The republic., 1851-01-03
The Observance the sabbath In France.

The Observance or the sabbath In France.
On the 10th of December Nj. de MoNTA-
LEMBERr, the great pillar of Catholicity in the
/ Legislative Assembly of France, made an eab
orats report on the subject of a necessity for the
better observance of the Sabbath day. We find
the following synopsis of the report in the Lon
don Times:
AN. DE MoNrALEMBERr then ascended the ri-
| bune and read to the Assembly the report of the
| committee appointed to examine proposition of Nj.
| Olivier relative to the Observance Of Sundays and
holidays. The question, he said, interested the
dignity and moral liberty of the French people.
BY adopting it, the Assembly would honor itself,
and render to France and society a signal service.
| In every country that right required, and the
repose OF Sundays considered blessing as well as
| duty. That law bad received the sanction of the
experience of sixty ages, aud nevertheless no coun.
| try had 30 shamefuly violated it as France. The
Sabbath still observed in the rural districts but
| contemned in the towns. II time that the law
should at last restore the simplest obligation Of
ture and religion, 30 long trodden under foot The
| committee openly called on the Assembly to
| establish the public homage due to the Majesty of
| God and to the conscience of every Christian. II
was the most insane illusion to suppose that respect
can be enforced for the rights of society and pro-
perty, when the laws, of morality and religion
|
violate with impunty the eternal DEGREES of The AL
| mighty In accord with the experience of man
kind, the committee proclaims the impotence of
a material remedy, and sees no other except reli-
gon, which men have 80 long strenuousy labored
to extirpate from the hearts of their fellow
| lures. Our ancestors knew and believed that
prayer and faith were the very fundamental bases
| of society. There is society without religion,
no religion without worship, no worship without
| the Sabbath. The repose of the seventh day
| the sign and symbol of alliance between God and
man. Its non observance public profession
of atheism, public defial thrown to the Creator.
Modern philosophers have substituted the dignity
| of matter to the old religion of Clovis and Joan
dare. England and the United States per-
haps indebted for their prosperity to their close OBJ
vervance of the first law Of God. Christians of
every persuasion observe the Sabbath, and the
| Jews still more strictly The project prepared by
the committee offers guarantees to all, with the
| exception perhaps OF those who profess religion.
| ("They constitute the majority, cried member
on the left.) They were numerous, he knew, but
the committee thought that the liberty of believ-
ing could be reconciled with that of not believ-
! ing. The non observance of the Sabbath
an attempt against equality the only true equal
| iy- equality in the eyes of God. 1t affected
particularly the dignity of the poor and the la
| borer M. Montalembert and his friends had
been often charged with indifference for the educa-
| ton of the people. Now in his opinion, the great
| est obstacle to that education the sacrilegous
labor on Sunday. To deprive the people of repose
on that day to deprive them of their rights and
duties, and to suppress the day of the Lord to
| suppress education He cited again Great Britain
and the United States in support of his opinion,
and ascribcd to their respect for that day the pros
perity, tranquility, and grandeur they enjoyed
In London, where the population amounted to two
millions and n half, order maintained by three
battalion5 OF infantry and few squadrons OF cav
airy, whilst in Paris the presence of entire
my required! Nj. dc Montolembert next de-
scribed the demoralizng effects of tho observ-
ance of the Sabbath He attributed to il the extra
ordinary increase of cabarets, which, according to
| returns submitted to the committee appointed to
institute an INJURY into the best mode of levying
the duty on liquors, amounted to 1872 900 in France.
1t was full time to remedy the evil, and it behooved
the Assembly to oppose to the right to labor
Sunday, invented by the Socialists the right
| pose, and minister both to the material and moral
| improvements ofthe lrboring classes. IA voice on
the Left-'Amen.']
| "M. Montalembert then read the different arti-
cles of the project, BY the first it is expressly for
| hidden to execute, on Sundays or holidays any
works paid out the funds of the treasury the de-
partments, or the communes, anda clause inserted
IN the Gamer des Chdrges shall formally stipulate
that prohibition, which, however, may be removed,
in cases of necessity by the projects and local
! thorites BY subsequent articles masters en-
Joined not to compel their servants or aborers to
work on the Sabbath, &c TtNproject exccpts the
vcnders OF comestibes persons employed the
railroads, canals, harbors, &c. The mayors of
| communes under three thousand souls are empow-
cred to order the shops to be closed during Divine
service, and the soldiers of the army and navy
| to be allowed two hours to accomplish their reli
| gious duties, &c.
"When Nj. Montalembert had concluded a
member on the Left exclaimed, "Send him to
| Bedlam." This expression elected on the Right
loud cries of Order, ordern The President, how
ever, took no notice of them. Another member on
the Left exclaimed, This is another message of the
| 10th December [Laughter)"
The report was eventually ordered to be dis
tributed.
|