WHAT COULD BE EXPECTED OF SUCH MEN?
By Editor
THE very essence of Sunday laws is intolerance and persecution. He who holds to Sunday despite the abundant proof that the day has no support in Scripture will become a persecutor. If he is sincere and devoted, the worse persecutor will he be; for his devotion will cause him to be the more zealous to enforce Sunday observance. The prophecy of God's word points out the fact that through Sunday laws there will be persecution for conscience' sake in this country. The fast ripening events of the last few years are sufficient to show to the careful observer that the prediction is soon to be fulfilled. The Congress of these United States has already committed itself to the Sunday sabbath, and though its will has been defeated by the directors of the World's Fair, it is only temporarily. Already the utterances of church people show conclusively what spirit they are of toward those who have dared to oppose their wishes. The Rev. Mr. Little, of Denison, Texas, is one of these. But while the religious press generally, so far as we have seen, does not denounce such utterances as unchristian, we are glad to see secular papers so outspoken as the Denison Sunday Gazette is in its issue of June 25:— Rev. Little is catching it all round for the intemperate language he indulged in in a sermon preached at the Presbyterian Church in this city last Sunday. At the morning service, in speaking of the sacredness of the first day of the week, he declared that he would sooner see the cholera sweep over this fair land than to have read the decision of the United States court that the World's Fair could be opened on Sunday. That Mr. Little meant exactly what he said is evident, because he reiterated it in the same place at the evening service. Such a sentiment is shocking, and one can hardly realize that there are men in this day, who claim to be educated, that would prefer to see a deadly plague destroy the innocent, orphanize children, rob parents of prattling babes, and spread a pall over the land simply because a federal court decided that the greatest educational exhibition the world ever saw may be thrown open to the public every day in the week. The religious observance or non-observance of Sunday is something with which the government has nothing to do. It does not even rest upon any divine command. The only authority for its religious observance is the Roman Catholic Church, and this Mr. Little ought to know if he doesn't. Consequently his language simply means that he would sooner see the cholera rage in this country than that a church edict should not be enforced by civil authority. Fortunately men of Mr. Little's way of thinking are not yet in the majority in this boasted land of religious liberty, and it will be fortunate for some of us if they never are. It is not, however, majorities which always or generally rule. An ignorant and indifferent number, who hold the balance of power, often become the tools of an aggressive minority.