his own master he stands or falls ; to Him alone is he accountable for the use which he makes of his Christian liberty. But as no man is at liberty to steal or not to steal as he sees fit, so all " English speaking " Christians with one voice say, he is not at liberty to sanctify or profane the Sabbath, as he sees fit. He is bound by the primal and immutable law given at the creation, to keep one day in seven holy to the Lord.
If it be true that it is peculiar to the Anglo-Saxon race to hold this view of the obligation of the Christian Sabbath, then they have special reason for profound gratitude to God. God of old said to the Israelites, " Hallow my Sabbaths ; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lokd your God." That is, it shall be for a sign that you are my people. So long as you keep the Sabbath holy I will bless you ; when you neglect and profane it, your blessings shall depart from you. (Jer. xvii. 20-27.) If it be then the dis- tinction of Anglo-Saxon Christians, that they are a sabbath- keeping people, it is one to be highly prized and sedulously guarded ; and in this country especially, we should be watchful lest the influx of immigrants of other nationalities deprive us of this great distinction and its blessings.
It is a popular objection against the religious observance of the Lord's Day, that the labouring classes need it as a day of recreation. On this it is obvious to remark, (1.) That there are many grievous evils in our modern civilization, but these are not to be healed by trampling on the laws of God. If men crowd labourers into narrow premises, and overwork them in heated factories six days in the week, they cannot atone for that sin by making the Lord's Day a day for amusement. (2.) So far from Sunday, as generally spent by the labouring class, being a day of refreshment, it is just the reverse. Monday is com- monly with them the worst day in the week for labour; it is needed as a day for recovery from the effects of a misspent Sun- day. (3.) If the labouring classes are provided with healthful places of abode and are not overworked, then the best restora- tive is entire rest from ordinary occupations, and directing their thoughts and feelings into new channels, by the purifying and elevating offices of religion. This is the divinely appointed method of preserving the bodies and souls of men in a healthful state, a method which no human device is likely to improve.
386 PART m. Ch. XIX.— THE LAW.
How is the Sabbath to be Sanctified f It may be said in general terms to be the opinion of the whole Jewish and Christian Church, that the sanctification required by God, consists not merely in cessation from worldly avocations, but also in the consecration of the day to the offices of religion. That this is the correct view is proved, (1.) Not only by the gen- eral consent of the people of God under both dispensations, but also by the constant use of the words to " hallow," to " make " or, " keep holy," and to " sanctify." The uniform use of such expressions, shows that the day was set apart from a common to a sacred use. (2.) From the command to increase the number of sacrifices in the temple service, which proves that the day was to be religiously observed. (3.) From the design of the insti- tution, which from the beginning was religious ; the commemora- tion of the work of creation, and after the advent, of the resur- rection of Christ. (4.) In Leviticus xxiii., a list is given of those days on which there was to be "a holy convocation " of the peo- ple ; *'. e., on which the people were to be called together for public worship, and the Sabbath is the first given. (5.) The command is constantly repeated that the people should be faith- fully instructed out of the law, which was to be read to them on all suitable occasions. To give opportunity for such instruction was evidently one of the principal objects of these " holy convo- cations." (Deut. vi. 6, 7, 17-19 ; Josh. i. 8.) This, instruction of the people was made the special duty of the Levites (Deut. xxxiii. 10) ; and of the priests. (Lev. x. 11, comp. Mai. ii. 7.) The reading of the law was doubtless a regular part of the service on all the days on which the people were solemnly called together for religious worship. Thus in Deuteronomy xxxi. 11, 12, we read, " When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law." Such was the design of the convocation of the people. We know from the New Testament that the Scrip- tures were read every Sabbath in the synagogues ; and the syn agogues were among the earliest institutions of the chosen peo- ple. 2 Kings iv. 23, at least proves that at that period it was customary for the people to resort on the Sabbath to holy men