The Sun.
London, England, 1834-01-02 00:00:00

RAILROADS.

Mr. Candy, the civil engineer, has just plkshed
a very instructive pamphlet on Inland Transit. Me
Utility of Railroads, and the compa-ative Speed of
Steam-engines on a Railroad, in .Navigati /71, and ols
a Turnpike-road. It gives a plan, section,
:nd estimates, of the great- ".southern railroad to
Brighton and Southampton, and of the great
northern railroad to York, with branches to Nor-
wich, &c. In ilustration of some ingenious reason-
ing cn the general advantages of railroads, it also
supplies a summary of minutes of evidence, and
report of the select committee of the House of
Commons on steam-carriages, from which we give
the following interesting extracts:—
" The Committee conclude their report by the follow-
ing summary of propositions, of the truth of which they
state that they have received ample evidence :
" I. That carriages can be propels,' by steam on
common roads at an average rate of ten miles per hour.
." 2. That, at this rate, they have conveyed upwards
of fourteen passengers.

" 3. That their weight, including engine, fuel, water,
and attendants, may be under three tons.
'" 4. That they can ascend and descend hills on con-
,iderable inclination with facility and safety.
" ' 5. That they are perfectly safe fir passengers.
" 6. That they are not (or need not be), if properly
constructed, nuisances to the public.

" '7. That they Will hecome a speedier and the 'per mode
of conveyance than carriages drawn by horses.
" 8. That, as they admit of greater breadth of tire
than other carriages, and as the roads are not acted on so
injuriously as by the feet horses in common draught,
Such carriages will cause less wear of roads than coaches
drawn by horses.'"
The following questions and answers are inte-
resting to the trading interest:—
" Are you a cotton manufac;urer in the neighbourhood
of Manchester?
" I am!

" Accitrding to the effects of the Manchester and Liver-
pool line, do you anticipate that great benefit will accrue
to Manchester, from a saving of hours' communication
between London and M inchesrer?

" Yes; and also from the reduction of expense. Be-

tween Liverpool and Manchester it has been 4 reduction
to me of 1501. per annum on the conveyance of cotton
alone. To the Manchester spinner there has been a e.,n-
siderable reduction on the article on coal ; as much as 2s.
per ton, or 201. per cent.
_ _

" You are aware of the rate at which locomotive en-
ginestravel ?

" Yes.

" Can they easily command twenty miles an hour?
" Yes.
" With certainty and precision ?
yt

" Do you go the same rate by night as by day ?
" Exactly the same.
" Cilculating on a railroad all the way, what time
would the mail leaving London arrive in Liverpool ?
" In about eleven hours.
" Is it contemplated to have a railroad from Birming-
ham to Liverpool ?
" It is quite arranged for it.
" If the mail arrived at Liverpool at seven o'cloii in
the morning, could they arrive the same evening at
Dublin?
" Perfectly well.
" What is the market-day at Manchester?
" The principal market-day is on a Tuesday.
" At what time dots the mail arrive at Manches'er ?

" At four in the afternoon.
" Do the foreign letters arrive in time for the market ?
"All the foreign letters arrive at a time when the market
is over.

" If the mail could be expedited six hours, would that
be a great advantage?
" It would be a great advantage."
It may be worth while to remark that the neces-
sity for the above Report arose out of a demon-
strated determination on the part of the Trustees of
the Turnpike Roads " to obstruct, as much as pos-
sible, the use of steam as a propelling power." It
appears that the hackneyed objection, applied to
every improvement, from the time the plough su-
perseded the spade, and printing the manuscript, of
throwing people out of employment was used on
t his occasion, although, in fact, an unlimited increase
of manual labour, agricultural, commercial, and
miniog, must be one of the first results of tlae
universal establishment of railroads. The ra-
pidity of the results of these new triumphs of
scientific discovery, compared with the slow
process by which all other human acquisitions
have been matured, is one of their most
startling characteristics. " Effects are now wit-
nessed," it has been justly remarked, " which, had
they been narrated a few years since, would only
have been admitted into the pages of fiction or vo-
lumes of romance." Who could have credited the
possibility of a ponderous engine of iron, loaded
with several hundred passengers and goods, in a
train of carriages of colossal magnitude, taking flight
from Manchester and arriving at Liverpool, a dis-
tance of thirty miles, in little more than au hour.
The speed and power of transport are stated actually
to exceed the exigencies of the greatest marts in
England, and one instance of this superabundance
of power we may cite, viz., that recently a cargo of
waggons, conveying 230 tons of merchandize, was
transported from Manchester to Liverpool at
the rate of twelve miles an hour. No per-
son of the least sagacity, who looks at these
extraordinary results operating under our eyes,
can doubt that these new powers, acquired of I.te
years by human skill, and only yet in their infancy,
are calculated to produce such change—physical,
moral, and intellectual—in the whole frame of so-
ciety, that our globe, during the next century, will,
probably, exhibit the features of a change greater
than ever has occurred on it, in all that concerns
the habits, opinions, laws, and inclinations of its in-
habitants, perhaps as great as if it were a totally
different planet. Yet in the midst of this gigantic
revolution, only yet in its cradle, and irresistible by
any power whatever in its future growth, we hear
minute fraction of little personages, but self-impor-
' taut as the fly on the coach-wheel, deploring the
modern desire of change, and concoc.ing plans for
arresting the tendencies of revolution. They might
as well attempt to imprison the winds, arrest the
tides, or chain the deep.—Morning Advertiser.

We regret to announce the death of Captain
Hoppner, of the royal navy, after a severe illness of three
months, which he bore with exemplary patience and
Christian fortitude. This excellent officer and wo: thy
man commenced his career on hoard his Majesty's ship
Endymion, which he hail scarcely joined when she was
ordered to Corunna, to assist in emfrarking ttte troops
after Sir John Moore's disastrous retreat. During the
rest of the war he was constantly on active service. either
on the enemy's coast in the Channel or in North America,
where his excellent conduct on all occasions acquired for
him the love of his shipmates and the approbation of his
superiors. Captain Hoppner's name has been frequently
before the public. His intimacy with Madera, one of
the principal personages at Lou Own, forms an agree dile
and interesting episode in the account of those islands ;
and the skill with which lie conveyed Lord Amherst and
his suite to Batavia, in the boats of the Alceste, after the
loss of that vessel, and his opportune return on board of
the Lion, Indiaman, to the assistance of bis cotnratirs,
must be remembered by every one acquainted with the
particulars of their perilous situation. He was employed
in all the recent expeditions fitted out by Government to
explore the Polar Seas. in the last of which lie commanded
his Majesty's ship Fury, which it unfortunately btcaote
necessary
sufferedessaryt considerablyoabantltmarno on thesengtheice.
His health, which
i occasions, was still
further impaired by an excursion to the South of Europe
immediately on his return from the last Polar expedition.
After considerable and repeated stiff rings during the last
have years, lie terminated his mortal cireer on the 221
instant, in the 39th ye it of his age, carrying with him to
the grave the esteem and regret of all who were personally,
acquainted with him, and had an opportunity of appre-
ciating his many amiable qualities.

THE BLACK WATCH.—The historical tale
under this mime is, on many accounts, very remarkable.
The state of the Highlands of Scotland about the year
1743, pre.ents, above all other subjects connected with
our recent annals, a tempting opportunity to the novel-
writer. Tim secret meetings of Jacobite cons;irators in
the hills, the fierce colifiic,s with the English soloicry
Intl the relentless punishments winc fllowed, ate fertt.e
in the sources of human passion, adventure. and ..n:lu -
ranee ; and the author of the present book has availed
himself admirably of all thou..