to bee kept holy and Markets may bee kept upon the other And in Sir Edward Coke his first part of the Institutes of Litleton resolving what day is not dies Juridicus he saith In e Sir Edward Coke in that first part of his Institutes lib. 12. c. 11. Sect. 2. of Villenage pag. 135. calleth it â—oure times the Sabbath day in this page all the foure termes the Sabbath day is not dies Juridicus for that ought to be consecrated to divine service and in his Reports in the case of the Citie of London it is said f Le jour de Sabaoth so it is written for Sabbath solemnit Except Cokes reports part 8. p. 127. a. That every day in the week is a Market day the Sabbath day by which is understood the Lords day onely excepted And in Machellies case who being arrested on the Sunday slew the Sergeant it was objected against the Sergeant g Le jour de soleile est le Sabbath Idem Ib. part 9. p. 66. that Sunday was the Sabbath day and answer made that no judiciall act may be done that day but ministeriall may In this instance is both the word Sunday and Sabbath for the same day And those two and a third are all of them by an eminent h Sir Jo. Finch in his first book of the Law cap. 3. p. 7. Lawyer it is Sir John Finch in one side of a lease indifferently used for the day wee Christians celebrate and another bird of the same golden feather Master Henry Finch in his Nomotechnia shewing besides the lawfull use of the name Sabbath for the Lords day the separation of it from secular affaires i Si le jour del returne vel si le primer ou darraine jour del terme hap sur le Sabaoth jour donque se jour procheine en suaul server en lin de ceo So Master Hen. Finch in fol. 52. in which edition the figures are mis-reckoned for on that lease is set num 58. which commeth twice but the former should be 52. as I have cited it saith If the day of returne or the first or last day of the terme happen upon the Sabbath day by which must needs bee understood the Lords day then the day next ensuing shall serve or bee kept in stead thereof for the beginning of the terme or day of returne Now to answer to the objection taken from the Acts of Parliament I say First That in the k M. Pultons Abridgement fol. 134. p. b. Parliament of the 19. of Queen Elisabeth cap. 13. which is of Hats and Caps the name Sabbath is used for the Lords day Secondly For the Act fore-cited concerning the observation of the day wee Christians keepe giving it the name of Lords day or Sunday not of Sabbath I answer That I have heard a ″ M. Ed. Whitby late Recorder of Chester Parliament man of eminent note in his time say that the bill was penned and passed in the Commons House in the name of the Sabbath day and I have read that when an Act was made for reformation of abuse by profanation of the Sabbath l In a MS. of Doct. Twisse concerning the Sabbath Doct. Lake Bishop of Bath and Wells was somewhat eager to have it called by the name of Sabbath and it had not been the worse if that reverend Father had been allowed as a Godfather to give the name and title in the Statute Thirdly though some prime persons of the upper House thought it fit in the Act to make use rather of the word Sunday and Lords day then of the word Sabbath it doth not follow they disallowed or condemned the use of that word for they were not ignorant of his Majesties Proclamation and Briefes calling our weekly Holiday by the name Sabbath nor how the name and day were incorporated into our Communion Booke with a prayer at the end of the fourth Commandement for pardon of profanation past and for grace to shun the like in time to come nor that that Commandement as well as the rest was a part of the common Catechisme prescribed for the instruction of children before their confirmation Fourthly they might haply mention the day wee observe for a Sabbath by the name of Sunday because that name was used in the Statute of the 5. and 6. Stat. 5. 6. Ed. 6. c. 3. p. 133 of Edward the sixth wherein it was enacted that all Sundaies in the yeare should be kept holy and by the name Lords day because that is the name which S. John giveth it Revel 1.10 and which the Latine Church most used to distinguish it from the Saturday Sabbath and for the name Sabbath they might at that time forbeare it First because these two names chosen for these reasons were sufficient to make it well enough known unto all Secondly because the name Sabbath in the Communion Booke was like to bee upheld with so much honour and reputation so long as the fourth Commandement is a part of the Liturgy and Catechisme and both of them are in force and use that there was no such need to grace it with a particular mention in the Act as the other two titles yet if all three had been brought to a serious consultation for the choice and use of one above the rest the name Sabbath of right might have had the preheminence and so much I hope to manifest in the next Chapter CHAP. XXVI A comparison of the names Sabbath Lords day and Sunday with a resolution of the Question for the name Sabbath as the best and fittest to be the most usuall title of our weekly Holiday THough all the three names be lawfull enough and may each of them as just occasion requireth bee used without either sinne or scandall if there be not more fault in the mind of the speaker or hearer then in the words themselves yet since they are not all at such an equipoize for sense or acceptation but that there may be observed a preheminence among them which may incline the custome of speech to one more then to another thereafter as it is apprehended when the name is uttered or heard It will bee a matter of some use to observe the importance and prelation of these names so farre as to resolve which of them in our Church and age is most sit to become most common among us Names are of chiefe accompt for these seven particulars First for Antiquity secondly for Authority thirdly for Significancy fourthly for Facility to the speaker fifthly for Acceptability with the hearer sixthly for Frequency seventhly for Efficacy First if we compare them for Antiquity the name Sunday in the language of the world is more ancient then Lords day the name Lords day in the language of the Church a more ancient name then Sunday for we find the Lords day in Revelat. 1.10 about the 94. yeare after Christ but the first mention of Sunday as a Christian Holiday is
and Clemens Romanus yet there is no reason we should give up the proper title of the religious Rest of the fourth Commandement to a day which wee use neither for Rest nor for Religion Secondly If they held a mysticall conformity betwixt the Jewes Sabbath and a Christians holy conversation sufficient ground for bestowing the name Sabbath upon a spirituall rest from sin it must needs bee so much more warrantable to call the Lords day Sabbath as there is the more agreement betwixt it and the Jewish Sabbath now betwixt them there is an agreement much more then mysticall for whereas that mysticall Sabbath as the Bishop taketh it may bee every day in the weeke and all the dayes of mans life our solemne Sabbath commeth onely once every weeke as the Jewes Sabbath did In ours wee forbid and forbeare secular imployments so was it with the Jewes there was a cessation from such works with them that they might the better attend upon religious exercises and those principally publick and so it is with us Christians The reason of the Commandement drawne from Gods example in his proportion of working six dayes and resting on the seventh is exemplary to us as well as to the Jewes it belongeth to Christians to deale as equally with God in letting him have one day in seven for his honour who alloweth us sixe for one for our owne occasions as to the Jewes And for their end and use of the Sabbath which is a gratefull remembrance of their creation and the blessing of God upon their carefull and holy observation of it wee Christians are as much bound to the one and may hope for as much benefit by the other as the Jewes All which literall conformities considered betwixt their Sabbath and ours with reference to the letter of the fourth Commandement our Church taketh that Commandement wholly into her Liturgy and prayeth as after the other nine Lord have mercy upon us c. and therefore the distinction of literall and mysticall to say the least of it is impertinently applyed to preclude the title Sabbath in a literall sense from the day wee celebrate Bishop Whites second Exception touching the name Sabbath in the Homilies answered Secondly Against that which is propounded for the name Sabbath out of the Homilies of our Church hee saith f Exam. p. 37. It may be questioned in what sense the Homilie stileth Sunday the Sabbath whether in a proper and a literall sense according to the stile of the old Law or in a mysticall and analogicall sense as Christ is called our Passeover 1 Cor. 5.7 But a little after hee putteth the matter out of question by a peremptory resolution which is this The Lords day is not the literall Sabbath of the fourth Commandement and therefore in propriety of speech it cannot be called the Sabbath day expresly and in particular commanded in the Decalogue but the same is stiled by the Homily our Christian Sabbath in a mysticall and analogicall sense even as mortification is called circumcision g Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter Rom. 2.29 Rom. 2.29 sincerity truth are called unleavened bread 1 Cor. 8.5 This exception of his touching the name Sabbath taken out of our Homilies is obnoxious to so many exceptions that I wish rather some weak and worthlesse Adversary to our cause had made it then a man of so great learning gravity and authority as he was for whose sake I will deale as respectively in the returne of mine answer as I well may without betraying the truth and so first I say 1. That in saying That the Lords day is not expresly and in particular commanded in the fourth Commandement hee implyeth which h Bish White in his treat of the Sab. day p. 112 126 269. and in his examinat of the Decalog p. 46 52 63. marg 69. marg elsewhere hee expresly delivereth that the Jewes Sabbath which was Saturday is expresly and in particular there commanded which is not true in it selfe as I shall prove in handling the materiall points of that Commandement and being yet acknowledged by learned Christians doth gratifie the Jewes and prejudice our Christian Holiday so much that upon that ground Master Braburne set up the Saturday for a Sabbath and did what hee could to demolish the doctrine and observation of the Lords day and others have and many more may if that be granted incurre the like scandall It is not i April 26. 1636. long since a woman one Margaret Former examined before Sir John Lambe Doct. Turner and Doctor Somes disclaimed our Saviours Doctrine by the name of Ceremonies Rites and Sabbaths and professed to keep the Sabbath of the Lord of Hosts which said she is Saturday If shee had been examined why shee did so could shee have given a better answer then such a one as the Bishops examination of the Dialogue ministreth to the Reader viz. k Bish Thites examinat pag. 63. marg p. 69. marg That the fourth Commandement appointed a particular fixed day to wit Saturday The time commanded in the fourth Commandement is Saturday Who can desire a better warrant for any thing hee will say or doe then that and what is there to bee alledged for the Lords day which may preponderate such a proofe which yet is no proofe but against such as are so inconsiderate as to confesse that which the adversary cannot prove viz. that Saturday is particularly prescribed in the fourth Commandement Secondly the Commandement appointeth the proportion of one day in seven for sacred and solemne services of Religion which is as the Characteristicon to the Jewes Sabbath and the Christians which are the variations into which it is divided while neither of them is expresly and in particular there commanded so that to say the Jewes Sabbath is literall and the Christians onely mysticall is as if one should say that Homo signifieth literally a man but hominis homini and hominem note not a man literally but mystically Thirdly whereas hee saith the Homily useth the word Sabbath for the Lords day but in a mysticall and analogicall sense even as Mortification is called Circumcision c. There bee two particulars very faulty The one is his assertion the other his similitude 1. For his assertion l The Homily of the time place of praier pag. 164. edit 1582. That the Homily useth the name Sabbath but in a mysticall and analogicall sense the contrary is evident to any intelligent Reader of the Homily for such a one may out of it deduce these literall observations 1. That by the fourth Commandement Christians must have one standing day in a week for the exercises of Religion 2. That they must rest upon it after Gods example 3. That on that day lawfull workes must bee forborne 4. That yet they must not be idle but wholly give themselves to exercises of Gods true Religion and Service There bee other deductions
Perth an 1618. our Church of England hath a Canon for the Crosse after Baptisme and bowing at the name of Jesus many Reformed Churches have none for either of them and in England Cathedrall Churches differ from most others in the use of Copes Organs prick-song tunes and many other waies besides Of these with the rest of the differences we may say they are such as no necessity doth inforce yet will not Master Ironside I suppose be forward to charge the later Church in departing from the former nor the Reformed in dissenting from the Romish nor the English in differing from the Scottish Church nor Cathedralls in varying from other Churches for such particulars with schisme singularity or affectation Which I doe not mention with any mind to maintain any thing that is amisse in the different manner of Cathedralls from other Churches for I wish rather a reformation then a ratification of them as now they are but to give fit instance against Master Ironside his position Secondly I say and shall where it is requisite prove it that neither the Romish nor many of the Reformed Churches out of England are so Orthodox in the Doctrine of the Sabbath in particular for the explication of the fourth Commandement as they should be and as the Churches of England and Scotland are and it is no marvell if their dialect be like unto their Doctrine Thirdly it is too late to impute schisme singularity or affectation to the word Sabbath when the use of it is justified by such both reasons and authorities as have been produced and when not onely persons of chiefe preheminence so call it but that it is as well received into use by most as approved by the best as hath been observed Fourthly for the Reformed Churches the Waldenses who first separated themselves from the Church of Rome as the Whore of Babylon called the Lords day Sabbath and that so familiarly that nothing was more usuall among them as a learned h Doct. Twisse in a MS. of the Sabbath Doctor hath observed of them Fifthly wee must not accompt it schisme singularity and affectation to conforme rather to our brethren about us then to either brethren or adversaries that are separated from us Sixthly nor are wee more liable to exception of schisme singularity or affectation by using the word Sabbath for Lords day then by putting Sunday for it the most usuall name in our Service Booke which is as unwonted a word in the reformed Churches as the word Sabbath is and hath been i Pope Silvest See Polyd. Virg de invent rer lib. 5. c. 6. forbidden by the most Cathedrall Doctor of the Popish Church with more probability of reason then hath been urged by way of exception against the name Sabbath CHAP. XXV The objection taken from the Statute and language of Lawyers answered THere remaine yet two objections more and but two that I have read or can call to minde which are brought in by Master Broad a Mr. Broad his 3d. quest p. 22. marg in his printed book of three questions the one is That a Processe to appeare die Sabbati is meant and understood upon Saturday The other in b Mr. Brad his 2d. MS. p. 18. marg another book of his which is yet a MS. wherein saith hee the last Parliament may well bee thought to dislike the name Sabbath as to the Lords day for neither in the title of the Act which is for the keeping of the Lords day nor yet throughout the body thereof is this name used though the heathenish name Sunday be in both yea and though the Commandement read in the Church speaketh of sanctifying of the Sabbath Hee might have alledged two Acts of two Parliaments the one anno 1. of King Charles chap. 1. The other anno 3. ch 1. In the former whereof there is the name of Sunday in the title of the Act though not in the body of it as in the Statute anno 5. 6. of King Edward the sixth chap. 3. pag. 133. of the Stat. at large and the name Lords day once in the title and thrice in the body of the Act and in the later Act they are each of them named once in the title and once in the body of the Act but the name Sabbath not at all Whereto I answer first for the Processe concerning which I say First That such a Processe might be taken up when there were many Jewes and much Judaisme in the Land as in the reignes of many of our Popish Kings which gave occasion of warrant in contracts and bargaines against Jewes by especiall mention who kept a foot the name and observation of the old Sabbath and so it might bee then as in the dayes of ancient Fathers a word of distinction betwixt the Jewish and Christians holiday Or Secondly If not for that reason yet the use of the name in that sense having obtained such generall passage in the times precedent might bee a motive to the Lawyers to continue it though the reason which began it descended not so low as to their age as wee call an houre-glasse in Greek and Latin Clepsydra which signifieth the stealing away of water drop by drop from one bottle to another for at first it was made to measure time by water though now it bee made to run with sand only Thirdly Their Processe being Latine haply they made choice rather of that word which had in it some relish of Religion both among Jewes and ancient Christians and so hath the word Sabbath then of that which was for that language in a manner meerly heathenish to wit Saturday and though the word Sunday which is originally heathenish as wel as Saturday be used in our Church Liturgie yet we call the Lords day Sunday not from the Sunne in the Firmament but from the Sun of Righteousnesse Mal. 4.2 as hath been formerly observed the word Saturday is not capable of a signification so sacred and sutable to the person of our Saviour the Lord of the Sabbath Fourthly Though the Lawyers did in their Latin writs use the word Sabbath for Saturday yet they did neither forbid nor forbeare to use it of the Lords day in French and in English as in Fitzherberts natura Brevium it is said Pleas cannot be held upon Quindena Paschae c Que est le Sabot jour Fitzherb natur Brev. fol. 17. because it is the Sabbath day whereby not Saturday but Sunday or the Lords day must be meant for on the Saturday it was lawfull not onely to hold Pleas but to keepe Markets as Judge Fairfax in the Prior of Lantonies case resolveth viz. d Devant le Incarnation le Sabbadi suit le Sabat jour solenize mes ore est change per les eglise at jour demain c. the yeer book 12. of Ed. 4. b. That before the incarnation Saturday was the Sabbath day but since it is changed by the Church into the Lords day that day is