The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-31 00:00:00

TILE SUN, LON ON, TRUTIIDAY -EITENII4O-, JANUARY M, 185 a.

to estimate the probable merits or demerits of -the
perfected work from this solitary and merely frag-
mentary specimen—as presumptuous as it would
have been for any one, even Hierocles himself,
to appraise the value of the unseen house
represented by the one brick of the immortal
Scholasticos. Robert Owen, it must be ad-
mitted, built up the scheme of an extinct
colossus of birds, from a single bit of a gigantic bone
dug up by chance at our antipodes—a scheme cor-
roborated almost miraculously by a subsequent
discovery of the entire skeleton ! But criticism
does not exactly admit of an Owen—or, if it did,
would find some difficulty in detecting his where-
abouts. So that we are perforce compelled to re-
ceive No. I. of Charles Knight's " Popular History
of England " for precisely what it pretends to be
and no more—namely, the precursor of thirty-five
other monthly instalments. Judging it from the
four preliminary chapters comprised within the
limits of this initial number, the work promises to
be a very lucid narrative of the great annals of our
mother-country—a narrative which, if only con-
tinued with the same ability to the end, must prove
eminently worthy of the hand to which the people
of England are already grateful for so many and
such varied masterpieces. The Popular history
of England, ia other word; promises to be to the
Pictorial history of England what the "English
Cyclopvedia" is proving itself to be to the " Penny
Cyclopwdia." An improved remodelling of the
old materials materials in their new form
strangely ripened, matured, and generally de-
veloped to something more nearly approximating
to absolute completeness. " The Popular History
of England," indeed, is considerably more even
than this as contrasted with its predecessor, the
memorable " Pictorial History of England"—inas-
much as the former purports to be and actually is
an entirely new work, penned by the skilled hand
of the veteran author, editor, printer, publisher—
Charles Knight. Charles Knight was the projector
of the " Pictorial History of England." He is the
writer of the " Popular History of England." His
sparkling and some of them exquisite essays, en-
titled collectively " Once upon a Time," assure us
of his capacity to pen the annals of the people of
England (aud not alone of the monarchs of Eng-
land) as they ought to be penned, but as they never
have been hitherto. Honour to the " Old Printer"
for his daring and patriotic enterprise. It is one
eminently befitting him in his pre-eminent position
as the classic biographer of the most glorious of all
the sons of England—the biographer of Shakspere
thus not inaptly aspiring to become the popular
historian of Shakspere's Fatherland. An ambition
worthy of crowning the labours of a life to which
the people of England are already indebted, among
other things, for the priceless boon of a cheap and
wholesome literature.

might one day be crushed beneath a mountain of
' gold. She feels it now ; her sin has been profit-
less, her guilt unavailing: Had she but waited
and trusted all would have come right. She hears
mocking voices in the air—" Well done, they say,
well done ! You have had your will ; you have
won a husband and his riches ; you have ransomed
your father. Poor fool, it was needless ; it was
labour utterly in vain ! You have given your life,
you have bartered your soul to do it, and Death
was waiting to forestall you at the last—to pour
into your lap a greater treasure than even your
sin has earned ! Lilian, what have you done ?
There is Cyril ; look at him—can you see his
heart ? There is Alice ; have you watched her in
her chamber ? There is Michael, he waits for the
marriage blessing • do you think it is a curse ?
Turn from them, Lilian, look at your own soul—
you dare not ! Yet the work is done. Tear off
that deceit, it was NOT needful ; no not for that
father's sake whom you have loved before your
Lord. God's hand was ready to redeem him ; the
very wealth you thirsted for was garnered up and
waiting the appointed time. It might have
blessed you, it comes to crush you. Ah !
the mountain of gold !" Overwhelmed by
these reflections her overwrought brain and
over-taxed strength give way. She falls
senseless, and when she recovers—where is she ?
She has been for a year and a half the inmate of a
lunatic asylum. She makes her escape through
the open window before she discovers the fact, and
hurries back to her native place, her beloved Am-
bsrhill. She passes the well-known church, she
turns to look once more at her mother's grave, and
reads her father's name upon the stone ! Yes ! he is
dead, that weak though lovingparent, who had made
shipwreck of her life and his own—he from whom,
iu her shortsightedness, she would have averted
every trial he had had to bear; the consequences
of his own sins alone. His own curate, a fierce and
unrelenting bigot, had discovered both his secrets
and proclaimed them to the world, and he had
sunk beneath the double disgrace, and his son had
fled the country. Thus Lilian was left alone to
learn how our wishes may be fulfilled and yet not
granted. She had prayed and striven for wealth
with au almost impious resistance to the will of
Heaven, and her rebellious desire came to pass, and
she stood alone in the world. But the bitter lesson
was learnt at last, and the stormy heart found rest.
She effected a reconciliation between her cousin
and Mr.Hallidon ; she discovered her brother, who
had begun a new life in a new world, and blessings
followed her footsteps. But the friend of the
weary was at baud, she survived but to
welcome the lover of her youth once more,
and the weary spirit was at peace. The style
is earnest and often eloquent, the characters dis-
tinctly drawn, and the interest unflagging. Some
points in the plot are improbable, and some incon-
sistent with good taste, but the talents of the
writer are evident, and the attention of the reader
is secured. The lesson resulting from the effects
of an undisciplined mind and a perverted judgment
are clearly shown. Had Lilian, instead of striving
after unattainable wealth, persuaded her father to
surrender his benefice, and resign themselves to
comparative poverty, she would have acted wisely
and well. But we are not allowed to wait till the
most convenient opportunity to choose the right
course—to do wrong for a little while till our
worldly prospects are secure, and then forsake it.
We may rest assured, if we act thus, we shall not
go untempted. It we loiter on the brink of the
precipice, a false step will hurry us lower down
than we intended. This moral, deduced with clear-
ness and vigour, is impressed on the pages before
us. It shows the writer to be one who has thought
and felt deeply, and we may hope to receive from
his pan another work like the present, in which
the graphic power of talent portrays the dangers
of self-deception, and the mind of the reader is
inpressed with too-often forgotten truths.

COURT CIRCULAR.

Tee Queen and Prince Albert left Windsor Castle at
half-past 11 o'clock yesterday morning, attended by the
Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Churchill, Lord Byron,
Col. the Hon. C. B. Phipps, Sir Edward Bowater, Lord
C. Fitzroy, Col. F. H. Seymour, and the Master of the
Hocsehold.
Her Hajesty and the Prince travelled by a special
train on the Greats Western Railway, and proceeded
from the Paddington terminus, escorted by a party of
the 3d Light Dragoons, to Buckingham Palace, where
the Royal party arrived at 2d minutes past 12 o'clock.
Her Majesty, attended by Lady Churchill, Lord C.
Fitzroy, and Col. Seymour, afterwards visited her Royal
Highness the Duchess of Glocester'at Glocester-house.
The Queen held a Court and Privy Council in the
afternoon.
At the Court M. Musurus had an audience of her
Majesty, and delivered his new credentials as Ambassa-
dor from the Sultan of Turkey.
Mr. Alfred Rucker had his first audience of the Queen,
and delivered his credentials as Minister Resident of the
Hanse Towns.
Their Excellencies were introduced by the Earl of
Clarendon. K.G., the Queen's principal Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, and conducted by MajorGene-
rat the Hon. Sir E. Cust, K.C.H., her Majesty's Master
of the Ceremonies.
The Right Hon. Sir Henry Bulwer, G C. 8., was pre-
sented to the Queen at an audience by the Earl of Cla-
rendon on his return from his mission to Tuscany.
Mr. Baron (George) Bracewell was presented to the
Queen at an audience-by Mr. Secretary Labouchere (act-
ing for Sir G. Grey), when her Majesty was graciously
pleased to confer the honour of Knighthood upon him.
Mr. Wrn. Carpenter Rowe (Queen's Counsel), Chief
Justice of Ceylon, was presented to her Majesty at an
audience, by Mr. Secretary Labouchere, and had the
honour of Knighthood conferred upon him.
Mr. M. R. Sousse, Puisne Judge at Bombay, was
presented by Mr. Secretary Labouchere to the Queen,
and received the honour of Knighthood.
Mr. William Edmond Logan, Director of the Geolo-
gical Survey in Canada, was presented by Mr. Secre-
tary Labouchere, when her Majesty was graciously
pleased to confer the honour of Knighthood upon him.
Mr. P. Benson Maxwell, Recorder of Prince of
Wales's Island, was presented by Mr. Secretary La-
bouchere, and received from the Queen the honour of
Knighthood.
Mr. Richard :Bolton M'Causland, Recorder of Singa-
pore, was presented at an audience by Mr. Secretary
Labouchere, when her Majesty was graciously pleased
to confer the honour of Knighthood upon him.
Viscount Gough had an audience of the Queen in the
Royal closet, when her Majesty was graciously pleased
to deliver to his Lordship his gold stick of office as
Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards.
The Privy Council was attended by his Royal High-
ness Prince Albert, Earl Granville (Lord President), the
Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earl
of Harrowby, Lord Privy Seal ; Viscount Palmerston,
First Lord of the Treasury ; the Earl of Clarendon,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ; the Right Hon.
H. Labouchere, Secretary of State for the Colonies ;
Lord Panmure, Secretary of State for War ; Sir G.
Lewis, Chancellor of ..the Exchequer ; S;r C. Wood,
First Lord of the Admiralty ; the Right Hon. R. V.
Smith, President of the Board of Control ; Lord Stan-
ley of Alderley, President of the Board of Trade ; the
Right Hon. M. T. Baines, Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster ; and the Marquis of Abercorn, Groom of the
Stole to the Prince.
At the Council the Queen's Speech on-opening Par-
liament was sanctioned by her Majesty in Council.
The Queen pricked the list of Sheriffs for the different
counties of England and Wales for the present year.
The Hon. Wm. Bathurst was the Clerk of the Counci
in Waiting.

Amberhill. By A. J. Barrowcliffe. 2 vols. Smith
Elder, and Co.

This is a striking and remarkable story, with
great originality of plot and vivid delineation of
character, drawn by a vigorous if unpractised hand.
Yet, notwithstanding the talents displayed in its
production, the impression it leaves on the reader's
mind is not a pleasing one, though it may serve to
point a moral to those whose passionate affections
mislead their judgment, and whose desire to make
those they love happy overpowers their sense of
right. It presents us with the melancholy picture
of a vehement and gifted nature, with an enthusi-
astic reverence for all that is true and noble, and
a fervent sense of right, wandering in the paths of
sin and sorrow, and wrecking all its hopes of hap-
piness and virtue, on that rock which has proved
fatal to so many, " doing evil that good may
come." It is written in the form of an autobio-
graphy, the writer being the only daughter of a
clergyman who has four sons. The story opens
with a tragedy. On a sultry summer afternoon the
heroine, then only a girl, is in her father's study,
when she overhears a conversation between him
and her mother, which opens to her the fatal secret
which mars her whole after life. As her mother is
persuading her husband to choose the right way,
and has just triumphed, she sees her youngest child
playing in the garden in tha thunderstorm. She
flies to bring him into safety, and they are both
struck dead beneath an old cedartree. The same vivid
flash deprives another of her brothers of sight, and a
third dying some time after, Lilian, and her eldest
brother Lawrence, are all that remain of the once
happy family, the blind boy being placed at a
school, and seldom returning home. But the bit-
terest sorrow was to come. Lilian's father, as we
have already said, was a clergyman of the English
Church, but being of a controversial disposition he
had become persuaded that her ritual was not the
right one. What the preiise nature of his doubts
was, his daughter never knew ; she only know that
he did doubt, and she saw the result. This father
was the one great object of Lilian's existence. Her
affection for him was intense, and she saw that t
continue the outward observance of his profession
was to him torture. But he was of that weak and
vacillating disposition, which possessing the noblest
impulses, might almost as well have the worst.
" With the longings of an angel" he had neither
strength of mind nor moral rectitude sufficient to
stay him from acts that were almost criminal. The
thought of his family deterred him from surrender-
ing his benefice. His wife and five children he
thought he could not doom to poverty, and so he
lingered and delayed till his wife, with firmer
principle and stronger faith, persuaded him to do
what was right, nothing doubting—for whatever
the real value of his opinions, it is certain that if
he believed them true, ho should have followed
them. The hand of death withdrew from him his
adviser and support, and with her his new resolu-
tions. Lilian was aware of the struggle in her
father's mind, and an earnest longing to aid him
filled her heart. She saved all she could, but
found her hoards proceed slowly, and a passionate
desire for wealth seized her. She sought it, it is true,
for her father's sake ; but, alas, when once riches are
made our final object, reckless of the means by
which they are attained, however pure the heart,
however holy the object, the path to every crime
lies open. All Lilian's better feelings were sacri-
ficed at the shrine of gold. Her early lover was
poor, and the first affection of her heart was sur-
rendered. She found herself desiring the death of
her miser uncle, nay, almost conniving at it, for
she neglected to warn him of danger. His pocket-
book fell into her hands • she became a thief. It is
true that the check she withdrew from it did not
profit her as her brother claimed it ; but that did
not excuse the act. Finding the philosopher's stone
still eluding her grasp, she resolved to captivate a
rich lawyer, with whom she was well acquainted,
and who had extricated her from a serious diffi-
culty. She succeeded, and they were engaged,
though with the confession on his part that he had
once loved another, and could never hope to love
again. Lilian was reckless, she had taught herself
to love him, and freedom for her father was an
object great enough to compensate for any defici-
encies. A cousin of Lilian's, Alice Campbell, came
to reside with her a few months betore her mar-
riage. She had been brought up by her aunt, a
strictly conscientious woman, but had never seen
her mother's family, owing to her aunt's displea-
sure against Mr. O'May, Lilian's father. This was
another of the instances in which his fatal weakness
of disposition entailed misery on others, and re-
morse on himself. He had recommended a friend
to the dying Mr. Campbell, as a guardian for his
daughter, whom he believed to be unworthy of the
trust. He proved so, and the orphan was left
penniless. Her aunt, in displeasure, would never
see the author of the misfortune, and broke off an
engagement which Alice had formed, on learning
that her lover was a friend of Mr. O'May.
This lover was no Other than Mr. Hal-
lidon, the lawyer, to whom Lilian was en-
gaged, and as the wedding-day rapidly_ ap-
proached, that was to fulfil the hopes of her life
and set her father free the long-parted lovers met
at Lilian's home. They were both too upright,
however, to wish the engagement broken without
Lilian's consent, and that she would not give. To
the passages which follow we must demur. How-
ever much Lilian's love for her father had become,
the ruling passion. f her life, however great her
desire to set him free from his difficulties, how-
ever vehement and excitable her feelings by nature,
it is, to say the least, highly improbable that she
should have been so lost to all womanly dignity
and self-respect, so forgetful of feminine propriety
and delicacy, as to insist on the fulfilment of Mr.
Hallidon's promise to her against his wish. It
sufficiently proves that the story is traced by a
masculine pen, for though Lilian's character is
described as almost Italian in Its vehemence and
excitement, her finer and better, feelings were in-
compatible with such a course. It was scarcely
possible that she should have become so hardened
in her gold-seeking course, and the fact of her be-
ing described as really cherishing an affection for
Michael llallidon, renders it the more improbable.
Butts() the author, to our regret, has described it.
Lilian refuses to abandon her rights, which
the others admit to be pre-eminent, and so
affairs proceed for a few days. Lilian, meanwhile,
is perplexed by repeated demands for money from
her brother. We have not alluded to his pursuits
before, though they occupy a prominent place in
the story. It is enough that he has persuaded his
father to write a falsehood about his age, to obtain
him a situation, and is compelled to bribe one who
knows it to silence. He, too, has possession of his
father's secret, and uses it to extort large sums of
money from that miserable man. Driven almost
wild by the troubles around her, and tortured by
the sense of all her own wrong doing, Lilian finds
a letter one day announcing the miser's death and
her succession to all his wealth. Bitterly she re-
cals a prophecy, on her desire for wealth, that she

Her Majesty gave audience to Viscount Palmerston,
the Lord Chancellor, Earl, Granville, and Lord
Panmure.
The Right Hon. M. T. Baines, Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, had an audience of the Queen.
Her Majesty was attended by the Earl of Mulgrave,
Treasurer of the Irousehold ; Lord Byron, Lord in
Waiting; and General Sir Edward Bowater, Groom in
Waiting.
Her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince
honoured the Haymarket ,Theatre with their presence
in the evening. The< Royal suite consisted of L'uly
Churchill, Lord Byron, Lord C. Fitzroy, and Colonel
Seymour.
The Earl and Countess of Stanhope, Lord and Lady
John Russell, Lord an 1 Lady Stanley of Alderley, the
Right Hon. Win, and Mrs. Cowper, the Right Hon.
T. B. Macaulay, the Right Hon. T. Pemberton Leigh,
Admiral the Hon. R. S. Dunda,s, Major-General Sir
Richard Airey, and M sjor-General Dupuis, command-
ing the Royal Horse .Artillery in the Crimea, left
Windsor Castle yesuarda.y.
Mr. John Wood, eiha'rlaan of the Board of In-
land Revenue, had an interview with the Chancellor
of the Exchequer yesterday. Sir A. Spearman had
also an interview yesterday with the Right Hon.
Baronet.

Olive castings. A Novel. By Mrs. Parry. 3
vols. Hurst and Blackett.
This story is well calculated to wile away soli-
tude or amuse an idle hour. It is somewhat more
romantic than the generality of novels now met
with, and it will thus be attractive to those who
I delight in tracing a heroine's adventures through
countless dangers and amid sundry scares—at one
time surrounded by friends, and suddenly the prey
of cruel enemies, and abandoned to despair. Olive
Hastings is a pleasing and charming personage to
grace a romance and adorn a narrative. She was
singularly situated, and the plot is ingeniously
constructed, and all the events which led to her
strange position in Mrs. Dugeon's family are pro-
bable. Some of the characters who figure in the
scene are strikingly described, and give a vigour
and vivacity to the tale. Edward Crichton, with
his melancholy tendency and gloomy ideas, the
result of a neglected youth ; Colonel Merlin, who
possessed naturally a good disposition and kind
heart, but who, by want of self-command, and
wrong companions, had perverted the one and
warped the other, are contrasts effectively brought
before the reader. One went from bad to worse,
till an awful death completed a neglected life, with-
out a moment's preparation for the " weighty cares
of an eternal scene ;" the other gradually amending
what was wrong in his life and rendering himself
more worthy of the excellent maiden on whom he
had fixed his affections. The worldly and selfish
temper of Mrs. Dugeon and Miss Shamwell are
truthfully sketched, and we may form a notion
from their proceedings of what the unfortunate
have to encounter who are bound by natural, legal,
or circumstantial ties to such natures. Poor Olive
found treacherous friends in such a family, and a
dreary home in that house over which Miss Sham-
well presided. Only her inexperience could
have induced her to bind herself as an apprentice
to the wily woman, who, under the guise of
friendly assistance, was making all things subser-
vient to her interest. Mary Dugeon, the coquette,
is a likely instance of what conceit and ill temper
will bring their victims to. She nearly met with an
agonising and untimely grave as the sequel of her
rash and headstrong conduct, and it is not to be
wondered at that she should, from the period of
her restoration to health and strength, determine
on a quiet and secluded mode of life. It is only an
event of retributive justice, when the crafty and
cunning set at Portgleu are caught in their own
toils, and while they retire into disgraceful obscu-
rity, they hoar of their escaped victims taking
their exalted places, amid the great and good
of the land. The unlucky " Will," who was
driven about in all directions by the cruel family,
is interesting from his zeal and fidelity to the cause
of the orphan, Olive, who was a fellow-sufferer in
the same house as himself. It is satisfactory to
hear of his meeting with friends at last. Olive's
various captures and escapes are exciting, and
if such occurrences are rare nowadays, in com-
parison to what they used to be, it is not unlikely
that so vehement a man as Colonel Merlin should
seek to profit by stratagem when common forms
did not avail hint. He was urged on and goaded
to his base acts by a still more adroit deceiver, who
spent his life front youth to age in the practise of
evil works. He died at last by the hand of him
whom he had led astray. With her gentle man-
ners and meek spirit Olive possessed a determina-
tion and energy that rose equal to any emergency,
and hence she escaped wonderfully out of the
hands of her enemies. "Deprived of all, of every
stay, save Innocence and Heaven," she came un-
harmed out of the conflict, and triumphed in the
majesty of devotion and truth. Her story is
capable of enlivening by its variety, and interest-
ing by its depth of feeling, and the right purpose
displayed in its composition. The reader is intro-
duced to numerous phases of society, which con-
tain graphic sketches of good and evil, and several
characters appear whose diversity of disposition are
skilfully depicted, thus presenting altogether an
attractive novel for perusal.

Despatches from, the Governors of the West India
Colonies were received yesterday at the Colonial-
office.

POLITICAL DINNERS.

Earl Granville, Lot xl President of the Privy Council,
gave a full-dress dinne r last evening, at his residence in
Bruton-street, to a party of peers, consisting of the
Earls of G3sford and! Abingdon, the mover and. se-
conder of the Address, the Lord Chancellor, the Dctke
of Argyll, the Marqizises of Lansdowne, Abercor vt,
Clanricarde, and Town Oland ; Ends Fitz williarn,
rowby, Shaftesbury, So men, Cowper, and Beasborough;
Viscounts Hardinge, Sydney, Falkland, and Torrington;
Lords Overstone, Stanley of Aklerley, Broughton,
Hatherton, Gleneig, De. Tabley, Wodehouse, Dufferin,
Monteagle, Foley, and Camoys.
Viscount Palmerston gave a full-dress dinner yester-
day, at his residence in Piccadilly, to the following mem-
bers of the House. of Commons Speaker, the
Right Hon. H. Fitaroy (chairman of Ways and Means),
the Hon. G. Byng (mover of the Address), Mr. Baxter
(seconder of the Addiress), the Right Hon. M. T. Baines,
Sir M. F. Berkeley, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon.
R. Vernon Smith, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the
Right Hon. H. Lt%bouchere, Viscount Druwlanrig,
Viscount Monk, V iscount Duncan, the Earl of Mul-
grave, the Right Han. E. P. Bouverie, the Right Hon.
W. Cowper, the Right Hon. W. G. Hayter, the Right
Hon. Sir Benjamin Hall, the Right Hon. E. Horsman,
the Right lion. W. Keogh, the Right Hon. Robert
Lowe, the Right H'on. W. Monsell, Sir Robert Peel,
Mr. Frederick Peel, Mr. James Wilson, Sir A. Cock-
burn, and Sir Richard Bethell, the Hon. Henry Brand,
General Buckley, Mr. Grenville Berkeley, Mr. W. N.
Massey, Mr. R. Osbor ye, Mr. J. D. Fitzgerald, Mr. J.
Moncrieff, and Mr. H.. D. Seymour. Mr. Charles C.
Clifford also dined with the noble viscount. Lord Ernest
Bruce was prevented diming with his lordship owing to
a recent domestic afilicti,on.

Viscount Palmerston and Earl Granville read the
Queen's Speech on epening Parliament to their respec-
ti►e guests.

The Right Hon. B. Disraeli received yesterday at
dinner, Grosvenor -g ate, a party of members of the
House of Commons. There were present--the Earl of
March, the Marquis of Blandford, the Marquis of
Granby, the Marquis of Chandos, Lord Bective, Lord
Wm. Graham, Lora Barrington, Lord Galway, Lord
Stanley, Lord Lovaitne, Lord Newark, Lord Newport,
Lord Elmley, Lord R. Cecil, Lord Edwin Hill, Hon.
Eliot Yorke, Colonel! Hon. Henry Lowther, Hon. R.
Windsor Clive, Right Hon. Sir J. Trollops, Right Hon.
Sir J. Pakington, Right Hon. C. N. Hamilton Sir
Watkin W. Wynn, Sir J. Yards Buller, Sir William
Joliffe, Sir E. Lytton, Mr. Palmer (Berkshire), Mr.
Miles, Mr. Buck, Mr. Bentinck, Mr. Stanhope, Mr.
Egerton, Colonel Howard Vyse, Colonel Gilpin, Mr.
Dupre, Mr. Gore Langton, Mr. Palk, Mr. Kniglitley,
Mr. Bateson, Mr. Packe, Mr. Portal, Mr. Fellowes,
and Mr. Archdall.

Yesterday evening the Earl of Derby entertained at
dinner in St. James's-,square twenty-eight members of
the House of Peers. Az uongst them were the following :
—The Duke of Manchester, Duke of Montrose, Duke
of Cleveland, Marquis >f Salisbury, Marquis of Exeter,
Earls of Eglinton, Desa rt, Lucan, Cardigan, Lansdale,
Winchilsea, Malmesbur2r, Hardwicke, Sandwich ; Lords
Stradbroke, Redesdale, Colchester, St. Leopards, &c.

MANSION HOUSE.—Ye eterday the Lord Mayor enter-
tained Mr. Thwaites, eh: Liman, and the other members
of the Metropolitan Bor Ird of Works, and a number of
distinguished and priva to friends, at dinner. Among
those present were—Mr. Thwaites, Mr. W. Corrie, Mr.
W. Williams, M.P., Mr.. T. Turner, Sir W. Cnbitt, Mr.
Carpenter Rowe, Mr. Pteshley, Q.C., Mr. Hardwick,
The Chisholm, Mr. Rose, Mr. Walker, Alderman Sir
John Musgrove, Bart., Mr. Alderman Challis, M.P.,
Alderman Sir Francis Graham Moon, Bart., the Right
Hon. J. Stuart Wortley, M.P.,Recorder of London,
Alderman Sir R. W. Carden, r. Alderman Wire, Mr.
Alderman Carter, Mr. Alderman Cubitt, M.P., Alderman
Sir Henry Muggeridge, Mr. Alderman and Sheriff
Huntley Kennedy, Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Rose,
Mr. Alderman Eagleton, Mr. Alderman Lawrence, Mr.
Corrie, Captain Gossett, Rev. Mr. Erie, Mr. Waley,
Mr. P. Salop none, Dr. Letheby, Mr. J. Dillon, Professor
Sylvester, Captain Barnett, R.
J N.. Mr. Serjeant Mere-
wether, Mr. . Ingram Travers, Mr. B. Travers, jun.,
Mr. Walker, Mr. R. Lambert Jones, Mr. Deputy Lott,
Rev. Dr. lefortisner, D.D., Mr. Miller, Mr. Bristow,
Mr. B. Drew, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Hayward, Mr. Josiah
Wilkinson, r. R. B. Seeley, Mr. Nicholay, Mr. Deputy
Harrison, Mr. T. H. Hall, Mr. L. Davis, Mi. Deputy
Rathbone, Mr. Deputy Peacock.

UNITED MEXICAN` ASSOCIATION.—The half yearly
meeting of this association took place yesterday, Sir J.
Easthope presiding, when the report was received and
approved. The works at Jesus Maria and La Trinidad
mines ars making progress ; but a further outlay will be
required tai test their produce at a greater depth, and
8,0001. is thtimated as the necessary amount. The assets
in Mexico include 6,000/. cash and ores, and 10,0001. a
claim on the Government ; but, as regards the latter,
thepresent condition of politics excludes the expectation
of its immediate payment. It is thought, however,
that sufficient can be provided from these sources to carry
out operations, and the directors promise to exercise
strict economy. The funds in London represent 10,800/.,
of which 5,000/. stands to the credit of unclaimed divi.
dends, while 5,300/. will have to be appropriated to meet
outstanding liabilities. If further capital should prove
to be essential, the directors propose to avail themselves
of the power to raise the remainder of the loan granted
on a previous occasion.
The amount of speeie brought by the West India
steamer yesterday is 140,0001., of which 90,000?. is
gold.

RAILWAY REFORM:

The meeting of railway proprietors, held on the 22d
inst., to promote reform in railway management, and
adjourned to the 30th, was continued yesterday accord.
ingly, at the London Tavern, Mr. W. Mauxs presiding
as before.
There was a 'very limited attendance, and the chair-
man in consequence delayed the proceedings for some
time beyond the hour advertised, but without any effect
in adding to the numbers.
The Hon. SECRETARY read the following report from
the committee appointed at the previous meeting
" Since the last meeting your committee have been in
communication with many influential proprietors, and
have obtained much valuable information, many impor-
tant offers of co-operation, and every indication of liberal
pecuniary support. Your committee purpose, with a
view to a rapid and efficient organisation of the associa-
tion, to obtain with all convenient speed lists of the
shareholders in the various lines, when a direct applica-
tion will be made to every individual to enrol himself a
member of your association ; and they are encouraged
to believe that the result will be such a concentration of
the proprietary influence as must speedily make itself
felt in the conduct of railway affairs. , Your committee
have not thought it expedient to define with too rigid
precision the objects or modes of action of the associa-
tion, deeming it more desirable that these vital subjects
should receive the deliberate consideration of the council
when Lilly formed. Your committee have had under their
consideration the various suggestions brought before the
meeting held on the 22d inst., amongst others the pro-
posal that railway proprietors should be invited to en-
rot themselves en masse in the ranks of the association,
and that the council might rely for funds on spon-
taneous contrieutions, to be made from time to time ;
but your committee being of opinion that the scale
of the operations of the association can only be safely
based on a reliable fund, have not deemed it ad-
visable to adopt this suggestion ; but, desirous of exclud-
ing none by a high subscription, they recommend that
an annual payment of half-a-guinea shall constitute
membership. It will be obvious that even these arrange-
ments will, at all events for the present, necessitate the
exercise of a judicious liberality on the part of the more
wealthy supporters of our. objects. Your committee
have also considered the question of local associations,
and are of opinion that their establishment will be emi-
nently useful. In accordance, with this conclusion, the
chairman attended an influential meeting at Liverpool
on Monday last, and a powerful association is in process
of organisation in that town. Time did not admit of
his visiting Manchester, but the committee hope that a
similar association will be forthwith formed there, which
will be well supported, and they are glad to announce
that they have good grounds for helieving that power-
ful local associations will be formed without delay in
most of the principal towns in the United Kingdom.
Your committee are fully sensible that they will have
much to overcome in the inertness of many pro-
prietors, and in that official hostility which ever mani-
fests itself towards vigilant control ; but having no party
battle to fight, no personal antipat'dee to serve, actu-
ated solely by the single purpose of restoring prosperity
to a depreciated property, they are encouraged to be-
lieve that at no distant day the association wilt be po-
tent for good, and conduce to make railway manage-
ment as conspicuous for adherence to sound commer-
cial principles as railway enterprise is for its pre-emi-
nent magnitude."
The CHAIRMAN, after repeating the statements he had
made at the formation of the association on the 22d
inst., and the efforts be had made to promote railway re-
form, and to establish peaceful relations and harmonious
working between rival companies, explained that the
reason the meeting was not more numerously attended,
both to-day and on the previous occasion, was that no
step beyond advertising had been taken to secure
a large attendance. He had, however, great confidence
in the truths of the principle upon which they were pro-
ceeding, and he had no doubt they would speedily see
the results of those (at present meetings in the
existence of a powerful and wide spread association.
(Hear.) Referring to the mismanagement of the Eas.
tern C mnties line, he said that after the expose made by
the committee of investigation, it would be impossible
to prevent the adoption of a better system in that elm-
pasty, let Mr. Waddineton and the directors do what
they might. He then quoted Mr. Waddington's book
and Mr. Capper's evidence as to the Eastern Counties
coal trade, and urged that the gain there stated of Bs. 3d.
per mile per train of 30 waggons, which would give a
profit of something like 320,0001. each half-year on this
branch of traffic, and contended that that calculation
proceeded upon the fallacy that the 30 waggons ran
the whole distance, whereas the number of waggons was
diminished at every station from Peterborough south-
ward, and the receipts became less and less, while the
expenses continued to the end of the journey. This
was not taken into account in estimating profits, nor in
the instance alluded to. The annual expenditure neces-
sary to keep the railway, the rulling stock and the
hui:dings on the line had, according to the engineer's
account, been withheld and omitted from the calcula-
tions. These charges woul4 have wholly absorbed the
total net earnings of the line. He then adverted to
the bill read by Mr. Love, of the Eastern Counties
Railway, which proposed the issue of a Six per Cent.
Preference Stoek, which he contended the cash account
showed to be wholly unnecessary, though the sye-
stem which the directors had pursued would, if con•
tinued, compel them to take that step a year or two
hence. The Eastern Counties was by no means an
isolated case. There were many other lines which
carried on a large traffic at a loss. Take the North-
Western, the average earnings of each engine on that
line in 1846 amounted to 5,261/. net, while in 1854, not-
withstanding the numerous improvements in the con-
struction of locomotive engines, the gross earnings of
each engine upon the same line were 0n1y4,2541. He be-
lieved that the great loss was upon the goods traffic, and
that the French railways carried a smaller proportion of
goods as compared with the extent of the passenger traf-
fic, which was, he considered, one reason why they paid
so much better than our own. There was another item of
expenditure which in calculating traffic rates ought to be
eamsidered, and that was the money they were called
upon to pay in compensation for injuries resulting from
railway accidents. Juries as well as the legislature ap-
pesca•ed to look upon railway companies as fair game,
and. the practice was generally to apportion the damage,
not occording to the circumstances of the accident, or
the deXree of blame attaching to the company, but to
the ciro umstances of the party injured, so that railways
ought it r justice to themselves to inquire into the position
in life at every traveller who, came to them, and charge
the tare higher or lower accordingly. It would almost
seem than: when floggieg in the army and navy was abo-
lished, tile lash had been transferred to the backs of rail-
way sharzeholders. Amongst other points of mismanage-
meat, to the correction of which the association might
direct attoution was the permitting the salaried servants
of the railways to become contractors, shipowners, and
traders, as its the instance of Mr. Gooch, of the Eastern
Counties, the practice of giving certain large carriers a
sort of monotony of the goods traffic, whereby they drew
a commission 4 on all goods carried ; the mingling together
of capital and revenue in the accounts, and the running
of long heavy (satins where lighter trains would be suffi-
cient. A demo, in this latter respect would increase ra-
ther than diminish the accommodation afforded to the
public, while it \would avoid the necessity for employing
the large heavy .engines, which were a constant source
of expense by destroying the permanent way. It
was proposed to manage the affairs of the associa-
tion by a council of 100 members, 25 to be elected in
London and the rind to represent the prineipal.provin-
cid towns, and fron a this council an executive committee
of twelve would be appointed. There had been some
doubt expressed as to the prospect of obtaining sufficient
funds. As far as th ey had gone —and they would re-
member the associations was only a week old—there was
every indication that flue would be no want of the
sinews of war. (Hear, .hear.) Most of the members of
the committee had sub scribed ten guineas each, and
were prepared to subscribe as much more if required,
but it was considered ttrzt a small annual subscription
extending over the whole body of the railway proprietors
of the country would be the more satisfactory mode of
raising the requisite funds. The sum suggested was tea
shillings, and that, it was expected, would be sufficient,
but of course the committee would be glad to receive
larger subscriptions from those whose circumstances per-
mitted it. He had ha& oemmunications from Lord
Wynford and several influential persons in Parliament,
and from many large shareholders, approving of the
movement and promising support. He moved that the
report be adopted. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. BROWN, who believed that the great bane of rail-
ways was competition, and consequent low rates, sug-
gested that the first object of the association should be
to• communicate with the several boards, with a vicar to
induce rival companies to work in concert, and adopt
payllag• rates. He seconded the motion for adopting the
repo tt.

M. G. SMITH thought it wise to lay down ce_!•itrasit,
n
principles for the guidance of the associatior ic/ devise
n
they ,ught to consult all accountants, in order
,y iw
some s imple and plain mode of keeping railway accounts
for uni v ersal adoption. (Hear,
hear.)h Hereeho
nowlder s
framed,it
as
imposoi blo to understand them.were
m now ude up and presented to tTheesyha
As tho
as it alpeared to him, for thesole purpose of confusing.
Ile ah.o 'considered that some improved system of audit
was necessary.
Mr. GOLDSMIDT hoped the reckless expenditure entered
into b y railway companies, not merely for the purpose
of co, istruction, but for the perpose of litigation, ought
to occupy the attention of the council of the association.
He' ,new an instance where, out of a capital of a million,
112 ,000/. had been thrown away in law and Parlia-
mer itary expenses. There was a case, too, that was now
pan ding before the courts, between two opposing corn-
pat les. 'rho one proposed to settle the matter in dispute
by arbitration, but the other refused, and lodged no
lea 'er than 39 pleas in answer to the claim of the other.
He suggested that an annual list of the members of the
association should be sent round to all railway proprie-
tors ; and recommended, as another point of reform, a
redo ;ion in the number of ilie directors forming the
boar. L. The foreign railways, which were so much better !
man: tg ed than our own, were generally in the hands of
four o. r five able and well-paid directors. (Hear, bear.)
Mr Surra moved a resolution approving the objects
of the association, and promising it support ; which ,
havin bceu seconded, was carried unanimously. (This
reeolr .on was proposed an.l accepted as a substitute for
the Inc tion of the chairman for adopting the report,
which 1 vas withdrawn.)

An o.her resolution, appointing the council of gen-
time la, with power to increase their number to 100, and
to se' teCl:, from amongst themselves an executive cum.
mitte, 5' of ,12, was carried, after an objection from Captain
Tuck At th at the election of the whole number ought to
be lei 1 to ti le general body, and some remarks from Mr.
:NEW ]ell el.owing the necessity for the association by a
refei.e Luc a to the depreciation in the market value of all
rail way property, and answering some of the comments