St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-10-04
Sunday Picnics.
"He was a man
Who stole the livery of the court of Heaven
To serve the Devil in

"He was a man
Who stole the livery of the court of Heaven
To serve the Devil in"
Robert Pollock could find to-day 9th
ers to whom his description fits. Hy-
pOcrisy now is just as common. For
awhile men may mask their selfish
schemes under the guise of religion and
deceive the very elect. Indeed, it seems
as if men like to he deceived by the
readiness they show in being imposed
upon by swallowing the hook even
without a bait.
in nothing, perhaps, is the delusion
OF sin more transparent than in the
ways which people try to excuse the
dissertation of the Lords day. We do
not refer to the openly vicious, the
roughs, the gamblers, and guzzlers, who
crowd our Sunday resorts, but to "re-
spectacle Sinners" i'm the church and
out of it, who profess such sympathy
with hard-wOrked humanity, aud talk
soft nonsense about Goods first tenn
pies" out in the country, and so prac-
tically do away with all recognition of
the Christian Sabbath, domestic and
sanctuary instruction and worship. Six
days are to be given to money making,
and the seventh to merry making. God
is left out of the account. Mems intel
lectual and spiritual needs are forgot
ten. Six days he is to drudge, and one
day he is to play. The provision which
his Maker made is set aside-six DAYS
for self and one for God. All are Civ
en- to physical and material ends, moth
ing left for quiet thought or social wor-
ship.
Now, it is not strange that in a city
like New York, with half the people
under the influence of European ideas
of Sunday keeping, that $4,000 should
be found on the excursion steamers,
and as many more in Iail-car or horse
cars each Lords day, besides uncounted
thousands in the parks and beer gar
dens of the vicinity. But it is amazing
that those who pretend to he intelligent
Christians should approve this tramp
ling under feet of statute law and Scrip
ture law. 1t is still more amazing that
ministers of Christ, so called, in Boston
and New York, should get up Sunday
picnics, sell tickets to a crowd of Sun
day "gypsies"-as DR.. John Hall well
calls those Migrants who ignore all fam
lily and church obligatiOns-an take
them off in the country on II ''sacred"
spree. The singing of Sankey's songs,
and the munching of gingerbread; a
pious homily sandwiched in between
the pastry and lemonade; perhaps
prayer or two, with flirting and prom
enading; a scramble for camp stools,
and good smoke on the forward deck
salutations of passing yachts and steam
ers-we all know the adjuncts of such
a days diversion-these make up the
programme of worship. If this isn't US
ing heavens livery in Satan's service,
we do not know what is. 1t cannot be
that all Gods people have lost their
senses. 1t cannot be that all ministers
can thus stultify themselves. That
there should be need of penning this
protest is notifying fact. The enc
mics of religion we may not be able to
control in their assaults on our institu-
tons, but disloyalty in our own ranks
we ought to be able to suppress 9TH
erwise, Christianity is practically fail
ure, and its mission here is at an end
Church Union.