The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-13 00:00:00

EASTERN UNION RAILWAY.

Yesterday the new line of railway bet wei.n Colchester and
Ipswich was privately opened by its projectors, the directors
of the Eastern Union Railway Comp ore, A special train,
occupied by the directors and a party of their friends. to the
number of about 250, left the Shore,litch station at ten o'clock
A.M., and arrived at Colchester at half-past elilven. Almost
at the same moment there arrived from Ipswich a train con
sisting of fifteen carriages, all tasteuby decorated with
flag-, streamers, banners, festoons of flowers, and boughs of
laurel, and carrying two b-nds of musicians. The occu-
pants, a very large proportion of whom were ladies, were
persons residing in Ipswich and the adjoining localities, to
whom the directors handsomely accosted permission to make
a gratuitous trip on the vine. A delay of upwards of an
hour having occurred at Colchester, during which period tire
travellers from b:e.ti termini partook of refreshments pre-
pared by the din ctors with a befi,ting regard to taste and
elegance, both trains were united, and the enginemen
having, in Yankee phrase, "boiled up a good
the journey to Ipswich was performed in gallant style.
It was a curious siJ,hr, and illustrative of the times,
to see the panting brass bound engines, with their
glittering retinue of four-and-twenty coaches, in all
the beauty and the sheen" of perfect newness.
shooting along through corn-fields and grass-meadows
at the rate of five-and-thirty miles an hour, amidst.
the harmonious claneour of drum=s trumpets, and
cymbals, while flags floated joyously over head, and
the sun, who had quite a gala-day of it, beamed
gloriously all around The new line, which is, in fact, an
extension of the trunk line of the Eastern Counties Railway,
with which it joins issue at Colchester, is sixteen miles in
length. It skirts seine of the miitiles'7 demesnes in England.
and runs through a tra t of country remarkable CA. the Tien
fertility of its soil and the enchanting b .auty of its scenery.
Owing to the abruptness of the undulations, /mil the fre-
quency of their recurrence, the character of the surface is not
peculiarly favourable for the construction of a railway, hut
the skill of the engineer appears to have dealt c'everly with
every difficulty, and the power of attaining great veloci4).
is agreeably combine 1. on this line with delightful easineis
of motion and entire t.bsence of oscillation. For a long
portion of the journey the cuttings are very deep, anti the
gradient is for some miles together as deep as one in a hun-
dred. but it not unfrequentle h.:ppens that the line runs for a
long district througa table-lands, so that the ruling gradient
may on the whole be averag. d at one in the hundred arid
twenty-five. The line pass s t trough three towns, Man-
ningtre.i, Ardleigh. and Bentley, and it is in contemplation
to establish other stations besides these. The engineer of the
works is Mr. Peter Bruff. under whose superintendence they
have been executed at a cost of 2t1.0001. a mile.

The special train reached Ipswich at one o'clock, and its
arrival was hailed by the en hu-iastic acclamations of the
townspeople, who assembled at the terminus in thousands to
testily their gratification at an event to them equally novel
and interesting. The visitors repaired immediately after
their arrival to the demesne of G. 11. Gower, Esq , who
kindly placed at the di-posal of the directors during the day
his plea,ure grounds, which :ire t picturesqu-ly situAted
on the hulks of the Orwell, and on which marquees were
erected. A small steam-boat, the River Queen, was spe-
eiAlly engaged to convey the directors and their friettds
up the river t view the sailing and rowing matches. Many
hundreds availed themselves of this privilege, and the river
presentel a gay ani: animated appearance. Indeed, it is
nAthitig more than justice to the directors to admit that they
left mthing undone to promote the haoliness of their guests.
All business in Ipswich was suspended, every shop was
and there appeared to be a general understanding
that the day should be spent in eoj.hyment. In the evening
the event of the day was celebrated by a public dinner in
the k,sqmbly Rooms, White Horse Hotel. Covers were laid
for 180, and at half-pa3t five o'clock fully that number of
guests sat down to table. The entertainment was in all
respects unexceptionable, and the wines were of prime
vintage.
__

John Chevallier Cobbold, Esq., chairman of the Eastern
Union Railway Comp toy, pre-ided, a d the follow-
ing gentleman were amongst those present Mayor of
,i Ipswich. Lord Rendle,mm, M.P., G. Hu,ison Esc! , M.P.,
Captain Gladstone, 111. P., Major Li mar,. rd, M.l". , Lane Fox,
Esq., M. P , Hon, and Rev. Frederick De Grey, Hon L.
But rell, David Waddington, Esq., deputy-chairman of the
Eastern Counties Railway; John F-ottnan, E-q., deputy-
chairman of the Eastern Union Railway; the Mayor of No;•-
wich, Rev. John Fenwick, Rev. S. Croft, J. C bbold, Esq.,
sen., Messrs F. A. and G. A. Alexander, R. J Harney, Esq.,
of Norwich; F. Pratt Barlow, F.sq.. J. Orford, Esq., Jeremiah
Head, E-q., P. B. Long-. Esq., James Ponstorit,„ E-q., James
Ransome, Esq., Allen Ransome. Esq., George Josselyn, Esq.,
The Rev. J. Feirwick said grace. The dinner took place at
the Assembly-room of the White Horse Hotel, provided by
Ales: ra. Chaplin and Castle.
The cloth having been dzawn, and the usual toasts of loy-
alty hay ng been given.
Tiie CHAIRMANrop.sed the health of the representatives
of the town of Ipswich, Captain Gladstone and Mr. Lane
Rm.—(l Kind cheers.)

Captain GLADSTONE returned thanks. He felt deeply
grateful to tie committee for having afforded him an oppor-
tunity of .being present on tha , to him most interesting oc-
casion. That was hideed a great day for Ipswich.—(Cheers.)
The Colchester and Ipswicti Railway, the opening of which
they were that day met to celebrate, had not been projected
as a matter of gambling or wild speculation.---(Hear. hear.)
It was a bonri fide enterprise, as was testified by the fact that
the majority of the shareholderS were persons who resided in
Ipswich or its neighbourhood, and had a direct personal in-
terest in the pro-petity (.1 the town and the undertaking.—
(Hear, hear.) li. was not to every enterprise of this kind
that the praise could be awarded which was due to that rail-
- that It had been completed within the exact
period originally contemplated, and that the cost was within
the estimate.—(Hear, hear.) He entertained sanguine
anticipations of the success of the pr ject, and was sure that
the itily was not far distant when Ipswich would, through
its instrumentality, become as important a place as, from its
fine river and.excellent docks, it was well calculated to be.
Mr. LANE Fox also spoke to the
...

Tie CHAIRMAN prop.,..ed " The Health of Lord Rendle-
sham and E. Jherl,,ek Gooch, Esq., the reproentatives of
the Uninty."—(Cheers.)

Lord .14:spa4tAm, in acknowledging the compliment,
observed that hero wa: but one thing he regretted ia con-
nexion with the event they were assemb:ed to celebrate,
ant; that wa,, that the rail ay was not opened, as it ought
to have been, and might have been, ten )ears ago.—((liar,
hear.) lie hoped they would 5000 have a railway to Woud-
bridge.—(t: heer, )
" The health of the Earl of Stradbroke, Lord• Lieutenant of
the county," having been nruuk Lei h all ;he honours,
Tile; MAIRMAN proposed " The health of ti.e Mayor of
NorAic;;."
The MAYOR of Norwich returned thanks.

'roe CiiAiiislAN proposed "The health of George Hud-
son, E-q., M.P., Chairman of the Eastern Counties Railway
Company, awl the health of the other Directors of the Com-
-I,any." k Loud cheers.)
Mr. flunsosi returned thanks.• It had been his good for-
tune to be uni;aAutl for a very tong time in railway projects,
but he did not claim any in :tit tar himself on that account.
It was true that by close attendance to matters of detail, and
to their commercial managenteut, ne might have contributed
to the, success of such enterprises; Jut he had no right to re•
ceive, nor did he seek soy merit, for anything he had done
in promoting such um], riakiitga. At the time he first en-
gaged in the Eastein Counties Railway he had innumerable
railway enterprises on hand; in tact he was engaged in un-
de..taktegs in connexion with which there were no less then
some ::.0.000 shareholders, whose interests and earntorts ad
l it
w y of living v..ere ad- involved in the projects in Nivt hiiiec tiwas
could was bound up, and many persons might have tiw
going too far in untlei Lkinganything more, bur he
by thee
rein-e the invitation which wa, not
made to him
i portion of his
never regret the nay he had ernhat.,kee 1
direr ors of the Eastern Counties 4,d1,wa.3,-,,,
Eastern- Union Rail
and he would
tattune in that project. As !tor
wast
!hat he con•itiered
was, all' he could say 4).1. i
tf,g-ous to the public and ac
anxious wish to render it as advan . 1 B
e, trove at the greatest poihlt
it an admirable undertaking", sr,,,liiiiite.wouled
teas
sure that
lii
btleticAl to the sharelnetlets a,
sent invent which lie assnrec
e—Ea(:toeur:
roeisttsilt.l:t Ipswich, and from his heart ht
propos
service in the best
ui'n'eb;'.—itllahis brother din ctors. r
:3Cnhe:irnacilaund vet; t by
h
The tion,urable Gde,nEtlicin.
ing the heal, li a: J. C. Cobbol
tili6l)':'vt tai:L:,ia:!..litrilli)cstibauitilresCse;
Uni,,ii ilailway.—(ElititUsiaStlC plaudits. )
cheer,.)
The ClhatuNtAlc returned thanks in appropriate
proposed toe health ef " the HI 'h Steward, terms, ant.
the Mayor, ant
the Corporath.n of Ipsw:ch."—O2hee
The •• ayor of Irswlcti acknowledgedrs.)
the compliment.
Several other toasts were gi • ven aid responded
to, and the
company separated at ninet '.l k
o oc , highly gratified with the
evening's tntertainment
A brilliant display of fireworks was made o n the quay, op.
posite the Custoin-I 'and
louse, the joy-bells of the town rank
a merry peal at frequent. intervals
during
the day.
Tile visitors from London were conveyed
back by a specia,
train, which 1. f: Ipswich at half-past nine o'clock, but did not
reach Shoreditch till hall-paq one.

PoSTAGE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND LUDECIC.-ot3
Thursday a notice was posted at the General Post-office, &Martin's-
le-Grand, that on and alter the 15th instant all letters to the city of
Lubeck, direct by the litunte.rgh packets, will be charged with the
reduced British rate of 6d. per half-ounce, and 3d. the foreign com-
bined, which may or may not be paid in advance, but the British
rate alone will not be received. Letters by private ship, or by way
of Mace, Holland, or IR .:igitue. will still be subject to the existing,
*tea of postage.