Millaine he did not fast the Sabbath Nay which is more Saint Augustine tels us that many times in Africa one and the selfe Church Epiâ—t 85. at least the severall Churches in the self-â—ame Prouince had some that dined upon the Sabbath and some that fasted And in this difference it stood a long time together till in the end the Romane Church obtained the cause and Saturday became a fast almost through all the parts of the Western world I say the Westerne world and of that alone The Easterne Churches being so farre from altering their ancient custome that in the â—ixt Councell of Constantinople Anno 692 they did admonish those of Rome to forbeare fasting on that day upon pain of censures Which I have noted here in its proper place that we might know the better how the matter stood betweene the Lords Day and the Sabbath how hard a thing it was for one to get the mastery of the other both dayes being in themselues indifferent for sacred uses and holding by no other tenure then by the courtesie of the Church 4 Much of this kinde was that great conflict between the East and Westerne Churches about keeping Easter and much like conduced as it was maintained unto the honour of the Lords Day or neglect thereof The Passâ—over of the Iewes was changed in the Apostles times to the Feast of Easter the anniversary memoriall of our Saviours resurrection and not changed onely in their times but by their authoritie Certain it is that they observed it for Polycarpus kept it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both with Saint Iohn and with the rest of the Apostles as Irenaeus tels us in Eusebius History The like Polycrates affirmes of Saint Philip also Lib. 5. c. 26 whereof see Euseb. l. 5. c. 14. Nor was the difference which arose in the times succeeding about the Festivall it selfe but for the time wherein it was to be observed The Easterne Churches following the custome of Hierusalem kept it directly at the same time the Iewes did their Passeover and at Hierusalem they so kept it the Bishops there for fifteene severall iuccessions being of the Circuâ—cision the better to content the Iewes their brethren and to winne upon them But in the Churches of the West they did not celebrate this Feast decima quarta luna upoÌ„ what day soever it was as the others did but on some Sunday following after partly in honour of the day and partly â—o expresse some difference between Iewes and Christians A thing of great importance in the present case For the Christians of the East reflected not upon the Sunday in the Annuall returne of so great a Feast but kept it on the fourteenth day of the moneth be it what it will it may be very strongly gathered that they regarded not the Lords Day so highly which was the weekly memory of the resurrection as to preferre that day before any other in their publick meetings And thereupon Baronius pleads it very well that certainly Saint Iohn was not the Authour of the contrary practice as some gave it out Nam quaenam potuâ—t esse ratio Annal An. 159. c. For what saith he might be the reason why in the Revelation he should make mention of the Lords Day as a day of note and of good credit in the Church had it not got that name in reference to the resurrection And if it were thought fit by the Apostles to celebrate the weekly memory thereof upon the Sunday then to what purpose should they keepe the Anniversary on another day And so farre questionlesse we may joyne issue with the Cardinal that either Sunday is not meant in the Revelation or else Saint Iohn was not the Authour of keeping Easter with the Iewes on what day soever Rather we may conceive that Saint Iohn gave way unto the current of the times which in those places as is said were much intent upon the customes of the Iewes most of the Christians of those parts being Iewes originally 5 For the composing of this difference and bringing of the Church to an uniformity the Popes of Rome bestirred themselues â—o did many others also And first Pope Pius publisheth a declaration Com. Tom 1. Pasâ—ha domini die dominica annuis solennitatibus celebrandum esse that Easter was to be solemnized on the Lords day onely In Chronic. And â—here although I take the words of the letter directory yet I relie rather upon Eusâ—bius for the authority of the fact then on the Decretall it selfe which is neither the substance probable and the date starke false not to be tâ—usted there being no such Consuls it is Crabbes owne note as are there set downe But the Authoritie of Pope Pius did not reach so farre as th Asian Churches and therefore it produced an effect accordingly This was 159. and seven yeares after Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna a Reverend and an holy man made away to Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb hist l 14. c. 13. then to conferre with Anicetus then the Roman Prelate about this businesse And though one could not wooe the other to desert the cause yet they communicated together and so parted Friends But when that Blastus afterwards had made it necessary which before was arbitrary and taught it to be utterly unlawfull to hold this Feast at any other time then the Iewish Passâ—over becomming so the Authour of the Quartâ— decimani as they used to call them then did both Eleuthâ—rius publish a Decree that it was onely to be kept upon the Sunday and Irenaeus though otherwise a peaceable man write a Discourse entituled De schismate contra Blastum now not extant A little before this time this hapned Anno 1â—0 the controversie had tooke place in Laodicea L. 4. c. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Eusebius hath it which mooved Melito Bishop of Sardis a man of speciall eminence to write two Books de Paschate and one de die Dominico 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But to what side he took it is hard to say Were those discourses extant as they both are lost wee might no doubt finde much that would conduce to our present businesse Two yeares before the cloâ—e of this second century Euâ—eb l 5. c. 23 24. Pope Victor presuming probably on his name sends abroad his Mandatâ— touching the keeping of this Feast on the Lords Day onely against the which when as Polycratâ—s other Asian Prelates had set out their Manifests he presently without more ado declares them all for excommâ—â—icate But when this rather hindred then advanced the cause the Asian Bishops caring little for those Brut a sublumina and Irenaeus who held the same side with him having perswaded him to milder courses he went anotherway to work by practising with the Prelates of severall Churches to end the matter in particular Councels Of these was one held at Osroâ—na another by Bachyllus Bishop of Corinth a third in Gaâ—l by Irenaeus a fourth in
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But this perhaps was onely in respect of Lectures or Expositions of the Scriptures such as were often used in the greater Citties where there was much people and but little businesse for I conceive not that they met every day in these times to receive the Sacraments Of Wednesday and of Friday it is plaine they did not to say any thing of the Saturday till the next Section Epl. 289. S. Basil names them all together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 plaine termes that Whosoever eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood hath eternall life We notwithstanding doe communicate but foure times weekely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. on the Lords day the Wednesday the Friday and the Saturday unlesse on any other dayes the memory of some Martyr be perhaps observed Eâ—pos â—â—d â—ath 11. 22. Epiphanius goeth a little further and he deriveth the Wednesdayes and the Fridayes Service even from the Apostles ranking them in the same Antiquity and grounding them upon the same authority that he doth the Sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Onely it seemes the differencâ— was that whereas formerly it had beene the custome not to administer the Sacrament on these two dayes being both of them fasting dayes and so accounted long before untill towards evening It had beene changed of late and they did celebrate in the mornings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as on the Lords day was accustomed Whether the meetings on these dayes were of such antiquity as Epiphanius saith they were I will not meddle Certaine it is that they were very antient in the Church of God as may appeare by that of Origen and Tertullian before remembred So that if wee consider eyther the preaching of the word the ministration of the Sacraments or the publicke Prayers the Sunday in the Easterne Churches had no great prerogative above other dayes especially above the Wednesday and the Friday save that the meetings were more solemne and the concourse of people greater than at other times as it is most likely The footesteps of this antient custome are yet to be observed in this Church of England by which it is appointed that no Wednesdayes and Fridayes weekely Can. 25. though they be not holy dayes the Minister at the accustomed houres of Service sâ—all resort to Church and say the Letanie prescribed in the Booke of Common prayer 5 As for the Saturday that retained its wounted credit in the Easterne Church little inferiour to the Lords day if not plainely equall not as a Sabbath thinke 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 dayes to be observed as solemne Festivalls both of them to be dayes of rest that so the servant might have time to repaire unto the Church for his education Lib 8. c. 3◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Constitution Not that they should denote them wholy unto rest from labour but onely those seâ— times of both which were appointed for the meetings of the Congregation Yet this had an exception too the Saturday before Easter day Lib. 5 cap. 19. whereupon Christ rested in the Grave being exempt from these assemblies and destinated onely unto griefe 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 Cardinall confesseth à Graecis veteribus magni factos much made of by the ancient Graecians though not of such authoritie in the Church of Rome How their authoritie in this point is countenanced by Ignatius we have seene already and wee shall see the same more fully throughout all this Age. And first beginning with the Synod held in Laodicea Can 16. a towne of Phrygia Anno 314. there passed a Canon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 touching the reading of the Gospels with the other Scriptures upon the Saturday or Sabbath that in the time of Lent Canon 49. there should be no oblation made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but on the Saturday and the Lords day onely neither that any Festivall should be then observed in memory of any Martyrs Canon 51. but that their names onely should be commemorated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the Lords day and the Sabbaths Nor was this onely the particular will of those two and thirty Prelates that there assembled it was the practise too of the Alexandrians S. Athanasius Patriarch there affirmes that they assembled on the Sabbath dayes not that they were infected any whit with Iudaisius which was farre from them Hâ—miâ— de Semeâ—te but that they came together on the Sabbath day to worship Iesus Christ the Lord of the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Father hath it So for the Church of Millaine which as before I said in some certaine things followed the Churches of the East it seemes the Saturday was held in a farre esteeme and joyned together with the Sunday Crastino die Sabbato De Sacrament Lib 4. cap. 6. dominico de orationis ordine dicemus as S. Ambrose hath it And probablie his often mention of hesternus dies remembred in the former Section may have relation to the joynt observance of these two dayes and so may that which is reported then out of S. Chrysost. and S. Cyril Easterne Doctors both Hist. Eccles. Lib. 6. cap. 8. Sure I am Socrates counts both dayes for weekely Festivalls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and addes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that on them both the Congregation used to be assembled and the whole Liturgie performed Which plainely shewes that in the practise of those Churches they were both regarded both alike observed Gregory Nyssen speakes 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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Castâ—gâ—tione c. with what face saith the Father wilt thou looke upon the Lords day which hast dishonoured the Sabbath knowest thou not that these dayes are sisters and that who ever doth despise the one doth affront the other Sisters indeed and so accounted in those Churches not onely in regard of the publicke meetings but in this also that they were both exempt from the Lenten Fast of which more annon In the meane time we may remember how Saturday iâ— by S. Basil made one of those foure times whereon the Christians of those parts did assemble weekely to receive the Sacrament as before wee noted And finally it is sayd
all things are not expedient This is the generall tendry of the Roman Schooles that which is publickly avowed and made good amongst them And howsoever Petrus de Anchorana and Nicholas Abbat of Patermo two learned Canonists as also Angelus de Clavasio and Silvester de Prierats two as learned Casuists seeme to defend the institution of the Lords day to have its ground and warrant on divine authority yet did the generall current of the Schooles and of the Canonists also runne the other way And in that current still it holds the Iesuites and most learned men in the Church of Rome following the generall and received opinion of the Schoolemen whereof see Bellarm de cultu Sanct. l. 3. c. 11. Estius in 3. Sent. dist 37. Sect. 13. but specially Azorius in his Institut Moral part second cap. 2 who gives us an whole Catalogue of them which hold the Lords day to be founded onely on the authority of the Church Touching the other power the power of dispensation there is not any thing more certaine then that the Church both may and doth dispense with such as have therein offended against her Canons The Canons in themselves doe professe as much there being many casus reservati as before wee sayd expressed particularly in those Lawes and Constitutions which have beene made about the keeping of this day and the other festivalls wherein a dispensation lyeth if wee disobey them Many of these wee specified in the former Ages and some occurre in these whereof now we write Decretal .l. 2 tit de feriis cap. 5. It pleased Pope Gregory the ninth Anno 1228 to inhibit all contentious suites on the Lords day and the other festivalls and to inhibit them so farre that judgement given on any of them should be counted voyde Etiam consentientibus partibus although both parties were consenting Yet was it with this clause or reservation nisi vel necessitas urgeat vel pietas suadeat unlesse necessity inforced or piety perswaded that it should be done So in a Synod holden in Valladolit apud vallem Oleti in the parts of Spaine Anno 1322. Concil â—abinens de feriis a generall restraint was ratified that had beene formerly in force quod nullus in diebus dominicis festivis agros colere aâ—deat aut manualia artificia exercere praesumat that none should henceforth follow husbandry or exercise himself in mechanick trads upon the Lords day or the other holy dayes Yet was it with the same Proviso nisi urgente necessitate vel evidentis pietatis causa unlesse upon necessity or apparant piety or charity in each of which he might have licence from the Priest his owne Parish-Priest to attend his businesse Where still observe that the restraint was no lesse peremptory on the other holy dayes then on the Lords day 3 These holy dayes as they were named particularly in Pope Gregories decretall so was a perfect list made of them in the Synod of Lyons Anno 244. De consecrat distinct 3. c. 1 which being celebrated with a great concourse of people from all parts of Christendome the Canons and decrees thereof began forthwith to finde a generall admittance The holy dayes allowed of there were these that follow viz. the feast of Christs nativity â—aint Stephen S. Iohn the Evangelist the Innocents S. Silvester the Circumcision of our Lord the Epiphanie Easter together with the weeke precedent and the weeke succeeding the three dayes in Rogation weeke the day of Christs ascention Whitsunday with the two dayes after Iohn S. the Baptist the feasts of all the twelve Apostles all the festivities of our Lady S. Lawrence all the Lords dayes in the yearâ— S. Michael the Archangell All Saints S. Martins the Wakes or dedication of particular Churches together with the feasts of such topicall or locall Saints which some particular people had beene pleased to honour with a day particular amongst themselves On these and every one of them the people were restrained as before was sayd from many severall kinds of worke on paine of ecclesiasticall censures to be layd on them which did offend unlesse on some emergent causes either of charity or necessity they were dispensed with for so doing In other of the festivalls which had not yet attained to so great an height the Councell thought not â—it perhaps by reason of their numbers that men should be restrained from labour as neyther that they should be incouraged to it but left them to themselves to bestow those times as might stand best with their affaires and the Common wealth For so the Synod did determine Reliquis festivitatibus quae per annum Cunt non esse plebem cogendam ad feriandum sed nec prohibendam And in this state things stood a long time together there being none that proferd opposition in reference to these restraints from labour on the greater festivalls though some there were that thought the festivalls too many on which those burden of restraints had unadvisedly beene imposed on the common people Nicholas de Clemangis complained much as of some other abuses in the Church so of the multitude of holy dayes Ap. Hospin cap. 4. de fest Christi which had of late times beene brought into it And Pet. de Aliaco Cardinall of Cambray in a discourse by him exhibited to the Councell of Constance made publick suite unto the Fathers there assembled that there might a stop in that kind hereafter as also that excepting Sundayes and the greater festivalls liceret operari post auditum officium it might bee lawful for the people after the end of Divine Service to attend their businesses the poore especially having little time enough on the working dayes ad vite necessaria procuranda to get their livings But these were onely the expressions of well-wishing men The Popes were otherwise resolved and did not onely keepe the holy dayes which they found established in the same state in which they found them but added others daily as they saw occasion At last it came unto that passe by reason of that rigorous and exact kind of rest which by the Canon Law had beene fastned on them that both the Lords day and the other festivalls were accounted holy not in relation to the use made of them or to the holy actions done on them in the honour of God but in and of themselves considered they were avowed to bee vere alijs sanctiores truely and properly invested with a greater sanctity then the other dayes Bellarm. de cultu S. l. 3. c. 10. Yea so farre did they goe at last that it is publickly maintained in the Schooles of Rome non sublatam esse sed mutatam tantum in novo Testamento significatiâ—nâ—m discretionem dierum that the difference of dayes and times and the mysterious significations of the same which had before beene used in the Iewish Church was not abolished but onely changed in the Church of Christ. Aquinas did first leade this dance in
on those dayes was not held unlawfull si instent hostes in case the enemie bee at hand though otherwise not to be done where no danger was These are the speciall points observed and published by Tostatus And these I have the rather exactly noted partly that wee may see in what estate the Lords day and the other holy dayes were in the Church of Rome what time the reformation of religion was first â—et on foote but principally to let others see how neere they come in their new fancies and devises unto the nicetieâ— of those men whom they most abhorre 5 Thus stood it as before I sayd both for the doctrine and the practise till men began to looke into the errors and abuses in the Roman Church with a more serious eye than before they did and at first sight they found what little pleased them in this particular Their doctrine pleased them not in making one day holier than another not onely in relation to the use made of them but to a naturall and inherent holinessâ— wherewith they thought they were invested Nor did their practise please much more in that they had imposed so many burdens of restraint upon the consciences of Gods people and thereby made that day a punishment which was intended for the ease of the labouring man Against the doctrine of these men and the whole practise of that Church Calvin declares himselfe in his booke of Institutions And therewith taxeth those of Rome l. 2 cap. 8. p. 34. qui Iudaica opinione populum superioribus seculis imbuerunt who in the times before possessed the peoples mindes with so much Iudaisme that they had changed the day indeed as indishonour of the Iew but otherwise retained the former sanctity thereof which needes must bee saith he if there remaine with us as the Papists taught the same opinion of the mysteries and various significations of dayes and times which the Iewes once had And certainely saith hee we see what dangerous effects have followed on so false a doctrine those which adhere to their instructions having exceedingly out gone the Iewes crassa carnalique Sabbatismi superstitione in their grosse and carnall superstitions about the Sabbath Beza his Scholler and Acates sings the selfe same song In Apocal. 1. v. 10. that howsoever the assemblies of the Lords day were of Apostolicall and divine tradition sic tamen ut Iudaica cessatio ab omni opere non observaretur quoniam hoc plane fuisset judaismum non abolâ—re sed tantum quod ad diem attinet immutare yet so that there was no cessation from worke required as was observed among the Iewes For that saith he had not so much abolished Iudaisme as put it off and changed it to another day And then he addes that this cessation was first brought in by Constantine and afterwards confirmed with more and more restraints by the following Emperours by meanes of which it came to passe that that which first was done for a good intent viz. that men being free from their worldly businesses might wholely give themselves to hearing of the Word of God in merum Iudaismum degenerarit degenerated at the last into downe-right Iudaisme So for the Lutheran Churches Chemnitius chalengeth the Romanists of superstition quasi dominicae diei reliquis diebus festis per se peculiarâ—s quaedam insit sanctitas because they taught the people that the holy dayes considered onely in themselves had a native sanctitie And howsoever for his part hee thinke it requisite that men should be restrained from all such workes as may bee any hinderance unto the sanctifying of the day yet he accounts it but a part of the Iewish leaven nimis scrupulose diebus festis prohibere operas externas quae vel quando non impediunt publicum ministerium so scrupulously to prohibit such externall Actions which are at all no hindrance to Gods publicke service and mans Sabbath duties In Mat. 12. Bucer goes further yet and doth not onely call it a superstition but an apostasie from Christ to thinke that working on the Lords day in it selfe considered is a sinnefull thing Si existimetur operari in eo die per se esse peccatum superstitio gratiae Christi qui ab elementis mundi nos suo sanguine liberavit negatio est as his owne words are Then addes that he did very well approve of the Lords day meetings si eximatur è cordibus hominum opinio necessitatis if men were once dispossessed of these opinions that the day was necessary to be kept that it was holier in it selfe then the other dayes and that to worke upon that day in it selfe was sinnefull Lastly the Churches of the Switzers professe in their Confession that in the keeping of the Lords day they give not the least hint to any Iewish superstitions Neque enim alteram diem altera sanctiorem esse credimns Cap. 24. nec otium deo per se probari existimamus For neither as they sayd doe we conceive one day to be more holy than another or thinke that rest from labour in it selfe considered is any way pleasing unto God By which we plainely may perceive what is the judgement of Protestant Churches in the present point 6 Indeede it is not to be thought that they could otherwise resolve and determine of it considering what their doctrine is of the day it selfe how different they make it from a Sabbath day which doctrine that wee may perceive with the greater ease we will consider it in three propositions in which most agree 1. That the keeping holy one day of seven is not the Morall part of the fourth Commandement or to be reckoned as a part of the law of â—ature 2. That the Lords day is not founded on Divine Commandement but onely on the authority of the Church and 3. That the Church hath still authority to change the day and to transferre it to some other First for the first it seemes that some of Rome considering the restraints before remembred and the new doctrine thence arising about the naturall and inherent holinesse which one day had above another had altered what was formerly delivered amongst the Schoolemen and made the keeping of one day in seven to bee the Morall part of the fourth Commandement This Calvin chargeth them withall that they had taught the people in the former times In stit l. 2. cap. 8. 11. 34. that whatsoever was ceremoniall in the fourth Commandement which was the keeping of the Iewes seventh day had beene long since abrogated remanere vero quod morale est nempe unius diei observationem in hebdomade but that the morall part thereof which was the keeping of one day in seven did continue still With what else is it as before was sayd then in dishonour of the Iewes to change the day and to affixe as great a sanctity thereunto as the Iewes ever did And for his owne part he professeth that howsoever he approved of the Lords
And here to take things as they lie in order we must beginne with a narration concerning Westminster which for the prettinesse of the story I will here insert Sebert the first Christian King of the East Saxons having built that Church unto the honour of God and memory of Saint Peter Adredus de Geâ—â—is Edwardi invited Mellitus Bishop of London on a day appointed unto the consecration of it The night before S. Peter comming to the further side crosseth the ferrie goes into the Church and with a great deale of celestiall musick lights and company performes that office for the dispatch of which Mellitus had beene invited This done and being wafted backe to the further side hee gives the ferri-man for his fare a good draught of fishes onely commanding him to carry one of them which was the best for price and beauty for a present from him to Mellitus in testimony that the worke was done to his hand already Then telling who hee was hee addes that hee and his posterity the whole race of fishermen should bee long after stored with that kinde of fish tantum ne ultra piscari audeatis in die Dominica provided alwayes that they fished no more upon the Sunday Aldredus so reports the stâ—ry And though it might be true as unto the times wherein hee lived which was in the declining of the twelfth Century that fishing on the Lords day was restrained by Law yet sure hee placed this story ill in giving this injunction from Saint Peter in those early dayes when such restraints were hardly setled if in a Church new planted they had yet beene spoke of Leaving this therefore as a fable let us next looke on Beda what hee hath left us of this day in reference to our Ancestors of the Saxons â—â—â—ce and many things wee finde in him worth our observation Before wee shewed you how the Sunday was esteemed a festivall that it was judged hereticall to hold fasts thereon This ordinance came in amongst us with the faith it selfe Hist. l. 3. c. 23. S. Chadd having a place designed him by King Oswald to erect a monastery did presently retire unto it in the time of Lent In all which time Dominica excepta the Lords day excepted hee fasted constantly till the evening as the story tells us The like is told of Adamannus one of the monastery of Coldingham now in Scotland Hist. l. 4. c. 25. but then accounted part of the Kingdome of Northumberland that hee did live in such a strict and abstemious manner ut nil unquam cibi vel potus excepta die Dominica quinta Sabbati percipereâ— that hee did never eate nor drinke but on the Sunday and Thursday onely This Adamannus lived in Anno 690. Before wee shewed you with what profit musicke had beene brought into the Church of God and hither it was brought it seemes Eccl. hist. l. 2. c. 20. with the first preaching of the Gospell Beda relates it of Paulinus that when hee was made Bishop of Rochester which was in An. 631 he left behind him in the North one Iames a Deacon cantandi in Ecclesia peritissimuÌ„ a man exceeding perfect in Church musicke who taught them there that forme of singing divine service which hee learnt in Canterbury And after in the yeere 668 what time Archbishop Theodorus made his Metropoliticall visitation the Art of singing service which was then onely used in Kent for in the North it had not beene so setled but that it was againe forgotten was generally taken up over all the Kingdome â—ib 4. c. 2. Sonos cantandi in Ecclesia quos catenus in Cantia tantum noverant ab hoc tempore per omnes Anglorum Ecclesias discere coeperunt as that Author hath it Before wee shewed how Pope Vitalianus anno 653. added the Organ to that vocall musicke which was before in use in the Church of Christ. In lesse then 30 yeeres after and namely in the yeere 679. were they introduced by Pope Agatho into the Churches of the English and have continued in the same well neerâ— 1000 yeeres without interruption Before wee shewed you how some of the greater festivalls were in esteeme before the Sunday and that it was so even in the primitive times And so it also was in the primitive times of this Church of England Bed Eccl. hist. l. 4. c. 19. it being told us of Queene Etheldreda that after shee had put her selfe into a monastery she never went unto the Bathes praeter imminentibus solenniis majoribus but on the approach of the greater festivalls such as were Easter Pentecost and Christmasse for so I thinke hee meanes there by Epiphaniâ— as also that unlesse it were on the greater festivalls she did not use to eat above once a day This plainely shewes that Sunday was not reckoned for a greater festivall that other dayes were in opinion esteeme above it and makes it evident withall that they conceived not that the keeping of the Lâ—rds day was to be accouÌ„ted as a part of the law of naturâ— or introduced into the Church by divine authority but by the same authority that the others were For Lawes in these times made Ap. Lambert â—â—chaiâ—n wee meete with none but those of Ina a West-Saxon King who entred on his reigne anno 712 A Prince exceedingly devoted to the Church of Rome and therefore apt inough to embrace any thing which was there concluded By him it was enacted in this forme that followeth Servus si quid operis patrarit die Dominico ex praecepto Domini sui liber esto c. If a servant worke on the Lords day by the appointment of his master hee was to be set free and his master was to forfeit 30 shillings but if hee worked without such order from his master to bee whipped or mulcted Liber si hoc die operetur injussu Domini sui c. So if a free-man worked that day without direction from his master hee either was to bee made a Bond-man or pay 60 shillings As for the doctrine of these times wee may best judge of that by Beda In Luc. 19. First for the Sabbath that hee tells us ad Mosis usque tempora caeterorum dierum similis erat was meerely like the other dayes untill Moses time no difference at all betweene them therefore not institute and observed in the beginning of the world as some teach us now Next for the Lords day that hee makes an Apostolicall sanction onely no divine commandement as before wee noted and how farre Apostolicall sanctions binde wee may cleerely see by that which they determined in the Councell of Hierusalem Of these two specialties wee have spoke already 3 This is the most wee finde in the Saxon Heptarchie and little more then this we finde in the Saxon Monarchie In this wee meete with Alured first Lamber Archaion the first that brought this Realme in order who in his lawes cap. de diebus festis
Sabbath speculations teaching that that day onely was of Gods appointment and all the rest observed in the Church of England a remnant of the will-worship in the Church of Rome the other holy dayes in this Church established were so shrewdly shaken that till this day they are not well recovered of the blow then given Nor came this on the by or besides their purpose but as a thing that specially was intended from the first beginning from the first time that ever these Sabbath doctrines peeped into the light For Doctor Bound the first sworne servant of the Sabbath hath in his first edition thus declared himselfe P. 31. that hee sees not where the Lord hath given any authority to his Church ordinarily and perpetually to sanctifie any day except that which hee hath sanctified himselfe and makes it an especiall argument against the goodnesse of the religion in the Church of Rome P. 32. that to the seventh day they have ioyned so many other dayes and made them equall with the seventh if not superiour thereunto as well in the solemnity of divine offices as restraint from labour So that wee may perceive by this that their intent from the beginning was to cry downe the holy dayes as superstitious Popish ordinances that so their new â—ound Sabbath being placed alone and Sabbath now it must bee called might become more eminent Nor were the other though more private effects thereof of lesse dangerous nature the people being so insnared with these new devises and pressed with rigours more than Iewish that certainely they are in as bad condition as were the Israelites of old when they were Captivated and kept under by the Scribes and Pharises Some I have knowne for in this point I will say nothing without good assurance who in a furious kinde of zeale like the madde Prophetesse in the Poet have runne into the open streetes yea and searched private houses too to looke for such as spent those houres on the Lords day in lawfull pastimes which were not destinate by the Church to Gods publicke service and having sound them out scattered the company brake the instruments and if my memory faile me not the musitians which is more they thought that they were bound in conscience so to doe Others that will not suffâ—r either baked or rost to be made ready for their dinners on their Sabbath day lest by so doing they should eate and drinke their owne damnation according to the doctrine preached unto them Some that upon the Sabbath will not sell a pint of wine or the like Commoditie though wine was made by God not onely for mans often infirmities but to make glad his heart and refresh his spirits and therefore no lesse requisite on the Lords day then on any other Others which have refused to carrie provender to an horse on the supposed Sabbath day though our Redeemer thought it no impietie on the true Sabbath day indeed to leade poore Cattell 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 dresse their meate upon the Sabbath yet by no meanes would be perswaded either to wash their dishes or make cleane their kitchen But that which most of all affects mee is that a Gentlewoman at whose house I lay in Leicester the last Northerne Progresse Anno 1634. expressed a great desire to see the King and Queene who were then both there And when I proferd her my service to satisfie that loyall longing shee thanked mee 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 â—ewes themselves what time the consciences of that people were pinned most closely on the sleeves of the Scribes and Pharises 9 But to goe forwards in my storie it came to passe for all the care before remembred that having such a plausible and faire pretence as sanctifying a day unto the Lord and keeping a Commandement that had long beene silenced it got strong footing in the Kingdome as before is said the rather because many things which were indeed strong avocations from Gods publicke service were as then permitted Therefore it pleased King Iames in the first entrance of his reigne so farre to condescend unto them as to take off such things which seemed most offensive To which intent hee signified his royall pleasure by Proclamation dated at Theoâ—alds May 7. 160â— that Whereas he had béen informed that there had béen in former times a great neglect in kéeping the Sabbath day for better observing of the same and for avoyding of all impious prophanation of it he straitely charged and commanded that no Beare-baiting Bull-baiting enterludes common playes or other like disordered or unlawfull exercises or pastimes bee frequented kept or used at any time hereafter upon any Sabbath day Not that his purpose was to debarre himselfe of lawfull pleasures on that day but to prohibit such disordered and unlawfull pastimes whereby the Common people were withdrawne from the congregation they being onely to bee reckoned for Common playes which at the instant of their Acting or representing are studyed onely for the entertainment of the Common people on the publicke 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 beene made a partie in the cause to touch upon the prophanation of the Sabbath for so hee called it and contempt of his Majesties proclamation made for the reforming of that abuse of which hee earnestly desired a straiter course for reformation thereof to which hee found a generall 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 Queenes Injunction before remembred as to them seemed fitting and to incorporate it into the Câ—nons then agreed of onely a little alteration to make it more agreeable to the present times being used therein Thus then they ordered in the Canon for due celebration of Sundayes and holy dayes viz. Caâ— 13. All manner of persons within the Church of England shall from henceforth celebrate and kéepe the Lords day commonly called Sunday and other holy dayes according to Gods holy will and pleasure and the orders of the Church of England prescribed in that behalfe i. e. in hearing the word of God reade and taught in private and publicke prayers in acknowledging their offenses to God and amendment of the same in reconciling themselves charitably to their neighbours where displeasure had beene in oftentimes receiving the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ using all godly and sober conversation The residue of the said injunction touching worke in harvest it seemed fit unto them not to touch upon leaving the same to