The Blair Sunday-Rest Bill

National Sabbath Union

Meanwhile steps were taken toward the formation of a “National Sabbath Committee.” Early in 1888 Rev. W. F. Crafts had the following petition circulated among the officers of Sunday Associations:— BSRB 16.1

“To the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church:— BSRB 16.2

“DEAR FATHERS AND BRETHREN: The undersigned earnestly petition you as the representatives of the largest denomination of American Christians, to take the initiative in forming a National Sabbath Committee, by appointing several persons to serve in your behalf on such a committee, with instructions to ask other religious bodies, in your name, to appoint representatives to serve on the same committee, in order that the invasion of our day of rest and worship by the united forces of the liquor traffic and its allies, may be successfully resisted by the united forces of American Christianity, in the interest alike of the church and of the nation, of morality and of liberty.” BSRB 16.3

With the co-operation of Rev. J. H. Knowles, editor of the Pearl of Days, this was presented to the Methodist General Conference, which held its session in New York during the month of May, 1888, where it was favorably received. A committee was appointed and authorized to confer with official representatives of other denominations at their general councils. The Home Missionary Society of the Baptist Church, the General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church (North and South), and the Synod of the Reformed Church, whose meetings were held shortly afterward, and several other denominations, joined the movement and appointed members to act on the committee. BSRB 16.4

On November 13, 1888, the persons who had been thus appointed, met in the parlor of Col. Elliott F. Shepard, editor of the New York Mail and Express, and organized the “National Sabbath Committee.” Mr. Shepard was elected President, and Rev. J. H. Knowles, General Secretary and Editor of Publications, to serve until the first annual meeting. BSRB 17.1

This annual meeting, together with the “First National Sabbath Convention,” was held in the Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., December 11-13, 1888. The speakers at this meetings were: Rev. J. H. Knowles, Mrs. J. C. Bateham, Gen. A. S. Diven, Rev. F. W. Conrad, D.D., editor of the Lutheran Observer; Rev. T. A. Fernley, Bishop John F. Hurst, D.D., of the M. E. Church; Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Hon. Nelson Dingley, Rev. W. F. Crafts, Rev. W. W. Everts, D.D., Hon. G. P. Lord, Rev. George Elliott, Rev. C. H. Payne, D.D., Prof. Herrick Johnson, D.D., and Rev. James Stacy, D.D. Besides the above-named persons, the following are some of the most prominent of those who co-operated in the work of the council: Rev. Byron Sunderland, D.D., Hon. A. M. Clapp, Rev. G. H. Cory, D.D., Rev. S. H. Green, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Rev. E. Erskine, D.D., Rev. C. R. Hunt, and Mr. John Edmunds. BSRB 17.2

The greater part of the foregoing particulars may be found in the January number of Our Day, edited by Joseph Cook. BSRB 17.3

Among the resolutions adopted at that meeting are the following:— BSRB 18.1

“First. That we declare our conviction that the fourth commandment, like all the other commandments of the decalogue, is of universal and perpetual obligation. BSRB 18.2

“Second. That the American Sabbath Union, while recognizing the value of arguments for the Sabbath from expediency and physical health, still regards its chief work the quickening of the Christian conscience upon this subject.” BSRB 18.3

“Fifth. That in view of the neglect to enforce Sunday laws designed for the conservation of public morality and order, and to protect the liberty of Sabbath rest and worship, it has become an imperative necessity that Christians should insist that the officers of the law perform their duty.” BSRB 18.4

The first three articles of the Constitution are these:— BSRB 18.5

“I.—NAME. The American Sabbath Union. BSRB 18.6

“II.—BASIS. The basis of this Union is the divine authority and universal and perpetual obligation of the Sabbath, as manifested in the order and constitution of nature, declared in the revealed will of God, formulated in the fourth commandment of the moral law, interpreted and applied by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, transferred to the Christian Sabbath or Lord’s day, by Christ and his apostles, and approved by its beneficial effects upon national life. BSRB 18.7

“III.—OBJECT. The object of this Union is to preserve the Christian Sabbath as a day of rest and worship.” BSRB 18.8

From the foregoing it will be seen that the “American Sabbath Union” is a religious organization, having for its object the securing of laws enforcing the religious observance of Sunday. This will be seen still more clearly when we examine closely the bill which they pray may become a law, and read their statements concerning it. The original bill appears on pages 12-15, but the Union at the Convention in Washington appointed a “special committee,” consisting of Col. Elliott F. Shepard, Bishop J. F. Hurst, Dr. Sunderland, Dr. Ruskin, Dr. Knowles, Dr. Elliott, and others, with Mrs. J. Ellen Foster as legal adviser, to revise it. That committee recommended changes, so that it would read as follows:— BSRB 18.9