March 10, 1898
THE primary object of proper legislation is protection to the individual.
AN appeal to precedent is often a convenient but never a justifiable means of ignoring duty
ANY religious institution which cannot be upheld by truth and love alone, would better go down.
IF you vote for a Sunday law or for any form of religious legislation, be assured it will hurt nobody more than yourself.
SO long as conscientious conviction remains independent of legislation or physical force, so long will the supervision of morality remain outside the sphere of the state.
THE law of God makes of the Sabbath a day of rest. The law of man can only make of it a day of restraint. There is no ease in restraint, and there can be no true rest without ease.
“GIVE me liberty or give me death,” said Patrick Henry. A good many to-day say, Give me liberty and give me death. There is no real liberty in using or doing that which brings death.
IF the world is growing worse, it is because men are rejecting the Spirit of God; and only that which will remove the cause can effect a remedy. Obviously this can not be done by legislation.
“NOT by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.” This is the watchword of all true reforms.
THE Sabbath law of Jehovah covers completely the whole subject of the duty and privilege of every individual with respect to a weekly day of rest. That law is still in force; and any human legislation on the subject must be superfluous and impertinent. The fact that God has enacted a Sabbath law affords the poorest possible reason for demanding that the state enact one also.