The Sun. — London, England, 1846-05-22 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, May 20. The Srsaxisa took the Chair at Four o'clock. METROPOLITAN SEWAGE MANURE COMPANY. Colonel WOOD moved the second reading of this Bill, and stated that a misunderstanding existed with respect to the mode in which the operations tlis company were intended fo be conducted. The company were quite willing to have a clause inserted in their Bill by which the Commissioners of Sewers would be empowered to divert, alter, or make any corrections in the sewers. The reservoirs would not be open spaces, but would be inclosed and secluded from the atmos phere, so that no contagion could be communicated to the sur rounding neighbourhood. Mr. MANNERS SUTTON believed that all the papers connected with the Sewage Manure Company had not, in the first instance, been deposited in the Private Bill-office. Colonel WOOD thought that no advantage ought to be taken of an unimportant omission to prevent the second reading. Mr. ETWALL asked if it was for a mere speculation that powers were to be given to a body of individuals to concentrate all the filth of London in a neighbourhood where it would be a nuisance to the inhabitants. Sir R. INGLIS thought it desirable to postpone the second reading of the Bill until the opinion of the gentlemen who had been appointed to investigate the matter should have been ascertained. He should move, therefore, that the second reading be postponed for a week. Mr. MANNERS SUTTON thought that the proposed plan would be inconsistent if it contemplated any a lteration or interference with the present sewage of the metropolis. His Hon. and Gallant Friend had stated that h e thought it most unfair that the Government should oppose the Bill on account of the report that had been laid before the House, inas muche as certain papers had been withheld from them. He laid H (Mr. Sutton) admitted that certain papers had not b before them—those papers were not withheld but e mislaid. But the plan of the promoters was, rt of the gentle accordingtoth i most objectionable.—( Hear.) The second rep° th t they thought men to whom this matter was referred stated that with certain alterations, which they specified a in their publiif the Bill were re port, no danger would accrue t passed. They also stated that,. with certain reservations, the carrying out of this plan might not occasion . any general alteration in the sewers. If those two points were made out to the satisfaction of the Government they would not oppose the Bill; but if they did give it their sanction, it must be on the understanding that by so doing they must not be precluded from approving of any other more comprehensive scheme which might be brought under the consideration of the House at any future period. Mr. K. YORKE opposed the Bill. One fact at once ad mitted the imperfection of the scheme—namely, that since last Th urs day the company proposed to remove two of their clauses. These clauses were proposed to be excluded from the pressure on the company from without since Thursday last. The Honourable Gentleman who now represented the northern district of Lincolnshire, but who, some years since represented the city of Edinburgh, allowed a project similar to the present one to be carried, and the citizens of Edinburgh, though much annoyed, had no means of getting rid of the nuisance. It was impossible to pass the Bill in its present state without further inquisition, and at any rate the House should adopt the recommendation of the Honourable Member for oxford with reference to the committee, and he should be quite content with such a course, but under the existing circumstances he felt it to be his duty to move that the Bill be read that day six Househ to p Bill to be read a second time. He had heard all the cbjections that had been raised to this Bill, including the scientific objec tions, and the principal one relative to the river, all of which he thought had been disposed of, and he trusted the House would not act in so narrow-minded a manner as to refuse the second reading of the Bill on the grounds that had been stated. Mr. CHRISTOPHER agreed with the Hon. Baronet the Alember for the University o Oxford, that the second reading of the Bill should be postponed for a week, in order that the Government might have further time to consider the subject. He had heard nothing in the course of this discussion that, in his opinion, should induce them to accede to a second reading of the Bill, because he was of opinion that the works which it sought to construct, would not be for the public advantage, but for the purposes of private speculation and emolument. He thought on that round they ought to defer its second reading for a week. (hose on whose land the soil was emptied had a perfect right to use that soil if they thought proper for the cultivation of their land. He concluded by moving as an amendment, that the second reading of the Bill bo postponed until this day week. Mr. HAWES considered this a very important Bill, because it had a great public object in view—and, therefore, he doubted its success. The objects of the Bill are, first, to improve the drainage of London; and, secondly, to free the Thames from the filth which the sewage carried into it, which, instead of being lost, as now, would be carried in another direction, and subsequently applied to the cultivation of land. Well, then, the subject or object of the Bill being important, but the machinery being unsatisfactory, it might fairly be referred altogether to a Select Committee to report generally upon the object and details of the Bill.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. ELLIOT YORKE, as one of the inhabitants of the district about to be affected by these works, said he must pro test against the Bill, and expresss a hope, on behalf of the whole of the inhabitants of his neighbourhood, that the House would not allow it to be read a second time. Dr. BOWRING could not see any harm that could arise from the second reading of the Bill and their going into committee on it. Seeing that the Bill was desirable they ought to go into Committee, when they could fully inquire into its merits, and see whether there was really any foundation for the objections that had been made. Sir DE LACY EVANS could not see any force in the ob jections that had been made. There was now great difficulty in recognising the original features of the Bill, there had been so many changes made in it in deference to parties who started objections to it. The 6th and 18th clauses had already been altered, but that it seemed did not satisfy the parties opposed to it. The Bill was for carrying off the liquid and not the solid con tents, and there would be, consequently, a large deposit at Vauxhall-bridge. It was well known that in the parish of St. John's and St. Margaret's great injury was inflicted by these deposits. He did not wish to offer any factious opposition to the Bill, and he would consequently suggest to his Hon. Friend that the motion should be withdrawn. Mr. UUME said there could not be a subject of more im portance to the metropolis than this. He had no hesitation in saying that it was a subject that had only been partially consi dered and acted upon—( Hear, hear)—and that the proposi tion of the Honourable Member for Lambeth was the sound and proper course.—( Hear, hear.) Full information should be obtained on this subject, and he had no objection, therefore, to the appointment of a special Committee—a Committee of 15 not of s —( Hear, hear)—to take the whole subject into consideration. ;He must say, in answer to the Hon. Gentleman, the Under Secretary of State, that he was very much surprised that he should oppose this Bill after the letter he had read to the House. That Hon. Gentle man should recollect that it was the intention of the Government, as far back as ten years, to have sur veyed the whole of the metropolis, for the purpose of intro ducing such A measure as this. He hoped, therefore, that a special Committee would be appointed to take into con sideration the objects of the Bill, and afterwards make a full report to the House. Mr. MARK PHILLIPS thought that a sufficient case had not been made out for the appointment of a Committee. Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT would accede to the proposition of the Right Hon. Baronet Sir Robert Peel, that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee. Colonel WOOD concurred in the opinions expressed by the Secretary at War and the Right Hon. Baronet. Mr. CHRISTOPHER was understood to say that he would withdraw his motion. After a few words from Mr. Hawes, Mr. Hume, and Sir G. Grey, which did not reach the gallery, in consequence of the confusion prevailing in the House, The debate was adjourned until to-morrow. Mr. WAKLEY said that the House should take a more de cided course on a question of this importance.—(Cries of " Chair, chair," and " Order.") The SPEAKER reminded the Hon. Member that there was no question th'n he'ore the House. NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY. The following Bills were read a third time and passed : North Staffordshire Railway ( Churnet Valley line). North Staffordshire Railway (H ireeastle to Sandbach). North Staffordshire Railway (Pottery line). SHEFFIELD AND MANCHESTER MIDLAND JUNCTION RAILWAY. Mr. SHAW brought up the report of this Bill. MANCHESTER AND ASHTON-UNDER-LINE RAIL WAY (DUKENFIELD and GLOSSOP BRANCHES). Mr. GREENE brought up :he report of this Bill. DUNSTABLE RAILWAY. On the motion of Lord HARRY VANE, it was agreed that counsel should be hoard on this Bill before the Com mittee. HYDE AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY. Mr. SHAW brought up the report on this Bill. RAILWAY COMPANIES BILL. On the motion of Lord HARRY VANE, this Bill was read a second time. Mr. AINSWORTH presented several petitions from the landowners and others on the lines, against the Shropshire Union Railway and the Trent Valley Railway. MR. W. SMITH O'BRIEN. Mr. SHAW gave notice of a motion, that when the Com mittee on Group 11 h a d closed its . labours, and givenin its final report, he should move ( tha e t ar ll h r e . W. mith O'Brien be dis charged from custo.— H GERMAN CUSTORIS TARIFF. Mr. WODEHOUSE wished to put a question to the First Lord of the 'Treasury relating , to the German Customs Tariff. Ile referred more particularly to the letter from the Earl of Westmoreland to the Earl of Aberdeen, dated Berlin, Nev. 8, 1842, respecting the increase of import duties on woollen and printed cotton goods, as well as other articles of manufacture, to take effect during the years 1843, 1844, and 1845. He wished to know whether the Right Hon. Baronet had any objection to lay this letter and any other documents which he had received on th is subject on the table of the House? Sir R. PEEL, who was indistinctly heard, was . understood to lament that the Hon. Gentleman had not given timely notice of his intention to p ut the question. To what docu ment did he particularly refer ? Mr. WODEHOUSE said to any letter; on the subject of any date. Sir ROBERT PEEL was understood to object to lay on the table of the House any documents relating to the alteration of those Customs Laws, but he should have no objection to lay on the table the Customs Duties of the Zolverein for 1845, 1846, and 1848. BTNGLEY POOR-HOUSE. Mr. FERRAND rose, pursuant to — notice, to put four questions to the Right Honourable Baronet the First Lord of the Treasury relative to the present state of the Bingley Work. house. He wished to put these questions because in the year 1842 the Right Hon. Baronet used a Poor Law Commission report relative to this establishment as a weapon of attack upon him, and with the aid of which the Right Honourable Baronet held him up to the indignation of the House and the whole country. The House would re member that in the year 1839 the old Poor-law ceased to be enforced in the town of Bingley, and at that time the work house was only large enough to hold twelve inmates. When the Poor-law commissioners, however, took upon them selves the control of the whole parish, fifty-nine persons were placed in this building. On a former occasion he stated this fact to the House, but he was met by the Right Hon. Baronet with the report of Sir John Waltham, throwing dis credit upon this statement. It was only necessary for him to state now, that since that time, the Bingley poor-house had not been visited by a Poor.law Commissioner, and the inmates, instead of decreasing, had increased to 70. Now, under these circumstances, he wished to ask th e Ri g h t Hon. Baronet, firstly, whether the Government possessed the power of rescuing from the tyranny of the Poor. law Commissioners seventy poor persons who were now confined in the Bingley workhouse, a building only capable of accommodating twelve individaals; secondly, whether the . Government had power to compel the Poor-law Commissioners immediately to visit the establishment and afford some relief to the inmates, amongst whom the fever had broken out; thirdly, whether the Poor-law Commissioners had visited the work house since 1832? and, fourthly, whether the Right Hon. Baronet the First Lord of the Treasury would now re tract his unfounded charge against the rate-payers of the parish of Bingley, that they were privy to the confinement of fifty-nine individuals in their workhouse ? Sir It. PEEL said the House was aware that all.corntaunL. nations between the Government and the Poor-law Commis iliOaen VW* not OM:* his control, hat the control of his Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department ; but, as one of the Honourable Gentle man's questions was connected with himself, though it related to something which passed in that House some four years ago, it would be perhaps convenient that he should answer the whole of the ques tions. The first was, whether Government had bad the power of rescuing seventy individuals from the tyranny of the Poor-law Commissioners? Now, his answer to this question was, that he apprehended the Poor-law Com missioners had the power of restricting the number of per 'one to be 'admitted into a workhouse under their . control. With respect to the power of the Poor-law Commissioners of retaining a number of persons in the poor-house below the t.e number of those at present remaining there, he had taken the necessary steps to ascertain how the case . stood,. and his I ght li m o m n. ed F ia r t i e en ly d u h p a o d n dir t e h c e ted re th ee e ip n t ece o s f sa t r h y e an . q c ; n r i m es ut t , o i: b a e tsi: m igi a g d e e os.. . f the Right Honourable Gentleman, contaanin h (tiiroensssedto to Mr. he had tahlleudesd4reatsrlyettetor had been ad into the state dim eeting him to institute an .. inquiry t _ state of the workhouse of that union, to ascertain whe her the number was greater than it had been under the old poor law, and whether the re was any fever at that time in the wor khouse ; if so , to r e p ort to what extent it prevailed, and also the names of the p au p ers who were afflicted with it, and whether the remova l of an y of them was advisable, and of what number, and to state the result of the whole of these inquiries. Of course the House would see that it was impossible to have any connexion with such a breach of duty as that which the Hon. Member had charged. Of course, if they had felt it necessary, they would have communicated it to the House. He must further sa y, that her Majesty's G ov e rn ment had directed an especial inquiry to be made, and had desired the medical officers to make any suggestions for its improvement that they might think necessary. With respect to the second question, as to whether her Majesty's Government had the power to interfere with the Poor-law Commissioners, and whether they were inclined to exercise it, be thought the House would give her Majesty's Government credit on this charge for every di s po s itio n to control the officials under their direction and ; that whenever any deficiency oc curred, they would take the requisite steps for correcting the evils by whatever parties it might be committed. Now, with respect to the third question, as to whether her Majesty's Government possessed the power to compel the Poor-law Commissioners' assistant to visit the poorhouse of this union, and whether he had done so since June, 1842, he (Sir Robert Peel) had to say that as soon as the Hon. Member had addressed his inquiries to her Majesty's Government, his Right Hon. Friend the Secretary for the Home Department had directed the Poor-law Commissioners to state what had occurred in connexion with the report of their assistant. It appeared on this report, that Mr. Clements was in the . district for se veral months, in fact, until be was removed into Ireland. It appeared by that gentleman's report, that he was present at a meeting of the Board of Guardians on the 17th of May, 1843—that he was there again on the 18th of May, 1844, and that a party, who attended on behalf of the board of guardians alluded to this very circumstance. Mr. Clements was there again on the 13th October, 1844, when he attended the board of guardians, at which the condition of the poor house was particularly brought under discussion. On the 28th of June, 1845, the attention of Mr. Clements was especially called to the fact to which the Hon. Member bad alluded, be cause the Poor-law Commissioners have the power of de creasing the number of paupers. and his attention was directed to ascertain what the number then really was. He stated, in reply to the letter, that he had been in communication with the board of guardians on this subject, and that they thought that it had better be postponed for the present. It should be borne in mini that the union in question, was not one of those which was deprived of the power of giving out door relief ; and, therefore, as the Poor-law authorities then had the power to give out-door relief, there would be no occa sion to crowd the workhouse. No doubt it was to be lamented that the Assistant Poor-law Ganmissioner had limited his visits to one of the workhouses in question, and that he had not visited them both more frequently ; but upon receiving the communication of the Hon. Member he (Sir R. Peel) had re quested that steps might be taken by Mr. Austin, the Poor-law Commissioner, to ascertain the actual state of the facts ; and when that gentleman had made his report he (Sir R. Peel) would take care that it should be laid upon the table of the House ; and a report should also be made of every step that had been taken to afford the necessary relief in that union. Now, with regard to the last question put by the Honourable Gentleman, which applied to himself personally, he begged to say that he never said that any Hon. Member had acted dishonourably at the time stated, namely, four years ago. Now, the proposition then made was that the Poor-law Commission should be abolished; but he then said that it would not be prudent to do so, as the administration of the law would then be confined to a few local autho rities, not responsible to the Government. He also stated at the same time the substance of the report of Sir John Wal sham on the state of this union, and that report confirmed him in his opinion that it would not be prudent to abolish the Poor-law Commission. Well, then, the Hon. Member said that tt - at report was altogether unfounded. Mr. FERRA ND—Not altogether. Sir R. PEEL—The Hon. Member said that the Secretary of State should institute an inquiry on the allegation of the Poor-law Commissioners, and that the question itself equally de manded an investigation. On that observation a Select Committee was appointed, to which Committee was referred the report of Sir John Walshara with respect to that union. The Com mittee having made a full inquiry, presented a report, which was to the following effect :—" No attempt has been made to impugn the general accuracy with one or two trifling exceptions, of any details of Sir John Walsham's report. The accuracy of Sir John Wal sham's report is fully borne oat by evidence."—(Hear, hear.) That was the report made by the Committee. The jus tice of that result was questioned, and another proceeding, call ing in question the accuracy of Sir John Walsham's report to the Commissioners, was proposed, but the report stating that Sir J. Walsham's allegations were justified by the evidence, was affirmed by several Members of the House of Commons, amongst whom were Mr. Childers, Mr. Pakington, Sir C. Napier, Sir J. Trollope, and others. There were three Mem bers of that Committee who proposed a report of a different tendency, and amongst them was the Hon. Member himself. That report was laid on the table of the House, affirming the general accuracy of Sir J. Walsham, and three years ago, in the succeeding sessions—or it was now nearly three years and a half ago—the lion. Gentleman referred to that report, and asked him (Sir R. Peel) if he was prepared to retract certain unfounded charges ? He said that he was not—that he had made no charges which were unfounded, but had merely relied on Sir J. Walsham's report. If he had made any statement of an obnoxious character, or under any mistake, he should have great pleasure in correcting it, and he would say so now, not withstanding the lapse of time which had occurred, if he felt that he had done any injustice to the guardians or ratepayers of the union. But seeing the report of the- Committee, with respect to the truth of Sir J. Walsham's allegations, and hear ing the speech of the Gallant Commodore, he did not feel that he had said one unjust word with respect to the guardians and ratepayers of the union, and he was not prepared to retract what he had said four years since, in June, 1842. Mr. FERRAND said that the Right Hon. Baronet had charged him and the ratepayers with being the cause of the state of the poor-house. It was the Poor-law Commissioners who sent these people into the poor-house, and who had the control and management of it. He could say that, under the old law, the average of persons in that poor-house was rnly twelve, but, under the existing law, fifty-nine were crammed into it. Sir R. PEEL said that it was a most inconvenient course to refer to what took place four years since. The Hon. Member was the chairman of the board of guardians, and had declined to give effect to the law.—( Laughter.) There was no obliga tion on the board of guardians to place all these persons in the workhouse, because they had the power of administering out door relief. Were not representations made to the Commis sioners that it was troublesome that the ratepayer should be to ed to build a better union to give more suitable accommo dation. Mr. CRAVEN BERKELY wished to ask the Hon. Member for Athlone whether the accusation he made a few evenings ago against Sir Charles Taylor be true, for if so the Secretary of State ought not to permit him to continue any longer in the commission of the peace. If it was not true, he considered that the Hon. Member who made such a statement was un- I worthy to have a seat in that House. He wished, therefore, to know what further steps the Hon. Gentleman had taken in reference to the subject. Mr. S. COLLETT said that he had taken no further steps in the matter. That he had taken measures for the purpose of lodging in the hands of the Secretary for the Home Depar ment copies of the affidavits made before the clerk of the peace ; and he begged to state that he was desirous to have the fullest inve:tigation into all the circumstances. Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he would avail himself of that, the first opportunity of stating to the House what the documents were that were sent to him on Tuesday last. He had considered the documents, and he had found them to be extra judicial. If false, therefore, no indictment for perjury could be be tried upon them, and though they were clearly slan derous, no civil action could be instituted upon them. If the documents were false no remedy could be obtained against the parties who—to use the expression of the Hon. Gentleman— had got up the affidavits, or the parties who had sworn them. On the other hand, if they were true, it could not for a mo ment be doubted that acrimmal information might be obtained against Sir Charles Taylor in the Court of Queen's Bench, and that was the fit tribunal before which inquiry should be con ducted. It was not necessary for the Hon. Gentleman to be p h r e o rth eute c ti o , n a a a de t i g n g t s h t ed es e h i a r l a f v , t b s t p r h o e s e himself r m c i g h h a t r , i e i s f Taylor .. MrCOLLETy form COLLETT said the ready to have the affidavits an drawn up in ht Hon. Baronet pleased. In answer to a question from Mr. PA I‘. ClllAililes Sir ROBERT PEEL said, that immediately her i Gevernment was informed that it was likely thatt estY's Padsgiven a would visit this country, a direct assurance . wa rah '` n that - distingnished Prince, that, if he did visit this country, to her Majesty's Governme n t would treat him with all dure spent. Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR wished to know from a Member of the Government, whether that very enormous statue of the Duke of Wellington was to be placed upon the top of the archway on Constitution-hill? He considered that it would disfigure the town very much, and it had been dis covered it was much too large for the ar c h, an d t h at i t was not stron g enough to bear it. Sir ROBERT PEEL said that the state of facts as to whether the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington should be placed upon the arch, he believed to be simply this. was s c n B e f o re the subscrib ers to this very magnificent compliment had made thei r ;p o m r m e n u : i o c a f t t i o h n b made i to o his late Majesty su w b h sc e r the t r ion ,i s r : t ahe" objection to having the statue s being paid, he w ould have any .(Joh lar n he and the Noble placed upon the arch. A similar intimation was made to her present Majesty, and b oth l built un a distinct un d ers tanding that it was to be so played He tconsequen h. R usse ll), then at the head o f the Government, g answer. The statue wasavers simi self, that a better site might have been exeidstehd pc. r o v i o d e b d o . ug ( h, H t e a i r m . ..) A great difference of opinion ha d ori g inally ehad po e proper place for the erection of t he statue, a as to the proper place for the erection of the statue, and ho h ad pro pose Service Clubs, or near the Horse Guards, should d that a site between the Athenseurn andldthbee allotted by the Government for its erection, but it had at last been decided that it should be placed upon the arch at Constitution.. hill. The great body of the subscribers had subscribed to the s tatute under the impression that it should be p laced on that arch; and as permission had been given by her Majesty's pre decessor and her Majesty for the erection of the statue there, the subscribers had acquired a right to have the statue orected on the arch. He certainly would not advise her Majesty to withdraw the consent that had been given. Mr. BAILEY suggested that the statue should, at all events, be placed in a proper position on the arch. Sir WALTER JAMES made some observations with re spect to the placing of the statue, and stated that it was the wish of her Majesty that it should be placed over the arch before Buckingham Palace. ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS. Sir JAMES GRAHAM did not wish to prolong the dis cus,ion; but, seeing the Hon. Member for prolong the dis cussion; but, seeing the Hon. Member for Maldon in the House, he wished to explain. On behalf of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, he was instructed to express their regret that their solicitor, or or any other officer, should have in any way transoasselthe.rules of the House. He hoped that this ex planation would be deemed satisfactory. . Mr. E. DENISON would have wished for a more detailed ' eexonplsaisntaetnitonw.ithmtheetaioulrreGistoEorfNhtad;tnottuascmet.eaddeina afmewanonbesrertvhaattiownass, The ATTORNE Y - GENERAL satwhen do he wn , w as interrupted moved t: b 2, y a t loud cries rape papers s f ' o ' Order, n which o t r b d e e r," presentaud Mr. HUNIE discussion was founded be p.ut,in. much h e oSbOligLeldCtloTtOhße I. G io E n. N G L e ß n A tle L man resu fo m r ed g , ivi a n n g d h s i a m id a h n e was opl mportunity of explanation. He defended Mr. Murray, the Solicitor, from the charges that had been brought against him. NIL% Murray was relieved from all responsibility and liability with respect to the alteration in the contract of the South- Eastern Railway Company, for having signed the new deed as a trustee for other parties. He was a man of the highest honour and integrity. Mr. DENISON said it could hardly be necessary for him to enter into any explanation when a gentieman who was mis. informed on the subject bad thought proper to intrude his opinions. He thought that the opinion of the Attorney- General would be more than overbalanced by the confirmed decision of four Members of that House, who were of opinion that the opposition in the case of the South-Eastern Company was ill advised. He had had. an interview with the Ecclesias- tical Commissioners some time back, in which the report was directed to be read for his special instruction, in which the solicitor omitted a word on which the whole sense of the sentence hinged. Was that conduct. consistent with the character of a high-minded man ? He would ask the House whether he was not justified on a former occasion in animad verting in the manner he had on the conduct of Mr. Murray. Mr. HUME would withdraw the motion which he had made. Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN. The SPEAKER called the attention of the House to the following communication, which he had received from Mr. William Smith O'Brien:— _ " Pr:son, House of Commons, May 21, 1846. " Sir, —I take the liberty to call your attention to the follow ing correspondence between the Clerk of the House of Com mons and myself : " Prison, House of Commons, May 20, 1846. " Dear Sir,-1 beg to call your attention to standing order, No. 4, page 13, and shall feel obliged if you will inform me where I can find the appointment of a Committee of Selection pursuant to that order, as I Lave in vain searched for it in the votes of the Commons. . . " It being my intention to cause the attention of the House of Commons to be directed to this correspondence to-morrow, may I request that you will send me an immediate and official reply. " I have the honour to be your obedient faithful servant, " WILLIAM S. O'BRIEN." " To John Henry Ley, Esq., Clerk of the House of Commons." " To this note I received the following answer :- 4 , May 20, 1846. " Dear Sir,—•ln answer to your note, delivered to me by Mr. Mahony, I conaider it will be sufficient for me to say that the Committee of Selection is appointed, and named by the Standing Order No. 4, and that it was not considered neces sary at the beginning of the session to read that order, as has sometimes been done, and for the House to make an order that the Committee of Selection be appointed accordingly. You will, therefore, not find any entry in the votes. " Your obedient faithful servant, " JOHN HENRY LEY. " Mr. Ley's letter confirms my conviction that the Committee of Selection was not appointed for the present session, in due conformity to Standing Order No. 4, which is worded as follows : " That a Committee be appointed, at the commencement of every session, consisting of the chairmen of the Select Com mittee of Standing Orders, and of the chairman of the Sub- Committees on Petitions for Private Bills, of whom three shall be a quorum ; and such Committee shall be denominated the Committee of Selection.' _ _ " It is manifest from Mr. Ley's letter that there is no evi dence in the authentic records of the House of Commons that Mr. Escourt, and the other gentlemen who have acted as a ' Committee of Selection,' have received due authority from the House to act in that capacity during the present session. Under these circumstances, all the proceedings which have led to my imprisonment have been void and informal, ab initio. I, therefore, respectfully claim my immediate discharge. " I cannot conclude this letter without recording my solemn protest against the conduct of the House of Commons in having subjected me to imprisonment. Even if the Committee of Selection had been duly nominated, I should still deny that I have violated any law of the land, and should, therefore, re gard my imprisonment as contrary to the law and constitution of these realms. _ " As I do not desire to throw upon you the responsibility of expressing any opinion upon this case, except under the sanction of the House of Commons, I do not expect an answer to this letter, but respectfully request that you will do me the favour to lay it before the House of Commons to-day at five o'clock, and to invite the opinion of the House upon it. " I have the honour to be, " Your obedient faithful servant, " WILLIAM S. O'BRIEN." " To the Right Hon. the Speaker." Mr. O'CONNELL moved, that this letter be printed and circulated with the votes, with the view of being taken into consideration to-morrow.—( Hear, hear.) NEW ZEALAND. Mr. CHARLES BULLER said, in the present state of public business, he was afraid the resolutions of which he had given notice, relative to the state of New Zealand, could not receive that fair and patient consideration which they were entitled to, and he should, therefore, with the permission of the House, withdraw them for the present, reserving to himself, however, the right of bringing them forward at a future period.---(Hear, hear.) He should be glad, however, if gentlemen in the meantime would give the House an asur ance that the present session should not be suffered to pass over without some Bills or measures being introduced on the subject.—( Hear, hear.) Sir ROBERT PEEL said the only assurance he could give the Hon. Member was, that when he thought proper to bring forward his motion again Ministers would do their best to give full effect to, and ample opportunity for, the discussion of this subject. The House must bear in mind all that passed in the course of the last session, and the opinions and views that were expressed upon that occasion. Government had done their best to carry out those views and opinions, and had appointed a gentleman to the government of the colony who had previously distinguished himself in administering the government of a colony. From the letters which had re cently been received from him it would appear that at the time they were dispatched to this country they had only reached the colony a few weeks before, but they contained su ffi cient infor mation, nevertheless, to slow that the opinion Government had entertained of his ability had been entirely confirmed. —( Hear, hear.) From a subsequent communication which had been received from the colony, there were strong reasons for believing that ere long the northern island would be reduced to a state of subordination, and until they heard further from the Governor he thought it would not be prudent for Government to introduce any measure upon the subject.—( Hear, hear.) After 'a few words from Mr. HUME, the resolution was postponed till a future day. REAL PROPERTY COMMISSION. Viscount EBRING TON was then proceeding to move an address to her Majesty for the re-appointment of the Real Property Commission, when An HoN. MEMBER moved that the House be counted. There being only twenty-seven Members present, the House was adjourned till to-morrow. r E SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY _EVENING, MAY 22, 1846. RAILWAY COMMITTEES (YESTERDAY.) _,) , ITSE OF LORDS. GROUP I. LONDON AND YORK. The Conyni.tee nut this day at eleven o'clock, the Earl of Love .ace rman . _ _ Sevcr :1 land-valacrs were called to prove the value of the land which woull be ,tguired fu: the purposes of the railway. The wit .V,;l e cross-examined at some length by the counsel for the opp)sing ia!ulow.v,rs. The - - ca ..f the Archishep of York was ,ailed to speak to the 'flterteraiae with the farm-tand of the see of York. The witness said that 'he Archbishop 061 not oppose the line in regard to his own bet to the rest of those who wou .1 succeed him. Ile lit not lee tl,e ,ntaference on his. own account, for at his time of lice he could not expect to live to see the line completed. Earl Filawiriani was examined as to the great accommodation • the country by the London and York line. His Lon:shlp had but one oi,lectioi, to the line, and that was, that the promoters should make thzit :Le in close opposition to the Syston and Peterborough Rails ay, nal that at that part the latter line should be common to both wawa:tics. It that should be agre,cl to, he bad no objection to urge against the 'Louden and York Railway. Mr. Are ms said, liat on the part of the promoters Ile was in structe l to acquiesce h 4 the wishes of the Noble Lord. The c t•-,c .tar the Archbishop of York having closed, Mr. AusTiN ad.tesscd the Committee on the evidence submitted to them against the Pill. The case for Sir William Milner was next proceeded with, and evidence having been adduced of the injury which he would sustain by the line crossing part of his estate, Mr. HILDY4RD ad,lressed the Committee, and concluded by re questing that the preamble of the Bill be rejected, on the grounds that no amount of compensation could satisfy the injury which would be done to his clients' property. The Committee adjourned . at four o'clock till eleven the next day. '!OUSE OF COMMONS. GROUP X. GLASGOW, AIRDRIE, AND MONHLANDS JUNCTION. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) Mr. Adie, manacrei of the Edinburgh and Glasgow, and of the Nlonklands and K irkintilloch Railways, and engineer of this line, was examined by Mr. Illl,lvard, as to the engineering particulars. His oss-examination by Mr. Forsyth occupied the remainder of the ,lay, and the Committee adjourned, at four o'clock, till twelve to morrow. GROUP XIII. the and chair; there were also present, Earl Mr. Curteis. This Committee met to-day at twelve o'clock , Ist k, r S . ll , WO .T 8 nurrxsu (C/LIMISLE EXTENSION). Wm.. Ainsworth, Evidence on behalf of this line was resumed. Sir James Graham, :11.P., examined by Mr. AUSTIN, said his resi dence was at Nctaerby. The line before the Committee went for a considerable way through his property, between Canobie and Car lisle. Ile had paid some attention to the scheme before the Commit tee, and lie thought that the construction of the line e.oulci confer great benefit on that district of country. It passed Langton in its route. It would be of great advantage to Langton. and the sur rounding neighbourhood. Langton bad a population of about 2,000 inkabitauts. The principal manufacture there was hand loom weaving. Tke weavers were supplied from Carlisle. He and his predecessors had hitherto opposed the establishment of manufactures by power, but having seen the destitution among the hand loom weavers, he now thought it desirable to establish manu facturing power. The po4tion of the Esk was not such as to allow of the extensive application of water power; he therefore thought that steam power was more desirable. In the establishment of that. teasel he could oder great facilities; and he believed that with railway accommodation, coals could be laid down at Langton cheaper Lima any port in the north of England. He had every reason to believe that the present line would not only be a great benefit to Langton and the neighbourhood, but also to the city of Carlisle. He date the distri c t near so well ; did not think th e C aledonian and La.ngholin tranch would Recomm it would interfere injuriously with his property, and would cause the Canobie coal to be taken in a more circuitous way to Cat:isle. lie had large plantations as well as stone quarries, and the Caledonian branch would also give very imperfect accommodation for the conveyance of the wood and stone to Carlisle. The North British lice, on the other hand, went in the most direct manner to Carlisle, along the route of the turnpike road, and afforded the fullest accoannodation to the district through which it passed. The district was an important agricultural one both for the raising of produce and the feeding of sheep, anti it was annually improving. If accommodation by rail way was to be given, it ought to be on the left bank of the EA. He also approved of the extension of the line to Hawiek, as be thought this the natural line to Edinburgh. It would be the shortest as well as the best. by Mr. Sergeant WRANGIIAX—IIe had given his of railway accommodation for the s attention to He had last year assented to the Caledonian. it south of Scot'and. erty. He had heard that a line had been went thromb i.:e Pre L Glasgow by Dumfries. That would make, sanctioned for a line three lines to the centre of Scotland, H e Cross-examined whole scheme however,e that the traffic would only support is li C h ro t s h s e had alwaa s fly tight, d d the Caledonian should be satisfied Still he considered ere that the Edinburgh main line two lines. traffic, and with the Glas4nwit. The line by lawick to Edinburgh was should go through Hawic , eved the shortest. He supported that the most direct, and lie L eli p the vallies of the Esk and Tweed, present Schein scheme because it would le en " t and rising towns of Galashiels, and accommodate the 11 % bile grounds, therefore, he thought the Ilawlek, and Selkirk. also laid down, it woul beta:; formed, and the present Caledonian; and, there no tO the public. . If the no doubt be a c Injury to the fore, to that extent an ~ of the GliffsgoW traffic''. it a rtion Nithsdale line took away P° thought that railway =yeti present line desirable. OnThisuline to Edinburgh by the Caledonian d -Would be still more so. lie bad once tion was a great evil, but he had seen reason to modify his views, and ' to conclude that increased accommodation by railways developed traffic and induced the public to travel to a greater extent ; so that the evil apprehended was not such as he once thought it to be. He had not read the i.pinion of the Board of Trade on the subject of com peting lines ; all he could say was, that there was traffic enough to sup port one line to Edinbugh and another to Glasgow, but with regard to a third competing line by Nithsdale, he had not considered the question. He did not know the capital that would be required for all these lines. Ile only thought, generally, that one line to Glasgow, and one to Edinburgh, wonld pay ; but whether two to Edinburgh, and two to Glasgow, competing with each other, would pay, was a subject he had nut considered. The present line went about six miles through his property. Ths Caledonian branch did not approach so near to Langton as the Carlisle and Hawiek, and there was the river between them. He nad been told that the Cale donian branch Prom Langholm to Carlisle was 3% miles longer than the North British Extension. lie had always thought tile Caledonian line from Carlisle to Glasgow very desirable, and would prove of rreat publio benefit. He had heard within the last month that the Ilawiek line, in as entrance into Carlisle, crossed a thoroughfare in an objectionable manner. Mr. Laing, iactor of several estates in Roxbur,'hahire, deposed as to the agricultural traffic of Roxburghsh.re. A large amount of the proate•e went westward into Dumfriesshire. 't was generally bought up by dealers, and a good deal of it went to the English market. 11. s re urn of the grain, meal, and flour, that went west ward through slewick, was 4,711 tons. Cross examined—Of the 4,714 tons, a considerable portion went into Leddertlale. He could not say what towns in Dumfriesshire were supplied with this produce, nor could he say who the parties were that bought it. The Ledderdale district, he believed, was south west of Hawick. He could not say that the district in question was to the south east of Langholm. To the C Hallows—He ascertained the quantity of grain he men • Coned by communicating with the millers who attended the Hawick market and examining their returns as far as he could obtain them. Mr. Scott, cattle dealer of Renick, examined by Mr. Sergeant BELL-tilts—He occupied a sheep farm of 1,000 acres in Roxburgh shire, also grazing farms in Itoss-shire. He was also tenant of Arthur's seat near Edinburgh. It was his practice to breed kis sheep on his northern farms and then bring them to the south for the purpose of feeding and afterwards they were all sent taAunan, from whence they were shipped to Liverpool. If sent by railway to Liverpool, they world arrive much sooner, and in much better condition. He sent about 4,000 sheep and 400 cattle to Liverpool annually. There were other persons in Roxburghshire and Berwickshire engaged in a similar occupation with his own. There were 450,000 to 500,000 lean sheep annually sold at the fairs in Roxburghshiro, and he estimated that fully three-fourths of that number were sent to England. There were also 120,000 to 130,000 fat sheep annually sent to Newcastle. The cost of sheep from Kelso to Annan was Is. a head, and from Annan to Liverpool 25., being 3s. in all. Cattle cost to Annan Bs., and from thence to Liverpool 10 s., being 18s. in all. He thought about 15,000 fat sheep would go by this line through Carlisle, and about 4,000 fat cattle. He could not say what would be the amount of lean cattle that would go, but he considered a great amount would go. Cross•examined by Mr. RtoraaDs--He was the largest dealer in the district. Liverpool and Newcastle were his principal markets, but the proportions he sent to these places varied. The largest con sumption was at Newcastle. There was a great consumption also in Leeds and the other towns of Yorkshire. A great proportion of the stock that went to Liverpool was consumed at Manchester. If ',Nags remained as they were, and a direct line was formed from New eitatie to Manchester, no doubt a considerable amount of the stock would go that way. It would, however, be a round about commu nieation. A very considerable portion of the lean stock of Rox ;airghshire went to Skipton and the north of Yorkshire, and the Newcastle route as far as he knew would be an accommodation to hat 'raffle. What would go by this line, was in a great measure a eatt et of guess. Mr. Nelson, butcher, of Glasgow, deposed that the East and Mid- Lothians were the best feeding districts in the south of Scotland. Tkis district lay to the cast of Edinburgh, between Dalkeith and Haddington, his evidence was generally that, from his experience ,f carrying cattle, the fat and lean stock from the Lothians would go by the proposed railway. He thought a large traffic in fat cattle Pmm the Lothians would take place along this line to supply the Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham markets. There would also, he n as persuaded, be a large trade in slaughtered meat. Cross-examined —Probably a considerable amount of the cattle l'rom Dalkeith and Tranent would go to Edinburgh and pass to the south by the Caledonian Railway. There was little difference in the two routes, aid therefore the Caledonian line would give accommo -lqiion to it a cattle of that neighbourhood without the construction of the present line. From Tranent cattle going along the iawiek line might save about five miles. With reference to the shughteresl cattle, he gave evidence last year that the Caledonian would be a convenient route for that meat going south. There were a ~reat number of villages around Edinburgh engaged In slaughter n_, and by going into Edinburgh, the Caledonian would give them oad southern amanmodation, The Fifeshire cattle would also be accommodated by the Caledonian line. The traffic to the east of •:ngland would be accommodated by the North British Railway. He hrd not considered whether there would be traffic for the two rail , ays, though last year he had deposed that there was lot ro ,, m for he Caledonian and the Dumfries schemes, and he preferred the former. _ Mr. Morton, mln;ag engineer, said he had examined the route of the line in t o minerals, and he had visited the Canobie coal flat. It was a fruitful coal-field, three miles by two, containing 55 feet of workable coal in 10 seams. It had been but slightly worked. The present seams workel mold be made available for a supply of 100,000 tons for 70 years. According to boring, the whole of the proved seams would give a supply for 200 Sears. At present the supply was 25,000 tans a year, at ss. 4d. at the pit's mouth. Of this quantity Hawiek took about 7,000 tens a year. If the railway were formed it could be tail down in Hawick at Os. Id. a ton. There was also an extensive limestone bed worked near to Canobie. He bad made a table whisk would be put in, of what would be the price of coal at various points along the line assuming the carriage to be 1 1 ,4 el. per ton per utile, coals from Mid-Lothian would cost at Hawick !2s. sd. Cross-examined—Last year he corroborated the evidence cf Mr. Wright, which took credit for Hawick being supplied with coal from Mid-Lothian. That was, he believed, a considerable item in the estimates of the line from Edinburgh to Hawick. The coal sold at the pit's mouth at Canobie was just as it came out of the mine, insorted. With a lice fl om Canobie to Dumflies, mid another to irawick, no doubt the price of the coal would rise. The present price at Canobie wo uhl not, therefore, present what it would be ander the other circumstances referred to. He could not say what the Berwick coal could be supplied in Hayrick for. The entire con sumption of coal last year was 7,000 tons. When he talked of 7,000 tons going to Hawick from Canobie, he merely guessed the amount to be such for the present year. (The witness was here subjected to close scrutiny on the table he had furnished, with the object of showing that the estimate of the coal traffic was greatly exaggerated). Mr. Gibson, manager of the Canobie colliery,. generally corro borated the evidence of the previous witness with regard to the ininerel traffic. Coals were taken to Hawick in carts, and provi sions brought back for Canobie. One hundred carts were thus employed. The coal sold at the pit's mouth was unsorted and un riddled. just as it came to the pit's mouth. C oal had at one time been shipped at Carlisle. coal Cr° a as t A .e nn xa a m n i r bdu—t' i r f h t , h 3 a • t n p e a v rt er w h a a s er d b h e a tt dany d a a Carlisle it would be desirable fur that purpose. In making up the traffic table he had taken all places oil each side of the railway, that was seven miles beyond Canobie. La n g holm was s t h , t i e ; ) d m f e o n r th shipping of e anb than i Canobie a market town about seven milesfrom Canobie, yet he had estimated for all the coal to be consumed there. He had made no deduction for the farmers coming to market with their carts and bringing coals. He had not calculated how many of the places in the table would be nearer by the turnpike road than by railway, or that were likely still to cart their coals. Mr. Wright, manager of the Dalkeith collieries, was examined in corroboration of the foregoing witness He had assisted Mr. Morton and Mr. Gibson in making up the tables submitted. Cross-examined—He gave evidence last year to the effect that llawick would be well supplied from the Mid Lothian coal-field, which was a most extensive one. The country around Langholm was a thinly populated country. He had estimated for Langholm and six or seven miles round. He had also taken a circuit round llawick. The country along the line was 'very thin till within three miles of Hawick. Mr. lienwick, a manufacturer and wool spinner at Langholm,was generally examined, with the object of showing that the line in question would be of great importance to his business in opening up a connexion with the north and south. It would also be of consider able benefit to the town and neighbourhood. Cross-examined—He was the only manufacturer of this particular kind in Langholm, and he sent the most of his goods through Ilawick to Glasgow. The steamers from Liverpool came to Anuan, because they could not come up the eanal to Carlisle. The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow at twelve o'clock. GROUP XIV. The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of the Bills comprised in this group re-assembled at the usual hour this morning, Mr. Protheroe in the Chair. SOUTH-EASTERN (MID KENT). The first business gone into this morning was the engineering evi dence in favour of the South-Eastern (Mid Kent) schemes. Mr. Robert Stephenson, the chief engineer of the South Eastern scheme was the first witness called. The Mid Kent line commenced at a point en the existing Greenwich line, passed through Lewisham, along by Bromley, through the Ravensford Valley, and the Valley of the Mawlings on to Maidstone, and from thence to Chart, near Ashford. There was a branch to iverhead. and anther from Hytham to Tunbridge where it joined the existing Tunbridge Wells branch and the Tun bridge and Hastings lines, which received the sanction of the Legis lature in the course of the present session. The length of rail to be made would be about sixty miles in length. The scheme would shorten the distance from London to Dover by thirteen miles, from Lonon to Tunbridge by nine miles, and from Lon don to Maidstone (tile county town of Kent) by twenty miles. The proposed line would avoid the existing New Cross station, which was found at present to be very inconveniently situated. The steepest gradieut on the line was 1 in 125 ; the others ranged from 300 to 268 ; the first was about a mile and a half in length. There was a short gradient at Lewisham of 1 in 146. The severest gradient on the at mospheric line for the same division of the country was 1 in 100 for several miles. There was a tunnel between Bromley and Farnborough, but it was not of an extensive character. The works on his own line were decidedly superior to the works on the atmospheric line. The atmospheric line ap proached nearer to eveneaks than his ewn, but it did so in a tunnel of 2,717 yards in length, which was preceded by another tunnel of 300 yards long. There was perhaps a quarter of a mile between the two. There was a gradient of lin 80 for three miles arid a half on this part of the atmospheric line, and a descent of the . same character going towards Tunbridge. T he distance of the branoh from Hytham to Tunbridge was eight miles and one ' eighth. It passed through the Barket valley. a thickly.populated district, fruitful in agriculture, hops, and fruit, and thickly studded with paper and flour mills. The atmospheric line avoided this valley and of course its advantages. The engineering features of the line from Maidstone to Chart were exceedingly good, and he had no doubt the line generally woald be of great advantr ge to the public and continental travellers. In. deed he might say it was precisely the route which the South-Eastern line ought originally to have run. Ile believed - eason it did not do so was the opposition the landholders of the district originally evinced to a railway invading their property. In the present session a line had beets passed running from Reading to Reigate, forming ajunction between the South-Eastern and the South- Western lines, and he had no doubt all the continental travellers coming from the west of England would pass over the Reigate line on to the South-Eastern and so on to the continent. In fact this line formed the key to all the western traffic, directly connecting Southampton, Oxford, Worcester, Wolverhampton, the North, and bath, Bristol, and Exeter, with Dover and the continent. Ills esti mate for the line was 1,000,5001. On cress-examination by Mr. Sergeant TALFOIAD, on behalf of the atmospheric line, the witness stated that the South-Eastern Com pany were about wit:ening the existing Greenwich line for the Croydon Atmospheric and proposed to lay down additional lines for the North Kent line. For the increased traffic of the Croydon Atmospheric, the North Kent and the Mid Kent lines, there would be three addi tional lines laid down at the London -bridge station and then there would be seven lines of rails. There would be a saving on the at mospheric line over the South-Eastern of four miles between London and Tunbridge. On re-examination, Mr. Stephenson state d that the Croydon Com pany would have to contribute towards wid enin g th e Greenwich line approaching to London-bridge. The saving of time by the at mospheric line between London anti Tunbridge would not be more than seven or eight minutes. Mr. Bidder corro b ora t e d th e testimony of Mr. Stephenson. He agreed with him in an the evidence he had given with reference to the general features of the line. Mr. J. Clutton, a land agent and surveyor, estimated the cost of the land for the main line and branches at 236,5701. This closed the case for the promoters. Mr. M. DAWSON then addressed the committee on behalf of a land holder at Deptford. who complained that the line unnecessarily in vaded his property, inasmuch as the company might avoid the pro perty by availing themselves of the existing Croydon lisle. The Committee then adjourned. GROUP XVIII. EXETER, YEOVIL, AND D ORCHESTER, LONDON, SALISBURY, AND YEOVIL. The Committee met as usual .jr. D. Denison, chairman. Mr. MIA/YARD stated, that in oonsequance of the intimation which the Committee had given, he would endeavour to call as few wit nesses as were really necessary for the protection of his clients' Interests. be sorry t o t h e latest day of his material to the i n t erests of their case. H o life if any intimation he had made le would prevent the C ounse l call i ng any w itness which they thought co T in h in e l e t t i e l A e IhßaktdAmN ma S el t e tl te d would th a n t . t h a n d o t p h e e d C a o n u y n s i e n i t a l m s t a r t a l y o n . w il l' : c o l ? t u h l d e was House of Comm ons to j udge of the merits of theline se , n an t t d he washreeby h tdee termined to do his duty. Mr. Morrison, M.P., was then called, who stated that on public as well as local grounds he thought it necessary that there should be another lino affording direct communication between Exeter and London. Mr. Head, residing at Seyton, was proceeding to give evidence of a similar nature, when the Committee interfered, and ordered the room to be cleared. The parties having been called on. The CuAmax announced that it wag the opinion of the Committee that they had heard sufficient evidence as to the traffic of the line, and desired the protwters to proceed at once with their engineering evi dence. Mr. Locke. the engineer, being under examination in another Com mittee, and ther e b e i ng no' probability of his examination being con cluded to-day, the Committee adjourned till twelve o'clock to-morrow. GROUP XX. M 0 3413° N, ROUNSLOVJ' AND lATESTEIitN. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)E: _Jyter the he ar i ng of some further traffic ev id ence , The Committee adjourned at an early hour till to-morrow. GROUP XXII. The CommitteeWit."V EN Ey VALMEY. The witnesses examined to day give evidence of met at the usual hour. Sir G. Grey, chairman. which the line would p tins ihro f wtier which the eon er upon the C proposed railway multi ass. the advantages • The witnesses were Messrs.Willshire, Thomas Hammond, W. Tees dall, H. Walwood, and T. B. Palmer. Captain Morsom, R.N., engineer t o the Company, gave evidence of the favourable nature of the line; the gradients were not severe, and he considered the line would prove remunerative to the company. The line was on the narrow gauge, and there was no engineering difficulties. The river Waveney would be crossed by means of a swing bridge, which would not all interrupt the naviga tion of the river, which was a tidal one. At the conclusion of the engineering evidence the Committee rose and adjourned till twelve to-morrow. GROUP XXVI. LONDON AND SOUTH ESSEX. This Committee resumed its sittings at twelve, Mr. Maurice O'Con nell in the chair. Mr. COCKBURN, Q.C., addressed the Committee on the ground of being opposed by the North Gravesend simply because they wanted a larger span of archway across their line than was absolutely neces sary. Mr. Robwm., in reply, stated that they wanted a span of 100 feet over the river Lea, which Mr. Brunel deemed necessary, whereas the London and South Essex offered them only 60 feet. __ _ - Mr. Locke, civil engineer, was cross-examined by Mr. ROBERTS on this subject. He was of opinion that the force of the current would not be increased by his bridge of two arches, as the river would be widened in proportion for a sufficient space to counterbalance any in creased impetus that might be given to the stream by the erection of his buttresses, and, moreover, that a bridge of fifty feet span would be quite ample for all the purposes of navigation. Mr. JAMES followed up the eross-examination of this witness, who stated that there was a very ex cellent natural dock in the river Crouch, near Burnham, and he did not hesitate to say that that place must rival Harwich, though Mr. James was of opinion that the sight of an Ostend steamer would very much astonish the worthy oyster drudgers of Burnham. Mr. Locke was further of opinion, that, there would be no danger in transferring the traffic on to the Blackwell Railway, as he had an idea of altering ono line, and substituting either the locomotive or atmospheric principle. The curves also on his proposed line were very favourable at this junction with the Blackwell Railway ; there was a curve of 42 chains ; with that exception there were none ender three quarters of a mile. The steepest gradient was 1 in 150 from Lon don, and 1 in 250 towards London ; there was no tunnel. The gradients on the two branches were also good, but better on the Tilbury than on the Southend Branch. The Committee were then engeged for some time examining the plans and sections, after which Mr. Locke stated the working expenses to be 64,1971., which subtracted from 124,324/., gross amount of capital, would leave a net revenue of 60,127/. for the branches, Scc. Mr. Tite, the architect of the Royal Exchange, said the esti mate for land was 108,940/., which he. considered a very fair esti mate, being an average of nearly: 2001. per acre; but he believed the land would be bought for much less, and also that no opposition would be experienced from Lord Petre. This gentleman's cross-examination having been postponed, Captain Fisher, harbour-master of the City of London, was of opinion that a station for colliers on , the Crouch, communicating by railway with London, would be of very great service to the metro polis, as during south-west gales coal vessels were often wind-bound for days when there was a great need of the article in London. Such a station would also relieve the Pool of that pressure which sl often was the source of accidents to large steamers passing up and down the river. Could not say that a vessel would, under every circumstance, be able to beat up the river Crouch with a gale from S.W. A vessel could not beat up to London with wind at S.W. Mr. Wightman, of the Blackwell Railway, gave evidence favour able to the proposed line. The traffic began steadily to increase on the Blackwell line after the opening of the station in Fenchurch street. Was of opinion that the South Essex would effect a junction with the Blackwell Railway as it was at present laid down ; and that 250,000 tons of coal might well be consumed about Stepney if brought by the South Essex line. In answer to the Hon. CHAIRMAN witness stated that the station traffic on the Blackwell Railway was about two-thirds of the whole. He also, in reply to Mr. MAURICE O'CONNELL stated that 50 per cent. was a good amount of increase on the traffic of the first year, I considering the great rush of traffic they experience on first opening. Mr. Wm. Pare stated that the number of passengers carried had exceeded the estimate by half a million. The rate of traffic of in crease between Liverpool and Manchester and between Brighton and London was less than between Newcastle and Car lisle; or, generally, that when the pre-existing ;traffic was considerable, the opening of a railway has not caused so great a ratio of increase as between places where the pre-existing traffic was comparatively small. The increase of traffic on the Liverpool and Manchester was only five times, and on the London and Brighton only three times greater than before the construction of the railways, whereas on the Newcastle and Carlisle it was thirteen times greater than before. Mr. Tite, being recalled, stated, in reply to Mr. Maurice O'Connell, that estates and ocecupancy are regarded, but parochial and other divisions are not ; that arable land is more liable to consequential damage than any other description, and that no objection was made now to level crossing o even in pasture countries. This virtually closed the case for the South Essex ; and after a table of assents and dissents had been given in, the Committee decided upon bearing the North Gravesend, on the rebutting evidence. Mr. John Cooper, owner of West Ham corn-mills, was called, and stated that from 6d. to Is. per quarter was the charge of freight from the eastern coast of Essex to the various mills about West Ham, which he thought was a cheaper mode of conveyance than by any railway at Id. a mile. The carriage to London from West llam cost him 2s. 6d. per ton, the distance being about three miles.' Most of the large mills in the vicinity of London were near the water. It being four o'clock the Committee then adjourned till twelve to morrow. GROUP XXVII. SOUTH MIDLAND, AND LEICESTER AND BEDFORD (CO/YIPETING) znwEs. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) IMPORTANT DECISION. The CHAIRMAN announced that he could not then (It being past four o'clock) give the official decision of the Committee, but he would do so to-morrow at twelve o'clock. He might, however, say, that the decision to which the Committee had come was, that the pre amble of the SOUTH MIDLAND RAILWAY was not proved, and that the preamble of the LEICESTER AND BEDFORD RAILWAY was proved. The Committee then adjourned till to-morrow. GROUP XXXI. SOUTH WALES (AMENDMENTS AND DE. VIATIONS). (Co'tinned from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) Mr. Marsh, C.E., stated that the line as passed last session would go through more than eight miles of inferior land belonging to Mr. Talbot, the petitioner against the Margem deviation, and that the proposed deviation would run through about nine miles of valuable farming land. Mr. Talbot's agent, Mr. Llewellyn, considered that that gentle man's property would be materially injured by the deviation ; many farms would be removed, and the tenants subjected to considerable annoyance. Mr. WHATELEY, Q.C., then addressed the Committee against the Margem deviation, and held that after Mr. Talbot had consented to the line as passed last session, and agreed to give up a certain quan tity of his property, that it was extremely hard now to propose a deviation which would injure his property to a greater extent, as the promoters of the lino would require more land and that of a more valuable quality than in the first instance. Besides, the line could not fail to materially injure the towns of Bridgend and Cowbridge by taking the traffic in another direction, and consequently leading to the establishment of a new town at the junction in question. Then it had been shown by farmers and others that the original line would answer their purpose, and that the deviation would not. He deprecated the conduct of the South Wales Company coming forward this session, after having obtained their Bill, with several important deviations which materially affected the whole plan of railway. He held that the preamble of the Bill, so far as this portion of the line was concerned, had not been proved, and called upon the Committee so to decide. Mr. CROWDER then addressed the Committee on behalf of the Severn and Wye Canal and Railway, into the history of the rise and progress of which he entered at length, and held that as they had constructed their canal and railway at a period when such projects were looked upon with little favour, and at considerable expense, and they had from time to time expended large sums of money in fitting them for the wants of the district, and as the project before the Committee would be most destructive to its proprietors, he called upon the Committee to reject it, namely the filling up of the " gap," as not required by the wants of the district. He did not ask this on behalf of a company possessing a lucrative monopoly, because the proprietors did not receive more than 5 per cent. on the capital which they had invested in its construction. The Forest of Dean Company and the South Wales Company said they had full powers in their Bill to purchase the Wye Railway, but if the proprietors of that Railway did not consent, why then they would let them alone. In what a pretty condition his clients would be if the South Wales were constructed and the Fo• est of Dean allied to them. The property of his clients would be utterly destroyed. The Learned Oentleman had not concluded his address at the rising of the Committee. An arrangement has been made with the Berkeley Canal Company which has led to the w ithdrawal of their opposition. GROUP LIV. ISTIELAND, BURTON-ON-TRENT TO NUNEATON, AND ER.ANCIE. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) J. Kidyer examined —Was employed to take the traffic and survey on the line from Burton to Nuneaton. The population on the line was 114 000, and the traffic 89,0951. Cross examined -Was not prepared to go into the details on which he based his calculations. Ile had put down the mineral traffic rt Id. per ton per mile, and the other articles at 114 d. per ton. The net proceeds of the railway would he 40,0001. He had made in his calculations on this point an addition of 50 per cent. to the true traffic. He considered that at least that increase would result from the railway. Wanted to sur vey the country to the west side, but was prevented doing so by Lord Howe's agent. He was prevented from taking surveys on ➢lr. Moore's estate. Did not include in his estimate any coals coming from the east of the Moira coal-fields. The CHAIRMAN said that the Committee were desirous to ascertain the rates and tolls at present levied on the Ashby canal. Mr. MACAULEY said that he would take care that this information should be forthcoming. The witness was re examined by Mr. Macetn.Ey—lt was of great importance to the brewers of Burton to have this railway constructed. There were no less than seventeen schemes which proposed to con struct railways in this district and all proposed to pass through the estates of Lord Home and Mr. Moore. These estates were very extensive and could not possibly be avoided by a railway crossing the country. After hearing some farther evidence of the same nature, the Com mittee adjourned at four o'clock. GROUP LV. MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND MID. LAND JUNCTION. The preamble of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Midland Junction line having been proved, the Committee went through the clauses to-day, and disposed of them in a short time. They then entered upon the evidence affecting the Manchester and Hyde line, which is a line of seven miles ; and also that of Staley-bridge, a competing line. The cost of the former was estimated by Mr. Vignoles at about 139,2001., or 20,0001. per mile, and was to have two small branches, and one viaduct of 352 yards, and the line was to be a doable one. M. Gee, Esq., was examined in opposition to the line, and in-sup port of the Staley-bridge line. The latter was to be 12 miles long, with two short branches ; and he contended that the Staley-bridge would be preferable to the Manchester and Hyde. At the close of this gentleman's evidence, the Committee adjourned till twelve o'clock to-morrow. GROUP LVI. The members of this Committee met at 12 o'clock, in Room 29 (New Houses of Parliament), when Mr. Ewart took the chair. the same me ,i,bers were present as yesterday. The case of the LONDON AND CROYDON (THAMES JUNC- TION CANAL) was resumed. Mr. William Cubitt was called, and examined on the part of the promoters. (At the time that Mr. Bawlinson concluded his case for the promoters, he reserved the power of calling Mr. W. Cubitt.) His evidence was chiefly in corroboration of that of Mr. B. Cubitt. Sir John Hill, superintendent of the ;ICiiiillWtie;;ltineni at Deptford, was called by Mr. POWER, on the part of the Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, and Deptford-road trustees. He spoke to the very great mischief that would result from the formation of a line crossing from it on a level. Mr. Sergeant WILKINS (on the part of the Grand Surrey Canal Company) then rose; and said that he did not at present propose to go into the question of the merits of the Bill. He was not about to open the case on the part of the Canal Company, but he was about to ask the Committee for something like what in common law is called a " nonsuit." He claimed this on these grounds:-Ist. By the 7th and Bth Victoria, cap. 20, sec. 46, it was enacted that, whenever a railway crossed a public road it must do so either by an arch over or tunnel under such road, unless a special clause provided otherwise. He had searched the Act through and could find no special clause so providing, although it was proposed to cross Grove-lane on a level.—(A laugh from Mr. Talbot) He (Mr. Sergeant Wilkins) well understood his Learned Friend's laugh ; for his friend always showed most philosophy in adversity, and laughed more then than at any other time.—(Laughter.) The Learned Counsel then objected to the interference with the right of way in turning aside a certain road; and also to the interference with the bed of the river, which he said was a necessarypart of the erection of a coffer-dam for the purpose of sinking the piles on which that part of the line that would be within the dock mast be built. The Learned Counsel referred to the short-hand writer's notes of the evidence of Mr. B. Cubitt to show that a coffer-dam would be ne cessary. Mr. Cubitt had t hat morning introduced " the „ play of Hamlet, the character of the Prince of Denmark had not ,i contem - for he had said, that in laying down the line he i plated the dock as a p art of the undertak ng ; whereas, in the Act, the dock was the sine qua non. The Learned Counsel again referred to Mr. Cubit's evidence and also to the Bill. Ile (Mr. Sergeant Wilkins) knew very well that there were no diffl• cultics in the eyes of the engineers, for when Mr. Stephenson was asked in another committee-room a few days ago whether he coull make a tunnel under the Alps, he replied, " Under the Halps, non why yes, ye could mak a tunnel under the world if you liked, its merely a question o' pounds , sh illin g s, and pence."—(A laugh.) But though no difficulties in the eyes of an engineer, they were great difficulties'in the eyes of lawyers. Mr. TaLeor replied (on the part of the promoters) that though there was no clause in the Bill that would empower the promoters to pass Grove-road on a level, yet one could be easily introduced all objections to the clauses which referred to the dock s , an d to i and liose po:nts of the preamble that treated it as a part of the scheme, would be obviated by striking out those portions. Mr. POWElLreferredto the 81st and 82d standing orders, by which Committees were empowered to strike out such parts of tbe preambles {if Bills as were not paved . , and 81101 clauses as would bgbauefurin their results, but with this proviso, that the Bill must not be* altered al to become a diatinet Bill frein that originally prevented. Mr. PARKES, the Parliamentary agent, replied on the part of the promoter, and After a few words from Mr. Sergeant WILKINS, The Committee ordered the room to be cleared. On our return the case was ordered to proceed. _ _ Mr. Sergeant Miami then proceeded to eyamine Mr. Travers, the secretary to the Grand Surrey Canal Company, who gave evi dence as the mischief that would result from the interruption of the traffic on the canal by the bridge on which this railway would cress it. This bridge would be but a few yards from a bridge on which the main line of the London and Croydon Railway crossed the canal. This was already a great obstruction. Mr. Smith, the engineer to the Surrey Canal Company, gave similar evidence at great length. The examination, cross-examination, and re-examination of these witnesses occupied the Committee up to four o'clock, when they ad journed till twelve to-morrow. WHITEHAVEN AND FURNESS JUNCTION RAILWA.Y.—SPECIAL MEETING. A meeting of this Company was advertised for yesterday at the Company's offices, 1, Guildhall-chambers, Basinghall street, in pursuance of the sessional orders of both Houses of Parliament, but after waiting for a considerable length of time the directors were obliged to adjourn the meeting to some future day, in consequence of the non-attendance of proprietors or scripholders. LONDONDERRY - and ENNISKILLEN R AILWAY.—SPECI AL MEETING. A special meeting of this company took plaee yesterday, in compliance with the sessional orders of both Houses of Par liament; Mr. George Frith in the chair. The SECRTARY having read the advertisement convening the meeting, The CHAIRMAN said, that the subject of the present Bill had been discussed at a former meeting, and they were now only assembled to comply with the orders of the Houses of Parliament. The whole number of shares belonging to the Company was 10,000, consequently 3,334 would be a sufficient number to constitute the meeting legally, but he was very happy to state that he had received proof of 3,397 assenting to the carrying on their Bill in Parliament. • A SHAREHOLDER desired to know if the deposits had been paid upon those? The CHAIRMAN was uncertain upon that point, and the meeting adjourned to this day week, in order' to ascertain the point. PROVINCIAL BANK OF IRELAND. GENERAL ANNUAL MEETING. A general annual meeting of the proprietors of this Com pany, pursuant to the deed of settlement, was held yesterday at the offices of the society, 42, Old Broad-street. Mr. Aliston took the chair at half-past twelve o'clock. The Szcnternay then read the advertisement calling the meeting. The CHAIRMAN said it was the first time he had ever pre-. sided over such an assembly as that before him, and he therefore trusted he would be excused if he should make any mistake. He had to propose that the four following gentle men be elected as directors for the ensuing year :—Edward Fletcher, Thomas Masterman, G. R. Robinson, and John Young, Esqs. The resolution was unanimously agreed to. The CHAIRMAN said, as they were all men of business, and did not require many words from him, he would therefore call upon the Secretary to read the report. The SECRETARY then read the report, which stated the satisfactory prospects of the Company. There was a surplus fund of 14,0001. An HoN. PROPRIETOR wished to know if the directors intended to give an extra bonus this year? They had done so before with a much less surplus fund. The CHAIRMAN said that the directors were as fond of bonuses as the proprietors, but as the Company had esta blished four extra branches, they did not deem it prudent to do so. They had gained the confidence of the public, and they should be careful not to lose it. Their surplus fund was their rock of safety.—(Hear, hear.) Captain J. L. LEWIS said, as a stranger, having heard the report read, which he considered most satisfactory,he wished to know what was the amount of salary they had given to their retiring secretary ? The CHAIRMAN said that his full salary was 1,2001., and they had given him for his excelent services a pension of 1,0001. An Holy. PROPRIETOR begged to express the confidence he had in the board of directors, and to state that he con sidered their course as quite correct in not giving a bonus, for when bonuses were given the shares were apt to go down in the market.—(Hear.) The CHAIRMAN then moved that the report read to the meeting be adopted, printed, and circulated, which was carried unanimously. An HoN. PROPRIETOR wished, before the meeting sepa rated, to move a vote of thanks: to their late secretary. It was to his exertions that they . owed the present excellent arrangements of the Company, in so much that the Company was looked upon by others as a model, and was often quoted as an example. The motion having been seconded, it was passed unani mously. A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman, and the meeting separated. e LAW INTELLIGENCE. PRIVY COUNCIL, May 21. The Judicial Committee 3f the Privy Council con tinued their sitting to-day. The Lords present were, the Lord President (the Duke of Buccleuch), Mr. Baron Parke, the Vice-Chancellor Knight Bruce, and the Judge of the Prerogative Court (Sir Herbert Jenner Fust). WILLIAMS AND OTHERS V. CHAPMAN AND OTHERS. This was an appeal from the sentence pronounced by the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in a cause of damage, civil and maritime, arising out of the total loss of the brig Parana and her cargo, together with the master and five of the crew, in a collision with the Iron Duke steamer, brought by the respondents (the owners of the brig) against the appellants, trustees of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. The facts were as follows :—The Parana, a new brig of 200 tons burthen, was navigated by a master and ten hands, and with her cargo was worth about 17,0001. The Iron Duke is a steamer, belonging to the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company, of 600 tons burthen, having engines of great power, her ordinary speed being from twelve to fourteen knots an hour. She carries the mail between Liverpool and Kingstown, and on the night of the collision had 70 passengers on board. The Parana left Liverpool the 9th of September, 1844, bound to Montreal. Shortly before two o'clock, A.M., of the 10th of September, the steamer's lights were rst seen from the brig, about three miles . distant off her star - board bow. As the .steamer rapidly approached, the mate of the brig held the binnacle light over the weather quarter, and hailed, but no notice was taken, and the Iron Duke ran into the Parana, which went down almo: t instantly, and with cargo and other property. The arguments were commenced yesterday, and re sumed, but not concluded to-day. The Solicitor-General and Dr. Addams appeared for the appellants, and the Queen's Advocate, Sir Thomas Wilde, and Dr. Haggart were counsel for the re spondents. The further arguments in the case were postponed to a future day. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HOUSE. Frederick Steinberger, clerk to Mr. Tate, solicitor, of Basinghall-street, was brought before Sir Peter Laurie, upon the charge of having forged a cheque for 1001., upon the London Joint-stock Bank.! Mr. Bush, of the firm of Bush and Mullins, solicitors to the Committee of Bankers for the; prevention of for geries and frauds, attended for the prosecutor, and Mr. Hobler appeared for tne prisoner. Mr. J. W. Nutter, cashier of the London Joint-stock Bank, stated that between three and four o'clock on the 13th of May, the cheque produced for 1001. was pre• sented by the prisoner across the counter for payment, and witness suspected that something about it was incor rect, and asked him to go into an anti-room ; that one of the managers asked for whom he presented the cheque, to which he replied that he was a clerk to Mr. Tate, and that he presented the eheque for a friend ; that upon being asked who that friend was, be said he did not know, but that he was a young man like himself, only rather shorter ; and that the prisoner was therefore detained, and Mr. Tate was sent for. Mr. William Tate said the prisoner bad been his clerk about nine months, and that the writing on the cheque was, he had no doubt, in the prisoner's hand writing. He added that he had never authorised the prisoner to fill up that or any other cheque ; that he had been in the habit of sending the prisoner to the banking-house with his pass-book, and almost invariably for the purpose or getting his cheques changed ; that he found there had been a cheque taken out of his cheque book, and the cheque produced bore the same number as the missing one, viz., 20,928, that he constantly kept his cheque-book in a drawer, which was locked, and that the drawer must have been opened to obtain it, andthat the prisoner must have known the place of concealment. The witness, in cross•examination by Mr. Hobler, said that he knew nothing of the cheque in question until the 13th inst. The prisoner was committed for trial at the Centra Criminal Court. EXTRAC RDINARY CASE.— William George Wallis, the secretary to the Tower Hamlets Loan Society, held of late in St. Mary Axe, having been summoned to answer the complaint of a foreigner, named Otto Brunges, who had deposited in the hand of that individual, as an officer of the society, the sum of 65/., upon which interest was to have been paid. Sir PETER LAURIE called on the case. Mr. King, who appeared as solicitor for Mr. Wallis on a former occasion, in which a complaint was made against the Secretary to the Tower Hamlets Loan So ciety, begged leave to hand to the Alderman the folloW ing notice, which occasioned no small degme of sur prise : " To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London, and all other her Majesty's justices of the peace of the said city : " Take notice that, by virtue of the summons granted upon the complaint of one Otto Brunges, I duly attended the same on Thursday last, the 14th day of 2'layin t s h t. e , and there objected to y our Lordship, or any other of her Majesty's justice s of the said City of London, entertain ing the complaint of the said Otto Brunges, upon ground that the loan society mentioned or referred to in the said summons, and to which it was alleged that I was the secretary, was not an enrolled society, and that your Lordship and the said justices of the said City had no jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter of the said complaint by reason thereof. Now I hereby give you, the said Lord Mayor of the said City of London, and each of you the said justices of the said City of London, notice, that you have no jurisdiction whatever to hear and determine the said complaint ; and I hereby require and a nd each herebyand every further you,there therein, g iyvoeu you n ot tonotice adjudicatetuat in the event of your granting any warrant against me, for not appearing to the said summons this day, upon the hearing thereof by adjournment, or of your taking any proceedings whate ver aga i nst me, i n the matter of the said complaint, contrary to the notice, I shall hold you, and every of you, personally liable and responsible to me for any damage which I may sustain by reason thereof. Dated this 21st day of May, 1846. W. G. WALLIS. Witness, Charles W. King, 40, St. Mary Axe, at torney for the said William George Wallis. Sir PETER LAURIE, upon hearing the paper read, observed that he never recollected any occasion upon which a magistrate was served with - a written notice. denying his jurisdiction. Mr. Goodman said, he had never heard of such thing. The question of jurisdiction was usually left to the decision of the magistrate buns( lf. Mr. King admitted that he believed the notice to be a solitary instance. Sir PETER LAllRlE—Beflire I can say whether I can or cannot adjudicate, I will hear the case, one tittle of which I am as yet unacquainted with. It is necessary to state here, that about a fortnight ago Mr. Ashley, the solicitor to the complainant in this case, represented to Alderman Gibbs, that his client, and a great many other persons, had been induced, by the attraction of advertisements in the news papers, and by the brilliant accounts given by the Secretary to the Tower Hamlets Loan Society, of the state of the funds, and the prospects of the insti tution, to deposit condeerable sums of money in the concern, and that finding these accounts utterly fallacious, applications had been made for the restitution of the sums advanced ; according to the printed regula tions, to the secretary, who refused to listen to any com plaints of the kind, although he was not only in posses sion of the whole property of the shareholders, but was actually using the loans anti the interest upon the loans daily. To this statement of Mr. Ashby, it was replied by Mr. King that Mr. Wallis represented a body of shareholders himself to a very large amount, and that it was in the power of any person interested to examine the books of the society in the possession of the secre tary, from which it was to be seen that every trans action was bona fide upon the part of that officer. In conclusion, Alderman GIBBS postponed the case upon the understanding that the books of the society were to undergo an immediate examination. Such was the state of the case, when the subject was introduced to Sir Peter Laurie, before whom there ap pears to be a natural disinclination, upon the part of persons engaged in matters of doubtful character, to attend. Sir P. LAURIE desired to know whether the books bad been examined ? The complainant, and several other of the share holders, replied that the solicitors who had attended the office of the secretary, to examine the books, had not only been refused permis-ion to do so, but had been grossly insulted by Mr. Wallis. Sir P. LAURIE—I have always considered and repre sented these loan societies to be most dangerous deposi taries for people's property, but how any one 'could be such a fool as to give his money to be kept where he could not have access to the books appertaining to it is what I cannot at all understand. The complainant—Any one, my Lord, would b© led away by his talk.—(Laughter.) Sir PETER LAURIE—Did you not look into the book of rules and regulations? The complainant—l am not acquainted with any of them. I believed everything he told me, and so d d everybody else.—(Laughter.) Sir P. LAURIE —HOW many shareholders claim money of him? Several shareholders—There are twelve of us who claim about 2,0001., independent of the interest to which we were entitled upon the loans. ' The sum of 8,0001. altogether is in the secretary's hands. The complainant—He defies us all, and says posses sion is nine points of the law; and he is receiving money every day which ought to be divided amongst the share holders. Sir PETER LAURIE—I find amongst the book of rules and regulations that fourteen days' notice is ne cessary to be given before the deposits made by the shareholders can be withdrawn. Has that notice been regularly given ? The complainant—Certainly ; InY solicitor has done everything that was necessary. Sir PETER LAURIE—But who are the directors and trustees? They ought to hold the person responsible. The complainant—The direction is entirely broken up. In fact, the directors are opposed to the secretary. He is down npon directors, shareholders, and all, and he defies all. Sir PETER LAURIE—Why have you not called a meeting of the parties interested? Some of the share holders said they had endeavoured to get the borrowers and the whole body of the shareholders together, and that it was intended to indemnify the former if they refused to pay the secretary any further sum, but the poor people were terrified by the apprehension of last proceedings. _ _ _ Sir P. LAURIE—I see here the names of the directors of the society, and I shall send summonses to all of them. It is said they are as much opposed to the secretary as any of those who now complain—that they are equally losers. I shall see, however, whether the strict performance of their duty to the shareholders will not lead to the restitution of the property of which so many have been deprived, so that the directors may, by being compelled to serve the shareholders, who were induced to take shares in consequence of their re-: spectability, render great service to themselves. I per ceive that the book containing the names of the directors was handed to the complainant after the payment of the first instalment ; and I perceive other points on which I shall try whether I cannot achieve complete justice for these poor credulous people. A Mr. Taylor, who said that he was a director, and had been, when the society was commenced, chairman of the directors, here stepped forward and assured Sir Peter Laure that the directors were all sufferers, and that they would all most readily attend his call. Sir I'. LAURIE—Why do you not at once lay hold of your servant, the secretary, who is in possession of your funds ? Mr. Taylor (as our reporter understood him) said that the secretary had by his ingenuity contrived to get a number of shares into his hands, and was thus enabled to contend against a minority. • Here .I,;r. Ashley (whose clerk had been attending for the complainant) entered the justice-room, and Sir PETER LAURIE informed him of his determination to summons all the directors, and by such means get at the secretary. Mr. Ashley said there never was a case in which the skill or exertions of Sir Peter Laurie could be more usefully or beneficially exercised. The whole of the funds of the society are in the hands of the secretary, who was compounding with some shareholders for 59., with others for 65., and with others for 7s. or Bs. in the pOtind, and giving his own promissory notes, at long dates, to the unfortunate people in payment of their de posits. It was melancholy to think that men could be such dupes. He had seen a letter from a solicitor in the City to a poor man, who had borrowed money of the society, and who only owed 9s. 6d., as a last instalment , threatening, in the name of the secretary, that if that sum was not paid by twelve o'clock next day l a w pro ceedings should be commenced. Sir P. LAURIE—Mr. Ashley, attend here on Friday week, I will then hear the case. I am told that the matter is n .t in my jurisdiction ; but I don't mind going out of my way to accomplish a public benefit. The whole proceeding gave great satisfaction to & crowded Court. THE SCHOOLMASTER WANTED.—The auditor of this district under the new poor-law was somewhat surprised the other day while engaged in auditing the accounts of an union in this county, at being addressed by a person in the room who had a bundle, consisting of several books, under his arm, with—" Perhaps you'll be good enough to take me next, sir." " What are you, sir?" said the auditor to this man of great business. "I'm the relieving officer, sir." " What," ex claimed the surprised auditor, " Hav'nt you enough to do to attend to your own duties, without coming here to pass the pari6h officers accounts, go and send the overseers directly," " It would be of no use, Sir, they can't read or write, and I keep the books." " Send the churchwardens here the n, replied the auditor " That would be no better, Sir," re torted the relieving officer. The auditor lifted up his bands and eyes in amazement, regretting that the schoolmaster had been so little at home in Worcestershire. — Worcester shire Chronicle. An old lady of Dawlish, seeing the men engaged in fixing the electric telegraphs very modestly stepped forward , and inquired of them, "if there is to be slackwire dancing on the opening of the railroad."—Devonshire Chronicle. T(Feolf A CORRESPONDENT. )—Mr. Woodman's Derby horse Landsurveyor, arrived on Wednesday by the Birmingham train, on his way to Epsom. SALE OF RARE IdA.NUSCRIPTS, QUEEN ANNE'S FAR THING,' AND OTIIER Coms.—Yesterday the sale of the valuable silenced on Saturday, was concluded at the auction-rooms of Messrs. library of the late Venerable Archdeacon Todd, which was corn- Sotheby and Co., Wellington-street, Strand, the sale taking place by order of the executors. There were 1,106 lots, containing some themeex trely valuable religiow, historical, and literary works. Among most rare were the following manuscripts :—Lot 492. " All Archbisshop of Canterburye, truely set forth, both in ll the Submyss.)ons and Recantations of Thos. Cranmer, Latyn and Englyshe, agreeable to the originalles, wrytten. and subscribed with his own hande ; a tract of six leaves ; 155 G." 3/. ss. Lot 918. "Thomas Earle of Strafford" (a poem on hie death) ; his letter to his Majesty, from the Tower, May 4, 1641 ; h h S letter to his lady, from the Tower, May 12, 1611, upori his h deat m ; t f t o o r ' Pattern and his meditations, a manuscript of 29 leaves. 21. t It Y e t xt e . s h a c auctioneer were also disposed of, a Queen Anne's far Msg., Milanrl, e, a ls c rown,. a 2/ p enny4sm of Syria, &c., which were ie . pro . : ( a l t 7 n i i d l , 3 ) Mar y : l is . nine Chlrlemagne silver pcnnic. , ~ , 2/ • a d ver me anion, by Pistrucci, 1835, 2/. 9s. ; a kat Russell-street, Coven I.9;psait;tearnpaht,at halfpenny, ni,y halfpenny,Gl9e:.;: Gt bronze, elo.ir:: et o t f ieri d ni i . at our gaol, about one o'clock in the morn' t-garden. 0 S t rl as Alderton and Clarke were watching' ing, they heard some one get over the top of party a silver BREAKING of ct ohien l oaftlate ‘n N i tr T i . :Thi Till, I SO N. i I a 11r-ay, the door of the gar den wall, and make h is way into the garden at the back of the House of Correction. He had with him a ladder, and went Op as f a r a s the roof. They then saw it was Robert Berry, r aw and ran towards the ladder, on which he descended nieht been in communication with one of th could, ran across the garden, and escaped over the as were in watch for him, as it was believed that he wall. They, oo n ß d o ed b the f C as o t op a e i rj; . bad on the prey , 0 Weavers. On being taken bef Te He was committed for two months he was only going to take some tea and he said Oa& Has.atirrog e u p e ris an o d ne v r a s g , a n b a o m n e d d ._ E b m u l : Braddock, Esq., Weaver sugar to Emma Wea__....,, Post. BIRTHS 11 wire of t h e Thomas the 18th inst., at Ky nastone House, Herefordshire, —e Thomas Batson, Esq., of a son. &WM .!' ill- On the 19th inst., th e w i fe of Alfred Sudlow. Esq., o f terrace, Camberwell, of a sat. On the 19th inst., at Carlton-villas, Kilburn, a daughter. ira , S• Regent's-Park, On the 19th inst., at Titehlleld-terrace, Baker, of a son. daughte r ' ',I . On the 19th inst., at Tottenham, Mrs. Spartan, of a E. pu On the 19th inst., at Eton, the wife of the Rev. Franc" ford, of a son. Mrs. Charles Coolr , of AfARRIED. r W., 3. ' On the 16th tilt., in the Cathedral of St. James , Toronto, C . gar y, 11. Leroy, Esq., Captain in the Royal Artillery, to Em ce i l Y im pel' eldest f daughter of the Hon . J. B. Robinson, Chief J usti of ur Canada. Esq., Olivia, On the 20th inst., at St. Marylebone Church , Robert Adriti a' wi get_.,,o, late Captain iu her Majesty's 60th Royal Rifles, t° daughter of the late David Verner, Esq. __________------------ DIED. On the 18th tilt., in Upper Seymour-street, Buston-square' Co o rt n , C. F th Es e q 6 " th ag i e n d st 7 ., s. at Bournemouth, Bents, ESO. the W- On the 9th inst., at Heavitree, near Exeter, Eliza, Rev. Robert Creke, aged 23. ' rne near On the 12th inst., at the Rectory House, Stoke d'Albou , Cobham, Surrey, the Rev. Philip Vaillant, aged 79. erable On the 15th inst., at Torquay, Mary, the wife of the Veil George Hodson, M.A., Archdeacon of Stafford, aged 58. Dodd On the 18th inst., in Church-row, Stoke Newinton, Mr. Dodd, aged 43. M. Humpbrel, On the 19th inst., William Martin, of 01d-street, St. Luke'S._ on, On the 19th inst., Frances, widow of the late Abrahara Cre Esq., aged 72. Plicen il On the 19th inst., at Rainham, Essex, Mr. Harris of the Mills, Dartford, Kent. On the 20th inst., Edith Frances, the youngest child of Edwar d Tegart, Esq., of Pall-mall `rife of the ___..... London: Printed and Published by IigURDO YOUNG, of No.elP Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Stran d, io the Pre., of the Savoy, in the County of Midair:4ex, FridaY, 28 ) 1846. • ,