The Olden Time Series, Vol. 3: New-England Sunday - Gleanings Chiefly From Old Newspapers Of Boston And Salem, Massachusetts by Henry M. (Henry Mason) Brooks
page 19 of 113 (16%)
page 19 of 113 (16%)
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No woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath, or fasting-day.
No one shall run on the Sabbath day, or walk in his garden, or elsewhere, except reverently to and from meeting. No one shall read common prayer books, keep Christmas, or set days, make minced pies, dance, play cards, or play on any instrument of music, except the Drum, Trumpet, or Jewsharp. No food or lodging shall be offered to a Quaker, Adamite, or other heretic. If any person turns Quaker, he shall be banished, and not suffered to return but on pain of death. No Roman Catholic priest shall abide in the dominion; he shall be banished, and suffer death on his return. Some years ago, a law-book which had belonged to Jonathan Trumbull, containing the early statutes of Connecticut, was in the possession of a Boston gentleman,[1] who informs us that at the end of the volume, in manuscript, were found reports of "Brother Jonathan's" adjudications of small cases which he tried as "justice of the peace." Among them was one where "His Majesty's tythingman" entered a complaint against Jona and Susan Smith for a "profanation of the Sabbath;" namely, "That on the ---- day of ---- during Divine Service on the Lord's Day _they did smile_." The culprits were adjudged to be guilty of the offence, and severally fined "five shillings and costs." This book was shown to the late Professor Agassiz, who examined it with great interest and then made the following remark: "I find here evidence of the difference between the Calvinism of |
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