Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-07-02
JULY 2, 1885.
SUNDAY LAWS.

ouches he 'generally" eXhausts. '
What was said by him may be read
With profit by all classes, and it is ,
perfectly safe to predict that, when
,rer opportunity offers, his views will
be sustained by our courts.
This is the first of a series of lee
lures upon matters of practical
social interest to be delivered on
afternoon, in connection with
worship, at the Episcopal church in
this city, and intended for that por-
ton of the community that feels lit
tie concern about mere theological
questions. At a ministers meeting
in st. Louis q pastor of that city ex-
pressed desire to give %utterance to
his thoughts of Sunday observance as
q citizen and from a civil standpoint;
sat least" said he, Il wish to hear
from the laity on the subject" Such
a lecture as Judge Forrist delivered
falls in exactly with such desire and
accords with the ancient custom of
reading the law in the Synagogue
upon Sabbath days. The community,
therefore, is certainly under great
obligations to the gentlemen that
have charge of the Episcopal church
for the opportunity furnished for its
delivery, and to the eminent jurist by
whom it was prepared. AS all law
is either right or wrong and has,
therefore, a moral, as well as legal
side, we were glad to hear Judge
florists quotation, even incidentally,
of Christ's words regarding the old
Sabbath, uttered in defence of his
Disciples when threatened by certain
Jews whom he answered and silenced
from their own standpoint and view
of Mosaic Law, showing incontesta-
bly, thereby that ven in those days
of pharisaical righteousness and ia
naticism, the rigidity of Sabbath law
Interpretation prevailing after the re-
turn from the captivity had been re-
Taxed and offsett by regard for life
and well-being and the demands of
necessity and charity.
In regard to the positive side of
the Fourth commandment there can
be no question. 1t forbade work
and enjoined worship, which latter
among the Jews was almost whollyo Of
afestive character. OF its enforcement
little is said in the divine record
previous to the captivity. Only few
incidents of that character are men,
tioned-the lighting of a fire, the
gathering of sticks and going out OF
camp for mamma, all of which occur:
red in the wilderness, and acts
likely to reveal the position Of the
Israelitish camp to their enemies and.
therefore. justly punishable at that
time with death. Modern martha
law would deal similarly with a trait
Or that betrayed an army. What the
Prophets complained of vas neglect
of the spiritual Sahhaths and ali
sCnce from Jerusalem during the
feasts. connecting them constantly
with worship and the sanctuary Ne
hemiah reinstated the Sabbath ant
his Interpretation and application o
the Fourth Commandment embraced
works of agriculture, carrying of bur
dens, selling and buying of produce
But later in Jewish history the Sab
bath was kept with such fanaticisn
that the people would not defend
the City of Jerusalem when attacked
by the Romans on that day. Late.
still. certain Jews suffered themselve
to be butchered wholesale, withou
effort to escape or resist. In conse
quence of this, and because al
enemy was likely always to take al
vantage of such mistaken rigidit,
and select hallowed days for his on
slaughts, fighting on the Sabbath
came to be allowable, both of a de
fensive and offensive character. Il
the days of Christ, the oral law wa
the highest and most authoritative,
law of the Jews. and in it the safet,
of life and limb, as with US, over
ruled every other statute. The say
ing that the Sabbath was made TO
man, and not man for the Sabbath
had become a legal maxim, and tn
Savior by adopting it, confirmed bot
its propriety and the uses to whicl
it had been put.
IL is scarcely necessary to observ'
here that the observance of Sunda'
at this time is obligatory, rattle
through what is appropriate and ex
pedient, than by a of divin
precept- The logical result of basin:
Sunday observance upon the Fourtl
Commandment and attaching theret
all the promises and malediction
of the old Testament, is to restor
Seventh day worship, and a Sunda
extending from sunset to sunset, a
was the case in New England.
History records that, through sue
Puritanical preaching, Sabbataria
views were widely diffused in the lit
century in Great Britain and Gu.
minated in Cromwell's revolution an
the Commonwealth, but the prim;
tive church, and the Apostle PAT
especially taught that Sabbath oil
servance was o matter of indifference
dependent upon individual ccnvit