The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-04-04
FoR THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
THE SABBATH IN THE UNITED STATES
CONGRESS.

From the official report, (the CongressiOnt
Record it appears that both Houses of th
the late Congress were in session, on Satul
day, the 81 day of March and until 3 A M
on Sunday, the 4,h of March, that reces
was then taken, by the House of Represen
tatives till A. NJ, Sunday, March 4th,
and by the Senate till 3 A. M.-that bot
Houses continued in session on Sunday til
II NJ, when the forty fourth Congress- ex
piyed, by constitutional limitation. A larg
amount of business was transacted on tha
Sabbath. The President, no doubt, consiruet
aft King his ConstitEsiopaI approval 70 Act
Of Congress till y r., and the officers o
both Houses, Exceeding one hundred il
number we're overwhelmed with work; in
deed, an extra clerical force had to be en-
ployed to engross the bills. The newspaper
correspondents report that the galleries were
full of men and ladies, by their presence wit
Messing this dssscratiOn of the Sabbath By the
american Congress q!
Among the debates aud the recorded
yeas and nays are to be found the respected
names of members of various Christian
churches, and also of minister of the Cos.
pei and president of college, who is held
in high and merited esteem by very large
number of people at home and abroad !!
Giving to the gentlemen in the fullest
measure, all the honor, affection and conf
dence due to them for their patriotism and
high Christian character, not doubling that
they felt that necessity authorized this use
of the Sabbath, and according to them the
benefit (if any such exists of the fact that
others who are not Congressman, would have
acted as they did, if so situated, this work of
Congress on the Sabbath day will be can
Vassed and considered by the people, with
the same freedom that tariff or electoral
commission or other bills will be discussed
And in that spirit many of their constituents
will regard this use of the Sabbath day as an
inexcusable desecration of its holy hours, and
the example will be disastrous to public
morals.
1t is to be believed that members of Con-
gress themselves felt that this use of the
Sabbath was of doubtful propriety, for they
allow their reasons, by very thin legislative
fiction, to appear as if all their work was
done on the third day of March! The jour
nal bears date third, the acts passed on that
day and the Presidents approval bear date
Sd March, and the apparent recess at 8 A.
NJ, on Sunday, was in truth an adjournment
TO the 4th. If Congress deemed their use of
the Sabbath day to be justified by the al
legged necessity of the occasion, it would have
been more manly to date their Sunday work
on Sunday, March 4 h. Would that the
President had had the frmness to rebuke
Congress, by refusing, after II, on the night
of Saturday, to give his sanction to bills
What spectacle does it present, in this
last quarter of the nineteenth century of
CHRISTIAN civilization and progress, to see the
American Congress practically putting con-
tempt on the Divine command to ''remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy 2" Toe
courts have decided that contract made on
Sunday can be made void remedial justice
stands still on the Sabbath day; the dweller
in the humblest log cabin in the land is safe
from the intrusion of the officers of the law
armed with an ordinary process; paper
payable in bank on Sunday must be pro-
tested on Saturday or Monday; the code,
probably of every Christian commonwealth
of the world, recognizes the Sabbath day, and
forbids under penalty secular work on that
day. And yet the American Congress defeS
this unmistakable public opinion, and prac-
tcally ignores the law of God and of the
Ssate
But Congressman and those who sustain
them in their Sabbath deSecration, allege
that an overruling necessity compelled this
Sunday session of both Houses. The law
yers have a practical and common sense
mode of referring to "necessity," by call
ing its occurrence, an ''sct of God, or some
unforeseen contingency which human wisdom
and art cannot prevent. Now Congressman
knew in December when they assembled,
that by law they must adjourn on March 4th
o. II NJ, if in session at that hour. They
knew it would be Sunday. How can it be
alleged that they were powerlesS to prepare
and mature their business, so as to avoid the
occurrence of the alleged necessity to sit on
Sunday? Again, by the provisions of the
Electoral Commission bill, by sort of tech
nical abstraction, grave senator's, for one
whole day, had to see a dead lock in the leg
islative business, because under this Act cl
some rule, they could only proceed with the
electoral business When, too, during the
session, many speeches are made, which are
not pretended to have been for the ears O.
members, but for "poor deluded BuncOmbe.
Could not this wasted time have been occu
pied in business, and thus the alleged meces
sity of Sunday work have been avoided?
But censursble as many believe Congress
to be for this secular work and labor on tn
Sabbath, we outsiders are not free from al
responsibility for this and similar evidence
of an unhealthy popular opinion with refer
ence to the Sabbath. Had not Congress
known that many of their constituents woul
have sustained them, their Sabbath worl