The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1865-03-31
Religious Festivals.

money Tor the LORD Inc statement /
of the question in this form furnishes
the answer. Indeed it borders on the
profanc. There are two objections to
writing ON this subject--the one is, it !
will do no good, and the other is the
want of space to make the discussion
complete But I would ask you to
take few facts and think of them (:
l. The amount of time and labor
expended on a festival or fair might
be made to produced two or three
times as much money for the same
cause. Our great Sanitary Fair here,
thai paid more than million Of dol
lars into the treasury, was great
failure a positive injury to the sol
diers fund. We all worked for it,
wrote for it, printed and pleaded for
it, and called it and thought it a great
success. But the Sanitary Commits
sion did not receive as much money
as they would have received if there
had been no fair And in any congre-
cation, city or country, in any commu-
nifty, let the ladies and gentlemen who
"get up" q festival spend half the time
they will on the frolic, in laying the
object fairly before their friends and
ncighbors, and they will raise more
money.
2. But this is irksome, and the fes-
tiyal or fair is made a substitute for
uncongenial labor. You wish to shirk
duty and have good time besides.
Instead Of going, in the split of the
work and the Master, and first giving
all that you ought to give, and then
asking others to do their duty also,
you prefer measure that has some
excitement about it, social pleasure
festival that gives you something in
the way of enjoyment aside from
the pleasure of self-denying benevo-
lence
g. And more than all this, when
You use a festival or fair to get money
from people for pious use, such as
a church debt, or church furniture, re-
pairs, parsonage, the poor, the sick, OF
any other object-for the Lord, all Of
them, for if you do it for any of these
things YOU do ii for IIi,A yam do NOD
appeal to the benevolence, or the piety
or the principle of the people. You
do not call out your own charity
( There is no virtue in what they do
Giving is a duty like prayer. 1t is
privilege like prayer. 1t is a means
of grace like prayer. Giving to Goo
is an act of worship and praise, al
expression of gratitude and love like
prayer Giving is blessing. 1t Is
even more q blessing than to receive
Festivals and fairs for pious purposes
have swept this heavenly sentiment
almost out of the church. In our day
when a few hundred dollars are
wanted for church purposes, or few
thousands for the poor, instead o
bringing their offerings and casting
them into the treasury in the sight 0
Him who gave Himself for us, on
people, like the men whom Jesus ex
PEELED with scourge, open the TEN
pie, or the porch, or the lecture room
or What is worse, hire tavern o
saloon for the purpose, and bring II
if not oxen and sheep and doves, a
least their meats and their drinks
their fancy work and dry goods, an
hold out to the eager crowd, induce
r ments to buy, to get some substantl'
e or some nominal return for the mono
t they part with. The idea of giving t
= Christ, of doing this for the sake
: Him who became poor for us, form
). no part of the intent or motive. Their
{ ia no religion in it, 1t has no blessin
n in it. | was at Sabbath school mis-
sionary anniversary last Sabbath even
i ing in the church on 14th street an
q Second Avenue. The children's week.
II gifts were reported, amounting
K more than 81, 600 in the year Man
IS of them had given their pocket none,
), al had made self-denial for the sake (
giving they were blessed in it,
% they would not have been if we Ia
:, had n festival and taken from tn
+ children $1,000, for ice cream an
/ candyl
J. All these church fairs and festiva
ID are simply substitutes for religion
le Because there is not enough acti'
le benevolence to induce us to give an
get others to give, we set up shol
" aud buy and sell and get gain v
~ have a festival to eat, drink and !
80 merry, and we lose the good the so
N gets when it prompts to giving even
20 cup of cold water in the name al