The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-26 00:00:00

mouth—.

of January next.
My Lords will communicate with the Public
Departments with regard to the mode of charging
the letters of such Departments.
Transmit a copy of this Minute officially to the
Postmaster-General, and desire his Lordship will
give the necessary instructions to his officers to
carry the dirctiuns of my Lords into effect.
Desire also ti►at he will direct the Solicitor of
the Post-office to prepare a draft of a warrant in
conformity with the provisions of the Postage Acts,
to be signed by my Lords, and inserted in the
Gazette, pursuant to the provisions of the Act,
2 and.3,lst Vic. cap. 52.
My Lords, in carrying the reduced rates'
postage into operation, feel it their paramoun
duty to provide against any disarrangement which
a great influx of letters posted at the last moment
might occasion in the business of the Post-office.
Whilst their Lordships are most umwilling
that there should be any positive curtailment of
the time allowed to the public in posting letters,
their Lordships feel it necessary, in the first in-
stance, at least, to hold out an inducement to the
public not to delay the posting of letters to a late
period by restricting the benefit of the
full reduction to those letters which shall
be ,posted early. And their Lordships,
with this view, are pleased to authorise
the Postmaster-General to close the letter.
boxes throughout London at five o'clock;
and in the country an hour, or half an hour earlier
than at present, according to the circumstances of
each place.
My Lords, direct that the fees for late letters be
charged as follows:
From the future hour of closing each box, until
the present hour, one penny per letter, or packet,
without regard to its weight ; and after the present
hour of closing each box, twopence per letter, or
packet, except where a larger fee is now established
in which case the present fee will continue,
Instruct the Postmaster-General to make ar-
rangements for carrying to the general revenue
the fees for late letters, at the same time sub-
mitting for the consideration of this Board, any
cases for compensation which he may consider ne-
cessary.

THE CLUBEN DOWAGER'S HOUSEHOLD...—.
Lord Barrington hits addressed the Chronicle on the
subject of the accusations brought against himself and
sister, and his Lordship's says—" I distinctly assert that
at the Queen Dowager's table I have never heard any
language used with reference to the reigning Sovereign
but that of the most loyal attachment and respect ;
and, Sir, if either of us could be guilty of that which
you impute to us, at any time or in any place, we should
not only be unfit guests at her Majesty's table, but Lady
Barrington would be most justly dismissed from the
situation she has the honour and happiness to hold in
her Majesty's service."
We have good authority for stating, and we
make the statement with a good deal of pleasure, that
Lord Ward has never directed, nor authorised, the re.
quisition to be preferred to his highly-respectable te.
nnitry, which ie a letter signed " Spectator," published
in our last number, Is so temperately, yet justly and
orcibly deprecated.—Worcestershire Chronic.le.
MANCHESTER ANTI-CORN LAW DINNER.—
The preparations for this dinner are progressing. The
pavilion is to he fifty yards in length by thirty-five
yards in width, with an average height of twenty-one
feet,—the extreme height along the centre being up-
wards of thirty feet. It will consist of three aisles, the
centre having a roof of pointed arches. The chair is to be
piaced in the centre of one of the Rides i and over the
opposite side of both ends, galleries are to be con-
structed to accommodate about 600 guests; so that it is
expected the pavilion will seat about 4,000 persons. We
have seen an entirely new invention applied to the pro-
duction of the numerous flags and banners required for
the decoration of the pavilion,—an invention which, we
understand, is patented by Messrs. J. and C. Yates, of
Charlotte-street, and the process of which is carried on at
their works in Derbyshire. It is a process of printing in
silver upon glazed calico. The draperies of the pa-
vilion are to he of pink and white, and upon these can
he printed, by means of blocks, the royal arms, or any
other devioe for standards, banners, flags, 4c. ; and
understand that, in honour of the occasion, the whole
of these trophies and decorations which may be re-
quired, are to be contributed by Messrs. Yates, gra-
tuitously, notwithstanding the cost to themselves of
cutting the blocks, printing, and the quantity of cloth
requisite for this purpose. Since Saturday, letters have
been received from three other Members of Parliament,
accepting the invitation to be present,—Joshua Schole-
field, Esq. (Birmingham), H. 4, Aglionby, Esq.
(Cockermouth), and Henry Marsland, Esq. (Stockport.)
The number of tickets disposed of is upwards of 2,400.
—Nallchets*?' cPqrakitt,

The Earl and Countess of Wilton arrived on
Tuesday, at their house in Grosvenor-square, from

Not exceeding 2 oz. in weight—ld.
Exceeding 2 oz. and not exceeding, 4 oz-2d.
And so on, an additional penny for every additional
two ounces, without limitation as to weight, such
charge to be the same whether pre-paid or not.
Their Lordships, however, consider it will
be proper that the Postmaster-General should
be authorized, in cases where it may appear
necessary so to act, to postpone the despatch of
Parliamentary proceedings for twenty-four hours,
their Lordships being aware that the greatest in-
convenience frequently has arisen from the very
large influx of heavy parliamentary papers. And
their Lordships therefore are pleased to call the
Postmaster-General's attention to this point, with
a view of his making such regulations as may be
required.

The privileges now attached to addresses to her
Majesty, to Parliamentary petitions, to newspapers,
and to the letters of soldiers and sailors engaged in
service abroad, to remain unaltered except that a
soldier's or sailor's single letter will be interpreted
to mean a letter not exceeding half an ounce in
weight.

It any privileged letter or other article become
liable to the full letter rates of postage, such
rates to be charged according to the scale, of rates
herein established for letters. The treble duty to
which newspapers in certain cases become liable
to be calculated according to the same scale.
All privileges, except those already enumerated,
to cease.

The following are exceptions to the regulatioi
which restricts the amount of weight to 16 oz.:-
1. Parliamentary proceedings, as already named
2. Addresses to her Majesty, and Parliamentar,
petitions.

3. Letters and packets received from or addressed
to places beyond the limits of the United Kingdom.
4. Letters and packets addressed to, or despatched
by the Government Departments, or such officer as
may now have the privilege of franking by virtue of
Ins office ;—and
5. Deeds, if transmitted under such regulations
as the Postmaster-General may consider necessary
to prevent abuse of the privilege.
In consideration of the reduction now made in the
postage of ship-letters, and the probable increase of
such letters, the master's gratuities will be reduced to
2s. 6d. per 100 for all letters, newspapers, and other
other packets conveyed between one part of the
United Kingdom and another. At the same time,
gratuities of one penny per letter or packet, and
one halfpenny per newspaper, will be given to the
masters of ships trading to the East Indies, on
the same conditions as those now applying to other
ship-letters and papers.
With reference to the arrangements herein made,
the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man are to be
considered as parts of the United Kingdom, and
the lonian Isles and Honduras as British colonies.
My Lords are of opinion that the whole of these
arrangements should apply to all letters and packets
posted within the United Kingdom, or (it brought
from abroad), first delivered up to any Post-office
within the United Kingdom, on or after the 10th