The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-08 00:00:00

THE RAILWAY PIONEER.

The claims of Thomas Gray, the far-seeing projector
of that magnificent system which is now bringing into
close communication the most remote parts of the king-
dom, are daily gaining on public attention.
In the Railway Record of last Saturday appears the
first of a series of articles entitled "memorial of Thomas
Gray, the pioneer of the railway system," and intended
to set forth the special and peculiar claims which Mr.
Gray has on the railway world. We give the following
extract:--" In the short space of nineteen years—dating
from the first-fruits of the new system in the incorpora•
tion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company
—we have upwards of eighty railways either completed
or in progress in this country, involving a capital exceed-
ing eighty millions sterling. We have seen, in the Par-
liamentary session of 1845, an array of schemes with a
capital amounting to ninety-six millions. We have had
in the session which has just closed a capital involved in
the railway department of legislation at present beyond
the reach of accurate estimate—vast manifestations of
the enterprise of the age. Grand though the result—
equalling the wealth-creating powers of the genii and
enchanters of Eastern romance—not less strange and
true is the fact that the name of him who designed it is
unknown to the world, That man was Thomas Gray,
whose claims as the great Pioneer of the Railway
System it is the aim of these memorials to set forth, as a
humble call on the gratitude of his fellow-countrymen."
The remainder of the paper is occupied with a brief
sketch of the rude state of the rail or tram-way at the
time Mr. Gray directed his enlightened and ingenious
mind to the subject. In their next number they propose
to narrate the first labours of Mr. Gray.
From the same paper we also extract the following
very gratifying paragraph We are glad to learn
that the gentleman whose letters strongly advocating the
claims of Thomas Gray, recently appeared in our
columns, has after much labour, established the nucleus
of a plan having for its object to secure some testimony
of public gratitude to cheer the declining days of that
ill-requited individual. The plan will, in a few days, be
submitted to the various Railway Boards in the king-
dom; and we hope, and confidently believe, that it will
not be so submitted in vain."

TEE NATIONAL GALLERY AS IT OUGHT TO BE.--=-
For many years I have been struck with the fine vista
obtained by lookin4 from the rooms of the national col-
lectinh across the central space, when the Royal Academy
Exhibition has lx:en open ; the effect of the troupes of
persons, the rich colouring of the pictures, as seen
through only four columns,.suogested to my mind how
very fine that effect might be made by throwing the
whole of the rooms into one unbroken series. The ad-
vantage of removing the partitions of the small rooms is
at once seen by a reference to the spot, and if it should
be thought advisable to have some of the rooms larger
than any at present (which is a doubtful experiment),
that object can be obtained by taking away some of the
party walls. The accommodation for the annual ex-
hibition may be thus reckoned :—tti o picture rooms,
each about 55 feet by 44 feet ; four rooms about 48
feet by 35 feet ; and two rooms 48 feet by 30 feet ;
besides the two small octagonal rooms, and the central hall
100 feet long and 48 feet wide ; affording a more ample
space than hitherto allotted for the display of the three
sister arts, one of which, architecture, has been always
confined within scanty limits.— The Builder.
Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colonial
office from the Governor of Gibrultan