The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-07-08

Fourth In Bridgeport, yesterday morn
ing, we stated that the addresses de-
livered on the occasion would appear
in to-day's paper. The following is
synopsis of that delivered by Rev. Geo.
II. Chalfant, in the NJ. Z. Church last
Sunday morning:
II thou turn away thy foot from
the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my
holy Of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor
him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thy own pleasure, nor speaking thine own
words. &C. Isa. IS: 13, II.
This year, the annual festival OF our
nations birth, comedies with the
weekly festival of our Lords resurrec:
ton. To day the laurels are entwined
With the lilies the flag of our country
is draped around the cross. To-day we
celebrate the inauguration OF two great
contests, the achievement OF two VIC
tories, the founding of two govern
ments, yet not rival governments.
The Two associations Of the day are
cludes the 4!h of July. Our American
Independence is one contribution
to the emancipation OF the world
under the administration OF Him,
who Is exalted to be the head of all
principally and power. The notes ofthe
nations thanksgiving make no discord
in the diapason of the worlds jubilee.
AS nation we have resolved that the
secular shall give place to the spiritual
observance of this day. We will recog-
nize the paramount authority and
claims of that Christian religion which
stood sentinel over the cradle of our
liberty, nursed our childhood and has
spread the mantling shield OF divine
protection over our mature years.
The lesson of the hour seems to be,
the relation Of the Christian Sabbath TO
the 0ro,Ch aud Perpetmity Of our free in
StltIttiOHS.
A sanctified Sabbath is important
even necessary to the stability of our
government.
an observance of the Lords day as Is
eDjoined in the text.
Not day of idleness and recreation,
Of sensual pleasure and dissipation,
not merely q day OF cessation from ordi-
nary cares and avocations, but q day
wholly given TO God; day OF religious
study and meditation; day OF public
and solemn worship of God in the use OF
his own divinely appointed ordinances
and in works of piety and mercy;
Sabbath consecrated from secular TO q
spiritual use, according to the letter and
spirit of its divine appointment. Such
a weekly Sabbath we hold to be essen
tial to our cOuntry's welfare.
II Is not uncommon to hear the reVe-
renee OF our forefathers for the Lords
day ridiculed as puritanical and bigo.
ted. 1t may appear that they were
both better christians and wiser patriots
than their children.
l. The influence Of q Sdnctifed Sabbath
has surrounded the origin and 0rOlOth Of
our free institutions thus far.
Sabbath Dissertation has been and Is
the land. Still we are relatively. as
compared with many other nations, a
Sabbath keeping people. We are SO
regarded by foreigners. Our rulers
have often disregarded the claims OF
the day, but they have generally recog-
niZed them. Respect for Gods day Is
the public sentiment of the country.
To far greater extent this was true
in the formative period OF our institu-
tions. The stern old patriots of pro-
vincial times feared God before the
king.
Moreover, Sabbath Dissertation is
more prevalent in towns and Cities-tn
rura! districts the day is more sacredly
observed. The mass of our population
has hitherto been agricultural. Our
great ruling minds have not grown up
amid the artificial influences of towns
and cities. Grand old forest trees are
not grown in hot houses, but out in
statesmen, orators and jurists, our
Presidents and generals, have been,
almost without exception, born and
reared in the fields and forests-the
mountains and valleys of our rural
districts. They have known the hal
lowed influence of the Cotter's Sab
bath.
Who can tell, then, what a sane
tilted Sabbath has already done for our
country. And if we shall now give up
our regard for the day and become
| hencefOrth a Sabbath desecrating, as
we have been hitherto a sabbath keeps
ing people, it will be an expert
ment-G dangerous experiment. Are
we prepared to hazard the conse-
quences?
2. a secular Sabbath-a weekly day
OF rest and refreshment has been gen.
orally considered needful to man.
Incessant toll degrades the man and
diminishes at once his happiness and
his prOductivenesS.
MAcauIay says: "If the Sunday had
not been observed as day OF rest, but
the axe, the spade, the anvil and the
loom had been at work every day du-
ring The last three centuries, 1 have not
the smallest doubt that we should have
been at this moment poorer people
and a less civilized people than we
are"
Says Edmund Burke: "They who
always labor can have no true judR-
ment; they exhaust their attention,
burn out their candle and are left in the
dark"
And Adam Smith, the father of Po-
litlcRl Economy, testites: The Sab
bath, as a political institution, Is OF
inestiInable value"
These testimonies accord with the
general result OF enlightened observa
ton and experience. If such a weekly
day OF rest IS needed by every man and
every community, 1t must be vital to
the welfare OF free country. But can
we not have such a day OF rest and
recreation without the sanctions and
observances of religion?
This is what we demand, say the Sc
cularists, day OF pleasure, a day to get
out from the crowded city to the fields
and woods and enjoy our freedom.
The idea will prove an Illusion. Show
us the land or community that enjoys
the secular benefits of the Sabbath and
we will show that there the ruling
public sentiment respects the divine
authority and sacred uses OF the day.
Great Britain and America have Sab.
bath OF rest for the toiling millions.
They recognize the sacredness of the
day. France, Italy and Spain do not
sanctify the day and their working
men have no weekly rest.
A day OF sensual pleasure seeking
will degenerate into a day of debauch-
cry and crime. The Sabbath recrea-
tions Of a beer garden will fit a man
neither for the duties of a christian nor q
patriot. Even the form OF such q day
of rest will soon vanish. The demands
OF Mammon will oYerrule the claims
of pleasure; without the shield OF di-
vine authority the poor man will soon
be robbed OF his property in the weekly
day of rest.
8. The influence OF the Christian re-
ligion depends upon the general sane