The Hawaiian gazette., 1894-03-30

Win Tie TelSltuS lciiuchCN VI the
people calls up the ODD question OF the
remarkable CELEBRITY and swiftness
with which We are backSliding as y
nation from the standard maintained
by our forefSthers. Churh-goiug has
decreased according TO the reports of
the religious societies in all except two
cities in the Union, and in some of the
larger cities such as New York, Boston
aud Chicago, the decrease in church
attendance has been so persistent as TO
arouse the gravest spprehensions in
those people who believe in visible
expression OF religious feeling. In con-
junction with this falling off in church
attendance, is To be noticed the extra
ordinary liberslity which is displayed
by the public in the way OF Sunday
smusements. Nearly all of the thea
ters in the Western cities are open
Sunday nights; concert and beer gar
dens are most literally patrouiZed o !
the first dsy of the week, and Sunday,
which was once day of deprivation
aud religious observance in New
So K, has become day on which ex-
cursions, picuics and outd or enter
tsinments of all kinds are most fire.
quently held. In New York City,
which was for long while strictly
governed on Sunday, the bars have
been completely let down. Variety
entertainments are given in seven or
eight theaters every Sunday night
under the head of Sunday night con-
csrts, and regular music hail enter
tainments, where there are dancing,
singing and all sorts of paniomimic
,r.r t1iV Nj and Nx-hAra hA
and women in the audiences drink and
smoke freely, are now accepted As 3
matter of course, although these
things are not only antagonistic 10 the
former spirit of the people, but in open
violation of the law. 1t is pointed out
that the French people make Sunday
universal holiday, and that they are
on the whole as moral q people as the
Americans. There is one important
point about this which essayists on
the subject seem TO overlook. The
French all go to church in the morn
ing at an absurdly early hour, and
then return To their houses and dress
for q dsy which is more or less of q
whiTl. In America the whiriing part
of the day Is followed out freely, but
the Ceremony OF attending church in
the morning is entirely dispensed
with.
Persons who desire to read the
above editorial without note or
comment" may skip" what fol-
lows. None the less We will add a
few words of soberness to the too
sweeping words Of Truth.
The change indicated in this CT
tation is fundamental. 1t does not
result from any laxity in Sunday
laws, but from An evolution which
almost amounts to q revolution in
the religious ideas and social prac-
tees of the people themselves. No
laws, no external observances or
requirements, can restore the 18th
Century New England atmosphere,
which alone made the Sabbath of
New England possible. We would
repeat, that Sabbath did not make
the people but the people made the
Sabbath. Tina; ghole social phase,
with its imperious religious categor-
les, its rigid Journalism, its sharply
defined opposition 70 what theolog-
ians understand by nature" aud
It's insensibili,y to art and beauty
has utterly passed away. The
traces of it in the 18th Century, in
legislation and in manners, are no
more than belated and untimelv
survival. d faint afierglow. The
18th Century is born under a new
star. The modern conception OF
life is something quite different
from that Of our Puritan forefathers,
something which they could never
understand.
Whether the change has been for
the better or for the worse, it is
frui,le=s to inquire, since there
can be no thought Of return, no re-
vocation Of the past. Every high
minded man regrets the popularity
OF low amusements on Sundays
and on week days. The evil can
no; be remedied by forbidding
the recreations which are elevat-
ing People viii not be whipped
or legislzted into church. aud if
they could Be, they would not
arrive in proper frame Of mind.
A slight falling of in attendance
at places Of worship and large
isc-~ase in that at places of amuse-
ment is not the result of any
change in legislation, but Of a great
change in the conviction and feel