The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-11 00:00:00

tronAn4 ..7.11/„Th

LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL It, 1844.

* • Mr. RowLAND HILL will be remembered by the
British public
.hereafter, as among the most prac-
tical of its benefactors. .His . bold -conception of a
plan
of Post-office reform—followed out, as it has
• been, with remarkable sagacity arul invincible perse
. i erence, to the establishment of a gesteral- penny post,
• ~
in• lieu of that expensive, vexatious, and ill-arranged
• elierne.which had been so long tolerated under the
• antizoity of Tory prescription; his well-sustained
conflict with an official department, strong in a spe-
cies of administrative monopoly, and supercilious, if
- bet arrogant, in thelone of all its previous communi-
eitions with private individuals or public bodies;
must te accounted very signal efforts of a vigorous
talent f.r-Intsiness. It would be great injustice to the
tacrits of this gentlemen to forget the long-established*
influence and credit of the Post-office direction, whose
management he impugned;
whose ignorance of im-
portant details he-expi,sed,
whose defire to consult
and accommodate the convenience of. the public he
clpressly. denied. Perhaps the annals of official
".bureau-cracy " in England do not exhibit—not
even in the delinquent inefficiency of the Board of
Cintorns--a parallel to the irresponsible impunity,
tNkilibi4ThteMaltiti‘
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;,. m, which the late Sir Fai
Nc
,TlacarrNOlftitrAved to organise and exercise .18
4fii Is44aer',l*, ent. Until the time of tillne'
pnli.4 ~.,f f-FI nmosn's tenure of the ap-
ent) EffetieSsife ostmasters-General cr . suc
...,..;,., fa had been
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mere dummies in the leading-strings of the Baronet
Secretary. His Grace was- certainly the first, not
only to act but to think for himself; and, in spite of
the sensitive reluctance of his man of-business to
admit of any intervention " from without" with the
sacred mysteries of the Secretary's department, the
Duke did show himself, on most occasions, alive to
suggestions for the simplification of office arrange-
ments, the improvement and extension of the
_; service,
and a better economy in the collection of its revenue.
The same indisposition to improvements suggested
from any quarter out of the " office," the same posi-
tive discouragement which had been always mani-
fested in " Reports" to- the Treasury -or Parliament,
of anything like a searching reform and revision of
the machinery of the Post-office, which proved
impassable barriers . to the projectors of such
innovations during the control and. Secretary-
ship of Sir FRANCIS FREELING, that indi-
vidual would have bequeathed to his successors.
But the public feeling and desire had been strongly
pronounced as to the necessity for adopting some such
extensive alterations. Several Members of Parlia-
ment had addressed their anxious and unceasing de-
mands in the same direction, and, with a praiseworthy
resolution, pertinaciously kept the matter before the
Legislature. The result of these combined and con-
tinuous efforts was, that Select Committees were
appointed. Important evidence was largely taken by
them, and investigations, arising out of the informa-
tion thus communicated, were set on foot, and fear-
lessly conducted; which led to the exposure of innu-
merable defects and omissions ; of a sort of favouritism
and patronage in the disposal of subordinate appoint-
ments ; and of many incompatible and mischievous
errors in the working of the system, which had been
cried up for so many years, without examination or
proof, as a model of executive administration.
Mr. ROWLAND HILL is fairly entitled to the credit
of having digested the multifarious results of these
inquiries, and not only deduced from them many im-
portant conclusions; on which have subsequently been
founded vast improvements in the transmission of cor-
respondence, the multiplication of. reception houses,
conveyances, and deliveries for that correspondence,
aid increased punctuality and order in those delive-
ries; but has suggested, and by infinite application
established, in working permanency, the cheapest as
well as fhe most extensive post ever yet
established, for the benefit of the most active,
opulent; and commercial. community which ever yet
existed. It is not our purpose to detain- the . reader
by expatiating here on so trite a topic as the ines-
timable advantages of a post-letter communication; by
which, at a mere fractional charge, the residents of
districts and towns the rnost.remote from each other
can correspond, with a-rapidity almost inconceivable,
• hroughout the length and breadth- of the United
Kingdom. The best evidence—if any could be now
needed—to facts admitted on all hands to be incon-
t.!stible, is to be found. in that marvellous excitement,
moral and intellectual, which this happy invention has
awakened in the public mind. The number of letters
posted since the experiment of 1839 has been finally acted
upon and fully developed, has increased, as compared
with the number in any preceding year, in a ratio ex-
ceeding that which many.of its most sanguine advo•
sates had ever thought it possible that the predicted
increase of correspondence -could arrive at. In this
increase,•how large an addition to the stock of human
intelligence,—how vast a diffusion and interchange
of mental endowment,—how prodigious an expansion
of social intercourse, despite the accidents of personal
separation, andremoteness of dietanee,—how awakened
a spirit ofcomrnercial enterprise and scientific inquiry,—
how multiplied channels for disseminating the most re-
cent discoveries of natural philosophy, the newest in-
ventions of art,—how many and inappreciable facilities
for enlarging the circle and consolidating the bases of
human happiness•—are involved. And if such objects
he, as most assuredly they are, of the highest public con •
cernment, how well has Mr. ROWLAND HILL deserved
of his country by the sucessful labours he has devoted
towards bringing it into effective operation—however
simple in its principles and homely in its details—
a system which sets and maintains all these admirable
impulses in motion, at an expense so economised as
to ensure their permanency.
For some cause or other, official or party views
appear to have removed Mr ROWLAND HILL from
a post of emolument,' in which he might be regarded
as receiving the honourable and well-merited reward
of his eminent public services. He does not seem to
be at all an acceptable colleague in the departmental
business of a Tory Government. We do not wonder at
this, but we must insist upon the circumstance, as giving
him additional claims on the gratitude and support of his
countrymen. Thai support they will not fail, we are
confident, to give—that gratitude they cannot refrain,
we are persuaded, from recording—by adding their
early subscriptions to the list of those which our
advertising columns display, as contributors to the
"National Testimonial," to the merits of this well-
deserving, -and, we fear, harshly-used gentleman. In
the number of its subscribers, which ought to be
enormous, we anticipate an evidence of the respect of
all classes; fur the middling and the humbler ranks
are principally benefited by the system he has been
the means of establisbing. In the amount subscribed,
we cannot suppose that we shall be disappointed;
for the public honour is concerned in providing- an
ample and distinguished remuneration for a servant
who has done so much for his compatriots, and yet
ipperars to be marked out for the and rejection
of -the Government at the first moment they fancy
themselves at liberty -to manifest• their hostility
towards him.

At a great free trade demonstration, which took
place a day or two _ since at ,Wolverhampton, Mr.
VILLIERS, who was present, and who made one of
those quiet but forcible speeches which never fail to
lommand_ a respectful attention, stated that the
League, under all circumstances, and at all hazards,
were resolved to persevere in their crusade against
the corn-laws, till .every vestige of that onerous
impost was swept from the statute-book. They
would hear of no compromise--they would pursue
no tame, middle courie, such as Was involved in
'he principle. Of a filed duty=—but. would stand
up unflinchingly for . the Repeal—the- whole Re-
peal—and nothing but the Repeal. " ,No revival
of trade," added the Honourable Gentleman,
" no improvement of revenue, no good harvest, will
ever induce the League to relax in their unceasing
hostility to this unrighteous law." Therp are times
when extreme boldness is the best wisdom ; and the
present is one of .those periods. The enemies of free
!rade hatie recently exhibited a bolder front than.they
have don. for years past ; the language of the
Pretnier -at the commencement of the session has
filled them with confidence ; and they seem resolved
to die in the last ditCh" in defence of their cherished
Istent of monopoly. Under such circumstances,
what remains for the League but to meet
determination with determination to oppose
perseverance
to perseverance—and, to counter-
act the effects of zeal by the ' still more
decisive influence of. enthusiasm ? To agitate by fits
and starts will bericeforth be of no earthly use to the
good cause. The free traders must keep the field
both by night and day--they- must have their weapons
ever ready at hand, and be prepared at a moment's
notice, like the indefatigable Ironsides of CRoM-
WELL, against every specks of surprise. Drop by
drop water wears away the hardest stone, and by
continuous agitation only can the League hope to
conquer. Mr. COBDEN, who was also in attendance
a,:tnoantdhneitss gla‘r,taesatolpn‘ureobl ollif.eetriiheam mostptoWolverhampton
demonstration—which by all no-
imfpoorsingmany a l
that has be
onegn
year—alluding cursorily to the trimming policy of
Stine of the more influential members of the Cabinet—
observed,--" Speaking of the corn-laws generally,
there was, not a man in the House of Commons who
was nut ashamed to advocate them. Ile admitted
CIRAIIAM and STANLEY, GLADSTONE and PIr:EL,
were intellectually able and distinguished men; but
it was impossible to sit opposite them, and not
perceive
that it was nothing but the force of
circumstances which induced them to maintain
their prcsent position ; it was as clear as day '
that they were ashamed of the humiliating task which
No doubt while they were
standeydiehdadandtobrpiedrfrmleod,
the Duke of RICHMOND and
the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, they would continue their
present policy ; but they might rely on it that, on the
first opportunity which presented itself, the Ministers
to whom he referreel--L--by far the ablest members of
the Cabinet—would bolt out of the course, and run
in an opposite direction." This js precisely the lan, 'I

guage we have used, not once, but a dozen times in t
The Sun. Influenced by no rigid principle—
restrained no - compunctioui visitings of
conscience deaf to all considerations but
those of expediency—Ministers require _only to
be satEcieotly, .pressed by the people, through_ their
accredited agent the League, to give way .to that
pressure. But, to pass from this to another consider-
ation. The question of the:c9rn-laws.will.of course
come fully before the House for discussion this ses-
sion ; great zeal, great energy, and no slight powers
of declamation will of course be manifested on the
occasion ; and as the quesrtion is one in which
humanity is deeply, vitally interested, may we
not expect are we not entitled to expect
that every individual member who has fought
by the side of Lord ASHLEY in the august cause of
human nature, will be found fighting by the side of
Mr. COBDEN on the question of the corn-laws?
Surely cheap food is .quite as great a necessity for
the poor operatives as a reduction in the hours of
their labour ! If humanity demands a mitigated
Factory Bill, she demands also a repeal of the tax on
food. It is but shallow, spurious sensibility that con-
cedes the one and refuses the other.. To relieve the poor
from excessive toil is good ; to relieve them from
starvation still better. It is on this broad ground
that the League insist on the erasure of the grinding
corn-laws from the statute-book; they take their
proud stand on humanity ; they see that its sacred
claims are set at nought by selfish and reckless mono-
polists ; and not a member who voted with Lord
ASHLEY on the Factory Bill, but is bound, by every -
strict tie that can- bind an honest man, to vote with
Mr. COUDEN on a question which is still more closely
bound up with all the best feelings of -our common
nature.' False indeed, and one •sided, is that humanity
which can content itself with abridging the daily
toil of the poor, while it denies them their first and
greatest want--Ahe cheap loaf I

An important public meeting, which, it seems, is
the first of a series announced to take place in the
manufacturing districts of Yorkshire and Larcashire,
was held, on Monday night, in the Music-hall, Leeds,
in favour of a Ten Hours' Factory Bill. Dr. Hoox,
the Vicar, presided at this. meeting ; and, after a few
prefatory remarks oa the subject; he boldly declared
that no consideration on earth should prevent him
from takini an active and decided part in the fierce
struggle now in progress between humanity, on the
one hand, and self-interest, on the other. "I should
be unworthy of the post I occupy in this parish," re;-
marked the reverend gentleman, "if I permitted any
feeling of 'reluctance on- my part to oppose her MA-
JESTY'S Government to prevent, by being among you
this day, my declaring that I will fight with you in
this righteous cause to the last gaSp. I trust and hope
our friends in London, now that the question is put
to them, whether they will give up the cause of party
Or the cause of humanity, will fling party to the dogs,
and still hold 'on -in the right and good path." Most
cordially do we echo this wish, kut at the same time
we must confessthat we are by no means sanguine as
to the probability of its being realised. That the-
sacred interests of human nature will prevail in' the
long run, We ha.ve no-more doubt than that Sir JAMES
GRAHAM IS a renegade Whig; when an evil becomes
intolerable it brings with it its own remedy, as a mat-
ter of course ; all history proves the truth of this asser-
tion; but, in the meanwhile, there are many serious
obstacles which 'are now actively and insidiously being
thrown in the way of such a desirable -consummation.
The temper of the House of Commons on- the question
of the Ten Hours' Bill is certainly one 'that cannot
be depended on ; the Premier there. exercises a power
which even the most Liberal Members seem .t shrink
from opposing; and if he persists—as he Tvill no
doubt.do—in preferring the claims of expediency to
those of humility, we greatly fear that expediency
will carry the day, and humanity be-flung overboard.
It is not, then, within, but, without, the walls of Par-
liament that the impulse must originate which shall
carry Lord ASHLEY'S measure to a triumphant issue ;
and that impulse once fairly roused and set in vigorous
action, who can possibly doubt the result ? Mr.
SMITH, a surgeon, who stated that he had had " a
quarter Of A *century's practice at the Leeds Infir-
mary," observed that he" had been long accustomed to
see the injurious effects produced by the protracted
labour of young persons in factories," and pointedly
alluded to a late meeting of mill-owners and manufac-
turers, at which, among other resolutions, it was
moved, that "the hours of working noiv customary
for women. and young persons in the mills are not
oppressive, nor injurious to health." We should like
to see the. wealthy mill-owners and manufacturers,
who so coolly agreed to this resolution, try the experi-
ment of excessive labour on their own children ! Let
them. subject these 'tenderly nurtured. sons and daugh-
ters, who are.brought up in the lap Of luxury—who
have no ailments but such as are elegantandrespeetable
ones—whose . only labours are confined to practising
on a piano, and dancing half the night in a ball=room
—who, if a slight headache affects them, can ride it
off in a carriage—or if hysterics (that besetting ma-
lady of the. genteel) incommode them, can bathe them
away in some 'fashionable watering- place,. whenbusi-
ness happens to be slack at the paternal mill, and the
family may decamp* with propriety ;-7---let the parents,
we say, of these fortunateyeung folks subject them to
the --same labours to which the poor, unprotected, .un-
pitied factory women and children are subjected ; let
them set them vigorously to work for, twelve hours in
the day—with no elegant Grecian couch, or soft-
cushioned rose-wood chair to take. even a half- hour's
rest upon—with no fresh air. to recruit their fainting
spirits, and no kind- words to cheer them in the hours
of toil ;—let the millowners and manufacturers who
agreed- to the above resolution, Subject their own flesh
and blood to this experiment; and then, if no ill.effects
resuit, from it, if their children, after six weelis hard
work in ths ,asfactory, are as fresh, s contented, as
healthy, and-as happy as they were on the day they
first entered it, we will give up our argument, confess
that 'we_ have been altogether in• the 'wrong, and—
notwithstanding the strong evidence furnished by a
hundred medical men to the contrary--agree, that
" the hours of working now customary for women and
young persons in: the: mills, are not oppressive to the
work-people, nor injurious to their health ;" but, on
the contrary, are productive of health, happiness, and
mprality is an eminent degree, and as beneficial to the
interests of the employed as they unquestionably are
to those of their employers! In.taking leave of this
difficult and painful subject—in discussing which we
have no wish. to bear hard on the manufacturers, but
simply. to do justice to both parties---Tor wits should
not Humanity have a voice in the matter as well as
Mammon ?—in taking' leave, for the present, of this
tnost momentous question, we cannot refrain from
alluding to the wish. that not a few of the master
manufitcturers have- expressed, that the work-people
•
should have the benefit of a sound and plain educa-
tion. The wish is creditable to them ; but far more
creditable would it be, were they, without confining
themselves to mere words, to make suitable provision
for enabling the operatives to obtain such an educa-
tion. But hoW can people who have been labouring
twelve hours in the day, in an erect posture, "in an
atmosphere little short of tropical in its heat,—how
Can such poor creatures, with stiffened joints, languid
frames; heavy eyes, and still heavier hearts, find time
and energy sufficient for attending to the due culture
Of their minds ? In such a case—and it is one of
every-day occurrence in the factories—nothing re-
Mains for the toil-worn operative but to endeavour to
recruit his. or her spirits by " tired Nature's sweet
restorer, balmy sleep"—a sleep too often, we fear,
troubled by ghastly dreams and fore-shadowings
of the future, and not uninvaded by the monotonous
sound of the factory bell, which must ring in the
ears of the emaciated operative like a prophetic death-

The French papers of Tuesday have been received;
their contents are not of great importance. In the
Chamber of Deputies on Monday, M. St. MARC
GIRARDIN brought forward a motion relating to the
appointment and promotion of public officers. He
proposes to subject all public functionaries to a regular
course of promotion. The motion was assented to by
the Ministry.
The 21fessuger gives .a statement of the satisfactory
conclusion to Which the negotiation respecting
Christians abjuring Islamism ha, been brought :
" Baron de Bourqueney
itMeair es h
Effendi,24 t
itthi
fea
tMinister
ar
}id t. writes
e fi
justrgopnt
Acteeffdoanii
nrsst,tahntethi
ant° thep lhandse
of the two first interpreters of the Ministers of France
and England.the follow ing official note-, dated March 2 1 :
B s Highness the Sultan is irrevocably resolved to
maintain the friendly relations, and strengthen the bonds
of perfect sympathy which unite him with the great