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Read Ebook: Divine Mercy; or the temporal advantages of the Sabbath by Bryan George
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Ebook has 60 lines and 17371 words, and 2 pages
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!
The greatest researchers after truth, and the most eminent philosophers, have borne witness to the exalted worth and power of the Holy Scriptures. "I thank God," says Mr. Locke, "for the light of revelation, which sets my poor reason at rest, in many things that lay beyond the reach of its discovery." Lord Bacon observes, "It was only by the light of Scripture, and the exercises of devotion, that I attained to that acquaintance with God, which I had sought for in vain amidst the hurry of secular affairs, or in the course of my philosophical pursuits." And yet there are some men--possessing very extensive knowledge on nearly all other subjects--who impugn the truths of Christianity without anything like close and serious investigation. They possess a Bible, but, with the exception of a few abstract and familiar sentences, they are entirely ignorant of its contents. Is it surprising that such individuals merely consider the Sabbath as a day for cessation from labour, altogether irrespective of its being first sanctified by God, and afterwards enjoined to be kept as an holy day? Such persons are naturally, when interest or desire prompts them, willing either to labour or to seek worldly pleasure on the Sabbath.
We have made the above somewhat lengthened remarks because the entire question of Sabbath desecration, after all, rests on a firm belief in the Scriptures. The Divine commandment is contained therein, and if the Bible is rejected, or believed only in part, our main argument must fail to produce conviction; but, if implicit credence is given to it, then, we assert, the law of God is absolute and universal.
In order to confine our observations within a limited space, although our subject is as prolific as it is important, we must now shortly bring them to a conclusion. The effect of an abrogation of the Divine law of the Sabbath would be most fatal, as we have already proved, to religion, morals, the advancement of intellectual knowledge, and even the existence of man. Who can depict the horrid condition of the poor factory children if they were deprived of a Sabbath? Why, our manufactories--wherein are produced some of the richest fruits which emanate from refined taste and from rapid progression in the arts and sciences--would then become national nurseries for prostitution and general profligacy, or else the infected receptacles of emaciation and disease! Such a supposition may be ridiculed by the tolerants of infidelity, and even the pure and tender feelings of sympathy may suggest a doubt as to the possibility of such an awful event, but the same iniquitous motive that lately consigned children to twelve and fourteen hours labour each day--until the voice of Christian humanity declared it should no longer be tolerated--is equally likely, if not resisted, to deprive this infantine section of the community of the spiritual and temporal blessings of the Sabbath. Besides, it is just in proportion as we permit the rest of the seventh-day to be taken away from the adult, that we weaken the barrier that protects youth from its encroachments. But we may extend these considerations to the children of the entire population. Were it not for this blest day they would be reduced--in civilized England, with the lull and benign beams of Gospel light shining now in every city, town, and village--to as low a state of degradation and barbarism as the unenlightened savage. The latter are totally uninstructed, and they therefore roam about in the wildness of their natural state. In this country crime is progressive. The boy who is a pickpocket to-day may become a burglar to-morrow; the youth who purloins from his master's till not unfrequently commits afterwards a more daring offence; and the once little innocent girl, who was permitted to roam in the streets, becomes too often the future companion of thieves, and herself branded with infamy. It was as remedial measures that Sabbath and Ragged Schools were established; yet, with all these and other Christian efforts, the number of juvenile offenders has immensely increased. What would be the condition of children, and more advanced youth, were it not for the instruction afforded to them on the Sabbath? Every species of crime would be considerably augmented, and life and property still more endangered.
How appropriately might we here dwell on the value and importance of Sabbath Schools! They would afford almost an endless theme for the most consolatory and sublime considerations. But our space will not allow us to enumerate the many temporal advantages which such institutions confer on society, and man can never pourtray the heavenly bliss of the myriads of once otherwise neglected children, who, having been first taught in these Schools to lisp their Saviour's praise, are now singing continually "the song of the Lamb" in the kingdom of their God!
"On harps of gold they praise His name, His face they always view; Then let us followers be of them, That we may praise Him too!"
It is impossible adequately to estimate the temporal advantages of the Sabbath. The opportunity which it affords for parental and social intercourse is most important. The industrious classes have scarcely any time, unless it is on that day, to discharge their responsible duties, and consequently their children are exposed to every species of depravity. It is true that a Christian mother is daily with her children, and, possessing perhaps a greater natural warmth of affection, is more likely to be a blessing to them than the father; still, how very desirable is it that the latter, particularly as they advance in years, should exercise a judicious superintending control, and thus strive to maintain the discipline, and carry out the instructions, which have been so anxiously and affectionately imbued by the mother during the six days? Deprive us of our Sabbath, and fatherly influence is as unproductive as the soil of the desert! We lose one of our greatest privileges--the natural right to assist in the formation of the religious, moral, and intellectual characters of our offspring.
Again, as respects the adult population, has the preaching of God's Word, and the congregating of all grades in society on the Sabbath, no effect on the mass of the people? Does it not, leaving out of consideration the eternal results, create deeds of charity which impart temporal relief to the poor? The Sabbath is the peculiar day when the streams of benevolence flow rapidly through the land. It is principally by the contributions then given that our humane and benevolent Institutions are sustained.
We might also prove that civil governments rise or fall in proportion as the people venerate and observe the Sabbath, but it is assuredly unnecessary. If it is an institution of paramount importance to a family, it must be equally so to a nation.
Working-Men! the subject which we have been discussing demands your most calm and serious consideration. If we tacitly permit the Sabbath to be wrested from us, even in part or whole, we give up the most invaluable right which we possess--a right which the Almighty Creator conferred on man when He first gave him existence, and which no earthly power can justly take from us. Shall we then bear the yoke of continuous labour around our necks? The Sabbath is a fixed and indispensable day of rest, and we should therefore manifest a decided determination to resist all encroachments on it. Let us remember that by working on this sacred day we destroy the universality of it, which is the essence and beauty of the Sabbath. When we are so requested to labour, let us respectfully but resolutely decline it. Considerate employers will respect our motives; and, in order fully to prove that we are sincere, we should evince a full sense of the value of our right by a constant and assiduous attention to our respective duties. May the dawn of a happier day be not far distant, when the dark clouds which now cast such a fearful gloom over our country shall be dispersed, and when both masters and men shall unitedly resolve to obey the law of GOD--"REMEMBER THE SABBATH-DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY!"
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