possible facility of intercourse between its distant points.
When the London and Bristol railway shall be completed, it will be very
possible, in connexion with the Irish steam-boats from the latter port,
for cattle and other Irish produce to be conveyed to the London market
within 32 hours from the time of shipment at Cork, Waterford, &c., and
thus, at a cheap rate, will the London market be thrown immediately open
to the Irish agriculturist; at the same time the London consumers will
be benefited in proportion to the greater extent of country thrown open
whence they may derive their supplies. Liverpool, we understand, imports
above 7,000 head of live stock per week; much of which is conveyed to
Manchester by the railway, and we may surely hope for a similar result
to the metropolis, when the direct communication is opened with Ireland
by similar means. In a political point of view, the importance of the
great work in question is too obvious to require a moment's comment.
We need only state, that in case of emergency, four to five hours will
be sufficient to convey any quantity of men or stores from our depots or
arsenals near London to Bristol, whence they will be ready to embark for
any point where they may be required, and we at once prove that
railways, judiciously constructed across the country, may be made, not
only the means of economy to the Government (smaller establishments
being necessary), but that they tend more than anything else to
concentrate and consolidate the strength of an empire, and are an
additional guarantee against war and foreign aggression."

[Illustration: PRIMITIVE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY TRAIN BETWEEN BRISTOL AND
BATH, PASSING KELSTON]

In these days of special trains, composed exclusively of Post Office
carriages, such for instance as the night mail on the Great Western
Railway, leaving Paddington at 9.5 p.m., consisting of eight coaches
with engine (usually the "Alexandra" or "Duke of York"), and measuring
400 feet in length, which runs the whole journey from London to Penzance
in the space of 9 hours 40 minutes, stopping at Bristol and a few other
first-class stations _en route_, it may be interesting to recall the
earliest period of the conveyance of mails by railway. Light is thrown
thereon in the following correspondence relating to the then conveyance
of the mails to Manchester and Liverpool, partly by the
recently-constructed railway, and partly by road:--"Liverpool, 4th July,
1837