The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-15 00:00:00

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HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW.
Morning 7 minutes after 1. I Evening .6 minutes after I.

THE SUN IS NOW THE LARGEST DAILY
PAPER IN LONDON.

THE LATE DISGRACEFUL FRAUD IN
FLORICULTURE detected at the Surrey Zoological
Gardens, by which a country grower nearly succeeded in obtaining
the Metropolitan Society's Prize for a Seedling Dahlia by gross
deception, is fully exposed in the Horticultural Journal and Florists
Register for October, now publishing by Chapman and Hall, 186,
Strand, price Is., with a coloured plate of the Village Maid Rose ;
and on sale by all Booksellers and Newsmen.
Number XVII. will appear on the Ist November, and among
other papers of deep interest will be one entitled Jerry Abershaw's
Indignation at being called a Thief—Epistolary Justification of Gen-
tlemanly Pickpocketing—Proceedings of the Metropolitan Society
with respect:to the late Fraud—The Tulip Fancier—New Arrange:
ment for a Collection—Hints to Florists, &c., and will be embel-
lished with a figure of Mr. Hogg's new Carnation " Doctor
Lindley."

LONDON,
WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 15, 1834.

The influence of the moon on the tide—taking for

granted all that the ancient astronomers have promul-

gated on the subject—is not greater than the influence
of science on the physical and moral world. Whither-
soever it moves, the waves of wealth roll in its wake,
attracted by its proximity. Its powers of attraction
and repulsion are a thousand times more potent than
those discoverable in nature. It fertilizes the desert—
levels the mountain—directs the course of the river—
stems the inundation of the headlong torrent—fills the
city with the cheerful voice of industry—overflows the
palace with luxury—and replenishes the cottage with
comfort. 'Where the appearance of science is hailed,
and her arts cultivated, there are the people rich—
and intelligent, and free : where her assistance is
spurned and contemned, there are the inhabitants poor,
and ignorant, and superstitious, and enslaved. Look
around on the empires, kingdoms, principalities, duke-
doms, states, and republics scattered over the surface
of the globe, and say—is there one of them which is
not a living proof of the truth of this assertion ?
What raised Europe to its present distinguished posi-
tion from the gulph of barbarism in which it was sunk
for ages, but the cultivation of science ? What
elevated England to the honourable place which she
now occupies among the most powerful countries in
Europe, but her love and encouragement of science.
The soldier may talk of his prowess in battle, and
laugh at the claims of the mechanic to the honours of
the victory ; but for all that, he may be told that
science substituted the sword for the club, the match-
lock for the cross-bow, the musket for the matchlock,
and the cannon for the heavy battering-ram. Science
has likewise enabled us to penetrate the recesses of the
tomb, and hold communion with the learned dead. It
has accumulated the wisdom of ages for our instruc-
tion ; it has recorded the fate of nations, no longer
numbered among existing states, that we may benefit
by their example ; and it has extended our sojourn on
earth beyond the years of METHUSELAH, by crowd-
ing in one week the knowledge, the industry, and the
pleasures of half a century enjoyed by the antediluvian
patriarchs. The labour of a long life is now per-
formed in a single day ; the learning of many years may
now be acquired in a single week ; and the journeys
which it took many months to accomplish may now be
made between dawn and dusk in the season we are
now enjoying. Science has elevated the mind, and
smoothed the rugged surface of the body. It has
clothed the humblest peasant in a garb of which an-
cient kings could not boast the equal, and it has given
to cottages a luxurious view of the blue heavens and
the green fields unknown in the palaces of the Cnsars.
And yet, notwithstanding all this, we are every day
receiving proofs that science has not still unfolded half
the blessings she has in store for us. Half a century
ago, and the world would have regarded as a proof of
incurable lunacy a project for building steant-boats ;
and we ourselves are old enough to remember when the
plan of a steam-engine on a railroad would have been
received with about the same degree of respectful at-

tention as a scheme for doing away with silk in ladies'
dresses, by substituting soap-bubbles such as CRIJIK-
sHA NK pends from the pipe of his chubby philosopher.
Yet all this, and more, has come to pass. Steam-
boats are now everywhere in requisition, and railroads
are about being established throughout the kingdom.
The report of the meeting at Bristol of the directors
and proprietors of the Great Western Railroad,. which
appeared in this paper of yesterday, and to which we
then called the attention of our readers, is a convincing
proof of the deep interest which the most intelligent
portion of the people of England are taking in this
momentous question. The public is beginning to
perceive that whatever abridges human toil prolongs
human life, as well as removes from the back of
labour half the weary burthen which oppresses him.
Corporations, too, begin to discover that no charter
can confine wealth within any particular channel ; and
that to be first in the list of commerce, it is necessary
to be first in the encouragement of the arts and enter-
prises of commercial life. The great wisdom of a
state consists in the earliest adoption of improvements.
It is just the same with a town or a city, or any other
emporium of riches, and mart of traffic. Bristol sees
this, and her enterprising and intelligent citizens are
preparing to avail themselves of the fruits of their
sagacity. At the meeting to which we have referred
above, which was most respectably attended, and at
which the Mayor presided as chairman, Mr. WARD,
who first addressed the assembly, after referring to the
success of the Great Western Railway Bill in the
House of Commons, well observed :
" Genlemen, I have felt and still strongly feel it to be abso-
lutely necessary for the welfare of this city, that it should par-
ticipate in the advantages which other ports have obtained, and
are obtaining, by means of railways ; and I would strongly
urge upon all who have the good of the city at heart, whether
we ought not also to avail ourselves of our great local advan-
tages ; but, unless we speedily follow the example which has
been set us, we shall find ourselves left distanced in the race."

This is sound reasoning, and to the purpose. No-
thing can be more certain than that those places
through which railway communications are first per-
Mitted to pass, will reap advantages which will never
fall to the share of those last in the race of improve-
ment. It will matter very little whether a city under-
takes the formation of a railway to the metropolis, if
the citizens look loiteringly and heedlessly on, till a
more enterprising community has robbed them of their
trade, and dried up the springs of their commercial
consequence. The establishment of railways cannot
now be prevented, and therefore the wisest course is
to lose no time in adopting them.
It is with feelings of unfeigned pleasure we observe
that the Great Western Railway Company are ably
seconded by those patriotic bodies, under the same
name, who are similarly engaged in facilitating the
means of improving the trade and commerce of the
country. The Birmingham, the Great Southern, and
the Great Northern Railway Companies, are each and
all using every exertion to hasten this great work of
national improvement. Among the advertisements in
The Sun of this day, will be found a notice of the
intention of the Northern Railway Company to apply
to Parliament, during the next Session, for a Bill
empowering them to carry a railroad from London to
to Glasgow, passing through Norwich, Edinburgh,
and a list of other towns which are given in the adver-
tisement. Should such a Bill pass both Houses early
in the Session, which we trust it will, the benefit con-
ferred on Scotland will be of the most advantageous
nature ; and the encouragement which will be thus
given to industry will have a powerful effect in reviving
the trade of Glasgow and the whole of the West of
Scotland. The foreign trade of Glasgow would like-
wise receive much encouragement, from a line
of cheap and expeditious communication be-
tween that city, and the metropolis. The only
obstacles at present in the way of improve-
ments are the stage-coach proprietors, whom we re-
commend to make the best use of their time by be-
coming shareholders in ,the railway companies, as the
safest way of securing early compensation ; and, it is
rumoured, the Peers also—who are generally among the
last in perceiving the necessity for changes, however salu-
tary. Both of these must give way for the benefit of the
great mass of the people. The country will not stand
still at the bidding of the innkeepers, or fastidious old
gentlemen, too gouty or too ill-humoured to travel
along with it.

We beg to call particular attention to a letter on
the new Poor Law Bill, signed " Justitia," which
will be found in another column. There is no person
better acquainted with the provisions of the new Act
than the writer, and his observations thereon are both
remarkably explicit, and exceedingly valuable. We
recommend them particularly to such of the Magis-
trates and Overseers as are called upon to take a part
in the administration of the Poor Laws under the
amended system.

The inconsistencies and imperfections of the enfran-
chising clauses of the Reform Act have been proved
in so many instances during the recent proceedings in
the Revising Barristers' Courts, that an immediate and
effectual alteration ought to take place. The franchise
is not only cut off by any abatement, however small,
made by any collector or overseer in boroughs, but by
the mis-spelling the name, or a number of other trifling
errors, the vote is lost, while in the counties, the irre-
sponsible power which is placed in the hands of the
Revising Barristers, is, as might have been expected,
the source of many unjust, injudicious, and arbitrary
decisions. The same case which obtains a vote in
one county loses it in another, and the caprice of the
Barrister, who cannot be called to account, is frequently
the only rule of the law in these Courts. Two instances
among thousands may serve to illustrate this fact.
In the county of Suffolk the Rev. WM. WALLIS
claimed to vote as Minister of the Independent Meet-
ing-house, Sudbury : the qualification was freehold pro-
perty to the rents of which he was entitled, and he
was opposed on the ground that he was not appointed
for life. He was appointed by the congregation in
the usual manner, and contended that by law he
could not be displaced, although he admitted
that he would resign if he was not approved
by the congregation. The Revising Barrister, Mr.
EVANS, said it was indisputable, that an appointment
during good behaviour was an appointment for life,
and declared the vote to be good.
In the Eastern Division of the county of Norfolk,
the Rev. EDWARD HICKMAN of Denton claimed to
vote as Minister of the Independent Meeting-house of
that village ; the qualification was also freehold pro-
perty, to the rents of which he was entitled. The vote
was also opposed on the ground that he was not ap-
pointed for life, and the very same defence was set up
for him as that which Mr. WALLIS adopted ; not-
withstanding which, the Revising Barrister, Mr.
PRAED, said it was not an appointment for life, and
refused to confirm it. In this case it was proved that
Mr. HICKMAN was appointed in the usual manner,

Tttri ST TN, WNW*, WEDNTSDAit, OCTOBER i 5, 1834,

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