The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-11 00:00:00

OBSE RYA N CI? OF SUNDAY.

The proper observance of Sonday is one of those things
that must necessarily come under tho law of the land.
That has never been di-puted by any reasonable person
who thinks about the matter. As little can it be doubted
that the nature of the observance must be dictated with
a proper regard to the public convenience and the pur-
poses of the day. Those purposes are, the periodical
rest which experience shows inan to require, both for the
refreshing of his mental and bodily powers and also an
opportunity fir those religious acts and meditations
which cannot but be much assisted by quiet and free-
dom from the ordinary business of the world. Sup-
posing that as a matter of fact everybody could go
to church on Sunday as often as he pleased, as
quietly as he pleased, and that no scandals or dis-
orders of any kind occurred on the Sunday, then
there would, perhaps, be no reason for imposing any
restrictions on travelling, on trade, on the sale of
refreshments and liquors, the opening of public houses,
or anything else thought allowable on a week day. The
matter of fact, however, is unfortunately, the other
way, for the institution of Sunday, enforced as it is both
by custom and by law, has led, particularly, as it ap-
pears, in the great cities of Scotland, to a lamentable
amount of dissipation, drunkenness, diserder, and even
crime. It is found that the greater part of the popula-
tion of these cities seldom enter places of worship, and,
having no taste for religious reading or meditation, must
go out of doors for some means of filling up the Sabba-
tical void. Once out of doors, they find too many peo-
ple catering without scruple for their pleasure, in the
lowest sense of that word. What should therefore be,
as it has been called, "the rest of Heaven," is perverted
into something quite the contrary ; and the better
class of people who have been taught by their fore-
fathers, and not less by the State, that the Sabbath
is a day to be observed with great sanctity, abstrac-
tion, and quiet, justly complain that they are not pro-
tected, but rather hindered, in the observance of a law-
ful institution. Viewing the law on one side, and the
practice on the other, one cannot bat be struck with a
great inconsistency, pressing hard on those who desire
to follow their duty and the law, and then find them-
selves discouraged, impeded, and even rendered ridi-
culous by standing few among many. Certainly this is
a state of things:that should not be endured. Conscience
itself is not always consistent and strong, but it is a
great evil when the law is still more illusive and weak.
Indeed, the power of religion and moral obligation is
altogether apt to be weakened by the spectacle of a
State which does not know whether to say a thing or
not ; which lays heavy burdens on the tender-minded
and scrupulous, and is itself the first to fly from the re-
sponsibility it has created or enforced.
We are not surprised, then, but rather we take it as
a great proof of Scotch principle, Scotch consistency,
Scotch fairness, and, so to speak, Scotch "hardness
of head," that two thousand people met the other day
in the northern metropolis for the purpose of reviewing
the operation of the "Forbes Mackenzie Act." That
measure has been partly successful, partly unsuccessful,
or, rather, it has done a great deal, and only has not
done as much as it might reasonably be expected to do.
In the city of Edinburgh it has caused a very great
diminution of police cases evidently arising out of
Sunday drinking. We published the important and
satisfactory statistics of the question in a letter
some time since, and every succeeding Sunday has
added to the testimony in favour of the act. We
shall net repeat the figures, because figures are
always open to cavil, and we will only say that,
without any predilection in favour of what is called
the Puritanical Sabbath, and without any disposition
to enforce Christianity by law, we are quite satisfied,
on the evidence of the calculations given at the Edin-
burgh meeting, that the Forbes Mackenzie Act has pro-
moted temperance, public order, and morality on the
sacred day of worship and rest. It was to be expected
that it should do so, and it has done so. Undoubtedly
many a poor creature turns into the gin-shop, or the
grocer's shop--for they have long been identical in
Scotland—simply because the suspension of work leaves
him nothing else to do on Sunday. It is all very well
to talk of familes and home, but many of these poor
fellows have neither families nor homes, nor any other
place where they can go, as one of ourselves goes to his
library or the family fireside. Even those altars of the
domestic affections that many of us spend a life in
raising, and that figure so lsrgely in the works of
modern moralists, do not always sustain the charm
with which we are wont to invest them. Gentle.
men will often run away from their firesides on a
Sunclay to a club or a friend in the country, or to
Brighton, or anywhere for change. The hard-worked
working man has no such alternatives. The gin-shop is
otters his only chance of cheer, of company, of outward
light and of inward refreshment. We are strongly of
opinion that it ought not to be, and that in fact it ought
to lTs closed, and other places of innocent resort found
for Lim. But, as a first step, unquestionably the poor
working man ought not to be forbidden to work and be
shut out of shops on Sunday, and then, by a strange
pervsarsity, find the ginshop the only place open to him.
This is, in fact, to encourage and sanction Sunday drink-
ing sifith the utmost countenance of the law. The actual
result of the act for closing the public houses in Scot-
land is quite what we expected. We said, however,
that the act had been partially unsuccessful. That is
for a very sufficient reason. It has been only partially,
put in force. With the culpable connivance of the au-
thor3ties the la*, has not been enforced within nearly
two-tbirds of the palice bounds of the city of Edinburgh.
Of coarse it is but natural that crime, on the whole,