The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-07-11
VOLUME 24-NUMBER 80
Dr.. Holland en- the Sunday Quesllos

Dr.. Holland On the sunday Question:.
Z OF the importance of the Observance
{ Of the Sabbath, in the vital eeonomv
I OF the American people, there IL no
Z longer any doubt. With all the peri
/ Cdical rest il brings uS, we stili ind
{ ourselves OverwOrked and the wrecks
OfpaFalysis are stFewn around Us on
every hand. Without il, we should
/ ind ourselves despOiled Of our most
efficient and reliable safeguard in the
I dangers which beset the paths OF bus
I inesS enterprise. As matter or econ
Omy, therefOre-as q conservative OF
health and life and the power to work
the Sabbath, observed strictly IS a
/ day OF rest from secular labor, is Of
the utmost importance. We cannot
/ afford to-day, and we shall never be
able TO afford, to give it up to labor,
either in city or country. Experience
has settled this point, and yielded up
on every hand its testimonies 70 the
/ wisdom OF the divine institution. As
= measure of social, moral and physi-
cal health-as measure of industrial
eeOnOmy-the ordination of day of
I periodical rest like that which the
Sabbath brings US would come legsti-
mately within the scope Of legislation.
II we had no Sabbath, it would be the
duty Of the State to Ordain one; al q
IS We have it, it is equally the GUY of
me State ty prOtC ct It, and confirm to
people the material and vital benefits
which it is sO well calculated to Sc
cure
There are certain other facts con-
nected with the observance Of the
Sabbath in America which are quite
rs well established as the one 10 which
we have alluded, the most prominent
of which is, that the high morality
and spirituality Of any community de-
pends uniformly on its observance Of
the Sabbath. We do not believe there
Is a deeply religious community in
America, Of any name, that does not
observe one day in seven as a day
specially devoted to religion. The
earnest Christian or Jewish workers
everywhere are Sabbath-keepers in
their separate ways and days. It is
very well to talk about an everyday
Christianity" and better to possess
and practice it; but there certainly is
precious little of it where the Sabbath
is not observed. The religious facul-
ties, sentiments and susceptibilities,
under all schemes and systems of re-
ligiOn, are the subjects Of culture, and
mperatively need the periodical food
and stimulus which come with Sab
bath institutions and ministries. The
prevalence and permanenee Of pure
Christianity in this country depend
mainly OF what can be done for them
on Sunday.
a. -
opening Of parks, libaries, reading
rooms, etc, in great cities on Sund-
day, are not moral or religious ques-
tiOns at all-they are prudential; and
are to be settled by experiment. 1t is
to be remem bered that there are large
numbers of the young in all great
cities who have no home. They
sleep in little rooms, in which in win
ter they have no fire, and can never
sit with comfort. They are without
cOngenial society. They have not the
entree o. other homes; and they must
go somewhere, and really need to go
somewhere. Christian courtesy does
much to bring them into Christian
association, and ought TO do thOus-
and times more. The least it can do
I is to open all those doors which lead
/ to pure Influences and to the enter
/ tainment Of the better side Of human
nature. A man who seeks the sOcie-
ty Of good books, or chooses to wan
der out for the one look at nature and
tie one feast of pure air which the
week can give him, Is not to be met
/ by bar or ban. Whatever feeds the
man, and ignores or staryes the brute
/ is to be fostered as a Christian agency.
The Sabbath was made for man, and
not man for the Sabbath. That is not
religion, but pagan slavery, which
makes Of Sunday a penance and
| sacrifice. 1t is better that man be
in library than alone all the time.
/ II is better that he wander in the park
/ than even feel the temptation to enter
drinking-salOOn or a brOthel. The
/ Sunday hOrse-ear is justified in that it
takes thousands to church who could
/ hardly go otherwise. The open libra
~ is Justified in that it is road which
leads in u good direction. All pure
ways are ways that tend upward, to-
( ware! God and heaven. .-.Scri5Rer's 3 for
Z (lf11f