from open labor; and those from whom this privilege is yet withheld for withheld it is in instances fearfully numerous - have begun to feel it the sorest evil of their poverty that they cannot obtain that, even as a boon, which is theirs by inalienable birthright -by the legacy of their fathers and the gift of God. Of the strength of this desire for deliverance there are the most convincing proofs before the Convention; and among the motives which have assembled us here, many of us from distant homes, were the affecting appeals of this very class of our proscribed fellow-citizens for the help which public opinion and public sympathy may bring to their relief. Shall it be denied? and especially shall the soughtfor aid be withheld by those who have the power to grant it; and that for the sake of gains uncertain at the best, but which, if realized, will bring no real good, and which may yet ruffle and disturb the pillow of death?

In conclusion, we would ask of our fellow-citizens their influence, their kind persuasions, and, above all, their blameless example, in aid of this cause, to the furtherance of which so many and such various considerations prompt us. The world has never witnessed the spectacle of a universal obedience to the Sabbath in any country; and its full power to bless a nation is yet unrevealed. In no other land can the trial be made with such encouragements as in this, or with such power of example to the world; for, if successful here, it will be as the voluntary decision of a free people.

It was the remark of one of the ablest and purest of those foreigners who came to our aid in the days of revolutionary peril, and who made his home, and recently his grave, among us, -the late venerable Duponceau, of Philadelphia, that of all we claimed as characteristic, our observance of the Sabbath is the only one truly national and American; and for this cause, if for no other, he trusted it would never lose its hold on our affections and patriotism. It was a noble thought, and may well mingle with higher and nobler motives to stimulate our efforts and encourage our hopes. And while it is the glory so eagerly coveted by other nations that they may be preeminent in conquests and extended rule, let us gladly accept it as our distinction, and wear it as the fairest of all that grace our escutcheon, that we preeminently honor the Sabbath and the Sabbath's Lord.

In behalf of the Convention,

HARMAR DENNY, Secretary.

JOHN Q. ADAMS, President.

ADDRESS

OF THE

NATIONAL SABBATH CONVENTION

ΤΟ

CANAL COMMISSIONERS.

GENTLEMEN: Among the numerous manifestations of wisdom and goodness, which the Divine Being has made to the human family, is his arrangement, after six days of labor and attention to secular concerns for one day of rest, and of special devotion to the worship of God and the promotion of the spiritual good of men. And so important in his own estimation was this arrangement, that he evidently had his eye upon it in the creation of the world, and in the Sabbath which he observed at the close of that work, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. This arrangement was evidently "made for man," and an intelligent and conscientious regard to it has in all ages been found to be essential to his highest good. The rest which it contemplates is required by his physical system; and the moral influence which it imparts is no less needful to the health of his soul. These truths, revealed with great clearness in the Scriptures, and abundantly illustrated in the course of divine Providence, are receiving extensively-increasing attention, and a consideration of their high importance is extending in various parts of our country. The consequence is, a decrease, in many places, of the number who engage in secular business or travelling for amusement on the Sabbath, and an increase of those who enjoy the privileges and engage in the appropriate duties of that day. Vessels and steamboats less frequently leave the harbor. The number who go to the post-office on the Sabbath is diminishing. On more than a thousand miles

of railroad the cars do not run on the Sabbath. In many cases the mails are not transported, and the locks on canals are not opened. And in various kinds of business, in which it has been contended that it was necessary to desecrate the Sabbath, it has been found by experiment that such business can be carried on to even better advantage by being confined to six days in a week. And we have a settled and strong conviction, that, if this should be the case with all kinds of business, the highest and best interests of all concerned would be promoted. Nor do we see any good reasons why this should not be the case; nor why the business on our canals should be, as it sometimes has been, an exception. That large and interesting class of our fellow-citizens who are called to labor on our inland waters need, physically and morally, as much as others, the rest and the privileges of the Sabbath; they have an equal interest in them and an equal right to enjoy them. Many of them ardently desire to enjoy these blessings, and in one state more than 1200 captains of canal boats united in a petition to the Canal Commissioners not to open the locks, or require their agent to perform official business on that day. This would prevent owners of boats and goods from urging those who are employed to desecrate the Sabbath, and would greatly lessen their temptation to do it. It would remove the official sanction which, by the opening of the locks, is given to that vice, and relieve the public agents from the guilt of aiding and abetting in promoting it. The consequence would be, as it has been on those canals where the experiment has been tried, the health and the character of those employed would be improved; business would be transacted with greater facility; nor would the amount, on the whole, be diminished. The Canal Committee, composed of distinguished senators, to whom the petition above referred to was commit. ted in the state of New York, after long and careful consideration of the whole subject, say, in their report, the boatmen who send up their petitions express their firm conviction that as much merchandise and produce could be transported on the canals during the season of navigation, with the observance of the Sabbath, as there can be by violating that day. There can be no doubt that the boatmen take a correct view of the subject. Other things being equal, the committee believe that both man and beast can perform more labor, by resting one day in seven, than by constant employment every day in the week.

"The Sabbath was emphatically made for man,' and, when viewed in the light of political economy, can never be sufficiently prized.

"It is admitted by all, that intelligence and virtue constitute the only sure foundation of republican institutions. If the people are intelligent and virtuous, the institutions of our country are safe. It is believed that the Sabbath, duly observed, in the repeated instructions which it brings to the population of a nation, in its calling the attention of all to the duty they owe to their Creator, in reminding them of their accountability beyond the grave, and thus maintaining and invigorating the conscience, lies at the foundation of our national happiness and prosperity.

"It is a well-known fact, in the history of the vicious and depraved, that the violation of the Sabbath is generally the first step in the series of wickedness and crime, which led them to their final ruin. Nor is there any thing mysterious in the blighting influence of Sabbath desecration on the human character. The want of that moral and religious culture which the observance of the Sabbath secures, the voice of conscience hushed by its repeated violations, leaves the unhappy individual without any saving moral principle to warn or protect him, and, like a vessel without a rudder, upon the stormy ocean, he is sure to wreck his happiness and his character.

"Of 1232 convicts, admitted to the Auburn State Prison, previously to 1838, 447 had been watermen; and of the whole number, 1232, only 26 had been in the habit of keeping the Sabbath.

"Of 1450, admitted to the prison previously to the year 1839, 563 had been watermen, and 27 only had kept the Sabbath.

"Of 1653, admitted to the prison previously to the year 1840, 660 had been watermen; and of 203 admitted to the prison in one year, 97 had been watermen, and only 2 had kept the Sabbath.

"One way to promote the religious observance of the Sabbath, is for the canal officers, and all who employ others to do business on the canals, to suspend their secular business, and religiously observe the day themselves. Let the distinguished classes of society set an example of keeping the Sabbath, and others may be expected to follow. And let employers in no case unnecessarily deprive those whom they employ of the rest and privileges which God has provided for them, and

the enjoyment of which would promote the mutual good of all.

"The state officers violate the laws of the state, in opening the locks and transacting public business on Sunday, and the committee believe that the interests of the state, or the prosperity of individuals, can never be advanced by the violation of human or divine laws.

"The policy which seeks to gain by the violation of laws which infinite wisdom and goodness have established, is selfish, short-sighted, and defeats its own end."

Such are the sentiments expressed by distinguished senators, after careful inquiry and patient investigation, and who had a good opportunity to become acquainted with the facts connected with the desecration of the Sabbath by the opening of locks and the performance of official and secular business on canals.

And we have no doubt that they are equally in accordance with sound philosophy and correct political economy, as they are with good morals and true religion.

And we would most respectfully and earnestly commend. them to the careful perusal and profound consideration of all who are thus concerned, in opposition to laws human and divine, in such violations of the Lord's day. And we cannot but hope that the time may soon come when their own experience shall unite with the experience of increasing numbers in all departments, in testifying that the Sabbath was indeed made for man, and that in the keeping of it in accordance with the will of the Lord of the Sabbath, and of those laws, natural and moral, which he has established, there is truly great reward.

Baltimore, November 28, 1844.