The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-04 00:00:00

THE NEW BRIDGE AT WESTMINSTER.

The preparations for the opening of the upper
half of ,the new bridge at Westminster are pro-
gressing with great rapidity. Yesterday the hoard-
ing, which during the last two years has hidden
the works from foot passengers over the bridge,
was removed, and the new bridge is now exposed to
public gaze. From the crown of the oldbridge
to the middle of the new—for the new is- so nearly
flat that it can scarcey be said to hava a crown at
all—the distanue is 'eight or nine feet, a diminution
of rise which will render the passage of the new
bridge a very easy matter for horses and vehicles.
A double iron tramway is laid down on the lower
side of the new structure for the fast traffic, while the
remainder, intended for the slow vehicles, has
been macadamised, and both portions are ready for
opening. The footway remains to be made, but this
will be proceeded with simultaneously with the con-
struction of the approaches, already in progress.
The block`of houses from the Old Red Lion, at the
foot of the bridge, to Stangate, about 12 in num-
ber, are in course of demolition, and at the West-
minster end of the bridge, Nos. 26, 27, and 28,
Bridge-street, consisting of Denton's Hotel and the
two adjoining houses beneath the Victoria Clock
Tower, have been vacated by the tenants, and the
carcases are advertised by the Board of Works for
early sale next week. These also are to be imme-
diately demolished, and there seems no reason why
the new half of the bridge should not be open to
public traffic in a month. Meanwhile the prepara-
tions are actively going forward for laying the
foundation of the piers of the other half of the
bridge.

ABINGDON GAOL.

The question of closing the gaol at Abingdon was
finally considered at the Epiphany Sessions for
Berks, held at Reading on Monday. At the
Michaelmas Sessions, when most of the magistrates
expected that the gaol at Abingdon would be
wholly closed, the discovery was made by the
Right Hon. E. P. Bouverie, M.P., that certain
steps had been omitted to be taken, and that there-
fore all former proceedings had become a nullity.
He proposed that a committee should be appointed
for the purpose of considering what steps should be
taken to accomplish the object, having special regard
to the interests which the borough of Abingdon
claimed in the maintenance of a gaol, from having
in the year 1805 given up the old gaol and a site
on which the existing county gaol was erected,
The motion was seconded by Mr. Walter, M.P.,
and carried by a large majority.
As it was anticipated that the question would as-
sume a different form at the present sessions, there
was a considerable gathering of magistrates. The
chair was filled by Mr. K Palmer, late M.P. for
the county.
A report from the committee appointed at the last
sessions, signed by the Right Hon. E. P. Bouverie,
M.P., was read by the Clerk of the Peace.
Mr. T. L. GOODLAKE remarked that the Court
had determined the expediency some time 'ago of
closing the gaol at Abingdon, as by the erection of
the one at Reading it had become unnecessary.
The Right Hon. E. P. BOUVERIE, M.P., said the
simplest answer that could be given to Mr. Good-
lake's remarks was that the Court really had not
the power to do it. The question of the expediency
of closing Abingdon Gaol was very properly dis-
cussed by the Court, and upon the facts stat‘d the
Court, whether rightly or wrongly, decided that it
was expedient to close the establishment. Then
there arose this question about the legality of their
proceedings, the rights of the borough of Abing-
don, and the power of the Court to close the gaol.
It was in consequence of these doubts and difficul-
ties, which seemed to tie their hands and made them
feel like persons groping in the dark, that he (Mr.
Bouverie) at the last quarter sessions proposed that
the question be referred to a committee to ascertain
the position in which the county magistrates stood.
Mr. Walter, the hon. member for the county,
seconded the motion, and it was carried. It had
been said that the legality of their proceedings had
no reference to the expediency of the question ; but
he (Mr. Bouverie) contended that it was not
expedient for the county to do a thing which
was not strictly legal. (Hear, hear.) It would
not be expedient to close Abingdon Gaol if the
attempt to eo so would involve law proceedings on
the one hand, or a breach of the law which would
leave them open to be proceeded against either by
process, from the Queen's Bench, or the Secretary
of State. The hands of the county were tied, and
the committee to whom the question was referred
dealt with it like practical, sensible men. of busi-
ness, and grappled with the first difficulty that
arose. The question first presented to them was,—
What could the magistrates do, and if they could
do anything, how were they to do it P They de-
cided that they ought to take learned advice, and
they felt that they could not do better than submit
the whole question to Mr. Tomlinson, who though
not known out of the profession, was well known
in the profession as a man of very great ability and
experience. That learned gentleman had given a
'very clear and decided opinion as to the powers of
the county, and Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Wickens
had given their joint opinion as to the rights of the
Corporation of Abingdon. That being the state of
things, he submitted to the Court, whatever might
be their opinion as to the abstract question of ex-
pediency,
that their hands were tied—that it was
of no use starting this question to be discussed over
again without anything practical which would re-
sult from it. (Hear, hear.) He trusted, after what
the committee had done, the Court would be of
opinion with him that the best mode of dealing
with Abingdon Gaol was to leave it in the condi-
tion it was in at the present time. He approached
the consideration of the question in the first place
without any feeling of bias, or, if he had any, it
was in favour of the closing of the gaol ; but finding
that thererwere great legal diffieulties in the way,
he was of opinion that the matter should remain as
they now found it. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MERRY was unwilling to revive a discussion
upon the question, but he wished the Court to sus-
pend forming any decisive opinion upon the matter
for the present. He was not aware of the course
which the committee pursued with reference to tak-
ing the opinion of counsel, but he had placed it in the
hands of a thoroughly disinterested solicitor,to draw
up a case from the deed upoh which the Corporation
of Abingdon relied, as justifying the claim they
made for the county maintaining the gaol, in order
to take the opinion of the ablest lawyer in the
kingdom—the Attorney-General. That opinion he
expected that day to have received, but it had not
reached them. In the absence of that opinion, and
from such a person, he asked the Court to defer
judgment on the question until he had had an op-
portunity of laying that opinion before them.
Mr. G. CHERRY observed that the opinion of the
Attorney-General would only be upon the deed of
1805, while the opinions obtained from the other
learned gentlemen had been given upon the deed in
conjunction with subsequent proceedings. Tho
deed was_not the only thing to be considered.
Mr. BROS said an opinion upon the deed of 1805
would not influence the Court on the question of
closing the gaol. Supposing the Attorney-General
gave an opinion contrary to the other two gentle-
men, the' Court could nut close an existing gaol.
That was the real question. It could only be done by
Parliament with the sanction of the authorities of
Abingdon.
The report of the committee on the whole question
was ordered to be entered on the records of the
Court, without any formal motion being made in
reference to it. The result of the proceedings is
that Abingdon Gaol, which by previous quarter
sessions was ordered to' be abolished, will be re-
tained, unless the county can arrange with the
borough of Abingdon for its being closed, and their
prisoners transferred to Reading on terms as ad-
vantageous as at present.

PRICE OF GOLD.—The quotation of gold at Park
is about per mile d, and the short exchange on London is
2.5.10 per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the
English Mint price of £3 17s. 101 d. per ounce for standard
gold, it appears that gold is at about 2-10ths per cent. dearer
in Paris than in London. By advices from Hamburg the
price of gold is 423 per mark, and the short exchange on
London is 13.3 k per fl starling. Standard gold at the
English Mint price is therefore about 3-10ths per
cent. dearer in Hamburg than in London. The course of ex-
change at New York on London for bills at 60 days' sight
is about 1091 per cent., which, when compared with the Mint
proportions between the two countries, shows that the ex-
change is about at par ; and, after making allowance for
charges of transport and difference of interest, the present
rate leaves no profit on the importation of gold from the
United States.

TIIE LATE WEST YORKSHIRE ELECTION.—At
a meeting of the central committee of the West Riding Cen.
' servative Association, held at Wakefield on Friday last, the
Hon. Edwin Lascelles in the chair, it was resolved that,
under the circumstances of the case, the total expenditure
on the Conservative side at the late election ought to be
defrayed by :the West Riding, and that the 'Hon. James
Stuart Wortley, who was the Conservative candidate at that
election, ought not to be a contributor, and that a fund be
raised to defray the outstanding- liabilities. Some hundreds
of pounds were subscribed at the'meeting-._.

VIIE ALESSANDRIA GUNS.—The -Minister of War
at Turin has published an account of the subscription com-
menced in 1850 for the 100 guns of Alessandria. The sum
subscribed in Italy amounted to 106,459 f. ; that subscribed
in foreign countries, to 47,454 f., making a total of 153,913 f.,
besides a piece of ordnance sent by the citizens of Bost
and another sent by M. Carlo Perla of Aarau. The above
sum being sufficient to cover the expense of 120 guns
already cast, the Minister has given orders to place them,
all in the fortress of Alessandria. Each of them is to have
engraved upon it the motto, "National t:ffering, 1858,"
and the name of one or more of the donors, the list of which
is published with the above account. Arh-lig the names'
we find those of Victor Emmanuel 11., Norberto Rosa (the
originator of the subscription), Mania, the press, the army,
the Italian students, the Italians at Rio Janeiro, Odessa,
Boston, Chili, Peru, Bologna, Brescia, Aarau, Paris, &c.