The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-10-17
The Observance Of Sunday.
Sunday News.

From the frequency with which this
subject comes up for discussion, as
we'll in secular as in religious publ
cations, it is evident that large num-
Der of people, many of whom can
not be considered as purltanical in feel
ing, look upon the increasing disre-
gard OF Sunday with considerable dis
approval. It is not only that the day is
coming more and more to resemble
what is called ''the Continental Sab
bath',-wllich may be roughly defined
as meaning, if one goes to church in
the morning he may do as he pleases
all the rest of the day-but that it is
dlsregarded altogether, so far as its
religious character is concerned. The
only difference between it and the
other six being that it may be used en-
tirely as a day of idleness, or of
amusement more fatiguing than work;
or even as a day of labor, if circunn
stances seem to require it in order
to avoid pecuniary loss. Now while
the "Continental Sabbath may not
be so reprehensible for the ignorant
part of the people in European coun-
tries who have been brought up in
that way, and whose forefathers re-
garded it as they do; there is no pos
sible excuse for it among the general
ity Of Americans, because they were
not brought up to think it right, and
it is only within the past decade or
two that it ever occurred to them to
desecrate the Sabbath as they do now.
Among the. many noted persons
who have spoken in no uncertain
tones upon The passing of Sunday is
the Bishop Of New York, in his re-
cent charge to his diocese. He rec
ognizes fully, along with all intelli-
gent people, that Sabbath of the Mo-
sale code, and of Puritanical observ-
ance, s'has passed forever into the
incomparably higher privilege and
dignity and potentially of the Lords
Day." But, at THE same time, he re-
minded his readers that those very
Puritanical exaggerations, against
which we rebel, were but the natural
reaction against the desecration of the
Sabbath which was so general in
England during the seventeenth CEN
tury; a condition of things, there
seems reason to fear, which may be
reproduced in our own time, both here
and in England. In the first place, he
considers, the subject from an en-
~stirely rational point of view, setting
aside for the moment its religious as
pect, and says: From the bottom 70
the top nature has proclaimed the law
of periodic rest in tones which, cannot
be mistaken Whether it be car
wheel or a human brain, something OF
absolute and supreme authority must
give it pause; and there is no people
on earth who so sorely need to rec
ognize this fact as we fevered and
over-driven Americans. Everything
in the conditions of our life, THE char
acteristics of Our climate, the sharp
competitions of Our business, the ma
tional restlessness and passion for
change, all make rest imperative for
us; and all the time the law remains
to bear witness to- the fact that we
cannot trifle with that divine princi-
pie, written-first of all-in our own
members" He goes on to show how
a few hundred years ago work was
infinitely more n1onotonous than az
present, and wearying from its same
ness; but, while all modern discover
les and Inventions have tended in a
great degree to tighten labor, they
have added indefinitely to the strain
upon the mind and nerves. "And so
the conditions OF modern work-day
life, in professions as truly as in
handicrafts, are more exacting and
more exhausting than ever before"
Another point of difference between
the conditions of the present day and
those of half a century ago is pointed
out by the Bishop; and it is found in