The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-04-03 00:00:00

a musical entertainment—for entertainmentlo all intents

and purposes it would be.
is involved in this question.

I think the national character
I think this
_is a subject

which ought not to have been mooted in this council

(Hear, hear.) But if the rntletnen who are parties to
the, memorial had acted as I think they ought to have

acted, they should have memorialized the legislature at
once, and asked them by an act to abrogate the Christian

Sabbath, and not by bringing this sort of responsibility
upon us to ask us to sanction a step, which, disguise it as
they may, conceal it as they may, explain it away as they

r .• r • ,
mar, I say will be made an example,
le,and will be used as an
argument. for going-further with the same work. The
corporation of Liverpool are asked to sanction a course
which is at once condemned by the law of God and by

the law of the land. Sir, I have a great regard and
respect for a number. of 'the gentlemen whose names I
heard read as attached to that memorial. I have a great
respect for them, but I have a much higher respect for
the command ot•Him who has commanded us, individually
and nationally, to remember to keep holy the Sabbath
day. If you destroy that ordinance by any legislative
enactment, and deal with one of the commandments of
the decalogue, then, sir, I contend you have an equal
right to deal with any of the rest, and to
declare that a man • may steal or commit adultery
as you have' to say that a man may break
the Sabbath, and the nation, as a nations, anction
the act. (Cries of Hear, hear.) Sir,. lock at the discus-
sions which have taken plabe in Parliament. Petitions
were presented, and ra s_reritlernan—l am sorry to say,
one of those sprung from Liverpool—brought forward a
motion in the House of Commons, for• the- opening of the
Crystal Palace on the Sabbath. The merncircumsta.nce
of men and women going into the Crystal Palace—if they
believed they could' go on' the Sabbath day without any
violation of their duty to God and the Divine law—this
mere circumstance was not the-important point, but it was
the asking of Parliament. the legislature of the country,
to sanction, as a nation, proceedings which their fore-
fathers would never have sanctioned, which made it an
important crisis. They went to Parliament, and you
saw the convulsion in the country upon the subject.

Scarcely a village in the country hut felt that the religion
of England was at stake ; scarcely a village but loaded
the flouse of Commons with petitions on the subject ;
and the result was, that out of the whole House of Com-
mons, something less than fifty were found—to the praise
and credit of England be it said—in favour of sanction-
ing such. a step. Sir, it cannot be effected
in Parliament, but much would be gained if the gentlemen
who take the views of the question at which I have
glanced, could induce a corporate body, like that of Liver-
pool, to insert the thin edge of the wedge and so help to
destroy the nationally-recognised observance• of the
Sabbath. An argument would be given to these gentle-
men who have formed themselves into an association for
the purpose of providing what are called amusements
upon the Lord's day, and depend upon it. if the council
sanctions any such proceeding it will be used as. an

ment in the noose of Commons in any future discussions
upon the subject. They ask us to join in what I conceive
to be an abrogation of the law of the land. Sir, if it had
been made public that such a memorial as. this was about
to he presented, 1 will venture to say that there is
sufficient of religious principle in the -country, sufficient
of respect for the law of-God and of man, to have. called
into existence a memorial with three times the number of
sionatures which are here, as a counter-memorial,

the council, acting as the municipal
representatives, not to sanction a proceeding.
which, I contend, is first opposed to the law of the
land, and at the same time to the law of God. It
may be said, sir, that these gentlemen repudiate as much
as Ido any desire to break the Sabbath. It is not for me
to say what may be the motives of the 'gentlemen who
have got up the memorial. I give them full credit, a great
number of them, for an honest desire to provide amuse-
ments for the working classes; because many of them, I

am sure, would not lend themselves to the object, if they
saw that it was a breach of the Sabbath. But, I venture
to say, that the plea put:forward of emptying the public-
houses for the purpose of filling St. George's Hall, where
they would hear sacred music, would be a perfect failure.
You would not have, sir, if you had sacred music in ten St.
George's Halls, one person less in the publichouses of the
town; for it is not the class of- persons - who go to the
public house—it is not the class of persons who spend
their lives in drinking gin and debauchery, who would be
the parties to attend religious -concerts in St. George's
Hall. If there were no amusements for the people, the case
would be different. There are the Saturday evening
concerts, and looking at the state of the town, I feel
satisfied that in a short time concerts of that description
will be increased, and will be the amusement. But it is
the introduction of the principle which I object to. Mr.
Mansfield said that on Good. Friday, which was tanta-
mount to Sunday, there was no increase of drunkenness
in consequence of its being a holiday, when the working
classes were released from toil. There were no such

amusements provided that day. and I do not think, have
what amusements you please in St. George's-hall, that
you would succeed in erontying the public houses. You
must empty them in a different way. You cannot do it
by amusements. If you want to benefit the working
classes, it must be not by opening St. George's-hall to
tickle their ears with music—call it sacred music if you
please, for the purpose of lubricating the subject—but it
must be by showing a. sympathy for them by our self-
devotion to them, by visiting them in their miserable habi-
tations, by displaying a kindred feeling with them. In any
object of this sort, I for one, shall be always found ready
to join— i
I believe n this respect, that this proposal would
be a failure. I believe it would be setting an examnle
which would be followed by others, and that if yeti once
had St. George's Hall open, you would soon have applica-
tions from theatres for theatrical entertainments, and the,
result would be, that we should be aiding those who are
endeavouring to assimilate the Sabbath of England to the
Sabbath of the continent of Europe. (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) There they have musical meetings, sacred and
profane, Oil the Sunday. There I have seen, in almost
every continental city, of Italy, France, and other places,
all men working on Sunday; the buildings and other
works going on pari pasou with the amusements of the day.
There is no recognition of the. Sabbath in those countries,
and because I dread the introduction of such a principle,
I stand up here and enter my solemn protest against the
council as a municipal body, elected for municipal pur-
poses, being made the tool and the instrument of intro-
ducing a subject which will stir this town to its
foundation as soon as it becomes known. Te had
a meeting lately upon the question of the town dues,
a question which touched our pockets, and Made us
naturally enthusiastic. But, take the meeting which
took place in St. George's-hall upon that subject, and
contrast it with the meeting which took place, when a
deep religious question was introduced. Look at not
only the hundreds, but almost the thousands that could
not get in. Look at the platform, and whom did you see
there ? Men of all denominations, not only clergymen
but Dissenting ministers—men of leading political char-
acter in Liverpool, who, upon tha hustings would be found
opposed, but there all uniting in one solemn protest
against any injury to the foundation of the Sabbath, on
v-,-1,:! ph I believe the glory, the peace, aye, and the very
commerce of Engl,2lla rests, (Rear, hear.) 4 Whenever .
there is a breach of the Sabbath, and a nation has been
withdrawn from the Diviue protection, look at what has
been the result—look at the condition of the continental
nations. Even commerce itself suffers in such countries.
I believe that the preservation of our civil liberties
is contingent upon, and rests entirely, upon the
preserVation of our religious principles, and it is
because I see those principles invaded that I dread the
introduction of subjects into our debates which are sure
to cause a strong feeling in the town. Sir, the military
music has been alluded to in in the gardens at Kew. I
speak with all respect for our gracious Queen. God
forbid that a word should fall from my lips which should
in the slightest degree be derogatory to that distinguished
lady. Sir, I would die for the Queen and the country if
it were necessary to do so. (Hear, hear.) But if lam
asked whether I would take the example even of our
gracious sovereign rather than obey the command of God,
my duty is—and it is not inconsistent with duty to an
earthly sovereign—my duty is to the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords, who hath commanded us to keep
the Sabbath day holy, and before whom I shall soon stand
in judgment. Sir, I feel strongly upon this question; and