The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-24 00:00:00

THE LATE EARL OF DURHAM.

erecting a -----..--
On Thursday at noon a public meeting of the friends
and admirers of the late Earl of Durham was held at
the Assembly Rooms, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for the
purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of
of that deceased nobleman ; the Right Worshipful John
I\l
Carr, Esq., Mayor of , wcastle, in the Chair. The
ppruebseirc, m
whoon un
p leuntt to perpetuate the memory
great bulk of the meeting, which was numerous and
highly respectable, consisted of gentlemen professing
Liberal opinions. There were also several Of the Con-
servatives present c,
their names as sub-
scribers.
The Chairman having briefly
opened the business of
the meeting, Mr, Ord, my., after an able speech, in
which he referred to the Earl of Durham as a statesman
of the first order, and which at times was very warmly
applauded, submitted the following motion, viz.:—
" That the distinguished services rendered to his
country by the late John George Lambton, Earl of
Durham, as an honest, able, and patriotic statesman,
and as the enlightened and liberal friend to the improve-
ment of the people in
morals, education, and scientific
unceasing exercise of
the most active benevolence, and of the other private
acquirements combined with his
virtues which adorned his character, render it the sacred
duty of his fellow-countrymen to erect a public monu-
ment to perpetuate the memory of his services, his ta-
lents, and his virtues, and to act as an incitement to
others to follow his bright example."
The motion was seconded by Dr. Headlam, who ad-
verted briefly to the great enlightenment of mind which
distinguished the late lamented Earl, a fact he could
safely speak to, as he had known him from early life.
Mr. Hutt, M.P.,
and Mr. Alderman Potter, also
addressed the meeting. The resolution was unani-
mously adopted. The subscription list was com-
menced by Mr. Ord putting down 501., Mr. Alderman
Potter and several other gentlemen being subscribers
for 251. The aggregate subscription before the com-
pany separated was about 50/. It is proper to observe,
however, that both at Sunderland and Durham, as well
as South Shields, and some other places, subscriptions l
hare been opened ; and it is a moral certainty that a
very considerable sum will be raised wherewith to erect
a durable and honourable memento to the memory of
the deceased and much-lamented nobleman.
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LONDON:
MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1840.

The letter from Manchester, headed " A Sample
of our Labourers," will convey to our readers a clear
idea of the condition of the masses. TIMOTHY
MURPHY'S is the individual case ; there are, says
the Editor of the Carlisle Patriot, speaking only
of that city and neighbourhood, " thousands of
our fellow-citizens living amongst us in a state of
misery and destitution," like TIMOTHY MURPHY.
‘‘ The depth of misery to which the weaving popu-
lation is reduced, is absolutely appalling." Not-
withstanding this accumulated distress, " the ex-
cellent conduct of the weavers is," says the same
Journal, a " moral phenomenon." Both their ur-
gent distress, and good conduct, recommend them
to public consideration.

We cannot appeal, at present, to the selfishness
of the public, or we might show, by not a few
examples, that a population in such a state of
misery, wanting all the means of cleanliness and
health, is an ever-fertile source of contagion, con-
taminating the sweet air, and spreading cholera and
fever, disease and premature death throughout the
land. We might also prove by several facts, that
suffering such misery makes men reckless while be-
holding and becoming familiar with it, blunts
all the finer sensibilities, and that both rich and
poor become more inimical to each other, and more
careless of inflicting pain, if not ready to inflict it.
We might easily prove, then, though the rich may
fancy that their wealth secures them against such
calamities as those suffered by the poor, that they
have a common interest with the suffering masses,
w►th whom it never can go ill but the others will
feel it. 'We must, however, on this occasion forego
the task, and content ourselves with recommending
the subject to our readers' attention.

The dreadful accident on the Eastern Counties
Railway, the great extent and great utility of rail•

ways, and the almost impossibility of travelling
by any other conveyance where they exist,—the
chances, therefore, of many similar accidents oc-
curring-, justly attract much attention to the sub-
ject. On some of the railways a hundred passengers,
and frequently more, embark in one train. They
are fastened into the carriages ; they have as little
means of leaving the train after it is once set in
motion till it stops as a man has of swim-
ming away from a ship at sea ; they have no
means of communicating with the engine-driver,
who, sitting enthroned amidst the hubbub he
excites and controls, can hear nothing, and
can only be communicated with by the attend-
ant guards. The passengers are far more at
the entire mercy of the engine-driver than are
the passengers of a steam-vessel at the mercy of
the captain: Him they can see, him they can
speak with, him they can consult, but the engine-
driver has all their lives in his hands, and they have
no means of even seeing him. He is a perfect
stranger to them, and they have not even the gua-
rantee of an honest countenance for the immense
trust they place in his hands.
It is said with great truth that his own life is in
jeopardy, and that he can scarcely expose the pas-
sengers to the slightest risk without rendering him-
self liable to a most painful death. At the same
time there are many fool-hardy, vain, or ignorant
persons to whose care we IN OLi not like to trust
our lives, though they might presumptuously risk
their own. It is not every captain of a ship we
would go to sea with, though he could no more escape
from the wreck his ignorance or wilfulness might
cause than any of his passengers. It is therefore
incumbent on the Directors, or head engineers,
or the Inspectors, and on all who are con-
cerned with the railways, and especially on
the Directors, to provide proper and suitable
men for the high and responsible station—for so
we may call it, when hundreds of lives are placed
in their keeping—of engine-drivers.
We do not know what wages these persons receive;
but they belong to the class of working engineers, and
probably they do not get more than 2/. or 3/. a
week. We see by the inquest that a foreman, who
had forty men at work under him, gets only 21. a
week. Now, one of the reasons always assigned,
and justly assigned, for paying lawyers and physi-
cians largely, is the great trust reposed in them ;
and the same reason applies with much more force
to the engine-drivers, into whose hands so many
lives are entrusted, than physicians and lawyers.
The public ought, therefore, to insist on the Di-
rectors paying these people handsomely, so as to
make it worth while for respectable men to educate
their children to fill the situation. The public ought
also to insist on the Directors being very careful as to
whom they appoint, and the Directors should, in
future, compel every candidate to go through a
preparatory training. Now, as the public must
operate on the Directors in a great measure through
the Legislature, and the Legislature has already
meddled with railways, it becomes the business of
the Legislature to prescribe suitable wages and a
suitable education for these workmen.

The Directors may also be operated on by the
public as jurors, who should levy heavy deodands
on the engines and the carriages whenever an
accident occurs which is proved to arise from
any negligence on their part, or on the parts
of any of their servants, for whom they are
and ought to be responsible. To give the public
confidence in railways, without which they will fail
as commercial speculations, no precautions of the
kind ought to be neglected ; and it is equally the
interest of the shareholders and the duty of the
Legislature to prescribe and enforce them. We
need not say that we are not the opponents of rail-
' ways ; we have steadily done all in our power to
promote them ; we still regard them as amongst the
most valuable and important improvements of
modern times ; and we are anxious to make them
safe, and give the public confidence in them, which
can only be done by placing respectable men in the
situation of engine-drivers, and giving them a
handsome salary.

Within the recollection of this generation the
drivers of stage coaches were not very respectable,
but now there is no more careful, orderly, and re-
spectable men to be met with. How was this
change brought about ? Why, the public forsook
the coaches which were carelessly driven, and when
accidents occurred the proprietors were made to
pay for the negligence of their servants. It was
soon found that it was for the interest of
all parties to have a better class of men for
stage-coachmen, but the trust reposed in a stage-
coachman, watched over by the passenger on the
box, and passengers behind him, is nothing to the
trust reposed in the engine-driver. We know no.
thing whatever of these individuals, but we know
that their place is one of such responsibility that
!oo many precautions cannot be taken to ensure
the services of trustworthy men.
Let us add, that the rapid increase of railways
must make the services of this class of men much
in demand. Upwards of 540 miles of railway have
been opened since the commencement of the present
year. Every day, almost, increases the extent, and
it is supposed that upwards of 200 miles more will
he opened in two months. The Directors, therefore,
should immediately set about drilling persons for
the office, and perhaps, while they pay them ade-
quately, should take some kind of bond for the care-
ful performance of the duty.

On turning to the debates in the French Cham-
bers on the Eastern question in January last, we
are surprised to find the present isolation of France
predicted in the speeches of every one of the
leaders of the Royalist party. M. BERRYER, the
Duke DE NOAILLES, the Duke DE VALMY, and
M. DE LAMARTINE, all distinctly traced the mis-
taken policy which the Government would pursue,
and the.consequent weakening of the English alliance.
These predictions were despised by the Govern-
ment, ridiculed by the press on both sides of the
Channel, and laughed at by the public. Except
the Royalists, no person, either in France or Eng.
land, then so much as imagined that a serious diffe-
rence between the policy of the liberal Governments
of these countries on the Eastern question was pos-
sible. France having solemnly pledged herself to
maintain inviolate, in conjunction with the other
Powers, the integrity of the Ottoman empire, and
it being known to all the world that England could
not suffer Russia to approach Constantinople,
without inflicting a mortal wound on the com-
mercial prosperity of the United Kingdom, no
sufficient ground for a serious difference of opinion
between the Cabinets of London and Paris was

discovered by the bulk of the people or the press of
either country. The lovers of peace boldly main-
tained that the days were for ever gone, when an
unintentional slight offered to a King's mistress, the
neglect of a Royal favourite, or the caprice of an
Ambassador were adequate causes for disturbing
the peace of the world. Recent events indicate
the prematurity of such views• Even in France
the impression gains ground that the English
alliance has been endangered rather to revenge a
supposed slight offered to the President of the
Council, than to resent any indignity of which the
nation has cause to complain. To heal the wounded
amour propre of M. TRIERS, all France resounds
from north to south with the din of arms. Such

an excess of self-love in a Minister is deplorable ;
but it is more deplorable still to find a nation so