The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 6, 1862.

THE CIVIL WAR IIV AMERICA.

deployment of guns and horses in the deep snow,
mud, or soft pasty earth on either side of the road
it appeared to him to be an easy matter. But let
winter present such aspects all over the theatre of
operations as it does here, and it is quite certain that
the "grand combined movement of columns" on
which the very soul of the North is new depending
must be a physical impossibility. A small corps of
hardy troops could undertake enterprises in winter
which are not feasible for large bodies. Will it be
resented as impertinence to point out such obvious
considerations, or do Americans imagine they are
exempt from the operations of the laws of nature?
The Congress approaches the question of popular
taxation in a very gingerly manner, and with an
obvious hesitation ; and they are gently reminded
by a New York paper that if they attempt any mea-
sure which shall practically reduce the soldiers from
13 dols. to 10 dols. a month there are 200,000 armed
men close to the Capitol who may take the law into
their own hands, and who are pleasantly described
as a guarantee for a sound currency.

(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
NEW YORK, J.N. 21.

Within a little while the assurances that some-
thing is going to be done, often trusted to and often
falsified during the weary months which have rolled
over us since July last, have been revived and be-
lieved. The appearance and evidence of General
M'Clellan before the Military Inquisition hare given
rise to many rumours, and he is thought to have (
opened the eyes of the members in reference to some
matters respecting which they had infirm and per-
verse theories. The idea, of which a good deal was
heard before General Scott's retirement, that a large
boa constrictor of armed men was enfolded round
the Southern States, and at some given signal would
contract its folds and squeeze out their vitals, is
once more in favour. It is the cherished image,
and it imparts much comfort to the minds of people
who have seen in their childhood prints of the
reptile engaged in smashing in the cracking ribs of
an unhappy buffalo, and who think some similar
operation is about to be performed on the whole of
Secessia. But there is another boa winding round the
Northern States themselves in the shape of an enor-
mous financial crisis, full of deficits and dangers,
and if the other boa does not begin to work very
soon on the South this one will either kill the North
or reduce it to such a state that it cannot continue
its exertions. Within a month—in the month of
February—it is declared by those who pretend to
know that the army of the Potomac, co-operating
with the forces on the coast and with the Western
expedition, and with the Kentucky army, will ad-
vance and crush out rebellion. If they do not suc-
ceed ? Well, then, the minds of men will be found
to have worked out some process of demonstration
that the continuance of the war is impossible, and
that it will become necessary to ascertain on what
terms the Southern States will enter upon negotia-
tions. There will be many to resist such a conclu-
sion ; many who will talk about the last man and
the last dollar ; but if the mass of the nation see
clearly that all their efforts are in vain—that they
have lavished men and money, and saddled them-
selves with a prodigious debt without having ad-
vanced perceptibly nearer to their object—if they
discover that there is no Union sentiment where
they looked for it, and that, on the contrary, the
hatred to the "Yankees," which seems an animating
principle in the South, has become a universal
passion,—they will, probably, abandon the pursuit
of an object which carries ruin in the endeavours to
seek it and is of doubtful attainment in the end.

IMPORTANT FINANCIAL OPERATION
BY THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT.

(From the Times' City Article.)
An artificial operation in French finance on the
London money market, analogous in some respects
to others that have taken place on former occasions,
was announced yesterday afternoon. The French
Government, it is stated, desire to borrow a sum—
ran ging, according to different reports, between
£2,000,000 and £4,000,000, but believed to be the
former—from London capitalists, on the security of
French Rontes, for a period of three months, with
an option to the lenders of an extension to six months.
The rate of interest to be paid is 4 per cent., with a
commission of a half per cent., which would toge-
ther on a three months' loan be equivalent to the
rate of 6 per cent., and it is to be stipulated that
if the Bank of England minimum should in the
interval be put up to 4 per cent. an additional 1 per
cent. is to be paid from that date. The Rentes to
cover the advance are to be hypothecated at the
price of 60, and are to be held by Mr. Baring, M.
Hottinguer, and another banker, as trustees. Sub-
scription lists w ere commenced to be formed in the
afternoon, and looking at the present and prospec-
tive state of the discount market, there can be little
doubt the whole amount will speedily be fur-
nished. Concerning the wisdom of the measure
the estimate here will not be ♦ery favourable. The
object, of course, is to sustain the Paris Bourse so as
to facilitate the proposed conversion of the Four-
and a-Half per Cents., and some persons may be
disposed to question whether it is quite fair or dig-
nified to use extraneous means for such a purpose.
Our own Government, however, in effecting similar
reductions in former years were not altogether
scrupulous on that point, although their measures
were never so singularly transparent or expensive.
In any case the public will view the matter in a
friendly light if it should promote the success of M.
Fould in his honest effort to restore the revenue and
expenditure of France to a sound position, and as
far as we are directly concerned there is nothing but
gain to ensue from it. Instead of finding difficulty
in employing their balances at 2 per cent.,as would
certainly have been the case but for the sudden
Paris demand, our capitalists will make 6 per cent.,
and we may at the same time be saved from the
inflation that might have resulted during the period
of three or six months in which money would thus
have been a drug. When the date arrives for its
repayment to us, the American war may, perhaps,
be at an ends or commerce may have found such
openings in other directions as to afford sufficient
employment for our floating funds at fair average
rates. Meanwhile it is not expected that the effect
of the arrangement as regards the Bank of England
terms of discount will be muck more than to pre-
vent the lately anticipated reduction, unless the
total should prove to be £4,000,000, and be drawn
away rapidly instead of gradually. At all events,
the utmost change that can be thought likely is
that an approximation may take place between the
rate of the Bank of France, which is now 41 per
cent., and that of the Bank of England, which is
21. In favour of our market we have the announce-
ment that the Federal Government of America have
resolved to persist in their scheme of flooding their
country with paper, and that the Australian gold
shipments to England during the month of Decem-
ber amounted to about £700,000.

The Hatteras expedition, the Ship Island expe
dition, and the Port Royal expedition, from which
were expected the occupation of North Carolina,
the possession of New Orleans or Mobile, and the
capture of Charleston or Savannah, have as yet
ended in nothing but the conquest of sandhills and
of the ground held by the troops. Burnside's ex-
pedition added to the list of failures would provoke
infinite discontent. It is intended, probably, to cut
in on the line of communications between the South
and Richmond, near Gainsborough. The Cairo
expedition is far more important in reference to the
grand scheme of operations, if there be any, than
these operations along the sea-shore ; but the fact
is gradually growing on the people, in despite of
promises, that there is a want of military qualities
in their officers which forbids them to look for
certain results from the best planned and best
equipped columns; and, were it not that I have the
authority of American papers to rest upon, I should
hesitate to admit the wholesale accusations which
are made against the men in the service who have
been honoured by the confidence of their fellow-
citizens. Regiments have been drawing pay which
cannot be found in any local habitation, and have
only a name which is an airy nothing except on the
paymaster's list. It is stated to-day that a number
of recruiting officers have been sent out of the ser-
ice because they obtained money as rent for offices
which were only the taprooms of public-houses, A
number of cavalry regiments have been turned into
infantry battalions, or are to be so metamorphosed,
because of misunderstood relations between the men
and the horses. Nothing that could be said by any
stranger against the effect of unrestrained demo-
cracy could equal in severity or authority the
charges which are made against its developments
and the men it produces by native Americans.
Corruption in every shape is alleged as a guiding
principle of action and mode of success, and the
masses are reached through the pockets of their
pockets.
FRIDAY, Jan. 17.—There is nothing of conse-
quence to report—a day of miserable rain. An officer
just from Washington tells me the roads are quite
impassable.
SATURDAY, Jan. 18.—The Committee of Ways
and Means does not approveMr.Chase's plan agreed
upon with the representatives of the banks, but the
Senate has passed the resolution of the Finance
Committe declaring it to be the intention of Con-
gress to impose taxes to the extent of £30,000,000
a-year with only one dissentient. It remains to be
seen what course the Committee of Ways and Means
will propose in order to put the Treasury into
working order, but the rejection of the Secretary's
proposals and the bank propositions produced, it is
said, a good effect on the funds and the stock market
in New York yesterday. Mr. Cameron's nomination
to Russia was carried by a vote of 24 to 14 in the
Senate, alter much debate, and that gentleman will
no doubt repair to St. Petersburg in a few weeks.
The steamers Gladiator and Vanderbilt had run the
blockade, and had arrived respectively at Savannah
and Charleston—how, one cannot understand,
Some of the papers are very angry at the arrival of
the Sumter in Cadiz, and at her reception in a
Spanish port after the "piratical arson " of three
merchantmen. It would look as if the mortarboat
expedition now fitting out is intended for the
Southern cities on the seaboard. No news of the
Burnside expedition. The duel between Braxton
Bragg and Harvey Brown had been renewed and
ended at Pensacola, without loss of life on
either side. A. railway for horse cars is to
be made across Hilton Head, where there are
signs of another expedition beiLg prepared. And
yet again the Mississippi expedition has made
a move, and has crept down within 12 miles of
Columbus, on the Kentucky side of the river, whence
there is a railway to Memphis. So much for the
heads of news. As to the great questions of the day,
there aro few novel considerations presented which
demand attention. The New Fork 7 i,),es urges the
enormous cost of the army as a reason for immediate
action ; the weather says, " No ; you must stand
fast." Itis raining now on deep masses of snow. As
each United States' soldier in arms costs £2OO a
year, it
becomes desirable to use him when he is
multiplied
by hundreds of thousands. The army
and navy together of the United States are now
drawing on the nation at the rate of over
1;160,000,000 sterling per annum (L 162,000,000).
France paid or got credits for 11:3,000,000 in 1860
to maintain a larger army. Ten times the rate of
expenditure which reduced France to own a deficit
of £40,000,000 is rather alarming. Besides, the
French army could be depended
upon ; it is a perfectd
machine ; it moves and acts and obeys and fights.
The New Fork Times says," onur
armies have rushed
into the field." So they have, but their advance
has been checked. It is affirmed ea the same autho-
rity that the Government owes a floating debt of
100,000,000 doll, or £20,000,000 sterling, and its
ex-
penditure is certainly not less than £430,000a day
at present. Well may the journalist exclaim,
cannot indefinitely prolong the war; we shall, if
continued long, sink under the exhaustion." And
7 per cent. on the loans too ! Well, this is all very
true ; but move
„your armies you cannot. It is asto-
nishing what apathy or self-conceit has prevailed
among military men in Washington on this subject.
They talked about famous winter campaigns made
by great Generals in Europe, as if they had either
the armies or the experience or the country of which
they spoke; or they referred to some paltry expe
ditions of a few hundred men on the frontiers with-
out artillery or cavalry, or such vast baggage and
transport trains as would be required for the heavy
corps are to be set in motion, as proof that there
would be no great difficulty in undertaking, opera-
tions in the winter. One General, for whom I have
a high respect in every way, thought it would be
easy to march to battle over corduroy roads to be
laid down as the troops went along. As to the

(horn the Daily Netes City Article.)
It transpired yesterday afternoon, though the
news was confined to certain circles, that a finan-
cial operation of much importance has just been
arranged between the French Government and
some English capitalists, foremost among whom are
Messrs. Baring Brothers and Co. The Government
of France finds itself hampered by the natural
effects of a course of financial improvidence,
namely, a deficiency in the Treasury. Its embar-
rassments are believed to have been increased by
the large purchases of corn which it made last
autumn,and:which were partly buttemporarily pro-
vided for by means of bills. Meanwhile it is
anxious to force a feeling of confidence at Paris,
with a view to facilitate the proposed conversion of
the Four and a Half per Cent. Rentes into Three
par Cents. It has accordingly arranged to borrow
the large sum of £4,000,000 sterling from this
country for three er six months (the period being
probably optional on the part of the Government,
depositing as security Three per Cent. Rentes at
the price of 60 per cent. in the names of Messrs.
Barings, Hottinguer, and other trustees. The rate
of interest is to be 41 per cent. with per cent.
commission, or equal to GI per cent. on the loan.
Private lists have been made, in which the names
have been enrolled of capitalists and other desirous
of taking part in the transaction. From the in-
fluence brought to bear there is no doubt it will be
carried through, although, seeing that at least 10
per cent. can be obtained from solvent persons on
the Paris Bourse for loans on security of the
Rentes, it does not appear at first sight to be a very
tempting one to ordinary subscribers. Neither is it
likely to be viewed with favour in general circle,
for the borrowing propensities of the French Go-
vernment do not deserve encouragement, and there
is a strong suspicion that no small portion of the
money will be applied to purposes connected with
bolstering up the market for a temporary object.
The operation may havo a considerable effect
upon the money market, for, unlike one of a some-
what similar character, but for a smaller amount,
which was effected some months back, it comes at
a time when the exchanges have already declined
to the specie point, and when we have embarrassed
ourselves with some considerable purchases of
Italian and other foreign securities. There seems
little reason to doubt, therefore, that a large
amount of gold will leave the Bank of England,
and that that establishment, far from responding
to the anticipation of a reduction to 2 per cent.,
expressed in some quarters, will shortly, in self-
defence, raise its rate of discount. Forced and
temporary loans of the kind under notice, however,
need never excite real uneasiness. A rise in the
value of money from its present unduly low point
will have a conservative action.

THE INTENDED NEW BRIDGE AT
13 LACKFRIAI?S.

it. If, as well as being strong and spacious, it is'
cheap and handsome too, why all the better still ;
but a bridge of some kind must be built at once, for
no one denies that the present structure is in an un-
safe condition. The centre arch is completely
broken, and resting entirely on the massive timber
centreing beneath it. It vibrates dangerously under
the passage of the traffic, and if any further settle-
ment of the piers were to take place the whole
structure might come into the river in a few days.
The immense web of scaffolding now around and
under New Westminster-bridge so impedes the ebb
and flow of the tide that the water, when running
up or down, is from 12 to 13 inches higher on one
side of the bridge than on the other. When all
these obstacles are removed, as they will be by the
end of next March or beginning of April, the flux
and reflux of the water will be so much the greater,
and with this the scour of the river largely in-
creased. The condition of the defective piers at
Blackfriars-bridge would then most probably be-
come seriously affected, and need the most anxious
care to enable them to carry traffic at all. It is from
foreseeing the evils which may thus arise from fur-
ther delay that we do earnestly hope that the
Court of Common Council will come to a final deci-
sion in this matter. All the public want is a safe
bridge, whether it is Mr. Page's or anybody's else,
though we are at once willing to admit that we
should be sorry to see the decision of the Bridge-
house Committee disturbed from a simple feeling
that the metropolis would thereby lose the chance
of getting one of the handsomest bridges that has
been designed for many years.

At the beginning of last year, when the design
for the bridge across the Thames for the Chatham
and Dover Railway was first talked of, the Commit-
tee of the Bridge-house Estate determined seriously
to consider the state of their old and expensive in-
curable at Blackfriars. Fortunately the case was
one which offered no particular difficulties in its
solution, inasmuch as Blackfriars-bridge has been
built for a century, and during the last 25 years of
its existence has raised quite a school of bridge en-
gineers, all whose efforts have been concentrated
upon the infirm old structure to keep it, by main
force, from going bodily into the river. In this
laudable object they have, up to the present time,
been eminently successful, and as the sum spent in
repairs is still within the amount which would have
given us a new bridge 10 years ago, the job is, on
the whole, not considered as more than ordinarily
unsatisfactory and wasteful. But when it was
known that it was intended to build an iron railway
bridge only 100 feet to the east of it things wore a
very different aspect, and even engineers who had a
kind of blind confidence in the structure from its
having held up so long, in defiance of all laws,
readily admitted the increase of danger to its stabi-
lity if its piers were further disturbed by other piers
being sunk down near them. The Bridge-house
committee therefore, as we have said, turned their
attention to the case, and after much anxious deli-
beration arrived safely at the conclusion which the
public had reached many years before, and decided
that a new bridge was not only necessary, but would
be cheaper in the end than trying to keep up the
old one. They therefore called on the principal en•
gineers in England for designs, and 12 gentlemen
sent in plans and estimates—viz., Mr. Barlow, Mr.
Brereton, Mr. Goodchild, Mr. Brunlees, Mr. Joseph
Cubitt, Mr. Bidder, Mr. Edwin Clark, Mr. Mylne
(grandson of the architect of the present bridge),
Mr. John Fowler, Mr. Hawkshaw, Mr. Rennie, Sir
John Rennie, and Mr. Page.
We had heard sufficient of the general nature of
the various designs sent in to learn that all, in fact,
were very good, and that the committee out of such
a selection as was offered to them could not possibly
take a bad one. The designs for granite and cast
and wrought iron bridges were as follows :—Sir
John Rennie, a granite bridge of three arches, the
centre span being 236 ft 10 in ; Mr. Geo. Rennie,
five arches, centre span 150 feet; Mr. G. Rennie,
five arches, each having a span of 125 ft ; Mr.
Mylne, five arches, each having a span of 156 ft.
The designs for a wrought-iron arched bridge were
submitted by Mr. John Fowler, three arches, centre
span 275 ft ; Mr. John Fowler, five arches, centre
span 184 ft ; Mr. John Hawkshaw, three arches,
spans 200 ft each ; Mr. John Hawkshaw, five arches,
spans 145 ft each ; Mr. P. W. Barlow, three arches,
centre span 250 ft. The design for a wrought-iron
girder bridge was submitted by Mr. R. P. Brereton,
five openings, the centre opening being 220 ft. The
designs for a cast-iron arched bridge were submitted
by Mr. Thomas Page, three arches, centre span 280
ft ; Mr. T. Page, five arches, centre span 156 ft ;
Messrs. G. P. Bidder and Edwin Clark, five arches,
each span being 172 ft ; Mr. George Rennie, five
arches, centre span 160 ft ; Mr. George Rennie, five
arches, centre span 175 ft ; Mr. George Rennie, five
arches, centre span 180 ft ; Mr. Robt. Wm. Mylne,
five arches, centre span 163 ft 6 in ; Mr. Joseph
Cubitt, five arches,' centre span 150 ft ; Mr. James
Brunless, five arches, centre span 172 ft. Each and
all of these were really noble designs, but while the
committee had them under their consideration we
most carefully abstained from saying a single word
in reference to the competition lest we might influ-
ence the decision in the slightest possible degree.
When, however, the committee announced their
award we hastened to lay before our readers a descrip-
tion of the long-needed structure decided on, and

Till? CAUSES AND PROBABLE, _RE-
SULTS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL IPAR.

(From the Record.)
The Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, and Mrs. Kinnaird,
invited a number of gentlemen and ministers of
various denominations to their residence, 2, Pall-
mall East, on Friday evening, to meet the venerable
Bishop of Ohio, who was asked to give information
on the present war in the United States. Additional
interest attached to the occasion from the presence
of Me. Thurlow Weed, a leading American politi-
cian of the Republican school, to which Mr. Lincoln
belongs, and of Mr. Bancroft Davis, a nephew of
Bancroft, the eminent American historian.
The company having assembled in the drawing•

we also expressed our belief that the committee had
certainly chosen the best out of the many fine de-
signs sent in to them, and congratulated them sin-
cerely on their choice. The design selected was
Mr. Page's, which was one of the handsomest and
one of the cheapest. It was to consist of only three
arches, the centre one being of the gigantic span of
280 ft, or 40 ft wider than the central arch of South-
wark Bridge. From the springing of the arch to
the crown the rise is only 20 ft, which, in a span of
such an extent, merely amounts to the most gentle
curve ; so that, when seen from the river, the line
of the structure would appear almost straight. The
cornice beneath the parapet is of exceedingly bold
and handsome design, surmounted with a parapet
above of solid granite. The spandrils of the outer
iron ribs on each side were closed, but filled up with
figures in bas relief and ornamental scrollwork. The
piers were designed to form the most massive and
noble looking features of the whole. There were to
be four of these—two at the shore side arches, and
two in the river for the support of the centre arch.
Each was to be of granite, of immense size, width,
and depth, surmounted with a red granite Doric
column, 40 ft high, 23 ft in diameter at base and
capital, and 18 ft diameter in the column. Each,
though built hollow, would weigh upwards of 500
tons. Their capitals reached to the summit of the
bridge, and Mr. Page proposed tosubsequently adorn
them with colossal groups of statuary. The length of
the bridge was to be the same as the present, but its
width nearly double—namely, 76 ft against 42.
There were to be two roadways of 14 ft wide, instead
of, as now, two of 7 ft. There were to be two tram-
ways of 81 ft wide. These were to be placed in
the centre of the roadway, leaving two roads, each
16 feet wide, for the omnibuses and light traffic
coming and going. The whole area of road and
footway was to be 78,000 feet, instead of 41,000,
the area of the present structure. The cost of the old
bridge was at the rate of £3 15s. Cd. per square
foot of surface, while the cost of the new bridge,
estimated at £245,000, is at the rate of £3 Gs a foot,
or, size for size, nearly half the price of the old one.
Such is a rough general outline of the design
which the Bridge-house committee selected and re-
commended to the Court of Common Council for
adoption. To use the words of their report, they
chose it for " the manifest grandeur of style and

beauty of the proposed structure, which they deem
worthy in all respects of this great municipality,"
and "combining the desiderata best calculated to
meet the rtquirements of the public."
It is just upon six month ago since this decision

room,
Mr. KINNAIRD explained, that his object in call
ing his friends together was to aid in removing the
misapprehensions which prevailed in regard to the
unhappy conflict now raging in America. It could
not be denied that, among certain classes in this
country there was a disposition to favour the South ;
and there was also a general want of information as
to causes which had brought about the present dis-
ruption. He had, therefore, taken this opportunity
just before the meeting of Parliament, to ask their
American friends to give explanations as to these
causes, and as to the probable results of the war.
Bishop M'ILVAINE then rose, and made a length-
ened and interesting statement on the whole subject
of the war, and its causes, proximate and remote,
He opened with an emphatic denial of the assump-
tion, put forward in some quarters, that there
was an inherent and irreconcilable incompati-
bility of union and association between the people
of the North and South respectively-. The close
intercommunication in all matters—educational,
ecclesiastical, and social—which prevailed between
the two parts of the country prior to the disruption
entirely negatived the allegation in question. If
then the division could not be accounted for by na-
tural antagonism of races or sections—what was
the cause? It was an institution ; not the people,
not man, but a thing. It was simply slavery and
nothing else. The Right Rev. Prelate then entered
on an historicresume, to show that the disruption is
only the culminating point of a conspiracy, pre-
pared and steadily kept in mind by the slave-power
for 30 years past. He traced the origin of the
secession to the promulgation of Mr. Calhoun's doc-
trine of " Nullification," which asserted that an
individual State, not agreeing with a law passed by
the'genez al Congress, might nullify it within its own
boundaries ;—a principle which was the seed of
secession. He next adverted to the effect produced
on the slaveholding interest by the adoption of the
Missouri compromise, prohibiting the formation of
new slave States north of 36 deg. 40 min. north
latitude ; and, by the growth of population, and
the consequent increase of the political weight of
the free States, while the slave States were almost
stationary. The election of Mr. Lincoln was (he
said) only a pretext, a mere convenient moment, for
the outbreak of the slaveholding conspiracy, so long
prepared, under the operation of the circumstances
which he had detailed. The rebellion had some-
times been attributed to the operation of the tariff
laws ; but neither the Morrill tariff, nor any other
cause, had the weight of a feather in the matter,
except this question of slavery, and the power of
extending it to the (as yet) unoccupied territories
of the Union. The bishop next combated the
pretext of " a legal right of secession" in the
individual States of the Union, quoting the provi-
sions of the Federal Constitution, which proved
its fallacy. Its assertion was, in fact, equi-
valent to that of " a legal right to destroy Govern-
ment." The question was not " the legal right of
secession," but " the legal right of revolution."
What, ho would next ask, were the matters of
grievance put forward by the seceded States—what
the pleas for revolution ? Just nothing. The only
serious plea was that fugitive slaves, who had
escaped to the free States, were more or less pre-
vented from being returned to their owners, and
that certain States had enacted personal liberty
laws, conflicting with the Fugitive Slave Law. The
law of Ohio, for example, freed every slave putting
his foot upon its soil; and the practical operation
of this law of liberty was illustrated by an interest-
ing example. The right rev. prelate dwelt at eou •
siderable length on this and kindred points, refer-
ring in detail to events in Virginia, which exhibited
in a strong light the tyrannous proceedings of the
leaders of secession in keeping down, by armed in-
timidation, the largo substratum of Union feeling
in that, and, as he believed, in other Southern States.
Among the facts bearing on the last-named point,
he had just received a copy of the Memphis Appeal,

a journal published in Tennessee, a Secession State,

was arrived at, and yet nothing has since been done

but to cavil at the decision and intrigue against it
till the prospect of a new bridge now seems even
more remote than when the designs were called for
last March. Some object to the proposed structure
on the ground that the low curve of the arches will
at high tide prevent laden barges and steamers pass-
ing under them close to the piers ; but the general
practice of these craft seems to be always to take the
centre of the arch for their passage. If, however,
there is anything in this objection, it is easily
met by demonstrating that a bridge with only
two piers in the stream leaves a greater space of
waterway navigable than ono with slightly
higher arche3 that requires four piers for
its support over the river. The real secret
of the opposition appears to be a desire to get a
five-arched bridge, and to make its architecture sub-
servient to that of the bridge for the Chatham and
Dover Railway, the promoters of which, naturally
enough, do not wish to incur the expense of a three-
arched viaduct, such as they will have to build if a
three-arched bridge is chosen for Blackfriars. But
our object in drawing the attention of the public and
the corporation to this matter now is simply to point
out the valuable time which has been lost in these
disputes, and in striving against the award of the
Bridge-house Committee. We are very glad, there-

fore, to find thatsome steps have been taken to bring
the matter to a conclusion one way or the other,
and that the whole subject has been brought under
the consideration of the Court of Common Council.
This Court is perfectly competent to deal with the
question, if the whole subject is not made a stalk-
ing-house for endless debates and fortnightly
adjournments. The Court have simply got to say
Yes or No, If they find that they have, or can get,
a better design than Mr. Page's, let them at once
throw MPage's overboard and adopt the other.
But least the city has a rig ht to expect that
at i•.

something should be done toward s a final decision.
If the Common Council can give t he public a strong
and spacious bridge they will bq very glad to get

and it contained an article regretting the failure of
attempts to organise the militia, and declaring that
"If the Federal troops were to march in, thousands
upon thousands would welcome their approach."
The bishop's statement was followed by conver-
sational remarks and questions, in which the Rev.
J. Hampden Gurney, the Rev. William Arthur, Mr.
Joseph Hoare, the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, Mr.
G. Rochfort Clark, the Rev. J. Davis, Mr. Kin-
naird, and other gentlemen took part.
A leading point in this discussion was, the cause
of the alleged want of English sympathy towards
the North.
This was attributed by Mr. JOSEPH HOARE to
the fact that as yet there had not been the slightest
sign that if the North were at once restored to power
the condition of the slave would be one atom im-
proved. (Hear.)
Mr. ROCHPORT CLARK having asked information
as to the past policy of the United States Govern-
ment in regard to the amelioration of slavery, and
as to whether the suppression of the rebellion would
not be followed by the re-establishment of the Union
on the same principles as formerly,
Itt r. THURLOW WEED gave some details in regard
to the policy of the Whig or Republican party, to
which the present Federal Government belong.
As to the prospects of the future, he said they not
only desired but expected emancipation as the fruit
and result of the war. Slavery was, and would be,
burned out: of every acre and' rod of territory
conquered from the rebels. The slaves of rebels
were confiscated, while those of the loyal would be
paid for; so that, by process of war, and by legal
enactment, if the United States Government were
successful, slavery would cease to exist.
The discussion was continued by the Rev. NEW-
MAN HALL and the Rev. S. MINTON.
The Rev. WILLIAM ART-IIUR gave inter alia some
details on the mutual misapprehension in the two
countries (England and America) as to the feelings
of each towards the other. He also asserted the
existence of a pro-slavery feeling
among certain
classes, and in certain organs of the English Press.
The Rev. HENRY STEVENS, •On the other hind,

declared that, from travelling widely throughout
the country, he was convinced that the supposition
of any English sympathy with slavery or slave-
holders was entirely groundless, He believed that,
as there had been no evidence of any tendency
among Americans to put down this monster evil,
the war had been permitted by Providence as the
means for its extinction. ( dear, hear.)
Bishop APILvAINE again rose, and replied with
much earnestness to various points which had been
urged in the course of the debate. He dwelt em-
phatically on the difficulties which beset the United
States Government in connection with the subject
of slavery, and the fallacy of scllemes resting on
the proclamation of immediate emancipation, or in-
volving submission to the dismemberment of the
Union. With evident and deep feeling the bishop
expostulated on the want of consideration for these
things among the people of England, and also on
England's virtual support of slavery by the import
of its very pabulum—slave-grown cotton.
Mr. BANCRGIT DAVIS also delivered an address,
in the course of which he urged that the United
States Constitution did not recognise property in
slaves, and had not the word " slave" in it. He
proceeded to show, by a variety of facts, that the
war was one of slaveholding aggression on the
part of the South. _ _

The explanation given by Mr. J. H. Murray, of
aesterle-street, iron-founder, of the cause of the
fracture, differed slightly from Mr. Hoskings' ac-
count. The beam had certainly not been broken
by its usal work, but by concussion. When the
engine lost her load in the pit the piston
would strike violently on the bottom of the cylin-
der, and then the beam would be broken. The
fracture of the cross-beam, he thought, proved this.
The proportions of the beam were very good, though
it would have been improved by the addition of
more metal in the centre.

The proceedings were closed with prayer by the
Rev. G. T. Fox, vicar of St. Nicholas, Durham.

TILE HARTLEY COLLIERY ACCIDENT.

SEATON DELAVAL, TUESDAY.

When the jury met this morning, Emmerson,
one of the sinkers employed, was called and gave
much the same account as Mr. Coulson of the ope-
rations in the shaft, which he described as being
very unsafe all the time they were at work. The
masses of stone which fell were so large that they
had to be split up before they could be removed.
No air came up through the ruins at first, but when
they had made sufficient progress for the air to rise
up it smelt " stythy"—i. e., laden with gas.
Mr. John Taylor, coalowner and check viewer to
the colliery on behalf of Lord Hastings, the lessor,
was the next witness. He was at the pit shortly
after the accident, and assisted in the first opera-
tions for clearing the shaft until it was given over
into the hands of Mr. Coulson. He felt no alarm
until the Tuesday, when Mr. Coulson came
to him and asked whether there was car-
buretted hydrogen in the mine. Upon that
he went down and made an examination of
the air returning from the pit. He could discover no
indications of gas with the lamp or candle, but his
head was affected, and shortly after that the sinkers
were obliged to come up, being affected by the gas
which rose in the shaft. He was convinced that
every possible exertion had been used by Mr. Coul-
son and his men to get through the obstruction. Mr.
Taylor said he had paid great attention to the sub -
ject of gas generated in mines, and ho believed that
in this case when the beam fell, carrying the brat-
tice with it, the openings by which the air was
taken into the middle seam and the furnace drift
were both blocked up, the consequence of which
would be naturally that the smoke from the furnace
would travel backwards and forwards in the middle
or yard seam where the men were. The oxygen in
that seam would thus be deteriorated, imperfect
combustion would.be going on, and carbonic oxide
would be generated, which, mixing with the car-
bonic acid gas naturally produced in the mine,
would kill the men. Hartley Colliery, he believed,
had been skilfully managed, and every precaution
had been taken for the safety of the men. It was
not a dangerous colliery, nor was there any inflam-
mable gas in it.
Mr. John Short, the engine-wright, was recalled,
and gave the following dimensions of the engine
and beam. The engine was 300 horse power. The
diameter of the cylinder was 861 in., with a 10ft.
stroke insi,h 9ft. 3in, outside, and seven strokes per
minute. e beam was cast by Messrs. Losh, Wil-
son, and Bell, of the Walker Ironworks. Its weight
was 42 tons. The weight which it had to lift, in-
cluding the spears and the column of water, was 43
tons 18 cwt., and it was calculated to carry at
least three times that weight, if not more. The
length of the beam was 34ft. Gin., and the vertical
section in the centre where it broke was Bft. 2in. It
was formed of two separate sides, joined together by
bolts and studs. The diameter of the piston rod
was Kin., and its weight 4,8161 b. The weight of
the piston was the same, and the weight of the cross-
head, which was of malleable iron, and was frac-
tured by the accident, 1,9041 b. The cap of the
cross-head, which was also fractured, was 3tin.
thick on the top side, and 3 on the under side. The
main dry spears or pumping rods were 14 in. square,
and the bottom spears 10 in. square. They were of
Memel pine. The pumps in the staple worked from
the cylinder, and were not disturbed by the acci-
dent. The load of the engine was balanced by a
counter beam and by a metal catch-pin. Thebottom
and middle pumps were 24 in. diameter in the bar-
I rel, and the staple pumps 20 in. The steam was
condensed on both sides of the cylinder. Mr. Short
reiterated his opinion that the spears broke before
the beam. The face of the fracture was quite bright
and there were no indications of a previous crack.

Mr. Blackwell remarked that he could not agree
with the witness that the piston had struck the
cylinder. The spring beam had received a very
severe blow, as ho should be able to show.
The next witness called was Mr. H. Warence, of
the Walker Iron Works (where the beam was cast),
who produced an entry from the books of the firm
showing the composition of the casting was one-
third Blenarvon No. 3, cold blast, and two-thirds
No. 1 0.M.0. Scotch.
At the conclusion of this witness's evidence the
inquiry was further adjourned until Wednesday, at
1 o'clock.
The following is a copy of a petition which it is
proposed the miners of Northumberland and Durham
should sign and send to the Legislature
" To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled,
the humble Petition of the Coal Miners of Great Britain
respectfully showeth,—
" That from the frequent number of terrible disasters oc-
curring among miners, produced by ono shaft, which is
necessarily bratticed, to one mine, as in the last appalling
catastrophe at Hartley Pit, your petitioners are convinced
there is no safety for themselves, or security for their
families from destitution, whenever your petitioners are ex-
posed to the dangerous conditions of single-shafted mines.
That your petitioners have arrived at the inevitable con-
clusion, from sad experience among their class, that
every mine, previous to working coal, should have two dis-
tinct shafts sunk, one at the dip and another at the rise,
with a view to the ulterior plans of the mine ; and also
that, in proportion to the extent of royalty to be worked, a
proportionate number of shafts ought to be put down, not
only for better ventilation and the security of the miners,
but also, in the judgment of your petitioners, for the cheaper
and more advantageous working of the mines. Your peti-
tioners therefore humbly pray that your honourable house
will cause inquiry to be made into the present system of
ventilation and working of mines, with a view to the better
protection of miners from the appalling disasters that aro
perpetually overtaking them. And your petitioners will
ever pray, &c."

Mr. T. Hoskings, C.E., chief engineer to Messrs.
Hawks, Crawshay, and Sons, was next called. He
said that he had minutely examined the whole of
the beam and was of opinion that the metal was of
very fair quality and would be calculated to carry
a weight considerably greater—at least four times
as great—than that which it was carrying at the
time of the accident. A sudden check, operating
with other causes, would be very likely to cause it
to break. He did not believe that the slipping
down of the beam from the hydraulics when it was
raised three inches out of the brasses would have
fractured it, and certainly if there had been a crack
then it would havo gone on to complete fracture
long before the accident, which he understood was
several weeks after. The face of the fracture was quite

bright, but if there had been a crack before it would
have been rusted by the atmosphere. The sides of
the beam were what were called opens and castings,
which would not be so strong as box castings. The
cavities in the beam revealed by the fracture had
occurred from the contraction of the fluid metal dur-
ing the process of cooling. Such cavities would
always occur in cooling where there was a large sec-
tion to cast, unless the metal abstraction by the con-
traction were supplied by a process of feeding. That
might prevent such cavities occurring to a certain
extent, but not altogether. The centre gudgeons or
axles of the beam had been wedged and keyed into
a hexagon hole in the beam. This must have re-
quired very great force—so much so that their
heads showed strong marks of the " swages " used
to drive them. The effect of this would be to throw
an enormous strain on the cohesion of the metal
surrounding the gudgeon-hole, and probably it
would be one of the causes assisting to break the
beam. In addition to that the angular shape of the
gudgeon hole was unfavourable to its strength; a
circular hole would have been the best. Two of the
angles of the gudgeon-hole, those at the top and
bottom, coincided with the line of fracture. The
modern practice in fitting these gudgeons on axles
was to bore a circular hole in the beam, turn the
gudgeon to fit, and then simply secure it by one
key. That mode threw the least possible tension on
the metal.

On being asked his opinion of the cause of the
fracture, Mr. Hoskings said there must have been
two or three causes in operation. In the first
place, he thought the gudgeon had been unduly
keyed—driven home with unnecessary force. There
had also been a want of due distribution of metal ;
there was too much metal in the centre boss,
and the vertically curved ribs along it, instead
of adding to its strength, would impoverish the
metal in the line of the fracture. If the gudgeon
worked hot—which he had been told was the case
—a slight expansion would thus bt produced, and,
with the tight keying, this would be another ope-
rating cause of the fracture, especially at the time
when it took place, there being a severe frost.
Mr. Hoskings did not think that the pumps had got
wedged, but the
.bottom spear had given way,
jucging from the fracture he had seen, from the
weight which was on it. The wood did not appear
to be of the best quality. The engine would this be
relieved from the outside weight, and the beam
would strike violently on the spring bewn inside, i

producing a severe shock, which, taken in combi- held at Ilnainster on Saturday Mr.J.Lee in the chair.
nation with the causes he had before referred to, The report stated that the Act incorporating the
sufficiently accounted for the accident. A very company received the Royal assent on Aug. 7 last.
slight and comparatively inexpensive engineering Au effort to raise capital on the Stock Exchange
arrangement would be quite enough to prevent had not been successful. Arrangements had subse-
beams from falling under similar circumstances. quently been made with the Bristol and Exeter
Either a strong scaffolding might be built under- Company for prosecuting a Bill in the ensuing Ses-
neath, or it might be secured by trusses and iron sion of Parliament, authorising the latter company
bridles ; but, in ono way or another, it would to subscribe a further sum of money towards the
be the easiest thing in the world to secure a undertaking.
beam working in such a dangerous position so that The report was adopted, and the retiring direc-
it could not fall down the shaft, if it should un- tors were re-elected. The sum of £l2O was voted to
happily break in a similar manner, the secretary. Mr. Baker and Mr. Rutler were ap-
Mr. Thomas Clark, ironfounder, of Newcastle, pointed auditors. The meeting was then made
said the quality of the metal was very good. That special, and the Bill authorising the Bristol and
was shown by the fracture, for any east iron which Exeter Company to subscribe a further sum of
possessed strength showed an irregularity in the money was approved, and the proceedings termi-
fracture ; and in looking at the beam he had Lb- nated.
served a great many fragments still hanging to it,
not broken entirely away. This showed great
tenacity. The appearance, too, of the section of
the fracture was very favourable as to its casting,
and its colour also indicated good iron.

SALISBURY AND YEOVIL.

A special general meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the offices, Leadenhall-street—
Mr, R. R. Notman in the chair.

The secretary having read the notice convening
,he meeting,

The CHAIRMAN explained the object for which it
had been called, and concluded by moving the fol•
lowing resolution—" That the directors be autho-
rised to borrow on mortgage, under the provisions
of the Salisbury and Yeovil Deviation Act, 1860
any sum or sums of money not exceeding in the
whole £49,500."

Mr. HUGGINS seconded the resolution, and it
was carried unanimously.
The meeting then separated.

STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON.

The report of the directors state that the re-
ceipts for the half-year ending tho 31st of De-
cember, including £558 from the preceding half-
year, amount to £215,342. The expenditure,
including interest, amounts to £116,502, leav-
ing a talance after payment of the preferential and
guaranteed dividends of £49,000, out of which the
directors recommend a dividend at the rate of 81
per cent per annum (making the dividend 81 per
cent. for the year 1861), leaving a balance of £1,346.
The arrangements entered into with the North-
Eastern Company have been cordially carried out
during the past year. The Eden Valley line from
Kirkby Stephen to Penrith will probably be opened
for traffic next month. The capital account shows
that £3,144,470 had been expended to the 31st of
December last, leaving a balance in hand of
£145,910.