The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-19 00:00:00

LONDON GRAND JUNCTION

RAILWAY.
The half-yearly meeting of the Directors and Proprie-
tors of the London Grand Junction Railway Company,
took place yesterday at the Company's office,6B, Cheapside,
Mr. Cash in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN said nothing had occurred since their
last meeting calling for any particular remark. The
Company was at present in abeyance, and the Directors
did not feel themselves warranted in putting the Proprie-
tors to any expense under the present circumstances.
The Report, which merely detailed the expenditure
for the last half year, was then read and adopted by the
meeting.
In answer to questions from Mr. Staunton and other
Proprietors, the CHAIRMAN said the sum charged for
solicitors' expenses (4001.) arose from their being com-
pelled to take legal proceedings against several of the
Proprietors for non-payment of calls upon shares.
There was a balance of 3,900/. in hand, and their
liabilities were very small, and they had reduced the
expenditure as much as they possibly could. They had
paid 1,500/. as compensation to the parties with whom
they had been in negotiation for the purchase of the
land. They had, on the suggestion of some of the Pro-
prietors, employed Mr. Rastrick, the engineer, to pro-
pose some plans, but owing to the difficulty of raising
the necessary funds, and the opinion then prevalent that
short lines of railway would not pay, they had taken no
further steps.
The SECRETARY, in answer to Mr. Perkins, said the
number of registered shares was 9,360—0 f theae 7,605
had paid up all the calls that had been made on them,
and 1,510 had been forfeited.
Mr. STAUNTON inquired how long the C( mpany was
to continue in its present state ?
The CHAIRMAN said by the Act of Incorporation the
Company was to continue in existence till July, 1843,
and after that period they would be defunct, unless in
the mean time the project was revived by parties who had
sufficient capital to carry it on.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman and Direc-
tors, and the meeting broke -up.

MESMERISM, BY DE LAFON-
TAINE.

We yesterday attended the adjourned exhibition of
Mesmerism, at the Queen's Rooms, Hanover-square,
where a very numerous audience was assembled at three
o'clock, and continued with tolerable patience until half-
past five to await the promised production of magnetic
results in the various volunteers who presented them-
selves for experiment. In three cases, which occupied
half an hour each, no visible effect was obtained. In
two other cases the manipulations of the Professor
seemed to induce sleep in the patients ; but he himself
declared that he was exhausted by his exertions, and
would make no further attempts on this occasion. Very
great dissatisfaction was expressed, and most loudly and
harshly by some gentlemen, who in our opinion have
been both intemperate and ungenerous in their inter-
ruptions of the proceedings on each of the former occa-
sions, and have tended greatly to embarrass and irritate
M. de Lafontaine, while his demeanour has been through-
out courteous, frank, and, we must say, very forbear-
ing. It would be out of place here to offer an explana-
tion of the causes of failure, but we think that so far
from confirming the charge of imposture the fai ure may
fairly lead to an opposite inference. Success in all cases
is not pretended, and if. the exhibitor wished to mete a
false impression Ihy the aid of collusion, be would have
obtained a sufficient number of subjects for any o:' the
last exhibitions to counterbalance the effect of bis cl. Seats
with genuine patients.
We shall continue to attend his exhibitions, and note
impartially all that we observe.

THE PIC NIC PAPERS, BY VARIOUS HANDS,
EDITED BY C. DICKENS, ESQ. (Box), ILLUSTRATED BY
G. CRUIIISUANK, &C.--" This long-looked for work,"
observes the Court Journal, "has peculiar claims on pub.
lie attention. Whatever may be the future literary
achievements of the great and admirable genius whose
name it bears, nothing can deprive 'The Pic Nic Papers'
of the distinction of being the first substantive work to
which that name was attached on its issue to the world ;
all Mr. Dickens's other productions having appeared
periodically, in brief detached portions. The infinite
variety and sterling merit of these singularly entertain-
ing volumes, aided by their numerous and capital illus-
trations by George Cruikshank, • &c., ought at once to
command a place for them beside the most popular works
of the day."
TOM BOWLING, A TALE OF THE SEA, BY
CAPT. F. CHAMIER.-" Tom Bowling," says the Sunday
Times," is a novel of a very superior character. The stream
of events flows on continuously. The imagination is hurried
over half the world—rendered familiar in calm and
storm, with the ocean—with the incidents and perils of
shipwreck—with the storming of towns, and the fierce
and fiery struggles of naval engagements. Captain
Bowling is the beau ideal of a British sailor, and us he
grows up, as it were, under the eye of the reader, put-
ting forth one by one his excellent qualities, attracting
towards himself the regard of his superiors, the friend-
ship of hi equals, and the admiration of all those be-
neath him, his character alone is sufficient to communi-
cate a powerful interest•to the novel. In the course of
the narrative we catch frequent glimpses of three very
extraordinary men—Nelson, Collingwood, and Jervis,
whose approbation is made to fall like a bright stream of
sunshine on the heroic enterprises of Tom Bowling.
Their sentiments, and the lofty structure of their cha-
racter, are represented truly, and shed an historical air
over the narrative, which greatly heightens its interest."
NEW RELIC OF BußNs.—About two miles
from town stands a remarkable beachen tree, in fact, one
of the finest in the whole district, upon which various
persons have engraved their names, some so late as the
year 1808. Among the first of these stands the name
of Robert Burns, 1791, but whether carved by himself
or by some other person .it is impossible to state with
anything like certainty. From certain turns in the let-
ters, it appears very probable they were cut by the bard's
own hand.—Dumfries Courier.
QUAILS.—_A bevy of these rare and delicate
little birds were discovered a few days since, in a small
pa'..ch of wild ground near Beaulieu, on the road to
Southampton. They were taken by the parties who first
saw them to be young partridges ; hut an old sporting
officer, the moment he viewed theta, pronounced them
to be quails, he having shot numbers of them when so-
journing in the southern provinces of Spain. The above
ibird is very seldom to be met with in a wild state in this
country.

LAMBETH ItLFORM FESTIVAL.

Yesterday evening the electors of Lambeth enter-
tained at a public dinner their representatives, Messrs.
Benjamin ilawes and Tennyson D'Eyncourt, in celebra-
tion of their late triumphant return fur the Borough. The
dinner was served in the Rotunda of Vauxhall-gardens;
every disposable seat was occupied during.. the evening,
and the utmost enthusiasm seemed to pervade the Assem-
bly. A number of ladies were seated in the gallery.
Wm. HAwEs, Esq., filled the Chair. On the right of
the Chairman sat his brother, Mr. B. Hawes, M.P.; Mr.
Warburton, M.P; Mr. S. Palmer, &c.; and on the left of
the Chairman Mr. T. D'Eyncourt, M.P.; Mr. Larpent,
M.P. ; Mr. Easthope, M.P.; Mr. Morris, M.P.; Mr.
Hutton, the late Member for Dublin, &c. &c.
The dinner having been dispoSed of,
The CHAIRMAN rose to propose the first. toast on his
list—" The Queen."—(Loud and long continued cheers.)
Her Majesty had endeared herself to her people by the
interest she had ever manifested in their welfare. It was
rare in the history of any country to find a sovereign as-
sociating her cause with that of her people; and it was
this circumstance which made her present Most Gracious
Majesty the admiration not only of this country, but of
the whole civilised world. —(Great cheering.)
The toast was drank with unbounded applause.
The next toasts were " The Princess Royal ;"
" Prince Albert, and the rest of the Royal Family ; ' and
" The People, the only source of all legitimate power."
The toasts were all duly honoured. _ _ _

Mr. WARBURTON, M.P., then came forward, amidst
great cheering, to propose the health of. Mr. B. Hawes,
one of the Members for the borough. No duty, he
would assure them, could afford him a deeper or a more
sincere pleasure. He had been long and intimately ac-
quainted with Mr. Hawes, and in his belief there was
no individual in whose industry and undeviatince recti-
tude they could place a greater confidence, or who was
more worthy of representing their borough.—(Cheers.)
No gentleman had ever given him a vote who did not
anticipate how he would use it upon any one occasion,
and no one had ever, in any instance, felt disappointed
in his expectations. Consistency was the most valu-
able quality in a public man—(lsar, hear)—and
if Tories themselves respected that quality, how
much more was it entitled to the gratitude and
confidence of the friends of freedom and' of justice ?
Their Member, Mr. Hawes, had.the additional recom-
mendation of being intimately acquainted with those com-
mercial subjects which so deeply interest a metropolitan
constituency. For his (Mr. Warburton's) part he be-
lieved that out of every hundred subjects he agreed in
ninety-nine at least with their honourable representative.
He agreed with him as to the necessity of extending the
basis of popular liberty ; and he agreed with him in
supporting those commercial improvements which would
tend so materially to promote the happiness of the com-
munity, and to alleviate the distresses of the English
people.. With the utmost pleasure, therefore, he pro-
posed the health of their esteemed representative, B.
Hawes, Esq.—(Loud cheers,)
The toast was drank with great enthusiasm.
Mr. B. HAWES was loudly cheered in rising to respond
to the toast.—He was happy to find that after having
served them in Parliament, at least consistently, upon
the principles he professed, they still continued to him
their confidence.—(Hear, hear.) Anxious as he was
upon that occasion to give expression to that gratitude,
which naturally filled his bosom when he saw so large an
assemblage of the electors of Lambeth met for the
purpose of celebrating the late triumph of, reform in
the borough—anxious as he was to express to them his
acknowledgments for the honour they had done him,
he would tell them, as he had often told them before,
that the best thanks he could offer them would be the
consistent advocacy of the principles upon which he had
sought their suffrages.—(Cheers.) Of personal obliga-
tions to the electors he had many to acknowledge—the
kindness, the disinterestedness, the zeal, the labour, and
the anxiety which numbers of those around him had en-
countered, in order that he might have the honour of
representing them in Parliament, might indeed well de-
serve a grateful return. But he knew them well—he
knew they were men of principle, and upon principle
alone he would address them ; and he should thank them
by the services which, in his public capacity, he should
endeavour to perform.—(Loud cheers.) They all knew
that, at the recent election, they were somewhat taken
by surprise ' • and he understood that Mr. Baldwin, who
had been his opponent upon the occasion, had been
pleased to say that he had pulled down his ma-
jority.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") But he would tell
Mr. Baldwin, that he should ever look in vain for
the suffrages of the electors of Lambeth. He would
answer for the zeal—the unpurchaseable zeal of the
electors of the borough, in upholding the cause of Re-
form, of which he (Mr. Hawes) was the humble and un-
worthy representative.— (No, no.) He believed that
if the Tories ever again showed their faces upon the
hustings—and he was told that they would, cost what
it might—he believed that they would, in such a case,
be defeated by a sufficient number of votes (if votes
would satisfy them) to deter them from ever again con-
testing the borough.—(Hear, hear.) He had heard,
however, cost what it might—that was the phrase—they
would again endeavour to return a Conservative Mem-
ber for Lambeth. Yes, cost what it might, " there was
the rule."—(Hear, hear.) Now what did it cost his
Right Hon. Friend and himself during their late can-
vass ? Nothing but thanks.—(Great cheering.) And
he would tell their opponents that they might open their
purses in that enlightened borough, but that they would
only meet with indignant reproofs.—(Hear, hear.) He
was perfectly aware that in some cases he might have
given votes displeasing to some among his constituents ;
and every effbrt had been made in consequence to pre-
judice him in the eyes of many of his supporters. And
what was the result ? Why he had again, by a most
triumphant majority, been entrusted with the honour of
representing the borough in Parliament.—(Cheers.)
The history of the past, however, would teach them in
future, even upon the rumour of a dissolution, to prepare
for the contest.—(Hear, hear.) They were now on the
eve of the meeting of a new Parliament, and, peradventure,
a new Ministry. When he had, upon a former
occasion, stood a candidate for the borough in the
year 1835, he had offered himself in opposition to
a Tory Government headed by Sir Robert Peel ; and he
was likely, in conjunction with his lion. Friends around
him, to be opposed to Sir Robert Peel in the newly
elected House of Commons. He had, since he first soli-
cited their suffrages, lost none of his hostility to the
principles of Toryism. A better acquaintance with the
men, a more close examination of their principles, and a
deeper knowledge of the interest they had in opposing
the interests of the people—(Hear, hear)—had not in-
duced him to waver in the slightest degree in giving his
determined opposition to the policy which they invariably
pursued. He thought they were entitled to ask what
course he meant to adopt upon the great questions likely
to arise in the ensuing Session, and he should willingly
give them every explanation upon the subject. Let him
say, in the first place, that the expectations of the people
in the Parliament that was about to assemble were great.
Their friends were no doubt in a minority, but they
looked to their energy and perseverance to supply their
inferiority in numbers ; and, for his part, he believed
that there was a spirit among them which would make
the minority on the occasion almost a governing party.
—(Cheers.) The public would expect in future some-
thing more than the mere struggle of parties—they
would not be content to look on while

"Tories mar what Whigs have scarce begun,
And Whigs undo what Whigs themselves have done."
They would expect, and justly upon the part of their re-
presentatives in Parliament, steadfastness of action and
earnestness of purpose ; and even if those representa-
tives failed they should not at least fail from a want of
honesty and exertion.—(Hear, hear.) For his part he
did not know any subject upon which his constituents
were not already acquainted with his sentiments. Upon
the great question 0' trade he was an out-and-out free
trader.—(Loud and long continued cheering.) And he
was attached to the principle of free-trade because he
believed it was based upon justice and upon truth, be-
cause every effort they made to place their commercial
legislation upon a sound basis was an effort towards
placing the legislation, aye, and the taxation of the coun-
try upon an honest basis—(Cheers)--and because while
any set of men put their hands into their neighbours'
pockets he held them to be neither more nor less than
men voting dishonestly for selfish purposes.—(Hear')
His Hon. Friend had stated that in ninety-nine ques-
tions out of a hundred they were agreed ; but he, for
his part, should be at a loss to find out the hundredth
upon which they differed. He agreed with his Hon.
Friend in thinking that the Reform Bill was a measure
in which they might introduce important improvements.
He was an advocate, -too, for the removal of every enact-
ment which interfered with the honest exercise of the
franchise.—(Cheers.) He was therefore for vote by
Ballot.—(Renewed cheers.) He should not feel satis-
fied until two things were accomplished through the in-
strumentality of the Radical party in Parliament—the
first of which was the abolition of Ecclesiastical Courts;
and the second was the total abolition of Church-rates.--
(Loud and long-continued cheers.) He had ever been a
friend to the principle of religious liberty ; and he was
most anxious that they should all join heart and hand
with their fellow-labourers, the Irish Liberals, in ob-
taMing a repeal of the grievances of the Irish people.—
(Cheers.) This was a time at which the English people
ought to arise and proclaim with one voice that no Go-
vernment should rule in Ireland which was not based
upon the affections of the people.—(" Hear, hear," and
loud cheers.) They ought to support the great leader
of the Irish nation who had ever been the advocate of
justice and of liberty for his country. His Right Hon,
Colleague and himself were heartily united in principle,
and they would continue to be so united, and to struggle
in the same cause as long as they had the honour of
representing the Electors of Lambeth. He should ob-
serve, in addition, that if the Tories when in power
proposed just and honest measures, they should have the
cordial support of the Liberal party. And if Sir Robert
Peel should again play the tergiversator, they would
offer him no opposition. If the Tories proceeded upon
the principle of justice and of true policy all would
rally round them, and endeavour to make England a
State,— _ _ _

" Where wealth and commerce lift their golden heads,
And o'er our labours, liberty, and laws,
Impartial watch ; the wonder of the world."
The Hon. Gentleman then concluded by thanking the
friends around him for the many favours he had received
at their hands.

Mr. LARPENT then proposed the health of Mr. T.
D'Eyncourt—a gentleman whom be bad known and re-
spected through life—who had been the companion of
his youth, and the friend of his riper years.
The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm.

Mr. T. D'ErNcounT ackuo—wledged the toast, but in
so low a tone of voice that he was totally inaudible
throughout his speech. He felt duly grateful for the
honour which the electors of Lambeth had conferred
upon him, and he should endeavour to acknowledge his
sense of the favour by a due discharge of his public duty.
With respect to the position of the Liberal party, he was
far from entertaining feelings of despair ; and he be-
lieved that if they remained true to themselves their
cause would ultimately triumph.