§ MR. BYNGsaid, he rose to call the attention of Her Majesty's Government to 1535 the statement made on Monday night that, while no day of thanksgiving or special form of prayer had been proposed on the restoration of peace, inasmuch as the conditions of the said peace had not as yet been formally ratified, preparations for expenditure on a large scale had been authorised by the Secretary of State for the War Department in celebration of the above mentioned event. As to the mere question whether rejoicing should or should not take place in the shape of fireworks and illuminations, upon that he did not intend to touch. There existed with regard to that subject some diversity of opinion, but as to the existence of a feeling of deep and universal gratitude that the country was spared the repetition of the horrors of war no doubt could possibly be entertained. It was a question which affected every Member of that House, and which went to the heart of every man, woman, or child throughout the whole length and breadth of the land. The deep feeling which he entertained upon the subject would, he trusted, be his authority for bringing the question before the House, for he felt it to be his duty to respectfully press upon the attention of Her Majesty's Ministers the expediency of authorising some public expression of the nation's gratitude in the shape of prayer before the contemplated public rejoicings should take place. He should not contend that an absolute necessity existed for setting aside a whole day for the purpose—although upon that point his individual opinion was very strong; but he thought that the Government should advise Her Majesty that she be graciously pleased to issue Her Order in Council, directing that some form of prayer, and it might be as simple and as short as possible, should at all events be used in our churches upon the Sunday preceding the proposed general rejoicings. Such an Order would, he believed, be heartily responded to by the members of all classes and creeds. And he might observe that in Paris, St. Petersburgh, and other continental cities, such expression of the national gratitude for the restoration of the blessings of peace had already been manifested. He trusted that we should not show ourselves to be less thankful for the return among us of those blessings.
§ SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, he very much regretted that any misapprehension should have been occasioned by an answer which he had given on a former occasion to a question which had been addressed to 1536 him upon the subject. He had been asked the other night by an hon. Member what day it was proposed to set apart as a day of thanksgiving for the restoration of peace, and he hoped that there was nothing in the answer which he had given which implied that he did not feel as deeply as the hon. Gentleman who made the inquiry that there was ample cause for gratitude at the termination of the war. He had stated, if he remembered rightly, that there was no precedent for the appointment of a day of thanksgiving until a peace had been ratified, and that it would be premature to appoint one. It had hitherto been the uniform practice, on the restoration of peace, to adopt some means of displaying publicly the gratitude of the people of the country, and it certainly was not the intention of the Government to deviate from that practice upon the present occasion, and, in fact, his noble Friend at the head of the Government had been in communication with the Archbishop of Canterbury upon the subject. It was obvious that, if Her Majesty in Council directed a general thanksgiving, it would not take any considerable time to prepare a form of prayer for the occasion, and, indeed, the preparation of such a form of prayer might be going on without the public being aware of it; while, as regarded the display of fireworks, some time must elapse before the necessary preparations, and those preparations must be open and patent to all. He could only add that it was the intention of the Government to advise Her Majesty to appoint a day of public thanksgiving, and it was not improbable that that thanksgiving would be offered up before the display of fireworks, to which the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Byng) referred, took place.