The Washington herald., 1908-07-12
ny GEORGE c. HENNING,
p.rasp' ,si, RAY turn Gu. -oae.

a well-knoWn orthodox Protestant cler-
gymsn was in my place Of business one
Saturday, and l said to him. Il under
stand you are going 10 Pittsburg to-mor-
row 70 solicit funds and asked him how
l'e reconciled il with his Christian profes-
sion to travel on Sunday. He said the
sect to which he belonged did not regard
Sunday as II was regarded by other sects.
but that the coming o. Christ repeated
The Jewish ordinances and that only those
which Christ ordained were 70 be sacredly
kept. Therefore. that as he had not es-
,ablished Sunday as a holy day IL was cf
no binding force OF Christians old
things arc passed away; behold. all things
are come new" This seemed 70 me 10 be
reasonable Interpretation. and the more
! l-~thousht Of It. It impressed me that he
MS right
When was very young 7 learned at a
/ Presbyterian sunday school
/ rhou shalt uct T,1k thou shalt not rlay
Lyon Gods hcly Ssbh,th day
The impression that 10 play upon sun
day. synonymous with Sabbath was
wrong, remained with me many grievoEs
years.
! {! we were so inclined it would be -
/ Serly impossible 70 keep the Jewish Sab
bath in the present age Nor is there any
pretense to keep II by any Christians. as
/ the Commandment requires. All travel on
Sunday. and the clergy too call into
requisition their cooks and maids on Sun
day. So II IS well 10 recognize the fact
4 that Sunday is no longer holy day. but
the day recommended by ST. Paul as the
/ day for rs 10 assemble ourselves to-
| gether. But how about those persons
/ who do not choose 90 assemble? The gen
/ tlerren Of the cloth cannot make us as
semble. even though they may prevent
! innocent recreation.
Knowing. therefore. the terrors Of the
1 Lord. we persuade men"
! Most people Ike to have their opinions
/ mado for them. by their pastors. their
newspapers, or by public opinion. II
saves them the trouble OF thinking. On
| the matter OF public opinion Joseph
| Vance says: The wind was coming from
! the southwest and A little came as we
crossed the Clapham common. When a
sudden mild At Of this sort comes IN
/ midwinter. people call II unreasonable
/ and pretend they like frost They are
liars and hypocrites. as they enjoy il
| thoroughly.
We arrived and met Hickman. He
was evidently appreciating the change.
/ but he. TOO, paid HIS tribute 70 public
opinion and said It was unhealthy and
\ relaxing
While public opinion is strong. class
1 opinion IS stronger. The clergyman 7
/ first mentioned is not beyond its strength.
80 that he. toe. / notice r. among those
calling for Sunday regulation.
There are some things worse than sun
/ day amusements. will mention some
OF them not in the order ot their bad
ness. but as they occur 20 me. One OF
them is
Drunkenness.
And that Is expected 20 be cured bv
legislation. II is possible but doubt n
! In legtslating against the sale Of spirit
uous liquors It is we'll TO consider the
alternative substitutes. such as opium
and cocaine. When Dean Swift was per
suaded 10 give Up smoking he said he
was looking around 20 substitute some
other vice Though few OF the present
generations know it. we had once before
the question of prohibition aEitated in
/ the District of Columbia. This was fftv-
/ ODD years ago. about the time the Maine
4 hquor law. as II was called. went into
/ force / haze now among my collection
! a pamphlet giving history Of that law
/ with a portrait OF Neal Dow tho Na-
I poleon Of temperance. as indicated nv the
l title. was then an enthusiastic sdvo-
cate Of this law, and published in the
I National Intelligence what was perhaps
/ the first newspaper argument in its favor
Z IN the District.
! j followed this UP With other com
munications in other papers To fortifv
I my point ] wrote down 10 the ,-arious
towns in Maine for statistics. and got
/ them To my surprise. I found. instead
/ % a decline of crime. which fondlv be-
/ lieved they would show, I found an in
/ crease. or course, I did not use my sta
I tistics.
Now I do not believe that that law
had any effect in increasing crime But
the effect OF any law prohibiting the ex-
ercise OF natural right is TO increase
apparent crime. or. TO speak more mild
/ y. offenses. More laws. more onenses.
/ A number OF years subsequently,. IN
company with an inQuisitiva French
man. penetrated the canteea In the
citadel Of Quebec. a place seldom visited
| by strangers. I found The soldiers com
/ ing. getting what they desired. and going
out. l asked the corporal on duty there
what restrictions they put on the men in
regard 20 drink. He said none but their
ability 10 pay. I asked him. further II
| the men abused the privilege He said
but seldom, but II they did they were
punished.
In my younger days I belonged 10 a
beneficial temperance organization. The
municipal election for mayor OF Wash
! ingtop was approaching There were
| threetcandidates. Walter Lenox. W-hip.
I Roger 9. Weightman. a Whig. and John
w Maury, Democrat One evening
our deputy ruler got up in the meeting
and advocated the election Of Roger c.
| Weightman as a fit man for tempersnce
people 10 vote for. and denounced Wal
ter benoX in unmeasured terms as a
drunkard and everything that was vile
! called him TO order. as ours was not a
political organization. I was overruIed
and he proceeded. On the morning OF
the election Roger c. Weightman with
drew, and our deputy ruler went TO the
polls and voted for Walter Lenox be-
cause he was a Wing and because John
W. Maury was a Democrat
Worse in its effect than drunkenness.
yet no legislation is asked with regard
TO il, is
Gluttony.
This vice is warned against frequently
IN both the Old and New TeStamentS. but
l have never heard a sermon against il.
Dr. Dio Lewis. who had a sanitarium
in the Berkshire Hills, was an avowed
enemy OF alcohol and tobacco. yet he
said in a magazine article that he didn't
hesitate 20 affirm that more people died
every year in the United States from