The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-12 00:00:00

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Chancellor of the Exchequer by my predecessor at this
Board, under date 26th of February, 1839.
From the rapid extension of its collections, partly
from the geological survey, partly from foreign sources,
and very considerably, I may add, from individual con-
tributions, the present building has, for some time past,
become unsuited to the exigencies of the institution; and
a larger building, and another site, have at length be-
come indispensable.
To meet these exigencies, propositions of various
kinds, and applying to various localities, have within the
last two years been brought under my consideration, but
until now none have been suggested which would, at
any reasonable cost to the public, have provided the ac-
commodation required. A property, however, belong-
ing to her Majesty, lying between Piccadilly and
Jermyn-street, will bo out of the lease on the sth April
next ; and some of the shops and houses of which it
consists being in a very dilapidated condition, it has
been recommended to pull them down and to occupy
the ground with new buildings. The site has a frontage
of about 70 feet to each street, with a depth between the
two of about 150 feet. It would afford ample accommo-
dation for houses and shops in both frontages, and for a
museum in the centre, arranged in the manner shown
in the accompanying plans. By these, as your Lord -
ships will perceive, the museum would consist of nine
large galleries, with the requisite supply of rooms for
offices, a laboratory, and a workshop for the construc-
tion of mining and other needful moods. According to
estimates which have been prepared, and very care-
fully considered by the professional officer of this de-
partment, the cost of erecting the six houses and shops
shown on the plan would be about 9,0001. ; that of the
museum, 20,0001.
I state these details thus generally in the first in-
stance, as in the event of your Lordships approving in
principle of my suggestions, the whole subject of these
buildings, in connexion with the estimates and the pur-
poses to which every portion would be applied, will, of
course, be brought again under your Lordships' notice.
The whole of these buildings, I would submit to
your Lordships, should be erected at one and the same
time, under the superintendence of this Department ;
and, as the site is part of the hereditary property of 1
the Crown, at the charge of its accruing land re-
venues. According to the estimates at present before
me, the letting to private tenants should contribute to
the Exchequer rents amounting altogether to 7401. a
year ; the museum not less than 800/. For this second
sum it would be necessary to make provision, in the esti-
mates annually submitted to Parliament by your Lord-
ships' Board, for rents of offices and public buildings.
Looking to the peculiar character of the larger portion
of this return—viz., that it should be exempt from the
liabilities to which property in the hands of a private
tenant is ordinarily subject, and looking also to the in-
creased value which such institution may reasonably be
expected to confer on other and extensive property be-
longing to the Crown in the same vicinity, ) our Lord-
ships will, I think, concur with me in opinion, that the
arrangement proposed is as consistent with a due ad-
ministration of the land revenues of the Crown as any
other that could be aeopted.
In order, however, to render the museum efficient in
its twofold object of aiding and receiving aid from the
geological survey of Great Britain, it will be neces-
sary that the department upon which the illustra-
tion and practical application of its resources
are so much dependent, should be strengthened
by the services of a sound chemist. The duties of
chemist and curator are at present united in the per-
son of Mr. Richard Phillips, whose skill in the depart-
ment of mineral analysis is held in high and d& served
estimation, but whose time, it may bo sufficient to ob-
serve, is already engrossed, either with his engagements
at the museum, or in making analysis for the excise and
other public departments. The branch which I should
assign to this new officer of the institution would be that
of chemistry in its application to agriculture, to manu-
factures, and to certain important branches of geological
inquiry connected with the prosecution of the survey,
for which no adequate provision is to be found in the
existing arrangements of the museum. The gentleman
whose services I think it most desirable to secure for
this appointment is Dr. Lyon Playfair, the pupil of Pro-
fessor Liebig, and the representative of his opinions in
this country in the department of agricultural chemistry.
The entire range and character of Dr. Playfair's in-
vestigations are in accordance with the objects and
interests of the museum ; and his appointment, I feel
assured, would be regarded with great satisfaction by
agrieulturists, by manufacturers, and indeed by all
classes who attach importance to its proceedings.
From communications which I have had with Dr.
Playfair on this subject, I have ascertained that, although
at the present moment having reference to other engage-
ments which he must abandon, the acceptance of this
appointment would subject him to some pecuniary loss,
ho would be prepared to transfer his services to the
museum for the sum of 2501. per annum ; upon the under-
standing, however, that if, upon the death or resignation
of Mr. Phillip, he shall have succeeded in organising a
body of competent pupil assistants at the museum, he
shall undertake the department allotted to Mr. Phillips,
in addition to that which would now devolve upon him,
at a salary of 400/. per annum. I feel assured that it
will be sufficient for me to state them, to ensure your
Lordships', acquiescence in these very reasonable pro-
posals.
Of the commencement, the progress, and the ultimate
suspension of the geological survey of Ireland the parti-
culars are already before your Lordships, in a report
addressed to Sir Robert Peel, in 1843, by Mr. Young,
Capt. Boldero, and Lord Adare, subsequently printed
and laid before both Houses of Parliament.
In conformity with the views that suggested its sus-
pension, Captain James of the Royal Engineers, an officer
attached to the Irish trigonometrical survey, was directed,
in 1840, to place himself under and take part in the ope-
rations of Sir H. De la Beche, with the view to the
establishment of a system of practical uniformity
between the surveys of Great Britain and Ireland.
From inquiries I have instituted, it appears that the first
object of Captain James's mission has been accomplished;
but that the geological survey of Ireland, with
its several kindred branches of inquiry, is substantially,
at this moment, in the condition in which I find it repre-
sented to be in the report of 1843.
If I am right in this assumption, and it be your Lord-
ships' desire that the survey. should be now proceeded
with upon the basis of and simultaneously with that of
Great Britain, I can then have no hesitation in recom-
mending to your Lordships that the direction of both
surveys should be committed in the first instance to one
and the same person; that person being, of course, the
director of the British survey, Sir IL De la Beche. At-
taching the highest value to his qualifications for the
duties which such an office necessarily imposes (of which
duties not the least in importance is that of educating
and bringing forward a body of zealous and highly-
qualified assistants on the survey), I attach still
greater importance to the principle of establishing, that
unity of action, of eliciting that uniformity of results,
and of insuring that reciprocity of benefits between the
surveys of the two countries which can only be effected
by placing the executive in both cases under the direc-
tion of one authority ; and it is upon a concurrence, I
presume, in the same views, that, after hearing evidence
from parties of various opinions and of high authority
on all branches of this inquiry, the Commissioners of
1843 recommended that " the topographical geology of
Ireland should be committed to Sir Henry Dc la Beebe,
as general director of the geological department of the
whole empire."
If your Lordships should concur in this opinion, and
Sir H. De la Beche should be appointed, it will fellow
that his time and attention must be divided between the
two countries, and that there must be in each a local
head, to take the lead under his direction. From the
testimony of several parties with whom I have commu-
nicated (and I may especially state Sir H. De la
Beebe himself), I fully concur with the commission, that
" Captain James, of the Royal Engineers, should be em •
ployed as chief in Ireland."
This appointment, it is true, would be at variance with
the principle which I understand to have been so forcibly
urged by the Master-General of the Ordnance, and fully
assented to by your Lordships' Board, in regard to the
detachment of military men from the proper duties of
their station to others of a purely scientific character.
In the present instance, however, seeing that Captain
James has already qualified himself for the survey in
direct communication with Sir 11. De la Beebe, and the
services proceeding under his direction, I think that the
exception to the rule would be less injurious to the public
service than its observance ; and your Lordships, there-
fore, will prevail, I trust, upon the Master-General, under
the circumstances, to permit Captain James to be
seconded, and his services upon the survey to be made
available.
For the immediate assistant to, and occasional substitute
for Sir IL De la Beche on the English survey, I propose
that your Lordships should'uthorise me to appoint Mr.
Andrew C. Ramsay, at present one of the assistant geo-
logists on the survey of Great Britain, upon a salary of
2001. a year. Mr. Ramsay, I am informed, joined the
survey in April, 1841, and has distinguished himself by
the extent of his information and the accuracy of his
views ; he is a fellow of the Geological Society of Lon-
don, and is engaged, in connexion with Professor
Forbes, upon a new edition of the Rev. Mr. Conybeare's
" Geology of England and Wales ;" a work esteemed
of the highest authority in its day, and the revision of
which has been especially committed to him by its
author. The improvement in his positioti would call
for no increase in the amount already suggested to your
Lordships for the general purposes of the survey, and in
itself would involve an addition to his present salary not
exceeding 100/. per annum.
With Mr. Ramsay as his assistant in Great Britain, I
have no doubt whatever that Sir H. De la Beche would
be enabled to devote an appropriate share of his time
and attention to the Irish survey ; and, as far as may be
dependent upon his exertions hat both services will
proceed with corresponding regularity and dispatch.
In order, however, as regards the Irish survey, that
these exertions may be duly supported, I should recom-
mend that a vote of not less than 1,5001. should be taken
in the estimates of the following and every future year,
until the survey of Ireland shall be completed. Oa re-
ference to the appendix of the Report of 1843, I find a
letter from Sir H. De la Beche, in which the sum of
ebxet
esnudffiecdi eonvte fro rathis
rsieordv iocfe,
ten a ss ur,
eianrgs
thelosotil.r ivse ys t at
ot e db
eto
date of
into th
fits resumption.eviews
frolm theente
enter entirely which have suggested
your Lordships' minute of the 27th ultimo, as to the es-
tablishment of a museum of economic geology in Dublin.
I feel assured not only that the existence of s
in-
stitutions in London and in Dublin will be aepsaoruate
many u 1 ity of
positive advantages to both, but that the eir of
such institutions is very mainly dependent upon their
extension into different localities, the expansion of their
stores from local sources, the discovery of new agencies,
and the interchange of views and opinions, whether of
local origin or otherwise ; the existence of which cannot
fail to elicit general results, and to promote the cause of
general seieuce.
It is upon these grounds that, looking to the institu-
tion already established in London as the model of that
proposed to be founded in Dublin, I should, nevertheless,

(IRELAND.)
R.lturn to an Order of the Honourable the House of
Commons, dated April 22, 1845, for a Copy." of the
Correspondence between the Lords Commissioners of
the Treasury and the Commissioners of Woods and
Forests, relative to the Geological Survey of Ireland,
and the Treasury Minute thereupon.
COPY OF TREASITA/ 3IINUTE, DATED DEC. 27, 1844.
Sir Robert Peel states to the Board that various re-
presentations have been addressed to him as to the im-
portance of effectually prosecuting and completing a
geological survey of Great Britain and Ireland, for which
sums have been from time to time voted in the Ordnance
estimates, in connexion with the trigonometrical survey
in progress under that department.
That upon communication with persons the most dis-
tinguished for their geological knowledge on the one
band, and with the Master-General of the Ordnance on
the other, he is confirmed in the opinion that a geolo-
gical survey has no direct connexion with the survey
conducted by that board ,• and that although among the
engineer officers employed upon the latter many may be
found who, from having given attention to geological
subjects, may be qualified for its execution, yet that
upon the whole, considering the inconvenience to which
the union of the two surveys has in some instances
given rise, it appears more advisable that the conduct of
it should be withdrawn from the military department,
and that it should be separately conducted under the
direction of persons who have made this branch of
science more particularly their study ; and Sir Robert
Peel further deems it advantageous that it should be
brought into direct connexion with the Museum of
Economic Geology, for which sums have been latterly
voted by Parliament, and the extension of which is an
object of general interest and importance.
My Lords agree in the view which Sir Robert Peel
has taken of this subject; and think it expedient that a
separate estimate should be prepared and submitted to
Parliament, of the total sum required for the geological
survey of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the sum
which it may be annually advisable to allot to this
object.
As my Lords deem it advisable to connect this survey
with the museum of economic geology, it will be neces-
sary to add to the estimate such sum as may be neces-
sary to provide an adequate building in London and in
Dublin respectively, calculated at once to afford facility
for inspection by the public, which the present building
does not offer, and ready means of information to those
engaged in scientific pursuits.
Considering that the Museum in London has been
from its foundation under the direction of the Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests, my Lords deem it ad-
visable that all matters relating to the geological survey
should in future be committed to the superintendence of
the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests, under
the control of this Board.
Write, therefore, to the First Commissioner of Woods
and Forests, acquainting him with his views of my
Lords; and request that, if his Lordship has no objec-
tion to undertake these duties, he would submit to my
-'Lords his opinion as to the persons by whom it would
be advisable that the survey should be conducted : as to
the expense that it may be necessary annually to incur
in the prosecution of it ; and as to the sum required for
the establishment and maintenance of the museum in
London and in Dublin, to which my Lords have already
adverted.

LETTER FROM C. E. TREVELYAN, ESQ,., TO TEE EARL OF

LINCOLN.

Treasury Chambers, Jan. 1, 1845.
My Lord,—The Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's
Treasury having considered the importance of effec-
tually prosecuting and completing a geological survey
of Great Britain and Ireland, I have it in command to
transmit herewith, for your information, a copy of their
Lordship' minute of the 27th ultimo, containing their
views-upeo this subject ; and I am to request, that if
your Lordship has no objection to undertake the duties
therein specified, you will submit to this board your opi-
nion as to the persons by whom it would be advisable
that the survey should be conducted ; as to the expense
that it may be necessary annually to incur in the prose-
cution .of it; and as to the sum required for the estab-
lishment and maintenance of the museum in London and
in Dublin, to which my Lords have adverted in their said
minute. I have, &c.,
(Signed)

C. E. TREVELYAN.

LETTER FROM THE EARL OF LINCOLN TO THE LORDS
COMMISSIONERS OF HER MAJESTY'S TREASURY.
Office of Woods, &c., January 13, 1845.
My Lords,—l have had the honour of receiving, by a
communication from Mr. Trevelyan, bearing date the
Ist inst., your Lordships' minute of the 27th ult., con-
veying to me an intimation of your Lordships' views in
respect to the future prosecution of the geological sur-
vey of Great Britain and Ireland, in connexion with the
transfer of certain duties of direction and control which
your*Lordships are of opinion should in future be com-
mitted to the chief Commissioner of this Board, and
with' the application and extension of the results of
that survey to purposes for which, in London, under
your Lordship? sanction, an institution is already
established and put in charge with this department.
I beg leave to assure your Lordships in reply, not
only. of my willingness, but of my earnest desire to
carry out the intentions of her Majesty's Government
in this matter, to the best of my abiltty; and having
stated this, I will proceed at once, in obedience to your
Lordship? wishes, and as far as my necessarily limited
knowledge of d'tails will permit, to point out the mode
by Which I think those intentions may be best effected.
The geological survey of Great Britain, as your
Lordships are aware, originated in the year 1832, in an
offer of Sir H. De la Beche to supply the data for
colouring geologically certain sheets o. the ordnance
map of England, comprising parts of Cornwall, Somer-
set, and Dorset, and the whole of the county of Devon.
A sum of 3001. in aid of this service (Sir H. De la
Beche contributing the remaining and the greater por-
tion of the expense) was charged against the survey of
Great Britain in that year; and subsequently, the sur-
vey
.has been extended, under his direction, over other
portions of the country.
The geological survey of the counties of Cornwall,
Devon, Somerset, Gloucester, Monmouth, Glamorgan,
Carmarthen, Pembroke, with portions of Wilts, Dorset,
Worcester, Brecon, and Cardigan, are finished, and are
either finished or are ready for publication. The re-
mainder of South Wales, with the northern portion of
the principality, and some of the adjoining English
counties, may be stated as at present under examination,
parts of those only being completed.
From a return with which I have been favoured by
the Master General and Board of Ordnance, it appears
that six persons, civilians, are employed under Sir IL
De la Beebe, as his assistants upon the survey; that up
to the 31st of March, 1844 (including, from 1835 to
1839; the service of an Ordnance surveyor, chiefly
directed to the correction of the pre-existing maps for
geological purposes), the cost has, in the whole,
amounted to rather more than 11,0001. ; and that the
sum set apart for it in the Ordnance estimates for the
current Parliamentary year is 1,9501., which is appro-
priated as follows, viz.:—
To the Director £soo
In lieu of travelling expenses

To assistant geologists :
One, at 3001
' Two, at 2001.
Three, at 1501.

300
400
450

£6OO

To contingencies

1,150
200

£1,950
For the application of these monies, however, there
appears to have been no specific parliamentary authority;
nor, except in casual statements and discussions upon
the estimates of which they form a portion, do I find
any notice of this service in Parliament, and certainly
none at all commensurate with its claims upon the public
attention.
The time, however, it appears to me, is now arrived at
which the geological survey should take its proper posi-
tion in the estimates annually submitted to Parliament
by your Lordships' board, accompanied by a report of its
progress within the previous year, and of the portion re-
maining to be accomplished. Your Lordships will, I
feel assured, concur with me in opinion, that indepen-
dently of the expediency of such a practice on Parliamen-
tary grounds, publicity supplies an encouragement to zeal
where zeal exists, and a stimulus where it Is wanting ;
and that the practical importance of the principle is in
no instance more manifest than where, in connexion with
the acceptance of great individual responsibilities, the
question is one of giving or withholding public money.
I feel the less hesitation in submitting these observa-
tions to your Lordships on the present occasion, inas-
much as, with the facilities afforded by my position for
becoming informed of the real progress of the geological
survey, I can testify that no want of either zeal or dili-
gence-can be imputed to the parties concerned in its pro-
secution.

Its advances, however, from the inadequacy
.of its re-
sources, have hitherto been slow and unsatisfactory :
and L should recommend that a vote of at least 4,0001.
should be taken in the ensuing and in every future year
until the undertaking is completed.
Having consulted Sir H. De la Beche as to the period
within which the survey of great Britain could be brought
to a close, with the additional assistance I bave sugges-
ted, he assures ma that with an annual vote of 4,0001.
its present rate of progress would be considerably more
than doubled ; and that the whole would be brought to
a conclusion within 12, or at the furthest 14 years from
the present time.

It appears to me highly desirable that the entire sur-
vey should, if possible, he the work of one and the same
supervision ; but with the sum hitherto set apart fer its
prosecution it is inconsistent with the ordinary proba
bilities of human life that Sir H. De la Beche, or in-
deed any geologist of equal maturity and experience
with himself in the higher requisites for such a service,
should live to witness the termination of his labours.
The amount, therefore, which I have recommended is
as small as I think consistent with the completion of the
survey conjointly with the attainment of an object to
which I cannot help attaching very great importance ;
but if your Lordships' views should differ from my own
on this point, I would then only urge that the sum to be
now submitted to Parliament should in future sessions
be adhered to, inasmuch as any diminution would neces-
sitate the dismissal of men who had been trained to the
service, and whose places it would involve a loss both of
money and time to supply.
It affords me great pleasure to find that your Lord-
ships are disposed to give increased efficiency to the
Museum of Economic Geology in London—an Institu-
tion to the condition of which, but for difficulties which
I trust are now removed, I should have long since fel tit
my duty to draw your Lordships' attention.
The museum in Craig's-court was founded in the year
1835, in connexion with the geological survey of Great
Britain.
Your Lordships will find a statement of the earlier
circumstances of its progress, in a letter addressed to the

TTIE SUN, LONtION, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 12, 1845.

desire to see it placed under a superintendence in a great ;
measure separate and distinct.
Amongst the men of science in Ireland whose I
opinions were consulted by the Commissioners of 1843,
the subject of geology, in its application to the de-
velopment of mineral wealth, to agriculture, to the
arts and manufactures, and in short to the general
purposes of life, appears to have chiefly engaged the at- ,
tention of Dr. Kane, a member of the Royal Irish
Academy, and a chemist, as lam informed, of high
and admitted authority in his profession. Ile attaches
" the highest importance to the establishment in Dublin
of a Central Museum of Economic Geology, like that in
London ;" and his views, as detailed in paper 8, appen-
dix 4, of the report above referred to, point him out as
the person apparently best fitted to take charge of such
a collection. I would suggest, therefore, that Dr. Kane
should be consulted as to his willingness to take upon
himself the chemical section cf the geological survey,
under the direction of Sir li. De la Beche ; that he
should perform the same duties in Ireland as I propose
that your Lordships should devolve conjointly upon Dr.
Play fair and Mr. Phillips in this country ; and that for
his services he should be paid a salary not exceeding
awl. per annum.
Inprder to obviate, however, the possibility of any
misdnderstanding hereafter upon points which may
affect not only the personal interests of Dr. Kane, but
those higher interests which, in the event of his ap-
pointment, would be committed in great measure to his
keeping, I would suggest that your Lordships should
authorise me to communicate with him, forthwith, as to
his position, his duties, and his emoluments under their
proposed arrangement. It is indispensable, in fact, that
I should be afforded the advantage of communicating
with some person of scientific authority in Dublin (and
with none, of course, could I so properly confer in the
first instance as this gentleman,) before I can in any
way advise your Lordships as to the probable expense
of maintaining an institution in that city ; which,
though founded upon the basis of the museum in
Craig's-court, may, from local causes only, require a
somewhat different treatment.
It would afford me sineere pleasure,l need scarcely say,
to be enabled, in these communicatiors, to lay the basis
of an arrangement for the working of the respective in-
stitutions in London and in Dublin, in accordance with
each other and with the great public objects which haves
suggested their establishment; and I trust that I shall
be enabled to signify to your Lordships Dr. Kane's ac-
ceptance of the appointment of chemist and curator upon
that basis : subject, of course, to the approval of your
Lordships' board.
It would then become expedient to make provision for
the specimens already collected on the Irish geological
survey, which are at present deposited in Dublin, in
charge of the Master- General and Board of Ordnance ;
and which, of course, should be transferred to the cus-
tody of this department,as soon as a proper building
can be provided for their reception.
Although your Lordships inform me that you are pre-
pared to defray the expense of providing a building for
this purpose in Dublin, I would suggest that, among the
public buildings in that city, there might be found
accommodation that would suffice, for at least some
period to come, for the collections already in store, and
for any contributions that might accrue, either from the
survey, from the Museum in London, or from private
sources.
Your Lordships will probably see the expediency of
instituting such inquiriesm Dublin as may elicit full and
specific information on the point to which I have
adverted. I feel, indeed, that until this information
shall have been acquired, and I shall have had an
opportunity of communicating with Dr. Kane, with
respect to the Museum and its appointments, it would
be of little avail for me to occupy your Lordships'
attention with suggestions as to this portion of the
larger subject referred to me by your Lordship's mi-
nute of the 27th ultimo. In finally adverting, however,
to that minute, and to the confidence which your Lord-
ships have been pleased to repose in myself and the
future Chief Commissioner , of this Board, in reference
to the direction and control of the services which form
the subject of this letter, I may be permitted, perhaps,
to suggest to your Lordships that our duties should be
restricted within their limits ; and that the receipt and
issue of monies, the examination and payment of all de-
mands, and the preparation of such general account at
the end of the year as may be required by the Commis-
sioners of Audit, should devolve, in the usual course,
upon the Board. I have, &c.,
(Signed) LINCOLN.

Do. New ............... 2 1734' 18% ... ..
Midland, Binu., Derby...loo ll6
Newcastle and Darling-
ton junction ......... ... 25 ...... 48
Do. New Brandling... 10
Newcastle and Berwick 1% l2l/.34 13
Newry and Enniskillen. 2%
Newark and Sheffield ... 1% 4% .•....
North British ........... 10
Do. New ... ..... ..... 1
Northern and Eastern... 45
North Kent ...............2.. .. g
North Wales .. .......... 114 314 3
Perth and Inverness .. 2%
Rugby, Worstr, & Tring 1
Scottish Central ......... 2%•••... 61A
South Eastern & Dover 3312 s 4d... 39 40 ...
Do., No. 1 ............... 8
Do., No. 2. ............ 7
Do., No. 3 ............ 214 oh. %
Sout Wales ........... ... 21,4- 5%
Trent Valley ............... 2 ...... 184 4, 18
Trent Valley and Holy-
head Junction ......... 1% 2IA%
Waterford and Kilkenny 1 . . — „.„ .....
West Cornwall ............ 11%..... 41/
West Yorkshire ...... ... 23/4 23/4%
Wilts, Somerset, & Wey-
mouth
Yarmouth and Norwich. 20
York and North Midland 50
Ditto % 5hare5........ 25
FRENCH RAILWAYS.
Boulogne and A miens... 4
Dijon and Mulhouse ... 2
Great North. of France.. 4
Do. do. (Rosamel's) 2 ...... 21/t
Jamaica Junction 11,4 4%
Lyons and Avignon
Namur and Liege ...... 2% 614 53A
Orleans and Bordeaux... 2
Over Yssel 4/ 3s 4d
%1A
Paris & Lyons, Latlitte's 2
Pans and Lyons, Gan-
neron's, 2
Paris & Lyons, (Calon's) 2
Paris and Rouen . ........ 20
Royal North of Spain ..• 2
Sambre and Meuse ~... 4

181,4
118

121
41/2
16%

4014
141/2
131/
Cli
54

23144/.2
21. E

53/4
26
1021%
51

2'374
61/2
10%

2%
174
421 A

RAILWAY COMMITTEES.

Group V.
NOTTINGHAM AND LINCOLN LINE.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of Sutarday.)
John Gough, a clerk in the office et the Nottingham Canal Corn.
pany, proved that he had called upon the projectors of the railway,
with the view of arranging clauses which should protect the inte-
rests of the Canal Company.
This witness was ordered to retire, aad to be called In when the
clauses should be under discussion.
Mr Hardy, Town.,councillor of Nottingham, was called to show
that the corporation only objected to the crossing of the Queen's.
road on a level. They had no other objection.
Mr. Bidder put in a number of tables to show the present traffic
of the town and county of Nottingham. The annual charge of
the railway would be 19,000/. per annum, which deducted from the
expected traffic would allow 9 per cent. interest to the proraoters of
the line. He thought that even in the event of a railway being
made directly from Lincoln to London, which would obstruct the
passenger traffic that at present went through Nottingham, that
loss would be replaced by the setter communication opened up by
the railway with Doncaster, Gainsborough, and ether places. Mr.
Bidder then went into minute calculations to show that no water
carriage could possibly exist in competition with the railway system,
when fairly developed.
Mr. Sergeant CLARKE then addressed the Committee. He
would remind them that they bad to report to the House
whether a sufficient traffic had been shown to maintain
the railway and to permit a profit to the promoters.
And with respect to the evidence of 11r. Bidder—
for upon his evidence the whole merits of the case rested—he
would ask the Committee if they could attach any weight
to his statements ? The conclusions to which lie had arrived
had not been warranted by the evidence of the other witnesses.
The Learned Sergeant then went over the traffic evidence alre.dy
given, and contended that the heavy goods which at present went
by the canal would not be transferred by the railway. A
traffic sufficient to warrant the Committee in passing the preamble
of the Bill had not been proved, and he, therefore, hoped and
trusted that the Bill would be thrown out.
Mr. MACAULAY shortly replied, and on the conclusion of the
Learned Counsel's address the room was cleared. On the public
being again admitted it was anr.ounced that the preamble was
passed, and
The CHAIRMAN added, that it was hoped that plans and sections
of the bridges across the canals and navigable rivers on the line
would be produced before the Committee.
The Committee then adjourned till Wednesday.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(SATURDAY.)
BOW-STIIEE T.
A FORCIBLE ENTRY.—John Quincey Harris, late
M.P. for Newcastle-under-Lyne, was placed at the bar
before Mr. Twyford, charged with unlawfully making a
forcible entry into the house of Mr. George Roberts,
solic tor, of Carey-street, Lincoln's Inn, his brother-in-
law, and assaulticg his servants.
The complainant stated that he was the husband of
the defendant's sister, and resided in Montague-street,
Russell square. On Friday evening, about five o'clock,
hearing a noise in the house, he went to ascertain the
cause, when he found the defendant struggling with his
servants, and to prevent a further breach of the peace
being committed, he sent for a constable, and had the
defendant conveyed to the station-house.
The defendant said ho had received a letter from his
mother, in which she expressed a wish to have a conver-
sation with him on business, and on presenting himself
at the complainant's house, where she at present resided,
he was resisted, and taken to a place of confinement,
where lie remained the whole of the night, and for which
he was determined to institute legal proceedings against
the whole party.
The complainant assured the Court that several at-
tacks had been made upon him by the defendant, in con-
sequence of which he went in bodily fear, and from his
general conduct he had every reason to conclude he was
not accountable for his actions, being of unsound mind.
The defendant, in a very excited manner, declared
that every word uttered by the complainant was false,
and having taken a prayer-book from his pocket, he read
in a very solemn manner the entire of a psalm, while
the complainant was endeavouring to impress on the
magistrate that he had been for a considerable time la-
bouring under very strong delusions.
Mr. Twyford said he was induced, from what had
just taken place, to have the opiiron of medical gentle-
men before he could allow the defendant to be dis-
charged. He then ordered the defendant to find bail,
himself in 1501, and two sureties in 1001. each, to keep
the peace till the sessions.
The defendant was then removed from the bar ; and
the persons, who offered themselves as bail in the course
of the day were informed that the complainant must be
furnished with twenty-four hours' notice.
WORSHIP-STREET.
An elderly German, named Frederick William Zabell,
a master sugar-baker. was placed at the bar before Mr.
Broughton, charged with the manslaughter of a French-
man, named Jean Frederick Cobet, a sack manufacturer.
Both prisoner and deceased were known as men of pro-
perty, and had been friends. They were drinking to-
gether in a public house, and a quarrel ensued about a
sovereign. This led to a pugilistic contest, in the course
of which the prisoner gave deceased an unlucky blow,
from the effect of which he died.
The magistrate consented to admit the prisoner to
bail, two good sureties in 2501. each, in addition to the
prisoner's own recognizance in 5004, f,r his appearance
at the Central Criminal Court to take his trial.—The
required bail was immediately given, and the prisoner
was liberated until the sessions.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
Sir James Sutherland Mackenzie was summoned before
Mr. Hardwick, for having committed an assault upon
Captain Robert Campbell. •
Mr. Heaton attended for the defendant, and a gentle-
man from the firm of Barnes and Co appeared for the
complainant.
Captain Campbell said, on Saturday evening last he
was dressing in his bed-room, at No. 4, King-street, St.
James's, when be heard a knock, and he called out
" Come in." The defendant opened the door, and, seeing
him, hastily entered the room with a person having the
appearance of a-foreicreer, and, having locked the room
door, he placed his'. back against it. Complainant
asked him how he dared to enter his room in that
way ? To which the defendant replied, " " I have come
to ask payment of the money you owe me. Complainant
said if defendant had any clam on him, the law was
open, and then proceeded to the door to endea-
vour to get out, but the defendant would not allow this,
and, fearing the defendant meant to do him some bodily
injury, he rang the bell violently for his servant. When
his sevant came to the door, he called out to him to
go fur a policeman. The defendant still kept on say-
ing, " Why don't you pay me the money," and bluster-
ing about the room. Complainant went to the washing-
stand, and while his back Was turned towards the defend-
ant, the defendant said "rib you mean to say you don't
owe me this money !" to which be replied he certainly
did not. The defendant then called him a d—d liar,
and struck him a violent blow with a stick en the back
part of the head. The blow was given with sufficient
force to knock him slightly over the wash-hand basin.
he
The foreigner immediately opened the door and went
out of the room. As soon as recovered from the
effects of his surprise, he ran after the defendant, seized
him, and held him as well as he could. In a few mi-
nutes a police-constable arrived, and he gave him in
charge. Complainant went for his solicitor ; but when
he get to Vine-street station-house he found defendant
had been discharged.
Cross-examined—Had formerly been in the habit of
playing with Sir James Mackenzie. Knew a Mr.
Baugham in 1837 ; introduced him to Sir James Mac-
kenzie at Devonport. Believe Sir James won some
money of Mr. Baugham. Could not recollect whether
the amount was 3001., and whether Sir James had told
him that Mr. Baugham had given his acceptance for
that sum. Could not recollect whether lie had agreed
to pay Sir James 1601. on behalf of his friend Mr.
Baugham, on condition of a certain statement being
suppressed. Could not recollect whether he (corn-
' plainant) had made a statement in writing relative to
Sir James at the Horse Guards.
During the course of cross-examination, which was
continued at great length, frequent personal altercations
took place between the professional advisers of both
parties, and the Court was more than once obliged to
interfere.
Mr. Heaton proceeded to say that he was astonished
at finding that any one holding her Majesty's commis-
sion could have acted in the way Capt. Campbell had
acted. The facts were these Baugham, Capt.
Campbell's friend, was in the habit of taking his chance
of winning money from Sir James Mackenzie ; but upon
one occasion in his life he lost, and he refusing to pay
Capt. Campbell undertook to pay
but did not, and ulti-
mately, certain false and injurious communications
against Sir James were made at the Horse Guards. Sir
James had not an opportunity of Communicating with
Capt. Campbell on the subject until Saturday morning
,last. He went tq Capt. Campbell's lodgings, not to give
him a blow, but to ask him for them oney owin, and to
demand satisfaction for the wrong d the insults he had
sustained. Capt: Campbell's manner towards him be-
came so offensiTa that be lifted hi walhing4" and

LETTER FROM C. E. TREVELYAN, ESQ., TO THE COM-
MISSIONERS OF WOODS, &C.
Treasury Chambers, Jan. 31, 1845.
My Lord and Gentlemen—The Lords Commissioners
of her Majesty's Treasury, having had under considera-
tion a letter from the Earl of Lincoln, dated the 13th
instant, suggesting measures for the prosecution of the
geological surveys of Great Britain and Ireland, and fur
making the collections resulting from those surveys more
generally and extensively available for the public benefit,
I am directed to inform you that my Lords have com-
municated to the Earl of Lincoln their approval of his
Lordship's suggestions, and have been pleased to give
authority for carrying them into effect. lam desired at
the same time to state, that their Lordships have caused
copies of their minute, dated the 27th of. December
last, and of Lord Lincoln's reply, to be communicated to
the Master-General and Board of Ordnance, with the re-
quest that they will co-operate with his Lordship in
carrying this important object into effect ; and I am at
the same time to intimate that in the execution of official
details, as regards especially the receipt and issue of
monies, and the examination and payment of accounts,
it is their Lordships' wish that the board's assistance
should be afforded in conformity with the usual course
of the business of your department.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) C. E. TREVELYAN.
P.S.—A copy of the Earl of Lincoln's report of the
13th inst., together with a copy of their Lordships'
minute of the 27th ult. on this subject, are herewith
transmitted for your information and guidance.

gave him a blow. He hoped, therefore, the Court would
admit that a sufficient amount of provocation had been
committed to justify a lenient decision.
Mr. Hard nick said under all cirenmstances he could
see nothing in the way of mitigation. The assault was
proved, and quite unjustifiable ; and he felt that the
case ought not to have come beore him, but ought to
have been referred to another tribunal. However, if the
parties chose to have the charge disposed of in his court,
all he had to du was to go to the extent the law per-
mitted, to impose the paltry penalty of 3/. ; and in addi
tion, call on the defendant to enter into his own recog.
nizances in 100 L, and to find two good sureties in 50/.
each, to keep the peace.

THE ROBBERY AT THE READING
RAILWAY STATION.
READING ADJOURNED SESSIONS, M►x 9.
The Court opened this morning before the Recorder, Mr. Ser-
geant Merewether, Mr. J. G. Willat, Mayor, and the folowing
magistrates :—Messrs. H. Hawkes, E. Micklem, E. Hodges, J.
Richards, jun., and Captain Parvis.
Thomas Henry Robinson surrendered to take his trial on the
charge of having stolen a 501. note belonging to the Great Western
Railway Company, on the Ilth of February last.
Mr. Clarkson (specially retained) and Mr. Williams (with Mr.
Charles Nash, from Messrs. Swain, Stevens, and Co., solicitors for
the Company) appeared for the prosecution; Mr. Carrington de-
fended Robinson.
The defendant being well known in the town, from having held
for some time the office of cashier at the station, the Court was
crowded to hear the result.
Mr. C►RRINGTON made an application to the Court for the sum
of 131. 10s., a penknife, and other articles. which were taken from
Robinson at the time of his apprehension, to be given up to him.
This application he founded up m several cases, which the
Learned Counsel cited, where money, as in this case, had no con..
nexion with the subject of Inquiry, the property forming no part
of the note in question.
Mr. CL►RKSON opposed the application in some lengthened ar-
guments, and the Recorder expressed his unwillingness to yield
to

At twenty minutes past twelve o'clock the grand jury returned
a true bill against the defendant, and the case was proceeded with.
Mr. CLARKSON stated, at great length, the whole particulars of
the case, which subsequently appeared in evidence, and being pre.
cisely the same as those reported in the newspapers of the 7th ult.
The only new feature was the production of a letter forwarded by
Robinsln to Harris, which the Learned Counsel designated as a
most artful act, and, in his opinion, materially aggravated the na-
ture of his offence. It is as follows :

" Shoreditch, March 14.

" My dear Harris,—How much I regret matte's have turned out
so unfortunately for you ; but, any dear fellow, I cannot think that
the 501. note affair is the sole cause. You may rest assured that
though it is the plea other things are the cause of your dismissal ;
at least such is my opinion, and as it is no use to ' cry over shed
milk,' I would by all means endeavour to get another situation of a
different kind, for I fear you are not calculated for the duties of
clerk, and if I may suggest to you, I would say try for a conductor's
or guard's situation, and though I know it is rather touching a
tender chord to propose such a thing to you, yet I am in earnest
in my suggestion, and trust you will give me credit for sincerity,
and as I expect to be down to.morrow by mail train (night), I will
not now write more, but remain, as usual, yours very truly,
"T. H. ROBINSON."

The 501. note had been sent by Robinson, who received it as a
51., to Miss Southall, who, with her mother, lived in London,
had obtained change for it, and sent part back to Robinson.
Harris, a fellow clerk, had been punished on suspicion, and after a
troublesome investigation traced the facts, which the prisoner, by a
fictitious letter to the Southall's, had attempted to screen.
The case for the prosecution having concluded,
Mr. CARRINGTON made a most ingenious and eloquent address on
behalf of the prisoner, and the REGORGE!, having occupied upwards
of an hour in summing up the case, the jury consulted together for
about half an hour, and returned a verdict of Guilty, accompany.
ing it with a recommendation to mercy on account of his previous
good character.
Sergeant MEREWETHER, in passing sentence, said it was a dis-
tressing thing to observe a young man so respectable placed in such
a p-inful situation and in the courre of imprisonment, aggravated
by deception, fraud, and insincerity, and hoped he would avail him-
self of the opportunity of redeeming his character. He had cer.
tainly forteited in a great degree his goad eharacter ; but the peo-
ple of this country were generous and kind, and would in t►me
forget it ; therefore he hoped he would try to restore himself to
society, and his wife and family. The Learned Recorder then ben-
tenced him to six calendar months' imprisonment.
The trial lasted nearly six hours.

INNOVATIONS OF THE DAY.
One of the old poets, c‘ho flourished in the days of
Queen Bess, observed,
" In England's happy land,

Fashion and fame go always hand in hand."
This old distich, which has survived the wear and tear
of nearly three centuries, is more than ever true at the
commencement of the present season. The weird sisters,
Fashion and Fame, still roam together " hand in hand,"
and have deigned to pay a lengthened visit to the esta-
blishment of Messrs. Nicoll, in Regent-street, who have
done so much to welcome their wayward guests, that
there seems but little probability that they will abandon
their present abode, and " the men, the horrid men," as
Lady Booby says, are doing their utmost to set off their
persons to the best advantage, and for this purpose
those who are endowed with taste and judgment inva-
riably repair to this Establishment, which is always
supplied with the last caprice of the Parisian lions. The
trite and homely proverb sap, that it is impossible to
make a silken purse out of a certain porcine appendage;
but although this remark has stood the test of ages, the
Messsrs. Nicoll have shown its futility, as some of their
clients, on whom nature has been somewhat chary of
her bounty, when turned out in registered pal tuts, and
other necessary habiliments, by the artists of this Esta-
blishment, would pass muster with the most elegant of the
slim beaux who talk scandal in the bow window at White's.
The Count de Grammont, who was seldom known to
go to bed, at least for the purpose of sleeping, would
perhaps have been a more drowsy mortal if he could
have reposed his pleasure-worn frame up.m such a
luxurious bed as that which has recently been invented
by Wilson, the upholsterer, in Wigmore street. Since
every new pomatum or hair oil is now a Greek compound,
this novel bedstead, out of deference to the established
usage, has been christened the Philokathanistic, for the
definition of which term we refer our unlearned readers
to their lexicons. As the old " yellows," with their
four posters, have been swept away by the railroad en-
croachments, so are the old massive four-post bedsteads
destined to be supplanted by these light and elegant
couches. The unwieldy masses of mahogany which for-
merly propped up the tester are replaced by four light
brass rods, supporting the canopy, which, by means of a
simple piece of mechanism in the bedstead, can be lifted
up and down at pleasure, thug enabling the servant
clean, adjust, and brush the whole bed- furniture within the
space of a few minutes. We recommend a visit to Wig-
more-street, to judge respecting the merits of this inven-
tion. Whilst our readers are in Wiginore-street, we would
suggest that they would d.) well to look in at the atelier
of Clark, the statuary, who has a superb collection of
casts from the antique, as well as from little scraps and
corners of Gothic atchitecture, which he has collected in
his rambles through Normandy and other parts of the
continent. His designs for monuments and emblazoned
tombs arc remarkable for the correct taste which he has
displayed in their selection. Whilst looking over the
" storied urns" and monumental effiges, we see how—

" The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of woe,"

and we are shown a thousand different designs by which
we could record our respect for departed friends or rela-
tives. Mr. Clark has also recently completed several
statues and busts, one particularly, that of Salma.cis
one of Diana's attendant nymphs, which is exquisitell
beautiful. Pope talks about a lady who possessed suet
tender feelings that—
. "To make a wash she'd hardly stew a child."

Now, the ladies of China, Japan, and Persia, who are re-
markable
for the beauty and clearness of their com-
plexions, attribute this delicacy to the use of a cosmetic,
which, whether it be made of stewed children or no, is
certainly endowed with wondrous properties. We are
told that the ingredients are pr►ncipally herbaceous ;
but, then, Professor Liebig declares that " man is a
vegetable," which relieves the cannibals of a very
serious imputation. This cosmetic is called " Meen
Fun," and the long secreted recipe was revealed by
a priest of the temple of Teen Tan to Dr. Charles
Malcolm, who has appointed. Fabian and Co. to be his
agents for dispensing it to the ladies of this country.
If Mrs. Commissioner Lin has as good a complexion as
has been bestowed upon her in the wax-work representa-
tion, we should need no stronger proof of the efficacy of
the Celestial skin powder. We can assure our lady
readers that we are in earnest, and that we do not moan
fun merely when we advise them to give this cosmetic a
trial. We recently had the pleasure of recording our admi-
ration of the choice collection of articles of vertu, bijouterie,
and orflorerie, which is displayed at Piot's establishment
on the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris. We learn from
persons who have just returned from the French capital
that be has lately made an immense addition to his
stock, and that his shop has become the " Storr and
Mortimer" of Paris. The most flattering accounts are
received in this country of the taste and workmanship
which are displayed in all the articles exposed for sale in
his establishment.—Morning Post.