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ESSAYS

UPON THE

PERPETUITY, CHANGE, AND SANCTIFICATION,

OF THE

SABBATH.

BY HEMAN HUMPHREY, D. D.
President of Amherst College.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A COMMITTEE OF GENTLEMEN.

NEW YORK:

JONATHAN LEAVITT, No. 182 BROADWAY.

BOSTON:

CROCKER & BREWSTER,

47 Washington Street.

1829.

Southern District of New York, ss.

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the 21st day of March, A. D. 1829, in the fifty-third year of the Independence of the United States of America, Jonathan Leavitt, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Proprietor, in the words following, to wit:

"Essays upon the Perpetuity, Change, and Sanctification, of the Sabbath. By Heman Humphrey, D. D. President of Amherst College. Published under the direction of a Committee of Gentlemen."

In conformity to the Aet of Congress of the United States, entitled "An act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an Act, entitled "An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.”

FRED. J. BETTS,

Clerk of the Southern District of New York.

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FEW will deny the utility and importance of the Christian Sabbath; for it offers timely and needful rest to all the labouring classes of society. It promotes cleanliness, and ministers, in a very high degree, to health and intellectual improvement. It kindly remembers the working animals, and releases them, one day in seven, from their toils. It divides time into portions highly convenient for the transaction of worldly business; and helps to regulate the vast and various intercourse of a great community. It restores the man of a thousand cares and perplexities, to the bosom of his family, and affords time for reading, for reflection, and for the religious instruction of children. It brings more gain to individuals and to the public, than could possibly be derived from unremitting application to secular employments.

By its weekly return, it rebukes our worldliness; and by bringing the rich and the poor so often together to worship God, and receive instruction from his word, it tends exceedingly to remove prejudices, soften asperities, and elicit kindly feelings;-also to check the growth of pride, avarice, and sensuality; and on the other hand, to encourage truth, temperance," brotherly kindness, and charity." Besides its mighty influence upon our immortal interests, the civil and political benefits of the Sabbath, are too many, and too

great, to admit of adequate estimation. It is a far surer guarantee for the perpetuity of our free institutions, than all the physical resources of the country. It is in short, the true palladium which protects the temple of liberty, as well as the ark of the covenant.

All this is admitted, (with what consistency we do not stop to inquire,, even by the great body of those, who are hostile to every proposed measure for rescuing the institution from desecration, and restoring to it the hallowed influence which it has lost. With their full consent, you may speak of its benefits in the most unqualified terms, provided, always, however, that you do nothing to guard it from violation, or to protect yourself and family from disturbance in your most solemn devotions. The observance of the Sabbath is well, as far as it may happen to suit their inclinations and convenience, but no further. Thus what is acknowledged to be the general good, must be sacrificed to private cupidity and accommodation.

With the sincere Christian, the case is widely different. Aside from the authority of Scripture, a sober conviction of the public utility of any institution, must of course powerfully influence his practice. Nor indeed, can we see how any patriot can ever trample upon an institution which he recognizes as a blessing to his country. Still there is a wide and manifest difference, between questions of general expediency, and the dictates of the Holy Spirit; and our ultimate appeal in behalf of the Sabbath, must be "to the law and the testimony." If the Scriptures do not require us to keep it holy, who shall presume to bind our con

sciences? But if, on the other hand, this is a divine precept of universal obligation, then the point is settled. It is as binding upon us as any other law of heaven, and we violate it at our peril.

reason?

Is the Sabbath, then, of divine or human origin, and when was it instituted? Was it intended for all mankind, or only for a part? Which day of the week was originally appointed, and for what Has the day since been changed, and if so, when, and for what reason? And how is the Sabbath to be kept, or sanctified? These are questions which every person has a right to ask, nay, which every one is bound to ask, that his "faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

QUESTION I.

Is the Sabbath of divine, or human origin, and when was it instituted?

That the Sabbath was "from heaven and not of men," must be conceded by all, who read and believe the Bible. It was one of the earliest and richest gifts of God to man. The record of the institution, stands on the second page of the inspired volume, (Gen. ii. 2, 3,) and in these words: On the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work,

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