Sabbath for though the Law of Moses prohibited all manner of work to be done on that day under the penalty of Death to the Children of Israel which was Executed on the Man who gather'd Sticks on the Sabbath Day for the supply of his Necessities yet our Blessed Saviour who was the Lord of the Sabbath wholly abolished the Ceremonial part of this Law that being peculiarly appropriated to the Jewish Nation and continued the Moral part of it in its full Force Allowing both by his Example and by verbal Permission any work of Necessity or Charity to be done on that day Thus Scripture and Reason teach us and this likewise do the Laws of England permit though at the same time they are very strict against all those Profanations of the Lord's Day which proceed either from Mens Covetousness or their Licentiousness Thus all Carriers Waggoners Carters Wain-men and Drovers are prohibited to Travel with any Horse Waggons Carts or Cattell on the Lord's Day under the Penalty of forfeiting Twenty Shillings to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence shall be Committed All Butchers that Kill or Sell or cause to be Killed or Sold any Meat on the Lord's Day or are Privy or Consenting to such Slaughter or Sale forfeit in like manner Six Shillings and Eight Pence for every Offence The Offence must be proved before any one Justice of the Peace by the Oaths of two Witnesses or by the Confession of the Party unless the Fact were done in the View of a Justice of the Peace and then the Law requires no farther Proof The Offenders must be Prosecuted within six Months after the Offence is committed and the forfeitures are recoverable either by Distress and Sale of the Offender's Goods or by Bill Plaint or Information Prosecuted at the Quarter Sessions for the County And where any Parish shall rather chuse this last Method for recovering their Money you must be ready Gentlemen on your Parts as we shall be on Ours to give all possible incouragement to these Prosecutions unless they shall plainly appear to be Malicious Nor Gentlemen are these the only Profanations of the Lord's Day that our Laws take Cognizance of but by a Statute of a later Date All Persons that shall on the Lord's Day or any part thereof Sell or expose any thing to Sale shall forfeit the Goods so sold or exposed to Sale to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is Committed Thus also whosoever being of the Age of Fourteen Years or upwards shall on the Lord's Day or any part thereof exercise any worldy Labour Business or Work of his ordinary Calling shall in like manner forfeit for every Offence the summ of Five Shillings Thus all Drovers Horse-Coursers Waggoners Butchers Higlers or any of their Servants who shall Travel or come into their Inn on the Lord's Day or any part thereof shall in like manner forfeit for every Offence the summ of Twenty Shillings The Offences against this Act must be prosecuted within ten days after and the View of a Justice of the Peace the Oath of one Witness or the Confession of the Party Offending made before any one Justice of the Peace is a sufficient Proof And in Cafe as it may sometimes happen the Offender hath no Goods to be Distrained and Sold and is not able to pay these Forfeitures he is then to be set publickly in the Stocks by the space of two Hours And besides these Penalties this Statue exempts the Hundreds from answering the losses which may happen by Robbery to those who Travel on the Lord's day since such Journeys are not supposed to be undertaken out of necessity but choice Thus far our Laws restrain and punish those Profanations of the Lord's Day which a covetous desire of gain is apt to induce Men to Nor is the penal Prohibition of those Disorders which proceed from an Irreligious Licentiousness less severe For to the end that these Profanations of the Lord's Day and the ill Consequences attending them may be prevented our Laws strictly prohibit all Meetings and Assemblies of People out of their own Parishes and all concourse of them within their own Parishes for all unlawfull Sports and Pastimes under the Penalty of three Shillings and four Pence for every Offence to be forfeited to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence is committed the Penalty is leviable by Distress and Sale of the Offenders Goods and in default of sufficient Distress the Offender is to be set publickly in the Stocks by the space of three Hours The Prosecution must be within a Month after the Offence and the Oath of one Witness or the Confession of the Party before any Justice of the Peace or the View of any one Justice of the Peace is a sufficient proof to convict the Offender This was a good Law but yet too liable to many Evasions and Abuses therefore a farther provision hath since been made by a later Act That all Persons shall on every Lord's Day exercise the Duties of Piety and true Religion under the penalty of Five Shillings in like manner forfeited to the Poor of the Parish for every Offence which is to be Prosecuted within ten Days after and proveable as aforesaid by one Witness upon Oath and if the Offender be not able to satisfie the Penalty then he must be set Publickiy in the Stocks by the space of two Hours And nothing can exempt any Man from falling under the Censures of this Act but works of Necessity and Charity which as I observed before both Reason and Scripture allow of For Sports and Pastimes Revellings and Disorders are certainly inconsistent with the duty of the Day as Buying and Selling or exercising any Trade or Calling The fourth Immorality which our Laws endeavour to suppress is Drunkenness A Vice on which one of our Statutes fixes this infamous Character That it is Odious and Loathsom that it is the Root and Foundation of Blood-shed Stabbing Murther Swearing Fornication Adultery and such like enormous Sins to the dishonour of God and of our Nation the overthrow of many good Arts and Manual Trades the disabling of divers Workmen and the general Impoverishment of many good Subjects abusively wasting the good Creatures of God This charge though it may seem severe yet is it as our Experience informs us a very true and lively Description of the sad Consequences and Fatal Effects of this brutish Immorality Therefore for the repressing this Vice our Laws have provided a Punishment not only for the Drunkards but also for the Inn-keepers and Victuallers that Harbour Entertain and Encourage them For as the Preamble to one of the Statutes relating to this matter informs us The Ancient True and Principal use of Inns Ale-Houses and Victualling-Houses is for the Receit Relief and Lodging of Travellers and for supply of the wants of those who are not able to Buy in their Provisions of Meat and Drink by greater Quantities but
Oppression and Wrong which should be our greatest Security and Relief And yet this was done by a Prince to whom his Flatterers with a Folly and Impudence equalty egregious ascribed the Sacred Epithete of Just for whose return several unnatural Englishmen so ardently Pray though the certain Consequences of it must be the involving the Nation in Blood and the entailing upon us Popery and Slavery and giving a free inlet to all manner of Vice Profaneness and Immorality But Providence hath been so Mercifull as to reject these inconsiderate Petitions and to bless us with a continuance of the happiest Government that ever Nation enjoyed and the best Governours that ever swayed a Scepter whose Reign is as Glorious a Reverse to the last as Trajan's to Domitian's Constantine's to Dioclesian's that of our Virgin Queen to the Tyranny and Persecution of her Bloody Sister Under their present Majesties the Publick Perjury I have been speaking of is generously Discountenanced and when Discovered never fails of being punished as severely as our Laws will allow But however I am afraid in private Causes Perjury and Subornation do still too much prevail to the utter ruine of whole Families therefore for the preventing the deplorable Consequences of so great a Villainy and for the punishing all those that shall be convicted of it our Law declares that whosoever shall procure any Witness or Witnesses by Letters Rewards Promises or by any other Sinister means which the Law calls Subornation to commit willfull and corrupt Perjury in any Court or before any Judge of Record shall for every such Offence forfeit the Summ of Forty Pounds and for ever after be disabled from being admitted as a Witness in any Case whatsoever And as for the Person who is suborned or without Subornation perjures himself as aforesaid he forfeits the Summ of Twenty Pounds and is to suffer fix Months Imprisonment without Bail and to be for ever after discredited as a Witness One Moiety of Penalties on this Act belong to the King and Queen and the other is given to the Persons aggrieved as a small reprizal for the losses they sustain by the Perjury But in Case the Suborner be not able to pay the Forfeiture he is to be Imprisoned without Bail for six Months and to stand upon the Pillory And the Person who is Suborned or Perjured is in case of the like disability to have his Ears nailed to the Pillory Too small a Punishment for so flagitious a Crime and as our Experience shews us very insufficent to restrain the Practice of it while Petty Larcenies have a more infamous Brand set upon them and several small Robberies are punishable with Death the perjured Person and the Suborner after all the mischiefs he hath done pays but a small Fine out of his ill gotten Store suffers a short Imprisonment and a slight Disgrace and loses only what we cannot suppose he ever much valued his Reputation at least any farther than it may prove serviceable to his Villainous designs But till our Representatives shall think fit to provide a more effectual Remedy for this growing Evil I must particularly recommend it to you Gentlemen of the Jury and earnestly press you to put this Act in Execution as far as in you lies that is by Inquiring Presenting and Indicting all Persons who fall under the Censures of it For unless you do so as far as shall any ways come to your Knowledge you break your own Promissory Oath I mean the Solemn Appeal you lately made to the God of Truth who will not fail to avenge it on your Selves and your Families and also involve your selves in the dreadfull guilt of conniving at the Perjuries of others and of abetting all the Injuries and Oppressions that shall fall upon the Innocent and which might have been prevented by a Vigorous and timely Prosecution But Gentlemen I hope you do not think I mistrust your Integrity or your Diligence while I mind you of your Duty and use the most perswasive Arguments that occurr to press you to it especially in a Point so absolutely necessary as this is For Gentlemen you are to look upon all such Perjured Wretches not only as Robbers and Destroyers of private Persons and their Families but also as Traiterous Conspirators against Humane Society For what Methods can the Wisdom of Men invent for the ending of Strife and the decision of doubtfull Matters if the Sacred Obligation of Oaths to which even the Heathens had so tender a regard proves ineffectual for this Purpose And when Matters are come to this pass what can preserve the World from falling into Confusion What can hinder Mankind who are naturally so suspicious of one another from being reduced to that State of War in which a late Philosopher erroneously affirmed them to be originally Created but an immediate interposition of the Divine Providence For amongst all the Instruments of Ruine and Mischief that ever were devised none is of more pernicious Consequence to Humane Society than Perjury and Breach of Faith According to the Observation of the Wisest of Men. A false Witness against his Neighbour is a Maul and a Sword and a sharp Arrow a Pestilence that usually walketh in Darkness and a secret Stab and Blow against which many times there is no possibility of Defence The serious Consideration whereof made the Psalmist cry out with so great earnestness as God knows we also have at this day very much Reason to do Help Lord for the Righteous Man ceaseth and the Faithful fail from among the Children of Men. 3. The third Immorality which is to be corrected is the Profanation of the Lord's Day and this is as notorious a Breach of the Fourth Commandment as rash and vain Oaths and Curses are of the Third and as Perjury and Subornation are both of that and of the Ninth yet how generally this Sin also is practised I am ashamed to think Remember thou keep Holy the Sabbath Day were it not as it most certainly is a Divine Command yet it is one of the most prudent and usefull Constitutions that ever was made For to speak in the Words of an Eminent Prelate of our Church to the keeping up the Religion of this day we owe in a great measure that the very Face of Christianity hath hitherto been preserved among us And were it not for this for any thing I know most of us in a very few Years would become little better then Heathens and Barbarians And so great an Influence towards the making Men better or at least keeping them from growing worse hath this Practice always had that you may observe the most Profligate Men among us who for their Wickedness come to an untimely end do generally impute their falling into those Sins which caused their Death to their breaking the Sabbath as they commonly express it Thus far that Eminent Prelate 'T is true Gentlemen there is a wide difference between the Jewish and the Christian
which our Blessed Saviour's Birth was foretold and his extraordinary Qualifications described is this he shall be called The Prince of Peace When this Prophecy was fulfilled by our Saviour's Mysterious Incarnation the whole World was at Peace the Gates of the Temple of Janus which had so long stood open were then shut and when the joyfull Tidings of our Lord's Birth were Proclaimed by Angels to the Shepherds Men of an innocent Life and a meek and sedate Temper this Seraphick Hymn concluded the Gracious Message on which they came Glory to God in the Highest on earth Peace good will towards Men. How noble a Title does our Saviour in his first Sermon on the Mount bestow on the Peace Makers whom he not only declares Blessed but also promiseth that they shall be called the Children of God That God of Love and Peace who by the Gospel of Peace which his Eternal Son promulgated to the World hath made all Mankind capable of everlasting Salvation It would be vain presumptioh in me to enlarge any farther on the Blessings of this happy State whose praises have been so fully celebrated by the Voice of God and the Tongues of Angels and after all that can be said of the Strength the Beauty the Pleasure and all the other desirable Consequences of Peace Tranquility and Freedom for Peace is not to be wisht for when it wants those main ingredients in its composition the advantages and the delights of it are rather to be felt than express'd But as necessary as it is For the well being of Mankind and the cementing of Societies we must look upon it not only as the Reward but as the Natural Product of Justice which being a vertue whereby we are always ready to yield to every one their due how can that be called a state of Peace wherein God to whom as he is our Creator we owe the greatest Honour and Reverence is daily blasphemed and affronted by the Prophane and Licentious and wherein Mens reciprocal Duties to each other are so little regarded that Treasons and Murthers Robberies and Oppressions Frauds and Rapines and the worst sort of Rapine Extortion are daily committed with impunity This is no more a state of true Peace and well grounded security than a Lethargy is a state of bodily Health or a Conscience seered and stupified with the daily perpetration of the greatest Villainies is a state of Grace and Salvation But I hope it is not our misfortune to be in these Circumstances at a time when we are particularly order'd by their Majesties who are themselves admirable Examples of Piety and Vertue to see all our good Laws against Vice and Debauchery and all manner of disorderly and irregular Actions duly and impartially put in Execution Therefore that we may if it be possible see those days the Psalmist speaks of When Righteousness and Peace shall kiss each other I shall recommend to you Gentlemen of the Jury and to all others concerned in it to search and enquire after to present inform against and prosecute according to Law all Offenders against the Rules of Justice which as it relates to different Objects I shall distinguish under these two general Heads of Moral and Civil Justice Under the former is comprehended all Prophaneness Vice and Immorality and under the latter all Treasons Murthers Felonies and Breaches of the Publick Peace and all other Crimes which you are Sworn to inquire into and present according to the best of your Skill and Knowledge and I doubt not but you will acquit your selves of this your Duty with all Honesty Diligence and Impartiality remembring the Solemn Obligation you have laid upon your Souls and the strict account that you must at the last day give of your Actions before the great Tribunal Gentlemen The Offenders against Moral Justice are those who are guilty of profane Cursing and Swearing of Perjury and Subornation of the Profanation of the Lord's Day of Drunkenness Adultery Fornication and all other dissolute and disorderly Practices which do still abound in this Kingdom notwithstanding the many good Laws in force against these Crimes which Laws if they were duly and impartially Executed Vice and Debauchery would be much less Impudent Scandalous and Contagious than now they are and consequently the Guilt of National Impiety would not so loudly call for Vengeance Gentlemen we neither want good Laws nor due incouragement from our Superiors nor yet good Magistrates of the Higher Rank but the Constables Headboroughs and other under Officers have so little Religion or Honesty in them that their negligence in Informing and Prosecuting renders our pains as it were ineffectual for the promoting a general Reformation of Manners Therefore I must give it you particularly in Charge to make a strict enquiry into the Defaults and Neglects of all Petty Constables Headboroughs and Tythingmen in the Execution of their Office but more especially you are to enquire whether they have duly Executed the Order of the Quarter Sessions holden for this County at Kingston in October last Printed Copies whereof have been affixt to the Doors of Parish Churches and in other Publick Places that as the Officers of some particular Hundreds have been minded of this their Duty by a Monthly Petty Sessions kept for the same purpose by the Neighbouring Justices so the whole County should by this more Publick Act of the Quarter Sessions know that it is the unanimous Resolution of us all to do our Parts towards the punishing and repressing these Vices so justly hatefull to God and to all good Men. And Gentlemen let me once more tell you it is your Business to enquire into and make due presentment of the neglect or connivance of all Officers of Justice concerned in the Execution of these Laws for since we find by experience that they have so little regard either to the Glory of God the good of their Countrey or the performance of their own Oaths it is highly conducive both to their own good and to the better demeanour of their Successors that they fhould be made Publick Examples of and suffer Fine and Imprisonment as the Bench shall think fit Gentlemen I am sorry the prevailing Wickedness of the Age has made this digression of mine so necessary I shall now proceed to discourse farther to you on the several parts of Moral Justice and after I have represented to you the Nature of those Vices which are contrary to it and the Penalties our Laws annex to such Vices I shall just hint to you some weighty and indispensible Obligations which you as well as other Officers of Justice lie under diligently zealously and impartially to joyn in the promoting so good a Work And first Gentlemen the daily increase of profane Cursing and Swearing is a thing seriously and sadly to be considered Men are now grown so hardned and riveted in this Blasphemous Custom that one may justly wonder at the Mercifull forbearance of Almighty God in not punishing those