bath, and so charged by the persons who owe it to the Sabbathkeeping and other excellences of the objects of their abuse that they are preserved and in peace amidst the elements of destruction. Is it possible that a law which produces such fruits of mercy and kindness can be a bad law? The imputation of hypocrisy to men who are the friends of such a law, and bright illustrations of its moral excellence, is itself a confirmation of our views, for certainly, if those who prefer such a charge had enjoyed the mental discipline of the Sabbath, or had imbibed its spirit, they could not have been so ignorant of language and character, so wanting in courtesy and candour, or so destitute of prudence and self-respect, as to apply to the most upright and useful members of society a term so notoriously, wickedly, and stupidly inapposite.

But we feel that we have said more than enough of these accusations and their fabricators-and we conclude the chapter with a passage relating to Sweden, which not only adds to the proof of the fallacy of the views that we have been combating; but gives a striking warning against the slightest countenance to "doing evil that good may come :" "We have frequently of late been told by a certain class of philanthropists," says the Rev. James Lumsden, "that our Scottish habits of Sabbath observance are the main cause of the intemperance of our land, and that the true and effectual method of promoting sobriety is to give facilities and encouragement to our hard-working artisans, to escape from their homes by railway and steam-boat on Sunday afternoons and enjoy the healthful atmosphere and instructive landscapes of the country. It is well to inquire what success this experiment of employing Satan to cast out Satan,' has had in a country where it has been carried on for a period of satisfactory length, and in circumstances peculiarly favourable, in a climate very similar to our own, among a people of the same race, and free from the disturbing element of the Sabbatarian denunciations of the pulpit and the press. And what has been the effect of this holiday Sabbath upon the sobriety of the nation? Why, that by the confession of the Swedes themselves, their nation is the most intemperate in Europe;1 that in a country where manufacturers have not drawn a promis

1 As a proof of this, the recent Parliament has increased the duty on the manufacture of ardent spirits two-and-thirty fold.

cuous population into over-grown villages and crowded towns, where incentives to vice, arising from high wages, rapid prosperity, and commercial bustle and over-working, are absent, where the people are almost as thinly spread as in our Highlands, the rate of consumption of ardent spirits is higher than in this country; and that a region, where primitive purity as well as primitive quiet might be supposed to have found a refuge, is pervaded by the intemperance of our neglected lanes and luxurious cities."1

1 Sweden; its Religious State and Prospects, 1855, pp. 12-14.

CHAPTER V.

THEORIES AND ARGUMENTS TRIED BY THE DOCTRINE AND LAW OF REVELATION.

WHEN it has been already proved, on the one hand, by the amplest evidence of Reason, Revelation, and History, that the Sabbath, according to one of its theories, is of Divine original and authority, and an indispensable blessing to mankind, and, on the other, that rival theories and schemes, as tested by the principles of the Divine Government, and by experience, are destitute of worth, power, and benefit, it may seem superfluous to prosecute the contest. But our opponents endeavour to find in Scripture support for opinions which have failed to gain the suffrages of the greatest and best of men, or to supply any satisfying credentials of their success. To Scripture they appeal, and to Scripture the very tower of our strength, it can be no disadvantage for us to go.

But the most conflicting doctrines and practices have been held to be scriptural-and it is possible for persons of any party to come to the Word of God, and because they are proud, to be sent empty away. If we would derive instruction and guidance from that Word, we must understand its meaning, and for that purpose follow the rules according to which it demands to be interpreted, and which commend themselves to the reason and common sense of mankind. Let us, therefore, enunciate some of these Scriptural, rational, and common-sense rules, and apply each rule as we proceed for enabling us to decide on the claims of various theories and arguments, which have been put forth on our subject. do not profess to dictate to others, but we cannot, in this part of the volume, argue with those who appeal to Revelation, if they

We

nevertheless reject its authoritative prescription of the manner in which its meaning is to be ascertained.

First Rule. It is necessary that we recognise the Old and New Testaments as alone constituting the Word of God. No writing, besides those in the Protestant canon, and no oral tradition, have any claim to be received as parts of Divine revelation. Whatever, therefore, Rome advances from tradition to justify her assumed right to change the day of the Sabbath, or to appoint holy days of her own, has to us nothing of the character of "proofs of holy writ."

Second Rule. We must receive the Word of God, thus defined and complete in its parts, as a Revelation divinely perfect in its whole character. It is true of the Old Testament as of the New, that it is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."1 To neglect either division of the Bible, or to magnify it at the expense of the other, would betray so utter a misconception of the whole book, as must preclude the discovery of truth on every one of its great subjects. Let this treatment be shown to a volume of human production, and the injustice no less than the folly of such procedure would be seen and condemned by all. But in deciding with respect to the Sabbath and other matters, there are those who are chargeable with this partiality, so directly in opposition to the demands of Scripture and of reason, and who, therefore, must fail of arriving at the knowledge of the Divine mind and will. These persons conceive that the selection of a particular people to be the objects of Divine favour, and the depositaries of the Divine oracles, is a circumstance with which we have nothing to do, further than as a matter of curiosity or of historical interest. How many regard

the people of Israel as if they had been the inhabitants of another planet, and their system of religion as if it had almost nothing in common with the Christian! How many look upon the Old Testament as an obsolete part of Divine revelation, which it is unnecessary to read for instruction of life and manners-whose Psalms are not to be sung-whose principles apply not to us

1 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17..

whose worthies are no models-whose spirit is unchristian! Nothing could be more remote from the truth-nothing more daringly impious if it were not so vastly ignorant. Judaism was a Divine, wise, holy, good, sanctifying, saving system of religion-substantially one with the Christian. It was a local and stationary, not like Christianity a moving, circulating light, but it was the means of preserving religion in the world, and it steadily bore testimony to the existence of the one living and true God, the God of mercy and salvation, while its privileges were open to all Gentiles who abandoned idolatry, and acceded to the profession of the true faith. Considered even as to their transitory peculiarities, the Jews were appointed to serve great ends with respect both to the surrounding world and to future ages. But, more than this, the Jews were men who, in common with others, stood in need of a Saviour, and of a law to guide them as rational and immortal beings. To them, accordingly, a Saviour was made known by typical representations and the preaching of the prophets-to them a moral law was given. There are, doubtless, matters in the Old Testament that are not a rule for us, but so are there in the New. There are many things in both that directly concern all, and there are many things of this universal application in each that are not in the other. That we may know the whole of our faith and duty, we must repair to both, and along with other parts of doctrine and practice search for the true character and obligations of a weekly rest in the earlier as well as in the later revelation. We have as much to do with what Genesis testifies respecting the Sabbath as we have to do with what it declares concerning the institution and law of marriage. What was moral in Judaism is as truly binding upon us as it was obligatory upon the Jews. This rule of interpreting Scripture, therefore, while it sanctions the perpetual obligation of a seventh day's rest and worship, sets aside the notion that the institution of the Sabbath in Paradise, and its promulgation at Sinai, had no respect to mankind in general, or if they had respect to us, that it was only by way of an analogy which directed but did not bind.

The perfection of Revelation has other bearings on our subject. It teaches inquirers that, as its thoughts and reasonings have come forth from infinite wisdom, and as its very words are "the