Lords Sitting of 11 March 1833

MINUTES.
Petitions presented. By Lord King, from Grcenford, Middlesex; from Killerig, Carrickmacross, and Ballebay,—for the Abolition of Tithes.—By the Marquess of STAFFORD, from Jews resident at Manchester, for the Removal of all Political Disabilities.—By Lord TEYNHAM, from Aughagoure, against Coercive Measures for Ireland.—By the Bishop of CARLISLE, from Roclulale; and by Lord ST. VINCENT, from Stone,—for the Amendment of the Beer Act.—By the LORD CHANCELLOR, from the Ministers and Tutors of Horton College, York, for an Alteration in the Marriage Service; and from Prisoners in Dublin, for an Alteration in the Law of Arrest.—By the Bishop of BATH and WELLS, and the Bishop of CARLISLE, from a number of Places in England and Wales, for the Better Observance of the Sabbath.

OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.
The Earl of Rodenlaid on the Table, Petitions from the City of Aberdeen, from Parishes in Dublin, in Berks, and Essex, for the better Observance of the Sabbath. The noble Earl expressed the satisfaction he felt at seeing such a number of petitions come from all parts of the kingdom on this subject. There was, he admitted, a great difficulty in legislating on the subject, and he thought that in order to secure a better observance of the Sabbath, the higher orders should set an example to the poor, and not deal with those tradesmen who trafficked on that day.
The Lord Chancellor,in presenting twenty-four petitions against the profanation of the Sabbath said, no one could doubt that the observance of the sabbath, both in a religious and worldly point of view, was highly advantageous for the
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labouring classes of the community; but he saw great difficulty in legislating upon the subject. It was highly desirable to put an end to Sunday trading; this was an evil no doubt. He, however, differed from those who thought that the profanation of the Sabbath had increased of late years; nay, he was disposed to deny that such was the fact. He believed that the Sunday was not worse kept by the labouring portion of the community than formerly. On the contrary, he would maintain that the religious habits of the people were improved; that there was much less irreligion among the community of late years than there had been, and the result was, that there was a much better observance of the Sabbath. He deprecated rash and crude legislation, for that would cause the Sabbath to be less observed than it now was, and it would interfere with the habits and feelings of the people.