The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-29 00:00:00

provincial post for two entire days—others, lost or 'al-
together withdrawn, having never been delivered. i In
the case of these delayed letters, we have seen cojies
of the correspondence with the General Poit-ofpce
authorities a London. The evidence to the fact! of
their having been duty posted in the country, and wi-
dely delayed for two or _ three days, is
_ _

conclusive and irresistible—being established ill;
the respective post marks.: On complaint mitdl

. -
in the proper quarter, the parties were informed that
every possible inquiry had been made—bid in vailiL

in order to discover how such irregularities had

owned; and that the Postmaster-General had not

. .
remotest -cause of suspicion as to the integrity of ih,
provincial postmaster. Probably! not ;—but, inas

much as it happens that the complainants
the provincial postmaster are all engaged

t
the same class of business, to they soc

cess of which instant opera.tions and prio
of intelligence and communication are essential ;—a

1
happens, that there is therefore a very close comp ti
ton of trade always maintained between these gen e.
men and the postmaster; and as it further happens,
that in every one of the many instances in which

the letters of the fornier. had disappeared, ti
contained " information" of much conseque
to the writers and the partes to whom tl

,
were addressed, no letters of any other kind ha*,

been either ,lost on delayed.;Jthe personal gi)o;
opinion of the Postmaster-General does ibj
no means remove or even lighten the sps,

picion which the circumstances are calculated.

throw on the conduct of so interested a party as
Lordship's provincial nOn2ined. As we have resioi

;o believe that the delays and abitraetions of le

forwarded by the same complainants have not b6l

discontinued. since the investigation directed by he
head office in London; And.made without effect in he
country, we shall keep an - .attentive eye, to is
affair, and any further delinquencies :in .conne On
it
with it: When Sir JAirtd-. GAHAM - trudert ok

to state, the other evening, that there had,,net bi

above a dozen letters 'opened 'at the Post-officesi 0
he had held his present office;
.did the Right n
'Baronet mean,. 'but omit .to add—" under his, w r
rant ?" . For if the Right flop. Baronet will -call of
a return from all the metropolitan_ post-officey, es e•
cially those which grant'" innikeY orders,":Of all evise:
of complaint made Of fetters. litawipg been opened, attei

posting, in some cases never-delivered, or many mpri
shamefully delayed, wetell:hitu he will find the myn.
ber not " twelve," but ",

We have, from titre to- time, directed attention t
the very important labours of the Commissioners wh
have been charged with the duty of inspecting varieu
ports on the western, eastern, and southern coasts. o
Britain, with the view of:ascertaining their relative
adaptation and facilities for_ the formation of ‘•‘ H'sr•
hours Of Refuge." If we consider Ilse vahle of these
truly national works (ai to- Whidh' We have hithertt
so strangely neglected.to improve our ' deficienciel o
physical means and: geographical position by the alid:
of engineering skill and mechanical power), we Oal
find that even in periods of profoUnd pece, tlej
possess an izTestible claim upon the interest 4n(
sympathy cif . all classes of -the- community ; I a
essential to the safety arid protection of our immefist
Commercial marine, the invOlved conaideratiim:
having, the most extensive bearing on the preservat or
of human life and mercantile property: If 1 i
regard' harbours ,of refuge, in reference to peri' di
of war, ,theirindispensible rteces,sity becomes' obvi u:
to the most cursory reflection. The lapse of every ai
in their,cOnstruction may be fraught With future is•
j
chiefs‘ of an irreparable character. :In his impresliv4
evidence before the Committee on this subject, the
Duke of ' War.t.proroit densons trated that the' aCci.
`dents of our loCal relations with those of France g VI
to the northern maritime distlietil4,:the litter,co n
try great advantages in overlooking7-and in the c n•
sequent means of annoying—rpending hostilities —h,
whole transit of the tradeocoastingand foreign, of hi
Pert, of ' London:' His Grace affirmed that no ,
i
merohintrnan" could enter or leave the *lota c
the Thames,. by day, without." being seen, 'in I
or moderate weather, from the French, coast?fia
whiCh had the sun at their backs. This circumstaict
induced his Grace to press on the Committee, the ex-
pediency of combining, on that' part of our southerni
shores, the establishment ,of fortified ports, together
with the construction of harbours of refuge. :We are
glad to observe that the :capabilities of Dover, and
other places, for such destinations:are being subjected
to the scientific examination oIY professional. awl ciril
authorities, with a degree of care, of zeal, and saga..
city, which cannot fail of beini attended with the
happiest results. . . • • •
It has been well said that the:_best security for
maintaining peace is to be never unprepared for war:
Appreciating all the value a this maxim, we should
still have been disinclined to:touch upon the reflec::
tions it awakens, in connexion with any disturbanctt
of thoSe amicable. relations now; . and fpr years• Peat,
so happily subsisting between the two greatest ,tiatio6
of Europe. Yet Ms not possible to approach the
subject without the hypothesis-suggesting -itself of
the new, and as yet unanticipated, dangers •tcr -which
in the.event;'of war between France and: England,
the commercial prosperity of the latter must be
exposed, if no scheme .of.-offensive; ana•-especially
defensive protection, adequate to these new exi-

land—that he found Repeal a living principle, and he
left it a mere caput mortuum—that he found the coun-
try overrun by horse, foot, and artillery, and he left
it sufficiently protected by one or two regiments and
the usual police force. _

It is curious to note what contrasted destinies are as-
signed to statesmen. They are a hard-working—
not particularly well-paid—high-placed—pains-tak-
ingself-devoting, and yet power-seeking—honoured
yet suspected—dexterous, evasive, iron-heared—class
of men. Under the notion of doing credit to the pub-
lic service, they are apt to be betrayed into actions
which do little credit to themselves with the public.
In modern times the great duty of a statesman, or
civil officer, answers very much to the qualification
ascribed by Sir Wzr.t.t.tm TEMPLE, to a good ambas-
bassador, namely, "to lie with intrepidity for the
good of his country." This may or may not
be their common aim ; but - their fates are
described. One man is canonized after death in the
political character, received by half his coentrymen,
as " the pilot who weathered the storm." Another is
denounced, during his lifetime, as the Evil One who
invoked it, and well-nigh wrecked the vessel pf the
state in attempting to face it. l'he memory .of a PITT
or a Fox is said to be enshrined in this figurative
craft, so long as she shall be kept afloat. But when
so ill-oMened an officer as the present Home Secre-
tary is taken aboard, there is speedily an unusual cry
among his tempest-tossed comrades of " Throw him
overboard !" Sir J. GRAHAM is the modern JONAH.
Where he is, there also is foul weather for his com-
panions. Their whole course is beset with troubles'
" because of him." Rough gales from the factories
—squalls from the Dissenters' sehools—thunder and
lightning from the union poor-houses—sunken rocks
and insidious sands, called the " Spy" shoals of the
Irish Channel—and fierce hurricanes blowing in the
direction .of St.-Martin's-le-Grand, with irretrievable
damage to all Post-office property. These are the
sad vicissitudes which they who will mate with him
must be content to encounter.
Of all these, the Post.;office " North-*esters" seem
to bethe most likely to swamp the vessel, which they
have already laid upon her beam-ends. NOw they
hale began to blow, there is no saying when they will
subside. Aftera brief lull since the MAZZINT catas-
trophe, they are freshening another quarter ; and
though, on this occasion, Sir JAMES GRAttam may
haVe had no more to'do with exciting them than our-
selvea, their portentous revival will be sure to have hap-
pened ". because of him." In sober earnest, the Home
Secretary's political delinquency in violating letters con-
fided to the I'ost-office, has attracted more attention than
will be found agreeable in high places, to the general
.fidelity and punctuality of the'Post-Office Administra-
tion. Within the last week some circumstances hive
been represented to us, on authority we cannot dotibt,
which induce us to believe that complaints like thOse
so freely and intelligibly preferred agaiast This depart-
ment, by its "accusing spirit," Mr. WALLACE, j of
Greenock, are much more numerous and important
than we could heretofore be prevailed on to believe.
We have before us, at this moment, a remarkable
communication from a very respectable person, on a
provincial tour of considerable trade, setting fl.ih
in the most distinct and convincing manner, instances
in which letters dispatched by, them to their Lonon
correspondents had been, some of them detained in