• SCOTLAND.
Dundee has built itself a new Exchange, in which the Cbiu0er of Commerce will in future transact its business. This building, a gratify- ing proof of the progress of Dundee, was formally opened on Tuesday,. with due ceremonial and speechmaking. Mr. Easson presided over the banquet ; in which, and its sequel, Sir John Ogilvy, Mr. David Baxter, and Mr. W. E. Baxter M.P., took part. In his opening speech, Mr. Easson stated that it was thought, twe years ago, when the war was &- dared, that it would ruin Dundee : but "things have turned out diffet-, ently, and it is gratifying to know, that although the war has raged for upwards of two years, the trade of Dundee was never in a more prosper- ous state than during that period." Among the notable toasts proposed- were "The Emperor of the French and the French People." . At no m0- anent,' said its proposer, Mr. Burnett, could the peace with our late ene- my have been more auspiciously concluded than at the present., when an heir is born to the French throne—a child in whose veins flows Scottish blood. Mr. W. E. Baxter, Member for Montrose, proposed "The Pie- sident and the People of the United States," and delivered a nest and
pointed eulogy of America and its institutions. Among other things, he
I care nothing about what is called the Monroe doctrine. 'America for the Americans ' is no cherished maxim of mine • but this I do say, that nothing is more likely, nothing more natural, nothing is more desirable, than that a people so industrious and so well fitted for self-government as our Transatlantic cousins, should gradually extend their institutions over the entire continent of North America; and that, no matter what we do, or think, or say—whether Lord Palmerston for the nonce stands by his friend the King of the Mosquitos, or, like a wise man, abandons that mighty po- tentate to his fate—both Mexico and Central America will sooner or later be peopled and civilized by the American branch of the Anglo-Saxon race. We, at all events, have irons enough in the fire, without multiplying them in a quarter where we cannot, in the nature of things, maintain a footing long; and I for one hope that the people of both countries, tired of this di- plomatic finessing and blundering, will take the matter into their own hands, and give their respective Governments distinctly to undertand, that war as to the terms of an apology, or the protectorate over a few savages, would be a fratricidal and a mnful war—that they wish an end put to this squabbling about mere trifles, when tremendous interests are at stake—and that the only contest which they will tolerate between Great Britain and America is as to which can do the most for the civilization and evangeliza- tion of the world." (Great cheering.)
An " accident " which might have been very disastrous occurred on the Caledonian Railway on Monday evening. Motherwell viaduct, twelve miles from Glasgow—a wooden structure sixty to eighty feet high—has but a single line of rails , on this viaduct an express and a luggage train met, with a smart collision ; fortunately, the driver of the express, when he saw the danger, promptly reduced his speed as much as possible, or most likely the trains would have been pitched over the viaduct. Many passengers were hurt, but not dangerously, and no bones were broken : a guard suf- fered a good deal. The driver of the goods-train says his break was out of order ; and thus he could not, in obedience to a danger-signal, prevent his train from entering the viaduct.
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