The Sun.
London, England, 1834-03-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

We do not wonder that Sir Andrew Agnew
should have been averse from communicating to
the house, when he moved for leave to bring in
his bills, any idea of the nature of thew. We
are persuaded that if he had given anything like
a fair account of the provisions of his bills, they
would have been kicked out instanter. To in-
terfere by legislation with inveterate customs is
always a matter of great delicacy. What may
suit one country and one people, may be quite
unsuited to another country and another people.
Thus, for instance, the Scotch and the English
obs-erve the Sunday so very differently, that to
is7.teteen out of twenty Englishmen, the living in
Scotland would be intolerable merely on account
of that difference. We hardly ever spoke to an
Englishman who had resided any time in Edin-
burgh, but he owned that the Sabbatical no-
tions of the Scotch made a residence in Scot-
land intolerable to him. The legislative mea-
sures that would be submitted to in the one
country would produce the utmost discontent
in the other. We have no hesitation in saying
that such a bill as that of Sir Andrew Agnew
could not be carried into effect in England, and
that so far from promoting the decent observ-
ance of the Sabbath, it would provoke the people
to an universal desecration of that day. It is de-
sirable that there should be a cessation from ordi-
nary labour on the Sunday. Independently of
all religious considerations, the poor require one
day of rest from their toil, and it is proper that
religion should add its sanction to the dictates
of humanity. Without the religious sanction,
we are not sure that avarice would not be con-
stantly encroaching on the day set apart for rest.
We may admit then that, as a rule, labour on
the Sunday should not be allowed. But in every
country like England custom has sanctioned
numerous exceptions to the rule, for which the
convenience of society forms a justification. It
would be extremely inconvenient, for instance,
if those who are assisted by the personal ser-
vices of others during six days in the week,
were to be deprived of such services on the
Sunday. Hence even Sir Andrew Agnew
has made an exception for domestic servants.
In the same manner certain trades, as bakers,
barbers, &c., by a comparatively small ex-
pense of labour, enable a number of the poor
to go to church on Sunday. A rich man
who possesses a coach himself can avail
himself of the services of his own driver.
In the case of the middle and labouring classes,
all who are not young and vigorous would be
confined to their homes on Sundays without the
aid of public coaches, which enable them to
have the same advantages of air and exercise
which the rich have. In the same manner it is
necessary that the people should have an easy
supply of food and other refreshments on the
Sunday without hindrance. But it is quite
unnecessary to multiply instances. We believe
that any attempt to make the law more rigorous
than it is at present, would be productive of
mischief. No one labours on the Sunday in
any trades except such as have for object
the supplying society with certain conveniences
that would not willingly be dispensed with. We
tell Sir Andrew Agnew and all fanatics of his
kidney, that they never can inoculate society
with their absurd notions. Generally speaking,
the Sunday is observed in England with great
decorum. If, however, further rigour be deemed
advisable, it cannot be obtained through legis-
lative means.—Morning Chronicle.
The Hull Advertiser of Friday last contains
a full report of a meeting of the Dissenters of
that rich and influential town in Fish-street
Chapel, on the evening of the Tuesday pre-
ceding, for the purpose of petitioning Parliament
for the redress of their grievances. The seats
in the chapel, calculated to hold 1,100 persons,
were all filled, and several persons occupied the
aisles ; and the attendance is said to have been
highly respectable. The speeches delivered on
this occasion were in general worthy of the oc-
casion. The language was that of men alive to
their rights, and determined to assert them by
all constitutional means. The Rev. Thomas
Stratton touched what every member of the
establishment, possessed of any spirit, must
consider a sore place—namely, the mean prac-
tice of charging the very sacramental wine they
drink to the Dissenters.
" Repairs of churches, &c. (said Mr. S.) 249,125/. 165.;
orran, singers, &c. 41,7101. 15s. (we have paid for the
music !) ; books, wine, &c. (I really can hardly touch that
point without feeling deep humiliation—that the very altar
should be furnished at the public expense) 46,3371.195.
(Cries of " Shame.") Salaries to clerks, sextons, &c.
126,1851. I's. Other purposes, 183,0001. This is a
Parliamentary Report of the expenses of churchwardens.
I fearlessly say (said Mr. S., with great animation) that
church rates will be levied no more.—(Loud cheers.)
Whether the government he willing or not, I fearlessly
say church rates are abolished.—(Repeated cheers.)"
How much more creditable would it have
been to the Episcopalian church, if this un-
seemly abuse had been remedied on the applica-
tion of its own members, actuated by a sense
of justice, instead of leaving it for the Dis-
senters at the twelfth hour. The question of
numbers, which the High Church clergy
have forced on the Dissenters, who in self-
defence, are obliged to expose the naked-
ness of the land, and to prove how miserably
inadequate are the means of the establishment
for the religious instruction of the whole popu-
lation, was alluded to at this meeting. The
Rev. E. Morley, Independent Minister, ob-
served, "We have, or think we have, an en-
lightened and liberal administration. We have a
reformed House of Commons, pledged to the
consideration of the subject ; and though last
not least, we have with us the potent voice of
an overwhelming majority of the people of these
kingdoms." And Mr. Hill, solicitor, observed—
,. In reference to the relative numbers, &c. of dissenters
and churchmen in Hull, notwithstanding the acknoiv-
ledaed piety of the clergy, be said, within the last thirty
years, the dissenters had spent twice as much money as
the latter in erecting and repairing places of religious Ivor.
,sOip. The chapels in the town would seat twice as many
rysons as the churches, and the attendance at the chapels
,was twice as numerous as that at the churches. The
,children taught in dissenting Sunday schools greatly ex-
ceeded in numbers, if not doubled, those taught in the
church schools ; and last, though not least, it moreover
appeared, that the communicants at the chapels were, to
those at the churches, in the proportion of six to one.—
(Applause.) This was mot mere assertion—it was the re-
sult of careful inquiry, and proved that it was best to leave
the public to provide religious instruction for themselves."
But there was no indication at the meeting of a
disposition to push their claims beyond what the
British public were prepared to grant. They
did not disguise their wish to see a termination
of the union between church and state as soon
as it can be safely effected. " For (said the
Rev. Mr. Stratton) we do not want anything
rash—we think a great question is better and
ly advanced nced when it is discussed for a
otr i
these means the public mind
;ptphe change." Besides, the (Essen-
V:4o,4tr eaware that they have numerous and
ifti),-sese, within the church itself, zea-
r 11re_y:labvtr e_ gin the same cause with them-
'''.
,e2,..).53.,1,e/.
E-140),