The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-06 00:00:00

GLASGOW, YE: ntuty 4.

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INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGI-

NEERS.

On Wednesday the first meeting was held in the new
theatre, which is a fine room of good proportions, of a
simple but bold style of architectural decoration, ex-
tremely well lighted, but above all well warmed and
ventilated, and which as a whole may be said to be per-
haps the bast room in the metropolis for the meetings
of a scientific body. Sir John Rennie, president in the
chair.

The paper read was by Mr. E. Newton. It gave a
description of the method employed by Mr. Heron for
the construction of the permanent way of the Philadel-
phia and Reading, and other railways in the United
States. The method was a deviation both from the sys-
tems of the longitudinal and the transverse sleepers. It
consisted of two series of diagonal sleepers crossing each
other, and spiked together at the intersections with
wooden trenails or iron pins, according to circumstances,
forming an extended platform, upon which their longi-
tudinal bearers were laid, suporting bridge-shaped rails,
with wrought iron chairs. The paper entered minutely
into the modes of construction, the dimensions of the
various parts, and the expense of laying the road with
the ballasting. It then gave an account of several de-
viations from the general system, such as making the
trellis work of iron laid in bitumen, &c. and also a de-
tail of the amount of the traffic conveyed along the rail-
way, whence it appeared that within one year and five
days from its being opened for general use, 1,400,0(10
tons of goods had been conveyed along it, without any
prejudicial effect ; and, in fact, with less wear and tear
than was usual upon railways in the States. The cost
of a single line was about 8501. per mile.
From the discussion that ensued it appeared to be the
opinion that although the system might succeed in a
country where timber abounded, it was inapplicable for
English railroads, and exceptions were taken to the
general features of the construction for high speed— as
Newton
the rails, which weighed only 441bs. per yard ; and if a
would become loosened, and there
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eodfi a
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e tuwregeend,thaen
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wereearingrepcoeiinvetsd.
as valid, but at the same time it was admitted that it was
Thesewould boeh objections imo 1111: much
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t engineeringtoo Mr.
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oeur Englishnn cge.d9s
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readbrethren
next meeting, on Tuesday, February
No. 750.1. Jackson,
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Descriptionso ofstshoecG.
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North olland Canal,
by G. B. v

H ---OSPITAL FOIL CONSUMPTION. Yesterday a
meeting of the governors was held at the Institution, Bromp-
ton, when it was stated that his Royal Highness the Duke of
Cambridge had kindly consented to preside at the anniver-
sary festival to be held on the 9th of June next. It was
also announced that the late Miss Churchill, of Chelsea,
had bequeathed the sum of 2001. to the Nude of the in-
stitution,

INDIA.
(From the Times.)
We publish to-day another letter from " Civis," with con-
siderable pleasure, in finding that our own satisfaction at the
new settlement of the Punjaub is shared by our experienced
correspondent; and in discovering, as we think we may ven-
ture to state, that his opinions are assuming a certain simila-
rity to our own. Beyond a doubt we are now in contact with
people of a different stamp from those who were our neigh-
bours, when Benares was a remote city, and .Agra the bourne
of an invalid tourist : yet we conceive it is inaccurate to
state that we are engaging these highlanders of Old Zabulis-
tan, with no other resources than those furnished by the less
hardy recruits of Bengal. The robust races of the north-west
are not bounded by the Sutlej,
" There are hills beyond Pentland and strgans beyond Forth.'
Between Loodianah and Moorshedabad there are: provinces
stocked with men of a very different mould from the Ben-
galee, though the Sindian campaign showed that these high
caste soldiers could supply with courage and spirit what
nature had denied them in thews and sinews. In our
westward progress we have absorbed into ourselves all
the military - strength of the conquered districts. The
men of Oude and Allahabad, the descendants oC
those daring freebooters, who, under the Robin Hoods
of the East, bearded the Affghan` at Delhi; the active
and stubborn Goorkhas, and the. sturdy mountaineers
of Rajpootana, have all contributed their quota to our Indian
army. Even the best and most promising of the Seikhs have
already been enrolled in a service where they may fortify
their valour with discipline, and find at length a legitimate
field for both. What we have done no lords of Hindostan
ever did before. There was no Ilindoo warrior in past
times. A score of nations swelled the armies of the Em-
perors—Tartars Turks, Usbeks, Persians, and Moguls, but
though the Hindoo was not outlawed yet he never makes his
appearance there. Till the first forays of Sivajee all the
battles for Hindostan were fought on both sides by foreigners ;
we first taught the native his value and his prowess and our
regiments are now followed by crowds of supernumerary aspi-
rants to the honour of serving the best masters the East ever
knew. It is with such a combination of strength as this,
exclusive too of a British force in itself capable of marching
from Cakutta to Caubul; that vte;shall rrieq•jf need be, the
disjointed remain.- otsthe'--Doofit.nee errsp;.ik''nevt boasting
little more power than may be centred in the prowess of in-
dividual swordsmen. But every mail's intelligence makes
even this collision less and less probable. It is now un-
questioned that the Durbar of Caubul is as incompetent to
maintain itself as the Durbar of Lahore. Already it is re-
ported that overtures have been made to the British autho-
rities for the establishment of friendly relations, and it seems
more likely that we should be the guardians than the enemies
of Dost Mahomed and his house. Our able correspondent is
fain to turn from the present to the future, to expatiate upon
our suicidal philanthropy and to anticipate our eventual
downfal from institutions which his own liberality will hardly
allow him to condemn. We entirely concur in his prophecy,
that when the undoes have learnt to reason they may
'cease to obey. Our colleges and our schools, our presses and
oar societies, our teaching and our preaching, are, indeed,
raising up an " enemy," if such must be the term, more for-
midable than ever crossed the Himalayas from Thibet, or the
Indus from Candahar. But if the fulness of time should ever
bring about this dissolution of our sway, it will be an end
both natural and honourable, and will demonstrate that we
have both deserved and improved the supremacy we have
enjoyed. The most vivid imagination, however, can hardly
bring this consummation within any appreciable distance;
it is infinitely beyond the hopes or fears of the present
generation ; and in the meantime we may reap this advan-
tage from our generous efforts, that every proficient or con-
vert must, in proportion to his intelligence, be well affected
to that rule from which alone his country can see anything
to hope. No person can possibly support the English do,
minion in India with a more serious conviction than a Hindoo
educated in India. There is generally now a disagreeable
corollary to our India news in the shape of some
spiteful comment on Sinde. Major-General Napier
is most assuredly justified in the belief which he
has more than once done us the honour to ex-
press, that we would not be the means of dissemi-
nating scandal concerning his brother and his doings.
We have no desire to intrude ourselves into the
disputes which have vegetated so luxuriantly under the sun
of Bombay. If we think that Sinde is not worth keeping, it
is • ly from an unbiassed balance of its produce and its
simply
costs, and our conclusion is unattended with any wish to
depreciate the merits of the conquest or disparage the gene-
ralship of the conqueror. Sir Charles Napier's enemies have
overshot their mark. The legend of Nusseer Khan's Bruen
Whip, if it be a legend, is nature itself, compared with those
circumstantial tales of the piety, meekness, and temperance
of the Ameers, which would represent the terrace of Windsor
Castle in 1790 as but a faint image of the virtuous sim-
plicity presiding in the gardens of Hyderabad. That
these Princes were hardly dealt by in our relations
with them it is impossible to deny, but they suffered least,
we think, at the hands of that officer whose conduct has
furnished the most abundant grounds of complaint.
Strangers, uninvited and unwelcome, obtruded them-
selves into their territories, and forced them to treaties which
were again superseded by others successively more and more
stringent and unfavourable, under pretext that the former
had been infringed. But, taking them from September 1842
we believe they fairly forfeited their kingdom by the rules
of war; nor is it very easy to condemn Sir Charles for having
learnt from the events of the previous year to strke the first
blow. It is preposterous to talk about the " patriarchal
rule " of these quarrelsome and sensual despots—themselves
usurping invaders of so recent a date that a representative of
the family they expelled is still alive. Sir Charles's own
title to the Turban would have been as good as Roostum's if
he had lived there a ecore of years longer. Their most
famous places—the very.anhieuts,ofssar spgpaatiqpitr.-Kg7
rachee, Sukkur, and Shikarpoor, were:ktulen from their
neighbours but a few years back. We have won the
country with as strong an arm as they did and in a much
better cause;
and the only question is, is it worth our keep-
ing? If it-gave us a stronger frontier—if, in the command
of the lower Indus, it gave us the restored tralc. of Central
Asia which once flowed through Shikarpoor—i e
ith
by its produce the treasury of Calcutta, and
rsoupepinheendt pu(s)rifwthe
what alone we profess to need for the impv
Peninsula, we might then close our hands upon our
as
prize,
and leave the Ameers with as little room for complaint
Subandar of Bengal. But we doubt it answers none oft these
conditions, and ice should be loath to make the battle of
7sleanee even more costly than that of Sobraon. Our t
intelli-
gence, just published, shows that the troops were
ain at the precise moment when they eretocableled
with-
drawn,ou and we very much fear that the costs and
a ncdhaardgvesano.f
the province are not less certain than its revenue A
tages are unsubstantial.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE
AMENDMENT OF THE LAW.
The usual general meeting of this institution was held on
Wednesday, at the Rooms of the Society,
Lord Brougham in the chair. 21 Regent-street,
been re
The minutes of the last meeting having ad, the fol-
lowing new members were ballotted for, and admitted
Tucker
:
Messrs. Philip Twells, Leonard H. Hartley, Diartin
Smith, and Frederick Peel.
A very intere,ting :report was read on tie various plans
which had been tried or proposed for the improvement of the
treatment of criminals and young persons likely to beconie
criminals, and on the principles on which pumishments ought
to be awarded and conducted. The report, which Was read
by Mr. l'itt Taylor, described, at very great length, the in-
conveniences and evils attending the present system of se-
secondary punishments, and concluded by recommending-
1. That all gaols, where unrestricted intercourse is allowed,
should be abolished. 2. That neither convicted nor uncon-
victed prisoners should be allowed to remain in a state of idle-
ness. 3. That tread-wheel labour should be abolished. 4,
That the building of district prisons within a limited perio:l
be renered compulsor
ratey. 5. That such prisons should
beshould dso built as to afford sepa accommodations to each pri-
goner. 6. That metal labour. ex gr. mat, rug,
making, tailoring, washing, shoemaking, stressing,
bask
knitting, &c., should be uniformly introduced in all prisons.
7. That these occupations should be taught by cootmte-r
petent persons attached to each prison. 8. That a b _
class of schoolmasters should be appointed, with larger sala-
ries, and that it should be compulsory on every criminal to
attend school for a fixed time each day. 9. That to each
suffi
gaol a chaplain should be attached, with a salary
large to ensure competency, and that it should be incumbent
ciently
upon him to reside in the prison, and to give his dived
attention to the spiritual wants of its inmates. 10. That
assuming the alterations to be carried into effect, short sen-
tences—that is, under one month—should be discontinued.
11. That a coarse, plain, and uniform diet should be en-
-11.
12. That for juvenile offenders and other des ti-
forced.
children one or two large asylums should be establishe
on a somewhat similar plan to that proposed by Mr.
.Pear-
son, only taking care that the discipline be sufficiently
severe.
After some discussion, in which Mr. EWART. M.P., and
Mr. M. D. HILL, Q.C., took a part, i
Lord BROUGIIAM expressed his opnion that short terms
of imprisonment were ineffi. cient tor the reformation of
criminals, however they might bedapplficable
.to the punish-
ment of minor offences. As regardsTe or.mation, there was
no chance of bringing the criminal s mind to the proper
state for the operation of the reformatory process during a
very short
The public mind ves,, he was
imprisonmen,t,
glad to say, become an akencaemtletlonthteheprroopfoerrolobajteiocot
of
the
punishment of criminals,
fnlythtihs elatta
were
offender ; whereas, in former days,. the idea was usually
prevalent that the
object of puni,srhhmeenetifeweast
oo
pre-
vention of crime ,by example.
opinion was the former frequency of
executions, which we
evidently intended for the purpose of deterring by example.
The most successful mode of preventing and
diminishing
crime was by educating, the peol_e,e noble l and teaching them a
hatred of vice of all descriptions. hord adverted
to the great advantage of infant schools as a means of dimi-
nishingmhtbe.
.coantsiddeiored old-fashioned, and
the number of criminals. He entertained an opinion
which, perhaps,
which perhaps was not particip e by any one else hi the
TOM ; he
would not give up the punishment of death in
certain cases, as a means of. deterring. from crime, although
give it up in all case
he would most willingli a where it
ought not to be inflicts •
The further discussion of the subject matter of the report
was adjourned to the 17th of this month.

DESPERATE SUICIDE BY PRUSSIC ACID.—On Thurs-
day, whilst Mr. Mills, the Deputy. Coroner, was holding
an inquest in Marylebone, he received information of the
following determined act of self-destruction by a young gen-
tleman named H. B. Fisher, assistant to Mr. Farmer,
,
chemist, of Duke-street, Manchester-square. It appears that
Mr. Fisher has for some time past been paying his addresses
to a young lady residing in Robert-street, Paddington. On
Tuesday morning, at eight o'clock, he went out, and was seen
walking with the young lady in question, in the neighbour-
hood, and engaged with her in earnest conversation. He
returned home shortly after nine o'clock, and in a few
minutes went up stairs to his bedroom. About ten o'clock,
the 3-outh left in charge of the shop ran up to the deceased's
bedroom, and having called 3lr. Fisher several times without
receiving any answer, he opened the door, and there dis-
covered the deceased lying on the floor struggling, and ap-
parently in the agonies of death. He raised an alarm, and
two or three medical gentlemen were sent for and promptly
iarrived. Antidotes were administered, but Mr. Fisher died
in two or three minutes after. A cup was on the table which
was found to have contained a strong dose of prussic acid
mixed with brandy. Two letters were also found, one ad-,
dressed by the deceased to his relatives, and the °till!. to the
young lady in question, in both of which he declared his in-
tention to commit the act. The Coroner has ordered a
post modem examination of the body. •