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Show Old English Law Made Churchgoing Compulsory Golfers, picnickers, Sunday auto-ists auto-ists would be out of luck If an old English law were in force today. The act of uniformity, 1552, required re-quired : "All persons, except those dissenting dissent-ing from the worship or doctrines of the Church of England and usually attending some place of worship not belonging to the Church of England, are, If they have no lawful or reasonable reason-able excuse for absence, to endeavor to attend their parish church or accustomed ac-customed chapel, or, If reasonably prevented from so doing, some other place where the divine service of the Church of England is performed, on all Sundays and other days ordained and used to be kept as holy days, and to abide there orderly and soberly during the time of common prayer, preaching or other divine service there performed." Failure to observe this law renders the offending "parishioner or inhabitant inhab-itant of a parish" who is not legally exempt from attendance at divine service on Sundays and holy days "liable in proceedings taken against him in the ecclesiastical courts to be censured for the offense, admonished as to its attendance in the future, and to be condemned In the costs of the proceedings." |