Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

a place of religious worship is solely a religious duty; and that, on the one hand, no service can be acceptable to God which is rendered only to avoid the penalties inflicted by human laws; and, on the other hand, that no human tribunal has any right to interfere between God and man, and to legislate on matters which are above and beyond all such legislation. The repeal of these statutes would therefore be important, if bigotry and intolerance were likely to venture to enforce them; but the genius of the age renders the repeal no further essential, than that all laws which are useless or improper should be forthwith rescinded.

These, however, appear to be the only statutes which are unnecessary or unwise. With regard to the remainder, however inefficient some of them may be in operation, all are correct in principle, though the penalty may be too trivial for the offence, or the mode of recovery may be dilatory and vexatious. As a contrast to the statutes just referred to, King James I. disgraced himself and his country by his "Book of Sports," in which he declared to his subjects, "That dancing, archery, leaping, vaulting, May-games, Whitsun-ales, and Morris-dancers were lawful;" and commanded "that no such honest mirth or recreation should be forbidden to his subjects on Sunday, after the evening service."

In the first year, however, of the reign of Charles I. chap. 1, such improper and indecent conduct was prohibited, and it was declared that every person indulging in any games should, for every of fence, either forfeit the sum of three shillings and fourpence, or be set publicly in the stocks for three hours. But the inadequacy of this penalty, and the negligence of the police, are at present so lamentable, that in many places, both in London and throughout the country, games of the most improper character are indulged in with impu

CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 248.

nity. To this fact especial attention should be paid,

In the third year of the reign of the same monarch a beneficial statute was passed, declaring, "that no carrier with any horse or horses, nor waggonmen with any waggon or waggons, nor carmen with any cart or carts, nor wainmen with any wain or wains, nor drovers with any cattle, shall, by themselves or any other, travel on the Lord's-day, on pain of twenty shillings; or if any butcher, by himself, or any other for him, with his privity and consent, shall kill or sell any victual on the Lord's-day, he shall forfeit six shillings and eightpence." But, notwithstanding this statute, and another on the same subject, no offences are more frequently committed than those just specified. Throughout the country, cattle are permitted to be driven; and in large towns, and especially in the metropolis, butchers now very generally open their shops on Sunday morning, and frequently during Divine service, to pursue their callings, and openly to violate the laws of God and their country.

These penalties were, however, limited to but a few descriptions of persons, till, by the 29th Charles II. c. 7, it was enacted, that" no drover, horsecourser, waggoner, butcher, higgler, or any of their servants, shall travel, or come into his inn or lodging, on the Lord'sday, or any part thereof, on pain of twenty shillings;" and in general, that "no tradesman, artificer, workman, labourer, or other person, shall do or exercise any worldly labour, business, or work of their ordinary callings, on the Lord's day (except works of necessity, and charity; and except dressing of meat in families, or dressing or selling of meat at inns, cook-shops, or victualling-houses, for such as cannot otherwise be provided:" and by the 9th Anne, c. 23, §. 20, except licensed hackney coachmen and chairmen within the bills of mortality), "on pain of every

3 S

offender above fourteen years of churchwardens, with laudable assi

age forfeiting five shillings: and
also, that no person shall publicly
cry, shew forth, or expose to sale,
any wares, merchandizes, fruit,
herbs, goods or chattels whatso-
ever, on the Lord's - day (except
crying and selling of milk before
nine in the morning, and after four
in the afternoon; and except mac-
karel, which may be sold on Sundays
before or after Divine service, by
the 10th and 11th William, c. 24,
§. 14), on pain of forfeiting the
same: and also, that no person
shall use, employ, or travel on the
Lord's-day, with any boat, wherry,
lighter, or barge (unless allowed by
a justice of peace, &c. on extraor-
dinary occasion; and except forty
watermen, who may ply on the
Thames on Sundays betwixt Vaux-
hall and Limehouse, by the 11th
and 12th William, c. 21, §. 13),
હૈં. on pain of five shillings: and if
any person offending in any of the
premises shall thereof be convicted,
in ten days after the offence, before
one justice, on view, or confession,
or oath of one witness, the justice
shall give warrant to the constables
or churchwardens to seize the
goods cried, shewed forth, or put
to sale, and to sell the same, and
to levy the other forfeitures by
distress, to the use of the poor,
except that the justice may, out of
the same, reward the informer with
any sum not exceeding one third
part; and for want of distress, the
offender shall be set publicly in the
stocks for two hours."

The penalties thus inflicted are very trivial, and are also difficult to be recovered. The Christian and surnames of the offending parfies must be ascertained; the person who actually buys must be specified; the money must be seen to pass; and various other formalities must be attended to, before five shillings can be recovered from a man whose profits on a Sunday morning are frequently perhaps five pounds, or even a larger sum.

In one parish in London, the

duity, repeated their exertions to recover the penalty in spite of all the difficulties which presented themselves, until at length, subdued by their energy and perseverance, the butchers requested that the beadle might attend on them every Monday morning for five shillings, which should be regularly paid, in order to save themselves the trouble of attending at a police office.

Another example of similarly flagrant conduct is also worthy of attention. In the parish of Covent Garden is held a market, and the fruiterers and green - grocers inbabiting it are pertinacious in their violation of the Sabbath. The churchwardens interfered; they experienced much trouble, and were put to considerable expense, before they could succeed against the legal objections made to the various forms of warrant, conviction, and distress. At length, when finally defeated, the offenders, like those just mentioned, directed that the beadle should call on them every Monday for the penalty of five shillings. The only possible method of preventing so shameful a breach of this wholesome statute, is by considerably increasing the penalty, and facilitating its recovery.

It remains for me to specify the Acts which have been passed explanatory of the last-mentioned statute.

By the 9th Anne, c. 23, §. 20, as has been already stated, licensed backney coachmen and chairmen, within the bills of mortality, are allowed to ply.

By the 10th and 11th William, c. 24, §. 14, as has also been stated, crying and selling milk, before, nine in the morning and after four in the afternoon, are permitted; and mackarel likewise may be sold before or after Divine service.

By the 34th Geo. III. c. 61, it was declared, that "no baker in the city of London, or within twelve miles thereof, should, on any pre

tence whatever, make, bake, or expose to sale, any bread or rolls; or bake any meat, puddings, pies, or tarts, or in any other manner exercise the trade of a baker, on the Lord's-day, on pain of forfeiting ten shillings, &c." In this act was however inserted a salutary proviso, that meat, puddings, or pies, might be baked between nine in the morning and one in the afternoon, so as the person requiring the baking thereof carry or send the same to and from the place where baked.

By 50th Geo. III. c. 73, further regulations as to the trade of a baker were imposed; but the penalties are, as usual, too small, and too difficult to be recovered. That act declares, that "no person exercising or employed in the trade of a baker beyond the city of London or the liberties thereof, or beyond the said ten miles of the Royal Exchange, shall, on the Lord's-day, or any part thereof, make or bake any bread or cake of any sort or kind; or shall, on any part of the said day, except between the hours of ten in the forenoon and half past one in the afternoon, on any pretence whatever, sell, or expose to sale, or suffer to be exposed to sale, any bread or cake of any sort or kind; or bake or deliver, or suffer to be baked or delivered, any meat, pudding, pie, or victuals, at any time after half past one in the afternoon of that day; or in any other manner exercise the trade of a baker, save and except so far as may be necessary in setting and superintending the sponge, to prepare the dough for the following day's baking; and that no meat, pudding, pie, &c., shall be brought 10, or taken from, any bakehouse during Divine service in the church of the parish or place where the same is situate, nor within a quarter of an hour of the commencement thereof." Conviction to be before one justice, on view, or oath of one witness, or on confession: penalty, for first offence, five shillings; for a second offence, not exceeding ten

shillings; and for every subsequent one, not exceeding fifteen shillings; with the costs and expenses of prosecution, to be assessed by the justice, &c.

By the 55th Geo. III. c. 99, it it is further provided, that no bakers within the bills of mortality, or ten miles of the Royal Exchange, shall bake bread or rolls on Sundays, nor sell bread nor bake meat, &c., except from nine till two, under the penalty of ten shillings for the first offence; twenty shillings for the second; and forty shillings for the third and every subsequent offence. This statute extends the time of delivering bakings till half past two o'clock; but, unfortunately, in London the time is often extended till five.

Notwithstanding the various statutes which have been thus recapitulated; and notwithstanding the 21st Geo. III. c. 49, which declares that no house, room, or other place, shall, on the Lord's day, be open for public entertainment, or for any debating societies; and notwithstanding the 13th Geo. III. c. 80, sec. 4, which prohibits killing game on that day, it is universally admitted, and by the wise and good it is deeply deplored, that the Lord's day is extensively and openly profaned. And what is the cause? It is very clear, that the true reason is a want of religious principle; and such a defect is only to be remedied by the preaching of the Gospel, the diffusion of knowledge, the circulation of the Scriptures, by Sunday-schools, and by the dispersion of religious tracts: all which means must receive the blessing of God before they can be rendered useful. But is it not in the mean time the duty of the religious public to endeavour to obtain the enactment of a law; not by which persons shall be compelled to assume the appearance of devotion, or to attend against their consciences, or even without their inclination, on Divine worship; but by which the tradesman, the artificer, the

shopkeeper, the stage-coach proprietor, and other public offenders, shall be prevented from setting the laws of their country at defiance, and from trading on a day which the dictates of humanity, the usage of ages, and the commands of God, require to be observed

as a season of abstinence from secular business, and of attention to those higher duties which, besides their spiritual and eternal importance, best fit men for encountering the fatigues and supporting the cares of this mortal life?

J. W.

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

The Evidence and Authority of Divine Revelation: being a View of the Testimony of the Law and the Prophets to the Messiah; with the Subsequent Testimonies. By ROBERT HALDANE. 2 vols. 'Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes. Price 12s.

THERE is scarcely any more formidable undertaking, of a literary kind, than that in which Mr. Haldane engaged when he entered on the work before us. Subjects connected with the evidences of Christianity have been discussed so frequently, and with so much ability, that it required considerable courage to undertake, and considerable powers to execute, a work of this nature;-a work which, besides having to pass through the ordeal of that criticism which is common to productions of every kind, would have also to stand the test of a comparison with what have long been considered as master-pieces in this line of writing. It is not our design to institute a comparison between Mr. Haldane and his predecessors; but thus much we may confidently affirm, because we are fully borne out in the statement by the work before us, that, in a deep sense of the importance of the subject; in extensive acquaintance with the best authors, both ancient and modern, whose information and reasonings it was important to collect, or whose errors and heresies it might be useful to expose and refute; in powers of discriminating be

[ocr errors]

tween genuine truth and its counterfeits, and of presenting his matter in a clear and convincing light;—in these qualifications for such an undertaking, (and unquestionably these are in the first class of qualifications,) Mr. Haldane has been surpassed by few of those who have gone before him.

It must indeed be acknowledged, that, after the labours of those commanding genuises who have directed their mighty powers to this subject, it would be idle to expect much of novelty, either in fact or argument or arrangement. Mr. Haldane lays claim to no merit of this kind. But his work possesses this excellence, that while it presents the various parts of the evidence of Christianity in such a light as to render the ultimate effect of it most impressive, it, at the same time, exhibits the most distinct view of the Gospel itself, as to its grand fundamental principles and doc. trines. In this particular respect Mr. Haldane's work has a decided superiority over those of the most renowned of his predecessors. Of some of them it may be said, that it did not fall within their plan fully and distinctly to develop the genius and doctrines of Christianity; while others of them, from having themselves defective if not erroneous views of its nature as the Gospel of salvation, have obscured, rather than illustrated, those branches of the subject. Even Dr. Chalmers (whose competency to do them ample justice his other works have

so decidedly evinced) was turned than the avowed infidel, stake their all against the truth of Christianity. If the Bible be not a fiction, although they may gain the world, they will lose their souls.

aside from it by the plan he had laid down for himself, that of applying the principles of the experimental philosophy exclusively to the external evidences of Christianity. Mr. Haldane, on the contrary, has so constructed his plan as to admit a full and clear exposition of Christianity itself; so that the reader has before him, at once, a convincing demonstration of its Divine origin, and a lucid statement of its nature and peculiar character. Thus, while he sees that it has the stamp of infallible truth, he perceives also that it furnishes the provision and remedy devised by a merciful God for the guilt and misery of a fallen world.

The Introduction presents some striking remarks on the little attention that is paid to the concerns of a future world. This, as our author shews, does not arise from indifference to futurity itself. On the contrary, we are all much alive to every thing which relates to the future scenes of this present world. But as to a state of existence beyond the grave, our notion of it is so general and undefined, as to be easily overborne by sceptical reasonings, by the business and pleasures of life, or by surrounding example. Thus many are brought to the conclusion that nothing certain can be known respecting it. They resolve, therefore, to make the most of the present life, and to take their chance of another along with many whose judgment, and character they respect. To this they add some general maxims, that they are not worse than others, perhaps in many things more correct; that God is merciful; and that he never could have formed creatures to be finally condemned and rendered miserable.

1

Such scepticism as this is lodged in the minds of numbers, and influences their practice in life, with out their ever having expressed it to others in words, or perhaps even suspected it themselves. How fearful is this condition! They, no less

The work contains, besides the Introduction and a Conclusion,nineteen chapters, of which the following are the subjects, in their proper order :

Persecuting Spirit of Pagans; Credibi lity of Miracles; Genuineness and Authenticity of the Holy Scriptures; Inspiration of the Scriptures; History of the Old Testament; Miracles of the Old Testament; Types of the Old Testament; Prophecies of the Old Testament; General Expectation of the Messiah; Appearance of the Messiah; Testimony of the Apostles to the Messiah; Testimony of the first Christians to the Messiah; that the Testimony of the Apostles and first Christians is not opposed by any contrary Testimony; Testimony to the Facts of the Gospel History, from the Admissions of those who professedly opposed or wrote against Christianity; Testimony to Facts recorded in the Gospel History, and to the Progress of the Gospel, by Jewish

"Necessity of a Divine Revelation;

and

Heathen Historians, and by the Public Edicts of the Roman Government; Testimony to the Messiah from the Success of the Gospel; that Facts recorded in the earlier Parts of the Scripture History cannot be disproved, and are corroborated by Tradition; Testimony. to the Messiah from Prophecies that are at present fulfilling in the World; Conclusion-viz. Testimonies to the Messiah; Salvation of the Gospel; Persons who pervert, abuse, neglect, oppose, or receive the Gospel."

In treating of the Necessity of a Divine Revelation, Mr. Haldane goes on the principle that it is only from Revelation itself that the urgency of that necessity can be fully known. In this sentiment we en tirely concur. It is true, indeed, that a few of the more deep-thinking and acute among the Heathen philosophers of antiquity expressed their conviction of the necessity of an instructor sent from the gods, to extricate them from the labyrinth of conjecture and uncertainty

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »