“‘No!’ cried the man impatiently, swinging the hatchet aloft; ‘there is no tree so convenient as this!’ and for the sake of a little pleasure in the country with merry companions, he cut a branch from the Sabbath-tree!
“Then came a woman with a face full of care. She had not faith to trust in him who clotheth the lilies, and provideth for the ravens. ‘I want wood for a stall,’ said she, ‘whereon to sell my sweetmeats. I must earn some more pence for my living; necessity owns no law;’ and taking the hatchet of Disobedience, she also brought down a leafy bough, treading under foot as she did so a quantity of the ripe, precious fruit. Not content with thus breaking the Sabbath herself, she demanded that those who bought at her stall should each bring, in addition to their money, a fagot stolen from the holy tree!”
When Thorn came to this part of his story, his scholars glanced consciously at each other. They all now felt convinced that their teacher was aware that they had been buying from a stall on Sunday.
“It was grievous,” continued Thorn, “to see what multitudes trampled on the Sabbath fruit, broke away twigs, snapped branches, to help on their business or aid their amusements. Some wanted wickets for cricket, one man required a handle for his spade; and though a very little delay would have enabled them to procure wood from a lawful quarter, they were too thoughtless, too covetous, or too impatient to reverence the Sabbath-tree.
“But soon I beheld in my dream, that while none could faithfully partake of the fruit without benefit, none without injury could break off a single branch. As I watched, much did I marvel to see how disobedience brought down punishment! The man who had repaired his car by Sabbath-breaking, had little pleasure from his intended treat. As he was driving from a public-house, suddenly a wheel of the vehicle came off, he and his party were flung out on the road, and sorely bruised by the fall. In some cases, the wood so unlawfully taken appeared to turn at once into dust! The man digging with his Sabbath spade, found it suddenly snap asunder, and the splinter ran into his hand, inflicting a terrible wound.”
“Oh, but how could that be?” exclaimed one of the boys. “Many a fellow goes larking on Sunday, and the wheel of his car never comes off! I don’t know what this part of your story can mean.”
“It means,” replied Willy gravely, “that disobedience to God, the wilful breaking of his holy commandment, unless the sin be repented of and renounced, is certain to bring punishment in another world, and very frequently also in this. There are multitudes of lost, miserable sinners, who may trace their first steps on the path of ruin to breaking the Sabbath of God. No one ever yet, on his death-bed, could say that he really profited by money so gained, or that he had no reason to regret a pleasure gained by disobeying his Maker’s command.
“The poor woman who sold sweetmeats, I found in my dream, was not long in suffering the penalty of disobedience. In one of the fagots so sinfully laid upon her stall, the serpent Remorse had lain coiled, unnoticed, unseen! As she was counting her unholy gains, made by not only sinning herself, but causing others to sin, the fierce reptile darted at her breast!—with difficulty was the serpent torn from its hold, and the poor sufferer sank on the ground, bleeding, fainting, trembling at her danger, and weeping for her sin! It was some time before she was able feebly to creep to the spot where comfort and healing might yet be procured by a proper use of the fruits of the Sabbath-tree.
“While the poor woman was in sorrowful penitence, doing all that lay in her power to show her regret for the past, the boys who had purchased at her stall—who had wilfully broken the Sabbath, not to supply real wants, but to indulge their own greedy inclinations—”
“I’ll tell you what one of them did, sir!” exclaimed Bat Nayland, springing up from the ground: “he just emptied his pockets of what he had bought, said that he was heartily ashamed, and seeing an old lame beggar near, he gave every crumb of his purchases to him!”