The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-06-25

Lord has any rights You rule your
family. the governor rules the state.
the President rules the whole land;
wonder if the Lord has a right to rule
the nations and make the enactment
Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy" and if there is any appeal
to higher court from that de-
\ cision, and if the men who are
warning against the enactment are
not guilty of high treason against the
maker of heaven and earth They
| have in our cities put God on trial 1t
has been the theaters and the opera
houses, plaintiffs, VS. the Lord Al
mighty, defendant; the suit has been
| begun. and who shall come out ahead.
you know. Whether it be popular or
unpopular. now announced it as my
opinion that the people have no rights
save those which the great Jehovah
| gives them. He has never given the
right to man to break his holy Sab
bath, and as long as his throne stands,
he never will give that right.
The prophet asks a question which
can easily answer, "Win a man rob
God2" Yes They robbed him last
Sunday night at the theaters and the
opera houses, and charge upon them
the Infamous and high-handed larceny,
/ hold the same opinion as a sailor I
have heard of The crew had been
discharged from the vessel because
they would not work while they were
in port on the Lords day. The cap
tain went out to get sailors He found
one man and he said to him, ''Will
you serve me on the Sabbath?'' mo"
''Why not?" WELL" replied the old
sailor, "a man who will rob God Al
mighty of his sabbath would rob me
of my wages if he got chance"
Suppose you were poor, and you
came to dry goods merchant and
asked for some cloth for garments,
and he should say. "Pn give you six
yards;' and while he was off from the
counter binding up the six yards you
should go behind the counter and
steal one additional yard That is
what every man does when he breaks
the Lords Sabbath God gives us six
days out of seven, reserving one for
himself, and if you will not let him
have it. it is mean beyond all compu-
tation.
Again: I am opposed to this desc
Grafton of the Sabbath by secular en-
tertainments because it is a war on
the statutes of most of the states
The law in New York state says:
''It shall not be lawful to exhibit, on
the first day of the week, commonly
called Sunday, to the public, in any
building, garden, grounds, court room
or other room or place within the city
and county OF New York, any inter
1ude, tragedy, comedy, opera. ballet.
play. farce, negro minstrelsy, negro
or other dancing, or any other enter
tainment of the stage, or any part or
parts therein, or any equestrian, cir
Gus, or dramatic performance, or any
performance of Jugglers, acrobats or
rope-dancing
Was there ever a palmer enactment
than that? Who made the law2 You.
who at the ballot boxes decided
who should go to Albany and sit in
the Legislature You who in any region
exercise the right of suffrage. They
made the law for you and for your fam
lilies and now 1 say that any man who
attempts to override that law insults
you and me and every man who has
the right of suffrage.
Still further: 1 protest against the
invasion of the Sabbath, because it is
foreign war Now, if you hear at
this moment the booming of a gun in
the harbor, or if q shell from some for
eign frigate should drop into your
street. would You keep your seats in
church? You would want to face the foe
and every gun that could be managed
would be brought into USE and every
ship that could be brought out of the
navy yard would swing from her
anchorage, and the question would be
decided. You do not want a foreign
war. and yet have to tell you that
this invasion of Gods holy day is a
foreign war.
AS among our own native-born pop
ulation there are two classes-the
good and the bad; so it is with
the people who come from other
shores-there are the 1aw-abiding and
the lawless- The former are welcome
here. The more of them the better
we like it. But let not the 1awless
come from other shores expecting to
break down our Sabbath and institute
in the place of it foreign Sabbath
How do you feel, We who have been
brought up amid the hills of New
England, about giving up the Ameri-
can Sabbath? Ye who spent your
childhood under the shadow of the
Adirondacks or the Catskills; We who
were born on the banks of the Savan-
nah, or Ohio, or Oregon, how do you feel
about giving up the American Sab
bath? You say: I'VE shall not give
it up. We mean to defend it as long
as there is left any strength in our
arm, or blood in our hearth Do not
bring your Spanish Sab bath here Do
not bring your Italian Sabbath here.
Do not bring your French Sabbath
here Do not bring your foreign Sab
bath here It shall be for us and our
children forever a pure, consecra ted,
Christian, American Sabbath
/ will mako a connariSou hafwoou