Transcribed from the 1849 John Murray edition ,

A
LETTER
ON THE LATE
POST OFFICE AGITATION.

BY

CHARLES JOHN VAUGHAN, D.D.

HEAD MASTEROF HARROW SCHOOL, AND LATE FELLOW OF
TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET:
CROSSLEY, HARROW.

MDCCCXLIX.

p. 2LONDON: PRINTEDBY W. NICOL, SHAKSPEARE PRESS, PALL MALL.

p. 3ALETTER, &c.

My Dear Sir,

We have been lately invited to sign a parochial remonstranceagainst some projected changes in the business of the London PostOffice.  I, for one, declined the invitation.  I neverthought of obtruding upon others my reasons for thisrefusal.  I am not the Minister of the Parish; nor have myopinions, therefore, on such a subject, any particular claim onthe attention of my neighbours.

You know the circumstance which now compels me to explainmyself.  I regret the necessity.  But neither I, northose p. 4whohave agreed with me on this occasion, can listen in silence tothe imputation of being indifferent to the national observance ofthe Sunday.  If I can show you that we are not justly liableto this suspicion, it is well worth while to do so.  If Ifail to convince you, I shall at least have entered a seriousprotest, for myself and them, against such an imputation.

I have thoroughly examined the original minute (submitted byMr. Rowland Hill to the Post Master General in February last)which formed the basis of the late alteration in the Sundayduties of the Post Office.  I could wish that that minutehad been more generally studied by those who have pronounced ajudgment upon the question.  It is open to your inspection:you may form, therefore, your own opinion upon the justice of thefollowing observations.

The measure now impugned (the transmission, namely, of certainprovincial and foreign letters through London on the Sunday) isnot an isolated one.  It is but one part of a more generalscheme.  And what is p. 5the object of that scheme, asdescribed in the minute referred to? [5]  The reductionof the Sunday duties of the Post Office.  Thesecuring of the utmost possible amount of Sunday rest to allconnected with the Post Office.  What, again, was thefirst part of the same measure?  What was that earlier step,taken by the same persons in the same direction, of which thepresent change is a consequence?  The total suspension ofall money-order business on Sunday throughout England andWales.  And what are some of those p. 6ulteriormeasures, to which the attention of the originators of this isnext to be directed?  The deferring of work now done onthe Sunday till after midnight. [6a]  Thereduction of Sunday work, even at the chief Office,considerably below its present amount. [6b]  Important measures of reliefto the rural messengers