HC Deb 06 March 1833 vol 16 cc291-3
Lord Sandon

presented a Petition signed by 4,000 of the gentry, clergy, merchants, and other inhabitants of the Town of Liverpool, praying for a better observance of the Lord's Day, and expressing their satisfaction that the House had manifested an intention of taking the subject into early consideration. The petition was agreed to at a public Meeting.

Mr. Cobbett

could not let that petition pass without expressing his opinion of the motives by which all the petitions respecting the Lord's day were got up. A petition was presented the day before yesterday, from Staines and two other parishes in the county of Middlesex, expressing the desire of the petitioners to have a law to protect them against the injury to which they were exposed in consequence of impious traders trading on the Sunday. It was very much like the reason given by Hudibras why the pious should have all the good things of this world—namely, that the godly were entitled to them, but the ungodly were not. The real truth was—and this was the foundation of all those petitions—the rich tradesman, living in country towns especially, went out in his gig on a Sunday, with his lady and children, to visit their friends—and he could tell them, that their friends, in many instances, as he knew, would be glad if a law were passed to make them stay at home. The rich tradesman could go out on a Sunday to see his children at boarding-school, and, therefore, he wished to prevent the poor tradesman from selling on a Sunday those articles which he, the rich one, would then be able to sell on the Monday. That was the foundation of all these petitions. In that from Staines the petitioners avowed their motive.

Lord Sandon

rose to order. It was the understanding in the House last night, that there should be no debate on the presentation of petitions; and he thought that the hon. member for Oldham was very disorderly in imputing motives to the petitioners whose petition was presented on a former night, and was not then before the House.

The Speaker

did not think the hon. member for Oldham was entirely out of order, and with respect to the length of speeches, much must depend on an hon. Member's sense of propriety. With respect to the reference to a petition presented on a former day, if it were on the same subject as the present petition, he could not say that applying motives to those petitioners was disorderly. In all those matters a great deal must be left to the good sense, the feeling, the taste, and the propriety of hon. Members themselves.

Mr. Cobbett

said, he had sat patiently while one petition presented by the noble Lord had occupied three quarters of an hour, but he did not intend to occupy five minutes. With regard to imputing motives to petitioners, he imputed none but what were expressed in the petition itself. Those pious men complained of being injured in their trade, and of getting less money in consequence of going to worship, while the poor man was obliged to stay at home. That was avowed by the petitioners themselves, and indeed as much was avowed in the Report of the Committee were appointed last year. In matters of religion, of all things, men ought to be sincere; but those pious men having grown rich by their impiety when poor, now wished to compel the poor to attend to their religious duties, which certainly, above all matters, ought to be attended to. These were the men, who having by their impiety got plenty of money, sought to prevent the poor from following that course which they themselves had formerly followed. He protested against such interference, for he was convinced that much mischief would arise from making laws of that kind.

Petition to lie on the Table.