Year: 1875

church-going and Sabbath-keeping pro-


cliyities have rendered them famous


among the great families of mankind,


and infused into their newborn Nation,


a spirit of devotion and piety that marks
| the purity of its civilization, and stamps


it as the home of civil and religious lib


erty where God is worshiped in spirit and


in truth, and where millions of devout
freemen are assembling at the call of the
! church-bell, and responding to the claims


of the gospel of Christ.


We have not received the Sabbath
from man, but from God. This day was


not made in vain 1t was not made for


angels, it was made for man. It's sanctity
commends it to our careful consideration


and rightfully claims from US a conscien-
| tious, religious observance of the day


that God has called his own. From every


consideration, both duty and necessity


require US to remember this day and


keep it holy.


We come now to consider the relation


of the Christian Sabbath, to the civil law
of the United States. By the words,


''the civil law of the United States may
| be understood


l. The acts of Congress, or the statutes
at large


| 2 Statutes of the several States.
| 8. The common law of England so far
as it is applicable to, or consistent with,
| the spirit and genius of our American
laws and constitutions.


Strictly speaking, there is no direct
relation subsisting between the Chris
| tian Sabbath as such, and the civil law
of the United States. Our civil law does
not even recognize Christian Sabbath as
such, or indeed Sabbath of any kind.
The civil law has not created a Sabbath.
A Sabbath cannot be the creation of
civil law, or the work of human hands
1t is not of human origin; it emenates
from a higher source; it is the work of
the Almighty


We must carefully note the distinction
between Sabbath day instituted by the
Creator, and day set apart by man as a
day of rest The first day of the week,
like every other day, has its appropriate
name; we call it Sunday. In relation to
this day, there has been very little legis-
lation, either by Congress or by the State
Legislatures. About all that Congress
has done by statute, in this direction, is
to provide, that no military duties on
that day shall be required of cadets in
the Military Academy, or in the Naval
School; and the most that any State has
done in that behalf, is TO prohibit, by
small penalties, any kind of secular busi-
ness or labor on that day. By no statute
either State or National has it ever been
attempted to make Sunday anything
more than simply day of rest. Neither
State nor Nation has legislated in matters
of religion further than to protect every
man in the enjoyment of his own belief,
nor has the civil law forced Sabbath
upon US to be observed in any manner,
but has simply set apart day in which
we shall abstain from business and labor,
and which we may employ either in rest,
or in any other proper manner not in
violation of our duties as good citizens.
The civil law does little more than forbid
common labor or business on that day.
Neither State nor Nation has any Sabbath
by the civil law. We have no State Sab
bath, we have no National Sabbath, we
have no legal Sabbath. We have no Chris
tian Sabbath, but that has existed ever
since the day in which God gave it to
man, and is not the creature of any civil
legislation. Our legislators have never
attempted Sabbath making it is out of
their sphere; beyond their jurisdiction.


Observation and experience have abun-
dainty prov red that in the long run, more
labor is accomplished, and better accom-
plished in six consecutive days than in
seven that resting one day increases the
product of the other six, by more than
can be done in the one day so set apart
for rest Many men see this truth and
act upon it. apart from any moral or re-
ligious consideration. 1t has been sufh-
GENTLY demonstrated that the resting of
one day in seven is in exactly the right
proportion, and absolutely necessary to
the best and highest development of both
the physical and mental nature of man,
and the abstaining from common labor
on every seventh day is deemed of so
great moment by the civil law, that it is
not considered safe or prudent to be left
or intrusted to the religious or voluntary
action of men; but of such Importance
is it regarded, that it is settled by legal
enactment, not for the benefit of Chris


tians only, but for all men, and upon the
theory that the welfare of society and of
| every individual man, require the OBJ


servance of one day in every seven as a
day Of rest. The civil law simply nm
poses rest; it does not impose it as re-
| ligious duty, nor because it is such, but
imposes it as a legal duty on all men, and
! for the good of all men, Christians or
otherwise. Tho setting apart of one day
in seven as day of rest, is simply mu-
nicipal regulation; the day so set apart


acquires no religious sanctity by legal
enactment. If the day SO set apart has
| any sanctity, any Sabbatical character, it
derives it not from the civil law, but
Z
bath The civil law has not made Sab


bath out of Sunday; it was that already;
the civil law has only made Sunday day
of rest In doing this, it has offered no
| violence to the holiness of that day, or
| to its Sabbatical character; it did not
change the character of the day at all; it
neither dignifed nor degraded it.


Upon grounds of public policy alone.
and not from any religious consideration,
does the civil law require men to rest;
not to keep the Sabbath as such, but to
cease from labor and business. one day
in seven. The civil law does not compel
men to be Christians, nor compel them
to keep the Christian Sabbath or any
other Sabbath, as such. Had there been
no Sabbath, the same necessity then as
now for day of rest would have existed,
and with equal force would have called
upon the civil law for day of rest Tho
civil law recognizes the necessity of day
of rest, and its salutary and benefcent
influence on society, and provides for its
observance as such day of rest. 1t has
designated Sunday as that day, and pro
| tects all men in the enjoyment of it as a
day of rest. Any sect or denomination
may observe whatever day it pleases in
! like manner, but all men to a certain ex-


tent, must observe one day that day is
Sunday; the first day of the week. the
Christian Sabbath, On this day, the
civil law forbids common labor, but re-
quires no religious worship; the moral
| law does more; it enjoins on every man
| the duty of an obedient service to the


Most High On this day, the civil law


requires bodily rest, the moral law relig-