Christian Liberty by K. C. Russell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 22, 1906

Christian Liberty

By K. C. Russell

Reports, Notes, and Comments Pertaining to the Current History of the Rights of Conscience

Some Significant Expressions

Extracts From the February Number of “The Defender,” the Organ of the New England Sabbath Protective League

“SUNDAY laws date back to Constantine, and form a part of Christian civilization. Our country inherited such laws from the mother country.”

“If the Sunday laws are too antiquated or extreme, they can be repealed. Until that time, the duty of every executive officer is clear,—not to amend, not to interpret, but to enforce. Faithful to his oath, he has no other choice.”

In speaking against the encroachment of political parties in this country on the Lord’s day, it says: “Perhaps the only way to settle this question for the future is to obtain a national law forbidding the use of the Lord’s day for election and partisan purposes.”

Bishop McVicker, of Rhode Island, says: “When I remember, as a result of my observation and experience in life, that with Sunday goes religion, I

begin to realize our awful danger. . . . Sunday is the day upon which religion depends; with Sunday goes religion, with religion goes manhood and womanhood.”

Dr. Martin Kneeland, the secretary of the New England Sabbath Protective League, reports that Senator Hoar made the following statement a little time before his death: “I see many signs of advance. The Sunday is gaining in its hold on the mind and conscience of New England.”

We quote the following words, which, it is reported, will be engraved upon the monument of Senator Hoar: “I have no faith in fatalism, in destiny, in blind force. I believe in God, the living God. I believe in the American people, a free and brave people who do not bow the neck or bend the knee to any other, and who desire no other to bow the neck or bend the knee to them. I believe that a republic is greater than an empire. I believe, finally, whatever clouds may darken the horizon, that the world is growing better; that to-day is better than yesterday, and that to-morrow will be better than to-day.”

K. C. RUSSELL.