The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-24 00:00:00

TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 24,

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
THE KING'S CROSS TERMINUS OF THE
GREAT NORTHERN.
The directors of the Great Northern Railway
Company have appointed Monday, the 20th Septem •
I ber, for the public opening of this station, which is
now rapidly drawing near completion.
1
The grand entrance to this handsome terminus at
King's-cross has a north-western frontage, and is
composed entirely of brick, faced with stone. The
area of land which it covers is estimated at about
thirty acres, making, with the land now occupied
by the temporary terminus, warehouses, engine
houses, and other necessary buildings, about seventy-
five_
or eighty acres. The building is upwards of
seventy feet in height, and about 805 feet in length.d
Its centre compartment contains the
pay-office and
avenues leading to the departure platform. The
pay-office, which has a rich panelled ceiling, is in
height about 40 feet, 98 feet long, and 40 feet wide.
On the eastern side of the pay-office is erected a hand-
some stone gallery, supported upon numerous elegant
iron brackets, and a light railing of a gothic design,
the purpose of which is to connect together the busi-
ness offices of the company. The board-room, which
is 50 feet in length and 30 in width, is also reached
by this gallery ; the basement affording accommoda-
tion for warehousing merchandise &c. The various
waiting-rooms, most comfortably fitted up,
adjoin the
pay-office,
On the eastern side of the pay-office is the depar-
ture platform, which is covered in by one of two
glass transepts, which, as already stated, are built
after the fashion of the one at the Great Exhibition.
The departure sheds, which are 110 feet in width, are
to contain seven lines of rails, and in order to deaden
the sound workmen are now engaged in laying down
wooden pavement upon a bed of concrete, and upon
this operation being completed the rails will be fixed.
The glass roofs are, we understand, the largest of the
kind ever attempted, being 105 feet in span, the
lower part on either side being panelled. The ex-
treme height of the roofs of the arrival and departure
sheds, from the level of the rails to the centre of the
arches, is about 80 feet, and the arrival shed is sup-
ported upon 40 pillars of large dimensions. The de-
parture platform is 25 feet wide and 800 long.
The south front of the terminus is aurmuunted by
the handsome clock tower now completed, and pos-
sesses a frontage of 253 feet, including the width of
the grand entrance on the north-western side, which
frontageg3rlolssfeet.Athe basement of the
t
abutting on the St.
stupendous arches—the largest ever turned in brick—
forming the southern façade of the arrival and de-
parture sheds, or terminus, are six openings for six
Pi 8 a 5
nBc r feet, and
d
pairs of gates, through which it is intended that the
mails and carriages to travel by the line shall enter.
The clock tower, which is 112 feet in height, is 22
feet across at the base and 16 across above the level
of the roof from which it springs. Workmen are
now engaged in fitting it with Dent's clock, which
was shown at the late Great Exhibition. It is in-
tended that at night the clock shall be lighted up by
electric lights.
The houses in front of the station are all to come
down, the proper notices having been served upon the
inhabitants for some time past.

SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE.
The half-yearly meeting of this railway was held
at Lichfield yesterday. Captain Dyott, the deputy •
chairman of the board of directors, presided.
Mr. BucKrori read a report, of which the following
is an extract :
" The total expenditure on capital account is 915,6174
to the 31st ult. The low rate of interest prevailing dur-
ing the past half-year has enabled the board to reduce
the annual charge from an average of 41. 7s. 9d. per cent.
to 41. 2s. sd. per cent. per annum on the total amount of
the company's bonds. Ihe works for the Tipton branch
have been advantageously let, and, will very shortly be
finished, thereby connecting the Stour Valley Railway
with your line. The directors congratulate you on their
successful opposition to the various schemes brought into
Parliament during the last session prejudicial to this
company, and on the promotion of other measures bene-
ficial thereto. The Bill brought in by this company for
a branch to Barton-on-Trent was withdrawn in Parlia-
ment, under an arrangement with the Midland Railway
Company, satisfactory to the lessee, whereby passengers
are conveyed to and from your lino to theirs by every
train of this company, which superseded the necessity of
that measure, and from which the public have materially
benefited. The directors trust that the üblic,tis euall
li
with the shareholders, have reason to bep satisfied with the management of the lessee. The dividend warrants
will be issued on the Ist proximo, being
at the same
rate as last half-year, namely, 3s. Bd. per share, or
181.8 s. 11d. per 100 shares, after deducting the income-
tax."

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the re-
port, said that inasmuch as their line was worked
under a contract, the directors were not required, and,
indeed, were not able, to communicate to the share-
holders any very important information more than
they could gather from the report. They had, in-
deed, little to report. Their main business was to
keep their capital account as low as possible, and that
the shareholders might rest assured would ever be
their great object. There was one item in the report
which required some explanation, and which he
should be happy to afford. Among their receipts
would be seen a large item of
89,4001. upon bonds.
This had occurred in consequence of the altered value
of money. They had, owing to this circumstance,
borrowed 50,0001. at 31 per cent., and by that means
had paid off obligations for which they were allowing
a larger amount of interest, and had afterwards
a ba-
lance of 20,0001. in the hands of their bankers.
(Hear, hear.) They might rely upon it, however,
that they should allow it to remain at their bankers
as short a time as possible, as they should
deal with it to a greater advantage. The report
congratulated the shareholders upon the successful
opposition which they had
given to various schemes
brought into Parliament during the last session,
and which the directors deemed prejudicial to
upon
they n mainlytheir
(the
h o referred
s ont
ht o
Staffordshirea attemptn
the South Staffordshire Company. In that paragraph
made by the Great Western Company to introduce
gauge between Wednesbury and Dudley. In that
the Great Western were unsuccessful. Another at-
tempt had been made to establish a line (as we under' stood) from Walsall to Cannock. They (the South
Staffordshire) opposed that project, as they thought
that it was au interference with the territory assigned
to them by Parliament. They had not made such a
line themselves, but if it was deemed necessary to
make it, the duty would devolve upon the South
Staffordshire Company. The Bill which they intro-
duced into Parliament for making a line to Burton
was abandoned, because an arrangement was wade
with the Midland which was satisfactory to their
lessee. They bad, therefore,
he (the chairman) con-
tended been successful with regard to the schemes
brought into Parliament affecting themselves, and he
hoped the shareholders would entertain ihe same
opinion. Something was said at their last meeting
with
with regard to certain proposed arrangements
the London and North-Western Company. _Nothing
much further had transpired upon that subject;
but he believed - the North-Western Company were
willing to conclude an agreement with them. ,-`:
would be recollected that the London and North-
'Western 'Western proposed, at the close of their (the South
Staffordshire) lease, to take to the line and pa fate be_
s.hareholders of the South Staffordshire at theof
four-fifths of their own dividend. That proposal was
notb acceded to. The only progress which bad since
been made was that the London and North-Western
now HOW proposed 'four-fifths of their dividend, with a
guarantee that the dividend to the South Stafford-
shire shareholders should never be less than four per
cent., if such arrangements were carried outb. t
(Hear, hear.) He believed as he had said before,t
.a
the London and North-Western C
ompany were wil-
lin
He was
g to carry such arrangements into effect.
not a the face
are that there was anything more on
n.
of the
board report which required explanation, but in co
elusion he might be allowed to say that the directors
.
were most anxious to give a straightforward exposi-
tion of the whole of the affairs of the company.
line)
which
the be
b a
da
broadb
beeni e to
They
place in
a report as they had presented that day. With
___ie
receipts of the lessee they had nothing to do. 1-1
the
performed
had nothing to do but to lay before them sucht_e
his duty with perfect satisfaction to
bye
which
moving the reception and adoption of the report.
.
Mr. FORSTER M.P ,in seconding the motion, of directors. The Chairman concluded
re-
marked upon the improvement which had taken
shares were
was ,at 3 per cent. dis. ; and now their
nearly at par. He attributed this improvement to
the
gement of the lessee,
spirited conduct and mans
the value of line. Twelve months ago it
and expressed his belief that in any arrangements
might be made with the London and North-
Westernompany—and howe C ver desirable those ar-
rangements might be—the intermediate interests of
the lessee would be consulted and protected. He
believed that the directors would
not take any steps
Which were not satisfactory to that
gentleman.
deade motion was carried unanimously, and a divi-
dend of 38. Bd. per share, or 18/. Bs. lid. per hundred
shares, the meeting broke up.

the hour
11°RTBIJRY PIER .
AND RAILWAY.
of this
The twelfth half-yearly general. meeting
the table
cATPanY, which it is intended to wind up under the
andontnent of Railways Act, was advertised to
be held at Bristol on Monday, the 2.3 a inat: At
°I.
.shareholders were not present to constitute a
meeting, appointed however, a sufficient
.number
da-
mage g• A report from the directors was laid upon
July fact, and
the
.Abandonment of Railways Act, 1850, for the
making of
1 which stated that the six months allowed by
claims for compensation in respect of
donment of the undertaking, expired on. the 24th of
alleged to be sustained by reason of the aban-
donment
I.hompson, the surviving trustee of a Mr. Clarke,
claiming 2,0001. for the injury sustained by
.the trust
that the only claim sent in was one by
estate in the event of the purchase not being eom-

pleted. Upon this matter there was a suit, which
must proceed and be disposed of, which it was hoped
would be effected in November. The directors had
disposed of some land for 1181., and the assets of the
company having now been realised, when the claim
of Mr. Clarke and his trustee was disposed of the
accounts of the undertaking could be finally wound
up. The general statement of receipts and payments
to the 31st of July, 1852, showed the amount re-
ceived on account of capital and interest as 21,3641.
2s. 4d., and the payments as 16,7181. 14s. 103., leav-
ing a balance in the banker's hands of 4,6451. 7s. Gd.

NORTH BRITISH.-Mr. Rowbotham (formerly in
the service of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Company as goods manager) has been appointed
manager of the North British Railway.—.lVorth
British Mail.

The North and South-Western junction line will,
it is expected, be opened about the 7th of next month.
Thus there will be a direct communication from
Scotland, Liverpool, and Manchester, to the Waterloo
station and Southampton, without a break of guage
along the whole distance.
CALEDONIAN.-Mr. Ferguson, formerly the com-
pany's accountant, has been appointed to the office of
treasurer, a selection which will give general satis-
faction.

THE THIRD AND THE FOURTH ESTATES.
The relative extent of the demand for the Liberal and
the Tory newspapers of the country, is a better clue to
the true complexion of the national mind than the polio-
tioal character of " the representation of the people."
The constituencies form but a fraction (if a large one)
of the community; and a variety of influences, apart
from principle and conviction, guide their decisions.
Newspapers, despite the jealous restraints insposed upon
them by fiscal laws, are read by the unenfranchised as
well as by the enfranchised; and the market demand for
a Liberal or a Tory journal is a spontaneous act. The
supply of the one description of newspaper or the other,
is an exact measure of the public mind—an infallible in-
dicator of the tastes and tendencies of the popular mind.
We shall be fully justified, therefore, when we appeal to
the table which we give below, as a proof—a clear in-
fallible proof—that the Parliament of England is not repre-
sentative of the people. The number of stamped sheets
issued to the Liberal and Conservative newspaper offices
g the results of the late elections
of
feauh
ocrth ue most r
tY9inth.e year 1850, is stated on the au-
thorityecent list of a respectable tendon
newsagent.
in the several counties, the table follows the Morning
ow-fa the now-fashionable male,
sh in distributing the Members
ionable heads of " Liberal,"
"Ministerial." and " Liberal Conservative."
Counties. I LIBERAL. I TORY. IM.L.L. C.
under e Chronicle,
in
three

....................--.---• -
Bedfordshire .........
42,000 none 1 2 1
Berkshire ..
150 105,100 6 0 1
...:.
........... :, ..
18309,980 152,500 3 5 2
...
Bucks ... ............
••
110,000 95,100 2 3
DCC Cornwalluhe
rmeDerby
bhyeirCheshire
r Cambridge.l
a n d:
Devon
Dorset ......
Durham .
*Essex ...
Gloucester ......
Hants
Hereford ..... .
Herts
t Huntingdon ........• none none 4 0 0
Kent .................. ... 783,950 158,100 13 4 1
Lancashire ............ 3,476,035 801,500 6 19 1
Leicester ............... 92,175 51,500 4 2 0
Lincoln .................. 627,000 112,375 11 1 1
Middlesex ............ 35,515,875 6,062,287 1 13 0
Monmouth ............ 82,5C0 27,500 3 0 0
Norfolk ... 255,600 176,750 7 3 2
Northampton ......... 89,000 90,000 4 4 0
INorthumberland ... 377,200 144,815 4 6 0
Notts ...... ......... ...... 188,500 17,000 5 3 2
Oxford 64,460 134,050 5 3 1
t Rutland none none 2 0 0
§Shropsbire
Somerset
Stafford none 89,500 4 12 1
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Warwick
Westmoreland 44,000 39,350 2 1 0
Wilts 33,000 74,000 8 6 4
Worcester 87,480 85,000 6 6 1
II Yorkshire
----- - - -
Total 56,463,455 11,219,8871212 208 45
The circulation of Liberal as compared with Tory

The circulation of Liberal as compared iith Tory
newspapers, is as five to one. The representation of the
people is about equally divided between Toryism and
Liberalism. This is the general result presented by
England.
Bat take Middlesex. There the newspaper issues are
nearly six to one. Is there any disparity in the election
returns? If there be, it is not in favour of Toryism—
the constituencies of the metropolitan county returning
thirteen Liberalrepresentatives, and but one Tory. The
explanation is obvious. Tho great body of the people
of this country are Liberal, and from the higher value
of house-property in London, the household-franchise is
more generally enjoyed, there, than in the provinces.

We are not ensnoured of a system of representation
based on mere numbers. We would not have the country
mapped out into electoral squares, each returning repre-
sentatives in proportion to its number of inhabitants.
Much to be preferred is the ancient plan of town and
county representation—the towns sending their bur-
gesses to Parliament, and the shires their knights. But
all our paltry nomination boroughs should be absorbed
in the counties, and some general rule should be laid
down, giving every town of a certain population, so
long as it possesses that amount of population, ono or
more representatives. Our towns would then come into,
and pass out of, Parliamentary existence, by a natural
process of increase and decay.—Gateskead Observer.

The county of " the Conservative ten" has no Liberal
newspaper. Probably the Liberal inhabitants derive their
supplies from the neighbouring metropolis, just as, on the
other side of Middlesex, the Tories of Surrey are dependent
on London for their weekly and daily journals.
.1. Huntingdon—where, it is said, an annual sermon is
still preached against witchcraft—is (in common with Rut-
land) destitute of home-grown newspaper literature, and
equally destitute of Liberal representative& What a para-
dise of Toryism would England be, if the Press were " put
down !" Is there no statesman to take the Huntingdon
hint?

I The supplies of the Newcastle Courant are not included.
The news-agent classes our contemporary among the
Neutrals."
Compare the newspaper circulation of Shropshire with
the election returns ! The one is as six to five, the other is
eleven to one. There was a time when Shropshire did not
return even one Liberal Member; and the Tories of the
county then profanely boasted of their " 1 welve Apostles."
We need not say what name they now apply to the solitary
Liberal.

11 The election returns give Yorkshire thirty-eight repre-
sentatives, one more than her statute gives her. This arises
from the triple return for Knaresborough.

NOTICE TO MARINERS.
Subjoined is a notice to mariners, lately signed by
the bydrographic department at Madrid, respecting
some new lighthouses established on the north coast of
Spain:—

(Translation.)
llydrographio Department, Madrid, July li, 1852.

LIGHT HOUSES ON THE NORTH COAST OF SPAIN.

OLIGHT
cry lIFE r
oPmorsthTe o2FlsAtlAocr
AcsugAucsot,
arnseow-
ligh. theme will be lighted every night, established on the
Point of Cap? Muchichaco on the north coast of Spain,
from the. setting to the rising of the sun. This light-
house is situated 14 miles east of the Point of Puerto
de la Gales, lat. 43 deg. 28 min. N., and long. 3 deg. 22
min. 50 sees. E. of the Observatory of San Fernando
(Cadiz). The apparatus is of the Ist catadioptric order
of Fresnel's system, with fixed lights, and flashes at in-
tervals of four minutes. This light, which is of the
natural colour, is at an elevation of 285 Castillian feet
above the level of the Equinoctial high tides, and pro-
duces a tangent of 18,8 miles.
2ND. LIGHT ON THE POINT OF THE FUERTE DE
LA GALEA, PROVINCE OF BISCAY.—This lighthouse
established on the eosin to the east of the Bay (Concha)
of Portugalote, is situated 14 piles west of Cape
Machichaco, in lat. 43 deg. 22 min. 26 sees. N., and long.
3 deg. 8 min. 14 secs. E. of the Oservatory of San Fer-
nando. Its apparatus is of the 4th catadioptric order;
the light fixed, and of the natural colour, at a height of
416 Castillian teat above the sea in the Equinoctial high
tides, and is distant 5,200 feet of the same measure from
the Punta de la Gales. This light in strictness produces
a tangent of 22,66 miles; but it can only be distinguished
at this or even at a less distance under favourable con-
ditions of the atmosphere.
3RD. LIGHT CAFE PENAS, PROVINCE OF 0V1DE0......
It is situated in lat. 43 deg. 42 min. 20 secs. N., and
long. 22 min. 28 sees. E. of the Observatory of San Fer-
nando. The height of the luminous focus above the
level of the sea is 370 Castillian feet, and its apparatus
which is of Ist catadioptric order of Freese', produces a
light with eclipses which follow each other at intervals
of 30 seconds with a tangent in clear weather of 20
miles. This light will be first illuminated on the 15th
August.

HEROIC ACTION.--As the Fife boat reached Dun.
dee from Newport, at twelve o'clock on Tuesday, a boy about
fourteen years of age, who was bathing, had got beyond his
depth into an eddy, where he was rapidly sinking, So soon
as his danger was perceived, Captain Harlot Maitland
Dougall, R.N., of Scotscraig, who had just landed from the
steamer, at once leaped from the pier, a height of about
fifteen feet, into the water, and, having got hold of the boy,
swam with him in his arms to the shore. It was low tide
at the time, and from the height of his leap we were sorry
to observe that the gallant gentleman appeared to have
done himself some injury.

INAUGURATION OF THE STATUE OF SIR ROBERT
PEE L AT MONTROSE.—This event, which excited much in-
terest in the town and neighbourhood, took place on Sa-
turday afternoon in the presence of a large concourse of
people. The statue was erected by the subscriptions of the
inhabitants, and, after a very able address from Mr. A.
Foote, was delivered over in their name to the guardianship
of the magistrates and Town Council, who were present
g
the occasion. The statue was executed by 11"d?si
:rork
Ritchie, of Edinburgh, and is considered a ver
thee house
of art. It stands in the High-street,
once belonging to the famous Marquis of Montrose.
COURT.—
SITTINGS OF THE INSOLVENT DEnToR9
opposite
The Insolvent Debtors' Court will sit
for bail cases and motions. B this timely notice persons lin
again on Monuay net
custody can • and thereby save
some provide themselves with bail,
weeks' imprisonment. The hearing of cases will be
shortly resumed before Mr. Commissioner Law.
The bodies of two more infants have been disco-
vered in
the vicinity of Nottingham, which has such a
bad
eminence for the concealment or murder of new-born
children.

1852.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMES.—When Mr. Russell, the chairman of the
Great Western Railway Company, was addressed
by Mr. Glyn, the chairman of the North-Western,
on the subject of the grand amalgamation, he replied
in a tone which showed his perfect appreciation of
the real nature of the proposal. Mr. Glyn had
plausibly appealed to the " interests of the public,"
and the " convenience " of travellers, as constituting
subjects of veritable consideration in the eyes of his
board, but Mr. Russell took a far more correct
view of the scheme before him. "It is," said he,
speaking for himself and his colleagues at Pad-
dington, "our deliberate opinion that it would not be
deemed consistent with the policy of the present times
to commit to the hands of one large company such an
undivided control and power over the public traffic
of nearly one-half of England, while the growing re-
quirements of the trade of this country necessitate
an extension rather than the limitation of means of
accommodation upon existing railways." It is per-
fectly clear from the tenour of this assumption—an
assumption which Mr. Glyn did not attempt to
correct—that the amalgamation proposal was to in-
volve a diminution of the railway accommodation
at present experienced. Mr. Russell knew as
much; he knew that it was a proposition for in-
demnifying shareholders at the expense of the
public, and he very reasonably entertained a " con-
viction" that the Legislature would object to the
' bargain. To all the other points made by the Great
Western Board Mr. Glyn offered very elaborate re-
plies, but the general assumption that the public was
to be " victimized" for the benefit of the companies
he did not pretend to contradict. In so far as the
amalgamation scheme would put a stop to territorial
rivalry and Parliamentary expenditure, it would
doubtless improve the prospects of proprietaries with-
out prejudice to any class except those kag-robed
gentry whom we consign without any kind of reluct-
ance to Mr. Glyn's
discretion. But the views of the
chairmen are evidently not limited to these legitimate
savings. They plainly p
extent of accommodation—talking purpose to curtail the present
onl—talking of " two trains
being run where one w
well." But who is to bo
eu d serve the public equall
judge of this " equality?"
If a town has two stations and two communications
With London, sad *
one on each line, at eight l 2 Cntgrttila morning,together,
it may be very possible that a o'clock
single train would
answer all purposes, and that one
set of carriages would
accommodate all the passengers who were desirous of
taking that particular trip at that particular time.
But if one of these trains started at eight, and
other at ten, it is absurd to deny the benefitthe
double convenience. No town can be
for these two strings to its bow ; but the truth is
that the argument is an exact exemplification
of the
system under which these things have been managed.
A certain town has a railway communication with the
metropolis, and is supposed to provide a remunerativef
amount of traffic. This traffic catches the
clever speculators, who determine to have a
slrese ofo
it, and Company No. 2 appears before Parliament ac-
cordingly
with convincing proofs that a duplicate line,
with duplicate stations, would be of the greatest and
most evident service to the town and country in ques-
tion. In due course the new line is constructed, and
Company No. 2 enters upon its functions, bat, instead
of creating any province of its own, or developing
any fresh traffic, it directs its whole undivided ener-
gies to the object of ousting and superseding Company
No. 1. It starts its trains at the same hours, offers
the same attractions, and maintains at every point a
systematic and unscrupulous opposition to its rival.
No doubt, under these conditions, it may be repre-
sented that " two trains are run where one would
serve the public equally well," but these were not the
conditions on which a second company was permitted
to spring up. The whole case is so plain that nobody
can fail to see through it. If one train is as good as
two, then one company was as good as two, and half
the parties now negotiating for " amalgamation "
never ought to have had any existence at all. And
this duplicate staff of companies is not simply unne-
cessary, but is extravagant and ruinous too. Amal-
gamation implies that one company out of the two
has been found superfluous; but the result is that two
proprietaries, instead of one, are quartered upon the
public. A company with a capital Of 30,000,0001.
amalgamates with a second whose stock is 20,000,000/. ;
they propose to serve the public "equally well " by
abolishing one moiety of their joint performances, but
the fares will be regulated for returns upon the ag-
gregate 50,000,0001. of stock. Work is to be single,
but wages double. A certain amount of money has
been invested in providing the country with railway
communication. It is now discovered that this amount
is greater by half than it need haveteen ; that is to
say, that one line out of two need never have been
constructed; but, though it is intended accordingly
to run a single train in the place of two,
it is not intended to relieve the public from one-
half of its contributions. A company may be use-
less, by its own confession, in providing accommo-
dation for the community, but it saddles the commu-
nity, nevertheless, with annual interest upon its
capital. The main point of the question is, not the
manufacture of an enormous stock, nor the accumu-
lation of corresponding powers without competition
or control. These points are deserving, indeed, of
consideration, but they are of inferior importance to
that illustrated above. Perhaps it is desirable that
two capital stocks, of many millions each, should not
be amalgamated, and that "one-half of England"
should not be handed over to a single monopolist
company, but the most objectionable feature is the
dead weight thus created. The "non-effective ser-
vices" of our railway proprietaries will be as burden-
some as those of the army and navy estimates, and
much more disagreeable to provide for, since, in the
latter case, there has really been value received, where-
as, in the former, no benefit has ever been forthcoming.
The railway authorities themselves declare that they
have been fighting and "competing ' to no purposel.
at all except that of common damage and.oprub public
inconvenience, and they now ask usto
pay
yf
being,
but which they themselves forced into
but which they can carry on no longer. It is pre-
cisely the case of the "great water
.comk)anies' over
investments
again. In the struggle for promising
six proprietaries were started where three would have
sufficed. The first stage of the proceeding was com-
petition—a frantic and desperate effort on the part of
its
natural to grasp all. When this had produced
natural consequences of depression and ruin they re-
sorted to a virtual " amalgamation," and relieved
themselves of their merited liabilities by a common
agreement to visit them equitably on the public.
The result is well known. From that time to this
we have had bad service and extortionate rates, and
though the Legislature has confessed its duty of in-
terfering for the public protection, we have as yet
made little advance towards amendment. Now, the
railway companies stand in exactly the same relation
to Great Britain that the water companies occupied
in regard to London, and we trust the country will
see the moral of the story in time.

EXPECTED VISIT OF THE QUEEN TO

BIBIIIINGHd [1

It is with great pleasure we are enabled to an- 1
nounce to our fellow-townsmen that they will in the
course of a few days have the honour of a visit,
although only a passing one, from her Most Gracious
Majesty the Queen, her Royal Consort, and their
children. The letter of our correspondent from
Gloucester, received last night, thus announces this
gratifying intelligence :
occasion osfahee
took r
" Her Majesty has determined to travel by
the m
route from Osborne to Balmoral, on the
forthcoming visit to Scotland, as she in the autumn
of 1849 on her journey from Scotland, namely, by the
Midland and Great Western Railway, passing through
Birmingham. Her Majesty will leave Osborne early on
Monday morning next, August 30, and having landed at
Gosport, will proceed thence,h by the South-Westernonr.
Railway to Basingstoke.i
riages, and proceed by the eGrer eat Wshe wiellst chanfine e
to
Gloucester, and thence by the Midland
olßirtaing-
ham, and so on to Derby, where her
Majesty wi_ll.Bl7
that night, proceeding on northwards next clay
Gloucester, where the break of guage occurs, the
331 Q° ten
ea n.
will again change carriages Land on Saturcitar the
ing of the Gloucester Town Council was 11e,..%-r recap
purpose of making arrangements for the,P_Tal„d an-
tion of her Majesty by the authorities. consequence et
party at
tiful addresses will be presented, but
ei118°07,14
the inconvenience experienced
Gloucester in 1849,bY .t,lll be kept clear on
the platform riot only remain a
her Majesty's arrival. Her AbieestiL.,,
few minutes at the Gloucester:ye
of the Midland Com-
tpderstand that Mr.
king the necessary S a Innd ars ,
ption of her Majesty, and we
additiontohwe agtteonet the above,
Gloucesterc
enla b
nvk
making
ra
ar-
pany, is n
will be ere
have no doubt
they "eeot at present, in possession of such
rangements for tbesreuth.
orities of this town
long, -aearthweeill enable them to make suitable pre-
parationsreception of the royal party, and
or ' nts an opportunity of testifying
afford to
information fthhfe
t and attachment to their Sovereign. It
their loyaltye recollection of our readers that in the
th
will be in
h r Meest aid a similar visit to this
inbabita
a 1849 e j 3' P
Ye when she was received at the station in Dud-
town, -
destOn'"W by S. Thornton, Esq., the Mayor, and the
members of the corporation. The weather was most
unpropitious, and the short conversation with which
the Mayor was honoured by his Royal Highness
prince Albert was carried on under torrents of rain.
The state carriage remained only a few minutes at
the station after its arrival, and comparatively few of
the thousands who had assembled along the line had
the pleasure of seeing her Majesty. It.fe - hope, how-
ever, for a more favourable result on Monday next,
and shall be happy to have it in our power to record
a gratifying visit and most enthusiastic reception.—
Birmingham Gazette.

Captain John Edward Walcott (1822), M.P. for
Christchurch, one of the most distinguished, but neglected,
senior officers of the navy, has received at the hands of the
Duke of Northumberland the gold-service pension of 100/.
per annum•

THE KAFIR WAR.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Siu,—About a year ago you did me the honour of
publishing a letter of mine, signed (I think) R. M. G.,
containing two suggestions for the purpose of termi-
nating the Kafir war; viz., Ist, the employment of
Sepoys, and, 2d, of bloodhounds. The Naval and
Military Gazette afterwards published a similar letter
of mine, and I see in the present number of that jour-
nal, a leading article recommending the sending of
British troops from India.
Allow me to recur to these suggestions. It is evi-
dent, as I then endeavoured to show, that the real
cause of the prolongation of the war is, above all
things, the deficiency of regular troops, the levies at
the Cape being not to be depended on, as has been well
shown. If the objects of the Kafirs were those en-
tertained in regular war, the thing would be different;
but their objects are those of brigands, and they are,
therefore, more difficult to be dealt with. When oar
troops make a forward movement, a point, as it is
technically called, our generals are unable to leave a
sufficient cordon in their rear to protect our frontiers,
and the Kafirs retaliate any mischief we may do them
by ravaging our own territory. Lord Cathcart now
complains of the paucity of troops. Now, as we can-
not send a sufficient force from England, and as it
might be dangerous to adopt the suggestion of the
Naval and Military Gazette, and draw European
troops from India, especially at present, I again ask,
why not send the Sepoys ? During the last war
they were sent to Egypt and Java, and they helped
to take the Mauritius from the French. Lately they
have been sent to China, Arabia, and Burma!).
Many of the irregular cavalry corps would appear
to be well adapted for the service ; and as the Indian
army is most easily recruited, deficiency of means
cannot be pleaded. The very
appearance of unknown
races of blacks serving under our banners, would serve
to daunt the enemy by giving them some idea of our
resources. No fear of desertion need be entertained,
as the differences of race, habits, and language would
be effectual barriers
of the Hottentot levies.
barriers, which is more than can be said
With regard to the employment of bloodhounds, the
efficacy of this measure was
proved formerly against
the Maroons in Jamaica, a very analogous case. It
may
I,,,Vjeated that such a measure is Inhuman- I
answer, not against such an enemy, who have besides
employed their dogs against us. The dogs would not
be used to tear them, but rather to find them out in
their lairs ; and if we make use of horses in war, I do
not see, ceteris paribus, any abstract objection to the
use of dogs, especially in such a case as this, against
an enemy who roast alive and crucify our men. Real
humanity consists in terminating the war as soon as
possible. I may make another suggestion in your
columns respecting the future disposal of the Kafirs
when conquered ; but as we must kill our bare before
we think of cooking it, I conclude with expressing a
wish that I may be pardoned, although a civilian, for
writing on such a subject, and a somewhat confident
belief, that had my hints been acted on a year ago,
the Kafir war would have now been at an end.

Your obedient servant,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, A ugCOMMON .
21. SENSE.

A NEW PLANET.
7mene last night I dis-
Sir,._At
covered another planet, onTh.riE3OEmDITOR OE THE TIMES.
. a
sufficientsixth proof that the
I have detected
during the past five ye:x.B
thane ti
members of the planetary system
numerous than was formerly supposed. be
far
i more
en h
with
It is n the
constellation Aquarius, and will be readily.
se
a telescope of very ordinary power. In
brightnessit
equals a star of the ninth magnitude, and appears to
have the same yellowish tinge that has been noticed
about Pallas, Melpomene, and others of the same
group of planets. At 1111.35 m. 385., Greenwich
mean time (August 22), its right ascension was 22h.
22m. 29.75., and its north polar distance 97 deg.
32 min. 14 sec. ; the diurnal motion in right ascen-
sion is 535. towards the west, and.in N. P. D. about
5 min. towards the south.—l am, Sir, &c.
J. R. limn.
Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Regent's-park, Aug. 23.