St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-28
Sunday OBSERVANCE.

minnesota ard Dakota.
SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.
The spicy correspondence between COM
rnittee of gentlemen representing a Leading
religious denomination in this city and the
president of the st. Paul Press club. in re-
Iation to the concert to be given tonight al
the Grand opera house by the members OF
the Boston Ideals company for the benefit
of the Press club, brings out full discussion
of the Sunday observance question. Inc
gentlemen Of the committee present their
views in a clear, succinct form. while MI.
SMALLEY combats them in incisIve style
and with vigorous argument. The opinions
presented by Mr.. COCHRAN and his aSsocl-
ates reflect the ue-stOcking theories OF our
Puritan and Covenauter ancestors, while
the views held by Mr.. SMALLEY
are more in line with the progress
of modern religious thought and liberal
theological sentiment. There is no reason
to doubt the sincerity of church people
who cling to the traditions of their fathers
and who prefer the conservatism of past
age to the progression of a new. They eX-
hibit a species of zeal and tenacity to
fundamental principles that is commend
able of Itself. That they are not i'll accord
with the thought of the age in which they
live may be their misfortune or their good
fortune. Just as time or eternity will de-
velop. They are strict cOnstructionIsts OF
religious polity who do not believe in the
expansive principle of the fundamental law
of the church, and are fired with the same
jealous inspiration which burned in the
breast of the Psalmist when he indited the
line. The zeal for Thine house hath
eaten me up" But. granting these strict
constructiOnsts all credit for zeal and sim
-erity. their action in this particular in
yance has subjected them to a charge of
liberalism and lack of charity for the Opin-
ons of others. which is not in accord with
the general and accepted understanding of
Christian doctrine. In determining the
gravity of crime the principle of intent has
the same application in moral jurisprudence
that it does in statutory law. When Christ
plucked ears of corn and ate them as he
passed through the grain field on the Sab
bath day the strict cOnstructiOnistS were on
hand to convict him Of technical viola
ton of the Jewish law. And yet
le> crushed out the force of the
prosecution with one sentence, which has
come ringing down the centuries as the cor
rect Interpretation of Sabbaic doctrine:
1.-THE Sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the Sabbath" There are now.
lust as in the days of CHRIST. temporal
necessities arising which relieve secular
employment on the Sabbath day of its desc
Grating features. Illustrations of this are
pointed out with singular clearness i'll Mr..
SMALLEY's letter. There are also now,
lust as it was in the days of CHRIST, pro-
fessors of religion who strain at gnats and
swallow camels: and this is said without
intending an application to any OF the par
les to this particular controversy. There
Is no reason why the employment
of money on the Sabbath day should
not be as desecrating or as irreligious as the
employment of brain and muscle on that
day. And yet there are people who are
shocked at the thought of a newspaper be-
Ing issued Oh Sunday or of a sacred concert
being held on that day where an admission
fee is charged, yet who. when collecting
the interest on their outstanding bonds and
mortgages at the end OF the year, do not
suffer sufficiently from the stings of con-
science to abate the accrued interest for the
tifty-two Sabbaths when their money was
in active employment. There is no reason
why they should; nor is there any reason
why they should swallow their own
camels and then strain at other peO-
pies gnats. All of which goes to
show that everything looks to lis
just according to the light in which
we look at it. And, as it is given to all of
us to see through a glass darkly, it becomes
all the more necessary that we should have
charity for the opinions of those who differ
from us in belief.
AS indicated by Mr.. SMALLEY, the Press
club in this city is composed of respect
able and intelligent body of gentlemen, who
are as much interested in maintaining the
sanctity of law and the purity and integrity
of society as any other class of American
citizens. These gentlemen have been ten
dered a benefit concert by an opera company
COllSlSllllg eioto
and gentlemen who are, in respect to their
social position, the peers of anybody. Be-
cause of a temporal necessity, which rem
Sered it impossible to have the concert at
by other time. Sunday night was
elected as the time and the Grand
opera house as the place for the
concert. The class of music which will be
rendered will be as sacred as that ordinarily
heard in our churches on the Sabbath even
ings. The tones of the orchestra will not
sound more irreverently than do the tones
of the comets and violins so often heard in
the Sabbath services in the churches.
There can be no objection to the concert
services being held in the opera house
when the various religious societies of the
city so frequently use the same building for
their Sunday afternoon services, COnse-
quently, public sentiment must concur in
the opinion that. however honest and zeal
Gus the directors to the press benefit Sun.
day concert may be. their objectiOni is illogi-
.al and their position untenable.
MONEY IN POI TTICS