,transcribed from the #ahec8 ,arthur    
,hall1 ,virtue1  ,co4 edition by ,david 
,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org using    
scans from the ,british ,library4       
,picture3 ,public domain cover          
,,the                         ,,sabbath1
 ,,the ,,crystal ,,palace1              
,,and ,,the ,,people4                   
99 99 99 99 99                   8,,go  
,,ye1 ,,and ,,learn ,,what ,,that       
,,meaneth1 ,i ,,will                    
,,have ,,mercy ,,and ,,not ,,sacrifice40
                                    99  
99 99 99 99                             
,,by                          ,,james   
,,baldwin ,,brown1 ,a4,b41              
,,minister ,,of ,,claylands ,,chapel1   
,,london4                               
99 99 99 99 99                          
99 99 99 99 99                          
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,london3                               
,,published ,,for ,,the ,,author1 ,,by  
,,arthur ,,hall1 ,,virtue1  ,,co41      
,,paternoster ,,row4                    

,,mdcccliii4                            
,price ,sixpence4                       
99 99 99 99 99          ,,the ,,sabbath1
 ,,the ,,crystal ,,palace1 ,,and ,,the  
,,people4      ,,the relation between   
the ,church of ,christ and human society
 has long been  ill-defined and         
unsettled4  ,the ,church has to present 
to society1 in its  struggles and       
sufferings1 an aspect in which the      
kindliness of human  sympathy and       
interest is blent with the severity of  
truth2 and this is  always difficult4   
,between worldly compliances on the one 
hand1 and  bigoted formalities on the   
other1 it is hard to strike the mean4   
,between  the two extremes the ,church  
is prone to alternate4  ,this           
question1--8,the  opening of the        
,crystal ,palace during a portion of the
 ,lord's ,day10  demands the statement  
of the feeling and thought of the       
,church upon this  subject at the       
present time4  ,the spirit of a party is
 quite as  significant as its acts and  

expressions1 for that spirit is a living
  fountain1 out of which other acts and 
feelings will flow forth2 and as  the   
utterance of the mind of the ,church    
upon this great question will  probably 
determine the character of its relation 
to1 and influence on  society for some  
years to come1 we should watch most     
carefully1 not over  our words and deeds
 only1 but over the spirit in which we  
address  ourselves to this discussion4  
,we must be prepared either to reform or
  re-affirm our first principles1 as to 
the relation between the ,church and    
the human world--for this is1           
emphatically1 a question of first       
principles2 it has been dealt with too  
much in detail2 we must look to  the    
foundations if we would settle it       
aright4  ,nor is it a matter of  merely 
casual and momentary importance to which
 party we attach  ourselves1 and what   
cry we raise4  ,the party will do more  
work on us  personally than we shall do 
for the party4  ,it is possible 7it has 

been  so before1 it may be so again7    
that we may be taking for ourselves and 
for the ,church many backward steps1 by 
joining ourselves unthinkingly to  those
 who1 whether right or wrong1 certainly 
are most loud and dogmatic  in their    
tone4  ,it is possible1 that by calmly  
taking our stand on a  principle which  
has but few supporters1 we may find     
ourselves1 though we  appear to stand   
alone on earth1 in holy fellowship with 
the clear-eyed  watchers of all earth's 
transactions1 who bend over heaven's    
blue cope to  regard us1 and with the   
,god of truth and love4  ,therefore let 
us watch  and pray while we thoughtfully
 consider this question1 for it is a    
solemn  matter1 and affects the weal of 
the ,church and the world1 and our own  
with them1 far more deeply than at first
 appears4    ,before entering on the    
argument1 ,i may be allowed to state1 in
 a few  words1 the reasons which have   
induced me to place my thoughts upon    
this  subject before the public4  ,at   

the last meeting of the ,congregational 
,union1 ,i took occasion to state my    
objection to a proposed petition from   
the meeting against the opening of the  
,crystal ,palace on the ,lord's day4  ,i
 was1 at the time1 wholly unsupported1  
but have since found reason to  believe 
that there was a large amount of hearty 
and intelligent sympathy  with my       
objections which did not express itself4
  ,i wrote to the editor  of the        
,british ,banner1 stating the fact1 and 
developing more fully my  views4  ,since
 the publication of my letter1 ,i have  
been subjected1 in the  pages of        
religious papers1 to misconstructions   
and misrepresentations1  especially from
 anonymous correspondents4  ,this was1  
of course1 to be  expected2 but hardly1 
perhaps1 the singular want of           
comprehension1 both  of my views and of 
their own1 which some of the            
letter-writers displayed4  ,having an   
intense dislike to a newspaper warfare1 
,i felt it due to myself  and many of my

 brethren to state calmly my views1 and 
to advocate them to  the best of my     
ability4  ,whence this address to       
,christian people1 which ,i  offer with 
sincerity and earnestness1 trusting to  
their ,christian charity  and candour to
 give a fair consideration to the       
principles and  conclusions which it    
sets forth4  ,i have thrown my argument 
into the form  of an address1 which1 for
 many reasons1 ,i prefer4    ,the       
question to be considered in the        
following pages is this3--8,is it wise  
and right for us1 as ,christians1 to    
offer any opposition to the opening  of 
the ,crystal ,palace during a portion of
 the ,lord's day80  ,i trust that  all  
into whose hands this may come1 are of  
one mind as to the value and  importance
 of the ,sabbath4  ,but there are those 
who take the negative on  this question1
 who are as loyal to the ,sabbath1 as   
honestly desirous to  have it better and
 more extensively observed1 as the      
straitest of those  who have set        

themselves forth as its special         
defenders4  ,in making this  clear1 it  
will be needful to examine the views of 
the great parties who  have expressed   
themselves against interference in this 
matter1 but on  grounds with which ,i   
cannot accord4    ,there are many who   
take no part in the protest of1 at any  
rate1 a large  portion of the religious 
public1 simply on the ground that an    
appeal to  ,government1 on any subject  
involving religious principles and      
considerations1 is undesirable in       
itself1 and dangerous1 inasmuch as it   
may be made the precedent for future    
interference1 in some more serious      
form4  ,gallio is their model ruler1 a  
man 8who cared for none of these        
things40  ,they hold that the ,state    
should have no thought and no voice on  
such matters4  ,that such a movement as 
that of the ,crystal ,palace ,company   
may safely be left to stand or fall by  
its own merits4  ,if it be good1  they  
are sure it will come to something2 if  

bad1 they have a happy faith  that it   
will come to nought4  ,no doubt1 such   
theories have a strong  intrenchment in 
the order of a ruling ,providence4      
,somehow1 good things  do live1 bad     
things do die1 notwithstanding man's    
efforts to the  contrary2 but still1 bad
 things are long a-dying1 and ,god      
expects us  all--rulers1 too1 according 
to the measure of their rule--to help to
 end  them1 and get them decently buried
 out of sight4  ,had there been a       
petition to ,government to open all the 
beer-shops in the kingdom all day  and  
all night on the ,sabbath1 and the      
,government said yea1 should we dare  to
 sit calmly by1 and trust that the evil 
would cure itself8  ,is it not  the     
business of ,government to help to      
protect1 by governmental effort and     
action1 the whole community from the    
effects of the worst passions and  most 
degrading views of the community8       
,though1 no doubt1 the highest          
condition of a ,state is that in which a

 healthy1 moral1 public feeling  renders
 such interference needless4  ,we have  
hardly yet arrived at this  ,utopia of  
politics1 and this excessive jealousy of
 ,government1 in the  present condition 
of ,england1 obstructs many useful      
measures4  ,the  objection to           
,government expressing itself on this   
subject seems to be a  radically unsound
 one4  ,the question must be discussed  
on quite other  principles1 if a healthy
 settlement of it is to be made4        
,there is a second party1 which refuses 
to join in the protest through          
indifference to the ,sabbath1 or        
latitudinarian views of its nature and  
claims4  ,to them1 the ,sabbath appears 
to be simply a human institution2 a     
thing invented by priests for priestly  
purposes2 an enslavement of man's  free 
spirit2 a formalism which mars the pure 
essence of devotion1 makes  it a thing  
of times and seasons1 and desecrates    
every other day that it  may consecrate 
one4  8,every day is a ,sabbath10       

according to this  doctrine2 to attach  
holiness to any particular day1 is to   
rob all the  rest of the holiness which 
belongs to them4  ,to tell a man that he
 can  worship best in sanctuaries in    
,sabbath seasons1 is to fetter his right
  and liberty of worship at all times   
and places2 and1 in short1 the  ,sabbath
 is regarded as the very key-stone of   
that arch of formalism on  which the    
,church rears the superstructure of her 
power4  ,such is the  latitudinarian    
view of the ,sabbath2 and1 of course1   
those who hold it1  rejoice in the      
prospect of the opening of the ,crystal 
,palace on that day4  ,in order to      
discern the falseness of their views1 we
 must glance at the  true idea of the   
,christian ,sabbath4    ,of all the     
popular cants of the day1 perhaps that  
is at once the most  pretentious1 and   
the most heartless1 which asserts a     
necessary antagonism  between form and  
spirit1 soul and body1 the spiritual and
 the material1  and sets itself up as   

the special champion of spirit and the  
spiritual1  by maintaining that all     
forms and organizations1 all times and  
seasons1  all modes and habitudes1 are  
systematic conspiracies against the     
liberties and rights of men4  ,this is  
the latest resurrection of the old      
ascetic spirit1 and must end--as all    
attempts to emancipate ourselves from   
the conditions of life and development  
which ,god has implied in the           
constitution of our being and of all    
things--have ended1 in blank  immorality
 and shameless denial of all moral law4 
,this is the great  danger of our times4
  ,it is not formalism that we have     
chiefly to fear4  ,there is more peril  
of our casting off all form and order1  
than of our  being mastered and bound by
 any one4  ,the ,sabbath is of ,god4    
,he who  causeth the outgoing of the    
morning and evening to rejoice1 causeth 
the  outgoing of the ,sabbath morning to
 rejoice over the human world4  ,he who 
gives to the weary body the refreshment 

of nightly slumber1 gives to the  weary 
mind and spirit the rest of the ,sabbath
 day4  ,we may steal the  hours from    
slumber1 but the wrong will in the end  
avenge itself2 and it  is at our peril1 
and to our certain detriment as men1    
societies1 or  nations1 that we steal   
its offices from the ,sabbath4 ,the     
moon1 the  fairest and the benignest    
minister that attends our earth1 marks  
out our  weeks for us4  ,she chimes with
 notes of silvery clearness the sevens1 
while the sun intones the units on the  
bells of time4  ,in full tune with      
living nature we keep our ,sabbaths4    
,we enter into the universal harmony    
when we consecrate our seventh day4     
,this surface analogy rests on the      
deepest principles2 and if1 to any1 this
 orderly procession of the  ,sabbaths   
seem a formalism1 a yoke of bondage1    
then the day1 the night1  the periodic  
mealtime1 the ,christmas festival1 the  
birthday greeting1  must be to them a   
torment and an insult4  ,the            

arrangements of all things  must be1 to 
such1 a maddening discord4  ,even the   
primitive simplicities  of barbaric     
existence1 if they could recur to it1   
would not emancipate  them4  ,but such  
an experience might1 perhaps1 convince  
them1 that these  consecrations are the 
records of a vital progress--that these 
seasons1 cut  off from the lump of      
untrained1 untrimmed1 unformed          
existence1 are the  string courses of   
the masonry of that living temple of    
society1 which  mark the lines of its   
emergence from the dark ocean of        
primitive barbaric  chaos and night4    
,a tendency to think lightly of what has
 been consecrated by the religious      
feeling of the pious for long           
generations1 is by no means a beautiful 
or  commendable thing4  ,we may be sure 
that some deep reason underlies the     
disposition of pious minds with one     
consent1 through successive ages1 to    
fall into a certain form or mode of     
action and thought4  ,god has other     

ways of giving to the world commandments
 than by speaking or writing  them4  ,it
 is as distinctly a command of ,god to  
us to work by day and  sleep by night1  
as if it had been written on the tables 
of stone2 and any  organized attempt to 
violate it exacts the penalties of a    
broken command4  ,and ,god has given to 
all men an implicit direction to observe
 a ,sabbath1  in the instinct of its    
need which he has implanted in the      
constitution of  humanity4  ,this is    
witnessed even among the most degraded  
peoples1 who  have wandered farthest    
from the first condition1 and most      
injured the  original constitution1 by  
means of the miserable substitutes      
wherewith  they are fain to supply its  
place4  ,but the question might fairly  
be  asked here--8,is this all the       
obligation of the ,sabbath day8  ,is it 
simply1  that as sleep is good for the  
body every night1 so it is good for man 
that1 once in seven days1 he should rest
 from his labours8  ,if this be  all1   

where is the religious obligation of the
 ,sabbath80  ,no1 this is not  all4     
,when we speak of a man resting from his
 labours1 we speak of a  man's rest1 and
 not of a brute's4  ,a brute rests from 
toil that he may  renew the tension of  
his muscles2 a man1 that he may renew   
the tension of  his soul4  ,a man's work
 is not the work of his muscles only1   
nor is a  man's life the life of a      
labourer1 of a student1 of a priest1 but
 all  these in unison4  ,and when ,god  
said1 8,thou shalt rest on the seventh  
day  from all thy work10 he said it to  
man--to a being endowed with a spirit   
capable of 8looking before and after10  
capable of looking up to ,him1  whose   
natural and joyful employment1 on his   
rest-days1 should be to  refresh his    
higher powers1 by special direction of  
them to their  appropriate objects1 lest
 he should become embruted by his       
needful daily  toil4  ,we cannot        
separate1 even in thought1 when we look 
at it in  relation to ,god1 between the 

rest of the ,sabbath and spiritual      
activity  and devotion4  ,the fact1 that
 it is a man for whom ,god provides the 
,sabbath1 seems to indicate the kind of 
use which is to be made of it4  ,the man
 who deliberately holds himself back    
from a high exercise1 of  which ,god has
 made him capable1 and prefers to make  
his ,sabbath more like  a brute's than a
 man's1 commits1 in relation to it1 that
 most heavy of  transgressions1 8a      
coming short of the glory of ,god40     
,there is a sin  which no written law   
can touch--an inward sin1 a sin of life1
 which  consists in living below the    
idea which ,god has implanted2 a sin    
which  may co-exist with the most       
perfect legal righteousness1 and which  
can  only be denominated 8a coming short
 of the glory of ,god40  ,human rulers  
may separate in their legislation       
between the rest and the religious      
purpose of the ,sabbath2 they may say1  
8,the first we will care for1 it is     
within our province2 the second we can  

take no cognizance of by formal         
statutes20 but the ,divine ,ruler can   
make no such separation4  ,to rest  from
 toil1 and to restrain the thoughts and 
the heart from going out  through ,his  
creation and up to ,him1 is to commit   
that sin against ,him  which the        
,apostle specifies as the fundamental   
transgression--a coming  short of ,his  
glory4  ,you see that it is a sin which 
may be committed in  churches and       
chapels1 as well as in parlours1 in     
,parks1 in ,crystal  ,palaces1 and on   
sea beaches4  ,i fear1 the ,sabbath is  
not to any of us  what it ought to be1  
in the measure in which it ought to     
be--a season of  inward renewing of     
strength for daily labour--a height to  
which ,god  affords us leisure and      
strength to climb1 that we may look     
beyond the  stars which watch our daily 
travail1 to ,,him4    ,thus far we have 
hardly glanced at the ,sabbath as a     
positive institution  of the ,lawgiver  
and ,ruler of this world4  ,the view of 

the ,sabbath which  has already been    
presented1 seems to underlie all ,divine
 legislation 7and  there is such7 upon  
the subject4  ,this is the foundation on
 which it  rests1 towards the           
realization of this it works4  ,we miss 
much of the  meaning of the old ,jewish 
legislation1 by not going deep down     
beneath the  positive commandment1 and  
studying1 as we are able--nay1 if       
friends of  ,christ1 bound to do--the   
necessity out of which the law arises1  
the  feature of the original ,divine    
constitution which it is intended to    
illustrate and guard4  ,this method will
 bring us into true tune with the       
commandment1 our observance will then be
 spiritual1 that of a friend1 a  child1 
not a slave4  ,every law must have its  
reason in the nature of  things1 must be
 intended to direct attention to1       
vindicate1 or restore1  some reality    
which is in danger of being disregarded4
  ,it is needful to  see what is behind 
the law1 in order to understand it      

truly4  ,god saw  that there was in man 
a fearful tendency to deny the ,god that
 made him1  by withholding himself from 
the higher exercises1 the higher life1  
of  which ,god made him capable--getting
 rid of spiritual burden and care1 and  
making his life as much like a brute's  
as it could possibly become4  ,he  saw1 
moreover1 that the struggle between the 
higher element and the  lower1 the      
spirit and the flesh1 which had broken  
loose from the spirit's  control1 would 
be a long and sharp one1 in each human  
soul1 and in the  world at large2 and1  
tenderly compassionating his afflicted  
and  distracted prodigal children1 ,he  
came1 even in the very hour of their    
apostacy1 to help the higher nature in  
its conflicts1 and finally give to  it  
the victory by allying it for ever with 
himself4  ,his purpose of mercy  had a  
methodic development--first the germ1   
then the blade1 then the ear1  and after
 that the full corn in the ear4  ,he    
chose ,abraham as the man  through whom 

,he would enter into relations with his 
descendants1 the  ,jewish people1       
constituting them the people through    
whom ,he would enter  into relations    
with the whole human world4  ,he gave to
 the ,jews a law1  the purpose of which 
was to bring out the original features  
of the  constitution of man1 and his    
primal relations to ,god and to all     
things4  ,that which had been lost in   
the fall was re-established by the      
,jewish  economy1 and every ordinance of
 ,god1 which man1 the sinner1 had       
trampled  upon and spurned1 was brought 
forth again1 and sealed afresh1 in the  
sight of all the people1 and1 through   
history1 in the sight of all men1  with 
the seal of the ,almighty and the       
,all-wise4  ,the ,jews1 in this solemn  
covenant1 were the representative       
people1 through whom ,god was addressing
  the whole human race4  ,it was1 above 
all things needful1 to bring out the    
idea that there was power to support the
 original constitution of things1       

though man had been suffered to attempt1
 for a time1 at any rate1 to  violate   
it4  ,god needed to bear most solemn    
witness before men1 that no  violation  
of it could be successful2 that it was  
girded with the living  splendour of    
,his righteousness1 and sustained by the
 terrible resources  of ,his power4     
,this1 man had forgotten4  8,am ,i my   
brother's keeper80 said  one1 in wanton 
contempt of the law of that relationship
 of brotherhood  which had been         
established by ,god4  8,these be thy    
gods10 said others1 as  they danced     
around their golden calf1 and1 under the
 very shadow of  ,sinai1 made light of  
the living ,lord4  ,men were growing    
wanton in the  unbounded license to sin1
 to break every ,divine command without 
immediate  and palpable penalty4  ,god  
had to tell this people1 and through    
them the  world1 with a terrible        
simplicity and sternness which even they
 could  understand1 that an awful       
sanction attended the original unwritten

 laws  which ,he had established1 and   
that the penalty of a systematic breach 
of  them must be death4  ,let us take   
the legislation on the ,sabbath as a    
specimen4    ,the law is written thus1  
,exodus xx4 #h1 #i1 #aj1                
#aa3--8,remember the ,sabbath  day1 to  
keep it holy4  ,six days shalt thou     
labour1 and do all thy  work2 but the   
seventh day is the ,sabbath of the ,lord
 thy ,god3 in it  thou shalt not do any 
work1 thou1 nor thy son1 nor thy        
daughter1  thy man-servant1 nor thy     
maid-servant1 nor thy cattle1 nor thy   
stranger that is within thy gates3 for  
in six days the ,lord made heaven  and  
earth1 the sea1 and all that in them is1
 and rested the seventh  day3 wherefore 
the ,lord blessed the ,sabbath day1 and 
hallowed it40  ,the comment on it is    
given in ,exodus xxxi4 #ab1 #ac1 #ad1   
#ae1 #af1 #ag3--8;,and  the ,lord spake 
unto ,moses1 saying1 ,speak thou also   
unto the children  of ,israel1 saying1  
,verily1 my ,sabbaths ye shall keep3 for

 it is a  sign between me and you       
throughout your generations2 that ye may
 know  that ,i am the ,lord that doth   
sanctify you4  ,ye shall keep the       
,sabbath1  therefore2 for it is holy    
unto you3 every one that defileth it    
shall  surely be put to death3 for      
whosoever doeth any work therein1 that  
soul shall be cut off from among his    
people4  ,six days may work be  done2   
but in the seventh is the ,sabbath of   
rest1 holy to the ,lord3  whosoever     
doeth any work in the ,sabbath day1 he  
shall surely be put to  death4          
,wherefore the children of ,israel shall
 keep the ,sabbath1 to  observe the     
,sabbath throughout their generations1  
for a perpetual  covenant4  ,it is a    
sign between me and the children of     
,israel for  ever3 for in six days the  
,lord made heaven and earth1 and on the 
seventh day he rested1 and was          
refreshed40  ,it has been said that this
  is a too tremendous sanction to a mere
 formal institution4  ,we have seen     

that this is not a mere formal          
institution1 a day appointed arbitrarily
  by the ,lawgiver1 as for wise reasons 
our lawgivers appoint days and  seasons 
upon earth4  ,it is a part of the       
original constitution1 a beam  through  
the gloom of the first sentence1 8,in   
the sweat of thy brow shalt  thou eat   
bread20 a station for man the wayfarer  
to rest and refresh  himself1 as he     
ploughs and digs1 and fights and forces 
his way through  the jungle of earth to 
,god4  ,god1 in this ,sabbath           
institution1 is  bringing out a         
fundamental and primal law1 and ,he     
gives to it the very  highest sanction1 
a witness to all fundamental laws that  
the breach of  them is death4  ,that    
,god did not regard it as a mere formal 
institution  is most evident1 in that   
,he himself protests against the mere   
form of it1  when it was offered to him 
as a sacrifice widowed of the congenital
 soul4  ,isaiah i4 #ac-ae4  8,bring no  
more vain oblations2 incense is an      

abomination unto me2 the new moons and  
,sabbaths1 the calling of  assemblies1  
,i cannot away with2 it is iniquity1    
even the solemn  meeting4  ,your new    
moons and your appointed feasts my soul 
hateth3  they are a trouble unto me2 ,i 
am weary to bear them4  ,and when ye    
spread forth your hands1 ,i will hide   
mine eyes from you3 yea1 when  ye make  
many prayers1 ,i will not hear3 your    
hands are full of  blood40  ,the        
,sabbath of the ,jews was a perennial   
monitor1 pointing  backwards to the     
earliest time4  8,remember the ,sabbath 
day10 remember  the fountain of present 
and familiar liberties and joys4  ,the  
time came  when the alphabet of morals  
had been conned and thoroughly mastered1
 when  the whole world was to be put    
into possession of treasure which had   
been  accumulating in the hands of the  
,jews for ages4  ,it is a fine          
illustration of the manner in which     
,judaism in its living germs1 which  had
 never been suffered to perish1 expanded

 into ,christianity1 to trace  the      
transition from the ,jewish ,sabbath to 
the ,sabbath of the ,christian  church4 
,it is more true1 perhaps1 to speak of  
growth than transition4    ,it seems    
very strange to some that a feature of  
,judaism so strongly  marked1 has so    
little formal recognition and           
reinforcement in the ,new  ,testament4  
,what is the foundation of the          
,christian ,sabbath8  ,on what  ground  
of reason or of law does it rest8  ,of  
law1 none whatever4  ,to the            
,pharisees1 the men who sat in ,moses'  
seat1 ,christ appeared to be a  ,sabbath
 breaker4  ,whatever ,his estimation of 
it1 ,his conduct with regard  to it was 
such1 that it could at any rate be said1
 with a colour of  truth1 8,this man is 
not of ,god1 because he keepeth not the 
,sabbath  day40  ,on every occasion on  
which there is a question on the        
subject1  ,christ appears in strong     
antagonism to the ,churchmen of his     
time2 and on  one occasion he defends   

himself by an appeal to an irregularity 
of ,david1  which he justified on the   
ground of necessity2 a mode of defence  
which  must have greatly surprised them1
 which surprise he takes no pains to    
mitigate4  ,and yet1 mark you1 he never 
allowed that he violated the  spirit of 
the ,sabbath institution2 nay1 he       
charged the rigid ,sabbatarians  with   
the violation1 giving them a new lesson 
to learn--8,go ye1 and  learn what that 
meaneth1 ,i will have mercy and not     
sacrifice40  ,for  the rest1 we have to 
gather the ,sabbath law out of the ,new 
,testament in  the following fashion3-- 
,on the first day of the week1 the      
,saviour arose from the dead1 and laid  
the foundation of a new creation4  ,on  
the first day of the week1 ,jesus       
appeared to his disciples1 7,john xx4   
#ai and #bf47  ,on the first day of the 
week1 the ,apostles were baptized with  
tongues of fire4  ,on the first day  of 
the week1 the disciples came together to
 break bread at ,troas1 7,acts  xx4 #g47

  ,on this day ,paul thinks a work of   
charity specially graceful and          
appropriate1 7#a ,cor4 xvi4 #b47  ,there
 is little doubt1 but no decisive       
evidence1 that the assemblies of        
,christians alluded to 8passim0 in the  
,epistles1 are to be referred to this   
day2 and ,john1 in ,patmos1 8was in  the
 ,spirit on the ,lord's day40  ,as far  
as the ,new ,testament is  concerned1 we
 believe that this is all4  ,some1 then1
 might say that it is  simply by        
implication and inference1 and not by   
distinct commandment1  that the ,church 
keeps a ,sabbath4  ,the ,jewish         
,sabbath1 with all its awful  sanctions1
 vanishes1 and no one can quote any law 
of the ,new ,testament  which sets up   
anything in its place4  ,no one can show
 by what authority  the day was altered1
 nor tell how far the authority1 which  
changed the  day1 could transfer the    
sanctions and penalties from the old day
 to the  new4  ,in mere word1 this is   
true enough4  ,it is untrue enough1 at  

heart4  ,how does the ,sabbath come down
 to us8  ,as a day set apart1 through   
all  ,christian ages1 by the deliberate 
consecration of the whole ,catholic     
church from apostolic times4  ,we must  
not rail too much at tradition4  ,the   
,lord's day is certainly more a         
tradition than a commandment4  ,and     
what1 in the ,christian church1 is the  
office of the ,spirit in relation to    
,divine things1 and1 among them1 ,divine
 laws8  ,is it not the office of the    
,spirit to lead men to see from within  
the wisdom and goodness of the          
commandment1 and lovingly to adopt it2  
showing to the soul of man the  wisdom  
of the ,divine constitution in          
everything1 and securing1 not a  formal1
 but a loving adhesion to it2 abandoning
 entirely the system of  formal         
prohibitions and penalties1 as          
inconsistent with the method of  grace  
and of love8  ,does the absence of a    
,divine testimony against theft  or     
adultery1 in ,christ's epitome of the   

commandments1 legalize theft or         
adultery8  ,and does the absence of a   
renewed formal announcement of the      
original ,divine provision for man--the 
,sabbath-day--mean that ,god ceases to  
care for it1 that ,he annuls the first  
constitution1 and leaves man to  work on
 till death like a brute8  ,on the      
contrary1 it means that the  ,spirit of 
,god1 and not the law1 has taken charge 
of the institution1 and  that ,he will  
make its power felt and its worth       
acknowledged1 wherever ,he  bears       
witness within human souls4  ,but it is 
a very terrible sin to take  it out of  
,his charge1 and make it law again1 by  
presenting it in any  other way than ,he
 presented it to the early ,christian   
world4  ,has not the  ,lord's day come  
down to us just as we should have       
anticipated--through the  ,spirit8  ,was
 there not a deep reason beneath the old
 institution1 ,exodus  xxxi4 #ag--8;,it 
is a sign between me and the children of
 ,israel for ever3  for in six days the 

,lord made heaven and earth1 and on the 
seventh day  ,he rested1 and was        
refreshed40  ,is there not as deep a    
reason  underneath the new8  ,is it not 
the ,lord's day8  ,the ,jewish day      
commemorated a creation complete2 the   
,christian ,sabbath1 a creation  begun4 
,the one a last day--the finishing of a 
work--looking backwards to  the original
 condition and constitution2 the other a
 first day1 with the  week days1 the    
ages1 the eternities before it1         
commemorating a new  condition and      
constitution1 or the old one            
transfigured1 to bear fruit  through a  
future eternity4  ,for myself1 ,i would 
handle as reverently the  ,lord's day   
which the ,spirit has delivered to us   
through the ,church1 as  the ,jew his   
,sabbath1 protected by the penalties of 
the law4  ,only1 as  ,christians1 we are
 bound to go further back than the ,jew 
could go1 dared  go1 even beneath and   
behind the commandment1 and enter into  
the counsels  of ,him who gave to us the

 ,sabbath day4  ,we are to regard the   
purpose and  spirit of the ,sabbath4  ,a
 man who goes to church twice and       
worships1 and  thinks that therein he   
has fulfilled the law of the ,sabbath1  
and brands  him as a law-breaker ipso   
facto who has never been to church at   
all1  fearfully misunderstands the      
matter4  ,the thing is good2 its        
goodness is  now its argument2 and that 
observance which is not in full tune    
with its  goodness1 may be worth much   
before men1 but is worth nothing before 
,god4  ,a father who has children at    
home1 in early years compels them by law
 to  join the family circle1 and observe
 the laws and orders of the house4      
,when they are full grown1 he tries to  
make the home attractive1 and  leaves it
 to the sense of duty1 love1 and        
pleasure1 to work conformity4  ,this    
,christian view of the ,sabbath is the  
very opposite of that which  makes every
 day a ,sabbath1 and dishonours the one4
  ,the endeavour to  realize every day a

 ,sabbath feeling1 if genuine and       
constant1 will add  fresh value to the  
,sabbath of refreshment and repose2     
while a  disposition to slight the      
,lord's day1 on the pretext of keeping  
all days  holy1 will end in exhausting  
life of its spiritual element1 and      
destroying the very soul of man's work4 
,having laid down these principles with 
regard to the ,christian ,sabbath1  in  
refutation of the rationalistic         
argument1 let us proceed to the         
practical application of them to the    
matter in hand4  ,the case is just      
this4  ,an institution is about to be   
formed and an exhibition opened1  which 
must be regarded as the legitimate fruit
 of the forty years' peace  which that  
stern warrior conquered for us1 whom we 
have just attended  with befitting      
splendour to his burial1 whose mourners 
were a million and  a half of men4  ,the
 ,crystal ,palace of last year was its  
direct result--the  ,world's ,great     
,show--the ,jubilee of ,commerce1       

celebrated with festal pomp  in         
,london--the heart of the body          
commercial--whence also had gone forth1 
forty years ago1 the head and the hands 
which had torn the troubler of  the     
world's peace from his throne1 and      
inaugurated the new era4  ,england      
gained the victory1 and at the end of a 
long generation1 unparalleled for       
activity and enterprise in the history  
of man1 she called the world to  her    
capital to see and to taste the fruits4 
,her grey old warrior was  spared to see
 it4  ,the peaceful pageant of commerce 
passed by him and did  him homage1 and  
then he was taken to his rest4  ,it is  
surely remarkable1  that ,wellington was
 spared to see the crown of his         
labours--the fruit of  generations of   
peaceful activities1 which will be      
marked in history by  his name--and then
 was removed before the event was       
consummated which may  cost the world   
another struggle1 and the blood of her  
bravest men4  ,such  was the ,crystal   

,palace of #ahea4    ,the ,crystal      
,palace of #ahec will have another and  
profounder character4  ,it is an attempt
 to consecrate these fruits of the      
world's strivings to  the education and 
elevation of the great masses1 whom     
commerce has too  long used up1 and then
 flung aside to perish4  ,it is a       
deliberate effort  to gather all the    
ripest fruit of the world's most earnest
 strivings1  most glorious victories1   
and present them1 in order to minister  
to the  development of the men1 women1  
and children of the present generation4 
,it is no mere exhibition1 except in the
 sense in which the whole world is  an  
exhibition4  ,it is the grandest        
conception of a hitherto mechanical  and
 money-loving generation1 and has its   
root far deeper than in a desire  for #e
 per cent4 returns4  ,it grows up       
through the force of a conviction1      
which is now wrought into the mind of   
the community1 that the intellect  and  
wealth which commerce has developed1 owe

 a ministry to the people of  the land2 
and that while the merchant princes can 
pillage the ,continent1  ,egypt1        
,palestine1 ,india1 and ,china1 of their
 treasures1 to minister to  their own   
vanity1 amusement1 or instruction1 the  
united strength of the  intellect and   
wealth of the country should build a    
,palace1 far  transcending all private  
palaces1 for the great people whose     
industry has  made our ,england the     
queen of the kingdoms of the earth4  ,it
 is  emphatically a ,people's ,palace1  
and the organization of it on this      
gigantic scale1 by men of shrewd        
understanding1 is certainly a sign that 
the tide of public feeling has turned   
towards higher1 more intellectual1  more
 elevating pursuits and recreations1    
than it affected some fifteen  years    
ago4  ,the fact that the keenest        
speculators are now ransacking our      
world for the treasures of art1 science1
 and the early history of our  race1    
wherewith to adorn this ,palace1 is a   

proof that the very class  which has    
been most prone to renounce all the     
higher attributes of  humanity1 and to  
make its life like that of the brutes   
that perish1 is  beginning to resume the
 exercise of those higher attributes1   
and to waken  to a sense of what a man's
 life includes4  ,it is possible that   
many may  regard this view of the ,new  
,exhibition as overstrained4  ,many     
expect that  people will go to the      
,crystal ,palace to see the sight1 and1 
when they  have seen it1 will go to the 
public-houses and finish there4  ,such a
 view  is both shallow and faithless4   
,no doubt1 those who like to think so   
will  find plenty which will appear to  
sustain their views4  8,the people0 is a
  vague term4  ,it needs patient and    
intelligent observation1 not on the     
outskirts1 but in the centre of a great 
popular movement1 to discern its        
character4  ,the experience of the last 
few years does not confirm such         
anticipations4  ,the working classes1   

who visit the ,museum in ,great         
,russell ,street1 the ,zoological       
,gardens on ,monday1 ,hampton ,court1   
and ,kew1  add nothing to the disorder  
and drunkenness of the metropolis4  ,it 
is  wonderfully rare1 even in the more  
distant exhibitions and places of       
intelligent enjoyment which have been   
mentioned1 to meet with disorder4       
,certainly1 the drunkenness and disorder
 of ,london have been greatly           
diminished by the opening of places of  
resort for the working classes  where   
mind as well as body may be fed4  ,every
 thing in the past justifies  the       
extension of the experiment1 and on the 
grandest scale4  ,to the poor  man1     
these things are not so much exhibitions
 as they are to us who can  more        
frequent them4  ,they partake of the    
dignity of events1 stir up the          
fountains of manhood1 perhaps long      
stagnant1 and make him feel life's      
meaning and life's worth1 and thus they 
expand his soul4  ,now1 it is  worth    

while seriously to consider--,is this   
different from the object  which ,god   
proposed in the institution of the      
,sabbath day8  ,it stops far  short of  
that object2 but1 as far as it goes1    
does it not travel in the  same         
direction1 and aim at the lifting man up
 from the brutish condition  into which 
a too slavish daily toil would plunge   
him1 to feel how much a  man is better  
than a brute8  ,god1 in the ,sabbath    
institution1 seeks to  make him feel    
that man is so much better than a brute1
 that he can talk  to ,god as a ,friend1
 and love ,him as a ,father4  ,no human 
effort can teach  man that2--no ,sabbath
 observance1 even of the strictest sort1
 can make man  observe the ,lord's day1 
as the ,lord counts observance2 but when
 men1 in  the mass1 are gone so far from
 the ,sabbath that they systematically  
prostitute and pollute it1 does ,god    
frown on human institutions1 which      
work1 however slowly and dimly1 towards 
the realization of the benefit8  ,does  

,he not say of all such1 8,forbid them  
not1 for he that is not  against us is  
on our side80  ,if through the          
unconscious influence of  ,christianity1
 which has leavened even our speculating
 fraternities1 8the  earth is helping0  
the ,kingdom2 if the back-water of the  
mill-wheel of the  ,church has come     
round1 and is adding its strength to the
 current2 let us  look on it lovingly   
and hopefully1 as a state of things to  
be fostered  and led onward to what is  
better1 in no wise to be resisted and   
banned4  ,and if men want to see this   
thing which is to elevate and educate   
them on  the ,lord's day--the great mass
 of the people being notoriously averse 
to  the ,sabbath of the ,church--we     
should not say1 roughly and fiercely1   
8,you  shall not10 but recognize it1 as 
far as it goes1 as a sign of progress1  
hoping that1 by all the humanizing      
influences which are brought to bear  on
 them1 we may regain a hold on them1 and
 lead them on to a true  appreciation of

 the ,christian idea of the ,sabbath4   
,the gist of the  matter seems to lie   
here3--at present1 we have but slight   
hold on the  working classes2 they care 
not for our ,sabbaths1 and find no      
pleasure in  our worship4  ,is it right1
 on the ground that it would be a formal
 breach  of that ,sabbath which is now  
really and flagrantly violated1 to      
refuse  our consent to a movement which 
will secure for them some portion1 at   
any  rate1 of benefit on the ,lord's    
day8    ,with many1 much of the argument
 turns on this word 8formal0 breach4    
,it  is worth while to consider more    
fully its meaning1 and to inquire into  
the real notions of ,sabbath observance 
which prevail in the ,christian  church4
  ,we are all agreed1 that the highest  
kind of good was  contemplated by ,god  
in the institution of the ,sabbath2 we  
are not all  agreed that1 failing the   
highest good1 a lesser good which is    
within our  reach may lawfully be       
secured4  ,many good people reason      

thus3--8,the  ,sabbath is ,god's day4   
,it is the portion of man's time which  
,he has cut  off and consecrated to     
himself2 the mere time is ,his1 as well 
as the  spirit of the worshipper2 to    
recognize any secular employment of such
  time1 is to recognize a robbery of    
,god40  8,remember thou keep holy the   
,sabbath day40    ,to this view of      
,sabbath observance it may be           
objected--#a4  ,it recognizes a         
distinction in kind between the common  
day and the sacred day1 which  has no   
warrant in the ,new ,testament          
,scripture4  ,is not 8work0 a command1  
as well as 8worship80  ,and is not every
 commandment holy1 and obedience  holy8 
,is it only on the first day that we are
 to be fervent in spirit8  ,are we not  
to be serving the ,lord by diligence in 
business1 with fervent  spirit1 every   
day in the week1 in our places of       
business1 and the haunts  of men8  ,the 
idea that the ,sabbath is a kind of     
tribute paid to ,god1 to  allow us to go

 free to work on week-days--a sort of   
composition--is foreign  both to the    
spirit and the letter of the teaching of
 the ,new ,testament4  ,the ,lord's day 
is to be a day of refreshing1 of        
renewing of soul1 that  every day may be
 a day of ,divine service1 and have     
more1 not less1 of the  sacred element  
infused into it4  ,the idea of a tribute
 of one day out of  seven1 false as it  
is1 rules very much of the feeling of   
the religious  public on this question1 
and perhaps in a measure affects all our
 hearts4  ,but a second objection1 and a
 plainer one1 to this view of the law of
  ,sabbath observance1 is this3--there  
is hardly a ,christian to be found who  
professes practically to carry it out4  
,how much of our ,sabbath is  literally 
spent in devotion1 how much in cheerful 
converse with the  family circle1 how   
much in meals1 how much in criticism of 
the sermon1  not always of a highly     
spiritual cast1 how much in passing     
references to  the leading topics of the

 day8  ,let us be honest and            
single-minded1 and  answer from our     
consciences these questions4  ,if we    
were to try our  ,sabbath observance by 
that law which did consecrate the time  
in its  unity and completeness1 which of
 us could stand8  ,do we regard this as 
a  sin8  ,by no means2 because we feel  
that ,christian ,sabbath observance is  
in the spirit1 and not in the letter2 in
 the direction of our thoughts  and     
desires without hindrance from the      
work-day world to ,god2 in the  feeling 
of rest--of ,sabbath calm--of holy peace
 and joy--which has possessed  us1 and  
made our ,sabbath more a thing to be    
measured by the ,spirit's  instruments1 
and registered in the ,spirit's record1 
than by the clock4  ,and if a man has no
 homage to render1 no spiritual good to 
gain1 because  he desires none1 what    
does he gain1 what does the ,church     
gain1 what does  the world gain1 if he  
be compelled in some sort to recognize  
it1 by being  debarred from a pursuit   

which would at any other time be        
beneficial to  him2 provided always that
 his liberty be no detriment to those   
who have  better ways of spending the   
day8  ,bring him to church to hear the  
,gospel6  ,by all means4  ,i would that 
all places of pleasure were shut up on  
,sabbaths1 because men felt that they   
had better work on hand than to  visit  
them4  ,but if the man says1 8,i will   
not enter your churches--,i hate        
them20--we ask1 where is the gain to    
him1 to any one1 in saying1 8,there  are
 the ale-houses1 there are the          
tea-gardens--you are a sinner for going1
  but there they are2 there is1         
moreover1 a train specially provided by 
,government for you to travel2 but this 
,crystal ,palace1 so grand and          
beautiful1 we can and will debar you    
from4  ,whatever good it has to offer   
you1 you shall not get it on ,sabbath   
days60  ,it seems very foolish to       
confess that all attempts to make the   
masses devote the hours of the  ,sabbath

 to devotion are futile--that no serious
 limit can be set  successfully to the  
efforts of private speculators to tempt 
men to  demoralizing ,sabbath           
desecration--and yet1 when a scheme is  
set on foot  which aims at remedying in 
some sort the mischief1 by elevating    
instead  of degrading men1 because it is
 so good and so complete as to be of    
national importance1 its progress is    
barred at once4    ,this is the true    
secret of much serious opposition4  ,the
 national  character of this act is felt
 by many to be the chief objection to   
it4  ,now let us understand what the    
word 8national0 implies4  ,there is1 no 
doubt1 a very true sense in which a     
,government represents a nation4  ,but  
it may represent truly or falsely2 if   
falsely1 does ,god regard it as the     
representative of the national mind and 
will8  ,if the nation is bent on  not   
keeping the ,sabbath in the highest     
manner1 would the dictum of the         
,government against all other ways of   

spending it1 constitute a national      
,sabbath observance8  ,all that we could
 gain in that case would be an          
appearance--an appearance how awfully   
contradicted in ,clerkenwell1           
,rag-fair1 ,lambeth1 ,chelsea1          
,greenwich1 and in every place of dense 
population or public resort4  ,and does 
,god care for this appearance8  ,is  it 
a cloak that hides any thing from his   
eye8  ,think you1 that it seems  to ,him
 a thing for the sake of which it is    
worth while to sacrifice one  instrument
 which may help man out of the pit of   
brutal degradation which  the ,sabbaths 
of this metropolis disclose to us1      
yawning in the very heart  of the       
wisest1 the greatest1 the richest1 the  
most godly city in the  world8  ,many   
remember fondly what ,sabbaths once     
were1 and willingly shut  their eyes to 
the change4  ,in spite of the decent    
appearance of our  streets--and ,god    
forbid that we should ever lose it6--the
 reality is too  decisively the other   

way1 for us to hope that a ,government  
,act can give  to us a character before 
man or before ,god4  ,the national      
thought and  feeling utters itself every
 year more loudly4  ,it will not help   
us1 while  the fire is raging1 to batten
 down the hatches1 and step the deck as 
trimly as if the cry of alarm had never 
been heard4  ,we may shut the  ,crystal 
,palace and be no nearer a national     
,sabbath keeping1 nay1 farther  from    
it1--as plagues pent up in the kilns of 
their own corruption but  taint the air 
more widely1 and cover with their black 
shadow a broader  surface of the land4  
,some fear that the act of the          
,legislature will add a sanction to     
,sabbath  breaking by which many will be
 emboldened4  ,alas6 the balance is not 
so  tremulous that the weight of        
,government in either scale will make it
 kick  the beam4  ,it is to be feared   
that many will frequent the ,crystal    
,palace  on ,sunday1 who otherwise would
 be in the ,house of ,god4  ,this is1 no

  doubt1 a very serious matter1 but a   
simply preventive legislation will  not 
remedy the moral mischief out of which  
the evil springs4  ,for such1  no system
 of safeguards can be successful4  ,men 
are beyond the reach of  protection1 who
 would use the term 8national sanction0 
as the cloak of  sin4    ,thus much on  
the opposition arising from views of the
 nature of ,sabbath  observance and its 
claims4  ,we must now pass on to notice 
a class of  objections founded on the   
nature of the ,exhibition itself1 and   
its  probable influence on the heart1   
mind1 and manners of men4  ,many expect 
that men will get more harm from the    
accessories than good from the thing    
itself4  ,here1 again1 much is to be    
said on either side4  ,there will1      
doubtless1 be beer-houses1 tea-gardens1 
skittle-grounds1 and all the  apparatus 
of demoralization 7though the licensing 
magistrates may do much  to prevent it72
 but may we not fairly expect that large
 numbers will  spend1 on their          

travelling and admission1 money which1  
if they stayed at  home1 would be drunk 
or played away2 that many will take     
their families  with them1 which is     
always an elevating thing to the poor2  
that some1 at  any rate1 who go for     
pleasure1 may find deeper thoughts      
awakened1 and  turn with disgust from   
grosser amusements which1 in other      
states of mind1  would delight them2 and
 that1 on the whole1 an immense amount  
of vice and  sensuality will be spared1 
though1 alas1 there will be enough to   
waken  sorrow in all good men4  ,there  
will just be a battle between the       
interest  which the ,crystal ,palace    
will awaken1 and meaner1 grosser things4
  ,will  the baser triumph1 when both   
are fairly brought to bear on men8      
,there is  enough in the history of     
public exhibitions1 during the last     
twenty  years1 to rebuke our            
faithlessness and teach us hope4  ,my   
whole argument  rests on the fact of    
existing and increasing neglect of      

worship and  church ordinances on the   
,sabbath day4  ,for how much of the     
existing  disaffection the ,church is   
responsible1 ,god only knoweth2 but1    
certainly1  obstruction and prevention  
come from us with singularly bad grace4 
,attraction is our one great power4     
,what we can attract and win1 we keep4  
,what we constrain we cannot attach1 and
 our chains are but ropes of sand4      
,one fruitful source of ,sabbath        
desecration is the unnatural condition  
in  which men and women are compelled to
 live1 in the heart of our great        
cities4  ,every thing around them       
blights the gentlest and most gracious  
thoughts and feelings of our nature4    
,they live from hand to mouth--they     
snatch at each day's existence--they    
have no rest1 no sense of possession  in
 the present1 no hope for the future4   
,they are out of reach of true  rest on 
the ,sabbath4  ,it is mere mockery to   
talk about it4  ,keep them at  home1 and
 the ,sabbath cannot be a delight1      

except when an enthusiastic  spirit can 
wholly emancipate itself from           
circumstances4  ,god's ordinance  seems 
to them a delusion and a snare4         
,picture the miserable houses1 the  foul
 air1 the dirty1 damp1 mouldy walls1 the
 reeking smoke1 the  pestilential       
exhalations from the open sewer1 the    
cries of drunkenness1  and the curses of
 blasphemy1 amidst which we expect half 
a million of men  in our metropolis to  
pass the ,sabbath4  ,no wonder that they
 fly from it1  fly to the ale-house1 and
 drown there their disgust and despair4 
,they  are hardly within reach of our   
,christian instructions1--alas1 for the 
seed  sown in such stony ground6  ,the  
circumstances of their life expose it to
  fearful peril2 a broad change must    
pass over the moral and mental          
condition of these people before1 as a  
class1 they can be expected to  receive 
gladly the ,gospel and bring forth its  
fruits4  ,let them get out  to something
 they will care for--something that will

 teach them--,god's  clear air and      
sunshine1 the violet odour1 balmy to    
them as the breath of  ,paradise1 the   
bird song1 the breeze among the boughs1 
the fresh clean  meadows1 the sparkling 
wreathing river1 and they are at once   
within reach  of better and holier      
thoughts4  ,or if no thoughts come to   
them1 for  impressions shape themselves 
into thoughts but slowly in minds inept1
 yet  a genial refreshing dew has passed
 over their spirits--they feel that the 
city life1 with its squalor and misery1 
is man's work not ,god's1--and at  last1
 though the thought may be long in      
ripening1 they may come to think  that  
it may be true after all1 as the ,bible 
says1 that in ,god the poor  man has a  
defender and keeper1 and a remedy for   
all the ills which sin  and selfishness 
have entailed upon the world4    ,those 
who see much of this class will be      
deeply convinced that we have no  means 
of reaching them at present as a class1 
though the direct and  earnest attention

 of the ,church1 in all its branches1 to
 their condition  and needs1 is a most  
hopeful symptom2 but looking at this    
great class1  and their relation to     
society--so benighted1 so withered in   
soul1 as to  resist sternly the         
,divinest influences--,i confess it     
seems to me a  terrible responsibility  
to keep them away1 on any day1 from     
anything  which would do them even a    
little good4  ,it is but little that we 
can  hope1 and that little will be      
slowly realized4  ,with sorrow we open  
the  way for them--sorrow1 that they    
will not choose a more excellent way4   
,we  believe in ,god's high purpose in  
the institution of the ,sabbath day1 and
  fling wide the gates of our           
sanctuaries4  ,but if men pass          
scornfully or  scowlingly1 let us at    
least be thankful1 tearfully thankful1  
if they are  not passing by our doors to
 dens of vice and crime4  ,let us not   
tell  them1 ,if you do not come here1   
the ,lord does not care where you go4   

,let  us tell them that ,,he follows    
them everywhere with ,his care1--that   
,,he has  spread abroad the expanse of  
nature for them1--that ,he has given    
art1  science1 commerce1 and history to 
man2--it may chance that many1 hearing  
this1 may desire to know more of ,him1  
and learn from himself what ,he  means  
by a ,sabbath day4    ,it may be said1  
and with justice1 that the majority of  
the frequenters of  the ,crystal ,palace
 will hardly be of the class which has  
been described4  ,not the poorest1 but  
the class above the poorest--the        
well-paid artizans1  the shopmen and    
shopwomen1 the mercantile clerks and the
 kindred classes  will furnish at any   
rate a large proportion of the visitors 
to this  ,exhibition4  ,it is worth     
one's while to consider thoughtfully    
whether we  are prepared to apply the   
same rigid rule1 as regards the measure 
of time  to be devoted to public        
services on the ,lord's day1 to the poor
 workman  and shopman confined to the   

hot dense air of the factory or shop    
during  all the disposable hours of the 
week1 and living probably in a home but 
sparely visited by the light and air of 
heaven1--between which home and  the    
sanctuary he ought1 according to the    
present theory1 to divide his  time on  
the ,sabbath1--and to the rich man who1 
in the afternoon or  evening1 can walk  
in his own garden1 pluck the fruit of   
his own vine and  fig-tree1 ventilate   
his lungs in the purest and balmiest    
air1 and1 being  refreshed in body1 can 
go down to ,god's house in comfort and  
refresh his  soul4  ,we must beware1    
lest we make the lot of the poor more   
bitter by  the yoke of our law of       
ordinances which are in themselves      
beautiful and  benignant1 lest he take  
the name of his ,god in vain4  ,many    
hold forth a  rest day in the week as   
the remedy4  ,this simply means1 in most
 cases1  the sacrifice of four or five  
shillings a week4  ,six days' labour can
  hardly supply the needs of a poor     

man's family1 especially its higher     
needs4  ,the loss of some shillings is  
certainly the loss of some books1  some 
schooling1 some innocent amusements for 
his children1 and is1 not  seldom1 the  
loss of bread4    ,the last1 and in the 
estimation of a large number of         
religious men1 the  most serious aspect 
of the question which ,i will refer to  
is this3--8,the  opening of the ,crystal
 ,palace10 it is said1 8is but the door 
to the  opening of the national         
institutions1 the theatres1 and1        
finally1 the  factories and shops on the
 ,sabbath40    ,but there is evidently a
 limiting principle at work1 recognized 
by the  public1 and expressed by the    
,government4  ,the limitation of the    
hours1  the clause against the sale of  
spirituous liquors1 and the close of    
that  portion of the building which     
would involve actual handiwork1 are     
recognized by the public at once as     
right and seemly4  ,there is a public   
feeling in ,england which will care for 

these things1 which are supposed  to be 
imperilled2 a public feeling which1     
during the next years1 it will  be the  
office of the ,church to nurture and    
unfold4  ,if that public  feeling fail  
us1 then1 unquestionably1 our condition 
will be most  serious2 and the question 
must be argued1 how far a ,government   
may  maintain1 in the face of public    
feeling1 a system of preventions and    
prohibitions8  ,that it has the right1  
up to a certain point1 most people      
feel2 that there is a point beyond which
 it is most unsafe1 all are  agreed4    
,but that point will never be reached in
 ,england1 while the  ,church is        
faithful to her country and to her      
,lord4  ,if that point ever be  reached1
 on us will be the sin4  ,ministers of  
the ,church of ,christ6 there  has been 
too long a schism in the army4  ,the    
shepherds have been battling  for       
precedence and prerogative1 and the     
sheep have strayed4  ,the call to  us   
now is for work2 work--not by platform  

crudities1 vanities1 and  falsities2 not
 by protests1 preventions1 petitions1   
and bills of  spiritual rights2--but by 
earnest1 manful1 godly1 spiritual effort
 to make  the ,gospel known and felt as 
the power of ,god unto salvation4  ,the 
power  of the ,gospel is not felt as it 
once was4  ,admirable sermons are       
preached1 and with admirable emphasis   
and theatric art1 but power does  not go
 forth from them4  ,men look at us1 hear
 us1 admire us1 but our  prehensile     
power is gone4  ,we do not lay hold on  
men4  ,we have dealt too  much in a     
religion of exclusions and negations4   
,we need to take hold on  men1 and      
say1--8,we have good news--good news of 
,god40  ,the cry1 8,good news6  light6  
bread6 life60 should be heard more      
loudly from our pulpits4  ,we  should   
not lack hearers1 if we could make them 
feel that we had good news  to tell4    
,were our ,master among us at this      
crisis1 ,he would not work by  protests 
and prohibitions4  ,wherever the people 

were1 there would ,he be1  vehement     
against organized hypocritic wickedness1
 but patient1 gentle1  merciful to the  
souls gone astray in their darkness and 
misery4  ,oh1 that  our hearts could    
catch that tone of touching human       
tenderness wherewith  ,he would address 
this weary and burdened generation1     
8,come unto me1  all ye that are weary  
and heavy laden1 and ,i will give you   
rest40  ,but ,he is with us alway1 and1 
by ways that we little discern and      
sympathize with1 ,he may be leading this
 generation to himself4  ,let us be     
humble-hearted and full of charity2 let 
us work1 work harder and more  lovingly1
 with more oneness of heart and voice1  
to make men feel that it  is ,god's good
 news to them which we have in charge1  
and then will our  ,sabbaths return to  
us1 fresh and pure1 beautiful and blest1
 as that  ,george ,herbert wrote of4    
8,,sunday4                   8,o day    
most calm1 most bright1      ,the fruit 
of this1 the next world's bud1      ,th'

 indorsement of supreme delight1        
,writ by a friend1 and with his blood2  
,the couch of time2 care's balm and bay3
      ,the week were dark1 but for thy  
light3               ,thy torch doth    
show the way4                 8,man had 
straight forward gone      ,to endless  
death3 but thou dost pull      ,and turn
 us round to look on one1      ,whom1 if
 we were not very dull1      ,we could  
not choose but look on still2           
,since there is no place so alone1      
,the which he doth not fill4            
8,the ,sundays of man's life1           
,threaded together on time's string1    
,make bracelets to adorn the wife       
,of the eternal glorious ,king4      ,on
 ,sunday heaven's gate stands ope2      
,blessings are plentiful and rife1      
,more plentiful than hope4              
8,the rest of our creation      ,our    
great ,redeemer did remove      ,with   
the same shake1 which at his passion    
,did th' earth and all things with it   
move4      ,as ,samson bore the doors   

away1      ,christ's hands1 though      
nail'd1 wrought our salvation1          
,and did unhinge that day4              
8,the brightness of that day      ,we   
sullied by our foul offence3            
,wherefore that robe we cast away1      
,having a new at his expense1           
,whose drops of blood paid the full     
price1      ,that was requir'd to make  
us gay1               ,and fit for      
,paradise4                 8,thou art a 
day of mirth3      ,and where the       
week-days trail on ground1      ,thy    
flight is higher1 as thy birth4      ,o 
let me take thee at the bound1          
,leaping with thee from sev'n to seven1 
,till that we both1 being toss'd from   
earth1               ,fly hand in hand  
to heaven60                             
99 99 99 99 99                          
99 99 99 99 99             ,j4 ,,unwin1 
,gresham ,steam ,press1 #ca1            
,bucklersbury ,london4