The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSPA EVENIN

kILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
AUSTRALIAN LINES.
Prob ably not one of the least interesting developments
comae eed with the catholic character of railway,, now
ifying ins&lves —i;h the life and labour of almost
every tribe end t,irrit,,,ry, is their present more particular
-extension into those important colonial cornin ti
where a British tenet try proclaims the presence
asse oncef
British rule, and where of her railways,
her
flag, it may soon consistently be said thesa-swweere tee sym
bols of a sovereignty on which the sun never sets. The
interests of the mother country in her transmarme do-
minions are by means such as
these,and cemented. It
more so
than he any others, to be mul,tiplipd perhaps
is certainly a bold and novel effort upon the part of that
great continent whose centre is the South Pacific, Aus-
tralia, that of taking upon herself, sit-tele-handed, as it
-were, and thus early in the annals of her constitution
and commerce, the construction of a railway system,
and at a period when she can scarcely be said to have
arrived at those years of discretion and majority
in the scale of colonisation and improvement that
characterise the. condition of elder dependencies,
her interior being as yet comparatively unvisited bi-
the foot of Europeans, and her recesses unexpinrea
by the miselons of modern discovery. For these rra-
sons, Ausaralia may at present be considered altogether
unripe for the introduction of a trunk line system. To
work well for her the railway system must go de point
en point, plying its way in short lengths between the
principal points of produce, linking together her leading
loci ales and more important neighbour settlements,
without contemplating, at any rate for the present, those
loge treats and stretches of rail that would involve a
hundred mile range at a time, with only two termini for
traffic, the intervening distance being one of sterility and
stint, unitayed by the touch of culture, and strange alike
to the foot of white man and red. Carried out under an,
econemy of this kind, the lines already projected to con-
nect Paramatta with Sydney, and its fine natural basin
of water, and the latter with Botany Bay and Bathurst,
the point for military transmissions along the boundary
of the Blue Mountains, and connecting with the chain-
paign country beyond, may prove of speedy and positive
utility, in connexion with proposed routes between New
Holland, Adelaide, and Melbourne. The convict labour
of the great penal colony, set in operation by British and '
local capital combined, may here find a field for useful
occupation, so as to bring into more active play her
mineral and manufacturing resources.
Two subjects at the present moment appear to be agi-
tating, in a more than ordinary manner, the people of
Australia—the one in relation to resistance to an at-
tempt at imposing royalty impositions upon the produce
of her mining industry, and the other with reference to
railways. On the latter we learn, by the latest accounts,
that a meeting of those favourable to the construction of
railways in New South Wales, consisting of the citizens
and colonists, took place in Sydney, at which the mayor
made known to the meeting that he was most favourable
to the formation of railways from the city to every part
of the colony where such undertakings were practicable.
Mr. James Macarthur, of Camden, who was called to
the chair, appears to have been of opinion that there
could not be two opinions as to the importance of the
subject which the meeting had been called together to '
consider ; and a general opinion of the practicability and
probable remuneration of well-devised lines of railroads
in New South Wales seemed to pervade the meeting,
-which was marked throughout by great solidity of argu-
ment, prudence, and principle, as well as by most indus-
trious research, relevant information, and sagacity.
The general impression seemed to be that the con-
struction of railroads in the elder colony must be mainly
effected by the application of British capital, and en-
tirely through the instrumentality of imported labour;
whilst in estimating the probable income upon the
amount invested, the present cost of carriage might
fairly be taken, giving to the settlers, as their immediate
advantages, economy of time, and safety of conveyance;
whilst prospectively, they might expect to participate
fairly in reduction of charges and those collateral ad-
vantages which would quickly result from increased
traffic and the rapid progress of internal improvements
necessarily consequent upon:increase of population and
general productiveness.
The meeting was addressed at considerable length by
the Chairman, by Dr. Nicholson, M.L.C.; Mr. Earl,
brother of Mr. George Windsor Earl, Mr. W. C. Wert-
worth, M.LC., Captain M. C. O'Connell, M.C., Mr.
McDonald, of Pit: Town, Mr. G. C. Turner, Mr. H. G.
Smith, Mr. Campbell Brown, and Mr. Raymond, post-
master-general of the colony; and although there was
much unanimity as to the general principle, the differ-
ences in the (mentally) proposed modes of carrying it
out may be inferred from the various shades of avowed
opinions as to the cost per mile, which varied from 6,0001.
(as broached by Mr. Earl) down to 600/., which Mr.
M'Donald, who had inspected several railroads in the
mother country, declared to be sufficient for the Hunter
River district, the claims of which he advocated.
Mr. Macarthur was of opinion that railways should
be primarily formed from the capital to various parts of
the county of Cumberland, because every sort of pro-
duce, and to any extent, would then find a speedy and
profitable market in Sydney, which would thus become
One of the cheapest and " most luxurious cities for living
in upon the face of the earth," to which invalids from
India and retired capitalists from England would be-
take themselves for temporary or conclusive sojourn
through the short passages which would soon be pro-
vided for them. Mr. Macarthur admitted also that
certain portions of the Hupter itiver district possessed
advantages no where to be exceeded for the formation of
rail ways.
Dr. Nicholson confessed himself a comparatively re-
cent convert to the railway system as applicable to New
South Wales, and luminously c ,mpared and contrasted
the dense].) -peopled main lines of England with those
American undertakings which claimed a priority in
point of time, although designed for the uses of a scat-
tered population, and by no means possessed of the ad-
vantages of New South Wales, f 1- which, he said, capital
to any extent would be forthcoming. He added, railroa is
had paid well in England ; take, for instance, the London
and Birmingham, and the Great Western. The direc-
tors had been compelled from time to time to reduce
their charges--had made extravagant improvements on
the lines and at their various stations, in order to keep
the profit to be divided within the amount allowed by
the Act of Parliament, and to evade the alternative-:
for by the Act of Parliament it was provided that the
profit to the shareholders should not be more than 10
per cent. on their capital outlaid ; and any surplus return
over that 10 per cent. was to be paid to the Consolidated
Fund of Great Britain. These were principal lines, it
was true ; but the establishment of branch lines in Eng-
land, where population was thinnest, and traffic least,
had conduced to the increase of both, and districts un-
known and neglected had risen into importance. The
railroads of the United States, too, had paid well,
although carried out in the face of difficulties greater
than any which presented themselves in New South
Wales, and had conduced to the rapid development of
thelnatural resources of the country.
Dr. Nicholson, in advocating the formation of a rail-
way from Sydney to Goulburn, a distance of 115 to 120
miles, at a presumed expense of 700,000/. to 800,0001.,
went into the probable sources of income, seriatim, and
according to his showing there would be a gross return
of 100,0001., from which taking 40.000/. for current ex-
penses, there would remain 60,0001. for the payment of
dividends, a more than sufficient sum even at the outset,
if', as stated by another speaker, a well assured dividend
of 61- percent, would be sufficient inducement for British
capitalists.
The Maitland Mercury of February, in an article full
of acumen and inference, attempts to disprove Dr. Ni-
cholson's calculations, and arrives at the conclusion that
instead of the shareholders receiving six per cent. upon
the capital invested, they would be extremely fortunate
to escape getting involved in debt to pay the expenses of
working the railway.
The Port Philip Herald, of February 17th, says " the
inconsistency" of the English capitalist who invests in
the undertakings of foreign states, whilst he withholds
from English colonies, is only reconcilable with the sup-
position that the policy of the colonial government is
vacillating, weak through the want of comprehensive
information, unwise through immature plans and crude
decisions.
" These notions," continues the Port Philip Herald,
" and their causes (if such they be) have, however, just
experienced the first assault."
The railway system—the money power, armed with axe
and spade, has entered the field, and will soon extirpate
these unsound prejudices and reform these old abuses.
England has laid out some 40 millions in making railways
in foreign countries before she has bethought her that
these countries might go to war and estreat these loans,
and that the railways which will benefit foreign countries
would benefit and be profitable in her colonies—portions
of her own empire and governed by her own laws. The
first advances have actually been made for a large
company at Hoine by an agent now in Sydney; and the
Colonial Executive in Downing-street has signified its
sanction and support, to the extent of even supplying on
terms of advantage to the colony, the requisite amount
of convict labour.
There is probably no country so well adapted for rail-
ways as this, and where they could be so cheaply and
readily made. As was truly observed by the Rev. Dr.
Lang when he first broached the subject, an immense
amount of labour now consumed in such avocations as
bullock-driving would be turned to a profitable account;
and besides this, the distances of the interior districts
would be diminshed, and the line of railway would be
equivalent to a line of coast.
We do not suppose that the expensive iron railway
system of England, with its rapid velocity of traffic, will
for many years pay in New South Wales; but we are
convinced that the old wooden railways, such as were in
use since the middle of the seventeenth century (as de-
scribed in the life of Lord Keeper North) in the New-
castle collieries would answer admirably.
As extensive undertakings of this nature could not be
executed without an amount of labour with which we are
totally unprovided, we see no objection to the employ-
ment of convicts upon such work. It is a labour that
would not be preferred by freemen to rural employments,
and a labour in which convicts could be striallyrdisci-
plined and controlled. Above all, it is woilfi-iti which
they could be readily separated from the least communi-
cation with the rest of the population, and finally with-
drawn altogether from our shores on the completion of
their allotted periods.
Thus tho Government of Van Dieman's Land would
ee relieved from a large measure of expense, the capita-
sts at home would be encouraged by the recognised ,
stronage of Government, aonettladeople of New South
Vales would reap as many
f the ill results of the transportation system and
as few
ble to devise ; whilst the men themssesltevems "woiutldisbe is; —LACKHEATH CATTLE AND PM F.
position to be punished with rigour, or for good con- Monday, being Old Michaelmas Day, act
usual custom the autumnal cattle and pig fat...
act encouraged to reformation.
A correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald ob-
Gonreßeri Man Hotel.lacliheath, We never at the reanroefr recollect
ecgorllecount seem
dssaidj
erves, in reference to the late meeting, its objects and
fine pigs penned as on the present
he unwonted care displayed for the interests of English horse portion of the fair there were severaloi
oapi talists
draught animals and a few good nags, but h
" When the committee have collected and digested ared to beda complete drug, few being so] d
;;he information which will be rendered to them, they few
will smile to think they ohoulcl have cherished Woo ' 351, a goo figure, the former fetching A,
P
tag Lotter Om

of English capitalists not knowing what they are about.
" Let the Government and the colonists understand
what they are about, for a measure of greater importance
to the colony can scarcely be imagined.

" The Government have before them the -varistts prin-
ciples which have been tried or adopted in every other
part of the globe, which is an advantage over England
itself, as well as in availing unnecessary expenditure on
superfluous erroneous lines.
" The council will see that the stfoject is of such im-
portance as to command its earliest and eunes‘ at-
tention.

"It is for this reason I prrinme to offer a few remarks,
more with the view of Ind:acing competent and influential
persons to reflect on the subject in all its vital influences,
than that my suggestAout may be of any value in them-
selves.

" There are rree distinct and primary interests in-
volved in this, mighty question ; and which will at first,
I expect,`.lproach it antagonistically ; but in the end
~ ,
they wi:,( utacover other views should have a reciprocal
tende,ney.
'The colonial government, the British capitalists, and
tb:e colonists, are the parties I allude to.
" The former should determine the many trunk lines
for the whole colony, decide on the principle on which
the British capitalists should be allowed their Act, and
adjust the terms with a due regard to the present in-
terest of all parties, and the future good of the colony.
I have the fullest confidence that these grand leading
points will be soundly dealt with by the investigating
mind of the Colonial Secretary."
The intended railways in South Africa and South
Australia were spoken of at the meeting as having com-
menced; but we are free to admit that if South Australia
loses the honour of being the first in the field of railway
improvements in Australasia, we are likely to derive very
great advantages from the sage consultations and ju-
dicious preparations of our elder colonial brethren.
A provisional committee was appointed at the Sydney
meeting.

ANTI-SLAVERY LEAGUE, MAN-

yE.S_TLEaIfi.
MANCHESTER, TIMED evening a very nume-
rous and highly respectable meeting was held in the
Free trade Hall, Peter-street, by the ft lends of the Anti-
Slavery League. The hall was crowded in every part
by a respectable and attentive audience. On the plat-
form were many of the members of the Society of
Friends and other highly respectr.ble inhabitants. The
chair was occupied by J. Shuttleworth, Esq , who briefly
addressed the meeting, and then introduced
Mr. GEORGE THOMPSON, who was received with loud
and repeated cheers. He commenced by referring to the
late meetings of the Evangelical Alliance party, and ex-
pressed his conviction that the proceedings of that party
were clearly calculated to corrupt the mind of the British
public in reference to the question of slavery.—(Cheers.)
He was prepared to prove on that, or any other plat-
form, that the whole proceedings of that body were
clearly calculated to corrupt the minds of the people on
the question of slavery.—(Chen.s.) He next referred
to the imputations cast upon them by Dr. Cox, at Liver-
pool. The man whom the D lctor had condemned had
a character equal to that of Dr. Cox, even before he had
given himself to the slave-owners.—(Cheers.) He next
referred to Frederick Douglas, whom he designated as
a runaway slave. Mr. Thompson then referred to the
strangers who were to address them, and bespoke for
them an indulgent hearing from a Manchester audience.

Mr. H. C. WRIGHT, of Philadelphia, said that the
question of slavery was one not of America or of Eng-
land, but for all mankind. They were not there that
night to diseusss slavery. That question had been long
settled. They were there to denounce sllve-owners, and
all their apologists, whether they be Armenians, Presby-
terians, or members of the Free Church of Scotland.—
(Cheers.) In reference to some statements made at a
late meeting of the Evargelical Alliance, in that same
place by Dr. Leafchild, he showed that the General As-
sembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, of which
Dr. Leafchild sat as moderator, no fewer than 40 of
whom were man stratus, not sheep nor horse stratus,
but what was much worse than either, man stratus.—
After referring to the conduct of Dr. Cox in his election
as a delegate to the Alliance meetings in England, and
denouncing his conduct in reference to the question of
slavery, Mr. Wright proceeded to condemn the conduct
of the ruling authorities of the Methodists Society in
America, and strongly censured the conduct of all of
them, some of whom be named. He denounced them as
a band of hanged pickpockets, as well as hypocrites—
the whole body of slave-owners, from President Polk
down to the doctor of divinity,whohold slaves as thieves,
and no consideration should induce him to spare them
on every opportunity.—(Cheers.) They had been held
up as infidels, socialists, &c. His hopes were on the
truth and sanctity of Christianity ; but he was and
would be an infidel to that church which upheld slave-
owners.—(Cheers.)

Mr. A. PRENTICE entered into a defence of the Evan-
gelical Alliance party. It seemed to him that the only
fault which they had committed was, in believing the
professions of the American delegates to the Alliance
meetings in England.
Mr. G. TuomPsoN begged, before their American
friends addressed them, to show that they were quite
right in denouncing the conduct of the Alliance party.
Dr. Cox had sat and listened as moderator to twenty
speeches without rebuking one of those sentiments
which were in favour of slavery. In fact, a distinct
proposition was brought before the meeting, and after
five days' discussion, decided that slaveholders were eli-
gible to become members of the "Evangelical Alliance"
Assembly. Dr. Smyth, himself an Irishman, had been
refused admission to the Irish Presbyterian Conference,
purely on the ground of his well-known opinions against
slavery and slave-owners. Mr. Thompson then detailed
the proceedings of the Conference and the various com-
mittees, and read the protest made by thirty-two Ameri•
can members of the Conference against the introduction
of the question of slavery at that Conference; and after
detailing tho proceedings of the Conference and of the
chief members of that body, concluded by saying that
the difference between William Lloyd Garrison and
those men was, that they were for a fixed duty—he and
his friend Garrison were for immediate and total repeal.
That was the best way in which he could explain his
meaning in that spot.--(Cheers.)

Mr. PRENTicEthen came forward and defended the
Evangelical Alliance amidst some confusion, occasioned
by the ,rs from one party and laughter and interruption
from another party in the meeting.
Mr. THOMP.iON again came forward, and demanded
whether or not Mr. Prentice had denied any one of the
facts he had stated.—(Cheers, and cries of " No, no.")

Mr. GARRISON, of Aineica, was then introduced by
the Chairman. After referring to the fact of his being
an American, he proceeded to review the state of the
question of slavery, and the condition of the slave.
Three millions of their fellow-men were at that hour in a
stare of slavery in the United States. He next read a
manber of advertisements of runaway slaves, many of
which described brandings, burnings, and mutilations,
wh;.ch shocked the meeting by the atrocity of their cha-
racter. He also detailed a number of facts illustrative
of the system of slavery and the conduct of the autho-
rities in America in reference to slaves. His country, he
was grieved to say, was essentially unchristian in refer-
ence to that great question of slavery, and referred to
the fact that the poor slaves who run away do not think
of stopping even in Boston, but most likely beg a pittance
to carry them, not to a town or province in the states,
but to Canada, where the Rug of old England waves, and
where no slaves can exit.—(Loud ch,ers.) He next
referred to the change which seemed to be going
on in this country in rei'erence to slavery. That
was his third visit to this country, and he was power-
fully impressed with the fact, that while America was
hemming abolitionist, England was becoming favourable
to slavery. That fact WAS proved by the proceedings of
the Evangelical Alliance, as had been shown there; and
although the Free Church of Scotland hail given their
support ti the slave-owners, yet the people of Scotland
were not and would not give any support or countenance
to slavery. England also, he trusted, would hold
fast to the cause until neither slave-owner nor slave ex-
isted.—(Cheers.) The speaker then referred to an article
in the Christian Witness, in which he was attacked,
which he denounced as untrue.

Mr. TuomrsoN proposed a resolution condemnatory
of the Evangelical Alliance.
Mr. PRENTICE suggested, that if the resolution was
simply to cont.:emu slavery, it would be carried unani-
mously.

Mr:TnomPsoN said the time to do so was gone by.
The Alliance had refused, after five days' discussion, to
pass such a resolution. He should like to know if Mr.
Prentice had the courage to propose an amendment?
Mr. PRENTICE then moved an amendment, condemna-
tory of slave-holding under all circumstances.
Mr. FREDERICK Douci.as then rose to speak, and ad-
dressed the meeting sitngreat length. He declared that
the battle of slavery had to be fought on British soil, not
with the low and degraded—not with the socialists—not
with the infidels, but with the Evangelical Alliance and
clergymen. He knew something of slavery. He could
show the marks of it about him. He had two sisters
and one brother at that moment in slavery. He had
been owned by a clergyman of the Methodist persua-
sion, whom he named, and instanced a number of cases
illustrative of the system of preaching to slaves, which,
from their gross hypocrisy, &c., created much laughter
from the rich humour with which he delivered them.
He read extracts from two sermons recently published
in America, by a bishop, in which the slave-owners
were designated as " God's overseers."--(Loud cries
of " Shame," " Scandalous.") He next entered into
an examination of the conduct of the Evangelical Alli-
ance. lie hoped that the vote of the meeting would
be unanimous. The man stratus did not steal slaves
wouldabnl adc kth
the
steal
ma man
nFwrwoeudhleodr
we s
kt eo
uaDI l
do au
notg l white i
ct
because they were black. The man who would steal a
s
oe wouldndm eamnn. steal
the
Th
thl er
. n wti
choeof,
stealing manPre
Frederick Douglas would not condemn the stealing of
Mr. Prentice.—(Cheers.) The slaves of America were
denied the use of the Bible by the law, and in some
cases at death. After an eloquent and powerful speech
Mr. Douglas concluded by imploring the meeting to pass'
the resolution unanimously.
Another man of colour then came forward, and ad-
dressed the meeting at some length, and with great effect.
The CHAIRMAN afterwards proceeded to take the vote
when it appeared that Mr. Prentice's amendment was,
not seconded.

The original motion was then put and carried unani•
mously, amidst loud cheers.

A vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and the
meeting separated at twelve o'clock.

THE PENINSULAR and ORIENTAL
COMPANY'S STEAM-SHIP POTTINGER.

The public will be gratified to hear of the excellent
performances of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
new steam-ship the Pottinger, in her first trip from
Southampton to Malta.
Previously to leaving Southampton all sorts of reports
were in circulation as to her inefficiency, but so far her
performances have given them the most decided contra-
diction, as the following extract of a letter from a gen-
tleman on board, dated Malta, Oct. 2, will show :
" I am sure you will be pleased to hear of our arrival
at Malta, after a very rough passage, in which both
ship and engines have been well tried, and have been
found most efficient. The ship is strong, and
not in the least inclined to strain ; the en-
gines are a beautiful specimen of mechanical skill. I
have watched their smooth working narrowly, and
there have been neither hot bearings, escapes of steam,
derangements or breakings of any kind, which to me,
from my little experience in steam voyages, is rather sur-
prising. I particularly remarked whilst off Cape St.
Vincent, blowing at the time a smart gale, that the en-
gines made 15 strokes per minute, with abundance of
steam, and the bearings as cool as if the machinery was
not in motion. I have no doubt the future performances
of ship and engines will be as satisfactory, as all on
board admit the passage under the above circumstances
has been."
The engines on board the Pottinger are by Miller,
Ravenhill, and Co., of Glass-house-fields. They are the
largest oscillating engines that ever have been in motion
afloat. The engines of the Spanish man-of-war steamer,
" Blasco Garay," manufactured by the above firm, were
previously the largest, being of 350-horse power, or with
cylinders 68 inches in diameter and six feet stroke ; but
the engines of the Pottinger are of 450-horse power, or
having cylinders 76 inches in diameter, and seven feet
stroke. 'Miller and Co. have also in hand a third pair of
those 'powerful engines on the oscillating principle, for
the Peninsular and Oriental Company, who have ordered
from them two other pairs of engines of the above de-
scription, each of 400-horse power, for their new packets.

The Animal's Friend Society, of 18, Strand, last
Wednesday caused Charles James to be fined in costs at
the Lambeth Court for having cruelly beaten an ass on
a sore.

ARMY AND NAVY OF MEXICO.
The following is an extract from Mr. Macgregor's
volume (just issued by order of Parliament, having been
recently presented by command of her Majesty) on the
States of Mexico. From the present condition of and
proceedings in that country, the subjoined observations
and statements are of interest :
The will of the army has actually formed what may
be termed the only public opinion in Mexico ; for the
military commander who has been the most fortunate
I in obtaining the control over a major part of the army,
has been the most successful in carrying out a pronuncia-
mento, and in overturning the Government of the day.
The constitution or formation of this army is described
by all authorities, and especially by the late American
Minister, Mr. Thompson, in no favourable character.
This army has, to a great degree, been formed and is
recruited by sending forth armed detachments into the
mountains and wilds to capture aborigines. These are
actually brought in chains to some military head-
quarters. Mr. Thompson says :
" Droves of miserable and more than half-naked
wretches are seen chained together and marching
through the streets to the barracks, where they are
scoured and then dressed in a uniform made of linen
cloth or of serge, and are occasionally drilled ; which
drilling consists mainly in teaching them to march in
colts= through the streets. Their military bands are
good, and the men learn to march indifferently well—
but only indifferently well—they put their feet down as
if they were feeling for the place, and do not step with
that jaunty, erect, and graceful air which is so beautiful
in well-drilled troops. As to the wheelings in well-
trained troops, like the opening and shutting of a gate,
or the prompt and exact execution of other evolutions,
they know nothing about them. There is not one in
tan of these soldiers who has ever seen a gun, nor one
in a hundred who has ever fired one before he was
brought into the barracks. It is in this way that
are generally filled up ; in
armythe prisons are thrown open,
prisoners than the army
particulartwhhei
e h ranksalways
emergencies of t
choen t
ai contain
more
numbers, and these felons become soldiers, and some
of them officers. Their arms, too, are generally
worthless English muskets, which have been con-
demned and thrown aside, and are purchased for
almost nothing and sold to the Mexican Government.
Their powder, too, is equally bad ; in the last battle be-
tween Santa Anna and Bustamente, which lasted the
whole day, not one cannon ball in a thousand reached
the enemy—they generally fell about half-way between
the opposing armies. I do not think that the Mexi-
cans are deficient in courage ; or it might be more pro-
perly said, that they are indifferent to danger or the pre-
servation of a life which is really so worthless to the
most of them. But with the disadvantages to which I
have adverted, the reader will not be surprised that in all
the conflicts with our people, in which they have been
more or less engaged for the last 30 years, they have
always been defeated."
A Mexican officer, in admitting that cavalry alone were
not able to break a well-formed square of infantry, as-
serted that in this respect the Mexican cavalry had in
this the advantage over all others ; that the cavalry
armed with lassoes rode up and threw them over the
men forming the squares, and pulled them out, and thus
made the breach.
"The Mexican army," says Mr. Thompson, "and
more particularly their cavalry, may do very well to
fight each other, but in any conflict with our own or
European troops, it would not be a battle but a massacre.
What then must be the murderous inequality between
a corps of American cavalry and an equal number of
Mexicans? The American corps, from the superior
size of their horses, would cover twice as much ground,
and the obstruction offered by the Mexicans on their
small and scrawny ponies would scareely cause their
horses to stumble in riding over them; to say nothing of
the greater inequality of the men themselves, five to one
at least in individual combats, and more than twice that
in a battle. The infantry would be found even more
impotent."
Mr. Thompson observes that there are in Mexico
" more than two hundred Generals, most of them with-
out commands. Every officer who commands a regiment
has the title of General, and is distinguished from Gene-
rals who have no commands by the addition of ' Gene-
ral effectivo.' The rate of pay is not very different from
that of our own army. Each officer and soldier, how-
ever, is his own commissary, no rations being issued ;
and they are well satisfied if they receive enough of
their pay to procure their scanty rations, which was very
rarely the case, except with Santa Anna's favourite
troops, whom he always kept about his person, and this
made it their interest to sustain him. In one of the last
conversations which I had with him, I told him that the
army would remain faithful to him just so long as he
could pay them, and no longer, and that I did not see
how it was possible for him to pay them much longer.
" The result proved the truth of both predictions. and
that, I have no doubt, was the cause of the revolution
which overthrew him. Shortly before I left Mexico, an
officer in the army came to the city and settled his ac-
counts with the war department, and received a certifi-
cate that 1,500 dollars were clue to him ; after hawking
it about amongst the brokers, he sold the claim for 125
dollars, which was fire cents. on the dollar."
He considers that the Mexican men (Indians in parti-
cular) have no more physical strength than the women
of the United States. They are of diminutive stature,
unaccustomed to exercise or labour. Marauding bands
of Comanches penetrate several hundred miles into
Mexico, levy black mail, carry off horses, catttle, and
captives. Ho says that there are not at this time (184 G)
less than five thousand Mexicans, slaves of the Co-
manches, and of all our western tribes arc the most
cowardly. The Delawares frequently whip them live
to one.
" That which is in all respects the greatest nuisance
an 1 the most insuperable barrier to the prosperity of
Mexico is the army. They will tell you there that it
amounts to fifty thousand men, but they have never had
half the number. I have no doubt that the accounts at
the department of war exhibit nearly the number stated,
but a large proportion of them are men of straw—ficti-
tious names fraudulently inserted for the benefit of the
officers who pay them. They are paid every day, or
rather that is the law, but the pay is just as fictitious as
the muster rolls."
Mr. Branta Mayer gives the following statement of
the army of Mexico:—
" I may state that the forces have been considerably
augmented, and in all probability amount to 40,000 men.
In 1840 the Mexico army was composed of—Fourteen
generals of division; twenty-six generals of brigade.
Artillery—Three brigades on foot, one brigade mounted,
five separate companies. Engineer corps—One director-
general, three colonels, six lieutenant-colonels, one ad-
jutant, fourteen captains, sixteen lieutenants, ten sub
lieutenants. Sappers—One battalion. Plana Mayer
del Ejercito—This was composed of the general-in-chief
and a number of colonels, lieutenant-colonels, cap-
tains, &c., &c. Permanent Infantry—Eight regi-
ments of two battalions each, each battalion of
eight companies, each company of 112 men, officers,
included, or in all 14,336 persons. Active Infantry—
Nine regiments. This body differs from the preceding,
or permanent infantry, in being liable to service only
when required by Government • or, in other words,
it is a sort of national militia, well drilled. Total number
16 l2Bcomposed.Pernlan oentf Cavalry—E
ight regiments, each
regiment squadrons, each squadron of
two companies. Each regiment composed in all of 676
men ; or the eight, of 4,056. Thirty-five separate com-
panies in various places throughout the republic. Active
Cavalry—Six regiments of four squadrons, each squadron
of two companies. Navy—The navy of Mexico consists
at present of three steam-frigates, two brigs three
schooners. and two gunboats." ,

population of Matamoros
sleep
cow t-yards and upon the
A NIGHT IN MATAMOROS.
At
tops of houses, a majority of which have flat roofs.
When the hour for retiring arrives, which is generally
speaking much earlier than in the large cities of the
in leastthe two-thirds
open
air
r in of
ththee
United States, they pull their cots out into the court-
yard, (every house of any size here has a large yard in
the rear), and two or three dozen, male and female,
sleep in one inclosure. Those who have not cots or the
means of procuring them, make a very comfortable bed
upon the bricks—with which most of those yards are
paved. The great majority of the Mexicans rise early,
frequently before the sun, but they sleep again in the
evening, from three until about half-past five o'clock. In
fact, they are as regular in their siesta as you are in your
dinner, and when returning from my dinner, there are
seven or eight houses the front rooms of which are
strewed with cots (bedsteads are used only as ornaments
here) upon which senor, senora, senoritas, and all the
little oral are napping off at a beautiful rate. Amongst
the over-particular people of your country, a lady would
no more think of sleeping in a room fronting a thorough-
fare with 'the window blinds open, than she would of
flying. But here, bless you, they think nothing of it.
Why here, a young senorita will come to the window,
and converse with a gentleman of her acquaintance with
nothing on but a chemise, and think no more of it than
a Camp-street gentleman would do of going into a
house with his coat off. I can relate to you a little inci-
dent that occurred in my presence, and in which I
figured somewhat, to show you how little hold affected
modesty has taken with the natives:—
In the court-yard of the house in whieh I occupy a
room, there are from 60 to 90 persons, including the
owner's family and his domestics, two other families
with their domestics, with those who rent stores and
rooms from him and there are very many who do that,
considering that his building occupies a whole square,
seven-eighths of whom sleep in the yard. or upon the
roof of the house. Men, women, and children sleep
within a few feet of each other as if they were one fa-
mily, and frequently they have never spoken together.
A senora will pull off all her upper garments, and lay
down upon her cot within six or eight feet of a gentle-
man, without seeming to know or care whether be is
within that many miles. You must not infer from this
that such are bad women, for if you do you will be fre-
quently wrong. It is the manner in which they have
been educated, and the fault is in a lack of modesty,
nothing else.
One night between 11 and 12 o'clock, when all were
asleep in this yard, a heavy shower of rain came on,
and you never saw such a scampering as there was for
the rooms. The early part of the night was remark-
ably warm and sultry, and an unprecedented number
had gone out to seep in the open air, and some six or
seven Americans had gone on the top of the roof, which
they reached by a light ladder from the yard. The
first few drops of rain admonished me to be up and
moving, and I had just got my cot into my room, and
was returning for some clothing I had dropped in my
hurry, when I observed a senorita pulling away at the
ladder and endeavouring to remove it. I quickly com-
prehended her meaning, and as quickly went to her
assistance.

We removed the ladder just in time to prevent a
well drenched young man from descending. The
others quickly came up to the edge: of the roof with
the same intention, and begged us to furnish them the
means of descending ; but no, we were inexorAble.

OCTOBER 15, if*46

Every stitch of our own clothing was wet, and we were
determined that the joke should be carried out. They
begged and laughed ; others got wind of what was going
on, and joined us, and a more amusing and ludicrous
scene it would be impossible to picture. At length the
cloud passed over, the moon broke forth, and a loud
roar of laughter followed it, for there stood some half-
dozen fellows in their shirts and drawers ; some with a
blanket under the arm, others with one over them, and
one or two with a cot under the arm, doubled up so as to
prevent the rain from soaking in it. With the moon•
shine their good natures returned, and they heartily
joined in the laugh exacted at their own expense. The
next night, those who were high-minded enough to roof
it, had the precaution to pull the ladder up after them.—
Correspondent N. 0. Bee.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
George Smith was charged with having passed bad
money.
The prisoner went into a druggist's shop and asked
for two pennyworths of salts. He threw down a six-
pence, which the shopman knew to be a counterfeit, and
said so. The prisoner then said he could get it changed
in a minute, and whipping it up, was walking out, when
he was secured, but not before he swallowed the sixpence.
The prisoner said the sixpeuce was a good one, but as
he saw that people were taken up for passing good as
well as bad money, he resolved to settle the question by
dispsing of it.
The ALDERMAN told the prisoner he run a great
hazard by swallowing base metal.
The prisoner seemed to think very little of the danger,
and said he did not know that a small trifle of good
money could do a man any harm either in his pocket or
his stomach.
Mr. Powell, solicitor to the Mint, raid, the prisoner
had been in the habit of making dangerous experiments
of the kind.—Remanded.
Philip Isaacs was charged with having stolen a pair of
beets.
The shopman of Mr. Oliver, bootmaker, of Bishops-
gate-street, saw a hand slip a pair of boots from one of
the shelves and disappear. Upon going into the street
he saw the prisoner walking off with the prize, and tap-
ping him upon the shoulder, was immediately answered
by the offer of the boots.
The prisoner said, that a person (no doubt the fellow
who committed the robbery) had thrust the boots into
his hands as he passed along, and he naturally delivered
them to the man who first claimed them, knowing that
he was not himself the owner of them.—(A laugh.)
Committed for trial.
William Sessue, a native of St. John's, New Bruns-
wick, was charged with having begged incessantly in
spite of the police.
The prisoner, who is but 20 years of age, has been, as
the policeman said, in the habit of appearing in the
streets with the back of his person bare when the weather
has been severe, and soliciting alms from some, and
threatening others upon being refused assistance. It
was more especially for the indecency of the exhibition
that the officer made the capture of the unfortunate
beggar, who, upon being apprehended, showed such pro-
digious strength, that four powerful men felt great diffi•
culty in restraining him.
The prisoner said he had been three years in London,
after having been four years in Liverpool, and had done
all that man could do to procure work ; and, failing to
accomplish that, to get home, but not a human being
would serve him.
Upon being told by Alderman Kelly that he must go
to Bridewell for fourteen days, he said (knowing that
the fourteen days' imprisonment comprehended short
commons), that he would not go for less than six months,
or three months at least.
Tho ALDERMAN—You shall not go for more than
fourteen days.
The prisoner—Then I'll do something worse than you
think when I come out. I care nothing about your bolts
and bars and officers. I tell you I won't go for fourteen
days.
Although the prisoner was a mere boy in appearance
as well as in years, five policemen with muoh difficulty
conveyed him to the cage, when, after tearing off his
meagre clothing, he tore the seats to pieces.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
CAUTION TO RIVAL OMNIBUS-DRIVERS.—James Sel-
, way, driver of one of the London Conveyance Com-
pany's Paddington omnibuses, was summoned for having,
by furious driving, damaged one of Nelson's Eastern
Counties Railway omnibuses, driven by James Smith.
From the evidence it appeared there was a spirit of
rivalry between the proprietors or drivers of these om-
nibuses. It was alleged on the part of the complainant
that it was the practice of the London Conveyance om-
nibus-drivers to obstruct his omnibus on its journeys,
and to endanger the passengers by keeping another om-
nibus close to the doors of his vehicle. A second omni-
bus was put on in front, and in this way, with one om-
nibus in front and one behind, he was obliged to drive
through the streets, and to take up and set down his
passengers in the best manner he could. On the day
mentioned in the 'summons the defendant was driving
the omnibus at the tail of his omnibus. Complainant
stopped to set down, it lady, upon which the defendant
attempted to pass him, although there was not room
enough, and in this attempt he ran against the door and
did damage to the extent of 40s.
Witnesses corroborated the allegation of the corn.
plainant that the defendant kept behind him along Ox-
ford street, and drove against the omnibus when it pulled
up to set down a passenger.
The defendant denied the rivalry. He certainly came
accidentally into collision with the door of the com-
plainant's vehicle ; bat this was the fault of the COW -
plainaut himself, who suddenly pulled up short, and
made no signal to those behind him.
Mr. HARDWICK said the mode in which rival omnibus
proprietors conducted their competition was alike dis-
graceful to themselves and dangerous to the public. The
drivers of rival omnibuses appeared to be wholly regard.
less of the safety and accommodation of their passengers ;
they were only anxious, at whatever risk, to accomplish
a trifling triumph over an opponent. These were prac•
tires that could not for a moment be tolerated. It had
been proved in evidence that the complainant was dogged
by a rival throughout Oxford-street—that his passengers
were kept in a perpetual state of alarm—and that posi-
tive danger was produced to a lady when she attempted
to alight. Here, then, was quite sufficient to warrant
him in punishing the defendant with proper severity. If
rivalry could not be put down, at least he would take
care that it should be so conducted as not to alarm and
endanger the public. If pecuniary fines were not suffi-
cient, he should resort to other measures. In the pre-
sent case he should inflict a fine of 40s. for the public
offence, and 40s. for the damage ; but he begged it might
go forth that in future instances he should cancel the
licenses of the driver.
Mary Jones, a girl about 15 years of age, was brought
before Mr. Hardwick, charged with attempting to put a
period to her existence.
Mary Grambler said she resided in Falconbridge-
court, Soho, and the prisoner resided in the same house.
Yesterday afternoon she had occasion to go up stairs to
a back bed-room, and was surprised to see the prisoner
stretched at full length ou the bed. She went up to her
and took hold of her hand to wake her up. She was
alarmed at the coldness of her hand, and thought there
was something wrong. On closely examining the pri-
soner she found that she had tied a handkerchief tightly
round her neck, to endeavour to strangle herself, and had
it not been for her going into the room she must have
effected her purpose.
Joseph Loader stated that the prisoner had been
under his care ever since the death of her parents. He
had endeavoured to bring her up so as to get an honest
liveliho9d, but was sorry to say that she was a lazy, bad
girl ; she would not keep any situation she was placed
in, but would associate with low and bad girls.
The prisoner, in answer to Mr. HARDWICK, said the
reason she was tired of her life was that Mr. Loader
beat her.
Mr. HARDWICK spoke to her upon the sinfulness of
the crime of suicide. She was old enough to be aware of
the wickedness of such an act.
The MAGISTRATE ordered an officer to take her to
Mr. Norris, the priest of St. Patrick's Chapel, Sutton-
street, which she was in the habit of Trequ.enting, and in
whose school she was educated.
The prisoner, in tears, said she was very sorry for
what she had done, and would promise not to do the like
again, and appeared thankful for the Magistrate's kind
ness.

WORSHIP-STREET.
Among the numerous individuals charged with being
" drunk and incapable," &c., was a female of very re-
spectable appearance, who, it appeared, had last evening
so energetically been paying her devoirs at the shrine of
the rosy god, that when found by the constable in the
Kingsland-road she was unable either to speak or walk,
and was, therefore, conveyed by him to the station-
house.

1 The defendant, on being asked by the magistrate, Mr.
BROUGHTON, what she had to say in defence of such con-
duct, replied that she had been to visit some friends of
her husband, who was a superintendent of police in the
country, and she could account for the state she was in,
when found by the constable, only by her having been
suddenly affected on her coming into the open air by an
extra, glass of wino she had been induced to take previous
to her departure from them.
Mr. BROUGHTON discharged the defendant with an
admonition. As soon, however, as she had withdrawn,
some gentlemen who were present, and who appeared to
know her and her family very well, after stating her
name, said that she was in the possession of 3001. a year,
independent of her family and her husband, who is in a
large way of business in the City, and who has brought
up a large family (sons and daughters of the late de•
fendant) in honour and credit. The above female, it was
stated, was seldom or ever to be met with in a state of
sobriety.