The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-02-17


does not Interfere with any other
person doing the same. He may or
lie may not DO religious, an lie cloosesi
the government has nothing to do with
his rellEion 1t Is u matter solely be-
tween himself and Ills God III tho
struggle for religious liberty IN Vir-
ginla, tho Prcsbytery Of Hanover SAID;
"Tho duty that wa owe onr creator,
ind Tho manner OF dlschnrglng IT, can
only DO directed by reason nnu conv'u.
ton, and Is nowhere cosniSahle but ~
the tribunal OF the universal Judge.
(Amorcan state Papers. BY William
Anderson Blnkely, page ZIG OF tho
correctness of the above named prlh-
cjple, James Madison slld: The FREQ
exercise of religion, according 70 t he
dictates or conscience, is something
which every man may demand rs
right, not something Of which no must
ask n privilege. All mon arc
cqualy entitled to tho free exercise
OF religion, according to tho dictates
or conscience" I'D, page 20)
Tho reason why these noble mon
demanded religious liberty was DO.
cause they had profound respect
for christianity and equal rights OF,
MI men. Moreover they recognized
the fact that government as such
had nothing to do with religion. Said
Madison: There is not shudow Of
right In the general government to
intermcddle with religion. It's least
interfcronce with 1t would be u most
hagrnnt usurpatlon," And why? Be-
cause religion Is not In the purvlew
of human government" I'D, page 4d)
Jesus Christ announced these prlnci-
pies when He said: Render thcre-
fore unto Caesar the things which arc
Caesars, and unto God the things that
are Gods (N1utt. xxi. 30 The rea-
son for this is plain, because that
which is Caesars belongs to civil
which Is Gods is spiritual, and boz
longs to tho world above Of which
Caesar has no jurisdiction. Because
OF these principles the sixteenth sec
ton OF tho Bill OF Rights of Virginia.
adopted June -, 1875 says: "That re-
llgion, or the duty which we owe to
our Creator, and the manner Of dis
charging it, can be directed only By
reason and conviction, not by force or
violence; and therefore all men are
equally entitled to tho free exercise
of religion according to the dictates
Of conscience; and that 1t is the
mutual duty ofSall to practice Chris
tian forbcarance, love and charity to-
wards each other"
1t seems that the above named prin-
ciplcs have proven OF such value to
tho people of this State and others as
we'll, that the first suggestion on. the
part Of any one to ask FOR religious
legislation concerning Sunday should
be sternly refused.
II. j. FARMAN.
We know nothing OF tho growing
sentiment" toawhich our correspondent
refers but in point of fact our Sun
day observance law Is not religious
law, as many persons seem to think
This confusion is natural, because ir
tho view of the church Sunday Is q
holy day. In the eyes of the law
1t is not So Our Sunday observance
law does not require that any mar
shall remember the Sabbath day tc
keep it holy" 1t does not require
that any man shall go to church OF
read his Biblegsor engage in any re.
llglous service whatsoever. Nor does
1t require that he shall refrain from
secular amusements, within limlta-
walk, or drive, or play games. OF
travel on the cars, or engage in any
sort OF innocent recreation. The law
does require. however, that Sunday
shall be observed as q day of rest
and that no man shall perform an,
| work save q work Of charity or o
necessity; and further, that he shall
not engage In any sort Of amusement
!, mr. do ANYTHING that will have the of
feet Of disturbing the general res
and restful spirit of the day.
Sunday observance is no infringe
| ment OF religious liberty, nor Of per
sonal liberty, within the meaning o
the law: nor Is any principle of democ
racy violated by that Sunday law. I
was enacted for the welfare Of ma
and beast, and from q legal point 9
4 view, any other day would have don
as we'll as Sunday for rest da.
But Sunday Is the day which mos
religious bodies observe. and SO on
lawmakers chose and designated Sur
duy TO be our lcgalized day Of res
} 1t is hard to diffcrentlate between II
( religious Sunday and the legal SUI
i, day. but there Is n radical Different
J in principle between the two. III
$ state enforces the Sunday law as IT 81
/ forces any other law, but never az
: religious observance. In law Sundt
, Is a holiday. but not q holy day
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