SANDYS MOTHERS OPINIONS ON SUNDAY

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 76, 15 November 1884, Page 4

SANDYS MOTHERS OPINIONS ON S UNDAY

Mister Editor,— l'm sair vext to see the way folk spend the Sawbath in this foreign kintra. It's very different to the way it was spent in Scetlan' when I was a lassie. We gaed to the kirk, wet or dry, at least twa j times, and whiles three times on the holy day, and except to and frae the kirk there was nae ither straevagin. It's true that at ween the preachings we sauntered aboot in the kirk-yard, rested on the gravestanes, and read on thae books o' death that man is born to trouble ; that he cam naked into the world and maun gae naked oot, andmonymae improving texts; and we aften saw lying aboot the yard roosty cofin handles, bits o' rotten cofin lids and bottoms, bits o' banes, and whilis, a yirdy skull, the gravedigger had stappit aneath a gravestone, pairtly oot o'sicht. But a' thae things were gran 1 instructive lessons, an' kep' us frae forgitting oor latter end. In thae auld times the kirkyards grew quid strong grass and docks, fattened mony a bit sheep and cauf, and brought a quid penny frae the tlesher to the kirk session and the gravedigger ; but noo, the folk '11 hae nae graves near the kirk, an' a' aboot the kirk the plant wi flowers, and lay oot wi gravel walks jist like a gentleman's garden, wastin' the alller an' makin 1 us forgit we hae to dee, the vera thing we should keep mm' o' maist of a. Aye ! sir, it's changed times noo. I mm' when I was a lassie, my inither wadna let us open mair than halt the front window shutters on the Lord's Day, and she wadna let us undraw the front screens at a' ; the back window yins she alloo't us to draw half-way. It was geyan dark and dull in the hoose thae days, and the fire was kep vera sma\ for there was little or nae cooking ; and on the Sawbath nichts my mither would sit wit he Bible "in her lap reading aboot hoo the Lord droont the Egyptians. blew dooh the wa's o' Jericho, slaughtered the Midianites and the Amalekites ; or she would read to us frae the Revelations aboot the great red Dragon that was seen in heaven, aboot the scarlet woman, and aboot the bottomless pit, and ither Bible stories that gar't oor hair stand on end, and made us affeard to gang to bed. Folk are unco shy o' thae gran' auld stories noo. Yell no get ac minister in ten wha'll up in discoorse on the gran' battles o' the Auld Testiment, an' as to the deovil and hell, a quid mony ministers ne'er mention them at a', or if they dae, it 3 only to mak 1 oot that the deeril is only oorsells, and as to hell, they say there's neither fire nor brumstane int. What kind o' hell would that be ? I hae min 1 my brither Wull, when he was a laddie, gaed out aboot the doors al simmer Sawbath mornin', an' began whussling Mke a vera burd, but faither soon gaed oot and skelped him well fort, as he dosei'ted. But naebody thinks the least shame o' whussling on the Lord's Day ; they hao c'en gaen .«ae far as to mak' steamboat!* and railway engines whussle on that day. Nae doot the wind itsel', when blawing hard, whussleson Sawbath as weel as on ither day.«, but it is the Lord's wind. But there is maur than whussling done noo on the Sawbath. Atween the Salvation Army, and sometimes the Volunteers, the streets are hardly free frae bands o' music the haill day. There they gang up and doun in their red coats and their blue coats carrying flags, druming and bugling and fifing like puir mad craturs ; and they ci' this religion. It's nae mair like religion than playing the fiddle is to singing psalms I mind a queer bachelor shoemaker chiel in oor toun cad Jock Baxter, wha had the impidence to play the fiddle in his am hoose on the Lord's Day. He was a curious thinking man, read Tarn Paine and books o' that kind, but he was harmless and wellbehaved, so the folk took nae notice o' him, but, jisr set him down as a wee thing wrang in the head. It was an ill day when the City Council opened the Leebrary on the Sawbath. Fo'k shouldna be alloo't to read warldly books and newspapers on the Lord's Day. The Bible, The Shorter Catechism, Fox's Book o' Martyrs, and the Scottish Worthies, are a' the books that should be opened on the Sawbath, and they should be read in folks' am hooses, and no' in public libraries and reading-rooms. Some say it's for the convenience o' travellers, but there Wer muckle travelling noo-a-days. It's that that's pittin' things a' wrung. When folk stayed at hame they were far mair contentit ; but noo, they rin aboot frae place to place wastin' their siller, and dinna ken what they would be at for a change. Folk hae nae bizness to ti - avel on the Lord's Day. If every ane stayed at hame there would be nae need to keep leebrarie? open, nor for 'busses, steamers, or railways to rin. Steamers on lang voyages would nae doot hae to keep on, but nane should lee harbours frae Saturday afternoon till Monday morning, and ony that are near land should anchor frae Saturday till Monday. Mind, I dinna say this oot o ony seempathy wi the working classes, for guidness kens they are far better off than they were when I was a lassie ; but I say it because the Lord said most dee3tinctly that on His day we should dae nae wjrk o' ony kind. I see some fifteen hunner misguided craturs hae signed a petition to open the museum on the Lord's Day. This is anither abomination. If they're alloo't to gang on they'll hae the theatres open as they are in Papist and Pagan Kintras ; but what's in this museum they mak sic a brag about? I Jjaed anee to see it, and am sure I'll never gang again. As soon as ye gne in at the door ye see a wheen big stookoo images o' naked men and women, for frae a modest sicht 1 can tell ye. There's lumps o' coal and lumps o' stane lying aboot ; the coal would be better in some puir body's hooso, and the stane broken up to mend the roads. There's lots o' broken stanes and bonnie shells in glass boxes that would dae vera weel to border beds o' flowers ; and there's a great lot o' auld pennies and shillings, ann c'en gond sovereigns in anither glass case, and I'm sure that would be far better given to the puir, than lying there daeing nae quid, and there are snakes and toads in bottles, butterflies in capes wi preens sticking through them. Butterflies ! mony a ane I hae catched when I was a wean, and pud their wings aff to mak book marks, and they think they've gottin sic a wonderful prize to hae the same butterflies in the Museum. The birds are really vera bonnie. Ane o' them had a breast the vera colour o' the silk gown I was married in, I couldna help remembering ; but at my time o' life, a' colours but black are vanity. I see plainly that if oor lassies and young wives gang and look at the birds in that Museum they'll be constuntly teasing their faithers and guidmen for new dresses. I saw some skulls, but nae haill skeletins o' oor am kind. Some ojj thae would hae an improving effect on visitors. Anyone can look a' a t-kdetin. There's nae indecency aboot it. It .i esna encourage frivolity, but pints the road were a' are ganging. A'thegither 1 saw naething surprising in the Museum. For my pairt I wouldna sign my name to open't on the Savbath, nor to keep it shut. The Loebrary open is doing far mair harm than the Museum open

ever could dae. I'm tauld there are books and magazines in the Leebrary that when read may turn weak minds frae the quid auld path in which they were brought up. Noo a'mawt a' the ill gaun to the Museum and looking at the stookoo images, bottled snakes and stuffed birds can dae is that it's an hour wasted, that would hae been better spent reading the Bible at hame. Folk mak' a mistake saying the opening o' the Museum id the thin end o' the wedge. Seeing the steamers and trains rin, and the Leebrary is open, surely the wedge is half-way in. If I had my way o't, I'd open the Museum and shut the Leebrary, but what can ye dae wi ! a degenerate generation like this? Yell no' fin' mair than ane in a hunner that has ony real respect for the Sawbath at a. They maistly a' ca' it that giddy sportin' name Sunday, and hardly ever, unless in hypocrital pretension, or in vile scollin', Sawbath or the Loi-d's Day. , The sun was nae doot ance a god, and worshipped, and is nae doot, even noo, worthy o' respect, but he only shines and makes things warm and cheery on quid days, and on days that are cloudy, wat, and cauld ; when he would dae the maist quid, he never shows his face at a' ; so I didna see that we are sac muckle indebted to the sun, that wo should ea the best day o' the week after him. Hech ! I'm tired. Noo, Mr Editor, I'll send ye my am name preevitly, but as the neebours would be bothering me if they kent I had been writing to the papers, I'll jist sign mysei, for the public, Sandy's Mitiier.