at least of Noahs posterity and all that have from them descended either did keep at all no Sabbath or not upon the day appointed which comes all to one Or else it needs must follow that God imposed a Law upon his People which in it self without relation to the frailty ne dum to the iniquity of poor man could not in possibility have been observed Yea such a Law as could not generally have been kept had Adam still continued in his perfect innocence To make this matter yet more plain It is a Corollary or conclusion in Geography that if two men do take a journey from the self-same place round about the Earth the one Eastward the other Westward and meet in the same place again it will appear that he which hath gone East hath gotten and that the other going Westward hath lost a day in their accompt The reason is because he that from any place assigned doth travel Eastward moving continually against the proper motion of the Sun will shorten somewhat of his day taking so much from it as his journey in proportion of distance from the place assigned hath first opposed and so anticipated in that time the diurnal motion of the Sun So daily gaining something from the length of day it will amount in the whole circuit of the Earth to twenty-four hours which are a perfect natural day The other going Westward and seconding the course of the Sun by his own journey will by the same reason add as much proportionably unto his day as the other lost and in the end will lose a day in his accompt For demonstration of the which suppose of these two Travellers that the former for every fifteen miles should take away one minute from the length of the day and the latter add as much unto it in the like proportion of his journey Now by the Golden Rule if every fifteen miles subtract or add one minute in the length of the day then must 21600. miles which is the compass of the Earth add or subtract 1440. minutes which make up twenty-four hours a just natural day To bring this matter home unto the business now in hand suppose we that a Turk a Jew and a Christian should dwell together at Hierusalem whereof the one doth keep his Sabbath on the Friday the other on the Saturday and the third sanctifieth the Sunday then that upon the Saturday the Turk begin his Journey Westward and the Christian Eastward so as both of them compassing the world do meet again in the same place the Jew continuing where they left him It will fall out that the Turk by going Westward having lost a day and the Christian going Eastward having got a day one and the same day will be a Friday to the Turk a Saturday unto the Jew and a Sunday to the Christian in case they calculate the time exactly from their departure to their return To prove this further yet by a matter of fact The Hollanders in their Discovery of Fretum le Maire Anno 1615. found by comparing their accompt at their coming home that they had clearly lost a day for they had traveled Westward in that tedious Voyage that which was Munday to the one being the Sunday to the other And now what should these People do when they were returned If they are bound by nature and the moral Law to sanctifie precisely one day in seven they must then sanctifie a day apart from their other Country-men and like a crew of Schismaticks divide themselves from the whole body of the Church or to keep order and comply with other men must of necessity be forced to go against the Law of nature or the moral Law which ought not to be violated for any by-respect whatever But to return unto Noahs Sons whom this case concerns It might for ought we know be theirs in this dispersion in this removing up and down and from place to place What shall we think of those that planted Northwards or as much extreamly Southwards whose issue now are to be found as in part is known near and within the Polar Circles What Sabbath think we could they keep Sometimes a very long one sure and sometimes none indeed none at all taking a Sabbath as we do for one day in seven For near the Polar Circles as is plainly known the days are twenty-four hours in length Between the Circle and the Pole the day if so it may be called increaseth first by weeks and at last by months till in the end there is six months perpetual day and as long a night No room in those parts for a Sabbath But it is time to leave these speculations and return to practice And first we will begin with Melchisedech King of Salem the Priest of the most high God Rex idem hominumque divumque sacerdos a type and figure of our Saviour whose Priesthood still continueth in the holy Gospel With him the rather because it is most generally conceived that he was Sem the Son of Noah Of him it is affirmed by Justin Martyr that he was neither Circumcised not yet kept the Sabbath and yet most acceptable unto God Dial. cum Tryphone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertullian also tells us of him Incircumcisum nec sabbatizantem ad sacerdotium Dei allectum esse Adv. Judaeos and puts him also in his challenge as one whom none amongst the Jews could ever prove to have kept the Sabbath Eusebius yet more fully than either of them Dem. l. 1. c. 6. Moses saith he brings in Melchisedech Priest of the most high God neither being Circumcised nor anointed with the holy Oyl as was afterwards commanded in the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no not so much as knowing that there was a Sabbath and ignorant altogether of those Ordinances which were imposed upon the Jews and living most agreeably unto the Gospel Somewhat to that purpose also doth occur in his seventh de praeparatione cap. 8. Melchisedech whosoever he was gave meeting unto Abraham about the year of the world 2118. and if we may suppose him to be Sem as I think we may he lived till Isaac was fifty years of age which was long after this famous interview Now what these Fathers say of Sem if Sem at least was he whom the Scriptures call Melchisedech the same almost is said of his great Grand-child Heber he being named by Epiphanius for one of those who lived according to the faith of the Christian Church wherein no Sabbath was observed in that Fathers time And here we will take Lot in too although a little before his time as one of the Posterity of Heber that when we come to Abraham we may keep our selves within his Family Him Justin Martyr and Irenaeus both in the places formerly remembred make to be one of those which without Circumcision and the Sabbath were acceptable to the Lord and by him justified And so Tertullian that sine legis observatione Sabbath
of these as made him a most resolute Champion for them and was the reason that he was often heated with great Indignation against those that were so blind or obstinate to endeavour the interruption of such transcendent blessings And though some have thought his zeal too ardent yet they might consider that it was his fortune to live in such times as made the highest expressions of it not only just but necessary Of which he was so sensible that forgetting all his other diverting Studies he wholly set himself to endeavour the defence and support of a tottering Church and Grown which he laboured to that degree that his body though naturally a very strong one not being able to keep pace with his mind was often hurried into violent Fevers And at last his eyes of themselves brisk and sparkling through continual watchings and intensness lost their function and refused any longer to assist his Studies Yet could not all this abate the vigour of his mind which as tho it had lost no outward assistance or that it stood in need of none still continued its action and produced several excellent Books after their Author was neither capable of writing nor reading them Nor was any thing but death able so much as to slacken his industry for besides the discouragements I have named he had all those which an Usurped Authority under which he was forced to live and against which he could not forbear both to speak and write could threaten him with for he was thereby not only deprived of his Preferments but often put in hazard of his life But that merciful God who never faileth those that trust in him did preserve him that he might enjoy the fruits of his pains and prayers in the Restauration of that Religion and Government which he so truly loved and had so earnestly endeavoured in the publick enjoyment of which he lived three years And then having compleated the utmost of his wishes in the world God was pleased to call him to the eternal Reward of another and in so favourable a way as he might well look upon as a remarkable instance of the divine Goodness towards him For as we read in the Scriptures that God did frequently warn his Servants of their approaching deaths so he dealt with this good man For on the Saturday night before he fell sick he dreamed That he was in an extraordinary pleasant and delightful place where standing and admiring the Beauty and Glory of it he saw the late King his Master who said to him Peter I will have you buried under your Seat at Church for you are rarely seen but there or at your Study This Dream he related to his Wife next morning told her it was a significant one and charged her to let him be buried according to it On the Monday he bought an House in the Almonry Sealed the Writings and paid the Money the same day and at night told his Wife he had bought her an House to live in near the Abby that she might serve God in that Church as he had done And then renewing his Charge of burying him according to his dream went to bed very well but after his first sleep was taken with a violent Fever which deprived him of his understanding till a few hours before his death when seeing one of the Vergers of the Church in his Chamber he called him and said I know it is Church time with you and this is Ascension day I am ascending to the Church triumphant I go to my God and Saviour into joys Celestial and to Hallelujahs eternal After which and other like expressions he died the same day Anno Dom. 1663. in the 63 year of his Age. He had eleven Children four of which are still living He was buried under the Sub-Dean's Seat according to his dream and desire over against which on the North-side of the Abby stands his Monument with this Inscription composed by Dr. Earl then Dean of that Church Depositum Mortale Petri Heylyn S. Th. P. Hujus Ecclesiae Prebendarii Subdecani Viri planè memorabilis Egregiis dotibus instructissimi Ingenio acri foecundo Judicio subacto Memoria ad prodigium tenaci Cui adjunxit incredibilem in studiis patientiam Quae cessantibus oculis non cessarunt Scripsit varia plurima Que jam manibas hominum teruntur Et argumentis non vulgaribus Stylo non vulgari suffecit Constans ubiq Ecelesiae Et majestatis Regie assertor Nec florentis magis utriusque Quant afflictae Idemque perduellium Schismaticae Factionis Impugnator acerrimus Contemptor invidiae Et animo infracto Plura ejusmodi meditanti Mors indixit Silentium Vt sileatur Efficere non potest Obiit Anno Aetat 63. Posuit hoc illi Moestissima Conjux A Catalogue of such Books as were written by this Learned Doctor Spurius a Tragedy M.S. written A. D. 1616. Theomachia a Comedy M.S. 1619. Geography printed at Oxon twice A. D. 1621 and 1624. in 4. and afterwards in 1652. inlarged into a Folio under the Title of Cosmography An Essay called Augustus 1631 since inserted into his Cosmography The History of St. George Lon. 1631. reprinted 1633. The History of the Sabbath 1631 reprinted 1636. Answer to the B. of Lincolns Letter to the Vicar of Grantham 1636. twice reprinted Answer to Mr. Burtons two seditious Sermons 1637. A short Treatise concerning a Form of Prayer to be used according to what is enjoined in the 55 Canon written at the request of the Bishop of Winchester 1637. Antidotum Lincolniense or an Answer to the Bishop of Lincoln's Book entitled Holy Table Name and Thing 1637 reprinted 1638. An Uniform book of Articles fitted for Bishops Arch-Deacons in their Visitation 1640. De Jure paritatis Episcoporum or concerning the Peerage of Bishops 1740 M. S. A Reply to Dr. Hackwel concerning the Sacrifice of the Eucharist M. S. 1641. The History of Episcopacy first under the name of Theoph. Churchman afterwards in his own name reprinted 1657. The History of Liturgies written 1642. A Relation of the Lord Hoptons Victory at Bodmin A View of the proceedings in the West for a Pacification A Letter to a Gentleman in Lincolnshire about the Treaty A Relation of the proceedings of Sir John Gell. A Relation of the Queens return from Holland and the Siege of Newark The black Cross shewing that the Londoners were the cause of the Rebellion The Rebels Catechism All these printed at Oxon 1644. An Answer to the Papists groundless Clamor who Nick-name the Religion of the Church of England by the name of a Parliamentary Religion 1644. A Relation of the Death and sufferings of Will. Laud Archbishop of Canterbury 1644 The Stumbling-block of Disobedience removed written 1644. printed 1658. The Promised Seed in English Verse Theotogia Veterum or an Exposition of the Creed Fol. 1654. Survey of France with an account of the Isles of Guernsey and Jersey 1656. 4. Examen Historicum or a Discovery and
regam juxta morem qui colunt honorant regunt uxores fideliter Do autem tibi dotem virginitatis tuae ducentos aureos i.e. 50 siclos quin etiam alimentum tuum vestitum atque sufficientem necessitatem tuam Cornel. Bertram item cognitionem tui juxta consuetudinem universae terrae That is to say Be thou a Wife to me according to the Law of Moses and Israel and I shall worship and honour thee according to the Word of God I shall seed and govern thee according to the custom of those who worship honour and govern their Wives faithfully I give thee for the Dowry of thy Virginity two hundred pence i. e. 50 Shekels as also thy food cloathing and all sufficient necessaries and knowledge of thee according to the custom of the whole earth A Shekel was a piece of money among the Jews amounting in our coyn to 1 s. 3 d. Judg. 14.11 1 Sam. 18.25 Ruth 4.2 Much of which form as to the main and substance of it is exceeding Ancient For in the Marriage of Sampson we find the Children of the Bride-Chamber being the thirty young men his Companions as they are there called in that of David unto Michael the Daughter of Saul the bringing in of an hundred Foreskins of the Philistins in loco dotis as the Dowry-money in that of Ruth the presence of ten men to bear witness to it Nor was this done being a business of such moment without a special Benediction For at the Marriage of Boaz to Ruth the People and the Elders said The Lord make the Woman which is come into thine House like Rachel and like Leah which two did build the House of Israel and do thou worthily in Ephrata and be famous in Bethlehem and let thy House be like the House of Pharez of the Seed which the Lord will give thee of this young Woman Ruth 4.11 12. Upon this ground it was that Marriage was not solemnized amonst them without Prayers and Blessings the form whereof in the ensuing times was this as followeth Benedictus sis Domine Deus noster Rex universi c. Blessed be the Lord our God the King of the World who hath Created Man after his own Image according to the Image of his own likeness and hath thereby prepared unto himself an everlasting building Blessed be thou O Lord God who hast Created him Moses Aaron l. 6. cap. 4. Then followeth again Blessed be thou O Lord our God who hast Created joy and gladness the Bridegroom and the Bride Charity and Brotherly love Rejoycing and Pleasure Peace and Society I beseech thee O Lord let there be suddenly heard in the Cities of Judah and the Streets of Hierusalem the voice of joy and gladness the voice of the Bridegroom and the Bride the voice of exaltation in the Bride-Chamber is sweeter than any Feast and Children sweeter than the sweetness of a song Which Prayer thus ended one of the Bride-men or Companions took a cup having before been blessed in the wonted form and drinks unto the Married-couple As for the form and rites of Burial not to say any thing either of the washing or embalming of the Corps which was common unto them with other Nations Chiristan Synagogue l. 1. cap. 6. sict 8. Paraph. 15. Diat 1. their custom was after the body was interred to speak something of the justice of God and of mans sin which meriteth death and they prayed God in justice to remember mercy This said they gave a Cup of Consolation to the sad-hearted Finally on the grave or Tombstone they caused these words ensuing to be written Sit anima ejus in fasciculo vitae cum caeteris justis Amen Amen Selah That is to say let his soul be in the bundle of life with the rest of the just Amen Amen So be it These as they were the ancient forms and ceremonies used in their Marriages and Burials so after when they had erected Synagogues in convenient places they solemnized their Marriages in a Tent Maymon cited in Fishter's defence cap. 17. set upon four Pillars near their Synagogue which shews that there was something in it wherewith the Priest or Prophet was to intermeddle and that they did esteem it of a nature not so meerly civil but that the blessing of the Minister was required unto it But it is time I now go forward to the Ages following CHAP. III. Of the condition and estate of the Jewish Liturgy from the time of David unto Christ 1. Several hours of prayer used amongst the Jews and that the prayers then used were of prescribed forms 2. The great improvement of the Jewish Liturgie in the time of David by the addition of Psalms and Instruments of Musick 3. The form of Celebrating Gods publick Service according unto Davids Institutions described by the Jewish Rabbins 4. The solemn form used in the dedicating of the first and second Temples 5. The Temple principally built for an House of Prayer 6. The several and accustomed gestures used among the Jews in the performance of Gods publick worship 7. The weekly reading of the Law on the Sabbath days not used until the time of Ezra 8. The reading of the Law prescribed and regulated according to the number of the Sections by the care of Ezra and of the 18 Benedictions by him composed 9. The Exposition of the Law prescribed and ordered by the Authority of the Church 10. The first foundation of Synagogues and Oratories and for what employments 11. The Church of Jewry ordained Holy-days and prescribed forms of prayer to be used thereon 12. Set days for publick annual Feasts appointed by the Jewish Church with a set form of prayer agreeable to the occasion 13. The form of Celebrating Gods publick Service according as it is described by Jesus the Son of Syrac 14. Jesus the Son of God conforms himself unto the forms established in the Jewish Church 15. A transition from the forms received in the Jewish Church to those in Vse amongst the Gentiles THE Nation of the Jews being thus setled into an established Church by the hand of Moses and several forms of Prayer and Praise and Benediction prescribed unto them either immediately by the Lord himself or by the Church directed by the wisdom of Almighty God it was not long before that divers other points were added by the like Authority until the Liturgy thereof became full and absolute Of these the first in course of time was the deputing of certain and determinate hours in every day for the performance of those moral duties of Prayer and Praises in which Gods publick worship did consist especially which were the third the sixth and the ninth For clearer knowledge of the which we shall add thus much that the Jews did usually divide their day into four great parts hours of the Temple they were called that is to say the third hour which began at six of the Clock in the Morning and held on
till nine the sixth which began at nine and ended at twelve the ninth which held from twelve to three in the afternoon and the eleventh which was from three until six at night According to which distribution they had three several hours of Prayer viz. the third the sixth the ninth as before was said For thus saith David of himself Evening and Morning and at Noon-day will I pray unto thee Psal lv 17. And so the Scriptures say of Daniel that turning towards Hierusalem he kneeled upon his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God three times a day as he had formerly been accustomed Dan. vi 10. David who had the opportunity to repair unto the Tabernacle or the House of God joyned with the Congregation in those Prayers which were appointed for those times But Daniel who lived an exile in a strange Land and at a time in which there was no Temple at Hierusalem only conceived himself obliged to observe the hours which had been antiently in Use with the Jewish Nation without being punctual in the forms for ought I can find It 's true the Jews used to repair unto the Tabernacle as afterwards unto the Temple and other places set apart for this pious duty of which more anon to offer up their private Prayers and Vowes to Almighty God For so we read of Hannah in the first of Samuel chap. 1. v. 10. c. and so in other places of Gods Book of divers others Of which none is more eminent because not any one so much objected as that of the Publican and the Pharisee of whom we find mention in the Gospel who going into the Temple to pray as who else did not are confidently said to use no prayer that was of regular prescription because the prayer which they are said to make in the Book of God Smectymn p. 8. was of a present conception But this if pondered as it ought can be no Argument I trow that therefore there was then no set form of publick worship to be performed in those holy places because Gods Servants used as occasion was to make therein their private Prayers to the Lord their God No better argument than if it should be proved that there is no set Liturgy in the Church of England because devout and godly men use oftentimes to have recourse unto the Church or Temple for their private prayers In those though poured forth in the Temple the proper and appointed place of publick worship the people were at liberty to make Use of their own conceptions But it was otherwise in those acts of worship so far forth as they do relate unto Invocation which were to be performed with the Congregation And so it is resolved by the best and learnedest of all the Rabbins by whom it is affirmed that in the publick Congregation a private or a voluntary prayer was not to have been offered to the Lord their God Quoniam nec Ecclesia seu caetus publicus offerebat ex lege sacrificium ultroneum because the Church or Congregation was not to offer any Sacrifice but such as was prescribed and ordered by the Law of God Maim ap Selden in Eutych Alex. p. 49 Which rule as it was constantly observed in all other days and at the several hours of prayer in each several day so most especially upon the Sabbaths and the other Festivals and that upon the self-same reason viz. Quoniam in eis non offerendum erat ultroneum quid because no voluntary oblation might thereon be offered as in some cases might be done on the other days but only such as were appointed in the Law Now that there were set forms of prayer for these several hours besides what is affirmed by a Learned Writer of our own as appeareth by that memorable passage of Peter and John's going up into the Temple Selden Comment in Eutych Alex. p. 46 47. sub horam orationis nonam at the ninth hour being an hour of prayer For if the prayer they went to make were rather of a sudden and extemporary Conception Smectymn p. 8. than of a regular Prescription what needed they to have made Use of such a time when as the Congregation was assembled for Gods publick worship And on the other side that the prayer which the two Apostles went up to make was such as was prescribed the Congregation is evident by that of Ludovicus Capellus the French Oracle of Hebrew Learning as one truly calls him who saith expresly B. Hall Answ to the Vindication Orationem eam cujus causa Petrus Johannes petebant templum fuisse eam quae à Judaeis dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quae respondet oblationi vespertinae lege praescriptae The prayer saith he for which Peter and John went up into the Temple is that which the Jews called the lesser oblation answering to the evening Sacrifice prescribed by the Law And indeed Calvin intimates no less to my apprehension For when he askes the question An Apostoli in Templum ascenderint ut secundum legis ritum precarentur whether the Apostles went into the Temple to pray according to the rites prescribed in the Law Calv. in Act. although he thinks that they went thither at that time to have the better opportunity to promote the Gospel yet he confesseth by the question that at that time there were set prayers made in the Temple after the manner of the Jews But to go on from Moses unto David I find but little changed or added in things that did concern Gods publick worship and the forms thereof But in the time of David and by his Authority there was a signal alteration made much outward form and lustre added to the service of God For whereas formerly the Levites were appointed by the Law of Moses to bear about the Tabernacle as occasion was the Tabernacle being by David fixt and setled in Hierusalem there was no further Use of the attendance of the Levites in that kind or ministery He therefore thought it fit to set them to some new imployment some to assist the Priests in the publick offices of Gods holy worship some to be over-seers and Judges of the people some to be Porters also in the House of God and others finally to be Singers to praise the Lord with Instruments that he had made with Harps with Viols and with Cymbals 1 Chron. 23.4 5 c. Of these the most considerable were the first and last the first appointed to assist at the Daily Sacrifices as also at the offering of all Burnt-offerings unto the Lord in the Sabbaths the moneths and at the appointed times according to the number and according to their custom continually before the Lord. Ibid. ver 31. Id. ch 35.7 The other were instructed in the Songs of the Lord not only such as had been made before in the former times but such as he composed himself according to the influence of the holy Spirit Josephus tells us
that if any person whatsoever should accuse either Bishop Presbyter or Deacon falsly and could not make just proof of the Accusation nec in fine dandam ei communionem that he should not be admitted to the blessed Sacrament no not upon his death-bed in his last extremity So tender were they in that Age of the good name and reputation of their Clergy And now me-thinks I see a blessed Sun-shine a time of rest and quiet after all these troubles a gentle gale breathing upon the Church after so many tedious storms of Persecution For Dioclesian and Maximianus his Colleague either afflicted with the guilt of Conscience or tyred with the effusion of so much innocent blood as had by them been shed in this Persecution did of their own accord resign the Empire Anno 304. as Baronius calculates it leaving the same unto Constantius and Galerius whom they had long before created Caesars Baron Annal. Eccl. An. 304. n. 1. Of these Constantius taking to himself the Western parts lived not full two years leaving his own part of the Empire and a fair ground for all the rest to Constantine his Son not only born of Helena a British Woman but born at York the Mother-City or Metropolis of the British Nation A Prince whom God raised up of purpose not only to give end to the Persecutions wherewith the Innocent Spouse of Christ had been so tortured and tormented but to become the greatest nursing Father thereunto that ever was before him in the Church of Israel or since him in the Israel of the Church So that if heretofore you find the Clergy reckoned as the filth of men neglected slighted or disgraced esteemed unworthy either of publick trust or favour in the employments of the State It is to be imputed unto this that they were held a dangerous and suspected party to the Common-wealth maintaining a Religion contrary unto that which was allowed in the Empire Hereafter you shall find it otherwise Hereafter you shall find an Edict made by Constantine enabling such as would decline the sentence of the Secular Judges Sozom hist Eccl. l. c. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lawfully to appeal unto the judgment of their Bishops whose judgment he commanded to be put in execution by all his Officers with as much punctuality and effect as if himself in person had pronounced the same Hereafter we shall find Saint Ambrose a right godly Bishop Aug. Confes l. 6. c. 3. so taken up with hearing and determining mens suits and causes that he had very little leisure either for corporal repast or private study Saint Austin who relates the former saying also this that he had long waited an opportunity to have conference with him and had as long been hindred from access unto him Secludentibus me ab ejus aure atque ore catervis negotiosorum hominum quorum infirmitatibus serviebat his access to him being barred by multitudes of Suiters whose businesses he was pleased to undertake Hereafter we shall find the same Saint Austin no such lazie Prelate but that he hath transmitted to us as many monuments both of his Piety and Learning as any other whosoever so busied on the like occasions that he could hardly save the Mornings for his Meditations Aug. Epist 210 Post meridiem occupationibus hominum teneri the afternoons being wholly taken up in the dispatch or hearing of mens private Connoversies Nay when the Councils of Carthage and Numidia had imposed a certain task upon him propter curam Scripturarum in some things that concerned the holy Scriptures and that he asked but five days respite from the affairs and business of the people for the performance of the same the People would not have the patience to forbear so long Sed violenter irruptum est but violently brake in upon him And this lest the good Father may be thought to speak it in commendation of his own abilities we find related also by Possidonius in the narration of his life where we are told aliquando usque ad horam refectionis Possidon in vita Aug. c. 19. aliquando tota die jejunans that sometimes he gave hearing to mens causes till the hour of repast and sometimes fasted all the day for dispatch thereof but always bringing them unto some end or other pro arbitrata aequitate according to the rules of equity and a well-grounded Conscience Hereafter we shall find the Prelates honoured with the titles of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most honourable Lords and that not once or twice Athanas in apol 2. Nazianz Epist ad Nyssen Theod. l. 1. c. 4 5. others passim Ambros Epist 33. l. 5. but of common course Hereafter not to wander through more particulars we shall find Saint Ambrose employed in the most weighty matters of the Common-wealth and sent Ambassadour from the young Emperor Valentinian to the Tyrant Maximus who had usurped on his Dominions and much endangered the whole Empire which he performed to so good purpose that he preserved Italy from an imminent ruin the Tyrant afterwards confessing se legationis ejus objectu ad Italiam non potuisse transire that he was hindred by the same from passing forwards into Italy with his conquering Army So little was it either thought or found in those blessed times that holy Orders did superinduce a disability for civil Prudence But these things we do here behold but at a distance as Moses from Mount Nebo saw the Land of Canaan They appertain of right to the following Age Deuter. ult and they which had the happiness to live till then could not but easily discern the great alteration which was between a Church under Persecution and a Church in Peace between a Church oppressed by Tyrants and a Church cherished and supported by a Christian Prince And in this flourishing estate I should gladly shew her but that my wearied pen doth desire some rest and that I would fain see with what acceptation my present pains will be received in the world before I give the second on-set In the mean time I will lay down a brief Chronology of such of the remarkable occurrences which have been represented in these two last Centuries it being the office of an upright Judge and only such I do desire should peruse these Papers ut res ita tempora rerum noscere to know as well the times and circumstances of business as the things themselves A Brief CHRONOLOGY of the Estate of Holy Church in these two last Centuries An. Christ 102. CLemens Bishop of Rome the true Author of the Epistle to the Church of Corinth and the supposed Author of the Apostles Canons departeth this life 103. Evaristus succeedeth Clemens in the See of Rome in the which Church he afterwards ordained Parishes 109. Simeon B. of Jerusalem Martyred Justus succeeded in his place Ignatius led a Prisoner towards Rome writes his Epistles to the Churches 110. Ignatius Martyred designing Hero his Successor in the Church of
to the sons of Noah To whom the Hebrew Doctors say their Father did bequeath seven several Commandments which they and their posterity were bound to keep In Lexilo p. 1530. Septem praecepta acceperunt filii Noah c. as Shindler reckoneth them out of the Rabbi Maimony First That they dealt uprightly with every man Secondly That they should bless and magnifie the Name of God Thirdly That they abstained from worshipping false gods and from all Idolatry Fourthly That they forbear all unlawful lusts and copulations The fifth against shedding Blood The sixth against Theft and Robbery The seventh and last a prohibition not to eat the flesh or any member of a Beast taken from it when it was alive whereby all cruelty was forbidden These precepts whosoever violated either of Noahs Sons or their Posterity was to be smitten with the sword Yea these Commandments were reputed so agreeable to nature that all such Heathens as would yield to obey the same were suffered to remain and dwell amongst the Israelites though they received not Circumcision nor any of the Ordinances which were given by Moses So that amongst the precepts given unto the Sons of Noah we find no footstep of the Sabbath And where a Modern Writer whom I spare to name hath made the keeping of the Sabbath a member of the second precept or included in it it was not so advisedly done there being no such thing at all Cunaeus de repab Hebr. 2.19 either in Schindler whom he cites nor in Cunaeus who repeats the self-same precepts from the self-same Rabbi Nay which is more the Rabbin out of whom they cite it doth in another place exclude expresly the observation of the Sabbath out of the number of these Precepts given to the Sons of Noah Ap. Ainsworth in Exod. 20. The Man and Woman servant saith he which are commanded to keep the Sabbath are Servants that are Circumcised or Baptized c. But Servants not Circumcised nor Baptised but only such as have received the seven Commandements given to the Sons of Noah they are as sojourning strangers and may do work for themselves openly on the Sabbath as any Israelite may on a working day So Rabbi Maymony in his Treatise of the Sabbath chap. 20. § 14. If then we find no Sabbath amongst the Sons of Noah whereof some of them were the Sons of their Fathers piety there is no thought of meeting with it in their Children or their Childrens Children the builders of the Tower of Babel For they being terrified with the late Deluge as some conjecture and to procure the name of great undertakers as the Scripture saith resolved to build themselves a Tower unto the top whereof the waters should in no wise reach Antiqu. Jud. l. 1. cap. 5. A work of a most vast extent if we may credit those reports that are made thereof and followed by the People as Josephus tells us with their utmost industry there being none amongst them idle If none amongst them would be idle as likely that no day was spared from so great an action as they conceived that work to be They that durst bid defiance to the Heaven of God were never like to keep a Sabbath to the God of Heaven The action was begun and ended Anno 1940. or thereabouts To ruinate these vain attempts it pleased the Lord first to confound the Language of the People which before was one and after to disperse them over all the earth By means of which dispersion they could not possibly have kept one and the same day for a Sabbath had it been commanded the days in places of a different longitude which is the distance of a place from the first Meridian beginning at such different times that no one day could be precisely kept amongst them The proof and ground whereof I will make bold to borrow from my late Learned friend Nath. Carpenter that I may manifest in some sort the love I bore him though probably I might have furnished out this argument from mine own wardrobe at least have had recourse to many other Learned men who have written of it For that the difference of time is varied according to the difference of longitudes in divers places of the earth may be made manifest to every mans understanding out of these two principles First if the earth is sphaerical and secondly that the Sun doth compass it about in twenty-four hours From hence it comes to pass that places situate Eastward see the Sun sooner than those do that are placed Westward And that with such a different proportion of time that unto every hour of the Suns motion there is assigned a certain number of miles upon the Earth every fifteen degrees which is the distance of the Meridians being computed to make one hour and every fifteen miles upon the Earth correspondent to one minute of that hour By this we may perceive how soon the noon-tide hapneth in one City before another For if one City stands Eastward of another the space of three of the aforesaid Meridians which is 2700. miles it is apparent that it will enjoy the noon-tide no less than three hours before the other and consequently in 10800. miles which is half the compass of the Earth there will be found no less than twelve hours difference in the rising and setting of the Sun as also in the noon and mid-night The reason of which difference of times is as before we said the difference of longitudes wherein to every hour Cosmographers have allotted fifteen degrees in the Suns diurnal motion so that fifteen degrees being multiplied by twenty-four hours which is the natural day the product will be 360. which is the number of degrees in the whole circle Now in these times wherein the Sons of Noah dispersed themselves in case the Sabbath was to have been kept as simply moral it must needs follow that the moral Law is subject unto manifold mutations and uncertainties which must not be granted For spreading as they did over all the Earth some farther some at shorter distance and thereby changing longitudes with their habitations they must of meer necessity alter the difference of times and days and so could keep no day together Nor could their issue since their time observe exactly and precisely the self-same day by reason of the manifold transportation of Colonies and transmigration of Nations from one Region to another whereby the times must of necessity be supposed to vary The Author of the Practice of Piety though he plead hard for the morality of the Sabbath cannot but confess that in respect of the diversity of the Meridians and the unequal rising and setting of the Sun every day varieth in some places a quarter in some half in others an whole day therefore the Jewish Sabbath cannot saith he be precisely kept in the same instant of time every where in the World Certainly if it cannot now then it never could and then it would be found that some
continued the same custom holding the Congregation from morn to noon and that the Jews came thither Fasting as generally men do now unto the Sacrament the better to prepare themselves and their attention for that holy Exercise Sure I am that Josephus tells us In vit sua that at mid-day they used to dismiss the Assemblies that being the ordinary hour for their repast as also that Buxtorfius saith of the modern Jews that ultra tempus meridianum jejunare non licet Syn. Jud. c. 10. it is not lawful for them to fast beyond the noon-tide on the Sabbath days Besides they which found so great fault with our Lords Disciples for eating a few ears of Corn on the Sabbath day are not unlikely in my mind to have aimed at this For neither was the bodily labour of that nature that it should any ways offend them in so high a measure and the defence made by our Lord in their behalf being that of Davids eating of the Shew-bread when he was an hungred is more direct and literal to justifie his Disciples eating than it was their working This abstinence of the Jews that lived amongst them the Romans noted and being good Trenchermen themselves at all times and seasons they used to hit them in the Teeth with their Sabbaths fasting But herein I submit my self to better judgments There was nother Prohibiton given by God about the Sabbath which being misinterpreted became as great a snare unto the Consciences of men as that before remembred of not kindling fire and dressing meat upon the Sabbath viz. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day Which Prohibition being a Bridle only unto the people to keep them in from seeking after Mannah as before they did upon the Sabbath was afterwards extended to restrain them also either from taking any Journey or walking forth into the Fields on the Sabbath days Nay so precise were some amongst them that they accounted it unlawful to stir hand or foot upon the Sabbath ne leviter quispiam se commoveat In Isa 58.13 quod si fecerit legis transgressor sit as St. Hierom hath it Others more charitably chalked them out a way how far they might adventure and how far they might not though in this the Doctors were divided Some made the Sabbath days journey to be 2000 Cubits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. 151. of whom Origen tells us others restrained it to 2000 foot of whom Hierom speaks and some again enlarged it unto six surlongs which is three quarters of a mile For where Josephus hath informed us that Mount Olivet was six furlongs from Hierusalem and where the Scriptures tell us that they were distant about a Sabbath days journey we may perceive by that how much a Sabbath days journey was accounted then But of these things we may have opportunity to speak hereafter In the mean time if the Injunction be so absolute and general as they say it is we may demand of these great Clerks as their Successours did of our Lord and Saviour by what authority they do these things and warrant that which is not warranted in the Text if so the Text be to be expounded Certain I am that ab initio non fuit sic from the beginning was it neither so nor so The Scripture tells us that when the people were in the Wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day They found him where Not in the Camp he was not so audacious as to transgress the Law in the open view of all the people knowing how great a penalty was appointed for the Sabbath-breaker but in some place far off wherein he might offend without fear or danger Therefore the people were permitted to walk forth on the Sabbath day and to walk further than 2000 soot or 2000 Cubits otherwise they had never found out this unlucky fellow And so saith Philo De vita Mosis l. 3. that they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Some of the people going out into the Wilderness that they might find some quiet and retired place in which to make their Prayers to God saw what they looked not for that wretched and prohibited spectacle So that the people were not stinted in their goings on the Sabbath day nor now nor in a long time after as by the course of the ensuing story will at large appear Even in the time of Mannah they did not think themselves obliged not to stir abroad upon the Sabbath or not to travail above such and such a compass in case they did it not out of a meer dstrust in God as before they did to gather Mannah but either for their Meditation or their Recreation What said I for their Recreation what was that permitted yes no doubt it was Though the Commandment did prohibit all manner of work yet it permitted questionless some manner of Pleasures The Sabbaths rest had otherwise been more toilsom than the week-days labour and none had gained more by it than the Ox and Ass Yea this Injunction last related Let none go out of his place on the seventh day had been a greater bondage to that wretched people than all the drudgeries of Egypt Tostatus tells us on that Text non est simpliciter intelligendum c. It is not so to be conceived that on that day the people might not stir abroad or go out of their doors at all but that they might not go to labour or traffick about any worldly businesses Etenim die sabbati ambulari possunt Hebraei ad solaciandum c. For the Jews lawfully might walk forth on the Sabbath day to recreate and refresh themselves so it be not in pursuit of profit Cap. 10. And this he saith on the confession of the Jews themselves ut ipsi communiter confitentur Buxtorfius in his Jewish Synagogue informs us further Permissum est juvenibus ut tempore sabbati currendo spatiando saltando sese oblectent c. It is saith he permitted that their young men may walk and run yea and Dance also on the Sabbath day and leap and jump and use other manlike Exercises in case they do it for the honour of the holy Sabbath This speaks he of the modern Jews men as tenacious of their Sabbath and the rigours of it as any of the Ancients were save that the Essees and the Pharisies had their private flings above the meaning of the Law Of manly Exercises on the Sabbath we shall see more anon in the seventh Chapter And as for Dancing that they used anciently to Dance upon the Sabbath is a thing unquestionable Saint Augustine saith they used it and rebukes them for it not that they danced upon the Sabbath but that they spent and wasted the whole day in dancing There is no question an abuse even of lawful pleasures And this is that which he so often lays unto them Melius tota die soderent quam tota die saltarent In Psal
would not stir nor give the place not to Jove himself More of this point see Chrysost hom 49. in Job But to proceed the next great action that occurs in holy Scripture reducible unto the business now in hand is that so famous miracle of the Suns standing still at the Prayers of Josuab when as the Sun stood still in the middest of Heaven Jos 10.13 and hasted not to go down about a whole day as the Text hath it Or as it is in Ecclesiast Cap. 46.4 Did not the Sun go back by his means and was not one day as long as two The like to take them both together in this place was that great miracle of mercy shewed to Hezekiah 2 King 20. by bringing of the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down in the Dial of Ahaz In each of these there was a signal alteration in the course of nature and the succession of time so notable that it were very difficult to find out the seventh day precisely from the worlds Creation or to proceed in that account since the late giving of the Law So that in this respect the Jews must needs be at a loss in their calculation and though they might hereafter set apart one day in seven for rest and meditation yet that this day so set apart could be precisely the seventh day from the first Creation is not so easie to be proved The Author of the Practice of Piety as zealously as he pleads for the morality of the Sabbath confesseth that in these regards the Sabbath could not be observed precisely on the day appointed And to speak properly saith he as we take a day for the distinction of time called either a day natural consisting of 24 hours or a day artificial consisting of 12 hours from Sun-rising to Sun setting And withal consider the Sun standing still at noon the space of an whole day in the time of Josuah and the Sun going back ten degrees viz. five hours which is almost half an artificial day in Hezekiahs time the Jews themselves could not keep their Sabbath on that precise and just distinction of time called at the first the seventh day from the Creation If so if they observed it not at the punctual time according as the Law commanded it followeth then on his conscssion that from the time of Josuah till the destruction of the Temple there was no Sabbath kept by the Jews at all because not on the day precisely which the Law appointed This miracle as it advantaged those of the house of Israel in the present slaughter of their Enemies so could it not but infinitely astonish all the Canaanites and make them faint and flie before the Conquerors In so much that in the compass of five years as Josephus tells us there was not any lest to make head against them So that the Victory being assured and many of the Tribes in vested in their new possessions it pleased the Congregation of Israel to come together at Shilo Jos 18.1 there to set up the Tabernacle of the Congregation Anti ju Jud. l. 5. c. 1. And they made choice thereof as Josephus saith because it seemed to be a very convenient place by reason of the beauty of the place Rather because if sorted best with Josuahs liking who being of the Tribe of Ephraim within whose lot that City stood was perhaps willing to confer that honour on it But whatsoever was the motive here was the Tabernacle erected and hitherto the Tribes resorted and finally here the legal Ceremonies were to take beginning God having told them many times these and these things ye are to do when ye are come into the Land that I shall give you viz. Levit. 48. and 23. Numb 15. Deut. 12. That Gilgal was the standing lamp and that the Levites there laid down the Tabernacle as in a place of strength and safety is plain in Scripture but that they there erected it or performed any legal Ministery therein hath no such evidence Though God had brought them then into the Land of Promise yet all this while they were unsetled The Land was given after when they had possession So that the next Sabbath which ensued on the removal of the Tabernacle unto Shilo was the first Sabbath which was celebrated with its legal Ceremonies and this was Anno Mundi 2589. In which if we consider as well the toylsomness as multiplicity of the Priestlike-offices we shall soon see that though the People rested then yet the Priest worked hardest First for the Loaves of Proposition Antiqu. Jud. l. 3. c. 10. or the Shew-bread however Josephus tells us that they were baked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the day before the Sabbath and probably in his time it might be so 1 Chron. 9. yet it is otherwise in the Scriptures The Kohathites saith the Text were over the Shew-bread for to prepare it every Sabbath These Loaves were twelve in number one for every Tribe each of them two tenth deals or half a peck so the Scriptures say every Cake square ten hand-breaths long five square and seven fingers high so the Rabbins teach us The kneading baking and disposing of these Cakes must require some labour Athanas bom de semente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Where there is baking saith the Father then must be beating of the Oven and carrying in of faggots and whatsoever work is necessary in the Bakers trade Then for the Sacrifices of the day the labour of the Priest when it was left was double what it was on the other days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Chrysostom hath rightly noted The daily sacrifice was of two Lambs Concio 1. de lazaro the Supernumerary of the Sabbath was two more If the New-moon fell on the Sabbath as it often did there was besides these named already an offering of two Bullocks a Ram seven Lambs and if that New-moon were the Feast of Trumpets also as it sometimes was there was a further offering of seven Lambs one Ram one Bullock And which is more each of these had their several Meat-offerings and Drink-offerings Perfumes and Frankincense preportionable to attend upon them By that time all was done so many Beasts kill'd skinned washed quartered and made ready for the Altar so many fires kindled meat and drink-offerings in a readiness and the sweet Odours fitted for the work in hand no question but the Priest had small cause to boast himself of his Sabbaths rest or to take joy in any thing but his larger fees and that he had discharged his duty As for the People though they might all partake of the fruits hereof yet none but those that dwelt in Shilo or near unto it at the least could behold the sight or note what pains the Priests took for them whilst they themselves sate still and stirred not Had the Commandment been moral and every part thereof of the same condition the Priests had never done
second Age. Theophilus Caesariens who lived about the times of Commodus and Severus the Roman Emperors makes mention of it and fixeth it upon the 25 of Decemb. as we now observe it Natalem Domini quocunque die 8. Calend. Januar. venerit celebrare debemus as his own words are And after in the time of Maximinus which was one of the last great Persecutors Nicephorus tells us that In ipso natalis Dominici die l. 7. c. 6. Christianos Nicomediae festivitatem celebrantes succenso templo concremavit even in the very day of the Lords Nativity he caused the Christians to be burnt at Nicomedia whilst they were solemnizing this great Feast within their Temple I say this Great Feast and I call it so on the Authority of Beda Orat. de Philogon who reckoneth Christmas Easter and Whitsontide for majora solennia as they still are counted But before Bede it was so thought over all the Church Chrysostom calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother or Metropolis of all other Feasts See Binius Conc. T. 1. And before him Pope Fabian whom but now we spake of ordained that all Lay-men should communicate at least thrice a year which was these three Festivals Etsi non frequentius saltemter in Anno Laici homines communicent c. in Pascha Pentecoste Natali Domini So quickly had the Annual got the better of the weekly Festivals According to which ancient Canon the Church of England hath appointed that every man communicate at least thrice a year of which times Easter to be one Before we end this Chapter there is one thing yet to be considered which is the name whereby the Christians of these first Ages did use to call the day of the Resurrection and consequently the other days of the week according as they found the time divided The rather because some are become offended that we retain those names amongst us which were to us commended by our Ancestors and to them by theirs Where first we must take notice that the Jews in honour of their Sabbath used to refer times to that distinguishing their days by Prima Sabbati Secunda Sabbati and so until they came to the Sabbath it self As on the other side the Gentiles following the motions of the Planets gave to each day the name of that particular Planet by which the first hour of the day was governed as their Astrologers had taught them Now the Apostles being Jews retained the custom of the Jews and for that reason called that day on which our Saviour rose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 una sabbati the first day of the week as our English reads it The Fathers many of them followed their example Saint Austin thereupon calls Thursday by the name of quintum sabbati Epist 118. and so doth venerable Beda hist lib. 4. c. 25. Saint Hierom Tuesday tertium sabbati in Epitaph Paulae Tertullian Friday by the old name parasceve l. 4. advers Marcion Saturday they called generally the Sabbath and Sunday sometimes dies solis De invent rerum l. 5 6. and is sometimes Dominicus Pope Silvester as Polydore Virgil is of opinion vanorum deorum memoriam abhorrens hating the name and memory of the Gentile-Gods gave order that the days should be called by the name of Feriae and the distinction to be made by Prima feria secunda feria c. the Sabbath and the Lords day holding their names and places as before they did Hence that of Honorius Augustodunensis Hebraei nominant dies suos De imagine mundi cap. 28. una vel prima sabbati c. Pagani sic dies Solis Lunae c. Christiani vero sic dies nominant viz. Dies Dominicus feria prima c. Sabbatum But by their leaves this is no universal rule the Writers of the Christian Church not tying up their hands so strictly as not to give the days what names they pleased Save that the Saturday is called amongst them by no other name than that which formerly it had the Sabbath So that when ever for a thousand years and upwards we meet with sabbatum in any Writer of what name soever it must be understood of no day but Saturday As for the other day the day of the Resurrection all the Evangelists and Saint Paul take notice of no other name than of the first day of the Week Saint John and after him Ignatius call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day But then again Justin Martyr for the second Century doth in two several passages call it no otherwise than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sunday as then the Gentiles called it and we call it now And so Tertullian for the third who useth both and calls it sometimes diem solis and sometimes Dominicum as before was said Which questionless neither of them would have done on what respect soever had it been either contrary to the Word of God or scandalous unto his Church So for the after Ages in the Edicts of Constantine Valentinian Valens Gratian Honorius Arcadius Theodosius Christian Princes all it hath no other name than Sunday or dies solis and many fair years after them the Synod held at Dingulofinum in the lower Bavaria Anno 772. calls it plainly Sunday Festo die solis prophanis negotiis abstineto of which more hereafter And Aventine for the latter Writers who lived not till the Age last past speaking of the battel fought near Cambray between Charles Martel and Hilpericus King of France saith that it hapned on the thirteenth of the Calends of April Hist l. 3. quae tum dies solis ante Paschalia erat being the Sunday before Easter They therefore are more nice than wise who out of a desire to have all things new would have new names for every day or call them as sometimes they were the first day of the week the second day of the week sic de coeteris and all for fear lest it be thought that we do still adore those Gods whom the Gentiles worshipped Cont. Faust l. 19. c. 5. Saint Augustine as it seems had met with some this way affected and thus disputes the case with Faustus Manichaeus Deorum suorum nomina gentes imposuerunt diebus istis c. The Gentiles saith the Father gave unto every day of the week the name of one or other of their Gods and so they did also unto every month If then we keep the name of March and not think of Mars Why may we not saith he preserve the name of Saturday and not think of Saturn I add why may we not then keep the name of Sunday and not think of Phoebus or Apollo or by what other name soever the old Poets call him This though it satisfied the Manichees will not perhaps now satisfie some curious men who do as much dislike the names of months as of the days To others I presume it may give some reason why we retain the name of Sunday not
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his own Language Catech. orat 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the morrow after the Lords day Cat. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Catech. Mystag 2. The like is very frequent in Saint Ambrose also Hesterno die de fonte disputavimus De Sacram lib. 3. cap. 1. Hesternus noster sermo ad sancti altaris sacramentum deductus est lib. 5. cap. 1. and in other places The like in Chrysostom as in many other places too many to be pointed at in this place and time so in his 18. Hom. on the 3d of Gen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But this perhaps was only in respect of Lectures or Expositions of the Scriptures such as were often used in the greater Cities where there was much people and but little business for I conceive not that they met every day in these times to receive the Sacraments Epl. 289. Of Wednesday and of Friday it is plain they did not to say any thing of the Saturday till the next Section Saint Basil names them all together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is saith he a profitable and pious thing every day to communicate and to participate of the blessed Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour he having told us in plain terms that Whosoever eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood hath eternal life We notwithstanding do communicate but four times weekly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. on the Lords day the Wednesday the Friday and the Saturday unless on any other days the memory of some Martyr be perhaps observed Expos fid Cath. 21.22 Epiphanius goeth a little farther andn he deriveth the Wednesdays and the Fridays Service even from the Apostles ranking them in the same Antiquity and grounding them upon the same Authority that he doth the Sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only it seems the difference 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 towards Evening It had been changed of late and they did celebrate in the Mornings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as on the Lords day was accustomed Whether the meeting on these days were of such Antiquity as Epiphanius saith they were I will not meddle Certain it is that they were very antient in the Church of God as may appear by that of Origen and Tertullian before remembred So that if we consider either the preaching of the Word the ministration of the Sacraments or the publick Prayers the Sunday in the Eastern Churches had no great prerogative above other days especially above the Wednesday and Friday save that the meetings were more solemn and the concourse of people greater than at other times as it is most likely The footsteps of this ancient custom are yet to be observed in this Church of England by which it is appointed that on Wednesdays and Fridays weekly Can. 15. though they be not holy days the Minister at the accustomed hours of Service shall resort to Church and say the Letany prescribed in the Book of Common-prayer As for the Saturday that retained its wonted credit in the Eastern Church little inferiour to the Lords day if not plainly equal not as a Sabbath think not so but as a day designed unto sacred meetings The Constitutions of the Apostles said to be writ by Clemens one of Saint Peters first successours in the Church of Rome appoint both days to be observed as solemn Festivals both of them to be days of rest that so the servant might have time to repair unto the Church Lib. 8. c. 33. for this Edification 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Constitution Not that they should devote them wholly unto rest from labour but only those set times of both which were appointed for the meetings of the Congregation Yet this had an exception too the Saturday before Easter day Lib. 1. cap. 19. whereupon Christ rested in the Grave being exempt from these Assemblies and destinated only unto grief and fasting And though these Constitutions in all likelihood were not writ by Clemens there being many things therein which could not be in use of a long time after yet ancient sure they were as being mentioned in Epiphanius De Scrip. Ecc. in Clemente and as the Cardinal confesseth à Graecis veteribus magni factos much made of by the ancient Grecians though not of such authority in the Church of Rome How their authority in this point is countenanced by Ignatius we have seen already and we shall see the same more fully throughout all this Age. Can. 16. And first beginning with the Synod held in Laodicea a Town of Phrygia Anno 314. there passed a Canon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 touching the reading of the Gospels with the other Scriptures upon the Saturday or Sabbath Canon 49. that in the time of Lent there should be no oblation made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but on the Saturday and the Lords day only neither that any Festival should be then observed in memory of any Martyrs Canon 51. but that their names only should be commemorated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the Lords day and the Sabbaths Nor was this only the particular will of those two and thirty Prelates that there assembled it was the practice too of the Alexandrians S. Athanasius Patriarch there affirms that they assembled on the Sabbath days not that they were infected any whit with Judaism which was far from them Homil de Semente but that they came together on the Sabbath day to worship Jesus Christ the Lord of the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Father hath it So for the Church of Millain which as before I said in some certain things followed the Churches of the East it seems the Saturday was held in a fair esteem and joyned together with the Sunday Crastino die Sabbato De Sacrament Lib. 4. cap. 6. dominice de orationis ordine dicemus as S. Ambrose hath it And probably his often mention of hesternus dies remembred in the former Section may have relation to the joynt observance of these two days and so may that which is reported then out of S. Chrysostom and S. Cyril Eastern Doctors both Hist Eccles Lib. 6. cap. 8. Sure I am Socrates counts both days for weekly Festivals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that on them both the Congregation used to be assembled and the whole Liturgy performed Which plainly shews that in the practice of those Churches they were both regarded both alike observed Gregory Nyssen speaks more home and unto the purpose Some of the People had neglected to come unto the Church upon the Saturday and on the Sunday he thus chides and rebukes them for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. With what face saith the Father wilt thou look upon the lords day De Castigatione which hast dishonoured the
done afterwards in pursuit hereof consisted specially in beating down the opposition of the common people who were not easily induced to lay by their business next in a descant as it were on the former plain-song the adding of particular restrictions as occasion was which were before conteined though not plainly specified both in the Edicts of the former Emperours and Constitutions of the Churches before remembred Yet all this while we find not any one who did observe it as Sabbath or which taught others so to do not any who affirmed that any manner of work was unlawful on it further than as it was prohibited by the Prince or Prelate that so the people might assemble with their greater comfort not any one who preached or published that any pastime sport or recreation of an honest name such as were lawful on the other days were not fit for this And thereupon we may resolve as well of lawful business as of lawful pleasures that such as have not been forbidden by supream Authority whether in Proclamà tions of the Prince or Constitutions of the Church or Acts of Parliament or any such like Declaration of those higher Powers to which the Lord hath made us subject are to be counted lawful still It matters not in case we find it not recorded in particular terms that we may lawfully apply our selves to some kind of business or recreate our selves in every kind of honest pleasure at those particular hours and times which are left at large and have not been designed to Gods publick service All that we are to look for is to see how far we are restrained from labour or from recreations on the Holy days and what Authority it is that hath so restrained us that we may come to know our duty and conform unto it The Canons of particular Churches have no power to do it further than they have been admitted into the Church wherein we live for then being made a part of her Canon also they have power to bind us to observance As little power there is to be allowed unto the Declarations and Edicts of particular Princes but in their own dominions only Kings are Gods Deputies on the Earth but in those places only where the Lord hath set them their power no greater than their Empire and though they may command in their own Estates yet is it extra sphaeram activitatis to prescribe Laws to Nations not subject to them A King of France can make no Law to bind us in England Much less must we ascribe unto the dictates and directions of particular men which being themselves subject unto publick Order are to be hearkned to no further than by their life and doctrine they do preach obedience unto the publick Ordinances under which they live For were it otherwise every private man of name and credit would play the Tyrant with the liberty of his Christian Brethren and nothing should be lawful but what he allowed of especially if the pretence be fair and specious such as the keeping of a Sabbath to the Lord our God the holding of an holy convocation to the King of Heaven Example we had of it lately in the Gothes of Spain and that strange bondage into which some pragmatick and popular man had brought the French had not the Council held at Orleans gave a check unto it And with examples of this kind must we begin the story of the following Ages CHAP. V. That in the next six hundred years from Pope Gregory forwards the Lords day was not reckoned of as of a Sabbath 1. Pope Gregories care to set the Lords day free from Jewish rigours at that time obtruded on the Church 2. Strange fancies taken up by some about the Lords day in these darker Ages 3. Scriptures and Miracles in these times found out to justifie the keeping of the Lords day holy 4. That in the judgment of the most learned in these six Ages the Lords day hath no other ground than the Authority of the Church 5. With how much difficulty the people of these times were barred from following their Husbandry and Law-days on the Lords day 6. Husbandry not restrained on the Lords day in the Eastern parts until the time of Leo Philosophus 7. Markets and Handierafts restrained with no less opposition than the Plough and Pleading 8. Several casus reservati in the Laws themselves wherein men were permitted to attend those businesses on the Lords day which the laws restrained 9. Of divers great and publick actions done in these Ages on the Lords day 10. Dancing and other sports no otherwise prohibited on the Lords day than as they were an hindrance to Gods publick Service 11. The other Holy days as much esteemed of and observed as the Lords day was 12. The publick hallowing of the Lords day and the other Holy days in these present Ages 13. No Sabbath all these Ages heard of either on Saturday or Sunday and how it stood with Saturday in the Eastern Churches WE are now come to the declining Ages of the Church after the first 600 years were fully ended and in the entrance on the seventh some men had gone about to possess the people of Rome with two dangerous fancies one that it was not lawful to do any manner of work upon the Saturday or the old Sabbath ita ut die Sabbati aliquid operari prohiberent the other ut dominicorum die nullus debeat larari that no man ought to bathe himself on the Lords day or their new Sabbath With such a race of Christned Jews or Judaizing Christians was the Church then troubled Against these dangerous Doctrines did Pope Gregory write his Letter to the Roman Citizens stiling the first no other than the Preachers of Antichrist Epl. 3. l. 11. one of whose properties it shall be that he will have the Sabbath and the Lords day both so kept as that no manner of work shall be done on either qui veniens diem Sabbatum atque dominicum ab omni faciet opere custodire as the Father hath it Where note that to compell or teach the people that they must do no manner of work on the Lords day is a mark of Antichrist And why should Antichrist keep both days in so strict a manner Because saith he he will persuade the people that he shall die and rise again therefore he means to have the Lords day in especial honour and he will keep the Sabbath too that so he may the better allure the Jews to adhere unto him Against the other he thus reasoneth Et si quidem pro luxuria voluptate quis lavari appetit hoc fieri nec reliquo quolibet die concedimus c. If any man desires to bathe himself only out of a luxurious and voluptuous purpose observe this well this we conceive not to be lawful upon any day but if he do it only for the necessary refreshing of his body then neither is it fit it should be forbidden upon the
a greater number of people to attend them And howsoever Councils in themselves be of an Ecclesiastical nature and that the crowning of a King in the act it self be mixed of sacred and of civil yet in the Train and great attendance that belongs unto them the Pomp the Triumphs and concourse of so many people they are meerly secular And secular although they were yet we may well persuade our selves that neither Actor or Spectator thought themselves guilty any wise of offering any the least wrong to the Lords day though those Solemnities no question might without any prejudice have been put off to another time No more did those who did attend the Princes before remembred in their magnificent Entries into Rome and Metz or the other military entrance into Hierusalem which were meer secular Acts and had not any the least mixture either of Ecclesiastical or Sacred Nature For Recreations in these times there is no question to be made but all were lawful to be used on the Lords day which were accounted lawful upon other days and had not been prohibited by Authority and we find none prohibited but dancing only Not that all kind of dancing was by Law restrained but either the abuse thereof at times unseasonable when men should have been present in the Church of God or else immodest shameless dancings such as were those against the which the Fathers did inveigh so sharply in the Primitive times In reference to the first Damascen tells us of some men who only wished for the LOrds day Parallellorum lib. 3. cap. 47. ut ab opera feriati vitiis operam dent that being quitted from their labours they might enjoy the better their sinful pleasures For look into the streets saith he upon other days and there is no man to be found die dominico egredere atque alios cithara canentes alios applaudentes saltantes c. But look abroad on the Lords day and you shall find some singing to the Harp others applauding of the Musick some Dancing others jeering of their Neighbours alios denique luctantes reperies and some also wrestling It followeth Praeco ad Ecclesiam vocat omnes segnitie torpent moras nectunt cithara aut tuba personuit omnes tanquam alis instructi currunt Doth the Clark call unto the Church they have a feaver-lurdane and they cannot stir doth the Harp of Trumpet call them to their Pastimes they fly as they had wings to help them They that can find in this a prohibition either of Musick Dancing publick sports or manlike Exercises such as wrestling is on the Lords day must certainly have better eyes than Lynceus and more wit than Oedipus Plainly they prove the contrary to what some alledg them and shew most clearly that the Recreations there remembred were allowed of publickly otherwise none durst use them as we see they did in the open streets Only the Father seems offended that they preferred their Pastimes before their Prayers that they made little or no haste to Church and ran upon the spur to their Recreations that where Gods publick Service was to be first considered in the Lords day and after on spare times mens private pleasures these had quite changed the course of Nature and loved the Lords day more for pleasure than for Devotion This is the most that can be made from this place of Damascen and this makes more for dancing and such Recreations than it doth against them in case they be not used at unfitting hours Much of this nature is the Canon produced by some to condemn dancing on the Lords day as unlawful utterly which being looked into condemns alone immodest and unseemly dancings such as no Canon could allow of upon any day of what name soever A Canon made by Pope Eugenius in a Synod held at Rome Anno 826. what time both Prince and Prelates did agree together to raise the Lords day to as high a pitch as they fairly might Now in this Synod there were made three Canons which concern this day the first prohibitive of business and the works of labour the second against process in causes criminal the third ne núlieres festis diebus vanis ludis vacent that Women do not give themselves on the Holy days unto wanton sports and is as followeth Sunt quidam maxime mulieres qui festis sacris diebus c. Certain there are but chiefly Women which on the Holy days Can. 35. and Festivals of the blessed Martyrs upon the which they ought to rest have no great list to come to Church as they ought to do sed balando turpia verba decantando c. but to spend the time in Dancing and in shameless Songs leading and holding cut their Dances as the Pagans used and in that manners come to the Congregation These if they come unto the Church with few sins about them return back with more and therefore are to be admonished by the Parish Priest that they must only come to Church to say their prayers such as do otherwise destroying not themselves alone but their Neighbours also Now in this Canon there are these three things to be considered First that these Women used not to come unto the Church with that sobriety and gravity which was fitting as they ought to do but dancing singing sporting as the Pagans used when they repaired unto their Temples secondly that these dancings were accompanied with immodest Songs and therefore as unfit for any day as they were for Sunday and thirdly that these kind of dancings were not prohibited on the Lords day only but on all the Holy days Such also was the Canon of the third Council of Tolledo Decret pars 3. de consecrat distinct 3. An. 589. which afterwards became a part of the Canon Law though by he oversight of the Collector it is there said to be the fourth and this will make as little to the purpose as the other did It is this that followeth Irreligiosa consuetudo est quam vulgus per sanctorum solennitates festivitates agere consuevit Populi qui divina officia debent attendere saltationibus turpibus invigilant cantica non solum mala canentes sed etiam religiosorum officiis perstrepunt Hoc enim ut ab omni Hispania the Decret reads ab omnibus provinciis depellatur sacerdotum ac judicum à sancto Concilio curae commit titur There is an irreligious custom taken up by the common people that on the Festivals of the Saints those which should be attent on Divine Service give themselves wholly to lascivious and shameless dances and do not only sing unseemly Songs but disturb the Service of the Church Which mischief that it may be soon removed out of all the Countrey the Council leave it to the care of the Priests and Judges Such dances and employed to so bad a purpose there is none could tolerate and yet this generally was upon the Holy days Saints days I mean as well
the offering of the Paschal Lamb his Death and Passion Sic Sabbatismus ille requiem annunciabat quae post hanc vitam posita â—â—t fanctis â—lectis so did the Sabbath signifie that eternal rest which after this life is provided for the Saints and elect of God And more than this Spiritualis homo non uno die hebdomadis sed omni tempore Sabbatizare satagit the true spiritual man keeps not his Subbath once a week but at all times whatever every hour and minute What then would he have no day set apart for Gods publick service no but not the Sabbath Because saith he we are not to rejoyce in this world that perisheth but in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection therefore we ought not rest the seventh day in sloth and idleness But we dispose our selves to prayers and hearing of the Word of God upon the first day of the week on the which Christ rose cum summa cura providentes ut tam illo quam caeteris diebus feriati semper simus à servili opere peccati Provided always that upon that and all days else we keep our selves free from the servile Acts of sin This was the Sabbath which they principally looked for in this present life never applying of that name to the Lords day in any of those monuments of Learning they have left behind them The first who ever used it to denote the Lords day the first that I have met with in all this search is one Petrus Alfonsus he lived about the times that Rupertus did who calls the Lords day by the name of the Christian Sabbath Dies domnica dies viz. resurrectionis quae suae salvationis causa extitit Christianorum sabbatum est But this no otherwise to be construed than by Analogy and resemblance no otherwise than the Feast of Easter is called the Christian Passeover As for the Saturday the old Sabbath day though it continued not a Sabbath yet it was still held in an high esteem in the Eastern Churches counted a festival day or at least no fast and honoured with the meetings of the Congregation In reference to the first we find how it was charged on the Church of Rome by the sixth Council in Constantinople Anno 692. that in the holy time of Lent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they used to fast the Saturday which was directly contrary to the Canons of the Apostles as they there alledge This also was objected by Photius Patriarch of Constantinople against Pope Nicolas of Rome Anno 867. and after that by Michael of Constantinople against Leo the ninth Anno 1053. which plainly shews that in the Eastern Churches they observed it otherwise And in relation to the other Curopalat we find that whereas in the principal Church of Constantinople the holy Sacrament was celebrated only on the greater feasts as also on the Saturdays and the Sundays Sabbatis dominicis and not on other days as at Rome it was Constantine surnamed Mononiachus Anno 1054 enriched it with revenue and bestowed much fair plate upon it that so they might be able every day to perform that office Which proves sufficiently that Saturday was always one in all publick duties and that it kept even pace with Sunday But it was otherwise of old in the Church of Rome where they did laborare jejunare as Humbertus saith in his defence of Leo the ninth against Nicetas And this with little opposition or interruption save that which had been made in the City of Rome in the beginning of the seventh Century and was soon crushed by Gregory then Bishop there as before we noted And howsoever Vrban of that name the second Hect. Boet. hist l. 22. did consecrate it to the weekly service of the blessEd Virgin and instituted in the Council held at Clermont Anno 1095. that our Ladies office Officium B. Mariae should be said upon it Eandemque Sabbato quoque die praecipua devotione populum Christianum colere debere and that upon that day all Christian folk should worship her with their best devotions yet it continued still as before it was a day of fasting and of working So that in all this time in 1200 years we have found no Sabbath nor do we think to meet with any in the times that follow either amongst the Schoolmen or amongst the Protestants which next shall come upon the Stage CHAP. VI. What is the judgment of the Schoolmen and of the Protestants and what the practice of those Churches in this Lords day business 1. That in the judgment of the Schoolmen the keeping of one day in seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment 2. As also that the Lords day is not founded on Divine Authority but the Authority of the Church 3. A Catalogue of the Holy-days drawn up in the Council of Lyons and the new Doctrine of the Schools touching the native sanctity of the Holy-days 4. In what estate the Lords day stood in matter of restraint from labour at the reformation 5. The Reformators find great fault both with the said new doctrine and restraints from labour 6. That in the judgment of the Protestant Divines the keeping of one day in seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment 7. As that the Lords day hath no other ground on which to stand than the Authority of the Church 8. And that the Church hath power to change the day and to transfer it to some other 9. What is the practice of all Churches the Roman Lutheran and Calvinian chiefly in matter of Devotion rest from labour and sufferance of lawful pleasures 10. Dancing cried down by Calvin and the French Churches not in relation to the Lords day but the sport it self 11. In what estate the Lords day stands in the Eastern Churches and that the Saturday is no less esteemed of by the Ethiopians than the said Lords day WE are now come unto an Age wherein the Learning of the world began to make a different shew from what it did to such a period of time in which was made the greatest alteration in the whole fabrick of the Church that ever any time could speak of The Schoolmen who sprung up in the beginning of the thirteenth Age contracted Learning which before was diffused and scattered into fine subtilties and distinctions the Protestants in the beginning of the sixteenth endeavouring to destroy those buildings which with such diligence and curiosity had been erected by the Schoolmen though they consented well enough in the present business so far as it concern'd the Institution either of the Lords day or the Sabbath Of these and what they taught and did in reference to the point in hand we are now to speak taking along with us such passages of especial note as hapned in the Christian world by which we may learn any thing that concerns our business And first beginning with the Schoolmen they tell us generally of the Sabbath that
in the Christian Church laying this ground that ours succeeded in the place of theirs Sabbatum mutatur in diem dominicum similiter aliis solennitatibus veteris legis novae solennitates succedunt 1. 2 ae qu. 103. Art 3. ad 4. as his words there are Upon which ground of his the Doctrines now remembred were no question raised and howsoever other men might think all days alike in themselves considered yet those of Rome will have some holier than the rest even by a natural and inherent holiness And in this state things stood both for the doctrine and the practice until such time as men began to look into the errours and abuses in the Church of Rome with a more serious eye than before they did the Canonists being no less nice in the point of practice than were the Schoolmen and the rest exorbitant in the point of Doctrine Whose Niceties especially in matter of restraint we have most fully represented to us by Tostatus In Exod. 12. one that had run through all the parts of Learning at that time on foot and was as well studied in the Canon as in the Schools He then determineth of it thus Itinerando pro negotiis peccatum esse mortale c. Qu. 25. He that doth travel on the Holy days for in that general Name the Lords day and the other Festivals are comprehended about worldly business commits mortal sin as also if he Trade or Traffick in the place wherein he liveth But this hath two exceptions or reservations First if the business by him done be but small and light quae quietem Sabbati non impediunt such as are no great hinderance to the Sabbaths rest and secondly nisi hoc sit in causa pia unless it were on some devout and pious purpose To read unto or teach a man to deal in actions of the Law or determine Suits Qu. 26. or to cast Accounts si quis doceret ut lucretur if it be done for hire or for present gain become servile works and are forbidden Otherwise if one do it gratis Qu. 27. If a Musitian wait upon a Gentleman to recreate his mind with Musick and that they are agreed on a certain wages or that he be hired only for a present turn he sins in case he play or sing unto him on the Holy days but not if his reward be doubtful Qu. 28. and depends only upon the bounty of the parties who enjoy his Musick A Cook that on the Holy days is hired to make a Feast or to dress a Dinner doth commit mortal sin sed non pro toto mense aut anno but not if he be hired by the month or by the year Meat may be dressed upon the Lords day or the other Holy days Qu. 29. but to wash Dishes on those days was esteemed unlawful differri in diem alteram Qu. 32. and was to be deferred till another day Lawyers that do their Clients business for their wonted see were not to draw their Bills or frame their Answers or peruse their Evidences on the Holy days Secus si causam agerent pro miserabilibus personis c. but it was otherwise if they dealt for poor indigent people such as did sue in forma pauperis as we call it or in the causes of a Church or Hospital in which the Popes had pleased to grant a Dispensation A man that travelled on the Holy days Qu. 34. to any special shrine or Saint did commit no sin Si autem in redeundo peccatum est mortale but if he did the like in his coming back he then sinned mortally Qu. 35. In any place where formerly it had been the custom neither to draw Water nor to sweep the House but to have those things ready on the day before the custom was to be observed where no such custom is there they may be done Actions of a long continuance if they were delightful or if one played three or four hours together on a Musical Instrument were not unlawful on the Holy days yet possibly they might be sinful at si quis hoc ageret ex lascivia as if one played only out of wantonness Qu. 36. or otherwise were so intent upon his Musick that he went not to Mass Artificers which work on the Holy days for their own profit only are in mortal sin unless the work be very small quia modicum non facit solennitatem dissolvi because a little thing dishonours not the Festival De minimis non curat lex as our saying is Contrary Butchers Vintners Bakers Coster-mongers sinned not in selling their Commodities because more profit doth redound to the Common wealth which cannot be without such commodities than to them that sell yet this extended not to Drapers Shoomakers or the like because there is not such a present necessity for cloaths as meat Yet where the custom was that Butchers did not sell on the Holy days but specially not upon the Lords day that commendable custom was to be observed though in those places also it was permitted to the Butcher that on those days at some convenient times thereof he might make ready what was to be sold on the morrow after as kill and skin his Bestial which were fit for sale in case he could not do it with so much convenience non ita congrue at another time Qu. 37. To write out or transcribe a Book though for a mans own private use was esteemed unlawful except it were exceeding small because this put no difference between the Holy days and the other yet was it not unlawful neither in case the Argument were Spiritual nor for a Preacher to write out his Sermons or for a Student to provide his Lecture for the day following Windmils were suffered to be used on the Holy days Qu. 38. not Watermills because the first required less labour and attendance than the other did This is the reason in Tostatus though I can see no reason in it the passage of the Water being once let run being of more certainty and continuance than the changeable blowing of the Wind. But to proceed Qu. 39. Ferry-men were not to transport such men in their Boats or Wherries as did begin their Journey on an Holy day unless they went to Mass or on such occasions but such as had begun their Journey and now were in pursuit thereof might be ferried over quia forte carebunt victu because they may perhaps want Victuals if they do not pass Qu. 41. To repair Churches on the Lords day and the other Holy-days was accounted lawful in case the Workmen did it gratis and that the Church were poor not able to hire Workmen on the other days not if the Church were rich and in case to do it Qu. 42. So also to build Bridges repair the walls of Towns and Castles or other publick Edifices on those days was not held unlawfu si instent hostes in case the
the first time that ever these Sabbath Doctrines peeped into the light For Dr. Bound the first sworn servant of the Sabbath hath in his first edition thus declared himself Page 31. that he sees not where the Lord hath given any authority to his Church ordinarily and perpetually to sanctifie any day except that which he hath sanctified himself and makes it an especial argument against the goodness of the Religion in the Church of Rome that to the seventh day they have joined so many other days Page 32. and made them equal with the seventh if not superiour thereunto as well in the solemnity of divine Offices as restraint from labour So that we may perceive by this that their intent from the beginning was to cry down the holy days as superstitious Popish Ordinances that so their new found Sabbath being placed alone and Sabbath now it must be called might become more eminent Nor were the other though more private effects thereof of less dangerous nature the people being so insnared with these new devices and pressed with rigours more than Jewish that certainly they are in as bad condition as were the Israelites of old when they were captivated and kept under by the Scribes and Pharisees Some I have known for in this point I will say nothing without good assurance who in a furious kind of zeal like the mad Prophetess in the Poet have run into the open streets yea and searched private Houses too to look for such as spent those hours on the Lords day in lawful pastimes which were not destinate by the Church to Gods publick service and having found them out scattered the company brake the Instruments and if my memory fail me not the Musitians head and which is more they thought that they were bound in conscience so to do Others that will not suffer either baked or roast to be made ready for their Dinners on their Sabbath day lest by so doing they should eat and drink their own damnation according to the doctrine preached unto them Some that upon the Sabbath will not sell a pint of Wine or the like Commodity though Wine was made by God not only for mans often infirmities but to make glad his heart and refresh his spirits and therefore no less requisite on the Lords day than on any other Others which have refused to carry provender to an Horse on the supposed Sabbath day though our Redeemer thought it no impiety on the true Sabbath day indeed to lead poor Cattel to the Water which was the motive and occasion of M. Brerewoods learned Treatise So for the female sex Maid-servants I have met with some two or three who though they were content to dress their meat upon the Sabbath yet by no means would be persuaded either to wash their Dishes or make clean their Kitchen But that which most of all affects me is that a Gentlewoman at whose House I lay in Leicester the last Northern Progress Anno 1634. expressed a great desire to see the King and Queen who were then both there And when I proferd her my service to satisfie that loyal longing she thanked me but refused the favour because it was the Sabbath day Unto so strange a bondage are the people brought that as before I said a greater never was imposed on the Jews themselves what time the consciences of that people were pinned most closely on the sleeves of the Scribes and Pharisees But to go forwards in my story it came to pass for all the care before remembred that having such a plausible and fair pretence as sanctifying a day unto the Lord and keeping a Commandment that had long been silenced it got strong footing in the Kingdom as before is said the rather because many things which were indeed strong avocations from Gods publick Service were as then permitted Therefore it pleased King James in the first entrance of his Reign so far to condescend unto them as to take off such things which seemed most offensive To which intent he signitied his loyal pleasure by Proclamation dated at Theobald May 7. 1603. that Whereas he had been informed that there had been in tormer times a greet neglect in keeping the Sabbath day for better obserbing of the same and for abeiding of all impious prophanarion of it be straitly charged and commanded that no Bear-baiting Bull baiting Enterludes common Plays or other like disordered or unlawful exercises or pastimes be frequented kept or used at any time hereafter upon any Sabbath day Not that his purpose was to debar himself of lawful pleasures on that day but to prohibit such disordered and unlawful pastimes whereby the common people were withdrawn from the Congregation they being only to be reckoned for Common Plays which at the instant of their Acting or representing are studied only for the entertainment of the common people on the publick Theaters Yet did not this though much content them And therefore in the Conference at Hampton Court it seemed good to D. Reynolds who had been made a party in the cause to touch upon the prophanation of the Sabbath for so he called it and contempt of his Majesties Proclamation made for the reforming of that abuse of which be earnestly desired a straiter course for reformation thereof to which he found a gentral and unanimous assent Nor was there an assent only and nothing done For presently in the following Convocation it pleased the Prelates there assembled to revive so much of the Queens Injunction before remembred as to them seemed fitting and to incorporate it into the Commons then agreed of only a little alteration to make it more agreeable to the present times being used therein That then they ordered in the Canon for due celebrution of Sundays and holp days Can. 13. viz. All manner of persons within the Church of England shall from beneeforth celebrote and heep the Lords day commonly called Sunday and other Holy days according to Gods holy will and pleasure and the Diders of the Church of England prescribed in that behalf i.e. in hearing the Word of God read and taught in pribate and publich Prapert in acknowledging their offences to God and amendment of the same in reconciling themselves charitably to their Neighbours where displeasure had been in offentimes receibing the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ using all godly and scber conversation The residue of the said Injunction touching work in Harvest it seemed fit unto them not to touch upon leaving the same to stand or fall by the statute of King Edward the sixth before remembred A Canon of an excellent composition For by enjoyning godly and sober conversation and diligent repair to Church to hear the Word of God and receive the Sacrament they stopped the course of that prophaneness which formerly had been complained of and by their ranking of the holy days in equal place and height with Sunday and limiting the celebration of the same unto the Orders in that case