THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 5<3 5 . 2 , 
 
 'R & 3 t 
 
 ECONOMICS 
 
 SEMINAR 
 
REMARKS 
 
 » 
 
 ON THE REGULATION OF 
 
 RAILWAY TRAVELLING 
 
 ON SUNDAYS, 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE DIRECTORS AND PROPRIETORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. 
 
 BY A RAILWAY DIRECTOR. 
 
 “ The Sabbath was. made for man.” 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 
 BIRMINGHAMB. HUDSON, BULL STREET. 
 
 1S36. 
 
V 
 
 !\Z%\ 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 ft, 
 
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 It is impossible for any one who attentively con¬ 
 siders the subject, to doubt that the general introduction 
 of Railways will effect an entire change in the internal 
 communications of this country ? and prove a very re¬ 
 markable era in its history. When we reflect that the 
 increased cheapness and facility of travelling which they 
 afford., will almost annihilate the space between places 
 now widely distant from each other; and that by re¬ 
 moving the natural barriers which have hitherto 
 forbidden a close and frequent intercourse, they will 
 give to every part of the empire the means of freely 
 ~~ exchanging with the rest the fruits of its industry and 
 J its intellect, it is difficult to form an adequate concep- 
 . ~ tion of the influence which they must produce on the 
 habits, the manners, and the social and moral condition 
 * of the British people. Uniting the whole empire in one 
 - wide community, they will spread throughout all its 
 bounds, with a rapidity as yet unexampled, the vices 
 _ . and the follies on the one hand, and the intellectual 
 and moral advantages on the other, which belong to 
 each particular portion. We must regard them as new 
 and mighty engines, possessing a most formidable 
 power over the arrangements of society, but capable 
 to a certain extent of being regulated and controlled; 
 and it is therefore of the utmost importance that the 
 parties on whom their regulation has devolved, should 
 
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 3 
 
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t 
 
 4 
 
 strive to render them as far as possible subservient to 
 the best interests of the community. 
 
 With such views, it may he regarded as a fortunate 
 circumstance that the control of these great under¬ 
 takings will he placed in the hands of a few large public 
 Companies ; and the management vested in a limited 
 number of individuals, from whom we may reasonably 
 expect more enlightened views, and a more matured, 
 and more consistent course of action than could other¬ 
 wise have been hoped for. 
 
 We are confident the Directors of these Compa¬ 
 nies will never be so insensible to the high respon¬ 
 sibilities of their situation, as to give their sanction, 
 from sordid motives, to any arrangements injurious to 
 society; and we feel assured, that if it can he made 
 clear to them, that the welfare of the people in their 
 employ, and the general improvement of the nation, will 
 be promoted by any measures introduced to their notice, 
 such measures will have their cordial support. 
 
 Now, however men's opinions differ as to the 
 obligation of observing the Sabbath as a day set apart 
 for religious duties, they rarely, we believe, deny its 
 importance as a civil institution. It is scarcely possible 
 to look around us, and not be sensible of its benignant 
 influence on the millions to whom it gives the only 
 respite from severe toil or harassing and exhausting 
 occupation, the only opportunity of cultivating the do¬ 
 mestic affections, and the gentler charities of life. The 
 very possession of a day on which he may wash away 
 the filth of his weekly employment, and meet his family 
 in cleanliness and comfort, is of itself an invaluable 
 treasure to the working man, and exercises an influence 
 
5 
 
 on his character which we cannot too highly appreciate. 
 But when we add, that on this day, his children for the 
 most part receive the only education within their reach, 
 at the numerous Sunday Schools to which we see them 
 flocking by thousands, to be instructed gratuitously by 
 teachers, who are generally of his own class in life ; and 
 when we also reflect, that on this day alone the foun¬ 
 tains of religious instruction are open to him and his 
 family, every candid mind must admit the selfishness 
 and the cruelty of invading, without absolute necessity, 
 this blessed portion of his time ; this single resting 
 place in his pilgrimage of toil; this green oasis of his 
 existence. 
 
 When we consider further, that to the Sabbath, 
 multitudes of other classes in society are indebted for 
 the inestimable advantage of periodically withdrawing 
 their minds from the pressure of mercantile and pro¬ 
 fessional engagements, and directing them to pursuits 
 of a higher and more improving character, we can hardly 
 resist the conviction, that the observance of a weekly 
 day of rest is a fruitful source of blessings to the entire 
 population of our land. 
 
 “ Besides the notorious indecency and scandal,’* 
 says Blackstone, speaking of the Sabbath, “ of per- 
 ce mitting any secular business to be publicly transacted 
 “ on that day, in a country professing Christianity, and 
 u the corruption of morals which usually follows its 
 cc profanation ; the keeping of one day in seven holy, 
 “ as a time of relaxation and refreshment, as well as for 
 u public worship, is of admirable service to a state, 
 “ considered merely as a civil institution. It humanizes 
 ce by the help of conversation and society, the manners 
 “ of the lower classes ; which would otherwise degene- 
 
“ rate into savage ferocity, and sordid selfishness of 
 tc spirit 3 —it enables the industrious workman to pursue 
 “ his occupation in the ensuing week with health and 
 6C cheerfulness 3 —it imprints on the minds of the people 
 “ that sense of their duty to God, so necessary to make 
 u them good citizens 3 but which yet would be worn out 
 “ and defaced by an unremitted continuance of labour, 
 “ without any stated times of recalling them to the 
 cc worship of their maker .’*—Commentaries on the 
 Laws of England , Vol. 4. p. 63. 
 
 But if the influence of the Sabbath on the state 
 of society be thus generally beneficial, it must be, pro 
 tanto , an evil to deprive any class of persons of the 
 means of enjoying it, and a corresponding deterioration 
 of character may be looked for as the result. That such 
 a deterioration actually takes place, we believe we may 
 confidently appeal to all who are conversant with the 
 classes of men usually employed on this day, whether 
 in the great coaching establishments, or as hackney 
 coachmen, boatmen on canals, or in any other way. It 
 would be easy to bring ample evidence on the subject, 
 from a variety of such employments 3 but we will only 
 mention a few instances, for the authenticity of which 
 we can vouch. 
 
 1. From enquiry among the hackney coachmen 
 of a large manufacturing town, it appears that these 
 men never go to any place of worship, and that their 
 habits often debar their families from it likewise 3 that 
 they are all addicted to drinking, and thereby ruin their 
 constitutions, &c. 
 
 2. A person who has been for twelve years the Lock 
 Keeper of one of the most frequented canals in Great 
 
7 
 
 Britain, states, “ That the boatmen who, almost with- 
 “ out exception, work on the Sabbath, are of such aban- 
 u doned conduct, that they generally shorten their lives 
 <e by it, and that scarcely any men are living who were 
 “ in the employ when he came to his situation. That 
 “ their language is very profane, they are generally 
 ee given to intemperance, and ruin their constitutions by 
 u these and other vices ; that they are very generally 
 <( in the practice of robbing the wine and spirits in the 
 “ boats ; that though there are a few solitary instances 
 “ of sober men, yet he does not know a boat’s crew, 
 “ consisting of three or four, who are so. 
 
 3. From similar enquiries among mechanical 
 employments, it appears that, whenever the men are re¬ 
 quested by their masters to work on the Sunday, they 
 receive double wages; and that even by this bribe, men 
 of good character can rarely be induced to work. Those 
 who are in the habit of doing so, are stated to be in 
 general, men of the worst character ; and so uniformly 
 addicted to intemperance, that a company of thirty-five 
 working men, mostly mechanics of different trades, 
 lately concurred in stating to a relative of the writer, 
 that they did not know one sober man who worked 
 on the Sabbath. 
 
 It would be inconsistent with the design of 
 these remarks to enter further into this branch of the 
 subject, or it might be easily shewn that the institution 
 of a day of rest is so admirably adapted to the wants, not 
 only of man, but of the animal creation, that every at¬ 
 tempt to dispense with its observance is found signally 
 to fail, even in a pecuniary point of view. Thus it is 
 found, that men in the habit of working on this day, 
 rarely or never accomplish more work within a given 
 
8 
 
 period than those who refrain from it;—that horses 
 cannot be kept in health and strength, unless they enjoy 
 this or some corresponding interval of repose, &c. All 
 the principal coach proprietors of Birmingham, agreed 
 in stating, in reply to a recent enquiry, that on 
 economical grounds alone , they were most anxious to 
 secure for their establishments, one day of rest in the 
 seven. We are the less anxious to multiply examples, 
 because we are convinced that no accurate observer 
 of the state of society amongst us can refuse his assent 
 to the conclusion to which the above considerations 
 inevitably lead : viz.—That the observance of the 
 Sabbath, important as it is to every class, is above all, 
 essential to the welfare and improvement of the working 
 classes ; and that they cannot be deprived of it, either 
 partially or totally, without a corresponding degradation 
 of character, productive of the most fearful evils to 
 themselves and to society. 
 
 The Directors and Proprietors of the different 
 Railways now in progress, will soon have to determine 
 the question, how far they shall permit them to be 
 used on the Sunday; or to state more correctly, what 
 will it is presumed be in most cases the fact, to what 
 extent they will themselves carry on the business of the 
 company on that day. I here exists at present, as might 
 be expected, much diversity of opinion on this question ; 
 and it is the object of these remarks to examine the 
 merits of the different plans recommended for adoption. 
 
9 
 
 as applicable to Railways in general, and to the 
 London and Birmingham Railway in particular. 
 
 The plans recommended are :— 
 
 1st. To employ the Railway without restriction on 
 Sundays as on other days of the week. 
 
 2nd. To employ it for passengers only, and under 
 limitation as to hours of departure and arrival, number 
 of trains, &c.—or 
 
 3rd. To close it altogether. 
 
 The advocates of the first plan assert— 
 
 That the main object of every arrangement ought to 
 be, to make the concern as profitable as possible to the 
 Proprietors ; and they do not see any evil consequences 
 in its unrestricted use on Sundays, which should be al¬ 
 lowed to interfere with this object. They generally 
 admit, that it is desirable in the abstract, to avoid re¬ 
 quiring from the servants of the Company, such constant 
 employment as this course of proceeding demands; but 
 they do not think this circumstance, or any of the other 
 objections commonly made to Sunday travelling, of 
 sufficient moment to outweigh the pecuniary advan¬ 
 tages which would accrue from adopting it. 
 
 Without entering into a detail of the arguments used 
 in support of the above views, we may be permitted to 
 observe that they wholly rest on the assumption, that 
 on the one hand, a great additional profit would really 
 arise from the course recommended ; and that on the 
 other, the evil consequences are either imaginary, or 
 insignificant. If therefore it can be shewn, as we 
 believe it may, that both assumptions are unfounded, 
 the scheme itself must be abandoned even by such of 
 its advocates as are prepared to assent to the position, 
 (against which however we solemnly protest,)—that 
 
10 
 
 the profit of the Company ought to be the sole object of 
 our arrangements. 
 
 As the profits on the Railway on Sundays are expect¬ 
 ed chiefly from the passengers^ who it is supposed 
 will travel, it is important to acertain in the first place 
 the proportion which Sunday travelling at present bears 
 to the travelling of ordinary days. The Stamp Office 
 lists of the number of Coaches licensed^ enable us to 
 do this with considerable accuracy. The results from 
 the returns for 1836,, are shewn in the following table : 
 
Of the Coaches licensed for distances under 10 miles out of London, there run on Sundays, about twelve-thirteenths. 
 Ditto .. .. .. ditto in the Country, .. .. .. one-half. 
 
 Ditto .. .. of 10 miles and upwards, out of London, upwards of one-half. 
 
 Ditto .. .. .. ditto in the Country, .. ., about one-fourth. 
 
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12 
 
 The general result of the preceding analysis will be 
 nearly^ as follows :— 
 
 That taking into account the proportionate numbers 
 of the several classes of coaches distinguished in the 
 table, and the relative distances travelled by each, and 
 also making due allowance for the mails and the night 
 coaches, the amount of travelling on Sundays through¬ 
 out England and Wales, including London and its 
 immediate vicinity, does not exceed one third that on 
 ordinary days, <md exclusive of London and its vicinity, 
 it amounts only to one fourth. As we have no reason 
 to doubt that Sunday conveyances will be invariably 
 forthcoming, wherever there is a demand for them, we 
 are entitled to assume the above proportion as an index 
 of the wants of the public, and to consider the following 
 fact established beyond dispute, viz.—That at the present 
 time, the entire population of England and Wales re¬ 
 quire only one third of the travelling of ordinary days, 
 and that exclusive of London and its vicinity, they re¬ 
 quire only one fourth , to meet the whole of their wants, 
 whether of necessity, convenience, or recreation, on the 
 Sunday. 
 
 The latter, or one fourth , is as nearly as possible, the 
 proportion of Sunday travelling on most of the long 
 lines of road, and may therefore be taken as the present 
 proportion on the line between London and Birmingham. 
 As soon as the Railway is open, this distance will be 
 travelled in four or five hours ; and although the Stamp 
 Office returns shew, that there is less of Sunday travel¬ 
 ling between places requiring about this time to pass 
 between them, than any other; yet we are willing to take 
 it for granted, that the same proportion of passengers, 
 or one fourth the amount of ordinary days will continue 
 to travel on the London and Birmingham Railway. 
 
Let us then suppose this Railway to carry 1000 
 passengers per day, on week days, and 250 on the 
 Sunday ; and that these passengers pay on the average, 
 £1. each, making a receipt of £1000 per day for the 
 six days, and £250 for the seventh. If we take the 
 average daily expenditure, exclusive of interest on 
 capital, to be one half, or £500 per day, (which is con¬ 
 siderably below the proportion of the Liverpool and Man¬ 
 chester Railway,) and if we suppose it to be reduced on 
 the Sunday, to £250 per day, which, for reasons to be 
 stated presently, is as low as we think it can possibly 
 be brought; we shall then have the whole of our receipts 
 absorbed in the current expenditure, without leaving a 
 single farthing as profit to the Company. 
 
 But this mode of stating the question, will be found 
 far too favourable to the case of Sunday travelling; for 
 it should be borne in mind, that, as regards the profit 
 of the Company, the comparison is not between the 
 number who travel in seven days, and the number who 
 travel in six, supposing the Railway to be kept open for 
 seven days in the week ; but between the number who 
 travel in seven days, and the number who would travel 
 in six, supposing the Railway to be kept open but six 
 in the week. Thus, for example,—-if 6250 passengers 
 travel along the Railway in seven days, at the rate of 
 1000 per week day, and 250 on Sunday, the comparison 
 is not between 6250 and 6000 simply, but between 6250 
 and 6000, plus that portion of the 250, who would have 
 travelled during the six days, if the Railway had been 
 closed on the seventh. What proportion this may be, 
 is of course in some degree hypothetical; but we have 
 no doubt we shall be much below the mark in taking 
 it on long lines of road, like the London and Binning- 
 
14 
 
 ham, at one half, or 125 passengers. We shall thus 
 have 6250 passengers carried in seven days, and 6125 
 in six days. Assuming the average daily expenditure 
 to remain the same, and we think it can be easily shewn 
 that no material difference would be made in it; our 
 weekly account will stand in each case, as follows :— 
 
 
 £. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Receipts for the seven days traffic. . 
 
 6250 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Expenditure for ditto . 
 
 3250 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Profit 
 
 3000 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Receipts for the six days traffic .... 
 
 6125 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Expenditure for ditto. 
 
 3000 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Profit 
 
 3125 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 thus leaving a net balance of £125 per week in favour 
 of closing the Railway on Sundays. 
 
 We believe the above to be not only a fair statement 
 of the case, but in the only part which can be consid¬ 
 ered hypothetical, viz.—the assumption that half the 
 Sunday passengers would travel on other days,—we 
 are confident it is below the truth. Two objections 
 will probably be made to it. 
 
 1st. That the expense of keeping the Railway open 
 on Sundays, will be less than £250 per day. 
 
 2nd. That the additional T25 passengers carried in 
 the six days would increase the daily expenditure of 
 the Company. 
 
 To the first objection we reply :— 
 
 That in the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, where 
 the circumstances are peculiarly favourable, the whole 
 
15 
 
 of the arrivals and departures being comprised within 
 two hours morning and afternoon; and where, in con¬ 
 sequence, it is stated, that no additional salaries are 
 paid to the Company’s servants for their attendance, 
 the profit on Sunday travelling does not amount to 
 3 per cent, of the annual dividend. But in the London 
 and Birmingham, where four or five hours will be re¬ 
 quired to traverse the line ; the clerks, engineers, police, 
 &c. must of necessity under any conceivable arrange¬ 
 ment, be kept in attendance for at least half the day; 
 and experience shows that it is impossible to purchase 
 such services for less than a full day’s wages. Besides 
 this, it is well known that the relative cost of working 
 any system of machinery, is greatly augmented when 
 the work performed is but small; and this principle 
 applies with full force to all the machinery of a rail¬ 
 way. When it is considered, therefore, how large a 
 number of persons must be employed at the various 
 offices, stations, and workshops of the London and 
 Birmingham Railway, to ensure the passage of even 
 a single train in safety, there can be little doubt that 
 we have, of the two, placed the minimum of expendi¬ 
 ture too low. 
 
 To the second objection we reply :— 
 
 That as Railway travelling is at present conducted, 
 the engines seldom or never carry a full load; and that 
 therefore the additional 125 Sunday passengers, which 
 we suppose to be distributed over the two adjoining 
 days, would add nothing to the average daily expendi¬ 
 ture. They might, however, add to it in either of the 
 following cases, viz.—When it is arranged for the 
 engines to carry full loads on other days, a deficiency 
 of passengers being made up by goods, or—when the 
 
16 
 
 Company has contracted for the conveyance of passen¬ 
 gers at so much per head. 
 
 In the first case it is quite clear that the addition of 
 125 passengers would require additional locomotive 
 power on the week days, and therefore add in a certain 
 degree to the daily cost. But as no one will contend 
 that a single extra ton of goods will be carried in con¬ 
 sequence of keeping open on the Sunday, it follows 
 that such extra cost will be merely that of the convey¬ 
 ance of these passengers distributed among the trains 
 of the adjoining days. It is probable that the load of 
 each engine can never be so nicely adjusted as not to 
 bear so small an addition ; but at the most, the cost of 
 the extra power, applied in this way, would be very 
 trifling indeed ; and this, be it observed, would be the 
 only extra cost incurred. The salaries of servants, the 
 interest of capital, and in short, the whole current ex¬ 
 pense of the establishment would remain the same. On 
 the other hand, to keep the Railway open on Sundays, 
 it would, on this system, be needful to carry goods as 
 on other days, and as a necessary consequence, to em¬ 
 ploy to a greater extent, the whole establishment of 
 secretaries, clerks, engineers, porters, police, &c. To 
 all of these the company will be compelled to pay extra 
 salaries, more than equivalent to the extra day’s labour : 
 but this is not all, for even at this cost, they will not 
 succeed in obtaining good servants ; as experience has 
 demonstrated, that the sober and conscientious cannot 
 be bribed to undertake such employments at any price.* 
 
 * A large Coach Proprietor, in the North of England, lately stated to a 
 friend of the writer, that he had never, or scarcely ever, had a servant in his 
 coach offices who had not robbed him ; which he attributed to the above 
 
 cause. 
 
17 
 
 In the second case, viz.—When the Company has con¬ 
 tracted for the conveyance of the passengers, at so much 
 per head;, the same reasoning will be found equally 
 applicable. The general relations of income and ex¬ 
 penditure will remain in substance the same : the only 
 difference being, that the contractor has taken certain 
 departments of expenditure on himself, for a certain 
 fixed ratio of remuneration. As regards the office, 
 warehousing, and police departments, the cost to the 
 Company of keeping the road open on Sundays, will re¬ 
 main unaltered ; and whether the terms of the contract 
 require that the trains shall carry passengers only, as 
 at present; or permit the contractor, as they probably 
 will, to make up the full load of the engine with goods ; 
 the same general principles will operate in his case, as 
 in that of the Company. It will be more to his interest 
 to carry the 6125 passengers, and the whole of the 
 goods in six days, than to carry a somewhat larger 
 number of passengers in seven, and his price per capitem 
 will be proportionably lower. 
 
 The sum of our argument in short, is this :— 
 
 That the greater the amount of passengers and goods 
 conveyed along the Railway in a given time, the cheap¬ 
 er their conveyance will be, and vice versa. If, for 
 instance, the number of passengers we have supposed, 
 could be carried in three days instead of six, the Com¬ 
 pany would undoubtedly be the gainer. Such an ar¬ 
 rangement, however, is obviously impracticable ; but 
 impracticable only because the habits of the society in 
 which we live will not admit of it. But as they not only 
 admit, but generally require a restriction to six days, it 
 is undoubtedly the interest of the Company to make its 
 arrangements harmonize therewith. It may thus, it is 
 
18 
 
 true, lose a few passengers, but it will be more than 
 compensated by a greater profit on the rest, and by 
 many other important advantages. Among these we 
 have already alluded to the difficulty, not to say the 
 impossibility, of obtaining officers and servants of sober 
 and conscientious character, if we work the Railway on 
 Sundays. This, we are satisfied, would prove an evil 
 of no ordinary magnitude; for in no concern whatever 
 is it so important that all the persons employed should 
 be of this character. The safety, the lives of hundreds 
 will be staked every hour of the day on the care and vi¬ 
 gilance of these individuals; and if only one of them 
 should fail in his duty, the most fearful consequences 
 may ensue. Too much importance cannot be attached 
 to this consideration. We deem it of itself, even in an 
 economical point of view, sufficient to outweigh every 
 possible advantage to be derived from Sunday travelling; 
 but added to the rest, we regard it as perfectly decisive 
 of the question. 
 
 To conclude.—By opening the Railway on Sundays 
 in the manner proposed, we shall offend the feelings of the 
 religious public of every denomination, who universally 
 hold the Sabbath to be a day set apart by divine appoint¬ 
 ment, for the duties of Religion ; we shall offend a large 
 and influential class, who highly appreciate its value as 
 a social institution ; and we shall promote by direct em¬ 
 ployment, and indirect influence, to an extent beyond 
 calculation, all the evils which have been shewn to flow 
 from its violation. Finally, we shall present to the 
 world—the example of a great public Company, many 
 of whose Directors are Magistrates, openly, and syste¬ 
 matically violating the laws of the land,—disregarding 
 the moral interests, and setting at nought the religious 
 feelings of the community. 
 
19 
 
 2. There are few, it is probable, who will be willing 
 to meet all the consequences of an unrestricted opening 
 of the Railway on Sundays ; but as the middle course of 
 keeping it partially open, appears at first sight to avoid 
 some of them, this plan deserves our attentive consid¬ 
 eration in the next place. It is the plan at present 
 pursued on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; 
 and is there carried into effect by restricting the pas¬ 
 sage of the trains to certain hours of the morning and 
 afternoon. The objection to this course is, that it can 
 answer the designed object on short lines of Railway 
 alone. On long lines, such as the London and Birm¬ 
 ingham, it will be of little avail to adopt similar restric¬ 
 tions since every conceivable arrangement of this kind 
 will make it needful to keep open the offices and employ 
 the engineers and police for the greater part of the day. 
 Thus if the trains only start at seven o’clock in the 
 morning and at four in the afternoon, as on the Liverpool 
 and Manchester Railway, they will be passing along the 
 line, and arriving at the opposite end throughout a 
 great portion of the intermediate time, and will continue 
 working till late in the evening. All this would demand 
 the constant, or nearly constant employment of the 
 whole establishment; which, besides defeating the object 
 of the restriction, would be attended with great expense. 
 Even on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, where 
 a restriction to certain hours is much easier, and the 
 circumstances are unusually conducive to the profit of 
 Sunday travelling, the usual income from this source, 
 is, as we have seen, very trifling indeed ; but if we have 
 succeeded in shewing that an actual loss to the Company 
 would accrue from unrestricted Sunday travelling on the 
 London and Birmingham Railway, there can be no 
 
 c 
 
20 
 
 doubt whatever, that restricted travelling would be at¬ 
 tended with greater loss. 
 
 As in such an alternative, we conclude no one will 
 be found to advocate its adoption, this brings us to the 
 consideration of the only remaining course, viz.— 
 
 3. That of closing the Railway altogether on the 
 Sunday. 
 
 The writer of these remarks is aware how startling 
 such a proposition will appear at first sight to many \ 
 and having himself entertained a strong repugnance to 
 what seemed so extreme a measure, up to the moment 
 when he entered on the present enquiry, he is the more 
 desirous of removing from the minds of others, those 
 prevalent misconceptions in regard to its real character, 
 ■which once influenced his own. He ventures to an¬ 
 ticipate, that a candid consideration of the subject will 
 bring them to the same conviction which it has pro¬ 
 duced in him,—that it is a course, not only more con¬ 
 sonant with sound principle, but more easily practicable 
 than any other. 
 
 It is a common impression, that by adopting it, we 
 assume to ourselves the right to legislate for the public, 
 and prevent them from employing the Sunday in the 
 way they like best. No one can be more fully convinced 
 of the unsoundness and inutility of legislation on such 
 subjects, than the writer of these remarks ; and he would 
 deprecate any approach to it as earnestly as any one. 
 But in truth, such a procedure does not partake in the 
 least degree of the character of legislation, which can 
 only have been imputed to it from a confusion of ideas 
 as to the real position of the Railway Company in the 
 matter. If every traveller brought his own carriage and 
 horses, there would then indeed be some ground for the 
 imputation; since legislation, or something like it. 
 
21 
 
 would be necessary to keep him off the road. But it 
 should be borne in mind, that, in the present case, the 
 Railway Company provides not only the road, but the 
 carriage and horses also ; that it is the only active agent 
 concerned, and that in refusing to convey passengers on 
 the Sunday, it imposes no compulsion whatever on the 
 acts of others, but is simply in the situation of an indi¬ 
 vidual exercising an unquestionable right,—that of 
 managing his own affairs in the way he thinks most 
 consistent with propriety, or most conducive to his 
 interest. As a shopkeeper who offers his wares for 
 sale, may prescribe his own terms, and shut up his shop 
 when he pleases,—it being perfectly optional with his 
 customers to buy, or refrain from buying them,—so the 
 Railway Company, as far as the Act of Parliament per¬ 
 mits, is clearly entitled to prescribe the conditions on 
 which it will sell its accommodations to the public ; and 
 they are at perfect liberty to accept or refuse them as 
 they think best. The transaction, in short, is altogether 
 voluntary on both sides. 
 
 Again, we are often told, that having superseded the 
 modes of conveyance now in use, we are bound to pro¬ 
 vide the public with our own, for the cases of emergency 
 which continually arise. Now although it may be easily 
 shewn that the cases of emergency contemplated, are 
 really very few indeed; and that the trains of the Sat¬ 
 urday night and the Monday morning would sufficiently 
 provide for them; * yet if, for the sake of argument, 
 
 * Let us put the strongest case, that of a person receiving by the mail on 
 Sunday morning, in Birmingham, intelligence of the dangerous illness of a 
 friend in London. The letter will scarcely reach him before Nine, a. m., 
 probably not till an hour later. Even at the earliest hour, unless prepared 
 to set off at half an hour’s notice, which is seldom practicable, he will at pre- 
 
we admit them to be as numerous as the advocates of 
 Sunday travelling would have us believe, on what 
 principle, it may be asked, are we bound to provide for 
 them ? We deprive the public of no one convenience 
 or facility of travelling on such occasions which they 
 at present possess; on the contrary, we offer them a 
 cheaper and speedier mode of conveyance, and we have 
 an undeniable right to do this in our own way and on 
 our own terms. If our Act of Parliament abolished 
 stage coaches and post horses, and directed all the 
 turnpike roads to be broken up, there would be some 
 reason in the argument; but it does no such thing : 
 and if it be objected that such consequences will indi¬ 
 rectly arise from the improvements in travelling which 
 we introduce ; we ask, on what just and sound principle 
 are we to be made responsible for indirect consequences 
 arising out of the unfettered volition and choice of 
 others ? 
 
 But we are told it is a duty we owe to the public, to 
 provide for such alleged cases of necessity. Duty, be 
 it remembered, is stern and uncompromising in all its 
 requirements ; and if, therefore, it be a duty to provide 
 for such cases at all, it is a duty to provide for them 
 under every contingency, however great the inconveni¬ 
 ence and loss to ourselves. This is a necessary conse¬ 
 quence of the argument, and unless we are prepared to 
 carry it out to this extent, it is good for nothing. But 
 as no one, we presume, will be found to maintain that 
 
 sent be too late for any of the day coaches ; and must either take post horses, 
 or be content to arrive in town the next morning. After the opening of the 
 Railway, the former alternative will still be left to him, and the train of the 
 Monday Morning will place him in as favourable a position as the latter. 
 
23 
 
 the alleged duty must be performed to our own loss, 
 the fallacy of the argument is at once manifest, as we 
 in effect declare it to be a duty, only so long as it is 
 profitable to us to fulfil it ; or in other words, to be no 
 duty at all. 
 
 It is needless to pursue the subject further, as we are 
 fully convinced that the anticipated evil is for the most 
 part imaginary. When the distance from London to 
 Birmingham can be traversed on the Saturday night or 
 Monday morning in four or five hours, the cases of real 
 necessity for Sunday travelling will be few indeed; so 
 few as to deserve no attention whatever. Even the 
 convenience of the public will, we are inclined to believe, 
 be but little affected by closing the railway on Sundays ; 
 for it is difficult to see how it can materially interfere 
 with any of the purposes of commercial or social inter¬ 
 course. The closing of the General Post Office in Lon¬ 
 don on the Sunday was a measure from which far more 
 inconvenience might have been reasonably predicted ; 
 a measure which if it were now the question to adopt it, 
 most persons would pronounce to be impracticable. 
 Yet, who now feels the inconvenience of this restriction, 
 and who is there that would advocate its removal ? 
 Who is there, on the contrary, that would not deprecate 
 such a change as inevitably depriving thousands of their 
 day of relaxation and repose ? 
 
 In like manner, we are firmly convinced, that the 
 difficulties which at first view, may seem to attend 
 closing the Railway on Sundays, would speedily disap¬ 
 pear ; the habits of all would soon be accommodated to 
 the restriction ; and all being placed on the same footing, 
 none would desire its removal. 
 
 It is more especially incumbent on the Directors of 
 
24 
 
 Railway Companies, to give their serious attention to 
 this subject, because there is evidence of an increasing 
 disposition in the British public, to observe the Sab¬ 
 bath as a day of rest. 
 
 On the main lines of road, there is reason to believe 
 that the number of coaches which cease to run on the 
 Sunday, is becoming every year greater; and many 
 other unequivocal symptoms of the same kind might be 
 enumerated. Coach proprietors, and inn-keepers, as we 
 have already stated, find this weekly cessation from la¬ 
 bour so beneficial to all in their employ, whether man or 
 beast, that they are uniformly anxious to secure it, 
 when practicable, on economical grounds alone. The 
 petitions from all parts of the empire, which have for 
 several sessions loaded the tables of parliament, praying 
 for some legislative enactment on the subject, are, mis¬ 
 taken as we think their prayer, nevertheless incontro¬ 
 vertible proofs of the general value in which the Sabbath 
 is held, and of the general desire to secure and to extend 
 its blessings. 
 
 While all classes amongst us thus recognize the duty, 
 or appreciate the benefit of ceasing from labour on this 
 day, the Directors of the great Companies, which are 
 about to effect an entire revolution in the internal inter¬ 
 course of the empire, will incur a deep responsibility, if 
 they oppose themselves to the advancing tide of public 
 opinion. Let them rather urge it onward in its course, 
 with all the influence which they possess ; and placed as 
 they are, in a station which enables them to give an 
 impulse of incalculable power on either side, let 
 them use it on the one which is confessedly identified 
 with all that is most cheering in our social progress, 
 and most hopeful in our national condition. 
 
25 
 
 To the Directors of the London and Birmingham 
 Railway Company especially, the question is one of pe¬ 
 culiar importance, because on their decision mainly 
 depends that of the other Railways, about to pour their 
 passengers into this line, as the great artery which will 
 connect them with the Metropolis. If they once resolve 
 to open this great Railway on Sundays, their example 
 will probably decide the course of the rest; the arrange¬ 
 ments of all will be made in accordance therewith ; and 
 the step once taken, will become irrevocable. On 
 the other hand, if the writer of these observations has not 
 utterly failed in his object, he has made out a strong 
 case for at least trying the experiment ; and he would 
 earnestly recommend it to be tried, as soon as the Rail¬ 
 way is open either partially or wholly, if it be only for 
 the first year. During this period the risk of inconveni¬ 
 ence to the public will be very small, as it is probable that 
 some of the coaches will continue to run on the present 
 roads ; while it will be a great advantage to the Compa¬ 
 ny to have one day in the week, for such measures of 
 actual necessity, as will inevitably be called for in the 
 infancy of its arrangements. If, at the end of this 
 period, the course we have recommended should be 
 found destitute of the advantages we anticipate, and 
 productive of evils we do not foresee, it may be at once 
 abandoned; but if on the contrary, the trial shall have 
 established the correctness of our conclusions, no rational 
 objection can be made to its permanent adoption. 
 
 B. Hudson, Printer, Birmingham. 
 

 
 
 
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