otherwise insignificant persons, for whose lives no good reason is forthcoming were it not for the results of the supreme moment on others. Such, by way of example, are old Featherstone, Godfrey Cass's wife, Edgar Tryan's lost sweetheart. All this is like the burden of some of Feuerbach's most touching thoughts and most eloquent passages. 'Wenn kein Tod wäre, so wäre auch keine Religion.' 'Nur das Grab der Menschen ist die Geburtstätte der Götter' 'Die lieben, bessern, andern Wesen, Den Kleinen du noch trübst das Licht.' George Eliot has learned many lessons from many masters, but it would be impossible to designate her with certainty and without reservation as the disciple of any of her teachers. Her scrutiny of literature has been close, her sympathy with science is intense, she has brought to her literary and scientific studies a most powerful intellect and unimpeachable integrity of aim. We have, however, great doubt whether she would be willing to formulate at all a comprehensive theory of life, though we have, unfortunately, little doubt that, were she to formulate such a theory, it would be one we should be compelled to contravene and to combat at every step. But it has been her wont to study men even more than books, and we are glad to acknowledge the value of the practical lessons she has striven with all her skill as artist, and weight as moralist, to enforce. It shall not be to what is dubious and dreary-as we hold needlessly dubious and dreary-in her view of human affairs, that, as we take leave of her, we will look back, but to that calm, strong, constant sense of duty, of the necessity of self-control, of the law of benevolence, which she has somehow rescued for herself, by which she is manifestly animated, and which she desires to fortify in others. She condemns alike licence and lassitude. She counsels resignation when she cannot impart peace, she rejoices in sight of the field of labour, though she sees not the place of rest. Our last reference, as we conclude, shall be to one of her most beautiful stories, the most poetical of them all, the tale of 'Silas Marner,' Marner,' who deems himself deserted and rejected utterly of God and man, and to whom, in his deepest misery, in place of lost gold, a little foundling girl is sent. This tale is the most hopeful of all her books. The contemplation of the renewal of enterprise and energy, which comes with little children, and of the promise with which each new generation gilds the crown of honour for its sires, is pleasant and grateful to her. She writes upon the title-page the lines of Wordsworth : 'A child, more than all other gifts That earth can offer to declining man, Brings hope with it and forwardlooking thoughts.' The Weaver of Raveloe' and 'Eppie' are creations after Wordsworth's own heart, and, throughout her narrative, our novelist never strays far from the auspicious guidance, under which she set out, of Wordsworth's moderating and elevating spirit. ART. III.-1. Report of the Joint Select Committee of Lords and Commons on Railway Companies' Amalgamation. Session 1872. Parliamentary Paper. -2. " Railway Amalgamation." A Speech delivered by R. S. Graves, M.P., at the Annual Meeting of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, 26th January, 1872. London, 1872. 3. The Amalgamation of Railway Companies, or the Alternative of their Purchase by the State considered. By Robert Benson. London, 1872. 4. "The Appropriation of Railways by the State," a Popular Statement, with a Map. By Arthur John Williams, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. London, 1870. 5. Observations by Sir E. W. Watkin at the Meeting of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, May 13th, 1872. Manchester, 1872. 6. Speech of the Right Honourable Chichester Fortescue, M.P., in the House of Commons, on introducing the Railway and Canal Traffic Bill, on the 16th of February, 1873. 7. The State Purchase of Railways. A Paper read before the Statistical Society by Mr. R. Biddulph Martin, on Tuesday, March 18th, 1873. SAE AFETY, economy, and expedition may be said to constitute the trinoda necessitas of all travellers by land and by water, of all consignors and consignees of merchandise, and of all who are interested directly or indirectly in our internal communications. Vol. 134.-No. 268. 2 B If If we have already reached and (which is still more important secured to ourselves for the future the highest perfection attainable in these three particulars, we have nothing to do but to be thankful for the blessings we enjoy. If we have not, but are, on the contrary, very far from their attainment, and in danger of losing even what we possess, the practical question arises by what means, if by any, the public interests, in these important matters, may be effectually protected?' Perhaps we shall be asked, 'Why do you complain? Are not the appliances for locomotion as safe, as cheap, and as quick as they ought to be?' The answer to this question must of course depend, in some degree, on the standard aimed at. But a country possessing a manufacturing industry far more productive and expansive than any other in Europe-a country, moreover, which took the lead in railway enterprise-may not unreasonably be expected to be in advance of its neighbours in respect of its internal communications. How, then, do we stand in comparison with other countries in Europe as to the safety, economy, and speed of our locomotion ? 1. As to safety. We sometimes hear railway authorities congratulating themselves upon the small percentage of casualties on the gross number of passengers in England; but the question rather is whether we are improving or deteriorating in this respect. From the Board of Trade Returns for 1871 it appears that the total number of accidents was 1665, of which 402 were fatal. It further appears that the cases which have been the subject of official inquiry show an increase of 30 per cent, over the average of the preceding five years. We possess very imperfect data for comparison with other European countries in this respect; but if we take the percentage of accidents to railway mileage in the United Kingdom, we find that for the year 1871 it was in the proportion of 11 per cent. on the number of miles open, while in Belgium it was not more than 7. On comparative statistics of this kind, however, we place little reliance. The important practical question is, 'Does our present system tend to diminish the risks of travelling?' And this question we are compelled to answer without hesitation in the negative. If a certain percentage of casualties is necessarily incident to locomotion, it is surely all-important that in cases arising from criminal neglect the culprit should be easily detected. But so long as every fatal catastrophe is followed by a mysterious controversy about inter-locking points,' 'block signals,' and level crossings,' between the authorities of the Board of Trade and railway companies, the representatives of the killed and wounded will probably ask in vain, 'Who ought to to be hanged?' And in the face of legislation directly tending to aggravate all the evils of this double government, and the difficulties of fixing the responsibility for accidents, no one at all conversant with the facts of the case will deny that whatever marvels we may have accomplished in the matter of locomotion, adequate guarantees for the public safety yet remain to be provided. 2. With respect to the second question, that of economy, a table of comparative fares and rates, drawn up by Mr. Galt (the figures of which were substantially verified by the report of the Royal Commission of 1866), gives the following results :Average Fares charged to First-class Passengers for a Journey of 100 Miles in the Twelve Countries of Europe enumerated below. It may be added that a comparison of the second- and thirdclass fares shows the same results proportionally, while the goods' traffic rates charged in Belgium present a still more striking contrast with those on English railways. The following examples of the contrast are given by Mr. Williams in his Popular Statement': The charge for carrying raw silk from Derby to Manchester (69 miles) is 21. 108. per ton: according to the Belgian rate it would be 98. 3d. From Derby to Glasgow (275 miles) the rate is 51.: according to the Belgian rate it would be lì. 18. 6 The charge for carrying groceries between London and Bristol is 238. 4d. per ton. In Belgium it would be 138. 9d. The cost of carriage for sugar from Liverpool to Worcester (100 miles) is 16s. 8d. per ton. In Belgium it would be 12s. 1d. 'Butter is carried from Liverpool to Manchester (32 miles) at the rate of 108. per ton: according to the Belgian tariff it would only be 48. 10d. From Burton-on-Trent to Winchester (194 miles) the charge for ale is 268. 8d. per ton. In Belgium it would be 178. 6d. To Newport (136 miles) the charge is 218. 8d. per ton. By the Belgian tariff it would be 14s. 6d.' Charges are of course made from time to time in both tariffs, but, according to Mr. Williams, they still present a striking contrast in the charges for the following bulkier commodities:'The cost of carrying a ton of timber or deals from Liverpool to 2 B 2 Dewsbury Dewsbury (65 miles) is 12s. 6d. If we had the Belgian tariff, it would only cost 58. The cost of carrying a ton of timber from Liverpool to Manchester (314 miles) is 88. In Belgium it would be only 38. 1d. From Liverpool to Stockport (38 miles) the charge is 108. per ton. The Belgian charge would be only 38. 8d. Bar-iron is carried from Wolverhampton to Southampton (152 miles) at a cost of 198. 2d.: in Belgium it would be carried for 98. a ton. Pig-iron can only be brought from Wolverhampton to London (126 miles) at an expense of 158.: according to the Belgian scale it would be 68. Between London and Bristol the rates for hardware are 278. 6d. a ton on the Belgian scale they would be 13s. 6d. The manufacturers of earthenware at the potteries have to pay at the rate of 30s. per ton for the carriage of their goods to London (150 miles): the Belgian railways would carry them for 98. Grain is charged 128. 6d. a ton from Liverpool to Sheffield (74 miles): the Belgian rate would be 68. 11d.' As to the advantages of uniform terminal charges and published rates on various Continental railways, valuable information is furnished by the evidence of Mr. Malcolm before the Joint Select Committee of 1871. But enough has been said to prove the shortcomings of England as to economy in railway traffic. 3. With respect to the third point of comparison, namely, speed, in which great superiority has been sometimes erroneously claimed for English locomotion, it will be found that the difference between ourselves and our neighbours is not very considerable. The average of all the English examples of the quickest trains, given in the appendix to the report of the Royal Commission, gives a speed of 36 miles per hour. The average of the quickest examples in France is given at 31, while the quickest of all (that between Paris and Rouen) is 36. In Belgium the quickest are from 29 to 35, in Prussia, 29; in Austria, 20 to 29; in Bavaria, from 24 to 32; in Italy, from 24 to 30 miles per hour. It appears, therefore, that Englishmen can travel, at a greater risk of life, and at considerably higher cost in money, about five or six miles an hour faster than their Continental neighbours. It may be added that a first-class passenger may often engross two seats for a single fare, and travel in a half empty carriage, at almost any hour of the day he pleases, to his destination on any of the leading thoroughfares of England. For schoolboys going home for their holidays, to whom money is no object,' and safety of much less importance than expedition, this state of things may be very satisfactory. But to the grown-up community, who, though they might be content with the status quo, foresee that they will soon be at the mercy of a few colossal companies |