The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-10-14
Tho Sabba ath-SolectfonG.

do wish that all tired people did
but know the infinite rest there Is In
fencing off the six days from the sew
enth, in anchoring the business ships
of our daily life as the Saturday draws
to its close, leaving them to ride peace
fully upon the flow or the ebb until
Monday morning comes again.-Anna
Warner. .-.l..
The setting apart Of one day in seven
as a day of rest and religious worship
is by divine appointment, and In the
long run no man. no body of men, can
fight against this arrangement with
impunity. In his own time. and by
his own methods. God will vindicate
himself, and make men feel that, hate
and disobey him as they may, he still
holds the reins Of government In his
own hands.-Ihe Star.
There is no better safeguard for the
Sabbath than for each Christian father ?
to spend it rightly in the company of
his children. One of the noblest wo-
men of England says of it: Sunday
Is a day of many memories of my dear
father. 1t seems to me especially his.
Perhaps the seeing most of him on
that day made me FIRST love Sunday;
but always much enjoyed going to
churclI." "-E1change.
In two ways the Sunday newspaper
is in keen hostility to the worship of
God in Christian sanctuaries. Beyond
dispute, it keeps vast numbers of both
sexes from church-going by a counter
attraction. 1t turns the scale adversely
with multitudes who hesitate. It takes
up agreeably the unoccupied hours. It
furnishes excuses toa wavering con-
science for neglecting the necessary
preparation, effort or trouble. 1t Is
easier than church-going. costs less,
is not finished when the church bell
rings. 70 pretend that this Is only a
fair competition between two kinds of
mortal production-a sermon md the,-
contents of the paper-will not 10.
The public worship of Almighty God.
including prayer, praise, confession, OF
sin and the reading Of his revelation,
is far higher and holier function
than preaching. And IN preaching
itself there is a warrant quite apart
from any question of fancy or taste.
Indirectly the newspaper hurts the
sacred ordinance by perverting the
mind to alien moods and uniting 1t
for a hearty and sincere religious act.
BY the more engrossing columns the
thoughts are sent off to affairO essen
TALLY worldly or secular--the markets,
prices, speculations. politics, accidents.
vices, villainies, often with prominent
exhibition of gross details. Every rule
of devotion and every psychological
law teaches that in order to take due
advantage from the sanctuary the
worshiper should I've attunel to Its DE
sign. in harmony with its atmospheric.
1t is not easy to conceive Of any instrh-
mentality more exactly suited to kill
that advantage, to dea'len religious im-
pressions, to dissipate devotion, to
nnllify the gracious purpose for which
the Lords Day was made, than the
multifarious matter which in recent
years has been scattered through our
streets every Sunday morning. This
could be shown by list of the con-
tents of a Sunday paper lying before
us. Are those-and they are not few
anywhere-who, from sense Of duty
both to God and their kind, refuse to
buy or touch this merchandise in any
way the worse for refusing? What
do they lose? Between thousand
men who get public news on Sunday
and a thousand who get it on Monday.
what Is the difference? On which
side is the loss? on which the gain?-
Bishop F. D. Huntington, D. D., in
CongregationaliSt.