not affected. Milk and cream may be sold before nine and after ten o'clock; newspapers after ten o'clock (a sop to the cheap weekly journals); fruit and cooked victuals before ten and after one o'clock; meat, poultry, fish, &c., before nine o'clock, from the 31st day of May to the 1st of October in each year. The delivery of these articles is to be considered equivalent to their sale. Barbers and hairdressers are not to keep open after ten A.M.; but publicans and beersellers may carry on their ordinary business' as at present. Masters are to be held responsible for servants acting under their orders. The first reading of the bill passed off very quietly; but on the second reading, May 3d, a sharp passage of words ensued. Some childish fears were expressed about riots and disturbances with the police;' and Mr. Duncombe was particularly pathetic on the sufferings to which the bill would subject the working classes, owing to the lateness of the hours when they received their wages. Seeing that, if pressed to a division, the House would not reject the bill, its opponents struggled to get it referred to a 'select committee.' The Home Secretary interfered to stave off this fate, and the bill was ordered to be committed' on the 13th of June. The inconsistencies and incompleteness of the measure were made much of by its opponents; to which it was fairly answered, that it was as good a bill as could be prepared at present; and we may add the hope, that all its faults, like those of youth, may be corrected by the kindly hand of time. The Marquis of Blandford did indeed expose, and in a nervous manner, one of the great deficiences of the measure, allowing the sale of strong drink from six to ten, P.M. Mr. H. Berkeley, M.P. for Bristol, has given notice of his intention to move, on the 5th of June, for a select committee to inquire into the Sunday Act of 1854; but this proposition, designed to please them, meets with little favor from the bulk of the retailers, who have a characteristic horror of parliamentary inquiries into the operations of their trade. A deputation, we perceive, had an interview with Sir George Grey, on the 17th ult., but the Minister discouraged the hope of the law being altered, or that any alteration, if made, would be in accordance with the wishes then expressed. Sir S. Bignold and Sir G. Goodman accompanied the deputation! The fact caused us sincere regret, and we trust that this connexion had its rise in circumstances entirely distinct from any sympathy with the sentiments and object of the deputation itself.

THE FORMATION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM ASSOCIATION is unquestionably the great event in the domestic politics of the past month. It was inaugurated at a meeting at the London Tavern, on the 5th, summoned by a large body of requisitionists, comprising some of the leading firms of the city of London. Long before the hour of commencement the room and all its avenues were densely crowded, while the street for a considerable distance was rendered almost impassable by the multitude of gentlemen, including members of Parliament, who held tickets of admission, but who were unable to approach the entrance of the hotel. An application to the Lord Mayor for the use of the Guildhall was promptly granted, and large numbers repaired thither to a second meeting, over which Mr. Oliveira, M.P., presided, and at

which resolutions were passed similar to those which were carried at the principal meeting. The main object of the movement may be learnt from the first resolution. "That the disasters to which the country has been subjected in the conduct of the present war are attributable to the inefficient and practically irresponsible management of the various departments of the State, and urgently demand a thorough change in the administrative system.' The Association has now issued its first address to the country, and from this its objects will be distinctly learned. The Administrative Reform Association is no mere war organization. It has abundant matters to deal with, which have no connexion with the war, and whether there be war or peace its work will be continued. The effect of this central movement has been electrically felt throughout the empire. Large and enthusiastic meetings have been, and are still being held in our principal cities and towns, marked by no party character, passing similar resolutions, and indicating all the appearances of an earnest but peaceful national rising. This great movement has been brought about, not directly by any popular feeling with respect to the war. This has not been its cause, but has only furnished it with an occasion. A leng peace attended with commercial prosperity has induced a blind acquiescence in those deeply-seated defects of our political administration which the sudden eruption and the horrible disasters of war have revealed in all their magnitude. The whole body, however, of our fellow countrymen are now fairly aroused. The people of every party, condition, sex, and age, are rising in all the might of a peaceful and enlightened opinion to revolutionize the political administration of our country. And if we are not strangely deceived in our augury, this movement is, as regards many of our institutions apparently the most stable, the beginning of the end.' Supported by the convictions of the great body of the British people, this Association has the ball at its foot. Let it introduce its political principle into its own management, and enlist only men of character and talent in its service, and it will achieve results which will revive the fortunes and regenerate the political character of this country.

6

VARIOUS RELIGIOUS AND PHILANTROPHIC SOCIETIES HAVE RECENTLY HELD THEIR ANNIVERSARIES. We shall not enter into details, as their number precludes our doing so with anything like discrimination. We therefore content ourselves with reporting that these organizations display no symptom of exhaustion, and that the manner in which their proceedings are conducted bespeaks a gratifying improvement. There was a time when good taste was frequently offended, and much intemperance and acrimony were displayed on the platforms of our public meetings. We confess that we had our fears, and these were painful in proportion as we valued the religious ends which were sought. In our earlier days we witnessed instances of buffoonery wholly inappropriate to the gravity of such meetings, and have since been condemned to listen to ambitious displays in which the speaker was far more prominent than his theme. Such things, though they do not justify, form some excuse for the disparaging remarks in which the witling and the irreligious have

indulged. Happily there is a marked improvement taking place amongst us. Mere excitement is avoided; religious principle is more prominent; the real strength of such organizations is better seen; the heart of the Christian man is appealed to as the genuine source of Christian effort,-the legitimate dwelling of those graces from which alone consistent and permanent effort can arise. There is a striking and very gratifying contrast between the speaking of the present day and that of some twenty years since. There are, no doubt, exceptions. Imbecility will occasionally vapor, vanity will show itself, the little arts of little men may be detected, but for the most part the speeches now delivered are grave, earnest, and in many cases impassioned, the pleadings of men who feel deeply interested in the object sought, and honestly seek to extend the like interest amongst others.

Most of the Societies to whose anniversaries we refer complain of the pressure of the times as affecting their treasurer's accounts; some of them, however, we are gratified to find adopt a different language, amongst which is the British and Foreign Bible Society,-that noble monument of an intelligent and earnest piety. One hundred and eighty-nine new auxiliary societies have been formed during the year, constituting a total of 3313. The receipts of the Society for general purposes are £64,878 7s. 3d., being £5221 18s. 7d. more than those of the preceding year. The receipts, we are told, are greater than those of any previous year excepting that of the Jubilee. The issues of the Society for the year are 1,450,876, and the total of its issues from its formation are 29,389,507. It is impossible to contemplate such a fact without a cheering conviction that much good must be done. The bread cast on the waters will be seen after many days. As we purpose next month offering some remarks on the manner in which our public meetings are conducted, we add nothing more at present.

IN CONNEXION WITH THE RELIGIOUS ANNIVERSARIES OF THE MONTH, we must not omit to mention the opening of the Diorama in Regent's Park as a place of worship in connexion with the Baptist body. This event took place on the 1st inst., when two sermons were preached, that in the morning by the Rev. William Brock, of Bloomsbury Chapel, and that in the evening by the Rev. Samuel Martin, of Westminster. Of these two discourses it is impossible to speak too highly. It is enough to say that they were eminently appropriate to the occasion, and were alike honorable to the preachers and to the congregational body to which they belong. Mr. Brock's sermon was an admirable illustration of the harmony that may subsist between strong convictions and genuine catholicity. His views as a Baptist were clearly stated, yet no Pædo-baptist could fail to be delighted with the spirit he evinced, or to regard with other than cordial acquiescence the brotherhood he tendered. Mr. Martin's sermon combined rare qualities, ministering at once to the edification and to the pleasure of his audience. But we are in no disposition to criticize. Our earnest desire is that the spirit of the two sermons may permanently dwell in the building where they were delivered.

It is scarcely needful to say that the religious public are indebted

to Sir S. Morton Peto, Bart., for the appropriation of this building to the purposes of religious worship. At a cost of more than £18,000 it has been purchased and fitted up in its present style. The munificence evinced is beyond all praise. The example is worthy of universal imitation, and we shall be glad to find that other wealthy men follow it,-not, it may be, in the extent of the benefaction, but in the spirit which prompts it, and the mode in which it is displayed. The late Mr. Thomas Wilson was a noble instance of similar liberality, and his memory deserves on this account, as on many others, to be held in lasting veneration. Between the morning and evening services a large party assembled to dinner at the Fitzroy Rooms, New Road, where Sir Morton Peto presided. Referring to a similar meeting in 1848, when Bloomsbury Chapel was opened, he alluded to the intention he then expressed 'to leave one-third of the cost of the building to be defrayed' by the congregation; and reported that this debt had been extinguished. The chapel has been put in trust, and is now the property of the denomination. It is due to the honorable baronet to say that a moiety of the debt so left was discharged by himself, in addition to the two-thirds previously contributed. In the case of the

Regent's Park Chapel, he stated his purpose in like manner to leave only one-third of the cost. to be defrayed by the congregation It is not often that it falls to our lot to report such munificence. We do it all honor, and cordially pray that the religious object contemplated may be fully realized.

The style of the chapel is Byzantine. It has a singularly novel appearance, as its architecture was necessarily regulated by its previous construction. The Diorama was erected in 1823, and cost £9000, including two houses in Park-square. The principal entrance is from the Park, where the architect has displayed singular good taste in availing himself of the space afforded. Three doors open from Park-square into a vestibule, from which two flights of stone steps lead into an inner hall. The pulpit is of Caen stone, octagon in plan, and behind it is the baptistry, lined with Minton's tiles. It is designedly left open as a standing witness of the views which are entertained on a much disputed topic. The chapel contains sittings for 750 adults on the ground floor, and 500 in the gallery. There are also 200 free seats, and 160 sittings for children. A large room for week evening services, capable of containing 200 persons, is attached. There are also ministers' and deacons' vestries, committee rooms, &c., and under the chapel are school rooms for about 500 children. The whole style of the building is exceedingly beautiful. There is everything to gratify a cultivated taste without any approach to display. It is eminently appropriate to the locality, and the entrance from Regent's Park is unparalleled in chapel architecture. The work has been executed under the direction of Mr. John Thomas, of Paddington, and reflects much credit on his good judgment and taste. The Rev. W. Landells, late of Birmingham, has undertaken the ministerial labors of the place, and all who are concerned for the religious interests of the community will earnestly desire on his behalf the sustaining energy of Him to whose worship the place is

devoted. We can readily imagine that Mr. Landells' heart sometimes sinks within him at the thought of the responsibilities he has undertaken, but there is much to encourage and animate him, and we trust the time is not distant when he will rejoice in a success as marked as that which has attended his fellow-laborer at Bloomsbury Chapel.

THE NATION HAS RECENTLY BEEN. DISGUSTED AT THE ATTEMPTS MADE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS to crush the honorable member for Aylesbury. There was a semblance of propriety in the first attack, though the manner in which it was made awakened universal indignation. Mr. Layard, no doubt, was guilty of some errors in his statements at the Liverpool dinner. These errors, however, were wholly beside the merits of the great question which he has been so instrumental in raising. It was proper that they should be rectified, and had the manner of doing it been temperate and English, the public would have gone with his assailants. But when the red tapists and the military members of the House joined to clamor him down, the true character of the onslaught was seen. The effect produced out of doors was the very reverse of that which was contemplated. Men forgot the errors of the after dinner speech in the eagerness with which an interested elique sought to hunt down their victim. But the tacties of Mr. Layard's assailants have been as unskilful as their policy was selfish. Had they been wise they would have left him in the wrong; but in their solicitude to crush the man who exposed a vicious system, they overstepped the bounds of prudence, and have done for Mr. Layard what neither he nor his friends could have done for him. They have obliterated the recollection of his inaccuracy, and have placed him before the public in a position from which, with ordinary care on his own part, he can never be dislodged. We refer, of course, to what took place in the House on the 18th respecting Captain Christie, than which, excepting the previous attack already referred to, nothing more disgraceful has occurred in the recent doings of Parliament. "The honorable gentlemen,' says the Times' of the 19th, who screamed and hooted at the member for Aylesbury with so much effect last night have, unconsciously no doubt, rendered him a great service. One or two more such field nights, and Mr. Layard is a martyr, with all the immunities of the class. The conduct of Sir James Graham was specially reprehensible; indeed we know no words consistent with the amenities of life in which to express our estimate of his wrong doing. Anything more mean or contemptible we have never witnessed. We leave him with unaffected pity to the calm but terrible castigation which Mr. Layard's letter of the 19th, addressed to the editor of the Times,' inflicts. In his anxiety,' says the honorable member for Aylesbury, 'to screen himself, and to throw the odium of what has occurred upon me, Sir James Graham has not hesitated to state calmly and deliberately that which he ought to have known of his own knowledge to be absolutely false.'

ALL HOPES OF IMMEDIATE PEACE ARE ABANDONED. Lord Palmerston and his associates continue to talk of the Vienna Conference not having terminated, but their language is vague and their policy open