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

etionina :14 Mt

TIIF.ATRE ROYAL. HAYMARKET.' •
Mr. 11. Webster, Solej.essee and Manager, Old Bromptou.
• VIIIS EVENINk,
Will by performed a new drains, called •
THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD.
Dr. Prlmrose, Mr. Webster; Squire Thornhill, Mr. H. Vanden.
howl; 'Mr. Iltirchill,Mr. Stuart;. Moses, Mr. Buck:stone ; Mrs. Print-
Ilrs Keel:Cy Mitts'lieinoidS ; Lady Blarney, Miss P
Ilorton'; 11148 Skeggs, Mrs. Fitzwillianif.
To conclude withthe Last: Editionof IVANHOE, with all the
newest irnproyeniefits,
Cedric the suaon,„ltr..J.7.llland ; Sir Brian
Warrrat, de Bore Guilbert, Mr.
Seuw ; sir
Ivanhoe, Mrs. Keeley; Wombs, Mr.- Buck-
ssono ; Isaac or York, Mr. Kmeyt Robin Hood Mrs. Fitawilliam ;
'Lebec/ea; Nktts r.liorton w "
els dor. the direction of Mr. I. T. Archer.

• • • THEATRE ROYAL. ADELPIII.
tinder the direction of Madame Celeste.
THIS EV,:_NING,
Will be •perforrsed the celebrated -Drama of THE HARVEST
HOME. • Principal characters by Messrs. Hughes, Wright, Paul
Belford, 0. Smith:. Madame Celeste, and Miss Woilgar.
ro he followed t y a grand historical Spectacle Vaudeville, entitled
'PLAYINti FIRjI FIDDLE; or, Follow my Leader Principal
Characters by Messrs. P. Bedford, Lambert, Madame Celeste, Miss
onlgar, and Miss
Tv conclude with MY PRECIOUS BETSY. Characters by Messrs.
vartigut, Bedford, Worrell ;• Miss_ 'larding, and Mrs. F. Matthews.

ROYAL LYCEUM TIIEATRE
.thDe Pastoral,
av id
THIS ErttNING .
Iva ap,repeated• (13th time) a Lyrical. Comical
E...1A, altered from the teAts, entitled
c yMON' and TOTTG sr
Garrick.
CbararteiPbt Messrs. C. Mathews, Harley, r.
sad Y. Cooke.; Miss St. George, Idisslieaworthy, ‘Mwtst R.
Roxby
Mrs. Hamby, Min Oliver, -Miss Manners, and Miss Martindale. Dickinson,
T. 1,4 followed 67 Tl/14' ISLAND Or 3 EIVEts:
To conclude with.TWO IN-THE .MORNING. ,
All applications for rrivatemoxes,must be made to I,lr. Aileron
15, New Bond-street.

riaxcEss's,iBßATAL.,
• ••• •
Wilt 1I produced (first time in this eortrdry corn..
'pleto form) ~.A.ither's Opera of GUSTAVUS THE
Nagar:is ji• rriSon • Oficar,.3llBo;;f• Pyne; Aekaatrom, Mr.
Weis't• 'r n• it • 3
NW) G I:arker ; orn, r. R. Latter; Christian.
Mr.lVtAne inicastinrn, Mdild•.•llau ; Arredson, Madame
311'etvr...• Principal Folio mdikr,. Celeste Stepilui (her lirst ap-
pear ..'
a ece nrre). '
A in....ter which New Grind Tale rotreclfdrdin•enf, With splendid
-ec-Owf C°Sailits,and Appflauttaents
•enntled • ' extensive .Machinery, Sec.,
•
TIIE l'it'tetie or nip. .. The Sorcerer of Candahar.
Principitt4 el/erecters. by ; Or, -
Mi.. f.aoisa }34.°lrrnss Cr-wen •

.ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Proprietor, W, Batty-
ttnec,na:tel. euccew of the new grand t pectanle of Enchant-
ment.
La4t ise,,,k but 'otie of that; extraoidihary Amerlean Equestrian
- Young Hernandez, univetsallrprontuinced " wonder of the
. world. the

TIieV•EVEICING
The Eltertalittnents wilt commence at :•Betren •ceelock, with
Fitzball's new magnificent Speetacieeatitied
THE FOUR SONS 01' .AXMON ; •otlhe Days of 'Charlemagne.
Most gor;„,-,mly preducec,,and introdnein;,- a Living Camel. of the
• Desert, Zebra, .the henntite Stnd of llQrses, and an the vast
and nneqn tilted resourceA of this Establishment.
To be stmet•etted by a brilliant tontine, of Equestrian wonders,
during which Young Hernandez will aPpeal• in all entirely New Act
galled. the Page Troubadour,' • • ••• •
To concitute•witn the interesting Melodrama of
AtEG MURDOCK. ; or, the Fatal Glen.
'Box-of lce open From Eleven till Four.
Stage. Manager, Mr. W. West.

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1850.

Tabular reports and epistolary correspondence of a
very copious character, occupying altogether fifty-
three pages folio of a Parliamentary document re-
cently printed, comprises the whole of the arguments
for and against the cessation of Post-office labour on
Sundays. We have turned to the examination of
these papers with that peculiar satisfaction which is
derivable from the perusal of comments on an im-
portant question, couched in language de-
serving all praise for its candour and luci-
dity, and replete with inferences at once
logical, decisive, and satisfactory. Utterly forgetful.
of the abuse lavished upon them by their religious
antagonists, the authorities of St. Martin's-le-Grand
have here repelled the attacks most unjustifiably
made against them by statistical records of indis-
putable authenticity. Directing their remarks to the
dignified disproof of accusations whereby their moral
integrity was impeached, the three principal person-
ages at the head of the Post-office Department have
demonstrated that by acting contrary to their present
arrangements they would have been carried into one
or other of the two deplorable extremes which stood
glaringly before them as the only remaining alterna-
tives. They show by " facts and figures "of indis-
putable accuracy, that they must either have allowed
matters to remain in their previous position, thereby
necessitating a more numerous attendance of the
clerks and other employes at the provincial offices, or
have bowed implicitly to the dictation of their as-
sailants, thereby inflicting irreparable injury,
more or less, upon all the various classes
of the community. The former proceeding
would have been a connivance at that very evil which
is so loudly reprobated by the people designated Sab,
batarians. The latter would have been a monstrous
and most dangerous interference with the onward
march of civilization. In either case the cause of the
religious observance of the Sunday would have been
materially and most detrimentally affected. By
the first, directly ; by the second, indirectly :
by the latter, mediately ; by the former, imme-
diately. For while the continued demand of
Sunday labour at the money-order offices
in the provincial or branch establishments (a requisi-
tion at present happily dispensed with) must neces-
sarily have grown more and more into an evil prece
dent, the stoppage of the mail trains, the closing of
all the post-offices of the United Kingdom peremp-
torily on one day out of every seven, the frequent
periodical interference with the working of the chan-

eels of communication must have acted so terribly

against the interests of a great commer-
cial population like that of England, that
a tremendous reaction must, in the end, have been
altogether inevitable—a reaction so overpowering,
from the force of its suppressed and accumulated in-
dignation, that the rules of the Church, and the sug-
gestions of reason, and the incitements of religion,
and the recommendations of the Evangel must have
been set at nought wholly and entirely—a reaction
not by any means incredible or impossible in a sceptic
and unbelieving generation. Consequently it has been

1 from a solicitude to advance at once the cause of mora-
lity and civilization, to facilitate the attendance of the
1 Post-office clerks to their religious duties on all Sun-
! days, and at the same time to forward the interests
lof justice and humanity, by maintaining on those
1 days the continuance of intercommunication between
1 the different parts of the United Kingdom, that the
changes latterly visited with so much abuse by the
Sabbatarians were contrived and at length carried
into execution. Object's apparently so incongruous
were,. in fact, only reconcileable th rough such novel
and beneficent arrangements. This fact—however
much the sticklers for Sunday stagnation' may snee
at the assertion—is proven in black and white in the
Parliamentary document already particularised,
It is explained very comprehensibly by arith-
metical arguments at once logical and statistical.
It is demonstrated by the lucid narrative penned
with such elaborate caution by Mr. ROWLAND HILL;
by the conclusive and temperate minutes of Lieu-
tenant-Colonel MABEBLY ; and by the curt and pithy
approvals appended to the different official papers by
the Right Hon. the Postmaster-General, the Marquis
of CLANICICARDE. In testimony of this we refer
with confident satisfaction to the lately printed
" Post-office Return," a document from which we
have made certain important extracts in this even-
ing's impression of our journal. From one of these
most interesting excerpts from the Parliamen tart'
document, a copy of which is under our elbow while
we are writing, it will be perceived not only how
forcible, but how numerous are the reasons assigned
by Mr. ROWLAND BILL for refusing to consent to the
suggestion of the Birmingham memorial, to the end that
there might be on Sundays throughout the kingdom
a suspension of Post•office business. At the same
moment, while pronouncing most decisively against
the practicability of yielding to the requirement of the
Sabbatarians, our great national , benefactor refers
with a proud and enviable complacency to the results
of his previous innovations in the Post-office depart-
ment, whereby so many generous arrangements have
been effected—arrangements which he declared on the
sth of January to be then "in such a state
of advancement that in a few days the Sunday duty
throughout England and Wales will have been re-
duced to probably little more than half its original
amount." Let any one of our old friends the Sabbata-
rians put their hands upon their hearts and say (without
lying) that they have done one half, one quarter, nay
one fractional part of what has been accom-
plished by this vilified Mr. ROWLAND HILL
towards the diminution of the national toil on
Sunday ! Bah ! this is true and practical
morality, this is true, and practical humanity, which,
without making any noisy assumption of godliness,
ox of religious superiority, effects vast and incontes-
table ameliorations for the people—doing this, more-
over, without any unjustifiable interference with the
right, the interest, and the, consciences of individuals !
While such have been the results, the happy, humane,
and moralizing results of the changes effected under
the direction of Mr. Rovreamilliii, the " minutes"
in which Colonel MADEELY, the experienced and in-
defatigable Colonel MABEBLY, has corroborated the
statements of that innovator at , St. Martin's-le-
Grand, contain the subjoined opinion as to what would
be the consequences of . a measure authorising
the discontinuance of all Sunday labour in con-
nexion with the Post-office :
" What the effect would be upon the Post-office reve-
nue, or upon the trade And.nommerce of the country
generally, it would be impossible to eay. In my own
opinion it would be most injurious, us,
in.point of fact,
the measure would be almost a return, as regards one
day of the week, to tho slow coMmuutestion which ex-
isted between various places in the kingdom in the early
part of the nrcdent century." -
Inasmuch as the Post-office authorities have pre-
vented these calamitous results from paralyzing the
and commercial strength of the nation,
moral, social,
they have shown themselves lovers of humanity,
patriotigm, and religion.

_________._ On Saturday
we felt it our duty to remark in
•
FOREIGN GRASS.--A vessel which has arrived i strong but necessary temrs upon :the timid and vacil.
the river from Havre has brought several blades of an article
I
lating policy adopted by the Whig Ministry, and
called dogs' grass, as portion of her cargo, consigned to order. obstinately
This appears to be a somewhat novel and remarkable article
and nately persisted in, notwithstanding the distinct
of importation from Prance. A vessel arrived from Ham- ,
unequivocal expression of public opinion, as well
burgh has also brought several bales of an article termed within the walls
of Parliament as by the community
„a.gtasit, but as a later importation has taken place frora
in general.- We are , indeed ,
appointed at the failure of deeply and bitterly dis-
i (p
lamburgh of a ant* of seaweed, and so called, we pre-
sume the previous one, from the Hanseatic States, was of the . those who were once
same character, although differently designated. 1 styled "the Liberal Government." They may
,

LONDON,

now be regarded as the strenuous opponents
of the great reforms so urgently demanded
throughout the length and breadth of the
lard by persons of all parties, of every shade and
variety cf political feeling, and of every grade and
rank in society. Parliamentary reform cannot be ex-
pected at their hands. They admit the propriety of a
considerable extension of the franchise. They cannot
summon sufficient hardihood to deny the grievance
under which so many of their countrymen are suffer-
ing, in being refused a voice in the election of le-
gislators by whom laws are to be enacted, by
which all, without exception—the unrepresented
as well as the represented—are to be bound. It
is but too painfully notorious that taxation is not coin-
cident with representation, that every man, however
humble his means and scanty his resources, must
contribute to the maintenance of the national establish-
ments and the liquidation of the interest of the public
debt, for which the labour of the working classes—
the only inheritance they derive from those by whom
that debt was contracted—is mortgaged ; but yet
they cannot bestow their suffrages upon those whom
they deem best qualified to promote the welfare and
prosperity of the country. One of the fun-
damental principles of the British Consti-
tution is thus violated ; but our rulers will
come to no practical conclusion, will decide
on nothing, will do nothing; nay, more, they
will not permit others to take the initiative. They
feel that such propositions should emanate from the
Government, and therefore they strenuously oppose
any independent Member who. may intimate an in-
tention of bringing forward an adequate measure.
It is the same with respect fo " the Ballot," the
" duration of Parliament," and " the property quali-
fication of Members." Indeed in these respects they
adopt the old Tory policy, and resolutely set
their faces against every amelioration—they will
stand or fill ' by the existing system, and as
they cannot possibly sustain it, diametrically opposed
as it is to the spirit of the age, they must make up
their minds to succumb, and to relinqui-1 the posi-
tions they now occupy in order to make way fur
better men. Their sole object now appears to be
to protract their existence to the last moment, to
procrastinate every important question that might
bring their inglorious tenure of office to a speedy
conclusion.

The equalisation of electoral districts is also re-
sisted, and even the judicious proposition
of Mr. MON SELL, for increasing the con-
stituencies of certain Irish boroughs, by
uniting several of the smaller towns, as already prac-
tised in Scotland and Wales, and which was received
with almost unprecedented unanimity, is summarily
disposed of by the assurance that the llouse " may
have an opportunity of considering the question in a
future session, should it be deemed necessary to raise
it again." _ _ .

Turning from Parliamentary reforms to the other
great questions that interest the public mind, we ask
what hope is there of sanitary improvement from a
Cabinet that peremptorily refuses the free admission of
light and air, the gratuitous gifts of an All-wise and
merciful CREATOR to his people ? Proper ventilation is
practically prohibited, and if the desideratum to be
attained was to render our towns as unhealthy as pos-
sible, and to abridge the lives of the less wealthy
classes, nothing better calculated to achieve the ob-
ject could be devised than the tax on windows, to
which our rulers are so devotedly attached.

The monetary , code has no more strenu-
ous supporter than the present Chancellor of the
Exchequer. Although compelled to assent to
the temporary suspension of the iniquitous Act of
1844, he spoke of it in terms even stronger
and more favourable than its very author could
have used. And there is, perhaps, no second person
in the entire community who, after having signed
the Ministerial letter, which was the greatest prac-
tical condemnation of that iniquitous and most im-
politic law, would have afterwards lavished such
unmerited praise on the atrocious enactments.
The Brick-dust Budget has exhibited in the
strongest light the nature and character of the
fiscal changes that will alone be tolerated by
Sir CHARLES WOOD. When, mira bile dictu,
a surplus happens to be at his disposal, he
partly truckles to the agricultural opponents of
his Government, and partly devotes his
balance to " the liquidation of the national debt" (! !!)
while the African squadron is maintained in full effi-
ciency, absorbing at least one million of pounds
sterling per annum, and the lives of thousands of our
gallant sailors ; and in financial affairs, in place of
introducing proper measures of economy and re-
trenchment, a Committee is moved for on whom the
responsibility may be cast.
We confess that at all times we regard with con-
siderable suspicion the appcintment of a Select Com-
mittee at the instance, and on the nomination of the
Government. This suspicion is materially increased
when the facts to be investigated and reported
on are clearly and distinctly understood,
and there can be no necessity for additional infor-
mation to enable Ministers to frame suitable mea-
sures, or for Parliament to legislate on the subject.
Such a reference is but too- often an "ingenious de-
vice" to shelve an inconvenient question, to adjourn
its consideration, and throw it over to a future ses-
sion, when the public mind may have relapsed into a
state of quiescence, and become apathetic and in-
different on the topic. Such tactics have been
pursued in the olden time, and the proceed-
ing 3 on the virtual suspension of the Bank
Charter Act, to which we have already alluded,
proves that the present Cabinet are quite willing to
adopt a similar subterfuge. To use a vulgar but
expressive phrase, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer " let the cat out of the bag" on that occa-
sion, and showed that a Committee might be packed
fur the purpose, not of promoting, but of
smothering, or at least retarding necessary re-
forms. The Right Honourable Baronet abso-
lutely refused to assent to a fairly constituted
Committee. He obstinately resisted any alteration,
and insisted that no member should be selected but
those originally nominated by himself. Under such
circumstance the result of the investigation was but
a "foregone conclusion." There was not a
single Member of either branch of the Le-
gislature, or an individual at all acquainted
with public affairs, who could not have
declared the nature of the report that would ulti-
mately be agreed to, even before the Committee
had entered upon their labours, or a single witness
was examined respecting the subject-matter of inquiry.
Indeed, Sir CHARLES WOOD, with an unusual degree
of candour, acknowledged that he thought Government
would have been very wrong to have consented to the
appointment of the Committee unless perfectly certain
as to the result.

With such a precedent before us, what can we sup-
pose but that the present Committee has been ap-
pointed merely for the purpose of amusing the public,
and evading all direct motions on the subject of finan-
cial reform, until a few bulky volumes be added to
the thousands of " blue books" that uselessly encum-
ber the shelves of our public libraries, and which
might be disposed of for waste paper without the
slightest injury to any interest in the community. ?

ROYAL NAVAL BENEVOLENT SOCIETT. This
morning, at twelve o'clock, a quarterly general court of this
society was held at the Thatched-house Tavern, St. James's-
.street, St. James ; Rear-Admiral Law Radstock in the chair.
The Secretary, Commander Dickson read the quarterly re-
port, from which it appeared, that the total receipts during
that term had been 2,1631. 15s. 10s., and the disbursements
666/.,- leaving a balance in the hinds of the treasurer of
1,4971. 15s. 3d. There had been one bequest of 181., free of
duty. The report being unanimously adopted, a resolution
was carried that 10/. 10s. be annually given to the Adult
Orphan Institution. A vote of thanks
,was passed to the
chairman, and the Meeting separated.
THE COMMANDER•IN•CHIET or THE MEDITER-
RANEAN STATION.—There is no longer any hoodwinking the
fact that Rear-Admiral Dundas will succeed Vice- Admiral
Sir William Parker in the above appointment, Rear-Admiral
Berkeley moving up into the place of the senior naval Lord,
until the Pacific command can be conveniently filled by him.
—Portsmouth Times. •

THE HOLYHEAD STEAM-PACKETS.--The City of
Dublin Steam-packet Company, who Lave taken the con-
tract for conveying the mails between Dolyhead and Kings-
town, are about to purchase two of the Admiralty steam-
packets for the purpose of carrying on their contract with the
same efficiency, celerity, and regularity that the service has
been performed under Admiralty management. This is a
very judicious arrangement, and will. bear repetition in the
service between Dover and Calais.-- United Service Gazette.
ST. CLEMENT liAriEs..--The contest at the election
of guardians for this union has been a sharp one, and has
terminated as follows :—Mr. Jaquet, 695 ; Mr. Scrivener, 688 ;
Mr. Cull, 644; Mr. Woods, 632; Mr. Bates, 634; Mr. Jud-
kins, 616 ; • Mr. Dent, 587 ; Mr. Lane, 573 ;Mr. Score, 556 ;
Mr. Dobby, 547. The three following go out :—/1.12.Wi11e-
, ter, 396; • Mr. Clarke, 210; Mr. Dickens, 124. The first
;fleeting of the new board takes place to. morrow (Tuesday).

MONDAY EVENING, APRIL 15, 1850.

PATOW'S motion in the Lower House has been ac-
cepted. Yeas, 125 ; Noes, 89.

DENMARK AND THE DUCHIES.
A Berlin letter of the 14th says, that the Provi-
sional Government of Kiel had announced to the
Prussian officers attached to the army of Schleswig-
Holstein the cessation of their relations. It had also
addressed thanks to the Prussian Government, and
had assured it that it would continue its efforts to
effect a pacific arrangement with Denmark.