Yesterday week, Lord Thurlow moved a resolution in the House
of Lords in favour of opening public libraries and the national collections of Art and Science on Sunday
afternoons, and explained in his speech his strong reasons for thinking that the working-classes were in favour of this measure. The Boilermakers' Society, for instance, had been consulted in all its branches, and it gave 2,739 votes for the opening, and only 25 votes against. Of the Work- men's Clubs in London, 80 had declared in favour, and only one against. Of Trade Societies, 163 were in favour, and only 15 against. In a factory where the masters had consulted the hands, 107 in number, 97 were favourable to the opening, and 10 opposed to it. Almost all the replies from factory masters pointed in the same direction. In Manchester, the Chief Con- stable had reported on the excellent effect produced by the Sunday opening of the libraries. Lord Shaftesbury rested his reply chiefly on the petitions,—petitions mostly got up by Sabbatarian Societies, and a most untrustworthy source of information. Mr. Chubb, the lock manufacturer, had, however, consulted his - workmen by ballot, with the following result,—for the Sunday opening, 47; against, 181. This was Lord Shaftesbury's strongest bit of evidence. He wished, he said, for a plebiscite taken by ballot on the subject, and we cannot help thinking that a plebiscite on such a subject would be very useful for the information of the Legislature, though we do not believe that it would support Lord Shaftesbary's view.
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