The herald., 1896-11-21
An Oakland Minister Wants Its
Use Discontinued
AS A SANITARY MEASURE
Los AsHeles Board Of Health Is Peti.
toned to That Eud
He Thinks IL Will Rebound to the Credit
Of the Board to Take the Initia-
tive in the Matter.

petition nom Rev. v. Marshall Law,
rector Of the Church Of the Advent, East
Oakland. asking that the board of health
take such steps as will do away with
the common communion cup, as now
used In the celebration of the sacra-
meut. The petitioner also states that
the petition has been sent in duplicate
70 the boards of health Of San Francisco,
Oakland and Sacramento. The petition
Or goes into the sanitary aspects of
the subject at length. and in view of the
interest awakened throughout the
churches by the agitation which was in
augurated some months ago, the docu-
anent is given in full as follows:
THE PETITION.
OAKLAND, Nov. IS, 1896.
To the Board of Health of the City of
Los Angeles. Cal-Gentlemen: Your pc
titioner, v. Marshall Law, M.Sc., M. D.,
rector of the Church of the Advent, East
Oakland, Cal, desires to bring to the
attention of your honorable body the
dangers attendant upon the use of the
communion cup, as it is commonly used
In the various Christian churches with
In your jurisdiction, with view to OBJ
taining such recommendations or legis-
lation from your board as shall most
attention Of the clergy and the peo-
pie.
In doing this your petitioner begs to
suggest that any action taken by you
may be very far reaching in its results,
and possibly of world wide Importance.
for your petitioner does not know of
this subject having been heretofore Ofi-
cially brought to the notice Of boards
Of health In years to come, to you may
belong the credit OF taking the initia-
tive in this matter or the regret that
the honor was passed on to other sani'
tary bodies.
The danger Of partaking from a COM
mon communion cup consists in the
practice of many persons (sometimes to
the number of several hundreds) drink
ing from one and the same cup, and one
common supply of wine, without the
cleansing of the rim of the cup or the
changing Of the wine Of which they
drink The people thus partaking rep
resent "all sorts and conditions of men"
the young, the middle aged and the old;
the healthy, the slightly indisposed and
the sick. those suffering from diseases
acute and chronic, benign, malignant
and specific. The cups used at the public
drinking fountains offer no parallel to
the practice named, for these are nearly
always rinsed, or actually washed from
the fountains plentiful flow. previous to
each individuals use, whereas the COM
munion cup is never washed. rinsed or
properly cleansed as it is passed from
one communicate to another-besides
the public fountain and hydrant fur
nishes a new and fresh supply of water
for each individual.
Your petitioner is. aware of the. polit-
ical and social delicacy which
some of you may feel in approaching this
subject, because of the deeply rooted
character of religious prejudices, should
such happen to be aroused. But it IS
tl.e belief Of your petitioner that the
time Is fully ripe for action along this
line and that, instead of calling forth
any obloquy, the vast majority of the
Christian ministry. and all of the Chris
tian laity will extend to you the most
unmistakable evidence of their approval,
should you take such measures as will
insure speedy relief from this motor
iously Objectionable feature in the cell
ebration Of the Lords supper.
While Investigations, followed by rec
concentrations, from your honorable
body, will probably meet all the pres
ent exigencies Of the case, your petition
er begs permission to show that actual
legislation with the appointment of an
inspector woyld find a warrant in the
Protestant Episcopal church, probably
the most fixed of all the Christian bodies
concerned, by reason of the ritual which
always governs every part of its wor-
ship. In order that you may see that
the Episcopal ritual is not intended to be
as fixed and unalterable as many err
roneously suppose, your attention Is
called to the following words from the
preface Of the Episcopal Book of Com
mon Prayer.
"The particular forms of divine wor-
ship and the rites and ceremonies ap-
lointed to be used therein. being things
in their own nature Indifferent and al
III nd cn oln or G
reasonable that. upon weighty and i'm
portant considerations, according to the
various exigencies of times and occa-
sions, such changes and alterations
should be made therein as, to those who
are in place of authority, should from
time to time seem either necessary or
expedient."
The following further quotation from
this same preface will show that the
Episcopal church in America has, from
its very beginning. declared its sub
serviency to the civil law, of which your
honorable body Is a part.
When, in the course OF Divine provl-
dence, these American states became in
dependent with respect to civil govern
ment, their ecclesiastical independence
Z was necessarily inciuded and the diff
ferent religious denominations of Christ
ians in these states were left at full and
equal liberty to model and organize
their respective churches and forms of
worship and discipline in such manner
as they might Judge most convenient
for their future prosperity, consistently
with the constitution and laws of their
country.
Having now cleared the way. from the
church's point of view, your petitioner
desires to bring to your attention the
ousistency of some sort of action on the
part of the boards of health The
church Is no more sacred than the fam
i lily castle" and vet civil authority steps
+ in and insures pure milk to the children
e"pro bono publico." 1t enforces vac
sscination under certain circumstances
although many persons are violently op-
posed to the proceeding. 1t insists upon
proper sewerage and plumbing, some
times at large expense to the household
er, and, Notwithstanding his protests
that he 'cannot afford It," 1t names a
penalty for giving intoxicating liquors
to children and minors although in one
sense 1t may be considered an abridga-
ment of personal rights" 1t fixes the
'age of consent" although many evilly
disposed females curse the civil authori-
ties for meddling with private rights
It controls and regulates the quality Of
food supply. regardless of damage to
the pocketbooks and the feelings of o.
lenders. In view of these facts, and also
N view Of the generally accepted doe
II trine that all disease Is more or less con-
tagious. boards of health, as guardians
OF the public hygiene. clearly have the
right to say to thoughtless, timid or ig-