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Title: The Divided Sabbath - remarks concerning the Crystal Palace now erecting at Sydenham
Author: Jowett, Benjamin
Language: English
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Transcribed from the 1852 Seeleys edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org
[Picture: Pamphlet cover]
THE DIVIDED SABBATH.
* * * * *
REMARKS
CONCERNING
THE CRYSTAL PALACE
NOW ERECTING AT SYDENHAM.
~~~~~~~~~~
“_Do ye thus requite the Lord_!”
DEUTERONOMY XXXII. 6.
~~~~~~~~~~
BY THE REV. WILLIAM JOWETT, M.A.
INCUMBENT OF ST. JOHN’S CHURCH, CLAPHAM RISE,
AND LATE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
* * * * *
LONDON:
SEELEYS, FLEET STREET, AND HANOVER STREET,
HANOVER SQUARE.
1852.
_Price Sixpence_.
* * * * *
W. M. WATTS, CROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAR.
* * * * *
THE DIVIDED SABBATH,
&c. &c.
THE following Report, found in the _Times_ of August 2d, 1852, appears to
be, on one side at least, demi-official. It has given occasion to the
Remarks contained in this pamphlet.
“We are happy to be able to state, that so far as the Government are
concerned, no impediment will be thrown in the way, and that there is
now no fear of the people’s losing their palace on the day on which
they can best avail themselves of its many means of elevation and
refinement. When the Directors of the Crystal Palace Company applied
some few weeks since to Lord Derby for a Charter, they communicated
to his Lordship the terms upon which they proposed to open the
building and grounds on Sundays. They were of opinion, that until
after one o’clock no trains should run from London, and the Crystal
Palace itself should be strictly closed. After that hour they
proposed to throw open the Park and the Winter-Garden, but not to
exhibit those departments of the building, which will partake
exclusively of a manufacturing and commercial character, the
intention being to devote a certain portion of the space to specimens
of manufactures, &c., which the public will be invited, upon certain
conditions, to display. In the third place, the Directors undertook
that on Sunday no spirituous liquors should be sold in their grounds.
On Monday last Lord Derby requested an interview with the Directors,
who, with Sir J. Paxton, waited upon the Premier and the Home
Secretary in Downing Street. At this meeting his Lordship acquiesced
in the stipulations proffered by the Crystal Palace Company,
suggested a few trifling variations, and promised to grant the
required Charter.”
An article in the _Times_, four days later, Aug. 6th, gives a full
account of the ceremony of erecting the first column of the New Crystal
Palace.
* * * * *
With every desire that the best interests of my Countrymen should be
promoted, and with sincere respect for those who entertain a similar
wish, I have felt it my duty as an Englishman, and still more as a
Clergyman, to submit the following considerations to my Queen and my
Country.
* * * * *
The Crystal Palace now erecting at Sydenham is designed to be the most
splendid display of national greatness in the earth. No objection can
exist to its grandeur, its beauty, the marvellous exotics to be exhibited
in it, or to the display of ingenious manufactures. Some things it is
intended to expose, which may prove decidedly objectionable: I refer to
the sculpture-department. But I will not enter into details. The one
great evil characterising the plan, is this—That it is designed to open
the building to visitors during one half of the Lord’s Day.
* * * * *
Observe—the people of London and its suburbs, that is, four millions, are
invited to mutilate the Sabbath, by a plan which allows the first half to
be given to God’s worship, but allures them to spend the second half in
worldly amusement. The favourers of the scheme virtually say—“Resort to
the House of God in the morning, and to the Temple of Pleasure the rest
of the day.” This is a scheme far more artful, than if the enemy of
mankind had said, “Give _the whole day_ to me:” that would have shocked
us at once: but—“Let half be given to God, and the second half to
Pleasure”—this is plausible: and it is therefore so much the more
dangerous.
I have said, four millions are thus invited. But consider the Counties
involved in this invitation—the many watering-places in those counties,
which have Excursion-trains in connection with London the whole of
Sunday—the near neighbourhood of France and other Continental
countries—the habits of those countries in making Sunday an open day for
every kind of diversion. Taking all these points into consideration,
there is something more to be contemplated, than the mere erection of a
Crystal Palace.
* * * * *
Let us reflect how the plan will work. I have used a decent term,
“Pleasure.” And the favourers of the scheme may adopt terms yet more
reputable: inviting people to the study of Nature, in all the wonderful
productions of native and foreign plants, leading them “from Nature up to
Nature’s God.” This sounds well: but after all, the thing is, not what
an elegant writer may describe it, but what the Million will make it. A
poet, or an artist, may disguise a subject in a thousand ways: but this
Temple of Pleasure will infallibly become, in the hands of the Million, a
Focus of Dissipation.
Analyse a little this divided Sabbath, this Lord’s Day divided into two
halves: not indeed perfectly equal halves; for the nominal date of
recreation commences precisely one hour after mid-day: then the rush of
railway carriages from the London terminus is to commence, Divine Service
having at most Churches in and about London ended at one o’clock. Then,
and in the hours following, the twenty, or the fifty thousand men, women
and children, are to be set in motion. They will find no intoxicating
drinks sold on the premises of the Crystal Palace! But will not the
surrounding localities offer them, under the name of refreshments,
whatever they please?
Look to the first part of the day. Does any man suppose that one half of
these many thousands will have been worshipping God in the family and in
the Church? Is it in the least degree likely? Does a single favourer of
the scheme imagine it probable? I think not.
But then it will be pleaded, that the scheme is purposely so arranged,
that people _might_, if they wished, go to Church with their families in
the forenoon. I have even heard it gravely said, “The people _need not_
break the Sabbath: they _may_ go to Church in the morning; and if they do
not, it is their own fault.” To this argument silence might be the best
reply. And I hope truly, that the _Conscience of the Nation_ will
repudiate such sophistry.
I speak of Conscience: and I remember that the conscience of a Child is
as much honoured and protected by God, as the conscience of any other
individual. _Take heed that ye offend not one of these little ones_.
Better for a man to have a millstone hanged about his neck, and he be
cast into the sea, than that the moral sense of a young person be
perverted. Suppose, now, a father or mother to take some of their
children to Church, and hear the Commandments read: then imagine an
ingenuous boy or girl, on the way to the Crystal Palace, saying, “The
Minister read the words, _Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day_;”
and they ask father or mother to reconcile the words of the command, and
their excursion of amusement: the parents hush up the matter, by saying,
“Children must not be particular; it is enough to keep holy _half the
Sabbath Day_, and spend the rest of it pleasantly.” What a comment would
this be!
This then is the sin, the one sin, at which I take aim. I do not pursue
this part of the subject, by showing what multitudes of Railway servants,
Publicans, Policemen, and others, will inevitably be absorbed during the
entire Sabbath for miles and miles around, by this scheme. Here is the
one crime, a divided Sabbath: here is the focus and centre of it, the
Crystal Palace at Sydenham!—If any do not see the evil, or are determined
to blink it, it will not be difficult to draw up a Sketch (not an
exaggerated Sketch, but a very simple one, and so much the more
convincing:) taking into view—1. London and its suburbs: 2. The
circumjacent Counties: 3. The infection of the Continental Sabbath: 4.
The state of the families of the industrial classes during the six
week-days: and, 5. Their probable condition from Saturday Evening to
Monday Evening, _forty-eight hours_, resulting from this scheme of a
Divided Sabbath. But I hope that no such Tract will ever have to be
written.
* * * * *
The projected _Aggression of Pleasure_ in 1853 is to me a greater object
of dread, than the _Aggression of Popery_ in 1850: because it falls in
with the taste of the vast majority of mankind. The danger of Popery I
do not under-estimate. It is a scheme adapted to fall in with the
Formalism and Self-Righteousness of Man’s heart. There was also
treachery in the camp of the Church of England, at the time when Popery
took aim at the Royal Supremacy, and asserted its claim to be Lord of the
consciences of all mankind: England, of course, included. But England
repelled that aggression. The _Aggression of Pleasure_ is more subtle,
more extensive, more congenial. It is a subject, therefore, on which I
must expatiate with the honest and affectionate freedom of a Clergyman.
* * * * *
Let me then observe, first, that it is a very difficult task _To move
great masses of people in a right direction_. In a wrong direction, it
is not so difficult. To rouse them to revolution, and then screw them
down by despotism, has been the work of a short time, in some
neighbouring countries. But to draw them back from an evil purpose, and
lead them into a right channel of feeling and action, is a hard work:—a
consideration this, which makes it the more imperative to check at once
this flagrant scheme of Sabbath-breaking before it begins. Once broken
out, what human hand can turn back the torrent?
But is it not equally difficult _Rightly to move the heart even of one
individual_? We speak of “The Million:” but that million is composed of
units. To lead any one individual, be he rich or poor, to feel the value
of his own soul, is a work worthy the labours and sacrifices of a whole
life. To move that one heart, however, is not man’s work. _With man
this is impossible_: _but with God all things are possible_.
Hence appears the importance of the _Prayer of faith_. Christ is the
Strong One, stronger than Satan, in whose name prayer is to be offered to
the Father: and in answer to believing prayer, the Holy Spirit is poured
forth, on individuals, on Churches, on Nations, on the whole World. Who
can overpower the Almighty Spirit, when it pleases Him to work? Without
his influence, nothing, even under the most favourable circumstances, can
be effected: with His influence, every good work, under most unfavourable
circumstances, may and will be effected. _Not by power_, _not by might_,
_but by my Spirit_, _saith the Lord of Hosts_. _Who art thou_, _O great
mountain_! _before Zerubbabel_, _thou shalt become a plain_. By the
power of the Spirit, every difficulty presented by the Million shall
vanish. The heart of the Million shall be bowed, as the heart of one
man. This will be in answer to prayer; whether secret prayer; or both
secret and social prayer.
Another consideration deeply affecting to my mind, is this. Among the
various means for the promotion and preservation of a nation’s welfare,
there is not one of higher importance than the exercise of _A faithful
Gospel-Ministry_. I am, on principle, a Clergyman of the Church of
England: but I honour Ministers of every Communion, who with simplicity
and godly sincerity preach Christ. In the present eventful crisis, we
need the aid of all. Here is no question of Church and Dissent: the
question is, whether or not Popery and Pleasure shall over-run the
land—whether we shall uphold the Law of God, and Christ’s Gospel; or
violate both.
There is a great Duty now lying before us: namely—_To make the Lord’s Day
profitable and interesting to the People_. By the Crystal Palace scheme
the People are invited to Pleasure: at least for the second half of the
day. The favourers of this scheme expressly undertake to teach the
People “to amuse themselves:” and Sunday, from one o’clock till
night-fall, is selected for the purpose of promoting this object among
the working classes. As Ministers of Christ, then, are we not now
brought to the test? “Will we endeavour to make the Lord’s Day—the whole
of it—interesting and useful to the Million? How likewise may we put the
people into the way of making this day interesting to themselves?”
I feel the difficulties of this part of the subject: nor can I remove
them by proposing so many more Sermons, Services, Sabbath-Schools, &c.,
although works of such kind would naturally form a part of any plan of
extending usefulness. But I feel, and long have felt that there is one
great, vital measure; which, if God should bless us in the universal
promotion of that measure, will diffuse spiritual health and happiness
through all classes of society.
To render the Lord’s Day interesting, Religion itself must become
interesting to a People. Every-day Religion is the only thing that can
make a Sunday-Religion profitable and interesting. The one topic of
pre-eminent importance in this point of view is—_The General introduction
of Family Prayer_. Domestic Worship is among the greatest of earthly
blessings, both to the Rich and to the Poor. We say in England, “Every
man’s house is his Castle.” For all domestic purposes, let every man’s
house be also his Church! In setting up this standard, the Ministers of
Christ have a noble task before them. Our public Congregations on the
Lord’s Day will not be diminished by the multiplication of these Domestic
Sanctuaries during the week: these, on the contrary, will render our
every-day Religion interesting, and thus make also the Sabbath a delight.
They will fill our Churches, and thin the throng of Sabbath-breakers,
please God, to nothing!
As to the notion that this violation of the Sabbath will give rest and
mental refinement to the people, it is an utter delusion. Last year I
was conversing about the Excursion-trains with an aged relative, who has
since been removed to the eternal world. When under twenty years of age
he was for a while engaged in mercantile business, in one of the most
active and opulent of our manufacturing towns: but from pure love to the
work of the Ministry he relinquished very flattering worldly prospects,
and for more than forty years was a burning and a shining light in the
parish and in the county where he laboured. Referring to his early days,
and viewing with alarm the threatening abuses of the Railways, he
remarked to me—“They quite mistake the idea of Sunday-rest, who suppose
that it consists in pleasure-taking. When I was engaged in business,
early and late on all the week-days—very often so tired out that I
scarcely knew what to do with myself—Sunday was the greatest possible
refreshment to me. The mere act of ceasing from work, together with
reading my Bible and going to Church, was rest. But then,” he added,
“this implies a change of heart; a different taste from what the world
has.”
* * * * *
I have thus written from the fulness of my heart, and from the deepest
convictions of my judgment, believing that a crisis of great danger to
our beloved country is closely impending. If a Royal Charter has been
promised, specifically authorising the opening of the Crystal Palace on
any part of Sunday, then the Poor are in the fair way to be robbed of
their real Rest, by the substitution of an imaginary recreation, so
arranged that it cannot be enjoyed without sin. If the Royal sanction
were actually given, I would yet look to “The Million,” Englishmen as
they are, and Bible-men, to reject the proffered amusement. How may the
threatened evil be averted? Whether deliverance shall be sent from some
very humble quarter; or whether it shall be the hand of a Queen, more
wary than Darius, that shall refuse to sign the writing and the decree,
God alone knoweth! My earnest hope and prayer, is, that the rumour of
such a Charter may die away to nothing. As Englishmen, may we be roused
from our dreams of amusement to a higher standard of duty! May History
never have to record, that in the nineteenth century it was sought to
erect—and in Britain, too—a People’s happiness on the basis of God’s
broken law!
* * * * *
THE END.
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