•[[ Christianity has given us the Sabbath, the jubilee of the whole world, whose light dawns welcome alike into the closet of the philosopher, into the garret of toil, and into prison -cells, and everywhere suggests even to the vile the dignity of spiritual being.*
^ It is the student's day, whereon he may turn from the * John Ellerton. ^ C. J. Ridgeway. » Emerson.
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ordinary to the sublimer world of thought and find new inspiration for his daily endeavour. It is the doubter's day, on which he may investigate the most momentous questions of God and duty and destiny. It is the children's day, when the home circle may be perfect, and sweet memories be planted which shall fill the later years with their fragrance. The children need the gentle influence of the Sabbath. And if we who are no longer children were to give ourselves up to the consecration and the conservation of the day in the interest of the young life of the land, we should not only ensure a better and a larger life to the next generation, but we should ourselves enter more fully and with greater plenitude of power into that Kingdom of which its Founder said to His disciples, " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." The Sabbath is the poor man's day, when he can have leisure to reward the love of wife and children, go with them to the house of God, and enjoy to the full what Longfellow calls " the dear, delicious, silent Sunday, to the weary workman both of brain and hand the beloved day of rest." It is the rich man's day, when, if he will, he may throw off the burdens of anxiety and prove to his family that there are some things he prizes as much as stocks and estates and silver and gold — a day when he may transfer some of his treasures to the heavens and fix his heart on things above, where moth and rust cannot corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal. It is the mourner's day, on which eyes that weep in sore bereavement may look upward and hear a voice out of the heavens say, " In my Father's house are many mansions." It is the true all saints' day, when, rising above the littleness, the rivalries, the limitations of this life, we may look through Sabbath skies to the innumerable company in the city on Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.^
I have a birthright straight from heaven, A birthright in which all men share;
By my own Maker's hand 'twas given, 'Tis sanctified by praise and prayer;
I shall not give that right away;
No man shall have my Sahbath day!
All through the week let anvils ring, And hammers clang and bellov/s blow;
Let bright sparks fly and sledges swing, And bar and furnace gleam and glow:
But speak up, blacksmith ; boldly say,
" No man shall have my Sahbath day ! " » J. H. Vincent.
ST. MARK 105
Bend, weary weaver, o'er your loom
All week from dawning's glimmering sky,
And till the twilight gathers gloom Let treddles tramp and shuttles ply:
But speak up, brother; boldly say,
" You shall not have my Sahbath day ! "
Let axes flash in forest glades
While oak and ash and elm tree fall;
Let the slow team toil through the shades, Obedient to their driver's call :
But speak up, woodman; boldly say,
" You shall not have my Sahbath day!**
From mill and factory and mine
Still let this selfsame cry arise; Claim one day as a holy shrine
In which to commune with the skies : Speak up, and loudly, boldly say, " You shall not have my Sahbath day ! "
It is our birthright straight from heaven
'Tis sanctified by praise and prayer; By our great Maker's hand 'twas given,
And trench upon it who shall dare: We shall not give that right away, No man shall have our Sabbath day!^
ii. It IS a Gift for the Whole Man.
The Sabbath is made for man, that is, for man as God designed and created him. The whole man must have the opportunity of sharing in the benefits of the day, or it fails in its object. The body of man finds in it the rest it needs ; not, indeed, by doing nothing, for idleness is never true rest, but in change of occupation. The mind of man rests not by lying fallow and thinking of nothing, but by diverting its energies into new channels. The heart of man renews its strength not by ceasing to love, but in change of surroundings, in the quiet of home life and home affections and interests. The spirit of man puts forth new powers, as raised heavenward it contemplates the unseen, and looks up to God instead of being engrossed in 1 The British Workman, 1867.
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the earthy. " On Sunday," says Lord Macaulay, " man, the machine of machines, is repairing and winding up, so that he returns to his labours on Monday with clear intellect, with livelier spirits, and with renewed vigour." The quaint rhymes of Sir Matthew Hale emphasise this in familiar words —