The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-08-12


towards God The sordid cares of the
hour are al forgotten. The dust, and
heat, and glare, restlessnesss Of. . hurry
ing life. give place to thoughts Of the
great peace Of Ged. The man is, called
to rise out Of the, changing into the un.
changing, out ofthe temporary into the
eternal, out of the low into the infinite
y lofty, out Of the strife into the deep
calm Of the eternal peace, out Of the
smoke and dust Of earth into the blue
abysses Of everlasting glory and calm.
The holy influences fall upon the wait
ing, open soul like a bencdiotion.
Sunday becomes the crown of glory Of
the week. 1t is the day Of peace, the
day Of highest thoughts, the day for
home, and church, and the social greet
ting Of friends, the freeman's day amid
the. week alavery; thu one day which
God gives as a badge and symbol Of
that liberty. which Christ, bought for
the c,ptives ofthe world and time A
sell.kept Sunday, therefore, perfectly
meets the wants Of the modern man.
1t offers him just the rest which he re-
quires. There is no relaxation 30 COM
plete as that which presents thoughts
aod interests utterly different from
those With which man is commonly
engaged, and the ioftier those thoughts
and the higher those interests, the bet
ter. The jaded faculties never enjoy
such perfect rest as when another set
Of faculties are called into play and e1-
ercise while the tired ones sleep in
Gala. 81. 80. -. ...... ...,
We ere not going now on the theo-
logical argument for Sunday we leave
that entirely untouched, except in so:
far as We recognize the certain truth
that good theology is good sense, and
that the requirements of true religion
arc founded on the surest basis Of the
eternal fitness OF: things.
J. And we say then, that never more
than in this country and at this time
was Sunday an essential element in hu-
man life for its we'll being, and not, be
it marked, the Continental Sunday Of
military reviews, brass bands, and beer
gardens, ror the old Jewish "Sabbath|'
of the Puritan with its stern and fu-
neral gloom, but the Christian and
cdurchly Lords Day-the home and
church Sunday-the cheerfales: and
brightest of all the seven, when the old
primeval curse-"Iu the sweat Of thy
brow shalt thou eat Bread" is suspend
ed for the sons Of Adam and they
stand on the earth Christ's emancipated
free men.
There is no escape from the inevit-
able laws of life. A man cannot work
seven days instead Of six with the in
tensity with which he must work in
this country, without paying the pen
atty some time. He may stimulate for
awhile the weary powers Of brain and
nerve by the common method Of pour
ing down alcohol in some of It's shapes,
10 quantities to suit. But this only
postponcs the inevitable awakening.
1t makes the blow come only more
surely and more suddenly. Some day
the merchants eyes blur over the
columns of his ledger. The figures
will not, for the first time in his life
come right, and he goes home aud the
family physician takes the law into his
own hands, and prescribes year or two
of Sundays Notwithstanding of
the brain, just as the merchant preferf.
Some day the prosperous lawyer sinks
confused in the middle of successful
speech, and can no more command his
thoughts than if he were an imbecile.
Some day the statesman drops in ths
Senate, or in the Office, aud paralysis
enforces a series Of Sundays in which
neither hand, nor foot, nor brain, can
do aught but rest until the long rest
closes ALL. Or some day pistol shot,
or sudden insanity winds up life tha:
man stupidity thought could be profit
ably lived in defiance Of the laws of
God and his own constitution.
We are not placing this thing on the
highest motive, because the highest mo-
tive is powerless to touch the trans
gressors. We only say the trapsgress-
ion does not pay. We assure every
man who reads this, that common sense,
| and we'll ascertained scientific truth
perfectly agree with religion, aud that
it does not pay to work on Sundays ;
that, on the other hand, it is the most
reckless waste Of time, the maddest ex.
travagance in which 3 man can indulge
If any man doubts the clergyman, he
may appeal to the physician and we ,ra
very certain the two will perfectly agree
Sunday work is suicide.
| And by working on Sunday We d.
not mean only the formal gong to the
Office or counting room and the Sc
working there as on other days -
There ia not so much of this done, sfte
all. W. mean the carrying mans
business about with him on that day
tho taking it home and poisoning tn,
fire side with it, the taking it to churcl
and poisoning the church with it.
This is the shape usually, which
Sunday work take,, its insidious and
cheating shape. The man sits among
~. a. roo.~o-S,