SUNDAY IN ENGLAND. 491 



the one we get damnation wholesale, and m the 

 other "blue ruin" retail. The criminal statistics 

 show us that more crime is committed in this 

 country upon a Sunday than on any other day 

 of the week; and I can well understand the 

 reason of this, for "idleness is the mother of 

 mischief." I am convinced that there would be 

 less work for the magistrate at Bow Street on 

 Monday morning, were the authorities to allow 

 the Crystal Palace, the Zoological and Botanical 

 Gardens, the British Museum, National Gallery, 

 and all other such places, to be open upon a 

 Sunday; and I think it very unreasonable that 

 the populace, who work hard during six days, 

 should on the seventh be debarred from resorting 

 to those public places of instruction and amuse- 

 ment that belong to them and are within their 

 reach. Kew Gardens and Hampton Court for 

 some time past have been open to the people 

 upon Sunday; and the propriety of demeanour 

 that characterises the immense crowds that visit 

 these places ought to be a sufficient guarantee to 

 " the powers that be " that a sense of shame, in- 



