[IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.]

A place duly and honestly registered as a place of public worship (though that wor ship be not according to any established or usual form), in which no music but sacred music is performed or sung, where nothing dramatic is introduced, where the discourses delivered are intended to be instructive and contain nothing hostile to religion, where the object of the promoters may be either to advance their own views of religion, or as they allege "to make science the handmaid of religion," is not a place "used for public entertainment or amusement" within 21 Geo. 3. c. 49. s. 1.

The fact that payment is required for admission to a reserved portion of the place, the doors being open gratuitously, does not deprive the promoters of the protection of

NEW SERIES, 38.-MAG. CAS.

1 W. & M. sess. 1. c. 18, continued by section 8. of 21 Geo. 3. c. 49.

This was an action to recover 8001. penalties under stat. 21 Geo. 3. c. 49. s. 1.— [See the statute quoted in the judgment of the Court, page 6.]

The following CASE was stated without pleadings:

Defendant at the several times hereafter mentioned was the keeper of a room or place called St. Martin's Hall, in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex. A number of gentlemen having formed an association,

calling itself an association for the development of religious feeling by the elevation and instruction of all persons who should either join them or attend at the services given under their direction,-on the 24th of December, 1866, the defendant, as president of the association, duly registered the hall as the place of meeting intended to be used for religious worship by the association, under the title of "Recreative Religionists," in accordance with 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81. Schedule A. (1).

(1) The form of certificate given by the Schedule runs : "6 A place of meeting for religious worship by a congregation or assembly of persons

B

During January and February, 1867, four meetings were held in the hall on four several Lord's days, pursuant to and in accordance with printed handbills and advertisements in the newspapers, whereby the public were invited to attend, and did attend in large numbers. The following handbill is a specimen :

"Sunday Evenings for the People. Introduction (organ), Mr. Jolly. Address, J. Baxter-Langley, Esq., M.R.C.S., F.L.S. Chorus "Happy and blest are they" (St. Paul), Mendelssohn. F. J. Furnivall, Esq., M.A., 'On Working Men in England 500 years ago.' Selections from Haydn's 'Creation.' Principal vocalists [giving the names]. Conductor, Mr. Jennings. Organist, Mr. Jolly. The organ kindly supplied by Messrs. Bryceson Brothers. Admission free by doors in Wilson Street. Reserved sittings 3d., 6d., 18., 2s. 6d., can be taken at the Hall on Saturdays and on the evenings."

The proceedings were conducted in accordance with this and similar handbills, and on each occasion selections of sacred music, both vocal and instrumental, e. g., Handel's 'Judas Maccabeus,' Haydn's 'Creation,' Mendelssohn's Elijah,' Rossini's 'Stabat Mater,' and others, were performed, and addresses by the defendant and others delivered, e. g., On Religion and Life in Ancient Egypt,' by Professor Beesly; 'On Siam and the Siamese,' by Sir J. Bowring.

Among the audience were circulated hymns, the general character of which is sufficiently described in the judgment of the Court. The defendant's preface to the hymns was as follows:

"The following compositions have been submitted as suitable for united singing by the congre

gation of the 'Church of the Future.' A general desire has been expressed, that this feature should be introduced into the services, and the only difficulty has been to find appropriate words, in the singing of which all could take part. No selection has been made by the Committee as yet; because they have felt that they ought to give careful and prudent consideration to every step in the great work which they have undertaken; they have therefore submitted these religious songs to the members of the congregation, with a view to elicit the feeling of their friends upon the subject, and to stimulate further efforts in the same direction."

The addresses by the defendant were, in substance, as follows:

"Here we have sought to erect a Church for the Future. Recognizing the advantage of the services in the ordinary churches, we feel that they do not meet the exigencies of the people at large. There is too much disposition to regard science as antago nistic to religion; but here we make science the handmaid of religion. We do not seek to oppose the churches, but we seek to supplement them ; and since literature and the fine arts have an elevating and ennobling effect on all who come in contact with them, we seek to supply, by the aid of the most eminent men in every branch of science, the information which cannot fail to be valuable, leaving you to apply the truths which they will teach; and asking you to unite with us in seeking to develope our organization, which in the future shall produce greater results than we can even foresee in the present."

"Every age has its own phase and expression, and the character of each is as distinct and well marked as that of the individual man. The geological strata in the planet on which we stand record a history of physical progress, each chapter of which preserves some monument of existences impossible under the present condition of things, or indicates such conditions as would render life as we now see it impossible. Human history has parallel records of the onward progress of our race, and each era has had its well-marked characteristics. Empires may rise, increase in power, extent, and in wealth, but they will as surely decay and die as the extinct animals have done, when they cease to adapt themselves to the progress of the human mind and the demands or conditions of the age. So far as we can comprehend the natural and moral laws of the Universe, the object and purpose of those laws seems to be to minister to a never ending progression and improvement in all things, to afford new possibilities to growth, and as certainly to remove that which is dead, decaying, or which has fulfilled its purpose and become obsolete.

"It is one of the characteristics of the age in which we live, that a large body of the people are growing indifferent to the theological organizations of our time, and that it is the tendency of the mind of this large class to regard duty as of the highest importance, and as independent of doctrine or ecclesiastical dogma. Conferences have been called to consider this social phenomenon, and ascertain the reason why, in this metropolis and

other parts, a comparatively small fraction of the adult males go to any of the places used for theo. logical and doctrinal teaching. It is specially to be noticed that this indifference towards the present forms of religious communion is not confined to the uneducated part of the population, but is most marked amongst the intelligent or cultivated minds of our country. To assert that such natures, more than ordinarily sensitive to the influences of the grandeur of nature, the beauties of art, or the wonders and delights of science-to assert that such natures are not possessed of a religious sentiment is to declare that which is scarcely likely to be true, and which our experience shews to be false.

"The association of persons who propose to conduct these Sunday Evenings for the People, believe that in doing so they will establish a point of union for a class of earnest and conscientious men and women, who are daily increasing in number, but whose religious ideas find no suitable exponent in any of the existing churches. We are not animated by any spirit of antagonism, and as we propose to occupy what we believe to be a new field of usefulness, we see no reason why our assemblies should be regarded with hostility by other bodies, or why we should not enjoy the same freedom for communion, mutual instruction, and aspirations after the higher and better life, as other religionists enjoy.

"The formation of such an association seems to be required by the age, which appears to us to demand a fresh platform for the exposition of truth and a new basis for the re-creation of the religious idea.

"Regarding as of high importance to man a knowledge of the Universe and its laws as affecting his physical, social, moral, and religious obligations, we do not intend to ask the concurrence of those who join with us in anything more than in the concession of the free liberty of exposition to the eminent men who have promised to deliver discourses to us upon the various subjects to which they have devoted especial attention. By this means we propose to supply materials for thought from the best sources, and by stimulating the taste for truth to make error more short-lived and less powerful for evil. Hence we claim to have a religious function, taking the word in its original sense as indicated by Cicero-derived from re, again, and lego, to read. We shall constantly be able to provide new topics for thought, since the Universe is inexhaustible, and the sphere of discovery infinite; and these being re-considered and reflected upon (re-read), will probably be found to have new and unexpected influences upon the physical, moral, or social relations of man. As one illustration out of many of the important relations of scientific discovery and the promulgation of religious ideas, we might point to the immense extension of the circulation of what are termed religious publications, which has resulted from the invention of the steam-engine, which now prints ten thousand copies where one hundred could only be printed before, which carries them on the railway or by steamer with a rapidity and to a distance not before known.

"We are a religious body then-not a theological

one. We ask no one to adopt or to deny any of the creeds of the churches. We shall endeavour to promulgate truth, and truth is always divine. We shall seek to do the work we have set before us, without turning to the right or to the left into the field of controversy. We shall not attack men or ideas; in fact, our religion is positive and constructive, not negative and aggressive. We desire no martyrdom, and shall seek for none; but we shall endeavour rather to avoid giving offence to those who think that their dogmas are of such a delicate nature that they must be guarded from the sunlight of advancing knowledge by the shadows of obsolete laws."

A large organ was on the platform, where fifty or sixty musicians, fifty or sixty singers, the president and committee, and fifty or sixty persons who joined in the choruses were seated. The musicians played a variety of instruments, including bassoon, clarionets, violins, violoncellos, cornopeans, drums and fifes.

All the public, as long as there was room, were admitted into the free part without payment and without tickets; but for the convenience of those who desired seats, the public were admitted into each of the other divisions on payment of money, or on production of tickets sold for money. The greater number of visitors bought and paid for their tickets on the respective Sundays of their attendance, at the place appointed for that purpose within the hall, and each person, on paying 3d., 6d., 18. or 2s. 6d. received a ticket marked with the corresponding sum, and was admitted by one of the collectors to the corresponding seat. The 'Stabat Mater' was sung in Latin. No refreshments were sold inside the building. The defendant admits that he, with other persons, managed and conducted the meetings. No debating took place on any subject whatever.-[Here the case set out the proceedings on each occasion, with details immaterial to this report. The Court were to be at liberty to draw such inference of facts as a jury might draw.

The question for the opinion of the Court was, whether on all or any, and which, of the four occasions, the hall was opened or used for public entertainment or amusement, or for public debating on any subject whatever, on any part of the Lord's Day, contrary to stat. 21 Geo. 3. c. 49. If this question was decided in the affirmative, the Court were to say on which occasions,