Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-02-18


"The Sabbath was madolfor man, and,not man for
the Sabbath therefore, the Son Of Man is Gord
also Of the Sabbath"
Since last Sunday the Cincinnati Observ-
ance Committee have furnished me with the
documents publishedby them in furtherance
of their objects. A letter has also been pub
lished in the DAILY Press, which Judge from
itsvigor and Ingenuity to be from Mr. Stanley
Matthews. II is one of the drawbacks Of
the pulpit, as an engine of influence, that
whatever is therein announced can not at the
same time and place be met by counter.
statements. To obviate this as much as
possible, ], for one, shall always hold my
pulpit amensble to such criticisms as may
come through other organs of popular opin.
ion. For this reason | gave my discourse
last Sunday, to the PREss; aud am ready
to consider, publicly, any honest criticisms
on my position, offered through the same im-
With many of che views published ia the
documents Of the Committee, have already
signihed o hearty concurrence. They quote
sanitary testimony TO show that human ma
ture demands day of rest. Ihave done the
seme again and again in this church, and am
ready to contribute my share to disseminate
the facts in the case more widely. / have
also declared my respect for the Sunday
statute of Ohio. AS for the municipal ordi-
nanees Of the city Of Cincinnati, on the sub
ject, they are more open to criticism, and
some ftheir provisions will be gradually neg
lected, or, if pressed, swept away. They Sc
riousy wrong young children, and most un-
necessarily. Last Sunday afternoon saw
policeman standing near drinking saloon,
which was open and swearing vehemently at
avery small boy for flying very small kite.
There was no horse passing which could have
been frightened. Such straining at gaats and
swallowing Of eaInels must presently reduce
tcalf fn ham fu tu -
tistic addition to the State law'slyly insinu-
ated by the city. The State law prohibits
sporting, rioting, quarreling, &C.; the con-
nection showing that the word sporting
means things which really tend to endanger
good order, which is naturally harder to
maintain on that day than on any other
Our city ordinance says; TT shall be un.
lawful for any person to play at marbles,
quoits, or other game or sport,h on that day.
This goes beyond what is needful for actual
good order, and evidently means to legislate
satisfaction into the mind of Almighty God,
who, it is thought, enjoys himself most when
children who have been cooped up in schools
all the week are placed in moral straight
jackets on Sunday. One day this city shall
| find that it has made some heavy and costly
blunders about the children. It is an old
and classic opinion that "of nine in ten
! criminals the childhood will be found to
have been unhappy" It is bad enough to
have no parks where children may 20 and
| play; but when, in addition we allow the
raw-bead-and bloody bones of superstition
to chase them from every innocent pleasure
on the one free day, until they are impounded
| in the Calvinistic pen with its five points,
why then we are really training up gen
GRAFTON who shall look upon God and Christ
and the Church as deadly foes, and whose
moral nature, even, must be imperiled by the
reaction which so fatally follows unnatural
or unjust restraint. str 'FlaiA
| 1t commonly thought that the seven-day
division Of time, and the religious observ-
aDce Of the seventh day is Of the Jewish
origin. But the Phonicians, Babylonians
and Arabians-indeed, all the nations which
worshiped the Spirits Of the Seven Planets
consecrated the number seven, and with il
the seventh day. Our word Sunday has led
some to suppose that the early Christians
were not altogether free from sun-worship.
But it only testifes that the ancient nations,
into the midst of which Christianity came,
had preserved the forms of the old worship
of the Seven Planets. OF these the Sun was
esteemed King, and hence the first day oil
the week was called Dies SoLs-Sunday
When this day superseded the Sabbath, il
was great victory of Gentle over Jew; il
was after long war between two opposing
parties in the early Church-one of Jewish
the other of Pagan antecedents; one idolz.
|
six days, without suffering from fatigue
until the seventh, the Others idolizing the Wis.
ible light and heat of the worlds-and the
fre-worshipers triumphed. Old Soils day
superseded Jehovahs day, and was fixed il
the Church forever.
Now, when the Sabbath Observance Com
mittee distribute through the city their Doc
ument No. l, based on the command, Re
member the Sabbath day to keep It hOLy, l MAJ
say to them, physicians heal yourselves.
You are taking sides with the gods Of tn,
nations against the God of Sabbath. Yo,
are bowiDg at the altars Of the sun when yol
observe his day, instead of the day on whicl
Jehovah crested and was refreshed" Their,
is plenty of Pagan, but not one word o
Scriptural, authority for the observance 0
the first day of the week, which was not es
tablished by any enactment until the tim
Of Constantine, 300 years after the death o
, Christ.
The argument might safely rest here but
! as we are seeking not victory but the truth
let us examine moment the religious basi
of the day, admitting even that the supposed
sanctions of the seventh day can be trans
ferred to the first. The following is tn
commandment in the Decslogue: "Remem
Der the Sabbath.day to keep it holy. Sil
days shalt thou labor and do all thy work
: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of tn
Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do an,
work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter
thy man-servant, nor thy maid servant, no
7 thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is withi
r thy gates; for IN siG days the Lord mad
Heaven and earth, the sea and all that in they
is, and rested the seventh day: wkerefore III
. Lord blessed the seventh day and haLL0Vsd IL.
= Now, pray observe what we are to take
y; we taSe the Sabbath, We are to take
/. cosmogoDy also. To be consistent in accept
: ing the sanctity of the Sabbath, the one onl,
} ground therefor in the Bible, being God
f rest after six days creation, we must de
7 nounce the geology taught in our schools
we must dethrone Agassiz, we must abandon
La Place, and reinaugurate over the Copper
nican system, the old Ptolemaic--a system
t which has been dead so long that it woulC
be hard TO tear away its mummy wrappings
, but yet, since it is purely Scriptural, it cal
D be reconstructed, nay, must be, as soon as W
D turn back and credit the creation of tn
Heavens and the earth as related in the Mo
sale CosmOgony. What does the idea of an,
= sdnctity-dpaTt from human drbitrament-o
t the Sabbath involve Why was it hallowed
5 There it is written down in the DecalOgue
sacred only to those who believe that in 81!
I days the Lord made Heaven and earth, tn
sea and all that in them is and rested on tn
: seventh day. For that, and that alone, tn
: day was sanctified. And what does tn
: COsmogoDy, of which this is part, demap
r that we should believer We must believ
that the light was made before there was
9 sun. We must hold that on the second da
Z Of creation the vault of Heaven (Het
| rGkia; CIR. stereOma; Lat. .frmdmeatun) wa
; | erected, supporting an ocean of water abov