Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-09-28
No. Mi.
LONDON, Aug. %, 1855.

Letters from England.
80. XLTI.
LONDON, Aug %, 1855.
4, the Sabbath a day to be kept holy, every
whit, or was it designed to be partly de-
voted to rest and rational amusement 80
When the Savior said that the Sabbath was
"made for man. did he intend to ubrogate
the old injunction forbidding him to ado his
own ways or find hi, own pleasure" on that
day Are the so-caled Sabbatarians
guilty of attaching supcrstitious, gloomy and
repulsive associations to the day Of rest, -
the " working mans day and thereby both
putting an odious mask over the attractions OF
religion and necdlessly stinting the few pleas
urcs Of life
Do not intend to argue these questions
| have only attempted to state, in both its
aspects, and in the language employed on both
sides, a subject of much controversy in Eng
land at the present time. 1t is true. indeed.
that ever since the Reformation. there have
been two distinct parties among christians
i do not say among people in gcneral-re-
speeding the proper mode Of Observing the
Sabbath and as general rule, these par.
ties have been coincdent with the two great
church parties between which the King ION
has been mainly divided since that time.
namely, the Church-anl-Statc party, and
the so-called Puritanical party; the former
embracing all the semi-popish, high-and-lrye
tractaran dJctr,ndirc,, as we'll as the good,
easy" fashionable christians who look upon
religion only as a comfortable and gcntecl
thing; the latter uniting the evangelical
party Of the establishment. the Calvinstis
: Disscnters in England, and the Preshytcri
ans OF Scotland. As the latter, the eyangel-
ical rarty, has always prevailed to much
greater extent in Scotland, where the Refor-
/ nation was a rchgiou, and popular work,
than in England where it was mainly poI'h.
col the sabbath has always been more
strictly observed in Scotland-so much 50
that among anti-Sabbatarians, it is fashion
able to ridicule the idea of importing the
souruc.s aud rgor of the Scotch Sabbath into
England, - But within the last twenty
years or so, the discussion has taken some
the great popular cry Of the day for the 'ele
walton of the working classes The partie'
are still the same the defendants hold the
same tenets and support them with the SAINT
arguments as heretofore ; but the opposition
have changed their tactics and their watch
word. The plea now is for 'enhmentd
sabbath, a day on which to relax the sterr
nerve which week day duty demands, and t
open the soul to the soft influences Of So ia
enjoyment, Of beauty in nature and art, o
music and innocent merrincnt. The apps
ties of this school claim great zeal for the re
; fncment of the poor they deplore the sane
timonious bigotry which would cast pa
over the working mans day and make hir
look on religion us the enemy of all his il
noccnt rccrcatiuns they sentmentalizc tn
, Sabbath into an influence, and prophecy a
: sorts of smooth things
: Poor son. of toll On grulgc them not the brce,
That plays with Sabbath flowers the clouds tha
play
, With Sabbath Winds tho hum Of Sabbath bees,
. The Sabbath walk the sky lark's sabbath lay
r The silent sunshine the sabbath day 80
= cannot better e1cmpify the way in whic
, this agitation is kept up, than by retcrrin
t. little circumstance in my experience
r 4 few sundays ago ] was returning fror
!, HAMPSTEAD church through field two littl
children. with their mother, We're waikin
lust in front of mc--or rather the chidrc
= were cnperins and gamholinG like littl
Il Al; 81 ~,
' grass aud trees, and flowers. Presently on
: Of them. a little girl Of perhaps four sun
mcrs, dartcd "A from tho lnth, throw lien
:. salt chiu-d.,r into the miist Of some Gras
II and came back with a large biuc-bell whic
:, she exhibited with noisy Slec that told no
i rarely she had the privilege of picking
/, flower Her extravagaut delight was il
e stantly spoilt by her mother who babe h,
: throw the flower away, and let flowers aloI
on sunday adding IL won't have any flow
'c ers to-day You may have as many as 20
It like ON week day, hut they are not prop
p, things Tor Sunday" Oh, what would son
# people have given for such story as thi, =
n, II had whispered it in the ear of the obsc,
rist .sccuarist' in London, il would been Ir
H. claimed on the housc-top before night.
f. would have appeared in countless shapes
the Sunday Times, Lioyd's Weekly, and Il
'. Atlas the R,asoucr would have pointed
N moral With it in its very next loader N
~ llolyoakc would have told it with luguhrio'
circumstance in hi' very next lecture
Is, would have been household word amor
-.