HL Deb 31 May 1833 vol 18 c168
The Bishop of London

said, that on a former occasion, in presenting a petition upon the subject of the better observance of the Sabbath, he had taken the opportunity of expressing himself in rather strong language with respect to Sunday newspapers; and, as might be expected, his observations had called forth the indignation of the Sunday Press. However that might be, he should consider it his duty to omit no opportunity of stating his strong reprobation of those publications. The defence which had been set up on behalf of the Sunday newspapers was, that they were printed on Saturday, and, therefore, that they did not involve any infringement on the due observance of the Sabbath. His common sense was quite sufficient to inform him, that the printing of Sunday newspapers must take place on a Saturday; he was therefore quite aware of that at the time of making the remarks to which he now referred; but what he complained of was the publication and circulation of these papers on the Lord's Day. He (the Bishop of London) held in his hand two Petitions, which completely justified him in the view which he had taken of the subject. The one was from 110 of the master newsvenders in the city of London, and the other was signed by the servants of those newsvenders. The petition of the master newsvenders called upon their Lordships to put an end to the evils arising from the publication of those journals on Sunday, and stated their opinion, that the entire suspension of all Sunday trading would be highly beneficial. Sunday newspapers had been, in a great measure, superseded in some of their most useful purposes by the publication of The Gazette on Friday, and the petitioners thought that they might be discontinued without any inconvenience. The petition of the servants of the news-venders was the same verbatim as that of the masters.