PALACE***


Transcribed from the [1860s] J. F. Shaw edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org

                          [Picture: Tract cover]





                   THE SABBATH AND THE CRYSTAL PALACE.


THE question of Sabbath observance is again brought before the public,
and subjected to a new discussion.  Points which we had considered as
settled, and settled beyond the reach of doubt, are disputed.  A change
of circumstances is stated as requiring and involving a change of views;
and the character which society is assuming in the present day, is said
to justify a revision and reconsideration of the principles by which it
has been previously regulated.  A fresh attack in consequence is made on
an ordinance which, having been accustomed to regard as the security of
our national religion, the source of those streams of life which sanctify
and refresh the souls of our people, we had hoped was secured from
encroachment and curtailment by the law of the land, as well as by the
authority of the word of God.  The attack in this case, as might have
been expected, comes from a different quarter, and is carried on in a
different manner.  It is not with open and avowed enemies that we have to
contest the point, but with professed friends.  Much for which we have
contended on former occasions is conceded now.  In many respects, the
tone, the language, the object of those opposed to us are modified.  The
divine institution of a day of rest is admitted; the beneficent character
of the appointment, its salutary influences, are acknowledged; its
peculiar adaptation to the condition of man is recognised: and the only
subject of dispute would seem to be, the form in which those influences
should be exercised, and the general application of the blessing intended
should be accomplished.

The good of man, the improvement of the labouring classes, the softening
of their character, the refinement of their tastes, the development of
intellect, and the correction of what is low and sensual in their
enjoyments, are named as the objects of pursuit: and no one can hesitate
as to the importance of these points, nor as to the value which all
things lovely and of good report possess in christian estimation.  With a
view to the promotion of these objects, the advantages of a day of rest;
its beneficent influence on the mind as well as the body; its increasing
importance in a state of society like the present; its absolute necessity
when man is exposed to the exhausting circumstances of manufacturing or
commercial life, are admitted,—and not only admitted, but urged with as
much zeal as was ever shown by those who contended for the strictest
observance of the Sabbath in the days of religious controversy.  Surprise
and regret are therefore mixed together, when we find that those who see
the importance of the institution in one sense so clearly, and can
advocate its claims with so much power, should disappoint the
expectations that had been indulged of their co-operation, and should
finally become the assailants instead of the supporters of the principle
we feel bound to maintain.  They see so much in the institution of the
Sabbath that is adapted to the weaknesses and wants of our nature, that
they cannot help acknowledging its necessity.  Under that conviction,
forced upon them by the outcry of the whole creation, groaning and
travailing together in pain, by the testimony of exhausted bodies and
paralyzed intellect, they admit, they assert, as a fact that can no
longer be denied, that the Sabbath was made for man, and accept it as a
merciful provision made by God for the relief and consolation of his
creatures; but as to the specific purpose which it is to serve in respect
of man, as to the way in which the balm is to be used and applied, they
have their own views, and those views they are determined to carry out in
opposition to all that has been established and believed on the subject.
It is clear, then, that we have not gained much by the concessions made
by those who have been induced, under these representations, and with
these views of the ordinance, to admit the divine authority of the
Sabbath.  They have attempted to disarm our opposition by professing to
receive the same truth, while they were introducing views which
superseded its application; and the controversy must now be transferred
from the religious authority of the Sabbath, as a day of rest, to the
form and manner of its observance by those who, on these grounds,
acknowledge its obligation.

The point at issue with our present opponents consists chiefly as to the
manner in which the Sabbath is to be applied.  Its value they admit; its
beneficent effects are acknowledged to be such that its divine authority
can hardly be disputed: but while