SOME OLD AMERRICAN LAWS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 267, 18 November 1878, Page 4

SOME OLD AMERRICAN LAWS.

(From Golden Hours,

Then* is a long list of these quaint old |-,w, a f« lv of which will eullice to exhibh the condition of aoeiety in which thy exia^d. gj ome o f tbf; , Q dispUyins! a aormwuess of mind an,! ignorance which seem now iiimost incredihl?, arH which happily have with similar prMsrlicM h»« Q i OOK Bjn(,eB j n( , e awe pr ( ; W! T> viz.:—" No Q inker or Dissenter from ihe established worship of the D' minion shall be allowed to give n voep for tie eleouon of magistrate or any rtber officer." "No food or lod> ine nhall be < flhred to a Q-iaker or *n be-o.ic." "No priest shall abide in the Dominion. Hu ehuli bo banishfd, ■a-"! suffer death on his return." "Priesis m>.y be seized by anyone wiii;ouf. n r.arrant." "No one fibail run oa the Snbbaih <?ay, or walk in his g«rd:=n. or elsewhere, except revereotly toiiti'l from tDHeliar;." "No cn& aholl travel, C iok victuals, make beds (?), sw-ep hou?e3. cut hair, or shave on the Sabbmh day." "No woman shall kiss h r ciMren on th»» Sabbath, nor on a fas'inc; any." (We can imagine thin law 58 n penance on fasting tlayp, but why should maternal love be smoldered on u Sundny?— « the Sabbath was made for m*...") -No minister Bhall k-ep a eohool." "No one shall read Common Prayer Book?, k^ep Cbriatmas or art 'dajp, eat meat pies, dance) play cards, or pley on an? instrument of mimo except thp drum, trumpot, and jhwV l.aip." »To pick an ear of corti from an^iphbnr's %. rden shnll be deomed thpft." Wf-11, then, " blue laws" still exist in Borae of our English provinces, wh^re a child grathering a flower from a g/ir.jen is jr,,p r i gonF^" f or theft! And api-.io, n "blue law," but of a more ts'innnl chnrncter, has been partit.lly re- 6ts iish^d among us as the following — " Ibe SHeofmen, on finding children itr»-r.ra;.-r, m y lake them away from tl'.'ir p&rerts »nd put them in better lands at the txuense of their parents.*' Some others of these old laws might be crffdhaHy re-establishpd araon« up, and perhai.s to th* purification of English BHci"jy. hs for instftnee—" A man "(hat Bir kfa lis wife shall be fined ten pounds." « A ialtory shall be punished wi h doaih." " Mirried persona shall live together or be imprisoned." " A dm? kard emll have a master appointed *-y the Selectmen, who are to debar him from \ho liberty of buying aod selling," and " Whoever shail publish a lie to ibe prf-j -dice of hie neighbor shall be Bet in the stocks, or whipped ten etrbee."