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NJ > notice ban be taken of anonymous communications WBatftVferis-intendW'iroi ' 'insertion inusfbe authenticated hy thanwna and adjdrtsa of the wTiter ; not necessarily ' 3 br publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . , ItrfaMb <»^^ e ' to ' ai 6 kniDwledge the mass of letters we re'cQiy ^ ir'ZEheilP insertion isxrften delayed , owing to * press " of matter ; and when omitted it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communica-, ;[ tion . ji ; r . - ,.: / --- ¦• - >\ > : . ¦ '• •"'• ; ' Jffa cftunotundertake to return rejected communications . During' iheSession of Parliament it is of ten impossible to find TOomtfott'correspondence , even the briefest .
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THE DEAD NOT DANGEROUS CLASSES . The suppression of the bands in the parks , on Sundays is an insult especially levelled at the forking classes . It is also an insult to the middle class , but we know that it was not intended to offend them , nor is it expected that they will take offence . The calculation has been made , that those persons who attended the performances of the bands belonged , to a class of society which is not
given < to make a disturbance , and that the recreation which had been voluntarily offered tb them might therefore be safely retracted without the , fear of exciting open violence . vEhis means that the middle classes will be content to be treated like children , by the offer of an amusement and its retraction , and iCKit they will as cheerfully put up with the privation as they accepted the boon . We have asserted that our governing class is ignorant of the feelings of the middle class : we now
find that it is ignoraut of the very appearance of the working class . It has been supposed that the attendance in the parks , which last Sunday amounted to 258 , 000 has consisted exclusively or chiefly of the upper classes J ? 0 r the governing , class i snot able to recognize the industrial orders of this country in their Sunday clothing . Those who know the men and women , individually , as some of us do , are able to attest the fact that very large numbers ; seven out of ten , says the Times
-rrconsisted of the workers , with their wives and families . So the insult falls upon the working classes , which are supposed to be < 3 ead ^ a nd therefore in a fit state for being kicked . i The affront ib aggravated by the picas in favour of the retraction . One of the shining lights on this subject is Mr . Baines , of Leeds , who believes that " large numbers of persons of * both ; aexes" cannot be collected together " wijthout vice and actual contamination of i&e , . young . " "Among the crowds arrayed in' -the Sunday finery , thousands of young girl's * and young men , with no more than the average amount of vanity and weakness , will
h ^ . brought into circumstances of extreme pen ! , * ' and will enter on " the downward path of yiaeii' i' The incumbont of a metropolitan p ; a ] # Bh containing 25 , 0 p 0 souls explains , in a * ^ M ^ ' % . ' . ^' ^ W ^> ' ^ a *^^ e workmS classes dc > wlvew ijiey . do not go to the parka . They do jjio * fill tho oh urchesy- ^ those are empty . Thefo » flM fche ' public ^ hbuses . As Mr . Bainjss sflJflSj " * everybody is fond of . music . " That art l () Qf ) , aJJll ^ f&ejf / -i , i » the beat to commoride too , eoffeeningi proceati of > civilizatidn since it appeals ' less to the intelle ' et , and mor ^ readily enters -tfie "feelings of " tlio rudest . Tho
Incumbent believes that < tbe churches would Tbe fuller if the hearts of thQ rude were first scrftened by the influence of music , which replaces gentle , natural , and regulated feelings in . lieu of fierce , gross , or violent passions . But perhaps Mr . Baines thinks it less wicked , or less in "the downward path , " to crowd the public-house than to crowd tho park . He holds it less perilous to be dressed in the squalor , which will do for the public-house , than in the " Sunday finery , " which is necessary for the park , and which is the premium upon cleanliness , the virtue " next to godliness . " Mr . Baines , perhaps , would get at the godliness , without the cleanliness .
A saint of this order has given us a very short cut to the morals of the subject . A man was placed in the Guildhall police-court on Tuesday , charged with having robbed a chapel of hymn-books . A memorandum-book found upon him showed his engagements . " There is one mitigating circumstance in your case , " said Sir Peteb . Laukie , after reading extracts of this notice of Sunday engagements ; " you were not , as far as appears
from this book , at any of the parks where the bauds were playing . " K " o ; WiMiiAM Smith went to the House of God , and whatever the purpose that took him there , he is less wicked in the eyes of Latjbie than those who went to the park , whatever their motive . We need not wonder , therefore , if Baines thinks those who haunt the public-house less wicked than those who listen to the strains of Beethoven in the breezes of
Regent's Park . Lord SHAFTESBimY and the Protestant Alliance , and the other religious bodies that meet at Exeter Hall , hold that it is godly to spend the Sabbath in endeavouring to exclude all temporal affairs , to shut out all the blessings that Providence has endowed us with ; and because they think it godly so to do , we must do the same ! It would be much more reasonable if , because the gentlemen that go to Exeter Hall think it desirable that men of their principles should wear a white neckcloth and a black waistcoat , a sumptuary law should issue , commanding the men of London to wear white neckcloths and black clothes .
quarters , aiid are there not places where it can be given ? There is , for . example , Creniorne Gardens , a place not quite bo open to all as the Begent ' s Park ¦ ; . but there must be other grounds in various parts of the metropolis , where it would form a * very profitable speculation to establish Sunday bands at £ very low charge . "We perceive from the experiences of the Regent ' s Park , that hundreds of thousands would attend .
Perhaps , indeed , the police might attempt to " put down" this speculation . It would be very curious to see Sir Richabd Mayne ' s mj ' rmidons putting down the very entertainment to tbe public which Sir Benjamin Hail had offered with the sanction of ! Lord
Palmeeston . Do not tell us that the difference would lie in the payment ; for the public are taught to make it a boast that their recreations , their enjoyments , or their advantages , are " selfsupporting . " Perhaps those who desire to avoid exciting rather serious disturbances upon a very ugly question would not order the police to attempt the suppression of self-supporting entertainments a la Haxl ? Indeed the interference has already gone so far as to look very ugly . We remember that this time last year an attempt was made to enforce a more " bitter" observance of the
Sabbath , and we saw the consequences in Hyde Park . Lord Robert Gbosvenob was honoured with a visit on that occasion ; Lord Robert having been one of those who took a very prominent and early part in this agitation of a minority to enforce its own law on the majority . He appeared then to be unsuccessful ; but we now find that by the aid of the Scotch members , Mr . Edwabb Baines , and the Sectarianists , he has triumphed .
Some of the immediate results are inevitable and obvious . Of the quarter of a million that were collected in the parks to enjoy the strains of music , that were by the circumstances of the assemblage compelled to put on the costume of good society , that were drawn within some of the most civilizing influences of tho day , —of that great number a large proportion will be sent back to the public-house . It is good enough for them ! But there must be some who are not content
The Daily News indeed reports that another force was brought to bear upon Lord Pai / merston : the Scotch members threatened him with withdrawing their support , unless he withdrew the Sunday bands . It seems , then , that in London Ave must adopt the manners pf the people up there in Scotland , not becauso Ave voluntarily fall into those manners and customs , but because the Scotch members demand it . Is this in revenge for the order requiring the Highlanders to discontinue the kilt ? It is about as reasonable . Are tho Scotch so conscious of their own subjugation to the " Meenister , " that they begrudge our comparative freedom ?
to be driven about like sheep , —drawn into the park , and remanded to the public-house ; some who can think twice , and choose to have a will in these matters . They will feel severely their helpless and servile position . Nothing could be more remarkable , nothing more instructive to our governing class than the admirable order and tranquillity observed in tho Parks on the last few Sundays , and particularly on the last , when they had
tangible proof of the care for their comfort . That is tho way to keep the quarter of the million , and , indeed , the whole of " the million ) " in contentment and good order . It is an old common-place , that the people may be kept quiet if you give them " panem et circenaes *' —bread and amusement . Haxii gave them the " circenses ; " but now they are told that they must get the " panem" for themselves at eig htpence-halfpenny per loaf , and go without tho " circenses .
Anyhow , English custom will revolt against adopting Scotch manners . Lord Palmerston was not justified in Baying that tho working people , or the working classes appear to be "indifferent" on the subject . They have accepted what was offered to them ; and to draw back a gift after it has been given , is ton times more insulting than to withhold it altogether . If Lord Palmebston cannot defend the English people from being compelled to adopt the manners and customs of Exeter Hall or Scotland , ho stands confessed as the Minister who would govern bettor if he could , but who is too weak to do the duty which he acknowledges .
Is it possible to have chosen a more inopportune time for this affront to the working classes ? Wo think not . It is notorious that after tho exoitement of a war , there is usually a political cnlm at homo , and then a reaction of domestic ferment . Why irritate and affront the people just at such a juncture P Nay , tho imprudence is yet worse . This affront is put upon the million just a fortnight before "the , illumination ' s . Sir Benjamin Haijv had found out the secret of collecting great multitudes , keeping them in a pleased humour , and making them
co-Aa tho people have been taught by Sir Benjamin Hall and the Premier to desire music on the Sundny , is it probable that tho suppl y will be withheld from the demand . Wo shall be looking out for music from other
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' : 1 imM kZSMfi gHE ESAfeBB . ? & 9
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SATURDAY , MAY 17 , 1856-
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w inhere is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain ' to keep things fixed when all the -world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . — De . Aknoid .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 17, 1856, page 469, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2141/page/13/
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