The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-01 00:00:00

LETTER-OPENING AT THE POST

Ot'FICE.
On Wednesday a numerous meeting of the electors of the
borough of Finsbury- was held at the White Conduit-house
Tavern, Pentonville, relative to the opening of letters at the
Post-office addressed to Mr. T. S. Duncombe, the representa-
tive of the borough.
Mr. R TAYLOR having been called to the chair, said that
he had for many years examined the elective franchise in the
borough of Finsbury ; he had therefore readily consented to
take the chair on that occasion. That borough had done
itself great credit by the choice of its present representatives;
they were both gentlemen of great ability, perseverance, and
courage. In proportion as a public man was courageous he
became an object of suspicion to the Government. The power
of opening letters in the Post-office might be a most danger-
ous weapon in the hands of a tyrannical Government. He
(Mr. Taylor) recollected that during the time of, he believed,
the Sidmouth Administration, when it was deemed necessary
to get up sham plots, the letters of Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, the
late Earl of Leicester, were opened in order to obtain mate-
rials on which to ground a charge against him of hostility to
the Government of the day. But such conduct would be
tolerated no longer, for the people would not submit to suck
a monstrous violation of that confidence which ought to sub-
sist between the Members and their constituents. The electors
of Finsbury were bound to call upon the Government to wipe
off the !stigma which it had attempted to cast on the charac-
ter of Mr. Duncombe. If they did not, they would be un-
worthy.of that reputation for public spirit which they had
hitherto maintained.
Sir C. Napier, M.P., and Mr. Wakley, M.P., here entered
the room, and were loudly cheered.
The SECRETARY then read the following letter from Mr.
Duncombe :
"TO THE ELECTORS OF FINSBURY IN PUBLIC MEETING ASSEMBLED.
" Gentlemen,—l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of invitation and to express to you my regret that recent
events in Parliament have rendered it imperative on the borough
of Finsbury to meet on my account—the fault, however, rests not
with me, but with her Majesty's Ministers.
" I need not assure you how happy I am, at all times, to meet
those whom it is my pride to represent, when questions affecting
public interests are under their consideration, as, upon such occa-
sions you will do me the justice to admit I have never shrunk from
doing that which I felt to be my duty.
"But, gentlemen, the question which you are convened to discuss
appears to me to be of so peculiar and of so purely a personal
character, that I think it would be most indelicate on my part to
be present upon the occasion. In declining, however, the honour
that you have proposed to me, I hope I may be permitted to state
that all that I have asked of the House of Commons is that which
I think I have a right to demand, viz.—an opportunity of removing
those base suspicions implied by the fact of the Governmant having
violated the sanctity of my correspondence. The expression of
your independent opinion, I hope, will assist me in obtaining that
satisfaction without which, I am convinced you will agree with
me, I cannot continue a Merrber of the present House of Commons
with either advantage to you or credit to myself.—l have the
honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient and faithful servant,
"Albany, Feb. 20. "THOMAS. S. DUNCOMBE."
The reading of this letter produced vehement cheering.
Mr. LINTON, in moving the first resolution, observed that
three distinct charges had been made against the Govern-
ment, one was—that letters had been illegally opened and
detained at the Post-office ; the next—that seals had been
counterfeited to conceal that examination, and the third was
—that it had been done to serve the interest; of certain
despotic Governments. Mr. Duncombe bad called for expla-
nation, but he obtained no answer. By Sir J. Graham he was
met with dogged silence—by Lord Aberdeen with subterfuge
and false assertions, and by Sir R. Peel with shuffling and
evasion. The only answer given to Mr. Duncombe was con-
tained in the reports of two Committees which did not agree
with each other. Mr. Duncombe's character had been most
foully stigmatised, and it was the duty of his constituents to
demand a full vindication from the Government. The reso-
lution was as follows :
" That this meeting learns with mortification and disgust that
there exists at the General Post.office a secret spy system under
which letters are broken open, their seals counterfeited, and post-
marks falsely imposed, in order to deceive the persons to whom
such letters are directed, and to whom they are afterwards for.