On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
No . V . € t Watchman , what of the night ? Watchman , what of the night ? The Watchman said , The moruing cometh , and also the night / ' Isaiah xxi . 11 , 12 . Relaxation from the serious duties of life is essential to the well-being both of mind and body . Accordingly , no nation has been found without
amusements . The Jews had their annual festivals ; the Greeks , their games ; the Latins , their gladiatorial combats * To the European of the dark ages , religious plays and mysteries ; to the Spaniard , the auto-da-f 6 ; to the English , the May-pote and the bull-bait , —afforded the means of invigoration to the wearied mind and body ; and now-a-days the Frenchman smokes his cigar , and visits the theatre , loiters in the saloon , and hurries to the rural f&te : the low-bred Englishman frequents the race-course , or exults in the
boxing-match ; whilst his supercilious superior is pent up in tight-drawn vestments , and crowded rooms , and a killing atmosphere—each pursuing in his own way those engagements which either are or are said to be pleasures and recreations . One character belongs to all these often misnamed enjoyments—they are essentiall y selfish ; they begin , are carried on , and terminate in self-gratification . Whether more or less refined , whether pursued at the village wake or in the lordly hall , still , for the most part , they look
not beyond , nor press beyond , personal gratification . They bring friends together , it is said , and thus cultivate the social affections . Yes , and also the unsocial passions , ministering to pride , envy , and malice ; or , in other cases , brutalizing the mind by low and sensual pleasures . Are they then of no service ? They are of great service . If they did nothing more than refresh the powers , they would be highly desirable . Still we say , they are to a
great extent selfish . Can it be otherwise ? Yes . And this brings us to the application of our homily . The pleasures of the people can be—for in England at the present day , and to a great extent , they are—otherwise . In the course of the month of May , not less than fifty meetings were held in the metropolis with a view to promote charitable and benevolent undertakings . The great religious festival has been celebrated .
Annua cum festis venissent sacra diebus . From London the agents and machinery of these festivities are spread through the country , and religious merry-makings are held all over the kingdom . The whole religious community , with the exception of a few by-standing heretics like ourselves , participates in the excitement and joy . Nor is it merely at these anniversaries that religious recreation is enjoyed . The mechanic finds it throughout the year in his intervals of labour . Recreation is sought and found in doing good . And to the people who have
few opportunities for enjoyment in the present state of society , religious festivals are , we know , an abundant source of pleasure ; of a deeper , a purer , and a more durable pleasure , than they ever derive from any other quarter . This is not confined , to the orthodox . There are Unitarians , Christians of real worth , though in humble life , to whom religious exercises and religious festivities are a delight * ^ IMow , if we view the meetings to which jmg nave referred merely iivtb £ , light pf rQcre ^ ions , wej cannot refuse to praise th £ m highly . Surely fepeqpl $ ar $ : better employed in cengagemenls such as these—which , while they refresh Ixxly and jniiid , improve
Untitled Article
( 492 )
Untitled Article
THE WATCHMAN *
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 492, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/44/
-