The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-13 00:00:00

S N 7 OCTOBER 13, 1848.

veiled to and fro between the two towns during the
day. The stations and eminences about Shrewsbury
and Chester were crowded with spectators throughout
the day.
The line has for its object the opening out the mi-
neral districts of North Wales, connecting them with
the manufacturing districts, as well as forming an
improved communication between the estuaries of the
Dee and the Bristol Channel. It was expected to be
opened in August, but the wet weather retarded it.
The line for upwards of sixty miles traverses the rich
vale of the divisionary boundary of the principality,
and of the western counties. Birkenhead may be
looked upon as its main goods terminus. Besides
embracing the agricultural districts of Shropshire, it
is intended to furnish a new means of export to the
vast mineral resources of North and Central Wales,
the produce of the slate quarries, and the manufac-
turing commodities of Manchester, Liverpool, Ches-
ter, Oswestry, and other places. At present these
have to be carried by a circuitous route of more than
fifty miles. 1 t will likewise be a summer and plea-
sure line, leading to the watering places of Wales, to
Llangollen, Aberystwith, and the most attractive
scenery of the district. Arrangements have been
made oy which passengers are to be cheaply con-
veyed every day from Liverpool and other places to
these points. The line is made up of an amalgama-
tion of what were the North Wales Mineral line, and
the Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Chester Junction.
It passes through four counties—Cheshire, Flintshire,
Denbighshire, and Salup—commences in junction
with the Shrewsbury and Hereford and Shrewsbury
and Birmingham Railway, passes through Oswestry,
Chirk, Ruabon, and Wrexham, and terminating in
junction with the Chester and Holyhead Railway at
Chester.
—The most striking work, as you traverse the line, is
the great viaduct over the valley of the Dee, in the
vale of Llangollen, which, in dimension, surpasses any
other in the Kingdom. It is upwards of 150 feet
above the level of the river, being 30 feet higher than
the viaduct at Stockport, on the London and North
Western, which has hitherto been considered the
greatest work of the kind. Its length is 1,530 feet,
or nearly one-third of a mile long, it is supported by
19 arches of 90 feet span ; it connects that part of the
line between Rhos and Chirk. The viaduct which
has been erected by Messrs. Brassey and Mackenzie,
the contractors, has cost upwards of 100,0001. The
works in general are substantially constructed, and,
in consequence of the favourable nature of the soil,
the line will be cheaply maintained. The next work
of magnitude is the Chester station, next to the Derby
station at Derby. It is one of the largest in the
kingdom. It is a central point where several lines
converge ; it has cost 100,0001., and is to be used
jointly and paid for jointly, by the London and
North-Western, the Shrewsbury and Chester, the
Chester and Birkenhead, and the Birkenhead, Lan-
cashire, and Cheshire. The station at Shrewsbury is
on a similar though less extensive scale, and will be
paid for proportionally by the lines that enter there.
The first return train for Chester would reach there
at about nine o'clock. The public dinner, in cele-
bration of the event commenced as our express left.

DUBLIN, THURSDAY Moaximn.—Yesterday after-
noon it was positivE ly asserted that the Government
had dispatched to Clonmel the warrant for the exe-
cution of Mr. Smith o,l3rien, in pursuance of the
sentence pronounced on Monday. In half an hour
afterwards it was announced, in just as positive terms,
that the sentence of death, with all its horrible ac-
companiments, had been commuted to transportation
for life, and that the order for a respite had been dis-
patched to Clonmel. It is probable that both state-
ments are mere speculation upon the probable deter-
mination of the Government in the case of Mr. Smith
O'Brien. Meantime public opinion, not to speak of
mere sympathy, is most decidedly against capital
punishment in this case, and all classes appear to
have made up their minds that the unfortunate gen-
tleman will escape the extreme penalty of the law.
The Cork Examiner states that an official intima-
tion was conveyed to the mother and wife of Mr.
Smith O'Brien on Saturday, that "the recommenda-
tion of the jury was almost certain to be attended to
by the Executive."