THE WICKED SHOEMAKER AND SACRILEGIOUS FARMER.
COMMONWEALTH v. JOSSELYN, 97 Mass. 411; COMMONWEALTH v. SAMPSON, 97 Mass. 407.
By Irving Browne.
[The hoeing of corn or the gathering of seaweed on Sunday is not a "work of necessity" although otherwise the one may suffer from neglect and the other may be swept away and lost.]
Josselyn was a humble citizen, Who paid his way by cobbling boots and shoes, As kind and sober as most other men, Who ne'er a moment from his bench dared lose, Because upon his stitching and his pegging Depended wife and several children small, Who, if he failed them, must perforce go begging; — He was indeed to them their treasured awl. A curious, prying, and malicious neighbor, At eight o'clock one peaceful Sunday morn, Saw Josselyn one hour at worldly labor, To wit : in hoeing a few hills of corn Which grew in his remote back-garden-patch, And which he cultivated as he could Contrive some scattered anxious hours to catch To furnish his small frugal table food. And so this shoemaker incendiary, Upon complaint of this detested sneak, Was brought to trial for unnecessary Labor upon the first day of the week, As by the wiles of Satan instigated, Without the fear of God before his eyes, He had this corn of mammon cultivated, Instead of Christian graces for the prize. In vain he represented to the court How hard it was to make both waxed-ends meet; That his wrong-doing was so very short; Disturbed no others in reflections sweet; That the corn needed hoeing very much; And asked the judge to let the jury say Whether the immorality was such That he deserved a penalty to pay.
