The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-21 00:00:00

ci ,ive.

Petitions, we observe, are every now and then
sneaking into the Lords and the Commons whining
for the aid of the Imperial Parliament against a
system which these fligiticus pretenders to sanctity
have the absurdity to designate the desecration of
the Sabbath. Often as we have exposed this mon-
strous misapplication of terms—often as we have
reminded these sticklers for stagnation, that the Sab-
bath of Holy Writ is the Saturday and not the
Sunday—they still reiterate the phrase with
an unction more appropriate to the Doxology,
and screen the impertinence of their arbitrary pro-
ceedings under the mask of obedience to the Scrip-
tures. The population have been long since sick to
very nausea of all this humbug ; and the Sunday
saints—if they have any serious intention of forcing
their regulations down the throats of the multitude—
had better set their wits to work to find out
some more palatable anodyne. As well expect
the people to roast a pig at Highgate to the
memory of that demented harridan, Mistress SOUTH-
COTT, as look for sympathy from the masses in a
scheme the hypocrisy of which has been a byeword,
and a mockery, during the last half dozen genera-
tions—an assumption of purity that has been
pilloried over and over again on the stage by
the dramatist, and held up to deserved derision
by the satirical contributors to general literature.
As well expect us to pay homage to the remem-
brance of that most melodramatic gentleman, Sir
WILLIAM COURTENAT, and to sing of the glories of
THoM in the suburbs of the archiepiscopal city of
Canterbury, as look for the swallowing of this ab-
surdity by the population. Why we have acquired a
perfect familiarity with the pscychological excellence
of the Sabbattarians from the contemplation of the pine-
apple•rutn-loving STIGGINS down to that of the godly
but adulterous CANTWELL. A square•cut coat is no
longer the accepted symbol of virtue. The purest
garb has been so frequently associated with the
impurest morals thattheibliAc
snofarloansgmererfienfdorsmist
possible
to go by appearances.
man can DOW' a• day
and ceremonies go—the upsgamaecqiusire a
long since. No
gtwelve
t
foo'relocsakncotinty Sbayturdeaaytingn i gehotl,d or by awf taelrk i n
in unpolished wellingtons on Sunday mornings.
The very fact of his doing so, if he paradee it before
us ostentatiously, is sufficient of itself to justify us
iAnnd
looking upon him as a most unmitigated humbug.
o it is with regard to these very pious fanatics,
are
who
purpose
entaf with trotting
u
trots their paces andtingoutthe
i
but their
virtues for the
of extorting our admiration,
are striving, by
force
every possible contrivance, to
everybody else
caa
into a servile adoption of their
ventionalities•
The conduct of these sanctimonious
about on a par with that of the lunatic who
is
fancied every one was as mad as himself, and was fo
r
putting even his most rational friends and relation:
into straitwaistcoats. All we can say, both to the
one and the other, and we can't help saying it rather
defiantly, is—TRY.
We speak upon the subject of this so-called
and absurdly so-called Sabbath Desecration, out of
the fullness of our devotion to the cause of Religious
Tolerance. We loathe so heartily the application of