The Sun. — London, England, 1845-06-24 00:00:00

_A Y' COMIMITTEES (Y:-S'TERDAY.) ritIUSE ; , 1;' LORDS. XZEDS AND WEST .7.7.IDZItiCr a XLVTII.7. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) Mr. HOP@ wa, proceeding to cro , s-eramine the winos on be half of a landholder whose proper) would be interfered with by the line, but The Noble CHAIRMAN intimated that the Committee wished CoUnsel to confine their cross-examinati•in to points bearing upon the immediate interest of the parties whom they represented, and , net extend it with a view of showing that a b...ttvr line might be obtained. A lengthened discussion ensued on this decision. and even'u clly the Chairman ordered the room to be cleared. The Committee baying deiberated for a considerable ti me , s t rangers were adrrutt:td, When The NOBLE CHAIRMAN announced that the Committee had come to two resolutions, one rtlating to the mode of crNs.examinatioll Of witnesses, and the other to he latitude to bt allowed to counsel In addressing the Committee against the line. They were as follows :—" That counsel be requested to Confine their cross-era kination to the particular int'..rest they represent, and that counsel in addressing the CommLctee as to the respective interest they represented be requ-ited to adopt the same rule." ,:ilThlae:vititoneofilish showing that at some length by Mr. H OPE that railways runni ng i n t h e ne i g hb ourhood r D :adford ought to be in the hands of the Leeds and Bradford ...°4l Pany. Mr, Charles Wood, engineer to the Liverpool and Manchester Itilway, Mr. James Thompson, in partnership with Sir John alli Neill,"ance Mr. Cubitt, corroborated the testimony of Mr. Hawke. Sha w. • Mr. Fairburn, a merchant of Manchester, proved that the tradients on the proposed railway could be worked by the loco. Illative without difficulty. The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow. VIM SOUTHAMPTON AND DORCHESTER RAILWAY. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) lir. Brunel was called, and examined as to the proposed dovia. ' , on of the lire from the New Forest. He was of opinion that the 4viation could be made without detriment to the favourable gra. 41 ents on the line. This was the case for the preamble, and the room having been ! e ared, the parties w ere, a f ter a short deliberation, called in and " If °rtned that the preamble had been declared proved. The clauses were then gone through, and the CHAIRMAN said the Bill would be reported in due course. The Committee then separated. 31 WINPURGII AND HAWICH RAILWAY. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) kr. Miller, civil engineer, went through the engineering details et the line, the principal points of which have already appeared in / Ur report of the House of Commons' Committee on the Bill. The witness was cros s - exam i ne d w i t h t h e object of showing loot the estimates of engineering expenses were understated ; but, 14 his replies, he maintained that they were quite sufficient for all 114 Purposes of the line. n in ans wer to a quest i on f rom the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. Miller ' 4 there would be no difficuliy in laying down a double line at I°7 time, when it might be required. There was, however, no 414 U0e in the Bill for such an alteration. , Mr. M'NEth said the Company was quite w illi ng t o i nsert a clause * 9 that effect. liThe CHAIRMAN intimated that a clause had better be drawn up td s ubmitted to the consideration of the Committee to-morrow. should also be provided that the tunnels be constructed so as to Ntnit of the laying down of a double line. , Mr. M'NEic said the sugge s tion o f hi s L or d s hi p should be at. waded to. Mr. Vignolles, civil engineer, wa. called, who deposed that he Znsidered the estimates drawn up by Miller perfectly correct, and Nolte ample for all the purposes of the line. Mr. Mitchell, a railway contractor, gave evidence as to the rea. ;nableness of the estimates. He had been engaged on nearly all railways in Scotland, and was a t p resent f ulfilling contracts 511 the N orth British line. The estimates of Mr. Miller, lie was Re Persuaded, would b e ! amply sufficient execution for the of the ke. The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow. HOUSE OF COMMONS. G,.()U ' -04, 02 , 7 AND CROVDOIX (A.TIVZOSPECEFSZC, LINE. (Continued from our Afternoon Edrlon of yesterday.) h„!ir John Lovet, who stated that he was a landowner at High e,; 1 7 1 , in the parish of Down, No rt h K en t. H e h a d care f u ll y ex teti4ed that part of the proposed line which passed through that le iri s b, and had a very favourable opinion of it. It passed aerielnally through land of a gotd quality, but which required ma. 114. r n gt Manure was very dear in cousequence tit the esti), nse of Os erk ee• There was very little manure to be got in the neigh. ts ei ; 4o d, and it was necessary to obtain . it from o th er parts o f th e tI. Y. He himself had imported guano for manure. Coal wigs LY dear, and the poor of the neighbourhood were very much dis. cid by the difficulty of obtaining it. The high price was en- No? caused by the expense of carriage. Coal was now obtained tab, Deptford, but if the proposed line were formed it could be ob. se ct ld from Chatham The cheaper conveyance would make a re °l3 of at least ss. per ton. Great benefit would be conferred th e 14 Inhabitants of Down by the cheap conveyance of agricul. ii,ZProduce. This line would intersect no large property, but it fir by a great many. t hi WHATELEY, who appeared for Lady Darnley, a petitioner ise t ti n the proposed line, cross-examined the, witness at some ` vvtoloaE, on the part of the London and Croydon Com 4. then ca ll e d Ward, a landowner at Down; who corroborated Sir John Ira evidence. MERREWETHER, on the part of the South-Eastern line, then "At bil e , that Mr. Peto was now present, and was one of the witnesses ljell`q he wished to examine on the subject of the estimates of the eil th- r-asterri line. He wished to examine Mr. ,Peto at once, but 1 , 1 1 : 1 riot press it.if the Committee objected, e CHAIRMAN assented, and Peto, of the firm of Grissel and Petri, was accordingly %In and examined. He had examined the line proposed by Mr. sZalles, and had estimated the expense of constructing it. His cates were founded on the plans and sections of Mr. Vignolles. lti t otal expense of the proposed line, exclusive of land, stations, ttlidings, would be 1,320,000/. H e cou ld no t s t a t e th e average i t per mile, as he had not considered the subject, but had , 11 11. 1 e his estimate for each item separately. He had omitted the 4 10 l tertas of land, stations, and sidings, as he had no data. He it: 4l Y estimated the expense of works. ' Peto was then cross-examined by Mr. WHATELEY and Mr. labs Sum Cry WlLmotte then resumed the case on the part of the London i llicon line and called several witnesses to prove the benefit de rived from ' the proposed London and Croydon line by the kis no ta i Ks of that part of Kent through which it passed, and the t IY of the South-Eastern and North Kent lines. N e .j ▪ T hompson, proprietor of paper mills at Bromley, spoke to N i vaultage to the paper rnanufactco ies in the neighbourhood %Would ensue from theiermation of the proposed line. 41ch et' witnesses were then called, and spoke to the necessity for S. a li ne, and the superiority of this over the South-Eastern and ent lines. 100 k e Gt ,• Boutcher, and Mr. Ring, coal merchants at Rochester, , it ) the effect the proposed line would have on the coal trade, 44 54 t he reduction in the price of coal which would ensue from , [ kr ear l— mode of carriage. Nu: u attie, landowner at Rochester, late mayor of that town, e n examirad, and pave evidence in favour of the proposed tt• terng cross-examined, he stated that Cobham Hall and Wietti,, residence of Lady Darnley, was the most beautiful part S o 4 t. and the pride of the neighbourhood. He knew that the l'ne passed by the southern side of the park, but did not 1▪ jr It i nterfered with any part of it. hmSki IV lLsrose then said that he had a number of witnesses to 4 1 : e as to the same part of the line that had been spdren of 'w0k .. .," just examined, but ha would not call mem uiress the wished it. ,i i C HAIRMAN thought it was unnecessary to examine the 11: 14 4 alluded to. W lLmotta consented to ornif the evidence He did not in. 4 1 call k . ll4 4l any witnesses as to the line between Chatham anti tk. N as it would be exactly the same as that of the .south 's .11 l ine , th e C ro yd on Company having adopted the surveys of A . l t b-East ern ItRREW ETHER said that it was impossible to find a better itsVbe South. Eastern. Ll Th Ytt e I Lmorts said that the only advantage on the part of the Noie, s . l ! l ine was that it was atmospher i c, and the South Eastern L ACIve. %hel examination of several other witnesses on points of no -mer est, the Committee adjourned at four o'clock. GROUP GG. i 4 SCOTCH RAILWAYS. "'ZkALSGOW, NEILSTON, AND BARR HEAD LINE. 111.(40nued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) Nt •cr 1 4 ht t h of Thornlie-bank, was the that witness called, and he Lir uh, tbe second stationru on proposed line would come 1: half I t ow. a mile of Tholie-bank, the which place was a little above 0, 4.. The works there had been established above a century. 1 8 clo yed 1,200 people, the horse power was 3f42, and they . t ' o tons of coal per annum, and exported and received Or, I P' of goods. The railway would be a great advantage. lity • Stuart, M. P., was called to prove the feeling in the 0ne. 1 , 4 4 ,7' 0 1 respect to the rival lines. The direct line was the Cwrotaittee then adjourned at four o'clock. GROUP K. NORWICH DISTRICT. ! Cont inued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) SlN C°fl unittee, considering tha delay useless, proceeded to the lti ° o 4 4. Of the clauses, several of which were passed without lo t4 7ts w __ e In the progreso of discussion a few unimportant alte tittliz,!; Made in the clauses, and the Committee adjourned at "vt until Wednesday, at twelve, then to proceed with the le and Bury Bill. GROUP L. 111llo st .• on l:SlVlOtrril ATMOSPHERIC LINE. O° ti nned from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) s°rue discussion it was decided that the counsel for the L bt,, l etl e line sh ou ld ca ll ev id ence as t o the new matt er which 1 44 . J ad duced by the opponents of the line, when kt: 4l o,l e Pli Cubitt was called by Mr. ALEXANDER, and produced lehi - rWing the comparative cost of single works and single b c " would be 1 279 930/ • for double earthwork, with ~s 4„ , , • , A n t .4 n ;ges and tunnels, with single line, the cost would be 'VI 6,..; while for the whole of the doubloline, everything double, If i and for a double locomotive tine it would be 1,312,798/. 101 4 : all exclusive of the Chichester branch; for the expense t his ter there would be a cost of 122,2801., making a total N: 4 d re 4 eUt ting of 1,435,1781. According to his calculations the Ile of a nd Portsmouth line would be 877,2321., making an kikikte. i , 19,174/. per mile, and the whole value of the wages of h kik g y ee Pers would be 34,5001., making a total of 19,228/. per ( "Itio„ th e atmospheric line the wole cost would b,582/. per t ilti ttl tth t In elusiv e cf the gat e.keeper h s, tube, and elect, e ie ls telegraph, star ccos Id be 24,9151. a mile. According to Mr. Locke's 1, Hr. would be— . I S ti:;4l',° t int Mr. S mi th o hj ec t e l to the reception of thi s evi -1410:1 't was ruled that ina:m,ich as this evidence contained Iht t „.' l4 . It shape as to ' conslitute new evidence, it was 4, Mr. Smith, having received an assurance that the I'the be handed to his clients for examination and ells. 4 1 % Sa m 4al errl , rit iNtorplUcla Was s were a r l ec l ll f e d l to ai r id em s a t i a n t . ed that he hail heard :dar, '" S ay that then ten minut delay would interf Iv with the lik t q4 ll - "R the whole of the day • but that was a mistake. He k t kt t he t : l3 ' Misapp, hended the ' diagram, for he had calculated ee i n from Dorking to Gcdalming would pass at the j~ Al f a n ' i lca an hour, wh,n in fact the time proposed to u ms s seventeen minutes, and the rate i..as to be 0., 4:-n hour. He ha I also calculated the speed fr,,m 04 40 110,_? ° dahning at 56 miles an hour, when ir, fact the ivt.. to be occu pi e d was s i x t een m i nu t es, an d th e rebß h 0 41. miles an hour. With regard to the Epsom traffic V a llth °ll Whatever, as all the Epsom trains could take the 1111114:411).44Zucth Ar m s to La n d on; t Nfowr Cross consequence sslhe m o men ot momentum them obtainedincline isl4.4l4lltielent to carry 120 t ons , an d th e o th er wa y th ere wou ld g!t i h e 3' W hatever in running distinct Portsmouth and Epsom " 1 4, 1 414 1" ,, ftld take the tonnage of Mr. Harrison, and allow • °N 4 "' 50 tons would carry about 500 passengers. Now b. a porer amply sufficient to dray 70 tone, and, V;itli anything lixe judicious arrangement, each train woo''-el be able to carry, on an average, COO passengers every ten minutes, or, all viing for 600 as a core ingent, he could send 3,000 pas. ~, ngi rs per hour to Epsom. Ile had himself seen 10 . 0Lto r , as r,,li. gers sent in four hours bv the Dalkey train. anti they had since sent a greater number of trains than were sent on that occa sion, the Dalkey line being, on account of its curve;, a badly rorra structed line, and its ruling gradient 1 in 115. while thu line to Epsom had a gradient of 1 in 302; ails! was a tar better constructed nue in every other respect. On the Croydon line the empty carriages cou ld b e sent back by the locomotive line. ! The stoppages might all be made up by ssikiing time at the crossing stations, and b' an aCceleration of speed on the journey, if the tatter were necessary. On this line they could take a train of fifty tons with a vacuum equal to nine Metiers 4 Mercury, arid this weight was therefore by no meatie 5 maximum, and this vacuum, fur a rate of forty miles an I brine, could be performed in thirty.two seconds. This had been done on the Dalkey line, which was a worse one. The time once,. sary to obtain a tiff: en.inch vacuum was from a minute and a half to a minute and three quarters; and during the many experiments which had been made throughout the whole day the time occupied for oh. liaining it was remarkably uniform, the difference being only about 21 seconds on an average. An 8-inch vacuum would be the mean vacuum Inquired through the whole line, and the extreme would be 16 inches for all the steep gradients. To obtain the average vacuum at the crossing places, which were the only places where they would hive to wait for it, the time would be halt a minute, and the minimum would be only 2 inches, and the time an imperceptible quantity. But in this bethought he was in every instance far within the mat k. In the case of a disabled engine the second engine would make up for the difference. With regard to the difficulty, as stated by Mr. Hawkesley was entirety wrong, and he did not think that they wculd have any more difficulty than they had already en countered at Dalkey. He would not touch on the abstract propo sition of the similitude between suction and drawing, bet prat. tically it was altogether different. In a minute and a half they could obtain a traction power equal to 1,320 lbs. at a distance of one srile and three-quarters from the engine. This would be seen in a more striking manner if they were to attempt to force this power of 1,3201b5. through a pipe already filled with air. This had been attempted for the purpose of blowing furnaces through pipes not a fourth of that length, but it bad been discontinued, for it had been found that no pipes could withstand the force applied to them. The fact was, the two pistons, the one at the air-pump, and the other at the carriage, were just as if they were connected by an iron rod, and just as the air-pump would draw out the iron rod, and cut it off; piece by piece, the piston behind following just so fast as the rod was shortened, so was the column of air drawn off by the engine, and allowed the train to be prope,led by the air behind in proportion to the rapidity at the other end as soon as i the via incrust was overcame at the other end. He therefore took i an entirely different view of the matter from Mr. Hawkesley, and contended that the column of air, instead of being attenuated, travelled bodily up the tube, and that there was no differential pressure whatever. And if there were no leakage whatever, he contended that the two barometers, the one at the engine and the other at the pump, would be precisely at the same height at the same moment. But there was leakage, and it entered at the piston and caused a continual flow of air towards the pump, which occasioned such a disturbance as affected the barometers to the extent of the disturbance which they exhibited. He had ascertained this practically by standing under the bridge at Kingstown. He heard the first stroke of the engine at Dalkey the moment it was made, and at the moment he heard the blow the mercury was acted upon. The Dalkey engine was anything but a good one ; but wilh all its deft cis he had observed that there was no more difficulty on the length of a mile and a quarter than there was at Wormwood Scrubs, where the line was only halt a mile in length. The speed which they had attained on the . ; inclined plane at Daikeyi with its burden, equal to a power of drawing 150 tons on a level, was the rate of forty miles an hour. Now, on a line of this extent there war no possible opportunity of attaining the maximum speed, while, from a great number of experiments which he had made on the Great Western line, lie found that in the fast trains the usual friction was at 8 lb. the ton, 320 lh., 15 lbs. for the engine, a total of 225 lb., gravity 80 lb. Atmospheric resistance 420 lb being on an area of 60 at the rate of 7 lb., making the total o ractive power necessary of 2,475 lb. to draw a train weighing fifty-two tons ; while the atmospheric principle, in con. se itience of not having the weight of the engine and the tender to draw, would be only 1,780 lb. With respet to the tube, it had been stated that the cost would be much more than had been stated. He found that the contract for the tube on the Croydon line was 4,000/. per mile, while it was in reality being laid down for 3,700/. a mile. According to Mr. Lecke's ca'cula tions the cost of the Guildforti line would be 17,839/... while that on the atmospheric line would be 18,992/., giving in favour of the Guildford line 1,155/. per mile, represented by 751. 15s. per annum for interest Fur the working plant there would be a cost for the atmospheric line—twenty-four pairs of engines, 150,0001. being at the rate of 2,4871. per mile. On the Guildford line it would be 72,5001., making a rate of 1,580/. per mile, viz. 907/. in favour of the Guildford line, being an interest of 48/. 14s. per annum. There was, however, an excess iu the working ex penses on the locomotive line, equal to 31/. per mile, or 1,860/. per mile per year ; if the trains ran only nine times a day. But it the trains were iicriased to fifteen times a day, it would be 911, and the consequence would be a cost of 17,200/., equal to 2861. 18s. per mile per annum in favour of the atmospheric line. In all these expenses he had omitted no contingency ex. cept the coals, which would be much less than had been asserted, as was proved by the consumption on the Dalkey line. To Mr. Oswatv—Mr. Samuda said that the cost of a single line would be 4,5001, and for a double one about half as much again. The cost of engine-houses, crossings, and all the contingencies, would be 2,4871, per mile, and for a double line there would be wanted 5001. per mile additional. In constructing a double line they would save a good deal of pipe, as they would have no pipe down the inclination. The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow at twelve o'clock GROUP LL. THE LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY (WANDSWORTH BRANCH). (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) Mr. HILL, Q. C., with Messrs. Gurney and Mellor, ap peared in support of this Bill. He appeared on behalf of the Lon don and Brighton Railway Company, whose object was to form a branch from their railway near Croydon, extending to Wandsworth, where they would make one of their termini. The length of this branch would be six miles and a half and 8 chains. The estimated expense of cnnstrurting it would be 119,1911., so that the average sum per mile would be only 20,0001. This eontrasted very favourably with a Bill which came before the Committee, in which he appeared for the South- Western Railway, and the es timated expenditure of which would have been 400,0001. per mile, or twenty times as much. A great advantage in the projected line was, that it did not materially interfere with private property. It would not be found necessary to take down a single house. Only two or three cottages would be removed, and those were already the property of the London and Brighton Bailw.sy Company. The plan only interfered with one plot of ornamental ground. With respect to the engineering impediments, he would remind the Committee that Croydon was very much above the level of the Thames, or any spot on its margin, and consequently, however they would approach the river, they must fall from a high level to a low one. The gradients, positively speaking, were not good, but comparatively they were so. The worst gradient was lin 100 for only half a mile; on the London and Croydon line there was the same gradient for two miles and three quarters. The worst curve was only half a mile radius, but that was at the station ; otherwise the curves were good. The line crossed no turnpike road on the level. Th, l would have four stations—two at Nine Eln - s, one for passengers and one for goods ; one at York-street-road, and one at Wands worth. That at Nine Elms would be most desirable, from its contiguity to the river. There was an excellent wharf t I ere, and there would be great facility for the t ran ,hipment of goods. "the Learned Counsel went on to show the advantages which the proposed line would afford, particularly to the inhabitants of the west.end of the town. The only petition worth noticing was one from the Directors of the London and Croydon Railway, which sets forth that, "if the in tended railway troin Croydon to Wandsworth he carried out, it wtil be carried through land over part of which the petitioners, le of railway extends, and thereby cpera e to the detriment of the rights and iinerests of the petitioners." They certainly did interie:e with the Loadon and Croydon by crossing their rAlwAy, but it would not cause them eves temporary iocon. venienze. It would not stop their trains even for one hour. The petition from them set forth that the lute would not confer advantages ,quivalcnt to the damage it would cause, but this asset. tion he would ciltprove by the most competent witnesses. He di,i not deny, however, that it would to some extent " divert the traffic from the London and Croydon line," which was another allegation in the petition. Mr Rowland Hill was then called—ls Chairman of the London and Brighton Railway Company. Thought the present Londoa bridge terminus did not afford sufficient accommodation for traffic. A west-end terminus was also much wanted. Thought the proposed termini would confer great advantages on the public. The station at Nine Elms would afford great facility for goods and traffic. Approved generally of the projected line. Messrs. Austin and Talbot appeared for the London and Croy. don Railway Company.—The witness was cross-examined, but no thing material was elicited. Mr. Thomas John Buckton, Secretary to the London and Brighton Railway Company, proved the amount of traffic between London and Brighton, at the London-bridge station, to be as fol lows :—Receipts from passengers from June 2, 1544, to May 31, 1845, 152.1071. ; the number of passengers, 377,672 ; the quan. tity of goods, 17,646 tons. Mr. Lewis Slight, clerk to the Commissioners, proved that the intercourse between London and Brighton was great, and that It was daily increasing. Mr. Evans gave similar testimony. Other evidence of a formal and uninteresting nature was given, and the Committee adjourned at four o'clock. GROUP 1. THE =EEC r NOETHEEN LINE. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) Here the subject dropped, and the examination of Mr. Parke was then proceeded with. When the cross-examination of this witness had terminated, Mr. Pitt, the witness on the traffic on behalf of the London and York line, was recalled, to show that he had not, in his cal culations of that traffic, assumed that it would be doubled if that line should be made. After a few questions had been asked him, the Committee ad journed. GROUP Z. THE GREAT WESTERN (DUBLIN AND GALWAY). The evidence of Mr. R. Stephenson (continued from our Afternoon Edition of ye , terday)—Th ese discrepancies,where levels were required of a "side-long " country, were of frequent occurrence when they were taken by different parties. He has known engineers to differ to the extent of twenty or thirty feet. That difference would arise from the parties placing their staffs at points a few feet sepa rate, and the result would be a difference of twenty or thirty feet. Had himself known a case of that kind where the discrepancy was 38 or 48 feet, he could not remember which. The country in that case was of a " side long" nature and the error arose in the way he had just' pointed out, that the engineers had placed their staffs in different positions. This difference Inuit necessarily arise unless the same point is selected by both parties, and as that scarcely, if ever happens, by different parties, a liscrepanc% will always arise in levelling a side-long country. It' he gent(, men who were sent to check the levels made th eir - ting point higher up than the gentlemen who took the levels on which the sections were formed whlch had been depo. led, a discrepancy might exist for several miles. Cross.examined by Mr. JAMES ---The errors very much de pended on the sidelong nature of the country. Did not know th e ehaiacter o the country through which the line passed. There was nothing in the section to demonstrate that the country was side-long. He assumed that the coindry was side-long at the point where the greatest maximum error of 36 feet was stated to exist, from information given to him from Capt. Msnrsoul. Errors in taking levels were possible, and very frequently oecurrtd from taste. Posing that errors existed to the extent stated of thirty-eight ter:a, the increased expense would be 37,0001. By Mr. TALBOT—Has made this calculation on the assumption merely that the error existed. Mr. George Bidder. engineer, agreed with the evidence of the last witness so far as he heard. It was pos,ihle, in making a copy of a section with tracing paper, that an error of considerable ex tent might arise. He knew an instance himself where a tunnel was shown where there should have been an embankment, in con. sequence of an error arising from this cause. He never knew a case in Parliamentary inquiries in which sections of a line of side long country did not differ when the levels were taken at different points. Mr. James cross-examined the witness at considerable length- Captain Moorsom, examined by Mr. TiLsor—Heard the evi dence of Messrs. Hannington and Boyle, and referred to the sec tions where the errors were stated to exist, At the road between I Kilconncll and Lotighrea, a point where he could test the accuracy of the allegations made by a comparison with the Ordnance sec. Lions, there was only one foot of difference between them and the railway sections, while with those laid down by the opponents of the Bill there was a differenee of twelve feet at the same point. There was the sane agreement at another point (Ballinas'oe) between the Ordnance levels and those taken for the promoters. The placing of the staff makes such a difference that unless the same point is selected a difference must arise in a side-lohg country. If there was a practical error of 3S ft. it vvoutii be Impossible for that error to be worked out, or even to exist at all, where the greater part of the section on which it existed was correct. This witness was examined at some length by Mr. JAMES. Mr. Wrigge stated that he had taken the levels on a part of the proposed line, and took great pain , : to ascertain that his observa tions were minutely correct. That portion of the line was correctly laid down on the sections. It was quite correct in every particular, and he had reason to believe that the other portions of the line were correct. By Mr. ROWE—Made notes of his observations on the spot. Hi= levels were not checked by any other person. Mr. TALBOT here said that his rebutting case was closed. Mr. ROWE moved fur the production of the scroll sheets of the line, and requested the Committee, in the event of their non production, to apply for a Speaker's order to enforce their pro. duction. The CHAIRMAN said that he was in a position to save the trouble of any further question on the subject. He had already spoken to the Speaker, who had given it as his opinion that they could not be produced. Mr. Rowe then suggested that, in the present conflicting state of the evidence, it was necessary to send some one to Ireland to ascertain the real levels on the course of the line.—(Laughter.) He was not to be deterred by any laughter ; he felt that a question of too much importance depended on him, viz., the interests of his clients and the interests of the numerous charities and an nuitants connected with the canal, and he persisted in hoping that the Committee would assent to the course proposed by him. Mr. TALBOT said that he had heard with attention the course proposed by Mr. Rowe. It was evidently the interest of the Canal Company to suggest a course which would hinder the Bill from passing this session. The session might only last six weeks longer, and it would occupy more than that time to take the levels accu rately. If the Bill were actually thrown out it could hardly oc. casion more inconvenience to the promoters than its postponement, Mr. ROWE persisted in his application, and offered, on the part of his clients, to defray half the expense of the surveying.—(A laugh.) The Committee here ordered the room to be cleared. In about five minutes the doors were ;e..1;;;;;; ;;Id the Com mittee said that they had decided on hearing Mr. Rowe's summing up on the general case tomorrow (this day). The Committee then adjourned. L &ev INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF QUEEN'S LIENCII,June 23. (Special Jury Cases.) THE QUEEN V. COMPERIZ AND OTHERS. Mr. COCKBURN stated this was an indictment against Henry Gompertz, William Witham, and Robert Witham, for having conspired to defraud, under false pretences, George Pitt Rose, eldest son of Sir George H. Rose, Bart., and late a captain in the 9th Lancers, of bills or acceptances to the amount of about 17,0001., for which the prosecutor was either now liable or had been sued. These transactions had taken place in consequence of Captain Rose's temporary inconvenience for the want of money, which led him imprudently into a snare by confessing his embarrass. merit to 11. Gompertz, wno, tinder the pretext of relieving him, had, with others mentioned in the indictment, obtained accvt ances to a large amount from him in favour of H. Gompertz. for which he had received only 1,500/., or rather 1,2001., as 390/. was swallowed up in expenses, charges, and discount upon this part of the transaction. The indictment had oriiiinally comprised Charles Lewis ; but upon the intimation from Mc. nobler, the attorney for the prosecution, that Lewis would serve thecase as a witnoA, - :, he w..s nut proceeded against. The first witness examined was thet:rosecutor. Captain Rose, son of Sir George H. Rose, Barr,., and a captain on half-pay in the 9th Lancers, stated, that he in July, 1841, wanted some money, and was introduced to H. Gompertz, xt Hatchett's Hotel, by C Lewis, the attorney, for that purpose. H. Gompertz proposed they should raise money together. Wit ness declined to do so, as he wanted only a sum to pay his father, in order that he should be restored to the entail of an estate which he had cut off. It w.ts then proposed by Gompertz that the wit ness should accept a bib for 5,000/. He (the witness) said he should not have money to pay the bill ; but he finally consented to accept, Gompertz agreeing to make himself liable equally for its amount when due, The object was to raise finally 40,000/. Gom pertz said he could get Captain Rose 30,000/. of it. Afterwards another bill was accepted for 1,0001., and the captain then received 1,5001. in cash, or rather 1,2001, the expenses swallowing up 3001. of the 1,5001. advanced him on the 6,0001. worth of bills. Gempertz told him he was to get the'3o,ooo/ from a Mr. Parker, a client, it was said, of Messrs. Witham, attorneys, of Gray's.inn.square. This hap. pened in July, 1841. Mr. Parker was said to be a person of large property, residing both at Cheltenham and at Paris, having some trust.money of a lady who was a relative of his, and which he wished to place out in productive loans to her advantage. In August, 1841, the witness saw Robert Witham at the office of his father in Gray's Inn. A proposal was made to him to take wine warrants for his acceptances. The wine was said to be Witham'a and worth 2,000/., and he yielded to the solicitation of Robert Witham to take the wine warrants, and to try to raise mosey upon them. He reluctantly signed stamped paper to the extent:ef 2,0501., 501. to cover the expense; requiring, however, that Robert Witham should make and give him a written statement of the transaction, which was accordingly made out, stating that " our client," mean. ing Mr. Parker, would complete the loan within a month. The paper was signed R. Witham for Wm. Witham. The wine wai rants witness never had, but he received instead certainly 2004 Afterwards an agreement was drawn up between the parties, con. tracting that the 2,050/. was to be deducted out of the general loan when effected. A new party now entered on the scene, and changed the character of the whole affair. The witness was applied to by an attorney named Parr, living at Poole, for a debt of 1,0001., due by the witness to a Mr. Slade. Mr. Parr received assurances that his client should be paid out of the loan that was then almost, they said, concluded, and an order was given him upon Witham for 1,0001.. which, it was alleged, was not paid, because the order had not also been signed by Gompertz, as agreed upon. Mr. Parr, who had come up from Poole to town, where he had been delayed by these assurances for some days, became angry, and left London without receiving the 1,000/. He had not since been paid, owing to the deceptions practised upon the witness, who had been much annoyed and injured in other respects by the effects of this con spiracy to defraud him, and to possess his acceptances, without re turning him their value. Mr. Montague Chambers and Mr. Hawkins were also engaged for the prosecution; Mr. F. Kelly and Mr. Humphreys for William Witham; Mr. Cowling and Mr. Watson for Robert Witham; and Mr. M. D. Hill and Mr. Peacock for Henry Gompertz. Captain Rose was subjected to a cross-examination, which lasted for three hours. Mr. F. KELLY exerted great ingenuity and per severance in his endeavour to shake his evidence. The witness acknowledged he had been some time acquainted with GompertZ, and that when the loan of money was discussed bet w e e n th em , that he had made the offer to produce his title deeds to his in heritance, as the ground of the loan he sought. These deeds were the basis of his title. He had told Gompertz at the time that he had cut off his entail to the inheritance, in consequence of his being in want of the money it was valued at ; that sum (8,0004) he had received from his father, Sir George Rose, who was, however, disposed to let him re.purchase the entailed right when he could pro cure the money to pay his father what he owed him. In cansequence of this proposition, thedeeds and a copy of the conveyance were sent to Messrs. Witham's office, at Gray's lan. Mr. Sewell, the attorney of Sir George Rose, had been mentioned as a fit person to raise him the money. The estates were on examination found to be much encumbered by charges, perhaps as much as 60,0001. ; and it was said that there was no security for a lender of money to make any further advance upon the property. In 1839 he had applied to his father, and, through Lord Morton, obtained his consent to allow him to repurchase his reversionary interest in the estate of his father. It was arranged that he should do so upon advancing 7,000/.. and the interest due. He had three interviews with one or other of the Withams about this affair; and Mr. Witham told him it was a Mr. Parker who was to carry out this loan, and that he (Parker) was his friend. Cross-examined by Mr. WaTsos, Q C.--Had revoked his power to Greenwood to act for him as his agent. Francis and Robert Witham were br , thers, included in the indictment, but Francis had since died. The witness denied strongly that he had ever told Robert that all was right about the loan, and all that was wanted to its accomplishment was, that he, Witham, should write a letter to that effect. When the first bill was given to Gompertz Robert Witham was present. '['he witness would not sign until after the documents were given him. Had settled a debt he owed Charles Lewis by a mortgage on his estate in the %Vest Indies, independent of the money owing as compensation for slaves set at liberty by the Act of Parliament. Was then receiving 5001. a year from his father ; an annuity of 2001. a year from another source, arid his pay of 130/. a year; altogether 8301. a year, payable quarterly. Gain. pertz had accepted bills for 1,5001. for him, but they were given to Buck or Slade thr services rendered to him (the witness). 16,5001. was the amount of the acceptances obtained by Gompertz and his parties. He was embarrassed by these fraudulent bills being out in the market, but it was useless trying to settle with his other creditors, such as Mr. Bayley and others, until he had prosecuted these fraudulent parties, and got bp the bills. His whole debts were trifling. Those for which he had received value were only 2,000/., which he could pay with the produce of his commission, which alone was worth 2,2501. He would certainly repay all he had received, independently of the resources of mortgaging his other property. Mr. Bush said that was the case as far as had as yet arrived at the knowledge of the prosecutors. It was proper to ob serve that, upon every occasion of the discovery of a forged cheque, the person taken into custody was ready with a story to account for the possession of it, and in no instance had the story been found to be correct. It would be necessary in this case to have time to make inquiries about. the prisoner, for which purpose the solicitor for the prosecution requested a postponement for some days. The LORD Mavoa—Do you wish, prisoner, to say anything as to where you live or how you obtain your livelihood ?—The prisoner said, without hesitation, I lived at Me:,srs. Shoe bridge and Cook's, linen-drapers, in Tottenham-court-road. Was porter there about three months ago. I have been ill since, and have been in Kent for my health, at the Green Dragon, Gillingham. I lived before that tune at Messrs. Casrle, Luck and Co., of Aldermanbury ; and before that I served Messrs. Heywood, in Tottenham-court-road. I was at all these places as porter. The LORD AI AYOR—Where did your employers keep their banking accounts ? The prisoner—l do not know. The Loan MAYOR—Have you not bee►; at any banking hou•e with cheques for them? The prisoner —Never. I have received money for them, but I have never presented cheques for them. Air. Bush—The fact that the prisoner has been so long as between three and four years employed in houses of extensive Iluiiness in town as porter, makes the case more strong against him. The prisoner —Would your Lordship wish to know how it happened that the gentleman who employed me came to the house where I was ? . _ The Loan MAYOR—Certainly, I am desirous to hear all you can tell me on the subject. The prisoner—Has your Lordship seen the advertisement I put in the paper? The LORD MAYOR—NO. The prisoner—l advertised for the place of a messenger in the newspaper, and this person called at my landlady's on Saturday ; and my landlady, Mrs. Rees, to wnom I gave the reference at No. 6, Ivy-lane, asked him whether he came on account of the advertisement. He replied that he did, and I was called down to him. He asked me what wages I ex pected ;,,and I said 325. per week ; and he said that was too much, and offered me 30s. We however came to an agree ment that I should have 801. a year, and I was to meet him in Pope's Head-alley, and he was to go after my character; and then he said I must go and put on a clean coat, as kis master liked to see i person look respectable. I went accordingly to Pope's Head-alley, and I saw him, and he said he had seen the head-clerk at Messrs. Shoolbred and Cook's, and I should go to the Bank of England. So he gave use an old bag to put ten sovereigns in and get silver for it. When I returned with the silver he was waiting in the Alley, and he said he should want me to assist him a good deal that day, and asked me whether 1 knew the banking-house of Jones and Loyd ? When I said no, he said it was in Lothbury, near the Bank, and that I must take a cheque there, and bring the amount on to him at the second door of the Custom-house. I said, What name, Sir? and he said, the name is there on the cheque, they will know it di -- '' rectly you present it. The LORD MAYOR—And you never were sent to get a cheque changed before ? The prisoner —Never. The Loan Mayon—Did they ask you your name at the Bank when yoU went to get the silver for the sovereigns ? The prisoner—No ; they merely weighed the sovereigns, and handed me the s lver without asking me any question. The prisoner was then remanded until Wednesday week. Mr. R. H. Parr, attorney, residing at Poole, detailed the cir. cumstances under which he came to town to recover for Mr. Slade 1,0001. owing to him by Capt. Rose. ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. FREACH PLAYS. M. Arnal, of the Theatre Vaudeville, ' devitle the most humourous of French actors, made a mo s t suc cessful debut here lost night. The first piece was L' Humoriste, in which he acted the part of Remy, the cunning, simple servant of an old humourist with great gusto. His song "Je suis jaloux," and his account of his visit to the opera with sa chdre Dorothee with a billet de favour (an order) for which he had to pay in the shape of fees about twice as much as he would have had to disburse had he paid regularly at the doors, and after all, got the very worst place in the house, where he could see nothing, was given with the most exquisite humour imaglnable. He afterwards appeared as Moquet, Tailleur en Maillots, and the husband of a rising opera-dancer in " Le Mari de la Dames des Chccurs," and in this he was admirable. Never has the union of love, confi dence, and jealousy, been more humorously developed than it was by M. Arnal, in this almost exelunvely Parisian character. It is almost necessary to have lived for some time in Paris to enjoy thoroughly the acting of M. Arnal in these characters ; they are as exclusively Parisian as Liston's Lubin Log w as exclusively Cockney ; but those who know Paris and the Parisians will acknowledge that M. Arnal's delineation of Parisian life is quite as great as was Liston's delineation of London life. M. Arnal is a great actor, the greatest de lineator of Parisian coekneyism , , perhaps, in existence. 'Ye expect gr 4 at things from his L' gomme Blase. The theatre was well and fashionably attended. M. Arnal made an un doubted hit. Mr. Lahee, auctioneer, of Bath, stated that Gompertz had dis. counted a bill accepted by Captain Rose with him. He had been assured first by Gomperta that Rose had a large interest in rever. sion, which he was about to sell, and this bill was to be paid out of the proceeds. The Withams were consulted. The son said that 55,0001. was to be advanced by Parker to Rose. He explained that Mr. Smith, of Bedford.row, was acting for Mr. Parker; that the order of time would be observed as to the payment of the bill. The father was writing, with his' back to him. Being asked if he would advise a client to advance money on such a security as this, he gave an answer in the affirmative. He then advanced 601. more to Gompertz. Receiving a note from him TO introduce him to Mr. Parker, at Hatchett's, he took pains to find him out, but the landlord said there was no one known there of the name but the driver of one of the short coaches.—(Great laugh ter.) The witness never had the note, or got his money. A clerk in Hoare's bank proved there was no one banking at their house in 1841 of the name of Parker, residing at either Paris or Cheltenham, or having 55,0001. to put out in their hands. Mr. Du Pasquier, clerk to Mr. Mattock, solicitor, had in 1841 been induced by Gompertz to lend 3001. on an acceptance of Rose, on the a•sui ance that he was then raising 45,000/. on a sale of his estate in reversion, the deeds for which were then preparing. Mr. Witham, being applied to, said he knew nothing of the transaction. The money advanced was never repaid. A bill passed to Mr. Elderton for 500/. The acceptance of Capt. Rose was put in. Mr. Sewell corroborated Captain Rose's statements in some par iculars. Charles T. Lewis, clerk of the papers in the Queen's Bench Prison, produced his books containing the names of prisoners con fine 4. He referred to the following entries therein :—llenry Gompertz, a prisoner for debts amounting to 22,0001,, in 1839, liberated in 1840 by the Insolvent Act—again a prisoner in 1849. for 9,0101., liberated in .1843 by the operation of the Insolvent Act—again in 1842 a prisoner for 1,7001., liberated under the In solvent Act on the 10th of February, 1845. Mr. Peacock addressed the jury in favour of Henry Gompertz at considerable L ngth. Mr. F. Kelly followed fur Mr. W. Witham in a speech of great ingenuity and force, which lasted till past eight o'clock. When Lord Denman expressed his intention to hear tine rest of the argument tomorrow (this day). CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. OLD COURT. (Before Mr. Baron PLATT.) Robert if Lean, who was stated to be a Custom-house agent, and who surrendered in discharge of his bail, was indicted for a misdemeanor. The Solici7or- General, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Pollock, con ducted the prosecution, Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Robinson ap peared for the defendant. This case arose out of the inquiry consequent upon the cir cumstances that have been frequently described as the Custom house frauds, hut, the details of the case are entirely destitute of interest to the public. It was alleged that the defendant, who was merely an agent for other parties, had paid a less amount of duty upon a case of French wine than it ought to have pail, and the indictment alegeil that he had knowingly and wilfully done so. The jury returotd a verdict of Not Guilty, iL4147, t ST, LONDON, IitTESDA V EVENING, JUNE 24, 1845.: James (bantock, -13, ibs indicted for feloniously cutting and wounding J. Dowbrill with intent to maim and disable him, or to do him some grNvous bodily harm. Mr. Baldwin appeared !)r the prisoner. From the evidence addiccd it appeared that the prisoner was a cab driver, and the ';)rosecutor, *lio is a private watch man in the neighbo,irhoodi,f Gray's Inn-lane, had taken him into custody on a charge d felony. This had greatly enraged him, and he was repeatedy heard to threaten injury to the proseeut , r. On Monday the 19th of June, the prosecutor was goys- into the Red Lisa public-house, Holborn, when he met the prisoner, who alined him, took him by the throat, and eventually made a stab at him with a knife, and infli,!ted a wound upon his breast, wiieh, according to the evidence of the surgeon, if it had not sruck against the bone, would in all probability have deprived bin of life. The jury found the prison er guilty, and he was sentenced to be transported for fifteen yes. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (YESTERDAY.) .11L-I.;\ S/0 A% HOUSE. Evan Evans, a man who 'aas been employed between three and four years in houses of ert ensive trade in London, as por ter or messenger, was brouglt before the Lord Mayor in the custody of John Forrester, the officer, charged with having presented for payment, at the banking-house of Messrs. Jones, Loyd and Cu., a forged cheque for the sum of 7301., on Satur day last. Mr. Bu , h, of the firm of Bush and Martin, the solicitors to the Committee of Banker! for Protection against Forgeries and Frauds, appeared for the prosecution. Mr. John Drake, cashier ti Messrs. Jones, Loyd and Co., bankers, stated that, on Satirday last, a check for 730/. was presented at the counter, at about four o'clock, by the priso ner. [The witness here produced the cheque, which was made payable to Holt and Son, and purported to be signed by " Reed, Irving, and Co.") He saw by the character of the writing that it was a forgery, and he went round the counter and took the prisoner and the cheque into the room of one of the partners. Mr. John Rae Reid, Bart., stated that he was a partner in the house of Reid, Irving, and Co. The signature to the cheque produced bore some resemblance to witness's signa ture of the firm, but it was not a genuine signature. He considered it to be decidedly a forgery, and it did not re semble the signature of any of the partners in any respect. He did not know anything of the prisoner and had not authorised the prisoner to take any cheque to the house of Jones, Loyd and Co. John Forrester said he took the prisoner into custody at the banking-house of I.nes, Loyd and Co. The prisoner stated that a man gave him the cheque in Pope's Head-alley, with directions to get the money and take it to the first door in the Custom-house. Witness accompanied the prisoner to the Cus tom-house, and used every effort to find the person described; he searched about for twenty minutes, and went into a public house to watch the neighbourhood. The prisoner then said that in cons.ouence of an advertisement in the newspaper, some person called upon him at No. 6, Ivy-lane, to which address he had referred in the advertisement for a situation as a messenger, and, after some conversation, sent him to the Bank of England to procure change for ten sovereigns; that he had brought back the silver to the person who had so em. ployed him, and then that person delivered to him the cheque with directions to take it to the second door at the Custom. house. IMPERIAL PARLIAAIENT. HOUSE OF LORD•S' .Tine 23. Their Lordships assembled at the usual hour. WATERFORD AND LIMERICK. The Earl of BESBOROUGH presented several petitions from Waterford in favour of this railway. LEEDS AND WEST RIDING JUNCTION. A NOBLE LORD presented several petitions in favour of this Bill. INTEMPERANCE. The Marquis of NORMANBY presented a petition from Newcastle-on-Tyne again , t intemperance. RAILWAY BILLS: The following railway Bills were brought up from the House of Commons :—The Londonderry and Enniskillen, the London derry and Coleraine ; the Ashton, Staleybridge, and Liver pool; the Horsham branch of the London and Brighton Rail way ; the Cornwall; the North Wales Mineral Railway; the Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Cheshire Junction ; the Bedford branch of the London and Birmingham; the Blackburn, Dar wen, and Bolton; the Lowestoff Railway and Harbour, and others. PROTEST AGAINST THE MAYNOOTH BILL. The Marquis of NORMANBY wished to speak to a point of order connected with their Lordships' proceedings. It might be in the knowledge of their Lordships that a protest had been entered upon the journals of the House against the third reading of the Maynooth Bill. Now, it was the invariable custom of this House that no Noble Lord should sign a protest who was not present at the time the question was put. It was also contrary to the rules to refer to any terms which might be used in a protest ; but he might go out of the way to state that the protest in question put forward an opinion in very strong terms, stating that the Bill was opposed to the principles of the rights of succession, and the principles which placed the present Royal Family on the thrme. This protest had been signed by a Right Reverend Prelate who was not present upon the third reading, but who only voted on the oceasion by proxy. He should, therefore, move, if the Right Reverend Prelate did not wish to do so himself, that leave be given to the Right Rev. Prelate to strike his name out of the protest. The Bishop of LONDON presumed that he was the party alluded to, and he begged tv assure their Lordships he was not aware that the forms of the House precluded him from signing the protest against the third reading of the Bill. Having done so, however, it only remained for him to apologise to the House for the want of knowledge he had displayed, and to request leave of their Lordships to withdraw bis signature from the protest. IRISH LANDLORD AND TENANT BILL. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY, seeing the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies in his place, wished to ask what his intentions were respecting the second reading of a Bill upon their Lordships' table, known as the Irish Landlord and Te• nant Rill ? It stood for the second reading to-morrow, and he wished to tell their Lordships, that a more fatal and more ob noxiou,s measure to the interests of the landed proprietors of Ireland could hardly have been brought forward, and he there fore wished to know whether the Noble Lord intended to carry it through in its present objectionable form, and containing the compulsory clauses. These clauses were most objectionable. They wore founded upon a report lying upon their Lordship's table, the general contents of which, although in some part it gave some good information, convinced him that the concoc tors knew very little of the real state of Ireland. He would say no more at present, because he hoped to have another op portunity of stating more fully his objectio ns , b u t h e t ruste d Government would not venture to push it through parliament at this late period of the session. Lord STANLEY deeply regretted that his sense of public duty did not allow him to propose the postponement of the second reading of this Bill. He had to thank the Noble Marquis for the courtesy which he had experienced at his Lordship's hands i n h av i ng commun i cate d pr i vately his intention to ask this question, and he regretted greatly that he could not comply with it. The Bill had been recommended by the Commission of which his Noble Friend was at the head, without he believed any dissension. That Commission had been composed of individuals all differing in religious and political opinions, and almost on every other subject, but all agreeing in this, that, they were owners of property in Ireland. He should wish this Bill to go through Committee, and, if Noble Lords wished it, rather than its value should be impaired by any undue hate, he should be glad to refer it to a Select Committee up stairs, and have all the clauses thoroughly discussed and decided upon, so as to render it as appropriate as possible for the object whifh it had to serve, for he repeated that he should conceive its value to he very greatly diminished if it was supposed to be passed with any undue haste throu:.h the House. Lord STRADBROKE wished to ask whether the Noble Lord intended to say that this Bill had been brought in on a recommendation of the five Commissioners, because, if he understood rightly, the Commissioners repudiated the Bill as being any Bill of theirs. Lord STANLEY said that the object of this Bill was to give compensation for the expense which had been incurred by the tenant in the improvement of the land. This was an unanimous recommendation of the five Commissioners, and he was not aware that any of the principles of the Bill had been altered. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY wished to inquire whe ther this Bill was to be passed this session, before the Com missioners had concluded their report, or whether they had concluded their report? Lord STANLEY said that would depend on the Corn missioners themselves. NEWCASTLE AND BERWICK RAILWAY. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the Duke of Portland, against this Bill, which he alleged would injure his property unnecessarily, as a better and a shorter line might be laid out, although perhaps not so good a one for the pro prietors. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE wished to know whether railway accidents were ever reported to the Board of Trade, and if not, whether the Board was in the habit of in stituting any inquiries respecting such accidents; and if so, whether there would be any objection to report the result of such inquiries to Parliament. He consi dered that on e great advantage would attend such a course, he meant the publicity which would be given to them. He did not address one question so much with a view to the great and rich railways as the smaller and poorer ones. He wished the Noble Earl to state what was the usual practice on these occasions, and whether there would be any objection to report to Parliament the result of such inquiries if they were made. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said, that by an Act passed in 1840, and a subsequent Act, railway companies were bound, under a penalty, to report all accidents attended with loss of life within forty-eight hours after their occurrence. And with respect to accidents where there was no loss of life, they were bound to furnish a report, but not so soon as in the former case. The usual course adopted was to wait for the report of the railway company, unless in cases of great moment, and when those occurred the Inspector-General was sent down immediately to inquire into the circumstances and report the result and the cause of the accident. The power of the Board, however, stopped there ; they could not compel the adoption of any suggestion which it might be ne cessary to carry into effnt, with a view to prevent their re currence. As to the laying the reports before Parliament, he was not aware but such was the custom, but if not, of course there would be no objection to do so if required. The Earl of DALHOUSIE rose again, in reply to a ques tion from the Duke of Wellington, and said, that no report had been received by the Board of Trade, of the accident wt.ich the Noble Duke referred to as having occurred at Bridgewater. CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL. The Marquis of I3READALBANE p?esented a petition against the Charitable Trust Bill. RAILWAY TRAVELLING ON SUNDAYS. The NOBLE MARQUIS also presented a great number of petitions from clergymen and others in Scotland, against the desecration of the Lord's day, and praying their Lordships to compel railway companies not to run trains on the Sabbath. There was a general opinion amongst clergymen, magistrates, and others in Scotland, that trains only should be run on that day in cases of emergency, of illness, and for the conveyance of Government dispatches of importanci.. NEWCASTLE AND BERWICK RAILWAY. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from New castle in favour of this line. TESTS IN SCOTCH UNIVERSITIES. The NOBLE DUKE also presented a petition praying their Lordships not to abolish any of the tests in the Scotch Uni versities. THE CORN-LAWS—AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS. The NOBLE DUKE also presented two petitions from Hamp. shire—the first complaining of the last alterations in the corn• laws; the second complaining of agricultural uistress, and pray ing for relief. _ ADELPHI THEATItt:. Who that knows anyhing of the gossipping history of theatres has not heard of Peg Woffington, the prima donna of irury-lane, in the days of George the Second, the king of Boetry end Bainting--the immortal poet of the immortal stanza (worthy of being recorded by Walpole, among his works of Royal and Noble Authors): Here comes my Lord Littletoni, Riding on his little bla, k pony." It would appear, however, according to the author of this drama, that this utilitarian Monarch, although he treated the professors of the fine arts with right royal contempt himself, knew how to make the taste of others subservient to his pur poses, and accordingly we find Peg Mr offinaton (Miss Woolgar) much interested in precuring a most advantageous treaty of commerce with France and Belgium by playing off the loves of Baron Stuph (Paul Bedford), the Dutch Minister, against those of the Marquis de Mousseux (Selby), the French Minister. Lady Ann Schemer (Miss Emma Harding), the most fasci nating of the intriguantes of the English Court, persuades Peg to undertake the mission, and induces her to run off from Drury-lane with George Tarleton (Mr. Hudson), her lover, who is for the pur pose appointed English Plenipotentiary to Paris. She succeeds in her mission, fascinating the Marquis and the Baron —the treaty is signed, and she is rewarded by the hand of George Tarleton. Wright, as Jacob Merestick, the Master of the Ballet, who follows his premier danseuse to Paris, fur nishes forth the fun of the piece, and, of course, in such hands the fun is plentiful and broad. The piece is short, full of inci dent and fun, and never flaw, and the dialogue is pointed, and witty. No wonder therefore that it succeeded. Peg Woffing ton will be as great a favourite with the playgoing public in 1845 as she was in 1746. The house was crowded. SADLER'S WELLS. Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer's play of Richelieu, or the Conspiracy, has been performing during the past week, at this theatre, with decided success. The part of the Car dinal, by Mr. Phelps, was ably performed throughout. We were particularly struck with his scene with Bar radas, the chief conspirator, with Julia, his orphan ward; again, at the close of the fourth act ; and at the fall of the curtain they were truly powerful. Mrs. Warner, as J, lia, nobly s-Tonded him through the piece, and various were the occasions which called forth her well-known abilities. As to Mr. G. Bennett, we think he never ap peared to greater advantage than in the part of Barradas, and de Manprat was well sustained by Mr. 11. Marston. In a word, the representation was good throughout, and gave universal satisfaction. At the close Mr. Phelps was called before the curtain, and Mrs. Warner was led on by Sir. Marston. The dresses were r'eb, and in peeect don Messrs. ac 3 c,o and Fenton, ryas excellent—one work in particu aar(z with that era ; the scenery, by particu ar, the Cardinal's pietare gallery, beautiful, and has wen excAlld. We were glad to see the house so rare well - film ; t h ere was but one exception, the private boxes, and it is to be regretted that where such spirit is displayed by the manal;ers, independent of the talent provided, and no regard ly - jriL.; had to the ex petv e required in getting up pieces in des style, we say it is to be re gretted that tnose who hue tt:e means do not come for r.-ard and till the private boxes, and patronise exertions so well deserving of it. PROPOSED NEW PACKET STATION.—Some time since a recommendation was made (we believe by the committee of the Bcard of Trade), that a packet-station should be established at Bantry, to Ireland, as beisg a most advantageous point of arrival and departure for ships from America, Fee. ; and it appears that a deputation from the directors of a railway which is intended to connect that port with Bandon have waited upon Sir Robert Peel to ascertain how far Government may be disposed to follow out the recommendation. The testilt of the interview was that the depu tation learned that Government as fully appreciate the importance of the matter as do our mercantile interests, and that they are giving it their serious corsideration. DEFENCE OF TIII .CoAsT.—Orders are, we under stand, daily expected at this port to repair, erect, and arm with heavy guns of three tni es' range, batteries on Drake's Island, Devil's Point; Plymouts Citadel, Redding Point, and stadtion Heights t .wilgassout.i TOce, SMALL DEBTS BILL. Lord BROUGHAM moved the second reading of this Bill. The Duke of RICHMOND objected to that part of it which gave the governor of a gaol power to administer an oath. Be sides, that officer was often absent at the assizes, or in convey ing convicts from one gaol to snother. He considered that the oath ought only to be administered by a visiting justice. This was the only objection which he had t o th e Bill . Lord BROUGHAM said, inferior officers, the Clerk of the Papers in the Queen's Bench, for instance, were empowered to admini-ter oaths. They bad no means of making a justice come to the gaol, and a poor debtor was unable to pay the expense. The Governor, in 99 cases out of 100, was at home when required. Last year, many persons were kept 10 days or a fortnight in gaol because no person was at band before whom they could swear an affidavit. A debtor could not go to a justice, but was compelled to wait until he could come to him in prison. Lord PORTMAN understood that that portion of the Bill had been omitted, and such was the impression of many Noble Lords. Certainly, the shortening of a person's imprisonment was an advantage, but he conceived that no great delay would occur in obtaining the attendance of a justice to administer the oath. An oath was invested with more solemnity when admi nistered by a person in a high and responsible position. He wished his Noble Friend could have got rid of the oath in this case altogether, and hoped the words " visiting justice " would be added in the place of the words at present in the Bill. The Earl of WICKLOW thought that there could be no objection to accept the suggestion of the Noble Duke opposite, for there was no doubt bat that the justices were very constant in their visits at their prisons, and when they could so easily be found, he thought it would be very objectionable to allow these oaths to be administered by the gaoler. Lord CAMPBELL really saw no objection to the adminis tration of these oaths as were prescribed by the clause of his Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Brougham), for certainly he was quite ready that the governors of gaols should be entrusted with this power. Several of them, he knew from his own ex perience on circuit, had served her Majesty both in the army and navy, and were to all intents and purposes gentlemen. They were generally treated with great respect, and he believed that these functionaries would administer oaths with much more solemnity than they were administered in the Court of Queen's Bench, or even in the Court of Chancery. When an affidavit was to be administered in the Court of Chancery, the officer of the Court simply said to the witness, " Is this your handwriting?—kiss the book—a shilling ;" and on the payment of the fee the ceremony terminated. Even this did not pass in the Courts, but was performed in the passages. The LORD CHANCELLOR said, beside, it must be re membered that these persons were in no position to compel the justices to came. Lord BROUG HAM said that in Scotland the matter was very different. There the oaths were administered by the judges themselves in the most awful form, and with the utmost solemnity, but such was not the case here. The Lord CHANCELLOR—That was sufficiently evident from the way in which oaths were administered in the hall in that House. Lord BROUGHAM could bear testimony to that, for he had seen forty- witnesses being sworn in at once, and that, too, with so little form, that in one instance he had passed between the swearer and the person being sworn, without at all inter rupting the ceremony. And with regard to an affidavit—who ever heard of any solemnity in the administration of an affida vit? His Noble Friend had coolly asked him to alter the whole law of England in the administration of an oath. That was all. No matter whether the parties affected were Quakers, Separatists. or members of the Church of England. With re-pert to the testirneny of his Noble and Learned Friend, he eould bear equal evidence to the high respectability of the gaolers, both at York and Uneaster. Of Mr. Higgins especially, the governor of the gaol at Lancaster, he could speak, for lie knew it for a fact, that the member for the county, on his late visit to his constituents, had dined with him, which was more than he would do with every one of the visiting justices. In many instances he knew the governors of gaols to be of the highest respectability. The Duke of RICHMOYD ruggssts3 that the imbability The Duke of RICHMOND moved the third reading of this Bill. Lord POL WORTH moved the insertion of a clause em powering the justices of Scotland to license toll-bars, provided there was not a public-house within two miles of the spot where the toll-bar was situated. The Duke of ROXBURGH opposed the clause, and sup ported the Bill as it stood. There were already too many licensed public-houses in Scotland, and he was glad their Lord ships had entertained a Bill for restricting their number. The Duke of MONTROSE supported the clause. He thought it was a great convenience to travellers and carriers that toll- bars should be licensed, for they were mostly situsted in parts of the country where a house of refreshment could not be met with for miles and miles round. Lord CAMPBELL said the licensing of toll-bars only bene fited the road trustees, and as he thought the people of Scot. land had already been sufficiently demoralised by these houses, he should oppose the clause. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH reminded tl:eir Lordships that, under an existing Act of Parliament, no toll-house could be licensed without the recommendation of the road trustees ; and, acting upon this Act, they had recommended that almost every toll-bar in the country should be licensed, because the toll of itself was unable to pay the interest of the trust. The trustees had thus been enabled to raise larger sums of money on the tolls than they otherwise could have dune had there been no such Act. The alteration in the law, he had no doubt, would be beneficial to the country at large, but it would, at the same time, entail great and serious difficulties upon many important trusts in Scotland. With respect to the amendment he did not think the restric tion to a couple of miles was sufficient. He admitted that in some parts of the country the traffic was not sufficient to main tain an inn, and it was highly desirable that some provision should be made in the Bill to meet such cases as these. It was not se much he thought the system of granting licences to toll bars that had tend e d t o d emora li ze t h e peop l e as th e sys t em o f granting licences to small shop-keepers, and thus inducing ser vants and others to go and deal with them for the sake of the dram. After a few words of explanation from Lord CAMPBELL and Lord POL WORTH, The Earl of HADDING TON hardly knew how to vote, but he thought under the circumstances the number of miles mentionpd in the clause ought to be increased. Lord KINNAIRD should vote against the clause proposed by his Noble Friend. The Earl of ELLEN BOROUGH did not know much about Scotland, but it appeared to him that the interest of all parties would be consulted by allow ing toll-bars to he licensed for the sale of spirits, if the nearest public-house was not within fire milee. Lord BEAUMON T said that was more than was sought by the amendment. If they put " five miles" after the word " to." he conceived that the object sought for would be gaired, as a toll-bar could not then be licensed for the sale of spirits, it a public-house was within five miles of either side of it. The Duke of RICHMOND considered that if they put in any saving clauses, the trustees of the roads would be too strong for them, many of whom were desirous that their toll bats should be licensed in the way they were, that they might obtain a larger revenue from them. If a clause were inserted for the purpose of giving the trustees compensation, th.'y would not object to the Bill. For many miles, in some of the most remote parts of Scotland, there were no tol l-bars, but those that existed were opened during the whole of the Sab bath, and added greatly to its desecration. He considered the Bill was of great importance to that country, and could see no reason why there should be one law for England and another for Scotland. For the purpose of giving time, he should postpone the 3d reading until Friday. CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL. This Bill passed through Committee. SCOTCH BANKING. The Earl of RIPON moved the second reading of this Bill. He said two measures had been passed for regulating joint stock and other banks in England, and that they were generally admitted to be wise and just, and that the advantages expected to result from them to the public interests, considering the short time that had elapsed since they were passed, had been fully realised. The Government had, therefore, been induced to propose a measure for regulating the banking of Seotland, on a somewhat similar plan. He admitted that the present system had not produced any prominent evils, but, as regarded the general security of the banking establishments of the United Kingdom, a more rational assimilation between the banking system of this country and Scotland was exceedingly desirable. It was not proposed to de,srive the banks of Scotland of the privilege which they enjoyed of issuing notes below 51., but, simply to impose some limitation on the amount of the issues. There were 19 banks in Scot land, an average was to be taken of their whole monthly issue separately, as well as collectively, for 13 months between the Ist of May 1844 and the 31st of May 1845, and that the ave rage of the total issue in these 13 months should be the maxi mum amount of the future issue of each and all of these banks; but in order to give the greater accommodation they were allowed to issue any quantity of notes they pleased, so long as they were in proportion to the quantity of coin which might be in their possession for four consecutive weeks. The average maximum circulation of Scotland was to be 3,363,0001. in notes and in other securities. As he had said, they would be empowered to make a further issue to any extent, provided they had coin to the amount in their possession. This additional amount would be one-fifth of the regulated issue or 60,0001., making a total of 3,663,000/. This was a larger amount than they had issued during any stated time. For the year ending December their issue amounted to 3,486,0001., so that that sum gave them the power of materially increasing their issues. These were briefly the main features of the Bill, which he was of opinion would not cause any inconvenience to the monetary affairs of Scotland. Lord RADNOR said the measure was an unnecessary inter ference with the banking system of Scotland. There was an old maxim, that when anything was going on to the satisfac tion of all parties. that it should be left alone. He was, there fore, at a loss to know why the Government wished to inter- 'ere with the banking system of that country. Lord Eldon once complained of a modern practice which had grown into use, of not stating in the preamble of a Bill, the effects which it was intended to realize, and the mischiefs which it was proposed to remedy. This Bill was a remarkable instance of this remark. The preamble stated that, " whereas it is expedient to regulate the banking system of Scotland," &c. It should have stated the grievances which it was proposed to obviate in the banking system of Scotland. The people of that country had not com plained of it—on the contrary ; they were very much annoyed at the proposition. No inconvenience—no failure had resulted from it. There were only two failures in 1842. In the report of the Committee on the renewal of the Bank Charter, it was stated that the failures of banks in England from MN to 1820, amounted to 113 ; but, in Scotland, during that time, there was not a single failure. Why, therefore, the system was to be assimilated to that of England, he could not conceive. The Committee which sat in 1826, on the expediency of abo lishing the 1/. note,bore testimony to the excellence of the system, and was in favour of retaining the 1/. note. From On to 1812 there were only two ca,es of bankruptcy in the banking establishments of Scotland. The Committee of the House of Commons which sat on this subject, of which Sir Robert Peel, Mr. fluskisson, and others were members, was unwilling, without any proof of the necessity—what proofs had the Noble Lord given I—to destroy a system so admirably calculated, in their opinion, to economise the capital and improve the condition of the people and promote industry. If the banks were so prudent as W keep so large a sum of gold at present, where was the necessity of endeavouring to make them act less prudently? lie thought it very foolish to inter fere with a system which, it was admitted on all sides, was already managed so admirably ; and he could not therefore see what could induce the Noble Lord to interfere at all. It was in evidence, that notwithstanding the increased population —the increase in trade and commercial prosperity—and not withstanding the establishment of the branch banks, the paper currency was diminished. He thought the substitution of paper for gold was one of the most ingenious inventions of modern times, and as he considered the present Bill was alto gether unnecessary, and was against the wishes of the people of Scotland, he was bound to give it his most decided oppo sition. He therefore moved, as an amendment, that it be read a second time that day three months. • Lord KINNAIRD expected that there would have been a larger attendance of Scotch Peers on the present oc casion, as they ail seemed to be of opinion that the Scottish banking system, as it at present existed, did net require any alteration. The largest average issue was 3,500,000/., or thereabouts, and as it was not proved that there existed any abuses in connexion with the system, he would say " Not Content" to the present Biil, believing as he did, with the Noble Earl who had just sat down, that Legislative inter ference with the system was altogether unnecessary. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said, that the Noble Lord op posite had protested against the Government for having intro duced the measure on the ground that the present system worked well. For his part, he did not question that there hail been comparative safety and considerable advantage connected with the present banking system in Scotland, and he would not question the great advantage of the 11. system ; but it was qeite a mistaken notion that the present Bill would interfere with any of those advantages. Her Majesty's Government could not give a stronger appreciation of the value they at tached to them, or a greater desire to secure their permanency. Ihe sole object of the present Bill was, that if the banks of Scotland hereafter exceeded their present issues, they must do so only in the quantity of gold and silver. If difficulties had not been felt in times past, it was mainly owing to the readi ness with which they could make a run upon the Bank of Eng land • and the present Bill was intended to meet au emergency of that sort, and to provide that the banks shall not exceed their present circulation without a corresponding amount of gold and silver. Under these circumstances, he considered the present Bill was an improvement upon the present system. After a few words in explanation from the Earl of RADNOR, The amendment was negatived without a division, and the Bill was ordered to be committed on Thursday. NEWCASTLE AND CARLISLE RAILWAY. This Bill was read a second time. HULL AND SE.LI3Y RAILWAY ALTERATION. This Bill was read a third time and passed, LANCASTER AND CARLISLE RAILWAY EXTEN SION. This Bill was read a third time and passed. The House adjourned shortly after Eight o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 23. The Speaker took the chair shortly before Four o'clock. The Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway Bill was read a bird time and pasted. Oster Extension Railway Bill was read a third time • and passed. The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. Lord H. VANE brought up the report of the Erewash Vallev Railway Bill, which was agreed to. The Lords' amendments to the Lowestoft Railway and Barbour Bill were agreed to. On the motion of Sir C. LEMAN, the Cornwall Railway Bill was read a third time, after some observations from Cap. tain Plumridge in opposition to the motion. The report on the Bermondsey Improvement Bill was brought up and agreed to. The Manchester, Bury, and Rossendale Railway Bill was read a third time, and passed. The report was brought up on the North Union and Ribble Navigation Bill, and agreed to. GLASGOW JUNCTION RAILWAY. The report on the Glaseqw Junction Railway Bill was brought tip, and agreti to, was that the probable reason for the visit of the Member for Lancashire to the governor was, that the majority of his con stituents were in gaol.—(Lau ,;hter.) Jesting apart, he would suggest that t h e a or di ng o f t h e c l ause s h ou ld be so altered, as to allow the gaoler or deputy gaoler to administer the oath in the absence of the justices in the neighbourhood. That would bz a compromise between the two plans. Earl RADNOR said that he thoeght it was highly requi site that the alteration should be made, as he feared that this Laity in the administration of an oath not only in their minor affairs, but also in - the courts of justice, was very rapidly under mining the morality of the people. Lord BROUGHAM would avail himself of the Noble Duke's stggestion, and he Would, therefore, alter the passage in the clause so as to make it lawful for the governor of a gaol to administer the oath unles4 the attendance of a visiting or ether justice could be obtained within 1 2 hours. Atter some further discussion the Bill passed through Com mittee, and their Lordships having resumed the report was brought up and received. The Bill was then read a third time and passed. SCOTCH TOLL-BAR BILL. BERKS AND HANTS RAILWAY. The Lords' amendments to the Berks and Ilants Ra'lwav Bill were agreed to. ABERDARE RAILWAY. The report on the Aberdare Railway Bill was brought up by Mr. BECKETT. The Forth and Clyde Navigation and Union Canal Junction Bill was ordered to be recommitted. THE GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN (IRE LAND) RAILWAY This Bill was read a third time and passed.. EPPING RAILWAY. On the motion of Dr. EOWRING, the Eitving Railway Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be conwitted. Mr. BECKETT presented a petition from Leeds in favour of a ten hours' Bill. Mr. ROCHE presented a petition from Cork in favour of the repeal of the Legislative Union. The petition was eigncd by the Mayor. CHESTER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY. The Chester and Birkenhead Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. ARRESTAIENT OF WAGES. I Mr. T. DUICX6IIIBE presented several petitions in favour of the Arrestment of Waggon ( Scotland) Bill. BLACKBURN, DARWEN, AND BOLTON RAILWAY. The Lords' amendments to the Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton Railway Bill were agreed to. UNIVERSITY TESTS. Captain WEMYSS presented several petitions from diffe rent parts of Scotland in favour of the Bill for abolishing University tests. Mr. BANNERMAN p resen t e d a p e tition from Aberdeen in favour of the Bill for abolishing religious tests in the Scotch Universities. The SOLTCITOR-GENERAL presented a petition from Mr. Carus Wilson (as we understood) complaining of his im prisonment by the Royal Court of Jersey, and praying for in quiry. Mr. ENTWISLE presented a petition from Oldham, in Lancashire, in favour of the Physic and Surgery Bill. Mr. BRIGHT presented a petition from an individual named Wheatley, complaining of neglect on the part of one of the reviskg barristers. Also, a petition from some place in Huntingdonshire, praying that those persons who conscientiously objected to taking an oath, might be permitted to make a declaration instead. Also a petition from slme place in Huntingdonshire against the sale of intoxicating liquors on the Sabbath ; and a petition from an individual complaining of the conduct of the magistrates of Loughborough and Ashby de la Zouch, and praying for inquiry. Mr. COLQUHD[JN presented a petition from the xne• chanics in Bradford, Yorkshiie, praying for a shortening of the hours of labour. LYNN AND DEREHAM RAILWAY. The Lynn and Dereham Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. J3EDFORD, LONDON, AND BIRMINGHAM RAIL WAY BILL. This Bill ales was was read a t}.ird time and passed. ASHTO.N AND STALEYBRIDGE RAILWAY. The A-hton, Staleybridge, and Live pool Junction .Rail way Bill ( Ardwiek and Guide branches) was read a third time and passed. SHREWSBURY, OSWESTRY, AND CHESTER JUNCTION RAILWAY BILL. The Lords' amendments to this Bill were egreed to. CORNWALL RAILWAY BILL. The Cornwall Railw.iy Rill was read a third time and passed, SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES BILL. Mr. MACAULAY moved that the order of time day for the second reading of this Bill be read for the purpose of post poning it to Wednesday, the 9th July.—Agreed to. NOTICES OF MOTION. Mr. O'CONNELL rave notice that he should, on Wednes • day, move for certain returns and surveys. Dr. BOW RING gave notice that to-morrow he should put three questions to the Home Secretary, on the subject of the case of J. W. Caldecott—first, whether he had been committed to Castle Rushen, Isle of Man, in September last, without any-execution having been issued out against him. Secondly, whether his complaint to the Lieuterant-Governor on the sub ject had not been referred to the committing magistrate ; and thirdly, whether, although only committed for six month., he was not still in prison? THE LATE ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. Mr. W. 0. STANLEY wished to put a question te the Vice-President of the Board of Trade. It would be in the recollection of the House that a serious accident, unattended, however, with the loss of life, had occurred on the Great Western Railway, on Wednesday, near Slough. Two days afterwards another accident took place nearly at the same part of the railway. He understood that the Board of Trade had dispatched the Inspector-General, General Palley, to the spot, to inspect the line, and he (Mr. Stanley) should feel obliged to the Right Hon. Gentleman if, when he received General Pas ley's report, he would state to the House what Lien. Pas'ey con sidered to have been the cause of tim accident, and whether the cause still remained. It was a matter of great public in terest, for there was an impression out of doors that the very high velocity at which the express trains travelled was not al together safe. Sir G. CLERK said that immediately that the report of the accident on Wednesday had reached the Board of Trade, the Inspector-General had been dispatched to the spot, to as certain the cause of the accident, and to report to the Board of Trade what measures it would be necessary to adopt in order to prevent its recurrence. It appeared that the accident had been owing to the elasticity of the rails at the place where it had occurred. Those rails were the same which had been ori ginally laid down at the first construction of the Great Western Railway, and it appeared that they were much lighter, and were placed on sleepers of much less scantling than those at present in use, and which experience had taught the Company were better adapted for the purpose than those originally laid down. The Company had been for some time past removing these original rails, and substituting for them rails of greater weight, and sleepers of larger scantling, which would produce greater stiffness, and prevent the too great elasticity of the rails. The House was aware that some years ago it had been suggested,in consequence of the:manner in which certain accidents had occurred, that a luggage van should always be interposed between the tender and the pas senger carriages. This plan had been adopted on the Great Western Railway, and as it was an object with the express rains to carry as little as possible, the van thus used for these trains was a light four-wheel one instead of one with six wheels, and it was .lightly loaded This van had, through its lightness, been thrown off its train and dragged the other carriages after it. As a proof that the lightness of the. van was the cause of the accident., he might men tion that the same thing occurred to the luggage van on Friday but as it was the last carriage on the train no serious consequences ensued. Gen. Pasley had called the attention of the Company to the circumstance, and they had, therefore, now substituted a. luggage carriage wi'h six wheels for those with four, and they had also loaded it to such an extent as to make it equal in weight to the passenger carriages. He had likewise pressed upon the company the necLseity of removing those light rails, as speedily as possible, and, he believed, that before the end of the summer the light rails would be removed on the whole of the line. Now that the luggage vans were of sufficient weight in the express trains, it was the opinion of the Inspector-General that no danger was likely to occur on account of the speed, and he hoped he might say that there now existed no danger of the recurrence of such an accident. After a few words from Mr. OSWALD, which were in• audible in the gallery, Sir G. CLERK explained that rails made of stronger materials would not be so likely to yield to pressure. A similar accident had, some time ago, occurred on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, in consequence of the too great e:as ticity of the rails; that cause had been removed, and no accident of a similar character had since recurred. THE TEN HOURS' BILL. Mr. S. CRAWFORD presented a petition from a town in the \Vest Riding of Yorkshire in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill. COMMON LAW PROCESS BILLS. On the motion that the order of the day for the Ireland Col leges Bill be read, Mr. Sergeant MURPHY said he would detain the House a few minutes while he made an explanation respecting certain personal allusions that had been made re garding himself. He had no doubt that the House would per ceive by the sequel that the allusions made were not justified by the real facts of the cas and were calculated to do him considerable personal injury. On that ground he would state to the House the circumstances to which he alluded. The animadversions had reference to certain Bills originally entrusted to him, in which it was alleged that be did not act the part he had promised to de, in regard to the car irnyinngumtblic.erm fo th r ro th u e gh reg th u e lationof House. The Bil ls law weir,er processes e s the common in England, Ireland, and Scotland, the leading object bring to m +lre parties domiciled in either of the three kingdoms, who might have contracted debts in any of those in which they might not at that time be residing, legally responsible for their debts—that is, that any one resisting in Ireland and Scotland, who had contracted debts in England, should be made amenable to their creditors in the latter place. But the bills had another object—the doing away with certain onerous and expensive processes that i n t er f ere d in pursuing parties out of the jurisdiction of any one of the three kingdoms to the others. To the latter provisions of the Bills he subscribed to the fullest extent, but to the other part he did not. The Bills were introduced last year, since which considerable opposition had been raised against them by the Atterney.Gencral for Ireland and the Lord Advocate for Scotland. As the Ministry did not take up the Bills be entrusted them to the Honourable and Learned Member for Cirencester who att,-nded to them with exceeding great care and assiduity. He had had several communications with the Noble and Learned Lord who introduced the Bills to the other House of Parliament; and when the Bills were passed and sent down to this House, the Noble and Learned Lord requested him (Mr. Sergeant Murphy) to take charge of them. He did so, but in the meantime, however, he found that a great opposition to the Bills was raised in va rious quarters ; and he himself received several remonstrances from persons in Ireland who were not connected with any poli tical party. Amongst other objections to the Bill, it aas stated to him that great numbers of persons fiom Ireland were obliged to come to this country upon temporary business, and that it would be a great hardship to them to be dragged into the English courts. He had also received remonstrances from persons of the legal profession in Ireland, pointing out the hardship and inconveniences to which they would he sub jected by being obliged to follow their causes from their own jut isdictien into this country, under such circumstances as the Bill contemplated. Accordingly, he did communicate with the :Noble arid Learned Lord requesting that the care of the Bills should betaken out of his hands. In answer he received a letter from the Noble and Learned Lord, without any date ; but as he received it on the lst of May he supposed it was written about that time.—( Laughter.) He subsequently re ceived a second letter, which seemed as if it were intended to express some change of the Noble Lord's mind.—( A, laugh.) He would, with the permission of the House, read those letters. The first was as follows :—" My dear Alurphy—l think it is quite right, that you should wash your hands of the obnoxious Bills."—( Laughter. ) It was on the authority of that letter that he (Mr. Sergeant Murphy )afterwards stated in the Haute, in the words of the Nola'.o and Learned Lord, that he has "washed his hands" of the Bills. The second letter began thus : " My dear M urphy—Pet sonally, I do not care one farthing about the Bills, but I cannot see that there is any occasion for the opposition to them, for I do tint think that they would inflict any of the alleged hardships." After the receipt of that ietter, he (Mr. Sergeant Murphy) entrusted the Bills to his Honourable and Learned Friend, the Member for Ciren cester, with whom he consulted es to what chances the Bills would have of being carried. It seen e ed. to them that all the Noble and Learned Lord cared about was the decent interment. of the hills—( A laugh)—and it seemed to hitn now that what the Noble and Learned Lord chiefly re gretted was, that they had not been decently interred.— ( Laughter.) He (Mr. Sergeant Murphy) did not wish to infringe upon any privilege of Parliament; but , in the wa y in which the usages of the House allowed him , he woul d shortl y allude to what had been said elsewhere .— ( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord hist said those Bills had been dealt with with out his authority. The Member for Cirencester would con firm his statement that he had distinctly told the Noble Lord that those Bills could not be passed during the present session, and He could not be blind to the fact that the the Noble Lord had assented to what he ha sta t em ent which had gone forth, though made in a moment stated. t of jocular hilarity , was calculated t o do s e r io us e v il any him especially. The impression out of doors was that be bad committed a gnu breach of aonfidenze, tad betnyea.lia :S „ the , and state d el' )r so e cal, 14 be ;rill I re' old entil Was e At oda' h he sons fore ~,