12 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The first civil legislation concerning Sunday appears in the edict of 

 Constantine the Great, 321 a. d. Nothing appears in history as de- 

 manding the legislation, or as wishing it, except the will of the em- 

 peror. He was a well-known devotee of the sun-god, as were his 

 predecessors. His attitude toward Christianity, both before and long 

 after the issuing of the Sunday edict, was the attitude of a shrewd 

 politician ; toward his rivals it was that of an unscrupulous, bloody- 

 handed monarch. He gained power by intrigue, deceit, and murder. 

 No accurate historian dares call him a " Christian emperor." Romish 

 tradition and superficial literature have misnamed him the "first 

 Christian emperor." The facts relative to his life and character for- 

 bid every such claim. He refused to unite with the Christian church 

 until he lay on his death-bed, in 337 a. d., when he received baptism, 

 hoping thus to make the most of both worlds. The text of his Sun- 

 day edict, and the surroundings, all show it to have been purely 

 heathen. The text is as follows : 



" Let all judges, and all city people, and all tradesmen, rest upon 

 the venerable clay of the Sun. But let those dwelling in the country 

 freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields ; since 

 it frequently happens that no other day is so fit for the sowing of 

 grain or the planting of vines ; hence the favorable time should not 

 be allowed to pass lest the provisions of Heaven be lost. 



" Given the 7th of March, Crispus and Constantine being con- 

 suls, each for the second time." — ("Codex Justin.," lib. iii., tit. 

 12, 1. 3.) 



If the foregoing law were associated with Christian laws, the testi- 

 mony against it would be less damaging. But the following shows 

 that on the next day Constantine issued another edict, which, like the 

 above, is unmixed paganism. 



Edict concerning haruspices : 



" The august Emperor Constantine to Maximus : 



" If any part of the palace or other public works shall be struck 

 by lightning, let the soothsayers, following old usages, inquire 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, provided they abstain 

 from private sacrifices, which are specially prohibited. 



" Moreover, that declaration and exposition written in respect to 

 the amphitheatre being struck by lightning, concerning which you had 

 written to Heraclianus, the tribune, and master of offices, you may 

 know has been reported to us. 



" Dated the lGth, before the kalends of January, at Seridica (320), 

 Ace. the 8th, before the ides of March, in the consulship of Crispus II 

 and Constantine III, Caess, Coss., 321 a. d." — ("Codex Theo.," lib. 

 xvi, tit. 10, 1. 1.) 



The reader will note that nothing appears in the law, neither does 



