The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-08 00:00:00

EXAMPLES,

, 2 Premium. i ~,.< Bonus Bonus iri .g
~,,.g ~....=,,-
g added. Cash. ,:"; g ...,, oAS
5 . i...., m 00.4 5
. 9, - --
____.
z £ s. d. I.£ s. -d. X s. d. X s. 'd. X s. ds
10,1000
74 3 4 '188378'3 -114740 .
29
23 77
64 .55 61 12 9
163 ,91 29634 123 43
l' 1839 116 16 0 .51 611 711, 9, 247 4 5
eae2irsion of profits is annual, and the next will be made in De-

The division of profits is annual, and the nez'.
comber of the present year.
This institution offers many important and substantial advan-
tages with respect both too:Life Assurances and Deferred Annuities.
The assured has, ou all occasi•ns, the power to borrow, without ex-
Acme or forfeiture of the
,Policy, two-thirds of the premium paid,
(see table) ; also the option of selecting benelts, and the conversion
of his interests•to meet other conveniences or necessity. Assurances
for terms of years are granted on the lowest possible rates.
F. FERGUSON CAMROUX, Sec.

SCOTTISH EQUITABLE . LIFE ASSUIt-
ANC 'SOCIETY,
Incorporated by royal Charter. Established 1831.
Head Office, 26,-St. Andrew'ssquare, Edinburgh ; '
• London Office, 61 A, Moorgate-street.
PRESIDENT.. • •
HIS Grace the Duke of BUCCLEUCH 'and QITEENSBERRY.
VICE-PRESIDENTS. , •
The Right llon. Lord Gray. .
Sir Neil Menzies,- Bari., of Menzies. • •
David M. M. Chriehtonn, Esq., -of Rankeilour.
The :ROBERT CHRISTIE, Manager.
itading principle of this Mutual Assurance Society Is, that the
Whole Profits are divisible among the Policy Holders every three
Sears.
In illustration of the eminent success which has' attended the
e
.17,?ZetZt.tiie rattimay. be stated that the additions made to Policies have
the vested bonus. of - Per cent, per annum on the sum assured and on
Thus the hold
1832, will, if liter of
a Policy for 1 000/effected on the Ist of March
, . .
to 1,297/. •
t e ed
elt7l
eft come a claim during the present year, be entitled-
and
Tlre Aone'e On or before. the Ist March, 1833, to 1,275 L,
..ards other Polieles
is above 70,000, kind exceeds 260,0001., and the Annual Revenue
lag prosperity. the whole being in a course of steady and increas.
No other Life A
hold out greatein,"ssurance Institution whatever can warrantably
—`vantages to parties Assuring than this Society does.
WILLIAM COOK, Agent for London.

—GI
A' Moor
gate-str
street.

.A.:"TRALASIAN, COLONIAL, and GENE..
126, ',,_.ltAr-, LIFE ASSURANCE and ANNUITY COMPANY,
..isnopsgate-street, corner of Cornhill.
Capital 200,0001., in 2,000 Shares.
Robd Barnard, Esq., .R S
p• D.IR.ECTORS:
Gideon Colquhoun, Esq.
rt Brooks, E Charles E. Mangles, Esq.
Ile sq• John Ruckle, Esq. .1
aßnikchoafrdLOonndsloonis.-, Esq.
William Walker, Esq.
co:Zr:etnr: CllapAP:xrlEas—sq.l.Tnion 13
l'nßS—The Bank of Australasia (Incorporated by. Royal
Charter, 1835), No. 2, Moorgate-street.
SOLICITORS—Messrs. Maples, Pearse, Stevens, and Co.
llllrsiciax—Dr. Fraser, 62, Guildford-street, Ritssell-square.
Assn SECRETARY'—Edward Ilyley, Esq.
e___ ..„....L.CS may be effected with this CompanY at unnsually
.4‘ ourable rat 6, affording every variety of accommodation to the ~arured. Participation in profits ascending and descending scales of
,s'u'enliarn, permission to retain o'ne=third of the premium, which is
B`marged as a debt against the policy, tables for the assurance of a
unis payable in the event of death to the executors of the assured, or
to allnself upon the attainment of the ages of 45, 50, or GO.
TO EMIGRANTS, TO THE AUSTRAL ASIAN COLONIES,
quo are
advantagesr the whole term of life, this Company
Tet°flers the of permission to proceed to, to reside in, and to
i..., ~.
Dre-wium.-osmthtehroes.e colonies without extra premium ; and to pay their

riURGESS'S NEW SAUCE, for general pier-
for . Poses, having ained such great approbation, and the demand
fit continuing to increase, JOHN BURGESS and SON beg most
be:PeeffullY to offer thus their best acknowledgments to the Public
Tetheir liberal Patronageof the same ; its utility and great conveni-
e in all climates have recommended l', to the most distinguished
~..reign connections, who have all spoken highly in its recommenda-
Mun• It is prepared by them only; and for preventing disappoint-
to families, all possible care has been resorted to, by each
et being sealed on the cork with their firm and address, as well
genu each label having their signature, without which it cannot be
ESSENCE
BURGESS and SON'S long-established and much-esteemed
yewOENGE of ANCHOVIES continues to be prepared by them after
same manner that has given the greatest satisfaction for many
"ears.
Warehouse, 107, Strand, corner of Savoy Steps, London.

MPORTANT to FAMILIES FURNISHING.
1. —A considerable saving can be effected in the purchase of
tdriishing Ironmongery, by visiting the PANKLIBANON IRON
rORKS, 58, Baker-street, Portman-square, where may be in-
eted the most extensive STOCK of IRONMONGERY GOODS In
qe kingdom, consisting of kitchen cooking utensils, German silver
ir_a_res. drawing-room stoves, shower and vapour baths, ornamental
"" work, garden implements, japanned water cans and toilette pails,
best Sheflield plate, kitchen ranges, fenders and fire-irons, tea trays,
al evirewOrk, flower stands, table cutlery, &c. Every article
.elne marked i
convince plain figures, at the lowest possible price, will fully
eutting frrrc,"as; .sat this establishment of the great advantage re-
Of th. , '441 Payments as the proprietors warrant every article
THOR-. per,YbeAt Manufacture', at a saving of at least 30 per cent.
s-3- ,llowanCe LOWS, and Co., 58, Baker-street, Portman-square.
to merchants and captains.

~-C4ndon4'."friaMENT.—Persons having a little time
gp.,.
O are apprised that Agents continue to be appointed in
or the
sale
coentry towns, by the EAST INDIA TEA COMPANY,
little .o
Office:, Vof their celebrated teas.
„,,They at,, •9, Great St. Helen's-churchyard, Bishopsgate-street.
With Packed In showy leaden canisters, from one ounce towat
ith the
Price and weight marked on each packet, and
„mu_ male is occasioned by the sale. The license is only I Is. per
81deral and
man ass
during the last ninetees years have realised con-
-41„-'oln.es by tho agency without one shilling let or loss.
eatioi_22ll.ade (if by letter post-paid) as above.

SILVER TEA SERVICES.
B. SAVORY and SONS, Manufacturing
znoa,ld. silvers OILY
14, Cornhill, London, opposite the Bank
nof
TCr.ipt.},atlhmit the prices of the following SILVER TEA a d
his feet' thSERVICES• The Cottage Pattern is plain, standing on
The c...e Tea and Coffee Pot 'with a flower ornament on the ads.
Ma,
0,
.a Pattern is richly emhossed with flowers and molls. The
9ther is new and elegant
%troaß silynge Pa•tern. • King's Pattern.
bitto s fel Pot.. .£l2 0 0 Strong Silver Tea Pot.. Xl2 0 0
bit "gar Basi •
7 10 0
„, to ii n ...... 616 0 Ditto Sugar Ra,in
'Jut° coffe r—ver .... 410 0 Ditto Cream Ewer 5lO 0
P00r..::..: Pot .. ..15 0 0 Ditto Caffbe Pot ...

Vern
the shZ°NPwards of
1", . Mete ---1
a,„,.. ........... .£3B 6 0 Complete 4O 0 0
r—olislte rocfLoorns, Whet►
1 y beaselected every article of Silver
Fay T and Coffee Services may be seen
artPielbph,et; 1.114 gidpboardeorar aplateeihest.
+till d". gratig Prices, illustrated with sketches of the various
Itg. 4 and forwarded, postage tree, to any pan, of h
.1114,1'd.Savc".7 and Sons, 14, Cornhill, London, opposite the Bank of

RA,Arp,„
Th u- PILL OF HEALTH.
riltesgion
ni.
illf°lll.advantages to the heads of families fromort theo
tilloes.,c,zufici-e.nee,
aed_cione of known efficacy, that
omayembeporerLy resorted to
, that . Jrnig in"Zni,s,?dstinvitoh sucrcleessss
einvecraysgoe,f t
d are so obvious to
Zoilldoer h''';t?etleksitionoa;,fle
'. be raisreedoof its importance to Wthg 18 res„nc44.lll. From among numerous testim ma's. n
.evoery liouisee-
u 74
~,
it'.
,11oresuAbompiototed :
reZTr,...; / ha
~.." !'2 ueper.struTeet2-29
iiia.
osTilhaesxine,r,LisniiaDAN.
PILL OF Illy %x„,'"'eu...h satisfaction in conimunicatj_n_g_tiv)lll.iuoNis
eoUrse .1' HE
.T.,,V;bee, after reead trials, of FHA 12, 114,12i:e
hey ' , than, '4..1, and I feel it buttju, tice to stat., that in the
have
system ' 10Iind i......Y?ars' trial of vati >us Aperient Medicines,
44.7,
?: e
svan,_ warran'ed in
_ frem
rttlisiuits at once salutary and efficient in the reliefl.of the.
In ~1111, therefor uldant bile,with so little inconvenien,
bh) vPi'cilly iner7, of. being able to reccmmend to families, school,,
'declaring that they supply to me a
Fri,dit tpa!de arncllle nien, whether at the desk or on the road, a
means. of mak-
ing I' It AY:le I if,; e.l' an o.ccasional medlcine. And I shall ts ke
i, 1 • I p!,ON,4,gri,llg. this testimony, lam the
.appreciated.a
;The hantr.,_ Slr, respocl;-.;'ip
valoorc general!),
icitltiv.,llll4-sriTir.„
,?:,,,,,4:-.,-,,v-ieoene,tented sale It Iheuses.Pills, arising from the earnest re-
%at pnte.ll Use tolif,the rnany thouiands who have derived benefit
Ilii. lorth 4a.rer ao Y langthenet comment unnecessary, the are
Old4ant, i'.?9d Lieelalre tor all diseases to which mankind is Haw ,but for
;„,.1014, „,,. oinpiaints, with their many well-known attends- 1
lic,.esl, biz__ :cks.lieadache, Pain and Oppression after mess, i
;i'v,"oo
oritiiO4oisAppitiefilineg
Wind.
in Head and
, Ears, Drowsiness,
aetlsotris.
prht, rg„,,doses
~, ill
convince
arld ins°t' the 11;t'aci1 will speedily regain i a strength a ealthy
Spasms, &'-.
of their salutary
str,n‘„ead i i ii,ti; Howell., and Kidneys, will rapidl take} pace ;
I_Zl,l:e":ii,_7,tivity. and heat, pains, and j
aundiced aopdpeolarnagcee,,
etzt,ty",;in:uelatcohr
icar,inn:4llPhlivsecimil!dlcailtnlel:
according toto
the directions
fiel.lthgczisl 11;;111;:ycittti,t1., ,29., Stra d London, Price Is. 1;4(1. and 2s. 9d.
Ant, Toi '' vendors lolf Medicines generally throughout the
g,nle a, i ' RAN*,
"o•err,,,, 4,,'!,,11e5e ft,'' 914'S PILL of HEALTH, and observe the
1 ' ',atilt,- '' ThomasProut, 229, Strand, London." on the

, PirriLi NoT10E•
11) SHIPpEn. ,34, OXFORD-STREET.
or.„-,q,ne-,-,_'-eestinlonials, Gratis, by all Agents.
the
"so C i ;"„',. 0,, WNERgs CAPTAIN, AND OTHERS.
pair-1 -11 U-LNR'S EyE SNUFF.—Under
/4theitsiZnage
is universally re-
heia_4'ended he ''' a the Lords ot the Treasury,
ni of his late Majesty, her Royal Highness the
--nit to trY_the Faculty for its efficacy in removing
B:ol4,,elt%zahnd_ lie,
EID ad.NEFIVOUS HEADACHE AND
Its 41:1,e,triost altrittE, tqliNgttl'uSlCaUJPra)grant Compolln#
a v tholusand
et,nrren,i,:e ;41.1i)Paltcatoto,
ii ish4iivglitt use,h
.Veaastrripning --eip„se, x eet
geterer to 11:, PPeratiotPl. If teiti'rnoni: bet necessarY
,112 c 1.0,,i,
~f, ce . trial, Kings, Lord!, and Commons. hemet:ellwt
.te,tticet,iithe 1341,2beettsrriwy htaviehsanctlotned its
rinse._ h
. e_ t OcTulists, Medical
to induece.tlh.
firhnsitoZ.l:B,with that geignaiiticebarlirnce,etnien Press—have ei,i.l,:(iftitsmed
.
ittt4,,,,5p,;,,,,y';
sneul ea!: !•,aitotc,l i 41: Itrtli)eaacceo ue Compound km,
0 i g 'all disewnasases incidegt
el4'• '..cl”,aintElead. G.. 1. Guthrie Esq., P.R.& See 3. il.ealles it
nartoo, bie;emnx, Whitehll. Or. Thomas, Dr. And
1-see Ills Reports touching
olt
110 l
.et,b.rnethy,
d Girimstone's Eye
/4:etilriari call it tll:laZasnlyoesntthgisenrd7'narandlet he "Student's Vade
br A.m. s u_elity.rewThe late
}le itsStatestenaciousthe useas
•th the
nervous system,
henefit to ,With
`lfr. when freqsul wi
ken, must be of the great":
adoption as e --4sntner ; andeFurthr recommends its universal
or.
Tho a preventative. ' '
iteacLehe a
both of
that Grim.:
Zaos._ of liatheld, having witnessed many cases
LAt.,n; Ws of thePrnnta",lin'tighsa:,-NnAlzdtvoe,in,ali'sisotpArgrtniy-etsit'oredtand
, oe •:‘,F'4rn!)3, GRIIreNE'S EYE SNUFF; .
li 1.41.
the ril?iera.r,,g:r.--Tisfee'eT%utn4diby
.._se.. of 'll VC: April
lntni you of
the far 4,1•e11s cure effected onamsey'siell nyjtaskling
rather to''',,!'l.),ated Gronstone's Lie Snuff, Which, io my case, ought
li disfnes„"._ealled '. Ear Snuff,' it ha,,ing effectually relieved meofreotme
a few pinches of
!t.tolibi,erty;;Linelnaits:h
eloch I, have been suffering for many a• Y
.I Id
no regret i'f‘sti you please of this communication,
ours_
Ey Snuff
Rene not universally
keo::xtraordinary qualities of y
:', ?ranten Sco"tlianag.', dear Sir, ysiniaraellient !ervan esience I
REI MAAREGOR.
,o, m:lnciv. olci I: fur the t,i,-ul hA 4fai e
Ifil.erp hi g fact;
o rorly statements.
ics.
relA,e.4. Rey noldi, editor Of Chattbers' Loridon Journ;l, &c.. &c.,
,„,,,,,,, 4,onroeray.r,ute4
d ttinglpaaettliiisriaai'dtcaall now write without spectacles
of k.t_lantn,e P. L.erqds;faciag the toad
Park-street, Wiadsor; cured
Thatch Tl. IssaefhAllt! VsdcbileacdauPeide.lhOS;llX3ir)eir 1848firtnellialgilnd
,ed Rouse Tavern —See his letters, 1838 and 112.
~_,,, 4erve the Caution—W. Gni AIS 14JNE is the sole inventor,
""tis.the only genuine is prepared by him.
I,74.!eris, at 81., it
,„!.?! Odoriferous Herbace• us Compound of Herbs is sold in
2d., '.• Icl., 4.=. 4d. tis., and Iss. 6d. each„by the
iss,"'"tor. W. (I RI MSTONE, at No. 434, oxford-street, 1 otten-
5114
_r.oret-Toad end (late of No. n, Broad-street, Bloosbtir.y),
Drine7ptatil
,rflowerobaary, If late ; and also be ootatned in all
Phis
Owners, , Cattains,aannd 'l;tesrlo'ks lib
ot.u.ailioNoloowe,asnlyee torpprho,
!it-s
ei:ated Snuff is Shipp to all quarters of the globe, and retains
tri theniiill qualities'n every climate All Snuffs and Cigars shipped
An s nerot,..st notice.
thdizquniont.ltyY
ocra,iiretbe! fxr‘;sarrrle.thoriosegrh
eilteh General Post,
wi i costb
gift ;;;;ilV3iirellirllll.•

LAME Wl' ON DEBILITY, NERVOUSNESS, AND ALL
DISORDERS ARISING FROM EXCESS, &c.
" He who in pleasure's downy arms
Ne'er lost his health or youthfti Icharin&
A hero lives, and justly can
Exclaim, in me behold a man I"
Just published (in a sealed envelope), Tenth Edition, price 26. 6d.,
or sent by post, free, to any address, 3s. 6d.s
QELF-PRESERVATION : a Popular Essay on
those concealed disorders originating in youthful excesses,
and terminating in Nervous Debility, Local and Constitutional
Weakness, and all those Sinkings, Anxieties, and Tremors, which
afflict the Weak, the Sedentary, and the Delicate, With Practical
Observations on llarriage, and on the Anatomy, Physiology, and
Diseases of the Reproductive Organs, with plain Directions for
their perfect Restoration.
5l SAMUEL LAMERT, Consulting Surgeon
9, REDFORD-SQUARE, LONDON,
Matriculated Member ofthe University of Edinburgh, Honorary
Member of the London Hospital Medical Society, Licentiate of
Apothecary's Hall, London,&c.
" The various positions of Lover, Husband, and Parent, the hi-
herent privileges of mankind, ate frequently marred and prevented
through the follies and frailties of early indiscretions. To such,
among others, this Essay addresses itself; and by its perusal many
questions may be satisfactorily adjusted that admit of no appeal even
to tne most confidential friend "—Staffbrd Gazette.
"The design of this work will be tolerably obvious from its title,
and we cordially recommend the author and his book to all who are.
:.'dftering from nervous debility and general weakness."—Wakefield
Journal.
Published by the Author, and sold in London by S. Gilbert, 51 and
52, Paternoster-row; Stacie, Tichberne.street, Quadrant Regent
street; Hannay and Co., 63, Oxford-street; Noble, 114, Chancery-
lane; Gordon, 146, Leatienhall-street ; and by all Booksellers.
At home every day till 1 hree, and from Five till Eight.

DEPARTURE 61? THE KING OF

SAXONY.

(From the Edinburgh Courant of Monday.)
His Majesty the King of Saxony has now taken his
departure from the British dominions. After a stay un-
exampled in the modern movements of Monarchs, and
which, we trust, indicates the gratification he has de-
rived from his sojourn,-he'elosed his tour of the island
yesterday (Sunday) with the Scottish metroinlis.
On Saturday he embarked, about eleven o'clock, in
Lord Wilton's schooner yacht, for Aberdour, and for a
cruise in the Frith, Lord John Scott, in his yacht, the
Lufra, accompanied his Majesty in his progress. The
royal party returned about half-past three, and his Ma-
jesty drove up to town (Edinburgh), and in the most
unostentatious manner proceeded to the Royal Hotel,
where he took lunch. This was done with so little
parade, that it was almost by accident the inmates re-
cognised him.

His Majesty then drove out to Roslin, and on alight-
ing at the inn an interesting scene took place. Several
parties of ladies and gentlemen from Edinburgh and the
neighbourhood were at Roslin, enjoying the beauty of
the country ; and when the royal carriages arrived the
whole turned out, formed a circle round his Majesty,
and greeted him with hearty acclamations, which tte
King courteously returned. His Majesty then pro-
ceeded to view the chapel and castle,
.and from the
chapel they walked to llawthornden, which they mi-
nutely inspected. Returning to Roslin, they entered
the carriage and drove to Dalmahoy, where a distin-
guished party was invited to meet his Majesty at dinner.
Yesterday (Sunday), at eleven o'clock, his Majesty
and suite attended the Catholic chapel in Broughton-
street, and, after the sevices, entered a carriage and four,
arid drove down to Granton-pier, where his Majesty was
received by Sir William Bain. The Lightning steamer,
sept down by Government for his Majesty's use, was
brought to, and the steps leading from the pier to the
vessel were covered with crimson cloth.
Mr. List, and a party of the county police, kept the
pier, and lined the passage to the steamer. His Majesty
was accompanied by his noble host, the of 'Morton,
and by the members of his suite. Soon after his Ma-
jesty went on board the Lightning got under weigh, and
proceeded for Hamburgh, where the King will disem-
bark en route for his own dominions.

The steamer is under the command of Commander
Roberts and Lieutenant Southey, brother to the late
poet laureate.

ADVERTISEMENT. ANOTHER EXTRAORDINARY
PROOF OF THE EFFICACY OF HOLLOWAY'S PILLS.—
Mr. Stevens, a gentleman holding a highly responsible
situa,tion in an insurance-office in the City, from over
attention to business, became so bilious, debilitated, and
nervous, with palpitation of heart, and with a dread on
tho mind of some approaching calamity, as to be ren-
dered for some weeks quite incapable of attending to his
duties. In this truly pittable state he commenced the
use of this miraculous medicine, which in a fortnight re-
stored him to the highest enjoyment of health, and this
when physicians failed to afford the least relief. Sold (also
Holloway's Ointment) at Professor Holloway's Esta-
blishment, 244, Strand (where advice may be had
gratis), and by almost all respectable medicine vendors
throughout the civilised world.

The Committee of Secresy appointed to inquire into the'state
of the law in respect of the detaining and opening of letters
at the General Post-office, and into the mode-under which
, the authority given for such detaining and opening has
been exercised, and to report their opinion and observa-
tions thereupon to the House, and to whom several peti-
tions.were referred;-have examined the matters to them
referred, and have agreed to the following report :
Your Committee; in performance of the duty which the
House has devolved upon them, of inquiring into the state
of the-law respecting the detaining and opening of letters
at the General Post-office, beg to state' in the outset thht
although the wording of the 33d and 36th chapters of the
Ist of Victoria, which now mainly regulate the Post:office,
is, in respect of the matter in hand, somewhat different from
that of the 10th chapter of the 9th of Anne, for which they
were sithstituted, yet that there appears to be no such vari-
ance between the statutes of those two periods respectively,
as to prevent your Committee from assuming, Rh- the con-
venience of their inquiry, that the same powers are con-
veyed or recogniseclin all.
The inquiry, therefore, what the state of the law now la
respecting such detention and opening, is reduced to the in-
quiry- what the state of the law ivhs, respecting the same
matter, immediately on the passing of the statute of Anne,
unless in the intervening period, the principles which regu-
late the interpretation of Acts in general should have under-
gone modification, or cases should have been decided in the
superiot courts of law ' which might have, a bearing, on the
..constroction to be given to this particular Act. With that
reservation, the law on the matter in question was th 4 same
in 1711 that it is in 1844.
In preference to discussing the purely legal question, how
far the statute of Anne, in recognising the practice, on the
part of Secretaries of State, of issuing warrants to open
letters, rendered it lawful for the Secretaries of State to issue
such warrants, your Committee propose, so far as they have
materials for hat purpose, to give the history of this prac-
tice, prior and subsequent to the passing of that statute;
these materials being such as ought not to be overlooked in
investigating the grounds on which the exercise of this au-
thority rests. '
In these early researches your Committee will have occa-
sion to inquire into the condition of the posts-in this country
at various periods of our history, and into the connection
that subsisted between them and the supreme authorities of
the country. In these inquiries your Committee have been
assisted. by Sir Francis Palgrave, of the Rolls Office, by.
Messrs. Lechmere and Leman, of the State Paper Office, and
by Mr. Reeve, of the Council Office.
It does not appear at what precise period the Crown under-
took to be the regular carrier of. letters for its subjects.
The Crown, doubtless, found it necessary at a very early
period, to the exercise of the functions of sovereignty, to be
able to convey with speed and security its own dispatches
from one part of the realm to another, and from and to parts
beyond the seas; and for that purpose it appointed certain
messengers- or runners, called the posts. These posts were
also employed for the personal convenience of the Sovereign,
and the individuals composing the royal court. In course of
time, a master of the posts was appointed, and the first of
these on record was Brian Tuke, Esq., afterwards Sir Brian
Tuke Knight, who held that office in 1516, -and whose letter
to Thomas Cromwell, respecting the performance of its duties,
dated 17th August, 1533, is given in the appendix. The
joint successors of Sir Brian Tuke were Sir William Paget,
Knight, Privy Councillor, and one ofHenry the Eighth's chief
secretaries, and John Mason, Esq., secretary for the French
tongue. The letters patent, dated 12th November, 1545,
conveying to them this. office, grant to them, during their
lives and the life of the survivor, the office of master of the
messengers, runners, or posts, as well within the kingdom
of England as, in parts beyond the seas in the King's
dominions, together with the wages or fee of 66/. 13s. 4d.
a-year, to be held by themselves or their sufficient deputy
or deputies, &c. ; but, besides his fee, the Master of the Posts
received from the Crown the amount of his expenses for con-
veying letters, of which he rendered in an account, many
samples of which are given in the appendix. There is a
succession of patents (including recitals of patents), granting
the same office, at the same fee, to other parties for life, in
the times of Elizabeth, James 1., and Charles I.
With regard to correspondence conveyed by other messen-
gers than their own, our monarchs viewed it with great
suspicion ; but it was especially towards letters arriving
from or going to parts beyond the seas that their vigilance
seems to hare been directed. The frequency of disputed
successions to the Crown, and the constant jealousy
_enter-
tained of the Court of Rome, will assist in explaining their
desire 'to prevent such correspondence. All letters coming
from beyond the seas were directed to be seized ; but in
the time of Edward 11., to whose reign the first record of this
kind belongs, the King's bailiffs, in assisting the admiral
of the fleet to search for letters, were forbidden under
the pretext of such powers, to attack or oppress any mer-
chants or others crossing the seas. The open seizure by
Wolsey, in 1525, of the dispatches sent from this country
by the ambasador of the Emperor Charles V:, is a proof
of the extraordinary jealousy with which foreign corre-
spondence was regarded, and of the vigilance with which it
was watched.
After the grant of the office of Master of the Posts to any
new person, a royal proclamation always followed, to notify
the new appointment. Consequent on the grant of the office
by Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1590, to John Stanhope,
Esq., there is a, proclamation, prohibiting all persons what-
soever from gathering up, receiving, bringing, or carrying
out of the realm any letters or packets, without the allowance
of the masters and comptrollers of the posts, or their deputies.
All mayors, bailiffs, &c., are ordered to make diligent
search for all mails, &c., of all such disavowed carriers, &c.,
or suspected persons, coming into or going out of the realm
with packets of letters ; and all such to' apprehend, &es,
keeping them in safe custody, until, by the view of their
writings, sent up to the Privy Council, it be seen and advised
what further shall be done with them." Exception is
made of. the dispatches of her Majesty's principal secre-
taries, of ambassadors, and of others sufficiently authorised.
Similar prohibitions are contained in 'the proclamations an-
nouncing the appointment of new postmasters in the two
subsequent reigns.
The practice probably began at an early period, and after-
wards grew into a regular custom, of alloWing private per-
sons to avail themselves of the King's posts for transmitting
their correspondence. This probably became a perquisite to
the postmasters, while, at the same time; it gave to Ministers
of State the power of narrowly inspecting the whole of the
written communications of this country. •
The employment of the posts for carrying the letters of
the subjects of the Crown is recognised in a proclamation,
dated 1591, consequent on the before recited grant by Queen
Elizabeth to John Stanhope, Esq., of the office of Master of
the Queen's Posts. The ord Treasurer and others are
thereby directed to notify to all merchants, both strangers
and others, in the city of London, that they are not to take
upon them to employ any disavowed persons to convey their
letters, but are to use such only as are lawfully appointed
for that purpose. The same direction is repeated in a procla-
mation of James Is. dated 1609. In the year 1628, in an
address from the House of Commons to charles 1., it is.
stated that the deputy of the King's postmaster, appointed
to carry the letters from the Crown beyond the seas, was
likewise employed for the same purpose by the English
mei chants.
With regard to inland letters, in a document obtained
fiom the State Paper-office, and dated 1635, it is stated that
the King's postmasters carried the subjects' letters, but up to
that time had never reaped any benefit from it.
The officer who has been hitherto mentioned as the King's
postmaster, was the master of the posts within the King's
dominions, at home or beyond the seas. To him, however,
had hitherto belonged the transmission of letters both at
home and abroad; but in 1619 a new Patent-office was esta-
blished by James 1., called that of the Postmaster of England
for foreign parts out of the King's dominions. The patent
gave rise to a long legal contest between Lord Stanhope, who
held the former of these two offices, and Matthew de Ques-
ter, the new patentee. During these proceedings, lest the
merchants of London should sustain inconvenience from in-
terruption to their foreign correspondence, an order was
issued permitting them to convey their letters to and from
parts beyond the seas, by messengers of their own choosing ;
and moreover, the Lords of the Council, to whom the dis-
pute had been• referred, advised De Quester, by letter, not to
give any interruption to the conveyance and reconveyance of
the merchants' letters. On the subject of this letter, the Secre-
tary of State, Sir John Coke, wrote to his co-Secretary of
State, Lord Conway, calling the power of sending foreign let-
ters a branch of the royal authority, affirming that no place
in Christendom can be named where merchants are allowed
to send their letters by other posts than those authorised by
the State; that his colleague best knew what account they
shall be able to give in their places of that which passeth
by letters in or out of the land, if every man may convey
letters, under the covers of merchants, to whom and what
place he pleaseth, &c. The order, " upon weighty reasons of
State," was afterwards limited to the Company of Merchant
Adventurers alone, and they were only to convey their let-
ters to the towns of Hamburgh and Delf, and they were to
give bond to carry no other letters than those concerning the
Company ; no one was to be appointed messenger to the Com-
pany, unless approved of by the Secretaries of State; the
other companies of merchants were to send their dispatches
by De Quester only ; and, in times of war and danger to the
State, the said Company, and all other companies of mer-
chants, if required, were to acquaint the Secretaries of State,
from time to time, with their letters and dispatches into fo-
reign parts. In the end, by the influence of the Crown, Lord
Stanhope was made to surrender his patent. De Quester's
patent came into possession of one Thomas Witherings, who
suggested to the Crown .a plan for the entire re-organisation
of the inland posts, which, instead of producing at that time
any revenue to the State, were a burden to it of 3,400/. per
annum. The plan proposed consisted essentially of three
parts—the establishment of fixed rates of postage; substi-
tuting horse posts, which were to travel at the rate of 120
miles in twenty-four hours, instead of foot posts, which tra-
velled at the rate of 18 miles; and giving to the public gene-
rally the use of the Post-office. This plan was adopted;
Witherings was appointed to the office; and thus became
centered in the same person the offices of Postmaster for in'
land and for foreign letters. Iu 1635 and 1637 appeared two
proclamations, to notify and give effect to the new plan of
Mr. Witherings ; and in both these there were clauses pro-
hibiting any other than Mr. Witherings, or his deputies, from
carrying letters.

In 1640, on a charge of divers abuses and misdemeanours
committed by Witherings in the execution of his said two
offices, they were sequestered into the hands of Philip Bur-
lamitchi, of London, merchant, who was to execute the same
under the care and oversight of the principal Secretaries of
State; and without tracing at this day the disputes which
the conflicting pretensions of different individuals to the pos-
session of thes offices gave rise in the year 1642, it will be
sufficient to say that, shortly afterwards, the management of
the affairs of the Post-office fell into the hands of Mr. Pri-
deaux, who was Chairman of the Comthittee appointed by
the House to consider the inland department of the Post-
office, and was afterwards, under the Commonwealth, At-
torney-General to the State. Mr. Prideaux was appointed
Master of the Posts, in 1644, by the authority of both Houses
of Parliament.

The validity of the clause in the grant to Witherings of
the inland letter office, prohibiting any but the persons ap-
pointed by the patentee from receiving or delivering letters
at any: place where the patentee should settle posts, was
brought in question, in 1646, before a Committee of the

House of. Lords. TWo of the Judges were appointed assist-
ants to the Committee, and were expressly ordered to report
their opinion as to all such particulars concerning the yell.--
dity of the patent as the Committee might think fit to ask
them, and they reported, " That the inlaud,letter-office patent
was well eNeted ; that ' the clauses of restraint, in the said
patent, are void and not good in law; that notwithstanding
these clauses be void, yet the patent is good for the rest"
The foreign letter-office patent was not referred to the con-
sideration of the Committee.
• AccOrdine• to the law as expounded by the two judges, no
person, under the authority of letters patent from the Crown,
could, without an Act of Parliament, lawfully set up any ex-
clusite.title to carry mails of letters from one part of the
kingdom to another. It apPears that in 1650 the Common
Council .of the city of London, not satisfied with the footing
on which Mr. Prideaux, then Attorney-General, had placed
the posts, of conveying letters into all parts of the nation
only once a week, endeavoured of their own authority to settle
posts on the'several roads, which were to run twice a week;
and this they had actually done in the" whole line of the road
to Scotland. On a report to that effect from the Council of
State,-the Parliament resolved, " that the offices of post-..
masters, inland and foreign, are and ought to be in the sole.
poier and disposal .of the Parliament ;" and they referred it
to the Council of State to consider how, those offices might
best be settled ; and in the meantime to take orders for the
present management thereof. -
These offices continued, until .1653, to be managed by Mr.
Prideattx. They were farmed in• 1653, and in 1655 the ma-
nagement of them was entrusted to Mr. Secretary Thurloe,
on his giving security for the then present rent of 10,0001. a
year.
In 1657, a Bill for the settling of the postage or England,
Scotland, and Ireland was laid, by order of the Protector,
before his Parliament, and passed with some amendments.
It provided for the establishing one general post-office, and
one postmaster-general, to be appointed under letters patent
by the Lord Protector and his successors, such officer and his
deputies (with certain reservation) to have exclusively autho-
rity to carry inland and foreign letters, rind of horsing all
thorough pats, and persons riding by post to and from any
post-roads, with power to 'levy certain rates for conveyance
.of letters and horsing' of posts; imposing penalties on any
persons other than the postmaster-general or his deputies,
who shall set up posts for the conveying of letters or horsing
of posts ; providing for the forwarding by post of ship letters,
for the exercise of. superintendence over the postmaster by
the Lord Protector. and his successors, and giving power to
the Lord Protector'and his successors to farm the post-office
for life, or for any term not exceeding eleven years. •
• After the restoration Charles 11. granted, by letters patent,
'August 14, 1660, to Henry •Bishopp,- for the term of seven
years, the office of the master of running messengers, formerly
held by Lord Stanhope and others, &c. ; and by a separate
indenture, dated September I', agreed to farm to the said H.
Bishopp, for the term of seven years, all powers and profits
expressed in the. "pretended" Act of 1657, for the annual
rent Of 21,5604 payable quarterly. The said Bishopp agreed,
at the rates stated in the said " pretended" Act of Parliament,
and no higher rates,-to defray the whole charges of main-
taining the said office; the King agreeing that the Parlia-
ment shall be moved speedily and effectually to pass an Act
of Parliament, in the due and usual form, for settling the said
postage and the profits thereof on hie Majesty, as part of his
said Majesty's revenue.
On the 12th of September, 1660, it was ordered by the
. Lords and Commons, in Parliament assembled, that the office
of postmaster, and the postage and carriage of' letters, domestic
and foreign, should continue to be exercised by the same
persons now employed therein by his Majesty, their agents
and servants; according to the same rates and rules now prac-
tised, and without the interruption of any person or persons
whatever, until the 6th day of NoVember next ensuing. And
in December, 1660, an Act was passed agreeing nearly, mu-
tatis mutandis in its enacting clauses with that of 1657.
The passing of this Act was followed by a proclamation
for quieting Vishopp in the execution of his office. On his
surrendering it in 1663,• it was granted to Daniel O'Neale,
one of the grooms of the chamber, who farmed it for the re-
mainder of Bishopp's original term, and on the same condi •
tions. A proclamation followed O'Neale's appointment. An
Act passed id 1663, for settling the profits of ,the Post-office
on the Duke in,
York and his heirs male ; and two proclama-
tions followed, one in 1669, the other in 1683, for enforcing
the due execution of the said Acts. On the expiry of O'Neale's
lease; in 1667, Lord Arlington was appointed Postmaster-
General, and a proclamation followed for quieting him in the
execution of his office: No statute for altering the manage-
ment of the .Post-office, or the rates of postage, was passed
during the reign of James 11. and Wm. 111., nor until the 9th
year of Anne. •
In reviewing that period of the history of the country
which commences with 1641,
.your Committee beg to notice
the following incidents, as bearing on the subject of their
inquiry. •
Repeated stoppages of the foreign mails were made by the
orders of the two Houses, and Committees Were appointed, eom-
posed of the Members of both Houses, to open and read the
letters stopped. On one of those occasions Mr. Pym re-
ported the answer of the Lords to a messige from the Com-
mons to stop the foreign mails, " that they did yield to the
opening of letters ; but it would be very inconvenient if
often used." •, •
F-rTanticee- oapnednAinngtwaeldp eNteonvt.ioln64le,f"
in lleidret ol tatQcrosmepolialiinntg tofrtohme
King and. to the Lords from the ambassador of the republic
of Venice. •
The preamble to the Act of Cromwell's Parliament for
settling the postage of England, Scotland, and Ireland, enu-
'merates among the advantages of the post, that it is the
best:means " to discover and prevent many dangerous and
wicked designs which have been and .are 'daily 'contrived
against the. peace and welfare 'of the Commonwealth; the in-
telligence whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter
of escript?' -
It scarcely needed this evidence to prove that during the
Protectorate recourse was had to the expedient of opening
letters. This fact is sufficiently apparent from the number
of letters designated as " intercepted letters," in the State
correspondence of Secretary Thurloe.
•No preamble similar to that which the Act of CromWell
contains, appears in the statute of Charles 11., for erecting
and establishing a Post-office. But In the lease granted to
Bishopp, of the profits to arise from the Post-office under the
Act, which Parliament was to be moved by his Majesty
speedily and effectually to pass, it is agreed that the lessee
shall permit and suffer the said• Secretaries. of State for the
time being, or either of them, . from time to time, and at all
times during the proposed term, to have the surveyand in-
spection of all letters within the office or offices aforesaid, at
their or either of their discretion. And the same power is
reserved to the Secretaries of State in the lease granted to
Bishopp's successor, O'Neale.
In the proclamation which immediately followed the pass-
ing of the statute of 1660-1, the practice of opening, by au-
thority of the :Secretary of State, letters lawfully conveyed, is-
not mentioned •; but in. the proclamation which followed the
appointment of. Bishopp's- successor, O'Neale, the words occur
which correspond to those afterwards introduced into the
or distributing of the same,` 61:' any
18ayttuntge
of
lAe
tnt
enres
fuorflitheeerrsc,htahragteand au
shall
bcoememmplodytdhaitn
tilo
hexopost-
mastersothern.
person‘‘ ndo otherwre do
or-persons of quality or 'condition soever they be,
except by the immediate warrant of our principal Secretaries
of State, shall presume to open any letters or. packets not
directed unto themselves, or thatthey, or any other persons
Whatsoever, do stop
any mayl in the passage to or from Lon-
don, or any other place whither the same is consigned and
directed; but shall truly and faithfully deliver the same,.
without any opening, concealing, g or retarding the delivery
thereof." These words are not repeated in the subsequent
proclamations of 1667, 1669,,1683, and 1685.
As to letters unlawfully conveyed; it is directed in the pro-
clamations of 1660-1, and 1667, that they be seized and sent
to the Privy CPuricil ; in those of 1669, 1683, and •1685, that
they be considered as letters of 'dangerous consequence, and
be seized and sent to one of the Secretaries of State, or to
the Privy Council, to the end that the persons conveying or
sending them may be proceeded against, according to law ;
in that of 1663, that they be seized and carried to the
con-
cernedoffice,
therein."
"th
lovingeetobe subjects as may be his disposed of for the benefit
of
fenaelri General
cPhosotf-
Majesty's

Although, aftei quoting the cited clauses from the leases
granted to Bishopp- and, O'Neale, and the words from the
proclamation of 1663, no reasonable doubt can be en-
tertained that the Governments of the different Monarchs
who reigned between 1660 and 1711, had frequently re-
course to the practice of opening letters, yet the only instance
during that period that has come under the notice of your
Committee, is that of Coleman, one of the victims of the
Popish plot. .

touraCommittee now come to the period subsequent to
the passing of the 9th of Anne, the first statute which re-
cognised the practice of opening letters, now under consi-
deration.

Before they proceed to avail themselves of the information
laid before them, which has proved to them that the 40th
and 41st sections of this Act did not remain a dead letter, they
will notice several occasions in the last century on which,
both in Parliament and in courts of judicature, this practice
was brought distinctly under public attention. -
About eleven years after the passing of the Act, viz., in the
year 1722-3, in the course of the proceedings had on passing
the bills of pains and penalties against the . Bishop of Ro-
chester, and his two associates, Kelly and Plunket, the prin-
cipal evidence adduced against the parttindsai
ccenucsed e to warrantswthat
of post-office clerks and others, who, in obedience
from the Secretary. of State, had detained, Opened,
copied,
and deciphered letters to or from those parties. In the Com-
mittee on the Bill against Atterbury, in the House of Peers,
the clause of the statute of Anne was referred to and com-
mented on by the bishop's counsel, who raised a doubt whe-
ther the copying or a letter were sanctioned by the Act ; but
in no one of these three cases was any question raised as to
the legality of the warrants,
In 1735, complaint being made in the House of Commons
by certain of the Members, that their letters had been opened
and read by the clerks of the Post-office, on the pretence of
ascertaining whether or no the franks of those Members were
counterfeited, and a copy of his Majesty's warrant, whereby
letters of Members and certain public functionaries were per-
mitted to pass free from postage, being read, it was ordered
that the copy of the said warrant be referred to the considera-
tion of a committee, and that they do examine the matter
thereof, and report the same, with their opinions thereon, to
the House ; and on the committee 'making its report, the
House resolved, inter alia, "That it is a high infringement of
the privileges of the knights, citizens, and burgeses chosen to
represent the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament, for
any postmaster, his deputies or agents, in Great Britain or
Ireland, to open or look into, by any means whatsoever, any
letter directed to or signed by the proper hand of any Mem-
ber without any express warrant in writing under the hand
of one of the principal Secretaries of State for every such
opening and looking into, or to detain or delay any letter
directed to or signed with the name of any Member, unless
there shall be good reason to suspect some counterfeit of it,
without an express warrant of a principal Secretary of State,
as aforesaid, for every such detaining or delaying.
Sir Robert Walpole and Mr. Pelham are said to have
agreed to the appointment of this committee, on an under-
standing that it should not inquire into anything that might
tend to discover the secrets of Government. In 1742, how-
ever, the secrets of Sir Robert Walpole's Government were
somewhat rudely pried into by the secret committee ap-
pointed "to inquire into the conduct of the Earl of Orford,
during the last ten years of his being First Lord of the. Trea-
sury, and Chancellor and Under Treasurer of his Majesty's
gxchequer."

ANNti
TO

That committee, in its report, gave a description of the es-
tablishment for inspecting letters, as maintained by the Go-
vermuents over which Sir Robert Walpole had presided; but
abstained from stating on what particular occasions that es-
, tablishm,tut had been made available.
It appears from the information laid before your Committee,
that under the pressure of the rebellion of 1745, which fol-
lowed almost immediately on the downfal of the administra-
tion of Sir Robert Walpole, his successors issued warrants'
. for stopping and opening post letters of a very general and
. unlimited character.
In the year 1758, Dr. Hensey, a physician, was tried on a
charge of high treason, being accused of a treasonable corre-
spondence with the enemy. The principal evidence on which
he was convicted was that of a letter-carrier and a Post-office.
clerk, the latter of whom had opened Dr. Hensey's letters,
and delivered theni to the Secretary of State.
In 1764, a Seleet'Committee of the House was appointed
to inquire into the abuses of franking letters; and the chair-
man, Mr. Dyson, was directed by the Committee to move
the House, "That it be an instruction to the Committee,
that they have power to inquire into the abuses committed
at the Post-office by opening inland., letters ;" the motion,
however, was negatived.
The last instance that has come to the knowledge of your
Committee, in which this power was exercised under cir-
cumstances- of public notoriety, is that of the trial of Horne
Tooke fur high treason, in 1795. A letter written to him by
Mr. Joyce, a printer, was intercepted at the Post-office, and
was stated by the prisoner to have been the immediate occa-
sion of his apprehension. On his requiring its production,
it was produced in Court by the Crown officers, and given in
evidence.
It is now so long since any public trial has taken place, in
. which facts ascertained by opening and detaining letters at
the Post-office have been adduced in evidence, that it seems
to have been nearly forgotten by the public that such a
practice ever existed.
• YoUr COmmittee, having gone through the proofs of a more
public character, and ascertained that the Governments of past
times have authorised the detaining and opening of post letters,
and given notoriety to the exercise of that authority, and
that the fact has, on several occasions, been brought under
the, notice of Parliament and courts of law, proceed now to
show (from evidence of a more secret, and confidential
nature) to what extent this practice has been carried on, by
the same authority, during the past and present centuries.
'Before entering,. however, on this head of inquiry, they con-
sider it proper to observe, that they have had before them,
with few exceptions, every person now liviag who lids held
the seals of Secretary of State for Home or Foreign Affairs,
since the year 1822, as well as two noblemen who have dis-
charged the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; and several
persons who have held confidential situations under them ;
and they have further examined the present Postmaster-
General, the Secretaries of the Post-office for England and.
Ireland, together with several of the most confidential offi-
cers in every branch of the Foreign-office, the Home-
office, and the Post'-office ; and :that all these witnesses,
without exception, have made to your Committee the most
full and unreserved disclosures.; so much so as to have
rendered it superfluous for your Committee to examine any
other witnesses.

Of the number and nature of warrants for opening and de-
taining post letters issued by Secretaries of State, from the
year 1712 to the year 1798 inclusive, yOur Committee are able
to render only a very incomplete account, compiled partly
from the books of the Home Department, partly from the re-
cords at the State Paper-office. It appears that, during that
term of years, it was not the practice to record such war-
rants regularly "in any official book.
That this account is what the Committee describe it to
be, very incomplete, is manifest. from the small number of
warrants that enter into it, considering the length of the
term of years. From 1712 "to 1798 inclusive, a term ofB7
years, the- number of warrants, of which any account has
been obtained, is but 101; and of that number eleven only
belong to the last twenty eventful years of the term, in-
cluding the period of the French Revolution: In this ac-
count, moreover, certain cases are not included, in which it is
known, from reports of public trials, and other independent
sources of evidence, that lette:s were opened and detained,
such as those of Atterbury, Plunket, Kelly, Hensey, and
Horne Tooke.
From the commencement of the present century, if not
froui an earlier period, down to the present time, the prac-
tice has been, with very few exceptions, for such warrants
to issue only from. the Home-office, although another Se-
cretary of State has occasionally signed the warrant in the
absence of the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
From 1799 inclusive to the end of the year 1805, a record
has been preserved of the warrants issued from the Home-
office, which, from the circumstance that the annual average
which it exhibits agrees nearly with the annual average of
the warrants issued in subsequent years, appears to the Com-
mittee to be nearly a complete record; they have, however,
no other mode of testing its accuracy. It was not until the
period, in the year 1806, when the late Earl Spencer became
Secretary of State for Home Affairs, that the practice was
introduced at the Home-office of recording the issuing of
every such warrant in a private book belonging, not to the
head of the department, but to the office, and always acces-
sible to the two Under-Secretaries of State and the Chief
Clerk of the Domestic Department : and that practice has
been continued, the Committee believe, without interruption,
till the present time. Still, there is no check by which to
test the completeness of the entries made in that book until
the close of the year 1322, from whiclr period the original
warrants themselves are preserved at the Post-office, the
earlier warrants having been destroyed on the removal of the
Post-office from Lombard-street to its present site in St.
Martin's-le-Grand.

After these explanations of the authenticity of the lists
which have been submitted to their consideration, they pro-
ceed to give, first, an abstract of the warrants, so far as they
have been able to make up an account, from 1713 to 1798 in-
clusive; secondly, an abstract of the warrants for detaining
and opening letters issued by the Home Department since the
commencement of the year 1799 to Midsummer, 1844.

'AL NUMBER OF WARRANTS IN EACH YEAR, FROM 1712
1798, SO FAR AS AN ACCOUNT OF THE SAME COULD BE
DE UP.

•
Number g Number , Number
~,, of War- ti of War- Year. of War-
, rants. rants. rants.
1712 1 1744 3 1768
1713 - 2 1745 7 1770.
1723 1 1746 1 1772
1730 1 1749 ' 1 1773
1731 2 1751 1 • 1774
1734 3 . 1752 1 1776
1735 '4 1753 6 1777 .. 2
1736 3 1754 1 1778
1737 3 1755 1 1782
1738. 7 1756 1 1783
1739 5 1763 3 . 1784 ..... 1
1740 1 1764 1 Froml7BB
1741 4 1765 1 _.., to 1798 5 e 6
1742 2 1766 ' 4
1743 4 1767 2 Total No lOl

'Total No..

The above warrants classed under certain heads :—Bank
of England, 8 ; Bankruptcy, 5 ; Murder, theft, fraud, &c.,
14; Prisoners of war, 1 ; Revenue, 10; Foreign correspond-
ence, 35 ; Treason,- sedition, &c., 5 ; Libel, 2 ; Forgery, 1 ;
cDeerbtationr,abl7s.c—onTdiontgalf,ropmc.reditors, 2 ; Private case, 1; Un-

ANNUAL NUMBER OF WARRANTS IN EACH YEAR,
FROM 1799 TO 1844.

Year. iNumber. I Year. i Number. Year. Number.
!-
1799 9 1815 2 • 1831 17
1800 11 1816 0 1832 5
1801 7 1817 11 1833 4
.1802 6 1818 9 1834 6
1803 7 1819 6 1835 7
1804 2 1820 6 1836 7
1805. 7 1821 1 1837 4
1806 9 1822 12 1838 8
1807 . 13 1823 7 1839 16
1808 2 1824 2 1840 7
1809 11 1825 6 1841 18
1810 6 1826 8 1842 20
1811 8 1827 8 1843 8
1812 28 .. 1828 4 1844 7
1813 • 8 1829 5
1814 3 1830 14 372
Total number of persons named in the above warrants. 724.

fiber of pc

sel in the al

372
Lnts, 724.

ibove wai

This would give a little more thin eight warrants, on the
average, per year, and about two persons, on the average, for
each warrant. Among the warrants there are eight, applied
each to some particular object, but not restricted to any de-
finite number of persons.
The above warrants classed under certain heads :—Bank
of England, 13 ; Bankruptcy, 2 ; Murder, theft, fraud, &c.,
144 ; Treason, sedition, Sec., 77 ; Prisoners of war, 13 ; Re-
venue, 5 ; Foreign Correspondence, 20 ; letters returned to
'writers, 7 ; address copied, 1; forged frank, 1; uncertain,
89. Total, 372.

The Secretaries of State who have signed the warrants re-
ferred to in the two preceding abstracts, are named in the
following list, arranged -in the order of date :-
1712-13. The Earl of Dart- 1804-6. Lord 'Tewkesbury,
mouth. and 1807.9.
1713. The Right Hon. W. 1806- 7. Earl Spencer.
Bromley. 1807. Right Hon. C. W. W.
1722. Lord Visct. Townshend. Wynn.
1730-46. Lord Harrington.. 1809-12. The Right Hon. R.
1735-1754.- DukeofNewcastle. Ryder.
1749. Duke of Bedford. 1812-21. Lord Vise. Sidmouth.
1752-3. The Earl of Holder- 1822-30. The Right Hon. Sir
ness. • R. Peel.
1755. The Right Hon. Sir T. 1822-3. Right Hon. G. Can-
Robinson. ning.
1756. The Right Hon. H. Fox. 1823. Earl Bathurst.
1763. The Earl or Halifax. 1827. Lord Vis. Goderich.
1765-7. The Right Hon. Ge- Right Hon. W. S.
neral Conway. Bourne.
1766. Duke of Richmond. 'Marci. of Lansdowne.
1766-7. The Earl of Shel- 1830-4. Lord Vis. Melbourne.
burne. _ 1833-40. Lord Palmersson.
_ _

1770. The Earl of Sandwich. 1834. Lord Vis. Duncannon.
1770-4. The Earl of Rochefort. -- Duke of Wellington.
1776-7. Lord Vis. Weymouth. 1834-5. Right Hon. H. Gout-
_l77B. Tie Earl of Suffolk. burn.
1782-3. The Right Hon. T. 1835-9. Lord John Russell.
Townshend. 1838. Lord Glenelg.
1782. The Right Hon. C. J. 1839-41. The Marq. of Nor-
Fox. manby.
1784. Marq. of Carmarthen. 1841-4. The Right Hon. Sir
1799-1801. Duke of Portland. James Graham.
1801-3. Lord Pelham. 1844. Earl of Aberdeen.
1803. Right Hon. C. Yorke. •
Among the warrants of the last century some few have
been discovered that were issued on grounds which would now
be considered highly objectionable, and would not be sanc-
tioned by recent practice. We proceed to give some speci-
mens of the earliest warrants. _ _

------
The earliest, dated Sept. 20, 1712, is as follows :
To the Postmaster-General,—Her Majesty is pleased to
order that all letters directed to Mr. Thomas Perrin (and
three others named) be sent to the Commissioners of the
Customs for their perusal, as is desired by the inclosed letters
from Mr. Carkess. This method is taken in order to dis-
cover their effects ; and you are to comply with it as far as is
consistent with law and the duty of your office.
DARTMOUTH.
In 1741, at-the request or A., a Warrant' issued, to permit

A.'s eldest son to open and inspect any letters which A.'s
youngest son might write to two fllnales, one of whom that
youngest son had' imprudently married. Two warrants, in
1734, arc issued,-each at the instance of the creditors of a
party who has absconded, it not.bcing alleged that any posi-
tive fraud had been practised. One, issued in 1735, appears
to have arisen out of a political libel ,•• another, in 1755, con-
cerns a noted political libeller of the day, Dr. Shebbear.
One, in 1746, arises out of a robbery in bank bills, the pro-
perty of the Chamberlain of the City oC London ; all letters
sent by post to Holland are to be examined ; and if anv
•letter appears to contain any of the stolen-bills it is to be
opened, and on suspicion of any letter containing anything
that may lead to a discovery, that letter is to be stopped,
opened, and inspected. - Two warrants, in 1738, and one in
1741, concern the practice, then in constant operation, of en-
listing recruits for Ireland for the Iris% brigade in France.
The following- two general warrants, to which the com-
mittee before made allusion, were issued in the eventful
year 1745:
Secretary the Duke of Newcastle tO the Postmaster-Gene-
ral, September 20, 1745 :—To open and detain all (such)
letters, packets, or papers, printed or otherwise, as shall come
to the General or other Post-office suspected to contain
matters of a dangerous tendency; 'and to transmit them to
the office of the.Secretaryof State. .
Setretary the Duke of Newcastle to the assistants of the
Yarmouth and Chester roads, October 8, 1745 :—To open,
inspect, and detain all such letters and packets as shall come
to their offices, suspected to contain treasonable correspon-
dence • and to transmit them to the Secretary of State.
In 1'783 the following warrant was issued:—
. • . Whitehall, 10th February, 1783.
To his Majesty's Postmasters-General.
My Lord and Sir—l am to desire, and do hereby authorise
you to stop and open all.such letters as are, or shall come
to your hands, addressed to Lord George Gordon, at least
such as may be supposed to come from the regiment,
now on their march from to the northward,
and any letters from his Lordship to that quarter; and to
send me all the said letters as soon as possible after you shall
have so stopped and opened them ; and for so doing this shall-
be your warrant.

THOMAS TOWNSHEND,
Secretary of State for the Home Department.
To Lord Tankerville and the Right Hon. Henry
Fred. Cartwright, joint Postmasters-General. ,
Comillg to the warrants of the present century, your Corn-
mittee have noticed among them, issued during certain pe-
riods of the last war, some few of a very general nature. In
1800 and 1801 orders were given to the Postmaster-General
to open all letters addressed to persons in France, Flanders,
and Hollaiid, and all letters addressed to Dover, supposed to
contain letters addressed to France. Flanders, and Holland.
As regards intestine commotion, your Committee found
that a warrant was issued in 1799, to open the letters of
seventeen persons• at Manchester and Birmingham ; one in
1809, to open the'letters of eighteen persons in Manchester
and Liverpool. In 1812, warrants were directed to the
several postmasters of Nottingham, Manchester, and Glasgow,
directing them to open all such letters passing through these
several post-offices as should appear to A. B. (naming in each
warrant some particular individual) to be of a suspicious na-
ture, and likely to convey seditious and treasonable informa-
tion, or to contain money intended to be applied to the pur-
pose of promoting seditious or other disturbances. A warrant,
nearly similar to the preceding, was issued in 1813, to the
postmasters of Wareham and Weymouth, in Dorsetshire,
and one to the same purpose, in 1817, to the postmaster of
Nottingham. Among the names of persons not now living,
whose letters were directed to be opened previously to the
year 1822, are found those of Despard, Thistlewood, and
Watson ; and that of Mr. Hunt, once Member of Parliament
for Preston.
With regard to the warrants issued during the last 22 years
and a half, your Committee have not observed among them
a single warrant indefinite as to the number of persons coming
within its scope. In every case the names are specified, and
in one instance only does the number exceed 6. As regards
this period, your Committee would have abstained from
giving particular information concerning any warrant and
from naming a single individual whose letters have been di-
rected to be opened, but for the notice which has been taken
of the mode of executing certain warrants, and the mention
which has been made of the names of the parties included in
certain others ; these being the circumstances which mainly
led to the inquiry which your Committee has been appointed
to conduct. On these cases, therefore, your Committee con-
sider
it their duty to report particularly.
The warrants referred to are the following :-
1. During the outbreak in the manufacturing and mining
districts, which took place in August, 1842,in the week of the
greatest anxiety, a clerk was sent down from the London
Post-office, with directions, under the authority of a Secre-
tary of State's warrant, to open the letters of six parties
named therein, all taking a prominent part in the disturb=
ances of that period. In the same week the same clerk was
directed, under authority of two other such warrants, to open
the letters of ten other persons named, and a fortnight later
to open the letters of one other person, making seventeen in
all. Moat of the persons whose letters were ordered on thin
occasion to be opened were indicted, and many both indicted
and convicted, before the Special Commission appointed to
try the parties concerned in those disturbances. With one
exception these warrants were issued between the 18th and
the 25th of August, 1842, and they were all cancelled on the
14th of October.
About the same time two clerks were sent down to two pro.
vincial towns, each with directions, under authority of a
Secretary of State's warrant, to open and examine the letters
addressed to one individual in each town; but in one of these
cases there were no letters to open. One clerk employed on
this duty returned to his ordinary business after a week's
absence, the other after an absence of five weeks.
2. In the autumn of 1843, during the disturbances which
took place in South Wales, two clerks were sent down from
the Post-office, into the disturbed districts, with directions,
under authority of a warrant from the Secretary of State, one
to inspect the letters of one person at a particular town, the
other to inspect the letters of another person at another town
and subsequently, under authority of a different warrant, this
second clerk was sent to a third town, there to inspect the
letters of a third person. In all three instances the persons
whose letters were to be inspected were specifically named in
the warrant. One of these warrants was in force eighteen,
the other seven days.
•It is these facts, probably, that have given rise to the re-
port pf a commission or commissions having visited the ma-
nufacturing districts, charged with a general authority to
open and inspect letters.
3. The third of these cases is that of a warrant to open
and detain the letters addressed to Mr. Mazzini. This
warrant was issued on the Ist of March, and cancelled on
the 3d of June, in the present year. Throughout that
period the intercepted correspondence was transmitted un-
read from the Home-office to the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs. The facts of the case so far as your Com-
inittee feel themselves at liberty to disclose them, appear to
be as follows:—
Representations had been made to the British Govern-
ment, from high sources, that plots, of which Mr. Mazzini
was the centre, were carrying on upon British territory to
excite an insurrection in Italy, and that such insurrection,
should it assume a formidable aspect, would, from peculiar
political circumstances, disturb the peace of Europe. The
British Government, considering the extent to which Bri-
tish interests were involved in the maintenance of that
peaCe, issued on their own judgment, but not at the sug-
gestion of any foreign Power, a warrant to open and detain
Mr. Mazzini's letters., Such information deduced from those
letters as appeared to the British Government calculated to
frustrate this attempt was communicated to a foreign
Power; but the information so communicated was not of a
nature to compromise, and did not compromise, the safety of
any individual within the reach of that foreign Power; nor
was it made known to that Power by what means, or from
what source that information had been obtained.
4. A warrant to open and detain all letters addressed to
Mr. Worcell and to Mr. Stolzmann was issued on the 17th of
April, 1844, and cancelled on the 20th of June.
5. A warrant to open and detain all letters addressed to
Mr. Grodicki, at Paris, and to another foreign gentleman,
was issued on the 3d of June, 1844, and cancelled on the 13th
of the same month.
The last two warrants rested on grounds connected with
the personal safety of a foreign Sovereign entrusted to the
protection of England. It appears to your Committee that,.
under circumstances so peculiar, even a slight suspicion of
danger would justify a Minister in taking extraordinary mea-
sures of precaution. The Committee have not learned that
there appeared in the letters that were detained anything to
criminate the gentlemen whom the Committee have very re-
luctantly named.

The Committee think it may be desirable for them to make
known that the above three warrants are the only warrants
to open the letters of foreigners which the present Govern-
ment has issued.

The warrants issued during the present century may be
divided into two classes :

Ist. Those issued in furtherance of criminal justice, and
usually for the purpose of obtaining a clue to the hiding-place
of some offender' or to the mode or place of concealment of
property criminally abstracted ; and these, for brevity's sake,
the Committee will term criminal warrants. _ _

2d. Those issued for the purpose of discovering the designs
of persons known or suspected to be engaged in proceedings
dangerous to the State, or (as in Mazzini's case) deeply in-
volving British interests, and carried on in the United King-
dom, or in British possessions beyond the seas.
With regard to both these classes of warrants, the objects
in issuing them has been, in many cases, to ascertain the
views, not of the party receiving, but of the party sending,
the letter.
In issuing these warrants, the mode of proceeding is as
follows :-
1. In the case of criminal warrants, they do not originate
with the Home-office. The application is made, in the first
instance, to that one of the two Under-Secretaries of State
who is of the legal profession ; and the usual course is for the
applicant to state the circumstances in writing ; but if the
case be very urgent, owing to the time being too short, before
the departure of the post, to draw out a written statement,
that condition is sometimes dispensed with. The general
object of this class of warrants has been already stated ; and
the principle which governs the issuing of them appears to
be, not to make them subservient to private and family
cerns, or to the support of a civil right, where an actio only
could be maintained, as in many cases of fraud or bank-
ruptcy ; but to reserve the exercise of the power to those
cases exclusively where crime has been committed, and in
p artthatcho cor-
respondence respect to which there is good ground to believe
respondence is going on with a particular ywhich
e
s
likely to lead to detectian. If the Under- Secretary accedes
to the application, he submits the case to the Principal Se-
cretary of State ; with whose apP roN•al a warrant is drawn
by the head clerk of the domestic department, under the in-
structions of the Under-Secretary, and is then signed by the A
Principal Secretary of State. record of the date of the
warrant is kept under lock and key, in a private book, to
-which the two Under-Secretaries and the above-mentioned
head clerk have access. To the applicant information is
given, according to circumstances, of the post mark or
address merely, or of the contents of the letters detained ;
or, if the case require it, the original letter is put into his
hands.

.2. In the case of warrants of the second description, they
originate with the Home-office. The Principal Secretary of
State, of his own discretion, determines when to issue them,
and gives instructions accordingly to the Under-Secretary,
whose office is then purely ministerial. The mode of pre-
paring them, and keeping record of them in a private book,

is the game as in the case of criminal warrants.— There is na
record kept of the, grounds on which they are issued, except
so far as correspondence' preserved at the 'Home- office may
lead to infer them. " •
Your- Committee will here notice a statement which has
teen made, that instances have occurred of sending entire
mail bags with letters to the Home-office for examination.
Your Committee arc satisfied that no instance of thokind has
occurred. None but separate letters or packets are ever
sent, out of the ordinary course, from the Post-office to the
Home-office, and those never but under a Secretary of State's
warrant;, and that, warrant usually directs that a letter or
letters, directed to certain persons, or written in a certain
handwriting, be detained: and that either a copy of the
post-mark, or of the address, or of the contents, or that ex-
tracts from thee:m:46rib; or the letters themselves be sent to
the Principal Secretary of State. In some cases the warrant
directs that some deputy-postmaster shall communicate in-
formation to the same effect to ti magistrate, or some other
person, in the country; and when that is the case, the pre-
sence of some third person, named in the warrant, is usually
required.
It may, perhaps, be necessary to state that, in some very
few cases, the Secretary of State has been required to autho-
rise the l'ostmaster-General to return to the writer a letter
which has been already posted. Sonic doubt seems to have
existed how far this can lawfully be done. In the year 1795,
Holland being in the occupation of the French army, one
of the principal Secretaries of State, by warrant under his
hand and seal, detained the entire mails of the 13th, 16th,
and 20th of January, intended for that country ; and an
Act of Parliament (35 George 111., cap. 62), was passed
to enable the Postmaster-General "to open the letters
contained in those mails, and return the same to the parties
by whom they were written, signed, or sent." A case
nearly similar occurred regarding the Hamburgh mail (see
47 Geo. 111., session 2, c. 53), in 1807. The number of war-
rants issued this head from 1799 to 1844 is_7, as stated
in the abstract. - - -
The general conclusion which the Committee draw from
the returns before abstracted is, that in equal intervals of
time these warrants have been issued in nearly equal num-
ber, by the several Administrations which have been in power
from the commencement of 1799 until now.. For although
in certain years, in consequence of internal commotion,
it happened that the number of warrants issued by cer-
tain Secretaries of State was unusually great, .yet in
other years, if they continued sufficiently long' in office, the
number of warrants they issued for similar purposes proved
to be unusually small ; so that the annual average of all the
warrants they issued, during the whole period of their con-
tinuance in office, did not rise materially above the general
annual mean.
The general average of the warrants issued during the
present century does not much exceed eight a year. This
number would comprehend, on an average, the letters of
about sixteen persons annually; but how many letters to
and from each person coming within the scope of these war-
rants have on an average been opened we have no means
of estimating, since no record of the number of letters de-
tained and opened under warrant has been kept by the
Post-office, but there is no reason to believe that number to
be great; and the Committee have ascertained that, in the
case of many warrants, no letters whatever have been
opened. Those which do not appear to relate to the object
for which the warrant is issued do not undergo particular; examination. Of the average number of days for which, a
warrant is in force, the Committee cannot form any Jess
estimate. It was only as regards the warrants issued from
1822 to 1844 that any return was made to your Committee,
showing how long they continued in operation, -and in the
early part of this period, there appears to have been some
inattention in seeing to their timely revocation ; it is pro-
bable that many a warrant had become inoperative long be-
fore the period when it was cancelled. In that respect there is a marked improvement in the practice of the present Home
Secretary, as compared with that of his predecessors ; since
the average duration of the warrants issued since September,
1841, does not exceed forty days ; and in many cases it is as
low as three or four days.
From the abstract that has been given of the warrants
issued in the present century, it appears that about two-
thirds of them were criminal warrants; for by far the
greater portion of those marked " uncertain" appears to be-
long to this class.
So far as the criminal warrants go, no suspicion arises that
unfairness or impartiality has directed their issue. With re-
gard to the other class of warrants, though there have been
some few issued by different Administrations that have been
in power during the last 22 years, in regard to which it is
obvious that on a subsequent review of the facts a difference
of opinion might arise as to the discretion exercised in each
particular case, yet your Committee see no reason to doubt
that the conduct of the Secretaries of State belonging to each
of those Administrations 'has been guided by no other motive
than an anxious desire to preserve the public peace, with
the maintenance of which they were charged.
It does not appear to your Committee necessary to follow
the warrant from the time of its reception at the Post-office,
to that of its execution. The letters which -have been de-
tained and opened are, unless retained by special order, as
sometimes happens in criminal cases, closed and resealed,
without affixing any mark to indicate that they have been
so detained and opened ; and are forwarded by post according
to their respective superscriptions.
There are other cases, under the 33d and 36th chapters of
the Ist of Victoria, besides the case we have been consider-
ing, in which post-letters may lawfully be detained or de-
layed, or opened, by an officer of the Post-office. These ex-
cepted cases are the following :—When the person consents,
to whom the letter is directed—when the letter is returned
for wjant of due direction—when the person to whom it is
directed is dead, or cannot be found, or shall have refused it,
or shall have refused or neglected to pay the postage thereof.
If any letter not included in the above exceptional cases be
opened, delayed, detained, or abstracted at the Post-office,
through the malpractices of any officers of that department,
such offenders are liable to severe punishment under the
latter of these Acts.
With regard to all other inland .letters, your Committee
are assured by the Pdstmaster-Veiferal, by the Secretary of
the Post-office, and by the President of the Inland Depart•
ment at the Geperal Post-office, that the secresy of corns-
--Spesinience Is inviolate; and this assurance they have seen no
reason to doubt.
Your Committee will here notice a statement which has
been made, that letter-bags from Dublin, Brighton, and other
places, have cf late, before being opened, been taken out of the
usual course, into an inner room of the inland• office at the
General Post-office, for the purpose of being therslexamined.
The allegation of fact is correct, so far as counting the letters,
and observing their external appearance, goes. This is fre-
quently done in order to ascertain the condition of the bags
on their arrival, before their contents are delivered over to
be sorted, it having been found a necessary check upon the
commission of irregularities by the subordinate functionaries
of the Post-office; but this examination has no connection
whatever with the opening of letters under warrant, and it
is not the method practised when letters are detained and
opened by authority of the Secretary of State.
On the subject of the foreign department at the General
Post-office, the secresy of foreign correspondence your Com-
mittee are assured is kept inviolate. Certain warrants bear-
ing respectively the signatures of the Right Honourable
Charles James Fox, when Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, in 1752, and of his successor, the Marquis
of Carmarthen, were laid before your Committee, which,
being of a very comprehensive nature, have, in conjunc-
tion with other information, induced your Committee to
believe that diplomatic correspondence, when posted in ordi-
nary course, incurred in this country and in the other great
States of Europe, nearly equal risk of inspection. How long
similar warrants continued, and when they were finally re-
called, your Committee have no information, nor do they
think it their duty to report as to any practice which may
have existed in reference to this part of the subject. Of this
they are satisfied, that no such warrants .or practices now
exist; and that public as well as private correspondence,
foreign as well as domestic, passing through the office in
regular course, now enjoys complete security, subject only to
the contingency of a Secretary of State's warrant, directed
for special reasons against a particular letter or letters.
In making the above statements, however, it is right to
observe that there exists another channel of communication
with foreign countries, by means of the King's messengers
and foreign-office bags. This is not under the control of
the Postmaster-General, but of the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs. It is conducted by officers appointed and
paid by the latter, from whom alone they receive their orders,
and to whom alone they are responsible. Some years ago no
inconsiderable number of private letters, passing between this
and foreign countries, was sent and received by these bags ;
but this abuse (for such it was, as payment of postage was
thus evaded) has been almost entirely discontinued ; and
your Committee believe that at present the bags contain little
more than the official correspondence of our own diplomatic
agents, and of the Ministers of such foreign States as may
choose to avail themselves of that mode of transmitting their
dispatches. The authority of your Committee extends no
farther than to inquire how correspondence is dealt with,
while remaining in the custody of the Post-office.
It remains for your Committee, after treating of the cor-
respondence in Great Britain, to make a brief statement as
to the law and practice regarding the same matters in Ire-
land. The statute of Anne extended to that country, and
whatever legal force the warrants of the principal Secretaris
of State, directing the opening of letters, had in Great Bri-
tain, those warrants had the same force in Ireland. But
previously to the passing, in 1783, of the Irish statute, the
23d and 24th of Geo. 111., c. 17, intituled "An Act for Esta-
blishing a Post-office in this Kingdom," the principal Secre-
taries were in the habit of delegating to the Lord-Lieutenant
authority for this purpose. Nor was this all ; for by a war-
rant, dated October 31st, 1740, Secretary the Duke of New-
castle directs Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, the Postmaster-Gene-
ral for Ireland, to open and detain all such letters as the
Duke of Devonshire, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, or
any other
.person appointed by him, should authorise and
direct : copies to be sent to the Duke.
The necessity for having recourse to a twice-delegated
authority was removed by the statute above referred to,
which gave the same indemnity to persons in Ireland
opening letters by authority of the Lord-Lieutenant; that the
statute of Anne gave to persons in Great Britain and Ire-
land, opening letters by authority of a prinepal Secretary of
State.
Your Committee here submit an abstract of the warrants
issued by the Lord-Lieutenant, or other Chief Governor or
Governors of Ireland, to the Postmaster-General for Ireland,
for every year from 1832 to the present time, being a period
of 124 years. They have added another abstract, arranging
the warrants under different heads, according to the grounds
whereon they were issued
, -
Number of Persona
Number of comprehended in
Warrants. the said Warrants.
1 ... 1
0 0
3 ••• 3
1 ... 1
2 ... 4
4 ... 3
1 ... 1
9
2 ... 11
3 ... 9
3 ... 3
2 ... 3
0 0

Year,

1883332 .............................
1 ........ .......................
1834...
1835. • .
1836... •
1837
1838
1839:........
1840
..• ..••
1841 .......
1842
1843
1844

Total
Crimes, murder, robbery, &c l4
Itibbonism ••• ... 12
Sedition, &c.
Bankruptcy ..
Forging a Post-office stamp
Letter returned to the writer

Total .... ; 1

The Lords-Lieutenant and others who have signed the..
warrants are arranged in the following list, according
date :-
1832 ... Marquis of Anglesey.
1834 ... E. J. Littleton (secretary).
... Marquis of Wellesley.
18:35 ... Earl of Musgrave.
1836 ... Ditto.
- ... T. Drummond (secretary).
1837 ... Ditto.
- Lord Plunkett (one of the Lords Justices).
... Archbishop of Dublin (ditto).
1838 ... Lord Morpeth (secretary).
1539 Marquis of Nonnanby. •
Lord Viveount Ebrilagton.

... Gen. Sir T. Blakeney (one of the Lords JUstices).
1840 ... Lord Viscount Ebrington.
1841 ... Chief Justice Bushe (one of the Lords Justices).
... Earl De Grey.
1842 ... Ditto
... Sir E. Sugden (one of the Lords Justices).
1843 ... Earl De Grey.
The warrants issued in Ireland do not exceed three per
annum, on the average. Each warrant comprehends on the
average, about two persons.
The only warrant which bears the signature of the late
Chief Antics Bushe, one of the Lords Justices, was issued
with a view to obtain a clue to a murder : but, it appearing
that the magistrate to whom it was sent had applied for it
ter another purpose, that of ascertaining the state of the
country, this was not assented to, and the warrant was not
acted upon.
There are no data to show how many letters were opened
under each warrant, nor how long each warrant remained in
*Tee ; 4 of the 31 warrants bear the signature of only the
Secretary for Ireland. More than a third of the warrants
concern Ribbonism, which wore a peculiarly threatening as-
pect in one particular year. The letters in Ireland are not
opened by the Postmaster-General, but by a confidential
clerk in the office of the Chief Secretary for Ireland.
The Committee have, in conclusion, to lay before the
House the following observations for their consideration,
arising out of the facts which it has been their duty to state :-
1. With regard to the utility of the warrants issued in
furtherance of criminal justice, their annual average in Great
Britain does not exceed six, and this number of warrants
dried not extend to the letters of more, on an average, than
twelve pounds a year. There is no evidence what-
ever to show in what proportion of cases these warrants
lead to discovery. On the one hand, therefore, it will be
doubted by some, taking into account the strong moral feeling
which exists against the practice of opening letters, with its
accompaniments of mystery and concealment, whether it is
xorth retaining in this class of cases. On the other hand it
must be admitted that these are not the cases in favour of
which public feeling is most enlisted ; and that of all that
give rise to the exercise of this power, they present the least
emptation to abuse.
2. With regard to the utility of such warrants, for the de-
tection of seditious conspiracies, or other practices endanger-
ing the public safety, or the discovery of the views enter-
tained by those who engage in them, it would be unreason-
able to deny that, in certain cases, this practice may have
aided the Executive Government in various ways, and amongst
others which are more and more obvious, by informing them
of the real strength of the conspirators and extent of their
combinations, and thus preventing the Ministers of the time
from taking exaggerated views of the force arrayed against
the State, and claiming extraordinary powers to meet appre-
hended danger. Still, however, the argument derived from
the smallness of the number of warrants as compared with
the number of persons who may be supposed to entertain
such criminal designs, is not to be lost sight of; while,
on the other hand, it must be admitted that the number
of those to whom this class of warrants would apply, as
being the chosen leaders of multitudes, would not be very
great. The warrants of this class have amounted, on the
average, to little more than two a year, which would extend
to little more than four persons. The greatest number of
warrants of this description, issued in any year within the
present century, is about sixteen, extending in these cases to
between forty or fifty persons. In addition to the argu-
ment derived from the smallness of the number affected, it
must not be forgotten that, after the publicity given to the
fact, that the Secretary of State has occasionally recourse to
the opening of letters as a means of defence in dangerous and
difficult times, few who hereafter may engage in dangerous
designs, will venture to communicate their intentions by the
medium of the post; and the importance of retaining the
power, as a measure of detective police, will consequently be
greatly diminished. The last argument, however, supposes
that there is no absolute certainty that a letter may not be
intercepted; and it may appear to some, that to leave it a
mystery whether or no this power is ever exercised, is the
way best calculated to deter the evil-minded from applying
the post to improper uses. It must also be remembered that
if such a power as this were formally abolished, the question
would not be left quite in the same condition as though the
power had never been exercised or disputed ; by withdraw-
ing it, every criminal and conspirator against the public
peace would be publicly assured that he should enjoy secure
possession of the easiest, cheapest, and most unobserved
channel of communication, and that the Secretary of State
would not, under any circumstances, interfere with his
correspondence. It must not be forgotten, however, that at
present other rapid means of communicating their views are
of easy access to the evil intentioned, and that, as far as in-
ternal order is, concerned, the same rapid means afford the
Government unexampled facilities for suppressing tumult.
If the result of this inquiry had been such as to impress
your Committee with a conviction of the importance of the
frequent use of this power in the ordinary administration of
affairs, they would have been prepared to recommend sonic
legislative measures fur its regulation and control ; and it
might not be difficult to devise regulations which would ma-
terially diminish the objections to its exercise; as, for
example, that no criminal warrant should be issued except
en a written information on oath ; that a formal record
should be preserved in the Secretary of State's office of the
;;rounds on which every warrant had been issued, of the
time during which it has remained in force, of the number of
ietters opened under it, and of the results obtained. It is,
however, on the other hand, to be considered whether any le-
gislative measure of this kind might not have an indirect
effect in giving an additional sanction to the power in ques-
Veil, and thereby possibly extending its use.
Under these circumstances, it will be for Parliament to con-
, der whether they will determine upon any legislative regu-
eition, or whether they will prefer leaviag the power, on its
present footing in point of law, in the hands of the Secretary
of State, to be used, on his responsibility, in those cases of
emergency hi which, according to the best of his judgment,
its exercise would be sanctioned by an enlightened public
opinion, and would appear to be strongly called for by impor-
tant public interests.

EXTENSIVE FIRE and LOSS of LIFE

MANCHESTER, TUESDAY.—A serious calamity by fire
I.cte late lust ingnr, ty which a largo new pile
of warehouses, and their valuable contents have been
entirely destroyed. The property in question, known
as the Irwell-buildings, is, or rather was, situate
at the corner of Blackfriars-street and Parsonage, and
comprised the warehouses of Messrs. Robert Charlton
and Sons, calenderers and packers, and Mr. Richard
Rostron, merchants; also those of Mr. Garser, M. Henri
Jacquet, Mr. M. Ralli, Mr. H. Fiescher, Mr. J. Heisted,
and Mr. Mendel, all foreign merchants. The warehouses
were six stories in height, had been but recently built,
and, like all those of modern construction in this town,
contained a great quantity of wood.
The fire was first discovered about 20 minutes after 10
last night, by the policeman on duty, and also by a man
named Wm. Chorlton, of Salford, a tripe-dresser, who was
passing at the time. It was then confined apparently to
one window in the third story of Messrs. Charlton's
warehouse, in some parts of which the hands were at
work at the time. It is remarkable that about ten
minutes before the attention of the police had been drawn ,
to the premises, and all then appeared perfectly safe.
A little after six this morning a circumstance occurred
which proved fatal to one of the men in the employ of
Messrs. Charlton. In the rear of that part of the premises
occupied by Messrs. Jacquet and Fiescher was what is
called a cat-head, an instrument used for hoisting goods
from carts into the third and fourth story. The woodwork
being burnt away from it, it was expected to fall, and the
men were cautioned to keep away from the spot. John
Irving, a joiner in the employ of Messrs. Charlton, and
Thomas Jackson, a packer, were, however, on the spot
when the " cat-head" fell. Jackson was severely
wounded in several parts of the head and body, and
Irving was killed on the spot.
Up to this hour (11 A.m.) the engines continue play-
ing on the smouldering embers. The wall next Black-
:riars-street is still standing, as are portions of each of
the other walls, and also a very tall chimney at the
south-west corner of the building, which is almost en-
tirely unsupported, and which has a very threatening
appearance. At present all the thoroughfares round the
place are stopped.
The aggregate loss will probably not be less than
20,0001. The building had only been erected two or
Ihree years, and most of the warehouses were well stored
ith goods.