, 1880-11-21

supplanted the Jewish Sabbath, and was to
be observed with the same degree Of sacred
ness. Prof. Tyndall points out thai tile Jews
have not now, and never did have, 4 day cor
responding to the Puritanical notion Of tho
Sabbath.
The word Sabbath means rest, and It was
given as a name to the seventh day, accord
ing to the Mosaic account Of the Creation, be-
cause God crested on the seventh day from
all Ills work which He had made" It was
for this reason that He "blessed the seventh
day and sanctitied It," and set it apart as a
day of repose from labor. Work was as dis
tasteful to the Hebrew mind as it Is to ours.
1t was the curse Of Adam. The explanatory
part of the commandment for remembering
the Sabbath day and Keeping it holy Is that
In it thou shalt not do any work.; and
with that prohibition, and the reason for it,
the commandment ends. 1t simply imposes
a cessation from labor. aud SO the Jews u1,-
derstood it. They made their "Sab-
batll-day's journey" short walk of
about 4 mile, to avoid laborious exer-
else. In the wilderness they gathered two
onlers of mamma for one man On the sixth
A&Ayt O|@ANoI tV-AAVAAo" ID t4AW A~0~ u teAN
holy Sabbath unto the Lord" and further
OIL 1t is said. $50 the people rested OH the
seventh day." Their Sabbaths were not ex-
ciusivcly on the seventh day OF the week,
for OH the tenth uny of the seventh month
they had "Sabbath of rest"; and on the
first day Ut the same month they had q Sab
bath wherein they were to "do no serviie
work.; and OIL the fifteenth day Of the same
month, when they had "gathered In the
fruits Of the land,'' they we're commanded to
"keep feast unto the Lord seven days." Of
which the first should be a Sabbath whereon
they should take ''the boughs OF goodly
trees branches OF palnl-trees, and the bouglis
OF thick trees, and willows Of the brook" and
"rejoice before the Lord'; and they were to
"dweii in booths seven days" All this reads
more like the directions for harvest~home
picnic than for gloomy conyocatlon, and
the festive season which commenced OIL a
special Sabbath must have included one Of
the regular hebdomada1 Sabbaths as we'll.
The entire seventh year in the land OF PROM
ise was also appointed to be "a Sabbath for
the Lord" in which they should neither SOW
tile field, nor prune the vineyard, nor
gather the fruit thereof, nor reap. for it was
to he " a year OF rest unto the land." Nehe-
miah, the son of IIachalial1, complains that
he saw some treading wine-presses on the
Sabbath, and bringing i'll sheayes, and lading
asses," and that the men Of Tyre "brought
fish and all manner Of ware, and sold on the
Sabbath unto the children Of Judah, and III
Jerusalem" wherefore, "when the gates of
Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sab
bath - he commanded that the gates should
be shut, and charged that they should not be
opened till after the Sabbath -; and he COM
placently adds: $50 the merchants and
sellers Ut all kind of ware lodged without
Jerusalem once or twice." Trading was pro-
hibited OIL certain other days besides the
Sabbath, as, fol- instance, on those Of the
new moon. The Prophet Amos calls upon
the people who are saying, When will the
new moon be gone, that wo may sell corn ?
and the Sabbath, that we may set forth
wheat, making the ephah small, and tho
shekeI great, and falsifying the balances by
deceito''
This idea Of the restfulness of the Sabbath
day, when ali ordinary work and the pursuit
Of gain were laid aside, is the leading one
that runs through all the Hebrew Scriptures
that have any bearing upon the subject; and |
in the Christian Church there was for ages |
no law affecting the observance OF Sunday |
beyond the prohibition Of ."scrvile labor"
and this even was not forbidden until the |
decree Of Constantine i'll the year s21, which |
applied only to towns, leaving people in the |
freely and without fault'' to tat |
tend to- the cultivation Of their fields,
lest, with the loss of favorable opportunity,
the commodities afforded by Divine Provi- !
tlence should be destroyed" II Prof. Tyn- |
dali can convince the people of Scotland that
they are mistaken in confounding Sunday,
the first day Of the week, with the Jewish
Sabbath, the last day of the week, and in
their understanding of the Jewish Sabbath |
itself, he may possibly do more to advance |
the cause Of Christianity in that region than |
all the synods, and presbytcries, and assem-
blies are likely to accomplish by their search !
for doctrinal heresies.
sNOBBERY.
Every avenue nf life fs choEed with snnbs |