The Arkansas advocate., 1830-04-28

The hours, which the Post Master Ge- neral directed, were not Sabbath hoars, which a paramount authority had com manded to be wholly devoted to the ser vice of God. Up to the act of April 90, 1910, this practice continued, when, in consideration of a var then iinpe1id- ing, and the perilous condition of the country, the obnoxious clause was in- tFoduced; but under the impression that it would be repealed when the war should be brought to a close. "It shall be the duty of the Post Master at all reasonable hours on eveYy day of bbe 5veek to deliver" &c.
 How differentthen have been the pro ceedings of the State Legislature, and of Congress, under similar powers. The former have thought it no encroachment upon the rights of conscience to make laws providing for the due observance of the Sabbath. On the other hand Congress has actually, as has been a. bundantly shown, and in direct violation of the letter of the Constitution, made c tase prohibiting the lfeesexercise of re- ligion.n The creed of most of those employed in the Post Office department, says to them with divine authority, !" Re member the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, eontaminate it not with worldly business or pleasure, but devote it wholly and solely to the service of your God. Let it be a day of rest, as well to your selfas to all your household, to your cat tie, and to the stranger that is within your gates; for it is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.7 But Congress says to them, No: the wants of our mer- chants, the necessity of a continual flow of mercantile and political information, the fear of decreasing the rapidity of this information oae-Seuentb, and the dread of introducing an established re- ligion, require that you should work on the Sabbath and break the law of your God. Nomatter about your conscience, and your religious belief, no matter about the example you set and the en- couragement you give to others, 10 mat ter about your inability to worship God in his temple and receive the bread ot eternal life, no matter about the welfare of your immortal souls. These are but trifles compared to the important rea- sons we have adduced." And how does Congress enforce this injunction? It is dreadful to reeite. ssThe Post Master 1 General and all other persons employed in the General Post Office, or in the care, custody or conveyance of the Mail, shall take the following oath or afirma- ton; l 4. B. do swear for affirm, as the case may bel that l will faithfully per form all the duties required of me, and abstain from every thing forbidden by the laws, in relation to the establishment of the Post Office and post roads, And one of these duties involves in it the breach of theSabbath. Can any spirit ualIy minded christian, can any man who believes in the existence of God and the truth of the Bible, think of this without trembling?
 We dc not put this argument upon the ground of the divine and paramount authority of the Sabbath; we do not put 1t on the ground of expediency; we do not mention the respect in which it has been held by all great and good men; its tendency to soften the manners, to purify the heart, to control the conduct to relax the body and mind, and it them for the active duties of the week. We leave out of view the importance of the dissemination, of religious truth by a statedly preached gospel, and we refer not to the examples of other nations on whom God has sent swift destruction and desolation for the ordination of his ordinances. These arguments night be dilated on and are overpowering in themselves. But we put 1t, where Col. Johnson has put 1t, on the ground of coastitutioaality, and we ask, whether Congress has not violated the spirit and letter of the Constitution, by this provis- ion Of the Post Office law, and whether the friends of the Sabbath, who are calling for its repeal, are not the true friends of the Constitution, and of the sacred rights of conscience.
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