The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-27 00:00:00

EVENING 14,DITION.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC, AND INSTRUCTIONS
TO ALL POSTMASTERS.

GENERAL POST-OFFICE, DEC. 20, 1839.
IN consequence of the great increase of Letters
iontaining Coin, it has become necessary, in order to pre-
vent et total interruption of the Service, to discontinue the
systny which has hitherto prevailed of entering the Addresses
of itch Letters, and taking receipts for them on delivery to the
owners.

The practice, therefore, of entering such Letters as Money
Letters will cease on and after the lst of January, 1840 ; after
which time, parties having occasion to transmit small sums in
cash, are recommended to makeuse of the MONEY ORDER
OFFICE, where they will incur no risk, while those who may
desire to remit Bank Notes, or Drafts payable to Bearer, are
requested to cut them in half, sending each half, if possible, by
two different Posts. In the case of Bank Notes, or Bank Port
Bills being sent, the Numbers, Dates, and Amounts should be
carefully taken.
Money Orders for Sums under W. are granted by every
Post Town upon every other Post Town in the United King-
dom on application at the various Offices.
By command,
W. L. lIIABERLY, Secretary.

TO THE ELECTORS AND NON-
ELECTORS OF THE DUMFRIES DISTRICT
OF BURGHS.

SECOND MANIFESTO.

In offering myself as your Representative, I will plead no
other merit than that of being a Citizen, and that, in so far as
the prosperity of my country is concerned, I will admit myself
second to none, and in so far as the improvement of the Indi-
vidual Burghs may be desired by the inhabitants of each, my
exertions shall be anxious, unwearied, and persevering.
In stating my view of the Suffrage, I cannot conceive that
because I possess a Ten-pound house that that should give me
a right to the sole exercise of the Franchise, to the exclusion of
Others every way qualified to possess that right. I maintain
that every male inhabitant of the district in which he resides
has the right to exercise the Suffrage, under the qualification,
that he be twenty-one years of age, have had his residence for
three months, and be registered. This right is pled for by the
Duke of Richmond, in his letter, dated August 6, 1783, ad-
dressed to Lieut.-Col. Sharman, Chairman of the Committee of
Correspondence at Belfast, in which he states—" The subject
of a Parliamentary Reform is that which of all others, in my
opinion, most deserves the attention of the public, as I con-
ceive it would include every other advantage which a nation
can wish, and I have no hesitation in saying that, from every
consideration which I have been able to give to this great ques-
tion, that many years has occupied my mind, and from every
day's experience to the present hour, I am more and more con-
vinced that the restoring the right of voting universally to every
man not incapacited by nature for want of reason, or by law
for the commission of crimes; together with annual elections,
is the only reform that can be effectual and permanent. lam
farther convinced that it is the only reform that is practicable."
leis beyond the possibility pi' doabt a return to the ancient law.
In considering the duration of Parliament, I am of opinion
that the country can suffer no injury by an Annual Election;
I consider that, under the present law, your representative
should be pledged to return on the 25th of December of each
year.
There are only two parties in this country, the oppressors and
the oppressed ; it is necessary to protect the weak, and there is
no other mode pointed out at present than the Ballot.
It is unjust and injurious to require a Property Qualification.
Godwin, in his inquiry concerning political justice, says, " It
is anuncommon strain of tyranny to call upon men to appoint
for themselves a delegate, and at the same time forbid them to
appoint exactly the man whom they may judge fittest for the
office. Qualification in both kinds is the most flagrant injustice ;
it asserts the man to be of less value than his property."
Payment of Members is a just award on the one hand, and
a preventative of corruption on the other.
It is judicious and proper to take the sense of the country
•
by an equal division of Electoral Districts.
In considering the Entail Laws, I am of opinion that these
laws are adverse to the interests of this country ; it is impossi-
ble to calculate the extent of loss and gross injustice which has
been effected under the sanction of these laws. Ruin
to many merchants and mechanics, an increased pension
list, and an unjust appropriation of the nation's means by pro-
viding places for the younger branches of the family, are
clearly demonstrated.
After an anxious examination of the Currency Question, I
see no alternative but a declaration, that there shall be no pri-
vileges ; all must stand alike, the confidence of the people being
their safeguard. If this were not acceded to I would main-
tain the justice of a return to a Metallic Currency.
I think it proper to bring under your notice the mode of
procedure adopted in enforcing a claim on demand, or a pos-
sessory right under the Civil Law.
_ln all cases where the

sum or de-mand is above the Small Debt Act, or where the
possession of property is asked, the expense and delay is unjust
and ruinous, and contrary to the Barons of England's Declara-
tion, that justice shall not be denied, delayed, or sold. The
only mode of obtaining cheap and speedy justice is a return to
the ancient practice of oral pleading. The extension of the
Small Debt Act in the Inferior Courts to twenty pounds, and
three Judges of the Supreme Court set apart for the determi-
nation of claims or demands, and possessory rights, where the
subject matter in dispute exceeded twenty pounds, and did not
exceed one hundred, upon the principle of the Small Debt
Act, would be a boon. I consider the Small Debt Act has
given much satisfaction, and it only requires to be extended to
prove farther its intrinsic worth.

In viewing the question of conveyancing and transfer of
heritable property, I beg to state that I can find none who
justify the multiplied expense in completing a title to, or
otherwise transferring, heritable property. What will prove a
beneficial remedy is an enactment, that all titles shall be laid be-
fore the Sheriff, who will grant a:charter, which will be recorded
and handed to the proprietor at an expense of a few shillings,
and in any transfer the contracting parties producing the char-
ter may have the transfer completed. There is another mode
by which cheapness may be attained, the present practice of
taking infeftment might be adopted, the form considerably
abridged, the Sheriff-clerk for counties, and the Town-clerk for
burghs, taking infeftment, the instrument to be signed by the
transferrer, there being a table of fees according to the value of
the subject. This would allow a transfer of property value 2001.
to be completed for twenty shillings, instead of ten pounds, as
at present ; and it would prove lucrative to the clerks, the
Legislature would be entitled to abolish the Court fees.
The question of a Main Line of Railway for Scotland is pro-
perly agitated by the people. England has benefited enormously
by the absenteeism of our aristocracy, and the establishment of
a permanent Court in London, we are therefore fairly entitled
to demand aid in the accomplishment of this laudable object
from the nation's funds.

It appears to me that ream, common sense, and the feeling
of the country, demand the abolition of the Law of Patronage.
I hold that there is no vested right in the patron.
I am of op,nion that were the people awarded their just
rights, they would find that in our mixed Constitution and fbrm
of Government, there is wisdom to discern the real interests
of the community, goodness to endeavour always to pursue
that real interest, and rower to carry this knowledge and inten-
tion into action.
The question of Education has been much discussed. The
fee charged, ss. and 7s. 6d. per quarter, in the Dumfries
Academy, is shamefully exorbitant; it is a denial of instruction
to the industrious classes. The principle adopted in Dublin of
charging Is. 6d. per quarter, would be of the greatest advan-
tage, and the evidence of the increase of pupils, end a dissemina-
tion of knowledge, would be highly creditable to the Magistracy
who carried the adoption of so just a measure. The degree of
knowledge, necessary to be communicated to every member of
society, is the principles of the national language, writing, the
elementary rules of arithmetic, principles of drawing, and
measurement of lands, the elements of religion, the principles
of morality, the principles of the Constitution ; the physical,
intellectual, and moral faculties to be expanded as far as is
consistent with the age of the pupils.
In treating of our Taxation and Expenditure, after consulting
almost every author who has written upon the subject, I con-
sider that a House of Commons truly representing the feelings
of the people, and possessing that which is the essental cha-
racter of the democratic part of the Constitution—virtue, may
come to a vote, that the taxation and expenditure of Great
Britain and Ireland do not exceed ten millions.

In considering the situation of Ireland, I would demand
equal laws and equal rights.
If a better attention is not paid to Scotland's demands for an
amelioration of onr condition, I shall, in my Third Manifesto,
plead for the people calling for a Repeal of the Legislative Union.
I am your devoted servant,
JOHN CHARLES CHARTERIS DAWSON.
Dumfries, December 23, 1839.