THE SABBATH. 13 



tombed ages of divine energy illustrated. But the 

 efficient authorities among whom I would include a 

 short-sighted portion of the public resolutely close the 

 doors, and exclude from the contemplation of these 

 things the multitudes who have only Sunday to devote 

 to them. Are the authorities logical in doing so ? Do 

 they who thus stand between them and the public 

 really believe those treasures to be the work of God ? 

 Do they or do they not hold, with Paul, that ' the eternal 

 power and Godhead ' may be clearly seen from * the 

 things that are made ' ? If they do and they dare not 

 affirm that they do not I fear that Paul, with his cus- 

 tomary plainness of language, would pronounce their 

 conduct to be ' without excuse.' l 



Science, which is the logic of nature, demands pro- 

 portion between the house and its foundation. Theology 

 sometimes builds weighty structures on a doubtful base. 

 The tenet of Sabbath observance is an illustration. 

 With regard to the time when the obligation to keep 

 the Sabbath was imposed, and the reasons for its im- 

 position, there are grave differences of opinion between 

 learned and pious men. Some affirm that it was insti- 

 tuted at the Creation in remembrance of the rest of God. 

 Others allege that it was imposed after the departure of 

 the Israelites from Egypt, and in memory of that de- 

 parture. The Bible countenances both interpretations. 

 In Exodus we find the origin of the Sabbath described 

 with unmistakable clearness, thus : ' For in six days the 

 Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them 

 is. Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and 



1 I refer, of course, to those who object to the opening of the 

 museums on religious grounds. The administrative difficulty stands 

 on a different footing. But surely it ought to vanish in presence of 

 the benefits to teas of thousands which in all probability would 

 accrue. 



