The controversy between us and you appears to be brought down to a very narrow compass. _Did the Apostles and primitive Christians sabbatize on the first day of the week?_ And, _Is it the duty of all men to imitate their example, or only the_ CHURCH? If, upon a solemn and prayerful consideration of this subject, you are persuaded that there is no proof that the early Christians regarded the first day as a Sabbath, (substituted in place of the seventh,) and will honestly avow your conviction, we have no fear that the controversy will be prolonged. For, should you still be of opinion that some sort of notoriety was attached to the day, and that Christians met for worship, we shall not be very solicitous to dispute the point. The apostolic rule, "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind," will then govern us. See Rom. 14:5, 6. Our concern is not that you keep the first day of the week, but that you keep it _in place of the Sabbath_, thus making void the commandment of God. If once you discover, that Sunday is not the Sabbath by divine appointment, and therefore cannot be enforced upon the conscience, we are persuaded that your deep sense of the necessity of such an institution, will soon bring you to the observance of the one originally appointed. * * * * * II. But we proceed to address those of you who regard the sabbatic law as having been nailed to the cross, and consider the first day of the week as an institution entirely new, regulated as to its observance wholly by the New Testament. You, whom we now address, are exempt from some of the inconsistencies which we have exposed; but your theory labors under very serious difficulties, and is to be regarded, on the whole, as more obnoxious to the interests of religion, than the one we have been considering. According to your position, the New Testament recognizes no Sabbath at all. Do not start at this charge. That it is repugnant to your feelings, we allow. You have never thought of any thing else than _entire abstinence from labor_ on the first day of the week. It is your day of _rest_, as well as _worship_. But on what ground do you make it a day of rest? What _example_ have you for doing so? What _law_ of the New Testament requires you to lay aside all your secular business? As sin is the transgression of the law, and where no law is there is no transgression--1 John 3:4, Rom. 4:15--how do you make it appear to be sin to work on the day in question? It is by the commandment that sin becomes exceeding sinful. Rom. 7:13. By what commandment do you make it appear sinful to work on Sunday? These are questions of the highest importance.