The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-20 00:00:00

APPOINTMENTS.

Captain—W. Broughton, to the Curacoa, vice Sir Thomas
Pasley, sent home with dispatches.
Commanders—W. IL Hall, to the Electra; T. B. Brown,
to the Snake. _

Lieutenants—E. Burstall, to the Porcupine; .J. R. R.
Field, to the Penelope; W. A. Hood, to the President ; A.
Wilm=hurst and T. D. Sullivan, to the Excellent; W. H.
Conolly (additional), to the President ; C. Atkins (addi-
tional), to the Hibernia; A. Luckraft (additional), to the
Collingwood ; E. G. Hore (additional), to the Vindictive;
W. T. F. Jackson (additional), to the Hibernia; V. G. Hick-
ley (additional), to the Vindictive; G. C. Campbell (addi
tional), to the President; H. G. Morris, to be Flag to Ad-
miral Sir Charles Ogle ,• A. Fletcher, to the Resistance;
A. R. B. Carter, to the Snake; and A. D. Gordon, to the
Electra..

Masters—P. Chown, to the Snake; W. E. Hyne, to the
Electra.

Surgeon—T. Somerville, to the Cleopatra.
Paymasters and Pursers—W. F. Maturin (acting), to the
• Snake ; C. S. Giles (acting), to the Electra; S:4l. L. Giles,
(acting), to the Scout.
• ,•
Midshipmen—T. D. Williams, H. W. Corneck, and rA. L,
M. Montezuma (additional), to the Carysfort.
Naval Cadets—R. Kennett, to the Rodney; the Hoh. A.
Drummond, the Hon. A. Hay, C. D. Moultrie, G. D. lYavid-
son, and A. C. F. Heneage, to the Carysfort ; R. Wynniett, to
the Rodney,.
Clerks—J. Woodruff, to tilt Bittern; T. Ley, to the scout.
COAST GUARD.

Removals—Lieutenant E. J. Voules, from Rickhurst Pag•
tam station, vice Slaughter, resigned.

THE COUNTY MAGISTRACY.
Among the provincial complaints of magistrates, by their
not duly attending to their duties, inconveniencing the
public, Nottinghamshire is not in the arrear of some ,other
counties. The following, from a Nottingham pjaper of last
week, shows a " second edition" of neglect in that county.
Country justices are fast paving the way for stipendiary
magistrates in the provinces. The Nottingham papers Says ;
—" From a communication which has reached us this week,
we learn that from the latter part of last July, till the be-
ginning of September, the inhabitants of the Retford district
were much annoyed and inconvenienced by the irregular at-
tendance of magiarates. Week after week passed, and little
or no business was got through, owing to the absence of
these gentlemen from the sphere whose duties they had
undertaken to fulfil, We are also informed that in conse-
quence of a few of the parishes which formerly belonged to
the Retford district, being now included in the recently
formed Worksop division, the meetings at the former named
place are to take place only once a fortnight, instead of
weekly as before.
" Now, although we have no wish to meddle with matters
which do not concern us, we do feel bound as journalists,
labouring in the cause of the people, just to remind our
worthy friends who adminster justice, that there are, such
things as public duty and public convenience, and that until
such things are transported as outlaws, they should stand
foremost in the minds of all public functionaries. We know
that these things are very irksome occasionally, but then we
also know how easy it is to dispense with the cares of office,
if they are but willing to renounce its honours. The old say-
ing that' Every sweet has its bitter,' is most true. arid we
do think that those who accept the one should brave the
other. We do hope that these remarks will be received as
goal humouredly as they are written ; and would say in con-
clusion, good sirs, pray have mercy on the long vexed pa.
tience cf the poor neglected public."

A RYLETIONE VESTRY.-On Saturday, at the
meeting of the Marylebone Vestry; the Rev. Dr. Spry, the
rector, in the chair, Mr. Michie begged to ask Mr. P. Laurie
whether it was true that the office of clerk of the peace for
the county of 'Middlesex was not a sinecure place ; and
also whether it was or was not the intention of the magis-
trates to increase the salary of that sinecure officer, in the
shape of fees payable out of the county-rate. Mr. Laurie
said there was such a thing as that alluded to by Mr. Michie
going on. The office of clerk of the peace for Middlesex
was at the present time occupied by a party who never did
any duty himself, but who availed himself of the privilege
granted by the Act of Parliament to appoint a deputy. He
thought they had no right to interfere with a man who re-
ceived a moderate salary, and who chose to pay another for
doing his duty, providing those duties were performed pro-
perly ; but when he found ' steps being taken for making a
schedule of fees to such a person, affording a remuneration
out of. the pockets of the rate-payers, to the amount of
5,000/. ptr annum, he thought it was proper that some
check Should be ptit upon such reckless expenditure.
By the proposed schedule of fees, the clerk of the peace
was to receive Is. 3d. for every printed circular sent to a
magistrate. He was,to have Is. for every summary conviction
that took place at any police court, and one guinea for every
time his deputy was called out of his office to seak to a com-
mittee. He (Mr. Laurie) was one of the Committee on the
Schedule of Fees, but lie had not attended until lately, and
When he did he was utterly surprised at what ha I-taken
place, and had, with the aid of some other members, suc-
ceeded in reducing some of the items. The most monstrous
thing in the whole affair was, that these fees, exorbitant as
they were, were, to the extent of three• fifths of the entire
amount, to go to thel clerk of the peace,' who never, on any
occasion, even put his foot within the walls of the Session
House. He (Mr. Laurie) hoped that the vestry would urge
upon the magistrates of the county who were members of the
Board, to use every endeavour to defeat so nefarious a job.
Mr. Michie said he would at once adopt the suggestion of
Mr. Laurie, and give notice of motion for Saturday next.
Mr. Tritton, as churchwarden of Trinity district, applied flu.
a committee to consider the' propriety of appropriating the
surplus pew rents of the church to the erection of a rectory
house,. which,
Vestry then separated.
eller some discussion, was agreed to. The"

t ADVERTISEMENT. j
THE -OXFORD AND SALISBURY

DIRECT RAILWAY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sir,—My attention has been drawn to an advertise-
ment, which appeared in your columns on the sth inst.,
containing certain resolutions, passed at " a meeting,
most respectably attended, of landowners and occupiers
of land, held at the Bear Inn, Wantage, the 12th of
January, for the purpose of taking into consideration
the propriety of opposing the Oxford and Salisbury
Direct Railway Company for an Act of Parliament to
form their line.'

At this meeting Philip Smith Coxe, Esq., presided.
The Chairman, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Robey were ap-
pointed trustees of a fund• to be raised for opposing the
Bill in Parliament, and to be deposited in the bank of
Messrs. Barnes and Medley. These three trustees, with
Messrs. Barnard, Dearlove, and Goodwin, were formed
into a committee for the general direction of the busi-
nees ; Mr. J. H. Ansell was appointed secretary ; and
Messrs. Bischoff and Coxe were requested to undertake
the conduct of the proceedings.
The resolutions of such a meeting, whose future ope-
rations are to be carried on by a chairman, committee,
trustees, bankers, solicitors, and secretary, are calcu-
lated not only to attract public notice, but to excite some
little apprehension on the part of those to whose objects,
however well matured and honourably supported, this
formidable array is opposed. The readers of your jour-
nal, and of other papers in which probably this adver-
tisement has been published, may reasonably consider
that the opinions of " a meeting, most respectably at-
tended, of landowners and occupiers of land," whose re-
solutions were " moved, seconded, and carried unani-
mously," are entitled to respect, as embodying the sen-
timents of a large proportion at least of the residents in
the vicinity of Wantage, on a subject of great local in-
terest ; and the public in general, who of late have most
properly viewed with scrutiny, if not distrust, all
proposals for the construction of railways, may be in-
duced, by the resolutions to which I refer, to class " the
Oxford and Salisbury Direct Railway" amongst those
which are undeserving of local or general patronage.
The opinions and resolutions of the recent meeting at
Wantage, on which I am desirous to make a few com-
ments, are the following, viz.:—
" That the suggested lines of railway from Oxford to
Salisbury direct is quite uncalled for, inasmuch as there
is neither passengers' or goods traffic along the proposed
line requiring such accommodation, and, consequently,
that whilst a great sacrifice of private property must
take place, no adequate, if any, benefit can possibly
arise to the public by the formation of such a line," and
" That, as the line throughout presents one unbroken
agricultural district, possessing, within easy distances,
markets and fairs, amply sufficient to absorb all the
produce thereof, the schema in question appears a more
wanton speculation of the day, possessing neither merit in
itself, OR'a reasonable prospect of a return for capikil
required for the undertaking.'

-It is difficult to conceive language more condemnatory
of" the suggested line," than the terms in which " the
meeting of landowners and occupiers of land" have thus
promulgated their " unanimous ' opinion. A semblance
of truth is ingeniously shed over the premises from
which the gentlemen present at the meeting, have
drawn their authoritative conclusions ; and would, if
capable of proof, warrant, in some measure, the strong
terms of reprobation in which they have publicly ex-
pressed their determination to -" use their best,endea-
yours, individually and collectively, to defeat the pro-
posed measure in Parliament."
The first resolution declares " that the suggested line
of railway is quite uncalled-for." I adopt the language
of the meeting for the purpose of showing that this
declaration is literally untrue.. This line of railway has
been actually called for, both orally and in writing, as I
will proceed to prove.
On the 24th of October last, a public meeting of the
inhabitants of Abingdon, convened by the Mayor, in
compliance with a requisition forwarded to him,
was held in the Council Chamber there, to consider the
expediency of the proposed Oxford and Salisbury Direct
Rail Way. At this meeting, numerously attended, the
Mayor presided, and the following resolution, proposed
and seconded by members of the Town Council, was
unaniously passed :
"That, in the opinion of this meeting, the formation
of the Oxford and Salisbury Direct Railway would be
beneficial to the town, and was therefore deserving of
their support.''
And on the sth of November last, being a market
day, a public meeting of the inhabitants of Wantage and
the adjacw,t district, called by advertisement in the
eleven newspapers circulating in the counties of Berks,
Wilts, Oxford, and Somerset, and also in the Times
newspaper, was held, not at the Bear Inn, but in the
Town-hall, to consider the expediency of this line being
formed. At this latter meeting, also numerously at
tended, Thomas Goodlake, Esq., of Letcotnb Regis (a
parish immediately adjoining %Vantage), one of the Ma-
gistrates for the county of Berks, took the chair, and a
resolution, with scarcely a dissentient voice, was car-
ried—

"That, in the opinion of this meeting, the Oxford and
Salisbury Direct Railway, passing near to the town of
Wantage, will be highly beneficial to the town and its
neighbourhood, and is therefore entitled to the support
of the inhabitants."

So much for parol evidence produced from the towns
of Abingdon and Wantage, distant about ten miles apart,
and adjoining the line of the proposed railway. My do-
cumentary testimony to prove that " the suggested line" is
celled for is the following, viz.:—
In the course of a very few days, in the month of No-
vember last, testimonials, " approving of the line, and
desiring that it may be speedily formed," were signed by
inhabitants of every city and town directly affected by it
in the following numbers, viz.:—
Inhabitants of Abingdon
lbangerford ' 93
- Ox ford l9O
- Wantage
Landowners, farmers, end dealers attending
Wantage Market
Inhabitants of Salisbury

39

-136
~.. 73

Making a total of.
Evidence of the meetings at Abingdon and \Vantage
is to be found in the London and Provincial newspapers.
The inclosed copy of the testimonials, sent for your own
satisfaction, bears out the latter assertion. And, as re-
gards the Wantage testimonials (which 1 select for the
especial attention of the gentlemen present at the recent
meeting), I appeal with confidence to the whole of that
neighbourhood, when I assert that the signatures repre-
sent an amount of wealth and intelligence fully en-
titled to the deep respect and serious attention of the
public at large.
The gentlemen present at the recent meeting assert,
in their resolutions, that " there is neither passengers'
nor goods' traffic along the proposed line requiring rail-
way accommodation," and that the line throughout pre-
sents one unbroken agricultural distric , possessing,
within easy distances, markets and fairs, amply suffi-
cient to absorb all the produce thereof." True, it is,
" and pity 'tis, 'tis true," that at present there is but
little traffic along the whole line of the proposed line,
but there is a great deal of traffic on parts of it. There
is no public conveyance between Oxford and Salisbury,
as the residents in those cities, and the districts north of
the former and south of the latter, know to their incon-
venience. The most expeditious means and channel of
transit, are by the Great Western and South-Western
Railways via London ; for a traveller between Oxford
and Salisbury, unless he be furnished with his own car-
riage, or hire a conveyance for his special use, cannot
travel by any public means between the one city and
the other in a less time than from twelve to thirteen
hours, and then instead of pursuing a direct line of 56
miles, he must take a circuitous route by Marlborough
and Swindon. It would be absurd to argue, that because
there is not at the, present day a large and increasing
traffic between any two given points, across a district of
country capable of almost incalculable improvement,
hitherto neglected, and to a great extent allowed to lie
waste, and therefore a favourite locality for fox-hanting,
no improvement is to be attempted, no facilities of
trat sit afforded, no impetus given either to agriculture
or manufactures; the inhabitants to be deprived of those
railway appliances, by means of which they know that
other parts of the country have been greatly bcnefitted,
and' that, the progress of science, intelligence, and in-
dustry is to be arrested at each of the termini. The
same argument would conten I that a large proportion
of the intermediate province shall remain a wild, unculti-
vated, and desolate plain, and the whole be preserved as
a memorial to posterity of the ignorance, as well as the
selfishness, of the present " landowners and occupiers of
land." On this part of the subject I cannot do better
than give the following extrust from a speech made by
Mr. Towle, of Oxford, at the \Vantage meeting, on the
sth of November :

" lie was satisfied that the formation of a railway was
all that was required to raise the property of Wantage
and its neighbourhood to a level with that of any other
part of the country. At present they were under great
disadvantages. Their poor had to suffer all the priva-
tions of other neighbourhoods, with the additional ca
lamity of scarcity of fuel. Coal, 'in his neighbourhood,
cost at present 255. per ton. He was close on the line of
the Great Western Railway, but received DO loenefit from
it except in quickness of transit, Their line had been
very expensive, and probably they could not afford to
carry for less, and they were then charging within a
fraction of 2d, per ton. He himself paid lOs. per ton
for coals in Bristol, and 245. 6,d, when he got them at
his mills near Oxford. The promoters of the Great
Western, previous to its formation, promised that 80,000
tons of coal a-year should be carried to Oxford, but
they had grievously disappointed tho public in that
respect,—_(Cheers.) The formation of the line would
almost double the value of the land and its produce. At
present their hay, straw, and corn were sent into the
manufacturing districts where it was sold at the prices
which the same articles fetched that were grown in the

neighbourhood, the whole expense of the•t•iansit falling
on the producers. The' neighbourhood was one of the
best in the world for manufactures. Witney ought to
have several tall chimneys, an•: to turn their wool into
blankets, Abingdon ought to make large quantities of
coarse carpeting, instead of sending their wool at a large
expense into Yorkshire. Mr. Hudson had stated before
a committee of Parliament that one engine would co:1-
vey 95 wagons, at the rate of 18 nkiles an hour,
each
waggon conveying five tons Of cQA, at an expense f
about 9d. per mile, and his option was that a railway
passing through a neighbourhood was equal to bringing
Goal mine into it. In bis jud,.);ment coals ought to be
supplied at 12s. per ton!' And

Air. Goodlake, the Chairman, concurred in these
remarks,
when he expressed his opinion that " tbe gen-
tlemen who formed the deputation deserved the thanks
off f the met and of the town of \Vantage for their
eowards bring inc, ' a railway into the neighbour-
hood. Ile must say that as far as fox-hunting went,
gentlemen might be injured by railways, but'the pros-
thenperity of the country and its inhabitants, the warming
, in winter,, and feeding them through the whole of