Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-20
A SUNDAY.
Hen Not to be Made Good by L0tc-Ser-
n1OnJy tie Bee. GeOf0e W. Gallagher.
IN. Y. Herald. Jan. IS.

-ACES wv ~ w Att NVOc Oy
mon Gy the Bee. George ". Gallagher.
IN. Y. Herald, Jan. Is.
At the Fourth Unitarian church, One
Hundred and Twenty-eighth street, the
Rev. George w. Gallagher took for his
subject, "a Commcn Sense. Sunday" His
text was taken from Matthew, xii, -
Wherefore is it lawful to do we'll on the
Sabbath days. He opened his discourse
by stating that the recent attempt to en-
force the old Sunday laws, so long obso-
lete, suggests the need of a
more common-sense Sunday than
these laws give US. Before entering
upon the subject he was advocating the
minister sketched briefly the history of
Sunday observance. The early Christians,
said he. took the name Sunday, the first
day of the week, from the Roman calen-
dar, which contained the dies soils, or day
of the sun. At first the Christians called
it the "Lord's Day" to commemorate the
resurrection of Christ, but as the GENTLE
influence became more dominant 1t gradu-
ally assumed the name of Sunday, and the
Christians gave it, as they did many of
the pagan sacred, days and feasts, ANEW in
depreciation, and made 1t signify the "Sun
of Righteousness" arising in the person of
Jesus, taking Malachi, iv., 2, as scriptual
basis for their authority. The day,
however, was never regarded by the early
Christians as a divine day IN the same
sense that the Jewish Sabbath was. 1t
was spoken of b. the early writer's as a day
of Joy and cheerfnlness. It was even con-
sidered as a feast day, and the Christians
were forbidden to fast on that day. From
the apostles time it has been the custom
of the Christians to worship on Sunday.
The first official recognition of the day was
in the year 321 A. D., in the famous edict
of Constantine, in whIchihe recommended
that "the venerable Sunday" the ancient
dies soils OF the Romans. should be kept
as a sacred day. A statute was passed in
1878 which may be regarded as the
foundation of all the present laws
on the subject in England and
the United States. This statute enacted
entire suspension of all kinds of business
done on the ordinary days of the week ex-
cept works of necessity and charity.
Prior to this law the Christians held a less
rigorous view of Sunday. The Puritanic
conception of Sunday remains with us still,
but a more c-ommon-sense view is leading
US to return to the historical Sunday, and
to regard it as a day of rest, worship and
enjoyment. All attempts to ma e human
ity religious by the hour of the day
through legal enactments will only result
in hypocrisy, disgust, organized opposition
and the ultimate rejection of the
pure moral restraint of genuine
religious principles. Nature asks no privi-
leges from Legislatures, and religion is as
natural as air and water; its life depends
on the native love of mans heart for the
good and beautiful. The spirit of man is
free and demands a free exercise of its
powers. Sunday should be the most joy
Gus day of the week; the churches should
except open for those who engage in re-
ligious services; those cooped up all week
should be allowed to breathe the fresh air
by the seaside or in the public parks
The atl e. should be thrown open free of
charge on Sundays for the benefit OF the
masses who could not afford to pay dur
ing the week.