The Sun. — London, England, 1847-06-10 00:00:00

rt , trb aWattion SUN OFFIC.I 3, Seven o' Clock. RAILWAY COM MI'TTEES. (THIS DA" 1.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Boom B. 111,1131D0072. STAINES, 4L7 31) SOUTEAFZES. TERN (RICHMOND TO T NINDSOR, &c.) WEICDSOV. & SOUTH-WEI STERN (STAINES TO ASCOT AND WORINGHAY I , WITH BRANCHES). The Committee met this mon, .ing, at eleven o'clock, the Duke of RT.chmond in the chair. Evidencse in opposition to these projects was continued. Sir Robert Peel was amongst the witnesses examined. Mr. AtIETIN was proceeding to put a question with respect to some negotie Lions that had taken place between the TAight Hon. Baronet and Mr. Saunders, the secretary of Pat Great Western, wh;.le he was in office, with respect 1111 atmo spheric line -from Slough to Windsor. Mr. Sergpant WZANG objtcted to the, question, on the ground digit that line was not before the Committee. The Com mittee took the same view of. the question, and it was not pv.t. In reply to the question, whett.er the line would be ob jectionable to the prop rty of the, Crown, or not, he replied that the line of last session was objectionable, but whether the present line was or wai no' objectionable to the Crown, was a question which would ' D e more properly answered by the First Commissir,ner of W Dods and Forests, Lord Morpetli, and by his prede censor, lord Lincoln, than by him. He could give no °pi/ lion ur 2 on it. The Committee adlvarned until to-morrow. HOUSE OF COMMONS. GROUP VI. GZ*&T NATZWYZI2.Ie (EXTENSION TO E.ILETEIL). This Ca mmittee met to-day at the usual hour; Mr. Deedes chairman. The , en ass-examination of Mr. Brunel occupied the Com mittee diming the whole of the day. GROUP X. This Committee met at the usual hour this morning, but several of the members taking an interest in the debate on the railway resolutionrs, The CISAIRMAN de dared the Committee to stand further adjourtsed till to-mv rrow. GROUP XXIV. CHUBTER AND UOLYHEAD. Tine Commits ee met at the usual hour. ALEXANDER addressed the Committee at some length on behalf of the locus standi of the Liverpool Steam-packet Cot npanv, contending that they ought to be heard, as by the con struction of the proposed railway their traffic would be dis ainished. I Kr. TALBOT Nr.-..s heard in reply. The room was ordered to be cleared, and the Committee deci ded that they could not regard this measure merely as railway Bill, and that they could not come to a correct and proper decision on. the Bill if they did so, and they therefore decided that the parties should be heard. Mr. 'TALBOT then proceeded to address the Committee on behalf of the promoters of the Bill. The: Committee was occupied during the remainder of the day in_ heuri.ng evidence in support thereof. The , Coramittee adjourned till twelve to-morrow. GROUP XXX. The Committee on this group re-assembled this morning in Room 3 4 ; Mr. Corry in the chair. gm: CAT NORTHERN (DEVIATION 73E TV/MEN GRANTHAM AND YORK). M r. Miller and Mr. Cnbitt, civil engineers, were examined oa b ehalf the promoters, with respect to the deviation called Bar abymede, and Mr. R. Stephenson on behalf of the oppo• shim. After some further discussion, the Committee threw out this deviation between Retford and Doncaster. DEVIATION NEAR TUXTORD. --- Mr. DENNISTON then opened the case of the promoters on the deviation near Tuxford. Mr. Cabitt, C.E., was examined on the engineering works required on this part of the line, and one witness deposed as to the traffic. Mr. Fowler, C.E., was examined in opposition to the line on behalf of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway. This part of the line was passed, and some additional clauses were added to the Bill. The Committee adjourned till twelve o'clock to-morrow. GROUP XXXIX. The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of the Bills comprised in this Group re-assembled at the usual hour this morning, Lord Charlea Wellesley in the chair. "TINGE NAXIMITAY, AND LEEDS AND TIELIZSIL AMALGAMATION. The Committee having passed the preamble of this Bill, were engaged the rest of the day in disposing of the clauses. The clauses having been agreed to, the Chairman was directed to report the Bill to the House, and the Committee adjourned. GROUP XLV. EDINBURGH AND PERTH, The Committee met as usual at twelve o'clock. Mr. Jopp, C.E., and Mr. William Anderson, traffic-taker, were cross-examined by the counsel for the opponents. The Committee, in the absence of some necessary wit nesses, adjourned at two o'clock. GROUP XLVI. The Committee met at twelve o'clock, and of er an address from Mr. Whateley on behalf of the Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton scheme, the Committee decided that the EDINBURGH, LEITH, AND GRANTON (UNION CANAL AND CALEDONIAN RAILWAY TUN CTION), wai not proved ; and that the CALEDONIAN (EDrNEURGII STATION and BRANCHES TO GRANTON AND TO THE EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY), was proved. The clauses of the 13111 were then gone through and agreed to. COMMITTEE ON MERITS. HOUSE OF LORDS.—(THIS DAY.) The Earl of Shaftesbury passed the following Bills : Heroi's (Pensions) Estate Bill. Mylne (or APNabb's) Estate. Wyndham's Estate. Pa} ne's Patents Assignment. Wakefield Borough Market. Aberdeen Harbour Improvement. Glasg , ,w and Shott's Road. National Mercantile Life Assurance Society. Edinburgh Markets and Customs. Staffordshire Potteries Waterworks. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR,—A false assumption and scandalous abuse of my name haviag found its way to your columns in the Marl borough-street police reports of yesterday, and being the only person bearing the title of the old and not undis tinguished family, which is to become extinct with me, I hope you will be kind enough to insert this note in your widely-circulating paper, as expressing my earliest and unqualified contradiction of having any connexion with the parties and statements referred to, Sc, injurious to my character and social position. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your ob.dient servant. MORITZ DAM VONDER PI'ORTE. Tokenheuse-yard, June 9th, 1847. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. The Earl or SHAFTESBURY took his seat upon the Woolsack at Five o'clock . DIOCESE OF KILDARE. The Archbishop of DUBLIN presented a petition from the Protestant Association of Bath for the restora tion of the diocese of Kildare. REPRESENTATIVE PEERS (SCOTLAND) BILL. On the motion of the Earl of EGLINTON this Bill was read a third time. INFLUX OF IRISH PAUPERS INTO LIVER POOL, &c. Lord BROUGHAM pr,sented a petition from Swan sea, praying that all national education should be based upon secul:sr principles; also a petition from Liverpool, complaining of the influx of Irish paupers into that town. Already, the petition stated, had several of the inhabitants of Liverpool, includ ing six captains of Irish steam -vessels fallen victims to the fever these paupers h a d imported into the town, and the p,.itioners prayed that some measures should be adopt. ,1 ray the Legislature to prevent Ireland from enmty ;°-; h.--r diseased, infirm, and starving popu lation into tile town. A FP' IRS OF PORTUGAL. -- - - - Lord BROUGHA M complained that certain papers connected with the affairs of Portugal had been published in the newspapers before they were laid upon the table of the House, and gave notice that on Tuesday he should submit a proposition to their Lordships on the subject. POOR REMOVAL ACT. Lord REDESDALE presented a petition from the county of Oxford emPaining of the operation of the Poor Re moval Ac Several Bills w ere e.. are brought up from the House of re Commons, a n d first time.QUAKERS MARRIAGES. Lord CAM o PBELL to move the second r e ading of a Bill for declaring ce r rt s a e inmarria es between Quakers valid. It was a Bill to confirm Lo r d C ottenham's Bill. An Aat had been passed i n 1826, r e nd e r the marriages of Quakers valid, but great doubts ts had been r a i se d re specting their validity. and in Seal d ec lared to be untenable, and this ti Bilailltrd they had b een wesaas ittoatfebmezeaxl.l. d ou bts respecting them, as great perienced in consequence of the decisions of the courts of law. The Bill was rend a second time without a divisi on RE TURNS FROM TIIE POST - OFFICE. ' The Earl of I.:LLESBOROUGH said that the last returns from the Post office were not satisfactory, and therefore he wished to obtain further details.—They were granted. REWARDS TO THE NAVY. The E.i.rl of HARDWICKE gave notice that he should postpone his motion on this subject from to-day till Monday next. LOANS TO IRELAND. Earl FITZWILLIAM movtd for a return of the loans made to Ireland for the relief of distre,s during the past and pre•ent 3essi.s; ~,lso the sum w hi c h m ght t e .n expected to he r paid. Ihe pape , ., had b , en alivady laid before the other House of Partuunent, so that they could he , h,ily supplied to that Ilou-e. lie thought the if. Ell:2=0 iiiipeountry would be surprised when they were of -tai gross amount which had been lent for this *POie s .:The people of this country had been taught by -', ill& 01101 to Where that the amount was much great er `4.! •:• - f*V: (--- ~~ - • I .;-; 4 : 2 - Av U,?/4) 1.1 jilt Tli SUN, LONDON, Plit.Tit'SDA Y EVEN) t. trNt to, t 8447. than it was, but it would be found, he understood, tba t the total amount was between 6,000,000/. and 7,000,0001 ;, which had been lent upon good interest. The motion was agreed to. SCOTCH BILLS. The following Scotch Bills passed through Co AI . mittee Service of Heirs. Transference of Lands. Burgage Tenure. Heritable Securities for Debts. Crown Debtors. MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS. Messengers from the Commons brought up • 40Yeral Ei m ove the or Lord LANSDOWNE r ose to ,der of the BISHOPRIC OF MANCHES TER 811 day for the second reading of the Manche t sr Bishoprick silty of stating, Bill ;and was made the a he jocular wouldobs observation a tio th n at w o h p i p a o h rtw 1 other night, and which wa s ne st intended to have been heard, should have oeen published, and thus making the business of their Lordships House appear to be conducted more irregularly than it really was.. It was necesse.s s y from the great and spreading Population o f Masestiester to establish a spiritual head in that town, area. there was fortunately the means for the providi-4 of a bishoprick out of the paro chial fun;:is, which had increased to a very great deg ree. Thests were the leading provisions of this Bill. The, diocese would embrace a poupulation of 1,123,000 per sons, and 1,220 square miles. He had stated that the funds were already provided for supporting the bisbepric, and therefore the country would be put to nu exper.se whatever by the establishment of this diocese. H did not know that their were auy further de'ails for him to remark upon, and he had only, it; cPjnclusion, to move that the Bill be now read a secorel time. Lord MONTEAGLE was quite sure the Bill would be agreed to if it .7ere calculated to involve the country in arsy etpense, but under existing cir cums'cances, th e i r Lordship's had long felt ani! , admitted the necessity of this measure. T sf he understood the statements right, it was asserted that there was a surplus in the fund of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and that it was not contemplated to call for supplies front any other quarter. It should be recollected that this idea first arose from the Government of Sir Robert Peel in 1835 ; and the Commison then in existence had recommended that there should be a consolidation of two of the Welsh Bishoprics as well as as a consolidation of the sees of Gloucester and Bristol. Through these consolidations it was stated that the means would be raised for erecting a see of Manchester. But this question had excited great attention out of doors, and it was doubted that the Legislature had any right to in terfere at all with the principle which would be invaded by interfering with these bishoprics. A petition, numerously and importantly signed, which was presented by his Noble Friend (Lord Brougham)—and he did not complain of any want of consistency in the conduct of his Noble Friend. But it should be recollected that the first object of the Commission of Inquiry issued by Sir Robert Peel's Government was to make a better provision for the parochial clergy of North Wales. Of that commission the two Arch bishops, the Bishop of Lincoln, and the Bishop of Gloucester were members, and those commissioners came to the conclusion that there was not a sufficient fund to provide for these paro chial clergy. But it was afterwards found that the proceeds to be obtained from the consolidation of the two Welsh bishoprics were not only sufficient for the addition to the incomes of the parochial clergy, but that there would be funds to make a provision for the new see of Manchester. But in the report of the Second Commission, it was worthy of observation that no notice whatever was taken of the wants of the parochial clergy of North Wales. Seeing the mischief that was likely to arise from toe consolida tion of the two bishoprics, hs had called their Lordships' attention to the subject, indeed he had laid a Bill upon ~ heir table. (LEFT SITTING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. (Cur tinued from our Afternoon Edition.) The House re-assembled at Five o'clock. THIRD READINGS. The Manchester, Buxton, and Midland Junction Rail way Bill was read a third time and passed. The Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, and Manchestar and Lincoln Union Railway, and Ches terfield and Gain-borough Canal Amalgamation Bill was also read a third time, and the several amendments agreed to. SMITHFIELD MARKET. Lord MAHON presented a petition from certain gra ziers in Hertfordshire against the removal of Smithfield market. THE EDUCATION GRANT. Lord J. MANNERS peaented petitions from the Roman Catholics of Stamford, Penzance, and other places praying fu: a participation in the Government eduoationol .7-rant. fiATE-PAYING CLAUSES. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from the tnbabitants of Liverpool praying for the total repeal of the rate-paying clauses. POOR-LAW AMENDMENT ACT. Mr. BANKES presented a petitit.n praying for the amendment of the Poor-law Act. RAILWAYS IN IRELAND. Mr. J. O'BRIEN presented a petition from certain parts of Ireland, praying fur the extension of railway accommodation to Ireland. Lord G. BENTINCK presented a petition from the Midland Great Western of Ireland Railway Com pany, complaining of the selection by the House of three railway companies in Ireland, and also praying for assistance from Government. They state that they employ upwards of 4,000 labourers, representing 20,000 persons, who have, by means of That company, been kept off as a burden from the public funds of this country. They further state that in consequence of the depressed state of the rwAley market they will be compelled to throw out of employment the whole of their labourers, unless the same assistance is rendered to them by the Government as they proposed to render to other com panies in Ireland. They further state that they have most unexceptionable security to offer to the Govern ment for any loan tnat may be advanced. The petition was then ordered to lie on the table. SMITHFIELD MARKET. Mr. PALMER presented two petition from the far mers and graziers of Reading Market against the removal of Smithfield Market. Mr. HAWES presented a petition to the same effect from Croydon. MEMBER FOR CORK. Mr. S. O'BRIEN gave notice that on Monday next he should move that the Speaker do issue his warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new writ for the tlection of a knight of the shire for the county of Cork, Ln the room of the late Daniel O'Connell, Esq. ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS: Colonel SIBTHORP gave notice that on going into Committee of Supply, he should call the attention of the House to the accidents which occurred upon railways, and to the best means of guarding against these evils. (LLFT SITTING.) THOMAS GRAY AND THE RAIL WAY SYSTEM ; AN UNRECORDED CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF INVENTIONS. (From the London Journal) "An Unrecorded Chapter in the History of Inven tions !" We think we hear some cautious reader ex claim, "An unrecorded chapter in the history of the Railway ! Pooh ! pooh I More mysteries from the fertile brains of French feuilletoniste romancists. The railway is an open question to everybody—everybody knows every thing about it." Stay, good reader, before we proceed to the elucidation of the mystery ;—let us have a friendly catechetical chit-chat with you, to test the extent of your knowledge of the history of one of the greatest mechanical inventions of any time or country. Have you ever, when borne along on the wind-like speed—the time and space annihilating career of the railway locomotive—carried your thoughts from the wondrous realities of the moment to the time when your respectable grandfather made his will ere he departed on a two hundred mile journey ? Have you ever, when contemplating the omnipresent results—political, social, and moral—which this simple instrument of constructive genius is hourly effecting—impulsing commerce with giant power—cementing nations in the firmest bonds of brotherhood, and rearing up and fostering, by the means of intercommunication between province and province, and town and town of this empire, the best and the closest ties of union, because founded on mutual in terest and the general good—have you ever thought of the origin of that simple contrivance? In slort, can you tell us, as the facetious Sam Slick would say, " When was the railway invented, and who designed it, at a word?" Till you can answer these plain questions, and, with out any offence to our hundred thousand readers, we suspect ninety-nine thousand nine hundred Had ninety nine of them will feel rather puzzled, we must e'en set you down as too much dazzled with the wondrous powers of the great invention of this age, to enter into an inquiry, which, by the inquiring minds of °ther cen turies, will inevitably be regarded as second only in im - portance and interest to the discoveries of printing and the steam-engine. The principle of the railway, as a mechanical means of transport, has been known for nearly two centuries. It is apparently so very simple that, were we not all aware that the simplist principles have lain longest un discovered, we might express surprise that it should not have been tried earlier than in the year 1680, which is the remotest date known in connexion with the history of railways. It first took the shape of a rude wooden tram way, and the first known experiment was made at coal mints near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1680, for trans porting coals from the mouths of the pits to the ships in the Tyne. Coal at that time was becoming the substi tute of wood, as the fuel of the metropolis, and a great ifDpuise was constantly given to the mining operations of the North. Many of these pits arc suid to have em ployed each of them 400 or 500 carts in this traffic ; it became, therefore, an object of manifest importance to reduce the great expense thereby incurred in keeping up horses, drivers, and roads. A wooden tramway was therefore substituted, constructed on the following plan :—Slips of ground of the required breadth were marked out between the coal pits and the river. To obtain the easiest and most regular descent, this line was varied in its direction, to meet the inequalities of the ground ; or where these inequalities were inconsiderable it was carried straight forward, and regular slopes made by embankments and cuttings. The ground being then smoothed and levelled as for an ordinary road, large logs or " sleepers," cut in lengths equal to the breadth of the road, were laid across and firmly bedded into it at short distances to sustain and hold fast the rails or slips of wood in which the waggon wheels were intended to run. The rails were laid on beech, laid end to end, forming two continuous parallel lines along each side of the road. Waggons of large construction, set upon low wheels, completed the " plant" of the first railway ever con structed. The invention became popular and was largely adopted in the coal districts. The result was a saving of at least two-thirds of the horse power formerly re quired, and the working expenses of many large coal establishments were thus very largely diminished. Tim ber continued to form the material of the tramways for upwards of half a century, till 1738, when cast-iron rails were tried at the Whitehaven collieries, but no great success attended the attempt for thirty years, owing to the injurious effect of the weight of the waggons on the rails. In 1768 this was in a considerable degree obviated by the simple contrivance of a more general diffusion of the weight over the rails, by lessening the size of the waggons. Having thus answered the purpose, the invention attracted attention, and during the next sixty years there was a rapid application of the principle throughout the kingdom, chiefly, however, as auxiliary to mineral adventure, and occa sionally in branches to canals. Many of them were formed in the mining districts of Northumberland, Lan cashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and South Wales ; and in Sco t l an d, i n Lanarkshire, Mid Lothian, and Fite, Partington estimates the extent of these tram ways in the neighbourhood of Newcastle alone at se venty-five miles. Such was the origin and early condition of the rail road. We must now shortly speak of the motive power employed on these rude tramways. Till within half a century of the present time animal power was solely employed to move the waggons along the rails, but about the beginning of this century a great step was made towards the progress of railwayism in the inven tion of the railway locomotive engine. An experimen tal attempt was made in France, about the year 1728, in the Royal Arsenal at Paris ; no practical result, how ever, followed till 1802, when Messrs. Trevethick and Vivian took out a patent in this country for propelling carriages upon railroads. We find the following de scription of the machine in Partington's Cyclopmdia, " The boiler was composed of cast iron of a cylin drical form, this was mounted horizontally upon four wheels, the cylinder of the engine being placed ver tically on the end. Two connecting rods descending from the cross bar of the piston were then made to com municate motion to the wheels by means of a crank, no fly wheel being necessary, the momentum of the carriage carrying the cranks past the lines of the centre." When these engines were first tried it was found difficult to produce a sufficient degree of re-action between the wheels and the track road, so that the former turned round without advancing the vehicle. This was reme died by Mr. Blenkinsop, of Middleton, West Yorkshire, who, when he adopted the invention at his colleries, took up the common rails on one side of the whole length of the road, and replaced them with rails which had large and coarse cogs projecting from the out side. The impelling wheel of the engine was made to act in these teeth, so that it continued to work in a rack the whole length of the road. An engine of four-horse power, employed by Mr. Blenkinsop, impelled a carriage lightly loaded at the rate of ten miles an hour, and when connected with thirty coal waggons, each waggon weighing more than three tons, it went at about one-third of that pace. Mr. Blenkinsop took out a patent which is dated in 1811. It must be borne in mind that this invention was entirely confined to the mineral districts and to the conveyance of mineral produce. The public knew little if anything of the railway, and any man who forty years ago was bold enough to whisper that it might be made to supply the defects of the common road system was written down an incurable madman, as poor Thomas Gray was several years later. But this is nothing very new in the history of improvement. We have now reached the period of our history when we are to note the Leginning of the vast railway system which has sprung up and is daily extending around us. In 1815, that memorable year in the history of the world, and most important epoch in the advance of our commerce, Mr. Thomas Gray, a man of large compre hensive mind, gifted with a remarkable fore-thought, and with a deep earnestness of character and indornit I_'erctlre enZthet'd to rt.:vi,l:, : , i6 11•;,tiv4 , town of Leads. He was drawn by curiosity to icsrcct Blenhin sop's steam carriage railway at Middleton colliery, which is situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Leeds. Alter a careful inspeetion of this railway he was inocu lated with intense admiration of the system, and eoa vinced of its applicability to the purposes of general i ntercommunication. The same year Mr. Gray repaired, or, we believes, returned to Brussels, his mind big with the conception of his railway imaginings. An interesting event in enterprise opportunely oc curred to create new thoughts, and to shape and syste matise these crude imaginings. The King or the Netherlands, about that time, proposed the construc tion of a canal from Charleroi, for the conveyance of coal from that rich mineral district to flellan't ; and a scheme of such magnitude and commercial importance naturally excited lively interest ie an enterprising and industrious community, more espe cially amongst our own countrymen resident there. It roused the active mind of Mr. Gray, who not onl3 ardently espoused the project, but with a bi lelness the: excited the amazement of his compatriots, he urged th. construction of a railway, and set about in his own quiet but ear. est way to demonstrate the practicability and vast sureriority of such a mode of communietatien. Th. idea was far in advance cf the age ; and its bold pro pourider was set down as an ardent impracticable , theorist. But the theorist was determined to show the world that his theory was one of the most practical ante easy attainment ; so he e'en sat himself down to think a little more on the subject, and shape his thoughts to a more tangible form. We hear nothit g more of Mr. Gray for nearly three years. But he slumbered not in the interval. In 1818 he completed and placed tee manuscript of a treatise in the hands of Mr. Wilson, an eminent British merchant and manufacturer in Belginee, who has published a very interesting pamphlet On the subject. This production was headed. Observations on a Railroad for the whole of Europe." The largeness of his vie ws was only exceeded by the calm argumenta tive and exact demonstration by which he set forth the necessity which existed for a reform in the mode of internal and international communication, to meet al:- demands of a rapidly expan ing commerce, and th ability of his plan to meet those demands. In 1820, the work, considerably modified and improved, was ' published under the title of "Observations on a general iron railway, or land steam conveyance to sup, rsede the necessity of horses in all public vehicles." Mr. Gray therein proposed a system of direct trunk lines radiating from the metropolis to the principal seats of trade ane commerce, with branches for the accommodation ot places of minor importance—London to he the central point for Great Britain, and Dublin for Ireland. For the principal trunk lines he proposed a series of six parallel railways, ene half for the up, the other for down trains ; on the liranch lines from two to four as the nature of the traffic might demand. The principle of the cog rail, which we have seen, was introduced by Mr. Blenkinsop, in the early stage of the history of locomotives, forms a part of Mr. Gray's system, with this difference, that it is added as a third rail placed in the middle of the track to give uniform power to the permanent action of the steam-engine. He provided an ingenious machinery for the transfer of the engines and waggons from the main line to the branches, and vice versa, by a series of circular turning plates, much the same as those which we see now in use for turning carriages at the stations, with this difference, that each plate embraces a complete set of rails, that is there is a plate for the up and down rails respectively. We cannot follow Mr. Gray through the whole arguments of his remarkable book. A rapid glance at some of them may interest she reader even now. The practical economy of steam power he held to be then so fully proved by its universal adoption ne our mining districts, in our manufactories, and on board our packets, as to afford demonstrative evi• deuce of the numerous but unforeseen advantages which might daily be derived from its general application to our inland conveyance. By tee establishment of a general iron railway in a direct line, he argued that the distance between the capital and the manufa turing districts and principal cities might be reduced one quartet and in many cases one third, instead of the ridiculously winding course the stage and mail teaches then dad ran. The permanent prosperity which would arise te commerce from this rapid communication would soon, he added, be felt in every corner cif the United Kingdom. The mails from London to Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds, might be conveyed within the space of maw hours ; the ordinary stage coaches, caravans, and vehi ties for the conveyance of every description of met chan disc might also be transported on the same improve.( principle. The farmer would likewise greatly partici pate in this national improvement. The land then required to produce food for his horses might be culti vated for other purposes far more profitable ; the yeti• ous products of the farm, as well as live stock of every description might be conveyed to any market, and manure brought back, without employing a single horse, in one half the time and at one halt the expense incurred. The intreduction of fresh fish throughout the interior of the kingdom would open a source of trade to numerous individuals, and v« ry essen daily contribute to the improvement of our fisheries, as well as to the establishment of new ones. As a per manently improving source of revenue to capitalists, this plan would have no parallel ; the diurnal returns at the most moderate toll upon each vehicle, would annually produce many millions ; " indeed," he observes, " no limits can be assigned to the increase of wealth which this change in our inland conveyance might produce ; there is no branch of agriculture, no branch of coin merce or of arts, but would partake of its endless pros perity. In support of this statement it is merely neces sary to remark, that one steam-engine, on an improveo railway, would draw from London to Edinburgh three stage coaches (each carrying twice the luggage and number of passengers of ordinary stages) in thirty hours, which now require 300 horses, aad at least fifty hours time for the perform-taco of the journey. If a public meeting were cons cued by the wealthy merchants and capitalists of the me ' , Tons, in order to canvass the relative properties of this scheme, the example would soon be followed in the manufacturing districts and principal cities, and the man) millions, now annually squandered away in purchasing and feeding unnecessary horses, might be divided by the holders of shares in the numerous branch companies which would be established throughout the Unite(' Kingdom." This is but a fraction of the comprehensive argument advanced in support of the plan. The perseverance and energy displayed by Mr. Gray in the promulgation of his viewssse'esirgeht and notless re markable than for their deep for accu racy. The work to which we have above alluded, and which, by the bye, went through five large editions, and was translated arid extensively circu lated on the Continent, was only a very small por tion of his labours. Justice can hardly be done to his energy by our necessarily brief recapitulation of his correspondence and unceasing communications with public men, governments, and corporations on the subject. We can here only state that he earnestly memorialised the King of the Netherlands, Count Dupin, of Paris, and our own Government annually, from the time that his views were matured up to this present day. Parliament also he besought with earnest voice to low an ear to his pleadings for the public good. In 1826 he addressed the legislature in a petition, embracing a series of powerful reasons to induce a Committe e of the House of Commons to recommend the establish meat of a widows! railway board in Le•ndon, wits an annual grant to be drawn from each rail way company, for the purpose of fixing upon a site ot ground of st venal miles of extent, fur making experi ments on rails and locomotive engines. In his innte merable petitions to Government he pointed out the probability of liquidating the national debt by means of a national railway system, constructed on some: scientific principles. It seems strange even to look back on the cold way in which shrewd practical men, ministers, legislators, and commercialists, treated whas they were pleased to call his " visionary" views ; bur the red-tapeism of office is ever slow in the appreeiation of merit. How beautifully has Sir Robert Peel de scribed the mission of that powerful but simple instru meat which Gray, by his appeals and unwearied exer tions, roused the public mind to appreciate and establish. steam-engine and the railway , " exclaimed the ' a . tT- UniversityPh The e, m ier ,ofinGlhasgoisssvpleinndliBd36in.a,,uagrue;anloatdmderreeslsytothe facili tating the transport of merchandise—they are not merely shortening the duration of journeys, or ad• ministering to the supply of physical wants—they are spreading the intercourse between mind and mind, they are creating new demands for knowledge— they are fertilising the intellectual as well as the mate rial waste—they are removing the impediments which obscurity, or remoteness, or poverty, may have hereto fore opposed to the encouraging of real merit." Four teen years before be heard unheeded the prophetic voice of Gray, who told him that these great things might be brought to pass. As yet the claim has been unacknow ledged, though the late lamented Sir William Follett told Mr. Gray that he had laid the case before the Trea sury Board, where, he said, our railway pioneer was well known. Had the great lawyer lived a little longer there can be little doubt that the Government would ere this have recognised his claims to some national reward , We must confess that we. have no great faith in Govern. meta. gratitude for high intellectual achievements. A glance at our pension list is conclusive on the point. A more worthy recipient of a nation's bounty could not be found than Thomas Gray. But we look for national gratitude in a more popular shape. We are, however, bringing our compressed summary of these large and important events in our commercial history to a rather premature conclusion. The ques tion has no doubt arisen in the mind of many an intel ligent reader to whom these facts are new, "How comes it that so much mystery shoulet exist with regard to a system the origin of which is but of yesterday. All the world knows that the railway from Liverpool to Manchester was the first public line opened in this country. All the world knows that the railway veteran George Stephenson, the great imprever of th e l ocomot i ve, i n p a rt projected, and in whole execut e d, t h at important wor k . H ence , oh il logical reasonin g from premise the accurate — George Stephenson constr ucte d the first pu bli c ra ilway—Argol conclusion most ill eg i t i mate—George St e phenson de signed the railway System ! One w i t h er ed leaf in the laurels of Stephenson must ever t a int their freshness — that amidst the plaudits of popularity he has failed to acknowledge the- claims of a far earlier labourer in the same field. Th e Li verpool an d M an chester Railway Company was san ct i oned b y P ar li amen t on the sth of May, 1826. It w as opene d on t h e 15 t h of September, 1830. We have seen how many }ears ere that event took place, Mr. Gray had devoted his life to the incul cation of his theory. Tnomas Gray shaped and syste matised the system and enforced it on public atten tion ; George Stephenson gave it practical develope went. The theorist lives unrewarded, unhonoured— poor and obscure ; the practical man enjoys wealth, and name, and fame. If sneers and doubts and suspicions were common when Stephenson contend , d for the prat tectsisia .3. of a pu'nlic railway in 1826, 11 '' W must have been th e ditli cti l which "mud " Gi sy —. or so " enlightened " minds a ere pl, a- ed to term him—had to encounter in preparing;the public for the char ge. end in inducing the mor e enlightened minds to the. great experiment. That he did work this revolution in feel ing will be amply apparent to any reflecting man who takes the trouble to examine into the history of the rail way. Strange it is that " railway men " who have amassed princely fortunes by this invention, are the dullest to the claims of the founder, in his poor and un honoured old age It cannot be that claims so un answerable on the gratitude of the railway world are denied. No, we will rather suppose that, en grossed in the pursuit of wealth or immersed in the toils of business, railway men have found no time to ; inquire who really discovered this rich unfathomable mine of national wealth. For the public at large the plea of ignorance must stand as the apology for , their neglect ; or it may be with some that the hand of time has not cast that venerable hue on the structure to .xcite their feelings of veneration for its magnificence. They may not be able yet to join in the aspirations of the strain of a true p of progress. " Blessings on science, and her handmaid steam! They make Utopia only half a dream; And show the fervent of capacious souls, Who watch the ball of progress as it That all as yet completed, or begun,. Is but the dawning that precedes the sun." Unquestionably the pioneer of the railway system shall yet take his place in the roll of the spirit of de : age! Personally, perhaps, Mr. Gray may fuel little desire at his advanced veriod of life to acquire the mere •' bauble •,:me ;" but it cannot be that he is Nu - illy regardless of those more solid advantages of pecuniary remuneration which ought ever to be the reward of talent, and Indus ry, especially when applied in a manner so eminently prac tical, as we have, we think, proved Mr. Gray to have done. This is imply rendering j us! ice to the rights of labour. But we will go a step ur;her, and urge on the public the necessity, in these days of co ',petition with roreign rivals, of being especially care ul to insure to every great inventor, of whatever kind, not only the jut . but the equally just honour due to his succtsstul efforts. .ew words by way of sequel to our sketch, the response to which we hope may show to be in truth a practical application of the subject. Mr. Gray, after the devotion of the best years of his life and the most lavish expenditure of his means in the promotion of his views for the public good, is left in old age to exist on the precarious emoluments of ati, quited agency. His friends and admirers anxious that some of the golden accompaniments of fame, which yet await him should cheer the latter years of his useful and laborious life, are determined to wait no I , nger either for Govern ment interference or railway rec gnition of his claims, but to appeal loudly and at once t , the gratitude of the public. And, we think, they axe right. If the English mind is sometimes slow to receive new facts, it is ever noble and generous when convim ed that these have surely contributed to the general good. Every man, woman, and child at some period or other has ex perieneed directly, in wondering admiration, the bene fits of the railway ; indirectly this is every day and hour brought home to their feelings. Let them testify their gratitude by contributing a mite to a national tes timonial for Thomas Gray. A public meeting was lately held in the city of Exeter, and an executive com mittee formed for the purpose, who are now in commu nication with the friends of the cause tnroughout the conntiy. Leeds, Nottingham, and Lincoln have joined in this grateful movement, and we hope ere long to be able to announce that on almost every railway in the kiogd,an an opportunity will be afforded to the tra veller, while breathing from the wind-like speed with which he has been carried from place to place, to add 'a little to the reward c.f the designer of all. INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. JUNE B.—Sir John Rennie, President, vas in the chair. The pnper read was '` On the Expansive Action Steam," by Mr. J. M. Ilyppel, Grad. Inst. C.E. The object of the parr was to deduce a mo , e cxact formula than these now in use for the dynamical ff c developed by steam iu expanding from one pressure to another. The usual moth ,, cl of computing this effect neg:eets; the influence of the variation of temperature, whic4 al is qccompanies change of e.ensit), and hich has been shown o modify con , iderahly the correspondin v pre.!,.ine. M. de Pambour, however, has, b) combining Gay Lossac's for mula for the relation between temperature and density under uniform pressure with that o: Boyle for the rela Lion between density and pressure under uniform tem perature, deduced a formula containing the density, pros sure, and temperate from which any two being given the third may be deduced. What was further done in Mr. Heopel'a paper was to c-mbine this formula, with one by Mr. Scott Ru: sell, ex • pressing the relation between the rr ssure and t, mpe. rtture, and by this means to eliminate the latter, ano ~ htain a formula containing only the pressure and density. From this formula another was easily obtained. sin.w ing the total dynamical action d. veloped during ex passion from one pressure to another, and the resui;s were given in a tabular form, exhibiting 1. Tne prestur in lbs. per square inch. 2. The relation volume, or ratio of the volume of steam to that of the water which product d it. 3. The dynamical effect before expansion, or the num. ber of lbs. raised one inch by the evaporation of each cubic inch of water. 4. The dynamical effect during expansion, or the number of pounds raised one inch by the steam pr,ductid from one cubic inch of water in expanding from a pres sure of 100ibs. per square inch to the particular corres ponding pressure. The dynamical effect in expanding trom any one pressure to any other must be clearly ex pressed by tl,e difference of the corresponding numb, rs in this column. Part of the remainder of the paper was devoted to showing that whilst the performance of engines could not possibly he expected to exceed the results ascer tained as above, it could not fall far short of them in the case of engines of good construction. In conclusion, a Ample method was suggested of ascertaining the magni tude of all the forces in action during the working or the Cornish engine, independently of the indica!or. In the course of the paper, the fallacy of the theory of what had been termed the ' percussive action" of steam was ably exposed, and although, from the paper being tell of mathematical formula, it was not. welt adapted for being read at a public meeting, it evidently possessed great merit as an investigation of an important subject. It was followed by a short paper, also on the "Ex pansive action of Steam," by Mr. Tate, mathematical master of the Training College, Battersea. Its object was to demonstrate and apply a formula some time since discovered by the author, expressing the law of the ex pansion of steam, and at the same time to establish certain general equations relative to the work of steam, Applicable to all formulae professing to give the law of volume and pressure. It also examined and corrected Pole's formula, which, although a dr cidf d improvement upon Patnbour's, was stated to be not sufficiently ac curate for pressures above 701 b., or bel , ,w 161bs, .Monsieur Piarget exhibited in the li.,ty_ry, after the meeting, specimens of the improvements in producing ornamettai met .1 surfaces, formed by the deposition of metals during the electrotype process, which is c,inducted in a pt culiar marine., with mixtures adapted to the effect desired to be attained. The Form also ot the bath is peculiar, and when the plate !s taken out of it, and off the model. it exhibits a Uurnished polish, or a dead appearance, according ;o preparation used. The metal thus prndiv - -; - d is stated eo be of a much better description than metals which have not undergone such process, as it is mot., flexib:e, and is capable of withstanding the action of heat without ..estroying the form or the copper, and the surface wit. ~ ot tarnish when exposed to the air. Portions or any pattern can also be silvered by a similar process ; an.; the general expense is about one-third of that of engrav ing or chasing, while the boldest or most minute pat terns can be equally well produc,d. The paper announced to be read at the meeting of Tuesday, June 15, was " On the law which governs the .iischarge of elastic fluids under pressure through short tubes cud orifices," by Mr. W. Fronde, M. Inst. C. E. THE EXPIRING PARLIAMENT. The now moribund House of Commons, elected in August, 1841. has proved one of the longest Parliaments on record—at all events, during the present csutury. It has, in tact, only a year m re " to run," in order to die he dt ath so seldom allotted to Parliaments, viz , a na , oral one. The students of English history, during the early 1 eriod of the last century will not require to be teadilded that it was in those days by no means au uncommon event for the septennially elected Par liaments to run out their !till career ; nay, so powerful was the power and influence of the Whig Ministry at that period, that the new elections were usually a mere matter of form, no change or any importance ever taking place in the constituent etetuentis of the popular representation. During the latter p.rt of the eighteenth, and the early period cf the present century, the rapid succession of important political events, both in this country and on the continent of Europe, produced constant alternations of men and mea sures ; and when the great climax of the lir:term Bar changed the representative system or England, " annual Parliaments" appeared by no means improbable contin gencies, even without the aid of the charter." We have had four Parliaments since the era of R. form ; the first, elected in 1832, in accordance with the pro visions of the new statute, only lived two sea nuns, the Ministerial change of November, 1834, having rendered an appeal to the people a measure of almost indispensable necessity. Thus perished the Baba went of Earl Grey. The second, or " Yeti" Parliament, although elected under Ministerial auspices, only re turned a very formidable Conservative minority to sup port Sir Robert, and the new Premier soon succumbed ,to the influence of th, Whig majority. The second Melbourne Ministry, as it is well known, lived on until 1837, g ni n ea e s x u t r ii i i n g g ui c s a h s e t d toe majority, i,ai w na h e e n i t i ip th so e death w ol i.t t h he a S m os e •e r r e ei facto, after an existence of two sessions and a nalf. The new House of Commons was almost equally balanced, as regards parties, and but for the forbearm.ce of the Opposi tion, Lord Melbourne could never have remained at the head of the Goveriant nt fur four years longer A crisis, nowever, at last ensued, and the Whig Ministers ap pealed once mere to the constituencies. Ihe issue of this contest was never doureed by either party ; the star of agricultural protection was in the aseeneant, and ad immense majority was returned by the county con stituencieii to enable Sir R. Peel to take D-rvning street by storm. The Melbourne Parliament of 1837 lasted about four years. The present Parliament, which has endured fur six 3 ears,, has been a memorable one. It was elected to protect the Corn laws, and it has enacted free trade into a law. It began by hurling a Whig Ministry from office, and has ended by ejecting a " ~!,e with ecited Lord 1. Russell, now in a. nominal tednority 01 100, has tic' ,naliy encuuntereil less oppositien, and carried on his ijuv ""rnetit , with tar gr, ater ease since his lust ecces stun to power, than in the very pienite& of his pope %erity, w w/Lil a small out decisive nitjority tat the Ministerial benches, he refused to hold office " on suf. ferance."— Times. COURT OF ALDERMEN. --- On Tueday a court was hold for the dispatch of hnii ness. It was mentioned in the paper of business that judgini nt would be given on the petuion of Mr. Stephen Stuart Curti N complaining of the conduct of Messrs. Goad and brokers. THE DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE GILTSPIIR-STREET PRISON, The SHERIFFS harieg esada their report on the state of the City pri(oea, Alderman WILSON rose and said he had received a letter from the Towe-clerk, written by the direction et the Committee of the whole Court, requesting his imme diate attention, as visiting magistrate, to the disordersy conduct of the prisoners confined in Giltspur street Compter. He begged to remark upon that communi cation that he had not been inattentive to his duties, but that he had long been fully and tearfu.ly alive to tts dreadful state of disorder which prevailed in that gaol, and he be gged to say that he by no means deserved the imposition of the personal relionsibilily now throw(' upon him; hut he would call upon the Court for its join' assistance.—(Hear, hsar.) He had been occupied al most daily in endeavouring to restrain the prisoners trorn the perpetration of acts of violence, and, not withstanding all his efforts, the greatest dangers were I to be apprehended to the public peace, in consequence of the existing insunordination. It was in veil, that he addressed them in the language of expos tulation and menace. One of the riegleaders in the disorders in a very short time demolished sixty I nine panes of glass ; others followed the' example that description. or outrage, sa hilst others cumruittt d violent assaults upon their fellow-priseners. The removal to separate cells produced no abatement of the noise' and vispeeition to violence amongst the ebandomai inmates. They threatened the governor, assaulted th• turnkeys, and puller to pieces th• it beds, and (-very other kind of furniture they could lay their hands upon, mid h had at last been compelled to put in force the Act of Par liament authorising the infliction of corporal punishmen , an extremity to which he had never before resorted, bring the principal offenders to a sense of their dut) and of common decency. The e hole of the gross mis conduct he bad faintly described arose, he must say , from the want of the means of aceompliehing classifice tion, from the want of a sufficient number of cells for the separation, of the unrnanagers. lP teem the well-dispose , and the impossibility in a pl .ce see ove.croe (led win human beings to make any practical errengement for the observance of order. He heel tee n e..deavoutiel ; , fer tt! last seven years to cruse the erection of a new ;sae'. so+ although some progre-s had teen made towards he attainment of that great otject, he apprehended tha' it was still almost confined to the imagination. If [le important question happened to meet. with the (eta /We of procrastination to which other importer. matters had been subject. d, Governmsnt or Parlia ment would, he hoped, effectually interfere. He was determined to press the necessity of such interference in order to prevent the serious mischiefs which every one who witnessed, as he had witnessed, whet constantly occurred in the Compter could not help anticipating. It would be desirable to be informed by Sheriff Challis. who was the chairman of the Building Committee, what was the cruse of the delay, and what difficulties pre sented themselves in the prosecution of the labours of that committee. Alderman and Sheriff CIiALLIS said the reports which he and his brother Sheriff presented differed in nothing from the reports usually handed to the Court of Alder men, and the hooks of the visiting magistrates contarned all the details of the daily occurrences with unintermitted regularity, and were produced before the Committee every Saturday. He adreitted that great evils area: front the went of the means ef classify ittg the prisoners in the Compter. in IP salsa tr eof those means the nP c-sAttry di•cip 'et Lst es l be es-ginned, but the magas trades were do's, e'! tr. y ‘u d do to improv, the prison as far as tl ..• eompatib'e with its size and existing cal:abilities. They had sprinted a sub ....mmittee, who had embod•ed a system of rules tear its regulation end manes-teen and that sy rsem only required the senction of tho Seetre)lary of S'9.P 10 be carried into • fleet, and he had dete,rtnined to raise then salari , s on those' who had the ,uperietendence of the inmates, se, that a better class of men would be eiqgaged in the per formance of the duties. As regarded the new gaol, in, time had been at all lust. The committee constantly as rembled for the purpose of carrying out the intentions o! the Court, impressed with the urgent nature of the ne cessity.—(Hear, hear.) Alderman FAREBROTHER said that if the Comptet was so much croaded with prisoners, it would be very easy to 'ransfer a great portion of that crowd to New• gate. in which prison, Ire m the nature of the arrange• meats there, sufficient room could be supplied to effec . classification to a certain extol-. He certainty couls tint s e that the least biaine was attributable to the magistrates, or that they we re chargeable with having, in the remotest degree, c. used delay in the urect:on of the new prison. Sir PETER LAURIE deprecated the discussion of such a question under the present circumstances, but be hoped that the documentary matter on the subject of transportation, published by order of the House of Los ds, would be speedi:y broutht down to the court. The RECORDER said he could state to a certainty that the opinions of the English, Irish, and Scotch judges were unanimously in favour of retaining transportation as a punishment.—(Hear, hear.) Alderman SIDNEY strongly condemned she -till exist ing abomination of Giltspur street Prison. the dreadful state of which was the cause ..f the transfer mien 0• such masses of the people. lie wit. cotte.ineed 'hat it tie means of classification w re not eetopted, and the maws tracy did not show more ace ity tie cart') oee' great object of those who meant well to the commie , Government must take the whole business into their own hands, and erect a building adapted to the exigencies rat the time. DEFECTIVE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. AlderjanHooPEß, in the Absence of Aid. I M:111 COP.: - land, presented an important statement o• the in,p,ctors of w. Wits. and m. a,ures for the city , of lxindon, and liberties and precincts thereof, ti , r the year 1846. T , e statement, which was ordered to bu prtnted and distributed amongst the members of the court, contained the result of the inspection : the nut her of co.ivictions in each ward, tort ether with the amount of the fine* during the years 1843, 1844, 1845, and 1846; the produce of condemned weights and in. asures ; rise numbering of beams and scales, weighing machines, weights and measures under the supervision of the inspectors, and the numbering of shops, public-houses, &c., using weights, meausures, &c., under the supervision of the inspectors. JUDGMENT IN THE CASE OF THE SKIN FACTORS AND BROKERS. This caie came before the , by a petition from :Jr. Stephen Curtis, complaining that Messrs. Goad and Rigg, brok -rs licensed by the Court, did previously to a sale announce, as one of the conditions, that one half per cent was to be paid by the buyer into the hands of the belling broker on receiving the order for the delivery of the grods ; that Mr. Curtis re monstrated at the time of sale againit the condition, but the sale was proceeded with in spite of his re monstra , :ce; that he purchased a certain quantity ot hides at the sale; that on subiequrntly tendering the price of the hides. le-s the halt-per cent.. the brokers re fused to receive that sum, and made a demand k their :ittorn..ys f r the whole sum inc:uding the half per cent.. which he was thus constrained to pay. The petitioner averred that he did not in any way e mploy the broker, and that the double broker,o2e was contra , y to the civic laws and ussges, and injurious to verb, The brokers in their reply stated that the charge o: one half per cent. aas just and legal, and the long•esta Wished usage of the trade. They quoted a legal opi noon 'that they were acting either as factors or auc tioneers, at .d might legally make the payment of one halt per cent. a condit on of the sale, which tin party buying on that condition could not then refuse t pay, and they confidently ho,.ed that the Court would not interfere with the custom of the trade. The RECORDER stated the following to be the julg• ment of the Court:—" That the petition having been read, together wi:h tbe answer thereto, and the allega tions and proots of the parties considered, and c..uns. 1 heard thereon, this Court has resolv-d, that undi r all the circumstances this Court will not take an) further proceedings therein." The Solicitor for Mr. Curtis rose to address the Court, but The RECORDER said the judgment of the Court was in the terms he had expressed, and that there was n., comment or explanation to be made. Alderman HUGHES HUGHES—It .a proper, too, that the parties should understand that the judgment wks unanimous. Upon the motion of Alderman H. IluoHEs, seconded by Alderman Lucks, the petition of .qtr. Curti. wa, the' dismissed. THE BROKERS' BOND, Alderman FAREBROTHER Moved " That it be referred to an especial committee to consider the terms of the brokers' band and the various rule* and regul.iions nu in force, for the purpose 01 a!,ceraiiiing whether it i expedient and proper to make any and what alteration. therein in consequence of the changes which have taken place in the mode of conducting buniness in the city of London." The :notion was agreed to, and it was resolved that merohants and brokers should be invited to send in written suggestions on the subject to the committee. FIRE IN LElTll.—Yesterday (Sunday) morning a fire broke out in the premises of Mfherson and Brown. Tolbooth-wynd, about half-past five con f ec tioners, 53, o'clock. Two engines were speedily on the spot, but nc water in the pipes, until the Leith water officer journied tc the Castle•hill, and ordered it to be put on. By this time the tire had obtained a considerab l e ascendancy, but wa , ultireately subdued about eight o'clock. The tenement con • sists of five floors; the underground flat is the workshop o: the firm, and is fitted up with ovens, flues, lice. ; the street flat is the retail shop of the establishment, and the first fia: above is the wholesale department. These three floors al communicate by inside stairs, and are completely destroyed Both the stock and building are said to be insured. —Gale donjon Mercury. • FATAL ACCIDENT AT EDGE HILL.—On Tuesday. about two o'clock, as five men were debcendiro, the slat Ring - street,ld..e-hil!. of the new railway tunnel , slipped frotn the drum, and th e w h o l e of t h e the rope sli five went to the bottom, a (kph of thi rt y- two yards. Ita very short time after one man was found quite lead The other four were conveyed to the Twirl have since died, and a third is not expected u t:i tr i ‘ e ' c ' o :2 The accident is attributed entirely to thee i,recentE.holicvrs. rains. We may add, that Mr. Park, s r was speedily on the spot, and rendered u ° the ' al e t - a h n i c li : in his power. The name of the man who was killed was Hayes ; the two who died :it t'n ,, Lfirtiviry Were i st t ui d Metcalf and Sininion.— Liverpool Courier. 4 BEES SWARMING.—O n M on d. V last * y' Angr be-s, in the garden o f M r. w at; s vited, no doubt., by the fineness 'h weathoi, Lett ttn' I Thursday it hi ve o f 3 threw ~ tr a fi swartu ; and on Friday another hive, heionglog to tii, :Arne individual ) at lieunoway, also threw off a large swarm, LAW IN TELLIGENCE . COURT OF KR UP i ,June 9. (Before Mr. Cominiasioner ForrimANV E-) vr _ SUSPE NSION OP A CERTIFICATE -1N RE A. 1 • 1 ' 15 — The oatikrupt, a brickmaker, in Hatton-.ea ten' ,ttrao before the court on the question of certificate:- Mr F11 ;; Iey and Mr. Stur ge on ,upported, and Mr. opposed. Di' ground of opposition was that the bankruptivent had m an t led to trade after be was in hopelessly inso ircutnstances. a s VW It is unnecessary to detail the fact s of the case, ~ e worth kn-win 4 will be found in th e j ud g ment of' his Honour. ... t,a COMMISSIONER said—The main facts as stated 14) .he opposiEg creditor being admitted , I must say tbis it . not a case in which .I can grant the ce rtificate acutarly t oce. There is one objection which, thoug h MOt parti &tided to to day, is one which I think it right to notice. On a former occasion the bankrupt's answers to put to him were anything but what they aug` lo $43 her •.) .en. He prevaricated in a manner which, tlithouies .iot perhaps calling upon me to use the extreme i' llnis i; mint of committal, yet at the time induced me to 1..., questions 1 special note of it, and for that prevarication, and to' hat alone, I will suspend his certifica te for three' months. I wish to show bankrupts that when they ~onie here they must at least make a full, free. and frank 4viiwal of what they know regarding their affairs, an d in that way at least do all they c an to satisfy their cr ~itors. The next objection I have to notice is bid .iaving gone i n in trade after his circumstances were, -.0 in.olvent that lie actually made an asgignment 0' The' his property tor the benefit of his c redit os ors. profit xradises amounted to within 5 0 /. of the g ual to blo r s A hilst the losses also were very nearly eq orofit,i. The losses and the trade and p ersonal expense. put together amounts to upwards of 1,20 01, what' hits 4,035 profits and receipts amount to only 6891. Irj. xpenses were, in fact, wholly unwarrantable, and w; hankrupt had no excuse whatever for carrying ° OIL:loess after the month of May , when his circumstance, would leave him no reasonable hop of being able W C: In as a trader ought. The bankrupt, in ,fri ur, c.,t" h i, T h ro win g his property into the han ds of Sp ilsi' o rm ,, r partner, de eated his creditor s, and, byhops a bill of -alp which he had made out, delude d those with w ' - ii• dealt into a belief in his solvency. There had be en :201. worth of property removed upon the very.evt! otl;1, oat being issued, a circumstance surprisiPg i n I f i se ialf , yid which ought not to have occurred. . The 0 . _, ia,ignee rerted that whilst the partnership boox ui ~ I .l len and Spilabury had been well kept, t h() ;: s x ° y , l , eii since the dissolution of partnership ,liad been be kept. Taking all these circumstances into account' -elt himself bound to suspend the certific ate for twelve months. Mr. BAGLEY—I hope your Honour .rill grant the • hankrupt your protection, as there is no m fra 7 . l . e oismssroNEß—Yes, let him have prot ection, Protection was accordingly granted. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS' LIVERPOOL, JUNE 9. a nd STOCK ExcHAsGE.—The Share Market continuo at° steady, but only a limited amount of business has been fil:ced acted. Prices, on the whole, way be said to have itnPro'n,,,, to-day. Great Northern shares are offering freely, e c u pott quence of the heavy call which is now becoming ' l luj(AO. Olean. The sales are—Birtningham and Oxford Jun and ction. 6y 2 p.—East Lancashire, New, 144 dis.—Edinburgh Bid- Gla,•gow, oo Preston. teed a" l ,, log Halves, 7 p.—leetw d and W est d Junction, 1% dis.—Great Northern, 134 176Ys Thirt.k, Preference. par—London and North-Westeraf toy, bitto, Quarters (andnd M.), 16 p.itto. Quarters, `sta, 10 1 4 p.— London South-Western, 65%--51014beetock_,, ShAlidd, and Lincolnshire. Eighths, 2 dis.—Midland itortbl 401 Shares, p.—Ditto, New, 2% P. i. 4r Staffordshire, 2% p.—South-Eastern and Dover, . 0 ` Thirds, dis. MANCHESTER, JUNE 9. titir r STOC K EXCHANG.K.—The sales are—Ambergate. N° t • n r , ham, Boston, and Eastern Junction. 1 5-16 dis.--13irintlioof ham 811 0 Dudley, sc. p.—Birmingham and Oxford Ju i n, c ...... - 6% p.— I;lack burn, Clitheroe, &c., .Preferentials, IYelid.. Fleetwood, Preston, and West Riding, 1 546 11 : ,dis" -- Dittoc derstield and Manchester Railway and Canal, ',Wt VL e -- 41/1 Thirds, IA p.—Leeds and Thirsk. Preferentials , NorthPaP---' Dewsbury, and Manchester, 14 p.—London an 4l s ath Western (Manchester and Birmingham) Quarters (131,4"."..,' p.—Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland, 1 ,446, Manchester and Leeth, Sixteenths, 7 11-16 —Ditto. rA c ,. t fields (late Wept Riding Union), 14 dis. n.—Manchester, out;tec and Lincolnshire (Grimsby), 501. Shares , 8 dis.--g" lic " —: a, and Southampton, 30s. 6d. c. dis.—North Staffordshir 2 7-16 n p.—Oldham Alliance, 5-16 dis.—Preston and WYre, Halves (A), 3% p.—Ditto, Sixths, 5 13-16—Shreatsbu7 and Birmingham (A), 5-16 dis.—South• Eastern and D °Ce ' . No. 4, 1 4 di - s. - LEEDS, JUNE 9. STOCK EXCHANGE. -The sates are-Ambergste, 1016.1: ham, and 13..:5t0n, 1 c. dis.-East Lancashire, New, -D itto, New (scrip),ris.-East and West 1. 01 ',, shire, 1 1 4 dis.- Great Northern, 345. dis.-Haddersfield 017. Manchester 2s. 6d. p. -Leeds and Dewsbury , Halves ' p.-Leeds and Thirsk, dis.-Ditto, Preference, P':„A London, Oxfsrd, and Cheltenham, 20s. dis. Dritlield Junction, 15s. dis.-Manchester a nd Leeds, Shares, par c.-Ditto, West Riding Union , 2s. 6cl. Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland , ss. Staffordshire, p.-North-Western, 31s. 6 d. dis.--•W er dale Junc:iun, 235. dis.-York and Newcast le, Pre! once, 3 p. -Melto n SHEFFIELD, Jutrz 9. STOCK EXCHANGE.-The sales are-Ambergate, Notting' ham, and Boston, 265. die.-Great Northern , 38s. 6d. dith-; Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (Grimsby 1112,'' Sheffield), 8 1 ,4 dis.- Ditto, 201. Shares, 59 5, dis.-Ditto, 1-0* 10s. Shares, :375. dis.-Ditto (Sheffield and Lincoln), Midland, 401. Shares, 4 p.-North Staffordshire, 441. North- estern, 325. 6d. dis.-Wharfdale Junction, 225. dill' EDINBURGH, JUNE 8. STOCK EXCHANGE.-The sales are-Aberdeen, 301.! Airdrie and Batiigate, 31. 10s.-Arbroath and Forfar, 27 4 158.-Ditto, Halves, 15/.-Ayr and Galloway, IL 19s. 6de'" Caledonian, 291. 155.-Ditto, New, 21. ls. 6d.-Caledon ian and Dumbartonshire, 1!. 155.-Clydesdale Junction, 421.105' - Deeside, 31. 55.-Duublane, Doune, and Callender, 1L„,, 711 ', 6d.-Duudee and Arbroath, 401.-Ditto, New, No. 1, zf" -Ditto. New, No. 2, 304-Ditto, New, No. 3, V. 2s. ou!, -Dundee and Northern Junction, 11. 128.- Dundee or Perth, 824 12s. Ditto, New, 131. -Ditto, Qtlieter9, Si• 4s.- East of Fife, 1/. 18s.-East Lothian Central, 11. 15 3 .fr t Edinburgh and llathgate, 84-Edinburgh and Glasgow, iv, -Ditto, Halves, 22 1 . - Ditto, Quarters , 171 . ss. -EdinhuPf Leith, and Granton, 1 8 4 103 . - Ditto, Preference, _2 04 1°6 1; -Ditto, New, 21. 55.-Ditto, Quarters, 12 s. 6d.- Edinburg. and Northern, 171. 55.-Ditto, New, 3r. 68.-Ditto, NewP°,ll:: 71. 2s. 6d-Ditto, ditto, New, 2/. 4s. -Edinburgh and pated (New Co.), IL 125.-Ditto, Halves,6d. - Glasgow Vi: .111, Ayrshire, 117/. 10s.-Ditto, New Stock , 401. 10,,.- Halves, No. 1, 94-Ditto, Halves, No. 2, 7L- o . l4s eq„ Dumfries, and Carlisle, 54 Is.-Glasgow and Garnkirk, °ovd 10s.-Glasgow General Terminus, 121. 158.-Glasg ow Greenock, 17/.-Ditto, Halves, 8/. 155.-Ditto, Preferene‘st St-Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardro,san, 3/. 153.--61r__4 North .1 I•lcetland, 21. 28.-Great Northern (late ti Northern), 21. 2s.- Ditto (late London an d York), g:75. 6d.-Newcastle and Berwick, 27L-North British , 3 Ditt o, 6d.-Ditto, Halves, 15/. 55.-Ditto , Quarters, 44 Sr" New Quarters (scrip), 165. - Ditto, Thirds , 2/. lus'.,„ttiah Ditto, Fifth, 61. 88.-Scottish Central, 24/. 155." - "'"' -- • SnieWS Grand Junction, 198.-Scottish Midland , 181 . 10s.--- ter, bury and Heretbrd, 10s.-Shrewsbury , Oswest r y , and 0053. 9/. 10s.-Ditto, New, 11.-Stirling and Dunfermline, 51' -Stirling and Midland, 21. 55.-Wishaw and Coltness, 49 -York and Newcastle, 371 . - Ditto , New , 14 /. 55.-- 6d• P eterence, 6/. 155. - Direct Bomb a y and Madras,2s. "":. -East Indian, 35.-G , rat North of I ndia, 2s. 6d.-Great Southern of Sladras, 25.-Madras, Nallore, and Arcot, Is. 6d• tiLASt i ) , urn,. 8. Srocg EXCHANGE.—The vales are—Caledonian, 29V" Dundee and Pert:), 331.—Ditto, Quarters, 655. 6d.-"" Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston Direct, 15fi—Glasgo_, I)umtries, and Carlisle. 514—North British, Thi r d s , 535. ba• —Paisley, Barrhead, and Burlet, 61s.—Stirling and Du ll ' fel-mime, 975. 6d.. [ ADVERTISEMENT. I—MIRACULOUS RESTORATION OT HEALTH BY HOLLOWAY'S PILLS :11—Miss Ellen Knight, 36, B ... tan tf . hope -street, Regent's-hark, a youn g l a d y o f t h e most d e li c ate COws! of tit' ion, had been a martyr to sutfet ing for years through overfl u Lt bile and bad digestion, causing pa.pitation of the heart with 3'l: difficulty of breathing ; to walk up th e l eas t a scent Was impr act cable; the best medical advice h a d b een o b a in e d in Loudon , 1 1 .,,, r . !H ingham , France, and other plac es , b u t i n va i n ; nor did sho rect,": imy rehet until she took a course of H o lloway's inestimable and she is now, by their use, enjoying the ble+sings of healthz.l."::,, lor the previous eighteen years she had been a stranger to. all druggists, and at Processor Holloway's Establishment, 244, Str'"'"' London. BIRTHS. On the 3d inst., at the Rectory, Spazton, Somersetshire, the lady of the Rev. J. Galloway, of a son, who survived but a few hours. On the sth inst., at Fordham Rectory, the wife of the Roc. %V. Harvey a erring, of a son. On the 6th inst., the wife o f G eor g e A. Rees, Aral lery-place, Finsbury square, of a son. A Abut On the 6th inst., at Gerrard - street , Islin g ton, Mrs...— Stillwell, of a son. 011 the 7th inst., at Epsom, Surrey, the lad y of Georg° Giberne, Esq., lost a daughter. —lc e of the On the 7th o, at the Vicarage, Merton, the w Rev. George Rawlinson, of a daughter. fife 0f 311.* On the Bth inst., at Finsbury-place South, the Charles inst ,ot a son. v Sittl" On the Bth at Upper Clapton, Mrs. George P . - cox, of a daughter, still-born. Lo rle ' On the Bth inst., at Kennington-oval, Mrs. Char lton of.a still-horn infant. MARRIED. On the sth inst., at St. Mary's Church, Tiryans — ► . or Thomas Adolphus Boyrenson, Esq., M.D., of the 110. ef iter pany's Bombay Army, to Augusta Marianne, nolY_ A dliug of the late Francis Swinf e n, Esq.. of Lapley, Sta ff°l "Thoin° On the sth inst., at All Souls', Langham-place, riett Kirkby Thompson, Esq., of Mecklenburgb-squar e, to wortiso Alice, only daughter of the late J. Turner, Esclq House, near Cow bridge, Glamorgansbire. Jo2 lo On the 4th inst., at St. Helier's Church, Jersey , soo to Cochrane, Esq., of her Maj e sty's 19th Regiment , Lo dg6 daughter of Thomas Gibson Brewer, Ebcp, of Ella Pinner, Middlesex. o O i n i til th e e 6 7 ti t i h ill in st s?. DI ED ,aat Clapham road, iia c „,, fg e tl.eoaard- K ' gton Ll°" p ace, ensw , Leonard - place, Mr. W'll . ni B. O ird. White, Esq., aged 57. Irs nl _Ox the 6th inst., at Anglesey, near Gosport , Thomas Martin, the eldest son of Captain W. F. Martin. RS. Ann , the On the 6th inst. at the li'en- , ffice, Ely, Sarah wife of Samuel Wens, Esq., aged 69. e . ct r th t. On the 7th inst., Manna, tae wife of Mr. John v , a— iton, of Rye-lane, Peckham, aged A top , Ou the 7th inst., at Overburv, Worcestershire,Janale" widow of the late 13. Eyston Esq. aged 83. Ad 71. Ou the 7th inst., at Tunbridge, John Gilbert, Esq , ag — A d, On the Bth inst., Andrew Henning , Esq., of Albiono Stoke Newington. t o f On the 2sin of March, at the Gambia, West Coo he r Africa, the Rev. Francis John Har rison Rankin, ILA-, Majesty's Colonial and Garrison Chaplain, aged 41.Defi iim.d. On the 2d inst., H. Dixon, Esq. , o f Hie-streeam shire, 'nohn On the 3d iust., at Newark , Nottin g h Stephenson, Esq., aged 81. Maria Arlo On the 4th inst., at Chipping Barnet, Mrs. M ffr, relict of the Rev. ‘iiilii.ini Marr, 13. D. o f the 0,1 t ht. sth inst., at Brompton-row, Louisa, relict of reet, LottiBa, wid'•7l' of 0 1 apet • Un vj it. CI ADO 14°. e h e pi and, Printer , at Tlte N 0.112, Strand, In t 1 Savoh in tie County of bild(1100.1, Thadair 4'11'0,0, 847. the - • to C. Ulan. ance , is REPORTS. The reports upon the following Bills were brought up and ordered to lie upon the table:— Croydon Commercitil Gas and Coke. Fleetwood, Preston, and West Riling Junction Railway (Burnley and Colliery Branches). Great Northern Railway (Deviations between Gains borough and Doncaster.) Huddersfield and Manchester Railway (Deviations and Alterations in Oldham Branch, &c.) Ipswich Docks. Legal Quays (London). Leominster Canal Navigation Sale. London-bridge Railway Termini General Enlargement. London (City) Improvements. London and North-Western Railway (Lease and Pur chase of the Huddersfield and Manchester Rail% ay and Canal, and the Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester Railway). Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire R diway (Station at Sheffield and Branch to the Sheffield Canal). Manchestt r, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (Shef field Canal Purchase). Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (Junc tion with the Midland Railway, via Barnsley, and Branches therefrom). Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (Branch to Chapeltown and Thurg,land Coal Branch). Midland Railway (Ma , brough and Normanton Stations Enlargement). Midland Railway (Extension from near Leicester v ia Bedford to Hitchin, and to Northampton and Hun tingdon, and Enlargement of the Leicester Station). Midland Railway (Gloucester and Stonehouse Junction). Midland Railway (Mangotsfield to Bath). North British R - ailway (No. 1). Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Hudders• field, and Goole Railway (Partial Alteration of Levels, &c.)— South-Eastern Railway (Widening of the Greenwich Railway and Arrangement and Enlargement of the London-bridge Station). South Yorkshire, Doncaster, and Goole Railway (Peni stone, &c., and Purchase of Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Goole Rail way, Dun Navigation, and Dearno and Dove Canal). Swansea Harbour. Wear Valley, Bishop Auckland and Weardale, Wear• dale Extension, and Wear and Derwant Railways, and Shildt.n Tunnel Amalgamation. Westminster and Part of Middlesex Sewers. York and North Midland Railway (Knottingley Branch). LORDS' AMENDMENTS. The Lords' amendments on the fulluwing Bills were considered and agreed to :—Belfast Port and Harbour Railway, Ewell Rates Bill, Sheffield Markets Bill. ROYSTON AND HITCHIN RAILWAY (SALE OR LEASE). This Bill was read a third time and passed. WEYMOUTH AND MELCOMBE REGIS HAR BOUR AND BRIDGE TRUSTS. This Bill was read a third time and passed. HOLYHEAD HARBOUR. Mr. WILLIAMS moved that Captain Berkeley, Mr. 0. Gore, Mr. Duncombe, Captain Jones, Mr. Bankes, and Viscount Clive, be added to the Select Committee on the Holyhead Harbour Bill. He would not have detained the House one moment on this subject, but that he understood the Secretary of the Admiralty was to oppose it. The Committee ap pointed on the Bill was most unsatisfactory ; two of the Gentlemen appointed being directly interested in this Government job. The Hon. Gentlemen then quoted the opinions of some eminent engineers against the availableness of the harbour. Now, in the face of such statements as had been made by eminent engineers, whose attainments could not be questioned, and who had been employed in public works for a number of years, were they determined to act contrary to their expressed opinion on the matter. It was estimated that the cost of the work would be 600,0001. That estimate was made by an engineer of eminence, opposed to which was the esti mate of George Rennie, that thecost would be 1,800,000/, who had stat e d also that great loss would be sustained by the blasting that would be necessary, and it would be almost impossible to obtain blocks of stones of sufficient size. Sir George Rennie also stated that the labour of throwing down the breakwater would be very great. Now by which of these opinions should they be guided ? He thought the House called upon to appoint a fair Committee, and he begged, therefore, to move that Captain Berkley, Mr. Ormsby Gore, Mr. Duncombe, Captain Jones, Mr. Bankes, and Viscount Clive, be added to the Select Committee on the Holyhead Harbour Bill. On the motion that Captain Berkeley be added to the Committee._ ___ Mr. WARD opposed it on the ground that the addi tion of other names to the ten already appointed was utterly unnecessary and unwarranted by the usages of the House. Captain HARRIS thought before the Committee was appointed, the Bill should be for some time before the House. He was of opinion they should be particularly cautious before they laid out money on this harbour, and that the report should be laid before the House prior to anything being done. Mr. HUME said the House should be slow in laying out the public money on this project before the fullest investigation was had with regard to it. Mr. KELLY thought the interests of Ireland should form some ingredient in the consideration of this question. Ample information had been obtained, and all the engineers ht.ci concurred in recommending Holyhead harboureountr as the harbour o f c o mmun i ca ti o n with that this case . , il The gallerye trusted that th e Government would persevere to stand by t h e d ec i s i on of t h e C omm i ttee i n was then cl eared, but no decision took Messengers from therLoardang place, the Ho n , Mr. WATSON' Ft esented l 'T• Catholics of Newport, in pra)ing to be admitted to the withdrawn his motion. um jcAT r .. o , ?ght up sundry Bills. sharxpestiroen from the Roman and other places, participation in the vote ha. Edueutioual purposeb. CHANCERY. __ M r . WATSON pr(senteo r Petition from severel su ii c i t ors and attorney praying for t.o inquiry into the errs of Gunnery EDUCATION. Mr. B. ESCOTT presented a petition from the Isle of Wight, and other places, against the vote for education. r-"""-.~ 6 , ff, tj: t' 1 ' T 1 4 hom the. r the r., condui tho u , Dirty 8 17.13 ( Lak tn Atlia c talent ' lalenta t legan 'rl4t) Stn t( -____ ,_ RA 441 .. 11 01 t., osl RA' aLorni CAI II V, IrAu Pitst 8 4sot, t'lrdt/ Om cir e ,, -......._ 1 ---I ' AL] t t her -,eri, % gain Sri