elebrated Pagan festival held by modern Christians is that
known as "_Sunday_," or the "Lord's day."

All the principal nations of antiquity kept the _seventh_ day of the
week as a "holy day," just as the ancient Israelites did. This was owing
to the fact that they consecrated the days of the week to the Sun, the
Moon, and the five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
_The seventh day was sacred to Saturn from time immemorial._ Homer and
Hesiod call it the "Holy Day."[393:1] The people generally visited the
temples of the gods, on that day, and offered up their prayers and
supplications.[393:2] The Acadians, thousands of years ago, kept holy
the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of each month as _Salum_ (rest), on which
certain works were forbidden.[393:3] The _Arabs_ anciently worshiped
Saturn under the name of Hobal. In his hands he held _seven_ arrows,
symbols of the planets that preside over the seven days of the
week.[393:4] The _Egyptians_ assigned a day of the week to the sun,
moon, and five planets, and the number _seven_ was held there in great
reverence.[393:5]

The planet _Saturn_ very early became the chief deity of Semitic
religion. Moses consecrated the number seven to him.[393:6]

In the _old_ conception, which finds expression in the Decalogue in
Deuteronomy (v. 15), the Sabbath has a purely theocratic significance,
and is intended to remind the Hebrews of their miraculous deliverance
from the land of Egypt and bondage. When the story of _Creation_ was
borrowed from the _Babylonians_, the celebration of the Sabbath was
established on entirely new grounds (Ex. xx. 11), for we find it is
because the "Creator," after his six days of work, rested on the
seventh, that the day should be kept holy.

The Assyrians kept this day holy. Mr. George Smith says:

"In the year 1869, I discovered among other things a curious
religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is
divided into four weeks, and the _seventh_ days or
'_Sabbaths_,' are marked out as days on which no work should
be undertaken."[393:7]

The ancient _Scandinavians_ consecrated one day in the week to their
Supreme God, _Odin_ or _Wodin_.[393:8] Even at the present time we call
this day _Odin's-day_.[393:9]

The question now arises, how was the great festival day changed from
the _seventh_--Saturn's day--to the _first_--_Sun_-day--among the
Christians?

"If we go back to the founding of the church, w