The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-20 00:00:00

the year, was of far more vital importance than such
sport. When he looked at the facilities which would be
afforded for the importation of fuel and-the exportation
of produce, he thought they had reason to rejoice that a
railway was about to be formed near their town. Under
these circumstances, having determined that the line
would be beneficial, he trusted that the inhabitants of
Wantage would give the scheme as much encouragement
as they possibly could."—(Cheers.)
I admit—and having quoted the sentiments' of Mr.
Towle and Mr. Goodlake, I am perfectly willing to do
so—that the proposed line passes materially over an agri-
cultural district, but by no means over an unbroken one.
The town of Abingdon, neglected in an unaccountable
manner by railway proprietors and promoters, cannot be
considered as a purely agricultural town. There are
two highly. respectable manufacturing and trading esta-
blishments there, employing between them (as I have
been personally informed by their proprietors) not less
than one thousand five hundred hands ; and there are
moreover, between thirty and forty persons of respecta-
bility engaged as master manufacturers. In the article
tonnage alone the inhabitants of Abingdon would be
benefited to a very great amount by the proposed line,
which would bring a railway close to their town, instead
of requiring them, as at present, to send their goods to a
station between three and four miles distant. The
pitched market, established within the last twelve months,
at Wantage, arid which is steadily improving, owes much
of its prosperity to railroads, being regularly attended by
dealers from remote parts of the country, who would
never otherwise have dreamt of dealing in corn there.
At Salisbury, in consequence of the same expectant faci-
lities, it is also contemplated to establish a pitched market,
and the inhabitants of that ancient city look forward
anxiously to the advantages to be conferred upon them
by railways, for enabling them to resume the exercise of
their almost unequalled water-power, and again to flou-
rish in those manufactures of cutlery and flannels for
which they were formerly,most justly famed. .
The lines of railway in progress and projection will
necessarily make Oxford to the north, and Salisbury to
the south of " the suggested line," two points from
whence radii will diverge like the outspread fingers cf
the human hand. From the manufacturing districts of
Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, Warwick-
shire, Staffordshire, and Norfolk (to some extent)—
from the mineral, and especially the coal regions of
South Wales, Staffordshire, and several of the midland
counties, the products of industry will, by means 'of
the proposed railway and its adjuncts, be brought at a
much reduced price into this " agricultural district,"
whilst the produce of a land whose capabilities of pro-
duction remain to be tested, will be unmeasurably aug-
mented in the staple articles both of food and clothing,
the means of transit diminished in time and expense;
and the private property which the members of the
late meeting weakly imagine would, be sacrificed, will
be (as has always in similar cases been proved) very
largely increased.

It appears, however, in the opinion of those gentle-
men, that " the scheme in question is a mere wanton
speculation-of the day, possessing neither merit in itself
nor a reasonable prospect of a return for capital required
for the undertaking." They have a perfect right, I ad-
mit, to entertain this opinion, but, as I will presently en-
deavour to show, they have no right to publish it. They
do not, I apprehend, imagine that any persons of the pre-
sent day are so deeply imbued with the principles of
universal philanthrophy as to construct a railroad at their
personal expense, for the mere satisfaction of confehing
a material advantage upon the town of Wantage and its
neighbourhood, highly respectable as the inhabitants
undoubtedly are. They cannot, I should suppose,' con-
ceive that modern benevolence is so universal as to in-
clude their " unbroken," and, as some people believe,
neglected " agricultural district" in a rapidly advabcing
system of general utility, without thinking that thq pro
motors of an honourable, useful, and, as has been shown,
highly approved project, may also look forward to an
honest participation in the general good. The principles,
however, upon which this railway has been brought for-
ward, were ably and truly developed by the Chairman of
the Committee of Management. at the meeting held at
%Vantage, on the sth of November:--
" He assured the meeting that it was the determina-
tion of the directory to carry out the measure if they
possibly could. It was a bona fide scheme, and the Di-
rectors proved it to be so by their acts ; they were not
asking persons to furnish them with money, taking the
chance of having it returned, but they had themselves
provideii the necessary funds for carrying on the sur-
veys and preparing the necessary parliamentary docu-
ments. Their engineer was bound to finish the survey
in proper time, and would be a loser to the extent of
1,0001. if he failed to do so. He was, therefore, bound
by his own interest, as well as for the sake of his pro-
fessional reputation, to finish the survey by the time ap-
pointed. He could assure the meeting that every atten-
tion would be paid to laying out the line, it being mani-
festly the iut• rest of the promoters of the line to inter-
fere as little as possible with valuable property." ' •
In corroboration of this statement, I have only to re-
mark that the principles thus laid down have been acted
upon to the letter; the whole of the Parliamentary
plans, sections, and books of reference have been depo-
sited in all the necessary offices, and with all the ap-
pointed authorities ; the requisite notices have beer,
served upon the landowners, lessees, and occupiers
(hence these tears!), and all the standing orders'have
been fully complied with.
, The sneer which the gentlemen of the late meeting
have thought fit•to introduce by way of " sting in the
tail" of their resolutions is utterly unworthy of fair and
honourable opponents, I allude to the original inser-
tion of the names of persons in the list of the provi-
sional committee. To say the least of it, the charge is
deplorably stale, and, in the terms used, it is not true.
It was, however fully and satisfactorily explained, both
at the meetings I have above referred to and in the pub-
lic press. I refer your readers to that faithful record of
daily occurrences, which in these days of enlightenmerA
and intelligence seldom errs—l believe I may say, never
materially errs without detection and exposure,
There is something justly imposing in the resolutions
of a public meeting, and a very large majority of your
readers would believe that those to which I have taken
the liberty to refer, were passed in such an assembly.
The formula which they adopt, the functionaries whom
they appoint, the style of serious business which they as-
sume, impress the mind with imaginary multitudes, im-
portance, and solemnity. A resolution, proposed, se-
donfled, and unanimously passed, implies, in the estimate
of the humblest understanding, an explanatory speech,
a confirmatory address, a brief appeal to surrounding
numbers from an independent president, and an un-
opposed vote carried by loud acclamation, or silent show
of hands. The excitement and exhilaration of a popular
assembly have often produced great and unexpected
effects, and in the present day, when many signal re-
sults have been worked out by means of public meet-
ings, those who desire to operate on the mind of the
many, are apt, wisely enough, to resort to this course to
effect their object. Nor is there a better expedient for
giving publicity to opinions, whether of a political ten-
dency, of local interest, or for the purpose of promul-
gating or opposing a public project,
Having thus dealt, and I hope fairly, with the resolu-
tions of the meeting, " most respectably attended by land-
owners and occupiers of land," I will say one word about
the meeting itself. I learn, from local information, that
the meeting consisted of seven gentlemen only; from the
same source, that Mr. Coxe, the chairman, is a member
of the very respectable firm of Bischoff and Coxe, the
solicitors to whose care the proceedings in Parliament in
opposition to the " Oxford and Salisbury Railway Com-
pany" are entrusted ; and I further learn that Mr. An-
sell, the secretary appointed at the meeting, is the
manager of the Wantage Branch Bank of Messrs.
Barnes and Medley (the bankers of this selkonstituteti
committee), whose principal establishment is at Far
ringdon. Let your readers glance over the names of the
.
chairman, committee, trustees, bankers, solicitors, and
secrete rayt,
tahn edo
rßt
Bear
representedhaery Iwninl findat
awat
tthnhetaat meetingt h e whoofl e
seven o f themgeni
presenttwleemreen
ge. Thus we find
Mr. Coke the united characteis of chairman, solicitor,
trustee, and committeeman; in Mr. Stone and Mr.
Roby the two latter ftinctions; and in Mr. Ansell, per-
sonally and by representation, the somewhat incongruous
duties of banker and secretary.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Z. HUBBERSTY, Secretary
Moorgate-chambers, Moorgate-street,
Jan. 19, 1846.

ATARY HOWITT'S NEW NOVEL, " THE CITIZEN
OF PRAGUE."—We gave iv., hesitation (says the John Bull)
in pronouncing The Citizen of Prague " a splendid
romance. All the rfoaracters, from the Empress Theresa and
her Minister Kaunitz, down to the faithful serving-man, are
admirfoly pourtrayed. Magda, which, after that of her
gr4fulflther, Thomas Thyrnau, has evidently received the
autbbr's most elaborate torches, is a beautiful creation.
Count Von Lacy, the Princess Morani, and the Princess
Therese, are each of them finished portraits. The deep in-
terest which the work inspires is unabated to its close. The
description of the celebrated battle which was fought under
the walls of Prague, is powerfidly told, and the famine strug-
gles of the inhabitants, skilfully interwoven with the lalt, moments of the Countess Lacy and the sufferings of Magda,
are delineated with thrilling effect.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] —l-DEFECTIVE SlOnr AND
HEARING RELIEVED, Instruments and Spectacles sent into the
country by post, 39, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, Newly-In-
vented Spectacles, Powerful Telescopes, Opera Glasses, Micro-
scopes, &e.—Patronized by his Majesty the King of Hanover,
her Grace the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, their Graces the
Archbishops of Canterbury, York, and Dublin, the Dukes of
Devonshire, Norfolk, Argyle, Marlborough, and Manchester,
Bishops of Exeter, Lincoln, Cork, Elphin and Kildare.
Messrs. S. and B. Solutions, Oculists and Opticians,
have invented Spectacle Lenses upon a new construc-
tion. Immediately they are placed before jasper-
:ect vision, either by day or candlelight, that
mist and dullness which appear before the eyes is at once
removed, and every object becomes clear and distinct, so that
the most aged defective sight becomes bright and brilliant,
and is brought to its youthful, natural, and original state. Also
the meat Powerful Achromatic Telescopes, Opera Glasses,
Microscopes, Invisible and all kinds of Acoustic Instruments
for relief of extreme deafness. Caution—Messrs. S. and B.
Solomons, Opticians, are not in any way connected with a
person of the same name in their immediate neighbourhood,
ner in any part of the country. To prevent mistakes be
cautious, and observe—Only to lie had at 39, Albemarle-street,
Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel, and 25, South Castle-
street, Edinburgh.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—CURE FOR DROPSY BY HOE-
Lovra y's PILLS AND OINTMENT.—Captain James Eyre, of
the Company's. service, residing at Boulogne, had been tapped
thrice within seven months, twelve quarts of water were taken
from him each time; notwithstanding which operations he was
about falling a vic,tim to this terrible complaint, when he com-
menced
the rubbing in of Holloway's invaluable Ointment,
nine weeks
walk
and as effectually as salt is forced into meat—besides this, he
hhim in
since to
ee
effectedtook large
so dosesexa oorfd
ihniasr
yw neduerref,u l
ast Pills,o
enablewhic
twenty-five miles in one day. Any unnatural swellings of the
body are effectually cured by these celebrated medicines. Sold
tablishment, 241, Strand, London.
by all Medicine-venders; likewise at Professor Holloway's Es-

NEW IRISH CATHOLIC BISHOP.—On Sunday next
the Right Rev. Edward Maginn will be consecrated in the
Catholic cathedral of Derry as Bishop of that diocese.—Cork
Examiner.