Northern Weekly Gazette. — 1899-01-14 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

BANEER.]  The recent resolution of the governing body es the great City of London, deciding by a preponderating majority to refuse the granting of lioensee for the performance of music in Conoert Halls on Sundays, has forcibly directed public attention to the claims of that day to be considered as a day of rest, upon which the ordinary avocations, together with what are known as secular amusements, are to be as far as posible abstained from. It is held by those who advocate the secularisation, or in other words the abolition, of the Sunday, that the observance of the day as a day of holy rest was, enjoined solely upon the Jews. This, however, is altogether erroneous, for, two thouaand six hundred years previous to the delivery of the decalogue to Moses, the Almighty had solemnly hallowed the Sabbath Day. Moreover, as the day was strictly observed by the Assyrians and Babylonians, we may assume that long before Moses the same custom obtained throughout the then civilised world. In Muria especially the laws relating to the observance of the day (termed Febattul were very stringent, it having been forbidden to cook food, to ride in a chariot, or even to use medicine on that day. (Pro. Sayoe'l "Anciett Empires of the East.") And the very terms 111 which the fourth commandment is expressed-Remember" the Sabbath Day to keep it holy— seem to imply that the command was a reiteration of an old and well-known ordinance. It has never been suggested that any other of the ~en commandments were intended solely for the Jews and that they alone were commanded not to steal or to murder, etc., but as some regard the cue observance of the Sabbath as irksome, they quiet their consciences by trying to itnag.ne that this particular commandment, although promulgated, ages before any of the others is bioding upon only one small B,nd (numerically)lnsiguificant portion of the human race. It has probably escaped the attention of many that the ten commandments stand upon an entirely different basis to the Mosaic laws, which doubtless were formulated principally for tie Hebrew nation, and were in main part only temporary, though the principles which underlie the whole of them, viz., charity, purity, honesty, and justice, are binding upon all; for the latter were framed under Divine guidance, bT Moses, while the former were miraculouely inscribed upon tables of stone by the Deity Himself, and are of course a code of laws for the human race for ish tine. _  The awful and terrible solemnity attending the delivery to mankind of this Divinely decreed code of ordinances, enmeshed in august and appalling majesty and awe anything which has ever taken place on this earth from its very creation, down through the ages, until the reaent time. An undefined dread bad taken hold of the people, who, after a moist scrupulous preparatien Luting over several day., were assembled at the base of the holy mount, neither man nor beast daring even to touch the sacred rock. under penalty of instant death. And now a strange and terrible pound is heard high up in the skies, a long and oontinued blast as of a great trumpet. heralding the descent to this earth of the Majesty of Heaven. Louder and louder, nearer and nearer, approaches the terrifying sound, more and more startling and alarming the trembling people as they realise that the Lord God Almighty will momentarily appear. And now, amidst ooruscat, ing flashes of fiery lightning wildly darting hither and thither, and crashing peals of detonating [ thunder, a thick cloud is seen to descend up al the mount, which quivers to its very btu* as the Great Jehovah, the Omnipotent Creator and Ruler of the entire Universe, stands thereon. Oommanding the venerable prophet to approach His glorious and majestic Preeenoe. He then delivers into his trembling hands His imperative and authoritative mandate to the human race. a code of laws written upon stone "with the finger of God," promising the inestimable and priceless boon of His blessing to those who obey they° conimands, but threatening to "repay them that hate Him to their faoe, to destroy them: He will not be slack to him that hateth aim, Be will repay him to his face." And this is one of those Divine oommtuads:— , " Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy I"