Untitled article by A. DELOS WESTCOTT

Pacific Press Publishing Company · New York · February 2, 1893

Dr. Barnes on Sunday Idleness and Vice.

By A. DELOS WESTCOTT

THE purpose of this article is to present the testimony of the eminent Christian and scholar, Dr. Albert Barnes, on this subject. But, that the reader may better appreciate its application at the present time, I desire, before introducing this testimony, to call attention briefly to two facts.

First, it will be conceded by all, that the purpose of Sunday legislation is to compel those to rest on Sunday, who do not want to rest on that day. No person needs a law to compel him to do what he earnestly desires to do; hence, when any individual is forced to keep Sunday, that fact is sufficient evidence that he does not observe it from choice, stimulated by religious conviction, but that he rests because he is compelled to do so against his will.

Second, it is diligently affirmed by those who are working for Sunday laws, that there is no intention of forcing any one to be religious. All that is desired is to compel those to stop work and remain idle, whose religious convictions do not lead them to sacredly regard the day. This, they claim, will insure these people a much-needed physical rest, and give them a chance to attend church should they feel inclined to do so.

But an important question arises in this connection, namely, are these people to be benefited by the provisions of their would-be benefactors? If a person has not enough regard for religion to observe a day without compulsion, will he be likely to go to church and seek the society of those who have compelled him to rest against his will? Every one knows that he would not.

The effect of Sunday statutes, then, is to enforce idleness upon the irreligious; and many affirm that a great blessing will come upon those who come under the influence of these laws. To be sure, we have been taught that “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,” that “the criminal classes are largely recruited from the ranks of the idlers,” that “idleness is the mother of vice,” etc.; but the advocates of Sunday laws appear to think that all natural laws are reversed on Sunday; hence, idleness on that day must certainly be a blessing to mankind. This is the point which is so ably answered by Dr. Barnes; and I trust every word will be carefully weighed by the reader. The quotation is from “Barnes’ Practical Sermons,” as follows:—

If we can have a Sabbath, sacred in its stillness and its associations; maintained by a healthful, popular sentiment, rather than by human laws; revered as a day of holy rest, and as a type of heaven; a day when men shall delight to come together to worship God, and not a day of pastime, Christianity is safe in this land, and our country is safe. If not, the Sabbath, and religion, and liberty will die together. . . . . If the Sabbath is not regarded as holy time, it will be regarded as pastime; if not a day sacred to devotion, it will be a day of recreation, of pleasure, of licentiousness.

Since this is to be so, the question is, what is to be the effect if the day ceases to be a day of religious observance? What will be the effect of releasing a population of several millions one-seventh part of the time from any settled business of life? What will be the result if they are brought under no religious instruction? What will be the effect on morals; on religion; on sober habits of industry; on virtue, happiness, and patriotism? Can we safely close our places of business and annihilate all the restraints that bind us during the six days? Can we turn out a vast population of the young with nothing to do, and abide the consequences of such a universal exposure to vice? Can we safely dismiss our young men, all over the land, with sentiments unsettled and with habits of virtue unformed, and throw them one day in seven upon the world with nothing to do? Can we safely release our sons, and our apprentices and our clerks from our employ, and send them forth under the influence of unchecked, youthful passion? Can we safely open, as we do, fountains of poison at every corner of the street, and in every village and hamlet, and invite the young to drink there with impunity? Can there be a season of universal relaxation, occurring fifty-two times in a year, when all restraints are withdrawn, and when the power of temptation shall be piled with all that art and skill can do to lead the hosts in the way to ruin, and to drag them down to hell?

One would suppose that the experiment which has already been made in cities of our land, would be sufficient to remove all doubt from every reasonable mind on this subject. We are making the experiment on a large scale every Sabbath. Extensively in our large cities and their vicinities, this is a day of dissipation, of riot, of licentiousness, and of blasphemy. It is probable that more is done to unsettle the habits of virtue, and soberness, and industry; to propagate infidelity, and to lay the foundation for future repentance or ignominy; to retard the progress of the temperance reformation, and to prepare candidates for the penitentiary and the gallows on this day than on all the other days of the week. So it always is where institutions designed for good are abused. They become as powerful in evil as they were intended to be for good. The Sabbath is an institution of tremendous power for good or evil. If for good, as it is designed, and as it easily may be, it is laid at the foundation of all our peace, our intelligence, our morals, our religion. If for evil, it strikes at all these; nor is there any possible power in laws or in education that can, during the six days, counteract the evils of a Sabbath given to licentiousness and sin.

Every person of candor and intelligence must admit that what Dr. Barnes has said on this subject is the simple, unadulterated truth. And it shows that the observance of a weekly rest-day in this country has increased the amount of immorality and crime to an alarming degree. This is because so many have observed the day from wrong motives and in a wrong way. Everything goes to show that those who do not observe the day to honor God, would be far better off, and the country would be far better off, if they made no recognition of it at all. And this illustrates what has often been said before, that religious institutions in the hands of irreligious people become only the instruments of iniquity and vice.

Shall we then forbid these people to observe a day of rest? Not by any means. But if there is to be found a man who, on Sunday, would rather engage in honest labor than to follow his wicked associates through the haunts of vice, in the name of morality, good government, and public decency, let that man alone.

A. DELOS WESTCOTT.