St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-17

Restraint is the beginning of law
and civilization, of morality and re-
ligion. Without it man is savage
and an outlaw Carried to excess, II
DESTROYS itself. Under the burden
of slavery and superstition, society
staggers back into barbarism Inc
precious weight of liberty is equally
essential to the celestial balance OF
order. Restraint of self, 1n1ln1tely
more difficult and more repugnant
than the restraint Of others, has
rarely been pushed to an extreme.
There are a hundred overSeerS to
one ascetic. At the present time,
however, freed by centuries of strug-
gle from so much eXtraneous bond
age, it is but human that selt-re-
straint should have become dis
tasteful. Unmindful that freedom
is never without limits, individual
liberty tends to Individual license.
An institution, therefore, which es-
sentially encourages self-control pos
sesses now an unusual value. Such
is the Lenten season. Patterned
after that perfect life Whose every
the most powerful springs of human
motive, Lent directly cOmbatS the
routine of mans daily existence. 1t
calls halt in the years treadm1ll
march Obligating a sudden stop
page of certain material, though
comparatively unimportant actions,
it forcibly directs the mind inward,
coercing the most frivolous to some
degree of reflection, and in the still
ness of reflection the feeble voice Of
conscience can again be heard. So
the, doctrinal or fashionable self
control that induces one to abstain
from meat or from receptions, to
spend ones time in prayer or in
the domestic circle, operates to re-
awaken the slumbering sense of
duty and to check the many selfish,
immoral tendencies too long without
restraint.
Although spiritual regeneration is
the noble object of all Lenten OBJ
servance, it must come as the re-
suit of material deprivation. The
practical necessity of uniformity has
induced several great Christian So
cieties to prescribe certain definite
obligations during the sacred season.
These obligations, inherited from the
early church, as in harmony with
holy history and example, are not
only of immense value in stimulat-
ing the spiritual fruits of Lent, but
they are in themselves renovating
and restorative from a practical
hygienic point of view.
Without doubt the frivolous de-
tails that fashion has added to a
serious, solemn custom have become
disagreeably prominent during Lent
to the eyes of sensible people. 1t is,
however, a matter of congratula-
ton when fashion consents to ac-
cord with religion in any degree.
Abstinence from CONNECTIONS or pink
teas may not be an ennobling eX-
ample of self-sacrifice, yet it is in
finitely preferable to the scandalous
sacrifice of character that once
made Lady Castlemaine matron a
la mode.
The physical and spiritual benefits
of the Lenten season are each year
more appreciated. This is one of the
several points upon which Chris
tians are beginning to agree, and is
one of the many evidences most
gratifying to the Well-wishers of
humanity that inconsequential diff
ferences are being taken at their
true value; that the ambition of the
great Christian leaders, from Rome
to San Francisco, may be fulfilled
sooner than the world anticipates;
and the vast army of the united
church be marshaled as a unit
against the heather and the sinful.
Clergymen of various denomina-
tons have contributed to the
GLOBE in the following communica-
tons, facts and opinions of much
interest and value on the nature
of the approaching religious period,
and the true spirit in which it can
be best observed.