The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-10 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1850.

At a late hour last evening Mr. Lots brought
forward his motion in the House of Commons on the
subject of the abolition of the Post-office Sunday de-
livery. The resolution which the Hon. Gentleman
submitted to the House was as follows :
" That, whilst this House ncknowledges with satisfac-
tion the diminution in the amount of Sunday labour
effected by the recent arrangements in the Post-office,
it cannot but he sensible of the great public inconve-
nience which has arisen from the :(Jtsl cessation of any
delivery or collection of letters on Sunday a, and that a
humble addrees be therefore presented to her Majesty,
praying that she will be graciously pleased to cause an
inquiry to be made, whether the amount of Sunday
labour might not be reduced without completely putting
an end to the collection and delivery of letters, &c., on
Sundays; and that, pending such inquiry, her Majesty
will he graciously plea?ed to give orders that the collet
tion and delivery of letters, &c., on Sundays shall be
continued as heretofore."

i After a long discussion, Lord.JonN RCSSELL sug-
gested, as a substitute for the motion, that "a humble
address should be presented to her MAJESTY, praying
that she would be graciously pleased to cause an in-
quiry to ba made whether the amount of Sunday
labour in tha Post-office might not be reduced with-
out completely putting an end to the collection and
delivery of letters on Sunday."
Mr. Locan pressed his motion to a division, when
his resolution was rejected by a majority of 191,
the numbers being for th • motion 92, against it 233,
whereupon Lord JOIN RUSSELL'S amendment was
put as a substantive resolution, and, notwithstanding
the strenuous opposition of the Ssbbatarian4, was car-
ried by a majority of 83. the numbers being 195 for
to 112 against it. It wi'l be seen therefore that the
matter now rests entirely in the hands of the Cr -
vernment, and we cordially j in Mr. PHILIP
HOWARD in expressing "a. hope th it the inquiry will
be followed up with rapidity, as r is most unjust and
impolitic that a small portion of the community should,
as at pusent, impose restrictions upon the great body
of the people." We should have been better pleased,
seeing it is admitted that the alteration has been
made without inquiry, had the Sunday delivery been
1"t°"(1 Pending tha inquiry ; but Lord done Rua-

SELL has perhaps adopted the best course that under
all the circumstances it was in hi 3 power to adopt.
He took a falie step when, in the first instance, he,
in answer to the Address of the House of Commons,

recommended the abolition of the Sunday delivery
without inquiry, end he has been hampered by the con-
sequence of hi= error ever since. It is clear that since
the decision of last night the Government has the
whole affair in their bands, and we would urge
those who are in favour of a Christian and
common-sense observance of the Sunday, as con-
tradistinguished from a Judaical and puritanical
one, to act with vigour.
The Sabbatarians are endeavouring by every
means in their power to put " the screw on,"
and they must be fought with their own weapons.
The division list should be scrutinized with seen
--
racy, and those who have abstained from voting out
of fear of the saints, or who have voted with them out
of fear, should be reminded byetbeir constituents indi-
vidually that the majority of electors may perhaps be
found on the other side. We urge upon our
brethren of the Press, and upon all who are in-
terested in this matter, the ab-olute necessity of
not relaxing a moment in their pressure on this subject
until the restoration of the Sunday pest is practically
reduced to action—which it may be within one week,
and will he, if the matter be properly urWed on the
attention of the memhers of the Government, with
whom, and with whom alone, the decision of this
matter rests. We could not but be struck with the
" modest assurance" (if the man had not been a Lord,
we should have designated it by some other name)
of my Lord ASHLEY, who in the course of the debate,
coolly asked whether it could be said that a full, fair,
and sufficient trial had been given to_ the measure,
seeing that it had been only in operation for twenty
days. There are some poisons so rapid in their
operation as to produce death in twenty se-
conds, and this measure, which condemns all
mankind', to social death. every Sunday, has had
more than a sufficient trial. As was well said by Mr.
AGLIONBY, it has been tried too long, and it has given
extreme dissatisfaction to the country. The bearded.
Member for Birmingham, Mr. Mteen, whose whole
career has been one long bunt after notoriety, sup-
ported the Sabbatarians, because he (Mr. Morcrz)
had been in the habit of receiving from
thirty to forty letters every Sunday, the
reading of which he found to be a matter of.per-
sonal inconvenience ; but surely Mr. Mown might
have obviated this by simply abstaining frol opening
his letters on a Sunday. Why should the poor man
be deprived of the comfort of I4aring from
his son or daughter, and answering their
letter on a Sunday, because Mr. MUNTZ does
not possess sufficient self-command to withstand the
temptation to do that wl i.:h he believes to be wrong?
The Hon. Gentleman also thought it decent to assert
that all the' letters of complaint which had ap-
• .
pear.- din the newspapers had been written by the
editors themzelvEs. This a4sertion is, perhaps, the
most unfounded that even Mr. MUNTZ ever made,
and that is say ing a gr.-at deal. The Honourable
Member has at various periods of his existence been
himself connected with journalism, and may, per-
haps, have bean in the habit of making anonymous
communications to himself; but we can assure him,from
a very lengthened experience, that such practices are
eschewed by all conductors of newspapers of character
and respectability. It is not, however, the merchant or
the manufacturer, or the banker who is so
interested in the restoration of the Post office
Sunday delivery as the poor man. It is emphatically
and par excellence the poor man's question.
This point was admirably put by Lord JOHN RUSSELL.
1 own it appears to me," said the Noble Lord,
" that if the commercial men of Manchester, or Glas-
gow, or other large towns are generally of one mind
as to this subject, there is nothing which should pre-
vent them from refraining from carrying on commer-
cial business ; but it is a different question with those
persons who have families and domestic affairs con-
cerning voyages abroad, or friends in imminent dan-
ger. Here is a difficulty which I cannot get over. The
Post-office is armed with all the power of the State to
prevent other persons from takingletters, and is there-
fore charged and takes upon itself to be charged exclu-
sively with this duty of conveying a letter on Saturday
evening from London, informing a daughter that her
father is dangerously and that if she does not re-
ceive the letter immediately, she may never see him
again or receive his blessing; and the letter having
arrived in the provincial town early on Sunday
morning is there detained 24 hours in the post-effice;
the daughter knowing of her father's illness, and suffer-
ing all the agonies of protracted anxiety during these
24 hours." The question is one of domestic and social,
rather than of mercantile importance. It Mr. Mtr:NTz
desires to benefit by information he may have re-
ceived on a Sunday to make his thoussnda by a lucky
spec, he has the railway and the electric telegraph at
his command; not so the poor man, who, although able
to afford his penny for his letter, cannot afford
fifteen shillings for a message, and yet the poor
man is to be condemned for twenty-fur hours to the
agonies of suspense as to the life or death of a dear loved
child, because, forsooth, the personal convenience of
Mr. MUNTZ is served by the stoppage of the Post-
office delivery on Sunday. The most logical and
most convincing speech of the debate was that of
Mr. ROEBUCK ; the Hon. and Learned Member
for Sheffield exposed in the most complete manner
the fallacies of those who pretend that this question
of Post-office Sunday delivery is a religious ques-
tion :

" He at once directly and roundly asserted that
if this was a religious question, that House had
no right to interfere in the matter. That House
had no right to thrust down the throat of any man
a religious opinion. (Cheers.) He denied that
the Sabbath came of the Christian religion.— (‘ Hear, hear,'
from Colonel Thompson.) He spoke :t seriously and gravely
as c.ne conscientiously and deeply concerned for the interests
of the country, that as far as religion was concerned, this
question was not within the competency of the House of
Commons. Well, then, if it was not the Jewish Sabbath
which they were endeavouring to enforce, it was the
Christian Sunday.—(Hear, bear.) What was the Christian
Sunday ? A thing that differed widely from the Jewish
Sabbath.—(Hear, bear. )"

This unanswerable argument evidently produced a
great effect, and gave a tone to the whole of the
debate; the religious pretence was not osten-
tatiously put forward as it has been on
other OCCAsions, ani when alluded to, it was al-
luded to so gingerly that it was evident
even the saints themselves were ashamed of it.
The following argument of the Hon. and Learned
Member fur Sheffieid was also f It to be unanswer-
able, and was, therefore, unanswered :
" The Noble Lord the Member for Bath talked of Post-
office labour on the Sunday. But where was the difference
between the work of a man who flopped a letter at a door
and that of the servant who rose early in the morning, whc
laid the elPgact breakfast table, and then prepared the coach
t^, drive his lord or ma:: ter to church. (Cheers.) A heathy
man required but a crust of bread and a glass of water. But.
how many of those who sigued petitioi.s co: fined themselves
to that ?"

not informy o:
My Lord ASHLEY, who is a
the
whetheretlihe: on that day very healthy man, did
his servants pass the
suad
he
conteo t
was
ahsiruself
with a crust. Not one singleargument
pro-
duced throughout the debate in
Sabbatarian view, it was all support of the
reckless asser-
tion and " holier-than-thou "
yet still we urge our friends noastsutmopttinroust;
too implicitly to the goodness of their cause.
Like their protct3 pea, the Phari,eeF, who brought an
accusation of SAbath-breaking against the Divine
Founder of our Christian religion, our modern &JD-
batarians are indefatigable in their exertions
to cram their own absurd doctrines down
the throats of others, and are perfectly reckless of
the means which they employ for that purpost—, it was
but yesterday that some persons connected with one or
two obscure weekly newspapers, which are not pub-
lished on Sunday, waited on Lord Jowl RUSSELL,
under the pretence that they were a deputation
of gentlemen connected with the weekly
newspapers, to solicit his Lo:dship not to
restore the Post-office Sunday delivery, when they
must at the same time have known that at a pubic
meeting of gentlemen connected with the weekly
newspapers, held the night before, a petition for the
restoration of the Post-office Sunday delivery had
been agreed to by a large majority. Ag4in we urge
upon all those who are in favour of a really Christian
and common-sense observance of the Sabbath not to
relax in their exertions until the Post-office Sunday
delivery shall be restored.

If the doctrine of " finality" be realty abandoned,
as asserted by her ISlAJtrri's Ministers, if any al-
teration in the Iltfotin Act is ever to be anotioned,
we are unable to conceive any rativnal grounds for

the rejection of the equitable and judicious propo-
sition last night brought forward by the Honourable
Gentleman the Member for East Surrey, in a speech
I of excellent sense and great moderation. The applica-
tion was made on be half of a numerous and
influential class who, through some strange omis‘iete
were deprived of the privileges to which other person
similerly circumstanced were .entiflc:cl. The onl.
distinction was one of rote. The favoured partie.
resided in what are,,teimed "boroughs," which had
the privilege of returning Members to Parliament,
and where, in consequence of the smallness of the
constituencies, each vote was of considerable im-
portance. The others resided in rural districts,
or, perhaps, in towns, which constituted parts of
different counties. Not only was the franchise
less valuable in such casts from the number of
electors, but the qualification was paced on a very
different foundation. In the one town every occu-
pant of a house of the value of 101. sterling per
annum was entitled to a voice in the election of t
Member to represent his wants and wishes in the po
pular branch of the Legislature, and to assent te
the tax,etion that might be required for the
liquidation of the national liabilities am
the maintenance of the national establishment!
In the other, a person so circumstanced would no
only be excluded from the list of the voters, but ever
if he occupied for his exclusive use a house
the annual value of 49/. ter flannel, and paid one-
(bird as much more for the general and local taxatio,
thereof, and also contributed largely to tie
income-tax and other imposts, and was it
every respect a man of education and re-
finement, not only well qualified to vote for but t
sit as a Member of the Imperial Parliament, he wouh
be totally excluded from what ought to be the birth
right of every freeman who contributed in any de-
gree, however trifling, to the national Exchequer.
It was to remedy this strange anomaly that Mr.
Locus KING, last night, asked leave to bring in a
Bill to assimilate the franchise in counties in England
and Wales to that in boroughs, by giving the right
of voting to all occupiers of tenements of the
annual value of 101. The Hon. Gentleman pointe
out the absurdity of allowing persons to be taxed, any
that heavily, without being represented. He showed
that "many men who had good houses in the coun-
try, worth something less than 50/. per annum, who
lcpt taxed servants, taxed horses and carriages, and
who contributed largely to the expenses of the state in
the shape of income-tax and other assessed taxes, were
not allowed the privilege of a vote, while a man, wh
held freehold property of the annual value cf 40s.
year, in forty different counties would possess as
many different votes," and pertinently inquired,
" why should a 101, householder in Andover be en-
titled to vote for two Members for that borough,
while a 401. householder at Basingstoke should not
be entitled to a vote at all," and " why a 10/. house-
holder at Reigate should have 1-198th share in send
ing a Member to Parliament, while a person living
in a larger and better house at Croydon,
but paying something short of 50/. a year, was not
allowed to have 1-6000th share in returning Members
for the eastern division of Surrey?" There are
many similar cases that might easily be enumerated,
but it is unnecessary to do so. There is, perhaps, not
a single person in the entire country who could not
cite several cases of extraordinary hardship within hi,
own knowledge, where the parties excluded are emi-
nently qualified to exercise soberly and discreetly
the inestimable privilege of which they are deprived
The really working members of what are termed
the learned professions—the curate, who toils in his
vocation, carrying comfort and hope to many a
humble cottage, is not entitled to vote, because,
al.bough a graduate of one of the universities, he
cannot afford to devote 50/. per annum fen
nouse rent out of the 100/. which he re
ceives as a fitting remuneration for the
laborious duties of his profession ; the legal
or medical practitioner ; the bustling or retired
tradesman, the half-pay officer, who has devoted the
best years of his life to the service of his country, and
braved the dangers alike of armed foes and un-
healthy climates, are placed in the same category ;
but no relief is to be afforded to those aggrieved par-
ties, and all because Lord JOHN R UtiSELL chooses to
entertain a superstitious veneration for the Act
of 1832, or considers that Liberal Members
should yield an unreasoning and blind submission to
'he Government. A more arrogant, a more petulant,
a speech in every respect more unjustifiable, could
not have been uttered than that in which the Noble
Lord resisted the equitable proposition, and dared to
read a lecture to the Hon. Gentleman the Member
for the Tower Hamlets for the expression of a very
natural impatience at the snail-like pace at which
her MAJESTY'S Ministers were disposed to travel on
the path of reform.

The taunts as to bringing into power another party
may be responded to in a manntr by no means satL-
factory to the very Liberal Government that peremp-
torily rejects any extension of the franchise, however
trifling.

niE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the Paris journals of yesterday.
In the course of the debate on the law of the
press, M. ROUHER, the Minister or Justice, designated
the revolution of February a funeste catastrophe,
whereupon LI. Elms DE GIRARDIN called upon M.
Magri, the Presideat, to call the Minister to order,
a demand with which M. DUPIN refused to comply ;
whereupon he was asked how he would have acted
had any one in the days of Louis PHILIPPE spoken
of the revolution of July as a catastrophe ? The
President became enraged, the Assembly followed
his example, and the debate was adjourned amidst a
scene of indescribable confusion. In the evening a
meeting of the Members of the Mountain was held
at which M. EMILE DE GIRARDIN proposed that
they should resign en masse, a proposition which,
although seconded by M. MICHEL DE BOURGEB, was
rejected. It was ultimately determined to draw up
a protest against the language used by the Minister,
and deposit it on the tribune.
M. Rouusx, who has been guilty of this escapade,
is a little provincial lawyer, and a mere tool in the
hands of the parti-pretre. The National accuses
him of cowardice and treason.

"Yes, cowardice (it a a), Incense in pronouncing
condemnation on the revuluiion, which is the origin of
the present government, and in despising the principles
which then triumphed, M. Roulier knew that he did so
with impunity, and treason, becau:e the act against the
Republic is sommited by a Minister of the Republic."
Even the D, butt blames M. ROURER. it says :
`• IVe are not ; epublicans—we are nut obliged to share
the vii tuous indignation of the Mountain—yet we admit
the: the word (catastrophe) does seem rather strange :n
the mouth of a Minister of the Republic. Ic must be,
Lowevcr, admitted that the word has a meaning of a
very just arid profout,d character, when we ate the truth
thus peering through an official fiction."
It is ascertained beyond a doubt, that the lad
WALKER, who charged himself with intending to
asa►ssinate Louis NAPOLEON, is mad. He is to be
transferred to an asylum.
PARIS- BOURSE, JULY 9.—Latest Prices.—Five
per Cents. 95f. 30c. ; Three per Cents. 57f. ;
Bank Actions, 2,250 f.
BUSINESS DONE
.INFORERM RAILWAYS AT THE

LON DON STOOK-1 MIA. Nu F., JULY 9.
Boulogne and Amiens, 8 —Dutch Banish, 2 —East Indian,
VA— Luxembourg, 2%—Northern of France, 1414—Orleans
and Bourdeaux, 3--Paris and Rouen, 2 Par's and Stras-
botrg, WA—Rouen and Havre, n—Tours and Nantes, VA