Lord Amberley introduced on Tuesday a little Bill to legalize
Sunday religious discussions and lectures such as were held last year and this at St. Martin's Hall ; and it may, we hope, pass without any substantial opposition. The Bill carefully keeps clear of legalizing what are called Sunday "amusements," which might raise a wider and more contested question, and does not even ask for power to conduct any musical service, as there would be some difficulty in defining " sacred " music, and the admission of other music might be supposed to cover music halls, and other places, where there might be per- formances of an operatic nature. It is clearly wise not to raise this very different question on occasion of a demand to legalize such lectures as Professor Huxley and Dr. Carpenter gave on Sundays at St. Martin's Hall. Religious liberty can mean nothing if we do not allow those who think that the study of science is the truest worship, to study science on a Sunday, if they will. We, for our parts, do not appreciate "worship chiefly of the silent [or any other] sort on the altar of the Unknown and Unknowable," but those who do have as much right to practise it as we have to go to church.
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