“ A whole nation keeping holy every seventh day, without the aids and restraints of public worship, appears to us an impossibility. Indeed, why is the Sabbath expressly called “a holy convocation” [מקרא קדש] (Levit. xxiii. 3) , if no assemblies of the people for worship took place on that day? But after all, what do the advocates of the strictest observance of the Sabbath require, more than was required of the Jews by God himself? (Isa. lviii. 13.) We therefore consider the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday, the same in spirit, in character, and in their general religious requirements. ”

“ It is the fashion to extol highly the power of man’s mental and moral perception of what is right and wrong. But from whom do we hear most on these subjects? From those who, having lighted their torch at the lamp of God, affect not only to be independent of divine illumination, but even to eclipse the light of heaven itself. If they will fairly test their own principles, let them try them by the condition of that portion of the human family on whom revelation never cast its direct rays. ”

“ If the moral law is to be renounced as part of “the weak and beggarly elements” of the Mosaic religion, we must have the voice of God as distinctly abrogating the ten commandments as it was heard in their original promulgation. Nothing less will satisfy us, and nothing else, we venture to say, ought to satisfy any man who believes, that at the bar of God he must answer for the use he has made of the divine revelation contained in the Bible. ”

“ We acknowledge the greater consistency of those who affirm, that the whole moral law is swept away by the gospel; though we much regret that any true Christians, and those too, persons who are friendly to a proper observance of the Lord’s day, should hold notions which appear to us opposed to Scripture, and calculated to produce among the unthinking multitude, the most serious consequences. If indeed it were true, that the whole decalogue is abrogated by Christianity, no supposed immoral results would deter us from boldly proclaiming the fact. ”

“ Our Lord gave the most decided negative to this gloss, by his injunction, “love your enemies,” &c. Moreover, the Scribes taught that the mere outward observance of the precept was all that the law required. Our Lord shewed that God regards the inward feelings and motives of men—that the unchaste desire was adultery, and that causeless anger was murder. In this, his object was not to condemn or contradict the teaching of the law and the prophets, but to free it from human perversion, to shew its real character, and to point out its moral beauty and excellency. ”

“ If, however, the express will of God does not lead men to keep the Sabbath, we cannot conceive of any other motive, by which (on Christian principles) they will be induced to observe it. In man’s present condition, liberty without law soon degenerates into licentiousness; and no law but that of God, can so restrain and regulate men, as to preserve real religious freedom. ”

“ Is it consistent with his general dealing with men under the present dispensation? God has provided a Saviour for all men. He has commanded the gospel to be preached to the whole human race. He has commanded all men every where to receive the gospel. And yet he has abolished the only command by which an opportunity can be permanently secured to all men, to become acquainted with the truths of the gospel, and be made wise unto salvation! Is this worthy of God? A human parent would not withhold from his children, explicit instruction on any point that he deemed essential to their welfare. ”

“ If God is to be publicly acknowledged and worshiped in his own world—if men are to be instructed in the principles of revealed religion, and trained to habits of virtue and christian love—if personal, domestic, social, and national happiness is to be promoted—if time is to be so improved, as to make it the passage to a blessed immortality—the obligation to keep the Sabbath must be recognised, and its observance must be enforced and regulated according to the injunctions of God’s holy word. ”

“ They will then find that their wisdom is folly, their religion the most degrading idolatry, and that their moral code allows and even commands actions of the most revolting kind. The moral sense of the New Zealander made him a cannibal. In the Hindu it is seen in the worship of the Linga, in the horrid rites of the Suttee, and in the filthy and unnatural crimes that form a part of what is considered their most acceptable worship. It is hardly necessary to refer the classical reader to such works as the Phædrus and Symposium of the greatest philosopher of the most civilized nation of antiquity. ”

“ Vaughan’s pamphlet; while the writer’s chief aim is, to set forth what he believes to be the will of God on the important subject of the Sabbath. He is convinced that the principles enunciated in the following pages are in conformity with the teaching of the Bible; and being fully assured that obedience to the will of our Heavenly Father, is in all things the only way of peace and safety, he will rejoice if this pamphlet shall become the means of removing error, or of confirming those who already believe that the Sabbath is of divine and perpetual obligation. ”

“ Many instances may occur, in which it is physically impossible to obey the letter of some of the commandments. Thus, poverty, sickness, or other providential impediment, may incapacitate the most obedient child from ministering to the wants of his parents. In like manner, bodily infirmity, imprisonment, or other providential restraint, may prevent the observance of the fourth commandment in the letter, while the heart longs to honour God’s holy day, and to enjoy its blessings. ”

“ The religious observation of the seventh day hath a place in the decalogue among the very first duties of natural religion. The reason assigned for the injunction is general, and hath no relation or regard to the particular circumstances of the Israelites. The creation of the world was an event equally interesting to the whole human race; and the acknowledgment of God as our Creator, is a duty in all ages and in all countries, equally incumbent upon every individual of mankind.” From Bishop Horsley’s Second Sermon on the Sabbath. ”

“ On the contrary, it is made the occasion of the most awful immoralities, and is productive of the greatest misery. Instead of a blessing, it is converted into a curse. Besides, did not the instructions of the heads of families, and the teaching and ministrations of the Levites, in the earlier part of the Jewish history, and the services at the synagogue in after times, afford means of instruction very similar to those in the Christian church? By divine appointment the Levites were to teach the people (Lev. x. 11; Deut. xxxiii. 10) , and the people were to teach their children (Deut. vi. 7) ”

“ He hoped and expected that some one with more leisure than he can command, and more capable of doing justice to the important points under discussion, would undertake to refute what he felt to be the very erroneous notions of the learned Doctor. ”

“ But surely if the violation of one precept involves the guilt of breaking the whole law, the whole law must still be in force. For if the enactment has been repealed, there is no law; and if there is no law, there can be no transgression; and if there is no transgression, there can be no guilt. How strange, too, is this appeal to the law by the Apostle Paul, if the law has been annulled: “Children obey your parents in the Lord ”