The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-19 00:00:00

HOUSES OF CONVOC4.TION.

(From the Herald.)
Our readers will easily understand that it is in
accordance both with our principles and our interests
that the press of this country should be as free as
possible. We, therefore,
see with a degree of plea-
sure the remarks which our contemporaries bestow
upon our opinions and our political friends, however
opposed these remarks may be to our own views and
opinions. Let them censure the Government and
their measures ; we consider it beneficial for these
and for the country ; but when freedom is abused, as
it has been lately by the Times, by a deliberate
statement of positive fictions, we are bound to confess,
that, however talented the writers in that journal may
be, they bring, by such statements, a heavy burden of
obloquy upon their profession.
Two months ago the Times did not scruple to
spread alarm among our North American colonies,
by authoritatively declaring that the Government
had yielded all the privileges of our fisheries to the
United States. The effects of this untruth the
Times cared little for if the Government only in-
curred a temporary and unmerited odium. The
Legislative bodies met, and by the spirit they
showed hive only proved that the Government at
home had fully appreciated their feelings when they
resisted, and successfully resisted, the American
encroachments, refusing to yield any right excepting
for an equivalent from America.
_ _

Yesterday the Times out-Herods itself, and the
statement to which its leader is attached is even more
preposterously untrue than the former one to which
we have alluded. Lord Derby's Government is " to
advise her Majesty to allow the House of Convocation
to sit for the dispatch of business, &c." :
" A report has reached us, which is not, we believe,
without foundation, that Lord D rby and his colleagues
have resolved to advise her Majesty to permit the House
of Convocation to sit for the dispatch of business, and
that the Royal licence will consequently be issued, em-
powering those ecclesiastical assemblies to enter upon

If the Times continues seriously to write and pub-
lish such fictions as this, can it retain, however bril-
liantly conducted, its influence with so truth-loving a
nation as the English ? or, will not all men when ad-
dressing another from whom they have heard some
extravagant story, say—" You must have read that
in the Times I' '

(From the Daily News)
The Times announces a belief in what has been for
some time feared and apprehended, but what is,
nevertheless, still almost incredible—that Lord Derby
and his colleagues have advised the Queen to grant to
Convocation her Royal licence, to proceed at its next
meeting to business. We would repeat that such a story
would be quite incredible were it not for the general
character of the present Government—the peculiar
rashness and precipitancy of the Premier,—and the
High Church and Tractarian obligations he and his
colleagues have imposed on themselves. If, however,
it be true, then the weakest and most incompetent
Ministry England has had since the Hanovarian sue-
cession, will have dared to do an act more audacious
and miscbi .vows than the strongest Ministry since that
period ever dreamt of. Since 1719, such a thing as
restoring or reviving convocations never entered the
head of a responsible adviser of the English Crown,
until, in an evil moment for the country, Lord Derby
became the Minister of Queen Victoria. And if he
has really given any such advice to Her Majesty, he
will have done so in the presence of two recent facts
—one, that the very advocates of such a policy two
years ago withdrew their own motion on the subject
in the House of Lords ; the other, that they have
never dared even to moot the proposition in the House
of Commons.

True, the revival of Convocation for business pur-
poses is within the traditionary scope of the Royal pre-
rogative. But we live under a Parliamentary Govern-
ment; in England we have a Parliamentary Church ;
and the policy of our Ministers must i❑ ail respects
end all subjects be a Parliamentary policy. Now, even
for the Sovereign to revive Convocation after more than
century's silence a silence in favour of which
there always has been, and is still, an unanimity of
all rational opinion—will substantially be to take the
Church of England out of the sphere of Parliamentary
jurisdiction—a step which the people of England
❑ever will submit to. That, however, is the end and
aim of the schemers and plotters, lay and ecclesias-
tical, who have been urging this step on Lord Derby
and his colleagues. They seek to render the Church
an institution separate from, and independent of, the
Legislature; with posers, privileges, and authority,
which Parliament cannot interfere with or control.
They wish to make a twofold division of royalty ;
one, as head of the Church with its spiritual council,
Convocation ; the other, as head of the State, with its
temporal council, Parliament. Once tolerate Convo-
cation, and we shall have to embark in a struggle
that must end either in a complete revolution of the
constitution of this country, or in the destruction of
its Church.
Were it possible simply to revive the Convocation
as it was situate in 1719, a greater nuisance could not
be restored. Thera are no such scenes and succession
of discords, wranglings, disputes, and literary war-
fares in the world's history as those which Convoca-
tion from the period of the Revolution of 1688 to
1719 produced. The two houses quarrelled and
fought about privileges and forms; the lower house
of clergy abused the upper house of bishops ; the upper
house of bishops censured and rebuked the lower house
of clergy; the writings and sentiments of the most
eminent men of the day were tortured and ransacked
by eager, furious polemics to afford means of prosecution
and persecution ; episcopacy was accused of all manner
of treasons and misfeasances to the Church because of
its moderation towards the State ; pretensions were
raised for the Church incompatible with order and
civil government; the toleration of dissent and of tree
opinion was endangered ; the country was flooded
and teased, and tormented with pamphlets, and works
and publications on the most perplexing (and happily
the must useless) of all subjects; theories the most
preposterous were started ; and the comprehension of
the Church was in imminent danger, when the Pri-
mate advised the Sovereign to silence Convocation,
and to give peace to the laud. After a few years the
Royal licence to proceed to business was again issued;
with, however, the same melancholy consequences—
" envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness ;"
and once more, with the full approbation of the
Archbishop of Canterbury and amidst the applause
of the nation, Convocation was closed in 1719, it was
hoped, for ever.
And what a century of repose followed ! A century,
too, of more than repose—of gradual improvement in
all ecclesiastical, and at last in all religious, concerns
—a century in which Parliament did more for the
Church than it did between the Reformation and the
silencing of Convocation—a century free from the
agitation of organic and revolutionary discussions ;
a century marked by wiser and better and holier
feelings on the part of all sociey. And this we are to
risk by again plunging into all the depths of ecclesi-
astical polemics; in the name, and under the pretence
of religious liberty, we are again to risk disturbing
society in its most susceptible feelings and in its pro-
foundest recesses ; for the sake of a little popularity
to a bad Administration, we are again to be exposed to
all the dangers of that most dangerous of all human
assemblies—an Assembly of Priests.
But it is impossible now simply to revive the Con-
vocation that was silenced in 1719. To all the evils
of the past (modified a little perhaps by the refine,
ments of modern manners) we should to have to add
the worst evils of the present; we should have to add
conflicts of our own, theories of our own, designs of
our own times; worse than all, the jesuitry of our
clergy. To restore Convocation now is to provide a
battle-field for the two armed and exasperated parties
that as yet strive and struggle for mastery apart in
the Church of England—an arena round which the
anxious hopes and the fears of thousands would assem-
ble and crowd—an amphitheatre whereon to hold an
ecclesiastical bull fight. And when victory shall have
declared for one side, where then would be the Church
of England? Rent, torn, and divided, a separation
end secession would be inevitable. Out would march

the worsted and the defeated party, leaving the spoils
to the conquerors, but carrying away with them that
spirit of comprehension which was the glory and the
strength of the Church.
To suppose that talking in Convocation can heal
the sores of the Church is to set at naught all expe-
rience, and to overlook all present occurrences. Men's
minds are now embittered and exasperated after a
decade of ecclesiastical polemics ; parties are more
disti▪
nctly formed and organized than ever ; discussion
and controversy, instead of reconciling and nearing
thei▪ r views, and opinions, and designs, have widened
and deepened and made them irreconcileable ; the
Church is now occupied by the claims of authority
and the principle of religious freedom; and their
contention could not for an hour be restrained in Con-
vocation. Now, this conflict is, to all human ap-
pearances, quite endless ; and it is at the bottom of all
ecclesiastical disputes. It may occasionally flag ;
but only to burst out unexpectedly with greater
vehemence than ever. Confined to discussion it is
harmful enough; but provided with opportunity for
practical measures, as it would be by Convocation, it
would be more than harmful—it would become dan-
gerous to the peace of the community. When eccle-
siastical authority becomes, as it soon would, predo-
minant therein, it would again, as it always has, get
into a conflict with the State or the civil power. If
the State succumbed, we should have a new power in
England; if Convocation gave way the Church would
suffer by the failure of its supposed organ.
Convocation is unnecessary, for Parliament is now
the only council from which the people of England .
will accept legislation of any kind ;it unsought
for by the great bulk of the clergy and the Christian
laity, for they recognize the subordination of the
Church to Parliament; and it is dangerous, because
it is demanded only by those who seek to elevate the
Church at the expense of the State, and who place the
claims of unmeaning authority and tradition above
the rights of reason, the light of Revelation, and the
obligations of civil obedience. I o the subjects of
this realm it would be mischievous, to the Crown
hurtful as allying it with ecclesiastical ambition, and
to the Church ruinous as connecting it with prin-
ciples incompatible with the general welfare.
If, then, the Earl of Derby has given any such
advice to Queen Victoria, a responsibility far heavier
than that of party will be upon him.

(From the Morning. Advertiser.)
It is now exactly twelve days since we announced,
in the most prominent manner, and the most em-
phatic terms, that Lord Derby had agreed, on the
urgent solicitations of the Tractarian party, to advise
Her Msjesty to give her sanction to the restoration
of Convocation. The opening of the article in which
we made this announcement was as follows :—" We
know not that we have made for a long time past a
more important announcement than that which we
are now about to make. We are as3ured, from a
source in which we repose every reliance, that Lord
Derby has actually so far listened to the earnest and
persevering solicitations of the Tractarians, as to give
a promise that he will advise Her Majesty to sanction
the restoration of Convocation. We should have
thonbt the statement unworthy of credit hadit come

it
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the Noble Lord may yet be driven from his purpose,
and feel compelled, from the pressure which we know
is in store for him, to recal his word, is another mat-
ter. We should not think it likely that he will. We
have said from the first, that he is fairly in the hands
of the Rom anishing party in the Anglican Church, and
once completely in their meshes, he will find it no easy
matter to extricate himself, even were he so disposed.
There was something so startling, so astounding in
the idea, that after the lapse of nearly a century and
a half, any Minister could be found to counsel the
Sovereign to give her sanction to the revival of a
body which had, in the seventeenth century, acted
in the manner in which the Convocation of that pe•
tied did, that our announcement was everywhere
received with incredulity. Oa the very day of the
appearance of our article, a weekly journal of high
character, and which &votes much of its space to ec-
clesiastical matters, ventured to express its utter dis-
belief in our statement. Afterwards came the Morn-
ing Herald, treating the idea as absurd, end de lying
by implication that Lord Derby had ever enter-
tained the notion, even for a moment. As the !atter
journal is understood to be the morning organ of the
Ministry, it was presumed to speak with the voice of
authority. It was consequently assumed by those
who were not, like ourselves, behind the ecclesiastical
scenes, that we must bore been misinformed in what
we communicated respecting the meeting of Convo-
cation. _ . .

That conviction will prevail no longer. The article
in yesterday'* Times, which we transfer to our
columns to-day, sets the matter at rest. Convoca-
tion is to be restored, and the information which we
gave so specifically, and So explicitly, twelve days before
any of our contemporaries had a word on the subject,
is now confirmed to the letter.

We might here, with much propriety, pause for a
moment for the purpose of stating parenthetically,
that the same matinal organ of the Derby Govern-
ment thought proper the other day to throw dis-
credit on another statement which we made,—namely,
that Mr. Disraeli himself had, a few days previously,
admitted to a friend, that he had great doubts whe.
ther the Ministry, of which he is so prominent a
member, will be in existence four weeks after the
meeting of Parliament. We repeat, that the source
whence we derived our information leaves us no
room to doubt that the Right Honourable Gentleman
did make such admission. What is more, Mr. Dis-
raeli's anticipations of the early dissolution of the
Derby Cabinet, are in a fair way of being realized.
But this much by the way. With regard to the
revival of Convocation, it is precisely the course
which the enemies of the Anglican Church would
like to see pursued. A more effectual expedient for
precipitating the destruction of that Church could
not be devised. We have always said that the
greatest enemies of the Episcopal Establishment
were to be found within its own pale. We are
about to witness such a verification of our words
as will leave no doubt of the advised manner in which
we spoke. The Dissenters have laboured zealously,
and unceasingly for a long series of years to under-
mine the foundations of the great ecclesiastical fabric
but their success has by no means corresponded with
the earnestness and assiduity of their efforts. They
will now get the work done to their hands. And we
need not add, that they will not concern themselves
as to the particular instrumentality by which the
event is brought about, provided they only see the
wished-for consummation effected.

We need not repeat that the movement in favour
of restoring what is called the Church's Synodical
action, originated with the Puseyite party alone,
and that it has been supported solely by the semi-
Popish section of the clergy. One of the first acts of
the Convocation will be to reverse the decision of
the law courts in the memorable Gorham case, and
to adopt resolutions which will compel every honest,
conscientious clergyman and layman of the Evan-
gelical school to secede from the Church. This is
no mere conjecture of ours as to the course which
the Tractarian party will pursue in Convocation.
From the same source whence we derived our infor-
mation of the momentous fact that Lord Derby had
acquiesced in the wishes of the Puseyites, that he
should advise her Majesty to give her consent to the
restorAtion of Convocation, we received no less
specific and credible information as to the line of
action which that body, consisting, as it will do,
exclusively of the Tractarian party, will adopt.
What the effect on the Church will be, of all the
evangelical clergy being compelled to secede, or, in
other words, being ejected, will be comprehended,
when we mention that the evangelical, or low Church
clergy, number from 3,000 to 4,000. With them,
we need not add, some myriads of the laity will go
out, and these consisting of the most pious and zeal-
ous men within the pale of the Establishment.
What the Church will be after a change of this
nature, we leave our readers to imagine. If the
Church has been for some time past in a most criti-
cal condition, in consequence of the prevalence of
Popery, under the name of Puseyism, in her pulpits,
it will indeed be passing strange should she survive
the loss of those laborious, pious, and faithful men
who have hitherto been regarded as the life and soul
of the Anglican Establishment.

But though Lord Derby has determined, acting,
as we know he does, under the inspiration of Samuel
of Oxford, to accede to the wishes of the semi-Popish
party in the Church for the revival of Convocation,
we are not to forget that the measure has still to be
carried. Before it has become law there will, we
presume, be something to say on the subject in the
House of Commons. If the Legislature allow Lord
Derby to advise the Queen to give her sanction to
the revival of Convocation for the transaction of
business, it will betray the trust which the country
reposes in it. We could not conceive of anything
more damaging to the character of the new House
of Commons, than its silence and inaction when so
important a step is about to be taken on his own re-
ponsibility. But that cannot be. The new House
of Commons will not thus, in the very infancy of its
existence, forfeit the confidence of the country. Par-
liament will speak. It will interpose, and say, in
peremptory terms, that such things shall not be. If
such a measure were to be sanctioned, and the Church
were to re-acquire the power which she possessed a
century and a half ago, the country may depend on
it that ere long the Church will domineer with e
high hand over the State—in which case the people
of these realms will, before many years have elapsed,
be subject to the most intolerable priestly despotism
which ever cursed a civilized country.

(From the Chronicle.)
The two events which most concern the Church at
the present moment are—the promised, or threatened,
Royal Commission for inquiring into the Cathedral
Chapters, and the ensuing meeting of Convocation.
The Royal Commission we have treated in a spirit of
fairness. We have acknowledged the neglects and
defects of the Capitalar establishments. We have
exposed individual abuses and misappropriations of
funds ; and we have not denied the right of the
Crown to interfere in this as in all other breaches of
corporate trust. The supreme authority, even in
heathen countries, is bound to see that right and jus-
tice is done—i. e., to compel official persons to dis-
charge their Ministry. It is in this sense, and
in this only, that we have accepted the Commis-
sion ; but we have accepted it with a very
material reservation. We view the Commission
as an instrument and means for taking evidence,
but as little more. We have never said one word as
to the fitness of such a body to act in any higher capa-
city ; and a distinction ought always to be borne in
mind between evidence taken before commissioners,
and the recommendations which they may offer.
The former can scarcely fail of having some value ;
but the latter depend on the qualifications, temper,
experience, knowledge, and principles of the indi-
vidual commissioners. As to this particular Com-
mission, we have already said that its especial field
of inquiry is already tolerably. exhausted. We know
as much about the origin of Chapters, their original
purpose, and their capacities for reconstruction as
most commissioners do. The public has little on
these Leads to learn. It was not, therefore, from
any expectation of remarkable results from their
labours that we acquiesced in the issuing of the
Commission. Its intrinsic value was as a formal,
distinct recognition on the part of the State, as the
impersonation of law, that there was a wrong. Its
practical value we detected in the circumstance
that its proceedings would be a solemn and elaborate
mode of taking and collecting evidence. But at
the same !time, we have always contended that
its recommendations could not be final, and
arguedndpos-
sibly mightbe very objectionable. we have
that the Chuxch ought to be consulted, in it
corpo-
rate capacity, upon the reconstruction of s
Chapters.
The Church might accept the evidence taken by the
Royal Commission, as the groundwork of future le-
gislation, but the Church cannot longer submit to
any merely extrinsic remodelling. The value of the
Commission is its ministerial functions. We never
accepted it as a v
legislati organ. Parallel to our
adhesion to the
oCommissione was our claim for the
coordinate action f Convocation. But, even as a
convenient mode of taking evidence, it is obvious that
the value of a Commission must mainly depend upon
its constitution. It is possible, therefore, that, after

ntysiiieartrdaoydrui
all, we must be prepared to withdraw our adhe-
sion, for the constitution of that which is about
to issue may make it antecedently untrust-
worthy. We have no objection to the Commis-
sion because it is to be a mixed one, in equal
proportions of clergy and laity. Far from it. Bat
the clergy and laity may be so selected as to make
confidence impossible. We do not mean that indi-
viduals of a single party are at all likely to be norm•
nated ; but there may be aswpreliroinary blunder in
fixing upon the classes from which Commissioners
are to be selected, which may make the whole thing
powerless for good. Unless we are seriously misin-
formed, the clerical members of the Commission
are to consist exclusively of dignitaries—of bishops
mpaemrtibeesrsnoowf Chapters.inoulpated Natowthweebaarreofnoptubdleic-
igse
sn,tiot a
rsiaeys , an
to
iooffensiveioire into thing,
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itrl:gess e
of are d
itheg.
opinion.
ieT
jousitssouse
wine a 3
mtoisssieotn,thaeddcroeussretdofonly
thing
Irons secular and
Al-
dermen inquiring into the abuses of the corpo-
rationis, that bishops, and
of London. The charge, more or less,
against the bishops, is that of nepotism in bestow-
inglree
appointed
capitular appointments—the charge against the
Chapters is idleness and abuse of trust. The vice
political motives—the abuse complained of is, that
the wrong men get the places of honour, dignity,
profit, and what ought to be usefulness. Now, is it
very likely that bishops, deans, end canons will pro-
ddeeteendst,edanidd etahneoilivsh°a
pro-
test very energetically against the ,4ystinn which has
made them bishops, deans, and canons? or that they
will suggest practical reforane, the very ventilation of
which will be the strongest censure on themselves?
A Cathedral Commission—as far as its clerical ele-
ments go, to consist exclusively of cathedrul mul—
ls, we must say, little short of a mockery. No com-
mission will attract or receive the confidence of the
Church from which what are superciliously termed
the inferior clergy are excluded. A Cathedral Chapter
is the common property of the whole collective dio-
cese; and every parish, therefore, and every parochial
minister, is interested in its efficiency. Of the pos-
sible utility of a Chapter the non-capitular clergy are
infinitely the better judges than bishops and deans.
Of what a diocese wants, of what it consists, and
of its ugly places, bishops are probably more
ignorant than most clergy in the diocese. A
bishop is so surrounded by chaplains and adu-
lation, and by clergy who find it their in-
terest only to proclaim their successes, that he is
absolutely incapacitated—though perhaps possessed
of the best intentions—from knowing the real state of
Christianity among his people. And, as to the canons
—even giving them credit for better intentions than
they possess—their position must bias their judgment
when they come to sit in jud,smsnt on themselves,
and on the system which his ins, :lied them. Still,
we do not make it a charge of wilful had faith against
the Government that they have made so serious a
blunder in the constitution 'of tbis Commission.
If, however, from the clerical half all the inferior
clergy are to be excluded, and if the laymen are
to be of the Goulburn and Inglis school, then
we must say that this Cathedral Commission, whether
intentionally or not, will be a mere delusion. Yet,
the blame of its ill-judged composition is not, per-
haps, to be attributed entirely to the Government.
Lord Derby, on such a matter, is reasonably governed
by episcopal advice; and we can well understand how
the late Cathedral Commissioners have such confi-
dence in the remarkable success which attended their
last Report as to endure no inffusion of fresh blood
into their dignified conclave. We say that we relieve
the Government from at least some portion of this
responsibility, because in the matter of Convocation
they have, according to report, certainly shown a just
appreciation of their own duty, and of the state of
public feeling. In well informed quarters, it has, for
some little time, been tolerably well understood, and
it is now asserted by hostile authorities, that Lord
Derby is prepared to advise, or has already advised,
the Crown to issue its licence to the new Convocation
to resume its synodical functions. For ourselves,
without arguing too much or too little for the practi-
cal results of this single concession, and without
pledging ourselves yet to the truth of the report, we
can well afford to be thankful that the great prixciple
for which, through so much obloquy and difficulty,
we have contended, is, so we are told, at length sur-
rendered—or rather, we will says admitted—in a
quarter so influential. Be the report premature or
not, its announcement in this way is a gain not a little
substantial.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND MID-WESTERN RAILWAY.

A numerous and highly influential meeting of noble-
men and gentlor: en was held at Wetlington, on Satur-
day last, the 16th instant, with a view to a renewal of
the efforts made during the past year for the extension
of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway,
by a line from the former place to the Waterloo terminus
of the South-Western Railway. The meeting which
was attended by the principal landed proprietors of the
neighbourhood, as well as of the surrounding district,
was originally appointed to take place at the Hare and
Hounds Inn, lout the large room at that place being
found insufficient to accomodate the number present, the
assemblage was obliged to adjourn to the Town-hall.
Amongst those whom we observed in the room were,
the Right Lion. the Earl of Macclesfield, Sir H. .1. Lam-
bert, Bart., Col. Fane, W. Pane de Salm, Esq.,
Lambert. Dici. John Parson, Esq., A. H, Brown, Esq.,
Rev. C. Yore Spencer, F. S. Carter, Esq., Rev. J. Dear,
H. Lupton, Esq., R. Holloway, Esq., Rev. James Beau-
champ, G. Heron, Eoq , Major Tyndal, G. P. Healer,
E,q., Rev. J. Thompson, R. Lucas. Esq., John Guy,
Esq., &o.
The chair having been taken by the Right Hon. the
Earl of MAccLEtivIELD, his lordship introduced the
subject by stating that the meeting had been convened
to discuss a question, involving the beat interests of the
district, which all knew stood greatly in need of rail-
way ace mmodation, and ho was happy to find from the
number present that they. were fully alive to the im-
portance of acquiring the same increased facilities of
communication long ago ex tended to other parts of the
country. Mr. Parson, the solicitor of the Oxford,
Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Company, who
were the promoters of the intended line, had attended
for the purpose of explaining the views of the projectors.
Mr. Parsons explained that; the new line would com-
mence by a junction with the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton Railway, at Wolverhampton, near Ox-
ford, proceeding through Wheatley and Theme, to
near Prince's Risborough (wliere a branch will diverge
to the county town of Aylesbury), and thence through
Wycombe, Fulmer, Uxbridge, and 'Unwell, to the
Hounslow branch of the London and South-Western
Railway at Brontford, communicating with the station
at Nine Elms and Waterloo Bridge.
Resolutions were passed in favour of the proposed
railway, and the proceedings terminated with a vote of
thanks to the noble chairman.

---
LONDON AND NORTHAVESTHRN RAILWAY.—No Sue.
cessor has yet been appointed in the place of Mr. G. C.
Glyn, but no fewer than five noble lords and biz mem-
bers of Parliament have been mentioned, and among
them—Lord Wharncliffe, Lord Granville, Lord Kinnaird,
Lord Dalhousie, Lord Panmu.re, Mr. Strutt, Mr. Shaw
Lefevre, Mr..l. Wilson, Mr. Weethead, Mr. Laing, Mr.--
Peto, and Admiral Mooraom.
NEW RAILWAY.—It is said that a very comprehen-
sive scheme is in course of arrangement for supplying
railway accommodation to the district lying south of
London, and in the more immediate vicinity
metropolis. The line in question will be in connection
with the London and South Western Railway, and will
be specially formed for the accommodation of? the pas-
senger traffic to the New Crystal Palace.
GREAT NORTHERN RAlLWAr.—Yesterday the old
station lately
as a temporary passenger and goods station, in Maiden-
occupied by the Great Northern Railway
Lane, King's-Cross, was opened as a potato-market.
should
into
There was a great number of salesmen and dealers pre-
sent, and a rather brisk trade was done. A correspon-
dent says the directors also intend to open a new greea
and fruit market on the sa
which hni
elve been bought by the
corporation of the City of Le,ndeonsi, bete' and ld the
Copenhagen fields,
transformed
y,the Sheriff's
a new Smithfield market, a de ed meat market, similar
IlAtilvAir railwayDEctir:Nellers and the WA'
to Newgate and Leadenhall, will also be established.
Glasgow, on Thursday,
pronounced by Mr.. Sheriff Bell. Itp
wasrn
Lerma
a decision of
atnce of Robert Dunlop, Esq., writer,
and Glasgow Railway
SmallrieasasGlasgow,
a generally0 Ds,e
absttgtahimportanceensitn Court,theEdinburghs
Company, for damages, sustained through detention
from business on the morning of Seiturday, the 24th of
September. Mr. Dunlop, who
re sides in the parish of
CaciPsie, had been, along with
eam
psie
branch, of the
the other passengers,
detained at the Milton station,
railway, on that morning, for
the train from Caw
Milton station five p 8" !o, which sheuld have reached the
minutes after nine o'clock am not
ti
having arrived ' ast ten oclock
ll about half-p ' ' 9
. The
railway company
of Messrs. were most ably defended by Mr. Ban-
natyne,essßannatyne and Kirkwood, on the
pleas (1), that the delay
in quetaion had arisen from an
accident for which the company were not re,,ponsible—
vie, the breaking down atlii noxtown of the 'engine
used upon the branch ; and (2) that the company's time
bills expressly stipulate that the company do not guar-
antee the hours of arrival and departure of the trains
being kept
under all circumstances, and de. not hold
themselves responsible for delays. After evidence had
been laid, the parties were fully heard, the sheriff
summed up stating that the first plea urged in defence
could not b,sustained, the delay having been occasioned
by the breaking down of the only engine used on the
branch, and which the defender' engineedriver admitted
bad recently undergone repair, having, in fact, only
left the workshop the day before, and the repairs us
testified by the break-down the fullowing morning, and
also by the engine driver himself, must have been im-
perfectly made by the servants of the company, for whom
they were undoubtedly responsible ; and also to the
second plea, that it was quite true the stipulation u:rged
was expressed in the time bills, but no such stipule ttion
could shelter the company in all circumstances from
their responsibility as public carriers, and it oerti snip
could not be giving effect to it in the present case,
where the cause of the delay, and of their contract with
the public not being implemented, was the deficiency of
their own engine. The sheriff, therefore, decerned
against the railway company for the damage claimed.