The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-06 00:00:00

" good and excellent" First Lord of the Treasury,
and of "the leading journal," he could do as he
thought proper in all respects. He has at length
made the discovery that Englishmen are not quite
so easily led by the nose as he had imagined—
that the voice of public opinion in the Western
Isles will penetrate into the inmost recesses of the
Cabinet, and that no Minister can venture long to
resist " the pressure from without"—more potent
than even the hug of his own bear. He has also
made the unwelcome discovery that Turkey is
even better prepared for the contest than he had
supposed possible ; and that with such assistance
as she can and will receive from the Maritime
Powers, she may defy his utmost exertions, and
possibly retaliate by carrying the war into his own
country—that the co-operation of the Times and
ABERDEEN, coupled even with the tergiversation
and treachery of Austria, are inadequate to the
complete carrying out his nefarious projects. He
has never been very scrupulous as to the complete,
correspondence of his " sayings and doings," and
a slight concealment of his intentions—nay, even
a postponement to a more convenient season, of the
partition of Turkey—may possibly suit his pre-
sent views. It is therefore very probable that he
would now thankfully accept the original Vienna
Note, coupled with an interpretation or ex-
planation of its provisions, which would go
far to remove its objectionable character, and
to place it in a very different light from that
in which it was viewed at Constantinople and St.
Petersburgh by REDSCHID PACHA and Count NES-
SELRODE-11iS high sense of "dignity " alone pre-
venting him from receiving it with all the modifi-
cations. But he threw off the disguise too soon
for this purpose. Any future negotiations must
be based on a document complete in itself, which
may be read, and its meaning understood, with-
out any reflected or borrowed light from collateral
" explanations." Any such compromise would
be worse than useless—it would merely postpone
the evil day, and allow the unscrupulous and un-
conscientious invader to carry out his plans on
the first favourable opportunity, which would but
too soon arise. In such case " the snake would
be but scotched, not killed." The elements of
disturbance would remain with undiminished
force, to burst into flame at an untoward
time. We cannot think so much of the dig-
nity of the man who thought so lightly of the
dignity of others. He has got himself into the
scrape, let him wriggle out of it as he best can.
He may rest assured that, under any circum-
stances, he cannot be more disgraced than he has
already been through his insolent and domineer-
ing manifestoes, his unwarrantable aggressions,
and his grasping cupidity. These may leave in-
delible brands on his character, notwithstanding
the submissions he may now make. Pity it is
that the indomitable pride of a single human
being should be capable of inflicting such calami-
ties on the whole family of mankind—that all
must suffer for the faults and perversity of one.
But such is the necessary consequence of des-
potism, which must be banished from the world
before we can hope for permanent tranquillity or
the realisation of the aspiration that,

" When kings assert their right,
The men who make the quarrel be the only men to fight."

That tha ordinary penny receipt stamp, which
will come into operation from and after the 10th
instant, is destined to exercise a material influence
in the every-day transactions of life, is certain.
Every person of moderate means will require to
keep a stock by him ; and it is by no means im-
possible that they may constitute a new paper
currency of small denomination, that would prove
exceedingly convenient to the community, more
especially during the comparative deficiency of
the copper coinage that must arise during the state
of transition to the decimal system, and which
indeed is already spoken of. When every transac-
tion amounting to 2/. or upwards will render
necessary the use of one of these stamps, it is
scarcely necessary to say that they will generally
be accepted. The humblest person will thank-
fully receive that for which, although ho may
have no use of it himself, he is certain of obtaining
full value from any tradesman or shopkeeper with
whom he deals. They will also afford opportu-
nities of liquidating small accounts by post that
are now frequently obliged to stand over, greatly
to the annoyance of the creditors. Indeed, there
will henceforward be no plausible excuse for the
neglect of such claims. The postage-stamps par-
tially performed this duty ; and we read in the
pages of our amusing contemporary, Household
Words, an interesting narrative of a tour, during
the course of which the writer was rescued from
a very embarrassing and unpleasant position in
a small village in North Wales, by the possession
of a few postage stamps, and finding a person,
even in that remote district, who understood their
use, and was willing to give money in exchange.
Their exchangeable value was, however, greatly
impaired by the regulation which imposed a
penalty on any person who sold or disposed of
them without a license, and the consequent limi-
tation of the demand to those that might be re-
quired for the personal use of the individual who
might accept them iri payment of any demand.
No prosecution was ever instituted for the sale of
these substitutes for money, and a similar right,
or at least immunity, will no doubt be afforded to
persons dealing in the new receipt stamps. In-
deed it appears by the New Stamp Act that such
an exemption was contemplated by Parliament,
as it expressly provided that " Persons authorised
by the Postmaster-General may sell postage
stamps, or carry about the same for sale, without
being subject to any penalty." The use, therefore,
of such stamps would be materially promoted, and
the public convenience provided for, by the power
thus virtually conferred upon any person of re-
ceiving money in exchange, and everything that
could be desired would be achieved if the postage
and receipt stamps were convertible, so that either
would free a letter, or justify the acknowledg-
ment of payment of a sum exceeding 2/. sterling, or
a cheque made payable to order, or at a distance
exceeding ten miles from the place where it is
made payable.
There is no earthly reason why this should not
be the case, or why one should not answer the
purpose of the other in every case. And yet we
find by an unaccountable instance of perversity
that such is not to be the case ; but that a stamp
specially prepared must be used for receipts, while
the old postage stamp must be resorted to for the
transmission of letters through post. Now, we
ask what can be the meaning of this most absurd
and vexatious regulation ? The object of the
Legislature was to ensure the payment of a cer-
tain duty on the transmission of every letter, and
the signing of every receipt. The duty was the
same in each case, and surely that object would
be accomplished under whatever name the money
was paid. The receipt into the Exchequer would
be as useful, whether it went under the head of
" Post-office," or of. " Stamps." The money
should be paid in each instance. What then can
be the purpose of maintaining an absurd distinc-
tion where there is no real difference?
It may be asserted that the distinction is re-
quired in order that the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer may be enabled to state exactly the pro-
ceeds of each branch of the revenue—that ho
may have the additional element to guide his cal-
culations, as to future fiscal changes. Never was
there a more ridiculous reason assigned, a more
Untenable argument put forward. It is one only
worthy of the philosopher who thought the cat
and her kittens required different modes of
entrance, and that the latter could , not make
their way through the same passage as their parent.
It is quite clear that if the entire quantity of
stamps sold were known, and the number that
were applied to postal purposes also ascertained
(as it would! be without difficulty), the balance