The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-05-22

public of today than the Puritan code Of
humanity. of religious tolerance, of moral
and legal justice can be accepted as suf-
ficient for our times The Puritan SUM-
day, according to the model furnished by
the Puritan theocrats of New England, IS
as absolutely dead today with the people as
the austere clergy who originally erected
the image that the people have generally
ceased to worship. The effort to revive
the Puritan Sunday in America will
surely fail, although it may succeed to
the extent of placing the artificial ban OF
moral outlawry on all Sunday recreation,
whether decent or indecent, and the re-
suit will be the same that has always fol-
lowed every attempt to stamp out the in
nocent desire of mankind for recreation,
viz: the boys and girls will follow recrea-
ton down to the ditch since they cannot
have it at home; they will stop and listen
to the DEVILS fiddling. because the church
has voted to Danish all the good tunes.
A Puritan national Sunday law might
drive Sunday recreation into the ditch,
but it would not diminish the number OF
Sunday excursionsts. The Continental
Protestants, including the rigid French,
Dutch and Swiss Calvinists, have always
allowed innocent amusements on Sunday
meaning all amusements that did not
involve violent physical exercise or some
form of gambling. The late Professor
Louis Agassiz, of Harvard college, was
the son of rigid Swiss Calvinists, and he
81 hat hA lVy vvh a
young man danced with the clergyman's
daughter on the village green Sunday
evening while her father played cards and
drank beer on the porch Of his house with
friend. An American clergyman who
visited Germany few years ago was
startled when an eminent German Luth-
eran theologian upon whom he called on
Sunday afternoon took him to beer hall
where he smoked and talked theology
with him over a mug of beer.
While the ascetic observance OF Sunday
is conspicuous in Edinburgh and Glasgow,
nevertheless it is a great day for private
drinking, and Rome and Berlin are GER
tainly more moral and less drunken than
the great Scotch cities. In Ireland po-
litical meetings are held on Sunday and
are attended by the people and the clergy
without distinction of creed. The Arch
bishop of Canterbury. the very head of the
church of England, recently sanctioned
by his presence the Sunday opening of a
picture exhibition in Whitechapel. The
Rev. Henry Blanchard, of Portland, Me-,
very prominent clergyman, recently re-
fused to sign petition against Sunday
concerts, saying: II cannot agree with
these brethren in their view of the Sunday.
regard it as a day of worship and rational
recreation. l have advocated the use Of
music in public parks on Sunday under
wise control"
Many of the leading ministers of New
York city advocated the opening of the
Metropolitan museum on Sunday, and the
city of Portland, Me-, has recently decided
to give concerts in park on Sunday after
noon just as is now done in Central park,
New York city, and Prospect park, Brook
Ign. We cannot successfully continue in
America to enforce the Calvinistic Puritan
Sabbath upon thousands of the best folk
who with their wives and children use a
portion of it at least as day of recreation.