Page:A thousand years hence. Being personal experiences (IA thousandyearshen00gree).djvu/41

 to put away your wives; but from the beginning it hath not been so."

But seeing that man, who is born to toil, needs a periodical recreative rest, we have wisely retained the ancient and suitable seventh day, while, for Christian reasons, it is also specially honoured as the Lord's Day. This, rather than the misleading term Sabbath, is properly for us its name. And again, whilst dissociating all idea of sin from useful and necessary work on any day whatever (for if any one fails, on occasion, adequately to provide for his household in the six days, what more appropriate or meritorious than to sacrifice also the seventh?), yet the needs of society at large require some common understanding and purpose, and even the authoritative intervention of the State, to promote and maintain a universally recognized day of rest. It is the recreative day of rest and leisure, and as such all the well-disposed will gladly and naturally avail of its opportunities for a still larger share of religious exercise and thought. But as to this we should bear in mind that neither coercive nor hypocritical religion can be either edifying to man or acceptable to God. Nor should we forget that "rest," in the sense of mere inaction, is not the most acceptably recreative agency to large sections of modern society. The great want is a freely cheerful recreative day, in which, with a large mutual charity and forbearance, every one may be left to do himself all the good he can, without disturbing his neighbour. "Let every one be persuaded in his own mind."