partners. The German Confederation, upon learning the wishes of the potent, grave, and venerable Senators of England, hastened to place a marriageable prince at their disposal. The sel of M. Gozlan's piece consists in rendering as palpable as possible the peculiarities of a position in which a husband is not only obliged to bow down before the fiat of his wife, but even prevented from communicating with her except when authorized. A Prime Minister is introduced, too, in order to give an additional zest to the humour of the intrigue and dénouement. The whole affair is, it is needless to say, levelled at Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Lord Melbourne. It is one of those clumsy dramas that borrow an ephemeral interest from the peculiar circumstances of the moment. "The censors, of whom there is a permanent comité at the Home Office, decided at once against Gozlan's drama. In consequence, however, of the interference of one or two Deputies, and of a little tampering, no doubt with the inferior employés of the section of the beaux arts, a kind of conditional authorization was given to the author to have his piece brought forward. This new decision was retracted upon M. Duchatel examining into the affair, and consulting M. Guizot, with whom he is in the habit of agreeing on most subjects. M. Guizot is said to have expressed himself as follows: Were we at war with England, which we are not, I should not approve of any exhibition calculated to hurt the feelings of the Queen of England or her spouse. By respecting others in this instance, we shall best shew that we have a due respect for ourselves.' M. Duchatel expressed himself in accordance with this feeling; and the Council, to whom the matter was submitted the day after, approved of their decision. "Notwithstanding the Ministerial veto, the author proceeded to announce his drama as forthcoming. Measures were taken to have it brought out on Saturday last; when the Government interfered again at the eleventh hour, and stopped the proceedings abruptly. "This is the true history of the affair. There was no diplomatic interference whatever. Lord Granville, who is no doubt pretty familiar with the eccentricities of Parisian littérateurs, never once thought of troubling his head about this insignificant business." Now, this matter, so insignificant in one sense, has excited the Parisians, or at least certain classes of them, to a farcical degree; for having so recently before found that their passion for martial glory was defeated, and that again they were balked in their thirst for revenge by the shafts of ridicule to wound English feelings through those whom England holds most dear, they have also discovered in the suppression of the worthless drama, at the fancied interference of Lord Granville, a new insult to the grand nation, and in the supposed concession of the ministry, still further humiliation. It is reported that an attack was meditated on the domicile of the British Ambassador. At any rate the gross allusions to our beloved Queen, and the entire piece, were of a highly exciteable tendency for a Parisian mob; so that in a sense different from what we have already recognised, had the thing not been suppressed, the English might have taken it into their heads to resent it in a manner that would have displayed their pride rather than their prudence. At any rate our concluding remark will be acquiesced in,-the French must have warfare of some kind to relieve their effervescence. ART. VIII.-The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland, practically described and illustrated. By FRANCIS WHISHAW, Civil Engineer. London: Simpkin and Marshall. MR. WHISHAW, even for a Civil Engineer, has devoted an unusual degree of pains and attention to the railroads of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1837, when the speculations regarding these gigantic works appeared to sober-minded and calculating people to have exceeded all practicable bounds, and to have reached the extremity of railway mania, he published an Analysis of the schemes then afloat, both those which had obtained the sanction of the legislature and those which had not for the session of that year been so fortunate. We remember to have heard times without number at that period the predictions of sages about the folly of such vast undertakings, the terrible bankruptcies which they would occasion, and all the usual adages about bubble companies. But what are the facts now as described and testified by Mr. Whishaw, after many of the great lines have been completed, are verging towards completion, or have only actually been begun? Why, that more has been achieved than was contemplated by speculators four years ago; neither the enormous sums of money required, nor the immense difficulties physical and legal that were interposing, staying the works or cooling the ardour of capitalists. Mr. Whishaw is none of your random describers, or a mere retailer of what has been puffed off by interested parties; for he has before publishing his work taken a railway trip in every direction and along the principal lines, fifty-eight in number, his journeyings in this way extending to something like seven thousand miles; informing himself in the fullest manner possible, both by observation and inquiries, regarding all that was necessary to furnish a satisfactory account of them. That account includes in each case a variety of particulars. With more or less minuteness he gives a sketch of the origin of the individual railway under consideration. Then follow notices of the proceedings in Parliament relative to it, of the way in which the necessary funds were obtained, and of the progress and the opening of the line. Then he enters upon the scientific, afterwards the economical, and lastly the financial departments of the particular subject in hand, throwing out as he goes along such observations as the case seems to him to warrant. We have referred to the unexampled manner in which the results have even exceeded the speculations when the railway mania was supposed to be at its height. But this is not the only extraordinary feature in the history of these works. When it is known how wonderfully the actual outlay has exceeded, for the most part, the estimates, even after amazing preliminary sums have been expended in parliamentary and legal proceedings, and towards the purchases of houses and land, it is impossible not to utter some exclamation about the exhaustless wealth and the limitless enterprise of the British people. But there is still another theme connected with these gigantic works which must excite marvel and congratulation, and showing the wisdom and foresight of many of the greatest speculators; we allude to the fact that the profits on several of the grandest and most expensive lines have exceeded all anticipation. In illustration of these several points of astonishment we may mention that, in reference to one railway, the first estimate was 13,000l. per mile; that in the course of the works it rose to above 22,000l. and afterwards up to about 4,500l. more. Take the Birmingham railway for another example respecting not only estimates, but real outlay and receipts. Two millions and a half was the sum first named, but the expense turned out to be three millions beyond what has just been mentioned. The annual expenses alone amount to hundreds of thousands. And yet the actual profits are great. We copy out some of the tables of accounts connected with this marvellous undertaking, the annual expenditure belonging to the year ending 30th June 1840: 66 BILL FOR THE BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. Law-charges, conveyancing, engineering, advertising, Interest on loans, previous to general opening 66 ANNUAL EXPENDITURE. Maintenance of way, including slips, &c. Police-account, including wages, clothing, &c. General charges, including law-proceedings, advertising and printing, direction, office-charges, sundries, including travelling-expenses Rates and taxes Mileage-duty to Government Fund for depreciation of locomotive engine and car riage stock Interest on loans for twelve months, Rent of Aylesbury line for one year Total annual cost £22,243 9 1 Who on projecting the idea of such a work as the Birmingham railway could have had the courage to look in the face such tables as we have now presented? And no doubt there is truth in what Mr. Whishaw relates when he says, "We have heard it frequently remarked that if real estimates had been sent forth to capitalists, not a tithe of the present extent of railway communication would have been effected.' We must therefore congratulate the country on the result, however much the mystification practised by projectors, contractors, and committees is to be blamed. At the same time it is to be observed that the people of this country, when once they set their heads to a vast undertaking, are not only not soon or easily daunted, but that obstacles and opposition naturally tend to whet man's eagerness. Had it been otherwise, should we have heard of such initiatory outlay and perseverance as the Parliamentary contest and the lawyer's expenses incurred and occasioned in the case of the Brighton line, an account of which we now present?— There are many branches of particulars which we need not stop to notice, or even to name in the most abridged way, belonging to railway undertakings and establishments, that awaken wonder. The probable or contemplated improvements which may be introduced in the matter of machinery, in contrivances for accommodation and safety to travellers, and in regard to what Mr. Whishaw calls a reciprocating system of lines, whereby both cheapness and an endless extent of ramified roads might be obtained for the accommodation of almost every district and corner of the land, the poorer and more thinly-peopled, as well as the rich and the densely inhabited, are points which admit of speculation and hopeful experiment. Before concluding, let us see what are some of the triumphs which have already been achieved in the mechanical department of the existing system, at the same time reflecting on what every middle-aged person now living would have uttered, had the thing been foretold to him but a few years back: "The post-office is fitted up in two compartments; the one as the sorting-room, and the other chiefly for the letter-bags, which are distributed and collected at the different places along the line. The sortingroom is fitted up with a mahogany counter and drawers; above the counter are several tiers of shelves with vertical divisions, forming small compartments for the proper arrangements of letters and newspapers, each compartment having the name of the place neatly labelled on the outside, for which the letters or newspapers are respectively intended. "The assistant has a small desk or counter in the bags' compartment, and also a contrivance of net-work without, for receiving the letters from the different post-masters along the line without stopping the train. The bags are also left at the requisite places while the train is in motion. "We had an opportunity last winter of accompanying one of the Postoffice clerks for some miles on his journey; and he most politely explained to us the whole system of sorting, leaving, and collecting the letters; which appeared to us susceptible of very little improvement; but one thing |