : — 
 
 " Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 87 
 
 entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come 
 short of it. For unto us was the Gospel preached, as well 
 as unto them : but the word preached did not profit 
 them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 
 For we which have believed it do enter into rest, as he 
 said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into 
 my rest : although the works were finished from the foun- 
 dation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of 
 the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh 
 day from all his works. And in this place again, If they 
 shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth 
 that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was 
 first preached entered not in because of unbelief: (Again, 
 he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day, after 
 so long a time ; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear his 
 voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given 
 them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of 
 another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the 
 people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he 
 also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from 
 his)." (Heb. iv. 1—10.) 
 
 Some commentators explain the 9th and 10th verses 
 as speaking of the Christian Sabbath ; they think the 
 Apostle states that a keeping of the Sabbath (o-a/3- 
 /3ano-juos) is left to the people of God : and he then asigns 
 as the cause, that Christ, when he entered into his rest, 
 also rested from his works, as God did from his works ; 
 and they interpret the passage as meaning, that as a day 
 was appointed to commemorate the rest of God from 
 Creation, so there remains also to the Christian a keep- 
 ing of the Sabbath to commemorate the Saviour's rest 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 from the work of redemption. The expression used 
 by the Apostle, " a keeping of the Sabbath," is certainly 
 very remarkable, different from that which is translated 
 rest (Karairavcns) in the preceding part, and is always 
 used by the earliest writers of Christianity as meaning 
 the observing the Sabbath, or day of rest. 
 
 If it be further considered that the Sabbath, or day 
 of holy rest, is a privilege and blessing to man, it is 
 more than probable that it would be continued in our 
 more favoured dispensation ; if any change were made, 
 it is not at all likely that it would be in the contrac- 
 tion of the time for religious worship and the rest of 
 the mind and body from the toils and cares of life, 
 and in diminishing the sanctions by which this valuable 
 possession of the Church of God is secured against the 
 attacks of human selfishness. It is well to view this 
 question in reference to consequences. The rule, " by 
 their fruits ye shall know them/' applies to opinions as 
 well as to persons ; and the inevitable results that would 
 follow, were the Sabbath abrogated, of themselves con- 
 stitute a reason for concluding that it is still in force. 
 Take from it the Divine authority, and make it a mere 
 ecclesiastical arrangement — one of expediency appeal- 
 ing to man's convenience, rather than one of duty ap- 
 pealing to his conscience — a day partly for religious 
 worship, and partly for pleasure — or for labor, which 
 pleasure is sure to involve — and what will follow, let 
 those countries say in which such views are held and 
 acted upon. Let England answer the question, where 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 89 
 
 the Divine authority of observing the day of holy rest is 
 generally acknowledged ; and even there, with such 
 acknowledgment, we find the love of money and of 
 pleasure, more than of God, daily encroaching more 
 and more upon the day of holy rest, and in a sense 
 compelling vast numbers of our poor and overworked 
 population to toil thereon, and in many instances 
 depriving them of the opportunity for religious instruc- 
 tion j witness the men employed in connexion with our 
 public conveyances in the metropolis — on our railways 
 and canals. How much worse would the state of things 
 be, were there no acknowledgment of the duty to keep 
 holy the Sabbath-day, as one enjoined by God on all 
 men ; and were such proceedings carried on without the 
 check of an opposing conscience ! Can we then suppose 
 that an institution of such moment has been repealed — 
 one so instrumental to man's temporal and eternal wel- 
 fare; and because a few ancient and modern writers 
 have made an assertion concerning a passage of Scrip- 
 ture wholly opposed to its manifest meaning ? 
 
 But it is likewise objected, that if the Sabbath be un- 
 repealed, it is also our duty to keep the day on which it 
 was observed by the Jews. To this it may be replied, 
 that change, as regards the time of its observance, was Vi 
 an essential characteristic of the institution ; because 
 in no two places, differing in longitude — or in truth, in 
 no two instances, could precisely the same hours be 
 observed ; and if the rule laid down by objectors be an 
 impracticable one — inapplicable to any instance — it is 
 
90 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 not a Scriptural one. Change of dispensation, too, made 
 it not improbable that the day would be changed. 
 " The Jews," says Lightfoot, " were prepared for the 
 change of day, for they had been taught from infancy 
 that the Messiah would bring in the new law, as Moses 
 did the old — that he would not abolish the institutions 
 of Moses, but carry them further, and render them 
 more glorious. There was no dispute about the observ- 
 ance of the Lord's-day, on their part ; but the question 
 with them was, whether the Jewish Saturday should 
 not also be kept holy." * There certainly was an un- 
 suitableness in the seventh day as a day of spiritual 
 rejoicing for Christians — being the day on which their 
 Lord, and with him all their expectations and hopes, 
 lay buried in the grave. 
 
 The transition from the Jewish to the Christian 
 dispensation, was, in some respects, gradual, espe- 
 cially while the Temple and its worship continued. 
 The open and public announcement of the change of 
 day was inexpedient as regards the unconverted Jews, to 
 whom it would have given great offence ; and with re- 
 spect to the heathen, to have insisted openly, as a promi- 
 nent subject of preaching, upon the first day in every 
 week being a day of rest, would have arrayed against 
 the Christian faith a vast and influential party — namely, 
 the owners of slaves, of which class many were converts 
 to Christianity. It would have led to a positive prohi- 
 bition, both on the part of these owners, and also of 
 * Lightfoot on 1 Epist. ad Corinth, cap. xvi., v. 2. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 91 
 
 the Imperial Government, against the first day of the 
 week being in any degree — as compared with other days 
 — one of rest. As soon as men became converts, the 
 importance of the observance of the day was explained 
 to them. The keeping of it implied a knowledge and 
 profession of Christianity ; and to such as were prepared 
 to make that profession, was it communicated. The 
 observance of a weekly day of rest is an arrangement 
 which, in order to carry it out, requires the concurrence 
 of society generally — the consent of those with whom 
 we may be connected in the relations of life, and 
 even the protection of human laws. Were all these 
 opposed, it could not have been observed by the Chris- 
 tian community of the Roman Empire; and thee can 
 be no doubt that Jew and Gentile would be hostile to 
 it, had it been made a public and prominent topic of 
 announcement to the world generally. 
 
 But if we inquire into the facts of the case as made 
 known to us in the Scriptures and the writings of the 
 early Christians, we shall be led to the conclusion that 
 the first day of the week, or Loi d's-day, was the Sabbath- 
 day, or day of holy rest of th< Christian dispensation. 
 
 All are agreed that the seventh day was no longer 
 to be the Sabbath of Christ's Church; and that 
 there was to be no Sabbath at all, that one of the 
 Commandments of the Decalogue, even the fourth, was 
 to be annulled, we nowhere read ; on the contrary, 
 we find the Scriptures recognise, not only the Deca- 
 logue, but even the order of the Commandments. St. 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Paul says, " Honour thy father and mother, which is the 
 first commandment with promise." (Ephes. vi. 2.) St. 
 Paul also, in the thirteenth chapter of Romans, enume- 
 rates the other five commandments of the Second Table, 
 verse 9 : " For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, 
 " Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt 
 " not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet ; and if 
 " there be any other Commandment [or whatever other 
 " commandment there is], it is ^briefly comprehended 
 " in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy- 
 " self." The same Apostle also tells us, in Hebrews, the 
 fourth chapter and 9th verse, " that there remaineth 
 therefore a rest," or a keeping of the Sabbath, " to the 
 people of God." The question then is, on what day 
 was the Sabbath to be kept ? 
 
 It is manifest from the Scriptures of the New Testa- 
 ment, that, after the resurrection of our Blessed Lord, 
 his disciples were in the habit of assembling on the 
 first day of the week for religious worship.* Thus, St. 
 Paul, on his visit to Troas, as related in the twentieth 
 chapter of the Acts (7th and following verses), when 
 the disciples were assembled, as it would appear from 
 the words in the original, in ordinary course, f " to 
 break bread, Paul preached to them." He seems not to 
 have summoned them specially for the purpose, but to 
 have availed himself of the opportunity ; for we are 
 
 * Luke xxiv. 33; John xx. 19 and 26; Acts ii. 1. (The day of 
 Pentecost in this year fell on the first day of the week.) 
 
 f 'Ev 5hrf} fiia tu>v (Ta^fidrwv, (Twriyixivuv twv jxaQrjToov KAacrat 
 
 &pTOV. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 93 
 
 told, in the sixth verse, that he had been in Troas the 
 previous six days, including the Jewish Sabbath, 
 without any mention of the public assembling of the 
 Christians during that time. 
 
 It is true the Apostles also attended the Jewish 
 worship on the Saturday, when they often availed 
 themselves of the occasion to preach the Gospel to 
 their assembled countrymen, this affording them the 
 best opportunity for doing so. Besides, we find (see 
 Acts xxi.) that whilst the Temple worship continued, 
 there was a considerable degree of conformity on the 
 part of the converted Jews to its requirements. 
 
 In the sixteenth chapter of the 1st Corinthians, the 
 Apostle Paul, writing concerning the collections for the 
 Saints, enjoins that upon the first day of the week every 
 one should lay by him in store as God had prospered 
 him ; and he also informs us, that he had given similar 
 orders to the Churches of Galatia. 
 
 Antiquity amply corroborates the fact, that the first 
 day of the week was the day on which were held the 
 public religious assemblies of the Christians. 
 
 The inquiry is then naturally suggested, why was the 
 first day chosen for the purpose ? The comparative un- 
 fitness of the seventh day as a day of spiritual rejoicing 
 for the Christian Church, has been before mentioned ; 
 and in the same degree the first day seemed suitable. 
 It commemorated the most glorious and important 
 event in the history of God's Church ; transcending all 
 others since the Creation — the resurrection of the Lord 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Jesus Christ, by which the redemption of man was 
 secured and confirmed ; God's seal was set to the truth 
 of Christ's passion, the efficacy of his atonement and the 
 prevalence of his mediation certified, and an earnest 
 given of the resurrection to eternal life of his believing 
 people; the appearance of the Saviour to his disci- 
 ples on two successive first days of the week,* after 
 His resurrection, seemed to intimate that the day was 
 thenceforth to be observed ; which, of itself, in conse- 
 quence of its associations, became, as a matter of course, 
 the great rejoicing day with Christ's followers. There 
 are recorded five appearances of our Blessed Lord on 
 the day he arose : to Mary Magdalene in the morning 
 (Mark xvi. 9) ; to the women (Matt, xxviii. 9, 10) ; 
 to the two disciples (Luke xxiv. 18) ; to Peter (Luke 
 xxiv. 33) ; and to the eleven (Mark xvi. 1.4) ; excepting 
 Thomas (John xx. 24). He again appeared the follow- 
 ing first day (J ohn xx. 26) . No other day is denomi- 
 nated on which our Lord appeared, except the first day. 
 It was likewise in keeping with Divine arrangement, and 
 with ancient practice, to regard, as a day to be devoted 
 specially to God, in recurring years throughout all 
 generations, that on which any event of unusual im- 
 portance to the Church of God occurred, such as the 
 Passover, and the dedication of the Temple. Further, 
 
 * The words in the Greek for the " first day of the week " are, 
 7) fiia row <rafifiaT<av, or " the first (' day ' being understood) of the 
 Sabhaths." "Sabbaths/' in the plural number, was synonymous with 
 "week." 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 95 
 
 the day of Pentecost fell on the first day of the week, so 
 that all these associations of the day must of them- 
 selves have led the followers of the Saviour to observe 
 it. In the Christian dispensation, old things had passed 
 away, all things had become new ; yet in such a sense 
 that nothing which pertained to the glory of God and 
 the good of man was done away with ; but rather so 
 much increased and enlarged with privilege and bless- 
 ing, as to be new compared with what it had been. 
 
 The first day of the week was also called the Lord's- 
 day ; Rev. i. 10, " I was in the spirit on the Lord's- 
 day," says St. John.* That the first day of the week is 
 meant appears from the fact, that the expression was 
 used in this sense by all the Fathers and Councils, from 
 the time of the Apostles. Dr. White, Bishop of Ely, says 
 on this point — " That the day, thus styled by St. John 
 " the Lord's day, was the Sunday, appears by the 
 " Fathers, of whom some lived in the Apostles' times, 
 " and some immediately after ; and all these, with a 
 " general and common vote, make the Lord's day in 
 " the Revelation to be Sunday." (Treatise on the 
 Sabbath-day, page 199.) And again he says, "It is 
 " constantly thus named in all the Fathers, in the 
 " Councils, in imperial laws and edicts, in histories, 
 " and in all manner of treatises." 
 
 The expression used by St. John in this passage to 
 designate the day, is used only on one other occasion, 
 
96 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 and in only one other connexion in Scripture, — in 
 1 Cor. xi. 20, where St. Paul censures some members 
 of the Church at Corinth for their abuse of the Lord's 
 Supper, converting it into an occasion of eating and 
 drinking, even to excess : in this passage he draws a 
 distinction between their own supper and the Lord's 
 Supper, and this distinction is most forcibly conveyed 
 by the epithet KvpcaKov, implying a peculiar property 
 of the Lord in the Supper, and an appropriation of the 
 Supper to the Lord, borne out by the context. A like 
 conclusion is justified by the use of this remarkable 
 adjective in connexion with the first day of the week — ■ 
 that it, too, is to be distinguished from ordinary days 
 by the special claim the Lord lays to it as His own 
 day, to be wholly appropriated by His Church to His 
 service — and to be used in no degree, not absolutely 
 necessary, for ordinary or common purposes. Nor should 
 we be straining the force of this expression too much, 
 were we to assert that it conveys to us an intimation 
 that as the Lord's Supper, KvptaKov heiirvov, was of the 
 Lord's own appointment, so is also KvptaKrj ij^pa, the 
 Lord's day. 
 
 It is a word taught us by the Holy Ghost, which 
 clearly conveys to the mind a divine authority of the 
 Lord Jesus for the observance of the day. The ex- 
 pression was subsequently used in the early Christian 
 Church in connexion with such things as were specially 
 the Lord's — such as the Lord's Prayer — the Lord's 
 Table — the Lord's House. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 97 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE LORD'S-DAY, OR CHRISTIAN SABBATH, IN THE 
 FIRST FOUR CENTURIES. 
 
 It is very important to ascertain the opinions enter- 
 tained respecting the Lord's-day by the early Christians 
 in the first four centuries ; not so much with a view 
 of constituting them authorities — for, in considering this 
 subject, we must call no man master, but look only 
 to the word of God — as for the purpose of ascertaining 
 what their practice was, which certainly must have been 
 that of the Apostles. Later Fathers are not quoted ; for 
 with regard to writers after the fourth century, their 
 opinion is not of more importance than that of modern 
 divines. The Fathers of the first four centuries declare 
 the views and practice from the Apostolic times; and 
 subsequent authorities cannot add to the force of their 
 testimony. 
 
 The writings of Christians, then, from the time of 
 the Apostles to the end of the fourth century, warrant 
 the following conclusions, as will appear from the 
 
98 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 perusal of the extracts from their works, given in this 
 chapter : — 
 
 That the first day of the week, the day on which the 
 resurrection of our Blessed Lord took place, was com- 
 monly called the Lord's-day, rj KvpiaK.r\ ?y/xe'pa, the same 
 expression as is used by St. John in Revelation i. 10. 
 
 That it was the day of public worship of the Chris- 
 tian Church. 
 
 That it possessed, in the estimation of the Christian 
 Church, a decided pre-eminence over the seventh day, 
 or Jewish Sabbath. 
 
 That it was a day of cessation from the ordinary 
 business of life, and was considered as taking the place 
 of the Jewish Sabbath, as a Sabbath or day of rest, 
 though far more exalted. 
 
 That the first day of the week was called the Lord's- 
 day, the expression used by St. John (Rev. i. 10), 
 will appear from the frequent use of it in the original ; 
 this is a point beyond all doubt or dispute, and 
 proofs of it might be multiplied. It was also some- 
 times called the eighth day, — the day of bread, — Sun- 
 day; but Sunday was used more rarely, and as an 
 accommodation to the heathen when they were ad- 
 dressed; it being also supposed by those who employed 
 it, that there was a certain propriety in the expression 
 as descriptive of the Sun of Righteousness, who had 
 on that day risen on the world. This was not, 
 however, the name preferred for use by Christians, 
 as is intimated in one of the laws of the younger 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 99 
 
 Valentinian, where, speaking of Sunday, the observa- 
 tion is added, " which our ancestors correctly called 
 the LordVday." * 
 
 St. Augustin also expresses his disapproval of Chris- 
 tians calling the days of the week by the names of 
 heathen gods. He says, " They are so called by the 
 Pagans, and by many Christians; but we disapprove 
 of it, and it would be well if they were to reform in 
 this respect, and not to call them thus." f 
 
 The word Sabbath was not applied to the Lord's- 
 day, but continued to be appropriated to the seventh 
 day, without, however, conveying to the mind of Chris- 
 tians that it was the day of rest. When they used the 
 word "Sabbath" they had in mind the seventh day, with 
 the idea of the ceremonial observance of it as enjoined 
 under the Law, or as encumbered with the foolish and 
 frivolous traditions of the Pharisees, — or as a day of 
 sloth and idleness, in which way it was spent by many 
 of the Jews. It is important to keep this distinction in 
 view in reading the writings of the early Fathers ; for 
 otherwise, if it be lost sight of, a very erroneous con- 
 clusion may be drawn. This use of the word Sabbath 
 is illustrated in the quotations which follow. It would 
 have been impossible, in this age, to have applied it 
 
 * " Solis die, quein dominicum rite dixere majores, omnium omniuo 
 litium, negotiorum, conventionum quiescat intentio." Cod. Theod. 
 Leg. 3, quoted by Bingham, Antiquities, bookxx. c. 2. 
 
 f " Dicitur a paganis et a multis Christianisj sed nollemus; atque 
 utinam corrigant et non dicant sic." (S. August. Episcop. in Psalmum 
 xciii.) 
 
 f2 
 
100 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 intelligibly to the Christian day of rest, it was so gene- 
 rally appropriated, by common usage, to designate the 
 seventh day. Some modern divines hold that, because 
 the early Fathers did not call the Christian day of rest 
 the Sabbath, therefore the Church in the present day 
 should not, — not reflecting that the early Church did 
 not do so, from the peculiar but accidental and tem- 
 porary difficulty to which reference has been made ; 
 but now that this cause no longer exists, the Jewish 
 element having lost its influence, the Church has a 
 right to claim not only the privilege of the day of rest, 
 but also the name. 
 
 That it was the day of public worship of the Chris- 
 tian Church, will be also universally admitted by every 
 one conversant with the early writers of Christianity. 
 \Ye read in the Epistle called by the name of Bar- 
 nabas, which was written in the first century ; " That 
 " Christians observed the eighth day as one of glad- 
 <c ness, because on it Jesus rose from the dead, and 
 " after he had shewn himself to his followers, ascended 
 " into heaven." * 
 
 The so-called Apostolic Constitutions, (the antiquity 
 of which is undoubtedly great, supposed to date from the 
 second century,) enjoin on Christians not to fail to as- 
 semble on the day of the resurrection, the Lord's-day.f 
 
 * Aib K<xl ayo/JLtv r)]v r/fxepav tV 078077V els evcppoavurjv iv ?T kcu 6 
 'Uaovs <xi/eo-T7] e/c venp&v nal (pauepcoOels avefir) els tovs ovpavovs. — 
 Epist. Barnab. Catholic, page 44. 
 
 f TV auaarda-i/jLov rod Kvpiov rjfxepav, ttt\v KvpiaK^v (pdfxei/ awlp- 
 Xei(T0e ccSiaAenrTws. — Constitutiones Apostolicse, lib. sept., cap. 30. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 101 
 
 They speak to the same effect in the thirty-seventh chap- 
 ter, in which they say that, " celebrating the feast of the 
 " resurrection on the LordVday, we rejoice on account 
 " of Him who conquered death, and brought life and 
 " immortality to life." * 
 
 In the treatise called by the name of " Athanasius, 
 concerning the Sabbath and Circumcision," it is said, 
 that " the Sabbath, or Saturday, was the end of the 
 " former Creation ; but that the LordVday was the 
 " beginning of the second, in which God renewed and 
 " restored every thing : as, therefore, he then com- 
 " manded us to observe the Sabbath-day, or Saturday, 
 " in memory of the completion of former things ; so 
 " now we honour the LordVday in memory of the 
 " beginning of a second restoration." t 
 
 Justin Martyr, in his Apology addressed to the Em- 
 peror Antoninus Pius, in behalf of the Christians, writ- 
 ten in the second century, thus describes their public 
 assemblies : — 
 
 " On the day called Sunday an assembly takes place of 
 all who dwell in the cities and the country, and the records 
 of the Apostles, and the writings of the Prophets, are read. 
 
 * Ati ncd t V avaa-Tdcri/xou kopTT)v Travriyvpi£6vTes rrj nvpiaKfj Ka'<po- 
 fj.ev iirl t<£ viK.r\<TavTi fi\v rbu Qavarov, (poriaavri 5e &7]v na\ acpOap- 
 aiav- — Constitutiones Apostolicse, lib. sept. cap. 37- 
 [ . f TeAos fjihv ovv rr\s irporipas KTiaeoos T]V to (TafifiaTov, apxh &e tt}s 
 SeuTepas, 7] Kvpiaur], iu rj rrju iraKaiav aveveuxraTo teat avaKaivicrsv 
 (txrirep ovv ivereiXaro (pvXarreiv irpSrepov rov <ra/30aTOU ttjv rj/xepav, 
 \x.vr\ii.f\v ovaav tov reAeos r&v irpoTtpoov, ovtcos ti]v KvpiaK^jv TifA&fxzv 
 fxvi\p.T]v ovaav apxvs Stvrepas auaKTiaewS' — Athanasius de Sabbato et 
 Circumcisione, p. 17. Paris, 1698. 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Then when the reader ceases, the president, in an address, 
 urges and exhorts to an imitation of these good things 
 read. Then we stand up all together, and pray ; and, 
 as was said before, when prayer is ended, bread and wine 
 and water are brought, when the president in the same 
 way offers up prayer and blesses them with all fervency, 
 the people responding, and saying, Amen ; and then takes 
 place a distribution to and receiving by each, of those 
 things which have been blessed, and they are likewise sent 
 by the deacons to those who are not present. Then the 
 rich, and those who wish, at their discretion, each gives 
 what he thinks proper ; and that which is collected is 
 delivered to the president, and he relieves with it orphans 
 and widows ; and those who are in want, owing to illness 
 or any other cause ; and likewise to those in bonds, and 
 travellers, being strangers, and in a word, to all needing it, 
 a portion is given : but on the Sunday, we all assemble in 
 common, since it is the first day on which God, dispers- 
 ing darkness and chaos, made the world ; and Jesus Christ 
 our Saviour on that day arose from the dead ; for on the 
 day before the Saturday, they crucified him ; and on the 
 day after the Saturday, which is the Sunday, having shown 
 himself to his apostles and disciples, he taught them these 
 things, which we deliver for your observance."* 
 
 * Kal rfj rod r)\iov Xeyofizvy r)/x€pa, irdvToov Kara ttSKcis t) aypovs 
 /jLevSvrcov iirl to avrb avveXevais yiuerat, Kal ra aTrofxi/rj/uiovev- 
 fxara rSov airoar6\(i>p t) ra ffvyypdjxjxara roju Trp6<pr]rS>v avayivtoar- 
 kctcu /J-expis €7x«p€* > . Etra iravaajjiivov rov avaytucao-Kovros, 6 irpo- 
 (ffruis Sia. \6yov rrjv vovQeaiav Kal irp6K\r}criv rrjs rS>v KaXccv rovrwv 
 m/j.r}ff€a}s iroteirai. zireira aviard/neBa Koivr} irdvres Ka\ evx&s Tre/Lnro/aev. 
 Kal wj irpoe<p-q/j.ev, Travo~ajxev(av y)jxS}v rrjs evxvs, apTos Trpoacpeperai 
 Kal olvos Kal vScap, Kal '6 irpoecrrws zvx&s ofxoicos Kal evxapicrrias, 
 Xo-r) Svva/Ais avr$, avaTrcfiirei, Kal 6 Xabs eVe v<pT)[i*i \4ywv rb a/j.f)i>, 
 Kal 7] Siddoais Kal r) fieraXrj^/is airb rSiv euxapjCTTjfleVrttj/ iKacrrcp 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 103 
 
 Eusebius, in his Commentary on the Fifty-eighth 
 Psalm, 17th verse, expresses himself to the same ef- 
 fect : — « He prophetically signifies by this the worship 
 " rendered to his Church from early dawn every day of 
 " the resurrection, throughout the entire world." * 
 
 Pliny, in his well-known Letter to Trajan, written in 
 the first century, thus describes the public worship of 
 the Christians, from information which he had obtained 
 from some Christians who had apostatized : — 
 
 " They affirmed that this was the whole of their fault, 
 or their error : that they had been accustomed to assemble 
 on a stated day, before dawn, and, one with another to 
 sing hymns to Christ as to Grod ; and to bind themselves 
 by an oath not to commit any crime — not to steal or 
 rob, or commit adultery, or break their faith, nor, when 
 
 yiverai, Kal rols ov irapovffi 81a. rwv SiaKovwv ircfxirerai. Ot evwo- 
 povvres §e, Kal /3ov\6/j.evoi Kara irpwaipecnv, efcdaros tV kavrov t 
 fiovXtrai 5i5«<n, Kal rb avWeyS/xeuov irapa r<2 irpoearwTL avari- 
 derai, Kal avrbs eiriKOvpel opcpavois Kal xftp ais Ka * T0 ' s Sl " v &< rov V 
 Si' &\\T)V alriau Aenronevois ; Kal rots iv SecTfioTs ovcri, Kal to?s irape- 
 -md-h/jLois, ovffi ^vois, Kal cnr\ws Tract to?s iv xpeia. ovffi Kt)Sep.u>v 
 yivtrai. Trjv Se rod r]\iov Tj/Aepav koivtj iravres tV (rvve\ev<riv 
 Troiovf^ea, i-rreiSy] Trpwrr) icrrlv ypepa, iv fj 6 &ebs rb ctkStos ical tt]V 
 vkrjv rptyas, k6(T/xov e7roi7?<re, Kal 'lr](Tovs Xpiarbs 6 rj/xerepos 2cotV rrj 
 avrfj ry/uepa e/c veKpwv aviffr-q. T?? yap irpb ttjs KpoviKTJs karavpoxxav 
 avrbv, Kal rfj, fiera tt]V KpoviK7]v, t)tis iarlv 7]\iov ypepa, (pavels rots 
 airotTToXois avrou Kal ^adr)Ta7s e'5i5a£e ravra awep els iiricrK^iv Kal 
 fyuj/ aj/eSw/cajuei/.-Sancti Justini Pliilosophi et Martyris Apologia 
 Prima pro Christianis ad Antoninum Piuni, p. 158, par. 67. Eclitio 
 
 Jena3, 1841. 
 
 * %t]fxaiP€i 5e Sib. tovtov irpo(pT\TiKa>s tV kcit' opOpov Kal KaQ' 
 
 eKOLTT-nv itpaiav rrjs avaa-Taai/xov rifxepas Ka6' o\ris oiKovfievr}S iv tt? 
 
 iKK\r)<ria avrov, <rvvTeTeT\e<rpi£vov Aarpeiav.— Eusebii Comment, in 
 
 Psalm, lviii. 17. (xlix. 16, of our version), page 272. 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 called upon, deny what had been intrusted to them : 
 when they had done, their habit was to separate ; but to 
 assemble again to partake of a feast in common, but of a 
 harmless character." # 
 
 In this description we can discover that even in a 
 period of persecution the Christians assembled, and 
 that twice on the LordVday. 
 
 That the Lord's -day occupied a decided pre-eminence 
 over all other days, is also manifest from the writings 
 of the Christians of the first four centuries. In the 
 Epistle to the Magnesians, attributed to Ignatius, we 
 read, that " Christians should no longer observe the 
 " Sabbath or Saturday after a Jewish manner, and 
 " rejoicing in sloth ; for he that will not work neither 
 " let him eat ; for the Scriptures say that in the sweat 
 " of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread : but let each 
 " spend the Saturday in a spiritual manner, in the 
 " study of the Law, not in idleness of body," &c. &c. 
 But, he proceeds, "After the Saturday is spent, let 
 " every lover of Christ observe as a sacred festival the 
 " LordVday — the resurrection day, the queen and 
 " chief of all days." t 
 
 * "Adfirmabant autem, hanc fuisse surnmam vel culpse suae, 
 vel erroris, quod essent soliti stato die ante lucern convenire, car- 
 menque Christo quasi Deo dicere secum invieem; seque sacraniento 
 non in scelus aliquod abstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne 
 adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appcllati 
 abnegarent ; quibus peractis morem sibi discedendi fuisse, i*ursusque 
 coeundi ad capiendmn cibuin, proniiscuum tamen, et innoxium." — 
 C. Plin. lib. x. Epist. 97. 
 
 f M^/ceVi oZv (rafi/3aTi(wfxeu 'lovSa'tKws Hal apyiKis x at P^ TC s" 6 p)) 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 105 
 
 In the difference of opinion which arose in the second 
 century respecting the celebration of Easter, Irenseus, 
 Bishop of Lyons, expressing the opinions of his brother 
 bishops of Gaul, decided, that the mystery of our Lord's 
 resurrection ought to be observed on the Lord's-day.* 
 
 In the Constitutions of the Apostles, we find pas- 
 sages to the same effect, proving that a pre-eminence 
 far above all other days, including the Jewish Saturday, 
 was given by the primitive Christians to the Lord's- 
 day. After enumerating the joyous associations con- 
 nected with the Jewish Sabbath, they say of the Lord's- 
 day — " All which the Lord's-day excels as exhibiting 
 " Him who is the Mediator : the Supreme Provider — 
 " the Lawgiver — the Author of the Resurrection — the 
 (! first-born of every creature — the God — Word — and 
 11 Man : Him born of Mary : alone supernaturally be- 
 " gotten : Him who lived in perfect holiness : who was 
 " crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died, and rose 
 " again from the dead. Thus the Lord's-day en- 
 " courages us to praise Thee, Lord, above all." t 
 
 Athanasius, commenting on the Hundred and se~ 
 
 4pya£6/j.€vos yap, fxr] e<r0ieVc«>' ivl§p<Joriyap rod Trpoa&Trov crov <pdyr) rbv 
 frpTOV aov, (pucrl ra \6yia' u\\' zkclcttos vfxwy <rafifiaTi(eTCi} irvevixarKccs, 
 
 /ueAeVr? vojaov x«'P a " / > °v <r<*>H- aT0S aveaei But lie proceeds : 
 
 /xera rb <Ta$$aTi<Ta,i. eopra^Tco iras (piXoxpi&vos rrju Kvpia.Ki)V, -rrjc 
 ava<TTa.<TifAOV, i7]V fia<Ti\i5a, ryjv vitarov iraawu tuv rjfiepav. — Epist. 
 Ignat. ad Magnes. paragraph 9. 
 
 * TlapicTTaTcu jxkv rb de?v iv fiour] rfj ttjs KvpuxKris i)/J.epa, rb ttjs 
 rod Kvpiov duacrrdaews e7riTeAet(r0cu ^.var-qpiou. Eusebii Ecclesiast. 
 Hist., lib. 5, c. 24, sec. 2. 
 
 t '&v dirdvrcau t] KvpiaKT) irpovxovcra.' avrbv /x^airrju, rbv irpovor\T7)u f 
 
 r3 
 
106 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 venteenth Psalm, says of verse 24 — " ' This is the day 
 " which the Lord hath made/ What other day can 
 u this be than the day of the resurrection of our 
 " Lord ? What other day but that of the salvation of 
 " all nations, on which the stone which the builders 
 " rejected became the head of the corner? But the 
 " word points to the day of the resurrection of our 
 " Saviour, and to its name, which is, confessedly, the 
 " Lord's-day." * 
 
 Melito, Bishop of Sardis, wrote a book concerning 
 the LordVday about the year 180. It is not extant ; 
 but the fact of a work being specially written on the 
 subject, shows that a considerable degree of importance 
 was attached to it. 
 
 It now only remains to be shewn, that in the first 
 four centuries the LordVday was a Sabbath, or day 
 of rest from ordinary business ; taking the place of the 
 Jewish Saturday, which ceased to be a day of rest to 
 Christians, although it was observed by many as a holy 
 day ; this should not cause surprise, when we consider 
 
 rou i/ofioderrju rbv apacrrdcrecDS ctinov, rov irporSroKov irdaeccs /cTurews 
 rbv 6ebv Koyov, nal dvdpotrov, rbv e'/c Mapias \yevz04uTa, /xovov 5ix a 
 ai/Spbs, rbv iroAirtvo-djisvov oaicas, rbv crravpccOevra eVt Tlovriov TliKd- 
 rou, nal airoBavdura, /cat avaardvra e'/c veKpwv airodeiKwo-a. 'Cls KvpiaKrj 
 7ropaK€AGV€Tcu, (Tol SeVrroTa, t?V virep irdurtov evyap>-<Triav irpocrcpepeti/. 
 
 Lib. 7. Ch. 37- 
 
 * Avrr] Tj/xepa %v ewolrjcrev 6 Kvpios' /cat rls &u e?rj ¥j 7) avaardo-ifjios 
 rod Kvpiov 7]fiepa; irola 8e avrr) -ij/xepa, a\\' r/ r) 1,wrr)pios rutv tdvasv 
 airo.uTUiv, KaO' %v 6 aTrofik-qQeis \1Q0s yeyovev ets Ke(paAr)v yoovias' 
 arifAaivei 5e 6 Koyos rrjv avaardai/iov rod awrr)pos rj/xuv, ryjv ye iiruvv^iov 
 avrov yevo/xivrjv, S??Ac57?, Kvpia.Ki)v. — Athan. in Psalm. 117. (118 of our 
 version). 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 107 
 
 the antient associations of the day, and the reverence 
 with which the Jewish converts had from infancy been 
 taught to regard the seventh day. 
 
 In the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, we read 
 that, " If there were any who, having been brought up 
 " in the old state of things, had attained to newness of 
 " hope, let them no longer keep the Sabbath, (or Satur- 
 " day,) but let them live a life conformed to the Lord's- 
 " day, in which also our life arose." * 
 
 In the Homily De Semente, called by the name of 
 Athanasius, and the date of which is supposed to 
 be as early as the fourth century, we have it distinctly 
 stated, " that the Lord transferred the Sabbath to the 
 Lord's-day." This Homily was not really the produc- 
 tion of Athanasius ; still it is a proof of the opinions 
 prevailing at the time it was written. f 
 
 Other testimonies to the same effect might be ex- 
 tracted from the early writers on Christianity, from 
 which one or two will be quoted, illustrating the 
 assertions made at the commencement of this chapter. 
 Origen, who lived in the third century, says, — 
 
 " If, therefore, you cease from all secular works, and at- 
 tend to no worldly business, but devote your leisure from 
 them, to spiritual exercises — assemble in the congrega- 
 
 * Et ovv ol iv Tra\cuo?s Trpdyixacn auacrrpacp^UTes els K<xiv6TT}Ta 4\iri- 
 80s 7)\vQov, /j.7ii«=Ti aafifiaTL(ovTes, oAAa Kara Kvpianr)i> (wres iv 77 Kal 
 |a»77 tj/xuv avirziXev St' avrov — Tguat. Epist. ad Magn. vol. 2, par. 9, 
 page 107. 
 
 f MeTe07?Ke Se 6 Kvpios tt> tov o-afifidrov y\\x.ipav els KvpiaK^v. 
 Atbanas . de Semente. 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 tion — listen attentively to Divine readings and discourses, 
 and have your thoughts on heavenly things — be anxious 
 about future hopes — have Judgment to come before your 
 eyes — not regard present and visible things, but things 
 unseen and future — this is the keeping of the Christian 
 Sabbath."* 
 
 The 37th Constitution of the Apostles contains a 
 Treatise on the Ten Commandments. It speaks thus 
 of the Fourth Command :— 
 
 " Learn to know the more excellent creation of God, 
 which had its origin through Christ, and you will keep 
 the Sabbath for the sake of Him who ceased indeed to 
 create, but ceased not to exercise His providence — a Sab- 
 bath occupied in learning God's law, not consisting in 
 merely abstaining from using the hands. "f 
 
 The writer evidently speaks of the Christian as 
 taking the place of the Jewish Sabbath, and explains 
 how it should be observed. Although this book im- 
 properly assumes to be the composition of the Apostles, 
 and is of a later age ; yet its antiquity is great, probably 
 
 * " Si ergo desinas ab omnibus ssecularibus operibus, ct nihil mun- 
 danum geras, sed spiritualibus operibus vaces, ad Ecclesiam con- 
 venias, lectionibus divinis et tractatibus aureni prsebeas, et ccelestibus 
 cogites, de futura spe solicitudinem geras, venturum Judicium prse 
 oculis habeas, non respicias ad prsesentia et visibilia, sed ad invisibilia 
 et futura, haec est observatio Sabbati Christiani." (Orig. Horn. 23 in 
 Numer. par. 4, vol. 2. Paris, 1733.) 
 
 t rivwoTKe Stfuovpyiav Gov 8id<popoi> apxhv ^afSuvcrav, 8ia XpicrTov, 
 Kal aaBBaTiels Sia tov ■navtrafx^vov /nev tov ttoicTu, ov iravo-afxsvov 5e tov 
 Trpofoe7u, (TafS6a.THrfA.bi' yweAeV?js v6fiov ov x* l P& v apyiau. 37 Const. 
 Ajiostol. cap. 3G. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 109 
 
 the second century ; and it is an evidence of the views 
 of this subject entertained at that early period. 
 
 We here insert the very important and conclusive 
 testimony of Eusebius confirmatory of the various points 
 proposed to be proved, being an extract from his 
 Commentary on the Ninety-first Psalm, — the Ninety- 
 second of our Version : — 
 
 " The Word through the new covenant, changed and 
 transferred the feast of the Sabbath to the rising of the 
 Sun, and gave to us the image of the true rest — the day of 
 salvation — the Lord's-day — even the first day of light — in 
 which the Saviour of the world, after all his exploits among 
 men, obtained the victory over death, and passed beyond 
 the gates of heaven ; having accomplished a work, excel- 
 ling the six days' work of creation, he took possession of 
 the Divine Sabbath, and the thrice happy rest of the 
 Father, who said to him, ' Sit thou on my right hand, 
 until I make thine enemies thy footstool.' In which, 
 being the day of light, the first day, and the day of the 
 true Sun, we assemble together and celebrate holy and 
 spiritual Sabbaths, even we who, through him, have 
 been redeemed from among the Gentiles throughout 
 the entire world, — we perform those things which were 
 enjoined on the priests to do on the Saturday; for we 
 offer up spiritual sacrifices and offerings — which are called 
 offerings of praise, and sacrifices of thanksgiving ; and 
 we send up incense of a sweet odour, concerning which 
 it is said, ' Let my prayer be as incense before thee.' 
 We likewise offer the shew-bread, reviving the remem- 
 brance of salvation, and the blood of sprinkling of 
 the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
 world, the purification of your souls ; also we light the 
 
110 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 lamps of the knowledge of the presence of God. "We 
 are emulous in doing with earnestness on that same 
 day those things written in the Psalm, in those same 
 words and acts, confessing to the Lord, and singing 
 praises to the name of the Most High; at the early 
 dawn, with the rising of the sun, we proclaim the mercy 
 of God towards us, and his truth by night, exhibiting 
 a sober and pure conversation ; and every thing, which 
 it was usual to do on the Saturday, these we have trans- 
 ferred to the Lord's-day, as being more suited to the 
 Lord than it, and being the chief day, the first, and 
 more honorable than the Jewish Sabbath ; for on this 
 day, at the creation of the world, God said, ' Let there be 
 light,' and there was light ; and on it the Sun of right- 
 eousness arose upon our souls. For this cause it has 
 been delivered to us to assemble on this day."* 
 
 And after stating that Confession is the first act in 
 the public worship of Christians, and that it is fitting 
 
 * Aid rrjs Kcuvrjs oiadr)Kr)s \6yos ixer-rjyaye Kal neraTtOeiKe t^v 
 rov aaPPdrov ioprrjv eirl tt]v rov (barbs dvarokrju, Kal irapeSaiKeu 
 7]jxlv d\-qOivr\s avairavcrecos eltcova, rrjv aiorripiav Kal KvpiaKrjv Kal 
 Trpurrju rov (barbs 7]fj.epav Ka6' %v a ^arrjp rov Kocr/xov /xera wdaas 
 avrov ras £v avdpooivois irpa^eis ttju Kara rov Qavdrov viktiv dpd- 
 jazvos ras ovpaviovs irvXas virepefiaiuev, vithp ti]u ££ar)iuepov, koct/xo- 
 TTo'iav yiyv6/ievos, r6 re OeoirpeTres crdPfSaTov Kal r),v rpicrfxaKapiau 
 dvatravcriu viroXafx^dvav, rov irarpbs dprjKoros avra> KaOov e/c 8e|iW 
 jxov, ecus dv 6u> reus i^Qpots Gov vttottSSiou rav ttoScov crov, ev r) (barbs 
 ovo-p Kal -KpdoTTt Kal rov d\T]9ovs 7]\iov ripepa, Kal Tj/xeTs avrol crvvipxo- 
 fxevoi Sid iikaov e| rj/uepwu, ay id re adfi&ara Kal TrvevjuariKa koprd^ovres 
 01 e£ IQvuv Si' avrov XeAvrpa/xevot Katf 6k?is rrjs oiKov/j.evr]S. Ta r$ 
 <ra/3/3aTa> -rrparreiv rois tepevcri vevoiioQeri)ix4va Kara rov irj/ev/jiariKby 
 v6ixov eTrireXov/xev. dvaias re yap Kal dua<popas iroiov/xeOa Trvev/xariKas, 
 ras KaXovjxevas 6va(as alveareas, Kal Ovaias aXaXayfxov, rb re 6v[xlaixa 
 rb evades avaTre/xirofxeu, irepl ov eipyrai, yevr\Qi\ra t) irpoaevxv Hov as 
 8vfj.la/j.a evairi6v aov. aXXa Kal rovs &provs rrjs vpodeaeas Trpocr<p4po- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 11] 
 
 to confess only to God, who searches the heart, he 
 proceeds to say, that they then praise and thank God. 
 " Assembling together every where throughout the 
 world on the Lord's-day, we offer up our praises 
 to him in his churches."* Then, after praises, he 
 says, "that the mind being prepared, they instructed 
 others in the mercy of God." 
 
 But it is important to inquire, besides opinions of 
 individual Fathers, whether there is any authoritative 
 statement on record intimating the view of the 
 early Church generally in favor of the Lord's-day 
 being the Sabbath or day of rest of our dispensation ? 
 
 There is one such statement of a deliberative as- 
 sembly of very great weight, decisive on this point, 
 and which far more convincingly than the opinions of 
 
 ixsv, t}]V cuTTipiov fj.vr]fj.r]u dvafatrvpovvTts, r6, re tov pavT«T[xov aifxa, 
 tov afj.vov tov 0eoO, rod 7repieA(Wes t)]V a/napriau tov k6o~/j.ov, KaOdp- 
 (Tiov tqov vfxcTepcov \pvxw Troiov/j.e6a re to (pojTa r-qs yvaxrecos Trpocrojirov 
 tov 0eoO i£a.TrTofj.eva. 'AAAa Kal ra iv rcj) (xtTa x^po^s ^aA/xaJ (piXori/xus 
 eKreAeiv Kara tt]V avrrju rjfx.epau cnrovdaCofAev, epyois tovtois koI \6yois 
 e^oixoKoyovjXivoi nvpiat Kal vf/aAAorres ra> ovo/xarl tov vipiaTOv. bpOpov re 
 irpbs avrcus avaToXcus tov 7]p.eT€pov (pooTos rb ysvojAtvov eAeos e^>' rjfxas 
 tov ®eov SiayyeWavTes, Kal Tr\v a\T}Qeiav avTov KaTa rds vvktcls 
 hid crw<bpovos Kal ayvrjs avao-TpocpTJs, ivdeiKvv/xtvoi, Kal irdvTa 5r/ 
 tlffa &AAa ixpV" ev (Tafi^dTqj t4\civ, TavTa i]fxe?s eV ttj KvpiaKrj 
 fj.eTaT€6eiKafji.€v, wj av KvptcoTepas ovcrr)s avrrjs, Kal T}y ovfx4pr)s, Kal 
 irpwTrjs, Kal tov lovda'iKov aafifiaTov TL/xicorepas' Kara TavTiqv yap 
 eV tt? Kocr/JLOiroda elprjKoros tov Qeov, yevriOrjTco (poos Kal iyzveTo (pcos- 
 Kal KaT avT7)j/, tois 7)/j.tTepais \pvxcus 6 ttjs diKaioavvris a^areVaA/cej/ 
 7}\ios' 8ib 5r] Kal r\\xiv crwepxecrOai KaTa TavTr\v napadeSoTat. 
 
 * EIkStws KaTa, ttjv KvpiaKT)v rjp.4pav, Kal Tas evxa-pHTTias t)(xuv d-rro- 
 8i5o/j.€V to) Kvploj, iravTaxov ttjs oIkov[x4vt]5 4v ra?s eKKKriaiais avTov 
 ffvv^pxo^voi. — Euseb. Comment, in Psalm. 91. Montfaucon, 1607. 
 
112 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 individuals shews the views entertained on this sub- 
 ject in the first four centuries. The statement re- 
 ferred to is that of the Council of Laodicea, which 
 was held, some suppose, in a.d. 318, before the first 
 Nicene Council ; others about the year 367. It is 
 a Council of considerable authority, whose sixtieth 
 Canon is very important, as containing a list of the 
 Canonical Scriptures similar to that of the Church 
 of England, with the exception of Revelation. 
 
 This Council in its twenty-ninth Canon, plainly en- 
 joins on Christians, " not to imitate or act like the Jews, 
 " in resting on the Sabbath, or (Saturday,) but to labor 
 " on that day ; and, honouring the LordVday in pre- 
 " ference to it, to rest from labor thereon, if they 
 " were able, as became Christians. But if they should 
 " be found judaizing, let them be anathema from 
 " Christ." * This Canon is subjoined in full in the 
 note. The expression, " if they were able," no doubt 
 referred to the compulsion that many Christian slaves 
 were under to work on the LordVday. 
 
 With such a canon, it is matter of surprise how 
 any can deny that the Christians of those days re- 
 garded the LordVday as the Christian Sabbath or 
 day of rest. 
 
 Thirty-two Bishops from various regions of Asia, 
 
 * K6'. "Oti ov Se? Xpiariauovs iovBa'i'^iv, Kal 4v rw 2a/3/3aT<y <rx»- 
 Xa^eiv, aWa £pyd£e<r6ai avrovs iv tfj avrf} r)fj.4pa' ttjv Se KvpiaK7)v 
 TTpoTifxcovras, efye hvvaivro, <rxo\d£eiv us XpiCTiavoi. Et 5e eupefleTe// 
 iov8a'i<TTal, zcrTuxrav duddefia irapa Xpicrrcp. Conciliorum Omn Gener. 
 et Provinc Collectio llegia. Paris, 1644. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 113 
 
 assembled at this Council, and who can gainsay the 
 conclusion, that they must have expressed the view of 
 this subject then and for ages previously entertained 
 by the Church ? 
 
 We have here undoubted and authoritative evidence 
 that the Lord's-day was the day of holy rest of Chris- 
 tians, and the substitute for the seventh day of the 
 Jewish dispensation, which had ceased to be the Sab- 
 bath or rest-day of the Church of God. 
 
 Another remarkable and authoritative testimony to 
 the same effect, in the fourth century, is the law of 
 Constantine the Great, which prohibited all ordinary 
 labor on the first day of the week, except agricultural 
 works, which, however, erroneously, he deemed works 
 of mercy. 
 
 It cannot for a moment be supposed, that the view 
 expressed by the Bishops assembled at the Council of 
 Laodicea, regarding the Saturday and the Lord's- 
 day, was then for the first time broached ; doubtless it 
 was the public and deliberate expression of opinions 
 held universally in the Church, and handed down from 
 the Apostles. From it we see that the Saturday was 
 abrogated, as the day of rest ; that Christians were even 
 commanded to work thereon ; that the Lord's- day had 
 taken its place as the Christian Sabbath, on which the 
 Church was to rest ; and that to observe the seventh 
 day as a Sabbath, subjected the offender to the censure 
 of the Church. 
 
 It is also remarkable that, no sooner is the Church 
 
314 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 free from persecution, than she thus declares her opinion 
 boldly and publicly regarding the LordVday ; and as 
 soon as a Christian emperor rules the empire, a law is 
 immediately made, enforcing upon all his subjects the 
 observance of the day of rest, with the exception already 
 mentioned. Before this law could have been carried 
 into effect, there must have been a readiness to obey 
 it in the minds of men, so that it was not so much a 
 constraint upon their conduct as an expression of their 
 wishes. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter, it will be well to 
 place before the reader the way in which the early 
 Christians spent the LordVday, or Christian day of 
 holy rest, as deduced from the foregoing testimonies. 
 Christian assemblies for religious worship were held 
 on the LordVday; at which there were prayers, 
 praises, reading the word, exhortation, and preaching, 
 the administration of the Lord's Supper, collections for 
 the poor, and a love-feast. 
 
 These assemblies were held more than once on the 
 Lord's-day. This appears to have been the case even in 
 times of persecution, as we see from Pliny's Letter to 
 Trajan ; the whole day, from morning to night, was 
 consecrated to God, and ordinary labours were sus- 
 pended : the quotations from Ignatius, Eusebius, and the 
 Canon of the Council of Laodicea attest this ; so that it is 
 manifest that the first day of the week was the Chris- 
 tian Sabbath, the substitute in our dispensation for the 
 Jewish seventh day of holy rest, but freed from the 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 115 
 
 ritual observances of the Levitical ceremonial, and the 
 vain traditions of the elders, with which the word " Sab- 
 bath," in its popular signification, was so identified ; 
 appropriated exclusively as it was to the seventh day, 
 that Christians were, for the time, constrained to forego 
 the use of it, as meaning the day of holy rest, in order 
 to avoid misconception. 
 
 The inquiry ordinarily put to Christians by heathen 
 magistrates, when desirous of ascertaining whether they 
 were believers in Christ, was, whether they observed 
 the Lord's-day ; the reply of those prepared to suffer for 
 their religion was, " I keep the Lord's-day, because I 
 am a Christian ; " " We cannot omit observing the 
 Lord's-day f " It is impossible to be a Christian with- 
 out the Lord's-day." * 
 
 But its observance was of a character far more 
 spiritual than the Jewish Sabbath; in addition to 
 God's finished work of creation, it commemorated 
 Christ's finished work of redemption, of which the 
 crowning act was, his resurrection jfrom the dead. 
 Christians rejoiced in it as commemorating the be- 
 ginning of a new dispensation — a new Creation — as 
 a Sabbath of abstinence from sin and secularity, which 
 afforded them a foretaste of the eternal rest of which it 
 was the dawn and commencement. 
 
 The Gentile converts particularly, seem to have been 
 
 * Dominicum cum fratribus celebravi quia Christianus sum.— Acta 
 Martyrum, Paris 1689, p. 411. Quasi Cbristianus siue domiuico 
 esse posset. — Idem, p. 304. 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 profoundly impressed with the wondrous mercy and 
 goodness of God, in admitting them to a participation 
 in the glorious privileges of the Gospel. The power of 
 the Holy Ghost, illustrated in themselves and others, 
 in converting the heart, and making men holy who had 
 been the slaves of the vilest passions of human nature, 
 filled them with astonishment ; and the light which was 
 first shed on the darkness of the earth when without 
 form and void, faintly described the effect produced by 
 the Gospel on the Gentiles who embraced it, who, 
 from being darkness, became light in the Lord ; whose 
 affections, from being set on things earthly, sensual, 
 and devilish, were raised to heaven; and whose minds, 
 instead of the constraining influence of self, owned the 
 more powerful influence of the love of Christ. Creation 
 itself sank into insignificance, when compared with 
 this more glorious work ; and the act which com- 
 pleted it, — the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from 
 the dead, was to them the most important in the 
 history of the Church ; and the day on which it took 
 place transcended in their esteem all others, — the dawn 
 of an eternal day — to be remembered throughout all 
 generations. 
 
 In the esteem of the early Christians, the spiritual 
 associations and privileges of the day were the great 
 and prominent subject of consideration ; even the rest 
 for the hand and body which the Sabbath secures 
 were looked upon as being secondary compared with it, 
 except as a means to that end. The believer in Christ, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 117 
 
 they held, willingly rested from all secular pursuits on 
 the LordVday, from his delight in contemplating the 
 goodness and love of God as manifested in the sacrifice 
 and resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; for those not spiri- 
 tual the command was needful, and for their sakes it was 
 enjoined ; but the godly observed it, not so much be- 
 cause the command required it, as that their hearts 
 anticipated its privileges with delight; — a ceremonial 
 or a superstitious observance of it they repudiated. 
 
 The seventh day was observed by many of the 
 Jewish converts as a holy day, but far inferior to the 
 LordVday ; and as the Jewish influence diminished in 
 the Church of Christ, the pharisaic observance of the 
 Sabbath was more and more regarded with dislike, and 
 every attempt to introduce it into the Church resisted. 
 Some few, such as the Ebionites, insisted on the duty 
 of observing the Jewish Sabbath also, in addition to 
 the LordVday; but this opinion was confined to them. 
 In the Eastern Churches, the Saturday continued for 
 some centuries to be observed as a feast-day, but not 
 in the Western. It was customary, in the early ages 
 of the Church, to pray standing on the LordVday, in 
 order to testify belief in the doctrine of the Resurrection, 
 and thanksgiving for that great event. 
 
118 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL LAWS 
 REGARDING THE LORD'S-DAY, WHICH WERE MADE 
 FROM THE FOURTH TO THE TWELFTH CENTURY * 
 
 In perusing- the following summary of laws, it will 
 be observed that the LordVday is often classed with 
 days of human appointment : especially as forgetful - 
 ness of the word of God, and consequent ignorance 
 of religion, overspread the Church. 
 
 Days for the commemoration of special events are 
 lawful, and the Church undeniably possesses the power 
 to appoint them; but still a distinction should be 
 always preserved between that day which the Lord 
 has consecrated to himself, and those which man 
 requires to be observed. By attempting to identify 
 them, we not only confound things dissimilar, but 
 in truth diminish the regard which, were they kept 
 distinct, would be acceded to each in due degree. 
 
 No better mode can be adopted of enabling the 
 
 * The summary of Laws and Canons, Decrees of Councils, &c, 
 has been derived from Bingham's Antiquities; White Bishop of 
 Ely, Ileylin, and Morer on the Sabbath. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 119 
 
 reader to form a correct idea of the esteem in which 
 the LordVday was held, from the time of Constantine 
 to the Reformation, than a brief statement of the 
 principal laws, decrees, and edicts relating to the 
 Lord's-day, which from time to time were made in the 
 various States of Europe. 
 
 In the year 325, Constantine the Great issued a decree, 
 that all judges, citizens, and tradesmen should rest on 
 the venerable Sunday. He however made an excep- 
 tion in regard to those following agricultural pursuits. 
 This decree extended to the whole Roman Empire. 
 Subsequently to this he issued another decree, except- 
 ing also the manumission of slaves, as being a work of 
 charity appropriate to the day. He also enjoined on 
 those of his soldiers who still continued pagans, to 
 assemble on Sunday in the fields, and to repeat a form 
 of prayer in acknowledgment of God as their King and 
 helper, who conferred upon them victory and pros- 
 perity; and asking for safety and victory for the 
 Emperor and his children.* 
 
 In the year 381 the Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, 
 and Theodosius issued an edict prohibiting all shows 
 on the LordVday. This decree also forbad all arbi- 
 trations, and the taking cognizance of any pecuniary 
 business; to which Valentinian and Valens added, 
 that no Christian should on that day be brought 
 before the officers of the Exchequer, as being a vex- 
 ation not to be reconciled with right notions of the 
 * Eusebius de Vita Constantini. ch. xiii. 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Christian Sabbath. Five years after, this law was 
 revived by Yalentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius, and 
 some other days added, to be similarly observed ; 
 such as the Emperor's birth-day, the day wherein the 
 Emperor began to reign, with a week before and after 
 Easter. 
 
 In the year 412 the Emperors Honorins and Theo- 
 dosius commanded that prisoners should be permitted 
 to walk forth every Lord's-day, attended by a guard, 
 and to go to the bath. 
 
 In the year 425, in consequence of a petition to 
 Theodosius the Younger, from the Council of Carthage, 
 that the law made by Gratian against public shows 
 might be re-enforced, he renewed the edict, and com- 
 manded that the circus and theatre in all places should 
 be shut up on the Lord's-day, and on some other 
 days which he named. 
 
 The Emperor Leo, in the year 469, issued an edict, 
 commanding that the holy days be dedicated to God, 
 not spent in sensual recreations, or otherwise profaned 
 by suits at law : especially the Lord's-day. All agri- 
 cultural pursuits excepted by Constantine were pro- 
 hibited by this edict, and on the ground that, " if 
 " other people (meaning the Jews) kept the shadow 
 " of this day in a solemn rest from all secular labor 
 " on their Sabbath, how much rather ought Chris- 
 " tians to celebrate and observe the substance, — a 
 " day so ennobled by our Gracious Lord, who saved 
 " us from destruction !" He also says of the Lord's- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 121 
 
 day, "It is our will, according to the meaning of the 
 " Holy Ghost, and of the Apostles by him directed, 
 " that, on the sacred day whereon we were restored to 
 " our integrity, all men shall rest themselves and 
 " cease from labour." 
 
 In the year 588, Gunthrum king of Burgundy, and, 
 two years after, Clothaire king of France, made laws to 
 the same effect. 
 
 Charlemagne, about the year 789, issued an edict 
 prohibiting all ordinary labor on the Lord's-day, and 
 commanding the day to be spent in attending divine 
 service and magnifying God for the good things 
 which on that day he bestowed upon men. Charle- 
 magne, in this edict, says, "according as it is com- 
 manded in the law of God, that no man do servile 
 work on the Lord's-day." 
 
 The emperors Louis and Lotharius, about the year 
 853, issued an edict enforcing that of Charlemagne. 
 
 In the year 886 the emperor Leo Philosophus 
 prohibited works of husbandry on the Lord's-day. A 
 law to the same effect was made by Theodorus, king 
 of the Bavarians. 
 
 In the year 1174 the emperor Emanuel Commenus 
 confirmed the decrees of his predecessors. 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SUMMARY OF CONSTITUTIONS AND CANONS RE- 
 LATING TO THE LORD'S-DAY UP TO THE SIXTEENTH 
 CENTURY. 
 
 About a.d. 307 a Synod met at Eliberis, in Spain, 
 where it was decreed, that if any citizen, or other 
 person living in or near a city, absented himself from 
 the church three LordVdays together, he was to be 
 kept so long from the Holy Sacrament. (Canon 21.) 
 
 About the year 318 the Council of Laodicea re- 
 quired the Christians not to Judaize by keeping the 
 Sabbath, or Saturday, but to prefer the LordVday 
 before it ; and thereon rest from labor, if they could, 
 as became the professors of Christianity; otherwise 
 let them be anathema from Christ. The exception, 
 "if they could," doubtless referred to the case of 
 slaves in the service of heathen masters, who were not 
 permitted to rest on the LordVday ! 
 
 About the year 401 the fourth Council of Car- 
 thage decreed, that they should be punished with ex- 
 communication who, neglecting the solemn worship 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 123 
 
 of God on the Lord's-day and other sacred days, 
 spent the day in plays and similar diversions. 
 
 In another Council, held in the same city a few years 
 after, (408,) the Bishops requested the civil autho- 
 rities to ordain that all sights and shows should be 
 laid aside on the LordVday and other solemn fes- 
 tivals, on which the people went more to the theatre 
 than the church, neglecting their devotions when 
 these vanities came in their way. 
 
 The Council of Arragon, about the year 518, in the 
 reign of Theodoric king of the Goths, decreed that 
 no Bishop, or other person in holy orders, should 
 examine or pass judgment in any civil controversy on 
 the LordVday. 
 
 About the year 540 the third Council of Orleans, 
 which was held in the reign of Childebert, prohibited 
 all agricultural labors on the Lord's-day. 
 
 In a Fourth Council, held at Orleans about 547, 
 the Archdeacon, or other dignitary of the Church, 
 was required to take special care that all prisoners 
 every Lord's-day should be well relieved in what 
 their necessities called for. Another Institution, made 
 under the same king, prohibited morris-dances on the 
 Lord's-day. 
 
 King Gunthrum assembled a Council at Mascon in 
 Burgundy, in the year 587, which issued a Canon 
 prohibiting ordinary work on the Lord's-day, and 
 urging all men to observe it as the day of our new 
 birth. It speaks of the Lord's-day as the everlasting 
 g2 
 
I 2 1 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 day of rest, of which the Sabbath, in the Law and the 
 Prophets, was the shadow. It says that the day should 
 be spent in " hymns and praising God," being intent 
 thereon. 
 
 Another Council, held at Narbonne the year after, 
 issued orders to the same effect. 
 
 In the year 590 a Synod was held at Auxerre in 
 Champagne, in the reign of Clothaire king of France, 
 which prohibited agricultural labours. 
 
 About the year 627 the third Council of Toledo 
 complained of an irreligious custom then prevailing 
 among the lower classes in Spain, to practise wanton 
 dances on the LordVdays and holy-days. The king, 
 llicaredus, took great pains to prevent these dances, 
 and intlicted severe punishment on the offenders. 
 
 At Chalons, in Burgundy, about the year 654, a pro- 
 vincial Synod confirmed what had been done by the 
 third Council of Orleans, prohibiting agricultural labours 
 on the LordVday. 
 
 About the year 681 the twelfth Council of Toledo 
 forbad the Jews to keep their own festivals, but so far 
 to observe the LordVday as to do no manner of work 
 thereon. 
 
 In the year 692, the sixth General Council of Con- 
 stantinople, at which there were one hundred and 
 twenty-five bishops, the emperor Constantinus Pogo- 
 natus presiding, made two Canons respecting the 
 LordVday : the first enjoining that a full week should 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 125 
 
 be devoted to celebrating the anniversary of the Lord's 
 resurrection, which should be spent in singing psalms 
 and hymns and spiritual songs — in a constant reading 
 of the Holy Scriptures — in frequenting the blessed Sa- 
 crament. The second was with regard to the weekly 
 commemoration of the resurrection, enjoining the at- 
 tendance of the clergy and laity at divine service. 
 
 About the year 772, a Synod, held at Dingofolinum 
 in Bavaria, made a constitution prohibiting ordinary 
 work on the LordVday. 
 
 A Council held at Friuli, in Italy, about the year 
 791, called by Charlemagne, decreed that all people 
 should with due reverence and devotion honour the 
 LordVday, beginning on the evening of the day before ; 
 and that therein they should more especially abstain 
 from all kinds of sin, as also from all carnal acts and 
 secular labours ; and that they go to church in a grave 
 manner, laying aside all suits of law and controversies 
 which might prevent them assembling to praise God's 
 name. 
 
 Another Council assembled at Frankfort in Ger- 
 many, under Charlemagne, in 794, which determined 
 the limits of the LordVday to be from Saturday even- 
 ing till Sunday evening. 
 
 In the year 813, Charlemagne convoked four Coun- 
 cils, with a view to the observance of the LordVday, 
 ail which forbad markets and other worldly business 
 thereon: they were held at Mentz, Rheims, Tours, 
 Chalons, and Aries. The Council of Rheims founds 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 its Canon on " the Divine command." The Council 
 of Chalons, complaining of the prevailing neglect of the 
 day notwithstanding the Canons of the Church, en- 
 treats the Emperor to make a law enforcing its observ- 
 ance ; which he accordingly did, using every exertion 
 with that view. 
 
 In the year 828, in a Synod held at Rome, Pope 
 Eu genius gave directions that women and others who 
 spent the Lord's-day in dancing and singing should 
 be admonished by the Parish Priest, and advised to 
 attend divine worship, lest otherwise they bring some 
 great calamity on themselves and their neighbours. 
 
 A provincial Council held at Paris in the year 829, 
 under the emperors Louis and Lotharius, complains 
 of the prevailing profanation of the Lord's-day, and 
 regards as judgments for this sin the death by light- 
 ning of several countrymen whilst employed on works 
 of husbandry. All persons in authority are exhorted 
 to use their endeavours to have the day observed. 
 
 In the year 836, a Council at Aken, under Louis 
 the Pious, prohibited pleadings ; and also the celebra- 
 tion of marriages on the Lord's-day, which, though in 
 themselves suitable to the day, were often associated 
 with lightness and vanity. 
 
 In a Council held at Rome in 853, called by the 
 emperors Ludovic and Lotharius, it was commanded, 
 " That on the Lord's-day no one should do any work 
 " of merchandise, not even in matters relating to food, 
 " nor in any agricultural employments." This Canon, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 127 
 
 made at Rome, was confirmed at Compeigne, and 
 afterwards incorporated with the Canon Law, and in 
 this way became the law in nearly all Christendom. 
 
 About the year 858, Herardus, archbishop of Tours, 
 forbad all servile works, obscene words, and marketings 
 on the LordVday ; which he required to be religiously 
 kept from evening to evening. 
 
 In the year 858, the Bulgarians sent some questions 
 to Pope Nicholas, to which they desired answers. One 
 of them regarded the LordVday. The reply relating 
 to it was, " That they should desist from all secular 
 " work and carnal pleasures, or whatever contributed 
 " to defile the body ; and to do nothing but what was 
 " suitable to the day." 
 
 Councils prohibiting labour on the Lord's- day were 
 held at Friburg in Germany, a.d. 895 ; at Erfurdt, 
 a.d. 932 ; at Coy in Spain, a.d. 1050; at Lyons, a.d. 
 1244; at Angiers, a.d. 1282; at Valladolid, a.d. 1322; 
 at Sens, in France, 1524. 
 
 The Council of Mentz, about 1557, decreed that 
 those festivals of the saints which fell on the LordV- 
 day should be removed, that so all due respect should 
 be paid to the Lord of all saints. This Canon was 
 made because on the anniversaries of the saints many 
 sports and diversions were in use which were too light 
 and vain for the LordVday. 
 
 A similar decree was issued by a Council at Paris 
 about the year 1565. 
 
 A Council was held at Milan in the year J 565, and 
 
128 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 another iu the year 1573, which prohibited ordinary 
 work on the sacred days. 
 
 At a Council held at Cracow in the year 1573, and 
 also at one held at Petricow in 1578, the lords and 
 gentlemen were required not to permit fairs or markets 
 in the towns belonging to them, nor to employ their 
 servants, nor to suffer taverns to be frequented, on the 
 LordVday. 
 
 A Council was held at Bourges in the year 1582; 
 one at Rheims in 1583 ; and one at Tours in 1583. 
 These all lament the disregard for the LordVday and 
 other festivals which prevailed, and prohibit work and 
 pleasures unsuitable to those days. 
 
 In the Synod of Dort, in the year 1618, the civil 
 magistrates were requested, by their edicts and procla- 
 mations, to restrain several works, games, drinking, 
 and other profanations of the LordVday, wherein the 
 afternoons of that day were spent, so that the people 
 might attend on the catechizing. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 129 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LAWS REGARDING THE LORD'S-DAY MADE IN ENGLAND 
 BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 
 
 The LordVday was observed with great reverence 
 in the British Churches, before the invasion and sub- 
 jugation of England by the Saxons. 
 
 In Kings " Primer of the ChurchHistory of Ireland," 
 book ii., chap. xi. page 371, it is stated, — 
 
 " That the Lord's-day was honoured by the early Irish 
 Christians (as well as by those of England and other 
 countries) with peculiar veneration, and set apart for re- 
 ligious improvement and learning of the word of God, at 
 least by such as were most earnest and sincere in their 
 piety. By such persons all secular business, travelling, 
 writing in public offices, &c. &c, unless in cases of extreme 
 necessity, was deemed unlawful: and it is recorded of 
 some of the old saints of Ireland, that they observed the 
 rule so strictly, that, in a journey, wherever they heard the 
 first sound of the vesper bell on Saturday evening, as the 
 day of rest came on, there they would stop for the next 
 day and night, until Monday morning, occupied with the 
 praises of Grod and the contemplation of Divine and 
 heavenly things." 
 
 G 3 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Iu a, king of the West Saxons,, in 692, by the advice 
 
 of Conrad his father, and Heddes and Erkenwald his 
 
 Bishops, with all his Aldermen and Sages, in a great 
 
 assembly of the servants of God, for the health of their 
 
 souls and common preservation of the kingdom, made 
 
 several constitutions, of which the third was : — " If a 
 
 f servant do any work on Sunday by his master's 
 
 1 order, he shall be free, and the master pay thirty 
 
 ( shillings ; but if he went to work of his own will, he 
 
 ' shall be either beaten with stripes, or ransom himself 
 
 1 with a fine. A freeman, if he works on this day, 
 
 ' shall lose his freedom, or pay sixty shillings; if he 
 
 • be a priest, double." 
 
 A Synod held at Berkhampstead in 697, under Ber- 
 tualdus, archbishop of Canterbury, resolved, That 
 if any person worked after sunset on Saturday or 
 Sunday evening, he should suffer punishment vary- 
 ing with his condition in life : half the fine inflicted 
 on a freeman was to be given to the informer. 
 
 In 747, a Council was called under Cuthbert, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, at Clovesho, in the reign of 
 Egbert, king of Kent, in which it was ordered, 
 " That the Lord's- day be celebrated with due venera- 
 tion, and wholly devoted to the worship of God." 
 
 In 78 1, Egbert, archbishop of York, issued a Canon 
 lespecting the LordVday, in which it is enjoined, 
 " That nothing be done on the Lord's-day but to 
 attend on God in hymns and psalms, and spiritual 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 131 
 
 In 876, Alfred the Great made a law for the observ- 
 ance of the Lord's-day, — as the day whereon our 
 Saviour Christ overcame the devil. By this law severe 
 penalties were to be inflicted for the transaction of 
 ordinary business on the Lord's-day, on both Danes 
 and Englishmen. 
 
 In the year 905, the laws of Alfred were confirmed 
 in a league between Edward, the son and successor of 
 Alfred, and Guuthrum king of the Danes in England. 
 King Athelstan, son of Edward, made a similar law in 
 928. 
 
 In the year 943 Otho, archbishop of Canterbury, 
 issued a decree in favour of the observance of the 
 Lord's-day with all possible care, according to the 
 canon and ancient practice. 
 
 About 963, King Edgar prohibited all ordinary 
 labour on the Lord's-day ; and a doubt having arisen 
 as to the time when the day should commence and 
 conclude, he commanded it should be kept from three 
 o'clock on the Saturday afternoon till daybreak on 
 Monday. Amusements were also, doubtless, prohibited 
 in these times ; for it is recorded of Dunstan, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury (980), that he forbade King 
 Edgar to hunt on the Lord's-day. 
 
 Ethelred the younger, son of Edgar, soon after he 
 came to the crown, about the year 1009, called a 
 general council of all the English Clergy under Elfea- 
 gus, archbishop of Canterbury, and Wolston, arch- 
 bishop of York, which enjoined the observance of the 
 Lord's-day. 
 
132 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 King Canute, in 1032, confirmed this law; and, ac- 
 cording to King Edgar's rule, be began the observance 
 of the Lord's-day at three o'clock in the afternoon of 
 Saturday, and ended it at daybreak on Monday. 
 
 In the year 1180, a Convocation of the Scotch Clergy 
 exhibited great zeal for the observance of the Lord's- 
 day, and ordained that every Saturday, from twelve 
 o'clock, should be set apart for preparation for the 
 Lord's-day; and that all people on Saturday evening, 
 at the sound of the bell, should address themselves to 
 hear prayers, and should abstain from worldly labours 
 till Monday morning. 
 
 Edward the Confessor (1054) made a collection of 
 the Danish, Saxon, and Mercian laws, and what he 
 found most useful he confirmed. Like his predecessor, 
 lie prohibited all legal proceedings and ordinary busi- 
 ness on the Lord's-day ; and commanded that from 
 three on Saturday afternoon, till Monday morning, 
 should be a time of rest. 
 
 Henry II. (1155) ratified the law of Edward the 
 Confessor. The misfortunes of this king, Henry II., 
 were by many considered as a judgment for the disre- 
 gard of the Lord's-day, evinced in his own conduct. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE VARIOUS LAWS RESPECTING THE 
 LORD'S-DAY WHICH HAVE BEEN ENACTED IN ENG- 
 LAND, FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE PRE- 
 SENT TIME. 
 
 The summary of the laws with which the reader is 
 here presented, contains an abstract of those which 
 have been repealed, and of those still in force. This 
 summary will illustrate the course which legislation 
 has taken in this country on the subject of the Lord's- 
 day, and the varying degrees of enlightenment existing 
 regarding it at different periods of our history. One 
 thing is manifest, that whatever views divines enter- 
 tained, the legislature of the country were always alive 
 to the bearing of the observance of the Lord's-day on 
 the morality of the country. We may also, from this 
 summary, form an idea of the profanations of the 
 Lord's-day, which prevailed at particular periods, by 
 the laws enacted against them. 
 
 Thus, in the reign of Edward III., a practice existed 
 of showing or exhibiting wool on the Lord's- day ; in 
 
134 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the reign of Henry VL, it was felt necessary to repress 
 by legislation the holding of fairs and markets on the 
 Lord's-day — the four Sundays in harvest excepted. It 
 appears from this Act, that the Lord's-day was consi- 
 dered only as one of the festivals, the observance of which 
 might be dispensed by human authority. In the reign 
 of Elizabeth we trace, in the law passed in the twenty- 
 third year of her reign, the character of her rule. Her 
 subjects are regarded as the subjects of a Christian 
 country and queen, and, as such, all are expected and 
 required to make an external profession of religion. 
 
 In the reign of James I., trading in boots and shoes 
 on the Lord's-day is prohibited by law ; and by an Act 
 passed in the first year of the reign of Charles I., it 
 was found necessary to restrain by a law assemblages 
 of persons from various parishes on the Lord's-day. 
 And, in the second year of the same king, travelling of 
 carriages is prohibited. 
 
 TTe can easily conceive how inconsistent with such 
 legislation must have appeared to his subjects the re- 
 issuing, on the part of the King, of the "Book of 
 Sports" of his father, which virtually encouraged what 
 the Act of the first year of his reign pronounced un- 
 lawful. 
 
 The Act of the 29th Ch. 2. c. 7, is a very important 
 one, still in force, and needing only some amendments, 
 chiefly as regards an increase in the amount of the 
 penalties, to render it efficient. It prohibits the follow- 
 ing of ordinary callings, and enjoins upon all, publicly 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 135 
 
 and privately, to exercise themselves in the duties of 
 piety and true religion. 
 
 The Act 21 Geo. III. c. 49, has proved a highly bene- 
 ficial law, in preventing places of amusement being 
 opened for payment of money on the Lord's-day. 
 Bishop Porteus was the first who suggested the neces- 
 sity of an Act of this nature, in order to suppress 
 assemblages of an immoral and irreligious tendency on 
 the LordVday. The Act, though stringent and effi- 
 cient for its purposes, is evaded with impunity in Lon- 
 don, persons being admitted to public gardens by 
 means of refreshment tickets purchased on the ordi- 
 nary days of the week. 
 
 In the reign of George IV., and subsequently at 
 different times, Acts were passed regulating inns, 
 taverns, &c, on the Lord's-day. It is to be hoped the 
 day is not far distant when the law will require them 
 to be closed wholly on the Lord's-day, with such ex- 
 ceptions as charity may require ; for it is now an esta- 
 blished fact, that crime increases in the same degree in 
 which public-houses are allowed to be open on the 
 Lord's-day. 
 
 The Act 3 & 4 William IV. is deserving of special 
 notice. It enables the election of officers of corpora- 
 tions, formerly required to be held on the Lord's-day, 
 to be held on Saturday or Monday. It is the Act of 
 the late Sir Andrew Agnew, and was passed in 1833. 
 The Bill was drawn up by Mr. George Rochfort 
 Clarke ; the preamble of it is important, for it asserts 
 
136 HISTORY OF THE SAEBATH. 
 
 it to be " the duty of the legislature to remove as much 
 as possible impediments to the due observance of the 
 LordVday. 
 
 Imperfect as is our legislation on the subject of the 
 Lord's-day, yet it has proved a mighty barrier to keep 
 out the tide of profanation of the day with which the 
 love of gain and of pleasure, more than of God, would 
 otherwise have inundated us ; it has also proved highly 
 protective to society in general, in securing to a popula- 
 tion the most active, industrious, and hard-worked in 
 Europe, the privilege of one day in seven for religious 
 instruction and rest. 
 
 SUMMARY OF STATUTES FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF 
 THE LORD 1 S-DAY. 
 
 By 28 Edw. 3, c. 14, the showing of wool is prohibited 
 on Sunday. 
 
 By 27 Hen. 6, c. 5, all manner of fairs and markets on 
 the principal Feasts and Sundays, and Good Fridays, are 
 prohibited (necessary victual only excepted) upon pain of 
 forfeiture of the goods (the four Sundays in harvest ex- 
 cepted, which exception was repealed by 13 & 14 Vict. c. 23 : 
 see post) . 
 
 By 1 Eliz. c. 2, "An Act for the Uniformity of Com- 
 mon Prayer and Service in the Church and Administration 
 of the Sacraments," s. 14, all persons, having no lawful or 
 reasonable excuse, shall diligently and faithfully resort to 
 their parish church or chapel accustomed upon every Sun- 
 day and holy days, upon pain of punishment by the cen- 
 sures of the Church, and of 12d. for every offence. And 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 137 
 
 see 3 James 1, c. 4, s. 27. [Repealed as to Roman Ca- 
 tholics by 7 & 8 Vict., c. 102, and generally by 9 & 10 
 Vict. c. 59.] 
 
 By 23 Eliz. c. 1, " An Act to retain the Queen's Ma- 
 jesty's Subjects in their due obedience," s. 5, every person 
 above the age of sixteen, who shall not repair to some 
 church, chapel, or usual place of common prayer, but for- 
 bear the same, contrary to the last-mentioned statute, shall 
 forfeit for every month which he or she shall so forbear, 
 £20. ; and besides the said forfeitures, every person so for- 
 bearing for twelve months, shall be bound with two suffi- 
 cient sureties in £200. to good behaviour, and so to con- 
 tinue bound, until they do conform and come to the church, 
 according to the true meaning of the above statute of the 
 1st of Her Majesty's reign. [Repealed 7 & 8 Vict. 
 c. 102.] 
 
 By 1 James 1, c. 22, s. 21, no shoes, boots, &c, are to 
 be shown to the intent to put to sale upon the Sunday, 
 on pain of forfeiture for every pair of 3s. 4d., and the full 
 value of the articles. 
 
 By 1 Ch. 1, c. 1, " An Act for punishing divers abuses 
 committed on the Lord's-day, commonly called Sunday," 
 there shall be no meetings, assemblies, or concourse of peo- 
 ple out of their own parishes on the Lord's-day, for any 
 sports and pastimes whatsoever ; nor any bear-baiting, bull- 
 baiting, interludes, common plays, or other unlawful exer- 
 cises and pastimes used by any persons within their own 
 parishes, under a penalty of 3s. 4d. for every offence. 
 
 By 3 Ch. 1, c. 2, " An Act for the further Reformation 
 of sundry Abuses committed on the Lord's-day, commonly 
 called Sunday," no carrier with any horse, nor waggonmen 
 with any waggon, nor carmen with any cart, nor wain men 
 with any wain, nor drovers with any cattle, shall travel 
 upon the Sunday, under a penalty of 20s. for every offence ; 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 or if any butcher shall kill or sell any victual upon the 
 said da}^, he shall forfeit 6s. 8d. for every offence. 
 
 By 29 Ch. 2, c. 7, " An Act for the better Observation 
 of the Lord's-day, commonly called Sunday," s. 1, all the 
 laws in force concerning the observation of the Lord's-day, 
 and repairing to the church thereon, shall be carefully put 
 in execution : and all persons shall, on every Lord's-day, 
 apply themselves to the observation of the same, by exer- 
 cising themselves thereon in the duties of piety and true 
 religion, publicly and privately ; and no tradesman, arti- 
 ficer, workman, labourer, or other person whatsoever, shall 
 do or exercise any worldly labour, business or work of their 
 ordina^ callings upon the Lord's-day, or any part thereof 
 (works of necessity and charity only excepted) ; and every 
 person of the age of fourteen years or upwards offending in 
 the premises, shall for every such offence forfeit the sum of 
 5s. And that no person or persons whatsoever shall pub- 
 licly cry, show forth, or expose to sale any wares, mer- 
 chandises, fruit, herbs, goods or chattels whatsoever upon 
 the Lord's-day, or any part thereof, upon pain of forfeit- 
 ing the same. S. 2, no drover, horse-courser, waggoner, 
 butcher, higgler, or any of their servants, shall travel or 
 come to their inn or lodging upon the Lord's-day, under 
 the penalty of 20s. for every offence ; and no person shall 
 use, employ, or travel upon the Lord's-day with any boat^ 
 wherry, lighter, or barge, except it be upon extraordinary 
 occasion, to be allowed by some justice of the peace- or 
 head officer, under the forfeiture of 5s. # And the justice 
 
 * By s. 1 of 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 75, " For the better regulation of 
 Watermen and Lightermen on the river Thames, between Yantlet 
 Creek and Windsor," the latter clause is repealed ; and the Court of 
 Master, Wardens, and Assistants shall appoint a certain number of 
 watermen to ply on the Thames on every Sunday between Chelsea 
 and Bow Creek. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 139 
 
 shall give warrant to the constables or churchwardens of 
 the parish to seize the goods cried, showed forth, or put to 
 sale, and to sell the same. S. 3 provides that nothing in 
 the Act shall extend to the dressing of meat in families, or 
 dressing or selling of meat in inns, cook-shops, or victual- 
 ling houses, for such as otherwise cannot be provided, nor 
 to the crying or selling of milk before nine of the clock in 
 the morning, or after four of the clock in the afternoon. 
 S. 5, if any person who shall travel on the Lord's-day, 
 shall be then robbed, no hundred, or the inhabitants thereof, 
 shall be charged with or answerable for any robbery so 
 committed, but the person robbed shall be barred from 
 bringing any action for the said robbery ; nevertheless the 
 inhabitants (after notice or hue and cry) shall cry and 
 make, or cause to be made, fresh suit after the offenders, 
 according to the stat. 27 Eliz. c. 13, and upon pain of for- 
 feiting as much money as might have been recovered 
 against the hundred. S. 6, no person shall, upon the 
 Lord's-day, serve or execute any writ, process, warrant 
 order, judgment, or decree, (except in cases of treason, 
 felony, or breach of the peace,) but the service thereof 
 shall be void ; and persons so serving shall be as liable to 
 the suit of the party grieved, and to answer damages to 
 him, as if he had done the same without writ, process, 
 warrant, order, judgment, or decree. [By 9 Anne, c. 23, 
 s. 20, Licensed Hackney Coachmen and Chairmen are 
 authorized to ply and stand and drive and carry within the 
 bills of mortality notwithstanding 29 Ch. 2, c. 7, and sec. 
 1&2 W. 4, c. 22, s. 37,^o^.] 
 
 By 1 W. & M. c. 18, "An Act for exempting their 
 Majesties' Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church 
 of England from the Penalties of certain Laws," s. 2, the 
 above-mentioned enactments in the statutes 1 Eliz. c. 2, 
 and 23 Eliz. c. 1, are not to extend to persons dissenting 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 from the Church of England, who shall take the oaths 
 and make the declaration therein referred to. S. 16, all 
 the laws made and provided for the frequenting of Divine 
 service on the Lord's-day, shall be still in force, and 
 executed against all persons that offend against the said 
 laws, unless such persons come to some congregation or 
 assembly of religious worship allowed or permitted by that 
 Act. 
 
 By 10 & 11 W. 3, c. 24, " An Act for making Billings- 
 gate a free Market for the Sale of Fish," Billingsgate 
 market shall be every day in the week (except Sundays) 
 a free and open market for all sorts of fish. S. 14. pro- 
 vides, that nothing in the Act contained shall be construed 
 to prohibit the selling of mackerel before or after Divine 
 service on Sundays. 
 
 By 11 & 12 W. 3, c. 21, an Act for the regulation of 
 Watermen upon the Thames, s. ] 3, reciting that a great 
 number of idle and loose watermen and boys do work on 
 the Lord's-day, and exact large prices from passengers, 
 whose necessary occasions oblige them to pass and repass 
 the river, and generally spend such their gains in drunken- 
 ness and profaneness the succeeding week ; for prevention 
 thereof, and to the end that what shall be got thereby 
 may be applied to the charitable relief of aged and maimed 
 watermen and lightermen, their widows and children, the 
 Watermen's Company are authorized to appoint any 
 number of watermen, not exceeding forty, to ply and 
 work on every Lord's-day between Vauxhall and Lime- 
 house, for carrying and re-carrying passengers across the 
 river, at Id. each person. 
 
 By 2 Geo. 3, c. 15, " An Act for the better supplying 
 the Cities of London and Westminster with Fish, and to 
 reduce the present exorbitant Price thereof, and to pro- 
 tect and encourage Fishermen," s. 7, fish carriages are 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH, 
 
 141 
 
 allowed to travel on Sunday, whether laden or returning 
 empty, and the horses which shall return from drawing 
 any such carriage, though rode on by any driver, or draw- 
 ing back any empty fish carriage, shall be allowed to pass 
 on Sundays, without any such driver incurring any penalty 
 for so travelling. S. 11, all fish that shall be brought by 
 land carriage to London or Westminster, or to any other 
 place within the weekly bills of mortality, shall the next 
 morning at farthest be exposed to sale (except such next 
 day shall happen to be Sunday, and in such case on 
 Monday morning next following). S. 12. provides that 
 nothing in the Act contained shall be construed to pro- 
 hibit the selling any mackerel which shall be brought by 
 any such fish carriage before or after Divine service on a 
 Sunday. 
 
 By 21 Geo. 3, c. 49, " An Act for preventing certain 
 Abuses and Profanations on the Lord's-day, called Sun- 
 day," s. 1, reciting, that "certain Houses, Eooms, or 
 Places within the Cities of London or Westminster, or 
 in the Neighbourhood thereof, have of late frequently 
 been opened for Public Entertainment or Amusement 
 upon the evening of the Lord's-day, commonly called 
 Sunday; and at other Houses, Eooms, or Places within 
 the said Cities, or in the Neighbourhood thereof, under 
 pretence of inquiring into Eeligious Doctrines and ex- 
 plaining Texts of Holy Scripture. Debates have fre- 
 quently been held on the evening of the Lord's-day, 
 concerning divers Texts of Holy Scripture, by persons 
 unlearned and incompetent to explain the same, to the 
 corruption of good Morals, and to the great encourage- 
 ment of Irreligion and Profaneness ;" it is enacted, that 
 any house, room, or other place which shall be opened or 
 used for public entertainment or amusement, or for pub- 
 licly debating on any subject whatsoever on any part of 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the Lord's-day, called Sunday, and to which persons shall 
 be admitted by a payment of money, or by tickets sold 
 for money, shall be deemed a disorderly house or place, 
 and the keeper thereof shall forfeit £200 for every day 
 that such house, room, or place shall be opened or used as 
 aforesaid on the Lord's-da} r , to such person as will sue for 
 the same, and be otherwise punishable as in cases of dis- 
 orderly houses ; and the persons managing or conducting 
 such entertainment or amusement on the Lord's-day, or 
 acting as master of the ceremonies there, or as moderator, 
 president, or chairman of any such meeting for public 
 debate on the Lord's-day, shall likewise for every such 
 offence forfeit £100 to such persons as will sue for the 
 same. And every door-keeper, servant, or other person 
 who shall collect or receive money or tickets from persons 
 assembling at such house, or who shall deliver out tickets 
 for admitting persons thereto, shall also forfeit £50. S. 3, 
 any person advertising such public entertainment, or 
 amusement, or meeting, or printing or publishing any 
 such advertisement, shall forfeit £50. S. 2, any house, 
 room, or place at which persons shall be supplied with 
 tea, coffee, or any other refreshments of eating or drinking 
 on the Lord's-da3 r , at any greater prices than the common 
 and usual prices at which the like refreshments are com- 
 monly sold upon other days, shall be deemed a place to 
 which persons are admitted by the payment of money, 
 although money be not there taken in the name of or for 
 admittance, or at the time when persons enter or depart. 
 Any house, room, or place which shall be opened or used 
 for any public entertainment or amusement, or for public 
 debate on the Lord's-day, at the expense of any number of 
 subscribers or contributors, and to which persons shall be 
 admitted by tickets to which subscribers or contributors 
 shall be entitled, shall be deemed a place to which persons 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 143 
 
 are admitted by the payment of money. S. 8, provides, 
 that nothing in the Act contained shall alter any of the 
 liberties to which Protestant subjects being dissenters are 
 entitled under 1 W. & M. c. 18. 
 
 By 3 Geo. 4, c. 106 (Local Act), an Act to provide 
 regulations for the making and sale of bread in the City 
 of London and the liberties thereof, and within the weekly 
 bills of mortality and ten miles of the Royal Exchange, 
 s. 16, no master, mistress, journeyman, or other person 
 exercising or employed in the trade or calling of a baker 
 within the limits aforesaid, shall on the Lord's-day or any 
 part thereof make or bake any bread, rolls, or cakes, or 
 shall on any other part of the said day than between nine 
 in the forenoon and one in the afternoon, on any pretence 
 whatsoever, sell or expose to sale any bread, rolls, or cakes 
 of any sort or kind, or bake or deliver any meat, pudding, 
 pie, tart, or victuals, except as hereinafter excepted, or in 
 any other manner exercise the trade or calling of a baker, 
 except so far as may be necessary in setting and super- 
 intending the sponge to prepare the bread or dough for 
 the following day's baking. And every person offending 
 against the last-mentioned regulations, or any one or more 
 of them, or making any sale or delivery thereby allowed 
 otherwise than within the bakehouse or shop, and being 
 thereof convicted, shall pay for the first offence, 10s. ; for 
 the second offence, 20s. ; and for the third and every sub- 
 sequent offence, 40s. with costs : provided that it shall be 
 lawful for every master or mistress baker residing within 
 the limits aforesaid to deliver to his or her customers on 
 the Lord's-day, any bakings until half-past one in the 
 afternoon, without being liable to any of the penalties. 
 
 By 9 Geo. 4, c. 61, " An Act to regulate the granting 
 of Licences to Keepers of Inns, Ale-Houses, and Victual- 
 ling-Houses in England," s. 13, every license which shall 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 be granted under the Act, shall be according to the form 
 in the schedule annexed. And every licence in any other 
 form shall not entitle any person to obtain an excise 
 licence for selling exciseable liquors by retail, to be drunk 
 or consumed on the premises of the person licensed, and 
 shall be utterly void. S. 17, no licence for the sale of any 
 exciseable liquors by retail, to be drunk or consumed on 
 the premises of the person licensed, shall be granted by the 
 Commissioners of Excise, unless such person shall have 
 previously obtained from the justices a licence under the 
 Act : and by the form of license so referred to, the party 
 licensed is authorized to sell by retail in the inn, ale-house, 
 or victualling-house therein specified, and in the premises 
 thereunto belonging, all such exciseable liquors as he shall 
 be licensed or empowered to sell under the authority and 
 permission of any excise licence, and to permit all such 
 liquors to be drunk or consumed in his said house, or on 
 the premises thereunto belonging, provided (among other 
 things) he do not keep open his house except for the recep- 
 tion of travellers, nor permit any beer or other exciseable 
 liquor to be conveyed from or out of his premises during 
 the usual hours of the morning and afternoon Divine ser- 
 vice in the church or chapel of the parish or place on Sun- 
 days, Christmas-day, or Good Friday. 
 
 By 11 Geo. 4 & 1 W. 4, c. 64, "An Act to permit the 
 general Sale of Beer and Cyder by Retail in England," s. 
 14, no person licensed to sell beer by retail under that Act, 
 shall sell or retail beer, nor suffer any beer to be drunk or 
 consumed in or at such house at any time within the hours 
 of ten in the forenoon and one in the afternoon, or between 
 the hours of three and five in the afternoon, on any Sun- 
 day, Good Friday, Christmas-day, or any day appointed 
 for a public fast or thanksgiving, under a penalty of 40s. 
 for every offence : and every separate sale shall be deemed 
 
HISTORY OF THE SA.BBATH. 145 
 
 a separate offence, and a condition to the same effect is in- 
 serted in the form of the license annexed to the Act. 
 
 By 1 & 2 W. 4, c. 22, " An Act to amend the laws re- 
 lating to Hackney Carriages," &c, s. 37, it shall be lawful 
 for the proprietor or driver of any hackney carriage, licensed 
 under that Act, to stand and ply for hire for such carriage, 
 and to drive the same on the Lord's-day. And such pro- 
 prietor or driver who shall so stand or ply for hire shall be 
 compellable to do the like work on the Lord's-day as he is 
 compellable to do on any other day of the week. 
 
 By 1 & 2 W. 4, c. 32, " An Act to amend the laws in 
 England relative to Game," s. 3, if any person whatsoever 
 shall kill or take any game, or use any dog, gun, net, or 
 other engine or instrument with the purpose of killing or 
 taking any game on a Sunday or Christmas Day, such per- 
 son shall, on conviction thereof before two justices of the 
 peace, forfeit and pay for every such offence such sum of 
 money, not exceeding £5, as to the said justices shall seem 
 meet, together with the costs of the conviction. 
 
 By 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 31, " An Act to enable the Election 
 of Officers of Corporations and other public Companies, 
 now required to be held on the Lord's-day, to be held on 
 the Saturday next preceding, or on the Monday next en- 
 suing," s. 1, every meeting, or adjourned meeting, of any 
 vestry or corporation, whether ecclesiastical or civil, or of 
 any public company, for the nomination, election, appoint- 
 ment, swearing-in, or admission of any officer, or for the 
 transaction of any other secular affair, and every other 
 meeting of a public and secular nature, which, according to 
 any Act of Parliament, or according to any charter, grant, 
 constitution, deed, testament, law, prescription, or usage, 
 is or shall be required to be held on any Lord's-day, or any 
 day which shall happen to be on a Lord's-day, shall be 
 held on the Saturday next preceding, or on the Monday 
 
146 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 next ensuing, at the like hour, with the like form and 
 effect, as if the same had been held on such Lord's-day ; 
 and every matter transacted at any such meeting or ad- 
 journed meeting, held upon any Lord's-day, shall be abso- 
 lutely void. 
 
 By 6 & 7 W. 4, c. 27, " An Act for making and regulat- 
 ing the sale of Bread out of the City of London," &c. s. 
 14, no master, mistress, journeyman, or other person exer- 
 cising or employed in the trade or calling of a baker out 
 of the City of London and the liberties thereof, and beyond 
 the weekly bills of mortality and ten miles of the Royal 
 Exchange, shall on the Lord's-day or on any part thereof 
 make or bake any bread, rolls, or cakes, nor hdiall on any 
 other part of the said da}^, after the hour of half-past one 
 p.m., sell or expose to sale, or permit or suffer to be sold 
 or exposed for sale, any bread, rolls, or cakes of any sort 
 or kind, or bake or deliver any meat, pudding, pie, tart, or 
 victuals, or in any other manner exercise the trade or call- 
 ing of a baker, or be engaged or employed in the business 
 or occupation thereof, except so far as may be necessary in 
 setting and superintending the sponge to prepare the bread 
 or dough for the following day's baking. And every per- 
 son offending against the foregoing regulations, or any one 
 or more of them, to be subject on conviction to a penalty 
 of 10s. for the first offence, 20s. for the second, and 40s. 
 for the third and every subsequent offence, with costs: 
 provided that it shall be lawful for every baker residing 
 beyond the limits aforesaid to deliver to his or her cus- 
 tomers on the Lord's-day any bakings until half-past 
 one p.m. 
 
 By 2 & 3 Vic. c. 47, " An Act for further improving the 
 Police in and near the Metropolis," s. 42, no licensed vic- 
 tualler or other person shall open his house, within the 
 Metropolitan Police district, for the sale of wine, spirits, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 147 
 
 beer, or other fermented or distilled liquors, on Sundays, 
 Christmas Day, and Good Friday, before the hour of one 
 in the afternoon, except refreshment for travellers. 
 
 3 & 4 Vict. c. 61, " An Act to amend the Acts relat- 
 ing to the General Sale of Beer and Cider by retail in 
 England," contained a clause in sec. 15 prohibiting the 
 opening of licensed houses, and the sale of beer or cider 
 therein, before one o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday ; 
 but this was repealed by s. 2. of stat. 11 & 12 Vic. c. 49. 
 
 By 11 & 12 Vic. c. 49, "An Act for regulating the Sale 
 of Beer and other Liquors on the Lord's-day," no licensed 
 victualler, or person licensed to sell beer by retail to be 
 drunk on the premises or not to be drunk on the premises, 
 or other person in Great Britain, shall open his house for 
 the sale of wine, spirits, beer, or other fermented or dis- 
 tilled liquors, or sell the same on Sunday before half-past 
 twelve o'clock in the afternoon, or where the Divine service 
 in the church, chapel, kirk, or principal place of worship of 
 the parish or place shall not usually terminate by that time 
 before the termination of such service ; and no licensed 
 victualler or other person in England shall open his house 
 for the sale of wine, spirits, beer, or other fermented or 
 distilled liquors, or sell the same on Christmas Day or Good 
 Friday, or any day appointed for a public fast or thanks- 
 giving, before the respective times aforesaid, except in all 
 the cases aforesaid as refreshment for travellers ; provided 
 that nothing herein contained shall authorize the opening 
 of any house for the sale of wine, spirits, beer, or other 
 fermented or distilled liquors within the Metropolitan 
 Police district, or any city, town, or place, at an earlier 
 hour or time than is now allowed by law where the opening 
 of such house or such sale is now specially prohibited before 
 any later hour or time than that herein-before mentioned. 
 S. 4 contains the same prohibition against persons opening 
 H 2 
 
148 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 any house or 'place of public resort for the sale of fermented 
 or distilled liquors, or selling therein such liquors in Eng- 
 land and Scotland on Sunday, and in England on Christ- 
 mas Day, Good Friday, and any day appointed for a public 
 fast or thanksgiving. S. 6, every offender shall be liable 
 to a penalty not exceeding £5 for every offence ; and every 
 separate sale shall be deemed a separate offence. 
 
 By 13 & 14 Vic. c. 23, the exception of the four Sundays 
 in harvest, contained in stat. 27 H. 6, c. 5, is repealed. 
 
 17 & 18 Vic. c. 79, " An Act for the further regulating 
 the Sale of Beer and other Liquors on the Lord's-day," 
 s. 1, prohibited the opening of houses for the sale of' and 
 the selling of beer, wine, spirits, or any other fermented or 
 distilled liquor, between half-past two o'clock and six o'clock, 
 or after ten in the afternoon on Sunday, or on Christmas 
 Day or Good Friday, or on any day appointed for a public 
 fast or thanksgiving, or before four o'clock in the morning 
 of the day following such Sunday, Christmas Day or Good 
 Friday, or such days of public fast or thanksgiving, except 
 as refreshments to a bond fide traveller or a lodger therein. 
 And s. 2, contained the same prohibition against persons 
 opening any house or place of public resort for the sale of 
 fermented or distilled liquors, or selling therein such liquors, 
 in any part of England or Wales. But the above statute 
 was repealed by 18 & 19 Vic. c. 118, which substituted the 
 following provisions in lieu thereof. 
 
 S. 2. It shall not be lawful for any licensed victualler, or 
 person licensed to sell beer by retail to be drunk on the 
 premises, or not to be drunk on the premises, or any person 
 licensed or authorized to sell any fermented or distilled 
 liquors, or any person who, by reason of the freedom of the 
 mystery or craft of vintners of the City of London, or of 
 any right or privilege, shall claim to be entitled to sell 
 wine by retail to be drunk or consumed on the premises in 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 149 
 
 any part of England or Wales, to open or keep open his 
 house for the sale of or to sell beer, wine, spirits, or any 
 other fermented or distilled liquor between the hours of 
 three and five o'clock in the afternoon, nor after eleven 
 o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday, or on Christmas Day 
 or Good Friday, or any day appointed for a public fast 
 or thanksgiving, or before four o'clock in the morning of 
 the day following Sunday, Christmas Day, or Good Friday, 
 or such days of public fast or thanksgiving, except to a 
 traveller or lodger therein. 
 
 S. 3, contains the same prohibition against persons open- 
 ing any house or place of public resort for the sale of fer- 
 mented or distilled liquors, or selling therein such liquors 
 in England and Wales except to travellers. 
 
 S. 5. Every offender shall be liable, upon a summary 
 conviction, to a penalty not exceeding £5. for every offence ; 
 and every separate sale shall be deemed a separate offence. 
 
150 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL PROCEEDINGS IN ENGLAND RE- 
 GARDING THE LORD'S-DAY AFTER THE NORMAN 
 CONQUEST. 
 
 In the year 1201, in the beginning of King John's 
 reign, Eustathius Abbot de Flay preached in many 
 places, urging the observance of the Lord's-day : 
 among other things, forbidding markets to be held 
 thereon. Accordingly it is recorded, " That many for- 
 " bore all sale of goods, but meat and drink to passen- 
 " gers ; and some were so zealous as to disturb the 
 " markets of those who assented not, and overthrew the 
 " booths and stalls where the commodities were lodged 
 " on those occasions ; which, coming to the ears of the 
 " King and Council (without whose licence all this was 
 " done) they were cited and fined for their disorderly 
 " conduct. But to confront their authority, and keep 
 " up the people's spirits, the Abbot produced, what he 
 " professed to be a Divine warrant or mandate from 
 " heaven for the strict observance of the Lord's-day." 
 
 Thus was an effort made to support the cause of 
 Truth by falsehood and superstition j and this Abbot, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 151 
 
 forsaking the word of God, had recourse to a foolish 
 and wicked fable to promote the observance of the 
 Lord's-day, associating with it those holy days which 
 had only human authority for their observance. 
 
 At a Council held at Oxford, 12.22, holy days were 
 divided into three classes : in the first were all LoriVs- 
 days, Dies Dominici ; also the feasts of the Dedication 
 of Churches. These feasts were subsequently observed 
 on the Lord's-day. 
 
 In the year 1237, in the reign of Henry III., Ed- 
 mond de Abendon being Archbishop of Canterbury, a 
 constitution was made requiring Ministers to forbid 
 their parishioners attending markets on the Lord's- 
 day, and leaving the church where they ought to assem- 
 ble for prayer, and to hear the word of God. Excom- 
 munication was to be the penalty for disregard of this 
 constitution. 
 
 In the year 1255, Walter, Bishop of Durham, issued 
 a decree prohibiting marketings in holy places and on 
 the Lord's-day. 
 
 About the year 1287, Peter Quivil, Bishop of Exeter, 
 in a Synod called by him at Exeter, says, — 
 
 " Both the Old and New Testament have assigned a 
 seventh day for a day of rest, wherefore the Jews observed 
 their Sabbath according to the letter, but we the Lord's- 
 day in the true sense and meaning of it. For whereas they 
 understood it kept in the forbearance of ordinary work, we 
 Christians on this day are to go to church to hear holy 
 duties, and learn the rule of living well ; and the more the 
 
152 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 business of this world diverts people on other daj^s, and 
 will not suffer them to be present at Divine Service, so 
 much the more in these days are they obliged to make 
 their appearance there ; that as all the week they have 
 been labouring for the meat that perisheth, so they might 
 on this day be refreshed with that meat which endureth to 
 everlasting life. Wherefore we require all Ministers to 
 teach their parishioners, and persuade them to resort to 
 the church at such times to assist at the Divine offices, 
 and be instructed in their duty. And if any, through the 
 prevalence of an ill custom, do keep away, let such be 
 punished by their respective ordinaries. And that all 
 colour for absence may be prevented, we prohibit markets 
 on the Lord's-day within our diocese on pain of excommu- 
 nication, or the selling of any goods whatever, except neces- 
 sary provision, and that not during the hours of service." 
 
 In the reign of Edward III., 1358, Islippe, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, issued a constitution which will 
 also show to what an extent and in what forms desecra- 
 tion of the Lord's-day prevailed in the fourteenth 
 century : — 
 
 " We have heard it from the relation of very credible 
 persons, that in divers places within our Province, a very 
 naughty, nay dangerous custom has prevailed, to hold 
 fairs and markets on the Lord's-day, wherein not only pro- 
 vision is bought and sold, but many other matters trans- 
 acted, which can hardly be done without cheating one 
 another; and which is worse, rioting and drunkenness, 
 with other shameful practioes, followed, to the great dis- 
 honour of God and scandal to religion; by which means 
 men are apt to proceed to quarrels and revilings, threats 
 and blows, and sometimes to murder and bloodshedding ; the 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 153 
 
 devil every moment gaining upon them while they run 
 in troops to the aforesaid places : wherefore, by virtue of 
 canonical obedience, we strictly charge and command your 
 brotherhood, that if you find your people faulty in the 
 premises, you forthwith admonish, or cause them to be 
 admonished, to refrain going to markets or fairs on the 
 Lord's-day. And all those who are arrived at years of dis- 
 cretion, let them constantly at such times resort to their 
 parish churches to do, hear, and receive what the day 
 requires, as prayers, sermons, sacraments, and the like. 
 And as for all such as are obstinate, and speak or act 
 against you in this particular, you must endeavour to 
 restrain them by ecclesiastical censures, and by all lawful 
 means put a stop to these extravagances." 
 
 In the reign of Henry VI., Dr. Stafford being Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, it was decreed (1444), — "That 
 fairs and markets should no more be held in churches 
 and churchyards on the Lord's-day or other festivals, 
 except in harvest." And Cutworth, then Lord Mayor 
 of London, with the concurrence of the Common Coun- 
 cil, issued an order that — 
 
 "No manner of commodities be within the freedom 
 bought or sold on Sundays, neither provision or any other 
 thing ; and that no artificer should bring his ware unto 
 any man to be worn or occupied that day, as tailor's gar- 
 ments, cordwainers' shoes ; and so likewise all other occu- 
 pations." 
 
 A Provincial Synod was held at York, in the reign 
 of Edward IV., under Archbishop Neville, in which 
 the observance of the Lord's-day was enjoined. 
 
 In the. year 1540, in the reign of Henry VIII. 
 h3 
 
154 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the Bishops issued a book respecting the Sabbath, in 
 which they require rest from sin, from carnal plea- 
 sures, and command attendance on holy duties on 
 the Lord's-day. 
 
 Edward VI. issued an Injunction, 1547, to the effect 
 that Christians should cease from all kinds of labor, 
 and apply themselves only and wholly to lauding and 
 praising God, resorting to hear His holy word, and 
 coming to the holy communion, and in which all 
 people for the aforesaid ends were to abstain from 
 bodily labour. 
 
 A similar Injunction was issued by Queen Eliza- 
 beth, 1559. 
 
 In the year 1558, it was one of the Articles of Visi- 
 tation, " whether any inn-holders, or alehouse keepers, 
 " do commonly use to sell meat and drink in time of 
 " common prayer, preaching, reading of the Homilies, 
 " or Scripture. " 
 
 156.2. In the Homily « Of the Place and Time of 
 Prayer," it is stated, that it is God's will and pleasure 
 that we should, at special times, gather ourselves toge- 
 ther to the intent that His name might be renowned, 
 and His glory set forth in the congregation and assem- 
 bly of His saints : — 
 
 "As concerning the time, which Almighty God hath 
 appointed his people to assemble together solemnly, it 
 doth appear by the Fourth Commandment of God : ' Ee- 
 member,' saith God, ' that thou keep holy the Sabbath- 
 day.' And albeit this commandment of God 
 
 doth not bind Christian people so straitly to observe and 
 keep the utter ceremonies of the Sabbath-day, as it was 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 155 
 
 given unto the Jews, as touching the forbearing of work 
 and labour in time of great necessity, and as touching 
 the precise keeping of the seventh day, after the manner 
 of the Jews ; — for we keep now the first day, which is our 
 Sunday, and make that our Sabbath, that is, our day of 
 rest, in the honour of our Saviour Christ, who, as upon 
 that day, rose from death, conquering the same most 
 triumphantly : — yet, notwithstanding, whatsoever is found 
 in the commandment appertaining to the law of nature, 
 as a thing most godly, most just, and needful for the 
 setting forth of God's glory, it ought to be retained 
 and kept of all good Christian people. And therefore, by 
 this commandment, we ought to have a time, as one day 
 in the week, wherein we ought to rest, yea, from our lawful 
 and needful works. For, like as it appearethby this com- 
 mandment, that no man in the six days ought to be slothful 
 or idle, but diligently to labour in that state wherein God 
 hath set him : even so, God hath given express charge to 
 all men, that upon the Sabbath-day, which is now our 
 Sunday, they should cease from all weekly and work-day 
 labour, to the intent that like as God himself wrought 
 six days, and rested the seventh, and blessed and sanctified 
 it, and consecrated it to quietness and rest from labour ; 
 even so God's obedient people should use the Sunday 
 holily, and rest from their common and daily business, 
 and also give themselves wholly to heavenly exercises of 
 God's true religion and service. So that God doth not 
 only command the observation of this holy day, but also 
 by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the dili_ 
 gent keeping of the same." 
 
 In the year 1580, Queen Elizabeth, at the instance 
 of the magistrates of London, prohibited the acting of 
 plays and interludes on the Sabbath-day; they also 
 obtained the permission of the Queen and Privy Coun- 
 
156 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 cil to expel the players from the City, and to pull down 
 all the play-houses and dice-houses within their liber- 
 ties. The play-houses in Gracechurch-street, Bishops- 
 gate-street, near St. Paul's, Ludgate-hill, and in White- 
 friars, were in consequence pulled down. 
 
 In the year 1602, an Assembly held at Holyrood House 
 prohibited fishing and going of mills on the Sabbath- 
 day, under pain of incurring the censures of the Kirk. 
 
 King James I., after his accession to the Crown, 
 issued a Proclamation, in May, 1603, prohibiting 
 " bear-baiting, bull-baiting, interludes, common-plays, 
 " or the like disorderly or unlawful exercises or pas- 
 " times to be frequented, kept, or used any time here- 
 " after upon any Sabbath-day." 
 
 In the year 1603, a Synod, which assembled in 
 London, also issued a canon enforcing the observance 
 of the Lord's-day, commonly called Sunday, and other 
 holy days. 
 
 In the year 1615, His Majesty's Commissioners in 
 Ireland for regulating the affairs of the Church there, 
 made an Article, stating that " the first day of the week, 
 " which is the Lord's-day, is wholly to be dedicated to 
 " the service of God, and, therefore, we are bounden 
 " therein to rest from our common and daily business, 
 " and to bestow that leisure upon holy exercises, both 
 " public and private." 
 
 In the year 1618, King James I. issued a most 
 objectionable Declaration, commonly called the " Book 
 of Sports," which gave great offence to the religious 
 portion of his subjects. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 157 
 
 When King James I. was on a progress in Lanca- 
 shire, in August, 1617, a petition was presented to him 
 by a great number of Lancashire peasants, tradesmen, 
 and servants, requesting that they might be allowed to 
 take their diversions (as of old accustomed) after Divine 
 Service on Sundays. This is said to have been the 
 origin of " The Book of Sports," promulgated by royal 
 authority, May 24th, 1618. The book was ordered 
 to be read publicly in all churches ; and such ministers 
 as refused to obey the Injunction were threatened with 
 severe punishment in the High Commission Court. It 
 was called by the seriously disposed, "The Dancing 
 Book." 
 
 " The Book of Sports" runs thus :— 
 
 " Whereas we did justly, in our progresse through Lan- 
 cashire, rebuke some puritanes and precise people, in pro- 
 hibiting and unlawfully punishing our good people for 
 using their lawful recreations and honest exercises on 
 Sun day es, and other holy days, after the afternoon sermon 
 or service. It is our will, that after the end of Divine 
 Service, our good people be not disturbed, letted, or dis- 
 couraged from any lawful recreation ; such as dancing, 
 either for men or women ; archery for men, leaping, vault- 
 ing, or any other such harmless recreation ; nor for having 
 of May-games, Whitson-ales, and morris-dances, and the 
 setting up of May -poles, and other sports therewith used ; 
 so as the same be had in due and convenient time, without 
 impediment or neglect of Divine Service. But withall, 
 we doe here account still as prohibited all unlawfull games 
 to be used upon Sundayes only, as beare and bull-baitings, 
 interludes, and at all times in the meaner sort of people 
 by law prohibited, bowling." 
 
158 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 In the year 1633 King Charles I. issued his well- 
 known Proclamation : — 
 
 " Seeing how much his people were debarred of recrea- 
 tion, and finding in some counties that, under pretence of 
 taking away abuses, there had become a general forbidding 
 not only of ordinary meetings, but of the feasts of the De- 
 dication of Churches, commonly called wakes, it pleased 
 His Majesty to ratify and publish the declaration of His 
 Majesty's father (of 1618) before remembered; adding, 
 that all these feasts, with others, should be observed : and 
 that all neighbourhood and freedom, with man-like and 
 lawful exercises, be therein used : commanding the Justices 
 of Assize, in their several districts, to see that no man do 
 trouble or molest any of his loyal and dutiful subjects in 
 or for their lawful recreation, having first done their duty 
 to God, and continuing in obedience unto him and his 
 laws : and further, that publication thereof be made by 
 order from the Bishops through all the parishes of their 
 several dioceses respectively." 
 
 In the year 1629 Sir Richard Dean, Lord Mayor of 
 London, issued an order against trading on the Lord's- 
 day; from which it appears that the day was greatly 
 profaned in this respect. Inn-keepers, curriers, cloth - 
 workers, water-bearers, porters, watermen, also vint- 
 ners, alehouse-keepers, tobacco and strong- water sel- 
 lers, are especially mentioned in this order as profan- 
 ing the Sabbath. 
 
 In the year 1639 the General Assembly held at 
 Edinburgh passed an Act prohibiting the going of 
 mills, the use of salt-pans, salmon fishing, or any such 
 like labor on the Lord's- day ; and renewed the Act of 
 the Assembly held at Holyrood House 1602. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 159 
 
 The Earl of Essex, in 1642, commanded, with regard 
 to the army, that " all those who often and wilfully 
 " absent themselves from sermons and public prayers 
 " should be censured." 
 
 In the year 1644, January 3, an Ordinance of Par- 
 liament was made respecting a Directory for Public 
 Worship, in the preface to which it was stated, — 
 
 " That the Lord's-day ought to be so remembered before- 
 hand, as that all worldly business of our ordinary callings 
 may be so ordered, and so timely and seasonably laid 
 aside, as they may not be impediments to the due sancti- 
 fying of the day when it comes. 
 
 "The whole day is to be celebrated as holy to the 
 Lord, both in public and private, as being the Christian 
 Sabbath, to which end it is requisite that there be an holy 
 cessation or resting, all the day, from all unnecessary 
 labours ; and an abstaining, not only from all sports and 
 pastimes, but also from all worldly words and thoughts. 
 
 " That the diet of the day be so ordered as that neither 
 servants be necessarily detained from the public worship 
 of God, nor any other person hindered from the sanctifying 
 that day. 
 
 " That there be private preparation of every person or 
 family, by prayer, for themselves, and for God's assistance 
 of the minister, and for a blessing on his ministry, and by 
 such other holy exercise as may further dispose them to 
 a more comfortable communion with God in his public 
 ordinances. 
 
 " That what time is vacant between or after the solemn 
 meeting of the congregation in public be spent in reading, 
 meditation, repetition of sermons (especially calling their 
 families to an account of what they have heard), and cate- 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 chizing of them ; holy conferences, prayer for a blessing 
 upon the public ordinances, singing of Psalms, visiting the 
 sick, relieving the poor, and such like duties of piety, 
 charity and mercy, accounting the Sabbath a delight." 
 
 King James II., in 1685, commanded that " All 
 " officers and soldiers (not having just impediment) 
 " shall diligently frequent Divine Service and sermon, — 
 " under penalty that every officer not so doing shall 
 " be reprehended at a court-martial, and that every 
 " private soldier, toties quoties, forfeit twelve-pence." 
 
 James the Second, in 1685, wrote to the two Arch- 
 bishops : — 
 
 " Straitly charging and commanding them to use their 
 utmost care and diligence that, among other things, for 
 the better observing of the Lord's-day, too much neglected 
 of late, the Clergy of their provinces shall, as by often and 
 serious admonitions and sharp reproofs, endeavour to draw 
 off people from such idle, debauched, and profane courses 
 as dishonour God, bring a scandal on religion, and con- 
 tempt on the laws and authority, ecclesiastical and civil ; 
 so shall they very earnestly persuade them to frequent 
 Divine Service on the Lord's-day, and other festivals ap- 
 pointed by the Church to be kept solemn. And in case 
 any person shall resort to any tavern or alehouse, or use 
 any unlawful sports and exercises on such days, the 
 Minister shall exhort those who are in authority, in their 
 several parishes and congregations, carefully to look after 
 such offenders in any kind whatever ; together with all 
 those that abet, receive, or entertain them, that they may 
 be proceeded against according to the laws and quality of 
 their offences, that all such disorders may, for the time 
 to come, be prevented." 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 161 
 
 The two Archbishops, in consequence, transmitted 
 the King's order to the Clergy of their respective dio- 
 ceses. The Bishop of London called his Clergy together, 
 and had a conference with them on the subject : he 
 also addressed a letter to them, dated 10th December 
 1686, in which he says : — " The last article is that which 
 " at all times you ought to be concerned for to see, 
 " that the solemn day of our religious worship be 
 " observed." 
 
 February 13th, 1689, King William III. wrote a let- 
 ter to the Bishop of London to be communicated to the 
 two Provinces of Canterbury and York, directing the 
 Clergy to preach frequently, among other vices, against 
 the profanation of the Lord's-day, and to read publicly 
 the laws prohibiting it ; copies of which were ordered 
 to be sent to every parish in the kingdom. The Bishop 
 not only transmits the command of the king, with the 
 laws referred to, but he also writes a letter to his own 
 Clergy, April 24, 1690, in which he urges them, — 
 
 " To put their people often in mind of the word ' Ee- 
 formed Churches,' which import that, as our doctrine and 
 worship are, by the blessing of God, reformed, so our lives 
 ought to be reformed, otherwise all the advantage we have 
 of light and truth beyond other churches, will rise up in 
 judgment against us, if we do not live suitably to them. 
 But above all things they were to study to possess those 
 committed to their charge with the deep sense of the 
 duty that they owe to God their Maker and to Jesus 
 Christ their Saviour, that so they may apply themselves 
 to the exercises of devotion in secret, to the frequenting 
 
162 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the public worship, and chiefly to the receiving the Sacra- 
 ment with that serious disposition of mind as becomes 
 such holy performances, so that they may delight in going 
 together to the House of God. And in order to their 
 doing this aright, infuse into them a great reverence for 
 the Lord's-day, as a time separated from the common 
 business of life, for their attending on the worship of God, 
 and such other religious exercises as may both increase 
 their knowledge and their sense of divine matters ; and 
 that, therefore, they ought not to satisfy themselves with 
 going to church, and assisting publicly in the service of 
 God, but that they set themselves more to prayer on that 
 day, and to the reading of Scripture and other good books, 
 both apart and together in their families, that so they may 
 grow up in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. These things, saith he, you must 
 open to your people frequently, in season and out of sea- 
 son, both at church and from house to house. And I 
 charge you by all the authority I have over you, by the 
 zeal you bear to the Church of England, and as you 
 desire to have from your labours, and your people, a 
 crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord, and as you 
 bear a due regard to your own soul, and the souls com- 
 mitted to your care, and to that precious blood by which 
 they were redeemed ; as you desire to be faithful to your 
 ordination vows, and to have a share in those blessed 
 words, ' Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord,' that you will give yourselves 
 wholly to these things, that you will account no labour too 
 great in advancing that work for which our Saviour spared 
 not his own life, and that you pursue all the parts of 
 your ministry with a zeal suitable to the importance of 
 them/' &c. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 163 
 
 Ordinances in favor of the observance of the 
 LordVday were made by the General Assembly of 
 the Church of Scotland in the years 1690 and 
 1708. They recommend the application of Church 
 discipline to offenders, and that the aid of the civil 
 power should be sought to suppress profanation of the 
 Lord's-day. 
 
 In July, 1691, Queen Mary wrote to the justices 
 of the peace in Middlesex, recommending them to put 
 in execution the laws which had been made and were 
 still in force against the profanation of the LordVday, 
 and all other disorderly practices which, by a long- 
 continued neglect and connivance of the magistrates 
 and officers concerned, had universally spread them- 
 selves to the dishonour of God and scandal of our holy 
 religion. 
 
 In 1694, a Book of Injunctions was given to the 
 two Archbishops, and by them to the rest of the Clergy, 
 wherein it is commanded, (Article 12,) that " they use 
 " their utmost endeavour that the Lord's-day be reli- 
 " giously observed, that they set a good example to the 
 " people, and exhort them frequently to their duty 
 " herein." 
 
 February 24, 1692, a proclamation was issued at the 
 request of the House of Commons, to require all, both 
 magistrates and ministers, to be very vigilant and strict 
 • in the discovery, and effectual prosecution and punish- 
 ment of all persons who shall be guilty of excessive drink- 
 ing, blasphemy, profane swearing and cursing, lewdness, 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 and profanation of the LordVday, as they will answer 
 it to Almighty God, and upon pain of the king's highest 
 displeasure. 
 
 In the year 1698, Sir Francis Child, Lord Mayor of 
 London, issued an order against the profanation of the 
 Lord's-day by the keeping open of taverns, coffee- 
 houses, and alehouses. 
 
 The following are extracts from the Royal Procla- 
 mation " for the encouragement of Piety and Virtue, 
 and for the preventing and punishing Vice and profane- 
 ness, and Immorality,"as required to be set forth at the 
 commencement of each king's reign, and commanded 
 to be read in open Court by all Judges of Assize, Jus- 
 tices at Quarter Sessions, &c. &c, wherein the Sovereign 
 acknowledges that — 
 
 " We cannot expect the blessing and goodness of Almighty 
 G-od (by whom kings reign), and on which We entirely 
 rely to make our reign happy and prosperous to ourself, and 
 our people, without a religious observance of God's holy 
 laws." " And we do hereby strictly enjoin and prohibit all 
 our loving subjects, of what degree or quality whatsoever, 
 from playing on the Lord's-day at dice, cards, or any 
 other game whatsoever, either in public or private houses." 
 *' And We do hereby strictly charge and command all our 
 Judges, Mayors, Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and all 
 other our Officers and Ministers, both Ecclesiastical and 
 Civil, and all other our subjects whom it may concern, to 
 be very vigilant and strict in the discovery and the 
 effectual prosecution and punishment of all persons who 
 shall be guilty of excessive drinking, blasphemy, profane 
 swearing and cursing, lewdness, profanation of the Lord's- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 165 
 
 day, or other dissolute, immoral or disorderly practices ; 
 and that they take care also effectually to suppress all 
 public gaming-houses and places, and other lewd and dis- 
 orderly houses, and to put in execution the Statute made 
 in the nine-and-twentieth year of the reign of the late 
 King Charles the Second, intituled, ' An Act for the 
 better Observation of the Lord's-day, commonly called 
 Sunday.' " 
 
 It will be seen by a perusal of the laws enacted, and 
 the Ecclesiastical proceedings adopted in England, in 
 reference to the Lord's-day, that profanation of the 
 day prevailed widely in the kingdom ; nor should 
 this excite our surprise when we recollect, that before 
 the Reformation the people were taught for the most 
 part that the observance of one day in seven as a day of 
 holy rest was an ordinance of the Church instead of a 
 command of God; that the Lord's-day was generally 
 classed with holy days of human appointment, and that 
 the observance of it was enjoined at the same time ; with 
 this difference, that a priority and pre-eminence over 
 the holy days were assigned to it. This anti-scriptural 
 teaching produced its natural results — very general 
 disregard for the Lord's day, which human laws and 
 ecclesiastical edicts and canons — not proceeding on 
 the ground of God's word — vainly endeavoured to 
 prevent. 
 
 The monarchs of the Norman line did not set before 
 their subjects a good example in this respect, as many 
 public acts of a civil character were done by them on 
 the Lord's-day : William Rufus, Stephen, Henry II., 
 
166 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Richard the First, twice (before his departure for the 
 Holy Land and after his return), were crowned on the 
 Lord's-day : John was inaugurated as Duke of Nor- 
 mandy, and was also, with his wife Isabel, crowned 
 on the Lord's-day. 
 
 William I. assembled the Council at which Stigand, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, was deposed, on the Lord's- 
 day j and in the year 1175, Richard Archbishop of 
 Canterbury called a Council, at which nearly all the 
 Bishops and Abbots of his province attended. 
 
 It is possible that some might have attempted to 
 defend the coronations of Kings, and the holding of 
 Ecclesiastical Councils on the Lord's-day, as partaking 
 in some degree of a religious character ; but the same 
 plea, however insufficient, cannot be adduced in de- 
 fence of other public acts of a purely civil character, 
 done by the Norman rulers. 
 
 Thus Maud, the Empress, held a Council of her 
 party on Trinity Sunday, 1142; and in 1185, when 
 the Ambassadors from the East offered the throne of 
 Jerusalem to Henry II., that king appointed the first 
 Sunday in Lent on which to give his answer. There 
 were present on the occasion the Patriarch of Jeru- 
 salem, several Bishops, William King of Scotland, and 
 his brother David. 
 
 Henry III. conferred the order of knighthood on 
 Richard de Clare, and also assembled a Parliament in 
 1246, on the Lord's-day. 
 
 It must be admitted, as a matter of history, that the 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 167 
 
 rnonarchs of the Norman line, who were guilty of these 
 public profanations of the Lord's- day, were amongst 
 the most unhappy of the kings of England, and that 
 their reigns were periods of great misery, war, and 
 bloodshed; and inasmuch as we know that such 
 afflictions and calamities of kings and nations are 
 caused by their transgressions, we may justly conclude, 
 that amongst these sources of visitation at this time 
 was the authorized profanation of the Lord's-day. An 
 impression that such was the case, evidently existed 
 in the public mind. It is true that this impression 
 sometimes indicated itself in an objectionable and su- 
 perstitious manner; which ought not to excite sur- 
 prise, when the ignorance of the word of God which 
 prevailed in all classes of society is considered. That 
 a sense of the wickedness of the profanation of the 
 LordVday on the part of their rulers prevailed among 
 the people, also appears from the fact related, that 
 when Henry II. was at Cardiff, in Wales, a man boldly 
 addressed him, telling him that unless he amended his 
 life as regards the Lord's- day, "he should hear such 
 news within the year as would make him mourn till 
 his dying day."* 
 
 A book, written by Dr. Bownde in the year 1595, 
 in the reign of Elizabeth, to prove that it was a duty 
 incumbent on Christians to observe one day in seven 
 as a day of holy rest, was very generally read, and 
 
 * Quoted by Heylin, pt. ii. c. 7. 
 
168 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 appears to have produced a great impression on the 
 public mind in favor of the LordVday. The book 
 was called in, and forbidden by Archbishop "Whitgift, 
 and also by Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of 
 England, in the year 1600, — a circumstance which 
 caused it to be more anxiously sought for and read. 
 Fuller, in his Church History of Britain, states that, in 
 proving the unsuitableness of feasting on the Lord's 
 day, Bownde makes an exception in favor of persons of 
 rank and station.* 
 
 On reference to his book, this assertion of Fuller ap- 
 pears to be but too true. He certainly does palliate and 
 justify noblemen and knights in indulging in food on 
 the LordVday, which he considers to be wrong in 
 those of humble degree.t According to Dr. Bownde's 
 account, it was no uncommon thing in those days for 
 persons to go to Church with hawks and dogs, — a 
 practice which he reprobates, — alleging the excuses 
 made for it to be insufficient, such as that so habi- 
 tuated were they to have their hawks with them, that 
 their attention was not distracted by their presence. J 
 
 The Paris Gardens in London were a place of great 
 resort in the reign of Elizabeth, — bull-baiting, bear- 
 baiting, and other sports took place there on the 
 LordVday. 
 
 * Fuller's Church History of Britain, hk. ix. p. 227. 
 f "The True Doctrine of the Sabbath," &c. &c., by Nicolas 
 Bownde, Doctor of Divinity. London, 1606. Bk. i. p. 211. 
 X Bk. i. p. 264. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 169 
 
 On one of these occasions, in the year 1585, a 
 scaffolding gave way, when eight persons were killed 
 md several wounded ; this was regarded by many who 
 lisapproved of this profanation of the Lord's-day, as a 
 udgment of God. The evil, however, continued till 
 ;he year 1603, when James I. suppressed it by a pro- 
 clamation. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, in the earlier part of her reign, did 
 lot properly appreciate the sanctity of the Lord's-day ; 
 in her progresses, that day was generally a day of 
 feasting and amusement. Thus we read in Strype's 
 innals, that, when in a progress in Kent, in the year 
 L559, she was entertained by Lord Arundel, at Non- 
 such House, at a great banquet on the Lord's-day, 
 when there was a mask for Her Majesty's amusement.* 
 
 In the year 1585, John Smith, M.A., preached at 
 Cambridge, ad Clerum, against the prevailing profana- 
 tions of the Lord's-day — particularly Plays, which he 
 asserted were wrong on Saturday, as unfitting the 
 mind for the Lord's-day, and on the Lord's-day as a 
 breach of the Sabbath. He was brought before the 
 Chancellor, when it was arranged another opportunity 
 should be given him of preaching and explaining his 
 views on the Sabbath, but the result is not stated. f 
 
 The Proclamation of James I., commonly known as 
 the "Book of Sports," in 1618, greatly encouraged the 
 desecration of the Lord's-day. It caused much excite- 
 
 * Strype's Annals, vol. i. pt. i. eh. xv. p. 289. 
 f Strype's Annals, vol. iii. p. 496. 
 
 I 
 
170 HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. 
 
 mcnt ; and although the injunction to read it was not 
 enforced, in consequence, no doubt, of the opposition 
 of Archbishop Abbot, yet it doubtless laid the founda- 
 tion of much of that alienation of the religious portion 
 of the country from the Royal Family, which manifested 
 itself so strongly on the re-issue of the same Declara- 
 tion by Charles I., in the year 1634. 
 
 About the year 1618 a Lord Mayor of London, Sir 
 George Bolles, exhibited a faithfulness and courage 
 deserving of being recorded : he would not allow the 
 King's carriages to pass through London on the LordV 
 day, till commanded to do so by a warrant from the 
 King, who was much displeased. The Lord Mayor, on 
 receiving the warrant, sent back for answer : — " While 
 " it was in my power, I did my duty ; but that being 
 " taken away by a higher power, it is my duty to 
 " obey." * 
 
 The circumstances which led Charles I. to issue the 
 Declaration were these : — In the year 1633 the gentry 
 of Somersetshire solicited Sir John Richardson, Lord 
 Chief Justice of England, and Baron Denham, to 
 publish an Order in the county for the suppression of 
 church-ales, bid-ales, and clerk-ales, which were the 
 cause of great immorality, disorder, and crime. Church- 
 ales were gatherings in public-houses on the Lord's- 
 day, on the termination of morning prayers ; clerk-ales 
 were merry-makings on the Lord's-day, when collections 
 
 * Wilson's " Life of James I.," p. 106. London, 1653. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 171 
 
 were made for the support of the clerk of the church ; 
 and bid-ales were feasts, at which collections were made 
 for persons ruined in circumstances, in order to enable 
 them to resume their trade or business. The Lord 
 Chief Justice issued the Order accordingly, relying on 
 precedent. Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, by the 
 wish of the King, commanded him to revoke the Order, 
 which, after some demur, he did, " as far as in him lay." 
 The Magistrates of Somerset, being displeased on ac- 
 count of the revocation of so salutary an Order, pre- 
 sented a petition to the King, through the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of the county, praying him to renew it, but 
 their request was not granted : on the contrary, the 
 King soon after renewed his father's Declaration, or 
 " Book of Sports." 
 
 Many treatises on the subject of the Sabbath were 
 published in the reign of Charles I. One was from the 
 pen of Theophilus Bradboume, in the year 1628 : in it 
 he insisted on the duty of observing the Saturday as 
 the Sabbath, and asserted that the Lord's-day should 
 be regarded as a working-day. White, Bishop of Ely, 
 was employed by the King to refute him; which led 
 to the publication of his work called " A Treatise of 
 the Sabbath-day," in which he upholds the Lord's- 
 day as of apostolic institution. Bradbourne, on being 
 brought before the High Commission Court, retracted 
 the views expressed in his book. 
 
 Heylin also wrote his "History of the Sabbath" in 
 the reign of Charles I. This work says almost every- 
 i 2 
 
172 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 thing that can be stated against the Sabbath being of 
 Divine authority and perpetual obligation ; and al- 
 though it displays much learning, ability, and zeal to 
 please his Royal master, to whom it is dedicated, yet it 
 is impossible to read it without being struck with the 
 utter inadequacy of his premises to support his con- 
 clusions, the adroitness with which he furnishes his 
 opponents with arguments which he confutes, and the 
 courage of his assertions. 
 
 The effects of these views, thus patronised by the 
 King, were very discernible in the Court of Charles, 
 producing fruit which proved from what an evil root 
 they sprang. The following scene, described in the 
 Strafford Letters, will illustrate these effects : — •" The 
 " French and Spanish ambassadors were both at the 
 11 King's mask, but not received as ambassadors ; the 
 " French sat among the ladies, the Spanish in a box : 
 " it was performed on Sunday night ; my Lord Trea- 
 " surer Juxton was there by command." 
 
 Such was the lamentable state of things as regards 
 the Lord's-day, which preceded and, by shocking the 
 religious portion of the nation, precipitated the tempo- 
 rary downfall of the monarchy. 
 
 During the Commonwealth, the observance of the 
 Lord's-day was made an object of great importance 
 and national concern ; consequently a great improve- 
 ment took place in this respect, and public conduct 
 presented a remarkable and favourable contrast to the 
 state of things in the time of Charles I., and also 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 173 
 
 when a reaction took place, after the Restoration, into 
 the extreme of gross profanation of the day . The Lord's- 
 day was now generally called the Sabbath by the Puri- 
 tans in England, and also in Scotland. They thus 
 asserted for the Christian dispensation its right not 
 only to the day of holy rest, but to the word Sabbath 
 which represented it ; as the cause of its being in abey- 
 ance had long ceased to exist, and no misunderstand- 
 ing as regards the particular day signified could now 
 possibly arise. Still the name Lord's-day is to be 
 preferred as the more appropriate appellation for the 
 Christian Sabbath, or day of holy rest, and also as that 
 used by the Church of Christ from the time of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 The state of things in the Court of Charles II. was 
 very bad. The following is a scene as described by 
 Evelyn : — 
 
 " I can never forget the inexpressible luxury and pro- 
 faneness, gaming, and all dissoluteness, and as it were total 
 forgetfulness of God (it being Sunday evening) which this 
 day se'nnight I was witness of. The King, sitting . . . 
 with Portsmouth, Cleveland, and Mazarene, a French boy, 
 singing low songs in that glorious gallery, whilst about 
 twenty of the great courtiers, and other dissolute persons, 
 were at basset round a large table, a bank of at least 2000 
 in gold before them : upon which two gentlemen who were 
 with me made reflections with astonishment. Six days 
 after was all in dust." * 
 
 It is unnecessary to add, that these periods of profa- 
 * Evelyn's Memoirs and Diary. Vol. i. p. 580. 
 
!74 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 nation of the Sabbath, all the more inexcusable because 
 (*od s word was now accessible to every man, and the 
 light of the Reformation pervaded all society, were 
 periods of great calamity in our national history. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 175 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.— LAWS., ETC., IN REGARD 
 TO THE LORD'S-DAY. 
 
 In that great Empire ruled by a race kindred in 
 blood, language, and religion, the United States of 
 America, the Lord's-day is at least as well observed 
 as in Great Britain ; with the exception of New Or- 
 leans, where the laxity of a French Sabbath prevails. 
 Long before the Revolution, the desecration of the 
 Lord's-day was decided to be a breach of the Common 
 Law, which was in force there as in England. 
 
 Laws have been enacted in many of the States in 
 reference to the Lord's-day, of which the following is a 
 summary : — 
 
 Maine. — In this State, travelling, ordinary labour, 
 and business are prohibited by a law passed in 1831. 
 
 New Hampshire. — By a law made in 1799, secular 
 callings are prohibited, except in cases of necessity and 
 mercy; travelling prohibited between sun-rising and 
 sun-setting, unless from necessity, or to attend public 
 worship, or to visit the sick, or do some office of charity. 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 By a law made January 22, 1814, it was enacted, 
 " That no license from a Justice of the Peace for tra- 
 " veiling on Sundays will avail in behalf of any traveller, 
 " or carrier with any team or carriage of burthen, or 
 " any traveller in the style and capacity of a drover 
 " with any horses, cattle, or other beasts : but all such 
 " license shall be utterly void." 
 
 Vermont. — Secular labour is forbidden, except in 
 cases of necessity and charity, by a law made in 1797. 
 
 Massachusetts. — By laws made in the year 1791 
 and 1796, secular labour and travelling are forbidden 
 except in cases of charity : also in Rhode Island, by laws 
 made in the years 1679, 1750, 1784, and 1798. 
 
 Connecticut. — By a law made in 1808, secular 
 labour and travelling are prohibited, except in cases of 
 charity. In a revision of this law,- in 1821, it is said, 
 " It shall be the duty of the citizens of this State to 
 attend the public worship, of God on the LordVday." 
 
 In 1835, an exception was made in regard to the 
 conveyance of the mail. 
 
 New York. — By a law made in 1813, all secular 
 occupations are prohibited, also games and pastimes, 
 on the first day of the week, called Sunday. Provision 
 is also made for those who uniformly observe the last 
 day of the week as a Sabbath ; also, for any person 
 removing his family or household furniture, if such 
 removal be not commenced on such day. An exception 
 is made in regard to the mails. 
 
 New Jersey. — By a law of 1798, all works on land 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 177 
 
 or water are prohibited on the u Christian Sabbath/' 
 except of piety, charity, or necessity. An exception is 
 made in regard to the conveyance of the mails. 
 
 Pennsylvania. — By a law made in 1794, all worldly 
 employments are prohibited on the Lord's-day, com- 
 monly called Sunday, works of necessity and charity 
 excepted. 
 
 Delaware. — A like law was made in 1795. 
 
 Maryland. — By a law made in 1723, work is pro- 
 hibited on the Lord's -day, at one's own or others' 
 calling. Apprentices, servants, or slaves, not to be em- 
 ployed, except in ordinary household offices* of daily 
 necessity. 
 
 A similar law was made in Virginia in 1792. 
 
 Laws to the same effect were made in North and 
 South Carolina. Working of slaves was prohibited, 
 1712; attendance on public worship enforced. 
 
 1803. A law was made in Georgia, requiring all per- 
 sons to attend public worship ; forbidding secular work, 
 travelling, and the working of slaves. 
 
 Florida. — A law was made in 1828, prohibiting 
 ordinary labour; also the working of servants or slaves 
 on the Lord's-day. 
 
 In Alabama ordinary work is prohibited, by a law 
 passed in 1803, on the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 In Mississippi, by a law made in 1822, all labour, by 
 free or bond, prohibited on the Lord's-day. 
 
 Louisiana. — No law regarding the Sabbath. 
 
 Arkansas. — Ordinary work is prohibited by law. 
 
178 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Tennessee. — By a law made in 1803, all labour on 
 land or water is prohibited on the Lord's-day. 
 
 Kentucky. — By a law of 1822, all ordinary labour of 
 slaves and others, for profit or amusement, is forbidden 
 on the Lord's-day. 
 
 Missouri. — By a law made in 1 835, all labour is for- 
 bidden on the Lord's-day; Courts are not to sit, except 
 to receive a verdict or discharge a jury ; neither are they 
 to adjourn to that day. 
 
 Illinois.— By a law of 1827, labour, and noise, and 
 amusement, disturbing peace and good order, are for- 
 bidden. 
 
 Indiana. — By a law made in 1817, all work or 
 common labour is prohibited on the Lord's-day. 
 
 Ohio. — By a law made in 1831, all ordinary labour 
 is forbidden ; also sporting, fishing, hunting. Provision 
 made for those who keep the seventh day as their 
 Sabbath : also for emigrants ; watermen who land 
 passengers ; keepers of tolls ; ferrymen. 
 
 Michigan. — It is enjoined by law that the first day 
 be observed as a Sabbath. 
 
 LAWS PASSED BY THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES REGARDING THE LORdVdAY. 
 
 Up to the Revolution the Common Law of England 
 was in force in the North American Colonies. 
 
 In the year 1792 a law was made, empowering the 
 Postmaster General to provide for carrying the Mail 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 179 
 
 of the United States by stage-carriages or horses, as 
 he may judge most expedient ; also giving him power 
 to prescribe such requisitions to the Deputy Post- 
 Masters and others employed under him, as may be 
 found necessary, inflicting penalties on those who shall 
 obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, and au- 
 thorizing the Post-master General to keep an office, and 
 to employ persons for the performance of the duties 
 thereof. This law was re-enacted and approved in 1794. 
 
 A law was made in 1810, and re-enacted and 
 approved in 1825, enacting, "That every Postmaster 
 " shall keep an office, in which one or more persons 
 u shall attend on every day on which a mail, or bag, 
 a or other packet or parcel of letters shall arrive, by 
 " land or water, as well as on other days, at such hours 
 " as the Postmaster General shall direct, for the pur- 
 " pose of performing the duties thereof; and it shall 
 " be the duty of the Postmaster, at all reasonable 
 " hours on every day of the week, to deliver on demand 
 " any letter, paper, or packet to the person entitled to 
 " or authorized to receive the same." By this law the 
 Postmaster General is required to forward the mail, and 
 Postmasters to deliver letters, &c. &c. on the LordV 
 day. 
 
 According to a statement of the Post-Master General, 
 made to the Twenty-first Congress in the session of 
 March, 1830, the number of post routes in the United 
 States on which the Mail was transported on Sunday 
 was three hundred. 
 
180 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 On several occasions Congress sat on the Lord's- 
 day. Instances of this occurred in the Twenty-first 
 and Twenty-second Congresses. 
 
 The Twenty-fourth Congress sat on two occasions 
 on the Lord's-day. In the second session of the 
 Twenty-fifth Congress there was a call of the House of 
 Representatives for a sitting on the Lord's-day. In 
 the third session of the same Congress both Houses sat 
 in two instances on the Lord's-day for the despatch of 
 business; a joint resolution to do so was adopted on 
 the motion of Mr. Buchanan. 
 
 A Committee of the House of Representatives of the 
 Fourteenth Congress, second session, to which Com- 
 mittee certain petitions had been referred against postal 
 labor on the Lord's-day, recommended the enactment of 
 a law to prohibit the delivery of letters thereon : 1817. 
 
 A Committee of the House of Representatives of the 
 second session of the Twentieth Congress, to which 
 petitions of a like character had been referred, recom- 
 mends the repeal of the law requiring the Post-Masters 
 to deliver letters on the Lord's-day : 1529. 
 
 Attempts were made to get the Congress to sit on 
 Sundays, the 12th May and the 8th July ; but in both 
 instances they proved unsuccessful : 1838. 
 
 In 1838 the Legislature of New York, by a nearly 
 unanimous vote, rejected the prayer of a petition for the 
 ivpeal of laws for the observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 Combined efforts have been made from time to time 
 to promote the observance of the Lord's-day; and 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 3 81 
 
 although these associated endeavours seem to have 
 been partial and of but short duration, yet they have 
 been useful. 
 
 In the year 1812, the Synod of Pittsburgh, and other 
 Christians of various denominations, presented petitions 
 against postal labour on the Lord's-day to the sixth 
 session of the Twelfth Congress : also, in the year 1815, 
 similar petitions were addressed to the third session of 
 the Thirteenth Congress, from inhabitants of the States 
 of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, North 
 Carolina, and Ohio. 
 
 A Sabbath Union was formed in New York, in the year 
 1828. It was directed by two hundred ministers and lay- 
 men of various denominations, from fifteen States and 
 territories. It endeavoured to effect its object by influ- 
 ence and moral suasion ; it formed auxiliary societies, 
 circulated tracts, and held three public anniversaries ; 
 some of its members, on their individual responsibility, 
 established stages, which should not run on the Lord's- 
 day, to ply between Buffalo and Albany. The Union 
 was subsequently dissolved. The causes assigned were, 
 that no suitable agent could be found to conduct its 
 business, although an adequate salary was offered : and 
 also, because of the inconsistency of some of its mem- 
 bers, ministers and laymen, who were in the habit of 
 traveling on the Lcrd's-day. 
 
 In the year 1836, the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterians at Pittsburgh passed resolutions against tra- 
 
182 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 veiling on the Lord's-day by steam-boats, canals, and 
 railways. 
 
 The Baptist Convention of Ohio likewise protested 
 against the alarming desecration of the Lord's-day. 
 
 In April, 1838, the Presbytery of Cleveland adopted 
 a resolution in favor of the repeal of the law requiring 
 Postmasters to deliver letters on the Lord's-day. 
 
 In the year 1838, at the Anniversary of the Ameri- 
 can Bethel Society, a resolution was adopted against 
 traffic on the Lord's-day in the inland waters of the 
 United States, and in favor of the repeal of the law 
 requiring Postmasters to deliver letters on that day. 
 
 Other efforts have since been made, and with much 
 success."* 
 
 In the year 1843, a society was formed in Boston 
 called " The American and Foreign Sabbath Union." 
 The object of the Union is stated to be, " by the uni- 
 versal diffusion of information, by united example and 
 kind moral influence, to endeavour to persuade all per- 
 sons to abstain from worldly business, travelling, and 
 amusement, and to attend the public worship of God 
 on the Lord's-day." 
 
 The following extract from the Sixth Annual Report, 
 of the date of 1849, represents the feeling in the United 
 States regarding the Lord's-day to be of a very encou- 
 raging character : — 
 
 " Steam-boats and rail-cars in many cases have ceased 
 * See " Kingsbury on the Sabbath." Carter, Tsew York. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 183 
 
 to run on the Sabbath, and on some of the greatest 
 thoroughfares in the United States. More than eighty- 
 thousand miles of mails, which a few years ago ran on the 
 Sabbath, have been stopped ; and the Postmaster General, 
 in a written communication made the last 3 r ear, has said, ' I 
 should be gratified to see the transmission of the mails as 
 well as every other species of labour suspended on the Sab- 
 bath? ' When proprietors of conveyances are disposed to 
 withdraw the means of conveyances on that day, and there 
 is no likelihood of others being substituted so as to give 
 facilities to a few to the disadvantage and injury of the 
 many, I take pleasure in acceding to the arrangements so 
 far as the mails are concerned ; as has lately been done 
 upon the lines of rail-roads between Albany and Buffalo ; 
 following the example set by the New York and Boston, 
 and the Boston and Alban}^ lines.' 
 
 " More than thirty Railroad Companies now do not run 
 their cars on the Sabbath day, and about a dozen of them 
 out of New England, have stopped the last year. In- 
 creasing uneasiness, by increasing numbers, is manifested, 
 where the cars still continue to run ; and on many routes 
 the number of travellers is constantly diminishing. It is 
 becoming more disreputable to travel on the Sabbath ; and 
 the practice is becoming more confined, in many places, to 
 the low and vulgar, the ignorant and vicious." 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 LAWS ETC. REGARDING THE OBSERVANCE OF THE 
 LORD'S-DAY ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. 
 
 A general laxity in the observance of the Lord's- 
 day prevails all over the Continent of Europe, affecting 
 Protestant as well as Roman Catholic communities. 
 Attempts have been made from time to time, some by 
 voluntary exertion, some under the sanction of the 
 authorities, or ministers of religion, to effect an im- 
 provement ; but these efforts have failed in producing 
 their due effect, because they were not based on the 
 command of God, or they advocated on one and the 
 same ground, and as of equal authority, the ob- 
 servance of the LordVday, and of holidays of mere 
 human appointment. The most remarkable movement 
 of this kind is that which has lately taken place in 
 France. 
 
 In that country, from an early period, laws have 
 existed for the observance of the LordVday. 
 
 Charlemagne was a staunch advocate for the ob- 
 servance of the LordVday, as may be seen from the 
 measures taken by him to promote it. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 185 
 
 Charles the Fifth, in 1363, by letters patent, en- 
 joined that on the LordVday there should be a cessa- 
 tion of public business. 
 
 Ordinances to the same effect were issued in June, 
 1551, under Henry the Second of Orleans; in 1560 
 under Charles IX.; and in 1701 under Louis XIV. 
 
 The law of the 17th Thermidor, in the sixth year 
 (1793), regulated the observance of the sacred days. 
 
 The law of the 15th Fructidor, of the same year, 
 enjoined and treated specially of the celebration of the 
 decades. 
 
 The first article of the decree of the 7th Thermidor, 
 eighth year (1795), recognised the decades only as holi- 
 days, and required their observance by none but the 
 constituted authorities, public functionaries, and sala- 
 ried agents. 
 
 The organic law of the Concordat, of the 18th Germi- 
 nal, year ten (1797), made no alteration in this respect : 
 it specially mentions that the rest of the public function- 
 aries is to be on the Lord's-day : Art. 57. 
 
 The law which rules France at present is that of 
 November, 1814. 
 
 The law of the 18th November, 1814, is one of the 
 most important laws of modern times in France ; by 
 the first Article ordinary labour is required to be sus- 
 pended on the Lord's-day, and holy days recognised by 
 the State. 
 
 The holy days recognised by the State, besides the 
 
186 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Lord's-day, are Christmas-day, Ascension-day, the 
 Assumption, and All Saints-day. 
 
 Provision shops are exempted from the operation of 
 this law : also persons of the medical profession, letter- 
 carriers, and drivers of public conveyances; harvest and 
 agricultural labourers. 
 
 Many lawyers, however, think that this law has been 
 virtually abrogated by the Charter of 1830. 
 
 The Court of Cassation decided in opposition to this 
 opinion, by the decree of the 23rd June, 1838. A 
 similar view had been taken of this law by a judgment 
 of the tribunal of Colmar, of January, 1834, and was 
 confirmed by a decree of the Court of Colmar of the 
 same year. A judgment of the tribunal of the Seine, 
 of July, 1835, was also confirmed by a decree of the 
 Court of Colmar in 1837 .* 
 
 The Chamber of Peers, the Chamber of Deputies, 
 and the Minister, have declared that the law of 1814 is 
 in force, and ought to be executed. 
 
 This legislation was not modified after the abdication 
 of Louis Philippe, by the Republic, nor by the Empire. 
 
 By Article 4 of a Law of the 22nd March, 1841, the 
 employment of children under sixteen years old, on 
 the LordVday and holy days, in manufactories, is pro- 
 hibited : this law, being contingent on the promulga- 
 tion of an order to that effect by the Administration, was 
 not enforced till January, 1854, when it was applied 
 
 * Memoire pour l'Observation des Dimanches, par M. Meauvais, 
 Notaire a Etain. Paris, 1851. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 187 
 
 in the arrondissement of Lille ; and, in consequence, 
 all work of children under sixteen years ceased in all 
 the workshops (usines) and manufactories of Lille. By 
 the same law all night- work is prohibited to young 
 children. 
 
 In the discussion of this law in the Chamber of 
 Deputies, 26th December, 1841, a member proposed 
 that the age should be ten instead of sixteen, under 
 which children may not be employed more than six 
 days a week. The Minister of Justice protested against 
 such an arrangement; and a member, an Israelite, 
 in the name of his co-religionists, expressed his respect 
 for the institution of the Lord's-day.* 
 
 The journals of the month of July, 1844, announced 
 that the Consistory General of the Israelites at Paris 
 had decided that henceforth the Sabbath of the Jews, 
 which was celebrated on Saturday, should be trans- 
 ferred to Sunday. A similar disposition was exhibited 
 in Germany. 
 
 In the month of January, 1840, a deputy moved the 
 repeal of the law of November, 1814, but his proposal 
 was unanimously rejected. A similar proposal was 
 rejected in 1832.f 
 
 An important discussion took place in the Chamber 
 of Peers in February, 1844, relative to the importance of 
 Government observing the law of 1814, when one of the 
 ministers stated it was fully their intention to do so. 
 
 Ministerial circulars and decrees of prefects have 
 
 * Perennes, de 1' Institution du Dimancbe, page 31. 
 f Perennes, page 32. 
 
188 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 also of late years been issued in France in promotion 
 of the observance of the Lord's- day. 
 
 The following is a summary of the principal of 
 these : — 
 
 The Minister of Public Works issued one in March, 
 1819; it professes anxiety for the moral improvement 
 of workmen ; acknowledges the duty of a Government 
 to exhibit a good example in promoting it : and it 
 therefore decides that henceforth no labour be per- 
 formed on the Lord's-day or on the holy days, by the 
 workmen employed by the Government, save in excep- 
 tional cases. 
 
 The Minister of War, January, 1850, orders that 
 things be so arrangedin all regiments, as to give the 
 soldier every possible facility for the performance of 
 his religious duties. 
 
 The Minister of Public Works again issued a circular 
 dated November, 1854, in which he repeats his anxiety 
 that his directions of 1849 be carried into effect ; and 
 that care should be taken to consult the authorities as 
 to the exceptional cases, that they may form their 
 opinion of them. It concludes by saying, that a 
 Government always honours itself in giving a high 
 example of the traditional respect which in all ages is 
 attached to the day consecrated by the laws of religion 
 to rest, to worship, and to the family. 
 
 Monsieur de Moray, Minister of the Interior, ad- 
 dressed a circular to the prefects in December, 1851. 
 It begins by observing, that the efforts hitherto 
 taken by the Government to secure the cessation of 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. ] 89 
 
 work on the Lord's-day and sacred days, have not had 
 the desired effect. He states that resistance has been 
 encountered, at one time from the municipalities ; at 
 another, from persons who have deemed their interests 
 threatened ; and what is most serious, that the agents 
 of the Government themselves, whether from indecision 
 or weakness, have neglected to conform to the orders 
 which have been issued. 
 
 He speaks of the Lord's-day as one of the essential 
 supports of that morality which constitutes the strength 
 of a country. To look at it in a material point of 
 view, rest is necessary to the health and to the intellec- 
 tual development of the working-classes. Often work- 
 ing men, who are accustomed to work on the Lord's- 
 day, endeavour to make up for this constraint in 
 idling on some other day of the week — a sad habit, 
 which, by despising traditions the most venerable, 
 leads to the ruin of the family and to debauchery. It 
 concludes with repeating the prohibition to work on 
 the Lord's-day. 
 
 The Minister of War, M. De Saint- Arnaud, issued 
 another order in August, 1852, enjoining the introduc- 
 tion of a clause in all contracts for labour, to the effect, 
 " That no work shall take place on the Lord's-day and 
 holy days :" and in any case of emergency a reference 
 must be made to a competent authority, to de ide on 
 its sufficiency to justify a deviation from the rule. 
 
 Circulars to the same effect were issued to the Sub- 
 prefets by the Prefets of departments : in October, 
 
190 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 1850, by the Prefet of the Maine and Loire; in 1851, 
 by the Prefet of the Haute-Marne, of the Haute- 
 Saone, and of the Haute-Garonne. 
 
 Early in the year 1852 a Society was formed in 
 Paris to promote the " observance of the rest of the 
 Lord's-day" (Association de Paris pour l'observation 
 du repos du Dimanche). Its objects were, by ex- 
 ample and by persuasion, to promote the observance 
 of the LordVday and the holydays. Every member 
 undertook to recite once a day one Ave and the 
 Fourth Commandment.* They first directed their at- 
 tention to trading on the Lord's-day. In their inter- 
 views with tradesmen they were almost invariably 
 assured that nothing would be more agreeable to them 
 than to rest from business on the Lord's-day, but that 
 competition compelled them to trade. They then ad- 
 dressed the purchasers, and endeavoured to form an 
 engagement between both, that one would not sell nor 
 the other buy on the Lord's-day. They prepared a 
 form for signature, which pledged those signing neither 
 to sell nor buy on the Lord's-day; and also as much 
 as possible to give the preference to those traders and 
 employers who did not habitually follow their ordinary 
 calling on the Lord's-day. The Society circulated 
 these forms widely; several signatures were soon at- 
 tached to them, and a perceptible improvement soon 
 took place in many streets in Paris. A great many of 
 
 * L'Observateur du Dimanche. No. iii. Published in Paris, Rue 
 de Sevres. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 191 
 
 the bishops and clergy of the Roman Catholic Church 
 in France soon signified their approval of the Society ; 
 it also published rules for the formation of Auxiliary 
 Associations throughout France. 
 
 In the year 1854 the Archbishop of Paris addressed a 
 circular letter to his Clergy, recommending them to form 
 Parochial Committees to co-operate with the Central 
 Committee, in which he urged all the members to aid 
 in increasing the number of adherents to the move- 
 ment. In this circular the Archbishop speaks only of 
 the observance of the Lord's-day, omitting holy days ; 
 he urges prayer to God to free France from the 
 scandal of violating so essential a precept of His law ; 
 he recommends addresses in explanation of this great 
 Commandment of the Lord. 
 
 Associations were also formed at Metz, Valenciennes, 
 Marseilles, Lyons, Bordeaux, Angers, Dunkirk, Bou- 
 logne, and other places. In the last-named place the 
 exertions of the late Mr. Charles Cochrane were very 
 active and successful in inducing the inhabitants to agree 
 to close their shops on the Lord's-day. He subsequently 
 visited Paris with the same view, and rendered im- 
 portant aid to the Society established there. 
 
 The Archbishops and Bishops in the several dioceses 
 became the patrons and promoters of these Associations ; 
 and circular letters on the subject were published by 
 the Archbishop of Metz, the Bishop of Beauvais, the 
 Bishop of Angers, the Archbishop of Rouen, the Bishop 
 
192 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of Gap, the Archbishop of Tours, the Bishop of Autun, 
 the Bishop of Saint-Du, and other Bishops. 
 
 It is greatly to be regretted, that in this movement 
 the LordVday and the Saints' days should be identified, 
 and that other errors and superstitions of the Church 
 of Rome should be apparent — a result, however, to be 
 expected when the Holy Scriptures are not made the 
 only ground of proceeding. Desecration of the LordV 
 day prevails to a fearful extent throughout France, 
 and vast numbers absent themselves from the public 
 services of the Romish Church in the towns and in 
 the country. In the former, shops are opened to a 
 great extent, and that not only in the poorer parts, but 
 also in the most respectable streets ; in the country, 
 rural occupations of every kind are carried on. The 
 causes which give existence to this state of things 
 are various. Confounding days appointed by man 
 for religious worship with the LordVday, is one 
 cause : it leads to a disregard of both. The parish 
 priests permit the peasantry to work in wheat-harvest ; 
 and the peasantry, without their permission, work also 
 during the vintage and hay-harvest ; and in this way a 
 habit of working on the LordVday is generally in- 
 duced. 
 
 About eighty thousand conscripts discharged from the 
 Service return annually to the country, and take with 
 them there those habits of disrespect for the day, 
 which it may be said had been taught them by autho- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 193 
 
 rity; for reviews and parades are frequently held on 
 the Lord's-day, as also elections ; and other public 
 and political acts are done. 
 
 The abolition of the seventh-clay rest by law in 
 1793, and the substitution for it of a tenth-day rest, 
 must have had a most prejudicial effect on the popula- 
 tion of France as regards the Lord's-day. 
 
 In the year 1855 regulations were made in Vienna, 
 requiring the stalls of the market-people to be cleared 
 away, and shops to be closed, at 9 a.m. on the 
 Lord's-day, before the commencement of public wor- 
 ship. On the termination of afternoon service, all the 
 provision shops, excepting butchers' shops, were al- 
 lowed to re- open. Efforts were subsequently made by 
 the Bishops to close the public gardens in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the capital on the Lord's-day and holy- 
 days, and to prohibit dancing. They did not, how- 
 ever, succeed in their object. 
 
 In the year 1850, the Bavarian Government issued 
 ordinances for the observance of the Lord's-day and 
 holy days. These ordinances were, however, subse- 
 quently annulled, in consequence of a recommendation 
 to that effect from the Lower Chamber, who thought 
 that amusements should be encouraged on the Lord's- 
 day. 
 
 In Switzerland and in Prussia exertions have been 
 made to promote the observance of the Lord's-day by 
 associations formed for that purpose. In the latter 
 country an edict was issued in 1851, closing the 
 
 K 
 
194 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 post-offices on the Lord's-day from 9 a.m. to 12, and 
 from 1 till 5 p.m. ; and in the month of May in that 
 year the Prussian Ministry for Commerce published a 
 decree, in which they said that the observance of the 
 Lord's-day was not to be secured by orders of Govern- 
 ment, but by the instrumentality of the Church, the 
 school, and good example; but that the authorities 
 were willing to promote it by taking away external 
 hinderances. Public Fairs on the LordVday were 
 also prohibited. 
 
 In the year 1850 the Government of the Duchy of 
 Brunswick issued an ordinance, commanding that civil 
 officers should promote diligently the observance of 
 the Lord's-day. Orders to the same effect were also 
 issued in the kingdom of Hanover. 
 
 In the Grand Duchy of Hesse, the Ecclesiastical 
 Board, in a rescript of the Consistory of 1843, shewed 
 how low an estimate they formed of the Christian 
 Sabbath, by recommending that, " as often as weather 
 or other circumstances required the continuance of 
 agricultural labour on the Lord's-day, the Burgomaster 
 might give permission for it." Motions, proposing 
 that public dancing and public amusements should be 
 prohibited, were rejected by the Second Chamber, 
 who resolved that such amusements might be prac- 
 tised alter the religious services. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 TEACHING OF THE CHURCH WHEN REFORMED 
 REGARDING THE LORD'S-DAY. 
 
 At the period of the Reformation, the observance 
 of the LordVday was a subject which engaged a con- 
 siderable degree of attention in Germany. With the 
 exception of a few persons, who insisted on the obli- 
 gation on Christians of keeping the seventh day, there 
 was a universal agreement that the Lord's-day, or first 
 day of every week, should be observed. 
 
 The Continental Reformers admitted the Ten Com- 
 mandments into their Catechisms, and instructed the 
 young in them, commenting on each as the rule of 
 human duty ; but in their public documents, they are 
 careful in regard to the Fourth Commandment, to guard 
 against the supposition that they observed one day in 
 seven with a Jewish strictness, or with the superstitious 
 notion that there was some inherent holiness in one day 
 more than in another. They studiously inculcated the 
 idea that the injunction to rest, chiefly meant, in its ap- 
 plication to Christians, a rest from sin, and in contem- 
 plating and worshipping God; and that bodily rest was 
 k2 
 
196 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 secondary, and subsidiary to this more important end of 
 the Command. In their anxiety to assert their Christian 
 liberty, they often express themselves in a way so ex- 
 treme as to be dangerous to the cause of truth. Al- 
 though burning and shining lights, and honoured in- 
 struments in the hands of God for the accomplishment 
 of great objects, they were but men — men, who had 
 found their way out of the dense darkness of Popery, 
 yet whose mental vision, though by Divine grace 
 under the circumstances wonderfully clear, with-regard 
 to some things still continued clouded. Whilst we 
 reverence the Reformers, and honour them for their 
 testimony, yet we do not fall into the very error against 
 which they contended — of making man an infallible 
 authority, and adopting human opinions as our rule of 
 faith rather than the word of God. We should remem- 
 ber, too, that they were men engaged in an exciting 
 conflict, and that therefore they sometimes wrote what 
 was unguarded. 
 
 We must also conclude, from the way in which they 
 express themselves with regard to the privilege of ab- 
 staining one day in seven from ordinary business, that 
 the demands on their time and energies were by no 
 means so great as in our days, when the human powers 
 of mind and body are taxed to their utmost extent, 
 causing even those who do not hold the Divine autho- 
 rity of the Sabbath to admit the expediency and neces- 
 sity of such an arrangement, with a view to the capa- 
 bility of prolonged exertion. Thus Nowell says, in his 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 197 
 
 Catechism, in the explanation of the Fourth Command- 
 ment, that rest from work was enjoined in order to render 
 the condition of slaves or serfs tolerable. This view is 
 not unfrequently stated in the writings of the earlier 
 Reformers; and also of the Fathers of the Church. 
 
 Luther and Calvin, especially the former, in some 
 passages in their writings, express themselves strongly 
 in favour of the Divine and universal obligation of 
 the Sabbath. Thus Luther, in his Commentary on 
 Genesis ii. v. 3, says : " God did not sanctify for 
 " himself the heaven or earth, or any other creature ; 
 " but he sanctified the seventh day for himself, that we 
 " may understand that the seventh day was to be chiefly 
 u devoted to divine worship." Again, " It follows, 
 " therefore, from this place, that if Adam had stood in 
 " innocency, still he would have held a seventh day 
 " sacred ; that is, he would on that day have taught 
 " his posterity concerning the will and the worship 
 " of God : he would have praised God : he would 
 " have rendered him thanksgiving." . . . . " On the 
 " other days he would have cultivated the land, would 
 " have tended cattle. Even after the Fall, he kept the 
 " seventh day holy \ that is, he instructed his children 
 c: on that day — a fact to which the offerings of his sons 
 " Cain and Abel testify. Therefore the Sabbath from 
 " the beginning of the world is destined for the worship 
 " of God." Luther also says :— " I thank God for this 
 " greatest blessing, for this his great goodness to us, that 
 " he has given us his word, and that he has appointed a 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " particular clay for treating of it and studying it.''* In 
 his letter against those who in his time advocated the 
 observance by Christians of Circumcision and the Jewish 
 Sabbath, he argues in opposition to the assertion that 
 the Decalogue was binding only on Jews. He says, 
 that the Ten Commandments, as the law of nature, 
 are written on the minds of all men, and that, not only 
 before Moses, but before Abraham, the knowledge of 
 them pervaded the whole world; for had Moses and 
 Abraham never lived, the Ten Commandments would 
 have been of force. He also says, that the Jews are 
 arrogant in claiming for themselves exclusively, the 
 Fourth Command — being an universal one, belonging 
 to the whole world : but that it is not binding upon 
 us in the way in which Moses presented it to the Jews 
 distinctively as a nation, f In his Commentary on 
 Genesis ii., he states that God's will is that the Com- 
 mand regarding sanctifying the Sabbath, should remain. 
 
 Calvin, commenting on the same portion of Scrip- 
 ture, says : — 
 
 "For God devoted a special day out of the others for 
 this peculiar purpose : wherefore this blessing is nothing 
 else than a solemn consecration by which God draws to 
 himself on the seventh day the attention and exertions of 
 men. First, therefore, God rested ; then he blessed that 
 rest, that in all ages it might be kept holy by mankind : 
 and he appointed each seventh day to be spent in rest, that 
 his example might be a perpetual rule. The object is to 
 be kept in mind ; for God did not command men simply to 
 
 * Simplex Orancli Modus. f Luther in Sabbat barios. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 199 
 
 make holiday on every seventh day, as if he took pleasure 
 in idleness ; but that it being free from all other occupa- 
 tions, he might be more at liberty to apply his mind to the 
 Creator of the world." 
 
 Again, Calvin speaks of the need of a Sabbath to 
 Christians being as great as to the antients, as well for 
 earning as for testifying for the faith.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the views expressed in the fore- 
 going quotations, impartially demands the admission 
 that the Reformers do often use language, both in 
 their writingsf and public declarations, difficult to 
 reconcile with them, and which renders their opinions 
 on the subject of the LordVday of little value on 
 either side of the question. 
 
 The Confessions of Faith and Catechisms of the Con- 
 tinental Reformers regarding the Lord's-day are not 
 satisfactory; and yet it would seem that the jealousy 
 which characterizes their statements is an extreme into 
 which they ran lest they should encourage another 
 extreme — that of a tendency to a Rabbinical keeping 
 of the day, or the observance of it, as merely a day 
 of idleness. 
 
 The Augsburg Confession of Faith thus speaks : — 
 
 " Those who think that the observation of the Lord's- 
 day was appointed by the authority of the Church, instead 
 
 * Calvin, Comment, in Quartum Praeceptum. 
 
 + See Luther's " Declumatio Popularis" on the Third (Fourth) Com- 
 mandment. Also, on Galatians, chap. iv. ; and Catechisms major 
 and minor. Also, Calvin's Institutes, on the Fourth Command- 
 ment, chap. viii. 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of the Saturday, as a necessary thing, greatly err. Scrip- 
 ture has repealed the (Saturday) Sabbath, because it says, 
 that ' after the preaching of the Gospel all the Mosaic 
 ceremonies can be laid aside :' still, as it was necessary to 
 appoint a certain day that the people might know when to 
 assemble, it appears that the Church appointed the Lord's- 
 day for that purpose ; which, for this cause also, is believed 
 to have commended itself to them, that men might have 
 an example of Christian liberty, and might know that 
 neither the observation of the Saturday, nor of any other 
 day, was necessary."* 
 
 Again : — 
 
 " But because this society of men in this corporeal life 
 have need of order, certain ceremonies conducive to this 
 end may be retained without superstition ; that is, pro- 
 vided they be not regarded as spiritual worship or neces- 
 sary things, so that the people may know when they are 
 to assemble in churches for preaching and the sacraments ; 
 for it is necessary that there should be a public ministra- 
 tion. It is well, therefore, that certain times be appointed ; 
 for this cause the Lord's-day, and many other holy days, 
 are observed by us."t 
 
 * " Nam qui judicant ecclesiae auctoritate, pro Sabbato institutam 
 esse diei dorninici observation em tanquam necessariam, longe errant. 
 Scriptura abrogavit Sabbatum, quia elicit omnes ceremonias Mosaicas 
 post revelatum evangelium omitti posse. Et tamen quia opus erat 
 constituere certum diem, ut sciret populus quando convenire deberet, 
 apparet ecclesiam ei rei destinasse diem dominicam, qui ab banc quo- 
 que causam videtur magis placuisse ut haberent homines exemplum 
 Christians libertatis, et scirent, nee Sabbati nee altering diei observa- 
 tion cm necessariam esse." — (Cap. vii. De Potestate Ecclesiastica ; Con- 
 fessio fidei in Comit. August.) 
 
 f " Sed quia bsec societas hominum in hac corporale vita babet 
 opus ordine, possunt aliqui ritus utiles ad hunc tiiiem politicum reti- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 201 
 
 The Swiss Confession of Faith says : — 
 
 " Although religion is not restricted by time, it cannot 
 however take root, or be exercised, without a distinction 
 or arrangement of time : therefore every Church chooses 
 for itself a certain time for public prayers, the preaching 
 of the Gospel, and the celebration of the Sacraments. But 
 it is not permitted to every one to violate this arrange- 
 ment of the Church at his own discretion ; and unless fail- 
 leisure be granted for the exercise of the means of grace, 
 men are sure to be drawn away from them by their occu- 
 pations ; whence we see, in the ancient Churches, that not 
 only, were certain hours weekly, appointed for assemblies, 
 but that the Lord's-day itself, from the very times of the 
 Apostles, was appointed, for sacred rest ; which day is now, 
 with great propriety, observed by our Churches for wor- 
 ship and brotherly love. In doing this we are in no degree 
 given to Jewish observation and superstitions ; for we do 
 not think one day more holy than another, nor that cessa- 
 tion from labour is in itself agreeable to God ; but we 
 celebrate the Lord's-day, not the Saturday, with a free 
 observance." # 
 
 neri sine superstitiosis opinionibus, hoc est, ne judicentur esse cultus, 
 aut res necessaries, ut populus sciat quando coetus in templis convemre 
 debeat ad conciones, et ad usum sacramentorum : oportet enim niinis- 
 terium illud esse publicum. Prodest certa tempora constitui. Ita 
 servantur apud nos ferise diei dominici, et plerseque alise." (Articuli 
 De Abusibus, De Descriinine Ciborum, &c. &c. Confess. August.) 
 
 * " Quanquani religio tempore non alligatur, non potest tamen 
 absque justaternporis distinction evel ordinatione plantare et exerceri, 
 deligit ergo qua3vis ecclesia sibi tempus certum ad preces publicas, et 
 evangelii praadicationem, necnon sacramentorum celebrationem. Non 
 licet autem cuivis pro suo arbitrio ecclesia? ordinationem hanc con- 
 vellere; ac nisi otium justum concedatur religionis externa? exercitio, 
 abstrakuntur certe ab eo negotiis suis homines* Unde videmus in 
 K 3 
 
202 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 The fruits of these opinions are now visible on the 
 Continent, in the .almost universal disregard for the 
 due observance of the LordVday which so widely pre- 
 vails among Protestants equally as among Romanists : 
 so that, instead of being a witness for God in this re- 
 spect against the Church of Rome, the Protestants 
 emulate her in their desecration of the LordVday.* 
 
 The Geneva Catechism observes on the Fourth Com- 
 mandment, " This precept has a separate and peculiar 
 " feature, since the observation of a rest is part of the 
 " antient ceremonies : therefore it has been abrogated 
 " by the coming of Christ." 
 
 There is one body of Continental Christians, namely, 
 the Vaudois, whose declared views regarding the 
 Christian Sabbath are in accordance with the teaching 
 of the word of God. They hold that the observance of 
 the Lord's-day is of Divine authority; and in their 
 public service the Decalogue is read.f 
 
 The Moravian Brethren also hold views on the 
 subject similarly Scriptural. Bost, in his " History 
 
 ecclesiis vetustis, non tantura certas fuisse lioras in septimana consti- 
 tutas coetibus, seel ipsam diem clominicam ab ipsis apostolorum tempo- 
 ribus iisdein sacroque otio fuisse consecratam : quod etiam nunc recte 
 propter cultum et cliaritatem ab ecclesiis nostris custoditur. Ob- 
 servationi Judaicse et superstitionibus nihil hie permitthnus Ne- 
 que enim alteram diem altera sanctiorem esse credimus, neque otium 
 Deo per se probari existiinamus, sed et dominicam non Sabbatum libera 
 observatione celebramus." (Confessio Helvetica, 24 Art. de Feriis.) 
 
 * See also Catecbesis Palatina et Ileidelbergensis, on the Fourth 
 Commandment. — Sylloge Confessionum Oxon. e Typograph. Clarend. 
 1827. 
 
 f La Liturgie Vaudoise, 1837. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 203 
 
 of the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren/' page 152, 
 says : — 
 
 " The Brethren alwa}^s entertained the greatest reverence 
 for the Lord's-day, regarding the observance of it as one 
 of those which the will of God has continued in his Church 
 through all dispensations. They observed a strict rest on 
 this day, attending to the letter of the law, abstaining 
 from all secular work and improper use of their time." 
 
 It is said, however, that many of the Moravian 
 Brethren on the Continent are, in their practice, but 
 too much influenced by the laxity regarding the ob- 
 servance of the Lord's-day, which prevails around them. 
 
 The English and Scotch Reformers, in their public 
 and authorized Liturgies, Catechisms, and Confessions, 
 took a view of the obligation of the day of holy rest 
 most decided, and in this respect contrasting with those 
 expressed in the Confessions and Catechisms of the Pro- 
 testant Churches on the Continent. The Presbyterian 
 Church of Scotland, in her Confession of Faith, and in 
 her Greater and Shorter Catechism, plainly and unmis- 
 takably declares that the Lord's-day is to be observed 
 in obedience to the Fourth Commandment. The Con- 
 fession of Faith thus speaks : — 
 
 " As it is of the law of nature that, in general, a due 
 proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God ; 
 so in his word, by a positive moral and perpetual com- 
 mandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particu- 
 larly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath to be kept 
 holy unto him, which, from the beginning of the world 
 to the resurrection, was the last day of the week, and from 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day 
 of the week, which in Scripture is called the Lord's-day, 
 and is to be continued to the end of the world as the 
 Christian Sabbath. This Sabbath is then to be kept holy 
 unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their 
 hearts and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do 
 not only observe a holy rest all the day from their own works, 
 words, and thoughts, about their worldly employments and 
 recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the 
 public and private exercises of His worship, and in the 
 duties of necessity and mercy." * 
 
 These views also are embodied in the Larger Cate- 
 chism, under the head of the Fourth Commandment ; 
 and under the same head, in the Shorter Catechism. 
 "The Confession of Faith" was incorporated with the 
 Statute Law of Scotland in 1567. It was also adopted 
 by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, called together 
 by Parliament in the year 1643, approved of by the 
 Assembly at Edinburgh in 1647, and, being ratified 
 by Act of Parliament 1649, became the public and 
 avowed Confession of Faith of the Church of Scot- 
 land.f The youth of Scotland are carefully instructed 
 in the Catechisms. The consequence is, that the people 
 of that country are pre-eminently and honorably dis- 
 tinguished for their reverence for the Sabbath. 
 
 And here it would be well to observe on the great 
 importance of training up the young, by example and 
 precept, in a regard for the LordVclay. It is a lesson 
 
 * "The Confession of Faith of the Church of Scotland," c. 21, 
 section 7, 8 
 
 f Stewart' Compendium of the Laws of the Church of Scotland. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 205 
 
 which may be taught at a very early age, and the 
 remembrance of which is never effaced, but is of 
 all others likely to influence and give a right direc- 
 tion to the future life and conduct. And next to the 
 importance of inculcating on the young the duty of 
 observing the Christian Sabbath, is that of presenting 
 it to them in a loving and pleasing aspect; as a day of 
 Christian cheerfulness, privilege, and blessing ; as much 
 removed from austerity and gloom, as from levity and 
 worldliness. To the true believer in Christ, the day 
 is one of joyful associations, and on which he realizes 
 with more than ordinary intensity the blessings which 
 the Gospel confers, and the glorious prospects it holds 
 forth to him, — a day of bodily and mental rest and 
 domestic endearments. So that where it is truly valued 
 and enjoyed, the happiness of the heart is sure to be 
 reflected in the deportment, so as to commend religion 
 to all, particularly to the young. 
 
 With regard to the Church of England, the com- 
 pilers of the Liturgy unquestionably held that the Ten 
 Commandments are binding on Christians — including 
 of course the Fourth — for they form a prominent part 
 of the public service ; also, after each Commandment 
 has been solemnly pronounced by the minister, the 
 people are taught to pray, " Lord, have mercy upon 
 us, and incline our hearts to keep this law ;" and, when 
 all the Commandments have been read, to say, " Lord, 
 have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our 
 hearts, we beseech thee." 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Some members of the Church say that this does 
 not prove that the Church of England teaches her 
 members that all these Commandments are binding 
 upon them, or at all events, that the Fourth is 
 binding; and yet it is difficult to see how they 
 can so conclude ; for what means the announcement 
 of these ten laws in her Liturgy, and the injunc- 
 tion that they should be inscribed on the walls of 
 our churches ? Assuredly not to teach that they are 
 not to be obeyed ! And if neither to inculcate obedi- 
 ence nor disobedience, why place them there at all? 
 If it were intended that the Fourth should be excepted, 
 why not at once plainly declare, that whilst God gave 
 the former dispensation ten Commandments, only 
 nine are binding on Christians ? What means the 
 prayer, to be said, and doubtless felt, after each Com- 
 mandment, including the Fourth ? It clearly means 
 what it says, that God would incline the heart of him 
 who utters it to keep that law ; and it may be asked, 
 even if these considerations presented no difficulty 
 to overcome, to what does the prayer refer at the con- 
 clusion of the Commands, " Lord, have mercy upon us, 
 and write all these thy laws on our hearts, we beseech 
 thee V* Is the Fourth included, or is it alone excepted, 
 or has the prayer no reference to any of them ? and if 
 to any, how can it be denied that it has to all? — to 
 the Fourth as well as to the others ? It devolves 
 upon the objectors to reconcile these difficulties. 
 But the opinion of the compilers of the Liturgy 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 207 
 
 is further put beyond all doubt by the exhortation 
 to sponsors in the Baptismal Service, to see that 
 the baptized be taught as soon as they are able to_ 
 learn, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten 
 Commandments, in the vulgar tongue; and be in- 
 structed in the Church Catechism, prepared for that 
 purpose ; the Homily on the Place and Time of Prayer 
 also decidedly inculcates on Christians the duty of 
 observing the Lord's-day as the Christian Sabbath. 
 It is difficult to see how the Church could declare her 
 opinion more plainly, 
 
 Again, in the Church Catechism, to which the spon- 
 sors are referred, and in which they are exhorted to 
 see that the children be instructed, we find that one 
 of the three things they undertake to do is, "to 
 keep God's holy will and Commandments, and to walk 
 in the same all the days of their life •" and when they 
 are further asked, what these Commandments are, the 
 reply is, " The same which God spake in Exodus xx.," 
 after which they are required to repeat the Decalogue, 
 including the Fourth Command. And here we must 
 remark on the grave sin of the Church of Rome in 
 altering the arrangement of the Commands, and sub- 
 stituting for the Fourth Command in many of her 
 Catechisms, other words than those in the Scriptures ; 
 for instead of " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
 holy/' these Catechisms say, " Remember to keep holy 
 the festivals ;" thus she corrupts the Inspired Word, 
 and makes void the law of God by her traditions. 
 
208 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 With regard to the Church of England, the conse- 
 quence of her teaching in her public formularies is, that 
 the great majority of her members hold the Divine 
 authority and perpetual obligation of the Sabbath — 
 even in instances where there may be a practical dis- 
 regard of the duty — and that the largest measure of 
 moral and pecuniary support in efforts to promote or 
 secure its observance made in our days,has been derived 
 from her ministers and people. 
 
 Such deep root has the conviction taken in the public 
 mind, that the Sabbath is a command binding on all 
 men, that a violation of it, on the part of those in 
 authority, would be productive of the most injurious 
 results in shaking the moral principle of the community. 
 
 With respect to the views of individual Reformers 
 of the English Church, they are much more sound and 
 satisfactory than those of the German Reformers. Still 
 we often find opinions of a doubtful character ex- 
 pressed ; but as the Reformation progressed there is 
 a perceptible improvement. We should remember, that 
 the Reformers, both in this country and abroad, were 
 men groping their way out of the dense darkness of 
 Popery; and it is hot to be wondered at that they did 
 not always see clearly at first. We have a remark- 
 able evidence of this improvement in their views in the 
 fact, that whilst the Ten Commandments were omitted 
 in the First Book of Edward the Sixth, compiled in the 
 year 1548, they were introduced into the Second Book ; 
 notwithstanding the part Bucer in all probability had 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 209 
 
 in preparing it, — whose views of the subject were 
 not satisfactory.* The Second Book was used in the 
 year 1552, and in many respects was an improve- 
 ment on the First Book. This doubtless is attributable 
 to increasing light and perception of truth on the part 
 of the compilers of it ; for the opinions of Cranmer, 
 one of those who had a chief hand in it, were not sound 
 at a previous period of his history .f Peter Martyr, 
 whose views on the subject were Scriptural, may 
 have exercised a beneficial influence in having the Ten 
 Commandments introduced. 
 
 The opinions of Peter Martyr are stated in his Com- 
 ment on the Fourteenth Chapter' of the Epistle to the 
 Romans, where he thus expresses himself, speaking 
 of days the observance of which was optional : "But we 
 " except the Lord's-day, for it belongs to the Deca- 
 " logue, as one day of the week was to be consecrated 
 " to the service of God : in the old dispensation God 
 " willed that day to be the seventh ; that the memory 
 " of the creation of the world and of deliverance from 
 " Egypt might with more certainty be impressed on 
 "the mind; but afterwards the LordVday was sub- 
 " stituted, that the memory of the resurrection of 
 " Christ, and of salvation obtained through Him, and 
 " our hopes of our own resurrection, might be im- 
 " pressed as deeply as possible on our minds ; and it 
 
 * See Bucer, on the Twelfth Chapter of St. Matthew, 
 f See " A Confutation of unwritten Verities in the Writings of 
 Cranmer," page 61. Parker Society's Works. 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 " was appointed by the Apostles themselves, of which 
 " there is sufficiently plain mention in the Sacred 
 " Scriptures." 
 
 We occasionally find the First Liturgy of Edward the 
 Sixth, and the opinions of the Reformers at an earlier 
 period of their course, referred to in proof that they 
 did not regard the Sabbath as of Divine authority. 
 But we must remember that the Reformation was in its 
 nature a state of progress from darkness to light, and 
 that therefore the views most recently expressed are 
 those by which we are to judge of the opinions of the 
 Church in its individual members. 
 
 The most antient liturgies of the Eastern Church 
 commenced with the law of Moses.* The Fourth 
 Commandment was also read by itself, followed by a 
 prayer similar to that in our Communion Service, in 
 the antient missal of Salisbury in the Communion 
 Service, j- 
 
 There can be no question as to the object of intro- 
 ducing the Commandments into the service, nor of the 
 benefit to morality which has been derived from such 
 an arrangement. 
 
 * Constitut. Apostol. Lib. ii. c. 57. Also, Origines Liturgies. By 
 Eev. W. Palmer. Oxon. 
 f Palmer's Origines Liturgica?, vol. ii. c. 4. s. 3 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 211 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE LORD'S-DAY, OR CHRISTIAN" SABBATH, IN 
 MODERN TIMES IN ENGLAND. 
 
 On the whole, the United Kingdom presents a 
 striking and favorable contrast to the rest of Europe 
 in its observance of the LordVday. The causes which 
 contribute to this satisfactory result are manifestly 
 those stated in the previous chapter. The National 
 Churches in England and Scotland acknowledge and 
 inculcate on their members the duty of keeping holy 
 the Sabbath, or day of rest ; their Catechisms carefully 
 instruct the young in the obligation to observe it. 
 
 The Free Church of Scotland is also most zealous 
 for the observance of the Lord's-day ; a remark which 
 likewise applies to the various religious denomina- 
 tions there. In England, that influential and active 
 body of Christians, the Wesleyan Methodists, have 
 always been characterised by reverence for this duty, 
 and by their eiforts to promote its observance. Their 
 endeavours have in no small degree contributed to pre- 
 serve among the humbler classes in England, and of 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the Protestants of Ireland, a respect for the LorcFs- 
 day. Among the Nonconformists of various denomi- 
 nations, great numbers hold the Divine authority and 
 perpetual obligation of the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 The Congregationalists, however, for the most part 
 on principle oppose the enactment of laws in reference 
 to religion ; a principle which they extend to the Lord's- 
 day. They regard legislation of this character as an 
 interference with liberty ; and they conceive that human 
 conduct, in religious matters, should be regulated by 
 individual conscience, enlightened and instructed by 
 the word of God, rather than by legal enactments. 
 Whilst scruples, based on religion, although we cannot 
 adopt them, claim forbearance and respect; yet it is 
 difficult to understand how man can, consistently with 
 the responsibility he owes to God, allow any influence 
 to be in abeyance ; how he can refuse to employ it in 
 his Master's service, whether it be that of a private 
 individual or that of a magistrate and legislator; or 
 why he should be deterred from using it because it 
 may have been abused. Legislation, in reference to the 
 LordVday, is designed to secure to the weak the 
 possession of a property, of which, like other property, 
 they are liable to be deprived — the property of one 
 day in seven, given by God to every member of 
 society — and to protect him in the enjoyment of its 
 various privileges. It is true that such legislation 
 presents a compulsory aspect, as well as a protec- 
 tive one; so do laws in reference to the Sixth Com- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 213 
 
 mand or the Eighth Command ; compulsory on the 
 unprincipled and unscrupulous, but protective of the 
 religious and conscientious man. A duty, the obser- 
 vance of which so vitally affects the happiness of indi- 
 viduals and the well-being of society, may well become 
 a subject for legislation, especially exposed as the time 
 of man is to undue encroachments from motives of 
 gain or pleasure. 
 
 With respect to the Romanists in this country, their 
 views and practices regarding the Lord's-day are very 
 unsound and lax; they consider that its observance 
 consists in devoting it partly to religion and partly 
 to pleasure ; nor have they assisted in any of the great 
 movements which have been made in England to de- 
 fend it from attack or to promote the holy keeping 
 of the day. 
 
 The establishment of the Sunday School system, in- 
 troduced by Mr. Raikes of Gloucester in the year 
 1781, has tended to preserve among the population 
 a knowledge of religion, and a reverence and regard 
 for the Lord's-day, of the advantages of which that 
 system is an illustration and proof. It is fearful to 
 contemplate the condition in which our population 
 would be, were it nut for the Sunday School training 
 of the last three generations. We must form an esti- 
 mate of its benefits not only by the positive good it 
 has done, but also by the evil it has prevented. There 
 are now in the United Kingdom 23,514 Sunday 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Schools, 318,135 gratuitous Sunday School teachers, 
 and 2,407,642 Sunday School scholars. 
 
 Sunday Ragged Schools, for the most neglected 
 portion of the young of the population, are of recent 
 introduction; but they have already accomplished 
 much good. All these things conduce to promote 
 the observance of the LordVday in England and Scot- 
 land, and among the Protestant population of Ireland, 
 and to endear it to them. 
 
 Still, notwithstanding our advantages as regards our 
 national reverence for the Lord's-day, not only is there 
 great room for improvement, but there is good ground 
 for apprehending that desecration of the day is on 
 the increase, and is likely to gain the ascendancy, if 
 active, general, and Scriptural measures to prevent it 
 be not taken by the Christian community. 
 
 The published opinions of Archdeacon Paley, who, 
 following in the wake of Heylin, denied the obligation 
 of the Sabbath on Christians, have proved highly inju- 
 rious in disseminating views opposed to the teaching 
 of the Word of God. Other English divines since his 
 time have given publicity to similar opinions, but as 
 these opinions are virtually those of Heylin reiterated, it 
 is not necessary to refer further to them. The weight of 
 learning and talent in the Church of England is, how- 
 ever, decidedly against Heylin's views. 
 
 In the beginning of the eighteenth century, with 
 the revival of religion in England, an improved ob- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 215 
 
 servance of the LordVday also took place. Dr. Beilby 
 Porteus, Bishop of Chester, and subsequently of Lon- 
 don, was honourably distinguished in his endeavours 
 to promote the observance of the day. In the year 
 
 1780, what was called a promenade was opened at 
 Carlton House on the LordVday, professedly with a 
 view to give persons an opportunity for exercise and 
 conversation : three shillings were charged for admis- 
 sion ; it soon became the resort of dissolute persons, 
 and a place of assignation. About the same time 
 meetings were held on the Lord's-day avowedly to dis- 
 cuss religious subjects; they were called Christian 
 Societies, or Theological Societies ; at these places In- 
 fidel opinions were broached, and in this way the reli- 
 gious principles of many were corrupted. Bishop Por- 
 teus resolutely set himself to oppose these evils : he 
 induced Mr. Mansfield, afterwards Lord Mansfield, in 
 
 1781, to bring in a Bill for the suppression of them ; 
 it was opposed by Mr. Wilkes, but passed the Com- 
 mons without a division : the Duke of Manchester op- 
 posed it in the Lords, but it passed the first reading 
 by a majority of twenty-six, after which it did not 
 encounter further opposition. Lord Mansfield doubted 
 the efficiency of the Act to accomplish the object it 
 had in view. Subsequent experience has, however, 
 proved that it is sufficient for its purpose. This Act 
 is the 21st Geo. III. c. 49. 
 
 In the year 1794 he induced the Society for enforcing 
 
216 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 His Majesty's Proclamation for the Suppression of Vice 
 and Immorality, to issue an Address, exhorting the 
 higher ranks to bind themselves not to give or receive 
 invitations to entertainments or assemblies — not to 
 travel except in cases of urgency or for purposes of 
 charity — not to follow their ordinary business, and not 
 to employ domestics in anything interfering with their 
 public or private religious duties on the LordVday. 
 The Bishop was President of the Society. 
 
 In the year 1794 he addressed a letter to the Clergy 
 of the diocese of London on the profanation of the 
 LordVday, in which he mentions particularly the de- 
 secration of the day, by the plying of stage-waggons 
 and stage-coaches, by printing and dispersing of 
 Sunday newspapers (an evil which has so fearfully 
 increased since his time, and proved such a powerful 
 means of demoralising the humbler classes), by follow- 
 ing ordinary business in breweries, and by the erec- 
 tion of buildings. He exhorts the Clergy, both publicly 
 and privately, to oppose these desecrations, and re- 
 commends private remonstrance, in the first instance, 
 as often the more effectual mode of proceeding. 
 
 In the year 1805 a practice prevailed of having 
 concerts at private houses, at which public singers 
 performed on the Lord's-day. The Bishop addressed 
 letters to three ladies of rank who were leaders in this 
 practice, exhorting them to discontinue it, which they 
 promised to do. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 21 7 
 
 Almost the last public act in the life of this eminent 
 man was one in defence of the Lord's-day : he thus 
 relates it : — 
 
 " I had for some time past observed, in several of the 
 papers, an account of a meeting, chiefly of military gentle- 
 men, at a hotel at the West-end of the town, which was 
 regularly announced every other Sunday during the winter 
 season : this appeared to me, and to every friend of religion, 
 a heedless and wanton profanation of the Christian Sab- 
 bath, which, by the laws both of God and man, was set 
 apart for very different purposes ; and the Bishops and 
 Clergy were severely censured for permitting such a glar- 
 ing abuse of that sacred day to pass without notice or 
 reproof. I determined that it should not, and therefore 
 thought it best to go at once to the fountain-head — to 
 the person of the highest and principal influence in the 
 meeting — the Prince of Wales (afterwards George the 
 Fourth). I accordingly requested the honour of an au- 
 dience and a personal conference with him on the subject. 
 He very graciously granted it, and I had a conversation 
 with him of more than half an hour. He entered imme- 
 diately into my views, and confessed he saw no reason for 
 holding the meetings on Sundays more than on any other 
 day ; and he voluntarily proposed that the day should be 
 changed to Saturday ; for which, he said, he should give 
 immediate orders."* 
 
 These exertions of the venerable Bishop during his 
 episcopate, doubtless tended greatly to check the dese- 
 cration of the Lord's-day. 
 
 In the year 1830 Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, 
 addressed a letter to the inhabitants of London and 
 
 * " Life of Bishop Porteus," by the Eev. E. Hodgson. London, 1811. 
 
 L 
 
218 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Westminster, " On the present neglect of the Lord's- 
 
 day." Dr. Daniel Wilson, now Bishop of Calcutta, when 
 
 Vicar of Islington, in the same year published seven 
 
 Sermons on the Sabbath. These proceedings led many 
 
 to turn their attention to the subject, and to discern 
 
 its great importance. 
 
 In the year 1831 a Society was formed in London, 
 
 " To promote the due Observance of the Lord's-day."* 
 
 The chief originator of it was Mr. Joseph Wilson, the 
 
 son of an affluent London merchant. Mr. Wilson 
 
 devoted himself to the promotion of its objects, as its 
 
 Honorary Secretary, till the period of his death in 
 
 the year 1855 : his services were invaluable, cha- 
 
 * The following are the names of those Gentlemen who founded 
 the Lord's-day Ohservance Society, and established it on the basis of 
 the Divine authority of the Sabbath :— J. Battye, Esq.; N. Bax- 
 ter, Esq.; J. Beldam, Esq.; Rev. H. Blunt; J. Brenton, Esq.; J. 
 Bridges, Esq.; R. J. Chambers, Esq.; H. C. Christian, Esq.; G. 
 Rochfort Clarke, Esq.;D. Coates, Esq.; Rev. W. Dealtry, D.D. ; 
 J. Deverell, Esq.; W. Evans, Esq., M.P.; A. Gordon, Esq.; T. Han- 
 key, Esq. ; Rev. J. Harding (afterwards Bishop of Bombay); Rev. T. 
 Harding ; Rev. J. Labouchere, Esq. ; Colonel Maclnnes (afterwards 
 General) ; H. Maxwell, Esq., M.P. ; J. Poynder, Esq. ; Rev. M. M. 
 Preston; Rev. H. Raikes, afterwards Chancellor of Chester; Rev. 
 S. Robins; W. Roberts, Esq.; Hon. G. Ryder, M.P.; E. V. Side- 
 bottom, Esq.; Rev. T. Sims; A. Smith, Esq., M.P. ; G. J. P. Smith, 
 Esq. ; R. Saunders, Esq. ; J. M. Standen, Esq. ; J. M. Strachan, 
 Esq.; N. Wathen, Esq., Rev. H. Watkins; P. White, Esq.; Rev. 
 S. C. Wilks; Rev. D. Wilson (afterwards Bishop of Calcutta); and 
 J. Wilson, Esq., Honorary Secretary. 
 
 Dr. Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury ; Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of 
 London; Dr. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester ; Dr. Ryder, Bishop of 
 Lichfield, and other Bishops, have from time to time rendered the 
 Society important aid in its efforts, by presiding at its Annual Meet- 
 ings, attending Deputations to the Government, and giving the 
 Society the benefit of their advice and counsel. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 219 
 
 racterised as they were by sound principle, deep piety, 
 great energy and perseverance, and good common sense. 
 As that Society has taken a prominent part in all 
 the movements in reference to the LordVday, which 
 have been made since its formation, it will be desirable 
 to state here its principles and objects, extracted from 
 the " Primary Address" adopted at a Meeting held in 
 February, 1831. The Address was the production of 
 the Bishop of Calcutta : — 
 
 "That the dedication of one day in every seven to religious 
 rest and the worship of Almighty God is of Divine autho- 
 rity and perpetual obligation, as a characteristic of Re- 
 vealed Religion during all its successive periods ; having 
 been enjoined upon man at the Creation — recognised and 
 confirmed in the most solemn manner in the Ten Com- 
 mandments — urged by the Prophets as an essential duty, 
 about to form a part of the institutions of the Messiah's 
 kingdom — vindicated by our Divine Lord from the un- 
 authorized additions and impositions of the Jewish teachers 
 — transferred by Him and his Apostles, upon the abroga- 
 tion of the ceremonies of the Mosaic Law, to the first day 
 of the week in commemoration of the resurrection of 
 Christ, and on that account called ' The Lord's-day ' — 
 and finally established in more than all its primitive glory 
 as an ordinance of the spiritual universal Church of the 
 New Testament and a standing pledge and foretaste of 
 the eternal rest of heaven. And that this Meeting be- 
 lieves that every person in a Christian country is bound 
 in conscience to devote this seventh portion of his time 
 to the honour of God, by resting from the business of 
 his calling; by abstaining altogether from the pursuit of 
 gain, and from ordinary pastimes and recreations ; by 
 
 l2 
 
220 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 guarding against every worldly avocation and interrup- 
 tion ; and by spending the entire day in the public and 
 private duties of religion, with the exception of such 
 works of necessity and charity as our Saviour by his 
 example was pleased to allow and commend : so as to 
 designate this one day of rest and Divine service, after 
 six days of labour, as a more distinguished privilege of 
 the Christian, than it was of the Patriarchal and Jewish 
 dispensations." 
 
 The objects of the Society are stated to be — 
 
 ' To diffuse information as widely as possible on the 
 subject, by the publication and circulation of Books and 
 Tracts on the Divine Authorit} r of the Institution — on 
 the objections raised against it — on its practical duties — 
 its unnumbered benefits — the prevailing violations of it 
 - — the new inroads made on its sanctity — the best means 
 of abating or preventing those evils, and promoting the 
 sanctification of the day — and on similar topics. 
 
 " To adopt all such measures, consistent with Scriptural 
 principles, as may appear best adapted to lead to a due 
 observance of the Lord's-day in the Metropolis, and 
 throughout the Empire. 
 
 " To open a correspondence throughout the British 
 Empire, and if possible on the Continent of Europe, and 
 wherever else suitable opportunities may occur, for the 
 purpose of forming Local Associations, and for maintain- 
 ing a friendly intercourse with Societies already existing, 
 or that may be established, with the view of promoting 
 the due observance of the Lord's-day. 
 
 " To promote, by all proper measures, Petitions to the 
 Legislature, throughout the country, for the enactment of 
 such laws as may be necessary for repressing the open 
 violation of the Lord's-day, and for protecting the Chris- 
 tian worshipper in the peaceful exercise of his duties. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 221 
 
 " And generally to form a point of union, if God should 
 be pleased to bless the design, for the efforts which may 
 be made in every part of the world towards this great 
 object." 
 
 The Society, on its formation, and in subsequent 
 years, exerted itself with great activity. It opened a 
 correspondence with the Metropolis and the country 
 generally, with a view of obtaining information and 
 exciting an interest in its object. It also published, 
 and circulated very extensively, Tracts, addressed to 
 various classes of society, on the Divine authority of the 
 Lord's-day, and the practical duties devolving on all 
 who acknowledged it. It instituted an inquiry into 
 the laws regarding the LordVday, with a view to 
 their amendment. Associations similar in character 
 were also originated in various parts of the country, 
 and ministers of religion were urged to preach and 
 hold meetings in order to instruct the public mind 
 on the subject. The singular success with which these 
 efforts have been crowned, is an incontestable proof 
 of the importance of such an organization, with its 
 kindred associations all through the kingdom : there 
 can be no doubt that, but for the Society, humanly 
 speaking, the national observance of the Sabbath would 
 have been compromised on more than one occasion, for 
 in some attacks made upon it, the enemy would have 
 won the battle whilst preparations were being made 
 for resistance : but the Society, always ready and orga- 
 nised, has formed at such junctures a rallying point 
 for the friends of the Sabbath. 
 
222 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF SIR ANDREW AGNEW IN PARLIA- 
 MENT, REGARDING THE OBSERVANCE OF THE 
 LORD'S-DAY. 
 
 Efforts to promote the observance of the Lord's-day 
 were not limited to a Society ; the subject was brought 
 prominently before the country in the year 1832, 
 through the medium of Parliament. On the motion of 
 Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart., a Select Committee to in- 
 quire into the laws relating to the Lord's-day was 
 obtained on the 3rd of July ; and the Committee com- 
 menced its sittings on the 6th of August of that year. 
 
 Before, however, detailing the proceedings of the 
 Committee, it will be well to say something of Sir 
 Andrew Agnew, whose name will descend to posterity, 
 in the history of the Church of Christ, honourably dis- 
 tinguished for his faithful and fearless advocacy of 
 the Lord's-day. 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew was born in Kingsale in Ireland, 
 in 1793 : his father, Lieutenant Andrew Agnew, was 
 the eldest son of Sir Stair Agnew, Bart., of Lochnaw 
 Castle in Scotland : his mother was the eldest daughter 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 223 
 
 of John, twenty-sixth Lord Kingsale, Premier Baron of 
 Ireland, and one of the oldest families in that country. 
 Sir Andrew spent the first sixteen years of his life in 
 Ireland, and received his subsequent education in 
 Scotland and England ; having studied for some time 
 at Oxford. His manners were courtly, his disposition 
 remarkably amiable, and he was altogether free from 
 those provincial peculiarities which are often an im- 
 pediment in the way of one who has to advocate a 
 question of national importance. Many of the periodi- 
 cals of his time represented him as severe and ascetic 
 in his disposition and habits, but such a statement was 
 utterly without foundation, and made by those who did 
 not know him ; or who, if they knew him, sacrificed 
 truth to prejudice. He was elected Member of Parlia- 
 ment for Wigtonshire in 1830, and again in 1831.* 
 
 Ninety witnesses were examined before the Select 
 Committee, including persons representing various 
 classes in life. Among these witnesses was Dr. Farre, 
 who gave important testimony respecting the beneficial 
 influence of the seventh-day rest on man, in a sanitary 
 point of view.f Master-bakers and journeymen-bakers 
 of London also appeared as witnesses, and gave a 
 touching description of the moral degradation and 
 disease entailed on many of their class, owing to their 
 being deprived of the religious and other privileges of 
 the LordVday. Persons connected with the Inland 
 
 * See "Life of Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart.," by Rev. Dr. M'Crie. 
 f See page 34 for this evidence. 
 
224 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Navigation of the Country testified to the demoralization 
 of the men employed on canals and navigable rivers, 
 attributable to the same cause.* 
 
 The Rev. David Ruell, Chaplain of the Clerkenwell 
 House of Correction, stated, that during eighteen years 
 he had had 100,000 prisoners under his pastoral 
 charge, and had generally found that the neglect, or 
 gross violation of the Sabbath, was one of the principal 
 causes of crime ; and that the prisoners themselves had 
 often confessed that such was the case. In reference 
 to prisoners of all classes, he added, that in nineteen 
 cases out of twenty, they were persons who had not 
 only neglected the Sabbath, but all other ordinances 
 of religion. Similar statements have since been made 
 by many Chaplains of Prisons. At a meeting held at 
 Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, in January 1857, the 
 Rev. Henry Smith Warleigh, Chaplain of the Park- 
 hurst Prison, stated that ninety-five out of every hun- 
 dred boys there, traced their entrance on a course of 
 crime to the desecration of the Lord's-day. 
 
 The Report of the Committee was an important do- 
 cument, and recommended an amendment of the law. 
 
 But Sir Andrew Agnew was not content with elicit- 
 ing a valuable body of evidence, and placing it before 
 the country and Parliament. 
 
 His own opinions as to the importance of the subject, 
 and the necessity of the amendment of the law, were 
 
 * See "Statistics and Facts of the Lord's-day,'' by the Author. 
 Seeleys, Fleet Street, London. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 225 
 
 doubtless strengthened by the information he had re- 
 ceived. In the month of March, 1833, he moved for 
 leave to bring in a Bill " to promote the better observ- 
 ance of the Lord's-day." The Bill is drawn up by 
 Mr. George Rochfort Clarke, Barrister, who was dis- 
 tinguished for his faithful and unflinching assertion 
 of the Divine authority and perpetual obligation of 
 the Lord's-day as a truth of the Word of God, and as 
 the only safe and secure basis on which exertions to 
 promote its observance can be made. After full con- 
 sideration, on the part of Sir Andrew, the Commit- 
 tee of the LordVday Observance Society, and other 
 friends, as to the character of the Bill, it was finally 
 decided that it should be based on the principle of 
 the Fourth Command, and should prohibit all work 
 not required by piety, charity, or necessity : the Bill 
 was rejected on the motion for the second reading, on 
 the 16th May, 1833, by a majority of 79 to 73. Mr. 
 Shaw, Member for the University of Dublin, seconded 
 the motion for leave to bring in the Bill; and Mr. 
 Plumptre, one of the Members for Kent, the motion for 
 the second reading ; the minority was, all the circum- 
 stances considered, encouragingly large. The subject was 
 distasteful to many even of those who professed a regard 
 for the Lord's-day. Some thought that Sir Andrew Ag- 
 new attempted too much in presenting to the House a 
 Bill based on the full principle of the Lord's-day ; but 
 Sir Andrew had in view to raise public Christian opinion 
 to the standard held up in the Word of God, and this 
 
 l3 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 opinion he felt would be lowered still more by present- 
 ing a Bill short of that standard ; even if, on other and 
 higher grounds, he did not object to such a course. 
 The effects of the discussion that took place on the Bill 
 were very satisfactory. Many were led to consider the 
 subject, and they soon perceived that they had, without 
 thought, been in the habit of doing things not com- 
 patible with the requirements of God's law. 
 
 This improved state of feeling extended to all 
 classes, including persons in the highest station. 
 Orders were given at the Royal Palace that all provi- 
 sions required for the LordVday should be purchased 
 and delivered on Saturday. Cabinet-dinners on the 
 Lord's-day were discontinued, and labour was dimi- 
 nished, or wholly suspended in many establishments. 
 
 On the 11th June, 1833, Sir Andrew Agnew, with 
 characteristic perseverance, moved for leave to bring in 
 a Bill to amend the Laws relating to Scotland. The 
 introduction of the Bill was opposed, but it was carried 
 by a majority of thirteen ; it was, however, subsequently 
 withdrawn. 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew also brought in a Bill for the re- 
 moval, in certain cases, of Saturday and Monday Fairs 
 and Markets, to other days of the week, as local and rela- 
 tive circumstances might require. This Bill was with- 
 drawn, on the understanding that it was to be introduced 
 as a clause in a Bill to be brought in by Mr. Petre, 
 member for Bodmin. 
 
 A Bill was brought in by Sir Andrew Agnew to 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 227 
 
 enable the Election of Officers of Corporations and 
 Public Companies, then required to be held on the 
 Lord's-day, to be held on the Saturday next preced- 
 ing, or on the Monday next ensuing; it received the 
 Royal Assent on the 24th July, 1833, and is the Act 
 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 31. 
 
 This Bill, which was prepared by Mr. George Roch- 
 fort Clarke, is deserving of special notice, because the 
 preamble asserts that it is the duty of the Legislature 
 to remove hinderances to the observance of the Lord's- 
 day ; a principle of which it was important thus to se- 
 cure the acknowledgment. 
 
 Mr. Petre brought in a Bill, on the 10th of June, 
 1833, to consolidate and amend the laws relating to 
 the LordVday. It was opposed by the LordVday 
 Observance Society, as not recognising the authority 
 of God, either impliedly or avowedly; as proposing 
 to repeal ancient laws which, though not effec- 
 tive, acknowledge the Divine authority of the 
 Lord's-day; also as containing provisions at variance 
 with God's word, and the provisions of those very 
 statutes which the Bill professed to consolidate. 
 The second reading came on for consideration on 
 the 9th July, when the debate was adjourned. Mr. 
 Petre, however, ultimately withdrew the Bill, owing to 
 the opposition given to it by the friends as well as 
 the opponents of measures based on the Divine Au- 
 thority of the Lord's-day. The result of this attempt 
 
228 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of Mr. Petre to conciliate the support of the House by 
 what was called a moderate measure, still more con- 
 firmed Sir Andrew Agnew in the opinion, that the 
 course he had adopted, of framing his Bills on the 
 Command of God, was the right and proper one. 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew received considerable support by 
 Petitions to the House of Commons in favour of his 
 Bills. 1061 such petitions, with 261,706 signatures, 
 were presented during the Session in favour of laws for 
 the observance of the LordVday. 
 
 The Committee of the LordVday Observance So- 
 ciety, during these efforts of Sir Andrew Agnew, actively 
 assisted him, both in Parliament and in the country. 
 They aided him in drawing up his Bills, and in pro- 
 moting petitions in their favour. They widely circu- 
 lated " An Abstract of the Laws regarding the Lord V 
 day," which was given in the Evidence of Mr. Alexander 
 Gordon before the Select Committee. They circulated 
 " Reasons for an Alteration of the Law," an " Ad- 
 dress to the Clergy by the Bishop of Calcutta ; '* and 
 " Observations on the Bill now pending ; " which were 
 forwarded to Members of both Houses of Parliament. 
 They also inserted in the newspapers an analysis 
 of Sir Andrew Agnew's Bill. Deputations from the 
 Society likewise waited on Members of the House 
 of Commons, to secure their advocacy of Sir Andrew 
 Agnew's Bill, or to disarm their hostility to it. 
 
 The exertions of the Rev. William Leeke to promote 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 229 
 
 the observance of the Lord's- day, are deserving of spe- 
 cial notice. He was instrumental in founding a Society 
 in Derby having that object in view, in December, 1833. 
 He subsequently was the means of forming as many as 
 ninety Associations in different parts of that county; and 
 he travelled into various parts of England in order 
 to diffuse information, and create an interest in the ob- 
 ject. Mr. Leeke's services were wholly gratuitous, and 
 proved of great importance, at this juncture, in aiding to 
 secure support to the measures of Sir Andrew Agnew. 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew again renewed his exertions in the 
 Session of 1834. In the month of March he obtained 
 leave to bring in a Bill for the observance of the LordV 
 day, similar in all respects to his former Bill ; only that 
 the clause was omitted which excepted from the opera- 
 tion of the measure the transmission of the Royal 
 Mail. The opinion began now to gain ground, that 
 there was no sufficient plea of necessity or mercy for the 
 transaction of Postal business on the LordVday; and, 
 indeed, the suspension of all such business in the Me- 
 tropolis on that day was a sufficient and practical proof, 
 that not only might it be dispensed with without in- 
 convenience to the public, but much to their satis- 
 faction. 
 
 Besides, it was felt that the transmission of the Mail 
 on the Lord's-day was an incentive to travelling, and 
 was a sin in which the whole nation, with the exception 
 of those who protested against it, participated ; because 
 it derived a revenue from it, and was a party to a sys- 
 
230 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 tern of traffic as public carriers on the Lord's-day. 
 Some difficulty was at first felt by the friends of the 
 Lord's-day as to the expediency of omitting this 
 clause; but the more the subject was brought under 
 consideration, the more clear appeared to them the 
 duty of doing so — a conviction now almost unanimously 
 entertained by them. Mr. G. Rochfort Clarke, who drew 
 up the Bill, strongly advocated the omission of the 
 exception ; and he had ultimately the gratification of 
 seeing nearly the whole Christian community of his 
 opinion. 
 
 The motion for the second reading was considered on 
 the 30th April, 1834. The debate on the occasion was 
 very animated : and a strong feeling of hostility was ex- 
 hibited by the opponents of the measure, seven of whom 
 in succession were allowed to speak against it. On a 
 division, the motion for the second reading was rejected 
 by a majority of 161 to 125. 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew again introduced a Bill to enable 
 local authorities to change Saturday and Monday Fairs 
 and Markets to other days of the week : the Bill was, 
 however, rejected by a majority of 50. 
 
 Nor were efforts for legislation in regard to the 
 Lord's-day, in the Session of 1834, limited to those 
 of Sir Andrew Agnew. An impression prevailed, both 
 in Parliament and in the country, that the failure of his 
 Bills was attributable to their insisting upon the ob- 
 servance of the Command of God, with only those 
 exceptions required by piety, charity, and necessity : 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 231 
 
 it was thought that there ought to be some accommo- 
 dation to popular feelings and infirmities, and that it 
 would be better, in the first instance, to seek for a 
 small portion of what was due, and when once it was ob- 
 tained, to proceed gradually towards the attainment of 
 all that was required, with increased prospects of suc- 
 cess, owing to the additional vantage-ground which 
 would be thus obtained ; but experience has thoroughly 
 proved the fallacy of such reasoning. 
 
 Mr. Hesketh Fleetwood brought in a Bill of this 
 description on the 21st of May, 1834, "To facilitate 
 and promote the better and more regular observance 
 of the Lord's-day." The Bill proposed some valuable 
 amendments in the existing laws ; but whilst it pro- 
 posed the repeal of some old statutes, it did not re- 
 enact the substance of their provisions — and in some 
 respects it sanctioned proceedings at variance with the 
 due observance of the Lord's-day. The Bill was rejected 
 by a majority of thirty-two on the second reading. 
 
 Mr. Poulter, M.P. for Shaftesbury, at the same time 
 brought in a Bill, " To render more effectual an Act 
 of 29 Charles II., for the better observance of the Lord's- 
 day." On the 4th of June, 1834, the Bill passed 
 through a Committee pro forma, on the understanding 
 that the debate should be taken on bringing up the 
 Report. On the 2nd of July the details were con- 
 sidered, when clauses were omitted and amend- 
 ments introduced, which entirely altered the original 
 object of the Bill. One amendment, adopted on the 
 
232 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 motion of Mr. Cayley, was to the effect that nothing 
 contained in the Act should extend to prevent games 
 of chance, exercise, or other recreations in the open 
 air, which should not take place during the hours of 
 Divine Service, or be played for money, or on the 
 premises of a public-house. It passed as amended in 
 the lleport. Further alterations of the same objec- 
 tionable character being proposed, it was opposed by 
 the friends of the Lord's-day, and happily rejected on 
 the third reading. 
 
 The subject was also brought under the attention of 
 the House of Lords. On the 15th of May, 1834, Lord 
 Wynford brought in a Bill in that House, " for the 
 better observance of the Lord's-day, and the more 
 effectual prevention of drunkenness;" it passed a second 
 reading; but encountering great opposition from all 
 quarters, his Lordship withdrew it. The provisions of 
 the Bill virtually sanctioned travelling, baking, and the 
 keeping open public-houses on the Lord's-day, not jus- 
 tified on the ground of piety, charity, or necessity. 
 
 These efforts made in Parliament were regarded 
 with great interest by the country : the debates were 
 read with avidity, and in this way men were led to 
 study and think on a subject which otherwise would 
 have had little or none of their attention. The con- 
 sequence was, that many consciences were awakened 
 to the importance of the observance of the Lord's-day, 
 and to its merciful bearings on the temporal and spi- 
 ritual interests of man. The favourable feeling of the 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 233 
 
 public towards the measures of Sir Andrew Agnew 
 were evinced by the number of petitions presented in 
 the House of Commons, in their favour, which in this 
 Session amounted to 1,076, with 204,413 signatures. 
 
 Parliament having been dissolved, Sir Andrew Agnew 
 was again elected ; but he determined not to bring in 
 a Bill in the Session of 1835, that the advocates of 
 what were termed more moderate measures might try 
 their plan — his various Bills, which comprehended the 
 whole subject, and which were based on the Divine 
 authority of the LordVday, having been rejected. 
 Mr. Poulter again introduced his Bill, which was looked 
 upon as a moderate measure. It passed the second 
 reading, but was ultimately lost ; it was supported by 
 the friends of Sir Andrew Agnew, but opposed by the 
 advocates of moderate measures, on the ground of its 
 limited character. 
 
 Sir Andrew Agnew, on the 21st of April, 1836, 
 moved for leave to bring in a Bill for extending to all 
 classes of his Majesty's subjects the protection of the 
 Sabbath. The motion was seconded by Sir Oswald 
 Moseley, Bart. ; and, on a division, was carried by a 
 majority of 118 ; there being 200 for, and 82 against it. 
 The motion for the second reading was rejected on the 
 18th of May, by a majority of 32. 
 
 On the 4th of May, 1837, Sir Andrew Agnew 
 brought forward his Bill for the fourth time. Like his 
 other Bills, it proceeded on the ground of the Divine 
 authority of the Sabbath, and the right of all classes to 
 
234 history of the sabbath. 
 
 protection in the enjoyment of its privileges. The 
 first reading was carried by a majority of 146. It was 
 read a second time on Wednesday, the 7th of June, by 
 a majority of 44. 
 
 Thus this indefatigable advocate of the observance 
 of the Lord's-day had at length the satisfaction of 
 having the great principle of his Bill acknowledged by 
 the House of Commons. The majority would have 
 been greater had the Nonconformists in the country, 
 and in the House, rendered the measure the support 
 they had heretofore given : but at this time the dis- 
 senting denominations put forward with unusual pro- 
 minence, as a fundamental principle, that it was wrong 
 to legislate in regard to religion — not considering that 
 the legislation sought for in this case was eminently 
 protective of the well-disposed, and compulsory on 
 the unprincipled and unscrupulous. The 21st of 
 June was appointed for the consideration of the Bill in 
 Committee. 
 
 The death of King William the Fourth, and the 
 consequent dissolution of Parliament before the day 
 appointed for the consideration in Committee of Sir 
 Andrew Agnew's Bill, prevented its further progress ; 
 and likewise terminated his honourable and distin- 
 guished career as a Christian legislator. He did not, 
 it is true, succeed in carrying his Bill; but by keeping 
 the subject constantly before the public, and by means 
 of the discussions of it that in consequence took place 
 both in Parliament and the country, he caused the re- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 235 
 
 fleeting and religious portion of the community to see 
 the great importance of the Sabbath, in a light in 
 which they had not seen it before. After he ceased to 
 be a Member of Parliament, he exerted himself unre- 
 mittingly till his death (which took place in 1849) in 
 opposing the desecration of the Lord's-day in Scotland ; 
 and became a railway shareholder, that he might 
 exercise the right, at the meetings of the proprietors, 
 of opposing railway traffic on the Lord's-day. 
 
 In the year 1837, 886 petitions, signed by 106,722 
 persons, were presented in the House of Commons, in 
 favour of a law for the observance of the Lord's-day. 
 
 In the Session of 1838, Sir Andrew Agnew having 
 failed in securing his election in the new Parliament, 
 Mr. Plumptre brought in a Bill, on the 22nd of Fe- 
 bruary, for the suppression of trading on the Lord's-day. 
 It passed a second reading by a majority of 139 to 68 ; 
 but it was so altered and curtailed in Committee, and 
 also in bringing up the Report, that it was opposed by 
 the friends of the Lord's-day on the motion for the 
 third reading, and thrown out. It was, however, dis- 
 cussed with an amount of forbearance and moderation 
 which clearly showed how greatly the previous discus- 
 sion of the subject, whilst Sir Andrew Agnew was in 
 Parliament, had tended to improve the public feeling. 
 The Postmaster-General was invested with power, by 
 an Act passed this year, to require railway companies 
 to transmit the Mail every day of the week. 
 
236 HISTORY OF TH£ SABJUTH> 
 
 on the Lo,dlI; ^ 8ttend ~ their duties 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 237 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 THE POST-OFFICE— TRAVELLING— TRADING— PUBLIC- 
 HOUSES AND AMUSEMENTS ON THE LORD'S-DAY. 
 
 The discussion to which the various Bills of Sir 
 Andrew Agnew gave rise, proved of great advantage 
 to the cause of Sabbath Observance. Increased interest 
 was evinced in the subject ; and in almost every part of 
 the kingdom organized efforts were made to suppress 
 desecrations of the day. By these means a great im- 
 provement was effected. 
 
 The degraded condition of the men employed on 
 Canals and navigable Rivers called forth much sym- 
 pathy. Nearly the whole class — computed, with then- 
 families, at 100,000— residing in boats, which were 
 constantly in motion, were deprived of the Sabbath. 
 The Rev. John Davies of Worcester exerted himself 
 with great success in behalf of their religious and social 
 improvement. 
 
 The London bakers, a greatly aggrieved body, formed 
 a Society, and appealed to the public to aid them in 
 obtaining relief from the excessive labour they had to 
 undergo on the day and night of the Sabbath. 
 
 The despatch and delivery of letters on the LordVday 
 
238 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 was an evil which was regarded with growing dislike. 
 It differed from most other desecrations ; because the 
 nation derived a revenue from it, and it therefore was 
 considered a national sin. It acted very prejudicially on 
 the servants of the Post Office. Being constantly in- 
 trusted with valuable property, they had special need 
 of having the moral principle fortified to enable them 
 to resist the temptation to break the Eighth Com- 
 mandment to which they were exposed; instead of 
 which, they were required, as a condition of their em- 
 ployment, to break the Fourth Commandment, and to 
 forsake those means in the use of which right prin- 
 ciples are given and strengthened. 
 
 Another objection was, that the Post Office was 
 made instrumental in disseminating demoralizing pub- 
 lications in all parts of the kingdom on the LordVday. 
 Many of them were published on Saturday with a view 
 to being delivered in the provinces on the LordVday. 
 It was calculated that, in the year 1850, eighteen mil- 
 lions of copies of newspapers were despatched from 
 London on Saturdays for Sunday reading. 
 
 The result was such as might be expected. Colonel 
 Maberly, the Secretary of the Post Office, stated before 
 a Select Committee of the House of Commons, in the 
 year 1843, that, in the interval from the 5th of 
 January, 1837 to 5th of January, 1842, £322,033 
 were lost in passing through the Post Offices of the 
 country. The bodily labour entailed on many of the 
 men was also excessive. 
 
 The despatch of the Mail on the LordVday is also 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 239 
 
 a great incentive to railway travelling thereon ; for Di- 
 rectors are required by law to transmit the Mails every 
 day at the request of the Postmaster General ; and 
 Sunday travelling, as a necessary result, leads to Sun- 
 day trading. 
 
 London is a proof that a delivery of letters on the 
 LordVday is not necessary. With its vast popula- 
 tion, and great mercantile prosperity, no letters are 
 sent out of London, or received in it, on that day ; 
 nor ever have been. The question, then, naturally sug- 
 gested itself, why should not a similar arrangement 
 be extended to the country generally? There was a 
 day all through the kingdom on which no letter was 
 received : that day was, in London, the LordVday — 
 m the country, one of the ordinary days. All that was 
 asked then was, so to arrange that the blank day should 
 be the LordVday in town and country; an arrange- 
 ment which the Post Office authorities admitted was 
 practicable. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1838 great excitement 
 was caused in the Metropolis by a recommendation of 
 a Select Committee of the House of Commons, " That 
 the principal General Post Office, and every Branch 
 Office in London, should be open on Sunday for the 
 reception of letters, and also during certain hours for 
 their delivery, and that the Mail-bags should be 
 despatched to and from London on every day of the 
 week." All the Banking firms in London, with two 
 exceptions, signed a memorial to the Lords of the 
 Treasury against the suggested alteration. Memorials 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 to the same effect proceeded from merchants, solicitors, 
 members of the Stock Exchange, and others ; the Com- 
 mon Council of London unanimously adopted a reso- 
 lution deprecating the measure. 
 
 Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, requested the 
 Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, to receive a deputa- 
 tion from the memorialists ; which he accordingly did, 
 on Wednesday the 20th of October, 1838; when he 
 assured them it was not the intention of the Govern- 
 ment to act on the recommendation of the Committee. 
 
 Encouraged by the successful issue of this effort, 
 endeavours were made in various places to obtain a 
 suspension of the Sunday delivery of letters, by memo- 
 rials from the inhabitants to the authorities. Great 
 numbers of persons also refused to receive their letters 
 on that day. Numerous memorials against the issuing 
 and paying of money orders thereon — a practice which 
 existed in some towns — were forwarded to the Post- 
 master General. The result of these efforts was, that in 
 the year 1847, by an order from the authorities, the 
 Post Offices of all towns were permitted to be closed 
 during the hours of Divine Service; and in the years 
 1848 and 1849 the Postmaster General withdrew 404 
 Rural Posts on the LordVday; 320 wholly, and 84 
 partially.* 
 
 The issuing and payment of Money Orders on the 
 Lord's-day was also discontinued, from the 1st of 
 January, 1849. 
 
 * See Report of Commissioners to investigate the Question of 
 Sunday Labour in the Post-Office, page 6. 
 
HISTORY OP THE SA.BBATH. 241 
 
 These results gave great satisfaction to the country ; 
 which, however, was to be but of short duration ; for 
 in the month of September, 1849, an Order was issued 
 by the Marquis of- Clanricarde, that country letters 
 should be forwarded through London to their destina- 
 tion, on the Lord's-day. This announcement caused 
 great alarm, being regarded as a preliminary step 
 to a delivery of letters in London; for the separation 
 of the country letters involved the sorting of the whole 
 mail; and the London letters being ready sorted, a 
 temptation would always exist to demand a delivery 
 of them. 
 
 A numerous Deputation, organized by the Lord's- 
 day Observance Society, consisting of Dr. Blomfield, 
 Bishop of London, the Lord Mayor, and others, waited 
 on Lord John Russell, then Prime Minister, to urge 
 upon him the withdrawal of the Order ; but all they 
 could obtain was a suspension of its execution for three 
 weeks. In this interval three great meetings were 
 held in the Metropolis : one in the Hall of Commerce, 
 Sir James Duke, M.P., Lord Mayor, presiding; the 
 other in Freemasons' Hall, Lord Ashley in the chair; 
 and the third in the Borough : at these meetings reso- 
 lutions were adopted against the Order. 
 
 The friends of the Lord's-day now felt that the time 
 had come for a great effort to put a stop to all postal 
 labour on the Lord's-day. The Lord's-day Observance 
 Society most successfully promoted petitions to the 
 
 M 
 
242 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 House of Commons, for its entire cessation. The Hono- 
 rary Secretary of the Society, Mr. Wilson, was untiring 
 in his exertions on this occasion, during the nine or 
 ten months the agitation continued. A Metropolitan 
 Committee was also instituted : it consisted of various 
 denominations, and of persons who were not prepared 
 to identify themselves with the Lord's- day Observance 
 Society in all its objects. It promoted " A Declaration 
 against Postal Labour on the Lord's-day," which re- 
 ceived an immense number of signatures of bankers, 
 merchants, and others in the Metropolis ; it was inserted 
 in the daily journals, and presented a most influential 
 array of names. Mr. R. B. Seeley of Fleet Street, and 
 Mr. Robert Baxter, were the originators of this Com- 
 mittee. The strong feeling of the country was evinced 
 by the fact, that in the Session of 1850 there were pre- 
 sented to the House of Commons 4,475 petitions, with 
 656,919 signatures, in favour of the entire cessation of 
 postal labour on the Lord's-day; whilst only 19 peti- 
 tions, with 2,545 signatures, were presented against it. 
 Lord Ashley, subsequently known as the Earl of 
 Shaftesbury — a nobleman illustrious in the annals of 
 his country as a Christian philanthropist — undertook 
 to bring the subject before the House of Commons. Ac- 
 cordingly, on the 30th of May, 1850, he moved an Ad- 
 dress to Her Majesty, to direct that the collection and 
 delivery of letters should in future cease in all parts of 
 the kingdom on the Lord's- day; and that an inquiry 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 243 
 
 be made whether the transmission of the Mail could 
 be suspended without injury to the public service. His 
 motion was carried by a majority of 93 to 68. 
 
 The collection and delivery of letters were, in 
 consequence, suspended in the United Kingdom, on 
 Sunday the 23rd of June, 1850, and so continued 
 till the 1st of September of the same year; when, 
 in accordance with the recommendation of a Com- 
 mission, empowered to report and decide on the 
 subject by a resolution of the House of Commons of 
 the 9th of July, the collection and delivery were re- 
 sumed. Still much good resulted from this move- 
 ment. It was not likely that an attempt to have a 
 delivery of letters in London would be made for some 
 time ; the labour in country post-offices was diminished ; 
 and the Commission recommended, " That in retaining 
 a Sunday delivery of letters in a rural district, the 
 Postmaster-General be guided by the prevalent feeling 
 of the locality ; and that where the prevalent feeling of 
 the district is opposed to such delivery, the Postmaster- 
 General, after satisfying himself of the fact, take the 
 requisite steps for suspending it." * 
 
 The number of persons holding situations directly 
 from the Postmaster-General is said to be about twenty 
 thousand; but a far larger number of persons are in- 
 volved in labour on the Lord's- day in connexion with 
 the despatch and delivery of letters. It is to be hoped 
 
 * Report of Commissioners to investigate the Question of Sunday 
 Labour, 1850. page 6. 
 
 M 2 
 
244 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 that the clay is not far distant when not only the Me- 
 tropolis, bat the entire kingdom, which is so exalted 
 among the other nations of the world, will render to 
 God the sublime act of homage of suspending all postal 
 operations, which are the main-springs of business, on 
 the Lord's-day. 
 
 Travelling on the Lord's-day. — This form of Sabbath 
 desecration is one which has greatly increased of late 
 years. When conveyance of passengers was limited 
 to the ordinary roads, coach proprietors were aware 
 that seven days' continuous work, being injurious to 
 their cattle, was prejudicial to their interests;* they 
 therefore, as a general rule, were willing to suspend 
 work on the Lord's-day. Competition, and the demand 
 on the part of the public, however, often led them to 
 act in opposition to their inclinations. 
 
 The railway system has now almost wholly super- 
 seded coach conveyance in this country. It is deeply 
 to be regretted that from their origin, Railways have 
 been made instrumental in the desecration of the Lord's- 
 day. On most of the lines of railway in England, men 
 were employed in their formation on the Lord's-day, 
 to the great demoralization of the labourers and of the 
 
 * Mr. Bianconi stated before the British Association, when it met 
 at Cork, "that none of his cars, 110 in number, for the conveyance 
 of passengers in Ireland, travelled on the Lord's-day, except those 
 which conveyed the Mail :" he adds, " that there was a saving of 13 
 per cent, from not working the horses on Sunday, finding it easier to 
 work a horse eight miles every week-day, in place of six miles, than 
 an additional six on Sundays.''- (Mechanics' Magazine.) 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 245 
 
 surrounding population. This became such a crying 
 evil, that in the year 1846, on the motion of the Hon. 
 Mr. Bouverie, a Select Committee of the House of 
 Commons was appointed to inquire into the condition 
 of railway labourers, but no legislative action followed. 
 
 Attempts were made by the LordVday Observance 
 Society to have clauses introduced in Railway Acts 
 prohibiting traffic on the Lord's-day, but without suc- 
 cess. In one case, that of the Newcastle and Carlisle 
 Railway, in the year 1838, two barristers, members of 
 their Committee, Mr. E. V. Sidebottom and Mr. G. J. P. 
 Smith, appeared before the House of Lords to oppose 
 the Bill, because a clause to this effect had been struck 
 out of it. On a division, the motion to introduce it 
 was rejected by a majority of thirteen to twelve. 
 
 When the lines were first open for traffic, in most in- 
 stances but few trains were run on the Lord's-day, and 
 these were defended on the plea of mercy and necessity. 
 The number, however, gradually increased. This was 
 attempted to be justified on the ground of the public 
 demand. Soon the companies, having in truth, in a 
 great measure, created this demand by holding forth 
 inducements to travelling, openly stimulated it still 
 further by announcing excursion trains at cheap fares ; 
 they said, that the working-classes in large towns re- 
 quired fresh and pure air, and that these trains afforded 
 them the opportunity of enjoying it. But if this were 
 the true motive, Monday should be the day chosen for 
 the running of trains at cheap fares, it being, for the 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 most part, a leisure day with working-men ; or, return- 
 tickets might be given, available from Saturday to 
 Monday. Besides, these trains are advertised also in 
 the country, and hold forth the inducement of cheap 
 fares to the rural population to visit the towns. 
 
 The demoralizing effect of these excursion trains can- 
 not well be overrated. Country towns are inundated 
 with a large concourse of persons — public- houses are 
 thronged — provision-shops are open — the Sabbath quiet 
 of neighbourhoods is disturbed, and scenes of intoxi- 
 cation and profligacy are not uncommon. Goods trains 
 also run on many lines. The sin, too, is one of a con- 
 spicuous character, which obtrudes itself on the public 
 notice. Happily a conviction prevails in the public 
 mind that there are Ten Commands enjoined by God, 
 and that to keep the Sabbath-day holy is one of them. 
 What must be the effect on the population of seeing 
 traffic, in goods and passengers, carried on by these 
 great mercantile companies, on the LordVday; and 
 all those inducements to increase it practised which 
 are ordinarily resorted to in trade ? It must be to 
 shake this conviction, not only as regards that par- 
 ticular Command, but also those other Commands 
 which are in their minds identified with it. Nor, in 
 considering this subject, must we overlook the servants 
 of the Companies. There were 102,117 persons em- 
 ployed on lines of railway open for traffic in the year 
 1856. There are no official returns of the proportion 
 employed on the LordVday; it is, however, variously 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 247 
 
 estimated, — by some at 50,000, by others as high as 
 70,000.* 
 
 So little consideration is shown by some Companies 
 for the well-being of their servants, that they require 
 their clerks to deliver in their weekly accounts early on 
 Monday morning, including the receipts of the Lord's- 
 day ; thus entailing upon them, in addition to other 
 labours, anxious calculations on that day. 
 
 Some persons attempt to justify railway travelling 
 on the Lord's-day on the ground of charity. They con- 
 template the possibility of cases of extreme urgency 
 arising; but all will admit that such cases, rarely 
 occurring at all, and still more rarely on the Lord's- 
 day, are few indeed when compared with the vast 
 number of persons directly and indirectly employed 
 thereon in connexion with railway travelling, and whose 
 welfare, spiritual, social, and physical, is, in conse- 
 quence, so seriously affected. It must also be admitted, 
 that it is not "mercy" to inflict a permanent injury, 
 and of constant recurrence, on so many, in order to 
 avert from a few some possible and contingent trials. 
 These extraordinary trials should be met by extraor- 
 dinary exertions ; or, if they cannot be so met, like 
 other trials they should be endured for once, rather 
 than subject numbers of fellow-creatures to the priva- 
 tion of a privilege essential to their temporal and eternal 
 happiness. To the conscientious mind such a con- 
 
 * The Author was assured, by a most respectable and intelligent 
 Railway Official, that 70,000 was not too high an estimate. 
 
248 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 sideration should constitute an obstacle as insurmount- 
 able as the absence of all means of conveyance. 
 
 In Scotland great opposition has been given to the 
 running of trains on the Lord's-day, and with much 
 success. At one time the Edinburgh and Glasgow Rail- 
 way Company was the only one which did so ; but, on 
 a change taking place in its Direction, in the year 
 1849, it discontinued Sunday trains, and has since 
 then persisted in this commendable arrangement. On 
 some of the other lines, however, trains are run on the 
 LordVday. 
 
 In the year 1844, when a Bill was in the House of 
 Commons to require Railway Companies to convey third- 
 class passengers at cheap fares by certain trains, Mr. 
 Thornley, M.P., proposed a clause, which was carried in 
 the House of Commons, to the effect that such trains 
 should be provided every day. The House of Lords, how- 
 ever, rejected it, and the Bill passed, enacting that, when- 
 ever any trains ran on the LordVday carriages for third- 
 class passengers should be attached to at least one train. 
 
 There is a clause in the Act for amalgamating the 
 Bristol and Gloucester and Birmingham and Gloucester 
 Railway Company with the Midland Railway, passed in 
 1847, making it compulsory on the Directors to run 
 two trains each way on the LordVday. This clause 
 almost wholly escaped notice in the passage of the Bill 
 through Parliament; even members interested in the 
 Bill were not cognizant of it until it had become law. 
 
 In the Session of 1849, Mr. Locke, M.P. for Honiton, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 249 
 
 brought in a Bill to compel Railway Companies to carry 
 passengers on the Lord's-day by those trains which con- 
 vey the Mail. It was, however, rejected on the second 
 reading, by a majority of 131 to 122. The Bill was 
 most'energetically opposed by the friends of the Lord's- 
 day in England and Scotland. 
 
 There are other desecrations of the Lord's- day by 
 travelling which are equally reprehensible as that by 
 railways, although not so prominent or of such magni- 
 tude. Immense numbers are induced to travel, in the 
 summer months, by the steamboats which ply on the 
 Thames. It is computed that 24,000 persons are 
 employed in the Metropolis alone, in connexion with 
 omnibus and cab traffic. With regard to cabs in Lon- 
 don, by a recent Act of Parliament, there are two 
 classes of them : one class, licensed to run, seven days ; 
 the other, six days. The latter are known by being 
 numbered from 10,000 and upwards. There are at 
 present about 1500 cabs of this description. 
 
 In the year 1849, a porter of the Great Western 
 Railway Company was convicted before the Justices of 
 the City of Bath, under the Act 29 Charles II,, for 
 exercising his worldly calling on the Lord's-day, by 
 removing goods not being passengers' luggage. The 
 Bench having declined to enforce the payment of the 
 penalty, application was made to the Queen's Bench, 
 and a Mandamus obtained to compel the Magistrates 
 to carry out their decision. The penalty was in conse- 
 quence paid by the Great Western Company. This 
 M 3 
 
250 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 prosecution was instituted by the Bath Lord's-day 
 Observance Society, which, under the direction of its 
 judicious and active Treasurer, Mr. Melmoth Walters, 
 lias been for several years conspicuous for its endea- 
 vours to promote the observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 There is no class more deserving of sympathy than 
 that useful body, the Omnibus servants of the Metro- 
 polis; their laborious work goes on for seven days 
 successively, with the exception of one Sunday in four 
 or more weeks. The consequence is, that they have few 
 or no opportunities for religious instruction or for 
 mental improvement, bodily rest, or family privileges. 
 
 In the year 1851 they formed a Society, called the 
 Metropolitan Omnibus Servants' Provident Society. 
 At their meetings, which were held at midnight, owing 
 to their absorbing occupations during the day, they 
 naturally adverted to their condition, which drew pub- 
 lic attention to their wrongs. The omnibus proprietors, 
 however, disapproving of the meetings, the Society was 
 dissolved. It is to be hoped that the inhabitants of the 
 Metropolis, actuated by feelings of Christian bene- 
 volence, will interpose in behalf of this unhappy class 
 of men. The unnecessary use of conveyances on the 
 Lord's- day is an evil greatly to be deplored, not only 
 on account of those who use them, but as regards the 
 injurious effects produced on others by the example 
 thus set; effects which tell with tenfold force in the 
 case of ministers of religion. 
 
 Trading on the Lord's-day. — This is an evil which 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 251 
 
 prevails extensively in the provincial towns and in the 
 Metropolis, but to a greater extent in certain districts 
 of the latter. The shops which are most generally 
 open are green -grocers, butchers, bakers, confection- 
 ers', shops for the sale of periodicals, and provision 
 shops. It is stated in the Annual Report of the Lon- 
 don City Mission, of 1852, that there were 14,000 
 shops open on some part of the Lord's-day in the half 
 of London which came under the superintendence of 
 their Missionaries. An extensive traffic is carried on 
 on the Lord's-day in the sale of tobacco and snuff; as 
 will appear from the fact, that upwards of 209,000 
 licences for the sale of these articles were granted in 
 the year 1848. 
 
 Efforts have been made from time to time to put a 
 stop to Sunday trading, by inducing tradesmen to 
 agree not to sell on the LordVday. These efforts 
 have generally failed in their main object, owing to all 
 being unwilling to agree, or to some one breaking the 
 agreement. Notwithstanding, it is most desirable that 
 such efforts should be made, because they keep con- 
 science alive to a sense of the duty of observing the 
 Sabbath-day j and in almost every case some instances 
 have occurred of persons consenting to discontinue 
 trading on the Lord's-day without reference to the 
 conduct of others. 
 
 There are various causes which encourage Sunday 
 trading: and which ministers of religion and others 
 should endeavour to remove. Servants in the houses 
 
252 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of the wealthy, often without the knowledge of their 
 masters, order articles home on the Lord's-day. The 
 payment of wages late on Saturday is another cause ; 
 for it leads to the provisions being purchased on the 
 Lord's-day. The evil is aggravated when the wages are 
 paid at a public-house. Many respectable establish- 
 ments have adopted the plan of paying wages on Friday, 
 and have found it work beneficially. The holding the 
 cattle-market of the Metropolis on Monday has led to 
 much trading and other desecration on the Lord's-day, 
 both in London and the country; for it causes a large 
 number of persons — salesmen, drovers, and others — to 
 leave their homes on that day, who need refreshment 
 and lodging. The Committee of the House of Commons 
 of 1832, recommended the change of the day to Tues- 
 day ; and in the year 1855, on the market being 
 established in the parish of Islington, the inhabitants, 
 in co-operation with other parishes of the Metropolis, 
 endeavoured to effect a change of the day ; but the Cor- 
 poration of London strongly opposing the proposal, 
 they failed in their attempt. Sir George Grey, the 
 Home Secretary, sanctioned a bye-law of the Corpo- 
 ration prohibiting the driving of cattle to or from the 
 market within seven miles of St. Paul's during the 
 Lord's-day, under a penalty of five pounds ; but the 
 magistrates refused to convict, on the ground that the 
 Cattle Market Act did not confer such a power. 
 
 Mr. Hindley, M.P. for Ashton-under-Lyne, in the 
 year 1847, obtained a Select Committee to inquire 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 253 
 
 into Sunday trading in the Metropolis. It issued a 
 Report, recommending a measure for effectually pro- 
 hibiting public marketing, and the open exposure and 
 sale of goods on the LordVday; the penalties not 
 being • applicable to the sale of certain articles of 
 food for a specified period before the customary hours 
 of Divine worship. Mr. Hindley brought in a Bill to 
 restrict trading on Sunday in the Metropolis, in the 
 Session of 1848; which, not receiving the support of 
 the Government, was withdrawn. Mr. Hindley again 
 brought in a Bill with a similar object in the Session 
 of, 1849, which he likewise withdrew. A Bill of the 
 same character was introduced by the Earl of Har- 
 rowby in the year 1850; it passed the House of Lords, 
 but was withdrawn on going into Committee in the 
 House of Commons. 
 
 In the month of April, 1856, Lord Robert Gros- 
 venor brought in a Sunday Trading Bill, at the earnest 
 instance of the tradesmen of the Metropolis : it passed 
 a second reading, and went into Committee, but was 
 ultimately withdrawn, in consequence of the opposition 
 given to it by the lower orders in London. This 
 opposition evinced itself by riotous proceedings of the 
 mob in Hyde Park on Sundays, the 26th June and 1st 
 July, when collisions with the police took place, and 
 several people were injured; and persons riding in 
 carriages or on horseback were hooted at, and taunted 
 with inconsistency. 
 
254 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 These various Bills sanctioned to some extent 
 trading on the Lord's-day, and consequently were 
 opposed by the Lord's-day Observance Society. 
 
 Public -houses and Beer -shops. — The desecration of the 
 Lord's-day by Public-houses and Beer-shops is most 
 demoralizing. The evil has been acknowledged in 
 some degree by the Legislature, which has from time 
 to time enacted laws regulating and restricting them. 
 It is remarkable that every additional restriction has 
 been attended with a corresponding diminution in the 
 committals for crimes arising from intoxication. This 
 w r as shown to be the case in London, when the Metro- 
 politan Police Act was passed in 1839, which requires 
 public-houses to be closed from twelve on Saturday 
 night till one, p.m., on Sunday. In consequence of 
 the beneficial effect produced by such legislation in 
 particular instances, a law was passed in the year 
 1849, extending it to Great Britain generally. 
 
 In the year 1853, an Act was passed for Scotland, 
 which required places for the sale of intoxicating liquors 
 to be closed during the whole of the Lord's-day, except 
 inns and hotels; and those only for lodgers and bond 
 fide travellers. 
 
 Immediately after this law came into operation, 
 committals for crimes arising from intoxication dimi- 
 nished. This continued to be the case, as appeared 
 from statistical returns, published by the Chief Magis- 
 trates of Edinburgh and Glasgow. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 255 
 
 In the year 1856 upwards of 400,000 persons 
 signed petitions to Parliament in favour of the enact- 
 ment of a similar law for England. The necessity of 
 such an enactment was shown by the evidence taken 
 before a Select Committee of the House of Commons, 
 of which the Hon. C. P. Villiers was the Chairman, 
 who impartially and courteously afforded every facility 
 for giving information. 
 
 In this Session Mr. Wilson Patten brought in a 
 Bill, which, with a slight modification, passed both 
 Houses. In addition to the prohibition of a former 
 Act to open till one, p.m., on the Lord's-day, it re- 
 quired public-houses to be closed between half-past 
 two and six o'clock, and after ten in the afternoon of 
 Sunday till four o'clock in the morning of Monday. 
 After this Act had been in operation for some months 
 the Lord's-day Observance Society instituted in- 
 quiries into its effects ; when, from communications 
 received from eighty-five police officials in England 
 and Wales, it appeared that crime had in consequence 
 diminished, and quietness and good order were pro- 
 moted. 
 
 A section of the Licensed Victuallers were, however, 
 dissatisfied with the Act, and formed themselves into a 
 Society, called the " Licensed Victuallers' Protection 
 Society/' the object of which was to obtain its repeal. 
 In the Session of 1855 they presented petitions to 
 Parliament to that effect, which, being placed at public- 
 
256 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 houses in England and Wales, received upwards of 
 400,000 signatures. At the time when such excite- 
 ment prevailed in regard to Lord Robert Grosvenor's 
 Bill, towards the end of the Session, a Select Com- 
 mittee was appointed to inquire into the Sale of Beer 
 Act of the previous Session, of which the Hon. H. F. G. 
 Berkeley, M.P. for Bristol, was the Chairman. The 
 friends of the Observance of the LordVday, and also 
 the promoters of Temperance Societies, requested to be 
 permitted to give evidence : their offer, however, was 
 not received. Still, the evidence which was given proved 
 that the Act had worked most beneficially. 
 
 Sir Richard Mayne, Chief Commissioner of Police, 
 laid before the Select Committee, returns embracing a 
 radius of fifteen miles round London, and a population 
 of about 2,500,000 persons. From these Sir Richard 
 shewed that for the six months subsequent to the 
 Sale of Beer Act coming into operation, as compared 
 with the corresponding months of the previous year, 
 there was a diminution of 1500 in the number of 
 persons falling into the hands of the Police for 
 drunkenness ; that with regard to the Mondays for 
 the same period, there was a reduction of nearly 
 1200; and that four-fifths of the aggregate reduction 
 had taken place on Mondays. It had been asserted 
 that there was an increase of committals on 
 Tuesdays, the evil having been transferred to the 
 Monday; but Sir Richard Mayne proved that there 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 257 
 
 was a diminution also in the Tuesday cases, though 
 but a small one. 
 
 Captain Meredith, R.N., chief of the Constabulary 
 of North Wilts, was the only witness from the pro- 
 vinces; and he in the most decided manner testified 
 to the beneficial operation of the Act in Wiltshire. 
 
 The Report of the Committee recommended the al- 
 teration of the Sale of Beer Act. A Bill modifying it 
 was accordingly introduced, and was hurried through 
 Parliament in the month of August, 1855. It extended 
 the time during which public-houses may be open 
 on the afternoon, from one to three, p.m., and from five 
 to eleven, p.m. 
 
 A large body of persons are involved in labour 
 on the Lord's-day in connexion with public-houses 
 and beer-shops ; this will appear from the fact, that, 
 according to the Report of the Select Committee of the 
 House of Commons on Public-houses, of 1854, page 13, 
 there were in England and Wales alone, in that year, 
 89,866 public-houses, and 41,547 beer-shops. 
 
 The strong and growing feeling in the public mind, 
 entertained by men of all classes, that public-houses 
 being open on the Lord's-day is a fruitful source 
 of crime and misery, justifies the hope that the day is 
 not far distant when they will be altogether closed 
 on that day, except for lodgers and travellers. 
 
 Amusements on the Lord's-day. — It must be ad- 
 mitted on all hands, that amusements are useful and 
 desirable; but it is equally certain that such amuse- 
 
258 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 ments are innocent only when limited to the ordi- 
 nary days of the week ; they cease to be so when 
 practised on the LordVday. No man should be 
 so confined to work on the week-days, as to be de- 
 prived of fair time for such recreations as are con- 
 ducive to his health of mind and body. Museums and 
 reading-rooms should be accessible to him on the 
 working-days ; and certain days in the year should be 
 given to him free from ordinary labour. Moreover, in 
 every town of the kingdom, open spaces should be 
 provided, wherein the public might enjoy quiet walks 
 or pursue legitimate and manly sports. The friends 
 of the observance of the LordVday go even further 
 than this; for in addition to time for these amuse- 
 ments on ordinary days, they hold that, in accordance 
 with the Divine Command, one clear day in every seven 
 should be devoted to those spiritual exercises, domestic 
 enjoyments, bodily and mental rest, which remind man 
 of his immortality, and elevate him in the political and 
 social scale. 
 
 That this boon of the Sabbath has been secured 
 to man by God Himself, is a consideration of great 
 moment ; no less authoritative sanction could have 
 bestowed such a valuable privilege on him, or secured 
 the possession of it from the grasp of human selfish- 
 ness. Hence, great is the folly of those who think they 
 can retain the mere rest from labour on the Sabbath, 
 whilst they deny the holiness of the day, which is the 
 foundation of all its privileges. Once it is abandoned, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 259 
 
 the others will soon be lost. The conviction that God 
 claims one Say in seven to Himself, and that it is man's 
 duty to appropriate it to Him, and with that view to 
 rest from his ordinary labours, is, in truth, the only 
 barrier which can resist the encroachments of human 
 selfishness, ever anxious to seize upon this valuable 
 property for its own purpose. 
 
 Were the Lord's-day generally regarded as a time 
 which might be devoted to amusement, it would soon 
 become a day for labour, because public amusements 
 necessarily involve labour. Thus the Sunday excur- 
 sionist causes the railway servant, the omnibus servant, 
 the engineer and stoker of the steam-boat, to work on 
 the Lord's-day ; and although it is said that these men 
 might be secured a day of rest on some other day, yet, 
 viewing the subject practically, this is in no instance 
 done, nor could it be accomplished. On the contrary, 
 no classes find it more difficult to obtain one day's re- 
 mission of toil in the week than those who are ordinarily 
 required to work on the Lord's-day. Once the working 
 classes consent to employ the labour of their fellow- 
 workmen on that day for their amusement, they concede 
 their claim to one day of rest in seven ; and their own 
 employment, for the pleasure, profit, or convenience of 
 others, is but a question of time. The introduction of 
 additional labour too, into the market, which is done 
 by adding to the days of labour, in the same degree 
 diminishes its value. At present, sixteen millions of 
 persons, constituting the industrial classes, including 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 their families, receive seven days' support for six days' 
 labour ; were the seventh day to be generally made a 
 working-day, the consequence would be that they would 
 barely get a subsistence in return for seven days' labour. 
 In France, before the year 1789, when the Sabbath 
 was universally observed as a day of rest, wages were 
 higher than they have ever been since. * 
 
 Another evil sure to result from the opening of 
 places of public amusement on the Lord's-day, is the 
 increase in the numbers of those whom it would allure 
 to public-houses, particularly of young persons ; indeed, 
 the Crystal Palace itself is now a public-house. It is 
 true it has been argued that Picture Galleries and other 
 Works of Art would draw persons from public-houses; 
 but this is a mere assertion, not justified by experience. 
 Wherever people resort in large numbers, there public- 
 houses are sure to be established, and the transition 
 from places of amusement to public-houses is by no 
 means an unusual result. 
 
 In England, our National Museum and Picture Gal- 
 lery are closed on the Lord's-day. In various Sessions 
 of Parliament, the late Mr. Hume submitted motions 
 in favour of their being open thereon : these motions 
 were however invariably rejected, being opposed by the 
 Government, on the ground of protection to the officials 
 employed. 
 
 Apprehensions were entertained in the year 1851 
 
 * L'Observateur clu Dimanche. No. iii. Paris, 1854. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 261 
 
 that the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition, which 
 was about to be erected in Hyde Park, would be open 
 on the Lord's-day. Happily this was not the case; 
 on the contrary, as became an undertaking under the 
 special patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, 
 no work was suffered to be done in the erection of 
 the building, nor was the Exhibition itself open to 
 the public thereon. When, in the year 1852, the 
 Crystal Palace Company was constituted to erect a 
 permanent structure near Penge in Kent, it was feared 
 an attempt would be made to open it to public admis- 
 sion on the Lord's-day. Happily this could not be 
 done without a legislative enactment ; for the law of 21 
 Geo. 3, c. 49, prohibited admission to places of amuse- 
 ment on the Lord's-day for payment of money under 
 severe penalties. 
 
 A numerous Deputation was organized by the Lord's- 
 day Observance Society, the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 at its head, which waited on the Earl of Derby, then 
 Prime Minister, on the 19th June, 1852. It urged 
 upon him, in granting a charter to the Company, 
 to have a clause inserted prohibiting the admission of 
 the public to the Palace or grounds on any part of 
 the Lord's-day. The impression made on the Depu- 
 tation was not favourable ; and this impression was 
 confirmed by a speech of his Lordship in the House 
 of Lords on the 22nd of November, 1852, in which 
 he stated that he was not opposed to the opening of 
 the Crystal Palace on the Lord's-day; but that at the 
 
262 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 same time he was not prepared to advise the repeal of 
 the law which prohibited the opening of such places 
 thereon. A clause to the effect recommended was 
 inserted in the Charter granted to the Company. 
 
 In the year 1853 a formidable organization of the 
 working-classes took place, the object of which was to 
 accomplish the opening of places of amusement on 
 the LordVday. At the head of it was Mr. Henry 
 Mayhew, Author of " London Labour and the London 
 Poor." A change having taken place in the leader- 
 ship in consequence of the withdrawal of Mr. Mayhew 
 from it, this organization quickly dissolved. 
 
 The Lord's-day Observance Society at this juncture 
 exerted itself, and with great success, in instructing 
 the working-classes in the blessings of the Sabbath. 
 They circulated gratuitously among them upwards of 
 300,000 copies of an Address on the blessings of 
 the Sabbath, informing them of the vast numbers of 
 working-men who were already employed thereon, and 
 of the injury that would be inflicted on the whole 
 class if places of amusement were opened on the 
 Lord's-day. 
 
 Meetings of working-men were in consequence held 
 in various parts of the Metropolis, at which petitions 
 to the House of Commons were adopted against the 
 object. 
 
 There were presented during the Session of 1853, 
 chiefly from working-men, 764 petitions, with 165,757 
 signatures, against the opening of the Crystal Palace 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 263 
 
 on the LordVday : in favour of it, only 119 petitions, 
 with 23,081 signatures. 
 
 Amongst the most remarkable of the former was 
 one signed exclusively by cab and omnibus servants, 
 which had nearly 2000 signatures attached to it. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Kingsmill, of the Pentonville Model 
 Prison, originated and promoted a petition from Chap- 
 lains of Prisons, against the opening. It had seventy 
 signatures attached to it, which were collected by the 
 Lord's-day Observance Society. 
 
 Dr. Alexander Stewart, of the Middlesex Hospital, 
 also originated a petition from the Medical men of 
 the Metropolis against the opening, which was most 
 numerously and influentially signed. It had 640 
 signatures attached to it. 
 
 A deputation of twenty-six working-men waited on 
 Lord Palmerston on the 24th April, 1853, to request 
 him, as Home Secretary, to oppose the opening of the 
 Crystal Palace on the Lord's-day. Lord Palmerston 
 seemed much interested, and put several questions to 
 the members of the Deputation. 
 
 The working-classes had been in some measure 
 prepared to reject the proposal of those persons who 
 sought their co-operation to open the Crystal Palace 
 on the Lord's-day for their benefit, and to perceive 
 that the benevolence by which many of them were 
 actuated towards their class was a mistaken one. 
 
 The Prize Essays for Working-men, originated by 
 
264 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Mr. John Henderson of Glasgow, in the year 1847, 
 had been competed for by 1025 working-men, and by 
 the munificence of Mr. Henderson they had been gra- 
 tuitously distributed in vast numbers. Copies of them 
 had been given, wherever the Companies allowed it, to 
 every railway servant in the kingdom. A little book, 
 called " The Pearl of Days," by a female, a native of 
 Scotland, had also a wide circulation ; the Meetings 
 and Publications of the Lord's- day Observance So- 
 ciety likewise greatly contributed to instruct the 
 working-classes. 
 
 In the Session of 1855 the advocates of the opening 
 of places of amusement on the Lord's-day made an 
 effort to accomplish their purpose. 
 
 Sir Joshua Walmsley gave notice for opening the Bri- 
 tish Museum and National Gallery to public inspection 
 after morning service on Sundays. 
 
 A numerous and respectable Deputation, organized 
 by the Protestant Alliance, headed by Sir Robert 
 H. Inglis, one of the members for the University of 
 Oxford, waited on the Prime Minister, Lord Palmer- 
 ston, on the 19th March, 1855, when Lord Palmerston 
 informed them that Her Majesty's Ministers would 
 oppose the motion, which was happily rejected on 
 Monday, the 19th March, 1855, by a majority of 237 
 to 84. The chief speaker in favour of the motion 
 was Lord Stanley, to whom a letter was subsequently 
 addressed by the Rev. W. Arthur, a Wcsleyan minister, 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 265 
 
 which, with great ability, refuted his Lordship's argu- 
 ments. 
 
 A Society, calling itself "The National Sunday 
 League," was formed in the year 1855, "to obtain 
 the opening of the British Museum, and other national 
 Institutions, on Sunday; and also to repeal the law 
 which compels the closing of the Crystal Palace, and 
 other collections of an instructive character, on that 
 day." Nor did the efforts to convert the Lord's-day 
 into a time of amusement terminate here. Soon after 
 the prorogation of Parliament, Sir Benjamin Hall, 
 Bart., Commissioner of Parks and Palaces, ordered a 
 Military Band of Music to play on the Lord's-day in 
 Kensington Gardens, where an immense concourse of 
 persons assembled, attracted by the music ; and trading, 
 and other proceedings inseparable from large assem- 
 blages under such circumstances, took place. 
 
 The friends of the Sabbath were fully aware of the 
 attacks which would be made on the national obser- 
 vance of the day, in the Session of 1856, and the 
 Lord's-day Observance Society accordingly prepared 
 for the conflict. It revived and considerably extended 
 the Metropolitan Committee for Promoting the Ob- 
 servance of the Lord's-day, so as to include various 
 denominations of Christians. At this juncture legis- 
 lation was not asked for, but rather to prevent Govern- 
 ment exercising its authority to promote the desecra- 
 tion of the Lord's-day. The appeal for co-operation, 
 in consequence, met with a very encouraging response. 
 
 N 
 
266 HISTORY OP THE SABBATH. 
 
 A numerous Committee was formed, of which the Earl 
 of Shaftesbury accepted the office of Chairman. 
 
 The first General Meeting of the Metropolitan Com- 
 - mittee was held at Exeter Hall, on Tuesday, the 19th 
 November, 1855. Some discussion having arisen as 
 to a state ment of views regarding the Lord's- day, it 
 was terminated by the proposal of Mr. G. Rochfort 
 Clarke, that the statement in the Primary Address* of 
 the Lord's-day Observance Society should be adopted, 
 to which all present acceded. 
 
 It was a source of great gratification to the Com- 
 mittee of the Lord's-day Observance Society — who were 
 all members also of the new Committee, that such a de- 
 claration should be unanimously assented to by so many 
 ministers of religion, and of various denominations. 
 
 The objects of the Metropolitan Committee were to ad- 
 dress both the Sovereign and the Legislature, praying — 
 
 That the attendance of Regimental Bands for amuse- 
 ment on the Lord's-day in Kensington Gardens, or in 
 garrison towns, or wherever also troops are stationed, 
 might be discontinued ; 
 
 That the British Museum, the National Gallery, and 
 other similar public establishments might not be opened 
 during any part of the Lord's-day ; and 
 
 That no alteration should be made in the law which 
 prevents the opening of the Crystal Palace and other 
 Exhibitions on that day. 
 
 Nor were these preparations made in any degree too 
 * See p. 219. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 267 
 
 soon, for scarcely had Parliament met, in the Session of 
 1856, when Mr. Vincent Scully, and, subsequently, 
 Sir Joshua Walmsley, gave notice of a motion for open- 
 ing, for certain hours on the LordVday, the British 
 Museum, the Crystal Palace, and similar Institutions. 
 
 The Committee of the Lord's-day Observance Society 
 determined on at once approaching the Prime Minister, 
 Lord Viscount Palmerston, to ask him, on the part of 
 the Government, to oppose this motion; they, with 
 that view, requested Dr. Sumner, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, to head a deputation to the Prime Minister, 
 consisting of various denominations. His Grace, with 
 that readiness he always evinces to promote the ob- 
 servance of the LordVday, at once consented. Lord 
 Palmerston received the Deputation on the 9th Feb- 
 ruary. Besides the Archbishop, there were present the 
 Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Dungannon, several mem- 
 bers of the House of Commons, many of the principal 
 Clergy, and other Ministers of Religion of the Me- 
 tropolis, including the President of the Wesleyan 
 Methodists, and representatives of most of the religious 
 Societies. 
 
 Lord Palmerston informed the Deputation that the 
 subject should have his best consideration, and that he 
 would consult his colleagues as to the course to be pur- 
 sued by Her Majesty's Government. 
 
 That portion of the Metropolitan and Provincial press 
 which represented the religious opinions of the country, 
 rendered great aid at this crisis ; foremost among those 
 
 n 2 
 
268 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 of the Church of England was the " Record " news- 
 paper, which for many years had fully and faithfully 
 advocated the observance of the Lord's-day, including 
 the duty of those in authority to use means to promote 
 it. The Wesleyan " Watchman " and " Wesley an 
 Times," the "Christian Times" and the "British 
 Banner," and other newspapers, the organs of the 
 Nonconformists generally, all helped to rouse and give 
 a right direction to the public feeling of the country. 
 
 In the mean time the motion, which had been fixed 
 for the 12th February, was deferred to the 21st. 
 
 The interval to the 21st was a period of unprecedented 
 effort on the part of the friends of the Sabbath, directed 
 and assisted by the two Committees. Sermons were 
 preached and Public Meetings were held throughout 
 the country, and petitions were promoted against the 
 motion. The various Christian denominations exerted 
 themselves with great zeal. 
 
 On the evening of the 21st February, the House of 
 Commons presented an animated spectacle : the number 
 of petitions in the hands of Members gave the space 
 above the Bar the appearance of being thickly dotted 
 with white. A considerable time was occupied in the 
 presentation of the petitions; 715 were, on that occa- 
 sion, laid on the table of the House against the motion, 
 with 106,179 signatures attached to them; the total 
 number of such petitions to the 21st being 1346, signed 
 by 166,913 persons, — whilst only 19 petitions were pre- 
 sented in its favour, signed by 4410 persons. 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 269 
 
 The motion was brought forward by Sir Joshua 
 Wahnsley, and seconded by Sir John B. Shelley. On 
 a division, it was negatived by a majority of 376 to 48, 
 the Ministers voting with the majority. Thus ended 
 this most important struggle. The. triumph was a 
 glorious one for the friends of the Lord's-day, and 
 it afforded a striking illustration of the saying, that 
 " union is strength ;" for on this occasion various de- 
 nominations of Christians cordially combined in defence 
 of the Sabbath. 
 
 The speech of Lord Stanley, in favour of the motion, 
 was characterized by much ability. The principal 
 speakers against the motion were the Right Hon. 
 Joseph Napier, Mr. Roundell Palmer, Mr. Cairns, and 
 Mr. Crossly. Mr. Napier and Mr. Palmer afterwards 
 published their speeches. Both these gentlemen replied 
 to Lord Stanley, which they did with great efficiency. 
 
 The number of petitions against opening public 
 Exhibitions on the LordVday, during the Session of 
 1856, was 4996, with 629,178 signatures; in favour 
 of the opening, 123 petitions, with 24,056 signatures. 
 In addition to the petitions mentioned above, 542 
 memorials were presented to the Queen, with 111,309 
 signatures, against the renewal of the musical per- 
 formances on the Lord's-day. 
 
 Notwithstanding, on Sunday the 13th April, 1856, a 
 Military Band performed in Kensington Gardens ; on 
 the 4th May, in Regent's Park ; and on the 11th May in 
 Victoria Park. Refreshments were also openly sold to 
 
270 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 the persons assembled, in booths erected for the pur- 
 pose at the public expense. A considerable diminu- 
 tion took place in the attendance at several Sunday 
 Schools in the Metropolis, and a great impulse was 
 given to trading on the Lord's-day : so immediately 
 apparent were the evils arising from this pernicious 
 example. 
 
 This Order was regarded with a general feeling of 
 reprobation, being issued in opposition to the ex- 
 pressed wish of the country against converting the 
 Lord's-day into a day of amusement, as declared by 
 petitions and memorials, and by a decision of the House 
 of Commons, in which Her Majesty's Ministers con- 
 curred. 
 
 Preparations w r ere then made all through the country 
 to petition the House of Commons to address Her Ma- 
 jesty against the Musical Performances. 
 
 On the 10th May, 1856, the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury addressed a letter to Lord Viscount Palmerston, 
 informing him of the feeling existing on the subject, 
 and stating his own concurrence in the objections 
 entertained to the Order. On the same day Lord 
 Palmerston replied to the effect that, in deference to 
 the Archbishop's opinion and the wishes of the country, 
 the order for the playing of Military Bands for public 
 amusement in the Parks of the Metropolis on the 
 Lord's-day should be withdrawn. 
 
 It is only due to that distinguished Christian phi- 
 lanthropist, the Earl of Shaftesbury, to state, that both 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 271 
 
 by his exertions and influences lie greatly contributed 
 to this result. 
 
 Private Bands were employed to play in the Regent's 
 and Victoria Parks on the Lord's-day, and in many 
 of the provincial towns. One at Woodhouse, near 
 Leeds, performed during the summer months, not- 
 withstanding earnest protests against it from the minis- 
 ters of religion of various denominations, and Sunday 
 School superintendents and teachers. 
 
 The authorities in Salford prohibited a Private Band 
 playing in the Park there on the Lord's- day ; and in 
 Manchester also, in compliance with the wish of a 
 numerous deputation, the Mayor and Town Council 
 recommended the Parks Committee not to allow it. 
 Painful as the playing of Private Bands was, still 
 it was widely different from a requirement on the part 
 of the authorities that Military Bands should perform. 
 
 The Sunday League still persisted in their efforts ; 
 they held public meetings in Canterbury, Maidstone, 
 Bath, Bristol, Rochdale, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne: 
 but at all these meetings their resolutions were rejected 
 by large majorities, of which working-men formed a 
 great proportion. 
 
 Such is a short account of the momentous struggle 
 of 1856, in which God, in answer to the prayers of 
 His Church, blessed the exertions made by all deno- 
 minations to preserve intact the sanctity of the 
 Lord's-day. 
 
 This crisis most clearly and convincingly proves the 
 
272 history or THE sabbath. 
 
 necessity that exists for union and organization, to 
 secure to the nation the continued blessing of the 
 Sabbath ; without such organization, according to 
 human calculation, that blessing would more than 
 once have been lost in the last few years ; it is only 
 such a combined influence of all the friends of religion, 
 to stand upon the watch and give the alarm when this 
 citadel is attacked, that can, under God, preserve to 
 us our national Sabbath. 
 
 It is deeply to be regretted that Kew Gardens, 
 Hampton Court, and the Painted Chamber at Green- 
 wich Hospital, are open on the LordVday ; nor is there 
 any reason why these places too, like other public In- 
 stitutions, should not be closed on that day. 
 
 By order of the Queen, Windsor Castle was closed 
 to visitors on the Lord's-day in the year 1845, a little 
 time after a memorial to that effect had been forwarded 
 to Her Majesty by the Committee of the Lord's-day 
 Observance Society. 
 
 There are some places of amusement in the Metro- 
 polis to which, by an evasion of the law, visitors are 
 admitted on the Lord's-day by payment of money; and 
 in certain great taverns immense numbers, both male 
 and female, assemble. It need scarcely be added, that 
 these proceedings call loudly for the interference of the 
 authorities, being the source of much immorality, par- 
 ticularly among the youth of both sexes. So manifold 
 are the engines of the Evil One to retard the spread of 
 the Gospel, and to neutralize the efforts made to such 
 
HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 273 
 
 an unequalled extent in our age to elevate the moral 
 and social condition of the humbler classes. 
 
 Such is a brief outline of the history of the Lord's- 
 day in England in modern times. The perusal of it 
 will make it manifest, that, obvious as are the blessings 
 of the Sabbath to the nation and to individuals, great 
 exertions are necessary to secure the continued posses- 
 sion of its privileges. Avarice looks upon the sacred 
 time with longing eye, and is anxious to appropriate it 
 to purposes of worldly gain, regardless of the temporal 
 and eternal interests which would in consequence be 
 sacrificed. Already has it succeeded in involving mul- 
 titudes of our hard- worked population in ordinary toil 
 for seven successive days, to the moral injury of them- 
 selves and their families. 
 
 Kindness to the poor is the cloak under which these 
 proceedings are done; and many persons of mistaken 
 benevolence promote the objects of avarice, deceived by 
 this pretence. 
 
 The " lovers of pleasure more than of God" also, self- 
 ishly and inconsiderately, aid largely in the desecration 
 of the Lord's-day : and some few do so from hostility to 
 religion, which they know to be so essentially con- 
 nected with its observance. Nor must we omit to 
 mention the inconsistent conduct of some religious 
 professors, who do things on the Sabbath which come 
 not within the limits of what necessity requires. We 
 should be careful in applying this exception, especially 
 where it employs and sanctions systematic labour. 
 n 3 
 
274 HISTORY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 Attempts have been made to justify the work done 
 in certain callings on this ground, — such as in iron- 
 works, gas-works, cheese-making, — but without suffi- 
 cient reason. 
 
 The use of hot-blast and of larger water tanks ob- 
 viates Sabbath labour in iron-works; more capacious 
 gasometers in gas-works; and both in Cheshire and 
 Somersetshire it has been proved, that cheese-making 
 on the Lord's-day can be dispensed with, by the fact 
 that in both these counties, especially in Cheshire, many 
 farmers, who make large quantities of cheese, without 
 loss or inconvenience observe the Lord's-day ; all that is 
 required being larger vessels for the milk, and, in all 
 these cases, a sincere wish to succeed. 
 
 The lesson, then, we learn from the experience of the 
 past is, that the continued preservation of the Sabbath 
 to our Church and nation depends, under the Divine 
 blessing, on the. assertion of its Divine authority, and 
 on the consistency, the organization, and the energy of 
 those who profess to love (C the Lord of the Sabbath." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Agnew, Sir Andrew, Select Com- 
 mittee of, 222 ; account of, 223. 
 
 America, United States of, Laws of, 
 175—183. 
 
 Amusements on the Lord's-day, evils 
 of, 258. 
 
 Amusement, places of, Motions for 
 opening on the Lord's-day, 260 — 
 269 ; efforts to prevent opening 
 of, 261, 269 ; deputation to the 
 Earl of Derby regarding, 261 ; 
 deputation to Lord Palmerston, 
 267; organization of working 
 classes for opening, 262 ; petitions 
 respecting, 263 ; deputation of 
 working men, 263. 
 
 Anticipation, mention of the Sabbath 
 in Genesis asserted to be by, 4. 
 
 Apostolic Constitutions, so called, en- 
 join assembling on the Lord's-day, 
 100, 101. 
 
 Athanasius, his reputed treatise on 
 the Sabbath and circumcision, 101 ; 
 mentions the observance of the 
 Lord's-day by Christians, 101; 
 says that the Sabbath was trans- 
 ferred to the Lord's-day, 107; 
 commentary on Psalm cxvii., 106. 
 
 Augustin, St., disapproves of the 
 days of the week being called by 
 heathen names, 99. 
 
 Augsburg Confession, 199. 
 
 Bands, private, on the Lord's-day, 
 271. 
 
 Bagnall, Mr., evidence of, 39. 
 
 Bakers, London, 237. 
 
 Barnabas, Catholic Epistle of, says 
 that the Sabbath was instituted at 
 Creation, 16 ; that the eighth day 
 was observed, 100. 
 
 Bavaria, proceedings in, 193. 
 
 Bethesda, man at the pool of, 70. 
 
 Bills, relating to the Lord's-day, of 
 Sir Andrew Agnew, 225, 226, 227, 
 229, 230, 233 ; of Mr. Petre, 227 ; 
 of Mr. Hesketh Fleetwood, 231 ; 
 of Mr. Poulter, 231, 232, 233; of 
 Lord Wynford, 232; of Mr. 
 Plumptre, 235. 
 
 Blind man, healing of, 74. 
 
 Blomfiekl, Dr., letter of, 218; heads 
 a deputation to Lord Viscount 
 Melbourne, 210. 
 
 Bolles, Lord Mayor of London, faith- 
 fulness of, 170. 
 
276 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Book of Sports, 156, 157. 
 
 Bownde, Dr., his work on the Sab- 
 bath, 167. 
 
 Bradbourne, Theophilus, his work on 
 the Sabbath, 171. 
 
 Calmet, his views of the Lord's-dav, 
 79. ^ 
 
 Calvin, his comment on Gen. ii. 3, 
 198. 
 
 Canals and navigable rivers, number 
 of persons employed on, 237. 
 
 Canons respecting the Lord's-day to 
 the sixteenth century, 122 — 128. 
 
 Captivity, desecration of the Sabbath 
 after, 55 ; measures of jSTehemiah, 
 55. 
 
 Carlton House promenade, 215. 
 
 Cattle Market on Mondays a cause 
 of Sabbath desecration, 252; at- 
 tempts to alter the day, 252. 
 
 Catechism, NowelPs, view of rest, 
 196; Geneva, 202; of the Church 
 of Scotland, 203 ; of the Church of 
 England, 207. 
 
 Charles I., his Declaration regarding 
 the Lord's-day, 171 ; court of, de- 
 secration of the Lord's-day in, 172. 
 
 Charles II., desecration of the Lord's- 
 day in the court of, 173. 
 
 Chateaubriand on the seventh-day 
 rest, 36. 
 
 Cheese-making on the Lord's-day 
 not necessary, 274. 
 
 Cbrysostom on the antiquity of the 
 Sabbath, 17. 
 
 Clarke, Mr. G. Bochfort, prepares 
 Sir Andrew Agnew's Bills, 225; 
 one of the first to advocate the 
 
 cessation of postal labour, 230 j 
 his suggestion as to exposition oi 
 principles adopted by the Metro- 
 politan Committee, 266. 
 Commandments of the Decalogue ac- 
 knowledged by our Lord, 63 ; why 
 the second table only mentioned, 
 63; also acknowledged by St. 
 Paul, 82. 
 Constantine, his law regarding the 
 
 Lords-day, 113, 119. 
 Continent, laws on the, &c, &c, re- 
 garding the Lord's-day, 181. 
 Corn, disciples pluck ears of, on the 
 
 Sabbath, 64. 
 Crystal Palace, agitation to open on 
 
 the Lord's-day, 261. 
 Davies, Bev. John, his efforts on be- 
 half of the men employed on canals 
 and navigable rivers, 237. 
 Death, punishment of, for breach of 
 
 the Sabbath, 47. 
 Decalogue, character ; extent of obli- 
 gation, spoken by God Himself; 
 distinct from the ceremonial and 
 civil laws of the Jews, 30 — 36. 
 Eastern Church, Law read in the 
 
 Communion Service of the, 210. 
 Edward VI., First Book and Second 
 
 Book of, 208, 209. 
 Essex, Earl of, regulations regarding 
 
 the army, 159. 
 Eusebius on the observance of the 
 
 Lord's-day, 109. 
 Example of God, Sabbath first taught 
 by, 2 ; referred to by our Lord, 
 72. 
 Ezekiel on the Sabbath, 53. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 277 
 
 Farre, Dr., evidence of, 37. 
 Fathers, early, sense in which they 
 commonly used the word Sabbath, 
 13. 
 Festivals, annual, of the Jews, 45. 
 Fires, prohibition to kindle on the 
 
 Sabbath, 50. 
 France, laws of, and other proceed- 
 ings in, regarding the Lord's-day, 
 36, 181—193. 
 Free Church of Scotland, zeal of, for 
 
 the Lord's-day, 211. 
 Gas, making of, on the Lord's-day, 
 
 not necessary, 274. 
 Geneva Catechism, 202. 
 Greek poets, ancient, on the sacred- 
 
 ness of the seventh day, 23. 
 Greenwich Hospital, Painted Cham- 
 ber open on the Lord's-day, 272. 
 Hampton Court on the Lord's-day, 
 
 272. 
 Hand, man with the withered, 
 
 healed, 68. 
 Helvetic Confession, 201. 
 Hesse, Duchy of, proceedings in, re- 
 garding the Lord's-day, 194. 
 Heylin, Peter, his views respecting 
 the Sabbath, 5 ; his history, 171. 
 Hodges, Mr. W. Law, obtains an 
 alteration in the arrangements of 
 the House of Commons, 236. 
 Liomily on Place and Time of Prayer, 
 
 154. 
 Home, Rev. Hartwell, his opinion 
 of Philo and Josephus as autho- 
 rities, 10. 
 Ignatius on the Jewish Sabbath, and 
 on the Lord's-day, 104, 107. 
 
 Infirmity, woman with spirit of, 
 
 healed, 69. 
 Irenteus, when the resurrection to 
 
 be celebrated, 105. 
 Irish Church, regard for the Lord's- 
 day in the ancient, 129. 
 Iron, making of, on the Lord's-day, 
 
 not necessary, 274. 
 Isaiah on the Sabbath, 51, 52. 
 Jarchius, Solomon, quoted by Hey- 
 lin, 9. 
 Jerusalem, our Lord's prediction of 
 Christians observing the Sabbath 
 at the destruction of, 75. 
 Josephus, quoted by Heylin, 8 ; his 
 account of the general knowledge 
 of the Sabbath, 11. 
 Journeys, misapplication of Exodus 
 
 xvi. 29, 50. 
 Jubilee, year of, 54. 
 Justin Martyr, sense in which he 
 uses the word Sabbath, 13 ; his ac- 
 count of Christian assemblies, 101. 
 Kew Gardens on the Lord's-day, 272. 
 Lambs, two, to be offered on the Sab- 
 bath, 50. 
 Laplace on the antiquity of the 
 
 weekly division of time, 21. 
 Laud, Sabbath of, 54. 
 Laws regarding the Lord's-day from 
 the fourth to the twelfth century, 
 118, 121 ; of England, 129, 132, 
 133 ; of the Unitfed States of 
 America, 175 ; of the countries of 
 the Continent of Europe, 184. 
 League, National Sunday, so-called, 
 formed, 265 ; objects of, 265 ; de- 
 feat of, at public meetings, 271. 
 
278 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Leeke, Rev. William, his efforts on 
 behalf of the Sabbath, 229. 
 
 Levitical dispensation, requirements 
 of, regarding the Sabbath, 42, 
 50. 
 
 Lightfoot, his view of the Sabbath 
 in the Decalogue, and in the Levi- 
 tical law, 45; his opinion of the 
 antiquity of synagogue worship, 
 57 ; on the way in which the Jews 
 spent the Sabbath, 77; on the 
 change of day, 90. 
 
 Lord's-day, first day called, most 
 antient and correct expression, 95, 
 96, 98. 
 
 Luther, his comment on Genesis ii. 3, 
 197. 
 
 Manasseh Ben Israel, his comment 
 on Genesis xxii. 5, 11. 
 
 Manna, given in reference to the 
 Sabbath, 24 et seq. 
 
 Marah, assertion that the. Sabbath 
 was instituted at, 24. 
 
 Martyr, Peter, his view of the Lord's- 
 day, 209. 
 
 Melito, Bishop of Sardis, his work on 
 the Lord's-day, 106. 
 
 Metropolitan Committee formed, 
 242 ; revived, 265 ; Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury chairman of, 266 ; statement 
 of principles and objects, 266. 
 
 Military Bands, order for, to play on 
 the Lord's-day, 265 ; memorials 
 against, 269 ; playing of, resumed, 
 270; order withdrawn, 271. 
 
 Money orders, payment of, discon- 
 tinued on the Lord's-day, 210. 
 
 Moral and Positive, division of divine 
 
 laws into, not a standard to judge 
 
 them, 34. 
 Moravians, opinions of, concerning 
 
 the Lord's-day, 202. 
 Mosheim, his opinion of Tostatus, 6. 
 New Zealanders, instance of extreme 
 
 observance of the Sabbath, 60. 
 Nonconformists, views of, regarding 
 
 the Sabbath and legislation, 212. 
 Norman Kings, disregard of, for the 
 
 Lords-day, 165, 166. 
 Omnibuses and cabs, number of per- 
 sons employed in connexion with, 
 
 249 ; oppressed condition of, 250. 
 Paley advocates Heylin's view, 16. 
 Paid, St., explanation of passages in 
 
 the Epistles of, 81, 87; preaches 
 
 on the first day of the week, 93 ; 
 
 enjoins collections for the first day, 
 
 93. 
 Pentecost, the Holy Ghost poured 
 
 forth on, being the Lord's-day, 94. 
 Petitions against Sir Joshua Walms- 
 
 ley's Motion, number of, 269; in 
 
 favour of, number of, 269. 
 Philip the Phrygian slays Jews on 
 
 the Sabbath, 58. 
 Philo- Judseus on the universality of 
 
 the Sabbath, 10. 
 Plays interdicted in London, 155. 
 Pliny, C, his account of the early 
 
 Christians, 103. 
 Plumptre, Mr., seconds Sir Andrew 
 
 Agnew's Bill, 235 ; brings in a Bill, 
 
 235. 
 Pompey avails himself of the super- 
 stitious regard of the Jews for the 
 
 Sabbath, 59. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 279 
 
 Porteus, Bishop, his efforts and inter- 
 view with the Prince of Wales, 217. 
 Postmaster General empowered to 
 require railway companies to trans- 
 mit the mails, 235. 
 Post Office labour on the Lord's-day, 
 evils of and objections to, 238, 239. 
 Post Office, London, recommendation 
 of Select Committee of the House 
 of Commons to open, on the Lord's- 
 day, and opposition to, 239, 240 ; 
 labour in, on the Lord's-day, move- 
 ments against, 241 et seq. ; peti- 
 tions against, 242; motion of Lord 
 Ashley against, 242, 243. 
 Post Offices, Country, partially closed 
 on the Lord's-day, 240; suspen- 
 sion of letter delivery, 243; de- 
 livery resumed, 243. 
 Posts, Rural, discontinued on the 
 
 Lord's-day, 240. 
 Prize Essays for working men, 264. 
 Proclamation, Royal, for the encou- 
 ragement of piety, 164. 
 Prolepsis, when applicable, 14. 
 Prussia, proceedings in, 193. 
 Ptolemy Soter enters Jerusalem on 
 
 the Sabbath, 58. 
 Public Houses, acts relating to, on 
 the Lord's-day, 254, 255; peti- 
 tions for restrictions in, on the 
 Lord's-day, 255 ; petitions against 
 restrictions, 256; select commit- 
 tees to inquire into, 255, 256 ; 
 evidence of Sir Richard Mayne 
 relating to, 256; of Captain Mere- 
 dith, 257 ; number of, in England 
 and Wales, 257. 
 
 Quivil, Bishop of Exeter, exhortation 
 
 to his Clergy, 151. 
 Rabbinical writers, their views of the 
 
 Sabbath, 11, 12. 
 Railway, trains on the Lord's-day, 
 evils of, 246 ; Act, Newcastle and 
 Carlisle, 245 ; labourers, select 
 committee to inquire into their 
 condition, 245 ; travelling, on the 
 Lord's-day, attempt to make it 
 compulsory on companies, 248, 
 249; Bristol and Gloucester, clause 
 in Act making it compulsory on 
 directors to run trains on the 
 Lord's-day, 248; porter, convic- 
 tion of, 249. 
 Reformers, German, their views of 
 
 the Sabbath, 195 ; English, 203. 
 Richardson, Judge, prohibits dese- 
 cration of the Lord's-day in So- 
 merset, 170. 
 Ruell, Rev. David, evidence of, 224. 
 Scotland, opinions of the Church of, 
 
 regarding the Lord's-day, 203. 
 Seymour, Admiral, his regard for the 
 
 Sabbath, 60. 
 Shew-bread renewed on the Sab- 
 bath, 50. 
 Society for the Observance of the 
 Lord's-day, formation of the, 
 218 ; principles of, 219 ; objects 
 of, 220. 
 Sumner, Dr., Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, heads a deputation to the 
 Earl of Derby, 261 ; to Lord Vis- 
 count Pahnerston, 267 ; writes to 
 Lord Pahnerston, 270. 
 Sunday, word used in addressing the 
 heathen, 98, 99. 
 
280 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sunday Schools, 213 ; ragged, 214. 
 
 Swan, Mr., and the South Western 
 Steam Packet Company, 40. 
 
 Swiss Confession of Faith, 201. 
 
 Switzerland, the Sabhath in, 193. 
 
 Synagogue worship, 56, 57. 
 
 Tostatus, Bishop of Avila, his com- 
 mentary on Genesis ii. 5, 6. 
 
 Trading on the Lord's- day, extent 
 of, efforts to check, 251, 252; at- 
 tempts at legislation, 253. 
 
 Translators of the Bible, their opinion 
 of the antiquity of the Sabbath, 17. 
 
 Tribute money paid by our Lord, 62. 
 
 Valentinian, Law of, 99. 
 
 Vaudois, the, 202. 
 
 Vienna, proceedings in, 193. 
 
 Walmsley, Sir Joshua, his motions 
 for opening places of amusement 
 on the Lord's-day, and results, 
 264, 267, 269. 
 
 Walters, Mr. Melmoth, his exertions 
 
 in Bath to promote the observance 
 of the Lord's-day, 250. 
 
 Warleigh, the Bev. Smith, chaplair 
 of Parkhurst Prison, statement of 
 224. 
 
 Weeks, God the author of this divi- 
 sion of time, 2 ; known to the pa- 
 triarchs, 20; antiquity of, 21, 22. 
 
 Wesleyan Methodists, their regard 
 for the Lord's-day, 211. 
 
 Whately, Dr., advocates Heylin's 
 views, 16. 
 
 White, Dr., his book on the Lord's- 
 day, 171. 
 
 Wilson, Mr. Joseph, the chief ori- 
 ginator and Honorary Secretary 
 of the Lord's-day Observance 
 Society, 218 ; exertions of, 242. 
 
 Wilson, Dr. Daniel, his sermons on 
 the Sabbath, 218. 
 
 Windsor Castle closed to visitors on 
 the Lord's-day, 272. 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Lbbott, Col. Sir F., Addisconibe. 
 Lbbott, C. H., Esq.,Teigninouth. 
 Abraham, Miss, Bath. 
 Ldams, Rev. R. L., Wimbledon. 
 Lddiscombe College Library. 
 Iguew, Rev. D. A., Wigton, N. B. 
 ignew, Sir A.,Bart.,M.R, Bolton St. 
 Uder, Rev. E. T., Islington. 
 Alexander, Rev. Thomas, Chelsea. 
 Uford, Rev. C. R., Islington, 
 ^llen, O., Esq., Falmouth. 
 Uleu, Rev. J., Bandon. 
 Ulen, Rev. H., Clifton. 
 yiix, Miss, Bath. 
 
 Allport, Rev. T., Birmingham. 2 cops. 
 Andrew, Rev. W. W.,Ketteringham. 
 Andrews, W. H., Esq., Hethersett. 
 Anson, Rev. F., Torquay. 2 copies. 
 Antrobus, E., Esq.,; Manchester. 
 Arblaston, C, Esq., Shrewsbury. 
 Archer, Rev. A. W., Manchester. 
 Arkwright, Rev. H., Bodenham. 
 Armstrong, Rev. H.W.G., Willesden. 
 Aicherley, Miss H., Shrewsbury. 
 Atkinson, A., Esq., Beverley. 
 Atkinson, W., Esq., Bures. 
 Austin, James, Esq., Finsbury. 
 
 Blandford, the Marquis of. 
 Buckle, Yen. Archdeacon, Up way. 
 
 Buxton, Sir E. N., Bart., M.P. 
 Bagnall, Thomas, Esq., Great Barr. 
 Baker, Admiral Sir H., Richmond. 
 Baker, Mrs., Stamford Hill. 
 Banks, Rev. S., Cottenham. 
 Baiss, James, Esq., Camberwell. 
 Ballantyne, Rev. W., London Wall. 
 Barber, Lady Millicent, Huntingdon. 
 Barber, Rev. J. H., Huntingdon. 
 Barbour, R., Esq.,Manchester . 2 cops. 
 Barker, Rev. W. G., Ishngton. 
 Bateman, Miss, Islington. 
 Bathurst, Rev. W. H., Matlock. 
 Battersby, Rev. T. D. H., Keswick. 
 Bawdwen, Rev. W., Manchester. 
 Baxter, R., Esq., Westminster. 3 cops. 
 
 Baylee, Rev. W. C, H.M.S. Curaeoa. 
 
 Beaumont, G., Esq., Nottingham. 
 2 copies. 
 
 Beasley, John, Esq., Northampton. 
 
 Becher, Rev. M. H., Barnoldby-le- 
 Beck. 
 
 Beresford, Mrs., Tunbridge Wells. 
 
 Bevan, R. C. L., Esq., Lombard St. 
 
 Bigsby, Mrs., Clarburgh. 
 
 Birch, B., Esq., Greenfields. 
 
 Birch, Misses, Greenfields. 3 copies. 
 
 Birch, Rev. Joseph, Brighouse. 2 cops. 
 
 Birtwhistle, Rev. J. B., Beverley. 
 
 Blanchard, J., Esq., Whitby. 
 
282 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Bleazard, Miss, Clithero. 
 Boekett, John, Esq., Clapham. 3 cops. 
 Boothroyd, Benj., Esq., Southport. 
 Boutflower, Mrs., Bristol. 
 Bowles, Rev. C. B., Woking. 
 Bowthorp, Mr. C, Brixton Hill. 
 Boyee, Mrs., Mitcham. 2 copies. 
 Braithwaite, I, Esq., Old Broad St. 
 
 2 copies. 
 Braithwaite, Rev. G., Chichester. 
 Bramstone, Rev. John, Witham. 
 Breay, Mrs., Barnet. 3 copies. 
 Bridges, John, Esq., Red Lion Sq. 
 Bridge, Rev. S., Camberwell. 
 Brigstock, Rev. Thos., Milford. 
 Brook, Rev. I., St. Leonard's. 
 Brook, G., Esq., Huddersfield. 
 Brooke, Mrs. L., Tunhridge Wells, 
 Srookes, G., Esq., Whitchurch, Salop. 
 Brookes, Rev. J. H., Stoke Bruerne. 
 Brown, Miss, Hyde, Isle of Wight. 
 Brown, Rev. John, Cheltenham. 
 Birchenall, J., Esq., Macclesfield. 
 Buckley, Samuel, Esq., Old Trafford. 
 Burton, Rev. A. B., C.P.A. Society. 
 Bush, Rev. R. W., Islington. 
 Burgess, Rev. Wm., Thorp Kirby. 
 Burn, Rev. A., Kinnersley. 
 Butler, Rev. W. (the late), Crewe. 
 
 Calcutta, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 
 Bishop of. 2 copies. 
 Carlisle, Hon. and Right Rev. the 
 
 Lord Bishop of. 
 Chichester, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 
 Bishop of. 
 Cork, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 
 Bishop of (The late). 2 copies. 
 3arr, The Right Rev. Bishop. 2 cops. 
 Cavan, The Right Hon. the Earl of. 
 
 Carlisle, The Very Rev. the Dean c 
 Chichester, Very Rev. the Dean of. 
 Carnegie, Lady, Leamington. 
 Cadman, Rev. W., South wark. 
 Cameron, Rev. C. R., Swaby. 
 Cardale, Rev. E. T., Bristol. 
 Carr, Rev. John, Brattleby. 
 Carus, Rev. Canon, Winchester. 
 Carrington, R., Esq., Sydenham. 
 
 copies. 
 Carver, Rev. J., Islington. 
 Cator, Peter, Esq., Beckenham. 
 
 copies. 
 Chambers, T., Esq., M.P., Temple. 
 Champneys, Rev. C. F., Wendover. 
 Chapman, Mrs., Newport, Essex. 
 Chesshyre, Rev. W. J., Canterbury 
 Childers, J.W.,Esq.,Doncaster. 2 cop 
 Churton, Rev. John, Tenbury. 
 Clark, Rev. O., Vernon Square. 
 Clark, Rev. W. W., North Woottoi 
 Clayton, John, Esq., Lancaster Plact 
 Clayton, Rev. Charles, Cambridge. 
 Clayton, Rev. G., Great Gains. 
 Clowes, Chas., Esq., Iver. 
 Cobb, F. W., Esq., Margate. 2 cops 
 Cockin, Rev. W., Birmingham. 
 Collins, Rev. R., Huddersfield. 
 Collisson, Rev. M. A., Islington. 
 Colquhoun, W., Esq., Rhosdhee. 
 Colvin, Alexander, Esq.,Leatherhead 
 Connington, Rev. J., Southwell. 
 Consterdine, Rev. J. W., Alderle; 
 
 Edge. 
 Consterdine, Jos., Esq., Manchester. 
 Consterdine, Robt., Esq., Manchester 
 Cook, C. T., Esq., Cheltenham. 
 Coombe, Rev. G. C, Sheffield. 
 Cooper, John, Esq., Manchester. 
 Cooper, Rev. Jas., St. Paul's School 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 283 
 
 ipe, Rev. W. R., Baslow. 2 copies. 
 •urtenay, Rev. Dr., Clerkenwell. 2 
 
 copies. 
 urthorpe, G. C.,Esq., Hurst Green. 
 x, Rev. W. L., Westbury, Wilts, 
 agie, H., Esq., Edinburgh, 
 opper, Mrs., Lincoln, 
 iramings, Mrs., Hammersmith, 
 rzon, Hon. S., Tooting. 3 copies. 
 &t, Rev. H. C, Windsor. 2 copies. 
 rteis, John, Esq., Gordon Place. 
 
 jeham, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 Bishop of. 
 
 nison, Rt. Hon. Lady C, Newark. 
 
 uglas, the Lady William, Little- 
 ween, N. B. 
 
 r ne, Hon. Mrs. B., Tunbridge 
 Wells. 
 
 ,le,Rev. Canon, St. Pancras. 2 cops. 
 
 ,le, T. B., Esq., Warwick. 3 copies. 
 
 ilton, Rev. J. E., Seagrave. 
 
 Jton, Rev. W., Wolverhampton. 
 
 2 copies. 
 
 .niels, W., Esq., Islington, 
 vies, Rev. D., Bewdley. 2 copies. 
 vies, Rev. J., Worcester. 
 vis, Rev. Acton, Malvern. 
 ,wes, George, Esq., Blackheath. 
 aeon, Mrs., Cavendish Square, 
 ane, H. G., Esq., Colchester, 
 ck, Rev. H., Islington. 3 copies. 
 ck, Rev. John, Hull. 2 copies. 
 nnington, J as., Esq., Clerkenwell. 
 sborough, L., Esq., Camberwell. 
 gby, Rev. G., Sherborne. 2 cops. 
 sney, Rev. J. W. K., Newark, 
 xon, Rev. A., Higham Ferrars. 
 
 3 copies. 
 
 hbs, Miss L., Clapham. 2 copies. 
 
 Doughty, Thos. V., Esq., Brompton. 
 Doyle, Rev. W., Chorlton-upon-Med- 
 
 lock. 
 Dugmore, W., Esq., Lincoln's Inn. 
 Dukes, Rev. Clement, Dalston. 
 Duncan, J., Esq., Gresham Street. 
 Duncan, Rev. G. J., Blackheath. 
 
 Eden, John, Esq., Liverpool. 
 Eden, Rev. J. P., Bishopswearmouth. 
 Edmonston, Rev. C. W., Islington. 
 Edwards, J. W., Esq., Newman St. 
 Edwards, W. H., Esq., Clifton. 
 Elliott, Rev. E. K., Worthing, 
 Eley, C, Esq., Brighton. 
 Erck, Mrs , Notting Hill. 
 Eyre, Rev. C. P., Bury St. Edmund's. 
 
 Farthing, Rev. T. N., Manchester. 
 
 Farrer, Captain, Blackheath. 
 
 Fell, Miss, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. 
 
 Fell, Rev. J. A., Penkridge. 
 
 Fenning, G., Esq., Torrington Sq. 
 3 copies. 
 
 Fenning, Richard, Esq., Woburn Sq. 
 
 Fenning, William, Esq., Balham. 
 
 Fergusson, Jos., Esq., M.P., Devon- 
 shire Place. 
 
 Few, C, Esq., Streatham. 
 
 Finch, John, Esq., Tunbridge Wells. 
 
 Firmin, Rev. J. P., Congleton. 
 
 Fisher, Rev. J., Higbam-on-the-Hill. 
 
 Fisher, Rev. R. B., Basildon. 
 
 Foljambe, Mrs., Southwell. 
 
 Ford, Edward, Esq., Islington. 
 
 Foster, James, Esq., Walthamstow. 
 
 Foster, James, Esq., Stamford Hill. 
 2 copies. 
 
 Foster, John, Esq., Walthamstow. 
 
 Foster, John, Esq., Barnet. 3 copies. 
 
281 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Fovvle, Rev. F. W., Amesbury. 
 Fox, Mrs., Kensington. 
 Fox, Rev. G., Durham. 
 Friend, a, per Rev. A. B. Haden. 
 Friend, George, Esq., Islington. 
 Friends, Two, per Mrs. Nisbet. 
 Fuller, George, Esq., Holloway. 
 
 Gloucester and Bristol, The Right 
 
 Rev. the Lord Bishop of. 
 Gunning, Ven. Archdeacon, Buckland 
 
 Newton. 
 Gainsborough, The Earl of, Chandos 
 
 Street. 3 copies. 
 Grosvenor, Lord Robert. 3 copies. 
 Garlick, J. P., Esq., Leeds. 
 Gamier, Rev. Thos., Upper Harley 
 
 Street. 
 Garrard, Rev. J. C, Ryde. 
 Garratt, W. A., Esq., Brighton. 
 Gawfrew, Chas., Esq., Dublin. 
 Gedge, Rev. S., Birmingham. 
 Gibbons, J. P., Esq., Mornington-rd. 
 Gibbons, Mrs., Brighton. 
 Gibson, H., Esq., Ongar. 2 copies. 
 Gibson, Vv T ., Esq., Ongar. 
 Girdlestone, Jas., Esq.,Gray's-Inn-sq. 
 Glyn, Rev. C. J., Witchhampton. 
 Glyn, Rev. Sir George, Bart., Ewell. 
 Goe, F. F., Esq., Louth. 
 Gosse, H., Esq., Epsom. 
 Gould, Rev. J., Burwash. 
 Govett, Rev. R., Staines. 
 Graham, T. H., Esq., Carlisle. 3 cops. 
 Grantham, Rev. T.,Bramber. 3 cops. 
 Gray, Rev. J. H., Douglas, I. of M. 
 Gray, Rev. J., Dibden, Southampton. 
 Greaves, Rev. George, Heme Bay. 
 Greaves, Rev. J., Great Missenden. 
 Greaves, Rev. R. W., Tooting. 
 
 Greene, Rev. Thos., Guist. 2 cop 
 Groves, Mrs., Clapham. 2 copies 
 Guise, Rev. G. C, Pulverback. 
 Gunnery, Rev. R., Islington. 
 Gunning, Rev. H. J., Wigan. 
 
 Hone, Yen. Archdeacon, Halesow 
 Hony, Ven. Archdeacon, Baverstc 
 
 3 copies. 
 Harris, Hon. Miss P. F., Tunbrl 
 
 Wells. 
 Haden, Rev. A. B., Brewood. 3 cc 
 Haden, Rev. John 
 Hallows, Mrs., Islington. 
 Hambleton, Rev. John, Islington. 
 Hamilton, Rev. J. H., Chester S< 
 Hamner,Mrs.,Hampton Court. 2cc 
 Hanbury, R., Esq., jun., Sussex S 
 Handley, Rev. C. R., Faversham 
 Hankey, Thos., Esq., Fenchurch 
 
 2 copies. 
 Hanson, S., Esq., Botolph Lane. 
 Harding, G., Esq., Great Russell 
 Hardy, John, Esq., Islington. 
 Harke, Rev. J. N., Liverpool. 
 Harrington, Rev. H. D., South N 
 
 ington. 
 Harris, Mrs., Islington. 
 Harrison, Miss, Sheffield. 2 copi 
 Harrison, Rev. Thos., Stafford. 
 Hart, Rear-Admiral Sir Her 
 
 Greenwich. 
 Harwood, Harwood H., Esq., Bi 
 
 water. 
 Haslegrave, Rev. J., Islington. 
 Hastings, Mrs., Trowbridge. 2 ct 
 Hastings, Rev. J. H., Martley. 
 Hatchard, Rev. John, Plymouth. 
 Hawley, Rev. C. R. 
 Hay, Capt. J. B., Rugby. 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 285 
 
 fden, Rev. J., High Wycombe, 
 vne, Rev. W. B., Sydenham, 
 sard, D., Esq., Islington, 
 ighway, John, Esq., Shrewsbury, 
 uderson, John, Esq., Glasgow, 
 uderson, Rev. R., Hexham. 2 cops, 
 y, Samuel, Esq., Leeds, 
 ^hain, J. H., Esq., Islington, 
 dyard, Rev. J. G., Louth, 
 are, G. Noel, Esq., Brighton, 
 dgson, C. F., Esq., Islington, 
 dgson, Capt. E., York, 
 lden, R., Esq., Nottingham, 
 lland, H., Esq., Clifton, 
 lines, Mrs., Islington. 2 copies. 
 oper, Charles, Esq., Stonehouse. 
 pkins, Rev. James, Stambourne. 
 rne, Rev. T. H., Nicholas Lane, 
 rsfall, Mrs., Liverpool. 
 (rsfall, Miss, Liverpool. 2 copies. 
 irsfall, Miss S. S., Liverpool, 
 •stage, J. T. B., Esq., Northwich. 
 >ugh, Rev. G., Huddersfield. 
 »ward, Rev. J. G., Stanton, 
 int, Rev. R.T.jCamberwell. 2 cops. 
 idson, Thos., Esq., Islington, 
 ime, Rev. G., Melksham. 
 issey, Rev. J. McConnel, Brixton, 
 itchinson, M.,Esq., South Shields, 
 itchison, Rev. R. P., Camberwell. 
 
 2 copies. 
 itt, Rev. J. C, Holloway. 
 
 gworth Deanery, Clerical Library. 
 
 man, C, Esq., Liverpool. 2 copies. 
 
 man, R., Esq., Preston. 
 
 ues, Miss, Leyton. 
 
 eland, Mrs , Islington. 3 copies. 
 
 vine, Miss, Leytonstone. 2 copies. 
 
 ham, Rev. A., Weston Turville. 
 
 Jackson, Rev. T., Richmond. 
 James, W. R., Esq., Bath. 
 Janson, Miss, Leyton. 
 Janson, R., Esq., Ipswich. 
 Jeffreys, J. T , Esq.,Leadenhall-mt. 
 Jerram, Rev. S., Chobham. 
 J. H. M. L. 6 copies. 
 Johnstone, A., Esq., Halesworth. 2 
 
 copies. 
 Jones, Miss, Shrewsbury. 
 Jones, Rev. J. P., Loughor. 
 Joyce, Mr. T., Whitchurch, Salop. 
 
 Keane, Rev. J. E., Bethnal Green. 
 Kershaw, R., Esq., Littlemore. 
 King, H., Esq., Islington. 
 King, Misses, Clapham. 
 Kingston, Rev. Thos., Dublin. 2 cops. 
 Kimber, J. M., Esq., Islington. 3 cops. 
 Kirwood, Rev. G. H., Hereford. 
 
 Lincoln, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 Bishop of. 
 
 Lichfield, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 Bishop of. 
 
 Law, Ven. Archdeacon. 
 
 Lindsay, Rt. Hon. Lord,Berkeley-sq. 
 
 Lindsay, Hon. Mrs. H., Chichester. 
 2 copies. 
 
 Lamb, C, Esq., Islington. 2 copies. 
 
 Lamb, Rev. W. D., Colridge. 
 
 Lambert, Rev. A. L., Chilbolton. 
 
 Lancaster, Kev. R. T., Hove. 
 
 Landon, Mrs., Bath. 
 
 Langley, W., Esq., Stamford. 2 cops. 
 
 Langshaw, Rev. T. W., West Grin- 
 stead. 
 
 Lawson, A. S-, Esq., Borobridge. 
 
 Lea, Rev. G., Eclgbaston, 
 
 Lee, Rev. Philip H., Stoke Bruen. 
 
286 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Leatherdale, John, Esq., Islington. 
 
 Leeke, Rev. W., Holbrook. 
 
 Lee, Jas., Esq., Clapham Eise. 3 cops. 
 
 Lee, John, Esq., Whitchurch, Salop. 
 
 Lee, Joseph, Esq., Redbrook. 3 cops. 
 
 Lee, J. H., Esq., Eedbrook House. 
 
 Lee, Miss, Whitchurch, Salop. 
 
 Leggatt, A., Esq., Lowndes-square. 
 
 Leigh, John, Esq., Shrewsbury. 
 
 Lett, Thos., Esq., Limerick. 2 copies. 
 
 Lightfoot, Mrs., Balham Hill. 2 cops. 
 
 Lindsay, Miss, Pentonville. 
 
 Linton, Rev. H., Oxford. 
 
 Littlehales, Capt., Witchampton. 2 
 copies. 
 
 Lofts, Miss, Hastings. 
 
 Longueville, T. L., Esq., Clifton. 
 
 Lord, J., Esq., Temple. 
 
 Lovelock, E , Esq., Islington. 
 
 Lowe, Mrs., Dawlish. 
 
 Lowe, Mrs., Islington. 
 
 Lowe, Rev. E. Jackson, Islington. 
 
 Lowndes, E. C, Esq., Preston. 3 cops. 
 
 Lucas, J. S. S., Esq., Westbury, Bris- 
 tol. 3 copies. 
 
 Lucey, Chas., Esq., Brixton Hill. 
 
 Lucy, W., Esq., Blackheath. 
 
 Ludbey, Rev. T., Cranham. 
 
 Meath, The Rt. Rev. Lord Bishop of. 
 Macdonald, Rev. T., Nottingham. 
 Maclnnes, Gen., Hampstead. 2 cops. 
 Major, R. H., Esq., Islington. 
 Mackenzie, Rev. W. B., Islington. 
 Mackreth, Rev. T., Halton. 
 Macturk, Miss. 
 Malpas, Rev. J. H, Awre. 
 Manson, A. J., Esq., Wandsworth-rd. 
 Hansel, J. C, Esq., Blandford. 
 Marlen, Rev. H., Liverpool. 
 
 Martin, Miss, Campden Hill Vil 
 Martin, Rev. Dr., St. Breward. 
 Masterman, Miss, Leyton. 
 Mathews, Rev. H., Brenton. 
 Maxwell, W. J., Esq., Wimpole-; 
 Mayers, Mrs., Brighton. 2 copi 
 Mayo, Rev. C. E., Cheshunt. 
 Mayor, Rev. J., Newark. 
 McCalmont, Rev. Thos., Highfie] 
 McMiching, T.,Esq., Glasgow. 3 c 
 Michell, Rev. E. W., Shirley. 
 Middleton, Rev. P. G., Medsti 
 
 2 copies. 
 Middleton, Rev. F. M., Stanton. 
 Miller, Rev. J. C, Birmingham. 
 Mocatta,Rev.W.A.,Southport. 2 c 
 Molyneux, J., Esq., Guildford. 2c 
 Money, Rev. C. F. S., Deptford. 
 Monk, Rev. J. 
 
 Moore, Rev.L.,Rocester, Ashbou 
 Morgan, Rev. T. G., Wheelock. 
 Morgan, Rev. W., Hulcott. 
 Mould, Rev. J., Farnworth. 
 Munkittrick, R., Esq., Manchest 
 Murley, S., Esq., M.D., Trowbri( 
 
 Nainby, Miss S., Islington. 
 Nangle, Rev. E., Skreen. 
 Nanson, W., Esq., Russell Sq. 2 a 
 Nason, Rev. W. 
 Neale, Mrs., Hastings. 
 Newdigate, C. M., Esq., M.P., 
 
 lington Street. 3 copies. 
 Newstead, Rev. R., Huddersfield 
 Newton, Mrs., Ancaster. 2 copi 
 Nicoll, Alex., Esq., Edinburgh. 
 Niven, Rev. W., Chelsea. 
 Noel, Hon. & Rev. L., Exton. 3 c 
 Norman, Rev. F. J., Bottlesford. 
 Norton, Miss E. \V., Crawley. 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 287 
 
 >gle, Mrs., Hornsey. 
 irmerod, Mrs. T. J., Harleston. 
 stler, J. L., Esq., Grantham, 
 'tter, W., Esq., Bloxham. 
 
 eteeborough, The Right Rev. the 
 
 Lord Bishop of. 
 age, Miss, Ripon. 
 aine, Cornelius, Esq. 3 copies. 
 aine, W. D., Esq., Reigate. 2 copies. 
 alk, Mr., Alderman, Southampton, 
 aimer, Mrs. A., Cheam. 
 Parochial Library," St. Martin's, 
 
 Birmingham, 
 arry, Captain, Islington, 
 arson, T. E., Esq., Clapton, 
 ilmer, Mrs., Stoke Abbotsford. 
 irt, F., Esq., Woodfield. 2 copies. 
 iterson, Rev. D. J., Chelford. 
 itteson, Rev. J., Spitalfields. 2 cops. 
 jachey, Rev. J., Ebernoe. 2 copies. 
 ?ake, Rev. J. R., Whitchurch, Salop. 
 
 2 copies. 
 3arse, H., Esq., Gosport. 
 , E., Miss. 
 
 3lley,E. ,Esq. , Walthamstow. 2 cops. 
 ircivaL, Rev. T. C, Barnburgh. 
 3ters, W. H., Esq., Lympston. 
 aillips, Mrs., Shrewsbury, 
 lillips, R., Esq., Marylebone-street, 
 
 St. James', 
 aillips, R., Esq., Manchester, 
 ckering, Mr.H., Baddesley. 2 cops. 
 nney, C, Esq., Clifton, 
 .umptre, J. P., Esq., Wingham. 3 
 
 copies. 
 )llard, Rev. G. C, Cambridge. 
 )well, George, Esq., Islington, 
 nvell, Mr. Joseph, Islington, 
 nvles, J. D., Esq., Bank Buildings. 
 
 Powney, Col., Petersham. 3 copies. 
 
 Preston Clerical Book Society. 
 
 Preston, John, Esq., Allsop Terrace. 
 
 Preston, Rev.M.M.,Cheshunt. 2 cops. 
 
 Preston, Miss, Islington. 
 
 Proby, Mrs., Exeter. 
 
 Pymm, R., Esq., The Hasels, Beds. 
 
 Ripon, The Right Rev. the Lord 
 Bishop of. 
 
 Raine, Mrs. Surtees, York. 
 
 Ramage, D., Esq., Glasgow. 3 copies. 
 
 Rand, John, Esq., Bradford. 
 
 Randolph, Rev. T., Haddan. 
 
 Raven, Rev. W., Brixton. 
 
 Rawlings, Rev. W., Lansellos. 
 
 Reade, Mrs., Hastings. 
 
 Rice, Joseph, Esq., Manchester. 
 
 Richards, Rev. C. W., Etingshall. 
 
 Ridley, Misses, Hampstead. 3 copies 
 
 Ridsdale, J. H., Esq., Leeds. 3 cop< 
 
 Ritchie, A., Esq., Greenwich. 
 
 Roberts, Rev. Albert. 
 
 Roberts, Mrs., Southborough. 
 
 Robinson, Rev. Dr., Warley. 
 
 Rogers, Miss, Shrewsbury. 
 
 Rowley, Rev. W. W., Weston-super- 
 Mare. 
 
 Russell, D., Esq., York. 2 copies. 
 
 Ryder, Hon. G.D., Grosvenor Square. 
 
 Ryder, Miss, Reigate. 
 
 Royston, J. P., Esq., Islington. 2 cops. 
 
 St. Asaph, The Right Rev. the 
 
 Lord Bishop of. 
 Salisbury, The Right Rev. the Lore 
 
 Bishop of. 
 Shaftesbury, the Earl of. 3 copies 
 Sparrow, Lady Olivia. 6 copies. 
 Salmon, Rev. G., Bath. 
 
288 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Sanctuary, Rev. T., Powerstock. 
 
 Saulez, Rev. Theophilus, Islington. 
 
 Say, Rev. F. H. 
 
 Say, Rev. H. H., Braughing. 2 cops. 
 
 Scholefield, W. F., Esq., Ripon. 
 
 Scott, B., Esq., Weybridge. 
 
 Scott, Rev. G., Preston. 
 
 Sergrove, Rev. J. S., Islington. 
 
 Seymour, Capt. E. F., Clifton. 
 
 Sheldon Parochial Library. 
 
 Shann, Dr. G., York. 2 copies. 
 
 Shepard, R. J., Esq., the Firs, 
 Guildford. 
 
 Sherer, Mrs., Cambridge. 
 
 Shoebotham, Rev. D. K., Dudley. 
 
 Sim, Rev. H. A., Wingham. 
 
 Simcoe, Rev. H. A., Egloskerry. 
 
 Simpson, G., Esq., Lincoln's Inn. 
 
 Simpson, Rev. John, D.D., Alston- 
 field. 
 
 Sinclair, Rev. W., Leeds. 
 
 Skinner, Rev. W. J., Whitfield. 
 
 Skriniskire, Rev. H. F., Hertford. 
 
 Slater, John, Esq., Trowbridge. 
 
 Small, John, Esq., Petersfield. 
 
 Smith, A., Esq., Ware. 3 copies. 
 
 Smith, G. J. P., Esq., Temple. 
 
 Smith, H. A., Esq., Wilford. 
 
 Smith, H., Esq., Blackheath, 2 cops. 
 
 Smith, Rev. T. G., Bath. 
 
 Smith, Rev. Thomas, Ashneld. 
 
 Snape, Rev. R., Brent, Ely. 
 
 Snee, J. A., Esq., Islington. 
 
 Souter.T. C.,Esq., Castle Donnington. 
 
 Spence, Rev. Dr., Lee. 
 
 Spooner, R., Esq., M.P. 3 copies. 
 
 Spurling, J., Esq., Islington. 
 
 Stancomb, W., Esq., Trowbridge. 
 
 Steel, Rev. J., Cowbit. 2 copies. 
 
 Stiff, Z. C, Esq., Barnstaple. 
 Stobart, Col., Darlington. 
 Stokes, Dr., Islington. 
 Strachan, J. M., Esq., Teddingt 
 
 2 copies. 
 Stewart, A. P., Esq., M.D., Grosve: 
 
 Street. 2 copies. 
 Stewart, Rev. D. D., Maidstone. 
 Surridge, Rev. Dr. 3 copies. 
 Sutherland, Rev. J., Islington. 
 Swann, Rev. R., Bransby. 
 Symes, J. C, Esq., Fenchurch Str( 
 
 Tattam, Venerable Archdeacon. 
 Taylor, Rev. G., Dedham. 
 Taylor, Miss M., Shrewsbury. 
 Taylor, Wilbr., Esq., 1, Robert 
 
 2 copies. 
 Tebbs, H. V., Esq., Highgate. 
 Temple, W., Esq., Stoke Ferry. 
 Thomas, Rev. M., Islington. 
 Thomas, Rev. W. B., Steynton. 
 Thompson, Rev. W. M., Woolwi( 
 Thompson, T., Esq., Bath. 3 cop 
 Thornhill, Rev. C, Coventry. 
 Thornton, Rev. W. L., Kingslanc 
 Thurlow, Rev. Chancellor, Malpa 
 Treacher, Henry, Esq., Wansteatl 
 Tripp, Rev. R. H., Altarnon. 
 Tritton, Rev. R., Morden. 
 Tucker, Rev. S., Coblentz. 
 Tudor, H. Esq., Winkfield. 
 Turner, Rev. C, Grantham. 2 c< 
 
 Upton, Rev. J. S., Wentworth. 
 
 Valpy, A. B., Esq., Bristol. 2 cop 
 Veall, Rev. II., Newcastle. 
 Venn, Rev. John, Hereford. 
 Villiers, Hon. C. P., M.P. 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 289 
 
 Vincent, Rev. W., Islington. 
 
 Wakefield, Mrs., Islington. 
 Waldron, Miss, Trowbridge. 
 Walker, R. P., Esq., Watford. 
 Walker, Rev. E., Salford. 2 copies. 
 Walker, Thomas, Esq., Cheltenham. 
 Walters, J. E., Esq., Lincoln's Inn. 
 
 2 copies. 
 
 Walters, M., Esq., Bath. 2 copies. 
 
 Ward, The Misses, Ryde. 2 copies. 
 
 Ward, Rev. E. L., Hordean. 
 
 Wardell, W., Esq., Chester. 
 
 Wastell, Rev. J. D. , Risby. 
 
 Watkins, Rev. H. G., Potter's Bar. 
 
 Webster, Rev. G. E., Grundisburgh. 
 
 Wells, J. S., Esq., Watford. 
 
 Wesleyan Theological Institute, Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 Wesley an Theological Col., Didsbury. 
 
 West, F. G., Esq. 
 
 Wheeldon, Miss, St, Albans. 
 
 Wheeler, Rev. John B., Coppenhall. 
 
 Wbichcote, Rev. C. W., As war by. 
 
 Whitefoord, C, Esq., Falcon Court. 
 
 Whiting, Rev. James, Royston. 
 
 Whyte, Rev. James, Lansellas. 
 
 Whytehead, W. , Esq., York. 2 cops. 
 
 Wickham, Rev. E. D., Holmwood. 
 
 Wigram, L., Esq., M.P., Lincoln's 
 Inn, 2 copies. 
 
 Wilbraham, R., jun,, Esq., Lawton. 
 
 Wilkinson, C„ Esq., M.D., Guildford. 
 
 Wilkinson, R., Esq., Regent's Park. 
 
 Wilkinson, Rev. J. B., Holbrook. 
 
 Wilkinson, Rev. F. H., West Ashton. 
 
 3 copies. 
 
 Williams, W. W., Esq., Hackney. 
 
 2 copies. 
 Williams, Rev. J., Stamford. 2 cops. 
 Williamson, J. W., Esq., Blomfield 
 
 Terraee. 
 Wilson, Mrs., West Cowes. 4 copies. 
 Wilson, N., Esq., Davenport. 3 cops t 
 Wilson, Rev. C. W., West Cowes. 
 Wilson, Rev. D., Islington. 2 copies. 
 Wilson, Rev. T. P., Bardsley. 
 Wilson, W., Esq., Ewell. 2 copies. 
 Wing, Rev. John, Leicester. 
 Witherby, R., Esq., Islington. 2 cops. 
 Witherby, R., Esq., jun., Holloway. 
 
 2 copies. 
 Wood, Rev. J. B., Spratton. 
 Woodd, Basil, Esq., M-P , Great 
 
 Cumberland Street. 
 WoodrofFe, J., Esq., Camden-Town, 
 Woodroffe, W., Esq., Lincoln's Inn, 
 
 2 copies. 
 Woods, W., Esq., Furnival's Inn. 
 
 2 copies. 
 Woodward,C.,Esq.,F.R.S., Islington. 
 Wright, H., Esq., Birmingham. 
 Wright, J.H., Esq.. St. John's Wood. 
 Wright, Mrs. J. C, Islington. 
 Wright, Mrs., Muswell Hill. 2 cops, 
 Wrockwardine Parish Library. 
 
 Yardley, Rev. J., Shrewsbury. 2 cops. 
 Yate, Rev. G. L., Wrockwardine. 
 Young, E., Esq., Farnworth. 
 Young Men's Christian Association, 
 Aldersgate Street. 
 
 Zachary, Thomas, Esq., Stourport. 
 
 London : Printed by C. F. Hodgson, 1, Gough Square, Fleet Street. 
 O 
 
DATE DUE 
 
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fin ! 10 " Theol °9'"l Seminary-Speer Librar 
 
 1 1012 01003 1930