Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1883-04-21

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al SABBATH MAIL SERVICE
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BY President JefRers OF WessnAins-
Ter College.
Read before the International Sabbath As
ISOLATION at Pittsburg, Pa, May-1SSz.) /
Objections II. Ifthere was no future, no
heaven and no God; if we had no thought
aboveourd ailywork, mo conscience and no soul,
the Sabbath mail service deserves to be con-
demned. .Kman Is only SO little dust aggre-
gated by an organism only an elaborate,
physical, nervous machine, the deli, cry of
letters every day in the week invoices an
injury to him that cannot be repaired. Inc
perpetual strain on the nerves is damaging.
The harmony Of the system Is destroyed by
continued use.. The brain overtaxed, loses
Its tension. The hands that distribute letters
without the intermission of q weekly Sabbath,
will not distribute SO many, nor will they
distribute them so accurately, or so rapidly,
as if they rested entirely for q day, once IN
every seven. The hundred thousand human
machines in the employment Of the enlight-
ened government Of the U. 8. are worn out
before their time. are rendered unfit for SER
vice when they should be at their best, and
are thown aside as useless to make room Tor
others, who will be treated after the same
fashion.
However Indifferent government officials,
or the government as q whole may be to this
waste Of y material of which an abundance is
always at hand to fill tho gaps, s0e, 1.-THE peo-
pld,' who re.creat- the government period
ically, are not Indifferent; ~, because pre-
maiurely broken-down agents Of the govern
meut do imperfect work. Their mistakes
through the week will discommode you, and
will deranse business more than the Sabbath
mail service will accommodate you, and
facilitate business. Trains must run, and
life Is ri>ked by tired engineers an conduc-
tors. (2). Beside, ifthese postal clerks, en-
gineers. &C., concerned In this service are
human machines, so are we; if they work
for wages 80 do we II they are worn out and
die in middle life by the continuous work of
sabbathles, weeks, so would happ-n to us in
like. circumstances if their employers exact
sabbath work Of them, how long will 1t be
until ours will exact it Of us The monster
greed that is consuming them has an appetite
that 80 far from being satiated, is only
sharpened by q few hundred thousand vic
tins every ten years or less. Human machines
rs we are we are not 30 mechanical in our oper-
stions that we cannot detect the forecast shad-
ow Of I'M approaching danger to our times,and
provide against it. cay. Further, these
bundles of nerves, as we are taught to call
ourselves, are connected by a sympathetic
cord; each to all the others. When one 10
injured, all suffer. Not one, but many are in.
jured. We suffer much then through COM
passion. Thus selishly, and on the lowest
ground of the grossest materialism, the Sab
bath mail service is condemned by US all.
II. But we are not merely nerves., and all
our experience Is not sensation. We think
and gain Enowkdgs. Our life consists more
In our thoughts that in our physical condition
and experiences. This Sabbath mail service
condemns men to live in the lower levels of
existence, denies them time for gaining knowl-
edge, robs them Of the hour they would de-
vote to thought. II man II thinking animal.
subtract the t6inking, and what have you
LETT This necessity Of working seven days
in every week ignores the law of mans in
telligence and steals the only day the labor
ing man has to devote to knowledge. leave
this with q simple assertion. No n who
has considered the case of the individuals in
this army of government employee need to
have it proved to him that If they are COM
PEELED to work on the Sabbath. they have nc
time, for storing or training the mind.
III. There is q grsver question than any
thing yet limited at involved in the mail ser
vice. No mau lives without thought, aud nj
man thinks long IT, h%e'Stumble, on the ides
of Obligation, duty right. "What is it mos
p~rofiableto do" Is overshadowed by ''wha
ought We to DO" Its of tlore consequence,
fosu us to remember that while the postal clerl
has nerves, and has an intellect. he has also
conscience. ~. If he has no conscience OIL
the SUBJECT OF Sabbath observance, The posta
clerk aud every other person used in the Sail
bal mail service is deprI ed of the time, ait
prohibit, u from the services and exercise
that al e suited 10 develop q conscience; Hi,
we shall I've q cunsc,enceless department II
handle our letters. (2). The public servan
has rights of which he is robbed by this sci
vice. H. has u natural right TO one day j
seven for himself Whatever his employment
Whoever has a hand in denying him this tim
is an oppressor, a wrong-doer, an enemy {
the laborer.
"AG erman socialist, interviewed by one
our German papers, states that the sociali
in Germany has been battling for Sunday res
not for re igious reasons but Tor physical an
other reasons. They Lave leaIn, d as well
we that the law Is needed to give eae
individual his rights in this matter" "a
jury, public morals are Lowered, and eNcus
furnished for other wrongs, which will retul
to plague those who have wronged the post
CLERK for thtir WI convenience. DR.. Plum
says, The law of the sabbath Is the keystOl
In tt e y eli Of pubic morals. Take it avn
aud the whole fabric crumbles. II the 60
ernnlent and the railways require or encOu
age their employees needlessly and deliberate
to break the fourth commandment, it W
soon appear that they are IN heart, and
fact. pr epared to break other commandmen
Thu, faithful servants will he turned in
rogues, and little by little, success will gill
away ;-or riots and public plumber will il
day sweep off the earnings of years."
". The evil, does not stop with the e.
ploye and his patrons. A man has a rig
to u wife and a home, if he ants one; a
there's something wrong about a man til
workman, tied to his toll for seven days
the week, to educate his children, and cul
yate in himself those affections that flour
only in the homer You close your store
Office on Saturday night and go home witt
feeling of relief that the morrow's sun v
not call you to take up the load that oppres
mind and body six DAYS out of the week. T
you like to get your mail on the Sabbath. Y
leave your comfortable home long enough
go down street and call for letters and pape
You glance over them, perhaps answer the
and are back among wife and children IN
hour. 1t does not subtract from your no
Sabbath much, and. it adds to your inco
and satisfies your Sabbath mail. Remem
what it costs to bring you those letters !
great man, brave general, refused u drink
water, though lie was suffering intensely fir
thirst, because the water was brought to /
at the risk Of life. You insist on the pleas
and comfort of q Sabbath mail, thol
brought to vol not at a risk, but at the act
erpense Of thousands of homes !. The lei