The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-10 00:00:00

log so they exceeded their duty. With this position we
disagree totally; we think they would have most impel..
ectly discharged that duty, or rather, indeed, neglected the
most important part of it, had they not placed the above
opinions and advice as fully as they have done upon the
face of their Report. The mistake of die objector in the
Tants: arises from not properly considering that the sub-
ject proposed for inquiry, by the express terms of the Cern-
m'ssion, was that of a " general system of railways." It
was obviously, therefore, not enough for the Comrnisioners
merely to determine and recommend certain lines of rail-
road, and there terminate a report which was designed to
" guide the Legislature." Surely it was part of
their duty, an a most serious and indispensable
one, to guard the Legislature against the adoption
of proceedings, the effect of which might be, in their own
words, "completely to frustrate the most important object
contemplated in issuing the Commission," by either render-
ing the establishment of a general railway system impos-
sible, or at least throwing up vast obstacles to the execu-
tion of such a work. This having been the clear duty of
the Commissioners, it was consequently a matter of neces-
sity to discuss the contingency—(a most probable contin-
gency, if the calculations made were correct, and the con-
clusions obtained just)—of "no Company being induced
to undertake either of the great lines." The Commis..
sioners had no option to avoid expressing the doubt
which they could not but entertain upon the ques-
tion. Either Companies would be found to undertake
these works, in the integrity essential to a " general
system," or they would not ; and it was necessary, of
course, to direct Parliament how to act in either case.
We need only refer to the penultimate paragraph of the
above extract from the Report, to negative the existence of
any feeling on the part of the Commissioners against the
liberty of private enterprise. They not only distinctly de-
clare that " the general feeling of the country and the Le-
gislature will be to leave the execution of the works in
question, as little fettered as possible by restriction, to the
management of private enterprise," but they point out and
recommend certain aids and facilities which capitalists em-
barking in such undertakings ought, to receive from Par-
liament.
The Tibles considers that if "no Company can -be
tfounklatu'arridertka.athe lines proposed by the Commis-
Aoners, without a large advance from the pulatie.-pursta
while other lines can be cxef,uted without such aid, it
will afford tolerably strong evidence of something,- rotten in
the state of Denmark ;' " by which it is meant of course that
such a circumstance would destroy the credit of the Report,
No mistake can possibly be greater. A general railway sys-
•tern may require public assistance, although a particular
railroad may be executed by private enterprise. The Coma.
missioners distinctly admit, in the passage quoted above,
that " there can be no doubt that parties might be found
ready to undertake certain portions of these lines, which
hold oat special prospects of advantage ; such, for example,
as the first twenty or thirty miles leading out of Dublin,
over which all the traffic with other places, near as well
.as remote, must necessarily pass." But the case of the
Kilkenny Railway is exactly. in point. The line recom-
mended by the Commissioners happens not to coincide
with that adopted by the Company. The former is part
of the great Southern Railroad proposed to terminate in
Cork ; and admitting, for argument sake, that pub-
iic aid will ba requisite for its execution, does
it f)llow that it is therefore inferior to the lat-
ter, or that there is anything " rotten in the
state of Denmark"? That the line sanctioned by
s ns feel li
the Commissioners is the one that ought to be executed,
looking to the establishment of a general systent, there can
be nn question ; and it is equally clear that the line con-
templated by the Company would be inadvisable, although
private enterprise undertook it, and no public aid may be
wanting to complete it. Let it be made ever so certain
that the Company's line would yield a fair return upon the
capital invested, it would still be objectionable, as inter!ering
withi
e r the
sear
stronglye com m e nt(hl eadt b y
theirt 1 1 e
line i
Report.s that
'1 he
eiCo,mumpoisn
general principles, ought to be adopted, that they go the
-
length of recommending its execution, even should the
c
mpany be so rash as to persevere in their project. Such
a colli i 1 s en, alowever, they deprecate most earnestly, as
.y to prove injurious to the goad line and ruinous to the
bad one.

It now only remains to notice the remarks of the Times
upon a certain alleged variance between the original Com-
mission and the new one that issued upon the death of his
late Majesty. The Times states that the Commissioners
were limited by the original instructions " to ascertain the
best lines on which it may be advisable to establish rail-
ways, and jr which Joint-stock Companies may be willing
to apply to Parliament." The latter words, it is said,
were omitted in the second Commission. • What the facts
really are, we are at present utterly uninformed. We are
.peiftxtly certain, however, that the Crown had full power
to enlarge the sphere of the Commissioners' duties, if it
was deemed right to do so ; and we aro no less satisfied that

the omission of the clause relative to Joint-stock Com-
_ panies (if such au omission took place) was a most ju-
dicious extension of the Commission. In fact, we can
hardly concive in what possible way, or to what useful end,
hare been imposed by the original letters patent. investigationsericuotfnbetrheed wCiothmmthisesi
Re-
stricted by a condition so preposterous, it would be hard
coonnedrsitiocnoualldlegehdatvoe
to imagine a more absurd undertaking than that in which
the Commissioners would have been required to engage.
The Commission in such a case would well have deserved
appellationfirst
introduced,of a joabn.c.i
afterwards
wcalradusse saidmitte
omitted, must
haro
have proceeded upon a bold assumption that rail-
ways ought not to be established in Ireland unless
they were such " for which Joint-Stock Companies
may he willing to apply to Parliament." This is a
position in which the Times is as little disposed to
agree as we are ; for our Contemporary " does not
deny that, as far as one or two principal lines go, railroads
are perhaps the most useful mode in which public money
could be expended in Ireland." Our Contemporary says,
" if we laid a wager, we would bet that the Commissioners
will be found less to bionic in the matter than her Majes-
ty's Ministers," &c. Unquestionably Ministers must be
the guilty parties, if guilt there be, as it was not the Com-
missioners who framed the Commission, or drew up their
own instructions. Ministers will be quite ready to answer
for this, as upon all other matters, in the face of Parlia-
btbteeenn conducted,

" ..•• • •uk-
ment. The charge against them is, that they appointed
Comniissioncrs with unlimited powers to decide and report
upon the most advantageous system of railways for Ireland.

To-day (Wednesday) the Jews are celebrating " the
Feast of Branches," or, as they term it, " Hosanna Rabba ;"
and the following day which is called the " Day of Solemn
Assembly," will be kept very strictly. The modern Jews ke, p
nine days of the present, or great festival, instead of eight,
for which they assign astronomical reasons.

CULTIVATION OF THE VINE IN DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES.—Every country is distinguished by some peculiar
modes, a comparison of which with those of a corresponding
nature in other countries, Especially in matters apparently
admitting but of little variety, often affords amusement and
instruction. In illustration of this remark may be cited the
characteristic salutations of different nations, the various
modes of dressing the hair, and the dissimilar pronunciation
of the same letter. The cultivation of the vine affords an-
other example. In our own country it is sufficient to expand
itself to any size, and nailed in regular lines to the wall or
frame of a greenhouse; thus a single tree will produce several
hundred weight of grapes. On the banks of the Rhine the
growth is limited to four feet in height ,and each tree is sup-
ported in an upright position. In France it is formed into arches
and ornamental alcoves. In Sardinia it assumes the aspect of
a parasitical plant, luxuriantig among the branches of the
largest forest trees, and clasping with its tendrils the extreme
twigs. In Asia Minor its wild festoons hang their green and
purple pendants from the rural bowers of trellis-work. On the
heights of Lebanon it lies in a state of humiliation, covering
the ground like the cucumber; and subsequently we saw it
in the valley of Eschol, in a position different from all that
have been named. There, three vines planted close together
and cut off at a height of five feet meet in the apex of a cone
formed by their stems ; where, being tied, each is supported
by two others, 'and thus enabled to sustain the prodigious
clusters for which that region has always been famous--clus-
ters so large that, to carry one, the spies of Moses were com-
pelled to place it on a stick borne by two men. Each mode
is, doubtless, the best that could be adopted in the quarter
where it prevails, considering the nature of the soil and cli-
mate, the value of the land, and the object of the cultivator.
—Elliott's Travels in the Three Great Empires,
ROTATORY STEAM-ENGINES.—The Rotatory
Steam-Engine, the principle of which is comparatively novel,
appears to be getting a good deal into favour in the
of
neigh-
bourhood of Edinburgh; and it is stated that the ex
working engines of this kind are considerably less thanP.evestuhe
used
cei
attendant upon the piston engine. A Rotatory
in Edinburgh is represented in one of tho Edinburgh
of from I2s. to
as doing the following work, at an expenseeis
out of the 24
15s. a week for coals, occasionally workitnogtwoEngine
planing ma-
chines,hours without stopping :._Giving motion
turning lathes, two grind-
or surface,
upwardsand
two boring apparatus,
stones, a pump drawing water 2si;tifict..ehtamfrrer:lgieivsjun
forcing it into the boiler, and
.a
of 40 strokes per minute;
preparing to be added. besides these a blowing machine is
once reproached his Swiss corn-
while he and his countrymen served
fights opß
rep lied the other, " it is true ; but every
forr a ehdAo with
nnF honour.
serving
, , dfi
,e for e:
one for what 'he has not." So, too, it is with all our
sla
_;vnhadyl
allo b j
ne cb
jt se
not fs doe?
ar
dc
mmi
ruastti
ohne os
ou
int oe fw ihma
tm
be
edyi aotnedpoous•
for instance, do women fall in love with beard
andrseeexasescri htexertion;
mustaches, but because all the Macassar oil in London
(an article which it has been said made the hair grow on an
old trunk) will not procure them such a commodity for their
own faces ; and every point of female beauty on which
the men dwell with the greatest delight, is precisely the
point in which they have nothing themselves to boast,—New
Monthly.