The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 15, 1863.

HALFPENNY TIME TABLES,

At last—Englishmen, when travelling by rail•
way, need no longer groan under the appalling in-
cubus of BRADSHAW ! There have been many
attempts made before now, to rid us, if possible, of
that stupendous affliction, and all but maddening
bewilderment. There have been A B C Guides,
and other Guides of all imaginable shapes,
sizes, prices, and schemes of arrangement.
But here, at last, and we do really
think, for the first time since England
came to be covered over with an iron net-
work of railroads—here at last comes to us, in no
" questionable shape" at all, but quite plainly and
distinctly, a solution of the:whole difficulty. Half-
penny Time Tables, they are—those dear little
brochures, now lying before us in a most welcome
cluster. Thirteen of them—a whole baker's dozen
—blue, green, pink, yellow, and lilac ; beautifully
printed upon capital paper, by Messrs. Clayton and
Co., of Bouverie-street, published by the Pro-
prietors (to whom, say we, nothing less than
gratefully, all imaginable success and prosperity in
their enterprise) at 265, Strand ! What more pos-
sibly could be wanted in the shape of a eompact
guidebook—" Single" and "Simple"—for Railway,
Steamboat, and Canal ? From London—to South-
ampton, to Rugby, to Dover, to the Isle of Wight,
to Winchester, to Brighton, to Worcester, to Bristol,
to the Channel Islands, to Bath, to Yarmouth, to
Lowestoft—and back again of course—these ere the
thirteen. There is an end, consequently, at last
(thank Heaven !) to the maddening influence of our
old foe Bradshaw !

THE KENSINGTON JOB.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—I have not yet seen any public reference to
the low swampy level of the main floor of the
Exhibition shed.

For economy it was placed many feet below the
adjoining Cromwelbroad. Those who had the
misfortune to be compelled to be in attendance at
the Exhibition last September, October, and No-
vember, can testify to the state of dismal fog and
damp in which every part was enveloped.
Surely, to talk even of placing the natural history
department of the British Museum in such a situa-
tion is an act of folly without parallel. How long
will it be before stuffed birds and beasts, skins and
feathers, rot and fall to pieces in such a position ?
TAXIDERMIST.

M. Assolant, whose description of English life
and manners so amused the British public during the In-
ternational Exhibition, was one of M. Havin's opponents
for the suffrages of the Ist Paris circumscription. He ob•
tained one vote, proving that if he inspired no confidence
anywhere else he lacked none himself.

Victor Hugo, stimulated by the success of his
"Miserables," and the half-million of francs (£20,000) it
produced, is rapidly progressing with his next work,
" 1793," which will c-ntain a grand sketch of the French
Revolution. Madame Hugo has also written a biography
of her husband, of which public expectation thinks highly.

An idiotic book just published in America (the
author being a certain Rev. M. Baxter), is entitled,
" Louis Napoleon the Destined Monarch of the World, and
Personal Antichrist foreshown in Prophecy, to confirm a
Seven Years' Covenant with the Jews about, or soon after,
1863, and then (after the Resurrection and the Translation
of the Wise Virgins has taken place two years and from
four to six weeks after the Covenant) subsequently to g
-house in Germany,.
be-
come completely supreme over England and most of Ame-
rica,at and all Christendom, and fiercely to persecute Chris-
sellin
about
tt
or soon
Descent of Christ at the battle of Armagge-
tpieriBshaeusring the latter half of the seven years, until he finally
don,
soon after 1870,"
In the course of the current year 1863, one book-
it is said, attains the 200th year
of its existence and t
anniversary, our others may celebrate their 100th