Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1855-07-25
The People VS.. the Aristociracy.

From the London Correspondence Boston Post I
Rotton Row, the fayorite aristocratic drive
of the aristocracy in Hyde Park, was witness
of curious. affair last Sunday afternoon.
Usually, as the lordly. occupants of the coro-
net -panelled carriages roll, nhrOagh the park
nothing is to be seen beyond the slopes of
green stretching away through che old oaks
on one side, and few pleasure, boats floating
along the .naeandering Serpentine On the 9TH
er, with the exceptions of casual pedestrian
enjoying the pure air of the early summer, or
student poring over his book beneath the
shade. In fact, while st, James, Regents.
and Victoria parks are usually thronged with
the middling and lower classes. on Sundays,
Hyde Park rarely witnesses the intrusion, of
any body below the rank of gentlemen or
lady. Last Sunday on the contrary, as the
carriages began to enter the park, Rotton
Row was found to be lined its whole length,
which is more than a mile and half, with a
dense crowd of people The first carriage
which entered was the marquis of Westmin-
ster's, and its occupants were Immediately
assailed by an uproar of screams, shouts, yells
and groans, such as would have delighted
the ears of a North American Indian, and
among which the only words distinctly caught
were = Go to church, go to church," from
one end of the line to the other The next
carriage was saluted in the same manner,
and thenext, and next, until some sixty or
more carriages had entered; those following
being by this time warned of what was taking
place declining to proceed. The police were
in too small body to do more than to assist
many Of the ladies who were obliged to alight
and make their escape, and to aid in stopping
the runaway horses. The whole scene lasted
about an hour, long enough to convince the
members Of parliament that if they attempt
ed to legislate away the right of the poorer
classes TO buy their bread and meat on Sum
day, it would be wise also to introduce a
clause to prevent the aristocracy from taking
their usual ride to get up an appetite to eat
theirs.
The great prejudice always existing in the
lower classes towards the upper here has been
much embittered by what is called. Sunday
Legislation. The Sunday beer bill of last
year, preventing inhkeepers from furnishing
refreshments to persons not travellers, was
regarded as oppressive-and the recent Sum
day trading bill, looking to the closing Of all
shops during Sunday, even to those butchers
and bakers, is even more unpopular. Any
one taking walk through the streets Of Lon
don about the time that morning service in
the churches and chapels ends, viii see num-
bers of men, women and children issuing
from the bakers snopSl carrying little roastS
of meat with potatoes baked beneath, or from
the beer shops with pots of ale and porter.
Following any of the parties so burdeHed, he
would see families, who rarely have moment
for social converse during the week, assem-
bled round their humble boards. cultivating
the domestic affections. On inquiry, he
would learn that the attendance of a couple
Of bakers lads and couple of Japanese en-
abled some twenty or thirty families to enjoy
their Sunday dinner without the trouble of
cooking it. The labor Of three or four men
for few hours enable q hundred and fifty
persons to rest on the Sabbath. Now the
Sunday trading bill strikes at the root Of AL
this, and is with reasen resented by the. la
boring classes. Even to those most Interested
in promoting Sabbath observance, it must be
evident. that to orcnder that Illegal on Sunday
which is impossible or unattsinable on Satur-
day, Is absurd. Wages are said to work
men too late on Saturday night to render it
possible to make suitable purchases that night.
and the 1aborer' wife goes to market on Sum
day. The proposal to make this Illegal seems
to them to interfere with the very possibilities
Of existence. and is accordingly resisted.