The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1855-08-15
For the Marlborough Recorder
SABBATH OBSERVANCE.
No. II.

SABBATH OBSERVANCE.
/ MgssRs. EpiroRs:--The rich may rest when
they list but To the poor the Sabbath is
precious boon. ave, 10 all working Men, whe
ther tillcrs Of the soil or mechanics. clerks.
agents, employees OF every description, in
word, to the " sons Of TOLL" constituting the
great majority Of our own and Of every coun-
/ try.
II is not my purpose at present to urge The
religious observance Of the Sabbath individu-
ally or nationally. In christian country
this would seem work Of supererogation yet
what obseryant mind can fail to perceive its
admirable adaptation to the condition aud
character, physical and moral, intellectual
and religious, OF the human race: Verify
!" the Sabbath was made for man." lie needs
intervals u rest. and in this sense man may
be said to have been made for the Sabbath,
| for in the human constitution and the hebd0.
Madal rest how striking is the congruity.
What wisdom and benevolence are display
ed in its suitableness to the circumstances OF
the bulk Of mankind. These DAYS Of reposc
are not "like angels visits, few and TAR be-
tween" nor i the rest, when it Comes, too
/ long. Between these extremes perfect mean
/ is preserved. "'fhe sabbatical rest, while it
4 affords but brief holiday to idleness, sutli-
ces to oil the wheels Of industry, to give new
Zest to enterprise. to rcnerye the arm aud
grid up the ions Of labor"
Working man, the Sabbath is thine own
i II is the excellent gift Of thy Maker. See,
then, that aone rob thee ut thy boon II is
the heir-lnum Of thy family. See that It be
not alienated from their possession. It is a
sacred institution, beqncathed by success
|, sive generations OF the godly. See, then,
that it, frail fences are kept unbroken, and
that its fruitful soil is not, through neglect,
cursed with s,erility and nakedness. The
4 ifty-two Sabbaths of rest with which the year
is interpreted, are like patches Of ver,lure,
watered BY eserSprnging fountains, that dot
the inhospitable wilderness, and invite its
faintiag travellers to cxhilaration and repose.
They are the ports that fringe the sea Of hui
man industry, in which the tired bark may
find sure anchorage, and renew its outfit for
!, time and for eternity"
GLOW il smouths the brow'of care How il
brightens the countenance Of gloon! How II
? braces the eneryated limbs Of labor How il
/ revives the dropping spirit Of despair How
it gives wings 10 the clogged affections and
aspirations OF the soul How it pours drops
Of sweetness on the bitterest lot, and sheds
CLEANS Of sunshine alhwart the saddest heart
! How il lifts the groyeler from his low pur.
J suits. and fills him with a noble self respect
, Hos il extinguishes the jealousies and rival
I ries OF weekday occupations, and links mems
hearts IN the bonds Of brotherhood. 1t does
Z al. al.
even when il finds him in the condition OF
J the serf. Il Is perpetual rebuke to the
reigDing rapacity Of the world. II deals out,
with eyenhanded justice, the essential rights
: OF humanity 10 all classes alike, and is design
ed to protect the poor from the brides oil
! wealth, and the weak from the enchroach-
] ment> al power"
" Companions in labor. Have you comput-
ed the value OF the Sabbath, even in this, the
meanest Of its uses, as provision Tor the rest
Of the body: Has any wiseling suggested its
} reputation, as an institution originated and
upheld by the craft Of priests: As a restric-
tion on yaur privileges, curb on your en-
terprlse, sacrifice on your packet: Can
you not discern on its serene brow the in
scrip,ion 81 Divine loving kindness: Broth
rem reflect; and though il should appear
J that the.Sabbath was ordained for no higher
purpose than to minister to the animal re-
! freshment 81 man, vet even this Is blessing
Of worth 80 priceless. that 10 wiring it from
the possession oi society would superinduce
catastrophe too frightul to contemplate"
The records Of antiquity individually prove
that the Sabbath j. no ecciesiasiie innovation
, but a primitive institution Of the Creator,
Hesiud, 900 wears before Christ, saws E" the
seventh day IS holy" Homer, about the
same period, and Callimachus, two centuries
! later, allude to il in similar terms. Lucian
speak, of .the seventh day a. given to school
buYs a. holiday" Eusebils represents +" al
most all tie philosophers and poets a. CON.
curing ia the seyenth-day rest" JDsephu.
says "nn city ~ the Greek, or Barbarian,
. can be found, which does not Acknowledge 4
: seventh day, rest frum labor" Saws Philo
: " tie seventh day Is festival TO every ma.
tion." Does not all this point unqusstiona.
b., to the primetal Sabbath instituted in Pa
radi.c, and repullished by Noah aud his POS
! tcriit, aud thu, transmitted frOm sire 10 son
: lrum tribe TO tribe. irpm nation to nation. a,
men continued t. multiply and repleuish til,
, earth, Maniiestly il was the suitabltncss d
the sabbath to mans nature impressed 81
: Il by tie hand IL hs Creator, more than an,
= ,ensratiuh for the authority which pre.crib
: I'd il, that caused is early, long, aud wide
: spread adoption among tie nations If heather
. antiquity. But I" word 10 the wise"
More, perhaps, anon.
y PHlLASTHR0P0S.