A Little More Freedom
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A LITTLE MORE FREEDOM.
We are a very great people, but there are certainly some things where we might be improved. We think, for one, that preachers should not only have the liberty of preaching out-doors, in City or County, on Sundays or any days, but that they should be encouraged in doing so. The only condition ought to be that they get in some place where they do not obstruct the public passage.
But it seems that in New York city this liberty is withheld. The Rev. Mr. Taylor, when about to commence preaching last Sunday, 18th inst., according to announcement, from the steps of the M.E. Mission Chapel at the Five Points, was notified by a policeman that it was contrary to the statute, and he must desist until he had obtained the Mayor’s permission. Mr. Taylor accordingly postponed the fulfillment of his intention until further notice. In the mean time, a thousand places were in full blast through the city, for the sale of liquors, and for all animal gratifications—often flaunting themselves full in the public face.
Our own opinion about liberty, vice, restrictive Sunday laws, &c., (beyond those statutes and restraints which by general consent are needed for the public safety), is hinted at in the phrase of old Andrew Fuller, who held that “truth and error must be left free to grapple together—for in any fair encounter, truth will, in the long run, gain the day."
We hope if any street-preacher attempts to preach in the open air in Brooklyn, Sunday or week-day, the police will be instructed by the Mayor and the Chief to not interfere, so long as there is no impediment created. Political meetings are continually held in public places, sometimes blocking up much-traveled streets. Surely there is as much importance in the sermons of the street-preachers, and in the topics they treat of, as in the harangues of the politicians.