Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1919 — FORCED TO OBSERVE SABBATH [ARTICLE]

FORCED TO OBSERVE SABBATH

Church Attendance, Until Comparatively Recent Times, Was Compulsory in Great Britain. • Numerous laws in this country, Canada and Great Britain forbid various acta of work and play on Sunday, but not since the lapse of the “blue laws” of colonial days’ have AmericanSjbeen forced by legislation to go to church on the Sabbath, an exchange says, In England, however, it was not until the middle of the last century, during the reign of Queen Victoria, that all penalties for nonattendance at religious services were abolished. Some unusual incidents attended the enforcement of. the regulations, particularly upon the Hebrews. They were not released from the provisions of the law until 1871 and multitudes of them were prosecuted for insisting upon observing their own Sabbath. In the thirteenth centdry, it Is recorded, a Jew of Tewkesbury fell into a sewer .on a Saturday. Although almost submerged, he would not permit himself to be drawn out, believing thatto do so would be to violate the sanctity of the holy day. On the following morning he was quite ready to be removed from his perilous plight, but the authorities, out of reverence for the Christian Sabbath, would not permit the unfortunafe man to be rescued until after sunrise on Monday, when he was found to be dead. As late as 1880 there were persons in English prisons whose only crime was refusal to attend divine service. One of them was a young man who had been convicted at the Instigation of his own mother, who appeared against him. in 1817 Sir Montague Burgoyne was haled into court to explain why he had neglected his religious duties. Rigid Sunday observance in England began during the reign of Edgar, in the tenth century, when the Sabbath day was ordained to be kept holy from three o’clock QD Saturday afternoon until sunrise on Monday. The most innocent actions were condemned, and death was the extreme penalty for continued violation of the law. About three centurieg ago parliament passed a law impdising a fine of one shilling for remaining away from church on Sunday, unless some good excuse was forthcoming. This act remained in effect until comparatively "receTTtlmes, and inability or unwillingness to pay the fine-resulted in a prison sentence.