New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-07-04

OF high degree condescended to witness th,
departure, he probably saw Columbus sail Il
discover new world with much the sam;
feeling that respectable and comfortable
Easy Chair would watch from the Battery the
embarkation of two men aud dog i'm an open
boat for Europe. And the Spauiards of high
degree still follow the same fashion. Column
bus Is perpetually sailin. from Palos on the
morning OF the Sd of August, 1892, and the
crowd on the shore still stare at him ncredu-
lous as an absurd fanatic.
But on the other side of the question there
/ Is always Columbus who knows how to make
the egg stand on end, and who discovers a
new continent. He does not know precisely
what he is to find, but he does know that he
must go. So with the Sunday question the
opposition is composed of other religious per-
sons, and those who are called liberal think
ers. For it will be seen that what is called
The religious community is not unanimous
upon the subject. Both in the library and
the academy it is understood that there were
advocates of opening the doors on Sunday
who arc OF unquestionablc standing in the
religious world. Indeed, the whole oppos-
ton proceeds upon fallacy.
Ihe real argument against opening parks,
and gardens, and libraries, and galleries on
sunday Is that they will tempt people away
from church, and ill theirminds with thoughts
improper for the day. "Where will YOU
STOP argues the square-trotter. " y on
VIII open library to-day, a gallery to-mor-
row; then you will open theatre next week,
anu what not the next week after? Let us
prevent the inSress of the first drop, and we
shall be in no danger of being swamped by
thc whole ocean. Opening libraries and gal
lerlcs is the tip of Satan's little finger.
Smte 1t oil, or his huge hand will follow and
drag us imdcr!"
The reply to this is that il is not true, be-
cause the argument forgets the actual stua-
lion. As Il fact, the bad places, as YOU think
them, are already opened. The gardens, the
saloons, the cafes, the parks--oppOrtunitie
OF drinking, Of dancing, of billiards, of many
relaNations, are offered ON every hand If a
man or Il woman wishes some kind of recrea-
llnh on Sunday--dOcS not care to 90 to
church. let us say, more than once day-he
or she Is now forced to some one of the places
the opening of which you think would be one
OF the direful consequences of opening the
library or the gallery. The saloons are quite
independent OF the gallery and the library.
And suppose you should affect to close them
too; they would still be open on the sly.
But IL you could seal them Theoretically on
sunday, then what? Suppose that libraries,
galleries, gardens, bar-rooms, billiard-roOms,
saloons, and resorts of every kind were abso-
lutely closed on Sundays, so that out of our
homes there were nothing but the churches
and the streets to which we could repair.
what would be The effect:
This question exposes another fallacv of
the Sabbataran argument. 1t implies that
people would go to church if they had no
other places to go to on Sunday. But apart
from the wOrthlessness of church-goinp for
such reason, it is again not true. On the
contrary, in the degree that chtmch-gonc be-
came in this manner coercive or compulsory,
1t would become Odious. There would be a
disastrous reaction against Sabbatarian tyr
amy. The holy day would become hateful
day. Its black shadow would chill all the
week, and the hostility to the gloomy despot-
ism OF worship would extend to the being
wOrshiped. A Puritan Sunday makes Puri.
tan God. The beauty of holiness, the JOY of
the sanctuary, the feast of the saints, would
withcr and droop under compulsion as spring
buds before an icy wind.--Hmpa's Magazine.