Sabbath Desperation.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 23 April 1913, Page 2

Sabbath Desperation.

TO TtCE ETJITOE,

;.» iSjr, —By your leave, we will ,now have further propf that prosperity and happiness always accompany the observance of tjhe Sabbath day, butwliere the people disregard that day, the downfall of that •■ nation is ; assured*; for where """'the!''^abbatn": i!s properly kept, it leads to the keeping of the whole law, Wnd that means bless ■ ing to the individual, and blessing, to the country ; as we read |in Psalms 119, ver 165, " Great peace have they that love thy law," j Under the heading;*' Sabbath Observance," we read in the New Zealand Herald of Mar 25,1913, as follows—" In the course of an interview, Dr Wilbur Chapman, of the Chapm-an-Alexander mis- ; sion, said there was. one thing that had : impressed him deeply, and that was the growing disregard; fpr the- &abbath. America 'ha'd-faul'ts'e'nou'-gh, but as acount'ry it.did not disregard Sunday.;. :■ .O'u'tliereV'one saw people, evideritiy '• of': -refinement and culture, showing an rutter disregard for .the day of rest." ! " " In the Auckland Weekly News, Dec sth 1907, :a>writer, Mercutio, . says—" No one ; surely can look • a,pprovinglyy upon the growing tendency to devote the Sabbath to sports..1 Not only is it becoming a ecmm&hy'practice to play golf,;tennis, cricket and' football ,on that day, but, I am told, that it is ;by ho-means rare, to find the afternoon and evening devoted; to -bridge y. . These things allcombine to. destroy the:' special djs"tinctive:; j,;char^ctery of the day which for centuries" has distin'•'guislie'd it from other days ■pf the :^eek. Tp paraphrase Goldsmith-r!- ---" 111 fares that land to hastening y i ; '; .'i'lls;,a prey, ■. ;-, : • . .Where men devote their Sabbatli'days to play." . > jln an extract from the . " Dej fender," the organ of the; New--England ■< Sabbath Protective League, in the issue of February, 1906, Bishop McVicker, of Rhode Island,, says.::-.. r "■When I remember "as a result: ofmy observations and expe.riierice" in life, that with Sunday .gae£ i-e----ligion, I begin to realize qui*; awful danger. . . Sunday is the] day upon \vhich religion, depends. With Sunday goes religipnywith religion y.gpes manhobd/y! and womanhood." —Re view & Herald,. March 22, 1906. . ;; y >' At the National Reform; Association Convention, the'ißev, R. C. Wylie, D. D, made! the folio vying statements, and ' i had them circulated in printed form-. —... 11 Chris fcauity without the Sabbath ■ is not Christianity. The nation, in. order to remain a Christian natipn, must of necessity recognise the Christain Sabbath. The Sabbath more than any other institution, is the conservator of public morals. Theyfpes: \pfs pur Sabbath, are- fops ,pf j civilisation, and of our nation.'.'. The Christian Church goes dpwn.\without: the Christian Sabbath. The "Daily Reporter," Star of Orlando (Amenca);'Tearmg date ; of Feb 19, 1907, contains a synopsis, of. an, address,.on " Sabbath Observance" by Hon W. R. O' Neal, at the Y. M. C. A. rooms. Among other, things, die. said :— hope of the (American ißepublic depends upon the careful • ab'servktice'.of Sabbath laws." '■■ ,• t At a convention of the "v< /'American Federation of Catholic -Societies " at BurTalo^N.'Z/in 1904, one of the. speakers. said.; —Any country that wilPighore' ;the pro- . per observance of the Lord's day^.,

7. ' ■qj' . —^ 7T\' tx' --H-: •'''< '• the Lord will.turn His back upon 'that country, and that country will suffer, and that country will become/miserable. ;.yv AykChristain Convention was held "at Seattle^Washington; July 10-15, 1907, If was estimated that ten thousands delegates were present. . . There are sixty nine thousand 'local Christain societies in all the werld, with a total membership pf three and a half millipns.... Dr Matthews, pf the of the first Presbyterian Church, 'representing -—-the ~~—:Chtistain Churches , of. ,the y. city, said :— " Our two great'crimes^ are, open saloon,-and Sabbath—desecration. Our Sabbath desecratipn is making;Of;this^.an; imniqraV and criminal nafioil," and' unless we stop, repent, and properly observe God's day We shall'have to-suffer an; a-wfui national ,«Jud^mfint. ' G. J. r . (To, baQontinuediiext. week.)