THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 129 
a large number of persons (including clergymen of various de- 
nominations) who regard the opening of museums on Sunday 
afternoons favorably, and think that to do so could not prove 
otherwise than advantageous to the community, and especially. 
to that very large class of persons whose daily occupations 
leave them no time in which they can avail themselves of the 
valuable information and instruction which the museum is de- 
signed to afford.” 
Since the foregoing was published the writer received the 
following paragraph from a leading London (England) daily, 
dated December 26th: ‘The movement for promoting the Sun- 
day opening of national museums, art galleries, libraries and 
gardens appears to be making sure and steady progress. What 
is known as “ Museum Sunday,” the object of which is to aid 
in the attainment of this end, has just been observed in Lon- 
don. 
It appears that last year nineteen sermons were preached 
in advocacy of the society’s object. This year the number in- 
creased to forty-three, of which sixteen were delivered in Lon- 
don, six in churches, and the remainder in Nonconformist 
places of worship. The result is, so far, that on this second 
anniversary, the Flaxman Gallery, the institute of painters in 
oil colors, Picadilly and the Grafton galleries, were opened to 
the members of the society. The Duke of Westminster also 
opened Grosvenor House, Lord Brassey The Lady Brassey 
Museum, while no fewer than 80 museums, art galleries and 
libraries were thrown open to the public in the metropolis and 
large provincial towns. The promoters look forward to a 
much larger development of the movement. The Scottish 
Educational Department has also thrown open the Edinburgh 
Museum for three hours on Sunday, despite a protest, which 
received very little support from leading preachers or intelli- 
gent laymen. A revolt against the traditional observance of 
what is now all but universally known, not as the Sabbath, but 
as Sunday, is spreading. It takes the form, not of words, but 
of acts, a writer states in a paragraph now before me, and the 
most significant fact of all is the steady decline of church at- 
