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diff --git a/old/suths10.txt b/old/suths10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30c87b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/suths10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1479 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sunday Under Three Heads, by Charles Dickens +(#27 in our series by Charles Dickens) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Sunday Under Three Heads + +Author: Charles Dickens + +Release Date: May, 1997 [EBook #922] +[This file was first posted on May 29, 1997] +[Most recently updated: May 20, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SUNDAY UNDER THREE HEADS *** + + + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +SUNDAY UNDER THREE HEADS + + + + +DEDICATION + + + +To The Right Reverend +THE BISHOP OF LONDON + +MY LORD, + +You were among the first, some years ago, to expatiate on the +vicious addiction of the lower classes of society to Sunday +excursions; and were thus instrumental in calling forth occasional +demonstrations of those extreme opinions on the subject, which are +very generally received with derision, if not with contempt. + +Your elevated station, my Lord, affords you countless opportunities +of increasing the comforts and pleasures of the humbler classes of +society--not by the expenditure of the smallest portion of your +princely income, but by merely sanctioning with the influence of +your example, their harmless pastimes, and innocent recreations. + +That your Lordship would ever have contemplated Sunday recreations +with so much horror, if you had been at all acquainted with the +wants and necessities of the people who indulged in them, I cannot +imagine possible. That a Prelate of your elevated rank has the +faintest conception of the extent of those wants, and the nature of +those necessities, I do not believe. + +For these reasons, I venture to address this little Pamphlet to +your Lordship's consideration. I am quite conscious that the +outlines I have drawn, afford but a very imperfect description of +the feelings they are intended to illustrate; but I claim for them +one merit--their truth and freedom from exaggeration. I may have +fallen short of the mark, but I have never overshot it: and while +I have pointed out what appears to me, to be injustice on the part +of others, I hope I have carefully abstained from committing it +myself. + +I am, +My Lord, +Your Lordship's most obedient, +Humble Servant, +TIMOTHY SPARKS. +June, 1836. + + + +CHAPTER I--AS IT IS + + + +There are few things from which I derive greater pleasure, than +walking through some of the principal streets of London on a fine +Sunday, in summer, and watching the cheerful faces of the lively +groups with which they are thronged. There is something, to my +eyes at least, exceedingly pleasing in the general desire evinced +by the humbler classes of society, to appear neat and clean on this +their only holiday. There are many grave old persons, I know, who +shake their heads with an air of profound wisdom, and tell you that +poor people dress too well now-a-days; that when they were +children, folks knew their stations in life better; that you may +depend upon it, no good will come of this sort of thing in the +end,--and so forth: but I fancy I can discern in the fine bonnet +of the working-man's wife, or the feather-bedizened hat of his +child, no inconsiderable evidence of good feeling on the part of +the man himself, and an affectionate desire to expend the few +shillings he can spare from his week's wages, in improving the +appearance and adding to the happiness of those who are nearest and +dearest to him. This may be a very heinous and unbecoming degree +of vanity, perhaps, and the money might possibly be applied to +better uses; it must not be forgotten, however, that it might very +easily be devoted to worse: and if two or three faces can be +rendered happy and contented, by a trifling improvement of outward +appearance, I cannot help thinking that the object is very cheaply +purchased, even at the expense of a smart gown, or a gaudy riband. +There is a great deal of very unnecessary cant about the over- +dressing of the common people. There is not a manufacturer or +tradesman in existence, who would not employ a man who takes a +reasonable degree of pride in the appearance of himself and those +about him, in preference to a sullen, slovenly fellow, who works +doggedly on, regardless of his own clothing and that of his wife +and children, and seeming to take pleasure or pride in nothing. + +The pampered aristocrat, whose life is one continued round of +licentious pleasures and sensual gratifications; or the gloomy +enthusiast, who detests the cheerful amusements he can never enjoy, +and envies the healthy feelings he can never know, and who would +put down the one and suppress the other, until he made the minds of +his fellow-beings as besotted and distorted as his own;--neither of +these men can by possibility form an adequate notion of what Sunday +really is to those whose lives are spent in sedentary or laborious +occupations, and who are accustomed to look forward to it through +their whole existence, as their only day of rest from toil, and +innocent enjoyment. + +The sun that rises over the quiet streets of London on a bright +Sunday morning, shines till his setting, on gay and happy faces. +Here and there, so early as six o'clock, a young man and woman in +their best attire, may be seen hurrying along on their way to the +house of some acquaintance, who is included in their scheme of +pleasure for the day; from whence, after stopping to take "a bit of +breakfast," they sally forth, accompanied by several old people, +and a whole crowd of young ones, bearing large hand-baskets full of +provisions, and Belcher handkerchiefs done up in bundles, with the +neck of a bottle sticking out at the top, and closely-packed apples +bulging out at the sides,--and away they hurry along the streets +leading to the steam-packet wharfs, which are already plentifully +sprinkled with parties bound for the same destination. Their good +humour and delight know no bounds--for it is a delightful morning, +all blue over head, and nothing like a cloud in the whole sky; and +even the air of the river at London Bridge is something to them, +shut up as they have been, all the week, in close streets and +heated rooms. There are dozens of steamers to all sorts of places- +-Gravesend, Greenwich, and Richmond; and such numbers of people, +that when you have once sat down on the deck, it is all but a moral +impossibility to get up again--to say nothing of walking about, +which is entirely out of the question. Away they go, joking and +laughing, and eating and drinking, and admiring everything they +see, and pleased with everything they hear, to climb Windmill Hill, +and catch a glimpse of the rich corn-fields and beautiful orchards +of Kent; or to stroll among the fine old trees of Greenwich Park, +and survey the wonders of Shooter's Hill and Lady James's Folly; or +to glide past the beautiful meadows of Twickenham and Richmond, and +to gaze with a delight which only people like them can know, on +every lovely object in the fair prospect around. Boat follows +boat, and coach succeeds coach, for the next three hours; but all +are filled, and all with the same kind of people--neat and clean, +cheerful and contented. + +They reach their places of destination, and the taverns are +crowded; but there is no drunkenness or brawling, for the class of +men who commit the enormity of making Sunday excursions, take their +families with them: and this in itself would be a check upon them, +even if they were inclined to dissipation, which they really are +not. Boisterous their mirth may be, for they have all the +excitement of feeling that fresh air and green fields can impart to +the dwellers in crowded cities, but it is innocent and harmless. +The glass is circulated, and the joke goes round; but the one is +free from excess, and the other from offence; and nothing but good +humour and hilarity prevail. + +In streets like Holborn and Tottenham Court Road, which form the +central market of a large neighbourhood, inhabited by a vast number +of mechanics and poor people, a few shops are open at an early hour +of the morning; and a very poor man, with a thin and sickly woman +by his side, may be seen with their little basket in hand, +purchasing the scanty quantity of necessaries they can afford, +which the time at which the man receives his wages, or his having a +good deal of work to do, or the woman's having been out charing +till a late hour, prevented their procuring over-night. The +coffee-shops too, at which clerks and young men employed in +counting-houses can procure their breakfasts, are also open. This +class comprises, in a place like London, an enormous number of +people, whose limited means prevent their engaging for their +lodgings any other apartment than a bedroom, and who have +consequently no alternative but to take their breakfasts at a +coffee-shop, or go without it altogether. All these places, +however, are quickly closed; and by the time the church bells begin +to ring, all appearance of traffic has ceased. And then, what are +the signs of immorality that meet the eye? Churches are well +filled, and Dissenters' chapels are crowded to suffocation. There +is no preaching to empty benches, while the drunken and dissolute +populace run riot in the streets. + +Here is a fashionable church, where the service commences at a late +hour, for the accommodation of such members of the congregation-- +and they are not a few--as may happen to have lingered at the Opera +far into the morning of the Sabbath; an excellent contrivance for +poising the balance between God and Mammon, and illustrating the +ease with which a man's duties to both, may be accommodated and +adjusted. How the carriages rattle up, and deposit their richly- +dressed burdens beneath the lofty portico! The powdered footmen +glide along the aisle, place the richly-bound prayer-books on the +pew desks, slam the doors, and hurry away, leaving the fashionable +members of the congregation to inspect each other through their +glasses, and to dazzle and glitter in the eyes of the few shabby +people in the free seats. The organ peals forth, the hired singers +commence a short hymn, and the congregation condescendingly rise, +stare about them, and converse in whispers. The clergyman enters +the reading-desk,--a young man of noble family and elegant +demeanour, notorious at Cambridge for his knowledge of horse-flesh +and dancers, and celebrated at Eton for his hopeless stupidity. +The service commences. Mark the soft voice in which he reads, and +the impressive manner in which he applies his white hand, studded +with brilliants, to his perfumed hair. Observe the graceful +emphasis with which he offers up the prayers for the King, the +Royal Family, and all the Nobility; and the nonchalance with which +he hurries over the more uncomfortable portions of the service, the +seventh commandment for instance, with a studied regard for the +taste and feeling of his auditors, only to be equalled by that +displayed by the sleek divine who succeeds him, who murmurs, in a +voice kept down by rich feeding, most comfortable doctrines for +exactly twelve minutes, and then arrives at the anxiously expected +'Now to God,' which is the signal for the dismissal of the +congregation. The organ is again heard; those who have been asleep +wake up, and those who have kept awake, smile and seem greatly +relieved; bows and congratulations are exchanged, the livery +servants are all bustle and commotion, bang go the steps, up jump +the footmen, and off rattle the carriages: the inmates discoursing +on the dresses of the congregation, and congratulating themselves +on having set so excellent an example to the community in general, +and Sunday-pleasurers in particular. + +Enter a less orthodox place of religious worship, and observe the +contrast. A small close chapel with a white-washed wall, and plain +deal pews and pulpit, contains a closely-packed congregation, as +different in dress, as they are opposed in manner, to that we have +just quitted. The hymn is sung--not by paid singers, but by the +whole assembly at the loudest pitch of their voices, unaccompanied +by any musical instrument, the words being given out, two lines at +a time, by the clerk. There is something in the sonorous quavering +of the harsh voices, in the lank and hollow faces of the men, and +the sour solemnity of the women, which bespeaks this a strong-hold +of intolerant zeal and ignorant enthusiasm. The preacher enters +the pulpit. He is a coarse, hard-faced man of forbidding aspect, +clad in rusty black, and bearing in his hand a small plain Bible +from which he selects some passage for his text, while the hymn is +concluding. The congregation fall upon their knees, and are hushed +into profound stillness as he delivers an extempore prayer, in +which he calls upon the Sacred Founder of the Christian faith to +bless his ministry, in terms of disgusting and impious familiarity +not to be described. He begins his oration in a drawling tone, and +his hearers listen with silent attention. He grows warmer as he +proceeds with his subject, and his gesticulation becomes +proportionately violent. He clenches his fists, beats the book +upon the desk before him, and swings his arms wildly about his +head. The congregation murmur their acquiescence in his doctrines: +and a short groan, occasionally bears testimony to the moving +nature of his eloquence. Encouraged by these symptoms of approval, +and working himself up to a pitch of enthusiasm amounting almost to +frenzy, he denounces sabbath-breakers with the direst vengeance of +offended Heaven. He stretches his body half out of the pulpit, +thrusts forth his arms with frantic gestures, and blasphemously +calls upon The Deity to visit with eternal torments, those who turn +aside from the word, as interpreted and preached by--himself. A +low moaning is heard, the women rock their bodies to and fro, and +wring their hands; the preacher's fervour increases, the +perspiration starts upon his brow, his face is flushed, and he +clenches his hands convulsively, as he draws a hideous and +appalling picture of the horrors preparing for the wicked in a +future state. A great excitement is visible among his hearers, a +scream is heard, and some young girl falls senseless on the floor. +There is a momentary rustle, but it is only for a moment--all eyes +are turned towards the preacher. He pauses, passes his +handkerchief across his face, and looks complacently round. His +voice resumes its natural tone, as with mock humility he offers up +a thanksgiving for having been successful in his efforts, and +having been permitted to rescue one sinner from the path of evil. +He sinks back into his seat, exhausted with the violence of his +ravings; the girl is removed, a hymn is sung, a petition for some +measure for securing the better observance of the Sabbath, which +has been prepared by the good man, is read; and his worshipping +admirers struggle who shall be the first to sign it. + +But the morning service has concluded, and the streets are again +crowded with people. Long rows of cleanly-dressed charity +children, preceded by a portly beadle and a withered schoolmaster, +are returning to their welcome dinner; and it is evident, from the +number of men with beer-trays who are running from house to house, +that no inconsiderable portion of the population are about to take +theirs at this early hour. The bakers' shops in the humbler +suburbs especially, are filled with men, women, and children, each +anxiously waiting for the Sunday dinner. Look at the group of +children who surround that working man who has just emerged from +the baker's shop at the corner of the street, with the reeking +dish, in which a diminutive joint of mutton simmers above a vast +heap of half-browned potatoes. How the young rogues clap their +hands, and dance round their father, for very joy at the prospect +of the feast: and how anxiously the youngest and chubbiest of the +lot, lingers on tiptoe by his side, trying to get a peep into the +interior of the dish. They turn up the street, and the chubby- +faced boy trots on as fast as his little legs will carry him, to +herald the approach of the dinner to 'Mother' who is standing with +a baby in her arms on the doorstep, and who seems almost as pleased +with the whole scene as the children themselves; whereupon 'baby' +not precisely understanding the importance of the business in hand, +but clearly perceiving that it is something unusually lively, kicks +and crows most lustily, to the unspeakable delight of all the +children and both the parents: and the dinner is borne into the +house amidst a shouting of small voices, and jumping of fat legs, +which would fill Sir Andrew Agnew with astonishment; as well it +might, seeing that Baronets, generally speaking, eat pretty +comfortable dinners all the week through, and cannot be expected to +understand what people feel, who only have a meat dinner on one day +out of every seven. + +The bakings being all duly consigned to their respective owners, +and the beer-man having gone his rounds, the church bells ring for +afternoon service, the shops are again closed, and the streets are +more than ever thronged with people; some who have not been to +church in the morning, going to it now; others who have been to +church, going out for a walk; and others--let us admit the full +measure of their guilt--going for a walk, who have not been to +church at all. I am afraid the smart servant of all work, who has +been loitering at the corner of the square for the last ten +minutes, is one of the latter class. She is evidently waiting for +somebody, and though she may have made up her mind to go to church +with him one of these mornings, I don't think they have any such +intention on this particular afternoon. Here he is, at last. The +white trousers, blue coat, and yellow waistcoat--and more +especially that cock of the hat--indicate, as surely as inanimate +objects can, that Chalk Farm and not the parish church, is their +destination. The girl colours up, and puts out her hand with a +very awkward affectation of indifference. He gives it a gallant +squeeze, and away they walk, arm in arm, the girl just looking back +towards her 'place' with an air of conscious self-importance, and +nodding to her fellow-servant who has gone up to the two-pair-of- +stairs window, to take a full view of 'Mary's young man,' which +being communicated to William, he takes off his hat to the fellow- +servant: a proceeding which affords unmitigated satisfaction to +all parties, and impels the fellow-servant to inform Miss Emily +confidentially, in the course of the evening, 'that the young man +as Mary keeps company with, is one of the most genteelest young men +as ever she see.' + +The two young people who have just crossed the road, and are +following this happy couple down the street, are a fair specimen of +another class of Sunday--pleasurers. There is a dapper smartness, +struggling through very limited means, about the young man, which +induces one to set him down at once as a junior clerk to a +tradesman or attorney. The girl no one could possibly mistake. +You may tell a young woman in the employment of a large dress- +maker, at any time, by a certain neatness of cheap finery and +humble following of fashion, which pervade her whole attire; but +unfortunately there are other tokens not to be misunderstood--the +pale face with its hectic bloom, the slight distortion of form +which no artifice of dress can wholly conceal, the unhealthy stoop, +and the short cough--the effects of hard work and close application +to a sedentary employment, upon a tender frame. They turn towards +the fields. The girl's countenance brightens, and an unwonted glow +rises in her face. They are going to Hampstead or Highgate, to +spend their holiday afternoon in some place where they can see the +sky, the fields, and trees, and breathe for an hour or two the pure +air, which so seldom plays upon that poor girl's form, or +exhilarates her spirits. + +I would to God, that the iron-hearted man who would deprive such +people as these of their only pleasures, could feel the sinking of +heart and soul, the wasting exhaustion of mind and body, the utter +prostration of present strength and future hope, attendant upon +that incessant toil which lasts from day to day, and from month to +month; that toil which is too often protracted until the silence of +midnight, and resumed with the first stir of morning. How +marvellously would his ardent zeal for other men's souls, diminish +after a short probation, and how enlightened and comprehensive +would his views of the real object and meaning of the institution +of the Sabbath become! + +The afternoon is far advanced--the parks and public drives are +crowded. Carriages, gigs, phaetons, stanhopes, and vehicles of +every description, glide smoothly on. The promenades are filled +with loungers on foot, and the road is thronged with loungers on +horseback. Persons of every class are crowded together, here, in +one dense mass. The plebeian, who takes his pleasure on no day but +Sunday, jostles the patrician, who takes his, from year's end to +year's end. You look in vain for any outward signs of profligacy +or debauchery. You see nothing before you but a vast number of +people, the denizens of a large and crowded city, in the needful +and rational enjoyment of air and exercise. + +It grows dusk. The roads leading from the different places of +suburban resort, are crowded with people on their return home, and +the sound of merry voices rings through the gradually darkening +fields. The evening is hot and sultry. The rich man throws open +the sashes of his spacious dining-room, and quaffs his iced wine in +splendid luxury. The poor man, who has no room to take his meals +in, but the close apartment to which he and his family have been +confined throughout the week, sits in the tea-garden of some famous +tavern, and drinks his beer in content and comfort. The fields and +roads are gradually deserted, the crowd once more pour into the +streets, and disperse to their several homes; and by midnight all +is silent and quiet, save where a few stragglers linger beneath the +window of some great man's house, to listen to the strains of music +from within: or stop to gaze upon the splendid carriages which are +waiting to convey the guests from the dinner-party of an Earl. + +There is a darker side to this picture, on which, so far from its +being any part of my purpose to conceal it, I wish to lay +particular stress. In some parts of London, and in many of the +manufacturing towns of England, drunkenness and profligacy in their +most disgusting forms, exhibit in the open streets on Sunday, a sad +and a degrading spectacle. We need go no farther than St. Giles's, +or Drury Lane, for sights and scenes of a most repulsive nature. +Women with scarcely the articles of apparel which common decency +requires, with forms bloated by disease, and faces rendered hideous +by habitual drunkenness--men reeling and staggering along--children +in rags and filth--whole streets of squalid and miserable +appearance, whose inhabitants are lounging in the public road, +fighting, screaming, and swearing--these are the common objects +which present themselves in, these are the well-known +characteristics of, that portion of London to which I have just +referred. + +And why is it, that all well-disposed persons are shocked, and +public decency scandalised, by such exhibitions? + +These people are poor--that is notorious. It may be said that they +spend in liquor, money with which they might purchase necessaries, +and there is no denying the fact; but let it be remembered that +even if they applied every farthing of their earnings in the best +possible way, they would still be very--very poor. Their dwellings +are necessarily uncomfortable, and to a certain degree unhealthy. +Cleanliness might do much, but they are too crowded together, the +streets are too narrow, and the rooms too small, to admit of their +ever being rendered desirable habitations. They work very hard all +the week. We know that the effect of prolonged and arduous labour, +is to produce, when a period of rest does arrive, a sensation of +lassitude which it requires the application of some stimulus to +overcome. What stimulus have they? Sunday comes, and with it a +cessation of labour. How are they to employ the day, or what +inducement have they to employ it, in recruiting their stock of +health? They see little parties, on pleasure excursions, passing +through the streets; but they cannot imitate their example, for +they have not the means. They may walk, to be sure, but it is +exactly the inducement to walk that they require. If every one of +these men knew, that by taking the trouble to walk two or three +miles he would be enabled to share in a good game of cricket, or +some athletic sport, I very much question whether any of them would +remain at home. + +But you hold out no inducement, you offer no relief from +listlessness, you provide nothing to amuse his mind, you afford him +no means of exercising his body. Unwashed and unshaven, he +saunters moodily about, weary and dejected. In lieu of the +wholesome stimulus he might derive from nature, you drive him to +the pernicious excitement to be gained from art. He flies to the +gin-shop as his only resource; and when, reduced to a worse level +than the lowest brute in the scale of creation, he lies wallowing +in the kennel, your saintly lawgivers lift up their hands to +heaven, and exclaim for a law which shall convert the day intended +for rest and cheerfulness, into one of universal gloom, bigotry, +and persecution. + + + +CHAPTER II--AS SABBATH BILLS WOULD MAKE IT + + + +The provisions of the bill introduced into the House of Commons by +Sir Andrew Agnew, and thrown out by that House on the motion for +the second reading, on the 18th of May in the present year, by a +majority of 32, may very fairly be taken as a test of the length to +which the fanatics, of which the honourable Baronet is the +distinguished leader, are prepared to go. No test can be fairer; +because while on the one hand this measure may be supposed to +exhibit all that improvement which mature reflection and long +deliberation may have suggested, so on the other it may very +reasonably be inferred, that if it be quite as severe in its +provisions, and to the full as partial in its operation, as those +which have preceded it and experienced a similar fate, the disease +under which the honourable Baronet and his friends labour, is +perfectly hopeless, and beyond the reach of cure. + +The proposed enactments of the bill are briefly these:- All work is +prohibited on the Lord's day, under heavy penalties, increasing +with every repetition of the offence. There are penalties for +keeping shops open--penalties for drunkenness--penalties for +keeping open houses of entertainment--penalties for being present +at any public meeting or assembly--penalties for letting carriages, +and penalties for hiring them--penalties for travelling in steam- +boats, and penalties for taking passengers--penalties on vessels +commencing their voyage on Sunday--penalties on the owners of +cattle who suffer them to be driven on the Lord's day--penalties on +constables who refuse to act, and penalties for resisting them when +they do. In addition to these trifles, the constables are invested +with arbitrary, vexatious, and most extensive powers; and all this +in a bill which sets out with a hypocritical and canting +declaration that 'nothing is more acceptable to God than the TRUE +AND SINCERE worship of Him according to His holy will, and that it +is the bounden duty of Parliament to promote the observance of the +Lord's day, by protecting every class of society against being +required to sacrifice their comfort, health, religious privileges, +and conscience, for the convenience, enjoyment, or supposed +advantage of any other class on the Lord's day'! The idea of +making a man truly moral through the ministry of constables, and +sincerely religious under the influence of penalties, is worthy of +the mind which could form such a mass of monstrous absurdity as +this bill is composed of. + +The House of Commons threw the measure out certainly, and by so +doing retrieved the disgrace--so far as it could be retrieved--of +placing among the printed papers of Parliament, such an egregious +specimen of legislative folly; but there was a degree of delicacy +and forbearance about the debate that took place, which I cannot +help thinking as unnecessary and uncalled for, as it is unusual in +Parliamentary discussions. If it had been the first time of Sir +Andrew Agnew's attempting to palm such a measure upon the country, +we might well understand, and duly appreciate, the delicate and +compassionate feeling due to the supposed weakness and imbecility +of the man, which prevented his proposition being exposed in its +true colours, and induced this Hon. Member to bear testimony to his +excellent motives, and that Noble Lord to regret that he could not- +-although he had tried to do so--adopt any portion of the bill. +But when these attempts have been repeated, again and again; when +Sir Andrew Agnew has renewed them session after session, and when +it has become palpably evident to the whole House that + + +His impudence of proof in every trial, +Kens no polite, and heeds no plain denial - + + +it really becomes high time to speak of him and his legislation, as +they appear to deserve, without that gloss of politeness, which is +all very well in an ordinary case, but rather out of place when the +liberties and comforts of a whole people are at stake. + +In the first place, it is by no means the worst characteristic of +this bill, that it is a bill of blunders: it is, from beginning to +end, a piece of deliberate cruelty, and crafty injustice. If the +rich composed the whole population of this country, not a single +comfort of one single man would be affected by it. It is directed +exclusively, and without the exception of a solitary instance, +against the amusements and recreations of the poor. This was the +bait held out by the Hon. Baronet to a body of men, who cannot be +supposed to have any very strong sympathies in common with the +poor, because they cannot understand their sufferings or their +struggles. This is the bait, which will in time prevail, unless +public attention is awakened, and public feeling exerted, to +prevent it. + +Take the very first clause, the provision that no man shall be +allowed to work on Sunday--'That no person, upon the Lord's day, +shall do, or hire, or employ any person to do any manner of labour, +or any work of his or her ordinary calling.' What class of persons +does this affect? The rich man? No. Menial servants, both male +and female, are specially exempted from the operation of the bill. +'Menial servants' are among the poor people. The bill has no +regard for them. The Baronet's dinner must be cooked on Sunday, +the Bishop's horses must be groomed, and the Peer's carriage must +be driven. So the menial servants are put utterly beyond the pale +of grace;--unless indeed, they are to go to heaven through the +sanctity of their masters, and possibly they might think even that, +rather an uncertain passport. + +There is a penalty for keeping open, houses of entertainment. Now, +suppose the bill had passed, and that half-a-dozen adventurous +licensed victuallers, relying upon the excitement of public feeling +on the subject, and the consequent difficulty of conviction (this +is by no means an improbable supposition), had determined to keep +their houses and gardens open, through the whole Sunday afternoon, +in defiance of the law. Every act of hiring or working, every act +of buying or selling, or delivering, or causing anything to be +bought or sold, is specifically made a separate offence--mark the +effect. A party, a man and his wife and children, enter a tea- +garden, and the informer stations himself in the next box, from +whence he can see and hear everything that passes. 'Waiter!' says +the father. 'Yes. Sir.' 'Pint of the best ale!' 'Yes, Sir.' +Away runs the waiter to the bar, and gets the ale from the +landlord. Out comes the informer's note-book--penalty on the +father for hiring, on the waiter for delivering, and on the +landlord for selling, on the Lord's day. But it does not stop +here. The waiter delivers the ale, and darts off, little +suspecting the penalties in store for him. 'Hollo,' cries the +father, 'waiter!' 'Yes, Sir.' 'Just get this little boy a +biscuit, will you?' 'Yes, Sir.' Off runs the waiter again, and +down goes another case of hiring, another case of delivering, and +another case of selling; and so it would go on ad infinitum, the +sum and substance of the matter being, that every time a man or +woman cried 'Waiter!' on Sunday, he or she would be fined not less +than forty shillings, nor more than a hundred; and every time a +waiter replied, 'Yes, Sir,' he and his master would be fined in the +same amount: with the addition of a new sort of window duty on the +landlord, to wit, a tax of twenty shillings an hour for every hour +beyond the first one, during which he should have his shutters down +on the Sabbath. + +With one exception, there are perhaps no clauses in the whole bill, +so strongly illustrative of its partial operation, and the +intention of its framer, as those which relate to travelling on +Sunday. Penalties of ten, twenty, and thirty pounds, are +mercilessly imposed upon coach proprietors who shall run their +coaches on the Sabbath; one, two, and ten pounds upon those who +hire, or let to hire, horses and carriages upon the Lord's day, but +not one syllable about those who have no necessity to hire, because +they have carriages and horses of their own; not one word of a +penalty on liveried coachmen and footmen. The whole of the saintly +venom is directed against the hired cabriolet, the humble fly, or +the rumbling hackney-coach, which enables a man of the poorer class +to escape for a few hours from the smoke and dirt, in the midst of +which he has been confined throughout the week: while the +escutcheoned carriage and the dashing cab, may whirl their wealthy +owners to Sunday feasts and private oratorios, setting constables, +informers, and penalties, at defiance. Again, in the description +of the places of public resort which it is rendered criminal to +attend on Sunday, there are no words comprising a very fashionable +promenade. Public discussions, public debates, public lectures and +speeches, are cautiously guarded against; for it is by their means +that the people become enlightened enough to deride the last +efforts of bigotry and superstition. There is a stringent +provision for punishing the poor man who spends an hour in a news- +room, but there is nothing to prevent the rich one from lounging +away the day in the Zoological Gardens. + +There is, in four words, a mock proviso, which affects to forbid +travelling 'with any animal' on the Lord's day. This, however, is +revoked, as relates to the rich man, by a subsequent provision. We +have then a penalty of not less than fifty, nor more than one +hundred pounds, upon any person participating in the control, or +having the command of any vessel which shall commence her voyage on +the Lord's day, should the wind prove favourable. The next time +this bill is brought forward (which will no doubt be at an early +period of the next session of Parliament) perhaps it will be better +to amend this clause by declaring, that from and after the passing +of the act, it shall be deemed unlawful for the wind to blow at all +upon the Sabbath. It would remove a great deal of temptation from +the owners and captains of vessels. + +The reader is now in possession of the principal enacting clauses +of Sir Andrew Agnew's bill, with the exception of one, for +preventing the killing or taking of 'FISH, OR OTHER WILD ANIMALS,' +and the ordinary provisions which are inserted for form's sake in +all acts of Parliament. I now beg his attention to the clauses of +exemption. + +They are two in number. The first exempts menial servants from any +rest, and all poor men from any recreation: outlaws a milkman +after nine o'clock in the morning, and makes eating-houses lawful +for only two hours in the afternoon; permits a medical man to use +his carriage on Sunday, and declares that a clergyman may either +use his own, or hire one. + +The second is artful, cunning, and designing; shielding the rich +man from the possibility of being entrapped, and affecting at the +same time, to have a tender and scrupulous regard, for the +interests of the whole community. It declares, 'that nothing in +this act contained, shall extend to works of piety, charity, or +necessity.' + +What is meant by the word 'necessity' in this clause? Simply this- +-that the rich man shall be at liberty to make use of all the +splendid luxuries he has collected around him, on any day in the +week, because habit and custom have rendered them 'necessary' to +his easy existence; but that the poor man who saves his money to +provide some little pleasure for himself and family at lengthened +intervals, shall not be permitted to enjoy it. It is not +'necessary' to him:- Heaven knows, he very often goes long enough +without it. This is the plain English of the clause. The carriage +and pair of horses, the coachman, the footman, the helper, and the +groom, are 'necessary' on Sundays, as on other days, to the bishop +and the nobleman; but the hackney-coach, the hired gig, or the +taxed cart, cannot possibly be 'necessary' to the working-man on +Sunday, for he has it not at other times. The sumptuous dinner and +the rich wines, are 'necessaries' to a great man in his own +mansion: but the pint of beer and the plate of meat, degrade the +national character in an eating-house. + +Such is the bill for promoting the true and sincere worship of God +according to his Holy Will, and for protecting every class of +society against being required to sacrifice their health and +comfort on the Sabbath. Instances in which its operation would be +as unjust as it would be absurd, might be multiplied to an endless +amount; but it is sufficient to place its leading provisions before +the reader. In doing so, I have purposely abstained from drawing +upon the imagination for possible cases; the provisions to which I +have referred, stand in so many words upon the bill as printed by +order of the House of Commons; and they can neither be disowned, +nor explained away. + +Let us suppose such a bill as this, to have actually passed both +branches of the legislature; to have received the royal assent; and +to have come into operation. Imagine its effect in a great city +like London. + +Sunday comes, and brings with it a day of general gloom and +austerity. The man who has been toiling hard all the week, has +been looking towards the Sabbath, not as to a day of rest from +labour, and healthy recreation, but as one of grievous tyranny and +grinding oppression. The day which his Maker intended as a +blessing, man has converted into a curse. Instead of being hailed +by him as his period of relaxation, he finds it remarkable only as +depriving him of every comfort and enjoyment. He has many children +about him, all sent into the world at an early age, to struggle for +a livelihood; one is kept in a warehouse all day, with an interval +of rest too short to enable him to reach home, another walks four +or five miles to his employment at the docks, a third earns a few +shillings weekly, as an errand boy, or office messenger; and the +employment of the man himself, detains him at some distance from +his home from morning till night. Sunday is the only day on which +they could all meet together, and enjoy a homely meal in social +comfort; and now they sit down to a cold and cheerless dinner: the +pious guardians of the man's salvation having, in their regard for +the welfare of his precious soul, shut up the bakers' shops. The +fire blazes high in the kitchen chimney of these well-fed +hypocrites, and the rich steams of the savoury dinner scent the +air. What care they to be told that this class of men have neither +a place to cook in--nor means to bear the expense, if they had? + +Look into your churches--diminished congregations, and scanty +attendance. People have grown sullen and obstinate, and are +becoming disgusted with the faith which condemns them to such a day +as this, once in every seven. And as you cannot make people +religious by Act of Parliament, or force them to church by +constables, they display their feeling by staying away. + +Turn into the streets, and mark the rigid gloom that reigns over +everything around. The roads are empty, the fields are deserted, +the houses of entertainment are closed. Groups of filthy and +discontented-looking men, are idling about at the street corners, +or sleeping in the sun; but there are no decently-dressed people of +the poorer class, passing to and fro. Where should they walk to? +It would take them an hour, at least, to get into the fields, and +when they reached them, they could procure neither bite nor sup, +without the informer and the penalty. Now and then, a carriage +rolls smoothly on, or a well-mounted horseman, followed by a +liveried attendant, canters by; but with these exceptions, all is +as melancholy and quiet as if a pestilence had fallen on the city. + +Bend your steps through the narrow and thickly-inhabited streets, +and observe the sallow faces of the men and women who are lounging +at the doors, or lolling from the windows. Regard well the +closeness of these crowded rooms, and the noisome exhalations that +rise from the drains and kennels; and then laud the triumph of +religion and morality, which condemns people to drag their lives +out in such stews as these, and makes it criminal for them to eat +or drink in the fresh air, or under the clear sky. Here and there, +from some half-opened window, the loud shout of drunken revelry +strikes upon the ear, and the noise of oaths and quarrelling--the +effect of the close and heated atmosphere--is heard on all sides. +See how the men all rush to join the crowd that are making their +way down the street, and how loud the execrations of the mob become +as they draw nearer. They have assembled round a little knot of +constables, who have seized the stock-in-trade, heinously exposed +on Sunday, of some miserable walking-stick seller, who follows +clamouring for his property. The dispute grows warmer and fiercer, +until at last some of the more furious among the crowd, rush +forward to restore the goods to their owner. A general conflict +takes place; the sticks of the constables are exercised in all +directions; fresh assistance is procured; and half a dozen of the +assailants are conveyed to the station-house, struggling, bleeding, +and cursing. The case is taken to the police-office on the +following morning; and after a frightful amount of perjury on both +sides, the men are sent to prison for resisting the officers, their +families to the workhouse to keep them from starving: and there +they both remain for a month afterwards, glorious trophies of the +sanctified enforcement of the Christian Sabbath. Add to such +scenes as these, the profligacy, idleness, drunkenness, and vice, +that will be committed to an extent which no man can foresee, on +Monday, as an atonement for the restraint of the preceding day; and +you have a very faint and imperfect picture of the religious +effects of this Sunday legislation, supposing it could ever be +forced upon the people. + +But let those who advocate the cause of fanaticism, reflect well +upon the probable issue of their endeavours. They may by +perseverance, succeed with Parliament. Let them ponder on the +probability of succeeding with the people. You may deny the +concession of a political question for a time, and a nation will +bear it patiently. Strike home to the comforts of every man's +fireside--tamper with every man's freedom and liberty--and one +month, one week, may rouse a feeling abroad, which a king would +gladly yield his crown to quell, and a peer would resign his +coronet to allay. + +It is the custom to affect a deference for the motives of those who +advocate these measures, and a respect for the feelings by which +they are actuated. They do not deserve it. If they legislate in +ignorance, they are criminal and dishonest; if they do so with +their eyes open, they commit wilful injustice; in either case, they +bring religion into contempt. But they do NOT legislate in +ignorance. Public prints, and public men, have pointed out to them +again and again, the consequences of their proceedings. If they +persist in thrusting themselves forward, let those consequences +rest upon their own heads, and let them be content to stand upon +their own merits. + +It may be asked, what motives can actuate a man who has so little +regard for the comfort of his fellow-beings, so little respect for +their wants and necessities, and so distorted a notion of the +beneficence of his Creator. I reply, an envious, heartless, ill- +conditioned dislike to seeing those whom fortune has placed below +him, cheerful and happy--an intolerant confidence in his own high +worthiness before God, and a lofty impression of the demerits of +others--pride, selfish pride, as inconsistent with the spirit of +Christianity itself, as opposed to the example of its Founder upon +earth. + +To these may be added another class of men--the stern and gloomy +enthusiasts, who would make earth a hell, and religion a torment: +men who, having wasted the earlier part of their lives in +dissipation and depravity, find themselves when scarcely past its +meridian, steeped to the neck in vice, and shunned like a loathsome +disease. Abandoned by the world, having nothing to fall back upon, +nothing to remember but time mis-spent, and energies misdirected, +they turn their eyes and not their thoughts to Heaven, and delude +themselves into the impious belief, that in denouncing the +lightness of heart of which they cannot partake, and the rational +pleasures from which they never derived enjoyment, they are more +than remedying the sins of their old career, and--like the founders +of monasteries and builders of churches, in ruder days-- +establishing a good set claim upon their Maker. + + + +CHAPTER III--AS IT MIGHT BE MADE + + + +The supporters of Sabbath Bills, and more especially the extreme +class of Dissenters, lay great stress upon the declarations +occasionally made by criminals from the condemned cell or the +scaffold, that to Sabbath-breaking they attribute their first +deviation from the path of rectitude; and they point to these +statements, as an incontestable proof of the evil consequences +which await a departure from that strict and rigid observance of +the Sabbath, which they uphold. I cannot help thinking that in +this, as in almost every other respect connected with the subject, +there is a considerable degree of cant, and a very great deal of +wilful blindness. If a man be viciously disposed--and with very +few exceptions, not a man dies by the executioner's hands, who has +not been in one way or other a most abandoned and profligate +character for many years--if a man be viciously disposed, there is +no doubt that he will turn his Sunday to bad account, that he will +take advantage of it, to dissipate with other bad characters as +vile as himself; and that in this way, he may trace his first +yielding to temptation, possibly his first commission of crime, to +an infringement of the Sabbath. But this would be an argument +against any holiday at all. If his holiday had been Wednesday +instead of Sunday, and he had devoted it to the same improper uses, +it would have been productive of the same results. It is too much +to judge of the character of a whole people, by the confessions of +the very worst members of society. It is not fair, to cry down +things which are harmless in themselves, because evil-disposed men +may turn them to bad account. Who ever thought of deprecating the +teaching poor people to write, because some porter in a warehouse +had committed forgery? Or into what man's head did it ever enter, +to prevent the crowding of churches, because it afforded a +temptation for the picking of pockets? + +When the Book of Sports, for allowing the peasantry of England to +divert themselves with certain games in the open air, on Sundays, +after evening service, was published by Charles the First, it is +needless to say the English people were comparatively rude and +uncivilised. And yet it is extraordinary to how few excesses it +gave rise, even in that day, when men's minds were not enlightened, +or their passions moderated, by the influence of education and +refinement. That some excesses were committed through its means, +in the remoter parts of the country, and that it was discontinued +in those places, in consequence, cannot be denied: but generally +speaking, there is no proof whatever on record, of its having had +any tendency to increase crime, or to lower the character of the +people. + +The Puritans of that time, were as much opposed to harmless +recreations and healthful amusements as those of the present day, +and it is amusing to observe that each in their generation, advance +precisely the same description of arguments. In the British +Museum, there is a curious pamphlet got up by the Agnews of +Charles's time, entitled 'A Divine Tragedie lately acted, or a +Collection of sundry memorable examples of God's Judgements upon +Sabbath Breakers, and other like Libertines in their unlawful +Sports, happening within the realme of England, in the compass only +of two yeares last past, since the Booke (of Sports) was published, +worthy to be knowne and considered of all men, especially such who +are guilty of the sinne, or archpatrons thereof.' This amusing +document, contains some fifty or sixty veritable accounts of balls +of fire that fell into churchyards and upset the sporters, and +sporters that quarrelled, and upset one another, and so forth: and +among them is one anecdote containing an example of a rather +different kind, which I cannot resist the temptation of quoting, as +strongly illustrative of the fact, that this blinking of the +question has not even the recommendation of novelty. + +'A woman about Northampton, the same day that she heard the booke +for sports read, went immediately, and having 3. pence in her +purse, hired a fellow to goe to the next towne to fetch a +Minstrell, who coming, she with others fell a dauncing, which +continued within night; at which time shee was got with child, +which at the birth shee murthering, was detected and apprehended, +and being converted before the justice, shee confessed it, and +withal told the occasion of it, saying it was her falling to sport +on the Sabbath, upon the reading of the Booke, so as for this +treble sinfull act, her presumptuous profaning of the Sabbath, wh. +brought her adultory and that murther. Shee was according to the +Law both of God and man, put to death. Much sinne and misery +followeth upon Sabbath-breaking.' + +It is needless to say, that if the young lady near Northampton had +'fallen to sport' of such a dangerous description, on any other day +but Sunday, the first result would probably have been the same: it +never having been distinctly shown that Sunday is more favourable +to the propagation of the human race than any other day in the +week. The second result--the murder of the child--does not speak +very highly for the amiability of her natural disposition; and the +whole story, supposing it to have had any foundation at all, is +about as much chargeable upon the Book of Sports, as upon the Book +of Kings. Such 'sports' have taken place in Dissenting Chapels +before now; but religion has never been blamed in consequence; nor +has it been proposed to shut up the chapels on that account. + +The question, then, very fairly arises, whether we have any reason +to suppose that allowing games in the open air on Sundays, or even +providing the means of amusement for the humbler classes of society +on that day, would be hurtful and injurious to the character and +morals of the people. + +I was travelling in the west of England a summer or two back, and +was induced by the beauty of the scenery, and the seclusion of the +spot, to remain for the night in a small village, distant about +seventy miles from London. The next morning was Sunday; and I +walked out, towards the church. Groups of people--the whole +population of the little hamlet apparently--were hastening in the +same direction. Cheerful and good-humoured congratulations were +heard on all sides, as neighbours overtook each other, and walked +on in company. Occasionally I passed an aged couple, whose married +daughter and her husband were loitering by the side of the old +people, accommodating their rate of walking to their feeble pace, +while a little knot of children hurried on before; stout young +labourers in clean round frocks; and buxom girls with healthy, +laughing faces, were plentifully sprinkled about in couples, and +the whole scene was one of quiet and tranquil contentment, +irresistibly captivating. The morning was bright and pleasant, the +hedges were green and blooming, and a thousand delicious scents +were wafted on the air, from the wild flowers which blossomed on +either side of the footpath. The little church was one of those +venerable simple buildings which abound in the English counties; +half overgrown with moss and ivy, and standing in the centre of a +little plot of ground, which, but for the green mounds with which +it was studded, might have passed for a lovely meadow. I fancied +that the old clanking bell which was now summoning the congregation +together, would seem less terrible when it rung out the knell of a +departed soul, than I had ever deemed possible before--that the +sound would tell only of a welcome to calmness and rest, amidst the +most peaceful and tranquil scene in nature. + +I followed into the church--a low-roofed building with small arched +windows, through which the sun's rays streamed upon a plain tablet +on the opposite wall, which had once recorded names, now as +undistinguishable on its worn surface, as were the bones beneath, +from the dust into which they had resolved. The impressive service +of the Church of England was spoken--not merely READ--by a grey- +headed minister, and the responses delivered by his auditors, with +an air of sincere devotion as far removed from affectation or +display, as from coldness or indifference. The psalms were +accompanied by a few instrumental performers, who were stationed in +a small gallery extending across the church at the lower end, over +the door: and the voices were led by the clerk, who, it was +evident, derived no slight pride and gratification from this +portion of the service. The discourse was plain, unpretending, and +well adapted to the comprehension of the hearers. At the +conclusion of the service, the villagers waited in the churchyard, +to salute the clergyman as he passed; and two or three, I observed, +stepped aside, as if communicating some little difficulty, and +asking his advice. This, to guess from the homely bows, and other +rustic expressions of gratitude, the old gentleman readily +conceded. He seemed intimately acquainted with the circumstances +of all his parishioners; for I heard him inquire after one man's +youngest child, another man's wife, and so forth; and that he was +fond of his joke, I discovered from overhearing him ask a stout, +fresh-coloured young fellow, with a very pretty bashful-looking +girl on his arm, 'when those banns were to be put up?'--an inquiry +which made the young fellow more fresh-coloured, and the girl more +bashful, and which, strange to say, caused a great many other girls +who were standing round, to colour up also, and look anywhere but +in the faces of their male companions. + +As I approached this spot in the evening about half an hour before +sunset, I was surprised to hear the hum of voices, and occasionally +a shout of merriment from the meadow beyond the churchyard; which I +found, when I reached the stile, to be occasioned by a very +animated game of cricket, in which the boys and young men of the +place were engaged, while the females and old people were scattered +about: some seated on the grass watching the progress of the game, +and others sauntering about in groups of two or three, gathering +little nosegays of wild roses and hedge flowers. I could not but +take notice of one old man in particular, with a bright-eyed grand- +daughter by his side, who was giving a sunburnt young fellow some +instructions in the game, which he received with an air of profound +deference, but with an occasional glance at the girl, which induced +me to think that his attention was rather distracted from the old +gentleman's narration of the fruits of his experience. When it was +his turn at the wicket, too, there was a glance towards the pair +every now and then, which the old grandfather very complacently +considered as an appeal to his judgment of a particular hit, but +which a certain blush in the girl's face, and a downcast look of +the bright eye, led me to believe was intended for somebody else +than the old man,--and understood by somebody else, too, or I am +much mistaken. + +I was in the very height of the pleasure which the contemplation of +this scene afforded me, when I saw the old clergyman making his way +towards us. I trembled for an angry interruption to the sport, and +was almost on the point of crying out, to warn the cricketers of +his approach; he was so close upon me, however, that I could do +nothing but remain still, and anticipate the reproof that was +preparing. What was my agreeable surprise to see the old gentleman +standing at the stile, with his hands in his pockets, surveying the +whole scene with evident satisfaction! And how dull I must have +been, not to have known till my friend the grandfather (who, by- +the-bye, said he had been a wonderful cricketer in his time) told +me, that it was the clergyman himself who had established the whole +thing: that it was his field they played in; and that it was he +who had purchased stumps, bats, ball, and all! + +It is such scenes as this, I would see near London, on a Sunday +evening. It is such men as this, who would do more in one year to +make people properly religious, cheerful, and contented, than all +the legislation of a century could ever accomplish. + +It will be said--it has been very often--that it would be matter of +perfect impossibility to make amusements and exercises succeed in +large towns, which may be very well adapted to a country +population. Here, again, we are called upon to yield to bare +assertions on matters of belief and opinion, as if they were +established and undoubted facts. That there is a wide difference +between the two cases, no one will be prepared to dispute; that the +difference is such as to prevent the application of the same +principle to both, no reasonable man, I think, will be disposed to +maintain. The great majority of the people who make holiday on +Sunday now, are industrious, orderly, and well-behaved persons. It +is not unreasonable to suppose that they would be no more inclined +to an abuse of pleasures provided for them, than they are to an +abuse of the pleasures they provide for themselves; and if any +people, for want of something better to do, resort to criminal +practices on the Sabbath as at present observed, no better remedy +for the evil can be imagined, than giving them the opportunity of +doing something which will amuse them, and hurt nobody else. + +The propriety of opening the British Museum to respectable people +on Sunday, has lately been the subject of some discussion. I think +it would puzzle the most austere of the Sunday legislators to +assign any valid reason for opposing so sensible a proposition. +The Museum contains rich specimens from all the vast museums and +repositories of Nature, and rare and curious fragments of the +mighty works of art, in bygone ages: all calculated to awaken +contemplation and inquiry, and to tend to the enlightenment and +improvement of the people. But attendants would be necessary, and +a few men would be employed upon the Sabbath. They certainly +would; but how many? Why, if the British Museum, and the National +Gallery, and the Gallery of Practical Science, and every other +exhibition in London, from which knowledge is to be derived and +information gained, were to be thrown open on a Sunday afternoon, +not fifty people would be required to preside over the whole: and +it would take treble the number to enforce a Sabbath bill in any +three populous parishes. + +I should like to see some large field, or open piece of ground, in +every outskirt of London, exhibiting each Sunday evening on a +larger scale, the scene of the little country meadow. I should +like to see the time arrive, when a man's attendance to his +religious duties might be left to that religious feeling which most +men possess in a greater or less degree, but which was never forced +into the breast of any man by menace or restraint. I should like +to see the time when Sunday might be looked forward to, as a +recognised day of relaxation and enjoyment, and when every man +might feel, what few men do now, that religion is not incompatible +with rational pleasure and needful recreation. + +How different a picture would the streets and public places then +present! The museums, and repositories of scientific and useful +inventions, would be crowded with ingenious mechanics and +industrious artisans, all anxious for information, and all unable +to procure it at any other time. The spacious saloons would be +swarming with practical men: humble in appearance, but destined, +perhaps, to become the greatest inventors and philosophers of their +age. The labourers who now lounge away the day in idleness and +intoxication, would be seen hurrying along, with cheerful faces and +clean attire, not to the close and smoky atmosphere of the public- +house but to the fresh and airy fields. Fancy the pleasant scene. +Throngs of people, pouring out from the lanes and alleys of the +metropolis, to various places of common resort at some short +distance from the town, to join in the refreshing sports and +exercises of the day--the children gambolling in crowds upon the +grass, the mothers looking on, and enjoying themselves the little +game they seem only to direct; other parties strolling along some +pleasant walks, or reposing in the shade of the stately trees; +others again intent upon their different amusements. Nothing +should be heard on all sides, but the sharp stroke of the bat as it +sent the ball skimming along the ground, the clear ring of the +quoit, as it struck upon the iron peg: the noisy murmur of many +voices, and the loud shout of mirth and delight, which would awaken +the echoes far and wide, till the fields rung with it. The day +would pass away, in a series of enjoyments which would awaken no +painful reflections when night arrived; for they would be +calculated to bring with them, only health and contentment. The +young would lose that dread of religion, which the sour austerity +of its professors too often inculcates in youthful bosoms; and the +old would find less difficulty in persuading them to respect its +observances. The drunken and dissipated, deprived of any excuse +for their misconduct, would no longer excite pity but disgust. +Above all, the more ignorant and humble class of men, who now +partake of many of the bitters of life, and taste but few of its +sweets, would naturally feel attachment and respect for that code +of morality, which, regarding the many hardships of their station, +strove to alleviate its rigours, and endeavoured to soften its +asperity. + +This is what Sunday might be made, and what it might be made +without impiety or profanation. The wise and beneficent Creator +who places men upon earth, requires that they shall perform the +duties of that station of life to which they are called, and He can +never intend that the more a man strives to discharge those duties, +the more he shall be debarred from happiness and enjoyment. Let +those who have six days in the week for all the world's pleasures, +appropriate the seventh to fasting and gloom, either for their own +sins or those of other people, if they like to bewail them; but let +those who employ their six days in a worthier manner, devote their +seventh to a different purpose. Let divines set the example of +true morality: preach it to their flocks in the morning, and +dismiss them to enjoy true rest in the afternoon; and let them +select for their text, and let Sunday legislators take for their +motto, the words which fell from the lips of that Master, whose +precepts they misconstrue, and whose lessons they pervert--'The +Sabbath was made for man, and not man to serve the Sabbath.' + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SUNDAY UNDER THREE HEADS *** + +This file should be named suths10.txt or suths10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, suths11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, suths10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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