The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-09-04

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n.nce r. the sticls which we this DAY publish,
and which will k'e rad with more than usual ID
| tersst
rh. rn.cts ar s~A bstsrIan Dsspstisa on
Morality an I Hxsaision'
| Two or three OF our pio> Is contemporaries IN
GLIDING one Of the Amiuid> b Sleek type, have
| expressed great satisfaction at tne Pohce being
partially successful in closing the puonc nouses
on Sunday In st. Louis, and from MS acnieVe-
| ment they anticipate wonderful bene>W 70 the
cause Of public morality and socisA order
! in that town, and argue that still sLea'er
resulis would How from . complete closii,g
up on Sunday Of all houses of public en-
| tertainment in New York. There can be no
greater delusion than this. Experience has
proved that Sabbatarian deepotism, 80 far from
preventing vice and crime, has the contrary
tendency. The only countries in Christendom
| in which the rigid Puritauical Sabbath has ever
been kept are England Scotland and the United
States. Now In those countries 1t has been pro-
ductive Of immense moral as well as physical
evil-hypocrisy, gloomy spirits and bad health,
secret indulgence In vice, to compensate for the
unnatural external restraint of Sunday.
An sgent of the Sabbath Committee of this
city, who travelled over Europe, reports that In
no country did he see the Sabbath 80 thoroughly
observed as in Scotland; and in Glasgow, the
commercial capital "the external observ-
apce Of the Lords day was almost as CON-
plete as in a New England village of
| the olden time" 1t was the very "ideal
| of a Christian Sabbath for large city"
| Now. what is this ideals "The principle line of
railway-from Glasgow to Edinburgh-entirely
closed; day Of general rest and worship;
home, apparently, for everybody, aud everybody
ut BONE; churches for the people, and the peo-
pie at church; all dramshops efiectually closed
from II P. NJ. on Saturday till A. NJ. on Mon
day." But is this all? By no means. Let us
see the admissions of the corresponding Secre-
tary Of the Sabbath Committee" He candidly
says:-"Of course there would be darker shades
to the picture; probably there are thousands Of
Sabbath-breaking, unevangelized souls in such
city. speak only of the external aspects"
1t is well that he speaks only Of the external
aspects" If he spoke Of anything else, and
spoke truly, his argument would not have
leg to stand upon. The statistics Of vice and
crime in Glasgow would overthrow his ELAINE
| and impotent conclusion" Perhaps In the
Christian world, in proportion to its population,
there is not another city in which there is so
much drunkenness and other vice as in Glasgow.
.'The darker shades Of the picture" are so nume-
rous and SO deep that they completely preponde-
rate, and present on the whole a very gloomy and
dismal picture indeed. The language Of the
agent of the Sabbath Committee shows what is
the true idea Of all the Sabbatarians-"e xternal
aspects" They may indulge to any excess in
drinking in their own houses; only let nobody
see them and it is all right, no matter what filthy
vices they may revel in. How like the whited
sepulchres beautiful without, but within full of
all manner Of uncleanness!
In Scotland the ingenuity of man was exer-
cised in enactiDg and enforcing Sunday laws.
Persons were appointed to hand over to the
criminal courts all children and others who were
found walking In the streets on Sunday. The
result was what might be expected-men could
not be forced into religious life. Instead Of
religion, there was cant; instead of truth, hypo-
crisy. Cromwell said Of the Scotch about Edin-
burg In his day, "The people generally are
given to the most impudent lying and frequent
swearing, such as is incredible to be believed"
Among the causes Of solemn fast in Scotland,
in the year 1858, were the following: "The
growth Of sin of all sorts, particularly pride,
uncleanness, contempt Of ordinances, oppres-
sion, violence, fraudulent dealing the most part
Of the people growing worse and worse, and re-
voting more and more" The Sabbath super
stiton was then only fifty years in Scotland, and
yet such were its fruits.
How appropriate is that description to the Pu-
ritanical Sabbatarians of this country who have
initiated the Scotch hypocrisy! Cotton Mather,
the historian Of the American Puritans, speaks
of cheating, robbing and stealing as Astounding
among them, litigious suits scandalously multi
piled, secret flthiness in church members and
young men debauching the societies to which
they belonged Again, he says, Have not many
of us been devils one to another for slaudering,
for backbitng, for animosiies? 1t is high time
to leave off all devilism, when the devil him
self is falling upon U.s." Such were the effects
Of Sabbatarianism, and they continue to
a vast extent still. If there is any
Improvement, 1t is because the rigid Sabbath OBJ
servance Of ga new England village of olden
time" has gradually given place to an approx
nation to the joyous Sunday festival as it is OBJ
served on the Continent of Europe and is be-
ginning to be observed in England itself
William Hewitt an English writer, says Of the
Sunday observance in Germany:-"Shops re-
main, In great measure, open; all sorts Of
theatres and places Of amusement are open; la
dies cit knitting, in company, as usual; the peo-
pie look on the strictness Of England as spe-
cies Of gloomy, ascetic severity, which makes no
part of religion" The Baroness de Stael saws.