Untitled article by AMY A. NEFF

Pacific Press Publishing Company · New York · December 8, 1892

FromThe American Sentinel, Vol. 7, No. 48

Organizing in Virginia.

By AMY A. NEFF

REV. MR. GEORGE, of the American Sabbath Union, so-called, visited Winchester, Va., recently in the interests of the Sunday cause. A correspondent tells the story of his failure to enthuse the town, as follows:—

The meeting was held in the Presbyterian church in Winchester, Thursday, November 3, 1892. On the same evening the Lotus Glee Club gave an entertainment at the Court House Hall. Mr. George said in his remarks that he met a number on the streets who expressed a desire to be at his meeting if it had only been held on another evening from that of the glee club. It is easy to see which was appreciated more of the two—the glee club or mass-meeting.

The population of Winchester is between six and eight thousand. I am sure there were not more than one hundred and twenty-five present.

The resolutions say, “We, the citizens of Winchester, Va., assembled,” etc. So not over one hundred and twenty-five persons acted for a town of between six and eight thousand, and not more than two-thirds of those present voted upon the resolutions.

Mr. George, Secretary of the American Sabbath Union, had been to Richmond, Va., and affected a city organization of the American Sabbath Union. His object was to affect a State organization. In this he was unsuccessful, but thinks they will soon have a State organization.

In his address here Mr. George said that “God dwelt with Israel and punished them for Sabbath breaking,” and “Christian people are called to rally and preserve the holy Sabbath.” “There is on one hand the divine aspect, on the other the civil.”

He also said if the World’s Fair gates were opened on Sunday that 60,000 persons would be required to work on the “Lord’s day,” in order that a few thousand might go in the Exposition. “We feel,” he said, “that this question is settled in Congress, and will be.”

The resolutions adopted were as follows:

Inasmuch as the sacred Scriptures clearly teach that the Sabbath is a divine institution, designed to promote the glory of God and the welfare of man in society and as individuals; and since all history teaches that God is dishonored, his laws set aside, and the best interests of man imperilled wherever the Sabbath loses its sacredness in the eyes of the people; therefore resolved:

1st. That we, citizens of Winchester, Va., assembled in mass, do most heartily approve of the action of Congress in requiring the gates of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago to be closed on the Sabbath day:

2d. That we are especially pleased to know that all of the Congressmen from Virginia voted for this measure, and urge them, in case of any effort to reconsider and reverse their action, to hold the ground they have taken without wavering;

3d. That we hereby put on record our high appreciation of the work of the American Sabbath Union in endeavoring to uphold the sacredness of the holy Sabbath and prevent the dissemination of those loose and demoralizing views on this great subject that prevail generally in continental Europe.

It was my privilege to be present at this meeting, and now I can better realize the fraud and deception used by these people in accomplishing their aims and purposes.

AMY A. NEFF.