The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-17 00:00:00

OPENING OF THE BEDFORD
BRANCH OF THE LONDON AND NORTH-
WESTERN RAILWAY.—(THIS DAY.)
(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
The opening of this line took place to-day. Hereto-
fore the county town of Bedford—a town of far from
inconsiderable importance—has been shut out from the
manifold advantages which accrue to all towns, whether
large or small, when connected with the net-work which
is stretching its iron fibres throughout the land, creating
towns and cities out of mere hanalets,"transplanting
trade and commerce to new sites,land carrying prospe-
rity wherever it spreads its iron arms. It was the in-
tention of the directors to have opened the line to the
public about a month ago, and all the preliminaries were
duly arranged, including a splendid dinner at Bedford,
to which a party of upwards of 200 were invited; but,
owing to a subsidence of a part of the embankment,
stretching from Bletchley towards Fenny Stratford, oc-
casioned by the extremely heavy rains at the time, the
opening was consequently deferred until to-day, and
trains will run to-morrow, for the first time, for the
conveyance of the public. A train, consisting of a con-
siderable number of carriages—from the elegant first-
class down to the humblest kind—and containing a large
number of ladies and gentlemen, and several of the
directors of the line, left Bedford shortly after twelve
o'clock to-day, and proceeded at an easy pace towards
Bletchley, where it was met by the 11, A. 31., train
from London, and the 10, a.m., from Birmingham, both
of which brought parties who had been in-
vited by the directors to witness the pleasing
ceremony of opening, for the first time, rail-
way communication between Bedford and this huge
metropolis—London! After a short sojourn the Bedford
train proceeded homewards, the accession of visitors
from London and Birmingham having nearly filled all
the available space. A finer day never dawned upon
the earth. The air was pure and delightfully invigo-
rating—a day to brace the nerves, strengthen the body,
and warm the heart. No November fog cast its gloom
over the railway pageant—all was loveliness, and ,life
and gaiety. The attention of the worlds of which Bedford
and Bletchley are the centres seemed too intent upon
the auspicious occasion to heed the ordinary affairs of
life, and holiday seemed to prevail everywhere, for as
the train wound its way along it was enthusiastically re-
ceived at the various stations by crowds of well-dressed
persons of both sexes, and by gentle rustics whose
throats seemed made for shouting, and whose hands
smote each other with a vehemence only equalled by the
blows of a sledge hammer upon an anvil. The snorting
engine as it rolled along excited much curiosity not un-
mixed with fear, but the cattle seemed to think that the
devil bad found his way amongst them, if we may judge
from the frantic manner in which the advent of the
locomotives and an herculean train was received. The
moment they heard the unmusical rattle of the wheels,
and the snort of the steam, they—to use a common ex-
pression—seemed to " annihilate time and space," so
great was their speed, in order to place themselves at a
distance from so unwelcome a visitor; it was quite
comical to see them look round in a frightened manner
after the train had shot by and was out of sight.
The line traverses perhaps the most picturesque por-
tion of the county of Bedford. The country, which is
principally agricultural, seemed from its extreme level-
ness, to have been designed by nature as that portion
through which a railway might be carried with the greatest
advantage, and at the cheapest rate; the works, a hich re-
flects great credit on the engineer and contractors, have,
therefore, been extremely light. The sod was turned in
December last, and the line was:cempletcd about a month
ago ; ten months have therefore been occupied in its
preparation. It is nearly seventeen miles in length, is a
double line, and cost, on the average, from 16,0001. to
17,000/. a mile. The gradients are those which engi-
neers denominate " first class," the steepest being only
I in 128.
The towns to which it will afford afford accommo-
dation, in addition to Bedford arid Bletchley, ore Fenny
Stratford, Woburn, Ridgmont, Lidington, and Ampthill.
The line has been leased to the London and Birming-
ham Company, who, however startling the statement
may appear, intend virtually to convey passengers over
the Bedford line for nothing ! or, to be less enigmatical,
passengers to and from any station on the Bedford branch
and on the London and Birmingham, will not be charged
anything for travelling over the Bedford branch. Thus,
for eiliample, the fares from London to Bletchley, where
the Bedford line leaves the parent trunk, being a dis-
tance of 461 miles from Ruston-square, are—first class,
Bs. 6d., second class, 6s„ and third class, 3s. I ld. No
more is charged for the conveyance of passengers to
and from any point between Bedford and London. The
journey will be ordinarily performed in about two hours
and a half. The actual distance from London to Bedford
by the railway is 63 miles, and by the ordinary road 55
miles, but the company do not intend to charge for the
circuitous route, but for, we believe, the geographical
distance. Four trains each way will commence running
to-morrow.
Now that Bedford has escaped from comparative
isolation, we doubt not but her commerce will emi-
nently flourish, and that those who promoted the line
and those who lease and,
will derive an ample return for
the outlay of their capital. Those who have offered such
liberal terms to the public, leaving the question of accom-
modation out of the que.tion, deserve the most cordial
support.
The opening of the line will be celebrated by a ban-
quet this evening at Bedford.

We understand that Mr. E. Eyre is to be appointed
Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand under Governor

Grey.
The Duke of Cornwall, Roberts master, arrived off
Dover yesterday, with her Imperial Majesty the Duchess
of Braganza on board, bound for Ostend.
We understand that arrangements are concluded
for the amalgamation of the Ipswich, Bury, and Norwich
Railway, with the Eastern Union, from Colchester to
Ipswich, by which the former company's shares are
converted into half-shares of the Eastern Union; this is
a desirable arrangement for the shareholders, as well as
the district from Colchester to Norwich, as the line will
be under one management, the Eastern Union Company ;
it is expected that the whole line down to Bury will be
opened on the Ist of December.
CRACOW, Nov. 3.—The Northern Powers have
not been slow to take advantage of the coolness which
has arisen between France and England respecting the
Spanish marriage. It is now determined, and will
speedily be officially announced, that the independence
of our city shall cease, and that the republic of Cracow
shall be swallowed up in the Austrian dominions. In
order to indemnify Russia for her loss by this arrange-
ment it has been agreed that a portion of Galicia shall
be ceded to that power. Nothing has been said of any
compensation to be received by Prussia. As the exist-
ence of Cracow as a free city was guaranteed by the
Congress of Vienna, we are anxious to learn with what
feelings the announcement of the extinction of that
existence will be received by France and England, who
were contracting' parties in the treaty, and whose views
on the subject ought first to have been ascertained by
their three northern allies. There can be little doubt
that the matter will occasion vehement interpellations
both in the French Chambers and the English Parlia-
ment, though it is equally certain that these outcries will
not secure the freedom of Cracow, which the Northern
Powers are determined to treat as a question which
concerns themselves alone, and in which they will listen
to no appeals from the rest of Europe.—Times.
FRENCH PLATS.— Iler Royal Highness the Duchess
of Cambridge, accompanied by their Serene Highnesses
the Grand Duke and Dachess of Mecklenburg Strelitz
and the Baron Koller, and attended by Mr. Edmund St.
John Mildmay, honoured the French Plays with her pre-
sence last evenieg. We observed also the Russian
Ambassador, the Baroness Brunnow, and Mademoiselle
Olga de Lechner, the Austrian Ambassador, and the
Countess Dietrichstein, Lady Augusta de Nieumann,
Lady Georgina Carrington, the Count and Countess
de Jarnac, the Baroness Rehausen, Lord and Lady
Methuen, &c.
Tx ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS.—Yesterday the fixture
was at the Black Dog, at Bedfont, where there was a
numerous field, among whom were, the Earl Granville,
several military officers from Windsor and Hounslow,
and many sporting gentlemen from town. The cele-
brated deer, Rory O'More, upon being uncarted at Bed-
font, made for the Union at Staines, over the Moor, and
away to Stanwell, taking through Sir John Gibbon's
park, and on to Longford, thence to Colebrook, and over
the low grounds of Horton Wraysbury and Ankerwyke,
crossed the Thames, near Magna Charts. Island, and
landing on Runnemede, the hounds were brought round
to the race course, over Staines-bridge, and, on being
laid on the scent, made away for Old Windsor, and over
Viscount Ashbrook's park to Priest-hill, headed back to
the Bells of Ouseley, near which place it was taken, after
a capital run of about three hours. To-morrow is a by-
day, and the meet will be at Poll-hill.
HORRIBLE SIII.IDEIN BRIDGEWATER-S(WARE.--
Yesterday considerable excitement prevailed in the im-
mediate vicinity of Bridgewater-square, Barbican, in
consequence of a dreadful case of self-destruction com-
mitted the previous night by a gentlemani named Benja-
min Crootes, who resided at No. 7 n the square. It
appears that the deceased until very recently hellersld a
lucrative situation at Harmer and Pearson s, disti,
Redcross-street, Cripplegate, but having left that house,
he had entered into business on his own account, and
was erecting a distillery a few miles from town. During
the last week or two a marked change had taken place
in his manner. On Sunday night, between 10 and 11
o'clock, whil3t his daughter was in one of the lower
rooms, she was alarmed at hearing a heavy fall in the
apartment in which her father was. She immediately
repaired to the spot, when an awful spectacle presented
itself : her unfortunate pal ent was found on the floor,
with a frightful wound at the lower part of the body,
which he had inflicted by plunging a sword into himself.
A medical gentlman was promptly in attendance, but not
in time to render any assistance, for death speedily ter-
minated the sufferings of the deceased. It appears that,
to accomplish his object, the deceased had first cut him-
selft over the bowels, and afterwards placed the handle
of
he sword on the floor, and then have thrown himself
on the point of the blade.
FATAL ACCIDENT IN THE LONDON DOCKS.—

Yesterday Mr. Baker held an inquest at the George
and Vulture, Ratcliff-highway, on the body of Charles
Johnson, aged 26, a mate on board the North Star, of
Baltimore, now lying in the Lon don
evening last, about six o'clock, deceased, who was on
.Docks. On Sunday
the dc
the quay of the London Docks, called a boat, whiah
was put off from the North Star, when
heard in the water. In about fifteen mlus?el:shhe was
picked up and taken to the receiving -house, -house, where the
usual means were resorted to for the restoration of life
for above an hour, but without success. Verdict—" Ac-
cidental death,"