Nor would the absence of “reproof for the neglect” of the Sabbath be any valid argument against the continued obligation of its observance. If “in the primitive age” there were “churches in which _both_ (the Jewish and the Christian Sabbaths) were observed,” it is scarcely probable that any number of Christians would be found who neglected the Sabbath altogether; and if there was little or no neglect of the observance of the Sabbath, there would be little or no room for reproof on account of its neglect. But is there no reproof to be found in the New Testament? What does St. Paul mean by exhorting the Hebrews not to neglect the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some was? {12a} Few will deny that this passage refers to the public worship of the Christian church, which we know was held on the Lord’s day. Here, then, we have at least indirect reproof; and its connection with what follows will perhaps suggest an additional reason for the absence of more frequent and more direct reproof. So essential a part of practical Christianity was the observance of the Sabbath deemed, that scarcely any ventured to neglect it, and they who did so, were considered in danger of apostasy. {12b} If the reasons stated be valid arguments against the divine obligation to keep the Sabbath, what can be urged to prove the duty of females to partake of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? Here, although the institution was entirely new, and peculiar to the new dispensation, yet we find neither direct command, nor reproof for neglect, nor even mention made of any females having partaken of that Sacrament. And yet who would venture to pronounce these sufficient reasons for denying the obligation of women to receive the memorials of their dying Saviour’s love?