Abstract
THE Bill for the Stabilisation of Easter was advanced a stage in the House of Commons on Feb. 17, when, on the motion of Captain Bourne, seconded by Mr. Withers, it was read a second time. Following the suggestion of the League of Nations special committee of inquiry, the proposed date for Easter is the Sunday after the second Saturday in April, the purpose of this provision being (1) to make the festival coincide as nearly as possible with what appears to be the actual date of the event commemorated, and (2) to avoid the clashing of Passion Sunday with the Feast of the Annunciation (as actually happens this year when Easter falls on the second Sunday). Some of the speakers opposing the Bill urged that meteorological conditions are apt to be unfavourable at the period named, but such objections must be completely outweighed by a consideration of the historical grounds on which the proposed date has been chosen and the fact that Easter is a festival for all countries. A point which emerged clearly in the course of the debate is that the promoters of the Bill have no desire to override the ecclesiastical authorities. The Bill itself provides that it shall not come into operation without an order in Council, so as to give an opportunity for arrangement with the Churches, and the Home Secretary, in supporting the Bill, remarked that its promoters were willing to strengthen this safeguard by inserting a further clause under which such an order shall not be made without a resolution by Parliament in its favour. The Bill was actually a response to the desire of the ecclesiastical authorities for assurance that the stabilisation of the festival is demanded, and the Home Secretary said that its acceptance would be regarded as an instruction to set to work on the requisite negotiations. Sir H. Slesser, who had moved the rejection of the Bill, then withdrew his motion.
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News and Views. Nature 121, 291–296 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/121291a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/121291a0