JANUARY 31, 1811
The Postmaster-General, in obedience to the resolutions of the House
of Representatives of the United States, passed on the fourth and
eighteenth of the present month, respectfully reports:
That to keep the government and its agents informed of such events as
might be interesting to the nation, with as little delay as possible;
to equalize, among the merchants of the several capitals, the chances
of receiving commercial information; and to cause the great lines of
communication to and from the centre to the various parts of the
nation to be kept up regularity and despatch, and the routes to be
performed within the least time practicable; he has caused the mail on
many of the most important routes to be transported on the Sabbath
under a belief that it was "a work of necessity."
To guard against any annoyance to the good citizens of the United
States, he carefully instructed and directed the agents of this office
to pass quietly, without announcing their arrival or departure by the
sounding of horns or trumpets, or any other calculated to call of the
attention pof the citizens from their devotions; but until after the
passage of the act of the 30th April, 1810, this office never demanded
of the Postmasters, on the Sabbath Day, the performance of any duties
other than those of taking from the mail pertmaneaus of the letters
destined for delivery at that particular office, and duly forwarding
the mail according to the usual course of business. In all previous
instances where letters were delivered to the citizens, it had been by
the courtesy of the Postmasters, though often with the knowledge, and
sometimes on the recommendation, of the Postmaster General.That, under
and by virtue of the ninth section of the act of the thirtieth of
April, 1810, the Postmaster-General conceived himself bound to compel
the postmasters to receive letters from, and deliver letters to, the
citizens, on the Sabbath day; and in conformity to that act, the
following instruction was given to the postmasters, to wit:
"At post-offices where the mail arrives on Sunday, the office is to
be kept open for the delivery of letters, etc., for one hour after the
arrival and assorting of the mail; but in case that would interfere
with the hours of public worship, then the office is to be kept open
for one hour after the usual time of dissolving the meetings, for that
purpose."
The Postmaster-General further remarks, that from the peculiar
phraseology of the ninth section of said get, it is doubted whether he
be warranted by law in limiting the right of the citizens to demand
their letters to one hour on the Sabbath; and, in one instance, in
Pennsylvania, an officer has been prosecuted, under the section
aforesaid, for refusing to deliver a letter on the Sabbath, not called
for within the time prescribed by this office. Although in cases of
extreme anxiety or national calamity, it may be proper for postmasters
to open their offices for the reception and delivery of letters on the
Sabbath, and particularly to the officers of government, still it is
believed that the good sense of the officers is a sufficient safeguard
for the delivery of letters under all such circumstances; and that
compelling the postmasters to attend to the duties of the office on
the Sabbath, is on them a hardship, as well as in itself
tending to bring into disuse and disrepute the institutions of that
holy day.
GIDEON GRANGER,
Postmaster-General.
General Post-office, January 30, 1811
(SOURCE OF INFORMATION: 11TH CONGRESS, 3rd SESSION, REMONSTRANCE
AGAINST THE DELIVERY OF LETTERS, PAPERS, AND PACKETS, AT THE
POST-OFFICE ON THE SABBATH. COMMUNICATED TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 31, 1811. AMERICAN STATE PAPERS, Class VII,
pp 44- 45.)
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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