SOCIAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1948, 25 June 1891, Page 37

SOCIAL TOPICS.

By Cigabettb.

COLONIAL SABBATHS.

Sabbath in the colonies is like a mongrel enr, — neither the one thing nor the other. It is not a holiday, a holyday, or a week day, and yet it is a little of all three — a sort of cross betwixt an English and a Continental Sunday without the distinguishing' traits of either. Barring the closing of shops, its observance is a, matter |of individual ohoiee, but the fact 'that " the Sabbath was .made for man, and not man for the Sabbath " is realised to 7 the full. Sunday in England in most middle-class families is the gloomiest day of the week: The melancholy church bells ueHer in the day and blue-nosed fasting* females, wrapped in hideous waterproofs, wend their way through fog or snow or rain to " early service." This accomplished, they return home to family prayers and breakfast. Then paterfamilias, arrayed in high top hat and gloves, Wnaucts his family to church, drops a shilling in the plate, and feels he has done his duty. This over, they return to a heavy midday dinner,, for the servants must have an opportunity of attending church, and late dinners clash v with evening service ; therefore that Mary Anne may say her prayers (which with her is equivalent to meeting her young -man) the whole family saorifice their late dinner on the altar of piety. After dinner comes Sunday school for the smalt fry, and "The Sunday at , Home," •' Leisure". Hour," and "40 winks " for their elders. How is it that religious literature has a soporific effect on most people 1 By and bye the bells ring out again, the tired children trudge a second time to church, and rubbing their sleepy eyes try to listen to the sermon, hoping meanwhile within their little hearts that heaven won't be "always Sunday." But Be the day weary, ' JJe the day long, At last it ringeth to evensong. And English Sabbaths, though long and weary, come to an end at last. If the family be musical a few 'hy inns are sung, a few more [prayers, are said,. and this exhausting day is [brought to a close. i Now turn we with relief to the oolonial Sabbath. • "A few more hours "in bed "is the first clear impression stamped by the Sabbath Day upon our sleepy senses. By and bye the sun streaming, in at the window makes sleep impossible, and the prospect of a long " stretcher " over the hills or a sail in the 1 harbour very desirable. Those who elect to go to church, go, but are in no way scandalised by those who prefer Nature's temple, for though it is acknowledged in England that religious freedom is every one's right, yet there is more liberty of action in the colonial, less reverence for the olergy, and less terror of "what people will say." Half the people in England go to church because it is " respectable," whereas in the colonies they please themselves. The girls are sure to go when they have a new frock to exhibit, the men go to meet the girls, the married folks go " for the sake of the children," and a small minority go because they think it right. Of all those who stay at home there is nothing very bad to be said. They follow their own inclinations without let or hindrance, and regardless of public opinion. Bat there is bigotry even in New Zealand, and one of Dunedin's representatives who is fond of gardening lost more than one vote through following his favourite avocation on the Sabbath Day. In one case it was the " washing lady " who saw him, and straightway forbade her spouse to support him, for, said she, "Mr Blank is an atheist— he works in his garden on Sundays 1 " A bushman's Sabbath is generally devoted to all sorts of odd jobs for which he has no time during the week. It is baking day, washing day, and holiday oombined. On large stations cricket and tennis are Sabbath reoreations. Occasionally a stray olergy. HMD drops to wd gives a flavour of religion.

to the atmosphere by holding service for all hands. Everyone's morals are to a certain extent dependent on their surroundings, and it is astonishing how soon we learn to adapb ourselves to different moral atmospheres. We all very much resemble sheep in our readiness to follow the multitude and to do in Borne as Romans do. Those who in England dared not open a yellowback novel on the Sabbath can play tennis and sing songs on a colonial Sunday without experiencing a single twinge of conscience. And surely these pleasures are innocent enough, and yet they are condemned by many as unfit for the Sabbath. But Where the judgment's weak The prejudice is strong. And we generally find that it is the most narrow-minded people who condemn most fiercely all Sunday amusements, who refuse to open art galleries and , museums, and would fain prohibit Sunday travelling, But, as Emerson says, "The essence of Christianity is in its practical morals." So. why waste time splitting hairs over the question of what is\>r is not correct employment for the Sabbath. Christianity does not consist in going to. church and observing saints' days and, Sabbaths, but in the exercise of Christian virtues, and, to quote Cardinal Manning, " A noble and beautiful life is the most convincing and persuasive of all preaching."