Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1894)
Journal, VOLUME VI. HAHKISOX, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 1894. NUMBER 44. The Sioux County TALMAGE'S SERMON. THE PREACHER CHOOSES A SUB JECT OF WIDE INTEREST. Urn Call for Voir, Pen. Pristine Prrawf, mad Pulpit, to Kpond In DrfHM of the Holy Umf-A National I'.rll JCIoquraUr OalllatxL Sara tb Sabbath. For last Sunday Rev. Dr. Talmage las cho.tcD a subject of world wide in terest as the theme of his nernion through the press viz, the necessity of iruardine the Christian Sahbath against invasions that aim at Its ae etructioa. The text selected wan Exodus xxxi, 13, "Verily my Sabbath ye shall keep." The wisdom of cessation from hard labor one day out of the seven Is al most universally acknowledged. Th' world has found out that it can dr "jhs work in seven days than in six, and that the fifty two days of the year de voted to rest are an addition rather than a subtraction. Exjeriments have been made in all departments. The great Lord Castlcreagh thought he could work bis brain .Hi.'i clays in the year, but after awhiie broue down and committed suicide, and Wilberforcc said of him: "1'oor C'astlereagh! This is the result of the oonobnervance of the Sabbath!" A celebrated merchant declared, "I should have been a maniac long ago but for the Sabbath." The nerves, the brain, the muscles, the bones, the en tire physical, intellectual and Rior-al nature cry out for the Sabliath rest. What is true of man is for the moat part true of the brute. Travelers have found out that they come to their placets of destination sooner when they let their horses rest by the way on the Sabbath. What is trie matter with those forlorn creatures harnessed to some of the city cars? Why do they tumble and stagger and fall? It is for the lack of the Sabbatic rest. In other words, when the herdsmen drove their sheep and cattle from the far West down t) the seaboard, it was found out by experiment that those herdsmen and drovers who hulted over the seventh day got down sooner to the seulxjurd than those who passed on without the oltsorvance of the holy Sabbath. The fishermen olT the const of Newfoundland declare that thoso men during the year catch the most fish who stop during the Lord's day. 1 of tba Lord's Day When I asked the Rocky Mountain engineer why he changed locomotives when it seemed to bo a straight route, be said, "We have to let the locomotive top and cool oil or the machinery would soon break down." Men who made large (juuntitios of salt were told that if they allowed their kettles to cool over Sunday they would submit themselves to a trreat deal of damage. The experiment was made, some ol eerving the f-abbatb. Those who al lowed the fires to go down and the kettles to cool once a week were com pelled to spend only a few pennies in the way of repairs, while in the cases where no Sabbath was observed many dollars were demanded for repairs. Jn other words, intelligent man, dumb beast, and dead machinery cry out for the Lord's day. Hut while the attempt to kill the Sabbath by the stroke of ax and Hail and yardstick has beautifully failed it is proposed in our day to drown the Sabbath by flooding it with secular amusements. They would bury it very decently under the wreath of the target company and to the music of all bra.en instruments. There are to-day in the dlilerent cities iO.uOO bands and 10,000 pens busy in attempting to cut out the heart of our Christian Sabbath and leave it a bleeding skeleton of what it once was. The effort is organized and tremen dous, and unless the friends of Christ and the lovers of good order shall rouse up right speedily their sermons and protests will be uttered after the castle is taken. There uro cities in the land where the Sabbath has al most perished, and it is becoming a practical question whether wo who re ceived a pure Sabbath from the hands of our fathers shall have piety and pluck enough to give to our children the same blessed inheritance. The eternal God helping us, wo will! Mnn'lajr Theater.. I protest aeainst this Invasion of the holy Sabbath in the lirst place because it is a war on divine enactment. God says in Isaiah, "If thou turn away thy foot from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, thou shalt walk upon the high places." What did Hd moan by "doing thy pleasure':'" lie referred to secular and worldly amusements. A man told mo he was never so much frightened as In the midst ot an earth quake, when the Iniuats of the Held bellowed in fear and even tno barn yard fowls screamed in torror. Well, it was when the oarth was shaking and the sky was all full of fire that God made the great announcement, "He member tho Sabbath day to keep it holy." (Jo through tDe streets where tho theaters are open on a Sabbath night; go up on the steps: enter the boxes of those places of entertainment, and tell me if that Is keeping the Sabbath holy, "oh.'' iays some one, "God won't he displeased with a grand sa Bciod concert. 1 A gentlouiuli who was present at a "grand sacred con cert' one Sabbath night in one of tho theuters of our great cities said that during the exercises there were comic an i sentimental songs, Interspersed with coarse jokes, there wore dances, and a farce, and tight rope walking, and a lraiese performance. 1 suppose it was a holy dance and a consecrated tight rope. This Is what they call a "grand sacred concert." We hear a great deal of talk about "tho right of tho people" to have lust such amusement on dunday as they want co have. I wonder if the Lord has any rights. You rale your family; the Governor rules the state; the Pres ident rules the who!e land. I wonder ! if the Lord has a riifht to rule the na- ; t ons and make the enactment, "He member the Sabbath day to keep it holv," and if there is any appeal to a higher court from that decision, and j 11 tne men wno are warring again-t that enactment are not guilty of high treason against the Maker of heaven and earth. They have in our cities put God on trial. It has been the theaters and the Opera houses, plain tiffs, versus the Lord Almighty, de fendant. The suit has been begun, and who shall come out ahead you know. Whether it be popular or un popular, I now announce it as my opin ion that the people have no rights save those which the great Jehovah jives them. He has never given the right to man to break his holy Sab bath, and as long as his throne stands he never will give that right. A Mean Thine- The prophet asks a question which I can easily answer, "Will a man rob ,od.' i es. I hey robbed him last Sunday night at the theaters and the ouera Louses, and l charge upon them the infamo tsand high handed larceny. 1 hold the same opinion as a sailor I have heard of. The crew had been discharged from the vessel because they wouid not work while they were in port on the lord's day. The cap tain went out to get sailors. He found one man, and he said to him, "Will you serve me on the Sablath.-" "No." "Why not?" "Well," replied the old sailor, "a man who will rob God Al mighty of his Sabliath would rob me of my wages if he got a chance." Suppose you were poor, and you came to a dry goods merchant and asited him for some cloth lor garments, and he should say, "I'll glveyousix yards," and while he was olt from the counter binding up tho six yards you should go behind the counter and steal one ad ditional yard. That is what every man does when he breaks the Lord's Sabbath. God gives us six days out of seven, reserving one for himself, and if you will not let him have it it is mean beyond all computation. Again, I am opposed to this desecra tion of the Sabbath by secular enter tainments because It is a war on the Btatutes of most of the States. The law Ip New York State says: "It shall not be lawful to exhibit on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, to the public, in any building, garden, grounds, concert room, or other room or place within the city and county of New York, any interlude, tragedy, comedy, opera, ballet, play, farce, negro minstrelsy, negro or other dancing, or any other entertainment of the stage, or any pun or parts thereic, or any equestrian, circus, or dramatic performance, or any performance of jugglers, acrobats, or rope dancing." Was there ever a plainer enactment than that? Who made the law? You who at the ballot boxes decided who should go to Albany and sit in the Legislature; you who in any region exercise the right of suffrage. They made the law for vou and your fam ilies, and now 1 say that any man who attempts to override that Taw Insults you and me and every man who has the right of sutfrage. A Foreign Invasion. Still further, I protest against the invasion of the Sabbath because it is a foreign war. Now, if you heard at this moment the booming of a gun in the harbor, or if a shell from some foreign frigate should drop into your street, would you keep your seats in church? Vou would want to face the foe, and every gun that could be man aged wouid be brought into use, and every ship that could bo brought out of the navy yard would swing from her anchorage, and the question would be decided. You do not want a loreign war, and yet I have to tell you that this invasion of God's holy day Is a foreltrn war. As among oui own native born popu lation there are two classes the good and the bad -so it Is "with people who come from other shores - there are the law abiding and tho lawless. The former are welcome hero. The more of them tho bettor we like it. Hut let not the lawless come from othershores expecting to break down our Sabliath anil institute in I tie place of it a foreign Sabbath. How do you feel, ye who have lieon brought up amid the hills of New Kng land, about giving up tho American Sabbath; ye who spent your childhood under thp shadow of the Adirondack or the Ciitskills; ye who were born on the banks of the Savannah or Ohio or Oregon, how do you leel about giving up the American Sabbath? You say. "We shall not give it up. We mean to defend it as long as there is left any strengtn in our arm or bloo I in our heart; Do not bring your Spannish Sabbath here. Ilo not bring jour Italian Sabbath here. Do not bring your French Sabbath hero. Do not tiring your foreign Sabbath here. It shall bo for us and our children for ever a pure, consecrated, Christian, American Sabbath." Contra, u. I will make a comparison between tho American Sabliath, as some of you have known it, and the 1'arisian bal buth. 1 speak from observation. On a Sabbath morning I was aroused in 1'aris by a great sound in the street. 1 said: "What Is Hub?" "Oh," they said, "this Is Sunday." An unusual rattle of vehic les oi all sorts. The voices seemed more boisterous than on oihe iavs. i coplu running to and fro, with baskets or bundles to gel to rail trains or gardens, it seemed as If all the vehicles In l'aris, of whatever sort, had turned out lor tho holiday. The Champs Kiy ecs one groat mob of pleasure seking people. tiulloons fly ing, l arrets chattering, rootballs rolling. I eddlers hawking tholr knlcknacks through the streets. 1'unch and Judy shows in a score of places, each one with a shouting audience Hand organs, cymbals, and every kind of racket, musical and unmusical. When the evening came down, all the theaters were In full bla.o of music and full blaze of light. 1 he wlno stores and saloons were thronged with an unusual number of customers. At eventide I stoo.? and watched the ex cursionists cominir home, fagged out men, women, and children, a gulf stream of fatigue, irritability and wretchedness, for I should think it would take three or four days to (ret over that miserable way of Sundaying. it seemed more like an American Fourth of July than a Christian bab- bath. Now, In contrast, 1 present one of the Sabbaths in one of our best Amer ican cities. Holy silence coming down with the day dawn. Business men more deliberately looking into the faces of their children and talking to them about their present and future welfare. Men sit longer at the table in the morning because the stores are not to be opened, and the mechanical tools are not to be taken up. A hymn is sung. There are congratulations and good cheer all through the bouse. The street silent until 10 o'clock, when there Is a regular, orderly tramp churchward. Houses of God, vocal with thanksgiving for mercies re ceived with prayers for comfort, with charities fur th poor. Hest for the body. Itest for the souL The nerves quieted, the temples cooled, the mind cleared, the soul strengthened and our entire population turned out on Monday morning ten years younger, better prepared for the duties of this 11. e, better prepare for the life that U to come. A Wrong to Kmploaa. Vvhich do you like best the Amer ican Sabbath or the Parisian Sabbath? Do you know in what boat the Sabbath came across the seas and landed on our shores? It was in the Maytiower. Do you know in what boat the habbatn will leave us if it ever does? It will be in the ark that floats over a deluge of national destruction. Still further, I protest against the invasion of the Lord's day because it wrongs a vast multitude of employes of their rest. The play actors and actres.-es can have their rest beiweesj their engagements, but how about the scene shifters, the ballet dancers, the callboys, the innumerable attendants and supernumeries of the American theater? Where is their Sunday to come from? They are paid sm ill sal aries at tho best. Alas fortbein. They apear on the stage in tinsal and tas sel, with halberds, or in gauze, whirl ing in toe tortures, and they might be mistaken for fairies or queens, but after 11 o'clock at night you may see them trudging through the streets Is faded dresses, shivering and tired, a bundle under their arms, seeking theii homes in the garreis and cellars of tht city. Now, you propose to take from thousands oi these employes through" out this country, not only all opportu nity of moral culture, but all opportu nity of physical rest. For Heaven's sake, let the crushing juggernaut stop at least one day In seven. A War on Spiritual W.lf.ra. Again, Iopjiose this modern invasion of the Christian Sabbath because it is a war on the spiritual welfare of the tioople. You have a body? Yes. You have a mind? Yes. You have a soul? Yes. Which of these secular halls on the Sabbath day will give that soul any culture? Now, admitting that a man has a spiritual and immortal na ture, which one of the places of amuse ment will culture it? Which one of the fcabbath performances will remind men of the fact that unless they are born again thev cannot see the King dom ol God? Vill the music of the "Grand Duchesse" help people at last to sing the song of the one hundred and forty and four thousand? Uesides, if you gentlemen of the secular enter ment have six days in the week to ex ercise your alleged lieneficlal influence, ought you not to allow Christian insti tutions to have twenty-four hours? Is it unreasonable to demand that if you have six days for the body and intel lect we should have one day at least for our immortal soul? Or put it in an other shape, do you not really think that our imperlshablo soul is worth at least one-seventh as much as our per ishable body? An artist has throe gems a corne lian, an amctnyst, and a diamond. He has to cut them and to set them. Which ono is he most particular about Now. tho cornelian Is the body, the amethyst is tho intellect, the diamond is tho soul. For tho two former you projiose six days of opportunity, while you oiler no opportunity at all for the last, which is in value as compared with the others like loo,.MOOO,ooi) to one farthering, licsides vou must not forget that nine-tenths - aye, ninety nine one hundreths -of all the Christ ian efforts of this country are put forth on the Lord's day. Sunday Is tho day on which the asylums and bospilais and the prisons are visitod by Christ ian men. That is the day whon the yo ith of our country get their chief religious information In Sunday schools. That is tho day when tho most of the charities ure collected. That is the day when undor tho blast of io,ixju American pulpits, the sin of the 1 ind is assaulted and men are sum moned to repent. When you make waruj onany part of God's day, vou make war uixm the asylums, and the reform associations, and tlio homes of the destitute, und tho church of tho living God. which is tho pillar and tho ground of the truth. War on Polltta! Institutions. I am opposed to tho Invasion of tho Sabbath because it is a war on our po litical institutions. Whon tho Sal bath goes down, the republic goes down. Men who aro not willing to o!ey God's law in regard to Sabbp tb observance aro not fit to govern them selves. Sabbath breaking moans dis soluteness, and dissoluteness Is. Incom patible with self government. They wanted a republic in France. After awhile they got a republic, but one day Napoleon HI, with nls cavalry, rode through the streets, and down went the republic undor the clattering hoofs. They have a republic there again, but France never will have a permanent republic until she quits her roistering Sabbaths and devotes one day in every week to the recognition of God and sacred Institutions. Abol ish the Sabbath, and you abolish your religious privileges. Let the bad work go on, ana you have "the commune," aad you hate "the revolution," and you nave the sun of national prosperity going down in darkness and blood, from that reign of terror may the God of peace deliver us. Still further, I am opposed to this in vasion of the Sabbath because it is un fair, and it is partial. While secular amusements In different cities are al lowed to be open on the t-abbath diy, dry goods establishments must be closed, and p'umbing establishments, and butcher's, and the baker's, and the Shoemaker's, and the hardware stores. Now, tell me by what law of justice you compel a man to shut the door of bis store while you keep open the door of your worldly establishment. May t please your honors, judges of the ipreme Court, if you give to secular ekces the right to be open on the bbath day, you have to give, at the tame t:me, the right to all commercial establishments to be open and to all mechanical establishments to be open. If it is right in the one case, it is right la all cases. K member the Saboath. But we are told that they must get money on Sabbath nights in order to pay the deficits of the other nights of the week. Now, in answer to that I Say that if men cannot manage their amusements without breaking the Lord's day they had better ail go into bankruptcy together. We will never surrender our Christian Sabbath for the purpose of helping these violators to pay their expenses. Above all, my confidence Is In the good hand of God that has been over our cities since their foundation. But I call this day upon all those who belriend Chris tian principle, and thoso who love our political freedom, who stand in solid phalanx, in this Thermopylae of our Americon history, for I believe as certainly as 1 stand here that the tri umph or overthrow of American insti tutions depends upon this Sabbatic contest. Bring your voices, your pens, your printing presses and your pulpits into the Lord's ar-itlery corps for the de fense of our holy day. To-day in your families and in your Sabliath schools recite, "Hemomber the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Decree before high Heaven that this war on your religious rights and the cradleB of your children shall bring ignominious defeat to the enemies ol uod and the public weal. for those who die in the contest bat tling for the right we shall chisel the epitaph, "These are they who came out of great tribulation and had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb." But for that one who shall prove In this moral crisis recreant to God and the church there shall be no honorable epitaph. He shall not be worthy even of a burial place in all this free land, but the ap propriate interment for such a one would be to carry out his remains and drop them into tho sea, where the lawless winds which keep no Sabbath may gallop over tho grave of him who lived and died a traitor to God, the church and the free institutions of America. Long live the Christian Sabbatti. Perish forever all attempts to overthrow It! A Keminderof Webster. On bis way back from Boston Col. Hitchcock stopped over a few days in Washington, ar.d while there beard a good story. It Is seldom that the jo lal Colonel goes any where without hearing a good story. This one was one of those old coloned bar bers so numerous at the capital ex slaves, who have been there for years and who claim to have scraped the faces of every President and states man from t.eorge Wash ngion's tima One of these old fellows was annolnt Ing the smooth countenance of a newly (edged Congressman with creamy lather, which he quietly rubbed Into the skin with his slow hand. He was talkative, like all the lur beri of his race,and anxious to"jolly'' the new arrival, seeing in perspective a fresh and regular patron. So he gazed admlr.ngly into the counten ance of the budding stateman, grinned approvingly and said: "Do vou know,sah, you remind mo so much ob Dan'l Webstah?" Of course tho young Congressman was greatly pleased at the compli ment, and be smiled visibly. He would have straightened up proudly did he hot have his head in a bar barous chancery, so to speak. "Indeed," he said. ".Shape of my head, I suppose?" This staggered the aged colored man somewhat. He had not expect ed a question in reply, and had merely laid the foundation for his complimentary nluff, never thinking that there would be a call for an ex planatory superstructure. "No, sah," he stammered in reply. "Not yo head, sah; It's yo' breff." Chicago Times. Nature's Itnromcicr. A remarkable geological substance found In Finland Is a stone which foretells, by a change in co or, the piobablc character of tho weather in the near future a natural barometer known by the name of sctnakuir, and wh ch Is said to turn black short ly before an approaching rain, wh le in fine weather it is mottled with spots of white. For a long time, it appears, this interesting phenomenon was Inexplicable, but on an analysis of the stone it was shown to Iks a fossil mixed with clay, and contain ing a portion of rock salt and nitre. A man always wants the same sort of affection from a woman that she lavishes on ber sister or mother. Aoiod politician never writes any letters, and never burns anf. THE COMMERCIAL BANK. ESTABLISHED 1888. Harrison, Nebraska. ft. ft. Bowms, President D. H. OBISWOLD, Cashier. AUTHORIZED CAPITAL. $50 000. Transacts a General Banking Businccx CORRESPONDENTS! ExauNOB Nairn al Bask, New York, Ui- tbd Statx National Bank. Omaha, For National Bank, Chadresv Interest Paid on Time Deposito. WDRAJT8 SOLD ON ALL PARTS OF EUBOIX THE PIONEER Pharmacy, J. E. PHINNEY, Proprietor. Pure Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils and Varnishes. Asmara material. School Supplies. Prescriptions Carefully Compounded Day or Night. SIMMONS & SMILEY, Harrison, Nebraska, Real Estate Agents, Have a number of bargains in choice land in Sioux county. Parties desiring to buy or sell real estate should not fail to call on them. School Lands leased, taxes paid for non-residents; farms rented, eta CORRESPONDENTS SOLICITED. a r. Viae-:
