THE Otago Daily Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1872.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3253, 10 July 1872, Page 2

THE Otago Daily Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1872.

The advocates of Sabbath legislation are evidently determined to make a hard fight for their favourite remedy, and are as Evidently determined not t© be too particularag JtOj their r arguinent«, in selecting their wekpdrls of* defdrice aßd attacks The Evangelist of the current month, inaatt article entitled * Public Traffic on the Lord's Bay/ exliibita that diKingeniiptis spirit in con r tro versy which ha« done m much to di«gust the outside world with the conduct of religious affaire. Wlule commenting with considerable acriitt^ny upon an article on Sabbatarianism which appeared ,in the columns of the Daily Times a few weeks ago, the writer ingeniously shifts his ground from the religious to the social bearings of the question, and eagerly endeavours to prove the neccs : sity of some restraint being imposed upon Sunday traffic on behalf of; the employed who would otherwise lose? their seventh day of rest. We certainly should not feel disposed'to quarrel with his desire to preserve a weekly holiday intact, though wo think his; proposed method of action, viz., legislative prohibition, extremely injudicious and unlikely to attain the desired end; but it is simply dishonest, in the face of the petition now being handed round for signature, to< object to our assertion that this move-; ment was one on behalf of religion. The petition, at any rate, unlike thewriter ill the Evangelist, treats the: matter as a religious question, and the: attempt to evade its plain wording, and* make it a mere whole-holiday ■question,? exhibits a melancholy want of straight-' forwardness. Beginning with the statement that ' the Sabbath is a Divine institution, as is shown not merely from the Bible, but from history,' going on to speak of the various forms of' Sabbath desecration/ referring to it again as the ' Christian Sabbath/ and ' the Lord's day/ it is plain that, rightly or wrongly, the petition is a purely religious one to any honest reader. In the interests of religion, therefore, we regret that this ill-advised' appeal to the Assembly should have been set, on foot. Every year shows more plainly that in a clearly marked division between the functions of Church and State, the Christian commonwealth finds its true strength ; that appeals should be rather to public, opinion and consi-1 duration than to Caesar. The most that Parliamentary interference with the Sabbath can do is to ensure a certain abstinence from labour ; and though to'careless and uneducated minds this may seem a good as far as it goes, experience has proved again and again that the leisure thus ob^taineu ia often ill employed, unless especial attractions of an improving character are substituted for the wonted toil. Were all Sunday trains, drays, and steamei-s stopped to-morrow, It is more than doubtful whether even one additional member would be found next Sunday in our churches. The action which will put a stop to this traffic, whether for gain or amusement, must arise from within the people themselves, working cither through or without the churches. Whether the various religious bodies will awake in time to their duties in this respect is very questionable. In London and many of the other large towns at home, an effort is being made to meet the occasion by concerts and lectures, either sacred or secular. Things travel fast in these days, though the Evangelist may not recognise the signs of the times ; and it would be as impossible to put Sunday traffic down by law as to resuscitate the Saturday half-holiday by the same means; or to repress chignons and trains by despotic sumptuary laws.

It is singular how prone all corporate bodies are to lean upon -'precedent and custom. ExjMjrience of the utter inanity and uselessness of religious legislation seems to have but little effect in convincing them of the vanity of calling in Government aid. While religious establishments are falling all around, and all the religious creations of the civil power are tottering and stumbling in their new born'freedom, as they are one by one refused their accustomed help, we still find a multitude of fanntics,' bo enamoured of the physical and material support which is all Government can give, as to disregard every consideration of the growing power of moral force, and fling themselves on the ground to grovel for an Act of Parliament. ; Timeo Danaos et donaj'erentix, is surely a wise motto for each Christian church, when it commences the dangerous/game of flirtation with the civil power.

In the interest of religion, therefore, we repeat that we hope this foolish effort to enforce the observance of tlie Lord's Day under penalties will meet with the fate it deserves, ami that we shall be spared ,an addition to the long list of laws which prove nugatory where they are not ihjurioxiß. It is from no want of sympathy with those public servants who from time to time have to work seven days in order that others may enjoy their day of rest, but it would be a mere bastard humanity to propose that the many should suffer in order that the few may rejoice. There are many better ways than invoking thef help of the Assembly, by which all might .rest one day, though, perhaps, not on the same, without interfering with thoinnocent .enjoyment of any. Those strata of society from which stokers and draymen are derived cannot be said to be backward in' asserting their rights. When they move in the matter, and take steps to complain of Sunday labour as an intolerable hardship, ways and means will readily be forthcoming to aid them in making good their demands to be relieved from its pressure. But we 'hope and believe that the proposition will then be urged upon some less shifty grounds than at present; that they,will not ask for what

I they want because the Sabbath is a -Divine institution, and j>roceed. to i strengthen their demand by declaring I that their wishes have no connection j with religion.