The Sunday Question

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THE SUNDAY QUESTION.

The question as to the observance of the Sabbath is a very complicated and perplexing one. No amount of discussion in the columns of the press or elsewhere seems to avail in the least toward settling the dispute or putting an end to the war between the ultra-liberal and the ultra-puritanical.

We cannot, in fact, easily perceive how it could be otherwise, considering the diverse feelings and interests of the parties sharing in the discussion. On the one hand we have the religious sentiment, nowhere stronger than here, which advocates a modified form of the old Puritanical blue laws, which is shocked at the selling of a newspaper, or the imbibing of a glass of lager during the sacred hours, and which would taboo everything but sermons and church bells on the Sabbath, and make it a perfect blank, so far as the world’s affairs are concerned. Then again, diametrically opposed to these in sentiment, is the foreign element, consisting of natives of Germany and France who are accustomed to look upon the seventh day of the week as a holiday, devoted to relaxation and amusement, and who can hardly comprehend the religionist when he tells them that they are not to be permitted to visit their bier-gardens, or attend their ball and theatres on the only day of the week on which they have a brief respite from work and a chance to indulge in a little recreation. How to reconcile these two extremes is indeed a problem the elucidation of which is by no means easy. The question is being widely and fully debated, and will at any rate, receive full justice at the hands of the disputants.

We in Brooklyn have had our share of the trouble. Our contest on the Sunday Car question is still fresh in the memories of our readers, and at that time we had our say on the subject. We sincerely condole with our brethren of the New York press upon the tight place in which they find themselves, but we really are somewhat disappointed with the manner in which they conduct the controversy. The Sunday press are of course furious at the onslaught that has been made upon the chief vehicles of their circulation—the newsboys. Of the daily papers those who take part in the fight are all in extremes. The Daily Times, which is circulated a good deal among religious families, takes part with the ultra-sabbatarians and regulates its articles according to the latest fulminations of the Observer¹ and the Independent.² The Herald,³ on the contrary, takes the stubbornest possible stand in the contrary direction. That sheet, indeed, has become more and more infidel in its tendencies during the last few years, and will probably in a short time, throw off the mask altogether. The remaining papers appear to be equally divided.

The great trouble appears to be that nobody has adequately set forth the great blessing as well as the great beauty of Toleration. Let the papers drop their blustering tone and talk calmly and coolly. In place of pitching into the newsboys and milkmen on the one hand, or of reviling all things sacred on the other, let the press counsel mutual forbearance and conciliation. It is about time that the church people found out that Puritanical and ultra-sabbatarian views are out of place in this latitude and in this century, and it is also time that the other side should learn that whole sale abuse and ribaldry, and infidel slang only do infinite harm to their cause, and disgust all right-meaning men who would otherwise feel inclined to fraternize with them. Common sense is, after all, the true test of such questions. We recommend therefore to the disputants the advisability of leaving off their vaporing and employing a little of this rare commodity in their future discussions.

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