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 faciii ies which would he
afforded for the importation of fie 1 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
\Vantage would give the scheme as much encouragement
as they possibly could."—(Cheers.)
I admit—and having quoted the sentiments of Mr.
Towle and Mr..Goedlake, I am per!ectly 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
then one thousand five hundred hands ; and there etre
moreover, between thirty at.d forty persons of respecta-
bility engage dus 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,
ut %Vantage, and 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 edvantages to be conferee d 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)—
frem the mineral, and especielly 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 .prodPce of .a land whose capabilities of pro-
duction remain to be tested, will be unmeasurably aug-
ne, nted 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 net, 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 conferring
a material advantage upon the town of Vantage 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 advancing
system of general utility, without thinking that the pro
molt rs 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 Manweement, at the meeting held at
Wantege, on the-sth of November:—
"He assured the' meeting that it was the determina-
tion el 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
provider: 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
1,0004 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 attest •
tion would be paid to laying out the line, it being magi-
featly the jut 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 ad 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
honcurable 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-
, lie press. I refer your readers to that faithful record of
daily occurrences, which in these days of enlighteninent
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-
conded, and unanimously passed, implies, in the estimate
of the humblest understanding, an explanatory speech,
a confirmatory address, a brief appeal to surrounding
numbers frOin 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 proraul-
gating or opposing a public project,
Having thus dealt, and I hope fairly, with the resolu-
tions of the meeting, " most respectably attended byd about land-
owners and occupiers of land," I will say one word
the meeting itself. I learn, from local information, that
the meeting consisted of seven gentlemen only; from the
same sourer, 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
opposiCion to the " Oxford and Salisbury Railway Com.
pany" are entrusted ; and I further learn that Mr. An-
sel!, the secretary appointed at the meeting, is the
manager of the Wantage Branch Bank of Messrs.
Barnes and Medley (the bankers of this self•constituted
committee), whose principal establishment is at Far•
ringdon. Let Your readers glance over the names of the
chairman, committee, trustees, bankers, solicitors, and
secretary, and they will find that the whole of them
were present or represented at the meeting of seven gen-
tlemen at the Bear Inn at Wantage. Thus we find in
Mr. Coxe the united Characters of chairman, solicitor,
trustee, and committeeman; in Mr. Stone and Mr.
Roby the two latter functions; and in Mr. Ansel!, per-
sonally and by representation, the somewhatincongruous
duties of banker and secretary.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Z. HUBBERSTY, Secretary,
Moorgate-chambers, Moorgate-street,
Jan. 19, 1846.

MARY HOWITT'S NEW NOVEL, " THE CITIZEN
OF PRAGUE."—We have no hesitation (says the John Bull)
in pronouncing " The Citizen of Prague " a splendid
romance. All the characters, from the Empress Theresa and
her Minister Kaunitz, down to the faithful serving-man, are
admirably pourtrayed. Magda, which, after that of her
grandfather, Thomas Thyrnau, has evidently received the
author's most elaborate touches, 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 powerfully told, and the famine strug-
gles of the inhabitants, skilfully interwoven with the last
moments of the Countess Lacy and the sufferings of Magda,
are delineated with thrilling effect.
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•Examiner.