Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-12-26


/ Meyers was charged with digging a
post hole Oh Sunday. Bird Terry, a
colored convert, was charged with
hauling and unloading a load of tools
on Sunday. He told the jury that be-
/ fore he Joined the AdventisIs he
+ worked in the coal mines in that very
/ town in which he was being tried. and
1 worked every day in the week, but was
4 never interfered with; no one protested
in his or The laws behalf. AS soon as
he Joined the Adventists he was pros
/ ecuted for working on Sunday. though
( he observed the seventh day Sabbath.
/ The other cases were of a similar char
acter, and in every one the Adventists
/ were convicted The jury had no
/ other course but TO return a verdict Of
/ guilty. The law was plain and the
cases were proved.
/ 1t was made clear that in no in
/ stance did the Adventists do any work
on Sunday that in any way could dis
turb other members of the community,
who observed Sunday as holy day.
/ They seemed to have taken particular
pains TO avoid disturbing their neigh
/ bors, and all the work performed by
them and for doing which they were
/ tried and convicted was done on their
own premises and was OF an uno5-
strusive character. This point they
pleaded in their defense, but it availed
nothing
None of the accused would employ
counsel, but each spoke in his own de-
Tense and justification. The plea was
the same in each case, but some
pleaded more eloQuently than others.
They all regretted having violated the
law, but took their stand or the plain
teaching of the Bible. to keep holy the
Sabbath on the seventh dav. What
they had done they did in no defiant
spirit, but only. as they believed in
strict accordance with the commands
of God.
I am indicted for violating the Sab
BATH said Elder Burchard. as he faced
the jury, Bible in hand. Il am not
guilty. l have been keeping the Sab
bath on the seventh day for four years.
have found that the Bible indisput-
ably says that the seventh day of the
week is the Sabbath. I obey the laws
OF the land, but when they conflict
with the laws of God I obey the laws
OF God. But when the laws of the
state do not conflict with the laws of
GOD L most certainly will obey ,he
laws of the state. The Bible saws:
remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labor and
do all thy work, but the seventh dav
is the Sabbath of the Lord. thv God
for in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth and all that in them is and
rested the seventh day; wherefore the
Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hal
lowed it The state says the first day
OF the week is the Sabbath. God Gre
ated the heavens and the earth. and
when other gods contravene obey the
God of heaven.
Il will read Acts V, %: Then Peter
and the other apostles answered and
said, We ought to obey God rather
than men I count this a case AGAINST
me for belief. I believe my Bible: NV
faith is that the seventh day is the
Sabbath, so it is a case against me for
my belief in the Bible. The supreme
court of Tennessee has decided that it
is the commitment of more than one
act that constitutes a nuisance. There
is but one charge against me-"
He pleaded his rights under the con-
stitution of the state, which says that
call men have a natural and indefeas-
able right to worship Almighty God
according to the dict q ties of their own
conscience" and that mo human au-
thority can, in any case whatever, con-
troll or interfere with the rights CT
conscience; and that no preference
shall ever be given by law to any
religious establishment or mode of
worship" But it was all without
avail and he was adiudged guilty with
the rest
The courtroom was crowded during
the three days occupied by the trials.
Many persons there had come from
other states to hear the result. The
immediate neighborhood was intensely
interested in the cases, and it was evil
dent that there was a very great pre-
ponderance of sympathy for the ac-
cused. The judge showed his sym
pathy with them very openly.
while my sympathies are with the
defendants, and while they, perhaps, .
have good grounds for their faith" he
said, yet this is a temporal and not a
spiritual court, and 70 cannot pass
them upon question of belief AS a
court there can be no question as TO
our duty. The law must be enforced
with mercy, but it must be enforced .
No man can regret the necessity of
these cases more than myself I am
sure that the sentiment is shared by a
large element of the people, but there
can be no division on the question as
to whether the law should be upheld
A court failing to do this invites con-
tempt for all law.
But it must be patent even to the
most casual observer that they are
good citizens who are thoroughly con
scientiOus in the course they have
taken. They are not Sabbath breakers .
in the ordinary sense of the term
The original intention of the law was
evidently not to punish such people
1t was directed at that class of persons
who, out Of sheer wickedness and want
of decent respect for things sacred, .
violated that day which by the con-