Chapter VI: Introduction (2)

But to return to the family where the Sabbath is not regarded as a day sacred to the worship of God: how frequently do we find the father, with his equally reckless companions, taking on Saturday evening his seat in the house of the spirit-dealer, there to waste, in the gratification of his debased and depraved appetite, his hard-earned wages! But what need to describe the Sabbath hours of such a family? Who that has been at all conversant with the labouring population of this country, but has witnessed the comfortless and fretful confusion of the morning? while the succeeding hours are devoted to the preparation of the noonday meal, the one great feast of the week; and, perchance, the fields, the public promenade, or a trip by railway to some place of public resort, is the occupation of the evening. And thus are all the rich opportunities which such a day affords for self-improvement and family culture, trampled under foot. And what is the condition of the children of such parents? Do they not grow up in ignorance and vice, in utter neglect, unless, indeed, they are gathered together for Sabbath instruction by the enlightened and benevolent, who would seek to do what in them lies to rescue their fellow-creatures from ignorance and degradation? This, however, will but slightly supply the want of the fireside instruction of a Sabbath-keeping family; and is it likely that these children will ever attain to that degree of mental culture, or be governed by those moral principles which would enable them to obtain an equal standing in society with the children of those who conscientiously observe the Lord’s-day? Let those who think so, enter the house of him who keeps holy the Lord’s-day, and the home of the Sabbath-breaker; let them converse with their children, observe their habits, and then answer. Those who feel inclined to trifle with the sacred obligations of this day would do well to consider, ere they slight its beneficial restraints, what a blessed privilege they fling away--what a glorious birthright they would barter for less than a mess of pottage! A birthright, the due appreciation and the proper use of which would soon enable them to cast off that yoke of bondage, those servile feelings, with which the working classes too often regard their superiors in circumstances; would enable them to stand erect and unabashed in the presence of their fellow-man, whatever his wealth or rank, as brother in the presence of brother; would give them power of their own minds--a conscience illuminated by the light of heaven, and unfettered by subjection to man. Moreover, if the imbecility of mind, the consequent limitation of resource, and liability to become the dupes of imposture, the tools of crafty, selfish, and unprincipled men, be considered, which usually result from the dependence of one class of men upon the mind and will of another class, this will appear to be no mean advantage, as regards temporal condition, which the proper observance of the Sabbath is calculated to confer upon the labouring population. For proof that such happy results do invariably follow the introduction of the Sabbath among the working classes, in proportion to its proper observance, we have only to glance at the character and condition of the people in countries where the Sabbath is, in some measure, rightly understood and observed, as compared with the state of the people in lands where the Lord’s day is unknown, or devoted to mere amusement.

The rest of the Sabbath is invaluable to the labourer who is desirous of cultivating his own mind by study, of strengthening and gaining the control of his intellectual powers, or of increasing his stock of knowledge by reading. When he returns from his daily labour, to enjoy his brief hour of leisure in the evening, his system is too much exhausted by his previous exertion, and, consequently, his animal spirits too much depressed, for close application of mind or energy of thought. If he attempt to peruse any really serious and useful author, he not unfrequently falls asleep with the book in his hand. The lighter pages of the novelist, with their intellectual intoxication, and too often pernicious views of human life and human nature, may be able, by their excitement, to overcome, for a time, his fatigue; and, therefore, if he reads at all, for these, the works of the natural and moral philosopher, of the historian, the moralist, and the theologian, are laid aside; and thus his moral and intellectual nature, not receiving wholesome food or healthful exercise, becomes weak and diseased, and unfitted to fulfil the offices of enlightening him; his passions and appetites, unrestrained by an enlightened conscience and cultivated understanding, lead him captive at their will; and his whole character and condition strikingly prove, that, as a general rule, the degradation of one part of man’s nature is the degradation of the whole.

Is his temporal condition abject, his body subjected to unremitting toil?--his intellectual condition, too, is debased, and his mind enslaved. Is his intellect uncultivated, and his moral nature vitiated?--his outward appearance[2] and condition are degraded, rude, and comfortless. The Sabbath, by the repose it affords, not only renews man’s physical energy, renovates his animal system, it also qualifies his mind to apply itself to self-culture and to the acquisition of solid and useful knowledge. Nor does it stop here--it leaves him not unaided and unguided to grope in darkness for the knowledge which is essential to his well-being; it pours upon his path a flood of light, opens wide the gate of knowledge, and bids him enter. It leaves him not to mope alone over the dreamy speculations of sceptical philosophers who have attained to no belief, who have no certainty or knowledge, but have chosen their perpetual abode in those gloomy regions of darkness where the dense fogs of doubt are for ever settled, till his mental energy is exhausted and his mind unhinged. No; it calls him forth in exulting joy to seek the society of his fellow-men, that mind may awaken and strengthen mind, and heart warm heart--that they may ponder together the meaning of facts--facts attested by incontrovertible evidence--facts the most sublime and interesting that have ever engaged the attention of man. It calls men together to study, in each other’s society, a system of morality pure and perfect, founded upon these facts. It furnishes him with subjects surpassingly glorious, in the contemplation of which he may exert and cultivate his intellectual powers. It inspires him with hopes which give him fortitude to endure the unavoidable evils of his condition, and energy to surmount its difficulties. Yes, the Lord’s day, with its communion with God, its memorials, its exercises, its instructions, and its social intercourse, ever as it returns gives a fresh impulse to human advancement. It is, truly, a fountain whence spring innumerable benefits.

[2] This is strikingly verified by LAVATER, in his celebrated work on Physiognomy.--ED.

Not only does each returning Sabbath give a new and powerful impetus to man’s advancement in his heavenward course; but in so doing, it urges him onward and upward in civilization, refinement and comfort.

A day of rest, of cessation from active and toilsome exertion, is, doubtless, as ministering to the health and vigour of the animal system, of immense value to working men. I have no hesitation, however, in affirming, that, amongst those who view it in no other light than as a day of rest and recreation, as a season set apart to no higher purpose than that of refreshing and invigorating the body, it generally fails of accomplishing even this: they almost invariably devote the day to the service of their divers lusts and pleasures, while the neglected appearance of their families, and the jaded and abused state of their bodies, wofully testify to the degrading effects of misusing its hallowed hours; and clearly demonstrate, that it is “_the Sabbath of the Lord_,” the Lord’s day alone, as appointed by himself, which is really calculated to benefit mankind, and not a day of man’s devising. And why? Because the Sabbath-day is appointed by our all-wise Creator, by Him who knoweth what is in man, and what is needful for man. And it is exactly suited to man--it meets the wants at once of his physical and intellectual constitution, and of his social and spiritual nature. He who wears purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day, whose hand has never been hardened, nor his brow moistened by toil, whose every day makes him the companion and instructor of his family, and who, fresh and unwearied, can seat himself in his quiet study, and enjoy his daily returning hours of leisure, may slight the obligations of the Sabbath, and break loose from its restraints, without, in the eye of his fellow-man, appearing to suffer in mind, character, or condition. But on him whose daily returning wants call for strenuous and incessant exertion, that they may obtain a needful supply, the abuse of Sabbath hours is soon visible in a beggared and degraded mind, a depraved moral character, and a consequently degraded condition in society; in squalid, untrained children, and a comfortless home; and not unfrequently, in absolute want of the very necessaries of life.

It might easily be shown, that, among the numerous advantages which the weekly rest affords the working man, is this, namely, that it gives him its rest, without diminishing, in any degree, his means of subsistence and comfort. By preventing the seventh day from being brought into the labour market, it enables him to procure a remuneration for six days’ labour equal to that which, were there no such day, he would be able to obtain for seven. Although those who degrade the Sabbath from its place as a religious institution, to a day of mere bodily rest and recreation, enjoy this advantage in common with him who regards the day in its proper character, as a day set apart for the public worship of God and the study of his word; yet, they are generally by far his inferiors in comfort and independence. It is no uncommon thing to find them, while actually engaged in some kind of employment which brings higher wages than the occupation followed by their neighbour obtains, before the close of the week begging or borrowing from him the necessaries of life. Few will have mingled much among labouring men and their families, without meeting with many instances of this kind, all demonstrating the truth of what has already been advanced, that it is the Christian Sabbath, observed as appointed by our Lord himself, that can ever really improve even the temporal character of the labourer, and that no human institution ever can supply its place, or have the same beneficial influence upon society.

To the husband and father, whose family require his daily labour for their support, and who is anxious to impart to them that instruction which is so necessary to the perfect and healthful development of their mental powers, the Sabbath is of inestimable value. Dearly as he loves to meet the joyous welcome of his little ones upon his return from his day’s labour, pleasant as it is for him to enjoy their childish prattle, while they are seated together around the evening fire, yet, having just returned, exhausted by a day of toil, while they climb his knee, and chat over the little adventures of the day, they are more to him as playthings, than as beings the training of whose minds and habits for after life is entrusted to him. This, during the six days of labour, devolves, almost exclusively, upon the mother, or, as is too often the case, it is utterly neglected, because it requires the most incessant and laborious exertions of both father and mother to enable them to obtain a subsistence for themselves and their offspring; and were it not for the weekly return of Sabbath-rest, and its opportunities for improvement, they would grow up untrained, as the wild ass’s colt. But the Sabbath places the Christian father refreshed and vigorous in the midst of his family, his mind enlightened and enriched by its instruction, and his feelings soothed by its devotional exercises; thus fitting him to impart instruction, in a manner at once calculated to reach the understandings and win the hearts of his little ones.

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What a delightful scene of tranquil enjoyment is to be met with in the family of the labourer where the Sabbath is properly appreciated and actively improved! Has the reader ever spent a Lord’s day in such a family? has he seen the children, awaking from the light slumbers of the morning, glance round on the more than usual order, cleanliness and quiet of the humble apartment, and then ask, Mother, what day is this? and heard the reply, This is the Sabbath, the best of all days, the day which God has blessed! Has he seen their father dandling the baby, till their mother should finish dressing the elder children, and then, when all were ready, heard the little circle join in the sweet morning hymn, and seen them kneel together, while their father offered up a simple, but heart-felt thanksgiving for life, health, and reason preserved, through the toils of another week; and for the privilege of being again all permitted to enjoy, in each other’s society, the blessed light of the first day of the week; that morning-light which brings to mind an empty grave, and a risen Saviour; those peaceful hours which, undisturbed by the labour, hurry, and anxieties of the week, they can devote to the advancement of that spiritual life in their souls, which shall outlive the destruction of death itself? Has he heard the words of prayer, the questions of the father, and the replies of the children; and has he not felt assured that the mind-awakening influences of such subjects of thought, and such exercises, would be seen in the after years of these children?

Or, has he, on their return from the meeting-place of Christians, witnessed their afternoon and evening employments? Has he seen the eager and intelligent expression of those young faces, as the beautiful story of Joseph and his brethren was read aloud to them; or that of Daniel cast into the lions’ den; or how the servants of the living God walked unhurt in the midst of the fire, whilst its flame slew those men who cast them in; or the narrative of the wandering prodigal, wretched and despised in a foreign land, whilst the meanest of his father’s servants were living in abundance and comfort? Has he heard their voices, each low but earnest; and then listened to the reading of the Word of God? heard the reciting by turn, some beautiful hymns, or reading some interesting chapter, or engaged in conversation familiar and pleasant, though serious and instructive; children asking questions of parents, and parents of children, concerning what they have been hearing and reading during the day? And is not he who has been the spectator of all this, convinced, that such a day is to the labourer and his children, an inheritance of surpassing value; that it is weekly adding a fresh impulse to their progress in improvement, and preparing them to take advantage of whatever opportunities the week may afford? Will not the Sabbaths of their childhood leave an impression upon their future years, which will never be effaced; an impress of superiority in intelligence and morality, and a consequent superiority in circumstances?

One important advantage which is connected with the observance of the Lord’s day, among the labouring population, is the influence which it has in elevating the mind, character and condition of the female portion of the community. Where Christianity and its weekly rest are unknown, the condition of woman is abject in the extreme; but the religion of Jesus raises her from her degraded situation, by calling her forward to engage in the exercises, share the instructions, and receive the influences of its Sabbath. The Lord’s day calls her thinking powers into action, gives her a mind and conscience of her own, cultivates her intellectual and moral nature, and gives her to man a helpmate indeed, fitted to become, not merely his slave or his toy, but the companion of his labours and his studies, his devoted friend, and his faithful and judicious adviser; not merely the mother and nurse of his children, but their intelligent instructor and guide--his most efficient assistant in their intellectual and moral training. And if we consider the influence which the training that man receives in his early years has upon his character in after life--that, for the most part, in the families of working men, infancy and childhood are spent in the society of the mother, and therefore the impressions by which the character is, in a great measure, formed, are made by her, we shall feel convinced that the cultivation of the female mind and character must have an incalculable influence upon the condition of the labouring population.

It were worth ascertaining, how many of those who have risen up from among the labouring population to adorn and bless humanity by their talents and their philanthropy, to enlighten and benefit society by useful and important discoveries in art and science, or by patient persevering labour to advance mankind in virtue and intelligence--how many of these had their minds awakened to activity, and their principles formed, by the instructions which hard-working parents were enabled to give them upon the Lord’s day, the only time they could devote to such a purpose. And would it not shed a fearful light upon this subject, could we possess ourselves of the history of the early Sabbaths of those who have made themselves notorious by their crimes; or of those, who, having sunk themselves deep in moral pollution, have destroyed themselves, degraded humanity, and cursed society by their vices? Would not such records give startling evidence of the ruinous effects resulting from the abuse of the weekly rest, and clearly demonstrate the truth of what has been already advanced, that, were the Sabbath abolished, or given to working men as a day of mere bodily refreshment and recreation, and not as a religious institution, they would soon be reduced to a condition worse than that of the untaught savage?

Yes; man is equally liable to degenerate as he is capable of improvement--more so, for he must be aroused, urged forward, forced on almost against his will: to take the downward path of degeneracy, he needs only to be left unmolested to choose his own way.

Are there those who deny this--who look upon man as not a fallen and depraved being, shorn of the glory of his primeval excellency, ever liable to sink lower and degenerate farther, unless influences from without reach him--but as a being who has raised himself by the unaided exercise of the powers of his own mind, from a condition little above that of the brute creation, to his present state? I ask them but to survey the page of human history, to become convinced of the absurdity of such an idea. Can they point to the records of any tribe of the human family which, from a condition of rude barbarism, and shut out from all intercourse with civilized nations, has ever raised itself above such a state?[3] They cannot--it has uniformly been the entrance of the missionary, the trader, the emigrant, from more enlightened and civilized nations, which has changed the condition of such a people.

[3] Such as desire further information on this important point, may obtain it, at a very small expense of time and labour, by consulting Dr. Doig’s “_Three Letters on the Savage State_,” addressed to Lord Kames.--ED.

Had it been as they say, had man been formed the being they represent him, and had the voice of God never reached his ear, had no celestial visitant ever arrived upon our planet, man had never risen one step above his first condition. If, then, as the history of mankind abundantly proves, religion founded upon revelation be the only really efficient means by which man can be raised to that state of perfection he is capable of attaining; if, as we trace the progress of Christianity among the nations, we find an advancement in civilization following in her footsteps, and an amelioration of the social condition of the people marking her progress, may we not reasonably attribute to her seventh-day rest all the temporal blessings which, as she advances, she is conferring upon the labouring population? And would not the abolition of this institution, or the appropriation of Sabbath hours to other than their proper use, be effectively to exclude those who obtain their daily bread by the labour of their hands, from a participation in the benefits which the knowledge of revelation confers upon man? No more effectual step could be taken towards the demoralization, I had almost said the brutalization, of the labouring population, than that of inducing them to look upon it as a mere human holiday, which may be occupied in any way fancy may dictate. Barbarous and degrading sports, bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and such like; drunkenness, revelry, and riot, would, with fearful rapidity, take the place of the solemn assembly.

He who would seek to enslave and degrade the working man, could not more effectually accomplish his object, than by persuading him to regard and occupy the Sabbath as a day which he might spend in amusement. Were the Lord’s day blotted out, or spent in mere recreation--were the sons of toil no more to enjoy or avail themselves of its rich provisions for their instruction and elevation--not only should we soon see religion disregarded, that blessed light of heaven, that sunshine of the sky which is chasing the shadows of ignorance, and dissipating the mists of error and superstition; which is awakening man to spiritual life, arousing to healthful activity in him all the springs of moral feeling and intellectual energy; not only would this morning beam be shut out from the sons of toil, those glad tidings which Jesus so frequently preached to the poor in the weekly assembly upon the Sabbath-day, be put without the reach of working men--but we should soon see them deprived of those civil institutions which secure to them personal liberty, and degraded to a condition of mere vassalage.

Let no one be startled when I affirm that it is the Sabbath which has bestowed upon the labouring population the civil privileges they enjoy, and raised them to the position they occupy; that it is the Lord’s day which is the great, the everlasting bulwark of human freedom. It is that moral force which intelligence and virtue bestow upon a people, which unlooses effectually the iron grasp of the oppressor; which makes their voice heard clearly and distinctly in the legislation of their country, and blots pernicious, partial, and unjust laws out of the statute-book; and it is, as we have already seen, the knowledge of God obtained from revelation, which awakens man’s dormant powers of mind, which leads him onward and upward in virtue and intelligence.

Deprive religion of its weekly rest, and by what means is it to gain access to the ears and to the understandings of working men, and their children? When is it to pour its light into their minds, and the influence of devotion into their hearts? When shall the labourer study the book of God, or working men gather together to hear, not the teachings of erring man, but, with the Scriptures of truth in their hands, to listen to the voice of that infallible Wisdom which was with God when he laid the foundations of the earth? Shall it be after a day of laborious exertion has rendered them unfit, by exhaustion, for the close application of their minds to any serious study? Alas for the advancement of the labouring portion of the community in intelligence and morality! Alas for the refinement of manners, and the cultivation of mind among them, if it is to be left to such seasons! So absolutely essential to the well-being of man does the Sabbath appear, whether viewed in relation to his eternal or his temporal interests, that, could we suppose it possible for man, destitute of the weekly rest, to become conscious of the wants of his own nature, we should conclude that he would have instituted, of his own accord, a Sabbath for himself. Those who, either for worldly gain or the pursuit of pleasure, profane the sacred hours of Sabbath rest, are not only despising one of the most important institutions of religion, but they are doing what in them lies to undermine one of the most enduring defences of human liberty.

He who would take from the working man his Sabbath, would take with it the mind-awakening influence of religion; would keep the gate of knowledge, and forbid his entrance; would throw an impassable barrier in the way of his progress in civilization, and leave him the slave of the despot, the tool of the crafty politician, and the follower of the superstitious zealot, or the religious impostor.

Let those, then, who would seek to transmit to their children that liberty and those rights for which their fathers have struggled and bled, rear them amidst Sabbath influences, fill their minds with those subjects for the study of which the weekly rest was instituted, and accustom them to Sabbath exercises; and, most assuredly, they will rise above the oppression of the tyrant, see through the devices of the crafty, the subtlety of the sophist, and the deceit of the impostor.

All the efforts which have ever been made by the rude arm of physical force, to rescue mankind from oppression, have been utterly futile; and if any one will survey the state of the nations at the present moment, he will find the liberty and the privileges enjoyed by the people, to be exactly proportioned to the extent to which general intelligence and the knowledge of the word of God are diffused among them. What has the sword ever effected for the redemption of mankind from tyranny? It may have wrenched power from the hand of one party, but it has only been to give it into the hand of another equally liable to abuse it. Has it been torn from the hand of a lawless and merciless despot? It has been given into the hands of an insolent and brutal soldiery, or a superstitious mob, who soon trampled under foot that liberty which had been purchased for them with the blood of their brethren. Every revolution which has been effected by violence, affords proof of this.

It has been the blood of the martyr--the patient endurance and unshaken fortitude of him who would rather yield up liberty and life itself, than deny the truth--the peaceable, but persevering and indefatigable missionary, whose exertions have been devoted to the spread of the knowledge of God among men, who, by introducing religion and its Sabbath, and bringing man into intercourse with his God, the great Lord of all, to whom all are equally responsible, the governed and the governor, the subject and the prince, the servant and his master; and thus, by awakening in men a sense of their personal responsibility, has aroused their minds to activity. It is the knowledge of their responsibility--of the great truth that all must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to give, each one, an account of the deeds done in the body--which causes men to think and act for themselves, and thus raises them above the subtlety and power of selfishness and ambition.

Although the Sabbath comes laden with blessings for the sons of men, yet let it never be forgotten, that he only whom the truth has made free, he who has left the service of sin, to become the Lord’s free man, doing the will of God from the heart, can fully appreciate or enjoy, not only its spiritual, but even its merely temporal blessings. He who has never tasted that God is good, who has never in joyful confidence committed the salvation of his soul into the hand of Jesus, will but abuse its benefits, neglect its duties, and despise its privileges.

How often does Monday morning give painful evidence of the total uselessness of the weekly rest to those who look upon it merely as a day of rest from toil, and a season for recreation! Even the rest they talk of is thrown away, and they are jaded and exhausted by folly and intemperance. Monday finds them scarce fit for the labour of the day: instead of the animal system being refreshed and health improved, the body is abused, and disease engendered; while among those who, though knowing nothing of the living power of religion, yet influenced by the customs and opinions of society around them, show no small regard for the Sabbath, how often are its blessed influences almost entirely buried underneath the rubbish of mere ceremonial sanctity! No wonder, if childhood, sternly commanded to assume the serious gravity of age, through the long, weary, empty hours of an inactive Sabbath, should imbibe a deep-rooted dislike to religion and its Sabbath. No wonder, if, in families where it is thus observed, the minds of the young should become disaffected to that religion, of which such an empty, gloomy institution is viewed as a part; that, having received such a false idea of religion, they should plunge headlong into the pleasures, follies, and vices of the world, thinking that such lifeless and gloomy exercises will better suit the weakness and infirmity of age, than the fresh and buoyant activity of youth; and thus reap the results of an irregular and intemperate life, in a shattered constitution and depraved character. No wonder, if youth, coming forth from the bosom of such families, should be easily deluded by sophistry, and, caught in the snares of scepticism, should step into the ranks of unbelievers, or sink to the fate of the criminal and the vicious.

He who blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, never meant that that day, whose first morning beam fell upon the joyful activity of a new and perfect creation; whose dawning light saw the _Son of man_ arise triumphant over death and the grave, should be spent in listless, motionless silence, or in soulless, meaningless ceremony. No; holy its hours indeed are, sanctified, set apart; not however to solemn, gloomy, lifeless inactivity; but hallowed to rest and refreshment, sacred to joy, set apart to active, cheerful, and strenuous exertion for the improvement of ourselves and others in holiness, virtue, and intelligence. Doubtless, thousands who have never felt the power of the truth in an awakened conscience and a renewed heart, are reaping many and important benefits from the Lord’s-day, in the more general diffusion of knowledge, and the advancement of civilization, besides the comfortable rest and refreshment it affords their bodies. But they can only to a limited extent enjoy the beneficial influence of the weekly rest, whether viewed as increasing their enjoyment in this present life, or as fitting them for happiness hereafter.

While, then, considering it of the utmost importance, that this day should be preserved from the encroachments of labour and amusement, that working men should be protected by the law of their country in the observance of it, and regarding it as of paramount importance, that it be preserved in its unimpaired sanctity as the birthright of every Briton,--I would earnestly, solemnly, and affectionately, urge upon the attention of those who, seeking the improvement of the temporal condition of the labouring population of our country, and aware of the powerful influence which a proper observance of the Sabbath would have in effecting their elevation, are endeavouring to call the attention of the legislature to the subject,--that, here, legal enactments can do but little; they may put down, to some extent, the more public and glaring forms of Sabbath profanation, but this will only increase the amount of secret desecration. Those who have no heart for the proper observance of this day, may be prevented from spending it in certain kinds of labour or amusement, railway travelling, pleasure excursions, and such like: by being prevented from enjoying themselves in such pursuits, however, they will be driven into the secret haunts of dissipation and vice; and thus, although it is no doubt well, that, where wickedness cannot be eradicated, it should be made ashamed to show its head, yet comparatively little good can be effected by the civil ruler, in promoting the cause of Sabbath observance. I would entreat them to bear in mind, that it is only the truths of the Gospel imparting spiritual life, implanting moral principle, bringing the will of man into subjection to the will of his Creator, and awakening the intellect, that can enable man to reap that full harvest of temporal good from the weekly rest which it is so well fitted to afford him.

Let, then, all who would see man redeemed from ignorance and slavery, vice and degradation--all who would see the working man refined in manners and elevated in character and condition, exert their utmost energy in the diffusion of knowledge, in the education of youth, but above all, in calling the attention of men to Divine truth, to the glad tidings of salvation; and for this purpose let them rejoice in, and employ the Sabbath as connected with religion, as affording time for spreading abroad the knowledge of God: this is the lever which is to lift man from the degradation of the fall, and make him fit to be the inhabitant of a new earth, wherein all the evils which at present surround him shall be unknown.

What varied agencies is not the Sabbath calling into operation, to press forward and give fresh impulse to the onward movement! Not only is the stolid mind of the untaught workman aroused, impelling motive and untiring energy imparted, to carry him on in the upward path of self-improvement; but the sympathies of his nature are also awakened, and, looking on the moral and intellectual degradation, and the physical wretchedness around him, his heart is yearning over his fellow-men, and the weekly rest affording him time, he is stretching out the hand of a brother to those who are sunk in ignorance and vice, he is pointing the upward path, and stimulating to the upward movement. See that young man, whose daily earnings, perchance, are needful, not merely for his own support, but it may be, for the support of aged parents, or of young and helpless brothers and sisters; the circumstances of whose early years had prevented his enjoying more than the limited advantages of a common grammar-school education, or, perhaps, not even allowed of his receiving so much as a common school education, but whose knowledge has been picked up in Sabbath classes, or at the fireside of hard-working parents, whose straitened circumstances required that even in his boyhood he should strain every nerve to assist them in supplying, by his labour, the wants of a young and numerous family: he is not only walking steadfastly and firmly himself in the path of improvement, but taking the lead, and urging on his fellow-men, devoting his little hour of Sabbath rest, and Sabbath leisure, not to mere repose, or sensual indulgence, but gathering his fellow-men around him that he may reason with them out of the Scriptures, or calling together, for instruction, a class of ragged, untrained children, or wending his way to yonder wretched garret, or that damp cellar, where want, disease, and vice have taken up their abode together, that he may ascertain why that squalid child was absent from the Sabbath-school class, and drop a word of encouragement to the boy, or address a word of warning and entreaty to the parents.

Who has not felt convinced, on viewing scenes like these, agencies like these called into operation, that it is the weekly rest in the hands of living, active religion, which is destined to reach the very lowest depths of society, to lift humanity from the degrading pollutions of vice, and from the servile dependence and helplessness of ignorance; and that to take from the children of toil the Lord’s-day, were to take from them at once the means of self-improvement, and also the opportunity of doing anything towards the improvement of others?

Let those, then, who seek the elevation and refinement of the labouring population, do all that in them lies to spread among them the knowledge of true religion and the observance of the Sabbath. Science may advance, art and philosophy instruct those who have means and leisure for their study; but of what avail would they ever become to labouring men, did not Religion by her Sabbath open up the way for them? Yes; Christianity is the pioneer, and they follow in its footsteps. Besides, what is man, with his moral nature unimproved? His intellect may be powerful and highly cultivated; he may be learned in art and science, acquainted with all the properties of matter, and with every system of philosophy, ancient and modern; he may be capable of bringing creation, animate and inanimate, into subserviency to his pleasure and convenience; the lightnings of heaven may, at his bidding, fly with his message; and the hidden treasures of the earth may come forth to the light of day: at the command of art and science, starting into motion, he may be conveyed almost with the rapidity of thought, to his desired destination; fire, water, and air, may accomplish his labour for him; but, if his religious feelings are dormant or misdirected, or if his moral nature is depraved, he is but the more capacitated to spread destruction and misery around him; to be miserable in himself, and a curse and a scourge to mankind. He can use, with more ability, the subtlety and the arts of the impostor; he can, with more dexterity, forge or use weapons of war, or set armies in battle array; or he may be a more able and dangerous leader in riot and insurrection; a more dexterous highwayman, robber, or assassin; but, without the cultivation of his moral nature by religion, he is neither fitted to receive happiness himself, nor impart it to others.

Religion not only awakens and cultivates man’s intellect, it also subdues and governs his animal propensities, exalts and refines his moral feelings, and by doing so, redeems him from much present suffering, and opens to him inexhaustible treasures of enjoyment in himself and others, impelling him to exert all the energies of his nature, not in seeking merely his own, but in securing the well-being of his fellow-men, making him more willing to impart than to exact, more yielding than commanding, more ready to bear with, than to claim forbearance--in a word, writing upon his heart, in living characters, the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and thus putting an end to all strife, emulation, broils, and discord, and war in every form, with all its attendant miseries.

Yes; let those who long for that blissful period when men shall be united in one universal brotherhood; when peace shall make her dwelling among them, and good-will fill every heart; when the reward of the husbandman’s toil--the yellow fields of waving grain--shall no more be trampled beneath the hoof of the war-horse, nor his hard-won earnings wrung from his hand, to keep in repair the machinery of war--when men shall no more study the art of destroying each other, but shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; let those who long for, and labour to introduce this happy era, see in the Sabbath the oil which is to still the waves of human strife--in its memorials, its influences, its exercises, the links of that chain of love, which is yet to bind heart to heart, from one end of the earth to the other, and encircle the whole with an unbroken and everlasting bond of union.

When men meet together on the first day of the week, to break bread, to surround the table of their Lord, to pass from hand to hand the cup of blessing, to hear the words and study the character of Him who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to Him who judgeth righteously; when they, as the children of that God who is by his love manifested in the gift of his well-beloved Son, subduing the enmity of his enemies and reconciling them to himself, meet thus together on the first day of the week, not to hear the voice of a human orator, nor to attend to the words of a fallible instructor, but to gather around the Scriptures of truth, the word of the living and true God, to learn his will, that with willing and ready feet, they may run in the way of his commandments; when they study his character, as he there reveals himself, that their moral nature may become assimilated to his, that they may be like their Father in heaven, who maketh his sun to shine upon the evil and the good; what must be the result? Who will hesitate to say, were working men all to meet weekly, thus to keep the Lord’s-day as appointed by Himself, that soon the oppressor would cease out of the land; that intemperance, ignorance, vice of all kinds, with all the poverty, disease, and wretchedness, inseparably connected with them, would be for ever banished; and peace, descending from the skies, whither sin had caused her to take her flight, again dwell with redeemed man?

And ever as we approach nearer and nearer to such a use of the weekly rest; and ever as the circle widens of those who feel it not their duty only, but their dearest, choicest privilege, thus to spend and enjoy this day--do we approach more nearly to the long-predicted age of millennial glory, to the dawn of the great Sabbath of the world, that Sabbath of rest from sin and suffering, strife and oppression, when the Lord himself shall judge the nations in righteousness, when the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be brought low, and the Lord alone be exalted.

The Lord’s-day can never be trifled with but at our peril. Like every appointment of our benevolent Creator, it was instituted for the benefit of his creatures, wisely adapted to fulfil its purpose; and he who sells its privileges for gain, or barters them for pleasure, makes a poor bargain indeed. Selfishness--narrow, ungenerous, short-sighted selfishness--generally outwits itself; and this is especially the case with employers, who, regardless of the comfort, health, or morality of the employed, engage them in labour on this day, and thereby deprive them of its benefits. The interests of employers are inseparably connected with the well-being of the employed. The labour of a healthy, steady, honest, intelligent workman, is of double value to that of him who cannot be depended upon, whose moral principles are unsound, or his habits irregular; whose mind is uncultivated, or his body debilitated by disease. And those who engage men in labour or business upon the first day of the week, may blame themselves, if, in a few years, they find it difficult to have their work well performed, and discover that their property is far from being secure.

The Sabbath has, with beautiful propriety, been called, “the poor man’s day;” and it seems, indeed, peculiarly adapted to confer important advantages upon him: not one of these, however, is obtained at the expense of the employers. Its blessings are suited to all classes, but the working-classes more especially require its provisions for their happiness. If the servant, after a week of labour, enjoys a day of rest, and appears in the meeting of the disciples of Jesus, clean, comfortably dressed, and respectable as his master, it is, that, fresh and vigorous, he may with hearty good-will enter upon the labours of another week. A feeling of self-respect, and a sense of moral obligation, raise him above eye-service, or anything like slight, sluggish, or improper performance of labour; a feeling which, though it cannot stoop to cringing servility, would sooner brook disrespect than show it to another, whether employer or fellow-servant; and a sense of moral obligation, which makes him faithful in whatever he is entrusted with, enables him to understand and claim his own rights, and induces him without reserve, to give to all others their due.

The Sabbath interferes with the interests of none but those who live by the ignorance, superstition, vice, and degradation of mankind; those who have their wealth from Babylon the great, who traffic in “slaves and souls of men.”

Let all, then, of every class and station, examine this subject; the more it is viewed in the light of truth, the more its importance will appear. He who is desirous of the well-being of his fellow-men, ought not, and cannot consistently, pass it lightly by; and even he whose contracted mind looks only at his personal interest, may not safely slight it.

THE

Christian Union and Religious Memorial.

EDITED BY

REV. ROBERT BAIRD, D. D.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY,

AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE.

THIS magazine is devoted to the cause of Christian Union among all Evangelical denominations, and its great object will be to make the Church below more like the Church above, by the infusion of that spirit of Christian love and brotherly kindness which should distinguish all the members of _Christ’s_ body, whatever name they bear on earth. It will contain essays on Christian union and collateral subjects, by some of the best writers at home and abroad.

Another essential feature of our work will be a monthly memorial or resumé of the progress of religion in all lands. We shall pay particular attention to missionary operations throughout the world, and keep our readers acquainted with the progress of religion in foreign countries by the various missionaries there employed.

Our foreign correspondence will be extensive and various, and our readers will thus be kept informed of the changes and progress of events in Europe.

Although we shall keep clear of discussions on doctrinal points, we shall feel at full liberty to animadvert freely on whatever we may deem errors in practice, wherever they may exist. At the same time, we shall advocate, with all our powers, every true Christian reform which shall tend to improve and elevate mankind.

Our work has already received the highest commendations, and our arrangements will enable us to make considerable improvements the coming year.

SAMUEL HUESTON,
139 Nassau street.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

The _Christian Union and Religious Memorial_, edited by DR. BAIRD, is a rich repository of valuable matter, statistical and historical, bearing upon the interests of religion in all parts of the world.--_N. Y. Observer._

It breathes the spirit of Christianity, and contains notices of the progress of Christ’s kingdom among the different branches of the Church. Conducted by DR. BAIRD and his able associates, it cannot fail to do great good. Its view of foreign Churches is peculiarly valuable, from the Dr.’s long residence in Europe.--_Lutheran Observer._

Under the supervision of the Rev. DR. BAIRD, the Christian Union is becoming a highly valuable publication, and will, no doubt, obtain an extensive circulation. The principles of Christian Union, as advocated by the editor, are such as all evangelical denominations may unite in, without sacrificing any peculiar principles of their own.--_Christian Secretary._

It is a precious monthly, published by S. Hueston, 139 Nassau street, New York.--_Christian Intelligencer._

We deem the Union an important auxiliary in spreading a knowledge of the condition and prospects of religious denominations--a knowledge, which, we are sorry to say, is not as extensively cultivated as it should be, either by the ministry or the private members of the church.--_S. W. Baptist Chronicle._

Every bishop, minister, elder, deacon and class-leader should have this valuable monthly. Christians of every name must unite against the works of darkness, banish _for ever_ their little sectarianisms, or the world cannot be saved.--_Golden Rule._

The statistical information furnished by this publication, and its notices in a comprehensive view and permanent form, of the manifestations and progress of the Church of Christ in all lands, render it valuable and worthy of patronage.--_Southern Christian Advocate._

The missionary and statistical information upon its pages must render it of great value as a book of reference, while its essays and discussions combine much to interest and instruct the serious mind. Its catholic spirit entitles it to the confidence of Christians of every name.--REV. B. T. WELCH, _Pastor of the Pearl St. Baptist church, Albany, N. Y._

Each number of the work contains 64 closely printed royal octavo pages, and will form a yearly volume of 768 pages.

HEAVEN’S ANTIDOTE
TO THE
CURSE OF LABOR:

_Or the Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath to the Working Classes_.

BY JOHN ALLAN QUINTON.

With a Prefatory Notice by Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D.

This beautiful Essay on the Sabbath, from the pen of a journeyman printer, of Ipswich, England, received the first prize which was offered by Mr. Henderson, of Glasgow, for essays on that subject by working men. The fact that it was selected for the first prize, out of 1045 compositions, must be sufficient proof of its merit. The American edition contains a very interesting preface by Dr. Tyng. It is illustrated, neatly bound in cloth, and is sold for 37¹⁄₂ cents.

NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

“It is a manly, direct, and most conclusive presentation of the temporal benefits of observing the Sabbath, which we should suppose no one could peruse without a definite impression. It should especially reach laboring men--its strong sense and clear logic are finely suited to make an impression upon the popular mind.”--_New York Evangelist._

“The work should be scattered broadcast over the land.”--_Protestant Churchman._

“The treatise considers the advantages of the Sabbath under the heads of Physical, Mercantile, Intellectual, Domestic, Moral, and Religious. The author does not write theoretically, but from personal experience; and no working man can read his essay without feeling that the Sabbath is one of the greatest temporal blessings. We trust that the volume will have a wide circulation among all classes in our own country; for all need its salutary counsels. It is written in a very attractive style, and neatly printed.”--_Independent._

“This is a strong, clear, and admirable essay on the Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath, considered in relation to the working classes.”--_Courier and Enquirer._

JUST PUBLISHED BY
S. HUESTON, 138 NASSAU-ST., NEW YORK.

DOWLING’S CONFERENCE HYMNS.

A NEW COLLECTION OF HYMNS,

DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR USE IN

Conference and Prayer Meetings,

AND FAMILY WORSHIP.

BY J. DOWLING, D.D.

THE design of the present compilation is, in the first place, to add to the life and spirituality of the Conference and the Prayer Meeting; and, secondly, to be an acceptable pocket companion to the Christian, in the family or in the closet.

From most of the Conference hymn books which the editor has examined, a large number of devotional pieces, cherished in the memory and the hearts of the fathers and mothers in our American Zion, have been excluded; probably because the poetry was not regarded as of a sufficiently high order of excellence. The opinion of the present editor is, that sacred songs, embodying scriptural sentiments and genuine religious experience--when not objectionable on the score of vulgarity or grammatical inaccuracy--should not be discarded because they fail to stand the test of a rigid poetical censorship.

To mention a few of the favorite pieces omitted in some recent collections, many Christians will at once recognize the following, associated as some of them are with their sweetest seasons of holy religious enjoyment:--“_Sweet land of rest, for thee I sigh_”--“_Whither goest thou, pilgrim stranger_”--“_The Lord into his garden comes_”--“_Farewell, dear friends, I must be gone_”--“_Amen, amen, my soul replies_”--“_Come, my brethren, let us try_”--“_Vain, delusive world, adieu_”--“_O come, my loving neighbors, will you go to glory with me_”--“_Let thy kingdom, blessed Saviour_”--“_There is a land of pleasure_”--“_O tell me no more of this world’s vain store_”--“_To-day, if you will hear his voice_”--“_Beside the gospel pool_”--“The Good Old Way,” commencing, “_Lift up your heads, Immanuel’s friends_”--“The Harvest Home,” commencing, “_This is the field, the world below_”--“The Bower of Prayer”--“The Saints’ Sweet Home”--and Newton’s pious and expressive pieces--“The Beggar’s Prayer,” commencing, “_Encouraged by thy word, of mercy to the poor_”--The “Dying Thief,” commencing, “_Sovereign grace hath power alone_”--and, “The Lord will provide,” commencing, “_Though troubles assail and dangers affright_.”

One great motive in the present work was to restore, for the use of the Editor’s own congregation and of such others as desire them, the above, and a number of similar devotional and familiar “Sacred Songs,” omitted in some recent Conference hymn books.

▶ Copies for examination furnished gratis to post-paid applications--_unbound_ copies sent by mail.

Published by EDWARD H. FLETCHER,
_141 Nassau Street, N. Y._

CHEAP CASH BOOK STORE.

EDWARD H. FLETCHER,

No. 141 Nassau street,

NEW YORK.

Has constantly on hand, at wholesale and retail, a general assortment of _Theological, Classical, Miscellaneous, School and Blank Books and Stationery_.

A complete Depository of SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS.

Booksellers, Traders, Teachers, Schools, Academies and Individuals supplied, wholesale and retail, on the most liberal terms.

Religious books of every variety which are to be found in the market, may be obtained here at the _very lowest prices_.

SECOND-HAND BOOKS.

Valuable Standard Theological and other Books from private libraries will be sold at a fraction of the price of new.