Preaching on Boston Common.
By New York Examiner
Our New York brethren will be shocked, in common with all good people in Boston, to learn that the great preacher, Dr. A. J. Gordon, in whose character and services we have taken an honorable pride, has been brought as a criminal before our Municipal Court, and fined ten dollars for a breach of the peace. What can be expected of inmates of the slums when ministers of the highest standing are guilty of such gross offenses! But it is some relief to know that the city of Boston is at fault and not the preacher. One would not suppose it possible that in the nineteenth century, under the shadow of Bunker Hill, in the city that struck the first blow for independence, free speech can be a civil crime. But, with Catholic priests and Irish saloon keepers ruling our government, it is made a crime to preach the gospel on the Common, and for this mortal sin Dr. Gordon was arrested and fined. Patrick Henry ought to come from the grave to defend him, as the Baptist ministers of Virginia were defended a century ago, when indicted for the crime "of preaching the gospel of the blessed God." The great orator had only to read the indictment three times with his impressive utterance, when the judge, shuddering with a cold sweat, shouted, "Sheriff, release the prisoners at the bar," and all attempts to strangle free preaching in Virginia ended. Boston may see a new revolution if such an infamous law is sustained by the courts. An appeal was taken to a higher court, and all good citizens will await the decision with anxiety.—New York Examiner.