MORE SUNDAY PERSECUTIONS IN CANADA.
The following letter, from Elder A. O. Burrill, of Selton, Ont., explains itself:— “The following paper has just been served upon me: “CANADA, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, } COUNTY OF KENT. “To A. O. Burrill, of the Township of Chatham, in the County of Kent,— “Whereas you have this day been charged before the undersigned, Geo. A. Watson, a Justice of the Peace in and for the said County of Kent, for that you, on third day of November, A.D., 1895, at the Township of Chatham, in the County of Kent, did exercise worldly labour, being the Lord’s day (the sabbath day), by working at the carpenter and mason work: “These are therefore to commend you, in Her Majesty’s name, to be and appear before me on Thursday, the fifth day of December, A.D. 1895, at ten o’clock in the forenoon, at the old Town Hall, Ridgetown, or before such other Justice or Justices of the Peace for the same County of Kent as shall be there, to answer to the said charge and to be further dealt with according to law. Herein fail not. “Given under my hand and seal, this twenty-second day of November in the year 1895, at Ridgetown, in the County aforesaid, The same letter informs us that Brethren Howe and Simpson, both of whom bear license to preach, are served with the same charge. Thomas Griffith is charged with the crime of chopping wood on the same day. This labor was done in connection with the building of a house of worship at Darrell. Three thousand feet of lumber designed for this church was set on fire by some one, and burned. One justice at Chatham said he would resign before he would prosecute the men for Sunday labor. About fifteen men, led by a young minister, visited them at work and took their names. We are sure that all these prosecutions, which in reality are but persecutions through religious bigotry (not Christianity, for Christianity never persecutes), will be met as becometh the Gospel of Christ. The writer of the letter is personally known to the editor, and we are sure that his work or its manner were not obtrusive.