The Sun.
London, England, 1835-05-26 00:00:00

BREACH OF PRIVILEGE.

Mr. O'CONNELL gave notice that to-morrow he would
bring before the notice of the House a case of a breach of pri-
silege in relation to Garrett Standish Barry, Esq., M.P. for the
county of Cork. The order for entering into recognizances
to proceed with the petition against his ( Mr. B.'s) 'return was
this day discharged, and one of the petitioners has distinctly
stated that his object was in signing that petition to prevent
that Hon. Member from sitting on Election Committees.
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

Mr. MILES, in further considering t'de report on this Bill,
begged to state that he intended to ':ntroduce a clause to pre-
vent travelling on the rail-road the Sabbath. He was the
more induced to do this, because he had a petition in his
possession containing a prdyer to that effect, signed by the
Lord Bishop of the diotese to which he (Mr. M.) belonged,
and by many of the most respectable and influential inhabitants
of that district. Whatever opinions might be entertained by
Hon. Gentlemen 'within the walls of this House, he begged to
assure them that, there was a growing desire in the country to
prevent the desecration of the Sabbath by strict a'hd stringent
legislation.. He was desirous to introduce a clause to pre-
vent travelling on the railroad between the hours of eleven and
one o'clock on the Sabbath day, but he now thought it
would be better to introduce one general legislative enactment
for that purpose. The clause which the Hon. Gentlemen
proposed to introduce was to the following effect :—" Pro-
vided also, and be it enacted that no engine or carriage shall
be permitted to travel or. the Lord's Day, and that should
the Company or its successors be guilty of a violation of this
provision, they shall be liable to a penalty of 201. for each
offence."

On the question being put that this clause stand part of the
Bill, there was a general cry of " No, no, no."
Mr. POTTER regretted the absence of the Right Hon.
Baronet, the Member for Tamworth, who he (Mr. Potter)
had hoped would have been in attendance this evening.
The Honourable Gentleman had candidly declared that
his object in proposing this clause was to prevent tra-
velling altogether on the Sunday. He (Mr. Potter)
-was of opinion, that by confining people to the large towns on
the Sabbath, he would injure, rather than promote, the true
interests of religion.—(Hear.) It was well known that the
road between Manchester and Liverpool, since the opening of
the railway had been almost deserted. The population of
Manchester amounted to 300,000, while that of Liverpool was
200,000. It was well known that a great connection subsisted
between the inhabitants of these two places. The effect,
therefore, of the Hon. Gentleman's Bill would be to prevent
the working classes from visiting their friends, or taking any
recreation on the only day permitted to them.--( Hear, hear.)
It was well known that this road passed through Bath, and, of
course, if this clause passed, there could be no intercourse be-
tween Bath and Bristol on the Sunday. He hoped that the
decision of the House upon this question would put an end to
such attempts at legislation.--(Cheers.) How would it be
Possible that this great city could obtain provisions upon Mon-
days, unless they were put in motion on the railways on the
Sundays ? He called upon the gentle:nen connected with the
landed interest, and who were anxious to support that interest,
to come forward and vote against this clause.—( Cheers.) He
would give his most decided opposition to it.
HORSHAM ELECTION COMMITTEE.

The discussion was here interrupted by the appearance of
Mr. Dison, the Committee Clerk, at the bar of the House,
with the reduced list of this Committee, the members of which
being sworn, withdrew to elect a Chairman.
WESTERN RAILWAY RESUMED.
Mr. CURTEIS was not very fond of intruding upon the
House ; but on the present occasion he must call the attention
of the House to this (as we understood) most vexatious clause,
proposed by the Hon. Member. If they inserted this clause
io the Bill, the House would be under the necessity of
never hereafter allowing any Turnpike Act to pass with-
out prohibiting traffic on the Sabbath.—(Hear, hear.)
The Hon. Member himself admitted that some persons con-
sidered this clause preposterous ; undoubtedly he would not
hesitate to say that he considered it one of the most
preposterous clauses that had ever been attempted to be in-
serted in a Bill. If the House were determined to carry for-
ward any Bill before Parliament for the purpose of restricting
the enjoyments of the humbler classes of society on the
Sabbath, let them do so by a regular Bill, and not in this
manner by a side wind. He believed that he would on this
occasion have the support of many who had never committed
themselves deeply in legislating on this subject ; but if he were
the only person who opposed it he would divide the House.—
(Cheers.) Ile wished especially to call the attention of
the country gentlemen to this subject--he put it to them
whether the Sabbath, and more particularly in the rural
districts, was not better observed at this moment than
ever they recollected it before.—( Hear, hear.) He there-
fore called upon the country Gentlemen and those who
resided in the country, to oppose this measure, the
result of which would be that the House would be
forced, upon the introduction of every road bill, to in-
sert clauses of a like nature. He had stated his opinion, and
he hoped and trusted that the House would show what their
opinion was upon this attempt to insert such a clause in an Act
of Parliament, which established a most essential principle in
all future legislation.
Mr. ROBlNSON—Whatever difference of opinion there
might be in the House upon the subject of Sabbath Legisla-
tion, he was sure there could be no difference of opinion
as to the impropriety of the present course of proceeding.
He thought the admission of a clause like the one proposed by
the Hon. Member for Somersetshire would be the height of
absurdity-, as at present there was no Railway Bill containing
such a clause. He trusted, therefore, the House would wait
till some general measure was brought forward on the subject,
before it ventured to allow the introduction of such a clause
into any Railway Bill.
Sir ROBERT INGLIS supported the motion, believing
that it would have the effect of furthering the progress of re-
ligion.

—The ATTORNEY-GENERAL opposed the clause feel-
ing confident that instead of furthering. the interests of religion,
it would be detrimental to them, as it would prevent many
from attending religious worship who were anxious, and would
be enabled to do so by means of the Railway.

CORK COUNTY ELECTION.
Mr.` D' here brought up the reduced list of the Mem-
bers ballotted to serve on the Committee upon this Election,
the Members on which were sworn.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY BILL RESUMED.
Mr. ROEBUCK thought if Honourable Members were
anxious to further the ends of religion by preventing per-
sons going out on Sunday, the best course would be
to shut up turnpikes, and the first that he should recommend
to be shut was Hyde-park turnpike.—(A laugh.) Hon.
Members knew well what turnpike he meant.—(Laughter.)
He (Mr. Roebuck) took a ride last Sunday in that
direction, and the first person that he saw was the
Duke f Wellington, on horseback.—(Laughter and
cheers.) Upon going a little further he saw several
persons watering Hyde-Park for the purpose of making it
commodious for the rank and fashion that resorted there on a
Sunday afternoon.—(Laughter.) When he got as far
as Hammersmith, he there saw the Lord Chief Justice on
horseback.—( Cheers.) He then went to Hampton Court,
and there he saw the Right Honourable Baronet the
Member for Tamworth.—( Cheers and laughter.) Now these
were all persons who, from their station in life, were enabled
to go from place to place in their own carriages, or upon
their own horses, but the persons who would go upon
the railroad, occupied a very different station in life. The
consequence of shutting up the railway would be this,
that persons, instead of going by the rail-road, would have
to go the other road, which would take them twice as long..
Such being the case, he thought the Honourable Member
for Somerset in introducing the present clause had
laid his finger upon the wrong point.--(Hear, hear.)
It was altogether a pharisaical extravagance on the part of
those persons who got up these petitions to persuade the House
to piss such a Bill as this. Why could they. not leave every
maA to manage his own conscience, and to take into his own
kands'his own spiritual concerns ?—( Hear.) It was not the
business ,of any legislature to command men how to conduct
their religious duties. The truth was, that they meddle too
much with each other in these matters ; but if they would J

allow every man to take care of himseli, they would have much I
better people than they has now.—( Hear.)
Mr. B IJC 1Z I NC.; HA M could not but condemn the fallacy of
attempting to make people religious by act of Parliament.
As a believer in the Gospel, he must confess
that he saw nothing in it which could call for
the observance of the Sabbath with the rigidity of the
Jewish law.—( Hear.) Indeed he was not disposed to
argue the point upon religious grounds ; he consi-
dered the Sabbath rather as a civil regulation, and
believed that the non-observance of it was a great injury to the
labouring classes who were too much overworked. The expe-
rience of mankind had shewn that rest upon one day in seven was
beneficial, while he held that the State was not called upon to
legislate upon matters of conscience and religious dutieS, it
was bound to enforce the civil ordinance of the Sabbath as a
matter of civil right and privilege.—( Hear.)
Mr. O'CONNELL deprecated the introduction of such
clauses into a common railroad bill—( Hear, hear)—and
the waste of the time of the House in being called
upon to legislate in this way. Why shonl,l %E.; railroad
be shut up when it wool:I enable the religious man to
visit so many more Churches ?—( Cries of " Hear, hear.")
It would also enable people to enjoy the fresh air with
greater facility. Would it not be monstrous to shut up
this railroad, by which a delay of twenty-four hours would
he occasioned in the remittance of the produce of Ireland,
such as meat, butter, and eggs, which would become tainted,
and provision, instead of being rendered cheaper to the
poor, made still dearer ? He hoped the House would
not entertain this motion, but if they were to legislate
upon this question, let it be fairly brought forward and man-
fully met ; but let them not indulge in this kind of legislation,
which was unfair and unfounded in principle.
Mr. A. TREVOR supported the clause of his Hon. Friend,
because he thought that Sunday travelling ought to be pre-
vented, although he was against interfering with the reasonable
recreation of the poor on that day.
Mr. W. DUNCOMBE begged to advise the Hon. Gen-
tleman to withdraw the clause, for it was impossible to establish
a different principle' with respect to rail-roads, from what re-
gulates all other roads.
Sir A. AGNEW rose amidst loud cries of " Divide, di-
vide." He supported the clause of his Hon. Friend.—(The
cries of " Divide" were again renewed.)
An Hon. MEMBER, who stated that he had. represented
Scotch constituencies for the last 20 during which time
he had frequently remarked tll`2. iotal inability of the poor
people of large towns to *2.-.ovide for themselves any recreation,
while the middling classes, such as shopkeepers, were able to
hire carriages, and with their families drive into the country on
the Sabbath, said he hoped the clause would be negatived.
The Gallery was then cleared for a division, when there
appeared for the introduction of

The Clause
Against it .

34
....... .. ......

Majority against the Clause ..... ...-178
CANTERBURY ELECTION.
Mr. WALTER brought up the report of the Committee
on the Canterbury Election, delaring that Mr. Lushington,
the s►tting Member, had been duly elected, that the petition of
Mr. Villiers was not frivolous or vexatious, and that the oppo-
sition to the petition was neither frivolous nor vexatious.