RAILWAYS.

RAILWAYS are not of so modern an origin as is generally supposed. So early as the year 1676, as we find from the Life of Lord Keeper NORTH, railways were used in the Northern Collieries. They are thus described—" The manner of the carriage is by laying rails of timber from the colliery to the river, exactly straight and parallel ; and bulky carts are made, with four rollers, fitting those rails, whereby the carriage is so easy, that one horse will draw down four or five chaldron of coals, and is an immense benefit to the coal-merchants." This wooden railway was a very imperfect attempt, as the softness of the material occasioned considerable resistance and constant repair. Still it was a great improvement; as we find that, for many years after its introduction the load of a horse on a railway was forty-two hundredweight, wliile seven- teen hundredweight was the load upon a common road. The substitution of cast-iron for wool appears to have taken 'place about the middle of the last century ; but it did not, for a long tims, come into general use. The tardy removal of the difficulty which impeded the adoption of iron, aflbrds a curious instance of the trifles which stand in the way of the improvement of inven- tions. The east-iron rails were found to be toe weak to bear the weight previously used on the wieslen ones ; and it was it till after the lope of thirty Years that the uhvi,ats expedient was dis- r )1.erecl, of linking together a number Of small wagons, and thus dividiles the weight of one wagon among:many. This is the story of Conetu rs and the eese. The ineeeveeiences arising from the hrittleness of cast-iron have been souitlit to be obviated by forming the rails of wt•oneilit-ir.it. This Ives first dune at Wellbot tle

pear Neweaelle-reen-Tyne, in 19.05: and malleable rail- ways hare since been I:ma:ally used at other places, but not to any extent, until very lately.

The application of the railway to the purposes of infernal com- menieatien, is of very few yenes sty riling. The slow progress in the improvement of railways, and the recent date of the extension of their objecfs beyond the limited puree to:which they were 0.1:finally applied, may Ir. accounted fir In the extensive' use of eseals. At the time of the intneluctinn of canals into Great Britein, railways were esed merely IT conveying the produce iron-.i rhs, &s fer a 'I'ew leendreil 3::e14; and the poe eiful mind of Bei NOLEN' rendered the canal a great engine of intereal communiration y.ltee the railway was yet in a state of insigeifiernee. The immense advantages or internal water-car- riage directed the public attention exclusively towards canals, which spread rapidly over the country,yee l

e oebody thinnelit of developing the prodis.ious powers which lay hid in So Illi•na- loukilyx an object as the railway. Now, however, a new light less broken iii upoa the world. It is observed that canals, ever since their first g,eneral introduction, have undergone little or change. Sleme trilliug improvements have been made upon the construc- tion of locks, and lit other particulars; but their general structure remains nearly the same, and their powers as THINDIS of coniso a nee and communication can hardly be said to have increased. From their construction they admit but of a very limited application or mechanical power; and hence they have profited little by the prac- ilea' application of the principles of mechanics. Railways, on the contrary, admit of an almost unlimited application of me- chanical powers ; and the imagination can hardly set bounds to the possible—nay probable—results of this application. It is an established principle, that, on roads, the friction, whatever may be its amount, is the same for all velocities; and no oreater power, therefore, is necessary to overcome resistance at the speed of twenty than of two miles an hour. On railways the friction is

rendered so slight, that the resistance of the air is almost the only obstacle to the progress of a carriage. Floating bodies must over- come a resistance which increases in the ratio of the square of their velocity, and which would thus counteract the force of any additional mechanical power that could be applied to vessels on canals. But the application of such additional power, to any ex- tent at least, appears to be impracticable ; for the motion of steam- paddles in a canal would agitate the water so violently as to break down its banks. Though, therefore, we shall not say that rail- ways will entirely supersede the use of canals,—whieh may con- tinue necessary in situations where railways would be imprac- ticable,—yet there is no doubt that the railway will soon become the general means of communication, not only between the dif- ferent parts of Great Britain and Ireland, but of every country in the civilized world.

Front the recent application of railways to this great national object, few of these undertakings have as yet been completed. The first of any importance was the Stockton and Darlington ; a work which was at first looked upon as a wild and desperate enterprise, and had to encounter all the obstacles arising from ignorance. prejudice, and the opposition of conflicting private in- terests. The work, however, was accomplished; and now it is of incalculable benefit to the adjacent district. It pays 6 per cent. upon the shares ; which, in nine years, have trebled in value—time last quoted price of the share of IDOL being 298/. It was front the impulse given to public feeling and private speculation by this work, that the Liverpool and Manchester Railway originated. This undertaking, from its greater magnitude and moment, had a still greater amount of opposition to encounter, besides the heavy expenses and delay of a protracted Parliamentary inquiry. Even after its completion, the most erroneous views were enter- tained and promulgated respecting it. We remember, soon after it was put in operation, reading an elaborate article (pamphlet it might be called) in the Quarterly Review, in which it was proved by an array of statistical statements and calculations, and mecha- nical demonstrations, that the prospects of' the undertaking were desperate. What, however, is the fact ? Since the commence- ment of the working of this railway, in 1830, the average divi- dends on its capital have been nine per cent., besides the reserved fund laid aside by the Company to meet contingencies,—notwith- standing the extraordinary expenses inevitable at the beginning of an undertaking which, being the first of its kind, was necessa- rily obliged to pay dearly for that experience by which other rail- ways will profit. The last dividend which it paid was 10 per cent.; and the last quoted price of the 1001. share was 2401. Its public benefits can hardly be overrated. It has brought the great manufacturing town of Manchester into contact with the great part of Liverpool, giving immense facilities to the exportation of the

staple manufactures of' England, and enabling these important places to contribute to the prosperity of each other. The success of these undertakings opened up more enlarged views. The extension of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,

by the lines of commun;eation which have already received Par-

liamentary sanction, to Birmingham, led to the formation of the great London and Birmingham line; thus establishing a system of railway communication from the Metropolis, by one continuous lime to the great scene of commercial enterprise, the second seat of capitel and trade in the empire—Liverpool ; carrying with it the advantnee of passing through those districts and places in which

the internal industry, in some of its chief branches, is most pro- ductively employed. This great eommunieation between London and Birmingham is et-mewed in with such et ergy, that its comple-

tion will certainly net be protracted; and there is but one opinion as to its result. It is expected that twenty-one miles of the line, at the Isendon end, will he opened to the public in the course of next spring, ten more in the ensuing summer, and the whole in the summer of 1 e3e. The shares of 100/., of which 50/. has been paid up, are now worth lee/. The Great Western Rail- way, from Liverpool to Bristol, another undertaking of immense ma g nit tide and national im porta ncega s is sufficiently apparent from its eery tithe) is likewise in a state of considevable forwardness; a portion of the line between 13:1111 and Bristol having been formed. Its AlZliCS of 100/., on wide]) 10/. has been peel up, are quoted at 411. us s. The London and Southampton Railway, the operations on which are about to be commenced, is also looked upon as likely to be a great public benefit, not only from the advantages to be derived from the line itself, but from the convenient points which it presents for the divergence of other lines. In the North- ern and Midland counties, too, the spirit of enterprise is fully awakened; and various lines of railway have been projected, which will penetrate through the heart of England to its Northern extremities, and to the Southern parts of Scotland. Respecting the numerous smaller railways, now either in con- templation or in progress in all parts of the kingdom, we cannot enter into particulars. The London and Greenwich, now in opera- tion, promises to be profitable as well as useful ; and the heat of the contest between three rival lines from London to Brighton is excitiug a good deal of interest.

The last undertaking of this kind which has engaged the public attention, is one of the greatest and most important of them all,—

namely, the formation of a railway from London to Falmouth, by the way of Salisbury, Exeter, and Plymouth. It originated from its obvious necessity, in the present circumstances of the country, to the prosperity of the South-west of England. This great district has always been unfavourably situated with respect to the means of travelling and the conveyance of goods, in comparison with the other parts of the island; and, unless it keeps pace with other districtil in the adoption of railway commu- nication, its situation will daily become more disadvantageous, its agricultural, trading, and milling interests will suffer, and the value of its land and every kind of property will be depreciated. The navigation round the South-eastern coasts is tedious and uncertain, rendering the conveyance of goods between London and the ports of Hampshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Corn- wall, and from these ports to each other, exceedingly slow and expensive ; whilst this great hardship is not diminished by any internal water-carriage. The absolute necessity of a railway, therefore, through these counties and the counties of Wilts and Somerset, is evident enough. For the accomplishment of this object a company called the London, Salisbury, Exeter, Ply- mouth, and Falmouth Company, has been formed. From the statements before the public, it appears that its originators pro- ceeded with a proper degree of deliberation, and got a survey of the line made by an engineer of eminence, the general result of which they communicated to the public along with the first announce- ment of the company. Another company, called the South- western, has been formed to carry the same object partially into effect, by making a railway only to Exeter. But no judgment can be formed as to the merit of their plan ; for they have pub- lished their prospectus without any information respecting their Intended line; and, indeed, without giving any reason to believe that they have fixed as yet upon any line. Setting aside, how- ever, the question of rival lines to Exeter, the railway through the great mining county of Cornwall to Falmouth, is an object of the utmost importance. Among other consequences, will be a quick and easy intercourse between London and Foreign coun- tries, particularly the Southern parts of Europe. The last news- papers furnish a curious illustration of this : the steam-vessels from Lisbon to the Thames now bring cargoes of peas, beans, and such vegetables as in our climate do not come to maturity for two months hence, all in excellent condition and fit for the table. The cost of these vegetables in Lisbon is a mere trifle; and we

can thus have them on our tables for less than their usual price at midsummer. But, by the brief passage to Falmouth and sub- sequent railway conveyance, we might have all the most delicate and perishable productions of Portugal almost as cheaply and abundantly as if they were of our own growth. The people of the United States are making the railway one of the most powerful means of diffusing the blessings of commercial and social intercourse; and it is probable that this young and enterprising nation will get the start of us in this, as in many other things. At present a journey of 1700 miles may be made over olie uninterrupted line of railway. In France, Belgium,

Holland, and Girrinany, a similar spirit is at work ; and every thing indicates, through the rapid and simultaneous creation of this medium of intercourse between distant places, one of the greatest and most sudden changes that has ever taken place in the face of human affairs.

Though the progress of railways is irresistible, and their ulti- mate amount of benefit battles conjecture, yet the public will do

well to ember!: cautiously in the multitude of projects with which they are daily tenapts d. When the spirit of speculation is 01101 awakened in Eneland, it is easy to get up joint stock companies for any purpose, however chimeric:IL Not only capitalists, who are discontented with the presepi late oC commercial profits, but quiet people, who are liviut with difficulty on the once comfortable- income derived from the interest en a small fortune or the rents of a small property, are dazzl«1 v the Bohlen visions which dance ',cline their eyes, and eagerly plupge into schemes which promise returns of ten or twenty per cent. There is such an air of solidity about railway schemes, amt they are so much connected with great public benefit, that they are the very best decoys which can be held out to those unwary vite hiss. It is sullicient for some plausible schemer to draw on a plop a nice-looking line between two important places, and to pistil ish a prospectus full of sounding words and uuvouched statements; and the public rush forward to purchase shares, without calling f proof:, or even making.

the slightest inquiry into the eepehilities of the scheme. By and by there comes a chilling frost. -ca reflection and investigation either put an end to the project by exposing its fotility, or it is

knocked on the bead by a Committee of the house of (l'ommons.

Meanwhile, a large stint has been peid by the gulls, by way of deposits on their shares, fur the purpose of defray ing preliminary

expenses, and particulerly the mist of carrying the bill through Parliament. When the bubble bursts, what becomes of this money? Has any of it ever been refunded to the unhappy dupes I We suspect not. Parliament is maturing means for

effectually sifting the merits or railway schemes; but much of the evil is done before Parliament can interfere; and the public, therefore, must look to themselves. Every man of-

common information and knowledge of business may, for the most part, avoid error on this subject, if lie will only go coolly and deliberately about it. lie may desire the projectors to lay before him surveys, plans, and estimates, vouched by the autho- rity of professional men of acknowledged reputation. He may consider the proposed line—the character of the country and towns through which it is to pass—and the nature and ex- tent of the traffic of which it may be the medium. If he is locally acquainted with the district, he cannot be much at a loss for data on these points, if he lives at a distance, he may gain sufficiently authentic information from the spot: and, where rival schemes have been set on foot for accomplishing the same object, be may form conclusions as to their comparative merits, from the extent to which they are severally supported by the individuals who re- present the most important interests of the district.

This caution on the part of the public will hasten, instead of retarding, the ultimate formation of a complete system of railway

communication, diffusing its benefits equally over the whole face of our laud; because it will prevent the waste and destruction of a great mass of capital which would otherwise be all applied in bringing about the desired consummation.