The Express.
London, England, 1852-12-23 00:00:00

reign all the oatward marks of respect for the ancient
religion. The altars of Apollo were covered with
his votive offerings. The emblems of that
erod were
assumed as his own, and he was accus to point
to the sun as his visible protector and guide. At a
later period. carried away by the current of opinion,
he declared himself a convert to the church. Chris-
tianity, then, or what he was pleased to call by that
name, became the law of the land, and the edict of
A.D. 321, being unrevoked, was enforced as • Christian
ordinal. ee.
These facts eau emir be met by an appeal to the
spirt, and giving up the letter of the original iasti-
tutioo. It is said that provided we observe with
sincerity of purpose one day in seven as a sabbath,
even it we err in observing a different day to that
named in the decalogue, we sufficiently comply with
the law. This is to take the position of Naarnan the
Syrian, when commanded to bathe in the Jordan:—
"Are not the rivers of Datuakcus better than all the
waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and bo
clean ?" But not to contest this point, and not to
insist upon a strict interpretation of the language of
the apostle who places sabbaths and circumcision in
the same category, as both belonging to an abro-
gated cote, we pose to another and an important
part of the inquiry—what was originally meant by
keeping a sabbath? In what sense were the words
intended to be undirstood—P Remember the sabbath

day to keep it htdy ?"
We may observe in the New Testament a distinc-
tion drawn between the Sabbath instituted by
Moses, and the Rabbinical or Pharisaical Sabbath.
'nit. distinction requires to be marked. And first of
the Mosaic Sabbath.

The word " Sabbath" signifies screnth : and, in al
secondary sense, rat. It is derived from Laba, seven.
The Laba day was a rest day, or public holiday,
and thus " seventh " and " rest " come to be regarded
as synonymous. The Hebrew term translated " holy"
is Kadurh, and signifies &pirate. The fourth com-
mandment may therefore be reuderid
" Remember the seventh dal to keep it s: partite ;"
and there terms convey its full meaning. The
command is nut " Remember the seventh dcv to
keep it with solrmaity." nor " Remember the Sabbath
day to devote it exclusively to sacrificial or other
ri vgious rites;' the injunction is simply to keep it
" separate " from other days, and the explanation of
the mode of keeping it separate is given with the
tea*. Other dap were working days; this was to
be free from labour. . _

- - - -
The word holiday, althnigh from Aotrilay, is still em•
plojed is this r.slricted souse, but the word " holy," taken
1., rself, has now become so associated in our minds with
pur.taaieal ideas of seltmortiheation, and with modern
religious fora' of worship, that we are greatly misled by it
from the meaning it W.ll intended to convey. Many pious
persons suppose that the command to keep the Sabath-day
ho!y was cquivaliut to an injunction to attend • parish
church, hear two ,r more sermens in the course of the Sun-
day, and during fse rest of the day to keep in-doors and
rend the Bible. The Jews, however, did not do this, for
the Bible was not written, and sermons in its exposition
(which wooed have wanted teats) could not well be
preached. Nur does it appear, from any passage in the books
of Moses, that r..ligions admonitions or discourses of any kind
formed a part of the Tabernacle service. Nor is even prayer
mentioned as an Important port of public worship. The tell.
Iti.)ui worship of the Jews at the time of Moses conaistid
wholly of the ceremonials of offerings and sacrifices; which
were not csnticied to Sabbaths. but were continuous

throughout the week, and throughout each day of the
week. The public service of the Tabernacle was the daily
and an evening sacrifice of "a lamb of the first year,"
without blemish, as a burnt-uttering. Oa Sabbaths the
service was the same, with this differenm only, that, in-
stead of one lamb, two lambs were then offered. The
Tabernacle, hoses etc (as subsequently the Temple), was
always open far the reception algid' to the altar, the times
for preseating which depended upon crops, and seasons, and
the convenivuea of individuals. The ceremonial for them
must have Min short, from the multitudes who attended,
and it was orbs* confined in each case to a short invoca
tiois and blessing. The books of Moss prescribe with
great minuteness the nature of the off:rings to be made, se
adapted to the circumstances of both poor and rich ; but
there is not a word of reference in the Pentateuch to
offerillgS or sscrill.:es as peculiar Sabbath duties.
The Jewish lawgiver was not an ascetic; nor was asceti-
cism the character generally of ancient worship. Moses
instituted numerous festivals, but not a single tart. Fasts
were all of Rabbinical origin. In common with the eastern
mafioso, the Jews observed a mourning festival at the
autumnal equinox, which with them was held on the tenth
day of the seventh month. This day was to be a Sabbath
ea which they were " to Alice" their souls, and offer
bees of atonement—the may instance of the word Sabbath
being connected with sorrow mad it was to he a tenth not
a seventh day that was to be so 'Merced.
The most solemn festival of the Jews was that of the
Passover, but it was tailed a feast, not shut; and as a feast,
or amid festival, they were taught to observe it. They
were told to kill sad roast a lamb, the whole of which was
to be eats* before the nest morning ; and they were to eat
it with ualeavened bread and bitter beeheowt keaw more
unpalatable than other food, but as a notatedel of the haste
of their departure from Egypt. The geetwel 'hamster or
the Ma& festivals may be interval Ilea the frequent
wrathea of the word wattling in isomteshea with Meet
and what was naderstood by rejoicing," loes set aloft
of quietism It was not confined to the obese of seism
psalm& Time is ambiag equivocal about the fellewleg
injunctions ,elating to the hem of weeks, and to the we of
thou, who ea seemat of disilesse from the Tabernacle,
could not Wag with them to the hest contributions in kind,
but had to casein the. bee meery :
" And thou shalt Wawa dud may for whatsoever thy
soul lusteth after; he ma. ee hr Amp, or for wine, or
for strong 'lsiah. ee Ise tehelesevar thy soul desireth : and
thou shalt eat the.. balm the Lead thy God, and thou
shalt rejoice, thee awl Mae beeireheldi."—Deut. air. 26.
The soma days' hest of Tabora's*" the great harvest
home festival of the Jews, during whisk they dwelt in
teats (a feast which is said to have resmahled the yet more
market Bacchanalian halm* before limy beam* corrupted
into drunken orgies), was sae of " regeleieg" in ■ limner
muse. Rejoicing with the .cleat Isseelime was not that
" rejoins( in spirit " e• 'Adds some of on, evaagelleid
decry would condos the working pocalegioe, hat was
connected with solid food, es Mime .Apsed
_Wags." It
wee the convivial rejoielag of ea ehl Whit Cludelease.
Whereon the altar sight be Meld Ica UN punked
lead, it was not merely for eaplatoey .deed ms for sin,
bet—

•• Thom shalt offer effedags, and Ask MI there,
sad rejoices Were the Lent thy Peg."
Many pass will be elser le believe diet Wilmer was
renr deserted with seder. sal Melds& Ned sables
merry ; bet tbere ems be se slelebe es the eshlest.
Walt gives th•
of ; see whisfollows
at irefee isseesedses lir the ebon-
y/ace of day t; he re-
gal/id is he kept, is la aposlallastrempbalis snip. "
sai• the Lied

"Go your way : eat the fat, awl drink the sweet, and
send portions unto them for whom neddeg le prepared ; for
this day is holy unto our Lord ; kir the fey of the Lord is
your strealth.
And I the people went their way te eat, and te drink,
and to mad portions, and to make great mirth, because they
had understood the words that were declared sato them."
—Nch. viii. 10, 12.
That the religious festivals of the Jews were not asevile,
but joyous in a bona fide team, Is further demonstrated by
the fact tb.t they were occasions for dancing. When
florid brought the ark from the house of Obed.edom, the
Gittite, he not only sacrificed "oxen and fatlings," but
"danced before the Lord with all his might." TM ark
was brought in the City of David with " shouting and the
sound of the trumpet,' the Meg himself 'shift the ezam-
ple of " leaping and iisailei bars dr Lt' This wee
sot a new or an emeeptiesal custom, ahheagh David's wife
Michel, apposes le have been scandalised- by etiehag her
husband so forgetful of his royal dignity as to denes-" as-
covered," girded only with " a lea tithed • " lea we dad
at ao earlier peeled, that the of lb; Sol Ilea and
overthrow of therfilatines was le moan misliseed
with singing sad deasiag.
" And %dam the peepholes', the sister of Amos, took a
thabrel in her lead ,• and all the women went eat after
ber with Umbras and with dances. And Miriam answered
them: Sing ye to the Lord, for be limb triumphed glori-
ouslz : the horse and his rider loth be thriven hate the
Subsequently we read of the mirk diesks Mesa the
image of the golden calf, at the sill dwWh the eager of
Moses was kindled, not hematite! the damelag, has of the
idol which led to it ; —of Jephthes daughter gels' out to
meet her lather " with timbreh and with dances ;"—and
of the women welcoming the return of Saul from the
slaughter of the Philistines " with singing and dancing."
The Psalmist says
Praise the Lord with the sound of the trumpet; praise
him with the psaltery and harp : praise him with the dm.
brel and dance."

Many pious persons eerier dancing at any time en it
religious custom, but this is evidently not tee doctrine of
the Bible. Not only is dancing nowhere:condemned in
the scriptures,--while the "solemn meetings" of the
Rabbinical 0 New.moons and Sabbaths" are denounced
by Isaiah as en iniquity and en abomination,—but dancing
is spoken of by Jiremial as one of the national customs
of 'the Jews to be restored when they return to their own
land; for.
" Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young
men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into
joy, sod will comfort them, and make them rejoice from
their sorrow.** •
Patting ill these facts together, we may form a very dis•
tint notion of the nature of Stbbath•day observe:Kt,
smog the aacient Israelites. The leading object was not
roUgien, in oar sense of the term, but relaxation. Religion.
however, wu no doubt so far connected with it that the
people &needed on the Sabbath day, whenever they could
conveniently do so, " the morning and evening RClifiCllll,"
The interval between them, we may be morally certain,
wee devoted to the miecellaneous objects of rational
memation.
The Rabbinical Sabbath wu the Sabbath of Pe-
aaaoe—the Sabbath of ceremonial observances carried
N far beyond their original intent as to townie

idolatress—the Sabbath of superstition, which Christ,
not less than Isaiah, emphatically condemned, but
which modern puritanism is seeking to revive. In
the eyes of the Pharisees, Christ was • Sabbath-
breaker. Ile desired to protest against those morbid
views of religion which prevailed in his own time;
and. as if to rebuke by anticipation those modern
sabb•tarians who regard a Sunday walk as a crime,
we find him in the green fields on the 'abbath day,
permitting
.his disciples to pluck the ears of corn to
satisfy their hunger. Some are willing to admit
that works of chanty and necessity may be performed
on the Sabbath day; bat was this one of them?
Could not Christ have found another place of meet-
ing, and other food for his disciples, without violat-
ing a rule of customary obligation, if he had wished
it to be observed P
We must break off here, although the views we
have sketched are followed up at great length by the
author ; but we have no space for further comment.
Enough has been Pia. !^ elow that the adencates of
Sunday restrictions rest their case altogether upon a
false basis, and wo hope to awaken 'spirit of inquiry in
those among them whose minds, in spite of early pre-
judices, may yet be open to conviction.