Transcribed from the [1860s] J. F. Shaw edition by DavidPrice,
THE SABBATH AND THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
The question of Sabbath observanceis again brought before the public, and subjected to a newdiscussion. Points which we had considered as settled, andsettled beyond the reach of doubt, are disputed. A changeof circumstances is stated as requiring and involving a change ofviews; and the character which society is assuming in the presentday, is said to justify a revision and reconsideration of theprinciples by which it has been previously regulated. Afresh attack in consequence is made on an ordinance which, havingbeen accustomed to regard as the security of our nationalreligion, the source of those streams of life which sanctify andrefresh the souls of our people, we had hoped was secured fromencroachment and curtailment by the law of the land, as well asby the authority of the word of God. The attack in thiscase, as might have been expected, comes from a differentquarter, and is carried on in a different manner. It is notwith open and avowed enemies that we have to contest the point,but with professed friends. Much for which we havecontended on former occasions is conceded now. In manyrespects, the tone, the language, the object of those opposed tous are modified. The divine institution of a day of rest isadmitted; the beneficent character of the appointment, itssalutary influences, are acknowledged; its peculiar adaptation tothe condition of man is recognised: and the only subject ofdispute would seem to be, the form in which those influencesshould be exercised, and the general application of the blessingintended should be accomplished.
The good of man, the improvement of the labouring classes, thesoftening of their character, the refinement of their tastes, thedevelopment of intellect, and the correction of what is low andsensual in their enjoyments, are named as the objects of pursuit:and no one can hesitate as to the importance of these points, noras to the value which all things lovely and of good reportpossess in christian estimation. With a view to thepromotion of these objects, the advantages of a day of rest; itsbeneficent influence on the mind as well as the body; itsincreasing importance in a state of society like the present; itsabsolute necessity when man is exposed to the exhaustingcircumstances of manufacturing or commercial life, areadmitted,—and not only admitted, but urged with as muchzeal as was ever shown by those who contended for the strictestobservance of the Sabbath in the days of religiouscontroversy. Surprise and regret are therefore mixedtogether, when we find that those who see the importance of theinstitution in one sense so clearly, and can advocate its claimswith so much power, should p. 2disappoint the expectations that hadbeen indulged of their co-operation, and should finally becomethe assailants instead of the supporters of the principle we feelbound to maintain. They see so much in the institution ofthe Sabbath that is adapted to the weaknesses and wants of ournature, that they cannot help acknowledging its necessity. Under that conviction, forced upon them by the outcry of thewhole creation, groaning and travailing together in pain, by thetestimony of exhausted bodies and paralyzed intellect, theyadmit, they assert, as a fact that can no longer be denied, thatthe Sabbath was made for man, and accept it as a mercifulprovision made by God for the relief and co