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The Pearl of Days.

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TO THE
Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty:

Madam—

Humble as is this tribute of loyalty, it is not without significance. No sovereign ever presented stronger claims to the love and allegiance of her industrious subjects; and it tells how happy is our Constitution, and how condescending is our Monarch, that pages written by a labourer’s daughter should find a Patron in the Queen.

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Nor will the Tract itself be without its interest to your Majesty, to whose Royal Halls such glory is added by the piety, virtue, and domestic affections so often found in Britain’s lowliest homes.

This Tract discusses the Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath Day. The same topic has recently engaged the pens of nearly a thousand working men. And it is not the least advantage of the Lord’s day, that every labourer who learns to keep it holy is another peaceful citizen gained to the community, and another added to those best subjects who, in their weekly assemblies, pray, God Save the Queen.

I have the honour to be
Your Majesty’s
Most obedient and very humble Servant,
THE PROPOSER OF THE ESSAY.

I have been requested by the publisher to introduce this little volume to the notice of American readers. “The Pearl of Days; The Advantages of the Sabbath to the Working Classes. By a Labourer’s Daughter.” How much is expressed in such a title-page! Does the book realize the hopes which at once suggest themselves to the intelligent and benevolent mind?

To do this, the book should indicate on the part of the author a degree of cultivation not usual in her sphere of life, and attest this cultivation as the fruit of proper Sabbath observance. And such cannot fail to be the results to which every reader will arrive. These pages will reveal a mind of singular discipline and acuteness, of large observation and much philosophical power,—a[Pg 10] heart imbued with sentiments of devout and cheerful piety, contented with its lot on earth, and looking for its better inheritance in heaven;—and all these in necessary connection with a domestic training, in which a labouring man’s cottage illustrates the true idea of the Christian Sabbath.

I commend the “Pearl of Days” to readers of every class, but particularly I commend it

I. To Parents. To them its Sketch of the Author’s Life will exhibit hints and illustrations pertaining to domestic discipline and happiness, such as convince by their wisdom, and win by their beauty, such as adapt themselves equally to the homes of princes and peasants, and indicate the true methods of training children for any grade of life in which their lot may be cast.

II. To the Friends of Social Progress. The evils of society have awakened the sympathy of the benevolent. The best methods of removing them, especially of removing such as oppress the working classes, are subjects which everywhere task the thoughts of the wise and good. Let all such sit at the feet of the Labourer’s Daughter. She has received wisdom at the feet of Christ. She teaches the true social regeneration. Philosophers,[Pg 11] economists, statesmen, can develop no theories of progress so certainly promising and assuring virtue, order, industry, plenty, concord, happiness.

III. To the Working Classes themselves. In America, more than in any other land on earth, the working classes may work out for themselves an honourable destiny. To a wide extent, these classes are conscious of their opportunities. Many a mother in the hut of poverty presses her child to her heart, and anticipates for him a sphere of life higher than her own. How shall she place his feet in the path which leads to it? This question starts in her thoughts a thousand times. Here she may solve it. Asking a higher destiny, the working classes cry, “Who will show us any good?” And responses come back to them in numberless forms,—one telling them that their rise in the social scale is to be secured by the triumph of a political party, or by the success of certain measures of public policy,—another bidding them seek relief in “Unions” for the regulation of the wages of labour, and for mutual protection against the oppressions of employers—and another declaring that their depression is the fruit of a false social organization, and will find its remedy in the schemes of “Association.” But these are not responses of wisdom and truth. The[Pg 12] labouring classes must work out their own rise, through their own intelligence and virtue. Intelligent and virtuous, they will command respect; they will be neither the dupes of the designing, nor the slaves of the tyrannical. On these points they will find this little volume, from one of their own class, full of counsels gathered from the source of all truth. Let them ponder thoughtfully its pages.

I need not explain the occasion of the publication of this Essay in England. That is sufficiently explained in the Introduction which follows. It has had a large circulation in that country, under the patronage of the great and good, and dedicated, by her own cheerful permission, to the excellent woman who sits upon the British throne, and exalts her lofty position by her exemplary piety. I cannot doubt that the Essay will be equally acceptable on this side of the water, and as fruitful in beneficent influences.

New York, Nov. 15 1848.

The circumstances out of which the following Essay, with its accompanying Sketch of the Author’s Life, originated, are as remarkable as they are deeply interesting and hopeful. Jealous for the honour of God’s Sabbath, which men of the world were periling—jealous for the privileges to man conferred by the Sabbath—jealous for the labouring man, whose feelings respecting the Sabbath were often misrepresented to his disadvantage, a layman resolved to afford an opportunity for the working classes to speak their own mind freely on the matter, and to[Pg 14] bear their testimony to the blessings and privileges of the day, and thereby to the glory of God, the author and giver of it. With these views, he put forth a proposal, about the end of the year 1847, offering three prizes—of £25, £15, and £10, respectively—for the three best Essays on the subject, written by labouring men. Although this is the first instance upon record of persons of that class being invited to become competitors in literature, and for literary honours; and although comparatively a very brief time was allowed for preparing and sending in the Essays, yet three months—the first three of the year 1848—sufficed to produce the astonishing number of more than nine hundred and fifty compositions, manifesting by the single fact, without reference to the merits of these productions, the wide-spread interest and deeply-rooted principles with which the[Pg 15] holy day of God is reverenced, loved, and honoured, by the labouring people.

Amongst the Essays received was one from a female, accompanied by a letter, which will be found at the conclusion of this Introduction, and which the reader will peruse with interest, as indicating the habitual tone of Divine and filial piety which pervades the mind of the writer. The Essay itself was found to be correspondent in tone and spirit with the letter. It is, indeed, a composition of no ordinary kind, whether we regard the source from whence it came, the instructive matter it contains, or the manner in which the materials are worked up in the composition, and the diction in which they are expressed. The Adjudicators, although, in faithfulness to the other competitors, constrained to lay it aside, as the work of a female, yet felt at the same time that it was a production[Pg 16] which ought not to be withheld from the world, and that it was a duty as much to humanity as to the talented writer herself, not to suffer it to return to privacy and forgetfulness. It was, therefore, proposed to her to allow of its publication, independently of the forthcoming Prize Essays when adjudged, and she was requested, at the same time, to write a sketch of her life to prefix to the Essay when published. In both of these proposals she willingly acquiesced; and the reader has before him two equally remarkable and interesting compositions, the Essay and the Sketch.[1]

To an ordinary mind the preparation of the latter would have been even more difficult than the former. Here was the[Pg 17] opportunity for and danger of egotism. But here also was the opportunity for the exhibition and proof of real talent, and of genuine piety. To sink self, and to elevate principles, should be the sole object of autobiography. To effect this in a sketch is even more difficult than in a tale of life. It requires the hand of a master to give off with the pencil those few but telling touches that convert surface into substance, and place on the blank void forms of life, and grace, and comeliness. And no less talent does it demand to portray in words those truthful and instructive scenes which the homes of the godly present, amid which our authoress lived and was nourished, and of which it may justly be said that she is herself one of their noblest ornaments.

Our authoress has learned by experience, and has ably developed in her sketch, some of the most useful and valuable[Pg 18] lessons of life. One of these is beautifully and powerfully given in the following words: “How often are opportunities of doing small acts of kindness and usefulness let slip, while we are sighing over our narrow sphere and our limited means of serving God or benefiting man!” Would it not be a melancholy and unwholesome sentimentality that should sit down and lament over itself as having no space capacious enough for its designs, and no arena worthy of its visions, instead of contenting itself with the many common opportunities of doing good which every-day life supplies? It may sound, indeed, well to sigh over oneself in such circumstances,

and, by appropriating the idea to our own condition, hug ourselves with the[Pg 19] fancy that we would, if we might, make ourselves widely useful in our generation; but far nobler, surely, and far more worthy of our imitation, is the devout and holy thought expressed in the following stanza:

How admirably are brought out, in every part of this Sketch, some of those lessons most profitable for the wife and the mother to practise! What a valuable one, for example, is this! My mother “used to say that it was disagreeable and improper to be bustling about while father was within; and when he was gone out, the work must be done up.” Oh that wives and mothers understood and practised this wisely and well! What different scenes would the cottager’s[Pg 20] home present if they did! How many a man would be saved from the alehouse fireside, where comfort and convenience are studied to seduce him into sin, if wives and mothers would but so order their households that when the father returns his coming shall be welcomed by cleanliness and peace, and his home shall be made to him the most blessed and grateful place that he can find!

What a beautiful family picture is this whole Sketch! No wonder that our authoress is capable of being such a daughter, when she has had such a mother to instruct her. Think, reader, of the child repeating her lessons beside the wash-tub, and gleaning the rudiments of learning in so simple a school, and from such a preceptor; and then turn to the pages of this Sketch and Essay, and as you read, and admire, and wonder, as you[Pg 21] must, adore humbly as you ought, and exclaim, What hath God wrought! It is His work. It is the edifying effect and power of His grace. To Him be all the glory and the praise!

LETTER REFERRED TO IN PAGE 15.

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The following sketch of my past history, which, at your request, I furnish, can be of little interest or value, any farther than perhaps leading the minds of Christian parents properly to estimate the importance of the duties devolving upon them, and begetting a higher appreciation of the value of the weekly rest, as affording an opportunity to all Christians, however poor their circumstances, or laborious their employment, of imparting instruction to their offspring. It may tend also to show that no Christian mother, with the Bible in her hand, and possessing the power of reading and understanding the blessed truths it reveals, can plead excuse if she allow her children to grow up in ignorance of those truths, the knowledge of which would lead them in safety and happiness through all the temptations to which youth is exposed in this world of folly and wickedness.

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If she properly estimates the importance of the blessings imparted by the knowledge of God, and really feels the power of the love of God in her own heart, poverty may surround her, the pressure of domestic cares may lie heavily upon her, or she may be engaged in the most menial and laborious employment, but, in the midst of all this, she will find opportunity to awaken and enlighten the young minds of her offspring. It is the duty of Christian parents, in whatever situation in life, to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and it is a duty which they can entrust to no one else without a direct violation of the command of their Saviour, and incurring a fearful risk as regards the well-being of their children.

Is it not a strange sight, to see a Christian parent so deeply involved in business, so engrossed with the cares of this life, or so occupied with other matters, however important, that he is compelled to entrust the moral and religious training of his children[Pg 27] to a hireling?—a preacher so much engaged in proclaiming the Gospel to sinners in the world, that he has no time to lead his own little ones to the feet of Jesus?—a father so occupied with the improvement of his neighbours, with Sabbath-schools, prayer and class meetings, or evening lectures and sermons, that he has no leisure to lead, in proper season, the devotions of his own little circle at home? Such a man substitutes his own way for the will of God; and, in so far as he does so, the consequences will be seen in the future character of his children; and even he himself will suffer loss in the health of his own soul.

Parents, with the Bible in their hands, and the word of God hidden in their hearts, having the blessed hours of Sabbath rest as their birthright, however humble their circumstances or toilsome their life, can never be entirely destitute of an opportunity for training and instructing their offspring.

In glancing back on the years of childhood, and tracing the influences which have[Pg 28] surrounded me through youth, I am convinced, that, in so far as my mind has been awakened to intelligence, and my character formed to virtue, under God, I owe all to my parents, but especially to my mother: her earnest and indefatigable exertions, in the face of difficulties which would have deterred any common mind from attempting such a task, together with her ceaseless watchfulness, secured for us such an amount of knowledge, and formed in us such habits, as raised us above the temptations which usually beset youth in the humble walks of life. While the constant necessity existed, as soon as we were able to do anything—for all our exertions toward the support of the family allowed us little time to cultivate acquaintances, whether injurious or beneficial—our mother’s constant endeavour was, even through the very early years of childhood, to keep our hands and heads fully employed.

Memory carries me back to a period when my parents, with five little ones around them,[Pg 29] tenanted an obscure garret in the outskirts of one of the principal towns of Scotland. By some of those vicissitudes common to all, my father was, at this time, out of employment; hardships were endured, pinching want sometimes visited their fireside. Of these things I have heard, but have no recollection of them, as I could not then be much more than four years old. Yet a shadowy vision sometimes rises before me of a broad paved street, along which I was running on before our father in joyful haste, that I might be the first to apprise mother that the meeting was dismissed; but as to whether the place of assembly we had just left was an upper chamber where a handful of disciples met together, or a large and fashionable edifice, memory supplies nothing. A dim dreary scene, too, sometimes passes before me of some back yard or lane where I was standing with my hand in my father’s, gazing with childish delight, and, at the same time, with a feeling of awe and admiration, upon the starry[Pg 30] heavens. I know not what, at that moment, led my eye to the bright scene over head; nor yet what fixed these two incidents of my childhood so indelibly upon my memory, for they are associated, in my mind, with nothing particular of which I ever heard any one speak; but they are almost the only recollections I have of the short time spent in this place.

I think that before this time I must have been pretty far advanced in reading, as I have no remembrance of ever learning, or having any difficulty with common books. Our father, at the time alluded to, was exerting himself to find a settled situation as a gardener, and, in the mean time, taking whatever work he could get in the small gardens in the neighbourhood. He was soon noticed as an active and tasteful gardener, and received into the employment of a gentleman whose property lay in that part of Scotland known by the name of Strathmore, or “the great valley.”

The dwelling we now entered was very[Pg 31] pleasantly situated near a river called the South Esk, which flows through that part of the country. Between it and the highway was a large field, with a belt of trees on the side next the house; on the other side lay the garden; while beneath the garden, stretching to the river, was what we used to call the haugh, a flat little meadow.

Our dwelling in appearance was not unlike one of those houses which are tenanted by farmers in the south-east of Scotland. Its dimensions, its blue slated roof, and its smooth grass plot, encircled with a gravel walk before the door, bespoke it the abode, if not of affluence, at least of competence. It had not, when planned, been intended as the abode of a servant, but as a residence for the proprietor’s mother, who having been removed by death, we were permitted to occupy it. Had the reader visited that spot in the spring of the year, when the young plantations were arrayed in bright green, the music of wild birds welcoming the morning,[Pg 32] while the cowslip, the meadow-crocus, and the primrose studded the banks, and the butter-ball, the wild geranium, and numberless flowers besides, were shooting up amid the tangled maze of yellow whins and broom, wild rose, and scented sweet brier, which covered that little haugh; or had he sauntered down to the river, walked along the pebbles on its shore, and seen the little trout sparkling in the sunbeam as it leaped at the insects that sported upon the surface of the water, he would have called it a pleasant dwelling-place. It was indeed a sunny spot, and the gay children who used to ramble at will amid its beauties, were as happy a little band as could have been found.

Yet, freely though they wandered among the surrounding pleasure grounds, they were carefully taught to avoid putting their foot in an improper place, or setting forth a hand to injure shrub or tree; and this in itself was calculated to form and strengthen in us a habit of self-restraint. Even in infancy[Pg 33] our parents began our moral training; a prompt and cheerful submission to parental authority was the first habit they sought to form; and this once accomplished, the instruction and training of youth are comparatively easy. As soon as we became capable of understanding the reasons which influenced them in their conduct towards us, we were taught that our parents were the guardians placed over us by our Creator, in his kind care for our welfare, and that it was his will, that to them we should in all things cheerfully submit ourselves without hesitation or murmuring.

I have often thought, when I have seen children allowed to demand a reason for every trifling order, numerous reasons and excuses having to be discussed, and thus a long altercation entered into between parent and child, in the shape of reasoning, before a lesson could be attended to, or the most trivial command obeyed, what an incalculable amount of evil is done to children by such treatment! Not only is time wasted, but self-will is[Pg 34] fostered, and a habit of tardy performance of duty induced.

Few parents seem to comprehend how soon even a very young child may be made to understand such language as this: God, who lives in heaven, made us all; he gave mother her little son that I might take care of him, be kind to him, and teach him to be good. He says little children must obey father and mother, and he would be angry with me and punish me if I allowed my boy to be naughty and disobedient. Such language firmly and kindly spoken by a parent, even to a very young child, and steadily and consistently acted upon, will very soon subdue the self-will of the most wayward, and thus render future training easy to both parent and child.

Such was, in principle, the training to which we were subjected in our early years. Obedience—immediate, cheerful obedience, and the strictest regard to truth, lay at the foundation of all our other training. A thousand little follies, mistakes, and even[Pg 35] graver faults might be passed over, but disobedience and falsehood were unpardonable. Yet there was nothing of sternness or severity in the conduct of our parents towards us. Perhaps no mother ever lavished more fond caresses upon her children, or exerted herself more to make their time pass happily, and no father was ever more anxious to secure the comfort and happiness of his family.

Pleasantly did the days and hours pass over us, during our residence in this secluded spot: there was no school within reach, and if there had, our father’s small income would not have allowed our education to be paid for, without greatly diminishing the comforts of the family; therefore, it had to be attended to at home. One by one, we used to take our place beside our mother, read a short lesson, have the larger words explained to us, when our mother would take the book and read it over again slowly and distinctly, that we might the better understand what we had been reading; and then we[Pg 36] were at liberty to indulge in active and healthful amusement, or we were engaged in some useful and necessary employment. Four times a day, usually, each of us had our short lesson; and if it be considered that the whole of the labour of the house devolved upon our mother, it will be believed that this could be no light task; nothing, however, was allowed to interrupt our lessons: and it was no uncommon thing to see her busy at the washing-tub while we by turns took our place beside her; one child would be found attending to the baby, another gathering sticks and keeping the fire alive, a third engaged in reading, and a fourth bringing water from a pure, soft spring, at some distance from the house; while our eldest brother assisted father in the garden.

Our morning lesson was usually from the Scriptures, but throughout the day from other books. Our parents were, themselves, as eager to obtain knowledge as they were anxious to impart it to us. An hour was allowed[Pg 37] for meals: when our father came to breakfast or dinner, as soon as the repast was finished, (and a working man in health does not usually loiter over his meals,) our mother used to read aloud till the hour was finished, either with the youngest child upon her knee, or, if it was in the cradle, knitting while she read. She used to say, that it was disagreeable and improper to be bustling about while father was within; and when he was gone out, the work must be done up.

At these times, books of every kind that came to hand were read, unless, indeed, there was in their language or morality something very bad. Nor were any of us, so far as I recollect, ever restricted in our reading; books of all kinds, which came within our reach, were free to us. Some may be disposed to condemn this laxity, as they may consider it; but with the limited means our parents possessed of purchasing books, and being far distant from any town or village where they might have had a[Pg 38] choice from a library, it was not strange that all that by any means came to hand should be eagerly perused: books were not then so plentiful, nor so various, as at present.

Well do I remember my brother finding a torn leaf of a little school-book in a bush in the haugh—it had been caught there when the stream was swollen by heavy rains. What a prize it was! one by one, we committed it to memory, while stretched upon the daisied sward, during the sunny hours of a summer Sabbath-day; and I do not believe that there is one of the young group who then learned the beautiful hymn that stray leaf contained, who does not retain its simple words indelibly impressed upon the memory, and feel in a renewed heart the influences of the blessed truths taught in its lines. It was the hymn beginning,

If our parents’ plan of reading, and[Pg 39] allowing us to read, all that came in the way, had any danger in it, it was in our case counteracted by the free conversation about what was read, which usually followed, and by the duty constantly inculcated, and practised by themselves, of reading and searching the Scriptures as the standard by which every practice, principle and opinion, in religion or morality, must be tested. We were taught to view the Bible as the words of an infallible Teacher, by which the instructions of every other were to be tried, and only to be received in so far as they were in accordance with this heaven-descended guide: we were, thus early, led to analyse what we read, to exercise our understandings upon whatever came in our way, and to receive nothing as truth, until it had been put to the test of the Divine word.

Our Sabbaths were our happiest days; we were near no place of public worship—not so near, at least, as to permit any of the children often to attend. As soon as we[Pg 40] were dressed and had breakfasted, family prayer was attended to, and then our father would point out some hymn or passage of Scripture which he wished us to learn, when we would sally forth, book in hand, in different directions, one to stretch himself upon the soft grass in the field close by, another to pace backward and forward on the pleasure walk, or to find a seat in the bough of an old bushy tree; while another would seek a little summer-house our father had made of heather, and seated round with the twisted boughs of the glossy birch, each reading aloud till the allotted lesson was thoroughly fixed upon our minds. If the day was wet, or if it was the winter season, we would gather around the table by the window. During the afternoon, mother would read to us, or all of us, father and mother included, read by turns; questions were then asked, and conversation entered into, about what we had been reading.

It was upon one of these occasions, when some remarks made by one of my parents[Pg 43] in endeavouring to call our attention to the truth that we must be changed, renewed in the image of God; or, to take up the simple figurative expression then made use of, that we must have new hearts, else we never could be happy with our Father in heaven, that an impression was made upon my mind, never to be effaced: from that hour, through all my follies and all my waywardness, the thought of that new heart still haunted me, until I indeed found peace with God through Jesus Christ, and felt the renewing power of the truth of God.

Viewing the practice of allowing children to consider their lessons as a part of their amusement, as pernicious in its tendency, as calculated to induce a habit of trifling with serious things, and to form a giddy, frivolous character, our parents never permitted anything like levity in attending to our lessons; we never were allowed to consider them as a recreation, but as serious, though cheerful employment, which must never be trifled with, but seriously and earnestly[Pg 44] engaged in. A uniform veneration for the word of God was evinced by themselves, and if we read or repeated any part of it, we were taught to do so seriously; if a hymn was recited, or any piece in which the name of our Creator might occur, we were accustomed to do so in a solemn and attentive manner.

We had been about six years in this place, when my father’s master died, and his lady kindly recommended him to her brother, who was in want of a gardener. We now removed to the east of Scotland; and our dwelling, until the death of the former gardener, who was laid aside by age, was two rooms, rented for us, in the adjoining village. About two years after our arrival, his decease allowed us to remove to what was to us a pleasanter abode, as being a little more secluded, but otherwise possessing little advantage. There, several of us attended a female school, supported by the lady, for the instruction of the children of servants upon the estate.

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Our attendance, from various causes, was by no means regular; the necessity for one of us remaining at home, to assist our mother, prevented regular attendance, and the change from a dry inland situation, to a low, damp locality, upon the east coast, so affected our health, that, for many years, the spring of the year turned our dwelling almost into an hospital. The loss of time and expense incident upon sickness, in our circumstances, were keenly felt; however, experience gradually taught us how to manage sickness without so much medical attendance as we at first required. My brothers procured employment in the neighbourhood, and I entered the house of my father’s master.

I had little relish for the society I was thrown into in this place; all my habits and pursuits were at entire variance with what my fellow-servants practised; though the light of the Gospel had not yet entered my mind—it was only struggling for an entrance.

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When I now look back to that period of mental conflict, I am convinced that my darkness and difficulty arose, not from any mystery thrown around the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel by my teachers, but that I entertained a secret unwillingness to yield up my own will, and my own wishes; my heart was divided—I was striving to serve God and Mammon; the love of the world, and the things of the world, shut out the light of the glorious Gospel; and it was not till my heart was subdued by the love of God, till I became willing to do, or be, or submit to, anything which God required, that I found peace—then I saw God as my Father in Jesus, receiving me freely, through him; the burden of guilt was removed, and I was led in the paths of obedience by love.

I had been a few years in my situation, when my mother’s health being very much impaired, I felt it my duty to return home. There were now ten of us, besides our father and mother: my eldest brother was employed in the garden; my second worked[Pg 47] with a tradesman in the neighbourhood; and two of my sisters were employed in the family I had left; while five younger brothers and sisters were at school. The eldest of these was soon after engaged by the village teacher as his assistant.

When at home, our Sabbaths were spent much in the same manner as formerly, only we had now the opportunity of attending public worship; and instead of merely conversing, we had begun to try and commit our thoughts to writing. Our parents would request us to state our reasons for certain parts of our belief, or our ideas of the meaning of certain passages of Scripture; we would also, often exert ourselves to give expression to our thoughts in a verse or two of poetry. At these times, several of us would apply our minds to one subject, and it was interesting to observe the different forms our thoughts would assume.

Our mother’s health was re-established, and our circle of acquaintance widened, but not much, for few in the same walk in life[Pg 48] as ourselves sympathized with us in our pursuits, and we had as little relish for theirs: our time fully occupied, we never felt the power of the temptations to evil to which young persons, in the same circumstances, are usually exposed: we had been carefully taught in early childhood, that

and idle empty hearts, too, he will fill with sin and folly. I firmly believe, that the only safety from temptation in this world of sin, in this state of weakness, is to have our hearts full of the love of God, our understandings enlightened by the truth of God, and our hands actively engaged in whatever useful employment the providence of God places within our reach; never sighing over our limited opportunities of doing good, never repining that we are not placed in situations, and endowed with talents to do and suffer great things for the cause of Christ, or fretting, because our opportunities of improvement are few and small.

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This has been my most besetting sin, and the most powerful temptation to which I have been exposed; and, so far as it has prevailed, it has lessened my usefulness, and retarded my improvement. Could we comprehend how great is the blessedness of being permitted to be fellow-workers with God, we should not thus trifle with the opportunities afforded us of doing what we can; but feeling that we are called to an honour and felicity far above anything we can deserve, eagerly seize the slightest, if it be but to whisper a word of truth in the ear of the poorest child, to lure on and assist some ignorant one to spell out and understand a passage, a phrase, or even a word of the book of God, or even to minister to the comfort and happiness of those around us in the things of this life. Thus our Father in heaven stooped to lavish kindness and care upon man’s mortal frame, to throw the sweets of summer at his feet, and hang the luxuries of autumn overhead, to enamel the field, to paint the flower, and[Pg 50] carve the leaf; and shall we disdain to lay hold of every opportunity of ministering in the slightest degree, or in the humblest way, to the comfort and enjoyment of those around us? And yet how often are opportunities of doing small acts of kindness and usefulness let slip, while we are sighing over our narrow sphere and our limited means of serving God, or benefiting man!

For a considerable time our family circle was unbroken; however, by the marriage, at different times, of four members of the family, six only remained around our parents. Sorrow might have had a resting-place in the bosoms of some of that family circle, but to the eye of lookers-on they were happy as ever. But change, death, and sorrow were to come. Our beloved father was suddenly and unexpectedly removed from among us, and a long course of illness in the family followed on his departure. Illness prevented for a time our removal from the abode which had so long sheltered us, and where we had spent so many happy days.

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At this time, however, we all recovered; but shortly after our removal to another residence, five of us were again prostrated by fever, and our youngest sister—our gentle, quiet, affectionate sister, she who lived but for the happiness of those around her—was removed.

I am now residing with three sisters and our youngest brother, under the roof of our widowed mother; other two relatives live with us, and I am still engaged in my old occupation of managing the house, which I have never quitted since I returned on account of my mother’s health, except for about two years, when I was in the service of others.

Many sources of enjoyment and comfort have been removed; but the spring to which our beloved and revered parents led us in our early years, that fountain whence issued our sweetest and purest enjoyments, is still open to us, even the well of living waters which never can be dried up; and though those loved ones are departed, and[Pg 52] we cannot but feel the loss of their society, we are happy in the hope of soon meeting them, where there are pleasures for evermore. Religion—the knowledge of God—has been to us our strength and our happiness, the source of all we have enjoyed worth calling enjoyment: it has been the sunshine which, in the hour of prosperity, has made earth fair unto us as the bowers of Eden; and when the darkness of adversity encompassed us, it has been the star whose beaming indicated the approach of the morning’s brightness.

[Pg 53]

[Pg 55]

Man is not left, even in this state of existence, like the lower animals, to draw his chief happiness from the indulgence of his appetites, or to be led by the blind, but unerring impulse of instinct,[Pg 56] to his chief good. He is endowed with reasoning powers and moral sentiments, which require to be enlightened and exercised, in order to their proper direction and healthful development. His happiness is as inseparably connected with the cultivation and exercise of the faculties of his mind, as it is with the healthful development and proper exercise of his bodily organs. We meet with abundant proof of this in the state of savage tribes, who shelter themselves in clay-built hovels, wrap themselves in the skins of beasts, and obtain a precarious subsistence from the scanty produce of the uncultivated ground, or the flesh of wild animals. If we compare their means of sustaining life, their sources of enjoyment, their religious worship, their daily habits, and their daily labours, in a word, their whole state, with the state of a[Pg 57] civilized and enlightened community—even could we bring ourselves to look upon man as merely an intelligent and improvable animal, formed exclusively for this present life—we are irresistibly led to the conclusion, that whatever tends to elevate or refine his nature, to give to his reasoning faculties and his moral sentiments a controlling power over his appetites and propensities, is of vast importance to his well-being. It guards him from evils to which, while his animal nature is left without due restraint from his higher faculties and sentiments, he is exposed, opens to him sources of enjoyment, and discovers supplies, of which, while his intellectual nature is uncultivated, he is incapable of availing himself.

The labour to which, in the present state of society, the majority of the working population of our country is subjected, in[Pg 58] order to obtain their subsistence, is of that incessant and tasking nature, which, when the daily hours of toil are closed, leaves the system too much exhausted for mental application or intellectual enjoyment. Hence, among those of the labouring classes who are not led by religious principle to avail themselves of the opportunities for self-improvement which the weekly rest affords, we find, with comparatively few exceptions, low and degrading pursuits the principal sources of their amusement; while their highest enjoyments are derived from the gratification of their appetites and propensities. Nor is this strange; no one who has for any considerable length of time been subjected to severe and unremitting toil, whose employment called for the exertion of his muscular power till real fatigue ensued, will deny, that, while in such a state, man is equally incapable[Pg 59] of availing himself of the more refined pleasure of social intercourse, or of the improvement to be derived from mental application; that the craving is for animal gratification, or nervous excitement; and that a continued routine of such labour, without the seventh-day rest, would soon sink the labouring population into a condition worse than that of absolute barbarism. This is no merely speculative theory; we have only to enter into social intercourse with those around us, to meet with more than abundant proofs of its reality.

Were it possible, then, to view man as only formed for this world—as a mere link in the chain of causation—doing his little part, enjoying his brief existence, and then reduced again to his original elements, passing away alike forgetting and forgotten; and were we to regard the Sabbath as merely[Pg 60] a civil institution, the appointment of human government; even thus separated from all its religious relations, it would, were it possible for man destitute of the knowledge of God, to improve the opportunities afforded by it, confer benefits upon working men which they could not otherwise obtain. The Sabbath limits, to some extent, the power of employers, whom selfishness and avarice, in not a few instances, have rendered alike regardless of the comfort and the health of their servants; and secures to those whose daily avocations require their absence from the family circle, the pleasures and the comforts of home; the softening and refining influence of family relations and domestic intercourse. Its rest refreshes and invigorates the physical constitution, and affords time to apply the mind to the attainment of useful knowledge: it ought therefore[Pg 61] to command the respect of all who are sincerely desirous of promoting the improvement of the working population.

But it is impossible thus to regard man. Man has a spiritual, never-dying, as surely as he has an animal and mortal nature, which act and re-act upon each other, so that the well-being of the one is essential to the well-being of the other. He, therefore, who would confine man’s views to this world, and limit his endeavours after happiness to the present life, snatches from him, along with the hopes of the future, the riches of the present. Debarred from his Father’s house and his Father’s table, he will soon be wallowing in the mire of ignorance and vice, and feeding on the husks of sensual indulgence. He who chains man to continuous and unremitting exertion of his physical system, unfits his mind for activity,[Pg 62] and degrades him to a condition little above that of a beast of burden. The Sabbath, then, must be viewed in its relation to every part of man’s nature, in its influence upon him as a whole, before we can fully appreciate even the merely temporal benefits it is calculated to confer upon the human family.

Some have said, that another arrangement would be more beneficial,—that, were more time for repose allotted to each day without a Sabbath, the purposes of Sabbath rest would be more fully attained. Were the Sabbath a human institution, appointed by earthly legislators, for purposes relating to this life, this point might be open to discussion. As it is not the institution of man, however, but that of our all-wise Creator, I shall merely ask those who advocate such a change, how they propose to bring it about? and how preserve it, when once obtained? Is[Pg 63] it not that the Sabbath claims to be an institution of Heaven, and thus laying hold of man’s conscience, ensures attention to its demands from all who fear God and tremble at his word—is it not its appearing in this character which secures to it any degree of attention and respect from society? It is the influences of the Sabbath which will yet introduce a better regulated system of labour during the week; and he who would abolish it as a step towards such an improvement, flings away the most safe and certain means of accomplishing his object.

It is only by the advancement of the labouring classes themselves in intelligence and civilization, that any really important or beneficial change can ever take place in the regulation of labour; but even were such a change effected, were the hours of daily toil considerably shortened, would there not still[Pg 64] be abundant room for a Sabbath? How are the moral and intellectual character, the tastes and habits of working men to be elevated, without the opportunities and the influences of this institution?

He who would abolish the Sabbath, and distribute its hours among the days of the week, that he might increase the comfort, and improve the character and the condition of working men, would act as a builder would do, who should dig up the foundations of a house, that he might obtain materials wherewith to finish its upper story. Religion, like the Father of lights, from whom it emanates, bestows abundance of blessings upon many who know not the bounteous Hand from whence they come; and the Sabbath, one of its most glorious and beneficent institutions, confers numerous benefits even upon that portion of society who, trifling with its[Pg 65] sacred obligations, and spurning its salutary restraints, fail to reap from it that amount of good which it is so well calculated to afford them.

We can form no just estimate of what the condition and circumstances of the human race would have been, if left entirely destitute of religion, from our intercourse with those who, though perversely refusing submission to its government, have, while their being was dawning, their mind and habits forming, been surrounded by its light and influences, and who, in their childhood and youth, have partaken largely of the blessings which this heaven-bestowed institution, the Christian Sabbath, affords. No; it is only from the condition and character of those tribes of mankind who have little or no vestige of revelation among them, that we are enabled to form a correct idea of what our state[Pg 66] would have been, had the pure light of Christianity never dawned upon us. So, in like manner, in judging of the importance of this Divine institution, we must compare the condition and the habits of a labouring population who have never known a Sabbath, whose bodies the Sabbath rest has never refreshed, and whose minds Sabbath instruction and Sabbath exercise have, to no extent, strengthened or cultivated, awakened or enlightened. We must compare their character and condition, their hearths and homes, with the hearths and homes, the state and character, not of the mere Sabbath sleeper, or Sabbath dresser, or even of the mere church attender or sermon hearer, but of those who, with activity and energy, avail themselves of all the opportunities of self-improvement and family culture which the Christian Sabbath is so well fitted to afford,[Pg 67] before we can have any correct idea of even the merely temporal benefits which the Sabbath is calculated to confer upon the labouring population, or of the immense loss its discontinuance would prove to the temporal interests of society.

Even as a cessation from labour, as a rest to the worn-out frame, the Sabbath is no trifling boon to the bowed-down sons of toil. When we look upon it merely as a day on which the most toil-worn drudge unchidden may stretch his wearied limbs upon the couch of rest; whereon the most dusty, sweaty, dirt-smeared endurer of the consequences of man’s transgression may wash himself clean, dress genteelly, and enjoy the society of his fellow-men; a day when he, who, during the six days of labour, must eat his dry, cold, hurried, and comfortless dinner alone, can sit in leisure and comfort, in the society of beloved[Pg 68] relatives, with the clean, shining, glad faces of his little ones around him, and his wife, clean and neat, as upon her bridal-day, by his side, and enjoy his neatly-prepared, though homely, repast; a day when brothers and sisters, early forced, by necessity, from the parental roof, to seek a hard-earned subsistence elsewhere, may weekly enjoy each other’s society amid the blessed influences of the home of their childhood—the Sabbath, though looked upon as bestowing only privileges like these upon working men, must command the respect of every enlightened and philanthropic mind. But when viewed as a day in which all this is associated with the hallowed influences of religion—in which man enjoys the pleasures of social intercourse blended with, and elevated by, the most sacred and purifying associations—in which the body enjoys[Pg 69] repose, not only that the mind may be fitted for exertion, but that it may engage in the study of subjects supremely important to man, that it may apply itself to the contemplation of themes the most sublime and interesting—a day in which men not only meet together that they may be instructed, strengthened, and refined, by intercourse with each other, that mind may have communion with mind, and heart with heart; but in which they are invited to meet with God himself; that their minds may have communion with His mind, and their hearts with His heart; that they may be instructed, strengthened, and refined, by the wisdom and love of God; that they may be moulded in His image, and renewed in His likeness;—it seems strange that any one who believes man to be possessed of a moral and intellectual nature, capable of improvement, should set light by,[Pg 70] or trifle with, such an institution; and passing strange, that those who name the name of Christ, who profess to be His followers who emphatically taught that the Sabbath was made for man, should despise such a privilege, fling away its hallowed restraints, and disregard its sacred obligations.

It needs but a glance at the toilsome life of our rural or our manufacturing population, to convince any one that the Sabbath, viewed merely in relation to man’s temporal well-being, is of great value to the working man. The important influence which the frequent return of such a day, with all its cheering and inspiriting exercises and associations, must have upon the health of those who observe it, is not to be overlooked. The wearied frame is refreshed and invigorated, the depressed spirits enlivened, and the flagging energy restored;—while its public[Pg 71] observances call for such attention to personal appearance as cannot fail to have a beneficial effect at once upon the habits and the constitution, as also to form a strong inducement to exertion for the improvement of their condition. Hence it is, that, when we enter the house of the church-going, Sabbath-keeping labourer, we generally find a marked difference between it and the home of him who rarely or never enters a place of worship, and who regards not the sacred claims of the day.

In the house of the Sabbath-observing, church-attending labourer—even though, as is too often the case, he should know little or nothing of the vital power of religion, though his observance be mere outward observance, and his religion but form—we observe useful, though sometimes rude furniture, clothing, and food, cleanliness and comfort, a cheerful[Pg 72] fire on the hearth, and a few books on the shelf; everything indicating some little relish for the conveniences and comforts of civilized life.

On Saturday evening, there is washing of little faces, combing and brushing of flaxen heads, laying out of clean little frocks and pinafores, or jet black shoes set ready for little feet, that, without hurry or confusion, clean and neat, they may be ready on Sabbath morning to accompany father or mother, or, if possible, both, to the place

or that they may trip joyously to their beloved Sabbath-school, there to sing of that happy land where every eye is bright, of that glorious city, the streets of which are of pure gold, where the water of life is continually flowing in a broad river, clear as crystal, from[Pg 73] the throne of God and of the Lamb, into which nothing that defileth can enter, neither whatsoever loveth or maketh a lie; to learn, that to depart from evil is the highway to those blessed mansions of love, and joy, and life everlasting—that that highway is called holiness; and to be told, in childhood’s own simple language, of the love of Him who is himself the way, for he shall save his people from their sins; how he said, “Suffer little children to come unto me,” and took them up in his arms, and blessed them; how, when they have journeyed along the rugged path of this toilsome life, those that come unto God by him shall never again taste of death or sorrow, pain or disease; for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

[Pg 74]

What do we find in the place of all this, in the home, and among the children of the working man who profanes the sacred hours of the Sabbath? Squalor and wretchedness force themselves upon our observation. The appearance of the house and its inmates tell, in language not to be mistaken, what would be the condition of working men, were this blessed day, with all its exalting and purifying influences, set aside. How often, on Saturday night, are the children tossed into bed unwashed and uncombed, while the mother puts their few rags of clothing in the washing-tub, and then hangs them up by the dusty hearth, that they may be dry in the morning! Even this little attention to cleanliness, partial as it is, is of some benefit, and the benefit, so far as it goes, is from the Sabbath; for, were it not for that regard to appearance, and those[Pg 77] ideas of decency which the public observances of the Sabbath have introduced, the skin and the clothing of the working man and his children would seldom indeed be subjected to the refreshing and purifying process of washing.

Of the truth of this, did the limits of this little essay permit, or did the time and circumstances of the writer allow of such researches, I venture to affirm that abundant evidence could be presented from the state and habits, in regard to personal cleanliness, of the labouring population of any country where the Sabbath is disregarded, as compared with the condition and habits of the same class in countries where the Sabbath is observed as a day of public assembly for religious worship; or from the habits of the lower classes of our own, or of any other country, before the introduction of the Christian[Pg 78] Sabbath, as compared with their habits in this respect, after the Sabbath has been for some time received and regarded among them, as at once a day of cessation from ordinary labour, and a season for public religious observances. And if the important influence which cleanliness has upon health and comfort be taken into account, the improvement of their habits in this respect will be allowed to be no trifling advantage resulting from the Sabbath to the labouring population.

But to return to the family where the Sabbath is not regarded as a day sacred to the worship of God: how frequently do we find the father, with his equally reckless companions, taking on Saturday evening his seat in the house of the spirit-dealer, there to waste, in the gratification of his debased and depraved appetite, his hard-earned wages![Pg 79] But what need to describe the Sabbath hours of such a family? Who that has been at all conversant with the labouring population of this country, but has witnessed the comfortless and fretful confusion of the morning? while the succeeding hours are devoted to the preparation of the noonday meal, the one great feast of the week; and, perchance, the fields, the public promenade, or a trip by railway to some place of public resort, is the occupation of the evening. And thus are all the rich opportunities which such a day affords for self-improvement and family culture, trampled under foot. And what is the condition of the children of such parents? Do they not grow up in ignorance and vice, in utter neglect, unless, indeed, they are gathered together for Sabbath instruction by the enlightened and benevolent, who would seek to do what in them lies to rescue their[Pg 80] fellow-creatures from ignorance and degradation? This, however, will but slightly supply the want of the fireside instruction of a Sabbath-keeping family; and is it likely that these children will ever attain to that degree of mental culture, or be governed by those moral principles which would enable them to obtain an equal standing in society with the children of those who conscientiously observe the Lord’s-day? Let those who think so, enter the house of him who keeps holy the Lord’s-day, and the home of the Sabbath-breaker; let them converse with their children, observe their habits, and then answer. Those who feel inclined to trifle with the sacred obligations of this day would do well to consider, ere they slight its beneficial restraints, what a blessed privilege they fling away—what a glorious birthright they would barter for less than a mess of pottage![Pg 81] A birthright, the due appreciation and the proper use of which would soon enable them to cast off that yoke of bondage, those servile feelings, with which the working classes too often regard their superiors in circumstances; would enable them to stand erect and unabashed in the presence of their fellow-man, whatever his wealth or rank, as brother in the presence of brother; would give them power of their own minds—a conscience illuminated by the light of heaven, and unfettered by subjection to man. Moreover, if the imbecility of mind, the consequent limitation of resource, and liability to become the dupes of imposture, the tools of crafty, selfish, and unprincipled men, be considered, which usually result from the dependence of one class of men upon the mind and will of another class, this will appear to be no mean advantage, as regards temporal condition,[Pg 82] which the proper observance of the Sabbath is calculated to confer upon the labouring population. For proof that such happy results do invariably follow the introduction of the Sabbath among the working classes, in proportion to its proper observance, we have only to glance at the character and condition of the people in countries where the Sabbath is, in some measure, rightly understood and observed, as compared with the state of the people in lands where the Lord’s day is unknown, or devoted to mere amusement.

The rest of the Sabbath is invaluable to the labourer who is desirous of cultivating his own mind by study, of strengthening and gaining the control of his intellectual powers, or of increasing his stock of knowledge by reading. When he returns from his daily labour, to enjoy his brief hour of leisure in the evening, his system is too much[Pg 83] exhausted by his previous exertion, and, consequently, his animal spirits too much depressed, for close application of mind or energy of thought. If he attempt to peruse any really serious and useful author, he not unfrequently falls asleep with the book in his hand. The lighter pages of the novelist, with their intellectual intoxication, and too often pernicious views of human life and human nature, may be able, by their excitement, to overcome, for a time, his fatigue; and, therefore, if he reads at all, for these, the works of the natural and moral philosopher, of the historian, the moralist, and the theologian, are laid aside; and thus his moral and intellectual nature, not receiving wholesome food or healthful exercise, becomes weak and diseased, and unfitted to fulfil the offices of enlightening him; his passions and appetites, unrestrained by an enlightened[Pg 84] conscience and cultivated understanding, lead him captive at their will; and his whole character and condition strikingly prove, that, as a general rule, the degradation of one part of man’s nature is the degradation of the whole.

Is his temporal condition abject, his body subjected to unremitting toil?—his intellectual condition, too, is debased, and his mind enslaved. Is his intellect uncultivated, and his moral nature vitiated?—his outward appearance[2] and condition are degraded, rude, and comfortless. The Sabbath, by the repose it affords, not only renews man’s physical energy, renovates his animal system, it also qualifies his mind to apply itself to self-culture and to the acquisition of solid and useful knowledge. Nor does it stop here—it leaves[Pg 85] him not unaided and unguided to grope in darkness for the knowledge which is essential to his well-being; it pours upon his path a flood of light, opens wide the gate of knowledge, and bids him enter. It leaves him not to mope alone over the dreamy speculations of sceptical philosophers who have attained to no belief, who have no certainty or knowledge, but have chosen their perpetual abode in those gloomy regions of darkness where the dense fogs of doubt are for ever settled, till his mental energy is exhausted and his mind unhinged. No; it calls him forth in exulting joy to seek the society of his fellow-men, that mind may awaken and strengthen mind, and heart warm heart—that they may ponder together the meaning of facts—facts attested by incontrovertible evidence—facts the most sublime and interesting that have ever engaged the attention of man. It calls[Pg 86] men together to study, in each other’s society, a system of morality pure and perfect, founded upon these facts. It furnishes him with subjects surpassingly glorious, in the contemplation of which he may exert and cultivate his intellectual powers. It inspires him with hopes which give him fortitude to endure the unavoidable evils of his condition, and energy to surmount its difficulties. Yes, the Lord’s day, with its communion with God, its memorials, its exercises, its instructions, and its social intercourse, ever as it returns gives a fresh impulse to human advancement. It is, truly, a fountain whence spring innumerable benefits.

Not only does each returning Sabbath give a new and powerful impetus to man’s advancement in his heavenward course; but in so doing, it urges him onward and upward in civilization, refinement and comfort.

[Pg 87]

A day of rest, of cessation from active and toilsome exertion, is, doubtless, as ministering to the health and vigour of the animal system, of immense value to working men. I have no hesitation, however, in affirming, that, amongst those who view it in no other light than as a day of rest and recreation, as a season set apart to no higher purpose than that of refreshing and invigorating the body, it generally fails of accomplishing even this: they almost invariably devote the day to the service of their divers lusts and pleasures, while the neglected appearance of their families, and the jaded and abused state of their bodies, wofully testify to the degrading effects of misusing its hallowed hours; and clearly demonstrate, that it is “the Sabbath of the Lord,” the Lord’s day alone, as appointed by himself, which is really calculated to benefit mankind, and not a day of man’s[Pg 88] devising. And why? Because the Sabbath-day is appointed by our all-wise Creator, by Him who knoweth what is in man, and what is needful for man. And it is exactly suited to man—it meets the wants at once of his physical and intellectual constitution, and of his social and spiritual nature. He who wears purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day, whose hand has never been hardened, nor his brow moistened by toil, whose every day makes him the companion and instructor of his family, and who, fresh and unwearied, can seat himself in his quiet study, and enjoy his daily returning hours of leisure, may slight the obligations of the Sabbath, and break loose from its restraints, without, in the eye of his fellow-man, appearing to suffer in mind, character, or condition. But on him whose daily returning wants call for strenuous and[Pg 89] incessant exertion, that they may obtain a needful supply, the abuse of Sabbath hours is soon visible in a beggared and degraded mind, a depraved moral character, and a consequently degraded condition in society; in squalid, untrained children, and a comfortless home; and not unfrequently, in absolute want of the very necessaries of life.

It might easily be shown, that, among the numerous advantages which the weekly rest affords the working man, is this, namely, that it gives him its rest, without diminishing, in any degree, his means of subsistence and comfort. By preventing the seventh day from being brought into the labour market, it enables him to procure a remuneration for six days’ labour equal to that which, were there no such day, he would be able to obtain for seven. Although those who degrade the Sabbath from its place as a religious institution,[Pg 90] to a day of mere bodily rest and recreation, enjoy this advantage in common with him who regards the day in its proper character, as a day set apart for the public worship of God and the study of his word; yet, they are generally by far his inferiors in comfort and independence. It is no uncommon thing to find them, while actually engaged in some kind of employment which brings higher wages than the occupation followed by their neighbour obtains, before the close of the week begging or borrowing from him the necessaries of life. Few will have mingled much among labouring men and their families, without meeting with many instances of this kind, all demonstrating the truth of what has already been advanced, that it is the Christian Sabbath, observed as appointed by our Lord himself, that can ever really improve even the temporal character of the[Pg 91] labourer, and that no human institution ever can supply its place, or have the same beneficial influence upon society.

To the husband and father, whose family require his daily labour for their support, and who is anxious to impart to them that instruction which is so necessary to the perfect and healthful development of their mental powers, the Sabbath is of inestimable value. Dearly as he loves to meet the joyous welcome of his little ones upon his return from his day’s labour, pleasant as it is for him to enjoy their childish prattle, while they are seated together around the evening fire, yet, having just returned, exhausted by a day of toil, while they climb his knee, and chat over the little adventures of the day, they are more to him as playthings, than as beings the training of whose minds and habits for after life is entrusted to him. This,[Pg 92] during the six days of labour, devolves, almost exclusively, upon the mother, or, as is too often the case, it is utterly neglected, because it requires the most incessant and laborious exertions of both father and mother to enable them to obtain a subsistence for themselves and their offspring; and were it not for the weekly return of Sabbath-rest, and its opportunities for improvement, they would grow up untrained, as the wild ass’s colt. But the Sabbath places the Christian father refreshed and vigorous in the midst of his family, his mind enlightened and enriched by its instruction, and his feelings soothed by its devotional exercises; thus fitting him to impart instruction, in a manner at once calculated to reach the understandings and win the hearts of his little ones.

What a delightful scene of tranquil enjoyment is to be met with in the family of[Pg 95] the labourer where the Sabbath is properly appreciated and actively improved! Has the reader ever spent a Lord’s day in such a family? has he seen the children, awaking from the light slumbers of the morning, glance round on the more than usual order, cleanliness and quiet of the humble apartment, and then ask, Mother, what day is this? and heard the reply, This is the Sabbath, the best of all days, the day which God has blessed! Has he seen their father dandling the baby, till their mother should finish dressing the elder children, and then, when all were ready, heard the little circle join in the sweet morning hymn, and seen them kneel together, while their father offered up a simple, but heart-felt thanksgiving for life, health, and reason preserved, through the toils of another week; and for the privilege of being again all permitted to enjoy, in each[Pg 96] other’s society, the blessed light of the first day of the week; that morning-light which brings to mind an empty grave, and a risen Saviour; those peaceful hours which, undisturbed by the labour, hurry, and anxieties of the week, they can devote to the advancement of that spiritual life in their souls, which shall outlive the destruction of death itself? Has he heard the words of prayer, the questions of the father, and the replies of the children; and has he not felt assured that the mind-awakening influences of such subjects of thought, and such exercises, would be seen in the after years of these children?

Or, has he, on their return from the meeting-place of Christians, witnessed their afternoon and evening employments? Has he seen the eager and intelligent expression of those young faces, as the beautiful story of Joseph and his brethren was read[Pg 97] aloud to them; or that of Daniel cast into the lions’ den; or how the servants of the living God walked unhurt in the midst of the fire, whilst its flame slew those men who cast them in; or the narrative of the wandering prodigal, wretched and despised in a foreign land, whilst the meanest of his father’s servants were living in abundance and comfort? Has he heard their voices, each low but earnest; and then listened to the reading of the Word of God? heard the reciting by turn, some beautiful hymns, or reading some interesting chapter, or engaged in conversation familiar and pleasant, though serious and instructive; children asking questions of parents, and parents of children, concerning what they have been hearing and reading during the day? And is not he who has been the spectator of all this, convinced, that such a day is to the labourer[Pg 98] and his children, an inheritance of surpassing value; that it is weekly adding a fresh impulse to their progress in improvement, and preparing them to take advantage of whatever opportunities the week may afford? Will not the Sabbaths of their childhood leave an impression upon their future years, which will never be effaced; an impress of superiority in intelligence and morality, and a consequent superiority in circumstances?

One important advantage which is connected with the observance of the Lord’s day, among the labouring population, is the influence which it has in elevating the mind, character and condition of the female portion of the community. Where Christianity and its weekly rest are unknown, the condition of woman is abject in the extreme; but the religion of Jesus raises her from her degraded[Pg 99] situation, by calling her forward to engage in the exercises, share the instructions, and receive the influences of its Sabbath. The Lord’s day calls her thinking powers into action, gives her a mind and conscience of her own, cultivates her intellectual and moral nature, and gives her to man a helpmate indeed, fitted to become, not merely his slave or his toy, but the companion of his labours and his studies, his devoted friend, and his faithful and judicious adviser; not merely the mother and nurse of his children, but their intelligent instructor and guide—his most efficient assistant in their intellectual and moral training. And if we consider the influence which the training that man receives in his early years has upon his character in after life—that, for the most part, in the families of working men, infancy and childhood are spent in the society of the[Pg 100] mother, and therefore the impressions by which the character is, in a great measure, formed, are made by her, we shall feel convinced that the cultivation of the female mind and character must have an incalculable influence upon the condition of the labouring population.

It were worth ascertaining, how many of those who have risen up from among the labouring population to adorn and bless humanity by their talents and their philanthropy, to enlighten and benefit society by useful and important discoveries in art and science, or by patient persevering labour to advance mankind in virtue and intelligence—how many of these had their minds awakened to activity, and their principles formed, by the instructions which hard-working parents were enabled to give them upon the Lord’s day, the only time they[Pg 101] could devote to such a purpose. And would it not shed a fearful light upon this subject, could we possess ourselves of the history of the early Sabbaths of those who have made themselves notorious by their crimes; or of those, who, having sunk themselves deep in moral pollution, have destroyed themselves, degraded humanity, and cursed society by their vices? Would not such records give startling evidence of the ruinous effects resulting from the abuse of the weekly rest, and clearly demonstrate the truth of what has been already advanced, that, were the Sabbath abolished, or given to working men as a day of mere bodily refreshment and recreation, and not as a religious institution, they would soon be reduced to a condition worse than that of the untaught savage?

Yes; man is equally liable to degenerate as he is capable of improvement—more[Pg 102] so, for he must be aroused, urged forward, forced on almost against his will: to take the downward path of degeneracy, he needs only to be left unmolested to choose his own way.

Are there those who deny this—who look upon man as not a fallen and depraved being, shorn of the glory of his primeval excellency, ever liable to sink lower and degenerate farther, unless influences from without reach him—but as a being who has raised himself by the unaided exercise of the powers of his own mind, from a condition little above that of the brute creation, to his present state? I ask them but to survey the page of human history, to become convinced of the absurdity of such an idea. Can they point to the records of any tribe of the human family which, from a condition of rude barbarism, and shut out from all intercourse[Pg 103] with civilized nations, has ever raised itself above such a state?[3] They cannot—it has uniformly been the entrance of the missionary, the trader, the emigrant, from more enlightened and civilized nations, which has changed the condition of such a people.

Had it been as they say, had man been formed the being they represent him, and had the voice of God never reached his ear, had no celestial visitant ever arrived upon our planet, man had never risen one step above his first condition. If, then, as the history of mankind abundantly proves, religion founded upon revelation be the only really efficient means by which man can be raised to that state of perfection he is capable[Pg 104] of attaining; if, as we trace the progress of Christianity among the nations, we find an advancement in civilization following in her footsteps, and an amelioration of the social condition of the people marking her progress, may we not reasonably attribute to her seventh-day rest all the temporal blessings which, as she advances, she is conferring upon the labouring population? And would not the abolition of this institution, or the appropriation of Sabbath hours to other than their proper use, be effectively to exclude those who obtain their daily bread by the labour of their hands, from a participation in the benefits which the knowledge of revelation confers upon man? No more effectual step could be taken towards the demoralization, I had almost said the brutalization, of the labouring population, than that of inducing them to look upon it as a mere human holiday,[Pg 105] which may be occupied in any way fancy may dictate. Barbarous and degrading sports, bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and such like; drunkenness, revelry, and riot, would, with fearful rapidity, take the place of the solemn assembly.

He who would seek to enslave and degrade the working man, could not more effectually accomplish his object, than by persuading him to regard and occupy the Sabbath as a day which he might spend in amusement. Were the Lord’s day blotted out, or spent in mere recreation—were the sons of toil no more to enjoy or avail themselves of its rich provisions for their instruction and elevation—not only should we soon see religion disregarded, that blessed light of heaven, that sunshine of the sky which is chasing the shadows of ignorance, and dissipating the mists of error and superstition;[Pg 106] which is awakening man to spiritual life, arousing to healthful activity in him all the springs of moral feeling and intellectual energy; not only would this morning beam be shut out from the sons of toil, those glad tidings which Jesus so frequently preached to the poor in the weekly assembly upon the Sabbath-day, be put without the reach of working men—but we should soon see them deprived of those civil institutions which secure to them personal liberty, and degraded to a condition of mere vassalage.

Let no one be startled when I affirm that it is the Sabbath which has bestowed upon the labouring population the civil privileges they enjoy, and raised them to the position they occupy; that it is the Lord’s day which is the great, the everlasting bulwark of human freedom. It is that moral force which intelligence and virtue[Pg 107] bestow upon a people, which unlooses effectually the iron grasp of the oppressor; which makes their voice heard clearly and distinctly in the legislation of their country, and blots pernicious, partial, and unjust laws out of the statute-book; and it is, as we have already seen, the knowledge of God obtained from revelation, which awakens man’s dormant powers of mind, which leads him onward and upward in virtue and intelligence.

Deprive religion of its weekly rest, and by what means is it to gain access to the ears and to the understandings of working men, and their children? When is it to pour its light into their minds, and the influence of devotion into their hearts? When shall the labourer study the book of God, or working men gather together to hear, not the teachings of erring man, but, with the[Pg 108] Scriptures of truth in their hands, to listen to the voice of that infallible Wisdom which was with God when he laid the foundations of the earth? Shall it be after a day of laborious exertion has rendered them unfit, by exhaustion, for the close application of their minds to any serious study? Alas for the advancement of the labouring portion of the community in intelligence and morality! Alas for the refinement of manners, and the cultivation of mind among them, if it is to be left to such seasons! So absolutely essential to the well-being of man does the Sabbath appear, whether viewed in relation to his eternal or his temporal interests, that, could we suppose it possible for man, destitute of the weekly rest, to become conscious of the wants of his own nature, we should conclude that he would have instituted, of his own accord, a Sabbath for himself.[Pg 109] Those who, either for worldly gain or the pursuit of pleasure, profane the sacred hours of Sabbath rest, are not only despising one of the most important institutions of religion, but they are doing what in them lies to undermine one of the most enduring defences of human liberty.

He who would take from the working man his Sabbath, would take with it the mind-awakening influence of religion; would keep the gate of knowledge, and forbid his entrance; would throw an impassable barrier in the way of his progress in civilization, and leave him the slave of the despot, the tool of the crafty politician, and the follower of the superstitious zealot, or the religious impostor.

Let those, then, who would seek to transmit to their children that liberty and those rights for which their fathers have struggled and bled, rear them amidst Sabbath influences,[Pg 110] fill their minds with those subjects for the study of which the weekly rest was instituted, and accustom them to Sabbath exercises; and, most assuredly, they will rise above the oppression of the tyrant, see through the devices of the crafty, the subtlety of the sophist, and the deceit of the impostor.

All the efforts which have ever been made by the rude arm of physical force, to rescue mankind from oppression, have been utterly futile; and if any one will survey the state of the nations at the present moment, he will find the liberty and the privileges enjoyed by the people, to be exactly proportioned to the extent to which general intelligence and the knowledge of the word of God are diffused among them. What has the sword ever effected for the redemption of mankind from tyranny? It may have wrenched power from[Pg 111] the hand of one party, but it has only been to give it into the hand of another equally liable to abuse it. Has it been torn from the hand of a lawless and merciless despot? It has been given into the hands of an insolent and brutal soldiery, or a superstitious mob, who soon trampled under foot that liberty which had been purchased for them with the blood of their brethren. Every revolution which has been effected by violence, affords proof of this.

It has been the blood of the martyr—the patient endurance and unshaken fortitude of him who would rather yield up liberty and life itself, than deny the truth—the peaceable, but persevering and indefatigable missionary, whose exertions have been devoted to the spread of the knowledge of God among men, who, by introducing religion and its Sabbath, and bringing man into[Pg 112] intercourse with his God, the great Lord of all, to whom all are equally responsible, the governed and the governor, the subject and the prince, the servant and his master; and thus, by awakening in men a sense of their personal responsibility, has aroused their minds to activity. It is the knowledge of their responsibility—of the great truth that all must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to give, each one, an account of the deeds done in the body—which causes men to think and act for themselves, and thus raises them above the subtlety and power of selfishness and ambition.

Although the Sabbath comes laden with blessings for the sons of men, yet let it never be forgotten, that he only whom the truth has made free, he who has left the service of sin, to become the Lord’s free man, doing the will of God from the heart, can fully appreciate[Pg 113] or enjoy, not only its spiritual, but even its merely temporal blessings. He who has never tasted that God is good, who has never in joyful confidence committed the salvation of his soul into the hand of Jesus, will but abuse its benefits, neglect its duties, and despise its privileges.

How often does Monday morning give painful evidence of the total uselessness of the weekly rest to those who look upon it merely as a day of rest from toil, and a season for recreation! Even the rest they talk of is thrown away, and they are jaded and exhausted by folly and intemperance. Monday finds them scarce fit for the labour of the day: instead of the animal system being refreshed and health improved, the body is abused, and disease engendered; while among those who, though knowing nothing of the living power of religion, yet influenced[Pg 114] by the customs and opinions of society around them, show no small regard for the Sabbath, how often are its blessed influences almost entirely buried underneath the rubbish of mere ceremonial sanctity! No wonder, if childhood, sternly commanded to assume the serious gravity of age, through the long, weary, empty hours of an inactive Sabbath, should imbibe a deep-rooted dislike to religion and its Sabbath. No wonder, if, in families where it is thus observed, the minds of the young should become disaffected to that religion, of which such an empty, gloomy institution is viewed as a part; that, having received such a false idea of religion, they should plunge headlong into the pleasures, follies, and vices of the world, thinking that such lifeless and gloomy exercises will better suit the weakness and infirmity of age, than the fresh[Pg 115] and buoyant activity of youth; and thus reap the results of an irregular and intemperate life, in a shattered constitution and depraved character. No wonder, if youth, coming forth from the bosom of such families, should be easily deluded by sophistry, and, caught in the snares of scepticism, should step into the ranks of unbelievers, or sink to the fate of the criminal and the vicious.

He who blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, never meant that that day, whose first morning beam fell upon the joyful activity of a new and perfect creation; whose dawning light saw the Son of man arise triumphant over death and the grave, should be spent in listless, motionless silence, or in soulless, meaningless ceremony. No; holy its hours indeed are, sanctified, set apart; not however to solemn, gloomy, lifeless inactivity;[Pg 116] but hallowed to rest and refreshment, sacred to joy, set apart to active, cheerful, and strenuous exertion for the improvement of ourselves and others in holiness, virtue, and intelligence. Doubtless, thousands who have never felt the power of the truth in an awakened conscience and a renewed heart, are reaping many and important benefits from the Lord’s-day, in the more general diffusion of knowledge, and the advancement of civilization, besides the comfortable rest and refreshment it affords their bodies. But they can only to a limited extent enjoy the beneficial influence of the weekly rest, whether viewed as increasing their enjoyment in this present life, or as fitting them for happiness hereafter.

While, then, considering it of the utmost importance, that this day should be preserved from the encroachments of labour[Pg 117] and amusement, that working men should be protected by the law of their country in the observance of it, and regarding it as of paramount importance, that it be preserved in its unimpaired sanctity as the birthright of every Briton,—I would earnestly, solemnly, and affectionately, urge upon the attention of those who, seeking the improvement of the temporal condition of the labouring population of our country, and aware of the powerful influence which a proper observance of the Sabbath would have in effecting their elevation, are endeavouring to call the attention of the legislature to the subject,—that, here, legal enactments can do but little; they may put down, to some extent, the more public and glaring forms of Sabbath profanation, but this will only increase the amount of secret desecration. Those who have no heart for the proper observance of[Pg 118] this day, may be prevented from spending it in certain kinds of labour or amusement, railway travelling, pleasure excursions, and such like: by being prevented from enjoying themselves in such pursuits, however, they will be driven into the secret haunts of dissipation and vice; and thus, although it is no doubt well, that, where wickedness cannot be eradicated, it should be made ashamed to show its head, yet comparatively little good can be effected by the civil ruler, in promoting the cause of Sabbath observance. I would entreat them to bear in mind, that it is only the truths of the Gospel imparting spiritual life, implanting moral principle, bringing the will of man into subjection to the will of his Creator, and awakening the intellect, that can enable man to reap that full harvest of temporal good[Pg 119] from the weekly rest which it is so well fitted to afford him.

Let, then, all who would see man redeemed from ignorance and slavery, vice and degradation—all who would see the working man refined in manners and elevated in character and condition, exert their utmost energy in the diffusion of knowledge, in the education of youth, but above all, in calling the attention of men to Divine truth, to the glad tidings of salvation; and for this purpose let them rejoice in, and employ the Sabbath as connected with religion, as affording time for spreading abroad the knowledge of God: this is the lever which is to lift man from the degradation of the fall, and make him fit to be the inhabitant of a new earth, wherein all the evils which at present surround him shall be unknown.

What varied agencies is not the Sabbath[Pg 120] calling into operation, to press forward and give fresh impulse to the onward movement! Not only is the stolid mind of the untaught workman aroused, impelling motive and untiring energy imparted, to carry him on in the upward path of self-improvement; but the sympathies of his nature are also awakened, and, looking on the moral and intellectual degradation, and the physical wretchedness around him, his heart is yearning over his fellow-men, and the weekly rest affording him time, he is stretching out the hand of a brother to those who are sunk in ignorance and vice, he is pointing the upward path, and stimulating to the upward movement. See that young man, whose daily earnings, perchance, are needful, not merely for his own support, but it may be, for the support of aged parents, or of young and helpless brothers and sisters; the circumstances[Pg 121] of whose early years had prevented his enjoying more than the limited advantages of a common grammar-school education, or, perhaps, not even allowed of his receiving so much as a common school education, but whose knowledge has been picked up in Sabbath classes, or at the fireside of hard-working parents, whose straitened circumstances required that even in his boyhood he should strain every nerve to assist them in supplying, by his labour, the wants of a young and numerous family: he is not only walking steadfastly and firmly himself in the path of improvement, but taking the lead, and urging on his fellow-men, devoting his little hour of Sabbath rest, and Sabbath leisure, not to mere repose, or sensual indulgence, but gathering his fellow-men around him that he may reason with them out of the Scriptures, or[Pg 122] calling together, for instruction, a class of ragged, untrained children, or wending his way to yonder wretched garret, or that damp cellar, where want, disease, and vice have taken up their abode together, that he may ascertain why that squalid child was absent from the Sabbath-school class, and drop a word of encouragement to the boy, or address a word of warning and entreaty to the parents.

Who has not felt convinced, on viewing scenes like these, agencies like these called into operation, that it is the weekly rest in the hands of living, active religion, which is destined to reach the very lowest depths of society, to lift humanity from the degrading pollutions of vice, and from the servile dependence and helplessness of ignorance; and that to take from the children of toil the Lord’s-day, were to take from them at once the means of self-improvement, and[Pg 123] also the opportunity of doing anything towards the improvement of others?

Let those, then, who seek the elevation and refinement of the labouring population, do all that in them lies to spread among them the knowledge of true religion and the observance of the Sabbath. Science may advance, art and philosophy instruct those who have means and leisure for their study; but of what avail would they ever become to labouring men, did not Religion by her Sabbath open up the way for them? Yes; Christianity is the pioneer, and they follow in its footsteps. Besides, what is man, with his moral nature unimproved? His intellect may be powerful and highly cultivated; he may be learned in art and science, acquainted with all the properties of matter, and with every system of philosophy, ancient and modern; he may be capable of[Pg 124] bringing creation, animate and inanimate, into subserviency to his pleasure and convenience; the lightnings of heaven may, at his bidding, fly with his message; and the hidden treasures of the earth may come forth to the light of day: at the command of art and science, starting into motion, he may be conveyed almost with the rapidity of thought, to his desired destination; fire, water, and air, may accomplish his labour for him; but, if his religious feelings are dormant or misdirected, or if his moral nature is depraved, he is but the more capacitated to spread destruction and misery around him; to be miserable in himself, and a curse and a scourge to mankind. He can use, with more ability, the subtlety and the arts of the impostor; he can, with more dexterity, forge or use weapons of war, or set armies in battle array; or he may be a more able and[Pg 125] dangerous leader in riot and insurrection; a more dexterous highwayman, robber, or assassin; but, without the cultivation of his moral nature by religion, he is neither fitted to receive happiness himself, nor impart it to others.

Religion not only awakens and cultivates man’s intellect, it also subdues and governs his animal propensities, exalts and refines his moral feelings, and by doing so, redeems him from much present suffering, and opens to him inexhaustible treasures of enjoyment in himself and others, impelling him to exert all the energies of his nature, not in seeking merely his own, but in securing the well-being of his fellow-men, making him more willing to impart than to exact, more yielding than commanding, more ready to bear with, than to claim forbearance—in a word, writing upon his heart, in living characters,[Pg 126] the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and thus putting an end to all strife, emulation, broils, and discord, and war in every form, with all its attendant miseries.

Yes; let those who long for that blissful period when men shall be united in one universal brotherhood; when peace shall make her dwelling among them, and good-will fill every heart; when the reward of the husbandman’s toil—the yellow fields of waving grain—shall no more be trampled beneath the hoof of the war-horse, nor his hard-won earnings wrung from his hand, to keep in repair the machinery of war—when men shall no more study the art of destroying each other, but shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; let those who long for, and labour to introduce this happy era, see in the Sabbath[Pg 127] the oil which is to still the waves of human strife—in its memorials, its influences, its exercises, the links of that chain of love, which is yet to bind heart to heart, from one end of the earth to the other, and encircle the whole with an unbroken and everlasting bond of union.

When men meet together on the first day of the week, to break bread, to surround the table of their Lord, to pass from hand to hand the cup of blessing, to hear the words and study the character of Him who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to Him who judgeth righteously; when they, as the children of that God who is by his love manifested in the gift of his well-beloved Son, subduing the enmity of his enemies and reconciling them to himself, meet thus together on the first day of the[Pg 128] week, not to hear the voice of a human orator, nor to attend to the words of a fallible instructor, but to gather around the Scriptures of truth, the word of the living and true God, to learn his will, that with willing and ready feet, they may run in the way of his commandments; when they study his character, as he there reveals himself, that their moral nature may become assimilated to his, that they may be like their Father in heaven, who maketh his sun to shine upon the evil and the good; what must be the result? Who will hesitate to say, were working men all to meet weekly, thus to keep the Lord’s-day as appointed by Himself, that soon the oppressor would cease out of the land; that intemperance, ignorance, vice of all kinds, with all the poverty, disease, and wretchedness, inseparably connected with them, would be for[Pg 129] ever banished; and peace, descending from the skies, whither sin had caused her to take her flight, again dwell with redeemed man?

And ever as we approach nearer and nearer to such a use of the weekly rest; and ever as the circle widens of those who feel it not their duty only, but their dearest, choicest privilege, thus to spend and enjoy this day—do we approach more nearly to the long-predicted age of millennial glory, to the dawn of the great Sabbath of the world, that Sabbath of rest from sin and suffering, strife and oppression, when the Lord himself shall judge the nations in righteousness, when the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be brought low, and the Lord alone be exalted.

The Lord’s-day can never be trifled with but at our peril. Like every appointment of our benevolent Creator, it was instituted[Pg 130] for the benefit of his creatures, wisely adapted to fulfil its purpose; and he who sells its privileges for gain, or barters them for pleasure, makes a poor bargain indeed. Selfishness—narrow, ungenerous, short-sighted selfishness—generally outwits itself; and this is especially the case with employers, who, regardless of the comfort, health, or morality of the employed, engage them in labour on this day, and thereby deprive them of its benefits. The interests of employers are inseparably connected with the well-being of the employed. The labour of a healthy, steady, honest, intelligent workman, is of double value to that of him who cannot be depended upon, whose moral principles are unsound, or his habits irregular; whose mind is uncultivated, or his body debilitated by disease. And those who engage men in labour or business upon the first day of[Pg 131] the week, may blame themselves, if, in a few years, they find it difficult to have their work well performed, and discover that their property is far from being secure.

The Sabbath has, with beautiful propriety, been called, “the poor man’s day;” and it seems, indeed, peculiarly adapted to confer important advantages upon him: not one of these, however, is obtained at the expense of the employers. Its blessings are suited to all classes, but the working-classes more especially require its provisions for their happiness. If the servant, after a week of labour, enjoys a day of rest, and appears in the meeting of the disciples of Jesus, clean, comfortably dressed, and respectable as his master, it is, that, fresh and vigorous, he may with hearty good-will enter upon the labours of another week. A feeling of self-respect, and a sense of moral obligation, raise him[Pg 132] above eye-service, or anything like slight, sluggish, or improper performance of labour; a feeling which, though it cannot stoop to cringing servility, would sooner brook disrespect than show it to another, whether employer or fellow-servant; and a sense of moral obligation, which makes him faithful in whatever he is entrusted with, enables him to understand and claim his own rights, and induces him without reserve, to give to all others their due.

The Sabbath interferes with the interests of none but those who live by the ignorance, superstition, vice, and degradation of mankind; those who have their wealth from Babylon the great, who traffic in “slaves and souls of men.”

Let all, then, of every class and station, examine this subject; the more it is viewed in the light of truth, the more its importance[Pg 133] will appear. He who is desirous of the well-being of his fellow-men, ought not, and cannot consistently, pass it lightly by; and even he whose contracted mind looks only at his personal interest, may not safely slight it.

EDITED BY
REV. ROBERT BAIRD, D. D.

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Another essential feature of our work will be a monthly memorial or resumé of the progress of religion in all lands. We shall pay particular attention to missionary operations throughout the world, and keep our readers acquainted with the progress of religion in foreign countries by the various missionaries there employed.

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Although we shall keep clear of discussions on doctrinal points, we shall feel at full liberty to animadvert freely on whatever we may deem errors in practice, wherever they may exist. At the same time, we shall advocate, with all our powers, every true Christian reform which shall tend to improve and elevate mankind.

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Or the Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath to the Working Classes.

BY JOHN ALLAN QUINTON.

With a Prefatory Notice by Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D.

This beautiful Essay on the Sabbath, from the pen of a journeyman printer, of Ipswich, England, received the first prize which was offered by Mr. Henderson, of Glasgow, for essays on that subject by working men. The fact that it was selected for the first prize, out of 1045 compositions, must be sufficient proof of its merit. The American edition contains a very interesting preface by Dr. Tyng. It is illustrated, neatly bound in cloth, and is sold for 37¹⁄₂ cents.

NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

“It is a manly, direct, and most conclusive presentation of the temporal benefits of observing the Sabbath, which we should suppose no one could peruse without a definite impression. It should especially reach laboring men—its strong sense and clear logic are finely suited to make an impression upon the popular mind.”—New York Evangelist.

“The work should be scattered broadcast over the land.”—Protestant Churchman.

“The treatise considers the advantages of the Sabbath under the heads of Physical, Mercantile, Intellectual, Domestic, Moral, and Religious. The author does not write theoretically, but from personal experience; and no working man can read his essay without feeling that the Sabbath is one of the greatest temporal blessings. We trust that the volume will have a wide circulation among all classes in our own country; for all need its salutary counsels. It is written in a very attractive style, and neatly printed.”—Independent.

“This is a strong, clear, and admirable essay on the Temporal Advantages of the Sabbath, considered in relation to the working classes.”—Courier and Enquirer.

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A NEW COLLECTION OF HYMNS,

DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR USE IN
Conference and Prayer Meetings,
AND FAMILY WORSHIP.

BY J. DOWLING, D.D.

The design of the present compilation is, in the first place, to add to the life and spirituality of the Conference and the Prayer Meeting; and, secondly, to be an acceptable pocket companion to the Christian, in the family or in the closet.

From most of the Conference hymn books which the editor has examined, a large number of devotional pieces, cherished in the memory and the hearts of the fathers and mothers in our American Zion, have been excluded; probably because the poetry was not regarded as of a sufficiently high order of excellence. The opinion of the present editor is, that sacred songs, embodying scriptural sentiments and genuine religious experience—when not objectionable on the score of vulgarity or grammatical inaccuracy—should not be discarded because they fail to stand the test of a rigid poetical censorship.

To mention a few of the favorite pieces omitted in some recent collections, many Christians will at once recognize the following, associated as some of them are with their sweetest seasons of holy religious enjoyment:—“Sweet land of rest, for thee I sigh”—“Whither goest thou, pilgrim stranger”—“The Lord into his garden comes”—“Farewell, dear friends, I must be gone”—“Amen, amen, my soul replies”—“Come, my brethren, let us try”—“Vain, delusive world, adieu”—“O come, my loving neighbors, will you go to glory with me”—“Let thy kingdom, blessed Saviour”—“There is a land of pleasure”—“O tell me no more of this world’s vain store”—“To-day, if you will hear his voice”—“Beside the gospel pool”—“The Good Old Way,” commencing, “Lift up your heads, Immanuel’s friends”—“The Harvest Home,” commencing, “This is the field, the world below”—“The Bower of Prayer”—“The Saints’ Sweet Home”—and Newton’s pious and expressive pieces—“The Beggar’s Prayer,” commencing, “Encouraged by thy word, of mercy to the poor”—The “Dying Thief,” commencing, “Sovereign grace hath power alone”—and, “The Lord will provide,” commencing, “Though troubles assail and dangers affright.”

One great motive in the present work was to restore, for the use of the Editor’s own congregation and of such others as desire them, the above, and a number of similar devotional and familiar “Sacred Songs,” omitted in some recent Conference hymn books.

▶ Copies for examination furnished gratis to post-paid applications—unbound copies sent by mail.

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EDWARD H. FLETCHER,
No. 141 Nassau street.

The copartnership heretofore existing between the Subscribers, under the firm of LEWIS COLBY & COMPANY, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. All accounts will be settled by Lewis Colby, who is authorized to use the name of the firm in liquidation.

LEWIS COLBY.
EDWARD H. FLETCHER.

New York, September 5th, 1848.

The subscriber respectfully announces to his friends and the public that he has opened a store at 141 Nassau street, where he will continue the same line of the BOOKSELLING and PUBLISHING business which has been pursued by the late firm.

Having been regularly bred to the business, added to which is his experience in the late concern from its commencement, he feels confident that he can offer to his patrons advantageous terms.

The primary object of this establishment will be the publication and sale of Religious Books.

A large assortment of Sabbath School Books will be kept, and to this department much attention will be paid. If Sabbath Schools, wishing to replenish their libraries, or to purchase new ones, will forward their funds, and a list of such books as they already have, their orders will receive prompt attention, and the selection will be carefully made.

Also will be kept, School and Blank Books, and Stationery of every variety—Sermon Paper, Marriage Certificates, &c.

Foreign Books imported, for a small commission.

▶ A liberal discount will be made to Booksellers, Ministers, and Teachers.

EDWARD H. FLETCHER.

New York, September 23d, 1848.

A new edition of this work, which was compiled by Rev. Joseph A. Warne, has just been issued. It contains five hundred hymns, in fair type, and is well printed.

Extract from the Preface.

▶ Copies for examination furnished gratis to post-paid applications.

EDWARD H. FLETCHER,
Publisher,
141 Nassau St., N. York.