44 THE SABBATH. 



on a nation unprepared for them. He is no statesman 

 at all who, without seeking to interpret and guide it in 

 advance, merely waits for the more or less coarse ex- 

 pression of the popular will, and then constitutes himself 

 its vehicle. Untimeliness is sure to be the characteristic 

 of the work of such a statesman. In virtue of the 

 position which he occupies, his knowledge and insight 

 ought to be in advance of the public knowledge and 

 insight ; and his action, in like degree, ought to precede 

 and inform public action. This is what I want my 

 Sabbatarian friends to bear in mind. If they look 

 abroad from the vantage-ground which they occupy, 

 they can hardly fail to discern that the intellect of this 

 country is gradually ranging itself upon our side. 

 Whether they hear or whether they forbear, we are sure 

 to unlock, for the public benefit, the doors of the 

 museums and galleries which we have purchased, and 

 for the maintenance of which we pay. But I would 

 have them not only to prepare for the coming change, 

 but to aid and further it by anticipation. They will 

 thus, in a new fashion, 'dish the Whigs,' prove them- 

 selves men of foresight and common sense, and obtain 

 a fresh lease of the respect of the community. 



As the years roll by, the term 'materialist' will lose 

 more and more of its evil connotation ; for it will be 

 more and more seen and acknowledged that the true 

 spiritual nature of man is bound up with his material 

 condition. Wholesome food, pure air, cleanliness — hard 

 work if you will, but also fair rest and recreation — these 

 are necessary not only to physical but to spiritual well- 

 being. A clogged and disordered body implies a more 

 or less disordered mind. The seed of the spirit is cast 

 in vain amid stones and thorns, and thus your best 

 utterances become idle words when addressed to the 

 acclimatised inhabitants of our slums and alleys. 



