The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-15 00:00:00

the Surrey
the foot of Chi,

communication fia.
is ample accommodat.
iug another within a sk

Why the new bridgL
present -site of Westminstc.
A. new bridge might be cons..
of the present bridge, and the is

-* T ;,;';

ZO

the new one is erected, as was ch.
iridge. By removing Westminster-b..
view from which a perspective view e.
the new Houses of Parliament, will be\
before stated, all tl;e elaborate and m
and decorations will not be seen. To gets \,4o.s„,,.tinhee
grand facade, we shall be obliged to go in o /
eiver steamers, and catch a transient glimpse as the ves-
sel passes along.
sueiCaarsle= sitizTtphoese(rdesttrhuact,tioPriarla
.anidmdeon:p:hialtl sa
nction
such cuat of all
the valuable interests conn,,eted with th
perty in Westminster and Lunbetit?
cause another bridge to be
fhe'public, somewhere elm
which must follow if Wt
from the present site."
There had been some talk of their lr:ving a
from Lambeth Palace, but that w, old be no col
don for their old Westminster-bride-e.
Mr. WisnAw seconded the re,;iution, ss the repre•
semu,:ive of many of the lessees of properiy Ll the neigh-
bourhood of Westminster-bridge. Ile d-usted that the
most determined opposition would be mad, by the in-
habitants of that district 'to the removal of the bridge
from its present site.

the t

thc,

pro-
Ltely
se of

lent IiOUSPS,
be removed

bridge
pensa-

After a few observations from Mr. EDWARDS,
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution to the meeting, and
declared it to be carried unanimously.
Mr. WILKINSON moved the next resolution. The duty
I hat be had come there to perform, he was happy to
say, was far lighter than he had expected; before he
heard the. speech of their worthy Chairman, and of his
friend, Mr. Grissell. He had expected that they,would have
had to encounter the opposition of the Government, and
also, that of the architect of the newliouses of Parliament.
Their worthy Chairman had, however, told them, and
his authority was of great weight, that the Government
would only study tlic wishes of the public—(Hear, hear)
—and Mr. C4rissell had stated that Mr. Barry did not
wish the removal of the site of Westminster-bridge.
Their forefathers had, after great consideration, fixed
upon the site of the present bridge, and if that site was
of importance then, that importance had been increased
a hundredfold at the present day.—(Hear, bear.) He
believed that the present site of Westminster-bridge
was the best that could be adopted, and
that to leave it a blank, and erect the bridge
elsewhere, was a matter of equal impossibility.
and impolicy.—(Hear, hear.) The adoption of such a
course would be attended with the greatest inconveni-
ence, and would prevent all access to the inhabitants of
that locality to the Courts of Law and to the Houses of
Parliament. As to what had been said by Mr. Edwards
as to the course pursued by their worthy Chairman in
the Committee on Westminster-bridge in the House of
Commons, he must allow him to say that there was not
a single syllable in the report to which he had referred
against the bridge being rebuilt on the present site.—
(Hear, hear.) He hoped that with respect to that Mr.
Edwards was now satisfied that he had found out a mare's

nest. Well, but if the Government were satisfied with
the present site of the bridge ; and if Mr. Barry was
content with it the question then was, who had origi-
nated the idea of its removal, and what was the object
of doing so ?—(Hear, hear.) He thought both these
questions might be'answered, by reference to a letter in
the Times of that day. That letter afforded a clue to
who the parties were that were promoting it, and what
was their object, because that letter called upon the
public not to give, at their own expense, an easier ap-
proach to the South-Western Railway to a proposed ter-
minus in the neighbourhood of Charing-cross.—(Hear,
hear.) If the chairman would only stand by them in-
Parliament, in the way he had promised, he could assure
him they would stand by him, and by that means give an
opportunity to their descendants of exclaiming that
Westminster-bridge occupied the same site it had stood
upon for centuries. Mr. Wilkinson concluded by
moving the following resolution:—" That the report of.
the Select Committee appointed by the House of Com-
mons to consider the subject, contains the most ample
and satisfactory reasons why the present site of West-,
minster-bridge should be preserved, and no additional
bridge erected at Charing Cross, and that an inspection
of the Map of London demonstrates to conviction,:that
no portion of the river presents a point of crossing more
adapted to the general convenience of the public in con.
nexion with existing bridges than the present site of
Westminster-bridge."
Mr. WILTSHIRE seconded the resolution. While he
admitted that the present bridge ought to came down, he
thought it would be most unjust to alter the site, as
thereby the whole of the traffic would be diverted from'
its present current to Charing. cross.—(Hear, hear.).
He thought that the inhabitants of that side of the water
had strong cause to go to Parliament and oppose the
proposed measure for the erection of a new bridge to
Charing-cross.
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution to the meeting,
and declared it to be carried unanimously.
Mr. CHRISTIE moved the next resolution—" That
a committee be appointed to carry out the foregoing
resolutions, and that petitions to the Houses of Parliament
he prepared under their direction, and that the commit-
tee be authorised to take all necessary means for oppo-
sing the proposed Bill in Committee, as well as petition-
ing each House, and that subscriptions lists be immedi-
ately opened to defray the necessary expenses." He
called upon the inhabitants to exert every nerve, and
1, ave no endeavour unemployed to prevent the measure
passing, for they might depend upon it if they did not,
they would find on some fine morning Westminster-
bridge had disappeared and not a wreck of it was left
behind.—(Laughter.)
Mr. WOoIIALL seconded the resolution, which
The CHAIRMAN declared to be carried unanimously.
The committee having been appointed,—
Mr. WILRINsuN proposed a vote of thanks to their
worthy chairman. Having to fight a difficult battle,
he could assure them he did not wish a better leader.
The motion having been carried unanimously,
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks. The present meet-
ing and its results were of no ordinary kind ; they were
of the deepest importance to the neighbourhood in which
they then were. He hoped, 'therefore, that they would
rally round the committee, and enable them to fight
their battle ably in the House of Commons.—(Cheers.)
He was happy to have the son of an old friend of his,
the late Sir Matthew Wood, with them. With such
materials, and a good cause, they were sure to succeed,
and he could assure them that upon any occasion when
the committee required his services, he should be happy
to afford them.—(Hear.) In parting, he would only
say, that if they continued to display the energy they
had shown that night, they would be sure to succeed.
The meeting then broke up.

Miss BURNEY'S DIARY AND LETTERS.—The
seventh and concluding volume of this work, just pub-
lished, possesses even more interest than any of the pre-
ceding. The work stands at the head of this class of
English literature. Wholly different from the diaries
of Evelyn and Pepy's, or the letters of Walpole and
Lady Wortley Montagu, it possesses in 'a high degree
some of their best qualities. The great charm of Madame
D'Arblay's Diary and Correspondence is to be traced to
their good sense and ingenuousness. They are perfectly
frank and open-hearted. The air of a Court had not
spoiled her natural character. Madame D'Arblay had
the good fortune to mix largely froni the beginning with
the most distinguished persons of her time. She was
admitted to a closer view of the domestic life of the
Royal Family than almost anybody else, and her literary
reputation drew around her crowds of people celebrated
for taste and genius. These circumstances contribute
to confer a peculiar value upon the materials of which
the work is composed.
rFOfißuDingF-AuCpTlboßdgYinGgllthLsou.s—es
taken for GlRLS.—Steps
st
haersee nowoperatives.being
of fitting-up one lodging-house in a commodious manner,A party ofgentlemen have undertaken the responsibility
where a number of factory girls will be lodged in a,
comfortable manner, and cheaply.—Leeds Mercury.
Aathwon..—On Monday last, at two A.M., a slight,
shock of earthquake was felt in this town. It was
attended with a very slight tremor and a terrible noise
like the rolling of several carriages, ending in a whiz-
zinLY, sound. It took an horizontal direction over the
west part of the town. The cattle in the neighbourhood
where the shock was felt seemed terrified, and ran to
and fro. As this phenomenon is always preceded and
succeeded by frequent and singular appearances, such
was the case here ; a variety of meteors was witnessed
in the early part of the week, one in particular, which
was stationary for two minutes, and ran its course due
north, where it burst with a rippling noise.—Carnarvon
Herald.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FRENCH THEATRES FOR
THE RELIEF OF THE Pooh.—The theatres, balls, con-
certs, exhibitions, and other places of public entertain-
ment in Paris, are made to contribute a certain propor-
tion of their receipts towards the relief of the poor of the
city. The amount of the fund obtained from this source,
in 1845, was 1,046,526 fr., viz.:—Opera (including
23,335 fr. for the balls), 115,4171 r.; Opera Comique,
71,626 fr.; Fran9ais, 48,936 fr.; Italian, 90,538 fr.; Odloon„
9,727 fr. Gymnase, 54,049 fr. ; Vaudeville, 50,808 fr.;
Varietis, 65,208 fr.; Palais Royal, 43,437 fr.; Porte Saint
Martin, 76,650 fr.• Ambigu, 49,634 fr.; Gaits, 46,188 fr.;
Circus, '
88,178 fr. ; Polies Dram atiques, 29,895 fr.•, Delasse-
jeens, 15,433 fr.•, Beaumarchais, 10,440 fr.; Panth Son,
i,172 fr. ; Palais Ench anti, 1,188 fr.; Saint Laurent, 10fr.;
Cirque Blendin, 446 fr.; Funambues, 7431 fr.; Luxem-
bourg, 8,054 fr. ; Comte, 7,111 fr. ; Lazary, 4,620 fr. ; Ombres
Chinoises, 600 fr.; Gymnase Pittoresque, 370 fr.; Chants-
reine, 810 fr.; Ecole Lyrique, 170 fr.; Robert Houdin,
2,895 fr.; Salle Vivienne, 7,128 fr.; various concerts,
28,752 fr.; various balls, 82,334 fr.; gardens and Wes,
4,844 fr.; dioramas, panoramas, aze., 3,8541 r.; cafés and
evening entertainments, 190 fr.; Assents d'Armes, 133 fr.;
various exhibitions, 21,268 fr. ; Guinguet infra mums,
3,964 fr. _ _

CAPTAIN WARNER.—In allusion to the reports
which were circulated last week, of the failure of Cap-
tain Warner's " long range," the
.Naval and Military
Gazette says—" So far from Captain Warner's having
failed lin his experiments, he performed them, notwith-
standing considerable obstacles, to the perfect demon-
stration of his ability to carry out his designs, as we
will before long, when disclosure of facts and figures is
allowable, abundantly prove. But while the subject is
yet under the consideration of the highest officer of
Government; adhuc sub judice lis est, we do not deem it
decorous to enter into details."

COBDEN AND BRIGHT TESTIMONIALS.—The SUP/
cf 3811. has been subscribed by Bradford gentlemen to
Mr. Cobden's testimonial, and 1611. to Mr. Bright's.
The latter, under the circumstances, is considered is
very favourable index of public feeling here to
Bright. The subscriptions are far from being closed.
Leeds Mercury.