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Lewis, Abram Herbert, 1836-
1908. A critical history of Sunda
legislation from 321 to
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K
A CRITICAL HISTORY OF
SUNDAY LEGISLATION
FROM 321 TO 1888 A. D.
BY A. H. LEWIS, D.D.
Author 0/ *■'' Sabbath and Sunday: Argument and History'''' " Biblical Teachings Concerning the Sabbath and Sunday " *'^ Critical History o/the Sabbath and the Sunday iii the Christian Church '
etc.
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1888
Copyright, 1888, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
lDebicttte5
WITH MANY PLEASANT MEMORIES
To President J. ALLEN, D. D., Ph. D., LL.D.
FROM WHOM CAME THE INSPIRATION
WHICH HAS GUIDED THE AUTHOR
THROUGH MANY YEARS OF HISTORIC RESEARCH
PREFACE
This book enters a field not hitherto occupied in the literature of the Sunday question. Sun- day legislation is more than fifteen centuries old, but the general reader has not hitherto been able to know accurately either its extent, or its specific character. The following pages answer many questions which are pressing to the front. Existing Sunday laws are much disregarded, and many contradictory theories are put forth rela- tive to them. Much that is said concerning them is superficial and impertinent, because men do not understand their origin or their history. The surpassing value of the " historic argument " is slowly gaining recognition. History is an or- ganic whole, a series of reciprocal causes and effects. No period can be separated from that which has gone before, nor be kept distinct from that which follows. Herein lies the value of
vi Preface,
facts like those which compose this volume. Every effort to remodel existing Sunday legisla- tion, or to forecast its future, must be made in the light of the past. It is not the province of this volume to pursue an argument relative to Sunday legislation, but rather to present those facts on which intelligent conclusions must be based.
The first Sunday legislation was the product of that pagan conception, so fully developed by the Romans, which made religion a department of the state. This was diametrically opposed to the genius of New Testament Christianity. It did not find favor in the Church until Christian- ity had been deeply corrupted through the in- fluence of Gnosticism and kindred pagan errors. The Emperor Constantine, while still a heathen — if indeed he was ever otherwise — issued the first Sunday edict b}^ virtue of his power as Pontifex Maximus in all matters of religion, especially in the appointment of sacred days. This law was pagan in every particular.
Sunday legislation between the time of Con- stantine and the fall of the empire was a combina- tion of the Pagan, Christian, and Jewish cults. Many other holidays — mostly pagan festivals baptized with new names and slightly modified —
Preface, vii
were associated, in the same laws, with the Sunday.
During the Middle Ages, Sunday legislation took on a more Judaistic type, under the plea of analogy, whereby civil authorities claimed the right to legislate in religious matters, after the manner of the Jewish Theocracy.
The Continental reformation made little change in the civil legislation concerning Sunday. The English reformation introduced a new theory, and developed a distinct type of legislation. Here we meet, for the first time, the doctrine of the transfer of the Fourth Commandment to the first day of the week, and the consequent legislation growing out of that theory. The reader will find the laws of that period to be extended theological treatises, as well as civil enactments. The Sun- day laws of the United States are the direct out- growth of the Puritan legislation, notably, of the Cromwellian period. These have been much modified since the colonial times, and the latest tendency, in the few cases which come to direct trial under these laws, is to set forth laws of a wholly different character, through the decisions of the courts.
In the Sunday legislation of the Roman Em- pire the religious element was subordinate to the
viii Preface.
civil. In the Middle Ages, under Cromwell, and during our colonial period, the Church was prac- tically supreme. Some now claim that Sunday legislation is not based on religious grounds. This claim is contradicted by the facts of all the centuries. Every Sunday law sprung from a religious sentiment. Under the pagan concep- tion, the day was to be "venerated" as a relig- ious duty owed to the God of the Sun. As the resurrection-festival idea was gradually com- bined with the pagan conception, religious re- gard for the day was also demanded in honor of Christ's resurrection. In the Middle-Age period, sacredness was claimed for Sunday be- cause the Sabbath had been sacred under the legislation of the Jewish Theocracy. Sunday was held supremely sacred by the Puritans, under the plea that the obligations imposed by the Fourth Commandment were transferred to it. There is no meaning in the statutes prohibiting *' worldly labor," and permitting " works of neces- sity and mercy," except from the religious stand- point. There can be no '' worldly business," if it be not in contrast with religious obligation. Every prohibition which appears in Sunday legis- lation is based upon the idea that it is wrong to do on Sunday the things prohibited. Whatever
Preface, ix
theories men may invent for the observance of Sunday on non-religious grounds, and whatever value any of these may have from a scientific standpoint, we do not here discuss ; but the fact remains that such considerations have never been made the basis of legislation. To say that the present Sunday laws do not deal with the day as a religious institution, is to deny every fact in the history of such legislation. The claim is a shallow subterfuge.
Let the reader note that specific legislation against the liquor-traffic and its evils upon Sun- day does not come under this head. Such legis- lation is no more pertinent to Sunday than to any other day, except that as a day of leisure Sunday offers greater opportunity for rioting and crimi- nality. This is reason enough for the most strin- gent legislation against the liquor-traffic on that day.
The writer is not unaware that the just and unavoidable conclusions to Avhich the following facts compel, Avill overthrow many pleasant theories, and destroy some cherished hopes con- nected with Sunday legislation. Some minds will deem it sacrilegious to oppose these facts of history to revered notions, so long untouched. Such considerations are of little weigrht, when
X Preface,
one remembers " that no question is settled until it is rightly settled." Facts are stubborn be- cause they are eternal ; and the theory which at- tempts to ignore them insures its earl}^ de- struction.
A. H. L.
Plainfield, N. J., January, iSS8.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAC3
I.— The Origin and Philosophy of Sunday Legisla- tion I
II. — Sunday Legislation under the Roman Empire . i8 III— Sunday Legislation after the Fall of the
Roman Empire 50
IV. — Saxon Laws concerning Sunday . . . .70
V. — Sunday Laws in England 81
VI. — Sunday Laws in England during the Puritan
Supremacy 115
VII.— Early Sunday Laws of Scotland ; Law of PIol-
LAND ; Early Sunday in Ireland and Wales 143 VIII. —Sunday Legislation in America — Colonial
Period 160
IX. — Sunday Legislation in America — Colonial
Period — {Continued) 184
X.— Sunday Laws of the States and Territories of
THE United States 209
SUNDAY LEGISLATION.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN AND PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAY LEGIS- LATION.
The Sunday question is coming to the front. Some men demand a better enforcement of the Sunday laws. The masses almost universally dis- regard them. The hour demands careful investi- gation concerning them.
The original character of laws and institutions is not easily lost. History is a process of evolu- tion, whereby original germs, good or bad, are developed. In the process of development modi- fications take place, and methods of application change, but the properties of the original germ continue to appear. Neither legislation nor the influence of the Church have been able to prevent the development of holidayism and its associate evils in connection with Sunday.
One of two causes must account for this. Either the people in the churches and out of them increase in wickedness, and therefore disregard
2 Simday Legislation.
rightful authority, or else there is something radi- cally defective in the claims by which Sunday ob- servance is supported. The explanation lies in this last fact. It is wise, therefore, to seek the origin and the philosophy of Sunday legislation as they appear in history. Outside of Christian- ity, all religions have been ethnical. The Gospel is a message to the whole world. Christianity is the universal religion. It knows neither ethnic, social, nor intellectual distinctions. Rich and poor, bond and free, learned and unlearned, old and young, meet on a common level in the king- dom of Christ. This truth lies at the core of Christianity, and is its essential characteristic. Christ said : " My kingdom is not of this world." He taught that while his followers must be in the world, mingling with men and doing the duties of citizens, they were yet under supreme obligation to his spiritual kingdom. Neither he nor his dis- ciples sought aid from civil government beyond the mere protection due to citizenship. They submitted to wrong rather than rebel against earthly government, because of their allegiance to the higher law. The great apostle to the Gentiles suffered persecution, bonds, and imprisonment rather than be disloyal to the kingdom of Christ. As a citizen, he demanded protection at the hands of civil government. If this were denied, he ac- cepted whatever punishment, even unto death, the civil law chose to inflict, that he might obey the law of God.
Origin and Philosophy, 3
Christianity stood between the Judaic theoc- racy and the Roman pagan state religion, far above them both. As Christianity moved west- ward, and gained social and moral power, the Roman state at length granted it legal recogni- tion. The character of that recognition can only be understood in the light of the Roman concep- tion of religion. Romans regarded all religion as a contract between the gods and the state. Re- ligion was a department of the government. The individual was nothing, except as a citizen. " To be a Roman was greater than to be a king." The relation of the individual to the gods was lost in the relation which the citizen sustained to them. This contract between the gods and the state bound the citizen to do certain things, and the gods to do certain other things in return. What the citi- zen should do was decided by civil law. When he should worship, and how ; what he should of- fer, and how much ; when he should pray, and what should be his prayer; this was the Roman idea.
Speaking of the religion of pagan Rome and of its consequent effect upon Christianity, Ernest Renan says :
It was in the full force of the word a civil religion. It was essentially the religion of the state ; there was no priesthood distinct from the state functions ; the state was the true god of Rome. The father had over the son the right of life and death ; but if the son held the least important office, and the father met him on the
4 Su7iday Legislation,
road, he dismounted from his horse and bowed down before him.
The consequence of this essentially political char- acter of Roman religion was that it always remained aristocratic. A man became pontiff as he became pre- tor or consul ; when he was a candidate for religious office, he underwent no examination, he passed no period of probation in a seminary, he was not asked if he had an ecclesiastical vocation. He proved that he had served his country well, and had fought bravely in this or that battle. There was no sacerdotal spirit; these civil pontiffs continued to be what they had been, cold, practical men, without the slightest idea that their functions at all cut them off from the rest of the world. In every respect the religion of Rome was the reverse of a theocracy. The civil law regulates actions ; it does not occupy itself with ideas ; and so one result of Ro- man religion was that Rome never had the faintest conception of dogma. The exact observance of rites compels the Deity who, if the petition be presented in proper form, has no inquiry to make into piety or the feelings of the heart. More than this, devoutness is a defect ; it implies a dangerous exaltation in the popu- lar mind. Calm, order, regularity — this is what is wanted. Anything beyond this is excess {super stitio). Cato absolutely forbids that slaves should be allowed to entertain any sentiment of piety ; '* know," he says, *' that the master sacrifices for the whole household." Can anything be more civil, lay, peremptory than this ? Men must not fail to do what is due to the gods ; but they must not give them more than is their due ; that is the super stitio which the true Roman abhorred as much as he abhorred impiety.
Origin and Philosophy, 5
But we are altogether ignorant of religious history — a fact which, I hope, some other lecture will prove to you at a future time — if we do not lay it down as a fun- damental principle that Christianity at its origin is no other than Judaism, with its fertile principles of alms- giving and charity, with its absolute faith in the future of humanity, with that joy of heart of which Judaism has always held the secret, and denuded only of the distinctive observances and features which had been in- vented to give a character of its own to the peculiar religion of the Children of Israel.
" Influence of Rome on Christianity," etc., " Hib- bert Lectures for 1886," pp. 16, 17.
Before the advent of Christianity there was a strong tendenc}^ in the Roman Empire toward religious syncretism. It was deemed a matter of courtesy to recognize the religion of other na- tions, and to grant that religion the protection of the empire, especially when a nation was friendly to the empire, or was subdued by it. A pre- scribed form of prayer was to be used by the mili- tary representatives of Rome, who, having con- quered a nation, and made them citizens of the empire, were thereupon to pray the gods of that nation to transfer their allegiance and abiding- pkce to the Capitol of the empire. The '' Pan- theon " in Rome still stands, showing how the em- pire provided a home for all the gods. It is on record that when Christianity, which was looked upon as a type of Judaism, had gained sufihcient
influence, a niche was offered in the Pantheon for
2
6 Smtday Legislatio7i,
a statue of Christ and a statue of Moses, that they might stand among those representing the relig- ion of Egypt and of the Orient. It was not pos- sible that Rome should recognize any religion, except as wholly subordinate to the state ; to be protected and regulated by the civil law. When, therefore, at the beginning of the fourth century, circumstances combined to bring about a recogni- tion of Christianity, it was such a recognition as had been granted to the ethnic religions whose in- fluence had already become interwoven with Roman thought and practices. Christianity did not conquer the empire by subduing it to Christ. It gained recognition as having a right to the pro- tection and the privileges which the state might choose to accord. This recognition demanded, on the other hand, the right of the state to legislate concerning Christianity, and to treat it as one of many other religions, neither greater nor less, ex- cept as its influence might be greater or less than others. This general recognition was given early in the reign of Constantine the Great. It is not needful to delineate at length the character of Con- stantine, nor to prove what none deny, that his attitude toward Christianity was that of a shrewd politician rather than of a devout adherent. Tiie empire was decaying under a combination of ad- verse influences. It was dying in spite of all the gods had promised. Certain success had attended his father, who had shown some favor to Chris- tianity. Christianity evinced great vigor, espc-
Origin and Philosophy, 7
daily in giving to its adherents supreme power of endurance under persecution. Constantine saw what seemed to him a greater power for good to the empire in the protection which this new re- ligion might give, than any which paganism had granted ; hence the recognition which came, under the normal operation of the Roman idea. The emperor, as pontifex maximus^ had full power to legislate concerning all matters of religion.
The influence of the emperor in his double office as emperor and pontifex maximus, was im- measurably increased by his deification. He was not only the supreme authority in all religious matters, but he was worshiped as a god. Some of the more noble of the emperors demanded less of these honors," while others demanded much reverence. One of the most infamous is described as follows :
Caligula, however, who appears to have been liter- ally deranged, is said to have accepted his divinity as a serious fact, to have substituted his own head for that of Jupiter on many of the statues, and to have once started furiously from his seat during a thunderstorm that had interrupted a gladiatorial show, shouting, with frantic gest- ures, his imprecations against heaven, and declaring that the divided empire was indeed intolerable ; that either Jupiter or himself must speedily succumb.
Heliogabalus, if we may give any credence to his biog- rapher, confounded all things human and divine in hid- eous and blasphemous orgies, and designed to unite all forms of religion in the worship of himself.
8 Stmday Legislation,
A curious consequence of the apotheosis was that the images of the emperors were invested with a sacred char- acter, like those of the gods. They were the recognized refuge of the slave or the oppressed, and the smallest disrespect to them was resented as a heinous crime. Under Tiberius, slaves and criminals were accustomed to hold in their hands an image of the emperor, and be- ing thus protected, to pour with impunity a torrent of defiant insolence upon their masters or judges. Under the same emperor, a man having, when drunk, accident- ally touched a nameless domestic utensil with a ring on which the head of the emperor was carved, he was im- mediately denounced by a spy. A man in this reign was accused of high treason for having sold an image of the emperor with a garden. It was made a capital offense to beat a slave or to undress near a statue of Augustus, or to enter a brothel with a piece of money on which his head was engraved, and at a later period, a woman, it is said, was actually executed for undressing before a statue of Domitian.
Leckey, " History of European Morals," vol. i, pp. 274-276, New York, 1869.
The pagan religion of Rome had many holi- days, on which partial or complete cessation of business and labor were demanded. The follow- ing extracts will illustrate the attitude of Constan- tine, and the legislation which preceded his Sun- day law :
Constantine, the first Christian Caesar, the founder of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, and one ot the most gifted, energetic, and successful of the Roman
Origin and Philosophy, 9
emperors, was the first representative of the imposing idea of a Christian theocracy, or of that system of policy which assumes all subjects to be Christians, connects civil and religious rights, and regards church and state as the two arms of one and the same divine government on earth. This idea was more fully developed by his successors. It animated the v/hole middle age, and is yet working under various forms in these latest times ; though it has never been fully realized, whether in the Byzantine, the German, or the Russian Empire, the Roman church-state, the Calvanistic republic of Geneva, or the early Puritanic colonies of New England. At the same time, however, Constantine stands also as the type of an undiscriminating and harmful conjunction of Chris- tianity with politics, of the holy sym.bol of peace with the horrors of war, of the spiritual interests cf the kingdom of heaven with the earthly interests of the state.
But with the political he united also a religious mo- tive, not clear and deep, indeed, yet honest, and strongly infused with the superstitious disposition to judge of a religion by its outward success and to ascribe a magical virtue to signs and ceremonies. His whole family was swayed by religious sentiment, which manifested itself in very different forms — in the devout pilgrimages of Hele- na, the fanatical Arianism of Constantia and Constantius, and the fanatical paganism of Julian. Constantine adopted Christianity first as a superstition, and put it by the side of his heathen superstition, till finally in his con- viction the Christian vanquished the pagan, though with- out itself developing into a pure and enlightened faith.
At first Constantine, like his father, in the spirit of the Neoplatonic syncretism of dying heathendom, rev- erenced all the gods as mysterious powers, especially
lO Sunday Legislation,
Apollo, the god of the sun, to whom, in the year 308, he presented munificent gifts. Nay, so late as the year 321 he enjoined regular consultation of the soothsay- ers in public misfortunes, according to ancient heathen usage ; even later he placed his new residence, By- zantium, under the protection of the god of the mar- tyrs and the heathen goddess of Fortune ; and down to the end of his life he retained the title and the dignity of a pontifex tnaximus, or high-priest of the heathen hierarchy. His coins bore on the one side the letters of the name of Christ, on the other the figure of the sun- god, and the inscription '' Sol i7ivictus'' Of course these inconsistencies may be referred also to policy and accommodation to the toleration edict of 313. Nor is it difficult to adduce parallels of persons who, in passing from Judaism to Christianity, or from Romanism to Protestantism, have so wavered between their old and their new position that they might be claimed by both. With his every victory over his pagan rivals, Galerius, Maxentius, and Licinius, his personal leaning to Chris- tianity, and his confidence in the magic power of the sign of the cross increased ; yet he did not formally re- nounce heathenism and did not receive baptism until, in 337, he was laid upon the bed of death.
Schaff, " Church History " (revised edition), vol. iii, pp. 12, 14, 15.
Uhlhorn says of Constantine :
At the beginning of A. d. 312, he seemed, to say the least, cool and non-committal. He had issued the edict of Galerius, and the orders concerning its execution, which, as we liave seen, were but little favorable to Christianity. He was no doubt even then a monotheist ;
Origin and Philosophy, ii
but the one god whom he worshiped was rather the sun-god, the " unconquered sun," than the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But at the beginning of a. d. 313, he issued the edict of Milan, which was extraordinarily- favorable to the Christians, and took the first decisive steps toward raising Christianity to the position of a dominant religion.
" Conflict between Heathenism and Christianity,'* p. 427.
Joseph Bingham, the well-known writer on church antiquities, speaking of Constantine's Sun- day edict, says :
This was the same respect as the old Roman laws had paid to \k).€\x feriae^ or festivals, in times of idolatry and superstition. . . . Now, as the old Roman laws ex- empted the festivals of the heathen from all judicial business, and suspended all processes and pleadings, ex- cept in the aforementioned cases, so Constantine ordered that the same respect should be paid to the Lord's day, that it should be a day of perfect vacation from all prosecutions and pleadings and business of the law, ex- cept where any case of great necessity or charity required a judicial process and public transaction.
'' Antiquities of the Christian Church," book xx, chap, ii, sec. 2.
Bingham states here clearly the fact that such prohibitions were made by the Roman laws in favor of their festivals, but adds, incorrectly, that Constantine made the same in favor of the " Lord's day,'* for, as we shall see, it was not the Lord's day, but the " venerable day of the sun," which
12 Sunday Legislation,
the edict mentions ; and it is impossible to sup- pose that a law, made by a Christian prince in favor of a Christian institution, should not in any way mention that institution or hint that the law was designed to apply to it. Milman corrobo- rates this idea as follows :
The earlier laws of Constantine, though in their effect favorable to Christianity, claimed some deference, as it were, to the ancient religion, in the ambiguity of their language, and the cautious terms in which they in- terfered with the liberty of paganism. The rescript commanding the celebration of the Christian Sabbath bears no allusion to its peculiar sanctity as a Christian institution. It is the day of the sun which is to be observed by the general veneration ; the courts were to be closed, and the noise and tumult of public business and legal litigation were no longer to violate the repose of the sacred day. But the believer in the new pagan- ism, of which the solar worship was the characteristic, might acquiesce without scruple in the sanctity of the first day of the week. . . .
The rescript, indeed, for the religious observance of the Sunday, which enjoined the suspension of all public business and private labor, except that of agriculture, was enacted, according to the apparent terms of the de- cree, for the whole Roman Empire. Yet unless we had direct proof that the decree set forth the Christian reason for the sanctity of the day, it may be doubted whether the act would not be received by the greater part of the empire as merely addirig one more festival to the fasti of the empire, as proceeding entirely from the will of the emperor, or even grounded on his authority as supreme
Origin and Philosophy, 13
pontiff, by which he had the plenary power of appoint- ing holy days. In fact, as we have before observed, the day of the sun would be willingly hallowed by almost all the pagan world, especially that part which had ad- mitted any tendency toward the Oriental theology.
" History of Christianity," book iii, chaps, i and iv.
Stronger still is the testimony of an English barrister, Edward V. Neale. These are his words :
That the division of days into juridici et feriaii, judicial and non-judicial, did not arise out of the modes of thought peculiar to the Christian world, must be known to every classical scholar. Before the age of Augustus the number of days upon which, out of rever- ence to the gods to whom they were consecrated, no trials could take place at Rome, had become a resource upon which a wealthy criminal could speculate as a means of evading justice ; and Suetonius enumerates among the praiseworthy acts of that emperor, the cut- ting off from the number thirty days, in order that crime might not go unpunished nor business be impeded. *' Feasts and Fasts," pp. 5 and 6.
After enumeratino^ certain kinds of business which were allowed under these general laws, Mr. Neale adds :
Such was the state of the laws with respect to ju- dicial proceedings while the empire was still heathen.
Ibid., p. 7.
14 Sunday Legislatioru
Concerning the suspension of labor, we learn from the same author that —
The practice of abstaining from various sorts of la- bor upon days consecrated by religious observances, like that of suspending at such seasons judicial proceedings, was familiar to the Roman world before the introduction of Christian ideas. Virgil enumerates the rural labors which might, on festal days, be carried on without en- trenching upon the prohibitions of religion and right, and the enumeration shows that many works were con- sidered as forbidden. Thus it appears that it was per- mitted to clean out the channels of an old water-course, but not to make a new one ; to wash the herd or flock, if such washing was needful for their health, but not otherwise ; to guard the crop from injury by setting snares for birds, or fencing in the grain ; and to burn unproductive thorns.
" Feasts and Fasts," p. ZG, ci seq.
Sir Henry Spelman, who is recognized as high authority, in discussing the origin of prac- tices in the English courts, says that all ancient nations prohibited legal proceedings on sacred days. His words are these :
To be short, it was so common a thing in those days of old to exempt the times of exercise of religion from all worldly business that the barbarous nations, even our Ancrli^ while they were yet in Germany, the Suevians themselves, and others in those northern parts would in nowise violate or interrupt it. Tacitus says of them that during this time of holy rites, non bellum ineunt, non
Origi7i and Philosophy. 15
arma sumunt. Ciaustwt omne ferrum. Pax et quies tunc iantum nota^ tunc tantum amat.
Speaking of the origin of the English " court terms," Spelman says :
I will therefore seek the original of our terms only from the Romans, as all other nations that have been subject to their civil and ecclesiastical monarch do and must.
The ancient Romans, v/hile they were yet heathens, did not, as we at this day, use certain continual portions of thQyear for a legal decision of controversies, but out of superstitious conceit that some days were ominous and more unlucky than others (according to that of the Egyptians), they made one day to be fastus or terjn day and another (as an Egyptian day) to be vacation, or nefastus; seldom two fast or law days together; yea, they sometimes divided one and the same day in this manner :
Qui modo fastus erat, mum iiefastus erat.
The afternoon was term, the morning holy day. Nor were all their fasti applied to judicature, but some of them to other meetings and consultations of the com- monwealth ; so that being divided into three sorts, which they called fastos proprie, fastos endotercisos^ and fastos comitialeSy containing together one hundred and eighty-four days through all the months of the year, there remained not properly to the pretor, as judicial or triverbial days, above twenty-eight.
** English Works from Original MS. in Bodleian Library," book ii, p. 75.
1 6 Stmday Legislation.
Why such legislation was easily developed in connection with the Romanized Christianity of the fourth century, is set forth in the following :
The Latin mind, less speculative, more practical, po- litical rather than theological in genius, \yhile it touched doctrine only to exaggerate it, often in a very dismal way, was yet able to frame a church polity on the old imperial model, to build a civitas Dei where the civitas Ro7na once stood, giving to its visible head such abso- lute authority and divine honors as the emperors had once claimed, to its subjects such rights and privileges, only spirituaUzed, as the Roman citizen had once en- joyed.
"Philosophy of Religion and History," A. M. Fairbairn, p. 302, New York, 1876.
Many influences combined to bring about an unholy union between Christianity and Paganism at this time. The policy which Constantine pur- sued and the effect of it are well set forth in the following extracts from high authority :
About the year 300, and since prosperity produced many ceremonies, the people (from Constantine's com- pulsion) presented themselves in troops to crowd into the church. But the simplicity of Christianity disgusted many who retained before their eyes the pomp and magnificence of paganism, wherefore it was thought ex- pedient to clothe religion with more splendid ceremonies that so the splendor of these ornaments might render it more august and recommendable.
But, after Constantine had constrained all to make
Origin and Philosophy. 17
a public profession of Christianity, and Julian had re- vived the old demon worship, the carnal professors of Christianity, who were most numerous, though they were content to assume the name of Christians, yet were they not content to part with their pagan rites and customs ; . wherefore, to compromise the matter, they turn their pagan rites into Christian solemnities ; and so christen their demon festivals under the name of some Christian martyr and saint. And that which made this design more plausible was this, some groundless hopes, by such symbolizing with the pagans to gain them over to the embracing of the Christian religion, which vain attempt was so far blasted by God as that it proved but a door to let in anti-Christ and all his demon worship into the Church of God.
''Court of the Gentiles," by Theophilus Gale,
part iii, book ii, chap, ii, sec. 3, paragraphs
2 and 6.
CHAPTER II.
SUNDAY LEGISLATION UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
The preceding chapter shows that there was nothing new in the legislation by Constantine con- cerning the Sunday. It was as much a part of the pagan cultus, as the similar legislation con- cerning other days which had preceded it. Such legislation could not spring from Apostolic Chris- tianity. Every element of that Christianity for- bade such interference by the state. The pagan character of this first Sunday legislation is clearly shown, not only by the facts above stated, but by the nature and spirit of the law itself. Sunday is mentioned only by its pagan name, *' venerable day of the sun." Nothing is said of any relation to Christianity. No trace of the resurrection-fes- tival idea appears. No reference is made to the Fourth Commandment or the Sabbath, or anything connected with it. The law Avas made for all the empire. It applied to every subject alike. The fact, that on the day following the publication of the edict concerning the Sunday, another was is- sued, ordering that the aruspices be consulted in case of public calamity, which was thoroughly
Under the Roman Empire, 19
pagan in every particular, shows the attitude of the emperor and the influences which controlled him.
The following is the complete text of the laws just referred to. It will repay the reader for pro- longed and careful study :
First Sunday Edict.
Let all judges and all city people and all tradesmen rest upon the venzrable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields ; since it frequently happens that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain, or the planting of vines ; hence, the favorable time should not be allowed to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be lost.
Given the seventh of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls, each for the second time (321).
"Codex Justin," lib. iii, tit. xii, 1. 3.
Edict Concerning Aruspices.
The August Emperor Constantine to Maximus : If any part of the palace or other public works shell be struck by lightning, let the soothsayers, following old usages, inquire into the meaning of the portent, and let their written words, very carefully collected, be reported to our knowledge ; and also let the liberty of making use of this custom be accorded to others, provided they ab- stain from private sacrifices, which are specially pro- hibited.
Moreover, that declaration and exposition, written in respect to the amphitheatre being struck by lightning.
20 Sunday Legislatio7i,
concerning which you had written to Heraclianus, the tribune, and master of offices, you may know has been reported to us.
Dated, the i6th, before the calends of January, at Serdica (320), Ace. the 8th, before the Ides of March, in the consulship of Crispus II and Constantine III, Caesars Coss. (321).
*' Codex Theo.," lib. xvi, tit. x, 1. i.
It will be difficult for those who are accus- tomed to consider Constantine a " Christian em- peror" to understand how he could have put forth the above edicts. The facts which crowd the preceding- century will fully answer this inquiry. The sun-worship cult had grown steadily in the Roman Empire for a long time. In the century which preceded Constantine's time, specific efforts had been made to give it prominence over all other systems of religion. The efforts made un- der Heliogabalus (218-222 A. d.) marked the ripening influence of that cult, both as a power to control and an influence to degrade Roman life. The following quotations will set the facts before our readers, and may be more satisfactory to them than would be the statement of these facts from our pen. When given due weight they explain fully the nature of Constantine's legislation, as well as that of much which followed his time. Schaff describes Heliogabalus in the following words :
The abandoned youth, El-Gabal or Heliogabalus (218-222), who polluted the throne by the blackest vices
Under the Roman Empire, 21
and follies, tolerated all the religions in the hope of at last merging them in his favorite Syrian worship of the sun with its abominable excesses. He himself was a priest of the god of the sun, and thence took his name. *' History of the Christian Church " (revised edi- tion), vol. ii, p. 58.
Gibbon describes the same period in the fol- lowing words :
The sun was v/orshiped at Emesa, under the name of Elagabalus, and under the form of a black conical stone, which, as it was universally believed, had fallen from heaven on that sacred place. To this protecting deity Antoninus, not without some reason, ascribed his eleva- tion to the throne. The display of superstitious gratitude was the only serious business of his reign. The triumph of the god of Emesa over all the religions of the earth was the great object of his zeal and vanity; and the appella- tion of Elagabalus (for he presumed, as pontiff and fav- orite, to adopt that sacred name) was dearer to him than all the titles of imperial greatness. In a solemn proces- sion through the streets of Rome, the way was strewed with gold-dust, the black stone, set in precious gems, was placed on a chariot drawn by six milk-white horses, richly caparisoned. The pious emperor held the reins, and, supported by his ministers, moved slowly backward, that he might perpetually enjoy the felicity of the divine presence. In.a magnificent temple raised on the Palatine mount, the sacrifices of the god Elagabalus were cele- brated with every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The richest wines, the most extraordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics were profusely consumed on his 3
22 Smiday Legislation,
altar. Around the altar a chorus of Syrian damsels per- formed their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music, while the gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician tunics, officiated in the meanest functions with affected zeal and secret indig- nation.
To this temple, as to the common center of religious worship, the imperial fanatic attempted to remove the An- cilia, the Paladium, and all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of inferior deities attended in vari- ous stations the majesty of the god of Emesa ; but his court was still imperfect, till a female of distinguished rank was admitted to his bed. Pallas had been first chosen for his consort, but as it was dreaded lest her warlike terrors might affright the soft delicacy of a Syr- ian deity, the moon, adored by the Africans under the name of Astarte, was deemed a more suitable companion for the sun. Her image, with the rich offerings of her temple as a marriage portion, was transported with solemn pomp from Carthage to Rome, and the day of these mystic nuptials was a general festival in the capital and throughout the empire.
" Decline and Fall," etc., vol. i, pp. 170, 171, New York, Harper and Brothers.
Heliogabalus is further described in these words:
He made it his business to exalt the honor of the deity whose priest he was. The Syrian god was pro- claimed the chief deity in Rome, and all other gods his servants. Splendid ceremonies in his honor were cele- brated, at which Heliogabalus danced in public ; and it was believed that secret rites, accompanied by human
Under the Roman Empire, 23
sacrifice, were performed in his honor. The shameless profligacy of the emperor's Hfe was such as to shock even a Roman public.
"Encyclopaedia Britannica," vol. xi, p. 564 (9th edition).
Under such an emperor came the triumph of Orientalism in the West. The sun-worship cult was peculiarly akin to the declining character of the Roman Empire. The lower phases, which found such revolting expression in the Baal worship, that contaminated the children of Israel, found a welcome place in the corrupted social life of dy- ing Rome. Hence this cultus continued and flour- ished during succeeding reigns. Aurelian reigned from 270-276 A. D. Speaking of the magnificent " Triumph " of this emperor in 274 A. D., Gibbon says:
So long and so various v/as the pomp of Aurelians' triumph, that although it opened with the dawn of day, the slow majesty of the procession ascended not the Capitol before the ninth hour ; and it was already dark when the emperor returned to the palace. The festival was protracted by theatrical representations, the games of the circus, the hunting of wild beasts, combats of gladiators, and naval engagements. . . .
A considerable portion of his Oriental spoils was con- secrated to the gods of Rome, the Capitol, and every other temple, glittered with the offerings of his ostenta- tious piety ; and the Temple of the Sun alone received above fifteen thousand pounds of gold. This last was a magnificent structure, erected by the emperor on the
24 Sunday Legislation.
side of the Quirinal Hill, and dedicated soon after the triumph, to that deity whom Aurelian adored as the parent of his life and fortunes. His mother had been an inferior priestess in a chapel of the sun ; a peculiar de- votion to the god of light was a sentiment which the fortunate peasant imbibed in his infancy ; and every step of his elevation, every victory of his reign, fortified super- stition by gratitude (vol. i, p. 361).
In foot-notes, Gibbon further says :
He placed in it the images of Belus and of the sun, which he had brought from Palmyra. . . . His devotion to the sun appears in his letters, on his medals, and is mentioned in the "Cassars of Julian."
Speaking of Diocletian, who reigned from 284 to 305, Milman says:
The universal deity of the earth, the sun, to the philo- sophic, was the emblem or representative ; to the vulgar, the deity. Diocletian himself, though he paid so much deference to the older faith as to assume the title of Jovius as belonging to tlie lord of the world, yet, on his accession, when he would exculpate himself from all concern in the murder of his predecessor, Numerian, appealed in the face of the army to the all-seeing deity of the sun. It is the oracle of Apollo of Miletus, consulted by the hesitating emperor, which is to decide the fate of Christianity. The metaphorical language of Christian- ity had unconsciously lent strength to this new adver- sary; and in adoring the visible orb, some, no doubt, supposed that they were not departing far from the wor- ship of the "Sun of Righteousness."
Under the Roman Empire, 25
In a foot-note, Milman adds :
Hermogenes, one of the older heresiarchs, applied the text, " He has placed his tabernacle in the sun," to Christ, and asserted that Christ had put off his body in the sun.
"History of Christianity," vol. ii, p. 215.
The Manichseans, who arose about this time in Persia, present another phase of the sun-worship cult. They spread through the East and West in considerable numbers, and continued till into the fifth or sixth century. From Milman we learn the important fact that they were not only sun-wor- shipers, but observers of the Sun-day. He says :
The worship of the Manichaeans was simple ; they built no altars, they raised no temple, they had no images, they had no imposing ceremonial. Pure and simple prayer was their only form of adoration ; they did not celebrate the birth of Christ, for of his birth they denied the reality ; their paschal feast, as they equally disbelieved the reality of Christ's passion, though they kept it holy, had little of the Christian form. Prayers addressed to the sun, or at least with their faces directed to that tabernacle in which Christ dwelt ; hymns to the great principle of light ; exhortations to subdue the dark and sensual element within ; and the study of the marvelous " Book of Mani " — constituted their de- votion. They observed the Lord's day.
Ibid.y vol. ii, p. 274.
In the last remark Milman scarcely saves him- self from the charge of an absolute misstatment.
26 Sunday Legislation.
The Manicheeans did not observe Sunday as the " Lord's day," their doctrine concerning Christ forbidding such observance. The fact that Sun- day was known at this date by some as the '' Lord's day " alone saves the historian from ab- solute falsehood, when he states that '' they ob- served the Lord's day." It will be seen by the following that their observance of Sunday was purely a pagan observance. Geisler says of them :
The worship of the Manich^ans was extremely sim- ple. They celebrated the Sunday only by fasting.
"Ecclesiastical History," vol. i, p. 133, Philadel- phia, 1836.
Neander says of them :
In regard to the festivals of the Manichees, we may observe that they celebrated Sunday not as commemo- rating the resurrection of Christ, which did not suit their Docetism, but as the day consecrated to the sun, who was, in fact, their Christ. In contradiction to the prevailing usage of the Church, they fasted on this day. " History of the Church during the First Three Centuries," Rose's translation, p. 316, Phila- delphia, 1884.
Such were the influences which preceded Con- stantine and surrounded him when he came into power. The following extracts show still plainer the character of Constantine and his attitude to- ward the sun-worship cultus, wlien the first '' Sun- day edict " was issued ;
Under the Roman Empire, 27
Whatever symptoms of Christian piety might trans- pire in the discourses or actions of Constantine, he per- severed till he was near forty years of age in the prac- tice of the established religion ; and the same conduct which, in the court of Nicomedia, might be imputed to his fear, could be ascribed only to the inclination or policy of the sovereign of Gaul. His liberality restored and enriched the temples of the gods; the medals which issued from his imperial mint are impressed with the figures and attributes of Jupiter and Apollo, of Mars and Hercules ; and his filial piety increased the council of Olympus by the solemn apotheosis of his father, Con- stantius.
But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the Sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology, and he was pleased to be repre- sented with the symbols of the God of Light and Poetry. The unerring shafts of the deity, the brightness of his eyes, his laurel wreath, immortal beauty, and elegant accomplishments seem to point him out as the patron of the young hero. The altars of Apollo were crowned with the' votive offerings of Constantine, and the credu- lous multitude were taught to believe that the emperor was permitted to behold with mortal eyes the visible majesty of their tutelar deity, and that either waking or in a vision he was blessed with the auspicious omens of a long and victorious reign. The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Con- stantine, and the pagans might reasonably expect that the insulted god would pursue v/ith unrelenting venge- ance the impiety of his ungrateful favorite. Gibbon's "Decline," etc., vol.
28 Sunday Legislation,
Schaff says of Constantine :
Yet he had great faults. He was far from being so pure and so venerable as Eusebius (blinded by his favor to the Church) depicts him in his bombastic and almost dishonestly eulogistic biography, with the evident inten- tion of setting him up as a model for all future Christian princes. It must, with all regret, be conceded that his progress in the knowledge of Christianity was not a progress in the practice of its virtues. His love of dis- play and his prodigality, his suspiciousness and his des- potism, increased with his power. The very brightest period of his reign is stained with gross crimes, which even the spirit of the age and the policy of an absolute monarch can not excuse. After having reached upon the bloody path of war the goal of his ambition, the sole possession of the empire, yea, in the very year in which he summoned the great council of Nicsea he ordered the execution of his conquered rival and brother-in-law, Licinius, in breach of a solemn promise of mercy (324). Not satisfied with this, he caused soon afterward, from political suspicion, the death of the young Licinius, his nephew, a boy of hardly eleven years. But the worst of all is the murder of his eldest son, Crispus, in 326, who had incurred suspicion of political conspiracy, and of adulterous and incestuous purposes toward his step- mother, Fausta, but is generally regarded innocent. . . .
At all events, Christianity did not produce in Con- stantine a thorough moral transformation. He was con- cerned more to advance the outward social position of the Christian religion than to further its inward mission. He was praised and censured in turn by the Christians and pagans, the orthodox and the Arians, as they sue-
Under the Roman Empire. 29
cessively experienced his favor or dislike. . . . When, at last, on his death-bed, he submitted to baptism, with the remark, ''Now let us cast away all duplicity^'' he hon- estly admitted the conflict of two antagonistic principles which swayed his private character and public life.
"Church History," vol. iii, p. 16, et seq. (revised edition), 1884.
The degenerate state of the Church during the Constantinian period, through the admixture of heathen influences, is also set forth by Dr. Schafl as follows :
In the Christian martyr-worship and saint-worship which now spread with giant strides over the whole Christian world, we can not possibly mistake the succes- sion of the pagan worship of gods and heroes with its noisy popular festivities. Augustine puts into the mouth of a heathen the question, "Wherefore must we for- sake gods which the Christians themselves worship with us ? " He deplores the frequent revels and amusements at the tombs of the martyrs, though he thinks that allow- ances should be made for these weaknesses out of regard to the ancient custom. Leo the Great speaks of Chris- tians in Rome who first worshiped the rising sun doing homage to the pagan Apollo before repairing to the basilica of St. Peter. Theodoret defends the Christian practices at the graves of the martyrs by pointing to the pagan libations, propitiations, gods, and demigods. Since Hercules, ^sculapius, Bacchus, the Dioscuri, and many other objects of pagan worship were mere deified men, the Christians, he thinks, can not be blamed for honoring their martyrs — not making them gods, but venerating them as witnesses and servants of the only
30 Simday Legislation,
true God. Chrysostom mourns over the theatrical cus- toms, such as loud clapping in applause, which the Christians at Antioch and Constantinople brought with them into the Church. In the Christmas festival, which from the fourth century spread from Rome over the en- tire Church, the holy commemoration of the birth of th<! Redeemer is associated — to this day even in Protestant lands — with the wanton merriments of the pagan Satur- nalia. And even in the celebration of Sunday, as it was introduced by Constantine, and still continues on the whole Continent of Europe, the cultus of the old sun-god Apollo mingles with the remembrance of the resurrec- tion of Christ, and the widespread profanation of the Lord's day, especially on the Continent of Europe, demonstrates the great influence which heathenism still exerts upon Roman and Greek Catholic, and even upon Protestant, Christendom.
"Church History," vol. iii, pp. 377, 378.
Similar testimony is borne by the following :
The first Roman converts to Christianity appear to have had very inadequate ideas of the sublime purity of the gospel, and to have entertained a strange medley of pagan idolatry and Christian truth. The emperor, Alexander Severus, who had imbibed from his mother, Mammaea, a singular regard for the Christian religion, is said to have placed in his domestic chapel the images of Abraham, of Orpheus, of Apollonius, and of Christ as the four chief sages who had instructed mankind in the methods of adoring the Supreme Deity.
" History of Rome," by Thomas Dyer, LL. D., p. 295, New York and London, 1877.
Under the Roman Empire, 31
These facts combine to show that Sunday leg- islation was purely pagan in its origin. Corre- sponding facts concerning Christianity in the Roman Empire at that date show that its influence was not sufficient to produce such a legislation.
Apologists for Sunday incorrectly assume that the exception in favor of work in the country was due to the fact that few Christians dwelt in the rural districts. The words of the law give the true reason, namely, that the important interests of agriculture might not suffer. Similar excep- tions were made with reference to other heathen festivals. The number of dies iion was already so great that justice was thwarted thereby, as busi- ness would have been without this exception.
The numbers and influence of the Christians at this time were not sufficient to secure such legisla- tion had they desired it. Gibbon testifies on this point as follows :
According to the irreproachable testimony of Orlgen, the proportion of the faithful was very inconsiderable, when compared with the multitude of an unbelieving world ; but, as we are left without any distinct informa- tion, it is impossible to determine, and it is difficult even to conjecture, the real numbers of the primitive Chris- tians. The most favorable calculation, however, that can be deduced from the examples of Antioch and of Rome will not permit us to imagine that more than a twentieth part of the subjects of the empire had enlisted themselves under the banner of the cross before the im- portant conversion of Constantine.
" Gibbon," vol. i, p. 583, Harper and Brothers, 1883.
32 Sunday Legislation.
This twentieth part of the people represented the least influential portion of the state, socially and politically, and the law could not have been made out of deference to them, and against the genius of the pagan cultus. More than this, the law was not desired or asked for by Christians. Constantine called no council to seek advice, neither did he act in response to any appeal from Christians. As pontifex maximus of all religions which were recognized by the state, he had abso- lute power in all such matters. In this law he onl}^ sought to give additional honor to the '' venerable day " of his patron deity, the sun-god, Apollo. All this the most ardent friends of Sunday are compelled to admit. Schaff saj^s :
But the Sunday law of Constantine must not be over- rated. He enjoined the observance, or rather forbade the public desecration of Sunday, not under the name of Sahbatum or Dies Domini^ but under its old astro- logical and heathen title. Dies Solis, familiar to all his subjects, so that the law was as applicable to the worshipers of Hercules, Apollo, and Mithras, as to the Christians. There is no reference whatever in his law either to the Fourth Commandment or to the Resurrec- tion of Christ.
*' Church History," vol. iii, p. 380.
Milman says :
The rescript, indeed, for the religious observance of the Sunday, which enjoined suspension of all public busi- ness and private labor, except that of agriculture, was enacted, according to the apparent terms of the decree,
Under the Roman Empire. '7^'}^.
for the whole Roman Empire. Yet, unless we had direct proof that the decree set forth the Christian reason for the sanctity of the day, it may be doubted whether the act would not be received by the greater part of the em- pire, as merely adding one more festival to the fasti of the empire, as proceeding entirely from the will of the emperor, or even grounded on his authority as supreme pontiff, by which he had the plenary power of appoint- ing holy days. In fact, as we have before observed, the day of the sun would be willingly hallowed by almost all the pagan world, especially that part which had admitted any tendency toward the Oriental theology.
"History of Christianity," book iii, ch. iv.
Thus, it is clear that antecedent influences and legislation, the nature and spirit of the first Sun- day law, the character of the emperor, who acted in his pagan, official, capacity as poniifcx maximus in issuing the edict, the state of the empire, and the corrupt character of the Church at that period, all declare the pagan origin of Sunday legislation. Another important fact is either ignored or care- fully concealed by most writers — namely, that the term '* Lord's day " does not appear in any civil legislation concerning Sunday, until the year 386, more than two generations after the date of the first law. Worse than this, many writers, whose high character should have prevented them from so doing, have spoken of Constantine's legislation as concerning " the Lord's day " or " Christian Sabbath." Such use of terms is not only un- authorized by the facts, but is historically dishon-
34 Siuiday Legislation,
est. For the latter term, " Christian Sabbath," has no place in history, either civil or ecclesiastical, until the time of the Reformation. It would be as unjust to designate Paul, the converted apostle, by the name of Saul, the persecutor, as to apply the term*' Christian Sabbath," as now used, to the conception expressed by '' venerable day of the sun " in Constantine's legislation.
The legislation which followed that of Con- stantine shows that the idea of exalting and protecting Sunday as a Christian institution, and especially as a sacred day, was not the prominent idea. On the contrary, this legislation shows that the pagan conception of a state church, which should control all religious matters, especially all days, whether fasts or festivals, was the central idea. As already noticed, the laws given above were issued March 7th and 8th, A. D. 321. The Sunday law was found to be too strict, and, in July of the same year, Constantine relaxed it by the following edict : *
The august Emperor Constantine to Elpidius : As it seemed unworthy of the day of the sun, honored for its own sacredness, to be used in litigations and bane- ful disputes of parties, so it is grateful and pleasant on that day for sacred vows to be fulfilled. And, there- fore, let all have the liberty on the festive day of eman-
* In some instances the numbering of the laws from the Theodo- sian Code varies from the order as found in Corpus Juris Komani Ante Justiniani, but the text is the same.
Under the Rommi Empire, 35
cipating and manumitting slaves, and besides these things let not public acts be forbidden.
Published the 5th, before the nones of July, at Cara- lis, in the consulship of Crispus II and Constantine II
(321).
"Codex Theo.," lib . ii, tit. viii, lex i.
It will be seen that this law introduced no Christian idea, and predicates the sacredness of the day upon the fact that it is the day of the sun.
Nothing appears in the line of Sunday legisla- tion after this edict of July, 321, iov sixty-five years. In 386 A. D., under the joint rule of Gratianus, Valentinianus, and Theodosius, legislation is taken up in which there is slight commingling of the ''Lord's day" element with the pagan element. The evils rising from the degrading public shows seem to have interfered with the administration of justice, and to have corrupted the character of the civil judges. Hence, the first law in the year 386 A. D. is as follows :
The three august emperors, Gratianus, Valentinianus, and Theodosius, to Rufinus, pretorian prefect :
I. Let no one of the judges be free to attend either theatrical representations, or the contests of the circus, or the courses of the wild beasts, except on those days only on which we were born, or obtained the scepter of the government, and on those days let them observe the festival only before noon, but after dinner let them re- frain from returning to the show.
Yet all, whether judges or private persons, shall un- derstand that in the show no reward in gold shall at all
36 Sunday Legislation,
be given, this being lawful only to the consuls to whom we have granted the management of expending public funds.
II. We also give this admonition, that no one shall offend against the law just promulgated, nor exhibit any show to the people on the day of the sun, nor commingle divine worship with the completed festival (blood of slain beasts).
Dated the thirteenth before the calends of June, at Heraclea, in the consulship of most noble, pious Hono- rius, and most distinguished Euodius (386).
'^ Codex Theo.," lib. xv, tit. v, lex 2.
Later in the same year, a-nd by the same em- perors, we have the following legislation, in which the term " Lord's day " appears for the first time in the civil legislation of the empire, combined in such a way^ with the sun's da}^, as to include both the pagan conception and the resurrection-festival idea, which had become engrafted upon the pagan- ized Christianity of the time. The law is as fol- lows :
On the day of the sun, properly called the Lord's day by our ancestors, let there be a cessation of law- suits, business, and indictments ; let no one exact a debt due either the state or an individual ; let there be no cognizance of disputes, not even by arbitrators, whether appointed by the courts or voluntarily chosen. And let him not only be adjudged notorious, but also impious who shall turn aside from an institute and rite of holy religion.
Published the third before the nones of November,
Under the Roman Empire, 37
at Aquilia ; approved at Rome the eighth before the calends of December, in the consulship of most noble, pious Honorius, and most illustrious Euodius {;^'^()).
"Codex Theo.," lib. viii, tit. viii, lex 3.
Three years later this legislation was enlarged, grouping an increased number of pagan festivals, including the birthdays of the emperors, and the days on which they assumed the imperial office. It must be remembered that the emperors were worshiped as gods, and until a period long after this they were deified after death. The following is the text of the law:
The three august emperors, Valentinianus, Theodo- sius, and Arcadius, to Albinus, prefect of the city :
We command that all days shall be days for the ad- ministration of justice. It is proper that those days only shall be holidays which in the twin months the more in- dulgent portion of the year has designated for rest, for mitigating the heat of summer, and gathering the fruits of autumn.
1. We likewise set apart, for rest, the usual days of the calends of January.
2. We designate (also) the natal days of the greatest cities, Rome and Constantinople, on which justice ought to be deferred, because from these it also had its origin.
3. Likewise we regard with the same reverence the sacred days of Pascha, the seven which precede, and the seven which follow ; and likewise the days of the sun as they follow each other in order.
4. It is necessary to hold in equal reverence our own days, either those which brought us forth (to behold)
38 Simday Legislatio7i.
auspicious light — that is, their birthdays — or gave birth to the empire.
Dated at Rome the seventh before the ides of August, in the consulship of Timasius and Promotus (389).
''Codex Theo.," lib. ii, tit. viii, lex 19.
There was evidently great disregard for these enactments, for three years later the following orders Avere issued to the city government at Constantinople :
The three august emperors, Valentinianus, Theodo- sius, and Arcadius, to Proculus, prefect of the city :
The games of the circus should be prevented on the festive days of the sun, in order that no gathering for shows may turn away the attendance from the venerable mysteries of the Christian religion, except on the natal days of our grace.
Dated the fifteenth before the calends of May, at Constantinople, in the consulship of the august Arca- dius and Rufinus (392).
A few days later, on the sixth day before the calends of June, these same emperors decreed as follows :
All business, whether public or private, shall be laid aside for the fifteen days of Easter (392).
" Codex Theo.," lib. ii, tit. viii, lex 20 et lex 21.
The following bit of legislation indicates how thoroughly public shows were associated with public festivals. The reader will see that it is an order for certain theatrical shows to be exhibited on Christmas. The law is as follows :
Under the Roman Empire, 39
The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, A. A., to the prefect of the city :
Our imperial edict was lately published that the ex- penditure to be made for the theatre should be turned to the construction of an aqueduct; but now do you cause it to be properly granted so that the pretors, Romanus and Laureatus, may exhibit the theatrical shows on the birthday of our Lord.
Dated the fourth before the calends of January, at Constantinople, Arcadius IV, and Honorius III, being consuls (396).
" Codex Theo.," lib. vi, tit. iv, lex 29.
Many of these public shows, under the degrad- ing influences connected with them — which degra- dation was of a semi-religious origin — had become so corrupting that they were forbidden upon all days. These were more dangerous when permit- ted on Sunday, because of the additional tempta- tion granted by the leisure attending that day. Hence, in the year 399, we find a special law for- bidding the debasing shows of the circus on Sun- day, but at the same time repealing the act which forbade the emperor's birthdays to be celebrated on Sunday. The law is as follows :
The two august emperors, Arcadius and Honorius, to Aurelianus, pretorian prefect :
On the Lord's day, which derives its name from the respect due it, let there be no celebration of theatrical sports, nor races of horses, nor any shows in any city, which are found to enervate the mind. But the natal
40 Sunday Legislation,
days of the emperors, even if they fall on the Lord's day, may be celebrated.
Dated the first of September, at Constantinople, in the consulship of most illustrious Theodosius (399).
" Codex Theo.," lib. ii, tit. viii, lex 27,.
In the following' year these prohibitions are extended to the days of Lent, of Easter, Christ- mas, and the Epiphany, thus carrying out the idea which prevails in all the legislation that Sunday held no prominence over these other days. The additional law is as follows :
. The two august emperors, Arcadius and Honorius, to Hadrian, pretorian prefect :
Out of regard for religion, we warn and decree that during the seven days of Lent, the seven days of Easter, by the hallowing of which and by fasting, sins are re- mitted, and likewise on the day of his (Christ's) birth, and on the Epiphany, let no shows be exhibited.
Dated the day before the nones of February, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho and Aurelian (400).
"Codex Theo.," lib. ii, tit. viii, lex 24.
Laws Concerning the Sabbath.
An important fact relative to the legislation concerning the Sabbath must be here noted. As early as the year 214 a law had been passed pro- tecting the Jews in the observance of their feast days and the Sabbath. It is as follows :
Under the Romafi Empire, 41
The Emperor Antonius to Claudius Triphonius : On their feast days, or Sabbaths, the Jews do not undergo any bodily service nor perform anything what- ever ; neither are they to be summoned into court on account of any public or private suit ; neither may they summon Christians into court.
Dated the day before the calends of July, Antonius and Balbinus being consuls (214).
"Codex Just.," lib. i, tit. ix, lex 11.
In the year 409 two other laws, addressed to different officers, appeared recognizing the rights of the Jews, and also indicating that Christians still observed the Sabbath, and were not to be dis- turbed by legal business. The fact of this legis- lation, stretching over a period of nearly two hundred years, is important, as showing the con- tinuation of Sabbath-keeping. These laws are as follows :
The two august emperors, Honorius and Theodosius, to John, pretorian prefect :
On the Sabbath day and other days, during which the Jews pay respect to their own mode of worship, we enjoin that no one shall do anything, or ought to be sued in any way ; with regard to public taxes and pri- vate litigations, it is plain that the rest of the days can suffice.
Dated the seventh before the calends of August, at Ravenna, our lords Honorius VIII and Theodosius III, both august, being consuls (409).
The Emperors Honorius and Theodosius, A. A., to Jovius, pretorian prefect :
42 Sunday Legislation,
In respect to the Sabbath and other days when the Jews pay respect to their reHgion, we enjoin that no one shall do anything, and that no one ought in any respect to be pleaded against judicially ; yet, so that no license be given to prosecute orthodox Christians on the same day, lest, perchance, by the prosecution of the Jews on the aforesaid day. Christians shall be molested with fiscal affairs ; and as for private litigation, let the remaining days suffice.
Given the eighth before the calends of August, at Ravenna (409).
" Codex Just.," book i, tit. ix, lex 13.
This legislation concerning the Sabbath is, like that concerning Sunday, in keeping with the genius of the Roman legislation, which aimed to grant certain rights to all legal religions. As al- ready suggested, these laws show that the Sab- bath was observed, and legally protected as late as 409 A. D.
Laws Concerning Prisoners.
This year 409 was prolific in religious and hu- manitarian legislation. Many abuses seem to have been connected with the prisons in the Ro- man Empire, and there was great want of care for the physical welfare of the prisoners. Hence, we find the following law, the reason for which seems to have been that Sunday, as a day of leis- ure and of semi-religious regard, was devoted to such humanitarian work. The law is as follows:
Under the Roman Empire, 43
The two august emperors, Honorius and Theo- dosius, to Csecilianus, pretorian prefect, after other things :
Let the judges take care and ascertain by inquiry that the debtors are brought out of prison on all of the Lord's days, lest humane treatment be denied these through the bribery of the guards of the prison. Let them cause food to be supplied to those not having it, two or three pence daily, or as many as they may deem sufficient, having been assigned to the keeper of the prison, since the provisions for the poor are enough for their support. These ought to be conducted to the bath under faithful guards ; a fine of twenty pounds of gold being imposed upon the judges, and the same amount upon their assistants, and also a fine of three pounds of gold being denounced against the command- ers, if they shall treat with contempt these most salutary enactments. A praiseworthy care shall not be want- ing to the bishops of the Christian religion to impress this admonition for observing the ordinance upon the judges.
Dated the 12th day before the calends of February, at Ravanna, in the consulship of Honorius VIII and Theodosius III (409).
'' Codex Theo.," lib. vi, tit. iv, lex 29.
Still further humanitarian legislation occurs in this same year by vv^hich Sunday, the pagan feast of the harvest, the autumn feast of the vintage, the holy days of Easter, the day of Christ's birth, and of the Epiphany are all associated and protected. There is also an additional law con- cerning the shows on Sunday, and the celebration
44 Sunday Legislation^
of the birthdays of the empire. The following is the text of the two laws referred to :
The august emperors, Honorius and Theodosius, to Jovius, pretorian prefect, after other things :
On the Lord's day, commonly called the day of the sun, we do not at all allow the exhibition of any shows, although perchance the dawn of our empire appeared on that day in the yearly cycle, or the festivities due to our birthday are deferred.
Dated the ist of April at Ravenna, in the consulship of the august Honorius VIII and the august Theodosius III {409).
• " Codex Theo.," lib. ii, tit. viii, lex 25.
On the Lord's day it shall be lawful to emancipate and to manumit, let other causes or litigations rest, and also during the feast of the harvest, from the eighth day of the calends of July to the calends of August ; from the calends of August to the tenth calends of September, causes may be tried; but from the tenth calends of September to the ides of October let there be the feast of the vintage ; also the holy day of Easter, the day of our Lord's nativity, the day of the Epiphany, the seven days preceding and the seven days following, we wish to be observed without noise, and whatever has been en- acted contrary to this is in all respects made void.
*' Codex Justin," lib. iii, tit. xii, lex 2.
In 425 A. D. we find distinct evidences that the worship of the emperor, a purely pagan practice, still continued in a slightly modified form. There seems to have been a recognition by the em- perors making this law, that the honors due them
Under the Roman Empire, 45
were not quite equal to the honors due Jehovah. Hence the following :
The emperors, Theodosius and Valentinianus, to Aetius, pretorian prefect :
If ever our statues or likenesses are set up, whether on holidays, as is the custom, or on common days, let the inscription be devoid of extreme adulation in order that the decoration may appear to have been added in honor of the day or the place and our memory.
I. Likewise, images desired at the games merely in the thoughts and secret plans of the concourse of the multi- tude, should show that our power and glory are in a flourishing condition ; going beyond the respect due to the dignity of man should be reserved for the power on high.
Dated the nones of May, Theodosius, A. XI, and Valenthiianus, C. Coss. (425).
" Codex Theo.," lib. xv, tit. iv, lex i.
This same year vv^itnessed a renewal of legisla- tion concerning many days, which shows that the pagan theory of placing all days and festivals upon the same basis held absolute sway, and it will be seen that according to the following law, Sun- day holds no pre-eminence over many other days ;
The august emperors, Theodosius and Valentinianus, to Asclepiodotus, pretorian prefect :
On the Lord's day, which is the first day of the whole week, and on the days of the nativity and the Epiphany of Christ, and also on the days of Pentecost and of Easter, as long as the celestial light and the (white) gar-
46 Sunday Legislation,
ments testify of the new light of sacred baptism (in our souls) ; at which time also the memory of the passion of the apostles, the supreme teachers of Christianity, is rightly celebrated by all ; all the pleasure of the theatres and of the circus throughout all cities, being denied to the people of the same, let the minds of all faithful Christians be employed in the worship of God. If any, even now, through the madness of Jewish impiety or the error and folly of dull paganism are kept away, let them learn that there is one time for prayer and another for pleasure. Let no one think himself compelled,, as by a great necessity, in honor of our power or imperial office, lest he exalt the work of the shows to the contempt of divine religion ; neither let him fear that he will come under the condemnation of our highness, if he shall show less of devotion to us than is customary ; and let no one wonder because reverence is then turned away from our excellency, human born, to God the omnipotent and deserving, to whom the allegiance of the whole world ought to be paid.
Given at Constantinople, February ist (425).
'' Codex Theo.," lib. xv, tit. v, lex 5.
Legislation concerning Sunday and its associ- ate festivals rested for about fifty years from the date of the foregoing laws. The empire was al- ready swaying toward its fall, and it is evident that the laws already made concerning festivals were regarded lightly by the people. In the year 469 the essence of the preceding laws was em- bodied in the following enactment. It shows no departure from the genius of the pagan state, and
Under the Roman E7npire, 47
thus proves that while the first law under Con- stantine was purely pagan, both in form and spirit, the last laws before the fall of the empire were not essentially more Christian. The legislation had been enlarged, commingling old pagan festivals, baptized with new names, and modified somewhat in observance by the tide of Christian life. The following is the text of this enactment :
The august emperors, Leo and Anthemis, to Arma- sius, pretorian prefect :
We wish the festal days dedicated to the Majesty- Most High, to be employed in no voluptuous pleasures, and profaned by no vexatious exactions.
I. Therefore we decree that the Lord's day shall always be so held in honor and veneration, that it shall be free fom all prosecutions, that no chastisement shall be inflicted upon any one, that no bail shall be exacted, that public service shall cease, that advocacy shall be laid aside, that this day shall be free from judicial investigations, that the shrill voice of the crier shall cease, that litigants shall have rest from their dis- putes, and have time for compromise, that antagonists shall come together without fear, that a vicarious re- pentance may pervade their minds, that they may confer concerning settlements and talk over terms of agree- ment. But, though giving ourselves up to rest on this religious day, we do not suffer any one to be engaged in impure pleasures. On this day the scenes of the theatre should make no claim for themselves, neither the games of the circus nor the tearful shows of the wild beasts ; and if the celebration should happen to fall on our birth- day it may be postponed.
48 Sunday Legislation,
He shall suffer the loss of his office and the confisca- tion of his estate, who shall attend the games on this festal day, or shall, as a public servant, under pretense of public or private business, cause these enactments to be treated with contempt.
Dated, December 13, at Constantinople, Zeno and Martianus being consuls (469).
" Codex Justin," lib. iii, tit. xii, lex 11.
Not one of the days included in the foregoing legislation can claim any direct authority from the New Testament, or the practices of the Apostolic Church. If all be granted which candid scholar- ship can ask concerning Sunday, there is only a certain presumptive evidence in favor of any ob- servance of it until after the Church passed under the control of pagan influences. But the point to be noted is that civil legislation concerning Sun- day and its associate festivals was purely pagan as to its origin. The feasts of harvest, the vintage, and of January, were all pagan in origin and char- acter, and the modification which took place after the introduction of Christianity was such as drew the Christians to the heathen practices, rather than such as raised the heathen up to Christianity. Indeed, New Testament Christianity knew no such festivals and no such observance. Its tenor is positively opposed to such legislation. The Church was not only degraded by the interference of the civil law, but more deeply corrupted by the inweaving of pagan philosophy and pagan prac- tices. These influences, and the complications
Under the Roman Empire, 49
which arose through civil legislation and filled the Church with self-seeking and unconverted men, made it impossible for Christianity to retain its primitive purity. This chapter leaves the legisla- tion at the dividing line between the falling em- pire and the middle ages.
CHAPTER III.
SUNDAY LEGISLATION AFTER THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
In the Roman Sunday laws given in the last chapter, we have a picture of the united Church and State, and the status of the Sunday and other festivals when the Roman Empire was broken in pieces by the tide of barbarian immigration. It will be well to note the general state of Chris- tianity before taking up the legislation of the next period.
Christianity has gained a political victory, and suffered a moral and spiritual defeat. It has im- parted much of good to heathenism, but it has suf- fered far greater loss in its own purity. Worse than all else, it has become involved in a false poli- cy, the ripened fruitage of which can not be less than the horrors of the " dark ages." The controll- ing ideas in the Church are far removed from the teachings of him who said, *' My kingdom is not of this world." Beginning with Constantine, empe- rors unlearned in the Scriptures and unguided by the spirit of truth, were accustomed to decide what
After the Fall of the Roman Empire. 51
Christianity was, and what should be persecuted as heresy. Swayed by personal ends and political in- trigue, the orthodoxy of to-day was the heresy of to- morrow. Nothing less than a divine Christianity could have survived total destruction. The evi- dences of perversion and corruption are so great that no lover of truth can close his eyes against the need of reform which yet cries against the false theories that remain in the reforming but not wholly reformed Christianity of our own time. Under the policy of that time, whoever ac- cepted the legal standard was a Christian, who- ever did not was a " heretic " — religiously a criminal. Note the following testimony :
The martyrs and confessors of the first three centuries in their expectation of the impending end of the world and their desire for the speedy return of the Lord, had never once thought of such a thing as the great and sud- den change which meets us at the beginning of this period in the relation of the Roman state to the Christian Church. Tertullian had even held the Christian profes- sion to be irreconcilable with the office of a Roman Emperor. Nevertheless, clergy and people very soon and very easily accommodated themselves to the new order of things, and recognized in it a reproduction of the theocratic constitution of the people of God under the ancient covenant. Save that the dissenting sects who derived no benefit from this union, but were rather sub- ject to persecution from the state and from the estab- lished Catholicism, the Donatists, for an especial instance, protested against the intermeddling of the temporal
52 Simday Legislatzo?z,
power with the religious concerns. The heathen, who now came over in a mass, had all along been accustomed to a union of politics with religion, of the imperial with the sacerdotal dignity, They could not imagine a state without some cultus, whatever might be its name. And as heathenism had outlived itself in the empire, and Judaism, with its national exclusiveness and its station- ary character, was totally disqualified, Christianity must
take the throne
But the elevation of Christianity as the religion of the state presents also an opposite aspect to our contempla- tion. It involved great risk of degeneracy to the Church. The Roman state, with its laws, institutions, and usages, was still deeply rooted in heathenism, and could not be transformed by a magical stroke. The Christianizing of the state amounted, therefore, in great measure to a paganizing and secularizing of the Church. The world overcame the Church as much as the Church overcame the world, and the temporal gain of Christianity was, in many respects, canceled by spiritual loss. The mass of the Roman Empire was baptized only with water, not with the spirit and fire of the gospel, and it smuggled heathen manners and practices into the sanctuary under a new name. The very combination of the cross, with the military ensign by Constantine, was a most doubtful omen, portending an unhappy mixture of the temporal and spiritual powers, the kingdom which is of the earth and that which is from heaven. The settlement of the boundary between the two powers which, with all their unity, remain as essentially distinct as body and soul, law and gospel, was itself a prolific source of error and vehement strifes about jurisdiction, which stretched through all the middle age, and still repeat themselves
After the Fall of the Roman Empire, 53
in these latest times, save where the amicable American separation has thus far forestalled collision.
Philip Schaff, "Church History," vol. iii, pp. 91 and 93.
It is difficult for those who are not familiar with the relations Vv^hich existed between Chris- tianity and the civil government of the Roman Empire to understand how entirely they were in- woven one with the other, and how each modified the other. Protestants have been so busy in de- fending- the position assumed by the reformers of the sixteenth century, that the majority of them have not looked carefully into the influences which produced the evils that compelled the work of reformation. Under Constantine, Christianit}^ was taken in charge as a recognized religion to be protected and fostered by the empire. It was not made the official religion of the empire until nearly the close of the fourth century — 380 A. D. — under Theodosius. Meanwhile, the civil law had assumed absolute control over all the depart- ments of the Christian Church. The emperor, as ponfifex maximiis, not only retained his position as having plenary power to appoint festivals, cere- monies, etc., but at and after the Council of Nice, 325 A. D., the civil law determined what should be recognized as Christianity. Before the close of the fourth century seventeen edicts had been is- sued against heretics and against pagans in Asia Minor alone. Following this policy, the empire made every effort, using both bribery and fear
54 Sunday Legislation.
from time to time to induce men to profess alle- giance to Christianity.
Touching this point, C. J. Stille, writing in the ** Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia," vol. iii, p. 2070^ says:
No one can read the account of the proceedings of the Council of Nicaea (325), which formulated the creed which from that period to this has been regarded as the basis of the faith of the universal Church, without being convinced that the emperor was regarded as something more than the honorary president of that body, that he considered himself at least as pontifex maximiis in the new religion, as his predecessors had been in the old ; and thus at the very outset was forced upon the infant Church that unholy alliance with the state which, among other things, has helped to make Christianity so conspicuous an element in all subsequent history. The modern conception of the union of Church and State had its origin under Constantine. His succes- sors, Theodosius and Gratian, define or ratify the defi- nition of doctrines and condemn heretics. Justinian evidently thought himself pope and emperor combined ; and Charlemagne, in his " Capitularies," is at once the legislator of the Church and of the State.
The Christian Church received from Constantine an- other distinguishing mark, which it retained for nearly fifteen hundred years — namely, the principle and the practice of punishing heretics by civil penalties. It is an humiliating confession to make that heresy — which is defined to be a persistent advocacy of opinions which have been condemned by the Church — is an offense which has never been punished as a crime by the civil
After the Fall of the Roman Empire. 55
magistrate under any ecclesiastical system save the Christian. But Constantine provided by an edict that the Donatist heretics should be so punished in 316, and his example was followed by Theodosius and others, so that before the close of the fourth century no less than seventeen edicts had been promulgated directing the magistrates to punish Christian dissenters. By these edicts they were deprived of their property and made incapable of holding office, and they were liable to be scourged and banished. The first blood judicially shed for religious opinion is said to have been that of certain Manichaeans in 385 ; but it is alleged that their condem- nation was extorted from an usurping emperor, and that the infliction of death as a punishment was highly dis- approved by such saints as Martin of Tours and Ambrose of Milan.
During the fourth century the pretensions of the Christian hierarchy to power were greatly increased, and the primitive simplicity of the conduct of Christians no longer existed. The Church had vast possessions ; its clergy formed the larger portion of the educated classes, and held conspicuous positions at the imperial court. Christian beneficence was not only recognized as a duty, but it became the fashion, or rather a passion, among people of rank and wealth, to lavish gifts on the Church ; the magistrates in the town worked generally harmoni- ously with the bishop in the administration, the bishop, indeed, becoming the most conspicuous officer in the 7?iimicipia. In short, society during the fourth century, both in the East and the West, became Christianized, A revolution had begun, which not only destroyed the outward forms of paganism, but which gradually worked out its spirit from the minds of the people. Nowhere
56 Sunday Legislatio7i,
can we find a better Illustration of the recognized power of the clergy than where Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, has the courage to forbid the Emperor Theodosius (a. d. 390) even to enter the church, much less to re- ceive therein the sacraments, until he had undergone penance for the crime of the massacre at Thessalonica, of which he had been guilty.
The policy thus inaugurated at the opening of the fourth century was steadily pursued until under Justinian, who reigned from 527 to 565 A. D., it culminated in such a combination that the unholy alliance, after the model of the pagan cul- tus, thoroughly prepared the way for the coming of the dark ages. The empire had been divided into Eastern and Western, over questions of doc- trine, which division Justinian healed, or rather covered, by imperial authority. He then sought to become the world's legislator by codifying all Roman laws which had been enacted during the preceding thousand years. Concerning this codi- fication and its effect upon the Church, Milman says:
In th3 following chapters (of the Justinian Code) the appointment, the organization, the subordination, the authority of the ecclesiastical, as of the civil magis- trates of the realm, is assumed to emanate from, to be granted, limited, prescribed by the supreme emperor. Excommunication is uttered indeed by the ecclesiastics, but according to the imperial laws and with the imperial warrant. He deigns, indeed, to allow the canons of the Church to be of not less equal authority than his laws ;
After the Fall of the Roman Empire, 57
but his laws are divine, and these divine laws all metro- politans, bishops, and clergy are bound to obey, and, if commanded, to publish. The hierarchy is regulated by his ordinance. He enacts the superiority of the metro- politan over the bishop, of the bishop over the abbot, of the abbot over the monk. Distinct imperial laws rule the monasteries. The law prescribes the ordination of bish- ops, the persons qualified for ordination, the whole form and process of that holy ceremony. The law admitted no immunities in the clergy for crimes committed against the state and against society. It took upon itself the severe superintendence of clerical morals. The pas- sion for theatrical amusements, for the wild excitement of the horse-race, and the combat with wild beasts, or even more licentious entertainments, had carried away many of the clergy, even of the bishops. A law, more than once re-enacted and modified, while it acknowl- edged the power of the clergy's prayers to obtain victory over the barbarians and to obtain from heaven extended empire, declared that for this reason they should be unimpeachable. But, notwithstanding the most solemn admonition, they could not be persuaded, not even the bishops, to abstain from the gaming-table, or the theatre with all its blasphemies and license. The emperor was compelled to pass this law, prohibiting, under pain of suspension for the first offense, cf irrevocable degrada- tion and servitude to the public corporations, any one of the clergy, of any rank, from being present at the gam- ing-table or at any public spectacle. These penalties, with other religious punishments, as fastings, were to be inflicted, according to the rank of the offender, by the bishop or the metropolitan. The refusal to punish, or the endeavor to conceal, such offenses made both the
58 Simday Legislation,
civil officers and ecclesiastics liable to civil as well as to ecclesiastical penalties.
The bishop v/as an imperial officer for certain tem- poral affairs. In each city he was appointed, with three of the chief citizens, annually to inspect the pub- lic accounts, and all possessions or bequests made for public works, markets, aqueducts, baths, walls and gates, and bridges. Before him guardians of lunatics swore on the Gospels to administer their trust with fidelity, and many legal acts might be performed either in the pres- ence of the Defensor or the bishop of the city. For the discharge of these temporal functions, the bishops were reasonably answerable to the emperor, and thus the em- pire acknowledged, at the inspiration of Christianity, a new order of magistracy.
The law limited the number of clergy to be attached to each church. This constitution was demanded in order to check that multiplication of the clergy which exhausted the revenues of the Church, and led to bur- densome debts. In the great church at Constantinople the numbers were to be reduced to 425, besides 100 ostiarii. The smaller churches were on no account to have more than they could maintain. . . .
But the legislation of Justinian, as far as it was origi- nal, in his Code, his Pandects, and in his Institutions within its civil domain, was still almost exclusively Ro- man. It might seem that Christianity could hardly penetrate into the solid and well-compacted body of Ro- man law ; or rather, the immutable principles of justice had been so clearly discerned by the inflexible rectitude of the Roman mind, so sagaciously applied by the wis- dom of her great lawyers, that Christianity was content to acquiesce in those statutes, which even she might,
After the Fall cf the Roman Emph^e, 59
excepting in some respects, despair of rendering more equitable. Christianity in the Roman Empire had en- tered into a temporal polity, with all its institutions long settled, its laws already framed. The Christians had, in their primitive state, no natural place in the order of things. That separate authority which the Church exer- cised over the members of its own community from its origin, and without which the loosest form of society can not subsist, was in no v/ay recognized by the civil power ; they were the voluntary laws of a voluntary association. But, besides these special laws of their own, the Chris- tians were in every respect subjects of the empire. They were strangers in religion alone. After the comprehen- sive decree of Caracalla, they, like the rest of mankind within the pale of the empire, became Roman citizens ; and the supremacy of the state in all things which did not concern the vital principles of their religion (for which they were still bound, if the civil power should exercise compulsion, to suffer martyrdom) was acknowl- edged both in the West and in the East, both before and after the conversion of Constantine.
Milman, " History of Latin Christianity," book iii, chap. v.
The various influences which united to bring- about the fall of the Roman Empire made it pos- sible for the Church, already incorporated with the state through civil legislation, to rise to imperial power upon the ruins of the broken empire. The Pope soon became what the emperor had been. The Church had been much strengthened, politi- cally, by the exemption from most public burdens which had been granted to the clergy. This ex-
6o Sunday Legislation,
emption was not, however, made as a favor to Christianity, but was granted to the representa- tives of Christianity, as it had already been grant- ed to heathen priests, to Jewish rulers of the syna- gogue, to rhetoricians, and in part, at least, to physicians. It was first granted to the orthodox clergy by Constantine in 313 A. D, These politi- cal favors caused such a rush into the ranks of the clergy that the interests of the state were injured while the Church was corrupted. The freedom from taxation thus granted depleted the treasury of the empire, so that in a very brief period (320 A. D.) it was found necessary to forbid the wealthy to enter the service of the Church. The support of the clergy from the treasury of the state in- creased the prevailing evils, and steadily degraded those who ministered at the altars of Christianity. So it came about that when the empire fell the state-church rose upon its ruins, and the " Holy Roman Empire " was the legitimate successor of the fallen pagan empire. Let the reader bear in mind that the point urged in these pages is that all this union of Church and State, this regulating of the ceremonies and doctrines of Christianity by civil law, this granting of political and financial favors and influence to the clergy, this combining of the spiritual and temporal power, sprang from the heathen cultus. Whatever may have been the necessities or the unavoidable results from the com- binations which took place, these results, especial- ly in the matter of legislation, were from pagan
After the Fall of the Roman Empire, 6i
sources. With these facts before us, we are well prepared to understand the character of the legis- lation which was continued through the middle age, especially if we note, before entering upon this specific legislation, the character of the mid- dle age in general.
The Middle Age.
The middle age was necessarily one of igno- rance and disorder. During the earlier period Christianity had been in conflict with cultivated heathenism, with refined philosophies, and subtle immorality. In the middle age the battle was with rude and ignorant barbarism, crude, cruel, but robust, and free from the weaknesses of an effete civilization. We do not complain because history is not other than it is. Considering the choice which men made, it could not have been other- wise. But we do insist that neither the Roman- ized period under the empire, nor the following night, was in accord with true Christianity, nor was it the product of the New Testament doc- trine. It is our duty to test all questions by the Bible, the clear light, and not by the waning light of the imperial time, nor the starlight of the succeeding night. Dr. Schaff says :
The mediaeval light was indeed the borrowed star an*d moonlight of ecclesiastical tradition, rather than the clear sunlight from the inspired pages of the Ncav Testa- ment ; but it was such light as the eyes of nations in
62 Sunday Legislation,
their ignorance could bear, and it never ceased to shine till it disappeared in the daylight of the great Reforma- tion. Christ had his witnesses in all ages and countries, and those shine all the brighter who were surrounded by midnight darkness.
" Pause where we may upon the desert road, Some shelter is in sight, some sacred, safe abode."
On the other hand, the middle ages are often called, especially by Roman Catholic v/riters, '' the ages of faith." They abound in legends of saints, which had the charm of religious novels. All men believed in the supernatural and miraculous as readily as children do now. Heaven and hell were as real to the mind as the kingdom of France and the republic of Venice. Skepti- cism and infidelity were almost unknown, or at least suppressed and concealed. But with faith was con- nected a vast deal of superstition, and an entire absence of critical investigation and judgment. Faith was blind and unreasoning, like the faith of children. The most incredible and absurd legends were accepted without a question. And yet the morality was not a whit better, but in many respects ruder, coarser, and more passion- ate than in modern times.
The Church, as a visible organization, never had greater power over the minds of men. She controlled all departments of life from the cradle to the grave. She monopolized all the learning, and made sciences and arts tributary to her. She took the lead in every pro- gressive movement. She founded universities, built lofty cathedrals, stirred up the crusades, made and un- made kings, dispensed blessings and curses to whole nations. The niediseval hierarchy centering in Rome
After the Fall of the Roman Empire, 63
re-enacted the Jewish theocracy on a more comprehen- sive scale. It was a carnal anticipation of the millennial reign of Christ. It took centuries to rear up this im- posing structure and centuries to take it down again.
" Church History," vol. iv, pp. 12, 13.
As we begin our search for the Sunday through this deepening darkness, wherein the in- vestigator must grope his way, we find it still as- sociated with a large group of other holidays, whi-ch are held in equal sacredness with it. If Sunday seems to be more prominent than these, it is because of its weekly recurrence, Avhile many others were but annual. Remember, too, that the hierarchy of that time assumed to legislate for the people, as God had done for the Israelites ; and hence, by the law of analogy, an extreme Judaic strictness was sometimes developed con- cerning the Sunday and its associate holy days. We shall give the important enactments through- out this period, paying particular attention to the Anglo-Saxon laws, out of which grew the Eng- lish, and hence our own Sunday laws.
In the development of the Church-and-State idea, during the Roman period, the clergy had been intrusted with much power in hearing and deciding business matters between such as did not wish to go to law before heathen judges. Hence arose the practice of hearing such causes on Sun- day The Council of Tarragon, in 516A.D., or- dered as follows :
64 Stmday Legislation,
Let not any bishop or presbyter or any of the inferior clergy hear causes on the Lord's day, etc., . . . but let them be occupied in the performance of the solemnities ordained in honor of God.
"Council of Tarragon," chap, iv, can. xv ; Binius, tome X, p. 625.
In 538 A. D., the Third Council of Orleans en- acted the following :
Whereas the people are persuaded that they ought not to travel on the Lord's day with the horses, or oxen and carriages, or to prepare anything for food, or to do any- thing conducive to the cleanliness of houses or men, things which belong to Jewish rather than Christian observ- ances ; we have ordained that on tlie Lord's day what was before lawful to be done may still be done. But from rural work, i. e., plowing, cultivating vines, reaping, mowing, thrashing, clearing away thorns or hedging, we judge it better to abstain, that the people may the more readily come to the churches and have leisure for prayers. If any one be found doing the works forbid- den above, let him be punished, not as the civil authori- ties may direct, but as the ecclesiastical powers may de- termine.
" Council of Orleans III," can. xxviii ; Binius, tome xi, p. 496; or Labbe, ix, p. 19.
In 578 A. 1). the Council of Auxerre ordered as follows :
On the Lord's day it is not permitted to yoke oxen or to perform any other work except for appointed reasons.
" Council of Auxerre," can. xvi ; Binius, tome xiii, p. 44.
After the Fall of the Roman Empire, 65
About the same time Pope Gregory I made a similar law at Rome, At a later date — about 850 A. D. — it was repealed by Nicholas I. In 585 A. D. the Second Council of Macon, following the lead of that of Auxerre, enacted as follows. After a prelude, in which it is stated that Chris- tian people treat the Sunday with great con- tempt, as if it were like other days, and because former warnings remained unheeded, it is or- dered :
Keep the Lord's day whereon ye were born anew and freed from all sin. Let no one spend his leisure in litigation ; let no one continue the pleading of any cause. Let no one under- plea of necessity allow him- self to place a yoke on the neck of his cattle. Let all be occupied in mind and body in hymns, and in the praise of God. If any one dwells near a church, let him go thereto, and upon the Lord's day engage with prayers and tears. Let your eyes and hands on that day be lifted up to God. For this is the day of perpetual rest. This is shadowed to us in the seventh day in the law and the prophets. It is right, therefore, that we should all celebrate this day, through which we are made to be what we were not ; for we were in sin, but through this we were made righteous. Let us then yield a willing service to the Lord, through whom we know ourselves to have been freed from the bonds of error. Not be- cause our Lord requires it of us that we should cele- brate this day by constraint of the body, but he seeks obedience, by which, trampling on earthly things, we may be lifted to heaven through his mercy. If any
66 Sunday Legislation,
one shall disregard this wholesome exhortation, or treat it contemptuously, he shall, in the first place, draw upon himself the wrath of God ; and secondly, the unappeasa- ble anger of the clergy. If he be an advocate, let him wholly lose the privilege of pleading the cause ; if a countryman or a slave, let him be soundly beaten with whips ; if a clerk or a monk, let him be suspended from the society of his brethren for the space of six months. For all these things may we be rendered pleasing unto
God.
"Council Macon II," can. ii ; Labbe, ix, p. 947 ;
also Binius, tome xiii, pp. 75, 76.
By the next canon of this council the entire paschal season is treated as being equally holy, and ordered to be held in equal reverence. In 813 A. D., under Charlemagne, the Council of Mayence enacted the following:
We decree that all Lord's days shall be observed with all due veneration, and that all servile work shall be abstained from, and that buying and selling may be less likely to happen, there shall be no judicial trials, unless concerning capital crimes.
" Council Mayence," can. xxxvii ; Binius, tome XX, p. 357. Also, " Capitularies," lib, v, cap. 88.
In the same year a council at Rheims expressed the same idea as follows :
Upon all Lord's days, according to the precept of the Lord, no servile work whatever ought to be per- formed ; neither should any court be convened, nor
After the Fall of the Roman Empire, 67
should it be presumed to make any public largess, nor any mercantile transactions.
"Council of Rheims," can. xxxv; Binius, tome XX, p. idZ.
In 853 A. D. the Second Council of Soissons, under Charles the Bold, extended the law to many other days.
From Septuagesima till eight days after Easter, and from the coming of our Lord until eight days after Epiphany, during the fasts of the four seasons, on the day of the great litanies, and on rogation days, the trial of causes was for- bidden.
In 858 A. D. Pope Nicholas I gave certain in- struction to the Burgundians, who had but lately embraced Christianity. He taught them that there were no days on which works of necessity, such as journeying, fighting, etc., might not be performed. He urges that "• our hopes do not rest upon the observance of days, but upon the true and living end." But if necessity does not prevent, the leisure of these days ought to be spent in prayer, " and in attending on the mysteries of these great festivals." His orders involved not only Sunday, but the '' feasts of the Virgin, the feasts of the Apostles and Evangelists, the birth- days of other saints, and the season of Lent." (Binius, tome xxii, pp. 453, 454, 459; also Labbe, tome ix, p. 1091.)
The emperors of this period sent out officers
68 Sunday Legislatio7i,
from time to time, as fancy or occasion demanded, to enforce laws and reform abuses. These officers were called '^ missi dominici,'' and their instruc- tions were called '' capitularies." Among the penalties prescribed in these were the following : " If one yoke oxen to a cart and drive them, walk- ing beside it, he is to be punished by the loss of the right ox." Performing servile work in gen- eral, subjected one to such punishment as the clergy saw fit to impose, and the civil power might be called upon to aid in enforcing these penalties. (See Neale, '' Feasts and Fasts," pp. 98, 99, and Labbe, xv, 16.)
In 895 A. D., during the reign of the Emperor Arnulph, the Council of Triburary forbade the holding of courts on Sunday, Saints' days, Lent, and other festivals. (See '' Council of Triburary," can. XXXV ; Binius, tome xxi, p. 661.)
In 932, under Henry I, a council at Erfurt, in Saxony, designated the seasons named above by the Council of Triburai*y, and added to them the following, as non-judicial days : '' Seven days be- fore Christmas, eight days before Easter, and seven days before the nativity of John the Baptist, and the whole season of Lent, that more time might be allowed for prayers, and for attending the churches." (See " Council at Erfurt," can. ii; Bin- ius, tome XXV, p. 37.)
The entire system of holy days, during the middle ages, rested on a common basis, and their observance was enforced by a common authority,
After the Fall of the Roman Empire. 69
viz., the commands of the Church. There was great lack of uniformity, both in the character of these requirements and in their enforcement. Rulers, councils, and localities varied from each other and often contradicted each other. The whole scene is one of ignorance, superstition, low moral and spiritual life, darkness, and chaos.
CHAPTER IV.
SAXON LAWS CONCERNING SUNDAY.
It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to ob- tain accurate dates in the earlier periods of his- tory. It is equally difficult to secure uniformity in the spelling of proper names, and names of localities during the formative period of a lan- guage. Both of these difficulties environ the in- vestigator of early Saxon history. We have con- sulted only the standard authorities in the prepa- ration of the following, deciding dates and spell- ing according to the weight of evidence, or of probabilities.
All Sunday legislation is the product of pagan Rome. The Saxon laws were the product of the middle-age legislation of the " Holy Roman Em- pire." The English laws are an expansion of the Saxon, and the American arc a transcript of the English. Our own laws were all inchoate in those which are found below. Besides the author- ities cited in full below, the reader is referred to ** Ancient Laws and Institutes of England,"
Saxoji Laws Concerning Stmday, 71
edited by Benjamin Thorpe, and printed by command of William III, in 1840.
Ine became King of Wessex, 688 A. D., and reigned until 725. Law 3 of his is as follows :
If a theowman (slave) work on Sunday by his lord's command, let him be free ; and let the lord pay thirty shil- lings as a fine. But if the theow work without his knowl- edge, let him suffer in his hide, or in hide-gild (money paid in lieu of corporal punishment). But if a freeman work on that day without his lord's command, let him forfeit his freedom, or sixty shillings; and be a priest doubly liable. (Thorpe, p. 69.)
The following laws of Withread, King of Kent- ishmen from 690 to 725 A. D., were passed about 696 A. D. :
Law 9. If a slave (esne) do any servile labor, con- trary to his lord's command, from sunset on Sunday eve till sunset on Monday eve, let him make a compensation (hot) of eighty shillings to his lord.
Law 10. If an esne so do of his own accord on that day, let him make a " bot " of six to his lord, or his hide.
Law II. But if a freeman [so do] at t^e forbidden time, let him be liable to his heals-fang (a fine paid to save himself from the pillory), and the man who detects him, let him have half the fine (wite) and the work. (Thorpe, p. 17.)
Among the laws of the eighth century, is one found in the '' Canons of Cuthbert," enacted at Clovis Hoo, November, 747 a. d., in the reign of
*]2 Sunday Legislation,
Eidelbald, King of the Mercians. It runs as fol- lows :
In the fourteenth place it is ordained that the Lord's day be celebrated by all, with due veneration and wholly separated for divine service. And let all abbots and priests, on that most sacred day, remain in their monas- teries and churches, and say solemn mass ; and lay aside all external business, and secular meetings, and journey- ings, except the cause be invincible ; let them by preach- ing instruct the servants subject to them, from the oracle of the holy Scriptures, the rules of religious conversation, and of good living. It is also decreed that on that day, and tHe great festivals, the priests of God do often invite the people to meet in the church, and be present at the sacraments of masses and at preaching of sermons.
" Laws and Canons of the Church of England, from its foundation to Henry VIII," by John Johnson, M. A., Vicar of Cranbroke, etc., Oxford, 1850. Vol. i, p. 249.
Alfred held the throne of Wessex from 871 to 901 A. D. The 5 th law of his code declares in these words :
He who steals on Sunday, or at Yule, or at Easter,
or on Holy Thursday, or on Rogation days, the fine shall
be double what it is in the Lenten fast. (Thorpe, p. 29.)
Laws of Edward the Elder, and Guthrum, made
after the peace between the Danes and the
English, 901 to 924 a. d.
Law 7. If any one engage in Sunday marketing, let
him forfeit the chattel, and twelve ores (192 pence),
among the Danes, and thirty shillings among the Eng-
Saxon Laws Concerning Sunday, J2^
lish. If a freeman work on a festival day, let him forfeit his freedom, or pay a fine (wite or lah-slit). Let a theow- man suffer in his hide, or hide-gild. If a lord oblige his theow to work on a festival day, let him pay lah-slit within the Danish law, and wite among the English. (Thorpe, p. 73.)
Wite and lah-slit are equivalent to "fine." This law is headed, " Of working on a festival da3^" Sunday only is designated, but the law seems to include other festivals. The date is un- certain, and may be earlier than as above, possibly as early as 878 A. D.
The laws enacted by the Council of Greatanlea, under ^thelstane about 924 A. D., include the following :
Law 24. And that no marketing be on Sundays ; but if any one do so, let him forfeit the goods, and pay thirty shillings as wite. (Thorpe, p. 90. )
In the year 943 A. D., Odo, Archbishop of Can- terbury, issued the following appeal :
Canon 9. We admonish that fasting with alms be very carefully observed ; for these are the three wings which carry saints to heaven ; wherefore endeavor to keep the fast of Lent, of the Four Seasons, and other lawful fasts as of the fourth and sixth days of the week, with great vigilance ; and above all, the Lord's day and the Festivals of Saints, ye are to take care that ye observe with all caution from all secular work. Consent to no vain superstitions ; nor worship the creature more than
74 Sunday Legislation.
the Creator, with magical ilhisions ; for they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
"Laws and Canons of the Church of England, from its foundation to Henry VIII," by John Johnson, M. A., Vicar of Cranbroke, etc. Oxford, 1850. Vol. i, p. 362.
King Edgar reigned from 959 to 975 A. D. Among the ecclesiastical laws of his reign, number 5 is as follows :
And let the festivals of every Sunday be kept from the noon-tide of Saturday till the dawn of Monday, on peril of the wite which the doom-book specifies ; and every other mass-day, as it may be commanded ; and let every ordained fast be kept with every earnestness ; and every Friday's fast, unless it be a festival ; and let soul scot (a tax) be paid for every Christian man to the minister to which it is due ; and let every church-grith (privilege) stand as it has best stood. (Thorpe, p. 112.)
Among the " Canons of Edgar," we find the following :
18. And we enjoin, that on feast days, heathen songs and devil's games be abstained from.
19. And we enjoin that Sunday trading and folk- motes be abstained from, (Thorpe, p. 397.)
Certain laws are attributed to ^Ifric, the " Un- known Archbishop," whose date is also unknown, but is placed from 957 to 105 1 A. D. Among these " Canons," number 36 is as follows :
We command you, mass priests, that ye command all the people who look to you, and over whom ye are con-
Saxon Laws C oncer 7ting Sunday. 75
fessors, that the four first Easter-days be freed from all servile work ; because at that tide all the world was freed from the thraldom of the devil. And let Sunday's festival be held from the noon of Saturday until the dawn of Monday. (Thorpe, p. 450.)
Among the Ecclesiastical Institutes of JElfric, we find the following:
24. Sunday is very solemnly to be reverenced, there- fore we command that no man dare on that holy day to apply to any worldly work, unless for the preparing of his meat ; except it happen to any one that he must of necessity journey ; then he may either ride, or row, or journey by such conveyance as may be suitable to his way, on the condition that he hear his mass, and neglect not his prayers. On Sunday God first created the light, and on that day he sent to the people of Israel, in the desert, heavenly bread ; and on that day he rose from death, when he before, with his own will, had suffered death for the salvation of mankind ; and on that day he sent the Holy Ghost into his disciples. It is therefore very highly fitting that every Christian man very rever- ently honor that day. And it is fitting that every Chris- tian man who can accomplish it, come to church on Saturday and bring light with him, and there hear even- song, and before dawn, matins, and in the morning come with their offerings to the celebration of the mass. And v/hen they come thither, let there be no iniquity, nor any strifes, nor any discord heard, but with calm mind at the holy service, let them intercede both for them- selves, and for all God's people, both with their prayers, and with their alms ; and after the holy service, let each return home, and with his friends and his neighbors, and
76 Sunday Legislation.
with strangers, enjoy ghostly refection, and guard him- self against gluttony and drunkenness. (Thorpe, p. 478.)
These Institutes cover many daj^s besides Sunday. Speaking of the Quadragesima period, the forty-first one enacts :
Every Sunday, at this holy tide, people should go to housel, except those men who are excommunicated. So also on Thursday before Easter, and on the Friday, and on Easter eve, and on Easter day, and all the days of Easter week are with like piety to be celebrated, (Thorpe, p. 487.)
Law 13 of the group known as Liber Constitti- iioritm, enacted under Ethelread (978 to 1016 A. D.), reads :
Let Sunday's festival be rightly kept, as is thereto becoming ; and let marketings, and folk-motes be care- fully abstained from on that holy day. (Thorpe, p. 131.)
Law 22 of the Council of Enham, under the same king, is in these words :
And let festivals and fasts be rightly kept. Let Sun- day's festival be rightly kept, as is thereto becoming ; and let marketings, and folk-motes, and huntings, and worldly works, be strictly abstained from on that holy day. And let all St. Mary's solemn feast tides be strictly honored, first with fasting, and afterwards with festival ; and at the celebration of every apostle let strict fast be held, except that on the festival of St. Philip and St. James we enjoin no fast on account of the Easter festival, unless any one will ; else let other
Saxon Laws Concerning Sunday. jj
festivals and fasts be strictly observed, so as those ob- served them who best observed them.
Law 24. And let fasts be kept every Friday, unless it be a festival.
Law 43. And that they lawfully render God's dues every year, and rightly hold festivals and fasts.
Law 44. And that they strictly abstain from Sunday marketings and popular meetings. (Thorpe , pp. 126, 127, 139.
In another group of laws under this sovereign, a fine is ordered if the foregoing laws are broken.
In a group of laws attributed to the priests of Northumbria, of unknown date, but probably be- longing to the last half of the tenth centur}^, the 55th reads as follows :
Sunday traffic we forbid everywhere, and every folk- mote, and every work, and every journey, whether in a wain, or on a horse, or as a burthen. (Thorpe, p. 420.)
Canute, King of Denmark, became king of all England in 1017 A. D. He died in 1035. His laws are divided into ecclesiastical and secular. Among the former, law 14 is as follows :
And let all God's dues be diligently furthered, as is needful, and let festivals and fasts be rightly held ; and let every Sunday's festival be held from the noon of Sat- urday till the dawn of Monday, and every other mass- day as it is commanded.
Law 15. And Sunday marketing we also strictly for- bid, and every folk-mote, unless it be for great necessity ; and let huntings and all other worldly works be strictly abstained from on that holy day.
yS Sufiday Legislation,
Law 17, And we forbid ordeals and oaths (lawsuits and court trials) on festival days and ember-days, and from adve?itii7n domi?ii until the eighth day be passed after the twelfth mass day ; and from Septuagesima till fifteen days after Easter. And St. Edward's mass-day the Witan Council have chosen that it shall be celebrated over all England on the fifteenth Kal. April. And St. Dunstan's mass-day on the fourteenth Kal. Junii. And at those holy tides, let there be as it is right, to all Chris- tian men, general peace and concord, and let every dis- pute be settled. And if any one owe another, " borh " or " bot " for secular matters, let him v/illingly fulfill it to him, before or after. (Thorpe, p. 157, 158.)
The observance of the fasts was enjoined with no less vigor than the observance of Sunday. Wc find the following among the " secular " laws of Canute :
Law 47. If a freeman break a lawful fast, let him pay lah-slit among the Danes, and wite among the English, as the deed may be. It is sinful that any one, at a law- ful fast-tide, eat before the time, and yet worse that any one defile himself wi^^h flesh meat. If a theowman do so, let him pay with his hide, or hide-gild, as the deed may be.
Secular law 45 is as follows:
If it can be helped, no condemned man should be put to death on a Sunday festival, unless he flee or fight ; but let him be secured and held till the festival day be passed. If a freeman work on a festival day, then let him make *' bot " with his heals fang, and, above all, earnestly make '* bot " to God, so as he may be in-
Saxon Laws Concerning Sitnday. 79
structed. If a theowman work, let him pay with his hide, or hide-gild, according as the deed may be. If a lord compel his theow to work upon a festival day, let him forfeit the theow and be he afterward folk-free ; and let the lord pay lah-slit among the Danes, and wite among the English, as the deed may be, or clear him- self. (Thorpe, pp. 172, 173.)
The Sunday Laws of Edward the Confessor, made about the year 1056 A. D., took certain days away from the legal vacations which had been ordered by Canute, but added others. The law of Edward is as follows:
Let the protection of God and the Holy Church be throughout the whole kingdom from the Lord's Advent to the octaves of Epiphany, and from Septuagesima till the octaves of Easter, and from the Lord's Ascension till the octaves of Pentecost, and in all the days of Em- ber-weeks ; and every Sabbath from the ninth hour, and through the whole following day till Monday ; also on the vigils of Saints Mary, Michael, John Baptist, all the apostles and saints whose festivals are bid by priests on the Lord's days ; and All-Saints on the calends of No- vember, perpetually from the ninth hour of the vigils, and during the following festival ; also in parishes, where the dedication day, or the day of their proper saint is celebrated ; and if any one devoutly go to celebrate a saint, let him have protection in going, staying, and re- turning, and let all Christians have protection when they go to church to pray, both in going forth and returning. Let them have absolute protection who are going to dedication, to synods, to chapters, whether they are sum-
8o Stuiday Legislation,
moned, or go of their own accord upon business. If any one being excommunicated betake himself to the bishop for absolution, let him enjoy the protection of God and Holy Church in going and returning. Let the bishop in his own court prosecute any man who has in- curred a forfeiture to him. Yet if any one out of arro- gance will not be brought to satisfaction in the bishop's court, let the bishop notify him to the king, and let the king constrain the malefactor to make satisfaction where the forfeiture is due, that is, first to the bishop, then to himself. So there shall be two swords, and one sword shall help the other.
"Ancient Laws and Institutes of England," by Benjamin Thorpe, p. 190. Also, Spelman, vol. i, p. 619.
CHAPTER V.
SUNDAY LAWS IN ENGLAND.
The early Sunday laws in England were but the expansion of the Saxon laws. When com- pared with the Saxon laws, they show the suc- cessive links by which our Sunday laws have been developed from the original source. They are of great value, beyond their mere historic in- terest, in showing how the advance of civilization and of Christianity has left the original idea be- hind.
In 1 28 1 A. D., John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury under Edward I, explained the Fourth Commandment to the priests as they were to teach it to the people. That explanation runs as follows :
In the Third, " Remember that thou keep," etc., the Christian worship is enjoined, to which laymen as well as clerks are bound ; and here we are to know that the obligation to observe the legal Sabbath, according to the form of the Old Testament, is at an end, together with the other ceremonies in that ; to which in the New Testament hath succeeded the custom of spending the Lord's day, and other solemn days appointed by the
82 Sunday Legislatio7i,
authority of the Church, in the worship of God ; and the manner of spending these days is not to be taken from the superstition of the Jews, but from the canoni- cal institutes.
" Laws and Canons of the Church of England, from its Foundation to Henry VIII," John- son, vol. ii, p. 284.
A statute of the 28th of Edward III, enacted in 1354 A. D., reads as follows :
Item, it is accorded and established, that showing of wools shall be made at the staple every day of the week, except the Sunday and solemn feasts of the year.
" The Statutes Relating to the Ecclesiastical and Eleemosynary Institutes of England," by Archibald John Stephens, vol. i, p. dd.
In 1359 A. D., Islep, Archbishop of Canterbury, under Edw^ard III, in view of the state of the kingdom, issued the followin<r :
Whereas, the most excellent prince, our lord, the King of England, is now going to make an expedition in foreign parts v/ith his army for the recovery of his right, exposing himself as a soldier to the doubtful events of war, the issue whereof is in the hand of God ; we who have hitherto lived under his protection are, by the divine favor shining on us, admonished to betake ourselves to prayer, as well for the safety of every one of us as for the public good, lest if adverse fortune should invade us (which God forbid), our confusion and re- proach should be the greater. But, though it is pro- vided by sanctions of law and canon that all Lord's days
Sunday Laws m England. 83
be venerably observed from eve to eve, so that neither markets, negotiations, or courts public or private, ec- clesiastical or secular, be kept, or any country work done on these days, that so every faithful man remembering his creation may then, at least, go to his parish church, ask pardon for his offenses, supply his omissions and commissions for the week, honor the divine mysteries, learn and keep the commandments of the Church there expounded, and earnestly pour out prayers to God in the churches that are consecrated from above for places of prayer, not only for themselves, but for every degree of men, whether of secular or ecclesiastical host, laying aside all worldly care ; yet we are clearly, to our heart's grief, informed that a detestable, nay, damnable per- verseness has prevailed, insomuch that in many places markets not only for victuals, but other negotiations (which can scarce be without frauds and deceits), un- lawful meetings of men who neglect their churches, vari- ous tumults, and other occasions of evil are committed, revels and drunkenness, and many other dishonest doings are practiced, from whence quarrels and scolds, threats and blows and sometimes murder proceeds on the Lord's days, in contempt of the honor of God ; insomuch that the main body of the people flock to these markets, by which the devil's power is increased ; and in the holy churches where the God of peace is to be sought and his anger more easily satisfied, the worship of God and the saints ceaseth by reason of the absence of the faith- ful people, the sacred m.ysteries are not had in due ven- eration, and the mutual support of men in praying is withdrawn, to the great decay of reverence toward God and the Church, the grievous peril of souls, and to the manifest scandal and contempt of Christianity ; where-
84 Sunday Legislatio7i,
fore we strictly command you, our brother, that ye, with- out delay, canonically admonish and effectually per- suade, in virtue of obedience, or cause to be admonished and persuaded, those of your subjects whom ye find culpable in the premises, that they do wholly abstain from markets, courts, and other unlawful practices above described, on the Lord's days for the future ; and that such of them as are come to years of discretion, do go to their parish churches to do, hear, and receive what the duty of the day requires of them ; and that ye restrain all whatsoever that transgress and rebel in this respect, both in general and particular, with Church censures according to the canon. And do ye further enjoin your flock subject to you, and cause them to be enjoined, that on the said days, and at other times when they think fit, they do in their prayers at church most de- voutly recommend our lord, the king, the noblemen of the kingdom, and all others whatsoever that attend him in the said expedition, and their safety and pros- perity, to the Lord Most High, the King of all Kings ; and make two customary processions about their churches and church-yards every week for them, and for the peace of the kingdom. And we further command you that ye intimate this our mandate with all possible speed to our fellow-bishops and suffragans of the province of Canterbury, that they may do what is above contained in relation to their subjects. And that the minds of the faithful may the more easily be incited to the doing of the premises, confiding in the mercies of God, and in the merits and prayers of his most holy mother, the Virgin Mary, and of blessed Thomas, the glorious martyr, and of the other saints, we grant by these presents forty days' indulgence to all Christians throughout our prov-
Sunday Laws in England. 85
ince, who shall pray In the manner aforesaid, and ab- stain from the unlawful practices above expressed, so that they confess their sins and truly repent of them. And we do in the Lord exhort you and the rest of our fellow-bishops, that ye grant indulgences out of the treasure of the Church entrusted with you to them that do and observe what is above specified. And do ye before the feast of All-Saints next coming, certify us by your letters patent (containing a copy of these) of the day when ye received these presents, and the manner and form of your executing thereof ; and do ye specially enjoin our said brethren, that they do every one in par- ticular take care to certify us of what they have done in like manner.
Dated at Otteford, 19 cal. of September, a. d. 1359, and of our consecration the tenth.
"Laws and Canons of the Church of England from its Foundation to Henry VIII," John- son, vol. ii, pp. 417-419. Also, "Sir Henry Spelman's Works," Latin, vol. ii, p. 599.
The foregoing appeal and command seem to have been of little avail. Three years later, 1362 A. D., we find the following — Islep's " Constitu- tions," No. 3 — which shows how thoroughly un- sabbatic the Sunday was, and how low the plane was on which it stood. Edward III was still on the throne of England and Urban V was in the papal chair :
Simon, by divine permission. Archbishop of Canter- bury, primate of all England, legate of the Apostolic see, 7
86 Sunday Legislation,
to our venerable brother Simon, by the grace of God Bishop of London, health and brotherly charity in the Lord. We learn from the Holy Scripture that vice often appears under the color of virtue. At the first creation of man, God enjoined him to cease from labor on the seventh day only ; but the militant Church in the times of grace has added several other days ; and some of these again, by the toleration of the Church, were taken away for the convenience of men, and the necessity of their laboring ; and yet some local festivals were added to be observed by Catholics in some parts ; and though the custom of festivals was introduced in honor of the saints, yet by the levity of men, what was instituted out of a reverent regard to the elect of God, has been turned to their reproach, by reason that disorderly meetings and negotiations and other unlawful exercises are practiced on such days, and what was intended for devotion is converted to lewdness, forasmuch as the tavern on these days is more frequented than the church, and there is greater abundance of junkets and drunkenness than of tears and prayers ; and men spend their leisure in de- bauchery and quarrels more than in devotion ; not to omit that covenant servants (without whose labor the commonwealth can not subsist), under a lawful pretense, do abstain from work on holydays (though of their own making), and on the vigils of saints, and yet take no less on that account for their weekly wages, by which the public good is clogged and obstructed ; nor do they sabbatize in honor of God, but to the scandal of Him and Holy Church, as if these solemnities were intended for the exercise of profaneness and mischief, which in- crease in proportion to the number cf these days. To prevent superstitions, evil intentions, and frauds of cove-
Sunday Laws in England. ^y
nant servants, and to lessen the occasion of them, and that the memories of the saints which require a cessation from labor may be had in due veneration, according to the original institution of the Church, with the advice of our brethren, we have thought fit to set down in these pres- ents the feasts on which all people in our province of Canterbury must regularly abstain even from such works as are profitable to the commonwealth, reserving a power to ecclesiastical men and to other great persons, and such as are, in this respect, self-sufficient, of solemn- ly observing the days of whatever saints they please to honor God in their own churches and chapels. In the first place, the holy Lord's day, beginning at vespers on the Sabbath day, not before, lest we should seem pro- fessed Jews ; and let this be observed in feasts that have their vigils ; also the feasts of the Nativity of our Lord, Saints Stephen, John, Innocents, Thomas the Martyr, Circumcision, Epiphany of the Lord, Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Matthias Apostle, Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, Easter v/ith the three following days, Saint Mark the Evangelist, the Apostles Philip and Jacob, Invention of the Holy Cross, Ascension of the Lord, Pentecost, v/ith the three following days, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St. John Baptist, Apostles Peter and Paul, Translation of St. Thomas, St. Mary Magdalene, St. James Apostle, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, St. Laurence, St. Bartholomew, Nativity of St. Mary, Exaltation of the Holy Cross, St. MatAew, St. Michael, St. Luke Evangelist, Apostles Simon and Jude, All- Saints, St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, Conception of the Blessed Virgin, St. Thomas Apostle, the solemnity of the dedication of every parish church, and of the saints to whom every parish church is dedicated, and other feasts
88 Sunday Legislation,
enjoined in every diocese by the ordinaries of the places in particular, and of their certain knowledge. We therefore command you that ye notify all and singu- lar the premises, to all our brethren and suffragans, en- joining every one of them that they admonish and effectually persuade the clergy and people subject to them, strictly to observe and with honor to venerate the feasts above rehearsed as they fall in their seasons ; and let them reverently go to the parish churches on those days and stay out the conclusion of the masses and other divine offices, praying devoutly and sincerely to God for the salvation of themselves and the rest of the faithful, both quick and dead ; that by thus going the circle of the solemnities of the saints, they and other Catholics for whom they pray may deserve the constant intercession of the saints, whose feasts they celebrate, with Almighty God. And let our brethren intimate to their subjects that on the other feasts of the saints they may with im- punity proceed in their customary labors. And if they find any hired laborers who presume to cease from working on particular feasts that are not above enjoined, in order to defraud those to whose service they have bound themselves, let them canonically restrain them from such superstitions and cause others to restrain them by ecclesiastical censures. And we command our breth- ren aforesaid, that every one of them do clearly and distinctly certify us by their letters patent (containing a copy of these presents) what they have done in the premises, before the feast of the Nativity of St. Mary the Virgin, next coming ; and do ye also take care to effectually perform all and singular the premises, so far as they concern your cities and diocese, and in the same manner to certify it to us.
Stmday Laws in England, 89
Dated at Maghfield, 17 cal. August, a. d. 1362, and of our consecration the thirteenth.
"Laws and Canons of the Church of England, from its Foundation to Henry VIII," John- son, vol. ii, pp. 425-428. Also, Spelman, "Works," p. 609; also, Wilkins, "Concilia," vol. ii, p. 560.
About the year 1367, John Thorsby, Arch- bishop of York, gave a similar charge to his sub- ordinates. It runs as follows :
Desiring, therefore, to obviate some errors and abuses so far as we can, which we see to grow rife in the Church : in the first place (according to the example of Christ, who would have his own church be called a house, not of merchandise, but of prayer ; and not allowing fraudu- lent traffic there to be exercised, cast the buyers and sellers out of the temple), we firmly forbid any one to keep a market in the churches, the porches, and ceme- teries thereunto belonging, or other holy places of our diocese, on the Lord's day or other festivals, or to pre- sume to traffic or hold any secular pleas therein ; and let there be no wrestlings, shootings, or plays which may be the cause or occasion of sin, dissension, hatred, or fighting, therein performed ; but let every Catholic come thither to pray, and to implore pardon for his sin.
Johnson, as above, vol. ii, p. 431, and Wilkins, vol. iii, p. d'^.
A similar law had been enacted by Edward I (thirteenth ed., statute 2) in 1285 A. D., in which it was ordered, " that from henceforth neither
90 Sunday Legislation.
fairs nor markets be kept in church-yards, for the honor of the Church."
In 1409 A. D., Henry IV ordered the following:
He that playeth at unlawful games on Sundays and other festival days prohibited by the statute, shall be six days imprisoned. (Statute 11.)
The 27th statute of Henry VI, enacted in 1448 A. D., is in these words :
Item, considering the abominable iniquities and of- fenses done to Almighty God and to his saints, always aiders and singular assisters in our necessities, because of fairs and markets upon their high and principal feasts, as in the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, in the day of Corpus Christi, in the day of Whitsunday, in Trinity Sunday, with other Sundays, and also in the high feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady, the day of All Saints, and on Good Friday, accustomably and mis- erably holden and used in the realm of England : in which principal and festival days for great earthly covet- ise, the people is more willingly vexed, and in bodily labor foiled, than in other ferial days, as in fastening and making their booths and stalls, bearing and carrying, lifting and placing their wares outward and homeward, as though they did nothing remember the horrible defil- ing of their souls in buying and selling, with many de- ceitful lies and false perjury, with drunkenness and strifes, and so specially withdrawing themselves and their servants from divine service; the aforesaid lord the king, by advice and assent of the lords spiritual and temporal and the commons of this realm of England, being in the said Parliament, and by authority of the
Sunday Laws hi England. 91
same Parliament, hath ordained that all manner of fairs and markets in the said principal feasts and Sundays and Good Fridays, shall clearly cease from all showing of any goods and merchandises (necessary victual only excepted) upon pain of forfeiture of all the goods afore- said so showed, to the lord of the franchise or liberty where such goods, contrary to this ordinance be or shall be showed (the four Sundays in harvest excepted). Nevertheless of his special grace, by authority aforesaid, granteth to them power which of old time had no day to hold their fair or market, but only upon the festival days aforesaid, to hold by the same authority and strength of his old grant, within three days next before the said feasts, or next after, proclamation first made to the sim- ple common people, upon which day the aforesaid fair shall be holden, always to be certified, without any fine or fee to be taken to the king's use. And they which of old time have, by special grant, sufficient days before the feasts aforesaid, or after, shall in like manner, as aforesaid, hold their fairs and markets the full number of their days, the said festival days and Sundays and Good Fridays excepted.
" Statutes Relating to the Ecclesiastical and Elee- mosynary Institutes of England," by Archi- bald John Stehhens, vol. i, p. no, scq. Also, ''Rev. Statutes," 1235-1685 a. d., pp. 347- 349, London, 1870.
In 1464 A. D., under Edward IV, an addition was made to the act of Henry VI, of 1448 A. D., declaring that —
Cobblers and cordwainers in the city of London, or within three miles thereof, excepting within the precincts
92 Sunday Legislation.
of St. Martins-le-Grand and the palace at Westminster, were forbidden on any Sunday in the year, or on the feasts of the Nativity or Ascension of our Lord, or on the feast of Corpus Christi, to command or cause to be sold, or place or put on any one's feet or legs, any shoes, hose, or galoches, under the penalty of the forfeiture of the article and a fine of twenty shillings for every of- fense ; a third part to go to the king, a third to the gov- fernors of the guild (mestier) of cordwains, and the resi- due to the informer.
Neale, " Feasts and Fasts," p. 124. Also, Statutes of the 4th of Edward IV, chap. vii.
In 1523 this act was repealed by Henry VlIL (15th Henry VIII, chap, ix.)
Injunctions of Edward VI.
On coming to the throne in 1547, Edward VI issued numerous " injunctions " concerning relig- ious matters. Among them the following :
Also, Like as the people be commonly occupied the work-day with bodily labor, for their bodily sustenance, so was the holy day at first beginning, godly instituted and ordained, that the people should that day give them- selves wholly to God ; and whereas in our time, God is more offended than pleased, more dishonored than honored, upon the holy day, because of idleness, pride, drunkenness, quarreling, and brawling, which are most used in such days ; people nevertheless persuading them- selves sufficiently to honor God on that day if they hear mass and service, though they understand nothing to their
Sunday Laws in England, 93
edifying ; therefore all the king's faithful and loving sub- jects shall from henceforth celebrate and keep their holy day according to God's holy will and pleasure, that is in hearing the Word of God read and taught, in private and public prayers, in acknowledging their offenses to God, and amendment of the same, in reconciling their- selves charitably to their neighbors, where displeasure hath been, in oftentimes receiving the communion of the very body and blood of Christ, in visiting the poor and sick, and in using all soberness and godly conversation. Yet notwithstanding, all parsons, vicars, and curates shall teach and declare unto their parishioners, that they may, with a safe and quiet conscience, in the time of harvest, labor upon the holy and festival days, and save that thing which God hath sent; and if, for any scrupu- losity or grudge of conscience, men should superstitious- ly abstain from working upon those days, that then they should grievously offend and displease God.
Wilkin s, ''Concilia Magnse Britanniae et Hiber- niae," vol. iv, p. 6. Folio, London, 1737.
In 1552, under Edward VI, we find the follow- ing, under the title, " An act for the keeping holy days and fasting days." (Statutes of the 5th and 6th of Edward VI, chap, iii) :
Forasmuch as at all times men be not so mindful to laud and praise God, so ready to resort and hear God's holy word, and to come to the holy communion and other laudable rites, which are to be observed in every Christian congregation, as their bounden duty doth re- quire ; therefore, to call men to remembrance of their duty, and to help their infirmity, it hath been whole-
94 Sunday Legislation.
somely provided, that there should be some certain times and days appointed wherein the Christians should cease from all other kind of labors, and should apply them- selves only and wholly unto the aforesaid holy works, properly pertaining unto true religion, that is to hear, to learn, and to remember Almighty God's great benefits, his manifold mercies, his inestimable gracious goodness, so plenteously poured upon all his creatures, and that of his infinite and unspeakable goodness, without any man's desert ; and in remembrance hereof, to render unto him most high and hearty thanks with prayers and supplica- tions for the relief of all our daily necessities ; and be- cause these be chief and principal works wherein man is commanded to worship God, and to properly pertain unto the first table : therefore, as these works are most commonly, and also may well be called God's service, so the times appointed specially for the same are called holy days ; not for the matter and nature either of the time or day, nor for any of the saints' sake, whose mem- ories are had on these days (for so all days and times considered are God's creatures, all of like holiness), but for the nature and condition of those godly and holy works, wherewith only God is to be honored, and the con- gregation to be edified, whereunto such times and days are sanctified and hallowed ; this is to say, separated from all profane use, and dedicated and appointed, not unto any saint or creature, but only unto God and his true worship ; neither is it to be thought that there is any certain time or definite number of days prescribed in Holy Scripture, but that the appointment both of the time and also of the number of the days is left, by the authority of God's Word, to the liberty of Christ's Church, to be determined and assigned orderly in every
Sunday Laws in England, 95
country, by the discretion of the rulers and ministers thereof, as they shall judge most expedient to the true setting forth of God's glory, and the edification of their people ; be it therefore enacted by the king, our sover- eign lord, with the assent of the lords spiritual and tem- poral, and the commons in this present Parliament as- sembled, and by the authority of the same, that all the days hereafter mentioned, shall be kept and commanded to be kept holy days, and none other ; that is to say, all Sundays in the year, the days of the feast of the Cir- cumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Epiphany, of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, of Saint Matthie the Apostle, of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, of St. Mark the Evangelist, of St. Philip and Jacob the Apostles, of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, of St. Peter the Apostle, of St. Jarnes the Apostle, of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, of St. Matthew the Apostle, of St. Michael the Archangel, of St. Luke the Evangelist, of St. Simon and Jude the Apostles, of All Saints ; of St. Andrew the Apostle, of St. Thomas the Apostle, of the Nativity of our Lord, of St. Stephen the Martyr, of St. John the Evangelist, of the Holy Innocents, Monday and Tues- day in Easter week, and Monday and Tuesday in Whit- sun week ; and that none other day shall be kept and commanded to be kept holy day, or to abstain from lawful bodily labor.
II. And it is also enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every even, or day next going before, any of the aforesaid days of the feasts of the Nativity of our Lord, of Easter, of the Ascension of our Lord, Pentecost, and the Purification and Annunciation of the aforesaid Blessed Virgin, of All Saints, and of all the said feasts
g6 Sunday Legislation,
of the apostles (other than of St. John the Evangeh'st, and Philip and Jacob), shall be fasted, and commanded to be kept and observed, and that none other even or day shall be commanded to be fasted.
III. And it is enacted by the authority aforesaid that it shall be lawful to all archbishops and bishops in their dioceses, and to all other having ecclesiastical or spiritual jurisdiction, to inquire of every person that shall offend in the premises, and to punish every such oifender by the censures of the Church, and to enjoin him or them such penance as shall be to the spiritual judge by his direction thought meet and convenient.
IV. Provided, always, that this act, or anything therein contained, shall not extend to, abrogate, or take away the abstinence from flesh in Lent, or on Fridays and Saturdays, or any other day which is already ap- pointed so to be kept, by virtue of an act made and pro- vided in the third year of the reign of our sovereign lord the king's majesty that now is, saving only of those evens or days whereof the holy day next following is abrogated by this statute ; anything above mentioned to the con- trary in any wise notwithstanding.
V. Provided also, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that when and so often as it shall chance any of the said feasts (the evens whereof be by this statute commanded to be observed and kept fasting-day) to fall upon the Monday^ that then as it hath always heretofore been accustomably used, so hereafter, the Saturday then next going before any such feast or holy day, and not the Sunday^ shall be commanded to be fasted for the even of any such feast or holy day ; anything in this statute before mentioned or declared to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
Sunday Laws in England, 97
VI. Provided always, and it is enacted by the au- thority aforesaid, that it shall be lawful to every hus- bandman, laborer, fisherman, and to all and every other person or persons, of what estate, degree, or condition he or they may be, upon the holy days aforesaid ; in har- vest or at any other time of the year when necessity shall require, to labor, ride, fish, or work, any kind of work, at their free wills and pleasure ; anything in this act to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
VII. Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall be lawful to the knights of the right honorable order of the Garter, and to every of them, to keep and celebrate solemnly the feast of their order, commonly called St, George's feast, yearly from henceforth, the 2 2d, 23d, and 24th days of April, and at such other time and times as yearly shall be thought convenient by the king's highness, his heirs and successors, and the said knights of the said honorable order, or any of them, now being, or hereafter to be; anything in this act heretofore mentioned to the contrary notwithstanding.
"Revised Statutes," from 1235-1685 a. d., pp. 555-557, London, 1870. Also, "British Stat- utes at Large," vol. ii, p. 425, London, 1786.
The above law was repealed the next year un- der Queen Mary.
The influence of the Reformation gradually af- fected legislation concerning Sunday and its as- sociate holidays. Conservatism held sway during the time of Elizabeth. Neale speaks of her reign as follows :
98 Sunday Legislation,
A middle course seems to have been, in all ecclesias- tical matters, peculiarly characteristic of the reign of Elizabeth. If circumstances, or conviction, or both, carried her away from the ancient belief, she was not less disinclined to all that approached the views of the Calvinistic reformers ; that seed which in due time ripened among us into Puritanism. The act of Edward, by which the number of festivals whereof the observance was enjoined, was so materially curtailed, remained re- pealed throughout her reign as Mary had left it; and an act passed soon after her accession places the observance of Sundays and other holidays on the same footing. Nor does she appear to have been inclined to enforce upon those days any strict abstinence from labor or secular business. Her injunctions, published in the first year of her reign, repeat the already cited direction of the first of Edward VI, and confine their prohibition against the selling of meat or drink, to the same time as the Cramner's Visitation Articles.
Neale, " Feasts and Fasts," p. 187.
An incident recorded by Wilkins shows that Elizabeth lacked much of adopting the Puritan theory concerning Sunday. One of her subjects, John Seconton Powlter, having " fallen into de- cay," sought to raise money for the support of his family, by Sunday sports, which from their nature drew large crowds of people. Queen Elizabeth granted him permission as follows :
To have and use some plays and games at or uppon nync severall Sondaies, for his better relief, comfort, and sustentacion.
Sunday Laws in England, 99
These games were archery of different sorts, leaping, wrestling, throwing the sledge, pitching the bar, and other similar sports, which were popular, especially with the ruder people. These games were not to be held in one localit}^ for more than " three severall Sondaies," at a time. This was in 1569. (See Wilkins, "Concilia Magnse Britanniae et Hiberniae," vol. iv, p. 255.)
Previous to this Elizabeth had put forth a list of injunctions, which had an air of regard for Sunday, but which really placed Sunday on the same plane with other Church holida3's. The re- sult was, that although the spirit of Puritanism was working rapidly in certain quarters, the prac- tical observance of Sunday was at a low ebb. The following are her injunctions touching Sunday:
Injunction 20. Item, all the queen's faithful and loving subjects shall, from henceforth celebrate and keep their holyday according to God's will and pleasure ; that is, in hearing the Word of God read and taught, in pri- vate and public prayers, in acknowledging their offenses unto God, and amendment of the same, in reconciling themselves charitably to their neighbors where displeas- ure hath been, in oftentimes receiving the communion of the very body and blood of Christ, in visiting of the poor and sick, using all soberness and godly conversation. Yet notwithstanding, all parsons, vicars, and curates shall teach and declare unto their parishioners, that they may with a safe and quiet conscience, after their common prayer in the time of harvest, labor upon the holy and festival days, and save that thing which God hath sent ;
loo Sunday Legislation,
and if for any scrupulosity or grudge of conscience, men should superstitiously abstain from working upon those days, then they should grievously offend and displease God. . . .
Injunction 2,Z' Item, that no person shall, neglecting their own parish church, resort to any other church in time of common prayer or preaching, except it be by the occasion of some extraordinary sermon in some parish of the same town. . . .
Injunction 46. Item, that in every parish three or four discrete men, which tender God's glory, and his true religion, shall be appointed by the ordinaries dili- gently to see, that all the parishioners duly resort to their church upon all Sundays and holy days, and there to continue the whole time of the godly service ; and all such as shall be found slack and negligent in resorting to the church, having no great or urgent cause of absence, they shall straightly call upon them, and after due ad- monition if they amend not, they shall denounce them to the ordinary.
Wilkins, " Concilia Magnse Britannias," etc., vol. iv, pp. 184, 186.
The growth of Puritanism, and its effect on the general thought appears in the legislation under Charles I. A law enacted in 1625 runs as follows:
Forasmuch as there is nothing more acceptable to God than the true and sincere service and worship of him according to his holy will, and that the holy keeping of the Lord's day is a principal part of the true service of God, which in very many places of this realm hath been, and now is, profaned and neglected by a disorderly
Sunday Laws in England, loi
sort of people, in exercising and frequenting bear-bait- ing, bull-baiting, interludes, common plays, and other unlawful exercises and pastimes upon the Lord's day; and for that many quarrels, bloodsheds, and other great inconveniences have grown by the resort and concourse of people going out of their own parishes to such disor- derly and unlawful exercises and pastimes, neglecting divine service, both in their own parishes and elsewhere ; be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, the lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after forty days next after the end of this Parliament, there shall be no meetings, assemblies, or concourse of people out of their own parishes^ on the Lord's day, within this realm of Eng- land or any the dominions thereof, for any sports and pastimes, whatsoever ; nor any bear-baitings bull- baiting, interludes, common plays, or other unlawful plays and pastimes, used by any person or persons in their own parishes ; and that any person or persons offending in the premises, shall forfeit for every of- fense three shillings four pence, the same to be employed and converted to the use of the poor of the parish where the offense shall be committed; and that any one justice of the peace of the county, or the chief officer or officers of any city, borough, or town corporate, where such of- fense shall be committed, upon his or their view, or con- fession of the party, or proof of any one or more witness by oath, which the said justice or chief officer or officers shall by virtue of this act have authority to minister, shall find any person offending in the premises, the said justice or chief officer or officers shall give warrant under his or their hand and seal, to the constables or church-
I02 Sunday Legislation,
wardens of the parish or parishes where such offense shall be committed, to levy the said penalty so to be assessed, by way of distress and sale of the goods of every such offender, rendering to the said offender the overplus of the money raised of the said goods so to be sold ; and in default of such distress, that the party thus offending be set publicly in the stocks by the space of three hours ; and that if any man be sued or impeached for execution of this law, he shall and may plead the general issue, and give the said matter of justification in evidence ; pro- vided that no man be impeached by this act except he be called in question v/ithin one month next after the said offense committed; provided also, that the ecclesi- astical jurisdiction within this realm, or any dominion thereof, by virtue of this act or anything therein con- tained shall not be abridged, but that the ecclesiastical court may punish the said offenses as if this act had not been made. This act to continue until the end of the first session of the next Parliament, and no longer. Statutes of Charles I, chap. i. " Revised Stat- utes," from 1 235-1685 A. D., p. 710, London, 1870. Also, "British Statutes at Large," vol. iii, p. 119, London, 1786.
Meanwhile, the Puritan element was rapidly gaining- influence, and attempts were made to bring about an observance of Sunday, which was deemed hyper-strict by the majority of the Eng- lish people. To counteract this tendency, and to cater to the tastes of the people at large, Charles I republished the famous " Book of Sports," which was first published by his father, James I, in 161 8. Its appearance at that time had contributed much
Sunday Laws in England. 103
to the influences which drove the Pilgrims to Hol- land, and finally to America. The command of James that it be read in the churches, on specified occasions, was not long complied with and it had fallen out of the public mind somewhat, when Charles I called it up in 1633. The following is the complete official text :
The King's Majesty's Declaration to his Subjects Concerning Lawful Sports to be used. By the King.
Our dear father of blessed memory in his return from Scotland, coming through Lancashire, found that his subjects were debarred from lawful recreations upon Sundays after evening prayers ended, and upon holy days ; and he prudently considered that if these times were taken from them, the meaner sort, who labour hard all the week, should have no recreations at all to re- fresh their spirits. And after his return he further saw that his loyal subjects in all other parts of the kingdom did suffer in the same kind, though, perhaps, not in the same degree, and did, therefore, in his princely wisdom publish a declaration to his loving subjects concerning lawful sports to be used at such times, which \vas printed and published by his royal commandment in the year 16 18, in the tenor which hereafter followeth. By the King.
Whereas, upon our return the last year out of Scot- land, we did publish our pleasure touching the recrea- tions of our people in those parts under our hand ; for some causes us thereunto moving, we have thought good to command these, our directions then given in Lan-
I04 Sunday Legislation. •
cashire, with a few words thereunto added, and most applicable to those parts of the realms, to be published to all our subjects.
Whereas, we did justly in our progress through Lancashire, rebuke some Puritans and precise people, and took order that the like unlawful carriage should not be used by any of them hereafter in the prohibiting and unlawful punishing of our good people for using their lawful recreations and honest exercises upon Sun- days and other holy days after the afternoon sermon or service ; we now find that two sorts of people, wherewith the country is much infected (we mean Papists and Puri- tans), have maliciously traduced and calumniated our just and honorable proceedings, and, therefore, lest our reputation might upon the one side, though innocently, have some aspersion laid upon it, and that upon the other part, our good people in that country be misled by the mistaking and misrepresentation of our meaning — we have therefore thought good hereby to clear and make our pleasure to be manifested to all our good people in those parts.
It is true that at our first entry to this crown and kingdom we were informed, and that too truly, that our county in Lancashire abounded more in popish recu- sants than any county of England ; and hath still con- tinued, to our great regret, with little amendment save that now of late, in our last riding through our said county, we find, both by the report of the judges and of the bishop of the diocese, that there is some amend- ment now daily beginning, which is no small content- ment to us.
The report of this growing amendment among them made us the more sorry, when, with our own ears, we had
Sunday Laws in Eiigland, 105
heard the general complaint of our people, that they were barred from all lawful recreation and exercise upon the Sunday afternoon after the ending of all divine service, which can not but produce two evils ; the one hindering of the conversion of many, whom their priests will take occasion hereby to vex, persuading them that no honest mirth or recreation is lawful on those days, which can not but breed a great discontent in our people's hearts, especially of such as are peradventure upon the point of turning ; the other inconvenience is, that this prohibi- tion (bareth) the common and meaner sort of people from using such exercises as may make their bodies more able for war, v/henever we or our successors shall have occasion to use them ; and in place thereof, set up filthy tipplings and drunkenness, and breeds a number of idle and discontented speeches in their alehouses. For when shall the common people have leave to exercises if not upon Sundays and holy days, seeing they must live by their labor, and win their living in all v/orking days. Our express pleasure, therefore, is that the laws of our kingdom and canons of our Church be as well ob- served in that county as in all other places of this our kingdom. And on the other part, that no lawful recre- ations shall be barred to our good people, which shall not tend to the breach of our aforesaid laws, and canons of our Church, which, to express more particularly our pleasure, is that the bishops and all other inferior clergy- men and church-wardens shall for their parts be careful and diligent both to instruct the ignorant, and convince and reform them that are misled in religion, presenting them that will not conform themselves, but obstinately stand out, to our judges and justices; whom we likewise command to put the laws in due execution against them.
io6 Sunday Legislation,
Our pleasure, likewise, is that the bishop of the diocese take the like strait order with all the Puritans and pre- cisians within the same, either constraining them to con- form themselves, or leave the county, according to the laws of our kingdom, and canon of our Church, and so to strike equally on both hands against the contemners of our authority and adversaries of our Church. And as for our good people's lawful recreation, our pleasure likewise is, that after the end of divine service our good people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless recreation, or from having May games, Whitson- ales, and morris dances, and the setting up of May poles and other sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient time without impediment or neg- lect of divine service ; and that women shall have leave to carry rushes to church for the decorating of it, ac- cording to their old custom. But withal we do here ac- count still as prohibited all unlawful games to be used on Sundays, only as bear and bull baitings, interludes, and at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited bowling.
And likewise we bar from the benefit and liberty all such known recusants, either men or women, as will ab- stain from coming to church or divine service, being therefore unworthy of any lawful recreation after said service, that will not first come to church and serve God. Prohibiting in like sort the said recreations to any that, though conform in religion, are not present in the church at the service of God, before their going to the said rec- reations.
Our pleasure, likewise is, that they to whom it be-
Su7tday Laws in Englajid. 107
longeth in office, shall present and punish sharply all such, as in abuse of this our liberty will use their ex- ercises before the end of all divine services for that day. And we likewise straitly command that every person shall resort to his own parish church to hear divine service, and each parish by itself to use the said recrea- tions after divine service. Prohibiting likewise any offensive weapons to be carried or used in the said times of recreations. And our pleasure is that this our declaration shall be published by order from the bishop of the diocese through all the parish churches, and that both our judges of our circuits and our justices of our peace be informed thereof. Given at our mannor of Greenwich, the 24th day of May, in the sixteenth year of our reign in England, France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the 51st.
Now, out of a like pious care for the service of God, and for suppressing of any humors that oppose truth, and for the ease, comfort, and recreation of our well-de- serving people, we do ratify and publish this our blessed father's declaration, the rather because of late in some counties of our kingdom we find, that under pretense of takirhg away abuses there hath been a general forbidding, not only of ordinary meetings, but of the feasts of the dedication of the churches, commonly called ** Wakes." Now, our express will and pleasure is, that the feasts with others shall be observed, and that our justices of the peace in their several divisions shall look to it, both that all disorders there may be prevented or pun- ished, and that all neighborhood and freedom with man- like and lawful exercises be used. And we further com- mand the justices of the assizes in their several circuits to see that no man do trouble or molest any of our loyal
io8 Sunday Legislation,
and dutiful people in or for their lawful recreations, having first done their duty to God, and continuing in obedience to us and our laws. And of this we command all our judges, justices of the peace, as well within liber- ties as without, mayors, bailiffs, constables, and other officers, to take notice of and see observed, as they tender our displeasure. And we further will that publi- cation of this our command be made by order from the bishops through all the parish churches of their several dioceses respectively.
Given at our palace of Westminster, the i8th day of October, in the ninth year of our reign. God save the King. (1633 A. D.)
"Concilia Magnse Britanniae et Hiberniae," vol. iv, pp. 483, 484, London, 1737.
The act of the 29th of Charles II, chap, vii, issued in 1676, was the law of the American colo- nies up to the time of the Revolution, and so be- came the basis of the American Sunday laws. It runs as follows :
For the better observation and keeping holy the Lord's day, commonly called Sunday : be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, and by and with the advice and consent of the lords, spiritual and temporal, and of the commons in this present Parliament assem- bled, and by the authority of the same, that all the laws enacted and in force concerning the observation of the day, and repairing to the church thereon, be carefully put in execution ; and that all and every person and persons whatsoever shall upon every Lord's day apply themselves to the observation of the same, by exercising themselves
Sunday Laws in England, 109
thereon in the duties of piety and true religion, publicly and privately ; and that no tradesman, artificer, work- man, laborer, or other person whatsoever, shall do or exercise any worldly labor or business or work of their ordinary callings upon the Lord's day, or any part there- of (works of necessity and charity only excepted), and that every person being of the age of fourteen years or upwards offending in the premises shall, for every such offense, forfeit the sum of five shillings ; and that no person or persons whatsoever shall publicly cry, show forth, or expose for sale any wares, merchandise, fruit, herbs, goods, or chattels whatsoever, upon the Lord's day, or any part thereof, upon pain that every person so offending shall forfeit the same goods so cried or showed forth or exposed for sale.
2. And it is further enacted that no drover, horse- courser, wagoner, butcher, higgler — they or any of their servants shall travel or come into his or their inn or lodging upon the Lord's day, or any part thereof, upon pain that each and every such offender shall forfeit twenty shillings for every such offense ; and that no per- son or persons shall use, imploy, or travel upon the Lord's day with any boat, wherry, lighter, or barge, ex- cept it be upon extraordinary occasion to be allowed by some justice of the peace of the county, or some head officer, or some justice of the peace of the city, borough, or town corporate, where the fact shall be committed, upon pain that ever person so offending shall forfeit and lose the sum of five shillings for every such offense.
The remainder of section 2 places such cases in the hands of ordinary justices of the peace, orders the confiscation of goods cried or exposed,
no Sunday Legislation,
and the collection of fines by distraint if needful. In case the offender can not meet the penalties, he shall " be set public in the stocks for the space of two hours."
3. Provided, that nothing in this act contained shall extend to the prohibiting of dressing meats in families, or dressing or selling of meat in inns, cook-shops, vict- ualing houses, for such as otherwise can not be provided, nor to the crying or selling of milk before nine of the clock in the morning, or after four of the clock in the afternoon.
Sec. 4 requires all prosecution to be made within ten days of the offense.
Sec. 5 protects the district in which any one traveling on Sunday may chance to be robbed from being responsible for the amount lost, but requires the people to make diligent effort to ap- prehend the robber after *' hue and cry " has been made, under penalty of forfeiting to the crown the amount which might have been recovered.
Sec. 6. Provided, also, that no person or persons upon the Lord's day shall serve or execute, or cause to be served or executed, any writ, process, warrant, order judgment, or decree (except in case of treason, felony, or breach of the peace), but that the service of every such writ, process, warrant, order, judgment, or decree, shall be void to all intents and purposes whatever ; and the person or persons so serving or executing the same shall be as liable to the suit of the party grieved, and to answer damages to him for the doing thereof, as if he or they
Sunday Laws in England, iii
had done the same without any writ, process, warrant,
order, judgment, or decree at all.
" Revised Statutes of England from 1 235-1685 A. D.," pp. 779, 780, London, 1870. Also, ** British Statutes at Large," vol. iii, p. 365, London, 1786.
A statute of the 7th of William III, chap, xvii, for Ireland, 1695, forbade general work, and specified many boisterous games, which seem to have been very prevalent. Traveling was also forbidden.
As a whole, the law was Puritanic, and yet contained such " exceptions " as made it easy to do what one might wish.
It is essentially the same as the law of Charles II, of 1676, given above. It restricted the sale of liquor at taverns and gave some additional power to officers. ("Irish Statutes," vol. iii, p. 314; see also p. 286, Dublin, 1765.)
A statute of the 9th of Anne, chap, xxiii, 17 10 A. D., virtually repealed all former acts concerning coaches. It was as follows :
And whereas, by an act of Parliament made in the 29th year of the reign of King Charles II, and other acts formerly made for the better observation of the Lord's day, commonly called Sunday, the standing to hire and driving hackney-coaches, and the standing to hire and carrying of chairs, on the Lord's day, are, or may be understood to be, forbidden or restrained ; and whereas the said restraint is many times found inconvenient, as well in order to the observation of the day as otherwise :
1 1 2 Sunday Legislation,
Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it shall and may be lawful to and for any licensed hackney- coachman, or his driver, or any chairman, to ply and stand with their coaches and chairs, and to drive and carry the same, respectively, on the Lord's day, within the limits of the said weekly bills of mortality ; the for- mer acts, one or any of them, or any construction there- upon, to the contrary notwithstanding.
" Statutes," etc., vol. iv, p. 476.
A statute of George III, 1781 A. D., entitled, " An act for preventing certain abuses and pro- fanations on the Lord's day, called Sunday " (chap, xlix), was aimed at public meetings held in London on Sunday evening, at which, " under pretense of inquiring into religious doctrines, and explaining texts of the Holy Scripture, debates have fre- quently been held on the evening of the Lord's day concerning divers texts of Holy Scripture by persons unlearned and incompetent to explain the same, to the corruption of good morals, and to the great encouragement of irreligion and pro- laneness," etc.
This act forbids any such meeting to which people were admitted for mone}-, or by tickets sold for money. Presiding officers, ticket-vend- ers, etc., were liable to arrest and a fine of fifty pounds. Also the persons advertising such meet- ings were liable to same fine. (*' Statutes," etc., vol. ix, p. 163.)
A statute of George III, a. d. 1794, concerning bakers, aimed to meet the custom of continuing
Sunday Laws in England, 113
business by bakers, under plea of necessity and charity.
It forbids bakers to pursue business in London, or within twelve miles thereof, under penalty of ten shillings. The second clause gives the follow- ing liberal exception :
Provided, always, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to prohibit the selling of bread, or to prohibit or make liable to the penalties of this act, any master or journeyman baker, or other per- son, baking meat, puddings, or pies, only, on the Lord's day between the hours of nine of the clock in the fore- noon and one of the clock in the afternoon, so as the person requiring the baking thereof shall carry or send the same to and from the place where such meat, pud- ding, or pies is baked.
"Statutes," etc., vol. xii, p. 547.
In 1 82 1, under George IV, the foregoing law concerning bakers was amended by certain addi- tions, but not materially altered. A little later all acts relative to bakers in and about London were repealed, and a general law was enacted forbid- ding baking between 9 A. M. and i P. M. on Sunday. This, however, granted exceptions in favor of ne- cessary work in sponging and preparing bread for the next day's baking. The first offense under this law was made punishable by a fine of ten shil- lings, the second by twenty shillings, and the third and all succeeding offenses by forty shillings. In all cases the costs were to be paid by the offender.
114 Sunday Legislation.
Under this general law, the delivery of bread is permitted until half past i P. M. ('' Statutes of the United Kingdom," vol. viii, p. 364, London, 1822.) We have thus traced the English laws to a point considerably later than the date of those laws which gave rise to the laws of America. Several enactments relative to the sale of intoxi- cating drinks have been made from time to time in the British Empire, which do not properly come within the scope of these pages. Neither is it our province to enter into a discussion of the merits of these different enactments ; it is rather our aim to present them in such a way that the reader may gain all necessary and definite in- formation concerning what has been and is the prevailing legislation concerning Sunday in Eng- land.
CHAPTER VI.
SUNDAY LAWS IN ENGLAND DURING THE PURITAN SUPREMACY.
Tpie legislation which was peculiarly Puri- tanic, in England, dates, in general, from 1640 to 1660 A. D. It is of special significance to Ameri- can readers, since it indicates high-water mark in the tide of influences which developed the char- acter, and gave form to the earlier Sunday legis- lation in the colonies and the United States. It will be seen that these laws are at once theologi- cal treatises and civil enactments. They appear here in chronological order, and will repay careful study, in spite of their length and verbosity :
Forasmuch as the Lord's-day, notwithstanding sev- eral good laws heretofore made, hath been not onely greatly prophaned, but divers ungodly Books have been published by the Prelatical Faction, against the morality of that day, and to countenance the prophanation of the same, to the manifest indangering of souls, prejudice of the true Religion, great dishonour of Almighty God, and provocation of his just wrath and indignation against this Land I
The Lords and Commons for remedy thereof, do
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Order and Ordain, and be it Ordered and Ordained, That all the Laws Enacted and in force, concerning the observation of the Lord's day, be caefully put in execu- tion ; and that all and singular person and persons what- soever, shall on every Lord's day, apply themselves to the sanctification of the same, by exercising themselves thereon, in the duties of Piety and true Religion, pub- lickly and privately : And that no person or persons whatsoever, shall publickly cry, shew forth, or expose to sale, any Wares, Merchandizes, Fruit, Herbs, Goods or Chattels whatsoever, upon the Lord's day, or any part thereof; upon pain, That every person so offending, shall forfeit the same Goods so cryed, shewed forth, or put to sale : And that no person or persons whatsoever, shall, without reasonable cause for the same, travel, carry burthens, or do any worldly labours, or work whatsoever, upon that day, or any part thereof; upon pain, That every one travelling contrary to the meaning of this Or- dinance shall forfeit for every offence, ten shillings of lawful money ; and that every person carrying any bur- then, or doing any worldly labour or work, contrary to the meaning hereof, shall forfeit five shillings of like money for every such offence.
And be it further Ordained, That no person or per- sons shall hereafter upon the Lord's day, use, exercise, keep, maintain, or be present at any Wrastlings, Shoot- ing, Bowling, Ringing of Bells for Pleasure or Pastime, Masque, Wake, otherwise called Feasts, Church-Ale, Dancing, Games, Sport or Pastime whatsoever ; upon pain. That every person so offending, being above the age of fourteen years, shall lose, and forfeit five shillings for every such offense.
And be it further Ordained, That all and singular
During the Puritan Supremacy, 117
person and persons, that have the care, government, tu- ition or education of any childe or children, under, or within the age of fourteen years, shall forfeit and lose twelve pence for every of the said offenses that shall be committed by any such childe or children.
And because the prophanation of the Lord's day hath been heretofore greatly occasioned by May-Poles, (a Heathenish vanity, generally abused to superstition and wickedness.) The Lords and Commons do further Or- der and Ordain, That all and singular May-poles, that are or shall be erected, shall be taken down and re- moved by the Constables, Borsholders, Tythingmen, petty Constables, and Church wardens of the parishes, and places where the same be: And that no May- Pole shall be hereafter set up, erected, or suffered to be within this Kingdom of England, or Dominion of Wales.
And it is further Ordained, That if any of the said Officers shall neglect to do their Office in the Premises, within one week after notice of this Ordinance, every of them, for such neglect, shall forfeit five shillings of law- full Moneys ; and so from week to week, weekly Five shillings more afterward, till the said May-Pole shall be taken down, and removed.
And that if any Justice of the Peace of the County, or the chief Officer or Officers, or any Justice of the Peace, of, or within any City, Borough or Town-Cor- porate, where the said offenses shall be committed, upon his or their view, or confession of the party, or proof of any one or more witnesses by Oath (which the said Justice, chief Officer or Officers, is by this Ordinance auhorized to minister) shall find any person offend- ing in the Premises, the said Justice, or chief Officer
1 1 8 Sunday Legislation.
or Officers, shall give Warrant under his or their hand and Seal, to the Constables or Churchwardens of the Parish or Parishes where such offense shall be com- mitted, to seize the said Goods, cryed, shewed forth, or put to sale as aforesaid; and to levy the said other Forfeitures or Penalties by way of Distress and Sale of the Goods of every such Offender, rendring to the said Offenders the overplus of the money raised thereby ; and in default of such Distress, or in case of insufficiency, or inability of the Offender to pay the said Forfeitures or Penalties, That the party offending be set publiquely in the Stocks by the space of three hours : And all and singular the forfeitures or Penalties afore- said, shall be imployed and converted to the use of the Poor of the Parish where the said offenses shall be com- mitted, saving onely, that it shall and may be lawfull, to, and for such Justice, mayor, or Head Officer or Officers, out of the said Forfeitures or Penalties, to reward any person or persons that shall inform of any offense against this Ordinance, according to their discretions; so as such reward exceed not the third part of the Forfeiture or Penalties.
And it is further Ordained by the said Lords and Commons, That the King's Declaration concerning ob- serving of Wakes, and use of exercise and recreation upon the Lord's-day; the Book intitled, The Kings Majesty's Declaration to his Subjects, concerning lawful Sports to be used ; and all other Books and Pamphlets that have been, or shall be written, Printed, or Pub- lished, against the Morality of the fourth Commandment, or of the Lord's day, or to countenance the prophanation thereof, be called in, seized, suppressed, and publiquely burnt by the Justices of Peace, or some or one of them, or
During the Puritan Supremacy, 1 1 9
by the chief Officer or Officers aforesaid, in their several limits, or by their warrant or command.
Provided, and be it Declared, That nothing in this Ordinance shall extend to the prohibiting of dressing meat in private Families, or the dressing and sale of Victuals in a moderate way in Inns or Victualling- houses, for the use of such as cannot otherwise be provided for; or to the crying or selling Milk before Nine of the Clock in the Morning, or after four of the Clock in the Afternoon, from the Tenth of September till the Tenth of March ; or before Eight of the Clock in the Morning, or after Five of the Clock in the After- noon, from the Tenth of March till the Tenth of Sep- tember.
And whereas there is great breach of the Sabbath, by Rogues, Vagabonds, and Beggars, It is further Or- dained, That the Lord Mayor of the City of London, and all Justices of the Peace, Constables, Churchward- ens, and other Officers and Ministers whatsoever, shall from time to time, cause all Laws against Rogues, and Vagabonds, and Beggars, to be put in due execution ; and take order, that all Rogues, Vagabonds, and Beg- gars do on every Sabbath day repair to some Church or Chapel, and remain there soberly and orderly, during the time of Divine Worship.
And that all and singular Person and Persons that shall do anything in the execution of this Ordinance, shall be protected and saved harmless by the Power and Authority of Parliament.
And be it further Ordained, That this Ordinance be Printed and Published, and read in all Parish Churches and Chappels, before the Sermon in the Morning, on some Lord's-day, before the First of May next, on the
I20 Sunday Legislation,
South side of Trent ; and before the First of June next on the North side of Trent. Dated 6 April, 1644.
Scobell's " Acts of Cromwell," pp. dZ^ 69, part i, London, 1658.
In spite of all efforts by Church and state there was still much disregard for the Sunday, and six years later we find the following more stringent enactments put forth :
For the more effectual executing of all such Laws, Statutes and Ordinances of Parliament, for the due Ob- servation and Sanctification of the Lord's-day, days of publique Humiliation and Thanksgiving and for the further preventing the prophanation thereof, It is En- acted and Declared by this present Parliament, and by the Authority of the same. That all and every High Con- stable, Petty Constable, Headborough, Churchwarden or Overseer of the Poor or other Officers, or any of the Governors of the Company of Watermen, upon their own view or knowledge of any the offense or offenses committed or done against any Article, Clause, or pro- vision of any the said Laws, Statutes, or Ordinances; and all and every person and persons whatsoever, by Warrant from any Justice of Peace, Mayor, BayHff or other Head-Officer, are hereby authorized and required to seize and secure all such Wares or Goods cryed, shewed forth or put to sale upon the days and times aforesaid, contrary to this present Act, or any Statute or Ordinance of Parliament, to the end proceedings may be thereupon had, according to the true intent and meaning of this present Act, or any the said Laws, Statutes and Ordinances.
During the Puritan Stipremacy. 121
And it is further Enacted, That no Traveller, Wag- goner, Butcher, Higler, Drover, their or any of their Servants, shall travel or come into his or their Inn or Lodging, after Twelve of the Clock on any Saturday night ; nor shall any person travel from his House, Inn or other place, till after one a clock on Munday morn- ing, without good and urgent cause, not incurred through the neglect or occasion of the person so doing, to be allowed by any Justice of the Peace or Head Offi- cer before whom complaint shall be made, upon pain that every such Traveller, Waggoner, Butcher, Higler. Drover and their Servants, and also every Inn keeper and Alehouse keeper that shall so entertain him or them, shall each of them forfeit Ten shillings for every such offense.
And if any Writ, Warrant or Order (except in case of Treason, Murther, Felony, or breach of the Peace, prophanation of the Lord's-Day, days of Thanksgiving or Humiliation, or suspition of them or either or any of them) shall be from and after the First day of May, in the year One thousand six hundred and fifty, served or executed upon any the aforesaid days, every such execution of such Writ, Warrant or Order upon the said days respectively, shall be, and is hereby declared to be of no effect ; and the person or persons that shall serve or execute such Writ, Warrant or Order, or cause the same to be served or executed, shall forfeit and pay to the use of the poor of the parish where such offense shall be committed five pounds, to be levied upon his or their goods and Chattels in maner aforesaid, rendering the overplus.
And it is further Enacted and Declared by the Au- thority aforesaid. That no person or persons shall use,
122 Sunday Legislation,
imploy or travel upon the Lord's-day, or the said days of Humiliation or Thanksgiving, with any Boat, Wher- ry, Lighter, Barge, Horse, Coach or Sedan, either in the City of London or elsewhere (except it be to or from some place for the service of God, or upon other extraor- dinary occasion, to be allowed by the next Justice of Peace to the place where the said fact shall be com- mitted ; ) upon pain that every such person or persons that shall use such Boat, Wherry, Lighter, Barge, Horse, Coach or Sedan, contrary to the true meaning of this present Act (except it be in the Cases aforesaid) shall for every such Offense forfeit and lose the sum of Ten shillings ; and that every Boat-man, Sedan-man, Coach- man or other person, that shall so labor or travel in or with any such Boat, Wherry, Lighter, Barge, Sedan, Horse or Coach, shall forfeit for every such offense Five shillings.
And it is further enacted and declared. That every person and persons which upon the said Lord's day, days of Humiliation or Thanksgiving, shall be in any Tavern, Inn, Alehouse, Tobacco-house or Shop or Victualling House (unless he lodge there, or be there up- on some lawful or necessary occasion) to be allowed of by such Judge, Justice, or other person who is author- ized by this Act to put the same in execution ; and every person or persons which upon the said days shall be dancing, prophanely singing, drinking or tipling in any Tavern, Inn, Alehouse, Victualling-house, or Tobac- co-house or Shop, or shall harbor or entertain any per- son or persons so offending ; or which shall grinde or cause to be ground in any Mill, any Corn or grain upon any the said days, except in case of necessity, to be al- lowed by a Justice of the Peace, every such Offender
During the Puritan Supremacy, 123
shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten shillings for every such offense, to be levied as aforesaid.
And for the more vigorous and due execution of the Laws, Statutes and Ordinances aforesaid, and of this present Act, it is hereby further Enacted, That every Justice of the Peace, Head Officer, or Officers of every Town Corporate or place, and every Constable, Head- borough, Churchwarden, Overseer of the Poor, and Governors of the Company of Watermen, and other persons authorized as aforesaid, are hereby required and enjoined to make diligent search for the discovering, finding out, apprehending and punishing of all Offend- ers against this and other Laws, Ordinances and Acts made for the Observation of the Lord's-day, and Days of Publique Fasting and Thanksgiving; And if any the said Justices of Peace, and other Officers aforesaid, upon View or Information of any the said Offenses to be com- mitted, shall be negligent, or refuse to do his duty in putting this or other the said Ordinances, Laws or Acts in execution, ever such Justice of the Peace, and other Head-Officer, upon proof thereof before the Lord Chief Justice of either Bench, or Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, or before any Judge or Judges of Assize, by one or more Witnesses, or by view or confession of the party, shall for every such Offense incur the Penalty of Five pounds, and upon refusal of payment thereof, to be levyed upon his Goods or Chattels, by Warrant from the said Lord Chief Justices, or Lord Chief Baron, Judge or Judges of Assize respectively, by distress and sale of the Goods of every such person, returning the overplus ; and every High Constable, Petty Constable, Churchward- en and other Officer, shall forfeit and pay for his neglect aforesaid, the sum of Twenty shillings; and for
124 Sunday Legislation,
default of payment thereof, the same to be levyed by Warrant from any Justice of the Peace, directed to the High Constable of the Hundred, or other Officer where the Offense shall be committed, for the levying of the said penalty by way of distress and sale of the Offenders Goods, and returning the overplus as aforesaid; And all other penalties imposed by this Act, for which no way of levying is provided by the said former Laws and Ordinances, shall be levyed by Warrant from any one Justice of Peace, Mayor, Bayliff, or Head Officer, by dis- tress and sale of the Offenders goods ; and for want of payment thereof, or such distress to be found, by setting the Offenders in the Stocks or Cage for the space of six hours.
And it is likewise Enacted and Declared, That all Judges, Justices of Assize, and Justices of Peace at their Assizes or Quarter Sessions, shall in their several and respective Circuits and Courts give in charge to the Grand Jury, to enquire of and present all neglects of Justices, Constables, and Other Officers in the due exe- cution of this present Act, and other Laws, Ordinances and Statutes made for the Observation of the Lord's day, and Days of Publique Fasting and Thanksgiving, who are hereby strictly commanded to present the same.
And it is also hereby Enacted, That the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, Sheriffs, and Justices of Peace of the City of London, County of Middlesex, and City of West- minster, and Borough of Southwark, together with the Heads and Governors of the several Inns of Court and Chancery; and all and every Justice of Peace, Mayors, Bayliffs, and other Head Officers, and every of them, are hereby authorized and required to take a speedy and
During the PttrUan Supremacy, 125
effectual course, by such means as they shall think most meet within their respective Jurisdictions, to restrain as aforesaid the prophanation of the said days ; upon pain that the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs and Justices in London, and Middlesex, and Westminster, Heads of the several Inns or Courts, and Chancery, Justices and other Head-Officers, which shall neglect to do what belongs to their several duties and places therein, shall forfeit the sum of Five pounds, to be levyed in such manner as the fines imposed on Justices of Peace for their neglects, are hereby appointed to be levyed as aforesaid.
And it is Enacted and Declared by the Authority aforesaid, That this Act be forthwith printed and bound up together with all the former Statutes and Ordinances now in force for observation of the Lord's day, Pub- lique Fasting, and Thanksgiving days, and published by the Justice of Peace, or Chief Officer or Officers afore- said, and read at their next Quarter Sessions after they shall receive the same ; and also by them sent unto or left at the several houses of the Ministers of the respect- ive Parishes within their respective limits, who are here- by required and appointed in all the Churches and Chappels within this Commonwealth, publiquely to read or cause to be read, all and every the said Statutes and Ordinances so bound up together, the next Lord's- day after he or they shall receive the same, before the morning Sermon ; and that afterward once every year (viz.) upon the first Lord's-day in March, before the morning Sermon, they read or cause to be read like- wise this present and the former Acts and Ordinances aforesaid ; the due performance whereof the said Justices of Peace and other Head Officers are commanded to inquire after, and certifie the names of the persons
126 Sunday Legislation.
making default in reading and publishing the premises, according to this present Act, to the Speaker of the Par- liament, and in the intervals thereof, to the Council of State ; and the Justices of Peace at their Quarter Ses- sions, shall duly cause this Act, together with the said Statutes and ordinances to be openly read.
And it is lastly Enacted, That in any Action brought against any Justice of Peace, Constable, or any other Officer or person acting or doing, or commanding to be acted or done any thing in pursuance of this or any former Law, Act or Ordinance now in force touching or concerning any the Offenses or matters aforesaid, the De- fendant in every such Action shall and may plead the Gen- eral Issue, and give the special matter in Evidence ; and upon the Non-Suit of the Plaintiff, or Verdict passing for the Defendant, the party Defendant shall have and recover his and their treble Costs, or at the election of such party, shall have his reparation by the Com^mittee of Parliament for indempnity. And it is hereby Or- dained, That all persons whatsoever shall be ayding and assisting to all Justices of Peace, Head-Ofhcers, Consta- bles, and other Officers and persons, in the execution of this or the said former Acts and Ordinances in and con- cerning the premises.
Passed 19 April, 1650.
Scobell's "Acts of Cromwell," part ii, pp. 119- 121.
The foregoing laws continued for a few years, but being inadequate to accomplish what was de- sired, the effort was renewed in the following laws, which are remarkable for their extent and minuteness as to details. The fall of the Com-
During the Puritmi Supremacy, 127
monwealth within three years from the passage of the following enactments broke the Crom- wellian supremacy, and put an end to legislation by the Commonwealth :
Forasmuch as God hath appointed one day in Seven to be kept holy unto himself, and that in order there- unto man should abstain from the works of his ordinary calling, and hath intrusted the Magistrate amongst others, to take care thereof within his gates ; and where- as it is found by daily experience, that the first day of the week (being the Lord's-day, and since the resurrec- tion of Christ to be acknowledged the Christian Sabbath) is frequently neglected and prophaned to the dishonor of Christ, and Profession of the Gospel; therefore for the better observation of the said Day, and preventing in some measure such Prophanation thereof for the future, be it enacted by his Highness the Lord Protector, and the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto be- longing, that whatsoever person or persons within this commonwealth shall be found guilty according to this act, of doing and committing the offenses hereafter mentioned upon the said Lord's-day, that is to say, betwixt twelve of the clock on Saturday night and twelve of the clock Lord's-day night, shall be adjudged, deemed and taken to be guilty of prophaning the Lord's-day ; that is to say every person being a waggoner, carrier, butcher, higler, drover, or any of their servants travelling or coming by land or water, into his or their inn, house, or lodging within the times aforesaid ; and every inn keeper victual- ler, or ale-house keeper, who shall lodge and entertain any such waggoner, carrier, butcher, higler, drover or
128 Sunday Legislation,
their servants, coming and travelling as aforesaid ; Every person using or employing any Boat, Wherry, Lighter, Barge, Horse, Coach of Sedan or travelling or laboring with any of them upon the day aforesaid (except it be to and from some place for the service of God, or ex- cept in case of necessity, to be allowed by some Justice of the Peace) ; Every person being in any Tavern, Inn, Alehouse, Victualling house, Strongwater house. To- bacco house, Cellar or Shop, (not lodging there, nor upon urgent necessity, to be allowed by a Justice of Peace) or fetching or sending for any wine, ale or beer, tobacco, strongwater, or other strong liquor unneces- sarily, and to tipple within any other house or shop ; And the keepers or owners of every such houses, cellars or shops, keeping or causing to be kept their doors Oi- dinarily and usually open upon the Day aforesaid ; every person dancing or prophanely singing or playing upon musical instruments, or tippling in any such houses, cell- lars or shops or elsewhere upon the day aforesaid, or harbouring or entertaining the persons so offending ; Every person grinding or causing to be ground any corn or grain in any mill, or causing any fulling or other mills to work upon the day aforesaid ; And every person working in the washing, whiting, or drying of clothes thread or yarn, or causing such work to be done, upon the day aforesaid ; Every person setting up, burning or branding beet, turf or earth, upon the day aforesaid ; Every person gathering of rates, loans, taxations, or other payments upon the day aforesaid (except to the use of the poor in the public collections) ; Every chaund- ler melting, or causing to be melted, tallow or wax be- longing to his calling ; and every common brewer and baker, brewing and baking, or causing bread to be
During the Ftirita7t Supremacy. 129
baked, or beer or ale to be brewed upon the day afore- said ; And every butcher killing any cattle, and every butcher, coffermonger, poulterer, herb seller, cord wayner, shoemaker or other persons selling, exposing or offering to sell any their wares or commodities, and the persons buying such wares or commodities, upon the day aforesaid ; All taylors and other tradesmen, fitting or going to fit, or carry any v/earing apparel or other things ; and barbers trimming upon the day aforesaid; All persons keeping, using or being present upon the day aforesaid at any Fairs, Markets, Wakes, Revels, Wrest- lings, Shootings, Leaping, Bowling, Ringing of Bells for pleasure, or upon any other occasion (saving for calling people together for the public Worship) Feasts, Church Ale, May-Poles, Gaming, Bear-Baiting, Bull-Baiting, or any other Sports and Pastimes ; All persons unneces- sarily walking in the Church or Church-Yards, or else- where in the time of Public Worship ; And all persons vainly and profanely walking, on the day aforesaid ; And all persons travelling, carrying Burthens, or doing any worldly labour or work of their ordinary Calling on the day aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of prophaning the Lord's-day
And it is enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that every person being of the age of fourteen years or up- wards, offending in any of the premises, and being con- victed thereof by confession, or the view of any Mayor, Head-Officer or Justice of the Peace, or upon the testi- mony of one or more witnesses upon oath, before any such Mayor, Head Officer or Justice of the Peace in the County, City, Division or place where the offense shall be committed (which oath the said Mayor, Justice of