88

OUR RELATION T.O THE DEITY.

[Part I.

patriarchs, from whom all the nations of the earth are descended.

“ We find from time immemorial,” says the learned Goguet,

“ the use of this period among all nations, and without any varia- (tion in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, In-dians, Arabians, and in a word, all the nations of the east, have, inall ages, made use of a week of seven days.” * Another author ofequal distinction says, “ The period of seven days, by far the mostpermanent division of time, and the most ancient monument ofastronomical knowledge, was used by the Brahmins in India withthe same denominations employed by us, and was alike found inthe calendars of the Jews, Egyptians, Arabs, and Assyrians ; ithas survived the fall of empires, and has existed among all suc-cessive generations, a proof of their common origin.” f

During the long residence of the Hebrews in Egypt, in a stateof rigorous servitude, it may well be supposed that the Sabbathwas not much observed, and well-nigh forgotten. Still, after theirdeliverance from Egypt, the Sabbath was observed by them,before their arrival at Mount Sinai, and Moses evidently refers toit as an institution rather neglected by them,, than unknown tothem. J In the Fourth Commandment, the term Sabbath is usedwithout explanation as one well known. Moreover, when it issaid, at the end of this commandment, that the Lord blessed theseventh day and hallowed it, the reference seems most manifestlyto be to the original setting apart of the same day at the end ofthe creation. My purpose does not require me to trace thehistory of the Jewish Sabbath any further.

2. Was the institution, known originally by the name of theSabbath, and in later times by the name of Sunday, designed,save the mere change of the day, to be the same, and to be ofperpetual obligation ? A brief discussion and comparison willset this part of the subject in a very clear light. A distinction,which the sacred writers have been at pains to mark and insiston, is drawn between the great body of the Mosaic law and the

* Origin of Laws, Vol. I. Book 3, Chap. 2.

t Mrs. Somerville, Mechanism of the Heavens, Prel. Dis. p. 85. — See alsoDr. Dwight on the Fourth Commandment, in his Theology, and Mr. Jay’s“Prize Essay,’* pp. 10-13.t Exodus xvi.