Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-09-05
From the Hillsborough Recorder.
Sabbath Observance-No. TT


Sabbath Observance.-No. II.
MEssRs. EDITORS The rich may rest
when they list A; but to the poor the Sabbath
is a precious boon, aye, to all working men,
whether tillers of the soil or mechanics, |
clerks, agents, employees of every descrip-
ton, in word, to the sons of toll consti-
tuting the great majority of our own and of
every country.
1t is not my purpose at present to urge
the religious observance of the Sabbath
Individually or nationally. In christian
country this would seem a work of superer-
ogation yet what observant mind can fail
to perceive its admirable adaptation to the
condition and character, physical and moral,
intellectual aud religious, of the human
race? Verify the Sabbath was made for
man. He needs intervals of rest, and in
this sense man may be said to have been
made for the Sabbath, for in the human
constitution and the hebdomadal rest how
striking is the congruity. What wisdom
and beuevolence are displayed in its suit
ableness to the circumstances of the bulk of
mankind. These days of repose are not
like angels visits, few and far between,'
nor is the rest, when it comes, too long
Between these extremes perfect mean is
preserved. The Sabbatical rest, while it
affords but brief holiday to idleness, sufi-
ces to oil the wheels of industry, to give
new zest to enterprise, to remove the arm
and grid up the Inns of labor
Working man, the Sabbath is thine
ownl 1t is the excellent gift of Thy Ma
ker. See, then, that none rob thee of thy
boon! 1t is the heirloom of thy family.
See that it be not alienated from their pos
session 1t is sacred institution, bequeath-
ed by successive generations of the godly.
See, then, that its ffail fences are kept un-
broken, and that its fruitful soil is not,
through neglect, cursed with sterility and
nakedness. The ffty-two Sabbaths of rest
with which the year is interpersed, are like
patches Of verdure, watered by everspring-
ing fountains, that dot the inhospitable viii
derness. and invite its fainting travellers to
exhilaration and repose. They are the ports
that fringe the sea Of human industry, in
which the tired bark may find sure anchor.
} age, and renew its outfit for time and for
eternity
How it smooths the brow of care !
How it brightens the countenance of gloom
H ow it braces the enervated limbs Of labor
How it revives the dropping spirit of des
pair How it gives wings to the clogged
: affections and aspirations of the soul! How
it pours drops of sweetness on the bitteres
lot, and sheds CLEANS of sunshine athwar
, the saddest heart! How it lifts the grovel
: ler from his low pursuits, and fills him will
noble self respect! How it extinguishe
the jealousies and rivalries of weekday oc
: cupations, and links mems hearts in th'
!, bonds Of brotherhood 1t does homage t
q the glorious attributes of the man, ever
q when it finds him In the condition of tn
b serf. It is perpetual rebuke to the reign
ing rapacity of the world. 1t deals ou
n with evenhanded justice, the essential right
of humanity to all alike, and is designed
S protect the poor from the bribes of wealll
S. and the weak from the encroachments {
st power
* Companions in labor Have you con
puted the value of the Sabbath, even in thi
d the meanest of its uses, as a provision fl
ID the rest of the body? Has any wiselin
er suggested its reputation, as an institutio
d. originated and upheld by the craft of priests
le As restriction on your privileges, cuI
ID on your enterprise, sacrifice ON your poe
to ct? Can you not discern on its serel
IS, brow the inscription of Divine loving kin
Sc ness? Brethren reflect; and though
" should appear that the Sabbath was {
e. dained for no higher purpose than to min
L ter to the animal refreshment of mae, J
as even this is blessing Of worth SO pricele
IN that to wrong it from the possession Of s
lg ciety would superinduce catastrophe I
d. frightful to contemplate
ne The records of antiquity indubitably pro
'id that the Sabbath is no innovation, but
ny primitive institution of the Creator. Hesit
'se 900 years before Christ, says the sever
not day is holy Homer, about the same
rod, and Callimachus, two centuries lat
ne allude to it in similar terms. Lucian spe;
my of the seventh day as given to schoolbc
len as holiday Eusebus represents aim
all the philosophers and poets as eoncurr
ltiy IN the seventh-day rest Josephus says
iad city OF the Greeks or Barbarians can
ing found, which does not acknowledge S
est enth days rest from labor Says Ph
a,ng the seventh day is festival to every
olu, ton. Does not all this point uuqu
or tlonably to the primeval Sabbath instliu
Is. IN. Paradise, and republished by Noah
gnt his pos.erity, and thus transmitted from
Tx to son, from tribe to tribe, from nation
llriy nation. as men continued to multiply
h a replenish the earth! Manifestly it was
not suitableness of the Sabbath to mans mai
ers impressed on it by the hand of his Cres
our more than any veneration for the autho
the which prescribed it, that caused Its ei
ther long, and widespread adoption among
ated nations of heathen antiquity. But
t fol- word TO the yise.'
Vhen PHILANTHROPOi