The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-11-23
SUNDAY SERVICES.
ST. srEpHEN's CHURCH.


At the morning service last Sunday, the pas
to-, Rev. A. Dalton, read the annual pastoral
letter from the Bishop of the American Eprs-
copal church. The following abstract gives the
views Of the church on the subjects of marriage,
observance of the Sabbath and amusenents:
1t is part of the Liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free to lift up all our domestic life
into the pure atmosphere of spiritual thought
and feeling. Marriage is no longer union of
convenience. or matter of civil contract 1t
is the one blessed heirloom transmitted from
the days of innocence; it is the type and EN-:
blem of that union which is betwixt Christ and
the Church. The freedom OF the chaste, pure,
Christian homa stands pre- eminent among the
earthly blessings bestowed on US in Christ.
How is it, then, that some among You have
presumed to put away wife except for tie
cause Of fornication? we are distressed to
vorce, have, without adequate cause, dismissed
an uncongenial wife or husband, and after mar
rying another, have profaned the holy sacra-
ment by coming to it with body thus defled.
Be We well assured, brethren beloved, that
whatever license may be tolerated 10y society
and by civil courts, if any persons be Joined to-
eether otherwise than as Gods word doth al
low, their marriage is not lawful. Be admon.
ished that ii any cleave not to his wife, but un-
lawfully narries another, and then comes to
the table of the Lord, although he doth car
nally and visibly press with his teeth las Saint
Augustine saitb) the Sacrament of the Body
and Blood of Christ, yet in no wise is he par
taker of Christ, but rather, to his Own condem-
nation doth eat and drink the sign or sacra-
ment of so great thing.
In your freedom yet again, you are not under
minute direction or prohibition concerning the
manner of employing the Lords day, the OBJ
servances of domestic piety, the participation
In amusements, or the accumulation OF gain.
Much trusted in all these particulars. how stu
dious should you be to make the day of rest
and praise honorable and holy, to maintain all
the sanctities of the Christian home, to avoid
frivolity and riot, and to take care that charity
as well as justice restrain you in asking all
your dues, or in seeking your lawful profit!
We tell you plainly that in these particulars
some among you are greatly to be blamed.
Whether it be due to the influence of laxity
of opinion imported among us from abroad, or
to the Generalization of Continental travel, or
to the want of lively interest in holy things, so
it is that the Lords Day is perverted from its
sacred uses of rest and worship, while in many
homes. throughout the week, no voice Of
prayer is heard at morning and at evening, and
even the daily bread is eaten without mention
of God, the giver. Sadly do we need In all the
land revival of domestic piety, SO that by fam
lily devotions, and the right use of the first
and pure. eEeBg rr,sHfs< erlra
Especially do we admonish you against that
laxity of morals which tolerates the participa
ton by Christian men and women in amuse
ments Wnlcn outrage deCency ana inevitably
soil the purity of those who share in them.
We specify plainly the numerous indecencies
which are enacted on the stage, and the inn
proper familiarity which characterizes some,
not all, of the amusements of the social circle.
Let our men value their own purity of thought
and our maidens believe that modesty is now,
as of old, an ornament, not disgrace. And
think not because you avoid the proclamation of
the Lords Day and lcentious shows and i'm
modest dances that all is yell with you. There
is temptation, and fearful one. to license of
another SORT; that unrestraint of the lust of
gambling speculation, instead of honest toll.
For such things Just as certainly as for folly
and dissipation, God will surely call us into
iudoment