The Portland daily press., 1883-10-06

| appeal to the deepest needs of our nature
| and to the great law Of the Christian life
the law of love. Because we need the day
and 1t is given to US, we ought to preserve
| 1t. Because we love our Lord, who on that
| day showed Himself our Saviour, .complet-
ing on that day his grandest work of the
new creation, honoring the day by His re-
| peated presence and the gift of His Holy
/ 81 irit, therefore, in common with every gen.
Grafton of disciples from the beginning, we
| ought to love the day and strive every one OF
| us to maintain its integrity.
| How shall we meet the tenden-
| cy towards the PROCLAMATION of >the Lords
| Day? | believe we shall meet 1t best by US
!! ing all the teaching power of the Church In
| giving clear and intelligent reasons for the
| right keeping of the Day. In pulpit and
| SUNDAY School and family be IL clearly and
| constantly taught that the keeping Of the
/ Lords Day rests on the law of love, OF love
| TO ourselves, TO our neighbor and TO Christ.
| Let it be shown that to give up the day Of
i rest is to violate nature and to destroy our
| selves; that muscle and brain will wreak
| their vengeance on the man who denies 1t
| TO hem; that the principle on which 1t
stands is "Do thyself no harm;" and let IL be
clearly emphasiz, that the greatest enemy
of the working man is not the Church (she
| is bis greatest frend), but the capitalist,
large or small, who for his own gain In
trlugoS IN the least lOJd upon OuT
day of rest. Let the example be shown OF
| the toiling workmen in European cities who
| would be glad of their day of rect, now that
| they cannot get it back, who have no law to
| enforce their right to snch rest, and behind
| whom stand q multitude of the hungrier
| men ready to take their place If they refuse
l to obey the behest of their masters. Then
| let the truth be sci forth that simply to rest
| the body or the mind is not sufficient to sat-
| isfy mans highest needs, that the care of
| the spiritual nature, so lost sight of In the
whirl of the week, must be sought for espec-
| ally on the Lords Day. Aud that, in gen.
eral, this cannot be sought best by oneself;
that the command to "Forsake not the as
sembling of yourselves together" was not
given tor the interest of the Church, but Of
The individual who needs the helpful associ-
atoms of the assembly where Christ meets
his people.
We shall not preserve the day by
laying down thousand rules ami Tegula-
ions, binding mems consciences, as did the
Pharisees, by our conscences, or our inter-
pretations, or private opinions, nor by max
ing it gloomy, ascetic day, a day 10 be
feared and endured and hated by our chill
dren. We cannot believe the sternest Puri-
ans ever did this If they did they had fall
Ell from the grace of the Gospel into the
bondage of the law. Let us receive it rath-
er as it comes to us from apostolic times, the
most joyful memorial of the glorious resur-
rection of Christ our Lord, full of the peace
which He brought to men, full of the hope
He brought from the grave, AID of the rest
that is to come. Then let us make it such
a day as He made it,, day for doing good,
for comforting the sick and sorrowful, for
lending hand to the fallen, for visiting the
prisoner, for opening our homes to the
homeless and solitary, for finding something
for our hands to do in His name aud for His
sake. Pm afraid there is a vast deal of sell
6shness concealed under the form of keep
ing the Sabbath day holy, aud that some
people would be shocked we're Jesus to come
back to earth and spend few Sundays with
us. / think, though, He would be simply
teaching us that the Lords Day, like Him
self, came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister to and bless mankind.
But we have to face the fact that
the desecration of the Lords Day is on the
increase, that railroad and steamboat COM
panies are making campmeetings and tenn
perance conventions ana so-called sacred
concerts the occasions of Sunday excursions
from various parts of the State, and that the
communities Though which these excur-
sions pass and near which these meetings
are held have lost the peace aud quiet that
belong to the day. What can be done by
those who love the day to save it from this
desecration?
Let us understand that we cannot by
civil law enforce a religious keeping of the
day upon anybody. We cannot compel peo-
pie to go to church or to stay at home or to
honor and to love the Lords Day. Yet we
| 10 have laws for the preservation of the
Lords Day. They are general throughout
the country, each State law differing but
slightly from the others. The Sunday law,
however, is not based on the Puritahic ides
Of Church State, as many suppose, but on
the undisputed right of a State to legislate
for the physical and moral welfare of the
people. The State may enact that one day
sh4l be set apart from six other days, or
from ten, if it sees fit, which shall be day
If rest. 1t may not simply advise this, it
may enforce the rest by imposing penalties
on those who pursue their common avoca-
tions, except in cases of necessity. This Is
the principle of our Sunday law, a principle
which has been Ieaffirmed in our highest
courts. If rest is needed by the citizens Of q
State hey must be made secure in its en-
joyment. The poor man must not be COM
PEELED TO work on that day by his employer.
Fhe Sunday Jaw protects the laboring classes
iR their day of rest. This protection is gone,
however, when the European Sunday comes
in; for, with the dissipation of that Sum
day, comes the unbroken toll of thousands
compelled to work on that day, or lose their
employment. Indeed, we can Already see
among ourselves how detrimental to labor
is the violation of the Sunday law. There
is many town, for example, where the bar
bers would generally be glad to close their
shops. But few refuse to do so, compell-
ing the rest to keep open to save their Gus
tom. The same thing is probably true on
our Sunday trains, the engineers and train
men must work or lose their places. DIR.
Bacon of Norwich, to whose little volume
on the Lords Day l am Indicted, tells of a
coal dealer who complained that he could
not go to early mass, he was so busy attend
ing to every little tug that found out 1t could
better get in its supply of coal on sunday,
| than during the week. If he closed his
| qffice he would lose his trade. His custom
ers would all leave him for other dealers
| without his scruples. Il wish to Heaven"
| he said, "that some one would prosecute
me-" A clear illustration Of the value Of an
enforced day of rest for all, that the liberty
| of rest may be preserved for each. Such
| law Is both just and salutary. 1t Is neces-
sary to repress the avarice of thnse, who on
Dretence of philanthropy are encrOacbing on
| our priceless day of rest. If public corpora
| lions may thus violate the law, what is to
hinder the running of factories soon? Then,
if the man says II cannot work on Sunday
ms employer has only to reply, GAN right,
cannot compel your conscience, you knowl
but there are plenty of men ready to take
your place" What redress has the work.
man then? none at at all. The Sunday Law
has become dead letter and he must sub
nit and lose his Sunday Or refuse and lose
his job.
But the law not only declares that there
shall be day of TEST, it enacts that those
who chose to make that day of rest one Of
worship and religious service shall not be
disturbed in their right to do so. The state
may also care for the morals of the people,
and on the principle that the Sunday given
up to dissipation and frivolity would be in
furious TO puOlic morals, it prohibits the ex-
hibition of public shows, or the playing of
public games on that day. Now in all this
the state simply provides that our commOn
privilege of a day of rest shall not be
molested, and that it shall be 50 guarded as
not to become a day detrimental to the
morals of the people. With such salutary
| law what can be done to preserve the integ-
rity Of the Lords Day.?
| |. We should recognize the fact that the
| best of the laws cannot be enforced against
| the sentiment of the people; we should
| therefore seek to stimulate and strengthen
the public sentiment already existing In
favor of the Lords day. Let the fact De
shown that iu Europe there is wide spread
organization, endorsed by the labor unions,