THE NEW CRYSTAL PALACE

AND THE

CHRISTIAN SABBATH.

BY

THE REV. JOHN WEIR,

MINISTER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, RIVER TERRACE.

LONDON: N. H. COTES, 139, CHEAPSIDE;

NISBET AND CO., BERNERS STREET;

J. H. JACKSON, PATERNOSTER ROW, AND ISLINGTON GREEN

(Price ld., or 7s. per 100.)

1852.

12

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I AM very sensible of the imperfections of the following Discourse (delivered on the 24th ult.), but in compliance with the request of many friends, it is now issued in a tract form, as an humble testimony to "present truth" and present duty, and with the earnest prayer that it may be of some service to the cause of the Christian Sabbath.

Islington, 3rd November, 1852.

J. W.

LONDON: C. RICHARDS,100, ST. MARTINS LANE.

THE NEW CRYSTAL PALACE

AND THE

CHRISTIAN SABBATH,

ISAIAH V. 24.-"Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust, because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."

LUKE XVI. 13.-" Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."

2 TIMOTHY III. 4.-" Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God: from such turn away."

A SIMULTANEOUS effort is this day being made in this parish, by ministers of various sections of the one Church of Christ, to direct public attention to a question of no ordinary magnitude, with which the cause of national righteousness is identified; and to stir up the community to unite in vigorous, yet peaceful opposition to a project, which involves the perpetration of a great national sin.

Most of those now present have gazed with admiration on the marvels of the memorable and magnificent Crystal Palace of 1851, the design of which originated with the same Prince who, in

his homage to the Supreme Ruler of nations, had previously suggested as an appropriate motto for our Royal Exchange the words now graven on its pediment: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." It was in beautiful harmony with this recognition of the sovereignty of Heaven, and it formed one of its most gratifying features, that the doors of the Crystal Palace were closed on the Lord's day. solemnly proclaimed to assembled nations that she exalted the spiritual above the material-the eternal above the temporal-the immortal above the perishable in a word, by this public acknowledgment of the Divine law, the Royal Commissioners, in the nation's name, put honour on the Sabbath of God.

England thus

The gorgeous fabric, whose wonders had attracted myriads of spectators, having fulfilled its design, by exhibiting in peaceful rivalry the products of genius, and science, and industrial skill, collected from all nations, was ordered to be taken down. Many were anxious for its preservation; meetings were held and petitions presented to the Legislature on the subject; but it was finally decided, by a vote of the House of Commons, that, in accordance with the terms of the original agreement, the structure should be removed. The directors of a railway company then resolved to purchase the materials, and reconstruct the edifice on a new site, in an improved and more enduring