The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-27 00:00:00

within a few minutes and at a trifling oost.-"and an equally
! numerous population, the member:sof which are scpaea:ed
by scores and hundreds of miles, and perhaps by shut
railroads and horseless high%%ays. Thue, we see
that, while the newspapers telongirg to all the
rest of the population were, last Sunday, lying
locked up in boxes, the Londoners not only
had theirs carried and received, but Employ ed
themselves in reading them. The sum of the matter is,
that, in a multitude of matters London is, so to speak,
self-contained and self-supplying, while all other places
are dependent on such arraegewents as that of which
th, y have been this week deprived.:. Oddly-enough-66
oddly as to be worth mentioning—ejust.when. those
were silent or timid before are beAinuing to speak out,
our respected contemporary, the Mercury, who has •
hitherto borne well his share in the battle, Imams rather
inclined to " ring in." He " would wish the experiment
fairly tried," and always thought it well worthy of con-
sideration." In the case of suck einvetsions or Waverings,,
experience htfir la-us to the suspicion, ne%er yet xenon
in any 'istance where inquiry has .been made, that the
convert's practice bad become lam just when his prolea-.
sions had become strict. For instance, it reverend
dccior in this city, who used to write very strongly -
again. 4 the stopping of Sunday trains, lately came out
very furious on she other side—just at the time that he
had shifted his residence several miles out of town, and
taken to driving in and out every Sabbath-day. Similar
is the case of the Morning Herald, which has of late be-
come quite enthusiastic agsinst every species of " Sab-
bath labour "—and whose printers and all connected
with it labour every SUnday as long and as hard as they
do every Monday. 'lt is nothing of this
kind we intend to allege against our .friend's cdn-
sisttney (though he may feel a little friglitened)
—we mean to confine ourselves strictly to the question
in hand; and, doing so, we point out his announcement
to his readers that, in consequence of that change in-the
Post-office of which he declares in favour, he will
hereafter get them news by means of Sunday parcels!
In profession he says, " We wish the experiment tried ;"
in practice, he says (like many others of the few who
approve of this experiment), "but we shall take pre-
cious good care you shall not try it on us." It would
relieve much perplexity were our contemporary (to
whom we speak in respect and amity) to explain by
what process of moral reasoning he arrives at the con-
clusions that it is right that the Government should pro-
hibit the carrying, sending, and receiving of letters of
affection and family, necessity and mercy, mayhap life
and death, and that it is right also that he should cause
parcels to be Lent, carried, and received, to facilitate the
dispatch of his secular business.

TO THE HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND IN PAR-
LIAMENT ASSEMBLED.
The petition of the undersigned Proprietors and
Editors of London Newspapers, and Contributors
thereto, and other persons employed thereon.,
Humbly ehoweth,
That, on an Address, supported by ninety-five mem-
bers of your Honourable House, and which, by the rules
of that House, could not be again considered before it
was presented, her MajeAy, by the advice of her Mi-
nisters, has prohibited the delivery of newspapers on
Sundays by post throughout the kingdom.
That your petitioners theieby have been suddenly awl
without notice grievously injured in their property and
occupation.
That the liberty of the press has hitherto been con-
sidered the first bulwark of British freedom, and that
its uses have hitherto been considered of paramount
value and importance, and that, therefore, any unneces-
sary interference with its operations is the most unbs ar-
able of oppressions, and the most gading of insults, that
can be offered to the people, or their habitual informants,
instructora, and defenders.

That her Majesty's Government, in suddenly acting
upon the resolve of an accidental majority, by stopping
the delivery of the post on Sundays without taking
means to consult the real sense of your Honourable
House, has abandoned its duty and despctically trifled
with the property and interests of your petition. ra. -
That the amount of Sunday lab Our which will be oc-
casioned by the efforts of the newspaper proprietors to
protect their property will be threetold that saved by the
new regulations.
That the stamp-tax on newspapers has been vindi-
cated as giving the privilege of transmission by post,
and that to make this privilege available to one class and
to deny it to another is an act of the grossest fiscal in-
ustice.
That the circulation of newspapers on a Sanday is a
civilizing act, meritorious to the highest degree in a free
nation, where every individual is supposed to take the
part of a frieman in public affairs, and where this day
is the only one that affords to many of the industrious
classes the opportunity, by perusal of the public prints,
to inform themselves of their duty as citizens.
Tnat the business to be transacted by a great number
of individuals in the course of the ensuing week-is ne
cessarily regulated by the information as to markets and
otherwise communicated by the weekly papers on the
Sunday.
That the Post•office . is a close monopoly of the-most
essential means of communication, which monopoly can
only be jastifled by its rendering the must complete and
equal service at all times to all parties who requ;re its
agency.

That to mak-e this great public institution subservient

to the sectarian opinion* of any body of individuals is
on usurpation of the rights of Government and a per-
version of its duties.

That your petitioners, who are as anxious as any
other persons, whatever may be their religious preten-
sions, to give the "full injoymeut and repose of one day
in the week to the entire people, feel that this can only
be done by a moderato sacrifice ut the convenience for
some hours of the tow to the many, and that it this truth
be not admitted, no one has a right to claim any ser-
vice of any kind upon the seventh day; and that this
principle should he strictly applied to all ranks of men
by stringent legislation.
That your petitioners believe the new regulations of
the Post-office to be a violent inroad on the liberty of
conscience, a mere pretence as to the effect it professes
to produce, the precursor of a series of absurd and op•
pressive measures against the civil and religious ltbecty
of the people; an act unwarranted by the practice and
faith of civilised Europe—a deprivation inflicted by a
higher class upon au humbler one, and a measure so
totally unworthy of the Government and Legislature of
this country, that it could only have been carried by the
surprise of a single vote.
Your petitioners th• refore humbly pray of your
Honourable Rouse to rescind the resolution which led to
the late Address, and to enable the Government to resort
to the former usage in this behalf,
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will every
pray, &c.