The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-14
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Editorial Opinions cfthe Leading JournaIs
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PINAFORE PIETY.

From the N. Y. Sun,
Every one who is at all familiar with the
names of celebrities in the serious world will
at once recognize that of the Rev. Edward
Payson Hammond, the distinguished revival
list, who is now ''reviving" the children of
Newark. 1t is not to be doubted that his in
tentions are excellent and that he works ex-
tremely hard in developing them. We, for
one, are not anxious to detect wolf in every
one who comes amongst MS wearing the cloth
ing of O sheep. If the bleat sounds natural
and the wool looks white and none of our
eve lambs are missing or injured, we have
every disposition to allow the new conner to
have his bah out, and then to carry the tink-
ling of his bell into other folds.
At the first blush, therefore, we are dis
posed to feel rather kindly towards Mr.. Ham
mond, believing that he conceals no detest-
able passion beneath the guise of religion,
and that he is content to work without money
and without price, and to experience reite-
rated surprises whenever the community
whom he has last been reviving present him
with handsome gratuity of several hundreds
or thousands of dollars. In this world there
are men worse than he-men who cloak an
unutterable amount of crime beneath pro-
fession identical with his. We believe that
Mr.. Hammond, at present over in Newark,
is preaching there to infants span high
If we may be permitted to borrow q
used in very different application
and is exherting children in pinafores
to pause and consider their ways, and inquire
what they shall do to be saved. Where is the
hardened child of six that Hammond will not
in as many minutes reduce to tears? And
where is the lost reprobate of four-and-a-half
who cannot be convinced in one short sermon
that he Cnot Mr.. Hammond) is a miserable
sinner; that he would rather (infniteiy!) }
han hot 10 oh
for him on the other side of Jordan unless he
buys Hammonds New Praises of Jesus, only
twenty-five cents, from which Mr.. Ham
mond's publishers make profit. We do not
belive that Mr.. Hammo ond could so long have
labored in Newark, or anywhere, for the mat
ter of that, without these effects legitimately
followingI
We are not prepared to enter into any ar
gument as to the age at which such senti-
ment of religion shall enter into the heart
of child, or will lead it to try to put religion
into its daily life But we think that children
are such tender little plants that, as a rule,
the religious handling of them had better be
left to their fathers and mothers than deli
vered, even for an hour, to any sensational
religious rover, who bruises their young
souls with harsh theological dogmas. We
believe it was the immortal Mrs. Pipchin
who informed her young pupils that children
who shifted in company never went
to heaven. Mr.. Hammond is masculine
Pipchin, more unctuous and amiable
apparently, than that old lady was and the
doctrine that he breaches to the baby mer
and women of the day is doctrine tha
glooms life and too often paralyzes action
To every one of them life will soon enough
bring experiences of sin and sorrow, with
out their having those experiences antici
pated by the morbid paintings of an un-
healthy mature mind. However much oul
readers may disagree among themselves il
their religious convictions, we are not afraiC
of offending many prejudices when we re
mark that the religious training of the
children should not be put into the hand.
of every pious proletarian who endeavors tt
print his narrow views upon their pure ans
plastic spirits