Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-05-21
THE GERMAN FESTIVAL.

one party on the issue. To a person
brought up under the strict rules Of the
prevailing christian secss Of the Union.
twenty or thirty years ago, and so farther
back, the license" which the Germans
take with the holy day seemed, at first,
almost If not quite sacriligious. But in
evangelical England itself, in once Puri-
tan Boston, all this has been changed.
The dispute in England, which grew to
acrimony at the time of the opening OF
the Crystal Palace, has Gained down to q
tolerance Of many Of those classes OF fes-
tiviues on the Lords day, which were
once decried as a very sin against the Spirit
Of Grace. No less q man than Rev. F. w.
Robertson, whose sermons are now sold
by thousands in this country as we'll as
in England, declared that he could not
see why the poor man should not have
the privilege of enjoying his Sunday
Lunch in a "tea. garden" when my Lord
and Lady were spending three hours over
their dinner, dessert and wine. And why
not: These kind of comparisons, coming
from the midst of the most orthodox Of
churches, according to English majority
Interpretation, soon loosened the bonds Of
the Police regulations in London, Man
chester and other populous British cities.
And. Of course, this dispute passed into
the quarterlies and the monthly and
weekly reviews, and so came across the
Atlantic to the reading and rejecting no.
,ice Of the straightest laced rel:gionis,s Of
our land. To illustrate the march Of pub.
lie sentiment on this very subject, in the
"hub Of the universe" the Athens Of
America, Yankee Boston: We can re-
member-and really we are not so rery
old-when Boston Common was an un-
commonly quiet place all day of a Sun
day |; no children were allowed to engage
in play on the afternoon Of that day, in
this Park, nor was it reputable for q men,
Der Of the church to take his children for
a walk even through the grounds. Now,
the same spot is q scene Of youthful
hilari,y on every pleasant Sunday after
noon. In Christian communities, where
there has been no loss in real, heart mo
rality, this change has confessedly been
brought about through q "new reading"
OF those portions OF the sacred text, which
have always been acknowledged to bear
upon this subject. Not an abridged or
new versioued Bible, but an Interpretation
thereof in a new light, or according to
more consistent rules. Rev. Mr.. Robert.
son was by this very controversy drawn
to a study that resulted in his belief and
his consending that the Sabbath was en-
,irely done away with under the new dis.
pensation that is to say, there was not
even an imperative command, BY special
word or by agreement from the identity
Of the church universal, before and after
crucifxion, directing unto each man a
Sabbath" day. Yet he was far from
advising the a~brogation Of WI day Of rest
in seven. To the contrary; and he that
honored one not, must make that negative
fact stand thus in the record as q Chris
tan: honored not, unto the Lord. Nor
is Rest by him or his co-operasors in the
work Of Liberalism tolerated as asynonym
for dissipation. But gleefulness, quiet
mirth for the adult, sport for the children
and yet growing youth.
Where every person is or may be a
performer" there is no critical license to
call such a Festival as was held yesterday
a credi,able affair, or otherwise. Each one
attending had his or her OWN share Of en-
ioymen,, and q conclusive individual
opinion as to the character Of the pro-
gramme as carried out under the auspices
Of the German Society. It seemed to us
tha. q more favorable place for the dane.
ing might have been selected, and that, by
a change of locality Of only a few rods.
The place for Waiting and polka-ing was
decidedly too limited ; twice the area
would scarcely have afforded adequate
room for the guests who desired to trip
the light, fantastic toe. A large number
of vehicles. ~omnibusses, carriages, stages,
and express wagons Of every pattern were
in service employed in transporting par.
ties to and from the garden" where the
festival was held. During the day, not
less than fifteen hundred persons must
have been on the floor Of the unroofed
pavilion" and participated in the "Or-
der Of Exercises" His Honor, Judge
Mesick was there: Mine Herr John Piper
was there; Chief Edwards was there;
Chic. Williams was there; Aldermen Dex-
ter, Block and Young were there; Treas
urer Finn was there; Geo. F. Jones and
Charley DeLong were there; Dan De-
Quille was therein short, it was a sum
to cipher who was not there. instead Of
cataloguing who pere round. Most Of
our people are familiar with the locality {;
how the hills blight towards each other at
the old Virginia Brewery. Well, on
either side of the r~avine, all along up the
steep declivities, the spectators" men and
women and little children, were seated,
looking down upon the densely crowded
platform, placidly enjoying the merry
sight, par,aking Of the refreshments
which one Of the separate parties was del
ega,ed to bring up from the saloon. And
some Lager was imbibed. Much tobacco
was smoked. There wal target shooting
a little to the west Of the Pavilion; and
still closer to own there was q game OF
base ball. Piutes and Cinnamon occupied
natural benches on the hills side; and
wonder was evidently an element in their
entertainment on the occasion. Some OF
Africa's noble sons cast their shadows
and displayed their FURNISHED ivory from
the summit Of the projecting groupings on
the south. 1t was a representative gath