DISCUSSION ON SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. 



109 



Then Lady Burne Jones makes this curious remark — " with the 

 result that Edward on Monday morning was generally more tired 

 than on the Sunday morning." The day of rest had gone. 

 Although it was called recreation, pleasure and art, it was ruinous 

 ta the spiritual man. He lost rest. 



There is another use of the day which w^e may plead. It is 

 the opportunity for social intercourse. A great many people 

 have little opportunities during the week of meeting their fellows 

 in any reasonable sense. That is very difficult to get, and it is 

 the day of rest which gives people a chance of knowing their 

 relatives. 1 always think a family circle round the fire on 

 Sunday is one of the great elements of life. That social life of 

 the day should not be depreciated, because we are greatly starved 

 if we cannot get into touch with our fellow creatures. It is in 

 intercourse, in vital touch with others, that our life is really 

 restored. 



But after all, the distinctive use of the day is for worship 

 and for service to God and man. Service to God and man is, 

 to my mind, by far the most important. Those people who 

 seem to have no ability for worship and no call to the service 

 of their fellow man do not value the day on that account, and 

 their indifference to it is one of the dangers of our time. It 

 seems as if a large proportion of men in this country are unable 

 to worship, unconscious of any cause for service to God and 

 man, than ever before. Those numerous people who have no 

 room and concern for either worship or service should, I think, 

 be effectively compelled to observe the day, if not for themselves, 

 yet for the uses which they do not appreciate in others. I think 

 we have not as a rule appealed sufficiently to the public to realise 

 what it is that is demanded. Would you find, for example, any 

 reasonable person in this country w^ho would be comfortable if 

 he knew that throughout the length and breadth of the land there 

 was no worship on that day? Putting it only externally, are there 

 any people who would be pleased to know that all the churches 

 and Heaven-pointing spires were pulled down, and that all the 

 great places of historic memory, where worship has been held 

 for centuries, were wiped out. Would that be acceptable to them? 

 And it is a curious fact that in the vast neglect of public worship 

 to-day you never find anyone who is not a little uneasy about 

 his own neglect, who does not adopt unconsciously an apologetic 

 tone in speaking about it. There is a Scotch story about ^oing 

 to church. One Scotsman asked another, ** Which church do 

 vou belong^ to? " The reply was, " Well, I cannot rightly say 

 that T belonor to any kirk, but it's the established kirk I keep 

 away from." And that is the attitude of the is:reat majority of 

 men and women in this country. They do not worship, but they 



