Hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1843-1845, 1844-02-01

I be reminded Of the blue laws Of New
England. I was born in the West,
brought. up there. and whatever educa'
lion | have, received il in the West.
have never looked on the eastern side
Of the Alleghanies. But cir, | have
not been altogether an inattentive OBJ
server Of the history of New England.
TO her we are indeb,ed for the first
idea of the onion of the States. Look
a. her common school systems, then al
the intelligence Of her population. as the
result. Of tina, system, and then talk to
me abou. blue laws as long and as loud
as you will. I,ell you sir, if the fair
spirit Of liberty is ever compelled to
take her fiigh, from our beloved coun-
try, her last lingering foot prints will
be found on the granite hills Of New
England.
But have said sir, that no nation ever
had been happy without religion. true
or false. Happily for US we have moi
TO search the records of antiquity for an
example Of a nation having the wick
edness and folly to try the mad expert
ment. France, inidel France, almost
in our own day, and at our own door.
she abolished The Sabbath by law, did
the very act which this bill proposes
we shall do. Look at the consequent
ices. See the citizens Of France butch
ering each other. See even the softer,
gcntler sex.-tender, delicate, gentle
woman, under the transforming inau.
ence Of an anti sabbath law, running
through the streets Of Paris with their
arms dyed up to the elbows in the
blood Of their fellow men; Boosting tina,
they had washed their arms in aris,o-
cratic blood. appeal to every Amer
lean heart, to every member Of this
house,-do you wish to bring distress
and anarchy and the whitening mildew
of the curse Of Almighty God upon
your country; if you do, repeal this law
and your objec, is accomplished, your
ambition may be fully gra,ifed.
Mr. BAKER, Of Washington, seemed
fearful his motives would be impugned.
He opposed the amendment from prin.
ciple-said he looked upon every day
! alike-and that the law in force was an
infringement on the liberty Of con-
science. He though, it sacreliglous TO
pass laws for high heaven. lie said
, wherever law of this kind was enact
ed ii must be enforced by the svord!
, Endeavored TO palliale the atrocities of
| the ln6dels in France, by stating tina.
; they we're the Legitimate result Of such
enaclments as the one on our statute
i book! He made long and prosy
; speech, which was made up Of so ma
ny absurd notions that we los, all incli-
: nation to take notes Of it. He rung the
, changes about church and state, liberty
i Of conscience, and labored hard TO
!, prove that his speech was, par erceL-
lence, founded on logical reasoning.
Mr. Rom replied, and in a very good
, natured strain met and upse. the strong
! est arguments Of ".he gentleman from
Mahaska," as MIR Baker is called.
: Mr. THOMPSON, Of Henry. endeavor-
ed to steer a middle course, and while
protesting to have liking for some
law Of restraint upon The subject, he
plainly showed, by all he said, and by
! his subsequent conduct, his strong a.
version 10 the present law.
) MIR ROGERS was in favor Of repeal
ing the law. He viewed i, as inimical
to the constitution and an Infringement,
! on the rights of conscience. He was
quite eloquent, and in his peroration he
uttered beautiful eulogium on the
spirit and genius Of Christianity.
/ Mr. THOMPSON took exceptions to
+ some of the remarks of Mr. Rogers.
which he deemed quite personal-he
became very warm and animated and
undertook to define his position in re-
lalion to the matter more clearly.
Mr. RoBB made some additional re-
marks in reply to the gentleman from
Du Buque.
| Mr. GRIMES then took the floor, and
made most sensible and eloquen.
speech. Having given up the task Of
taking notes during the first speech of
1.-The gentleman from Mahaska," we
regret our inability to give our readers
even an outline of the remarks Of Mr.
Grimes. He advocated the amend
ment Of the gentleman from Louisa
nobly vindica,ed the character of the
people Of old Des Moines as a sabbath
keeping communicated truly said,
in supporting the amendment, he be-
lieved he was advocating the wishes
and feelings Of the great body Of his
constituents. We thought tina. our
county might well be proud Of such
representative.
/ MIR ROGERS made another eloquent
speech TO sustain the position he had
taken. This called out
Mr. CARLETON, the Speaker, who
took up the question from the begin.
ming, reviewed and commented upon
the arguments OF The gentlemen oppos-
ed TO the present law, and in most