The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-19 00:00:00

THE GAELIC LANGUAGE.

The following are passages from a petition recently
presented to the House of Commons on the Gaelic Lan-
guage, (respecting the Appointment of Professors,) &c.
It states

" That the Gaelic language is the vernacular tongue
of the Scottish Highlanders, who amount to 400,000, a
great proportion of whom understand no other.
" That a proper knowledge of Gaelic is indispensable
for the efficiency of those who officiate as clergymen,
and the persons to whom is committed the instruction of
Highland youth.
That there is not in any university or national semi-
nary a teacher of Gaelic, nor any acknowledged means
for imparting a grammatical knowledge of the lan-
guage, &c.

"That your humble petitioner, baying written seve-
ral works illustrative of the history and present state of
the Highlanders, found exceeding inconvenience in there
being no profess,r from whom instruction in their ver-
nacular language could be obtained, without a know-
ledge of which the historic d and antiquarian literature
of Britain must remain defectir .

" Your petitioner, impressed with the importance of a
proper knowledge of Gaelic, particularly by those to
whom is consigned the temporal anti spiritual instruction
of so many, he mo=t humbly prays that your honourable
House may see it right that the instruction of students
destined to labour in the Highland districts in the lan-
guage of the people shall be part of their qualification,
and that a Professor of Gaelic be estalilished in one of
the northern colleges, or elsewhere, and in such way as
in your wisdom may appear right.
(Signed) " JAME'i LOGAN."

THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT ON

THE ELY AND PETERBOROU3H RAILWAY.

ELY, FRIDAY EVENING.—TRis morning the inquiry
respecting the death of Thomas Staples, tte driver of
the engine of the express train which recently ran off
the Ely and Peterborough Railway, was resumed at the
Lamb Inn in this city, before Mr. Marshall and the jury
previously empannelled.
Captain Simmons, one of the Gov,rnment inspectors
of railways, was present, as also Mr. Samuels, Mr.
Richardson, and. Mr. Scott, of the Eastern Counties
Company, who work the railway.
The CORONER adverted to what had been done at the
previous meeting of the jury. He bad had that part of
the line where the accident happened surveyed by a
competent disinterested engineer, who had prepared a
plan of the spot for the information of the jury.
Mr. Pratt Collier, the ungineer alluded to, produced
the plan. The decline front the Hundred Foot-bridge to
to the place of accident was 1 in 173, the distance was
three chains and five. lengths. There was a difference
of seven inches in the levels of the up and down rails,
the up rails being the lowest. The accident happened
on the up rail. The gradient on the down rail was lin
264 feet.

John Mayo, a fireman in the service of the company,
said ht, was stokPr to the engine attached to the train,
and the deceased was the driver. The train consisted
of the engine and tender, a break van, and two passenger
carriages.

Con Comm —Did you feel any difforence of motion at
or near the place where the accident occurrrd ? Wit-
ness—No, I did not. We were going of a steady rate.
CORONER—Were you going faster than usual? Wit-
ness—We were not. We never go fast down an incline.
My mate was a careful steady roan. I was with him
five weeks, and I never saw him drink anything. We
were going at about 25 to 36 miles an hour.

CORONER—Have you experienced any peculiar jerk
in passing over the fen country? Witness—Not at this
place, but I have at Downham at a crossing.
CORONER—Have you noticed any jerk or difference of
motion in passing off a viaduct on to an embankment?
Witness—l have not. I did not feel any giving way of
the tender just before the accident.

John Gardiner, who acted as guard of the train, said
the engine left the rails about 50 or GO feet beyond a
wooden viaduct over an occupation road, and felt no mo-
tion until the train reached that place. Observt d tto
jerking on crossing that viaduct. The engine gave no
warning of running of the rails.
COIWNER— Have you any idea as to the rate of the
train at the time of the accident? Witness—Between
thirty and forty miles an hour. After the accident I
wait back, and saw a left hand rail on the up line torn
out of its place; this is where I suppose the engine first
left the line. The ballast was cut up and the sleepers
cut through.
William Stanfeild, a plate layer, employed on the
line, said he examined the line where the engine left
the metal. There were seven rails broken and dis-
turbed. There was one broken and three bent on the
left side and three bent on the other side.
Ev Et.
rit—yo
nesCs"o Niw
other day.iitten Tish i sthpea rlti 1:)ef Intl: pre= Les"; not
much settle. There were eighteen al. ep •rs cut through.
Ido not know how many chains. There has been a
difference in the levels of both rails ever since I have
been on it. The rails were not lifted up to the level, but
merely where depression existed.
Jacob Dyke, another plate-layer, said, I assisted in re.
pairing the road. I have observed that the road was not
in so perfect repair as I could wish. I don't recollect
ever saying that I thought an accident woule: take place,
I have remarked that the settlement on that part of the
road near the Hundred Foot-bridge was so great as to
require more then to be employed on it. I spoke to Mr.
Jackson, the firetnan of Mr. P,-to, the contractor, to
allow more men to attend to the settlement. and in a day
or two extra hands were put on. There had been a set-
tlement of six inches since the last time the gauge was
taken. I should certainly have lifted the rai!s more
often if more hands had been on. There was a greater
sinking where the accident took pl•lce than in any other
part of the line. When I saw the engine coming alotz
she seemed to be travelling at about forty miles an hour.
The engine " wriggl d" about a good deal. I have seen
many trains pass that part of the lit e, but none of them
went so fast as that which met with th.-, accident. _

Mr. John Hunter, locomotive -superintendent
andofnt the
the
company, deposed—l have seen the broken rail
being of
axletree of the tender, and considerthe
broken by am a
good metal. The axletree might have been
repaired.violent
I. t
hasT h e engineinside
f tu recentlyr
e?
forty-horse
beentiys
.ytxs
power,steady
~ .
engine, of Braithwaite's manufacture,
and capable of travelling with
hour. lf`ehrertehev‘a'
account
caused by a a one of the f-
tures of the rail was
aeseidneonttinglnininher machinX•thmatilecsoualdn
yalciPtterianraii:ln:d not a down
ebeaddof bteheen t rea xi
na
hmai
vn
iendg,
ward pressure.
Simmons re-inspected the
line, beenmaAn yfe:exni speakingella ee,sseveral
accident 3 ° orrs ei teht:tij'prref:7 InPtsi
etottadna I t et
nhaes
from edseh s hpu he
hundred
found
,d,
Hundred
u thend r e sleepersd
Foot-
bridge,"
where within ninety or re feet on the Ely
to
be more or less damaged. He could not give an
sid-e'• ton
as to the precise cause of the accident. The line
opismion good order.
was
onesve ceclofienkdthtehajturTyhororetTs taredtlhees,
thefoll dowienegeayseedr:
came by his death by being crushed between the tie rod
of the axle guard of the break van, which was attached
to the train on the Ely and Peterborough Railway; and
we further find that the accident which led to his death
was occasioned by some part of the train running off the
line by reason of its being propelled at too high a speetl,
the embankment at the place of the accident being out
of order, a settlement of the permanent road having been
allowed to take place, and the rails below their proper
gauge; and we cannot separate without expressing our
decided opinion that whenevur an accident occurs i
would be much better for public satisfaction that rail-
way companies s!.ould leave the line undisturbed until
inspected by the Government authorities, in orde.rthara,
-
a more conclusive and decisive opinion might be
1 rived at."

luti.

SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY•—The conc. bug
performance of the season will take place at Ex,•ter Hall
on Friday the 23d inst., at which Spolir will conduct,
for the first time in ',Aldo'', his " Last Judgment."
" The Christian's Prayer?' and a new Psalm.
Mr. T. Lennon Hunt has been appointed Vice-
Consul of England at Monte Video, in she place of Mr.
Hood, recently appointed Consul at Buenos Ayres.—
Observer,