640th ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING, 



Held in Coii:,iiTTzz Eooi-i B. 



THE CENTRAL HALL. WESTMINSTER, on Monday 



20th March, 1922, at -i.SO p.m. 



Alfred T. Schofield, Esq., M.D., ix the Chaie. 



The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read, confirmed and signe 

 and the HON. SECRET AET announced the election of the following gentle 

 men since the last meeting : — A> a Member, Avory W. Holmes-Forbes, Esq. 

 and as Associates, the Rev. P. B. Fraser, M.A., the Rev. .J. M. Pollock, M.A., 

 and J. H. Clifford Johnston, Esq. 



The Chairman then called on the Rev. F. F. Horton, D.D.. to introduce 

 the Discussion on Siuidav Observance. 



DISCUSSION ON SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. 



Introducing Dr. Hoiton to the meeting, the Chairman said : — 

 We are pleased to welcome here Dr. Horton, who is a man with 

 a special knowledge of the subject before us this afternoon. It 

 is to be hoped that this Institute will be able to voice an utterance 

 on the subject of Sunday Observance that may influence some 

 of those around us, and the leaders of thought in this Metropolis. 



The Rev. Dr. Horton said : — Dr. Schofield, Ladies and Gentle- 

 men, — I shall approach the question this afternoon not from the 

 standpoint of rehgious ordinance or dogmatic rule, but entirely 

 from the standpoint of practical utihty as experience has demon- 

 strated it. In fact, my own view is that the ordinance of the 

 Sabbath by the Jewish lav/ is strictly practical; that it was 

 enjoined upon the people on hygienic grounds, and that the 

 orcUnance of the Sabbath day was for the good of men. Our 

 Lord said, " The Sabbath was made for man and not man for 

 the Sabbath." 



It is generally conceded that an interval of rest is necessary 

 to all efficient work. It has been proved by long experience that 

 the interval should be about one day in seven, and wherever that 

 idea has been violated the first experience has been to return to 

 the institution of the seventh day. 



During the war, you remember, an effort was made to continue 

 the making of munitions during a seven-day week, but it was 

 suspended entii-ely on the ground that the munitions were not 

 produced so well as when there was a seventh day of rest. And 

 perhaps a more significant thing was the experience of the French 

 Revolution, when in the hatred of dogmatic institutions the Revo- 

 lution abolished the Sabbath, and yet found it necessary to have 



