The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-15 00:00:00

Nu.17,958.] LONDON, MONDAY E•-*DIENI:-.G SUN, APRIL 15, 1850.

wORKS of ANCIENT and INIEDIXVAL
ART and SPECIMENS of RECENT BRICISII MANU-
FACTURES.

This Exhibition is OPEN DAILY, from Ten till Dusk, at the
House of the Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi.
Admission to those not Members, or introduced by Members, Is.

Catalogue, Is.

GRAZING AND ARABLE FARM.
FOR SALE, on terms advantageous to a purchaser, a rich
GRAZING and ARABLE FARM, held by lease under the See of
Ely for three lives (which are insured), and consisting of a home-
stead and 290 acres of land. The farm adjoins the city of Ely, lies
nearly within a ring fence, and is distant a few furlongs only from a
railway and an excellent navigation.
Apply to Messrs. J. and G. Archer, Solicitors, Ely.

EMPLOYMENT.—Ladies and Gentlemen may
profitably occupy leisure time by acquiring the elegant ART
of ORNAMENTING PAPIER MAMIE In Pearl, Gold, and Co-
lours, as practically imparted by the Advertiser, on an improved
system, by which 2/. a week can be realized. Premium 10s. 6d. As
the number must be limited, th se desirous of engagement should
make early application to Mr. Wright, 20, Tavistock•street, Covent-
garden, from Ten to Four.

PARTNER WANTED.—Any Gentleman of
business habits, and who can command from 10,008/. to
15,000/., may find an eligible investment in a vary old established,
safe, and very valuable manufacturing and lucrative business.
Principals only, or their Solicitors, may apply to Messrs. Jenkin-
son, Sweeting, and Jeakinson, 29, Lombard-street.

QONGS OF SCOTLAND.
► y Under the immediate Patronage of the Right Honourable
Lord MARCUS C. HILL, the Right Honourable Lord KINNAIRD,
Sir JAMES DUKE, Bart., M.P., and other Distinguished Parties.
Mr. MILNE (the Scottish Vocalist) and the Misses SMITH beg to
announce to their numerous Patrons and Friends that they intend
giving a SCOTTISII ENTERTAINMENT, at the MUSIC-HALL,
STORE-STREET. BEDFORD-SQUARE, on MONDAY, April 22, at
Eight o'clock. Pianoforte, Mr. F. Smith.
Tickets, is.; Reserved Seats, 25.; Boxes, 3s. ; Private Boxes, lbs.
Tickets to be had at the Hall, and all Musicsellers.

ARGYLE SUBSCRIPTION ROOMS, Great
Windmill-street, St. James's.

Musical Director and Conductor, M. LAURENT, jun._

This ACADEMY, for Tuition and Practice of DANCING, is
NOW OPEN for the Season.. Teaching by Professors Calkins,
Moxey, and Franconi.
For Terms of Private Tuition apply at the oftice.—Terms of Sub-
scription, fir morning and evening practice :—S:x months, 51. 55.;
one month, it. Is.; one evening, is. Subscribers' tickets not
transferable.

The Academy will open for evening practice at a Quarter to Eight
o'clock, and terminate at Half-past Eleven precisely.

SHE ROYAL POLYTECHNIC
INSTITUTION.

LECTURES on MUSIC by Sir HENRY It. BISHOP resumed,
with an increased number of VOCALISTS for the Illustrations on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at Eight, and on Tuesday, Thurs-
day, and Saturday, at Three o'clock.—Dr. Bachhoffner's Second
Lecture on the Philosophy of Scientific Recreation with Optical
Effects, daily at Two, and on Tuesday and Thursday Evenings at
a quarter-past Nine.—Lecture by J. 11. Pepper, Esq., on tke
Chemistry of Hydrogen, with special reference to its application for
conveying by Balloons Pyrotechnic and other Signals to Sir John
Franklin, on Monday, Wec;nesday, and Friday, at Three, and on
Tuesday and Thursday Evenings, at Eight.—Dissolving Views,
Illustrating the Arctic Regions and Ceylon ; also Views of London In
the Sixteenth Century, and as it now is.—Diver and Diving.
bell, &c., &c.

Admission, Is.—Schools, Half-price.
Analyses and Chemical Experiments conducted in the Labaratory,
under the direction of J. H. Pepper, Esq.

N:EW PICTORIAL EXHIBITION,
309, REGENT-STREET,
Adjoining the Royal Polytechnic Institution.
The BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE on a Grand Scale, with
Views of WOLVERTON VIADUCT, COVENTRY, BIRMING-
HAM, CHESTER. the VICTORIA TUBULAR BRIDGES over the
CONWAY, &c., &c., &c., to which has been added. SNOWDON,
from CAPEL CARIG.
Paintei by J. W. ALLEN, Esq.
A Description by JOHN CLARKE, Esq.
During the Holidays this Exhibition will open at Eleven o'clock,
Quarter past Twelve, Half-past One. Quarter to Three, Four, o'clock;
and in the Evenings at Seven and a Quarter-past Eight.
Admission, One Shilling ; Schools and Children, half-price.
Doors opened a quarter of an hour before each Exhibition.

SUSPENSION OF_SUNDAY TRANS-

MISSION, OF MAILS.

The official documents relating to this subject have
just been issued, and we extract from them the report
of Mr. Rowland Hill on the Birmingham memorial,
praying for a cessation of Sunday transmission of
mails, together with the Minute of Colonel Maberly,
addressed to the Postmaster-General :-
111 a. ItowLatin HILL'S MINUTE.

BIRMINGHAM MEMORIAL-SUSPENSION OF POST- OFFICE
BUSINESS ON THE SUNDAY.
The Postmaster-General.
1. In obedience to your Lordship's instructions, I beg
to submit my views on the consequences that would
arise from acceding to the prayer cf the memorial from
Birmingham, viz., "that the transmission and delivery of
letters may be wholly suspended on the Sunday."
2. The memorial itself enters into no explanation
of the arrangements by which such change is to be
eflected; but plans have been put forth in various quar-
ters, suggesting as a means the simple suspension of all
Post-office transactions, whether of collection, transmis-
sion, or delivery, for the twenty-four hours of Sunday,
thus making Sunday literally a dies non, or pause, and
leaving everything else ou its present footing.
3. If this were practicable, there can be no doubt that,
whatever might be its effect upon the puhlic convenience,
there would at least be a highly valuable relief to the
department.
4. That, with this advantage in view, and with an
anxious desire to promote your Lordship's wish to relieve
the servants of the Post-office from all dispensable la-
bour on the Sunday, I have felt bound, while submitting
measures for this important object, to stop short of the
change in question, strongly as it has been urged upon
me by its a lvocates, front my conviction—first, that
such suspension is altogether impracticable as a simple
measure; for, if adopted, it would necessitate other al-
terations of a very complicated character ; and, so-
condl_e•, that even if it could be effected, still the inevi-
table inconvenience to the public would be greater than
would be borne.

5. Still, if, with all the facts fully before it, Parliament
should resolve to incur the risk of the change, it will, of
course, become our duty to 'carry out the plan with as
much attention to the convenience of the public, and -as
near an approach to regularity in the proceedings-of
the office,, as so anomalous a course will admit of.

6. The proposed measure is divisible into two distinct
parts ; first, the suspension of collection and delivery ; and
second, the suspension of conveyance ; ansl there is this
important difference between the two, viz., that while the
first may be adopted in any particular place without ma-
terially affecting the convenience of any other place, it is
obvious that the second cannot occur, even as respects
any portion of a single line of mail. without affecting the
convenience of every place which that line serves,
whether directly or indirectly. The former, therefore,
might without detriment be adopted in detail according
to the wish of each particular place, while the latter
would in justice require the general concurrence of all
places along the line, or connected therewith. _

7. As regards collection &Lel delivery, London is
already in the state proposed; and though, owing partly
to the non-dispatch c,f letters from London on the Sun-
day, the delivery of that day in provincial towns is pro-
bably the heaviest in the week, still there could be no
insuperable obstacle to placing any other town, where
the inhabitants in general so desired it, in a similar pc-
sition. There would, however, be great difficulty in
ascertaining the general wish, except in the case of cor-
porate towns, for it is hardly necessary to say that on a
subject like this the general feeling of the letter-writing
public is very imperfectly expressed by a town's meet-
ing. In the case in question it seems particularly diffi
cult to ascertain the real desire of the parties concerned,
seeing that the Town Council and the town's meeting of
Birmingham came to decisions quite at variance with
each other.

8. What preponderance should be required in a majo-
rity thus applying for restriction it is not easy to deter-
mine. The rule proposed by the surveyors as regards
application for the Sunday suspension of a rural post
if, as your Lordship is aware, to require that the majo-
rity shall be in the receipt of six-sevenths of the letters.
9. If, however, any rule should be laid down placing
the suspension of collection and delivery in particular
places in any degree at the option of the inhabitants, I
would strongly advise that, wherever the suspension is
adopted, it should be made absolute; for a delivery at
the window, as in Edinburgh, while it affords but little
relief to the department, actually causes a great increase
in Sunday labour on the part of the public through the
employment of special messengers, besides occasioning
a scene of confusion outside the office quite inconsistent
with the object in view.
• 10. Wherever the Sunday delivery continued, I ap•
prebend it might still be arranged, without serious in-
convenience to the department, for individuals to be
protected against the delivery of letters upon notifying
in writing to the postmaster their wish to that effect;
with the understanding, however, that such notice once
given -should not be withdrawn without timely warning.
As to the posting of letters, that is clearly optional with
every one.

11. As regards the suspension of conveyance, there is
no place of any importance to which we can turn for an
example. For although until lately no letters were
transmitted through London on the Sunday, yet the let-
ters on their way to and from London have constantly
travelled on the Sunday in all directions ; so that the
restriction lately removed in no way affected London
letters. but only those of other towns.
12. The only cases in which such suspension has yet
been effected are, as fo as I am aware, in small rural
districts, which have applied, with a general concurrence
of the parties interested, for the discontinuance on the
Sunday of their particular branch post. If such applica-
tions became numerous, and such discontinuance conse-
quently extended, it might in time become practicable to
extend the suspension to branch posts serving severally
to many places; and, without entering into further de-
tail, it is obvious that with the concurrence of the pub-
lic such suspension might thus be gradually carried to a
very great extent. At the same time I must admit
that I have not the remotest expectation of a state
of things such as would justify the interruption of
the mails on the trunk lines, which, setting aside all
other considerations, are, I apprehend, indispensable fur
the purposes of Government; for to whatever extent
their place might be supplied by the electric telegraph, it is
clear that, even if its limited range were not a sufficient
objection to its being taken as the sole reliance, its use
would, after all, be but the substitution of one kind of
Sunday labour for another, the balance as regards
amount, notwithstanding all appearance to the contrary,
being very doubtful.
13. Independently, however, of the necessities of the
Government, I see no reason to expect that those of the
public, when fully understood, will be regarded as ad-
mitting of the interruption proposed. The various plans
put forth on the subject exhibit great misapprehension
as to the facts and possibilities of the case. Thus, it is
eommonly taken for granted that the change in question
would merely put all other towns in the position which
London holds at present; the fact being that it would,
in a great degree, impose upon London the inconveni-
ences, as respects blank posts, now sustained by the pro-
vincial towns, and upon the provincial towns those now
sustained by London, each retaining its present incon-
venience undiminished.

14. Supposing for a moment that it would be prac-
ticable to suspend all the operations of the Post-office
for twenty-four hours without suspending the progress
of the mails for more than twenty-four hours (of which
I will speak hereafter), let it be considered how such
suspension would affect the convenience of London.
. .

1.5. I will first deal with the dispatch of Saturday
night. The consequence of the proposed suspension
would be, that every letter or newspaper contained in
this (probably the largest dispatch of the week) would
not be delivered, whatever might be its destination, until
24 hours later than at present. Thus the letters and
newspapers of this dispatch, which are now delivered at
Harrow, Northampton, Birmingham, Liverpool, &e., on
Sunday morning, would necessarily be delayed till Mon.
day morning; those for Aberdeen, Inverness, Wicklow,
Carlow, Cork, Drogheda Belfast, &c., which are now
delivered on the Monday morning, would be delayed
till Tuesday ; and those for Wick, Thurso, &c., now de-
livered on the Tuesday, would be delayed till Wednes-
day. To illustrate this further, it may be observed, as
respects Ireland, that while in Dublin the delay would
be from mid-day on Sunday, in all other places itwould
be, at earliest, from Monday to Tuesday, and in some
remote places even from Tuesday to Wednesday. A
similar observation will apply, in a great measure, to
Scotland.

16. Nay, to carry out the measure according to the
strict rule demanded, the interruption of the Saturday
night's dispatch tmust be extended to all continental
mails, seeing that even if the letters can all be got on
board by midnight, the sailing of the Post-office packets
(which are for the most part our own) clearly involves
as great a violation of the principle as the conveyance
of the mails by land.
17. Next as respects the letters, &c., now arriving in
London on Monday morning; first, no letter posted on
Sunday at a place more than 100 miles distant (though
on a line of railway) would be delivered in London
before Monday afternoon, even where there was a day
mail; in all other eases such letters would be delayed
till Tuesday morning. As regards places more than
about 300 miles from London (still keeping to the rail-
way), the same delay would occur :to a large part of
the letters posted on the Saturday. As regards places
not on the lines of railway, it is obvious that a much
smaller distsece will produce the lame effect; and there
are places so remote that the delay would occur even to
letters posted on Friday.
18. Thus, a letter posted on Sunday at any hour at
Birmingham or Bristol, or en Saturday after four
P.M., at Carlisle on Newcastle-on-Tyne, or on the same
day after twelve at noon at Dublin, Edinburgh, or
Glasgow, instead of being delivered in London, as now,
on-Monday morning, would be delayed till Monday after-
noon, and one posted on the Sunday at Marlborough or
Petworth, or on Saturday (after four P.m.) at Scarbo-
rough, Ilfracombe, Launceston, Honiton, Cardiff, or
Brecon; or on. Friday (after four P.M.) at Dingwall,
Wexfor, Waterford, Galway, or Sligo, instead of being
delivered in London, as now, on Monday morning.
would be delayed till Tuesday morning.
19. This is on the supposition that the existing mail,.
only are maintained. The use of special mails would
certainly lessen the delay, though it could not prevent it

altogether; but this mode would be far too expensive for
adoption.
20. A pursuance of these investigations will show that
similar delay would be produced as regards a portion of
all the dispatches from London made towards the end of
the week, and all arrivals there towards the beginning of
the week; the amount of derangemeet of course dimi-
nishing as we recede from the Sunday.
21. One point connected with the delay of the letters
now delivered on the Monday morning seems to require
particular notice. At present, if a North American
mail reaches Liverpool on the Sunday in time for the
eveuing dispatch, its letters for London are included in
the first delivery of Monday morning, whereas by the
proposed change they would be delayed till Monday
afternoon, and thus be delivered, I apprehend, too late
for the business purposes of the day.
22. Another inconvenience which would arise fecm
the twenty-four hours' interruption of Post-office busi-
ness is, that at most places the number of blank post
days (that is, those days on which the communication
with Landon is delayed), would be doubled. Thus, at
Birmingham and Bristol the Saturday night's dispatch
for London remaining in effect as at present, and there-
fore Saturday continuing blank post day, Sunday would
be added as a second blank post day. So also as regards
the letters from London, Monday continuing a blank
post day for letters posted in London on Sunday, Sun-
day would for the first time become a blank post day
for nearly all the letters posted in London on the Sa-
turday.
23. To mitigate this evil it has been proposed to
make a special dispatch of mails from London on the
Monday, at 1 AA% It is scarcely necessary to observe
that the preparations for such a dispatch must entrench on
the Sunday; but if this objection were obviated by adopting
a somewhat late hour, the proposed dispatch would con-
sist of nearly empty bags, unless,indeed, it should tempt
the people of London to write letters on the Sunday.
Even then the number of letters, confined as it would be
to the letters of London itself, would be quite insufficient
to justify the expense.
24. having thus set forth, though very imperfectly,
the inconveniences that would accrue to London from
the interruption of the mails, I have to repeat the re-
mark that the same inconveniences would attach to every
provincial town, and, except the few which are as well
provided as London with railway communication, in even
greater force.
25. It is also to be remarked that thus far I have
treated each letter independently ; but it is obvious
that with respect to all. letters requiring answers the
chance of delay would be double. Indeed, there are
some towns so remote from each other, even within the
island of Great Britain (as, for instance, Fahnouth and
Inverness), that the delay of a day would occur let the
correspondence commence on whatever day of the week
it might.
26. The estimate of inconveniences given thus far
is, however, made on the assumption that it would
be practicable to suspend all the operations of the
Post-office for twenty-four hours without suspend-
ing the progress of the mails fur more than twenty-
four hours. But this assumption is manifestly
unwarrantable ; for, taking into account that a
convenient station is not to be found wherever it may
be wanted, and that time must be allowed both for irre-
gularities on the railway and for the removal and safe
stowage of the mail bags after the stoppage of the train,
as also fur their replacement before the time of starting,
together with the necessary examination at each change
to secure against any omission, there must bo a margin
of an hour or so before midnight on the Saturday, and
of about half as much after midnight on Sunday.
27. This additional interruption, the necessity fur
which has been recognised by some of the advocates of
the plan, has two important consequences. In the first
place, et ea supposing it involved no difficulty with the
trains, it is obvious that there would be a delay of an
hour and a half in the time when the mail would reach
every succeeding station however remote; thus derang-
ing the proceedings of the department at place after
place throughout each line, and in remoter parts produc-
ing this disorder on two successive days, not only alter-
ing the hours of delivery, but also disturbing arrange-
ments with the branch mails, cross mails, and rural posts
throughout the greater part of the kingdom; and the
evil doubling itself, as it must do from its applying to
the mails in both directions, would, I f.a,r, introduce an
amount of disorder beyond all remedy or endurance.
28. Secondly, the difficulty as respects the trains is of
a very serious character, for these being passenger trains
will, of course, pursue their route notwithstanding the
stoppage of the mail bags; and as the rule must be for
the bags to be dropped about eleven o'clock on Saturday
night and to be taken up again about thirty minutes
before one on Monday morning, it is obvious that the
Sunday night's train, if starting at its usual time, would
reach the place where the bags were deposited the pre-
vious night too soon, and must wait an hour and a half
before the mail bugs could be allowed to proceed, and as
the passengers would never consent to such a delay,
the difficulty must be obviated either by the train start-
ing an hour and a half later on the Sunday or by the
employment of a special train, either of which arrange
ments would throw upon the department an enormous
increase of expense, besides creating serious danger to
life and limb by the irregularity thus introduced upon
the lines of railway.
29. The above considerations must be borne in mind
in estimating the advantage to be expected from the pro-
posed change ; for as the stoppage of the mails does
not involve that of the trains, the release to be antici-
pated is limited to the servants of the Post-office. Now
the bulk of the employment connected with the pro-
gress of the mails (supposing the various towns to sus-
pend their deliveries and dispatches) would rest upon
the guards, but the stoppage of the mails would, I fear,
bring them no release on the Sunday, but only a change
in the mode of occupation, as it would, I apprehend, be
found indispensable to au efficient responsibility that
the bags, whether in motion or at rest, should remain
in their custody, and if so, even supposing all other diffi-
culties to be surmounted, and the plan to be carried out
in its highest possible integrity, the guards must still
remain on duty throughout the day.
30. Seeing how imperfect would be the relief to the
deportment, and how serious the interruption to the du-
ties it has to perform, it may be well also to glance at
the nature and extent of the correspondence which
would be thus interfered with.
31. The number of letters transmitted through the
Post-office averages nearly a million per day; and sup-
posing no more than an average day's letters to be in-
volved in the several delays produced by the proposed
interruption, and that one letter in a thousand contains
information of sudden illness or death, or other matter
of pressing importance, this would give nearly a thousand
cases per week in which delay would painfully interfere
with the f( clings of relatives and friends, or lead to se-
rious trouble or loss.
32. The pressure hence arising would be so painfully
felt that means would undoubtedly be resorted to for
effecting the required communication; and thus a large
amount of contraband conveyance would inevitably arise,
at once detrimental to the object of the change and in-
urious to the revenue, which, would, however, further
suffer, and in far greater degree, from the extent to
hich correspondence would be actually suppressed.
33. There is one view of the question in hand on
which throughout this minute I have carefully abstained
from offering any remark, feeling sure that your Lord-
ship expected and desired that I should limit my mi-
nute to those points on which I have access to peculiar
sources (1 information.
34. The chief conclusions arrived at in the foregoing
minute are, first, that as the collection and delivery of
letters may be suspended in any particular place without
material inconvenience to other places, such suspension
might safely be made whenever applied for with the
general concurrence of the inhabitants.
35. Second, that, as the conveyance of the mails could
not be suspended on any part of a line without produc-
ing inconvenience to all places served by the line, the
suspension should not bo made except with the general
concurrence of all such places.
36. Third, that, to whatever extent the Sunday sus-
pension of branch mails may be thus effected, there is no
probability that either the necessities of Government or
the convenience of the public will allow of interruption
to the mails on the trunk lines.
37. Fourth, thst while such interruption would pro-
duce great inconvenience throughout the country, de-
ranging the hours of delivery and dispatch, and doubling
the number of blank post days, it would seriously affect
the convenience of London itself, delaying by twenty-
four hours the delivery of every letter and newspaper
contained in the dispatch of Saturday night, of many of
those of Saturday morning, and some even of previous
days; throwing all Sunday's delivery on Monday, and
great part of Monday morning's on Monday afternoon
or Tuesday morning,
and so 00, producing also a corre-
sponding delay in Monday and Tuesday's arrivals.
38. Fifth, that it would be impossible to suspend all
Post-office business for twenty-four hours without sus-
pending the conveyance of the mails for a longer time;
and that, besides producing the irregularity set forth
above, this anomaly involves insurmountable difficulties
with the railways.
39. Sixth, that even if these difficulties could be
overcome, the mere stopping of the mails would, in all
probability, add no material relief to that which would
arise from the independent measure of suspending col-
lection and delivery.
40. Seventh, that the suspension of Post-office busi-
ness on the Sunday would interrupt the prOgress of a
vast number of urgent letters, thus causing much suffer-
ing, and leading to a large amount of contraband con-
veyance, which, besides injuring the revenue, would re-
produce in another form the very evil which it is in-
tended to remove.
41. However it must be regretted that insuperable
difficulties prevent a complete abolition of Sunday duty
in the department, it must be highly gratifying to your
Lordship to review the improvements commenced a year
ego with the suspension of money order business, and
which, proceeding uninterruptedly to the present time,
are now in such a state of advancement that in a few
days the Sunday duty throughout England and Wales
will have been reduced to probably little more than half
its original amount; this great benefit having been ob-
tained in such is manner as not only not to impair, but
greatly to promote the public convenience.
sth January, 1850 (Signed)
21st January, 1830. (Signed)

R. EL

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MABERLY'S MINUTES FOR THE
POSTMASTER-GENERAL,
I cannot too strongly expreil wy opiaion against tho

proposed measure of stopping the business of the Post-
office on Sunday. With respect to the delivery of let-
ters on Sunday, the objection would not seem to be so
important, as it more particularly applies to the re-
cei►ers of letters, and as each town would be able to de-
cide how its trade was affected by the measure, and
would then be able to ascertain the extent of incon-

venience to which it would be subjected, still, even in
this case, there are other parties unconnected - with the
places whose interests are e., the writers of
the letters—who would be injured in all these cases
where prompt action was essential, and speedy informs•
lion required.
The great objection, however, applies to the delay that
' would be occasioned in the dispatch or transit of the mails
on the Sunday, the force of which will be at once appre•
elated by an inspection of the accompanying table. In
framing this table it is assumed that the mails. dispatched
on Saturday night would either be stopped at twelve,
midnight, and again continue their progress immediately
lifter midnight on Sunday, or that they would not re-
sume their progress until collected by the mail trains on
Monday morning, which, in molt casci, as respects
letters from or passing through Lbndon, would be,
under present arrangements, the day mail trains from
the metropolis. That this last of the two cases would
occur is most probable, when it is considered that the
Post-office would not undertake (unless ordered to do
so) to direct the railways to start trains immediately
alter midnight on Sunday from those places where the
mails had stopped at midnight on Saturday, as such
trains, having scarcely any passenger traffic, would -be
exceedingly expensive. The probability, therefore,
would be, that either the first trains sent by the different
companies from the metropolis would be employed~ or
that, as it would bo desirablo to tend forward through
London the letters that had arrived on the Monday
morning from towns at certain distances from London,
as well as the letters posted in London in the morning
"before a quarter to eight o'clock, the day mail trains
starting from the metropolis on the Monday morning
would be selected as those combining all classes of cor-
respondence, and by these means the expense of a double
communication would be avoided. .
With respect to the dispatch of the correspondence to
the metropolis from the countrY,the results would be dif-
ferent according to the various circumstances attaching to
the different towns; but the effect in general must be an
interruption seriously injurious to intercourse by post
between the various parts of the country, involving "fry-
quently the loss of communication for long periods of
time with distant countries, where the interval for re-
plies between the arrivals and departures •of foreign
packets was limited.

•
Wbat the effect would be upon the Post•oflice revenue,
or upon the trade and commerce of the country gen,e-
rally, it would be impossible to say. In my own opinion
it would be most injurious, as, in point of fact, the mea-
sure would almost be a return, as regards one day of the
week, to the slow communication which existed between
various places in the kingdom in the early part of the
present century.
Jan. 25, 1850. (Signed) W. L. M.

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE
OF FRIDAY.
DIVIDENDS.
At the Court, Basinghall-street.
W. Lee, King's Mills-wharf, Rothcrhithe, barge-
builder, May 3, at twelve—J. W. Jackson, Colchester,
coal merchant, May 3, at half-past eleven—J. Hague,
Thames Iron-works, Rotherhithe, engineer, May 3, at
half-past twelve—H. Biers, Carlton.villas, Edgeware-
road, builder, May 3, at eleven—Q. and J. Dick, Fins-
bury-square, merchants, May 3, at eleven—W. Gibbie,
arid T. P. Ackerman, Whitecross-street, drarers, May 7,
at eleven—G. Orbell, Romford, hone dealer, May 7, at
twelve—G. Fielding, Thames Oxfordshire, ironmonger,
May 7, at twelve-0. Wood, Ditchling, Sussex, butcher,
May 10, at eleven. •

In the Country.
T. Sutton, jun., Atherstone,. Warwickshire, draper,
May 4, at eleven, at the Court, Birmingham—J. Ste-
phenson, Brecon, grocer, May 4, at eleven, at the Court,
Bristol—J. Richards, Merthyr Tydvil, Glarnorganshire,
woollen draper, May 10, at eleven, at the Court, Bristol
—J. Harford and W. W. Davies, Bristol, ironfounders,
May 13, at eleven, at the Court, Bristol—J. Bridgeford,
Sheffield, printer and newspaper publisher, May 4, at
ten, at the Council-hall, Sheffield—J. C. Simpson, Shef-
field, pawnbroker, May 4, at ten, at the Council-hall,
Sheffield—J. Gilmore, Durham, whiting manufacturer,
May 10, at eleven, at the Court, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

—.l.ll:Bayley, Manchester, and H. Chapman, King-
street, Cheapside, warehousemen, May 7, at twelve, at
the Court, Manchester—W. Whitt-labury, Manchester,
cotton dealer, May 6, at twelve, at the Court, Man-
chester—J. B. Scott, Denham Springs, Lancashire, May
7, at twelve, at the Court, Manchester—G. and J. Bar-
ton, Manchester, copper roller meaufacturers, April 22,
at twelve, at the Court, Manchester—J. Wright, Pendle-
ton, Lancashire, dyer, April 23, at t elve, at the Court,
Manchester—J. Palmer, sen., Stapleford, Nottingham-
shire, and T. T. Barker, Sandiacre, Derbyshire, cotton
doublers, May 17, at ten, at the Court, Nottingham.
PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS.

J. F. Fryer, Little Love-lance, Wood-street, stay ma-
nufacturer, 2s. 3d., on Wednesday next, and three fol.
lowing Wednesdays, between eleven and two, at the
office of Mr. Graham, Coleman-street.
F. Armson, Carlton-hill, St. John's-wood, builder,
ss. 2id., on Wednesday next, and three following Wed-
nesdays, between eleven and two, at the office of Mr.
Graham, Coleman-street.

Richard and Aiken, Liverpool, merchants, 1-16th ld.,
o❑ any Thursday, between eleven and two, at the office of
Mr. Turner, Liverpool.
S. Lee Trotman, Liverpool, merchant, 3id.. on any
Thursday, between eleven and two, at the office of Mr.
Turner, Liverpool.
Maria Morgan, Liverpool, woollendraper, Sid., on any
Thursday, between eleven and two, at the office of Mr.
Turner, Liverpool.
C. R. Wilson and W. Wilson, Liverpool, drapers, Is.
6d., on any Thursday, between eleven and two, at the
office of Mr. Turner, Liverpool.
J. Askew, Egremont, Cheshire, hotel keeper, 10d., on
any Thursday, between eleven and two, at the office of
Mr. Turner, Liverpool.
H. Roberts, rwllheli, draper, 2d., on any Thursday,
between eleven and two, at the office oft Mr. Turner, Li-
verpool.

A. Ir. Chambers, sen., and A. H. Chambers, jun.,
New Bond-street and South Moulton-street, bankers,
Is., on Saturday, 13th, and three subsequent Saturdays,
between eleven and two, at the office of Mr. Groom,
Abehurch-lane.

G. Francis, Rayleigh, Essex, innkeeper, 3s. 2d., on
Saturday 13th, and three subsequent Saturdays, be-
tween eleven and two, at the office of Mr. Groom, Ab-
church-lane.

F. Cornell, Halstead, Essex, ironmonger, 3s. 4d., on
Saturday 13th, and three subsequent Saturdays, be•
tween eleven and two, at the office of Mr. Groom, Ab-
church-lane.

NOTICES OF CERTIFICATES.
At the Court, Basinghall-street.
T. Sadler and W. E. Sadler, Brightlingsea, Essex,
sailmakers, May 10, at balf-past one—C. Wood, Ditohe-
ling, Sussex, butcher, May 7, at eleven.

In the Country.
G. Matthews, Monmouth, pianoforte and music-seller,
May 6, at eleven, at the Court, Bristol—T. Atkinson,
Liverpool, slater, May 6, at eleven, at the Court, Liver-
pool—W. Holmes, Plymouth, baker, May 8, at oleven,
at the Court, Plymouth—W. F. Smith, Plymouth, ship-
wright, May 8, at eleven, at the Court, Plymouth.
CE itTIFICATES GRANTED.
R. Wynne, Brentford, grocer—E. Dixon, Gravesend,
oil and colourman, a certificate of the second class—E.
Love!ess, Portees, grocer, a certificate of the second
class—J. H. Mills, Hove, Sussex, a certificate of the
second class—J. Spencer, Manchester, cotton spinner, a
certificate of the first class—E. Bretton, Northwicb,
Cheshire, cabinetmaker, a certificate of the second class
—J. Harshaw, and W. Askew, Leeds, cloth merchants,
a certificate of the third class, to J. Harshaw, at the ex-
piration of twelve months, and to W. Askew, at the ex-
piration of six months, from March 28—W. Firth, H.
Firth, G. Wilson, J. Riley, and J. Coates, Stanniugley,
Yorkshire, scribbling millers, a certificate of the third
class, at the expiration of twenty-one days, from April 8.
PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED.
. _ _

J. Cerrito and E. J. Curti, Mincirg7lane,City, mer-
chants F. Smith and J. Churchill, Birmingham,
chemists—J. Blanchard, sen., and P. J. Blanchard,
Poole, ironmongers—B. Barker, R. Barnes, and W. F.
Nowne, Norwich, boot and oboe manufacturers—T. S.
Browne and 11. Howson, Manchester, engineers—A.
Abraham, J. Brylawski, and S. IL Levy, Eyre-street-
hill, Holborn. loan and discount company (so far as re-
gards J. Brylawski)—J. D. Ceding and H. T. Pate,
Isle of Ely, chemists—J. L. Fernandes, sen., J. W.
Haworth, M. L. Fernandes, and J. L. Fernandes, jun.,
Wakefield, Yorkshire, brewers (so far as regards J. W.
Haworth)—T. Browne and T. W. Browne, Warminster,
Wiltshire, ironmongers—E. Apps and D. Harrison,
Keswick, Cumberland, black lead pencil manufacturers
—P. A. Black and J. Whittingham, Liverpool, provision
and general dealers—T. Hughes and J. Hughes, 'aver-
pnol, timber dealers—W. Household and J. Smith,
Lakenheath, Suffolk, grocers—B. Shorthouse and R.
Hadden, Liverpool, accountants and estate agents—J.
Robinson and T. Edsforth, Haslingden, Lancashire,
painters—J. Getty and R. Getty, Liverpool, merchants
—W. Cuthburt and W. Grindlay, jun., Liverpool, ship
brokers E. Godbolt, J. Godbolt, and G. Godbolt,
King's-road, Chelsea, builders (so far as regards J. God-
bolt,—J. Hardcastle and J. Cross, Bradshaw Works,
near Bolton-le-Moors—M. Ilepsiorth, W. Longfield,
and W. Cutt, Kingston-upon-Hull, woollendrapers—E.
Bennett and R. W. Bennett, Manchester, attorneys—C.
L. Berles and F. H. Ronicke, Mincing-lane, City, mer-
chants —Margaretto Ellen Salter and Elizabeth Salter,
Tottenham-court-road—Mary Dibb and W. Sowden,
Idle Yorkshire, grocers.

INSOLVENT PETITIONERS.
Theodore Jewitt, Plymouth, stationer.
Fielding Cotterill, Handaworth, Staffordshire, coal
dealer.
William Ellis, Plymouth, hairdresser.
John Cullum, Ipswich, job master.
Thomas R. G. Newman, Newmarket, coachmaker.
Andrew S. Knight, Plymouth, master in the Royal Navy.
John Crook, Halifax, shopkeeper.
John Beckett, Malpas, Cheshire, land surveyor.
Richard Pritchard, SAW, Gloucestershire, farmer.

Isaiah Astell, Leamington Priors, baker.
John Ackroyd, Halifax, mohair and plush manufacturer.
Edward Grundon, Howden, Yorkshire, miller.
Rev. David Jones, Landiman, Montgomeryshire, clerk.
John Fletcher Norfulk, Leamington Priors, veterinary
surgeon.
William Greenwood, Halifax, whitesmith.
John Osborne Hamlin, Exeter, pigeon dealer.
John London Skoyles, Gorleston, Suffolk, wheelwright.
Elijah Eastick, Great Yarmouth, baker.
William Janson, Kirkby Matz lird, Yorkshire, farmer.
Samuel Jenner, sen., Cranbrook, lif:nt. miller.
Benjamin Rose, Woodborough, Nottinghamshire, wheel-
wright.
James Newell, Sneiton, Nottingharnshire,warehouseman.
James Booker, Denehworth, Berkshire, carpenter.
William Chew, Linsdale, Buckinghamshire.
SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS.
J. Cadzow, Glasgow, carter and contractor, to meet
within the Globe Hotel, Glasgow, April 18 and May 9,
at two.

P. Kirkeldy, Fullerton, farmer, and Dundee, corn
merchant, to meet within the British llotel, Dundeo,
April 19 and May 7, at one.
J. Walker, Glasgow, merchant, to meet within the
Royal Exchange Sale Rooms, Glasgow, April 16 and
May 10, at one.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
NEWMARKET CRAVEN MEETING.
NEWMARKET, SATURDAY AFTERNOON—In the follow-
ing outline of the standing and proposed engagements
for the ensuing meeting we have used the customary
mark to indicate what horses are now at Newmarket, or
may be expected there in the course of a day or two ;
some others are likely to show, but, from appearances,
the fields, except for the Newmarket Handicap, and one
or two other stakes, will be moderate. The railway ar-
rangements have been made with a due regard to the
public con►enience; special trains will leave the Shore-
ditch station at half-paat-eight o'clock this morning and
on ,Tuesday, arid return from Newmarket at six in the
evening, thus giving ample time for the transaction of
business in the town before and after the races. There
will norbe any extra "down " trains after Tuesday. but"
on Wednesday and Thursday a train will leave New-
market at half•past seven in the evening, in connexion
w,th the last " up " train, and a special train will be dis-
patched half an hour after the last race on Friday.