The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-16 00:00:00

FRIDAY

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INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. ,
On Tuesday, the 13th Jan. (James Itendel, ';47
President, in the chair), the proceedings of the even-r-i
ing were commenced by au address from the Presi-
dent on taking the chair, for the first time, after his
election.

After thanking the members for the honour con-
ferred on him, and requesting not only their indul-
gence but their active co-operation, in maintaining
the interest of the meetings, and the dignity and good
name of the profession, the President proceeded to
notice the principal works terminated, or in progress,
and even the new projects in which engineering skill
had been employed, or was required.
The Great Exhibition was prominently noticed, at-
tention being drawn to the fact of so much of the
raw material, and of the manufactured article being
shown, with so little of the means of manufacturing,
and thus the greatest portion of the lesson had been
unproductive.

CivilTur
Eninnggineteorst,hwe hmicohrehiamdmbeedeniatsetyoleeedu,p,aTtihoen
Aofpptlbie.
cation of Mind to Matter ;" it was sought to be en-
forced, that all undertakings should be examined, not
only with respect to their engineering possibility, but
to their social and political influence on society.
The vast increase of private communication was
noticed, four hundred millions of letters being now
delivered annually, instead of seventy-six millions, as
before the establishment of the penny post system.
Steam alone could have conveyed such a mass of
correspondence.

The increase of population in England
decrease in Ireland afforded an opportunity for point-
ing and the
out the fine field offered by the latter country for
the ameliorating effects of engineering works.
Claussen's flax process, emigration, cheap branch
lines of railway, drainage, and other topics were then
discussed and reasoned on. The general railway
system was examined and traced, giving the principal
statistical facts connected with the railways 9f Great
Britain, the Continent, India, and the United States,
in connexion with which latter the name of General
Gibbs M'Neill, the pupil of Telford and George
Stephenson, was mentioned as having constructed a
great extent of lines. The length, direction, and
purposes of the railways were given, with the princi-
pal statistical facts connected with them. _ _

The principal ports, harbours of refuge, and general
civil engineering works in Great Britain were men-
tioned, with some points of interest connected with
each.

The electric and submarine telegraphs, with the
wonderful effects they were calculated to produce on
commerce and the political relations of nations, were
descanted on.

The strength of the royal steam navy and the won-
derful progress of the commercial steam-power of
England were given, with details of the statistics of
several of the principal companies, and the value of
auxiliary steam and screw vessels was pointed out,
with the great change now operating in the collier
trade of the north.

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The drainage of land and its influence on rivers,
the reclaiming of lands from the sea—new modes of
raising water in the fens—the sanitary regulations as
applied to all large towns—agricultural engineering,
its union with chemistry—increased power for water
supplies to the metropolis and the principal cities of
Great Britain, and the new mineralogical discoveries
of iron ore near Middlesbro'-on-Tees and North-
ampton, furnished topics for a brilliant display of
statistical research and sound reasoning ; and the
President, before closing his able address, thus ex-
pressed himself with respect to the strike of the ope-
rative engineers :
"At a period of such regular employment for
almost all classes of artisans, and a general absence of
complaint, it is unfortunate that any symptoms of
dissatisfaction should have been exhibited by a body
of men, whose experience, intelligence, and attain-
ments on most subjects, induced the belief that they
would be the last to listen to the evil counsels of de-
signing agitators. Disunion between employers and
the employed must ever be productive of evil to both ;
but it invariably ends in permanent injury to the
men, whose occupation is the construction of machines
by which manual labour is only apparently super-
eeded, whilst civilization is invariably advanced, by
affording mankind increased powers over the mate-
rials of the world.

" The result of the present contest between em-
ployers, who have invested several millions sterling,
in tools, machinery, and buildings; and artisans, who
cannot now execute work without the aid of those
machines, whose sphere of utility they seek to limit,
cannot for an instant be doubtful; and it must be
very pernicious influence that could render a body of
such intelligent men so unobservant of the true laws
regulating supply and demand as to imagine they
could control the prices of the labour necessary
to produce those very labour-saving machines of their
owu manufacture, and which it is evidently their
true interest to see multiplied. If their avowed ob-
jects were attained, the only result would be such
an increased cost of machinery, and such uncertainty
in its production, that either the trade would be
driven to other countries or the factories here must be
manned by skilled foreign workmen, whose produc-
tions are, even now, scarcely second to our own.
" It is to be fervently hoped that the men will dis-
card the erroneous notion that capital is the foe of
labour ;' and that, as the employers have expressed
their willingness to consider any individual represen-
tations, made in a fitting manner, this unhappy dis-
pute may be arranged without prejudice to either
party.
The meeting was addressed by Mr. Scott Russell
Mr. Locke, M.P., V.P., and General Gibb M'Neill, on
the topics touched on by the President in his address,
which was ordered to be printed.
At the monthly ballot the following candidates
were duly elected :—Messrs. T. Brassey, E. A. Cow-
per, P. Parsons, and Captain T. Webb, R.E ,as
associates.
The following paper was announced to be read at
the meeting ot. Tuesday, January 20th 011 the
Alluvial Formations and the Local Changes of the
South-Eastern Coast of England. Second section—
from Beachv Head to Portland ;" by Mr. J. B.
Redman, M. Inst. C.E.

TIL
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The
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M 111001 Bmsrro.nßPaarrokno Mr.Aldt.Lio Coleridge.justibe
n and Mr. Justice
WigLtamnadnar?atnind. Mr. Baron Platt.
QXFORD..—Mr.
on
Taltourd .
E N.—M T. Justice Eari
CresdwTell.
Justice
OUTII WALES.--Mr.
Chambers. remain in town and attend

when I say that money S ROSPERITY.--.. called upon Mrs.
directions;
feeaont
iNovohse n; hi was announced. Ido not exaggerate
KEAN IN 111 P --------T----
lgvuitihnearsic(htheeunria'
thes bpernesehefinatt. Mr. C. Kean, then a fine little boy,
K . was quitei remember bewi bewildered was lying about the room in all
heaps
etirlv asablpel,ayainndg
curling
gar coin) on the floor; bank notes were in
withsofa ;
as some ep
osocro rbeiro:
uons.with plans of the house and applica-
erthree ladies being introduced, who ap-
proached Mrs. K. as if she were a divinity. Little Charles
had deserted this guineas, and mounted himself on a large
wooden horse with stirrups. " What a sweet child," they
whispered, and eyed him as if he had hem a young Prince.
I think the receipts of that benefit amounted to 1,1501.
Mrs. K. was a warmhearted, affectionate, good woman, and
devotedly attached to her husband.—Lffe of Kean.
MATRIMONIAL PROJECTS OF LOUIS NAPOLEON.—
For some time before the late coup dotal, says a well• in-
formed contemporary, communications had been going on
between the President and Queen Christina of Spain, with a
view to a marriage between himself and one of the daughters
of her Majesty by her second husband, Munoz; and if we
are not misinformed some pecuniary advances had actually
preceded this matrimonial contract. However this may be,
the negotiation has now been broken off, the money repaid,
and the elect of the 20th of December now looks for a consort
among the legitimate issue of the crowned heads of Europe.
The court to which the attention of Louis Napoleon has
been naturally directed is that of Sweden, for the Queen of
Sweden is a daughter of Eugene Beauharnais, married to
King Oscar, the son of Bernadotte; and their daughter, the
Princess Charlotte Eugenie of Sweden, is said to be the ob-
ject of this proposal. We have grounds for believing that, in
The
Princess is in her 22d year, and may be considered to be
French in her descent from both father and mother.—.2tiorn-
this instance the negotiation is actually on foot.
ing Paper.
SAMBRE AND MEUSE IZAILWAY.—Tbe report OF
the directors of this company was
yesterday submitted to
the English shareholders, at their offices in London, Etil
was unanimously adopted. This line of railway (which is,
as regards mineral traffic, one of the most important in
Belgium) has been only partially completed, for want of the
capital necessary for so doing; a portion has, however, been
le
in work since 1849, and the traffic has, under many disad-
vantages, more than carried out the anticipations of the pro-
jecto
branches,es.
rheectoobrjsec t
now
o f
proposecomp titnog the entire line and its
raise 400,000/. in the
following manner :—The 200,00/. necessary to complete the
main line to be raised in 20,000 shares of 101. each, en-
titled to a preference dividend of 5 per cent. per annum,
prnitmalenint
to be called Class 13. The 200,000 /. for the branches to be
,vienstecdonisnidethraiatiolnineo,f
and
raised in a similar manner, to be called Class B, and to be en-
titled to a dividend of 4 per cent., under the guarantee of
the Belgian Government,opvayable on the completion of each
opfelf:inanglisu capital
of importance to the great mi • -
aware o lung interests of that
not
country, have undertaken only to guarantee
cent. on 200,0001., but in every way to ~
assist the directors in
carrying
out the undertaking, the
blarrangecha.moTanhte
value of which must en-
tirely depend upon its completion in
those districts from
whence the largest amount of traffic will be derived, namely,
the great mineral country l •
Ying Letween the Sambre and
Meuse rivers in Belgium.

TRE AMERICAN PRESS.—The low estimate placed
by foreigners on the New York press is scarcely undeserved.
Take their own estimate for truth, and there is not a viler
lot of scamps outside the state prison. According to th.
Express, the editor of the Herald is "a viper." According
to the Herald, George Wilkes, of the Police Gazette, is "a
felon." Colonel Webb, of the Courier, says that Willis is
" a seducer, and, ' morally speaking,' a murderer ;" while
the Day Book
and a rascal." charges Colonel Webb with being " a rogue