FOOTNOTES.
[7] “The progress of bricks and mortar and of inclosures has sadly restricted the spaces on which the English peasantry could take healthful exercise. Respectable people keep away from these crowded spots. The influence of their example is lost, and in its place is substituted the influence of the idle, the dissolute, and the depraved.”—Moral Economy of Large Towns, by Dr. W. C. Taylor.
[8] The Writer was, some years ago, addressed in the following manner: “It is monstrous, you have no right to let your religious opinions interfere with business in this way.”
[9] In the French revolutionary mania, in 1800, “the year was divided into twelve equal months, of thirty days each, completing the year by the ingenious invention of five complemental days. The month was divided into three decades, or weeks each of ten days, by which the days of rest were reduced to three in each month, which were substituted for the four Sundays. * * * * In some towns, workshops and warehouses were closed (on the regular Sunday), in others they were closed upon the Decadi (or tenth day); nay, frequently, in the same town, in the same street, THE CONTRAST PRESENTED THE SPECTACLE OF A MISCHIEVOUS DIVERSITY IN THE IDEAS AND IN THE MORALS OF THE PEOPLE.”—Thier’s History of the Consulate and the Empire.
[14] There are some very excellent little Tracts published by this Association on the above subject, which can be procured by application to J. Lilwall, Esq., the Secretary, 32; Ludgate Hill.
[18] Although the Writer was at no period of his life “a dram-drinker,” he has nevertheless suffered severely from occasional intemperance, and he would therefore most earnestly commend the consideration of this subject to the labouring classes.
[21] “Of the 45,000 deaths occurring every year in the Metropolis, about 5,600 arises from this fatal disease; and upwards of 11,000 persons, being about one in 170 of the entire population of the metropolis, and more than one per cent. of the adults, are constantly wasting away under the attacks of this lingering malady. Of these 11,000 cases, about three-fourths occur in males, of whom a large proportion are working-men, unable to provide for themselves and families. Many—very many—of these poor sufferers are the acknowledged victims of unventilated workshops, ill-constructed dwellings, vitiated atmosphere, long hours of work, and the want of open places for exercise and recreation.” There are 81 Patients at present in the Hospital, and the number prescribed for daily, as Out-Patients, is at the rate of 36,000 in the year!—Report of the Hospital for Consumption, and Diseases of the Chest, at Brompton, 1849.
The Writer of this Essay cannot refrain from making a most earnest appeal in behalf of this truly Christian Institution. Gratitude prompts him to the discharge of this duty, and he trusts that his humble position in life will not weaken the effort to promote the interests of a Charity to which himself, three sons, and seven daughters, are so greatly indebted. During the period in which he was engaged in the composition of this Essay, and for nearly 18 months previous, his wife was receiving the most kind, attentive, and skilful treatment from the Physicians of this Hospital, who considered her case as almost beyond medical relief. She is now in a much improved state of health. Surely this simple statement will be deemed as sufficient evidence of the value of this Institution. It depends principally on the amount of its Annual Subscriptions for support, and it would be a source of great pleasure to the Writer, if it should be found that, through the publication of his feeble Essay, only ONE Benefactor had been added to the list of its Patrons!
[27] It is very pleasing to observe that many thousands of the working classes avail themselves of those admirable places for the preservation of health and happiness, the Public Baths, which have been some time now established. We may also notice the laudable efforts recently made to encourage Open-Air Bathing in the Serpentine. A very interesting and important pamphlet on this subject has been lately written by Thomas Embling, Esq. It really appears essential that every Bather, and especially youth, should peruse a copy of this invaluable treatise.—Published by W. F. Ramsay, 11, Brompton Row, Brompton.
[35] “The Divine law prohibits civil labour, or work in the way of trade on the Sabbath, but acts of mercy are acceptable to God on any day. We have several instances of this recorded in the New Testament, in reference to Christ and his disciples.”—Dr. S. Smith’s Dissertations on the Bible, 1737.
[36] “The flowers of a garden—those silent preachers to which Christ himself referred his disciples as eloquent witnesses of the bounty of Providence—speak lessons of loveliness to the soul, and give an immediate check to gross vice and foul pollution. We too often forget the humanizing and moral effects of a garden.”—Dr. W. C. Taylor.
[40] The Writer, since the completion of his Essay, has perused the First Volume of The Apocalypse Interpreted in the Light of the Day of the Lord, by the Rev. James Kelly, M.A., Minister of St. Peter’s Episcopal Chapel, Queen’s Square, St. James’s Park, from the Preface to which he has gleaned the following particulars:—‘The word Sunday is a very ancient Heathen appellation, the days of the week having been called by them after the names of the planets. The first day was denominated the day of the Sun, or the Lord Sun. All the Oriental nations gave the Sun the title of Lord. No doubt the early Christians elevated its application. For this ennobling of the common term, they considered that provision had been made by God himself, in the setting forth of Christ as the Sun of righteousness. Malachi iv. By most of the early Fathers, and from their time onwards, the term Lord’s-Day has been used to designate the Christian Sabbath.’ The Writer of this Essay, therefore, humbly submits that Christians should now call the seventh-day either the Lord’s-Day or the Sabbath-Day. In the present times this “ennobling of the common term” seems peculiarly necessary. The above Work explains many hitherto apparently mystical passages in the Revelations, and a perusal of it, in a right spirit, will supply arguments which will at once silence the sceptic, and, at the same time, confirm the reader in his belief that there is nothing contained in the Holy Scriptures, which shall not be made manifest to those who seek to be enlightened by the Spirit of God. It is published by Messrs. Nisbet and Co., London.
[44] The reader is entreated to read “Is Christianity from God?” and also “God in History,” by the Rev. John Cumming, D.D.
[46] History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times, by James Taylor.