The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-22 00:00:00

On Friday evening last, the Guardian Society of this
°°wO, established in 1823, for the protection of trade,
tcelebrated its twenty-fourth anniversary by a public
uner, at Eastwood's Royal Hotel, where exaetly one
the
and forty gentlemen were entertained with all
'"e substantials and elegancies which that first-rate
thouse is so well-known to afford. More than usual in-
reat Was excited on the present occasion by the fact
that 'lowland Hill, Esq., the distinguished originator of
..i...Penny Postage' system, had accepted the society's
iodation to dine with them.
I:!The chair was occupied by Mr. Denton, the President
the Society for the past year. On his right sat George
10l Lawrence, Esq., Mayor of Liverpool, Mr. Conn-
Tinne, and Mr. Councillor Parker ; on his left were
4▪
ovriand Hill, Esq.. Mr. John Smith, of the Liverpool
ittEercury and Mr. Evens, the Society's solicitor. At
Of the
came table we observed Mr. Manchester, President
.'
the Preston Guardian Society; Mr. Walihew, Presi-
*dent of the Houseowners' Guardian Society; Mr. Fran-
Ireon, Sergeant at Mace of this b3rough; Mr. Wrenn,
tessurer of the Society; Mr. Coward, Mr. Condliffe,
the
Mr. White, Immediately in front were Mr. Keay,
the
Secretary of the Society; Mr. Cottam, Secretary of
'le Manchester Guardian Society ; Mr. Hemming, Se-
°flretary of the Birmingham Guardian Society;, and Mr.
k4rr, Secretary of the Preston Guardian Society. The
,h....tieeschair was occupied by Mr. Richard Crossley, in the
117nce of Mr. J. R. Jeffery, the President elect. As
as the cloth was withdrawn, the Secretary read
-..n45,1" of apology for unavoidable absence from Lord
1)4111' ~,M.P., Sir Howard Douglas, M.P., William
few. Mr. Alderman Watkins, President
° the Manchester M.P.'Guardian Society, and other gentle-
r who had been invited.
Theol4 CaAIRDIA.N proposed the health of the Queen and
I,9ther usual loyal and patriotic toasts.
stfa Joust SMlrri rose, and expressed the pleasure it
tf isleed him to have been requested by the committee
of I''''P.sse the health of one of the greatest benefactors
fotftrtthl: the
„ssji.:,oeunnntyry, and of the world—(Cheers)—the author
Post System—(Cheers)--one who, though
trom being an old man, was an old friend of his,
.1
dratr' Rowland Hill.— (Loud cheering.) When Mr. Hill's
the copd taphlet, advocating that noble measure, appeared,.
to is. PY which Mr. Hill had been good enough
to send
to followed him to Dublin, where he read it aloud
a social and fashionable party, whose attention was
Ztted to it as much as if it had been one of the
the St P°Pular novels• the men of business felt keenly
•
rt;evils of the old system, the cost of correspondence,
idsteaetnh;tetzble which one friend imposed upon another
visl')Le
letters to parties in towns they might
those who had near and dear relations a t a
were
tlaerevi-
consci (I
even
constantly annoyed by the. long delays_
°us cost attending written communications with
conscious
°f the young ladies were not und
(Loud would
the advantages which the proposed
confer in certain affaires du
.cceur:—
to the of
and cheers.) It was a high gratification
Ver
tunit
vat Y of testifying
Pool Guardian Society to have the oppor-
se,or°' The health
thefir gratitude to tghieveanutahmoridosft
loud
o Mr. was -rr tame.
kr, P
pan ' —owiiND HILL on rising to address the corn-
pant received with rapturous welcome.—(Ehnthu-d
t:• le Plaudits continuing for some time.)
whichege
bad
his friend Mr. Smith for the manner in
Truerproposed, and the company at large for. the
Truer in which they had received the toast justtgeiv7nn:
? had done himself the pleasure of accepting h
oilation with which the society had honoured himk for-
4ieveral reasons—first, that he might in person ac nosy
ge the friendly interest the society had taken in
5
at go
ofir.b. much
. concerned himself ; secondly, that he
explain the nature of the duties attaching to
and
nis.
Present position in connexion with the Post-office ;
se°ve all, that he might investigate on the, spot those
"'tY, ,
e defects in the po
ably stated', fromstal arrangements of thitisme,
lo-
„dwhich
c° the Mercury. It was a matter of personal
orenience to himself that his duties in the
°lt' office should be clearly understood, as the
erroneous ideas which prevailed respecting them had
Ihrolved him in a correspondence which occupied time
...which ought to be devoted to other subjects. His duties
srere to advise the Postmaster- General, on all points
1° which his Lordship might be pleased to direct his
eitention, and to carry out gradually the remainder of
his own system of Post-office improvement, of which
the penn rate was onl one fa ge-
neral understanding to this effect,eature .he nWhout edit scarcely say
(that he should not have felt justified in accepting office.
Cheers.) Of the management of the present details he
had no control whatever. But though a slight considera-
tion would show that it was impossible that he could ex-
ercise any direct power in the Post-office, he had the
good fortune to serve under a nobleman who, with ex-
cellent business habits, united a thorough appreciation of
the duties and responsibilities of his important office, and
who was sincerely desirous of making the institution,
over which he presides, as useful to the public as pos-
sible. He wished to convey to his hearers some idea of
the magnitude of the institution. Were he merely to
state that so many millions of letters passed through the
Post-office in a year, no one could form any accurate con-
ception of the reality. The best mode probably to con-
teY any idea of the whole, would be for him to describe
Some isart. For instance, last night, when he left Lon-
°l3, he was at Euston-square when the mail was brought
"' to go by the train, this being only one of many
Which are dispatched by railways. It was considered an
exceedingly light mail ; but small as it was, it literally
filed six large omnibuses • and the heavy mails for-
wfarded on a Saturday night, filled nine carriages of a
cimailar description. Again, the number of dead letters
lace_ the adoption of prepayment had become a very
aoll fraction—less than the two-hundredth part—of the
in such inetetreerrat,heless, the average amount of money found
address wrunild: c:eirne,
sands oofoool. bank notes, and bills of exchange,
per annum.—(Hear, hear.) Many thou-
atever.
dime,
ifiany extensive
therefor actually found in letters with no
--(Laughter.) The company would see,
way
0_ e, that in so vast a machine the difficulties in the
tiote ty was, that changethe machinew er veryewa s Ainnotleur.
:a; it never stood still night or day, and the greatest
arr; fonreruthaiTight, and calculation were !here. fore neces-
constantly great.
naake a mistake
do tot ing alterations. In improving it would not
; that might stop it altogether ;
couldthey rarely try an experiment ; all must be inves •
yi.gaat ci and settled with unerring certainty beforehand.
stteam engine became defective, it could be stopped,
12,0usut
ohcrequisite repairs made ; but not so with the
mind, and He wished the society to bear these facts in
confidence
to continue to him some portion of that. great..
assuring`il'ee which they had hitherto reposed in him,
should be
them that so far as he was concerned no times
of his ir 0° that
in carrying out the remaining portions
liar defPo,,,°•"7-(Cheers.) With reference to the pecu-
r • La in this neighbeurhood, he had not the
beeqruisite local knowledge to spay that
all could
justiertneholied, but he thought he had heard enough to
Proei in saying that there was much room for im-
aeraent, whilst there were reasons for adhering to
in3thexitting arrangements which, no doubt, appeared
chewer"' It might seem to many' absurd that letters
tended be carried past a town for which they were in-
and then brought back ; but it was not really
town soak
It arose frozn the impossibility of every
fete 1316/king up a bag for every other town. There
vs
_as out one thousand post towns, and if every one
made up ono thousand bags, there would bhe a
oftmilli is of bags
him fact, more bags than letters. It a
4;1:1 taethe
often struck that some pains should be taken to
"5u..115: main features of the Post-office system intelli-
people. There was no department of Go-
lsen', ',nent which came so much into contact with the
and it was advisable that they should know what
ranger.,
-.ems were capable of improvement and what
were
tie. not- His desire had ever been, in all the difficul-
ties and opposition with which he had to struggle, to
be eto the institution, and he was happy to
tonne to say that even before he went to the Post-
tiainstructions had been sent to the surveyors to
.acertain returns with reference to the distribution
neighbourhood; though, owing to the many other
beenduties they
with had to perform, these returns had not yet
g_to the company
eatio n'atte•—(Hear, hear.) Perhaps it might be inter-
to revert to a few facts connected
......(ctese change produced by the plan of penny postage.
redo s ra.) Immediately before the introduction of the
ter cenrate of postage, the number of chargeable let-
sevent not
including franks —delivered amounted to
Y.
ve
millions annually. Last year it had
a amounted to two hundred and ninety-nine millions and
half,or to four-fold the o •number. It would re-
quire something m rigma
ore than that to bring the Post-office
Irertold voniie up to the former gross amount; but less than
ts would effect that object. At the present moment
the number of letters delivered in the London district,
comprising a circle of 12 miles round the Post-office, St.
liartin's-le-Grand, was as great •
a that which, under the
bid system, was deliveredinthes King-
dom. The increase was rapidly whole United King-
to twenty-eight millions last regaoring on, and amounted
previous year. It was the opinion
oTinpared with the
that the introduction of the
penny gentlemen,
y rate increased the
difficulty of effecting improvements. It was said they
could not afford to give cheap postage, and greater faci-
lities also ; but, in fact. improvements had followed one
another more rapidly since the penny postage came into
operation than before. When the plan was first pro-
posed, the large towns had only a single mail connecting
them with London : now they have two mails per day.
Again—ln England and Wales there were formerly only
two thousand post-offices of every kind ; now there were
four thousand. There was a growing conviction in the
Minds of all connected with the Post-office, that to make
the
establishment profitable, they must make it as use-
ful as possible, and to that great object his best efforts
should be devoted. Mr. Hill concluded amidst great
Cheering.
After some other toasts, the company separated a
little before twelve o'clock.

bDEATH OF ADMIRAL SIR WILLOUGHBY LAKE,
e-B•—This distinguished officer expired at Blackheath on
e 18th inst., aged seventy-four, and after a connexion with
the I3ritish navy of nearly sixty years duration. He was the
second son of Sir James Hunter Lake, Bart. At an early
age he entered the navy, and after a probationary service as
midshipman was appointed Lieutenant, November 22, 1790,
his other commissions being thus dated :—Commander,
November 22, 1794; Post-Captain, January 4, 1796; Rear-
Admiral, August 12, 1819 ; Vice-Admiral, July 22, 1530 ;
An
Admiral, November 23, 1841. Sir Willoughby was
Captain of the Magnificent, in Sir Home Popham's squadron,
on the north coast of Spain, in 1812 ; and, during the Penin-
landlar war, commanded a division of seamen and marines,
ed to co-operate with the guerillas. In some skirmishes
honwhich ensued he was twice wounded. In 1812 he was
ourably mentioned for his services in the London Gazette.
-1, 1324., dur7r;;e, L ;rd. 15.c!,-1!1-:', Admini,traii,;ll at tb,
~,t,O-1111p..41ty. lie Via, .11'1,0,;,.; Co!nmauder-in-Chief on tie
-i',4,!1.t1 American station, and in that capacity remained until
.‘,.°.°%• Sir Willoughby married, in 1795, the daughter of
, ~ •
lee-A•urniral John M'Bride. He was in the enjoyment of a
Pension of 300/. per annum, in addition to half-pay.