The Portland daily press., 1866-05-23
Puritanic Boston.

To the Editor Of the Press:
Great efforts have been made of late by the
descendants of the old Puritans to reform and
purify the backslidden town of Boston. The
Constabulary have added their forces to the
zeal of the rulpits, and persuaded miIkmen to
make their rounds on Saturday afternoon,
that they may not desecrate the Lords Day,
while grocers have been summoned before the
police court for selling pound of steak or
soda instead of combining their Sunday trade
strictly to pork and beans, and bread and milk,
and apothecaries are summarily dealt with
for accommodating customer with a cigar.
A spicy story is told of jealous member of
the Constabulary force, who, suspecting the
piety of certain druggist, stepped into his
shop one Sunday morning, for the purpose of
testing it, and called for cigar, which he OBJ
tanned, paid for, lighted it, and went away in
very complacent state of mind smoking The
next day he entered a complaint against his
victim for selling cigars on Sunday. The drug
gist paid his fine, and Immediately lodged
complaint against the constable for smoking
in the streets for which privilege the jealous
official was requested to pay 80
Much improvement has been made by this
movement in closing the tipping shops, and
have come nearer to the comfort and convent
ence of the masses. At this late day their
souls are filled with holy horror at the profan-
ity of the horse-cars The rafting of their
wheels, and the jingling of their bells disturb
their meditations. They fear that the throngs
that crowd the horse-cars on Sunday are not
all bound churchward, and saints who 60 to
church reclining on the velvet cushions Of
their own carriages, with well-dressed sable
driver, have been nightly eloquent upon the
subject of metropolitan" iniquity, and limited
vaguely at Sodom and Gomorrah. But hun
dreds who own pews in city churches, and
who keep no carriage, ard live from two to
six miles from their house of worship, cannot
see the enormity of riding thither in the horse
cars.
To be sure it is startling fact that the Sun
day horse-cars carry quite as many people in
to the country, as they bring into the city,
The inference is that these are bent on amuse-
ment. This is the iniquity against which the
saints protest. The moral standard of society
has sunk SO low that they wink at the crime
Of the poor laboring classes, who have looked
only upon brick walls and dusty pavements
all the week, that they go out into the fields
and woods, to listen to bird-songs, and scent
the odors of poisoning hills. They seem to
cherish the idea that because "the groves were
Gods first temples" an odor of sanctity still
pervades them, and they may still 60 thither
to worship. They have perverted the tradi-
tional meaning of the fourth commandment.
The saints have translated it that every one
shall 60 to church on the Sabbath; while this
ing, and rest, heart and soul and body, by
looking up to the blue skies and baslxing in
Gods life-giving sunshine, in the open coun-
try, where they are borne by the horse-cars.
After long and heated discussions in the I
legislative assemblies, and vigorous protests pro
and con in the papers, the wicked and rebel
lious generation have prevailed, and the Sab
bath day is still desecrated by the jingling and
rafting of the horse-cars, and multitudes con-
tinue to profane the day by going into the
green fields and groves to breathe the per-
fumes of flowers, and listen. to the songs of
the woodland warblers; while the saints 60
up in their cushioned chariots to mourn over
stifnecked and paeverse generation, and
pray that fire and birthstone may not rain
down upon them.
Indeed it would be great privation to all
classes, both the church-goers and the coun-
Triggers to stop the Sunday cars, and there
is general feeling of relief that it has been
decided to make no change in running the
horse-cars upon Sunday. C.