The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-08 00:00:00

FRENCH RAILWAYS.

The following are the principal conditions of the
13,i11s for establishing railroads from Paris to the
Bel-
gian frontier, with a branch line to the coast opposite
England ; and for executing another from Orleans to
Vierzon. The English lines are to run by Calais,
Dunkirk, and Boulogne: Those to Calais and Dun-
kirk are to join the Belgian'' line between Douai and
Lille, passing in the former case by Hazebrouk and-
St. Omer ; and, in the other, by Hazebrouk and the
west of Cassel. The branch line to Boulogne will
quit the main line at Amiens, and run by Abbeville
and Etaples. A sum of 15,000,000 f. is wanted for
the Calais and Dunkirk lines, 2,000,000 f. of which is
to be paid from the estimates of 1844, and 1,000,000 E
from those of 1845. The Minister of Public Works
is to grant a lease not exceeding twenty-eight years
for the Belgian lines, and the branch lines by
Calais and Dunkirk, and a lease not exceed-
ing thirty-five years for the Orleans and Vierzon
line. Should the companies, accepted by the Minis-
ter, fail to comply with the conditions and clauses
of the Bill within the space of two months, he is au-
thorised to get the line's executed himself at the cost
of the State, 44,000,000 f. being allowed for such works,
of which 10,000,000 f. are to be paid out of the estates of
1844, and 20,000,000 f. out of those of 1845. In case the
lines are made by companies, the Minister is authorised
to lease out the working of the lines for a period not
exceeding twelve years, the lines falling gratuitously
into the possession of the State at the end of that
period. An article stipulates, that after taking off six
per cent. interest, and two and a-half per cent. for the
sinking fund, the profits are to be divided equally be-
tween the companies and the State. There are to be
three classes of carriages on the Belgian line—the first
at 10 cents., the second at 7 cents. 0.0005, and the
third, which are to be covered and curtained, 5 cents.
0.05 per kilometre, or quarter of a league. The State
is to have the power of redeeming the lease of twelve
years, the purchase to be made according to the con-
ditions stipulated for the Orleans Railroad, with this
difference, that the premiums which are to be added
to the net dividend, declared to compose the annuity,
which, in such cases, are to be paid to the company,
are to be reduced to a half.

The whole of the late Marquis of Hastings' valuable
pack of fox-hounds have been brought to the hammer,
and no arrangements, it is understood, hare' been yet
made for hunting the Donnington country during the
ensuing season.

ACCIDENT TO SIR AUGUSTUS CLIFFORD. —We are
happy to hear that Sir Augustus Clifford is recovering
rapidly from the accident he met with the other day in
the Park, while out riding with Miss Clifford.
It-is intended to open the railway from Darlington
to Newcastle on -Tuesday,- the 18th of June, after which
there will be an uninterrupted railway intercourse Le-
tween Newcastle-upon-Tyne and London.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT DOWLAS.—FIVE COLLIERS
KILLED.—We regret to learn that a melancholy acci-
dent, attended with loss of life, took place this week at
these works. It appears that as the last coal train was
leaving the Cymbargoed pits, consisting of seven car
riages of coal, an engine and water tank, upon which
were upwards of forty colliers, hauliers, &c., who were
leaving their work, the engine and tender slipped off the
rails, when, melancholy to relate, four colliers were
killed upon the spot, and one other died shortly after
being taken home. There are also a great many, severely
wounded.

Sir Charles Lemon, Bart., M.P., who is now at his
seat in Cornwall, returns to town on Monday next.
The two vacant Lord Lieutenancies of Westmore-
land and Cumberland have both been conferred on Lord
Lonsdale.

The Holderness Hunt Ball will be held in the
Hedon Town-hall, on Friday, the 19th inst., after the
Burton Constable races, •under the patronage of Lady
Clifford Constable. A brilliant attendance is expected.
The Earl of Carlisle continues slowly to improve
in health at Castle Howard, where Lord Morpeth has
joined the family circle from town.
The alliance between the Earl of Aboyne and Miss
Pegus, daughter of the Countess of Lindsey, and half
sister to the present Earl, is fixed to take place to-
morrow (Tuesday). The ceremony will be performed
at St. Martin's Church, after
.which a dejune will be
given by Lady Charlotte Guest; in Spring•gardens, to a
select circle of friends and relatives.

Lord Alvanley is shortly expected to arrive from a
Continental tour.

Viscount and Viscountess Havvarden, Viscount and
Viscountess Adare, Lady Charles Somerset,' Mr. and
Lady Blanche Balfour, Viscount Strangford, Lord De
Lisle, Right Hon. George and Mrs. Dawson, Lord John
Manners, and a large party of tashionables have left town
to visit Lord and Lady Beresford, 'at Bedgebury Park,
during the Easter recess.
COSMORAMA, 209, REGENT-STREET.--This exhibi-
tion was opened to the public for the season on Saturday
last, with eight new views—viz„ the Plains of Thebes in/
Upper Egypt, with the colossal statues of Memnon ; the
Pantheon at Rome by moonlight ; the exterior of St.
Peter's, at Rome, and the interior of the same ; a valley in
Savoy, with a representation 4a part of Mont Blanc and
the Glaciers ofthe Alps; Mount Vesuvius by night ; a val-
ley in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland ; and the Hippo-
drome :at Constantinople,' all of which evince consider-
able talent on the part of the artist, and in some of them,
especially the interior of St. Peter's, at Rome, and the
night view of Vesuvius during an irruption, the illusion
is so complete that it is difficult for the spectator to be-
lieve that he is looking at a mere flat surface of painted
canvass. Altogether the exhibition well deserves a place
amongst the various others of its class in the metropolis,
and we recommend it to the attention of our holiday-
making readers.
Signor Emiliani, after a successful provincial tour,
has returned to town for the season.
THE MEMORIAL TO THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL.—
In our number of Saturday last we stated that a memo-
rial, on the want of accommodation in reference to the
Yorkshire and South, mails, which was signed in four*
days by upwards of 500 respectable mercantile and ma-
nufacturing firms and individuals in Manchester, had
been forwarded by Thursday evening's mail to Colonel
Maberley, for presentation to the Earl of Lonsdale, the
Postmaster. We understand that the memorialists, at
the head of whom was Mr. Woollam, the boroughreeve,
have fared no better than the Corporation, the Chamber
of Commerce, and other public bodies, in former memo-
rials to the same quarter. The gentlemen have, indeed,
received an acknowledgment of the receipt of their me-
morial ; but one altogether unworthy of the Govern-
ment functionary who may be presumed to have directed
its dispatch. It is one of .the ordinary printed forms,
with which we can now say, from a pretty long and ex-
tensive experience, the Post-office authorities are wont to
get rid of any petition or memorial emanating from this
great mercantile community ; and as, if nothing'should
be wanting to mark the reply as at once curt, uncour-
teous, and even disrespectful, this stereotyped document
is not signed by the Postmaster-General ; it is not even
signed by Colonel Maberly, to whom the letter was ad-
dressed which accompanied the memorial ; but by some
subordinate functionary or clerk in the establishment.
These things require no comment. We understand that
the memorialists have determined on sending up a depu-
tation, consisting of John Woollam, Esq., boroughreeve;
Messrs. Richard Birley, J. B. Wanklyn, and other gen-
tlemen, and that it is probable the deputation will pro-
ceed to London on Monday next.—Manchester Guardian.
LARGE GUN.--On Tuesday, the 12th instant, a
stanchion, or punt gun, belonging to H. W. White, Esq.,
Monar, was tried for the first time at the Longman. It
was loaded with two ounces of fine powder and one
pound of shot, which, when fired, showed great shooting,
at sheets of paper, and on the snow, from 80 to 150 yards
distant. The dimensions of this powerful gun are as fol—
low :—Weight 100 lbs.; length of barrel, 7 feet ; bore,
inches. The lock is on the percussion tube principle,
and the barrel is fitted on Colonel Hawker's ingenious
plan, consisting of a strong spiral spring for easing the
recoil. The gun was made by our townsman, Mr. May-
fair. Mr. White has built a gunning punt, with all the
necessary gear, for enjoying the" favourite sport of wild
fowl shooting on the Moray and Beuly Friths, where
thousands of all kinds of aquatic birds, from the majestic
wild swan to the restless little teal, take refuge during
stormy weather. The exciting sport of winter shooting
on a large scale, was first introduced in this quarter by
Sir St. George Gore. Bart., who sent down his complete
apparatus, constructed after the must approved method,
as used on the coast of England. Captain Flood em-
barked often last winter, and had several successful bat-
tiles on the water. Mr. White and Mr. Rose made a
trip on Thursday to try the merits both of boats and
guns ; the former gliding noiselessly through the ,weld-
ing element, which contrasted strangely with the boom-
ing sounds as the guns gave out their discharges.—
Inverness Courier.
FALSE ECONOMY OP THE PRESENT INCOME-TAX
—The income-tax produces 5,356,8871., which shows,
says the Morning Chronicle, " that the whole of the in-
comes of 1501 and upwards, the limit of the tax, amount
Ito something more than 200,000,0001 a year. What a
prodigious mass of wealth !" To say nothing, too, of
evasions. It should always be remembered that there are
two points in the manner of imposing this tax, one un-
just, the other delusive. The income of 1501. is too high
a limit for total exemption, wasting a vast field of avail-
able resource for the tax, and, as everybody saw at the
time of laying on, operating with a curious injustice ;
for while the man of 1491. a year pays nothing, the man
of 150/. pays 4/. 7s. 6d tax. Represented in the tax itself,
the difference between their incomes should be worth
7d ; but the Chancellor of the Exchequer treats them
as if the difference in their incomes were worth 4175. 6d.;
now as 41.75. 6d. represents nn income of 1501, they are
assessed as if that were the actual amount of the diffe-
rence between their incomes, although in round numbers
both may be considered as possessing that same income
of 1501, the difference being only I/. The other point
is, the delusion of the title, for although officially called,
a property-tax,
and
di reallysonly
exempt
mnapetr e
inm
income-tax,soecases
propertya s the
being exempt,
index of income. The man with an income of 150/
earned by labour, and the fundholder enjoying that in-
come, and possessing property besides of that yearly '
value are taxed alike. The 5,356.000/. therefore, is
raised in a manner at once unjust and partial, the
greater number of incomes, and the general mass of pro-
perty being exempt. In considering the merits of an
income and property-tax, it is won to bear in mind these
points in the present form of assessment, especially when
we find the tax so productive that, objectionable and
limited as it is in these respects, every penny farthing
in the pound produces a million sterling of revenue.--
Spectator.
Since the penny postage was introduced, the weekly
number of letters has increased from 1,586,000 to
4,212,000. For every 100 letters written under the old
system, there are 270 under the new; -