HORE SABBATICE,

&c. &c.

1. Of the various rites which have been established by the founders of the different religions of the world, perhaps there is no one which is so intimately connected with the temporal happiness and comfort of mankind, as that of the observance of one day in every seven as a day of rest. The appropriation of certain days, at short periods of time, to the purposes of devotion, of recreation, and of relaxation from worldly cares, seems to be an institution peculiarly adapted to the improvement of the mind, and to the advancement of civilisation. And yet the example of the Turks, the strictest of all the observers of a Sabbath in modern times, proves that excellent as the institution is, human perverseness may prevail, to render it useless, to defeat the ends for which it was probably originally intended, and to destroy the good effects which it was so well calculated to produce.

Its

2. The state of ignorance and barbarism, into which the inhabitants of the countries have fallen, which were formerly possessed by the elegant and enlightened caliphs, makes it evident that this institution is not necessarily accompanied with improvement and civilisation; and after its first institution amongst Christians, it was equally unavailable, to prevent the well-known ignorance and barbarism of the middle ages; but in each case this effect has arisen by the abuse of it, or in opposition to it, not by its means. tendency was evidently to produce a contrary effect; and it can only be regretted that its power was not greater and more efficacious. 3. But it is not fair to reason against the use, from the abuse of a thing; and there is nothing in this world which may not be converted to an evil purpose, and the good effects of which may not be destroyed by artful and designing men. A proof of this may be found in the way in which attempts are now making in this country, to convert the institution of which I am treating to purposes pernicious in the highest degree to society-to make use of it to create

or encourage a morose and gloomy superstition, the effect of which will be to debase, not to exalt or improve the human mind.

4. The Puritans, Evangelical Christians as they call themselves, the modern Pharisees in reality, a sect auswering exactly to the Pharisees of old, finding that the restoration of the Jewish Sabbath, which was peculiarly ordained in the Old Testament for the use of the Jews, is well calculated to serve their purpose, and being precluded by various circumstances of their situation from having recourse to the expedients of the Catholic priests, to gain possession of the minds of their votaries, have exerted all their power by its means to attain this object.' These are the reasons why we hear more of the heinous crime of Sabbath-breaking, than of all other vices together. And hence every nerve has been strained to the utmost, to extract from passages both in the Old and New Testament, meanings favorable to this design, which the words will not justify. But the fair unsophisticated doctrines on this subject, as taught in these works, are what it is intended here to inquire into and discuss.

5. In the whole of the New Testament, a single passage cannot be discovered clearly directing the observance of a Sabbath. If this institution be of the importance which some persons attach to it in a religious point of view, it seems very extraordinary that not one of the Evangelists should have stated any thing clearly upon the subject:-very strange that we do not find the mode described in which it was kept by the first disciples, or the apostles, in plain, clear, and unequivocal language.

6. It seems reasonable to expect, that if the earliest Christians, the apostles or disciples, had considered that the observance of the Sunday was actually an exchange of the Sabbath from the Saturday, by divine appointment, we should find in the Acts of the Apostles all our doubts removed; and removed, not by implication or forced construction, but by a clear and unequivocal

statement.

7. By the early Christians at first the Jewish Sabbath was strictly kept, but after some time it seems to have been considered by their immediate followers, along with all other Jewish ceremonies, to have been abolished; but they appear very wisely to have thought, that it would be useful and proper to select one day in the week, which, without neglecting the ordinary duties of life arising out of their respective situations, should be appropriated to the observance of religious duties, of rest and recreation. This

No doubt, amongst the Pharisees of old, as amongst our Evangelical Christians, there were many good, well-disposed persons, the dupes of the knaves.

does not seem to have been the act of any regular deliberative meeting, but to have taken place by degrees, and to have been considered merely as a measure of discipline, liable at any time to be varied or omitted, as the heads of the religion might think was expedient.

8. From a variety of passages in the Gospels, Jesus appears in his actions to have made no distinction betwixt the Sabbath and any other day; doing the same things on the Sabbath that he did on any other day. In reply to this it is said, that what he did on the Sabbath was good and useful—such as healing the sick: this is true; but he did nothing on any other day which was not good and useful; and therefore nothing in favor of the Sabbath can be inferred from this. Every thing which is not bad is good; and it is wrong to do any thing on any day which is not good. One of the most important of all the Jewish rites, and one of the most strictly enforced by the Pharisees, was the observance of the Sabbath; and it appears evident, that Jesus performed various actions for the express purpose of making manifest his disapprobation of the strict observance of this rite, or indeed of its observance at all.

9. After he had healed the sick man at the pool of Bethesda, he ordered him to remove his bed on the Sabbath-day; and it appears from John v. 10, 11, 12, that a very correct and marked distinction was made by the Jews, betwixt healing the man and carrying away the bed: they say,

It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy couch. Afterward, when the Jews charged Jesus with having broken the Sabbath in this instance, his reply was very extraordinary: v. 17, My Father worketh until now, and I work.

10. If the doctrine of Jesus be deduced by implication from his conduct, from this very instance the Sabbath must be held to be abolished. He expressly says to the observation on the subject of the couch, "I work." The answer of Jesus clearly applies to the moving the bed as well as healing the man; because the expression is, "these things," in the plural number; and there were but two acts which could be referred to.

11. But another observation offers itself on this subject: here is the fairest opportunity afforded to Jesus to support the Sabbath, if he had thought proper. If he had thought it right that the Sabbath should have been continued, he would have said to the sick man, Arise, and walk, and remove thy bed when the Sabbath is over. He would then have taught in the clearest and shortest terms possible, the propriety of doing good works of necessity, and the impropriety of doing such as were not works of necessity on the Sabbath. In every one of the following texts, an opportunity is

afforded to Jesus, so favorable for the inculcation of the observance of the Sabbath, that it is very difficult to account for his neglect of it, if it were his intention that it should be continued.

Luke xiv. 4, 5. xiii. 14. vi. 6-10. Matt. xii. 2. Mark ii. 27. John vii. 22. ix. 16.

12. Jesus constantly evades the attacks of the Jews on the ground of necessity; but in no instance does he drop a word expressive of disapprobation, of doing even unnecessary works on the Sabbath. This is named, though it is not necessary to the argument; because if he had expressed himself against doing unnecessary works on the Jewish Sabbath, no consequence could be drawn from this circumstance respecting the Christian observance of Sunday.

13. In Luke xviii. Jesus has an opportunity of a different kind from the above, of supporting the Sabbath; but he avoids it.

18. A certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19. And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is God.

20. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22. Now, when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, &c.

14. Here Jesus not only avoids directing the observance of the Sabbath; but in actually specifying the commandments by name which are necessary to insure salvation, and omitting the Sabbath, if he do not actually abolish it, the neglect of the opportunity of inculcating it raises by implication a strong presumption against it. But, indeed, in not adding the observance of the Sabbath to the one thing more which was lacking, he actually abolishes it, if the common signification of words is to be received.

15. The ordering the bed to be removed was one breach of the Sabbath, and the following passage exhibits a second example of a premeditated breach of it by Jesus.

16. At the first verse of the sixth chapter of Luke it is written,

And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn-fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

17. In this passage it appears, that the disciples of Jesus, with his approbation, reaped the corn on a Sabbath-day. It also appears that he was travelling on that day. The Pharisees, as usual, reprimanded him for breaking the Sabbath, which he justified, saying, "The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath,"

ور

ver. 5.

18. It cannot be supposed that provisions were not to be had in Judea. It is represented to have been almost incredibly rich and populous; and if Jesus had not thought the reaping the corn on the Sabbath justifiable, he would have provided against the necessity of doing it, if any necessity there was. He might also have made use of this occasion to inculcate the doctrine, that though acts of necessity were permitted, all others were expressly forbidden on the Sabbath-day. It is very evident that he was travelling. The road probably as at this day passed through the open corn-fields.

And it came to pass that he went through the corn-fields on the Sabbath; and his disciples began as they went to pluck the ears of corn; and the Pharisees said unto him, See, why do they on the Sabbath that which is not lawful?!

19. The conduct of his disciples he defends, upon the example of David eating the shew-bread, which it was lawful only for the priests to eat; and adds, that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. But not a word is said which can be construed in favour of keeping the Sabbath.

20. It has been observed that only the burthensome parts of the Jewish law were abolished, but that the observance of the Sabbath is not a burthen. Where is the authority for this? Is it not a burthen to be refused permission to cut the wheat when it is shaking, or to carry it from the approaching storm? all which is expressly forbidden on the Jewish Sabbath.

21. The abolition of the Levitical law was intended, but Jesus nowhere expressly declared it to be so. The same reason operated in the case of the abolition of the Levitical law as in the abolition of the Sabbath, to prevent him publicly declaring it.

22. If Jesus had expressly declared that people were to work on the Sabbath, and that it was to be abolished, he would have offended against the 31st chapter and 15th verse of Exodus.

Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath-day, he shall surely be put to death.

23. Indeed the strongest charges brought by the Jews against him were, that he had broken the Sabbath, and attempted the overthrow of the Levitical law. John says, v. 18,

Wherefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also, that God was his Father.

24. If any Jew attempted to destroy the law and constitution as established by Moses, he was clearly by that law liable to suffer

By this it was not meant that they were doing an unlawful act because the corn was not their own, but by Sabbath-breaking. To pluck the ears of corn is permitted by Deut. xxiii. 25.