The Litchfield County post., 1826-07-04

! Af several thousand men are every Sabbath occupied in driving the mail stages. there aremany thousand more, who are also Gods accountable creatures, each one of whom 4 Ee has strictly commanded to turn away | his foot from making any encrOachments
 on his holy day, who are tempted by this means of public conveyance, to transgress
 the command by proceeding on their jour
 neys. Many thousand PoSt-MasterS have their cOnsciences severely tried, by open ing the, mail, and attending to their other official business on the Lords day. Toat-
 tend on this business, they are often de-
 tained from the public services of the Sanc- tuary. There is another evil of no less
 magnitude, which is connected with the
 opening of the mail on the Sabbath. It
 presents temptation, which actually indu-
 ces thousands and tens of thousands, to
 profane holy time, by reading their letters
 of business, and their political and literary
 papers and magazines. By means of the
 transportation of the mail, the sacredness of the hallowed day is forgotten in those
 public houses where the mail coaches stop for refreshments. The same remark will
 apply to ferry-lnen and toll-gatherers and 1 sometimes twill apply to smiths and other mechanics, whose services are occasionally called for to make those repairs which are more or less called for by travellers. l Could the whole of this evil be placed under our eye, so as to be viewed at once, it would be truly affecting; and every man of piety would be ready to excIaim, Surely the ! lord will visit for this thing, and his soul will be avenged on such nation as this! Let us not forget that the whole of 4ais systematic and authorized proclamation of the Sabbath is distinctly in the view of that holy and Almighty Being, who is em- phatically the One "with whom we have to do.""
 am myself inclined to think, that there is no proclamation of the Sabbath. in our land which is more likely to bring down the wrath of Heaven upon us, than the one to which have advertedy this is eminently national proclamation. It is an terror which proccedeth from the ruler" It is na- tional contempt of the Lords day, and of the Lord of the day. 1t seems to speak language like this; ' If ind;vidu0ls ared pendent on God, and accountable to Him, let them acknowledge it by keeping holy his consecrated day; but as NATION, ! we are independent, not only of men but of God; and are accountable to none: for there is no Lord over us. National con- cerns are of too much consequence to be diverted from their regular course, by a cowardly fear of breaking commandment of God"
 There is another circumstance, which makes this national proclamation very great evil: it is to be the means Oflowering down 1 regard for the Sabbath athroughout the country, more than almost any other thing. The people at large are. acquainted withit, and become familiarized toit. The thing is known to be sanctioned by the legislature ofthe nation,-the nobles of the land. It is at length considered by many, ifnot most of the people, as a necessary arrangement. This all tends to make general impress sion, that the command of c God, to "remem- Der the Sabbath day te keep it holy, ''is not so binding on mems sconsciences as had been supposed. Itis a natural inference; that if the government of the land may take the Lords day to do their business, it can- not be very wrong for men in private life ] to do the same. If men, when travelling in the mail coaches, go forward on the Sab bath, as on other days,it will be natural for them to do it when travelling in their own coaches, or other means of private convey ance. Ifsome steam-boats are employed by government on the Sabbath, to trans port the mail, it is public sanction to all other boats, to make no difference as to timo, between the holy and profane. And
 this unnecessary labor, by the sailing of steam-boats in all the waters of the United
 States, will constitute an amazing amount
 of the sin of Sabbath breaking. If the
 steam-boats and packets traverse our bays and rivers on the Sabbath, this is giving sanction to the still more confined naviga- ton ofthe canals. And should this be an Restrained, we had better have remained contented without single canal in tho country.
 1 In view of all the evil, which is connec- ted with this national contempt of the Sab
 bath. ! am confident, that if the man who
 IS placed at the head of the Post o flee de- Apartment, and the legislature of the nation.
 were to view things in the same light in
 which they were viewed by the Jewish re- former, their love to their country would
 not permit them to suffer this prostation of
 the Lords day to continue another vear.- Thew wo,,ld fear Ioct annnch LoA .,I... H.