The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-27 00:00:00

THL SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUSII 27, 1869.

RAILWAI AND OTHER COMPANIES.

►S'OIITII-EASTEIiN.

The half-yearly general meeting of this com-
pany was held yesterday at the City Terminus
Hotel, Cannon street ; Sir E. W. Watkin, the
chairman, presided.

Mr: J. Shaw, the secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting, the report, an abstract of
which appeared in The .Sun, was taken as read.
The Cuatnmsw, in opening the proceedings, stated
that, in accordance with paragraph 10 of the report,
the directors attended on the previous day at the
offices of :he comp my to afford explanations as to
the accounts to such proprietors as might dezire
them, but nobody came. Ile might, perhaps, there-
fore fairly assume that the explicitness of the re-
port and the fulness aLd clearness of the audited
accounts would stand in place of a speech from him
that day. At all events, he would so far presume
upon the absence of anxious inquirers as to be very
concise. Theirs was essentially a passenger line,
acd in London one-half the passenger traffic as
respected number, and more than half in money,
began or ended. In London even yet people had
little money to spend, little confidence, and there
was among the middle and humbler class. s sadly
too much privation. Thus it was not surprising
that the evidence s of hard saving were all around
them, and the luxury of pleasure travelling was
much curtailed. The London omnibuses had only
carried 20,150,000 passengers this year, against
20,300,000 last, and omnibus travelling was in
London all but a necessity. For the first time for
some years the Customs' duties had in the past
Customs year fallen off, irrespective of reductions
of duty, no less a sum than £156,000, and that
falling off bad not been in the wine or spirits of the
rich, but in the tea, coffee, and sugar of the poor.
Ho had just been told that the income of the
40,000 medical practitioners of the kingdom fell off
£1,000,000 in 1868. Many people were too poor
to pay their doctors. But beyond general causes
of depression, they had had in the half-year to con-
tend with bad weather, a late season, and serious
loss from the closing of the dockyards and arsenal
at Woolwich, and the all but shutting up of Green-
wich Hospital. The loss of Woolwich, Deptford,
and Greenwich traffic in the half-year had been
£3,000. Again they had had a falling off iu the
goods traffic of £4,000. This was accounted for by
the late season, and the consequent loss of fruit
and vegetable traffic, and by a considerable reduc-
tion in the export of wool for France. Still they
had on the balance an increase of gross earnings of
£16,626. Their passenger income, as they would
observe, showed a decrease of passengers and an in-
crease of money, which meant that they had had
more through and less local traffi3, the loss of local
passengers between Greenwich, Deptford, and
Woolwich having been over 200,000; and their
goods receipts showed more tonnage carrie3,
and less money for carrying it. Ile had said
that theirs was essentially a passenger line,
and it was the fact that on their 345 miles of
railway they carried 1-12th of all the passengers
carried in England and Wales. This was a great
responsibility, and involved no small thought in
arranging for it, and no mean anxiety in their
efforts to pass it on with safety. Unless they
could show that every precaution for safety and for
comfort was adopted, they would feel that they in-
curred just and grave censure. But they thought
they could show that. At the same time they
could not fulfil Lord Campbell's Act, which made
the railway proprietor, and him alone, guarantor of
the absolute infallibility of every one employed, and
the absolute perfection of every bit of material
used or work done, down to the stitching of a car-
pet. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) In endeavour-
ing to secure comfort and safety they started by
selecting the best officers and servants procurable
by giving them goo I salaries and wages, and by
treari•ig them with consideration, at the same time
enforcing strict and severe discipline. They pro-
ceeded by wing the best material and the most re-
cant inventions. They insisted upon a road in the
highest style of repair, and they providid safe and
commodious vehicles. No one had ever proved a
single fare on the line to be excessive, if he might
except the Sevenoaks fare, which was lowered some
months ago, on his own advico. They were the

first to introduce a means of communication between
the gnat d and driver of the trains, and they antici-
pated the A ct of last session by using an electric
apparatus to enable the passengers to signal the
guard and driver in case of auticipated -danger ;
yet, having done all this, they had to pay thousands
of pounds because in some rare instances those very
precautions of their own did not act a merveille.
1 hey bad provided new assurance of safety, and
they thereby, under the present preposterous legis-
lation, had, strangely enough, established new ele-
ments of compensation. They found, while in
every other department of industrial life human
fallibility was admitted, in their case the law
had set up a standard inconsistent with
human nature itself, and, while all insurance
was based upon the proportion of premium to risk,
they were compelled to carry all risks at the same
rate, and for an accident to a passenger who had
take❑ a half-penny ticket they might, perhaps, have
to pay £lOO,OOO. Again, their competitors, the
river steamers, which ran alongside them all the
way to Margate, were working under the protec-
tion of a special Act, so that an accident injuring
20 people might cost them nothing, while it might
tax their company in £30,000 or £40,000.
Under a state of things so scandalously unjust he
did not hesitate in advising them to restrict that
surplus accommodation of cheap traffic, the risk of
conveying which had become so immeasurable.
The report called their attention and the attention
of the public to the improvement of the Channel
passage so ably reported upon by Captain Tyler.
He believed that, if aided by the French authorities!
they could convey passengers with comfort between
London and Paris in eight hours. Hitherto they
had received little aid from either their ova or the
French Government, but they were now encouraged
by the influential and energetic action of the Pre-
sident of the Board of Trade, to whom the public
would be mainly indebted if they accomplished for
them what they wished. This was a great inter-
national ques ion—especially great on the eve of
one of the greatest events in history—he meant the
opening of Suez Canal, and thereby the restoration
of Eastern travel and commerce to the old route of
the Egyptians. He need not say that they would
press their case upon the attention of the French
Government with every earnestness ; and Mr.
Eborall and he were going again to Paris with that
object next week. During the half-year they had
renewed their contract with the Post-office for
the conveyance of the mails, and he was happy
to say that there was every probability of
their being able to settle the transfer of the pur-
chase of their telegraphs without the necessity of
an arbitration. Last year the proprietors permitted
the directors to establish, under special Parliamen-
tary powers, a savings bank for the officers and ser-
vants on the line. They desired to bring the sav-
ings bank to the depositor without depositor having
to go to the savings bank, and they were anxious
especially to teach the young to save. They took
all sums of and above ld., and he was sure they
would hear will pleasure that, though the bank
only c tine into operation on the Ist of February
last, they had had £1,551 deposits made—namely,
120 under ls., 1,034 under 55., 139 under 10s., and
261 above that sum. They had now in the bank
DO less than £2,430. Ile had said they had increased
the gross earnings by £16,626, but the outgoings
had increased to the amount of £3,825. Ile said
"outgoings," because, in common fairness to Mr.
Eborall, their. general in tnager, he. must sty that
the ordinary working charges had not increased at
all. The increase arose from their charging to re-
venue works of addition and improvement which,
under the company's old system, they charged to
capital; here was the list :---Fish plating, £1,191 ;
checkrailing curves, Wells and Hastings, £432 ;
additions to platforms at Deptford, Greenwich,
Lewisham, and Folkestone, £774 ; alterations, Spa-
read, 1208 ; sundry minor works at stations, £277 ;
reconstruction of bridge on Reading branch, £5OO ;
reconstruction of foot bridges, Canterbury and
Dec.l, £46o—total, £3,842. Ile thought one test
of hardworking management was to be found in

the cost at which an increase of traffic was earned.
Now, in their case, in the July half of 1867, the
total. working cost was £365,728, in July, 1866,
it was £368,659, and in July, 1865, £353,883.
He quite admitted that in 1865 and 1866 they
had large compensations . to paY, but still
three was the fact that in the past half
year they had eaened £744,000, with a less
total outlay than in any of the three preceding
years whizh be had quoted, and in which the gross
receipts were £620,835,
.£658,696, and 1714,718
respectively. In fact, he• was entitled to say that
their increase of traffic in the July 'half-years had
been as nearly as possible so much increase of net
profit since 1865. Bat while thus working they
had been guilty of no unwise economy. They had
enlarged and not reduced the facilities given to the
public. lf. they chose they could largely reduce
their expenses without materially diminishing their
traffic by taking off trains and restricting their
system of cheap contract tickets. But they had
ever looked not merely to. the revenue of one half-
year, but had respected the policy of development
which sprang from facilities of transit and cheap-
ness of charge. Looking at their working in this
spirit, he was gratified to see that while the first
and s.!cond tickets were fewer in number the
third class sho.ved an increase of 53,000 in the
half-year; and their cheap season tickets showed an
increase of £4,732. They were bound
,to run only
32 trains for third class passengers, but they
actually did run 365 in and out of -Loudon alone.
He thought the South-Eastezu was the only com-
pany which issued third-class quarterly tickets,
and of these they had no less than 4,529. He
then moved that the report and accounts be re-
ceived and adopted.
The Hon. J. BYNG seconded the motion, and in
doing so congratulated Sir Edward NVatkin on the
result of the late trial, and begged say that he
was not aware of the long and vexatious nature of
the proceedings until he had read .a full account of
them. He admired the " pluck". with which Sir
Edward had gone through the ordeal, and the
able and successful manner in which he had vindi-
cated his character from all imputations. lie
would move a resolution to that effect at the
proper time.

Mr. G. SMITH remarked that the project for
making a line from Greenwich to Wooiwich had
been again revived, and he thought that the pro-
prieto, s should go with the board in that matter.
The times were not prosperous, and if it could be
shown that the company could make a profit by
the construction of that short line the difficulty
it presented might be rennved. Ile thought, how-
ever, that it should not be made to benefit indi-
viduals, but for the advantage of the people iu the
district. Ile was decidedly against laying out
money unwisely. It appeared to him that tog
many items had been charged to revenue which
really belonged to capital account. The building
of Waterloo Station would pay for the outlay, and
all additions to the estate should be charged to
capital, and all repairs to revenue. Ile thought it
an extreme case to pay for a- new station out of
revenue.

Mr. MORPETII complained of charges for Parlia-
liamentary expenses, and thought the subject of
compensation should be taken up by all the railway
companies. lie remarked that one of the judges
had expressed himself very strongly on a case of
compensation that came before him, saying that
the officbers and servants of the company were to
blame. Mr. Denison deserved their laJst thanks
for bringing the subject before Parliament iu the
lust session ; and he trusted that he would bring it
before the House next Session.
Mr. ADAMS said he considered the South-Eastern
Hallway one of the Lest worked lines in the king-
dom, and since 18G7 the fares had been moderate.
They ran five trains down to Gravesend and four
trains up, and return tickets were issued at only
Is. 6d. each. The speed on the line from Loudon
to Dover was equal, if not superior, to that of any
other company. The excellent state of their road
must tend to diminish the wear and tear of the en-
gines and carriages. Their line approache I nearer
to what might be called a permanent way than any
other he had seen, and he was told the platelayers
did not like it, as it would injure their trade. He
hoped the directors would abstain from making any
wore extensions, expend no more money than they
could possibly help, and they•thight depend that the
traffic would go on increasing.
Mr. E. Wutctur said he hoped the question of
compensation would not be lost sight of by railway
companies. No prudence or foresight could protect
them from the unjust operation of the law as it stood
at present.

The Olin:max, in reply to observations, said he
thought Mr. Morpeth had hardly done the directors
justice as to clearing off old Parliamentary expenses.
He then explaine 1 the difficulties and troubles the
directors had in sifting those charges and reducing
them to reasonable limits and in clearing them off
as soon as possible. In one case they had been
charged expenses for which the company had given
no order. The directors had reduced the capital
account by the amount received as premiums on the
issue of their debenture and other stocks, and paid off
old debts against the company. They bad more of
that stock to issue at a premium, which would be
appropriated in the same way. The directors had
no desire to construct worthless lines ; they would
never be advocated by him. He would not consent
to any outlay on capital account that would not return
them 5 per cent. As to the Greenwich and Wool-
wich line, there had been formerly private interests
at work for it in the board, and land had been pur-
chased to get large sums for it. He agreed that if
they could make the short line of 11 miles for a
moderate sum from East Greenwich to Woolwich,
it should at once be made. There was now great
distress in Woolwich ; and if individuals would
so far overcome their desire for large profits as to
part with the necessary land on reasonable terms,
they would facilitate that object. With regard
to the fares, they had been regulated so as to
produce the best results for the proprietors.
They had issued 4,500 annual tickets for third-
class holders at about £8 each, some less and some
more, according to distance, which enabled the
holders to go home to dinner and return to work, as
well as to go to work in the morning and return
home in the evening, making four journeys a day.
He believed their line was the cheapest in the
kingdom to travel on in that respect. Their object
was not to squeeze money out of the public,
but to afford the necessary accommodation at rea-
sonable rates. With regard to the capital account
they were not asking for more money, but they
were endeavouring to clear up outstanding accounts
where they could find them. He wanted to make
the directors, the officers, and shareholders of the
company sick of expending capital. lhey were
endeavouring to get the concern into a healthy and
remunerative system. The officers knew it was no
use to ask for new sidings and works until the com-
pany could pay 5 or 6 per cent. on the ordinary
capital. He was glad they had a man at the head
of the Board of Trade who had courage enough to
do what he thought was right and necessary; and
he trusted that the law of compensation would be
properly amended next session. The company had
£155,000 for compensation during the last six years,
and he honestly believed that £50,000 would have
amply compensatedall who had been injured,and the
remainder, £105,000, he looked upon as robbery and
injustice. If Mr. Morpeth would examine the law
bills they had endeavoured to clear off he would find
that the directors deserved thanks for their exer-
tions. With regard to the Cannon•street Hotel the
company held £65,000 in shares, and subsequently
£40,000 in bonds, to enable the station to be com-
pleted. They could not finish the station without
finishing the hotel ; that was the reason they ad-
vanced the latter sum. The Station Hotel had not
been successful as an hotel, and they would consider
at the end of the year what should be done with it.
lie thought the hotel ought to have been their own
property, and that they might remove their offices
from L3nd3n-bridge to that place with advantage.
The rcport was then unanimously adopted, and
the dividend at the rate of £2 10s. per cent. per
annum on the consolidated stock was declared, and
at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the pre-
ferred stock payable on the 6th of September.
On the motion of the lion. J. BYNG, deputy-

chairman, seconded by Mr. A. BEATTIE, a direc-
tor, the following resolution was passed unani-
mously :
" That this meeting desires to tender to Sir E.
W. Watkiu, the chairman of the company, its
cordial congratulations on the issue of the action
recently brought against him, and while rejoicing
in the unanimous verdict of the jury, by which
his character was completely vindicated from the
charges so unjustly brought against him, the meet-
ing would express deep sympathy with him in the
yelp harassing and protracted trial to which he has
been unwarrantably subjected, and would convey
to him the assurance of their entire and unabated
confidence and esteem."

The CHAIRMAN, having acknowledged the reso-
lution in suitable terms, pointed out the injustice
that might be inflicted on an individual for a con-
siderable time, owing to the defective state of the
law with regard to such mattem
The prJceedings c )ncluld With a vote of thanks
to the chairman and directors ; also to Mr. Shaw,
the secretary, and to Mr. Eborall, the general

manager.

111E7 ROPOLII7.IN GOSlP—Thursday

I spoke too soon when I wrote last week of the delight-
ful coolness of this present August. We are a week nearer
the winter solstice, that the waning days tell us ; but the
thermometer would lead us to think that we are a
good many miles nearer the sun. In truth, the heat
is intense. Neither Mr. Norman Lockyer's sun spots,
nor the cloud of lady-birds who hover above London,
protect us from the fiery rays of Phcebus Apollo. The
trees are beginning to droop, and water carts have to be
conveyed into the middle of Hyde Park to prevent them
from dying of drought. In spite of the long-continued
dry weather, the flower beds are a gorgeous sight. From
the Marble Arch to Apsley House is one mass of
brilliance, so bright that you can scarcely gaze upon it.
It is a feast of colour most refreshing to the eye
weary of the London streets with their glare
and dirt. Those streets present now a very diffe-
rent spectacle from that which they exhibited six weeks
ago. Carriages are as rare as angels' visits. The cabs are
all " growlers," and it is most amusing to see the frantic
efforts of the drivers to attract a faro, and to contrast them
with the supercilious contempt with which they treated
would-be fares in want of a cab during the height of the
season. A large number of omnibuses were knocked off
last Saturday, and several of those which remain running
have either reduced their fares or increased the length of
their journeys, so as to compete with the metropolitan
railways.
As for those railways, they are as snlphury and un-
pleasant as usual. Judging from the last dividend of
the principal of them, they are ceasing to be the profitable
concerns that they used to be. The fact is, the Metro-
politan extension line from Paddington to Westminster is
likely to prove a costly mistake. It has cost two millions
to make, and it seems scarcely possible for enough
traffic to be taken to pay the interest on that amount.
It will not do to charge more than a certain rate of fares,
or " the Underground" will be unable to compete with
either the 'busses or the steamboats. It was all very well
to take passengers from Moorgate-street to Paddington
for Gd., and passengers were willing to pay the extra 2d.,
in order to travel quickly and under shelter. But when
it comes to charging two sixpences for travelling from
Moorgate-street to Westminster the case is very different.
There is a loss o! time, for the train takes you out to Ken-
sington and Brompton before you are set down at West-
. minster, and occupies three-quarters of an hour on the
journey; and as you can go for a, penny from London-
bridge to Westminster-bridge, there is also a very con-
siderable loss in money. This fact is quite sufficient to
explain the diminished dividend of the Metropolitan
Railway, and unfortunately it is a reason which forbids the
prospect of much improvement.
The Exeter meeting of the British Association appears
to us Londoners to have been one of the least successful
that has been held for some years past. If it had not been
for the fact that the association poached on the preserves
of the Social Science men by discussing such questions
as wages, education, the truck system, and local taxation,
the proceedings would have been very dull. Perhaps the
fault rests partly with the London journals. They have
for the most part given the barest skeleton of the transac-
tions. This, I believe, has been done intentionally on the
supposition that Londoners care more for matters like
"Formosa," the boat race, and the Albert Insurance,
than for sun-spots, flint-flakes, spectrum analysis, and the
origin, of species. I know that the proprietor of
one daily paper received last year so many complaints
about the quantity of scientific matter which occupied
the columns of the journal in question during the Norwich
meeting, that theydetermined to ignore the Exeter meeting
altogether. I fear the newspaper reader cares less and
less to be instructed. He wants only to be amused.
Poor Dean M'Neile is sorely to be pitied. He has
lived to see the day when his beloved Liverpool will be
contaminated by the presence of a Mackonochie and of a
Hexley. The first is to read a paper at the Church
Congress in October ; the second is to preside
at the British Association next year. Which
is the worst, the man who wears vestments
during celebration, or the man who believes that the first
man was an ape? I will nut undertake to say that the
President designate does hold that theory ; but,
according to popular tradition, he does ; and if I mistake
not he will have a lively time of it next year at St.
George's Hall, unless he is much more discreet and reti-
cent than it is at all likely he will be.
You will have noticed that Sir Charles Lyell did not
take part in the proceedings at Exeter. He is now in
Scotland (where he has an estate) geologising. A very
different sort of man, Mr. Horsman, is in the same country
for a very different purpose—deerstalking—having for his
companion the Duke of Somerset's son-in-law, Sir
John Ramsden. The Lord Chamberlain, Viscount
Sydney, is in Ireland. The Lord Chancellor is
at Lowestoft. For many years past Sir W. Page
Wood has spent the summer in that dullest
of watering places, Aldborough, where he enjoyed rest
from his labours, all the more because there was no one to
recognise the Vice-Chancellor. But now that he has
become Lord Hatherley, and holder of the Great Seal, he
feels bound, though with reluctance, to keep more state,
and so he has gone to another watering-place on his
favourite coast, but which has the disadvantage of being
very crowded. Mr. Gladstone is still at Walmer, where,
it is worthy of special note, he has for companion the
Bishop of Oxford.. Is it too much to suppose that
Premier and the Bishop are discussing certain episcopal
arrangements which will have to be made very shortly?
It is well to bear in mind that in all such appointments
the Queen's influence is much more than nominal. Her
influence is very clearly visible in the latest ecclesiastical
promotions. That of Dr. Temple, and then of Dr. Lake
to the deanery of Durham, and that of Professor Kingsley
to the Canonry of Chester especially bearthe impression of
the royal sign manual. All were. Queen's Chaplains, all
belong to the Broad School, which is highest in the Royal
favour, and it may be safely inferred that consent to the
nomination of Dr. Moberly was given with the under-
standing that the canonry thereby vacated should
be conferred upon the chief prophet of muscular
Christianity. Mr. Kingsley had other influence
in the person of the Lord Chamberlain, to whom he
was domestic chaplain. Still speaking of ecclesiastics, I
may mention that I am assured by a friend of the late
Bishop of Salisbury that that prelate spent on church and
charitable purposes more than the income he received
from his see. There are one or two other traits which are
worth mentioning, and which I do not think Mr. Liddon
has included in his interesting biography. The Bishop,
who was over 60 at his death, had living with him his
aged mother, who survives him, and whenever •he
had a dinner party, no matter bow distinguished
the guests, he always took her down to dinner. He was
equally observant of another rule, that of having family
prayers precisely at ten o'clock in the Palace chapel, how-
ever numerous the company might be. As Mr. Liddon
has stated, one of the most frequent enquirers at the
Bishop's house, while he was living in town during his long
illness, was Mr. Gladstone.
The name of the Premier recalls to mind an incident
which I do not thinkhas ever been published, though it is
not a recent occurrence. One morning a very well-known
clergyman (whose name I have a special reason for not
mentioning) received an unpaid letter. He refused to
take it in. Shortly afterwards ho received an official
notice from the Post Office informing him that the letter
contained a cheque for £5OO. It was a gift from Mr.
Gladstone towards the restoration of the clergyman's
church. Under those circumstances he did not object to
pay the clouble postage, and he informed the Post Office of
this accordingly.

The Lord Justiceship remains vacant. Lord Derby
and Mr. Disraeli used to fill up their legal appointments
immediately, and to keep their Church appointments open
for a most tantalisingly long time. Mr. Gladstone is
adopting the reverse course. He finds it difficult to
select his legal functionaries, while his first vacant mitre
was given before its late holder was underground.
Perhaps our economical Premier is influenced by
the fact that he will save a quarter's salary,
£1,500, by not appointing until term begins. It
is understood that both Lord Cairns and Sir Roundell
Palmer have refused Sir Charles Selwyn's post. The
first, no doubt, feels that he checkmated Lord Salisbury
last session so far as the Conservative leadership is con-
cerned, and that it would be absurd for him to abandon

the fruits of his victory by returning to Lincoln's Inn. The
second is, naturally enough, unwilling to surrender a
professional income of £20,000 a year for the genteel
poverty of £6,000. Mr. Jessel has been spoken of ; but
he, it is said, flies at higher game. The highest of all—the
Great Seal—is out of his reach, because he is a Jew.
The chiefship of the Queen's Bench, it is rumoured,
will be conferred upon Lord Penzance should Sir
Alexander Cockburn resign, an event rendered not im-
probable by his fregnent ill-health. The other posts do
not seem likely to fall vacant. However, Mr. Jessel is
only 45, has a fine practice, and can afford to wait.
Another rumour has translated Sir W. James (" fat"
James) from the Vice Chancellorship ; but if this is to be
the arrangement, one would think it would have been made
without all this delay. The reported resignation of Vice-
Chancellor Stuart is denied. The new judge in bankruptcy
under Sir R. Collier's Act is to be Commissioner Bacon,
who has lately succeeded Mr. Goulburn, father of the Dean
of Norwich. The death of Sir Charles Selwyn took his
medical attendant, Sir Henry Thomson, by surplise. Sir
Henry had performed an operation on the Lord Justice,
and went into Wales to see another patient, thinking the
first in no danger. He was summoned back hastily, but
arrived too late to be of any service.
There is another important vacancy to fill up, that of
Secretary to the Treasury, caused by the appointment of
Mr. G. A. Hamilton as one of the Irish Church Commis-
sioners. It is supposed that Mr. Gladstone may confer
the post upon Mr. Maguire, who has not hitherto
received the reward which he merits. It was he woo by
his memorable motion on Ireland last year prepared the
way for Mr. Gladstone's startling announcement that the
Irish Church must be disestablished, and for the recon-
struction and the triumph of the Liberal party which
followed that announcement. Nevertheless, he did not
receive the offer of a single post when the Administration
was formed. By conferring the present office upon him,
Parliament would lose a very useful and upright member,
but the Premier would please the Irish people by having
an Irishman in office, and by giving that office to one
who is respected by all parties.
Archbishop Manning's sermon last Sunday, on the
authenticity of Scripture, was somewhat remarkable. He
took up the position—decidedly startling to Protestants
—that Roman Catholics are more scriptural than
Protestants. He attempted to prove this by assert-
ing that the first accepted literally, but the
second did not, such statements as, "Thou art Peter,
and on this rock I will build my Church," " Whatsover
ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, &c.," and
"This is my body." Of course this argument assumes
what Protestants would not be willing to admit, that the
most literal meaning of words is necessarily the most
correct. A series of sermons is being preached in the
same Church (the new pro-Cathedral at Kensington) by
Mgr. Capel, to whom the secession of the Marquisof Bute
from Protestantism is due.

There was great indignation this afternoon among the
unfortunate Albert policy-holders, Notice had been
given of a meeting to be held to-day, at Cannon-street
Hotel, in order that they might protect their interests.
A largenuraber of them came from allpartsof the country,
but, after waiting for some time, they found that there
was to be no meeting, and that it had been postponed till
Saturday. Each person as he entered the room was
presented by somebody— who it is by no means clear—
with a circular requesting him to subscribe one or two
guineas towards the expenses of a committee for watching
the interests of the holders. From each circular a piece
had been cut out, and it was stated that this contained the
names of the persons who were willing to subscribe, but
who did not wish their names to appear. If the policy-
holder declined to contribute to a fund of so very
vague a character, he was not allowed to take away
the circular with him. Most of the policy-holders seemed
to be of opinion that they were too old birds to be caught.
I understand that several committees are working inde-
pendently of each other, ostensibly in the interests of the
policy-holders. It might be wise for them to see if this
be really the case.

Your readers will have noticed with some curiosity
certain literary announcements which have been made
within the last few weeks. The first was that Mr. Hepworth
Dixon had ceased to be editor of the Atitenm um, and that
Sir Charles Dilke, son of the late proprietor, and now
himself the principal proprietor, would edit it. The next
was that Mr. Hepworth Dixon was going to Russia
to write a book on that subjct. The third
was that Sir Charles Dilke was going to do
likewise. The inference was that there had been
a disagreement leading to some degree of lite-
rary rivalry. That inference is not well founded. Mr.
Dixon voluntarily resigned the editorship, was re-
quested by Sir Charles Dilke to withdraw his resigna-
tion, but held to his first determination. As for the
Russian tour, both gentlemen had decided upon making
it unknown to the other, and as soon as the
younger one heard of his senior's intention, he
at once agreed to postpone the publication of
his own book in order not to clash with his friend's.
This was the more feasible because they had determined
to visit entirely different parts of Russia, and for different
purposes. Mr. Dixon set out a little while ago, and was
last heard of at Archangel. Sir Charles has not, I be-
lieve, yet started, but will return at Christmas. Mr. Dixon's
book will be written en route, and will be published during
the approaching book season. Sir Charles's will probably not
come out until the end of next year. Meanwhile Dr.
Doran continues to edit the Athena;um, and was the
author of the article on Exeter, which appeared on Satur-
day week, as well as of the other topographical articles
which have been published from year to year on the eve
of the British Association octave. I may add that Mr.
Ashton Dilke, who was with his father at St. Petersburg
when he died, is now also in Russia, but is taking a diffe-
rent course from those selected by his brother and Mr.
Dixon.

Mr. Murray bas made an official announcement respect-
ing his new enterprise, the Academy. It is not to be a
weekly paper, but a monthly magazine, published at ls.,
and will therefore in no way compete with the Athencrum.
It is to appear on the second Saturday of every month,
beginning with October. Only first-rate writers will be
engaged in its production ; and it is rumoured that
Oxford will be largely represented among its contributors.
Dr. W. Smith is not to be the editor. Mr. Macmillan is
also about to bring out a new magazine. This will be an
illustrated weekly journal of science, and will be called
Nature. The first number is expected in October. I see
the papers still advertise Belgravia as Miss Braddon's
magazine. As a matter of fact she is still in very bad
health, and quite incapable of literary employment. The
real editor is Mr. Cheltnam.
Of other literary news there is a great dearth. Through
the courtesy of Mr. Hotten I have received an early copy of
a volume of poems just publishel by him, and written by
Mr. Mercer, an Oxford man who has fur several years
occupied a post in the Civil Service at Hong Kong. The
title of his volume " Under the Peak," will be well under-
stood by persons who have visited the above settlement,
and who know that just behind Victoria rises a mountain
which is scaled by sun•plagued colonists in search of
health. The poems are written with great spirit, and I
may have a word to say about them on another occasion.
The writer of the tale " Veronica," in All the Year
Bound is not Mr. Dickens's daughter, who has
not, any more than her brother, taken to literature, but
the wife of Thomas Adolphus Trollope, the novelist,
brother of the better known Anthony Trollope. Miss
Cushman, the actress, has no intention of returning to the
stage, as one of your London contemporaries has announced.
She has been very ill at Malvern, but is now better. Mrs.
Dallas, better known to the world as Miss Glyn, is about
to make a professional tour through the United States
and Australia. Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, the well-
known agricultural writer, and author of ",Chronicles of a
Clay Farm," has just written a shilling pamphlet, which
is sure to be much read. It is entitled " Land in England,
Land in Ireland, and Land in other Lands."

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.