The Sun.
London, England, 1847-06-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 11, 1847.

THOMAS GRAY AND THE RAIL- , for the transfer of the engines and waggons from. the
WAY SYSTEM ; main line to the branches, and vice versa, by a series of
AN rNBECORDED CHAPTERN THE HISTORY OF circular turning plates, much the same as those which
we see now in use for turning carriages at the stations,
I
IN VENTIONS.
(From the London Journal.) with this difference, that each plate embraces a complete
set of rails, that is there is a plate for the up and down
"An Unrecorded Chapter in the History of Inven-
tions !" We think we hear some cautious reader ex- rails respectively.
We cannot follow llow Mr. Gray through the whole
claim, "An unrecorded chapter in the history of thepe ivde n glance
now.
Railway ! Pooh ! pooh ! More mysteries from the arguments of his remarkableinterest book.the
fertile brains of French feuilletoniste romancists. The at some of them may reaAderra
railway is an open question to everybody—everybody
be then fully proved by its universal adoption in
The practical economy of steam power he held to
. . so
districts,
knows every thing about it." Stay, good reader, before
we proceed to the elucidation of the mystery ;—let usas to afford demonstrative evi-
our raining in our manufactories, and on
board our packets,
have a friendly catechetical chit-chat with you, to test
the extent of your knowledge of the history of one of the deuce
derived from its general application
ofd the•l nbuemerus but unforeseen advantages which
greatest mechanical inventions of any time or country.
mightto our daily
conveyance. By the establishment
Have you ever, when borne along on the wind-like
speed—the time and space annihilating career of the of a general iron railway in a direct line, he argued that
railway locomotive—carried your thoughts from the the distance between the capital and the manufacturing
wondrous realities of the moment to the time when your districts and principal cities might be reduced one quarter
and in many cases one third, instead of the ridiculously
respectable grandfather made his will ere he departed on a
two hundred mile journey ? Have you ever, when
winding course the stage and mail coaches then daily
contemplating the omnipresent results—political, social, ran. The permanent prosperity which would arise to
and moral—which this simple instrument of constructive commerce from this rapid communication would soon,
he added, be felt in every corner of the United Kingdom.
genius is hourly effecting—impulsine commerce with The mails from London to Manchester, Liverpool, and
Leeds, might be conveyed within the space of twelve
giant power—cementing nations in the firmest bonds of
brotherhood, and rearing up and fostering, by the means hours ; the ordinary stage coaches, caravans, and vehi-
of intercommunication between province and province, cles for the conveyance of every description' of' merchan-
and town and town of this empire, the best and the disc might also be transported the samo improved
' closest ties of union, because founded on mutual in- principle. The farmer would likewiseon greatly partici-
terest and the general good—have you ever thought of
pate in this national improvement. The land then
the origin of that simple contrivance? In short, can
required to produce food for his horses might be culti-
you tell us, as the facetious Sam Slick would say,
vated for other purposes far more profitable ; the vari-
" When was the railway invented, and who designed in 0
us products of the farm, as well as live stock of every
at a word?" • description might be conveyed to any market, and
Till you can answer these plain questions, and, with-
manure brought back, without employing a single
out any offence to our hundred thousand readers, we
horse, in one half the time and at one half
suspect ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-
the expense incurred. The introduction of fresh fish
nine of them will feel rather puzzled, we must e'en set
you down as too much dazzled with the wondrous throughout the interior of the kingdom would open a
powers of the great invention of this age, to enter into
source of trade to numerous individuals, and very essen-
tially contribute to the improvement of our fisheries, as
an inquiry, which, by the inquiring minds of other cen-
turies, will inevitably be regarded as second only in im-
well as to the establishment of new ones. As a per-
portance and interest to the discoveries of printing and manently improving source of revenue to capitalists,
the steam-engine, ;
this plan would have no parallel the diurnal returns at
the most moderate toll upon eachvehicle, would annually
The principle of the railway, as a mechanical means
of transport, has been known for nearly two centuries. produce many millions ; " indeed," he observes, "no
limits can be assigned to the increase of wealth which
It is apparently so very simple that, were we not all
this change is our inland conveyance might produce ;
aware that the simplist principles have lain longest un-
there is no branch of agriculture, no branch of coin-
discovered, we might express surprise that it
merce or of arts, but would partake of its endless pros-
should not have been tried earlier than in the
perity. In support of this statement it is merely neces-
year 1680, which is the remotest date known in
sary to remark, that one steam-engine, on an improved
connexion with the history of railways. It
railway, would draw from London. to Edinburgh three
first took the shape of w t ud.o w0,,,10. tram
a stageum
ecro a
oc ne s e;ricti carrying twice the luggage and
way, and the first known experiment was made at coal
h b
which now
of ordinary
horses,
stages)d in thirty
mines near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1680, for trans-
ours,
time now require sad at least fifty
porting coals from the mouths of the pits to the ships in
hours for the performance of the journey. If a
the Tyne. Coal at that time was becoming the substi-
lute of wood, as the fuel of the metropolis, and a great public meeting were convened by the wealthy merchants
and capitalists of the metropolis, in order to canvass
impulse was constantly given to the mining operations
of the North. Many of these pits are said to have em-
the relative properties of this scheme, the example
ployed each of them 400 or 500 carts in this traffic ;it would soon be followed in the manufacturing
districts. and principal cities, and the many
became, therefore, an object of manifest importance to
millions, now annually squandered away in purchasing
reduce the great expense thereby incurred in keeping up
and feeding unnecessary horses, might be divided by
horses, drivers, and roads. A wooden tramway was
the holders of shares in the numerous branch companies
which would be established throughout the U
therefore substituted, constructed on the following
Kingdom." This is but a fraction ofthecomprehennsitievde
plan :—Slips of ground of the required breadth were
argument advanced in support of the plan.
marked out between the coal pits and the river. To
heperseverance and energy displayed by Mr. Gray
obtain the easiest and most regular descent, this line was T
in the promulgation of his views were not less re-
varied in its direction, to meet the inequalities of the
markable than for their deep foresight and aecu-
ground ; or where these inequalities were inconsiderable
it was carried straight forward, and regular slopes made
by embankments and cuttings. The ground being then racy. The work to which we have above alluded,
smoothed and levelled as for an ordinary road, large logs or and which, by the bye, went through five large
" sleepers," cut in lengths equal to the breadth of the editions, and was translated and extensively cireu-
road, were laid across and firmly bedded into it at short lated on the Continent, was only a very small por-
distances to sustain and hold fast the rails or . slips of tion of his labours. Justice can hardly be done to
wood in which the waggon wheels were intended to run. his energy by our necessarily brief recapitulation
The rails were laid on beech, laid end to end, forming of his correspondence and unceasing communications
two continuous parallel lines along each side of the road. with public men, governments, and corporations on
Waggons of large construction, set upon low wheels, the subject. We can here only state that he earnestly
completed the "plant" of the first railway ever con- memorialised the King of the Netherlands, Count Dupin,
structed. The invention became
popular and was largely of Paris, and our own Government annually, from the
adopted in the coal districts. The result was a saving time that his views were matured up to this present day.
of at least two-thirds Parliament also he besought with earnest voice to lend
quired, and the working expenses of many large coal of the horse power formerly re-
an ear to his pleadings for the public good. In 1826
establishments were thus ver largel diminished. Tim-
he addressed the legislature in a petition, embracing a
series of powerful reasons to induce a Committee bet continued to form the ma oy f the tramways for
upwards of half a century, till 1733, when cast-iron rails of the House of Commons to recommend the establish-
were tried at the Whitehaven collieries, but no great went of a national railway board in London, with
success attended the attempt for thirty years, owing to an annual grant to be drawn from each rail-
the injurious effect of the weight of the waggons on
way company, for the purpose of fixing upon a site of
ground of several miles of extent, for making exp
the rails. In 1768 this was in a considerable degree
ments on rails and locomotive engines. In his innu-
obviated by the simple contrivance of a more general
merable petitions to Government he pointed out the
diffusion of the weight over the rails, by lessening
the size of the waggons. Having thus answered probability of liquidating the national debt by means
the purpose, the invention attracted attention, and of a national railway system, constructed on sound
during the next sixty years there was a rapid application scientific principles. It seems strange even to look
of the principle throughout the kingdom, chiefly, back on the cold way in which shrewd practical men,
however, as auxiliary to mineral adventure,and o ca- ministers, legislators, and commercialists, treated what
sionally in branches to canals. Many of them :ere they were pleased to call his " visionary" views ; but
formed in the mining districts of Northumberland, Lan- the red-tapeism of office is ever slow in the appreciation
cashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and South of merit. How beautifully has Sir Robert Peel de-
Wales ; and in Scotland, in Lanarkshire, Mid Lothian, scribed the mission of that powerful but simple instru-
and Fife, Partington estimates the extent of these tram- meat which Gray, by his appeals and unwearied exer-
ways in the neighbourhood of Newcastle alone at se- tions, roused the public mind to appreciate and establish.
verity-fire miles. " The steam-engine and the railway," exclaimed the
Such was the origin and early condition of the rail- ex-Premier, in his splendid inaugural address to the
road. We must now shortly speak of the motive University of Glasgow in 1836, "are not merely facili-
polf a Wing ing the transport of merchandise—they are not
employed on these rude tramways. Till within ha
century of the present time animal power was solel merely shortening the duration of journeys, or ad-
employed to move the waggons along the rails, but are spreading the
about the beginning of this century a great step was intercourse between mind and
mind, they are creating new demands for knowledge--
made towards the progress of railwayism in the inven-
tion of the railway locomotive engine. An experirnen- they are fertilising the intellectual as well as the mate-
tal attempt was made in France, about the
year 1728 rial waste—they are removing the impediments which
obscurity, or remoteness, or poverty, may have hereto-
in the Royal Arsenal at Paris ; no practical result, how.:
ever, followed till 1302, when Messrs. Trevethick and fore opposed to the encouraging of real merit." Four-
Vivian took out a patent in this country for propelling teen years before he heard unheeded the prophetic voice
of Gray, who told him that these great things might be
carriages upon railroads. We find the following de-
brought
scription of the machine in Partington's Cyclopedia, lodged, though the late lamented. Sir William Follett
" The boiler was composed of cast iron of a cylin- told vr . Gray that he had laid the case before the Trea-
drical form, this was mounted horizontally upon four sury Board, where, he said, our railway pioneer was
wheels, the cylinder of the engine being placed ver-
tically on the end. Two connecting rods descending there can be little doubt that the Government would ere
from the cross bar of the piston were then made to com- this have recognised his claims to some national reward.
municate motion to the wheels by means of a crank, no We must confess that we have no great faith in Govern-
fly wheel being necessary, the momentum of the carriage went gratitude for high intellectual achievements. A
carrying the cranks past the lines of the centre." When
these engines were first tried it was found difficult to glance at our pension list is conclusive on the point. A
produce a sufficient degree of re-action between the more worthy recipient of a nation's bounty could not be
wheels and the track road, so that the former turned found than Thomas Gray. But we look for national
round without advancing the vehicle. This was reme- gratitude in a more popular shape.We are, however, bringing our compressed summary
died by Mr. Blenkinsop, of Middleton, West Yorkshire, of these large and important events in our commercial
who, when he adopted the invention at his colleries, history to a rather premature conclusion. The ques-
took up the common rails on one side of the whole Von has no
_doubt arisen in the mind of many an ,new,
had of the road, and replaced them with rails which igreinnt reader to whom these facts are new,
had large and coarse cogs projecting from the out- 1'
w comes it that so much mystery should
aide. The impelling wheel of the engine was made exist with regard to a system the origin of
to act in these teeth, so that it continued to work in
which is but of yesterday. All the world knows that
a rack the whole length of the road. An engine the railway from Liverpool to Manchester was the first
of four-horse power, employed by Mr. Blenkinsop, public line opened in this country. All the world
impelled a carriage lightly loaded at the rate of ten miles an hour, and when connected with thirty
ree tons, it great improver of the locomotive, in part projected, and
in whole executed, that important work. Hence, oh il-
went at about one-third of that pace. Mr. Blenkinsop logical reasoning from premise the accurate—George
took out a patent which is dated in 1811. It must be
borne in mind that this invention was entirely conclusion most illegitimate—George Stephenson de-
produce. The public knew little if anything of the confined Stephenson constructed the first public railway—Argol
to the mineral districts and to the conveyance
of mineral signed the railway system ! One withered leaf in the railway, and any man who forty years ago was bold laurels of Stephenson must ever taint their freshness—
ughthat amidst the plaudits of popu"arity he has failed to
freshness—
enough to whisper that it might be made to supply the
_
!lefeets of the common road system was written down an acknowledge the claims of a far earlier labourer in the
same field. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway
incurable madman, as poor Thomas Gray was several
years later. But this is nothing very new in the hist Company was sanctioned by Parliament on the sth of
of improvement.
'Dry May, 1826. It was opened on the 15th of September,
hise a r slit. ere r
toe thatthe
mi Quest:
We have now reached the period of our history when 1830.t00k plleVcee, hMavre. Gaereany had devoted dmeavnoytedy
we are to note the beginning of the vast railway
system which has sprung up and is daily extending cation of his theory. Thomas Gray shaped and syste
matised the system and enforced it on •
around us. public atteu-
-
In 1815, that memorable year in the history of the tion '
George The -
world, and most important epoch in the advance of our men Land ob theorist
lives unrewarded, unhonoured—
commeroe, Mr. Thomas Gray, a man of large compre-
npaomore,
and
fascmuere ;the
If sett ep er rase t iacnadl man
dou bentjoysdwealth, and
hensive mind, gifted with a remarkable fore-thought, were common when Stephenson contended anedforsuthsepicions
prac -
and with a deep earnestness of character and indomit- ticability of a public railway in 1826, how much
.greater
able perseverance, chanced to revisit his native town of
must have been the difficulties which "mad " Gray—for
Leeds. He was drawn by curiosity to inspect Blenhin- • e •
so " enlightened minds were pleased to term him—had
sop's steam carriage railway at Middleton colliery, which to encounterb inpreparing thepublic for the
change, and
is situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Leeds.
in inducing the more enlightened minds to risk the great
After a careful inspection of this railway he was inoeu- experiment. That ho did work this revolution in feel-
lated with intense admiration of the system, and eon-
ing will be amply apparent to any reflecting man who
winced of its applicability to the pur f poses o general intercommunication. The same year Mr. Gray repaired, e
railway men who have
the conceptiontakes the trouble to examine into the history ° f the rail-
or, we believe, re
his railway imaginings, turned to Brussels, his mind big with way. Strange it is that "
amassed princely fortunes by this invention, are the
of
An interesting event '
in enterprise opportunely oe- honoured old age. It cannot be that claims so un-
dullest to the claims of the founder, in his poor and un-
Y
curred to create new thoughts, and to shape and s
ste- on the gratitude of the railway world
matise these crude imaginings. The King of the answerableen-
Netherlands, about that time, proposed the construe- are denied. No, we will rather suppose that,
grossed in the pursuit of wealth or immersed in the
lion of a canal from Charleroi, for the conveyance
of coal from that rich mineral district to Holland ; toils of business, railway men have found no time to
and a scheme of such magnitude and commercial inquire who really discovered this rich unfathomable
importance naturally excited lively interest in mine of national wealth. For the public at large
an enterprising and industrious community, more espe- the plea of ignorance must stand as the apology for
cially amongst our own countrymen resident there. It their neglect ; or it may be with some that the hand of roused the active mind of Mr. Gray, who not only time has not cast that venerable hue on the structure to
ardently espoused the project, but with a boldness that
excite
may not be able yet to join in the aspirations ofite their feelings of veneration for its magnificence.
,
excited the amazement of his compatriots, he urged the they
the strain of a true poet of progress.
construction of a railway, and set about in his own quiet " Blessings on science, and her handmaid steam!
but earnest way to demonstrate the practicability and They make Utopia only half a dream;
'Vast superiority of such a mode of communication. The And show the fervent of capacious souls,
idea was far in advance of the age ; and its bold pro- Who watch the ball of progress as it rolls,
pounder was set down as an ardent impracticable That all as yet completed, or begun,
theorist. But the theorist was determined to show the Is but the dawning that precedes the sun."
world that his theory was one of the most practical and Unquestionably the pioneer of the railway system shall
!Way attainment ; so he e'en sat himself down to think a yet take his place in the roll of the spirit of the age!
little
more on the subject, and shape his thoughts to a Personally, perhaps, Mr. Gray may feel little desire at
tangible form. We hear nothing more of Mr. his advanced period of life to acquire the mere "bauble
Gray , for nearly three years. But he slumbered not in fame ;" but it cannot be that he is equally regardless of
the interval. In . 1818 he completed and placed the those more solid advantages of pecuniary remuneration
manuscript of a treatise in
the hands of Mr. Wilson, an which ought ever to be the reward of talent and industry,
eminent British merchant
who has published a and manufacturer in Belginm, especially when applied in a manner so eminently prac-
interesting pamphlet on the tical, as we have, we think, proved Mr. Gray to have
subject. This productioryn
can a Railroad for the wholewoit;Fheaded, " Observations done. This is simply rendering justice to the rights of
of his views was only exceeded4:i'repe," The largeness labour. Bat we will go a step further, and urge on the
tire and exact demonstration by yvrtikliiecbc,alm argumenta- public the necessity, in these days of competition with
necessity which existed for a reform to
set forth the foreign rivals, of being especially careful to insure to
internal and international communication, t
a the mode of every great inventor, of whatever kind, not only the just
ing
commerce
ability of a rapidly expan reee, meet
the profit, but the equally just honour due to his successful
ability of his plan to meet those demands. Inn the efforts.
the work, considerably modified and improved,
was, A few words by way of sequel to our sketch, the
published under the title of "Observations on a
generalresponse to which wo hope may show to be in truth a
Iron railway, or land steam conveyance to supersede the t
tilleiecdtiecal application of the subject. Mr. Gray, after
necessity of horses in all public vehicles." Mr. Gray lavish veoxtiondo.f the best years of his life and the most
therein proposed a system of direct trunk lines radiating views forPtelli iture of his means in the promotion of his
from the metropolis to the principal seats of trade and the - e public good, is left in ire age to exist on
precarious emolura
commerce, with branches for the accommodation of His friendsand . emoluments of an illquited agency.
admirers a •
nxious that some of the
places of minor importance—London to be the central golden accompaniments of
point for Great Britain, and Dublin for Ireland. For should cheer the latter •em fame, which yet await him
his useful and laborious
the principal trunk lines he proposed a series of six life, are determined to ii.3/aitrns oof
either for Govern-
parallel railways, one half for the up, the other for ment interference or railway longer
recognition
down trains ; on the branch lines from two to but to appeal loudly and at once to of his claims,
grlatitude of the
tour as the nature of the traffic might demand. The public. And, we think, they ate right.
t: thef E
principle of the cog rail, which we have seen, mind, is sometimes slow to receive
nenglish
was introduced by Mr. Blenkinsop, in the early stage ever noble and generous when convinced at
1-.l' tas theseit
is
of the history of locomotives, forms a part of Mr, have surely contributed to the general good. Every
Gray's system, with this difference, that it is added man, woman, and child at some period or other has
eex-
as a third rail placed in the middle of the track to perienced directly, in wondering admiration, the eerie_
give uniform power to the permanent action of the / fits of the railway ; indirectly this is every day and
stem. engine. lie provided an ingenious machinery' hour brought home to their feelings, Let them testify

their gratitude by contributing a mite to a national tes-
timonial for Thomas Gray. A public meeting was
lately held in the city of Exeter, and an executive com-
mittee formed for the purpose, who are now in commu-
nication with the friends of the cause throughout the
country. Leeds, Nottingham, and Lincoln have joined
in this grateful movement, and we hope ere long to be
able to announce that on almost every railway in the
kingdom an opportunity will be afforded to the tra-
veller, while breathing from the wind-like speed with
which he has been carried from place to place, to add a
little to the reward of the designer of all.

RAILWAY COMMITTEES.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-(YESTERDAY.

Room B.
WINDSOR, STAINES, ANSI SOUTH-177MS-
TERN (RICHMOND TO WINDSOR, &c.)
WINDSOR & SOUTH-WESTERN (STAINES
TO ASCOT AND WOKINGIIIM, WITH BRANCHES).
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
Mr. AusTrs was proceeding to put a question with respect
to some negotiations that had taken place between the Right
Hon. Baronet and Mr. Saunders, the secretary of the Great
Western, while he was in office, with respect to an atmo-
spheric line from Slough to Windsor.
Mr. Sergeant WRANottA:u ob'ected to the question, on the
ground that that line was not before the Committee.
The Committee took the same view of the question, and it
was not put.
In reply to the question, whether the line would be ob-
jectionable to the property of tLe Crown, or not, he replied
that the line of last session was objectionable, but whether
the present line was or was not objectionable to the Crown,
was a question which would be more properly answered by
the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, Lord Morpeth,
and by his predecessor, Lord Lincoln, than by him. He
could give no opinion upon it.
The Committee adjourned anti: to-morrow.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL
ENGINEERS.
JINE B.—Sir John Rennie, President, was in the chair.
The paper read was " On the Expansive Action of
Steam," by Mr. J. M. lieppel, Grad. Inst. C.E.
The object of the paper was to deduce a more exact
formula than those now in use for the dynamical effect
developed by steam in expanding from one pressure to
another.

The usual method of computing this effect neglects the
influence of the variation of temperature, which always
accompanies change of density, and which has been shown
to modify considerably the corresponding pressure. M.
de Pambour, however, has, by combining Gay Lussac's for-
mula for the relation between temperature and density
under uniform pressure with that of Boyle for the rela-
tion between density and pressure under uniform tem-
perature, deduced a formula containing the density, pres-
sure, and temperature from which any two being given
the third may be deduced.
What was further done in Mr. lleppel's paper was to
combine this formula with one by Mr. Scott Russell, ex-
pressing the relation between the pressure and tempe-
rature, and by this means to eliminate the latter, and
obtain a formula containing only the pressure and
density.
From this formula another was easily obtained, show-
ing the total dynamical action developed during ex-
pansion from one pressure to another, and the results
were given in a tabular form, exhibiting
1. The pressure in lbs. per:square inch.
2. The relation volume, or ratio of the volume of
steam to that of the water which produced it.
3. The dynamical effect before expansion, or the num-
ber of lbs. raised ono inch by the evaporation of each
cubic inch of water.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-(YESTERDAY.)
GROUP XXIV.
CHESTER. AND HOLYHEAD.
The Committee met at the usual hour.
Mr. ALEXANDER addressed the Committee at some length
on behalf of the locus stundi of the Liverpool Stepan-packet
Company, contending that they ought to be heard, as by the
construction of the proposed railway their tram would be
diminished.
Mr. TALBOT was heard in reply.
The room was ordered to be cleared, and the Committee
and that they could not come to a correct and
decided that they could not regard this measure merely as a
properraila deyßciil!ion on the Bill if they did so, and they therefore
decided that the parties should be heard.
Mr. TALBOT then proceeded to address the Committee on
behalf of the promoters of the Bill.
The Committee was occupied during the remainder of the
day in hearing evidence in support thereof.
The Committee adjourned till twelve to-morrow.

4. The dynamical effect during expansion, or the
number of pounds raised one inch by the steam produced
from one cubic inch of water in expanding from a pres-
sure of 'Nibs. per square inch to the particular cones-
from any one pressure to any other must be clearly ex-
pressed by the difference of the corresponding numbers
in this column.

Part of the remainder of the paper was devoted to
showing that whilst the performance of engines could
not possibly be expected to exceed the results ascer-
tained as above, it could not fall far short of them in the
case of engines of good construction. In conclusion, a
simple method was suggested of ascertaining the magni-
tude of all the forces i❑ action during the working of the
Cornish engine, independently of the indicator.
In the course of the paper, the fallacy of the theory of
what had been termed the " percussive action" of steam
was ably exposed, and although, from the paper being
full of mathematical formula, it was not well adapted for
being read at a public meeting, it evidently possessed
great merit as an investigation of an important subject.
It was followed by a short paper, also on the "Ex-
pansive action of Steam," by Mr. Tate, mathematical
master of the Training College, Battersea. Its object
was to demonstrate and apply a formula some time since
discovered by the author, expressing the law of the ex-
pansion of steam, and at the same time to establish
certain general equations relative to the work of steam,
applicable to all formulae professing to give the law of
volume and pressure. It also examined and corrected
Pole's formula, which, although a decided improvement
upon Pambour's, was stated to be not sufficiently ac-
curate for pressures above 701 b., or below 161bs.
Monsieur Piarget exhibited in the library, after the
meeting, specimens of the improvements in producing
ornamental metal surfaces, formed by the deposition of
metals during the electrotype process, which is conducted
in a peculiar manner, with mixtures adapted
to the effect desired to be attained. The form
also of the bath is peculiar, and when the plate
is taken out of it, and off the model, it exhibits a
burnished polish, or a dead appearance, according to the
preparation used. The metal thus produced is stated
to be of a much better description than metals which
have not undergone such process, as it is more flexible,
and is capable of withstanding the action of heat without
destroying the form or the copper, and the surface will
not tarnish when exposed to the air. Portions of any
pattern can also be silvered by a similar process ; and
the general expense is about one-third of that of engrav-
ing or chasing, while the boldest or most minute pat-
terns can be equally well produced.
The paper announced to be read at the meeting of
Tuesday, June 15, was " On the law which governs the
discharge of elastic fluids under pressure through short
tubes and orifices," by Mr. W. Fronde, M. Inst. C. E.

MR. O'CONNELL'S FUNERAL.
THE " YOUNG IRELAND" PARTY.
DUBLIN, JUNE B.—The Council of the Irish Confede-
ration met yesterday; William Smith O'Brien, Esq.,
in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN stated, that having heard that Mr.
O'Connell's family were desirous that the members of
the Irish Confederation should not attend the funeral of
Mr. O'Connell, he had thought it right to address the
following letter to Mr. John O'Connell :
" 4 I
Westland-row, June 7.
"My dear O'Connell,—As should be very reluctant
to take any part in reference to the funeral of your
lamented father which may not be acceptable to hit,
family, I shall feel obliged if you would let me know
whether it is their wish that those who dissented from
the policy adopted by the Repeal Association during the
last twelve months should attend the funeral.
"I should not have deemed it necessary to trouble
you with this inquiry, if I had not learned that it is the
impression of some of my friends that Mr. O'Connell's
family desire that none of those who are called the
Young Ireland' party should be present on the occa-
sion.—l remain yours very faithfully,
" WILLIAM S. O'BRIEN.
"John O'Connell, Esq."
" As our council meets to. day at three o'clock, perhaps
you will kindly forward an early reply."
He regretted to say that he had received the following
reply from Mr. Maurice O'Connell :
" 30, Merrion-square South, June 7.
" Mr. Maurice O'Connell presents his compliments to
Mr. Smith O'Brien, and begs to say that his brother,
Mr. John O'Connell, having submitted to him Mr. Smith
O'Brien's letter of this morning's date, it becomes his
duty in reply to inform him, that all arrangements
for the funeral having been entrusted to the Glasnevin
Cemetery Committee and the Rev. Dr. Miley, the family
leaves it entirely in their hands."
Mr. O'Brien stated that he did not desire to suggest
any course to the council in connexion with this corres-
pondence, as he thought that each member of the Con-
federation ought to act upon the occasion in accordance
to his own sense of propriety ; but for his part he in-
ferred from Mr. M. O'Connell's letter, that it is the wish
of the family that he should not attend the funeral.
After some further business the council adjourned.

THE EXPIRING PARLIAMENT.
The now moribund House of Commons, elected in
August, IS4I, has proved one of the longest Parliaments
on record--at all events, during the present century. It
has, in fact, only a year more " to run," in order to die
the death so seldom allotted to Parliaments, viz., a na-
tural one. The students of English history, during the
early period of the last century will not require to be
reminded that it was in those days by no means
an uncommon event for the septennially elected Par-
liaments to run out their full career ; nay, so powerful
was the power and influence of the Whig Ministry at
that period, that the new elections were usually a mere
matter of form, no change of any importance ever
taking place in the constituent elements of the popular
representation. During the latter part of the eighteenth,
and the early period of the present century, the
rapid succession of important political events,
both in this country and on the continent 01
Europe, produced constant alternations of men and mea-
sures ; and when the great climax of the Reform Bill
changed the representative system of England, " annual
Parliaments" appeared by no means improbable contin-
gencies, even without the aid of the " charter." We
have had four Parliaments since the era of Reform ;
the first, elected in 1832, in accordance with the pro-
visions of the new statute, only lived two ses-
ssons, the Ministerial change of November, 1834,
having rendered an appeal to the people a measure of
almost indispensable necessity. Thus perished the Parlia-
ment of Earl Grey. The second, or " Peel" Parliament,
although elected under Ministerial auspices, only re-
turned a very formidable Conservative minority to sup-
port Sir Robert, and the new Premier soon succumbed
to the influence of the Whig majority. The second
Melbourne Ministry, as it is well known, lived on until
1837, with a mere measuring-cast majority, when the
death of the Sovereign extinguished the Parliament ipso
facto, after an existence of two sessions and a half. The
new House of Commons was almost equally balanced, as
regards parties, and but for the forbearance of the Opposi-
tion Lord Melbourne could never have remained at the
head of the Government for four years longer. A crisis,
however, at last ensued, and the Whig Ministers ap-
pealed once more to the constituencies. The issue of
this contest was never doubted by either party ; the
star of agricultural protection was in the ascendant, and
ad immense majority was returned by the county con-
stituencies to enable Sir R. Peel to take Dawning-
street by storm. The Melbourne Parliament of 1837
lasted about four years. The present Parliament, which
has endured for six bears, has been a memorable one.
It was elected to protect, the corn-laws, and it has
enacted free trade into a law. It began by hurling a
Whig Ministry from office, and has ended by ejecting a
" Conservative " one with almost equal ignominy. Lord
J. Russell, now in a nominal minority of 100, has ac-
tually encountered less opposition, and carried on his
Government with far greater ease since his last acces-
sion to power, than in the very plenitude of his popu-
larity, when, with a small but decisive majority on the
Ministerial benches, he refused to hold office " oa suf-
ferance."— Times.

THE NEW OFFICES OF THE TREASURY AT WHITE-
HALL—The erection of the new offices of the Treasury at
Whitehall has been completed, and the whole of the scaffold-
ing removed. The new building completes the whole of the
course of buildings of the Privy Council, Board of Trade, and
Home and Treasury-offices, formerly an unseemly edifice,
but uow presenting a façade of elegant and elaborate archi-
tecture, in keeping with the magnificent structure of the
new Houses of Parliament, and a great additional ornament
to Whitehall. The interior is in a forward state for the re-
CePti9ll of the officers of the different departments.