The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-15 00:00:00

RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH. 1

(From the Derby Reporter )
A very large proportion of tee letter-receiving house-
holdere, residing within the range of the Derby Penny
Post, having requested that their letters might not be
sent to them on the Lord's Day; except in cases of
great emergency, the Postmaster of Derby applied to
the London Post Office for instructions, forwarding, at
the same time, a printed copy of the names with which
he had been supplied. He was very properly desired
n t to act upon the printed copy, but, if he should re-
eei; a the eanie requt•s' from any number of persons
with the signatures atteched, again to refer the matter to
London, that the Postmaster-Generai's commands
might be received thereon. Under these circumstances
all the Derby letters have been sent out as usual on
Sunday, the 21 st of April, the letter carriers brought
back to the Post Office about two thirds of them, stating
that (although they had left several at the houses, the
parties being from home) only one of the persons who
had signed the request to the Postmaster had personally
received his letter, and that he had desired that no more
letters might be brought to him on the Lord's Day.
Many felt very indignant at having their letters sent to
them, notwithstanding their request to the contrary.
Tuis request has been signed by three of the County
Members, by a very large portion of the country gen-
tlemen of the district, and of the commercial men and
tradesmen of Derby, including the four Banking Com-
panies, and the Proprietors and Editors of both the
Derby newspapers. All the Clergy, and eight Dis-
senting Ministers of Derby have joined in it. Sever al
of the medical men and others (thinking that so long
as their letters come to Derby on the Lord's Day
the interests of others require that they should
receive them), have signed a statement that they
would "'very willingly see the transmission of the
mails, and the delivery of letters altogether disconti-
nued on that day." The signatures already received to
the letter to the Postmaster, amount to upwards of one
thousand, and that number will yet be greatly increased
as very few of those who have been applied to on the
subject have refused to sign either the one or the other
of these documents. Most of the signatures having
been sent to the Postmaster, and he having again com-
municated with the London Post-office, the subjoined
letterfroni Coionel Maberly has been received by him
on the subject, and he has forwarded a copy of it to the
Committee of the. County Sabbath Society for the in-
formation of the- public. There is only an evening
delivery on the Sunday at Derby, but should a simi-
lar request be signed at other places, where there is
a morning delivery (and the same thing is on foot in
Udinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, York, Exeter, and
in several parishes in Norfolk) letters, expected to arrive
on urgent matters, may be sent for at a givea hour be-
fore the letter carriers go their rounds. The inhabitants
of the several parishes and districts in Derby, of vast
numbers of parishes in this county, of Edinburgh, Bath,
Birmingham, Liverpool, of many large towns in York
shire, in the Potteries, and in South Staffordshire, &c.
&c., are forwarding petitions to Parliament praying that
the Sabbath mail may be stopped and the many thou-
sands c-f persons employed thereby set free for the pecu-
liar privileges of that day. If all the inhabitants of
London, if the country gentlemen, the professional men,
the bankers, the commercial men and tradesmen of
Derby, and its neighbourhood and of other places can
do without their letters till Monday, what great neces-
sity can there be why the same classes should receive
them on the Lord's Day in any part of the country ?
Why should not Sunday be a blank day with regard
to all Post-office business, not only in London but
throughout the United Kingdom ? The following is
Colonel Maberley's letter to the Postmaster of Derby :
General Post-office, 25th April, 1839.
Sir,—The Postmaster-General has had before him
your letter of the 22d instant, and I am to inform you,
that under the circumstances, his Lordship has no al-
ternative but to comply with the wishes of that portion
of the- inhabitants of Derby who desire that no letters
may be delivered to them by letter-carriers on the Sun-
day, but he directs that you will obtain and preserve the
written authority of " every person" who desires his let-
ters to be so kept back before that course is adopted!
so that in the event of any legal proceedings or com-
plaints hereafter arising out of the non-delivery of a let-
ter, you may be prepared to prove that you acted un-
der the authority of the party to whom the letter was
addressed.
His Lordship further directs that you must let it be
distinctly understood by all concerned, that no letter
withheld from the letter-carrier under these instruc-
tions can afterwards be delivered from the Post-office on,
the Sunday, unless to such parties as possess a private
pouch, and are paying for that accommodation.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
W. MABERLY, Secretary.
To the Poitmaster of Derby.

During the late storm one of the check-takers,
named Holler, of the Haymarket Theatre, whilst standing
at the boa entrance, was struck by lightning, and so
dreadfully injured that medical aid was immediately called
in, and he was subsequently carried to his residence,
where he still remains in so serious a condition as to be
unable to resume his situation.

MYSTERIOUS' CASE OF POlSONlNG.—ln-
formation of a suicide was on Monday forwarded to Mr.
Wakley, which at present remains involved in considerable
mystery. It appears that on Thursday last a female, about 43
years of age, dressed in a black silk gown, and equally re-
spectably attired in other respects, was apprehended and
taken to the police-station in Marylebone-lane about twelve
o'clobk in the day, by police constable Noble, LA D, on a
charge of being found drunk in Oxford-street. On Friday
morning she was conducted to Marylebone-otEce, and was
admonished and discharged by Mr. Hoskins, the Sitting
Magistrate. She was afterwards seen in great distress of
mind by a woman, named Jones, of No. 1, Park-lane,
Edgware-road, who entered into a conversation witfi her.

The deceased said that she should never be able to face her
husband again, as she had served him in a similar bad manner
before, and declared that she would go and drown herself.
Mrs. Jones remonstrated with her on the folly and
wickedness of such an act, and took her home and gave
her some tea. She appeared to be in better spirits
towards the evening, and laughed and joked at baying
given the name of " Mary Baker" at the police station-
house, which sbe said was not her right name. She
remained with Mrs. Jones during Friday night, and on
Saturday morning, after partaking of a hearty break-
fest, the deceased parted with her for the purpose, as she
stated, of returning home. Ie the course of about two hours
she returned to Mrs. Jones's and swallowed a quantity o'
prussic acid, which she had cbtazied in the interim. Mr.
Lovegrove, surgeon, of Upper Baker-street, was sent fui
and promptly attended, but all his efforts to restore he,
were unavailing►, and she died very shortly after. In the
pockets of the deceased were several pawnbrokers' dupli-
c Ites for pledges, of rings and articles of wearing apparel.
The dodbments bore the names cf Baker, Ross, and Plum
mer ; and notwithstanding Cotton, one of the beadles of
Nlaeylebone, had been most diligent .in endeavouring to
trace out who the deceased is, he had not up to last nigh!
succeeded in doing so. From her appearance the prevail-
ing opinion seems to be that she is either a respectable
tradesman's wife or a housekeeper in a gentleman's family.
ROBBING AN ALLOTMENT.-Yesterday a. man
named John Twynam, a railroad brickmaker's labourer.
was examined before the Rev. C. A. St. John Mildmay.
charged with steeling brocoli from an allotment adjoining
the town field on Sunday last. In defence prisoner stated
that a man, who was a shoemaker and wanted to measur,
him fur a pair of shoes, told him he might gat sonic brocoli
out of his garden—that he told the man he did not waid