Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-06-25


or OF heaven and earth They have in
our cities put God ON trial. 1t has been
the theaters and the opera houses, plain.
tiifs, versus the Lord Almighty, defend.
ant. The suit has been begun. and
who shall come out ahead you know.
Whether it be popular or unpopular, !
now announce it as my opinion that the
people have no rights save those which
the great Jehovah gives them. He has
never given the right to man to break
his holy Sabbath, and as long as his
throne stands he never will give that
right.
A Robber of Wages.
The prophet asks question which l
can easily answer, "Will a man rob
God?" Yes, They robbed him last Sun
day night at the theaters and the opera
houses, and l charge upon them the in
famous and high handed larceny. l hold
the same opinion as a sailor have heard
of. The crew had been discharged from
the vessel because they would not work
while they We're in port on the Lord s
day. The captain went out to get sailors
He found one man, and he said to him,
will you serve me on the Sabbath"
mo. "Why not?" "Well, " replied
the old sailor, "a man who will rob
God Almighty of his Sabbath would rob
me of my wages if he got chance"
Suppose you were Poor, and you came
to dry goods merchant and asked for
some cloth for garments, and he should
say, "I'll give you six yards" and
while he was off from the counter and
binding up the six yards you should go
behind the counter and steal one addi-
tional yard That is what every man
does when he breaks the Lords Sabbath
God gives us six days out of seven, re-
serving one for himself, and if you will
not let him have it, it is mean beyond
all computation.
Again, l am opposed to this desecra-
tion of the Sabbath by secular entertain
ments because it is war on the statutes
of most of the states. The law in New
York state says:
"It shall not be lawful to exhibit on
the first day of the week, commonly
called Sunday, to the public in any
building, garden, grounds, concert room
or other room or place within the city
and county of New York, any inter
lude, tragedy, comedy, opera, ballet
play, farce, negro minstrelsy, negro or
other dancing, or any other entertain
ment of the stage, or any part or parts
therein, or any equestrian, circus or
dramatic performance, or any perform
ance of jugglers, acrobats or rope dane
ing"
Was there ever a palmer enactment
than that? Who made the law? You
who at the ballot boxes decided who
should go to Albany and sit in the leg
islature; you who in any region exer-
else the right of suffrage. They made
the law for you and for your families,
and now 1 say that any man who at
tempts to override that law insults you
and me and every man who has the
right of suffrage.
A Foreign War.
Still further, l protest against the in
vasion of the Sabbath because it is a
foreign war; Now, if you heard at this
the booming of a gun in the
harbor, or if a shell from some foreign
frigate should drop into your street,
would you keep your seats in church?
You would want to face the foe, and
every gun that could be managed would
be brought into use, and every ship that
could be brought out Of the navy yard
would swing from her anchorage. and
the question would be decided. You
do not want a foreign war, and yet
have to tell you that this invasion of
Gods holy day is foreign war.
AS among our own native born popu-
lation there are two classes-the good
and the bad-so it is with the people
who come from other shores-there are
the law abiding and the lawless. The
former are welcome here. The more of
them the better we like it. But let not
the lawless come from other shores ex-
pecting to break down our Sabbath and
institute i'll the place of it foreign
Sabbath.
How do you feel, ye who have been
brought up amid the hills of New Eng
land, about giving up the American Sab
bath? Ye who spent your childhood un-
der the shadow of the Adirondacks or
the Catskills, ye who were born on the
banks of the Savannah or Ohio or Ore
gon, how do you feel about giving up
the American Sabbath? You say: "We
shall not give it up. We mean to defend
it as long as there is left any strength
in our arm or blood in our heartl Do
not bring your Spanish Sabbath here.
Do not bring your Italian Sabbath here.
Do not bring your French Sabbath here.
Do not bring your foreign Sabbath here
It shall be for us and for our children
forever a pure, consecrated, Christian,
American Sabbath. "
Twill make comparison between the
American Sabbath, as some OF you have
known it, and the Partisan Sabbath. !
speak from observation. On Sabbath
morning was aroused in Paris by
great sound in the street. Isaid, What
is this?'' "Oh, " they said, "this is Sun
day." An unusual rattle Of vehicles OF
ali sorts. Thevoices seemed more bolster
Gus than on other days. People running
l. IA So ,,,ith bacl-pfS or bundleS 10