OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
565 
pense anything absolutely requisite at any hour of the day or night, and he 
was most happy to do so in case of sickness, but when old prescriptions 
which might as well have been sent on the Saturday, or kept until Monday, 
were sent, lie must confess that he really did mind it. Then he went on to 
add a word on the question of taking out a carriage to drive a short distance 
to church, perhaps on a fine Sunday morning, thus preventing the servants 
from attending a place of worship, saying that he could not but consider such 
conduct in some respects inconsistent with the profession of religion made 
by the parties attending church themselves. Having had an opportunity of 
making such a protest on two or three occasions, of course choosing his op¬ 
portunity carefully, he found his opinions on the matter were well ventilated 
in the neighbourhood, and the consequence was that he got rid of a good 
deal of his Sunday work, and at present he very often did not take more than 
lialf-a-crown out of his till on Sunday, and perhaps did not make more than 
two or three entries. He hoped that all his colleagues in the trade would 
do what they could to discourage Sunday business, and he believed they could 
do a great deal by well-considered efforts. 
Mr. Pedler said that as a City tradesman he should like to add his testi¬ 
mony to that of those who had spoken on this subject. When he first w ent 
into Fleet Street, they kept open from seven in the morning until eleven at 
night; and in reference to the meeting which had been referred to by Mr. 
Hills, and which was early in every respect, he might add that the gentle¬ 
man who started it, Mr. Underwood, was connected with him in business for 
some time. They had reduced their hours to what might be considered 
moderate, from eight to eight, keeping the doors open for an hour longer. 
The alteration in the trade was most remarkable, the customers having been 
trained to the improved system, and the public might be trained as well as 
themselves. The chemists and druggists being an intelligent and educated 
class of men, he thought they might train their customers to get what they 
wanted at reasonable hours, and that they might almost as well close at seven 
as at eight o’clock; it was only a question of time, and he believed it would 
come to it, but at all events there was no difficulty in the world in closing at 
eight. He believed they might get people into the habit of bringing their 
prescriptions earlier, and then the business would be got through more com¬ 
fortably and the young men would feel on better terms with their employers ; 
and, from his own experience, he had no reason to find fault with the way in 
which the young men passed their time after business hours. On all these 
matters he could not help thinking it was very difficult to lay down rules, and 
a great deal more was likely to be accomplished by having a little social chat 
over it; those who were rather afraid of trying the experiment were en¬ 
couraged by the experience of others, and thus considerable good was done. 
With regard to Suncla} 7 ' trading, thirty years ago Mr. Bell’s plan was quite 
the exception, the general rule being to have the shops wide open, and at 
night quite a flare of gas to attract customers; happily, that period was 
passed, and in his own district it was many years since it had been the cus¬ 
tom to open shop at all on Sundays. He did not take down a shutter nor 
even open the door, and therefore nothing but actual necessity would even 
bring a customer on Sunday, and he believed the public generally respected 
their motives in not opening on that day. The young men of the present day 
had many advantages which were not possessed by their predecessors, parti¬ 
cularly those afforded by the Society, and what was of even more importance, 
they had time to avail themselves of them, and he was very glad the present 
discussion had arisen, because it had an important bearing on these 
things. 
Mr. Watts thought that each one must be guided, in great measure as to 
