Lord Gallowaysaid, he was interrupted last night in presenting the petition which he now held in his hand. It was a petition from Edinburgh against railway travelling on Sunday. In the discussion which had taken place on the subject of Sunday travelling on canals, the noble Lord (Lord Wharncliffe) said he should give the subject his consideration with the view of applying some remedy. He thought the subject of railway travelling on the Sunday equally deserving the attention of Government.
§ Lord Wharncliffesaid, that the answer which he gave the noble Lord who brought forward the motion relating to canal travelling on the Sunday was, that Government could not undertake to introduce any measure on the subject this Session; but that if the noble Lord brought in a bill, he would give him his best assistance. The noble Lord who presented the present petition was not, perhaps, aware that the committee which sat last year on the subject of canal travelling on the Sunday had reference to the boatmen employed on the canals. If they were to put a stop to one sort of Sunday travelling, they would be obliged to stop Sunday travelling of every kind. He knew there was a strong feeling in Scotland against the practice, and perhaps that feeling was founded on praiseworthy motives, but he could not help thinking that it was carried to excess. Government was not prepared to legislate on the subject, because they were not pre- 1014 pared to say to the people of England that Sunday was a day on which no one should be allowed to travel.
Lord Gallowaysaid, that he had given no opinion as to Sunday travelling, but he had felt it to be his duty to present the petition. He was not an advocate for extreme legislation on any subject, more particularly on a subject of this sort, because he did not think it possible to make men religious by act of Parliament.
The Marquess of Normanbysaid, that having moved for the committee last year on the subject of canal travelling on the Sunday, he drew a clear distinction between travelling on canals and on railroads. In moving for the committee, he stated that no part of it would have reference to railroads, and that no report could be expected from it which would in any way interfere with the perfect freedom of railway travelling on Sunday.
Lord Campbellconcurred in the views taken by the noble Lords opposite. He rejoiced excedingly at the manner in which the Sunday was generally observed in Scotland; but, at the same time, he must say, that he thought the horror expressed in some parts of Scotland against railway travelling on a Sunday was extravagant in the extreme, and had no foundation either in reason or Scripture. He hoped that feeling would subside, and that that country would continue to enjoy the advantages of that rational religion for which it had so long been famed.
§ Adjourned.