The Sun. — London, England, 1846-12-15 00:00:00

fllE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY_MORNING, DECEMBER 15, • !about to read the report when he was called to order by A GENTLEMAN, who exprossed his anxiety to know whether Mr. Edwards represented property in the bo rough or net ? Mr. EDWARDS—I am an elector of the borough, and that is enough.—(Hetir.) I oppose the removal of the present bridge. The question is, why did the Hon. Gentleman sign a report in favour of the removal of the brides, ?—(Cries of" No, no." alai much coefu , ion.) elr. ii Awes :quire e ii the report to which he re ferred was the third one. Mr. Feeweens said it WaS. Mr. HAWES said the third report did not make any recommendation of the kind. Ile read an extract from it which stated:—" We do not pronounce any opinion on the site of the new bridge, but considerations might be adduced in favour of the present bridge, or one in juxta position with it."—(Cheers.) Mr. EDWARDS intimated that there were a sufficient number of men it business present, to bear in mind that they were on the eve of a g meral election.—(Hisses.) Mr. ARCHBUTT proposed the first resolution, which was to the following effect:— " That this meeting has received with deep regret and alarm the announcement of an intended application to Parliament for the construction of a new bridge at Charing-cress. That such a project, involving, as it must do, the destruction of Westminster-bridge, will be ruinous to existing interests, and cause the most serious loss and inconvenience to the inhabitants of Westmin ster and Lambeth. That while it destroys the only direct line of thoroughfare between the rapidly increas ing districts of Westminster and the Surrey-roads, it will cause an inconvenient increase and concentration of traffic to the already overcrowded thoroughfare between Charing cross, the \Vest-end, mid City, and will only supply en additional unnecessary accommodation to a district already amply provided for by the existing bridges." He said, the remarks of the Chairman could be amply confirmed. He, and others in the vicinity of the present bridge, were alarmed, lest the surveys of a life time should be placed in jeopardy by- the construction of a bridge not justified by any public necessity at all commensurate with the injury which it would inflict.—(Hear.) He had lived in the Westminster-road for the last forty years, and he had never heard that it did not offer the most ample accommodation required by the public ; and he and others had purchased property in the neighbourhood, believing that the bridge would not be removed ; and, consequently, they effected a safe investment of their capital. No alteration could be effectually made for the bete fit of the public. Those who had seen the bridge, since the cumbersome balustrade had been removed, could not fail to be coneesnced that no better spot on the river could be selected for obtaining an excellent view of the new Houses of Parliament ; but the beautiful effect of the view would be destroyed if the bridge were removed. Mr. PAGE WOOD seconded the proposition. He said he held the lease of a house in Great George-street, and, therefore, his loss would not be so great as those who had invested the whole of their capital in the neighbourhood. He agreed with the Chairman that the public had not declared in favour of the preposed bridge, that no meeting had been held on the subject, and that they might reasonably believe that public feel ing pointed the other way. He had looked into the history of the bridge, and had found that as early as the reign of George 11., not a time remarkable for furnishing the pubic with the facilities of communica tion compared with the present. Several projects were laid before a committee which was appointed at that time, as well as petitions ; and the result was that the present site was chosen as likely to be most beneficial to all. The bridge ought not now to be removed except at the representations of those who lived in its vicinity. The expense of the approaches would be much greater than the bridge itself. He knew this frcm experience in the building of London-bridge. That bridge cost 500,0001. hut the approaches cost 1,000,0001.—(Hear.) But by continuing the bridge in its present position this large sum would be saved. Then the question of convenience arose. No one, it seemed, would be benefited by throwing a bridge over to Charing-cross, and the pro prietors of the existing bridges, with the parties resid ing in the Westminster-road and St. George's-street would be injured without the slightest public advantage. —(Hear, hear) Then the Woods and Forests had been intrusted with the expenditure of 70,000/. for the con struction of a nest/ street, running to Shaftesbury-terrace, keeping the palace to its right, and running towards Tothill-fields ; and if the bridge were made, all the traffic requiring to cross the river would have to go round to Charing-cross to do so.—(Hear, hear.) It was also urged that this bridge would be a convenience as the railway termini would be at the Charing-cross-bridge, but he believed the very reverse would be the case. The result would be, that a crowd would be there from morn ing until night, which would block up the thoroughfares which led to the Houses of Legislature and the western part of the metropolis. The commissioners of West minster-bridge was also commissioners for widening Cockspur-street, because it was the avenue which led to the Houses of Parliament, and yet they were asked to con centrate the trafficin that particular spot. He trusted that a meeting would be held in Westminster, and that if they allowed Mr. Barry the free use of Westminster hall, that they could not extend the same courtesy to him with respect to the bridge.—(dear.) Mr. COPE said he was in a position to give a disinte rested opinion as he was entirely unconnected with the borough. He considered that the present bridge was is proper outlet from Lambeth to the Houses of Parlia ment. the courts of law, and St. James's park, in which they could recreate themselves by simply crossing the bridge ; but it would be placed at the distance of a quarter of a mile if the proposed bridge were made. He considered, however, that if there was any public money to be spared for the purpose, that it ought not to he devoted to making a new bridge, and certainly not for making new approaches, but for purchasing and opening free to the public Vauxhall, Watterloo. Southwark, and other bridges.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") The new bridge would not cost-leas that a million, the bridge itself 350,000/. ; but as the property belonging to the bridge would not yield more than 100,0001, there would be a deficiency of 250,000/. A million would pur chase the three bridges, Waterloo,4oo,ooo/ to 450,0001.• Southwark, 100,0001., and Vauxhall 200,0001. The new bridge was, therefore, not required by the wants of the public, and he believed that Mr. Barry was the prime mover of the removal of the bridge, because he seemed to entertain the erroneous notion that his building would be seen to better advantage. Mr. GRISSELL felt bound to set Mr. Cope right in the observations he had just made. He asserted, and he believed all present were aware of his connexion with Mr. Barry, that that gentleman had no more to do with the movement for the removal of the bridge than any person present —(Hear, hear.) For his own, part he believed that if Mr. Barry was consulted he would be j found to be in favour of the present site of the bridge. After a few further observations from Mr. COPE. The CHAIRMAN put the resolution to the meeting, and declared it to be carried unanimously. Mr. ELLIOTT moved the second resolution, which was to the following effect :—" That the owners of pro. perty, lessees, and inhabitants of the parts adjacent, to Westminster-bridge have taken premises and laid out their capital in confidence that no interference would be permitted with the ancient thoroughfare of Westmin ster-bridge, which is already adequate to the public wants, and because, by immemorial usage, the recog nised means of access from Surrey to Westminster and its vicinity." He moved the resolution as an inhabitant of Lambeth of upwards of 40 years' standing; and as such, he must confess that he had viewed with great alarm the absurd proposition to remove the bridge to Charing-cross-- (hear, hear)—because if such a project was carried into effect, he would venture to predict it would ruin half the inhabitants of that neighbourhood and Westminster also.—(Hear, hear.) They were not to be silenced by the talk of compensation, because there was little doubt they would be treated with as much of that commodity as the inhabitants of Fish-street-hill received on the removal of London -bridge.—(Hear, hear.) He had no doubt that Parliament would scout the proposition that had been brought forward for the removal of Westminster bridge, and would place the parties bringing it forward in the situation they deserved.—(Hear, hear.) The in habitants of that neighbourhood had already had a tasat of the effects of stopping up the bridge, and there could be no doubt, if it was removed altogether, ruin would stare them in the face. He trusted the Commissioners of Westminster bridge Estates would protect their tenants, and not allow them to be ruined by the fancies or e ( n He f a re r. m ) th A e n arti- Civil Journal, so completely embodiedhis thoughts Engineers' r lasteste d w p e tt e r k t uptot " We fear tha construction ntal to eat ill stine interests, and cause the thegth.setsjuj°l3bijsu7e4irtobirtigf etrihnaot interested e oul dorfetandi this t nteowthe bridgem e e t w i e d th e e str i e n y h a t b h i e t a nts direct of line e es e t- t winger. It will from Pimlico, through the Park and Great Westminster -bridge, to the Elephant tr i j O in c , e m , v il e l n n ie o n t ce on t l o y street, over George - s the Surrey -roads, but it will be the cause and Castle and traffic through' the already over. 'ng the of increasing from Charing-cross to the City, crowded thoroughfares an d quicker, to go from the ass it is now far nearer mostgreatestde thoroughfare al le hton and Dover Railways, bridge to the City, the r g t don of the South• new s ent-street over Westminster bridge to Culotuhrntastealnyd to the entl this traffic, Western R s„d rouse iilway ;will be directed a lon g if this n e w b r id g e be constructed. qu w ill .be a distance of a bridge to the Vauxhall the &rand ; and besides, there - mile throu g h W e stminster from y w ill be entirely site a the propos. d new bridge. that t h e c ircuitous cut off from Surrey side' "cePtilig by to the route over those tw o bridges. fey a reference map of London, it w ill b e - seen that if this new bridge be carried over th e r i ver a t r i g ht angles to the s hore at right angles to th e s h ore a t Whit e hall-place, the e nd on . the Surrey side will almost come in context with the foot of Charing-cross-bridge I Surely the direct eemmileieation !rem Charing-cross over this last bridge a eeiele eec newel:arm ior the public, without intrud fea ;seedier . itr:in a stone's throw. ty:.v tee new 1) , idge sh-uld be removed from the pr-4,nt Wesitn:nster idge we CaIIDOL devise. bridge teieht be constructed on the eastern aide of the present beelge, and the latter pulled down when the new one is erected, as was done with old London bridge. By removing Westminster-bridge, the only laud view from which a perspeinive view can be obtained of the new llffuses of Parliament, will be lost, and, as we before stated, all tee elaborate and minute sculpture ant decoratmns will not be seen. To get a view of the grand faeede, we shall be obliged to go in one of the river steamers, and catch a transient glimpse as the ves sel passes along. " Can it be supposed that Parliament will sanction such a scheme, to the destruction and despoliation of all the valuable interests connected with the trade and pro perty in Westminster and Lambeth? and ultimately cause another bridge to be constructed, at the expense of the public, somewhere above the new Parliament Houses, which must follow if Westminster-bridge be removed from the present site." Then WI been 691110 talk of their having a foot bridge from Lambeth Palace, but that would be no compensa• • tion for their old Westminster-bridge. Mr. Wtsnaw seconded the resolution, as the repre sentative ef many of the lessees of property in the neigh bourhood of Westminster-bridge. He trusted that the most determined opposition would be made by the in habitants of that district to the removal of the bridge from is s present site. After a few ebst rvations from Mr. EDWARDS, The CHAIRMAN put the resolution to the meeting, and declared it to be carried unanimously. Mr. WILKINSON moved the next resolution. The duty that be had come there to perform, he was happy to say, was far lighter than he had expected; before he heard the speech of their worthy Chairman, and of his friend, Mr. Grissell. He had expected that they would have bad to encounter the opposition of the Government, and also, that of the architect of the new llouses of Parliament. Their worthy Chairman had, however, told them, and his authority was of great weight, that the Government would only study the wishes of the public—(Hear, hear) —and Mr. Grissell had stated that Mr. Barry (lid not wish the removal of the site of Westminster -bridge. Their forefathers had, after great consideration, fixed upon the site of the present bridge, and if that site was of importance then, that importance had been increased a hundredfold at the present day.—(ffearr, hear.) He believed that the present site of Westminster-bridge was the best that could be adopted, and that to leave it a blank, and erect the bridge elsewhere, was a matter of equal impossibility. and impolicy.—(Hear, hear.) The adoption of such a course would be attended with the greatest inconveni ence, and would prevent all access to the inhabitants of that locality to the Courts of Law and to the Houses of Parliament. As to what had been said by Mr. Edwards as to the course pursued by their worthy Chairman in the Committee on Westminster•bridge in the House of Commons, he must allow him to say that there was not a single syllable in the report to which he had referred against the bridge being rebuilt on the present site.— (Hear, hear.) He hoped that with respect to that Mr. Edwards was now satisfied that he had found out a mare's nest. Well, but if the Government were satisfied with the present site of the bridge ; and if Mr. Barry was content with it the question then was, who had origi nated the idea of its removal, and what was the object of doing so ?—(Hear, hear.) He thought both these questions might be answered, by reference to a letter in the Times of that day. That letter afforded a clue to who the parties were that were promoting it, and what was their object, because that letter called upon the public not to give, at their own expense, an easier ap proach to the South-Western Railway to a proposed ter minus in the neighbourhood of Charing-cross.—(Hear, hear.) If the chairman would only stand by them in- Parliament, in the way he had promised, he could assure him they would stand by him, and by that means give an opportunity to their descendants of exclaiming that Westminster-bridge occupied the same site it had stood upon for centuries. Mr. Wilkinson concluded by moving the following resolution:—" That the report of the Select Committee appointed by the House of Com mons to consider the subject, contains the most ample and satisfactory reasons why the present site of West minster-bridge should be preserved, and no additional bridge erected at Charing Cross, and that an inspection of the Map of London demonstrates to conviction, that no poi , ion of the river presents a point of crossing more adapted to the general convenience of the public in con nexton with existing bridges than th e p resen t s it e of Westminster-bridge." Mr. WILTSHIRE seconded the resolution. While he admitted that the present bridge ought to come down, he thought it would be most unjust to alter the site, as thereby the whole of the traffic would b e di ver t e d from its present current to Charing. cross.—(Hear, hear.) He thought that the inhabitants of that side of the water had strong cause to go to Parliament and oppose the proposed measure for the erection of a new bridge to Charing-cross. The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution to the meeting, and declared it to be carried unanimously. Mr. CHRISTIE moved the next resolution—" That a committee be appointed to carry out the foregoing resolutions, and that petitions to the Houses of Parliament he prepared under their direction, and that the commit tee be authorised to take all necessary means for oppo sing the proposed Bill in Committee, as well as petition ing each House, and that subscriptions lists be immedi ately opened to defray the necessary expenses." He called upon the inhabitants to exert every nerve, and I , ave no endeavour unemployed to prevent the measure passing, for they might depend upon it if they did not, they would find on some fine morning Westminster bridge had disappeared and not a wreck of it was left behind.—(Laughter.) Mr. WOOHALL seconded the resolution, which The CHAIRMAN declared to be carried unanimously. The committee having been appointed,— Mr. WILKINSON proposed a vote of thanks to their worthy chairman. Having to fight a difficult battle, he could assure them he did not wish a better leader. The motion baying been carried unanimously, The CHAIRMAN returned thanks. The present meet ing and its results were of no ordinary kind ; they were of the deepest importance to the neighbourhood in which they then were. He hoped, therefore, that they would rally round the committee, and enable them to fight their battle ably in the House of Commons.—(Cheers.) He late was Sir hap Matthewhavepyto vv the son w n of an t o h l e d m. friend of such of s his h , the materials, and a good cause, they were sure to succeed, and he could assure them that upon any occasion when the committee required his services, he should be happy to afford them.—(Hear.) In parting, he would only say, that if they continued to display the energy they had shown that night, they would be sure to succeed. The meeting then broke up. OPENING OF THE LANCASTER AND CARLISLE RAILWAY. We mentioned in our last that a part of the directors of this line had proceeded on Friday morning on a trial trip from Carlisle to Lancaster. The directors were John Dixon, EFq., and G. H. Head, Esq., who were joined at Penrith by E. W. Hanel, Esq., chairman of the directors, H. Howard, Esq., of Grcystoke Castle. and Lieut.-Colonel Much an. 'I hey w ere accompanied by T. C. Heysham, Esq., P. Di xo n, Esq., Mr. Steel, of the Carlisle Journal, Mr. Lamer, resident engi eer, Mr. Collister, resident engineer of the Caledonian Rail way, Mr. Mould, Mr. Hemberow, Mr. Green, and two or three other gentlemen connected with the works. The train consisted of the engine, tender, and three car riages. It proceeded at a rate of upwards of thirty miles an hour, and would have reached Penrith (18 miles) in about 35 minutes. but for a slight accident when about two miles from that place. By some unfor tunate blunder the person appointed to attend to the se itches, bad neglected his duty—the points were in the wrong did et:don, and the engine and tender were thrown off the rails. The train was at the time pro ceeding at so slow a pace, that the shock ca used b y being brought to a s u dd en stand still was scarcely felt by the passengers. It caused a delay, however, of up wards of an hour, when the train again proceeded on its way—reaching Lancaster (70 miles) in about three hours of actual travelling,—the directors baying stopped at several places to inspect the works. At Lancaster a board meeting was held—the directors resident in Liverpool, and Messrs. Locke and Errington, the engineers, being present, and various arrangements were made for the public opening of the line, should Captain Coddington, the Government inspector, give the requisite certificate. In the evening, the directors, en giueers, and friends dined together at the King's Arms Inn, and next morning were joined at breakfast by Capt. Coddington, who had just arrived from London. A little atter eight o'clock, they started with a train of four carriages on the return to Carlisle. The day was ( xcesxively cold, with rain, sleet, snow, and frost by turns. At times, the rails presented the . appear ance of long lines of ice, and were extremely slippery. The difficulty on such a day was the ascent of the great incline on Shap Fells—one of the severest gradients on any railway in England, and the whole party watched this with no little interest; and it must have been highly satisfactory to both en gineers and directors when Captain Coddington, who stood upon the engine and timed its progress, announced that the ascent had been made, notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the rails, at the rate of twenty miles an hour—although the engine was an old one and not of the most powerful class. All the heavy works—the bridges, viaducts, cuttings, and embankments—were minutely inspected by Captain Coddington, who expressed himself, at the end of the journey, as highly pleased with the whole of the works— declaring that the public might travel upon the line with the most perfect safety; and immediately after wards gave the directors a certificate to that effect. We may mention here, that the line is double through out, with the exception of about two miles, near Low • ther. Ills portion will be made double in a month or less. The line is remarkably easy nearly throughout — the exception being a short distance where it has been recently ballasted; and it passes through a country which can scarcely be surpassed for picturesque beauty and wildness of scenery. It was our intention to have given a full description of the line in this day's journal; but as the public opening is definitely fixed for Tuesday next, we think it better to defer our account until next week, when we can em body it with the proceedings of that day. It is our in tention to illustrate the account by various engravings, which will give our readers a faint notion at least of the various objects of interest which the line presents. As few events have ever occurred more i n t eres ti ng to Carlisle and the county at large, than th e open i ng ou t of this most importa nt rail way, we trust the d a y w ill be keptasa general holiday —t o mar k the importance which is attached to it. A correspondent suggests hope to see it followed up. rectors' dinner. that a public u,i.stnt hrbiwaTalaigtlln;pl ashouldplace of be given L a Lancaster the s ter occasion. train _.... w h e The h a e l l ge ments of t t i h m e e d w ay ill n eld t Assembly-rooin to remain gladly allow the splendid i\vfifd,t,erteai thisngi believe s s a pi iugrotporodes Mr. Mould Cnameef after f , oe eur a el and bi d iewo w cuo e ,su) d a tar d s of as the line, it will not probably are b e given these — t 0 a inspect train will start from Lancaster for Carlisle, at eleven o'clock before three in the afternoon. At twelve Carlisle for Penrith, The arrao where it will remain (probaoly about an hour) until the will start f rom proceed together to Carlisle. w ill directors will give a spl-ndid dinner to a large party of theirarrivallo'clockeat reach h h various hersrr alaost invited gu ests at the Athenaeum ; and on Wednesday there will be return trains for the guests from Kendal, L an caster, &c. On Thursday the li ne w ill b e o pened a-day ' for traffic —two trains -running eac h wa y. On Wedn esda y Messrs. John Stephenson and Co., the spirited contractors, who . have so ably executed the w ork, give a d inner to a large party of friends at the Coffee House. for which the most l extensive preparations are being made Journa— Carlisle • Mr. Hudson, it is said, has given orders for all the persons engaged on the Eastern Counties to be regaled with a good dinner, and to receive es., during the Christmas holidays.--iceds Merow,y. IRISH RAILROADS. THE WATERFORD, WEXFORD, WICIMOVir, AND DUBLIN COMPANY. (From the Atlas.) The importance of railways to Ireland is obvious. To a country possessing almost every element of national prosperity except capital, they present the most direct means of ultimately supplying that great want. In the present circumstances of Ireland they are peculiarly valuable as a source of imm, diate employment, and as a vital agent for vivifying existing forms of industry and creating new ones. But railroad enterprise, to be of practical utility to Ireland, must be conducted with the utmost caution. The danger is as imminent as the utility. Ireland is not in a condition for experiments. She cannot afford failures. The only railroads that can, in the existing state of things, be of any use to Ireland, or that ought to be sanctioned in that country, are railroads that present a reasonable chance of success. Projects that are likely to expire amongst the gam blers in the share market—or upon which the calls are never likely to be paid up—or that cannot yield remunerating returns, even if established—ought to be abandoned. The great money pow er of England enables her to play with risks which would be destruction to Ireland. In England it is all very will to say that wherever there is a turnpike road there must be a rail way ; and no doubt, in the end, the exulting prophecy will come to pass, because we have plenty of money to carry us over the unprofitable interval which must elapse before it can be realised. But in that interval the bulk of the subscribers to an Irish railroad would perish. These sounding generalities, which represent the omni potence of capital rather than the inevitable operations of necessity, are wholly inapplicable to Ireland. There is no money power in Ireland ; not a superfluous shilling to expend upon theoretical schemes ; hardly enough, indeed, to supply the exigencies of the hour. In Ireland, therefore, every advance made in this direction must be made with a forewarning of the gravest responsibility. There must be no squandering ; no wild speculation ; or, instead of conferring benefits upon the country, the extension of railways will only increase her embarrass ments, and place her still farther beyond the reach of ordinary social remedies. The company whose title we have cited above affords a very co.nplete illustration of the practical evils we ap prehend from rash and ill-advised railroad speculations in Ireland. The objections to this line are so strong, and lie so conspicuously on the surface, that, had there not been a special inducement, to which we will come presently, it would be surprising how a sufficient num ber of subscribers could have been drawn together in the first instance, or why, having had ample time to con sider their situation, they do not now dissolve. The failure of such a line, with a nominal capital of a mil lion sterling, would entail incalculable calamities upon the country. She could not endure the consequences of so fatal an error. She lacks the elastic spring by which wealthier communities recover themselves from a false step. The objections to this line are twofold. First, it can not pay—an objection large enough in itself to include all others. Second, it is impossible to raise the requi site capital. Undoubtedly these are peculiar features in a railway which has already procured its Act of Parlia ment. But it must be remembered that the scene of these eccentric ,operations is Ireland, and that the sub scription to the deeds was obtained at a time when na tional credulity was agape for every project, however absurd, and when it was believed that there was a sor cery in prospectuses to conjure traffic out of a desert. The line proposes to run from Dublin, through Wick low and Wexford, to Waterford. Any person ac quainted with the country must know that there is no business intercourse of any kind along this road. The only portion of it traversed by a travelling population is that which is embraced in the first fifteen or twenty miles into Wicklow whose beauties, surrounded by a cestus of romantic hills, never fail to attract the wander ing eyes of visitors, and the pic-nics of the slumberous metropolis. Through the summer, possibly, a few pleasure-trains might yield a remunerating return. The value of property, too, in the immediate neighbourhood, might be improved. But all this would be only fair weather prosperity. The moment winter sets in, the oc cupation of the green vallies and mazy woods is over ; and the business of a Wicklow railroad would virtually cease. People are not fond of making gay excursions in dreary December, or eating cold dinners on the saturated grass, under a forest of umbrellas. The rest of the line passes for the most part through a country dismally relieved here and there by stretches of sand, barren heaths, and long undulating hills. The population is wretched, and, in some places, plunged into the lowest depths of misery. A few farms are scattered at distant intervals, but none of them rich or large ; gentlemen's seats are still more rare ; and there are no evidences anywhere of the material progress which either requires a railroad, or which is likely at present to be benefited by one. The whole intercourse along the line is now carried on by two coaches—a morn ing coach and a night mail; and so languid is the traffic, that the post-office finds it necessary to allow a much higher rate of mileage here than in other places, to ena ble the contractors to make up for the deficiency of passengers. Yet an Act of Parliament has been ob tained tor constructing a railway through these unpro fitable districts, over which a miracle must be worked before any prospect of a return can ever be looked for. The history of the company is instructive. It started 1 under the auspices of the Board of the Great Western of England, who contemplated a chain of communication through the South line across to Wexford, and thence by this new line to Dublin, forming, upon the whole, a more accessible route between London and Dublin, than any now in existence. The name of the Great NV(-stern was a tower of strength. The Irish constituency be lieved that they were safe under the shelter of that vast monopoly; and in the confident expectation that the lire would be either leased or purchased by the Great Western, the shares were rapidly subscribed. As the time, however, approached for closing the Parliamentary contract, it seems that there was not a sufficient amount subscribed to enable the directors to go before Parlia • went, and during the last three days a number of in fluential gentlemen put their names to the contract for various sums from 10,0001. to 300,0001. each. They were just in time to save the Bill, and the Bill was saved accordingly. But it is now discovered that the Great Western has no intention whatever of either leasing or purchasing the line. The Great Western intends to wait very, wisely till the line is formed; and then it is not im - probable the Great Western may treat with the ruined directory. In the meanwhile, what course is the direc tory adopting? The English reader will infer at once that they have determined to wind up and dissolve, since the temptation which called them into existence is with drawn. No:—he will never guess that, in the face of difficulties which may be described as being absolutely insurmountable, they have announced their intention of prosecuting their scheme! Now, this is precisely one of the projects which, if persisted in, must inflict irreparable mischief upon Ireland. The mass of the allottees are Irish; they are persons of small, or of no capital; they subscribed on the faith of the Great Western; and now, finding that there is no expectation of assistance from that quarter, they would gladly retire from the speculation. But how is this to be done? The majority of them have parted with their scrip, although it seems not with their responsibility. The directors have announced their determination to re gister the original allottees,'and thus [fix them for the calls. Let us see the effect of this proceeding. By holding the allottees to their responsibility, the directors deprive themselves of the means (if means can ever be obtained) of carrying out the line. The bulk of the allottees cannot pay their calls ; they could as easily pay the national debt. Any attempt to enforce payment will only aggravate the general difficulty. On the other hand, the act of shutting out from registration the pur chasers of scrip, who may be presumed to be upon the whole a more solvent class than allottees who subscribe and sell, is an act of gross injustice, which literally amounts to a forfeiture of property. This movement, then, of the directors affects two very large constituen cies—the allottees who are still chained to their respon sibility, and the holders of scrip who are threatened with confiscation. It has seldom happened that such a com plicated power of doing mischief has been roncentrated in the action of a Railway Committee. But what is to become of the great supporters of the line who subscribed 20,0001. and 30,0001. each ? Are they to be held responsible with the rest of the allottees? Everybody knows that subscriptions of this extravagant kind are merely intended as a sort of nominal guarantee to answer the immediate purpose of securing the Act, and never intended to be exacted. The greater part of the shares of these gentlemen are, doubtless, distributed over a wide expanse in the hands of the men of straw. But the question still remains, what is to be done with them ? If the directors mean to deal out impartial jus tice (or impartial injustice) alike to all, the question an swers itself, and these gentlemen must pay for their pa triotism. But, as the directors have a right to reject whom they please, there is an escape for patriots which will readily suggest itself to the board. We presume that none of these large subscribers will be impounded for their subscriptions. But they grievously deceive themselves if they imagine that they will get loose from their responsibility in that way. They are in the per plexity of a man who. trying to escape from a fire, rushes into a pond. The choice is between burning and drowning. The dilemma is this. They are either liable, or not liable. If liable, they have incurred a responsibility which few of them, we suspect, will be very willing to discharge ; and if not liable, they . have incurred a greater responsibility from the inevitable failure of the means to carry on the line, through the pauperism of the parties to whom their shares have been transferred. In either case, the weight will finally descend upo n them, either from their own direct responsibility, or from the extinction of all other sources of capital. It is clearly their own interest, therefore, as well as their duty to the country, to bring the affairs of this company to an immediate solution. We cannot conceive a single argument in defiance of suc h a proj- ct at such a time. If there was the slightest prospect of eventual success ; if there was the slightest hope of being able to raise the requisite capital—the perseverance of the directors would command, as it would deserve our warmest applause. But there is no such prospect—no such hope. To persist in such a de sign at a juncture like this is to draw down wilfully fresh disasteres—to brave the evil genius of the country, in the midst of misfortunes that already overwhelm the energies of the people. The true policy—the honest and upright course—is to dissolve this hopeless company. and to re turn back to the scripholders all the money that can now be snatched from a career of aimless expenditure. Delay will only absorb more of the deposit, and leave a scantier residue to be distributed. It is possible the di rectors might open negotiations to lease or sell their r ights. Every effort of this kind should be tried before the interests of the constituency shall have been finally sacrificed. Such arrangements have been fialuently carried out with excellent results in England, and might be attended with still happier effects in Ireland. But whatever course the directors may take, the al- Mtfeos and scripholders hale but one interest in comuum, They constitute, - in fact, the basis upon which the line rests. It is for them to decide whether they are pre pared to go ,forward with the scheme, or whether it ought to be abandoned. If they do not co operate and exercise the powers conrerred upon them by the Com panies' Clauses Consolidation Act, which enables them to demand and carry a dissolution of the company, they can have nobody to bleu e but themselv,s for any con sequence that may flow from their supineness. Since the above was in type, we find that the allottees and scripholders of this railway have in a great measure anticipated our advice. A meeting has been held in Dublin, for the purpose of devising some means to rescue all parties from the perilous position in which they are placed. We refer to the report of this meet ing for particulars, and trust that the committee ap pointed to watch over the intereAs of the shareholders will see the necessity .of being prompt, as well as ener getic, in their movements. CENTRAL OF SPAIN RAILWAY. A special general meeting of the shareholders in the ab , five undertaking was held yesterday afternoon, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, for the purpose of receiving a report upon the present position of the company, and taking into considerati It the resignation of, the Spanish direction. The Hun. Mr. P. IL Butler, M.P., in the chair. The CHAIRMAN said, perhaps the best course he could pursue would be to read the letter of resignation, re ceived from the Spanish direction at Madrid. The letter assigned three reasons for the resignation ; lint, the want of confidence between the board at Madrid, and the English direction ; secondly, the want of confit;enc.. of the Spaniards in the result of the undertaking ; and, thirdly, the abandonment of the branch to Lisbon, through the disturbed political state of Portugal. The Chairman, after reading the letter, went on to say, that at an interview he had with the Spanish din c tion, some few months ago, certain treaties and concessions were made, but subsequently the Spaniards repudiated the agreement, and proposed more stringent conditions, which he declined to agree to, pointing out to the direction that they hail failed to subscribe a single ducat towards the undertaking, while they had delayed the issuing of the shares fur speculative services. He then returned to England, and a third party was sent out to negotiate a peace. That peace was effected, but the Spaniards again violated their agreement, and followed it up by sending in their resignation. It was, perhaps, ungracious in him to give such advice, after the reception he had met with in Spain, but he felt it to be his duty to advise English capitalists not to speculate in Spanish undertakings, managed by Spanish boards of direction. There was no - faith to be placed in these bodies, because they were generally under the thumb of large Spanish speculators, and the issuing of the shares and collecting of money was made subservient to their movements on the Bourse of Madrid. It was true their engineer's plans were rejected by the Spanish authorities, but really they were rejected because the capitalists he bad alluded to had desired it. Now, the question for them to consider was, how far it was desirable for them to proceed with the undertaking. He had no doubt the line from Madrid to Badajoz would never pay, but a line from %Nem to Lisbon and from Badajoz to Madrid would pay, but then it must be carried out by an English, and not a Spanish executive, and he would recommend them to carry out that line if they could get ample guarantees and securities from the Spanish Government. The report stated that the line was conceded in 1845, and 40,0001. were subsequently deposited with the Spanish Government as a guarantee for the due carrying out of the line, and after giving in detail the statement just made by the chairman, pro ceeded to add that the reason the plans were registered was because the Spanish executive of the company had gone so far as to make a report against the plans of their own engineer. An embargo had been placed upon the deposits of the concessionaires, and if the share holders determined to break up the company, the Spa nish executive, in accordance with statutes granted to the company, would be compelled to defray their share of the expense which had been incurred. In answer to questions, The CHAIRMAN said, any shareholder might have dis closed to him the details of the various negotiations if he would call at the office of the company, but it was not prudent to make them public. The basis and terms of the agreements which the Spanish executive had agreed to and violated, would be printed and forwarded to each shareholder. The report was then put from the chair and unani mously adopted. Captain WILKINSON said he wished to explain how it was that his plans were rejected. A SHAREHOLDER (a Spaniard) said be was convinced the shareholders threw no imputation upon Captain Wilkinson.—(No, no.) They had evidently got rid of a set of sharpers and tricksters, and there was no us, paying any attention to their imputations. Captain Wnamson said his plans were rejected simply because he would not connive at the trucklin and dishonesty of the Spanish directors. On one occa sion the directors wanted him to wink at their exchang ing the shares of the company for property of no value whatever ; in fact, they wanted to give 35,0001. worth of shares for property scarcely worth 15,0001. Mr. Smrrn complained that no statement of the ac counts had been made, and charged the directors with having put forward an advertisement unfounded iu truth. The first prospectus stated that all the deposits would be returned if no concession were obtained. Only a promise of a concession had as yet been made and therefore the deposits ought to be returned. Fitty thousand shares were to be allotted in this country, but only 28,000 were allotted, and of that number not more than 10,000 were paid upon. He contended, too, that the engineer had been overpaid, and protested that tin directors had been guilty of a dereliction of duty in not having rendered the dirt ctors in Spain mote liable that they were at present. The Cieszustax admitted that some of the abuses ha( occurred, but it was before he became connected with the company. Upon a future day all these wasters of account would be fully explained. The SECRETARY said that it was true that 50,000 shares were reserved for distribution in England, but only 28,000 were allotted ; and of that number about 10,000 were paid upon. There was no doubt that the concession had been made, and that the Spanish direc Lion were certainly liable for their proportion of the ex penses. The money remaining in hand amounted to about 1,5001. Some of the servants and the engineer bad been part paid for their claims in shares. Eventually a committee of inquiry was appointed ; and a vote of thanks having been passed to the chair man, the meeting broke up. The goods carried between London, Birmingham, and Rugby, amount to about 2,000 tons per day. Why were there no postage labels in Henry the Eighth's time ?—Because a Queen's bead wasn't worth a penny during his reign. CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FRENCH THEATRES FOR THE RELIEF OF THE POOR.—The theatres, balls, con- certs, exhibitions, and other places of public entertain ment in Paris, are made to contribute a certain propor tionlof their receipts towards the relief of the poor of the city: The amount of the fund Otained from this source, in 1845, was 1,046,526 fr., viz.:—Opera (including 23,335 fr. for the balls), 115,417 fr.; Oliva Comique. 71,626 fr.; Franlais, 48,936 fr.; Italian, 90,538 fr.; Odeon, 9,727 fr. ; Gymnase, 54,049 fr. ; Vaudeville. 50,808 fr.; Varieths, 65,208 fr.; Palais Royal, 43,437 fr.; Porte Saint Martin, 76,650 fr. • P Ambigu, 49,634 fr.; Gaits, 46,188 fr.; Circus, 88,178fr.;FoliesDramatiques,29,895fr.; Delasse. wens, 15,433 fr.; Beaumarchais, 10,440 fr.; ranch 4on, PROPOSED REMOVAL OF 'WEST- 1 1 / 4 _ iluu th e 4 r na t a fortnight ba c k, a b an k er at the head of tl4,_ nee of Paris, rece i ve d an anon ymous letter ~,e r tzte n ing him with deatn unless h e deposited in a the me &pot a sum of 16,000 f. The letter stated that foi e were four person s b oun d t oge th er by the strictest 'hiP, who having lost large sums of money by th em a Y shares, required the above-named sum to save eon— f rom dishonour. " If," said the letter, " you h ;z7nt to lend us this sum, we shall for ever bless your tZ e t but if .. not, -- you pronounce your own sen :of death 1" The communication concluded by Ln ~.p n ' niencling the banker to bring on a certain day, hor e :P ri d persona, the sum demanded in thirteen and l of 1 ,000 francs each, and 3,000 francs in gold, I l le e p, lll ,, lte e, it at the foot of the third lamp-post on the Tape me la Bourse, on leaving the Rue des Filles Saint Li tri c a s , oposite the Restaurant Chapapeaux. The . of. the ,handed the letter to the Commissary of Ponce ar k ,„: district, and measures were immediately taken to ree t ; whatever person might come to take away the app. ; but no person appeared. The whole matter t0.. -ared to be a hoax, when a few days after the dire tis general of one of the most important public admid sefiviu/eauttii7s,svcsoeived a letter of a similar description, an soil srethe or4itten by the same person :—" If you con 10_ s e to our d era ,_ _l;9 uo said the letter, " you have only to of your hotel on such. a day, between six and a v e " ins he evening, in token of your acquiescence, letter will designate are to de "°4 pare to ter to ci P o ?!t the money , .The the place where you police. until na • his Prlßej 1 1 ° merely showed the le - If you refuse our request, pre: functionary the Pa. secret ar y and did not send it . to the s° days had - e'lapsed. Two days after this bat tl e : lel/rate d banker received a second letter, of the same_ 16,000 f, the first, but demanding 17.000 F. in place of Mi ra The mo ney to laced at the foot of the was be d Vaudeville post on the Place de la Bourse, opposite the -uueville theatre. This letter was also handed to the ett °lt e raissary of Police, and measures being taken to te ett s i t any person that might come, about eight in h tl a Ste ' ri a young man was taken prisoner, just as he d e ee rped under the lamp as if to read a letter, and at er ,. r no lr 't with his foot below, had picked up a bag he de il i e Y that had been left there. Being interrogate . d, Li c 4, 4red himself to he a student of the University of 4", and said that he had deen employed by t , e) per tohom he did not know, er a reward of 2011, !o go at t T,"" 111,, t•ost already mentioned, and bring to tie , l en , ei i ,"e oat Villetio, Rue, Montilla:lre, the thi citi "Uld tind therear:it. His lodgings being , ~f papers were found there, evident:y .vrnrt! ,„`"e same t ia:i d as the letters, a pistol, a art I hivaPer containing arsenic. Finding this proof againt it % to be considered conclusive, he acknowledged that he and he alone who had devised the whole theme,se: having been urged to it by want. He has, in con puence, been delivered over to the authorities to take e. l 4 tri sl. The prisoner is a man of 30 years of age, FR 'se father was director of the ,NJensive printing - oe ' founded by NI a , Lie :e. (he the el. (Ii • r o f, r. tits ..Joito, s,lff r• , el pri- Wl ' and this is suppos. d to ~ :ev, tr Uie e l:••• • , .so •. t aL tir t&proaD FACTORY GlRL , .—Steps are now heist A "ti for fitting-up l o dging-houses for these opera .h ti . v r e , s. , At e t r in ty g. o u f p gentlemen have undertaken the ri . sponsi ity one lodging house in a commodious manner, Where a number of factory girl. will be heiged in a comfortable manner, and cheaply.—Leeds Mercury Shock Lwell•—On Monday last, at t wo A.M , a elight . at of earthquake was left in this own. , we, 'il l:ended w i t h a very slight tremor and a terrible noi : se 2i n e t p the rolling of several carriages. ending in a whiz sounds It took an horiz total direction over the Part of the town. The cattle in the neighbourhood an re the shock was felt seemed terrified, and ran to Bu d fr o. As this phenomenon is always preceded and ,f:eeded b y f requent and singular epeeerances , suc h W 4 _ . the case h ere ; a var i ety of meteors was w i tnesse d _the early part of the week, one in particular, which s tationary for two minutes, and ran its course due n th 7 , *here it burst with a rippling noise.—Carnarvon '"n, MINSTER-BRIDGE. „ ses ssoi sespeetable pubhc meeting of the oe Loess to pit-per:a - , and other inhabitants of Lambsth, We, onto•ter. nod tali - parts in the vicinity of West inioster• btitige, was heft'. lest, evening, at seven o'cl ak, at the New in the Westaninster-road, tat{ RlC.,talreS ssinn a praises, of wltish roe:icy has .oit ninctilig a new bridge o we; tos se o,_. os to the York-soad, instead of the present structure. . linaaasits Hawes, Fnq M.P., was unanimously oat. Ili th ,, chair. Mr, S.!att,t,eft, the secretary to the(!"mmittee, appointed at a late meettleg to watch the matter. mad letters tram Sir iSsey seating that he would be most teaoy Is co-operate with Mr. Hawes in whatever course root ht resolved upon by the meeting ; and kern Mr 'Ferny, M.P. for West Surrey ; Mr. Kemble, M.P.. and Mr. T. D'Eyecourt, M.P., regretting their in ability to attend, from various reasons: Mr. Hawes, M.P., who was receivtol with loud tips plaese, psteateded to address the meeting. Be said he thought it et odd be hardly necessary for blin to attempt to explain to the meeting, numerous and crowded as it was, the obi' et Inch had brought them together; but ae there rugs ht be suite present who had riot attended to the matter as notch as he and many of those around hilt, had, it mieht be desirable to offer some distinct reot,on for the adoption of the course they had ' met to consider the propriety of taking, namely, .to op pose the proposed new bridge from some point on this side of the river to Charing Cross. If he had had any doubt at all upon the matter it would have been removed by the rondo of conduct which the promoters of the new bridgo had adopted. Now, when one heard the proposition for constructing a new bridge across the Thames ; the first question which naturally- occurred to the mind was-- had the public in any way expressed a desire to have a new bridge erected some distance trona e site of the old one—(Cheers) —but , another, and ha insi necessary question, also presented itself— who wss it pay- for the new structure?—(Loud cheers.) He teolt leave to reply to the first question—that there had been no manifestation of public feeling at all in favour of it—none in the least.—(Loud cheers.) Had any puboe meeting's been held on the subject?—hed any subscription list been framed?—and had any engi neering plies been published to show any absolute ne cessity for so serious a change? There had not --and they had no security that even if the bridge were built that ii, would receive the support of the public, Well, but who was to pay for it? The money, of course, weind have to come out of the public funds—out of the public taxation ; and he must say, in the present state of affairs, they had pretty nearly as many claims upon the revenue as they could afford to meet. They had to afford relief to the famishing people of Ireltnd at the present moment, and at that time were consequently not in a condition to incur an enor mous sum for the construction of a new bridge which the public re cessities did not call far.—(hear.) The bridge appeared to be put forth with the sanction and patronage of the Government. New he had every reason to believe that this was not so—(Loud cheers)—and that all that had been done was thus :—That a public department had consented to the publication of certain notices for the introduction of the Bill, but beyond that no sort of sanction had been given—(Loud cheers)—and that the Govettore-nt was perfectly free to oppose the project ; and he for one, should join his friends about him in giving the measure the most determined opposi tion.—(llear, hear.) It appeared so objectionable, that he hardly thought any Member of Parliament for Lam beth, Westminster, Middlesex, or Surrey, would be found to back the Bill ; and it would be very strange if a great metropolitan measure should be introduced into Parliament without the support of some local Member o' Parliament who possessed a knowledge of the affairs of those whom he represented. But, supposing the Biel introduced, he skeet this question of those who advo cated the measure, and he should ask the same question ott the floor of the House of Commons—What neces sity is there to build a bridge which no one desires—and what, public reasons are assigned for it ? He was told that the architect of the new Houses of Parliament thought the bridge an " eyesore" to that great, public work. He (Mr. Hawes) admitted that the bridge was an " eyesore" as it stood, but it could either be repaired or rebuilt on its present site, and in harmony with the new Houses of Parliament, so that there was no reason for removing the bridge on that score. But a great many reasons might be advanced in favour of retaining the bridge in its pre• sent position. He took it for granted that even some repairs were necessary to render the present bridge suit able for the traffic; or that if it were necessary to re build it, that the erection should take place on the pre sent site—that he took it was admitted on all sides. If a new bridge was necessary, he was prepared to show clearly that the present site was one on which it could be made with the greatest economy, and with the greatest advantage.—(Loud cheering.) And the first reason was, that the approaches to the bridge were the property of the Commissioners, and that it would there fore be unnecessary to expend one shilling in making ap proaches to it if it remained in its present position. — (Cheers.) And therefore, if the public money was to be spent on Westminster bridge (and he said as a Mem ber of Parliament, quite independent of Lambeth or Westminster, and he had a right to say it, that this was not a time to squander public money unless it was abso lutely necessary) it should be spent in improving or building a rutw bridge in the place of the old one, in order, it there were no other reason, to effect the alter ation with gut the enormous expense of making en tirely new approaches. Well, then, suppose for a mo ment that the site if the bridge was changed. and a new bridge built lower down the river, it would, in the first place, be much larger, and consequently more expensive, and, secondly, new approaches would !save, to be purchased on both sides of the river. But was that all ? Was it quite just to ,uild it where it was proposed ? Were there no reasons agArist the plan. The magnificent gentlemen w.. 0 proj,cted it seemed quite indifferent to the fact that two bridt'es extsted closely adjoining each other; two bridges built by two companies at. enormous expense ; one of them (Waterloo-bridge) almost ruinous to the company which invested its money in it, and the other (Charing Cross-bridge) hardly paying. Both were built by private companies, but if a free bridge were built within two hundred yards of them the effect would be utter ruin to both.—(Hear, hear.) Why, such a propo sition could not stand for a moment, and did not deserve to stand.—(Loud cheers.) The Hon. Member here pro- &aced a plan tit . the proposed and existing bridges, which he exhibited to the meeting. To any one standing at the foot o fChariug-cross bridge, the proposed bridge with the existing enes would appear like the letter " V;" the proposed bridee forming the second line of the letter, in consequence of its contiguity with the Charing cross -bridge, and which, besides, would not be more than 200 yards from the corninencstuent of both Waterloo and Charing•cross bridges. Would anybody tell him that such a bridge was required ?—(Cries of " No, no," and ridiculous.) They took away Westminster-bridge, and left the public without any accommodation between Vauxhell-bridge and the proposed one. Who advocated ? He was told that no one did so but the architect t f t .oatur ir of (imiu,l:iihatatrito,(oMenadßmarirrayt)i,onfortiiwanhohsee works 0 lot censent to allow Mr. Barry had ; but he r of this sort, which, if done at all, ai'le'd by his determined body but 'itadwou(l)b.,,hlielsil'el;dYone undoubtedly at the expense of topwroi would have; ti ie u i h e would not consent to let coadjutstrs , thi , Bill pass t h rou gh the Parliamentary ordeal without it p s p (I,oud cheers,) When it came him the most for midable o Commons into the House of Cam t I P resent in the Com gress should escape (Hear, hear) —and if he was 1 10 1 ) he was sure those tee appoints d to discuss its merits, withoufnt'h"enolhogslietittnagef.roetfn ithsiPnar—e gentleman would sanction such an uncap %%th e were would do so ; for he could no.tuteiedl_itseovre carried out, would tune of public money, and which, e th xp a e t n fi d v i e_ !eferred. When Westminster -bridge Was cause the utter ruin of the other bridges to e fi ih s i:h b. !a i ; t h t a n d e site was just as much an object of discussionr of the projected bridge ; but, after the most care which the a ri b v l e e r c s o h n o s u h l i c e i r b a e tit e m ros o s f ed t , he the va p ri r o e u s s en p t oints point was selected a s t f h u e l and Site as most beneficial to the public at large , even at that period.—(Hear, a n d applause.) It was urged in fa your of the ne w bridge, that it would reach to Charingscross,and every one would have to go to the cor ner of the York-road; but whether they went by the pre sent bridge or the new one, would not maks a difference of more than 20 yards ; and for this every shopkeeper and 0w1,..r of property in the neighbourhood of the present bridge, was to be ruitied,—(Hear.) The proposition was so perfeetly absurd, that it was an intolerable nuisance to have Iseession to meet there to oppose it. But he had no doubt. if - they set themselves vigorously to the work of opposition, that their object would be obtained, and he knew little of his friends on that side of the water, if then did not organise a formidable opposition. They the bridge was not wanted , and the onus lay on the sat j ec t o rs of the new bridge to show that it 'W t. : - But he defied them to do so,—(Applause.) A very large proportion of the present traffic went to th e western part of the metropolis, which the projectors of the seheme wished to divert to Piccadilly. lie wished some. hel y w - e, t.h ereit. spsak for it, because he was perfectly rsu oy cue-sit - lee lien if hatel.—(Laughter.) He con , sidsred that. it was riee , ssitty to have a bridge near to t h e lament, and for the accoruapld:ition of the ,in ;111 . nut . Mr. Barry and his frieeds stated thot b,idga on the I resout site would ruin the view of tses Reuses el Parlienitsat ; but he (Mr. Hawes) w i s h o st 10 know where they could have a better view than from the present bridge, which would not cost two millions of money like the new one. Now he thought he had stated reasons enough why they should oppose the Bill.—(Hear, hear.) The matter however, was in their hands, and he trusted they would ,-o n e- . 1 1;v tollew up the t e tpesition they had already --tad ; and if they tstotitenti es l a ,letis. ;he they heti etisesle hi to that e,enitig t h,, a coe ol ,f 'to sosee,,l ; test I seeie met then) .ti t`qv r•it,:o. he ,0 - tould lotv , t to co“gratukt.- 0, , u1 ,Weesitul of th„ „,„test. Th e h o eeutattle gt , tleaaan resumed his seat: areitist letal aid genera,' cheering. Mr. EDWARDS wished to ask Mr. Hawes one single question. He beheved he was one of the committee who recommend,-d the removal of the old bridite ? Mr. HawEs should have thought that every one in thet ratio knew that members were put upon ainintittees whose reports might not cohtchle with their individual opinions, but of the majority composing it ; he did not find his name in the majority of the committee who voted for the removal of the bridge.—(Ch.:ers.) Many - measures had been pro posed by the Legislature for which it would be absurd to make him respoesible. A VotcF.--But you signed the T.:Tort. Mr. EDWAnDS—Did you agree to this report or did you not ? Mr. HANVES—No.—(Cheers). ZPWAI;PS-stOp 6 bit.—(Laughter.) He was fcw watching and 11. which [win t ,172'fr.; l'alais Enchant& 1,188 fr.; Saint Laurent, 10fr. Cirque Blendin, 446 fr.; Funambules, 7431 fr.; Luxem bourg, 8,054 fr. ; Comte, 7,111 fr. ; Lazary, 4,6201 r. ; Ombre Chinoises, 600 fr.; Gymnase Pittoresque, 370 fr.; Chante reine, 810 fr.; Ecole Lyrique, 170 fr.; Robert Houdin, 2,895 fr.; Salle Vivienne, 7,128 fr.; various concerts, 28,752 fr.; various balls, 82,334 fr.; gardens and fetes, 4,844 fr.; dioramas, panoramas, &a., 3,8541 r.; café 3 and evening entertainments, 190 fr.; Assents d'Armes,l33fr.; various exhibitions, 21,268 fr. ; Guinguet intra muros, 3,964 fr. DEATH OF COLONEL DAVIES, LATE M.P. FOR WORCESTER.—CoIoneI Thomas Henry Hastings Davies, a distinguished Peninsular and Waterl.m officer, died on the 11th instant at Elernley Park, Worcestershire, aged 58. The deceased, since the early age of 16, was con• netted with the British army. His commissions are thus dated:—cornet, June 2, 1804; lieutenant, Jan. 31, 1805 I captain, February 4, 1808 ; lieutenant-colonel, July 3, 1815 ; and colonel, January 10, 1837, In 1818 he was returned as Member for the city of Worcester, and continued to represent it until 1841, when he retired. and was succeeded by Sir Thomas Wilde. He always supported reform measures, and . generally voted with the Grey and Melbourne Admnitstration. Colonel Sir Richard Doherty has been appointed Inspecting Field Officer of the London Recruiting Dis trict, in saecession to Colonel (now Major-General) Pitt ; Colonel Baumgardt, from the Queen's Royals, re places the late Lord John Somerset at Bristol ; Colonel Bush, at present of :the Ist West India Regiment, is tc be Inspecting Field Officer at Leeds ; and Lieutenant- Colonel James Campbell, on the unattached half-pay, is to be posted in the same capacity at Coventry. Colonel R. C. Manse' succeeds to the Deputy Quarter General ship in Ireland ; and Brevet Lieutenant -Colonel F. A. M. Fraser has been selected for that appointment in Canada.— United Service Gazette. COBDEN AND BRIGHT TESTIMONIALS.—The sum f 3811. has been subscribed by Bradford gentlemen to Mr. Cobden's testimonial, and 1611. to Mr. Bright's. The latter, under the circumstances, is considered a very favourable index of public feeling here to Mr. Bright. The subscriptions are far from being closed. — Leeds Mercury. CAPTAIN WARNER.—In allusion to the reports which were circulated last week, of the failure of Cap tain Warner's " long range," the Naval and Military Gazette says—" So far from Captain Warner's having failed in his experiments, he performed them, notwith standing considerable obstacles, to the perfect demon stration of his ability to carry out his designs, as we will before long, when disclosure of facts and figures is allowable, abundantly prove. But while the subject is yet under the consideration of the highest officer of Government, adhuc sub judice lis est, we do not deem it decorous to enter into details." DECORATIONS FOR THE VETERANS OF THE WAR.— We have unbounded gratification in announcing that a decoration is at length to be conferred on the veterans of the war, hitherto undistinguished, who have served be fore the enemy. Her Majesty, ever gracious, has issued her commands to this effect, and the Board of General Officers has been instructed to consider and report upon the best mode of carrying her Majesty's behest into effect. Need we say how heartily we congratulate the parties so deeply interested in this testimonial upon the consummation of ;,heir long-cherished hopes and oft-re newed struggles, and how sincerely we sympathise in their attainment of an object for which we have so earnestly and perseveringly contended.—Naval and Mili tary Gazette. LITERATURE. STANDARD NOVELS. No. CHL—ltly Cousin Nicholas. By Thomas Ingoldsby. • The Standard Novels maintain the high character which has long since been awarded to them, wid most assuredly there is no falling off in the present number. Poor Barham, who wrote under the soubriqiiet of " Ingoldsby," was a genius of no common order. A light and playful vein of bninour ran through all his productions—fun and comicality were his essential attributes. Like Hood, he possessed the power of ex tracting merriment from any subject to which he turned his attention, although he did not equal him in the deep pathos which Hood occasionally infused into his writings. " My Cousin Nicholas" first appeared, some twelve years since, in Blackwood, and, like many of its as sociates, was subsequently brought out as a separate publication. It is, indeed, a "laughter c.!rtipeliing" volume, and we defy the most moody son of care to rise from its perusal without in son off the acidity of his di!-positi(;n ar the milk of human kindness - ordinary occasions. Every pr _ _ having front C to excite the Hale fact in which the author detai;s his reasons for jai a strict incognito—" how his maid se4sed a redundancy of virtu Aakirig 7i,nre of 'teicar aunt, - wtio vlos -1 13.0 in the Three per Cents. Reduced, had r;',:ttlie;:sl: - .l,fltii::l off the mortal coil—how she loved green tea, and hated an author—and how he could pot find the heart to commit auntycide, or take upon himself the responsi bility of massacreing a maiden posse sed of o much property in the funds. All the characters are in athnirabie keeping, and perfectly sustained throughout. The kind, Warm hearted, and irascible Sir Oliver, the beau ideal of the country gentleman of the olden time—eccentric, hot tempered,-" with a bad habit of anathematizing," and the most inordinate pride of ancestry, and of his descent from the famed Sir Roger de Bolevainele,•the Conqueror's standard-bearer at the battle of Hastings ; but coupled therewith is the most genuine simplicity and kindliness of disposition, that makes him the easy butt of his mischievous son, but gains for him the cordial goodwill and regard of the reader. Then we have that Most patient of all possible auditors, Cap tain Pyefinch, a proficient in the noble science of backgammon ; and, moreover, very excellent com pany, seldom interrupting-the most long-winded story by any remarks of his own, which of Spartan breeity, ".few and far between," just served to convince his entertainer that his narratives were not thrown away on the listless ear of an unobservant or somnolent auditor." And his sister, Miss Kitty, a poetess— her - soul all tenderness, sentiment, sympathy,2and feeling—at first wholly devoted to the services of the Muses ; but after she has become acquainted with the celebrated " Dr, Olinthus Broadback, of the Grand National Institute of Intellectual Chimney Sweepers," although not abandoning Polyhymnia coquetting much with her severer sister who presides over political economy, becoming a de cided Malthusia, speaking with horror of " thought less procreation," and looking forward with alarm to " no very distant period when the world shall be destroyed by its human vermin, as a ripe Stilton is devoured by its own mites," discarding her flaxen ringlets, laughing at fashion, and learning to smoke cigars, laying down as an axiom, that those parts of the world, where polygamy prevails, are the most thinly inhabited, the only way to prevent ex cess of population is for young men to have half a dozen wives, and at last attaining such eminence in the science " that she is grievously suspected by the Bishop of Exeter to have had a hand in framing sundry questionable clauses in the New Poor-law Bill, which are thought to press hard on the comforts of those who love not wisely but too well "—the Rev. Josiah Pozslethwayte " happy in the possession of a comfortable income, a snug par sonage, and a housekeeper, who delights in cherry coloured ribbons"—Dr. Drench—the gloomy, mys terious, and eccentric Fortescue, devoted to the memory of his dead love—the amiable Mrs. Stafford—Lord Manningham, and his beautiful daughter, Lady Bullwinkle, "by nature of a social disposition, and sighing in secret for the less digni fied but more enlivening entertainments of the ser vants' hall, which she had so rashly abandoned," and "preferring a game of hunt the slipper," or "the mystic rites of the Christmas mistletoe," to all the more refined methods of killing time practised by ladies of the rank to which she had been elevated, are all admirable in their way ; but the character of the book "My Cousin " himself is superlative. Although a liar, a hypocrite, wholly unprincipled. and heartless, with scarcely a redeeming point about him, and every way vicious, you cannot help feeling a regard for him on account of his wit and humour, and cannot but feel regret at his untimely end. The aying off practical jokes, no matter how severely they Lay affect others, appears to be the sole end and object s existence, so that from the time he was eight years when " the superiority of *nis talents 1 - A cva ced. h into n- itself in a variety , r 1 wars, havi , g the maids beds, and briin.,tone ila: bowl, crackers into the kitchen fire, and gun-powder into the parlour snuffer=," he never ceases the exer cise of his ruling passion. We find him on the cele bration of his own birth-day " contriving to fix a large bonnet pin sil perpendicularly erect in the cushion abiut to 1;e occupied by the Rev. Dr. Ste fins, as to occasion much inconvenience and detriment to that learned gentleman, whose agility on the occa sion would not have disgraced Mr. Ellar or the Flying Phenomenon." And, on the same eventful day, " subtracting the chain from the deciduous body of his papa's legal adviser, amputating the apothecary's pigtail, and by the ingenious application of a fishing-, hook and line, previously passed through the pulley of a chandelier elevation, the flaxen, flowing, and redundant tresses there before the dulce decus of Miss Kitty Pye finch to a situation, emulating that of Mahomet's coffin," his after achievements, both at home and at Oxford, are deserving of the early promise he exhibi bited; whether hoaxing Sir Oliver and taking his me dicine before him—a couple of fable-spoonsfull of " Huxham's tincture of bark," a dark coloured fluid, bearing a most suspicious resemblance to cherry brandy, or when his expulsion was certain, appearing before the board at Oxford between Sir Lawrence Thu backes and Mr. St. John Gomenity, the very counter feit presentment of Dr. Pozzlethwayte arranged in his snuff embrowned suit of sables, wig, green gog.. gles, and pointed toe, perfect in his individuality. The work is not without its moral, as it seeks to inculcate the truths that "impudence is not humour, nor mischief wit; that levity, if unchecked by principle, may de., generate into vice and terminate in crime.' The frontispiece is also admirable. It exhibits Sir Oliver falling in love with Eleanor Skillet—the round, plump, and rosy cook—the attentions of the middle-aged and wearied fox-hunter, divided between the attractions of the delicious rump steak and the buxom maid. We heartily commend the work to the perusal of any one who can enjoy a real hearty laugh, and we can assure him that if he takes up the work with the intention of indulging himself therein that he will not be disappointed. "The Tiame," a wild mystio tale of diablerie is added, to make up the volume. We trust that few of our readers will be satisfied with the slight sketch we have given, but that they will take the earliest opportunity of judging for themselves how far we are justified in our commen dations. A BonscEs..--- - A.weiteratCarmago, Mexico, says he raw a half an acre of corn at that place, the shortest stalk of which, with corn upon it, was not less than eighteen feet high I THE DURATION OF MARRIED LIFE.—The tables of the mean joint lifetime of males and females show, that in this country husbands and wives married at the age of 26 live, on an average, 27 years together, the widows living rather more than 10 years (10.4) after their hus bands' deaths, and the widowers nearly 9 years (9.3) after their wives' deaths. Where the hibbarici is 40, and the wife 30, the mean term of married life is 21 years, the widows living 13 years after their hu:bands, and the widowers 5 years after the deaths of their wives. The tables furnish ready answers to a great number of ques tions of this kind, and others in which two lives are con eerned.—Registrar General's Report. ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT BY THE CAPTAIN OF A. MERCHANTMAN.—BiIIs have been issued, containing a description of Captain Thomas Leeming, of the schooner Eagle, of this port, who stands charged with having em bezzled about 561., received by him on account of Messrs. Edward Baynes, of Lancaster, and Mr . Samuel Jackson Turner, of Dundalk , Irela nd. He l eft the s hip at Drog heda, and went from thence by railway to Dublin, on Sunday, the 29th ult. From the latter place, it is sup posed he sailed to Liverpool, and it is suspected that he Will make either to Hull, London, or some other sea port, for the purpose of getting a ship to New Orleans, Where he talked of going.—Lancaster Guardian. LORD THURLOW AS A PATRON.-011 one occasion a considerable living fell vacant in the Chancellor's gift, which was solicited by Queen Charlotte and promised to her protégé. The curate, who had served in the parish some years, hearing who was likely to succeed, modestly applied tor the Chancellor's intercession, that, on account of his large family, he might be continued in the curacy. The expectant rector calling to return thanks, Thurlow introduced the case of the citrate,. which he represented with great strength and pathos ; but the answer was, "I should be much pleased to oblige your Lordship, but unfortunately I have promised it to a friend." Thurlow : "Sir I cannot make this gentle man your curate, it is true ; but I can make him the rector ; and, by —, he shall have the living, as het cannot have the curacy." He instantly ca a lle d d en in joy M e s d secretary, and ordered the presentation to be mad e out in favour of the curate, who was inducted, n -the living many years.—Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors. THE POLICE OFFICER AND HIS VICTIM.— One evening during the present week, a police officer acting in a borough not more than 100 miles from Preston, being on tLe night beat, brought to the station-house, an unfortunate delinquent on a charge of being "• drunk and disorderly." Cruel to relate, the "keeper at the station house thought the " preserver of the peace" as bad as his victim, and both being lodged in "durance vile" for the night, were brought before the magistrates the foi -1 lowing morning, when they were respectively subjected t 4 the usual fine of 58. each and costs. w:.. -. ~c..ay.- ti-OURT CIRCULAR. d k 'r . he n Queen and PriLee Alheri wi,lt-ti earls r''t,r -h. plantation of (.).1)_.1 , 1„: 1L,0„, , _ ttif eir Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prone ,, : wai l'ed, the Princess Royal, and the Prinuss i Al . e , i 1 ..." 1 and rode on nonies y..-.5t...-rdity, in tine t• -!4b - lie (I,4latis ty Osborne B.r.iis,,• Ra u h : H "n- hni L. (-% L-slie Courtenay left Osborne 1 1 - r ' YP- '' lda„ h o • IVicisliatn, Clew - atilt: or the S"'TP:l,..„;"l,..;xche Uer yeatatriaterVieW With the Cuaricellor" ei' .'..- - ~. ` t i i r rc ht,3', at his official residence in powidlig - s••''e.• t • Karl Warner had an interview with Rai Cirey .est erd 1 ) . aY, at the Colonial-office. 1-. Co , •W'' , "' 18"teil receivedyesterday,at t. e . ek e es were , from the Gov,rour 44 Gibraitar. ~' o lv t ,._!' 7 l.;thanc.-11or of the' Exchequer and Lady Mary ah .., Bowood Park, Wilts, the. seat of the Alarq . u . i r s . Cla t 18‘4"wne, yesterday' morning, for town. The hi,es Groville also' left yesterday tor Lot.don. for hi, °I Clarendon Will leave .tiowood Park tii.cidy, seat, Grote Park, Herts. Ihttab e Marquis and Marchioness of Bla.::dford, Earls i(),,:"°Pe, Cadogan, Stradbroke, Lords de Lisle. Sontitem. lirs.• Walsinghtan, Rendlesliam, and Crauley, , :r v . ,5, _ - 1 illg 0 11 ' B "Pnour, and Captain Broke, have b' , '" t I 1 , 41. eneral Sir Edward and Lady Kmrrison, at Oakley ws Suffolk. Ta4e-, vY VRTIN Cr IN T LI:1,1,1(.1EN CE. Th e , TATTERSALL'S—MONDAY. ell ) , tit Uusiness transacted yesterday failed to produce to to the the odds ; none in fact can be looked for so krhorses are c,nfined to straw beds. After l kitirlwtehreerefore. that the animals most, currenti Epirot., Planet, Glentilt, Wanota, and Red Nl 7 " . will be sufficient if we preface our usual price tooleclitt with a list of the principal trarDactions :-8 E t, - Ner k i n 6 t 5()1 . agst Van Tromp, 15 to 1 to 651. agst Epi -1 ttlit to laid once), 1,000 to 50 two or t bro e times ktis t, 2 0 4 0 , 00 to 80 twice agst GI ritilt, 2.000 to 60 trel2 ertonian, 2000 to 50 apt Tan iyv , a sunil:er a b f4 tlt : ihrikent:lbt atrs,o agstP r ,Projectile, Red Hart, 2,000 to 40 each cult, ectile, and the Miss Martin c o l a tif ItYers agst The Liberator), 45 to 1 1 , 11 tn. 'itch 1,000 to 15 three or four times, an af et .:..rs the 11:' ° ° 0 to 30 agst W a r Eagle, 1,000 to 15 each COlt and Galvanic Ring, and 10.000 to 100 ; t si t ad 4n -11.84 i:ion. Offers to take 6to 1 about Scotts 1 , g o to-1 about Wanota. The Oaks bets were 3,000 ter. tit Slender, and 300 to 25 and 500 to 100 egst lboti ' i ti u Ule mentina , jointly. Offers to tcdte 20 to 1 each tat and The Farmer's Daughl cr. The frost ~tp~g Put an end to steeple-chasing for the present, no. 4 4. d one on the events that were to have come off 1 . 2 404 1 f L 111 he neighbourhood of Leamington. We 'e lattest averages. 1060 to CHESTER CUP. 'lOOO to j 5, agst Mr. Coape's Rufus—taken -",,,,Rat Mr. Wh a l e y's Burgundy—taken. 6 to 1 - " A O THOUSAND GUINEAS STAKES. I I • 6 to 1 : 11 the field. - gst Mr. Mostyn's Glentilt—ta. to a small sum. 11 to 2 DERBY. t o agtt John Scott's lot—take 6to 1 • 8 to agst John Day's lot—taken to 25/. 'l5 agst Lord Egfinton's Van Tromp—taken 20 tol agst Mr. Bowes's Epirote—taken 25 t o itgst Mr. Mostyn's Planet—taken 28 to ' a gst Mr. Mostyn's Glentilt 80 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Sis. to Cobweb colt—no frntils. a 3 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Lunedale—taken 88 to l agst Mr. Gully's Allertonian—taken to 1 agst M r. W orley ' s Old Port 40 t o 1 agst Lord Caledon's Wanota—take 40 to 1 off _ 40 to agst Mr. Gully's T a nt ivy—taken and aft. offd. 4 6t 0 agst Lord Stradbroke's Marpessa colt so to i ; agst Mr. Pedlev's Cossack—taken 1 agst Duke of Richmond's ed Hart—ta. freely. 60 t o i agst Mr. Mostyn's Miss Martin colt—taken 60 to agst Mr. Mostyn's Projectile—taken _ " 1 00 I, 1 agst M r . W . O'B r i en ' s Lib erator —t a . an d af. off. ~ • 100,'" agst Mr. Bouverie's War Eagle—taken 000 t 0 , 1 agst Mr. Ford ns Clarendon—taken 4 00 5 , agst Mr. Wreford's Monimia cult—t and aft of. - '° agst Lord Strathmore's Galvanic Ring—taken and afterwards offered. 10 to OA/LS. 16 , agst Mr. Mostyn's Slander—taken. ,16 to 1 agst Sir J. Hawley's Miami. ko „, agat Mr. J. Day's Farmer's Daughter. 'Wen "Misconception exists on the subject, we may Nee aolentioa that the horse hacked for the Derby I St h,„`" name of the " Miss Martin colt," is the same Z4 % 7 s)ecasionall figured as the Miss Iris colt ; he -. 0 „ 4 , 1r 1a11Y entered as " by Lanercosr, dam by Vol " ii ke i tii,"°f . Miss Iris," but the dam has since been Sip 07 1 ,ta Martin. noathcote has christened his three DerbyFolts ,1 44 1oli r ,: 8 : " -- Tite Miss Wilfred colt " Bellerophon,"th Map „e°lt " Atl ant i c , R " and the Samarcand colt " T tt e Drink a ld' s Oaks filly by lon, out of an l'4o ,llll: • trught of Mr. Ellis, has received the name of , 1 . 4 40 rd r , 4,;,,,Tardiner' hunters were put up for sale yester 'ute' five sx knocked down ; the princip B a s l hia t i i " Were Dot, 91 guineas ; and Snuffbox, 4 LtNTS OF BRITISH WOOLLENS TO CHINA. b (From the Leeds Mercury.) th , 1 11 ve been favoured, just before going to press, Woor e following Return of Shipments of British e tti Len ,‘, to China during the present year, with thef°rbid "lve exports of former years. Want of time k t °, ofi e s ,, ° °P making the remarks we should have wished "he (I n this important document, which is from the the It l r t,,,Uth °l . itYi but we cannot refrain from noticing Org e d `sing confirmation it gives to the arguments lately deeti o t ° favour of an immediate as well as serious re Of ti f il in the duty on tea. The falling off in the trade ite,4, Is district with China is now proved to be most ICutis; and we have no doubt that tr e e d o a t r tn n d ed lr'esrt a result ilg. e ; qu i a i ll ts y in . di rl t s i l7urers alike, who have • ~_it.hert°olbi - een e a n P g "Th e a s n upplyi;ig the Chinese markets. 7,e,e_ient of the Estimated Exports of woollen Goods Shipped to a Liverpool, from the Ist of January' to offrom L on don of November, 1846 to %,„ i; g 14 0. E.: t) ,, f= a a x 4 l IIIPPed to this date during the present 41111)ped to same tato jut ye 3 r • • no, do., 1844. Total shipped durin . E ,t kne Year 1845 —4 arrived i last n Ch ac a inhe , ts nt , he left of the Present year's ship kents 23,090 2,190 3,216 3,341 4,005 qatuelL..P vu. in the aboveeen, from retu Lo rn ndon, takes out 9,000 pieces long ells , not 66,600 87,900 10G,134 93,510 7,959 14,793 20,533 15,253 45,932 56,363 46,462 58,515 5,493 7,525 4,643 7,525 o O c O tl 8,812 10,291 11,855 10,294 • , ;,,i