Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1861-08-16
Fighting on the Sabbath.

I, i often sad there are no Sunday. in
evolutionary TINES. Wars are generally
Conducted upon the principle that all days
Az alike God. the great King q Kings.
las .,ii. Remember The Sabbath Jay aud
ke.p it holy Il has byen ordained b,
uiin as /. e. day Of rest" In times Of peace
th- et.at l,w Il to- Almighty Is every
whsr, r,,o.uiI,d Nv all christian, civilized
nAtioo. Why .bould it be wilfally 'iola,.
ed in times Of war? Can raiioaS set at de-
fanec the laws Of cd with impuniiy :
What are nations and what are armies bu,
individuals. The soldier is under militar!
rule and military discipline, AM TO a GER
tain extent j. not responsible Tor hls acts.
II be !. commanded To fsh, upon the SAT-
bath be mus, Of course o'ey. - u is with
osevr. holding subordinate positions. But
with COMMANDERS. those who conduct mill
,sry operations, it !. different. Now We
believe these tocrine- 90 be true. that II
nm army j. attacked upon the sabbath, IL
shosld defend itself just as i, would any
other day. And We believe further. that
sueh may De the peculiar position OF milf
iary iorce-sueh the peculiariiy Of circum'
s,AnScs connected with such position, that
sometimes offensive operations would be
ja.l,h.bls on the sabbath bot such cases
are exceptions. ~ general rule the whole
christian world mus, unite 10 declaring
that deliberate plan, laid IN advance,
without the pressure Of any extraordinary
circumstances. 20 fsht on the holy Sabbath
day. Is diF,c; violation Of the law. Of God
aod II our army Chapl,ins or ministers Of
the Gospel IN their palpits pray for succc-s
O. follow the efforts Of the attacking party,
they have 20 reasonable grounds u Relieve
their prayers will h. Answered God i not
mocked, neither eau be- laws Do tramplei
upon with iwpuhiiy by nation. more than
individuals.
The two principal battles which have been
fought in the prssen, war, were fought up
90 the sabbath. and the federal troop were
tbe attacking psrty. We refer TO the bat
ties at b.: Bethel and Boil Ruin both
Of which our trolps have been defeated.
The fat that we have been defeated in both
of these fsht.. canno, be denied that our
wan, Of success was on account OF viola
ton Of the Sabbath may Ls. We desire 10
call the attention Of our readers to u few
facts connected with those conflicts. A,
Big Bethel every battery ot the enemy but
q single one was .ilencei. Our troops were
on the poin; Of victory, when confusion and
IN unaccountaele something. which no one
can satisfactorily explain, seized bold Of
portion Of our officers, and they ordered
rs,rea, when we had the enemy completely
in our power. We don say thi. disaster
came upon our troop. because they were
Sighting on the Sabbath, although this by
,potho-is would be quite as reasonable Us
many OF the explanations that have been
given WHY We we're beaten. Take the bait
a, at Bull Run. What wa. the cause OF
our defeat there, Tbs general answer ls,
paak But what caused the panief And
here We have thousand versions, oil com
10, IRON men who were there. Some say
one thing sumo another. Ii as generally
admitted aha. the plan Of attack Was we'll
laid. The battle va. commenced battery
after battery Was taken everything prom
ised great victory. Our troops were ad-
sancius. " We ar, r.ciOr,r' was tele
xrspbed all over the land-when 10 aud