Litchfield enquirer., 1830-03-25

Th:;r .nreS ;s often essential to the defence of the country, the sOppresSIOn Ofcr'me: anu inc dearest interests of the people. Were thev suppressed one day of the week, the'r absence must be often supplied by public ex- uresses. and besides, while the mail bags might rest, the mail coaches would pursue their journey with the passengers. The mah bears, from one extreme of the Union to tne other, letters Uf relatives and Criends, pre- l serving a communion of heart between those far separated, and increasing the most pure and refined pleasures of our existence; aiso' the letters of commercial men convey the state of the markets. prevent ruinOus specn!a- tiOns. and promote general as well as lndlv'o- uaI interests they bear innumerab'e religious letters, newspapers. magazines, and tracts, which reach almost every house througnout this wide republic. Is the conveyance Cl these violation fthe Sabbath The ao- vance of the human race in intelligence ln virtue. and religion itself, depends m part up- on the speed with which knowledge of the
 mast is disseminated. WithOuta an interchange between one country and another, ana ne- tween different sections of the same country. every improvement in moral or political SCI. ence, and the arts of life, would be connned to the neghbOrhOOd where it originated. Ihe more rapid and the more frequent this inter
 
 intellect. and the progress of improvement.
 The mail is the chief means by which intel
 lectual light irradiates to the extremes of the
 republic. Stop it one day in seven, and you retard one seventh the advancement ot our country. So far from stopping the mail on | Sunday, the committee would recommend the use of all reasonable means to give 1t a greater expedition and a greater extension. What would be the elevation of our country. l if every new conception could be made to strike every mind tn the Union at the same time? It is not the distance of province OF state from the seat of government which endangers its separation, but 1t IS the dlmeo'- ty and unfrequency of intercourse between them. Our mails reach Missouri ana Ar kansas in less time than they reached Ken lucky and Ohio in the infancy of their set- tlements: and now, when there are three millions ofpe0ple extending thousand miles west of the Alleghany. we hear less ot d's- content than when there were few thou. sands scattered along their western base.
 'rO stOp the mails one day in seven would
 he te thrust the whole Western country,
 and other distant parts of this Republic. one dav,s journey from the seat of Government
 But, were it expedient to put an end to the
 transmission of letters and newspapers on
 Sunday, because it violates the law of aoo'
 have not the petitioners begun wrong 'n 'ne'r
 efforts? 1.-the arm of Government ne me- cessary to compel man to respect ana ooey
 The laws of God, do not the State Govern
 nents possess infinitely more power in this respect! Let the petitioners turn to them.
 and see if they can induce the passage of
 laws to respect the observance of the Sab
 bnth: for, if it be sinful for the mail to car
 y.ttsrs SvpaaY t ypMNstt M t8 8e s9HHSileY ihai these acts should be made penal, to complete the system. Travelling on business or re-
 creation, except to and from church; all
 printing, carrying, receiving, and reading ot
 newspapers; all conversations and social in-
 tercOurse, except upon religious subj jects,
 must necessarily be punished. to suppress the evil. Would it not also follow, as an in- 1 evitabIe consequence, that every man. wo- man, and child, should be compelled to at- tend meeting and, as only one sect, in the opinion of some, can be deemed orthodox. must it not be determined, by law. which that is, and compel all to hear those teach CTS. and contribute to their support! If mi nor punishments would not restrain the Jew, or the Sabbatarian, or the Infdel, who be-
 lieves Saturday to be the Sabbath, or disbe- lieves the whole, would not the same sys- tenn require that we should resort to impris- | 0nment. banishment, the rack, and the flag got, to force men to violate their own con. sciences, or compel them to listen to doctrines l which they abhOr? When the State Gov ernments shall have yielded. to these meas 1res. it will be time enough for Congress to declare that the rattling of the mail coaches shall no longer break the silence of this des- pOtism. It is the duty of thisl Government to afford to al-tO Jew or Gentile, Pagan or Christian, the protection and the advantages of our benignant institutions, on Standby. as
 we'll as every day of the week.-Although this government will not convert itself into an ecclesiastical tribunal. it will practice up on the maxim laid down by the founder of Christianity-that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. If the Almighty has set apart the first day of the week as time which man is bound to keep holy, and de- vote exclusively to his worship, would it not be more congenial to the precepts of Chris tians to appeal exclusively to the Great Law giver of the Universe 10 aid them in making men better-in correcting their practices by purifying their hearts ?-Gcvcrnment will l protect them in their efforts. When they 1 shall have SD instructed the public mind, and l awakened the cOnsciences of individuals, as | to make them believe that it is violation of | Gods law to carry the mail, open post off, l ces. or receive letters on Sunday, the evil of | which they complain will cease oi itself, with | out any exe'tion of the strong arm, of civil | power. When man undertakes to be Gods