The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-25 00:00:00

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LONDON:
S ATLRDAY DECEMBER 25, 1841.

It is our painful duty to relate another of those
awful': 'railroad accidents which within the last
twelve months have excited alarm in the public
mind, for the success of these great undertakings,
and caused the deepest affliction in private
families; and it would be some consolation if
we could state that the calamity which has
just occurred near Reading, was one of
pure accident, or a visitation of GOD which no
fpresight or caution could avert. Unfortunately,
however, the friends of the killed and wounded,
and the thoumnds who sympathise with the
sufferers, have no such grounds for resig-
nation. With proper caution it is pos-
sible all the unfortunate persons who
were hurried in a moment into eternity, might
have escaped. , After the fatal accident on
the Brighton - line from slips of earth,
and considering the vast quantity of rain
that has fallen since, it was the duty
of the Superintendents on every road to order
engine-drivers to
the go at a moderate rate, '
whenever the trains
passed through deep
cuttings. The fall of earth in this in-
stance, it would appear had taken place
but'. a • few minutes, or perhaps seconds, before
the train reached the spot, and no precaution
could prevent this, but had the train been mov-
. ,
at a siow pace instead of going, during
a dark morning, at thirty miles in the hOUT
such a loss of life could not have taken
place. But this is the least melancholy part of
the horrible catastrophe. The Directors had suf-
ficient warning, from the last fatal accident On the
Brighton line, that there was little or no chance
of safety for a carriage placed immediately behind
the tender, with eight or ten in succession; yet,
on this occasion, all experience and facts were set
at defiance. The truck in which the poor passen-
gers were placed was attached to the tender, a
long line ofluggage carriages followed, the engine
was forced off the rail, the truck was thrown
athwart the line, and in a moment was over-
whelmed by the carriages behind, which were
thrown up in the air, and fell with a fearful
crash upon the devoted passengers. Had the
truck been placed last, and the train been
moving (as common sense might have dictated)
at a moderate pace, we assert confidently that not
one life would have been lost. Many of the
Directors are excellent, humane men; the engineer
deserves every praise for the admirable dad se-
cure line which he at last accomplished, in spite
of vast apposition; and we believe all connected
with the Company sincerely regret the result;*
but stilt we are bound to state fitcts and con-
clusions which 'Cannot possibly be refuted.
And why do the servants of the Company attempt
to conceal fact--; which must eventually come to
light? By mo doing they Only increase the ge-
neral alarm, and make the public believe that the
calamity in greater than the reality, and that there
is some grosf, mismanagement or culpable negli-
genca which they would cover in darkness.
Let them tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, and they will serve their
own interests, and relieve the public mind from a
vast load of anxiety. We received a report last
night of the fatal event, but it was so frightful,
and evidently so magnified, that we refrained
from even alluding to it.

Two o'CLocK.—On making inquiry at the sta-

tion we are glad to learn that no more deaths
have been reported, but the servants of
the Company now admit, when the truth
can no longer be concealed, that the ac-
counts in the papers arc not at all exaggerated.
It has been discovered that one of the persons
killed was named JOHN HAYNES, from the name
in his hat.

The following leading, paragraph appeared in
the Herald of this morning. We give it with-
out comment, solely on the authority of that
Journal :

We have reason to believe that a very serious mis-
understanding now exists between the British Go-
vernment and the United States, arising on the one
hand from the unwilligness of the American President
to apologise for the detention of a British subject
(M'Leod), on an unfounded charge, and on the other,
from the alleged fact that vessels engaged in the slave
trade are notoriously fitted-out in American ports.
Lord Aberdeen, as we learn, has written repeated
and decided notes on both these subjects, without as
yet receiving satisfactory answers ; and, considering
the fresh obligations imposed on this country by the
new Anti-Slave Treaty, it is much to be feared that
something unpleasant may occur between both Govern-
ments.

Our information on this subject is derived from a most
authentic source.

On Thursday afternoon Baron PASQUIER, Pre-
sident of the French Court of Peers, pronounced
the sentence of that Court upon QUENISSET and
his accomplices for an attempt to assassinate the
Royal Princes, and for being members of a revo-
lutionary association. The wretch QUENISSET,
who throughout the trial conducted himself
rather as a prosecutor than as a criminal,
and who seemed to take a fiendish de-
light in involving as many persons as
he could in his own guilt, has not es-
caped having sentence of death recorded
against him. It was, however, supposed from
the high favour in which he appeared to stand
with the President of the Court for having as-
sisted the Procureur-General in brow-beating
his fellow-prisoners in the course of their exami-
nation, that his life would be saved. Still the
smiles and blandishments of such partisan
Judges and Court parasites as Baron PASQUIER,
are a poor protection against the sharp axe of
the guillotine, when bared by the sentence of a
criminal court.

The following report of the sentence of the
Court of Peers upon the prisoners implicated in
this affair, is from the Paris Correspondence of
the Post, dated Thursday afternoon :
The Court of Peers met this afternoon, and the public
was admitted at a quarter past one. The prisoners, ac-
cording to custom, were not present. The Chancellor,
Baron Pasquier, read with a firm voice the judgment. It
was as follows:
Quenisset Death.

Colombier
Brazier alias .T

Petit Deportation (confinement for life).
Jarrasse

Dufaur ldem.
Boggio Fifteen years' detention.
Mallet
Boucheron
Launois
I )upoty Five years' detention.
Bazin
Martin, Fougeray, Bouzer, &Prim', and Considere ac-
quitted.

Boggio,llett, Boucheron, Launois, Dupoty, and
Brazier to be under the surveillance of the police for
their lives at the expiration of their confinement. The
detention is a peine ii!fanutnte, and Dupoty thus loses his
right as a citizen for ever.

-No execution is contemplated, as the clemency of the
King will be exercised, at the request of the Royal
Princes who were fired at.

The meeting of journalists to-night, to take into con-
sideration Dupoty's conviction and the results for the
press, is expected to be important.
Paris is as yet tranquil.
By convicting DUPOTY of the crime of treason
for merely editing a journal read by traitors in
common with other readers of newspapers, the
Peers have declared war to the knife against the
Press. They have now indeed drawn the sword,
and flung away ,the scabbard. We shall
now see how much of that power which
hurled the tyrant CHARLES THE TENTH from
the throne, continues to be wielded by the
Press of France. By condemning DUPOTY,
the Peers have virtually abrogated the
Charter have proclaimed to Frenchmen
in the face of Europe that no laws exist in
France which can screen innocence itself from
their vengeance. The struggle will be a fierce
one. May it terminate in the prostration of this
infamous Star-Chamber, and its base progeny,
the September Laws !

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