The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-02 00:00:00

SUNDAY MAILS IN THE UNITED

STATES.

The American people, especially those of New Eng-
land, are distinguished by their strict observance of the
Sabbath-day; and the habits of the Puritan Fathers, who
fled from religious persecution in this their native land,
have continued to the present day to be exemplary in their
new and adopted country.
We may therefore, with great propriety, profit by
their conduct on a similar, movement in the United
States to that which is now going on in Great Britain,
for the stoppage of the mails and of labour in the Post-
office on the Sabbath-day.
In the years 1829 and 1830 numerous petitions from
different. parts of the Union were presented to the Senate
and the House of Representatives, praying for the repeal
of the laws that permitted the mails to be transported
and opened on Sundays. Those petitions, together with
memorials from other inhabitants of various parts of the
United States, remonstrating against such repeal, were
submitted to the Committee on the Post .office, and the
following report was presented to the House of Repre-
sentatives at Washington, in 1829:
" Mr. Johnson, of Kentucky, from the Committee on the
Post-office and Post-roads, to whom bad been referred
memorials from inhabitants of various parts of the
United States, praying for a repeal of so much of the
Post•office law as authorises the mail to be trans-
ported and opened on Sunday, and to whom had also
been referred memorials from other inhabitants of
various parts of the United States, remonstrating
against such repeal, made the following report:—
" That the memorialists regard the first day of the
week as a day set apart by the Creator for religious ex-
ercises, and consider the transportation of the mail and
the opening of the post-offices on that day the violation
of a religious duty, and call for a suppression of the
practice. Others, by counter-memorials, are known to
entertain a different sentiment, believing that no one day
of the week is holier than another. Others, holding the
universality and immutability of the Jewish Decalogue,
believe in the sanctity of the seventh day of the week as
a day of religious devotion, and by their memorials now
before the Committee they also request that it may be
set apart for religious purposes. Each has hitherto
been left to the exercise of his own opinion, and it has
been regarded as the proper business of Government to
protect all, and determine for none. But the attempt is
now made to bring about a greater uniformity, at least in
practice; and, as argument has failed, the Government
has been called upon to interpose its authority to settle
the controversy.
" Congress acts under a constitution of delegated and
limited powers. The Committee look in vain to that
instrument for a delegation of power authorising this
body to inquire and determine what part of time, or
whether any, has been set apart by the Almighty for
religious exercises. On the contrary, among the few
prohibitions which it contains is ono that prohibits a
religious test, and another which declares that Congress
shall pass no law respecting an establishment of reli-
gion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
" The law, as it now exists, makes no distinction as
to the days of the week, but it is imperative that the
postmasters shall attend at all reasonable hours in every
day to perform the duties of their offices; and the Post-
master-General has given his instructions to all post-
masters that, at post-offices where the mail arrives on
Sunday, the office is to be kept open one hour or more
after the arrival and assorting the mail; but, in case that
would interfere with the hours of public worship, the
office is to be kept open for one hour after the usual time
of dissolving the meeting. This liberal construction of
the law does not sati,fy the memorialists; but the Com-
mittee believe that there is no just ground of complaint,
unless it be conceded that they have a controlling power
over the consciences of others. If Congress shall, by the
authority of law, sanction the measure recommended, it
ould constitute a legislative decision (f a religious con-
troversy in which even Christians themselves are at issue.
However suited such a decision may be to an Ecclesias-
tical Council, it is incompatible with a Republican Le-
gislature, which is purely for political and not religious
purposes.
"In our individual character we all entertain opinions,
and pursue fi corresponding practice, upon the subject of
religion. However diversified these may be, we all har-
monize as ciiiz- ns, while each is willing that the other
shall enjoy the same liberty which he claims tor himself;
but, in our representative character, our individual cha-
racter is lost. The individual acts for himself; the re-
presentative far his constituents. He is chosen to repre-
sent their political, and not their religious views; to
guard the rights of man, not to restrict the rights of
conscience,
"From the earliest period of time religious teachers
have attained great ascendancy over the minds of the
people, and in every nation, ancient or modern, whether
Pagan, Mohammetan, or Christian, have succeeded in the
incorporation of their religious tenets with the political
institutions of their country, The Persian idols, the
Grecian oracles, the Roman auguries, and the modern
priesthood of Europe, hare all, in their turn, been the
subject of popular adulation, and the agents of political
deception. If the measure recommended should be
adopted, it would be difficult for human sagacity to fore-
see how rapid would be the succession, or how nu-
merous the train of measures which might follow, in-
volving the dearest rights of all—the rights of con-
science. The equality of rights secured by the consti-
tution may bid defiance to mere political tyrants ; but
the robe of sanctity too often glitters to deceive. The
constitution regards the conscience of the Jew as sacred
as that of the Christian
and gives no more authority
to adopt a measure affecting the conscience of a solitary
individual, than that of a whole community. That re-
presentative who would violate this principle would lose
his delegated character, and forfeit the confidence of his
constituents.

" With these facts before
Congress which involves en should be brought before
thues
constitutiou, and even by those ed itewa
dearest
who enjoy
es must
,ir be
oi
privileges
i i aei
gt sseuseb jhnecfci
et
tehos
etf
deep regret that a
of legislation shall in one point
bles,ings.
"If a solemn act
define the law of God, owitrphoint out to the citizens one
religious
equal propriety, proceed to
d
even
to hretvelation, and enforce every
eli oe every
edruyty, part it
of Divine
ivine
fors sd
aayn d
of
the
week
ceremonieseek
of the Church and the sup-
" If Congress stag declare th:
fi
oretliwgoiorsuhstpo. btlihgeaeti endowment
wtnent
holy, it
power will not
may e
conxnvitneret
vainthe Jew nor the Sabbatarian.
It
alone will dissatisfym both,
t h
port of the clergy.
consequently convert neither.
sacrifices, but the Deity
can heanadff ections of the heart. It must
a
Hutn,a
com t
be recollected that, in the earliest settlement in this
country, the spirit of persecution which drove
the pil-
grims from their native home was broughtwiththem to
their new habitations, and that some Christians were
scourged, and others put to death, for no other
e
.
than dissenting from the dogmas of their rulers
" We should all recollect that Catiline, a
professed
patriot, was a traitor to Rome; Arnold, a professed
Whig, was a traitor to America; and Judas, a professed
disciple, was a traitor to his Divine Master.
" With the exception of the United States, the whole
human race, consisting, it is supposed, of eight hundred
millions of rational beings, is in religious bondage; and,
in reviewing the scenes of persecution which history
everywhere where presents, unless the Committee could believe
'
that the cries of the burning victim, and the flames by
which he is consumed, bear to heaven a grateful incense,
the conclusion is inevitable that the line cannot be too
strongly drawn between Church and State.
" It was with a kiss that Judas betrayed his Divine
Master; and wo should all be admonished—no matter
what our faith may be—that the rights of con-
science cannot be so successfully assailed as under
the pretext of holiness. The Christian religion
made its way into the world in opposition to
all human Governments. Banishment, tortures,
and death were inflicted in vain to stop its pro-
gress.
But many of its professors, as soon as clothed
with political power, lost the meek spirit which their
creed inculcated, and began to inflict on other religions,
and on dissenting sects of their own religion, persecu-
tions more aggravated than those which their own apos-
tles had endured. The ten persecutions of Pagan Em...
perors were exceeded in atrocity by the massacres and
murders perpetrated by Christian hands; and in vain
shall we examine the records of imperial tyranny for
an engine of crue!ty equal to the Llo'y Inquisition. Every
religious see', however meek in its origin, commenced
the work of persecution as soon as it acquired political
power. The framers of the constitution recognised the
eternal principle that man's relation with his God is
above human legislation, and his rights of conscience in-
alienable. Reasoning was not necessary to establish
this truth; we are conscious of it in our own bosoms.
It is this consciousness which, in defiance of human
laws, has sustained so many martyrs in tortures and in
flames. They felt that their duty to God was superior
to human enactments, and that man could exercise no
authority over their consciences. It is an inborn prin-
ciple which nothing can eradicate.
" The bigot, in the pride of his authority, may lose
sight of it ; but strip him of his power, prescribe a
faith to him which his conscience rejects, threaten
him in turn with the dungeon and the faggot,
and the spirit which God has implanted in
him rises up in rebellion and defies you. Did the
primitive Christians ask that Government should recog-