^ tut lM%ra| ^^^. PRINCETON, N. J. % et^o7^ 'BV 125 .L4 1886 ^ Lewis, Abram Herbert, 1836- 1908. 5^.//. A critical history of the Sabbath and the Sunday in «^ .^ r»%^ ,. ".■•■- 4V1 . .■■ ' l> < ^4 Sz- mu^j-'.^ ^■^'v*;..*,--' / I CRITICAL HISTORY OF W SAEBAIi Aill let SiBH IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH BY A. H. LEWIS, D. D., Author of ''Sabbath and Sunday ; Argument and Hutcn-y, " Biblical Teachings Concerning the Sabbath and the Svnday ; " Editor of " The Outlook, and Sabbath Quarterly,'' and of " The Light of Home.'" THE AMERICAN SABBATH TRACT SOCIETY, Alfred Centre, N. Y. 1886. CoPYKiGHT, 1886, BY A. H. Lbwis. PREFACE Questions, like apples, have their time to ripen. When they are ripe, the harvest must be gathered. Wishing cannot hasten this time, nor fear delay it. The Sabbath question is ripe for re-examination and restatement. It is at the front. It has come to stay. We and our children must grapple with the prob- lem. The first key to its solution is the authority of God's Word, the Bible. The facts of history form the second key. Time itself is an attribute of God. The aggregate results in history are the decisions of God. In testing theories and practices, the historic argument is ultimate. It is the embodiment of Christ's words: "By their fruits ye shall know them." Tlieorizing can never go back of this test, nor set aside its decisions. No department of church history has been less thoroughly worked than the history of the Sabbath and the Sunday. They both antedate Christianity and Judaism. Their fountains are back of Calvary and Sinai. The chief interest centers in the New lY PREFACfi. Testament, and in the Patristic period. The former is usually treated polemically, while the latter is al- most an unknown region to the average Christian. Few, at the present time, have more than a confused knowledge of the Sabbath question since the Puri- tan movement of three hundred years ago. That movement has been forced to seek some support for itself in early church history. In seeking this, many quotations have been claimed from the Fathers, which subsequent investigations have shown to be notoriously incorrect. These have been passed from hand to hand, apparently without examination or question. Forged writings have been treated as genuine. Unknown dates have been assumed to be definite. Important expressions, such as "Chris- tian Sabbath " and " Dominicum servasti," have been manufactured and interpolated. In this way facts have been perverted, or withheld, and good men have been misled. Few American writers have at- tempted any careful survey of this field, and the most valuable European works are out of print. Most of the books in defense of Sunday, within the last fifty years, have been hastily written to meet the demands of some convention, or some emergen- cy in the decline of the Puritan theory, and the sec- ularization of the ' ' Anglo-American Sabbath. " This PERFACE; Y has forbidden patient and efficient original research. Still stronger reasons have sat at the elbow of every writer in defense of the Puritan, or the Anglo- American Sunday. The facts of the first four cent- uries destroy the foundation on which Puritanism rested its " Sunday Sabbath." We express no judg- ment concerning the men who have written thus im- perfectly. The difficulty of obtaining the facts, and the seeming necessity of saving Christian worship, by attempting to save the Sunday, have been pow- erful causes. We only state the facts. Because these things are so, this book has been written. It is the product of twenty years search. It is written in the interest of the church universal, and of the preservation of the Sabbath, without which Christianity is shorn of one of its chief ele- ments of power, and humanity is robbed of one of its chief blessings. We have given our authorities, willing to burden our pages with copious references, that who will may follow, and test our work. As these pages are not the product of yesterday, so they are not written for to-morrow alone. We know full well that they must make their way against the prejudice of creed and the power of popular cus- tom. We know they must take their way, with all else, l)etween the upper and nether millstones of VI PREFACE. eternal verities. Nothing less than sifted facts can abide as the foundation for hope, or faith, or practice. Men build pleasant theories and indulge in beauteous fancies concerning what they think ought to be, but the relentless hand of history gathers all which is not in accord with eternal verity, for the dust heap of the past. Conscious that every page must die which is not born of verity, and equally conscious that every page thus born will live in spite of creed or custom, this book goes forth, willing to await the broader knowl- edge and the calmer judgment of coming years. A. H. L. Plainfield, N. J., February, 1886. LONTENTS. Chapter I. Introductory. Chapter II. History of the Sabbath in the Gos- pels. Chapter III. History of the Sunday in the Gos- pels. Chapter IV. History of the Sabbath in the Book of Acts. Chapter V. History of the Sunday in the Book of Acts. Chapter YI. The Apostolic Fathers. Chapter VII. Pliny's Letter to Trajan, and a Fa- mous Falsehood. Chapter VIII. Justin Martyr ; the First Refer- ence to Sunday ; and the Rise of No-sabbath- ism. Chapter IX. Other Writers, and the Develop- ment of No-sabbathism. Chapter X. Tertullian and his Followers. Chapter XI. Wednesday and Friday as Fasts. Chapter XII. Post-Apostolic History of the Sab- bath, to the Fourth Century. Chapter XIII. Constantine the Grjat, and the be- ginning of Legislation. Vlll CONTENTS. Chapter XIV. Sunday from the time of Con- stantine to the close of the Fifth Century. Chapter XV. Sunday in the Church Councils. Chapter XVI. The Sabbath from Constantine to the Dark Ages. Chapter XVII. Sunday during the Dark Ages. Chapter XVIII, The Sabbath in the Western Church during the Dark Ages. Chapter XIX. The Sabbath in the Eastern Church. Chapter XX. Sunday in the German Reforma- tion. Chapter XXI. Sunday in the Swiss Reforma- tion. Chapter XXII. Sunday in the English Reforma- tion. Chapter XXIII. Puritanism and the Sunday in >i U V England. Chapter XXIV. The Sabbath in Europe since the Reformation. Chapter XXV. The Sunday in America; Colo- rlrC nial Period. /> 74" > Chapter XXVI. The Sabbath in America. r 3 C C Chapter XXVII. Sunday in the Creeds of theP'f<^5" Churches. Chapter XXVIII. Observance of Sunday in the Pf"', Uflited States. Chapter XXIX. Elements of Agitation now at p ^b work in the United States. ^ Chapter XXX. The Verdict of History. P ^« CHAPTER I. Introductory. History is an organic dcvelopmont. The plionom- ona which appear on the surface, are the result of underlying principles, true, or false. Nothing in history conies by chance. If human choices did not lead men to disobedience of 'God's laws, and to a disregard for truth, there would lie no discord, but rather a continuous, straightforward advancement. What men call the " power of truth," " the logic of events," and the "guiding hand of Providence," is but another way of stiymg that truth, God's ideas, his eternal laws (;oncerning right and wrong, are stronger than any or all human choices and will ulti- mately prevail. It is the unfolding of God's ideas in history that gives to it organic power and irresistible force. Human disobedience, designed or undesigned, may check or deflect the progress of truth. This is always possible where freedom of choice is granted to the tinite intelligence, under the general limitation of the Infinite. All such checking or deflection must be temporary. Disobedience is the conflict of the less with the greater. It may go so far as to de- stroy the less, as an individual, but it can never at- 2 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. tain a permanent triumph in the general field of moral government. It is the dam of rushes across the swollen stream; the barricade of straw Ufore the locomotive. Evil and error have thus limited lease of life. "Truth is mighty and will prevail,'' is an adage which voices the deeper philosophy of history. Every page of the past is filled with con- firmation of this general truth. The invisible hand of Jehovah touches the current of evil and it flows backward like the parting waters of the Red Sea. As the granite sea wall[says to the waves, " Thus far and no farther," so, in the fullness of God's own time, right and righteousness prevail. The times when God thus vindicates himself and his cause we call great epochs in history. But the greatest epoch is only the result of silent forces which arc constant- ly at work. The currents of influence, good or bad, often run deep, are sometimes wholly out of sight for a long time. The thoughtless and faint-hearted Bay, "They are gone forever." Those who listen more carefully, are always assured that God still lives. In view of these truths, the history of a great question, like that of w^hich the following pages treat, is of vital importance. We can never judge correctly of the present except in the light of the past. To-day is the product of one or all of the days that have gone before. Things' are neither right nor wrong because they are. Human majori- ties, as such, are not right. They are likely to be thoughtless and self-reliant, and hence wrong. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 3 The Sabbath question has had a prominent place in the religious history of our race. The week, measured by the Sabbath as its closing day, is the oldest division of time. It is found wherever histo- ry reaches. The question comes closer to human life than any other so-called practical question. So- cial life, business life, religious worship and culture are all blended with it, and are dependent on it. It is a question that has never been kept in abeyance, for any great length of time, however much it may have been ignored. It was prominent in the Jewish Church and State. It claimed early attention in the history of Christianity. It came to the front in the Reformation. It was a central figure in our own early national history. It is to-day, though much ignored by some, and treated vigorously with nar- cotics by others, one of the "burning questions" which still demands recognition and solution. The real history of the Sabbath question is not well un- derstood. The earlier centuries have not been care- fully explored by the masses, or even by the relig- ious teachers. Much has been taken for granted, where the facts are unknown. Under such circum- stances, the writer is glad to lay before the reader the results of twenty years careful investigation in the field of Sabbath history. He only asks that the final judgment of the reader be founded not upon the opinions or suppositions with which he comes to the perusal of these pages, but upon the facts pre- sented. The ultimate facts in the whole field will appear, and be marshaled. The issue may be dc- 4 SABBATH AND SUNDAT. layed, but cannot be avoided. These pages arc sent forth, prayerfully, to contribute their part to- ward the final settlement of the question. The per- sonal opinions of the author appear in the last chap- tT, the "Verdict of History." CHAPTER II. ' WiSTORY OF THE JSaBBATH IN THE New Testament. THE GOSPELS. The Bible is the ultimate authority upon the Sab- bath question. The facts therein form the source of obligation, and of history. It is therefore pertinent to begin our historic investigation by placing before the reader whatever of history there is in that book which is the Christian's especial charter. Sabbath- keeping is a matter of doing, rather than of theoriz- ing; hence the history we seek must be found in what Christ and his apostles did, more than in what they said. If either the Sabbath or the Sunday has a history in the New Testament it will be found in the actions and customs of Christ and his apostles. Before examining the record of these actions it is well to remember some important facts, which, be- ing disregarded, lead to wrong conclusions, since we thus fail to consider the circumstances under which Christ spoke and acted. These facts are: (i) During the centuries immediately preceding Christ's coming. Sabbath-keeping had become a prominent mark of distinction between the Jews and the surrounding nations. It was a peculiar " sign " 6 RAiniATII AND HUNDA Y. of loyally toward Johovali, and became a diatin- gulHhlng mark of (ixcluHivoncsH. (2) Ah their Hpirltuality decreased, unscriptural fonnallsm inereaHed, and HJnce 8al)l)ath-keepinggavo a wide ll(!id for acting or not acting, tlu; Sabbath be camk Ihc central [Igurc; in their formalism. It wa« the Htronghold of IMiariseeiHm. And .since Christ'H niiHsion was to nimove rubbish and restore; (iods law to its primitive! purity, while he fuHilhid it by a sin- lesH obedience!, the Sabbath was a neicessary point of controversy. KenKMubering, then, that (/hri.st's aim waH not the destruction or removal of the Sabbath, but rather to set it free from Judaistic taint and mis- conexiptloii, we Hhall be able to comprehend the real nftt»ire of the incide^nts which form ils history in tho Gospels. Taking up these incidcjnts in their order, we come lirst to the following : *' At (hat time Jesus went on (he Sabbath dav througli (he corn, tiiid his disciples were a hungered, and began to plueU IJje ears of corn, and to eat. Hut when \\w Pharisees saw it, they said unto him. Bo- hold, thy disciples do (h:i( which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbjitii (l:iy. Hut he s.iid unto them, Ilave ye not reail what David did when ]h) was a hungered, and they that were with him. How ho e-nlcred into tiie house of (Jod. and did Ciit tlu; shew- ln'cad, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not rend in the law how (hat on (h(^ Sabba(h(l}iys (he prles(s in the (emple profane the Sabb:ith, and are blameless? Hut 1 say unto you, that ill this pine** is «>//^' greater than (lie (em|)le. Hut if ye hMsL) SUNDAY. post-apostolic productions. Willing to grant unto it all that can be found we will examine these in their order. THE EPISTLE OF CLEMEKT OF EOME, TO THE COR- LNTHIANS. This was, probably, written about the j^ear 97 A. D. It is attributed to the companion of Paul spoken of in Phil. 4: 3. A few defenders of Sunday have referred to, or quoted from the fortieth and forty-first chapters, seeking therefrom inferential argument in favor of their theories. The passage with its context is as follows: ' ' Seeing then these things are manifest unto us, it will behoove us to take care that, looking into the depths of the divine knowledge, we do all things in order whatsoever our Lord has commanded us to do; and particularly, that we perform our offerings and service to God at their appointed seasons; for these he has commanded to be done, not by chance and disorderly, but at certain determinate times and hours; and therefore he has ordained, by his supreme will and authority, both where, and by what persons, they are to be performed; that so, all things being piously done unto him well-pleasing, they may be acceptable unto him. They, therefore, who make their offerings at the appointed seasons are happy and accepted; because that, obeying the command- ments of the Lord, they are free from sin. And the same care must be had of the persons that minister unto him; for the chief priest has his proper serv- ices; and to the priests their proper place is appoint- ed; and to the Levites appertain their proper ministries; and the layman is confined within the bounds of what is commanded to laymen. " Let every one of you, therefore, brethren, bless God in his proper station, with a good conscience, SABBATH AND SUINDAY. 35 and with all gravity, not exceeding the rule of his service that is appointed to him. The daily sacrifices are not offered everywhere, nor the peace-offerings, nor the sacrifices appointed for sins and transgress- ions, but only at Jerusalem; nor in any place there, but only at the altar before the temple; that which is offered being first diligently examined by the high priest and the other ministers we before mentioned. They therefore who do anything which is not agree- able to his will are punished with death."'* The foregoing evidently refers to the temple wor- ship. Certainly it contains nothing relative to any change of the Sabbath, abrogation of the Sabbath law, or introduction of Sunday. Neither is there any reference or hint relative to any such thing in any other part of the epistle. More; a writer who is thus particular concerning the ceremonies of an outgoing system would not fail to note so prominent a feature of the new system as Sunday observance would have been. Next in order is a long allegory, which is attribu- ted to the HERMAS who is mentioned in Romans i6: 14. This allegory makes no allusion to the Lord's-day or to the Sun- day. Its date is placed by the editors of Clark's edi- tion of 1879, during the reign of Hadrian or Antonius Pius, i. €., between 117 and 161 A. D. Next comes the epistle of POLYCAKP TO THE PHILIPPIANS, which is attributed by some to a disciple of St. John. * Clement to the Corinthians, chaps. 40, 41. Wake's Trans.; also, Patrum Apostoliconim Opera, Dressel, Leipsic, 1857; also ApostoUc Fathers, T. & T. Clark, Edinburg, 1879, the latter being somewhat preferable as a trans! atit n. 36 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. This is evidently incorrect since the best authorities give its probable date as about the middle of the sec- ond century. This is also silent concerning Sunday. PAPIAS. Fragments of writings attributed to Papias, who is said to have been martyred about 163 A. D., con- tain no reference to Sunday. Thus three out of five of these "Fathers," Clement, Hermas, and Papias, are found to be wholly silent concerning the ques- tion at issue. The two remaining ones we shall find to be spuriotcs productions which possess no value as authorities. BARNABAS. First of these two comes the CatJwUc Epistle of Barnabas. This has been attributed to the com- panion of St. Paul in his missionary labors, and dated as earlj^ as A. D. 71. The following, from standard authorities, will show that such claims are false. Neander speaks as follows: "The writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers are, alas! come down to us, for the most part, in a very uncertain condition; partly, because in early times writings were counterfeited, under the name of these venerable men of the church, in order to propagate certain opinions or principles; partly, be- cause, those writings which they had really pub- lished were adulterated, and especially so, to serve a Judao-hierarchical part}^ which would fain crush the free evangelical spirit. We should here, in the first place, have to name Barnabas, the well known fellow traveler of St. Paul, if a letter, which was first known in the second century, in the Alexandrian church, under his name, and which bore the in- scription of a Catholic epistle, was really his com- SABBATH AND SUXDAY. 37 position. But it is impossible that we should ac- knowledge this epistle to belong to that Barnabas who was worthy to be the companion of the apos- tolic labors of St. Paul, and had received his name from the power of his animated discourses in the churches. . . . We find, also, nothing to induce us to believe the author of the epistle was desirous of being considered Barnabas. But since its spirit and its mode of conception corresponded to the Alexan- drian taste, it may have happened, that as the author's name was unknown, and persons were desirous of giving it authority, a report was spread abroad in Alexandria, that Barnabas was the author."* Mosheim says: " The Epistle of Barnabas was the production of some Jew, who most probably lived in this (the sec- ond) century, and whose mean abilities and supersti- tious attachment to Jewish fables, show, notwith- standing the uprightness of his intentions, that he must have been a very different person from tht- true Barnabas who was St. Paul's companion."! Also, this from the same author: ' ' For what is suggested by some of its having been written by that Barnabas who was the friend and companion of St. Paul, the futility of such a notion is easily to be made apparent from the letter itself. Several of the opinions and interpretations of scripture which it contains, having in them so little, either of truth, or dignity, or force, as to render it impossible that they ever could have pro- ceeded from the pen of a man divinely inspired. "| Eusebius says: ' ' Take these which follow for forged works — The Acts of Paul, the book called Pastor, the Revelation * Hist, of the Christian Church of tlie First Tliree Centuries pp. 407, 408, Rose's Trans. t Church history, Vol. 1, p. 113, Maclaine's Trans. X Historical Commentaries, Century 2, Sec. 53. 38 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. of Peter; moreover, the Epistle fathered upon Bar- nabas, and the Doctrine called The Apostles."* Prof. Hackett says: " The letter still extant, which was known as that of Barnabas, even in the second century, can not be defended as genuine."! Milner says: " Of the apostle Barnabas, nothing is known, ex- cept what is recorded in the Acts. There we have an honorable encomium of his character, and a par- ticular description of his joint labors with St. Paul. It is a great injury to him, to apprehend the epistle which goes by his name to be his. "X Kitto says: "The so-called epistle of Barnabas, probably a forgery of the second century. "§ Sir William Domville, after an exhaustive exami- nation of the whole question, concludes as follows: "But the epistle was not written by Barnabas; it is not merely ' unworthy of him, ' it would be a dis- grace to him, and, what is of much more conse- quence, it would be a disgrace to the Christian re- ligion, as being the production of one of the author- ized teachers of that religion in the time of the apostles, which circumstance would seriously dam- age the evidence of its divine authority."! Prof. W. D. Killen, a prominent representative of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, bears testimony as follows: * Hamner's translation of Eusebius' Hist. Ecc, liber 3, chap. 22, p. 49, London, 1650. t Commentary on Acts, p. 251. t Vol. 1, p. 126, Church History. § Cyclopedia Biblical Literature, article Lord's-day- I An Examination of the Six Texts, p. 233. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 39 .. The tract knowu as the ' Ej^istle of J^u-ba^; was probably ^o'X'oV a co?verf from JudaU, t^o^o/sl^SlUt-^inTnegorical interprets. tions of Scripture.' * Eev. Lyman Coleman says: -ThpFnistle of Barnabas, bearing the lionored not define. "+ _ . , . Dr. Sekafl rejects the theory that the Ep.slle is genuine, and says: °' The'Encyclopedia of Keligious Knowledge (arti- cle Barnabas' Epistle), speaking of Barnabas the companion of Paul, says: — TSS^' ClSan Ohm-oh, Vol. 2, p. 677, New York, 1883. 40 SABBATH AN^D SUNDAY. "He could not be the author of a work so full of forced allegories, extravagant and unwarrantable explications of Scripture, together with stories con- cerning beasts, and such like conceits, as make up the first part of this epistle." In the presence of the foregoing evidence, but one conclusion is possible, viz. , the Epistle of Barnabas is a vague, fanciful production of some dreamer, forged at an uncertain date in the second century. If the reader cares to look into it, he will find por- tions of it to be unfit for a respectable page. The passage quoted in favor of Sunday observance reads as follows: " Even in the beginning of the creation he makes mention of the Sabbath: ' And God made in six days the works of his hands, and he finished them on the seventh day, and he rested the seventh day and sanc- tified it.' Consider, my children, what that signifies. He finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this: that in six thousand years the Lord Grod will bring all things to an end, for with him one day is as a thousand years; as himself testifieth, saying, 'Be- hold this day shall be as a thousand years. ' There- fore, children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, shall all things be accomplished. And what is that he saith, 'And he rested the seventh day?' He meaneth this: that when his Son shall come, and abolish the season of the wicked one, and judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then he shall gloriously rest on that seventh day. . . . Lastly, he saith unto them, ' Your new moons and your sabbaths, I cannot bear them.' Consider what he means by it. 'The sab- baths,' says he, 'which ye now keep, are not accept- able unto me, but those which I have made.' When resting from all things, I shall begin the eighth day; SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 41 that is the beginning of the other world. For which cause we observe the eighth day with gladness, m vdiich Jesus rose from the dead; and having mam- fested himself to his disciples, he ascended into heav- en."* It is to be regretted that many writers in favor of Sunday have quoted only the last clause of the fore- going, beginning with the words, ' ' For which cause," etc They have thus perverted the meaning, and sought to make it appear that the -resurrection" was the main reason assigned for "observing the eighth day with gladness." Whereas, the fanciful notions concerning the creation and the millennium constituted the main reason for such notice of the eighth day. Hence, another conclusion must be ad- ded, viz.: If any persons joined with the forger of this' epistle in observing the eighth day, their action was predicated on grounds very far removed from common sense, and from the Word of God. IGNATIUS. One production which is classed with the "Apos- tolic Fathers " remains to be examined— the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians. This production, like that attributed to Barnabas, is a forgery, and the passage adduced in favor of Sunday is caricatured into a seeming reference only by interpolating the word day. In support of these statements, we offer the following testimony. First, the passage in full, with its contexts. It is as follows: * ApostoUc Fathers, Epistle Barnabas, cbap. 15, Wake's Translation; also, Latin Edition, Dressel, Leipsic, lb5,. also Clark's Edition Apostolic Fathers, p. l^- 42 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. " Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable; for if we still continue to live according to the Jewish law, we do confess ourselves not to have received grace. For even the most holy prophets lived according to Christ Jesus; and for this cause were they persecut- ed, being inspired by his grace to convince the un- believers and disobedient that there is one God who has manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son. . . " Wherefore, if they who were brought up in these ancient laws, came nevertheless to the newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths, but keeping the Lord's-day, in which also our life is sprung up by him, and through his death, whom yet some deny, by which mystery we have been brought to believe, and therefore wait that we may be found the disci pies of Jesus Christ, our only Master; how shall we be able to live different from him, whose disciples the very prophets themselves being, did by the Spirit expect him as their Master. And therefore, he whom they justly Avaited for, being come, raised them up from the dead."* Without noting the grammatical construction of the sentence, the reader will see that the passage as it reads is untruthful, since it asserts that the " most holy prophets" ceased to keep Sabbaths, and kept the Lord's-day. The discussion concerning this pas- sage in Kitto's Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature (article Lord's-day) is so complete, that it is here quoted somewhat at length, as follows: " But we must here notice one other passage of earlier date than any of these, which has often been * I^atius to the Magnesi^ns, sees. 8, 9, Wake's Trans.; for the Latin, see Pat. Apos., Dressel; also, Clark's Edition Apos- tolic Fathers, p. 180. (^lark gives also the longer text, into which the word " day " is not put. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 43 referred to as beiiriug on the subject of the Lord[s- da}', though it certainly contains no mention of it. It occurs in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesi- ans (about A. D. 100). The whole passage is con- fessedly obscure, and the text may be corrupt. It has, however, been understood in a totally different sense, and as referring to a distinct subject; and such we confess appears to us to be the most obvious and natural construction of it. " The passage is as follows: Ei ovr 01 ev naXaioiff Ttpay/xadiv ava- arf)aq)eyrea eio" Kaivorrjra eXTTidoa rjX- Bor — ^i-jxtxi GaftpariZ^ovrea dXXa Hard HVpiaurv ^Gjr}v ^(^vra(j — ev /) nal i) Zooi] vfic^v dvereiXev 6i^ avtoC nai rov dava- rov ax! rov [or rivea dpvoivrai], Si* ov ^varijpiov i'Xaf3oiJ.eVy . , . nc^ff 7}fj.ei0 SvvrjaofxeOa Z,i]6ai X(^pi(^ avrov. . . .* "Now, many commentators assume (on what ground does not appear) that after KVpiaJi7]y the w^ord imepav is to be understood. On this hypothesis they endeavor to make the rest of the sentence accord with a reference to the observance of the Lord's-day, by further supposing fV /) to re- fer to jijjLtpa understood, and the whole to be put in contrast with (jaftf:iariCovre SUKDAY. 45 were so fond of drawing between the Christian and Jewish dispensations, and between the new life of the Christian and the ceremonial spirit of the law, to which the Lord's-day (if it be imagined to be referred to) is represented as opposed." The foregoing rendering and interpretation are fuUj^ sustained by a late writer of high authority concerning Sunday, James Augustus Hessey, D. C. L. Relative to the passage under consideration, he says: "Here is a passage from his Epistle to the Mag- nesians, containing, as you will observe, a contrast between Judaism and Christianity, and, as an ex- emplification of it, an opposition between sabbatiz- ing and living the life of the Lord. ... If they, then, who were concerned in old things, arrived at a newness of hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living according to the Lord's life, by which our life sprung up by him, and by his death, . . . how can we live without him," etc.* Sir William Domville, makes the following just criticism: ' ' It seems not a little strange that the Archbishop should so widely depart from the literal translation, which is this: 'No longer observing Sabbaths, but living according to the Lord's life, in which also our life is sprung up. ' For there is no phrase or word in the original which corresponds to the phrase, 'the Lord's-day,' or to the word 'keeping.' In a note re- ferring to this word, the Archbishop says: 'Or liv- ing according to;' so that he acknowledges this trans- lation would be correct, but the consequence of his throwing it into a note is to lead the reader to sup- pose that, though the original may be so translated, * Bampton Lectures, preached before the University of Oxford, in the year 1860, p. 41. 46 SABBATH X:SD SUNDAY. the probable translation is that which is given in the text, when in truth, so far from being a preferable translation it is no translation at all."* This examination of the passage has been made thus full in order to show that there is no reference to Sunday-keeping except by a fraudulent and un- scholarly translation, and by interpolation. The examination has also proceeded upon the supposition that the epistle is genuine. That it is not genuine will fully appear from the following testimony: Dr. Killen, gives the following history of the epis- tles ascribed to Ignatms: "In the sixeenth cetatury, fifteen letters were brought out from beneath the hoary mantle of an- tiquity, and offered to the world as the productions of the pastor of Antioch. Scholars refused to re- ceive them on the terms required, and forthwith eight of them were admitted to be forgeries. In the seventeeth century, the seven remaining letters, in a somewhat altered form, again came forth from obscurity, and claimed to be the works of Ignatius. Again discerning critics refused to acknowledge their pretensions; but curiosity was aroused by this second apparition, and many expressed an earnest desire to obtain a sight of the real epistles. Greece, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were ransacked in search of them, and at length three letters are found. The discovery creates general gratulation; it is confessed that four of the epistles, so lately asserted to be gen- uine, are apocryphal, and it is boldly said that the three now forthcoming are above challenge. But truth still refuses to be compromised, and sternly disowns these claimants for her approbation. The internal evidence of these three epistles abundantly * Sabbath, etc., p. 242. SABBATH AXD SUJ^DAY. 47 attests that, like the last three books of the Sibyl, they are only the last shifts of a grave imposture."* In a note, Doctor Killen adds that " Bunsen rather reluctantly admits that thehighest literary authority of the present century, the late Dr. Neander, de- clined to recognize even the Syriac version of the Ignatian Epistles." Rev. Lyman Coleman, testifies in the following words: ' • Certam it is that these epistles, if not an entire forgery, are so filled with interpolations and forgeries as to be of no historical value with reference to^ the primitive Christians and the apostolic churches, "f John Calvin says: " Nothing can be more absurd than the imperti- nences which have been published under the name of Ignatius." t Rev. Roswell D. Hitchcock, D. D., Professor of Church History in Union Theological Seminary, New York, in an article on the " Origin and Growth of Episcopacy," sums up the case as follows: 1. "Killen, the Irish Presbyterian, thinks these Ignatian epistles all spurious, but is of the opinion that the Syriac three were the first to be forged in the time of Origen [185-254 A. D.], soon after which they were translated into Greek, and others were added before the time of Eusebius, who is admitted to have had the seven. 2. " Baur and Hilgenfeld think them all spurious, but are of the opinion that the seven of the shorter Greek recensions were the first to be forged after 150 * Ancient Church, sec. 2, chap. 3. + Ancient Christianity Exemplified, chap. 1, sec 2. X Institutes-', Book 1 , chapter 13. 48 SABBATH AND SUl^DAY. A. D., and that the Syriac three are simply frag- mentary translations from the Greek. 3. " Cureton, Bunsen, Ritschel, and Lipsius, con- tend for the genuineness of the Syriac three. This, as the matter now stands, appears to be the weakest position of all. 4. " A strong array of the ablest and soundest critics, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, such as Moehler and Gieseler, Hefele and Uhlhorn, may still be found on the side of the shorter Greek re- cension."* The following conclusions seem to be just and imperative: 1. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians is a forgery, made long after the death of Ignatius. 2. It makes no mention of the Sunday or Lord's- day. 3. To interpolate the word day in the oft-quoted passage perverts the meaning, and destroys the gram- matical arrangement of the sentence. Thus it appears that there is absolutely no explicit testimony in favor of Sunday, or the Lord's-day as referring to Sunday, by any of the "Apostolic Fa- thers." This conclusion, so at variance with the l] popular notion, invites criticism. It is based on the authorities quoted above, and is not the simple con- clusion of the author of these pages. The popular view has been accepted by those who have not ex- amined the case critically, as much else is accepted \\ which comes to us dust covered and surrounded by i the shadows of the past. It will not bear the day- light of careful examination. * American Presbyterian and Theological Eexiew, January , CHAPTER Vll. Pliny's Letter to Trajan, and A K AMOus Falsehood. Early in the second century, Pliny the Younger, then governor of Bythinia, wrote to the Emperor Trajan (about 107 A. D.) asking advice concerning the complaints which were made to him relative to the Christians in his province. After stating the points on which he desired counsel, he says: ' ' In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians? If they confessed, I repeated the question twice again,adding threats at the same time; when, if they still persevered, I ordered them to be iminedialely punished; for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible obstinac}" certainly deserved correction. Tliere were others also brought before me possessed with the same infatuation, but being citizens of Rome, I directed them to be carried thither. But this crime spreading (as is usually the case), while it was actu- ally under prosecution, several instances of the same nature occurred. An information was present ed to me without any name subscribed, containing a charge aijainst several persons, who upon examina tion denied they were Christians, or ever had been. They repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and frankin- cense before } our statue (which for this purpose 1 (4) 50 SABBATH ASl) SUNDAY. had ordered to be brought, together with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ; Where as there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians, into a compliance with any of these arti - cles; I thought proper, therefore, to discharge them. Some among those who were accused by a witness in person, at first confessed themselves Christians, but immediately after denied it; while the rest owned indeed that they had been of that number formerly, but had now, (some above three, others more, and a few above twenty years ago) forsaken that error. They all worshiped your statue and the images of the gods, throwing out imprecations at ^he same time against the name of Christ. "They affirmed that the whole of their guilt or jrror was, that they met on a certain si ated day be fore it was light, and addressed themselves in a form 'of pi ay er to Christ, as to some God, binding them- selves by a solemn oath, not for the purposes ol any wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery; never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to eat in common a harmless meal. From this custom, however, they desisted after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I forbade the meeting of any assem blies. "* The claim which is made concerning this extract, is, that the certain "stated day," was Sunday. But when it is remembered that the Bythinian churches were probably organized by Peter at a time when the observance of the Sabbath, was a common practice of the apostles, it is practically certain that the " stated day " was the seventh day. This view is supported * Pliny's Letters, B. x.. Epistle 97, Melmotli's Translation. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 51 by natural inferences, and general facts, relative to the observance of the seventh day which continued in the church for some centuries after the date of Pliny's letter. Bohmer,(as quoted by Holden, p. 292,) takes this view. Gesner in his notes on Pliny con curs with this view."* "DOMINICUM SERVASTI." Such use has been made of a certain spurious claim, concerning the questions put to the early martyrs, that it demands special attention at this point. Mr. Gilfillan, Mr. Gurney, and others have used the claim to support the idea that the ' ' stated day" of Pliny, was the Sunday, or that Sunday- keeping was a cause for martyrdom at a very early period. Mr. Giltillan asserts that the enmity be tween the early Christians and the Jews, arose from the change of the "Sabbatic-day." This assertion is followed by these words: " The Romans, though they had no objection om this score, punished the Christians for the faithful I observance of their day of rest, one of the testing ' questions put to the martyrs being, Dominicum ser- uastif — Have you kept the Lord's day? Such, how- ever, was the success of truth, and of the example of these good men, that the Lord*s-day soon passed from being an object of opprobrium into a law of a great empire. And Julian himself was so impressed with the power of its arrangement of rest and instruction as to contemplate the adoption of a similar provision for reviving and propagating heathen error, "f This statement has been termed "a famous false- * See Hessev. Sunday, p. 370, and Cox, Sabbath Literature. Vol. 1. p. 297. ■ + Sabbath, etc., p. 7. 52 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. hood." We are not ready to assume that Mr. Gil fillan, and others who have repeated the statement, 80 imderi-tood, or designed it. But the facts given below, &how that anxiety to find support for Sunday in the early times, and incomplete knowledge, or both, have ltd them into a great error. Mr. Gilfillan gives as authority,* C'^rtw/i, An Ecdes, A. D. 303, Num. 35," etc.), which will be examined. Mr. Gurney shapes his effort as follows: "But what was the stated day when these things took place? Clearly, the.^'r.s^ day of the week; as is proved by the very question which it was customary for the Roman persecutors to address to the martyrs, viz., Doniinicum servasti^ — 'Hast thou kept the Lord's-day ? ' To which the answer usually returned was, in substance, as follows: Christianus sum, inter- mittere non possum — ' I am a Christian, I can not omit it.'"* In a foot note Mr. Gurney gives his authority as follows: "Acts of Martyrs in Bishop Andrews on the Ten Commandments, p. 264." Concerning this reference we have made careful examination and found the following facts. The full title of the work to which Mr. Gurney evidently refers is as fol- lows: " The Pattern of Catechistical Doctrine at large; or a learned and pious Exposition of the Ten Com- mandments." In this work, at the place cited, there is made an effort to prove that the term '"Lord's day," Rev. 1: 10, means Sunday. In connection with that discussion the following passage appears: "A thing so notorious, so well known even to the * Brief Remarks on the History, etc. of the Sabbath, p. 36. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 53 heathen themselves, as it was (in the Acts of the Martyrs) ever an usual question of theirs (even of course) in their examining; what? Dommicum ser- uisti? — 'Hold you the Sunday?' and their answer known; they all aver it. Ghrutianiis sum, inter- mittere non possum — * I am a Christian; I can not in- termit it, not the Lord's-day in anywise.' These are examples enough." Thus we reach the exact words referred to by Mr. Gurney. But we find also another important fact. This " Pattern of Catechistical Doctrine" was a post- humous work. The manuscript was not complete when Bishop Andrews died, and the editor made such additions as he deemed best from the material left by the Bishop. The passage above is taken from a printed speech made by the Bishop against Thraske, an English Seventh-day Baptist, who was tried be- fore the "Star Chamber" Court for maintaining that Christians were bound to keep the seventh day Sabbath, etc. The Bishop died in 1626. and his speech against Thraske was not published until 1629. It was, therefore, as well as the "Pattern of Cate- chistical Doctrine," a " posthumous publication." It is probable that it was printed from some rough out- line of his speech, found among his papers; for it is one of several tracts attributed to the Bishop, and collected in a small volume entitled, " Opuscula quae- dam posthuma." On pages 131 and 132 of a work in favor of Sunday, written by William Twisse, D. D. , of the English Church, and published at London in 1641, about ten or twelve years after the publication of Andrews' 54 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. work, is the same quotation, whicli Twisse says is from Andrews' speech against Thraske in the court of the Star Chamber. In the history of the trial of Thraske as given by a contemporary,* the same passage is quoted from Bishop Andrews' speech against him. In this speech, the Bishop labors to prove that the seventh day was early changed for the first by Christians. In the course of that discussion, he makes the statement quoted above. (The passage from the speech against Thraske and hence the ref- erence to Dominicum servasti does not appear in the Parker Edition of Andrews' "Works," — Oxford 1846 — nor in the Revised Catechetical Doctrine pub- lished in 1852. Thus does the myth vanish which has been so long used as a foundation for the claim that the " stated day " of Pliny was Sunday.) But the case is made still more unsatisfactory when we search for the authority on which Bishop Andrews made his loose statement. He refers to the Acts of the Martyrs only in a general way, citing no instance wherein such a question was asked. Care- ful search reveals the fact that no such question is anywhere recorded. Domville states the result of his researches as follows :f "The most complete collection of the memoirs and legends still extant relative to the lives and suf- ferings of the Christian martyrs, is that of Ruinart, entitled, ' Acta primorum Martyrum, sincera et selec- * Paggit Herisiography, p. 20, London, 1661. t For Domville's entire discussion, see Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 251-273. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 00 ta.' I have myself carefully consulted that work, and I take it upon myself to affirm, that among the questions there stated to have been put to the mar- tyrs, in and before the time of Pliny, and for nearly two hundred years afterwards, the question, Domin- icum servasti? does not once occur, or any equivalent question, such, for instance, as Dominic umcelebi\isii? ' ' It can not be expected that I should quote in proof of my assertion all the questions put to the martyrs in all the martyrdoms, (above one hundred in number) recorded in Ruin art; but I will do this, I will state all the questions that were put to the mar- tyrs in and before Pliny's time." Having stated these questions, Domville continues: " This much may suffice to show that Dominicum servastif was no question in Pliny's time, as Mr. Gurney intends us to believe it was. I have how ever still other proof to offer of Mr. Gurney 's unfair dealing with the subject, but I defer stating it for the present, that I may proceed in the inquiry, what may have been the authority on which Bishop An- drews relied when stating that Dominicum serdasti? was ever a usual question put by the heathen perse- cutors. I shall with this view pass over the martyr- doms which intervened between Pliny's time and the fourth century, as they contain nothing to the pur pose, and shall come at once to that martyrdom, the narrative of which was, I have no doubt, the source from which Bishop A.ndrews derived his question, Dominicum sermstif ' Hold you the Lord's-day? ' This martyrdom happened A. D. 304. (Baronius puts it one year earlier. — a. h. l.) The sufferers were r^aturninus and his four sons, and several other per- sons. They were taken to Carthage and brought before the proconsul Amulinus. In the account giv- en of their examination by him, the phrases ' Cele- brare dominicuni,' and ' agere dominicum.' frequently occur, but in no instance is the verb servare used in 56 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. reference to dominicum I mention this chiefly to show that when Bishop Andrews, alluding, as no doubt he does, to the narrative of this martyidom. sa) 8 the question was Dominicum sermsti? it is very clear he had not his author at hand, and that, in trusting to his memory, he coined a phrase of his own." After quoting the questions put at this trial, in which the term Dominicum is used, and the answers which were made by the martyrs, Domville adds: "The narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus and his fellow sufferers being the only one which has the appearance of supporting the assertion of Bishop Andrews that 'Hold you the Lord's day?' was a usual question to the martyrs, what if I should prove that even this narrative affords no support to that assertion. Yet nothing is more easy than this proof; for Bishop Andrews has quite mistaken the meaning of the word dominicum, in translating it ' the Lord's-day.' It had no such meaning. It was a barbarous word, in use among some of the ecclesiastical writers in and subsequent to the fourth century, to express, sometimes a church, and at other times the Lord's Sapper; but never the Lord's-day, My au- thorities on this point are: 1. Ruinart, (tiie compiler of the work entitled. 'Acts of the Martyrs,' etc.,) who. upon the word dominicum, in the narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus, has a note in which he sa} s it is a word signifying the Lord's Supper, {Dominicum tero designat mcra m.ysteritt,) and he quotes Tertullian and Cyprian in support of tliis in- terpretatl )n. [This testimony from Kuinart is con- clusive concerning the meaning of the term domin- icum. In .-mother note upon a passage in which the word occurs, he also says that some manuscripts have Dominica mcramenta.'] 2. The editors of the Benedictine edition of St. Augustine's works. They state that the word has the two meanings of a church SxVBBATH AND SUNDAY. 0/ and the Lord's Supper. For the former they quote among other authorities a canon of the council of Neo-aesarea. For the latter meatiing they quote Cyprian, and refer also to St. Augustine's account of bis conference with the Donatists in which allu- sion is made to the narrative of the martyrdom of Saturninus.* 3. Gesner who, in his Latin Thesau- rus published in 1749, gives both meanings to the word clominicum. For that of the Lords Supper he quotes Cvprian; for that of a church he quotes Cyprian and also Hillary." Tn addition to the foregoing it may be added that dominicum is not an adjective of which diem is the understood substantive. In the narrative of the trial of Saturninus it is used as a neuter svhstantive as the following sentence shows: Quia non potest in- termitti dominicum. From the foregoing facts, the following conclu- clusions are legitimately drawn : 1. Bishop Andrews; in his speech against Thraske before the court of the Star Chamber in 1618, made a general reference to the " Acts of the Martyrs," as authority for a loosely made statement relative to the question Dominicum servasHF A careful examina- tion of the best edition of that work shows that no such question was ever used; that one somewhat similar was used at a trial long after the time when Pliny wrote his statement concerning a "stated day," in which quotation the Lord's Supper and not the Lord's day is referred to. 2. Mr. Gurney, Dr. Dwight, and others, have re- ferred to Bishop Andrews' speech and to Pliny's let- *Voir5, pp. 116, 117, Antwerp, 1700. 58 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ter in such a way as to lead their readers into a very grave error concerning the whole matter. We now come to Mr. Gilfi Han's statements, which be it remembered, have been published since Sir Domville made such a complete exposure in re- gard to the passage. Read again what he says above. (Cardinal Baronius was a Romish Annalist, who wrote about the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury. Bingham, in Antiquities of the Christian Chuich, refers to an edition published at Antwerp, in 1610.) Thus by a change of tactics, Mr. Gilfillan attempts to evade the force of the exposure made by Sir Dom- ville, relative to Bishop Andrews' reference to the " Acts of the Martyrs," and so to save the much- loved Dominicum servastif By noting the date, A. D. 303, the reader will see that he is obliged to ad- mit the main item, namely, that the question was not put until the fourth century, and hence can have no bearing upon the "stated day "referred toby Pliny. But worse than this is the fact that Baronius does not support Mr. Gilfillan's claim, and so leaves him liable to very grave charges as to honesty, or carelessness. The account given by Baronius shows that he copied from the " Acts of Martyrs," from whicL abundant testimony has been given, showing that Dominicum was used to indicate the Lord's Sup- per. Baronius, in the place referred to by Gilfillan, and its contexts, gives the history of the martyrdom of Saturninus and his companions, evidently the same account which Domville has so carefully sifted, Baronius gives the representative questions which SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 59 were put to the prisoners, whose arrest was made because they had celebrated the Lord's Supjier against the command of the Emperor. JDominicum SLnd Col- lectam are used as equivalent in these questions, and always in such connections as indicate a rite per- formed in Christian assemblies. But the case is rendered still plainer by the fact that Baronius de- fines these terms when he records the account of this trial, in which they were used. He says: "By the words, Collectam, Collectionem, and Dominieum, the author always understands the sacrifice of the Mass, "* In concluding the account of the martyrdom of this company, he says: ' ' It has been shown above, in relating these things, that the Christians were moved, even in the time of severe persecution, to celebrate the Dominieum. Ev- idently, as we have declared elsewhere in many places, it was a sacrifice without bloodshed, and of divine appointment."! We should not have discussed this extract from Pliny at such length, except for the necessity of ex- posing the mistake into which many writers have fallen in seeking to prove that the * ' stated day " mentioned was Sunday. The only positive knowl- edge that can be obtained is found in the text itself, which shows that in Bythinia the Christians met on some "stated day," weekly, or otherwise; and that on the order from the governor, they desisted from the prfictice. * Baronius, Tome 2, A. D. 303, No. 29, p. 884, Venetii, 1738. + lb, Id., No. 82, p. 897. 60 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. "TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES." Lest we be charged with ignoring the latest dis- coveries, we must here note the " Teaching of the Apostles," which has lately come to light. When it appeared, a few proclaimed triumphantl}', that the early observance of the "Lord's day" was now stttled. The facts do not support any such conclu- sion. When the document first appeared, after a careful study of it and its surroundings, we spoke of it as follows: ' ' Some general facts need to be remembered as a preface to all investigation concerning the ' Teach- ing.' "(a) The few meager references to it by early writers, and the long obscurity which has covered it, show that it was never widely known, and never held a prominent place in the post-apostolic period. "(b) So far as genuineness is concerned, if is foun I in bad company. Its associations are against it. By genuineness we mean, a compilation of real Scripture teachings made by some competent hand, previous to 120 or 160 A. D. "(c) It claims neither date nor author. 'Leon, Notary and Sinner,' luce, 6564, /. e., 1056 A. D , is the only clue we have to any one connected with it. All conclusions must therefore be based upon inter- nal characteristics, and collateral tesliaiOLy. Tak- ing up the matter of internal evidence, we venture a theory which will form at least a working hypoth- esis for farther investigations. It is this: " The Teac\iny consists of two distinct parts. The first, which is earliest and more nearly pure, con- sists of the first six chapters, which are wholly di- dactic. These represent the genuine 'Teaching' SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 61 The second portion, chapters 7-16, are made up of fragments from other writings, and of references to practices and notions of later and 11 definite dale, and not necessarily contemporaneous. The grounds on which we base this hypothesis are as follows: "1, The work has two titles. The first appears to be an abridgment of the second, and from anf th- er hand. Even the second refers not to the whole book, but to the first six chapters. This fact alone must continue to constitute a definite argument against the unity of the book, and against the gen- uineness of the second part. Comparison of the two portions with each other, and with the New Testament will also show certain interpolations in the earlier portions, made to bring it into more ap parent harmony with the latter. "2. The internal evidence is strongly in favor of this theory. The first six chapters are purely didac tic. They are made up almost wholly of truths which are drawn directly from the Gospels and the Decalogue, the latter, and iis summary by Christ, being very prominent. Dr. Smyth says of it as a catechism: "'How supreme its law of righteousness, and pure its standard of morals. Like all sound cate- chisms, this one goes back to the Decalogue. It takes the form of precept and injunction. It pro- hibits absolutely. There can be no evangelical training of the young with the law omitted.'* "These six chapters are also complete within themselves. The}^ stand related to practical Chris- tian life, and to the rest of the chapters, like a high fertile plateau of rich pasture land, swept by the pure breezes of heaven. If these had come to us alone, with iheir appropriate title, no one woul I have thought of them as fragmentary or incompkte. They would have shone amtd the Patristic writings * Andover Review, April, 1884, p. 435. 62 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. like a single rare diamond among less precious stones. ' '3. The additions which follow the sixth chapter are such as a later and more corrupt age would naturally make. Undoubtedly the catechism was designed as, and understood to be the antecedent to baptism, not as a 'confession of faith,' but as a guide to life. Apostolic and sub-apostolic Christianity consisted of a life, not a creed. To do, not to believe, was the absorbing thought. As ritualism became more prominent and the church passed into the transition period wherein apostolic Christianity was changed to Patristic, in which philosophy did much abound, — under such circumstances compiling fingers would itch to add to the simple catechism the developing notions and theories concerning Christian life. Nat- urally, therefore, the seventh chapter opens with baptism, the event for which the catechism was the preparation. The change between the sixth and subsequent chapters is more than the change from the simple didatic to the ritual. The didactic por- tion is mainly Scriptural; the ritualistic is not. In- ferences aside, and the second part of the Teaching will not bear comparison with the New Testament on many points. Baptism, fasting, the eucharist, and forms of prayer form ttie themes for four chap- ters— 7-10; none of these are treated with reference to their higher and spiritual significance, but rather from the stand-point of a growing ritualism. The Lord's Prayer, with the Doxology in part, is or- dered * three times ' in each day This certainly marks a point later than the middle of the second century. '* The 11th and 12th chapters give directions for the reception and treatment of apostles and proph- ets, such as indicate a period decidedly post-apostol- ic. Christ directed his disciples to abide where they firs'; entered during their indefinite stay in any city. Paul labored weeks, months, and years, in SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 63 specific fields, as the work demanded. But this 11th chapter forbids an apostle to remain more than one day unless necessity compel; in that case he may stay two days ' But if he remain three days he is a false prophet.' It also orders that when he departs he shall be given only bread enough to last until he lodge again, and assures us that if he asks for money he is a false prophet. This is puerile. The same chapter has the following unmeaning sen tence: 'And no prophet who orders a meal in the spirir,, eateth of it, unless indeed he is a false proph- et.' This is as senseless as some of the vagaries of Barnabas and points to a date much later than 120 A. D. .or to a degeneracy so rapid as to challenge credulity,' etc.* When we thus wrote, so far as we knew, no critic had taken that ground. A little later the opinion of Hilgenfeld appeared, as follows: ' ' I seem to myself to have found the original 'Teaching of ihe Apostles' m chapter 1: 1, to 6: 2, (that is, from the beginning to the words ' But con- cerning food, etc.,') but here and there a little al- tered, and with a second title (' The Teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles \ conformed to the example of the Apostolic Constitutions. But the matters that we read therein savor of a certain Montanism rather than oppose it. That which fol- lows the original ' Teaching of the Apostles ' (chap- ters 6: 3, to 16: 6), which is directed not to the cate- chumens but to the 'faithful,' (even to clergy, 7: 2) seems to be a later addition, ultimately shaped for the use of Montanisin,"f A few months later, the following appeared, which is sufficient to settle the question in the mind *Outlook and Sabbath Quarterly, July, 1884, pp. 17, 18. •Tlie Independent, June 26, 1884. 64 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. of every one, not blinded by prejudice, or incapaci- tated by ignorance: "Bryennios on the 'Teaching.'" " BY PROF. E. A. GROVENOR, ROBERT COLLEGE CONSTANTINOPLE. " "I have recently enjoyed two interviews with Bishop Bryennios. The first interview lasted niore than two hours, the second not so long. Both were devoted almost entirely to conversation concerning the 'Teiching.' "The Bishop expressed himself very freely. With interesting minuteness, he dwelt upon his- discovery of Che manuscript and upon its subsequent history in his connection with it. "The subject which h^ evidently deemed the most import mt, he discussed with special emphasis. Tills was concerning the relative value of different portions of the 'Teaching.' What; he said concern- ing it will be of interest to th- reader. "Everybody knows that the 'Teaching,' as pub- lished in the Constantinople edition of Br3'ennios, contains sixteen short chapters. The first six com- prise enforcement of duties and prohibition of sins and crimes; the last ten, commencing with the seventh, consist mainly of liturgical &nd ecclesiasti- cal prescriptions and ordinances. Now the Bishop says the ' Teaching of the Twelve Apostles' is limi ted entirely to those first six chapters, ajd, inas much as it i.<> derived through them from the Lord, each word therein is of binding force But, he says, the la'^t ten chapters are entirely distinct, and have no authority whatever, except so far as the writer happens to be correct in his injunctions. Kow far he was correct in these iujanc:i ms the Bish')p says we cannoc know. Their only weii^ht is found in the fact that they ^re the expression of SABBATH AND SUXDAY- 65 opinion of one person "w lio was presumably' a good man. To quote as txactly as 1 can the liishcp's language: 'In the year 100, 1"20, 140— we are not sure what year— a man says to himself, "I will write down just 'what the apostles have taught and what they learned from the Lord. I will write down what they said about special duties and sins. I will write down just what they said about the two wavH of virtue and vice." So he goes to work and writes it down just as well as he can remember, and, doubtlos, he lias in it the iid cf God's Spirit. All he has wdtten down is from Christ; it is just what tlie apo-itles sai 1; it is addr.s^ed only to Christians, and tJiis is what should bear the inscription of " Teaching of the Twehe Apostles." Ail this occu- pies just six exceedingly brief chapters. Jhit when he has done that, the wrifer is not satisfied. All he has done is that he has been a sort of amaiuiensis in writing down teachings for the practical guidance of the sainis. But the lieathen are being converted and pouring into the church. In tlie manner of re ceiving them vastly dilferent customs exist. There is no manual of directions on the suljject. In ore place tliev do this; in another place they do that. The vari-^ty of procedure is becoming a scandal. Christ did not formulate a system. He gave only a faith; and the apostles did 'hardly more. "Now," says ihe man. whom we will call the transcriber, in as;nu?,h as nothing in the six chap'.eis was origirial to him, "I will do s miething more. I will write what shall be good for tho-e coming into the cliurch, and what shall be a sort of guide or manual to the clergy in dealing with tiiem." We may suppose •hat, after great study and investigaion ar,d reflec- tion, or. possi'ly, with but liltle of such study, in- vestiL!;ation, timl rttiectiou, the man makes up his m ud as to what ought to be the com^e C'f pr« ccd- ure. or as to what is 'he course of [n-occdure in the majority of cases, and then, without inspiration, he 66 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. writes it down. It is possible, bvcd, that his opin ion may be in opposition to that of the vast majority of other believers. Hence the last ten chapters, as authority, have no value whatever. {/Itv sxovv ovdefjLiav a^iar.) Possibly the r of (7 i'^vEGir was then put here at the begiuniDg of the seventh chapter, aud preceded by the words-: "Teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles," thus mak- ing it in the original as distinct, and yet the wiiter hone>tly believing it the Teaching of the Lord be- cause it seemed so wise and so clear to him. Possi- bly the inscription was simply {roiO' f^'^veGiv) and, at last, with the title, " Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" prefixed, all was transported to the be- ginning of the book. But the sum of it is. these ten chapters have no authority save as the opinion of the unknown writer. There may have been a hun- dred men more capable than he of expressing an opinion, only he wrote down his opinion, and oth- ers did not. The first six chapters have upon us the binding force of the word of God. The Aidax'^ is, properly speaking, the first six chap- ters and no more.' "'How would Your Holiness prove this distinc- tion of the sixteen chapters into two distinct parts of unequal authority and obligation?' I asked. "'First,' he replied, 'by reading the first six chapters by themselves, and then the last ten chap- ters by themselves. Tnere is all the difference be- tween them of inspiration on the one side, and of human compilation and contrivance on the other.' Then the learned Bishop, wbo is profoundly versed in all the intricacies and subtleties of apostolic and ecclesiastical histoiy, made a remark which, for its ingeniousness and ingenuousness, I must ejuote. ' We know that many of these rules and directions had no authority save in ihe mind of the writer, SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 67 from the fact that, during the first and second cen_ turies after Christ, the observance and/u^toms of the church, in many respects, were different from what the writer approves and lays down in the last ten chapters. At the same time, we know that the teachings of the first six chapters are exactly the eame as those of Christ and his apostles. ^ _ . . ^'It is also a fact,' he said, ' that, in the Epistle of Barnabas, no quotation is made from the _ ieach- ing" except from the first Ax chapters Possibly thire may be from the sixteenth chapter; but it seems rather like a coiLcidence than quotatioiL Now if the writer of that epistle recogmzed alt the "Teaching" as equal, why does he quote only trom the first six chapters?' . „ . a. ^uk -'But' said I, 'is this fully in harmony with Your Hiliness's discussion of the writer of the /iiSaxV on certain pages of last year's Constanti- nople edition.' . • ^., •„„ '♦He replied: 'It is at variance with nothing which I said then, and it is in accordance with, and fortified by, my constant study of the /liSaXf? ever since it was published, and it is all to be set forth in the book I am now writing. There are other con- sideration s, too, which I shall there bring cut fully. Altogether it amounts to this: Six chapters, divine and obligatory; ten chapters, human, possibly good, but resting on one individual man's individual judg- ment of what was best.' "* We have treated of this document thus at length, for the sake of many readers who may not have had the opportunity to become familiar with it, and also to show that the second portion, in which oc- curs the reference that is claimed in support of Sun- day, is of a later date, and of less worth than the * The Independent, Oct. 15, 1884. 68 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. earlier. This reference is in the fourteentli chapter, and is translated by Hitchcock and Brown, as fol- U)W3: '• But on the Lord's day do ye assemble and break bread and give thanks, after confessing your trans- gressions, in order that your sacrifice may be pure." This passage, like the one from Ignatius, lacks the very important word day. The Greek is as follows: ^'Kata nvpiaKTiv 6£ Kvpiov (Tvvax^sy- rso' K\a(jars aprov jiai evxo[pi(rT?}(Tar8 7rpo()£^o;xoX.oyfj()aju€vot ra napaitrooixa- ravjAwv^ OTtooa ua^apa rj Bvffia vjac^v !/•" It will be seen that the structure of the opening clause is more than "pleonastic;" it is awkward. If the word day be supplied, or if the adjective be used for the substantive, we should have, "On the Lord's (day) of the Lord," etc. Dr. Potter suggests another meaning to the passage, which is certainly worthy of careful consideration, for while it does not relieve the imperfect construction of the clause, it accords perfectly with the meaning of the chap- ter. He says: " The wo' d day in the translation is entirely gra- tuitous. The word iff^iepav, is not in the text, and other words are as much eutitltd to the place as this. The chapter is devoted to the Lord's Supper and the qualiticatious necessary to enable one to be- come a partaker thereof. Should the word r parte- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 69 ing your transgressiODS,' etc. Whatever meaning may be given to the impo'*"' clause, nothing is gainea tor the cause o feunday, observance. The portion of the ••Teaching in which it occurs, is certainly later than the time of lustin Martyr, and likely to be contemporaneous ;"h the Apostolic Constitutions. The words of Justin (P. 71,) .how how and why Sunday w. ob- served as an eucharist day, in the atterhal of he second century. The history of " S^nl^J' ; ''^ *f. resurrection festival, begins there. Lord s day comes in later. CHAPTER VIII. Justin yVlARXYR, the First Di- rect Reference to Sun- day, AND THE Rise of Yo-p ABBATHISM. The middle of the second century marks the be- ginning of a new era in the Sabbath question. The first direct and indisputable reference to any form of Sunday observance by Christians, is made at this time, and simultaneously and by the same man, the No-Sabbath theory is propounded. Up to this time, Monotheism and the Scriptures had held the better part of the church to the Sabbath, as taught in the Decalogue. Polytheism and heathen philosophy ignored this idea, and openly proclaimed a type of no-Iawism and absolute no-Sabbathism. Ii was a part of the fruitage wliich came from the corrup- tion of the Apostolic Church and the gospel by ad- mixture with heathen fancies and speculations. Un- der the sway of these loose ideas, Sunday, already a festival among the heathen, found gradual welcome at the hands of the semi- Christianized leaders in the church, and final recognition by a still less Christian- ized form of civil government during the third and SABBATH A XI) SIM) AY. 71 fourth centuries. Justin 3Iartyr stands as a promi- nent representative of this no-Sabbathism, and also as an apologist for Christianity, who sought to soft- en the fury of the heathen Persecutors, by claiming a similarity between Christianity and heathenism. The entire passage concerning Sunday is as follows; only a part of it is usually quoted by writers who support the theory that Sunday is the Sabbath: *' On the day which is called Sunday, there is an assembly in one place of all who dwell either in towns or in the country ; and the ^lemoirs of the Apos- tles, or the writings of the Prophets are read, as long as the time permits. Then, when the reader haih cea.sed, the President delivers a discourse in which he reminds and exhorts them to the imitation of all these good things. We tlien all stand up together and put forth prayers. Then, as we have already said, when we cease from prayer, bread is brought, and wine, and water; and the President in like man- ner offers up prayers and praises with his utmost power; and the people expre«s their assent by say- ing, Amen. The consecrated elements are then dis- tributed and received by every one. and a portion is sent by the deacons to those wiio are absent. "Each of I hose also who have abundance, and are willing, according to his choice, gives what he thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the President, who succors the fatherless and the widows, and those who are in necessity from disease or any other cause; tho.se also who are in bonds, and the strangers who are sojourning among us; and in a word takes care of all who are in need. " We all of us assemble together on Sunday, be- cause it is the first day in which God changed dark- ness and matter and made tlie world. On the same day also Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the. dead. For he was crucitied the day before that of 72 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Sal urn: and on the day after that of Saturn, wliich is the day of the Sun, he appeared to his apostles and discipie-i and taught them what we now submit lo your consideration."* The foregoing extract will be better understood if the reader remembers that the author was a Gre- cian philosopher who accepted — we dare not say was converted to — Christianity, after reaching the age of manhood, and who retained man} of his heathen notions and sympathies through life. The days referred to, Saturn's and the Sun's, are desig- nated only by their heathen names, and the reasons which are given for meeting on Sunday are at once fanciful and unscriptural. The passage shows Justin in his true place as an Apologist, who sympathized with both parties, and sought to soften the leelings of the emperor by indicating those points in which Christianity and heathenism agreed. The following extracts from the same author show that he could not entertain any idea of the Sun's day as being in any sense the, Sahhath, or even a Sabbath. In his Dialogue With Tnjplio the Jew, the differences be- tween .Jastin's theories of Christianity, and Judaism, are strongly set forth, and the Sabbath is frequently referred to. In the 23d section of the Biah/gue, he says: " If we will not acknowledge ihis, we must neces- sarily fall into notions that can not be admitted, either that there was not the same God in the days * Apologry for the ChristiHiis to Antonius Pius, sectiong 87-89, Chevalier's translation, pp. 224-5; also Clark's Ante Nicene Library, Vol. 2, pp. 65, 66. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 73 * of Enoc'iJ, and all the rest, who did not praclice cir- cumcision accortliug to the tiesh, and keep the Sab baths, and those other rites and ceremonies which are enjoined by the law of Moses, or that he did not care that all mankind should always peiform the same righteous acts, which suppositions are absurd and ridiculous. We must therefore confess that it was for the sake of sinful men, that he who is always the same, ccmimanded these same things to be ob- served, and can pronounce him friendly to man, pos- essed of foreknowledge, needing nothing, just and good. If this be not so, tell me sir, what are your opinions on the subject? When none of them made any reply, I continued, I will then repeat to j^ou, Trypho. and to those who wish to become proselytes, that divine doctrine which I myself heard from the man of whom I spoke. Do you not see that the elements stay not from working, nor do thev keep any Sabbaths. Remain as you were born. For if circtmicision was not nec^dful before Abraham, nor Sabbath feasts, nor sacrifices before Moses, neither are they so now, when according to the will of God, Jesus Christ His Son has been born without sin, of the Virgin Mary, who was of the race of Abraham,"* In another place, he says: " The new law commands you to keep a perpetu- al Sabbath, and you rest on one day and think that you are religious, not considering why that com mandment was given you. Again, if j^ou eat im leavened bread, you say that you have fulfilled the law of God, but it is not by such means that the Lord our God is pleased. If any one of you is guilty of perjury or theft, let him sin no more. If any be an adulterer let him repent, and then he will have kept a true and pleasant Sabbath of God 'f * Library of the Fathers, Vol. 40, p. 98. Oxford edition; also Ante-Nicene Library. Vol. 2. pp, 115, 116- t Libi-ary of the Fathers, Vol. 40, p- 85; also Ante-Nicene, Vol. 2. p. 101. 74 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Be it here remembered that the Sabbath is often referred to in Justin's Dialogue, and that in the pas- sage just quoted he is answering a charge which Trypho brings against Christians, who, he declares, '* differ in nothing from the heathen in their manner of living, because they neither observe festivals, nor Sabbaths, nor the rite of circumcision."* Justin's reply seeks to defend himself against the charge by showing that such things were not re- quired of men under the gospel. In this way, Jus- tin shows that he did not predicate any observance of Sunday upon the fourth commandment, or upon any transfer of the " Jewish " to the " Christian " Sabbath. He does not link Sunday with the former dispensation by any such claims. In the forty-first section of the Dialogue he gives another fanciful reason in addition to those given in the Apology for giving Sunday a religious pre-eminence. This rea- son he expresses in the following words: "The command of circumcision, again, bidding [them] always to circumcise the children on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision, by which we are circumcised from deceit and iniquity through Him who rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath, [namely through] our Lord Jesus Christ. For the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the eighth, according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and [yet] remains the first, "f ^ Thus it appears that Justin is at once the first of the "Fathers" who makes any authentic mention * Dialogue, chap. 10. + Ante-Nicene Lib. Vol. 2, p. 139. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 75 of the pre-eminence of Sunday among Christians,) and the first exponent of absolute no-Sabbathism.' It is also pertinent to note, as Dr. Hessey has done,* that Justin always uses " Oaftl^ariQeiv " "with exclusive reference to the Jewish law," and that " he carefully distinguishes Saturday, the day after which our Lord was crucified from Sunday upon which he rose from the dead." In the face of these facts, it is manifestly unjust to claim Justin as an advo- cate of the sacredness of Sunday, either as the '' Puritan," the " Christian," or the •'Anglo-Ameri- can" Sabbath. It were better to let him stand in his true place as the exponent of semi-pagan no- Sabbathism , What we do learn from Justin, inferences and i. suppositions aside, is this: At the middle of the second century, certain Christians hold some form of religious service on Sunday. All that Justin says is compatible with the idea that the day was not regarded as a Sabbath, and his silence concerning any Sabbatic observance, is strong neg- ative proof of the absence of any such idea. His no-Sabbatkism is added proof of this. It is further apparent that since he undertook to de- scribe the things which were done on Sunday, and to give the reasons therefor, that had anything like the modern theory of a Sunday Sabbath then ob- tained, he must have mentioned the fact. Domville sums up the case as follows: * Sunday, p. 43, sec. 11. 76 SABBATH AN^D SUNDAY. "This inference appears irresistible when we further consider that Justin, in this part of his Apology is professedly intending to describe the mode in which Cliristians observed the Sun- day. . . . He evidently intends to give all infor- mation requisite to an accurate knowledge of the subject he treats upon. He is even so particular as to tell the Emperor why the Sunday was observed; and he does, in fact, specify every active duty be- longing to the day, the Scripture reading, the ex- hortation, the public prayer, the Sacrament, and the alms-giving: why then should he not also inform the Emperor of the one inactive duty of the day, the duty of abstaining from doing in it any manner of work? ... If such was the custom of Christians in Justin's time, his description ot their Suudiy duties was essentially defective. . . . But even were it prob- able he should intend to omit all mention of it in his Apology to the Emperor, it would be impossible to im- agine any sutficient cause for his remaining sileiit on the subject in his Dutlogne with Trypho the Jew; and this whether the Dialogue was real or imaginary, for if the latter, Justin would still, as Dr. Lardner has observed, 'choose to write in character.' . . . The testimony of Justin, therefore, proves most clearly two facts of great importance in the Sabbath con- troversy; the one, that the Christians in his time ob- served the Sunday as a prayer day, the other that they did not observe it as a Sabbath-day."* / Such is the summary of the case at the year 150 / A. D. No-Sabbathism, and some form of Sunday j observance were born at the same time. Trained ; in heathen philosophies until manhood, Justin ac- cepted Christianity as a better philosophy than he * Sabbath. Examination of the Six Texts; p. 274, seq., London, 1849. SABBATH AND SUNDAY had before found. Such a man, and those like him, 1 could scarcely do other than build a system quite I unlike apostolic Christianity. That which they did I build was a paganized rather than an apostolic type. CHAPTER IX. Other Writers, and the De- velopment OF No-jSab- BATHISM, The advocates of Sunday scan the pages of his- tory, subsequent to Justin's time, for every faint trace which refers to Sunday in any way. Trac- ing in chronological order the writers that are quoted we find them as follows: DIONYSIUS. \/ Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, stands next upon f the list of writers, who are claimed as mentioning I Sunday. (We shall discuss the expression " Lord's day "in another place.) The passage quoted is said to be from a letter addressed to Soter, Bishop of Rome. Only a fragment of the letter is extant, be- ing found in Eusebius,* A Latin volume of Euse- bius, published in 1570, gives chap. 22. The pas- sage is usually translated liberally as follows: " To day we have passed the Lord's holy day, in which we read your letter, which we shall hereafter read continually, as we do that of Clemens, that we may be replenished with precepts and wholesome instructions." The passage as "found in the Latin * Ecc. Hist., Book 4, chap. 23. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 79 edition of Eusebius. noted above, is as follows: "SaTictam hodie Dominicam diem per egimus, in una 'Destram legimus epistolam, quam semper admonitionis gratia Ugemus, siciit et priorem nobis per ClemenUm scripiam. " Routli* gives ' ' transegimiis " instead of of "peregimus," and in the Greek text gives. '' diJiyayo^J-er." Such, a fragment, if genuine, can not be made the foundation of an argument or a theory. It is dated A D. 170. Allowing that '' Lord's-day " refers to Sunday, it only shows a slight growth of the idea and practice referred to by Justin in his apology twenty or thirty years before. It does not show a Sahhatic observance; "have passed," or "gone throuo-h," the day is all that the text can be made to express; and to say "have kept," as Mr. Gilfillan does in a parenthesis, is a perversion. MELITO. Testimony in favor of Sunday is also sought from Melito, Bishop of Sardis, who wrote a book " on the Sabbath," some say; "on the Lord's-day, ' say others The basis on which these and similar statement, rest is this: None of the books written by him are extant. Eusebiusf pretends to give a list of works written by him. Routh^ gives the title of this one as '0 He pi Kvpiamja Aoyoff. Thus we have simply a book or discourse " concern- ing the Lord's ." Evidently an imperfect title, with no clue concerning the important word to be supplied. There were many other themes concern- -* Reliquiae Sacrs. Vol. 1, P-^f: tEcc. Hist. B*,ok 4, chap. 25. t Reliquife Sacrae, Vol. 1, p. 1^0. 80 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ing which one might write besides the Lord's day. It is not surprising that Eusebius should supply the ellipsis with the word " day." He wrote one hun- dred and fifty years after the time of Melito, and evidently had no authority except a mutilated cata- logue, or tradiiion. He was a great admirer of Con- stantine, and an earnest supporter of his " Sunday legislation. " His comments upon some of the Psalms evince an unwarrantable effort to give a religious character to the Sunday. With such tendencies and under such circumstances, Eusebius would naturally be tempted to claim Melito as a " Sunday author.'' In the same chapter, Eusebius states that Melito wrote a discourse concerning " Easter," in the pre face to which he says that it was written at a time when " there was a great stir at Laodicea concern- ing the Sabbath, which in those days, by reason of the times, was broken up," {Motaest Laodliece mag- na qucEsUo Sabbata, quod in dubus illis x>ro ratio ne temporis, inclderat.) In this statement, there is, clearly, a reference to the flood of no-Sabbathism which found its first prominent advocate in Justin a quarter of a cealury before the time of Melito. It also shows that the distinctively Christian element in the church withstood this semi-Pagan apostasy, and hence a ''great stir was made." IREN^US. Irenieus, Bishop of Lyons, flourished during the last quarter of the second century. Positive dates conci'rniiig him and his writings arc wauling. Prob- ably ihe most of his writings which have come down SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 81 to US were written after 180 A. D. One brief pas- SHf-e ascri1)ed to biui has been quoted and paraphrased by several modern writers in such a way as to indicate inexcusable carelessness, to say the least. Dr. Justin Edwards, says: " Hence Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, a disciple of Polvcarp, who had been thecomi)aninn ot the apost- les " V 1) 167. says that the I.ord's-day Avas the Chris ian Sabbath. His words are, ' (.»n the L<>^ci «- day every one of us (Christians keeps the Sabbath, meditatiA- on the law and rejoicing in the works of God.'"* Mr. Gnrney and others among English writers have used similar language. Mr. Giltillan is some- what more guarded in his use of Irenceus, though not less deceptive as to his real leachmgs, and the facts relative to the foregoing quotation. The important fact to be considered is this: The wntings of Iretmus conUnri no hucJi passage. In support of this state- ment we offer the following testimony from the- pen of Sir William Domville: " Mr Gurney, in .speaking of the Christians of the second century, says: ' Irenajus, Bishop of Lyons, V D 107 expressly asserts that the Lords day was f.eir Sabbath.' ' (3n the Lord's-day. every one of us Uhrisiians keeps the Sabbath, m.dita iiig on the law, and rejoicing in the works of God.' In a note, Mr. Gurney adds, as his authority, 'Quoted by D wight, Theoh)gv, Vol. 4, p. 26.' " tvho is D wight? And why should Mr. Gurney in this caus pointed out."* We have thus quoted from Domville, because of *Sabbath, Examination of the Six Texts, p. 127. et.. seq. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 83 his unquestioned authority as an author. (Robert Cox, Sabbath Literature, Vol. 1, supports Domville on this point). We have also verified his statements by comparing them with the American edition of Dr. Dwight's Theology It may be well also to re- mark here, that the original sources of information concerning the writings of Irenteus are very meager, and hence the greater difficulty which one afflicted as Dr. Dwight was would labor under in quoting from him. This will appear in the following state ment from very high authority: "There is nothing now remaining of Irenaeus be- sides his five books against heresies, and fragments of some other pieces; and those five books, which were written by him in Greek, are extant only in an ancient Latin version, excepting some fragments preserved by Eusebius, and other Greek writers who have quoted them."* Careful research shows that these writings of Irenaeus contain no such passage Oi^ \hQ ona referred to by Dr. Dwight, and quoted with such confidence by Mr. Gurney, Dr. Edwards, and others. In sup- port of this statement, we quote again from Dom ville: "But, although not found in Irenaeus, there are in the writings ascribed to another Father, namely, in the interpolated Epistle of Ignatius to the Magne- sians, and in one of its interpolated passages, ex- pressions so closely resembling those in Dr. Dwight s quotation, as to leave no doubt of the source from which he quoted. . . Unwilling to rely merely up * Lardner, Credibility of the Gospel History. Vol. 2. pp- 292, 29.3, London, 1347- 84 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. on the identity of the passage in Ignatius, with the quotations made as from Irenseus by Drs. Dwight and Paley, I have carefully searched through all the extant works of Irenaeus, and can, with certainly, state that no such passage, or any one at all resemb- ling it. is there to be found. The edition I consult- ed was that by Missuet, (Paris, 1710); but to assure myself still further, I have since looked to the edi- tions by Erasmus, (Paris, 1563.) andGrabe, (Oxford, 1702,) and in neither do I find the passage in ques- tion."* We have carefully verified the statement made above by Sir William Domville, and do not hesitate to repeat that Irenajus contains no such passage as the one attributed to him. Nor is the passage from the interpolated Epistle of Ignatius given in full; why, we do not know, unless it be that when the whole passage is given it over- throws the claim which is made concerning a part of it when standing alone. That our readers may see the whole, we insert the passage which is as fol- lows: "Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and r -joice in da3's of idle- ness; for 'he that does not w^oik. let him not Ciit.* For, say the [boly] oracles, 'In the sweat of thy face shait thou eat thy bread.' But let every one of you keep the Sabbath af rer a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed spate, nor fir ding delight in dancing and plaudits * Examination of the Six Texts, pp. 131, 132; also Cox, Sab. Lit, Vol. 1, suppieiueut, p. 329. SABBATH AKD SUNDAY. -85 Thus it is shown that the ott-quoted passage from IreniEus must be placed upon the list of "things wanting;" and its use by those who liave thus m^ correetly predieated an argument upon it must be called, putting it mildly, a ««*«.. muake. ^^>"= « passage from the moreauthentic writings of Iren^us and the only one in which he discusses .he Sabba h question, at length, will show the reader his theory concerning the matter of Sabbath keeping. Giving this, we will dismiss him from the witness stand: .•Tt is clear therefore, that he loosed and vivihed those who believe in him as Abraham did ch,mg r SXX^ y^^^^ not prl\ ItT n fr,»nbeinl healed upon the Sabbaths; [on the con- a vl it e?en circumcised them upon ll^-'t o" {1 '« 1« J, Xw k^x^i^^-i^^'anSs' xr^sx e^i^c^"^str=£S5 »;n^!v':o=yeVt'f^Toatstal3^^^ servilework^^^ * Those ^vishing to examine this pas|age^w^^^ ^iV^lnil 86 SABHATFI A XI) SUXDAV. which is procured by tradiog and by other worldly business; but it exhorted them to attend to the ex ercises of the soul, wl)i( h consist in reflection, and to addresses of a beneficial kind for their neighbor's benefit. And therefore the Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed him for having healed upon the Sabbath days. For he did not make void, but ful- filled the law, by performing the offices of the high- priest, propitiating God for men, and cleansing tlie lepers, healing the sick, and himself suffering deaiti. that exiled man might go forth from condemnation, and m^ht return without fear to his own inheritance. And n^n, the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath-days to take food lying ready at hand; it did, however, forbid them to reap and to gather into the barn."* In another place Irena3us declares the binding nat- ure of the Decalogue, in these words: "They (the Jews) had therefore a law. a course of discipline, and a prophecy of future things. For God at the first, indeed warning them by means of natural precepts, which from the beginning he had implanted in mankind, that is, by means of the Dec- alogue (which if any one does not observe, he has no salvation) did then demand nothing more of them, f * Ajrainst Heresies, Library of the Fathers, B. 4, chap. 8; also Aiite-Nicene Library, Vol. 5, pp. 397. 398. + .\gainst "Heresies. B. 18, chap. 15. CHAPTER X. TeRTULLIANAND his j^OLLOWERS. The following, from the pea of Neander, will fair ly introduce the next writer to be examined: -Quintus Septimus Tertullianus was born in the later years of the second century, probably at Car- thage and was the son of a centurion in the service of the Proconsul at Carthage. . He was at first an advocate or rhetorician, and arrived at manhood be- fore he was converted to Christianity; and he then obtained, if the account given by Jerome is correct, ?he office of a Presbyter. ... He was a man of , ar- tot mfnd, warm 'disposition and feeply senou^^^ character, accustomed to give .^^^^^^^ ,\!P J^^^^^^^ his soul and strength to the object of hu l«ve ana haughtily to reject all which was uncongenial to that Ob ect He had a fund of great and multifari- ous knowledge, but.it was confusedly hea^d up in his mind without scientific arrangement. His deptn of thought was not united with log cal clearness and Sdgment; a warm ungoverned ni^ngination that dwelt in sensuous images, was his ruling power. Tertullian wrote extensively concerning almost all points of Christian doctrine. The following ex tracts will show what his opi':ions were relative to the Sunday. The quotat ons here made are care- fully translated from the Latin ..-diiion of Gersdorf . * church History, First Three Centuries, p. 425. 88 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Leipsic, 1839, and compared with the English trans- lation found in Library of the Fathers, Oxford, 1842. "It follows therefore, that ina-niucn as the aboli tion of carnal circuaicisiou aud of the old law hjis been provea, so also the observation of the temporal Sabh.ith has been demonstrated. For the Jews say that God from the beginning, s:anctified the seventh day by restiog from ;ill his works; and that Moses [Laid to the people, Remember the Sabbalh-day to keep it holy, in it thou shalt do no sirvile work, but only that work which concerns the soul, by which we know more, namely: that we should alvvays sabba- tize fiotn all servile work, not only on the seventh dny alone, but through all time. And we must now require which Sabbath God wishes us to keep, for !he Scriptures speak of an tternal, hndof a temporal SabV)ath, For Isaiah thep^opliet says: 1: 14, 'Your Sal)barii8 my soul hateth;' and in another place, ' Ye have profaned my Sabbaths:' from which we learu titat the temporal Sabbath is to be considered human, the elernal Sibbaih divine. For th s is fore- told through Isaiah 66: 28. He says: 'From one moon to another, and iiom one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the Lord;' which we understand to have been fulfilled in the time of Christ, when all flesh — that is all men — came to Jerusalem to adore God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ, as was foretold by the prophet — Isaiah 4: 9—' Behold proselytes shaircome to thee through me.' Hence as there was a spiiitual, before the carnal circuincision, there was also an eternal Sabbath pre-(xisting, and predicated befe works which he had before enjoined for the -six days, that is, your own works; in other word-*, human works of dailj'' life. Now, the car- rv ing around of the ark is evidently not an ordinary daily duty, nor yet a Jnmian one; but a rare and a sacred work, and, as being then ord(refi by the di- rei't precept of God, a divine one. . . . Tluis, in the pre>teiit instance, there is a clear distinction respect ing the Sabbath's prohibition of human labors, not divine ones. Accordingly, the mnn who went and gahered Slicks (m the Sabbath-day, was punished with death. For i t was his own work which he did ; and this tlie law forbade. They, however, who on the Sabbath carried the ark round Jericho, did it with injpunity. For it was not their own work, but *EccI. Hist, of the Second and Third Centuries. Illustrated from tlie writings of Tertullian, p. 368, London; 1845. 94 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. God's, which they executed, and that, too, from Mb express commaDdment."* A late writer, J. N, Andrews, aptly describes the position and character of Tertullian in the following words: " This writer contradicts himself in the most ex- traordinary manner concerning the Sabbath and the law of God. He asserts that the Sabbath was abol ished by Christ, and elsewhere emphatically declares that he did not abolish it. He says that Joshua vio- lated the Sabbath, and then expressly declares that he did not violate it. He says that Christ broke the Sabbath, and then shows that he never did this. He represents the eighth day as more honorable than the seventh, and elsewhere states just the reverse. He asserts that the law is abolished, and in other places affirms its perpetual obligation. He speaks of the Lord's day as the eighth day, and is the sec ond of the early writers who makes an application of this term to Sunday, Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194, being the first. But though he thus uses the term like Clement he also like him teaches a perpet- ual Lord's-day, or, like Justin Martyr, a perpet ual Sabbath in the observance of every day. And with the observance of Sunday as the Lord's-day he brings in ' offerings for the dead ' and the perpetual use of the sign of the cross. But he expressly af firms that these things rest, not upon the authority of the Scriptures, but wholly upon that of tradition and custom. And though he speaks of the Sabbath as abrogated by Christ, he expressly contradicts this by asserting that Christ * did not at all rescind the Sabbath,' and that he imparted an additional sanctity to that day which from the beginning had been con- secrated by the benediction of the P'ather. This ♦Against Marcion, B. 2, chap. 21, Lib. Fathers, as above ; also Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. 7, pp. 100, 101. SAB HATH AND SLXUAV. 95 Strange mingling of light and darkness plainly in- dicates the age in which this author lived. He was not so far removed from the time of the apostles but that maay clear rays of divine truth shone upon him; and he was far enough advanced in the age of apostasy to have its dense darkness materially affect him. He stood on the line between expiring day and advancing night. Sometimes the law of God was unspeakably sacred; at other times tradition was of higher authority than the law. Sometimes divine institutions were alone precious in his estimation; at others he was better satisfied with those which were sustained only by custom and tradition."* (Mr. Andrews evidently refers to book 4, chap. 13, "Against Marcion," in which Tertullian with many strange twistings and turnings, discusses the question as to whether Christ broke or annvilled the Sabbath. As the passage makes no reference to Sunday, our pages do not yield it space. It will be found in Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. 7, pp. 315-220.) The lesson which is taught in the writings of Ter- tullian, and which is especially pertinent to our pres- ent inqiry is this, told in a single sentence. Under the influence of noSabbathism, at the close of the second century, the observance of the Sabbath was declining, and the semi-pagan Sun's day had become a festival for "indulgence to the flesh." The "mystery of iniquity" was rapidly working, preparing the way for a corrupt and cor- rupting union of church and state with the attend- ant evils which swarmed in upon the spiritual life * Testimony of the Fathers, p. 63. 96 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. of Christianity vrhen the " Man of Sin "began to change times and laws. CLEMENT, OF ALEXANDRIA, comes nt'xt in tlie order cf our examination. He died about the beginning of the third ccntuiy. The quotations from this author are generally made from fragmentary WTitings called Stromata, Patchirork of Miscelltineaus Discourses. By ingenious p^iraphrasing and by interpolating here and there a word, careless and prejudiced authors have attempted to draw direct evidence from Clement in favor of a transfer of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. (M. A. A. Phelp's "Perpetuity of the Sab- bath," Boston, 1841; and Mr. James' "Four Ser- mons," London, 1830, are prominent examples of misuse of Clement's words.) An eminent critic and commentator upon the writings of Clement, confutes this claim in the following words: "I dtem it scarcely Eeces:sary to observe that Clement never applies the name tSabbath to the firfct day of the week, which he calls the Lord's-day."* We select a passage or two from the mystical ref- erences which Clement makes to the Sabbath and Sabbath-keeping, to illustrate his theories. Of the fourth commandment, he says: *' And the fourth word is that which intimates that the world was created by God, and that /te gave usth-e seKnth day as a rest, on account of the trouble that there is in life. Fr>r God is inciipable of weari- * Some Account of the writings and Opinions of Clement of Alexandria, by John, Bishop of Lincolon, p. 413, London. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 97 ucss, and suffeiin^, and want. But we wliohmr Jlci^h need rest Theseoenthdaif, therefore, i'* proclaimed a rest — abstraction from ills — preparin.u; for the primal day, oiir true res^; wbicli, in truth, is tlie first crea- tion of light, in which all things are viewcrl and possessed. From this day the tirst wisdom and knowledge illuminate us."*" His theory concerning the observance of days and times is clearly set forth in the following: " Now. we are commanded to reverence and to honor the same one, being persuade 1 tlint he is Word, Saviour, and Leader, and by him. the Father, not on sperifil days (' selected times '). ^* wme others, but dmng thu continiudly in our mhole l>'fe. and in every way. Certainly the elect race, justified by the pre- cept, says, * .seven limes a day have I praised thee.' Whence not in a specified place, or selected temple, or at eert'dn, fefd is everywhere present, and fancies not that he is shu^ up in certain definite places, so that, suppos- inc" himself ever out of his presence, he ma}' trive way to licentiousness by night or by day. AVe. then, * stroniHtM. Book 6, chap. 16. Library of the F;ither^, Vol. in; also Ante-Nicene. Vol l^.p-SSfi. The wholeof chapter If'isa va«ne arifl f mcifnl discussion of the properties of tlieniiml.er seven, of which we have quoted the most sensible pait. (7) 98 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. making our whole lives a festival, persuaded that God is everywliere present, praise him as we toil in the fields, praise him as we sail on the sea, in any other mode of life have our conversation according to rule." Again he states that "one, having fulfilled the command according to the gospel, makes that day the Lord's-day, on which he casts off evil thoughts, and takes those which are according to knowledge, glorifying the Lord s resurrection as wrought in him- self."* Thus the reader finds Clement teaching the same no-Sabbathism, acd making the same analogies and contrasts between the old and new dispensations, and between sin and holiness, which abound in the representative writings of his time. A passage in which, as Bishop Kaye remarks, Clement is trying to bring out " the properties and virtues of the num- bers six, seven, and eight, the hidden meanings of which numbers he frequently speaks of," has been so f paraphrased and interpolated, as to make it ap- pear that a contrast is being^drawn between the sev- enth and eighth days. It is as follows: "Having reached this point, we must mention these things by the way; since the discourse has turned on the seventh and the eighth. For the eighth may possibly turn out to be the seventh, and the seventh manifestly the sixth, and the latter properly the Sabbath, and the seventh a day of work. For the creation of the world was concluded in six days. For the motion of tbe sun from solstice to solstice is completed in six months — in the course of which * Stromata, b, 7. chaps. 7 and 12, Library of the Fathers : also Ante-lSicene Lib.. Vol. 12, pp. 431. -132 and 461. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 99 time the leaves fall, and at another plants bud and seeds come to maiurity."* The passage goes on thus fancifully, through sev- eral paragraphs, some of which could not appear here without the charge of impropriety. Comment is not necessary to show that Clement belongs to the ultra school of no-Sabbathists. ORIGEN. Origen was born A. D. 185, died A. D. 253. He was a pupil of Clement of Alexandria, the effects of whose teachings are clearly seen in his ideas con- cerning the question under consideration. Neander sayUhat "the influence whicli Clement had exerted on his theological development is undeniably shown most conspicuously. We find in him the predomi- nant ideas of the latter systematically developed " The passage which is more frequently quoted from Origen by writers in favor of Sunday, is from his Twenty-third Homily on Numbers. Concerning the authenticity of this Homily, Robert Cox speaks as follows: " That the Sabbath was kept by the JeiDish mem- bers of the church is not only probable in itself, but would be certain from a passage in Origen's Twenty- third Homily on Numbers, if we could contidently assume that Homily to be a genuine record of one of his discourses. Not only have Origen's writings been more than usually corrupted, but his Homilies having been taken down from his mouth by report- ers, and there being no certainty that he ever revised them, our confidence in the accuracy of any partic- ular pass:^ge cannot be very great. Of the Twenty - *Stromata, book 6. chap. IG, Ante-Nicene Lib., Vol. VZ. p. 386 100 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. third Homily, moreover, only a Latin translation is extant."* The passage as usually translated is as follows: ** Leaving the Jewish observances of the Sabbath, let us see how the !Sabl)ath ought to be observed by a Christian. On the Sabbath-day all worldly labors ou^ht to be abstained from. If, therefore, 3 ou cease from all secular works, and execute nothing worldly, but give yourselves up to spiritual exentises, repair ing to ciiurfh, attending to sacred reading and in- struction, thinking of celestial things, solicitous for the fut'jre. placing the judgment to come before your eyf'S, not looking to ihings present and visible but to those which are future and invisible, this is the observance of the Cliri-stiau Sabbath." The especial phrase " Christian Sabbath" as it is rendered is applied to Sunday. The remarks of Dr. Hessey, coucerniug it, are subjoined as the lir.-t evidence against it. He says: 'In quoting as Origen's opinion, in the text, 'As for the Sabbath it has passed away as a matter of obligation (as every thing else purely Jewish has passed away.) though its exemplary and Typical les- sons are evident still,' I had in mind his Twenty- thiid Homily on Numbers. f 1 did not cite it in tlie first and second editions, becausn [ conceived if. im- possible that any one could so far mistake its mean- ing as to imagine that Origen's words SabbaU Uhris- tiani were to be taken as equivalent to what has souietimes been termed the Ghr'mUaii SabJxtih, viz.: the Lord's-day. lUit as 1 his mistuke has oc 'urred, I DOW give a sort of Ai alysis of the Hcmiily."^: * Sail. Lit.. Vol. 1, r.l''.48. + Tome ii, p. 358, seq. X Bamptt.n Lectures on Sunday, Note l:2(), p. 287. Loudon, 1866. SABBATH A#D SUNDAY. 101 Mr. Hessey goes on to show that Origen in this Homily is seeking to explain nine different Jewish festivals {fesimtutes) as being symbols of the Chris tianlife. accordiug to the style of allegorical inter- pretation, which was then prevalent. The Sabbath {FesUvitas Sabbati) is the second on the list, and is made a type of holy living under the Gospel In the words of Dr. Hessey: " It is perfectly evident that Origen is here draw- ing a transcendental picture of the life of a Chris- tiao which he sets forth under 'he allegory ot the keeping of the Jewish Sabl.ath. He who lives in the manner which is described, realizes the tiabbatis- mvs mentioned in the Hebrews, and by thus em- bracing the exemplary meaning of the Jewish baD- balh, Christianizes it. or draws a Christian moral f mm it So .Sabbati Chridiaiii does not mean ' Chris- tian Sabbath,' or Lord's dny, a phrase not in use un- til the twelfth century, but the Jewish Sabbati^ wiin a Christian moral or meaning deduced from it. ^o one who has read the whole of the Homily can at^ tach any other meaninL' to tiie passage. 1 may a(ia that if Origen is not svmbolizino: the Sabbath, but advocating it-i continuance in the Lords-day, he must be supposed to be jidvocating the lireral con- tinuance of the other T'^^i'/iVvto/es also." . . • "l?^^^ this there is not the remotest allusion to the Sabbath bting either indendcal with, or cominued in he Lord's-day. The passage is intended to exhibit the form in which the ' Sabbatisnius ' which remainetli for the people of God may be realized here and Origen goes on to intimate, will be more pertect.y ^e^dized"hereaf ter. " We were at first inclined to dis«ent from the fore- going exegesis by Dr. Hessey, but after carefullj 102 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. examining the whole chapter as found in the Origi- nal,* we are certain that such is the meaning, that Ori^en is contrasting a life-rest in well doing, with the weekly Sabbath rest of the former dispensation. In full keeping with this view are his words in an- other place,f where he is trying to evade the charge that Christians were not consistent, since, by observ- ing festivals they ignored the teachings of Paul in Gal. 4. 10. He says: ' ' But if any one should object to that which takes place among us on the Lord s-day, or the Prepara- tion days, or on the days of the Passover or of Pente- cost, the answer is, that the perfect Christian who continually, by words, works, and thoughts, lives in accordance with the Word of God, his natural Lord, is ever in his days, and daily keeps a Lord's- day. He also who continually prepares himself to live in accordance with truth, and abstains from the pleasures of lite, by which m^my aie deceived, who does not feed the desires of the flesh; but keeps his body under, he is always keeping a Preparation day."t Thus does Origen surpass his predecessors, oppos- ing even the idea of any specific time for public worship, as a religious duty. He teaches a mixture of QO-Sabbathism and of higher Si iritual Sabbath- ism, which ignores specific time as sacred, and makes all time sacred in a certain degree. Judging by the then present state of the church and the subse- * Origensis Opera Omnia, etc., Liber t-econd, p. 358, Paris, 1733. t Contra Celsum, Lib. viii. chap. 22. t Opera. Liber I, p. 7.58. Edition above quoted; also, Ante- Niceue Lib. Vol. 23, p. 509. SABBATH AI^D SUNDAY. 103 quent results, Origen's teacliings helped to swell the tide of practical no-Sabbathism. CYPPaAN. Cyprian was Bishop of Carthage. He died A. D. 258 His views concerning the Sunday were pat- terned after those of Tertullian. Neander states that "the study of the writings of Tertullian had plainly a peculiar influence on the doctrinal develop- ment of Cypiian. Jerome relates, after a tradition supposed to come from the secretary of Cyprian, that he daily read some part of Tertullian's writings, and was accustomed to call him by no other name than that of Master." The passage usually quoted in favor of the Sunday is from his Epistles. He is considering the proper time for the baptism of in- fants, and says: "For in that in the Jewish circumcision of the flesh the eighth day was observed a mystery was ffiven beforehand, in a shadow and ma figure; but when Christ came it was accomplished in i^ahly For because the eighth day, that is the ^/st after the Sabbath, was to be that whereon our Lord would rise aga n and quicken, and give }is ^he sp ri ual circumcision, this eighth day that is the r.rst a er the Sabbath, and the Lord's-day. was ^l^^^fj^^^ fio-ure Which figure ceased when the reality atter- w^ards came, and when the spiritual circmncision was given to us. On which account we think that no one should, by that law which was before or- dained, be hindered, from obtaining g'^^^; /^^ should the spiritual circumcision be hiudeied by the circumcision of the flesh, but every one is to be by all means -d-j^^^.to the grace of Christ, inasmuch as Peter also, in the Acts ot tbe lot 8ABBATH AND SUNDAY. Apostles, speaks and says, ' The Lord balh showed me that 1 sliould not call any man common or un- ckan.'" Acts 10: 28.* Such vague, unmeaning mysticism needs no c )m- ment. Instead of showing that these writers deemed the Sunday to be either a Sabbath, or the Sabbath, it rather shows how much the works of these lead- ing men of the third ceniury are marred by their efforts to find a hidden meaning in all ceremonies, numbers, and days. coKcr.usroNs. The foregoing are all of the important witnesses in favor of the Sunday for the first three centuries. Collating their testimony, the following conclusions are unavoidable: I 1. No traces of the observance of the Sunday are ■fou':d unil about 'he middle of the f-econd ceniury. Those api)ear first in .fustin ]\rartyr's Fir-t Apology. The leading reason assli^ned by him for its observ- ance is founded on a mystical interpretation of cer- tain pa'S.ig(S supposed to refer to the millennium. The supposed^ resurrection of Christ on thar day i3 * Epistles, chap. 64, sec. 4, Oxford Edition of Lib. of the Fathers, but numbered as 58 in Ante-Nicene Lib. Vol. 8, p. 196. tWe say " sni)i)()sed," because the New Tesfament makes no '/.(ffii>if« ftffifei/u/if that ChvUt rose on Sunday. So far as the SiiV.bath question is c()iKein« d, we aie willinjr to grant that he did. But the Gospels do not explicitly state this. For discussi(mof the time of the resurrection, see Sabbath and Sunday, Vol. L, pp. .52-56. SABBATH AXD SLNJ)AY. 105 mentumed incidentally as a secondary reason. About | the close of the second century, the id..a of com- [j niemorating the resurrection by the observance of j the Sunday increases, and the term "Lord's day "\ begins 1o be applied to i^ 2. During the third century, no-lawism and the no-Sa'>bath theory gain the ascendency in the theo- ries of the leaders. The representative writers of this century teach that there is no sacred time under the gospel d spensation. That no days are holy, and no observance of specific times religiously binding. That the true idea of the Sabbath c msists in rest from sin. That the true idea of the Lord's day and its associate festivals consists in communion with Christ, and obedient life. The fancies of Cyprian concerning circumcision as a type of the "eighth day " appear toward the close of the third cen- tury. 3. The observance of the Sunday which then pre vaiUd was notsahhatic. In the second century there '. is no trace of the sabbatic idea connected with it. It is a day, some part of which is used f .r the purpose / of pu'>lic religious instruction. Inthe third century,/; the celebration of the Lord's Supper en Sunda^/ seems to have become quite general. This was alsd/ done regularly on at least three otlier days in each week. The interdiction of " business and kneeling " on that day. which appears during the last half of the third century, was made because business cares interrupted tlmfestU enjoyment of the day. and not 106 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. because any true idea as of a Sabbath was enter tained. This is shown from the language of those passages in which such iaterdiction appears, and in the fact that these same writers plead strenuously for the Sabbath as a life-rest from sin, and not as a week- ly rest from labor. Dr. Hes^ey, in speaking of the '*Lord's-day" at this period, says: " It was never confounded with the Sabbath, but was carefully distinguished from it as sn institution under the law of liberty, observed in a different way and with diffeient feelings, and exempt from the severity of the provisions which were supposed to characterize the Sabbath."* Robert Cox, i- peaking of the close of the third century, gives the following: " But although Christian theology had not at this time assumed the systematic form which it after- wards attained, there is no ground for saying that the Fathers, or 'the Church ' represented by them, had formed no theory, Sabbatarian or dominical, of the Lord's-day. Often did the question occur to them, Why do we honor the first day of the week and as- semble for worship upon it? And to this question not ODC of them wh) lived before the reign of Con- stantine has either answered, with Mr. GilfiUan, ' Because the fourth comniiudment binds the Chris- tian Church as it did the Jews, and the Sabbatli-day was changed by Christ or his apostles from Satur- day to SuLday,' or replied, with Dr. Hessey, 'Be cause the apostles, who had a divine commission, appointed the Lord's-day to be observed as a Chris- tian festival.' On the contrary, they give sundry other reasons of their ow^n, fanciful in most cases, and ridiculous in some. The best of them is that * Lectures on Sunday, p. 49, London, 1866. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 107 on the first day the Saviour had risen from the dead; and the others chietly are, that on the first day God changed darkness and matter, and made the world; that on a Sunday Jesus Christ appeared to and in- structed his disciples; that the command to circum- cise children on the eighth was a type of the true circumcision, by which we were circumcised from error and wickedness through our Lord, who rose from the dead on the first day of the week; and that manna was first given to the Israelites on a Sunday. From which the inevitable inference is. thit they neither had found in Scripture any commandment — primeval, Mosaic, or Christian — appointing the Lord'sday to be honored or observed, nor knew from tradition any such commandment delivered by Jefsus or his apostles."* * Sabbath Literature, Vol. 1; p. mi. CIIAPTEK XL Other Days of Worship. Before considering the next era in the Sabbath question, which was ushered in through civil legis lation, it is well to notice certain other days of wor ship, which sprang up previous to the fourth cen- tury. WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY. The fourth and the sixth days of the week as semi- religious fasts were made prominent among the pub- lic days of the church during the third century. Jo- seph Bingham speaks of them as follows: "However, it was not long after Justin Martyr's time, before we are sure the church observed the custom of meeting solemnly foi- divine worship on Wednesdays and Fridays, wliich days are commonly called stationary days, because tliey continued their assemblies on these days to a great lengtli, till three o'clock in the afternoon. . . . Teitullian assures us, that on these days they always celebrated ihe com- munion, from whence we ma)'^ infer, that the same service was performed on these days as on the Lord's day, unless, perhaps, the sermon was wanting. Some there were, he says, who objected against receiving the commimion on these days, bjcaus-, they were scrupulously afraid they should break their fast by eating and drinking the bread and wine in the Eu- charist; and thei-efore they chose rather to absent themselves from the oblation prayers, than break eAPPAQH A^'D SIKDAY. 109 their fast, as they imagined, by receiving the Eu- charist Whom he undeceives by telling them that to receive the Eucharist, on such days would be no infringement of their fast, but bind them closer to God- their station would be so much the more sol- emn' for their standing at the altar of God; they mi^'-ht re^eive the body of the Lord and preserve their fast too, and so both would be safe, wlulst they both participated of the sacritice and discharged their other obligation. Since, therefore, they re- ceived the Eucharist on these days, we may con- clude they had all the prayers of tlie comnuuuoii ot- tice and what other otttces were wont to go before them, as the psalmody and reading of the i^criptures, and prayers for the catechumens and penitents, which, together with the sermons, were the whole service for the Lord s day. But, because even all this could not take up near so much time, as must needs be spent in these stations, it seems most prob- able tliat in two particulars, they enlarged their ser- vice on these days. th;it is, in their psanuody, and private prayers, and confession of sins. The Psalms, as we shall see hereafter, were sometimes leiigth- ened to an indefinite nuiuber. twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more, as the occasion of a vigil or a fast re- quired, and between everv psilm they had liberty to meditate and fall to th. ir private prayers: ami by these two e.xereises, so lengthened and repeated, it is easy to conceive how the longest statu n uught be employed. ... St. Basil agrees with Tertullian, in making these days not only fasts, but communion days; for, reckoning up how many days in the week they received the communion, he uiakes ^^ ednesdMy and Friday to be two of the number. Yet. still it is hard to conceive what business they could have to detain them so long in the church since their collects and public prayers were but few in ccmiparison, and therefore it seems most probable that a competent share of this time was spent in psalmody, and as 1 110 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. find a learned person* inclined to think, in private devotion, which always had a share in their service, and was generally intermixed with their singing of psalms, as shall be showed in their proper places.*"f A careful study of the foregoing will show that religious worship was more fully attended to on the Wednesday and the Friday than on the Sunday, and an extended comparison between the ' ' Fasts " and the "Festivals" of the second and third centuries,, will show that the former contributed far more to the re- ligious life of those times than the latter did. This was especially true in the Western Church. It is certain, from Tertullian and others, that the Sunday was the great weekly festival of ' * Indulgence for the flesh." As such, it was more popular, but less con- ducive to true spiritual growth and Christian devel- opment. There is further testimony, which, though it carries us over into the next century, serves to cor- roborate what has already been said concerning Wed- nesday and Friday. Eusebius, after speaking of the laws which Constantine made relative to Sunday, adds: ' ' He also ordered that they should reverence those days which Immediately precede the Sabbath, be- cause, as it seems to me, of the memorable acts of our Saviour upon those days. 'X Sozomen, who wrote about 450 A. D., speaking of Constantine, says: "He also enjoined the observance of the day * StUlingfleet. Orig., Britan, p. 221. \ Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book 13, chap. 9. Also Book 14, chap. 1, and Book 15, chap. 1, sec. 1. X De Vita Constantini, Liber 4, chap. 18. SA.BBATH AND SUNDAY. Ill termed the Lord's-day which the Jews call the first dav of the week and which the Greeks dedicate to the sun, as likewise the day before the seventh, and commanded that no judicial or other business should be transacted on those days, but that CrOd should be served with prayers and supplications. He , honored the Lord's day because on it Christ arose | from the dead, and the day above mentioned because j on it he was crucified."* Heylyn, having; quoted Eusebius and Sozomen as above, adds: " For I do not conceive that they met every day in these times to receive the Sacraments. Of Wednes- day and Friday it is plain they did, (not to say any- thing of Saturday until the next section), .fe; l^asU (Ernst. 289) names them all together. ' It is, saitli he ' a profitable and pious thing, every day to com- municate and to participate of the blessed body and blood of Christ our Saviour, he having told us in Dlain terms, that whosever eateth his flesh and drink- eth his blood, hath eternal life. We, notwithstand- ing do communicate but four times weekly, on the Lord's-day, the Wednesday, the Friday, and the Saturday, unless on any other days the memory of some martyr be perhaps observed. Epiphanms go- eth a little further and deriveth the Wednesday s and the Friday's service even Irom the apostles, ranking them in the same antiquity and groundmg them upon the same authority that he doth the Sun- day Only it seems the difl:erence was, that whereas formerly it had been the custom not to administer the Sacrament on these two days (being both of them fasting days, and so accounted long before) until to- ward evening; it had been changed of late and they did celebrate in the mornings, as on the Lord s-day was accustomed. Whether the meetings on these * Ecc. Hist., Book 1, Chap. 8. 112 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. days were of such antiquity as EpipLaniiis saitli tliey were, I will not meddle. Certain it is, that they were very ancient in tlie Church of God, as may ap- pear by that of Origeu and Tertullian before men- tioned."'* Coleman says: "It appears, liowever, from his (Origen's) observa- tions, that at Alexandria, Wednesdays and Fridays were tlien observed as fast days, on the gruund that our Lord was betrayed on a Wednesday and cruci- fied on a Friday. The custom of the Chuntli at the end of the fourth centur}^ may be collected from the following- passage of Epiv>hanius: ' In the whole Christian CJiurch, the following fast days through- out the year are regularl}' observed. On Wednes- days and Fridays we fast until the ninth hour, {i. e., three o'clock in the afternoon,) except during the in- terval of fifty days between Easter and Wliitsuntide, in which it is usual neither to kneel or to fast at all.' "f Neander says: "And further, two other days in the week, Fri- day and Wednesday, particularly the i'ormer, were consecrated to tlie remembrance of the suilerings of Christ, and of the circumstances preparatory to them, congregations were held on them, and a fast till three o'clock in the afternoon. But nothing was positive- ly appointed concerning them; in respect to joining in tiiese solemnities ewiiYj one consulted his own con- venience or inclinations. 8uch fasts, joined with prayer, were considered as the watches of the ' Mil- itesChristi' on their part as Christians, (who com- pared their calling to a warfare — the Militia Christi, * Hist. Sab , Part 2. Chap. 3, Sec. 4. ■f Ancient Christianity, etc., pp. .5.i2, .5.53. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 113 and they were ' stationes '—and the days on which they took place were called dies stationum."* Similar testimony mi^ht be continued were it nec- essary. But that already adduced is sufficient to es- tablish the conclusion that the weekly "fasts," Wed- nesday and Friday, and the Sabbath were each de- voted more to worship and spiritual culture than the Sunday was. The foregoing testimony also shows that when men assert that Sunday was the only day for public religious worship and rest after the resur- rection of Christ, they are either ignorant or careless or dish nest. Sunday was more popular than either Wednesday, or Friday, or the Sabbath, because it was more festal, " a day of indulgence for the flesh." Indeed, the Sunday at the close of the third century stood related to the lives of the people much as it now stands in those European lands where no-Sab- bathism has long held sway and borne its legitimate fruit. Before passing to the next chapter, it will be well to recapitulate the facts already gathered concerning the rise of no-Sabbathism and Sunday. This is the more impo' tant since otherwise the reader is easily led into tl e mistaken idea that the stream of Apostolic Christianity came down the centuries.unpol- luted, and developed no-Sabbathism and the Sunday festival, as C/^mf^/w. institutions. The ultimate facts show that they were the product of Pagan influen- ces. We have seen that there is no definite and au- thentic mention of Sunday until the middle of the * Hist Ch., First Three Cen., p. 186. 114 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. second century, by Juslin Martyr, and also that he is the first to promulgate a broad unscriptural no-Sab- bathism. W,e Lave seen that the first mention of Sunday by him is in an "apology " to a Pagan Em- peror whom he is seeking to placate toward Chris- tians. These facts cannot appear in their true light unless we know the general slate of the church, es- pecially west of Palestine, at this time. It is well known that in the Apostolic Age there was no distinct organization nor specific separation of those who accepted Christ, from the Jewish Church. They were still held as members, or at least, as a party in that Church. The first con- verts were Jews, and a sharp struggle took place before the gospel could be carried to the Gentiles, or Gentile converts admitted to the fellowship of the believers in Christ. Even as late as the time of the earlier persecutions, these were waged against the followers of Christ as a sect of the Jews. There was no definite line of distinction organically between the^ Christian and the Jewish Churches, until the opening of the second century. We oifer the following tes- timony from high authority: "With the beginning of the second century there came a great change in the situation of the Chris' tians. The separation of Christianity from Judaism was completed so as to be recognized even by hea- then ej-es. The destruction of Jerusalem put an end to the outward existence of the Jewish nationality. The temple fell, the sacrifices ceased. . . . Spread abroad over the earth, without a local center, (»r the bond which had existed hitherto in the temple serv- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 115 ice, Judaism hcnccfoilb was united only by the com- mon law, and by the common doctrine contained in the newly collect ed Talmud. Thus it became com- pletely separated from Christianity. Talmudic Ju- daism severed all the connections which had hither- to bound it to Christianity. Henceforth three times every day in the synagogues was invoked the awful curse on" the renegades, the Christians. It came to be a rare exception for a Jew to go over to Chris- tianity, while the heathen thronged into the church in ever increasing numbers. 1 he remainder of the Jewish Christians dwindled away or disappeared entirely in the churches of heathen Christians, or turned heretics and were cut off from tl e church. The church now found the fidd for its work and growth almost exclusively in the heathen world, and became composed entirely of Gentile Christians. It was therefore no longer possible to confound the Christians with the Jews."* These facts referred to by Dr. Uhlhorn have a much deeper bearing on the question of Sunday ob servance than may at first appear. There is no men- tion of any form of Sunday observance in the church, until nearly or quite fifty years after the time when the church was thus crowded with what he calls the heathen Christians. Even Pliny's letter, so often quoted for the sake of its "stated day," was written after that time; and Justin's Apology was not writ- ten until these "heathen Christians" had held pos- session of the Western Church for more than a gener - ation. It was this influx of Pagan converts which brought in Sunday, their "venerable day," and grad- ually, though slowly, displaced the Sabbath. The * Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism, by Dr. Gerhard Uhlhorn, Hanover, Germany, pp. 253, ;^54. 116 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. changes wliich followed during the second and third centuries, strengthened this heatlien element in, Vie church, and at length revived the sun worship at Rome. A strong tendency to religious syncretism prevailed, and the Egyptian and Oriental gods were much honored. Speaking of this, Uhlhorn says: *'Even the Persian Mithras, the last in the series of the gods who constantly migrated to Rome from farther and farther east, now had numerous worship- ers. He was a god of light, a sun god; as god of the setting sun, he was also god of the nether world; also as the invincible god, (the invincible compan- ion, as he was often called,) he became the patron of warriors, and as such thoroughly fitted for those times in which the whole world M'as filled with war. His worship was always held in a cave. In Rome the cave penetrated deep into the Capitoline Hill. Emperors were numbered among his adorers, and everywhere where Roman armies came (on the Rhine for instance) there images and caves of Mithras have been found. This religious syncretism reached its culmination when Elagabalus, a Syrian priest of the sun, becoming Emperor, had the sun god, after whom he was named, brought from Emesa to Rome, in the form of a conical black stone. In Rome a costly temple was built, and great sacrifices were of- fered to him."* This was A. D. 318-222. It shows how, by the growth of sun worship, Sunday was naturally ex- alted in the Roman Empire, and necessarily in the church which was being steadily crowded by heathen converts, many of whom, like Justin Martyr, ac- cepted Christianity as a superior philosophy in keep- * Conflict, etc., pp. 314, 315. SABB.ITFI VXD SUSDXY. 117 ing with the prevailing tendency to religious syncre- tism. This same Elagabalus made room for a chapel for Christianity in his temple for all the gods, and offered "Christ a place in the Roman Pan. theon, by the side of Jupiter, Isis, and Mithras."* During the last half of the third century the influx of the Pagan converts was still greater, and although Christianity was thus steadily preparing for the po- litical victory under Constantiue, during the lirst quarter of the next century, yet that was gained only at a cost to the purity of the church which made the victory a sad defeat, in many respects. The truths of Christianity could not be destroyed, but the church became so corrupted by the Pagan influences, that it was no longer the counterpart of the apostolic mod- el. So the third century closes with the European branch of the Christian Church filled with "Pagan Christians." Its literature is full of undisguised and unscriptural no-Sabbath theories. The Sunday has become a popular weekly festival, which formed a sort of common ground for all, by uniting the Pagan elements of popular sun worship, with the idea of a resurrection festival, at the time when festivals of al^ kinds formed a characteristic feature of the age. Up to this time not a word appears in any of the litera- ture which indicates the transference of the Sabbath to the Sunday, or the making of Sunday a Sabbath according to the fourth commandment. On the con- trary we have found so noted a man as Tertullian seeking to draw professed Christians away from oth- * Uhlhom, p. 334. 118 SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. er Pagan festivals by reminding them that they had, in the Sunday, a day of " indulgence for the flesh." Well does Uhlhorn call the leading men of these times "Pagan Christians." Before entering upon the fourth century, wc stop to note the history of the Sabbath during the period from the close of the New Testament history to that century. CHAPTER XII. Post-Apostolic J^istory op THE Sabbath to the Fourth Century. In chapters II and IV we have shown that the current of Sabbath history runs full and clear through the Gospels and the book of Acts. Those post-apostolic wrilini,rs which are assigned the earli- est place, show no trace of any practice or leaching opposed to the doctrine and practice of Christ and his apostles, on this point. The first traces of any form of Sunday observance, or of no-Sabbathism, appear nmultaneously, and in the same man, Justin, about the middle of the second century. These teachings, so antagonistic to the teachings of Christ and the apostles, did not and could not appear until ^ the heathen element gained control of the church. , Since the Sabbath was a prominent feature in the j| Jewish creed and practice, the bitter prejudice wh"ch grew up between the heathen and the Jew sh |/ elements in the church, bore heavily upon it; and when the heathen element gained control of the church, it set about the development of theories and practices which would efface, if possible, this so- caUed feature of Judaism from the church. The fact that Justin and his successors pressed their no- 120 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Sabbath philosophy shows that the Sabbath was yet vigorous in its bold upon the cburcb, even after the Jewish element had been driven out. The strong weapon with which no Sabbathism fought the Sab- bath during the last Lalf of the second century, and the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, was, that the observance of the Sabbath was Judaistic. It is clear that if the Sabbath bad died during the New Testament period, as some claim, it could not have been resurrected, and restored to such vigor by the Pagan element in the church, as to make it necessa ry for that same element to introduce its no-Sabbath philosophy as a defense against the Sabbath. The urgency with which the no Sabbath doctrine was pressed, from the time of Justin forward, shows that the Sabbath had a strong hold even on Gentile Christians, which could not be broken except by continued appeal to man's natural love for lawless- ness, and his desires for a weekly festival for " in- dulgence to the flesh," as Tertullian calls Sunday. Viewed in the light of the philosophy of history, the fact that the Sabbath was so persistently oppostd, and at length legislated against, in that portion of the church which had been for st vet al generations un der the control of the Gentile Christians, is more than an answer to the loosely made assertion that the Sab- bath ceased to be observed during the apostolic pe riod. Another important fact must be remembered here, namely, the authors of the no-Sabbath theories, which began with Justin, were men of Pagan, not SABBATH AND SUNDAY. l"'^! Apostolic culture. The doctrine was the residuum of Pagan philosophy. There was a modicum of Christian truth in that part of the theory which some propounded, that the true Christian made every day a Sabbath. But that statement is rather ^ a description of certain results in high spiritual cult- | ure which can never be attained except through the | agency of the Sabbath in lifting men to that high | standard. Another element of truth was that the , Sabbath should not be kept by merely foimal idle- , ness as the Jews were charged with doing. But the ; fundamental misconception lay in teaching that the law was abrogated, that men were free from resin, int, / and might give themselves up to festival mAn]giinces. These elements of truth gilded the theory to eyes which looked with bitter prejudice on all things as sedated with Judaism, while the fundamental, prac- tical lawlessness of the theory was regarded as its great merit by the low spiritual culture of the pre vailing Paganism. Men whose gods had been, hitherto, only enlarged editions of themselves, rev- eling on Olympus, and delighting in sensuous m dulgences, were not ready to embrace the new re- ligion until the rigidness of the fourth command menthad been so softened that the Sabbath could be put aside, and a week]y festival put along side of it, and at length in its place. But the facts show that in spite of this abrogation of the Sabbath in the theories of the philosophers, the influence of Apostolic Christianity was so strong that the people contin- ued to keep the Sabbath long after the philoso- 122 SABBATH AN^D SUXDAT. pliers had decried it. Keep in mind the fact that neither the Sunday festival nor the doctrine of uo- Babbaihism appears in history until a half a century after the time when Uhlhorn says the western wing of the church was ruptured from the Jewish clement, and filled with Pagan converts. But evidence is not wanting to show that the no- Sabhathism of Justin and his successors was not universally accepted, and that it was definitely op- posed by some whose theories were tar more apos- tolic than Justin's philosophie vagaries were. Irenaeus, who was Bishop of Ljons, France, during the latter part of the second century, wrote his noted work Arjainst Heresies, about 185 A. D., about tw^enty years after the death of Justin. He treats the idea that Christ abolished the Sabbath as \ a Eeresu, as it was, from the apostolic standpoint. 'i These are his words: " For the Lord vindicated Abraham's posterity by loosing them from bondage and calling them to sal- vation, as he did in the cafceof the woman whom he healed, saying openly to those who had not faith like Abraham, ' >e hypocrites, dotti not each one of you on the Sabbath-days loose his ox or his ass, and lead him awa}' to watei ing? And ought not this wom- an, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbaihi-days? ' It is clear, then fore, that he loosed and vivified those who believed in him, as Abraham did, doino nothing contrary' to the law when he healed upon the Sabbath-day. For the law did not ])rohil)it men from lieing healed upon the Sabbaths: [on the contrary,] it even circumcised them upon that day, and gave command that the SABBATH AND SUNDAY, 123 offices should be peiformed by the priests for the ptople- yea it di(i ii.t disallow the healing even of dumb animals. Both at ISilQiiin and on f n qncnt subsequent occas^ions, did he perform cures upon the Babbath; and for this reason many used to resort to bim on the Sa')bath-days. For tlie law commanded them to abstain from every servile work, ihat is from all grasping afier wealth wbuh is pro- cured by trading and by other worldly busi- ness- but it exborted them to attend to the exercises of the soul, which consist in reflection, and to ad- dresses of a beneficial kind for their neighbors bene- fit And, therefore, the Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed him for having healed upon the Sal)ba1h-days. For lie did not make void, but tul- fiiled the law. by performing the olfices ot the high priest, propitiating God for man, and cleausintr the lepers healing the sick, and himseU suffering death, that exiled man might go forth from condemna- tion, and might return without fear to his own in- heritance."* We have also certain "Remains "of one Arche laus, a Bishop who a^so wrote against Heresies. His Disputaiion with Manes, dates probably from 280 A. D. In this he speaks as follows :f "Again as to the assertion that the Sabbath has been abolished, we deny that he has abolished it plainly plane). For he was himself also Lord ol the Sabbath. And this, the law's relation to the Sabbath, was like the servani who has charge ot the bridegroom's couch, and who prepares the same with all carefulness, and does not sutler it lo be dis- turbed or touched l.y any strana^er, but keeps it in- tact against the time of the bridegroom s ai rival; so ♦Tren^us Ajjainst Heresies, Book 4, chap. 8, Ante-Nicene Library, vol.1, p. 397. ^ ^^^_ ^_ 124 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. that when he is come, the bed may be used as it pleases himself, or as it is granted to those to use it whom he has bidden along with him.'* Tertulliati is more noted as a voluminous writer than as a consistent one. He sometimes advocates no Sabbathism undisguisedly; but at other times he taught a far more Scriptural doctrine. The exact date of his writings against the heresies of Marcion is unknown, although the first book, is fixed at 208 A. D. The fourth book came at a later period. Bishop Kaye supposes his death to have occurred about 220 A. D. We may safely conclude that the fourth book against Marcion, appeared during the firi^t quarter of the third century. Chapter 12 of that book is "Concerning Christ's authority over the Sabbath," etc. His conclusions are as follows: " Thus Christ did not at all rescind the Sabbath. He kept the law thereof, and both in the former case did a work which was beneficial to the life of his disciples (for he indulged them with the relief of food when they were hungry), and in the pnsent in stance cured the withered hand . in each case inti- mating by facts: ' I came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it '; although Marcion has gagged his mouth by this word. For even In the case before us he fulfilled the law, while interpreting its condition. [Moreover.] He exhibits in a clear iight the differ- ent kinds of work, while doing what the law excepts from the sacredness of the Sabbath, [and] while im- parting to the Sabbath day itself, which from the beginning had been consecrated by the benediction of the Father, an additional sanctity by his own beneficent action. For he furnished to this day di * Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. 20, p. 373. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 125 vine safeguards, — a course which his adversary would have pursued for some other days, to avoid honoring the Creator's Sabbath, and restoring to the Sabbath the works which were proper for it. Since, in like manner, the prophet Ellsha, on this day re- stored to life the dead sou of the Shunammite wom- an, you see, O Pharisee, and you too O Marcion, how ihi\t it was [proper employment] for the Crea- tor's Sabbaths of old to do good, to save life, not to destroy it; how that Christ introduced nothing new, which was not a^.ter the example, the gentleness, the mercy, and the prediction also of the Creator. For in this very example he fulfills tne prophetic an- nouncement of a specific healing: ' The weak hands are strengthened,' as were also, * the feeble knees,' in the sick of the palsy."* If Tertullian, in the above, contradicts his own words in other places, the ultimate test is not be- tween his inconsistencies, but between his theories and the facts of the Bible. Judged by this standard the foregoing is essentially correct. Incidental proof that the Sabbath, in its proper character, and under its proper name, continued through the cen- turies, while no Sabbathism was developing, is found in the fact that Anatolius, Bishop of Laodicea who was a mathematician of repute, prepared a Ghronol- <^y of Eai^ter, evidently to aid in the settlement of ihat much discussed question. The date of the work is placed in the latter part of the third cen tury. This "Easter table" uses the terms Sab bath and Lord's-day in their regular order, showing how the names and the days were then held.f * Ante-Nioene Library.'Vol. 7, pp. 219, 220. t Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. 14, p. 423. 126 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. The foregoing extracts show that no-Sabbathism did not come in unchallenged, but that it was op- posed as a heresy, and that the truth was defended on good and Scriptural grounds. There is no rea- son to believe that Sunday gained any pre-eminence over the Sabbath, even though it did appeal to the lower elements of men's nature by its feslal charac- ter, until after the time of Constaniine, when it was exalted through civil legislation. No one claims that the "Longer" form of the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, is genuine. Its- date is unknown; but we deem it to belong to the last half of the fourth century, or to the fifth. But we are willing, for sake of the argument, to grant it an Ante-Nicene place, that is, before 3"25 A. D, Whenever it was written, it shows that at that time, the writer taught a just and Scriptural view of Sabbath observance, and asked for Sunday only a festal character. It was to him the " Queen," of the days because it was di feast as opposed to the Sabbath, the Friday, and the Wednesday which were held to be sorrowful fasts. In chapter 9, — long-form, speaking of Christ, the writer says: ' The prophets were his servants, and foresaw him by the Spirit, and waited for him as their Teacher, and expected him as their Lord ai-d Saviour, say ing, ' He will come and save us.' Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish man ner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for 'he that does not work, let him not eit.' For say the [aoly] oracles, ' In the s-weat of thy face shalt tliou eat thy bread.' But let every one of you keep the Sabbath SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 127 after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in rclaxition ot" the iiody, a imirin;^ the workmanship (.f God. and noteaiin$ATI1 AND ST XI) AY. 129 Corresponding with tliib is Ibe testimony of modern writers. Lyman Coleman, says: " The observance of the Lord's day, as the first day of the week, teas at first introduced as a separate in- stitution. Both this and the Jewish Sabbaih. were kept for some time; finally, the latter passed wholly over into the former, which now^ took the place of the ancient Sabbath of the Israelites. But their Sabbath, the last day of the week, was strictly kept, in connection with that of the first day, for a long time after the overthrow of the temple and its wor- ship. Down even to the fifth century, the_^ observ- ance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity eradually diminishing; until it was wholly discon- tinued . . . Both were observed in the Christian church down to the fifth century, with this ditter- ence, that in the Eastern church both days were re- garded as joyful occasions; but in the Western, the Jewish Sabbath was kept as a fast."* Heylyn, after giving the words of Ambrose, that he fasted when at Rome on the Sabbath, and when away from Rome did not, adds: "Nav. which is more, St. Augustine tells us, that many times in Africa, one and the self same church, at least the several churches in the self -same prov ince, had some that dined upon the Sabbath and some that fasted And in this difference it stood a long time together, till, in the end, the Roman church obtained the cause, and Saturday became a fast, almost through all parts of the Western world; and of that alone; the Eastern churches being so far from altering their gjicient custom, that, m tne t Ancient Christianity Exemplified, chap. 26, sec. 2. (9) 130 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. sixth Council of Constantinople, Anno, 692, they did admonish those of Rome to forbear fasting on that day, upon pain of censure."* King says: "For the Eastern churches, in compliance with the Jewish converts, who were numerous in those parts, pel formed on the seventh day the same pub- lic religious services that they did on the first day, observing both the one and the other, as a festival. Whence Origen enumerates Saturday as one of the four feasts solemnized in his time, though, on the conU ary, so?ne of the Western churches, that they might not seem to Judaize, fasted on Saturday. Bo that, besides the Lord's-day, Saturday was an usual season whereon many churches solemnized their re- ligious services."! An old w^ork on the "Morality of the Fourth Commandment," by William Twisse, D. D., has the following: "Yet, for some hundred years in the primitive church, not the Lords-day only, but the seventh day also, was religiously observed, not by Ebion and Cerinthus only^ but by pious Christians also, as Baronius writeth, and Gomarus confesseth, and Riveri also.":}: " A Learned Treatise of the Sabbath " by Edward Brerewood, Professor in Gresham College, London, has the following: " And especially because it is certain (and little do you know of the ancient condition of the church if you know it not,) that the ancient Sabbath did re- * Hisfory of the Sabbath, part 2, chap. 2, sec. 3. t" Primitive Church," first published 1691, pp. 126, 127. tP. 9, London, 1641. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 131 main and was observed (togetber with the celebra- tUm of tbe Lord's-day,) by the Christians of the East Churcb, above three hundred years after our Sa- viour's death."* The learned Joseph Bingham, says: " We also find in ancient writers frequeut men tion made of religious assemblies on the Saturday, or seventh day of the week, which was the Jewish Sibbath. It is not easy to ttll the original of this practice, nor the reast SUNDAY. 151 anl if the command is recorded there, or by g:ood and necessaiy consequence may be deduced there- from, smely we can jDrotit but little from knowing that a bishop in th'- fourth ceutury found or de- duced it, as every intelligent Christittn may on the supposition do. If, on the contrary, it is not in the Bible, or to be well and necessarily deduced from anything recorded therein, are we bound, or even at liberty, to believe an assertion made for the tirst time by a writer in the fourth century — a writer, too, that was obviously under a strong temptation to recommend, in every possible way. the Sunday Sab- bath of Constantine ta the Christians of his time? When Eusebius declares that the Sabbath began with Moses, neither his thorough researches into the usages and antiquities of the Christian church, nor the enlightenment and vigor of his mind, have the smallest effect in inducing Mr. Stuart, or any other Sabbatarian, to disbelieve ia a universal, pri- meval Sabbath law and its recognition by the early Gentile Christians. Are not all men equally entitled to reject his supp^vsed interpretation of Scnpture as to the transference of the Sabbath to the first day of the week; and also to believe that when he finds in certain Psalm — allusions to and prophecies of the Eucharist, and the morniug assemblies of Christians on the Lord's-day. he displays a puerile fancy, rather than that soundness of judgment which an interpre- ter of Scripture stands greatly in need of?"* The foregoing testimony relative to the Sunday under Constantine is given thus at leng'h in order to show that it gained supremacy through his pagan legislation, and not through Christian influence, nor by the authority of the Word of God. The adul- terous union between Christianity and heathenism, * Sabbath Literature, Vol. 1 p. 304, 152 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. thus consummated through civil legislation, brought forth the Papacy. Sunday became one of its petted children. One word describes the course of the "Church "from the time of Constantine along the succeeding centuries until history, full of shame and sadness, hides it under the pall of the dark ages; that word is, downward. The leading features of that down-going will be given in the next section. Before dismissing the question of Cons tan tine's legislation, it is pertinent to add that the theory of civil legislation in religious matters is wholly op- posed to the spirit of the Christianity of Christ and the Apostles. Christ taught very clearly: "My kingdom is not of this world." Paganism made the emperor PonUfex yfaximus in matters of religion. Constantine held this title as great high priest of the State Paganism, to the day of his death. When, therefore, he determined to adopt Christianity as a State religion, he naturally assumed, according to his Pagan theories that he was the head of the church, and was at liberty to legislate as he would. The Sunday was sacred to his Patron Deiry ; the conquering, and unconquered Sun. It was also the resurrection festival of the Christians, held in favor because it was 2l festive day. It was therefore a stroke of political sagacity, quite in keeping with Constantine's character, to issue the edict he did. Pagan in its terms and spirit, and yet applicable to all parties in his empire. But it was the beginning of weakness and ruin in the history of the church, and its relatiors 1o ihe civil powir. CHAPTER XIV. •Sunday From THE Time of Con- STANTINE TO THE ClOSE OF THE Fourth Century. In tracing the history of Sunday subsequent to the time of Constantine, it is befitting, first, to note the theories which were put forth by representative ecclesiastical writers, and second; the civil laws which were modified or enacted from time to time. ATHANASIUS, who died 373, A. D., left very little wbich bears up- on the question. He speaks of the first and seventh days as not being " fasts " even in the time of Lent.* He also refers to the fourth day of the week, as one on which Christians usually assembled in the church- es.-f CYRIL, Bishop of Jerusalem, who died 386, A. D., has the following exhortation in his Catechetical Lectures: "And fall not into Judaism, nor into the sect of the Samarifans, for henceforth hath Jesus Christ ransomed thee. Abstain jrom all observance of sabbaths, and from callingan indifferent meat * com mon or unclean.' Especially abhor all the assem- blies of the wicked heretics; and in every way make * Festal Epistles, p. .54. /V Historical Tracts, p. 268. 154 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. thine own soul safe, by fastings, by prayers, by alms, by reading of the divine oracks."* Again he sajs: " This Holy Spirit, who in unison with the Fa- ther and Son, has establi>hed the New Testament in the church Catholic, has set us free from the griev- ous burdens of the law — those ordinances, I me^n, concerning things common and unclean, and meats, and sabbaths, and new mocms, and circumcision, and sprinklings, and sacrifices, which were given lor a se^iBon, and had the shadow of good things to come, but which, when the truth had come, were rightly abrogated."! CnilYSOSTOM. The most important testimony which marks the beginning of the fifth ceatury, is from the " golden- tongued " Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, who died 402, A. D. In his commentary on Gala- tians 2: 17, he says: "For though few are now circumcis(d, yet by fasting and observing the Sabbath with the Jews, they equally exclude themselves from grace. II Christ avails not to those who are already circum- cised, much more is peril to be feared where fasting and sabbatizing are observed, and thus two com- mandments of the law are kept instead of one. . . . Wherefore dost thou keep the Sab> alh, and fast with the Jews? Is it that thou fearest the law and aban- donment of the 1( tter? But thou wouldst not enter- tain this fear, didst thou not disparage faith as weak, and by itself powerless to save. A iear to omit the Sabbath plainly shows that you fear the law as still in force; aad if the law is needful, it is so as a whole, * Lecture 4, sec. 37, p. 51, Oxford, 1839. i Lecture 17. sec. 29. SAIJBATII AXU SUXDAY. 155 not in part, nor in one commandment only; and if as a whole, tlie iiii:hteousness which is by tailli. is, little Ity liule, shut out. If thou keep the Sabbath, why not also be circumcised? And it circumcised, why n< t also offer sacrifices? If the law is observed, it must be observed as a whole, or not at all."* In treating of the distinction between what he calls natural and positive laws, he gives utterance to the following: "How was it, then, when he said, 'Thou shall not kill,' that he did not add, ' because murder is a wickt d 1hing? ' The reason was that conscience had taught this beforehand; and he speaks thus as to those who know and understand the point. Where fore when he speaks to us of another commandment, not known to us by the dictate of conscience, he not only prohibits but adds the reason. AVhen, for instance, he gave commandment respecting the Sab- bath, ' On the seventh day thou shalt do no work,' he subjoined also th^ reason for this cessation. . . . For wiiat purpose, then, I ask, did he add a reason respecting the Sablath, but did n ) such thing in re- gard to murder? Because this commandment was not one of the leading ones — tc^v 7r/jor]yov/.i€v~ Qoy, It was not one of those which were ac- curately defined of our conscience, but a kind of partial and temporary one; and for this reason it was abolished afterwards."! In another place, Homily on Matthew, aftei re- viewing the history of the acts of Christ, in healing the sick on the Sabbath, and the act of the disciples in plucking the ears of corn, he notes the arguments * Library of the Fathers, Vol. 6, p. 42, Oxford, 1840. 1 Homily on the Statutes, Liljrarj-, etc., pp. 208, 209. 156 8ABBATH AND SUNDAY. by which the accusing Jews were silenced, and draws the following conclusions; " For it was time for them to be trained in all things by the higher rules, and it was unnecessary that his hands should be bound, who w^as fret d from wickedness, winged for all good works; or that men should hereby learn that God made all things; or that they should so be made gentle, who are called to imitate God's own love to mankind, or that they should make one day a festival who are commanded to keep a feast all their life long. . . . So now, why is any Sabbath required by bim who is always keep- ing the feast, whose conversation is in heaven ? Let us keep the feast then continually, and do no evil thing, /(9/' this is a feast, and let our spiritual things be intense, while our earthly things give place."* In these extracts, the same no-Sabbath theories appear, which vitiated the doctrines of the leading men in the Latin Ctiurch during the century precfd- ing the time of Constantine. Not less unscriptural are the following teachings from the pen of the re- nowned AUGtJSTTNE, Bishop of Hippo, who died 430, A. D., He says: " Read the Old Testament, and you will see that so far as precepts are concerned, the very same pre- cepts were given to a people stilJ carnal, which are given to us. For to worship one God, we are commanded. ' Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,' which is the s c nd com- mandment. This we are commanded (oo, • observe the Sabbath-day.' This commandment concerns us still more than it concerned them; because it is com- * Library, etc., pp. 557, 5()8. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 157 mand'^d to be observed spiritually. For the Jews observe the Sabbath in a servile way, spending it in rioting, in drunkenness. How much better would their women be emi'loyed at the distaff, than danc- ing on that day, in the balconies. Let us not say for a moment, my brethren, that these observe the Sabbath. The Christian observes that Sabbath spiritually, abstaining from servile w-ork. For what is from servile work? From sin. How prove we this^ Ask the Lord. ' Whosoever committeth sm is the servant of sin.'* So that on us likewise is en- joined, spiritually, the observance of the Sabbath."! Augustine brings out the idea suggested above more fully, in his remarks on the Nine.ty-second Psalm. He says: " The title of the Psalm, is ' Psalm or song for the Sabbath day.' This day on which I address you is a Sabbath-day, which the .Jews honor by an ex- ternal rest, and by slothful idleness. For they in- termit their usual occupations only to indulge in trifling pursuits; and although the Sabbath was ap- pointed by God, they nevertheless spend the day in doing what God has forbidden. Our Sabbath con sists in abstaining from every evil work; that of the Jews consists in abstaining from every good work. It would be much better to till the ground than to dance. They abstain from doing good works, and do not abstain from doing others which are puerile. God commands us to observe the Sabbath; but what is the Sabbith which he commands to us? Look, in the first place, where it is observed It is within us it is in our heart that our Sabbath is. Some ap- pear externally to be at rest when their conscience is troubled and disturbed. No wicked man can ob * John 8: 34. t Homily on John, Lib., &c., p. 44, CJxford, 1848. 158 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. serve this icterjal Sabbath. His conscience is never in peace. He must nect-s^arily pass his life in con- tinual agitation. The good conscience, on the con- trajy, is always tranquil; and it is that tranquillity which is the Sabbath of the heart. He who tastes that internal repose expects firmly the promises which God has made to him If he now sutler af- Hictions, hope of the future transports him already to heaven, and all the clouds of his sorrow are dis- persed, according to the words of St. Paul, ' Rejoice in hope.'* That jo}^ which we taste in the peace of our hope, is our Sabbath. It is that to which we are exhorted: it is that which is sung in this P.-alm. The Christian is there taught to dwell continually in peace, in the Sabbath of his heart; that is to say, never to be troubled, but to be steadfast in repose, in tranquillity, and in the serenity of his conscience. It is for this reason that the ordinary trouble of man is here marked, to enable us by avoiding it to cele- brate the Sabbath of the heart, "f In another placet Augustine places the " Sabbath and circumcision and sacrifices " among those pre- cepts of the law which Christians are not allowed to use. In his commentary on the 150th Psalm, he has a mystical and vague exposition of the meaning of the number one hundred and fifty, in which the following references occur: " This number fifteen, I say, signifieth the agree- ment of the two testaments. For in the former is observed the Sabbath, which signifieth rest, in the latter the Lord's-day, which signifieth resurrec- tion. The Sabbath is the seventh day, but the * Rom. 12: 12. t Homily on 92d Psa.. Lib. Fathers. Vol. 6, pp. 5C9-271. X Short Treatise, p. 586, Oxford, 1847. SABBATH AND SUXDAY. 159 Lord's-day coming after the seventh must needs be the eighth, and is also to be reckoned the first. For it is called the first day of the week, and so from it are reckoned the second, third, fourth, and so on to the seventh day of the week, which is the Sabl)ath. But from Lord s-day to Lord's-day is eight days, wherein is declared tlie revelation of the New Testayient, which in the Old was, as it were, veiled under earthly promises.*'* The foregoing are the representative references to the Sabbath in the writings of Augustine. A pas- sage has been quoted from the treatise entitled De Tenip'')'€, which is sometimes ascribed to Augusline; but the evidences against the authionticity of the work are such as to preclude the conclusion that it came from the pen of Augustine. The passage is to the effect that, "The holy doctors of the church decreed to transfer the glory of the Jewish rest to the Lord's-day." This sentiment cor- responds to the Pharisaical Churchism which pre- vailed during the latter part of the middle ages. Con- cerning the sermon from which this passage is taken. Doctor Pusey, as quoted by Hessey, remarks: "It is later than the eighth century since it incorporates a passage from Alcuin."f Kobert Cox supports, by abundant testimony, the idea that the sermon is falsely ascribed to Augustine, By tliese representative quotations, the reader will see that the Sunday had no true sabbatic character in the theories of the church at the close of the fifth * Lib. &c., p. 449. t Hessey: Lect. on Sunday, Note 202; and Cox: Sab. Lit., Vq]. 1, p. I2;i. 160 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. century. The Pan-Sabbath theory of rest from sin did not reach the lives of the people. Indeed, it could not, for the means by which men come into those relations with God which develop the higher spirit- ual life were taken away from the people by no- Sabbathism. The absence of all sacred time, is, in effect, separation from God. ]Meu, lik^ Augustine, seem to have apprehended the true idea of the Sab- bath, in some degree, but to have been blind to the fact that the Sabbath idea can not be preserved with- out the Sabbath-- to send one word out of his mouth in anger on the day of the Sal)bath. For the Sabbatli is the ceasing of the creation, the com- pletion of the world, the inquiry after lavs, and the grateful praise to God for blessings he has bestowed upon men. All which the Lord's-da}^ excels, and shows the Mediator himself, the Provider, the Law- giver, the cause of the resurrection, the First-born of the whole crejitiou, God the Word, and man, who was born of Mary alone, without a man, who lived holily, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died and rose again from the dead. So that the Lord's- day commands us to olfer unto thee O Lord, thanksgiv- ing for all. For this is the grace afforded by thee, which on account of its greatness has obscured all other blessings."* Book VIII, chapter 33 presents a law said to have Ijecu made by the apostles, Peter and Paul, in the following words: •' I Peter and Paul do make the following Consti- tution, Let the slaves work live days, but on the Sabbath and the Loid's-day let them'have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety.* We have said that the Sabbath is on account of creation, and the Lord's-day of the resurrection. Let slaves rest from their work all the great week, and that which fol- lows it for the one in memory of the passion, and the other of the resurrection; and there is need that they should be instructed who it is that suffered and rose again, and who it is permitted him to suffer, and raised him again. Let them rest from their work on the ascension, because it was the conclusion of the dispensation l)y Christ. Let them rest at Pentecost because of the coming of the Holy ^pirit, which was given to those that believed in Christ. Let them rest * Ante-Nicene Lib., Vol. 17, pp. 196-7. 180 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ou the festival of liis birth, because on it tlie unex- pected favor was granted to men, that Jtsus Christ, the Logos of God, should be born of the virgin Mary, for the salvation of the world. Let them rest on the day of the Epiphany, because on it a manifestation took place of the divinity of Christ, for the Father bore testimony to him at the baptism, and the Para- clete, in the form of a dove, pointed out to the by- standers him to whom testimony was borne. Let them rest on the days of the Apostles; for they were appointed your teachers [to bring you] to Christ, and made you worthy of the Spirit. Let them rest, on the day of the first martyr, Stephen, and of the other holy martyrs who preferred Christ to their own lives."* When we are told that Paul and Peter wrote in- taught such things as the above, we can easily judge as to the character of the " Constitutions" in point of genuineness. But the above is of worth as indi- cating the "array of holidays," which had grown up at the beginning of the Dark Ages. Book VIII closes with, THE ECCLESIASTICAL CANONS OF THE SAME APOSTLEH. There are eighty-five of these. They treat mainly of the duties of the clergy. The 64th canon says: ' ' If any one of the clergy be found to fast on the Lord's-day, or on the Sabbath-day, excepting one only, let him be deprived; but if he be one of the laity, let him be suspended." The 69th canon says: " If any bishop or presbyter, or deacon, or reader, or singer, does not fast the fast of forty days, or the fourth day of the week, and the day of the prepara- * Ante-Nicene Lib.. Vol. 17. pp. 246, 247. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 181 tion. let him be deprived, except he be hindered by weakness of body. But if he be one of the laity, let him be suspended." ANCIENT SYRIAN DOCUMENTS. A group of Syrian documents " attributed to the first three centuries, presents several characteristics in common with the " Constitutions " quoted above. Neither the date nor the authors are known. One of them contains the correspondence between king Agbar and Christ, which is so manifestly spurious as to provoke rejection rather than criticism. The doc- ument which deals with the Sabbath and Sunday question is equally patent as a forgery. Its tone is of the fifth century, rather than the third. The document claims to be made up of rules laid down by the apostles while under the influence of the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit. After a brief preface concerning the matter, the document opens in these words: "And by the same gift of the Spirit which was given to them on that day, they appointed Ordinances and Laws, such as were in accordance with the gospel of their preaching, and with the true and faith- ful doctrine of their preaching: — 1. "The apostles therefore appointed: Pray3'e to- ward the East, ' because as the lightning which lighteneth from the east and is seen even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of n.ian be, [which was said] that l)y this we might know and under- stand that he will appear from the east middenly." 2. "The apostles further appointed: On the first [dayj of the week let there be service, and the read- ing of the Hol)^ Scriptures, and the ol)lation; because on the first day of the week our Lord rose from the 182 SAIJIJATII AND SUNDAY. |)liic(' of Mic (Ic.'id, iirul on the first, day of the wrck lie rose upon the world, jind on the fiist (hiy of the vve(^k h(; jiscHMuleil up to lie!iv{!n, and on the first day of the week he will ai)pe!ir at last with the anjLj^els of Ilea veil." ;}." The apostles furtluir appointed: On tlie fourth day of tile wetik let there, be service; because on that [day] our Lord inadc; the disclosure to tliern about his trial and his sulferini;', and his crucifixion, and his death, and his resurrection; and the (lis<'ipl('s were on account of this in sorrow." 4. " rii(! apostles further appointed: On the eve [of the Sabbath] at the ninth hour, let there be serv ic(!, because that which had be(!n spoken on the fourth day of the week about the sulferin^ of the Saviour was brouii,lit to pass on the eve [of tlie Sabbath] the worlds and [all] creatures trembliuji!:, and the lumi- naries in the heavens being darkened." ■jfr * * * * * (i. " The apostles further appointed: Cfilebrate the day of the Epiphany of our Saviour, which i« the chief of the festivals of the church, on the sixth day of the latter Canon in the long number of the Grticks."* In this way the document proceeds with twenty- seven ordinances on all sorts of subjects. Evidently an ordinance was forged to fit every notion and cus- tom, which needed support. The likeness between many of these ordinances and many of the constitu- tions, is very marked. It was a similar spirit if not the same liand that gave utterance to them. With such tendencies in the church, such a mixture of Pagan and Christian and Jewish notions, with such dislionesty in forging in the name of Christ and his * Aiitc-NiceiH! Lib., Vol. 20. pp. 3H. 8!» SAliMATll AND SlNDAY. 183 apostles, with the Church u.ul 8tale united und hence the church much corrupted, tlie world was ripe for the Dark Ages that were hurrying on. There are incidental notices and references scattered over the period hetween Constantine and the sixth century which show that the Sabbath was a day ot regular public worship. Chrysostom, abouttheyeur388 A. D. inhis Hom- ilies on the Statues," says: ' 'To-day, and on the former Sabbath it had be- hooved us to enter on the subject of fasting; nor let any mie suppose that what f say would have been unseasonable."* Again he says : - There are many of us now who fast on the same day a the' cws, and keep the SabbaUi in tlie same iiuu) ler . . For though lew are now (urcumcised vriy fasting and observing the Sabbath with the Jews they equally exclude themselves irom grace, f On page 238 of the same volume, Chrysostom ear- nestly opposes sun worship as a prevalent evil, thus showing that the struggle was still going on, and that the observance still continued among the people in spite of the semi-pagan theories of the leaders, late in the fourth century. Still later Augustine (died 480 A. D.) speaks of public worship on the Sabbath, as follows: - The title of the Psalm is ' Psalm or Song for the Sabbath-day.' This day on which ^ -^^^'^^^J^ a Sabbath-day. which the Jews iionor by an exter- nal rest, and by slothful indulgence. ~ * Homily, 15. , _ .., + Homilies on Gal. and Eph., Lib. of the l^'athers. pp. 16, 4,- 184 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. This shows that the practice of holding services on the Sabbath still continued in spite of no- Sabbath theories, during the first half of the fifth century. In another place Augustine uses the following lan- guage: " The Sabbath is the seventh day, but the Lord's- day coming after the seventh must needs be ihe eighth, and is also reckoned the first. For it is called the first day of the week, and so from it are reckoned the third, fourth and so on to the seventh day of the week, which is the Sabbath."* Considering the facts set forth in this chapter, ig- norance alone can excuse men for asserting that the Sabbath was unknown in the early church, or that it was not observed for a long time even after the Western church was Romanized. Indeed, ignorance is not a valid excuse, for if men do not know the facts they have no right to indulge in assertions. No prominent feature of apostolic practice continued in the apostatizing church longer than did Sabbath- keeping. * «hort Treatise, p. .586. CHAPTER XVII. Sunday During the Dark A GES, Church-appoiuted festivals and holy dajs had be- come so numerous at the opening of the sixth cen- tury, that some new influence was demanded to give them iniDortance, and to enforce their observance. This end was sought hy claiming an analogy between the God-appointed days under the Jewish dispensa- tion, and the church-appointed days under the gos- pel. It was assumed that the church, being left to legislate for herself, had power to appoint and en- force in the matter of holy days, as God had done under the Mosaic system. The people I ad become ac- customed to yield, in unquestioning obedience, to the dictation of the church; and hence, a pharisaical churchocracy was the more easily established. Re- ligion was made to consist mainly in outward forms and ceremonies, — the outgrowth of vague, mystical, semi-pagan notions and theories. Sunday, in com- mon with the other festivals, shared in these influen- ces; and thus, a more rigid observance of it began to prevail. Note carefully the fact that there was no claim that the Sunday had taken the place of the Sabbath, by any change or transfer of the fourth 186 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. commandment; it was only by analogy, that this pseudo-Sabbathism was introduced. As the dark- ness of the Middle Ages increased, ecclesiastical for- malism grew more rigid and lifeless, and the pre- vailing ignorance and superstition became more gall- ing and cruel. Dr. Hessey groups the facts togeth- er in the following words: "But a more serious change is at hand. In the centuries ranging from the sixth to the fifteenth, we find civil rulers and councils, and ecclesiastical writ- ers by degrees altering their tone. Holy days are multiplied more and more. Then, as the church has established so many that it is impossible to observe them all, and as her authority, from being exercised so often and in a manner so difficult to be complied with, begins to be thought lightly of, holy days must be distinguished, and some sanction, which shall vividly reach the conscience, must be found for days of special obligation. The Old Testament has been already referred to for the analogy of many of her festivals. The step from analogy to identification is not a startling or a violent one. Thus, a gradual identification of the Lord's-day with the Sabbath sets in. This naturally leads to the fourth command- ment. The fourth commandment once thought of, vexatious restrictions follow, thwarting men in their necessary employments or enjoyments by an appli- cation of its terms either strictly literal or most in- geniously refined. Councils condescend to notice whether oxen may or may not be yoked on the Lord's- day; and not unfrequently contradict each other. The second Council of Macon, A. D. 585, enjoins ' that no one should allow himself on the Lord s-day, under plea of necessity, to pur a yoke on the necks of his cattle; but all bt- occupied with mind and body in the hymns and praise of God. For this is the day of perpetual rest; i his is shadowed out to us by the SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 18 7 sevenlh day in the law and the prophets.' It then goes on to threaten punishments for profanation of the holy day, either by pleading causes or by other works. 'Offenders will displease God,' and besides will draw upon themselvts the ' implacable anger of the clergy.' Lawyers will lose their privilege of pleading causes. Clerks or monks will be shut out for six months from the society of their brethren. ' liiLsUcua ant xermis (jraci"ri,bu'< J'u.stiuiii iciibns ver bercbitur.' Still, even in this Council, there is a rec- ognition of the true origin of the Lord's-day. 'Keep the Lord's day, whereon w^e were born anew and freed from all sir.s.' "Things go on much in this way. Clothaire, King of France, issues an edict prohibiting all servile labors on the Lord's-day,— assigning as a reason, ' Q"Ui lex pro/iibtt,€t suca scripiara in. oninibiis cou- iradic't/ . . . In the East, the exemption gram ed to agricultural labors by Constantine, which had been embodied in the code of Justinian, was repealed by the Emperor Leo Philosophus, A. D. 910, who ani- madverted in somewhat severe terms on the law of his great predecessor. . . . " A few more instances, taken almost at random, may conclude this part of our subject. At the end of the eighth century, we find Alcuin asserting that the observation of the former Sabbatb had been transferred very fitly to the Lord's-day, by the cus- tom and consent of Christian people. ... In Eng- land again, A. D. 1201, in the time of King John, Eustace, Abbot of Flay, preaches the observance of the Lord's-day with a strictness eminently Judaical, and descending to the most ordinary occupations. He professes to confirm his doctrine by a letter, pur - porting to be from our Saviour, and miraculously found'on the altar of St. Simeon at Golgotha. Vari- ous apocryphal judgments overtook persons trans- gressing, in the slightest degiee, the commands set forth in this document. It had said that from the 188 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ninth hour of the Sabbath (Saturday) to sunrise on Monday, n > work wti'^ to be done; and it is curious to find that the instances of punishment seem to cluster about the profanation of the later hours of Saturday. At length, the church, almost as a rule, though still asserting that the Lord's-day and all oth- er holy days \veie of ecclesiastical instil ution (not in- deed in Ihe high sense of that word, for they are not de Jure Dwlno, but de Jure Humuno Cunonico), had erected a complete Judaic superstructure upon an ecclesiastical foundation. , . . The most perfect de- velopment, however, of this ecch^siastical Sabbatari- anism is displayed by Tostatus, Bishop of Avila, in the fourteenth centur}^ in his Commentary on the twelfth chapter of Exodus. . . , ' If a musician (says Tostatus) wait upon a gentleman to recreate his mind with music, and they are agreed upon certain wages, or he be only hired for a pr^^sent time, he sins in case he play or sing to him on holy days (includ- ing the Lord's-day); but not, if his reward be doubt- ful or depend ordy on the bounty of the parties who enjoy his music' ' A cook that, on the holy days, is hired to make a feast or to dress a dinner, com- mits a mortal sin;' but not, ' if he be hired by the month or year. Meat may be dressed upon the Lord's-day or the other holy days, but to wash dish- es on those days, is unlawful, — that must be detei'- red to another day. A man that travels on holy diys to any special shrine or saint, commits no sin; but he commits sin if he returns home on those daA s. Artificers which work on these days for their own profit only, are in mortal sin, unless the work be vei-y small {quia modicum nori fueit solemnituteui dissohri), because a small thing dishonoreth not the festival. " But I forbear to pioceed with this catalogue of puerilities."* Heyl^'n treats very fully of that which Dr. Hessey * Hessey, Lectures on Sunday, Lect. 3, p. 87. seq. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 189 has thus outlined. In part second of his History of the Sabbath, we learn that the Council of Macon, un- der Gunthran, king of Burgundy, although very strict in its prohibitions, still acknowledges that: " The Lord does not exact it of us, that we should celebrate this day in corporeal abstinence or rest from labor who only looks that w. do yield obedience to his holy will, by which, contemning earthly things, he may conduct us to the heavens of his infinite mercv " ' ' Yet notwithstanding these restraints from work' and labor, the church did never resolve it that any work was in itself unlawful on the Lord s- dav though to advance God's public service it was thoiight g?od that men should be restrained from some kinds o1 work, that so they might better attend their prayers and follow their devotions. * Speaking of the close of the sixth century, Heylyn adds: " Yet all this while, we find not any one who did observe it as a Sabbath, or which taught others so to do- not any who affirmed that any manner of vork was unlawful on it, further than as it was prohibited bv the Prince or Prelate, that so the people might as- semble with greater comfort ; not any one who preached or published that any pastime, sport, or recreations of an honest name, such as were lawful on the other days, were not fit for this." . . " I note it only for the close, that it was near nine hundred years tiom our Saviour's birth, if not quite so much, before re- straint from husbandry had been first thought of in the East; and probably being thus restrained, did find no more obedience there than it h^d done before in the Western part."t Heylyn goes on to show that much of the rigidity * Chapter 4, sec. 7. + Chapter 4, sec. 12. 100 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. concerning Sunday observance, existed only in tJieo riex and laws. In confirmation of which, he cites the following: "Nor were these reservations and exceptions only in point of business, and nothing found in point of practice; but there are many instances, especially of the greatest persons, and most public actions left up- on record, to let us know what liberty they assumed unto themselves as well on this day, as on the rest. And such only shall I instance as being most exem- plary, and therefore conducing most to my present purpose. And, first, we read of a great battle fought on Palm Sunday, Anno 718, between Charles .Vl artel, Grand Master of the household of the King of France, and tlilpericus the King himself, wherein the victory fell to ( harles. . . . Upon the Sunday before Lent, Anno 885, Ludovick the Emperor, surnamed Pius, or the godly, together with his prelates and others, which had been present with him at the assembly held at Thionville, went on his journey unto Metz, nor do we find that it did derogate at all from his name and piety. Upon the Sundaj'^ after Whitsun- tide, Anno 844, Ludowic, son unto Lotharius the Emperor, made his solemn entrance into Pome, the Roman citizens attending him with their fiags and ensigns, the pope and clergy staying his coming in St. Peter's Church, there to'entertain him. Upon a >unday. Anno 1014, Henry the Emperor, environed with twelve of the Roman Senators, came to St. Peter's Church, and there was crowned, together with his wife by the i^ope then being. On Easter d;iy, Conrad the Emperor was solemnly inaugurated by Pope John, — Canute King of England, and Ro- dolph King of the Burgundians, being then both present: and the next bunday after, began his jour- ney towards Germany. . . .' On Passion Siuiday, Anno 1148, Lewis the' King of France, afterwards c ir.onized for a saint, made his first entry into Jeru- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 191 salem with his army. . . . What should I speak of councils on this day assembled, as that of Charles, Tours, Anno 1146, for the recovery of the Holy Land; and of on Trinity Sunday, as we call it now, Anno 1164, aijaiust Octavian the pseudo-pope; that of Ferr£era, upon Passion Sunday, Anno 1177, against Frederick the Emperor; or that of l^aris, Anno 1226, summoned by Stephen, th^^n Bishop there, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, for the condemning of cer- tain dangerous and erroneous positions then on foot. I have the rather instanced in these particulars, part- ly because the}' happened about these times, when Prince and Prelate were more and more intent on lay- ing restraints upon their people, for the mere honor of this day, and partly because, being all of them public actions, and such as move not forward but by divers wheels, they did require a greater number of people to attend them."* All these things accord with the spirit of an age in which religion was a form, and men were strict only in theory. In another place, Hejdyn corroborates the statements, that Sunday was reverenced no more than many other holy days were, and upon the same ground, church appointment. An example or two will suffice: " Photius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Anno 858, thus reckoneth up the festivals of especial note; viz., seven days before Easter, and seven afier ( Lrist- m^s, the feasts of ihe apostles, and the Lord's-day; and, then, he adds that on those days they suffer neither public shows nor courts of justice. Emanuel Comnenus, next Emperor of Constantinople, Anno 1174: ' We do ordain,' saith he, 'that ihese days fol- lowing be exempt from labor;' viz., the nativit}^ ol the Virgin Mary (and so he reckoneth all the rest in * Hist, of Sab., part 5, chap. 2, sec. 9. 192 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. those parts observed), together with all Sundays in the year; and that in them there be no access to tlie seats of judgment. . . . Now, lest the feast of Whitsuntide might not have some respect as well as Easter, it was determined in the council held at Engelheim, Anno 948, that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Whitsunweek, should no less solemnly be observed than the Sunday was,"* Morer, speaking of the question in the sixth cen tury, says: " Under Clodoveus [Clovis], king of France, the bishops met in the first Council of Orleans (A. D. 507), where they obliged themselves and their sue cessors to be always at the church on the Lord's-day, except in case of sickness or some great infirmity. And because they, with some other of the clergy in those days, took cognizance of judicial matters, there fore ])y a Council at Arragon, about the year 518, in the reign of Theodoric, king of the Goths, it was de- creed, that ' No bishop or other person in holy orders should examine or pass judgment in any civil con- troversy on the Lord's-day. ' "f The third Council of Orleans was held A. D. 538; and Hengstenberg, speaking of its action, says: " The third Council of Orleans says, in its twenty- ninth canon : ' The opinion is spreading among the people, that it is wrong to ride, or drive, or cook food, or do anything to the house or the person, on the Sunday. But since such opinions are more Jew- ish than Christian, that shall be lawful in the future which has been so to the present time. On the other hand, agricultural labor ought to be laid aside, in order that the people may not be prevented from at tending church.":): * Chapter 4, sec. 12. t Dialogues on the Lord's-day, pp. 263, 264. t Hengstenberg, On the Lord's-day, p. .58. SABBATH AND SUXDAY. 193 This recognizes the well-kuowii fact, that the per- mission granted to agricultural labor by the first law of Constantine, continued for many centuries. About the middle of the seventh century, further action was found necessary, which is related by Morer, as follows: " At Chalons, a city in Burgundy, about the year 654, tliere was a provincial synod which confirmed what had been done, by the third Council of Orleans, about the observation of the Lord's-da}^ namely, that none should plow or reap, or do anything be- longing to husbandry, on pain of the censure of the church, which was the more minded, because backed with the secular power, and by an edict menacing such as offended herein; who, if bondmen, were to be soundly beaten; but if free, had three admonitions, and then if faulty, lost the third part of their patri- mony, and if still obstinate, were made slaves for the future. And in the first year of Eriugius, about the time of Pope Agatho, there sat the twelfth Coun- cil of Toledo, in Spain, A. D. 681; where the Jews were forbidden to keep their own festivals, but so far at least to observe the Lord's-day as to do no manner of work on it, whereby they might express their contempt of Christ or his worship." * Sunday appears first on the statute-books of Eng- land, about the close of the seventh century. In the year 693, Ino, king of the West Saxons, ordered that, "If a servant do any work on Sunday by his master's order, he shall be free, and the master shall pay thirty shillings. But if he went to work on his own head, he shall either be beaten with stripes, or shall ransom himself with a price. A freeman, if he * Dialogues on the Lord's-day, p. 267. (13) 194 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. works on Ibis day, shall lose his freedom or pay sixty shillings; if he be a priest, double.'' ^ In A. D. 747, under Egbert, king of Kent, hy a council of the clergy, "It was ordered that the Lord's-day be celebrated with due veneration, and wholly devoted to the worship of God. And that all abbots and priests, on this most holy day, remain in their respt ctive mon- asteries and churches, and there do their duty ac- cording to their places." f Forty years later, Egbert, ai'chbishop of York, to show positively what was to be done on Sunday, and what the laws designed by prohibiting ordinary work to be done on such days, made this canon: " Let nothing else be done on the Lord's-day, but to attend on God in hymns, and psalms, and spirit- ual songs. AVhoever marries on Sunday, let him do penance for seven days.":}: But mere decrees of councils and emperors, did not suffice. Men heard more than they heeded. Re- course was, therefore, had to the universal weapons of ignorant and bigoted men; and the argument of "Divine Providence" was brought to bear with evident effect. The same is used to-day by many who would feel greatly wrongedif they were charged with ignorance and bigotry. At a provincial council held in Par's, A. D. 829, the prelates complained that people disregarded the canons relative to Sunday, and asserted that this was * Morer, Dialogues on the Lord's-day, p. 283, + Morer, Dialogues, etc p. 2b4- t Ibid, p. 284. SABBATH A XI) 8LNI)AV. 195 the reasou why God had sent some very remarkuble and terrible judgments upon men: "For, say they, many of us by our own knowl- edge, and some by hearsay, know that several coun- trymen, following iheh- husbandry on this day, have been killed with lightning; others being seized with convulsions in their joints, have miserably perished. Whereby, it is apparent how high the dispUasiire of God was upon their neglect of this day. And, at hist, they conclude that, 'in thelirstplace, the priests and ministers, then kings and princes, and all faith- ful people be beseeched to use their utmost endeav- ors and care, that the day be restored to its honor, and, for the credit of Christianity, more devoutly observed for the time to come.' "* Local councils and decrees proved insufficient, even when supported by such appeals to fear; and, at length, in A. D. 853, a Synod was held at Home, un- der Pope Leo IV., which took the following action: "It was ordered more precisely than informer times, that no man should henceforth, dare to make any markets on the Lord's-day; no, not for things that were to eat, neither to do any kind of Avork which belonged to husbandry. Which canon, being made at Home, confirmed at Compiegue, and after- wards incorporated, as it was, into the body of the canon law, became to be admitted, without further (piestion. in most parts of Christendom; especially when the popes had attained their height, and brought all Christian princes to be at their devotion. For then the people, Avho before had most opposed it, might have justly said, ' Behold, two kings stood not before him, how then shall we stand?' Out of which consternation all men presently obeyed, trades- * Morer, Uialogaies, etc.. p. 271; also, Ileylyn, His. of Sab. part. 2, chap. 8, sec. T. I'.lfi SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ineu of all sorts being broueht to lay by their labors; and amongst those, the miller, who, though his work was easiest, and least of all required his presence."* On the establishment of the Saxon Heptarchy in England. Alfred the Great (A. I). 876) took care to protect Sunday. Morer says: ' ' It was not the least part of his care to make a law that, among other festivals, this day more espe- cially might be solemnly kept, because, it was the day whereon our Saviour Christ overcame the devil. . . . And whereas, before the single punishment for sac- rilege committed on any other day, was to restore the value of ihe thing stolen, and withal lose one hand, he added that if any person was found guilty of this crime done on the Lord's-day, he should be doubly punished," f Once begun, the work of excessive legislation found ready acceptance. These laws were added to, in one form or another, under Athelstan, A. D. 928; and again, in 943, under the order of Otho, arch- bishop of Canterbury. In A. D. 967, Edgar "com- manded that the festival should be kept from three o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, until the dawn of day on Monday." And under Ethelred, A. D. 1009, the demand for strict observance was renewed. In Norway the same tendency prevailed. Heylyn | relates the story of pious king Olaus, in the year 1028, who, in absent mindedness, having whittled a stick on Sunday, and being told that he had thereby trespassed upon the sanctit}^ of Sunday, gathered the * Morer, Dialogues, etc., p. 272; Heylyn, Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. .5, i-eo. 7. + Dialogues, etc., pp. 284, 285. i Hist, of Sab., part 2, chap. 5, sec. 2. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 19T chips, and set tire to them iu his hand, tluit he might punish himself for breaking God's commandment. But the crowning act of impious nonsense remains to be noticed. In the year A. D. 1200, one Eustace. an abbot, came from Normandy to preach in Eng- land, who also performed many miracles. He in- veighed against the desecration of Sunday, but was evidently met by the reply that there was no com- mandment from God for its observance. Returning to the continent, he remained for a time; and in 1201, came back to England, armed with a document which was most befitting to his purposes. It is worth the room it takes in our pages, as a curiosity, although it offers a sad commentary upon the hon- esty of the times which could produce such a forgery, and upon the credulity of the people who could ac- cept it. The following account of the the transac- tion is from a contemporary author: " In the same year (1201), Eustace, Abbot of Flay, returned to England, and preaching therein the Word of the Lord from city to city, and from place to place, forbade any person to hold a market of goods on sale upon the Lords-day. For he said that the commandment underwritten, as to the observance of the Lord's-day, had come down from heaven : the HOLY COMMANDMENT AS TO THE LORD'S DAY, wllich came from heaven to Jerusalem, and was found up- on the altar of Saint Simeon, in Golgotha, where Christ was crucified for the sins of the world. The Lord sent down this epistle, which was found upon the altar of Saint Simeon; and, after looking upon which three days and three nights, some men fell upon the earth, "imploring mercy of God. And after the third hour, the patriarch arose, and Acharius the Ilt8 SAIJBATH AND SUNDAY. Archbishop, and they opened the scroll, and received the holy epistle from God; and when they had taken the same, they found this writing therein: " ' I am the Lord, who commanded you to ob- serve the holy day of the Lord, and ye have not kept it; and have not repented of your sins, as I have said in my gospel, "Heaven and earth shall pa^S away, but my words shall not pass away." Whereas, 1 caused to be preached unto you repentance and amendment of life, you did not believe me, I have sent against you the Pagans, who have shed your blood on the earth; and yet you have not believed; and, because you did not keep the Lord's-day holy, for a few days you suffered hunger, but soon I gave you fullness, and after that jou did still worse again. Once more, it is my will that no one, from the ninth hour on Saturday until sunrise on Monday, shall do any work, except that which is good. " ' And if any person shall do so, he shall, with penance, make amends for the same. And if you do not pay obedience to this command, verily, I say un- to you, and I swear unto you, by my seat, and by my throne, and by the cherubim who watch my holy seat, that I will give you my commands by no other epistle; but I will open the heavens, and for rain I will rain upon you stones, and w^ood, and hot water, in the night, that no one may take precautions against the same, and that so I may destroy all wicked men. " ' This do I say unto you: for the Lord's holy day, you shall die the death, and for the other festi- vals of my saints which you have not kept, I will send vmto you beasts that have the heads of lions, the hair of women, the tails of camels; and they shall be so ravenous that they shall devour your flesh, and you shall long to flee away to the tombs of the dead, and to hide yourselves for fear of the beasts; and I will take away the light of the sun from before your eyes, and will send darkness upon you. that, not seeing, you may slay one another, and that 1 may re- SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 199 move from you my face, and may not show mercy upon you. For I will burn the bodies and the hearts of you, and of all those who do not keep as holy the day of the Lord. " ' Hear ye my voice, that so ye may not perish in the land, for the holy day of the Lord. Depart from evil, and show repentance for your sins. For, if you do not do so, even as Sodom and Gomorrah, shall you perish. Now, know ye, that you arc saved by the prayers of my most holy mother, Mary, and of my most holy angels, who pray for you daily. I have given unto you wheat and wine in abundance; and for the same ye have not obeyed me. For the widows and orphans cry unto you daily, and unto them you show no mercy. The Pagans shoAV mercy, but you show none at all. The trees which bear fruit,"^ 1 will cause to be dried up for your sins; the rivers and the fountains shall not give water. " 'I gave unto you a law in Mount Sinai, which you have not kept; I gave you a law with mine own hands, which you have not observed. For you I was born into the world, and my festive day ye know not. Being wicked men, ye have not kept the Lord's- day of my resurrection. By my right hand I swear unto you. that if you do not observe the Lord's-day, and fhe festivals of my saints, I will send unto you the Pagan nations that they may slay you. And still do you attend to the business of others, and take no consideration of thi.-, ? For this will I send against you still worse beasts, who shall devour the breasts of your women. I will curse those who, on the Lord's- day, have wrought evil.' " * This farce was carried out in a befitting manner by pretended miracles, which attended disobedience to this " heavenly " mandate. These seem to cluster * Roger de Hoveden, Annals, Vol. 2, pp. 526-528 Bohn's Edition. 200 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. around the later hours of the Sabbath, rather than the hours of Sunda}\ These are recounted as fol lows: "On Saturday, a certain carpenter of Beverly, who, after the ninth hour of the day, was, contrary to the wholesome advice of his wife, making a wood- en wedge, fell to the earth, being struck with paral- ysis. A woman also, aAveaver, who, after the ninth hour on Saturday, in her anxiet}' to finish a part of the web, presisted in so doing, fell to the ground, struck with paral3'sis, and lost hfer voice. At Raf- ferton also, a vill belonging to Master Roger Arundel, a man made for himself a loaf and baked it under the ashes, after the ninth hour on Saturday, and ate thereof, and put part of it by till the morning; but when he broke it on the Lord's day, blood started forth there irom; and he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true. " At Wakefield also, one Saturday, while a miller was, after the ninth hour, attending to grinding his corn, there suddenlj^ came forth, instead of tiour, such a torrent of blood, that the vessel, placed beneath, was uearl}^ filled with blood, and the mill-wheel stood immovable, in spite of the sirong rush of the water; and t hose who beheld it wondered thereat, saying, ' Spare us, oh Lord, spare thy people.' "Also in Lincolnshire, a women had prepared some dough, and, taking it to the oven after the ninth hour on Saturday, she placed it in the oven, which was then at a very great heat; but when she took it out she found it raw, on which she again put it into the oven, which was very hot; and both on the next day and on Alondaj', when she supposed that she should find the loaves baked, she found raw dough. " In the same country also, when a certain wom- an had prepared her dough, intending to carry it to the oven, her husband said to her, ' It is Saturday, and it is now past the ninth hour, put it aside until SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 201 Monda}^; ' on which the woman, obeying her husband, did as he commanded; and so, having covered over the dough with a linen cloth, on coming the next day to look at the dough, to see whether it had not, in rising, through the yeast that was in it, gone over the sides of the vessel, she found there the loaves ready made by the divine will, and well baked, with- out any tire of the material of this world. This was a change wrought by the right hand of him on high." * One more specimen of this blasphemous nonsense must suffice. It is from another contemporary work. The pretended miracle is as follows: " About this time, a certain woman of the county of Norfolk, despite the warnings of this man of God [i. e. , Eustace), went one day \o wash clothes after three o'clock on Saturday; and while she was busily at work, a man of venerr '.Ae appearance, unknown to her, approached her, and reproachingl}' inquired the reason of her rashness in thus daring, after the prohibition of the man of God, to wash clothes after three o'clock; and thus by unlawful work, profane the holy Sabbath-day. He, moreover, added that unless she at once desisted from her work she would, without doubt, incur the anger of God, and the vengeance of heaven. But she, in ansAver to his re- buke, pleaded urgent poverty, and said that she had till then dragged on a wretched life by toil of that kind; and that if she should desist from her accus- tomed labor, she doubted her ability to procure the means of subsistence. After a while the man van- ished suddenl}^ from her presence, and she renewed her labor of washing the clothes, and drying them in the sun, with more energy than before. 15ut for all this, the vengeance of God was not wanting: for, * Hoveden, Vol. 2, pp. 5-29, 530. 202 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. on the spot, a kind of small pig, of a black color, suddenly adhered to the woman's left breast, and could not by any effort be toin away; but, by con- tinual sucking, drew blood, and, in a short time, al- most consumed all the bodily strength of the wom- an. At length, being reduced to the greatest neces- sity, she was compelled, for a long time, to beg her bread from door to door, until, in ihe sight of many who wondered at the vengeance of God, she termi- nated her wretched life by a miserable death." * In such foolish forgeries, such impious nonsense, did the Sunday Sabbat liism of the Dark Ages culmi- nate. Two or three years later, in 1203, this same " Roll from heaven " was produced at a council held in Scotland, under Pope Innocent III, and King William, in order to further the sacred observance of Saints' days and Sundays in that kingdom. It is difhcult to believe that such a state of things could have existed among our ancestors, six hundred years ago. But the facts are so well vouched for by tlie contemporary historians above quoted, and by all the representative writers on the Sunday question at the present time, that there is no chance to doubt them, though we might wish that the sad truth were only a fraudulent joke of some irresponsible scribbler. In addition to the authorities already quoted, the curious reader, who wishes to pursue the case further, will find the "Roll "and the pretended judgments referred to by the following writers: — Binnius, Goim- cils, Vol. 3, pp. 1448, 1449; Sir David Dalrymple, *Rofferde Hoveden, Chronicles, or Flowers of History; formcrlv ascribed to Matthew Paris, Vol. 2, pp. 18&-192, Lon- don, 1849 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 20o Historical MemoriaU, pp. 7, 8, Edition 1769; Heylyu, History of the Sabbath •,l{essej, On Sunday; Gilfillan. Sunday; Cox, Sabbath Literature; J. N. Andrews, History of the Sabbath; and otlier modern writers. The same " Roll," in a slightly modified form, figures in the history of the Sabbath question among the Armenians. Many pages more might be filled with similar theories, decrees, and laws, which found expression between the close of the fifth century and the Refor- mation. But the case does not demand it. To quote more, would only reiterate what has been already given. We, therefore, proceed to sum up the case: From the opening of the sixth century forward, there was increasing formality and much Phariseeism in the matter of holy days. Their appointment and the manner of their observance was placed on nc other ground than church authority, the "custon: and consent " of Christian people. The Old Testa ment was appealed to, not as direct authority, but on analogical grounds. The reasons given for the ob- servance of the Sunday are vague and varied. Some - times, the Sabbath was said to foreshadow the Sun- day; sometimes, circumcision was made to do a likj duty. By some, the reason for its appointment wa5 found in the fact that it was the first day of creation ; by others, that it was the day of the Saviour's resur- rection. This last is the general reascn; but some or all of the others are usually associated with it, tQ strengthen it. There is more or less talk, in a loose way, concerning the example of the apostles and the; 204 SABBATH AND SUi^^DAY. early church. But this argument is used with equal freedom in support of many other holy days, and of practices which all agree are Mdiolly without such authority. Such were the better and more sensible reasons. The more senseless and superstitious ones, as we have seen, were brought in to do what the others failed to accomplish. The whole picture is one eminentlj^ in accord with the Dark Ages. The Sunday had no prominence over many other church festivals, except that which came naturally from the fact, that it occurred often er. Its observ- ance, in keeping with the general character of the religion of the times, consisted in an outward formal- ism, without pure spiritual life. Stringent restric- tions were promulgated, which the people could not and did not observe. There was no power in this pseudo-r-'abbathism to elevate the people, to draw them toward God, or to nourish true spiritual life. These long centuries of increasing darkness, all pre- sent the same sad spectacle of a sinking church, try- ing to lift itself by itself, and sinking deeper at every struggle. How much the few saw through the rit- ualism and darkness, we can not tell; but the mass- es, blinded by false theories, groped painfully and slowly downward. CHAPTER XVIIL The Sabbath in the Western Church During the Dark Ages. Anti-Christ, in the form of the Papacy, never suc- ceeded in driving- the Sabbath wliolly from its do- minions. There is much tliat bears on this subject, besides the evidence already given, showing that, as the Romanized church gradually expelled the Sab- bath from the "Orthodox " body, those who were loyal to the law of God and the practices of the apostolic church stood firm, regardless of excommu- nication and persecution. Dissenters who kept the Sabbath, existed under different names and forms of organization, from the time of the first Pope to the Reformation. They were either the descendents of those who fled from the heathen persecutions previous to the time of Constantine, or else those who, when he began to rule the church and force false practices upon it, re- fused submission, and sought seclusion, and freedom to obey God, in the wilderness in and around the Alps. In their earlier history they were known as Nazarenes, Cerinthians, and Hypsistarii, and later, as Vaudois, Cathari, Toulousians, Albigenses, Petro- 206 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. bnisians, Passagii, aud Waldenses. We shall speak of them in general, viuder this latter name. They believed the Romish church to be the " Anti Christ'' spoken of in the New Testament. Their doctrines were comparatively pure and Scriptural, and their lives were holj^ in contrast with the ecclesiastical corruption which surrounded them. The reigning church hated and followed them with its persecu- tions. In consequence of this unscrupulous opposi- tion, it is difficult to learn all the facts concerning them, since the only available accounts have come to us through the hands of their enemies, garbled and distorted. Before the age of printing, their books were few; aud from time to time these were destroyed by their persecutors, so that we have only fragments from their own writers. At the beginning of the twelfth century they had grown in str«ugthand numbers to such an extent as to call forth earnest opposition and bloody persecution from the Papal power. This and the increasing facilities for pre- serving history have given them a prominent place in the annals of the church, and its reforms since that time. Their enemies have made many unreason- able and false charges concerning their doctrines and practices, but all agree that they rejected the doc- trine of "church authority," aud appealed to the Bible as their only rule of faith and practice. They condemned the usurpations, the innovations, the pomp aud formality, the worldliness and immorality of the Romish hierarchy. If their close adherence lo God's Word sometimes led them to adopt ex- SABBATH AND SL'XDAV. 207 treme views, it is uot wonderful. Even their bitter enemies have uot denied that which all accord to them, viz. : moral excellence and holiness of life far in advance of their times and surroundings. There are three lines of argument which show that these dissenters, as a class, were Sabbath-keep- ers. 1. Apriori argument, founded upon the following statements, which are confirmed b}^ the subsequent quotations. They accepted the Bible as their only- standard. They were very familiar w4th the Old Testament, and held it in great esteem. They ac- knowledged no custom or doctrine as binding upon Christians which was not established before the as- cension of Christ. Such a people must have rejected those feasts which the church had appointed, and must have observed the Sabbath. But there is di- rect testimony showing their antiquity, their high moral character and piet3% and their special character as Sabbath-keepers. It is pertinent to preface these quotations with the following from the pen of Mr. Benedict, by which it will be seen that it is almost a miracle that any information con- cerning them has come down to this time: "As scarcely any fragment of their history re- mains, all we know of them is from the accounts of their enemies, wiiich w^ere always uttered in a style of censure and complaint; and without which we should not have known that millions of them ever existed. It was the settled policy of Rome to oblit- erate every vestige of opposition to her decrees and doctrines, everything heretical, whether persons or 208 SABBATH AND SLN'DAY. writings, by which tlie faithful would be liable to be contaminated and led astray. In conformity to this their fixed determination, all books and records of their oppose rs were hunted up and committed to the flames. Before the art of printing was discovered, in the fifteenth century, all books were made with a pen; the copies, of course, were so few that their concealment was much more difficult than it would be now, and if a few of them escaped the vigilance of the inquisitors, they would be soon worn out and gone. None of them could be admitted and pre- served in tlie public libraries of the Catholics from the ravages of time, and the hordes of barbarians, with which all parts of Europe were at different times overwhelmed." * Again Mr. Benedict speaks as follows: " We have already observed from Claudius Seyssel, the popish archbishop, that one Leo was charged with originating the Waldensian heresy in the valleys, in the days of Constantine the Great. When those severe measures emanated from the Emperor Hono- rius against re-baptizers, the Baptists left the seat of opulence and power, and sought retreats in the country, and in the valleys of Piedmont; which last place, in particular, became their retreat from im- perial oppression." f Dean Waddington bears testimony as follows: " Rainer Sacho, a Dominican, says of the Wal- denses: ' There is no sect so dangerous as the Leon- ists, for three reasons: flrst, it is the most ancient; some say it is as old as Sylvester, others, as the apostles themselves. Secondly, it is very generally disseminated; there is no country where it has not gained some footing Third, while other sects are * History of the Baptists, p. 50. + lb. p. 23. SABBATH AXl) SUNDAY. •>!09 profane and blasphemous, this retains the utiiiost show of piety; tliey live justly before men, and be- lieve nothing concerning God which is not good.' "* This same writer, Saclio, admits that they flour- ished at least five hundred years before the time of Peter Waldo. Their great antiquity is also allowed by Gretzer, a Jesuit, who wrote against them. Crantz, in his " History of the United Brethren," speaks of this class of Christians in the following words: " These ancient Christians date their origin from the beginning of the fourth century, whenone Leo, at the great revolution in religion under Constantine the Great, opposed the innovations of Sylvester, Bishop of Rome. Nay, Rieger goes further still, taking them for the remains of the people of the valleys, who, when the Apostle Paul, as is said, made a journey over the Alps into Spain, were con- verted to Christ."! Jortin bears the following testimony: ' ' In the seventh century, Christianity was preached in China by the Nestorians and the Valdenses who abhorred the papal usurpations, and are supposed to have settled themselves in the valleys of the Pied- mont.":}: President Edwards says: " Some of the popish writers themselves own that that people never submitted to the Church of Rome. One of the popish writers speaking of the Waldenses, says: The heresy of the Waldenses is the oldest in the world. It is supposed that this people first be- took themselves to this desert, secret place among * Church History, chap. 22, sec. 1. 1 Latrobe's Trans., p. 16, London, 1780. t Eccl. Hist., Vol. 2. sec 38. (14) 210 SABBATH AND SUJfDAY. the mountains to hide themselves from the severity of the heathen persecutions, which were before Con- stantine the Great, and thus the woman tied into the wilderness from the face of the serpent. Rev. 12: 6-14. And the people being settled there, their posterity continued there from age to age afterward; and being, as it were, by natural walls as well as God's grace, separated from the rest of the world, never partook of the overflowing corruption "... " Theodore Belvedere, a popish monk, says that the heresy had always been in the valleys. In the preface to the French Bible the translators saj' that they (the Valdenses) have always had the full enjoyment of the heavenly truth contained in the Holy Script- ures ever since they were enriched with the same b}^ the apostles, having preserved, in fair manuscripts the entire Bible in their native tongue from genera- tion to generation." * Thus history furnishes full and explicit testimony concerning the antiquity of these pure Christians, showing that their separation began very earl3% and that they never submitted to the Papal power, nor accepted its false teachings. Their number is a matter of no less interest than their antiquity. Jones bears the following testimony: "Even in the twelfth century their numbers abounded in the neighborhood of Cologne in Fland- ers, the south of France, Savoy, and Milan. They were increased, says Egbert^ to great multitudes throughout all coutries, and although the}' seem not to have attracted attention in anv remarkable degree previous to this period, jet, as it is obvious they could not have sprung up in a day, it is not an un- fair inference that they must have long existed as a * History of Redemption, pp. 293, 294. SABBATH A]SD SUNDAY. 211 people wholly distinct from the Catholic church, though, amidst the political squabbles of the clergy, it was their good fortune to be entirely overlooked." . . . " Toward the middle of the twelfth century, a small society of the Puritans, as they were called b}' some, or Waldenses as they are termed by others, or Paulicians, as they are denominated by our old monkish historian, William of Newburg, made their appearance in England. This latter writer speaking of them, says: ' They came originally from Gascoyne, where, being as numerous as the sand of the sea, they sorely infested France, Italy, Spain and Eng- land. "* Benedict says: "In the thirteenth century, from the accounts of Catholic historians, all of whom speak of the Wal- denses in terms of complaint and reproach, they had founded individual churches, or were spread ovit in colonies in Italy, Spain, Germany, the Xetherlands, Bohemia, Poland, Lithuania, Albania, Lombardy, Milan, liomagna, Yicenza, Florence, Velepenetine, Constantinople, Philadelphia, Sclavonia, Bulgaria, Diognitia, Livonia, Sarmatia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Briton, and Piedmont."! It is not claimed that there was perfect agreement in sentiment on all points among all these different sects, in all the different localities. That they agreed on the fundamental point of rejecting the Romish Hierarchy, and appealing to the Bible as the only standard of faith and practice, is undeniable. The following testimonies will show what they were in these respects. Allix speaks as follows: " They can say a great part of the Old and New * Hist, of the Waldenses, Vol. 1, chap. 4, sec. 3. Loudon, 1816. t Hist, of the Baptists, p. 31. 212 SABBATH AXD SL>sDAY. Testaments In- heart. They despise the decretals, and the sayings and expositions of holy men, and only cleave to the text of Scripture." . . . " They say that the doctrine of Christ and his apostles is suffi- cient to salvation, without any church statutes and ordinances. That the traditions of the church are no better than the traditions of the Pharisees; and that greater stress is laid on the observation of human traditions than on the keeping of the law of God. ' Why do you transgress the law of God by your traditions? ' They contemn all approved ec- clesiastical customs which they do not read of in the gospel, as the observation of "Candlemas, Palm Sun- day, the reconciliation of penitents, the adoration of "the cross on Good Friday. They despise the feast of Easter and all other festivals ofChi-ist and the Saints, because of their being multiplied to that vast number, and say that one day is as good as another, and work upon holy days where they can do it without being taken notice of." . . . "They declare themselves to be the apostles' successors, to have apastolic authority, and the keys of binding and loosing. They hold the church of Rome to be the Whore of Babylon, and that all who obey her are damned, especially the clergy that are subject to her since the time of Pope Sylvester." . . . "They hold that none of the ordinances of the church that have been introduced since Christ's ascension ouglit to be observed, being of no worth; the feasts, fasts, orders, blessings, offices of the church and the like, they utterly reject."* This is said of them in Bohemia. As late as the time of Erasmus these Bohemians continued to keep the Sabl)ath with great strictness, as will be seen by the following. * Ecc. Hist, of the Ancient Piedmont Church, pp. 216, -217, 1^09, London, 1690. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 213 An old German historian, John Sleidan, speaking of a sect in Bohemia called " Picards," says: ''The}' admit of nothing but the Bible. They choose their own priests and bishops; deny no man marriage, perform no offices for the dead, and have but verj^ few hoi}' days and ceremonies."* These are the same people to whom Erasmus refers, representing them as extremely strict in observing the Sabbath. Robert Cox, in his " Sabbath Litera- ture," quotes from Erasmus and comments as fol- lows: "With reference to the origin of this sect (Sev- enth-day Baptists ), I find a passage in Erasmus, that at the early period of the Reformation when he wrote, there were Sabbatarians in Bohemia, who not only kept the seventh day, but were said to be so scrupulous in resting on it, that if anything went into their eyes they would not remove it till the morrow. He says: 'Nunc audimus apud Bohemos exoriri novum Judmorum genus Sabbatarios appellant, qui tanta superstitione servant Sabbatum, ut si quid eo die inciderit in oculum, nolint eximere; quasi non snfficiat eis pro Sabbato Dies Dominicus qui Ajjostolis etiameratsacer, aut quasi G hristus non satis expy^esserit quantum tribuendum sit Sabbati.' "f "Hospinian of Zurich, in his treatise De Festis Judsl)AY. of the sacred ark, called the ark of Zion, is the cen- ter of Abyssinia u devotion. To it gifts and prayers are offered. On it the sanctity of the whole church depends. Circumcision is not only practiced, as in the Coptic church, but is regarded as of e([ual neces- sity with baptism. There alone the Jewish Sai»bath is still observed, as well as the Christian Sunday. They (with the exception of a small sect of the Sev- enth-day Baptists) are the only true Sabbatarians in Christendom."* Thus has the Abyssinian church stood tirm on the fundamental truth of God's Word, and clung to his Sabbath through all the vicissitudes and cruel op- position of fifteen hundred 3^ears, as Christians too, and notas Judaizers, their own words being witnesses. It is not wonderful if they are to-day belpw the high- est Christian standards of religious life; it is rather wonderful that they have not been wholly corrupted and overrun. When we remember the fierce attacks of Mohammedanism, the craft and cruelties of Ro- manism and the continued encroachments of surround- ing Pagansim, their present purity in doctrines and in life seems almost miraculous. Gobat testifies that, though he had " sometimes overheard conversation of a very improper and, indeed, debasing character," nevertheless he had " never witnessed so much lewd- ness or indecency of conduct in the Capitol of Abys- sinia, as is sometimes witnessed in the Capitol of Egypt, France or England."! The time may not be distant when this branch of tlie church will spring to new life and become, under * P. 96, New York, 1862. I Journal, etc., p. 459. SAIJBATH AND SL'XDAY. 229 (Jod, iiistruDieiital in converting- the nations around it to him. and to lii.s Sabbath. THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. Here is another example, similar to the one ju.st presented. According to Stanley, this church was founded A. D. 302. It was the central Christian in- fluence in Asia, and during its early history pushed its missionary enterprises even to China. In the fifth century a translation of the Bible was made into the Armenian tongue, which is so perfect as to have Ijeen called the "queen of versions." Their general character at the present time is described by Mr. Stanley as follows: " The Armenians are b}' far the most powerful, and the most widely diffused, in the group of purely Oriental churches of which we are now speaking, and as such exercise a general influence over all of them. Tiieir home is in the mountain tract that en- circles Ararat. But, though distinct from the sur- roiuiding nations, they arej'et scattered far and wide through the whole Levant, extending their episco- pate, and carrying on at the same time the chief trade of Asia. A race, a church, of merchant princes, they are in quietness, in wealth, in steadiness, the 'Quakers' of the East, the Mews.' if one may so call them, of the Oriental church. "* Kev. Lyman Coleman speaks of the observance of tiie Sal)bath among the Armenians in the following casual manner: "There are at least fourteen great feast-days in the cour.-e of the year, on which all ordinary labor * Hist. Eastern Church, p. 92. 230 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. is suspended, and the day is observed more strictly than the Sabbath."* J. W. Mossie, f as quoted by Andrews, thus de- scribes them: " The creed which these representatives of an an- cient line of Christians cherished was not in con- formity with Papal decrees, and has with difficulty been squared with the thirty-nine articles of the Anglican Episcopacy. Separated l rom the world for one thousand years, they were naturally ignorant of many novelties introduced by the councils and de- crees of the Lateran; and their conformity with the faith and practices of the first ages, laid them open to the unpardonable guilt of heresy and schism, as estimated by the church of Rome. ' We are Chris- tians, and not idolators,' was their expressive reply, when required to do homage to the image of the Vir- gin Mary." . . . "La Croze states them at fifteen hundred churches, and as many towns and villages. They refused to recognize the pope, and declared they had never heard of him: they asserted the purity and primitive truth of their faith, since they came, and their bishops had for thirteen hundred years been sent from, the place where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians." . . . "Remote from the busy haunts of commerce, or the populous seats of manufacturing industry, they may be re- garded as the Eastern Piedmontes, the Vallois of Hindoostan, the witnesses prophesying in sack cloth through revolving centuries, though indeed their bodies lay as dead in the streets of the city they had once peopled. " :{: Yea tes inform =( us that Saturday "amongst them * Ancient Christianity Exemplified, pp. 561, 502. Phila.. 1852. + Continental India. Vol. 2, pp. 116. 117. 120. t History of the Sabbat li. SABBATH AND SL'NJ)AY. *^31 is a festival day agreeable to the aucient practice of the church."* But the following testimony from the pen of Rev. Claudius Buchannan, presents the case still more clearly. He says: " Next to the Jews, the Armenians will form the most generally useful body of Christian missionaries. They are found in every principal city of Asia; they are the general merchants of the East, and are in a state of constant motion from Canton to Constanti- nople. Their general character is that of a wealthy, industrious, and enterprising people. They are set- tled in all the principal places of India, where they arrived many centuries before the English. AVhere- ever they colonize, they build churches, and observe the solemnities of the Christian religion in a decorous manner." . . . "The history of the Armenian church is very interesting. Of all the Christians in Central Asia, they have preserved themselves most free from Mohammedan ana Papal corruptions. The Pope assailed for a time with great violence, but with little effect. The churches in lesser Armenia indeed consented to a union, which did not long con- tinue; but those in Persian Armenia maim aiued their independence, and they retain their ancient Script- ures, doctrines, and worship to this day." . . . "The Bible was translated into the Armenian language in the tifth century, under very auspicious circumstan- ces, the history of which has come down to us. It has been allowed, b}^ competent judges of the lan- guage, to be a most faithful translation. La Croze calls it the ' Queen of Versions.' This Bible has ever remained in the possession of the Armenian people, and many illustrious instances of genuine and enlightened piety occur in their history." . . . * East India Church History, p. 134— quoted bv Audrews, Sab. Hist. p. 314. 232 SA1J15ATH A^■J) SUNDAY. " The Armenians in Hindoostanare our own subjects. They acknowledge our government in India, as the}- do that of Sophi in Persia, and the}^ are entitled tooui- regard. They have preserved the Bible in its purity, and their doctrines are, as far as the author knows, the doctrines of the Bible. Besides, they maintain the solemn obser Dance of Christian worship throughout our empire on the seventh day; and they have as many spires pointing to heaven among the Hindoos as ourselves. Are such a pepple then entitled to no acknowledgement on our part, as fellow Christians? Are they forever to be ranked by us with Jews, Mohammedans, and Hindoos? " * NESTORIAN OR CHALDEAN CHEISTIAKiS. Stanley states that: '• The Chaldean Christians, called by their oppo- nents, Nestorians, are the most remote of these old ' Separatisis.' Only the first two councils, those of ISTicjea and Constantinople, have weight with them. The third— of Ephesus— already presents the stum- bling block of the decree which condemned Nestorius. Living in the fastnesses of Kurdistan, the}- represent the persecuted remnant of the ancient church of Central Asia. Thej^ trace their descent from the earliest of all Christian missions — the mission of Thadda?us to Abgarus." . . . " In their earlie'- days the}' sent forth missions on a scale exceeding those of any Western church, except the See of Rome in the sixth and sixteenth centuries, and for the time re- * Eesearches in Asia, pp. 206, et seq. The above is from a Boston edition of 1811. It will not be found in some, if any. of the later editions, from which it has been expunjjed, i. e., the passage relative to their observ- ance of the Sabbath. A similar instance of corrupting the text of history is found in a late edition of 'Grant's History of the Nestorians," in which the word " Christian " is often thrown in before " Sabbath," thus leading the reader to sup- pose that Sunday is observed bv the Nestorians, instead of the Sabbath. SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 233 deeming the Eastern church from the usual reproach of its negligence in propagating the gospel. Their chief assumed the splendid title of Patriarch of Baby- lon, and their missionaries traversed the whole of Asia, as far eastward as China, and as far southward as Ceylon.''* C'Oleraan speaks of their Sabbath-keeping doctrines and practices as follows, quoting from their authori- ties: " These eight festivals of our Lord we observe, and we have many holy days and the Sabbath-day, on which we do not labor." . . . " The Sabbath day we reckon far — far above the others." . . . "The worship of the Sabbath does not differ materially from that of other days, except that an extra service for preaching the gospel is now extensively intro- duced under the influence of the missionaries." . . . '' Incense is burned in the churches of the Nestorians on tlie Sabl)ath and on f east-da3's. " f Doctor Hessey quotes from Grant's History of the Nestorians, as follows: " The Sabbath, he says, is regarded with a sacred- ness among the mountain tribes, which 1 have seen among no other Christians in tlie East. I have re- peatedly been told by Nestorians of the plain, that their brethren in the mountains would immediately kill a man for traveling or laboring on the Sabbath; and there is abundant reason to believe that this was formerly done, though it has ceased since the people have become acquainted with the practice of Chris- tendom on this subject. While in the mountains, I made repeated inquiries concerning the observance of that remarkable statute of the Jews, which re- quired that ' whosoever doeth any work on the Sab- * Hist. Eastern Church, p. 91. ' Ancient Christianity Exemplified, p. .578. 234 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. bath-day he shall surely be put to death; ' and 1 was everywhere told that this statute had formerly been literally executed. Nor does there appear to be any motive for deception, since the practice is now dis- approved by all. There are said to be Nestorians now in Tiyary who will not kindle a tire on the Sab- bath to cook their food; but their cold Winters oblige them to do it for necessary warmth."* Such is the passage as quoted by Dr. Hessey, and referred to page 171 of the edition of "Grant's Nestorians," used by him. On pp. 214, 215 of an edition of 1853, New York, the same passage occurs, except that before the second use of the word Sab- bath, the word " Christian" is inserted. This is such an evident inconsistency, and so out of harmony with the surroundings, that there can be no doubt that the edition quoted from by Dr. Hessey, is the correct one. The sentence referring to the general desecration of " the Lord's-day on the plains," seems to have led Dr. Hessey to suppose that Grant meant to refer to Sunday in the whole para- graph. On the contrary, it seems to us that he was drawing a contrast between the loose observance of the Sunday on the plains, and the strict observance of the Sabbath in the mountains, to emphasize his theory that the Nestorians were of Jewish origin, and that the purest stock clung tenaciously to the Sabbath, while those who were more Romanized yet held Sunday in light esteem. This latter fact appears throughout Dr. Grant's work. Rev. Justin Perkins gives the following from an * Lectures on Sunday, p. 309. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 59, 360,. 2()]. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 26') stain from their daily labors, except only such time of the day as was appointed for public assemblies. This was neither commanded in the Apostles' days, nor 3^et observed, until Christian Emperors enjoined the same to the end that people mii^ht not be abstracted from holy meditations. Neither in those days was the same precisely or strictly observed."* Heylyn speaks of Beza's views in these words: '• Beza his (Calvin's) scholar and Achates' sings the self-same song, that howsoever the assemblies of the Lord's-day were of apostolic and divine tradition. yet so that there was no cessation from work required, as was observed among the Jews. For that, saith he, had not so much abolished Judaism, as put it off and changed it to another day. And he then adds that this cessation was first brought in by Constan tine and afterwards confirmed wifh more and more re- straints,by the following Emperors, by means of which it came to pass, that that which was at first done for a good intent, viz., that men being free from their worldly business, might wholly give themselves to hearing of the Word of God, degenerated at last into downright Judaism [In Apocal. 1 ; 10]." f Heylyn goes on, speaking of others, as follows: " So for the Lutheran churches, Chemnitz charges the Romanists with superstition, because they taught the people that the holy days, considered only in themselves, had a native sanctity. And howsoever for his part, he thinks it requisite that men should be restrained . from all such works as may be any hindrance to the sanctifying of the day, yet he ac- counts it but a part of the Jewish leaven so scrupu lousl}^ to prohibit such external actions as are no bin drances to God's public worship, and man's Sabbath * Homily 30, on the Soiijrs of Solomon, t History Sabbath, part 2(1. chap. C. sec. 5. •^68 SABBATH AND SUXJJAY. duties. Bucer goea further yet, and doth not only call it a superstition, but an apostasy from Christ, to tliink that working on the Lord's-day, in itself con- sidered, is a sinful thing. He adds that he ' did very well approve of the Lord's-day meetings, if men were once dispossessed of the opinions that the day was necessary to be kept, that it was holier in itself than the other days, and that to work upon that day was in itself sinful.' Lastly, the churches of the Switzers profess, in their confession — c. 24 — that, in the keeping of the Lord's-day, they give not the least hint to any Jewish superstitions, ' for neither,' as they said, ' do we conceive one day to be more holy than another, or think that rest from labor, in itself considered, is any way pleasing unto God."" . . . • Bucer resolves the point more clearly, and saith. • The Lord's-day, by the common consent of Chris- tian people, was dedicated unto public rest, and the assemblies of the church.' And Peter Martyr, up- on a question being asked, why the old seventh day was not kept in the Christian church, makes answer, • that upon that day, and on all the rest, we ought to rest from our own works, the works of sin.' That this was rather chosen than that, for God's public service, that," saith he, ' Christ left totally unto the liberty of the church, to do therein what should seem most expedient, and that the church did very well, in that she did prefer the memory of the resurrect ion before the memor}^ of creation. ' " . . . " Gaulter speaking more generalh^ (says) that ' the Christians first as- sembled on the Sabbath-day, as being then most fa- mous and so most in use. But when the churches were augmented, the next day after the Sabbath was designed to those holy uses."* IN FRANCE. The character of the reformatory movement in * Hist. Sab., part 2. chap. 6, sec. 7. SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 269 France was so nearly allied to that in Switzerland, that little need be said concerning it. It met witli but slight success until afte>' the reformed party had Ijecome established in Switzerland, when Calvin, who had been exiled from his native France, re- turned, and became, as he had been in Switzerland, the master spirit of the French Reformation. The first Protestant congregation was formed in Paris, in 1555, and the first Synod held there in 1559. In 1571, the General Synod at La Rochelle adopted the Galilean Confession and the Calvanistic system of government and discipline. Thus the same view ob- tained as in Switzerland; and the French church was characterized by the same ideas of Christian liberty. SUMMAKY. We are therefore ready to sum up the case regard- ing the Reformation on the Continent. We cannot do this better than by quoting from Doctor Hessey: "And so it wvas in reference to the Lord'sday. With one blow, as it were, and with one consent, the Continental Reformers rejected the legal or Jew- ish title which had been set upon it, the more than Jewish ceremonies and restrictions by which, in the- ory at least, it had been encumbered; the army of holy days, of obligation by wiiich it had been sur- rounded. But they did more. They left no sanc- tion for the day itself, which could commend itself powerfully to men's consciences. They did not per- ceive that, through the Apostles, it was of the Lord's founding. They swept away, together with the upper works, which were not the Lord's, the under loorks, which icere the Lord's. And when they dis- covered that men, that liimian nature, in fact, could not do without it, they adopted the day indeed, but 270 SABBATH AKD SUNDAY. with this reservation, expressed or implied, ' The Lord's-day is to be phiced in the category of ordinances, which, being matters of indifference, any particular or National Church hath power to ordain, change, or abolish; or, which was worse still, they made it a purely civil institution, dependent, if not for its origin, at least for its continuance, upon the secular power. " * On page 172, liessey concludes in these words: " We are now, I think, in a condition to sum up the views of the Continental Reformers of the six- teenth century on the subject before us. Sabbatari- ans, indeed, those eminent men were not. They arc utterly opposed to the literal application of the fourth commandment to the circumstances of Christians. They scarcely touch upon that commandment, ex- cept to show that the Sabbath has passed away." . . . ■ ' They feel it necessary to defend their practice on grounds, sometimes perhaps of apostolic example, (with the proviso, however, that such example is to l)e taken onh' for what it is worth,) but generally, of antiquity, of the church's will, of the church's wisdom, of considerations of expediency, of regard to the weaker brethren, and sometimes on lower grounds still. And neither the day itself, nor the interval at which it recurs, is of obligation. Our Lord's resurrection is made a decent excuse for the da3% rather than the original reason, or one of the original reasons for its institution. We miss also in their writings that close connection of the Lord's-day with the Lord's Supper, which was prominently brought forward in early times." . , . "And it seems to me more than probable that the want of a deeper sanction for the observance of the Lord's-day than their teachers supplied, led the members both of the Protestant and of the Reformed communions into a * Sunday Lect. (3, p. 165, et seq. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 271 practical disregard of it, closely resembling that of the communion which they had indignantly dis- claimed." Heyl3'n sums up the case in a similar strain: • • Thus have we proved by the doctrine of the Protestants, of what side soever, and those of great- est credit in their several churches, eighteen by name, and all the Lutherans in general of the same opinion, that the Lord's-day is of no other institution than the authority of the church." ..." Nay, by the doctrine of the Helvetian churches, if I conceive their meaning rightly, every particular church may designate what day they please to religious meetings, and every day may be a Lord's-day or a Sabbath," * The fact is thus placed beyond question, that the ■ Continental" reformers taught unmodified no-Sab- bathism, on the broad ground of Christian liberty. The present flood of no-Sabbathism, which is pouring mto America from the Continent of Europe, is the logical fruitage of the theories which were thus earlj^ taught. The correctness of these theories must be tested, in part at least, by their present fruitage thus seen. But according to the philosophy' of history, we may not condemn the continent of Europe for its present no Sabbathism. It was a no-Sabbath tree which the reformers planted there. Robert Cox makes the same conclusions in a criti- cism upon a passage from the papers of the "Sab- bath Alliance," in which he states that Luther, Cal- * Hist. Sab., Part 2, chap. 6, sec. 8. 272 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. vin, Melancthon, Beza, Bucer, Zwiugle and others taught "expressly or in effect that the Sabbath was an exclusively Jewish institution, and was never meant for this more advanced age." * * Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties, p. 484. (IHAPTEl? XX 11. Sunday in the -^nglish Re- formation. The ret'oini.-tloi'y iuo\eineiit Avas less radical, at tir.sl, ill England than in (T«*nnanv. It sought lu convct certain abuses, without any material change in the doctrines of the church. The per.'^onal aliena- tion between Henry \'III. and the Po])c hastened the rupture, and ga\'e birth to the ' English Church." But the fickleness of Henry, and his tendency tc ex- pressed by civil law, the Reformation was well ad- vanced at the close of Edward's reign. S|»eaking on this point, Xeale says: " They made as quick advances, pei'hups, in re- storing religion toward its pi-imitive simplicity as the circumstances of the time would admit: and it is evident that tlay designed to go farther, and not make this the last standard of the Reformation. In- deed, Queen Elizabeth thought her brother had gone too far, by stripping i-eligion of too maiiy ornajnents. (IS) ;:^74 sabbath and Sunday. and, therefore, wlien she came to the crown, slie was hardly persuaded to restore it to the condition in which he k^ft it. King James I., King Charles I., Archbishop Laud, and all their admirers, instead of removing fartlier from the superstitious pomps of the Church of Rome, have been for returning back to them, and have appealed to the settlement of Queen Elizabeth as the purest standard."* The editor of Neale's work, Jolm A. Choules, M. A., adds a note to the above, as follows: " It is evident to the careful student of history that the Reformation in England produced its hap- piest effects in the days of Edward; that the church of England has never been so pure, as soon after its transition from popery; and that its subsequent al- terations have ever been in favor of Romanism." With this glance at the general situation, the read- er is prepared to examine the matter in hand more in detail. We shall first note the opinions of represen- tative men, and then the enactments concerning the vSunday and its observance. TYNDALE. William Tyudale, the translator, stands at the head of the list. He suffered martyrdom in 1533. In his "Reply to Sir Thomas Moore," we find the following: " And as for the Sabbath, a great matter, we be lords over the Sabbath, and may yet change it into the Monday, or any other day, as we see need; or may make every tenth day holy day, only if we see a cause why. We may make two every week, if it were ex- pedient and one not enough to teach the people. Neither was there any cause to change it from the * History of the Puritans, Vol. 1, p. 55, New York, 1855. SABBATir AND SUNDAY. 2 if) Saturday, than to put a ditference between us and the Jews, unci lest we should become servants to the day after their superstition. Neither needed we any holy day at all, if the people might be taught with- out it."* JOHN FKYTH. Tyndales associate, John Fryth, speaks with still greater plainness, in the following words: •Our forefathers who were in the beginning of the church, did abrogate the Sabbath, to the intent that men might have tin ensample of Christian liberty, and that they might know that neither the keeping of the Sabbath, nor of any other day is necessary according to Paul: 'Ye observe days, times and months.' ' I am afraid of you, that I have labored in vain toward you. ' How belt, because it was necessary that a day should be reserved, in which the people should come together to hear the Word of God, they ordained, instead of the Sabbath, which was Satui-- day. the next day following, which is Sunday. And, although they might have ke])t the Saturday with the Jew, as ;x thing indifferent, yet they did much better to overset the day, to be a perpetual mem - ory that we are free, and not bound to any day, but may do all lawful works to the pleasure of God and the'proflt of our neighbor. We are in manner as superstitious in the Sunday as they were in the Sat- urday; yea, and we are "much niadder. For the Jews* have the Word of God for their Saturday, sith it is the seventh day, and they were commanded to keep the seventh day solemn. And we have not the Word ol God for us, but rather against us; for we keep not the seventh day as the Jews do, but the tirst, which is not commanded by God's law. But Paul biddeth that no man judge us, as concerning * Works of the English Roformers, William Tyndale and Jolin Fi-yth, Vol. 3. p. 101, London, 1831. 2v<'» SAKBATH A^'D SUNDAY. holy (lays, meats, and such otlicr exterior lliirigs-: yea, and in no ways will lie that we observe tliem. counting- them more holy than other days. For tlicy were instituted that the "peojile should come together to hear God's Word, receive the sacraments, and give Goid; but if he be obstinate and persevere in his .sentence, he is not of God but of the devil, for lie maketh sin in such as God leaveth free. According to this ensample, I Avoultl that otu- ceremonies were altered: because (as I have said) the people seek health in them, and what villainy nioi'e can they do to Christ's blood." - rUANMKtt. Thomas Cranmer (burned in loo5), in his (\ite- cMsia tirst published 1548, has the tollowing: "And here note, good childi-en. that the Jews in the Old Testament were counnanded to keep the Sab- bath-day. and they observed every seventh day. called the Sabliath, or Satiu'day. JJuf we Christian men in the New Testament are not bound to such (tomman(hnents of ]Moses's law concerning differences of times, days and meats, but have liberty to use other days for our Sabbath days therein to hear the Word of God, and keep an holy rest. Andtherefore. that this Christian liberty may be kept and main- tained we now keep no more the Sabbath on Satur- day as the Jews do, but we observe the Sunday, and certiiiu other days, as the magistrates do judge con venient, whom in this thing we ought to obey." f * Declaration of Baptism, p. i«i. •f Catechism, p. 40. Oxford, ^'i<-if.)\ also Cox Sab. Lit., and Hessey, Sunday Lectures. "SABTiATH AND Sl'NDAY. 217 In another work. C'r.iiimcr reilcr.ites the same doc- trine in these vvonis; • There be two parts of the Sabl)ath-(la\ . — t»ne is the outward bodily rest from all manner of hibor an(i work; this is hiere ceremonial, and was taken awav with the other sacrifices and ceremonies by (Christ at the preaching of the gos[H'l. The other |)art of the Sabbath-day is the inward rest, or ceasing from sin, from our own wills and lusts, and to do only (rod's will and eommanilments." . . . "This spiritual Sabl)ath — that is to abstain from sin, and to do good — are all men bound to keej) all the days of their life, and not only on the Sal»bath-day. And this spiritual Sabbath may no man alter nor change, no, not the whole church." ■That the outer ob.scrvancc of the Sabbath is mere ecremonial, St. l^ud writrth plaiidy. as that the lioly days of the new moon, and of tlu' Sabbath- days are nothing but shadows of things to come." " Jerome alst), to the (xalatians IV., according to the same, .saith, ' Lest the congregation of the people witliout good order, shovdd diminish the faith in Christ, therefore certain days wereapj)ointed, where- in we should come togetlier; not that that day is holier than the others in which wc come together, but that whatsoev(tr day we as.semble in. there might arise greater joy by the sight of one of us to an- other. ' " * C'onc(Tning civil enactments Heylyn speaks as fol lows, after (juoting the opinions of Tyndale, Frytli anath was, and therefore did provide it. and enact by the authority aforesaid. ' that it shall be lawful to every husband man, laborer, lishermau, and to all and every other j)erson and ])ersons, of what estate, degree or con- dition he or they be, ui)on the holy days afore said, in harvest, or at any other time in the year. when necessity shall so re(piire, tor and sick, us iig all solx-rness and gc»dU C(m erSn V .t. notwithstanding-, allPai-sons, \ icars i^d Curates shall t.ach and declaim to their parish - '^nors tiat thev may with a sale and qmet con- ^1-., ;dun- tlu^r coimnon pray;-, ui time of harves . labor upon the holy and festival days, and save ha Nddrh (}od hath sent; and if for any scupulosit> >. ™Ve f e(mscien(-e. men should al.stain from work- rngo" thes,. days, that then they should -nevoush "^^■'^ds'makesitevident that (^ueen Kli/ab.^i in he, own parti(Milar.t(>oknotthelx)rd's-dayforaNbM^^^^ HO be ..fa different nature from the other hoh a^. Nor was it taken so bv the whole body of cmv Church and State, in the tirst Parliament of hei ^S w't tinuMt was enacted: ; tlK.t all and ev.M-v c?s()n and persons, inhabiting wit hm tf us realm and ^nv ^her of tlu- (^leen's dondnions. ^''^11^:;^;;"^^ •indf-dthfullv-havinii- no lawful or reasonable ex- '!^etoU•^L^ni.--<^r^dv.^vov themselves to repair to H^lr parish church or chapel, ^^'-^^-^^^'j;!'^^ rea.sorable let thereof, to ^ome usual pi u J^bere .ommon prayer shall be used in such tune of let pou ('VCMV Sunday, and other days ordained and s^d to beiept as holy days, and then and there to b de orderly and soberly, during the t^m.. of com- mon prayer, preaching, or other service of God, u})- on imin of punishment, etc. This law is still in force, ami fill like to be, .aiy the rule ^^ikI prescript thereof, the same religious offices are designed fo both, the same devout attendance rmmvfj^or hot k and whatsoever else may make both equal. And 2S2 SABIJATII A2sl) .SUNDAY. (herctoie by this statute, and the coniiiioii jiraycr book, we are bound to keep more Sabbatli, than t)ie Lord's-day Sabbath, or else none at all."" * Doctor Ilessey s|)eaks of the reiizn of Elizalietl). as follows : "Practically, the ()l>servance of Sunday was in a very unsatisfactor}^ state throuuhout the reign of Elizabefii, A. D." loHH-lOOH. There seems to have l)een i^reat forgetfulness of its religious character. In one of the Queen's injunctions, Sunday is classed with other holidays, and it is expressly said, that ' if foi" any scrujjulosity or grudge of conscien(;e some should superstitiously abstain from working on those 'days, they sliall grievously offend.' In fact, lal)or was almost enjoined after common prayer. On the same principle we tiud the Queen granting a license to one John Seconton, to use certain plays and games upon nine several Sundays. After a time, in A. D 1580, the London Magistracy obtained from her an interdiction of this practice on Sunday, within the h"berties of tlie city. Elsewhere it was carried on : and the pictures of the Sunday of the period which have come down to us, though somewhat profusely colored, indicate a low tone of feeling on the subject of the holy day." f During the latter years of the reign of Elizabeth wlien, according to Mr. Hessey. "The desecration of Sunda.Y which prevailed seems to have been most appalling,":!; she refused to sanction a law for its better observance, which had been carried through Parliament b}" the Puritan intiuence. In this she only carried out the doctrine of the church, and of the i-eigning power wheielw the Sunday was held as m * Heylyn Hist. Sab., Part 2, chap. 8. see 4. ■* Sunday etc.. see. 7. p. 3(11. t lbiretence of not allowing ParliameiU to meddle with matters of re ligion, wliich was her prerogative. However, the thing a])peared so reasonable, that, without th( sanction of a law, the religious observation of the Sabbath grew in esteem with all sober persons, and after a few years became the distinguishing mark of a Puritan."* In another jdaee Neale adds : " While the bisliops were thus harrassing honest and conscientious mini.sters for .scrupling the ceremo nies of the church, practical religion was at a very low e])b. The fashionable vices of the times wen profane swearing, drunkenness, reveling, gaming, and profanation of the Lord's-day : yet there was no discipline for these offenders, nor do I find any such cited into tlie spiritual courts, or shut up in prisons, * History of the Puritans. Vol. 1, p. 170. '*84 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. If men came to the parish chun-hes and api)iov('(l of the habits and ceremonies, other offenses were ovei- looked, and the eoiirt was easy. At Paris Gardens, in Soutlivvark. there were pnblie sports on the Lord's day, for the entertainment of great numbers of peo pie who resorted thitiier. Hut on tlie thirteenth of January. l)cinii: Sunday, it happened that one of the seaft'olds. beini;- crowded with people, fell down, by which accident some were killed, and a ;ireat many wounded. This was thou.yht to be a judgment from heav(!n ; for the Lord Mayor, in the account be gives of it to the treasurer, says, 'that it gives great occusion to ackuowledge the hand of God for such abuse of the Sabbath-ihiy, and moveth me in con science to give order for redress of such contempt of God's service : ' adding, that for tliis purpose he had treated with some justices of the peace in Surrey, who expressed a very good zeal, but alleged want of commission, vvhicli he referred to the consideration of his lordship. But the court paid no regard to such remonstrances, and tlie Queen had her ends in encouraging the sports, pastimes and revelings of tlie |)eople on Sundays and holy days. "" Such were the doctrines of tlie Reformed Englisii Church, and such their fruits at the opening of th<' seventeenth century. In 1608, James 1 . of Scotland, came into possession of the scepter. A stricter ol> servanc(^ of the Sunday had obtained to some extent among those of the Puritan party who accepted the doctrines concerning the Sabbath which had jusi then been publi.shed \)y Xicholas Bound. Thes( efforts made by tlie Puritans (-aused no little com plaint, which led to a declaration by the King, com monly called the '" Book of Sports, " which vvaspub- * Id., p. livt. SAltMATH AN1> s| \|».\\. 285 lisliod ill HilS. Ill iliis li<' (Icclnrt's tli.-i! loi- [he ^ooil of his p('oj)l(' il is his pic-isurc tli.-il l;i\vful rccn-M- tious should he iillowcd. .ind llicrctoic : " After divine serviee, Ihey shoidd nol be dis- turbed, Inudered oi' discouraged fioiii any htvvful reereatioiis ; sueli as daneini;-. eithei- men or women, archery for men. leapin*;- or xaullini^- or any oilier sueli harmless irereation ; inn- from liavinii May- i^ames, Whitsnn-ales oi- Moniee-danees, and setting u]) of May-poles or olhei' si)orts therewith used : so as the same be had in due and convenient tiuw. without imi)ediment or hindrance of divine service ; also, that women sliould have leave to carry rushes lo the church for the decora ting of it. acx'ording to Iheir ancieiU custom; withal prohibiting all games unlawful to be used on the Sundays, only as bear baiting, bull-baiting, enterludes iind. at all times prohibited among the meaner sort of people, bowl ing. ■ A declaration which occasioned much noise :iiid clamor; and many scandals spicad abroad, as il these counsels hud been i)ul into that [)rince's head by some great prelates which wi-rc then of most power about him. l>ut on this ])oint they might liave satisfied themselves ih.-it this was no courl doc nine, no new divinity which that learned i)iince had been taught in England. He had (h'clan-d himsei'f Ix^fore. when he was King of tin* Scots, only to the sclf-.same purpose, as may appear from hi< li(tsili<;,n Doron, i>ul)lislied unno loDS."* Janu's 1. was succeeded by his son. Charles 1.. who took the thrc^ne in 1025. ;m SABI5ATH AND SUNDAY. ' The Queen was a very great bigot to her re- ligion ; her conscience was directed by her confessor, assisted by the Pope's nuncio, and a secret cabal (^f priests and Jesuits. These controlled the Queen, and she the King, so that in effect the nation was governed by ]X)pish counsels till the TiOng Parlia- ment."* Perhaps Mr. Neale states the case too stronglj^ ; nevertheless, the leading tendency was toward Ro- manism rather than Protestantism. William Laud, Bishop of London, became Prime Minister three years after the accession of Charles I. to the throne. His character is aptly described by one of his contem- poraries, Bishop Hall, who says to him in a letter : " I would I knew where to tind you ; to-day you are with the Romanists, to-morrow with us ; our ad- versaries think you ours; and we, theirs. Your con- >cieuce tinds with both, and neither ; how long will you halt in this indifference ? " With such men at the head of affairs, it is not wonderful that the tide beat hard against reform. About 1633, since the Puritan element was gaining among the people, efforts were made to surpress the more riotous assemblies which were common upon Sunday. Laud took affront at this so-called inva- sion of the domain of the church, and complained to the King. The case was tried, the civil officers se- verely reprimanded, and ordered to revoke their enactments against the recreations. The results of this action are stated by Mr. Neale in the following words : *Hi8t. Puritans, Vol. 1, p. 279. SABBATH AND 8UXDAY. 28T ' To encourage these disorderly assemblies morr effectually, Archbishop Laud put the Kino; upon re- publishing his father's declarations of the year 1618, concerning lawful sports to be used on Sundaj^ after divine service, which was done accordingly, Oct. 18th, with this remarkable addition : After a recital of the words of King James's declaration, his majesty adds, 'Out of a like pious care for the service of Ood, and for suppressing of those humors thai oppose truth, and for the ease, comfort and recrea- tion of his majest3^'s well-deserving people, he doth ratify his blessed father's declaration, the rather, be- cause of late, in some of the counties of the kingdom, his majesty tinds that, under the pretense of taking away an abuse, there hath been a general forbidding, not only of ordinary meetings, bm of the feasts of the dedication of churches, commonly called wakes ; it is therefore his will and pleasure, that these feasts, with others, be observed, and that all neighborhood and freedom, with manlike and lawful exercises, ])e tised, and the justices of the peace are commanded not to molest any in their recreations, having first done their duty to God, and continued in obedience to his majesty's laws. Also, that publication of this command be made, by order from the bishops, through all the parish churches of tlieir several dio- ceses, respectively.' "* The publication of the foregoing widened the breach between the Puritans and the government. Many clergymen were deposed for refusing to read these declarations from their pulpits and mucli trouble and persecution came upon all dissenters. These agitations, and the ripening of other turbulent elements, culminated in civil Avar in 1642. The gov- ernment soon came into the hands of the Puritan *Id. Vol.1, p. 313. 288 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. parly, and hence tlie civil history of the Sunday from 1H4(> to 1660 belongs to tlie next chaplei-. The execution of the Kiuu- in 1649, the estal)lishraeut of the Cromwellian Protectorate in 1658. the death of Cromwell in 1658, the military intiu'regmim, and the restoratiiubject. It is," says he, 'certainly one of the ill effects of 3Iethodism that it has tended to narrow ilie cirttle of innocent enjoyments.' Tlien, after mentioning sLNDA^. "The liitf clerical secreUiry of the Society lor Promotinfi the due Observance of the Lords-Day has tlnis summed up the Sabbath laws enacted in England from the3^ear 1604: ' In the reign of .lames I , trading in boots and shoes on the Lord"s-day is prohibited by law. And by an act passed in the first year of the reign of Charles I., it was found necessar}' to restrain by a laic assemblages of personx ^'rom mrious paj'ishes on the Lord's-day. And in the second year of the same king tracelinfj of carriages is prohibited. We can easily conceive how incon- sistent with such legislation 'must h:ive appeared to his subjects the re-issuing, on the part of the king, of the Book of Sports of his father, which \iitually encouraged what the act of the first year of his reign pronounced unlawful. The act of the 29th Ch. tl. C. 7, is a very important one, still in force, and needing only some amendments, chiefly as regards an increase in the amount of the penalties, to render it efficient. It prohibits the foUotrinrj of ordiroiry rallim/s, and enjoins upon all, publicly and privately to exercise themselves in the duties of piety and true religion. The Act 21, Geo. III. C. 40, has proved a highl}' beneficial law, in presenting places of amuse- nieat being opened for payment of money on the Lord's- day. The Act, though stringent and efficient for its purposes, is evaded with impunity in London, per- sons being admitted to public gardens by means of refreshment tickets purchased on the ordinary days of the week. In the reign of George IV., and sub- sequently at different times, Acts were passed rcgo- latiiig inns, taoerns, etc. on the Lord's-day. It is to be hoped the day is not far distant wiieu the law will require them to be closed wholh' on the Lord's- day, with such exceptions as charity may require; for it is now an established fact, that crime increases in the same degree in which puldic-houses are allowed to be open on the Lord's-day. 'i'he Act 3 and 4, of William IV., is deserving of spceial notice. It tn- SABBATH AXl) St'XDAY. 'ZU'^ ables the ekt'fiot) of officers of mrporati/^ns, fornieyly required to be helrl on th' Lord's-dai/. P> In lield on Saturday or Mmidoy. It is the Aft of the late Sir Andrew Agnew. and was passed in 1838. The bill was drawn up by ^Ir. George Rockfort Clarke ; the preamble (jf it is important, for it asserts if to he the dyity of the Legislature to renioce ax much as possib/e impedimexts tn the diw obsercance of the Lord's-day. Imperfect as our legislation is on the subject of the LorAB1!ATH ANI> f>L;NDAY. "^Ui) m;itter, in that he hath told us that it is the seventh day which lie hath sanctified for that purpose. For it is in express words said, in Genesis, that God l)lessed the seventh day and sanctified it. And in Exodus. • The seventll day is the Sabbatli of the Lord thy God ;' and afterwards the same words l>e repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy. Wherefore it must needs be upon that day, and upon none other: for the Lord himself sanctified that day, and appointed it for that purpose, and none but it ; and therefore it is tndy said, by that great saint. Augustine. ' This is found of the Sal)bath alone, — God sanctified the seventh day,' insomuch, that a man being in con- science persuaded that he should keep holy \into the Lord some one day or other, should ignorantly choose out some other day, neglecting the seventh, to sanc- tify it by resting from his labors, and wholly apply- ing himself to God's service, he could not look for that blessing from God, which, no (loul)t. the church of God doth find at his hand, upon that day, by virt- ue of his special promise ; for he blessed that day and sanctified it. And as Peter Martyr alledgeth it out of Rab])i Agnon, ' This blessing doth light upon those who observe and sanctify the same Sabbath which God appointed ; and Ave' do not read that he bestowed that blessing upon any other day which we knoAv he did upon the seventh. So that the sub- stance of this law is natural, as Master Junius saith, and to be observed of all men alike, namely, that every seventh day should be holy unto God. And so it is true not only that of every seven days, as Peter Martyr saith, "'one must be reserved unto (^od/ and, a little after, 'it is perpetual that one day in the week should be reserved for the service of (xod,' but that this mu.st be upon the seventh. In setting down which, I do not so far forget myself, but that I remember that some, whom with all humility I do reverence in the I>ord. and give thanks unto him for their labors, that (I say) are otherwise 300 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. minded, and do not think the church is necesaaiily tied to the number of seven in observing the day. Yet I do not see (be it far from me that I should oi)- stinately contend with any) where the Lord Iwitli given any authority to his churcli, ordinarily and perpetually, to sanctify any day except that which he hath sanctitied himself. For I hold this, with other learned men, as a principle of divinity, that it l)elongeth only to God to sanctify the day as it belongeth to him to sanctify any other thing to his own worship." . . . "Therefore we must needs acknowledge it to be the singular wisdom and mercy of God towards his church, thus by sanctifying the seventh day, to end the strife. For, as we see in (rod's service, when men go away from his Word, there is no end of devising that which he alloweth not; and they fall upon everything, saving upon that they should; so in appointing the day if we be not ruled by the Word, we shall find by experience that every day will seem more convenient to us than that, at leastwise we shall seem to have as good rea- son to keep any other as the seventh."* Continuing the subject he presses the point that God .sanctified the day because in it he had rested, and that tlie Jews were not at liberty to change even " the number of that day," and that they only prop- erly worshiped Goa and proved their love for him when they kept holy his day. Again he draws his conclusion in these words : "Thus we learn that God did not only bless it, for this cause (his resting), and so we see that the Sabbath must needs still be upon the .seventh day, as it always hath been." After thus surveying the field, it is difficult to * Id., p. :J0, et seq. SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 301 understand how Mr. Bownde ccHild be so blinded to the legitimate deductions from his own jlririiraents, HS to talk of a change of day. But so strong were liis prejudices against w^hat he calls Judaism that he clings to the Sunday, supporting his claim with the following broken i-eed : " But now concerning this very siiecial seventh day which we now keep in the time of the gospel, that is well known, that it is not the same it was from the beginning, which God himself did sanctify, and whereof he speaketh in this commandment, for it was the day going before ouvs, which in Latin re- taineth its ancient name, and is called the Sabbath, which we also grant, but so that we confess it must always remain, never to be changed any more, and that all men must keep holy this seventh day. Mhich was unto them not the seventh, but the Jirst day of week, as it is so called many times in the New Testa- ment, and so it still standeth in force, that we are bound unto the seventh day. though not unto that very seventh. Concerning the time, and persons by whom, and when the day was changed, it appearetli in the Xew Testament, that it was done in the time of the apostles, and by the apostles themselves, and that together with the day, the name was changed, and was in the l)eginning called the first (Jati of tJte it^eek. afterward's the Lord'sdat/." Mr. Bownde quotes onh' tiro passages of ^Scripture in support of the al)Ove claim. Acts 20: 7, and 2 Cor. 16 : 2. In direct opposition to his previous proposi- tion, that the Word of God alone is authority, he devotes several pages to quotations and remarks con- cerning the " Doctors and Fathers " in the church, seeking to show that the early Christians changed the observan<-e from the Sabbath to the Suudav. 302 SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. These quotations are made from those who gave most prominence to tlie resurrection theory as a rea- son for the change, and so, by a sort of implication, a degree of divine authority is hinted at. The greater part of the l)ook is occupied in discussing the manner of observing the Sunday, as regards rest from labor, and forms of public worship. (Jreat strictness in the one and extreme simplicity in the other are everywhere inculcated. The appearance or this book caused no little commotion. It was at once adopted by the Puritan party. By the church part}'^ it was strongly opposed, as an encroachment upon Chris- tian libert}^ and as putting an undeserved luster and importance upon Sunday over the other festivals. Rogers, author of the Commentary upon the Thirty- nine Articles, in his preface, boasts that it had been, and would be until his dying day, "the comfort of his soul," that he had been instrumental in bringing this Sabbatarian heresy to light. Archbishop Whit- gift and Lord-Chief-Justice Popham called in this work and forbade its reprinting. It was much read privately, however, and after the death of AYhitgift, reprinted with additions in 1606. Such were the theories of the Puritans concerning the Sunday. It now remains to trace its history in civil legislation, and in practical life. The visible separation between these radical reformers and the Established C-hurch began about 1560, when they were derisively called Puritans. During the re- mainder of the reign of Elizabeth and the reign of her successor, James I., they had but little direct SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 30:] political influence. But as all reforms find their first welcome among the common people, Puritanic ideas and practices gained steadily among the masses. The spirit of liberty was demanding release from the civil and ecclesiastical usurpations and oppres- sions which marked the ))eginning of the reign of Charles I. His Queen was an open friend of the Papists, while he claimed to be the supporter of the orthodox church, as fomided by Elizabeth. Laud and his co workers were the King's advisers, and were at the liead of the church party. Against these were arrayed the whole Puritan i)arty, and many others who could not fellowship the papistic ten- dency of the Court. In the Parliament, this in eluded the body of the "House of Commons," and a party in the " House of Lords " But the " Bench of Bishops," who were ex officii* members of the House of Lords, for a long time thwarted all efforts for change or reform. About l(j40 the open struggle commenced by the pjissage of a reformatory bill in the House of Com- mons, one provision of which was for a stricter ob- .servance of Sunday. It was defeated in the House of Lords; but the discussion and agitation did much to arouse the people, and to disturb the security of the throne and the church party. This would probably have ended for the time in discu.ssion except that, upon the heel of the failure of the bill, there came the insurrection of the Papists, and the massacre of the Protestants in Ireland, on the 23d of October, 1642. Strong suspicions were entertained that the ,304 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Court, especially the Queen, was a party to the plot, and fears were aroused that a similar fate awaited the English non-conformists. The failure of the efforts of Parliament, and of the Irish Protestants, to obtain relief for the sufferers, and punishment for the offenders, at the hands of the Court, only widened the breach between the two parties in the government, and showed the complicity of the Court with the barbarous butchery of the Irish. This led to a rapid separation. The IJishops Avere soon di'iven from the House of Lords. The King tied to York, followed by his party. The Parliament hav- ing tried in vain to obtain his co-operation to avert the dangers to the kingdom, took the power into its own hands. The Queen tied to Holland, from whence, with her son-in-law, the Duke of Orange, she forwarded supplies to the King. Each party pos- sessed itself of as much territory and military strength as possible, and the King, marching against London, was met at "Edgehill. nearlveinton.in AYarwickshire" by the Parliament forces under the Earl of Essex, and the first ))attle took place on the 33d of October, 1643, just one year from the breaking out of the Irish insurrection. Two causes now set to Avork to bring about a luore religious observance of Sunday : (a.) The Parliament was bound, by the turn mat- ters liad taken, to press the reforms for which it had been contending, among'jwhich was the stricter ob- servance of Sunday. (b.) The calamity of civil war willi ail its horrors SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 3 05 was upon the nation, and like all gTCiit calamities, it tended to make the people more leligious. Of the influence of the war, in its early stages, on the re- ligious habits of the people, Neale speaks as follows : " Though the discipline of the church was at jin end, there was nevertheless an uucommon spirit of devotion among the people in the Parliament quar- ters. The Lord's-day was observed with remarkable strictness, the churches being crowded with numer- ous and attentive hearers three or four times a day. i'he officers of the peace patrolled the streets and shut up all public houses. There was no traveling on the road or walking in the fields, except in cases of absolute necessity. Religious exercises were set up in private families, as reading the Scriptures, family prayer, repeating sermons and singing of Psalms, which was so universal that you might walk through the citj' of London on the evening of the Lord's-day without seeing an idle person or hearing anything but the voice of prayer and praise from churches and private houses. " As is usual in times of public calamity, so at the breaking out of the civil war, all public diversions and recreations were laid aside. By an ordi- nance of September 2d, 1642, it was declared that, ' whereas public sports do not agree with public calamities, nor public stage-plays with the seasons of humiliation, this being an exercise of sad and pious solemnity, the other being spectacles of pleasure too commonly expressing lascivious mirth and levity, it is therefore ordained that, while these sad causes and set times of humiliation continue, public stage- plays shall cease, and be forborne ; instead of which are recommended to the people of this land the profitable duties of repentance and making their peace with (4od.'"* * Hisr..rv Puritans. Vol. l, p. 424. (20) 306 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. The Parliament party was not at once successful. The advantage seemed to be with the Royalists for some time after the opening of the war. Concern- ing this, and its effect on the observance of the Sun- day, Neale says : •'The Parliament's affairs being low, and their counsels divided, they not only applied to heaven by extraordinary fastings and prayers, but went on vigorously with their intended reformation. They began with the Sabbath, and on March 22d, 1642-3, «ent to the Lord Mayor of the city of London, to de- sire him to put in execution the statutes for the due observance of the Lord's-day. His lordship, accord- ingly, issued his precept the very next day to the aldermen, requiring them to give strict charge to the church wardens and constables within their sev- eral wards, that from henceforth they do not permit or suffer any person or persons, in time of divine ser- vice, or at any time on the Lord's-day, to be tippling in any tavern, inn, tobacco shop, ale house or other victualing house whatsoever; nor suffer any fruiters, or herb-women to stand with fruit, herbs or other victuals or wares in any streets, lanes or alleys, or any other ways to put things for sale at any tirne of that day, or in the evening of it ; or any milk woman to cry milk ; nor to suffer any persons to unlade any vessels of fruit or other goods, and carrj' them on shore; or to use any unlawful exercises or pastimes ; and to give express charge to all inn keepers, taverns, cook shops, ale houses, etc. , within their wards, not to entertain any guests to tipple, eat, drink or take tobacco in their houses on the Lord's-day, except inn-keepers, who may receive their ordinary guests, or travelers who come for the dispatch "^of their necessary business ; and if any persons offend in the premises, they are to be brought before the Lord Mayor or one of his Majesty's justices of the peace SABBATH AND SUNDAY. o07 to be punished as the law directs. This order had a very considerable infiueuce upon the city, which be- gan to wear a different face of religion to what it had formerly done. May 5th the book tolerating sports upon the Lord's-day was ordered to be burned by the common hangman in Cheapside and other usual places; and all persons having any copies in their hands were required to deliver" them to one of the sheriffs of London to be burned." * This fanatical spirit and the desire to gain the blessing of God upon their cause led to a similar- observance of other days. A monthly fast had been ordained, previous to the commencement of the war, in view of the troubles in Ireland. Concerning this Mr, Neale speaks as follows : "Next to the Lords-day, they had a particular regard to their monthl}^ fast. April 24th, all con- stables, or their deputies, were ordered to repair to every house within their respective liberties, the day before every public fast, and charge all persons strictly to observe it according to the said ordinance. And upon the day of the public fast, they were en- joined to walk through their said liberties, to search for persons who, either by following the work of their calling, or sitting in taverns, victualing or ale houses, or in any other ways, should not duly ob- serve the same, and to return their names to the Committee for examination, that thej^ might be pro- ceeded against for contempt. The fast was ob- served the last Wednesday in every month, the pub- lic devotions continuing with little or no intermission from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon, and (as has been already observed) with uncommon strictness and rigor." f *Id.. Vol. 1, p. 454. tibid. .'30S SABHATII AND Si N DAY. Then came the 'Assembly of Divines at Wesl- minster," the "solemn league and covenant," the expulsion of the common prayer book of the Estab- lished Church, and the introduction of the " Di- rf^ctory,' as the guide to worship in the Parliament churches, the expulsion of royal professors from the univei-sities, etc., which brings us to the next enact- ment concerning Sunday, made ])y the Parliamenf, April 6th. 1644. Neale briefly records with refer ence to it as follows • 'Religion was the fashion of the age. The As sembly was often turned into a house of prayer, and hardly a week passed without solemn fasting and humiliation in several of the churches of London and Westminster. The laws against profaneness were cart-fully executed, and because the former ordi- nances for tlie obser\ation of the Lord's-day had proved ineffectual it Avas ordained, April 6th, thai all per.sons should apply themselves to the exercise of piety and religion on the ]>ord's-day ; that no wares, fruits, herbs, or goods of any sort. l)e exposwl for sale, or cried a])Out the streets! upon penalty of forfeiting the goods. That no person without cause shall travel, or carry a burden, or do any worldly labor, upon penalty of ten shillings for the traveler, and five shillings for every burden, and for every offense in doing any worldly labor. That no person shall, on the Jjord's-day, use or be present at, any wrestling, shooting, fowling, ringing of bells foi- pleasure, markets, wakes, church-ales, dancing, games, or sports whatsoever, upon ])enalty of five shillings to every one above fourteen yeirs of age. And if children are found offending in the premises, their parents or guardians to forfeit twelve pence for every offense. That all May poles be judled down, and none others erected. That if the several fines SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 309 jibove mentioned can not be levied, the offending party shall be set in the stocks for the space of three hours. That the King's declaration cone rning lawful sports on the Lord's-day be called in, sup- pressed and burned. "This ordinance shall not extend to prohibit dress- ing meat in private families, or selling victuals in a moderate way in inns or victualing houses, for the use of such as can not otherwise be provided for ; nor to the crying of milk before nine in the morn- ing, or after four in the afternoon." * Tracing the history of the Puritan party through these years of strife, years of wide-spread anarchy in church and state, the reader finds but few more enactments relative to the Sunday. Tn 1650, stringent laws, with severe penalties, were enacted against all the prominent vices, such :*s profaneness, different forms of licentiousness, im- pious opinions concerning God and the Bible, drunk- (^nnes3,etc. Sunday came in with these for its share. ' Though several ordinances had been made here- tofore for the strict observation of the Lord's-day, the present House of Commons thought tit to enforce them by another, dated April 9th, 16o0, in which they ordain, ' that all goods cried, or put to sale on the Lord's-day, or other days of humiliation and thanks- giving appointed by authority, shall be seized. No wagoner or drover shall travel on the Lord's-day, on penalty of ten shilling.? for every offense. No per- sons shall travel in boats, coaches, or on horses, ex- cept to church, on penalty of ten shillings. The like penalty for being in a tavern. And where dis- tress is not to be made, the offender is to be put in the stocks six hours. All peace officers are required to *Ib. Vol. 1. p. 490. 310 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. make diligent search for discovering offenders ; and in case of neglect, the justice of peace is fined five pounds, and every constable twenty shillings.'.'* A few years later, in 1656, during the early part of the Protectorate, Parliament made another effort to enforce the strict observance of Sunday, stimu- lated no doubt, in part, by the lawlessness of the Quakers, who were growing numerous, and who opened their shops, and otherwise violated the civil laws relative to Sunday observance. The enact- ment as given by Neale is as follows : " As new inroads were made upon the ordinances for observation of the Sabbath, the Parliament took care to amend them. This year they ordained that 'the Sabbath should be deemed to extend from twelve of the clock on Saturday night to twelve of the clock on Lord's-day night,' and within that com- pass of time they prohibited all kinds of business and diversions, except works of necessity and mercy. No election of magistrates is to be on the Lord's-day; no holding of courts or return of writs, l)ut if according' to their charters they fall upon the Lord's day, they are to be deferred to Monday. That all persons no\ having a reasonable excuse, to be allowed' by a justice of the peace, shall resort to sonie church or chapel where the true worship of God is performed, or to some meeting place of Christians not differing in matters of faith from the public profession of the nation, on a penalty of two shillings and six pence for every offense. It is further ordered, that no minister shall be molested or disturbed in the discharge of hisoflSce on the Lord's-day, or any other day when he is per- forming his duty, or in going and coming from the place of public worship.' Nor shall any willful dis- * Neale. Hist. Puritans. Vol. 2. p. 118. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. :U 1 turbance be given to the congregation, on penalty of live pounds, or being sent to the workhouse six months, provided the information be within ont' month after the offense is committed. This ordi- nance is to be read in every chapel in this nation an- nually, the first Lord's-day in every March."* Soon after this came the "Restoration," under Charles II., and Puritanism, as a controlling power in the government, passes out of sight. Whatever may be said concerning the course of the Puritan party as a political power, it is evident that the moral character of the people was much improved during its supremacy. Rigid and intolerant, it nevertheless possessed much more of true religion and vital piety than the formalists did who preceded and followed it. Many of the corrupt elements in church and state which could not be reformed were exiled. But with the restoration under Charles II., thest- came swarming back, and in turn harrassed and drove out the Puritans. Mr. Neale sums up the case in these words : " And here was an end of those distracted times which our historians have loaded with all the infamy and reproach that the wit of man could invent. The Puritan ministers have been decried as ignorant mechanics, canting preachers, enemies to learning, and no better than robbers. The Universities were said to be reduced to a mere Munster, and tli.it if the Goths and Vandals, and even the Turks had over- run the nation, they could not have done more to introduce barbarism, disloyalty and ignorance ; and yet in these times, and by the men who then filled flie university chairs were educated the most learned * Id., Vol. ?, p. 166. 312 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. diviues aud eloquent preachers of the last age, as the Stillingfleets, Tillotsons, Bulls, Barrows, Whitbys aud others, who retained a high veneration for their learned tutors after they were rejected and displaced. The religious part of the common people has been stigmatized with the character of hypocrites ; their looks, their dress and l)ehavior have been repre- ^*ented in the most odious colors ; and yet, one may venture to challenge these declaimers to produce any period of time since the Reformation wherein there was less open profaneness and Impiety and more of the spirit, as well as the appearance of religion. Perhaps there was too much rigor and preciseness in indifferent matters : but the lusis of men were laid under a visible restraint, and though the legal consti- tution was unhappily broken, and men were gov- erned b}' false politics, yet better laws were never made against vice, or more vigorously executed. •'The dress and conversation of the people were sober and virtuous, and their manner of living re- markably frugal. There was hardly a single bank- ruptcy to be heard of in a year ; and in such a case the bankrupt had a mark of infamy set upon him, which he could never wipe off. Drunkenness, fornication, profane swearing, and every kind of debauchery were justly deemed infamous, and uni- versally condemed. The clergy were laborious to excess, in preaching and praying, in catechising youth, and visiting their parishes. The magistrates did their duty in suppressing all kinds of games, stage plays and abuses in public houses. There was not a play acted in any theater in England for almost twenty years. The Lord's-day was observed with unusual reverence ; and there was a set of as learned and pious youths trained up in the University as had ever been known. "But when the legal constitution was restored, there returned with it a torrent of debauchery and wickedness. The times which followed the Restora- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 'SV4 tioii were the reverse of those which preceded it; for tlie law^s which had been enacted against vice for the last twenty years, being declared nidi, and the magis- trates changed, mensetno bounds to their licentious- ness. A proclamation, indeed, was published against those loose and riotous cavaliers, whose loyalty con- sisted in drinking healths, and railing at those who woidd not revel with them. But, in reality, the King was at the head of these disorders, being "devoted to his pleasures, and having given himself up to an avowed course of lewdness. His bishops and chap- lains said tliat he usually came from his mistresses' apartments to church, even on sacrament days. There were two play-houses erected in the neighbor- hood of the court. Women actresses were intro- duced into the theaters, which had not been known imtil that time; the most lewd and obscene plays were l)rought on the stage, and the more obscene, the King was better pleased, who graced every new play with his royal presence. Nothing was to be seen at court but feasting, hard drinking, reveling and amorous intrigues, which engendered the most enormous vices. From court, the contagion spread like wild-fire among the people, insomuch that men threw off the very profession of virtue and piety, under color of drinking the King's health. All kinds of old cavalier riotings and debaucherj- revived. The appearance of religion, which remained with some, furnished matters of ridicule to libertines and scoffers. Some who had been concerned in the former change.^ tliought they could not redeem their credit better than by deriding all religion, and telling or making- stories to render their former party ridiculous. To appear .serious, or to make conscience either of words or actions, was the way to be accounted a schismatic, a fanatic, or a sectarian, though, if there was any real religion during the course of this reign, it was chiefly among those people. They who did not ap- plaud the new ceremonies were marked out as Pres- 314 SABBATH AiXD SUNDAY. byteriaiiH, and every Presbyterian was a rebel. The old clergy, who had been sequestered for scandal, having taken possession of their livings, were intoxi- cated with their new felicity, and threw off all the restraints of their ordei-. Every week, sa}'s Mr. Baxter,* produced reports of one or other clergy- man, who was taken up by the watch, drunk, at night, and mobbed in the streets. Some were taken with lewd women ; and one was reported to be drunk in the pulpit. Such was the general disso luteness of manners which attended the deluge of joy, which overflowed the nation upon his majesty's restoration." f ' ' For twenty-five years (until 1683) did this profligate libertine, surrounded by a court like himself, carry on his ruinous rule. Sunday observance shared lai-gely in the general decline, especially since it had been maintained before in a great degree by the civil power. Popery, secretly favored by the King, grew strong. The Puritan or Parliament party, now known under the general name of Nonconformists, was divided into Presbyterians, Independents, Bap- tists, Quakers, etc. , all of whom were most bitterly persecuted. Among these, the Quakers, holding within their number many educated and influential men, though extremely strict in other respects, ig- nored all ideas of a Ssdjbath, oi" any obligation to observe days.:}: Thus between the reigning disso- luteness, and the revival of the earlier doctrine of * Life, part 2, p. 'J88. tld., Vol. 2, p. 208. ^: For their views, see Dymond's essays on the Principles of Morality, essay 2, chap 1, and the Doctrines of Friends, by Elisha Bates, chap. 13. - SA.BBATH AND SUNDAY. 315 "no sacred time," the strict observance of Sunday was largely ignored. It was not until the fifth year of the reign of George I. (1719)that a complete recognition of the Non con- formists, and a general toleration of dissenters was obtained. There was little or no improvement in the observance of Sunday until the middle of tlu- eighteenth century. The church of England retains her old standards concerning Sunday. The English Dissenters are now much less rigid in their observance of it than the Puritans were. The church of Ireland lias always been too nearlv allied to the church of Eng- land on this point to need any separate notice hen-. The church of Scotland has been, and yet is more Puritanic concerning Sunday. The following, from the pen of Doctor He.s,sey, will sufficiently illiistrate its most rigid features : "Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Sabbatarian doc- trines had taken deep root, and were improved into jin elaborate system. Four examples shall suffice. In 1644 the Six Sessions ordained public intimation to be made that ' no person, man nor woman, shall be found vaging, walking, and going upon the strecits on the Lords-day after the afternoon's sermon, keep- ing idle, and entertaining impertinent conferences.' In the next year, the same court ordained that ' the inagistrates, attended by the ministers by course, shall go up and down the streets upon the Lord's-day , after the afternoon sermon, and cause take particular notice of such as shall be found forth of their houses vaging abroad upon the streets, and cause cite them before the Session to be rebuked and censured.' And on the 5th of April, 1658, this direction was issued : ' The magistrate^ to cause some English soldiers go 316 vSABBATH AND SUNDAY. along- the streets, and those ouiparts jibove written, l)Oth before sermon and after sermon, and lay hold upon both young and old whom they find out of their houses or out of the church.' " My fourth instance shall be taken from the re- cords of the Presbytery of Strath-bogie, June 6, A. D.. 1658: The said day, Alexander Cairnie, In Til- liochie was delaitit for brak of Sabbath, in bearing ane sheep up his back from the pasture to his own house. The said Alexander compeirit and declarit that it was of necessitie for saving of the beasts lyfe in tyme of storme; was rebuked for the same, and admonished not to do the lyke." * Since those years, the continental no-Sabbathisjn has crept into Scotland somewhat largely, and for ■M^. gathered, however, to show that Sabbath-keepers were not uncommon on the continent of Europe, from the opening of the sixteenth century forward. An old German historian, John Sleidan, speaking of a sect in Bohemia called " Picards," says : 318 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ''They admit of nothing but the Bible. Thej choose their own priests and bishops ; deny no man marriage, perform no oiRces for the dead and have but very few holy days and ceremonies."* These are the same people to whom Erasmus re- fers, representing them as extremely strict in observ- ing the Sabbath. Robert Cox in his " Sabbath Lit- erature," makes them the progenitors of the Seventh- day Baptists. He says: "With reference to the origin of this sect, (Sev- (3nth-day Baptists,) I find a passage in Erasmus, that at the early period of the Reformation when he wrote there were Sabbatarians in Bohemia, who not only kept the seventh day, but were said to be so scupulous in resting on it, that if anything went into their eyes they would not remove it till the morrow. " f The passage from Erasmus is as follows: ' Nunc audimus apud Bohemos exoriri novum Ju- d«orum genus Sabbatarios appellant, qui tanta su- perstitione servant Sabbatum, ut si quid eo die inciderit in oculum, nolint eximere; quasi non suffi- ciat eis pro Sabbato Dies Dominicus qui Apostolis etiam erat sacer, aut quasi Christus non satis express- erit quantum trlbuedum sit Sabbati.'":}: Hospinian of Zurich in his treatise De Festis Judceo- rum et EHmicorum, Cap. iii, (Tiguri. — 1593,) replies to the arguments of these Sabbatarians. The story concerning their extreme strictness on the Sabbath is doubtless a forgery. But inasmuch as they accepted the Bible as their only guide, it is not wonderful that the}'' refused to place the " Dies Dominicus be- * History of the Refoi'mation, etc, p. 53, London, 1689; also, French edition of 1787. Vol. 1, p. 117. + Vol. 2, pp. 201, 202. tDe Amabili Ecclesiae Concordia, Op. torn. V, p. 506 ; Lugd. Bat. 1704. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 311) fore the Sabbath," since the Bible gives uo authority for such a course . Doctor Hessey* refers to these same Sabbatarians as the origin of the present Sev- enth-day Baptists. A voluminous work by Alexan- der Ross, speaking of these people at the beginning of the Reformation, says : "Some only will observe the Lord's-da}' ; some only the Sabbath ; some both, and some neither." f Bishop White, speaking of Sabbath observance bears this testimony : " The same likewise l)cing revived in Luther's 1 ime by Carlstadius and Sternebergius, and by some -sectaries among the Anabaptists, hath both then and ever since been censured as Jewish and Heretical." X Ross,^ above quoted, bears concurrent testimony to the Sabbatarianism of Sterneberg. Carlstadt it will be remembered was an intimate friend of Luther, between whom and himself a separation was initiated because of Carlstadt's extreme radicalism in his plans of reformation. Mr. Gilflllan quotes a writer of the year 1585, one John Stock wood, who states that in those times there were " manifold disputations among the learned," and "a great diversity of opinion among the vulgar people and simple sort, concerning the Sabbath-day, and the right use of the same, some maintaining the changed and unchangeable obliga- tions of the Seventh-day Sabbath, etc' || * Lectures on Sunday, p. 374.— Note. t A View of all Religions in the World, etc., p. 237.— Lon- don, 1653. t Treatise of the Sabbath Day, p. 8- § View of all IJeligions, p. 235. il Sabbath, p. 60. .-)2<> SABBATH AND 8UNJ)Ay. Chambers' Cydopydia refers to the Bolieniian Sm1> tiath-keeper!;;, and others as follows : " Accordingly, in the reign of Elizabeth, it oc- curred to many conscieutious ;jnd independent thinkers, (as it had previously done to some Protes- fants in Bohemia,) that the* Fourth Commandment required of them, the ol)servanee. not of the first, but of the specified .seventh day of the week, and a •strict bodily rest, as a service then due to God. They became numerous enough to make a eonsiderablV figure for more than a' century in England, under the title of " Sabbatarians'— a word now exchanged for the less ambiguous appellation of ' Seventh-day Baptists." . . . "They have nearly disappeared in England, though in the seventeenth century so numerous and active as to have called fortli replies from Bishop White. Warner, Baxter, Bujiyan, Wal- Us and others." ^* Thus it is seen that there were Protestant Sabbatli- keeping Baptists in Bohemia. Holland and England, as early as the Ijeginning of the sixteenth century. This link unites the past with the present, and gives an unbroken chain of Sabbath-keepers from the days of Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, to the pres- ent hour. The church has never been without wit- nesses for the truth concerning God's lioly day. The complete development and organization of l^he Seventh-day Baptists in England, is easily traced. In these pages this will be done first, by noting the authors and martyrs, among them whose names ap- pear in history, and second by giving a brief history of tlieir organized churches. Among the first who tauglit the truth relative tc» * Article, Sabbath, Vol. S— T.ondon, iH.ifi. SAI5BATH AXD SUNDAY. 321 tlie iSabhatl). and sullVrcd ior it. was John Trask — spelled also Tiasque and Thraske — Ephriani Pag- gitt, in his • • Clnirch Herisiography."' devotes more than titty pages to the liistory of Trask, his wife, and his followers. From this it appears that he first began to observe the iSunday aeeording to the law of the fourth eonnnandment. One of his comrades. Laekson. (Hessey says Jaekson.) carrying tlie SUNDAY. Tho trial yhe was coudemued to impiisonniont.* Con- (lerning wliicli Paggitt speakn as follows : " Hi8 wife, Mistress Trask. lay for fifteen or six- teen years a prisoner for her oi)inions about the Sat- urday-Sabbath ; in all which time she would receive no relief from anybody, notwithstanding she wantefl much, alledgingthat it is written, ' it's a more blessed thing to give than to receive. ' Neither would she bor- row. Siie deemed it a dishonor to h(;r head, Christ, cither to beg or borrow. Ilei- diet for the most pari of her imprisonment, that is till a little before her death was bread and water, roots and herbs. No tlesh, nor wine, nor brewed drink. " , . . " She charged tlie keeper of the prison not to bury her in church nor church-3'ard, but in the fields only ; which ac- (;ording]y was done. All her means was an annuit}^ of forty shillings a year; what she lacked more to Jiveupon, she Inid of such prisoners as did employ her sometimes to do business for them. But this was only within the prison, for out of the prison she would not go. so she sickened and died. So there was an end to her sect in less than half a generation. 'Tis true it begins of late to be re- vived again ; but yet faintly. The progress it makes is not observed to be much ; so that of all gangrenes of spirit, with which the times are troubled, as yet it spreads little ; and therefore it is hoped a short ca- veat (such as this is) may suffice against it," f Trask was brought before the infamous "Star Chamber " in 1618, and tried upon the following charges, which appear in the speech of Bishop An- drews against him.t The Bishop states that his fault consisted in trying to make ' ' Christian men, the peo- ple of God, His Majesty's subjects, little better than *See Pagsitt, p. a09. +p. 196. This was written in 1661, forty years after the trial of Trask, and about tlie time of Brabourne. t See Pagffitt, p. 199. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 328 JewH. This he doth in two points, and wlien he fakes it in his head, he may do it in two and two, and two more." These are the specitications : •' One is, Christians arc bound to abstain from those meats whieh the Jews were forbidden in Leviticus. "The other, tliat tliey are bound to observe the .Jewish Sabbath." Bishop Andrews lal)ors, in a len;Lrthy speech, to prove both these positions heretical. There is no argument of importance adduced in the speech. It does however contain that somewhat noted passage. •' Dominkum Serm^ti," etc., which leaves no shadow of doubt that he was the author of it, and shows also tjiat he gives no authority for it. Tiiis trial resulted in the following sentence, which was executed upon 'I'rask ; "Set upon the Pillory in Westminster, and from rhence to be whipped"^ to the tleet. there to renuun prisoner." He afterwards made a recantation and was released , whereupon he wrote a book in 1620, as evidence; of his conversion, entitled, "A Treatise of Liberty from Judaism, or an Ac- knowledgement of True Christian Liberty. Indited and Published by John Trask, of late Stumbling, now Happily Running in the Race of Christianity."* Thus did the hand of persecution suppress the first prominent development of Sabbath truth in England. The suppression was, however, neither complete nor *See Heylyn Hist. Sab., part 2, chap. 8. sec. 10; Cox Hab- bath Literature,, Vol. 1, p. 153, etc. o;J4 SAJUJATH AN 11 SI N- DAY. of loiiii (lunition. Eight years later Tlieophilus Bralxmruc. of Xorfolk jMililishcd his first book, entitled. " A Discourse upon the Salilialh-day ; Wherein are handled these partieidars ensuing- : 1. That the Lord's-day is not the Sabbath-(hjy by Divine institu- tion. 2. An exposition of the 4th Commandment, so far forth as may give light unto the ensuing l>is- eourse ; and particularly hei-e it is shown at wliat time the Sab])ath-da.y should begin and end. for the satisfaction of those who are doiibtful on this point. 8. That the Seventh-day Sabbath is not abolished. 4. That the Seventh-day Sabbath is now still i)i force. 5. The author's exhortation and reasons tiiat never- theless, there be no Kent from our Church as touch- ing i>ractice. — 1(383. iSmo. |»p. 28S."* Cox says : •'Brabourne is a much abler writer llian Trask, and may be regarded as the blunder in England of the sect at tirst known as Sabbatarians. Init now call- ingtheniselvesSeventh-day Baptists." . . . '■Towards the conclusion of the treatise, he thus appeals to the [)rudence of his readers : ' And now let me propound unto your choice these two days, the SaV)bath-day on Saturday, or the Lord's-day on Sunday ; and keep whether of the tw'ain you shall in conscience find the more safe. If you kec]) the Loids-day. l)ul profane the Sal)l)ath day. you walk in great danger and jKMil (to say the least) of transgressing one of God's eternal and inviolable laws, the Fourth Commandment : but on the other side, if you keep the Sabbath-day, though you profane the Lord's-day. you are out of =^Cox Sal). IJt., Vol. 1, p. l.iT. SABIJATH AXl) SLXDAY. 325 all gunshot and daiiger, for so you traiisoress no law at all, siuco Chnsl nor his apostles did ever leave any law for it.' " - Two years later Brahonrne issued a more exhaust- ive work, the first edition of which was pu1)li8hed in 1680. and the second in 1682. A copy of the first edi- tion is before us, wanting only the title page, which we (•(►py fronj Cox's notice of the second edition. It is as follows : " A defense of the nio.st ancient and saered Ordi- nance of God's, the Sabbath-day. " ... " Under taken against all Anti-Sab>)atarians. lM)th of Protest- ant.s. Papists. Antinoniians and Anabaptists ; and by name and especially against these ten Mini.sters : M. Greenwood. M. Hutchinson. ^I. Furnace, M. Ben- ton. M. Gallard, M. Yates. M. Chappel, M. Stinnet. M. Johnson, and M. Warde." I We have not space, nor is it necessary to quote from the book to show the strength and soundness of the work, and its necessary influence on the pub- lic mind. Through this book the name of Brabourne has become inseparably connected with the true Sab batarianisni of those times. The character and in- fluence of the work is also shown in the fact that Bishop Francis White, by order of the King, pre- pared an answer to it. entitled. " A Treatise on the Sabbath-day, C'ontaining a Defense of the Orthodoxal Doctrine of the Chui'ch of P^ngland, against Sabba- tarian Novelty." — London. 163"). In his dedication to Archbishop Laud. White speaks of Brabourne as follows : * lb. p. 22(J. + Sabbath Literature. Vol. 1, p. UW. ')'2(j SAB15ATH AND .Sl^NDAY. "A certain Minister ot Northfolk. where 1 myself of late years was Bishop, published a Tractate of the Sabbath; and. proceeding- after the rule of Presby- terian ])rinciples, amoncr which, this was principal : That all religious observations and actions, and among the rest, the ordaining and keeping of Holy days, must have a special warrant and commandment in Holy Scripture, otherwise the same is supersti- tious; concluded from thence, by necessary inference, that the seventh day of every week, to wit, Saturday, having an express command in the Decalogue, by a precept simply and perpetually moral, (as the Sabbata- rians teach) and the [Sunday oi' Lord's-day being not commanded, either in the l^aw or in the Gospel ' the Saturday must be the Christians' weekly Sabbath, and the Sunday ought to be the working day.' " . . . "Now because his Treati.se of the Sabbath was dediciited to his Royal Majesty, and the principles upon which he grounded all his arguments, (being commonly preached, printed and believed, through- out the kingdom.) might have poisoned and infected many people, either with this Sabbatarian erroi-, or Avith some other of like quality ; it was the King, our gracious Master, his will and pleasure, that a treatise should Ixj set forth to prevent further mi.schief , and to settle his good subjects (who have long time been distracted about Salibatarian questions) in the old and good way of the ancient and Orthodoxal Catholic Church.""^ Bishop White was well qualified to write and produced a work which, excej^t the " History of the Sabbath " by Peter Heylyn, was stronger than any of the books put forth by the chur(iimen of those times. Bra bourne was summoned before the " High Commission, whose well-tempered severity herein so * Jntroduction, near the close. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 327 prevailed iijion him that, subniiltiiiir himself to a pri- vate confereiiee, and perceiving the imsoundness of his principles, he became a convert, conforming him- self quietly to the Church of England." '^ This •• quiet conformity to the Church of England," on the part of Brabourne was evidently only a tem- porary wavering, for he 'wrote afterwards, and a composition of his against Cawdrey, which came out in 1654, gives no evidence of the sincerity of his re- traction."! It is evident that he was for the moment overborne, rather than permanently changed, since his 'pre- face " contained a candid and calm discussion of the causes which impelled him to write and of the con- sequences which might follow. On this very point he says : "The soundness and chfainess of this my cause, givetli me good hope that God will enlighten them (the magistrates) with it, and so incline their hearts unto mercy. But if not. since I verily believe and know it to be a truth, and my duty not to smother it, and sufifer it to die with me, I have adventured to publish it and defend it, saying with Queen Esther. • If I perish, I perish ;' and' with the Apostle Paul ; ' neither is my life dear unto me, so that I may fulfill my course with jov.' What a corrosive wotdd it prove to my conscience, on my death-bed. to call to mind how I knew these thing full well, hut would not reveal them. How could I say with St. Paul, that I had revealed the whole counsel of God, had kept nothing back ^^-hich was profitable V What * See Fuller's Church History, Book 10, century XVII, sec- tion 32 : also, Brook's Lives of Puritans, Vol. 2, p. 362. and White, p. 305. ^ He.ssey Lectures on Sunday, pp. 373—4. note 479 328 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. hope could r then conceive that God wouhl open his gate of mercy to rae. wlio, whih^ I lived, would not open my mouth for hinj? "* This • Introduction, ■■ comprising- an address to the king, to the prelates, and to the rearler. is far from being the language of a mere enthusiast. If his strength faileci and his bewildered judgment wavered for a moment under the i)ressure which was broiight to l)ear upon him, it is not wonderful, nor more than many good and true men have done under similar circumstances. There is still further evidence that lie "soon relapsed into his former errors," for Mr. Cox f notices another book from his pen in reply to two hooks against the 8abbath, one by Ives and the other l)y Warner. This last work by Bra bourne was an 8mo book, published, at London, in 1659. Itthus appears that he pul)lished four books in favor of the Sabbath. Next upon the list stands the name of James Ock- ford, a follower of Brabourne, who issued a work in 1642. entitled "The Doctrine of the Fourth Com mandment." Something concerning its character and history may be gleaned from a work in favor of of Siuida}- by Cawdrey and Palmer, published in 165'J. In part third, section thirty-three is found the following : •'But before we conclude this chapter, we shall take a brief survey of what a later Sabbatarian hath w ritten, being, it seems, unsatisfied (as w ell he might) * This " Introduction " is not pa^ed. This passage is from his address to tlie reader. tSabbath Literature, Vol. 2. p. G. SAP.l'.ATH AND SUNDAY. o29 with all that hath been said by tin- Ijishop,* and others in his way, in answer to the Sabbatarian argn- ment*i. One Jtiines Ockford (as we hinted above) hath revived the (|uarrel, and makes use f>f his adversaries' weap(Mis to beat themselves withal. There hath been a sharp confutation of his l>o()k by tire, it bein<>- commanded to l)e burnt, as perhaps il well deserved. Vet lestheshould ccmiplain of harsh dealin;j;-, no answer l)eini>- uiven him, for his satisfac- tion, thoutih all his arguments are alreadv confuted in this present discourse, we shall give him a brief account of our judgment concerning his whole book — we think to a full satisfaction." f Cawdrey and Palmer were members of the "As- sembly of Divines," and wrote from the Puritan stand point. Their review of Ockford's book, ami tlie l)ook itself show that his argunuMits weie well sustained. About ten years later, Edward Fisher publi.'^hed a book in favor of the Sabbath, entitled • A Christian Caveat." etc. This work passed through at least live editions. Cox speaks of it as "A pithy, clever treatise directed against the opin ions held l)y the Puritans, of whom he affirms that.. because they are neither able to produce direct Scrij) ture nor solid reason for what they say, they labor to support their conceits by fallacies, falsities, and wresting of God's Holy Word, as iipon scanning, their proofs will be manifest to the meanest capacity. " t The name of Edward Stennet stands next upon the list ; his first work in favor of the Sabbath was en titled, * Referring to Bishop White's answer to Bra bourne. + p. 446. + Sabbatli Literature. Vol. 1, p. '237. ;>3(» SA1U5ATH ANDSl^SDAY. " THE 110 YAJ. LAW CONTENDED FOR, or, Some brief Grounds serving to prove that the Ten Commandments are yet in full force, and shall 8o re- main till Heaven and Earlli pass awav," etc. By a Lover of Peace with Truth, lulward Stennel. ■They that forsake the Law praise the wicked. but such as keep the Law contend with tliem.'" Prov. 2H : 4. " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Ecc. 12 : 13. "The Sabbath was made for man and not nuin for the Sabbath ; therefore the Sou of man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2 : 27, 28. ■ ' Then shall I not V)e ashamed, when I have respect to all Thv Commandm(Mits." Ps. 119 : 6. London. '1658. This work has been ivi)ublished by tlie American Sabl)ath Tract Society, from the i)reface to whose edition we extract tlie following- notice concerning the authoi- . " The friends of the Sabbath will doubtless receive this little volume as a valuable i-elic of the past — as a word fi'om one of the tiied and faithlul friends of the truth, one who not only loved the day of Gods Ave^kly rest, ))ut greatly delighted in the promise of a future and glorious Sabbatliism with the i)eoi)le of God. Edward Stennel. the authoi-, was the first of a series of Sabbatarian ministers of that name, who for four generations continued to be among the fore- most of the Dissenters in England, and whose ])raise is still in all the churches. He was an able and de- voted minister, but dissenting from the Established Church. h(^ w;is deprived of the means of suppoi"l ; and, his family being large, he applied himself to the study of medicine, by the practice of whicli he was enabled to dvc his sous a liberal education. He SAHHAT]i AND SUNDAY. 331 sullVred nincli oi tlic persecution wliich the Dissent- ers were exj^osed to at that time, and more especially for his faithful adhei-ence to the cause of the Sab- bath. For this truth, he experienced tribidation. not only from nios<' in jiower, by whom he was kept a long time in ])rison. but also much distress from un- friendly dissenting brethren, who strove to destroy his influence, and ruin his cause lie wrote several ti-eatises upon the cause of tin; Sabbath besides this, but they an; very rare, and perhajis cannot be found in a perfect state of jtreservation. It would be w(;ll. no doubt, to revive all oi them. and. if practicable. repul)lish them in the same form as this, that the.y might be bound together, and placed as they desi'iv'e to be, in every Sabbat h-kee])er's library. They all breathe the genuiin^ sj)irit of Christianity, and in their day were greatly cojiducive to the i)rosp<'rity of tlie Sabbath-keeping churches." Another work from his pen, entitled "The Seventh day is th<' Sabbath of the I^ord," and published in 1664, is before »is. It is an able reply to a ])ook by one Mr. l{ussel. entitled " No Sevenlh-day Sabbath Recommended by .I<^sus dirist." Next comes a book by William Sellers, published in 1671, the title of which runs as follows : "An examination of the late book ])ul)lished by Doctor Owen, (toucerning a Sacred Day of H^jst. Many Truths tlun^ein, as to the morality of a Chrife- tian Sabbath, as.sented to. With a Brief In(]uiry into his l^e.asons for the Changes of it from the Seventh day to the first, by way of denial. As also the con- sent (;f Doctor ileylyn and others, touching the time and manner of th(! change. With an Inquiry into the nature of the assertions about the first and second covenants.' 4to. pp. 56. Next in order is the name o1 an author whose 332 8ABBATH AND SUNDAY. works vveie proinint'iitly associated with the history of the Seventh-day Baptists in England during the hist half of tlie seventeentli century, Francis Bamp- field. He Avrote at least two works upon the Sab- bath, besides others of a scientific and literary char- acter. The first work on the Sabbath is entitled, •The Judgment of Mr. Francis Bampfield, late Minister of Sherbourne in Dorsetshin', for the Ob- servation of the Jewish or Seventh-day Sabbath : with his Reasons and Scripture for the same. Sent in a letter to Mr. Ben of Dorchestei'. Together with Mr. Ben's sober Answer to the Same, and a Vindica- tion of the Christian Sabbath against the Jewish, Pub- lished for the satisfaction of divers friends in the West of England. London, 1673. 12mo, pp 86. His Second work bears tlie following title : " 'Safifiarinif 'II/i^fMi 'Hjiiffja 'If pa, Septinia Dies Desiderabilis. Sabbatum Jehova*. The Seventh- day Sabbath the desirable day, the closing, complet- ing day of that first created week, which was, is. and will be, the just measure of all succeeding weeks in their successive courses, both for working in the six foregoing days, and for rest in the vSeventh. which is the last day, by an unchangeable law of well established order, ])oth in the revealed Word and in created Nature.*'— 1677, Fol,, pp. 149. The character of this man and his sufferings in be- half of the truth, are shown in the work of an Eng- lish author of later time, Edmimd Oalamy. who gives the following account of him : '■ He was descended from an ancient and honora- l>le family in Devonshire, and being designed for the ministry from his birth, was educated accordingly ; his own inclination concurring with the design of Ids pious parents. When he left the univei-sity SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 333 (wlieiv he continued seven or eiirlit years) he was or- dained a Deacon of the Church oi' England by Bp Hall ; aftenvards Presbyter by Bp. Skinner, and was soon after preferred to a living in Dorsetshire, of about one hundred pounds per annum, where he took great pains to instruct his people, and promote true re- ligion among them. Having an annuity of eighty l)Ounds a year sf^ttled upon him for Hfe. he spent all the income (^f his place in acts of charity among his parishioners, in giving them Bibles and other good books, setting the poor to work, and relieving the necessities of those that were disal)led : not suiiering a beggar, knowingly, to be in his parish. While he was here, he l)egan to see that in many ways the Church of England neinled ref()rmati(»n, in regard to doctrine, wor.ship and discii)line : and therefore, as Itecame a faithful minister, he heartily stM about it, making the laws of Christ his only rule. But herein he met great opi)osition and tro\ible." - When the Act of Uniformity was ])iiss('(l. in KitVJ. being unal)le to conform to its rcfpiirements. Mr. ]Janiptield gave up his place, and though he was strictly loyal in all the |)olitical troubles of those times, lu' m'.vertheless suffered much on account of his non-conformity. "Soon after his ejectment he was impri.soned for worshiping God in his own family," Not a Httle inju.stice and cruelty was shown Inm in these minor im})risomnents. But he was doometl to much greater trials and sufferings, for w(; learn from Calamy that. "Mr. Bamptield afterward su If ered eight years im- prisonment in Doichester jail, which he bore witli great courage and j)atience, being tilled with the * Non-Coiifontusts Memorial. Vol. 'i. p. ]4!». jseci. 334 SABBATH AND SLNDAY. romfort of the Holy Ghost, He also preached in the prison, almost every day, and gathered a church there. Upon his discharge in 1675, he went about preaching the Gospel in several counties. But he was soon taken up again for it in Wiltshire, and im- prisoned at Salisbury ; where, on account of a dne, he continued eighteen weeks. During this time he wrote a letter which was printed, giving an account of his imprisonment, and the joy he had in his suf- ferings for Christ. Upon his release he came to London, w^here he preached privately several years with great success, and gathered a people ; who, be- ing baptized by immersion (Mr. Bampfield having become a Baptist), formed themselves into a church, and met at Pinner's Hall, which, being so public, soon exposed them to the rage of their persecutors. " "On Feb. 17, 1682, a constable and several men with halberts, rushed into the assembly when Mr. Bampfield was in the pulpit. The constable ordered him in the king's name to come down. He answered that he was discharging his office in the name of the King of kings. The constable telling him he had a warrant from the Lord Mayor, Mr, Bampfield re- plied: ' I have a warrant from Christ, who is Lord Maximiis, to go on," and so proceeded in his dis- course. The constable then bid one of the oflicers pull him down; when he repeated his text; Isa. 63d, • The day of vengeance is in his heart, and the year of his redeemed ones is come ; ' adding, ' He will pull down his enemies.' They then seized him, and took him with six others, before the Lord Mayor, who fined several of them £10, and bid Mr. Bampfield begone. In the afternoon they assembled at the same place again, where they met with a fresh dis- turbance ; and an officer, though not without trembl- ing, took Mr Bampfield and led him into the street ; but the constable having no warrant, they let him go, so he went with a great company, to his own house, and there finished the service.' SABBATH AND SL'NDAY. 835 "On tlie 24th of the same month, he met his con- gregation again at Pinner's Hall, and was again pulled out of the pulpit, and led through the streets with his Bible in his hand, and great multitudes after him ; some reproaching him. and others speaking in his favor ; one of whom said, • See how he walks with his Bible in his hand, like one of the old martyrs. " Being brought to the sessions where the Lord Mayor attended, he and three more were sent to prison The next day they were brought to the bar, and being examined were remitted to Newgate. On March 17. 1683. he and some others, who w^ere com- mitted for not taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, were brought to the Old Bailey, indicted, tried, and by the jury (directed by the Judge) brought m guilty. On 3Iarch 28. being brought again to the ses ^sions to receive their sentence, the recorder, after odi- ously aggravating their offence. and reflecting on scrup- ulous consciences, read their .sentence, which was : • That they were out of the protection of the King's Majesty : that all their goods and chattels were for- feited, and they were to remain in jail during their lives, or during the King's pleasure." Upon this Mr. Bamptield would have spoken, but there was a great cry — ' Away with them, we will not hear them, etc.," and so they were thrust away; when Mr. Bampfield said • The righteous Lord loveth righteousness ; the Lord be judge in this case.' They were then re- turned to Newgate, where Mr. Bamptield (who was of a tender constitution) soon after died in conse- quence of the hard.ships he suffered, much lamented by his fellow prisoners, as well as by his friends in general. Notwithstanding his peculiar sentiments, all who knew him acknowledged that he was a man of serious piety, and deserved a different treatment from what he met with from an unkind world. He was one of the most celebrated preachers in the West of England, and extremely admired by his hearers. :)36 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. till he fell into \hv Sabbatarian notion, of which he was a zealous asserter." * Thus even the enemies of The !Sal)bath bear liighesl t(>stimony in favor of this noble martyr for tlie truth. In 1692, there ai)peare(l a work from Thomas Hampfield. a brother of the man mentioned above. Its title runs as follows : •*An enquiry whether the Lord Jesus Christ made the world, and l)e Jehovah, and .<»,ave the Moral law. and whether the Fourth Commandment be repealed or not." This work was answered by John Wallis. D. 1)., Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford, which elicited a second book in re^dy by Mi-. IJamj)- tield, entitled, "A Replv to Dr. Wallis, his Discourse concerning:; the Christian Sabbath."— London, 1688. An examination of these works shows that he was a writer of no mean ability. He w as a Barrister, and being less connected with the church and theo- logi(;al matters than his brother, does not appear as promiuj-ntly in histoiy. He is however noticed by both Calamy and Cox. Wallis wi'ote a second book in reply to Thos. Bampfield's second work. Avhich was i)»d)lished in 1694. Passing into the next centuiy anothei" book comes before the public in 1724, from the pen of George Carlow, entitled, "Truth defended, or Observations on Mr. WaixVs expository discourses fi-om the 8th, 9th, lOth.and 11th verses of the 20th chapter of Exo- *p. 151, Vol. :^(l. Found also in Vol. 1. p. 4«8, se<|., Loudon edition, 177o. SAIJI'.ATH AX]) SUNDAY. Sol dus, concerniiiL!,- the Sabbath.' This work was re- printed in America, at Stonington, Conn., in 1802, and auaiu by the American Sa1)batli Tract Society, in New York. The followinii- In'storic notice of tlie author is taken tVom the American edition of 1847. Of the personal history of George Carlow, but little is known. He was a member of the Sabbath- keeping church which once flourish(;d at AVood- ])ridge. Suffolk, Eng. Having visited London, ]>rob- ably for purposes connected with the i)ublication of hisl)ook, he was rec39 pieces lately wrote upon the subject, viz : Mr. Hal- lett's Discourse on the Lord's-day : Mr. Jephson's Dis- course coucerning the Religious Observation of the Lord's-day. etc. Mr. Chubb's Dissertation coucerning tlie Time of Keeping a Sabbath. ^Ir. Killing-worth's Appendix to his Supplement to the sermons preached at Salter's Hall, against Popery; ]N[r. Dobels Seventh- day Sabbath not obhgatory on Christians, and his Ap- pendix; and Dr. Watts' Holiness of Times, Places and People- In which everything judged material, of- fered by any of these gentlemen on the negative side of either of the above mentioned Cfuestions, is impar- tially considered." London. 1740. Robert Cox* (luotes largely from this work, and says : • Mr. Coruthwaite is one of the ablest defenders of the positions taken up by Seventh-day Baptists. It will be seen by the titles that Mr. Cornthwaite's l)ooks were mostly controversial. They were widely circulated, and the replies to them were written by some of the most ennnent men of tliose times. No- tices of other Sabbatarian authors will be found in the next chapter, in connection with the history of churches. ORCiANIZATlON OF SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST CnUUCIIKS IN ENGLAND. The Seventh-day Baptists were the most rad- ical reformers, and the most fearless dissenters that took part in the English Reformation. Every intluenc*' opposed the organization of such men into churches ; even their public meetings were prohibited at times by law . Hence no churches w^ere regularh' * Sabbath Literature, Vol. 2. p. 198. ;iiO SABBATH AND SUNDAY. organized until about IHoO. IJctwci'u that time and the close of the century, at least eleven churches were organized, and there Avere many unorganized Sabbatli-keepers scattered through the kingdom. These churches were located at Uraintree, in Essex, Chersey, Norweston, Salislmry. in Wiltshire, Sher- bourue, in Buckinhamshiie, Tewksbury, oi' Nattou, in Gloucestershire, Wallingford, JJerkshire, Wood ))ridge, in Sutt'olk : and three in London, viz : the Mill Yard Chinch, the Cripplegate Church, and tlie Pin ner's Hall Church. The liistory of these "churches may be fotmd in detail in the Seventh-day Baptist Man- ual by Rev. Geo. B. T tter (Westerly, R. I.) pup- lished in 1858: and in the bound volumes of the Sabbath ^Memorial, pul)lished by the present pastor of the Mill Yard Church. Rev. Wm. M. Jones. The martyrdom of John James has also latel}' apjieared from the pen of Mi-. Jon<'s. We have space only to say that from the English churches the Seventh-day Baptists were planted in America, as will be seen in a succeeding chapter. These European Sabbath- keepers, comiecting with their Waldensian brethren, (see Chapter 18), keep the links unbroken between the Seventh-day Baptists of the United States, and the Apostolic Churcli, as it was before the Sunday usurpations, thiough the help of the civil law, and Pagan cult, made war on God's llolv Dav. CHAPTEK XXV. The Sunday in ^^merica — Col- onial Period. About the bouinning of the seventeenth eentiiiy. certain dissenters fled from England to Holland. Failing" to succeed in propagating their views among the Hollanders, and finding their own purity on the decline, they determined to seek a home in the New World. They reached America in 1620, and settled at Xew Plymouth. In 1629 a large colony from England joined them. Thus came the birth of New England, and the establishment of Puritanism in America. I'he (•i\'il government which these men adopted was the direct outgrowth of their religion . The • Theocracy" of the Hebrews under Moses fur- nished the much approved model after which it was patterned. The result was more than a union of Church and State ; it was, rather, a "state" in the Church. Hence, in tlie civil laws of those times we find the practfcal expression of the orthodo.x theology ; and in the execution of those Uiws, an index to the vitality and power of the prevailing religion. It is, therefore, suited to the purposes of this chapter to collect the laws of .the early colonists concerning Sunday, and, as far as mav be necessai-v. to sketch the history of 34'^ SABBATH AND SUXDAY. tlu'ir execution. Tliis will be done in the following; ( »r(ler : 1st. The law.s of the Plymouth Colony up to the time of its union with Massachusetts ; then the laws of Massachusetts as a colcMiy, a ])rovince, and a state. 2d. The laws of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies in a similar order. There were no direct statute laws concerning the observance of Sunday durinsi' the earlier years of the Ph^mouth colony. There was, however, a riirid " Common Law/' founded on the la^ys of the Jewish Theocracy. In 1650, June 10th, the i>eneral court enacted the following" : • Further l)e it enacted, that whosoever shall pro- fane the Lord's-day by doinii- any servile work, or any siich like abuse, shall foi-feit for every such de- fault ten shillin.u's, or be whijiptHl."' In 1651, June 6th : " It is enacted by the comt that whatsoever per- son or persons shall neglect the frequent ing the pul)- li(r woi-ship of God that is according to God, in the ])laces where they live, or do assemble tliemselves upon any pretense whatsoever, contraiy to (xod and the allow^ance of the govei'nment, tending to the subversion of religion and churches, or i)alpable profanation of God's holy ordinances, being duly convicted, viz., every one that is a master or dame of a family, or any other ju'ison at their own disposing. to i>ay ten shillings for every such default." * It is also » * JMymouth Colony Records. \ol. XI. p. ",, 58. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 343 "Enacted by tlie Court, tlmt if any in any lazy, slothful or profane way doth neglect to come to the public worship (^f God, they shall forfeit for every such default ten shillinirs, or be whipped." * In 1658, we have the following : "Whereas, complaint is made of great abuses in sundry places in this government of profaning the Lord's-day by travelers, both liorse and foot, by bearing of burdens, carrying of packs, etc. , upon the Lord's day, to the great offense of the godly, well- affected amongst us: It is therefore enacted by the court, and the'authority thereof, that if any j^erson or persons shall be found transgressing in any of the precints of any township within this government, he or they sball be forthwith apprehended by the con- stable of such town, and fined twenty shillings to the colony's use, or else set in the stocks four hours, ex- cept they can give a sufficient reason for their so do- ing ; imd they that transgress in any of the above said particulars, shall only be apprehended on the Lord's-day ; and on the second day following shall either pa}' their tine, or sit in the stocks as afore- said, "f The general laws concerning attendance on public worship passed in 1651, were repealed in 1659. and the following enacted, and repeated in 1661 : "It is enacted by the court, that whatsoever per- son or persons shall frequently absent or neglect, upon the Lord's day, the public worship of God that is approved of by tills government, shall forfeit for every such default ten shillings. " X The following " Sunday Excise Law "' was enacted in 1662 : ______^ ^__ * Plym. Col. Rec, Vol. XI. p. 58- * Plvm. ("ol. Rec, Vol. XI, p. IQO. t Plvm. Col. Rec , Vol. XI. p. 1^2. 344 SABIJATH AND SUNDAY. " AVliereas, com})!?!!!!! is iiuule of some Ordinaiy keepers, in this jiirisdiction, that tliey do allow per- sons to stay on the Lord's-day, drinking in their houses in the interims of times betAveen the exer- cises, especially young persons and such as stand not in need thereof: It is enacted by the court and the authority thereof, that no Ordinary keeper in this government, shall draw any wine or liquor on the Lord's-day. for any. except in cases of necessity, for the relief of those that are sick, or faint, or the like, for their lefreshing, on the i)enalty of paying a tine of ten shillings for every default." ■• In 1663 the court urges the strict enforcement of the laws against traveling and unlawful jneetings on Sunday. f In 1682 the general court, sitting at Plyimmth, enacted the following : "To prevent profanation of the Lord's-(hiy by foreigners, or any others, unnecessarily traveling through our towns on that day : It is enacted b}^ the court, that a tit man in each town be chosen, unto whom, whomsoever hath necessity of travel on the Lord's-day in case of danger of death or such neces- sitous occasions, shall repair, and making out such occasions satisfyingly to him, shall receive a ticket from him to pass on about such like occasions, which if the traveler attend not unto it shall be lawfid for the constable or any man that meets him, to take him up, and stop him until he be brought before authority, or pay his fine for such transgression, as ))y law in that case is provided. And if it after shall ai)pear that his plea was false, then may he be appre- hended at another time, and made to pay his fine as aforesaid." t In 1674 : * Plvm. Col. Rec, Vol. XI, p. 187. •t lb., p. 140. 1:Ib.,p. 3.5S. SABBATH AXD SUXDAY. 345 ''It is enacted by the court, that as to the restrain- ing of abuses in 'ordinaries,' that no ordinary keeper shall sell or give any kind of drink to inhabi- tants of the town upon the Lord's-day : and also that all ordinary keepers be required to clear their houses of all town dwellers and strangers that are there (on a drinking account), except such as lodge in the house, by the shutting in of the daylight, upon the for- feiture of live shillings, the one-half to the informer, and the other half to the town's use. " * In the year 1665, the following law was enacted against " Sleeping in Cluuch :" " Whereas, complaint is made unto the court, of great al)use in sundry towns of this jurisdiction, by persons there behaving themselves profanely, by being without doors at the meeting house on the L(n-d's- days in time of exercise, and there misdemeaning themselves I)y jesting, sleeping, or the like : It is enacted by the court" and hereby ordered that the constables of each township in this jurisdiction shall, in their respect iNc towns, take special notice of such persons, and to admonish them ; and if notwithstand ing. they shall persist on in such practices, that he shall set them in the stocks, and in case this will not reclaim them, that they return their names to the Court." f Four years later. July. 1669. this law was further added to as follows : 'It is enacted by the court, that the constable or his deputy in each respective town of this govern- ment, shall diligently look after such as sleep or play about the meeting house in times of the public wor- ship of God on the Lord's-day. and take notice of their names, and return such of them to the court who do not, after warning given to them, reform. " -It)., p. 236. ' ♦•Plyni. Col. Eec. XI, p. 214. 34G SABBATH AND SUNDAY. " As also that unnecessary violent lidinsr '>n the Lord's day; the persons that' so offend, their names to be returned to the next court after the said of- fense. "It is enacted by the court, that any person or persons that shall be found smoking of tobacco on the Lord's-day, going to or coming'from tlie meet- ings, within two mites of the meeting house, shall pay twelve pence for every such default to tlie colo- ny's use."* In 1668 the matter of attendanc*' on pu])lic wor- ship was again taken up, and the following law^ (^nacted : " Whereas, the court takes notice of great neglect of frequenting the public worship of God on the Lord's-day : it is enacted by the court and tlie au thority thereof that the selectmen shall take notice of such in their townships as neglect, throiigh profane- ness or slothfulness, to come to the publicworship of God, and shall require an accoiuit of them ; and if they give them not satisfaction, that then they i-eturn their name to the court." f This not having the desired effect, ihe following was enacted in June. 1670 : " For the further prevention of the profanation of the Lord's-day. it is enacted by the court and the authority thereof, that the selectmen of the several towns of this jurisdiction, or any one of them. may. or shall, as there be occasion, take Avitli him the con- stable or his deputy, and lepair to any house or place where they may suspect that any sloth fully do lurk at home, or get together in ccmipanies, to neg- lect the public worshi]) of God. or profane the Lords- day ; and, finding any such disorder, shall return * Plym. ("ol. liec. Vol. XI, pp. •>24, 225. t Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. XI, pp. '*]',, 318. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 34' the names of the persons to the next court and give; not ce also of anv particular miscarriage that the.>^ have 'aken notice of. tliat it may be inqmred into. In 1652 and again in 1656, laws were passed, pro- hibitini,^ Indians from hunting, working or i)laying on Sunday, within the limits of the colony, f In 1691 Plymouth became united to Massaclui- setts under a new charter, from which time their histories are identical. M A SSACnr SETTS-BAY COLONY. There were no formal statutes concerning Sunday bv tlie local authorities of this colony during the tiVst years of its existenc.e. The " first general let- ter " from the governor and deputy of the ' Com- pany " in England, dated April 17th, 1629. <-ontained the following instruction : " And to the end the Sabbath may '/e ;-^l^;;;''^^^^ in a religious manner, we appomt ^l'^'\ ".,,X^ " . h-ihit *he Dlantation, both for the general syid i)ai- ll^r^ioyments, may surcea^ the.r a^ ev.ry Saturday throughout the year, at thiee < ^ J^^^ .';^^*^ in the afternoon, and that they ^P^f ,^ \'. fi,^^,^'; day in catechising, and preparations toi the babbath. as the ministers may direct. X ., This instruction and the '•common law, like tba of the Plymouth colony, formed the basis o of the earliest customs. In the formation o the government upon those points wherein the civil authorities were in doubt concering any .luestion. the matter was referred to the "elders. Among *Ib., p. 228. tlb..pp. 60, 184. t Mass. Colony Records, \ ol. 1, ]). -i-'-J- :»48 SABBATH AND SLT^^DAY. the " Answers of the Reverend Elders to certain questions propounded to tliem." November 18th, 1644, is the tollowin.i>- : " The striking of a neighbor luiiy be punished with some pecuniary mulct, when the striking of a father may be punished with death. So any sin committed with an high hand, as the gathering of sticks on the Sabbath-day, may be i)unished with death, when a lesser punishment might serve for gathering sticks privily, and in some need."* Concerning this i)()inl, Hutchinson, the historian, says : "In the tirst draught of the laws l)y Mr. Cotton, which 1 have seen corrected with Mr. Winthrop's hand, diver.se other offenses were made capital, viz., profaning the Lords day in a careless or scornful neglect or contempt thereof. Numbers 15 : 30-36." f On the 4th of November, 1646, the general court decreed : " That when'soever the ministry of the Word is established, according to the order of the gospel, throughout this jiu-isdiction, every person shall duly resort and attend thereunto, respectively upon the Loid's-days, and upon -such public fast days and days of thanksgiving as are to be generally held l\v the appointment of authority. And if any per.son within this jurisdiction shall, without just andneces- .sary cause, withdraw himself from hearing the pub- lic ministry of the Word, after due means of convic- tion used, he shall forfeit for his ab.sence from every such public meeting tive shillings.":}: Some questions having arisen concerning the mean- *Ib., Vol. 2, p. 93. t Hist. Mas,s., Vol. 1, p. 390. :t Masi«. Col Records, Vol. 2, p. 178. SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 349 in^ of the passage "after due conviction used," in the above hiw, it Avas exphiined May 10th, 1649, as meaning- '' legal conviction." A little later, a genr eral court, sitting at Boston, on the 30th of August, 1658, enacted the following : " Upon information of sundry abuses and misde- meanors committed by several persons on the Lord's- day, not only by children playing in the streets and other places, but ])y youths, maids and olhei- per- sons, both strangers and others, uncivilly walking the streets and fields, traveling from town to town, going on shipboard, frequenting common houses and other places to drink, sport, and otherwise to mis- spend tliat precious time, which things tend much to the dishonor of God. the reproach of religion, and the profanation of his holy Sal)bath, the sanctifica- tion of Avhich is sometimes put for all duties imme- diately respecting the service of God. contained in the first table : It is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof, that no children, youths, maids, or other persons, shall transgress in the like kind, on penaltj" of being reputed great provokers of the high displeasure of Almighty God, and further incurring the penalties hereafter expressed, namely, that the parents and governors of all children above seven years old, (not that we approve of younger children in evil,) for the first offense in that kind, ui^on due proof before any magistrate, town commissioner, or selectman of the town where such offense shall be com- mitted, shall be admonished; for a second offense, upon due proof, as aforesaid, shall pay a fine of five shillings; for a third offense, upon due proof, as aforesaid, ten shillings ; and if the}' shall again offend in this kind, they shall be presented to the county courts, who shall augment punishment, according to the merit of the fact. And for all youths and maids, above four- teen jears of age, and all elder persons whatsoever 350 SABBATH AND SL'XDAY. that shnll offcud and be convicted as aforesaid, either for playing, uncivilly walking, drinking, traveling from town to town, going on shipboard, sporting or any way misspending that precious time, shall, for the tirst olfense, be admonished, upon due proof, as afore- said ; for a second offense, shall pay as a fine, five shil- lings ; and for a third offense, ten shillings ; and if any shall farther offend that way, they shall Ix' presented to the next county court, who shall aug- ment punishment according to the nature of the of- fense ; and if any be unable or unwilling to pay the aforesaid tines, tiiey shall be whipped by the consta- ble not exceeding five stripes for ten shillings fine ; and this to be imderstood of such offenses as shall be committed during the daylight of the Lord's - day."* In volume four another record of this action may be found with this addition : '•This law is to be transcribed by the constables of eacli town, and posted upon the meeting house door, there to rem;un the space of one month, at least." f On the 18th of October of the following year, 1654, a general court, sitting at Boston, enacted that : •' Whereas, experience gives us cause to complain of nuich disorder in time of public ordinances, in the meeting houses of several congregations in this jurisdiction, through the unreverent carriage and behavior of diverse young persons, and others, not- withstanding the best means that have been hitherto used in the said assemblies, for the reformation there - of, it is therefore ordered by this court and the author. ity thereof, that it shall be in the liberty of the officers of the congregation, and the selectmen of such town^ * lb. Vol. 3, pp. 316, 317. t p. 151. SABP.ATH AXD SUXDAY. 351 together, to noiuiiiatc some one or two meet persons, to reform all such disordered persons as shall offend by any misdemeanor, either in the congregation or elsewhere near about the meeting house, either In serious reproof, more private or public, or other the like warning and meet correction of the magistrate or C(mimissioners of that town judge meet. And we are not doubtful but the reverend elders of the sev- eral congi'egations. according to their wisdom, will so order the time of their public exercise, that none shall be ordinarily occasioned to break off from the congregation before the full conclusion of public ex- ercises." * At the second ses.sion of the general court for 1658, held at Boston on the 19th of October, in view of the increase of Sunday profanation, the following action was taken ; " Whereas by too sad experience it is observed, the sun being set, both every Saturday and on the Lord's-day, young people and others take liberty to walk, and sport themselves in the streets or fields in the several towns in this jurisdiction, to the dishonor of God and the disturbance of others in their re- ligious exercises, and too frequently repair to public houses of entertainment and there sit drinking, all which tends, not only to the hindering of due pre- paration for the Sab])ath, but as much as in them lies renders the ordinance of God unprofitable, and threatens rooting out the power of godliness, and procuring the wrath and judgments of God upon us and our posterity : for the prevention whereof it is ordered by this court, and the authority thereof, that if any person or persons henceforth, either on the Saturday night or on the Lord's-day night after the sun is set, shall be found sporting in the streets or fields of any town in this jurisdiction, drinking or *Ib., pp. 200,201. 352 SABBATH AND Sl->s'J)AY. ]»eing in Miiy houses of eutertainiiu'iit (unless strangers or sojourners, as in their lodgings), and can not give a satisfactory reason to such magistrate or commis sioner in the several towns as shatl have cognizance thereof, every such person found, coiuj^lained of and proved transgressing, shall pay tive shillins for every such transgression, or suffer coporal punish- ment, as authority aforesaid shall determine." * At a general court called by order of the coiuicil on the 1st of August, 1665, and held at Boston the 1st of August, the following was enacted : " This court being sensible tliat through the Avicked practices of many persons who do profane God's holy Sabbaths, and contemn the public wor- ship of his house, the name of God is greatly dishon- ored, and the profession of liis peoi)le here greatly scandalized, as tending to all profaneuess and irre- ligion, as also that by reason of the late order of Oct. ::iOth, 1663, remitting the tines imposed on such to the use of the several towns, the laws made for re- claiming such enormities are become ineffectual, do therefore order and enact, that henceforth all tines imposed according to law for i)rofanation of the Sabbath, contempt or neglect of God's public wor ship, reproaching the laws and authority here estab- lished, according to his Majesty's charter, shall be to the use of the several counties as formerly, anything in the above said law to the contrary notwithstaml- ing; and in case any person or persons so sentenced do neglect or refuse to pay such tine or mulct as shall be legally imposed on them, or give security in court, to the treasurer for payment thereof, every such ])erson or persons, so refusing or neglecting to submit to the court's sentence, shall for such his contempt be corporally })unished according as the court that hath cognizance of the case shall d^- * Mass. ("ol. Rec, vol. 4, p. ;wr. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 353 lermine, and where any are corporally punished, their fines shall be remitted."* Three years later, October, 1668, the General Court, sitting at Boston, took up this matter again, and passed the following : " For the better prevention of the breach of thei Sabbath, it is enacted by this court and the authority thereof, that no servile work shall be done on that day, viz. such as are not works of piety, of charity, or of necessity ; and when other works are done on that day, the persons so doing, upon complaint or pre-"^ sentment, being legally convicted thereof before any magistrate or county court, shall pay for the first oi- fense ten shillings fine, and for every offense after to'- be doubled ; and, in case the offense herein be cir- cumstanced with profaneness or high-handed pre- sumption, the penalty is to be augmented at the dis- cretion of the judges. As an addition to the law for preventing profaning of the Sabbath-day by do- ing servile work, this court doth order, that what-' soever person in this jurisdiction shall travel upon* the Lord's-day, either on horseback or on foot, of by boats from or out of their own town to any unlaw- ful assembly or meeting not allowed by law, are hereby declared to be profaners of the Sabbath, and shall be proceeded against as the persons that pro- fane the Lord's-day by servile w^ork." f At a general court held in Boston in 1667, the Sunday laws were further amended by an act of the 34th of May, running as follows : ' ' This Court, being desirous to prevent all occa- sions of complaint, referring to the profanation of the Sabbath, and as an addition to former laws, do * Records of the Colony of Mass. Bay, Vol. 4, p. 276, t lb., p. 395. (23) 354 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. order and enact, that all the laws for sanctification of the Sabbath and preventing the profaning thereof, be twice in the year, viz. , in March and in September, publicly read by the minister or ministers on the Lord's- day in the several respective assembles within this jur- isdiction, and all people by him cautioned to take heed to the observance thereof. And the selectmen are hereby ordered to see to it that there be one man appointed to inspect the ten families of his neighbors, which ty thing man or men shall, and are hereby, have power (this language is badly arranged, but such is the record) in the absence of the constable, to apprehend all Sabbath-breakers and disorderly tipplers, or such as keep licensed houses or others that shall suifer any disorders in their houses on the Sabbath-day, or evening after, or at any other time, and to carry them before a magistrate or other authority, or commit to prison ms any constable may do, to be proceeded with according to law. " And for the better putting a restraint and secur- ing offenders that shall any way transgress against the laws, tittle Sabbath, either in the nii etiug house by abusive carriage or misbehavior, by making any noise or otherwise, or during the day time, being laid hold on by any of the inhabitants shall, by ihe said person appointed to inspect this law, be forthwith carried forth and put inio a cage in Boston, which is appointed to be forthwith by the selecimen. and to be set up in the market-place and in such other towns as the county courts shall appoint, there to remain till authority shall examine the per- son offending and give order for his punishment, as the matter may require, according to the laws relat- ing to the Sabbath." * The same court made additional laws concerning Quaker meetings, ordering all constables, on penalty ♦'Records of the Colony of Mass. Bay, Vol. 5, p. 133. 8A.fiBATH AND SUKDAY. 355 of the forfeiture of forty shillings, to "make diligent ^p,rch " for such gatherings, especially on the Lord's- day, and if denied admittance, to break dowjc* the doors and arrest the frequenters according to law. It also ordered that persons complained of, as being absent from public service on Sunday, who would neither affirm that they were present nor that they were "necessarily absent by the providence of God," should be thereupon adjudged as convicted, and punished accordingly. * October 15th, 1673, the foregoing laws were amended as follows : "As an addition to the law of the Sabbath, Sect, the second, it is ordered by the court and the au- thority thereof besides the penalty upon the persons there offending, the public house keeper, where any such person or persons are found so transgressing (as in the said law is expressed), shall pay five shil- lings to the treasury of the county where the offense Is committed."! On the 10th of October, 1677, the general court i^ session at Boston, made the following additions to this law : " As an addition to the late law made in May last for the prevention of profanation of the Sabbath, and strengthening the hands of tything men ap- pointed to inspect the same, it is ordered that those tything man shall bs and ars hereby appointed and empowered to inspect public licensed houses, as well as private and unlicensed houses, houses of enter- tainment, as also ex officio to enter any such houses * lb., p. 134. t Records of the Colony of Mass. Bay, Vol. 4, p. 562. 356 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. and discharge their duty according to law ; and the said ty thing men are empowered to assist one another in their several precints and to act in one another's precints with as full power as in their own, and yet to retain their special charges within their own bounds."* Two years later, October 15th, 1679, the general court, at Boston, enacted certain local laws, of which the following is a copy : "For prevention of profanation of the Sabbath, and disorders on Saturday night, by horses and carts passing late out of the town of Boston, it is ordered and enacted by this court, that there be a ward, from sunset on Saturday night, until nine of the clock or after, consisting of one of the selectmen or constables of Boston, with two or more meet per- sons, who shall walk between the fortification and the town's end, and upon no pretense whatsoever suffer any cart to pass out of the town after sunset, i -or any footman or horseman, without such good ac- count of the necessity of his business as may be to their satisfaction ; and all persons attempting to ride or drive out of town after sunset, without such rea- sonable satisfaction given, shall be apprehended and brought before authority to be proceeded against as Sabbath-breakers ; and all other towns are empow- ered to do the like as need shall be." f By the same court, the reading of the Sunday laws was placed in the hands of the town clerks, to be done at some public meeting of the town, instead of being done by the ministers on Sunday. X Thus the laws stood with little or no change until the new charter and the provincial government. * Records of the Colony of Mass. Bay, Vol. 5, p. 156. t lb., pp. 239. 240. $7b.. p. 243. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 357 In 1691, Massachusetts, including Plymouth col- ony and other territories lying north and east, was reorganized under a new charter from King William and Queen Mary. The change did not, however, materially affect the status of the Sunday laws. On the 23d of August, 1695, a general act was passed which embodied the substance of all the former colonial laws. By this, all ' ' labor and sport- ing " was prohibited under penalty of five shillings fine. All "traveling" except in cases of great necessity was punishable by a fine of twenty shil- lings. The keepers of public houses were forbidden to entertain any except travelers and boarders, on penalty of five shillings fine. Any one justice of the peace was empowered to try the cases, and on his judgment to pass sentence, and the fines, if not forthcoming, were to be collected by distraint. If the offender was unable to pay the fine, he was to be '•'set in the stocks," or "caged," not to exceed three hours. These acts were in force from sunset on the seventh day forward. All civil officers and parents were enjoined to carefully enforce these acts.* In 1711, this law was added to in that twelve hours imprisonment was made one of the penalties of transgression, and constables were especially em- powered and instructed to labor diligently to pre- vent profanation of the Sunday, f * Acts and Laws of the Province of Mass.. Bay, from 1692 to 1719, folio edition, London, 1724, pp. 15, 16- tlb.,p. 277. 358 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Four years later, in 1715, we find Sunday desecra- tion on the increase, since, although many laws have been passed, it is said : ' ' Many persons do presume to work and travel on the said day; " so that the authorities saw fit to increase the penalty for ' ' work- ing or playing " to ten shillings, and that for travel- ing to twenty shillings for the first offense. For the second offense these fines were doubled, and the parties made to give ' ' sureties " for good behavior in the future. A month's continued absence from the public Sunday services was also made finable in the sum of twenty shillings, or "three hours in the stocks or cage."* In 1727, the fine for " working or playing " was in- creased to fifteen shillings, and that for traveling to thirty shillings for the first offense, and for the sec- ond three pounds. If the offender failed to pay, he was liable to the stocks or the cage for four hours, or to imprisonment in the county jail, not to exceed five days. At this time, also, funerals, since they induced "gi-eat profanation" of Sunday, by the traveling of children and servants in the streets, were prohibited, except in extreme cases, and then under license from a civil officer of the town. The director of a funeral transgressing this was to be fined forty shillings, and the sexton or grave digger twenty shillings. Shops for the retailing of strong drinks.were mIso to be searched by the proper officers, and if any * Acts and Laws of the Province of Mass. Bay, p. 328. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 359 were found there drinking, the proprietor and the drinker were each to pay five shillings. * In 1741, an addit^jonal act was passed against slothfully loitering in the streets or fields, making the penalty twenty shillings for the first offense and forty for the second, with costs, and imprisonment until paid. Appeal to the next court was allowed, f In 1760, a general amendment was made by re" pealing all former laws relative to Sunday, and enact- ing a new code. The reasons for repealing are thus stated : ' ' Whereas by reason of different constructions of the several laws now in force relating to the obser- vation of the Lord's-day, or Christian Sabbath, the said laws have not been duly executed, and, not- withstanding the pious intention of the legislators, the Lord's-day hath been greatly and frequently pro- faned, therefore," etc. The preface to the new law is as follows : ' ' And whereas, it is the duty of all persons, upon the Lord's-day, carefully to apply themselves pub- licly and privately to religion and piety, the profana- tion of the Lord's-day is highly offensive to Almighty God ; of evil example, and tends to the grief and disturbance of all pious and religiously disposed persons, therefore," etc. The main features of the new code were the same i\s those of the former laws. The provisions were these : * Acts and Resolves of the Province of Mass. Bav, Vol. 2. p. 456. tTb.,p. 1,071, Boston edition, 1874. 360 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 1. Work or play, on land or water, is fined not less than ten nor more than twenty shillings. 2. Traveling by any one except in extremity, and then only far enough for immediate relief, is liable to the same penalty. '6. Licensed public house keepers are forbidden to entertain any except "travelers, strangers and lodg- ers" in their houses or about their premises, for the purpose of drinking, playing, lounging, or doing any secular business whatever, on penalty of ten shillings ; the person lounging, etc., also paying not less than five shillings. On the second conviction, the inn-keeper is made to pay twenty shillings, and on the third offense to lose his lioense. 4, Loitering, walking, or gathering in companies in "streets, fields, orchards, lanes, wharves," etc.> is prohibited on pain of five shillings fine ; and on a second conviction, the offender is required t-o give bail for future obedience. . 5. Absence from public service for one month is fined ten shillings. 6. No one is to assist at any funeral, not even to ling a bell, unless it be a licensed funeral, on penalty of twenty shillings fine. In Boston, however, a funeral might be attended after sunset without a li- cense. 7. The observance of the Sunday was to com- mence from sunset on the seventh day. 8. Twelve wardens were appointed in each town to execute these laws ; these were to look after all SABBATH AND SUNDAY, 361 infringements of the laws, enter all suspected places, " examine or inquire after all suspected persons, etc. In Boston, they were to patrol the streets every Sun- day (very stormy or cold days excepted), and dili- gently watch and search for offenders. In case any one convicted on any point in this code failed to pay his fine at once, he was to be committed to the com- mon jail, not less than five nor more than ten days. These laws were to be read at the "March meeting" of the towns each year. * In 1761, this code was supplemented by another act making it five pounds fine to give any false answers to a warden, or to refuse him aid or inform- ation when called upon.f These were all carried over, in essence, to the Stat« laws, as will be seen in the next section. STATE GOVERNMENT OF MASSACnUSETTS. The State Constitution of Massachusetts went into oiDcration in 1780. Among the "Perpetual Laws" we find a Sunday code, passed October the 32d, 1783, prefaced by the following preamble : •'Whereas, the observance of the Lord's day is highly promotive of the w^elfare of the community, by affording necessary seasons for relaxation from labor and the cares of business ; for moral reflections and conversations on the duties of life, and the fre- quent errors of human conduct ; for public and pri- vate worship of the Maker, Governor and Judge of * Acts and Laws of the the Province of Mass. Bay, folio edition, pp. 392 to 397. t Acts and Laws of the Province of Mass. Bay, folio edi- tion, pp. 397. 398. 362 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. the world, and for those acts of charity which sup- port and adorn a Christian society ; and whereas, many thoughtless and irreligious persons, inattentive to the duties and benefits of the Lord's-day, profane the same by unnecessarily pursuing their worldly business and recreations on that day, to their own great damage, as members of a Christian society, and to the great disturbance of well-disposed per- sons, and to the great damage of the community by producing dissipation of manners and immoralities of life ; be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives," etc. This law is much like the former provincial laws. Its leading features are : 1. All work, all play or attendance on any public pHce of amusement is fined not less than ten nor more than twenty shillings. 3. All traveling by any person is subject to tite same penal t3^ 3. Walking, loitering, or gathering anywhere out of doors subjects to a penalty of five shillings. 4. No aid is to be given to any unlicensed funeral by sexton, grave-digger, porter, bearer or bell-ringer, on penalty of twenty shillings ; and no funeral is to be licensed except in case of necessity. 5. All retailers of liquors, and keepers of public liouses of entertainment, are forbidden to entertain any one in or about their premises, or allow any Riling, playing, or doing of any secular business, on penalty of ten shillings for the first offense, twenty tor the second, and a loss of his license "forever after'' for the third offen.se. Tlie persons thu*» SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 363 "lounging," etc., to pay not less than five nor more t-han ten shillings. 6. The time to which the above regulations apply is stated to be from the "midnight preceding" to the " sunsetting of the same day." 7. All entertainments for pleasure and all loung- ing, drinking, etc., are prohibited on the evening preceding the Sunday. 8. Absence from public meetings for one montli without sufficient reason, is fined ten shillings, "pro- vided there be any place of worship on which the offender can conscientiously and conveniently at- tend." 9. Rude or indecent behavior ' ' within the walls of any house of public worship," is finable in "not less than five nor more than forty shillings." Servants, and persons under age, whose masters, parents or guardians refuse to pay such fine, are to be impris- oned not less than three nor more than ten days. 10. Willful interruption or disturbance of any a<<- sembly for public worship is made finable in a sum from twenty shillings to ten pounds, 11. No civil process shall be served between mid- night on Seventh-day and midnight on Sunday, vmder penalty of being made void, and liability of arrest for damages. 12 — 18. Twelve wardens to each town or district were to be chosen annually. These were given very full powers to search for, inquire after, and arrest all offenders. When chosen they could not refuse to 364 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. serve uuder a heavy fine, nor neglect any duty with impunity. False answers or refusal to aid such officers were severely punished. A warden's oath alone was sufficient evidence to convict an offender. Each warden to carry a white ' ' wand, not less than seven feet in length, as a badge of his office," when on duty. 19. Masters and parents were made liable for the tines of servants and children. 30. All persons not paying their fines when levied, to be imprisoned in the county jail, not less than five nor more than ten days. 31. The appointment of these wardens does not release any other officers from their usual duties in connection with the Sunday laws. 33. Any justice of the peace to have jurisdiction over all cases where the fine does not exceed forty shillings. Fines not otherwise arranged for to be applied for the support of the poor. These laws to be publicly read at stated times, and all former laws relative to the Sunday to be repealed. * There are but few noteworthy differences between this elaborate code and the provincial laws which preceded it. Greater liberty of conscience is granted to those who do not accord with the ruling orthodox church, and corporal punishment, as a penalty, is laid aside. But our readers are familiar with the fact that at the present time these laws are essen- * Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth of Mass. from 1780 to 1789, folio edition, pp. 198, to 203. SABBATH AN^D SUNDAY. 365 tially a "dead letter," and that the power of ortho- doxy is far less in Massachusetts now than in former times. The present statute exempts those who ob- serve the Seventh-day from the penalties of the Sun- day law, providing they prove that they conaeien- tioudy and habitually observe the Sabbath. NEW HAVEN COLONY. The primary compact formed by the colonists at New Haven shows that they took the Bible as their guide in all things. The common law, based upon the Sabbath laws of the Jewish theocracy, was the accepted authority concerning the Sunday. In De- cember, 1647, the transaction of certain ship masters in the harbor of New Haven, on Sunday, brought the matter before the civil court. The offenders, after examination, were dismissed, but the case created considerable interest, and the times seemed to demand some definite legislation. Hence, on the 31st of January, 1647, the court took the following action : "It was propounded to the court to consider whether it were not meet to make a law for restrain- ing of persons from their ordinary outward employ- ments on any part of the Sabbath, and the rather, because some have of late taken too much liberty in that way, and have been called to answer for it in the particular court. The court, considering that it is their duty to do the best they can that the law of God may be strictly observed, did therefore order that. Whosoever shall, within this plantation, break the Sabbath by doing any of their ordinary outward occasions, from sunset to sunset, either upon the land or upon the water, extraordinary cases, works 366 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. of mercy and necessity being excepted, he shall be counted an offender, and shall suffer such punish- ment as the particular court shall judge meet, ac- cording to the nature of his offense." * The "New Haven Code." published for the use of the colony in 1656, embraces all the general laws which were enacted previous to the union between New Haven and Connecticut colonies. This code contains the following, relative to attendance on pub- lic worship : ' ' And it is further ordered that wheresoever the ministry of the Word is established within this juris- diction, according to the order of the gospel, every person, according to the mind of God, shall duly re- sort and attend thereunto, upon the Lord's-day, at least, and also upon days of public fasting or thanks- giving ordered to be gen» rally kept and observed. And if any person within this jursidictiou shall without just and necessary cause, absent or withdraw from the same, he shall, after due means of convic- tion used, for everj^ such sinful miscarriage, forfeit five shillings to the plantation, to be levied as other fines." f The following statute on the "Profanation of the Lord's-day," is worthy of careful notice : "Whosoever shall profane the Lord's-day or any part of it, either by sinful sevile work, or by unlawfm sport, recreation, or otherwise, whether willfully or In a careless neglect, shall be duly punished by fine, imprisonment, or corporally, according to the nature and measure sin and of the offense. But if the court upon examination, by clear and satisfying evidence, * New Haveu Colony and Plantation Records, from 1638 to 1649, p. 358. ■ •" l-NewHavenCol. R€c.,p. 588. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 36? find that the sin was proudly, presumptuously, and with a high hand, committed against the known command and authority of the blessed God, such a person therein despising and reproaching the Lord, shall be put to death, that all others may fear and shun such provoking, rebellious courses. Numb. 15, from 30 to 36 verse." * In 1665, the colony of New Haven was united with that of Connecticut under the latter name. Its history will therefore be traced under that head from this point forward. THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. Here, again, there were at first no special statutes relative to Sunday. In 1650, a general code of laws was established in which is the following proviso, as a part of the law against burglary : " And if any person shall commit [such burglary, or] rob, in the fields or houses on the Lord's-day, be- sides the former punishments, he shall, for the first offense, have one of his ears cut off ; and for the second offense in the same kind, he shall lose his other ear in the same manner, and if he fall into the same offense the third time, he shall be put to death." f At a general court, held Sept. 8th, 1653, the fol- lowing was enacted relative to maratime matters : ''Whereas, it is observed that many seamen divers times weigh anchors in the harbors of several plant- ations within these liberties, atid pass out on the Lord's-day. to the grief and offense of the beholders, * New Haven Colonial Records, p. 605. t Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, prior to 1665, p. 5l4. 368 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. for the preventing whereof it is ordered : That after the publishing this order, no vessel shall depart out of any harbor within this jurisdiction, but the mas- ter of the boat or vessel shall first give notice of the occasion of his remove to the head officer of the town next the said harbor where they so anchor, and obtain license, under the hand of the said oflScer, for his liberty therein. Otherwise they shall undergo the censure of the court." * The law relative to the attendance on public wor- ship is the same, in essence, as those already noticed. It is as follows : "It is ordered and decreed by this court and au- thority thereof, that wheresoever the ministry of the Word is established according to the gospel, through- out this jurisdiction, every person shall duly resort and attend thereunto, respectively upon the Lord's-day and upon such public fast days and days of thanks- giving as are to be generally kept by the appointment of authority. And if any person within this jurisdic- tion shall, without just and necessary cause, with- draw himself from hearing the ministry of the Word, after due means of conviction used, he shall forfeit for his absence from every such public meeting five shillings, all such offenses to be heard and determined by any one magistrate or more, from time to time."f Two years after the union of the colonies of New Haven and Connecticut under one government, a law was passed forbidding Indians to profane the Sun- day, on penalty of five shillings fine, or one hour in the stocks. On the 19th of May, 1668, a general law was enacted as follows : * Colonial Records of Conn, prior to 1665, p. 247. + Ib.,p. 524. SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 369 "Whereas, the sauctitication of the Sabbath is a matter of great concernment to the weal of a people,- and the profanation thereof is that as pulls down the judgments of God upon that place or people that suffer the same : It is therefore ordered by this court and the authority thereof, that if any person shall profane the Sabbath, by unnecessary travel, or playing thereon in the time of public worship, or before, or after, or shall keep out of the meetin.u- house during the public worship unnecessarily, there being convenient room in the house, he shall pay tive shillings for every such offense, or sit in the stocks one hour ; any one assistant or commissioner to hear and determine any such case. And the con stables in the several plantations are hereby required to make search after all offenders against this law^, and make return thereof to the commissioners or as- sistants." In 1676, the above was strengthed bj' the follow- ing : " Whereas, notwithstanding former provisions made for the due sanctification (jf the Sa])bath, it is observed that by sundry abuses the Sabbath is pro- faned, the ordinances rendered unprofitable, which threatens the rooting out of the power of godliness, and the procuring of the wrath and judgments of God upon us and our posterity ; for prevention whereof it is ordered by this court that if any per- son or persons henceforth, either on the Saturday night or on the Lords-day night, though it be after the sun is set, shall be found sporting in the streets or fields of any town in this jurisdiction, or be drink- ing in houses of public entertainment or elsewhere, un- less for necessity, every such person so found, com- plained of, and proved transgressing, shall pay ten shil- lings for every such transgression, or suffer corporal punishment for default of due payment. Nor shall any sell or draw^ any sort of strong drink at an}^ time, or (24) 370 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. to be used in any such manner, upon the like penalty for every default. " It is also further ordered that no servile work shall be done on the Sabbath, viz. , such as are not works of piety, charity, or necessity ; and no profane discourse or talk, rude or unreverent behavior shall be used on that holy day, upon the penalty of ten shillings tine for every transgression hereof, and in case the offense be circumstanced with high-handed presumption as well [as] profaneness, the penalty to be augmented at the discretion of the judges." * Under date of May, 1684, is found an act referring to the foregoing laws and their enforcement in the following words : "Whereas, this court, in the calamitous time of New England's distress by the war with the Indians in the years seventy-five and seventy-six, were moved to make some laws for the suppression of some provoking evils which were feared to be grow- ing up among us, as viz. , profanation of the Sabbath, neglect of catechising of children and servants, and family prayer, . . . which laws (for want of due prosecution of offenders that are guilty of the breach of them) have little tended to the suppressing of the growth of said evils amongst us, and have not ans- wered that expectation of reformation which this court aimed at ; it is therefore ordered by this court, that the selectmen, constables, and grand jurymen in the several plantations shall have a special care in their respective places to promote the due and full attend- ance of those forementioued orders of this court, by the several inhabitants of their respective towns. And the selectmen, constables, and grand jurymen shall, at least once a month, make presentment of all breaches of such laws as are come to their knowl- * Col. Rec. Conn, from 1665 to 1677, pp. 88, 280. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 371 edge, to the next assistant or commissioner under their hands." Any failure on the part of these officers to perform the above mentioned duties was made finable to the amount of ten shillings for every neglect. Two years later this act was renewed in nearly the same words.* Thus did Saljbath desecration, so called, increase in spite of these stringent laws, guarded by severe and often-executed penalties. Soon after this came the interruption of the gov- ernment by Andros, which lasted between one and two years. When the government was restored, the general court declared all laws to be binding which were in force before the interruption. After this restoration of the colonial government in 1689, little appears concerning the Sunda}' laws for several years. In 1715, an especial act was passed concern- ing the movements of vessels in the harbors, and a general one requiring the officers to execute the ex- isting law against vice and immorality, among which the Sunday laws are mentioned. The power of these officers to search after delinquents was also increased, f In 1731, additional laws were passed under the following preamble : "Whereas, notwithstanding the liberty by law granted to all persons to worship God in such places as they shall for that end provide, and in such manner «.s they shall judge to be most agreeable to the Word of God; and notwithstanding the laws * Colonial Records of Conn, from 1678 to 1689, pp. 148, 203. t Acts and Laws of Conn., folio edition, pp. 206—308, New London, 1715 and 1737, 37'Z SABBATH AND SUNDAY. alread}^ provided for the saiictifi cation of the Lord"s- day, or the Christian Sabbath, many disorderly per- sons in abuse of that liberty, and regardless of those laws, neglect the public worship of God on the said day, and profane the same by their rude and unlaw- ful behavior; therefore,' etc. By this law, 1. Non-attendance on lawful public worship was subjected to a fine of five shillings. 2. The same penalty was incurred by going forth from one's place of abode for any reason except to attend worship or perform w(u*ks of necessity. 3. A fine of twenty shillings was imposed for as- sembling in any meeting-house on Sunday without the consent of the congregation to whom it belonged and the minister who usually oflSciated in it. 4. Disturbing any meeting for public worship on Sunday was made punishable by a fine of forty shillings. 5. Failure to pay or secure a fine imposed for any of these offenses, within one week was punished by labor in the houses of correction for one month or less. 6. No appeal from a justice's court was allowed. 7. All charges were to be preferred within one luonth from the time of the offense. * Other supplementary acts were also passed, relat- ing mainly to the duties of the civil authories in ex- ecuting these laws. In 1726, all assistant justices of the peace were empowered, on their own "plain view or personal knowledge " of profanity, drunk- * Acts and Laws of Conn., folio, pp. 261, 262. New London, 1715-1737. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. oTo euiiess, or Sabbath- breaking, to make out a judg- ment accordingly against the offender, ' ' any law or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.'* In 1733, a more extensive code was established, of which the following is an outline : 1 . Non-attendance on public worship for a speci- fied time, was punished by a fine of three shillings. 2. Ten shillings was made the penalty for as- sembling in a meeting-house without the consent of the congregation and minister for whom it was pro- vided. No persons were allowed to neglect public worship and meet in pnvate houses, on penalty of ten shillings. 8. All work or play, on land or water, on Sun- days, fast, or thanksgiving days, was prohibited under a fine of ten shillings. 4. Disturbing public worship by rude or clamorous beliavior, in or within^ hearing of the assembly, was fined forty shillings. 5. All traveling, except in great extremity, was forbidden on pain of twenty shillings fine, and all al)sence from one's house, except for church attend a nee or "necessity," incurred a fine of five shillings. (3. Staying outside at the meeting-house (there being room inside), or going out unnecessarily during ser- vice, or playing or talking around places of worship, was finable in the sum of three shillings. Gathering in companies in streets, or elsewhere, on the evening before or the evening after the Sunday, or on the ev ening after any fast day. was liable to a penalty of ■*Ib., p. 319. 374 SABBATH AND SUKDAY. three shillings, or two hours in the stocks, religious gatherings excepted. 7. Loitering or drinking in or about any public place after sunset on Seventh-day night, subjected both the offender and the keeper of the place to a fine of five shillings. 8. No vessel was allowed to put to sea from any harbor, river or creek within the colonial limits, without license, granted only in extreme emergency, nor to weigh anchor within two miles of any place of meeting, unless to get nearer to that place, under forfeiture of thirty shillings. 9. Posting notices or publishing tliem in any way was declared illegal, and the proper officers were in- structed to destroy all such as should be put up, and the one putting up the same was subjected to a fine of five shillings. 10. Two " tything men" were ordered to be ap- pointed for every parish, these were empowered and instructed, after the usual manner, to execute^ these provisions. Whipping, twenty stripes or less, was the penalty for non-payment of a fine. * In 1761, in spite or all that had been done, travel- ing is declared to be a "growing evil,"' and all as- sistant justices of the peace are empowered to arrest, without a written warrant, any person traveling un- necessarily, and every sheriff, constable, grand jury- man and tything man was empowered to take such persons into custody, ' ' upon sight, or present inf orm- * Acts and Laws of Conn., 17.50 to 1772, pp. 139—14-^. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 375 ation of others. Refusal to aid in any such arrest, when called upon, incurred the usual penalties. * In 1770, an act was passed allowing all sober per- sons who conscientiously differed from the estab- lished worship and ministry of the colony, to meet together for worship without incurring the penalties provided for in the preceding laws against such meetings, and against absence from the recog- nized services, f Between the time when the cohjnial government (•eased, and the opening of the nineteenth century, there were several partial or complete revisions of the laws of Connecticut, but no material change was made in the form or spirit of the Sunday laws. In 1808, the entire code was revised. In this revision, the only noteworthy change consisted in a reduction of some of the fines imposed for Sunday-breaking. | The history of the Sunday laws in Connecticut thus far traced, shows the same results as in Massa- chusetts, namely, a steady increase of '• Sabbath desecration," so called, while the civil authorities were putting forth all their power to check it. It is a signficant fact, full of instruction. It shows that such legislation defeats itself. The true idea of the Sabbath is far higher tlian any civil law can reach, and more spiritual than human law can express. If the civil law be made thus stringent, it becomes more prominent than the law of God, and so becomes * lb., p. 259. i lb., p 351. tSee Public Statute Laws of Conn.. Haitford. 1808. pp. 577—581. 376 SABBATH AND SUXDAi. practically the stHudard of action. Such a standard has no moral power over the conscience and soon loses its force. The Sal)bath, or the day called such, becomes a civil institution merely, and. thus per- verted, loses its power, ceases to draw men towards (>od, and becomes a failure. Added to this was the uuscriptural theory by which the Sabbath law of the Fourth Commandment was applied to the Sunday, which of itself must work ruin. Hence it is that the "New England Sunday," with everj'-thing ap- parently in its favor in the beginning, has steadily sunk towards the low-ground "European Sab- bath." KHODE ISLAND COLONY LAW^S. TIk* land of Roger Williams must of necessity have produced Sunday laws different from those of the other New England colonies. What these laws were will be clearly seen by the following extracts. The General Assembly, sitting at Newport, on the second day of September, 167H, enacted as follows : "Voted, this assembly considering that the King- hath granted us that not any in the colony are to be molested in the liberty of their consciences, who are not distiu'bers of the civil peace, and we are persuaded that a most nourishing civil government, with loyalty, may be best propagated where liberty of conscience by any corporal power is not ob- structed, that is not to any imchasteness of body, and not 1)y a body doing any hurt to a bodj^ neither en- n,y, a warrant under the hand of one magistrate, directed to the sergeant of the town where the offense was committed, shall be his suflScient warrant to take by distraint so much of the estate of the offending party, together with two shillings for his service therein.* ' ' And be it further enacted by the authority afore- said, that if any person or persons shall presume to sport, game, or play at any manner of game or games, or shooting, on the first day of the week, as * H. I. Colonial Records, Vol. 2, pp. 503, .504. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 379 aforesaid, or shall sit tippling and drinking in any tavern, ale house, ordinary, victualing house on the first day of the week, more than necessity require th. and upon examination of the fact it shall be judged by one justice of the peace, the person offending, as aforesaid, upon conviction before one justice of the peace, shall, by the said justice of the peace, be sen- tenced for every of the aforesaid offenses to sit in the stocks three hours, or pay five shillings in money, for the use of the town or place where the offense was committed." * Various modification or simple re-enactments of the Rhode Island Sunday laws were made in 1750 and 1784. In 1798, the laws of the State were re- vised. The main features of the Sunday laws were not changed. All work or play was prohibited on penalty of one dollar for the first offense, and two dollars for the second. In default of payment, the offender was to suffer ten days' imprisonment, in the (bounty jail . The same penalty was imposed for em- ploying others. All complaints to be made within ten daj^s after the offense. An appeal was allowed. Otherwise the law of 1798 was identical with the present law.-f JJEW YORK. There was no representative government in what is now the State of New York, until nearly a cen- tury after the first settlements were made within its limits. The records of the first half century of the existence of the colony of New Netherlands, as it * lb., Vol. 3, p. 31. t Public Laws of Khode Island and Providence Plantations , Providence, 1798, pp. .577 to .579. 380 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. was called, are very meager. The goverumeut was administered by officers appointed in Holland. The religious views of the Hollanders made it impossible that such an observance of Sunday should obtain in New Netlierlands as was common in New England. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was made "Dictator" of the colony. x\ccording to the statements of Mr. Broadhead* the social, civil, and religious affairs of the colony were in a sad state of decline. The pre- ceding administration of Kieft had been ruinous in many respects. On the arrival of Stuyvesant, says Mr. Broadhead, "Proclamations were immediately issued with a zeal and rapidity which promised to make a " thorough reformation. ' ' Sabbath - bre.'iking, brawling and drunkenness were forbidden. Publicans were re- strained from selling liquors, except to travelers, be- fore two o'clock on Sundays, ' when there is no preaching,' and after nine o'clock in the evening." Stuyvesant w.is a member of the Reformed church at home, and was probably more strict than the most of his countrymen. In 1673, each town was em- powered to make laws against Sabbath-breaking and other immoralities, f The administration of Stuy vesant was the beginning of efforts at Sunday leg- islation. In 1691, a representative government was estab- lished under the English crown. In 1695, Oct. 23d, the first Sunday law was passed by that government. * History of New Netherlands, first period, p. 466 + Documents relating to the colonial History of New York Yol. -2. p. 621. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. :]81 It was prefaced by the following preamble, wliich gives an idea of the state of the country at that time: ' ' Whereas, the true and sincere worship of God according to his holy will and commandments, is often profaned and neglected by many of the inhabitants and sojourners in this province, who do not keep lioly tiie Lord's-day, but in a dis(jrderly manner accustom themselves to travel, laboring, working, shooting, fishing, sporting, playing, horse-racing, frequenting of tippling houses and the using many other unlawful exercises and pastimes, upon the Lord's-day, to the great scandal of the holy Chris- tian faith, be it enacted," etc. These are the provisions of the law : 1. Six shillings tine for any of the a])ove named crimes, or any manner of work or play. 2. Any justice of the peace might convict offend- ers, on " his own sight," "on their confession," or on the testimony of " one or more witnesses;" tines were to be (.'oUected by distraint, if necessary. In default of payment, the offender was to sit for tliree liours in the "stocks." If any master refused to pay the tine imposed upon a negro oi- Indian slave or servant, said slave or servant was to be whipped "thirteen lashes." All complaint against oflfenders were to be made within one month. 3. It was lawful to travel any distance under twenty miles, for the purpose of attending public worship. It was also lawful to " go for a physician or nurse." These exemptions were not good in favor of unchristianized Indians . * * Laws of New York from 1691 to 1773. large folio edition, Vol. 1, pp, 23. 24. New York, 1774. 382 SAKHATH ANM) SUNDAY. No other law couccrnlng Sunday observance ap- pears until after the establislunent of the State gov- ernment. In 1778, Fel). 2M. the following- was passed : " Be it (inacted hy the People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, and it is liereby enacted by the authority of the same, That there shall be no traveling, servile laboring or vs^ork- ing (works of ne('essity and charity (excepted), shooting, fishing, sporting, playing, horse-racing, hunting, or I'reqenting of ti])pling iiouses, or any unlawful exercises or pastimes, by any person oi' |)ersons, within this St;ite, on tiie lirst day of the week, commonly cilled Sundtiy , and that every per son l)eing of the age of fourteen years or upwards, ollending in the i)remises, shall for every suchofTcuse forfeit and i>ay to the use of the poor of the city or town, where such olVensc shall be conunltted, the sum of six shillings. And that no i)erson shall cry show forth or expose to s:de any wares, merchan- dise, fruit, herbs, goods or chattels upon thetirst day of the week, commonly called Sunday, except snniil meat, and milk, and lish, before nine of the clock in tlie morning. u])on i)ainthat(',very person so oiTending shall forf(!it the same goods so cried, showed forth or exposed for sale, to the u^e of tlu^ poor of the city or town where su(^h olTensc shall be committed, and if any person otTending in any of the premises shall be thereof convicted, before any justice of the peace for th(! county, or any mayor, recorder or alderman of the city, wliere the olTeuse shall be committed, upon th(! view of th(! said Justice, mayor, recorder or alder- man, or confe.ssion of the party olfending, or prooi of any witness or witnesses upon oath, then the said Justice, mayor, recorded" or alderman, before whom such conviction shall be had. shall direct and send his warrant, under his hand and seal, to some constable of the city or countv where the olfense shall have been SAiUJATH AND SUNDAY. 388 coinniitc'd, commanding him to seize and take the goods so cried, showed forth or exposed to sale as aforesaid, and to yeW the same, and to levy the said other forfeitures or penaUies, hy distress and sale of the goods and chattels of such offenders, and to pay the mone}' arising by the sale of such goods, and the said other forfeitures and penalties, to the overseers of the ])Oor of the city or town, where the said of- fense or off( nses shall have been (-ommitted, for the use of the poor thcjreof, and in case no such distress can l)e had, then every such offender shall , by a w^arrant under the hand and seal of the said justice, mayor, recorder or alderman, be set publicly in the stof'ks by the space of two hours. ' - And further, that if any i)erson shall be found fishing, sporting, horse- racing, hunting, gunning, or going to or returning from any market or landing, with carts, wagons, or sleds, on the first day of the week, called Sunday, it shall be lawful for "any con- stable or other citizen to stop every person so offend- ing, and to detain him or her until the next day, and then to carry or convey him or her to some justice of the peace, to be dealt witli according to law. Provided always, That no person going to or coming from an}- church, or place of worship, within the distance of twenty miles, or going to call a i)hysician* surgeon or midwife, or carrying a mail to or from any post-oflice, or going express by order of any public\)lficer, shall be considered as travehng within the meaning of this act." Section second makes the usual exception in favor of persons actually observing the seventh day, pro- viding they do not " disturb other persons in the ob- servance of the first day of the week as holy time." Section third prohibits the service of any "civil process" on Sunday "except in cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace," on penalty of the au- 384 SABBATH AIsD SUNDAY. nullment of the "process, " and the hability of the ofticer for damages to the party thus disturbed. * In 1798, April 3d, the above law was amended so as to prohibit keepers of public houses or liquor stores, of any sort, from "selling- or disposing" of any "strong or spiritous liquors, ale or porter," on Sunday, to any person or persons, ' ' except lodgers and travelers tolerated by law," underpenalty of two dollars and fifty cents fine for each offense. Persons engaged in removing their families or household furniture were freed from the regulations concerning traveling, when the removal , having l)ecn commenc^^d before Sunday, remained incomplete. I PP^iS^'SYLVAXIA. The early Sunday laws of Pennsylvania were far less strict than those of the New England States. In 1700-1, a general law was passed, John Evans being- Lieutenant Governor, under William Penn, of which the following is the substance : 1. All general servile work on Siuiday, was pro- hibited on pain of twenty shillings fine. The excep- tions under this provision were quite numerous. They allowed the preparing of food in public houses, the dressing and selling of meat by butchers and fishermen during the months of June, July and August, the selling of milk before nine o'clock in the morning, and the landing of passengers by water- men during the entire day. *Laws of New York. Eleventh Session, 1788, chapter 42, folio edition. ' Session Laws of NeM' York, 1798, chap. 82. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 886 2. No civil process was servabie on Sunday. 3. Any person found ' '■ tippling " in public drink- ing houses was fined one shilling and six pence. Any dealer who allowed persons to drink and lounge about his premises, was liable to pay ten shillings fine. " Taverns " were however allowed to sell to regular inmates and travelers "in moderation."* There were various changes and modifications of this law, from time to time, up to 1786, when all former laws were repealed and a new one enacted. The new law imposed thirty shillings tine for work- ing or sporting. It excepted "boatmen," "water- men," "stage coaches (having the consent of a justice on extraordinary occasions)," the general work of preparing food, and the "delivery of milk and other necessaries of life," before nine o'clock in the morn- ing, and after five o'clock in the afternoon. Any offender, in default of payment of his fine, was liable to imprisonment, f In 1794, the above law was repealed, and its place supplied by one differing only in a few particulars. By it the general fine was placed at four dollars, and "persons removing their families " were placed upon the list of exceptions under the head of traveling. % There has been but little, if any, change in the statute Sunday law of Pennsylvania since 1794. There have been, however, certain decisions of the * Acts of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, pp. 19—21, folio edition, Phila., 1762. tLaws of Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, chap. 297, folio edition 1762. . 1: lb., chap. 17.47, Smo. edition,. Phil., 1803. (35) 386 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. courts, under which there has been from time to thne greater infringement upon the liberty of con- science than in any other State since the days of Puri- tan illiberalism. The following is a specimen de- cision : "This act is binding on Jews and others who keep the seventh day as their Sabbath," VIRGINIA. The early laws of Virginia have some resemblance to those of New England. Hon. R. W. Thompson, Secretary of the Navy, in an address delivered in Washington, May 16, 1880, makes the following statement concerning a law made before the organization of the regular Assem- bly in 1619: ' ' The very first statute passed by the Cavaliers of Virginia provided that he who did not attend church on Sunday, should pay a fine of two pounds of tobacco. This was the first law ever enacted in the United States, and was passed in 1617, three years before the Puritans landed at Plymouth." * In 1623, a law was passed in these words : ' ' Whosoever shall absent himself from divine ser- vice any Sunday without an allowed excuse, shall for- feit a pound of tobacco ; and he that absents himself for a month shall forfeit fifty pounds of tobacco, "f In 1629, the authorities were ordered to take care that the above law was carefully executed, and to "see that the Sabbath-day be not ordinarily profaned by working in any employments, or by journeying from place to place, "t '. * Sabbath Doc. No. 45, p. 15, New York. t Laws of Virginia, Vol. 1, p. 123. t lb., p. 144. SABBATH AN^D SUNDAY. 387 In 1642, "church wardens" are bound by then- oath of office, to present to the civil authorities all cases of " profaning- God's name, and his holy Sab- baths. " In the same year it was ' ' enacted for the better observation of the Sabbath, that no person or persons shall take a voyage upon the same, except it be to church, or for other causes of extreme neces- sity, upon the penalty of the forfeiture for such of- fense, of twenty pounds of tobacco,"* In 1657-8, this law was extended so as to prohibit -'traveling, loading of boats, shooting of game, and the like," and the penalty was increased to "one hundred pounds of tobacco," or a place in the " stocks." The execution of any ordinary civil process is also for- bidden during this year, f In 1691, the penalty was changed to "twenty shillings," and in 1696, to "thirty shillings or two hundred pounds of tobacco." In 1705, the specifications of the law were increased, and all general acts of profanation by working, play- ing, drinking, etc., and also absence from church for one month, were included in one class, the penalty being "five shillings or fifty pounds of tobacco." In default of payment, the offender was subjected to "ten lashes.":}: In 1786, a more elaborate code was passed, the substance of which was as follows : 1. AH ministers properly licensed, and faithful to the commonwealth, were exempted from arrest on * lb., pp. 240 and 261. t lb', pp. 434 and 457, t lb. , Vol. 3, pp. 73, 138 and 361. 388 , SABBATH AND SUNDAY. any civil process while performing public religious duties. 2. ' ' Maliciously disturbing any public religiou.^ meeting, was made punishable by fine and imprison- ment. 3. All labor, whether performed by one's self, or by one's employes, was made liable to a fine of ten shillings.* In 1792, the foregoing law was re-enacted witli little or no change. In 1801, a law was passed for bidding any one to trade with slaves on Sunday, without the consent of their masters, under penalty of ten dollars fine above the usual punishment for ' ' Sabbath-breaking. " f In 1819, certain restrictions were placed upon the ' ' excessive drinking " on Sunday, or other days of religious worship appointed by public authority, the penalty of the liquor seller being the " loss of his license, "t ENFORCEMENT OP SUNDAY LAWS IN THE NEW KNO- LAND COLONIES Such was the Sunday Legislation during the Col- onial period and in the leading colonies of the United States. The history of that period gives ample proof that the Sunday Law^s were not a "dead letter." A few examples relative to their enforcement are here given. It would be tedious and useless to note every instance in which these laws were executed. The * lb., Vol. 12, pp. a36, 337. I Acts of the Assembly of Virginia, Vol. 1. pp. 276, 43*^, Richmond, 1803. 1: Revised Code of 1819, p. 283. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 3i59 majority of the cases were, doubtless, disposed of by tlie comnion magistrates, and hence do not appear upon the records of the higher courts. A few repre- sentative instances are given. October 6, 1636, John Barnes was found guilty of " Sabbath -breaking " by a jury, and fined "thirty shillings," and "made to .sit in the stocks one hour." In 1637, Stephen Hopkins was presented for "suf- fering men to drink at his house upon the Lord's- day." Two years later, Web Adey was arraigned for working in liis garden on Sunday. Before the year closes he repeats the offense and is " set in the stocks" and "whipped at the post."* In 1649, John Shaw was set in the stocks for " at- tending tar pits " on Sunday, and Stephen Bryant was arrested, and "admonished," for carrying a barrel to the same pits on the same day. The next year, 1650, Edward Hunt was arrested for shooting at deer on Sunday, Gowan White and Z. Hick called to account for " traveling from Weymouth to Scitu- ate on the Lord's-day." In 1651, Elizabeth Eddy was arrested for " wringing and hanging out clothes on the Lord's-day in time of .service." Aurther How- land, for not attending church, and Nathaniel Basset and Joseph Pry or, for ' ' disturbing the church of Duxburrow," were also called to answer the d(f- raands of the law, f In 1651-2, Abraham Pierce, Henry Clarke and Thurston Clarke, Jr.. were arrested for lazily * Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 1, pp. 44, 68, 86, 93. ; : t Plymouth Colony Records, pp. 140, 1.56, 16.5. 173—4. 390 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. spending Sunday, and staying away from public service. Two or three years later, Peter Gaunt. Ralph Allen, Sen. and George Allen appeared to answer to a similar charge, and William Chase was called to answer for having driven a pair of oxen in the yoke "about five miles on the Lord's-day, in time of exercise." In 1658, Lieutenant James Wyatt was " sharpely reproved " for writing a business note on Sunday, " at least in the evening somewhat too soon." At the same time, Sarah Kirby was "pub- licly whipped " for disturbing public w.orship, and Ralph Jones paid "ten shillings fine" for stay ing at home when the authorities thought he had ought to have been at church, f Similar cases might be quoted until many pages were filled, in which the reader would see that not only ordinary manual labor on Sunday was punished, but "whipping of servants," playing at cards," "smoking tobacco," etc., were sharply dealt with. Those were times when laws were made to be executed. Duty was the central idea in the Puritan system, and zeal was ever on the alert to perform what conscience or law de- manded. The "Blue Laws" which exist in tradi- tion, though sometimes exaggerated, and facetiously misrepresented, are a fair index to the rigid spirit of those days. The compilations of the " Blue Laws" by Barber and Smucker are mainly, if not entirely correct. At the time of the adoption of the State Constitutions, corporal punishment in the "stocks" and the "cage," and at the "whipping post" was •t Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 3, pp. 5, 10. 52, 74, 111, 112.. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 391 becoming obsolete. Since the opening of the present century, the execution of these laws has been less frequent. The results of the test made during those earlier times indicate that Sunday-keeping cannot be brought about by civil legislation. CHAPTER XXVI. The Sabbath in America- The same Divine Hand which guarded the Sabbath through the dark centuries between the first great apostasy and the Reformation, transferred it from England to America, the last battle-ground whereon the great reforms of modern times have been and are being carried forward. True Sabbath reform could not find a place among the masses until that second great error, the ' ' Puritan Sunday " had borne its fruit, decayed in weakness, and crumbled from the hands of the Church. This trial could best be made in America. Jience, guided by that "divinity which shapes our ends," in 1664 Stephen Mumford emigrated from England to Newport, Rhode Island. He brought with him the opinion that the Ten Commandments as they were delivered from Mount Sinai, where moral and immutable, and that it was an anti-Christian power which changed the Sabbath from the Seventh to the first day of the week." He united with the Baptist Church in Newport, and soon gained several of its members to the observance of the Sabbath. This led to much discussion, and finally an open separation took place, and the firsi Seventh-day Baptist Church in America was organ- ized by these Sabbath -keepers in the month of De- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 393 rest. ' A meeting of the Free Religious Association in 1877 produced four addresses, ' How shall we keep Sun- day?' " In 1857, commenced a really great organization, permanent in power and usefulness, the ' New York Sabbath Committee,' which has restrained Sabbath desecration in New York City, pursued investiga- tions on both sides of the Atlantic, and published valuable documents. For twenty-two years they have continued their 'unobtrusive but persevering labors.' "A similar societ}', the 'Maryland Sabbath Asso- ciation,' was organized in 1867. Its twelfth report shows a grand work in the face of opposition. "A younger organization (1878), the ' International Sabbath Association ' of Philadelphia, has the motto, ' Organization, Co-operation, Devotion, and Contin- uance.' "In 1863, Aug. 11, 12 and 13, a National Con- vention met at Saratoga Springs. Nearly all the loyal States were represented. Norman White, Esq., Hon. G. H. Stuart and Hon. William E. Dodge made addresses. Valuable papers were presented : by Dr. Schaff , * The Anglo American Sabbath ; ' bv Willard Parker, M. D., ' The Sabbath in its Physiolog- ical Relations to Man;' by Rev. H. B. Smith, D. D., ' The Philosophy of the Sabbath ; ' and by Rev. President Mark Hopkins, D. D., ' The Sabbath and Free Institutions.' " * The volume of essays quoted above is made up of * Sabbath Essays, pp. 434-437. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 46? papers presented at two conventions held in Massa- chusetts in 1879. These Massachusetts " Sabbath Conventions" had their inception in the Evangelical Ministers' Associa- tion of Boston and vicinity, familiarly called the ' * Alliance. " In January, 1879, the Alliance resolved to hold these conventions. The committee appointed early put themselves into communication with the pastors of Springfield, who heartily entered into the plan, and appointed an eflS- cient committee of co-operation. Besides the eminent writers secured, many dis- tinguished persons were invited, who could not at- tend, among them Gen. Hawley, whose noble word is worth a hundred speeches : "Before God, I am afraid to open the Centennial gates on the Sab bath." A "Statement of Principles," drawn up by Rev. W. W. Atterbury, Secretary of the New York Sab- bath Committee, was sent out in letters missive, as the basis of the convention. "STATEMENT OP PRINCIPLES." " The convention is called on the following basis, and will consider onl}^ questions directly relevant thereto. The statement appended will be read at the opening of the convention, and will be voted upon at the close of the second day's morning ses sion : ''First. — We hold the Sabbath, or weekly rest- day, as founded by the Creator in the constitution of man, as embodied in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, as recognized and confirmed by our 468 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Lord Jesus Christ, and as reappearing with new spiritual significance in the Lord s-day of the Chris- tian Church. '_* We aim to promote among Christians the sense of its divine authority, and the more conscientious observance of it against the influences which now prevail to secularize it. "Second. — While the State cannot and should not enforce or interfere with the religious observance of the Sabbath, yet the weekly resl-day exists also as a ciml ifistitution, maintained by law and custom from the beginning of our history, and vitally related to the well-being of individuals and of society, and to the stability of our free institutions. "We aim io promote among our fellow-citizens of all classes such a true understanding of its value to themselves, to their families, and to the State, as will lead them to resist whatever tends to deprive them of it, and to sustain the just laws which protect their right to it. " We, therefore, as representatives of the evangeli- cal churches of Massachuseits, affirm the foregoing principles, and pledge ourselves more faithfully to teach and observe the religious Sabbath, and more watchfully and strenuously to maintain against all encroachments the civil Sabbath, as a principal cause of the intelligence, freedom, security, and happiness of our beloved Commonwealth." * The Springfield Convention comprised the evangel- ical churches west of Worcester county. Its ses- sions were held Oct. 15 and 16, in State-street Baptist Church. . . . The convention was " Notable in the number and reputation of the clergymen present." . . . President J. H. Seelye, D. D., of Amherst Col- lege ; made an extemporaneous opening address, and * Sabbath Essays, p. 430. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 469 papers were read successively by Rev. Messrs. At- terbury, Thomas, Bacon, Gordon, Peck, Smyth, King and Love. The Springfield committee con- sidered their meeting a grand success. The Eastern convention met at Boston the next week, Oct. 21 and 22. Eleven hundred letters were sent ; but many churches were unrepresented. The sessions of this convention occupied two days and evenings. The " Statement of Principles" was adopted unanimously, as it had been at Spring- field, by rising vote. It was also resolved, — " That a committee of thirteen be appointed as the State Standing Committee on Sabbath Ohservance, whose duty it shall be to procure the appointment of a similar committee in each town of the Common- wealth, which, together with the central committee, shall constitute a Sabbath League, to take such meas- ures from lime to time as shall seem to them neces- sary and feasible for the better maintenance of the Lord's-day." This committee soon issued the following : "CIRCULAR." " The 'Committee of Thirteen,' who publish this document, were appointed by the Boston Sabbath Convention, Oct. 2i, 1879, to be known as the ' State Standing Committee on the Observance of the Sab- bath' and the head center of a State Sabbath League to be duly formed. "As a basis of operation and co-operation, they awaited the discussion in January, 1880, before the 'Evangelical Ministers' Association of Boston and Vicinity' of the question, ' What is just, wise and humane to insist upon, at present, in the execution 470 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. of our Sunday laws?' The points presented, by a committee, of which Judge E. H. Bennett, of Boston University, was chairman, were unanimously en- dorsed by the Association, by a standing vote of some three hundred ministers present. " We present them to the public in a slightly mod- ified form, as our basis of operation, " We do not, hereby, imply desire for change in our Sunday laws ; we only give prominence and empha- sis to the points indicated. " We invite co-operation on this basis ; we solicit the attention of fair-minded citizens to our wholesome laws securing their right to one day of rest in seven ; we urge violators of Sunday laws to observe these just demands ; we request magistrates and officials to execute these laws." " SIX POINTS: " " Bam of Operation and Co-operation." " I. Under General Statutes, Chapter 84. sections 1 and 3, the absolute legal right of every employe of corporation or individual to the rest of the entire Lord's-day. We desire to call the attention of em- ployes throughout the State to their legal right to a Sabbath free from call, order or v;ommand of em- ployer, corporate or individual, and free from liabil- ity to discharge or diminution of wages for non-per- formance of Sunday work. " We call the attention of railroads, manufactories and other corporations to the fact that in demanding Sunday labor they infringe law, oppress labor, and demand and expect what they have no legal right to require, work when the law secures rest to men in their employ. "II. Under c. 84, s. 2, the stopping of all Sunday passenger trains, except from considerations of neces- sity and charity. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 471 " Under c. 84, s. 2, the stopping of all excursion trains whatever. ' • Under c. 84, s. 2, the stopping of all freight trains whatever within the limits of the Commonwealth in whatsoever place they may happen to be at sunrise of the Lord's-day. " Under c. 84, s. 1, the stopping of all work in rail- road shops. ' ' Under c. 84 , s. 1 , the stopping of all railroad work in making repairs, building bridges, etc, on Sunday. "III. Under c. 84, s. 1, the stopping of the Sunday issue of papers, magazines, etc. "Under c. 84, s. 1, the stopping of the sale, by pub- lishers, newsboys, store keepers or carriers, of papers, magazines, etc. "IV. Under c. 84, s. 1, the stopping of all sales of mechandise on the Lord's day ; including wares, fruits, confectionery, cigars, tobacco and intoxicat- ing liquors ; excepting for necessity and charity, medicines, and until nine o'clock A. M., milk, bread, and other cooked eatables. " V. Under c. 84, s. 4. the stopping of all Sunday evening entertainments except ' concerts of sacred music. ' " VI. Under c. 84, s. 1, the stopping of all games of ball or other sports in streets of the town or fields of the country." Up to the present date we have not been able to learn that this committee has accomplished any defi- nite results. The topics discussed at these conven- tions covered a wide range. They form the fullest and most able presentation of the question from the Puritan stand-point which has been made during this century. The effect of the conventions on the public mind seems to have been very slight. Sun- 472 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. day desecration has gone on in a steadily increasing ratio. The Boston correspondent of the Christian Union «of July 10, 1884, speaks as follows : " If you seek for Boston society now, you will find it scattered along the coast from Mount Desert to .Cape Cod ; in the moumains, at hotels and boarding- houses, and on farms ; in ocean steamers and foreign lands. Yet there is a large population left, the large .class that holds society together by its daily toil, and which can snatch but a week or two for an outing, iiarge numbers of this cIhss go into the country or .down the harbor on Sundaj^s ; the hor.se-cars into suburban places being compelled to transport unusual ^lumbers. Some of ilie routes run two cars at a time. In groves, b}^ lake-sides, along the coasts, many thousands are abroad breathing the fresh air and joaming in nature. Those in city-returning cars jhave , beautiful bouquets and sprigs of fern and f oli- •.age. It is noticeable, also, that many country peo- iple come into the city on Sunday; some attend church; .others roam in the public garden, or the Common, find frequent places that they know, and whilher their affiliations draw them. I am not now moralizing or philosophizing, but stating facts. Driving on Sun- day is weYj common ; families who worship in ele- gant churches drive in the afternoon, many of them while the larger numbers who drive for recreation, fearless of God and disregarding man, swell the num- bers to troops on the fashionable highways. Say what you may on the Sunday questier of our German fellow-citizens in sustaining the American habit of Sunday observance. Important help has been given to pastors and others interested in the discus.sion of tbe various a.spects of the Sunday question, throughout the country, by correspondence and documents. The formation of similar associa- tions in other States has been aided. Large use has been made of the .secular and religious press, and many articles have been prepared and have appeared in the editorial columns of these papers, which have produced, there is reason to believe, no .small effect on public opinion. The Committee has collected a rare and valuable library of works on the Sabbath, including a careful collection of di.scus.sions and facts from the current journals. "Another important department of the Committee's work has l>een the preparation and publication of original documents. Some of these have been printed in German, and some in French and in other foreign languages. Of these documents the Committee has SABBATH AXD SUNDAY. 479 issued upwards of five hundred thousand copies, con- taining six million pages, besides many thousands of leaflets, circulars and other papers.* These docu- ments have been widely distributed. Several of them have been republished in German v. Thirt v thou.<-and copies of a carefullv prepared sketch of the Ameri- can Sunday observance, in French, were distributed in France by special request of the friends of the cause there. Of some of the documents, manv thou- sand copies have l^een reprinted and distributed bv other agencies. The Committee has also printed and distributed gnituitously to pastors of leading denomi- nations throughout our countv ten thousand copies of ' Gilfilian on the Sabbath.' an able work of 650 pages."* • SUNDAY LIQUOR SELLI>-G." ' ' There has been more outward respect paid to the prohibition agidnst liquor sellinir on Sunday than during some previous years . The^closins of the front doors and the less open and defiant display of the traffic have resulted in a diminished number of Sunday arrests, although the traffic has been lar?elv carried on without hindrance through side doors "and back entrances. Other agencies than those of the Committee have been active in enforcing the pro visions of the excise law.'" ^ " THE SUNDAY SECTIONS OF THE PENAL CODE." " • With the exception of the Sunday provision of the excise law, and the theatre and processions laws above referred to, which have been enacted within the past few years, the laws touching the observance of Sunday have l>een expressed in a ffeneral statute which has come down to us substantially unchancred from the last century, and under it, and the still earlier ♦Document 45, pp. 2-6. 480 SA.BBATH AND SUNDAY. colonial laws, labor, traffic, public sports, etc., on Sunday have been forbidden from the beginning. This statute, however, contained certain provisions, like the one against traveling, which have long been obsolete ; and its penalties were entirely inadequate to secure the enforcement of the law, whenever re- sisted. When, therefore, the codifying of our crimi nal laws was undertaken, the Committee welcomed the opportunity to suggest some slight changes in the Sunday law. and these were approved and found a place in the penal code, which was finally enacted by the legislature in 1882, and took effect December 1st of last year. The Committee deemed it wise, so far as was possible, to adhere to the phraseology of the early statutes, relying upon the good sense of the community, the judicious action of the police author- ities and, the reasonable construction to be applied by the courts, for such an enforcement of the law, as would meet general approval. But the imprudent zeal of some who aimed at a too rigid interpretation of the law, seconded by others whose purpose was to bring it into disrepute, led to actions which caused grave anxiety to the Committee, and justified the fear, that strenuous efforts wovild be made to repeal or seriously to modify the Sunday provisions. The course pursued by the courts, in applying a practical iind moderate interpretation, and later the prudent course pursued by the police, relieved somewhat the apprehensions of the Committee. But, at the time, great irritation of feeling existed. The feeling spread in some measure to other cities in the State. Plans were laid and steps taken to bring such pressure upon the legislature, as would secure tlie prompt re- peal, or radical modidcation of these sections of the code. The Committee took measures to counteract these efforts. Correspondence and personal intercourse were had with leading men in different parts of the SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 481 State. Soon, in this city, as elsewhere, the facts of the CHse became better understood. Several of the leading journals and some influential citizens and legal authorities explained and defended the Sunday sections of the code, and corrected misapprehen- sions. "Immediatly upon the assemblingof the legislature, bills were introduced in both houses practically nul- lifying the Sunday laws, and were strenuously urged by a strong and organized lobby, representing the liquor, tobacco, and other dealers interested in Sun- day trading. The Committee by its representatives was repeatedly heard before the committees of the legislature in defense of the laws. Prominent citi- zens here and elsewhere throughout the State rendered- valuable aid. Similar associations in otlier cities ac- tively co-operated. Numerous petitions were pre- sented from working-men and tradesmen, as well as • other citizens, against relaxing the protection, which the Sunday statutes give to the right of weekly rest, " After a long struggle and abundant discussions in both houses of the legislature, a few changes were made in the Sunday sections of the code, the most important of which permits the selling of segars, fruit and confectionery during all the hours of Sun- day. In other respects, the provisions of the code remjun unimpaired." " SUNDAY RAILWAY WORK." "The rapid increase of Sunday labor on our rail- ways has engaged the anxious attention of the Com- mittee, as of thoughtful men all over our country, pra- senting,as it does, what is perhaps the chief source of peril to the observance of Sunday. *' A leading railway journal, The Railway Age, of Chicago, has recently discussed the question, with- great candor and intelligence, and has also done a most important service by securing the opinions of a number of prominent railway managers as to the^^ (31) 482 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. practicability and desirableness of reducing Sunday traffic and work. These opinions nearly all concur as to the great importance of the Sunday rest to the employes, as well as to the community at large, and of restricting Sunday work in some measure. But some of them doubt the practicability of doing much in this direction, because of the demand of the business community for the speediest transportation of freight, and because of the rivalry of competing lines. " On the 19th of April last, the president of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago R. H. Co., Ben- nett H. Young, Esq. , issued an order forbidding the running of any trains on Sunday on his road, except those carrying United States mails, and two months later, in a communication to The Railway Age, he gives the grounds for his action. He says, that there are in the railway service of this country, it is esti- mated, five hundred thousand persons, and that it is probable that more than one-half of these are required at some time to do Sunday service. The result of thus requiring two hundred and fifty thousand persons to violate the day, simply to make money for the cor- porations, is not only a monstrous wrong against their religious and family rights, but it is an incalculable injury to society at large. He adds, that, so far, the results of the experiment on his road are more than satisfactory, and no injury or loss has resulted to his company from the enforcement of his Sunday or- der."* We have given considerable space to the New- York Committee in order that the reader may see the methods pursued, and judge somewhat as to the influence of the Committee as an agitating power. We think it is doing as much as all other similar or- * Document 45, pp. 8-12. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 483 ganizations together to agitate the question of Sun- day observance. The forgoing extracts show the Sunday question at its best in New York City. The important facts which do not appear in the report are : In spite of all the Committee has done, the work of Sunday desecration, in and about New York, increases every year. The liquor traffic is satisfied with the ''side door" system for Sunday. Pleasure seeking has turned its tides out of the city, until Coney Island and its compeers are thronged on every Sunday that is not uncomfortably cold or positively stormy. In 1884, Sunday afternoon concerts were inaugurated in Central Park, against the protests of the Sabbath Committee. When the summer was past, the elevated roads reduced their fare to half price throughout the day on Sunday, in order to keep the tide of Sunday travel up to high-water mark. Some feeble attempts were made, unsuccess- fully, to prevent the Park concerts in 18S5. Such opposition as the New York Committee has been able to make, except on a few minor points, seems to have helped to swell the current of Sunday dese- cration rather than to decrease it. MARYLAND ASSOCIATION. Next to the New York Committee in vigor and effective work, is the " Sabbath Association of Mary- land," which has its headquarters in Baltimore. The reports for 1879 and 1880 show that the interest in the Sunday question, in and around Baltimore, is steadily and significantly increasing. During 1879, 484 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. the friends of Sunday succeeded in restraining "Sun- day excursions," and similar eucroacLments upon the religious character of the day, by judicial and police agencies. The report of the Sabbath Associa- tion for that year closes as follows : "CONCLUSION." ' ' While, therefore, we have much to be grateful for, there are ominous clouds investing the horizon, and indicating an approaching storm. The opposi- tion is not merely local, but it is a great coalition of liquor dealers and liberalists throughout the land,, not only io 'destroy the ISahbath. bat CJiristianity mth it.' In Baltimore there is an unblushing effron- tery manifested in the frequent holding of meetings, in ward organizations, in pledging candidates for office, etc. , with the proclaimed purposes to emascu- late our Sunday laws. Shall they accomplish their infamous objects ? Shall they be allowed to break down the hedge that prevents our Eden-planted gar- den from becoming a common — a morass — reeking with moral miasma and pollution ? There is an in- flexible law, that zeal and industry shall triumph over indolence and apathy. Works without faith demonstrate more than faith without works. While the enemy is vigilant, active, liberal, how many of those regarding themselves as friends of the Sabbath are excusing their inertia, with pleas of '' no danger" or quibbles as to the preci-e grounds oi extent of the moral obligations of the Sabbath, and fear of being over zealous, or charged with puritanism or some other unpopular attribute ? Or, while admitting the importance of the cause, they leave it for others to spend time, labor and means upon it. ' The chil- dren of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light,' and, seeming not to expect effects without causes, will get the advantage of those SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 485 who practically ignore that relation. The great question is : What shall Sunday be ? Divided be- tween labor and dissipation ? Increasing vice crime, pauperism, oppressive taxes, etc. ? Or a day of rest and quiet, promoting virtue, liberty, morality, re- ligion and universal good? Honoring its author and blessing the people ? Unless those who do care to have it^perpetuated to posterity do somewhat more than wuh it, their wishes will avail naught. If there be not energy enough to keep the Sabbath, it will depart, and who shall say when it will return? Has it returned to France since tUe law for its ob- servance was, in the reign of terror, overthrown. Has there been anything but unrest there, since they voted away the God-given weekly rest ? " * The efforts which were made in 1879, seem to have aroused and united the elements which oppose the " Orthodox" view of Sunday, for the report of 1880 shows that the efforts to enforce the law were in a large degree futile. The report sums up the matter under the head of "Judicial Decision" in these words : ' * The cases of Jersey Cottrell of the steamer Cock- ade, and Geo. W. Stearns, fined also for working on Sunday, last summer, were reversed on appeal ; be- cause the warrants issued were not suiumouHS in debt, which the court decided they should have been. So then all parties were freed— the one running the excursion train to camp-meeting on Sunday, under ■ the decision that going there was a necessary means of salvation, and the others, because arrested under the wrong form. Such proceedings can only en- courage those w^ho are oppo>ed to the Sabbath. And when a steam -boat was advertised last summer to * Document 45, pp. 11, i2. 486 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. make Sunday excursions, without the pretext of carrying the mail, and information of the fact was conveyed to the Board of Police, they replied, that under the judge's decision tliey had determined to make no arrests for Sunday excursions." On the other hand the same report opens as fol- lows : "THE GRAND EVENT," " Of course the great event of year, to the Sabbath cause liere, was the defeat of the bill in the Legisla- ture, to damage the State Sunday law. Only one Legislative terra in the last twelve years has passed without the introduction of one or more bills with that intent; but never before were the plans so long and confidently laid, so artfully managed, so extensively, assiduously, and probably so expensively prosecuted, as in this instance. But notwithstanding the dele terious results of the late war, upon the Sabbaih — the accessions to our population of those from coun- tries where it is ignored, their deplorable success in degrading the Sabbath in other large cities, the with- holding of help by professed friends — and the efforts of certnin preachers, to shift the grounds of Sabbath obligations — still we have oc 'asion to thank God and take courage, that the Sunday law of our State abides unscathed and her metropolis holds pre-eminence for its quiet observance. And if all its professed friends would nobly combine in its behalf, most of the ex- isting grievances might be speedily ameliorated." The details are then given showing how the case was managed by each side, and the results stated in these words : "Mr. Hayes, having become chairman of the House Committee on the "modification" bill, arranged to have your Committee heard on the 5th of March SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 487 The interview appeared to be a very effective one. No report was made to the House, till the 24th, and then a bill was offered far more moderate in its pro- posed changes than two that had been previously drawn up. Still Mr. Hayes vigorously opposed it, and had action upon it deferred to a subsequent day. It was then, however, passed to a second reading. When this was had, it passed to.a third and final read- ing in the House with indications that it Avould suc- ceed. To insure this, its advocates called it up pre- maturely and used every means to effect its passage —demanding the previous question and preventing debate. But with all, it failed by eight votes of re- ceiving a constitutional majority, and the question was settled for the present, to the peace the of commu- nity, the honor of God and the credit of the Legisla- ture. When our President received the intelligence, he almost involuntarily exclaimed, " What hath God wrousfht ! " But how many thousands, who would have suffered through the passage of the in- iquitous measure, were ignorant of their peril and unmoved at the escape ! " The report of 1883 shows but little change in the general status of the question in Baltimore. " Sun- day excursions " and Sunday papers seeni to have increased. Efforts to lessen the character of the Sunday law in general had been defeated. The report closes with a general glance at the field in the following words : CHEERING FACTS. "It was declared of old 'when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Lord will raise up a stand- ard against him.' And against the advancing tide of Sabbath desecration, it is truly gratifying to see increas- ing laborers and organizations. Within a year there 488 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. have been originated or revived the Sabbath Asso- ciations of 63'racuse, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indian- apolis, (.Chicago and Detroit. Two valuable confer- ences of workers in the cause have been held at Pittsburg. The former was attended by your Secre- tary, the latter occured during the season of the Md. General Assembly, when it was not thought best for him to leave. Able papers by eminent and earnest friends of the cause were read, and their publication in the International Reporter forms an interesting and useful document , Both the conferences were held under the auspices of the ' International Sabbath Asso- ciation ' (comprehendintr the United States and C'ana- das), whose energetic and indefatigable secretary, Kev. Yates Hickc}', has also labored in the establishment of the Associations above mentioned. Our own Secretary was solicited to act as an associate secre- tary for this and adjoining States, and the Com- mittee agreed to the same, so far as it would not in- terfere with our particular work. While our special field is our own State, we have matters to dt al with that are affected by public sentiment in surrounding States, so that whatever influnce we may exert in promoting interest for the Sabbath in them, must naturnally react favorably on our own." The state of the Sunday questions in localities where there are no committees, or less vigorous ones, is outlined in the report of the New York Com- mittee for 1882-1883, as follows: "SUNDAY IN OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE." "In Brooklyn, Albany, Utica, Buffalo, New- burgh, Long Island City, and other places, org:aniz- ations have been started to secure a better enforce- ment of the Sunday laws, especially those pertaining to the sale of liquor on that clay. These movenients have received such co-operation as the Committee SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 489 has been able to give. Some of these organizations took an active part in the contests in the legislature during the past winter." ****** " THE SUNDAY QUESTION IN OTHER STATES." "Elsewhere throughout the country. during the past two years, the Sunday question has engaged unusual attention. ' In Massachusetts, early in the past summer, the announcement of a Sunday passenger train over the Housatonic railroad, from Bridgeport to Pittstield, aroused immediate and strong opposition on the part of the dwellers in the quiet villages along the route, the mill owners, the summer boarders, etc. At a public hearing t)efore the board of railroad commis- sioners of the State, without whose permission the train could not be run, so vigorous a protest was made against the disturbance that the proposed train would occasion, with its inroad of Sunday excur- sionists, aud the inducements to drinking and dissi pation, that the commissioners decided unanimosly against the train. "In the legislature of New Jersey, last year, a bill to modify the Sunday laws in favor of liqu or dealers was defeated. Early in the past winter, theatrical performances on Sunday in the city of Newark, which for a long lime had been tolerated, were suppressed by the police. The immense over- flow of Germans and others from New York into Jersey City, Hoboken and the neigboring towns, is the occasion of a very large Sunday business in the saloons of those places. Very recently efforts had been made with some success for the enforcement of the law in closing these places on ^unday. "Louisiana was for a long time the only state which had no Sunday law. A few years since a law was passed by the legislature giving power to the several 490 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. counties or parishes to enact ordinances restricting Sunday traffic and several counties passed such ordinances, with very successful results. Recently, however, the law has been declared unconstitutional by the supreme court. A year ago a movement was started in New Orleans in faVor of Sunday ob- servance. A large number of ministers and laymen, representing the various religious denominations, met to confer on the subject, among whom were repres -ntatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the principal Jewish rabbi of the city. It was agreed to organize a le^igue on a basis so broad as to unite all, whatever might be their opinions concernins: the religious obligation and use of the day, in efforts to discourage all unnecessary servile labor on Sunday, and all such pubUc amusements as involved the ser- vile labor of others. Officers and an executive com- mittee were chosen, comprising prominent laymen and clergymen of different denominations, Protestant and Catholic. Inspired by the formation of this league, a number of the retail clerks of the city or- ganized themselves into an association for urging upon the Legislature the passing of a Sunday closing law, " In Chicago the public desecration of the Lord's- day has greatly increased within the last two or three years, and without any effective effort to resist it. The drinking saloons and nearly all the thealres are regularly open on Sunday, and the day is used for constructing and repairing railway tracks and similar work. A movement was started last year among some of the churches for the purpose of closing the theatres on Sunday. But it does not appear that anything was accomplished by it. ^ '' In California within the past year, after an ex- citing contest, the friends of the Lord's-day have met with what would seem a disastrous defeat, but which, it is hoped, may ultimately result in good. A SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 491 Sunday law of the State of several years' standing proliibited the keeping open on ^>unday of any store, workshop, bar, saloon, banking-house, or other place of business for the purpose of transacting busi- ness therein, under penalty of a line of from live to fifty dollars. The supreme court of the State, on an appeal, affirmed the constitutionality of the law. The opinion of the court, in which a majority of the judges concurred, said : "•Regarding the matter from a purely secular stand-point, the law is a proper and salutary one. It imposes no restraint upon the conscience of any member of the communit}^ ; it exacts from no per- son the performnnce of any religious rites or cere- monies ; it prescribes no religious faith or belief. . . Sunday laws leave a man's religious belief and prac- tices as free as the air he breathes. They only forbid the carrying on of certain kinds of business on a certain day of the week, and the day selected in deference to the feelings and wishes of a large ma- jority of the community is the day commonly de- nominated the Christian Sabbath, or Sunday.' " Encouraged by this decision, a movement was started for the better enforcement of this law, which to a large extent had long been a dead letter. The liquor dealers and others interested in Sunday traffic, constituting a very large and powerful class of the community, aided by the German Turn Verein. and an association of free-thinkers, for the purpose of resisting this movement organized a so-called 'League of Freedom,' the members of which pledged themselves both to disregard the law, and to support no candidate for the legislature who was not pledged to vote for its repeal. The public jour- nals of the State were largely under their influence. An attempt was made in San Francisco to enforce the law. The Ministerial Union of that city, repre- senting some fifty churches, presented an address of 492 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. dignity, calmness and strength to the mayor and other officials, setting forth the justness of the cause, the suflering of the people, the majesty of law, and the peril that was threatened by those who were con spiring to resist it. The chiefs of police of San Francisco, Sacramento and other (ities gave notice of their intention to enforce the law. But the mem- bers of the league threw their doors open defiantly. On the first day five hundred arrests were made in San Francisco for violations of the law, of which four-fifths were for selling liquor, and the names of those arrested showed that more than three-fourths were foreign-born. The offenders were admitted to bail and the trial deferred An election was im- pending, and the question was carried to the conven- tions of the two great political parties The Demo- cratic convention adopted a resolution strongly de- nouncing the Sundaj^ laws, and demanding their re- peal. The Republican party, with a great show of entusiasm, passed a resolution favoring the observing of Sunday as a day of rest and recreation, and the maintenance of the present, or similar, laws providing for the suspension of all unnecessary business on Sunday. The Democratic party succeeded at the polls. A bill repealing the Sunday law was passed by large majorities in the legislature, and was sign- ed by Governor Stoneman, who, in his previous message, had recommended this repeal. " The Legislature of Ohio, in April, 1883, enacted a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquoi*s on Sunday, and requiring the closing on that day of all places where such liquor is sold. The pass>ige of this law was preceded by a popular agitation and discussion of this question throughout the State, such as rarel}'^ occurs. The enforcement of the law was attended with excellent results in diminishing Sunday arrests. But Cincinnati and one or two other cities in the State, where there is a large for- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 493 eign population, owing to their opposition and that of the Hquor dealers, the law has been allowed to become a dead letter. The question has become an im- portant element in the political contests in this State add the result is not yet determined. * "In Missouri, in compliance with the public de- mand for some more stringent restriction of the liquor tratHc, a law was passed by the last legislature establishing higher license fees, and re-enacting the prohibition of the traffic on Sunda3% which for a long time had been practically disregarded. The taking effect of this new statute in July caused much ex- citement in St. Louis and one or two other cities. The law was at once enforced and with marked re- sults. Many of the liquor dealers openly defied the law, and a large number of arrests were made. It was attempted in some instances to secure the rigid enforcement of all other Sunday laws, for the pur- pose of bringing them into odium, but after a few weeks the operation of the law in St. Louis was sus- pended by one of the city courts, on the ground that a previous statute, which had not been repealed gave the city certain privileges, which exempted it from the provisions of the law in question. It is thought, however, that this decision will be over- ruled by higher courts. Governor Crittenden has firmly sustained the law. The defiant action of the liquor dealers has awakened strong feelings of in- dignation among the better class of people through- out the State. A large meeting of citizens of St. Louis passed resolutions appro zing of the Sunday clauses of the law, deprecating the recent adverse decisions, and approving the course of the governor in the matter. A Workingmen's Sabbath-day Rest Association has been organized in St. Louis. ♦ In 1884, the Scott law was declared unconstitutional and '* free rum and no Sunday " became legal, as well as actual throuffhout Ohio. 494 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ''In Milwaukee, where an unusually large proper tion of the population is foreiga-born, the laws pro- tecting the 8unda3^ rest, and especially those forbid- ding the sale of liquor on Sunday, have been practi- cally disregarded for several years past. A move- ment made last fall to secure a better enforcement of these laws was met by bitter opposition on the part of the brewers and saloon keepers, and it was at- tempted to ' boycott ' the merchants who favored reform."* The foregoing from the report of the New York Committee presents the Sunday question in the most favorable light possible. We do not care to add more unfavorable facts in this place. The report shows that Sunday, as a Sabbath, is already a thing of the past, and that as a holiday, it is here to stay. The "Philadelphia Sabbath Association," a local society which expends its efforts mainly in mission- ary work among canal men, presented its forty-third annual report in March, 1884. It shows nothing of importance in the matter of agitation. Its brief re- port closes as follows : " From our experience and observation in the work over which we have been placed, in the provi- dence of God, it seems to us : "1. Th it convictions are deepening upon the minds of Chsistians that the obligations of the fourth commandment are binding upon us. The churches are feeling none too soon that the blessed heritage of the Lord's-day is in danger of being destroyed. The tide of Sabbath desecration must be stayed or the most fearful results will follow. We are glad to know that Christians are stirred up to prayer for the * Document 49, pp. 15-17. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 495 better observance of the Sabbath The union meet- ings recently held in Association Hall on Wednesday afternoon, and continued from week to week, is an evidence of the pulsating of Christian hearts and their trust in God for final victory. It may be that a great public meeting of the people, without dis- tinction of sect, party or denomination, may be calltd "for in the near future, at which the Christian sen- timent of this great city may be properly voiced. " 2. The inauguration of a new administration of our municipal government is deemed a fitting time for a united effort in favor of the closing on the Sabbath of all liquor saloons, which have been so long and persistently open in defiance of all law, human and divine, daring the mayor and other officers of the peace to molest them or make them afraid. " 3. The lessons that come to us from a great Western city that had discarded the Bible from its public schools and virtually had no Sabbath are not to be disregarded. Riot, ruin, outlawry, arson and murder are the results of Bible ostracism and Sab- bath desecration. It becomes a question that Amer- icans must look full in the face. Shall the rights of God in his claim on the one-seventh of our time for rest and worship, and tlie rights of humanity to a cessation from toil and labor, ' for the ease of crea- tion,' be respected, or shall our laws and ordinances be trampled under foot by liquor sellers communists and other enemies of American liberties ? " Closely allied to the work of these " Sabbath Com- mittees" is the "National Reform Movement," which took form at a convention in Cincinnati in 1872. The aims of this movement are set forth in the constitution of the Association, as follows : " The object of this Society shall be to maintain 496 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. existing Christian features in the American govern- ment, and to secure such an amendment to the Con- stitution of the United States as will indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land." This movement has many supporters, and is vig- orously represented by its organ, The Christian Statesman, of Philadelphia. The need of a better enforcement of the Sunday laws is a prominent feat- ure in its columns. The Subject of Sunday mails was much discussed at the meeting of the National Reform Association in the spring of 1885, and it was resolved to make a special point in that direction during the year. The Statesman also announced that it would henceforth make the Sabbath question a prominent feature in its work. In the autumn of 1884, and the spring of 1885, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the United States, created a Sabbath-reform department in their work. These latest influences of agitation are steadily at work at the date of this writing. In addition to these organized efforts, there is an an increasing attention paid to the Sabbath question, by the representative Christian bodies, conferences, synods, assemblies, and the like. Such are some of the influences at work among those who are the ad- vocates of S inday as the Sabbath. Everything in- dicates that these will increase, rather than decrease, their efforts at agitation. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 49T "ANTI-SABBATH CONVENTIONS." The efforts in favor of the Puritanic observance of Sunday, durinoj the fourth decade of the present century, awakened a religious opposition which took- form in an " Anti-Sabbath Convention," which was held in Boston in March, 1848. It was convened under the call of Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Theodore Paiker, Chas K. Whipple and others. The report of its proceedings makes a volume of 168 pages. This convention took the ground that there is no holy time under the gospel. That the Sabbath per- ished with Judaism, or remains only as a part of it. That civil law has no province in ordering any ob- servance of time as a religious or semi-religious duty. The call closed with these words: " We are aware that we shall inevitably be accused,, by the chief priests, scribes and pharisees of the present time, as was Jesus by the same class in his^ age, as not of God, because we do not keep the Sab- bath-day: but we are persuaded, that to expose the popular delusion which prevails on this subject is to- advance the cause of pure Christianity to promote true and acceptable worship, and inculcate strict moral and religious accountability, in all the con- cerns of life, on all days of the week alike. If we are 'infidels,' or 'heretics' for this belief, we are- content to stand in the same condemnation, on thii?' point, with Tyndale, Luther, Calvin, Melancthon,.- Roger Williams, John Milton, Penn, Fox, Priestly, Belsham, Paley, Wlitly, Archbishop Whatley and a host of others who are everywhere lauded by the various sects with which they are identified as among the brightest ornaments of the Christian church, and (32) 498 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Avho are essentially agreed with us in the opinion that the Sabbath was a Jewish institution." * Many resolutions were discussed and adopted, among which are the following : "2. Renolved, That the penal enactments of the State legislature, compelling the observance of the first day of the week as the Sabbath, are despotic, un- constitutional and ought to be immediately abrogated, and that the interference of the State, in matters of religious faith and ceremonies, is a usurpation which cannot be justified." "12. Resolved, That as the duty of observing the first day of the week is not enjoined either in the second chapter of Genesis, or the twentieth chapter of Exodus, or in any other portion of the Old Testa- ment, any reference to the Jewish Scriptures, in sup- port of such observance, is not only impertinent, but condemnatory of the present general practice ; for the old Hebrew injunction runs: 'The stvejith day is the Sabbath.' " "30. Resolved, That with the observance of the first day of the week simply as a day of bodily rest, in the present deplorable condition of the laboring classes, we have no controversy. On the contrary, we regard it as an indispensable relaxation, both for men and animals, who are severely taxed six days out of seven ; but we den}' that this excessive toil and imperfect rest are in accordance with physiologi- cal law, or the design of the universal Father in the creation of man, or that they are the highest attain- able state of the human race"; and we would remove from the minds of all every superstitious notion as to the peculiar sanctity of the day. " This convention was very sharply criticised and * Proceedings, etc., p. 8. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 490 condemned by the " Religious Press" of the coun- try. Those who planned it and took part represented much ability and much of the spirit and power of reform in other directions, especially in the matter of slavery. The report of its proceedings made a per- manent addition to the Sabbath literature of that time as well as of the present, and it must be reckoned among the significant elements in the Sabbath ques. tion in America. The doctrines put forth by it have far more adherents now, than they had then. " HOW SHALL WE KEEP SUNDAY ?" The agitation of the Sunday question in connection with the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, gave rise to a certain pamphlet of 100 pages. It was issued by the "Free Religious Association," Boston. The full title is: "How Shall We Keep Sunday ?" An an.swer in Four Parts: 1. Sunday in the Bible. 2. Sunday in Church History. 3. Sunday in the Massachusetts Law, 4. The Working Man's Sunday. By Charles K. Whipple, Minot J, Savage, Charles E. Pratt, AVm, C. Gannett, respectively. These papers were "delivered at a convention of the Free Religious Association, called specially to consider the question, * How Shall We Keep Sun- day.'" Efforts were made to induce men holding the ' ' Orthodox " view to present it to this conven- tion but without success. The views presented rest upon the "No-Sabbath" platform, with the idea 500 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. that Sunday should be used for "rest, recreation or religious service," as men may choose, "only lei tbe true grounds of such observance be understood, and let not sectarians impose their church rules upon the community under the pretense that they are laws of God." The historic paper concerning the Sunday laws of Massachusetts gives many interesting facts, and quotes a list of cases of unjust punishment un- der the law. It is the latest contribution to the Sab- bath literature of the present time, from the liberal wing of the church. THE SABBATH PROPER. The efforts and doctrines of those Christians who observe the seventh day may be classed as a third element of agitation, from the religious stand-point. SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS. The Seventh-day Baptists are by far the oldest sect among those Christians who do not accept the Sunday. They have had an organized existence in America since 1671. In England they have had a denominational existence for a still longer period, and claim to have an unorganized, but yet an un- broken existence, through all the centuries backward to the time when Sunday usurped the place of the Sabbath in the Christian church. At first they could find no place for existence in America except in the land of Roger Williams. Their growth has been slow and their numbers are yet le;>s than ten thousand " communicants." They represent a pop- ulation of twenty-five thousand more or less. Their SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 501 doctrines are essentially the same as those held by the "Regular Baptists," except on the Sabbath ques- tion. On that point they teach that the Law of God as contained in the Decalogue is eternal and univer- sal, both as to its letter, aud its spirit ; therefore the Seventh-day is the only Sabbath. That under the gospel it should be observed with Christian freedom and not Judaic strictness, but that the change which Christ taught was a change in the spirit and manner of observance and not in the day to be observed. They believe that in the on-coming issue the Sunday will inevitably return to its native place as a holiday, and that the Christian church will be left Sabbath- less, unless it returns io the Seventh-day which alone has divine authority. Their work has been more that of seed sowing than of political, or other forms of agitation, partaking more of the grace of patient waiting, than of the expectation of immmediate suc- cess. They are steadily enlarging their missionary and Sabbath-reform efforts. The religious features of the question are most discussed by them. They believe that the present Sunday laws are un- just in the disabilities which they place upon Sab- bath-keepers. But since the majority claim the right to thus infringe upon the rights of the minority, they have thus far accepted the situation, under pro- test, waiting patiently the time of their vindication. They began publishing their views as early as 1819. In April, 1882, they began the publication of a monthly devoted to Sabbath reform, an 8 page 502 SABBATH AND SUKDAY. paper called the Outlook. It started with a circula- tion of 5", 000, mainly among clergymen ; which was well sustained for two years. At the opening of the third volume, it was enlarged to 32 pages and changed to a quarterly under the title of Tlie Out- look and Sabbath Quarterly/. Its effect as a means of spreading truth and agitating the public mind li»s been vp.ry great. Its mfluence is increasing steadily among the most thoughtful of the friends of Sabbath reform. A very significant result of its influence appeared in a pamphlet of 44 pages in June, 1883, wherein twenty-nine pages are devoted to the Sabbath ques- tion, mainly to a review of the Outlook. The title is as follows : "The Two Great Questions of the Day." " The doctrine of the church as to the authority of, 1. The Lord's-day. 2. The Holy Scriptures." In the prefatory notice is the following : ' ' It will be observed that the discussion of the first of these questions is mainly an examination of what has appeared in the Outlook, as that has been of late sent through the post office to our clergy ; of the other as it has been treated for some months past by the GhurcUman (New York)." The opening pages detail how the One Hundredth Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland was agitated concerning the question of Sunday observance, at its session in Baltimore, May 30 to June 1 , 1883. The author then pays his respects to the Outlook as follows : ' * It has been said that to apply the fourth com- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 505 mandment to Sunday, by maintaining that the holy day of the week was transferred from the seventh to the first day, was a Puritan invention. I am not so sure but that we are indebted for this very brilliant discovery to the small but very zealous sect of 'Seventh-day Baptist,' who are themselves in some respects the most complete development of Puritan- ism that we have. Many who read this will have been for some time past receiving a well printed and well written little paper called the Outlook, de- voted most honestly, in some respects ably, to pro- moting the keeping of the fourth commandment. I very soon saw that the hope and purpose of it was to convince all the ('hristians of this naiion, 1st, that the Lord's-day had no real religious authority ; and then to slip into the ' aching void,' which all thought- ful Christians would at once feel and fear — the sev- enth day, simply the Sabbath, as the Jews keep it, "And they did their work very ingeniously, ac- cording to ihdr ficed nothns, conclusively. Evident- ly many with other previous opinions were surprised^ disconcerted, 'demoralized' by the argument,, and if not quite surrendering and re enlisting at once with their captors, ' did not know what to say.'"^ " In what follows I shall take the argumtents of the Outlook to represent the notion controverted, be- cause they have undoubtedly at this time, more gen- eral currency and greater effect upon opinion among^ those who guide the opinions of otbere than any- thing else in this day and land. I am sure that many of my faithful brethren of the clergy have been more or less persuaded or at least confused by them." * The work of the Seventh-day Baptists, in the mat- ♦Pamphlet bv Rev. Thomas S. Bacon, D. D., Point o.f Rocks, Md. 504 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. ter of agitation, is certain to increase as the years go by. THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. The Seventh-day Adventists date from the year 1844, The Advent church at Washington, N. H., received the knowledge of the Sabbath from two isolated Seventh-day Baptists. In 1845, those Ad- ventists who had become observers of the Sabbath, Jbegan publishing the truth by means of the printed page ; the idea that the acceptance of Sabbath was 4)ne characteristic of the true church in the last days was rapidly adopted by those who,, though disap- .pointed in 1844, still held to the belief that the com- jng of Christ was near at hand. Under the inspira- •,tion of this faith, the Seventh-day Adventists have .pushed the knowledge of their views with great •earnestness, and success. As an element of agitation their power is proportionately much greater than itheir age, and is steadily increasing. WHISKY, BEER, AND SUNDAY. Among the non-religious elements of agitation, in the near future, a large place must be assigned to whisky, beer, and general holidayism. These influ- /cnces are closely allied, and, though professing differ- ient aims, are strong abettors of each other. They are not especially interested in the religious features of the question, but are very sensitive to any effort to enforce the existing Sunday laws. These influences will continue to increase the agita- tion, for the following reasons : SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 505 (a) Sunday holidayism, as opposed to Sunday Sab- balhism, is rapidly increasing among all classes. The holiday is the natural ally of all forms of the liquor traffic. It is probable that what has been demonstrated in many cases, is true as a rule, viz., that the " Sunday sales form one half of the rectipts for the entire week." Here is a mighty financial reason why the liquor interest should stand in deadly opposition to the execution of the Sunday laws. Add to this the social and convivial interests and habits, and we have combined influences, which have grown strong for many years, while public opinion has quietly applauded, or indifferently slept. Mean- while these same liquor interests have taken posses- sion of the political machinery of the country, so that the execution of existing laws, or the enactment of more stringent ones, is practically impossible. But the long-suffering public is beginning to see whither things are drifting, and an open struggle be- tween the civil law and the liquor power comes near- er every day. The question of the Sunday liquor law will play a prominent part in the coming agita- tion, (b) A possible conflict between the beer and the whisky interests adds a complication, which, if made actual, would intensify the agitation. As the proba- bility of universal prohibition increases, the beer in- terest will undoubtedly jjress its already popular claim, that beer is " a temperance drink," and seek to join in an effort to legislate against distilled liquors, 506 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. in consideration of a more open field for beer ; to gain tliis, beer would consent to eliminate '• Brass Bands " and noise from Sunday, but would insist on free sale, " in a quiet way." Whether such an un- natural state of things shall occur or not, the beer interest, for some time past, has contemplated a Sunday -law conflict, as one of the probable things. Its claims of great reserved strength, may be boastful, and we venture no opinion as to the number of votes it could rally, for the repeal of the law against Sun- day selling. It is however apparent, from the re- sults of the conflict in California, that if the laws are urged or executed, so as to interfere with the gener- al sale of beer on Sunday, a sharp agitation will re- sult. That conflict will force the consideration of the question whether the present laws do not give great advantage to the liquor interests, by en- abling them to checkmate just effort against the sa" loons, by counter movements against legitimate bus iness which the law tacitly permits. Thus it is evi- dent that nothing but the apathy of the temperance men, in the matter of the Sunday liquor laws, can prevent a wide spread, and exasperating agitation. In 1880, at Hartford, Conn.. F. W. Salem pub- lished a book, entitled " BEER, ITS HISTORY AND ITS ECONOMIC VALUE AS A NATIONAL BEVERAGE." Chapter XII. of this book opens with the con- clusion that the habitual use of beer has been con- clusively shown to reduce drunkenness and crime by.. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 507 giving a mild stimulant, in place of the fiery distilled liquors. Having thus concluded, the author goes on to say ; ' * There is another subject which we approach with some reluctance, knowing that however care- fully our words may be weighed, there is a large number of estimable individuals throughout the country, and particulary in the Eastern States, to whom they will probably give offense. We allude to what is called the Sunday question, and the topic is treated here because in this country beer drinking is, in the common mind, intimately associated with the German Americans and their custom of spending part of Sunday in recreation in a beer garden. The fact that they do so has been more than once used as an argument against them, and against the use of beer, as if there were any real connection between the character of the drink and such a custom on the part of its greatest consumers, even supposing the custom to be actually harmful or immoral. As such a feeling exists, however, it seems worth while to call attention to the fact that what is knoAvn as the New England Sunday is not an essential part of Christianity, as so many honestly suppose, but some- thing tbat in the comparison with Christianity is new and local. We need hardly say that in the early da} s of the church it was distinctly taught that the time of the Jewish Sabbath was past, and for several hundred 3'ears this view was generally held." . . . Here follow several quotations from the New Tes- tament, adduced to support the statement that the law of the Decalogue was done away in Christ, being replaced by the commandment to love God and man; the author insisting that " love is the fulfilling of the law/" and that " Jesus himself taught the disregard 508 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. of the Sabbath as a day of ceasing from labor or rec- reation: " ' ' The first legal enactment requiring the observ- ance of Sunday as a Sabbath, was foisted upon ihe Christian world. A. D. 321, by Constantine the Great, a heartless tyrant, who had caused seven members of his family to be put to death in cold blood, that he might obtain political and religious supremacy ! He embraced Christianity because the pagan priests and pontiifs could not grant him absolution, and would not fraternize with such a murderous mon- ster ! Hence he became the father of the so-called Sunday laws. Even Constantine's decree did not interdict recreation nor the tillage of the soil. In general, through the Christian world, the day was a holiday such as it is now on the continent of Europe. There the hours of service in the churches fall usu- ally in the morning, and are strictly observed, while the rest of the day is universally given to enjoyment. Let those, however, who are accustomed to cry out at the notion of a Continental Sunday, remember that tbey are themselves the innovaters, and let them, too, examine the following passage from the writ- ings of men whose names must command respect, and not one of whom would speak in such a matter without mature consideration." Then come quotations from Archbishop Whately, Milton, Melancthon, Calvin, Luther, and Grotius, with the statement that " Tyndale, Erasmus, Paley, McKnight and a host of other Christian authorities, were and are of the same opinion regarding Sabbath observance. " Of course the quotations are all favor- able to No-sabbathism. A letter from Benjamin Franklin to Jared Ingersoll. of New Haven, Conn., under date of Dec. 11, 1763, is also introduced SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 509 to show that Franklin favored the Sunday, as he had seen it while traveling in Flanders, rather than as it existed in New England, the letter closing in these words, "which would almost make one suspect that the Deity is not so angry at that offense as a New England justice." Having thus sought to fortify his position, Mr. Salem proceeds : " A correspondent of the New York Staats Zn- tufff, (Nov. 1, 1876), writes as follows : ' The Emper- or of Germany has made a contribution to the dis- cussion of the Sunday question that is very much to the point. It is an address to the Prussian Synod, which had recently objected to the holding of a re- view on Sunday, and reads thus: "He who insti- tuted the Sabbath has declared that the Sabbath was made for man. and not man for the Sabbath. The puritanic and Calvinistic conception of the Sabbath, as a day of penance and repentance has always been foreign to the feeling and taste of the German peo- ple. ' "'These words of the Emperor will receive the hearty assent of every German American, and priests and pietists may as well understand that Germans in America will struggle as long for tht-ir free Sunday as Germans in tbeir old home have tor a free German Rhine. They have conquered back the " Sacred stream" and something more into the bargain, and we here shall have no less success in securing a free cheerful Sunday, if we remain united and true to our principles. * ' * England formerly held the same views that then and since have prevailed on the Continent, but grad- ually the liberty of the day was restricted and its character wholly changed.' " Here follow several pages of quotations from Eng- 5i0 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. lisli Statutes, from 1278 A. D. forward, showing how the Sunday in England was gradually changed from the Continental to the Semi-Puritan type, closing with the following : "In 1676, was enacted the well-known ' Lord's- day Act,' of 29, Car. II., Chap. 7, which prohibits generally all work, labor and business on Sunday, except works of necessity and charity, and which, with more or less moditi cation, forms the basis of all Sunday laws now extant in the United States." . . . " As an historical matter the question is not very abstruse and the truth is well enough known to scholars everywhere ; should there not then be charity for honest convictions ? " Mr. Salem then gives a history of the efforts , pro and con, relative to the Sunday laws, in Newark, N. J , in 1879, and concludes with these words : "The matter made a great excitement and called out many bitter paragraphs on both sides, but chief- ly among the more narrow-minded and Pharisaical of (the) so-called religious press. We have no space nor disposition to go into the details of their criticism, even for the sake of illustrating how far misrepre- s^tation and inuendo may be made to stand in place of careful statement and sound argument. The case has been spoken of because it is in some sense typi- cal, because it represents the course of public thought and feeling, and the change which even within two or three generations has come over the rigid enactments of puritan early settlers. These Puritans did much good but it was all tempered and shadowed by an austere severity that has no merit in itself and that crushes out much the better part of life, and ob- scures many a truth that in itself is clear as noonday. The mind of the people has changed. It is time that SABBATH A^D SUN^DAY. 511 the law should be changed also. The Christian Union has said, 'The sooner the issue is made in Chicago between a whole Sabbath and none at all, the sooner the Christian element in the community will win the victory it will deserve. Half a Sabbath is hardly worth fighting for.' We say that the best rule for observing the day is that which gives the greatest amount of harmless freedom and enjoyment to the greatest number, each according to his own judgment and conscience. Our foreign element is very large and has its own beliefs and traditions, as dear and as implicitly held as those of any one whose training and practice have been after the strictest Sabbatarian pattern. . . . ' ' We close as we began, with the words which seem to us to indicate the only practical road to real tem- perance and record again our motto "beer against whisky."* The extent of the "Beer" influence on the coming history of the Sunday question in America, cannot be easily measured. The use of beer is a pf rmanent element in the observance of Sunday. Those inter- ested in its manufacture, sale and use, are banded together. The "Beer Brewers Association " of the United States is a strong and widely extended or ganization. It held its first congress in 1862. Since that time each annual congress has been marked by an increase in the work of enlarging and consolidating its influence. The friends of beer do not hesitate to claim for it exemption from all Sun- day restrictions. The pecuniaty interests represented by it are very great. Mr. Salem's history, referred * History of Beer, etc., chap. 13, pp. 156-165. 512 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. to above, gives figures in detail and the following summary : 'After careful investigation of the most trust- worthy daUi we find that there are more than three hundred wMion dollars invested in breweries, malt- houses and other adjuncts of the manufacture of beer in the United states. The direct investment, however, is not the only thing to be considered. A business of this magnitude furnishes occupation not merely to vast numbers of laborers, but also to thousands of men who follow some profession or trade, such as architects, civil engineers, masons, carpentei-s, coopers, copper-smiths, wagon and har- ness-makers, and the like ' * Considered in the light of the present facts, as pro- ductive of results in the near future, the " Beer In- terest " alone, promises to be a more important fac- tor in the question of Sunday and Sunday laws, than any other one secular element, not excepting the " Railroad interest." We, th ref ore, feel justified in occupying some more space with it in order to give the reader a full view of the case.. YhQBiewerii Ga- zette, New York, for April 15, 1873, Vol. 3, No. 4, has the following : " By far the larger proportion of the inhabitants of the United States are of foreign extraction, who, hav- ing adopted this country, have become entitled to all the privileges of citizenship. The habits and cus- toms of their various nationalities are strong upon them, and they are untrammeled by the Puritanical prejudices which are a distinguishing characteristic of the so-called temperance party ; therefore when their rights and privileges are tampered with, and their * Hist, of Beer, etc., pp. 76, 77. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 513r social habits subjected to legislative interference, the- result will be dangerous in the extreme. Politico- theological enthusiasts will have a tremendous battle to fight, and the war will be carried into the enemy'* country with a vengeance." Then follow certain statements concerning a bill then recently before the Assembly of the State of New York, which sought to obtain freedom for lager beer from all " Sunday and excise laws," together with the arguments of Jacob Worth, Member from Kings County, in favor of the bill. In that argu- ment the third proposition was as follows : " Lager beer is the habitual beverage of that ex- tensive proportion of the citizens of the United States, who are recognized alike for their social geniality and peaceable industry ; therefore it oufht noi to be subject to prohibitory or Sunday laws, an^ tagonistic to ihe national habits of those citizens!" In support of this proposition, the following^ among other things, was said : "There is an argument which, we believe, is a» powerful as any that can be adduced, why Sunday restrictions should be removed in the matter of malt liquors. It must be borne in mind that, the indus- trious classes, after a week of toil, are peculiarlv in- clined for relaxation and enjoyment on the seventh day, the only day in the week they can legally claim for leisure, and, on such a day, they invariably provide themselves with drink, as well as meat suit- able for the occasion. Whether it is not better, then, to encourage them in the consumption of a mild and' sober beverage, such as is lager beer, than, by re- strictive and prohibitory measures, force them to store in their houses ardent spirits, which are more partic- ularly liable to abuse. They cannot keep beer, if. (33) ol4 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. becomes stale and flat; but they can keep spirits. Under these circumstances, then, we contend, it is most desirable to exempt lager beer from Sunday re- striction. " Whilst respecting the religious feelings of those who look upon the institution of the Seventh-day (Sunday?) as peculiarly sacred, the citizens of the United States who claim the right to enjoy them- . selves after their national manner prefer to incline to the creed that ' the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath ; ' and until some better way is shown them by reason and argument, not by petty tyranny or force, they will continue so t(» enjoy themselves. To seek to prevent them is poor policy on the part of the Prohibitionists ; for beer will con- tinue to be drank on Sunday, as well as Monday while the world lasts. " * " The Thirteenth Annual Congress of the Chief As- -fiociation of the Brewers of the United States " was held at Cleveland in June, 1873. The reports and addresses on that occasion were full, and in some points, very outspoken and severe upon those phases of the beer question which are affected by the Sun- day laws. The "Puritan" element is arraigned in no measured terms. Among other things it said of them : " The so-called Temperance and Sunday laws are their chief weapons, and especially directed asjainst the immigrants and their descendents not of English Puritanical stock. 1 hey are even now preparing to have their Puritanical creed made the State religion of the whole country. Kestless as they are, they will go from one step to another, and religious per- * Brewers' Gazette, 1873, pp. 81-84. SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 515 secutions will soon commence to be again inaugu - rated by them." . . . " Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion, says the Constitution of the United States. The same applies to State legisla- tures ; otherwise Brigham Young would be justified, by local option or otherwise, to force others, not his followers, to go into the polj'gamy business and show obedience to his sort of religion. The Puritans have just as little right to insist upon the strict ob- servance of their Puritanical Sabbath." . . . "The Israelite cannot force us into the observance of his Sabbath, and we have no more right to compel him to observe our Sunday. Religious liberty is one of the cardinal principles underlying this government. There is only one country in the world where Sun- day is observed as here, and that is Scotland. The consequences have indeed been most dismal to the population of that little country. Formerly the working-class considered the Sunday a holiday, and. after the arduous labors of the week, a dny of recre- ation for body and mind. They enjoyed themselves in the circle of their lamilies on Sunday, in open air, at a glass of ale and beer. Now. after the Sunday laws, similar to ours.have been established the J^cotch workman goes on Saturday evening to the gin and whisky houses, and returns from there not only drunk, but with a supply of the needful in a bottle or jug under his arm for the next day— the Puritani- cal Sabbath."* After detailing the disadvantages under which the beer business is placed by temperance legislation, Louis Schade, attorney for the association, added the following : " That state of affairs cannot last any longer. * Brewers' Gazette for June, 1873. p. 153, 616 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. is a question with you of ' to be or not to be. ' You have to give up passive resistance and take the offen- sive. Your opponents will not stop until they have destroyed you. In one State they have already suc- ceeded in accomplishing it. You are in the right, and, therefore, if you do not want to be regarded as cowards, you must fight. There is no peace, no compromise possible with fanatics and corrupt hyp- ocrites." . . . " Shall we submit to that tyranny any longer ? It is in our power to put a stop to that contemptible state of servitude immediately, if we only will be united. It is not a question about lager beer, as the Puritans sneeringly assert ; it is a question of civil and religious liberty. We are not standing alone in that great struggle. The Irish and all other foreign born citizens will be with us They cannot sepa- rate themselves from us as they are in the same ship with us. For the Puritans hate them as bitterly as us Many of the free-minded native citizens will j« in us, and the Southern people, trampled down by the iron yoke of Puritanical tyranny, will pray for our success. The immigrants will never forget that in 1855, when those Puritans were attempting to en- slave and disfranchise them, the Southern people came to their rescue. The following table will show that it is an easy task to free the country of rampant hypocrisy, bigotry and corruption." . . . " It will be seen that the foreign born citizens and their children are strong enough in every one of those States (fifteen in number) to turn the scale in favor of either one or the other of the contending parties. In the most of those States it can even be done by the German vote alone. It is, therefore, for the liberal people but necessary to be united and in earn- est to give the death blow to Puritanical tyranny. " " The future is ours. The enormous influx of im- migration will, in a few years, overreach the Puri- tanical element in every State in the Union. The SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 517 present exceptional and anomalous state of affairs cannot last. The dark scenes of the times of the Connecticut blue laws cannot reappear. Let us or- ganize! Let it be our duly to not rest or sleep until the Goddess of Libt rty can again show her face un- veiled on this continent." * The " tables" referred to by Mr. Schade were ar- ranged in view of the "majorities in the election of 186S, and the number of foreigners and their chil- dren in various States in 1870." If the tables thus made gave ground for the threats contained in the words quoted above, surely the enormous influx of foreigners between 1870 and 1885 has been such as to add double meaning to the thought that any per- sistent effort to enforce the present Sunday laws, would result in making their repeal a direct issue. The " balance of power " between the parties will probably keep the issue out of national politics for a time. But the issue must be made soon, or late, or else the Sunday laws must be allowed to sink out of sight, dead and buried. Much more might be added from similar speeches, resolutions, etc., uttered from year to year up to date But enough has been given to indicate that this "liberal element," this "lager beer question " has already placed a new factor in the Sabbath reform problem in America, which fac- tor will bear no unimportant part in the final solu- tion. RAILROADS. The facts which crowd portions of this chapter show *Ib., pp. 155-157. 518 SABBATH AND SUli^DAY. that the money-king has come to the front rapidly as an actor in the drama of agitation. Business and pleas- ure combine to seek his alliance and to give him aid. Both these demand " boats and trains," and stock- holders and employes are not opposed to "turning an honest penny," in the service of the king. It is easy to evade the letter of the law under the plea of " necessity," and so it has come to pass that the tide of Sunday business swells enormously, year after year. The "Sunday newspapers" have come'in a like a flood, and covet the lightnings of heaven to aid in their circulation. Steam, at a mile a minute, is slow for them. Thus do the elements of agita- tion rush to the front, and tower to the skies. Many of the better, and all of the worst elements of the land are liaked together in the work of disre- garding Sunday. Unless the churches make some defense, far more effective than they have yet done, business, pleasure and dissipation will take the field, without resistance. If the friends of the Sun- day do rally, for a definite struggle, the agitation will be increased in the ratio of their earnestness. Whatever results may follow, the question can never go back to its former status of quiet and compara- tive unimportance. The "Sunday Question" has come to stay. CHAPTER XXX. The Verdict of WisTORf. History is more than [the chronological arrange- ment of events. It is always an organic process, in which principles and ideas, causes and results, move forward in a vital development. Such a develop- ment is not necessarily improvement. Human choices, in the domain of man's agency, introduce discord by disobedience, and produce temporary deflections in the general current. But under all disturbances of the surface, eternal truths are work- ing on towards specific and legitimate result*. Thfe ongoing of the ideas and purposes of God is the basis of all real history. This is not fatalism nor arbitrary decree, but rather an all-embracing plan which gives- full place and free play to human choices, within the limits of human knowledge and power. The ulti^ mate fiat of God in this plan is this: No human choice- or disobedience shall be permitted to make ship- wreck of the general and ultimate good for which alF things are created. So far as we can see, evil choices- and persistent disobedience do bring individual ruin. But God is ever working above and through all these conflicts, vindicating truth, compelling justice^ 520 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. and ordering all things for the greatest good of his fjreation. Therefore it is that startling develop- ments appear along the line of history, wherein errors and evils are suddenly overwhelmed in their own ruin. When God speaks thus, men are hum- bled or destroyed. These results, epochs, are the verdict of God. They are an expression of the will of the Most High concerning creeds, methods and deeds. These are the voice of God. Whoever beeds them stands with God. Whoever disregards them defies God. These verdicts are final, unalterable. 'Christ recognized them when he said: "By their fruits ye shall know them." And again : " On whom- soever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." All efforts to evade or set aside these verdicts are foolish :and futile. When men will not accept them, God often permits them to make a second trial that they may ibe taught salutar}' lessons by fmding the verdict re- affirmed more decisively than before. Happy are .they who, recognizing the true philosophy of history, Ueed its verdicts, and are not found fighting against 43cod. The facts embodied in the preceding pages seem clearly to justify the following conclusions as being the verdict of history. First verdict MEN MUST HAVE A SAB- BATH. The first essential departure from the Sabbath law, its laid. down in the Decalogue, appears in the No- -sabbathism that found its earliest exponent in Justin Martyr, about the middle of the second century of SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 521 the Christian Era. Perhaps a liberal construction of the Pauline theory concerning the observance of days, and the reaction from the false Sabbathism of the He- brews, had some influence in the development of this great error. But the most potent element, aided by ex- aggerated notions of " freedom under the gospel," was the pagan influence which came into the church with the converts from paganism. Under these cir- cumstances the church drifted rapidly toward the great apostasy. This No-sabbathism said: " There is no sacred time under the gospel. He keeps a con- tinual Sabbath who lives holy each day." From the middle of the second century forward, this theory was taught by the leading Fathers. But the hearts of the people were truer to the Sabbath idea than the theories of the leaders were, and while polemists and philosophers taught that there was no sacred time, ana, while hatred for Judaism was degrading and rendering unpopular the Sabbath, semi-religious fasts and festivals increased, in answer to this un- conscious demand fi)r the sacred time. The Sun's day had been a leading weekly pagan festival for many centuries. After the middle of the second century, Sunday gradually assumed the character of a. joyful festival in the church, in honor of the sup- posed resurrection of Christ on that day. In the same way, Wednesday and Friday became fasts in memory of his sufferings. Sunday as a joyful festival, gradually assumed pre-eminence over the fasts and the Sabbath, and, as all converts from paganism were accustomed to honor it as the Sun's day, it formed 522 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. a common ground where the two elements, paganism and apostatizing Chiiuianity met. This gradual elevation of Sunday was not due to any Sabbatic character, such as the SabbatU possessed. Pagan Rome had scores of religious and semi religious fes- tivals, which the civil law made as sacred from labor as Constantine's first edict, of A. D. 321, made the " Venerable day of the Sun." The law of the soul's need is illustrated in all the succeeding centuries. When the Sabbath had been driven out from the great body of the church, and the night of the mid- dle ages shut down, fasts and festivals increased un- til the church was burdened as with a crushing weight. It was the abnormal hungering of souls in the darkness which brooded over a Sabbathless church. All these facts conspire to prove that hu- manity demands some form of sacred time. The No-sabbath theory cannot drive out this inherent de- mand. Humanity feels the need and obeys its be- hests, instinctively. If this obedience be imperfect and perverted, the proof of need is not the less abso- lute. This universal expression of human need is history's verdict : Men must have a S'lbbaih. In this we have spoken mainly of man's spiritual and religious needs. Not deeming it necessary to discuss the physical necessity for the Sabbath, which is acknowledged by all, even No-sabbathists. Second verdict. A Sabbath, cannot be maintained- without Divine Avihoriti/. The history of the Sabbath under Judaism is the first testimony on this point. The Sabbath law is ■ SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 523 especially hedged by divine authority, and rests on divine example. Nothing less could have establish- ed it, or enforced its observance. Sabbath desecra- tion was a prevailing sin aroong the Jews, hence the restrictions which at last grew about it in false formalism, until its true character was almost lost. Under the same demand for a real or a supposed di- vine authority, the multitude of holy days which grew up, from the fourth century forward, and which crushed the church from the seventh to the fifteenth century, were without adequate power over the people until the church succeeded in as- suming divine authority, and thus spoke to the peo- ple as God, The people finally accepted the voice of church as the voice of God, and each day named by the church came to deemed as divinely ordered. It does not weaken this conclusion to say that those were times of ignorant credulity, for even this ignor- ant credulity did not yield willing obedience without the influence of an authority recognized as divine, and supported by many signs and pretended mira- cles. Without the introduction of this element of divine authority, there is no doubt but that the fruitage of No-sabbathism would have been absolute chaos and, in the end, the entire destruction of the Sabbatic idea. The demand for divine authority is as necessary to the continued existence of the Sab- bath idea, as the Sabbath idea is necessary to the de- mands of the soul-life and religious culture of humani- ty. This conclusion is supported with equal power by . 524 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. the the facts of history since the "Reformation." Those parts of Protestant Christendom which have held to No-sabbathism long enough to bear ripened fruit have virtually lost the Sabbath idea as well as the Sabbath-day, while Roman Catholic countries have been for centuries without any essential Sab- bath. A holiday for rest, recreation and debauchery is, in no Biblical or religious sense, a Sabbath. Thus history shows that when the divine element is eliminated from the Sabbath question, or when the false claims of divine power on the part of the church arc set aside by increasing intelligence, the day and the idea are both lost ; and people sink into social and physical dissipation according to the state of civilization in any given locality. Third verdict. All com^jromise between the Sabbath and No-sabbathism is weak and ephemeral. The circumstances under which the Puritan com- promise between the Sabbath and the Sunday was undertaken were strongly marked. The English- speakiog church was thoroughly aroused on the question of reform. The second stage of reforma- tion had been reached. Men stood face to face with the question: " Which is the ultimate authority, God's Word or the church ? " In the presence of such a question the Sabbath became prominent at once. Puritanism answerd: " God's Word is the ultimate authority." Reform answered quickly, " What then of the fourth commandment and the Sabbath ? " Trained for centuries under a system which was intensely anti- Jewish the leaders said: SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 525 " We cannot go back to the Sabbath; that would be a return to Judaism." Pondering a while concern- ing the dilemma, Puritanism said : "I see it. The law is binding, but the day is not. We can transfer the law from the seventh day to the first day, and all will be well. We can take this much liberty on general principles. Under the white heat of re- form this theory was accepted and acted upon at once. Strongly supported by civil laws the Sunday became rigidly Sabbatic, so far as the Puritans were concerned, and offensively unpopular with the non-Puritanic. The struggle was soon transferred to America, where Puritanism had a free field with every possible advantage. The State first existed, practically, only in the church. It was more than union; it was absorption or generation of the State and church. The experiment has gone forward for nearly three centuries since its inception in Europe. The result is that few representative men can now be found among the leaders of thought who at tempt to defend the Sunday as the Sabbath, from the Puritan stand-point. Even the most orthodox now admit, or virtually teach No-sabbathism, and defend Sunday only on sanitary grounds, moral and physi- cal. Meanwhile the Sunday has lost its Sabbatic character in a very large degree throughout the land, and with the great majority of the people. And since the church has continued to assert the theory that the Sabbath — Seventh-day — is Jewish, the No- sabbath element has regained the field. Thus the weak, through well-meant, compromise is dead If 526 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. any regard is paid to the verdict of history on the question of compromises in general, and of this Puritan-Sunday compromise in particular, no compromise will be attempted in the future. If there shall be any specific issue in the coming years it will be between Sunday as a holiday, and the Sev- enth-day, in a Christian, rather than a Jewish dress. If holidayism does not overwhelm all, so that there can be no conflict, the battle of the future will be between the only divinely appointed Sabbath and none at all. God's verdict concerning the evil and weakness of compromises is as clear and unmistaka- ble in the death of the Puritan Sunday, as it was in the matter of American slavery, when he wrote the verdict in blood on an hundred battle fields. If there be any Sabbath in the future, it will not be the weak offspring of compromise. Fourth verdict. The general results of Civil Legis- lation have been evil. Christ clearly stated, and often repeated the truth: "My kingdom is not of this world." He taught Ihat his gospel was to be the great transforming power in the world, but that it was not to rely upon worldly measures or civil government for its ad- vancement and support. He made no appeal to king or senate, sought no favors from governors or princes ; he did not even complete an organization of his immediate followers. He enunciated the great truths of the gospel, and left them to germinate and bear fruit through their own inherent power. Re- ligion belongs to the realm of soul-life. Its founda- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 527 tion rests on love to God, and hence, obedience. Outward restraints cannot beget that love. In regu- lating the relations of men to each other, civil law has its province. It also has a mission in the realm of morals which lies in these human relations. In the matter of duties towards God, under a system of religion like the gospel, civil law has no place. Any attempt to thus determine duty or prescribe action must degrade the system and the worshiper. True religious impulses exist only in the realm of the soul's relations to God. Civil law can neither create nor destroy such impulses. If, however, it shall in- terfere, making itself the standard and the ultimate appeal, grave evils follow. The true standard is practically set aside even though it be claimed that the civil law is founded on the divine. TLe lower, human standard, takes the place of the higher and divine one, thus casting out the element of direct divine authority. This weakens the whole question and makes the issue simply that of obedience or dis- obedience to the civil law. This destroys true re- ligion. A second evil follows. Religious questions and duties are thus made to play a part in politics, and are subjected to the schemes and manipulations of selfishness and trickery. In all politico-religious movements that which is essentially religious is soon obscured or lost. In so far as it does remain it is usually a partisan or sectarian element. Being thus brought into the arena of political strife, of plots and 628 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. counter-plots, degeneration and spiritual decay are rapid ana latal. These evils are apparent in all departments, and all stages of politico-religious agitation, and in all enforced civil legislation concerning religious mat- ters. The question of the Sabbath and of Sabbath- keeping has been perverted from the time that Con- stantine began his legislation, which was essentially pagan, to the present hour. Indeed, all union of church and and State, direct or indirect, is born of paganism or Judaism, and not of Christianity. En- forced Sunday -keeping under ecclesiastico-civil regu- lations, of whatever form, has not been true Sab- bath-keeping. Had the matter been left free from interference by the State, and left, like the question of personal repentance, conversion, baptism, or the partaking of the Lord's Supper, upon grounds whol- ly religious and personal between God's people and himself, the case would have been far better, and the problem much nearer solution than it now is. The commander of a regiment during the late war, who ordered sixteen men to be detailed for baptism, because in a religious revival in a neigh- boring regiment, eight men had been baptized as a religious duty, is a fair illustration of the folly of at- tempting to make men religious by civil law. The question of Sabbath-keeping is purely a religious one between the church and God, and it must eventually be settled on that ground. For fifteen centuries the church and the State have been trying to settle it as an ecclesiastical matter. The result has been almost SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 529 an entire destruction of the true idea of the Sabbath and of Sabbath-keeping. Tlie province of the civil law in protecting conscience will be noticed further on. But we do not hesitate to repeat, that thus far history records its verdict that civil legislation con-- cerniug the Sabbath question has been productive of' far more evil than good, that it has delayed the solu- tion of the question, and the demand of the hour is' to the civil law, hands off. Let the church settl^ the question with God and its own experience. This position is further supported by the fact that Sunday laws are wholly inconsistent with the theory of No-sabbathism, which is now the prevailing theory both in the church and out of it. If there be no sacred time under the gospel by divine appointment, all efforts to create such time are illogical and fool- ish. Human law can create holidays, but has no power to make a Sabbath. If the popular theory be correct, God leaves each man to choose when and how he shall Sabbatize. By this theory the New Testament gives greater freedom in the matter of Sabbath-keeping than it does in the matter of baptism and the Lord's Supper. This being true the civil law ha^ no province in the case except to protect each man in following his convictions of duty as in case of baptism, or other religious ordinances and ceremonies. It may simply stand by and see that no man prevents his fellow from doing what he deems It his duty to do. While it thus protects others from interfering it must not interfere nor dictate If any law be demanded, or admisible, it must be a general (34) 530 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. one applying to all days alike, forbidding disturb- ance or interference at any and all times in the mat- ter of worshiping and Sabbatizing. Here the law must stop. It may not say that any man shall rest or worship, or shall not rest or worship. No civil law can determine when a man needs rest, nor how much; nor when, nor how he desires to worship. Both questions are beyond its province. It is as- sumed that man needs periodic rest as often as one day in seven. But this assumption is based upon, or borrowed from, the Sabbath law, and if that law be done away as a Jewish code, surely- our civil law has no right to galvanize it into life and falsely apply it to another specific day. When pressed by logic, the champions of modern Puritanism, as represented by the publications of the New York Sabbath Committee and similar docu- ments, ' ' beg the question " by claiming that the Sun- day laws do not attempt to enforce a religious ob- servance of that day. This effort to show that the Sunday laws are not religious indicates that their supporters are conscious that legislation concerning religious duties is illogical and evil, and that the verdict of hitsory is against it. Document 41, in the list of publications of the New York Sabbath Com- mittee, is devoted especially to this question, being entitled, *' Sunday Laws and Sunday Liberty." The document contradicts itself. The general facts are first stated as follows : " Our Sunday laws grew out of the observance of the Lord's-day, which the earliest colonists brought SABBATH AKD SUNDAY. 531 with them to these shores, and which was deeply rooted in their religious convictions." " In all the original States of the Union, laws pro- tecting and regulating the observance of the first day of the week were among the earliest enacted. As new States were formed, the example was followed, till now in every State of the Union, as well as by the Federal government, the weekly rest-day is recognized by law." According to the above, the Sunday laws were the direct product of relgious observance of Sunday as the Sabbath of the Decalogue, by implication and transfer, " which was deep-rooted in the religious convictions " of the men who framed those laws. It needs no argument to show that the laws were, there- fore, essentially religious and would not have been enacted except for men's religious convictions. The document might have added that they were developed at a time when the church was mistress of the State, when religion dictated all legislation. But the next paragraph acknowledges the fact still further in the following words : " The Sunday laws, occasionally modified to meet the changing conditions of society, and differing in some details in the different States, are yet alike in their chief features, from Maine to California. They forbid on Sunday common labor and traSic, public and noisy amusements, and whatever is likely to disturb the quiet and good order of the day. They make Sunday a non-legal day, so that ordinary pro- cesses of courts are not served, and contracts made on Sunday are void. The courts and legislatures do not sit ; the public business is suspended. In brief, Sunday is taken out of the number of ordinary week 532 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. days and, so far as possible, made free from secular engagements and disturbances. " What is the distinction between "secular" and the opposite ? Wh}- do common labor and traflflc and public and noisy amusements disturb the quiet and good order of Sunday more than of Monday, if not on religious grounds ? If a game of base ball is improper, and must be prevented by law on Sunday, for civil reasons, why not on Monday ? What good interest of the commonwealth is jeopardized by the building of a house on Sunday, which is not equally jeopardized by the same act on Monday-? Gambling houses and whisky shops are dangerous to the com- monwealth on every day. They are no more danger- ous on Sunday than on other d&js except as the Sun- day laws enforce idleness, and so leave thousands of men to be tempted to ruin, who, if allowed to pursue their ordinary avocations would not thus be tempted. For, however much Puritan-Sunday-lawism may be startled by the fact, the effect of the Sunday laws up- on the irreligious is to lead them into temptation, ac- cording to their social status and surroundings. If a man observes the day in a truly religious spirit, he is safe and is benefitted. To be consistent with the claims of modern Puritanism, the law should leave such a man free to follow his conscience, prohibiting on that day nothing which it does not prohibit on all days. The next paragraph in this document continues the plea that, ' ' These laws do not compel a religious observance of Sunday." Technically that is true, SABBATH AND SUJ^DAT. 533 simply because they cannot. They come as near to it as they can by demanding cessation from labor, ' which is the outward expression of a religious con- viction. The whole question is again opened so as to con- demn Sunday legislation, in this same paragraph, in these words : " It it true that the great majority of Americans hold the first day of the week as set apart by God, and to be kept holj" to him. They know well that in its religious observance lie its best use and benefit; and that when religious regard for it ceases, no hu- man laws can prevent its becoming, as in many parts of Europe, a day of dissipation to some, of common drudgery to others." It is true indeed that ' ' when religious regard for it ceases, no human law can prevent" its deca3^ Since 321 A. D., the European church has made the question of Sunday-keeping a matter of civil legisla- tion. Under such a system its non-Sabbatic charac- ter has been gradually inevitable. It is now a day of " dissipition" or " drudging," because civil legisla- tion and false theories have driven the religious ele- ment out of the question The same result appears in America, where Sunday observance grows less and less religious, every year. There is but one solution of the problem and that will be found in re- manding the question to the Bible and the church, as a purel}' religious one. On that ground it must stand or fall. So long as the civil law continues to usurp and pervert, the case will grow worse and worse. 534 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. Many good people are misled and prevented from seeing the true verdict of history by arguments like the following, with which the paragraph in Document 41 closes: " The laws of the State and the requirement of re- ligion may, in some instances, coincide. Thus each forbids murder, stealing, incest. But the law for- bids these, not as offenses against God, but as crimes against man. The law has to do with the relations of men to each other, and not with the relations of men to God." This argument is faulty, in that it confounds facts. Certain religious duties exist wholly in the realm of man's relation to God, as an individual. Others spring from the relations which men sustain to each other. These last, God requires, and civil law may rightfully enforce them. " Murder, stealing, in- cest," etc., belong to the latter class. But because the law of* God and the law of man coincide in these points, it does not follow that the civil law may in- terfere in man's relation to God. Laws against profane swearing have long been a "dead letter," since they have neither force nor meaning when applied to a crime which is against God, and which men will not refrain from unless they love God, California might pass a law forbidding all heathen forms of worship among the Chinese, and compelling them to go to church, but it would not make the Chinamen Christians, and it would be in violation of the funda- mental principles of the gospel. Sunday laws are equally so, as far as they refer to the religious char- acter of the day. The same would be true of civil SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 535 legislation concerning the seventh, or any other, day as a Sabbath. Only evil can follow when the civil law attempts to regulate the duties which individual men owe to God. The Jews were in religious and political childhood. The theocracy was necessary because of their weakness. Systems of ecclesiastico- civil legislation, which might have been best for the Jews, have no place in the nineteenth century of the gospel. The longer they are retained the greater evil will be wrought. MAJORITY ARGUMENT. Men seek to evade this verdict of history, by claiming that Sunday laws are just and beneficial , because they protect the majority from being dis- turbed in their religious duties, and hence the minor- ity must yield, uncomplaining. This is sophistry. There can be no majority in matters of conscience toward God. In such things it is indeed true that " One with God is a majority." He is king who is loyal to God and to his own convictions of duty. But if the argument be correct the civil law should order a census of each locality, and whenever a majority should vote against keeping Sunday, the law should order it not to be kept. This is practical and perti - nent in the case of Jews and Seventh-day Christians, and in not a few localities if the principle claimed in support of the Sunday laws were carried out, the Sabbath would be protected, and Sunday left un- helped, or placed in the patronized minority as the Sabbath now is. Neither is it true that all should be 536 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. compelled to rest in order that worshipers be undis- turbed. Jews and Sabbath-keeping Christians (and Friends, on Wednesday) have always been obliged to worship, in cit}" or country, with no safeguards, except protection from direct assault upon their congregations. All ordinary merriment and labor go on around them, their homes and churches. They may have sometimes been annoyed but they have not been made irreligious, nor driven from fealt}^ to what they deem a religious duty. On the contrary, the Seventh-day Christians have steadily increased in America for more than two hundred years, in spite of disabilities and proscription. The truth is, there is a lingering taint of the "In- quisition " in the idea that any question of religion or conscience is to be controlled by the majority. Republicanism and Christianity agree that the laws ought to be so modified as to grant protection to all worshiping assemblies alike, on whatever day they may be held, and whether attended by few or many. If Sunday shall remain as a civil holiday, it should have no pre-eminence over other civil holidays. The settlement of the Sabbath question will be de- layed in proportion as the civil law insists on keep- ing Sunday in its present place, and the religious character of Sunday will be lessened in the same de- gree. The advocates of the Sunday Sabbath seem to be afraid to meet the issue squarely on Biblical grounds, for fear that the Sabbath will be accepted as the only divine appointment, or else that all ideas of a Sabbath will be put aside. Such fears are of little SABBATH AND SUNDAY, 537 avail. Truth must triumph. Verdicts of history may be delayed while men experiment, but nothing is clearer than that all religious questions must be settled on religious grounds, just as all scientific questions insist on settlement upon scientific grounds, though creed-makers and ignorance protest never so earnestly. The sooner the church cuts loose from the civil laws concerning Sunday and all similar questions, the better will it be for all concerned. SUNDAY AND TEMPERANCE. The temperance question is also a complicating factor in the matter of Sunday legislation. The State has the right to prohibit liquor selling in be- half of good order and prosperity. It has a right to increase the safeguards on civil holidaj^s, when men are more in danger because of leisure. But a sys- tem of ' ' prohibition " on Sundays, and license, which is protection rather than restraint, on other days, is illogical and unjust. Liquor selling and its attendant evils are always detrimental to the citizen and the State, and should be prohibited on all days. If Sunday leisure demands special protection let it be granted. But let t^e State take care that it do not increase the evil by enforcing abstinence from labor on the part of the irreligious, thus creating the leisure through which much of the dissipation comes. As the case now stands the Sunday restrictions are of comparatively little value since the machinery by which the business is propelled during the week, and up to midnight on " Saturday," cannot be stopped on (35) 538 SABBATH AN^D SUNDAY. Sunday. It may be a little ' ' slowed down " by the back-door process, but it does not stop. And even if it be stopped, those who are planning for the coming leisure can easily supply the necessary stim- ulants in such quantities as will insure broils and rioting on Sunday. The highest ideal cannot be attained at once; but the duty of the hour, in the light of ex- perience, is to sever all connection between the questions of temperance and of Sunday-keeping, leaving each to stand upon its own merits. Giving us prohibition instead of license, and a settlement of the Sunday question on Biblical and religious grounds. If the settlement of the question on such grounds shall restore the Seventh-day Sabbath, or, on the other hand, give two or more days or parts of days for worship in each week, no matter if it be a settlement based on truth, and free from interference by the civil law. Take the question of Sabbath re- form out of politics out of the realm of caucusing and plotting, and let the church settle it as it would any other religious issue. For, we repeat, if the day ought to be kept by divine authority the civil law cannot strengthen that authority, and by a false app lication it may weaken and destroy it, and if he who does not rest out of regard to the Lord, does not truly Sabbatize, his resting is only an empty form, or a blasphemous pretence. Under the work- ing of the civil law as the prominent element af au- t hority, Sunday has tended and must tend to holiday- SABBATH AND SUNDAY. 539 ism; and with the masses, towards debauchery. No question is settled until it is settled right. . It remains for the people of the United States to hasten the solution of the problem of Sabbath reform by placing the question on its true basis, or to delay the solution and insure the decline of Sunday-sab- bathism by continuing to appeal to the civil law. God is patient and waits long while men make mis- takes and repeat follies, but when he has written re- peated verdicts in history, those who heed are wise. Let it be remembered that all compromise is either weak or wicked, often both. "By their fruits ye shall know them. " And when fifteen centuries of the civil-law system have given us the " Medieval Sun- day," with its false formalism, its forged miracles and endless superstition; the '' Continental Sunday," with its holidayism and revelry; and now the " Puri- tan Sunday," virtually dead because of unfounded assumptions and the weakness of compromise ; it is is time that other seed be sown, in hope of a differ- ent harvest. A system that has hitherto borne thorns cannot be expected to produce grapes hereafter. It is well known that the anti-Sunday lawelement, as represented in pleasure seeking, money making and liquor selling, claims to hold the "balance of power" and the abihty to repeal the Sunday law, if the issue should be made. This may be "bravado" only, but the facts are, that for many years these have all defied or ignored the laws. Pulpits and religious or- ganizations protest, and some minor currents of Sun- day desecration are temporarily checked. Taken as 540 SABBATH AND SUNDAY. a whole the No-sabbath tide gathers force and gains in extent with each year, The verdict of the past is, that with the present public opinion, the Sunday laws cannot be enforced. They find little place in the conscience of the American people. A new founda- tion for Sabbath reform must be sought. It can only be found in the source from whence the Sab- bath first came, divine authority. If the church be- lieves that anj^ divine authority does exist, it should be brought forward and made the main issue at once. Delay is weakness. No-sabbathism appeals to all the lower elements of society. Pleasure and avarice and debauchery, and every lustful vice hail it. It puts God's law and God's self away from human life. It sets a premium on religious indifference and open sin. The words of the prophet come to the American church with terrible force, while the issues of these 3'^ears confront us : " If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honora- ble ; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." * Happy is he who is not found fighting against God in order to sustain his own theories and choices ; truth is not in numbers or in age, but in conform- ity with the law of God. * Isa. 58 : 13, 14. General Index. Note.— A dash following the page number indi- cates that the subject is continued for an indefinite number of pages. . A Page. Abyssinian Church. Has always kept the Sabbath, 223-238 Acta, Book of. Is an inspired history of the early church, 21 Shows habitual observance of the Sab- bath, 24-27 First day of the week, mentioned in, but once, 28 Adsy, Webb. Arraigned for working on Sunday, 389 Adveniists, Seventh-day. Origin and doctrines, 400- As agitators of the Sabbath question, 504 Agitation. Concerning Sunday question, in the United States, 46:^- Alhigenses. Kept the Sabbath, 205 (36) 542 GENERAL INDEX. AUix. Statements concerniog the Waldenses, 211 America. Sunday in, Colonial Period, 341 — Sabbath in, 392— Jina^pttits. Some, observed the Sabbath, 317 AnatoUus. His Chronology of Easter, 125 Ancient St/ nan Documents. Claim that the Apostles ordered that Christians " Pray toward the East," 181 Also : Services to be held on Sunday, 181 Also : Services to be held on Wednes- day, 182 Also : On the Sabbath, 182 Also : To keep the Festival of the Epiphany, 182 Andrews, Bishop. Speech against Thraske, a Seventh-day Baptist, "^ 322—, He coins the phrase, Dominicum 8&i'- vasti, in that speech, 52 — Andrews, Rev. J. iV^. Statements concerning Tertullian, 94 Anti-Sabbath Convent 'on. Held in Boston 1848 A. D., 497 Called by Garrison, Parker and Whip- ple, 497 Declared Sundav laws unconstitution- al. ' 498 GENERAL INDEX. 543 The keeping of Sunday unscriptural, 498 Favored Sunday as a rest-day on hu- manitarian grounds, 498 Was condemned by the religious press, 499 Apology. Of Justin Martyr, 71 Apostolic Fathers. General character of, 33 Archelaus, Bishop. Concerning the abolition of the Sabbath, 133 Argument, Majority. Sophistical, 535 Inconsistent and unjust, 535, 586 Armenian Church. Keeps the Sabbath. 389-233 AtMnasius. Says little concerning the Sabbath or the Sunday," 153 Atterbury, Bev. W. W. Author of " Statement of Principles Concerning Sunday, 467 Atwood, Rev. E. 8. Statements concerning American Sab- bath, 417— Concerning Sunday laws, 420 Concerning their impotence, 434 Concerning personal liberty and Sun- day, 425 Concerning the apathy of the church in in the matter of Sunday observance, 426 544 GtXEKAL INDEX. Avgaburg Confession. Its teachings concerDing Sunday, 253 Augustine. Sabbath to be observed spiritually by ceasing from sin, 157 Sabbath abolislied with circumcision and sacrifices, 158 Not the author of De Tempore, 159 Speaks of public worship on tlie Sal)- bath in the fifth century, 183 B Baclius. History of New England, records the fact of correspondence between Roger Williams and others, and Seventh- day Baptists, relative to the Sabbath, 394, 5 Bailey, Rev. James. History of the Seventh-day Baptist Gen- eral Conference, quoted, 397, 398 Bampfield, Rev. Francis. A Seventh-day Baptist author from 1672-1677 A. D., 332 His sufferings and imprisonment, 335- His death in prison, 335 Bampfield, Thomas. A Seventh-day Baptist author from 1692-1694 A. D., 336 His books answered, by Prof. Wallis, 336 Baptiits, Seventh-day. Organized in England, 1650 A. D., 339- GENERAL INDEX. 545 At Newport, R I., 1671 A. D., 393 Near Philadelphia, Pa., about 1700 A. D., 397 In Northern N. J., 1705 A. D., 399 Work in agitating Sabbath question, 500— Baptists, Regular. Creed concerning Sunday, 414 Barnabas. Epistle of, a forgery, 36-39 Testimony of Neander, 36 Of Mosheim, 37 OfEusebius, 37-38 Of Prof. Hackett, Milner, Kitto and Domville, 38 Of Killen, Coleman and Schaff, 39 What it says concerning Sunday, 40 This quotation, often "garbled," 41 Baronius. Roman Catholic Annalist, 58 He defines Dominicum as meaning the "Mass," 5® Baur. Concerning Ignatian Epistles, 47 Beer. Relation to Sunday observance, 504 Its history, etc., 506 " Against Whisky," 511 Beriedict, B-iv. D'Wid. Testifies to Sabbath keeping among the Waldenses. 207, 211 546 GENERAL INDEX. Bm'kshire, England. Seventh-day Baptist church in, 840 Beza. Exposition of the fourth command- ment, 266 BibU, The. Is the ultimate authority concerning the Sabbath, 5 Bingham, Rev. Joseph. On Sabbath observance in the Churcli of England, 131 On Sunday Edict of Constantine, 143 On the FericB of pagan Rome, 160 "Blue Laws," 390 Bonham. Repels the charge of sinfulness for working on Sunday, becomes the founder of the third Seventh-day Bap- tist Church in America, 398 Boston, Mais. Sunday laws enacted at, in 1654 350 A. D., In 1658 A. D., 351 In 1665 A. D., 353 In 1667 and 1668 A. D. , 353 In 1663 and 1677 A. D. , 355 In 1679 A. D., 356 Disregard for in 1879 A. D. . 418-429 In 1884 A. D., 472 In 1885 A. D., 448 GENERAL INDEX. 547 Bohemian Sabbath-keepers. 213, 320 Progenitors of English Seventh-day Baptists, 318 Bownde, Nicholas. Author of the ' ' Puritan Sabbath " theory, 296-303 Theory unknown until 1595 A. D . , 296 Braintree, England. Seventh-day Baptist Church at, Br ere wood, Rev. Edward. Testimony concerning the observance 340 of the Sabbath in the early church, 130 Brewers' Association. 511 Annual Congress of, on Sunday laws, 514-17 Brewers' Gazette, concerning Sunday laws. 512-14 Brooks. " Lives of Puritans," quoted, 327 Bryant, Stephen. Arrested for violating Sunday, 389 Bryennios. On the " Teaching of the Apostles," 64-67 Buchanan, Ret. Claudius. Statements concerning the Sabbath in Armenia, 231 Text of his book tampered with, 232 Testimony concerning Syrian Chris- tians. 237 Bullinger. Exposition of Rev. 1 : 10, 265- 548 GENERAL INDEX. Bunsen. On Ignatian Epistles, 48 Burdick, Rev. Henry. Pastor of the first Seventh-day Baptist Church in America. 393 Bureau of Statistics, Mass. Important facts concerning Sunday la- bor in 1885 A.. D., .448 Byiliinian Christians. And the " Stated day," 50 c Calamy, Edward. Statements concerning the arrest of Bampfield, Seventh -day Baptist, 333 Calvin, John. His views concerning Exegesis of Deut , Exegesis of 1 Cor. 1 7, He did not teach the Canons of the Apostles. Recognize both the Lord's-day, 180 Carlow, Rev. Qeo. An English Seventh-day Baptist author of 1724 A. D., " 336 His writings republished in the United States in 1802 and in 1847 A. D. , 337 Ca/i'thage, Synod of. Concerning Sunday and fast days, 169 the Sabbath, 258— 261 : 16 and Acts 20 : 263 'Puritan theory," 263,4 Sabbath and the GENEKAL INDEX. 549 Gatholic Church, Bom an. Creed concerning Sunday, 405 Cavaliers of Va. Enacted the first Sunday Law in Amer- ica , 2^^ Gave, William, D. D. Testimony concerning the Sabbatli in the early church, ' 133 Cawdrey, Daniel. "Writer in defense of the Puritan Sun- day theory in 1652 A. D., 338 Chalons, Council of. Edict concerning Sunday, 19B Chambers Cyclopedia. Concerning Bohemian Sabbath-keepers, 320 Ch/xmberlain, Peter. Prominent Seventh-(hiy Baptist and Royal Physician, of London, 395 Chester, Mrs. Imprisoned for keeping the Sabbath, 321 Chersey, England. Seventh-day Baptist Church at, 340 Chicago. Sunday observance in, 438 China. Sabbath in, as early as the seventh cent- ury, CJM-ist. And the Sabbath, 6 Was accustomed to preach on the Sab bath. 10 240- 550 GENERAL INDEX. Performed works of mercy on the Sab- bath, 11 Corrected abuses concerning the Sab- bath, 14 Confirmed the Sabbath, 15 " Christian Sabbath." This term not used by Origen, 100 Christians. First Assemblies of. on Sunday, 71 Christians of St. TJuyinas. Kept the Sabbath, 237 Ghrysostom. Teaches No-sabbathism, 154 Recognizes the observance of the Sab- bath late in the fourth century, 183 Church Councils. Decrees concerning Sunday, 167 " Clear View Wanted.'' Concerning Sunday, 458-463 Clement of Alexandria. Notions concerning the ' ' eightli day," 98 Views concerning the Sabbath, 96 Clement of Borne. Does not refer to Sunday, 34 Clothaire. King of France, his Sunday edict, 187 Coleman, Rev. Lyman. Concerning the Sabbath among the Ar- menians, 229 Among the Nestorians, 283 Concerning Barnabas, 39 GENERAL INDEX. 551 Concerning Ignatius, 47 Concerning the observance of Wednes- day and Friday, 112 Concerning the observance of the Sab- bath and the Sunday, 139 Colony of Conn. First Sunday law, 1650-53 A. D., 367 General law of 1668 A. D., 368 Amended in 1669 A. D. , 36(> Enforcement of in 1684 A. D., 370 Additional laws, 1715, 1721 A. D., 371 Common Law. New England Colonial , founded on the Jewish law, 342 Committee, New York Sabbath. Organizedl857 A. D., 466 Objects and policy, 478 — Documents of, quoted, 475 — Compromise. None possible between the Sabbath and No-sabbathism, 524— Congress, Brewers'. Opposed to Sunday laws, 514— Constantine the Great. Character in general, 138 — Drawn toward Christianity, through policy, 138 Adopted Christianity as a superstition, 139 An especial patron of the sun-god, 141 Was a selfish murderer, 140 His Sunday edict, a heathen document, 141-143 552 GENERAL IKDEX It mentious the day only as " The Ven- erable day of the Sun," 141 Such Legislation common under former emperors, 144-146 Conventions, Sabbath, in the Vm'ted States. In New York, 1828 A. D., 464 At Cincinnati, in 1840 A. D., 464 At Rochester in 1842 A. D., 464 At Baltimore, Harrisburg (Va.) and Saratoga Springs, in 1844 A. D., 465 At Frankfort, Ky., in 1846 A. D., 465 < Anti) at Boston in 1848 A. D. . 465 National, at Saratoga Springs, in 1863 A. D., 466 At Boston and Springfield, Mass., in 1879 A. D., ^ 467,468 Co> stitutions of the Apostles, 173 Continental Reformers. Were in general No-sabbathisis, 250 — Gottrell. Arrested under Sunday laws of Md., 485 Cox, Robert. Concerning the origin of the Seventh - day Baptists, 213 Doubts the authenticity of Origen's Twenty-third Homily on Numbers, 99 Concerning Sunday at the close of the third century and the unfounded claims made bv Eusebius, 150, 151 GE.S-ERAL li^DEX. 553 Speaks highly of Brabourne, 324 Considers Cornthwaite the ablest writer among English Seventh-day Baptists, 339 Granrtur, Bishop. Views on the Sabbath, 276 Creeds of Churches. Sunday in, 405 Cripplegate Church. Seventh-day Baptist, London, Eng., 340 Cyprian. Pupil of Tertullian, 103 Notions concerning circumcision and the "eighth day," 103,104 Cyril. Teaches No-sabbathism, 153 D Dark Ages. Sunday during, 185— Observance of Sunday deeply supersti- tious, 1^6 In France, 187, 192 In England, 187, 198 In Burgundy, 189, 193 Sunday disregarded by many kings and prominent men, 190 Many other festivals associated with Sunday, 191 Orders or Pope Leo IV. , 195 Under the Saxon Heptarchy, 196 554 GENERAL Il^DEX. Blasphemous miracles claimed against those who desecrated Sunday, 197-302 The Sabbath during, 205— Kept by the Waldenses, during, 215— See S05-219 David, Rev. Ebenezer. Seventh-day Baptist chaplain in the Revolutionary War, 394 David, Rev. Enoch. Early Seventh-day Baptist preacher in Pa., 398 ''Decay of Sunday observance amonq Christians," 453 — Dellon. The Inquisition and the Sabbath, 238 — De Vignaux. On the character of the Waldenses, 215 Dialogue with Trypho. The fountain of Patristic No-sabbath- ism, 74 Teaches the utter abolition of the Sab- bath, under the gospel, 73 Domville, Sir William. Thinks Barnabas' epistle a forgery, 38 Shows Dominicum Servasti a falsehood, 54-57 Shows that Ignatius to the Magnesians is interpolated to make it refer to Sunday, 45 Shows that Irenseus does not contain the passage concerning Sunday, usu- ally attributed to him, 81 GEKBRAL INDEX. 555 Dunham, Bee. Edmund. First pastor of third Seventh-day Bap- tist Church in America, 899 B wight, Timothy, D. D. Misquotes Irenaeua, 81 Bionysiua. Does not call Sunday the Sabbath, nor say, '• We have kept it holy," 78, 79 Bocuments. Of New York Sabbath Committee, quoted, 475 — Ancient Syrian, recognize both Sabbatli and Sunday, 181 Bodge, Willia/m, E. Concerning Sunday railroading and steam-boating, 434 Concerning Sunday in great cities, 437 Christians must not hold stock in Sun- day-breaking corporations, 439 Bominicum Servasti. Term never used in connection with Martyrdom, 51 — Was coined by Bishop Andrews in 1618 A. D., ' 57 Bominicum. Defined by Baronius, 59 E Eastern Church. The " Mother Church " of Christianity, 320 Has always kept the Sabbath, 226 550 GENERAL IKDEX. Eccltsiastical Canons. Of the Apostles, 180 Eccol impadius. Concerniug the Waldenses, 215 Edward VI. Sunday during the reign of, 273 Edgar. Sunday law of, 19^ Edwards, Pnsident. Concerning the Waldenses, 209 Speaks in high praise of them, 210 Edwards, Jusnn, D. J). Misquotes Irenieus, 81- Eghert. Sunday laws of, 194 Elagabalus, Emperor. Exalted Sunday worship in Rome, 110 Was himself a priest of the sun. 116 Elvira, Synod of. Decree concerning Sunday, 168 Elizabeth, Quetn. Sunday observance under her reign, 280- Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature. Shows how " Ignatius to the Magne- sians," is interpolated, to make it re- fer to Sunday, 42-44 Britanica, on Church Councils, 167 Religious Knoicledge, on Epistle of Bar- nabas, 89 Enforcement. Of Sunday laws in New England, 388- GENERAL INDEX. 557 England, Church of. Doctrines concerning Sunday. 289 English Beformation. Sunday in, 273 Sabbath question became prominent in, 273 Teachings of representative men, Tyn- dale, Fryth, Cranraer, etc.. 274-283 Ephesus. Paul observed the Sabbath at, 27 Episcopal Church, Protestant. Creed of, concerning Sunday, 408 Epistles of li. T. They mention the first day of the week but once, 30' Epistle of Barnabas. Is a forgery, ^ Erasmus. Testimony concerning Bohemian Sab- bath-keepers, 213 Essays, Sabbath. Quoted, 464, 466, 467-471 Ethelred Sunday Laws of, 196 Ethiopian Christians. Observed the Sabbath, 226 Europe. Sabbath-keepers in, 317— Eusebiu^. Unwarrantable claims in his comments on the ninety-second Psalm 150 (37) 558 GENERAL INDEX. Eustace, Abbott. His forged decretals concerning Sun- day, 197- F Famous Falselwod. ' ' Dominicum Servasti f " 51 Felt. Ecclesiastical History of New England, quoted, 896 • ' First Day of the Week:' Only one mentioned in the Gospels, 16 Mentioned but once, in the Book of Acts. Mentioned but once in all the Epis- tles, 30 Fisher, Edward. Seventh-day Baptist author of (about) 1650 A D., 329 Fortes me, E. F. K. Says the Armenians keep the Sabbath, 236 Forgery. Epistle of Barnabas is a, 86 Fourth Century. Marked epoch in the Sabbath question, 119- France. Protestant Reformation and Sunday in, 269 Friday. Made a fast and worship day, 108 Fuller, Church History. Quoted, 32T GENERAL INDEX. 559 G Oeddes, \fichaeL Testimony concerniug the Sabbath, in the Abyssinian church, 326 Ger.tile Christians. The Sabbath among, 120 German Reformation. Sunday in, 249 — Germans, The. And Sunday saloons, 489 Germany. Its contribution to Sunday question, 509 Gibbon, Edward. Testimony concerning the Sabbath in Abyssinia, 225 Qiesler, J. G. I. Concerning Nestorians in China, 242 Concerning Sabbath among early Chris- tians, 135 Gilfillan, James. Concerning the Sabbathism of the Eng- lish church, 291 Makes unfounded claims concerning ' ' Dominic um Ser vasti, " 51 Perverts plain facts concerning this ex- pression, 58 Gobat, Rev. Samuel. Testimony concerning the Sabbath in the Abyssinian church, 322 560 GENERAL INDEX. Shows how the Abyssinians fought for the privilege of observing it in the sixteenth century, 223, 224 Gospels, TJie. History of the Sabbath in, 5— Of John, written after the Revelation. 32 Grant, Dr. Testimony concerning the Sabbath among the Nestorian Christians. 233 The text of his history corrupted, 234 Grovenor, Prof. E. A. Reports interview with Bryennios con- cerning the " Teaching of the Apos- tles," 64 Gully, W. S. Testifies to high character of the Val- denses, 218 Gurney, Rev. J. J. Perverts the facts, concerning " Bomin- cum Servasti." 52 Uallam, Henry. Concerning Sunday in the English Re- formation, 291 Hackett, Prof. Believes Barnabas' epistle a forgery, 38 Hose, Br. Charles. Testifies to the observance of the Sab- bath in the early church, 134 561 321 48 167 GENERAL INDEX. Hefden. Imprisoned for Sabbath-keeping, Hefele, Right Reo. Charles Joseph. On the Ignt.tian Epistles, General character of the church coun- cils Concerning Council of Sardica. and at- tendance on Sund>iy service, 169 Concerning decree of Synod of Carth- affe and church attendance on " Fes- Concerning decree of Council of rsice on standing in prayer on Sundays, and festival of Pentecost, 1^0 Concerning decree of Synod of Laodo- cea, on " Judaizing," and on reading the Gospels on the Sabbath, 170 Concerning communion, etc.. on Sab bath and Sunday only, during Lent, because " on these days there was full and solemn service, ^ * ^ Hermas. .3- Does not mention Sunday, ^^ Heylyn, Peter. On the observance of Wednesday and Friday, , Jq^ On the Sabbath in the early church, i^^ On early Sunday laws. 1^1" Says Sunday was not neld as a Sabbath in the early church, ^^^ Sunday not a Sabbath in the Lutheran Reformation, '^^^ 662 GENERAL INDEX. Concerning King James "Book of Sports," 286 . Concerning Beza's views on Sunday, 267 — Concerning Sunday at the close of the sixth century, 189 — Concerning the No-sabbathism of Zwin- gli, 257 Concerning Thraske and the Seventh- day Baptists, 323 Hessey, James Augustus, D. C. L. Concerning early Sunday laws, 163, 164 Sunday observance not based on fourth commandment, 165 Shows that "Christian Sabbath," was never used by Origen, 100 Concerning term '* Lord's-day," in the early church, 106 Concerning No-sabbathism in England, 122 — Rejects the interpolation of " Lord's- day," in Ignatius to the Magnesians, 45 Concerning Scotch Sabbatarianism, 315 " Apostolic Constitutions," belong to fourth or fifth century, 174 Superstitious observance of Sunday during the Dark Ages, 186 Sabbath kept by the Nestorians, 283 Sunday in the German Reformation, 260 Zwingli a No-sabbathist, 257 — No-sabbath theories of the Continental Reformers, 269 16— 28— GENERAL INDEX. 563 Sunday under Queen Elizabeth's reign, 288 Church of England and Sunday, 282 Hilgenfeld. On "Teaching of the Apostles," 6?J On Ignatian Epistles, 47 Hiscox, Rev. William. First Seventh-day Baptist pastor in America, ^^^ History. Is an organic development 1 Of "first day the week," in the Gos- pels, In Book of Acts, In the Epistles, 30 Homily. Origen's twenty-third on Numbers, 99 Homilies. Of Chrysostom on the Sabbath, 183 Hoveden, Roger de. On forged Sunday decretals, 197- Hubbard. Correspondent of Roger Williams con- cerning the Sabbath, 895 Hunt, Edward. Arrested for shooting at deer on Sun- day, 389 Hutchinson. Concerning ' death penalty," for dese- cration of Sunday in Mass. , 348 564 GENERAL INDEX. I ' ' Ignatitis to Ihs Magnesians. " A forgery, 41 — Interpolated to make it refer to Sun- day, 42— Independent, The. Quoted on Sunday labor in Mass. , 448 " Injunctions" of Queen Elizabeth. Concerning Sunday. 280 Insurrection, Ti-Ping And the Sabbath, 244 IrencBus. He is often misquoted, 81 — He does not refer to Sunday, 81 His authentic words concerning the Sab- bath. 85 J Jame» 1. " Book of Sports," and Sunday, 285— Jorttn, Gh. Historian. Concerning the Waldenses, 209 Jtistin Martyr. The first writer who mentions assem- blies of Christians on Sunday, 71 — Also the first to teach No-sabbathism, 72 — Notions concerning circumcision and Sunday, 74 K Killen, Rev. Doctor. On Ignatian Epistles, 47 GENERAL INDEX. 565 Considers Barnabas a forgery, 38 Kitto, Encyclopedia Biblical Literature. Considers Barnabas a forgery. 38 Kaye, Bishop. Concerning Sunday in time of Tertul lian. 92 Concerning Clement of Alexandria's views on Sunday, ^ On the date of Marcion. 124 L Laves, Sunday. Of the Colony of Rhode Island, 376— Were executed in the Colonies. 388— Status of, in New England in 1879 A. D., Labor Bureau. Statistics of Sunday labor in Massachu- setts in 1885 A. D . -^8- Legtslation, Sunday. General effect of to de Sabbat i2e. 536 " Lord's-day." Evidence that the term in Rev. 1 : 10 does not apply to Sunday, 31 Distinct from the Sabbath, 1^^ Observance of, in time of Queen Eliza- beth, Luther, Martin. His " Larger Catechism " and Sunday, 250 He taught No-sabbathism, 352 Considered Christians free from the ten commandments, '"^53 440 283 566 GENERAL INDEX. M Macon, Council of. Decree concerning Sunday, 189 Magneiians. Ignatian Epistle to, a forgery, 43 — Mallalieu, W. F. , D. D. Concerning desecration of" Sunday in Massachusetts, 429 Martyrs, Acts of. Do not contain the question, Jhjmini- cum Servasti, 54 — ' • Maryland Sabbath Association, ' ' 488 On Sunday observance in Baltimore, 484 — On Sunday legislation in Maryland, 486, 487 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Sunday in, 347 — Massachusetts. State Sunday law of 1782 A. D., 361— Bureau of Statistics, on Sunday La- bor in 1885 A. D., ' 448 Meliio of Sardis. Reputed* book on the " Lord's-day " an imperfect and uncertain title, 79 Methodist Episcopal Church. Creed of, concerning Sunday, 413 — Millman, Dean. Pagan character of Constantino's Sun- day edict, 143, 144 Mill Yard Church. Seventh-day Baptist, London, Eng., 340 GENERAL INDEX. Se*? 38 192- MUner, Ret. Isaac. Deems Barnabas' Epistle not genuine. Milwaukee. Sunday laws disregarded in, 494 Missouri. Legislation concerning Sunday, 493 Merer. Concerning Sunday in the sixth cen- tury, In Burgundy in the seventh century, 193 In England in the eighth century, 194 Superstitious punishment for breaking Sunday, ^^^ Sunday under Alfred the Great, 196 Mosheim, John Lawrence, D. D. Rejects Epistle of Barnabas, 37 Testifies to Sabbath observance by the Waldenses, ^l*^ Mossie, J. W. Concerning Armenian Christians, 230 Mumford, Stephen. First Seventh-day Baptist in America, 1664 A. D., 392 N Nation, Eng. Seventh-day Baptist Church at, 340 N.ale, History Ear^tern Church. On the place of the Sabbath in the Ar- menian Calendar, 235 5f)8 GENERAL INDEX. Neale, Edward V. Shows the origin of Sunday Legislation to be from pagan Rome, 144 — JVeale, Rev. Daniel. Concerning English Reformation under Elizabeth, 278 On the Lord's day at the same period. 288 Concerning the " Book of Sports," 287 Influence of the Civil War of the Eng lish Reformation on morals and rel- igion, 305 Concerning the " Lord's-day '" under the Cromwellian rule. 308 — Ne inder. Biography of Tertullian. 87 Concerning the observance of W( I'dne*- day and Friday . 112 Concerning the Sabbath in the carly church, 135 Nestorian Christians. They keep the Sabbath, 233— Were in China at an early date, 342— New Haven Colony. Sunday in, 365 Codeof 1656 A. D.. 366 Niw Netherlands Colony. First Sunday law in 1647 A. D. . 380 Additional laws in 1673 A. D. , 380 First law under English occupancy. 1695 A. D.. 381 First law under State government of OKNERAL IN^DEX. 509 New York in 1778 A. D., 383 Newport, R. I. Sunday Laws enacted at, in 1673, 376 In 1679 A. D., 378 Niebhur. On unchristian deeds of Constantine. 148 Noble, Bev. Abel. Pastor of the second Seventh-day Bap- tist Church in America, 397 No-sabbathism. Contemporaneous with the introduction of Sunday, 70— Asserted by Justin Martyr. 72— Development of, 78-- Strongly asserted by Tertulb'an, 0 Ockford, James. 87— Seventh-day Baptist author of 1642 A. D., 328 Answered by Cawdrey and Palmer, by order of the government, 329 Origen. Bom 185 A. D., died 253 A. D., 99 Does not use the term, " Christian Sab- bath," 100 Teaches extreme No-sabbathism, 103 Origin. Of "Puritan Sunday" in 1695 A. D., 296— Of Civil legislation concerning Sunday, 321 A. D., 188 /)70 GENERAL INDEX. Of Seventh-day Baptists in America. 1671 A. D.. 392 Of Seventh-day Adventists, since 1844 A. D. , 400 Outlook, and Sabbath Quarterly. Quoted, 63, 69 Reviewed by Dr. Bacon, 502, 508 Wide- spread influence of, 503 Pagitt, Ephraim. Herisiography, quoted, 54, 322 Papias. Makes no reference to Sunday, 36 Parliament, CromwelUan, And the observance of Sunday, 304, 306, 308, 310 Paul the AjMsile. Observed the Sabbath at Sal amis, 21 At Antioch, w^ith both Jews and Greeks, 33 Discusses the resurrection of Christ, but no word concerning Sunday, 24, 26 Observed the Sabbath for a long time at Iconium, 24 Also at Philippi and Thessalonica, 25 At Corinth, continually, 26 At Ephesus for two years, 27 Pennsylvania. First Sunday lawg, 384 Little changed since 1794 A. D., 385 Make no exceptions in favor of Sabbath- keepers, 386 GENERAL INDEX. 5T1 Perrin. Says the Vaudois kept the Sabbath. 214 Photius. Enumerates the festivals of the chinch in 858 A. D.. 191 Picards. Kept the Sabbath iu Bohemia, 318 Pliny's letter to Trajan, 49 ' ' Stated day " mentioned, probably the Sabbath, 51 Plymouth Becords. Quoted, 843-346 Polycarp,Eputle of. Silent concerning Sunday, 86 Purchase. Testimony concerning tlie Sabbath amoDg the Waldenses, 316 *' Puritan Sunday." Unknown until close of sixteenth cen- tury—1595 A. D., 396 Only two passages of Scripture rjuoted by Bownde, in support of it, 301 Development of, in America , 341 Q Quakers. Their views concerning Sunday, 314 Kethian, many embraced the Sabbath, 397 Quotations. Garbled, 41, 84, 333 67^ GENERAL INJ3EX. R Railroadis. Influence of. in agitating Sunday question, 517 Sunday work on, 481 Statistics concerning, 482 Jieasons. First given for assembling on Sunday, 71 Jtel gious Knowledge, Cyclopedia of . Rejects the Epistle of Barnabas, 39 Jieport Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics. On Sunday Labor, 448 "Restoration, The." Su)iday observance in England during, 311 — Revolution, The Ti-Ping. Inaugurated the observance of the Sab- bath in China, 244 — RJiode Island. Colonial Sunday laws of, 376 — RitscJiel. Opinion concerning Ignatian Epistles, 48 Roman Catholicism. Creed concerning Sunday, 405— Roman HeatJien Cult. Formed the bjisis of Sunday legislaton, 138 — s 8abbath Question. Importance of, % Sabbath, The. History of, in the Gospels, in Matt. 12 : GENERA.L INDEX. 573 1-13, in Mark 2 : 23-28, in Luke 6 1-11, in Mark 1 : 21-26, in Luke 4 30-35, in Luke 4 : 14-22, in Mark 6 2, in Luke 13 : 10-17, in John 5 : 5- 18, and 7 : 19-24, and 9 : 1-16, In the Book of Acts 13 : 5, 14-48, and 14 : 1-3, and 16 : 12-15, and 17 : 1-4, 16-19, and 18 : 4, 11, 18-21, and 19 : 8-10, Justin Martyr's theory concerning. Its relation to circumcision, Tertullian's theory. Meaningless fancies concerning. Retained a strong hold on Gentile Christians, Remained in the church until driven out by heathen influence, . Not to keep it deemed a heresy, Christ did not abolish it. Observed for several centuries, Cole- man's testimony. Cave's testimony. Testimony of Hase, Testimony of Schaff , Testimony of Neander, Testimony of Giesler, Observed until fourth and fifth cent- uries. Unsupported statements of Eusebius concerning. Views of Cyril, Chrysostom, and Au- (38) 5-15 21-27 72 96- 120 123 123 124 129 13« 134 184 135 135 136 150 122, 574 GEIs-ERAL INDEX. gustine, 153-159 Its observance after the time of Con- stantine, 173-184 Its recognition in the Apostolic Consti- tutions, 175-184 Prayer to be used upon, 178 Recognized in the Canons of tlie Apos- tles, 180 In Syrian documents. 181, 182 Status in the West during the Dark Ages. 205-219 In the Eastern church, 2e0-t48 In Abyssinia, testimony of Gobat, 222-225 Of Geddes, 226 Of Dean Stanley, 227 In Armenia, Coleman's testimony. 229 Buchanan's testimony. 231 Among the Xestorians, testimony of Coleman, Grant, Perkins, Neale and Fortescue, 238-236 Among the Christians of St. Thomas, 237-240 In ancient China, testimony from Book of Changes, 240 From Nestorian inscriptions. 242 In Ti-Ping Rebellion, 244-248 In Europe since the Reformation, testi- mony of Cox, 318, 324 Of Bishop White, 319 Of Chambers' Cyclopedia, 320 Of Paggitt, 321 OffFuller and llrooks. 337 GENERAL IXDEX. 070 Writers in defense of Represented by Seventh-day Baptists in England, In America, Christianity stands or falls with ii. " Association of Philadelphia," Verdict of history concerning-. Men must have. Cannot exist without divine authority, Cannot compromise with No-sabbath- ism, Its appeal to the American church. Salem, F. W. Publisher of " History of Beer," etc., Claims beer as a "temperance drink," Opposes Sunday laws. Quotes German Reformers against Sun- day, Quotes English Sunday laws, Reviews Sundav agitation in N( wark, N. J.. Gives statistics concerning beer, etc., Schade, Louis. Attorney Brewers" Association. Appeals against Sunday laws, Claims votes enough to repeal Sunday laws, Schaff, Philip, D. B. Rejects the Epistle of Barnabas, Says the Sabbath was observed in the early church. 3»4-329 339, 840 892-404 484 494 519- 520-^22 522-524 524-526 540 506 507 50« 508 510 510, 511 51» 515 516 517 39 184 576 GENERAL INDEX. Testifies to the uucliristiau character of Constantine the Great, 139 fjocTu/ies. Testimony concerning the Sabbath in the early church, 127 Sozon en. Testifies to Sabbath observance in the early church, 128 Stromaia Of Clement teach No-sabbathism, 97-99 Sunday. First mentioned by Justin Martyr about 150 A. D., 71 Its supposed relation to circumcision, 74 Not observed as a Sabbath, 76 A day of indulgence to the flesh, 90 Kneeling prohibited, because an expres- sion of sorrow, 91 Never confounded with the Sabbath by early writers. 106 Observance of, and the doctrine of No- sabbathism contemporaneous, 119 In the church councils, 167-171 During the Dark Ages, 185-204 Blasphemous forgeries concerning, about 1000 A. D., 197-202 In the German Reformation, 249-256 Luther's opinions concerning. 250-253 In Augsburg Confession, 253-256 In the Swiss Reformation , 257 Opinions of Zwingli, 257, 258 GEKERAL INDEX. 577 Opinions of John Calvin, 259-264 Opinions of Bullinger, 265 Opinions of Beza and Bucer, 266-268 In French Reformation, 269 In the English Reformation, 273-294 Opinions of Tyndale, 274 Opinions of John Fryth, 275 Opinions of Bishop Cranmer, 276-280 ' ' Injunctions " of Queen Elizabeth con- cerning, 280-282 Neale's testimony concerning Puritan times. 283 " Book of Sports," by King James, 285 In the "Savoy Conference," 1661 A. D., 288, 289 Doctrines of the Church of England concerning, 290 293 Development of the Puritan theory in England, " 295-316 Announcement of the theory by Nicho- las Bownde, in 1595 A. D., 296-302 Civil legislation concerning, by the Puritans, * 302-310 Under Charles the Second, 311-314 In Scotland, 315, 316 In America, Plymouth Colony, 342-347 In Massachusetts Bay Colony, 347-361 Early State Government of Mass.. 361-365 In New Haven Colony, 365-367 In Colony of Connecticut, 367-376 In Colon v of Rhode Island. 376-378 578 GENEKAL INDEX. In Colony of New Netherlands, 379-384 In Colony of Pennsylvania , 384-386 In Colony of Virginia, 386-388 In Creed of Roman Catholic Church, 405-408 In Creed of Protestant Episcopal Church, 408-410 In Westmister Confession, 412, 413 In Methodist Episcopal Creed, 41 3 In Creed of Baptists, 414, 15 Practical observance of, in United States, 417- Testimony of Rev. E. S. Atwood, 417-427 Of Rev. Reuben Thomas, 428 Of Rev. W. F. Mallalieu, 429-434 Of Hon. William E. Dodge, 434-440 Of Walter Learned, 440-442 Of Julius H. Ward, 442-448 Of Mass. Bureau of Statistics of 1885, 448-453 Decay of observance among Chris- tians, 453-457 Better understanding of, needed, 458-462 Agitation concerning, by " Sabbath Conventions," 403-472 By " Sabbath Committees," 472- Railroading on, 481 State of the question in Md., 483-488 In Massachusetts, 489 In New Jersey, 489 In Louisiana, 489, 490 [n Chicago, 490 In California, 490 In Ohio. 492 CtE:n^eeal ixdex. 579 In Missouri, 493 In Milwaukee, 494 National Reform Movement as related to, * 495, 496 Sunday Laica. Law of Constantine, 321 A D., purel}' heathen as shown by the law itself, 141 Testimony of Bingham, 143 Of Millman, 143 Of E. V. Neale, 145 Subsequent laws were like heathen laws concerning other holidays. Bing- ham's testimony, 160 Heylyn's testimony, 161-163 Hessey's testimony, 163-166 During the Dark Ages, by Council of Macon, 585 A. D., 186 By Clothiar, King of France, 187 Testimony of Hessey and Heylyn, 186-192 Of Clovis in 507 A. D., 192 Of the Council of Orleans in 538 A. D. , 192— First in England, under Ina, or Ino, in 692 A. D., 193 Under Egbert, 747 A. D., 194 Decrees of Synod at Rome, 853 A. D., 195 Under Alfred the Great in 876 A. D. , 196 Lessen religious regard for Sunday, 526 — Sun-worahip in Rome, 116-118 T Teaching of tlie Apostles. " But fevf facts known concerning it, 60 580 GENEEAL INDEX. Claims neither date nor author, 60 Consists of two distinct parts, an earlier and a later. 61-64 Testimony of the Andover Beview, 61 Of Hilgenfeld, 63 Of Bryennios, 64-67 Temperance Legislation. Complicates the matter concerning Sun- day laws, 587 TertioUian. Biography of, 87 His notions concerning circumcision and the Sabbath, 88 He calls Sunday a day " of indulgence to the flesh," 90 Forbids kneeling on Sunday, because the day is joyous, 91 Writings filled with inconsistencies, 94 Teaches rank No-sabbathism, 75 Teaches that the Sabbath is not abolish- ed, 124 Thraske, John. An early English Seventh-day Baptist who was tried by the ' ' Star Chamber Court," in 16 18 A. D., 53— Thraske, Mrs. John. Died in prison for Sabbath-keeping, 322 TiPing Beballion. Introduced the observance of the Sab- bath in China, 244-247 GENERAL IXDEX. 581 I'wisse, William, I). D. Teetimony concerning " D&minicnm Servasti," 53 Concerning Sabbath in early church, 130 Tt/ndale. His opinions concerning the Sabbath, 274 u Wdhorn, Dr. Gerhard. On Ignatian Epistles, 48 Concerning the intlux of " pagan Chris- tians," into the church at opening of the second century, 114, llo On the worship of Mithras, Persian sun-god, at Rome, 116 On the character of Constautiue the Great, 141 Ctter, llev. (ieo. B. Seventh-day Baptist historian of 1858 A. D., 340 w Waddiwjton, Bean. Testifies to the excellent character of the Waldenses, 308 \Valdense>^. Their history perverted by the Papal Church, 207 Existed as early as the fourth century, 208-809 Very numerous in the twelfth century, 210 Were famihar with the Bible, 211 (39) 582 GENERAL INDEX. They kept the Sabbath, testimony of Erasmus, 213 Testimony or Jones, 314 Testimony of Benedict, 315. 217 Testimony of Purchase, 216 Testimony of Mosheim, 217 Of Bishop White, 218 Wallis, Jo7m, D. J). Wrote in reply to Bampfield a Seventh- day Baptist, 1692-94 A. D., 836 " Wanted, a clear view concerninr/ Sim- day:' 458-462 Wardner, K, D. D. Personal testimony concerning Ti-Ping Rebellion and the Sabbath, 247 Wednesday, Observance in early church, 108, 110 Testimony of Heylyn, 111 Of Coleman, 112 OfNeander, 112 Westminster Confession. Doctrine concerning Sunday, 410 White, Bishop Francis. Wrote against Seventh-day Baptists by Royal authority in 1635 A. D., 325, 326 Whisky. Its relation to the Sunday question, 504 Possible conflict with beer, 505, 511 Wilkinson, Prof. W. C. On "Decay of Sunday observance among Christians," 453-457 GENERAL INDEX. 583 Y Teates. Concerning Sabbath observance in Ar- menia. Z 230 226 Zaga Zaho. Concerning Sabbath in Abyssinia, Zicingli. Views concerning the Sabbath, 25T Notes on Col. 2 : 16, 258