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field. They do not practice law. They do not handle the general, miscellaneous interests of society. They do not concern themselves with the universal aspects of society.

"And so society has lost something or is losing itsomething which it is very serious to lose in an age of law, when society depends more than ever before upon the lawgiver and the courts for its structural steel, the harmony and coördination of its parts, its convenience, its permanency and its facility. In gaining new functions, in being drawn. into modern business instead of standing outside of it, in becoming identified with particular interests instead of holding aloof and impartially advising all interests, the lawyer has lost his old function, is looked askance at in politics, must disavow special egagements if he would have his counsel heeded in matters of common concern. Society has suffered a corresponding loss—at least American society has. It has lost its one-time feeling for law as the basis of its peace, its progress, its prosperity.

"The lawyer may plead the new organization of politics, which seems to exclude all counsel except that of party success and personal control; he may argue that questions have changed, have drifted away from his field, and that his advice is no longer asked; but, whatever his explanation or excuse, the fact is the same. He does not play the part he used to play; he does not show the spirit in the affairs he used to show. He does not do what he ought to do.

"Some radical changes we must make in our law and practice. Some reconstructions we must push forward which a new age and new circumstance impose upon us. But we can do it all in calm and sober fashion like statesmen and patriots. Let us do it also like lawyers. Let us lend a hand to make the structure symmetrical, well proportioned, solid, perfect. Let no future generation have cause to accuse us of having stood aloof, indifferent, half hostile, or having impeded the realization of right. Let us make sure that liberty shall never repudiate us as its friends and guides. We are the servants of society, the bond servants of justice."

SUNDAY LEGISLATION.

PAPER BY

ROBERT M. ARNOLD,
OF COLUMBUS.

SUBJECT TIMELY

At the present time there is in the United States a national movement of considerable force directed toward the establishment of stricter Sunday laws by both State and Federal legislation. No less than thirty-five state legisla tures, in addition to the national Congress, will have been approached before the present year expires with a demand for the enactment of some form of laws further limiting either the carrying on of ordinary business, the operation of trains, the opening of post-offices, the publishing and circulation of newspapers, or the participation in certain sports and amusements, on Sunday. The persistent agitation for the enactment of these so-called "Blue Sunday Laws" has provoked widespread discussion and apparently has caused a nation-wide interest in this character of legislation. Consequently, on account of the general interest manifested in this subject, it is thought that a brief discussion of the history and legal aspects of Sunday laws is opportune.

HISTORY-RELIGIOUS

The history of Sunday laws is traceable to the Sabbath observance of the ancient Hebrews. In the Hebrew language the word, "Sabbath" means "to cease," and came to be applied to a religious institution of the Jews establishing the seventh day of the Hebrew week as a holy day of rest, rejoicing and feasting. It is said by some that the institution of the Sabbath was established by Moses when he handed down the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai.

However, the majority of historians and theologians agree that the Sabbath is associated with the "old traditions of theocratic religion which are found embalmed in the first chapter of Genesis." Writers of sacred history point out that the story of the creation, in which God is said to have made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, embodies a tradition much earlier than the period of Mosaic legislation; that Abraham and Isaac chose certain days for rest, meditation, prayer, and sacrifice to God; and that there are several intimations in the patriarchal age that there was a general custom to rest and worship on one day out of seven. However this may be, it is true that the Sabbath of the Jews is an ancient institution celebrated on the seventh day of the week, at which time the people were called together "to reflect upon the fact that the whole universe, including themselves, had originated in one personal and Supreme Being; that He had exerted His omnipotence for a definite period and then had ceased from His work. They were constantly to remind themselves of the work of God, once for all completed, by their own six day's round of labor; and as God had rested from His work, so were they to rest from theirs and to turn their thoughts towards Jehovah." As finally developed by the Jews, the Sabbath was celebrated as a day of rest in commemoration of the finished task of creation, and as a day of rejoicing and feasting in commemoration of the great providential deliverance of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt.

The government of the ancient Jews was that of a theocracy, under which a code of laws was developed that prohibited all manner of servile work on the Sabbath day. A violation of these laws was considered a profanation of the day and was punishable with death. Gathering sticks, lighting a fire for the purpose of cooking, treading wine presses, plucking corn, healing a sick man, walking of a cured patient bearing his bed, setting a broken bone and poulticing a dislocated joint, are typical examples of what

the Jews regarded as a profanation of their holy day. Hebrew armies never proceeded on their march on the Sabbath day. At one time their armies would not even fight on the Sabbath and their enemies taking advantage of this fact, frequently attacked and annihilated them. Later, however, they came to regard resisting an attack on the Sabbath as not a profanation, but they never marched nor made an assault on that day.

With the coming of Christ and of the Christian era, the Christian Sabbath was established and the first day of the week, called the "Lord's Day," was set apart for its observance in commemoration of the resurrection. Until this time the only people who had a Sabbath were the Jews. The Christians had none but desired one. They believed that they could not accept the Jewish Sabbath, as the law was not given to them by Moses, but only to the people whom he led from Egypt-the House of Israel. Unwilling to adopt the seventh day Sabbath of the Jews, the Christians, either by custom or common consent, chose the first day of the week, sanctified it, set it apart as a holy day of rest and spent it in prayer, preaching, the breaking of bread, and in general religious worship.

It is contended by some that Jesus Christ, during his sojourn in the world abolished the old Mosaic laws concerning Sabbath observance. They quote as their authority the reply of Jesus to the critics of his work on the Sabbath when he said: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath," and also the question he asked in connection with works of charity and necessity: "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil?" Without discussing the merits of the controversy as to whether there was an abolition by Jesus of the Sabbatical code of the Jews, it is true that under the laws of the Jews all manner of servile work was prohibited on the Sabbath day, while it seems that under the Christian code an exception was made as to works of charity and necessity.

Since the time of the ancient Jews and early Christians, many succeeding religious sects have borrowed the idea of a

Sabbath. At the present time practically all religions provide for such an institution. Various days have been chosen for its observance and it is said that somewhere in the world, the Sabbath, or an institution corresponding to it, is celebrated on each day of the week. For instance, the Mohammedans observe Friday and we have already noted that the orthodox Jews celebrate Saturday as their Sabbath and the Christians, Sunday. In the United States, where all religions are tolerated and protected, bitter controversies have arisen between contending religious denominations concerning the day upon which the Sabbath should be observed. Attention is called to this fact for the reason, as we shall see later in this paper, that these controversies had considerable influence upon our Sunday laws and upon the decisions of our courts respecting Sunday legislation.

It is hardly necessary to discuss the manner of celebrating, and the religious, regulations governing the observance of the Sabbath by present day churches. There are as many different sets of religious Sabbath rules as there are religious sects. Some require their adherents only to attend. divine services and permit them to spend the remainder of the day as they may choose. All require that the day be kept holy. Attendance at church, prayer, and religious meditation on Sunday are exacted. Most creeds provide against all worldly amusements and all work not necessary or charitable. Under our institutions and form of government these religious rules cannot be enforced by civil authority. As a matter of fact, the churches themselves are limited within very narrow bounds as to the punishment they may impose for violation of their Sabbath rules. Most churches, however, attempt to impose no punishment whatsoever, preferring to secure obedience by appealing to the consciences of their communicants.

HISTORY-CIVIL

We turn now to a consideration of the civil institutions of an enforced day of rest from work and labor and find that it was established during the early centuries of the Christian era. The first civil law, or edict, commanding the

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