Year: 1877

HOW IT AFFECTS SOCIAL LIFE AND IA
DIE HABITS IN NEW YORK.


To-day, Shrove Tuesday, ends the gay
season, and tomorrow Ash Wednesday,
ushers in the Lenton fast of forty days,
which lasts until Easter. According to
the best Church authorities, the Lenten
season was established as a preparation
for the great anniversaries of Christ's cru
ciflxion and resurrection, and in remem-
orance OF his fast of forty days in the will
derness. With the decadence of ritual
practices in all churches, the rigor of Lem
ten obseryances has been much softened,
and the strict fasts are no longer kept as
they were of yore. But the spirit of the
season still exercises sufficient influence
upon the community to give it marked
social importance and, and among the
Catholics and Episcopalians at least, a
strong religious significance. In New
Orleans and in other large cities where
the Catholic elements of the population
predominant, the Lenten season is char
acterized by general abstinence from
public and private festivities of every kind
and by marked increase in the attend
ance at the churches. In New York the
change is less noticeable because the city
is so large; because large proportion Of
the people do not belong to any Church
organization, and because the strictest OBJ
servers of Lent belong to great extent
to the poorer classes. Nevertheless. Lent
is very generally observed by large
number Of our citizens, and has notable
effect upon the social, private and busi-
ness life ofthe city.


From this time until the beginning of
Easter, society, or large part of it, will
take on metaphorical sack-cloth and
ashes, and putting off the trappings of
worldly finely, devote itself to acts Of re-
ligion and charity. Small family dinner
parties will take the place of large balls
and receptions. and there will be de-
crease in the number of public enter
tainments. The theatres will suffer, as
they always do at this time; the butchers
will sustain a loss of trade, which will
result in proportionate benefit to the
fishmongsrs, clergymen will preach Of
tener and to larger congregations, and
even those who care little for Lent as
religious observance will respect it as an
element of fashionable life. Society
bellies will wear darker materials in their
toilets and fewer buttons on their gloves !;
indeed, milliners report the arrival of
"Lenten fashions" as they do the arrival
of "fall fashions )" young ladies will be
seen oftener with gilt Bibles and prayer
books than with lorgnettes or card cases
in short, the beau monde will take on an
air of religion. The almost universal
respect for Lent as fashionable institu-
tion, thus boldly outlined, may be gauged
by the fact that the balls, parties and re-
ceptions during the next six weeks will
not equal in number those that have
taken place during the past ten days. As
a fashionable Union Square modists said
yesterday: 'If it were not for the special
Lenten costumes we should be almost
ruined during the next few weeks"


The theatre managers in past days
attempted to discount the effect of Lent
upon their business by presenting the
sternly legitimate, one might almost
say semi-religious, drama; but without
effect. The canons, where they interfere
at all, are apt to forbid absolutely the at
tendance of the faithful at places of
amusements, and obedience to this rule
together with occasional substitution of





fashionable observances of the season.
The minor features of Holy Week, which
closes the Lenten season such as TIE eat
ing of shot cross-buns" on Good Friday
and the professions on Palm Sunday, are
disregarded here, society making up for
the commission by renewed pleasures and
increased dissipation when, after the long
term of trial, the joyous Easter season
Immediately preceding the more joyous
springtide comes to remove the cloud of
religious austerity and to end the days of
Lent.


Among the working classes the fast is
all-important. This is especially true of
the Catholics, who abstain strictly from
the use of meat OH the prohibited days
and are unusually regular in their church
attendance. 1t is claimed by the Church
and with good show of reason, that
viewed from this aspect alone the Lenten
season is of great benefit to the people, in
that it serves to recall to them their too
oft-forgotten religious duties and respon-
sibilities


In this connection the testimony of the
fishmonger to the fact that the observance
of the fast is increasing every year is evil
IDENTIFY interesting. At Fulton Market
the writer was told that the quantity of
fish sold during Lent is more than double
the amount sold at any other time of the
year. The increase comes chiefly from
the poorer classes, who, when religious
point is involved buy of the most expen-
sive kinds. The increased demand for
their wares has become a recognized fea-
ture of the trade among the fishmongers,
who lay in a double stock during the
next six weeks. By this means rise in
prices Is averted. much to the satisfaction
of the poor, who in former years found
it difficult to meet the strain on their pur-
ses caused by the increase in the cost of
fish of every kind. Among the butchers
at Washington Market there was no