d.  The  Sabbath  should  be  protected  as  a  tradition
of  Christian  civilization.  Before  states  are  consti-
tuted, the  principles,  maxims,  customs  and,  sacred
convictions  exist  on  which  they  are  founded.  The
rights  of  person  and  property,  the  sanctity  of  the
family  and  the  Sabbath,  exist  before  and  are  more
sacred  and  inviolable  than  any  civil  constitution.  The
state  defines  and  defends  these  social  foundations,
and  cannot  subvert  or  discredit  them  without  trea-
son against  God  and  man.  The  Republic  received
the  Sabbath  as  a  legacy  from  the  Christian  centuries  ;
the  surrender  of  it  to  tlie  challenge  of  atheism  or
the  greed  of  materialism  would  be  as  cowardly  and
treacherous  as  the  betrayal  of  the  family,  the  rights
of  property,  or  of  personal  liberty.  Sabbath  observ-
ance, in  addition  to  its  divine  sanction,  enshrines  in-
structive   histories,    impressing   and    educating    sue-


SABBATH    LAWS.  I49

ceeding  generations.  The  Strasburg  clock  Is  so  skil-
fully constructed  that  in  measuring  time  it  repeats  in
symbol  the  events  associated  with  corresponding  his-
toric periods.  The  most  illiterate  are  kept  familiar
with  sacred  history  by  marking  the  passing  hours.
The  Sabbath  is  so  associated  with  the  economj^  of  time
and  the  periods  of  history  as  to  marshal  before  each
generation  and  every  community  the  most  sacred
events  of  human  redemption.  Boundaries  of  duty
and  of  holy  time  are  all  marked  by  its  stated  recur-
rence, and  no  people  are  left  uncultured  hallowing
the  Sabbath.
c.  The  existence  of  Sabbath  laws  among  the  wisest
nations  and  through  so  long  periods  justifies  their
corftinuance.  It  seems  impossible  that  so  many  na-
tions at  the  crisis  of  their  birth  or  political  revolution,
of  their  greatest  mental  activity,  moral  purity,  and
most  ennobling  sense  of  responsibility,  should  have
erred  on  a  question  so  palpable  and  practical.
