in the case of servants. Later it
was decreed that rich men should be punished with the loss of half of
their estates; and finally, that if still obstinate they should be made
slaves. The lower classes were to suffer perpetual banishment.

Miracles also were called into requisition. Among other wonders it was
reported that as a husbandman who was about to plow his field on Sunday,
cleaned his plow with an iron, the iron stuck fast in his hand, and for
two years he carried it about with him, "to his exceeding great pain and
shame."(1009)

Later, the pope gave directions that the parish priest should admonish the
violators of Sunday, and wish them to go to church and say their prayers,
lest they bring some great calamity on themselves and neighbors. An
ecclesiastical council brought forward the argument, since so widely
employed, even by Protestants, that because persons had been struck by
lightning while laboring on Sunday, it must be the Sabbath. "It is
apparent," said the prelates, "how high the displeasure of God was upon
their neglect of this day." An appeal was then made that priests and
ministers, kings and princes, and all faithful people, "use their utmost
endeavors and care that the day be restored to its honor, and, for the
credit of Christianity, more devoutly observed for the time to
come."(1010)

The decrees of councils proving insufficient, the secular authorities were
besought to issue an edict that would strike terror to the hearts of the
people, and force them to refrain from labor on the Sunday. At a synod
held in Rome, all previous decisions were reaffirmed with greater force
and solemnity. They were also incorporated into the ecclesiastical law,
and enforced by the civil authorities throughout nearly all
Christendom.(1011)

Still the absence of scriptural authority for Sunday-keeping occasioned no
little embarrassment. The people questioned the right of their teachers to
set aside the positive declaration of Jehovah, "The seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God," in order to honor the day of the sun. To
supply the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients were necessary. A
zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close of the twelfth century
visited the churches of England, was resisted by faithful witnesses for
the truth; and so fruitless were his efforts that he departed from the
country for a season, and cast about him for some means to enforce his
teachings. When he returned, the lack