The Sun. — London, England, 1839-12-13 00:00:00

9PIItIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS FROM THE DAILY PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. ( From the Times.) Ti.e charge delivered by the Chief Justice Tindal on Tuesday last to the Grand Jury of Monmouthshire, on opening the business of the Special Commission, will nave called up in every humane timid emotions, not only of deep alarm for the spirit which it proves to exist amongst such members of her Majesty's subjects, but of extreme sorrovr and compassion for that large portion of the labouring population which has become the dupe and instrument of wicked men, professing at least no object but the frightful and insane one of subverting ( the laws by open violence, and sacrificing the lives of al their fellow-subjects who should venture to protect I the rignts of property against their fury, and to pre serve the public peace. It would be presumption in us to utter a word of commentary upon the exposition of the law addressed by the Chief Justice to his audi ) tors, any further than to describe it as being at once humane and lucid. Nor can any man with a spark of Christian charity to guide him fail to concur with the Learned Judge in his suggestion, so far at least that one remedy for a state of " mind and feeling so unhealthy and 1 diseased, and infecting so large a portion of the commu nity," as that which has displayed itself in the perpe tration of the late systematic and dreadful atrocities, would be the diffusion " amongst the rising generation of the benefits of religious instruction, and of a sound religious education, so that as the younger part of the community advance to manhood, they may feel the conviction of the wholesome truth, that they are bound to yield obedience to the laws of their country, not from the terror only which the law inspires, but from a much higher and more binding motive—the fear rf the Al mighty—and from the thorough belief that the powers which be are ordained of God ;" meaning thereby th e great fundamental powers of law, and order, and con stituted authority—the bonds of peace, and guardians of society. If ever there was a counsel offered to man kind which demanded their highest reverence, it was this inculcated by the venerable judge. If ever there was a nation, or a period in the history of that nation which called aloud for religious instruction to all classes, as the best and only fountain whence can be drawn the inestimable knowledge of their social, including their political duties, it is the British nation, and the hour at which the Judge's charge has been delivered. We ap peal to any observant, reflecting, and dispassionate man, whether he recollects a time throughout his whole ex perience at which it was the practice for vast bodies of Englishmen to clamour so wildly or to strive so fiercely for the attainment of power in one shape or other un der the fancied name of " right," and to be so utterly regardless of their real duties. The war cry of the age is, " I want more power." But " power " means power' over some other person or class of persons. He, therefore, who insists on acquiring any power which t h e law does not at present grant him, and insists on that power as his " right," avows, in fact, that ire feels himself an oppressed man, because, i viiether his name be John Frest or Daniel ()'Con nett, he cannot exercise over one or mare of his neigilhoui - s some greater coercion or constraint than he ni,w can bring to bear upon those neighbours. He cares nit one straw for the right of other men to resist him in his attack upon their privileges or possessions. He calls them monopolists, or oligarchs, or tyrants, be cause they seek to hoid what they have. But he styles 1 i,:. use it a " Reformer,' for no better reason than that he spends his life in endeavouring to encroach upon the lawful vested rights and possessi ons o f hi s fellow , subjects - w e Bay, therefore, that the topic and the [ time, and the public to which he addresses himself, have one and alt been chosen with ;admirable sense and Ijudgment by Chief Justice Tindal, because he goes to Lae root of the prevalent vice of this generation—a ! selfish grasping after t:i..! W powers, and a callous biladness to those moral obligations which in struct us to employ the powers clready bestowed I i upon us tar the good of others as well as of ourselves. Is there any one particle of conscientious integrity in f ,: . blr. Daniel O'Connell, who has first inveigled, then pushed I ,:nder his dominion, to bellow and batter down all • 1.,,„eql obstacles in the way of his and their march to 1 what lie designates as right , but which is merely - power :" He roars out that he and his Burnish l,ntliren are staves to England, and, when we come to i-xaroine his reason, it is simply because they are not tyrants, paramount over England. Could this bad man have Fractised so successfully a fraud so monstrous over tthe hears and understandings of his unhappy country tat:::), if the mind of the ignorant rabble had not been to the full as " u:.healthy and diseased" as that of the 1 :;retch multitude of Monmouth and Glamorgan, so well i d ese ,lod by the venerable Judge ? It is the want i of inorui anti religious instruction which has subjec t tcd the Popi . ,ll Anti-Saxons throughout England to the discipli, , ed organization imposad upon theta by O'Connel:, who cries for freedom, but means ascendancy over Protestants, and the power of coniini:ting unlimited Lirici unpunished wrong. It is brutish ignorance of their mast sacred duties which has enabled the leaders of the rioters to cegage in their con ( :piracy against the state of tinglanf—tLe unfortunate 1 inhabitants of the iron mountains. When the; and their , victims yell for their "rghts," they expound the word " riihts" by uniparing " confiscations." We say wit..' Coe Chief Justice, that such a spectacle moves our deep i compassion. We say further, that it fills us with the most grievous apprehension, lest the spread of Chartism should become inevitahie and uncontrollable, and the Nor , maaby reign be even more fatal here than in Ireland,where the priesthood, when it suited them, could exercise a re straining, as well as an impelling force, which has no pa ntile' in this country. There are rumours much circulated of a scheme on the partof Ministers for truckling, as is their wont, to that authority which has defied the law, by throw ing upon Judges and Juries the emus of applying our cri minal jurisprudence to the proper ends of trial and con viction, while their own appetite for a base popularity, which has been one great cause of the mischief, is to urge itself on the exultation of their Chartist accom• piices in sonic general gaol delivery, after the old Nor rmanby fashion. The Queen's marriage, it is rumoured, is t,► be hurried on in ord, r to afford an occasion for an amnesty. if so, the open rioters in the streets of New port ,ten not the only traitors to the Queen. Those of higher rank, the whole tendency of whose administration has been to encourage a contempt for the institutions of the Monarchy, will then have crowned their work, and shown a characteristic fellow feeling for their pupils. (From the .ilforning Advertiser.) This day live weeks Parliament will re-assemble. On that day will commence a Session, the proceedings of which, we verily believe, will surpass in importance e%ery previoas Session since the Revolution of 1688. The questions to be brought forward are not only nu merous, but involve matters of inconceivable magni tude both to this country and to Europe gene:allY• The events of the approaching Session will, in all Ka man probability, decide the question—which has for scene time past been at issue—as to whether the Coesiitution which has existed for ages, and under which Great Britain has risen to all her political commercial greatness, is to be any longer the Coustii ution of these realms, or whether our free monarchical system of Government is to C..? overthrown, and a pure republic created on its ruins. 'f the leaders of the Tories proceed in their present course—if they persist in calumniating their Sovereib'n—in assailing free institutions—in attack ing Liberal principles, and in goading on their bigoted disciples to dt'eds of desperation- they shall persist in this course, anj shall obtain a „ i mporary triumph over the wiser and ! - ietter portion of the nation, then 'here cannot be a doubt that that triumph will be speed ily followed by the subversion of the: Monarchy. Such za result would, in the supposed case, be inevitable. The torrent of filthy calumnies which they hare for ewe time past been so actively employed in pouring on to, Soverei4n and her Court, must have had the effect, in th e case of the uneducated millions, of diminishing their respect for her Majesty, lessening their attachment to the monaraical form of government, and preparing them for the support of any proposal which may be it de to introduce it republican system. And while th e ,Hinds of the more ignorant masses must thus bo necessarily poisoned against their Sovereign, and Prejudiced a ctinst the principles which have established her on the thrond of these realms, the better•informed classes, disheartened Ind disgusted by the mendacious conduct of the Tories, will feel themselves enable to preserve the existing institutions of the country. Is it necessary we should employ yet more explicit language ? . I ' nen w e say. that in the issue of the struggle now going on between the Liberals and the Tories—the former for the retention of power, and the latter for their re turn.to it—is involved the fate of the monarchy. Need ve s ay one word more with the view of arousing the friends of the Sovereign and the supporters of the Con stitution to a sense of the urgent necessity that exists for their uoed, cordial, and energetic exertions to main tain the asceNancy of Liberal principles ? And if an effectual stud is to be mule against the meditated irruption of the Tories into Dozvning-street, it can only be done by the immediat e commenuTnent of a vigorous course o f opposition to the line of conduct they are pursuing. They are organizin g ; so ought t h 3 friends of Liberal principles; and of free institutions. Mc Tory leaders are carrying on of fixing correspond euce together, for the purpose of fixing on th e prec i se tactics to be adopted in the approaching Parliamentary campaign ; the leading men among the progressive party ought not to lose a moment in following their example. The Tories are merging all minor differences in their zeal for general principles ; it is only by pursu ing the same course, that the Reformers can frustrate their machinations for a return to office. "re pressed this point with a peculiar earnestness a few days ago it cannot be urged with too much emphasis or with suf ficient frequency. It is now as clear as the sun, when no cloud, nor the shadow of a cloud, interposes between that luminary and the human eye, that the ascendancy' nr• Rclorin principles and the maintenance of the insti riitions of the country are entirely dependent on the course which the Liberals shall in these respects pursue during the next six months. Chief Justice Tindal's charge ; on opening the Special Commission at Monmouth, affords most favourable promise of the proceedings, unfortunately made neces sary by the riots at Newport, being conducted in a manner calculated to produce a most salutary effect upon the country. Impressive and impartial, luminous, temperate, and marked with mild dignity, holding with firmness the balance between the law and those charged with its transgression, accurately defining the limits which mark the confines of treason, the evidence necessary to establish a verdict of their violation, and the circumstances which may extenuate the offence — the charge presents as admirable an example of all those high attributes which should c haracterise the judgment seat as ever came under our consideration, The spirit pervading the whole charge, in perfect har mony with the solemnity of the time, is in itself suffi cient to produce on all capable of the slightest degree of reflection more respect for the law than scores of capital punishments. With the policy of the law its adminis trator has nothing whatever to do. It is not for him to exercise an individual discretion where a statute pre sumed to be sanctioned by the combined wisdom of the nation marks the line of action. The office of the Judge is to adminster the law, not to argue its expe diency, and by the total absence of all political allusion, unless as the question of law was immediately involved in the cases about to come under consideration, the Chief Justice has evinced a correct appreciation of the limits to which his high functions should be confined. It is not the extent of punishment inflicted on the offender, but the exposure of the atrocity of the offence, which, in civilized communities, operates most effectively in the suppression of crime. With this truth the Chief Justice, in his allusions to the in fluence of education in suppressing crime, appeared to be fully impressed ; for it is only by affording a more thorough appreciation of the enormity of crime, that edu cation can exercise any influence in its prevention. The extent or severity of punishment has little or no effect in deterring from the transgression of the law, so long as public sympathy exists in favour of that transgres sion. While public opinion hails with applauso the commission of an act, however criminal in itself, or however great the penalty awarded to it by the law, there will never be a dearth of parties ready for its com mission. If the penalty of death were effective in pre venting crime, and the proximity of the penalty to the offence increased its efficacy, the death of the sixteen individuals who fell in the riots at Newport should necessarily produce a more salutary effect than any subsequent executions. But the fall of these deluded men, like all slain in similar cases, unless public sympathy be detached from their offence, would pro duce but little effect in deterring others from its repeti tion, nor would public executions have a better effect. We make not these observations with a view of mitigat ing the character of the crime charged against those accused of being concerned in the Newport riots, which is of as grave a nature as any which could possibly be perpetrated against society : nor, so far as concerns the individuals implicated, do we offer any plea on their behalf. The severest penalty of the law attaches with as much justice to their transgression, as to any in the whole catalogue of crime. But it is solely from the inadequacy of capital punishment to protect society from the recurrence of crime, that we app=al against its infliction. If the death of any, er of the whole of those who may be capitally convicted by the present Commission, would prevent such dangers to society as occurred at Newport, we would say without hesitation, " Let them die ;" but it is in the full conviction that capital punishments fall completely short of their object, and not unfrequently aggravate the evil they are in tended to remove, that we thus curly call for the adop tion of some more effective example to be made in regard to the Newport rioters. We are comparatively indifferent as to the mode in which they atone for their crime, provided only that their punishment be so regu lated as to afford to society the most beneficial effects of its infliction. (From the Morning Port.) Day after day we find the Ministerial Newspapers employed in the most rancorous, and yet, we must add, ridiculous abuse of Sir Robert Peel. There is some- thing peculiar in the yell of fear and hatred with which their mention of the Right Hon. Baronet's name is now, on all occasions, accompanied. We attribute this to an instinct of impending destruction, like that which prompts some of the lower animals of the forest to shriek when they hear the lion's approaching tramp. The Ministerialists are evidently in an agony of ter ror, from haying heard that Sir Robert Peel means to spare them no longer, but to be down upon them, with the honest indignation of all England at his back, as soon as Parliament meets. Most fervently do we hope and trust that Sir Robert will in no degree dis appoint either their fears or the hopes of his loyal Pro testant fellow-countrymen. The time has come to crush these minions of Romanisrn—these paltry depen dents upon a❑ Irish conspiracy against the British Pro testant Constitution. We hope, and we believe, that a blow will be struck, and that immediately, upon the meeting of Parliament. (From the Herald.) The attempt lately made to impose what is called a rural police, but which is, in reality, a Home-office gen darmerie, upon the county of Hertford, was not, as our readers may recollect, successful there any more than in Buckinghamshire. That the attempt will be renewed, however, is very probable, for, independently of the lore of tyrannical rule and hatred of constitutional govern ment which animates the Whigs, the extension of the con,!inental police system throughout the country would afford ti,em such an immense accession of patronage and influence; as the " no-patronage" and " purity of principle G ove rnment must have a passionate avidity to clutch. In c ontemplation of the probability of a re newed effort on the cart of the Whig-Radical members of the Magisterial bench to saddle the county with this costly and unconstitutional police system, the rate-paying inhabitants of the parish of Watford have recently held a meeting to take into consideration a subject in which their interests are so deeply involved. The result of that meeting was a resolution to address a petition to the Magistrates of the county of Hertford, in Quarter Sessions assembled, deprecating the Government scheme, and praying that it may not receive the sanction of magisterial recommendation. The additional bur dens in the way of increased taxation, which such a system must necessarily inflict on the country, is one of the grounds of objection to the measure ; but im portant as that ground of objection is, there is a still more important one, of which the inhabitants of' the parish of Watford have not been unmindful. They say, " We would also beg to state our decided opinion that the principle of the Rural Police Act is highly ob jectionable, inasmuch as it places in the hands of the Government that powcr which ought to rest with the local authorities." In other words, it goes to sub vert the principle of our native and constitutional constabulary force, in order to substitute for it one of foreign and tyrannical extraction. The rate-payers of the parish of Watford also observe, " that the want of any police is confined to certain localities, and that sufficient powers are given to such localities by the Act of the 3d and 4th William I V,, cap. 90, which Act enables the rate-payers of any town or parish to appoint police whenever they may think it necessary to do so." Aye, but that Act did not adopt the principle of centralisation ; and the Act of the 2d and 3d Victoria, cap. 93, does. Therefore the Whigs, by their underlings, ate strain;ng every nerve to impose the latter upon the country. The question is not (though the Ministerial Papers put it so, for the purpose of deluding the public), between an inecient and an efficient constabulary force. Whatever reformation of the system of watch and ward may be re quired from the particular circumstances of any locality can be effected under the powers given by the Act of the 3d and 4th William IV. But the fact is, the Government, being more anxious to grasp additional patronage for itself than to see the constabulary force rendered more efficient for the service of the public, re solves all reform into centralisation, and, under pretence of rendering property more secure, prepares to strike a deadly blow at public liberty. Nor are such Ministers as England is now inflicted with the less disposed to strike that blow, because, along with breaking down that admirable combination of liberty and order which grew out of our Anglo-Saxon institutions, it will inevitably contribute to the humiliation of the landed aristocracy. Let this tyrannical scheme of Gallican despotism once overspread the laud of ancient and regulated freedom, and the impartial and upright administration of rural justice by benches of independent Magistrates, constituted from the nobility and gentry of each county, will be supplanted by Home-office kadiism, A vast brood of Whig dependents will be fixed upon all the rural districts, in the shape of stipendiary justices— the more servile and obsequious vassals of the Secretary for the Home Department—persons fit to be ordered either to commit or discharge persons accused of crime as it might please the despotic 'caprice of the great central Mogul of the British empire. As to the Act of the 3d and 4th William IV., cap. 90, it was but an extension of a very excellent Act passed for the improvement of the constabulary force in the previous reign—we mean the Act of the 11th Geo. IV., cap. 27, intituled An Act to make Provision for the Light ing and Watching of Parishes in England and Wales. By that Act the Churchwardens of the parish were di rected to convene a meeting of vestry, on the requisition of three rated inhabitants, to determine whether the pro. visions of the Act should be adopted. It at such meet ing it was resolved to adopt the provisions of the Act, by a majority consisting of three-fourths of the votes, three inspectors were to be elected by the rate payers, to be renewed by triennial election ; and among other powers which the Act vested in the inspectors so chosen, was the following : " That the said inspectors shall from time to time ap point and employ such number of able-bodied watch house keepers, servanta of the night, watchmen, patroles, street keepers, and other persons, as they shall think sufficient for the proper protection of the inhabitants, houses, and property, ; and perty.at t r o eet a and other places within the limits of this provide all such watchmen, watch house keepers, sergeants of the night, patrol, and persons as a w i c o a r p e s a3 a n i s d . , a wishnd shall such as s cloth, ig n t : theru suPb g i arms, ammunition, and heats and rounds, and duties, and appoint such hours for th2ra to be on duty, and also such wages, rewards, and gratuities or re munerations for their cervi ces , ar , d also make such rules orders, and regulations relative to the watch.bens i keepers, sergeants of the night, w atc h men, patro l , strce I keepers, and other persons, and their duties, as to the said inspectors shall seem meet ; and also shall and may offer and give, as well to the said persons as to any other not specially employed by them, such gra.nities and rewards for apprehending felons and others, offenders within the limits of this Act, as to them may seem proper ; and shall and may defray the expenses of prosecuting any such fe lons or offenders, for the protection of the inhabit.-nfs adopting the provisions of this Act, or in defending any of the said persons or other officers of the said inspectors in the execution of their duty, as they shall think proper." Another section described most fully the duties of watchmen, sergeants of the night, patrols, and other members of the constabulary force, appointed under the provisions of the Act—an Act in which that outlandish word " police"—a word hateful to English ears as being associated with notions of continental espionage and tyranny—is not to be found. But this Act, passed by a Conservative Administration for the reform of the old watch and ward system in the parishes of England and Wales, met with no favour from the " liberty loving" Whigs, because it adopted not the principle of despotic centralisation, under which France, with " char tered rights," knows nothing of constitutional liberty. France, whose Government police system, instead of offording a better protection to life and property and the public peace than we have, or lately had, in Eng land, fills the nation with swarms of political spies, under whose demoralizing auspices popular entente: and insurrections are of frequent occurrence, regicide plots ripen with a rapidity that makes them familiar events, and the country continually struggles in the grasp of tyranny or the throes of revolution. (From the Globe.) We have sometimes been accused of being over candid, and of putting too mild a construction on the words of " wine-warmed" churchmen militant. We may perhaps incur similar reproof from some zealous friends for saying we do not think Mr. M'Neile can have meant Jezebel for her Majesty ! There is no pronouncing with absolute certainty what he did mean ; there are sacred haranguers, who seem to think they cannot cram in too many texts, whether with or without rational application to their subject of discoursing. It is true, as a Tory Contempo rary justly observes, that " the character of the execrable wife of Ahab is the most detestable female character to be found in sacred history—the most unlike in position, circumstance, attributes." . . . . She was besides Queen Consort, not Queen Regnant ; and it was only in the former capacity that any Jew jour nalist (if such existed in those days, possessed of the loyal qualities of the Times) can possibly have be thought himself of exclaiming, when Ahab went astray,—" The Queen has done it all !" It must, owever, be acknowledged, that the Tories have odd says of quoting Scripture. " We have a peace within," said the Rev. Hugh M'Neile, in the oration referred to, " but as to our Ministry, it is a sword, and not peace. It cannot be peace while the world is under the power of the Devil, who is the enemy of all righteousness. What peace so long as that woman Jezebel lives ?—(Loud cheers.) It cannot be possible till peace comes in its proper Scriptural place : The wisdom that cometh from above is first pure, then peaceable.'—(Cheers.) When the world shall be pure, then the ministers of the Church will be men of peace. But while the world is corrupt, I say, my Lord, we are men of war."—(Great applause.) " The wisdom that cornett' from above is first pure, then peaceable." The purity and peace then, it seems, arc to be successive, not synchronous. Now th;s is what we should call garbling and perverting Scripture for a bad purpose. This is the way in which politico-religionists use their " whole Bible." How is it that the Rev. Hugh APNeile did not quote the whole verse F Because it would have conveyed a rebuke, and not an encouragement ; because it would not have admitted his contentious construction. " The wisdom that cornett' from above is first pure, then peace able, gentle, and easy to be entreated ; full of mercy and good truits, without partia/ity,and wit bout hypocrisy." It is tolerably easy to see why this beautiful description was garbled. And thereat amount of respect for Scripture en tertained, whether by the speaker or his hearers, per haps might be pretty accurately inferred from this treat ment of its language. It is an old practice of Tory quacks in religion and politics—and that mongrel mix ture of both which is the disgrace of the present age —to cut and carve at the Scriptures just as suits their convenience. (From the Courier.) The Times of this morning has approached one of the questions which now agitate and deeply concern the future welfare of our West India colonies, in a manner to command the public attention which it deserves and must ultimately receive. The deficiency in the quantity of colonial products since the period of full emancipa tion is already sufficiently striking, and must increase yearly without the application of some remedial mea sure for counteracting this downward tendency. The population of the colonies remains the same, or is on the increase, but labour, as shown by its fruits, is on the decline. Compulsion can no more be tolerated where the rights of freedom have been established, and are now as inalienable as by constitutional law in the metropolitan state itself. The indolence almost invin cible in the negro character forbids the hope of any greater application of industry than what may be indis pensable for the supply of animal wants, which resolve themselves into the simplest and least expensive of all food, a little salt fish or jerked beef with plantains and fresh water ; the two former entering indeed into the category of luxuries, the enjoyment of which will often be foregone when attainable only at the cost of more bodily exertion. Sir Edward Oust, who has recently visited the Colonies, and, what is more, with an ob- servant eye, and has recorded the results of his obser vations in a sensible pamphlet, remarks that " a gene ration must pass away before the negro, in a state of freedom, will attain to any thing approaching the civilisation of the European peasant, or will work with any thing like the steadiness that is essential to the profitable culture of the land." In our opinion, founded upon some opportunies, and not without due considera- tion, we are inclined to doubt whether one generation alone will suffice for a revolution of habits and character so decided in the negro race, if indeed ever at all, so long as distinctly they remain a race apart. (From the Standard.) It is a mistake to suppose that religious instruction is necessary only to the vulgar ; and that men of some de gree of education and placed in comparatively easy cir cumstances can with safety dispense with religious ordinances. Nothing can compensate to any man —whatever his attainments or his rank—the want of the means of 'Divine Worship—the stated calls to religious duty the blessed contagion of collective prayer and praise the example of neighbouring piety—an example always more power ful in its efficacy in proportion to the humble position in society of him by whom it is afforded. There is no man whose misfortune it has been to live for any time among a people destitute of the means of religious worship who has not felt the withering effect of such a situation upon his own spirit. Every man, in whatever rank, or whatever the degree of his know ledge, stands in need of the society of religion, and has reason to complain if the State does not afford him the opportuning of enjoying that society in public worship. It' social worship wore not necessary for man, the almighty would not have appointed it—the earlier Clir..7tions would not, as they did w seek it through chains, and s ipes, and death. What we said y eterday on this subject has drawn upon us the re buke of a C,,i,ntemporary. We cannot help it. We try to restrain our feelini;q. n_ to moderate our language ; but when we find men under :.I`c influence .of tniserable seeta rian spirit, or of a more miserauTe par:it - Dopy, ,catering for t:ii ( the gibbet—would that the consequenci O tiirgi9bet ended with the gibbet —we confess ourselve: " at " t f keep terms. Why should we dar e t o so ft en th e denun:: tions pronounced by Him whose word was truth : " Woe unto you, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men ; for you neither go in, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." And do not they who conspire to prevent the extension of the Gospel in the only way in which it can be extend ed universally, do not they who thus conspire, " shut up the kingdom of heaven against men," as far as it is in their power to do so SUPPLY OF CoAL.—The enormous consump tion of coals produced by the application of the steam engine in the arts and manufactures, as well as to rail. ways and navigation, has of late years excited the fears of many as to the possibility of the exhaustion of our coal mines. Such apprehensions are, however, altogether groundless. If the present consumption of coal be estimated at sixteen millions of tons annually, it is de monstrable that the coal fields of this country would not be exhausted for many centuries. But, in specula tions like these, the probable if not certain progress of improvement and discovery ought not to be overlooked ; and we may safely pronounce, that long before such a period of time shall have rolled away, other and more powerful mechanical agents will supersede the use of coal. Philosophy already directs her finger at sources of inexhaustible power in the phenomena of electricity and magnetism. The alternated decomposition, and re composition of water, by magnetism and electricity, has too close an analogy to the alternate processes of vapori zation and condensation, not to occur at once to every mind : the development of the gases from solid matter by the operation of the chemical affinities, and their subsequent condensation into the liquid form, has al ready been essayed as a source of power. In a word, the general state of physical science at the present mo ment, the vigour, activity, and sagacity with which re searches in it are prosecuted in every civilized country, the increasing consideration in which scientific men arc and the personal honours and rewards which begin to be conferred upon them, all justify the expectation that we are on the eve of mechanical d:scoveries still greater than any which hav e yet appeared: and that the steam engine itself, with the gigantic powers conferred nl \ate with ‘r the energ i es o f na ture , will d w i nd l e into insig ne.; and th at t h e d ay w ill w u i p tfi, o iec n ahn i e t a rbeyiitl stillh e c immortal p n ba t e o r i r sr t oe a veal ed come when that machine which is now extending the blessings of civilization to the most remot e skirts of the globe will cease to have existence, except in the page of history.—The Steam Engine, by Dr. Lardner. 40.. MONEY MA.RK ET and CITY NEWS. (WEDNESDAY EVENING.) TIMES.—The city rwrehhis, it no* the public generally, will readily call to mind the disputed point on the arrival of the September mail from Bombay, whe ther Culanel Campbell or Mr. Waghorn had the greater share in forwarding it, together with the July and August mails, so promptly from Alexandria to Malta, as to insure their reaching England in time to be answered by the Indian mail of November from England, which was, in fact, most successfully accom plished. As connected with mercantile affairs alone, these mails were probably the most important that were ever forwarded to this country, and they brought intelligence besides of a great victory by our troops in Northern India, the influence of which, politically, could not but be very great and ex tend over the whole of our eastern empire. Had a delay of these mails, for a few days only, oe., curred on their arrival in Alexandria, so as to pre vent their reaching England before the 4th of Novem• ber, a month would have been lost both to the Govern ment and the merchants, and all their arrangements consequent on that great event, in all probability frus trated. If any praise or blame, therefore, with respect to them is attributable on any part of the route, they should tall where due, and the merit, if any. be made known to the public. The following account of Mr. Waghorne's share in it is given by himself in a letter addressed to Mr. Larpent, the Chairman of the East India and China Association, and must be left to make its own impression : _ " Alexandria, Nov. 24. " With regard to a report that Colonel Campbell was the prime mover in getting the mails of July, August, and 13th of September last sent by the Paella steamer to Malta, that be applied to the Pacha for the steamer, and that it was he who availed himself of my services to take charge of the Government mails by that opportunity, the simple facts are these, and let them speak for themselves. " When the mails got to Alexandria, Colonel Camp bell took no steps for twenty-hours to get them sent on to Malta, until I waited on him to hire a merchant steamer, the United Kingdom, then in this port, to which he agreed after my having told him, that if he did not hire her for the Government, I would on account of the merchants ; on this Colonel Campbell consented to hire her ; but after application was made to the captain and the mercantile house here, to whom she was con signed, it was found that her insurance did not war rant either the captain or the consignees to permit her to go to Malta, although 5001. was offered. 1 next pressed the Colonel warmly to ask for the Pacha steamer Geno ; roso, and that I would go as messenger and navigator of her to Malta and back, which, after another twelve hours' delay, he at last consented to do ; he did it; but when the Pacha's permission arrived from Cairo, which took two days more, the Colonel then declined taking her. On the Colonel's refusing to accept the steamer he had before asked for, Mr. Briggs and myself took up the matter with double zeal and interesi. ; for we both felt that a great victory in India had been achieved by British valour, and that the sooner it was known in Eu. rope, Jac., the better; besides there were three months' mails from the East in Egypt, and the sooner they could be got to England the better. Mr. 13riggs theu drew up a circular, to which my name was attached, with other firms here, addressed to Mr. Larkin the Consul, which circular you may readily forsee was totally uncalled for, if jolonel Campbell had been prime looser. Mr. Bri gg s and myself then went to the Paella's Minister privately ; we dwelt on the urgency of these mails, and how noble minded it would appear in England among the merchants that Mehemet All's Government gladly put a steamer at their use for their India letters after the official of their Government in Egypt had refused the acceptance of such favour on political grounds. " This argument had its full force with his Excel lency Boghos Bey, the Minister in question. I next morning started with the mails for Malta. I should mention that the engineer for the vessel when she was wanted for the service in question absolutely refused to go to sea in her unless his wages were augmented. However, I prevailed on hint by promises of money, and by using my influence on his behalf on our re turn, and thus that difficulty was got over, and then another presented itself, as follows. When Colonel Campbell found out that the steamer was permitted by the Minister to start with the private letters from India to my care,' as well as the letters from the Alexandrian merchants, the Colonel then appointed Lieutenant Daniel, of the Indian Navy, to take the Government despatches as messenger, and not me. This appointment to Lieutenant Daniel was refused by hire on the plea, that, as Mr. Waghorn had jointly with Mr. Briggs had all the trouble of getting the steamer, it was unjust to deny him the credit of taking the Government despatches, as well as his own. Colonel Campbell, on hearing this from Lieutenant Daniel per tonally, was obliged to order a new passport as messenger to be made in my name, and the one before signed for Lieutenant Daniel to be destroyed. This officer is now in England, and I am sure, if called on, will bear testi mony to these facts." The funds have not been quite so firm to-day. POST.—There was but little passing to attract at tendon in this part. of the town to-day. The funds were flat in the English market, a circumstance that seems to have arisen rather from the less favourabli• state of the foreign exchange, than from a diminution in the supply of money or any other intelligible cause ; but, as we intimated yesterday, the Bank of England is now in a position of comparative security, so that there is not the same necessity for the interference of the Directors in the operations of the bill market that there was some iaouths ago. A great quantity of silver has been transmitted to the Continent on 134iik ac count, the effect of which has been, and will continue to be, to send back gold coin ; and, although the rates of exchange have given way in some degree, they are still considered too high to offer any temptation for a re newed exportation of sovereigns. The value given yes terday for the pound sterling, at three months' elate, was as follows :—Paris 25 60 to 571 ; Hamburg 13 0. to Y ; Amsterdam 12 3 to i ; Antwerp 12 31- ; and Frankfort 1508. The Madrid intelligence contained in the Journals of this day goes still further to develop to the world the existence of that total want of principle on the part of • the Spanish Government which we have taken so much pains to expose and to guard the public against. The letter addressed by the Chairman of the Spanish bond holders at Paris to the Marquis of Miraflores, the Spanish Ambassador there, a translation of which we inserted yesterday under this head, alludes to a new loan which the Finance Minister proposed issuing as a means of meeting certain local engagements. We now learn that this new fraud upon the foreign creditors of Spain is in the course of execution. Forty millions of the fresh creation have already been put out, and as they will beyond al, doubt come into competition with the bonds heretofore in circulation, the capitalists of Madrid who are holders o! the old securities are naturally in dismay upon tip subject, and the funds generally were tumbling in conse quence. The Minister was endeavouring, through tin medium of the press, to pacify the public, but to little purpose ; and it is well remarked by the Madrid corre spondent of the ..14orning Chronicle, the organ, be it remembered, of Lords Palmerston and Clarendon, both supporters of the Queen-Regent and her advisers It is surely unreasonable in the members of the Spanish Government to expect that the public, to whom the) address themselves, would take their word far this o; any other statement they might think proper to put forward ? Do they so soon forget the effects produced on the publie mind by the veracity of Perez de Castru in le Zea Bermudez and Senor iNlarlani ?--of Senor Arazola on the morning of the 7th of October, in tit, Congress ?—of Narvaez, Minister of War, on the morn ing of the ' suspension,' when he promised there would be no dissolution' ?—of' San Millen, who makes contracts and allows them to be sold over again at large profits ?—ar short, of the whole batch who have given the most in controvertible proofs that their word is not worth the paper it is written upon? Loose, however, as they are in paints of exact statement, they say nothing in explanation which if; any way affects the question at issue. They acknow ledgw . gliii.t they have created 200 millions of bonds; that ;bii; sum arc already disposed of as guaran atraelado remainder are to be giver --a: and eGthAti4c a hops that, th, a negotiated 'het. iipme• ' - bonds already it, tees to cu.. away for like purpoe new bonds thus created at ..~11. diately come into competition with tn, the market. For this the public require some outer rity than the word of Ministers." It will now, at all events, be seen that it is indeed upon a very pretty set the British people have for years past been bestowing their patronage and wasting their blood and treasure. What can Lords Clarendon and Pal merston say in future for a Government that will act as here described by their favoured organ ? We shah! no doubt before many months have elapsed have an op portunity of knowing. HERALD.--Amongst the best-informed circles oi the city, it is pretty well understand that the Bank of England Direction feel that their present position is very secure, parti cu l ar ly as re gards any comparison with the state of foreign and domestic commercial affairs se veral months ago. The Bank, in consequence, has ceased to supply Messrs. Baring with hills against the =porta. tion of bullion, w hi c h i s one of the causes of the decline in the Continental Exchanges for the two last post days. The cessation of any speculation in foreign corn for the present, without t a ki ng i nto co nsideration theimpedi ments that winter places in the way of imports to this country from the corn-growing countries of the north of Europe for a season, coupled with the known fact that bullion is tolerably plentiful on the European continent, , prove that, for some t i me, t h ere is not likely to be any ante of trade h as beensudden demand f or spec i e. A t the same time, the late continued de c li ne i n the exc h anges pro ves that th e ha and is yet agai nst th i s co untry , and that the lat e quotat i ons h av e been maintained by the transactions o f t h e B an k o f England. In the British Stock Market there have been some extensive sales of th e Th re e-and-a -Half per Cent. Re duced Annuiti es an d o f t h e N ew Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Annuitie s f or t h e open i ng . These transactio ns , coupled with the very rotten appearance of the Foreign Market, and the reciuction of the exchanges, base c a used Consol s t o f a ll 9l a a i for the opening , which is a decline of 1 per cent . It has been generally 8 understood that du rin g the last two or three account s o f th e Foreign Stock Market, there has been what is termed a pretty general clean out amongst those deluded parties who followed their insideand d a bbl e d i n Spanish Bonds, in pre ference patrons,wing th e i r usua l trades. The Colon)_ to following bian job is expected to add considerably to the number MORNING EDITION. THE SUN, LONDON. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1830. of those who have already ruined themselves by specu lating in all the foreign swindles ; in fact, if matters go on as they do now, it will, in the course of time, be diffi cult to number the families who have becomedestitute by dealings in foreign securities. CHRONICLE.—There was more business doing in Consols to-day, but the prices of yesterday were not maintained, and money was in greater demand. The tea trade is still maintained at advanced prices ; and from the avidity displayed by dealers to hold stock, it is evident that they do not anticipate any speedy re sumption of our commercial intercourse with China, and the greatest anxiety is evinced by those -engaged in the China and East India trade to ascertain the in tentions of the Government. The opinions entertained on that subject are necessarily contradictory and vague, as Lord Palmerston has, with perfect propriety, refused to communicate any information to those who have ap plied to him. Rumours have, however, been current for a few days past, that Admiral Maitland, with a squadron of several ships, has received instructions to proceed to Canton, in order to ask for an explanation from the Chinese Government. These reports are con fined principally to those interested in our affairs with China, with whom, perhaps, the wish is father to the thought. We have not, at least, been able to trace them to any certain source. PENNY PO S TAGE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. EDINBURGH, Nov. 29, 1839. Sta,—Having bestowed some labour in drawing up a communic.tion to the Lords of the Treasury as to the new postage arrangements, with the view of obtain ing one or other of the prizes offered by their Lordships for the two best plans submitted, and which humbly appears to me to meet and obviate the principal difficul ties stated by tne recent writers on the subject—it has occurred that you at ly possibly not refuu to do me the favour of giving publicity to the same. In taking this step, I do not consider that 1 am guilty of the impro priety of attempting to influence their Lordships' judg ment, as a month has elapsed since their Lord Ships commenced to take the whole proposals into considera tion ; and as I observe several of the competitors have given publicity to theirs, as submitted to their Lord ships, in the London newspapers. Their Lordships' determination as to the merits of the various proposals may be expected soon to be announced. In the adoption of a plan for the operation of the reduced and uniform rate of postage contemplated (us stated to their Lordships), I humbly conceive it ought to be had principally in view—the better to prevent apprehended defalcation in the public revenue :- 1. Public convenience (including free and unrestricted choice of paper for correspondence.) 2. The safe transmission and safe and expeditious delivery of the correspondence of the country, parti cularly in cities, large towns, and populous districts. 3. The least possible expenditure in the conduct or management of the Post Office, &c. The stamp being obviously desirable, inasmuch as the present mode of collecting the postage, or payment in advance, as at present, the only other plans which could be adopted, would less injure these particulars (vide notes 1 and 2), it falls to be considered in what way it may best be brought into use. Stamped envelopes I humbly conceive to be objet tionable on the following grounds : Because the correspondence of the country thus con. ducted would not bear the Post-office stamp, most de sirable in many cases of importance to establish the authenticity of communications. Because the bulk of the mail would be greatly in greased (probably one-third) by an envelope, or waste paper covering on every communication, which, when the correspondence of the country will be enormously increased, would be a great disadvantage ; and, Vide also last objection as to stamped paper. Stamped Paper may be objected to : Because, in the case of double sheet, &c. communications, they would necessarily fall to be enveloped. Because every form of paper would require to be stamped, and a proper assortment kept on sale at every stationer's and post-office in the kingdom ; and great inconvenience might often occur from a dcficientsupply. Because the sale of paper would be diminished from what it otherwise would be ; for it may readily be sup posed, that the public generally, in purchasing paper for correspondence at a penny per sheet, in addition to the common price, would avoid as much as possible any waste of the same. Becaus.., if it were not open to every paper manufac turer to have his paper stamped for correspondence, which would scarcely be practicable, a great injury would bo done to the trade. liueause, if such could be permitted, a great induce ment to forgery would thus be presented, as a ready market would be found in every part of the country for the sale of such stamped paper to a great extent ; and Because the expense of stamping would be very con siderable. Applicable also to Envelopes. Since my attention has been directed to the subject, and without being aware that the idea had previously occurred to any one, I was led to conceive that " public convenience" would be best consulted, that " the lea st , possible expenditure in the co n d uct o f th e P ost - o ffi ce " would be effected (as the expense of the production and circulation of the stamp would be greatly hse than by the adoption of the other methods) by the stamp being prepared on small .slips of paper (say two by one and a half inches), to be applied as giterwards to be proposed, thus leaving the public unfettered, as at present, as to their choice of paper, and avoiding all the objections which may be urged against stamped envelopes and stamped paper, which in general. it is apprehended, would impede the full and proper working of the system. These might be kept on sale at every branch of the Post-office in the kingdom, as also by_ a suitable number of stationers or shopkeepers in th e cities and towns, who might he licensed to retail the same. Although I cannot claim this idea as my own ex clusively (stamps to be used separately appearing from their Lordships' minute to have been already suggested), I purpose to devise a plan in connection with this pro posed mode of bringing the stamp into use, to injure as far as practicable " the safe transmission and safe and expeditious delivery of the correspondence of the coun try," and which I am not aware has been suggested or proposed by any one. Great apprehension being enter tained, that when numerous letters, particularly paid letters, do not reach their destination at present (vide note 3), the letter carrier, in particular, will, in charge of great additional correspondence, oecoine more careless about delivery, when the only proof of delivery (viz. the postage to be col lected) may be done away with, by prepayment being made compulsory—it ought to be, and will be, I humbly think, considered of great importance, that the best possible evidence may be obtained, consistent with ,xpeditious delivery, that the correspondence of the country is sakly and duly delivered. Proposed, that the stamp slip or label suggested shall be inserted in the back fold of every letter at either end, ,vith the water or seal, leaving the portion of the slip on which the stamp is impressed loose ; or in order to prevent it being ruffled off in sorting the correspondence, the slip may be introduced loosely into the fold of the letter, and wafered separately, Proposed, that it shall be imperative or strongly urged (directions might be given with the stamp), that a duplicate or abridgment of the address of every letter be written on the said stamp slip, over or under the stamp, with date of transmission a nd initials of writcr, if advisable. Proposed, that the loose part of the stamp slip (hearing address as suggested), shall be pulled out of the fold of the letter, and detached or torn ef (scissors might be used), by the letter carrier, or party to whom letter addressed on delivery, and ' placed by the letter carrier on a file to be ap pended at his breast, for reception of same. This emuld be the work of a moment. Small wire file (bear log stamp slips) to have a protection from wet when ieecessuy, Also, that eountry postmasters shall be re :..,; to collect, and return to the Head Offices of qui... ..noricts at stated intervals, the stamps.. their respective on all correspondence transmitted them for delivery. Proposed. that 40 officer in thg forth); department of the Post-office in cities and towns, shall nylPber the letters taken in charge by each letter carrier for deli very, and on his return to the office, mother also the stamps returned in his file, which, adding number of dead letters, if any, ought to correspond. Also, that the number of letters, forwarded to each country post master of the district for delivery, shall be taken, and on the stamps being returned, numbered also, and compared with the number of letters forwarded of the period. Proposed that the files of stamp slips addresses) so returned to the Head Post offices of the districts, shall be classified and arranged as much as possible, and preserved for a reasonable time (say fourteen days), to admit of search being made for corresponding stamp and address, on any individual complaining that his letter may be lost or mislaid, &e. Thereafter the whole may be destroyed, as the period to be determined on for their preservation shall expire. [A suitable number of files (which would cost but a trifle) being prepared to file the whole stamps for the period, every day a portion of the oldest stamp slips would fall to be destroyed— thus providing empty files for taking up the stamps of the days on delivery of correspondence. A. single file would probably be sufficient for each of the great ma jority of country postmasters in taking up the stamps of the correspondence for the period, and the stamps of each day could be separated by a larger blank slip of paper being placed on the file. The files bearing the stamp slips of 100,000 correspond ence could be arranged in a very small space.] Thus, if complaint were mae.e at the head office of the district where the delivery ought to have been made, that a letter, even from any part of the kingdom, had been lost or mislaid, &c., these files of stamp slips, bearing addresses of all the correspondence entrusted for delivery in each district of the period, being arranged, say hung on the walls of any apartment to be in c harge of a confidential officer, it would be at once discovered on referring to the files of' stamps of the period of trans mission (which would tall to be given), whether it had arrived at, passed through, or simply been for town de livery in such office, and, would lead to the discovery of MORNING EDITION. the party to blame. Should the stamp slip, with ad dress sought for be not found, and no stamp be or have been missing of the period of transmission of the letter, the fault would lie at the Post-office from which letter transmitted, and this leads to a further suggestion, that for additional security the address of a letter might be required to be recorded, or receipt given at the office tram which transmitted, on the payment of a trifling fee. Thus, also, if forgery of the stamp may be appre hended, a more leisure opportunity may be obtained for the examination of the stamps (on return of the files), than in the hurry of despatching or of sorting the cor respondence for delivery ; while the whole used stamps being returned to the various Post-offices to be destroyed atfer being preserved for a time, would prevent the pos sibility of any being used a second time, which might also be attempted. Admitted, that the plan suggested, which I have humbly thought is completely practicable for insur ing the safe delivery of correspondence, would not, if adopted, give complete security that all the corre spondence was safely delivered—as the letter carrier, or country postmaster, could not at once be detected of destroying letters, if he brought back or returned all the stamp slips on his file—neither can he at present at once be detected of destroying letters if he account for the postago of unpaid letters of the correspondence entrusted to him for delivery ; but Ise would scarcely venture with such liberty, even with what he might consider an unimportant communi cation, when he must obviously either deliver all the letters in his charge, or bring or send back evidence to lay at the Post office for a time, which would undoubt edly lead to his conviction in the event of complaint being made of a letter being lost or undelivered in his district. In the case of non-delivery of a letter being complained of, and on examination of the files, the stamp slip (bearing address, &c.) found in the office of the district of delivery, the declaration of the party to whom letter addressed, that no such letter was delivered to him of the period, would establish the guilt of the letter carrier. It is sot conceived that the public would refuse to undertake the additional trouble of marking a duplicate, or abridgment of the address, on the stamps accompany ing their various correspondence, when the plan for in suring the safe delivery of same was unfolded, for no indi vidual despatches any communication but what he desires shall be delivered. Parties neglecting to do so would not have it in their power to convict the party to blame in the event of their letters being lost or mislaid, &c. The plan suggested, would, in effect, if adopted, compel every individual to register the address of his letter in the Post-office, to be preserved for a time, and would be infinitely superior to another I had in contemplation to submit alone, that individuals anxious about the safety of their communications, might obtain, if required, a re cord of the addresses of same, or a receipt in a book to be kept by themselves for the purpose, on the payment of a trifling fee. This, it is obvious, could not be gene rally acted upon, and even acted upon, the party to blame in the event of non-delivery could never be dis covered, unless separate instructions were to accompany such letters to the Postmasters of the district of deli very, and receipt also taken on delivery, which would scarcely be practicable. Great additional duty would also result at the Post-office. (Vide note 4.) This branch of the subject, I have humbly thought, ought to be, and will be, considered as very important. Should the plan suggested, or a better one (I have heard of no one being proposed), for ensuring the safe delivery of paid correspondence, not be adopted, it is feared that ultimately, in the absence of any check, great liberties will be taken with our correspondence, particularly by letter carriers and country postmasters, not only in the hope of money inclosures, but to avoid trouble of delivery, &c. Such a plan it is not conceived would impede the working of the proposed measure, but the opposite—would give better security than exists at present for the safe delivery of our whole correspond. ence, and would be attended also 'vita the advantages already adverted to, of furnishing a better opportunity ter the examination of the stamps, and of 4tctually preventing same being used more than once. Nobably one individual would be sufficient to undtrtake the duty suggested in every office out of London. A search (which would not be a laborious one, as the files of the date of transmission would only require to be examined) under such a system, holding out almost certain cen viction in the event of non-delivery being oomplained of, it is not conceived would often occur, and a small fee might be charged for same, if considered advisable. In the event of their Lordships, notwithstanding the objections urged against stamp envelopes and . stamped paper, determining upon the adoption of either, they eould be prepared and cut in a form to admit of the portion bearing the stamp being detached ; and the plan proposed for insuring the safe delivery of correi spondence could he acted upon with either. In regard to the correspondence of public offices and of individuals adopting the envelope, as at present, which eoeld not be prevented, the slip stamp, it is obvious, could be fitted to same on envelopes being prepared. Having not in the preceding observations touched upon two of the points to which their Lordships have directed attention in minute of 23d August, vie., security from forgo.), and the expense of the production and circulation of the stamp, 1 beg humbly to remark, that the stamp being determined on, the best security from forgery would probably be in the manufacture of a particular paper for the pur pose (Dickenson's Patent suggested), bearing cer tain marks to be readily distinguished on inspection of the stamp slip or other [node adopted, and by licensing only a limited number of respectable shopkeepers in the cities and towns, in addition to the various Post Offices to retail same. Thus any attempt at forgery, to be successful, would require combination and great outlay, and could not be successful to any extent even with the best imitations, as it might be arranged that the whole stamps should he issued only to the retailers from the Stamp-office, or Head Post-office of the respective dis tricts. It is not to be expected, that any individual would think it an object or incur the hazard and ex pense to attempt a forgery merely to evade his own postage. Their Lordships have not desired any design as to the stamp itself, and probably there could be no stamp determined upon but what might be success fully imitated. The preventive checks proposed, of a licensed and limited number of retailers only being permitted, &c., would, in the absence of any market tor the extensive introduction of forged stamps make any attempt at forgery a failure. An additional check in the event of the correspondence passing through the Post-office being numbered as proposed, would be, comparing the number of stamps issued for any given period with the number of the correspondence for the period, which could be returned from the various offices, allowing for those on hand.---(Vide note ii.) As to the expense of the production and circulation of the stamp, I am not prepared to give any estimate, It must be obvious, that such would be greatly less the slip or label stamp than if stamped envelopes or stamped paper may be adopted. Were a dozen or more fac similes prepared (and probably this will be necessary to keep un a sufficient supply), so many could he struck or thrown off on the same sheet o f p aper at once. (The necessary preliminary outlay which would attend twelve or more stamps being used in produc tion, would be another protectionin from f orgery . A n d in regard to circulation, in addition to what has been sug gested, applicable to towns, mail guards might be licensed :Is retailers and could carry even in their p oc k ets a supply of the slip stamp sufficient to meet the wants of the country districts, As I infe r f rom t h e i r Lord ships' minute ,p ,t ti h et l . itt to i s make a in eo o nte a m dd p i l t a i t o i n o a n l , should charge the r stamp ho odl saine to meet the cost of production, I humbly sub mit, that it would be desirable to have the stamps retAiled at a penny neat, and the cost defrayed from th e Post-cfllce revenue. Retailers, however, might be permitted to charge a commission of a halfpenny or Denny per dozen. (N.--Were copperplate designs to oe supposed not more liable to attempts at forgery, the expense of the production of these would be com paratively small.) In conclusion, I ventured to remark farther on the subject, that although compulsory pre -payment by stamp would be most desirable, in order that the various Post masters and Clerks being relieved f rom a ll pecun i ary esponsibility, and their duties generally lessened, a reduction of their salaries, &c. may be effected, as well as to avoid the delay to the delivery, which would be consequent on the postage being collected as at present, &c. Yet, as many communications are made, the postage of which ought to fall on parties to whom ad dressed, which might thereby to a certain extent be prevented, it may be important to consider w hether pre-payment should be enforced or not. A gene ral postage of twopence on unpaid letters would be 1 3 7,; haps sufficient to p reven t any great n umber 01 such being transmitted. NOTES AND ADDENDA. 1. The present mode of collecting the postage, re commended to be continued by m any, may be ob- jected to, Because th e d e li ver i e s in cities an d towns could not be accomplished expeditiously bu t b y a lar g o accession to the number of letter carrie rs, which woul d increase greatly the expenditure of the Post Office Estlblish- pa yment in advance, a s at present recommended nient, &e. 2. C objection a bl e . Because less likely to insure public convenien ce th an ompulsobryy others, by stamp. B ecause the number of clerks in th e var i ous Post offices would tail to be increased, and to be in at tendance at all hours. The duty of country Postmas ters and at receiving houses in towns would also be in creased. And, Because the safe delivery could not be ascertained. No c heque on the letter carriers, &c. could possibly be devised in connection with this method. 3. The writer has been informed by individuals, whose correspondence too is not great, of the frequent los% or non-delivery of letters, particularly post paid. Very lately he may mention, he himself, in conductirg a correspondence with a Member of Parliament, had an important franked communication in reply lost, and all the satisfaction he could obtain was, that if such had 'een put into the London Office ft would certainly have leen deliver e d, Ascertained that it was regularly put into the Office in London, and the presumption is, that, g a double letter, it was opened (as in the case ot y it is f eare d even a t p resen t) by some one expe ct " in.. a money e n c l osure , an d h ence destroyed. What then is t o b e appre h en d e d if pre - paymen t s h a ll be made compulsory without any cheque on letter carriers, Sz.c., when the correspondence of the country will be enormously increased ? In a late number of the Dublin Warder, I observe it is stated that within the previous three months, three letter carriers had ab• aconded in Dublin alone, from complaints being w ale as to the non-delivery of letters. In a late number of a London paper it is also stated, that within the previous twelvemonths there had been upwards of fifty defaulters among the letter carriers in London, a number of whom had been tried at the Old Bailey for taking money out of letters! ! ! It has been suggested to pay the letter carriers better than at present, but it is feared that a few shillings in addition to their weekly pay would not add to the integrity of the body. 4. Have been informed that this idea is already partly acted upon in the case of letters supposed to contain money. But it mu-t be obvious, that it could not be generally acted upon. The receipt taken by the letter carrier for such letter is no better proof of delivery than would be supplied by the re' turn of the stamp slip (with address) on the file, al Pr o posed ; for it would be as easy for him to obtain a false signature and retain the letter, as to return the statoP slip on the file and retain the letter. o f the 5. It may be con s id ere d somew h at i n f avo ur writer's views as to protection from forgery, that, as,, far as he is inf o r me d, no attempts h ave b een ma d e to f orge any of the numerous stamps used in the conduct of the various mercantile and legal affairs of the country ; be accounted t or i n no ot h er way to than that no ma rker is to be oLtained f or th e i r extens i ve i ntro d uct i o n. The inducement to f orgery o f t h ese presente d i s c ertainly greater than will be presented in regard to the stamp proposed for the collection of postage. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, G. G. CORN AVERAGES. IiENERAL AVERAGE I'RICES OF BRITISH CORN, o f For the Week ended Dec. 6, 1839, made up f ro m the RelutAntod the Inspectors in the different Cities and Towns in Englan" - Wales, per Imperial Quarter. Id Wheat 66s. 3d, Oats I Barley IMPERIAL AGGREGATE AVERAGES OF THE VE WE E " PRECEDING. .1, Wheat 67s. 54. Oats parlay 4ls. 8.1. I Rye DUTIES ON FOREIGN CORN. Wheat lBs. Bd. Oats Barley ...... ... Is. Od. I Rye THE MARKETS-(YESTEUDAY• HUNGERFORD MARKET. and Fair supplies at mark e t, b u t th e tra d e was heavy, prices much as last qu o ted. T ur b ot , s s. to 20 s . ; Cod, 31. to 12s. ; Soles, 9d. to 3s. 6d. per pair ; Lobsters, 10d. to 35. 64 ' Beef, 7d. to 84d. ; Veal Bd, to 9d. ; Pork, 7d. to Bd4er kx BILLINGSGATE MARKET: There were fair supplies, and a good trade; priceslotWle last quoted. Turbot ss. to 20s. ; Cod 3s. to 12s. ; 8 ° 1 " to 3s. per pair ; Lobsters 10d to 3s. 6d. ; Oysters 125. to 40s• per bushel; Whitings 4d. to Bd., and Haddocks Bd. to 25. H MARKETS. There were good suppli es an d a f a i r d eman d , prices stladj' Hay 60s. to 90s. ; Clover, 80s. to 110 s. ; Straw 325. W per load. This market was ver T y E qu A iet it , a n ything scarcely done, but MARKET, KET. prices were firm. COLONIAL ARKET. B. P. Sugar sold slowly N at 60s. M for brown, 635. for middling' and 681. for fine COUNTRY CORN MARKETS. Penis. Wheat. i 1 3arley. _I Oats. Per Quarter Boston s. to s. s. to I. to a. 58 70 24 1 63 73 36 48 8 34 34 64 : 40 28 6 44 47 26 29 68 45 26 -- 65 72 38 441 28 29 60 78 38 51 26 3 3 68 '79 28 35 20 30 58 68 35 39 22 26 CO 72 26 32 22 29 64 70 34 46 24 32 64 72 36 32 24 28 60 71 43 22 29 5$ 10 38 46125 31 (t 5 75 30 39 26 32 66 76 35 43 j2B 30 63 74 Q 8 34 , 1 20 24 Beane. Braintt i: B ighton Chichester , pntimoW Grand - 44.M •• Grimsby Hal'l , ll4m Hitehin.... Ipswich Lewes L , tin Worwieh Po• worth Rumford Sandwich Thetford Wishech Witham . _ to s. 3942 47 44 44 46 35 43 44 36 44 49 42 44 46 25 30 30 40 34 40 33 44 40 50 42 44 46 34 42 - 40 • 42 44 45 38 46 33 40 1, t 0 I. 39 43 40 44 40 ii 42 42 4k ...... ••• 40 - - 38 4 -. .-.° ••• 42 44 ics .4-i !2 72 ; 38 48 24 32 58 77 28 32 117 28 66 70 • 39 4g 24 90 :ill 72 . NI 42 2a 30 63 74 !34 47 5:111 ';,, 62 70 .33 35 0 , 1 ' 3 ' 2 CHELTENH • .M MARKE Per Bushel ,- s. J. Wheat i 9 9ti i Beef Karley . 0 6 0 Mutton Oats ea.; B 5 0 6 8 Pork . - ease Hay 2l. 10s. to 71. 04. ftd. per ton. CANTEFIBURI MARKET. Wheat, white...* 68s. to 7 55..,... 01d............ — 4 . W -- .. 5. red...... 61 1 $. to OS ow+. 01d............ 63e. to ... ... Barley, Malting...,,,, 365. to 465...... Grinding.. ,z,..g. L o n ., Oats ..... —s. to —s ..... 01d......... Y.. to ' Beans ---s to —s Old •........ 14s. to 475. Pease . 43s. to 455. Grey.—.... 40s. to 425. CHELMSFORD MARKET. Wheat, White IA t o .5 Oats 25 to 32 41 Red Barley Chevalier ... ... t 2 45 Beans, Tick 74 99 Grinding `II 3i Mazagan 33 L. VERPOOL CORN MARKET.—Dee. 10. WHEAT, English, White, per 70Ib. .............---.--, Bed • lo 6 a 11 - Scotch, Welch, and Manx - Irish, White 6 6 9 6 --- Red 7 9 0 ---- Foreign OATS, English, Welsh, and Scotch, per 451 b. 3 3 4 2 Irish 0 0 Foreign 0 0 fSsaLEv, English, Malting, per Imp. quarter 45 0 51 0 ----- Scotch and Irish, pet 60Ibs. 4 Feeding 6 4 9 BEANS, English, per Imperial quarter 43 0 54 # Irish, &c. Foreign PEASE, Englisn, per Imperial quarter 4l 0 60 1 Foreign FLouit, English, per 280 lb. 5B I li2 0 - Irish OATMEAL, English and Irish, per 2401b5. 3B 4 37 0 INI)11AN COMM, per 480Ib. —,. 44 0 OR 0 Iles, per hnperial quarter lIALT, per Imperial quarter Yarmouth„,.„ ii ii _ ... 44 46 40 44 d. to d. 6 6 7 7 ( HULL CORN MARKET Wheat, Wh ite (per Quarter) Foreign Barley. Malting s4s. 64i. 745....... ....11. .-11. Grinding Oats, British Foreign (in bond) —s —s. —.a. Beans Pease, Grey........ Blue and White --1 1.....t. —S. Linseed .... 32s. 4re 435. Flour (per sack) ---' .:1114. Mo. R qieseed (per 10 quarters) The Earl of Haddington is; staying at his seat, Tyningham House, N.B. We have great by authority, the - W PlP.asure in contradicting, as we do Statements of the newspapers, that the King of H°nover has been lately suffering from a para lytic or apoplectic attack, or some other severe illness. ais Majesty was in the enjoyment of perfect health when the latest accounts left Hanover ; and his active and temperate habits afford promise, under the blessing of Divine Providence, that of such health he will long preserve the enjoyment. The false statement which we contradict may be traced to Hamburg, where souls die.; affected Hanoverians have taken up their quarters. The rumour of the King's illness was, by the exertions of these persons, current in Hamburg at a date several days prior to that of the letters upon the authority of which we contradict the x terfement—Sithadard. The tollo ng re/atnong the visitors at Coyent isi rji garden ) Th tre ast/ 3Fek :—Th e Queen Dewager , Eirl Dynbi 1, Earl flowe, Lord and Lady Sk..H...Wheatley, Duke of Devi . hire, Countess n' hope, Sir J. ant Lady Cam .bel Lord W : .., eli, Lord H. Russ , i t Dillon t oel d Mrs. a berly. Lord Sof Lord s A Can on family, Sir J. Copley, Du e 0 unswic ,Ho r. Cust Duke -. and Duchess of Bucel eug h, Mdlle. dEste, Lady Hol. land, B ar o n Bi ome , L or d Holland, Lord and Lady Harrington, Earl of Ilcheater, Massey Stanley, and Lord A. Conynham. GOLD WATCHES, £ 7 . 7 s. each. Highly finish. d Horizontal Gold Watches, jewelled in four hoJes, ric enamel dial, hand to, mark th e see eptis , &c. Seven Guineas each. These elegant little W a tch es will be found excellent time-keepers, an d a printed warranty i s g i ven with fixe d ter ms, tece ive on which they will a wa j e any attention required. IP.[COX SAVORY, Watchmaker, Jeweller, and Silversmith, 47, Cornkill (SIT"' doors from Gra cechurch-street), London. N.B Second-hand Watches purchased in h exc ants. HORIZONTAL GOLD. WATCHES, £ 7 . 7s. each. H ighly- finished Horizontal Flat Gold Watche s ' jewelled in four holes, with enamel dial, hand to mark the seconds, and maintaining power to continue going whilst being wound. Seven Guineas each. Thee elegassKaistcbat.pocket Watches a r e recommende d for great accuracy and durability, the horizontal escayereet i being p ecu li arly suited to combine these important requisite s a flat watch.—A written warranty given, A. B. SAVORY and SONS, W atchmakers, 9, Cornhill, Lo d (opposite the Bay BIRTS. Es o l. n ,n th . e c. ll . l , o in f s a t.,, so a n t . Islington, H the wife of W. 11. Staid' A On the 9th i ns t., a t T emp l e D ens l ey, H erb , the 44 of Thomas Plumer Halsey, Esq., of a son and heir. lady of On the lith in s t., a t M unster -h ouse , F u lh am , the John Laurie, Esq., of a son. On the 7th inst., at St. G eorge - t h e -M ar t yr , MARRIED. Queen_squa re, John Widdows, E sq ., o f C opt h a ll- court, Th rogm orton-street to Ellen, the youngest daughter of the late John Croft, E5ll-' of Compton-st r eet, R egen t- square . nd On the 10th inst., a t St. P ancras , Mr. Charles Vino Perceval, of Pesth, H ungar y, t o E m ma, third daughter of th e ate Nicholas Sandell, E sq ., S o licitor, Size-lane. DIED. On the sth inst., at Lower Edmonton, Henry Charles, anlY son of the late Henry Charles Sutton Dalzell, Esq., of Wey mouth-street, Portland-place, aged 13 months. On the Gth inst., in Devonshire-street, Miss Lee, aged 81 On the Bth inst.. at Llangattock-place, I3reconshire, France., relict of the late Edward Morgan, Esq., aged 65. On the 9th inst., Anne, wife of Edward C. Robinson, Esq., Deputy Commissary-General, of Upper Belgrave-plac e * ageo H 3. On the lath inst., Miss Henrietta Clapham, f o rmerly 0, Watford, Herts, aged 70. London Printed and Published by 11.1 U RDO OUNtr; No. 112, Strand, at The Sun Office, No 112. Strand, in fi e county of Aliddlesex.—Friday, December 13, 1839.