the closure of St. George's, Hanover-square, burial-
ground, as being the prolific source of disease in its
neighbourhood. Dr. Chowne was called to the chair,
and amongst those who addressed the meeting were
Drs. Drury, Adey, Webber, Bennett, Tilt, Goolden,
Douglas, G. A. Walker, Powell, &c. Resolutions in
accordance with the objects stated in the requisition were
adopted.

The Court of Common Council agreed, on the 28th of
February, to subscribe £500 towards the fund for carrying
out the Industrial Exhibition of 1851.

About forty of the leading manufacturers and
commercial men in Manchester have met, under the
chairmanship of the Bishop of Manchester, and agreed to
resolutions pledging themselves to set on foot an active
canvass for subscriptions in aid of the Industrial
Exposition. Upwards of £2500 was subscribed on the
spot.

In a Court of Common Council, on the 5th inst.,
Mr. Barber brought forward a motion, that the public
convenience would be promoted, and the architectural
beauty of the west end of the Cathedral Church of St.
Paul much better displayed, if the dwarf wall and railing
round the enclosed area in front thereof were removed
and the space paved with flag-stones, as at the Royal
Exchange. Sir Peter Laurie seconded the motion, and
it was unanimously adopted. A deputation was
immediately appointed to wait upon the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Bishop of London on the subject.

A public meeting was held in the London Tavern on
the 4th instant, to consider The Evils of the large Powers
intrusted to Railway Companies, which practically give
them a monopoly of the internal carrying trade. A
preliminary meeting, held on the 20th ultimo, had
considered the subject, and resolved to request Baron
Rothschild to convene a public meeting. He complied;
convened the present assemblage, which included
representatives of sixty leading firms of the City; and
himself took the chair. In opening the proceedings, Baron
Rothschild stated his strong feeling, that the interests of
the shareholders of railways are so identified with those
of the public, that the companies cannot thrive unless
they give every possible accommodation to their
customers. Mr. Dalton detailed the leading grievances to
which the companies subject the general carrying-trade
in London,—the monopoly granted to the two great
firms of Pickford and Co., and Chaplin and Horne; the
revival of the system, declared by the courts to be illegal,
of inspecting the contents of packages, and charging
separately for each parcel of a package of parcels; the
refusal to be accountable for loss of market caused by
delay, detention, or any other cause; and the arbitrary
sale of goods not removed in fourteen days. Mr. M.
Forster, M.P., moved, and Mr. Henry, M.P., seconded,
a resolution, affirming the necessity of applying efficient
checks on the practical monopoly of the companies.
Mr. Sadleir, M. P., moved, and Mr. Groucock seconded,
a resolution, that some of the present rates and arrangements
of the companies are unjust and oppressive, and
no less opposed to the interests of the shareholders than
to the interests of the public. Mr. Dillon, Mr. Caldecott,
Mr. White, and Mr. William Hawes, supported
resolutions for carrying out these opinions, by the formation
of a committee, and the collection of a subscription.
Mr. Walker called attention to the disgraceful treatment
of third-class passengers, a matter of at least equal
importance to the carrying of goods. A committee was
selected, including most of the speakers.

A meeting of the master tailors of London was held
on the 4th instant, to consider the present Distress among
the Journeymen Tailors, and the proper remedies. Mr.
Cartwright, Mr. Prague, Mr. Wain, of the firm of Stulz
and Co., Mr. Stohwasser, and Mr. Adeney, with other
respectable members of the trade, vouched for the
miserable state of the journeyman class. It was the
general opinion that most of that misery is caused by
the system of out-door working, which introduces the
middleman and the oppressions of the "sweating-
system." As a means towards the improvement of the
moral, social, and physical condition of the journeyman
tailor, it was resolved that all the workmen be employed
in the workshop of the master; that the practice of
using public-houses for houses of call be abolished; that
reading-rooms, where tea and coffee could be obtained,
be substituted; and that a joint committee, consisting
of an equal number of masters and workmen, be annually
chosen for the determination of all disputes between the
employer and the employed. A number of master tailors
were accordingly nominated, towards the formation of
the proposed committee.

At the annual meeting of the Directors of King's
College Hospital, it was stated that the out-door patients
during the past year had been 21,048, and the in-door
patients 1261. During the cholera epidemic, 123 cases
of cholera were received in the hospital, and 83 of them
were cured. The extra charge of the arrangements
made during that pestilence, to afford more assistance
to the public, had caused the expenses (£4660) to exceed
the income (£4512), and swelled the outstanding debt
to £530. Towards the fund of £50,000 for building a
new hospital, about £22,000 has now been raised.

The opening of the first completed tube of the
Britannia Bridge, across the Menai Straits, was
accomplished with triumphant success on the 5th. At half-
past six in the morning, three engines were brought
up to the Bangor station, harnessed together, mounted
by Mr. Robert Stephenson, with a few selected
professional assistants and friends, and driven swiftly to the
entrance of the bridge-tunnel. Slackening speed as
they drew near, the engines advanced at a slow pace,
and were presently out of sight in the aërial corridor.
The train again paused in the centre of the tunnel, each
experimenter's eye and ear watching for signs or sounds
of danger. When they emerged from the other end,
with flags streaming out cheerily, and engineers holding
their hats aloft in the air, a shout from each shore
testified the relieved suspense; and immediately afterwards
a general din of sounds, and a visible commotion in the
crowds, showed that they shared the excitement and
triumph of the event.—The subsequent proceedings
were watched with an interest freer from anxiety. A
train of waggons laden with huge blocks of Brymbo coal,
weighing altogether some 300 tons, was drawn through
the tube at a slow pace, without the least appearance of
deflection or strain. The engineer then ceremoniously
gave the finishing-touch to the work, by inserting and
clenching the last of the rivets—exactly 2,000,000—
which have been used in making the tubes. The
proceedings closed with a brief address by Mr. Stephenson,
in which he eulogised the skill of the foreman, Mr.
Fleet, and the intelligent industry of the workmen.
The engineers remounted their iron steeds and steamed
to Plas Llanfar, the seat of Mr. Foster, where a handsome
repast awaited them. During their absence, the
most severe test of any was applied to the structure. A
train of 200 tons of coals was drawn to the centre of the
Carmarthenshire tube, and left there stationary for two
hours. A delicate admeasurement showed a total deflection,
under this dead weight, of not more than 49-100ths
of an inch,—an amount actually less than the diurnal
variation due to the expanding influence of the sun.
At twelve o'clock, a final testing-train was organised, to
allow the public an opportunity of going once through.
More than seven hundred passengers—including many
ladies, were drawn in forty carriages after the train of
200 tons of coal; an immense aggregate weight of 400
tons. The train nearly occupied the whole length of the
tube: as it swept through, salvoes of artillery were fired
from each pier and from the banks; a body of seamen
perched on the towers shouted a stanza from "Rule
Britannia," and the excited passengers swelled the
chorus to a roar as they emerged from the Welsh end
of the tunnel. With these performances the inauguration
terminated. Aloft on each entrance-tower of the
bridge are these words, deeply graven in the stone—
"Erected anno Domini 1850: Robert Stephenson,
engineer."

The Lord Mayor gave a splendid banquet at the
Mansion-house on the 7th, to the Chief Magistrates of
the cities, towns, and boroughs of the United Kingdom,
to stir up their interest in the Exposition of 1851. At
the head of the list of guests was Prince Albert. The
hall was specially adorned for the occasion in the most
magnificent style, with arms of the counties and
corporations, trophies characterising local industry, painted
windows, allegorically representing the pacific and