burgh and the other petitioners, your committee cannot, at this peculiar crisis of the United States, recommend any alterations in the law regulating the Postoffice establishment; and do respectfully submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That the petitioners have leave to withdraw their petition."

No. 29.

"13th Congress. 3d Session. "Communicated to the House of Representatives, Jan. 20, 1815. "MR. RHEA, from the committee on the Postoffice and postroads, to whom were referred sundry petitions and memorials remonstrating against the usage of transporting and opening the mail on the Sabbath, and the report of the Postmaster-General relating thereto, reported:

"That they have had the same under consideration, and deeming it of great national importance, particularly in time of war, that no delay should attend the transportation of the mail, they deem it inexpedient to interfere with the present arrangement of the Postoffice establishment, and therefore submit the following resolution:

"Resolved, That it is inexpedient to grant the prayer of the petitioners."

From Return J. Meigs, Postmaster-General.

General Postoffice, Jan. 16, 1815. “SIR,—The Postmaster General, to whom were referred sundry memorials against the usage of transporting and opening the mails on the Sabbath, has the honor to report the following facts and observations:

"The usage of transporting the mails on the Sabbath is coeval with the Constitution of the United States."

[Here follows a statement showing the different routes on which the mail is transported on Sunday, and the delays which a suspension of the mail on that day would occasion. He then proceeds,] "and generally, the mails would on an average, be retarded equal to one-seventh part of the time now employed." [And might not the same be said should other business be suspended one-seventh part of the time? The farmer, who in har

vest should lie by on Sunday, would lose one-seventh part of his time. So also the mechanic, the manufacturer, the professional man, &c. &c. This is arguing on the principle assumed by those who consider time spent in keeping the Sabbath as lost, which is by no means admitted. And have the people of these United States any more right to demand a mail on Sunday than the continuance of other avocations, perhaps equally important? But a question of loss or gain is never, for a moment, to be put in competition with a known command of our Creator and Benefactor. It is sufficient, in any case, that we have a "Thus saith the Lord," for our guide.

When speaking of the law requiring Postmasters to attend to the duties of their office on Sunday, he says, " in most of the offices, it occupies but little time, and cannot greatly interfere with religious exercises;" intimating at least that if a man attends public worship on a Sunday, he need not hesitate about secularizing the rest of the day; that merely opening and distributing the mail on Sunday cannot be a serious violation of God's law. He continues,]

"It is to be observed, that public policy, pure morality, and undefiled religion, combine in favor of a due observance of the Sabbath. Nevertheless, a nation owes to itself an exercise of means adapted to its own preservation," &c.

It is best to serve and obey God, if we think our safety and prosperity will be promoted by it; but not otherwise! The city must be guarded in the way dictated by our wisdom, irrespective of the fact, that unless the Lord keep the city, the watchmen watch in vain. It is greatly to be lamented, that so many politicians and statesmen of the present day, inculcate principles and exhibit examples, which cannot be safely followed.

"13th Congress.

Report of Mr. Daggett.

No. 30.

3d Session.

MR. DAGGETT communicated to the Senate a report, dated January 27, 1815, as follows:

"The committee of the Senate, to whom were referred the petitions of numerous citizens of the States of New Hampshire,

Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Ohio, praying the Congress to prohibit the transportation and opening of the mail on the Sabbath, having attended to the duty assigned them, respectfully report:

"That the importance of the subject, and the motives which actuate so large a portion of their fellow-citizens, are duly regarded and appreciated. Were the practice of the transportation of the mail on every day of the week now commenced, and that of opening it on the Sabbath under no regulations, the committee would consider it necessary to make some legislative provision on the subject. The General Government, from its establishment, has pursued a system of causing the mail to be transported on the Sabbath, on the great roads leading through and across the country, while the practice has been avoided on routes of less importance. The public convenience has justified these measures, in view of the government."

The public convenience justifies the violation of the fourth commandment! He next refers to the objectionable law, and the regulations relative to delivering letters out of the ordinary season for divine service, and concludes with presuming that the Postmaster-General will continue this regulation; and considering that our country is engaged in war, deems it not advisable to pass ANY LAW on the subject matter of the petitions.

Report of Mr. Mills.

"14th Congress. No. 1. (In the Appendix.)

2d Session.

MR. MILLS communicated to the House of Representatives the following report, dated March 1, 1817:

"The committee to whom was referred sundry petitions, from different parts of the United States, praying that Congress would prohibit, by law, the transportation and opening of the mail on the Sabbath, ask leave to report: That they have devoted that attention to the said petitions, which the importance of the subject, and the motives which actuated so respectable a portion of their fellow-citizens, seemed to require."

Then follow a number of inquiries proposed to Return J. Meigs, Postmaster-General, the last of which is, "Would the prohibition of the transportation and opening of the mail on the

Sabbath essentially impede the arrangements of your department, or injure the public interest ?"

[This inquiry implies that the law of the Sabbath must bow to Postoffice arrangements and public interest. The PostmasterGeneral, in his answer, after referring to the existing laws, already quoted, to the short time occupied in delivering letters, and to the detention of the mail as a general loss of one-seventh part of time, remarks,] "The usage of transporting the mail on the Sabbath is coeval with the government under the present Constitution of the United States, though the practice of delivering letters on the Sabbath is of more recent origin, and commenced in 1810." He concludes in the following language: "The contents of the mail are not confined to public dispatches, nor to subjects of private business or pleasure. The same mail which transports such, equally accelerates supplies to want, consolation to afflic tion, and to piety evangelical correspondence; and thus, performing works of charity, it may be considered as doing good on the Sabbath day.” [Wonder if the General Government would think it worth the while to maintain Sunday mails for the benevolent purpose of "conveying supplies to want, consolation to affliction," &c.]

"In addition to the foregoing letter [from the PostmasterGeneral,] the committee beg leave to observe, that they cordially agree with the petitioners in the importance of a religious observance of the Christian Sabbath-an institution calculated to afford an opportunity for relaxation from labor and worldly cares; for reflection upon serious and moral subjects; for devout adoration of the Creator and Governor of the world; for acts of charity and benevolence, and for the exercise and improvement of all those virtues which adorn the nature and contribute to the happiness of man.”

The following remark and resolutions close the report:

"But, although the committee believe it necessary to continue the transportation of the mail, they do not perceive that the same necessity exists for the delivery of letters at the respective Postoffices on the Sabbath. They therefore report the following resolutions :

3

"Resolved, That it is inexpedient, at this time, to pass any law respecting the transportation of the mail.

"Resolved, That provision be made, by law, to prohibit the delivery of letters at the respective Postoffices of the United States on the Sabbath."

From this time no public proceedings in relation to Sunday mails are found till 1829. From the Report of Mr. JOHNSON, of Kentucky, communicated to the Senate of the Twentieth Congress, at their second session, January 19th, 1829, it appears, that numerous petitions, similar to the above, had then been received, and referred to a committee.

This was the period of the PIONEER effort, in the western part of the State of New York, and of general interest awakened in behalf of the Christian Sabbath.

Petitions were also presented, in great numbers, to the House of Representatives of the same Congress, and referred to the Committee on Postoffices and postroads. Their chairman, the Hon. SAMUEL MCKEAN, communicated to the House a report thereon, February 3d, 1829. This report speaks in respectful terms of the petitioners, and of their motives—of the high importance of the Sabbath, civilly as well as religiously—of its recognition by the United States' Government, &c. &c. It then introduces a train of reasoning, somewhat analogous to that already objected to in the reports above commented upon, and closes with remarks and a resolution in favor of a repeal of the law requiring Postmasters to deliver letters, &c. on Sunday.

In connection with this report is found a communication to the Chairman, from the Hon. JOHN MCLEAN, Postmaster-General, dated January 19th, 1829, answering several interrogatories in relation to the pecuniary income, the speed of the mail, and the effects on commercial interests, should the prayer of the petitioners be granted. Speaking of the commencement of Sunday mails, Mr. McLEAN says, "A daily mail has been in operation, on some routes, almost ever since the organization of this department under the Federal Government." From this language, it is obvious, that its author supposed the transportation of the mail on Sunday in this country, was not

"coeval