The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-09 00:00:00

NEW POSTAL REGULATIONS.

Yesterday evening a very numerous public meeting!
!was held at the London. Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, for'
,the purpose of considering the motion to be made in
!the House of Commons this day by Mr. Locke,
IMP., for immediately rescinding the recent postal
derangement.

Mr. W. WILLIAMS, late M.P., for Coventry, havingl
taken the chair amidst loud acclamations, said that till
within the last two hours he had not been aware that]
such a meeting was to be held, but as he never refused
to do what lay in his power for the benefit of the people,
he was willing_ to take the char in the absence of Mr.

I Douglas Jerrold.—(Cheers.) He was an advocate for
'the suspension of labour on the Sunday, because he;
thought a day of rest was of the greatest possible
benefit to the working classes.—(Hear, hear.) But there
were circumstances which justified a departure from this
rule to a certain extent, and these circumstances existed
with regard to the delivery through the Post-office of
letters and newspapers on Sunday. The recent resolu
lion of the House of Commons had been directed
rather against the working class than against the dese-
cration of the Sabbath.—(Cheers and cries of " No, no.")
If it was determined to make Sunday a day of entire sus-
pension from all labour, let the rule be applied equally
to the rich as well as the poor. In the households of the
nobility, far more work was done on that day than was
required to carry on the Post-office operations.—(Hear.'
;hear.) The chairman concluded by reading a letter
;from Mr. Hume, M.P., expressing his regret at being
unable to attend the meeting, and promising to forward
its object by every means in his pawer.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. HODOKINS moved the first resolution:—" Teat
the closing of the Post-office on Sundays for the delivery
of letters and Newspapers is arbitrary and unjust, our
that this meeting considers such a proceeding opposed
to the wishes and feelings of a large majority of the
people, and pledges itself to make every lawful
exertion to get the recent order, cloning the Post-
office on Sundays, immediately rescinded. He said
that the recent alterations would create more labour
than would be abolished in the Po,t-office, for
the principal railway companies had made, or were
,making arrangements for the carriage and delivery of
(newspapers in almost every town in England. It' letters
and newspapers were not delivered by the Post office on
Sunday they would be distributed by private hands, and
a-great increase of labour on that day would be the ine-
vitable consequence of Lord Ashley's address.—(Hear.)
Mr. ELT seconded the resolution. Hu thought it ne-
cessary to say that ho was a firm believer its the vital
'truths of Christianity, because the term ' infidel " had
been unscrupulously applied to those who advocated the
rational enjoyment of the Sabha h.—([Tear, hear.) He
!believed that institution to be rather a social expedient
/than a divine command, and as such, it was inevitable
that a few should suffer for the benefit of the mass. But
the Sabbatarians had put the question on a religious
footing.—(Hear, hear,) They had propounded a theolo-
gical dogma to which they required every one else to
bow..--(Cheers.)
During his address Mr. Elt was frequently interrupted
by a person in the body of the meeting, who proved to
be Duncan, the Chartist poet. Having succeeded in
forcing his way on the table, he stood there for some
minutes, gesticulating furiously, and resisting every
effort to get him down. At last the police were sent for,
and he was forced out of the_room by a constable amidst
a general uproar.
Mr. LEE moved the following amendment:—' That
this meeting is of opinion that the new Post-office regu-
lations being the result of the constitutionally expressed
wishes of a large and influential portion of the commu-
nity—(No, no, and hisses)—ought not to be rescinded
tintil they 'have had a fair trial." He said, that all he
wished was the measure should be fairly discussed and
fairly tried. He could see no injustice in a meaure the
object of which was to relieve a large portion of the
.community from compulsory labour on the Sabbath day.
Mr. OAKEY seconded the amendment, amidst general
interruption.
Mr. MOORS said, let the friends of restrictions get
petitions signed throughout the country, and regularly
presented, and let a Bill be brought in, solemnly debated
and passed, and he would then willingly admit that the
public approved of the measure ; but so far as an
Optili,on could bo formed at present it was decidedly un-
PoPotar•—(Cheers.)
Mr. SERLE, who was received with loud and Jong-
continued applause, said that the parties who promoted
the meeting were accused of being interested persons.
They were so, and so were their opponents. The latter
were luau who desired to monopolise the whole Sabbath
or thepasely,es—(Hear, hear) —but they bad commenced
a movement of the 'end of which they did 110 autigiPst.

Wcif--(Hear, bear.) Those very senseless raen—(Cheers
and hisses)—bad raised this question, not the publish-
ing of the newspapers en the Sunday, but; their
mere delivery, at a time when every means had been
Ostaken to reduce the labour on that day in the
iPost-offic) to the smallest possible amount ; a ques-
'ticri which would only be decided by the en-
tire triumph of civil and religious liberty.—(Great
applause.) The Levitical law was not applicable to
the Christian dispensation, but the strict and literal had
been changed to a humane and reasonable observance of
the Sabbath. To carry cut the Levitical law in its ie-
, tegrity, they must stop all the carriages in the streets,
`pull the liveries off the footmen, stop the steambokts and
the railways—(Great confusion)—and he would tell the
working men that if they allowed themselves -to be
cheated of their Sundays under the pretence of that so-
lemn humbug, they would regret it long enough. He
!would conclude by saying at he had hinted to a Cabinet •
Minister, that on a question of public utility it was not
,right to set men of religious feeling in opposition to each
[other, or to tear off the decet,cy which had invested reli-
glen in England, fur the sake of any such tyranny as
they were now smarting under.—(Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then put the amendment, which was
lost, and the original resolution carried by a large ma-
jority, not more than forty or fifty hands being held up
in favour of rho former.

Mr. MOORE mole,' that a petition embodying the re.
solution tot prepared and signed by the chairman on be-
ihalf of the meeting, which having been seconded by Mr.
LITTLE, nas curried almost unanimously, and the meet.
ling adjourned.

"
I MAGAZINES, &c•—(CONTINUED.)
COLBURIV'S MN' lED SERVICE.
The opening paper is entitled the Nepaulesa
Mission," and furnishes us with some valuable par-
ticulars, as to the country and manners of the Ne-
paulese, and as to the personal qualities of the mem-
bers of the present embassy to England. The fol-
lowing suggestions are worth attention, though, no
doubt, Aberdeen and his Cossacks, in the House
of Lords, would pass a resolution deprecating any
extension of our fur trade with Nepaul, without
leave, from the Autocrat first had and obtained.
Speaking of the manufactures of Nepaul, this writer,
who was late Assistant Rtsident at Khatmandoo,

• says :
" They perfectly understand melting copper, tin,
and zinc together, also the proportions fur making
• brass. They are moreover celebrated for their
bell metal: some of their gongs, for instance, 'would in-
deed be highly prized in many a nobleman's domain;
and a few of these at. the grand exhibition next year,
would be much admired, and doubtless ensure many
orders for the gong manufacturers in Khatmandoo. For
the same great occasion, specimens of some of the beau-
tiful furs, monthly obtainable in Khatmandoo, from
Lassa and Digurcheo, in Thibet, might be imported.
These two large cities are great fur depots: they are
only forty marches from Khatmandoo. It is, however,
deserving of consideration, whether by encouraging a
direct far trade, we should not be unintentionally giving
offence to Russia, for a very large portion of the Russian
fur trade is derived from this part of Thibet, and cer-
tainly by far the most valuable furs are obtained there.
1 have seen some of the most beautiful dresses made of
curs brought by the native merchants from these cities;
and I once purchased from one of them a fur cloak with
thick silk lining for 150 Mores rupees, in English money
little more than 101. A few enterprising English mer-
chants (the Nepaul restrictions on commerce being re-
moved, and protection from plunder and extortion gua-
ranteed) would very soon ensure the whole of the
rhibetan trade being drawn to Calcutta, which I bare
before mentioned, is only 200 miles from the Nepali'
frontier, with water carriage from the foot of. the hills.
The transaction might also lead to a most desirable object,
viz., the diverting the attention of the Nepaulese from
their ruling idea, that they are strictly a military nation.
['hey have, singularly enough, retained this notion during
upwards of thirty years' peace."
'The next article is an able vindication of
Lord Palmerston's conduct during the whole of
his negotiations with France on the Greek
question. The failure of those negotiations is en-
tirely due to Baron Gros, acting, with the con-
nivance and support of General de Lahitte, under
Russian influence ; the whole intrigue was concocted in
he salons of the Princess Lieven. In an article on
the military resources of Russia, we find that the
disposable strength of the Russian army consists of
-,bout 365,000 infantry, 95,000 cavalry, and 1,080
field pieces, besides the stationary or local corps of
280,000 men, 45,000 horse, and 100 or 120 field pieces,
this too being exclusive of the Cossack militia. The
writer is of opinion that, after providing for all the
wants of the empire, Russia could throw
into Europe 310,000 rank and file of well drilled,
highly disciplined, end admirably provided troops,
backed by a powerful reserve. Lieutenant-Colonel
Wilkie, in a paper on the " Yeomany Cavalry," consi-
iiers that, under their present organization, they are
merely an expensive pia) thing. We consider that
they are not only an expensive but a dangerous play-
, thing, and should rejoice to see them disbanded alto-
. gether, as proposed by the Hon. Member for Bristol,
Mr. Henry Bel keley. In his comments on the court-
martial on Commander Michell, the writer urges the
absolute necessity of an immediate and extensive re-
' conflation in the organization of those courts of in-
justice, aid we cordially join him in his agitation of
this subject. The narrative of the "Antarctic Voyage
of the Pagoda" is continued, and we have in addition
several papers of great prefessional interest.