The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-10 00:00:00

fraught with a still greater evil, tor it: appears to me to be like
a weil.contrived plan fu enri&Tsig and enabling the wretchedly
ill-paid sortc:;,, tto inferior clerks in the Pest-cOcc, to dis-
-o‘)N7.:r arid abstract lettttitt li.i';iiiitances in money,
And it satiifattoOly to my mind for the heavy losses
fregto-.‘.tttly %.t.l-;tained, and for those of Messrs. Walkers, tht.
banners, of Rotherham ; and Mr. Fish, of Leicester-square,
both of which were stated by me. in.the f 1.014.3 Commons,
and doubtless many ctbrri c.imitar description.
To conel.d", I Lave to recuest of your Lordship to direct
tl±:kt i. may be informed of the sum I shall be called upon to
ply for having my letters delivered early on week days, and at
the hour others receive them on Sunday ! for r.fttr what your
Lordship has said, I cannot fhd ilioment doubt both privi-
leges being extended to me while the practice is continued,
and that the sum I am to pay will also be communicated to me
—so that I may know the cost as well as the value of receiving
intelligence and information, before the public in general do so.
I have the honour to be, &c.
ROBERT WALLACE.
To the Right Hon. the Earl of Lichfield, &c.

St. Jarncs't-square, Aug. 9, 1835.
Sir,-1 have to ar_sl,..nowledge the receipt of your letter of
the ith instant, and beg to state in reply that I do not hold
myself accountable to any individual in his private capacity for
the principle upon which I may think proper to administer the
affairs of the Department over which I have the honour to
preside, and must decline now and henceforward to enter into
a controversial correspondence upon matters of mere opinion
as regards the system and management of the Post-office, re-
serving to myself the right of defending and explaining in my
place in Parliament any charges that may be brought against
either myself or those who aro in authority under me ; at the
same tin.c I shall always be ready to receive any communica-
tions containing either applications for the redress of grie-
vances, where they really exist, or for the purpose of granting
greater means of accommodation to the public. In accordance
with this determination, I shall confine my reply to your letter
to those two points contained in it to which you have a right
to distinct and explicit answers.
With regard to the application that you may receive your
letters on Sundays, I have the honour to inform you that as
there is no post on a Sunday, you cannot be accommodated
with your letters on that day. In reference to your request
that you may be included in the early delivery, I have further
the honour to inform you that I have not the power of extend-
ing that privilege to you, as there is no early -delivery in that
part of the town in which you reside.
I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) LICHFIELD.
To Robert Wallace, Esq., M.P., &c.

10, Fludyer-street, Westminster, Aug. 9, 1835.
My Lord—l have only this moment had the honour to re-
ceive your Lordship's letter of this day's date. When I have
occasion to represent to your Lordship any grievance, I shall
continue to exercise my own discretion in the manner of doing
so, as I conceive I have a right so to do with any person in
office. As regards the early delivery of letters, I have to
state to your Lordship, that I am ready to prove that letters
have been regularly delivered an hour earlier in this very
street, than mine have been. With respect to the Sunday
delivery, I must beg leave to place confidence in the informa-
tion on which I have acted, and to repeat my belief of its
existence to ' the full extent of what I stated in my
letter to your Lordship of Friday's date ; but, as this
matter will be set at rest, by the return I shall
move for, and by the publication of our correspondence, I
shall not enter further into it here; the more so, as I shall
rest assured of your Lordship's agreeing to the returns being
granted, which will clear up the point at issue. In the last
communication I had the honour to receive from your Lord-
ship, you expressed your belief of mis-sent and delayed letters
being of rare occurrence. Your Lordship will have the good-
ness to excuse my informing you of one of mine (and it hap-
pened to be an important one) being detained yesterday until
about mid-day, when it was brought here, as I was informed,
by two persons from the General Post-office, who expressed a
wish to see me, and which was prevented by my absence. I
should not have mentioned this to your Lordship, had the cir-
cumstance not been one of the points which led to this cor-
respondence, and your Lordship having said nothing on the
subject, I conclude you have not been informed of it.
Such occurrences may not be attributable to the system of
double-sorting and selecting letters; but while I entertain the
belief I will continue to assert it; and on this point, I beg
leave also to confirm the opinion expressed in my last letter to
your Lordship.
I have the honour to be, any Lord,
Your obedient servant
ROBERT WALLACE.
To the Right Hon. the Earl of
Lichfield, &c., &c.

LONDON GRAND JUNCTION RAIL-

ROAD.

• Within the last few years, comparatirely speaking, the ad-
vances of science have been of so gigantic a nature, that what
was heretofore deemed as visionary, as ideas only to be con-
ceived practicable by the wildest and most ignorant, arid cre-
dulous imaginations ; and whose supporters, where'er they
turned their eyes, beheld only the finger of scorn ; their ears
heard only the loud laugh of ridicule, and their feelings en-
dured the cold contempt of insolent pity for the mania with
which they were considered afflicted ; but now, what is the
change? Many or the boldest schemes upon the very face of
which it was deemed flagrant imposition, was stamped, have
now not only become easily practicable to the dullest minds,
but objects of admiration, and their projectors converted into
lauded examples for the noble ambition of rising generations,
for whom experience has laid down her certain unvarying rules
as a guide.
Thus stood the subject with respect to the possibility and
propriety of rail roads. Bigotry and Ignorance attacked the
project with their usual virulence, and Science alone con-
tended, until at length Experience assisted, and the victory
was gained, and gained too in such a manner that at present
it stands unopposed upon the broad basis of its own merits.
Localities and commerce being the only data from which to
calculate the success and estimated return from outlay for any
plan of a rail road.
The above observations may be said more particularly to
refer to the present railroad than others in contemplation.
The undertaking may properly be termed gigantic, penetrating
at once into the heart of the city, undaunted by the multitude
of its transactions, but passing completely through it to its
opposite border; and that, too, with a power, a means of con-
veyance altogether different from any at present existent in its
thoroughfares, and yet without offering material alteration or
the least injury to its present roads. The method combines
in itself new germs of science, amalgamating, as if by way of
conciliation, the old system in its most perfect state, with the
latest improvement of the new, and all conceived for the pur-
pose of affording facilities and benefits to commerce. Where-
ever an obstacle presents itself to the interruption of the pro-
posed line, it comes hand in hand as it were with a remedy,
creating rather an improvement than an injury, and that too in
points which at first seem to be insurmountable, but which,
upon a little closer inspection, discover their antidotes.
Looking at the proposed line from the Junction to the
Birmingham railway towards the metropolis, the first object
that strikes the examiner is the facility with which a bridge,
being thrown over the line, the present roads to Hampstead,
Kentish Town, &c. &c., will be maintained. The advantages
that will accrue to property in that point, must necessarily,
from the great increase of traffic, be considerable ; for in-
stance, the Southampton Arms Tavern will be benefited to
estimate, within compass at least, 40 per cent. The line
then leads across fields upon which there exists no commercial
interests—nothing to be destroyed—nothing deteriorated,
but every probability, nay, certainty of improvement. The
Pancras Road next presents itself to notice, but surely not as
en opponent against whom every nerve is to be strained in
order to overcome ; but rather, from the present level of its
surface being so low, as an auxiliary whom the proposed
improvement takes by the hand to raise to its proper
and long called-for elevation. The route then lays by the
West side of the Imperial Gas Works, through property of
very reduced valise, and of such a class as would, if removed,
be the means of freeing the neighbourhood from a complete
nuisance. Emerging from this, Battle-bridge, with all its
magnificent connections, rises to view. Looking carefully at
all its associations of population and of traffic, it seems to
serve as a focus to the various roads which intersect it,—roads
of great traffic, and which this plan will embrace, passing
ceder the Bentonville Road to the south west side, where the
double road or viaduct and arcade commences, forming upon
the upper road at once the noblest and most convenient car-
riage road to the top of Snow-hill that the city has from its
northern districts ; and upon the railway a beautiful and direct
communication with the heart of the City and the commerce
of the Thames ; thus completing the connexion through the
kingdom between the shores of the ocean on one side, and
those on the other. As the road appoaches the metropolis,
Nature and Art, as if fearful of any prejudiced opposition that
might offer, seem alike to combine to render its advantages
more decided. Passing the ends of Frederick-street and
Calthorpe-street, the present is on the level of the proposed
surface of the viaduct, thus creating a connexion with the
west side of Gray's Inn-lane, Bedford, Russel, Tavistock,
Bloomsbury, and Brunswick-snuares, &c., and their neigh-
bourhoods, forming for the gentry, &c., a superior carriage
entreee to the City. The line then passes by the west side of
the House of Correction, to the low ground at Dorring-a
ton-street, which affords every facility for a depot or
dock for the traffic from the railway to be disseminated
to the adjacent parts ; then proceeding onward through
property at least not particularly desirable, it passes Cross-
street, Hatton-garden, Hatton-wall, &c., where again there
are no obstacles in the existent thoroughfares to retard
its progress, the Railway being below, and the Viaduct
level with the present surfaces. Saffron-hill, Peter-street,
Lilly-street, Chick-lane, &c., next receives its course, clear-
ing away a nest of the veriest filth that was ever assembled at
one point, and which has already existed but too long. It
will thus create, instead of nuisances, desirable investments for
property, new principles, new ideas, and a new class of so-
ciety, a credit and an ornament instead of a stigma. Chick-
lanC also offers itseif, like Dorrington-street, but with advan-
:ages still increased, as a depot from the Arcade for Smith-
field, Holborn, Farringdon-street and Market, Newgate and
Leadenhall Markets, the Surrey side of the Thames, and all
the northern borders of the Metropolis. The upper road
having its terminus at Snow-hill, the Saracen's Head 'cavern
comes into notice, as at this part also commences the proposed
Tunnel under Skinner-street, the Old Bailey, and Ludgate-
hill. The Saracen's Head will thus become the first and
most considerable booking-office, tavern, and hotel in
or about the Metropolis, receiving an influx of full
100 per cent. Connecting the Railway with the Via-
duct be a flight of steps, it will offer a means of
transit for paaagioacra from the carriages to the different part