The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-21

~ A"" MI O0ol Sc 'huuuIluB mas purpose
ly kept his establishment open on Sunday,
in order to test the validity of that ordi-
nance. Judge Howe, before whom the
case was tried, declared the Sunday Ordi-
nance invalid. The Judge concluded his
decision with the following:
1t is not by mere liberation that every
individual here is protected in his belief or
disbelief He reposes not upon the lenien-
cy OF government, or the hberality of any
class or sect of men, but upon his natural
indefeasible rights of conscience, which, in
the language of the Constitution, are be-
yond the control or interference of any hu-
man authority. We have no union of
Church and State, nor has our govern
ment ever been vested with authority to
enforce any religious observance, simply
because it is religious.
Thus the statute upon which the defend
ant relies, prohibiting common labor on
the Sabbath, could not stand for moment
as law of this State, if its sole foundation
was the Christian duty of keeping that day
holy, and its sole motive to enforce the OBJ
servance of that duty.
We are, then, to regard the statute under
|
lice regulation, whose validity is neither
strengthened or weakened by the fact that
the day of rest it enjoins is the Sabbath
day;
But to allow men to make bargains on
the Sabbath is to let them desecrate that
holy day, and it shounld not be granted
that the Legislature would suffer that
This is the language of the modern Eng
lish cases, and perhaps it is consistently
used in a country where Christianity is a
part of the law, and in which there is an
established church and an omnipotent par
lament. But the General Assembly OF
Ohio is not, as we have shown,a guardian
of the sanctity of any day. If it may pro
, tect the first day of the week from desc
Grafton, because it is the Christian Sab
bath, it may, in like manner, protect the
sixth day because it is the holy day of the
Mahommedan, and the seventh day be
cause it is the Sabbath of the Jew and the
Seventh Day Baptist.
And this leads us to refer to a speech
made by Henry Ward Beecher, in Cooper
Institute, New York, in April, 1872, (which
we heard and a printed report of which
! we now have before us), in favor of open
ing public reading rooms on Sunday. /
. was generous, liberal speech, and haC
the effect of opening the reading rooms il
: New York on Sundays. While Mr. Beech
, er honored the memory Of the men whC
were so strict in the observance of the ole
Sunday, he said that others believed tina
Sunday was holiday that it ought to b
a day of social enjoyment and rest. HI
said the old Jewish Sunday was simply
day Of rest and recreation; all work wa
forbidden on that day, but it was not for
5 hidden to have social entertainments-in
deed it was the one jovial, cheerful day 0
the week among the Jews.
+ AS to the Christian Sunday, said Mr..
S there was no command 10 the New Tesla
ment as to the manner In which it shout
: be observed, and there was nothing in tn
t primitive church binding as to the mod
of observing the day, but it was day G
) ioyfulness, a day of triumph with tn
= church. The Puritan fathers, seeing tn
excuses of that day, were driven to tn
y opposite extreme, and so it comes down {
$ US with rigors that do not belong
i it, and which reason does NJ
. justify. God S sabbath was not made
Y keep down manhood, it was made to lift
n up, it was not made to take away libert,
Il it was made to increase it. How man
poor men there are that rise before ii
sun and work through every day Of tn
{ week until late at night, and fall upon the
touches conscious that they have take
O. every bone and muscle to the uttermost
and when at last the six days have role
n round and they wake on Sabbath mornin
~ with what inexpressible thankfulness thu
is say: Thank GOd,we have one day to GU
selves And so Mr.. Beecher ran on, f
two hours, to an audience of 5000 of Il
best people in New York, amidst applaus
y laughter, etc, We remember particular
his sharp cuts on the well,meaning b
big0ted old Puritans-he said the Puritan
Sunday was not Gods Sunday, for tn
'' made it day of misery-God would ha
it a day JOY and rest and recreation
Nv And all this leads to say that our peoT
D. who go over the river on Sunday, becau
n they are under less restraint there, C
Is Just as well enjoy themselves at HON
n The real truth about Sunday is this I
n erybody has legal right, in this COUNT
IN guaranteed by the Constitution, to p;
n the day exactly as they please, so they
e. not disturb the public peace. No Ora
Jury can legally indict or Petit Jury
gally convict people for holding picnics
ID social gatherings, either in their houses
ne on their rented grounds and doing anytfi
"a they would do on any week day-provid
IL of course, that there be no riot, no bre;
he ing Of the public peace. No man can
ne punished for spending Sunday in his o
ID way and according to his avn desire;
IN with the provisions we have named }
is their any more sin in families and frier
he meeting in the groves for recreation
On that day, than in the church-members v
IN. go to walk or ride And instead of
md people going to Gilbert to shooting ma
er- on Sunday, or to Davenport to a pier
,as they may just as well have their recreat
: at home and keep their money at hor
Gu and have their comfort in their own hon
the or groves.
JOHN f. HENRY, CURRAN & CO.
ha1 John +. Henry, of the most success
in proDrietayv Medicine Warehonse in