“. . . Well—this devil of a railway is strangled at last. I was sure that yesterday’s division had put him on his last legs, and to-day we had a clear majority in the Committee in our favour, and the promoters of the Bill withdrew it, and took their leave of us. . . . We had to fight this long battle against an almost universal prejudice to start with—interested shareholders and perfidious Whigs, several of whom affected to oppose us upon conscientious scruples. Sefton’s ecstacies are beyond, and he is pleased to say it has been all my doing; so it’s all mighty well.”