Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-11-15

t1Al - ~ loIOWH.
Let all judges, and an city people, an,
ail -'prsr-->-y--rr-syr@ssr.r.-'
OF the sun. But let those dwelling ia IN,
country freely and with fun liberty aftent
to the culture Of their fields, since it IRE
| quently happens hat no other day is &
NJ Tor the sowing of grain or The planting
OF yinesi nence the favorable time should
not be allowed 10 pass lest the provision,
OF Heaven be lost.
Given March I, Crispus and Constan
tine being consnls, each for the SECOND
time. - ('Codex Justin" lib. hi lit III,
t.S.) ~.
II The foregoing law were associated
\ with Christian laws the testimony agains,
u would be less dHmsging. But the FOL.
lowing shows that the next day Constsn.
tine issued another edlct, which, like the
above, Is unmixed paganism.
kdiSt concerning haruspiccs;
inc august Emperor Constantine 10
Maximus
III any part OF the palace or other public
works shall be struck by lightning, let the
soothsayers, following old usages, in.
quire into the meaning of the portent, and
let their written words, very carefully
collected, be reported TO our knowledge ;
and also let the liberty Of making use OF
the custom be accorded to others, pro-
Vided they abstain from private sacrifices,
which are specially prohibited
Moreover that declaration and exposi.
ton written In respect to the amphithea.
ter being struck by lightning, concerning
which you had written TO Heraclianus,
the tribune and master Of offices, you may
know has seen reported to us.
Dated the 18th, before the kalends of
Januasy, at Seridioa (820), Acc. the sth,
before the ides II March, in the consul.
ship OF Crispus III. and Constantine III,
Caess, Co.'s, S2l A. d. ("Codex Theo. -
lib. xvi, tit. 10, /, -
The reader will nUte that nothing ap.
pears In the law, neither does anything
appear In the accompanying evidence,
showing that Christians desired the law,
or were in any way interested therein. Ii
applied to all the subjects OF the Empire
alike The day is nov mentioned, except
by Us heather title Of the Sun There is
nothing In the restrictions placed upon 1t
unlike The restrictions which already
existed concerning many other pagan days
The following extract, from the work OF
an English barrister, is pertinent at this
| point;
That the division OF DAYS into iuridIcl
ct ferati, Judicial and non.iudicial, did
not arise out OF the modes OF thought
peculiar to the Christian world must be
known TO every classical scholar. Before
The age of Augustus the number Of days
upon which, out Of reverence TO the gods
TO whom they were consecrated, no trials
could take place at Rome had become a
resource upon which wealthy criminal
could speculate as means OF evading ius-
tees and Snetonlus enumerates, among
the praiseworthy acts OF that emperor,
the cutting of from the number thirty
days, In order that crime may not 90 un.
punished nor business be impeded. -
C'Feasts aud Fasts," p, 6, by Edward
| V. Neale.)
Church historians have been Obliged TO
recognize the purely heather character OF
this legislation. Schaff says:
| But the Sunday law OF Constantine
must not be oyerrated He enioined the
observance, or rather iorbode the public
Dissertation, Of Sunday, not under the
name of SaObatum or Dies Domini, but
under its old astrological and heathen
title, Dies Soils, familiar TO all his sub.
jects, so that the law was as applicable
10 the worshipers of Hercules, Apollo,
and al hras as TO the Christians There
Is no reference whatever In his law either
TO the Fourth Commandment or to the
resurrection Of Christ "Chnrch His.
tor" vol. Ill, p. $500
| Milman says "The rescrlpt, indeed,
for the religious observance OF the Sun
day, which enjoined the suspension Of all
public business and private labor, except
that OF agriculture, was enacted, accord
Ing TO the apparent terms of the decree,
for the whole Roman Empire. Yet, un.
less we had direct proof that the decree
set forth the Christian reason for the
sanotity OF the day, IL may be doubted
whether the act would not be received by
the greater part Of the empire as merely
adding one more festival TO the fasti Of
the empire, as proceeding entirely from
the VIII OF the emperor,or even grounded
ON his authority as supreme pontiff, by
which he had tho plenary power OF az.
pointing holy days In fact, as we have
before observed, the day Of the sun would
be willingly hallowed by almost all the
pagan world, especially that part which
bad admitted any tendency toward the
Oriental theology p-( "fiistory of Chris
tianity," vol. H., PIP. 1916, 1919
No other legislation concerning Sunday
appears for the next slxty.hye years.
Meanwhile the church was becoming
paganized, the Papacy was developing,
the empire was lettering, and all things
were getting ready for the dark ages.
From the close OF the fourth century 70
the close Of the nth the legislation
was enlarged, including scores OF
of other days, most of them pagan iesti.
walls, chrIstened by new names, and but
slightly modified la the manner OF their
observance. AS church and state became
more thoroughly united the pagan idea
that the civil law ought TO regulate relig.
ious actions and religious belief WAS SO
fully developed that the state determined
not only what men should do, but what
men should believe. Civil law practi
cally decided what Christianity was. It.
defined orthodoxy and heresyi thus In
VolyiDg the whole realm OF religious con-
science in the meshes Of political In
trigue.
AS the Holy Roman empire grew upon
the ruins Of the pagan empire, II con-
tinued TO secularize and corrupt Chris
tlanity. Civil legislation relative 10 Sun.
day and other festivals and fasts prevailed
during the darkiages. Our Saxon ances-
tors converted under this empire, re.
ceivsd this inheritance, and transmitted
through the Saxon and English laws the
enire genius Of Sunday legislation TO our