Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."--Isa. lviii. 13. 14.

"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered, and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, as he said: Come see the place where the Lord lay."--MATTHEW, xxviii. 1.-6.

"And on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made."-Acrs, xvi. 13.

"And upon the first day of the week, when

I

the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight.”—. Acrs, xx. 7.

NOTE 2. p. 10. 1. 24.

The toil-worn horse set free.

"A SABBATH DAY'S journey," says an able and faithful labourer in the vineyard of the Lord, "was, was, among the Jews, a proverbial expression for a very short one. Among us it can have no such meaning affixed to it. That day seems to be considered by too many, as set apart, by divine and human authority, for the purpose, not of rest, but of its direct opposite, the labour of travelling; thus adding one day more of torment to those generous, but wretched animals, whose services they hire; and who, being generally strained beyond their strength the other six days of the week, have, of all creatures under heaven, the best and most equitable claim to sus

pension of labour on the seventh. Considerations such as these, may perhaps appear to some below the dignity of this place, and the solemnity of a Christian assembly. But benevolence, even to the brute creation, is, in its degree, a duty, no less than to our own species; and it is mentioned by Solomon as a striking feature in the character of a righteous man, that "he is merciful even to his beast." HE, without whose permission "not a sparrow falls to the ground, and who feedeth the young ravens that call upon him," will not suffer even the meanest work of his hands to be treated cruelly with impunity. He is the common father of the whole creation. He takes every part of it under his protection. He has, in various passages of scripture, expressed his concern even for irrational creatures, and has declared more especially, in the most explicit terms, that the rest of the Sabbath was meant for our cattle and our servants, as well as for ourselves."

PORTEUS.

54614B

NOTE 3. p. 11. 1. 37.

Of giving thanks to God.

THOUGH this usage did not originate in positiveinstitution, yet our Lord may be said to have enjoined it by his example. Many are the instances that might be quoted. Even after his resurrection, he brake bread, and blessed it. "But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent ; and he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, saying, The Lord is risen

indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread."LUKE, xxiv. 29.-35.

NOTE 4. p. 12. l. 41.

The pale mechanic now has leave to breathe. HE who has seen threescore and ten years, has lived ten years of Sabbaths. The appropriation of so considerable a portion of human life to religious duties, to domestic enjoyment, and to meditative leisure, is a most merciful branch of the divine dispensation. It is the grand bulwark of poverty against the encroachments of capital. The labouring classes sell their time. The rich are the buyers, at least they are the chief buyers; for it is obvious, that more than the half of the waking hours of those who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, is consumed in the manufacture of articles that cannot be deemed either necessaries or comforts. Six days of the week are thus disposed of already. If Sunday were in

« AnteriorContinuar »