American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1858-11-19
Norgantown, Va) Friday, November IS, 1858:

his barn.ya which was filed with
combustibles, and before he was aware
OF It, the flames were bursting out of
his barn. He arose in amazement,
saw that all was lost, and fixing his
eye on the curling flame stood speech
less. Then pointing to the rising col
umn of fire he said dwith solemn empha.
sis, 'sIhat as the finger Of God :"
Do you say, barns are sometimes
burnt whose owners do not break the
Sabbath; buildings are struck with
lightning while their owners are engag-
ed in public worship steamboats, take
fire, and good men are burnt up in them;
or their property takes wings and Aies
away, as well as the property of noto-
riously wicked men? That is sometimes
the case. Calamities in this world
come, to some extent upon all. But
do they come rs often and to rs great
an extent, upon those who obey the
natural and moral laws of God, as upon
those who open and habitually violate
them? Do the intemperate, tn, thief,
the murderer ordinarily secure and re-
tain as many blessings in this world
as the temperate, the honest and the
pious2
Now, Mr.. President, I must close
this testimony; but sir, / do so with
regret, and fear that / have not pre-
sented this case in its strongest light.
But is there not enough here to con-
vince any man of the great iniquity of
violating the Sabbath in any manner ?
The examples / have given you are
drawn from the principal professions
and trades. Doctors, lawyers, minis.
ters, farmers, mechanics, companies,
&C., all testify against Sabbath break.
ing, as great moral, mental and phys.
icai sins.
Examine the testimony / have Just
given, and how overwhelming the pow
er of the truths they convey. Less of
! mental power How great. Who can
compass it? Mono but He who can
compute the value of soul One Of
the visible result of the loss of menta
power, by the deseoration of the Sab.
bath, is insanity. How our fair land
isstudded all ahoyerwithinsane hospitals?
\ What an expense they arc What q
lesson they teach--silent but terrific
as the yell of the inmates---that the
mind must have rest; and hence, that
! God knew what he was doing, when he
threw such safeguards and solemn in
functions around his Holy Sabbaths.- -
Tne loss of bodily health, how great
the shortening of human life, how
4 immense! The loss of labor, which is
! the basis of our nations wealth, can
not be computed, so great is it. 1t is
the testimony of every prison keeper
and nine tenths of all who come with.
in their walls, have commenced their
career with Sabbath breaking! There
are very many shrewd calculating sim
ners in our midst. Will any one give
me the annual cost of desecrating the
Sabbath IN the United States? My
God, what record Murders, thefts,
riots, arson, courts, prisons, pcnitentia-
sizes, refugees, insane asylums! Tell me
their cost in money if ye can Name
the loss of moral power, of mental and
! physical health O sons of labor, who
have to bear all this burden, what a
vile traitor is the Sabbath desecra tor
to thee and thy multifold interests. Is
| he the friend of the laboring classes,
who seeks to induce you to think that
following amusements on the Sabbath
is to your advantage; when the facts
standing out like great mountains, show
conclusively that it is destruction to
your every vital interest =? o! sons of
intellect and the kingdom of mind, what
q rebel--nay, what a ficnd incarnatc
against youis the Sabbath breaker -
See how, he lays the giant mind in ear
Il ly death, and in the maniac cell How
he brushes out the glorious thoughts
of mind as they sweep along the tele.
graph of the mental realm, ere they
have been daguerreotyped on the phys.
, ical How, with Rendish delight, he
nips the charming buds, and with the
mildew of death the blossoming flower
age, and turns tho vintage wine of q
glorious poosy into wormwood and gall!
Traitor to every interest human and
divine, every impulse Of my nature,
every organ trumpet Of my soul, thrills
with the challengc--to arms! to arms!
against this destroying monster
i Communities cannot exist without
the observance Of day Of rest--ex.
/ perience demonstrates this. Nations
cannot exist without the Sabbath J..
Living facts, blazing before this, prove
this. Look at France, polished, ener.
getio, learned France! Thrice has she
tried to re-establish the Republic"