A Threefold Treatise of the Sabbath, Chapter 22
CHAP. XXII. What Popes, the Canon Law, Archbiſhops, Biſhops, and other learned men, have ſaid concerning the hallowing of this day.
1 Popes.
POpe Alexander the third ſaith that both the old and new Teſtament depute the ſeventh day unto reſt. Pope Gregory the ninth commanded a reſtraint from labour both of man and beaſt. In Pope Eugenius his time the Princes and Prelates (as Doctor Heylin confeſſeth) did agree together to raiſe the Lords day to as high a pitch as they fairely might, and a Canon was made by that Pope in a Synod at Rome 800 yeares agoe to forbid buſineſſes and works of labour, criminall cauſes and vaine ſports on the Lords day, and other Feſtivalls. Pope Gregory in Epiſt. 3. lib. 11. held it not lawfull for any to See Ioſ. Bentham his ſociety of Sects, pag. 154. citing Leo the firſt, and Leo the third, their decrees for carefull obſervation of the Lords day.bath themſelves out of luxury and pleaſure on the Lords day, but that wee ſhould reſt from our earthly labours, and by all meanes abide in prayers, &c.
By the Canon Law grinding hath beene inhibited, and by the ſame Lawes travelling hath beene forbidden, and counted a mortall ſinne: See at large Doctor Heylin out of Toſtatus, the ſtrictneſſe of the obſervation of the Lords day and holy dayes; let me adde one thing out of Summa Angel. tit. interrogationes in confeſſione: The Prieſts did ask the confitents as a ſinne, whether they had uſed paſtimes and dancings on the Lords day. Our Linwood the Canoniſt de Conſecr. Diſt. 3. ca. Jemina ſaith, Die Dominico nihil aliud agendum, niſi Deo vacandum, nulla operatio in illa die ſancta agatur, niſi tantum Hymnis, & Pſalmis, & Canticis ſpiritualibus dies illa tranſigatur.
2 Archbiſhops and Biſhops.
ARchbiſhop Iſlips with the aſſent and counſell of the Prelates aſſembled in a Synod 1349, decreed that there ſhould bee a generall reſtraint from all manner of ſervile work, and that the Sunday ſhould begin at the Saturday at Evening. Cuthbert Archbiſhop Daroberniae in a Synod Anno 747 with the reſt, decreed that the Lords day ſhould bee celebrated with the reverence moſt meet, and to be dedicated only to the ſervice of God. Our laſt Archbiſhop Doctor Abbot ſo honoured the Lords day, as he by his Chaplains licenſed divers Treatiſes for obſervation of the Lords day; and when a Miniſter preſented him with a book to bee licenſed, which was made for liberty on that day, he took it of him, and before his face burnt it in the fire.
For Biſhops, S. Ambroſe telleth us, it is well knowne, ſaith he, how carefully the Biſhops doe reſtraine all toying, light, and filthy Dances, if at other times, then on the Lords day. Biſhop Babington on Exod. 16. ſaith, that Drinkings, Dances, Wakes, Wantonneſſe, Beare-baiting, and Bull-baiting were wicked prophanation of the Lords day. Biſhop Downham on the Commandements ſaith, They that keep the day for idle reſt, make it Sabbatum Boum or Aſinorum: They that defile it with drunkenneſſe and the like, make it Sabbatum Diaboli: and they that prophane it with ſports, make it Sabbatum aurei vituli: Biſhop Hooper, that Godly Martyr On the ten Commandements.ſaith, The Lord ſanctified the Sabbath day, not that wee ſhould give our ſelves to illneſſe, or to ſuch Ethnicall paſtimes, as is now uſed amongſt Ethnicall people, &c. Biſhop Bayly in his Practice of Piety ſaith, We are this day to abſtaine from the works of our callings, carrying burdens, Faires, and Markets, ſtudying any Book but Scripture and Divinity, all recreations and ſports, groſſe feeding, liberall drinking, and talking about worldly things: Biſhop White hath uttered an Againſt Brab.holy ſpeech, who ſaith, that all kinde of recreations which are of evill quality in reſpect of their object, or, are attended with evill and vicious circumſtances, are unlawfull, and if uſed on the Lords day, are ſacrilegious; for they rob God of his honour, to whoſe worſhip and ſervice the holy day is devoted, and they defile the ſoules of men, for the clenſing and edifying whereof the holy day is appointed
3. Learned Divines.
NIcho. de Clemangiis de novis celebritatibus, non inſtituendis, tells us, that eſpecially the Lords day and ſolemne Feſtivalls ſhould be wholy and onelyonly conſecrated to more ſpeciall worſhip and ſpent in duties of Devotion, in lauding and bleſſing him for his more ſpeciall favours: Doctor Pocklington In his Serm: pag. 13.hath a right ſpeech (howſoever it be that a little after he varieth) ſaying, If the firſt day of the week be the Lords day, (as he in another place yeelds it) we muſt look to do the Lords work on it, and not trench upon him by doing our own worke thereon: yea, he cyteth Saint Auguſtine for this, Page 5.that men ſhould leave all worldly buſineſſes on Saints dayes, Et maximè Diebus Dominicis, especially on the Lords dayes that they betake themſelves wholly to the Lords ſervice. Reverend Hooker ſaith, that the voluntary ſcandalous contempt In Eccl. Pol. ca. 5. pag. 385.of the reſt from labour wherewith God is publickly ſerved, wee cannot too ſeverely correct and bridle: Maſter Dow teacheth a ceſſation from ordinary labours, and holds them In his d…ſcourſe of the Sab. pag. 28.unlawfull on this day, as they hinder a man from applying himſelfe to divine duties, and therein are contrary to the divine precept and the morality thereof. He requireth firſt, A morning preparation in private. Secondly, Warneth men that they doe not by improvidence, or negligence, or forgetfulneſſe draw upon themſelves a neceſſity to omit or hinder the dutyes to which this day is conſecrated. Thirdly, that the hindrances and our defects bee ſupplied by private Devotions and Meditations. Fourthly, that it is good and commendable to ſpend the reſt of the day in holy meditations, private prayer, reading, and calling to minde what we have read or heard. Vincentius Bellovecenſis and Bellarmine have condemned Specul. morale lib. 3. Concio 6. de Dominic. 3. advent.Stage-playes, Enterludes, Maſques, mixt-Dancing, which they call laſcivious, to be eſpecially on the Lords day moſt execrable. Alex. Fabricius in his deſtructorium vitiorum pars 4 ſaith, That the Sabbath by dancing is prophaned. So did the godly Albigenſes and Waldenſes, who alſo in a ſhort In the Hiſtory of the Walden. part. 3. b. 2.Catechiſme upon the Commandments would have the Chriſtians keep the Sabbath in ceaſing from worldly labours, from ſinne, and idleneſſe, and to doe things as might be for the good and benefit of their ſoules.
It were tedious to recite the learned in the later times, teaching the holy obſervation of this our Lords day: I will Sect. 16. cap. 24.end only with the harmonie of Confeſſions, where it is ſaid, that the Lords day ever ſince the Apoſtles time was conſecrated to religious exerciſes and unto holy rest.