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.
It will be well here to remember that it is the universal observance of the Sabbath which is commanded. The day was made for man—not for a portion of the human race—and it is consequently a general law, which, as regards at least public labour, [35] cannot be accommodated to suit the circumstances or peculiar dispositions of any class of individuals. This remark is extremely applicable to railway and other excursions on the Sabbath. We are fully aware that the above mode of reasoning is not congenial to the natural inclinations of man, and that some very apparently plausible objections are frequently urged to prove its fallacy. The only course, however, which the Christian can take to decide the question is by a direct reference to the Word of God. There is nothing contained in the Bible which is inimical to the welfare of mankind. The restraints which it imposes are in reality the most evident proofs of the love of God. Whatever He has commanded, we may rest assured is for the universal benefit of His creatures. The believer is experimentally acquainted with this fact, and he therefore considers a cheerful and strict obedience to the laws of God both a duty and a delight. Now, in reference to the great national and social importance of railways, it must be admitted that the most evident general beneficial proposition may be alloyed with objectionable considerations, the dismemberment of which is a positive duty. Such is the view which the Christian takes of railway and steam-boat excursions on the Sabbath. But it is said that they are indispensable for the preservation of the health of the labouring population. It is true that rational recreation and diversified scenes are essential to them, still, we must repeat the question, Why should the hours for labour be so protracted that the Sabbath must be almost exclusively devoted to temporal enjoyments? The poor man has no just right to work in this way until his strength is so completely exhausted that it becomes a ‘necessity’—in order to preserve his very existence—that he should violate the command of his merciful Creator. Is the Sabbath the only day when the labourer is to partake of the sweet fruits of his industry? Are all the endearments of life, the caresses of his children, and the comforts of the domestic circle, to be only enjoyed by him on the Sabbath? Is his little garden, should he happily possess one, to exhibit nothing but wild weeds throughout the year unless he cultivates it on the Sabbath? The evergreen and the beauteous flower would equally as well thrive in the soil that is attached to the humble abodes of the mechanic and labourer, provided they had time to attend to this elevating source of delight, [36] as they do in the ornamental parterres of the rich in this world. Again, we ask, why should every moral, intellectual, and social duty be reserved for performance on the Sabbath? Those who advance such false sympathy for the working classes are themselves supporting a system which perpetuates injustice and deprives the poor of true earthly happiness. Let the advocates of Sabbath railway and steam-boat excursions apply their minds more closely to the consideration of our social condition, and they will learn that the ‘necessity’ is to be solely attributed to the avaricious or thoughtless disposition of man, in despite of the intervention of a merciful Creator. The defence is a most wilful imputation on the wisdom and universal beneficence of God. A strict compliance with the Divine law, in any state of society, infuses peace and joy into the dwellings of the poor, and sheds a bright beam of hope across the rugged path they tread!
We cannot avoid here referring to a reply, and to a certain extent a just one, which is almost invariably made whenever any remark is offered respecting the desecration of the Sabbath either by labour, railway and steam-boat excursions, or by journeys taken in vehicles. Not to do so would be partial and unjust. The reference is to the number of carriages, belonging to the wealthy, which are seen in the metropolis on that sacred day. It is easy to understand the motives which govern the fashionable élite, who exhibit their splendid equipages in our beautiful national Parks on the Sabbath, but it appears and is altogether contradictory when we see the more reflecting and domestic portion of the Nobility and Gentry pursuing the same gay and sinful practice, and thus setting a baneful example to those around them who occupy a more humble position in life. “They have,” it is said, “six other days in the week when they can take their salutary ‘carriage-airings’—it is not so with the poor mechanic.” Nor can we pass unnoticed the number of carriages which are seen every Sabbath at the entrances to our Churches and Chapels—even while some faithful Minister of Christ is sounding the trumpet of alarm to impenitent sinners—with the servants waiting outside, unconscious of the awful warnings which are being uttered within those sacred edifices. Can it be said, in all such cases, that bodily infirmity, age, distance, or even the state of the weather, renders it necessary? Does it not more resemble the boisterous and imperious swellings of the reckless wave than the gentle flowings of the calm waters? While such inconsistencies prevail, the infidel will exult for a time over his supposed triumph, the ribaldist will continue to sneer at the efforts of Christians, and the more cautious worldling will not fail to advance it as a justification for Sabbath desecration.
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.
We will now first notice the origin of the Divine obligation for ceasing from labour on the Sabbath. It is not essential that we should here discuss the question respecting the Christian or Jewish observance of it, nor is it absolutely material whether it is designated the Lord’s-Day, the Sabbath, or Sunday, although the two former appear to be the most appropriate. [40] There can be no doubt, notwithstanding all that may be advanced to the contrary, that the Sabbath was instituted by God at the creation of the world. “The heavens and the earth were finished, and on the seventh-day God ended his work which he had made; and God blessed the seventh-day and SANCTIFIED it.” If there is any intelligible inference to be drawn from this simple narration, it must be plain that it was the Divine intention to separate one day from the other six for sacred and devotional purposes, and to afford man an opportunity to obtain repose from labour. God not only blessed this day, but he sanctified it, thereby imparting to it a peculiar heavenly and hallowed influence. We will pass over any intermediate passage in the Old Testament which might be brought forward to prove our conclusion, and quote the positive command given by God on Mount Sinai—“Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it HOLY.” Here is a plain and indisputable enforcement of the original obligation, laid on man, to preserve the Sabbath as a previously sanctified day. The same injunction, in a variety of ways, is enforced throughout the entire Word of God. If, in the New Testament, it is not so explicitly commanded, there are abundant instances where Christ himself inculcated and respected a proper observance of the Sabbath. The early Christians universally considered it as a sacred day, and nearly all the ancient writers testify to its being a day set apart for at least outward recognition. Josephus asserts, “There is no city or nation, Greek or Barbarian, in which the custom of resting on the seventh-day is not preserved.” Philo Judæus declares, “It is a festival celebrated not only in one city, but throughout the whole world.” Justin Martyr also says, “We all meet together on Sunday (diem Solis), on which God having changed Darkness and Matter, created the world; and on this day Jesus Christ our Saviour arose from the dead.” This last record particularly confirms our previous assertion respecting the origin of the Sabbath. These questions now naturally arise:—Shall the present generation impiously attempt to disannul the primæval law of God, which all ages have formally respected? Is the power of wealth to bid defiance to the eternal law of God? Are the pleasures and luxuries of this world to be held in higher estimation than the undescribable joys of heaven? Is infidelity, in a word, to triumph over Christianity? The Writer must here pause and seriously reflect, and he entreats the reader to do so likewise, on the melancholy if not awful consequences that have befallen individuals, even in this world, who have wilfully violated the Sabbath-day. Truth may whisper Divine Mercy rescued thee. * * * If we have done so in an humble and contrite spirit, we ought at once to exclaim, with the penitent Psalmist, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
The adoption of this course will assuredly lead to a great improvement in our present temporal condition. The testimony of Judge Hale, although so frequently adduced, seems to force itself on the memory:—“I have found,” said he, “that a due observing of the duty of the Lord’s-day hath ever joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time; and the week that hath been so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to me; and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of that day, the rest of the week hath been unsuccessful, and unhappy to my secular employments.” But what is the assurance and the promise contained in the Word of God? “Blessed is the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.” Isaiah lvi. 2. “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth.” Isaiah lviii. 3. God will bless us in this world, and we shall enjoy hereafter an eternal Sabbath in the Celestial City, where we ‘shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.’ Rev. vii. 16, 17.
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.” [44] 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.