SUNDAY GAMES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11293, 19 August 1922, Page 10

SUNDAY GAMES.

SHOULD THEY BE PLAYED V

'Yes,” says Dean Inge, of London.

“The man who oannot play games on week days,” says Dean Inge, of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Is quite justified in playing them on Sundays.”

A certain dean in the South of England—one of the deans who are invested bv their cathedra] statutes with independent power, unlike the older foundations, such as St. Paul’s—has recently given leave to the cathedral choristers to play games on Sunday between the services (says Sean Inge in the “Evening Standard”). Host people approve of his action; some, however, think he was wrong. Those who approve are the large class who think that innocent enjoyment .should always be encouraged, and the Romanising faction in the Church of England, who admire the Continental Sunday. Thofio who condemn the dean are those who value the old Puritan tradition. The question depends so much on history that a brief account of the origin of Sunday may be interesting. What is the origin of the week of seven days? If the ancients had had telescopes and had discovered Uranus and'* Neptune, wo might have had a week of nine days; though, as they coold; not h{ive failed to find out that the sun and moon are not planets, and that the earth is one, the number might have been again reduced to eight. The Babylonians introduced the week, dedicating the days to “the ■even planet*”—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the sun, and the moon. From them it spread to Egypt, Western Asia, and Eastern Europe. The Israelites probably took it over from the Amorites, hut the emphasis on the Sabbath was their own. The Greeks in classical times knew nothing of our week; but tbe Romans, as early as the reign of Augustus, were quite familiar with it, and many superstitious pagans observed the Sabbath. as several writers of tbe period testify. Horace tries to _ escape from a bore bv pleading that “it is the thirtieth Sahbath,” and that he does not want to insult the Jews by exerting himself on that solemn day. A JOYFUL FESTIVAL. St. Paul was clearly against the observance of any fixed days (Rom. xiv., 5; Gal. iv., 10); bat his converts insisted on a weekly festival, so the first day of the week, “the day of the sun,” as everybody called it, was cho-■eng-and the Christians before the end of the first century had renamed it “The Lord’s Day.” Only the northern "nations, when they adopted Christianity, refused to give up the old name (Sunday, Sonntag, etc.). The day was observed as a joyful festival, with an early service before the day’s work, and an evening service with a common meal, after work ing~hours. The early Christian writers insist that the Lord’s Day has nothing- whatever to do with the Jewish Sabbath. For instance, Athanasius, in the* fourth century, says: “We keep no Sabbaths, but we keep the Lord’s Day as a memorial of the beginning of the new creation.” But Sabbatarianism rapidly gained ground in the West. The pressure came not from the ecclesiastics, who at first resisted it, hut from the people, who desired a regular day of rest, and wished to make it compulsory. The Church was obliged to fii.d religions reasons for the rule, and naturally advised that “more time was needed for Divine worship.” Constantino decreed that all work should cease on “the venerable Day of the Sun,” and later emperors closed the theatre and the circus on Sunday. THE PURITANS’ ATTTMPT. In the Dark Ages those regulations were gradually made more stringent, and tbe Fourth Commandment began to be appealed to as deciding how Sunday should be spent. Thomas Aquinas, in the thirteenth centurv. makes himself responsible for the unfortunate statement that the Christians have transferred the observance of the seventh day to the first day of the week. But this rigorous interpretation wap not observed, at any rate by tbe large majority, until the Reformation. Sunday travelling was not forbidden, nor any amusements except tbe theatre and dancing, and it seems that even this prohibition was frequently disregarded. It is qruite a mistake to suppose that the early Protestants were strict Sabbatarians. On the contrary, - Sunday wae in danger of being practically abolished on tbe Continent. Work was dene as on week days; amusements were indulged in without stmt. Even in Scotlnd John Knox played bowls on Sunday, and James I. tried bv proclamation to put down bear-baiting, hull-baiting, “common plays,” and other “disordered pastimes” on “the Sabbath day.” When the Puritans came into power they made a determined attempt to enforce strict Sabbatarianism, after tbe Jewish model, upon the whole nation. They put down bear-baiting, as Macaulay says, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators, Tbe Royalists tried to restore the old license; but publio opinion was against them, and a modified Puritan Sunday became established in England. In Scotland the rigour of the Covenanters survived, and even now it is by no means extinct in the Highlands. Max O’Rell, an amusing French writer on English customs, quotes Prince Bismarck as describing his first visit to London. The great man was whistling on a Sunday, when a bystander remonstrated with him. "I was so indignant that -I took the first train to Edinburgh.” “Poor M. de Bismarck!” remarks the Frenchman; what an inspiration! He has never boasted of his success at Edinburgh—"homme sifileur, au jour de Sabbat.” In tbe Roman Catholic countries the Saints’ Day eclipsed Sunday, which was not much observed, even as a day of rest, except in Spain, where it was, ind is, consecrated to hull fights. The priests try to induce their nocks to attend Mass on Sunday, and do not interfere with them for the rest of the day. SUNDAY TRAVELLING. The Evangelical revival in the nineteenth oentury concentrated itself Upon “Sabbath-day observance.” Groat attempts were made to stop Sunday travelling, and when a railway accident occurred on Sunday a certain head of a college wrote to “The Times” to say that he hoped that the practice would now he discontinued, since it was “as displeasing to myself as vicechancellor and the other heads of colleges, as it lias now been proved to bo to Almighty God and all other right-thinking persons.” The campaign of the Evangelicals

failed, and Sunday travelling is firmly established. One by one, all the taboos fell into discredit. Bicycling, water parties, golf, and tennis became more and tneye common, though cricket has hitherto been confined to weekdays, and few who call themselves dmstains would play cards or go to a theatre on Sunday. Picture galleries and museums have gradually opened their doors. Meanwhile, the working class, which, as I have said, was maimy responsible in the early centuries for the establishment of the Christian Sunday, began to insist on their weekly day of .iest. During the Great War Sunday work could not be avoided; but even the employers were glad to go back to the old rule, and it is very unlikely that shops and factories will ever be I open on Sunday in this country. A FEW CONCLUSIONS. From this hasty survey a' few conclusions may be.drawn: — 1. Sunday is a man-made institution. The Fourth Comandment has no direct bearing on Christian practices. z. rue experience ot 2000 years has shown that it is wise and beneficial to set apart one day in seven as a day of rest. 3. The day should be spent quietly, and come time should be given, not only for public worship, but for such reading or meditation as are conducive to the health of our souls. 4. The day is specially sacred to family life. Husbands, wives, and children should spend it together as much as possible. 5. Although nobody wants to restore the rigours of the Puritan Sunday, very many persons would be morally benefited by a stricter observance of; the day. To abstain from those amusements which are open to us on weekdays is a good rule. The Roman Catholics hfve always understood thy value of a few taboos for which there is no rational justification. They ary a test whether men and women are willing to render any obedience to tbe church where matters of conscience are not involved. I). Recreation is one of the objects of Sunday. The farm of it should be determined by the nature of our work on week-days. The townsman should breathe country air; the man who cannot play any games on week-days is quite justified in playing them on Sundays- In the middle ages Sunday was the regular day for archery practice. 7. The right to rest on one day in seven belongs to everybody. It is very selfish and unreasonable to impose unnecessary work on servants and others on Sunday, and this selfishness is most unamiabl© when it is shown by persons who have their fill of enjoyment all the week. The leisured class would 6h»w good taste by becoming moderate Sabbatarians. 8. I do not think that the decay of church-going is * sign of national fie pravity. Our sermons are, no doubt, very dull. But I think most people are the better for going to church onoe on Sunday. It is, or ought to be, a reminder that our membership in the church ia a reality. “LOT OF WOWSERS.” Sunday sport is not objected to by Mosman (Sydney) aldermen. This was demonstrated on July 25th, when a letter from tho Port Stephens Shire seeking co-operation in securing legislation to prohibit Sunday sport was under consideration. Alderman Miller: Tell them to go to blazes—they are a lot of wowsers. Alderman Walker saw no harm in good, clean sport, and he moved that the letter ho simply received. This course was adopted.