The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-25 00:00:00

LONDON, VIIIDAY VVEN ING, AUGUST 25, 1848.

well till the evening, but then there was some effervescence
I sent Caillot and Crevat to them, and they were easily pa-
cified."
M. Caussidiere was asked if any papers had been burnt at
the Prefecture before his departure. He replied in the nega-
tive. He was then asked if he knew what motive had in-
duced Albert and Barbes to continue him as Prefect in their
arrangement of a Government. He said it was probably be-
cause they thought be filled the post with energy, but there
were men in that Government that he never would have
accepted. He' was next asked whether L'Heritier de l'Ain
said, on the 16th of April, that there was an organization
quite ready, and that it bad been proposed that be (Cans-
sidiere) should place himself at the head of the movement,
but that he had refused to associate himself with Blanqui
and Raspail. lie replied, that he had never had any pro-
position of the kind, and did not know that an organization
was prepared.
DEPOSITIONS CONCERNING LOUIS BLANC.
Pierre Peroudet, concierge, at the No. 2, in the Rue Tait-
bout, the house in which M. Louis Blanc resided, deposed to the
fact of several workmen having called on M. Louis Blanc
from time to time, and on one occasion a man who asked if
the Barbes meeting was not held there. The concierge re-
plied in the negative, on which the man said " Is not this No.
2?" and, a reply being given in the affirmative, and that
H. Louis Blanc lived there, he said it was all right, and
went up to M. Blanc. About twelve persons were assem-
bled, and remained for two hours.
A waiter at the house in which M. Louis Blanc resided
deposed that on the 15th of .May, the day of the invasion
of the National Assembly, more than sixty persons called on
M. Blanc, and that under the porte-cochere were some with
banners who joined the procession by which the invasion was
made.
Similar testimony is given in the deposition of M. Noel.
There is a deposition by M. Lacaze, a representative of the
people, as to the precise words used by M. Louis Blanc in
his address to the people at the National Assembly. His
impression, he said, was that they expressed an approbation
of the invasion.
M. Roux, another representative, deposed to the same ef-
fect.
M. Verdun, a judge at Quimper, who was at the Assembly
OR the 15th of May, gave a minute account of the language
of M. Louis Blanc, which he says was very exciting, and was
enthusiastically applauded by the people. He concluded his
speech by saying that there must be a universal republic,
and that they would not law down their arms until this was
accomplished. He cried " Five la Republique Universelle,"
which was repeated with acclamation. Albert then joined
the people,•and a flag (green, red, and white) was held out.
Louis Blanc took it, and Barbes, Albert, and Blanc, having
joined hands, placed themselves in a theatrical attitude.
They all three wrapped the flag around them, and remained
in this position for ten minutes amidst the acclamation of the
crowd.
A deposition of M. Lavasseur, Minister of the French
Republic to the Republic of Mexico, who was at the As-
sembly on the 15th of May, is nearly to the same effect

as the -above.
M. Benafort, a student in medicine, also deposes to the
language of the encouragement given by M. Louis Blanc to
the invaders of the Assembly.
M. Manacle, an engineer, deposed to the precise words by
M. Louis Blanc. They made so great an impression upon
him at the time that ie wrote them on a card, which was
laid before the committee. They are—" The demonstration
of to-day is not one of those which shake, but of those which
overthrow."
There are other depositions to the same effect.
DEPOSITION OF THE ABBE SERRE, FIRST VICAR
OF ST. THOMAS D'AQUN (JULY 13).
On the 15th May, says Abbe Serre, whilst I was speaking
to M. de Falloux, I beheld the crowd pouring into the As-
sembly. A tall man, with a bald head, who was pointed out
to me as Barb'es, approached a window and sat cress-legged
upon it. Shortly after I beheld M. Louis Blanc, whose
grandfather I was acquainted with, who was guillotined
under Robespierre. There was a great tumult. M. Louis
Blanc seized hold of a flag. Albert arrived. All three
wrapped themselves up in its folds, and held each other by
the hand. The exaltation was extreme, and the crowd
pressed closely into the assembly. I only knew Louis Blanc.
I was told that the two others were Barbt,s and Albert.

NOTE DE M. PAULIN.
Mr. Charles Bignan, horse-dealer at Neuilly-sur-Marne,
rceived a letter from a merchant in England, informing
him that in the month of May M. Ledru-Rollin had sent
14,0001. sterling (350.000 f.) to be invested is the English
funds.—M. Bignan, Paris, Rue de Grammont, 17. (Signed)
Paulin, Ex-Colonel of the Sapeurs-Pomiers.
(To be continued.)

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.
By an analysis of the returns made to this depart-
ment, it appears that of the 90 persons killed and 90 in-
jured, on all the railways opened for public traffic in
Great Britain and Ireland, during the half-year ending
the 30th June, 1848, there were-
-6 passengers killed, and 60 injured from causes beyond
their own control.
5 passengers killed, and 2 injured, owing to their own
misconduct or want of caution.
7 servants of companies or of contractors killed, and
14 injured from causes beyond their own control.
52 servants of companies or of contractors killed, and
18 injured owing to their own misconduct or want of
caution.
18 trespassers and other persons, neither passengers
nor servants, killed, and 5 injured by improperly cross-
ing or standing on the railway.
1 person run over and killed, at a crossing,;through
misconduct of an engine-driver.

1 suicide.
Total : 90 killed, and 99 injured.
And for the same period the number of passengers
amounted to 26,330,492.
DUNCAN WQREGOR, Registrar.
Office of Commissioners of Railway, Whitehall,
August 21, 1848.

greatollBBt2ia2doionTe idea" in
nr
WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF THE
RAILWAY SYSTEM ?
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Snt,—l am pleased to find Mr. Sydney (in his letter,
which appears in your paper. of yesterday), acknow-
ledges that " the merits of Thomas Gray are great."
I ask Mr. Sydney in what consists Thomas Grey's
" merita" if not in being the author of the
railway system ? Mr. Sydney says, " Thomas
saidi
a a
whtst
looeyn
a: bearetsahlGe theryAae)ca,.
Gray was the author of a great idea, but George
St, phenson wasgnot only the author of a great
idea, but he turned that idea into a great fact !" I ask
Mr. Sydney whether Thomas Gray's "great idea" is not
in having, in 1820, published his work entitled, Observa-
tions on a General iron Railway, or Land Steam Convey-
ance, to supersede the necessity of horses in all public ye-
hicks, &c., in which he set forth his views supported by
numerous arguments and calculations, showing the ad-
vantages—national and commercial—to be derived from
the establishment of the railway system, and in having
devoted the greater part of his life and means to the es-
tablishmentyears
publishedasubsequently
of that system?
I ask Mr. Sydney whether George Stephenson can be
actuallyn publictru eter
da
laidi
tl hdyosw Liverpoolhnadi
nb ele,anhnodpi
Thomas
al:
sipaoGnucnrhadeye.s,d_s
planned and constructed the Stockton and Darlington
,ar,ofitulelt:entnhheeaddi idea
de
been
dinni after 'it
.13heSara2vvIti ihnn"ag::
bt
Manches-
ter
%s ork ? _

I maintain that neither the fact of George Stephenson
having been engaged in both of the above works, nor
his having "applied mechanical powers of the first order
to the locomotive engine," nor his having "founded the
modern school of Railway Engineers," nor the very
" great fact" of the most remarkable railway works in
the world having been constructed by his pupils," con-
stitutes a right to consider George Stephenson the origi-
nator of the railway system.
The fact is, Thomas Gray was the author or origina-
tor of the system which has since been carried out by
the public through the medium of George Stephenson
and others; Thomas Gray planned what others executed.
I would have it distinctly understood that I do not
wish to derogate from George Stephenson's merit as a
great mechanic and engineer, but whilst George Ste-
phenson has been handsomely rewarded for his services,
Thomas Gray has never derived the slightest pecuniary
advantage, notwithstanding he has devoted his whole
time and means towards carrying out one of the most
important schemes ever entertained by the human mind.
I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
J. BANNEHR."

xeter, Aug. 23.
Tuck's Manual, says the Stockton and Darlington At
Was passed in 1828, which I think is correct.

FUNERAL OF THE LATE
G. STEPHENSON, ESQ.
The remains of Mr. Stephenson were conveyed to their
last resting-place at Trinity Church, Chesterfield, on Thurs-
day ; and it is a melancholy pleasure for us to record the fer-
vent manifestation of respect and gratitude which was paid
at the celebration of the obsequies of one who, whilst living,
was regarded by the nation as the foremost in the onward
march of engineering and mechanical skill—to one who was
the admiration of all classes of society for his natural genius,
and the unsullied excellence of his private character—and
who, though now removed by the unsparing hand of death
from his sphere of action and usefulness, will ever live in
the hearts of the people as one of the benefactors of the hu-
man race. All shops were closed, business was Sus-
pended in Chesterfield in the middle of the day, and
hundreds of persons, including many who had come from
a considerable distance, lined the road on which the funeral
cortege passed, to pay their heartfelt tribute of respect to the
memory of the illustrious deceased. The position attained
by this truly geat man, and the very nature of his avoca-
tions, necessarily brought him into immediate contact with
all classes of society, from the nobles of the land to the
humblest artizan ; a vast number of whom, either from
veneration of his trauscendant talents, or from feelings of
friendship and regard, would have been eager to pay the
last sad tribute of respect to the remains of one so eminent ;
this, however, was found to be impossible, and the invita-
tions were confined to the relatives of the deceased, and a
few of his old pupils, to whom his memory must ever be as
a beacon on the road to fame, and his life an example of
what great achievements it is possible for man to accom-
plish. About one o'clock the cortege left Tapton House, and
a procession was formed in the following order :—The clerks
and agents from Lockoford and Clay Cross Collieries—two
abreast. The clergy, gentry, and tradesmen of Chester-
field and the neighbourhood—two abreast. The members
of the corporation, preceded by the town officers, with
their staves of office covered with crape, and the mace-
bearer, with the mace enveloped in crape, and headed by
the representative of the Mayor (J. G. Cottingham, Esq.,
Alderman). The Venerable the Archdeacon of Derby.
Several carriages containing the undertakers, medical men,
officiating clergyman &c. The hearse and seven mourning
coaches, containing the chief mourners—R. Stephenson,r.
Esq., G. R. Stephenson, Esq., Mr. R. Stephenson, M
Hindmarsh, and Mr. Langlands. Then followed the car-
riages of J. Meynell, Esq., G. H. Barrow, Esq., R. Barrow,
Esq., J. G. Barnes, Esq., the Venerable Archdeacon Hill,
J. Paxton, Esq., W. Condell, Esq., Rev. J. B. Jebb,C. Rev-
Bromehead, Rev. E. W. Lowe, and several others. On
arriving in Newbold-lane, the gentry and tradesmen formed
themselves on each side of the road, and the
corpor:trne
passed through their lines, beading theprocess whomh
church ; next followed the gentry and tradesmen,
came the clerks,
by the deceased. The church was c
of all classes in so-
tians of all denominations—by persons .
duals of distinction,
ciety, including many families and indivi
at the funeral solemnities of one whom they so generalebmy
Chris-
camp
proof, if proof be indeed wanted, of the
who had come from distant parts of the country to be. present
agents,
and
some
oofnithpele‘tveelr3k- finilelend