The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-01-21
aCUHTsTIAA PHILANIHROIISi Il
The Ear, of shatesbur,'s Advocacy OF the
Holy Sabbath.

TIE Earl Of Shaftesbury, during All MS
parliamentary life, was the constant adVo-
cate of the Holy Sabbath. Great as were
bis political and ancestral honors' t"5
nobility of his character ic this particular
win insure him enduring ian7. MOT
than fifty years ago he wrote as folloWs'
The recent Sabbath report tends ID con-
firm the encouraging opinion that III every
measure Of real reform, when IL IS oice
fairly undertaken, the strength or the
Community will 60 with It. Whatever Is
attempted i'm the rear OF COD ana III inc
love Of our fellow creatures VIII nave 'ne
heart OF man with It," in deIerse OF tue
Sabbath he was ever on the alert AHS
eueroachuent upon its scanctity was sure
to bring him to the front, anu any eiioi'
% guard it was equally sure OF ms CO.
operation and support. His powerful III
.neuc,. was exerted in Parliament toward
closing the English postal service. For
more than forty years ne Kept up an I'M
ccasinE warfare sometimes to procure re-
siictive legislation. but always TO urge
The closing OF the day of rest on the con-
science and intelligence OF the nation
and egpecially OF the working classes.
he assisted even at the close of his public
life i'm organizing measures TO resist
threatened aggressions. ~ our political
liberties" he said on one occasion to the
members of NOrkingmcn's Lord SHAY
Association "are more secure under the
charter of the Sabbath than they can be
under all the charters which We're ever
given by any OF our kings" In all this he
taught the world an important lesson,
namely. that whatever Is undertaken
for the good Of society must be based on
Christian truth and be carried forward IN
a Chis.ian spirit.
His description Of a Sabbath In Paris
written in 1855. furnishes q suggestive les
son.
1.-The stir in Paris on the Lords day."
he wrote, SIS like the breaking up Of a mill
dam. it is rush, a torrent that carries
all before II. Ones head whirls with the
flow of vehicles and the unnecessary mas
ses Of human life that make the streets
and walks almost groan with the weight
The people seem TO delight in the impos
sibility OF moving backward and forward
without iostling one another. But 50 far
from being enivening, the spectacle is
TO my mind actually depressing. IL is
terrible and alarming 10 see 50 national
dissertation Of the Lord s-Day. Whether 1t
be disbelief or disobedience the result Is
distressing and weighs one down with the
reflection that the millions are set in open
resistance 10 the Most High and are bent
on giving the victory to the flesh over the
spirit, 20 time over eternity TO the god Of
this world over the God OF the other. Can
we wonder at the sixty years Of revolu-
ton this country has undergone? And
yet there are many i'm England come
from ignorance some from malignity, who
you'd reduce us. or. as they say would
elevate us TO a Partisan level" These are
weghty words COR the millions of Amer
lea seriously TO consider. IL is only a few
years since this noble hero, victorious in
many moral struggle passed away from
earth. His philanthropic work speaks 20
no people more loudly than 10 the null
titudes that throng these western shores.
We need more Christian statesmen ike
Lord Shaftesbury OF thoroughly UNI
selfish and practical type. We must have
civil leaders who. like him. can compre-
bend the need of the weekly rest-day 20
the well-beng Of society, and who are al
so impressed With its divine sanctity. Tn
less God is pleased TO bring forth such
staudard-bearer speedily we can only
regard the future OF the American COM
monwealth with deepest anxiety. Selfish
statecraft. IN many instances. rules the
hour. The desire for political preferment
blunts the moral sense. The corruption Of
morals keeps pace with the nOn-eniorce-
nent Of just Sabbath laws. We can only
recover the nation from the imminent
dangers that surround US by divine inter-
DOsifiOn