The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-16 00:00:00

CROCUSES.

From prison, and gloom, and the ruthless cold
We struggle, and pant, and are free,
And the noonday is rifling our leaves for gold,
But at night, right warily
We'll close the gay woof of our stainless domes,
Lest the frost with his shining feet
Should wander within, and our fairy homes
Become his winding-sheet.
See, green swords bristle around us well,
And the crisp snows drift away,
And a trench lies round our citadel—
ma safe as in rosy day.
VIOLETS.
The skies are weeping to behold us.
Hark, how the zephyrs cell!
Feel how the sunbeams yearn to fold us,

Hear the sweet dew-drops fall!
We are not dead, but are sleeping late
On our mother's breast below.
Without us the Spring seems desolate,
She loveth her violets so.
Wake, sisters, wake! for the moss is green,
And our herald-leaves have sped
Up to the day, and the young bee-queen
Is singing songs overhead.

PRIMROSES.

Well may the pretty stars look down,

And wonder to see us here,
As if we had dropp'd from their purple crown,
To spangle the earth's green sphere!
Bat we are pale by their burning ray—
We wear not their gorgeous hue—
Pale with the knowledge of swift decay,
And pale with our labours too:
For long we wrestled with storm and breeze,
Ere the glad dawn touched our eyes,
And taught us the might of these forest-trees,
The glory of yonder skies.

BLErEBELLS.
Where sedges are fresh with a play of waters
That pause to toy with some favorite flower,
April's darlings, her blue-eyed daughters,
We cluster and bloom in each glancing shower.
The gnats hum round us in happy glee
The children riot in lightsome mirth,
Our azure tents in the grass to see; .

They seem to have watched our sunny birth!
And near us the wan valley-lilies blow,

Whose sighs are sweeter, the south-wind says,
Than ever the lips of bright blossoms know,
Ah! has he forgotten the roses' rich days.
COWSLIPS.
We are the playmates of jocand May,
The light of whose laughing face
Falls blushing over the fields to-day,
And blesses our fairy race.
But our knots of loosened gold are bowed
Under her burning glance,
While round us the cuckoo flow'rets crowd,
The quaker-grasses dance
Would they were here, the hours that darkle,
Gales that are coolest, skies that weep!
Under our bells did glow-worms sparkle,
Soon were our heavy heads asleep!

THREE CHILDREN POISONED BY ORNAMENTED
CAREs.—Yesterday Mr. Wakley, M. P., held an inquest at
the Hunter's Arms, Compton-street, Brunswick-square, on
Bridget Tyreby, aged four years. James Tyreby, deceased's
father, deposed that on Good Friday deceased received from
a relative, amongst other Easter presents, a large cakesur-
mounted by variegated sugar ornaments f different colours.
Deceased divided the cake amongst two other of hias. e
_chil-
dren, who with deceased partook heartily of thecacm: ,a_ll.`"..
its ornaments. Soon afterwards all of them
ebtec
ingsuall
and
gerously ill, and were seized with violent :urgh
eon, who
spasms. He instantly called in Mr. Hopton, surgeon,
despite his
exerted his utmost skill to save their lives;l The
other children, although better,?
said that he found the
efforts, deceased died in dreadful agony last I:rfeoryndaiTi..
Air.
'Topton, surgeon, Judd-street, .
theßyrn
ptoms of au active
three children suffering from all
effect as regarded decease
poison. He applied everyd,paowsshioblehaaantideoattee,nbuintorweitthhoaunt i
the others of the P mortem examination he found
0 ~ et
:ea
cases
before
Hh ei ornaments,mm ,a
ad ne
d a ne
expressed
isys
e,sheids ao
fdti
hopeehd
on Monday. Upon a post healltdheyatwh,i,theatuhseedexucnedpet
, which manifested themselves
that deceased had been very.
the effects produced by
07nclasion that lead was the.
coroner, in summing
ricisnu_c_ohf_
in the stomach and intePs°tinse;she.usee
poistotanchtlatwahlcthrulyedeahliimi
"nie o the sale of,,cAakcel ornamgenutped, rbe
y-
gretted that many similar
Mr. Hopton the ultimate re-
circumstances, had
Verdict,
that a stop would be Put
of c dental death. '
NTY LUNATIC ASYLUM.—The
such poisoneduAmTactueerclacigoy.tu.
Hopes are entertain
COLNEY
visiting magistrates to this
ev eral
reduce
parochial
committee of v asylum have an-
nouncedcovery of the two other children.
fined t that hey
authorities having pauper
lunatics con
charge for maintenance from
theare enabled, from the first
etos
of this month,
95. 4d. to 83. 51/2d. per week for each pauper lunatic con-
in to th
belongin
fined there _
g to the county; for those not be-
longing to the county the charge of 14s. per week is
continued,
The beautiful estate of
of Kirkcudbright, has been sold for the sum of 38,000/. The
purchaser is Colonel Balfour, a gentleman connected with
Fifeshire. The house
on the property afords one of the
finest residences in the south of Scotland.— Dumfries
Courier.
LIFE IN THE ARCTIC SEA.--Icicles hung round
the deck, peaches became a mass of calcedone, butter was
cut with a chisel, beef with pickaxe and crowbar. Walking
out, you are conscious of a bracing atmosphere. Whiskers
and lace are glanzed with ice. Put out your tongue, and it
is frozen to your chin. Walking on, you get into a fine
glow, often into a perspiration, but if the wind rises, then
you have a sensation of pricking pins. Extremes meet.
Extremes of heat and cold are alike. In our new life cold
gave a positive character to our existence, almost impossible
to describe. We protected ourselves from metals with fur
and buckskin. The crawl, the chill, which is, with us at
home, the indication of varying temperature, was there un-
known. In fact, it was only by the direct attack of cold
that we were aware of it, and officers and men agreed that
we had suffered more at home from cold. With such an
inveterate enemy, however, we could not hope to escape
scars, but we all returned alive. On one occasion, a poor
fellow, recovering from inflammation of the lungs, being
asked how his frost-bitten ear came on. produced it in a
piece of paper, and said, " Doctor, I 'didn't want to trouble
you, but it dropped of
-last night."—Dr. Kane's Lecture upon
the Arctic Expedition,
_. ,

LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.—The
works on this company's branch line from Alton to Farnham
are progressing towards completion. The permanent way
with the exception of about a quarter of a mile in length,
near Bentley, is laid. Considerable delay was caused by the
subsidence of an embankment in the Holt Forest, but
that difficulty has been overcome, and it is expeetedraocL
the line, which is a single one, will be ready for In
early in June.
cued Ann
A
A WEALTHY VAGRANT.— woman
Small was recently convicted in St. Louis of bbeiennragga vagrant,
ood beha-
and required to give 500 dollars security 0.
farollars in gold as
viour. She forthwith handed over 500 e which had been
collateral security, and 50 dollars for
imposed on her, not, however, witha tihe slightest idea of
getting i-477ifrican Parr'.

BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN RAILWAYS.
TO TEE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
0111,---Aly. attention has been directed to a com-
munication with which you favoured your readers a
few days since, signed " An Englishman," which
perhaps was not fully understood by them in all its
imporaut Weds. Allow me, therefore, to put you
in possession of a few important facts connected with
the subject. I will not occupy much of your valu-
able space to discuss the question, whether our colo-
nial dependencies have received, in all cases, that
attention from the Home Legislature which their in-
coArrleloswponnideent, with
all due deference
to express the opinion
ttoer3ersotusr dweno-iratnhyd .
that if any permanent advantages are to result from
the connexion between our colonies and the mother
country it must not only originate with themselves,
but nil local p,t;y jeelotOes be laid aside, and every
man put his shoulder to the work. The means are
theirs, and it only awaits for them vigorously and
with skill to apply their energies to the task, and no
obstacle will be found potent enough to resist their
will.

It is, however, the latter part of your correspon-
dent's letter to wcich I would more particularly advert.
It would appear that delegates from Canada, New
Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, are expected immediately
in England, on the subject of a great trunk railway
in those colonies, and which your correspondent
states will be the last appeal to Britain. Your
correspondent, who appears to be exceedingly well
informed on the state of our North American colonies,
and of their rich resources, affects not to be aware of
the existence of an undertaking the object of which
is to connect, by means of a trunk line railroad, the
whole of British North America; and that a com-
pany (the S. Andrew's and Quebec Railway Com-
pany), having a directory composed of highly influ-
ential gentlemen both at St. Andrew's and in Lon-
don, has been expending large sums in surveys, by
eminent practical engineers, and the construction of
which line is now in actual progress.
The company in question was incorporated in 1836
by an Act of the local Legislature of New Bruns-
wick, confirmed by Royal sanction, to construct a
railroad through a rioh tract of country, from St.
Andrew's to Quebec. Their operations were sus-
pended in conaoquonco of a remonstrance by the
United States' Government, that the surveyed line
would pass through the disputed territory, between
thet°o fh Newftfurther
conclusionth BrunswickerAoofts
the o andflttBrh:e treaty,
ay tdhh
Legislaturesyeu ctUnited
successive
B iavotlate
the province
LSotartdesishObunr
New Brunswick were obtained in
years, to extend and enlarge the powers of the com-
pany, and, amongst other privileges, conceding to
them five miles of land on each side of the railroad,
with a guarantee of 6 per cent. on 100,0001. of the
subscribed capital. By these Acts the company has
the power to make branch lines to St. John's, or in
any part of the colony ; and when the Halifax,
Windsor, and Annapolis line, which was advocated
by the delegates from Nova Scotia at the reoent con-
ference at Portland, shall have been completed, that
important province will be traversed, and placed,
also, in immediate communication with the Canadas.
Thus our British American colonies will be more
closely connected with the parent state, and rendered
independent of foreign means of access.
It may be -remarked that, as in other parts of the
world, the paramount claims of the St. Andrew's and
Quebec Railroad were early sought to be damaged,
it not wholly set aside, by rival projects being sub-
mitted to the attention of the respective local Govern-
ments, as well as that of the Home Government.
This occurred, allow me to say, notwithstanding the
railroad in question had received the highest patron-
age and although it would have involved a breach of
public faith on the part of the New Brunswick Go-
vernment, who had, as before stated, by acts of their
local legislature, by grants of land, and also by gua-
rantees and in other ways, given all public sanction
to the company. The result of this state of things
was, that the attention, both of the Home and Colonial
Governments, was diverted from the primary object
on which, some years since, a satisfactory conclusion
had been come to. Pending these worse than fruit-
less negotiations and projects, the strong claims of the
St. Andrew's and Quebec Trunk Railroad, which in
the end was considered the alone feasible line, and re-
moved from all objections, were allowed to fall into
abeyance, and the company deprived of the aid from
the Home Government, which it was justly entitled to.
There is, therefore, no cause for the desponding
views which your correspondent feels disposed to in-
dulge in, but, on the contrary, the positive certainty
may be entertained that when all obstructive influ-
ence which stood in the way of the progress of the
company is removed, the gigantic undertaking, which
has for its ultimate object the connexion of the Atlan-
tic and Pacific Oceans, and which, by means of
Government and official surveys, is considered not
cooly practicable but easy to accomplish, will proceed
to rapid completion.
The first great advantage that will arise from the
vast project embraced in the St. Andrew's and Quebec
Railroad will be to throw the Canadas open to Europe.
It may be stated that this first chain of railroad will
at once supersede the circuitous and uncertain passage
by the River St. Lawrence, and will be open at all
seasons of the year for traffic, whilst the River St.
Lawrence is closed to all means of entry and exit for
six months in the year. In addition to these advan-
tages, our British and other vessels will concentrate
in the centre of the Atlantic continent the commerce
of Europe, which is now in no small degree aggran-
dized by the United States.
To those of your readers who are alike interested
in the welfare of the colonies with your correspon-
dent, permit me to offer a few further observations, so
that they may be fully prepared to understandit the
subject when brought more. prominently,
dele
delegates, ona
pro-
bably will be, at the instancetoof
the attentiong
of a Bri-
tishyour correspondent writes,
h
will possibly be asked to
Parliament, and
'but who will not, I feel
3,000,0001. for thst purpose;
property of a company
assured, suffer the rights and h
e subscribed their
grant, at this particularwcrisis a loan of net less than
to be trifled with, and who have
and
and who are willing and
anxious, by the aid of the
privi-
leges being ceded to them,
Government, to make the
capital on the faith of certain advantages
apparatus of Go
whichvernment
Commission, the colonists will have no
Commission, over
ld constitute a mere monopoly
control, and which would
and source of Government patronage and taxation
without end. I trustthat Colonial Secretary
the
will not sancti
on such an act of injustice to be done,
but put himself in possession of the whole subject, and
so recognise the claims of the company as to enable
them to complete an undertaking essential to the in-
terest of the colonies, and their permanent connexion
with the British Crown.
In conclusion, if language of mine can have any
effect, I would give this solemn word of caution—
that it may be possible, if such steps are contemplated
as your correspondent hints at, that the time when
British North America will have the triumph of a
trunk railroad traversing its whole limits, will be
protracted to a period far too remote for "An En-
glishman" to witness.—l am, Sir, &a ,
ONE MUCH INTERESTED IN THE
COLONIES.

aebaleni:te(iii.gencer%
_,UICK PASSAGE OF AN AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIP
FROM CHINA.—A large American clipper-built ship, named
the Witch of the Wave, Captain Millett, commander, has
recently arrived in the East India Docks, Blackwell, from
Canton, having made one of the most extraordinary and
rapid voyages on record. She also brought one of the most
valuable cargoes of tea that, perhaps, ever entered the port
of London, having on board no fewer than 19,000 chests
of the choicest quality. She is nearly 1,400 tons burden,
the size of our largest Indiatnen, and was built at Salem,
near New York, in the course of last year. She proceeded
to California, thence to Hong-Kong, and sailed from
Whampos, near Canton, on the sth of January; made
the passage to Java-head in 7 days and 12 hours, then had
the wind W.S.W. to N.W. for several days, with light
trade-wind, and made the Cape in 29 days. Then encoun-
tered strong easterly winds from the Western Islands, and
took a pilot oil the Dungeness on the 4th of April, making
a passage from China to the Downs in 90 days, a trip sur-
passing the celebrated runs of the Oriental and Surprise
American clippers. Had she not encountered the strong
easterly winds up Channel, she would have accomplished
the voyage several days earlier. As it was, she was only
four days beating up from the chops of the Channel, to
reaching the river, while some of our large vessels were
nearly a fortnight doing the distance. The Witch of the
Wave is the object of much interest as she lies in the docks.
Her bows are similar to those of a large-sized cutter yacht.
By the above it will be seen that she sailed round the world
in ten months and a half, including loading and discharging
at the above ports. The greatest distance she ran in 24
hours on the voyage to London was 338 miles.
IRON VE'SELS OF WAIL—The result of some
ex-
perimentsNavy-
now in course of trial at the Washington
yard would seem to establish the unfitness of iron a/3ettg:
terial for the hulls of vessels of war. The small ironer
s____,_
Water Witch being condemned as unfit for futrepurpeos" of
has been lately moored off' the Navy-yard 0
trying on her sides the effect of shot andel
was
l tired at her
range. A few days ago an eight-inch h
from a 56 -pou n d e r gun, at a distance
uf gf
ytohbraerfhrrnepdocre,
ltua,
übhtng"Patgnhhoihdieonnrogsetldid: bleake v i
rancele
y. Another shell
much larger than the
tfiftyhe vessel,yards.
dangerous to her own le
r,
of iron, which in
us twoclean of the iron
fragments, l'C". Ca
hoif LI Hare certainly
ugly-looking things to
be flying about
DBATII OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL C.B.
t-Colonel th • • WATSON,'
Lieutenan e retired list of officers of
, d• Com an ' Watson,'
the Ea'' in,la y s service, died on the 6th inst.
Lieutenant-Colonel Watsonw had served many years in India,
and had received the Company's s silver medal with two clasps
for his services in the Nepaurwar in 1614, and at the siege
and storming of Bhurtpore in 1826; he was in 1836 nomi-
nated a Companion of the Bath.
THE COURT
, or CHANCERY.—It 'is stated that a
meeting of the r • at the Lord
l ', Equity judges will take place
Chance or a residence to-morrow (Saturday) for the purpose
of considering the new orders.
The Limerick Chronicle says that Judge Perrin
fined the Sheriff of Dundalk 50/., for not having a dinner
ready for hint at the opening of the assizes.
_en.iatooioe,easecndli:aly