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

THAMES.

THE DISTURBANCES IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST.
GEORGE'S-IN-THE-EAST.—This afternoon, Win. Dickin-
son, an elderly man, described as a clockmaker, of No. 26,
Walcot-terrace, Kennington-cross, was brought before Mr.
Selfe, charged with wilfully disturbing the officiating mini-
ster, the Rev. Bryan King, in the parish church of St
George's-in-the-East last night.

Mr. Joseph Smith, solicitor, of Ashborne•street East,
Stepney, appeared for the prosecution ; Mr. Stoddart, soli-
citor, of the same street, conducted the defence.

Evidence was given by the Rev. Bryan King and others
of the fearful disturbance which took place last night in the
chinch, and Mr. Baker, an army surgeon, stated that he
saw and heard the defendant hiss loudly three times while
the creed was being read, and ordered him out.
The prisoner was removed by the police and expressed his
sorrow for what he had done.

Several witnesses were called by Mr. Stoddart for the
defence, who said the prisoner did nothing. There was
much discrepancy in their testimony.
Mr. Selfe gave credit to the defendant's witnesses of their
desire to speak the truth, but he believed they were mis-
taken. He should convict the defendant, but as he had
expressed his sorrow for the offence, he should deal with
him leniently. If one of the ringleaders in the disturbances
had been brought before him he should have sent him to
prison for a very long time. He fined the defendant two
merits (265. Bd.), which was paid immediately by a sub-
scription collected among the people outside the court.

CHEAP POSTAGE AND CHEAPPAP ER,

With the abolition of the duty on paper there will un-
questionably fell 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 Exchequer 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 are known as head post-
offices, and 10,429 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 melts 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 them 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 those 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 particilar rather than
a common rule. A remartable 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 of these 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 One 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-
office be thus allowed its full development and legitimate
mission ?
Now there are 24,500 persons employed at home and
abroad in working the machinery of the Post Office; then,
how will that number be increased, and will not every one
of them become--so to speak—a schoolmaster ? Believing
that cheap paper is a necessary supplement to cheap
postage, and that both are invaluable adjuncts and assist-
ants to the great cause of civilisation and of peace, we shall
not apologise to our readers for speaking at such length
upon them. Sure we are, too, that long after the present
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.—
Meehan ies' magazine.

The appointment of Major-Gen. Forster as Mili-
tary Secretary to his Royal Highness the General Com-
manding in-Chief is officially settled ; but, as we have al-
ready stated, Sir Charles
.Yorke will continue to discharge
the ditties for some little tune.--"lrnly and Navy Gazette.

NEWMARKET RACES—(Tills DAY)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
CRAVEN PLATE.

Cynricus
Butterfly filly
Concertina gelding
Nortll Lincoln

Flimsy .....
Marseillaise.
Bastion .....

Four ran.
MATCH.
Pomona beat Desdemona.
£5O HANDICAP PLATE.

Thirteen ran.

NEWMARKET HANDICAP.
sto 1 agst Confectioner (offered)
Bto 1 bar one

£5O Handicap Plate—Bentinck and Tyrant have paid
forfeit.

Sweepstakes of 25 sous—Optimist and Wrangler have
paid forfeit.

Bennington S takes— Glenluce colt, colt by Kingston, Gil.
gal, Sedley, and Truth colt, have paid forfeit.
Sweepstakes of 50 sovs—Tyrant, Optimist, Maggiore,
Mayflower, Eleanor de Montford, Tamara, and Concertina
g, have paid forfeit.

Newmarket Handicap—Fright, Old Robert, Be Quick,
and Her Highness have paid forfeit,

• CITY AND SUBURBAN AND METROPOLITAN
HANDICAP.—Youatt Wm. Gray issued his advice on these
events on Thursday last, and is convinced, from the infor-
mation received, that nothing but accident can prevent suc-
cess. A horse named at 30 to 1 to win, and 10 to 1 for a
place at the present time, will see 8 to 1 to win, on the day
of the race, and is certain to be first, second, or third for
both events. Terms--Advice, for one week, 2s. 6d. ; to the
Chester Cup, 7s. 6d. ; to the Derby, 15s. ; to the end of the
season, £2 25., and per ceutage. Address, 15, Charing-
cross, London. N.B.—Y. W. Gray stood Simple Simon
and Springwell for the Northampton Stakes.