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Transcribed from the 1849 Partridge and Oakey edition by David Price.

THE Chelsea Working-Man's Sabbath Essay.

DIVINE MERCY;

OR, THE

TEMPORAL ADVANTAGES OF THE SABBATH.

INTERSPERSED WITH EXPOSTULATORY REMARKS.

BY GEORGE BRYAN, ONE OF THE LATE COMPETITORS FOR THE SABBATH ESSAY PRIZES.

"'Tis not in artful measures, in the chime And idle tinkling of a minstrel's lyre, To charm His ear, whose eye is on the heart; Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain, Whose approbation prosper even mine!"--COWPER.

LONDON: PARTRIDGE AND OAKEY, PATERNOSTER ROW; W. F. RAMSAY, BROMPTON ROW, BROMPTON; J. L. POUTER, SLOANE STREET; AND D. ROBERTSON, GLASGOW.

CHELSEA. PRINTED BY T. WILSHER, MANOR STREET.

MY LORD,

Towards the termination of the year 1847, J. Henderson, Esq., of Park, near Glasgow, a gentleman distinguished for his piety and universal benevolence, offered prizes for the three best Essays on "the Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath, and the consequent necessity of preserving its rest from all the encroachments of unnecessary labour." In the short space of three months 1045 Essays were forwarded by Working-Men to the Adjudicators. Some time afterwards, ten additional prizes were munificently given by His Royal Highness Prince Albert, in addition to many others which had been previously announced.

One month had elapsed before I was informed of the original intention, and at that period the health of my wife was in a very precarious state, besides which I was myself labouring under great distress of mind. Notwithstanding these evident disadvantages, the subject being congenial to my feelings, I resolved on making an effort to express my individual views respecting the temporal value and importance of the Sabbath-day.

Although unsuccessful in obtaining a prize, there were reasons which induced me to conclude that my Essay, in its original state, maintained a most favourable position amidst the host of its competitors. Since its return to me I have made several material amendments--which I deem it right to acknowledge in justice to the arduous duties of the Adjudicators. Several Inhabitants of Chelsea, who had perused my amended Essay, expressed a desire that it should be printed; and, having since received increased encouragement, I have been induced respectfully to submit it to the ordeal of Christian opinion. It is entirely my own composition, even to its final revision for the press.

It may be necessary for me to inform your Lordship, in order to remove any doubts as to my being a working-man, that I was apprenticed to the late Messrs. Tilling and Hughes, Printers, then of Grosvenor Row, Pimlico; the latter gentleman was a son of the Rev. J. Hughes, M.A., one of the Founders of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Permit me, my Lord, to express now my heartfelt gratitude for the prompt and kind permission to dedicate the following feeble production to your Lordship. I am aware that it must be very imperfect, but I know that God can impart a blessing even to the most apparently futile means to promote His glory.

I have the honor to be, my Lord,

Your Lordship's obliged and humble Servant, GEORGE BRYAN.

"God blessed the seventh-day, and SANCTIFIED it."--GEN. ii. 2.

"Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it HOLY."--EXODUS xx. 8.

"If keeping holy the seventh-day were only an human institution, it would be the best method that could have been thought of for the polishing and civilization of mankind."--ADDISON.

Barren and debased must be that man who is insensible to the lovely character and genial influences of the Sabbath-day! It is a day on which the heart, if only susceptible of the ordinary feelings of conviction, must ever beat with the sweetest emotions of gratitude for the many blessings which it confers; for, in whatever condition we contemplate the varied members of society, whether individually or collectively, it is alike beneficial and indispensable. Hence the first dawn of the Sabbath beams with sympathy towards every human creature. To despise such an invaluable boon--by a wilful violation of the beneficent but absolute law of God--is to be utterly regardless of life in this world, and to exhibit no desire to participate hereafter in the blissful joys of heaven!

But we have to consider more especially the temporal advantages to be derived from the Divine institution of the Sabbath. It having been stated, however, that the working classes were willing to be employed on this sacred day for the benefit of themselves and families, and that they were indifferent to the agitation of our question, a few preliminary remarks cannot be considered as irrelevant; but, on the contrary, may fairly be admitted as introductory or collateral arguments in support of our general proposition. We need not enter into any lengthened controversy to prove that the first statement is a mere subterfuge to evade the responsibility of Sabbath desecration, nor do we intend to refer to any speculative opinions as to the causes of the asserted declension, as implied in the second declaration. It will be sufficient to confine ourselves here, as we shall occasionally do throughout our observations, to undeniable facts--not offered in extenuation, but simply to account, if true, for such flagrant and sinful anomalies.

During the last comparatively few years, in consequence of the vast increase in the population, and a more universal extension of knowledge, many great and salutary improvements have been adopted in this country. But notwithstanding this, and all the continued indications of progression, there is much over which the Christian must necessarily deplore. If the once quiet village has now become a populous town, and the busy town a mighty city, it must be admitted, that, while these changes are evidences of the magnitude of our trade, &c., they have also been accompanied by an immense amount of poverty, immorality, and irreligion. It is true also that the swampy level has been elevated and magnificent buildings now occupy its place, still the streams of iniquity flow around them with almost irresistible rapidity. The blessings of education have likewise been very properly diffused--and it is to be hoped that they will be far more extended, and based on a recognition of Christian principles--yet who will deny that there is much in our literature, and more particularly in our minor publications, which subvert the minds of youth, and too often lead them ultimately to entertain sentiments averse to religion, and detrimental to the general interests of society? Utilitarianism is not always associated with Christianity. Again, the Beer Act Bill must ever be regarded as having had a very injurious tendency on the morals of the rural and suburban populations, while the costly edifices in our large towns and cities, for the retail sale of ardent spirits, which have been so unaccountably tolerated and sanctioned by the Legislature, have most direfully increased pauperism and crime. Lastly, the labour performed by a large portion of the working classes has either been oppressive or altogether inadequate to their necessities. Impelled by the current of trade on some days with an impetuosity unknown to former ages, and soon afterwards standing idle for many others on the bleak shore soliciting freight for their fragile vessels of industry--if not carried away by the boisterous waves of intemperance, or rendered incapacitated by previous merciless lengthened hours of labour--the natural sensibilities of many among them even to appreciate the temporal advantages of the Sabbath very often become chilled, and when that blest morn arrives they are frequently enduring the greatest possible privations, or else secretly if not openly working with an activity surpassing the legally appointed days for labour. Exposed to such temptations, or placed in such an uncertain condition, uninfluenced by the rays of heavenly light, they consent to the avaricious demands of their employers, fearful of dismissal from their ordinary toil as a consequence of their refusal, and not unfrequently too become the deluded followers of men who are avowed disbelievers in the truths of Christianity--the blind adherents of what is falsely called Socialism! If, therefore, we have advanced in many respects, it is equally evident that stagnant and putrifying waters are still to be seen, in every direction, which emit a deadly influence over nearly the whole surface of the nation.

"Would you then taste the tranquil scene? Be sure your SABBATHS are serene; Devoid of hate, devoid of strife, And free from all that poisons life."

Happy would it be for each of us if we possessed more of this necessary serenity of mind, and if all our efforts, whether in connection with politics, science, social improvement, or our daily pursuits, were conducted in strict accordance with the revealed will of God! The latter is an essential without which we can neither enjoy individual happiness or experience national mercies. Past and present events most painfully demonstrate that a country may abound with wealth; that it may be fertile in its productions and possess great resources, and that the philanthropist may gaze with delight on its many noble Institutions; still, if its inhabitants daringly attempt to abrogate the Divine law of the Sabbath, a dark cloud will assuredly be seen that will cast a fearful gloom over the most highly-favoured land. "There is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of Nations! for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee." Jer. x. 6, 7.

The BODY of man, although admirably adapted to perform the varied and arduous duties of life, is nevertheless compared in Scripture to the fading flower and the withering blade of grass. The material from which the Creator formed us, in his infinite wisdom, seems at once to convey an idea of its frailty and tendency to bend downwards, when overcome by excessive fatigue, to its separated component part. This is confirmed by experience, for we know that long continuous labour, without adequate rest, is certain to impair health, and to destroy the body before the allotted period for human existence. The usual hours for repose, excluding the Sabbath, are not sufficient to re-invigorate nature. We need not only to rest on our beds at night, but it is necessary that we should rest at suitable short intervals for an entire day. In thus reasoning, however, let it not be considered as encouraging slothfulness or inactivity in business. Honest labour is an essential duty, the proper discharge of which is incumbent on us as members of the community, in order that we may supply our absolute necessities and procure the conveniences and comforts of life, by doing which we promote the general happiness of mankind. Religion and reason equally enforce it. But slothfulness, or habitual idleness, is not justly attributable to the working classes. True, the number of those who are addicted to intemperance is very great, and it may be said of such that they are indolent men; yet, taking another view of them, they are the most slavish--and they endure more bodily and mental fatigue than any others of the human race--

"Labour dire it is, and weary woe;"

but our remarks have reference only to the excessive labour of the steady, industrious, and persevering man.

Lord John RUSSELL says, "It is, I think, one of the greatest evils of this country that toil has become so excessive, that all considerations of health--all attention to intellectual improvement, and even all that time which ought to be devoted to spiritual worship--is lost in that excess of labour which the people of this country are compelled to undergo." Lord ASHLEY, in commending the efforts of "The Metropolitan Early-Closing Association," likewise most justly asserts, that "the struggle which is taking place at the present time is neither more nor less than a great conflict between materialism and spirituality. It is a struggle between things temporal and things eternal--it is a struggle between the creation of wealth and the objects for which wealth should be created."

But let us briefly reflect on the melancholy statement made by Dr. Copland, and we shall see that late hours of business inevitably destroy the sacred character of the Sabbath, and cause many to spend it in some of those modes of desecration for which the facilities are now so numerous and so seductive. The Writer of this Essay has two sons who have been brought up to respectable retail trades; the youngest was compelled, some short time since, to attend a shop from seven in the morning until eleven at night, and on Saturday it extended frequently to one, making it nearly two o'clock before he could possibly retire to rest. When he came home, on the Sabbath, instead of being enabled to attend a Church or Chapel, it became absolutely necessary that he should again obtain additional sleep during the greater part of the day, thus completely depriving him of the opportunity to be present in the sanctuary of God. This youth formerly attended the Park Chapel Sabbath School, at Chelsea, and the conviction naturally is that to this iniquitous and baneful cause may be attributed much of the demoralization which is so painfully apparent in many of those who have been similarly instructed.

It appears quite unnecessary further to prove that the seventh-day is absolutely requisite for bodily rest, even were the hours for labour limited universally to a just and natural period. Ask the poor factory children, the domestic servant, the apprentice boy, the mechanic, the men who work in pits and mines, the ill-paid but industrious needlewomen, the tradesman and the shopman, the merchant, the man of literature and science, the senator--nay, ask our august and beloved QUEEN and her ROYAL CONSORT--each will readily acknowledge the vast utility of the Sabbath as an indispensable means to maintain their bodily strength.

"Rest! without thee what strength can long survive, What spirit keep the flame of Hope alive?"--BLOOMFIELD.

All nature is loud in its cries for rest. The powerful horse becomes weary, and treads instinctively into his stable, and the little birds are glad to rest on the slender branches of a tree. It is the universal requirement of all animated creatures.

We might proceed to a very considerable length with this part of the division of our subject, but it really would appear superfluous. The following startling and melancholy facts must be considered conclusive. In a late Return of the Registrar-General, it is stated, that the average life of a gentleman in London is 43, while that of the artizan, &c., is but 22 years! The same official document informs us that the chances of dying among men above 35 years, in London, is to that in the country as three to two! With such statements before us, is it not a duty we owe to ourselves and families to maintain inviolably the Sabbath? It was ordained by the Creator in mercy to man, and shall we daringly reject and despise such a gracious boon?

"Thy thoughts are vagabond; all outward bound; 'Midst sands, and rocks, and storms, to cruise for pleasure;

Fancy and sense, from an infected shore, Thy cargo brings, and pestilence the prize."--YOUNG.

But, happily, there are multitudes of working-men and youths who "call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable," and who look forward to its return, in order to enjoy its spiritual as well as temporal advantages, with almost more anxiety than the husbandman, in anticipation of his gains, to the produce of a bountiful harvest. Without a Sabbath man would become puerile, sickly, and spiritually dead.

"The Sabbath gathers to their common home."

But it may be truly said of the former that they have not yet learnt "what is their chief business upon earth, and what is the reckoning that awaits them at the Divine Tribunal."

Another class of working-men habituate themselves to a custom, in some trades more prevalent than in others, which is particularly censurable, and the impropriety of which deserves their most serious consideration. We refer to the practice of wearing an apron on the morning of the Sabbath. Surely the journeyman and the labourer behold the emblem of toil sufficiently during the six days without unnecessarily exposing it to public gaze on the Sabbath-day! It is a usage which is generally condemned. The worldling objects to the practice, because it does not harmonize with the fashions and gaieties of life; the moralist disapproves of it as not consonant with secular polity; but the Christian condemns it, from a pure and holy motive, as giving countenance to a breach of the law of God!

Still, notwithstanding, how delightful it is to observe the universal appearance of cleanliness on the Sabbath-day! In whatever house we enter, with few exceptions, we see on this special day every thing in comparative order; the inmates neatly attired, and the furniture cleansed and placed in its proper position. If we look at the exterior of our dwellings, we see a public evidence of the value of female industry. Without a stated Sabbath this could not be the case. One family would select a different day to another, while the sloven, not being forced by general example, would certainly pay far less attention to the discharge of these salutary duties. Indeed, it is very doubtful, under such altered circumstances, whether contagious or other diseases would not depopulate, to a most awful extent, the inhabitants of our crowded cities and towns. Thus we again see the importance of the Sabbath, as regards cleanliness, both to individuals and the nation.

Much as we are impressed with the wonderful construction of the various parts of the human frame, in respect to their applicability to perform the respective functions assigned to them, the eye unquestionably creates the greatest interest, on account of its vast utility, the Divine ingenuity of its mechanism, and its liability to receive injury from the slightest accidental cause. The sight is one of the most invaluable blessings. The rich who are deprived of the faculty of vision, although they may possess extensive domains in a country whose vallies are as Eschol, whose forests are as Carmel, and whose hills are as Lebanon, cannot enjoy the magnificence and beauty of the scenery which surrounds them; but they can listen with almost unalloyed pleasure to the melodious notes of the warbling bird, or to the sweet and powerful intonations of musical sounds, and their wealth supplies every other earthly luxury and enjoyment, which tends materially to lessen the otherwise severe poignancy of their deprivation. How widely different is the melancholy situation of the labouring man, when his eyes are impaired by weakness or disease, or when he is totally deprived of sight! At once he is reduced to abject poverty, and becomes either the recipient of private charity, or the inmate of a workhouse. The fine landscape, much as he too may desire to gaze on it, is to him of trifling or no consideration--it will not satisfy the hungry stomach, nor shelter the body from the midnight blast! Such is the mournful effect of the loss of sight to the labouring classes. How important is it, then, that they should avail themselves of every established right to abstain from work, in order that this susceptible and essential faculty may receive additional strength?

We have previously shown that the prolonged hours of labour are incompatible with bodily health and mental vigour, and that the Sabbath is absolutely requisite to enable man to perform his accustomed employment--so it is with regard to the eye. The vision is affected by lengthened intensity of observation on any one particular object. It requires variety and relief, both of which the Creator has abundantly provided. The variegated flowers, the different shades of colour in minerals, the lofty trees and the little plants, the mountainous districts and the level plains, the brilliant and diversified hues that frequently decorate the heavens, all combine to testify that the eye cannot retain its perfection, if it is continually fixed on the same scene. The poor needlewomen, who sit the entire day, and sometimes do not cease from their tedious and spirit-subduing work until the light dawns on the following morning, afford a very striking exemplification of the great and unspeakable advantages of the Sabbath. What would be their sad condition--wretched and deplorable even as it is now--were it not that on the seventh day the eye was relieved of its monotonous and weary application? Alas! many of these pitiable females, even with this gracious opportunity to repair the injury inflicted by almost incessant toil, are often at an early age incapacitated, by defective vision, from pursuing their ill-paid occupations, and are then left destitute of their former scanty pittance to procure even sufficient sustenance to preserve life. Take, also, the men who work in pits and mines--where the glimmering lamp is the only source of light, and where all else around is chaotic darkness--how essential and benignant must be the Sabbath to them! Defective vision would completely prevent such men from pursuing their hazardous employment. Thus we once more prove the temporal advantages of the Sabbath to the labouring population.

Having directed our attention to these four important divisions of our subject, we will now proceed to make some promiscuous observations in connection with them. Reckless competition, in order to acquire wealth at all hazards in an unusually short period--not the competition which emanates from a natural and laudable desire to increase trade by equitable and just efforts--and the secret influence of infidel impressions, may generally be considered as the two primary causes of "Sunday labour." The plea of necessity cannot be admitted. We often hear it asserted, however, especially in reference to the periodical press, that there exists this 'necessity,' in order that the public may not be disappointed in receiving on a precise day their publications. But surely the page of classic lore, or the Magazine of Literature, Arts, and Sciences--the bright gems of civilization--need not the foul impress of Sabbath labour! A very little judicious extra arrangement would render it entirely unnecessary, and the same remark is applicable to every other description of work on the seventh-day. Is it not a most humiliating and distressing fact, that, on some of the most interesting and valuable literary and scientific productions of the present age, there are thousands employed on the Sabbath-day? It is impossible to contemplate the probable baneful effects, which are almost certain to be produced on the minds and bodies of those industrious young females who on that day fold and stitch the sheets, without apprehending the most fearful consequences, even as regards their temporal welfare. The statistics of Police Courts disclose many melancholy facts in corroboration of this almost general result. Now, will any reflecting practical man justify the word 'necessity' as applied to this description of Sabbath desecration? None whatever. Then there can be no vindication for an unnecessary act which is so injurious to morality, and which induces so frightfully to the commission of sin. It is quite clear, as regards the general performance of trade labour, that, if consistency of moral principle--we say nothing of religious conviction--was duly appreciated, a most cheerful negative would be given to all such propositions, the result of which would be far more satisfactory at the termination of the year.

We must not pass over the sad condition of many of the journeyman tailors. Here is a trade where it may be truly said that 'reckless competition has destroyed by want, or excessive labour, hundreds of its members,' and has undoubtedly led them to disregard the Divine origin and temporal advantages of the Sabbath. We will prove our assertion. Many of the fashionable master tailors, as well as the large establishments which continually advertise cheap clothing, allow the work to be taken by the journeymen to their own lodgings, or some hired room for the purpose, where, according to one of their statements, "the families of those unfortunate men are in a great measure totally neglected, their wives become careless and void of all cleanliness, and often contaminated by the obscene language of the men, even while at work frequently during the Sunday." If we look at the splendid shops of their employers on the Sabbath, we see every outward indication of a strict observance of it--but turn to the above demoralized neighbourhood, glance at the filthy garret, and what a wretched and revolting scene is exhibited! The heart sickens with disgust, pity is mingled with abhorrence. What can such masters offer in extenuation for such wilful neglect of the religious, moral, and social happiness of those they employ?

In speaking to a very poor journeyman tailor, some short time since, he said it was not an unusual circumstance for him to be employed on the Sunday in making a suit of mourning--a very frequent but reprehensible practice which prevails amongst dress-makers, &c.--and that often they were the garments intended to be worn by those he esteemed as Christian individuals, who, if they had thought that such must have been the case, would most assuredly not have permitted it. The Christian community must be held responsible for much of this species of Sabbath labour. We do not expect the worldly-minded would forego any desired request, but the members of a Christian church--those who profess to love God--we have a right to conclude would delay for a short time, by making some temporary substitution, what otherwise must be considered as one of the last manifestations of mournful respect to a deceased friend or relative. It would be well if Ministers of religion would occasionally impress on their congregations the possibility of their becoming, through an inconsiderate desire to have their orders completed at a certain unreasonably short period, the unintentional instruments of sin in this way. In most cases the 'necessity' might be easily removed. Let the tradesman frankly state that Sabbath labour must be the consequence of compliance, and that the command of God is clear and imperative: "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work." There can be no doubt that the effect of such a reply would be, as an especial mark of approbation for his pure and conscientious motives, the recommendation of many additional customers. But the truth is that many employers are apprehensive that they may disoblige their patrons, and to secure their support, as they think, they sacrifice the health and happiness of their workmen, and destroy any latent inclination to the formation of religious habits.

Much of the discontent and bad feeling, which at present exists between working-men and their employers, might be removed if the Apostle's injunction was more mutually respected:--"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Is this the principle manifested in the present day? We admit our many delinquencies, but are not many masters equally culpable? It has been already proved. If employers evince no sympathy for the steady and attentive workman--if they view him as a mere inanimate instrument to be used only as occasion requires, without the least knowledge of his social condition, and utterly regardless of his happiness, what otherwise can naturally be expected than that he should be indifferent to the promotion of their interests? The subject is a serious one, and it is to be hoped that these observations will tend to check a continuance of such unquestionable evils, and to create a more reciprocal feeling of good-will between them. The situation of the working population is at present most painful, and we unhesitatingly affirm that Sabbath desecration renders it still more so. Man in general, by strictly adhering to an observance of this sacred day, would possess not only great temporal advantages, but enjoy an inward peace the value of which the wealth of this world cannot purchase.

Let us now make a few consecutive observations on the religious, moral, and social divisions of our subject. At the commencement nearly of this Essay, we observed that it was the temporal advantages of the Sabbath to which our especial attention was to be directed; but true morality, social happiness, and even intellectual attainments, are all so closely blended with religion, or ought to be, that they cannot properly be separated. "It would be absurd," says a popular author, "to treat first of the advantages of virtue, and next of those of justice or temperance, because the first head evidently comprehends the second." So it would be if we were to attempt to exclude religion from the consideration of moral and social principles. Religion is the parent, and the others are the legitimate offspring. This has been most eloquently enforced by a writer well-known for his piety:--"Every thing which wants religion wants vitality. Philosophy without religion is crippled and impotent; poetry without religion has no heart-stirring powers; life without religion is a complex and unsatisfactory riddle: the very arts which address themselves to the senses, never proceed so far towards perfection as when employed on religious subjects." May we not, then, fairly attribute the failure of many schemes, intended to improve the condition of the working population, to the entire absence of religious considerations? Such propositions may be congenial to the thoughtless multitude and the infidel, but they invariably terminate in disappointment--because the overruling providence of God is not acknowledged, nor are His daily mercies at all recognised.

These are, however, truths which but few seem to believe. No doubt the willing compliance of masters to make their men work on the Sabbath has created much scepticism. It conveys to the unenlightened mind an idea that religion is a mere speculative theory, and hence that day is treated with but little veneration, if not with perfect indifference. When such individuals are told, in justification, that "little differences about religion may occasionally be waived when business requires their attendance," the effect must be, in a greater or less degree, to create a dislike for all subjects which have a religious reference. Do we not observe this in many working-men, who decry everything which relates to religion? Honesty and general morality they can clearly understand; but their souls are too barren and unproductive to appreciate the loveliness of those things which relate to another and a better world, and are consequently unable to discern the unsullied purity of the Divine character. Hence it is that we so frequently hear it asserted in the workshop that the Bible contains a strange admixture of virtuous principles and gross immorality. The best reply to such wicked and depraved assertions may be found in the words of a most distinguished Minister of the Church of Scotland, whose writings in defence of Christianity, together with the force and beauty of his compositions, have gained for him universal celebrity amongst Christians of every denomination:--"The Scripture is an exact portrait of man; if it shews the bright in his character, it also records the black; if it proclaims that which ennobles and exalts him, it discloses that which tends to depress and humble him. There is also, in the present day, what is thought delicacy of language, which was unknown even two or three centuries ago, and still more so when the Bible was written." To this we may add, that the Christian reads every sentence in the Word of God with the simplicity which denotes his profession, being too much influenced by the many precious promises which it contains to cavil about the expediency of accommodating the ancient custom of phraseology to suit that of modern times. It is the sceptic and the sensual who alone raise the objections. We may remark, as regards the Bible containing the details of the depravity of man, that they were placed there in order to warn us, and to remind us of the justice as well as the unbounded love of God. Let us illustrate our meaning by a reference to fading creation. How often do we view with ecstacy some lovely garden, admire its varied compartments, and gaze with pleasure on the choice flowers which adorn it, yet, at the same time, see many obtrusive blades of grass, or straggling weeds, which are intended to convey a silent but serious reproof to us? The scattered blades of grass, if united in close compact, would excite our admiration. Who can behold the simple but beauteous appearance of a lawn, or the grass that covers the distant hill, and not feel emotions of delight? It is their isolated and estranged position that creates our censure. Just so it is as regards the Bible. The sinner, while living apart from God, is compared to the weeds and stubble, and is threatened, unless he repents and believes in the Saviour, as 'willing and able to save all that come unto Him,' to be also condemned and to receive that awful sentence which awaits the impenitent. When pardoned, however, he is brought into close communion with God, and, being united, becomes a lovely plant in the garden of the Lord. If our hearts were more fixed on the entire purity of God, we should peruse the Scriptures with an emphatic earnestness which would elevate us far above sensual and infidel conclusions.

The real character of many of the declaimers against the Bible is thus portrayed:--"In the middle classes, among the half-thinking, half-instructed young men, a sort of infidelity is not unfrequent, which, after deducting something for the influence of worse motives, is attributable to affectation more than to any other cause. It is a mere impertinence, and indicates a want of sense, or profligacy of manners." And, now, what says the late eloquent and pious Robert Hall? "Settle it in your minds, as a maxim never to be effaced or forgotten, that infidelity is an inhuman and bloody system, equally hostile to every human restraint and to every virtuous affection--that, leaving nothing above us to create awe, nor round us to waken tenderness, it wages war with heaven and earth; its first object is to dethrone God; its next to destroy man." Would that these sentiments, so forcibly expressed, could be engraven on the hearts of the rising generation throughout the world!

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