The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1867-09-20
J5f,IlstGlluue0us*
From the Sunday Herald, (VashingtOa) Sept.
Are the Blue Laws to be Revived.

Time immemorial has consecrated the
truth of tho adagc, "ne sator ultra crepid-
um,' which means in English that a shoe
maker must not go beyond his last. The
wisdom of this axiom is confirmed by the
inspired volume itself; for Saint Paul, in
his Epistlc to the Romans, (ch. 10 lays
down the same principle in these words ::
81 say by the grace given unto me, to all
that are among you, not to be moro wise
than it bohoycth to be wise, but to be wise
unto sobricty." The fact is, that tho doc
trine here enunciatcl is nothing more nor
less thon the dictate Of common sense,
which teaches us that people should mind
their own business, and even in this, not
run counter to the rules which reason and
religion prescribe. Eyed old lorace-the
pagan poet aud hilosopher-undorstood
this, and it would be better for society if
some wcll.acquainted people, at the pre-
sent day, would lay aside their prejudice
and passion and listen to his words of wis.
dom;
Est modus in rebus, stunt certi denique fines,
Quos ultra citraque meQut consiStUre rectum.
Lat. book l, Stat l..
There is moderation in all things, and
certain limits beyond which We cannot
pass without injury to ourselves or to
others. Despite the glazing truth Of this
principle, there are men nowadays who
seem 10 have no conception of it, al.
though, by their position in society, they
should be tho first to recognize and to OBJ
serve the rule. If they are Legislators of
the Commonwealth Or Municipality, they
ought to know that there is certain
sphere within which their legislative pow
ers are restricted, and that they cannot
pass beyond these limits without exposing
themselves to become the laughing stock
Of the community, or defeating, by their
extravagant and prepostorous measures,
the end which they have in view. 1t is
too late in the day to acquire fame, as phi
losophors or philanlhropists, by initiating
the Puritan legislation of the seventeenth
century; and 1t may not be useless to re-
mind our modern nuralists Of what was
done two hundred years ago, by the way
Of keeping tho people in order.
We read in the Code of 1850 of the
General Court Of Connecticut-Hartford
Silas Andrews, l632--as follows "It is
ordered by the authority Of this court, that
no person, under the age of twenty-one
years, nor any other, that hath not already
accustomed himself to the use thereof
shall take any tobacco until he hath
brought certificate, under the hands Of
some who are approved for knowledge and
skillfn physick, that it is useful to him, y
| &c. at is ordered that no man within
this colonye, after the publication of here
OF, shall take any tobacco publicly in the
streets, highways, Or any barn yards, OIL
upon training days, in any open places
under the penalty Of six pence for eact
offence against this ORDER" &c.
On the first of January, 1913, the fol
lowing was ordered by court at New
Haven, Connecticut. "Goodman Hun
and his wife, for keeping tho couusels o
Will Harding, Ga lewd and disorderly per
son. baking him pastry and pluu-cakos
and keeping company with him on thu
Lords day; and she suffering Harding t