The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-19 00:00:00

LONDON, Ft‘ IDA Y ,PIN IN G, DECEMBER 19, 1856.

MEMORIAL to the late CAPTAIN
THOMPSON, of Kars.
At a Meeting of the,Committeo, held 29th I,Tovember :
Resolved—That the subscriptions be net advertised until after
the meeting of Parliament.
BANKERS (London) —Berrie's, Child's, Barnett's, Ommaney's.

M 0,-NT BLANC
• TO-1( IGHT, AT EIGIIT.

SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY.—EXETER
ALL.---Conductor; Mr. 00 +TA.—TO-NIGHT, the usual
Christmas Performance of Handel's MESSIAH. VocalistS.:—MadaTne
Clara Novelle, Miss Dolky ; Mr. Sims Reeves and Herr Formes. with
Orchestra of 700 Performers. Tickets, 35., 55., and Os. Ad:. or Subscrip-
tions, One, Two, or Three Guineas, which will entitle to Double
Tickets for this Performance, at the Society's Office, No. 6, is Exeter
Hall.

MR. W. S. WOODIN'S OLIO of ODDITIES,
with New Costumes and v irlous Novrities;-Vocal and Chi-
racteristic, will be giveA durigg the • Christmas . holidays, in the
Polygraphic-hall. King • WillllOn-street. Charing-cross. Opening
Night, FRIDAY, Dec. 26th. First lid OR NING PERFORMANCE
on SA.TURDAY,.Dec. 27, at Three. Private Boxes and Stalls may
be secured without "extra charge, at the Box-office. The Polygraphic
Hall is being entirely redecorated.

RGYLL ROOMS.-LALTRENT'S CASINO,
Great Windmill-street, St. James's.—The above elegan
rooms are now open every evening for the winter season, with
f,aurent's celebrated Orchestra. ,Principal Comet-a-piston, M.
Roalcourt. The Proprietor begs to inform the public that this
fashionable place of resort has been entirely redecorated during the
ecess. Doors open at half-past eight, commence at nine. Admis-
ion One
,Shitling.

R. KAlllst'S AIcATOMiCAL MTJSEUM,
4, Coventry-street, Leicesteir-urfare.—Open (fir Gentlemen
nly) from 10 till containing npwsrds of one thousand models
,nd preparations, illustrating every part of the human ,frame in
lealth and disease, the race of men, &c. Lectures delivered at 12,
_4, and helf:past 7. by Dr. G.r,SExeds, ; a now and
_lirjlip.intereating....sertes. of Lectures is pow in course of delivery
y Or. Inns, at a quarter Peat P.m. precisely. Admission. One
chilling. Catalogues containing Lectures as delivered by Dr. Khan
(gratis).

GENERAL TOM THUMB ! the American
Man in Miniature, will hold THREE LEVEES each day, for
a short time only, at the REGENT GALLERY, Quadrant, Regent-
street, commencing on BOXING-DAY, 26th Dec. He will appear in
a great variety of NEW CHARACTERS and COSTUMES, SONGS,
DANCES. GRECIAN STATUES, &c., &c. Ills MINIATURE
CHARIOT and PONIES, with ELFIN COACHMAN and FOOT-
MAN, will promenade the streets daily.
Thirteen years ago the General had the distinguished honour of
appearing (by command) three times before her Majesty and the
Royal Family, at Buckingham Palace.
Hours of Exhibition—from 11 till 1 ; 3 till 5 ; and 7 till 10 o'clock.
Admission ls., without regard to age. Reserved Stalls, 2s. ; Children,
ls.

RAND TRUNK RAILWAY COMPANY of

CANADA.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the Transfer Books. of the
above Company will he Closed from Thursday, the Ist day of January,
1857, to Thursday, the 15th, both days inclusive, for the purpose of
making up the Half Year's Interest accrued on the A. and B Series,
QuebtT and Richmond, St. Lawrence and Atlantic, and Toronto and
Guelph Issues of Grand Trunk Shares.'_ •
These Shares are, by resolution of the shareholders, passed at the
General Meeting held at Toronto on the,loth of November last, con-
verted and consolidated trio a general capital stook, to be called the
"Consolidated Stock of the Grand Trunk •Railway Company of
"anada."
The Certificates of the above Shares may be forwarded to this
Office; and exchanged for Certificates of such Stock, after the 15th
January next, and all transfer; after that date will be entered as
Transferi lig Stock of the Company, instead of Shares, as hitherto ; and
no Transfers will be registered unless accompanied with the certifi-
cates for the amount. •
By order of the Board of Directors.
C. P. RONEY, Secretary.
21, Old Broad-street, December 16th, 1856.

IMPORTANT TO EVERY MAN WHO KEEPS A HORSE,
COW, SHEEP, OR PIG.
THORLEY'S FOOD FOR CATTLE.
THE CHEAPEST AND BEST EVER YET INTRODUCED I
Sold in Cases containing 448 Packages—each Package One Feed,
at the cost of Three Half-pence each, equal to 565. per case. Carriage
Pala to any railway station.
None are genuine without my signature
' JOSEPH THORLEY, the Inventor,
115, High-street, Hull.
Post-office Orders must be made payable as above.

OYSTERS, BARRELLED.—The BURNHAM
RIVER NATIVE OYSTERS are the best in the world—six
years old—four hours from the beds To be had only at .T. SWEET-
ING'S FISH and OYSTER ESTABLISHMENT, 159, Cheapside.
J. S. always has the largest supply of the best Fish in season, at the
lowest market price. In ordering Fish it will be desirable to state
for how many persons it is required, and whether for visitors or
domestic use. A post-office order or reference will have prompt
attention. Superior Oyster Rooms.

m- R. HOWARD, burgeon-Dentist, 52, Fleet.
street, has introduced an entirely new description of ARTI-
ICIAL TEETH ,fixed without springs, wires, or ligatures. They so
,erfectly resemble the nataral teeth as not to be distinguished from
he original by the closest observer; they will never change colour or
lecay, and will be found very superior to any teeth ever before used.
This method does not•require the extraction of roots, or any painful
,peratibn, and will support and preserve teeth that are loose, and is
maranteed to restore articulation and mastication. Decayed teeth
rendered sound and useful in mastication.-42, Fleet-street. At
home from ten till five.

TILE _HON. JUDGE HALIBURTON ON BRITISH

COLONIAL POLICY.

A very numerous awl influential audienC'e assembled in
the Manchester Athenmum, on Tuesday evening, to hear an
address "On the British Colonies" from the distinguished
author of " Sam Slick." Mr. J. A. Nicicolls, chairman
of the directors of the institution, presided.
The Hon. Judge HATABURTON, on rising', was received
with much cheering. He observed that, although it might
be supposed that the circumstance of his having spent the
greater parka his life at the bar and upon the bnch would
make him feel at home upon any occasion of addressing an
audience, he really felt that such antecedents were, practi-'
sally, a disqualification. A lawyer was restrained byferms,
by technicalities, by precedents, by usages, by caution, and
by the limit of the time assigned to him. The 'consequenee
was that his powers of mind 'were fettered, and his imagina-
tion was almost annihilated. It was on this account that
lawyers seldom made a figure in Parliaitient, aiid he thought:
theexperience of Manchester would bear him out in saying
that there were few lawyers in the Legislature who could'
cppe with the Brights and the Cobdens—(applause)—who
brought a powerful intellect to work upon any subject of
discussion, untrammelled by the forms of the bar. (Hear.)•
However, he had selected for this eveniug's address a topic
of cam ton interest. What waste be done with our offspring,
when they attained to maturity, was an anxious question
for parental consideration, and that question was now fore-
,ing itself upon Great Britain with regard to her colonial
children. The colonists were natured; asking what was to
be their fate— were they to continue, as they desired, ap-:
pendages to this great empire—were they to bo absorbed in a
neighbouring republic, or were they to be cut adrift to form
an independent sovereignty for themselves? Of so wide a
subject he should confine himself to that part which affect-
ed the North American colonies, of which he was a na-
tive, and which were the Colonies most British in feeling,
most loyal in sentiment, most like the population of this
country. and most desirous to be amalgamated with it.
(Cheers.) It would be interesting, if time allowed, to follow
out the history of the settlement of North America by the
Nonconformist pilgrims—their vicissitudes, their courage
and resolution, and their patiento and firteness through all
neglect and want of encouragement, as well as under the
actual oppression of those officers who ought to have pro-
tected and fostered them ; but probably the history of one
set of colonies was pretty much the same as the history of
another; and their adventures were, those of such as now
sought a country far from their fellow-men. There were,
however, interesting lessons to bederived from that history.
The philosopher might derive instruction from the fact
that those who sought an asylum in the wilderness from
religious intolerance at home no sooner obtained such
a refuge than they themselves became the worst of per-
secutors, until at last they learnt—what every reader of
history must learn—that the blood of martyrs was the seed
of the church, and that for every Quaker they hanged 20
sprang up in his place. (Hear, hear.) It wus useful for
the politician also to correct a common error by the consi-
deration of history. It was not Washington, and the
other great men of 1783 who, wore the fathers of the great
American Republic, hilt the first pilgrims who went to
Massachusetts, who disavowed all connection with the
mother country, elected all their own officers, made their
own laws, assumed an independent criminal jurisdiction,
formed a confederation of the New England colonies, with
a central board and a president, and assumed the preroga-
tive of making peace or war with their ludian neighbours.
For 50 years there was a perfect republic in New bergland,
the type of the one now existing. (Hear.) Perhaps, too,
the Duke of Cambridge might learn from the Puritans a
lesson on the treatment of practical jokers. In the month
of June, 1621, the first duel was fought in the sanctimonious
pilgrim city of Plymouth (America), and the elders, using
exactly the same language as his Royal Highness had done
—he must have copied it from them—(laughter)—declared
this to be an act of insubordination, destructive of disci-
pline, and an evil example. Consequently, they lectured
the offenders, exhorting them to live henceforth in brotherly
love and union ; and, in order to show them how, they
tied them together, neck and crop, for 24 hours, without
anything to oat, (" Hear, hear," and laughter.) That
entirely put an end to duelling among the Puritans.
(Hear, hear.) The Puritans might also show his Royal
Highness how to deal with fraudulent contractors, for when
the man who Made a pair of stocks displeased them by
making the enormous charge of 40s. they paid his bill, since
to haggle about it would have been "low"—(laughter)—
but they immediately afterwards convicted him of extor-
tion, and put him in his own stocks to test their efficiency.
(Laughter.) Yet another lesson might be learnt from that
history by the Peace Society—a very laudable society
(laughter)—very—(prolonged laughter)--whose principal
member, Lord Palmerston, was lecturing at Manchester
the other day. (Renewed laughter.) It happened that
one Captain Coffin, a Quaker, was put in command of
a merchantman during a war with France. The
vessel was no sooner out of Boston harbour than a
little French privateer summoned it to sail under her
stern. The merchantman was well armed enough to blow
the privateer to pieces, and wlel manned with men
who were not Quakers, but anxious to fight ; nevertheless,
the Quaker prepared to do as ha was ordered, without
resistance, but, as soon as he was near enough to insure
success, he struck his big vessel against the other, went
right over, and down went every Frenchman. It was not
lawful to use carnal weapons, said the Quaker, but neither
was it lawful for the Frenchman to stop him on the highway
of nations, so be had "just pushed him out of the way.
(Cheers and laughter.) Now, if the Peace Society would
" push" our enemies out of the way without fighting we
should be much obliged, but meantime it was to be feared
we must fight our own battles, and leave the Peace Society
to find fault. (Laughter.) However, coming to the more
immediate subject of consideration, it was impossible for
any person to read the history of the early period of North
American colonisation, and continue his attention through
eeee,p4elpkorfffqederix ersnegitho ut feeljn a glow of indig-
nation on "hiecligek, wevvelrElMee—sta4e, at the gross ig-
norance, the gross neglect, the great contempt, the great
injustice, that had been exhibited towards and practised
upon the colonists ever since the colonists were settled. He
(Judge Haliburton) spoke plainly, because, having lived
among the colonists, and his family having dwelt there for
150 years, he thought he was entitled to express the colonial
feeling. (Cheers.) Our plenipotentiaries, who recently
ceded to Russia all the benefits of our fighting, need not take
credit for being the first to achieve such a feat, for the
English in America, having conquered all the French pro-
vinces, gave them all up again three years afterwards.
(Hear, hear.) Quebec was taken by the English, restored
without any equivalent, and had to be reconquered at im-
mense cost. Would it be believed that the strong fortress
of Louisburg was captured by the New England husband -
men,—one of the greatest exploits of a provincial militia to
be found in the history of the world, though an admiral
who joined the fight on the last day got all the credit—that
it was restored to the French, who re-fortified it; that it was
reconquered by an army of 14,000 English, who found
in it 230 pieces of cannon and 18 mortars, besides other
military stores ; that this fortress, capable of protecting
ail the trade of the American coast, was three years after-
wards completely demolished by its English owners; and
that nevertheless, in 1812, a Colonial Minister was so
ignorant as to send out an order to Halifax to have the
Yankee prisoners sent to the fortress of Louisburg, which
fortress was blown into the sky 50 years before? (Laughter.)
Such were the imbeciles who had retarded the growth of
the colonies, wasted England's money, and consumed the
colonists' patience until they could endure no longer.
(Hear, hear.) It was hardly credible, but he believed
he was correct in saying that there had never been one
Colonial Minister who was ever iv the colonies, unless,
perhaps, he passed through them as a crow did, and learn-
ing as much about them. At this moment, he believed,
there was not a man in the Colonial-office, wielding the
destinies of more than one-third of the globe, who ever saw
a foot of it; and if that was a state of things that suited
Englishmen, it did not, and would not, suit intelligent
colonists. (Loud cheers.) When he (Judge Haliburton)
was over here two years ago the Ct lenial Minister was off,
getting himself humbugged by Russian Ministers in Ger-
many ; and it was all the better for the colonies, for there
was no harm done while he was away. (Laughter.) It
was easy, but useless, for the colonists to petition Parlia-
ment, because there was no one iniParlement to represent
the 150,000,000 in India, or the five great nations of Aus-
tralia, or the 3,000,000 in British North America ; and
when people wanted to be heard there must be somebody
to speak for them. We in England could get what we
wanted. The people of Manchester could get the Prime
Minister to go down and lecture to them and "soft-sawder"
them—(laughter)—and they had their Brights and Cobdens
in the House of Commons, who would make themselves
heard,nnd who were able to do it—(cheers) —but the colonists
had no such power iu Parliament. He had been a good
deal amused by looking over a book which applied to no
part of the world but this country—the Peerage book—and
reading the quaint mottoes of the nobility ; and he would
call attention to the motto of Lord Palmerston, as it was the
motto of a thorough politician, and ought to be inscribed
over the Treasury doors. The motto was " Flecti non
frangi," which might be paraphrased in this way—" I
bend to the popular gale, but as soon as it is over I spring
back to my old position." (Laughter.) Well, the colonists
would make him bend if they had the power, but they had
no voice on this side the water. It was most important to
have regard to time, with respect to the future as well as
the past of these colonies. In the year 1700 there were only
260,000 men, women, and children in all North America,
from the St. Lawrence to the most southern State. There
were now 30,009,000, and there were people now living who
had heard, when boys, from poisons who were alive in 1700
what was in that year the state of the country. And was
not Canada to be something shortly? In 1783 there were
only 3,000,000 in the United States, and in Canada there
were just 3,000,000 now • while the secret had got out at
last that it was an infinitely finer country than any por-
tion of the United States. Steamers were now about to run
every day to America, and in ten years more we might ex-
pect the population of Canada to be 20,000,000. Was it
worth our while to have them, or to shake them off ? They
spoke our language, had the same laws and institutions,
rather more protection for life and property than we had
with our ticket-of-leave men—(laughter)--and he need not
speak to Manchester men of our trade with British North
America, or compare it with the trifling trade to the north
of Europe. (Hear, hear.) Nothing but ocular demonstra-
tion could teach them, however, as his residence of half a
century had taught him, that the colonists there had noth-
ing except their wood, their water, their soil, and the pro-
ductions of the soil, but what came from England. That
wassw
ay
everya
he
mf
knewa
nt wi
nHhe
iivetc
:hr
tnyhso pot uot kgo
inchhe
mention
,voefonal
Ntus moo
tnvehase.
the
Yankees
Scotia—he
believed
no kmeeens.ssaid,
he
ai(dlcm,
hoheseetrmskc
could
l di
laut
aglhktea e a book" about that country, and he could give
an illustration of what ho had just been alluding to. The
child who was born in that country was washed—first thing
—in an English bowl, put into English flannel, English
petticoats, and an English frock trimmed with English
lace, and the first word he spoke was English. When he
went to school, his hat, his coat, his shirt, his trousers, and
his shoes —all came from England ; his satchel was made
in Manchester, and his slate was from the English slate-
quarries ; his book and his paper, his lead-pencil, his ruler
and copybook, were all sent from England. The moment
he began to use a horse, his saddle and bridle, spurs, crup-
per,l h
si m
gun,
u i n n
hs
girths, whip, halter, reins, bits, currycomb, brush, and
e
were
oall t made
e fdo, r
England.fla , Ihfi sh se en-
joyedhot
-
If he went fishing, his rod and line, the sinker, the floats,
ercussion caps, were English.
bag, powder and shot, and p
and even theflies—(laughter) —were English, although there
iron
shoes,
s sports f the
were flies in the colonly big enough and strong enough to
bite through aboot, and the bordersof the lakes were covered
with wood that would supply the whole world with Axhin

rods. If he built a vessel, not a single thing iii it belonged
to the country where it was built ; the rigging, the iron,
the copper, the ropes, the chains, the rudder, the compass,
and all the fittings, were English. - If he built a house,
which he did very early, for he vaas-a, very *meow young
gentleman, and frequently caught his bi,rd before he had
got a cage—(laughter)—then the tieds *ire brit with an
English axe, sawn with an Engtlishusw, planed with an
English plane ; tho boards were,naijed With 'English nails
and English hammer, and' the windows vier° 'of English
glass, puttied withEisglishputty. Then the carpet, knives,
forks, plates, were English,
,and so' were the decanters—
for he would drink something besides cold water, and he
(Judge Haliburton) did not much like that, to tell' the
truth. (Cheers and laughter.) He thdright, too, it was
something touching that the colonist still sail he was
going " home" when he came on a visit 'to Etiglrind--
(cheers)—and though it might be thought that the man
he had been sup4oosing, having brought nothing into the
world, took nothing' out with him, yet lie was put in a
coffin lined with English ,flannel, covered with English
cloth, screwed down with English screws and an English
screw-driver, and his name was on antnglieh coffin-plate.
The priest, in an English gown, read the service over him
out of an English book, .and the earth was shovelled over
him with English 'shovels. = From the cradle to the grave
th©_ colonist was dependent on England. • (Hear.) British
North America was a country about one quarter larger
than all Europe. Canada alone was as large as England,
France, and Prussia put together ; there was space enough
for all our surplus population, who could go there and
still be Englishmen, while it had got a race of men such as
we should not " d 0.," to use the Yankeephraee, anywhere,
whose sympathies with this eountily were-signally demon-
strated on i eceipt of the news of the fall of Sebastopol, who
had no hostile tariff like that of the United States, and
who evinced a preference for everything English. ere
these the people whom he should turn the cold shoulder to?
(Cheers.) We should havedonewisely, if, instead of violat-
ing the laws of the United States, and incurring disgrace,
we had asked for troops from our colonies, where there were
more men with rifles in their hands than there were sol-
diers at Sebastopol—men who knew how to handle a mus-
ket and knew well how to fight. For instance, there was
a man named Williams, born in Nina Scotia, who had de-
fended Kars. (Cheers.) The excellent climate, the various
mineral wealth, and the immense facilities of interior
water communication, were subjects too vast for compres-
sion in a hasty review, but; after alluding to all these, he
came again to the great question, which must so soon be
answered—what was to become of that country? He had
written volumes upon volumes on this subject, and even
those which might appear only to have fun for their object
were so written in order to render palatable matters that
were dry in themselves. It would have been beneath a man
to write merely a jest-book. And his familiarity with the
subject enabled him to predict three alternatives, which
would have to be decided sooner than we.expected. First,
*lre the British North Americans to be amalgamated with
the United States ? (No, no.) He believed that was not
desired on either side at present, but it was " on the cards,"
and there was no saying what angry men would do. Or
were they to be left powerless where they were, or be taken
into a confederacy, with a congress and a president? The
third alternative— his own favourite—was to make them
part and parcel of England. There were difficulties in the
way, 'but none that were insurmountable. Certainly the
colonists would never consent to any other union with
England than one with perfect equality. They had been
degraded and treated like serfs, and would bear it no more.
Every petty German prince who came over here had his
place assigned him, but the colonists had no place whatever
in any public arrangements. In the colonies there was
now no political strife or ferment, but a dead calm—a
very dangerous state for any country to be in, because
it usually preceded a storm. The colonists must have
fair representation in Parliament. Perhaps it would
be objected that this would be making a mob of
Parliament; however, it was not much better than a mob
now, and perhaps if it were more of a mob, the colonial
members might kick out some fellows who had better
never been let in. As things were, the intelligent Cana-
dian was dissatisfied, because, if he bad been born on the
other side of the St: Lawrence, he would have had a fair
chance of rising to any of the public offices, or even that of
President. There was, however, no Canadian to be found
in our Hours of Peers. (Hear, hear.) He honoured and
respected the House of Lords, but that, like other human
institutions, must submit to necessary modifications. He
would conclude by expressing a hope that some individual
of rank and station and political influence in this country
would take up the subject of the colonies ; and if Lord
Stanley possessed the excellent abilities he was reputed to
have he might immortalise his name by making this ques-
tion his own, and calling into existence a new and happy
England on the other side of the water, as well as infusing
new blood into the old country, making it as young and
vigorous as ever it was. (Loud cheers.)
The proceedings concluded with votes of thanks to the
Hon. Judge Haliburton and the chairman.

RUSSIAN RAILWAYS.

( From the Times' Correspondent.)
. BERLIN, Dna. 16.
In one of my recent budgets of Russian news I mentioned
the disappointment that is being felt in Russia at the
Pereira Railway enterprise meeting with so little favour
in France ; and that in Germany, too, where Russia fondly
hoped for so much, but where also there is much more
caution than capital, the want of success has been equally
great. What made this unwillingness to come forward on
the part of the Continent so particularly aggravating to the
Russian promoters of the railway scheme was, that this
failure abroad exhibited itself coincidently with their own
triumph over the obstructive ignorance and piejudice of
their own countrymen ; just when 'these latter became
convinced of the expediency of railways the continental
friends they had reckoned on so firmly failed them entirely,
and now their hopes are turned,.en dernier ressort, to Eng-
land, which has plenty of money, plenty of enterprise, and
plenty of credulity. As we are not in possession of accu-
rate statistical and topographical information as regards
the localities the projected lines are to pass through, or
indeed of the general resources of the country at large—a
deficiency which the proposed Company of Pereira, Baring,
Hope, and Co.' do not supply, and perhaps it does not lie
in their interest to do so—the only resource we have is to
inquire what the Russians themselves say er think on the
subject.
The Russians used to say some time back that railways
were not necessary for their country, and would not pay if
they were made there, on account of the enormous lengths
necessary to connect any two termini of consequence, the
thinness of the population, and the absence of trade
or productiveness along the line; what traffic there
existed was already amply provided for by canal and
river carriage, or by sledge conveyance, which was
always to be had when the water carriage was closed;
the frontier was so enormously extensive that rail ways, to
do any good to commerce, must be multiplied infinitely
further than their receipts would admit of, &c. ; and a
committee which was appointed in 1836 to examine into
the expediency of constructing a line from Moscow to
Odessa decided, after mature deliberation and examina-
tion, against the expediency of doing so.
These arguments are now pronounced to be obsolete and
to belong to bygone times ; and doubtless this is correct as
regards the objections brought against the expediency of
Russia's getting railways, if she can, but not as against
their paying. The change that has been breught about in
public opinion as regards the desirableness of railways has
been effected by an experience of the exigencies of war,
while that war itself has in fact strengthened the objec-
tions on the score of non-paying, by diminishing the in-
ternal resources of the country and paralysing her nascent
manufactures. This is best shown by the arguments that
have been used by the Russian press to overcome the oppo-
sition to railways at all. Russia, it is said, must no longer
remain behind the other nations of Europe in the progress
of industrial development; she must try to catch them, and
even to give them the go-by ; she 'must show the West
that her resources are on the increase. Russia is an agri-
cultural State, and produces more than she requires, but
before her produce can arrive at her ports ice has blo _lkea
up the navigation, so that America not only supplies Eng-
land, but oven the northern ports of Russia herself, earlier
than her corn-growing provinces in the south can do it.
The industrial energies of Russia, it is said, are still dor-
mant, the old inertness of the country still prevails ; this
sleepy inertia must be shaken off, for the riches of a coun-
try do not consist in the quantity of gold and silver it pos.
sena, but in the activity of its circulation. Russia must
have railroad communication with a port in the north and
another in the south, both of which should, if possible, be
free from ice the whole • year round. For this reason
Libau should be converted into a commercial outlet in
the place of Cronstadt, and Theodosia in the place of
Odessa ; since the latter is frozen up six weeks, and Cron-
stadt six months in the year. These are, it must be con-
fessed, very admirable arguments why the Russian Govern-
ment should strive by all possible means to get railways
introduced into the country, and why any benevolent mil-
lionnaire should take pity on this hitherto neglected coun-
try, and help it forward a little ; but they offer at thesame
time the most convincing reasons why no capitalist should
embark his money there with a view to dividends in his
own lifetime, or that of his children, since several genera•
tiona must pass away before the benevolent intentions of
the railway projectors can be attained.
The national party in Russia, which has allowed itself
at length to be convinced of the expediency of railroads,
has, with all the indiscreet zeal of a proselyte, gone so far
as to take up the notion that the Government ought to keep
the railway undertaking in its own hands, and to secure all
its benefits to the country. Canals, high roads, &c., they
say, have hitherto always been produced by Russian
capital, the railroads are just as much a home matter as
the other means of communication. They point to England
as a proof that a country, is not made the poorer by the
Government raising a loan at home, but they aver that the
admission of foreign capital to build the railroads would be
equivalent to a State debt to another country, the interest
of which would go to enrich only foreigners. The capital
requisite for constructing all these railways will amount to
about 300,000,000 silver roubles ; the Government must,
in any case, no matter when the shares are brought out,
guarantee 5 per cent. interest on that capital. As even
in England the majority of railroads do not clear 4 per
cent., it may fairly be expected that in thinly popu-
lated, undeveloped Russia they will be a long time
before they do so much as clear the working expenses,
in which case the whole interest, amounting to
15,000,000 silver roubles, would be left to be defrayed
by the Government in fulfilment of its guarantee.
Since the Government must then, in all probability,
pay the whole of this sum of 15,000,000 per annum
for the 5 per cent. interest of the capital, it would
be much better to keep the amount in the country by ad-
mitting only its own subjects to take shares in the under-
taking, and for this national course they adduce an admi-
rable precedent in the manner in which the company has
lately been brought out for navigating the Black Sea, in
which all the shares were originally issued to Russian sub-
jects only.
The Northern Bee has lately published several articles for
the purpose of confuting this suicidal notion of excluding
foreign capital from the construction of railroads, in the
expectation of finding what is wanted at home. It says
that neither the capital nor the credit necessary for such
an undertaking is to be found in Russia. Russia is more
behindhand in commercial enlightenment than any other
country in Europe • the old national inactivity still pre-
vails, and the people at large are totally incompetent to
such undertakings. This most unimpeachable authority,
the Northern Bee, goes on to say :
"The confidence of the people in the Government iu