1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



123 



sidered as sacred and inviolable. That would not 

 perhaps be found a complete remedy, but it is cer- 

 tainly the best Ihat has yet been oflercd. 



If ever the Congress of the U. States was called 

 upon to settle a dilHcult and momentous subject, it 

 is this subject ol' the surj)his revenue. I wish that 

 every man in the United States could be made to 

 see the truth, that the whole property of the coun- 

 try is involved in this question of the surplus reve- 

 nue. If it is suffered to advance until it absorbs 

 all the money of the country, the value of every 

 house, of every foot of land, of every species of 

 produce and property, will be at the mercy of these 

 fluctuations, occasioned by the contractions and 

 expansions of the currency caused by the existence 

 of an overgrown surplus revenue. And all this 

 will happen, whether the government should wish 

 to oppress or not. The power of the government 

 becomes most fearfully great, with a large accu- 

 mulated revenue, and the best government in the 

 world, with such a fund, becomes like Ahmed, the 

 Pilgrim of Love, in the Tales of the j-Jlhivnbra., 

 when cased in the enchanted armour, and mount- 

 ed upon the enchanted steed : an impetus was 

 given to him which drove him furiously against 

 li-iend and foe, in spite of" every effort to restrain 

 himself, until he had prostrated in universal ruin 

 all who lay before him. 



I hope this, my hasty sketch of the influence of 

 the sur|)las revenue, will at least have the effect of 

 calling public attention to the subject. 



Z. W. 



From the Atlieiixum. 

 RAILWAYS liV PKOGKESS IN EA'GLAKD. 



Under the head of railways now in progress of 

 construction, we find several schemes surpassing 

 in magnitude any that have hitherto been accom- 

 plished. Our notice of these must be confined to 

 the most important : the review of which will most 

 appropriately commence at the southern extremity 

 of theirrcat line, proceeding from the shores of the 

 channel to the north of Lancashire, with the Lon- 

 don and Southampton railway. This line proceeds 

 from Southampton, passing near Winchester and 

 Basingstoke, to the north of Guildlcjrd, by Wim- 

 bledon, to Vauxhall, London, a distance little short 

 of 75 miles; lor which, the estimate was, as far as 

 we can remember, 1,000, OOOZ. From the exces- 

 sive difficulties of the country, and the consequent 

 heaviness of the works, we should be inclined to 

 suppose it will probahlv require at least 2,000,000/. 

 for its completion. The Act ol Parliament was 

 obtained in 1834. 



A project, under the name of the Great IVcs- 

 tern Railway, for connecting London with Bath 

 and Bristol, a distance, by the proposed line, of 

 about 120 miles, with an estimate of 2.500,000/., 

 was first entertained two j-ears ago. The eastern 

 termination is on the Birmingham line, about 4 

 miles from the station in London. The Act was 

 obtained in the session of 1835, after a contest ol 

 almost unexaiTipled severity; and we perceive that 

 the works, some of wliich are heavy, including a 

 Jong tunnel on an inclined plane at Box, are in 

 progress. 



The next in succession, northward, is the Lon- 

 don and Birmingham Railway, passing by the val- 

 ley of the Brent, Watford, Berkhampstead, Fen- 



ny Stratford, near Northampton, Daventry, Rug- 

 by, and Coventry, to Birmingham, a distance of 

 111^ miles. The estimate lor this line, which, 

 li'om the nature of the dis'rict traversed, must be 

 expensive, is two millions and a half; and flie 

 whole distance will, probably, be completed in the 

 course of the year 1838. Tlie works are proceed- 

 ing with great activity, and, at each end of the 

 line, a certain number of miles will be opened this 

 year, as we learn. There will be several tunnels 

 required to carry the line through the difiiMcut 

 ridges that cross its course : one oi' these, at Wat- 

 lord, will exceed a mile in length: an objectionable, 

 but, it is said, inevitable iealure of this railv.ay — ■ 

 the chief dependence ol which must, of course, be 

 on passengers. By this means, however, good 

 levels have been secured, and the distance will ea- 

 sily be performed in five hours and a half 



From Birmini'ham, the line is continued north- 

 ward by the Grand Junction Railway, proceeding 

 from the London Railway by Wolveihainpton,* 

 Penkridge, Stafibrd, to the west of Newcastle 

 and the Potteries, through Cheshire, to Warraig- 

 ton; at which point it takes up a branch rai/way 

 already made, and ['ursues it to Nev.'ton, a point 

 on the Liverpool and Manchester RuiKvay, equi- 

 distant fiom these town^-. The total Icr.iiih, in- 

 cluding the Warrington and Newton line, is about 

 82 miles; the estimate of its cost, 1,100,000/. : it 

 will probably require, including the expenses of a 

 carrying establishment, a million and a half. The 

 district traversed, presents, in general, fewer ob- 

 stacles than are niet with on the London line, and 

 will require no tunnels ; there are, however, some 

 works of great magnitude at different points, 

 among which may be named the great viaduct 

 across the valley of tlie Weaver, in Cheshire, con- 

 sisting of twenty arches, of sixty feet span, and 

 more than sixty fiiet above the level of the 

 valley. The works are rapidly advancing, and 

 the road, it is expected, will be opened, throu<rh- 

 out its entire length, in the summer of 1S37. 

 About four hours will be occupied in traversing it. 



At Newton, another branch line, formerly known 

 as the W^igan Railwaj^, has been incorporated 

 with one at present in progress, which will com- 

 plete the entire distance of 21 nules, from Newion 

 to Preston, under the title of the North Union 

 Railway. The cost of this, including the improve- 

 ments which must be made in the Vvigan and 

 and Newton division, will not be much less than 

 500,000/. : the works have already made some 

 progress, and will, it is expected, be completed in 

 1S33. There are a few heavy excavations on the 

 line, and a viaduct, now building across the valley 

 of the Ribble, at Penwortham, which will be a 

 handsome but expensive vv'cik. 



* It is intended to carry this railway over the valley 

 of the rivers Tow and duse at Wolverhampton, by a 

 viaduct consistinjj oi 6 elliptical arches, each of CO feet 

 span, with piers of 10 feet thickness. The arches will 

 spring at about 21 feet 6 inches above the general level 

 of the ground, and the line of the surface ol the rails 

 will be about 49 feet above the same surface: il'.e width 

 between the parapets will be 20 feet clear. The abut- 

 ments will be finished in front with pilasters; the wings 

 will have arched openings, and the extremities of the 

 wings will be finished with pilasters. The ri\ers will 

 be turned under the arches in a paved channel. 



