BY THE LATE REV. ANDREW SYMINGTON, D.D., REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PAISLEY.
(Continued from page 391.)
This article is taken from a volume entitled “The Christian Sabbath,” published in 1850. The general argument is equally applicable to the present time.—ED.
IT is alleged in defence of Sabbath mails, that they do not demand the whole time of the Sabbath, opportunity being given to the servants for attendance upon public worship. This is so far, apparently at least, if it be not constrained, a concession to the Sabbath cause; but it will not stand the test of sound principle, practicability, or facts. It is wrong in principle. It implies an unjustifiable infringement upon sacred time, and the principle requiring the concession of a portion of the day demands the whole. Considered practically, it is incompatible with the due and profitable observance of the Sabbath. Attendance at the place of business, occupation in the morning, or at intervals, with civil duties, and these not unfrequently of a chafing description, break in upon the quiet and sacredness of the day, interfere with the personal retirement, domestic duties, regular attendance on public worship, and subsequent reflection, which make the Sabbath a season of profit and hallowed delight to those entering into the spirit of its sanctification. Nor will this plea stand the light of facts. It is certain that the services connected with the Post Office and the Mails interfere with composed and regular attendance on religious worship, and that this is felt to lie heavily oppressive on the spirits of individuals, tempted by the necessities of their circumstances to enter into engagements and perform services in opposition to the dictates of their consciences and their best feelings. All this must operate with a very injurious influence. Partial absence from public worship and familiarity with civil employment on the Sabbath, tend greatly to diminish conscientious impressions, induce callousness of moral and religious feeling; and, working insensibly and gradually, may issue in settled indifference to religion altogether. It is to no purpose to allege, that many persons do not avail themselves of the partial opportunity of attending religious ordinances, but betake to excursions of pleasure, and mingle in scenes of frivolity and immorality. In this case, the blame is so far with the parties themselves; but it is not so altogether: and it merits grave consideration, how far in such cases the result is to be ascribed to the insinuating influence upon the mind and heart of civil employment on the Sabbath, and partial absence from religious ordinances; the evil of the Sabbath mail being thus the occasion and cause of the alleged profanations.
But, does not the law of the Sabbath admit of work in cases of necessity and mercy? It is at once conceded, but not that the mail in ordinary circumstances is such a work. Let the Lord of the Sabbath be the expositor of its obligation, and let the examples which he has adduced be exponents of works of necessity and mercy. When expounding the Sabbatic law, and vindicating it from the traditions and extreme expositions of the Pharisees, he gave no sanction to the performance of ordinary civil labour on the Sabbath. The manual labour required of the priests in the sacrificial services, his own healing of the sick, the disciples plucking the ears of corn when they were hungry, the taking of an ox or ass to the water, and the lifting of a sheep that had fallen into a pit, are the things adduced by him as works lawful to be done on the Sabbath. None of these are works of ordinary civil labour, but works connected with the appointed services of religious worship, or works of mercy to ourselves or fellow-creatures, or works of humanity to the animal creation—works that cannot be anticipated on the previous day, nor postponed to the following. He vindicates his disciples in plucking the ears of corn, from the example of David and from a scriptural principle; but he does not command them to take the sickle and reap the harvest. He authorizes that the ox or ass be led out to water, but does not command that it be put into the yoke and employed in ordinary labour. Nothing more is required to show the utter irrelevancy of calling up the Saviour’s doctrine in the advocacy of Sabbath mails than to say, that the carrying of mails on the Lord’s day is not an act of worship to God prescribed in his Word and required on that day, nor is it an act of necessity to ourselves in the preservation of life, nor an act of mercy to our fellow-creatures, nor an act of humanity to the animal race. In all these cases man and beast may be lawfully employed on the Sabbath, and we must beware, in condemning the profanation of the Sabbath, not to weaken the argument by running into the extravagant views of the Pharisees. So far are the Saviour’s expositions of the Sabbath from giving countenance to Sabbath mails, it is obvious they supply most powerful argument against them, inasmuch as the Sabbath requires acts of worship to God, and merciful rest to ourselves, and works of compassion to fellow-creatures, of which Sabbath mails prevent to many the opportunity; and it requires humanity to the beast of burden, which Sabbath mails in many cases deny. The Sabbath mail is, in ordinary circumstances, common civil labour, labour immediately and chiefly subservient to secular objects, and so receives no sanction from Christ’s exposition of the Sabbath.
The occurrence of sickness and death, requiring the immediate attendance of friends, is adduced in justification of Sabbath mails; and from the readiness and frequency with which cases of this kind are urged, one would be led to conceive that they usually occur on the Sabbath. We say nothing to quench the sympathies of nature, or to treat lightly the calls of Christian duty. It may be well, however, to remind masters and servants of the duty of providing for visits of sympathy and mercy on the other days of the week. Is nothing to be said of the cupidity of masters denying their servants, and the cupidity or other evil of servants denying themselves such opportunities? When the necessities alleged occur on the Sabbath, the highway is open, and conveyances accessible in cases clearly requiring the use of them. Such cases must be dealt with as specialties, and provided for accordingly. Though mails were to run at every hour of the day and of the night also, it would be impossible to meet every emergency; nor will occasional disappointment, from the want of a Sabbath mail, however trying to feeling, warrant the sacrifice and the wrong which would be inflicted, by involving thousands of persons in an open breach of the law of God fifty-two days in the year to meet a contingency. We can easily conceive of cases of public and private interest in which the conveyance of the mail on the Lord’s day would be amply justified, but justified in the special circumstances of the case, and only when these circumstances continue. In the days of Esther, when the Jews were called to defend themselves from a bloody plot, posts were dispatched “on horseback, and riders on mules, and camels, and young dromedaries;” and in such a case, though the Jews were forbidden to journey on the Sabbath, the dispatch of couriers, in the extraordinary circumstances, would have been lawful. In these eventful days, when the wheels of providence revolve with so grand and accelerated movement, we know not what necessity may occur requiring mails at their utmost speed, nor how intimately our duty and our safety may be connected with speedily-communicated intelligence. These circumstances will speak for themselves, and they form exceptions from the general rule.
Nor will it avail to plead in behalf of Sabbath mails upon the principle of liberty. Upon the principle of sound economics, it will not be questioned that it is competent to society to enact laws regulating the hours of civil labour, and to protect the dependent classes of the community from the exorbitant demands of cupidity or competition, by providing for regular cessation from work and the requisite repose of the night; and upon the same principle to protect the periodical return of a day of rest. Whatever individuals may do for themselves, they cannot claim a right, upon their own private view and pleasure, to oppose the united wisdom and benevolence of society, and to compel others to labour for their interest or pleasure, either constraining them by oppressive exaction, or tempting them by special remuneration, to violate authoritative enactments, founded on equity, humanity, and liberty. In every well-ordered social state, individual view and right must, in some degree, be conceded to the public good, in which all are made equally to participate; society having rights and liberty to be respected and maintained as well as individuals. We applaud diligence in business, we respond to the calls of necessity and mercy, we respect the sympathies of relationship and of friendship, we revere liberty; but we cannot urge any or all of these in vindication of a systematic infraction on the rest of the holy Sabbath by regular mails. Has man more wisdom than God, who has distributed time for labour and rest? has he more equity and mercy than God, who has said, “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but on the seventh day thou shalt not do any work?” There is reason to apprehend, that there prevail great ignorance and misapprehension of the nature and design of the Sabbath; and that in many cases, under the specious pretexts of diligence, necessity, mercy, and liberty, there lurk principles of less excellent name,—covetousness, love of superiority, if not a spirit of ungodliness in hostility to the sacred restraints of religion, and aversion to its holy duties.
Constrained to regard the employment of men in the conveyance of mails, in ordinary circumstances, as a transgression of the law of God, a sin, an immorality, disobedience to the authority of God, let us direct our attention to some of its numerous evils.
Sabbath mails deprive the persons employed of a respite from civil labour, to which their Maker has given them a title, and of which no man has a right to denude them. It is thus an infliction of wrong, a constructive invasion of a liberty which Divine benevolence has bestowed, and protected by a law. Voluntary engagement, or the unconsciousness of wrong on the part of many or most of the persons concerned, does not extenuate the sin. Not to dwell on higher considerations, it is impossible to tell to what extent excessive and exhausting labour has depredated upon the lives of individuals, by depriving them of the rest required to recruit the animal frame.
Sabbath mails deprive great numbers of the means of intellectual and moral improvement which the Lord’s day supplies. By infringing on the weekly rest, individuals are unfitted for sacred duties where there may be partial opportunity of waiting on them, while others are entirely deprived. Although persons are not compelled nor impressed into the service of the Post Office, a temptation is presented, it works gradually, freedom is used with sacred time; and the result is, in many cases, settled indifference to all religion. It is altogether vain to think of promoting by physical force the religious observation of the Sabbath; yet all should have the opportunity, and none should directly, or even constructively, be compelled to its open profanation.
The Sabbath mail deprives the public of the services of many persons, who are deserving objects of their confidence and complacency. There are not a few who cannot engage in the services of the mail, because of its violation of the Sabbath—persons of sobriety, integrity, and activity, whose services on the six days of the week would be eminently useful. Yes, those who feel the obligation to keep the Sabbath, are not hypocrites and weaklings, as is often ignorantly and gratuitously alleged. There are many persons of muscular strength, mental ingenuity, prompt activity, and kind and obliging manners, who cannot make engagements which involve their consciences in a violation of the law of God. This holds true in a large extent where the mail is conveyed by railway. It demands serious consideration, whether there be not, in the case of the persons alluded to, a twofold invasion of right—their civil right to compete for employment for which they are qualified, and their Christian liberty, when esteeming it their duty to remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy.
Sabbath mails supply largely the means of Sabbath desecration. The eager merchant has thus an opportunity of receiving and answering letters of business; the men of law and their clients, if disposed, are supplied with their papers; the worldly politician has his journals; the man of pleasure his assignations; parlours and reading-rooms of every description are supplied with their newspapers. It is impossible to tell the multifarious matters served out on the Sabbath from the letter-bag, or to estimate the extent in which the Post Office contributes to employments adverse to the sanctification of the day of God. True, the individuals referred to cannot be forced to the performance of religious duties, and may contrive to find employment congenial to their dispositions. Still the Sabbath mails contribute directly and extensively to Sabbath profanation, and persons supporting and abetting them participate in the guilt.
Sabbath mails obtrude over the length and breadth of the land, spectacles that are offensive to a great part of the community. The running of horses, carriages, and trains, the blowing of whistles and horns, the bustle at Post Offices, the delivery of letters and papers, the movements of runners carrying letters and parcels, and the multitudes of porters and carriages in attendance and in motion, break in upon the sacred stillness and quiet of the holy Sabbath. Is nothing due to the feelings of a great part of the Christian community in this matter? Is nothing due to Christian men of character and influence, and to the ministers of religion, who, while they are supporting all the interests of society and of the country, feel themselves called upon to plead for the sanctity and the utility of the Christian Sabbath? We might almost make our appeal here to courteousness and good feeling, and inquire whether, in the terms and tone in which this subject is sometimes treated in some quarters, there be not a violation of the ordinary proprieties and amenities of respectable society. Scoffing and ridicule are neither argument nor politeness.
We cannot omit to notice here the demoralizing tendency of Sabbath mails. Besides the influence which they exert upon the individuals employed, the open disrespect of the law of God, and the neglect and disregard of the duties of religion, tend to diminish in others who witness them, that reverence of the Deity, that sense of accountability to God, and fear of Divine displeasure, which operate in many cases with a stronger influence than even legal penalties. Men are ready to become seared in conscience, and reckless in conduct, when they witness the open habitual violation of religious obligations; and this, too, under the authority of law, and in the face of the earnest remonstrances of a large portion of the community. The neglect and profanation of the Sabbath, it has often been confessed, have been initiatory to the state of feeling, and to those courses of conduct which have issued in crime and ruin. But in cases not of flagrant crime, the Sabbath mail has contributed to relax the sense of moral and religious obligation. How can it be otherwise, when a law, so much appreciated by a large part of the community, is habitually slighted? And what a baleful influence must it exert upon youth, servants, and dependants, to witness the constant violation of the Sabbath in this respect? Should the head of a family send a child or a servant to the Post Office for letters and newspapers; or should he himself call, and it may happen, on his way to, or on his return from the house of God; or should professional gentlemen burden their apprentices and servants with the duty of calling for or posting letters on the Sabbath, the sense of the obligation of the Sabbath must be diminished, and views formed of Christian character far below the proper standard. Even the interests of the Post Office itself, and of the public, are deeply implicated here. Money, to a large amount, is transmitted through the post, and in spite of the utmost vigilance great sums are abstracted; and it becomes a matter of grave inquiry, how far the plunder of money-letters may be traced to familiarity with the desecration of the Sabbath. The efficiency of the Post Office establishment is involved here. But, independently of this, the wide-spread example of the Sabbath mail must exert so far an influence upon the multitudes that devote themselves to idleness and folly on the Lord’s day, sealing them up against the occasional rebukes of their own consciences, and counteracting the word of kind and faithful admonition which may sometimes be addressed to them. It is no doubtful consideration, that the profanation of the Sabbath, besides originating crime, cherishes in no small degree the indolence, intemperance, sensuality, and insubordination, which prey so deeply on the very vitals of society. And to all this the Sabbath mails lend their aid.
Believing in the doctrine of a Providence, and in the moral character of that Providence, and in the connection between national sin and punishment, we deprecate the Sabbath mails on the score of national judgment. The providence of God is not a mere mechanical rotation, like the stellar movements, nor a mere natural succession, as in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, but a moral administration, indicating the favour or displeasure of a moral Governor. National sins, in the moral working of their proper effects, and in course of a moral administration, bring national suffering; and, when not repented of and forsaken, they bring national ruin and extinction. With the world’s history before our eyes, and the Bible in our hands, we must urge this consideration. The Sabbath stood high among the privileges of the Jews, and its profanation has a specification and a reiteration in the indictment of their sin, and stands connected with their awful judgments. Jer. xvii. 21, 22; Ezek. xx. 12, 13, 16, 20, 21, 24; Hosea ii. 11; &c. Though the peculiarities of the Jewish polity have now passed away, there is a residuum of moral instruction and admonition in such passages of Scripture which it would be equally foolish and criminal to overlook. While the recorded judgments happened unto the Jews for ensamples, they are written in the Word of God and in the historic page for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world have come. Let us not be high-minded, but fear. Our Sabbaths have been profaned by business and by pleasure, and to these the Sabbath mails have largely contributed. Oh, for some noble-minded and disinterested Nehemiah, braced with moral courage, to speak to nobles, to rulers, and to bearers of burdens, to merchants, and sellers of all kinds of ware; and wise in counsel to devise, and resolute in purpose to prosecute, legitimate measures of reformation! “What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath-day? Did not our fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and our city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
(To be Concluded.)