Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-02-23

of vehicles of all sorts. The voices seemed
more bois. erous than on other days. 1t
seemed as if all the vehicles In Paris had
tuned out for the holiday. The Champs
ElSsees, one great mob Of pleasureseeking
people. Balloons flying parrots chattering.
foot halls rolling peddlers hawking their
knick-knacks through the streets; hand
organs and every kind Of racket, musical
and unmusicaL When the evening came
down all the theatres were in
full glare of music and full
blsze of light. The wine stores and saloons
were throDged with an unusual number of
customers. At even-tide / stood and
watched the excursionists coming home
tagged out men, women and children, a
gull stream of fatigue, irritability and
wretchedness; for should think it would
take three or four days to get over that
miserable way of Sundsying. 1t seemed
more Ike an American Fourth of July than
A Christian saDbath.
Nov, in contrast / present one OF the
Sabhaths in one of our best American
cities. Holy silence coming down with the
daEdaWn. Business men more deliberately
looking into the faces of their children and
talking to-tlem about their present and
future welfare. Men sit longer at the table
in the morning because the storesar not to
be ooened and the mechanical tools are not
to be taken mp. There are congrstulation
and good cheer all through the house
Houses Of Ged vocal with thsnksgivings for
mereies received, with prayers for comfort,
with charities for the poor. Rest Tor the
body. Rest for the soul. The nerves
quieted, the temples cooled, the mind clear
ed, the soul strengthened and our
entire population turned out on Monday
morning ten years younger, better prepared
for the duties Of this life, better prepared
for the life that Is to come. Which do you
like best, the American Sabbath or the
Partisan Sabbath Do you know in what
boat the Sabbath came across the seas and
landed on our shores2 1t was in the May
flower. Do you know in what boat the Sab
bath Will leave US if it ever does2 1t will
be in the ark that floats over deluge Of
national iniquity.
StiH further: Iprotest against this inva-
sion of the Lords Day because it wrongs .
vast multitude Of employees of their rest.
The bartender IN the case Of the grog- shop
and in the case Of the theatre the scene-shitt
ers, the ballet-dancers, the call-boys, the in
Vulnerable attendants and supernumerares.
They are paid small salaries at the best.
You see them on the stage in tinsel and
tassekor yeu see them in gauze whirling in
toe-tortures and you mistake them for
FAIRIES or queens; but after IL o'clock at
night you may see them trudging through
the streets in faded dress, shiyering and
tired, seeking their homes in the garrets
and cellars Of the city. Now you propose
to take from thousands of these employees
throughout this country not only all oppor.
tunity Of moral culture, bet all
opportunity of physical rest. Let the
crashing juggernaut stop
One Day in SevenH
l oppose this invasion Of the Christian
Sabbath because it is war on the spiritual
welfare of the people. You have soul
Yes. Which of the saloons OF theaters on
the Sabbath day will give that soul any cul
ture2 If you gentlemen o! the restaurant
and opera have six days in the week in
which to exercise your evaHgelical aud heav
enly influence, ought You not to allow Chris
tian institutions to have twenty four hours
| Is it unreasonable to demand that If yor
have six days for the body and the intellect
we have one day at least for our immorta
soulH Or, to put it in another shape, d.
you not really think that one imperishabl
soul is worth at least one-seventh as much q
one perishable body2 You must not forge
that ninety-nine one hundredths of all th,
Christian effort of this country are Put fort
on the Lords day. That is the day in whicl
the asylums and the hospitals and the pris
ons are visited by Christian men. That
the day when the youth of our country ge
their chief religious information. That i
the day when the most of the charities ar
collected. That is the day when under tn
blast of $4,000 American pulpits, the sin o
the land is assaulted and men are sum
,moned to repent. When you make war up
on any part of Gods day you make war uF
on the asylums and the penitentiaries, an
the hospitals, and the reisrm associations
and the homes of the destitute, and tn
church Of The living God, which is the pi
lar and the ground of
The Truth.
lam opposed to the invasion of the Sab
bath because it is war upon our polltica
institutions. When the Sabbath goes down
the Republic goes down. Men who are no
willing to obey Gods law in regard to Sab
bath observance, are not fit TO govern them
selves. Sabbath breaking means disso
luteness, and dissoluteness is incompatible
with sell-government. What is the matte
with republicanism in Italy and Spain
No Sabbath. France never will have
permanent republic until she quits her roys
tering Sabbaths. Let the bad work 60 on
and you have "the commune" and you hav
"the revolution" and you have the sun Q
national prosperity going down in dark
ness and blood. From that reign Of terro
NAV the God Of Lexington and Gettya
burg, deliver u.s.
Stil further: / am opposed to this inys
sion of the Sabbath because it is unfair an
il is partial. Why has it been during tn
mast few weeks that some Of the theatre
have been allowed to be open and other
not7 Why have not all spen2 Go further
and see how unfsir it is. While operas an
theatres in different cities are allowed to B
open on the Sabbath day, dry goods estat
lisbuents must be closed, and plumbin
establishments and the butchers and th
bakers and the shoemskers and the hare
ware stores. Tell me BY what law OF jul
tee you compel me to shut the door OF m
store while you keep open the door OF you
tbeater? May it please year honors, Judge
of the Supreme Court, when you give to th
opera and the theater the right to be ope
on the Sabbath day, you ought to give
the same time the right to all commercii
establishments to be open and to all M
cbanical establishments to be open. VIII
is right in the one case Is right in
All the Cases.
But come, nov, and be honest You me
WAC manage theatres. and operas, and col
fess that you do not care anything at a
about the moral welfare Of the people, b
you want only more dollars. Indeed, Ii
leader Of one Of the operas says in the Pu
lie prints that uuless he can have the the
ter open on the Lords day he cannot AHoE
TO keep it running. We are told by the o
cratic and theatrical managers that thu
must get money on Sabbath nights in ord!