The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-26 00:00:00

PARIS AND ROUEN RAILWAY On Wednesday a meeting of the English shareholders in the Paris and Rouen Railway was held in the Clarendon rooms, South John-street, for the purpose of receiving a re- Port from the English directors, of their examination of the Yoe, and of the general affairs of the company. The meet ing was attended by a very numerous and respectable body of shareholders. On the motion of Mr. Charles Lawrence, John Moss, Esq. of this town, was requested to take the chair. Mr. Moss, in acceding to the proposition said, he should have requested Sir John Easthope, who was present, to have taken the chair, had it not been that twelve months ago he presided at a meeting in this town, and that from the repre sentations then made, many were induced to become share holders in the undertaking. He should now, without further observation, call for the report of the English directors to be read. Mr. SWIFT then read the report. " In making their report to the English shareholders of the Paris and Rouen Railway, the English directors think it best to refer to the state in which matters stood when they last met the proprietors in this town, on the 22nd of July of last Year. The chambers of the French legislature had then voted the law, authorising the construction of the railway, which law only waited the signature of the king of the French ; previously to which, however, it was felt expedient to ascertain whether its terms were such as rendered its ac ceptance by the English shareholders desirable. Some mo difications which the law sustained in its passage through the French legislative chambers were then discussed, and acqui esced in by the English shareholders, and the royal sanction was in due course given. " The statement, which had up to that time been submitted to the English shareholders, both as to the cost of the rail way and its probable revenue, was such as had induced a ready subscription for its shares. It appeared from the report of Mr. Locke, who is by law the appointed engineer in chief of the company, that the cost, both of constructing and equipping the line (80 miles in length), would lie about £1,610,000 ; that, from the best information which could then be obtained, the land would cost £150,000 ; and that allowing for legal and engineering expenses,—for the pay ment of-interest during the period of construction,—for all charges of direction, and for all other contingencies which unavoidably occur in such undertakings, the whole expendi ture would be amply met by the capital then provided, of £2,000,000 sterling. `• The English directors deem it to be important on this occasion to refer thus briefly to the aspect of things, when the English shareholders accepted the terms of the law ; and the directors adopt this course in order to represent the gra tifying fact that, up to the present time, when three-fourths of the land is purchased,—nearly all the works contracted for and in operation,—the whole of the rails and chairs needful to complete the line also contracted for, as well as the whole of the engines necessary to work it when com pleted, still there is nothing to generate a doubt of the suffi cieney of the capital, or to give rise to the slightest appre hension that its amount of £2,000,000 will be exceeded. "At ageneralassembly of the proprietors, which was held in Paris eight days after the meeting above referred to, the law authorising the construction of the railway was unanimously accepted. At the same meeting Mr. Reed, who had been so efficient as secretary to the London and South Western Rail way Company, was appointed one of the directors at the board in Paris, there to reside and to devote the whole of his valuable services to the concerns of the company. Subse quent political events slightly retarded the operations of the company; but in the course of the autumn the surveys ne cessary for the production of detailed plans of the land re quired, and the works proposed, were prosecuted with all that energy which the engineer of the company is known to Possess. From time to time the English directors were ad vised by their French colleagues of the progress of the works, and in the early part of last month they determined on visit ing France and inspecting; hem, with a view of reporting to the shareholders the result of that inspection. It is for the purpose of making the shareholders acquainted with that re sult that this meetin g is called. ".Having proceeded to Paris, and received from the French directors and the officers of the company the most unreserved explanations upon all those matters which relate to in-doors operations ; the English directors were accompanied by the engineer-in -chief and the secretary of the company on an in spection of the works. Leaving Paris they proceeded to the bridge at Bizons, which is in course of construction across the Seine, and which is not very far from the junction with the St. Germain Railway. This bridge is of ten arches of 100 feet span each ; and all the piers (which are of stone), are already built up to the level of the springing of the arches. The timber work for the upper structure is also Preparing, and a great number of workmen are engaged in constructing the towing-path and other contingent works. From this bridge the embankment extends nearly a mile to the cutting at Houille, which is also about a mile long, and the embankment then continues to the river at Maisons, where another large bridge is in progress. These bridges, and the earth work between them, constitute the most im portant part of the whole work. The cutting at Houille has been delayed for want of the land, but it is now in active pro gress ; several of the under bridges in the adjoining embank ment are built; at each end of the cutting the earth is being removed, and the whole of this work is proceeding with great energy. The Maison's Bridge, like that of Bigons, has all the piers ready for receiving the arches, and centres are placed in one arch for throwing over the ribs of timber which is to carry the Railway. Tanks for preserving the timber are built, and every preparation made for prosecuting simultaneously all the various parts of the work. A little beyond the bridge the line enters a cutting from eight to twelve feet deep, which continues for a considerable distance into the forest of St. Germain. In this cutting, and close to Maison's, a three-arch bridge is built, at which point the station for Maison's is fixed. On the west of the St. Germain forest, and in the neighbourhood of Poissy, the work is not heavy ; but it is already commenced in several places. From Poissy to Mantes, about 20 miles, the work is under contracts, but there is not yet much work done ; the heaviest portion is at the town of Mantes, which was commenced on the day the directors passed through. About five miles west of Mantes is the great tunnel of Rolleboise, where considerable progress has been made both in the driftways and in the excavations at each end. A large retaining wall has been built at the east end, and at the west end, which is near to the village of - °,POnieres, a bridge across the turnpike road is now in course of construction. To this point, about 40 miles from Paris, the works are under contracts. The tunnels at Venables were next visited. They are in a very advanced state. The easternmost tunnel is a mile long. By walking through the drift way from end to end an opportunity was afforded of seeing the strata. There is another tunnel at this place 400 yards long, where the driftway is already completed, and the open cutting between the two is proceeding. Both tunnels ere through chalk, perfectly dry, and easily worked. The works are very slight between this place and Le Mauvir, where a bridge similar to those before mentioned is building across the Seine, but the piers there are not placed in the river--the same may be said of the bridge at Oissel, which is a few miles nearer to Rouen. Near to this latter bridge the tunnel at Tourville, about 500 yards long, is being cased with brick work, the driftway being already completed. At all the tunnels the brick work is started. The line from Oissel to Rouen was not let at the time of this inspection, but it has since that time been contracted for on reasonable terms. " Mr. Locke, who is present, will inform you that the works thus visited form a very large proportion of the whole —that those which remain uncontracted for are of a very light character, and it is confidently expected that the con tracts for them will be concluded within a month from the present time. The English directors believe, therefore, that they are warranted in conveying to the shareholders their full conviction that the cost of the entire work is within a very narrow margin, defined and certain. It may here be observed that, with the exception of one bridge, the whole of these works are let to two English contractors of known re spectability and capital—viz., Mr. William Mackenzie and Mr. Thos. Brassey ; who, in addition to the guarantee which is afforded by their character and their property, give posi tive security for the due execution of the works within a prescribed time. These gentlemen leave also in the hands of the company 5 per cent. of the value of the work done, that is to say, they receive only £95 for every £lOO certified as being due to them by the engineer of the company, the remaining £5 being retained as a security for the final and substantial completion, to be paid to them after the opening of the railway. Moreover, Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Brassey, having from their own observation become convinced of the advantages which must ultimately arise to the shareholders on this line, have arranged with the directors to invest this 5 per cent. in 1700 shares of the company—such shares to be handed over to them instead of money at the period when otherwise that money would become payable to them, and in the mean time to be held in trust for them by the directors. " The directors cannot quit this part of their report without adverting again to the position of this company in respect to the work when the last meeting of English shareholders was held. It will be recollected by those who were present on that occasion that Mr. Locke, with his usual prudence, de clared with respect to the estimates, that the only difficulty he felt concerning them arose from his not knowing the value of French labour'—and to this it may be added that the directors had, in common with Mr. Locke, some doubts whether the experience of English workmen could be com bined with those of France, and especially whether the two classes of labourers, French and English, could agree so as to act together as to prosecute the works with that expedition which in England is required in railway undertakings. All apprehension of difficulty on this subject is now at an end. It is true that, in the competition for contracts, the English contractors have, by reason of their greater experience and consequently increased ability to appreciate such works, been much lower in their tenders than the French contractors ; but so far as the workmen are concerned nothing can be more satisfactory. Not only do the French labourers work har moniously with the comparatively small number of English men whom the contractors have felt it necessary to send over to France, in order to show how works of this sort are con ducted, but in some of the operations, particularly in the formation of the tunnels, the French workmen are not satis fied unless they are associated with Englishmen. " In the previous part of this report it is stated that three fourths of the land is purchased, and it is fully expected that within three months from the present time the whole of the land will be in the possession of the company. Those who are acquainted with the minute subdivision of property in France, and the immense number of proprietors with whom the company would therefore have to deal, were not without fear that these circumstances would impede the operations of the company, and present almost innumerable instances of that extortion to which railroad companies have been subjected to by landed proprietors in England. But this has not been the case. The French law requires that various forms shall be complied with, local inquiries made, and positive proof adduced, that the land is really re quired for a work, which has been declared by the legislature to he one, of public usefulness. The compliance with these forms involves delay, but it does not occasion much ex pence; appeals to juries are not frequent, nor are those appeals attended with anything like the same expence as in ngland ; there are few large landed proprietors, and these few do not generally ask unreasonable terms from the com pany, • " The rails and chairs are all contracted for. The iron is of excellent quality, and, although it is much dearer than in England, the cost doe's not exceed the estimate. "Far the greater part of the engines used on the few French railroads already constructed have been made in England,— th e efforts of the French manufacturers of locomotive engines having hitherto been unsuccessful. The directors felt it right therefore to entertain a proposition made to them by an English party who offered to establish them selves as a company at Rouen, and there to build, according to plans and drawings approved by Mr. Locke, all the engines required by the company at a stipulated price. As by this means the import duty, and the heavy expence of freight from England, are avoided, the directors, acting under the advice of their engineer, have contracted with this corn luny, and the engines are now in course of construction at Rouen, The concern is under the management of Mr. All oard, known to many present as formerly one of the engineers en the Liverpool and Manchester and Grand Junction Rail ways, and of Mr, Buddicoin, who, until he went to France eXpressly for this purpose, was the manager of the locomotive department on the Grand Junction Railway. - - - " The works are contracted to be finished at various Periods,—the latest on the Ist of March, 1813,—little more than fifteen months from the present time ; and there is no doubt that the line may be opened as early in the spring of that year as circumstances render desirable. " As to the traffic, the English directors have little to add to the statements formerly made. The very careful statis tical report originally prepared by Mr. Reed, aided by Mr. Chaplin, shewed that the present passenger and parcel traffic would alone, at French railway prices, produce £305,000 per ?nutitu. The quantity of goods carried by land, as well as water, is immense. This railroad has one terminus in the capital of France, and the other in the greatest manufac turing district of the kingdom, stretching towards the most important commercial port, and holding out facilities for transport to nearly four millions of inhabitants. It must be borne in mind that of the capital of two millions sterling, the French government lend £560,000, at 3 per cent. inte rest, repayable in thirty equal annual payments, the repay ment commencing in July 18-18. Placing, therefore, the in terest on the £560,000 as part of the current expenses of working the line, the profit will have to be divided upon a capital of X 1,440,000 only —a sum unprecedentedly small for 80 miles of railway. Nor is it expected that the cost of maintaining or working this line will be large. The works, with the exception of the tunnels and the bridges across the Seine. are of an unusually light character, and the nature of the material is everywhere of the very best description. With the exception of the article of coke, all other expenses of working the line will be small,—it being found, on all the lines hitherto made in France and on the Continent gene rally, that the number of passengers per train is much greater than in England ; and it is almost unnecessary to add, that on this, more than on anything else, depends the actual cost to the company of conveying passengers, and consequently the degree of profit. " The English directors cannot give a greater proof of their confidence in the success of the line, than by the statement of the fact that they now hold more shares than they have done at any lormer period. " As respects the financial position of the company, the English directors have to state, that, although there is in hand nearly £400,000, yet the rapidity with which the works are now carrying on, in order to their completion by the spe cified time, makes it imperative that the expenditure he large also at very early periods. The £560,000, which is lent by the government, will not be advanced until the whole £1,440,000 raised in shares is fully paid up : the last of the calls to make up this £1,440,000 cannot be made before the month of October next, leaving only a very short time to ob tain from the government, and to expend, the remaining sum of £560,000. It is evident that to incur any delay in open ing the line, by suffering arrears of calls to remain unpaid, would be inconsistent with the best interests of the concern. The English directors feel it therefore to be their duty to press for the punctual payment of all calls; they hope they may be spared the necessity of resorting to the power given them by the law for enforcing payment of calls in a concern which promises such great advantages at so early a period ; but they deem it to be their duty at once to state their deter mination not to suffer the concern to sustain damage by any delay in the payment of the subscribed capital. It may here be added that the calls on the shares held in France are promptly paid. Flaying now set forth the facts, and the opinions which are the result of their late visit to France, it remains only for the English directors to add that they were treated with the most entire frankness and cordiality by their French colleagues, with whose diligent attention and econo mical administration the English directors were highly gra tified. (Signed,) JOHN EASTHOPE. JOHN MOSS. CHAS. LAWRENCE W. CHAPLIN." The CHAIRMAN said, this was the report which the direc tors had felt it their duty to make to the shareholders. In making it, it must, of course, be understood that they had obtained their information from gentlemen eminently fitted to give it, namely, Mr. Locke, Mr. Chaplin, Mr. Reid, and others ; and he was very glad to have the pleasure of saying, that those gentlemen, being present, would confirm what the directors had stated. Of course thedirectors would be happy to answer any questions which the shareholders might think proper to put. In the meantime, he called upon Mr. Locke to state his views as to the certainty of completing the un dertaking within the time allotted to it. Mr. LOCKS, who came forward amidst much applause, com menced by observing that what he could say in addition to the report just read would be very little, because nothing that he could say could be more distinct than the report itself. When he had the pleasure of attending a meeting in that building twelve months ago, he did not feel so certain as to the cost of making this railway as he did now. Two-thirds of the entire works had been let, and from the prices at which they had been taken, he felt no hesitation in saying that the capital subscribed would be rather more than ample for their entire completion. (Hear, hear.) Indeed he might tell the shareholders that at that moment with £240,000 worth unlet, and with £600,000 let, he had an offer to guarantee the entire completion of the line for a sum of money less than he had set down in the estimates. (Hear, hear.) He did not think it necessary to accept that offer, because he thought it was better to let it ; but it enabled him to speak with perfect confidence as to the total construction of the railway. For engines, stations, coaches, or what he called the stock of the line, there was in the estimate £350,000, and he would leave it to any gentleman to say whether that was not large enough, economically used for such a purpose. He thought it was : he thought it more than sufficient : he did not think they should spend it; and when all the entire works were finished, they would have £350,000 to be carried towards the stock of the concern. With regard to time, which was one of the questions the chairman had put, the contracts hitherto let, (and they were the heaviest works on the line), were to be entirely finished by the Ist of March, 1843. There had been some difficulty and delay in obtaining possession of the land. They had not certainly gone on so fast as they hoped and be lieved they should, having been prevented by the want of possession. This must occur again, and therefore he spoke less confident with regard to the question of time than with regard to the question of estimates. He had no doubt that the work would be finished in less time than had been named ; but lest any unforeseen circumstance should occur, he wished to speak upon this point with his usual caution. Having had the fullest opportunity of seeing the line, and what it was ca pable of, he could say a great deal more than was said in the report. (Hear.) It was impossible for any one to see it, and to see the traffic upon it, and feel the slightest doubt about its eventual success. (Applause.) Tne CHAIRMAN, after complimenting Mr. Locke, and and alluding to the necessity of rigour in the prosecution of the works, said that Mr. Reed could give the meeting some information as to the difficulties there had been in obtaining I possession of the land. With regard to the cost he (the chairman) felt no doubt. The Grand Junction Line, about which he might be supposed to know more than about any other, really and truly, including every thing, had not cost £20,000. If the Grand Junction could be finished for £20,000 a mile, and he could find nothing on this line worse or more expensive than on the Grand Junction, for there was only one station to be built, the Paris station being like that of the Grand Junction at Liverpool, he should think it would not cost £23,000 per mile—that indeed there would be some thing left out of that. (Hear.) He was quite convinced that the shareholders would pot be called upon for any more money. (Cheers.) If they looked at the bill, they would find that there was no power to borrow one farthing. The French government, unlike the English, did not allow the shareholders to borrow upon their land a certain sum of money ; but with that which they had they must finish the line, and he felt confident they would do it. (Applause.) Mr. REED said that with regard to the land the directors had something to learn as to the mode practised in France of obtaining possession. The government of France were very justly jealous of the rights of landowners. The act of parliament, which was contained in four pages of the book which he held in his hand, merely recognised the principle and the public usefulness of constructing a railway from A. to 8., from Paris to Rouen, but did not define where the line should go. It did not limit you, as railway bills in England did, to fifty yards deviation on one side or the other ; it merely gave you power to make a line through certain communes or parishes from one place to another. But the government, although they did not insist that you should prove before a committee of the houses of parliament the special line, and define the land with which you wish to have the power to interfere, took care of the rights of the landowner, by an after view of your plan ; and railway companies in France were obliged to submit, in very great detail, as Mr. Locke knew to his great trouble, in a very great multiplicity of plans, not only of all the land required, but of all the works to be constructed. This had to pass through several judicial ordeals • and as regarded th e l an d it h a d nex t to go through the ordeal of an ordinary committee. This committee next was summoned after the plans had been ap proved by the Board of Government Works; and there, any objections which individual landowners, or public functionaries might have to the proposed line were heard. The report of this committee was next made to the government; and after wards you got the urrt of the Prefect of the department which gave you the power of taking the land. But they had to assign not only their entire line along the map, but also what land they should want ; they had to say within a perch how much land they should want, the parish where it was, and from that they must not deviate, or if they did the devi ation occasioned them the trouble of going through the whole process again. He need not tell gentlemen that Mr. Loche, or any other engineer of equal talent, would necessarily have a great deal of trouble in so defining the land as to have no after consequences of a troublesome character, which would be consequent upon any future deviation from the plan ; and therefore that the preparation of all the details and plans for afterwards being revised by the authorities, should occupy time, was not to be wondered at. The wonder was, that, how, going strange, as they did, into a foreign country, with all the prejudices of former habits, they should have gone through those forms in the time they had. He believed he might say that that was done in an unexampled short space of time, and that the French authorities had taken great pains to step out of their way to oblige them, merely because they were an English company. (Hear, hear.) The meeting would gather from what had been said, that time was necessary, in order to get possession of the land, but that period had now elapsed. Though it took between five and six months to get possession of the first acre, the whole processes had been going on, and the company were now in a condition to demand possession of the whole. Indeed, whilst he was now speaking, the whole fifty-two communes through which the railway passed, and the committee of enquiry, had reported to the government upon the whole. The ground wanted for the station at Rouen had been approved by the Town Council and Chamber of Commerce, and the directors had reason, non-officially, to believe that government ap proved of the plan. Therefore, though delay had taken place from time to time, that delay would not occur again, and Mr. Locke had no reason to expect that there would be any future delay in the completion of the works. (Hear, hear.) He was happy when he arrived in London, to find this distant and little known railway excited the attention of the press, for he found that week after week there was some notice of it in the railway papers of this country. (Hear, hear.) He saw in one or either—or both of them in fact—articles with regard to the purchase of the land for this railway. Those gentlemen who were in the habit of reading the railway pa pers would see the juries with which the directors had to do took a just and proper view of the case. In one paper it said that as to the forest of St. Germains the directors had had a contest before the jury. Now he was happy to be able to state, that with regard to the forest of St. Germains they did not go before a jury at all, except as a matter of form, an ar rangement having been made between the company and the government as far as pecuniary matters went. They went through the royal forest of St. Germains three miles and a half, through a part where there was a large quantity of growing timber ; they took forty-two acres of the royal land, six acres and a half being required for a deposit ; and for this land they paid 55,000 franci, and they contracted for additional works in order to facilitate the undertaking, which would cost £1,500 more. Looking at the whole cost of this land—the £2,200 which was represented by the 55,000 francs, and the £l,soo—it was £3,700 for three miles and a half of land. But he could tell the meeting that this sum was agreed upon previous to going before a jury, that they went there as a matter of form, and to be sure that the different departments should not quarrel which department should have such and such a share ; and he thought the shareholders would agree that this was fair and honourable on the part of the directors. Upon the Southampton Railway, where economy was practised as much as anywhere, the land cost at least £3,500 a mile; but he did not think that the whole land for the Paris and Rouen Railway would cost much more, if any, than half of that money. With regard to the legal ex penses of obtaining the land, he would say they were satisfac tory. The government had given the company exemption from the duty, which, it must be added, was a statuteable duty upon conveyances. A conveyance was inexpensive; a nominal duty of a franc for every one had to be paid, but it was rather lucky the company had the exemption, for not unfrequently he had signed so many as four hundred, and this occurred something like once a fortnight. (Cheers.) He did not know that he could say anything more with regard to land, or anything else, as the report of the English directors con tained so full an account of all their doings, and for that reason little remained to be said; but it perhaps might be thought that after a residence in France of some year and a half he ought to have formed some opinion as regarded the traffic to be expected on the line. He was happy in being en abled to state, that nothing whatever —that no circumstance which had passed around him had tended to shake his faith —that the figures, and the amount put down in the first re port would certainly be realised—that the traffic would at least amount to the sum there put down. (Hear, hear.) It might be thought extraordinary that such a line, in such a country, which was not proverbial for its commercial enter prise, should be found where iraffi c should be even more abundant than upon any road in England. But if the parti cular circumstances of the line were taken into considera tion, the thing explained itself. Taking the whole sea board of France upon the English channel, Havre was the only commercial port of the slightest consequence. Independently of being the port of the metropolis, it was the only commer cial port. Let a ship arrive from any part of the western world,from England,or even the southern coast of France itself, to Havre they must go. One case which had come under his own observation was this. Many of the rails to be used on this line were made at a place a hundred miles north of Marseilles. Marseilles lay direct south from Paris. The shortest line of transit would be to send these rails by canal or otherwise to Paris, but the fact was, instead of being sent north to Paris, were sent no r th t o Marseilles, there to be shipped ; they were then brought through the straits of Gi braltar to the port of Havre, and thence conveyed to the railway. Nothing, he thought, could better prove the exten sive usefulness of that port than this fact. It was the only means of approaching the capital with things of bulk, not only of foreign ports, but even from their own coast. In like manner the wine of Bordeaux was not sent to Paris by land, but it was shipped there to Havre, and thence sent to Paris. By and by he hoped it would be conveyed by this railway. (Hear.) The revenue of the railway, too, would be materially helped by the imperfect navigation which the Seine afforded. During the summer time very commodious steam-packets were fitted up for the convenience of passen gers, but they really did not run more than five months in the year. In the early part of the month of May they had scarcely started, and before October they had ceased to run, and not one of them was now plying. The consequence of this uncertain medium of transit was, that a great part of the goods as well as passengers, was sent by land; and surely it was nothing more than certain that they would be able to take goods by railway cheaper than by common carts. Im mense quantities of goods did go by these carts now; and he saw no reason why they should not take the whole of them, and also abstract a portion from the river. However, if they only took that which now travelled by land, they would take more than any line of railway in England, or, he be lieved, any other in the world. (Applause.) The CHAIRMAN said the meeting must feel much obliged to Mr. Reed for the explanations he had just given. lie (the Chairman) had seen it reported that there were some differences between the French and English directors ; but he was quite sure that nothing of that kind had ever oc curred between them. (Hear.) They went on together in perfect harmony. Of course little differences in opinion would occur : but lie might say that, although we English directors had power to vote by proxy in the committee, they had never once sent their proxies ; therefore there could not have been any very great differences. He was sorry that he was in ill health in Dover when his friends visited the works in France, and therefore could not go there ; but Sir John Easthope would state in what manner they had been re ceived by the French directors, Sir JOHN EASTHOPE, Bart., said he could have no diffi culty at all in stating, which was of much more importance to gentlemen composing a meeting for business purposes, that the English directors were received by their French colleagues with perfect frankness. They were admitted into that close and thorough investigation, without any app aren t reserve , or any manifestation of doubt , that men of b us i ness a ll liked, and which generated mutual confidence. (Hear.) It was quite obvious that there had been certain matters upon which they, with there notions of business, and with their views formed as they were in a commercial city, differed from their French colleagues. They stated those differences ; they were heard with great frankness and kindness ; they left them, the French directors having submitted to some changes in reference to those matters—the details of which it would be scarcely usual for him to explain; and he believed he could very safely say, that they left them under a conviction, that in those things the English directors were right. Every thing was now arranged to their satisfaction. The whole of the shares had stood now fully subscribed for in Paris at par ' • and there was not an u na pp ro p r i a t e d s h are connected with the concern. The English directors had had an opportunity of witnessing that there was a general punc tuality in the payment of calls. Generally the shares there were very much divided ; it was an unusual thing for an in dividual to hold a very large number ; and he believed, as far as his observation, and the information he could collect, served him, he believed he might safely say that the capital subscribed in France was subscribed by a class that was likely to pay the calls, and that they might be considered as exceedingly well held. That was the general report which he received, and every thing he had an opportunity of observing justified that opinion. With regard to the personal diligence of their French colleagues, he could assure the meeting that they would be an example to English directors, for they did not attend simply once a week, or once a month, but they considered it their daily business. Go at almost what time of day they (th e y English directors) always found some of their colleagues in the office. (Hear, hear.) They always found them attending to some business which had been apportioned to them ; and upon the days of meeting, which were twice a week, he did not remember that there was one absent, unless it was the chairman, who was a gentleman of advanced years and who, from his advanced age and increasing infirmities, was scarcely capable of attending to any business. With that exception—and he (Sir John Easthope) understood he had withdrawn much from business engagements, they found zeal and earnestness upon the part of every member of the French board. He had before stated that there was, what was of infinitely more importance to men of business than agree able manners ; there was that perfect sincerity, that becoming frankness, that great anxiety, that punctuality, diligence, and faithfulness in the discharge of their duties which gave the English directors a good opinion of the intentions of the in dividuals with whom they were embarked—because, after all, if they were associated with persons of light character and defective morals, it must be manifest that alt the surpervision and all the checks they could interpose would be - unavailing for the purpose of practical security. These gentlemen were identified with the English shareholders in interest; and they were men of high character in France. They had iden tified their character with this concern, and he believed they ' had before them a concern which held out not only very ample profit in return for the capital embarked in it, but he believed they were engaged in a concern that in some degree promised a higher and more excellent end than that of mere gain. He believed that this concern would tend to establish that good opinion between the two countries, the natural result of which was, not only to bring the labourers of the two countries into contact but into harmony, by promoting a connection of their mutual interest. (Hear.) It would tend to display skill in that simple and practical form by which the people of the two countries would form a better opinion of each. He believed it would have still higher ramifications ; that it would teach the two countries that their happiness, their power, and the good which both should consult and aim at, was to be attained by the promotion of their mutual interests ; that it would diffuse the sentiment that more was to be gotten by advancing that which would advance the good of both, than by rival interests pursued by narrow feelings, and advocated by doubtful means. (Hear, hear.) He knew that the enlightened man who was at the head of the administration of the foreign affairs of France had very much in view, in the encouragement which he gave to this concern, that it would tend to establish amicable re lations between the two countries. He knew that that sen timent proved his anxiety for its support and prosperity. He told the meeting frankly, that this was one of the leading considerations which had induced him (Sir John Easthope) to engage in it. He did not affect to be indifferent to coin mercial returns, being, as he was, sprung from commerce ; but he did tell them—and his friends who were present could tell them the same—that being about to retire from business engagements, he was anxious not to engage in anything fur ther. He was determined by the circumstance of this rail way tending to advance the interests of another railway with which he was connected, but most of all by the conviction that it would tend to advance the great, high, and permanent interests of both countries, by advancing the prosperity of each. (Hear, hear.) With that sentiment of this concern, he embarked in it. The way in which it had been carried on, and the confidence in it shewn by English proprietors, who, in times of difficulty and embarrassment, submitted to the danger of paying their money, because they had made an engagement—(hear, hear) ; (for it would be within the recollection of gentlemen present that when they had to make their first payment there was an unhappy collision between the two countries upon points it would be unnecessary for him to dilate upon, but they considered they had made an engagement, and therefore like English men of business and British merchants, they resolved to fulfil those engagements) —had had a happy influence upon the French. (Hear.) The skill carried into the concern, the comparative economy, the great exertion, indeed all: he elements by which it would be accomplished for a smaller sum of money, in a smaller space of time than had been customary, would, he was con vinced, be a very happy means of establishing a good feeling, and most cordially did he wish it should be a permanent feeling, between the country of France and that of Great Britain. (Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN said if there was in the country one per son more capable than another of knowing and appreciating the value of traffic, it was his friend Mr. Chaplin. He had been over the line ; and he believed that Mr. Chaplin would state to the meeting that it would make a very good return. Mr. CHAPLIN said that after what had passed scarcely any thing he could say would be worth attention ; but as the Chairman had particular tact in fixing responsibility both upon his colleagues as well as his officers, he was bound to say something. He went to Paris with his friends, in the employment to which the Chairman had alluded ; he took a very careful review of the traffic ; and he saw no reason in any shape or way for departing from the data which had been laid down by himself and Mr. Reed upon a former occasion. Every portion, he considered, was flattering in the extreme, and an increase rather than a decrease might be ex pected. The meeting was quite aware that apart from coach or diligence traffic it was difficult to make a statement that any man could swear to, because the wine came from distant parts and at certain seasons; the fruit was also dependant upon the season ; and it was impossible to stand and take them down in that minute detail which could prove it. He could, therefore, only refer the meeting to the authorities quoted upon a former occasion for making the railway, and they were the officials of all the towns upon the line and of the various districts. These being men of importance, of influence, and of character, there could b e no d ou bt o f th e facts. But if they looked only at the positive stage coach traffic, and give it the proportion of increase that railway facilities had produced in England, there could not be the shadow of a doubt of its realizing all that had been said. There was one question that had arisen upon which it af forded him much satisfaction in giving his opinion, and that was the question of how far the French might be of suf ficiently locomotive habits as to justify an anticipation of that multiplication of trade in France which had taken place in England. The two railways he was most conversant with were that of St. Germains and that of Orleans. It was true there might be an undue attraction in the former place which suited the pleasurable habits of the Parisians • but during their visit to France they went to Corbeille, which was the first station on the Orleans line and twenty miles from Paris, and here the case was different. This line had now been opened twelve months. There was no great attraction upon it, for it passed through an agricultural district, to a small town something like Stafford; and it maintained a high state of competition with steam-boats upon the canal. The result of that line—though here there was no St. Cloud, no Ver sailles, or Paris—was that it produced £l3OO in the latter week of September. Comparing this with the English practise, he had much satisfaction in his calculation of the traffic. These were his opinions, and his confidence in the undertaking was unabated. Mr. LAWRENCE said there was a feeling in Rouen that a bridge near there which had been let Co a French contractor, would not be executed within the required time. If t hi s were so, it might i m p e d e th e en tire communication; and he begged to call Mr. Locke's attention to it. Mr. LociE — sa - id he fiad had a similar report made to him, but in the present state of the contract it would b e diffi cu lt for him to i n t er f ere . Th e p ar ty had given security that the contract should be performed in due time, therefore, at pre sent he had no right to assume that he did not intend to fulfil it. He had himself doubts of the power of the French con tractors to execute any work of this kind within the time given. However, if he did not seem likely to do it within the time the company had a right to expect, he (Mr. Locke) would take mean s t o ensure it s being done by o th er han d s. Mr. B ARNE]) said, there was a part of the report which might be easily expl a i ne d h e k new , but which at present gave rise to some mis concep ti on . I n a ll u di n g to the cont rac t ors , as evincing their high opinion of the success of the under taking, it was stated that with regard to the deposits which they were compelled to leave i n the hands of th e di rec t ors , as a security for the fulfilment of their contracts, that those deposits would be invested in shares, and that the number of shares reserved would be 1,700. It might be well to know whether the directors had, as public officers, shares which they could devote to the fulfilment of this wish, or whether the deposit was to be employed in the purchase of shares in the market. The meeting had upon the one hand a statement by the worthy director (Sir John Easthope), who ' had satisfactorily explained the positioYi of matters in France —that all the capital was there subscribed, but as there were two descriptions of capital, English and French, he should wish to know whether the whole capital was subscribed for, and whether the shares had been appropriated. Sir JOHN EASTHOPE said, that as this question had arisen in consequence of what he had stated, he might be permitted to explain. There were a certain number of unappropriated shares in Paris, and that was one of the subjects to which the attention of the French directors was specially applied. These shares were now appropriated—being a part of the 1700. They were taken by Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Brassey at par, although the price in the market was below par. That did not amount to the entire sum they were required to de posit, and the remainder would have to be purchased as the English directors might consider was suitable ; but there was not one unappropriated share either in France or England. There were a few shares in England, and he was not quite sure whether there were not a few in France upon which only one call had been made. It would of course be the duty of the English directors to insist upon the calls being paid. The number was very trifling, and he did not apprehend the being in existence of one share upon which only one call had been paid for many days from this time. The CHAIRMAN rose to state the reason why there were any shares unappropriated. Certain shares were allotted for the City of Rouen ; and the City of Rouen passed a resolu tion that they would guarantee any persons who took those shares four per cent. Before the guarantee was executed the shares got into a little discredit; and the law itself would not allow the city to guarantee. Sir J,EASTHOPE.—They have now. The CHAIRMAN resumed. The consequence was that those shares came back to the board of directors, and Mr. Mackintosh mid Mr. Brassey were anxious to get them. They said they should be glad to take them at par; and the shares were applied in the names of three parties, of whom the chairman was one. Mr. ALTCAR having stated that he should be ready with the eng ines for the line at th e ti me h e h a d contracte d f or. Mr. BARNED expressed his satisfaction at the explana tions just given, and moved a vote of thanks to the chairman and to the English directors. Mr. Moss returned thanks, and strongly recommended all parties who held shares to keep to them through evil report and good report. The meeting then separated. FUNERAL OF TIIE LATE JOSHUA LACE, ESQ. The funeral of this highly respected gentleman took place o:i the morning of Wednesday. In compliance with the wish of the deceased, expressed on various occasions, and more particularly a few days before his death, the procession was not marked by any extraordinary display—his immediate relatives alone proceeding with the mournful train from Woolton to Trinity Church, in the cemetery of which is the family grave. There, however, a large and respectable - body of his townsmen had assembled, to pay a last tribute of re spect to his worth as a man, and his integrity as a practitioner, throughout a life so prolonged as to render him the father of the legal profession in Liverpool, The hearse, which was drawn by four horses, was preceded by the Mayor's carriage, and those of the deceased's family ; and was followed by two mourning coaches—the whole occupied by his relations. The family carriage closed the procession. On arriving at the church, the gentlemen alluded to, comprising nearly the whole of the members of the profession of the highest standing in the town, and other individuals of the first respectability, formed an avenue from the gate to the door of the church, through which the coffin was borne. The burial service was emphatically read by the Rev. Mr. Douglas, of Childwall, and the body was deposited in its final resting place (on the south side of the church,) amidst a large concourse of atten dants, who appeared to be deeply affected on the solemn and and mournful occasion. FUNERAL OF EGERTON SMITH, ESQ The funeral of Mr. E. Smith took place yesterday, and was attended by a large body of his fellow -townsmen attached to the principles of which he was the advocate for so many years. It was originally the intention of his family that the interment should be private; but Mrs. Smith subsequently yielded to the request of a number of his friends that it should be public, to afford an opportunity to his admirers of following him to the grave. Long before the hour appointed for the train to move onwards, a great number of persons, including many females, collected on the footwalks in Rod ney-street, particularly opposite and on each side of the de ceased's house. Shortly before eleven o'clock, the procession, headed by the hearse, with mutes in attendance, moved onwards. It was followed by two mourning coaches, and 15 other vehicles of various descriptions, including three or four private carriages. After them walked, two and two, the compositors of the Mercury office, headed by the overseer and one of the reporters of the establishment—all in black. These were followed by twenty of the deceased's more immediate friends, wearing hat bands, and about a hundred more respectably clad individuals, chiefly in black, and including many of the trade, formed the rear. The whole occupied about half the length of Rodney -street. The number of persons in the procession might be about 200. The train moved along Russell-street, Stymour-street, London-road, and Moss street, amidst numerous spectators, to the Necropolis, where also a large concourse awaited their arrival. After the usual service, in the small chapel, at the entrance, (which afforded accommodation to comparatively few of those present,) the remains of the deceased were deposited in the grave of the family. MR. BRINDLEY'S LECTURES ON SOCIALISM On Tuesday evening, pursuant to notice, Mr. Brindley, the celebrated opponent of socialism, commenced a series of lectures at the Queen's Theatre, in Christian-street, in which he had proposed to shew the declining state of that pestilent and abominable system, and to prove, in especial, the swin dling character of the community, established by the social ists of Liverpool, at Pant Glas, in Wales. The proceedings commenced at eight o'clock, at which time, notwithstanding a very insufficient notice of the lec ture, a considerable audience was collected. The Rev. Mr. Connor, on the motion of Mr. Crisp, was called to the chair ; and Mr. Brindley proceeded at once, in that rapid and effective style for which he is distinguished, to lay before his audience an account of the past and present condition of the heresy of Owen and his fellow-atheists. In the midst, however, of an eloquent and most cutting exposl of the do ings of these profound and philosophic scamps, (which was listened to, we are glad for the honour of our town to say, with unqualified disgust,) Mr. Brindley was interrupted by the dissentient voices of two individuals—a Mr. Westwick, formerly, it appeared, secretary of the socialist body in Li verpool, and a Mr. Stewart, of Whitechapel, a couple of gentlemen for whose peculiar " organisation " and address one would almost imagine was especially intended the ex pression of " old Will " " Hence, cream-faced loon! Whence got'st thou that goose look ? " and, after a short pause, the two socialists were introduced upon the stage, to fulfil the purpose for which doubtless they had conveyed their " most sweet persons " to the place of meeting, viz., to engage the lecturer to hold a discussion with a notorious missionary of their dishonest craft, who is, we believe, known to the socialist public under the eupho nious Welsh-sounding name of Lloyd Jones. To the proposition made by Mr. Westwick in his behalf, Mr. Brindley at once acceded —nay, he declared that he was delighted to accede to it ; but he was anxious to know whe ther the worthy who made the proposition was fully autho rised to do so. Upon this point, however, he was satisfied, by the production of a letter from the socialist missionary himself ; and, after a little shuffling (and much of this espe cial instrument in social tactics is not practicable where Mr. Brindley is concerned), an arrangement was at length come to for a discussion, to be held upon the following terms and question, the latter of which w as di c t a t e d by M r . B r i n dl ey, and committed to writing by the rev. chairman. Upon the result of this discussion with their favourite oracle—for poor Robert Owen appears to be shelved by his own dupes—the two socialists pledged themselves, in behalf of their whole body in Liverpool, to " sink or swim "—a pledge which it is just possible that the " external circumstances " with which they are surrounded, viz., the contempt drawn upon them by Mr. Brindley's exposure of the fraudulent character of their doings, and the impious and odious nature of their principles, will not allow them to shuffle out of. The following are the terms of the discussion agreed upon: —" Mr. Brindley will prove, and Mr. Lloyd Jones will dis prove, socialism to be a lying, swindling ? fraudulent scheme, which has robbed the working classes, and is now robbing them, under false pretences ; and that it in theory denounces all marriage and all religion, and denies the existence of a personal intelligent God." The discussion is to take place in the Queen's Theatre, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the 6th, 7th, Bth, and 9th of December, under the management of a committee chosen on each side, with a moderator chosen by the meeting. The proceeds to be handed over to the mayor, for the benefit of the Infirmary and Dispensary. . - On Saturday evening the chartist question is to be dis cussed, when we feel sure it will meet with the same fate that befals the other abominations of the day under Mr. Brindley's searching investigation. We rejoice to see the staunch support afforded that gentleman by our working men. WEDNESDAY EVENING'S LECTURE EXPOSURE OF THE PANT GLAS COMMUNITY SWINDLE. After a few preliminary remarks of an amusing descrip tion, with respect to a recent visit to London in search of the husband of a female missionary, and reading to the audi ence some disgustingly abusive and threatening letters re cently addressed to himself by the socialists. Mr. Brindley proceeded to his promised exposure of the swindling nature of the community established by the Liverpool socialists at Pant Glas in Wales, which he proved by a public examina tion of the wife of one of the victims of the fraud—a poor woman of the name of Gregory. The leading movers of this precious affair were a knot of individuals—Liverpool socialists. The Mr. Westwick, spoken of in a former lecture, was also a subscriber to its funds. The place in question, Pant Glas, described to its poor dupes, and in the pages of the New Moral World, as a perfect Paradise,—where "nightingales sung on every tree" —consisted of about 1,000 acres of Welsh mountain, which is said not in reality to contain as much grass or any other herbage "as would graze a goose." On their arrival at this paradise, the misguided individuals, who had paid some £lO each for the privilege of going into community, found pre pared for their residence only a miserable hovel, which had been in use as a cow-house, and in which the whole —men, women, and children—eat, drank, lived, and slept together on beds of straw in true social style—like pigs in a straw yard. Their supplies of food were forwarded them from Liver pool, from the parties who had swindled them out of their money, and fooled them into this wild-goose scheme ; and were, as might be expected, of the most wretched descrip tion. Thick stirabout, oatcake, coffee made of roasted corn, and sometimes a little tea for the females, constituted their luxurious breakfast. Potatoes and lard,—once or t w i ce a fowl amongst 16 of them, with boiled nettles—salt fish, which, having been packed in the same bo x w ith so f t soap, required to be washed before eating, was their ordinary din ner; and their only other meal was one of chocolate, sent from Liverpool, with oatbread and lard. Fixed in this delightful spot, and luxuriating upon this delightful fare, the community naturally became re s ti ve , and wrote in savage terms to their defrauders, the Liverpool socialists ; and they were directed, in ord er t o k eep up t h e swindle and to get in subscriptions, to writ e t wo ki n d s o f letters—one for the public about n i ghtingales, rural felicity, appeared in the New Moral W or ld, and the rest which duly and the other containing the plain unvarnished truth. After six months, however, of endurance, in which period they literally eat up their farming stock, beds, bedding, and all, the community broke up—one of the pa r ty runn i ng away with the only p or ti on o f thei r locomotives remaining —a donkey and cart—a n d a nother swindling his fellow dupes of the remnant of their pots and pans. A wretched attempt was made by a wretched being in the form of humanity during the progress of this exposure and at its conclusion, to create a diverson in favour of the infa mous body with which he is associated ; but it is gratifying to state that his efforts were rewarded with only the most un qualified disgust. Indeed, we believe that but for the inter ference of Mr. Brindley, his doom would have been the nearest pump. A resolution was unanimously passed that the community was a swindling scheme ; an d on t h e sugges tion of a perso n i n th e pit a subscription was got up on the spot to relieve the poor woman who having, with her two children, been reduced to wretchedness by it, and deserted by her husband who had dragged her into it, had come for ward to expose its villany and that of its concoctors. The amount realised by this spontaneous and creditable effort of the audience was £3 13s. 6d. MEETING OF THE DOCK COMAIITTEk The following gentlemen were present at the meeting of the Dock Committee, yesterday :—Messrs. Sands (chairman), Horsfall, Barclay, Holt, Holmes, Sandbach, Nicol, Evans, Smith, Tobin, Chapman, Ripley, Bulley, Aiken, Middleton, Moon, and Chilton. THE CONTRACT SYSTEM The Sub-committee of works reported that an agreement had been made with Messrs. Bowers and Co., to take down the pier -head at the entrance to the Canning Dock, the Graving Dock No. 1, Salthouse Dock, and part of the east side of George's Do c k. Mr. CHAPMAN asked whether there had been any com petition for this work ? - Mr. HORSFALL replied that ten or a dozen persons had competed for it. Mr. CHAPMAN further enquired whether the contract was advertised? Mr. HORSFALL said it was not exactly advertized, but notice had been given which had induced ten or a dozen per sons to come forward. • Mr. AIKEN asked the surveyor whether it was not his opinion that the work could have been done lower by the committee themselves ? The SURVEYOR replied that it was. Mr. AIKEN thought the system of contracts was carried too far, and that the present one ought to be aband one d. The SURVEYOR observ e d th a t a great part of the work was already done. Mr. TOBIN was decidedly of opinion that the committee carried the contract system too far. Mr. Alderman EVANS thought it was exceedingly wrong to run any risk by the present system. If the committee could do this work better or cheaper themselves they ought to do it. Mr. RIPLEY observed that if the committee could do the work cheaper than it could be done by this contract, they ought to abandon it. The SURVEYOR remarked that there might be cases in which it would not be cheaper for the committee to do the work. Mr. CHAPMAN said there was one point which was appa rently lost sight of altogether, and that was the expedition the committee could command by having the work done by contract. Small things ought to be done by their own esta blishment; but for the sake of saving a few pounds they ought not to inconvenience the trade of the port by abandon ing the contract system. The time at which the work in any case should be completed was always specified. Mr. HORSFALL observed that the experience of the com mittee had always been the reverse. Several centractors who bad taken works had passed the time to complete them, and had actually doubled it. Mr. CHAPMAN.—Penalties are always attached. Mr. HORSFALL.—But the difficulty is to get the penalty from a man who has no money. Mr. AIKEN said that, taking the whole, he found that the works could be done better, cheaper, and quicker by the committee's own workpeoplc than by contract. If it could be shown that the work could be done cheaper by contract, he should say do it ; but unless time and money were both economized by the contract system, it was carried too far. The committee had sufficient men, and as they could not work during the tide they could be advantageously employed elsewhere during that period. Mr. CHAPMAN contended, that if the committee let only the rough part of their work, and detained the smooth, they would not be doing justice to the contract system. Mr. HortsFALL recalled the attention of the committee to the question, which was, whether the recommendation of the sub-committee should be confirmed, This contract had al ready been taken, and the contractors had entered upon the work. Mr. RIPLEY was a member of the sub-committee of works, and he begged to say that they had themselves done a great deal of work upon the telegraph stations between Liverpool and Holyhead. The whole had been well executed by their surveyor, and he was satisfied that it was done quicker, cheaper, and better than if contracts had been resorted to. In one place the work had been done by a contractor, but it was found so bad that the subcommittee were compelled to have it taken down, and re-executed by their surveyor. ' Mr. HOLT said, the sub-committee had recently had new lights to the light-ships. These were usually made by Mr. Hartley, but in consequence of his absence, they were obliged to get them from another quarter. They cost £176 more than if they had been supplied by Mr. Hartley. The recommendation of the sub-committee was then con firmed. THE SHIP LADY FALKLAND. The Sub-committee, to whom had been referred the con sideration of the claim of Messrs. Rankin, Gilmour, and Co., for a return of the dues paid upon their vessel the Lady Falkland, on the ground that she had not entered the dock, made a report, in the shape of a resolution. It was to the effect that the evidence be reported to the general committee, that no blame attached to the dock master, who had acted with sound judgment and discretion, and that the sub-com mittee deemed it more advisable to leave the casein the hands of the general committee. The evidence of the Harbour and Dock Masters was then read. They stated that au order certainly was given to the captain for the admission of the Lady Falkland into Coburg Dock, on the 14th of October. but the state of the tide was such that had she been admitted she would have grounded in the dock, and thereby have delayed the departure of the Acadia, Halifax steamer, which was appointed to sail the next day. The Lady Falkland thereupon sailed for the Clyde. The affidavit of the pilot, who belonged to No. 6, pilot boat, and of the captain of the Lady Falkland, were then read. They stated the granting of the order for admission, and that the vessel might have been admitted had any degree of promptitude been used. A letter from Messrs. Rankin and Co. to the committee was next read. It stated, that they asked the return of the money upon the broad principle of justice—that they had not received the accommodation for which they had paid. The 100th and 101st sections of the Dock Act were cited to justify the return of the dues. The letter went on to say, that as the house paid one-fortieth part of the tonnage dues of Liverpool, and also contributed largely to the town dues and graving docks, they were entitled to consideration, and also to suggest a number of alterations. Mr. SMITH, chairman of the sub-committee, said, that every ship coming into this port ought to wait for her turn of getting into dock. If the committee found accommoda tion in the docks they could not find water ; and it was the duty of every one who wished to dock his ship to wait till the tides were fit for the purpose. Mr. HORSFALL enquired whether the sub-committee re commended anything ? Mr. Moox replied in the negative ; adding, that they left the matter to the decision of the general committee. The want of water was the cause of the vessel not getting into dock. Mr. CHAPMAN did not at all accord with the views of the chairman of the sub-committee, because, on reference to the treasurer's books, it would be seen that nine years ago the dues were returned on a ship belonging to Mr. Brocklebank under exactly similar circumstances. Mr. Chapman then recited the circumstances of the Lady Falkland, and con cluded by saving that the committee had no right in equity to retain the dues paid by Messrs. Rankin and Co. for the payment of the expenses of steam-boat hire. Mr. AIKEN contended that Mr. Chapman's view of the question was erroneous. The question was whether the dock dues, being paid, the committee had power, under the act of parliament, to retnrn them. There was no member of the committee who did not feel desirous of acting the part of equity as Mr. Chapman had suggested ; the question was, had they the power. .- - - The CHAIRMAN said that the Solicitor was of opinion that they had not. Mr. AIKEN remarked that as the writer of the letter referred the committee to two clauses in the new act, those clauses had better be read. Mr. Alderman EVANS thought that equity and good policy required that the dues should be returned. if they had the power, they ought to return the money. Mr. HORSFALL was quite of opinion that if it could be done without a direliction of duty, the money ought to be returned. The SECRETARY then read clauses 100 and 101 of the new dock act; and added, that the solicitor was clearly of opinion that neither of them could assist Messrs. Rankin. Mr. HORSPALL was sorry to differ in opinion with the solicitor. There was a strong equitable claim in this case, and the clauses, he thought, went to favour the claim. He should move that the money be refunded. Mr. CH ApmAN seconded the motion. Mr. Alderman EVAjS said it was incumbent upon the committee to do equity, therefore he should move as an amendment that the Solicitor take the opinion of two eminent counsel upon the question. Mr. Nicol, seconded the amendment, After some discussion between Mr. Chilton, Mr. Sand bach, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Aiken, Mr. Chapman, and others, the committee divided, when the amendment was carried by a majority of 1 ; the numbers being—for it 11, against it 10. DAMAGE TO THE RIVER WALL. The sub-committee for the department of the Harbour master recommended that the damage done to the river wall by the steamers Princess Royal and Admiral be not charged for, but that notice be given that in future if vessels came alongside the wall for the convenience of embarking or land ing passengers, they would be held responsible for any da mage that might result.—Confirmed. BRUNSWICK GRAVING DOCK. Some repairs were ordered to be made upon the wall of the Brunswick Graving Dock. THE LATE ACCIDENT IN PRINCE'S GUT. The attention of the committee was called by a memoran dum to the want of chains to the dock-gates, whereby two females lost their lives on Sunday last, as reported in the STANDARD of Tuesday. Mr. RIPLEY understood that such chains were provided. The CHAIRMAN.—We either have or ought to have them. The SECRETARY said this melancholy accident occurred at the north end of Prince's Dock. A young woman was running away from some young men who were teasing her, and in endeavouring to make for the footpath across the bridge, she got to the gate, and fell over into the lock. A crowd immediately assembled, and another girl who was among them in the alarm slipped into the water. It was not true that there was a want of a guard-chain, for it was pro perly fixed, but there was no chain across the footpath over the bridge. The Harbour Master suggested that a guard chain should be extended across the footpaths over the gates. Mr. TOBIN suggested that more lights were wanted. The SECRETARY said that he had received no complaints on that point. The misfortune was the result of acci dent. The conversation then dropped. RUNCORN DUES. The dues received at Runcorn for the last month were re ported to be £52 Os. 7d. CONFERENCE WITH THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. The Finance Committee of the town council sent a copy of a resolution stating, that they had appointed a sub-com mittee to confer with the dock committee upon the best means of facilitating the landing and embarking of passen gers at the several piers, on the plans of the proposed basin for the accommodation of the carrying trade, and on a proper site for the testing machine. _ __... _. After some discussion, to-morrow (Saturday), was ap pointed for the conference, the committee to be considered open. MR. GAGE'S PLANS. Resolutions were read in recommendation of Mr. Gage's plans, from the East India and China Association, the Ship builders' Association, the British and North American As sociation, the Shipowners' Association, the Brazilian and Mexican Association, and the Shipmasters' Association. Some conversation followed, at the end of which, it was re solved that two members from each association, together with Mr. Gage, should be invited to attend the committee on Monday next, to investigate the entire plans. It was further stated that the proceedings would be open to reporters for the public press. ME. CHAPMAN'S NOTICE OF MOTION. Mr. CHAPMAN then proposed the motion of which he gave notice last week, for the appointment of an additional committee to assist the sub-committee of works, on whom he made some strong observations. Mr. Alderman EVANS and Mr. AIKEN defended the pro ceedings of the board of works. The motion was ultimately rejected by a large majority, and the meeting separated. HoP DUTY.--The duty , on, hops, the growth of the year 1841 amounts to £266,898- ss. sd. The old duty at ld. p er lb. is £146 15 s . 9d . ; and the new at Id. per lb. is £108,030 ; the addition duty of five per cent. making up the difference. LAMENTABLIC ACCIDENT AND Loss OF LIFE. —On Thursday rooming a fearful explosion of fire damp occurred in No. 6 Pit, Whiffet, whereby two men were instantaneously killed, and five or six others so seriously injured that many days must elapse ere they can resume their employment, or be considered fairly out of danger.--Edbaburgh paper. PITT-STREET WARD: CONFESSION OF " PAUL PRY." TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. beg leave to state, through the medium of your paper, the mode in which the letter in the Albion of the 22nd instant, and signed " Paul Pry," originated. A communication in the Mercury of Friday last, copied from the Chronicle, reflecting on the doings of the Tories of St. Paul's Ward, became the subject of conversation amongst a few friends; and the wholesale and absurd charges of bribery, intimidation, &c., brought forward by the Liberal press against the Tories, was much animadverted on. The writer of this suggested, (what is pretty well known to be the fact,) that these charges were merely trumped up to cover their late disgraceful defeats, and to draw the attention of the public away from the doings of their own party in this particular line ; like the crafty fellow who, when he is pursued with the cry of " stop thief," immediately, to set his pursuers at fault, turns round, and joins more lustily than them all in the cry. The " ruse" very frequently succeeds, as it has done, iii a great measure, with these charges of bribery, in timidation, and guzzlOg, or, to use the phrase of an elegant correspondent of one of yourcontemporaries, " gobslotching," The mode in which these charges were got up was also brought upon the carpet, and I again suggested, that it did not matter from what quarter they came, authenticated or unauthenticated ; so that they were well seasoned with abuse of the " horrible, naughty Tories," they were sure to obtain a ready admission from the conductors of the Liberal press. To prove this assertion, it was proposed, that the facts which appear charged to the poor Tories of Pitt-street Ward, (but of which, in reality, the Radicals of that ward are guilty) should be dressed up ; and I undertook to obtain their inser tion in one of the Radical papers. The favour was first intended for the Chronicle, but this was objected to, because, said the objector. " the editor who could admit such a mass of rubbish into his paper as that laid at the door of the shocking fellows in St. Paul's Ward, would, no doubt, admit any thing, no matter however absurd." The Albion was then named, and it was agreed on all hands, that if the editor of that really respectable paper should admit it, my position would be much better proved. ar►d the public would have a much better opportunity of judging respecting the degree of credit to he attached to those charges, no matter from what portion of their press they might emanate. I do not need to inform you of the success of the hoax ; " the bait was greedily swallowed ;" but I hope it may be at tended with these good effects, viz. : Ist. To teach these self-styled " liberal" editors a little more caution and circumspection for the future. 2dly. To show the public the caution with which they should receive these contemptible charges. 3dly. Who are in reality the transgressors. 4thly. The solidity of the triumphs so lately achieved by the Conservatives. If these objects should be attained, I, for one, Mr. Editor, will intrude no further. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Pitt-street, Nov. 23, 1841. PAUL PRY. STATION FOR THE WEST INDIA STEAMERS TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, Sxa,—l have read with great interest your able renalrks on the subject of making Liverpool the port of departure for the Atlantic steam-packets, which remarks I conceive are such as to defy doubt or contradiction, but might be strengthened by a few additional facts, as contrasting them with the most prominent considerations that were urged in favour of South ampton, which appears to be the port selected, but by what reason or what authority that selection has been made does not appear, and would seem to be the result of that very energy that the whig Council of Liverpool were so grossly deficient in, as we have reason to believe it arose from the influence of the proprietor of the Morning Chronicle, (the chairman, or late chairman, of the Southampton Railway,) who certainly deserves all praise from the local interests through which it passes ; but how stands the case with the great manufacturing districts of England, all Ireland, and Scotland ? Why, Southampton is the most remote point of England, entirely destitute of machinal resources, and with coals dearer than at any other seaport in the kingdom, while Liverpool is on the verge of a coal field, and possesses withln itself very powerful resources in machinery, and is in direct railway communication with the emporium of the world, for this wonderful power having only about two miles of railway to complete through the town of Manchester, for which powers are already granted by parliament and capital raised, to bring all the manufacturing districts of Lancashire, -York shire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire within six hours of Li verpool for goods, comprising all the manufactories of the kingdom ; and we are assured that the Liverpool and Man chester, and Manchester and Leeds railway companies have now determined to complete this only remaining link with all possible despatch. Armed with such arguments, we cannot conceive that any- administration could resist a proper application on the part of Liverpool, much less so enlightened a one as now governs the country. Should these remarks throw a j ny light on the subject you have brought before the public, they will have answered the end of your obedient servant, N. Manchester, 23d November, 1841. [Our correspondent will find some remarks on this impor tant question in the STANDARD of to-day, and in our next he will observe an article upon the subject, which will not only embrace the points to which he calls our attention, but wherein will be adduced many important arguments to which attention has not been hitherto sufficiently di rected.] REPUDIATED EXCHEQUER BILLS, (Prom the Morning Post) A correspondent has communicated to us the following list of persons who hold the above description of documents to the amount of above £300,000. The list, we apprehend, i s not perfect : Bank of England £ 8,000 Coutts and Co., bankers lO,OOO Ransom and C0., do Price and Co., do Curries and Co., do London Commercial Bank... Bell and Co., solicitors Bell and Broderip, do . 33,000 Shearman, merchant John and W. Scott, merchants 15,000 Hichens, broker Barnes, do Solomans, do. . Harrison, do . 6,000 Shaw, City Treasurer.. Major Anderson £311,000 (Front the Morning Chronicle.) The Edinburgh Exchange Bills are all of £l,OOO value each, and are apportioned in the following order among the various banking institutions of that city : Bank of Scotland Royal Bank British Linen Company 50,000 Sir William Forbes and C 0... 50,000 Commercial Bank National Bank . Leith Bank Glasgow Union Bank 35000 Western Bank £lOO,OOO SACRED Music.—We beg to refer the lovers of sacred harmony to Mr. Novello's list of compositiens, which will be found clsew here. The names of Mozart. Haydn, V. No vello, G. Hargreaves, Taylor, B. Hme, Ball, &c., will give an idea of the sterling merit of the work. JULLIEN'S CONCERT.—Some delightful concerts have been given during the week at the Portico Rooms, by M. Jullien and his unrivalled hand. The audiences have been literally astonished at the proficiency of Herr Koenig on the Cornet a Piston. His tones are powerful and very sweet, his execution brilliant, while his taste is of the first order. M. Jullien introduced his newly-invented instrument, the Clavicor, and played with Flerr Koenig some of the music from Norma. The Clavicor is a sort of Opheiclide on a small scale, fitted with pistons. The tones are round, full, and very melodious. Madame Koenig's performances on the Accordion are extraordinary. We had no idea that this in strument could be made " to discourse such excellent music." The tones produced by the Accordion and Piano-forte accom paniment are similar to those of the Flips-harmonica as played by Herr Breuniy. The Transatlantic Quadrilles are very spirited ; popular American airs are introduced. A set of quadrilles, composed in honour of the Prince's Birthday, are horrid rubbish ; it is a shame to ffnd talent so wasted upon them. The prelude—if such it was—intended for " God save the Queen," was really ludicrous; it appeared to us to be an endeavour to represent a s quailing infantile accompa niment. Mr. Collinet played a sweet air on the Flageolet. We seldom hear this beautiful instrument ; and certainly rarely, if ever, so skilfully played upon. M. Jullien gave the Nightingale \Valtz with his accustomed brilliancy and effect. Mr. Richardson is a tine performer on the flute. We recom mend our friends—especially our musical ones—to visit the Portico ; if they do not they will miss one of the greatest treats offered for some time. The Portico Room is admirably adapted for musical performances : it is excellently contrived for sound. FATAL DUEL IN AFRICA.—We learn from Algiers that, on the ith instant, a meeting took place, with sabres, be tween the son of General Bonnet and another officer of the Ist regiment of chasseurs, when the former fell from a wound in the heart, which he survived but a few minutes. The cause of this quarrel is not mentioned. DARING HIGHWAY ROBBERY.—A fortnight since, as a poor man named James Rhodes, of Rye, fish-seller, was re turning from Hastings, where he had been to dispose of some crabs, he was attacked near Fairlight Downs by two footpads, who rushed upon him and felled him to the ground, and kept him in that position, with his hat held tight over his face, while a third proceeded to rifle his pockets. They succeeded in robbing him of between £2 and £3 in silver, the produce of the crabs, and made off through a gap in the hedge. As soon as Rhodes recovered from the ill-usage of the ruffians, he retraced his steps to Hastings, and gave in formation of the robbery to the police, and one of that body accompanied him to the spot where the robbery was effected, when he found Rhodes's pocket-knife, which had been taken out of his pocket while he was on the ground. CASE OF NON-PAYMENT OF Tor.r..—Great interest wa il excited in Canterbury on Monday, in consequence of the summons issued against the Right lion. Sir Edward Knatch ball, Bart., for the refusing to pay a toll in the month of September, being fixed for hearing by the city magistrates. In the month of Septemb er l as t, on t h e occas i on o f the Right Hon. Baronet's acceptance of office in the new government under Sir Robert Peel, his seat was vacated ; and the election consequent thereon was fixed to take place, on Monday, the 20th of September. The Right Hon. Baronet's residence (Mersham-hatch) is situate about twenty miles from the place where the election was appointed to take place. He left his residence on the previous Saturday, and the usual toll was demanded of him at the several turnpike-gates through which he passed, at some of which he refused to pay ; and among them was the one which formed the ground for the present summons. He claimed his exemption on the ground that he was going to an election. Mr. Purley stated that Sir Edward Knatchbull li v i ng a t t h e di stance of 20 miles from Barham downs, where the election was appointed to take place on the Monday, he had felt it necessary to leave his home on the Saturday, in order to avoid Sunday travelling, and to be in time for th e nom i na ti on h e pa id a v i s i t to Si r NV. B. Bridges, at Goodnest one - par k , i nten di ng to stay with bins on the Sunday. Co nsequent l y, t h oug h t h e e l ec tion was fixed for Monday, still to all intents Sir Edward Knatchbull was on his road the re t o i n go i ng to Si r B roo ke Bridge's on the Satur day, and as such was entitled to the exemption of toll, the act authorizing that persons going to or from any such electi on should he ex em pt e d, He stated further, that Sir Edwa r d Knatchbull himself proposed such a visit to Goodnestone park merely for the purpose of being in time for the nomina tion. It was impossible to suppose that he, a t hi s advanced age, could have left his home ssufficientlyearly on th e morn ing of election to have been at it in time, without gre a t b o dily fatigue. Mr. Sands replied at some length, and ridiculed the notion of allowing him the Saturday previous, when the election was fixed for the Monday, as a reasonable time fur one to take to go to an election, especially, too, when, as in this case, the defendant lived but 20 miles from the place of election. The Court convicted the right hon. gentleman in the penalty of £2 2s. with Bs. 6d. costs, in order to afford the opportunity of appeal, which Sir Edward intends to prosecute, OUR PORTFOLIO.—No. X If it is seldom that your reviewer peruies the entire of the work which he undertakes to criticise, it is still more rare to find him making a candid acknowledgment of the fact. We wish to place ourselves out of the number of those to whom this remark :is applicable, and in order effectually to do so, we shall begin by saying, that we have never even handled more than one of the four volumes of the work of which we are about to say something. Reader, have you ever had to do with odd volumes? If you have, you may probably agree with us, that there is a great deal to be collected from an odd volume. For our part we profess to be something of a connoiseur in this odu branch of literature, having long in dulged in the secret luxury of a collector. A clever writer will make himself known, even in a fragment of his work, and if we can obtain no more of him than a few disjecta membra—if like the lost books of Livy, or some other anci- cut classic, all else that bore the impre'ss of his master hand, has periahed—the value of what remains is doubly enhanced, and our " odd volume" becomes a treasure of inestimable price. On the other hand, if the author be tedious in his manner, and tasteless in his dissertations, we shall have quite enough of him in a single volume, or any fractional portion of his labours ; we may be content to form our opinion of this Hercules, not by his foot, but by his toe, and instead of desiring to wrap ourselves all round in a wet blanket, we may be happy to divest ourselves even of the small end that has fallen in our way. Thus far then we would justify expound ing from an odd volume; and now to the work, to the notice of which we have made this prelusion—Alexis de Torque- Title's Democracy its America. One volume of this, then, is all that we have looked into ; but it has been enough for us. M. de Tocqueville is a member of the Chamber of De puties, a member of the Institute of France, &c. &c., and we make no doubt a very clever personage; but shall we on this account waste our time in sifting a whole bushel of chaff for the sake of three grains of wheat? Your Frenchmen too often deem themselves profound when they are only muddy ;—philosophical when they are only frivolous; and it is not merely a matter of taste, but an affair of sound judg ment and superior discrimination, when Englishmen put from them such inanities as quite unworthy of men who de light chiefly in what is solid and important. It is not that M. de Tocqueville does not favour us occasionally with very excellent observations ; it would be scarcely possible for one man to write so much, and not sometimes hit upon some thing striking or novel ; but we say that his eternal specu lation and systematising upon any trifling accident—his in cessant elaboration to reduce every fact, however insignifi cant, to some principle—his evident passion for what he calls " general ideas,"—a passion which, he tells us, is indi genous to his country; all this, we say, renders him as a writer most uncongenial to our English taste. He furnishes the key to our dislike in a passage in which the character of the English and American mind is contrasted, and that of both countries with the national genius of the French : we shall transcribe it : " The Americans are much more addicted to the use of general ideas than the English, and entertain a much greater relish for them. This contrast becomes much more striking still, if we fix our eyes on our own part of the world, and compare together the two most enlightened nations which inhabit it. It would seem as if the mind of the English could only tear itself reluctantly and painfully away from the observation of particular facts, to rise from them to their causes ; and that it only generalises in spite of itself. A mongst the French, on the contrary, the taste for general ideas would seem to have grown to so ardent a passion, that it must be satisfied on every occasion. lam informed, every morning when I awake, that some general and eternal law has just been discovered, which I never mentioned before. There is not a mediocre scribbler who does not by his hand, at discovering truths, applicable to a great kingdom, and who is very ill pleased with himself if he does not succeed in compressing the human race into the compass of an article." Just so, M. de Tocqueville ; and though we are far from counting you as a " mediocre scribbler", yet you partake of the passion of your countrymen; you too are a hunter after " general ideas", and if you do not seek to compress the " human race into an article", yet you lead us into inter minable discussions with no other view, that we can perceive, than to convert Brother Jonathan, not into a military com mander, but a yeneralpropositio n — an d t o ma k e " D emocrac y in America" the subject of a number of propositions or ge neralities, which it costs much time to make out, which when we clutch we are not sure that we hold by any firm tenure, and which, when held by the best, are not worth the chase ! To such "general ideas", you say, truly, that we English men are but little addicted ; and we pique ourselves upon the fact. Sentiment, or generality, is unquestionably not the characteristic of tine English mind—speaking with reference to the great mass of the people ; it may probably arise from coldness of temperament : but we do not count the absence of it a defect. By not being actuated by this passion we escape a number of errors, and are more easily induced to mind, each of us, our own business. We do not chatter so fast as Frenchmen— While others toil with philosophic force, Their nimble nonsense takes a shorter course ; Flings at your head conviction in the lump, And gains remote conclusions at a jump. We are in the habit of doing whatever we undertake with a respectable measure of success. We are eminently practical people ; but yet there are a few tolerable thinkers, poets, and philosophers amongst us, enough at all events to make a decent show upon an emergency. Sufficient, however, on this point. We have said enough to show why one volume of " Democracy in America" suf ficed us. When we take up a book which professes to be about a people, we confess that we are so intensely Bull-ish that we prefer a few facts to an author's fancies, and feel more desire to see a few leading propositions carefully wrought out and rigidly demonstrated, than to be conducted, , through a multitude of conjectures, to some meagre gene rality not worth a farthing, if we could even believe it to be true—and, after we have closed the book, to have nothing remaining in our mind but a certain dim and indefinite phan tastnagaria of M. Alexis de Tocqueville and his theories. Here and there, as we have admitted, there are some good thoughts and lively descriptions. Let us take a specimen ; r ~4 , A 4 .flt , •.1 I.- IV. L; ~~ r ~~ OF MAN " I need not to ramble over earth and sky to discover a wondrous object woven of contrasts, of greatness and little ness infinite, of intense gloom and of amazing brightness— capable at once of exciting pity, admiration, terror, con• tempt. I find that object in myself. Man springs out of nothing, crosses time, and disappears for ever in the bosom of God : he is seen but for a moment, staggering on the verge of the two abysses, and there he is lost." AMERICAN RESTLESSNESS " In certain remote corners of the old world you may still sometimes stumble upon a small district which seems to have been forgotten amidst the general tumult, and to have re mained stationary whilst every thing around it was in motion. The inhabitants are for the most part extremely ignorant and poor; they take no part in the business of the country, and they are frequently oppressed by the government ; yet their countenances are generally placid, and their spirits light. " In America I saw the freest and most enlightened men, placed in the happiest circumstances which the, world affords ; it seemed to me as if a cloud habitually hung upon their brow, and I thought them serious and almost sad even in their pleasures. " The chief reason of this contrast is that the former do not think of the ills they endure ;—the latter are for ever brooding over advantages they do not possess. It is strange to see with what feverish ardour the Americans pursue their own welfare ; and to watch the vague dread that constantly torments them lest they should not have chosen the shortest path which may lead to it. • " A native of the United States clings to this world's goods as if he were certain never to die ; and he is so hasty at grasping at all within his reach that one would suppose he was constantly afraid of not living long enough to enjoy them. He clutches every thing, he holds nothing fast, but soon loosens his grasp to procure fresh gratifications. " In the United States a man builds a house to spend his latter days in it, and he sells it before the roof is on ; he plants a garden, and lets it just as the trees are coming into bearing ; he brings a field into tillage, and leaves other men to gather the grapes ; he embraces a profession, and gives it up ; he settles in a place, which he soon afterwards leaves, to carry his changeable longings elsewhere. If his private affairs leave him any leisure, he instantly plunges into the vortex of politics, and if at the end of a year of unremitting labour he finds he has a few day's vacation, his eager curi osity whirls him over the vast extent of the United States, and he will travel fifteen hundred miles in a few days to shake off his happiness. Death at length overtakes him, but it is before he is beware of his bootless chace of that com plete felicity which is for ever on the wing. "At first sight there is something surprising in this strange unrest of so many happy men, restless in the midst of abundance. The spectacle itself is, however, as old as the world ; the novelty is to see a whole people furnish an. exemplificationof:it," _ _ I\l. - de . Tocquisille is a Roman Catholic, and his prejudices in favour of his church are apparent in his chapter " on the progress of Roman Catholicism in the United States." Of his statement concerning its spread in that country we ac knowledge ourselves sceptical ; it is in these words :-- " America is the most democratic country in the world, and it is at the same time (according to reports worthy of belief) the country in which the Roman Catholic religion makes most progress," Wehave a theory to explain this phenomena, of course— for the Frenchman has a theory for everything—his passion for " general ideas" would scarcely leave him at fault upon so interesting a subject : " The men of our days," he says, " are naturally little disposed to believe; but as soon as they have any religion they find in themselves immediately a latent propensity which urges them unconsciously towards Catholicism. Many of the doctrines and the practises of the Romish Church astonish them ; but they feel a secret admiration for its dis cipline, and its great unity attracts them. If Catholicism could at length withdraw iiself from the political animosities to which it has given rise, I have hardly any doubt but that the same spirit of the age, which appears to be so opposed to it, would become so favourable as to admit of its great and sudden advancement. Our posterity will tend more and more to a single division into two parts, some relinquishing Christianity entirely, and others returning to the bosom of the Church of Rome." We cannot be surprised at M. de Toequeville entertaining the idea expressed in the last sentence, seeing that so many of his countrymen have failed to distinguish any intermediate step between Romanism and utter infidelity. If he be a sin cere Roman Catholic, we must conclude that he has not been able to discover that resting place for himself, and therefore it is natural that be should conclude that none such in reality exists. And yet had M. de Tocqueville considered in all its bearings that power of an unfettered Christianity which he seems to have very well observed in some, it might be hoped that he would have formed a different opinion. Religion, though not that of Romanism, is, he admits, no inactive principle in the United States. He dreams a picture on the subject. which is lively and interesting. " In the United States, on the seventh dayofs evesuspendedevery week, see the solemn the trading and work ing deep e nation sa m all noises cease ; a tranquillity, yrather calm of meditation succeeds the turmoil of the week, and the soul resumes possession arid contemplation of itself. Ever member of the community , accompanied by children, ' goes to church, when he listens to s strange language which would seem unsuited to his ear. On his return home, he does not turn to the ledgers of his calling, but he opens the book of Holy Scr pture ; there he meets with sublime or affecting descriptions of the greatness and goodness of the Creator, of the infinite magnificence of the handiwork of God, of the lofty destinies of I n, of his duties„ and of his * immortal privilege s . * * have endeavoured to point out in another part of his work the causes to which the main tenance of the political institutions of the Americans is at tributable, and religion appeared to be the most prominent among them. lam now treating of the Americans in an in dividual capacity, and I again observe that religion is hot less useful to each citizen than to the whole state.' M. de Toequeville therefore has observed the power of the Christian religion unfettered by the chains of the Popedom— the energy which it diffuses through all orders of the state. and the prosperity, generally speaking, which results from it. He has noted these phenomena at length himself—and yet strange to say, he is notwithstanding of opinion that a great portion of the world will eventually go back to a religion which is practically refuted by never being attended by such temporal advantages—which converts man, born with a coun tenance to look upward, into a slave, and which, wherever it has prevailed in Europe, or in the world, has been evidently marked by providential displeasure ! M. de Torquevillt would do well, we think, to reconsider his opinion. It is untrue that Lord Melbourne, like the Roman dictator —his office ended—has taken to the plough, or, emulative o f Diocletian, has embarked in the cultivation of cabbages. H e had certainly made progress in the study of n ursery affairs, but au untimely frost set in, and nipped his experiments in, the bud. We believe, on good authority, that in connexion o ith several of his late colleagues,, he has turned his attention to the causes of blight and raildcw.—Jobn '~~ `c ~1.~ 064 z\ I .7. )a le- the