Volcano weekly ledger., 1856-02-23
Mr.. Henry s. Byam,
Observance of the Sabbath.

tians Sabbath" A good idea Of the inten
and meaning of the bill will be obtained b
observing the following quotation from tn
first section:
SECTION l. That if any person Of tn
age of fourteen years and upwards, shall b.
found ON the first day of the week, commonl,
called Sunday, sporting rioting, quarrelhg
hunting, fishing, shooting, or at any common
labor or at any ordinary business pursuits O
life, works of necessity and charity excep
ted) he or she shall be fined in a sum not ex
ceeding ten dollars, nor less than five dollars
for each and every offense, with costs oi
suit
Then follow the necessary exceptions to
the rule, enumerating particular duties that
persons shall have the right to perform on
the Sabbath day. 1t is also provided that
nothing herein contained shall be construed
to extend to those who consciently do observe
the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath"
meaning that if Israelites observe Satur-
day and keep it holy" they shall not be
compelled to observe the Christian Sabbath.
With Mr.. Fiske's bill as q whole, we are
not entirely satisfied. 1t may be improved
and we trust will be- No law should be
passed until il is made as nearly perfect as
possible, in order that there may be no bar
rier to its enforcement. This should be par
ticularly the case with reference to Sab
bath law in California. The ingenuity Of
lawyers has rendered virtually null and void
almost every moral reform act on the Statute
books of this State; and in this important
instance legislators should so digest and
amend the act that there may be no possible
mode of avoiding its righteous provisions.
There is probably no man in California,
however abandoned, who does not feel that
the present wholesale desecration of Gods
spointed holy day is foul blot on the fair
fame of the State The command from on
High cannot be mis-interpreted-"S Six days
shalt thou labor and do all thy work but
the seventh day is the Sabbath Of the Lord
in it thou shalt not do any labor" &c. Is it
not then sin for individuals to disobey this
law ? No one will deny the proposition. If
an individual sins in disobeying a law of God,
do not governments Qor governments are
made up of Individually sin in committing the
same act We can see no difference in the
propositions; and are therefore driven ire
sistibly to the conclusion that government
should provide for the observance of the Sab
bath. How can any government expect to
prosper when it disobeys the unmistakable
command of the Most High? Does not the
history of California-the criminal records in
our courts of justice, the corruption that has
time and again crept into almost every de-
partment Of the government, the newspaper
accounts of horrible murders and tragedies,
the miserable uncertainty of the law in the
detection and prosecution Of crime the ac-
knowledged majesty of Judge Lynch--we say
does not the history of California furnish
terrible example Of the stubborn fact that
government refusing to listen to the COM
mands of Deity cannot prosper? We should
not lose the benefit of this dear-bought expe-
rience. 1t has cost too much already; let us
accept it without further expense.
Let the observance of the Sabbath be uni
versal, and no man will suffer pecuniarily in
consequence. Moreover, every man requires
day of rest-the body requires it, and the
mind should be relieved at least once week
of oil business aud pecuniary excitement
Who does not recoIlect the Sabbath at
home"-the music Of the church-going bell,
the instruction receiyed-the benefits deriv-
ed from the good old custom Of observing the
Lords sacred day? Who would rear up
children without impressing upon their minds
that there is Sabbath, and that it should be
observed? No one, we should think, would
desire to SO bring up their offspring, and yet
children are being brought up in that way in
California.
Let the present Legislature pass good,
wholesome, well-perfected Sabbath law. The
members will not only fulfil their duty, but
they will likewise receive the thanks Of the
present soyereigns, and the blessing OF the II
sing generation when the youth of our Stat
shall have arrived at years of maturity.
In thirty counties of this State there ar
two hundred and fifty-one saw mills