The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-08-28

uon, Mf. Eougias made the opening which has re-
suited in an opposition House of Representatives
and in go strengthening the republican party
and in go distractiDg and dividing the democracy
as almost to render certain the defeat of the
latter in 1860.
Their only hope lies in the nomination Of
Seward or in the adoption Of his platform by
the republicans, and in the nomination of some
more available man than Douglas, and q more
satisfactory platform than his popular sove-
reignty," by the Charleston Convention.
Septenary Institutl0ns-What II the "sab-
bAth:,
The advantages of day of relaxation and rest
once week are numerous and undeniable. The
duty of society is to make that relaxation Of
kind to promote the physical health of the people,
inspire the mind with cheerfulness, and by
pleasing sights and sounds encourage and foster
elevated tastes and gentle habits Of thought and
action. We want rational Sunday, not Puri-
tanical Sabbath, ard we are bound to have it
sooner or later. In most parts of Europe the
people have already attained it, and while the
churches open wide their doors to worshippers-
with none of the aristocratic and unchristian in
PRODUCTION of pews and hired seats to keep out
the poor and the wayfaring-both law and custom
tolerate also the opening Of Gods own temples
Of the open air, the fields and the forests to glad
den the eyes and make joyful the hearts Of all
who choose to use them. But in England and
the United States bigotry and asceticism still as
sert the special holiness Of a certain day of the
week in the sense and spirit of the old and ex-
plcded Jewish ritual-not In the beneficent
cheering and liberal sense of Christ's teachings
and example. Parsons expounding on salaries
of ciS thousand year, in cushioned pulpits
and over Bibles neavlly Yi1aeo, sui denounce
| the terrors Of punishment here and hereafter on
those who presume to doubt the divine origin
Of the seventh.day Sabbath, and to choose to
! use it as their reason and conscience allow.
Well, no one objects to their denunciations; it
is part Of their system, and they are paid for it
Perhaps they believe all they preach? So much
the worse for their intelligence. Perhaps they
are earnest in the anathemas which they utter?
So much the worse for the spirit which prevails
in their hearts. But neither they nor those who
follow them have the right to dictate to their
neighbors and to the people at large what they
shall think and do. They have no right to stop
the peoples mails nor the peoples cars, nor the
peoples arms, feet and tongues on one day more
than on another. Let us know how we stand.
You have your churches, and we protect you in
using and enjoying them as you like. We pun
ish the blackguard who disturbs you, or in any
way interferes with your observance Of the day
in your own fashion. We claim the same privi-
leges at your hands. We want to enjoy it after
| our fashion.
In England the prejudices which 20 long
existed on this point are fast giving way to
! more rational ideas and practices. Sir
Benjamin Hall, just elevated to the peerage,
succeeded, two years ago, in introducing Sunday
music in the public parks. The doors of the
Crystal Palace and of the British Museum are
fast opening before the pressure public opinion
80 as to admit the working public to the sources
of enjoyments and instruction from which they
are now excluded on the only day when they
could avail Themselves of them. Nor is this
amelioration of the rigors of Puritanicaf Sab
bath confined to London alone; it is going on
| all over the British Islands.
Much of this result is due to the manner in
which the question of popular rights and Sun
day restrictions was taken up and discussed by
the apostles Of liberal IDEAS At the outset there
were many opposed to them under the honest be-
lief that the seventh day of the week was spe-
cially set apart by the Creator at the beginning
and universally accepted, and that the Sabbath
was divine institution. The honest ignorance
and prejudices Of this class Of Sabbatarians were
put right by proving that God never set apart
such day in the sense understood by them; that
its exclusive sanctity was only maintained In the
decadence and impurity of Judaism, which
Christ 80 earnestly denounced az full
Of soutkilling and unmeaning formulas and
exactions They showed, too, that as origi.
nally observed by the Jews it was day of en-
joyments, Of "songs and Dances" as well as Of
sacrifices and prayers. They showed that Christ,
and the reformed religion which he taught,
neither practised nor epjoined the Puritanical or
exclusive Sabbath
The Westminster Reuie,v was among the first to
take up and discuss the question in this calm
spirit and by the light Of argument and reason.
Its powerful analysis Of the whole subject his
tortcally and Scripturally, produced profound
impression, and RACED the Sebastopol Of false
pretences and superstitious deductions which
priestcraft and asceticism had built up around
the seventh day Of the week to its very founda-
tons Neither its learning, its facts, nor its
logic could be impeached or controverted. It
stands to day unanswered and unanswerable,
except we may regard the reform going on in
England, as the happy response to its truth.