The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-23 00:00:00

TAE S iiN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 23, 1845

LITERATURE;.
THE DESBOROUGH FAMILY. By Mrs.

Ponsonby. 3 Vols.
This is a lively and entertaining work, likely to be a
favourite with the lovers of fiction ; it is written in a
light and pleasing style, full of animated dialogues and
amusing anecdotes. There is nothing very wonderful or
complicated in the plot ; being a narrative of domestic
life, it is chiefly occupied with the thoughts and feel-
ings of individuals. The alight peculiarities and dis-
tinctions of character are pourtrayed with minuteness
and fidelity, while the varying tempers and dispositions
of the different members of the " Desborough Family,"
contrasting with each other, produce the same effect as
the light and shade in a picture, improving the whole,
and rend-ring each more perfect. The chief characters
in the book aro four young cousins, the heroines—each,
of course, as beautiful, as amiable, and as accomplished as
author could imagine, or as reader could desire—each
just erring sufficiently to make her human, and suffering
enough to render her interesting. These four geLtle,
graceful creatures are well calculated to " adorn a tale,"
while the history of their trials and temptations may
serve" to point a moral," full of warning for the young
and inexperienced. The story of Caroline will show
how vain are all the brightest talents, or the fairest
gifts of genius, if the powers of the mind are
unable to regulate the wild passions of the
heart. The gay and thoughtless may take a lesson
from the sprightly and vivacious Fanny, while the
mournful history of Mary Norton exemplifies the un-
certainty of human happiness, the instability of human
virtue. We must make one objection to the denouement
of the tale, it is the exerci,e of the unlimited power of
life and death vested in the hands of an author. Julia
I)esborough, the most amiable of the heroines, is attached
to a younger son, whose poverty prevents her parents
from accepting him ; instead of showing how the per-
severance of the lover might overcome every obstacle,
or instead of showing any possible means that might
have been emproyed as a warning to others so situated,
the authoress removes the two elder brothers by a sud-
den illness and a startling accident, and thus is en-
abled to please all parties. It is true there are various
chances and changes in real life, but fiction should teach
us how to conquer fate, and not trust for happiness to
events that may never happen, and, above all,, not to
seek our fortune by the death of friends. The following
is a specimen of tho amusing character of some of the
dialogues :

"My dear Captain Jones, do not be so impetuous. I never
can remember if lam so hurried. My memory is not good ;
but I will try. Where did I say I met the young lady ? hum 1
where was it ?ha l hum I—hum Iha ! h-m !"
"Oh ! at Lady Percival's, I think you said," exclaimed
Jones, who had never heard the name of Desborough before,
and ho had not managed to retain it now.
" Percival! Lady Percival's ! my dear sir, I do not know
her. But there are several families named Percival; to which
do you allude? do you mean the baronet who lives in the
county—you know which I mean—so famous for hops ?—or do
you mean —"

" Hops 1" interrupted the young man, in despair; " a baronet
fatuous for hops 1" .

" No, no; not the baronet—the county. You remember
what I mean."

" Yes, yes—Kent. Well, well, dear Mr. Manners; you
think you met Miss Waters in Kent, at Sir something Per-
elvers ?"

"Indeed," answered our host, deprecatingly, "I do not
think I ever said so."

" Then where did you meet her ?"
"Ah ! —hum ! ha! h-m ! let me remember. It was some-
where last week—that I do know • and I sat between her and
some one in blue : I remember that, because I composed a
little epigram during dinner (which you shall hear) about black
and blue. It begins thus--"
" Thank you, yes ; I shall be so happy to hear it presently.
But first, if you will tell me the exact place, and give me the
direction—l am really so interested."
_... .. . .

" Well 1 it was at some baronet's—hum 1 ha h-m I—The
white soup was remarkably good. That man was there, you
know, who wrote the book about shells, ur fishes—l forget
which ; you remember it—hum Iha 1 h-m I—he has a queer
name. And Sir James somebody was there, who lives at that
nice place near the town where they sell gloves—you know
where I mean—hum !ha 1 h-m 1"

" Yes, I know, sir--Woodstock ; pray go on."
" Ehe, and the man I mean, talked about the shell or the fish
book—l forget which ; and she said—"
" Thank you, sir, thank you I" interrupted the eager cap.
tain. " Tell me what she said !"
" Ohl she only said that the copy of the book the man had
given her had a very pretty binding ; that I remember dis-
tinctly."
" 'hen the man gave her a copy of his work ?" said Jones,
looking a little mortified.

" Certainly ; I have said so, have I not ? hum I ha! h-rn
She said it was just the colour of her dress—blue : hum 1"
" 1‘,17 dear:sir, just now you said the dress was black."
" That was the other girl—hum ! ha! h-m 1"
" Sir I shall begin to think you mean to trifle with me."

THE LETTERS OF PHILIP DORMER STAN-
HOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD. Edited,
with Notes, by Lord Mahon. 4 vols.
Lord Chesterfield was a distinguished political cha-
racter and diplomatist in the reign of George 11. He
filled the office of Lord Lieutenant in Ireland during the
Scotch rebellion of 1745, and, by his skill, prudence,
firmness, and, we may add, impartiality, contributed not
a little to keep that country tolerably quiet when the
whole of Great Britain was in a state of the utmost ex-
citement, when the new dynasty trembled for its existence,
one half of the statesmen of the day balanced between
the Pretender and the actual sovereign, and a successful
rising in the sister island was alone wanting to restore,
at least for a time, the effete and bigote family of
the Stuarts. In this respect, therefore, he did the
Guelphs some service, and the State also, for
the restoration could have been only temporary •,
it must have inflicted on the nation great calamities, and
would have been succeeded by another revolution, for
had Prince Charles possessed the best qualities, he would
only, in the words of Hume, " have furnished a stronger
proof how dangerous it is to allow any Prince, infested
with the Catholic superstition, to wear the crown of
these kingdoms." Chesterfield was also said to be a
good speaker in Parliament, but merits like these are
entirely forgotten, and in these days he is known only
as the writer of elegant letters, and the reformer of the
Calendar. His letters to his son require no remarks, and
certainly no commendations, for it is admitted on all
hands that, as a manual for the rising aristocracy, with
some exceptions, they are entitled to the highest praise,
and that they may be read by all, from the highest to
the lowest, with advantage. We have always been of
opinion that what is called their "immorality,'• at least as
regards its effects, has been greatly exaggerated. No one
can read them without seeing that Chesterfield was a
man of a whimsical character, that he had many of the
peculiarities which still distinguish the Stanhope family,
and that any advice which he may give bordering upon
duplicity, or want of sincerity, or a laxity of morals as
regards the passions of youth, was to be received with
great allowances, and to be obeyed by his son only in
cases where they might be found necessary to combat
the shifts, and tricks, and cunning devices of foreign di-
plomatists. The letters were written for his son, and
chiefly for his instruction as a British ambassador at
a foreign court. They never were intended for publica-
tion ; for, says Lord Mahon, " It appeared on the death
of Chesterfield's son, that he had secretly married,
without his father's consent or even knowledge ; anti his
widow, upon Chesterfield's demise, published, for profit,
the whole correspondence of the Earl with her late hus-
band ; a correspondence, written in the closest confidence
and unreserve, and without the slighest idea of ever meet-
ing the public eye." We mention these circumstances
however rather as a palliation than a defence of doctrines
not in strict keeping with high moral principles. The
copyright of these letters was sold by the widow to a
publi.lier for 1,575/., and the first edition was dedicated
to Lord N.lrth. But these letters form only a minor
portion of the present publication. The noble Editor
his given to the world many interesting documents not
to be found in the most copious editions of Chesterfield's
works previously published, and, among others, the
original letters to Mr. Dayrolles; and "to none of his
correspondents," says Lord Mahon, " scarcely excepting
even his ono son, did Lord Chesterfield write with such
unreserve." These were published in Dr. Maty's " Life
of ChesterfiAd," but greatly mutilated, as they referred
to persons then living. The letters are now published
entire. Several other manuscripts of considerable im-
portance have also been placed at the disposal of the
Editor, which he thus enumerates :
" They comprise the originals of the celebrated ' cha-
racters' with three new ones (of Dr. Arbuthnot, of the
Mistresses of George the First, and of Lady Suffolk) which
will bo found in this edition, besides an historical sketch of
Lord Bute's Administration, and a parting letter from Lord
Chesterfield to his godson and successor, not to be delivered
until after his own death.
" The editor is a:so enabled to commuicate from MSS. in
Lord Chesterfield's hand, many curious and confidential letters
to Lord Townshend, the Secretary, and to George Tilson, Esq.,
the Under Secretary, of State during Lord Chesterfield's first
embassy at the Hague, Lur to Lord Harrington during his
second embassy, one to the Duke of Newcastle during his
Lord-Lieutenancy, and several more to Foreign Minis'ers
when the Seals had devolved on himself. There are also
several new letters in French to Baron de Kreuningen, one of
Lord Chesterfield's friends at the Hague."
These letters possess much interest, and will be found
of use to the future historian in explaining the stirring
events and political complications of one of the most im-
portant epochs recorded in British annals. The work
altogether forms a valuable acquisition at the present
time, and the care and judgment displayed by the noble
editor, together with the explanatory notes, add new
literary honours to the house of Stanhope. Being pri-
vileged censors, however, we may remark that Lord
Mahon's style is occasionally chargeable with defects
which are unpardonable in the writings of a good classi •
cal scholar. We give the two following instances to be
found in the preface :—" Yet there is reason to suspect
that this was not the real fact with himself." There is
no fact but a real fact. The other sentence is liable to
more blame, because it is worse than a pleonism, it is un-
grammatical :—" Chesterfield, on the contrary, left
nothing undone, nor for others to do."

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE,
FOR JUNE.—Ne. CL.
The present number of this agreeable miscellany is of
perhaps more than an average degree of merit. The
first paper, entitled " India, Elphinstone's and Wilson's
Histories," is very good, and may be recommended to
those who have not previously mastered the rudiments
of that branch of cosmography which includes
the political as well as traditionary story of the great
southern peninsula of India. It may be useful as an
epitome of those multiplied details connected with the
gradual settlement of many foreign stocks in Hindustan,
which are essential to any notion of the sources, physical
and moral, from whence this strange and heterogeneous
anomaly in the social history of the world has been derived
and has gradually attained its present singular aspects
and devel.)pment. The write:, however, erroneously ima-
gines, in many passages, that he is breaking new ground,
whether of traditionary anecdote or philosophical specu-
lation—when he has been anticipated by old Renaudot,
in his comprehensive and admirable dissertation on the
same interesting topics. He takes, in our opinion, a
very fair and candid view of " llistory of British
work as much distinguiahed by the integrity

with which its author has treated all the facts that he
believed to be such, and availed himself of all documents
which he believed to be authentic ; but lamentably dis-
figured by those prejudices against the moral character
of the native Hind)o races, from which, as Mr.
Mountstuart Elphinstone remarks, it is hardly pos-
sible for European historians to be free, who
write without the benefit of any personal resi-
dence among them, and habitual observation of their
manners and deportment. We lament, with the writer
of the paper before us, that ignorance on all subjects
connected with the past history and present condition
of our Indian empire, and its resources, should so exten-
sively prevail in this country ; but that ignorance is cer-
tainly not so excessive at present as he supposes—
neither has it been so for the last ten years—
among the better informed classes of society in England.
Of the first portion of this critical essay, the
materials have been borrowed, pretty largely, from the
Periplus of the Erythrman sea, though we do not en-
counter any acknowledgments of the zeal and success of
Dr. Vincent's cornmentarial labours, or even of Professor
Robertson's inimitable " Essay on the history of the
ancient trade of Europe with India.'; We have, on the
other hand, the full benefit of the more modern contri-
butors to ;he history of the Indian manners and in-
stitutions, which such men as Colebrooke, Kirkpatrick,
Col. Wilkes, Major Tod (or his history of Rajhpootasa),
Sir Alexander Barnes, and others have given to the
European public. Among the strange institutions,
generated by one of the most ancient but disorganizing
systems of theocratical ethics which was ever identified
wit') a mytholog , those of the Thugs and the Decoits—
murderers, by a fancied divine vocation, and sanguinary
robbers on a principl,, of fancied religious responsibility,
are, perhaps, the most extraordinary. The following pas-
sage will be found full of interest :
" Travellers,' says Mr. Elphinstone, are full of stories of
the patience, perseverance, and address, with which they will
steal, unperceived, through the midst of guards, and carry off
their prize in the most dangerous situations. Some dig holes
in the earth, and come up within the wall of a well-closed
house ; others, by whatever way they enter, always open a
door or two to secure a retreat, and proceed to plunder, naked,
smeared with oil, and armed with a dagger; so it is as dan-
gerous to seize them as it is difficult to hold.' One large class
called Thugs,' or, as Mr. Elphinstone names them, ' Thags,'
constantly roam about the country, assuming disguises, in
which art they are perfect masters.—' Their practice is to in-
sinuate themselves into the society of travellers, whom they
hear to be possessed of property, and to accompany them until
they have an opportunity of administering a stupifying drug,
or of throwing a noose over the neck of their unsuspecting com-
panion. He is then murdered, without blood being shed, and
buried so skilfully that a long time elapses before his fate is
suspected. The Tbags invoke Bhawane, and vow a portion of
their spoil to her. This mixture of 'religion and crime might,
of itself, be mentioned as a peculiarity; but it is paralleled by
the vows of pirates and banditti to the Madonna; and in the
case of Mussulmans, who form the largest portion of the
Thags, it is like the compacts with the devil, which were
believed in days of superstition.'—(' Elphinstone's India,'
vol. i., pp. 369, 370.) The Decoits are, like the Thugs,
remarkable for their cruelty. They are gangs, associated for
plundering, who assemble by night, fall on an unsuspecting
village, kill all who offer resistance, torture such as are supposed
to have wealth concealed, and are, next morning, mingled with
the population, where, such is the dread they inspire, that few
are found to come rward and accuse them. The Decoits
have, we believe, almost disappeared, under the efforts of the
British Government, which has also been very successful in
punishing and restraining the enormities of the Thugs. But,
if there are evil casts, there are others whose hereditary object
is to do good. The Mats and Chitrans, of western India, who
are revered as bards, conduct caravans, which they protect
from plunder; carry large sums in bullion through tracts
where no escort could secure protection, and are guarantees of
agreements of chiefs with one another, and even with the Go-
vernment.
"' Their power,' says Mr. Elphinstone, is derived from
the sanctity of their character, and their desperate resolution.
It a man, carrying treasure, is approached, he announces that
he will commit traga, as it is called ; or, if an engagement is
not complied with, he issues the same threat unless it is ful-
filled. If he is not attended to he proceeds to gash his limbs
with a dagger, which, if all other means fail, he will plunge
into his heart; or he will first strike off the head of his child;
or different guarantees to the agreement will cast lots who is to
be the first beheaded by his companions. The disgrace of
these proceedings, and the fear of having a hard's blood on
their head, generally reduces the most obstinate to reason.
Their fidelity is exemplary, and they never hesitate to sacrifice
their lives to keep up an ascendancy on which the importance
of their cast depends.' "—Vol p. 371.
Of the review of Leigh Hunt's " Imagination and Fancy,"
we need say nothing here, having already recorded our
own favourable opinions on that work. " The Devil's
Ladder" is a clever, bold, sketchy "bit" of that poetical
diablerie, which peoples all the mountainous and rocky
region stretching from the banka of the Rhine, at the
foot of the lofty Kedrich, to the plains of Nassau, with
elves, fags, goblins, and wild hunters. It is too long for
us to attempt any analysis of it ; but it "ends well," as
ladies say of pleasant novels, and here is a pretty frag-
ment of scenery :
" The storm had blown its fill, and the day broke, in its
autumn loveliness, over the Rhine, bathing in the softest clear
light his not then chiefiess' castles, his white-walled towns,
his high stern rocks, and the ' coming ripeness' of his endless
length of vineyard, while the godlike river, triumphing in his
eternal youth, laughed back a myriad-fold answer to the glad
still gaze of the eariy sun. Garlinda had stolen out without
her governess, not to walk on the battlements, but to see what
ravage the storm had wrought in a favourite garden, lying at
some little distance without the castle walls, and at the very
foot of the lofty and precipitous mountain of Kedrich. She
laughed on the sentinels, as she passed them, as brightly as the
sun did on the Rhine, and pasted down the steep path that led
to the river shore. Perhaps she thought Ruthetra would pay a
farewell visit to her garden before going away for so long a
time to that detestable Hungary : perhaps she thought he
would harbour some hope of meeting her there. If so, there
must have been some feeling in her breast that wrought like a
power of divination, for certain it is that, as she came within
sight of her flower-beds, she came within view of her cousin of
Falkenberg also; and equally certain it is, that Ruthelm was
as little surprised to see his cousin of Sareck at that early hour
as if they had met by appointment. The truth, however, is,
that they bad met only by the instinct of young and loving
hearts."

" Personal Recollections of Thomas Campbell, No. 1," is
a very coarse and we must add apocryphal reminiscence
of our great contemporary so recently snatched
from us. We protest at all times against
these eaves-dropping, scandalising, " penny-a-liner,"
note takings, of the sayings and doings of great men.
But these papers are the most offensive we ever saw. If
the writer knew poor " Tom Campbell," it is evident that
he must have been, in his day, roughly handled by the
poet, of whom he writes, " his language was habitually
that of sneer, sarcasm, abuse, and contempt of every-
body (!) and everything:' With charming naivete,
it is added, " What he might have been in the com-
pany of dukes and duchesses, I know not, never
having seen him in such society;" and such society,
assuredly, never having seen this delectable critic. Be-
cause, as is evident from the rancorous spirit in
which he talks of " the old dandy," of his " frog-
like figure," his " brandy merchants' bills," and a
hundred other such impertinences that Campbell
must have given him the "cut direct." It would have
been wonderful if Job himself could have abstained from
thus treating such a pedantic bore. The whole of his
paper is intended to hang on Campbell's " black wig
and blue coat" some of his own " Greek songs," as he
calls his Father Prout-ish nonsense-Greek- verses.'
But to say that Campbell was one of those men
who was nobody's friend but his own, " that he
did not care a straw for any human being," is
a gross libel, disproved by our own personal
knowledge of more than one object, on whose behalf he
exercised an energetic, generous, and sustained friend.
ship. That Campbell was not indisposed to cut his
critic, there is some testimony in this statement—

" When I approached him, he scarcely seemed to recognise
one ; a...d it was not until I mentioned my name, that a gleam
of consciousness illuminated his countenance. He put the tips
of his fingers into my hand in the coldest possible way, and
seemed anxious to pass on. Sudc'enly, the friend who had in-
troduced me to him on the former evening, came up, and
Campbell was obliged to stay a moment to return bis salute.
This brief interval decided the fact of our aNuaintanceship.
Had he passed away, as he had evidently intended at first, I
should perhaps have never again taken the liberty of addressing
him, and he would have forgotten the fact of my existence."
„ . _

Only to think of what the great Poet's loss would have
been had his existence closed in so sad an unconscious-

ness of so important a fact I Bat we are entertained to
a story also, about a dinner, prior to the announcement
of which the writer patronisingly compensates Lord
Ashley for the rebuff which Campbell, according to him,
had given to his Lordship's advances, by allowing the
Nobl philanthropist to return to the seat near him, and
his conversation with him. At this dinner—to remove the

suspicion of"renny- a-linerism," probably, he intimates his
connoisseurship in good wine by talking of the" delicious
oiliness of the sherry given by their Amphytryon," at a
" luxurious repast," on a "small scale" in a room plainly
furnished. After which dinner, the host is made to talk
to English gentlemen, in such choice phraseology as this
—Speaking of Swift, (whose detestable moral character
the writer as much overrrates as he does his "puny
scholarship," his hollow "friendship," and his political
" sincerity,") Amphytryon talks of " the veriest trifles
from his pen." Then Campbell is made to confess to his
having kept out of the way of such a person as Hazlitt,
after calling him one of " the most false, vain, selfish
blackguards who ever disgraced human nature," for one
week, for fear of being assaulted by him—by Hazlitt.
But it would disgust the reader to pursue the thread of
this balderdash any further. We take breath and a glass
of "dry sherry" to enable us to resume. "Brougham's
L'ves of Men of Letters and Science" is an extended and
clever review of that pleasant but unequal contributor
to European literary biography. The clever story of
" The Nevilles, of Garretstown," a tale of 1760, is con-
tinued through chapters 38 to 43, till it reaches its plea-
sant denouement. The interest is well kept up, and the
construction of the plot ingenious to the last. In what
spirit the article entitled " Protestant Conversion of
Ireland" is conceived, may be sufficiently gathered from
this closing paragragh:—
" But, above all things, again and again, we implore the
people of England to distinguish between Popery as a sect, and
Popery as a party in Ireland ; and to be well convinced, that
the party never will be propitiated by any concession made to
the sect, while the sect may be continued by concessions made
to the party; and that the effect of the Maynooth Endowment
Bill, and all other similar measures, by which a faction is sought
to be conciliated at the expense of the Protestant interest m
Ireland, will be to convert agitation from an annual into a
perennial plant, and to make the system .of discord, which at
present depends upon the accidents of character and circum-
stances, as universal as nationality, and as permanent and un-
changeable as social institutions."

MORE CoMETs.—There was discovered last week
another new comet. Could not a list, like Dorling's list, be pub-
lished every comet season, of the different planets that intend to
run, with the names of the astrologers who have trained them, the
colour of their tails, and their
13---migree ? We are sure it would be
very/convenient to all lovers of the firmament who have backed a
favourite comet, and are anxious to know the exact night he is
likely to run and the sign of the zodiac he has been entered for.
At present they are disturbed out of their beds in the middle of
the night, to be told that the comet, about which they have been for
months making a book, is visible at Greenwich. The list might be
sailed " South's list," and all defaulters could be conveniently
posted at the Royal Observatory, which would, of cow" be the
grand-84nd for the great heats of the season.—Puoch.
•

-

SUTTON ON RAILWAYS-HOW
THEY MAY BE MADE CHEAPER.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sir,—lf the following observations upon the construc-
tion f railways possess any novelty worth entertaining,
perhaps you will do me the pleasure of recording them
in your very useful and instructive journal.
I fear that the proposition to which I am about to give
expression will excite in many a smile at its apparent
impracticability ; but every one, however humbly ac-
quainted with the mere rudiments of science, must know
how great a part common gravity plays in everything
connected with matter—whether it is seen in the fall o
an apple, or the whirling of a globe—the fearful rush of
a mountain torrent, or the frightful precipitation of a
railway train down a decline—all bear witness to its
capacity as a motive agent. We will see anon how it
can be made subservient to the use of man in forming a
rail way.
I beg leave to observe that I found my presumption
of the practicability of the following mode of construc-
ting railways on experimental trials on various decline
tions, by which I have ascertained that the impetus of
decline invariably carries a carriage up an accline two-
thirds ; and I question not that wirer() the decline
extends a great distance, it will very nearly surmount
the succeeding accline, though of the like elevation.
The Greenwich and the Croydon railways painfully
illustrate the necessity of some more remunerative mode
of transit than the present ; and lam sure none is to
be found save in the adoption of the decline and the
accline mode. On this principle, and this principle
alone, would I construct a railway.*
Suppose we take the Greenwich line, and see if we
can construct it so as to supersede the use of locomo-
tives, or any other motive agent whatever, saving always
common gravity. We shall find that what they are now
paying yearly for the cost and wear and tear of the loco-
motive department, and other expenses relating thereto,
might be wholly saved, which would enable the proprie
tors to pocket a more remunerative dividend than they
have hitherto received for the immense capital sunk.
We, therefore, if you please, will have two stations,
one at London-bridge, the other at Greenwich. Now
let these stations be high—no matter how high (within
building limits) or how grand and commanding—and
let the stations at either end be of the same altitude. We
must have two lines one to and one from Greenwich.
We now for convenience will speak of the one to
Greenwich, which is about three and a half miles long.
For this length of line a hundred feet fall will be
enough ; but to remove all doubt, say 130 feet, which
will be amply sufficient, as in every mile there may be
one or two undulations, which would not only tend to
keep the speed of the carriage within bounds, but also
cause the power derived from the fall not to be too soon
expended. The rail line at London- bridge, we IN it I say,
then, is 130 feet above the terminus at Greenwich. Now
let this rail line run slopingly towards Greenwich thus :
—Suppose the force of the 130 feet fall is expended in
the first mile ; here we shall have a great velocity,
sufficient to surmount au accline two-thirds of a mile
long, with a 60 feet rise, so that we shall now have 60
feet available, besides the already unspent impetus of
the carriage to go down a mile of decline, which will
carry us nearly three miles on our way towards Green-
wich, leaving about a mile more for an accline with a 30
feet rise, which the carriage will eagerly ascend, on to a
level platform, leaving 100 feet for the carriage to be
drawn, by an endless rope or chain, up an incline sweep
to the station at Greenwich, where it can be easily run
across to the line for London. We must suppose that
the moment a carriage has arrived upon the platform at
the top of the 30 feet rise, it is yoked on to the rope,
and drawn to the end of the platform out of harm's way,
lest the succeeding carriage should come on to the plat-
form ere the passengers have alighted from the carriage.
When all the passengers have quitted the carriage, it
can be drawn up the sweep by the endless rope, which
can be worked many ways, either by hand, or horse, or
steam. I think if the carriages had anti-friction wheels,
a much less fall than I have named would suffice, but this
is open to correction. Every arrangement that is made
for and in the line to Greenwich will answer for the cor
responding one to London.
A second mode of constructing a decline railway may
be by expending about two-thirds of the fall in the first
half mile, then running up and over a rise of (say) thirty
feet, which, added to the remaining portion of the fall,
will be quite sufficient to carry the carriage home, and
up the decline on to the platform, as in the first method.
Or, thirdly, the 130 feet fall might be evenly distri-
buted throughout the whole distance, or to within half
mile of the platform—finishing with an accline on to
the platform.
All decline railways may be more or less undulated, pro-
vided only that the fall is always of amount enough to
cause the carriage to attain sufficient velocity or impetus
to surmount the succeeding accline. A railway on this
principle might reach from one end of the kingdom to
the other, as the declines and accline: may pass over or
under cross roads or railways. It may be here observed,
however, that the height of a terminus must depend upon
the length of the line to be formed, and the geographical
position or situation of the two ends or termini of
the lines. Thus, after having ascertained, as near
as possible, the altitude of the two extremities,
then whichever end of the line has the greatest
altitude, geographically considered, that end will
not !require so high a terminus to be built as the
contrary end. Take, for instance, the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway. The Liverpool end of this rail-
way is forty-six feet above the rails at the Manchester
end of the line ; thereby showing that the rail-line from
Liverpool to Manchester could with ease have been
made upon the decline principle ; though, of course, the
Manchester terminus or end of the line running to
Liverpool would have had to be made twice that height,
viz., 92 feet high, in order to give that line a decline or
fall to Liverpool equal to the one from Liverpool to
Manchester.
A carriage, in descending a decline, will always ac-
quire sufficient impetus to overcome the succeeding ac-
cline, providing the acclivity of the accline is one-third
below the summit of the preceding slope.
All the stopping stations on a line should be at, or a
little below, the summit of a decline, where the fall
should be a little more rapid, so as to give the carriage
more momentum on its starting afresh, and that no stop-
pages may take place anywhere but at or near the sum-
mit of a decline.
I have endeavoured to be as explicit as possible ; but
in the breaking of the ice to any new mode, it often
happens that the poor unhappy wight of a projector has
so many obstacles to surmount, however good the prin-
ciple may be on which his ideas are based, that he is at
a loss how to work out his plans, so as to meet the views
and the prejudices of others.
If, a year or two ago, the public had been told that a
carriage and passenger, whose united weight exceeded
three hundred pounds, could descend a decline and
mount up round a circle, with the car and passengers'
heads downward, and so on up an opposite =cline, with-
out the least injury or danger to either, they would have
laughed at the assertion as chimerical and foolish ; and
so they will, perhaps, at this, as they hare done a
everything that breaks in upon the dull routine of ordi
nary practice.

• I-do confess myself, that short lines, such as the Green-
wich, the West London, the Croydon, and many of the
short branches from the great lines in the country, pre-
sent greater facilities for the decline system than the
more extended ones. A good and profitable one may be
formed between Paddington and the Bank, Camberwell
and London-bridge, Hackney and the Bank, and many
other places. I say " profitable," because the first out-
lay on tht erection will constitute all the expenditure,
save a few current items of no moment.
Another thing may be considered to promote propul-
sion, viz., that on long lines of decline railway, such as
the Birmingham, or even on short lines, manual labour
could be substituted for the steam engine, providing there
is the least fall, and anti-friction wheels are made use of.
For instance, I would have a carriage (in lieu of the or-
einary locomotive engine and tender) so constructed, as
to accommodate as many men as would be equal to the
task ; and as I believe rowing is looked upon as the
easiest and the most powerful way for a man to put out
his strength, I would have these men—say twelve in
number—seated in two rows of six each, one row on one
side, and one on the opposite side ; and each man's oar-
lever might be so attached to the working gear of the
running wheels as to give the concern a neat and boat-
like appearance. The manual power might be applied
in any other way that may be deemed proper ; but I
mention the rowing mode as looking the best, and be-
lieving it to be the most powerful.
I think, if the railway projectors who aro now about
considering and devising new lines, were to club a little
money, and have a line formed a mile in length, along-
side the West London, at Wormwood Scrubs (where the
atmospheric plan was first tested) to ascertain the real
worth of the system I have suggested, they would find
that with a decline of twenty-two deuces, the mo-
mentum or impetus is sufficient to overcome an aceline
of fourteen degrees above the plain of the horizon.
But even should the old mode be still persisted in, it
surely would be better to make railways more upon
the decline principle, as by it the present heavy ex-
penditure for locomotive power might be greatly dimi-
nished.

The South-Eastern Railway could have been formed
with very little trouble on the decline principle, as it
passes over so much flat country, that six men with ease
could have borne a heavy train along at twenty-five
miles the hour, if the carriages had anti-friction wheels,
or even without them, as the inclination would be so
good.

With these views I take leave of a subject that de-
serves a better handling than that given to it by one of
your oldest readers and subscribers,

JOHN SUTTON.
14, Crown-row, Walworth-road.
P.S.—lf any one going down to Brighton world con-
descend to trip it in a third-class carriage, he would
have an opportunity of observing the little locomotive
power required to propel the train along after he has
passed that unfortunate and ill-adopted rise from New
Cross to Annerley, which compels the companies to
keep an engine constantly ready at New Cross, to assist
the train up the accline. Nearly two-thirds the distance
down to Brighton the carriages are hard pressing upon
each other, on account of the very slight fall there is in
some of the distance, and the momentum which the
train acquires—thereby proving beyond all doubt the
feasibility of the decline system.

" I do not suppose it is novel, I merely suggest its
adoption.

SEIZURES FOR TITRES AND CHURN-RATES.-
On the 12th instant the premises of Joseph Cooper and Co.,
Lawrence Pountney-lane, were entered by a churchwarden and
officer with two warrants, signed by Michael Gibbs, the Lord
Mayor of the City of London, and property to the value of
about thirty pounds taken, for demands made fur tithes and
church-rates, so called ; the former stated to be for the mainte-
nance of Wm. St. Andrew Vincent, incumbent of the united
parishes of All Hallows the Great and Less, a prebendary of Chi-
chester Cathedral, and vicar of Bolney, in Sussex; and also for the
maintenance of Robert B. Gibeon, reetor of At. Mary Abchprch and
St, LlAWrence rountnoy,

THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
The second floricultural exhibition for the present season,
under the auspices of this S )ciety, took place on Saturday at
Chiswick.

The weather was delightfully fine, and the road between
Hyde Park-corner and the gardens was thronged with equipages
conveying company to the fite from one o'clock until an ad-
vanced hour in the afternoon.

The gardens were looking very beautiful, and the exhibi-
tion was considered by the judges to be most satisfactory.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cam-
bride honoured the gardens with a visit early in the afternoon
and devoted a considerable period to an e..amination of the
collections in the various marquees through which they were
conducted by the officials of the Society.
Perhaps on no former occasion has the Society had to boast
of a greater degree of aristocratic patronage than was awarded
to the exhibition on Saturday. The visitors were not quite
so numerous as at one of the fetes held last year, but the as-
semblage of rank and fashion may be fairly stated to have been
unequalled.

The visitors on Saturday numbered 12,520 persons (on one
occasion last year they exceeded 13,000).
Among the members of the leant ton whom we observed in
the grounds were—
His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, his
Serene Highness Prince Herman of Saxe Weimar, his Ex-
cellency the French Ambassador and suite, his Excellency the
Austrian Ambassador, and the Countess Dietrichstein, his Ex-
cellency the Danish Ilinister, and the Countess Reventiow, hs
Excellency the Minister for the Netherlamis, his Excellency
the American Minister, and Mrs. and Miss Everett, his Ex-
cellency the Brazilian Minister and Madame Marquise de
Lisboa. his Excellency the Mexican Minister and Madame
Murphy, his Excellency the Sardinian Minister, the Duchess
of Northumberland and Miss Percy, the Duchess of Suther-
land and Lady Caroline Leveson Gower, the Marquis and
Marchioness of Lorn, the Countess of Pow is and the Ladies
Herbert, the Countess Granville, Lady Dover, Lady William
Powlett, Lady Bridport, Mrs. Lawrence, Sze.
There were also present the following members of the
Society, most of whom were accompanied by their families :
The Marquis of Breadalbane, the Earl of Auckland,
Viscount Howick, Lord John Russell, Sir H. Middleton,
the Lord Bishop of London, Lord Grantley, the Earl of
Orkney, Sir William Molesworth, Sir Charles Hulse, Sir
Charles Morgan, Lord W. Fitzroy, Sir John Sebright, the
Earl Beauchamp, Sir George Duckett, Sir W. Heathcote, the
Earl of Leicester, Sir R. Heron, Lord Willoughby D'Eresby,
Sir John Guise, Hon. H. T. Liddell, the Earl of Rosebery,
Sir Thomas Clifton, Lord Portman, the Earl of Aboyne, the
Lord Chief Baron, the Marquis of Exeter, Sir Thomas Acland,
Sir Augustus Foster, Sir Francis Shuckburgh, the Earl of
Burlington, the Earl of Zetland, the Lord Bishop of
Rochester, &c.

'The beautiful marquees erected by Mr. Benjamin Edgington
throughout the grounds afforded a refreshing relief to the pro-
menaders during the afternoon ; and we may mention as a
curious fact, illustrating the degree of patronage bestowed on
the refreshment booth, that Messrs. Gunter, who are the
caterers at all the fetes of this society, sold upwards of one
thousand quarts of ice on the occasion
_ .

Upward; of six hundred tickets were sold at the doors ; and
here, en passant, it may be well to remind our readers of the
existing regulation which forbids the issue of an admission
ticket to any person not holding the order of a member of the
society. Inattention to this rule was the cause of considerable
inconvenience on Saturday. The policy of its adoption has
been proved by the security it affords to the " pockets" of the
patrons of the society.

The following is aselection of the principal prizes_ awarded
by the judges:—

No. I.

Pelargoniums, twelve new varieties. —Gold Banksian, Mr,
Dobson; silver gilt, Mr. Cock; large silver, Mr. Staines;
nursery silver gilt, Mr. Gaines.

Calccolarius, in sixes.—Large silver, Mr. G. Stanley.
Pinks, twenty-four distinct varieties.—Nursery silver
Knightian, Mr. Willmer ; nursery silver Banksian, Mr. Hen-
bery.

Ranunculuses, twelve varieties for private growers, twenty-
four for nurserymen.—Silver Knightian, Mr. Betteridge,
Abingdon ; silver Banksian, Mr. T. Starr, Airsee ; nursery
large silver, Mr. Tyson.
Seedling Florists' Flowers.—Silver Knightian, Mr. Beck;
silver Banksian, Mr. Beck ; certificate, Mr. Beck.

No. 11.

Stove or Greenhouse Plants, forty plants.—Large gold, Mr.
Barnes, gardener to G. Norman, Esq. ; gold Knightian, Mr.
J. Robertson, gardener to Mrs. Lawrence.
Stove or Greenhouse Plants, t wenty pl ants. —Gold Knightian,
Mr. F. Frazer ; gold Banksian, Mr. Ayres, gardener to J.
Ceok, Esq., F. H.S.
Exotic Orchidacw, in collections of twenty species.—Large
gold, Mr. Mylan, gardener to S. Rucker, Esq. ; gold
Knightian, Mr. J. Robertson, gardener to Mrs. Lawrence ;
gold Banksian, Mr. Rollisson.
Achimenes, six species.—Large silver, Mr. E. Jack.
No. 111.

Miscellaneous Collections of Fruit.—Gold Banksian, Mr,
Dods, gardener to Sir G. Warrender ; large silver, Mr,
Spencer, gardener to the Marquis of Lansdowne.
Grapes.—Silver gilt, Mr. Barnes, gardener to Whitman
Esq., and R. Turnbull, gardener to the Duke of Marlborough ;
silver 13anksian, Mr. Fleming, gardener to the Duke of Suth-
erland; and Mr. Toy, gardener to Col. Challoner.
Pineapples. Silver gilt, Mr. Toy, gardener to Col. Chal-
loner; large silver, Mr. D. APEwen, gardener to Col. Wynd-
ham.

Peaches or Nectarines.—Silver gilt, Mr. Mackintosh, gar•
dener to the Marquis of Exeter; silver Kaightian, Mr. Dods,
Other Fruit.—Silver Knightian, Mr. M'Ewen, and Mr.
Foggo, gardener to the Marquis of Abercorn ; silver Bank.
sian, Mr. Leslie.

No. IV.

Tall Cacti in Flower.—Gold Bar,ksian, Mr. J. Green, gar-
dener to Sir E. Antrobus, F. H. S. ; silver gilt, Mr. Falconer,
gardener to A. Palmer, Esq. ; large silver, Mr. J. Robertson,
gardener to Mrs. Lawrence.
Fuchsias, twelve varieties, half to have a light calyx.—Small
silver, Mr. Lane ; silver Knightian, Mr. Gaines ; silver Back-
slap, Mr. J. Robertson.
__