The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-09 00:00:00

PUGI.LISM.

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HEENAN, THE AMERICAN CHAMPION.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
DERBY, Saturday Night.—This morning a large
crowd of people, who sympathised with Heenan's
captivity, assembled in front of the Police-office, in
the hope of obtaining a view of " the American."
Dr. Heygate, who had been called upon to counter-
sign the warrant, was the presiding magistrate.
The greatest excitement prevailed, and magistrates,
professional men, and others took occasion to visit
Heenan at Mr. Hilton's house. Every comfort that
Mr. Hilton and sympathising friends could provide
were provided, and Heenan left Derby with a strong
feeling of gratitude for the honest expression of
kindly feeling, not only from men who hate prize-
fighting per se, bdt, nevertheless, who like to dis-
play the impulse of true English feeling.
The following is an account of what passed in
the private room of Mr. Hilton (who deserves every
praise for his treatment of Heenan, who is not a
criminal), and we are quite sure that Heenan's
friends will be gratified with what has been done
(consistently with legal exactitude) for his com-
fort : _ _

Mr. Leech said he appeared on behalf of Heenan,
at the request of several influential inhabitants of
Derby, who felt a deep interest in the case, and
who wished Heenan to have full justice done him.
He had committed no offence whatever ; his offebee
was a mere suppositi ens one, and it would not do
for the magistrates to. pay any attention to garbled
reports which had ali-eady appeared in some of the
daily papers. It was, urged that lleenan had used
threats against the polied 'uthorities, and had de-

dared his intention to fight the English champion
under any circumstances. Now, when it was known
that Heenan (an American) had been hunted
through no less than five counties in England, and
had been ev. ritually run down after a severe chase
in Derbyshire, and had been temporarily confined
in a cell usually occupied by felons, whilst his
intended adversary was known to be pursuing his
training exercises without interruption, it was
natural enough he (Heenan) should use harsh ex-
pressions; but he (Mr. Leech) was now instructed
by Heenan to say he regretted having used any
improper language. He had not committed any
breach of the peace, and might not do so. It was
not for the magistrates to consider what was the
amount of the prize for which it was said Heenan
was about to contend. It was immaterial whether
it was a sovereign or £5,000. The condition in life
of the party accused was the main consideration,
and as Heenan followed the employment of a black-
smith in his own country, and was a man in poor
circumstances, the magistrates would not require
heavy bail. They would not ask for more than was
really needful and proper; and two respectable
tradesmen in Derby, and men of property, instructed
him (Mr. Leech) to tender their names as sureties,
and no objection could be offered against them.
Dr. Heygate said—l have no intention of allow-
ing any vindictive feeling, and I shall require
Heenan to be bound over to keep the peace to all
her Majesty's subjects in a bond of £5O and two
sureties of £25 each. (This announcement was
received with applause.)
Immense excitemeLt prevailed. The market
place and neighbouring streets were crowded.
Heenan left the hall by a passage behind, and was
loudly cheered by the populace, who accompanied
him to a cab, which was in waiting.

On Saturday morning Heenan was brought up
before Dr. Heygate at Derby. He was represented
by Mr. S. Leech, from the office of Mr. Gamble.
There were also several of his friends present, who
had arrived that morning by mail train from London.
Mr. Whiston, magistrates' clerk, addressing
Heenan, said—You, John Heenan, are brought here
on the information of John Shaw, who says, from
information he has received—namely, that a prize
fight is likely to take place in the county of Derby
between Thomas Sayers and John.Heenan, and that
a riot is likely to occur in the said county—he re-
quires that the said John Heenan, who is now re-
siding at Low, Eaton, in the said county, may be
required to find surcties for good behaviour and for
the preservation of the public peace for six months.
Mr. Leech, addressing Dr. Heygate, said he ap-
peared on the part of Heenan, having been requested
to do so by several gentlemen of the town. He
(Heenan) requested him to state that he had never
broken the peace in this county, and had no inten-
tion of so doing. It was true he might have made
use of some harsh language, but it was done in the
excitement of his capture, when his passions would
naturally be aroused. But when they considered
that he had been " hunted," as it were, out of eight
counties, and that his opponent, Sayers, was
allowed to go on with the greatest impunity, he
did feel sore at the treatment he was receiv-
ing. If at any time he had made use of expres•
sions that he ought not to have done, he was very
sorry for it. Two respectable gentlemen of the
town were present to give bail for his good beha-
viour, and it would be for the magistrates to fix the
amount. The amount was always guided by the
station in lifa of the persons called upon to find it,
and he begged to inform the bench that in America

Heenan carried on the trade of a blacksmith. He
hoped the bench would not assess the bail at a large
amount.

Mr. Whiston, magistrates' clerk, said the bench
had agreed to take Heenan's own recognisanCes of
£5O, and two sureties of £25 each. He would also
add that the authorities had no feeling in the mat-
ter beyond the preservation of the public peace.
Capt. Foster, chief constable of the Isl• of Elv,
in an official report to the quarter sessions, state; :
—" Having received information that a prize fight
was about to take place in the Isle of Ely, I made
application to the Whittlesey bench, with the view
to have the intended combatants bound over to keep
the peace. The warrants were granted. One
superintendent was despatched to Peterborough to
apprehend John Heenan, the American pugilist,
who had left before the arrival of the officer. An-
other superintendent was sent to Newmarket to
take into custody Thomas Sayers, the English pu-
gilist. He reports as follows :--r Mr. Benyon was
in the town, but refused to back the warrant, stat-
ing that it was a stretch of power:; the man had com-
mitted no offence ; as chief magistrate he would
neither sign it himself nor permit it to be signed at
Newmarket. I returned to Ely, being powerless.
I did not see Sayers, but no more notice is taken of
him in the place than any other man."

CHEAP P 0,52 :10E AND CHEAPPAPER.

With the abolition of the duty on paper there will un-
questionably fall upon the postal machinery of the country
an enormous amount of additional labour. It may not be
unwise therefore to inquire into the capabilities for further
expansion which that machinery possesses. We recently,
as our readers will remember, traced the growth of the
General Post-office and its branches from an early period in
English history, and endeavoured to show how dependent
that growth was upon the march of mechanical improve-
ment. To the locomotive, cheap postage owed its origin,
and it would be by no means difficult to prove the relation-
ship between cheap paper and the same parent. It is not,how -
ever, our purpose now to trace the consanguinity of these
several blessings to mankind, but rather to inquire into the
manner in which they will probably work together for the
general good. The impulse which must be given to educa-
tion by the removal of the unholy "tax on knowledge" we
believe to be of almost incalculable extent. There will not
be an educational institution in the kingdom, from the
highest in pretension down to the most modest village
school, which will not benefit by the repeal of the paper
duty. Books and newspapers will thenceforth be treated
as they should be—as necessaries of life, and allowed to
circulate as freely. The Chancellor of the Exe'tequer by
removing from the statute-book the obnoxious impost which
acted as a barrier to the free dissemination of thought, and
which hampered intellect in its senseless trammels, "de-
serves well" not only of "his country" but of the whole
world.

Let us not be led from our purpose, however, which was
to examine into the expansibility of the Post-office, and its
qualifications for meeting the increased demands sure to be
made upon it. In order to obtain reliable data upon which
to base calculations, it will be well to look at the establish-
ment as it is. Taking the United Kingdom, and drawing
our information from the highest possible sources, it may
be stated that there are within its sea-girt limits at this
hour eleven thousand two hundred and thirty-five post-
offices, of which 806 are what aro known as head post-
offices, and 10,420 sub- post- offices. In addition to
these, many hundreds of road and street letter boxes
have been recently erected. As these are intended only for
the collection of letters at present, they, perhaps, may be
left out of the account, in consideration of the facilities for
book and newspaper transmission, though eventually pillar
posts will be pressed into the latter service without doubt.
As a further proof, if it were needed, of the close alliance
between the locomotive and letter writing, it should be
known that during the last year fourteen additional towns
have had the advantage of day m ills conferred upon them ;
and since numerous branch railways are in progress or in
embryo it is certain that this number will be steadily
added to. Scotland has gained especial postal
advantages of late, and letters, newspapers, and
books, posted by the London night mail are delivered in the
cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow by eight the next morn-
ing. Of course, towns to the northward of those places par-
ticipate in these benefits, which the regular working of the
trains enhance considerably.
Post-office extension requires much judicious considera-
tion on the part of those who govern the gigantic establish-
ment no doubt, but it is, we believe, the rule in all cases
where it can be proved that additional mails will be self-
supporting to put theta on. When the commercial success of
a new mail cannot be demonstrated, the Post-office not un-
frequently, upon urgent application, allows such a sum to-
wards its establishment as it considers itself warranted
in expending, and these persons who desire the boon may
guarantee the remainder. Here, then, exists the nucleus
for a wide-spread ramification of the postal system, which
in the coming age of cheap paper will be inevitably taken
advantage of.
On some of the railways the General Post-office
authorities have the use of all or any of the trains, but
the number of railway companies in existence in the United
Kingdom, and the varied, and sometimes rather crotchety
notions of their directors, make this a particular rather than
a common rule. A remarkable illustration of the last -named
fact occurs in relation to the extremities of England
and Scotland—Land's End and John O'Groats. The
transmission of a letter from one ofthese places to the other
involves the Post-office in no less than twenty-one separate
contracts with railway companies, and this independent of
conveyance between stations by. rural messengers, &c. The
cost of postage for such letter is after all Ono Penny so
much for cheap postage.
Most of our readers are aware of the existence of travel-
ling post-offices on the railways, and these facilitate mar-
vellously the sorting of letters, books, and papers. Doubt-
less, under pressure of the new state of things consequent
on the remission of the tax in question these will be added
to in number, and improved in character. The appa-
ratus for exchanging mail-bags without stopping the
trains, very excellent and economical of time as it is,
is also capable of extension in its application if not of im-
provement in construction, and, in short, there appears to be
no reason for fearing that—whatever extent the healthy
demand for cheap knowledge may reach—the Post-office is
not expansible enough. to meet and minister to that demand.
The:distance over which mails are now conveyed within the
United Kingdom by railways, coaches, carts, foot-carriers,
steam packets, and boats is about 140,000 miles per day.
Who shall say what it will become when therestrictive and
heavy hand of prohibition shall be removed, and the Post-
ai-Ice be thus allowed its full development and legitimate
mission.?
abroadN home and
ow
itnhemi:oerakrineg2th4,soomo
machinery
oefmtphleoyFe.odstat
Office;hom
luennei et
sn t
and tto ch a p
howe thewniillb
thateeom number be bsepeiankc—reasa increased,
oaonldmwasitlelrir euveelriye-veinnge
that cheap paper is aarneeicnevs
postage, and asaluryablesaaj
assist-
ants to the great cause c. civilisation and of peace, we shall
not apologise to our readers for speaking at such length
Sure we arc, too, that long after the present
upon them.
generation has passed away, the names of Rowland Hill
and of William Ewart Gladstone will be honoured as those
of the inaugurators of two of the greatest social reforms of
which the annals of England can furnish an example.—
Kechanice