The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-20 00:00:00

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POSTAGE REFORM AND MR. WALLACE.
We republish from the patters of the House of Com-
monsl a petition from Mr. Wpace, who so long repre-
sented the town of Greeneck
nd who was the father of
Post-office reform. .
PETITION OF ROBE WALLACE, Erg:
,T,he petition of Reber etV aloe, Req., humbly showeth,
That, your petitioner was f many years a Member of
your Honourable flouse,and a such was chosen Ito be
s
chairman of the Select Com ittee appointed to inquire
into he best resod© of
redeci the rates of postage On
lettere, and more especially
t ' inquire into the plan pro-
posed by Mr. Roeleeid Hill commonly called penny
postage, which en n
'1 - - was /mt....ended to Parliament by
the casting vote of your petit ner, as chairman of the
Select Committee,
Your petitioner furth:-.r sho eth that he has obeeeved
with the mei siecero ea,isf tion that a Select Com-
mittee of your -Honourable ouse is about to be ap-
ppiated " to inquire and
,tefte upon the present mode
-of engraving, printing, and • namieg the postage libel
stamps; and like-lento whether and how, the perforating
machine invented by the paten ce could bo applied to the
same with advantage to the pu lie."
And whereas your petitione has never ceased deeply
to lament ever since the passi g of the Penny Postage
Act, 2d and 3d Vic., cap. 52, t at the clear and explicit
terms contained in that Act as to the use of stamped
piper, &o , has never yet been communicated in all its
integrity to the public. inasiou has useful stamped paper
fit' for correspondence has up t this day been withheld,
although stamped covers and a hesive stamps have been
long since issued: 4
And whereas the Act declthat letters written
upon stamped paper, or encl.-- s u .staseped. covers, or
hiving a stamp affixed thereto,tshould pass by the post
free of postage:" i
And whereas no stamped paper suited to or properly
fit for correspondence has yet been issued, whilst
stamped covers and postage labels and half-sheets of
wretchedly bad paper have been issued, so very bad is
it as to be despised 'and rejected as unfit for the corre-
spondence of the most needy pfirsons:
And whereas the stamping of letter-paper for corre-
spondence was strongly impressed in generaland specific
terms on the notice of the C4nmittee by highly re-
spectable witnesses, and its athiption was consequently
urged at the time by your Petitioner in his place in
Parliament, and was only withheld by the Legislature
under the delusive pretext of danger to the revenue, a
pretext which your petitioner alleged at the time, and
which he still believes, was coi ed for the occasion to
hoodwink the Government, b certain self•interested
paper-makers or contractors p ssessing at the time a
monopoly, under a patent for p ducing paper for bank-
-1
notes, nod other special purpose , and the like, by rea-
son of introducing threads of "silk into their otherwise
useless trash, which was allege Only could secure the
revenue of the Crown if used f the purposes of penny
postage: 1
And whereas, in contradiction to the above allegation,
many highly ingenious and excellent specimens of whole
and half-sheets of stamped paper were gratuitously fur-
nished to the Committee by pape-makers of great repute,
and were exhibited stamped in folio, in post, and note
raper of all sizes . and excellent qualities, well suited to
every correspondence, and for being folded easily and at
once, with the stamps conveniently exposed at the back
ot each sheet for being cancelled by the die of the post-
masters:
And whereas these stamped sheets appeared so com-
plete and satisfactory as to cadger the whole members
of the Select Committee that the revenue of the Crown
would be secure, and that facilities and benefits, by the
adoption of the entire plan, as to the issuing ot stamped
paper,- stamped'. covers, and ad eeive stamps, would be
conferred on the whole body of he people by facilitat-
ing the social and business inter ourse of the nation at
home and abroad, and by vac raging in an especial
manner the education of tho hu, bler classes, by hand-
writing, &c., through the desire us created to acquire
knowledge and communicate by etter with their friends
in the most easy and simple ma er, as well as in the
most economical way, which sta ped paper, if of a pro-
per size and of good quality unquestionably would
afford; and, in proof of this have g been the view taken
by the Committee, your petitioner begs to remark that
no difference of opinion was expressed, and certainly no
division took place, in the Committee upon this all-im-
portant point, as is shown in their report:
And whereas the issue of half-sheets of paper wisefor
a long time opposed by the monopolists, no less strongly
than whole sheets were; and the issue of half-sheets of
the useless trash was at last only carried in spite of the
monopolists, and this on a formal motion made by your
petitioner, demanding that Parliament would sanction
the fulfilment of the Penny Postage Act in all its in-
tvgriti by the issue of whole sheets of paper along with
the other modes already adopted and then in use:
And whereas your petitioner, in his place in Parlia-
ment, solemnly protested against the silly acquiescence
in the half-sheet measure, and intimated his determina-
tion to reiterate the claim the public had to a fair and
complete trial at any rate, instead of its partial applica-
tion, so evidently agreed to at the suggestion of self-
interested parties in the half-sheet job:
And whereas in the debate on the motion of your pe-
titioner, ho so far Convinced the House, Sir Robert Peel,
and his Government, which on that question was repre-
sented by Sir George Clerk, then Secretsry to the Trea-
sury, as frankly to offer the assurance that, if the stamped
half-sheets agreed to be issued should not find favour
with the public, and Come into general use ter corre-
spondence, that in that case a fair trial should be given
to the use of sheets of stamped paper of all sizes and qua-
lities, and to be brought out , if most advisable, either in
the process of paper-making, or separate stamping, which
were the plans chiefly proposed to the Committee and
recommended to Parliament in the report made to the
House, and which was adopted in the 2d and 3d Vict.,
cap. 52:
And whereas it has been found in practice, however
excellent and valuable proved, that
Penny postage has
the use of envelope stamped covers and adhesive stamps
are positively accompanied with a certain degree of in-
convenience and trouble, which is on all hands admitted
would be avoided or s ldiminished if writing paper
West y
of all kinds could be purchased by the sheet, qutre, or
ream, coining from the paper mills or Starep-office,ready
stamped for immediate use, and be a boon of the, very
fiat order to every obese whatsoever of letter writers;
whereas stamped half-sheets are and have long been rot-
ing in the Stamp-office:
And whereas the withholding of sheets of stamped
paper is highly inconvenient (and unjust if it can be
avoided) to those professional and mercantile men who
require Post-office stamped deeds or letters to bo pro-
duced as evidence in courts of law seeing that the paper
actually written on and struck by ;he Post-office die must
bo produced as legal proof, for which purpose envelopes
are entirely unsuitable:
And whereas it was made evident before the Com-
mittee on Postage that the. stamping of letter paper in
the process of its manufacture would be the best and most
economical mode, if secure for the revenue, and the safe
providing of which was not even doubted by practical
men; and it will be plain that should this mode be
added to the others now in use that there will be still
enough to do in sufficiently accommodating all classes,
now that mewl Payments at the Post-office are pat
an end to, and stamps of 80M0 sort must serve for all
purposes: .
And whereas it was a part of frequent conversation,
although not of evidence, Which er deeii tment should un-
dertake the providing stamps for penny postage; that is
either the Stamp-office or the Excise; while it appeared
quite clear to your petitioner individually that the duty
would be best performed in this instance by the junction
of the services of the two; it was nevertheless also plain
that each of them desired to be freed of the additional
labour, and that there was less jealousy of the one de-
partment encroaching on the privileges of thoother, and
less of the " esprit du Corps"
in both than they showed
of the " sauve qui peat:"
And whereas your petitioner has had the freedom of
seven cities or towns conferred upon him in testimony of
his services in postal reform, and the share he had in
carrying penny postage, on all of which occasions he
explained or exhibited the simple uses of paper so
stamped and folded, which were resented to his com-
mittee and left on the table of the room-by the exhibi-
tors, and which received the unanimous opinion of the
inhabitants when so assembled, that writing paper of all
sizes ready stamped for being written on would be of the
utmost advantage in addition to the other facilities for
penny postage.,
Your petitioner theroforo submits the following reca-
pitulation:
Firstly. That your Honourable Rouse will instruct the
Committee about to be appointed to inquire as to postage
stamps, &c., whether the time has not arrived for the
issue of letter paper, stamped for circulation by post in
the process of manufacture or otherwise, and whether
the same would bo more economical and convenient to
tho public and the State than any of the present several
processes, as
well as in addition to them
the '
Secondly. Whether in fifty-second year of the nine-
teenth century science- and - art are yet insufficient to
guard
the four great departments of the state—the Ex-
cise-office, the Stamp-of _ . ce, the Post-office, office, and the
Treasury against the machinations of designing paper-
makers, and the Treasury against, their frauds, so as to
admit of the Penny Postage Act being administered
fairly in all its detai•ls.
view to
Thirdly. That with ttn secure these desirable
objects, your Honourable House would authorise a pre-
mium all and sundry
to be offered to persons, sufficient
efficiency in amount to procure complete ciency.for the working
of the Polio)! Postage. Act, so that,
tioner's belief be justly founded, that ignorance or cupi-
dity,both, have hitherto retarded the full benefits of
or
reaching all classes of her Majesty's s b-
penny postage
misfortune may no longer be - du permute to
• to that this
jet, ,
and that the rich may be enabled to
incommode them,
purchase atampe d letter paper by the reale, and the
or sheet, in
t, in addition to the
more humble by the quire ' has
other modes now in me, whichbecome the more ne-
cessaryhat money penments ot the postage of let-
ters now t
roperly put an end •
has at last been EO p.
And whereas your petitioner ney buddevotedto all his encr-f
gies, and a large portion of_ his time, the exposure of
the anomalies and abases formetl3 . ' to be found in the
and had actually applied the
Post-office maneWculent'
fir:_t -five years of his Parliementery terviees chiefly in
thesePorsuits, and this he' did previous to the eppeista
anon of Mr. Hill's inestimable plan of penny postage, for
which, however, he bas the satisfaction of knowing that

MAY 20,- 1852.

he mainly paved the way, as he also was the mover for
the Committee which recommended to Parliament that
great measure of national reform, he ventures on these
grounds to hope that your Honourable House will listen
favourably to his present suggation, and send his peti-
tion to the Committee, about to be appointed; and

_ .
Lastly. That your Honourable Houso will please
direct that this petition shall be printed with she votes,
in order to obtain for its contents correct circulation
among Lion. Members, As well as, among the thud estate;
so that, should the entire emancipation of penny postage
be still withheld from this kingdom, that the inhabitants
of other countries may see their way to its accomplish-
ment, and especially that our clear-sighted brethren
across the Atlantic may do so, in yet their infancy of
postal arrangoinent, so that in one way or other we
shall at last get at home or from abroad the complete ful-
filmet,t of the beautiful invention. _

And your petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
ROBERT WALLACE, Member for Greenock
in four consecuoive Parliament.
No. 2, Don-terrace, Teig,umouth, Devon,
• March 22,:1852,

HER MAJESTY'S STATE BALL.
The Qaeen gave a State Ball last evening at Buck-
inborn Palace. The attendance was unusually nume-
rous, the invitations having exceeded 2,000, and com-
prising the Royal Family, the diplomatic corps and
foreigners of distinction, the ladies and gentlemen of
the royal household, all the principal. Members of the
ltahrerrg e n
job
epraßri tfyeaoolmf tptaaenmyniolaybti laitlthiygeha
Administration, with their wives and daughters, and a
garden tnedd gaetn
t
trehynet rpa rnievea tien e
fart
oniaint c
oe
f,
the library, and the general company at the grand hall.
The grand hall containing forty columns of white
Carrara marble of the Corinthian order, with giltcapitals.
was brilliantly Illarntnated. The carpeting was crimson,
emblazoned with tho royal arms. The hall was deco-
rated with a great quantity of flowering plants of every '
species, tastefully grouped to fill up the recesses and
angles. A party of the Royal Body Guards, carrying
their partizans, occupied the hall and grand staircase,
under the command of Captain Kincaid, the Exon in
Waiting; Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzmaurice, the Adjutant,
and Captain Phibbs, Exon of the corps, were also present.
Adjoining the Grand Hall is the Sculpture Gallery,
which was adapted on this occasion for the accommoda-
tion of visitors. The Gallery contains, among other
works, busts in bronze of Socrates, Archimedes, Aris-
tides, Diogenes, Senses, Brutus, Homer, Solon, Epicu-
rus, Zeno, and Euripides. At each end of the Gallery
are statues in white marble, of Boys, emblematical of
the Four Seasons.
The Garter-room, which forms the ante-room to the
series of State apartments, was fitted up as a refresh-
ment room during the evening. This room contains a
fine whole length portrait of the Duke of Brunswick, by
Sir Thomas Lawrence,and three Princesses of the Royal
Family, by Gainsborough.
The approaches to the State rooms were hung with
whole length portraits of the late Duke of Sussex, as
Earl of Inverness, by Wilkie; the King of. the Belgians,
by Dawe ; the Princess Charlotte, the Duke and Du chess
of Kent, George the Third and Queen Charlotte,
the the Fourth and Queen Adelaide, and a portrait of Prince
George of Cemberland (now King of Hanover), by awe
The State rooms presented their usual magnificent
appearance, and were, like the grand hall and staircase,
profusely and with great taste decorated with rare
plants and beautiful flowers. The yellow drawing-room
was set apart for the reception of the Royal Family,
the general company assembling in the picture gallery,
Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge
and the Princess Mary arrived at half-past nine o'clock,
attended by Lady Suffield and Major Baron Knesebeck.
Their Royal Highnesses were received by the Hon.
Matilda Paget and the Hon. Mary Seymour, Maids of
Honour in Waiting; Hon. W. S. Knox, Groom in Wait-
ing; Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Seymour, Groom in
Waiting to Prince Albert; Lord Charles Fitzroy,
Equerry in Waiting; and Colonel Bouverie, Equerry in
Waiting to Prince Albert.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge was at-
tended by his Equerry in Waiting.
Prince Veerajunder arrived attended by Major Drum-
mond. His Highness wore an Oriental costume of great
magnificence, enriched with gold bullion and embroi-
dery, the body of the dress being wholly formed of a gold
fabric.
The Queen and Prince Albert entered the State-rooms
at a quarter before ten o'clock, accompanied by their
Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge, the
Princess Mary, and the Duke of Cambridge.
Her Majesty wore a dress of Indian muslin, embroi-
dered in silver from Dacca, over a petticoat of watered
apple-green silk, ornamented with green and silver rib-
bons and silver blonde.
Her Majesty's head-dress was formed of diamonds and
feathers.
Her Royal Highness tho Duchess of Cambridge wore
a white silk dress, trimmed with point lace, the
stomacher adorned with diamonds. Her Royal High-
ness's head-dress was composed of a tiara of diamonds
and white feathers. The necklace was of diamonds.
Her Royal Highness the Princess Mary wore a double
skirt of white tulle, over white glace silk, trimmed with
bugles, and blue convolvoluses with silver leaves. Her
Royal Highness wore round her head a wreath of blue
convolvoluses with silver leaves and stems, and diamond
ornaments. The necklace was of pearls.
Her Majesty was attended by the Mistress of the
Robes, the Viscountess Jocelyn, Lady in Waiting;
Hon. Matilda Paget, and Hon. Mary Seymour, Maids
.of Honour in Waiting; the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord
Steward, the Vice-Chamberlain; and Lord Polwarth,
Lord in Waiting.
The Queen and Prince Albert were conducted by the
Lord Chamberlain through the grand saloon into the
ball-room, followed by the Royal Circle, and the Ladies
and Gentleman in Waiting. The general company also
followed from the picture gallery and the saloon ineo the
ball-room. A quadrille was formed, the " Prince Ru-
pert" (Juliano), and her Majesty opened the ball with
his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, the oppo-
site couple being his Royal Highness Prince Albert and
her Royal Highness the Princess Mary.
Mr. Booze's quadrille band attended in this room and
played the following dances during the night:—
QUADRILLES.

Les Flatus de Lilac
Floris von Namur
Le Royal Tambour
Militaire

•••
WALTZES.

Fleur de Lis
Blue Bell
Fortuna
Fairy Palace
Montrose ...

... La Motto.
... Kuhner.
... blusard.
... Strauss.

•••
POLICAO.•••

L'Eachantresse b..
Veilchen
Mon Bijou ... ..•
The Ostrich .••
Koaigsberg

▪ Boose..
... Juliano.
Golimiek.
• Boos®.
▪ Tinney.

... Juliano.
... Gungl.

.•• •••
GraLon.

The Martha
The Carnival

Gughelm°.
... Anonymous.

... Flotow.
... Boose.

The Throne room was appropriated to dancing, in
addition to the ball-room, and in it was erected a, haut
pas for her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince
Albert, on which seats of crimson and gold were placed.
Draperies of crimson velvet and of white embroidered
silk enclosed the haut pas, and were surmounted by a
deep gilt cornice. Beautiful plants were arranged be-
hind the seats appropriated to her Majesty and the
Prince.
Soon after the ball was opened in the ball-room,
dancing commenced in this apartment, the first dance
being " The Combermere Quadrille." Mr. Adams's
band was stationed in the Throne-room, and performed
,he following dance music:—
QUADRILLES,
... T. Adams.
D'Albert.
Jullien.
D'Albert.

Combermere
Favorita •••
Exhibition •••
Como ..• •••

WALTZESt
T. Adams.
el.

Buckingham Palace ...
Donna Sabina
Mandoline. _

~, genrion.

,

Buller.
POLKAS.
... T. Adams.
... Wellington Guernsey.
GALOPS.
Champagne ... Lullaby°.
London ••• ... T. Brown.
Amazon ••• ••• Lumbye.
At the usual -hour her Majesty and his Royal iligh-
ness Prince Albert were conducted to supper in the state
dining-room, by tbe Lord Steward, accompanied by the
Royal Circle. The table on which this repast was served
displayed some of the most choice specimens .of gold
plate from the royal treasury, and the whole apartment
presented its usual appearance of gorgeous magnificence.
A Guard of Honour of the Coldstream Guards, with
the band of the regiment, was on duty di
urn g the night
on the lawn in front of the Grand Portico The guard
was commanded by Colonel Ray.
--------

Albert ...
Court Beauty ...

COURT CIRCULAR. -
The Queen and Prince Albert, with the Prince of
Wales, Prince Alfred, the princess Royal, and the Prin-
cess Alice, attended by the Viscountess Jocelyn, • Hon.
Hon. Charles Grey, visited the Botanical-gardens i'tt the
Mary Seymour, Lord Charles Fitzroy,B and Colonel the
i
u c Ihleesrs
The Countess de Neudly and the Duke and Duchess
to
ono.
kvisited her Majesty yesterday, at Bucking-
R:fylail Highness
hantteesnsdr:d.
:IHer Royal Highness the Duchess ofinltiheentattewerrn
d leaenigNe
enpi
nta' sol -super: rs. yesterday..
turned to Clarence House, St. James's,
by Lady Fanny Howard and Baroness do Speth, visited
irg, at Gloucester-house.
ya7riteirgdbanyems3otrhneingD.
A deputatiun upon the subject of Australian wool had
an interview with the, Earl of Derby yesterday et his
Her Roy
her Royal Highneis the Duchess of Gloucester last even-
Fraginore
ofPial reeidenco in Downing-street. The deputation
- : . A. f Sir Charles w •
consLste,.. o ood, the Hon. E. L ' 1
Sir W. Molesworth, Mr. W. Beckett, Mr. Stasi' le6'
Mr. Beckett Denison, Mr. Milligan, Mr. J. as
leld'
Smythe, Mr.