An Official Visit

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Feb 1, 1906

An Official Visit

A DEPUTATION of Seventh-day Adventists, composed of Elder W. H. Thurston, president of the Canadian Union Conference; Elder H. E. Rickard, of Fitch Bay, Quebec, president of the Quebec Conference; Elder A. O. Burrill, president of the Ontario Conference; and Elder Eugene Leland, secretary of the Religious Liberty Association of Canada, waited upon the prime minister and minister of justice on Thursday, January 18, and protested against the Sunday law proposed by the Lord’s Day Alliance. The two leading papers of Ottawa, the Evening Citizen and Evening Journal, gave very favorable reports of this interview. In each case the report was given a prominent position on the first page of the paper, with striking headings. From the report in the Evening Citizen, the following paragraphs are quoted:—

“The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Sabbath is a religious institution, and wholly such, and that its observance should be rendered to the Lord, and not to the Dominion government. Again, they object to the proposed Sunday law ‘because it is legislation against the law of God, everywhere and always the divine command concerning the Lord’s day being: “The seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;” and, therefore, if this proposed measure is enacted into law, it will be done in direct opposition to the law of God. It will require every man in the Dominion of Canada,’ they add, ‘to become either a criminal by violating the Sunday law or a sinner by violating the law of God.’”

“These people would, said their representatives, oppose even a measure that would require the observance of the seventh day of the week as strongly as they would oppose one requiring observance of the first day of the week, and for the reason that it is religious legislation, and all religious legislation, they hold, is detrimental to true Christianity.”

In the summary of the arguments presented by the delegation as given in the Evening Journal, the following paragraphs are found:—

“In the first place, they say that the fourth commandment of the decalogue requires that it be observed upon Saturday, the seventh day, and that work be carried on as usual on Sunday. To observe both days would be a loss of time.”

“In the second place, they say it is religious legislation, and to such they are opposed. They say that religious practises should not be dealt with by civil law. They take the ground that the observance of the Sabbath is a religious practise, and therefore Parliament should not interfere, but render unto God the things that are his.”

“The third point which the delegation put forward, that a Sunday observance law would interfere with the employers of labor, who would be fined if they kept their works running on Sunday.”

“‘We object,’ they said, ‘to a Sunday law because it is legislation against the law of God. That is the principal reason. The law of God makes the observance of Sabbath on the seventh, while it is now desired by Parliament to make it the first day of the week.’”