The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-25 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

INVERNESS AND ELGIN.
Public meetings have been held this week in the
eastern burghs, at which much life and energy were
displayed, and great exertimas made to secure subscrip-
tions for the capital of this undertaking. Tbat at Elgin,
on Tuesday, was presided over by Provost Grant ; and
the same evening a meeting was held at Forres (Provost
Kynoch in the chair), which was attended by Sir Alex.
P. G. Cumming, Mr. Grant, of Kincorth, and many other
gentlemen of the neighbourhood. The Hon. L. Grant
represented his brother, the Earl of Seafield ' • and we are
glad to hear that Lord Fife's trustees, who have so much
property along the line, take a deep interest in the
measure. Mr. Mackintosh, of Raigmore, Captain Fraser
Tytler, and Mr. Mitchell, C.E., attended on the part of
the promoters, and explained the whole details of the ar-
rangements made with the directors of the Great North
of Scotland Railway Company, which were well received,
and approved of. Yesterday, resolutions in favour of
the measure were passed by acclamation at a most re-
spectable meeting held in the Burgh Court-house of Nairn,
of which the Provost, Colonel Findlay, was chairman,
supported by General Gordon, of Lockdhu, General Ket-,
chen, Alexander Smythe, Esq., of Balnageith ; Captain
Gordon, Ivybank ; James Mitchell, Esq., Millfield ; Dr.
Grigor, W. Dick, Esq., Adam Davidson, Esq., &c., &c.
Local committees were named in all the burghs to can-
vass among the tenantry and resident inhabitants for
shares ; and after the public meeting held to-day at
Dingwall, and that announced to take place in the
Castle, Inverness,,to morrow, we have no doubt ample
funds will be secured to enable the requisite Parliamen-
tary deposits to be made by the 31st current. It will
be an advantage rather than otherwise, that, not-
withstanding the magnitude of this great national
undertaking, the shareholders will not be called on to
pay up all the money they subscribe for at once,
but that the payment will be by instalments, spread
over a period of three years. Let the act, by pre-
sent energetic exertion, be once obtained, and we have
no fear of ample means being got for the execution of
the whole works. And with more especial reference
to the meeting in the Castle on Friday (to-morrow), we
hope a numerous attendance of the district will at once
show their interest in this important undertaking, and
be the means of stirring up all the northern counties to
united exertion in supplying a trunk communication so
essential to its interest. To all it is a matter of deep
importance, and it is particularly so to the shareholders
of the Inverness and Nairn Railway, to whom the for-
mation of the through line will double the traffic of their
portion between Nairn and Inverness. To the counties
and district north of Inverness this movement must be
of vast consequence, for it not only will connect them
closely with the large district of which Aberdeen is the
capital, where the feeding of stock is every year extend-
ing, but it brings the giant system of British railways,
' with all their ramifications, to their very doors,
and thus the central Highlands will, for all practical
purposes, be made as easy of access to the wealthy
millions of England as their most fashionable watering-
places were a few years ago.
' Thursday Evening.—The Dingwall meeting passed of
with much spirit. Sheriff Cameron presided ; the factors
for Tulloch and Coul, and Banker Macivor, moved the
principal resolutions.—Inverness Courier.

CABINET'COUNCIL.—A Cabinet Council was held on
Saturday at the Foreign-office. The Ministers present
were—the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord John Russell, the
Marquis of Lansdowne, the Duke of Argyll, Viscount
Palmerston, the Earl of Clarendon, Sir George Grey,
the Duke of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Sir James Graham, Sir Charles Wood, Earl Granville,
the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, and Sir William Moles-
worth. The Council sat four hours.
SAILING OF THE WILDFIRE.—The barque Wildfire,•
Captain Downward, belonging to Messrs. Brassey and
Peto, sailed from Liverpool by Saturday's afternoon
tide, for Balaklava. She carries out about 30 navvies,
and a quantity of railway material and plant, to be em-
ployed in constructing and working the railway from
the harbour at Balaklava to the trenches before &baste..
pol.