The Sun.
London, England, 1834-02-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The consequences of the changes in the Post-
office arrangements, and of the breaking up of the
monopoly of the Post-office clerks in the purchase
and transmission of foreign newspapers, which we
mentioned on Wednesday, must be of great impor-
tance to the whole empire, and must be almost im
mediately and beneficially felt both at home and
abroad. The present practice, in respect both to
the transmission of domestic and foreign journals,
or, at least, in respect to the arbitrary power exer-
cised by the Post-office subalterns upon both, has
long been pointed out by us as an intolerable
grievance, demanding a speedy remedy. If we were
disposed to admit (as we have never been back-
ward to do in similar cases) that the emoluments of
the existing clerks were not more than adequate to
the extent of their labours, still we were bound
strongly to reprobate and condemn that system by
which they were paid in a manner calculated to de-
feat one of the main objects of the institution which
they were appointed to administer. The Post-
office is avowedly made a source of considerable
revenue to the State, after paying all the necessary
expenses incidental to its management; but even
though, on the contrary, it were a positive
charge on the public income, its obvious uti-
lity and general convenience ought to in-
sure its safety and efficiency. What, then,
shall be said of the paltry perquisites of 7,0001. or
8,0001. a-year, whose exaction by the clerks or the
subalterns of the establishment have had the effect
of controlling or limiting the transmission of intelli-
gence, and thus of crippling one of the most bene-
ficial and magnificent institutions of which any
country ever could boast ? By the abandonment of
the claims, or the abolition of the privileges, of the
Post-office clerks, over the introduction of foreign
journals, all obstacles are now removed to the ar-
rangements which foreign post-offices were disposed
to form with ours, on the subject of transmitting
newspapers to their destination, whether in this
country or abroad. In speaking about the negotia-
tions of the Director-General of the posts in France,
who came to London last spring to make a settle-
ment better adapted to the increasing intimacy and
frequency of intercourse between the two countries,
we mentioned that one of his objects was to pro-
cure an equitable exchange of the journals of France
and England at a reasonable ra'e of postage. We
mentioned at the same time, that his liberal offer,

were resisted by the subaltern authority of the
Eaglish plenipotentiary on the miserable considera-
tion that the clerks of the office would thus
be deprived of their monopolizing perquisites.
The proposition of the French Government evinced
then no inconsiderable self-denial, and certainly a
great disposition to secure for France such an ac-
quaintance with English affairs as newspapers can
supply. They offered to exchange newspaper for
newspaper, at the same rate of transmission, though
one of our broad sheets would contain nearly one-
halt or one-third of all the Paris journals put toge-
ther. The negotiation on this subject, which was
broken off in consequence of influences with which
we are certain the Noble Duke at the head of the
establishment had nothing to do, may now be re-
newed with the greatest certainty of success. The
arrangement made on this point with France will,
no doubt, extend to Belgium, and perhaps to the
rest of the Continent ; so that the foreigners or
English travellers desirous of reading the discus-
sions in the English Parliament, or of being made
acquainted with the political disputes and domestic
interests of our country, will not be obliged to re-
sort to the meagre details of Galignani, or to the
partial extracts of other foreign journals, for their
limited information of English affairs. This we
reckon in itself an immense advantage. It will
tend, so far as it goes, to extend the knowledge
of the English language, and, we trust, a
respect for English institutions. It will connect
an acquaintance with our sentiments and
opinions, on great political, commercial, and
moral questions, with the agitating events of the
day, and thus secure their general diffusion, if not
adoption. It will thus enlarge the circle of English
influence in the same way as that of France was
extended by the spread of her lighter literature, of
that of Spain by her theatrical entertainments be-
fore the bigotry of the Philips had limited the con-
fines of their sway. At present our own news-
papers are transmitted to any part of the United
kingdom duty free, and there is no reason why they
should be charged with any duty on being sent
abroad. If such a rule were adopted at home, and
if we offered, as we might safely do, to give the
same facilities to foreign journals as to our own, on
an understanding of reciprocity, we should not only
aid in making England known to the Continent, but
the Continent known to England. Any objection
to such an arrangement, grounded on the hypothesis
that by opening wide the English post-bag for the
reception of all newspapers from abroad, we might
encourage the printing of English newspapers at
Calais or Ostend to avoid the British stamp duties,

..... .
is perfectly ridiculous. What wiseacre would
fix his engine in France or Belgium to work
against the English Stamp-office, when by the
very distance and delay, the priority of intelligence,
which constitutes its only value, would be lost before
his tardy journal could reach the market ? Admit-
ting that our own newspapers may have been ori-
ginally transmitted duty free in consideration of the
amount of impost which they pay to the Stamp-
office, it would appear to us to be absurd to apply
the rules of our Stamp-office to foreign journals.
Such a charge would amount in most cases to a
prohilltion upon their introduction; and as it would
certainly be made the subject of retalia,ion among
our neighbours, would defeat all expectation of effec-
tually circulating English journals on the continent.
The stamp duties on French journals are low com-
pred with ours, and the consequence is, that a
Frenchman can read his daily paper for 80f. or
31. *s. ,a year. If we imposed on a French journal
the payment of our stamp duties in addition to those
pf France, its price would be considerably more
than tripled; and if the French retaliated on an
E,7lish newspaper, on the other side of the Chan-
nel it zould be inaccessible except to the wealthiest
class. lnstesrd, therefore, of proposing any equiva-
lent for the stamp duty on the importation of foreign
journals, we ought rather to allow a drawback of
that duty on c pal English journals as are sent
abroad, with an honest understanding that we shall
be met with a reciprocal liberality on the part
of our neighbours. If we were obliged to
,00k out for a precedent for the liberal transmis-
sion of foreign newspapers by a friendly
Mete—a precedent which ought to guide us
'in &ugh matters—we would go to the United States
pf America, where an English journal may be
transmitted from New York to the British lines in
Canada at the small charge of one halfpenny, or to
any other town of the At Union for three
farthings. Why indeed any additional charge should
be made in England for newspapers destined for
foreign use, it has often puzzled us to understand.
The only trouble which they occasion, for which
any compensation can be demanded, is that of put-
ting them en board the Government packet by the
postmaster of the place whence it sails, and this
postmaster is a Government officer. This trouble
cannot surely exceed that of their distribution at
home among the individuals to whom they are ad-
dressed, if that distribution took place at the sea-
port from which they are shipped. So much we
have found ourselves bound to state respecting the
exchange of our newspapers with foreigner., and
their cheap transmission to foreign stations. Though
now secure of an administrative reform on these
i iv,
mportant ppitit , ; we ought not to forget for a me-
; 'merit Oat a portion of the same vigilance and active
(--,7zeal, necessary to bring about the change which we
1 him announced) will-be required to carry it into
1 coMplefe;_ixe'cutian,:and to insure its permanent
`:"." benefits; he cleats of the Post-office must be jea-
louslr#at heite;pivieent them from doing that by
'the insocry entarkinf others which they have habil-
tl. 'chide Atbblat, disguise, and the pos•mastere of
the country towns must be considered as public ser•

vants, liable to the same control and bound to the
same duties as the agents of the parent establish-
ment. As perquisites are allowed to be bad in
some instances, they ought to be abolished in all.
The clerks of the Post-office ought no more to have
the transmission of unstamped papers for their own
emolument than the monopoly of foreign journals.
We allude to Price Curreats,Lloyd's Lists, and other
publications of this sort, which, by a singular unfair-
ness, and even contrary to law, the clerks of the
Post-office at present send to their customers un-
stamped, while their rivals are obliged to pay the
stamp-duty. We formerly brought forward the
well-grounded complaints of the newsvenders against
the unfair competition of the clerks of the Post-
office and the clerks of the roads, in their useful oc-
cupation. All the arguments which we then em-
ployed remain in full force, and have derived addi-
tional weight from the acknowledgment of their jus-
tice in the contemplated arrangement. We never
despaired of being able to bring on a reform in this
respect with a liberal Government, which under-
stood its duty and its power; and though that reform
has been long delayed, we are not the less grateful
to the noble Chancellor of the Exchequer, and to
his Grace the Pos.master-General, for resolutely
overcoming the obstacles to which their predeces-
sors had yielded, or which they were unable to sur-
mount.— Times.

At a time when the most important interests of
this great empire press upon the attention of the
"collective wisdom" of the nation, the House of
Commons is made an arena for a personal squabble
between a Minister of the Crown and a passionate
lover of popularity, accused of expressing very dif-
ferent sentiments outside the House from those
which he has proclaimed, in the language of fervid
eloquence within the walls. That the charge upon
the latter, taken even in the most mitigated sense,
greatly concerns the personal honour and claims to
political virtue, we are not disposed to deny—but,
if attacks upon personal honour or political integrity,
which are made outside the walls of Parliament,
are to be carried into it for discussion and adjust-
ment, the collective wisdom of the nation will have
enough to do in examining into and deciding upon
charges of political inconsistency and tergiversation,
made at the various hustings and public meetings
throughout the kingdom, against members of its
own body, without troubling itself with those grave
and weighty matters of State which affect the des-
tinies of a great people, and which, long before
the " age of intellect," our simple ancestors used to
consider the proper subject of Parliamentary
discussion. Whether Mr. Sheil holds in politics
two sets of doctrines, as the Stagyrite did
in philosophy—one for the people at large,
and another for those who are favoured with the
more intimate and genuine outpourings of his
heart—is of very little moment, we apprehend, to
the British public. His speeches and arguments
should be dealt with in the House upon their own
merits, and without reference to anything which he
privately says out of it. We admit his constitu-
ents have a deeper interest in his character. If
his political honesty be impeached, they have a
right, or rather it is their duty, to inquire into it—
to examine the evidence of the charge—to support
him if they consider him innocent, and to cashier
him if they pronounce him guilty. It must be in-
deed a very simple constituency that places confi-
dence a second time in a representative once con-
victed of acting with deliberate treachery to his
trust. Before any constituency come to such a de-
cision, however, they should have clear proofs of
guilt—proofs established after the fashion of British
justice, by an accuser coming face to face with the
accused, and not in the style of the Spanish Inqui-
sition, resting upon the dark, unproved impeach-
ment of an anonymous informer, who dare not tirl
muffle his cloak of secrecy, and show his forehead
to the light of day, while he tramples with coward
heel a character to the earth. Of course, if the se-
cret informant of Lord Althorp should even at this
late hour, come forward and substantiate his charge,
our observations will not apply to him or the are;
but, as the matter stands at present, Mr. Shed is
the victim of anonymous accusation, than which a
more unsafe guide never was, to direct men who
love justice in their decisions upon human life, or
upon character, which, to some, is dearer than even
life itself. The charge made by Mr. Hill to his
constituents at Hull against some Irish Members,
relative to their conduct touching the Coercion Bill,
was much stronger than what Lord Althorp now
states as the substance of the secret accusation
against Mr. Shell, and some others. What Ptlr.
Hill was reported to have said was, that "an Irish
Member, who spoke with great violence against
every part, and voted against every clause of the
Coercion Bill, went to Ministers and said, ' Do not
abate one atom of the Bill, for it is impossible to
live in Ireland without it.' " Mr. Hill has qualified
this statement, and denied something that was im-
puted to him respecting the " secret machinery by
which votes are obtained." His own version of
what he stated is, that " a Member of Parliament,
who voted and spoke against the Coercion Bill, had,
in private, communicated to Ministers that the Bill
was necessary, and ought to pass." What Mr.
Hill gives as the corrected account of his state-
ment, we dare say, is correct, but it is very
different from that of which Lord Althorp, on his
second authority,accuses Mr. Sheil ; for he only says
that he had " good reason to believe that some
Irish Members, who voted and spoke with conside-
rable violence against the Bill, did in private con-
versation use very different language." Now,
though we do not approve of the conduct of any
man who, for the sake of either power or popularity,
proclaims opinions in the House of Commons the
contrary of those which he avows in private conver-
sation, yet there is not the same degree of moral
baseness about such conduct as that of him who,
violently opposing a measure in the House which
he declares to be subversive of the Constitution of
his country, sends a secret communication to Minis-
ters to proceed with it as a measure of vital-neces-
sity. We are not admirers of the politics of Mr.
Sheil; but can we, without renouncing all claim to
the slightest regard for English fair play and love
of justice, believe such an accusation against him,
or any man, upon anonymous authority ? We con-
fess we cannot, and therefore we wait for proof.
What both Lord Althorp and Mr. Hill state, we
believe they heard from others ; and, as to the
latter, though he acted without reflection in saying
what he did in the first instance, yet, treated as the
author of calumny, as he has been, we cannot but
give him credit for the long forbearance which he
has exercised, and his persevering refusal to give up
the name of his author. But what is to be said of
the author, if he declines to come forward now,
and take his proper responsibility on himself ?
The case of Mr. Lushington, whose expressions
at the Travellers' Club, relative to the alleged
resignation of Ministers, were so grossly per-
verted in a Morning Paper, upon anonymous autho-
rity is a recent and remarkable instance of the danger
of placing reliance upon the statements of secret
accusers or social spies. With regard to Lord Al-
thorp's conduct in Parliament upon this occasion,
his habitual flatterers in the daily press, have, of
course spoken of it in terms of extravagant eulogy ;
and even some whose principle!, as well as under-
standings, we thought had been made of " sterner
stuff," compliment the " candour" and the ready
manliness with Hhich he took the "responsibility"
on himself. They should, first, have asked them-
selves what responsibility he incurred ? Out of
Parliament, had the avowal been made beyond the
reach of the Speaker's authority, some real respon-
sibility might have been apprehended ; but, as it
was, every man must have foreseen, the moment the
avowal passed his lips, the case became one not to
be decided according to the ancient laws of chivalry,
but according to that Parliamentary code of honour
of which the Sergeant-at-Arms is the expounder.
. We rejoice that it is so—and in bringing it to this
• result Lord Althorp incurred no responsibility what-
. ever, as that term is understood according to the
P false notions of honour which prevail in the
world. He first declares thrt he will not give up

the name of his author, but will take all the re-
sponsibility on himself. Mr. Sheil, of course, ac-
cepts that responsibility as he can get no other.
The House very properly, and as was to be ex-
pected, order both to be taken into custody—and
then comes Lord Althorp and divests himself of the
responsibility which he had just before as-umed,
and declares he will not listen to any vindicatory
communication on the part of Mr. Sheil. This
was very proper and very prudent, but it was to be
expected that the House would insist on such a de-
claration before it allowed him to be liberated. But
was Lord Althorp called upon at all to make the
avowal which he did ? He was asked by Mr.
O'Connell if any Irish Member ever went to him-
self or to any other Minister and made the state-
ment which had been imputed to him ? He answers
in the negative. That was quite sufficient. As a
Minister of the Crown he has public duties to per-
form which ought to make him very careful how he
gets unnecessarily into personal altercation, and im-
pedes the business which he is intrusted to transact.
In the present instance we say there was no necessity
for it whatever ; and if his object was not to injure
certain political opponents, there was more of weak-
ness and idle love of repeating mischievous gossip
than either candour or wisdom in saying what be
did. He had answered Mr. O'Connell's ques-
tions fully and distinctly. A wise statesman would
have stopped there ; but, like an eager witness in a
Court of Justice, he goes beyond the questions
asked, and says that he should not act a manly part
if he did not declare that be had good reasons to
believe what has before been stated, touching the
private conversation of certain opponents of the
Coercion Bill. The question of Mr. Sheil came
naturally upon that ; and hence all the confusion,
excitement, and obstruction of public business in the
deliberative Council of the nation. Now, if Lord
Althorp had chosen to abide by his first declaration
of holding himself responsible to the person whose
honour was assailed, in the sense in which the
world understands the word. what would have be-
come of his functions as Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer ? He must have remained in custody and
have concocted his budget, if at all, as Raleigh
wrote the " History of the World," in his prison-
hours. A Finance Minister casting up his accounts
under the surveillance of a sergeant-at-arms would
be a novel spectacle; but he would have to thank
himself, for that he, while wearing the robes of a
Chancellor of the Exchequer, lost the privileges of
a free-born Briton, and was sent to study the politi-
cal Corker in captivity.—Morning Herald.

The Parliament of the Ministers having again
assembled, and the producible results of their two
first days' proceedings being now before the public,
we shall briefly examine those proceedings, with a
view to ascertain how far the people are likely to
benefit by their senatorial labours. The address
of both Houses to the King is nothing more than
an artful attempt to soften down those expressions
which had been formerly used by the Ministers, and
by which the expectations of the people had been
raised; to allay the hopes of one party and the fears
of another, by deceiving both ; and, by trusting
that broken promises will be forgotten, now that
private ends have been answered, to reconcile the
prolonged sway of those who are ever ready to sa-
crifice truth to their own interests to those forms of
kingly government which it would be open treason
to violate and overthrow. This is the juste milieu
system. The speech was admirably well observed
upon by the Duke of Wellington and Sir R. Peel.
Last year a tithe commutation was promised, and the
promise gained for the Government the support of a
great body of the agriculturists of the United King-
dom. A Bill was brought in by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, which, if it proved nothing else,
awfully proved this, that Lord Althorp was as igno-
rant of the whOle of the very intricate question
which he had undertaken to arrange to the satis-
faction of the country, as he is ignorant upon the
greater number of those subjects, a knowledge of
which constitutes an indispensable ingredient in the
character of a statesman. But a year has passed,
and another King's speech is published, and so far
from the Noble Lord exhibiting any proofs of his
having acquired that information in which he had
shown himself so lamentably deficient, that King's
speech contains no intelligible indication of any
Ministerial scheme for settling this or any one
other of the national matters which, for party pur-
poses, he and his colleagues have used as instru-
ments for agitating the minds of the people. Is
there a man in England not acquainted with Cabi-
net secrets who can say now more than he could
say at any former period, whether the Government
intends to propose a commutation, according to the
Devonshire scheme, for a tenth of the rental ; or,
according to Lord Althorp's scheme, for a valua-
tion to be paid in money ; or, according to another
scheme, for a portion of the land; or whether,
in fact, this anti-tithe professing Cabinet has any
scheme at all to propose ? We write without any
regard to men or party; and the opinion of the
whole country will bear us out in this assertion
when we say that, with the exception of the two
speeches of the Duke of Wellington and Sir R.
Peel, the debate on the address in both Houses
was calculated only to mystify what was before in
full need of explanation and clearing up. But we
have had in the House of Commons a second
night's debate. And pain and grief to any reason-
able man will it be to read the record of that se-
cond night. A Chancellor of the Exchequer put
into confinement that he might not be shot by an
Irish Member; and that Irish Member put into
confinement because he would not promise not to
shoot the Chancellor of the Exchequer ! Have the
representatives of the people nothing else to do but
to quarrel amongst themselves about the interpreta-
tion of electioneering speeches made in the vaca-
tion ? And is all this to be done to protect the
honour of men who, after the form of ten minutes'
durance had been gone through, were ready to
give the assurance, and did give the assurance,
which if they had given before, their time
and attention might have been devoted to the
far different purposes for which their country had
sent them to Parliament ! The country will be
little edified by such a maintenance of their honour.
The country will not stop to construe Lord Pal-
merston's protocol on " responsibility." The coun-
try will look upon such squabbles with contempt,
and will treat the waste of public time with just
indignation. The country is all but calling upon
its King to dissolve this Parliament. The mischief
which it has done is apparent. The good which it
has done exists alone in the laboured compositions
of its placemen. Three days ago better hopes
were entertained ; they have received a cold and a
blighting disappointment. Every where do the
people cry to be delivered from their deceivers.
They will not be pacified by this ill-omened opening
of the new session. They will not be appeased,
though the Chancellor of the Exchequer may de-
clare that incendiarism is tranquillity, and Mr.
Stanley may lead the Noble Lord back to the
Treasury bench, with his irons knocked off, amidst
the cheers of a reformed Parliament.—Morn. Post .

The Mughs, or natives of Arracan, are a
short muscular race, of a copper colour, with iound, flat
features. They possess more activity and natural courage
than the Bengalees, but less than their late masters the
Burmese. Their food is chiefly fish and rice, but they
object not to a dish of stewed rats or boiled snakes, or
a fried section of the putrifying carcase of an elephant :
nothing, in fact, from a maggot to a mammoth, comes
amiss to a voracious Illugh.'—Front Montgomery Mar-
tin's History of the British Colonies, Vol. I.—Asia.
STATE OF RELIGION AND CHRISTIANITY
IN INDIA.-The government of British India possesses
a feature which has rarely or never been found in any
nation or in any age, I allude to its toleration of every
mode or form of religion in which different sects may
choose to adore the Creator ; to its protection against hos-
tility, forcible opposition or oppression by one rival sect
against another, and to its auxiliary pecuniary aid when
solicited by any congregation or community.—Montgo-
mery Martin's History of the British Colonies, Vol.
I.—Asia.