The Sun. — London, England, 1834-05-01 00:00:00

s relieved from work on the Sabbath Day, that they migh ' - an opportunity of attending public worship. 'the "nld- not interfere with the conscience of any man. 6 h l ) A man might go to church, or to the meet touse of the sectarian, or to no_place of worship at all, as he pleased. He wished to put it to hon. members wished to travel on the Sabbath Day whether it was ase ort re:N*l nellehilgtheir servants to accompany them? The to church or chapel, and that of travel ing on business and pleasure, was quite different. He travel 'e the bill Would be allowed to go into committee. L.' message from the lords was then announced, request ,, a Conference with the house on the subject of their Pt conference. A deputation of members was appointed Econfer with their lordships. After an interval of about x.nit.tes a message was received from the lords, inti ing that they had agreed to the address. r LE. L. BULWER rose with great respect for the 1() 1,....1 ( n1et's motives, and With the most cordial hatred 3r " 1 theories of le slation to move that the bill be read gi seco nd tim e that day six months. ' He agreed with the sPeake r t h at the hon. baronet ' s bill had been grossly I l i s ZP reresentea veneration dby those who asserted it would create too _ for the Lord's Day; on the contrary I`l.7tild tend to bring the Lord's Day into general . .disr tooth., I le feared the hon. baronet was a wolf in sheep's eri i , - g — a, philosopher ill diittiSe, who aimed at enda fraqi. r edgmn itself by showing to what gloomy and 4 th e out Purposes the name of religion might be applied. „ vs 5 outset of the bill the hon. baronet stated that the v h en the Sabbath had become practically insufficient. hey di d any laws become impracticable ? Why, when w ere not suited to the spirit of the people. If the , s en the Sabbath were a dead letter, it was because legislate were already too severe. When on other branches egislation---such, for instance, as the criminal ode es lost its vigour, how did they restore it? Did a mak e it more severe ? No ! • they made it more m old But the honourable baronet, in his wisdom, he r evive a law by making it more opposed to e e e nhis of the times, and, by rendering it doubly severe, ?uld render it doubly inefficient. The hon. baronet '" his fir s t clause, that the comforts and conscientious of one class were not to be sacrificed to the sup comfort and advantage of another. Yet all the rest le bill , ; , was ing en i ous l y framed to contradict the asser h'i't" which he commenced at the onset. For by and e asserted, that no part of the gloomy blessings of his extendeud t° menial servants in the employment of their - "ere, then, according to the hon. baronet's was an exclusive class especially marked out for '. The comfort of no class was to be sacrificed to 'ed advantage of another ; yet here the more nu (the servants) was sacrificed to the less nu n • (th e masters). Again, who were to apprehend Pea persons attending a news-room, or sauntering - ",garden? The policemen, he supposed. What ' 4 'er', was another class marked out for perdition. were the comforts, the conscientious scruples, of the ten to be sacrificed to the supposed comfort and ad ofthe hon. baronet, or those zealous and sanctified he so ably represented, " Who compound for sins they are inclined to, 1 3y damning those they have no mind to ?" servants, unfortunate policemen ! Why were Ail s less dear to the hon. baronet than the souls of 'urneymen bakers and the souls of the journeymen -rs ? The hon. member who seconded the bill would outrage the consciences of none. What, there not, too, a large body of Christians in the coun as fervent, as orthodox as the hon. baronet himself, most conscientiously differed from the hon. baronet in • iot e Is, er . rpretation of the Sabbath—who considered it most :h r i 'rural to confound the Jewish Sabbath with the i orn s , t i an Sunday, who considered it even wicked to take v as tOe Sabbath its festive and cheerful character ? Why ",..e, comfort —why were the conscientious scruples of 1. 111 to be sacrificed to the supposed advantage of ° a greed with the hon. baronet ? Did not these -- did not his own exemptions, teach that hon. i _ that h e h ad embarked, rudderless and pilotless, ' 0 a f blunders—that in an artificial state of society work that others might rest—that nature her allowed no universal rest ? Universal rest was Nri,..stagnation. Did they not teach him that even it s e rnical net he would cast on the waters left out ' des:ttromsY meshes the very species of fish he was us to catch? Apply the hon. baronet's prin -I,riz.aerally, and the maddest philosopher never devised i th,"t i Pie Qf so revolutionary. Not sacrifice something nothe'llnfort of one class to the supposed advantage of l i t e pri r tie . I V II.Y, all society rested upon exactly the . oppo- . se wh,, P i e. Society was a bundle of mutual sacrifices , it? uid the ploughman work—why did the soldier , 4 alf ort 'rly did the hon. baronet himself give up the silken l' s it noto ease, and consent to be badgered in that house? '"vs-• a sacrifice of comfort in some, for the supposed of others ? Having, then, excepted from the of his bill servants and policemen, and, very pro ,tnedical men , and, very strangely , milkwomen—for bi n a liquid peculiarly holy and Sabbatical, those ~f 'abl'l b e ladies were allowed to sell their wares twice a -4trbe-4.s4l,Posed upon some T E Deunt principle—the hon. niiro e c next exempted from the snares of his bill another but -° ‘'s class, namely, the rich. No doubt, when he for ti i 4 ,1) .the news-roem for the poor, and the club-room et t „ r i. 'eli, he imagined he was acting most impartially 'ith tu -r ` the difference ; shut up the club-room for the I le ne v‘ ''•: a nd he can enjoy himself at home; but shut up l i n c.ra for the r man, and he hno such re `lniners . t e ea44 ot afford to entertain fr i ends—to give "' prob' bl°4 co ndemn him to a sullen hearth, which the h a J en livens by venting his ungrateful spleen ild re „ . baronet's bill on his unfortunate wife and Tak e again what no doubt the honourable t h" - -sht the least objectionable part of his bill, Y, the tier was of newspapers on p a r Sunday. A P s °l• -- r` r was often the only channel through which the wruni,743l obtained a knowledge of what was politically I' j, --5 and right. On how many points (take the Trades' 1, n 4 4: 48 for on - e) t. liow necessary it was for a poor man to h'kaj the nice shades of distinction between what was II;,' and what was illegal—how necessary for his own ~, ,t t Y, perhaps his own life—how necessary for the pre rle Von of the property of his neighbour ! and yet here 'only , en ,: . baronet would take away from the poor man that r lly h`'`ninel of information or morality itself on the only i'lt . r e had leisure to read it. (Here the hon. member was N I ; opted for some minutes by a message from the lords. ) a r ,ac es __, an day the hon baronet stopped all public convey ''ePPoselaDooeh" were literally to be found on the stand. ;4igaheehstieis:_ihat.h.u• re,:ealan receives intelligence on a Saturday : 14 talle of is 'l ,. ali ghter is ill—in want of pecuniary as -41.11.10.w ~vria.inbi the coach aid an he reach her ?—No ! The house—the horses in the stables— rh°eadiinhe can be seized—whatever horse he may Nth 'Veil ! Poun . and this ded • in the name of reli sLer Sato d a but the coaches are to stop on a Sunday, or the at t h f . Y !light; you put up at an inn; unless you ' bin a " Inn you can get nothing to eat all day, for ( l i l f all .gir s e T that no innkeepers or coffee-house-keepers i ns 'unles s to anybody, or a glass of beer or a glass i , at, mess the appetite be lawfully begotten by hay , b at P‘ at th e • ti o if Inn the night before ;so that if your inn he i_ial ; if Y.our food is wretched ; if the prices are extor 'Oven ; , 31 :nir room admits all the rains and winds of is ere yOOJ°4 Can't stir elsewhere ; there you are, and la `tise ernf mast be, at the mercy of your hosts behind you ih nd, , on ilt, b ut before you is starvation. Driven from :L e ,' the t , You take refuge on the sea ? Alas ! even '4- , , , y 0,,. r Ped,, 0 touch of the hon. baronet's bill has ex it:4 aek, boatVtogress. The bill says that no barge, vessel, bi,eace it s ' "'r other vessel shall leave its port, or com etern Potv•Yage on the Lord's Day. In many of the i i • t ie ; s i s a vessel could only sail by some particular i lit, arid ° tnat if there has been a dead calm for a fort ,ts ar e • 4 1 ) starts this capricious breeze on a Sunday, all o s Inten t . 1 ) , of th e ,_ , all hands - ready ! Stop ! the heavy . a.n keeze i es zwn• member's bill is fixed to the vessel , the ~. tee's . away ; commerce suffers • trade is injured; .g ei.l Is t°rPid; the mighty wheels Of the greatest corn t4btiate C ountry in the world . are locked; the property, the k i ., nce of thousands is endangered b • bill ' l et, in his great benevolence ecause the hon. f rjr that one class of society should h ' as no l t zirought in a 1 q t he supposed advantage of another. • (Hbeear engaged ° a how, what authority from Scripture or, fr•om lea o r i; i• hitiehurch, had the honourable baronet for that harle itly Me with which he would convert the Christian's Sun l'hi"° the Judaic Sabbath 7 Not from the Scriptures, in , eh s , . ' r ah j u t , Paul plainly says to the Colossians, " Let no '. th ,--be You in meat, or drink, or of the new moon, or 1 1:4 ' t,,i -ab , ? ) ath Days, hich are a shadow of thingsto come. jail t i is Of Christ." t " Not in the Fathers, for Tertul the Name s • s • S un d a y, and describes i t , ;:•hrimi, d unlawful to fast on a . th us i r,fh ku l i l of his time as indulging themselves that day t he - F e a eer flill tivi tY another of . And the reason why this day was ea - iers I( )' 'Pent, and why it was ordained , 1 1 ,tressly d e ,Justin, who wrote 150 years after..arChfrriostm) ti ah _ i ng any , "'res. He says expressly, that so I *l7i i 'ne t c °/Inectio n with the Jewish Sabbath theChri.sn ru:en r od on a Sunday because it was the first day . ' orizfliro,Ginle ad d e the worfd; and also on this day Christ the kOf th r , ead. And the moment we thus disco . ve_rthe ca,,.., vr iaoh ati ; Lords' Day, the moment we separate . it from aha t o the .of the Jews, and perceive that it was dedi h'k, t ine sesh_PYous recollection of the creation of theworld,. ~N(111:14, not action of the dead ; it is easy to sec why it "ecr - „ ss, but - h„ as , a fast, but a festival, and hallowed not by l'e , s e ,i s ; /„• 1 4°.„Y• So what said the early ecclesiastical 11.- : e le, 4, - the s - „_/, one Council anathematized . those who tle e of t he e uua Y in bodily mortification and fasting. day, ~, abst, i ?uncil of Laodicea condemned the prac first e s c l ud a i ri z lng from secular employments . on Sun 'lever b a e l ) ,lish ed n k In the Edict of Constantine, which ''' civil „" out `'ee festival of the Sabbath by law, it is pre in v . -x Pedi e , 4 e njoined by Scripture, but as . being merely oef. theseento Co and all mons engaged in agriculture , i 4 st c s i a ,,, th at '7lnue their Pe . affairs on that da. Clear eeto • 7 °I th e ie early christians never confounded . the hia ed abr 0. e (~.. ogat w „_T e k:with that Judaic Sabbath . which they 'e p a rot Su p with the rest of the Jewish dispensation. , s . 4 q h erg („ePort his doctrine by the Scriptures, or by s'i th r e i- es oi ,;,, -4 the hon. baronet support it by the early k ru Vous t:, r own church? On the contrary, the Act f t PU °sit ',ward VI• (1547) says tat if men from any l'illl w°r V Y °l.Fudge i o l ' o f i co d nse s iensuperstitiously abstain ta ' aZ e G c. ( 4 g the they will grievously dis aboti;ersnoin 1 552 a !:: &dared that any husband ' °c c., may work any kind of work at his free l' will and pleasure. He thought these latter authorities 1 chattels shall take place ; but the offender is to be went too far—he thought in their anxiety not to confound committed to prison, until it is ascertained that his the Christian Sunday with the Jewish Sabbath, they hail goods and chattels are suffi.ient to pay the pena'A v encroached on the blessed principle of a day of rest. But and costs; if - not, the offender shall -be ounnittea yet he would rather rely on even their authority than that to the Common Gaol Of house of Cfirrectidii, sci tiot on which the hon. baronet relied. What was that autho- . a poor family may and will, if this bill pass, be driveit rity ? Why, 1,200 years after the institution of ehrist; anity, houseless into the streets, because the father may have there was a certain Dr. Bound, who wrote in 1594_h e obeyed the orders of his master, or been overtaken in liquor. proclaimed the Judaic Sabbath—the putritang supported the, Why has the hon. baronet confined his legislation to the notion—our own divines continued to oppose it, and it was middle &id working part f, the community ? I can guess at soon made 'a cry of party as well as of religion. ( Hear.) least—bediuse they are the most defenceles. ~ ( cheers. ) The hon. baronet must pardon him, then, for taking the Last year the hon. baronet put a notice on the t ctec for interpretation of the Sabbath rather from the Scriptures, an address to his Majesty to close Hyde Park on Sunday, the fathers, the early christians, and the early reformers, why did he give that up? Because if he had persevered, than for placing implicit belief in the theology of Dr. we should have had, not the ." Revolt of the Harem," not Bound, and the unerring wisdom of the Habakkuks an d the " Revolt of the Workhouse," but the revolt of all the Ezekiels, the Faint-nots and the Spare-nuts, from whose beauty and fashion of London ; and where is the soldier, rational and sober fountains of faith the hon. baronet draws I where are the police officers, who could withstand the battery the principles on which he asks the legislators of E ng l an d t o which would have been brought against the gates of the park? act in the nineteenth century. But even supposing that (Laughter.) Why confine himself to Hyde Park ? Why his doctrines be right, what proof has he that the Sabbath not close St. James's and the Green Park, for the keepers is not well observed, or that the regard for that day has must be in attendance, and consequently break the Sab decreased ? Far from any proof to that effect, what said bath ? I fear lam wearying the house, but. I have little his own committee ? First, that the Lord's Day was bet- more to say, I again repeat my conviction, that the clauses ter kept now than at any previous period ; second, that its was from a want of a of the bill appear to me framed to catch and punish the infringement among th e l ower c l a s s ! middle and labouring classes, but allow the rich and pow better example among the r i c h, f or w hi c h we cou ld no t ' erful to escape. Instead of pfotecting, as the bill purports to legislate, and did not legislate, by the bill before us. What i do, the part of the community least able to protect them said the policeman the committee had examined? Why, selves, it imposes on them the most galling and cruel restric that " there were less excesses on a Sunday than any other tions. (Hear.) The glaring injustice of the measure would day." All experience proved, then, that we were pro- render the law a mere dead letter on the statute-book. gressing in moral and religious, as well as intellectual im- I No police force, however large, could carry it into effect, improvement. He respected the petitions before them ; because it is repulsive to the feelings of humanity ; and I but he was sure that there were few who signed them, will add, according to my firnrconviction, contrary to the who, if they knew all the clauses of the bill, would not feelings of a vast majority of the people. (Cheering. ) Mr. POULTER rose. He said the bill was incurable ; recoil from its frantic fanaticism, or would agree to ex change the cheerful holyday of the Christian faith, for the it was opposed to the great fundamentals and spirit of reli pharisaical hypocrisies of a worse than Judaic Sabbath. g Mr. POTTER—When the hon. baronet moved for e ion, and struck a blow at the freedom of the subject, and endangered the morality of the country. (Cheers, and leave to bring in a bill for the better observance of the cries of " No, no," from a few on the Ministerial side.) Sabbath, it was evident to me that he intended to renew his .He was friendly to an observance of the Sabbath. When bill of last session ; under that impression, Po posed its in- the bill was lost, as it of course would be, he hoped that a troduction, from a conviction that it was totally a t var i ance committee would be appointed to look at the entire subject, with the feelings of the community. ( Cheers.) The result and prepare a bill that would meet the wishes of the country. has shown that I was correct, for the bill which the hon. (Loud cheers.) It was a grievous mistake to suppose that baronet has brought in is, with a slight alteration, the same i the petitions presented in favour of an observance of the as his former one • and although that measure was rejected : Sabbath were in favour of the present bill. ( Hear, hear. ) at the second reading by a majority of only six, almost A penalty was imposed for drunkenness on Sunday ; but every gentleman who supported the second reading said the best way to prevent that evil was to encourage sobriety, that in committee the bill must undergo considerable al- good order, and morality during the week ; to enlighten teration. The bill now before the house is, to my mind, the people, relieve their burdens, and make life social and so objectionable, that I feel convinced no alterations which happy to them. If they were drunk on the week-days, the can be made will render it acceptable to the house present coercion bill would not keep them sober on Sunday. and the country. I object to the very preamble ; there Many men who discharged their duties faithfully, and read is, in my opinion, an irreverent use of the name of prayers regularly to their families, went during the inter the Deity (Cheers), and a presumptuous supposition vals of divine s erv i ce t o a new s r oom ; and was the present of what is his will towards man. Cheers .) ( If this bill to come down with its penalties on such men ? There bill becomes the law of the land, which, I trust, it was the game at cricket, too, which the poor were in the never will, and its provisions are carried into full effect, habit of playing o n S un d a y, and which, by this charitable the consequences will be, that th e grea t est i nconven i ence and sufferings will follow ; th e com f or t s an d en j oyments of bill, was made penal. B u t it should not be forgotten, that the employment the inhabitants of large t owns i n part i cu l ar w i ll b e i nter- if not always, a preventive of vice. Let them be debarred . from that innocent recreation, and they would skulk into fered with and abridged, the su ppl y o f f oo d f or th i s great of the poor at such games was frequently , city will be endangered, a n d, w h a t i s worse, i t m i ght have Public-houses, there drink and brood mischief. (The hon. a tendency to make men hypocritical ; the pharisaical ob- member here quoted various penal enactments of the bill, servance of the Sabbath was emphatically- reproved by as applied to particular offences, all of which have been re the great founder of the Ch r i s ti an re li gion , w h en h e P eatedly brought before the public.) Many hundred vessels declared, that " the Sabbath was made for man, and Portsmouth and were often locked up for a long period in not man for the Sabbath." (Hear, hear.) The penal other sea-ports, in consequence of adverse winds ; now if enactments of this bill affect chiefly the middle and a favourable bill sprung up on Saturday night , should labouring classes ; the rich man, who has servants, they by this bill be prevented from sailing on Sunday under carriages, horses, and pleasure boats, can use them, a penalty of 1001. for each ship ? (Hear, hear.) The if he pleases, on the Sabbath ; he can go to Rich- bill professed to be founded on the fourth commandment. mond, Hampton Court, Windsor, Box-Hill, or any of the He (Mr. Poulter) respected the, commandments as much places near this great town ? but the man who does not as any one, and he should say that it was really founded possess those luxuries, and wishes, on the only day he can on a Jewish ordinance—an ordinance different from Chris leave his business, to visit, during the spring and summer tianity. The Jewish ordinance was now in force, or was months, the beautiful scenery of the places I have men- not--if not, why revive one of its most inconvenient, un tioned, is absolutely prevented from so doing, for he would just, and harsh provisions? If it was, why not observe it not be able to hire a horse, carriage, or boat, or even to use all ? Why should the hon. baronet keep fire in his house a stage coach. The humbler citizen does not go so far on a Sunday, and why should not the punishment of death from home on Sundays, but if he wishes to repair to be inflicted on any one that picked up sticks on the Sab- Greenwich, Hampstead, or any of the villages near Lott- bath ? ( Hear, hear.) It may be said that the observance of the Sabbath was enjoined at the creation. But God don, he needs a conveyance, and for sixpence he may be gratified; but, by the 9th, 10th, and 12th clauses of this did not say that he hallowed the Sabbath at that time, but on that account. (Here the hon. member advanced some bill, he will be prevented, and must walk through crowded streets, and dusty roads, to obtain a little fresh air, and will arguments on this part of the ca s e, which are to be fou n d thus be prevented from beholding the beauteous green face in the pamphlet of Dr. Whately, Archbishop of Dublin. ) of the earth, the lofty and majestic trees, and the St. Paul told the early Christians that they were not to of men with respect to meat or drink, or observance shining hills and valleys, the bare contemplation of which judge is enough to direct his thoughts to the gracious and of the Sabbath. Nay more, the founder of Christianity bountiful Creator, and this, too, on the only day he can himself violated the Jewish Sabbath ; for instance, not to be absent from work. (Cheers.) In large towns, and enumerate many cases, when he told the cripple to take this great city in particular, numbers of young men are up his bed and walk ! ( Hear, hear.) He would support employed during the week-days in warehouses, shops, fac- a Christian, useful, and just observance of the Sabbath, tories, and workshops, many of which are in the dense and and no other. ( Hear. ) ill ventilated part of the town, and many of them are ob- Mr. HALL said it appeared to him that the effect of the lia ' ed to attend until late on Saturday evening ; many fe- bill, if carried, would be to injure to a very great extent males are, during the week, closely confined in sewing ; the internal trade and traffic of the country. (Hear, hear, domestic servants can only get out on the Sunday ; but if hear.) As regarded the moral effect of the bill, he quite this bill receives the sanction of Parliament, how severely agreed with those who thought that if the working classes will persons so situated suffer. I know the hardships and of the people were deprived of the means of recruiting privations young men endure who, during the week, are themselves by taking their pleasure abroad, they would of closely confined ; for, when a young roan, I was for some necessity be driven to pass their time in the public-houses. years engaged in a shop, and afterwards in a warehouse, Then, with respect to the commercial operation of the in the towns of Birmingham and Manchester. My corn- measure, there was one point in particular to which he panions and I, from Monday morning until Saturday wished to call the attention of the house. In many manu night, seldom or ever had opportunity, or liberty to take a factories, for example in iron -foundries, unless the furnaces walk, and at this distance of time well do I remember the were constantly kept up, the whole progress of the works w delight we felt at the return of Sunday, when we made was stopped. The consequence of neglecting such works little excursions on horseback, or in gigs, to the neigh- for 24 hours would, in many cases, be a loss amounting to bouring villages, there rambling through Shenstone's 500/. or 1,000/. But could they foresee all the conse walks, Hagley Park, in the green lanes, or by t h e side of quences of such a system ? Might it not lead even to our b some brook, and this, too, was very frequently compatible becoming, as regarded some articles, an importing instead with the observance of. the Sabbath, for we often at- of an exporting country ? (Hear, hear.) The bill pro tended a country church, but had this bill been in force, fessed not to interfere with any works of piety, charity, or how greatly would our innocent enjoyments have been cur- necessity. This, in his opinion, made it requisite that tailed. I have referred to a period of forty years ago. another bill should be brought in, to specify every trade Thousands of young people need similar relaxation, and and manufacture that came under the operation of the bill I will be no party to interfere with, or take away their now before the house ; and also to describe what works necessary recreation, which I feel convinced will be the were to be excluded from the operation of the bill. If this case if this bill pass. The affluent can, in the aft ernoon question were not decidedifiy parliament, by whom was it of Sunday, meet at the social table, and partake of ex- to be decided? Was it to be left to the magistrates? If cellent food ; but the labourer, who frequently is absent so, he would retire from the commission of the peace ; fo r , from his family on the week-days, or leaves his home in his opinion, magistrates had enough to occupy their early, with his dinner in his pocket, surely ought to have a attention already ; and the performanc e o f any suc h d u t y hot and comfortable dinner on the Sunda; but by this bill could not fail to bring down on the m cons id era bl e o di um. the public bakehouse is to be closed. ( dear.) His wife ( Hear, hear. ) has no convenience to cook ; the husband is thus prevented Mr. ROEBUCK thought it his duty at once to declare that he was against any legislation o n th e ma tt er a t a ll. sitting down with his family to a hot dinner ; he becomes discontented, which often leads him into vicious and drink- That might be considered a bold declaration, and would ing company. Baking on the Sunday morning, for the Probably subject him to the severe censure of a portion of benefit of the poor man is prohibited, but, in the exception the house. He, however, did not hesitate to make the avowal, ; and he did so, because he conscientiously believed clause, bakers are allowed "to set and superintend the sponge," as it is called, which requires considerable time that the bill was nothing more nor less than a branch of and attention. First the flour must be sifted, then setting persecution. Entertaining, then, this feeling, he must at the ferment, and afterwards mixing the flour and water, once announce his inveterate hostility to any measure on which is called setting the sponge ; after which the dough the subject. He would suppose that the house, and not must be made, which, altogether, occupies nearly the whole a party of religious devotees, were to draw the line. When of Sunday afternoon ; and why has this been permitted ? would they say that they had gone far enough ? How Why, that the rich and luxurious may have new bread on would they determine that religion went so far and no far- Monday morning ; so that the poor man must have a cold, ther ? (Hear, hear.) They must conclude that the line uncomfortable dinner, that the Sabbath may be kept, but it would be drawn by the dominant party. Suppose this may be broken for the purpose of pandering to the appetites house took on itself to say every man should, every day, of the lovers of new bread. ( Laughter.) This is another in- attend five sacraments ? Why, if they passed the bill, stance of the operation of the hon. baronet's bill, which, as should they not say that every individual should attend I before stated, affects principally the middle and working daily some house of prayer ; and why not also say that classes. I feel convinced that the public bakehouse cannot they should then take the sacrament of the Lord's Supper? be closed on Sunday morning without seriously affecting (Hear, hear.) Their consciences, truth, good feeling, the comforts of great numbers of the working class. I have and justice, told them that between God and man, man was made many inquiries, not only in London but at Manches- not fit to legislate. Cheers.)( How was an individual h ter, during the recess. In those parts of large towns in- justified in saying to is fellow-man, "Your co nsc i ence habited by the humbler classes, few bakers cook less than is unworthy!; mine is the only fitting one. lam a pattern 50 or 60 dinners ; many a much greater number. I know and a shining light, look on me. As a spectacle of good bakers who, in spring and autumn, ness look on me ?" Would this ho use sa y so ? If no t, it dishes, each of which furnishes a d cook on Sundays 100 dinner for a family ; the could not insist on any one of the religous observances re charge in London is generally two-pence—in the country quired by the bill. T alk of discretion ; why this was a one penny or three halfpence. The whole process is over most preposterous, tyrannical, and pharisaical measure, involving a Judaical observa nce o f th e S a bb a th, w hi c h by one o'clock, and the journeymen, unless detained in " setting and superintending the sponge," are at liberty he contended was not Christian.; (Hear, hear.) There during the remainder of the day. I have said that the were prelates in the church of England, as high as any one provisions of the bill now before the house chiefly affect who had written on the subject, a n d th e y l a id it d own th a t the middle and working classes of society ; but there is such observances were not Christian. The Archbishop of another part of the community who, if this bill pass, will Dublin, himself a most distinguished authority (Hear, suffer—l mean a number, and a considerable number too, hear), distinctly stated, in a pamphlet he had written on of the members of this house. Many of us come up to the subject, that they were not Christian. The hon. ba attend to our duties, and do not bring any horses or car- ronet might be ambitious of becoming the founder of a new riages. Sunday is in general the only day we have time system of Christianity, but he would recommend the hon. to get out of London to enjoy a little change and fresh air; baronet to leave every man to his own system, and the hon. those who are so situated wish to hire horses and car- baronet would be at full liberty to confine himself to his. riages; but by this bill they are prevented. A very short Suppose he (Mr. Roebuck) chose to say that his children reference to the duties we are called upon to perform, and should not be taught to observe the Sabbath as a Jewish, the time required must, I think, convince the most rigid rite, would the hon. baronet be justified in taking his ehil moralist th a t we are ent i t l e d to some li tt l e re l axa ti on a t dren from him, and say that he was unworthy of teaching the end of the week. I will just refer to last week (and I them? And if he would not prevent children being so have known heavier weeks). The house sat fifty-four It was thre n e g hours, bei riearl an average of eleven hours per day. taught, would he prevent adults from acting on the . prin ciples of their early instruction? It was impossible to o'clock before the house adjourned on Satur- make a rule of such matters, and at the same time to avoid day morni ng . bills and thirt and attention thin } -five ne e on public bills, which occupied the time There fiv were forty committees on private running counter to the kind feelings of our nature. What did hon. gentlemen endeavour to effect ? Anything like general a kind of clearing y. all the members. Saturday is in that feeling in the heart—that true religion of the spirit hearted who refuses to allow day, and he must be hard- —that bowing down of the man before his God in devout e u iu s i a little recreation on Sun- adoration which alone was desirable ? Did they fancy day. lam a very humble m w s of this house, and take they would make him look on the Lord of Life as a bene but little part in the public disc e u r sa si f o e i l is ; on thatommittees ficent, mild, and good being, one loving goodness of heart I endeavour to attend, and I canand mercy of spirit ? Would they . not rather picture Him eluded making excursions on Sundays,y sap, ife pre en- as a gloomy and terrible God (Cries of " No, no") as one tirely unfit for business ; and how much more is recreation delighting in the mortification of the spirit ? ' • (Continued required for those lio t n h . e m hu e us mb e vs Theo take a prominent cries of " No, no.") The hon. baronet cried " No." part in the business ofl4th clause autho- " No" on his tongue—" Yes" in his bill—" Yes" in his rises magistrates, constables, and other persons "to seize, heart. (Laughter and cheers.) What was the meaning with or without warrant, cattle or other animals travelling of this? Why was there not in the first line after the on the Lord's Day and to impound or otherwise detain preamble of this bill ar-' • for the • down of I a tision putting them, until the Wednesday next ensuing," unless penalties, all the pleasures and pas i .ies of the ' ? rich . (Loud cheers.) paid. I wonder Why which are heavy, are sooner what the did not these apostles of the present day commence noble lord would say, if some of his fine fat oxen that were with the p leasures of t he rich ? For this reason ; with impounded thepleasures of coming up to the London market were seized and the poor animals would pleasures of the poor they didnotsympathise • for four days? What a condition c be in when they came out of the hands of the constable ! l Y , the" and " ear har.") They could not lords and the know what poor manfelt. (Laughter. ) I call upon the noble How could the, who daily passed their lives in ' landlords now present, particularly the owners of quiet and content, know the feeling of the poor man who worked " daily and hourly to fight off the grazing land, to protect their tenants from the cruelty the want? f seventh day and injustice of this bill. Is it possible that it fiend e on the How c o uld th ey k now the emot i ons of should be proposed to torment a poor dumb animal that man seventh day, th e d ay of recreat i on an d for the alleged purpose of promoting the service of God ? rest ? He would ask, what wou ld such a man be likely to ( Hear.) The 19th clause applies to the recovery and appli- say when came, and h e f oun d h e was cation of penalties. It is here provided that the case shall driven to submit to the pharisaical observance of that bill, be heard, whether the party accused be present or absent ; which he could not in his conscienceapprove, of that bill mould not allow him to go out at all, unless he could and if a conviction takes place, and the penalty or penal- which ties with costs are not paid, distress and sale of goods and walk ? (A laugh.) Suppose he had a spare shilling, and 1 were willing to expend it in putting himself in a stage to reach the suburbs of London. The hon. baronet meeting him, might b supposed to say, ‘i Don't you know that there is it (+o_l2 it'-the bill which forbids your taking this recreation.' The pour Man *child TT-1)1v. " I am weak, I ani tdil:Vdrii, I ein't.walk, and I tint free air ' I want to fill my lungs, they l&ce ndt been filled the Whole week, and I am faint in conseqiterice:" WOW the lidn. baronet thereupon reiterate the clause of his bill, and tell the man that he could not go out in the stage coach? Sapptise, on the other hand, that the hon. baronet had encoun tered, a,noble lord who had got the gout. (Laughter. ) The hon. fer6tiet vroit}4.odress him, saying, " My lord, you can't go out in the stage &Veit.", lordship would rejoin, " I do not wish to do so ; I ha( e rIY exrriagept the door, and I mean to go out in that." (Cheers. I'' , hon. ba onet would then make the noble lord a bow, and tell him that in his carriage he was doubtless at liberty to take his pleasure. Now, did a bill that would operate thus exhibit merciful consideration for the poor, or the equal operation of the laws ? ( Cheers.) The preamble of the bill stated, that the " holy keeping of the Lord's Day is a principal part of the true service of God." Did the hon: baronet mean to say that the ceremony *as the principal part? If so, what became of his faith, hope, and charity ? Why were not these thrown into• the scale; or, Were they excluded because they were inconsistent with the Jewish observances which the bill provided? He (Mr. Roebuck) did not hesitate to say, that the whole of religion, by such a bill-as that, Wonld be reduced to mere ceremony ; that, in short, there would not be a kindly feeling, or a reli gious feeling remaining. No doubt the hon., baronet was a sincere friend of humanity ; but did he never consider the condition and temper—it being that for which he was in fact legislating—of the human mind ? If he al lowed not the man who worked six days out of the week to recreate out of doors on the Sunday, he would drive him to the public-house on that day, and make him a drunkard. (" No, no," from Sir A. Agnew.) He (Mr. R.) could see that the hon. baronet knew nothing of human nature ; that he knew nothing of the people amongst whom he lived. It was by o b s e rv ances of the Sabbath—by the pa ling on of that outward species of religion which he had described, that the people had been driven to those beer shops to which the hon. baronet was so particularly op- Posed. Complaints of the beer-shops were being con stantly made, but what had filled them ? Nothing so much as the people being prevented from playing at cricket and indulging in other such harmless exercises. He knew well enough what would be the probable consequence to him of defending games on the Sunday ; but he would never theless declare that he was a sincere believer in the state ment made by the hon. member for Lincoln. These re creations, so far from being irreligious, fitted menthe more for the performance of their moral and religious duties— making them, in fact, better men and better Christians than they would have been without them. (Hear, hear. ) He was determined to get through his case—to work this bill thus brought into the house. He was most glad that the hon. member for Lincoln had given them a chance of throwing it out at once. He gave the hon. baronet credit for meaning well, however mistaken he (Mr. Roebuck) must think him. Let them not forget, however, that it had been said " Hell was paved with good intentions." Could the hon. baronet be aware that one of the effects of his bill would be, that in this commercial country, all com munications would be stopped for one day in each week ? (Hear, hear.) What had been said on this subject by a committee appointed in North America? And be it not forgotten, that the North Americans were the most religious people on the earth. Let them take the case of a mail travelling on the Sunday, and that there was a very large territory, in which were millions of persons connected by commercial intercourse. If they stopped the vehicle one day in the week, they separated one-seventh of the whole community one from the other. The North Americans believe that to be a se rious evil. He would suppose another case ; that of an individual starting on Friday night, and reaching Edin burgh on the Sunday. The bill would stop him there ; he could proceed no further. Nor would he find an inn that would be at liberty to receive him ; he must sleep on the top of the coach. (No, no, and Hear, hear.) Or, if he arrived the day before, while he was detained, must not the horses have t o b e fedand cleaned, and attended to in other ways ? In short, would labour be stopped ? What was the ad vantage to be gained by making a set of idlers from one end of the kingdom to the other ? That was not all. There would be an increase, in the first place, of the expenses of travelling (Hear, hear) ; and secondly, he wished to know how the minds of the people would become more fitted for the observance of the Lord's Day by the stopping of the stages ; how could that improve the religion or morality of the people? Not content with the stage-coaches, the bill would affect all species of cattle, all species of goods, all species of vessels. The house ought not to lose sight of the fact that large quantities of animal food were now con veyed on the Sunday to the metropolis; the bill then would necessarily increase the price of provisions to the poor ( Hear, hear), yet, no doubt, that never entered into the contemplation of the hon. baronet. Such, at all events, was the conclusion he (Mr. Roebuck) must come to, knowing, as he did, the humane character which the honourable baronet deservedly bore. The honourable baronet would obtain the very beau ideal of his Jewish Sunday if he could insure that no class laboured on that day ; but even the honourable baronet felt that some persons must be employed. Where, then, were they to draw the line? Should they look for it in the indefinite clauses of the bill? It was provided that the bill was not to apply to works of piety, charity, or necessity. To begin: how were they to draw the line of piety ? (Hear, hear. ) How was he (Mr. Roebuck) to draw his line of a work of necessity ? Or how was the hon. baronet himself to draw his line of a work of charity ? (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Roebuck) might have a most serious occasion to travel : and the matter might be one of such a nature that he could not disclose the nature of it without inflicting on himself great pain. If he met the hon. baronet he would compel him to give up his secret, and he must suffer the penalty of his bill for travelling. Was not this an unfair, most ob noxious interference ? Under the proposed measure men would become liable to penalties who bad infringed no mo ral obligation. To his mind the greatest objection to the bill was, that it set up the standard of self. By the opinion of one individual who arrogated to himself that he was right, were other individuals to be judged? " Oh (ex claimed Mr. Roebuck), we are not the humble creatures that we would be supposed to be." (Cheers.) There ap peared throughout this bill a spirit of dictation which made him its inveterate opponent. At every stage of its pro gress i n houseg ress he on would every elendea vour clause. If toi it defeat went it, in t and o aw committee, t v t i e d e e , the h e would meet it with a proposal to put down every gentle hmisanm'soptiroin another ar under would he includeprovisions of the bill every servant going out of doors on business for his master. (Laughter , and cheers.) If the housedeter octe carriage. (Cheers. h t e o ersC . bring ) li nde r mined to read the bill a second time, he would try the cou rage of the house with this amendment ; and the house would not be acting consistently with its then declared principles, if his amendment were rejected. He repeated, that he would try the strength and courage of the house. He thought he saw some shrinking on the part of those around him, though he knew that, in feeling, they went entirely along with him. (Cheers. ) Lord GROSVENOR concurred with those hon. gen tlemen who contended that in introducing any such mea sure they ought rather to begin with the rich than with the poor. There were many other observations, however, made by the hon. and learned member for Bath (Mr. Roebuck) from which he entirely dissented. (Hear.) He approved of the suggestion of the hon. and learned member to prevent travelling with carriages on a Sunday. When he looked to the bill now before the house, it would be most disingenuous on his part if he hesitated to declare that he could not vote for the second reading. He re gretted this, for there were portions of the bill of which he entirely approved. He was quite ready to support any bill on the subject that he considered would afford a rea sonable prospect of being beneficial. He had presented several petitions from his constituents this morning in favour of the observance of the Sabbath ; but he could not for a moment believe that those petitions were intended to be in favour of the metsure the merits of which the house was now debating. (Hear. ) Mr. HALCOMB challenged the hon. and learned gen tleman to point out any portion of this bill that did en force religious observances in the sense in which the hon. and learned gentleman contemplated. The whole prin ciple of the bill was to prevent, not to compel ; to prevent acts of irreverence and indecorum on the Lord's Day ; and so far he hoped it would receive the sanction of that house. The hon. and learned gentleman also adverted, in that tone of sarcasm which was peculiarly at his command, to the language of the preamble of the bill, which declared that the object of the measure was " The holy keeping of the Lord's Day as a principal part of the true service of God." The hon. and learned gentleman asked, " What, then, is a ceremony a principal part of the true service of the Deity ?" He (Mr. Halcomb) took issue with the hon. and learned gentleman. (Hear, hear.) He contended that the keeping and observing decently of the Lord's Day was more than a mere ceremony. If it was not, indeed, then would the sarcasm of the hon. and learned gentleman be well applied. This bill would not have the effect of making people answerable to parliament for the non-per formance of their religious duties. In this matter they would continue, as heretofore, liable only to that e cclesiastical body to whom they ought to be amenable. (Cries of " Oh, oh.") The line of argument adopted by the hon. member for Shaftesbury (Mr. Potter) had, he confessed, surprised him. Was it not a component part of the Christian's duty to cease from labour on the Sabbath ? The wisest of men had regarded this as an institution, than which it was impossible to devise one more conducive to the happiness of human beings. The Sabbath under the Mosaic Law had been adverted to. They all knew of the case of the individual piling up sticks on the Sabbath Day, which the celebrated writer treated not as a precedent, or an example to be followed in legislation, but more as the immediate act of Moses, to impress with a mark of the se verest censure a sense o f the impropriety of executing on era t n s t in the, .. 6 bi the Sabbath D ay so unnecessary a wor k . (H ear, h ear. ) The laws for th e o b servance o f t h e S a bb at h were to b e found in the ancient statutes. In the preamble of a bill brought preservationt i ( n O g h a , o n h d ) , be theaorf. bear-baiting , r ha s ei t t i o ns f ga, Charles hma.aths f made o h m e de First,sthee. n by u chapter i e ground-work. He quoted this act to rescue the hon. ba ronet from the sarcasm and obloquy of any lion. members Who might choose to exercise their wit upon the subject. Those who Would taunt the hon. baronct, would forge ' him (Mr. Halcomb) if he, in return, mistrusted their li berality ; nor did he think such tatiiits would suggest them selves to any well regulated minds. He did not advocate f.li portion of tl.e hon. baronet's 1., , 11 which extended to travelling And hteetinetion, as it would afford room for the Ojectien thrit it r?;&dietiiftil ozeinct the enjoyments of the j:o4r, whilst it administered' to tilk.p l m.stirel of the rich, and td emtept p i nfy necessary travellin; %Vol:0 make it of too inquisitorial a . He Would not have the peo ple of this great metropolis shr i t otafroni necessary recre ation, by boats or vehicles to refresil t9cial fioni the heats Of pent-up streets and sweltering alleys. He h*d lived too Mitch jri the torn not to know the advantages of suer ne cessary iii.4ieetio'n,,Oticl to feel the sublimity of the line— " aod =Wel - Ale but mitt made the _town." The poor man's carriage, tbi, enthihra, as as necessary to him as the sulky or the chariot WaS man: The hon. member instanced, amongst the neeetsiry lksiness, the removing perishable commodities from vesSelg; and stated though the Lord's Day Act did not prohibit travel ling, it j afforded no redress to travellers who were robbed whilst otirrieying oil the Sabbath. The law as it stood was sufficient for the protection of the Sabbath Day, if the penalties were heavy enough td enforce the observance. They should permit this bill to g'd td a 6ercorici reading, and refer the details either to a committee tip stairs, or a com mittee of the whole house, ifere• it could be matured and rendered practicable. , Lord 111ORPETH agreed with tile bori: gentleman who i last addressed them on the impropriety of iittyfering with the out-of-door amusements of the people which trere not inconsistent With decorum, and amongst these (as we lin derstood him) he inciiided ericketing. The arguments used as to the right of the podf to the use of public con veyances on the Sabbath were unansWerkMe, The proper object of legislation, in his mind, was to Vrotttet the de cencies of public worship, and afford proper rett to the labouring poor. Until some better plan .than the hen. baronet's was proposed (and he did not think there would be much difficulty in proposing a better) he would consent to a committee; but at the same time this consent should not be considered on his part as an intention entirely to adopt, or indeed to adopt in any great degree, the provi sions of the bill. His object was, as far as it could be done without injury, to free the poorer classes from compulsory labour on the Sabbath. (Hear.) _ _ Mr. WILKS contended for the usefulness of the com mittee, for:the purpose of framing a bill which might afford protection on the Sabbath to the poorer classes, but which would not at the same time abridge their rational plea sures, which they should be permitted to partake, without violating the one day set apart for the observance of reli gion. He replied to the objection that the Apostles did not keep particularly holy the Sabbath Day, insisting that it was an observance in use through all periods of Chris tianity. It would confer great glory on the house if it passed, not the present, but some bill which would insure the poor man's right to abstain from the labour to which, in many instances, he was now compelled to submit. Through respect to the great number of religious opinions which were laid before the house, and which were more numerous than even those for a repeal of the unioi, a committee should be agreed to, to consider the details, and meet the expectations of the country. Mr. GISBORNE said, the proposed measure was neither more nor less than a project for shutting up the Thames, and depriving the inhabitants of this vast me tropolis of all the advantages in the way of health and re creation which that noble river held out to them. It did more than this ; it not only shut up the river, but put an end to coach-travelling, nay, put a stop to the vehicles which were already in motion. ( Hear, and laughter.) If in operation next Saturday, at a particular hour, it would have the effect of stopping the York Road at Glastonbury. (A laugh.) Though a fast day-coach was now established from Manchester, which effected the journey in a very short time, arriving at some time after eleven o'clock, still, if an unpropitious fall of snow happened to intervene and impede its progress, coach and passengers might have to encamp through the inclement ni,ght on Finchley Common. ( Hear, hear, and laughter.) The bill, beside this, empowered any justices of the peace, churchwarden, overseer, head borough, constable, deputy constable, or policeman in the parish, to arrest any cattle, found travelling on the Sab bath Day, and detain them until the following Wednesday, then to be taken before the magistrate. This was rather too great a power to intrust to such petty officers ; and yet the overseer, if he received information, was punish able by a fine of 2/. it he neglected to enforce the bill. There was no remedy by the bill against any person but the informer, who might be a man of straw, and thus the most annoying practices might be wrought against an indi vidual without any redress. Such a bill, so far from being capable of amendment, was totally incurable. If, for in stance, he (Mr. Gisborne) wanted a horse at Newman's, it would be rather awkward to have the hostler come up and catechise him thus—" Pray, Sir, on what business are you going—is it a necessary business?" and if discus sion ensused, there was no provision in the bill by which it could be ascertained whether he oilithe hostler should be judge of the necessity. (Hear, and laughter.) Hon. gentlemen talked of going into committee. He should like to know which of the clauses they desired to pre serve. Would they preserve the " locomotive," or what other? if the bill were even permitted to go to a second reading, every clause would be struck out in committee. As a saving of time, therefore, he hoped that hon. mem bers would vote against the second reading in the first instance. (Hear.) Colonel EVANS said it had been asserted that hon. members could not support any one clause in the bill. This was a mistake, for there was one clause towards the end which he should support most firmly, nay, which he would even wish to see extended—he meant the clause of exemptions. ( Hear, and laughter.) This bill really re minded him of an amnesty lately granted by a despotic monarch on the Continent, in which lie announced a free pardon, excepting all those persons who had taken part in the political struggles against him. (Hear.) A little further extension of the provisions of the clause would render it a complete exemption of all persons affected by the preceding clauses. The bill appeared to him to be confiscation in many of its parts, and a vast quantity of valuable property would be destroyed if it were permitted to pass. Many other persons, as well as fishmongers, ought to be exempted. Vast quantities of fruit were grown within fifty or sixty miles of London, and he under stood that, by calculation, one-fourth of that fruit (of course of a perishable nature) was sold between Saturday and Monday, and could not be sold at any other time. He called on the house to throw out this bill, though he would not withhold his consent to a measure which had for its object the correction of some of the existing inequalities of the law. Sir MARK PHILLIPS said, that to his knowledge this bill, if carried into a law, would be productive of great injury to the manufacturing districts, and especially to the iron trade. It would occasion a loss of wages to the men to the extent, according to the opinions of the best-in formed persons on the subject, of not less than twenty-five per cent. The effect of the detention produced by it was very serious. Even now the consequence of the detention of fish would frequently occasion a variation in the fish market of from 50 to 75 per cent. in the course of three or four hours. There was not a member in the house who could not fix upon some one clause of this bill as rodue tive of great injury to the trade, or to the poorer inhabi tants of the borough or county with which he was con nected. (Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances he should protest strongly against the passing of the measure, more especially as it appeared to him to be a most unjust and impolitic interference with the regular supply of the necessaries of life. (Cheers. ) Mr. C. W. WYNN thought that the house could not advantageously discuss this question theologically, as some of the greatest divines and most eminent of all ages had en tertained different opinions upon it. The two principal objects of the bill related to travelling and the sale of goods, and it had not been even pretended by those who defended the measure that any of the provisions for accomplishing those object were practical. The interference with the fair enjoyments of the poor was preposterous. Was it to be said that those who were compelled to work hard during the week, and who had only one day on which to take a little necessary air and exercise, were not on that day to be allowed any refreshments whatever ? (Cheers.) Pe nalties on drunkenness might, indeed, be justifiable, but this bill was widely different. It was agreed on all hands that scarcely a provision of this bill could be passed into a law ,• and the wisest plan was, therefore, at once to reject it, and if ' any measure was necessary, to suffer a new one to be introduced. For his own part, he thought the origination of any regulations on this point might be properly left to the upper house, particularly when they considered the mass of business now before the House of Commons. And he must say, that when, on looking at the bill, he found a repetitiod of almost every clause that was objected to by the house last year, and that the hon. member had not en deavoured to obviate any one of those objections, he thought it but a bad specimen of the auspices under hich it was introduced. Sir RONALD FERGUSON thought it a matter of wonder that any member of a free House of Commons should venture to introduce such a bill as this (Cheers), and still more extraordinary that any member of a re formed House of Commons could be found to give it his support. (Hear, hear.) He agreed with the hon. mem ber for Derbyshire that the bill was too bad—that it was impossible to amend it. Was the house to waste its time in committee day after day, in endeavouring to make something of such a bill? He hoped not, and he en treated the house to throw it out as soon as possible. (Cheers.) He only regretted that it had ever been read a first time. He had looked to the bill which the hon. baronet was about to introduce for the benefit of the peo ple in Scotland, and he found it re-enacting things which were a disgrace even to the dark ages of the land. (Hear. ) Amongst others was the imposition of a fine on every man who should be absent from the kirk. (Laughter.) It was indeed too ridiculous. But he hoped the fate of the pre sent bill would operate as a seasonable warning to the hon. member. He had received a letter from one of the most respectable and oldest clergymen in Scotland, well known to the hon. member for Kirkcudbright, stating that it was the opinion of the Presbytery of Cupar and himself that the measure was totally unnecessary, and expressing a hope that the good sense of the Mint of Commons would save them from this crude legislation. (Hear.) Lord SANDON regretted, as a trend to the allc ,, b el object of the measure, that the hon. baronet shout I have introduced a bill, every clause of which had - already been rejected by the house. (Hear, hear.) The course pur sued b3r the hen. baronet was highly injudicious, and had exposed the whole subject to a great deal of ridicule and levity, which ought not fairly to be cast upon it. (Hear. ) No gentleman should venture to legislate upon sacred sub jects without much caution and consideration. He most anxiously entreated the honourable baronet to withdraw his bill. (Hear.) Sir M. W. RIDLEY thought that legislation on these subjects—particularly legislation like that now before the • house—was most, prejudicial to the interests of religion it. self.. (Hear.) It was said that the bill was to protect the poor. That he denied ; it interfered with thost enjoy , ments which netire particularly belonged to the lower classes, and left those of the ilch untouched. Were we better' or more virtuous persons than the inhabitants of France,_ of Germany, &c., in which there were theatrical and other ' entertainments on Sunday ? Did the hon. baronet sup pose that Catholics were less religious than Protestants ; and did ht. mit know that in Catholic countries the people were at liberty te' enjoy themselves and to indulge in harm less festivity on the Sabbath? Were the people in the South of England, who freipently indulged in a healthy game of cricket on a Sunday, the less religious on that account ? On the contrary, he believed that amusements of that nature had the most beneficial tendency, by keep ing them from public-houses and from, other mischievous occupations: (Hear, hear.) Mr. RONAYNE observed that there was no part of Europe in which the Sabbath was observed with more pro priety and respect than in this country. If there were any t.ne thing more than another to be deprecated in the pre sent day, it was the spirit of hyper legislation which mani ftstea itself on such subjects. Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET strongly urged the hon. baronet to withdraw his bill. Any moderate mea- Entre fer_the better observance of the Sabbath should meet with his scippott ; but to the provisions of the present bill he could not give his consent. Mr. PLUMPTRE supported the second reading of the bill ; and observed, that it had been si.ucliously kept out of view that the parties for whose benefit it. was mainly in tended—such as bargemen, boatmen, post-c 04.0 proprie tors, post-boys, &c., were anxious that it should ptZ., 5 into a law. The hon. member for Lincolnshire had sneeree at the petitions of the journeymen fishmongers, and the jour neymen tie lesmen of other descriptions, on the same sub ject. But did the hon. member recollect that the salvation of one soul was of more value than the whole world ? Were the hon. gentlemen and others if they rejected this bill, prepared to meet the charge which would be brought. against them on the great day ? (Oh, oh, oh!) He did not say that he was prepared to vote for every clause in the bill, but he should certainly vote for the second reading. Mr. O'DWYER was of opinion that the country would not endure such a measure, even if the house were into lerant enough to vote for it. So long as the Sabbath was treated with proper respect, he maintained that the legis lature had no right to interfere with the harmless and salutary reertions of the people. Mr. GROTE amid not allow the question to go to a. division without his decided protest against the,bill. If it were passed, it would be ti sentence of imprisonment during the Sabbath on the lower classes of the people. He had heard nothing to justify a measure even of much less severity than the present. Religion, to be effective, must be spontaneous and sincere ; and religious feelings ought not to be operated upon by any restraints, negative or. positive. Mr. GOULBURN regretted the course taLen by the lion. baronet. He did not differ from the hon. baronet with respect to the important object he had in tiew, but he thought it exceedingly unfortunate, after the experience which the hon. baronet had had of the indisposition of the. House of Commons in the last session to agree to his pro position, that the hon. baronet should again present the same bill, and expect that it would meet with a favourable reception. By so doing the hon. baronet placed him (Mr. Goulburn) and others who thought with him in a situation of difficulty. It was undoubtedly the duty of the house to do all that became a legislature to protect the observance of the Lord's Day. In furtherance of this object it was most desirable that the people should be impressed with the belief that the subject was one which the home treated with respect. But if the proposed bill were again rejected, such a rejection might create a most unfavour able impression on the public mind, and induce the belief that the house was , not disposed to provide for the due observance of the Lord's Day. Under these circumstan :es lie should certainly vote for the second reading of the bill. But he thought it would be much better to limit the pro visions of it to giving effect to the law as it now stood, and that the bill in its present shape went far beyond the limits of sound discretion. Mr. SINCLAIR earnestly and respectfully entreated his hon. friend to withdraw this bill (Hear, hear), the fate of which he'had long foreseen, though he himself, out of respect for the principles, was prepared to support the second reading ; and he was the more desirous to urge this request because the division would afford to this country a very unfair index of the feelings of the house on this im portant subject, and would place many gentlemen in a false position ; first, because it would be supposed (ane most erroneously) . that all who voted against this measure we). o averse to every kind or degree of legislation as to Sabbath observance ; and next, because others, who supported the bill, might be, with equal injustice, considered as inclined to adopt all its provisions. He (Mr. S.) was bound to say that he considered many of the clauses exceptionable, in consistent, and impracticable. He would cheerfully con cur with his hon. friend (to whose worth and exertions no man was more inclined to do the fullest justice) in putting an end to Sunday trading, and in thus placing all shop keerers on an equal footing, by enforcing that prohibition to trade which they themselves were generally desirous to see established under adequate penalties. But when they came to the particular enactments, his hon. friend and he would at length, and perhaps very soon, part company. He had often told him, that by attempting too much, he would accomplish nothing—his advice had uniformly been in private, what he now ventured publicly to repeat, quando id non possis, quod velis id saltein velis quod possis. His hon. friend had not sufficiently distinguishod between what a man of strict religious principle might pre yribe to himself as a duty, and what he had a right t) impose as a burden upon others whose views wore lass elevated, or less decided ; what was a privi lege and blessing to the one, would be privation and bond age to the other. He should quote a single sentence from Archbishop Usher, in which he most cordially concurred If I had all men's consciences in my keeping, I could, in disputable cases, give laws unto them as well as unto my self ; but it is one thing what I can do, and another thing what all other men must do." With every desire to give to the working classes that protection which they so ur gently claimed, and to which they were so justly entitled, he did not think the present provisions of this bill we're wisely adapted for that laudable object ; and if it were per severed in, and discussed in committee, there were many of its enactments which he should wish to see greatly mo dified, or altogether omitted. Mr. JOHNSTON maintained that a question of more importance had scarcely ever been discussed, and that their decision with respect to it would enable the people to form an opinion of the character of their representatives. (Hear, hear.) Adverting to the proceedings on the subject in the last session, he contended that the hon. baronet was perfectly justified in bringing forward the bill again ; and, indeed, that it was his duty to do so. He strongly urged the house to attend to the numerous petitions which had been presented in favour of the bill. There was not one of the principles of the bill then before the house, but what had the concurrence of numerous classes of the com munity, and was calculated to meet the wants and the * wishes of the working portions of it. ( Great confusion.) He was much mistaken (Loud cheers)—he was mistaken (Repeated cheers)—he, indeed, committed a great mis take (Cheers)---if the question was not a growing one ; and if it had gained nothing, it had gained this (Loud laughter), that few could be found to stand up in that. house, and declare that much moral benefit had not ac crued from the agitation of the subject. He hoped the house would allow the bill to go into committee, and not trifle with the feelings of those numerous petitioners who were anxious for Sabbath legislation.. (" Question.") Mr. GISBORNE denied that he had treated, or ever wished to treat, the principles of the bill with contempt. If the clauses of the bill were ridiculous when followed out to their results, surely he was not tobe held responsible for that. (Hear.) Mr. O'CONNELL believed there were many gentle men in that house, supporters of the bill, who were not aware of the extent to which it went, for its provisions extended not only to Ireland, but to Scotland; and if it should fail of going to a committee, the very next bill on the orders of the house was applicable to Scotland alone, and of a similar character. To him (Sir Andrew) alone he should not attribute the happy sagacity of this double legislation. It was a saying in the profession to which he had the honour to belong, that you m i g ht drive a coach and six through any Act of Parliament ; but, by this act, the coach and six was to go free ; for he who has his Lord's Day (Hear.) The completion of such a bill a s , c s o .o a e ch be m ti a d y e go tha v: m h: a r he n e ,viw li ‘ k v e o s u , and do as h Iddaretohire e pleases, aeabo n butthe this would be the triumph of a principle of the most atro cious character—the triumph of a principle of the mos t unchristian tendency ; inasmuch as it was a denial of the great principles of the Christian religion, as laid down b God himself. (Cheers, with low cries of " Oh, oh !") Yes, yes, it was ; it was a bold and daring denial ; it was an impious denial of the first principle of Christianity, in asmuch as it preferred the rich to the poor. (Great cheering.) What ! if they wished to carry such prin ciples as these—if they wished to put such a bill as this into operation, why not commence in the proper quarter? (Hear, hear.) Why not do away with the f i lining parties of the great—why not compel the wealthy to pay a more marked reverence to the obligations of the Sabbath—wliv not debar hisbart h he o p r r se o , oudri his - cook to aistocratfroin serve up hiscompe turtle lli tocurry ve nison ? ( Cheers.) Why not do away with the worst species of slavery—worse than all, because domestic—the slavery of Cabinetinnials and e coun s c e i r is vant and s? th ( ei C r h ca ee b ri i ng. ) aetdiNln; dinners s n o prohibit Slight e theirheerf 11 9 , t, lt:eelieved froi r, an 0) , r ..I ...thy n ot : () 4 h, ~,,b , ,.) , ~, t: hwaesu. he °ill plea VlAtstied to t o c ,,,_ ase of tr ; : ...pe 1 g " b v l iii ' ritsted the bi ll '•k ' l° b . ll 1 , - message 1 ''' ig a sa ge fi Ist c'llferen confe_ __, ) cw . , enc e 441 4er with - minutes 1 gating es a T Alt' L ,lllat th, Kin. 1; a " L. I - tr h• rone's it theor ies second • Pt time t i , ,i s sPeaker the ' Psit:teresented w „ a y en __ ' lrd v . llld t end `l t ' loth. He f 4 io ea ern,,, , .... . phi f(ratilkti re i llginn A t h e .. ea.t p urin tw s ~ outs e t c l i ( . 1 , illen.the S a I . ' . litvey'weeirde any . hey" the n otS ; I 1 " ti el 'e I a t • gis , ~ a re; i h e l iation I l ey rn l e i _lost it! ' ''utle. aK ,e it r '(411(1 B ut ~. h e reviv e geni i , ° genius of th I ti,i , i —u rend ' 411 I- his first ~n p oe ."'ed ' one Ith comfort a nn l e bill w . ith as 1 7, he whic h --tended --Lendell t , casters. "ed, Her t.;rditiowas an I filer°, Th, 'ler ° , V ° ,sed ad 1- c l ass ~ `ernesn (th ‘,.,, L ut o -a eghty e --' f er a t ea.. Per he, h en, 1.11,fi "to jelrir li stage Y eihi I : e . eh r onf e tth t o h e e ‘ b ‘ h ] , so al ‘„,-, Who c u hile! , ,iam ;y s d e amr 4 1r s'lmils les s i,h e i c ntrnerner and It would ? r a. would c : there not, 1 s nows fervent, ti I nest cone tot e '-.lscri 4 r P r etatio :uristi ltr al c , to -°lll th — I . lll da fL I th,, e Sabb ib''' s e - e°l nfar a t t . i•ose u nl i e i n t o 14 .;t'ePtion° agree - , utl en , ' -- did '4 a s ea a n that iiite.:..,_,...,,ers:SatlloWllo-eri '' l rue tzt ° I blnn r e, Stagna ar1 . 41 , nical I,,st deliionts 'Ale roosY • pe_geheran ,to If tCcIPle h a lf n ot comfortln, her ! a Is e Pwrit,neiPle Y' i I ght) "V did : o „.. • Wit tl W as Y slid 's.s • of e k i v It of ease, )„ luta, a s ac ret. at • °e of of 1 '17r . 1y, 1 ,, ° , 4 of his l'ilk C.,edic a l t ner e " 9 day, i'lAj'i a il ' ba',,' he a lathe; name °lletstiPPoseci ; shut tons ex, for t till t class, Yet the rich , i ne l eh Mar k th he th tTl'mt, an d 47)1iLl.neeeV"q1)01 I dinners' h e 1 ehe , ; y i ,„" a '' t thrre'balzdy'e 1 , h i , , e h citi har 'gr o e n• ;r ba '),TAllet th ough . ak ),, .eIY, th e , ‘ V a Per e P re w as : titan i. 1:1g 2., _, Obtai , k aio n , - " (1 right No v for on ile the n . e) 1 lib e t 511 d ni c e s ~,,. t,,... perhaps at t - T t i e l aii4 e o f lias - _ h...... bar one the u 1.1 1) 3, 1 .y e T anne. i r l , l 'lr he „ h ad l i e 9f „ 'o i r fitted for is - 4 „, . a Sunda s •',l(-es----e.c.,`al: ti r • PPose nes .'ght a Poo sist a , t hat hi s r , eoaehe—of re if he " i n the ' 1 ) ,,,._ stir abroad =r o ,,, ion. 1 "6 11 b e ' a tit a Well ! 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