Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1849-08-17
COMMUNICATIVE I

COMMUNICATED
| Mr.. EDITOR i see by your paper there is 2
call for Convention of the Friends of the Sab
bath, and i'll order to have the subject more fully
/ looked into, and the Truth more clearly made &c
| appear, have been at some pains to examine the
New Iestament,-the Christian creed upon This
point In the 18th chapter of Matthew we find
Jesus not only vindic2ting his disciples for the
alledged crime Of breaking the jewish Sabbath
but by performing an act Of healing,he sets aside
the pretended sacredness of its claims, and rs.
serts his own superiority to the day itself In
the 9th chap. of Matthew, where Jesus cues
tons the young man with reference to his keep
| ING the commandments, the keeping of the Sab
bath among the important questions put to him
Is not mentioned; thus showing that Jesus did
not think this OF as much importance in those
times as some of our Clergy think of it at the
present time. Further, i'll ansWCrtO the question
put by the very pious Carling Sabbath-kccring
Pharlsee, "Nlastcr, which Is the great command
ment in the laW?' Jesus says, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, and with ali thy lnind.' This j.,
the first and great commandmant;amdt the second
is like unto it. Thou shalt love thv ncighbor
. as myself The only reference made TO the
Sabbath in Mark and Luke, refer to the same
incidents mentioned in Matt l2th. In the Cos
pei according to ST. John, there is just one aia-
sion to the Sabbath, 9Th chap. John. tx. TO XIX.
There Jesus heals man who had an inlirni.y
OF 3S years standing, on tue Sabbath day, and the
hypocrtIcal PbaIioaCS, as l;s,,a, b 'gjn TO whine
and carp about his breaking tine Sabbath; but
what dos jesus reply my Father worketh
hitherto, and ! work The same as if he had
said, my Father knows no Sabbath in the ctr
nal round of his benevolent iabors, neither Go l.
his Aiy kttlar works ,II,,t.,
50 do L. Here We have the acts Of llou, the
Son OF God, the author Of the Christian Gi>p,n-
sauon TO men; and here is the whole upon the
point that cYn gather from his lips. or inter
from his conduct Now what Sort OF defence
can be set up for the sanGdly of the c.ris:iln
Sabbath as part of the gospel of Jesus To men,
In the 9th chapter OF the Acts OF the Apostles
we find that some dispute and trouble arose from
the question of circumcision among the earlier
disciples, and after they htd collected at head
quarters. and that matter haj b en- fully stlcd
with all the questions Of dill renee between the
jewish and Gentle converts 10 Cur,tlanilv-
Hear the result OF their dcb raon> 1t seem ID
good to the Holy Ghost, and to US, to lay on you
no greater burthcn than these necessary things:
that We abstain from meats offered to Idols, ana
from blood and from things strangIei, and from
tornicaton; from which if We keep yourselves &c
shall do rcit." Can it be supposed that these
Heather who had Just been converted from the
greatest vices which can degrade Il man, were
in the habit of keeping the = Sabbath Holy?'
and if they were not, why TIL, neglect OF making
mention OF the keeping OF the Sabbath among
the other requirements; did not the early apoS-
ties wish to hayr either the Jewish or Christian
Sabbath kept? The answer j. clear enough to
my mnd the Jewish Sabbath was swept away
by the right arm of Jesus himself and the Chris
tan Sabbath had not been dreamed OF by his auos-
ties Now wha. is Paulis testimony on this
point? In the 18th chapter OF Romans where
he cnumerates the christian virtues and require
ments. he rccapitulates the first and second
command of the law Interpreted by Je-
sus, and then winds up with his truthful tXhor-
tation, but not word does he say about the
claims of Sabbath again in the Sd chap
ter of second Corinthians, quod ride Paul
expressly asserts that the law which was craven
on stones. was entirely done away: see also the
Allcgory of Paul in Galatians. lth chapter DIST
to 3lst verse. And not to mention but one more
at this time, let me urge the attention of the
friends of the Sabbath to an investigation of
pauIs letter to the CoIossians, particularly the
"a chapter. ID to Is inclusive. Nor would
wish them to limit their Investigations at all. bat
look at the whole system of christianity. its de-
srn its origin its end, and ! am persuaded that
the views which must be elected bv comparing
scripture with scripture, and the acts OF the Son
OF God himself with the designs OF the gospel dis
pensation, must set aside the limited and
narrow views of particular day set apart for
particular object.
We shall discover in this investigation that the
grand design of the christian dlSIensation was
to usher in glorious rest for the oi le Of God;
a Rest in which there should be no rest, Sab
bath or week day for the practice OF those duties
to God which shall reflect honor upon him. and
those kind offices to our telioW-men which shall
)e proof of our obedience to the commands of
God as interpreted by Jesus In fine, the great
business of life is TO pursue those occupations
only on the six DAYS of the week which would
be no desecraton of the seventh. hope no
thing which has been said above would lead any
to suppose that the writer OF this article would
dispense with any of the time now devoted to re-
lpious. scientific or intellectual attainments
He believes and hopes that the time will soon
come that the tolls Of men may be lightcncd: that
il will not be necessary to labor increasingly for
the mere pittance of board and lodging in this
world but that sufficient time may be taken from
the common ayocations of lite to afford men
double the amount of time for the expansion OF
their intelieCts the cultivation ot their minds and
the Improvement of their hearts. NEMTAs.
tbs BUTLEB DIVORCE CAST is stated tha;
the terms Of divorce have been agreed upon by
the counsel in the case Of Pierce Butler vs.. IAN
ny kemble Butler. satisfactory to both parties
The principal conditions are. that Mr.. Butler j.
10 allow Mrs. Butler 500 dollars annually, he 10
retain possession Of their children. two daugh-
ters.) excepting two months in each year, which
they are 10 spend with their mother. Tho ar
ranrement was agreed TO some weeks sirce-both
preferring it to farther contest before the courts
and the daughters are now with their mother,
in Massachusetts, where She purposes taking
up her residence.