Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-01-23

in this city and in this nation unless th,
Sabbath is observed" Those in our owl
country have given evidence on the same
side. The man who takes down the shut
ters of his store on the Sabbath takes dowr
the curse of Almighty God. That farmer
who cultures his ground on the Sabbath
day raises crop of neuralgia. and of con-
sumption, and of death. A farmer said
81 defy your Christian Sabbath. I will
raise Sunday CROP" So he went to work
and plowed the ground on Sunday, and har-
rowed it on Sunday, and he planted corn on
Sunday, and he reaped the corn on Sunday,
and he gathered it into the barn on Sunday.
"There," he says, 81 have proved to you
that all this idea about fatality accom-
panying Sabbath work is perfect sham.
My corn is garnered, and all is well,' But
before many weeks passed the Lord God
struck that barn with his iighnings, and
away went the Sunday crop.
So great is the moral depression comm &
upon those who toll upon the Sabbath day
that you may have noticed Gf you have
not, call your attention to the faet,) that
in cases where the public interest demands
Sabbath toll the moral depression is SO
great that there are but very few who can
stand it. For instance, the police service
without which not one of our houses
would be safe-there are very few who can
stand the pressure and temptation Of it,
In London, where there are five thousand
policemen, the statistic is given that In one
year nine hundred and twenty-one of that
five thousand were dismissed, five hundred
and twenty three were suspended and two
thousand four hundred and ninety two were
fined. Now, if the moral depression be so
great in occupations that are positively
necessary for the peace and prosperity of
society, ask you what must be the moral
depression In those cases where there is no
necessity for Sabbath work, and where 2
man chooses worldly business on the Lord s
day just because he likes it or wants to sad
to his emoluments? During the last war
it was found out that those public works
which paused on the seventh day turned
out more war material than those which
worked all the seven days. Mr.. Bagnall, q
prominent iron merchant, gives this testi-
mony: 81 find we have fewer accidents in
our establishment and fewer Interruptions
now we observe the Lord s day and az the
close of the year, now that We keep the
Sabbath, l find We turn out more iron and
have larger profits than any year when we
worked all the seven days" The fact is,
Sabbath made ropes will break, and Sab
bath made shoes will leak, and Sabbath
made coats Will rip, and Sabbath made
muskets will miss fire, and Sabbath occu-
pations will be blasted. A gentleman said
| 81 invented shuttle on the Lords day
was very busy, so l made the model of
that new shuttle on the Lords day. So
| very busy was I during the week that l
had to occupy many Sabbaths. 1t was
great success. enlarged my buildings !;
built new factories, and made hundreds
Of thousands Ct dollars but have to tell
you that all the result of that work en- the
Sabbath has been to me ruin. ! enlarged
my buildings, l made great many thous-
aHds of dollars, but have lost all, and l
charge it to the fact of that Sunday shut
tle." l will place in two companies the
men in this community who break the
Sabbath and the men who keep it, and
then | ask you who are the best friends of
society Who are the best friends of
morals? Who have the best prospects for
this world? Who have tho best for the
world that is to come?
Sabbath morning comes in the house
hold. suppose that the mere philosopher
would say that the Sabbath light comes in
a wave current, just like any other light
but it does not seem so to me. 1t seems as
if it touched the eyelids more gently, and
threw a brighter glow on the mantel orna-
ments, and cast better cheerfulness on the
faces of the children, and threw a super
natural glory over the old family Bible
Hail Sabbath light! We rejoice in it.
Rest comes in through the window, or it
leaps up from the fire, or it rolls out in the
old armchair, or it catches up the body
into ecstasy, and swings open before the
soul the twelve gates which are twelve
pearls. The bar of the unopened ware
house, the hinges of the unfastened store
window, the quiet of the commercial ware
house seem to say "This is the day the
Lord hath made" Rest for the sowing
woman, with weary hands, and aching
side, and sick heart. Rest for the over
tasked workman in the mine, or out on the
wall, or in the swelteripg factory. Hang
ZIP the piano, drop the adze, slip the band
from the wheel, put out the fire. Rest for
the BODY, for the mind, and for the soul.
"Welcome. sweet day OF rest.
That saw the Lord arise:
Welcome to this revivlng breast,
And these rejoicing eyes,"
Again l remark, We ought to have in the
Sabbath the Joy of domestic reunion and
conservation. There are some very good
parents who have the faculty of making
the Sabbath great gloom. Their children
run up against the wall Of parental lugu-
briousness on that day. They are sorry
when Sunday comes, and glad when it goes
away. They think of everything bad on
that day. 1t is the worst day to them,
really, in all the week. There are persons
who. because they were brought Up in
Christian families, where there were wrong
notions about the Sabbath, have gone out
into dissipation and will bs lost. 4 man
try, k0r r&or r.
the Sabbath.day. never saw my father
smile on Sunday. It was such a dreadful
day to me when ] was a boy, l never got
over it and never will.' These parents
did not ''eall the Sabbath a delight p they
made it q gloom. But there are houses
represented here this morning where the
children say through the week, 81 wonder
when Sunday will come p They are
anxious to have it come. | hear their
hossnna in the school God intended the
Sabbath to be especially day for the
father. The mother is home all the week.
Sabbath day comes, aud God says to the
father, vino has been busy from Monday
morning to Saturday night at the store, or
awaypfrom home, "This Is your day. See
what you can do in this little flock in pre-
pairing them for heaven. This day I set
apart for yo4 - You know very well that
there are MANY parents who arg mere sui
lers Of the household they provide the
food and raimsnt once In while, perhaps,
they hear the child read line OR two in
the new primer; or, if there be a case Of
especial discipline, and tbe mother cannot
manage it. the child is brought up in the
court martial of the fathers discipline and
punished That is all there is of it. No
. scrutiny of the child's immortal interests,
No roal;1 tion of the fact that the child will
soon go oat in world where there are
gigantic and overwhelming temptations
J that have swamped millions, But in some
t households it is not that way; the home,
beautiful on ordinary days, is more beauti-
, full now that the Sabbath has dawned.--
!, There is more joy in the good morning." I"
there is more tenderness in the morning
prayer. The father looks at the child, and
, the child looks at the father. The little
one aares now to ask questions without any
! fear Of being answered: ''Don't bother me