THE SABBATH. 39 



fill disputation, since the observation of the Lord's Day 

 is not built upon any express or plain institution by 

 Christ or his apostles in the Xew Testament, but rather 

 on examples and probable inferences, and on the reasons 

 and relations of things ; I can never pronounce anything 

 hard or severe upon any fellow Christian who maintains 

 real piety in heart and life, though his opinion on this 

 subject may be very different from mine." Thus 

 through the theologian radiates the gentleman. 



Up to the end of the eighteenth century the cata- 

 logue of Mr. Cox embraces 320 volumes and publica- 

 tions. It is a monument of patient labour; while the 

 remarks of the writer, which are distributed throughout 

 the catalogue, illustrate both his intellectual penetration 

 and his reverent cast of mind. He wrought hard and 

 worthily with a pure and noble aim. I had the 

 pleasure of meeting Mr. Cox at Dundee in 1867, when 

 the British Association met there, and I could then 

 discern the earnestness with which he desired to see his 

 countrymen relieved from the Sabbath incubus, and at 

 the same time the moderation and care for the feelings 

 of others with which he advocated his views. He has 

 also given us a rapid " Sketch of the Chief Controversies 

 about the Sabbath in the Nineteenth Century." The 

 sketch is more compressed than the catalogue, and the 

 changes of thought in passing from author to author, 

 being more rapid, are more bewildering. It is, to a 

 great extent, what I have already called a clatter of 

 email arms mingled with the occasional thunder of 

 heavier guns. One thing is noticeable and regrettable 

 in these discussions, namely, the unwise and undis- 

 criminating way in which different Sunday occupations 

 are classed together and condemned. Bishop Bloom- 

 field, for example, seriously injures his case when he 

 places drinking in gin-shops and sailing in steamboats 



