The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-24 00:00:00

tages certain to accrue from thk cOnStrUCtlijn
of
the_bop-rurop,osierodmoeildtpteolryt.
unofdeLrontdhooV in Langstone
lihelter of our Ha. -.oval depot at Portsmouth.. It has been
grand a- -‘ow imperatively requisite some such en-
explained 'me, in consequence of the in,4reaso
terprise has beck, .on the.
nsoduitttheectiosaesqtuoff::e gelfa:d. e
loletenes:
of merchant tra fflo - -till manifest incom
the b-
in consequence c.
of our maritime aefencesy
time, of me, and. of propee
extraordinary los of
din• a vessels being compel/ ed
resulting from ca ta-a
to pass through pe.
Tils of a very difficult navi-
gation. Statistical argu_ ments have been adduc ed,
he necessity for at 14
'lt
to show the exis ten.ce of
.
resorting to some such effo at improvemen Lt.
Further proofs w(3 cannot but deem, after wh
we said upon a former occasion, altogether sup( 3r-
fluous. Happily , moreover, there is no reaa on
for additional :3ta ,tements of this nature, seeing
•
length very gene: ra fly recog •—the completes ess
that the facts, air eady alludod to, appear to be atmsec.l
of their recogni ti, on being visiNe
the nd ble
undertaking now -in process of develop lent.
What we are desirous of insisting upon, at
present more ()specially, are the really' nume-
rous and und '.e3 viably considerableentadv stages
ria.s3
certain to r€ ult from this erp
to
the vast major ity of the mer,lantile popu-
lation. Langston le—when once fa...'rlY supplied
with docks—wise n the entrance to ti\e existing
harbour has been . enlarged—when the ,branch of
the South-West( m Railway shall have been con-
tinued down to the coast, from the station at
Godalming—(ani 1 all these schemes are now .ac-
tunny in course: of realisation)—will bid fair, ao
we intimated on Thursday, to surpass, in time,
as the unrivalled Out-port of London, the wealth,
the influence, al ad the dimensions of Liverpool.
It will be withi:n . two hours and a half diotanee
from London, k ic3ing separated from the metropolis
by only sixty-s 1 miles capable of being traversed
by railway w.i1,11 that most desirable facility.
Ultimately, we k doubt not, the web-work of rail-
roads in Sussex will be extended so far that, by
the South-Coast line, rapid communication may be
effected from he Havant station, near Ports-
mouth, on the margin of this harbour of Lang-
stone, as far as Dover—and this simply by open-
ing up a new h ranch from. Winchelsea to Folke-
stone. Soutlaal npton is already within easy dis-
tance of the pro jetted docks and the existing har-
bour. The Ist e of Wight, remember, is imme-
diately contiguous, affording our shipping the
channel of the ; Solent, and the protection of Spit-
head. Besidm which—in , continuation of these
reflections upoi a the geographical position of Lang-
stone—it must be sedulously kept in mind that
the docks nom - about to be constructed in that
harbour will Ix 3 at all seasons readily accessible in
the most cent ral part of the southern coast of
England, immediately to the north of the North
Deep, almost e qui-distant from Beaely Head and
the Isle of :Portland, or, extending the limits,
from Torbay and Dungeness. Once perfect the
vast enterprise upon which the country way now
be considered: to have actually adventured, And we
shall then pass ;ess not only a rendezvous fo," our
merchant vess els, but shall be enabled effects ally
to complete the machinery of. the national *-
fences by haviing a permanent rendezvous for ovr
men-of-war-- one noble fleet being constantly
maintained a.t Spithead. Guarded thus by her
wooden walls, Old England might set all thoughts
of foreign invasion at defiance. She might in the
very act of preserving the integrity of her shores
from attack, moreover, afford her south-coast
traffic the mo st acceptable and efficient protection.
Her traders :need not then dread in war the guns
of the foe, or in peace the enormous perils of the
up-Channel and Thames navigation. An inde-
scribable sense of security would reinvigorate the
energies of th, e British people, with their merchant-
men passing to and fro through the entrance
to the Harb our of Langstone, and their men-
of-war ridinf; proudly, protectively, and per-
manently off ' Spithead. As if to clinch the
correctness of ' the selection of Langstone as this
grand maritir Lae rendezvous on our southern coast,
it is found on mature consideration that the choice
is warranted as judicious, not merely from its own
intrinsic capabilities, but from its acknowledged
superiority other respects, besides that of mere
geographies" -position over the whole of its possible
competitors. Take the two " likeliest" of these
—2-Torbay and Plymouth. Why, everybody who
knows a nytt Ling at all about the matter is per-
feCtly well aware, that while Plymouth is abso-
lutely incapa.;ble of containing in its harbour a really
numerous f10,E,,t, Torbay is so far exposed as to be
actually dangerous. Beyond which, Langstone,
recollect, issixty-six miles from the metropolis
—whereas Intot so with Torbay or Plymouth.
Either of the' latter would, if chosen instead of
LOngstone, ave been virtually as much beyond
the reach of :London for the purposes of rapid
commercial enterprise, as Liverpool. Langstone
on the contrary, being literally, as we have shown
—the Out-por t of the capital
Added to its other merits, the harbour upon
which docks and wharves are about to be con-
structed, is, according to the unbiassed testimony
of an eminent Government engineer, precisely one
of, the few places along our coast qualified to be_
come at once the site of such an undertaking.
Among other advantages, it possesses, for
instance, the really incontestibie one of
being distant only one mile from the little
town of Havant—a town just numbering 2,450
inhabitants, en' To-anded by n country at once
populous and productive, having in all directions
the greatest facilities in the way of railway com-
munication. Even as at present, the Havant sta-
tion places the travellers by railroad in rapid
communication with all the important localities in
the United Kingdom—the South-Coast Railway
extending eastwards to Hastings, and westwards
to Dorchester ; another line, by Winchelsea, run-
ning to the north-east, as far as the Foreland ;
the South-Eastern carrying him from the junction
at Ashford to Folkestone, and on to Dover ' • and
the capital being even now accessible by the
Brighton or by the trunk of the South-Western
Railway. These are the conveniences of the situa-
tion of Langstone, under existing arrangements.
Happily, as we have before announced, the Ports-
mouth Railway Company, with a capital of
400,0001., purpose completing the branch line of
the South-Western already opened as far as God-
alming—so that an iron and electric bond may be
established between London and its Out-port a
Langstone.

CHRISTMAS EXCURSION TRAINS.—This morning, vast
numbers of persons availed themselves of the opportunity
afforded by the issue of return tickets to proceed by railway
to visit their friends ; the various termini were crowded,
and additional carriages were attached to every train ; the
arrival of passengers from the country were also exceedingly
numerous—the early train on the Great. Western had 300
additional, and one of the down trains on the North-
Western had 450 additional. Persons wishing to proceed
into the country, should bear in mind the trains to-morrow
will only run as on Sundays, with the exception of the day
mails, which will run as ordinary. The parcel traffic on
the Northern and Western lines is immense this year, and
the contractors for delivery, unable to do so in the ordinary
manner, have, since the commencement of the week, been
obliged to employ cabs and other vehicles, besides addi-
tional men, in order to comply with the Act of Parliament.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGFONS.—The extensive addi-

tions which have been making to the Royal College of Sur-
geons, in Lincoln's-inn-fields, at the rear in Portugal-street,
(formerly the china show rooms of Alderman Copeland) are
now nearly completed, and will affordverygreat convenience
to the members of the college, not only to extend their
museum of anatomy, but to enlarge their library.
MUSEUM OF PRACTICAL ART.—The very beautiful
and costly Museum of Ancient and Modern Art Manufac-
tures, and Vernon Gallery, at Marlborough-house, Pall-
mall, will be open free, from ten till four, during the
Christmas week, for the special convenience and improve-
ment of the working classes. The collections of ornamental
and decorative art, and forty-four pieces of china lent by
the Queen, also a specimen of Palisy ware, are in the
upstairs rooms.

THE YELLOW FEVER IN THE WEST INDIES.—Her
Majesty's screw-ships Dauntless, 33, Captain Halsted, and
Highflyer, 24, Captain H. J. Matson, have been immedi-
ately ordered to England.
APPROACHING MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE.—The Mar-

quis of Headfort is about to be married, early in February,
to Lady Macnaghten, widow of Sir William Macnaghten,
who fell a sacrifice in Cabool during the Affghanistan war.
—Dublin Mail.

WALKING 1,000. MILES IN 1,000 CONSECUTIVE 20

NuTEs.—On Wednesday, John Mellor, keeper of the
Railway Inn, Rochdale, was brought before Georgo Ash-
worth and Wm. Bartlemore, Esqrs., charged with keeping
1, disorderly house on Sunday last. On a plot of laud be-
hind the Railway Inn, there is a man walking 1,000 miles
in 1,000 consecutive 20 minutes. The public are admitted
through the Railway Inn to see this feat, by paying 2d.
each. Now this was going on during last Sunday, which
caused great crowds to surround the house. The magis-
trates fined Mellor 5/. and expenses.