Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Feb 22, 1906
Ezion-Geber
By Helen M. Smouse
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber. 1 Kings 22 : 48.
*Fair winds and well-set sails
Will bear, at break of day,
The fleet of Judah’s king,
In quest of gold away.
Once had the Lord through Moses taught,
“No gold for hoarding shall be sought;”
But now His servant this forgot,
And these ten ships of Tarshish brought
To Ezion-geber.*
*What strikes along the sea
And darkens all its light,
As sudden cloud o’ercasts
The grain-fields, harvest white?—
The shadow of His angel’s wing!
He flies the lightning to unchain,
The tempest from his caves to bring,
And forth God’s indignation fling
At Ezion-geber.*
*Split mast and drooping sail,
And helpless hull upturned!
A sheet of flame the sea
Beneath the sunrise burned.
The Orient morn rose calm and fair,
And showed God’s purpose written there:
“In sordid conquest have no share;
My love has saved thee from this snare
At Ezion-geber.”*
*I had a purpose once,
Worldly and selfish all.
Knowing the better way,
I heeded not the call.
My fleet set sail, but met God’s breath,
The ships fled broken from His wrath
With splintered beams, and rudder cleft,
And roaring sails of stay bereft—
My Ezion-geber.*
*Split mast and drooping sail,
Rents in the well-built keel;
Where erst the gold was piled,
The lapping waters steal.
Wreckage and ruin all, where piled
Strong-breasted purposes of pride.
Thy waterspouts and billows cried,
And deafening depth to depth replied,
O Ezion-geber!*
*Fairer than fairest morn
Where gorgeous Orient sky
Downpours its myriad tints
On waves below that lie,
The morning of God’s purpose came,—
My soul’s “clear shining after rain,”—
And o’er the broken quest of fame,
Rose joyful praises to His name,
For Ezion-geber.*
*O friend, arise! He calls
Whose “way is in the storm;”
In the crashing of thy hopes
He sounds thy soul’s alarm.
Come, hasten to His secret place,
Where He will teach thee face to face.
Ennobled, thou shalt walk His ways,
And partnership with God replace
Thy Ezion-geber.*
*And if the tempter holds
The glass before our eyes,
Reflecting stately ships
From buried depths that rise,
Like King Jehoshaphat of old
The lesson of our loss we’ll hold,
And trust the Power that overruled,
Till praises flow from harps of gold
For Ezion-gebers.*
— Helen M. Smouse.
Our Publishing Work
By Editor
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11.
Any publication mentioned on this page may be ordered through your conference tract society or from any of our publishing houses or their branch offices. See last paragraph on this page for addresses of our publishing houses.
A SPECIAL effort is to be made by the various conferences in the Atlantic Union to complete the sale of their quota of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” The Western Pennsylvania Conference has ordered 1,200 copies.
THE “continuous missionary campaign” is going forward encouragingly in some places. Now is a most favorable time to scatter tracts and periodicals, as people utilize the long winter evenings by reading. “Not a wasted moment,” should be our motto.
THE subject under consideration in Bible Students’ Library No. 191 is “The Priesthood.” This title might suggest the Roman Catholic Church to some minds, but this treatise deals with the topic from the Bible standpoint, the priesthood in both the Old and the New Testament being inseparably connected with the work of man’s salvation. Price, 1 cent a copy, 80 cents a hundred.
BE sure to specify, when ordering, which one of the Special Testimonies recently printed you desire. The first one is “Series B, No. 6,” and is concerning our “Youth Going to Battle Creek to Obtain an Education.” The one just printed is “Series B, No. 7,” and contains “Messages of Warning and Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists Regarding Dangers Connected with the Medical Missionary Work.” Each contains 64 pages, and the price of each is 5 cents.
A BROTHER in Ohio who is able to devote only a small portion of his time to canvassing, reports having taken twenty-nine dollars’ worth of orders for “Desire of Ages” in six hours, during the week ending February 2. These truth-filled books can be readily sold if faithful, intelligent effort is put forth. Thousands of copies of “Desire of Ages” ought to be placed in the hands of Sunday-school officers and teachers during 1906, while they are studying lessons on the life of Christ. A special booklet has been prepared for use with this class of people.
A FULFILMENT of the scripture, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days,” has just come to our notice. Fifteen years ago a faithful worker sold a “Bible Readings” to a lady in Connecticut. The teaching it contained, especially on the Sabbath question, having impressed her mind, she was ready for obedience when a short time ago another worker met her and supplemented the work done by “Bible Readings,” with a few additional readings. With her also three others who had read the book accepted the Sabbath and other associated truths. It pays to sow the seed of truth. Great rewards are held in store for the faithful canvasser, for the Lord has promised to pay every worker “what is right.”
AT an institute recently held at Eau Claire, Wis., twenty-three persons took the drill preparatory to entering the canvassing work.
A BOOKMEN’S convention is to be held at Berrien Springs, Mich., just before the Lake Union Conference session begins. The date is April 14-18, and topics have already been assigned for the preparation of papers.
DON’T neglect a cold. Take proper treatment to “abort” or “break it up.” Dr. Heald’s book on “Colds” tells you just what to do to cure a cold, and what to do to prevent having one. Price, 25 cents.
ALL children will enjoy reading the true story of a little girl’s trip to Africa. Many strange scenes and peoples are described. “How a Little Girl Went to Africa” is nicely illustrated and handsomely bound, and is a nice present for a child. Price, $1.
MOTHERS who are teaching their children to read will appreciate the simple, graded lessons on Bible nature which are so intelligently prepared and so beautifully illustrated by Ella King Sanders in her book “Our Little Folks Bible Nature.” Prices: board, 25 cents; cloth, 40 cents.
MANY people honestly think that the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are “closed” books, and can not be understood. This is what the enemy desires all to believe, but we who know the wonderful present-day truth which these prophecies contain should be active in circulating such books as “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation.” We can at least loan our own copy. Extra copies cost $2.25 for the cloth, marbled style, or $1 for cloth, thin paper edition.
THE “Year-Book” for 1906 has just been completed at our Battle Creek Office, and a supply will be found at our various depositories very soon. This book contains 164 pages, and comprises “a complete directory of the General Conference, union and local conferences and mission fields, educational institutions, publishing houses, periodicals, sanitariums, and benevolent institutions, together with the constitution of the General Conference, and brief historical summary of the denomination for the year 1905.” The delay in getting out the “Year-Book” has made it possible to incorporate nearly all the recent changes in union and local conference officers. All who wish to be informed as to the location of our workers in home and foreign fields will want a copy of this book. Price, 25 cents.
Orders for any publication mentioned on this page may be sent to any conference tract society or to any of the following: Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., and Battle Creek, Mich.; Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal., also Portland, Ore., and Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., and Fort Worth, Tex.
Editorial
By Editor
“The Heavenly Trio”
“THE sentiments of those who are searching for advanced ideas are not to be trusted. Such representations as the following are made: ‘The Father is as the light invisible; the Son is as the light embodied; the Spirit is the light shed abroad.’ ‘The Father is like the dew, invisible vapor; the Son is like the dew gathered in beauteous form; the Spirit is like the dew fallen into the seat of life.’ Another representation: ‘The Father is like the invisible vapor. The Son is like the leaden cloud. The Spirit is rain fallen and working in refreshing power.’ All these spiritualistic representations are simply nothingness. They are imperfect, untrue. They weaken and diminish the Majesty which no earthly likeness can be compared to. God can not be compared with the things his hands have made. These are mere earthly things, suffering under the curse of God because of the sins of men. The Father can not be described by the things of earth. The Father is all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight. The Son is all the fulness of the Godhead manifested. The Word of God declares him to be the ‘express image of his person.’ ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ Here is shown the personality of the Father. The Comforter that Christ promised to send after he ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fulness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers,—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.”
"Obsolete Traditions"
THE work of an evangelist who has made a great stir on two or three continents is called in question by some advocates of an advanced theology because he emphasizes the old-fashioned truths of the Bible in his preaching. One of his critics says: “We are not going to win the great fight which is upon us by clinging to obsolete traditions which have been discarded by the sane, reverent, and constructive scholarship of Christianity; and when these traditions, which are matters of private opinion, are insisted upon as dogmas necessary to salvation, I for one refuse to be allied with any such human perversions of the divine truth.” It was once the boast of Protestantism that it accepted “the Bible, and the Bible alone,” as the source of authority in matters of faith, but now mark the difference. What is termed “the sane, reverent, and constructive scholarship of Christianity,” meaning thereby the learned “Higher Critics,” has reconstructed the Bible on a scientific basis, and discarding as “obsolete traditions” what have been held as the fundamental principles of Christianity for many centuries, and now these original doctrines of primitive Christianity, plainly revealed in the Scriptures and plainly taught by Christ and the apostles, are stigmatized as “human perversions of the divine truth.” How much difference is there in principle between such Protestantism as this and the papacy? Both exalt the teachings of men above the Word of God. The arrogance of modern scholarship has adopted the language of blatant infidelity, and this is fitting, for the “Higher Critics” are infidels under another name. The best answer to all this scientific sophistry is to proclaim the simple truths of revelation “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Finite men may seek to exalt their own opinions above the Word of God, but “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” The so-called “obsolete traditions” will be the science and the song of the redeemed throughout the eternal ages.
Answering the “Higher Critics”
ONE of the few scholars of the present day who attempt a serious reply to the destructive claims of “Higher Criticism” is Dr. Emil Reich. We have before us his book, “The Failure of the Higher Criticism of the Bible,” and have been much interested in that portion (more than half) of it which we have read.
In the preface Dr. Reich says:—
The author is not a clergyman, and has no intention whatever to become one. He means to serve the ends of no ecclesiastical party. He searches for nothing but truth. Many years ago he fully believed in the “scientific character” of Higher Criticism; but having learned more about life and reality by means of extensive travels and varied experience, he has come to the conclusion that Higher Criticism is bankrupt as a teaching of religious truth. It is a perversion of history, and a desecration of religion.
While no brief extract from Dr. Reich’s book will be entirely satisfactory as an adequate exhibit of his vigorous method of dealing with these modern foes of the Bible, yet we will take a few paragraphs from his admirable chapter on “The Inquisitorial Principle,” in which he very forcibly compares the method of the “Higher Critics” with that employed by the judges in the witch trials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Dr. Reich says:—
One of the most moderate yet resolute Higher Critics of our time is Prof. Edward Konig. In his “Introduction to the Old Testament,” he sincerely tries to be as just and fair as he is learned. Not the vaguest imputation of deliberate unfairness to the Pentateuch can be laid at his door. His is a painstaking, laborious, and erudite work. It is, nevertheless, a book thoroughly vitiated by that false and unscientific view of the questions raised which we here ascribe to all Higher Critics. Neither Konig nor Wellhausen can move outside the sphere of methods tainted with all the poison of the inquisitorial principle. A mere formal “possibility” is sufficient for Konig to cast the gravest doubt upon entire chapters and sections of Genesis and Exodus. When it is argued that the expressions “without the camp,” “out of the camp,” in e. g., Lev. 4: 12; 13: 46; 14: 3, 8, etc., clearly indicate a4time when the Israelites were still in the desert during their exodus; then Konig literally retorts: “It is possible to conceive that these portions of the text referring to incidents of the wanderings of the Israelites through the desert arose in the following manner: Some of the laws and stories that originated in the period of Israel’s divinely willed salvation may very well have retained their original traits, which were subsequently, when the text of Leviticus was compiled, used as parts of the narrative.” In the same way, Konig discredits the value of the numerous details of customs and laws Egyptian to be found in Genesis and Exodus. Could not these details, Konig asks, “possibly” have been inserted by a late compiler?
Mark the enormity of the argument: Should we find no trace of Egyptian habits and customs in the portions of Genesis and Exodus relating to that country, then the Higher Critic would triumphantly exclaim: “Does not this total absence of local color of Egyptiaca at once condemn the Bible stories located in Egypt? Is it conceivable that these stories, if authentic, should not have contained some traits about the country which, more than any other country, abounded in traits singular and strange?” If, on the other hand, the Higher Critic is compelled to admit that there is plenty of local color (thus, the carrying of baskets on the head, the shaving of the beard before appearing before Pharaoh, etc.) in Genesis and Exodus with regard to matters Egyptian, then he exclaims with equal triumph: “Could not this local color have been ‘procured’ by a late interpolator? Was it impossible to secure such details in the sixth or fifth century B. C.?—Evidently not. What guarantee have we, then, of the authenticity of the Egyptian narratives of the Bible?”
This was precisely the method of the judges in witch trials. When the accused proved an alibi, then the judge triumphantly retorted: “An alibi? Can not a witch be in two places at a time? Have not Bodinus, Delrio, Clarus, Zanger, etc., etc., conclusively shown that as witches can fly in space, so they can also be at several spots at the same time?” It can indeed not be denied that if witches are possible, they may bewitch space as much as men. If it be allowed to use mere formal possibilities as arguments, then indeed it may legitimately be doubted whether Konig and Wellhausen are not, after all, the greatest enemies of Higher Criticism. For is it not just possible that they wrote their works in order to show up the hopeless absurdity of Higher Criticism? Much might be advanced to that effect. At any rate, it is “possible.” Such things have been known to happen; there are several masterpieces of Swift, and even of scholars proper, that may very well serve as precedents. Once we admit mere “possibilities,” we can prove anything we like. The old Italian criminalists rightly said, on the basis of the inquisitorial principle rife in their time, “Give me two lines, two ever so trivial and commonplace lines written by any one, and I undertake to bring the writer to the gallows.” Undoubtedly this is possible and feasible, but only as long as the method of inquisitorial principle is recognized. In modern criminal law it is absolutely impossible. Mere possibilities are rejected as evidence or proof. Nowadays we insist on psychological, and not on formal proof in criminal matters.
Except, when people criticize the Bible! With regard to this most important of all books, we still suffer the application of a method of criminal procedure which we have long thrown overboard when dealing with the most lowly and vulgar of criminals. The so-called crimes of the “interpolators,” “redactors,” “compilers” of the Pentateuch, are still proceeded with after the fashion of trials in the seventeenth century. Mere possibilities are adduced as proof conclusive; insinuations are leveled at the most natural and simple passages of the Bible; and the guilt of the “forgers” is taken for granted from the very outset.
It is high time that this scandalous witch trial of the Bible be put an end to. It is imperative in the interest of humanity, knowledge, and religion, that the Bible shall be subjected, if at all, to a criminal examination according to the precepts of modern criminal law. The honest student may rest convinced that the Bible can and will stand any fair criticism. He need not be afraid. The Rock of the Bible is as impregnable as is the Power that gave rise to it.
We believe that many of our readers, and especially our ministers, would find this book to be a valuable addition to their libraries. It is published by Jennings and Graham, Cincinnati, Ohio, and the price is one dollar net, postage eight cents.
“This Generation”
WE have followed with interest a study of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew in the editorial columns of The Signs of the Times, and note with satisfaction the clear position taken concerning the application of the expression “this generation” in the thirty-fourth verse. We quote three paragraphs from the article printed in the Signs of February 7:—
Note the use of the term, not “generation,” but “this generation,” in other scriptures: God said to Noah, “Thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (Gen. 7:1); that is, among the people who lived at that time. Of those who started out from Egypt, the Lord said, “There shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, . . . save Caleb,” etc. This certainly means the men who left Egypt with Caleb. Also, “unto this generation” (Ps. 71:18); “whereunto shall I liken this generation?” (Matt. 11:16), those before Jesus as he spoke. See also Mark 8:12; Luke 7:31. The latter text has evident reference to a period of time. One more, Ps. 95:10: “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation.” What generation?—That of the wilderness wandering.
“How long is a generation?” We do not know. Some, from Genesis 15, have said one hundred years; from Israel’s experience, forty years; from Noah’s time, one hundred and twenty years; from Psalm 90, seventy years; from Matthew 1, about forty-two years; from the average of human life, about thirty to thirty-five years. All these are vain speculations. What is the meaning, then, of Matt. 24:34? Just this: That some, at least, of the people who see in the light of God’s Word these signs included in this discourse which Jesus gave, shall not pass from among earth’s living till Christ shall come again.
Where does this generation begin? It seems evident to us that it is synchronous with the last great threefold message of Rev. 14:6-14, the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom in its fullest sense. This generation, witness of God’s tokens, bearer of his message, shall not pass till Christ shall come. Yes, we are in that generation, and the Master still tarries. But his chariot is near. The various events foretokening his coming are the rumbling of his chariot wheels, and soon he will come. In a little while his message of warning shall be given to every nation of the world, and those who will not have him reign over them will have allied themselves with iniquity forever, and then the Master will come, take his children home, and enter upon the eternal reign of peace.
Sharing the Burden
By William Ambrose Spicer
Now that we are brought by the Lord's own providences face to face with the vast heathen and Catholic fields, it is most encouraging to see gathering in Protestant lands, outside of our own country, an ever-increasing body of believers who mean to share with us the burden of the world's speedy evangelization. In a recent letter from Miss E. M. Graham, the Australasian Union treasurer, we have the significant information:—
You may be interested to hear that several of our churches have a chart, which is hung up in a conspicuous place in the church, with “Australasia's Burden, 50,000,000 People in the Islands,” at the head of it, and underneath the names of the islands where missions are established, and the names of the workers in each. In this way they have before them a reminder of the burden they have to carry, every time they come to meeting.
It means much to the missionary advance that this union conference, lying in the midst of the South Seas, has grown into strength, and now begins to share the burdens of the great island fields. Although the work in Singapore and the Malay States and in the Philippine Islands has been added to Australasia's field this year, they call for no more appropriations from the Mission Board than they had last year. The extra burden—and it is no light one—they intend to make up by extra lifting. And when it comes to directing and administering the work among the islands, the Australasian committee, close at hand, is able to do vastly better service than could be rendered by the Mission Board, so far removed.
A similar situation is developing in South Africa, where the colonial conferences are taking on more and more5the burden of the native African work. We can not expect so few believers to carry any very heavy end of the financial burden of training native workers and sending laborers forth to warn the fifty millions, more or less, in the South African Union's share of the Dark Continent. But with all courage they are lifting at the load, and it is a great strength to the missions of the interior to have a base of operation and direction close at hand in the coast colonies.
Surely we may see a guiding providence in the planting of these strong English-speaking commonwealths alongside vast, dark, unevangelized populations, such as lie next to the Australasian and South African Union Conferences.
The European field is rapidly growing into a strength that will lift very materially at the burden of the unwarned millions in Catholic, Mohammedan, and heathen lands. The German field has for years been carrying the main load in eastern Europe, and helping loyally in Asia. Now it is pressing into German East Africa.
With these and other helpers coming in to lift, shall we in the home land of this advent movement carry any less burden?—Nay, verily. The evidence that the work done in other lands is bringing in companies of believers to join heartily in sharing burdens, should but encourage and strengthen us all to go at this task with greater enthusiasm. The world-wide body of believers, working as one, can quickly “belt the world” with this message. W. A. S.
A Dark Cloud in the East
By L. A. S.
FOR some months the press has had much to say about the Chinese boycott against American goods, with the accompanying Chinese sentiment against foreigners of all nationalities, but especially citizens of the United States. The boycott has not been removed, and the anti-American sentiment has not lessened. On the contrary, the situation has grown steadily worse, until it is now said that Americans in China are in greater danger than were those who faced the Boxer uprising.
An official of the State Department is quoted as saying that not for a long time has the United States had any complication in its foreign affairs worthy of being compared with the present one in China, and that the United States must soon decide either to let go its trade in the vast Oriental market or to insist upon trade relations by force of arms. This official believes that Japanese influence, and to some extent German and British influence, is being exerted against American interests in China. “The time is fast coming,” he is quoted as saying, “when to make good the position the government’s representatives have assumed, the ‘big financial stick’ or something like it will have to go into action.”
That this official is not alone in holding such views is evidenced by the fact that men and munitions of war are being rushed to the Philippines very rapidly. The Washington Post states that large quantities of winter clothing are being hurriedly made up at Omaha and San Francisco, evidently not intended to be worn by the troops in the tropical Philippines.
A prominent Chinese merchant in this country, a former secretary of the “Six Companies” in San Francisco, is quoted as saying that the anti-foreign troubles in China are about to culminate in the greatest massacre of modern times. To American friends in several cities he is reported to have sent warnings, directing them to cable their friends in China to leave that country before February 24, as he had received word that “the order had been sent out to the subordinate circles of the Chinese Reform Association to throw off all the foreign elements in our country, starting February 25.”
Armed intervention in China will not again be the comparatively easy matter that it has been in the past. On this point the Post says:—
Officials are one in saying that it would be much more difficult to subdue an anti-foreign uprising in China now than it was to suppress the Boxer insurrection of 1900. During the maneuvers of the Chinese troops recently, visiting officers were astounded at the progress China had made in the science of modern warfare.
“They have quit carrying parasols in the Chinese army now,” said a prominent official yesterday, “and have learned how to carry a rifle, and to carry it pretty well, too.”
In addition to the fact that the army is better drilled than in 1900, another important consideration is that it has been increased until there are now two hundred and fifty thousand men in the field.
Thus there is a possibility, if not a probability, that the United States may soon, for the first time in its history, be drawn into a dubious conflict upon the shores of the Old World. There is a possibility that this nation may find itself under the necessity of defending its Asiatic possessions against one of the great powers; for who can say how far the sentiment, “Asia for the Asiatics,” may have influenced the purposes of Japan. It is almost a certainty that Japan and China are to stand together in maintenance of an Asiatic “Monroe doctrine.” Should the latter contingency arise, the position of the United States would be by no means an enviable one, and the recently adopted colonial policy of this country would bear most undesirable fruit. L. A. S.
A Remedy Worse Than the Disease
THE most casual observer of men and things must see conditions on every hand which invite reform. The inherent evil in unregenerated human nature is manifesting itself in many ways. The rich oppress the poor; the employer makes unreasonable demands upon the helpless employee; the corporations practically hold up and rob the people; and the bosses, to a very large extent, run the government, both State and national. To meet this situation there is a spirit of reform in the air, and ill-considered measures are proposed for protecting the weak against the strong.
Those who desire the enactment of Sunday laws in order to protect the so-called working classes against the encroachments of employers are suggesting a remedy which is worse than the disease. This has been pointed out, in the case of the proposed Sunday law for the District of Columbia, in a letter from the editor of the REVIEW to the District Commissioners. This letter is given herewith in full:—
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 13, 1906.
To the Honorable Commissioners of the District of Columbia.
GENTLEMEN: I desire to avail myself of the opportunity offered for written protests against the proposed Sunday law for the District of Columbia, H. R. 10510, by offering for your consideration a brief reply to the arguments made at the hearing last Thursday by Messrs. Manning and Ford, who spoke in behalf of the clerks’ associations.
Being a hard toiler myself, I sympathize with those workers who desire to secure at least one day of uninterrupted rest during the week; but I submit that a small portion of the workers in this District ought not to ask for a law compelling all to rest on a specified day in order to secure to them the boon of one day’s rest in seven. This is asking all to be compelled to rest on a particular day whether they desire to do so or not, in order that a few may be able to resist successfully the tendency of employers to deprive them of the rest to which every laboring man is entitled.
If this bill is not intended to be a piece of religious legislation, it would meet the needs of the clerks’ associations as presented by their representatives if the law should simply forbid employers to require more than six days’ labor in the week from any of their employees. I am quite well aware that in this amended form, the proposed law would doubtless be unacceptable to the authors of the bill now under consideration, as I am well satisfied that their whole purpose is to secure legislation which will compel at least an outward regard for a religious institution, rather than to ameliorate the condition of the laboring classes. But a refusal to accept such an amendment would show plainly the religious character of the proposed legislation.
Furthermore, I beg you to consider that if the proposed law should be enacted6and enforced, it would bring about a condition of things worse than the evils it is designed to remedy. All history bears testimony to the serious results which attend any effort to compel conformity to religious observances, and terrible have been the conflicts which have been precipitated by the misguided efforts to establish religion by law.
It is true that we live in a time when great reforms are demanded, but it by no means follows that these desired results will be attained by legislating concerning religion. Those who believe that the troubles which threaten this nation can be averted by seeking to enforce through legal enactments a greater regard for religious observances would do well to study a well-known example of the application of this principle during the period of the decline of the Roman empire. During the early part of the fourth century, the pagan emperor, Diocletian, attempted to restore the waning fortunes of the empire by compelling a more general observance of that religion which he believed to be the only true one. The story is briefly told in the following extract:—
“Towards the end of his reign Diocletian inaugurated against the Christians a persecution which continued long after his abdication, and which was the severest, as it was the last, waged against the church by the pagan emperors.
“We have already mentioned some of the main causes of these constantly recurring persecutions of the Christians (par. 228). To these various grounds of dislike and hatred of the new converts on the part of the Roman rulers there was added in the case of Diocletian another of a somewhat different nature. It was the aim and ambition of this emperor, as we have seen, to restore the unity of the empire, and, in place of the prevailing anarchy, division, and discord, to establish order, union, and harmony.
“To Diocletian it seemed that this end could be attained only by the restoration of the ancient cults; for like many statesmen of to-day, he was convinced that religion must form the basis of any permanent system of government. Accordingly Diocletian labored to revive in the masses faith in their ancestral gods, and to lead them to renew, in reverent spirit, the neglected sacrifices of the altar and the services of the temple.”—“Rome: Its Rise and Fall,” by Myers, pages 386 and 387.
It may seem to you that the proposed bill professedly designed to secure one day’s rest in the week for the laboring men of the District of Columbia is very far removed from persecution for conscience’ sake; but every piece of religious legislation contains all the elements of persecution, as history has abundantly proved. The only sure way of avoiding persecution for conscience’ sake is to studiously avoid the enactment of any religious legislation.
Thanking you for any consideration which you may give to the objections which I have made to the proposed bill, I am, gentlemen,
Yours very truly,
W. W. PRESCOTT.
The commissioners have deferred their report on this bill in order to give the fullest opportunity for an expression of public opinion concerning it. Many protests have been made against it by citizens of Washington.