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Said Louis Blane, the famous radical, in advocating a bill in 
the Chamber of Deputies to limit the work of women and children 
in factories to eleven hours a day, for six days of the week : 
«The weekly rest has been consecrated by all religions and nowhere is it 
more strictly observed than among Protestant people, who are pre-eminently 
laboring peoples. Diminution of the hours of labor does not involve any 
diminution of production. In England a workingman produces as much in 
fifty-six hours as a French workman in seventy-two hours, because his forces 
are better husbanded.” 
The Paris correspondent of the New York World, May 15,1870, 
Says: 
‘The seventh day brings no respite to them here. On the contrary, it is 
the day when they work the hardest. On no other night are the theatres so 
erammed; on no other day are the butchers’ stalls frequented by more cus- 
tomers than on Sunday. It is not a day of rest in Paris—it is a day of activ- 
ity. . .. . . Ihave heard some Americans applaud this manner of 
spending Sunday, as they ridiculed the old-fashioned American way of hallow- 
ing this day. They do not know the seauence of this feverish activity. There 
is no old stonemason, no old shoemaker, no old carpenter, no old painter, no 
old artisan, in Paris. Medical men say this premature decline is owing abso- 
lutely to a want of a day of rest once a week. Going to museums, poring over 
books,amusements of every sort, ‘improving the mind,’ are equally pernicious 
as hard work.” 
Col. Forney, of Philadeiphia, writing to his paper from Paris, 
some twelve years ago, quoted from Galignani the “Stranger’s 
Diary” for Sunday: Nineteen theatres, sixteen other places of 
amusement, two horse races, etc., added : 
‘*This is Parison Sunday. * * When the degradation of that day of 
rest is completed and it is dishonored in America as it is here, freedom will 
have gone from us forever.” 
To sum up what I have said :— 
The Museum has been established and carried on on the basis 
of a contract which, as understood by those who made it, excludes 
the Sunday opening. Good faith must be kept with those who 
have contributed so largely to its collections and maintenance, with 
this understanding. 
The Museum has been established not for the benefit of any one 
class, but for all classes of the million and a quarter of this city. It 
- should be carried on in accordance with the convictions and customs 
of our people. Among the most valued of the institutions of our 
people is the Sunday rest. So many influences now assail this that 
it should be jealously guarded, especially in the interests of the 
working classes. 
