Tnun1t 111.

The first sod of the Andover and Redbridge Railway at Romsey was cut by Lord Palmerston on Tuesday. This line is intended to connect Southampton with the South Wales coal fields. At present it will ex- tend from Redbridge at the head of Southampton Water to Andover, and at some future date it is to join the Great Western in Berkshire. A large number of local magnates were present, and Lord Palmerston formally requested to cut the first sod, took spade in hand, and, says the reporter, " with a dexterity which gained him great commendation, cast three or four shoveisfull of earth into a handsome barrow of mahogany provided for the occasion, then amid loud cheers wheeled it along a plank some dozen yards in length—emptied his load and trotted back between the shafts with all the air of a practised 'navvy.' A salute of fourteen guns announced this practical commencement of the undertaking." Next the Premier made a brief speech congratulating all present on the com- mencement of the undertaking, dilating, in general terms, on the benefits it will confer on the district in particular, and the county in general, and setting forth the merits of the port of Southampton. Then the com- pany adjourned to a breakfast in a marquee in front of Broadlands, where again Lord Palmerston made a speech longer than the former, but almost entirely devoted to the subject of railways and their influence on the prosperity of the nation, and a laudation of that private enterprise which has created them. At the close of his speech he said— "We are told by those who instruct us in moral and religious teaching that the calamities and misfortunes which sometimes befall either nations or men are intended for our permanent advantage, and, if duly used and duly reflected on, ought to be felt to be only administrations of that moral. government by which Providence regulates the affairs of mankind. But there is also a like truth in regard to the laws which regulate the material globe. A careful attention to those laws and a scientific application of them tend as much to the permanent improvement of mankind as a sub- mission to the moral ordinances contributes to welfare of a different na- ture. And so it has been with the civilization of the age in which we live. That expansive and explosive force which in its unregulated operation lays waste districts by the overflowing of a volcano, or spreads desolation over cities and towns by an earthquake, when governed and regulated by the scientific appliances of man, has been converted into your obedient slave, transports you from place to place by land throughout the whole continent of Europe, and, applied to your navigation, carries you safely and rapidly from one end of the globe to the other. (Cheers.) So it is also with the thunderbolt, that natural element which inspires terror into the ignorant— which, when acting simply by the casual application of the laws of nature, is .productive of death and destruction, yet guided and mastered by the science of the present time becomes your servant, carries your ideas in- stantaneously from point to point, establishes rapid conversational commu- nication between all the different parts of the globe, and now we hope in a very short time—before many months, indeed, have elapsed—that we shall communicate as rapidly between London and Calcutta as we have hitherto communicated between one end of the smallest village and the other. (Cheers.) We ought, then, to be proud of the age in which we live—we ought to be proud to think that the human intellect has arrived at that amount of scientific attainment that we are able to understand those great laws which regulate the material world, and that, by the proper application of that which in its original operation may appear to be simply an element of destruction, we have managed to convert into purposes most useful in the daily life of mankind powers which Providence has created, not for purposes of destruction, but in order that the mind of man, by the progressive de- velopment of science, might adapt them to the uses of civilized life." (Cheers.)

Two remarkable speeches were made at a dinner given on Wednesday by the Mayor of Stamford to Lord Robert Cecil and Sir Stafford North- cote, the borough members. It was in a reply to the toast in their honour that they spoke. Lord Robert Cecil described himself and his colleague as having been sent to Parliament to support a certain cause, and to uphold a certain Ministry; and he was again only stating a his- torical fact when he said that they had failed, and that they now ap- peared as defeated men, with broken arms and standards soiled.

He valued party feeling as a means of carrying. on the Government of a country, and he fully recognized the benefits it had conferred upon the State, but he was bound to say that during the few latter years we had seen the worst side of its working, for in a penod of nine years no less than seven had been wasted in Ministerial crises, which were neither valuable nor use- ful for purposes of legislation. Occurring in the middle of a session, as they always did, they invariably arrested all public business, turned out Mi- nisters who had become acquainted with matters in hand, and gave to foreign Governments the impression that our own Government was so weak and so unstable that they might count upon its yielding on any point on which it might be pressed. Therefore he thought that constant changes of Government were detrimental to the public service. Though, as a' party man, he of course had his own wishes as to who should or who should not be in office, he still said that until the Opposition were able to place their own party in real power, with a sufficient majority to enable them to maintain their position for a considerable time, he did not himself wish for a change of Government. (Cheers.) A change of Government might, of course, arise from many causes. It might come from internal disunion of the Go- vernment, or it might be occasioned by their bringing forward measures which the Opposition could not allow to pass, or by their performing acts which it was impossible not to censure. But setting those causes aside, he thought it highly to be desired that, for the present at least, and until some such large majonty should be got together, the Government should remain as it was. (Cheers.) He did not think that Governments on sufferance, however good might be their intentions, when they had to frame every mea- sure by calculations in which every vote must be balanced, and every ca- price taken into account, could.fill their situation in a manner satisfactory to their own sense of honour and to those who supported them. The position they held was painful in the extreme, and whereas they deserved praise for their patriotism in taking it when forced upon them, he should be the last to wish for such a position.

The remainder of his speech was devoted to the advocacy of non- intervention in European politics, and of the adoption of adequate means of national defence. Sir Stafford Northcote did not quite concur in those statements of his colleague which referred to the state of his party. The noble Lord spoke of the Conservative party as a defeated party, which, no doubt, it was ; but Sir Stafford could not admit either that their arms were broken or their banners soiled. Though they could no longer . claim to exercise the functions of Government, yet they had duties imposed upon them and privileges to exercise as an Opposition. Important service was rendered by an Opposition so long as it acted in union, with confidence in its leaders, and with that sense of responsibility hanging over it which proceeded from an honest desire to prevent Government doing anything in- jurious to the public interest. At the present time, especially, it was of great importince that the Conservative party should, if possible, support the Government. It was very true that it might become their duty to take strong measures to oppose Government upon matters which might be of great and vital importance; but at the same time, looking to the general interests of the country, to the state of affairs in the East, and to our &tan- • dal condition, which was such that there must be very important financial measures introduced,—looking to that great question of the defence of the country, and to the necessity for adopting measures for placing ourselves upon an independent footing, which would render us free from thoie de- grading panics to which we were from time to time subject, and would at the same time command the respect of foreign nations,—looking to all these questions, it-was particularly important that the party to which he belonged should adopt a line of conduct which was at once firm and not factious ; 'which should show that they had a policy of their own and were prepared

to enforce it; but that as long as they saw those measures adopted which they might consider to be for the goon of the country, they would abstain from all factious proceedings. That was peculiarly important, because the Conservatives numbered nearly one-half of the House of Commons, and be- cause it was in their power—there would be no difficulty whatever, by taking advantage of casual opportunities—to embarrass and defeat the Go- vernment. But that ought not to be the object of an Opposition which did not command an absolute and clear majority. What the Opposition should do was to take care that the Government went straight, to take care that those feelings which there were in the present, as in other Governments, should have free play, so that when urged on by their more extreme sup- porters to measures of which they did not as a body approve, they should be able to turn round and say, " We will not do these things." If that was the spirit which animated the Opposition, he believed all would go well. (Cheers.)

The Liverpool Financial Reformers, aided by Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, are about to enter on a crusade against the duties on tea and sugar, as a preliminary to that transfer of taxation from the community in general to the owners of property referred to by Mr. Cobden in one of his recent speeches. The war cry is to be "untaxed breakfast and tea. table for the working classes."

At a meeting held in Exeter to distribute certificates to the successful candidates at the late Oxford Middle-Class Examination, Sir John Cole- ridge made a remarkable speech, involving an enlightened interpretation of the meaning of the movement. Having observed that the middle and lower classes are surely though slowly making way to power over all Europe, he said-

" That being the ease, then, give them a helping hand to reach what you know you cannot prevent them from getting, whether you help them or not. Do not look black at them ; do not stand aloof in jealous suspicion and see them rising in spite of you, and therefore owing you a grudge, but assist them to the proper mode of rising ; enable them to make that move with a good grace and with. due preparation, which they are certain to make in some way or other. . . . No one who has considered the history not merely of this country, but of Christendom itygeneral for centuries back, can fail to perceive that there has been for centuries a gradual advancement towards the approximation of the different classes of society, and to the in- creasing power with regard to government of what are called the • lower orders.' I am not, of course, going to express a political opinion here. I do not say whether it is better or whether it is worse, but it seems to me to be so orderly, to have proceeded so regularly, to have gone on so widely, I may say so universally, through Christendom, that I cannot but think we may trace in it the finger of Him who governs the world ; and, if that be so, I ought to say that it must be for good. . . . The river will flow on. If you attempt to stop it, it will overwhelm you in ruin. If you neglect its course you may lose the benefits it might otherwise confer, but if you direct its course wisely it will be a source of fertility to the land through which it flows. . . . lithe lower orders are to be raised in political power in this country, to make that a blessing you must cultivate the lower orders for discharging the duties to be thrown upon them. Therefore it is that I think the University of Oxford conferred the largest benefit that it bad in its power to confer upon this country at large, when, passing simply from the education of the higher orders and those who were destined for the Church, it spread out its hands in a frank and liberal spirit to all classes of society, and offered to connect everybody with itself, in a certain measure, wlio would only fit himself for it by proper application." (Applause.) He told an apposite anecdote towards the close of his speech. Addressing the candidates ho said : " Let me impress upon you that the best motto you can take for yourselves in this respect is that which was taken by a most eminent man who made his way from a hair• dresser's shop to be Chief Jus- tice Tenterden. What was his motto ? When a man is made a judge ho is made a sergeant, and as sergeant he gives rings to some of the great officers of State, with a motto upon it. His motto was 'Lahore.' He did not refer to his own talents. It was not Invite Minerva.' To his immortal honour be it said—from the hair-dresser's shop in Canterbury to the Free School in Canterbury ; from the Free School in Canterbury to Corpus Christi College ; from Corpus Christi College to the bar ; from the bar to the bench; from the bench to the peerage—he achieved all with unimpeachable honour, and always practising that which was his motto at last. One of the most grati- fying scenes I have ever witnessed was when that man went up to the House of Peers in his robes for the first time, attended by the whole Bar of England." The Congregational Union of England and Wales has held its annual meeting this year at Aberdare. About 500 Dissenting Ministers and laymen were present. Among them were the Lord Mayor of London, Mr. Samuel Morley, Mr. Edward Baines, Mr. John Crossley of Halifax, and the Reverend Theodore Bourne from America. The subjects dis- cussed were church architecture, provision for old and infirm ministers, negro slavery, and the Bible printing monopoly. Mr. Baines made a speech showing the progress of the body. In 1812, he said, the number of Congregational places of worship ib Eng- land was 799, and in 1851 it had increased to 2604. In the principality of Wales the number of Congregational chapels in 1812 was 225, and in 1851 640. In 1851 there were in England and Wales 3244 Congregational chapels, containing in the aggregate 4,026,000 sittings. There were besides in 1851 453 Congregational day schools, educating 50,186 young persons, and 2590 Sunday schools with 343,000 scholars. The whole of that was the result of voluntary effort on the part of the Congregationalists. Adding what had been done by the voluntary system during the expired half of the present century in the Established Church to what had been done out of it, in the way of providing church accommodation, he showed that 188,000 sit- tings had been supplied by Parliamentary grants, and 4,852,000 by the voluntary principle.

The inquest on the bodies of the five men killed on board the Great Eastern concluded on Tuesday in a verdict of " accidental death." The lengthened inquiry elicited most remarkable evidence, the main points of which may be summed up in a comparatively brief space. Mr. Leverson appeared for the company, Mr. Lawson for several large shareholders ; Mr. Newman for Mr. Scott Russell ; Captain Robertson and Mr. Galloway were present to assist the Coroner on behalf of the Board of Trade.

The first witness called on Saturday was Mr. Galloway. He referred the explosion to the cock on the the top side of the stand pipe, whirls being closed shut off the escape by the syphon tube. The casing also had been shut off below from the boilers, and when this was done it was a mere ques- tion of time how long the casing could hold ; all exit for the steam, except by bursting, being prevented. The only use of the cock was to produce danger. Until the explosion occurred he did not know that the cock ex- isted. He further said that Mr. Dickson appeared to have the control of the paddle engines, but he could not say for certain.

Mr. Alexander M`Lenuan, chief engineer of the Great Eastern, said he had been attached to the ship for twenty-three mouths. He had never been in charge of the engines. Mr. Brunel told him. not to me charge of them until they were complete. Mr. Campbell, the chairman, gave him similar orders. Mr. M'Lennan had handed over the staff of eug,ineera to the

senior engineers of the contractors. From that time he considered that the paddle engines were in the hands of Mr. Scott Russell and the screw engines in control of Mr. Blake of the firm of Boulton and Wutt. Mr. M`Lennau said he was simply a looker on with a view to report on the efficiency of ,the engines. He described the donkey engines used to feed the boilers and casing as troublesome, and stated that they were repaired. " On the part of the company he should not accept the donkey engines either as finished or as satisfactory engines." This witness stated that a large number of things were unfinished, and that had he been asked he should not have advised the directors to send the ship to sea. That remark did not refer to the safety of the ship, but only to matters of detail.

Mr. John Dickson, Mr. Scott Russell's foreman, said the paddle engines and the casing were constructed under his superintendence. The cock was fixed on the tube by his direction, and he " supposed it was by his di- rection that the cock was left on the tube. He was too busy to observe whether any steam was escaping from the pipe. He had no particular reason for leaving the cock on the tube. He attached the pipe " without any thought on the matter." He was ready to swear that Mr. M'Lennan tusked him to leave the cock on the tube. [M'Lennan denied this.] Mr. I)ickenn declared that he was not in charge of the paddle engines ; no one asked bins to go to thew ; reports should be made to the chief engineer, but he made no report to anyone. He looked upon the work as "extra" —he was positive that he had not charge of the paddle engines; "could not say who was, or if any one was in charge at all." He considered that the boat was in the hands of the Company. There were cocks on both funnels, and both shut off. [Here Captain Robertson exclaimed, "Then it is a mercy both funnels did not blow up together."] Mr. James Robert Roy Campbell, the chairman of the Company, gave em- phatic evidence to the cffict that the engines were in charge of the con- tractors, and that the whole responsibility of the trial trip rested on them. He looked upon Mr. M'Lennan, not as responsible engineer, but in the light of the fifth wheel of a coach. He was not responsible until the con- tractors gave up their work. Mr. John Scott Russell said be had nothing to do with the trial trip di- rectly, as a matter of business, or indirectly. The paddle engines were not under his charge in any way whatever. His responsibility ended with the fourth trial in the river. Mr. Dickson, only came on board as his "friend," and never took charge beyond volunteering assistance. As to the cook he did not know of its existence. It was of no use where it was, but in case the stand pipe broke it would have been useful. He had no mercantile re- sponsibility, it was the company's trial trip, not his. Mr. Russell admitted that lie was on the bridge almost throughout the whole trial trip, but though requested by the pilot to drive the engines faster, he declined. That re- quest applied to both screw and paddles. He, however, had agreed with Mr. Blake, who was in charge of the screw engines, that it would he un- wise to drive the engines too fast. The pilot might have requested witness to reverse the paddles, and he might have declined, and suggested that the screw should be reversed. In spite of this, he denied that he ever took charge of the paddle engines. lie knew better than the pilot or captain what could be done safely and quickly in the engine-room. When he stated that the ship was within an ace of being lost two or three times in the river lie thought people would acquit him of doing the vessel any harm, when he merely stood by to give the pilot the benefit of the instant service of the engines when it was most needed. Mr. James Patrick, one of the engineers, said he had shut off the feed from the easing to both sets of boilers. He did so to keep down the " priming." After the explosion he found from a communication with Mr. Arnott that there were some cocks on the casings. He went to the second funnel, and finding the cock shut, he took a spanner and opened it. There was a great rush of steam. He never dreamt of finding a cock in an escape pipe like the syphon. He considered Mr. Arnett in charge of the engines. He never heard Mr. Dickson give any directions, but two hours after he shut off the feed he reported what lie had done to Mr. Dickson, but received no directions in consequence. Mr. Russell appointed him as engineer. . Mr. William Jackson, M.P., a director, understood that the contractors were in charge of the engines during the trial trip. Mr. Russell was on the bridge and directed the movements of the paddle engines. It was never considered that he was there as a matter of favour, but of duty. Money had been refused to Mr. Russell, just before the ship sailed, on the ground that he had not completed his contract. The board had not received a for- mal notice from Mr. Russell that the contract was complied with. They await it. Before Mr. Russell's responsibility is at an end he must receive a cer- tificate from the managing director. Mr. Arnett denied that Patrick had reported to him that ho had abut off the feed. Had he done so, Arnett would at once have ascertained whether the cocks were open.. He had ascertained that they were open when the vessel was at the Nore. After that he never looked at them again. [Mr. hieFarlane deposed that he ascertained that the cocks were open off the Nore.]

A suicide of a very remarkable kind has taken place at Cambridge, fol- lowed by a verdict equally remarkable. Mr. Henry John Masters, a shop- keeper, made his will, disposed of his property, took leave of some friends, bought rope through =the agency of his little boy, and hung himself in a loft. The cause of this act is disclosed in letters which he left behind him. In one of these he reproaches his wife for her treatment of him. It should be promised that she was his second wife- ' But I forgive you all, as I am going to leave all that was once dear to me. I hope you will be more kind to Polly and Jessy, and let them be treated the same as the others. May God in his infinite mercy turn the hearts of your unruly family, and show them and you that they have lost a more valuable friend than you prized in my lifetime ; may my never-dying spirit hover over you and keep you from all harm. You will get married again ; I pity the unfortunate man that ever comes under your roof : he might as well be a toad under an arrow. There is some dif- ference between the smiles in the shop and the frowns in the room ; you cannot when alone give a kind answer. Oh, the deceit no one could believe! I always was cheerful before strangers, as I did not wish to let every one know what a fool I had made of myself; I can safely say the face has worn the -smile when the heart bleedetb, and many have said • He has jumped into a good home ;' I can safely say I jumped out of one My God ! m • God! I thank von that you have left me nerve enough to write these few lines. hen the wind blows and the snow falls, meditate upon these few lines, and say, ' God forgive his sins, and take him to that heavenly rest where there is all joy and happiness.' Keep this, look at it well, and w th you kno all is the tr i uth, so help me God. My time is getting short now, so I write no more. I go and pray to my Heavenly Father to forgive my sins, and yours, and those connected with us. No more on earth from your loving and unhappy husband."

The verdict of the Jury was that Masters had destroyed himself while in a fit of insanity, brought on through the bad conduct of his wife, and they thought she ought to be milled before the Jury and severely censured by the Coroner. The Coroner thought it would be better that the censure should be conveyed to the wife in writing by him, and that the verdict of the Jury should be, " Temporary insanity, brought about through family dissensions." The Jury concurred, and acted in accordance with the coroner's suggestion.

An accident at the Lewes Sheep Fair, on Wednesday, was fatal to four persona. Messrs. Cheale and Sons had an engine on the ground wherewith to work several kinds of agricultural machines. During the period of pre- paration the boiler exploded, killing the engineer, a farmer, and two labourers ; a horse and two sheep. Several persons were severely injured, and many narrowly escaped destruction, from the fragments of the engine hurled about the field. The cause of the accident is unknown.

The steam-tug Fury, lying in Kingroad, Bristol Channel, exploded on Wednesday. Three lives were lost, and the vessel was blown to pieces. The mate was picked up, unhurt, on a piece of floating wreck.

Oa the seine day a collision occurred at Sandhed Point, in the river Avon, between the Firefly Wexford steam-packet and the Monkey steam-tug, by which the latter was sunk. The crew were rescued.

Mrs. Dickson, a lady residing at Doncaster, has been burnt to death in consequence of her having approached too near a fire. She had despatched her cook to fetch something, and took the place of the cook at the kitchen range. Alarmed by screams the cook hastily returned to her domain, but her efforts to extinguish the flaming dress were frustrated by the steel of a crinoline skirt. Before the cook could put out the fire by the use of water her mistress was fatally burned, and soon died.