The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-02-05
COMMUNICATED.
AN IMPORTANT; n1scovrpv,


toned to retire ut two three o'clock nightly
ana rise ut te" or twelve next day, they had en-.
t'reiy lost sight OF the fact. that the rloriou,
luninnry to which they were indebted for III,
amount of daylight their habits allowed Them n
enjoy actually did go through, the daily opero.
ton OF rising. This important discovery suppest.
ed at once to tile American philosopher, a tro;u
oi 1d"6ec fcg'c, rs to the amount which von,,
DC saved in the way Of lights, if these same Pa.
r's'nns would retire u little earlier, and co,...
q"cn''y rising enrlier, use the sunlight which
Providence furnished gratis.
Now, Mr.. Editor, have u similar dL,.o..r,
10 report to the enlightened citizens of Ahl.v,,s
have discovered, what know will he ,.,c, .,
great many of them, namely, htat there :. .v.I
d"y as SUNDAY. Many of them will rcmemh.,.
Per"al's' mat they have heard tell" of such n
'''' s'"ch o" 10 The end Of the week, and ma.
KING an awkward gap between the business of
saturday and Monday. Some of them man Inv.
an indst'nct remembrance of n Jav like th;s
which used to bring Mcm right np us bows and
put violent st"p to all sorts of play ouJ f.,
once IL week. But am persuaded. sir that ms,
discovery of this day, will surprise not few of
your readers who have looked upon it as an nh
rogated statute, or something buried awav lo,y
since among the fossil remains of tho pcoIoy;cal
ages
Mr.. Editor, the sun docs ri.., whether tho p,.
risIans Know 1t or not; aud, sir, there is n d.v
]" existence called SUNDAY found it out yes.
.erday. Take my word for it, sir, it is a fact.
had often heard Of this day-tlat in old Time,
1t was called ''the Lords day." and there wa.
"h OLD ordinance, often quoted by well.meaninp
religious people, that it was to be kept holy-no
work done whatever; aud had hear,i that :,
''"s the custom to assemble Oh that day for pub.
lie worship.
we'll yesterday, nature degned to give us n
smile, and the sun poured down his brilliant
beams to celebrate his triumph over the dc.
throned and retreating Snom Hing. Well. ,;r
noticed that everything was unusually quiet
stores closcd-all still-except drove of mule,.
who seemed t" mistake the ringing Of some bells
Il found out afterwards they werc church Lels,)
Tor signal 10 go to ,rntcring, and then for n
while it r"smt quiet. THEY didn't know It was
Sunday, evidently. But after while it became
SILL, AMI with these dim, Nyioimted Impressions
upon my mind, "Sun'luy," " Preaching" .Wor-
SHIP, added 10 the mystic sounds of those bells,
started off Oh a roynge { use the word .igniti-
cnnt'y, for We are aIl aRoat here untlerneath)-a
voyage OF discovery. l noticed several houses
which looked like what uscd to be called cburcbps
and which several individuals were entering. I
t"'lowed suit. And sure enough, here was
alr. Editor, Iii rcrifdbic chmrch! Now, sir, mn
aglne, if you cun the feelings of Dr. Kane, when
i'll the midst Of regions Of eternal ice, he discov.
cred an open sea Of flowing water! Imagne tho
feelings of the antiquarian Layar,l, when, after
digging for years through Assyrinn ,iu,L he found
h''nseI all at once in the yai"cc halls Of Nebu-
chadnczzar' and You have my feelings. TO DO
sure, this church, thus discovered, looked very
much like those palace halls deserted for.
us preacher remarked, there were Just enough
persons present to make mp the Scripture quorum.
Of t'ro or three gathered together" This was
a fall indeed, my countrymcn" from what T
h"d heara "i those ohl-fime assemblies for pubic
worship But then allowed some for the exap.
gcra'ion of antiquity; but was convinced Of
the fact, Mr.. Editor shut there ,cas such oav az
Sunday, and IRISH to report the discovery to tic
people of 1i6bc";Nc G. H.
10 those who are unacqnninted with the
Of the day, would say tI,nt il
comes somewhere between Saturday aud Nom
day, and If they are a'cakc, they'll find it (; nnd
rs to its duties and uses, l refer them 10 MI old
book III ard read yesterday, called the BiGke
Upon in4uirng of the few who were present,
where the balance Of this enlightened population
had disappeared to, was told that most Of them
were resting from the ftigues Of travelling through
the mud all the week. it having been handed
down by tradition that this WINS IL day Of rest.
From the fragment of an old statute which had
been religiously preserved by some, they consid-
cred it perfectly lawful to work" their way
through mud and mre nll the week, and were
ready day and night to navigate alI crossings,
however dangerous; scale Jiuc hills and red hills
md black hIix, however slippery, when interest
or pleasure demanded but their piety forbade
their working" Oh the Sabbath. Their co,,-
Sciences would not allow them to ,cork eren their
ray TO chmrch. No, not Mcyl
Well, Mr.. Editor, AbbevilIe is a muddy plac..
and 'hard to trnvel" 1t reminds me OF what
Robert Hall said of DR.. GilI's Commentary on the
Bible: "lt is continent of mud" And it Is
astonishing how much deeper peoples feet sink
OH Sunday than any other day. II must be be-
cause they have their whole stock Of Intermittent
Piety about them oil that day aud that's the
reason, no doubt why many pious peopte don't
venture out With such a load Of religion as
they have to carry, it 1ould bo periio"s, and they
won't risk it. No, not they! They prefer dust-
ing their Bibles al home, and efieshing Them
selves with the last paper. seasoning their reli.
gion with a little politics, and looking for tho
adramce in cotton, to raise their piety I, is true
many of these have carriages, or could ensily
procure them; bnt then their pisty is again in
the way. They cannot eo'sscicntiousty tronbie
their a"achmun (poor man . to drive them out
to church on Sunday. after driving thepl every
where ese all the week. So you perceive, Mr.
Editor, that il is Mepiety of these people, which
depopulates our churches. and should not Be
surprised il it also them the trouble Of ee;-
ting to Heaven. - 80
Well, Mr.. Editor; they call this town .ttke
ATHENS Of South Carolina r. It surely IL a re-.