Part 2

The clouds are generally said to be formed of the vapours and moisture of the earth, and the body of man was created from the dust of the earth. There is here something like an analogy, viewing the body previous to life being imparted, which, although it may appear in some respects not quite parallel, we will admit to be so. The beauty of an evening cloud is caused by the reflection of the sun, which gives to it various bright hues and colours. Without such an agency it would impart no pleasure whatever to the eye of the beholder. The body of man, too, became appreciated only when it received vitality from the Creator. We here perceive two evident influences—a lesser and a much greater—the brilliancy of the rays of the sun on the otherwise darksome cloud, and the pure breath of the Almighty infused into worthless dust! Let the splendid sun withdraw, by the power of Omnipotence, and the cloud immediately loses its attraction—it is then simply the vapours and the moisture of the earth. Now, the mind—which may be considered as the intellectual luminary—gives value to the body, and excites likewise terrene attraction, in the same manner, although in a far more important sense. But if the mind is obscured, the capabilities of the body are deteriorated, while the cloud, notwithstanding the absence of its beauteous influence, retains its original ordained utility. Rain descends from it, which refreshes the inhabitants of the earth, and makes all nature smile. Man, when his body is greatly depressed, although the mind is partially operating on it, becomes an abject mass—of no benefit to his fellow-creatures. Still, let it not be forgotten, that the mind is the _expression_ of the soul, and that the soul will exist when all clouds and this earth shall have passed away for ever! How important is it, then, to preserve the mind, seeing that it governs the body, the actions of which, if not directed by the Spirit of God, decide the eternal destiny of the soul! What, we ask, can possibly more effectually maintain both body and mind in their primitive vigour—so as to enable us not only to discharge satisfactorily our relative duties in this world, but to share that sweet and eternal ‘rest which remaineth for the people of God’—than the strictest adherence to the Divine commandment, “Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy?”

2. The Sabbath is necessary for the preservation of health, on account of the impurities of the atmosphere, arising from a variety of pernicious causes.

The unwholesome impregnations of the atmosphere, in densely populated cities and towns, afford another reason for strictly enforcing the Divine law as regards working on the Sabbath. The great amount of mortality, attributable to this cause, has of late happily excited the most intense interest. It appears that many thousands of the labouring classes are annually consigned to the grave through inhaling obnoxious air. If we required proof of this fact we need only observe the pallid cheeks and sunken eyes of too many working-men—not those who are unemployed, and are in a destitute condition, but those who labour daily in places and situations where the refreshing breeze never scarcely penetrates. We may attribute much of this to the erection of Gas Works, Varnish and other Manufactories, which emit their abominable and destructive effluvia in the very centre of our large cities and towns. To the men employed in such places, and to the inhabitants who dwell around them, how peculiarly beneficial must be the return of the Sabbath! Again, fully admitting the undeniable fact that gas is an incalculable benefit, we know that to toil throughout six evenings in the week, and occasionally whole days at particular seasons of the year, in addition to the oppression arising from breath and the frequent want of proper ventilation, particularly where there are many men employed in the same room, too often terminates in Consumption, {21} or some other fatal disease. Gas is of great utility; but if, for illustration, the sun reflected equal intensity of heat _every day_ alike, it would not only destroy all vegetation but every human creature—withholding its influence at intervals, when it shines forth with meridian splendour, it makes the seed prosperous, the vine fruitful, and imparts cheerfulness to man. Thus it is as respects gas, the Sabbath is a grateful relief, and affords a highly necessary cessation to re-supply the waste of strength which is incurred by it.

We might proceed to a very considerable length with this part of the division of our subject, but it really would appear superfluous. The following startling and melancholy facts must be considered conclusive. In a late Return of the Registrar-General, it is stated, that the average life of a gentleman in London is 43, while that of the artizan, &c., is but 22 years! The same official document informs us that the chances of dying among men above 35 years, in London, is to that in the country as three to two! With such statements before us, is it not a duty we owe to ourselves and families to maintain inviolably the Sabbath? It was ordained by the Creator in mercy to man, and shall we daringly reject and despise such a gracious boon?

Some latitudinarian and impious persons have boldly asserted that the labouring classes have no desire for religious instruction—on what positive evidence this general accusation is made it is impossible to conceive—and that therefore the Sabbath may as well be considered as an ordinary day. This idea is as unjust as it is monstrous. Because the Sabbath is not by the majority esteemed as a sacred day, is that a sufficient reason why it should be desecrated by labour? Many do exhibit an utter indifference to its lovely character and genial influences, but are others in consequence to be deprived of its inestimable blessings, and are the great mass of the people tacitly to bow with submission at the shrine of infidelity? Because many descend into the dark abyss, are none to take their flight to heaven? It has been said, likewise, that many young men, not so utterly debased, make our foregoing argument a pretext for resorting to distant places where the Sabbath is most daringly profaned, and where maddening pleasure is the sole inducement, and that the occasional restriction of employment is of no importance. To admit the soundness of this expedient defence would be to destroy all religious and moral obligations. The _natural_ inclinations of youth are thoughtless and volatile, and it is the duty of the more reflecting portion of the community to check their vicious career, by pourtraying the inevitable fatal consequences which must ultimately attend them. Perhaps the following beautiful lines, which convey a just and stern reproof, may possibly attract the attention of some among the number:—

“Thy thoughts are vagabond; all outward bound; ’Midst sands, and rocks, and storms, to cruise for pleasure;

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Fancy and sense, from an infected shore, Thy cargo brings, and pestilence the prize.”—YOUNG.

But, happily, there are multitudes of working-men and youths who “call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable,” and who look forward to its return, in order to enjoy its spiritual as well as temporal advantages, with almost more anxiety than the husbandman, in anticipation of his gains, to the produce of a bountiful harvest. Without a Sabbath man would become puerile, sickly, and spiritually dead.

3. The Sabbath affords an opportunity to the labouring classes to attend to one of the greatest social duties—CLEANLINESS.

If there is any truth in the preceding remarks, the necessity for keeping the body properly cleansed, and changing every seventh day our habiliments, is so palpable that any arguments to enforce either the one or the other would almost appear unnecessary. Let us reflect, however, for a short time on this part of our subject. The injurious properties mixed up in the materials used by many trades are of a nature that require more than customary slight ablutions to prevent them from penetrating into the system. When the working-man returns to his home, at night, he is generally so exhausted that he finds scarcely the least disposition to undergo the process of “a thorough good wash;” and, in truth, although in no respect regardless of becoming decency, or ignorant of the benefits which it would confer on his health, he rests satisfied, _for this once_, with a slight rince of the hands and face, if he does not yield to the suggestion that it may be dispensed with altogether—but “this once” has sometimes no defined period for termination, at least not until the Sabbath morning arrives. In such cases, considering the short time allotted for social and other purposes, and the great depression of body and mind, the evil is more the result of uncontrollable causes than of wilful disinclination to perform a salutary duty. There is, however, no palliation for an habitual daily deviation from a procedure which is so highly beneficial to health and comfort. But, observe this toil-worn labourer on the Sabbath, and then there will be seen a man whose general appearance denotes that he is fully sensible of the advantages to be derived from cleanliness. It is, nevertheless, much to be regretted that any portion of the working classes should be so much harassed, when in employment, as to render it justifiable that a considerable portion of the early part of the Sabbath should be devoted to such necessary purposes, in order thoroughly to purify themselves for another week. Still, in a temporal view, how salutary is the seventh-day to these individuals! There are others for whom we can offer no such excuse—who seem to place no value whatever on propriety of appearance, and who display no outward respect for a proper observance of the Sabbath. The characters to whom we here allude may be seen standing at the corners of our streets, or strolling along the public pathways, covered with the dirt of their weekly occupation on the Sabbath morning. These men altogether reject the implantation of wholesome and necessary duties. The orderly and cleanly apartment of an industrious wife affords them no delight. They can witness, unmoved by shame, their neighbours dressed in their best attire, and many of them repairing, with cheerful hearts, to the house of God. These latter partake even now in part of the eternal rest of heaven!

“The Sabbath gathers to their common home.”

But it may be truly said of the former that they have not yet learnt “what is their chief business upon earth, and what is the reckoning that awaits them at the Divine Tribunal.”

Another class of working-men habituate themselves to a custom, in some trades more prevalent than in others, which is particularly censurable, and the impropriety of which deserves their most serious consideration. We refer to the practice of wearing an apron on the morning of the Sabbath. Surely the journeyman and the labourer behold the emblem of toil sufficiently during the six days without unnecessarily exposing it to public gaze on the Sabbath-day! It is a usage which is generally condemned. The worldling objects to the practice, because it does not harmonize with the fashions and gaieties of life; the moralist disapproves of it as not consonant with secular polity; but the Christian condemns it, from a pure and holy motive, as giving countenance to a breach of the law of God!

Still, notwithstanding, how delightful it is to observe the universal appearance of cleanliness on the Sabbath-day! In whatever house we enter, with few exceptions, we see on this special day every thing in comparative order; the inmates neatly attired, and the furniture cleansed and placed in its proper position. If we look at the exterior of our dwellings, we see a public evidence of the value of female industry. Without a stated Sabbath this could not be the case. One family would select a different day to another, while the sloven, not being forced by general example, would certainly pay far less attention to the discharge of these salutary duties. Indeed, it is very doubtful, under such altered circumstances, whether contagious or other diseases would not depopulate, to a most awful extent, the inhabitants of our crowded cities and towns. Thus we again see the importance of the Sabbath, as regards cleanliness, both to individuals and the nation. {27}

4. The Sabbath is essential for the preservation of SIGHT.

Much as we are impressed with the wonderful construction of the various parts of the human frame, in respect to their applicability to perform the respective functions assigned to them, the eye unquestionably creates the greatest interest, on account of its vast utility, the Divine ingenuity of its mechanism, and its liability to receive injury from the slightest accidental cause. The sight is one of the most invaluable blessings. The rich who are deprived of the faculty of vision, although they may possess extensive domains in a country whose vallies are as Eschol, whose forests are as Carmel, and whose hills are as Lebanon, cannot enjoy the magnificence and beauty of the scenery which surrounds them; but they can listen with almost unalloyed pleasure to the melodious notes of the warbling bird, or to the sweet and powerful intonations of musical sounds, and their wealth supplies every other earthly luxury and enjoyment, which tends materially to lessen the otherwise severe poignancy of their deprivation. How widely different is the melancholy situation of the labouring man, when his eyes are impaired by weakness or disease, or when he is totally deprived of sight! At once he is reduced to abject poverty, and becomes either the recipient of private charity, or the inmate of a workhouse. The fine landscape, much as he too may desire to gaze on it, is to him of trifling or no consideration—it will not satisfy the hungry stomach, nor shelter the body from the midnight blast! Such is the mournful effect of the loss of sight to the labouring classes. How important is it, then, that they should avail themselves of every established right to abstain from work, in order that this susceptible and essential faculty may receive additional strength?

We have previously shown that the prolonged hours of labour are incompatible with bodily health and mental vigour, and that the Sabbath is absolutely requisite to enable man to perform his accustomed employment—so it is with regard to the eye. The vision is affected by lengthened intensity of observation on any one particular object. It requires variety and relief, both of which the Creator has abundantly provided. The variegated flowers, the different shades of colour in minerals, the lofty trees and the little plants, the mountainous districts and the level plains, the brilliant and diversified hues that frequently decorate the heavens, all combine to testify that the eye cannot retain its perfection, if it is continually fixed on the same scene. The poor needlewomen, who sit the entire day, and sometimes do not cease from their tedious and spirit-subduing work until the light dawns on the following morning, afford a very striking exemplification of the great and unspeakable advantages of the Sabbath. What would be their sad condition—wretched and deplorable even as it is now—were it not that on the seventh day the eye was relieved of its monotonous and weary application? Alas! many of these pitiable females, even with this gracious opportunity to repair the injury inflicted by almost incessant toil, are often at an early age incapacitated, by defective vision, from pursuing their ill-paid occupations, and are then left destitute of their former scanty pittance to procure even sufficient sustenance to preserve life. Take, also, the men who work in pits and mines—where the glimmering lamp is the only source of light, and where all else around is chaotic darkness—how essential and benignant must be the Sabbath to them! Defective vision would completely prevent such men from pursuing their hazardous employment. Thus we once more prove the temporal advantages of the Sabbath to the labouring population.

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Having directed our attention to these four important divisions of our subject, we will now proceed to make some promiscuous observations in connection with them. Reckless competition, in order to acquire wealth at all hazards in an unusually short period—not the competition which emanates from a natural and laudable desire to increase trade by equitable and just efforts—and the secret influence of infidel impressions, may generally be considered as the two primary causes of “Sunday labour.” The plea of necessity cannot be admitted. We often hear it asserted, however, especially in reference to the periodical press, that there exists this ‘necessity,’ in order that the public may not be disappointed in receiving on a precise day their publications. But surely the page of classic lore, or the Magazine of Literature, Arts, and Sciences—the bright gems of civilization—need not the foul impress of Sabbath labour! A very little judicious extra arrangement would render it entirely unnecessary, and the same remark is applicable to every other description of work on the seventh-day. Is it not a most humiliating and distressing fact, that, on some of the most interesting and valuable literary and scientific productions of the present age, there are thousands employed on the Sabbath-day? It is impossible to contemplate the probable baneful effects, which are almost certain to be produced on the minds and bodies of those industrious young females who on that day fold and stitch the sheets, without apprehending the most fearful consequences, even as regards their temporal welfare. The statistics of Police Courts disclose many melancholy facts in corroboration of this almost general result. Now, will any reflecting practical man justify the word ‘necessity’ as applied to this description of Sabbath desecration? None whatever. Then there can be no vindication for an unnecessary act which is so injurious to morality, and which induces so frightfully to the commission of sin. It is quite clear, as regards the general performance of trade labour, that, if consistency of moral principle—we say nothing of religious conviction—was duly appreciated, a most cheerful negative would be given to all such propositions, the result of which would be far more satisfactory at the termination of the year.

We must not pass over the sad condition of many of the journeyman tailors. Here is a trade where it may be truly said that ‘reckless competition has destroyed by want, or excessive labour, hundreds of its members,’ and has undoubtedly led them to disregard the Divine origin and temporal advantages of the Sabbath. We will prove our assertion. Many of the fashionable master tailors, as well as the large establishments which continually advertise cheap clothing, allow the work to be taken by the journeymen to their own lodgings, or some hired room for the purpose, where, according to one of their statements, “the families of those unfortunate men are in a great measure totally neglected, their wives become careless and void of all cleanliness, and often contaminated by the obscene language of the men, even while at work frequently during the Sunday.” If we look at the splendid shops of their employers on the Sabbath, we see every outward indication of a strict observance of it—but turn to the above demoralized neighbourhood, glance at the filthy garret, and what a wretched and revolting scene is exhibited! The heart sickens with disgust, pity is mingled with abhorrence. What can such masters offer in extenuation for such wilful neglect of the religious, moral, and social happiness of those they employ?

In speaking to a very poor journeyman tailor, some short time since, he said it was not an unusual circumstance for him to be employed on the Sunday in making a suit of mourning—a very frequent but reprehensible practice which prevails amongst dress-makers, &c.—and that often they were the garments intended to be worn by those he esteemed as Christian individuals, who, if they had thought that such must have been the case, would most assuredly not have permitted it. The Christian community must be held responsible for much of this species of Sabbath labour. We do not expect the worldly-minded would forego any desired request, but the members of a Christian church—those who profess to love God—we have a right to conclude would delay for a short time, by making some temporary substitution, what otherwise must be considered as one of the last manifestations of mournful respect to a deceased friend or relative. It would be well if Ministers of religion would occasionally impress on their congregations the possibility of their becoming, through an inconsiderate desire to have their orders completed at a certain unreasonably short period, the unintentional instruments of sin in this way. In most cases the ‘necessity’ might be easily removed. Let the tradesman frankly state that Sabbath labour must be the consequence of compliance, and that the command of God is clear and imperative: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” There can be no doubt that the effect of such a reply would be, as an especial mark of approbation for his pure and conscientious motives, the recommendation of many additional customers. But the truth is that many employers are apprehensive that they may disoblige their patrons, and to secure their support, as they think, they sacrifice the health and happiness of their workmen, and destroy any latent inclination to the formation of religious habits.

Much of the discontent and bad feeling, which at present exists between working-men and their employers, might be removed if the Apostle’s injunction was more mutually respected:—“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Is this the principle manifested in the present day? We admit our many delinquencies, but are not many masters equally culpable? It has been already proved. If employers evince no sympathy for the steady and attentive workman—if they view him as a mere inanimate instrument to be used only as occasion requires, without the least knowledge of his social condition, and utterly regardless of his happiness, what otherwise can naturally be expected than that he should be indifferent to the promotion of their interests? The subject is a serious one, and it is to be hoped that these observations will tend to check a continuance of such unquestionable evils, and to create a more reciprocal feeling of good-will between them. The situation of the working population is at present most painful, and we unhesitatingly affirm that Sabbath desecration renders it still more so. Man in general, by strictly adhering to an observance of this sacred day, would possess not only great temporal advantages, but enjoy an inward peace the value of which the wealth of this world cannot purchase.