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Keeping store, no doubt, and respected by all. And what an adroit old adventurer the subject of this memoir was! In order to get a chance to fly his kite on Sunday he used to hang a key on the string and let on to be fishing for lightning. And a guileless public would go home chirping about the "wisdom" and the "genius" of the hoary Sabbath-breaker.
Suppose I were to say that he became a liar, a thief and a Sabbath-breaker, would you believe me? You could not, because you have seen that he loved God and feared sin. You know how he grieved when he disobeyed his parents; and how earnestly he confessed his fault to his heavenly Father. You know how he tried to conquer his impatience, and to be a dutiful, loving child.
Keeping store, no doubt, and respected by all. And what an adroit old adventurer the subject of this memoir was! In order to get a chance to fly his kite on Sunday he used to hang a key on the string and let on to be fishing for lightning. And a guileless public would go home chirping about the "wisdom" and the "genius" of the hoary Sabbath-breaker.
But arrayed against these few were the good folk of the place who loudly denounced the Sabbath-breaker and demanded His punishment. Were the ancient laws of Moses to be thus defied by this presumptuous Nazarene, whose religious ideas were sadly lacking in orthodoxy? Surely not! Punish the upstart!
I was going to ask you, sir, did the idea ever strike you when you talked of this unhappy being suddenly leaving your ministrations and turning Sabbath-breaker, that after thirty-four years he might want a little change? Would it not be reasonable to suppose that the man might think he had had enough of it?" "It might, my lord."
I determined to rebel against the authority of my beloved kindred, assert my independence, and defend myself to the best of my ability. "I have suffered enough;" said I to myself, "and now I'm going in." "Sabbath-breaker, strip off your jacket," mildly remarked by dear uncle as he savagely flourished a cowhide of most formidable aspect and alarming suppleness.
So new was this that, contrary to the command, the people went out on the seventh day as on other days, and were rebuked but not punished for it. But no sooner is the Sabbath instituted by Moses, than it is broken, and the Sabbath-breaker is punished with a cruel death. The shadows have fled away; we possess the substance.
I heard them mutter, ‘Ish maveth.’ The high-priest glanced toward them. ‘You have heard this ragged blasphemy?’ he exclaimed; and, turning to where the Scribes stood, ‘What,’ he asked, ‘does the Law decree concerning the Sabbath-breaker?’ “One of them, the book unrolled in his hand, advanced and read: “ ‘Ye shall keep the Sabbath holy. Whoso does any work thereon shall be cut off from his people.’
They allowed, no doubt, that even a Sabbath-breaker might be havin' friends at Court!" The Collector could not forbear smiling at the youth's impudence. "May I ask what punishment I have probably escaped by that advantage?" "Well," said Mr. Banner, "for lighter cases it's usually the stocks." Still the Collector smiled. "I am trying to picture it," said he, after a pause.
Many a former Sabbath-breaker, now changed and rejoicing in God, was amongst us, delighting in the Christian privilege of working for the Master. It was a day that many of them looked forward to and spent with intense delight; and on Monday evening we met to tell what we had seen and heard of the Lord's goodness to ourselves and others.
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