is to meet with a sociable fellow-passenger, from whom (it has frequently happened in our own case) much information may be derived. Robert Montgomery describes such a companion in the following lines :

"Within a carriage we perchance may:

find

Some choice companion with a kindred mind;
Here unsubdued by ceremonious fear,

The finer traits of character appear;

And thoughts, unmanacled by mean control,
Flash bright and clear like sparkles from the soul.
Shame on the man who drones himself away,
When conversation should have turn'd to play;
A soul so bare, companionless, and cold,
Can scarce be stamp'd in Nature's kindly mould.
Who bids the social flame to kindle when
We meet, though strangers, with our fellow-men;
Commend me him who with a courteous art,
Can loose his tongue and let out half his heart.
With him a journey yields delightful ease;
His wit may 'liven, and his wisdom please,
Long miles escape amid colloquial charms,

His temper brightens, and acquaintance warms."

Ample topics of conversation will be found in the subject of railways themselves, which at almost every mile present some interesting feature either in the construction of the line itself, or in natural scenery, with its ever-varying character. Mr. Samuel Smiles, the Secretary of the South-Eastern Railway, in his recent admirable "Life of George Stephenson," has truly observed that "the system of British railways, whether considered in point of utility or in respect of the gigantic character and extent of the works involved in their construction, must be regarded as the most magnificent public enterprise yet accomplished in this country; far surpassing all that has been achieved by any government, or by the combined efforts of society in any former age.' We may just mention that the neighbourhood of the several Stations on the South-Eastern and North Kent Railways is, from the salubrity of the atmosphere, the purity of the water, and the nature of the soil, admirably suited for building purposes.

* Of the 8635 miles of railway now constructed in Britain, about seventy miles pass through tunnels, and more than fifty miles over viaducts; whilst of railway bridges there have been built some 30,000, or far more than all the bridges previously existing in England.

It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the immense quantity of earth, rock, and clay, that has been picked, blasted, shovelled, and wheeled into embankments by English navvies during the last thirty years. On the South-Western Railway alone the earth removed amounted to 16,000,000 of cubic yards,-a mass of material sufficient to form a pyramid 1000 feet high, with a base of 150,000 square yards. Mr. Robert Stephenson has estimated the total amount in all the railways of England as at least 550,000,000 of cubic yards! And what does this represent? "We are accustomed," he says, to regard St. Paul's as a test for height and space; but, by the side of the pyramid of earth these works would rear St. Paul's would be but as a pigmy to a giant. Imagine a mountain half-a-mile at its base, and soaring into the clouds one mile and a-half in height,-that would be the size of the mountain of earth which these earthworks would form; while St. James' Park, from the Horse Guards to Buckingham Palace, would scarcely afford space for its base."

All this mass has been removed by English navvies, perhaps the hardest workers in the world.

FACILITIES FOR TRAVELLING.

Of the attractiveness of the districts rendered accessible by the South-Eastern system of Railways to the tourist, the excursionist, or holiday-maker, it is perhaps unnecessary to say more than refer the reader to the following pages, which describe scenes unrivalled in beauty and interest by any other portion of the United Kingdom. The wide extent of varied sea-coast, which combines the charms of ocean with the most picturesque land scenery, offers opportunities to the vast numbers who inhabit London which cannot be overrated, both as regards moral and sanitary influences; and the interior of Kent-aptly called the Garden of England-as well as Surrey are rich in rural allurements. Now that France is brought within such cheap and easy reach, an increased desire to visit that country cannot fail to be created, and we look upon such a tendency with very satisfactory feelings, knowing how much intercourse removes prejudice, fosters friendly feeling, and creates a desire on the part of one nation to imitate what is admirable in the civilization of the other. The South-Eastern Railway, with the view of bringing these advantages within reach of the immense populations, whose keenest aspirations, during the period of fine weather, must be for opportunity to breathe the pure sea air, or to enjoy the freshness of the woods and meadows, have made very extensive excursion arrangements, so that the public may have the greatest possible facilities of access to the localities most in request at the lowest fares. Excursion Trains run every Sunday during the summer season, leaving London in the morning, and returning the same evening, to and from Dover, Hastings, Ramsgate, Margate, Herne-bay, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Aldershot Camp, Dorking, Chatham, &c. &c., at rates of little more than a farthing per mile, third class. There is a cheap Train to the sea-side Stations every Saturday afternoon returning on Monday morning. Cheap Express Trains between London, Ramsgate, Margate, &c., run every week-day. Family Tickets are issued to Boulogne, Calais, Dover, and Folkestone, which will be found very convenient for families intending to reside temporarily at the sea-side. Besides these, there are frequent special services and other facilities for travelling offered time after time, the particulars of which can always be found in the Company's Time-book.

In the compilation of this work, much useful information has been derived from Kelly's "Post Office Directory of the Six Home Counties," the accuracy of which is remarkable. Some extracts have likewise been made from a pleasantly written Guide Book, entitled "Summer Excursions in the County of Kent."

Travellers to London will be glad to know that THE BRIDGE HOUSE HOTEL, near the Stations, THE LONDON COFFEE HOUSE, Ludgate Hill, and the GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL, King's Cross, are comfortable and economical establishments. We urge upon the traveller, especially the stranger to London, the importance of our recommendation.

In order to facilitate still further the obtaining of passports by British subjects desiring to proceed to the Continent, passports will henceforth be issued to any British subject who shall produce or send to the Passport Department of the Foreign-office, or to any one of the undermentioned agents at the outports, a certificate of his identity, signed by any mayor, magistrate, justice of the peace, minister of religion, physician, surgeon, solicitor, or notary, resident in the United Kingdom. Every such certificate must bear the signature of the person on whose behalf it is granted; and when it is forwarded to the Foreign-office, by post, it must, if it be required that the passport should be sent by return of post to the person who granted the certificate, in order that he may deliver it to the applicant for the passport, be accompanied by a post-office order for the amount of the fee; or, if forwarded by post to an agent at an outport, the postage must be prepaid. But an agent at an outport will only deliver passports to persons applying for them there in pursuance of such certificate, and will not send them by post to any persons whatever. The application for the passport, if addressed to "Her Majesty's Secretary of State, Foreign-office, London," should have the word "Passport," conspicuously written upon the cover. The names of the agents who have been appointed to issue Foreign-office passports at the undermentioned ports are:

The certificate of identity should be worded in the following form, and must be signed and sealed by the person giving it:

The Undersigned,

(Date of place and day of the month.)

Mayor of

Magistrate for

Justice of the Peace for

Minister

Physician

Surgeon

Solicitor
Notary

Residing at

hereby certifies that A. B. (Christian and surname to be written at length), whose signature is written at foot, is a British subject

a naturalized British subject, and requires a passport to enable him to proceed to

to travel on the Continent (accompanied, as the case may be, by his wife and children, with their tutor, named C.D. (Christian and surname to be written at length), a British subject)

a naturalized British subject, and

governess, and

maidservant [or servants], and

manservant (or servants] named E. F., a British subject [or subjects], and a courier, named G. H., a naturalized British subject.

Signed

(with the usual
signature)

If the applicant for a passport be a naturalized British subject, his certificate of naturalization, with his signature subscribed to the oath printed on the third page of it, must be forwarded to the Foreignoffice, with the certificate of identity granted on his behalf; and his certificate of naturalization will be returned, with the passport, to the person who may have granted the certificate of identity, in order that he may cause such naturalized British subject, not being a servant included in his employer's passport, to sign the passport in his presence. But the agents at the outports are not authorized to grant passports to naturalized British subjects, nor to citizens of the Ionian States.

The charge on the issue of a passport, whatever number of persons may be named in it, is for the present 6s., and that sum is to be paid on the delivery of the passport; or if it is desired that the passport should be sent by post, then that sum must be forwarded with the application for the passport, by Post-office Order made payable to the "Chief Clerk of the Foreign-office," at the Post-office, Charing-cross.

The necessary instructions upon this point have been sent by the General Post-office to every moneyorder office throughout the kingdom.

But any person whose certificate of identity has been received from the country may obtain his passport by calling for it at the Foreign-office on the day following the receipt of the application, either in person or by deputy, the deputy, in the latter case, exhibiting a signed authority from his principal, in order that the signature may be compared with the signature in the certificate; but in this case the words "Passport will be applied for at the Foreign-office" must be added to the certificate of identity. The form of application heretofore adopted by banking firms will continue to be used by them.

Within a circle of Four Miles' radius from Charing Cross, measured by authority of the Commissioners of Police.

20 King's-rd., Man-in-Moon
20 Knightsbridge, Sloane-street
16 Lambeth Marsh, Bridge-road
Leadenhall-street, E I. House
Leicester-square

ILLUSTRATED GUIDE

TO THE

SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY,

AND ITS BRANCHES.

THE APPROACH TO THE SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY TERMINUS from the north, or London side, is, without exception, the most imposing, the busiest, and the most interesting of all the great roads by which the Metropolis is intersected. Proceeding southward from the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange, which together form the heart, or grand centre of London's commercial life and activity, this line of approach conducts through King William-street, a noble avenue of handsomely-built houses, of modern erection, by a gentle descent to Londonbridge, a place of world-wide celebrity, although Lord Byron could see nothing but

A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping,

Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye

Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping

In sight, then lost amidst the forestry

Of masts,—a wilderness of steeples peeping
On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy,-
A huge dun cupola, like a foolscap crown
On a fool's head.

Sober fact, however, unheeding the licence of the satirist, can glean, from this dirty and dusky locality, matter for the profoundest thought and expansion of intellect. It has been truly said that, "as an object every-day feelings of regard and attachment, a bridge stands, among buildings, next after a man's home;" and this will particularly

of our

B