The Holt County sentinel., 1899-11-03

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the Savior annul the authority Of the
moral law. He came not to destroy but
to fulfill. He did not abrogate the Sab
bath but relieved it from the formal and
superstitious observances Of the Scribes
and Pharisees. The 4th Commandment
has not been repealed. The Sabbath
law has not been destroyed. The day
can not be trampled upon with impun-
ity. Says DIR. Wayland. The import
ance of the religious observance Of the
Sabbath is seldom sufficiently estimated.
The violation of this duty is one Of the
most decided marks of incipient moral
degeneracy. Religious restraint is fast
losing its hold upon that one who hav-
ing been educated in the fear of God,
begins to spend the Sabbath in idleness
or in amusement" And so also Of com
munities. The desecration of the Sab
bath is one of those evident indications
of that criminal recklessness that love
of pleasure and that subsection to the
government of appetite and passion,
which forbodes that the "beginning OF
the end" Of social happiness and true
prosperity has arrived.
Because the Sabbath is holy day is
no reason why it should be made dull
and gloomy day. The return of the Sab
bath should bring with it pleasure. One
writer says of the Sabbath that it is
The green oasis, the little grassy meadow
in the wilderness. where after the weeks
journey, the pilgrim halts for refresh
ment and repose; where he rests beneath
the shade of lofty palm trees, and dips
clear stream and RECEIVERS his strength
to go forward again upon his pilgrimage
in the desert with renewed vigor and
cheerfulness. 1t is the Christian Sab
bath that offers a season for entering
into the serene atmosphere of faith and
love.
We are living in time when it is quite
common to hear criticisms made upon
the Puri,ans The lash is laid upon the
back of the Puritan SO often that itmay
be well for the original ones that they
are all dead and gone even though it
may not be the best thing for our nation
and the world. 1T is quite the fashion
to ridicule Sabbath observance as Puri
tan and to speak of the laws designed to
secure it as blue. But we ought to be
exceedingly thankful that there were
Puritans. Those sturdy men dared to
live for principle both civil and religious.
They purchased for us civil and religious
liberty and paid the price in their own
blood and not only did they purchase it
for us but indirectly they purchased it
for the entire English speaking world.
These Puritans had laws and laws that
were strong yea too strong. But mark
you the Puritans never invented Sab
bath. They found one in Gods word.
1t made them mighty men and made
giants of their sons. These men lifted
woman from the condition of slave to
the position of companion. They crush
ed the institution of despotism. They
girded the earth with railways; they
plowed the sea with steamships, they
lighted the darkness with electricity and
transformed the hut into home. Says
one. IL the stern old Puritan Sabbath |
rith ,tc cubduipn affaofc u-rounbt ont
such joyous natures as Lyman Beecher's
and gave to the world such beautiful |
blending of tenderness and strength, |
laughter and tears, heart deep pathos |
and sunny humor as Oliver Wendell |
Holmes let us have another century Of
Puritan Sabbaths.
Up to present date the Sabbath of the |
beer garden has failed to bring forth a |
Holmes or Beecher. And also when |
YOU run up the flag of stars and stripes |
that it was the steady going |
DID Puritan Sabbath that gave it birth.
Therefore not only as young Christians
but as young patriots We should honor
this Command to remember the Sabbath
day and keep it holy. 4
The present dangerous tendency be-
gan in our country with the civil war. 1t
was at first excused on the ground that
the exigencies of the case rendered law
ful what was forbidden in the word of
God. 1t has continued until the present
lay. and at this time hundreds of thous-
ands Of wage workers must toll unceas-
ingly and suffer all the ruin that fol-
ows. On our railways about $50, 900 en-
yineers brakemen. conductors, station
agents, switchmen telegraph operators
and others are employed every Sabbath.
Many of these men, possibly the major
ty, labor on the Sabbath h not from choice
but from compulsion, on the part Of the
But these railroads which
compel their employees to break the 4th
Commandment in the interest of the cor
poration are training these same employ
,es to violate the Sh Commandment |
against the interest of the corporation.
riots and strikes are the legiti |
mate fruits Of railroad Sabbath break
ing. Teach your clerk to steal for you
and you teach him to steal from you.
Nor can you transgress the moral law
without endangering human rights.
They who are so ready to violate Gods
law in order to serve the dear people will |
in the end show. themselves equally ready |
to violate Gods law in order to oppress |
the same dear people. Break down re-
verence for the divine law, and you weak