The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-18 00:00:00

0111r111314 Mt

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1850.

The Sabbatarian movement is again afoot, as was
ostentaiously shown this morning in the shape of a
huge advertisement. From the Metropolitan Com-
mitteP, for the promotion of what is absurdly called
the desecration of the Sabbath, has issued a very re.
solute declaration, condemnatory of the changes
recently introduced at the establishment in St.
Martin's-le. Grand, by RowLatsr. HILL, now for
some time distinguished as one of the foremost pro-
moters of the cruse of civilization. Appended to
that declaration is a catalogue of signatures--
printed, as far as appearances would natu-
rally lead one to conjecture, with the same
assumption of superior godliness as was exhibited of
yore by thole Hebrew elders who distributed alms in
the public streets to the sound of the trumpet. With
regard to this parade of piety, stark naked, in the
public newspapers,we shall say nothing whatever (see-
ing that we regard the circumstance as wholly apart
from the question under discussion), although we
may observe, by the way, that among these signatures
we have remarked the somewhat felicitous name of
one SEPTIMUS GOODAT

What the people look fur in such controversies,
what the Goverr.ment expect on occasions of such
citation—are, not noisy vituperations, but temperate
,gic, not long advertisements, but rational argument.
'Llinisters are not to be bullied into concession by
slanderers ; neither are the villanous imputations of
fanaticism the most effectual weapons for the conquest
of an official antagonist. We are living, thank GOD, in
days very-different from those rendered contemptible by
the extravagances of Tribulation- Wholesome, or Zeal-
o'-the-land-Busy. It therefore, sheer waste of time
on the part of the Sabbatarians, counting
as confidently as they do on the triumph of their ab-
surd opinions. In illustration of the spirit in which
they view the subject under consideration, we may
mention the truism—the " revolting truism," as it is
well termed by the respected Head Master of Harrow
....which one of the pamphleteers seriously proclaims,
namely, " That it is better for sixty thousand
etters to be burned, unopened, than for one
Post-office clerk to perish in hell for
ever." Very different, exquisitely different is
the spirit in which one of the clerical opponents of
that disgusting exhibition of cant arrives at the fol-
lowing conclusion :—" That it is the duty of every
Christian to believe his neighbour's word until it is
proved to be false, and to put upon his conduct
not the least but the most favourable construction of
which it is reasonably capable." In this way the
Rev. Dr. CHARLES VAUGHAN, of Lapworth
Rectory, argues that it is most unfair, moat
disingenuous, and most un-Christianlike for
the band of Sabbatarians to impute the worst
motives .to the Government in the contrivance of
a system in advancing which the authorities
disclaim all intention to subvert the cause of religion.
Several of the arguments contained in the last
pamphlet,* printed from the manuscripts of this Rev.
Gentleman, are to our thinking at once so pertinent
and sententious that we eagerly lay them, at this
particular moment, under the consideration of our
readers.

" I do not for one moment," says the writer, " hesitate
to confess that I regard an official Government return
as better evidence on a question of fact than the irre-
spenstb le publications of a ' Lord's Day Society.' If the
latterinforms me that 'the new Sabbath labour already
puiptoys a considerably larger number of men on the
Sabbath than was professed by Mr. Hill's Minute;' and
if I learn from what I must regard as higher authority
that the amount of extra work to be done on Sundays in
the London office will, in all probability, be very shortly
reduced to the employment of six persons, and may ulti-
mately be accoraplisht'd even without any such addition,
ray, with an actual diminution of the original number ;
while, at the same time,
more than one hundred and
ninety persons, who have hitherto performed regular
work on Sundays, are set entirely free, within the Lou-
d.-)n district itse4; can I hesitate which to follow ?"
The answer is obvious, and the deduction altogether
conclusive. Again, when comparing the old system
rend the new system of conducting business at the
Post-offices, the Rev. Dr. VAUGHAN thus demon-
strates the superior advantages of the latter, if con-

A Second Letter on the late Post-office Agitation."
13y Charles John Vaughan, D.D., &c. Bvo. pp.
a 6. London: Murray. 1850.

sidered solely in reference to its religious tendency.
" Under the old system," says he,—
"The average number of letters passing through the
London Office was great-r by six per cent. on Saturday
than on ether days. Why ? Because it was known
that the following was a blank post. If not transmitted
bt fore Sunday, they mu,t wait in London throughout
that day. Now the augmentation of letters passing
through London on Saturday caused an augmentation of
letters delivered and read in the country on Sunday.
The effect of the new regulation is at least to obviate this
excess, and to reduce the Sunday morning delivery in
the country to the measure of an ordinary day."

In a similar manner also this formidable antagonist
of the Sabbatarians (himself a reverend but reason-
able admirer of a true system of religious observance
for the Sunday) continues:—
" The knowledge that letters posted on Saturday
evening would lie in London till the Monday led to a
very general habit of either writing, or at least posting,
letters on the Sunday. The latter habit, equally with
the former, involved a corresponding increase of the
Sunday labours of the country cit.:es. Under the pre-
sent system, the temptation to prefer Sunday fur either
purpose is removed."
After a candid examination of the force of such rea-
soning as this, no unprejudiced mind can feel surprise
that Dr. VAUGHAN should protest against the tra-
ducers of Mr. ROWLAND HILL, or that he should
speak thus emphatically in approbation of that gen-
tleman's Post-office Minute :

"I believe that the measure thus stigmatized will, so
fir as it extend?, promote rather than impede the in-
terests of religion, will, on the whole, facilitate rather
than interfere with the attendance of that class which it
concerns upon the ordinances of worship, while it leaves
untouched those wider and more general considerations
hich would involve, if seriously and consistently enter-
tained, a revolution in the management of the whole de-
partment."
To this conviction, and to this conviction alone, must
the judgment of every rational man subscribe—the
excellence of the recent innovations being capable of
recognition at once by every mind not distorted by
cant or blinded by fanaticism. Therefore it is that,
strong in the truthfulness of our views, and satisfied
as to the firmness of the Government, we laugh to
scorn the calumnies of the Sabbatarians and their
vo-
ciferous exultation over their anticipated but alto-
gether hypothetical victory.

Notwithstanding the " counting out " of Tuesday
evening, the Bill for the reform of the Irish Court of
Chancery was read a second time on Friday, and we
trust that we shall speedily be enabled to congratu-
late the country not only on its having received the
legislative sanction, and become the " law of the
land," but also on its extension to England, so that
the United Kingdom may participate in the unques-
tionable advantages to be derived therefrom.
Never was there a greater degree of unani-
mity exhibited in favour of any measure of
equal magnitude, involving such sweeping changes in
the practice and administration of the law. The dif-
ficulties and impediments which obstruct the path of
the legal reformer, owing to the narrow and short-
sighted views of those who arrogate to themselves the
sole right of legislating on. such subjects, have passed
into a proverb, but, happily, they have not been
suffered to prevail in the present instance. The mea-
sure has escaped the formidable quicksand on which so
many previous vessels have been wrecked after their
launching. Although two Honourable and Learned
Gentlemen suggested that the measure should be
referred to a Select Committee, and thus practically
shelved for the remainder of the present session, the
Solicitor-General steadfastly refused his assent to the
insidious preposition. He was prepared to take upon
himself the entire responsibility of the important alter-
ations he bad brought forward, and to receive all the
honour to which he will be so eminently entitled
He could not allow the Bill to be curtailed of its fair
proportions, or deprived of its utility, but he was
willing to receive, and invited, any practicable
suggestions, by which its efficacy might be increased.
The Honourable and Learned Gentleman thus acted
in a manner becoming his high reputation and the
distinguished name of which is the worthy inheritor.

The Hon. and Learned Member for Newark was
the only person who ventured to oppose the principle
of the measure, and to vote for its rejection. His
amendment, that "the Bill be read a second time
that day six months," was without a seconder. He
stood alone in his glory, not a single Member could
be found to go into the same lobby with the " future
Chancellor of the Protectionists." Even Mr. Tux-
NER would not on that occasion " walk through Co-
ventry " with his Learned Friend. We do not
wonder at the repugnance of Honourable Gentlemen
to array themselves as defenders of abuses which have
elicited the general condemnation of Parliament and
of the country, 'which are the scandal and
reproach of the British nation. Had Mr
STUA al.'s amendment proved successful, it
would have been received as a declaration
that the prominent evils of the Court of Chancery
should be perpetuated—that they should be suffered
to flourish in rank luxuriance, without alteration or
improvement—that the spirit of the age should re-
main stationary so far as the supreme Court of Judi-
cature was concerned.

'We cannot compliment the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman either on the tone or substance of his
speech. He commenced his address by assuming the
unqualified ignorance of his audience on the subject-
matter upon which they were about to legislate.
He inquired '‘ if they knew what they were about in
voting for this Bill ?" and added, that " he did not
think there were four men then in the House who
knew much on the subject !" This insinuation was
by no means flattering or even courteous, when so
many distinguished and eminent members of his own
profession were listening to him at the very moment.
Ile was, however, so fully and satisfactorily replied
to on this point by the and Learned Member
for Athlone, that it is quite unnecessary to add
to the castigation so ably and effectively administered
by the Irish barrister to one of the leaders of the
English Court of Chancery.
The chief, indeed the only ground of opposition, on
which he relied was, that it was the business of the
Lord Chancellor of Ireland to reform his own court,
and to introduce the alterations in the system of
pleading and practice which he admitted to be defec-
tive in many particulars. He ventured to sneer
at and cast a slur upon the accom-
plished and profound lawyer who now so
worthily fills the highest judicial office in his
native land, to ascribe to him a desire of avoiding
the responsibilities attached to his high position, and
endeavouring to cast upon Parliament the duties that
properly devolved upon himself; and he added, "If
the Lord Chancellor of Ireland would discharge his
duty, one-half of the legislation that was going on
would be unnecessary." After such an assertion,
the statement of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman,
" that he did not know the Irish Lord Chancellor," that
" he was not sure that he even knew his name," was
mere surplusage. Had he been in the slightest degree
acquainted with that distinguished functionary ; had
he known anything of the profound learning, the
quick discernment and ready tact, the almost intui-
tive perception, which enables the Lord Chancellor
of Ireland to see, at a single glance, the real
merits of a case ; were he aware of the courteous
and kind attention with which that Learned Judge
listens to the junior barristers, and which secures for
him the admiration and respect of the profession in
Ireland, Mr. STUART would never hare given utte-
rance to sarcasms which fell innocuous upon
the party against whom they were directed and re-
coiled upon the bead of him by whom they were de-
livered.

Mr. KEOGH well vindicated the character of the
Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Ina speech of great
ability, and which reflected the utmost credit upon
the Learned Gentleman, he demolished his opponent
on every point. In the most humorous manner he
explained, amid the cheers and laughter of the House,
the various proceedings to which a suitor for justice
might be compelled to resort, not only in Ireland but
in England also. He dissected " the original
bill," " the supplemental bill," " the bill of reviver,"
" the bill of reviver and supplement," " the original
bill in the nature of a supplemental bill," " the origi-
nal bill in the nature of a bill or reviver, and supple-
ment," the bill of review," " the bill in the nature of
a bill of review," and the various other barbarous and,
we wish we could add, obsolete forms by which the
course of justice is impeded, delays rendered inter-
minable, and expenses overwhelming. He showed
that Lord Chancellor BEADY only followed
in the footsteps of his able predecessor, and
that be declined to make those changes
in the practice of his court, which Sir
EDWARD SUGDEN more than doubted his authority

to introduce, and which would be regarded as start-
ling and unconstitutional innovations if brought for-
ward without the sanction of Parliament.

The Hon. and Learned Member for Plymouth
and the Solicitor-General completed the discomfiture
of the learned mover of the amendment, and, as we
have already stated, the Bill was read a second time
with the all but unanimous approbation of the House.
We congratulate the House and country on this
auspicious result, and on the improved spirit exhi-
bited by professional as well as by non-professional
Members in reference to a measure which must ma-
terially diminish the emoluments of legal practi-
tioners.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of Saturday

and yesterday.
The Baron GROS has been appointed by the PRE-
SIDENT of the Republic as Ambassador Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece. To
Baron Gaos, who, it will be recollected, was French
Envoy to La Plata, will be confided the conduct of
the mediation between Greece and England.
The Journal des Debate, in announcing the ap-
pointment of Baron GROS, says :
" Notwithstanding the services rendered by M. Thou-
venal, or rather because of these services, and of the un-
equivocal line of conduct pursued by him, the French
Government. it is said, did not think it right to confide
to him an arbitrating part requiring in the person called
on to fill it absolute independence and unaffected by an-
tecedent acts."
There was a rumour on Friday that a collision had
taken place in the Archipelago between a
British and a Russian ship of war, in which the lat-
ter got very roughly handled. The Constitufionnel
of Saturday states, however, that the Government
had received no account of any such collision, and
that the report probably bad its rise in a paragraph of
a German journal stating that an English ship of war
having hoisted sail at the Piraeus, was followed by a
Russian corvette.
It is said that the Socialists have refused to
coalesce with the Constitutional Republicans in the
approaching elections. The candidates who are
spokes of at present on the Red side are MM. Emma
DE GIRARDIN, VIDAL, FORESTIER, GOUDCHAIM, BIL-
LAULT, and MALARMET.
The PRESIDENT of the Republic honoured the
ThLitre du Cirque National with his presence on
Thursday evening, and was received with great en-
thusiasm. The piece performed was Bonaparte, an
les Premieres Pages June Grande Histeire. The
allusions to the Republic and to the name of BONA..
PARTE met with equal enthusiasm. The Minister of
the Interior and the Prefect of Police were present at
the representation. At the conclusion of the piece,
the PRESIDENT testified the satisfaction he had felt in
the warmest terms to M. METER, the director, and to
the authors.
The first of the grand concerts in which Mdme.
SONTAG is to be the leading star is fixed for Tuesday
evening next. Notwithstanding that they have not
yet been publicly announced, every loge in the
Conservatoire has been long since taken ; the box
list presenting an array of names which recall the
palmiest days of Paris, comprising every name of
rank and distinction in the capital, commencing with
the PRESIDENT of the Republic. Since the:arrival of
the Countess Rossi (Madame SONTAG) in town, her
hotel has been daily crowded with visitors, including
the highest of the resident and foreign nobility, and
all the most eminent in the arts, literature, and
science; all desirous to welcome back to the city of
her former triumphs the illustrious cantatrice, whose
rare gifts and estimable character have enabled her
to shine equally in the splendour of Courts, and ss
the conspicuous ornament of the most beautiful of
the arts.

It the sitting of the Assembly on Saturday M.
PASCAL DIIPRAT put the interpellations to the Mi-
nister of which he had given notice, on the subject of
the recent decreer: re-organizing the command of the
troops stationed in the departments. In the course of
his speech he vehemently attacked the PRESIDENT of
the Republic, and his attack was received by the Le-
gitimatists with complacent silence. General
D'llatrrouL rose to reply, and in the course of his
speech he exclaimed, turning towards the Mountain,
" Begin as soon as you like, you will Sod
us ready." Hereupon there were loud calls upon the
President of the Assembly to call the Minister to
order for having addressed a direct provocation to
insurrection, and M. Dorm was about to do so, when
General D'HAtrrow. explained that he addressed
those words to those who, on the 15th May, 1848,
had invaded the Assembly ; who in June of the same
year had caused the streets of Paris to flow with
blood ; and to those who had declared the majority of
the Assembly outlaws. This was received with shouts
of applause by the Right, and ultimately the order of
the day was voted by 437 to 183.
The Napoleon of yesterday has the following on
the subject of S witzerlansto—
" In spite of what the jouroa!s say, the independence
of Switzerland is not menaced, and France will cause it
to be respected, if necessary, provided that the Helvetic
Republic will itself respect the rights of nations, and the
obligations of good neighbourhood." _

The Napoleon thus -sums up the material progress
made by France since the election of the Paz-

SIDENT :-

`• A year azo the finances of the State, which ate in
fact nothing more than the fortune of the public% were
seriously compromised. There was a deficit of more
300,000,000 f. Now a balanced budget is presented, and
without a loan. A ytar ago commerce and industry
were everywhere at a stand. Now the manufactories
are in full activity. The Customs produce as much as
in years of prosierity. The real augmentation of the
indirect revenue is 77,000,000 as compared with 1848.
A year ago the city of Paris alone gave subsistence
to 100,000 indigent poor. That number is now reduced
to 10,000.

" A year ago the octroi of Paris had considerably
diminished, th• operative classes withdrew their deposits
from the savings banks, and sent their clothes and fur-
niture to the pawn-office. Now the octroi produces
6,000,000 more than the previous year. The deposits in
the savings' banks have increased by 27,886,000 f. ; and,
according to official returns, the amount of articles with-
drawn from the pawn-office is far superior to that of the
articles pledged.
" A year ago the public funds were at 66f. ; they are
now at 96."

It also notices with pleasure the difference in the
style of the correspondence between the Emperor of
RUSSIA and the PRESIDENT, as contrasted with that
observed towards Louis PHILIPPE :

" This style adopted by the Emperor towards the
President of the Republic is moat friendly. At the
commencement of the letter is' To our great and good
friend, M. the President of the French Republic,' and at
the end the repetition of the words ' great, and good
friend,' and immediately before the signature your most
affectionate friend,' &c. And, moreover, the Emperor
has notified to the President, as to the Sovereigns, all
the °Teets that have taken place in his family."
The report of M. Emma Lanoux, in the name of
the Committee charged to examine tke Bill relating
to stamp duties on bills, promissory notes, transfer of
rentes,;&c., has been distributed. The Bill, as altered
by the Committee,is now divided under the five,follow-
, ing heads Commercial bills. The Committee on
this point admits the principle of the present legisla-
tion. Fines are to be maintained against the subscri-
ber, the acceptor, and first endorser. The holder of
a letter of change, not stamped, will have a right to
preceed, in case of acceptance, against the acceptor
and the drawer ; and in case of non-acceptance,
against the drawer only. The holder of any other
kind of commercial paper will have a right to pro-
ceed only against the subscriber. The Com-
mittee and the Government are of opinion that
invoices and accounts of sales ought to be made
out on stamped paper, and the Committee pro-
poses that the duty shall be fixed at 25c., with a
penalty of 500 f. against all agents, brokers, &c.,
guilty of contravention. 2. Shares in companies.
The Government Bill proposed a duty of 1 per cent.
on this matter, but the Committee has reduced it
per cent. for shares in companies not to last longer
than ten years, and 1 per cent. when the duration ex-
ceeded that period. The Committee prefers the
nominal capital to the real, as rendering the collection
of the duty more easy. Nominative shares, when
transferred, are to be dispensed with duty, if the
number of the new coupon is the same as that on
which the duty has been already paid when the share
was at first delivered. 3. Rentes and state stock.
The Government Bill contains no provision relative to
these matters. The Committee proposes to levy a
duty of 5 per cent. on the nominal capital of all
transfers made relating to the public money.
4. Policies of assurance other than maritime assur-
ance. The new Bill, in particular, directs its atten-
tion to ensure the strict payment of the duties which
are now existing, with some new enactments of a
stringent character. All insurance companies are
bound to make, within a given period, not yet fixed,
a declaration of the nature of their operations, and
the names of the directors or head of the company, the
object. being to thus render the surveillance of the State
less difficult. The Committee admits the principle of
compounding with the State, on the part of these
companies ; but in order to prevent fraud, Art. 38 of I
the Bill stipulates that, in case of ceasing that mode
of proceeding, the company shall be liable to a
duty of 35c. for each policy in course of execu
tion. In order to favour the practice of compound-
ing, the Committee is of opinion to free from the
stamp-duty all companies which within three months
shall contract an engagement with the State f0r,1450.
Maritime assurances. The Committee has separated
this species of assurance from the others, applying to
it special regulations. 5 General Provisions. Under
this head are included a number of miscellaneous
enactments, designed to ensure a more strict observ-
ance of the law. The Committee reminds all heads
of law courts that they have no right to give a deci-