The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-04-19 00:00:00

A REFLECTION

Looking round the world, whatever may he one's inherent
respect for high blood, it must be confessed that upon many
occasions and in many instances the democracy of the second
table have very much the personal advantage of the aristo-
cracy of the first ; and it did once happen to the narrator of
this small history, at a party at which the attendance of blue
coats and white waistcoats was profuse, to send a gentleman
so clothed three or four times for soup, lobster-salad, jellies,
and other nourishing supports, the absolute necessaries of
life for ladies after dancing, until at length, having borne with
ineffable good-nature the toils which he felt conscious were
inflicted on him unintentionally and by mistake, and in the
". service_of the fair," the aforesaid gentleman, upon a fifth
demand, delivered in the ordinary tone of—" Here, sir, get
this lady some macedoine" quietly turned to the narrator,
and said—" No, no ; I have -got all you asked me to get for
your friends five times; now it is time I should get some-
thing for myself." It is needless to add (as the jest books
say) that your narrator was absolutely annihilated—stam-
mered an apology, the more difficult to make, as what had
previously happened practically inferred his belief that the
suffering gentleman was, in fact, a servant. The suffering
gentleman, however, seemed perfectly aware of the mutufd
embarrassment, and behaved very like a gentleman who did
not deserve to suffer, by taking his seat next the narrator,
and proving his claim to " guestship" by finishing with the
said narrator at least one bottle of champagne, not to syeak
of the moral to the fable, in the shape of two verdant, spiry
glasses of Roman punch, which the cockneys, to show their
learning, think it right invariably to translate into "pouche
a la Romaine;" believing, to a certain extent, that it was
invented by the late eminent preacher of that name—and
more shame for him !

REDUCTION OF POSTAGE

(From the Times.)

In the great pending question, which all clasSes are striv-
ing to carry, of a reduction of postage, a sort of specious ob-
jection has been adduced to that part of Mr. Hill's plan
which relates to payment before-hand, and by the. sender
invariably, by means of stamps, which amounts to this—
" that a letter-carrier receives at present a number of letters,
the postage of which comes to a certain sum, and he must
either bring back that sum, or a portion of undelivered letters
to make up the deficiency ; but if he has merely paid letters
to deliver, it is difficult to see what security can be had for
the punctual and regular performance of his duty." This
seems to have had some weight in some quarters, or it would
be hardly deserving of notice ; but a satisfactory and conclu-
sive answer may readily be given to it, and it may be shown,
in fact, that more letters would reach their destination-by that
mode than by any other. There should be taken into the
account, first, the great number of letters which are refused,
when the handwriting is unknown, by parties unwilling to
pay postage, which could not occur under the new plan, which
letters might be equally important to the sender and the re-
ceiver. Next, it may he observed, if the objection is worth
anything, that it is equally applicable to all letters franked at
present, which are not known to-tail more than others. Again,
with regard to the new plan, there is a provision in it, that
.on payment of one halfpenny a receipt for any letter is to be
given, and, as the postman could not be sure which letters
were so protected, he would risk certain detection in not de-
livering all. Then, there is the pre-payment with the letters
of soldiers and sailors, which are not known to fail more
than others i 7.1 reaching their destination. Further, it is
ascertained, in reference to the evidence before the post-
age committee, that of the paid letters which fail, nearly
all do so before they reach the post-office, through the dis-
honesty of persons employed to put them in, a fraud which
there would be no temptation to commit if stamped covers
were used ; to this it might be added, that to make it worth
while for the postman to commit this breach of his duty, he
must keep back the letters of a whole district, which would
raise such a clamour against him as would lead to his instant
dismissal ; and finally, when it is i onsidered that as a class
of public servants, and, for their rank in life, these men have
always been distinguished by punctuality and fidelity, amidst
very great temptations, in the discharge of their duty, there
cannot remain any distrust, so far as this particular argument
is concerned, of the success of the new plan. Such is the
degree of conviction which it has carried to all who have be-
stowed any thought upon it, that the only question is, and it
is asked universally, will these Ministers have the honesty
and the courage to try it?
- On a review of the public feeling which it has called forth,
from men of all parties, sects, and conditions of lite, it may
well be termed the cause of the whole people of the United
Kingdom against the small coterie of placeholders in St. Mar-
tin's4e-Grand and its dependencies.

A duel was fought at Hatchet a few days since between.
Captain Maynard of the Royal Horse Guards, and Mr. Jea-
nings, a gentleman also in the army. Captain Maynard fired
in the air, and apologised to Mr. Jennings, who was the
challenger. Contradictory and confused accounts of this silly
affair have appeared in the newspapers.