The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-19 00:00:00

THE GREAT FRENCH NORTHERN
• - -

sandsngtiration of the Great French Northern Railway,
Ony, hae excited very lively emotion in Paris—an
eincition'aihiCh is shared, we are sure, by the whole of the
vast district through which that line of 300 miles passes.
The emotion to.which we allude must not be understood to
have its source in mere. prospects of gain, promising as they
may be. ' There iS; for the. French public, a more gratifying
view of the matter than even this, to understand which we
must look a few years back. When the Soult-Guizot Ad-
ministration came into power,
_nearly six years ago, there
Were not thirty Miles of railway in the broad realms of
France; she was, with regard to railway communication,
not only behind all civilised Europe aad America, but put
to shame by little Belgium at her own door. Nor was
there the slightest promise afforded of a disposition to
shake off this almost- middle-age state' of haekwardness.
Nay, worse than that, thaceuntry of the revolution of 1789,
and of the monarchy of July, had returned to the
exploded system of fortification applied to a capital
of a million of souls. While the rest of the world
was swept into the current of newly-created enterprise,
France was obstinately furbishing her rusty armour, and
bolting and barring her doors upon her stagnant and profit-
less treasures, when all around were stripping fir the race,
and invoking light and air for cheerful and peaceful ontests.
With 6,000,0004 sterling pledged forwalls and' fortcresses—
with we know not how many millions engaged for war pur-
poses of all kinds—with a nation excited by its own work,
fancifying itself offended, and bound to a quarrel—an active
Oppcsition—an envenomed press--the Soule Guizot Minist
had to begin their work ; and what was the business they ry
had to do? They had to create what was then unknown in
France—the system of associating citizens for public works.
The greatest financial operation At that time conceivable to
the public was a loin, and all political financial experiment
*as bounded by a conversion of the Five per Cents.
The idea of a public road being undertaken by any
executed under any other eye than that of the engineers
es
other being than the Minisb e d:s TravaierPeblies, or
des punts et chausse , never entered the head of a
minds by healthful em-
people nursed in' the lap ofcehnatbraitlist,aftiotnai,linTgoancuirnetethreisstdein
their own business—to divert their e
feet—to give the people the
ployment from an eternal brooding over the injuries inflicted
by a Goyerninent who would not let them loose upon Europe,
the Cabinet conceived the happy thought of erecting the Eng-
lish mode— if we may so call it—upon the foundation already
existing at home; and by the law of June, 1841, a Bill,
marking out four great trunk lines, was submitted to the
Chambers. According to this law the Government was
authorised to undertake at once the whole of the prelimi-
nary works, leaving to companies, to be accepted by public
h e li
adjudication, the placing of the rails and the working of
tnes. As
Government had soon as the principle originated by the
worked its way into the public mind —and it took two years more even to do that--aided un-
questionably first by the success of the Rouen, and after-
wards by tie Orleans line, the reaction was as violent as the
stagnation had been complete. Companies sprang up in
scores, and the new care imposed upon the Government was
to manage and direct the ardour which it had altogether
called into life- Whatever evils may have sprung up by the
side of good, the good itself was great and most wholesome.
The feeling was like the discovery of a new sense. People
ilea there were other stimulants than war. Peace,
too, had been stainless eunqueata•, victories Oyez time and
space were seen to be worthy of men. Tribute paid by
pleasure-seeking strangers, or merchants diffusing wealth,
was neither despicable nor inglorious. Meetings of direc-
tors were better than councils of war, and a plan for
carrying a railroad instead of an army into the heart of a
neighbouring -country not unworthy the generals whose
swords were turned into ploughshares—steam and elec-
tricity, science and commerce, free intercourse, just ex-
change, honourable profits, bold speculation, and well-
conceived enterprise were found no bad substitute for all the
pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war. France, too,
began to be ashamed of her backwardness, and so eagerly
irnae,ilrmoandi
which
ho raks sp
rboeme np t
epdu r souue dr
retmhaart
ks,thihsastibreeeant
eN haveon
ir
pt
eet
Act of 1841, at a cost of 180,000,000 of francs. Those who
trnheeZ within four years from the passing of the general
have taken the trouble of fallowing us thus far will under-
stand why the opening of ,this railway has been marked as
the occasion of a public rejoicing. We hear of flags and
banners, and discharges of cannon, and dinners, and public
balls—of a King meeting the new invader on the threshold
of his dominions, and greeting the conqueror, who is no less
the conquered, for the victory is mutual. Cond6 opened a
siege to the sound of violins; why should not festivity mark
these more happy triumphs of these our own times? The
true victors are Soult and Guizot and Damon, and as such
they will b.e hailed by the electors in the appeal now about
to be made to them for their ratification of the prolific peace
deeds of the pre.sent Parliament—Herald.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
BRISTOL, JCNE 18.
STOCK EXCHANGE.-The sales are- Bristol and Exeter, New, 10--
Caledonian, 134-Midland, New, 31%.
LIVERPOOL, Jura 18.
NEW STOCK EXCHANGE.-The Share Market Continues firm, and
a slight improvement is manifest. The sales are-Birkenhead, Lan-
cashire, and Cheshire Junction, 1/. Is. 6d. p.-Derby and Crewe, 31. 16s.
3d. p.-Eastern Counties, York Extensions, 18s. 6d. p.-Grand Junc-
tion. 224-Great Grimsby and Sheffield, Extension, 134 dis.-Hud-
derstield and Sheffield, 5 p.-Leicester and Bedford, Is. 6d. db.--
Liverpool and Bury; 8 p.-Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston, 13s.
6d. p.-London 'and Birmingham, Quarter Shares, 27 p.-London
and Brighton, 6534-Manchester and Birmingham, 82-Ditto Quar-
ter Shares (B), p. -Manchester and Southampton, %
Stock, 40/. Shares, 13% p.-North Staffordshire, 16s. 6d. p.-
North Union Stock (A), 209-North Western, par-Preston and
Wyre, Half Shares, New (B), 4 p.-Sheffield and Manchester Quarter
Shares, No. 2, 14 p.-Soutb-Esstern, 'New, Halt Shares, 4 West Riding Union, 214 p.- Caledonian, .334 -Dutch Rhenish, 1.7 p,
MANCHESTER, JricE 18.
STocK EXCHANGE. -The sales are Br Stamford, and Bir-
mingham, dis.-Cheater and Manchester Direct, 245. 6d. db.-.
Clitheroe'Junction, l•2s. dia.-Derby and Crewe, 4 P.-Eastern Coun-
ties, York Extension, 1 p.-Leicester and 13edford, 1-16 dis.- Liver-
pbol, OrMskirk, and Preston, 13-16 p.-Manchester, Buxton, Mat-
lock, and Midis. 'd, c p.-Manchester and Birmingham, Quarters
(B), i, p.-Ditto, ditto (C), 6% p.-North Eastern, 1 11-16 dl.
-North Staffordshire, 3% p.- Preston and Wyre, Halves (B), p.
-Sheffield and LincolnshireJunction, par-South-Eastern and Dover„
Halves (No 4), 4s. p.- South Midland, 34 die,-Welsh Midland, 1
dis. -West Lancashire Coast, % dis.-West Riding Union, 2 3-16-
Dutch Rhenish,- I p.
LEEDS, .I"rws 18.
STOCK EXCITAXGK.--Ille sates arc-Eastern counties, York Ex-
tension, 20s. p.-East Lancashire, 2,Ssi ~- .Fork
and Sheffield,
p.-Leeds and Bradford, 263„; p.-Lceds and Dewsbury, 134 p.-
Leeds and Thirsk, 5) dis.-.Neweastle and Berwick, 10 p.-North
British, Carlisle Branch, 9s. 6d. p.- Clitheroe Junction, 235. dis.-
Leicester and Birmingham, 17s. Ormskirk, and Pres-.
Ils. p. -London and Portsmouth, 10s. dis.-London and Man-
chester (Rem.), 395. dis.-Manchester. Buxton, 3latlock, and land, Ids. p.-Northumberland and Lancashire Junction, Iss. 9d.
dis -North Staffordshire, 31. 16s. p.-North Western, Is. 6d. p.-
Oxford, Wituey, and Cheltenham, 20s. dis.-Shrewsbury and Bir-
mingham, par-South Midland, 15s. dis.-- West Riding Union, 41. 4s.
SHEFFIELD, Just 18.
STOCK ERMA/MI.-The sales are-London and Croydons . Sheffield and Manchester, Quarter Shares, No. 3 (scrip), 2s. 6d. p.-
Grimsby and Sheffield Extension, 225. dis.-Leeds, Wakefield, and
Midland, 17s. dis.-Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston, 10s, p.-Shef-
field and Lincolnshire Extension, 20s. dis.-Sheffield, Buxton, Leek,
Potteries, and Crewe, 13s. 6d. dis.