Far, far be from me, to ape those saving Elves,
Who rob God of his due, to grow richer themselves;
But be mine the pursuit, which all good men approve,
To strive to be rich in the Regions above.
If it rain all the Week, then on God I'll recline,
And not work on Sunday, although the sun shine:
In this Faith deeply rooted, no ills I forbode,
That a man's seldom poorer for serving his God.
Columbian Centinel, Nov. 27, 1816.
From the "Essex Register," Salem, May 18, 1822, we learn that there had been trouble caused by ill-bred young men congregating at the public corners on Sunday evening, and also that some females had behaved badly at that time.
One of those ill bred and riotous fellows, who have become notorious for their bad conduct of late, at the corners of our streets, was arrested by one of our most vigilant constables, at the corner of North and Essex streets, on Sunday evening last, carried before a magistrate, committed to prison, and bound over for his future good conduct. Our municipal authorities, and all others concerned in bringing this person to punishment, deserve the thanks of their fellow-citizens. The town of Salem, once so distinguished for the purity of its manners and the good order of its society, has been disgraced of late, by outrages upon the peace and quiet of the community, committed by noisy assemblages of young men at the public corners—and even females have been seen to exhibit a demeanor in the streets disreputable to the town, and disgraceful in the highest degree to themselves. This conduct should receive not only the discountenance, but the decided reprehension of the respectable part of the community. Every citizen is interested, and is moreover bound to manifest his interest by his acts, in bringing every offender to prompt and condign punishment. The stake which every one has in the good order of the community, is great—it behoves, then, every one to exert himself to re-establish and preserve it.
In 1819 in New York there were loud complaints of the violation of the Sabbath, as we see by an account taken from the "Salem Gazette."
VIOLATION OF THE SABBATH.