The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-24 00:00:00

LONDON,* MONDA,T•otf.EVENING,-
,JUNE

: LITERATURE.
ALISON'S HISTORY 'OF EUROPE. lilus
traced Edition. Vol. XIV.

This fourteenth volume brings to a conclusion the
present magnificent edition of Mr. Alison's historical
masterpiece. Embellished with five and twenty-ex-
quisite engravings-4ortraits of those illustrious or
infamous personages whose, vicissitudes of fortune
constitute the most conspicuous features of the narra-
tive—the work in its novel and complete form reflects
the highest possible honour upon its publishers, the
Messrs. Blackwood of Edinburgh. All the arts of
the typographer, the engraver, the binder, and the
paper manufacturer combined, could scarcely furnish
a more beautiful or more' substantial tribute to the
genius of the European annalist. Having already
from month to month, in thirteen notices, celebrated
the excellence, of this re- publication, we have
scarcely anything- left to remark upon the com-
pletion of the undertaking beyond a brief
'and simple announcement. In' unison with its
every other characteristic, the index appended
to the last volume elicits our admiration by its extra-
ordinary copiousness : to it alone no less than 330
pages are' dedicated, 330 pages closely printed in
alphabetical sequence, and affording in their general
arrangement every facility for reference. Together
with this advantage, morever, we must' mention with
especial praise four tabular pages of singular conden-
sation, showing for every individual year, from 1792
to 1847, the precious metals annually raised and
coined in the South American and Mexican mines ,
the bank-notes of the Bank of England in circula-
tion ; the aggregate bank-notes of private bankers ;
the total of notes in circulation ; the coin annually
issued from the Mint; the annual price of gold; the
commercial paper under discount in the Bank of
England ; the exports official value, ' and exports
declared value ; the British and Irish produce exports;
total exports official value; total imports official
value; tonnage of shipping; revenue, crime, and po-
pulation of the British empire ; emigrants from the
United Kingdom; sums levied annually for poor and
county rates in England and. Wales ; amount ofpoor-
rates in quarters of grain annually ;
taxes imposed
net amount; taxes repealed net amount; national
debt in each year ; national debt in each year in
quarters of wheat at annual prices ;
quarters of wheat at annual prices; revenue yearly in
money applied to
the redemption of the debt; price of wheat the quar-
ter,—all compiled from Porter's Parliamentary
Tables, Marshall's Parliamentary Tables, and other
Parliamentary sources. This compact tabular ar-
rangement of statistics alone is of surprising value and
utility—its value being enhanced by its scrupulous
caution, and its utility secured and popularised
by, its clearness. A glance at the four
pages containing these numerical particulars
will repay the attention by the amount of information
afforded by it—fiscal, commercial, agricultural, mone-
tary, social, national, and otherwise. Then, again,
the masterly atlas accompanying the present library
edition of " Alison's History of Europe"—an atlas
constructed and arranged, under the direction of the
annalist himself, by Alexander Keith Joheston, and
comprising upwards of 100 engraved plans' of battles,
maps of countries, or sketches of cities—imparts a
marvellous lucidity to those delineations of the strug-
gles of warfare, in the composition of which Archi-
bald Alison has scarcely ever been surpassed. As
a token of the care with which all this has been ef-
fected by the geographer, we may observe that there
are two plates of the battle of Arcole, two of Marengo,
two of Hohenlinden, two of Trafalgar, two of Eylau,
two of Essling, two of Wagrani, two of Leipsic, and
two of Waterloo. One map of Europe portrays that
country as it was prior to the outbreak of the great
French revolution ; another represents it as it was
during the height of the power of the Emperor
Napoleon. All these are exquisitely coloured, each
is accompanied with the necessary explanations, and
in addition to a copious vocabulary of military and
marine terms, the atlas is embellished with a plate
explanatory of the principal military terms, these
being given in the form of a frontispiece. Of
the admirable engravings scattered through the thir-
teen preceding volumes of the letter-press—although
some of the portraits appear to us unsatisfactory,
such, for instance, as the most remarkable of all,
the one representing Napoleon as Emperor—we can-
not as a whole but speak in the highest terms of ad-
miration. Besides the likenesses of Queen Marie
Antoinette and the Empress Josephine, the beautiful
and capricious wife of. Louis, and the accomplished,
fascinating, and benignant spouse of Napoleon, there
are no less than twenty4three portraits of amen re-
nowned either by their genius or their enormities.
There are the amiable Louis, the volatile Mirabeau,
the audacious Denton, the infamous Marat, and the
eloquent Burke. There are the cadaverous face of
Robespierre, the daring visage of Nelson, and the
handsome countenance of Murat. Here is Moreau
immortalised by a retreat, and there the Archduke
Charles great in the midst of disaster. The aged
Suwarroff and the youthful Bonaparte, the conser-
vative Pitt and the liberal Fox, the diplomatist Cas-
tlereagh and the warrior Ney, Wellington and Met-
ternich, George 111. and Alexander, Blucher and
Talleyrand, hint each and all in the expression of
their features, the characters which moulded the age
and originated those events which distinguished it
from all others, either past or present, by their splen-
dour or their magnitude. From what we have here,
as well as on previous occasions remarked, upon
the appearance of this illustrated library edition of
the "History orEurope," it must be manifest that Mr.
Alison has found in the enterprise of his publishers, as
well as in the approval of the population, the fullest
appreciation of those great powers as an annalist
which have enabled him to add this extraordinary work
to the treasures of our historical literature.

HARRISON AINSWORTH'S ROMANCES.

Vol. IX.—Old Saint Paul's, Vol. 11.
A ninth volume has brought the' historical ro-
mance of " Old Saint Paul's" to a conclusion. Ori-
ginally published in a weekly newspaper of extensive
circulation, and since then re-produced in the form
suitable for the perusal of novel readers, this story of
the great plague and of the great fire of London has
become long since familiar to mauy thousands—its
terrible incidents arresting, if only from the sentiment
of horror, the attention even of the most indifferent
For these reasons it would be only idle to comment
upon a fiction whose merits and demerits have each
been so very generally recognised. It is scarcely
possible to read the present narrative of those two
most awful catastrophes, which visited this metropolis
during the reign of the Merry Monarch, without
feeling that Mr. Ainsworth has entered in imagina-
tion almost as veritably, and vividly into the estima-
tion of their terrors as though he had walked through
the blazing streets with John Evelyn, or had listened
to the schoolboy tales of the pestilence which arrested
the fancy of Daniel Defoe. Although the romance of
!‘ Old Saint Paul's" is very far indeed from being the
most felicitous performance of our novelist, it has had
large claim at any rate to popular consideration, if
only from the circumstance of its peculiarly national
character.

THE MEDICAL GUIDE; for the use of the
Clergy, Reads of Families, Schools, and Junior
Medical Practitioners, comprising a Complete
Modern Dispensatory, 6-C. 6.c. By Richard
Reece, 111. D., late Fellow of the Royal College of
Surgeons of London. Seventeenth Edition, with con-
siderable additions, revised and corrected by his

son, Henry Reece, M.D., Member of the Royal
College of Surgeons, 4-c. arc.
To vindicate the propriety of publishing medical
works of this nature is at the present day Riper-
fiuous. Buchan was the first physician who ven-
tured to strip the science of medicine of its techni-
calities, and, notwithstanding the vituperation of the
" medicine men," his contemporaries, who denounced
him as a quack, his work became a household book
throughout the United Kingdom. That which
Buchan did incompletely Dr. Richard Reece did .in
a perfect and complete manner, and his Medical
Guide has ever since 1802, the year in which
the first edition. was published, been the text-book
of domestic medicine wherever the English
language is read. The Medical Guide
is indebted. for this supremacy in the first
place to the clear, easy, and, understandable style in
which it is written, and in the next place to the great
pains that Dr. Reece and his son, who on his death
succeeded him as editor of this work, have always
taken to keep it up, au nivcau des connaissances actu-
elles. The present edition, on which Dr. Richard
Reece was engaged until within a few days of his
death, contains his last corrections and additions, and
is enriched with results of his forty years' experience
in most extensive practice. His son, the present
editor, Dr. Henry Reece, is the worthy son of a wor-
thy sire, and has brought the knowledge which he
acquired, as dresser to Sir B. Brodie and as clinical
clerk to Drs. Chambers and Seymour, to bear most
effectively on the various subjects treated of in the
Medical Guide.

FATAL LEAP FROM SOUTRWARK-ERlDOE.—Yes-
terday (Sunday) morning, shortly after daybreak, a respect-
ably dressed man, between 30 and 40 years of age, paid the
usual toll to the man on duty at Southwark-bridge, and then
passed on to it, apparently for the purpose of crossing. lie,
however, proceeded to the centre of the bridge, when some
other persons who were also crossing saw him jump on to one
of the pier heads, and plunge headforemost into the river.
In his descent the unfortunate man's head struck violently
against one of the abutments, and there is no doubt that his
skull must have been completely battered in by the force of I
the fall. Au alarm was instantly given, and Macon, one of
the firemen, who was on duty at the A floating engine, put
off in the small boat, and rendered all the Assistance in his
power to rescue the man, but without success, as he had dis-
appeared. Who the unfortunate man was, or what induced
him to destroy his life, is at present unknown.
m
PORTS or DOVER AND FOLIICESTONE.—The Com-
missioners of her Majesty's Custom' have issued instrue-
' tions to the officers at these ports to examine the baggage
I
of passengers arriving at any hour of the night from the
continent.

U

LORD PALMERSTON AND, HIS
FRIENDS.

(From the Observer.)
On Saturday, at one o'clock, a deputation, consisting
of nearly ninety Members of the House of Commons,
waited upon Lady Palmerston, at the family mansion, in
Carlton gardens, by appointment, for the purpose of
presenting to ber Ladyship a full-length portrait of Viso
count Palmerston, with an address expressive of the high
sense they entertained of his Lordship's public and pri-
vate character.

The fact of the intended presentation of this portrait
has been repeatedly alluded to since August last, when
the subject was first mooted by a party of Members of
the Lower House' admirers of the political and private
character of Lord Palmerston. The proposition was that
a likeness of the Noble Lord should be painted by a sub-
cription of fire guineas each from 100 Members of the
House of Commons. By a subsequent arrangement this
numerical restriction was extended, with a view to ac-
commodate about twenty additional Members, who were
especially anxious to be permitted to join in the testi-
monial. Mr. John Partridge, whose merits as a por
trait-painter have long been recognized by all patrons of
art, from Royalty downwards, was commissioned to exe-
cute the work, which has been at lengtn completed, to
the perfect satisfaction of the admirers of the illustrious
original, though by no means to that of the artist, owing
to the impossibility of procuring the requisite number of
sittings—this difficulty arising from the multiplicity of
the Noble Viscount's engagements.
The portrait—a full-length—represents Lord Paliner•
stop in en erect posture, attired in an evening dress, and
wearing the riband of the Order of the Bath. The
apartment in which he is standing, and which may be
supposed to be the Cabinet Council room, contains the
usual accessories pertaining to the Noble Lord's office as
Foreign Secretary, conspicuous amongst'which is a bust
of his political idol and former colleague—Canning.
Without attempting any critical minutia, the picture
may be described as a characteristic and vigorou's repre-
sentation of his Lordship, and in every. way commensu-
rate with the celebrity of Mr. Partridge.

The members fora:jog the deputation began to asiem-
ble shortly before one o'clock, and the intelligence of the
settlement of the Greek question, just received by elec-
tric telegraph from Paris, naturally furnished a theme
for congratulatory compliment in singular accordance
with the object of their mission—a sentiment in which
the noble recipient of the testimony fully participated.
In right ,of his seniority and rank Lord James
Stuart, M.P. for the:Ayr Boroughs, was solicited to un-
dertake the office of spokesman on behalf of -those pre-
sent; and the duties of that office, though devolving upon
him quite unexpectedly,. his Lordship discharged in a
manner that obviated all cause of regret on the score of
his want of premeditation.
The deputation, on entering the drawing-room, ob-
served Lady Palmerston seated, and contemplating the
picture, which occupied a position in the centre of the
saloon, opposite to a portrait of her Ladyship.
Colonel Lockyer Freestun, who has officiated as ho-
norary secretary to the committee of Members entrusted
with the duty of carrying out the intention of the
subscribers, here advanced, and introduced by name se-
veral of the gentlemen forming the deputation.. .Lord.
Palmerston entered the saloon at this moment, and
took up a position near her Ladyship.
The ceremony of introduction completed,
Colonel LOCATER FREENTUN. holding in his hand the
address, inscribed on vellum, said,—Lady Palmerston,
it is peculiarly gratifying to my feelings, to be deputed
as the secretary of this numerous body of the Members
of the House of Commons, to have the honour of pre-
senting to you, in their name, the address I hold in my
hand, accompanied by the portrait of your Noble Lord.
The Gallant Member then read the address, of which
the following is a copy

To the Viscountess Palmerston,
" House of Commons, June 22.
Madame,--We, the undersigned Members of the House
of Commons, anxious to testify our high sense of Viscount
Valmerston's public and private characterti, and of the inde-
pendent policy by which he has maintained the honours and
interests of this country, request your Ladyship's acceptance
of the accompanying portrait, with our warmest wishes for
the welfare of his Lordshp and yourself,
" We have the honour to be, Madame,
"Tour faithful and obedient servants,
" Dudley Corals Stuart " De Lacy Evans
" Andrew Armstrong " John Reynolds (Lord Mayor
"J,. Mac Gregor of Dublin)
" Francis Plunket Dunne " John Williams '
"F. Henry F. Berkeley "Charles 0. Grenfell
" J. B. Holshouse " A. Marcus Hill

"C. Tennyson D'Eyncourt "J. Brotherton
" W. Lockyer Freestun " Archibald thistle
"W. Alexander Mackinnon " Fitzstephen French
" C. Rumbold " David Morris
____

" Robert Grosvenor " B. M. Wilcox
"Robert Boyle " William Page Wood
" William Pinney " Samuel Blackall
" George R. Brooke Pechell •' J. Matheson, Lieut.-Colonel
" W. H. Stanton " Matthew Wilson
"Percy Nugent " R. B. Sheridan
" james Heywood " M. T. Bass
" R. W. Grey " Williarn Brown
" James Wyld - • . " Jades Pilkington
" Robert Perfect " T. A. Mitchell
" Richard Lalor Sheil " James Clay
•
"Nugent " Saville C. H. Ogle
" Henry Tufnell " Richard hi. Fox
"O. D. J. Grace "W. R. Fergusson Mini%
" J. H. H. Foley " E. K. Tenison
" Thomas J. Buck " James Matheson
" A. Shafto Adair " John Evans
" J. John Guest " Montague Cholmeley
" J. Townsend " J. P. Somers
" E. I. Hutchins " R. Dillon Browne
" I. W. Fortescue " James Duke
" George Moffatt " G. Poulett Scrope
" Thomas B. Birch " Richard M. Milnea
" tbrington " J. M. Caulfeild
" W. Marshall " Raikes Currie
Names Stuart " The O'Gorman Mahon

'John Fortescue
W. J. Blake
7. D. Dundas

" 151. T. Baines
" Alex. Matheson
" C. B. Wall

" D. Jephson Norreys
"In addition to whom, the following Members wish to
become subscribers, in grateful acknowledgment of. Lord Pal-
merston's noble and constant exertions in suppression of the
slave-trade

"Thomas Dyke Acland. " Edward N. Buxton.
!" Robert Harry Inglis. " William Evans."
,Ot the preceding nearly
,the whole number were pre-
ient. The following subscribers were unavoidably ab-
sent:—The Right Hon. Fox Maule, Sir Henry Winston
Barron, Mr. Barnard, Mr. Rich, Mr. Harris, Mr. A. An-
derson. the Hon. C. P. Villiers, Mr. Nicholas Power,
Mr. Chichester Fortescue, Mr. John Abel Smith, Vis-
count Anson, Mr. Bellew, Mr. Price Loveden, Mr.
Cowan, Colonel Tynte, Mr. Bagahaw, the Lord Advo-
cate, Mr. Morris Power, Mr. Lewis Ricardo, Mr. Ker-
shaw, Mr. Scholefield, Mr. Heathcote, Viscount Enfield,
Sir Robert Price, Mr. Patrick Somers, Mr, Ross Don-
nelly Mangles, Mr. C. H. Bunbury, and Colonel Watkins.
!Lord J. STUART, M.P., then addressed Lady Palmers-
ton to the following effect:—His Lordship said he could
have wished it had fallen into far abler hands than his
own to address her Ladyship on so interesting an occa-
sion. He was placed in a pecular difficulty from having
been called upon suddenly to perform a duty of which
he had not previously received the slightest inti-
mation, but he had the less hesitation in acceding
to the request which had been made to him as he felt
sure that the largo body "of friends by whom he was sur-
rounded would all concur with him in the sentiments of
respect, honour, and esteem which they entertained for
Lprd Palmerston. He admitted that he was perhaps not
so well able to judge of the Noble Lord's conduct in the
House of Commons as many of those gentlemen by whom
he was surrounded; but during the many years he had
had the honour of holding a seat in that assembly, he
had always been an admirer of his Lordship, and had
ever found ample reason to re-echo the sentiments of the
address, which had so adequately recognised the " in-
dependent policy, abilities, warmheartedness, and worth"
of her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
These feelings were not confined to those who had signed
that address—to those who had subscribed to that por-
trait; they were shared in by the Sovereign, who in him
found an able and a conscientious adviser—and by the
people, who knew him to he a patriotic Minister, whose
leading principle throughout his political life had been
to uphold the honour and interests of this great country.
During the long period the Liberal party had been
in power, Lord Palmerston had conducted the diplomatic
affairs of Great Britain with so much credit and
so much force as to inpire the respect of his op-
ponents and the admiration of his friends. During
this period Lord Palmerston had carried on ne-
gotiations with some of the greatest statesmen in the
world, among whom it was only necessary for him
to refer to the Prince de Talleyrand and other celebrated
contemporary diplomatists. The country would never
forget the successful manner in which his Lordship had
conducted the negotiations during the French revolu-
tion in 1830, when his skill and firmness, as they must
all remember, prevented a European war and all its cala-
mitous consequences. From that hour to the present time
his Lordship had never undertaken the guidance of any
great question involiing ihe integrity or repute of Eng-
land in_which he had:not fully vindicated the character
of Great Britain as si nation, "without entailing the in-
fraction of that peace in whose ratintenande-the.predi-
fections of the English people were so warniVenlisted.
In conclusion, the Roble Lord begged her. Ladyship's
pardon for the very inadequate Manner in iehich he had
conveyed the feelings of those who had assembled
to do her honour by the expression of the esteem and
admiration in which they .held her illustrious husband,
and by which the portrait before them would be amen,
during memorial. However inadequately he might have'
performed tlae-office that had devolved upon him, be' had
received so much personal kindness from her Ladyship
that no consideration of iddiridual embarraisment
should have deterred him from undertaking whit he
ahould otherwise naturally have shrunk from: The
Noble Lord's,address, during its delivery and conclusion,
was received with the heartiest demonstrations of,
cordiality.
Lady PALMERSTON, in reply, promptly and feelingly
expressed her appreciatiOn of so flattering actestirdoilial
to her husband's .honour arid character, and her lively
sense of its appropriate adaptation and value to herself,
remarking delicately, but with true feminine point and
grace,
that the time chosen for such manifestation of
confidence and regard on the part of so extensive 'a band
of friends could but heighten to pride and gratitude the
gratification she but feebly expressed.
Daring this brief but touching response, het Lady-
ship, who was evidently much affected, was repeatedly
interrupted by the applause of the members of the depu-
tation. Lord Palmerston himself was deeply moved,
and the eager interest exhibited by the members of the
household in the background contributed not a little to
the force and impressiveness of those sentiments which
the assembly had met to Convey.
The Noble Viscountess having sat down,
Lord PALMERSTON addressed the deputation as fol-
lows:—Gentlemen,—l hope you will allow me to say
that I feel quite unable adequately to express to' you
the feelings with which the circumstances of this day
have inspired me. To receive such a flattering mark
of approral 'and esteem froth oo
-large a number of
7- - -

Igso. _.

independent Members oi;•: the popular branch of tbe•
Legislature would at 'any' time ha a source of the
greatest pride and gratification; but at the present mo-
ment I need scarcely say that the compliment you have
paid me is peculiarly acceptable. Such marks of confi•
dence and approbation from the representatives of his
fellow-countrymen afford the strongest inducements to a
public man to use his best exertions in the.perforraanee
of the important obligations he is called upon to fulfil,
and form the noblest rewards he can look to receive. I
can assure you that this mark of your approval will but
serve to encourage me in the performance of my public
duties. With regard to my official conduct, I may say.
I feel supported by the conviction on the one hand that
I have been influenced by no other motive than a re•
gard for the honour and interests of our common
country; and on the other by a belief that he who so
,acts is certain to secure the good opinion and approval
of his impartial fellow citizens. One of the. first objects
of foreign ,policy is, as I conceive, to protect the in-
terests committed to the charge of the Minister, and to
afford our follow-subjects abroad protection against in-
justice and wrong; and, on the other hand, to maintaia.
and preserve peace wheA:a can be done without for-
feiture of that positiOn to which a great and free country
is entitled in the scale of nations. These feelings have
hitherto guided me; and the kind expression of your
confidence this day, thus flatteringly conveyed, will but
stimulate me to an energetic snantenance of the principle
and policy thus approved. Gentlemen, I again thank
you for the honour you have dune nse, and I beg to
assure you with all sincerity that I consider this the
proudest day of my life.
Prolonged cheering furnished a fitting finale to this
interesting scene.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMES.—The practical joke which her Majesty's
Ministers have recommended her to ••play on the
newspaper-reading aid• letter-receiving public ap-
pears to have produced the desired amount of incoo-
venience. A rather nutnerous class of political gen-
tlemen, who spend the Sunday some twenty: or thirty
miles from town, yesterday realised the unusual idea
of a breakfast-table without a letter or a newspaper
or a single shred of intelligence upon it. In, several
cases of privation that came to our knowledge it was
evident that no improvement had resulted either in
the temper or the language of the sufferers,. But
our contemporaries are the principal complainants.
Foremost among them is one that has contended
stoutly for the alteration, and charged all sorts of
impiety and profaneness upon those who don't like to
see Puritanism going ahead in this manner.. " Our
country readers, it says, 4,1 ought to beinforined that
the Post-office authorities Qffer,no facilities whatever
for carrying into effect the late, resolution of the
House of Commons for the observance of. the Sab-
bath." Why, what did dt expect ? Did it expect
an additional mail-train.. on— every • metropolitan
line of railway to leave town on Saturday after-
noon for the sole purpose of delivering the Satur.-
'day evening and " Sunday" papers over a part of
the kingdom before midnight ? As it-is, 'the evening
papers are in Birmingham at .8 o'clock, and in Man-
chester at 11 ; but even the former hour would leave
the Post-office very little time before 12 o'clock for
the distribution of newspapers over the country dis-
tricts. But why did not the Sabbatarians tell us
beforehand that they expected extraordinary 4' facili-
ties" on Saturday night ? If the public had been in-
formed that Saturday night was to be disturbed by
express trains, special messengers, and special deli-
veries, up to 12 o'clock, keeping numbers out of their
bed and spoiling their night's rest, it might have
considered betimes whether the advantage of saving
a village postmaster ten minutes' trouble on Sunday
morning was worth so great a cost. Of all times in
the week Saturday night is the very worst for a postal
delivery, as will readily be perceived by those who
know what it is to receive their letters and newspapers
from their post town by the village carrier on his
return from the Saturday market. But it is evident
that the case of the evening papers is beyond the reach
of any possible " facilities," when it is considered that
even the morning papers will find the postal delivery of
their Saturday's impression considerably affected. The
Examiner announces an edition in time for transmis-
sion by the early mails on Saturday morning, putting
itself thereby in the position of a morning paper, so
far as the post is concerned. This is a very great
sacrifice. The "leaders" must be written for the
early edition, and will therefore lose the benefit of all
the intelligence contained in the morning papers, in-
cluding, generally, an important debate. Instead of
winding up the week, the early edition will neces-
sarily be behind the morning papers of Saturday.
What, then, is to be gained by this sacrifice? Not
very much after all, The deliveries by the morning
mail are confined to a certain number of towns si-
tuated on railways, and not more than 300 miles from
the metropolis. Most of the towns off the principal
lines, rural districts, and all Ireland and Scotland, are
either excluded from the benefit of the morning mail
altogether, or are only enabled thereby to re-
ceive their letters somewhat earlier next
morning than they would otherwise. The
weekly papers cannot now be delivered through
the post before Monday over the whole even of Eng-
land, unless they are published and posted in time for
the Friday evening mail, at the moment, perhaps,
that the most important debate of the week is on the
point of beginning. The Post-office can do, and has
done, wonders, but it cannot wholly annihilate apace
and time, and it is evidently not its fault if it cannot
deliver before midnight on Saturday all over the
kingdom any publication pretending to be either a
Saturday evening paper or a paper containing the
news of the week. Their case is hopeless under the
new rule—so far, at least, as the facilities of the post
are concerned. So far as regards the moral effect of
this great lesson, candour compels us to admit that
yesterday, being about the hottest and the finest
Sunday in the memory of man, did not give it a fair
trial. The atmosphere of our streets yesterday was
that of Dr. Reid's hot-air chambers just at the
moment when, through some hitch in the machi-
nery, the current has ceased to flow. The result was
that never before, since London was London, had the
centrifugal force been so strong. The railways
could nit supply trains fast enough for the multi-
tude pressing into the metropolitan stations, and by
the time a regular train had got off there remained
enough for a supplementary special. The river,
which had not ceased to flow, presented a similar
spectacle ; and as no air was to be got in the streets,
it was a comfort to think of the several score thou-
sands who inhaled it, not quite pure perhaps, but still
in motion, on the Thames. We never remember to
have seen so complete a turn-out of the population on
the pavement as there was in the evening, just as the
air out of doors was beginning to be cooler than that
within. We must add that we saw a good many
reading their newspapers, which they did with the
look of men exercising a privilege, and resolved to
keep it if possible. We will not deny that yesterday
the shade of forest trees, without a newspaper, and
even without the post, would have been preferable to
all that London could supply either for body or for
mind ; but certainly, many whose hard fate bound
theni to this soil of iron and sky of brass seemed to
find some alleviation of their wretchedness in the news
of the week.
WEEKLY DISPATCH.—The stopping of Sun-
day trading is not the only object of the malicious
and mischievous idiots who worry the Legislature
with petitions for the better observance of the Sab •
bath, They have a great hatred, also, of Sunday-
reading, and particularly of the reading of news
papers. For years they have made all sorts of efforts
to stop the publishing and the sale of weekly journals
on Sunday, not because they desire to make a day of
rest for newsmen, but because they wish to discou-
rage that useful mental occupation which' is the great
hinderance to the progress of cant and hunibug. The
effect of stopping the one early delivery of the post in
the country on Sunday morning will, of course, be, that
all the daily and weekly newspapers sent away from
London on Saturday night will be buried in the coun-
try post-offices until the following Monday morning.
This is exactly what the Saints desire, but it is pre-
cisely that kind of inroad upon domestic enjoyments
and public freedom which ought to be earnestly re-
sisted: Sunday affords, to most working men, and
to many tradesmen, the-only hours of leisure which
can be devoted to reading the newspaper. It is our
belief that there La at this time, more newspaper
reading on the Sunday than on all the other days of
the week put together. ,This must of necessity be
the case, -because Sunday is a day snatched from
labour, and the mass .of ; the people having to draw
their subsistence from the work of their hands, it is
on this day, and on this day alone, when the
body is at rest, and the mind free from care,
that the newspaper can be read with attention
and interest. Who will say that such occupa-
tion, during a part of the Sabbath, is either op-
posed to the proper performance of religious duty or
to the welfare of the people ? England owes to a
great extent, not only its political freedom, but the
preservation of public order, to the political intelli-
gence of the people, acquired, guided, and controlled
by the press. English statesmen have spoken with
just pride o f the quiet and security existing of late
years in this country, while the nations of the conti-
nent were distracted with the conflicts of revolution.
'
It is this interest in public affairs this knowledge of
political questions, kept up and preserved by the
newspaper press, which enables the people in humble
becoming
life to exercise their political duties with
independence, but without breaking the laws. Take
away the working man's Sunday. newspaper, and
all
that
you
denyhim the means of acquainting himself
with
thatinterests his class in public affairs. It is idle to
say that time may be found on other days of the week
for this kind of reading. Any one who has
dany ackl
quaintance with the habits of the trading an w.or
ing classes of the English people knows how entirely
their time is taken UP during six days of the week in
attending to those pur.suits
.by which al.one they can
make provision for their families. Deprive such men
of their Sunday newspaper and you debar them from
the knowledge of the domestic and public occurrences
of the times in which they live. To take
away working man's Sunday newspaper is
: