Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-11-18
oLD-FAsHIONED SUNDAYS
What They Used to be in Puri-
tanical Connections

my article on THIS SUBJECT, which reads
as II Charles Dudley Warner might have
written it. 1t will be found pleasant
reading by all old men and women, and
equally attractive 10 the young. Saws
the writer; The prevailing ussges in re-
spect OF an observance of the Lords day
by Christian people exhibit wide varia-
ton from those which were in vogue in
times which the oldest people remember.
In the olden times there were two serVi-
Ger in the sanctuary on the Sabbath,
one in the forenoon and one IN the
afternoon, a. brief recess dividing the
two, and no other services were held, as
a rule. The oldest Sunday-sChool in
this country is said 70 have been estab-
llshed since the year 1906, and Bible
classes and prayer-meetings are OF no
greater antiquity. During the week
proceeding the regular administration
OF the Lords supper. a preparatory
lecture was preached, but other weekly
lectures or relig Gus exercises were ex'
ceptionally frequent. New England
was then inhabited by farmers, and
each parish contained a widelyscattar-
ell population, with few facilities for
frequent assemblies. The Sabbath gave
them res. and society. The ms citing
house precincts atfOti kind OF tx
change" for The neighbors, who, before
aud between ami after meeting" dis
cussed their crops, stock, politics, and
whatever there was OF news, while the
women-tUlks StrOve in vain to get
through with the weekly accumulation
OF gossip and chit chat. The boys and
girls had high aud times on the sly dur
ing intermlssiOu, VIXEN haunting the
horse sheds or skirmishing IN the fled
lust over the fence, they escaped the
espionage of parenets too busy with
their tongues TO use their eyes 10 ad-
vantage. Oh, those motley gatherings
on the Westinghouse steps, to watch
the different teams drive up and dis
c1a'ge their lovely and often biushing
freight, Those larks behind the meet
ing house and in the gallery" and
back by the stove, and On the way home
With the girlsI Those tlirtations in the
choir behind the red curtains. There
is no such Joy in the Sabbath OF these
DAYS. At home the children learned
texts OF scripture and the Catecsism,
and quietly waited for the lightning OF
Gods cleo ing grace 20 strike them II It
was so decreed, taking the failure OF
such lightning stroke UnCOncernediy, as
it must be all right either way.
When the Suuday-School and prayer
meeting began 10 be instituted here and
there, opposition Was made by many CT
the most devout and gldiy church
members 10 all such innovations. 1t Is
aCuvious fact that the early church OF
New England would not tolerate the
plan" reading OF holy Scriplure-that
is, the reading of it without comment.
They. cariOusiy enough, cal.edit dumb
readIng-thoSe sticklers for the word OF
God. Ii is not twenty years since, IN
one OF the prOninent Congregational
churches OF Hartford, the reading OF
Scripture was confined to the forenoon
service. The "long prayer was ter
ror 10 the young. lt must have been
suffered by adults as convenient KIND
of peuauce. What WEAKNESS, too, Its
intermingb!e nasal monotone, Then
came, at long intervals, the communion
season, alter the second service, when
most OF the men and some Of the women
and all the children would 80 sally out,
leaving the elect To th;er solemn least.
Tender scenes We have wltuc SSed at
such times in the rude Old sanCtuarles ;
scenes never 10 be forgotten while
memory lasts. The pastors fearful
cheeks and ialtering accents, the solemn
silence in which the holy embems were
received, the weird, quaint music OF the
Old minor tunes sung without instru.
mental accompaniment and by thin and
uuayeryny voices, With mute wonder
and often uncomfortable emotion, the
boy at his mothers side wou!i watch
the ceremony, discerning It only as a
great ami holy and tender sacrament OF
divine love that could make his mother
weep ior Joy and even melt tine awful
clergyman dawn into lovable human
being.
Far from men and women OF those
davs was the modern notion that laymen
are especially competent 10 impart
biblical instruction, and the modern
usage winch relieves the clergy from
almost all responsibility for the work
ing OF the machinery for the religious
education Of children. No rudtr shock
can well be conceived than that which
would De exI erienCed by sundry OF the
GOOD ioreiathers, could they suddenly
revisit tue religions they once inhabited,
and especially the sanctuaries wherein
they once worshiped. What with
slips" for the old pewS, preaching rails
AMI desks for inaccessible puIpl's over
hung with sounding boards; stained
glass, steam / eat, carpets, organs, chants
and other poplsh ceremonies, heads
bowed in prayer, and no chance to
swap horses between services, they
would be miserable indeed. and aghast
with horror at our improvements:
How much are VT advanced, alter
all? Men talk of greater jecorum, reve-
ence and so on, but We cannot forget
that the Sabbath af eur boyhood had a
simplicity and sacredneSs that atoned
I Tor It's ocC siOnal seventies, and certain
/ possibilities OF stcalthy, hoaest fun Tor
I bright bows and girls sucu as The gradual
( Decentralization of the day and the
I dsCornla OF modern worship utterly
( forbid.
y~all Inn -