The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-03 00:00:00

SHIPPING—This Day.

LONDON, Oct. 3.—Wind this day at noon—South;
fresh breeze, and cloudy weather, with rain.

GRAVESEND, Saturday Morning.
Arrived, October 3.—Star, of Hope, from Taganrog ;
Courier, from Odessa; Iris, from Guernsey; Varunigung,
from Buenos Ayres.
Sailed —Panther (steamer), for Boulogne ; Hanover
(steamer), for Callao.

DEAL, Saturday Morning.
Passed—H.M.S. Lucifer, from Portsmouth, for the river ;
Douglas, screw steamer, from London, for Bordeaux;; Ham-
burg, screw steamer, from the west, for London.

ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.—An ordinary
general meeting of this society, for the election of Fellows,
was held yesterday in the Council-room at South Kensington
—his grace the Duke of Buccleuch, K.G., vice-president,
in the chair. Tho minutes of the last meeting having
been read, and the candidates for ordinary fellowship
having been proposed and duly elected, the chairman
announced that his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke
Nicholas of Russia had been recommended by the council
for election as a member of the society. This announce-
ment was rectived with applause, and his Imperial High-
ness was unanimously elected an honorary member.
ROMAN RUINS NEAR CHELTENHAM.—A discovery
made in a field named Wickham, near Andoversford,
has recently been the source of considerable interest and
speculation to antiquarians and such of the public as have
been made acquainted with the particulars connected with
the remarkable Roman site now in the course of excavation
a short distance beyond the Andoversford Inn. For many
years coins and various other relics of bygone ages have
been discovered, which, submitted to accomplished numis-
matists and others skilled in a knowledge of the manners
and customs of the Romans during their stay in this coun-
try, tended to confirm the belief that a station or village
had existed in the locality. With a view to test the truth
of the belief so generally entertained, works have been
going on during the past fortnight, the excavations being
under the personal superintendence of Mr. Laurence, the
owner of the field, and a few gentlemen interested in the
matter. Several acres have been found to be covered over
with the substantial foundations of houses, some of which
must have been of groat size. The ground already opened
has furnished abundantly the usual refuse of Roman sites,
the so-called Samian ware, with black, red, or brown pot-
tery, bones, teeth, and horns of oxen and deer, teeth of
sheep and horses, the large oyster shells, ornaments, and
implements in bronze and iron, querns, window glass, &c,
Tesselated pavements such as were found on the Sudely
estate are also no doubt to be found here. Among the most
curious and instructive of the discoveries yet made in this
field is a piece of sculpture cut in the oolitic stone of our
hills, showing three full length figures in high relief, the
style of whose array may assist in the precise determination
of the age. This, however, is a point hardly doubtful, for
during the past week coins have been found and carefully
described which range over the period between Domitian
and Arcadius inclusive. These latter would imply that the
remains belong to the very close of the Roman period in
Britain.—Cheltenham Times. •
TRANSMISSION OF PATTERNS By POST.—Patterns
of merchandise similar to these already transmis-
sible by post between England and France at reduced
rates, may now be transmitted by post between any places
in the United Kingdom at the following rates of postage,
which must in all cases be prepaid by means of postage
stamps, viz.z—For a packet of patterns weighing not more
than 4cz, 3d; more than 4uz, but not more than
Boz, 6d ; more than, Boz, but not more than 16oz, Is. ;
more than 16oz, but not more than 240 z, is 6d. Special
attention is directed to the following rules and regula-
tions, which will be strictly enforced, viz.:-1. No packet
of patterns must exceed 240 z in weight; exceeding that
weight it will be treated and charged as a letter. 2.
The patterns must not be of intrinsic value. This rule
excludes all articles of a saleable nature ; and indeed, what-
ever may have a value of its own, apart from its mere use
as a pattern; and the quantity of any material, sent osten-
sibly as a pattern, must not be so great that it can fairly
be considered as having, on this ground, an intrinsic value.
Packets containing patterns of intrinsic value will be
treated and charged as letters. 3. There must be no
writing or printing other than the address of the person for
whom the packet is intended, the address of the sender, a
trade mark and numbers, and the prices of the articles,
otherwise the packet will be treated as a letter. 4. The
patterns must be sent in covers open at the ends, so as to be
easy of examination. Samples, h mover, of seeds, drugs,
and so forth, which cannot be sent in open covers, may be
inclosed in bags of linen, or other material, tied at the neck;
bags so closed that they cannot be readily opened, even
although they be transparent, must not be used for this
purpose. Non-compliance to this rule will also subject the
packet to be treated as a letter. 5. In all other respects the
regulations of the inland book poet will apply to the inland
.
pattern post. Under these regulations, in order to prevent
any interruption to the regular transmission of letterPfb,
back
ket of patterns may, when it is necessary, be kept it
24 hours beyond the time when, in the ordinaryfocrobrds
the
would be forwarded. N.B. The rule which ,
el, to injure
transmission through the post ref any article
01
flaanJy
officer of
the contents of the mail bags or the persons
pattern post
the Post-office is, of course, applicalbtlue,
bind will be stopptd
and a packet containing anything
Articles such as the fol.
and not sent to its destination. ikr
lowing have been occasionally postfivitizs,,metal bux,,r
patterns,vegeta and have
been detained as unfit for the post; es,
bunches of 11()W
celain and china, fruit, ors etas
needl
Qs, pins, pieces
tings of plants, spurs, knivinery, shat •poi
h nt d
of machinery, watch ra s e
ore,
p e
samples of metals, same samples
in instruments,
glass bottles,
pieces of glass, acids ofvariouskinds, currvcombq
Plates, and confectionery
• copper
and steel engravingp , g of various
kinds. By
command of the Postmaster-General, Row-
LAND II mi., Secretary. General Post-office, Oct 1.
THE cuoin i 9 the, Immo of a riow zuubical we kly•

Horrors of Speech-making at a Civic Din tier.

While I was thus amiably occupied in criticising • my
fellow-guests, the mayor had cot up to propose ano Cher
toast, and listening rather inattentively to the first sent once
or two, I soon became sensible of a drift in his worship's
remarks that made me glance apprehensively towards Ser-
geant Wilkins. " Yes," grumbled that gruff petsonaga
shoving a decanter of port towards me, " it is your turn;
next ;" and seeing in my face, I suppose, the consternation
of a wholly unpractised orator, he kindly added—" It, is
nothing. A mere acknowledgment will answer the purpose.,
The less you say, the better they will like it." That being
the case, 1 suggested that perhaps they would like it best
if I said nothing at all. But the sergeant shook his heart
Now, on first receiving the mayor's invitation to diune r,
it had occurred to me that I might possibly be
brought into my present predicament; but I had
dismissed the idea from my mind as too disagreeable
to he entertained, and, moreover, as no alien from ray dis-
position and character that Fate surely could not keep such.
resarortihsfortune in store for me. If nothing else prevented, an,
befor:rnkeeeocirrtishee
toc speak.ra y
crack of doom
hemwre wasould thecertaminal3yoringteetrtfiengre
on inexorably and, indeed, I heartily wished that he might
get on and on for ever, and of his wordy wanderings find
gentlet
de
erieraedietr,
Imeya kindest
impart f friend nhdi
man
my
closest
nc
oonefinddan t fthedeignsn
o
experience as a public speaker quite as indifferently as if it
concerned another person. Indeed, it does concern another,
or a mere spectral phenomenon, for it was not I, in my pro-
, per and natural self, that sat there at table or subsequently
rose to speak. At the moment. then, if the choice had
been offered me whether the mayor should let off a
speech at my head or a pistol, I should unhesitatingly
have taken the latter alternative. I had really nothing
nor, which was Qa.
to say, not an idea in my head,
great deal worse, any flowing words or embroidered
Nothing, and
gives nteintceas
ciunnnwihnigehastpoecdtroesfsout intelligence,
empty
such as might last
a the poor vactity the little time it had to live. But time
peurelosgseisdti;ctohfethmeauyonritebarosutgahtets,his
and
igrehmahrikys, affectionately
corapliznentary
to their distinguished representative at the table, to a close,
amid a vast deal of cheering; and the band atruck up.
"Hail Columbia," I believe, though it might have beeq
" Old Hundred," or " God Save the Queen" over agaiv,
for anything that I should have known or cared. -Who,
the music ceased, there was an intensely disagreeal2l,3
instant, during which I seemed to rend away and fling ofir
the habit of a lifetime, and rose, still void of ideas, but
with preternatural composure,e
to make a speech. Tb
guests rattled on the table, mid cried " Hear ' most vet
ferously, as if now, at length, in this foolish and idly gar-
rulous world, had come the long-expected moment when
one gold word was to be spoken ; and in that imminer
crisis I caught a glimpse of a little bit of an effusion of it t-
ternational sentiment, which it might, and must, and should
do to utter. Well; it was nothing, as the aargeant hod
said. What surprised me most was the sound of my oa
voice, which I had never before heard at a declamatory
pitch, and which impressed me as belonging to some otb.er
person, who, and not myself, would be responsible for .the
speech : a prodigious consolation and encouragement
under the circumstances ! I went on without the
slightest embarrassment, and sat down amid great ap-
plause, wholly undeserved by anything that I had spoken,
but well won from Englishmen, methought, by the new
development of pluck that alone had enabled me to speak
at all.—Nathaniel Hawthorne's " Our Old Home."