SUNDAY RECREATION.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 741, 17 March 1877, Page 3

SUNDAY RECREATION.

" What are you going to do on Sonday?" is a question often asked at the olose of the seventh day of the week by a man, youth, or boy who baa worked tolerably hard for six days out of seven of another man youth or boy who has been for an equal number of days similarly employed. The answer very' offen; is "Don't know," or .•' Nothing in particular," an answer given not . always becanso tbe respondent does not really know, or has nothing particular in view ihit he has sit hi's mind on. but because he does not wish or does not chose to tell whab he rea'ly intends doing. : ■'• Yet probably be haa — especially if he be of tbat age which the English describe a 8 ""hoboledeboy" and the French as Ia premiere j eun esse '—. ■ th6ught~orTt~inr ~ through the livt long week, and it is only some innate feelin_ which is almost ,akin to shame which prevents him from owning that bis mind, even if not a frugal one, is at. all events on pleasure bent as far as the fltst d.iy of the week 'is concerned. Why he should feel shame at the nvowal that he intends to amuse himself, perhaps he hinnelf hardly knows . ' He |bas that about h<m wbiob tells him, or he thinks tells him, that smmusement / on the day of rest is wrong ; he does no t know why, but convention has made it so, and to its rules he hows for the sake of decency of appearance. In the summary of English news given in our columns lately w s this paragraph : . "The question of Sunday amusements' is attracting. , attention. Several clergymen have spoken or writen in their favor." We are glad of this. To us th<<re seems no '' earthly reason why on Sunday a man— Whose blood is warm wi thin ■ Should sit likej|his grandsire but in alabaster, or that it sbonld he deemed a positive sin if be attempts to recruit h ; s body or divert ' •■ his mind from weekly cares by amqsin g himpelf in a lawful manner. It is a want wbieh has long been felt, that there is very little for young men to do on a Sunday. The consequence is they often , do nothing, sometimes worse than nothing. Even those who are regular churchgoers find the remainder of their time ang heavily npon their hands. The morning, or a great part of it, is often passed in bed, not so much 'from want of rest aa because there is literally nothing e^efor them to do. and a novel or some 'light reading serves to while away the time which might be far more profitably spent. Morning service, if attended, followed by dinner and a pipe, is in its turn succeeded by another lie. down, or at the best an aimless walk. Then tea, then church again or not, and then bed once more when there is no, one to talk to. We do not say that this is a necessary state r.f things, but it is tbe normal state of things with a good many we allude, of course, especially to those who are bachelor?, or living as such, and so though Sunday is in one respect a day of rest, ye* it is rest of that kind which comes of remaining idle, and which in no way strengthens either body or brain for the duties of tbe coming, week. Some years ago there was a great outcry in England against what some people chose to call desecrating the Sabbath, and the particular form of desecration which was singled out. for attack was the heinous sin committed by those who once or twice a season took their wives and families to Brighton and back, and bad ten hours at tbe si aside, which did them good and their children too, all for the cost of three shillings ahead. Against these Sabbbath breakers, and the worldly-minded railway directors- ' who put temptation into tbe way of others, the auger of those who had six days a week at their own disposal knew no hounds. Even bishops took up the cry ; and it seemed to some better for the working man to be spending his Sunday either in smoking, drinking or doing nothing than in enjojing himself in a- harmless way. Tbey objected to his amusement ; they wished to take it away, but they offered nothing in return. Every pla3e where he could enjoy even a ifew howrs relaxation was carefully closed up by the legisbture, the chief argument being that they didn't want any means of amusement themselves, and didn't see why others should. Besides this, it was argued by those who drove to church distant a few hundred yards, and required two bor.es and three seivonts to help them perform the feat, that it gave the railway officials no day of rest. In this there was reason, but tiny shut their eyeß to the fact that out of the many employees who work for the Loi don Biighton er.d South Const Railway, it wrs' quite prs .ible to arrange matters eo that the turn

- of each man for Sunday duty would come but seldom. Thus things went on, and those who wouldn't 'et a man go from home oil a Sunday wondered at the viciousness/ of the times which produced so many chaiges of drunkenness on the Monday. It seems now that the efforts wh ch' have for a length of time been made by a few; to make Sunday a day of rest, not only in name but deed, are being strengthened,, and that too from a quarter whence aid is most likely to be effectual— we mean from, the pulpit. It seems a good sign when the olergy themselves acknowledge that to make a man pious ib is not necessary to make him miserable. We are fnr from advocating any notion of Sabbath breaking in the real meaning of the word, but we cannot help thinking '.hat men would be better church -gcera than they are at present if people generally, regarded Sunday with its duties and pleasures from a more liberal point of view than they do at present. Without wishing to see our Sunday turned into a continents! Sunday, we object to its being kept as Sunday hai often been kept in 'England, and still is in some parts. The report of: the railway commissioners in Auckland lately recommended cheap trains on Sunday, and very likely the idea will betaken up. We do not wish a leading article to partake of the nature of a sermon, but as we write these words we cannot help recalling to mind that 1 the Sabbath was made for man, and not roan for the Sabbath.' Some men say, why should an amusement which is looked on as harmless on a week day, be hurtful on Sunday; There is no answer to it but. this, but this prevents men from doing ir ore important things. Of course, if it does this it is wrong, but tho sameobjectian might apply to it on a week day, that if it (the amusement) kept men from their duties it was hurtful to them. Why should it not keep thein from their duties on a> week day, and again if it does not why should it do so on a Sunday? There is ho reason at all except in the obuße Of the amusement indulged in, and the abuse of iife on a week day m ght leal to just as ill consequences as the abuse of it on>o Sunday. There are those who would feel horror at the sight of a family taking a row on a Sunday afternoon, which horror would be greatly increased if it was discovered that two or three of the children were fishing ; and yet these horror-struck ones would think there was notning wrong to see the family in varionß stages of somnoler-e wasting the afternoon under the shade of a tree only to arise towards tea time in that yawning state which speaks of a temper Bomewhat irritable for the time being. We said at tie commencement that men were ashamed of acknowledging that they were in pursuit of what we may call legitimate because they were not licensed by custom. One reßult of this is that men do not stop at harmless amusements, on the principle that if you are to be hanged you may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, and if they are to be looked upon as reprobates for doing what is harmless they might just ss well do what is hurtful, as the penalty is no greater. There are dozens of ways in which men may spend not only a pleasant but' a profitable Sunday : let society license those, and for once in a way "fashion" will have- done some good." — • Thames Evening Star.'