f / v,-> r' f 0^ THE SABBATH A NECESSITY IN PEORIA, ILL., ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, BY REV. HORACE C. HOVEY, (Pastor of the Church.) I’UBLISHED 13 V 1 1 IE Q XJ EST. PEORIA: TRANSCRIPT PRINTING AND BLANK BOOK COMPANY. 1869. r v • ... ; Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign https://archive.org/details/sabbathnecessityOOhove lL 5gop Z 45 H8p,5s SERMON.' Make 2 : 27. “The Sabbath was made for Mand It is not my design to go over the whole ground of the Sabbatic controversy, but simply to show that man needs a Sabbath. Christ says it “was made for man,” and we affirm that this provision mercifully meets an ever existing necessity of human nature. If this affir¬ mation is verified, it will show that the Sabbath-law has not been abrogated ; for how can an absolute ne¬ cessity be abolished ? Even if no more is proved than that the sacred day is of vast utility and advantage to the race, it will warrant our interpreting every doubt¬ ful scriptural passage in a light favorable to its perpe¬ tuity. It cannot be denied that the Sabbath has its abuses; and these are to be plainly rebuked. The Jews, in Christ’s day, would sooner see a man die than save him from death by breaking the Sabbath. They would not even defend themselves on that day if attacked by their enemies. In order to sweep away their useless traditions, the Savior assured them that while the 4 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. Sabbatli was made for man, man was not made for the Sabbath. The institution was to benefit, not destroy him. And I believe that so fully as to say, that while it is best to keep the day strictly, it is desirable to keep it in almost any way rather than not at all! The extremes of merciless rigor and of heedless desecration are alike to be avoided. Stress is laid by some on the Sabbath’s being “ a positive institution;” by which they seem to mean that it is fixed by mere arbitrary decree. We hold that the law by which it was ordained is no more positive or arbitrary than any of the other Ten Command¬ ments. They are all founded upon a divine knowledge of man’s necessities. And it is strenuously held that when Christ said “the Sabbath was made for man,” he meant that wherever man is found, whether in Palestine or in Greenland, in America or in Australia, it is true in every age that he needs a Sabbath. And if this be so, then whosoever takes his Sabbath away from him, whether by violence or by legislation, by sophistry or by the temptations of pleasure-seeking, robs him of one of the necessaries of life, one of his sacred privileges, one of his chartered rights. There is little danger of anybody’s trying to make us keep the Sabbath too strictly ; the danger is all the other way. We are in danger of being defrauded of the "bodily rest and spiritual nourishment guaranteed to us by that day. He who is the true friend of his race will range him¬ self among; the defenders of the Sabbath. For a time individuals, familes, nations, may seem to thrive with¬ out it; but their mistake will sooner or later appear. The best men in the world are those who revere holy time; and their testimony is, that they are good and prosperous because they have kept the Sab- THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 5 bath. After a careful examination of alleged exceptions to this rule, I am satisfied that they are either mere fancies with no substantial basis, or are grounded on words uttered in the heat of controversy and not to i >e taken as indicative of real opinions. Especially is this true respecting the language of Luther and other reformers, who lived at a time when the social elements were in a state of fusion, and many things were said in paroxysms of zeal, that should not be quoted as delib¬ erate convictions. Luther s matured opinions were in perfect harmony with those held by the friends of the Sabbath. a Iveep it holy,” said he, “for its use’s sake, both to body and soul.” “ Nature requires that one day in the week should be kept quiet without labor for either man or beast.” Toward the close of his life he composed a hymn which, according to his biographer, he wished to be sung in the church while he lived and after he was gone, and which contains a stanza worthy of the Puritans: u Hallow the day which God hath blest, That thou and all thy house may rest; Keep hand and heart from labor free, That God may do his work in thee.’' It is painful to see liow r the enemies of religion cull, from the writings of the Reformers, jiassages that seemingly favor their own views, and exclude far clearer declarations sustaining the orthodox precepts. Whatever Luther, Calvin, Zwingle, Knox, and other giants of the Reformation may have held respecting the Jewish Sabbath, they were staunch advocates of the Lord’s Day, and taught that it was to be sanctified with conscientious fidelity, at home as well as in the house of worship. In discussing the proposition that man needs a Sab- 0 THE SABBATII A NECESSITY. bath, my main appeal, however, must be to facts, instead of to mere opinions. And I allege, I.-THAT THE SABBATII IS A PHYSICAL NECESSITY. It is just as essential as sound sleep, good food, suit¬ able clothing and shelter, fresh air and abundant exercise. These are all among the necessaries of life. We cannot safely dispense with any of them for any considerable length of time. For example, a man may recover the loss of one night’s rest; but let him be kept from sleep for several successive nights, and it will tell on his nervous system ; and if this is persisted in for a long time it will surely result in disease, insanity or death. So we call sleep a physical necessity, although a man can dispense with it temporarily. In like manner, if one should break a single Sabbath, he could recover his ground ; but let him form the habit of Sabbath-breaking, and it will be his ruin. The laws of nature, as well as of revelation, require us to rest one day in seven. And inasmuch as there is no outward sign to distinguish one day from another, God has ordained that there should be uniformity in the observance of a special, designated day. But if you study the wording of the Fourth Commandment, you will see its essence is, that we should set apart one- seventh of our time for In ly rest. And in view of our physical needs only, we could do the resting as well on one day as another. But the way to make sure of all the blessings of the day, is for us to agree in observing one that is specified and protected by law. The only such day in modern times is that known as the Lord’s Day, or the Christian Sabbath, the First day of the week. THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. h~ ( The law of nature is, that labor must be followed by sufficient rest. The general testimony of physi¬ cians is, that “ men who labor seven days in the week are not as healthy, and do not ordinarily live as long as those who work but six and rest one.” Dr. J. It. Farre, of London, having regarded the subject as a physician for forty years, made the following statement sometime ago in the form of a report to the British House of Commons : “ As a day of rest I view the Sabbath as a day of compensation for the inadequate restorative power of the body under continued labor and excitement. A physician always has respect to the preservation of the restorative power, because if this once be lost, his healing office is at an end. The ordinary exertions of man run down the circula¬ tion every day of his life ; and the first general law of nature by which God prevents man from destroying himself is the alternating of day and night, that re¬ pose may succeed action. But although the night ap¬ parently equalizes the circulation, yet it does not re¬ store the balance sufficiently for the attainment of a long and active life. Hence one day in seven is by the bounty of Providence thrown in as a day of com¬ pensation to perfect by its repose the animal system. I consider therefore that the Sabbatical appointment is not (as it has sometimes been erroneously viewed) simply a precept, partaking of the nature of a political institution ; but that its observance is to be numbered among the natural duties, if the preservation of life be admitted to be a duty, and the premature destruction of it a suicidal act.” This statement, which I have given in an abridged form, has been endorsed by hundreds of eminent men, among whom are the most noted sav¬ ants of our own country. The New Plaven Medical 8 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. Association, for example, unanimously affirm, that “ Men who labor but six days in the week will be more healthy and live longer, other things being equal, than those who labor seven, and that they will do more work, and do it in a better manner.’ 1 One of our great money-kings, gives his experience at a time of unusual financial pressure as follows : u I should have been a dead man had it not been for the Sabbath! . Obliged to t_ j work from morning till night, through the whole week, I felt on Saturday, especially Saturday afternoon, as if I must have rest. It was like going into a dense fog. Everything looked dark and gloomy, as if nothing could be saved. I dismissed all, and kept the Sabbath in the good old way. On Monday it was all bright sunshine ! I could see through, and I got through. But had it not been for the Sabbath, I have no doubt I should be in the grave.” Says a noted English author : “ We never knew a man work seven days in a week who did not kill himself or kill his mind.” It is said of one of our greatest importers “ that he used to consider the Sabbath as the best day in the week to plan successful voyages; showing that his brain had no Sabbath.” That man became a maniac, as thousands of others have done who defrauded them¬ selves of needed repose. It may well be inquired if there is not a close connection between the alarming increase of insanity both in America and in Europe, and the growing disregard of the sacred day of rest. Sabbath-breaking has been very thoroughly tried as an experiment, from the Israelite who u gathered sticks upon the Sabbath-day,” down to the present hour when men pride themselves in trampling upon holy time in the name of liberty. It has repeatedly been tried upon a grand scale, and with very uniform ill-success. THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 9 In the service of a certain company, 2,000 men were employed for years, seven days in the week. To ren¬ der them contented in giving up their right to the Sabbath as a day of rest, they were paid on that day double wages. And what was the result ? The men suffered both in mind and in body. A change became necessary. They were permitted to rest on Sunday. They then did more work than ever before. And this, according to the Superintendent, was u owing to the demoralization of the men under the first system, and their exhaustion of bodily strength, which was visible to the most casual observer.” A similar experiment was made in a large flouring establishment. For several years the mills were run seven days in the week. The plan worked badly. The men were then ordered to stop labor from 11 o’clock Saturday night, till 1 o’clock Monday morning. And during the year following this change, it is said that “the same men actually giound 50,000 bushels more than had ever been ground in a single year in that establishment before.” Illustrations might be greatly multiplied. For money-loving men in all departments of business have wanted to see for themselves whether more could be made by breaking the Sabbath than by keeping it. The general drift of their testimony is, that simply with reference to the quantity and quality of work done, it is as desirable for men to rest one day in seven, as for them to have wholesome food, fresh air, and sound sleep at night; and that habitual Sabbath desecration will bring its own punishment in the form of a deranged nervous system and impaired muscular energy and power, even if God withholds those fearful judgments by which he has so often visited such as despise his day. 10 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. The observance of a day of bodily repose is, there¬ fore, a physical necessity. The limbs should rest, the hands, the eyes, the nerves, and the brain should rest! The very etymology of the word “Sabbath” indicates this. In the original Hebrew it signifies simply “rest, cessation from labor.” And although since used in a specific religious sense, its primary meaning should not be forgotten. Those whose obedience to divine law is limited here, have their proportionate reward. They spend the sacred hours in idleness, slumber, or gentle recreation, and praise the advantages derived from even this poor way of Sabbath-keeping. The weary, jaded body rests, and they are glad. Why should they ob¬ ject, I ask, to carrying the sabbatic idea still farther, and resting as the Lord enjoins, and as angels rest in Heaven ? And, I ask again, how would men have ever discovered even the physical benefits of the day of rest, had not God ordained, guarded and preserved it for them i This holy institution is a heavenly gift, and should be gratefully received and religiously used. II.-THE SABBATH IS A SOCIAL NECESSITY. The great mass of mankind have to live by dint of hard work. How little social happiness would there be, were it not for the Sabbath ! Men go home on week days, after laboring ten or twelve hours, exhausted and with little spirit for domestic or social intercourse. Their vivacity is gone. Their desires are best met by a comfortable supper and a cozy bed. How certainly would this unremitting toil harden and stupefy us, if the blessed Sabbath did not break the monotonous current. On that day we wash off the dust, and with it the cares of the week; we array ourselves in clean raimant and deck our persons with tasteful adornments. THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 1 1 And then we meet each other as beings of a higher order, who have social wants, who have hearts suscep¬ tible of culture and refinement. Woe to those who poison this sweet fountain of happiness by making the sacred hours an occasion of boisterous mirth and dissi¬ pation! The social enjoyments of the Sabbath should be in keeping with the nature of the day, gentle, serious and spiritual. We should lie at an equal re¬ move from austerity and frivolity; from frowning upon all friendly greetings, pleasant words and cheerful smiles, and from giving up the day to visiting, feasting and mirth. Those who are able to command rest and social pleasure whenever they desire, can hardly appreciate the Sabbath of the toiling multitude. If the day is precious to the rich, it should be regarded as priceless by the poor. How blessed it is that once a week at least we may all with a clear conscience stop work, let the fires go out at the forge, let the mill cease its clatter, let the factory bells and steam whistles hush their clangor and screaming, let every sign of toil be put out of sight, and then when the dust and smoke have cleared away, with clean persons, fresh and comely garments and cordial words, meet each other for the tranquil, heavenly joys of the day that God has blest! The Christian assembly is the purest form of democracy known among men; and in the company that meet in the house of God, where every man conies as the invited guest of the King of Kings, there is more true social equality than anywhere else. The Sabbath is the great leveller of society. It creates a bond of essential unity in the family, the church and the nation. It enfolds every immortal, blood-bought soul in the robe of Christ’s righteousness, so that the 12 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY, regal purple and peasant’s russet are alike forgotten. We are all rich on the Sabbath. Our Heavenly Father gives one of his children, on that day, as much leisure as another. Sweetest leisure ! The soul asserts its supremacy over the body and says: All that is done to-day shall be for my good! And the heart says: Let me also be remembered to-day ! And if God, too, says: Remember me on this my day,—shall not the hours be all the richer for his holy presence \ Human society, in its best state, is mainly indebted for its excellence to the ordinance under consideration, and hence arise its fairest hopes. The social problems of the age cannot be solved without the Sabbath. The day is necessary, not only for the great congrega¬ tion, but also for the cottage home. A family without the Lord’s Day is like the family that has lost a mother. It is bereaved. No comforts or luxuries, no sports or festivals can supply the loss. Beware how you make home desolate ! Beware how you stain and cast away the sacred hours, in which, more than at any other time, the family ties are strengthened and hal¬ lowed, the choicest lessons of truth and virtue imparted, and the deepest, holiest fountains of love unsealed. III.-THE SABBATH IS AN INTELLECTUAL NECESSITY. It is so in two very different ways. One is in giv¬ ing a period of rest to such as are obliged to do brain- work all the week through. The accountant, for example, who from Monday morning till Saturday night, manages the records of business, in which hun¬ dreds of individuals are more or less interested; casting up column after column, turning page after page, till the hand trembles, the eye grows dim, the head aches and the whole nervous system is racked ; hoAv needful THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 13 for such a man is the day when lie can shut up journal and ledger and let his over-taxed mind repose ! To the student also, the Lord’s Day brings indispensable rest. Most of our seminaries of learning think it best for the pupils to have two leisure days each week. Ambitious students have sometimes thought they could study without rest. One brilliant youth, who always stood at the head of his class in College, used to pride himself on studying seven days in a week. So he read Latin and Greek and books of science on Sunday, to the neglect of his Bible and the ordinances of God’s house. His principles were undermined. In his junior year he was expelled for gambling. He is now in the penitentiary for manslaughter. Another student, who pursued a similar course, is now a saloon-keeper, instead of being a man of learning and fame. Another still, one of the brightest minds I ever knew, now fills an inebriate’s grave. These young men would not have thus made shipwreck had they revered holy time. The mind needs a Sabbath as well as the body. But the intellectual advantages of the day are dif¬ ferent in the case of one who is engaged chiefly in manual labor. He needs it as a means of mental growth. He has worked all the week through, according to the divine precept: “ Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.” Now he needs the seventh for some¬ thing nobler than work. The tendency of ceaseless toil is downward. Let us now and then lift up our heads into a heavenly atmosphere, and enjoy for awhile the brightness and fragrance of a mode of existence in which spirit is everything and flesh nothing. While kind Nature is repairing our physical mechanism, remedying the waste made by friction and collision, the soul has liberty to emerge from the thickets of 14 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. worldly briars and thorns, that it may feed amid the green pastures and by the still waters. Coleridge used to say that the fairest flower he ever saw climbing round a poor man’s window, was not so beautiful in his eyes as the Bible which he saw lying within. And another of his genial sayings comes to mind: “I feel as if God had, by giving the Sabbath, given fifty-two springs in the year. 1 ’ Now let the hard-handed man of toil take his beautiful Bible on the spring-like Sabbath, and gathering his little ones about his knee, instruct them in the knowledge of divine truth. And then, at the sound of the church-going bell, let him go with his children and hear appointed instructors in righteousness discourse upon the grandest themes in the universe,— let him do this habitually, and he will become a man of mental vigor, a wise and good, if not a great man. Consider the value of the seventh part of your entire life being consecrated to happy exercises of mind and heart, and to devotional studies. What refreshment to the intellect! What growth of the soul! Cluster the sacred days into consecutive time and look at their value. Those of each year would make up two whole months. A person, at the age of twenty-one, has had three years of Sabbaths; at the age of fifty, nearly seven years of sacred time; and at the age of seventy, the Sabbath-keeper has enjoyed ten solid years of time set apart for spiritual growth, during which he has habitually fixed his thoughts on the most genial, beau¬ tiful and sublime objects of study. Is it any wonder, then, that the most highly intel¬ lectual and enlightened races on the globe are those by whom the Sabbath has been most generally observed, and who have even guarded it by legal enactments ? Why prate about Sabbath-laws as an infringement of THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 15 liberty? They secure to us our liberties ! They bring to us freedom from the slavery of toil and care, and give us leisure for mental and moral culture. They prevent the task-master from grinding us into the dust. Let this busy age beware of its gigantic machinery! We in America are not like the easy-going nations of the old world. If we suffer our Sabbaths to be turned into holidays, we shall presently find that we can not waste our time in play. And then selfish men will have their way, and we shall be made to work seven days for the wages of six. These wheels that never are weary, and these engines which have no bowels of mercy, will crush your hearts and grind your souls! Be thankful for the wholesome legislation that checks their exac¬ tion, bidding them and you stop work one day in seven! IV.-THE SABBATH IS A MORAL AND RELIGIOUS NECESSITY. Its observance is essential to the spiritual well-being of man. It is by its very nature a restraint upon vice and immorality, and a promoter of virtue and religion. Take it away, or degrade it into a mere day of amuse¬ ment, and disastrous results are sure to follow. It is notorious that Sabbath-breaking is invariably associated •K with other bad habits. It is said that a certain mer¬ chant, long accustomed to observe human nature, used to say: “When I see one of my clerks riding out for pleasure on the Sabbath,—on Monday I dismiss him. Such a one can not be trusted.’ 7 He evidently thought that a man who would, in one thing, be guilty of pub¬ lic disobedience to God’s law, might also disregard that law privately, in ways that would injure the inter¬ ests of his employer. Facts obtained from prison records are instructive. Of criminals confined in the Massachusetts State prison, 16 TIIE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 89 out of 100 are said to have been habitual Sabbath- breakers. Of 4,335 who have been inmates of another prison, only 82 claimed to have been in the habit of ob¬ serving the Sabbath. According to Dr. Edwards : “ A gentleman, wdio has had charge of more than 100,000 prisoners and has taken pains to ascertain the cause of their crimes, says he does not recollect a single case of capital olfense, where the party had not been a Sabbath- breaker, and generally that was the first step.” With reference to prisoners of all classes he affirms that “ nineteen-twentieths have neglected the Sabbath.” The documents of the Sabbath-Committee of New York develop some remarkable facts. By their per¬ sistent and self-denying efforts they succeeded in closing more than 5000 dram-shops and suppressing other dens of infamy, whose operations had hitherto been more active on Sunday than at any other time. Their strug¬ gle, which began in 1857, and with varied success has been continued to the present time, has encountered fierce opposition from liquor-sellers, gamblers, theatrical proprietors, infidels and time-serving politicians. Yet, after all, they have not sought to force people to keep the Sabbath holy, but simply by measures of sufficient stringency to prevent open, flagrant Sabbath-breaking. The following statistics from the reports of the Metro¬ politan Police give the immediate results : “The ar¬ rests for intoxication, disorder and crime on Sunday, during 18 months of the period preceding the agitation of the Sabbatli-question, exceeded those of Tuesday (taken as the average of week-days) by 25 per cent. But during the 29 months following, the Tuesday’s ar¬ rests exceeded those of the Sunday’s by 40 per cent., or a relative change of 65 per cent . The comparison of the actual results with those which would have followed THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. 17 had Sabbath-desecration continued without restraint, will show a saving of 13,823 cases of vice and crime on the Sundays of 29 months, as the fruits of this benefi¬ cent reform.” May it ever be far from us to oppose, even in theory, legislation so fertile in good ! The positive aid given to the cause of religion by the Sabbath is manifest. For this reason the enemies of the cause are hostile to the day. Nothing can be more thoroughly rational and consistent than for an infidel to hate the Sabbath. It was said by Calvin, that “ If it were abolished, the church would be in imminent danger of immediate convulsion and ruin.” True words f Fact w r ell-known to foes as well as friends! I have endeavored to-day to show that the Sabbath is absolutely essential to the best development and cul¬ ture of man’s physical, social, intellectual and moral nature. Even as a matter of mere expediency we ought not to give up such a blessing. Had God never given us a day of sacred rest, wise men would wish to ordain one. What friend of humanity, then, could wish to see it swept away, after having once been established by divine authority ? Did Christ abrogate the Sabbath ? He was wise, good, the best friend of man. He oppose the Sabbath ? The probabilities are all against his doing so. He founded a great kingdom, and the per¬ petuity of that kingdom depends on the observance of such a day. What should He abrogate the Sabbath lor ? In what solitary particular would so singular a procedure promote his benevolent purposes ? Modify, correct, transfer the sacred ordinances from one day to another, he might consistently do, if he thought best; abrogate—never, unless he wished to destroy the Church he gave his heart’s blood to establish ! I be¬ lieve Christ gave universality to the day, when he said, 18 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. “ the Sabbath was made for man;” so that thencefor¬ ward it should no longer be restricted to the Jewish nation, but with its inestimable advantages should belong to the entire human race, a precious legacy to every generation. It is for us the Lord's Day; rich in holy memories of his life, death and resurrection, and interwoven with the history of his church from the earliest ages. It is not only necessary to our own high¬ est welfare, but it is a day consecrated to the Redeemer. If you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you will remember his day to keep it holy. If you desecrate his day, it is conclusive evidence that you do not love him, and have no sympathy with the aims of his beneficent kingdom. The Sabbath is yours in trust for unborn generations. Stand ready, if need be, to make sacrifices for this pre¬ cious institution. Make up your minds that you positively will keep, use, guard, and transmit this sacred trust. Defend the day forever against its foes, high and low, native and alien. Those who keep the Sabbath, God will keep, and they shall be his when he comes to make up his jewels. In the Providence of God I am delivering this dis¬ course on the Anniversary of our National Independ¬ ence. It is to be feared that many are borne away from their moorings by enthusiasm for a time-honored holiday, and are at this moment sinking the Lord’s Day in the Fourth of July. The occasion justifies me in •closing my sermon by an especial appeal to Christian patriots. You are solemnly warned that if you allow the Sabbath to be polluted with impunity, even in the name of heroism, patriotism and liberty, you will find it to be the letting in of a deluge. The scenes by which European cities are disgraced will be enacted in the cities of America. The public desecration of the THE SABBATII A NECESSITY. 19 Sabbath will open the flood-gates of infidelity, sensual¬ ity and blasphemy. Death will be declared an eternal sleep. The existence of a God will be denied. The Bible will be pronounced a fiction, and religious wor¬ ship, folly. And when that time has come, I warn you that those who ridicule devotion will despise the Dec¬ laration of Independence ; those who deny the rights of God will fail to vindicate the rights of man. If the Sabbath is ever abolished in this Republic, liberty will be dissolved into anarchy or expelled by tyranny. It is manifestly appropriate, therefore, whenever the Fourth of July, or any other national festival, coincides with the Lord’s Day, that it should be an occasion of serious reflection, sacred praise and devout thanksgiving, in¬ stead of noisy demonstrations and hilarity. We shall be all the more loyal to our country if we are loyal to our God. The American Republic was founded by Christians. Its institutions are the outgrowth of re¬ ligion. Even the few skeptics, who participated in the scenes of the revolution, felt the truth of this, and made constant appeals to the Word of God.* The notes of freedom were first sounded from the pulpits. As early as 1757, a minister in Philadelphia exclaimed with reference to America: “ Behold a country given to us and to our posterity, to spread abroad the pure evangelical religion of Jesus ! Behold colonies founded in it! Protestant colonies! Free colonies!” Those earnest words were spoken 19 years before the Declaration of Independence was made in the same City of Brotherly Love, and most, if not all, the signers of that famous charter of liberty were inspired by the thought of founding a Christian Re- * Witness Paine ; s “Common Sense,” in which, hiding his infidel senti¬ ments, be seeks to prove from the Bible that kings are a curse, and that a republican form of government is the one best pleasing to God. 20 THE SABBATH A NECESSITY. public. They did not aim to make this land an im¬ mense temple of Mammon, a vast work-shop of oppres¬ sion ! Neither did they wish to see it become a Sab¬ bathless land, wherein divine worship was supplanted by processions and games, blaring trumpets and clash¬ ing cymbals, theatres and beer-gardens. From such lands they had fled, to worship God freely in the wilds of a new world. If you love America, sanctify the Sabbath. The general desecration of that hallowed day will be as fatal to our government as treason and rebellion. By the sacrifices our forefathers made in colonizing the howling wilderness, by the memory of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, by the blood of revolutionary heroes and of those who fell in more re¬ cent wars, and by the glory of the wise counsellors who framed our noble Constitution, I charge you not to dis¬ turb the deep-laid foundations of the Republic! By the earnest prayers that myriads of patriotic voices, now hushed in death, have winged to Heaven, by every hallowed recollection of by-gone years, by the millions of hearts whose love is to-day entwined about this na¬ tion, by all the hopes of good men on earth and saints in Paradise, I do solemnly adjure you to preserve for A merica, not only its charter of freedom, its venerable Constitution and its republican form of government, but also its institutions of religion, its Bibles, its churches and its holy Sabbath-days!