The Sun. — London, England, 1847-02-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY _EVENING, FEBRUARY 19, 1847. Mr. BUNTI said he had ascertained that - the South- Eastern Company would not go beyond the terms that they had heard. It was a great disappointment, however, that no more advantageous terms could be obtained. When they looked to the prospectus they found that they had been promised ten per cent. The value of the land was double what they expected, and the other expenses also had ex.:ceded their expectations. But not only had the land and the materials they had to use cost more, but their traffic, which was estimated at 2d. per mile, was found now to be at an average of only Id. per mile. Hete, then, they had the misfortune of doubled cost and diminished rate of traffic. Notwithstanding what was alleged about the increase of receipts that would follow from the diminution of the rate of charge, he believed that he could not, on a single rail, carry such an amount of traffic as would pay a remunerating rate of dividend. Ile would, therefore, move that the agreement Should be rejected. Mr. GANKROJER seconded the motion. After 1 few observations front an Honourable Proprietor, in support of the motion, Mr. Manntorr said that, as a merchant of Lynn, he thought that the advantages of their line had been somewhat exaggerated with respect to the seal trade, and he would auport the original resolution. The CHAIRMAN said, that he had communications with a large number of shareholders, who had all expressed them -Bel yes fully satisfied with the agreement. The amendment was negatived, and the original resolu tion carried by a large majority. The enatiotax thought it right to state that the proxies reprenented were 5,911. The following Bills were then submitted to the meeting and agreed to without diseusssion—namely, a Bill to con solidate the three companies into one company, to be called the East Anglian Railways Company; a Bill to enable the Lynn and Ely Railway Company to extend their railway to Bury St. Edlnuags; a Bill for making a deviation in the line of the Lynn and Ely Railway, and for forming docks within the borough of King's Lynn; a Bill to ena'Jle the Lvni and Ely Railway to make a navigation from Lynn to Woronegay in the county of Norfolk. Thanks were, then voted to the chairman and the other directors, and the meeting separated. ELY AND HUNTINGDON It A ILWAY COMPANY A meeting of the shareholders of this company was then h• hi; H. C. Lacey, Rig., president of the board of direcoiPs, in the chair. _ _ _ The agreement read at the foregoing meeting was read and confiumed, as well as the resolutions to the Immo effect a 6 those ad )pted at that meeting. The silk wvre then resad, and the meeting se larated. LYNN AND DEREIIAM RAILWAY COMPANY. This was also a supplemental meeting; 11. C. Lacey, Esq., in than chair. Trio CitAntitAN said that the agreement which would be read to them had been rigre..d to at the meeting of the Lynn and Ely, arid Ely and Huntingdon Compa nies, but he diss:nted on h9th Decisions. The STORETAnr then read ihe agreement; and Mr. EvERA RD pr .posed a rer:obition, to the effect that the sgreement should be adopt, d. Tre resolution being seconeed, was carried unani mously. The CHAIRMAN, in reply to a qtvstion, said, that he thought, if their bad not bean in such haste in running into th arm of the South-Eastern Company, they might have made a better barglin; however, it should be remernhere(l that that was a solvent company, re ceiving 11,000/. or 12,0001. a week. Resolutions approving of the several Bills were then agreed to. Thanks were then voted to the chairman and the di rector., aft( r hich the meeting separated. SOUTII-EASTERN RAILWAY COlll P ANY. A special general meeting of the proprietars of the South- Eastern Railway Company was held at 1 o'clock yesterday, in the Board-room, London-bridge station, for the purpose of having submitted to them for approval the drafts of the following Bills, viz.:- 1. A Bill te) enable the South-Eastern Railway Company to make a railway to c mnect the London and Greenwich Railway and the North Kent line of the Seuth-Eastern Railway with the Bricklayers' Arms Branch Railway. 2. A • Bill to enable the South-Eastern Railway Company to make a flail may from the South-Eastern, Gravesend and Rochester Railway at.,Strood. to join the South-Eastern, Canterbury, Ramsgate, and Margate Railway, at Chilharn in the county of Kant, ' with branches to Sheerness and Fa versham Creek. 3. A Bill to enable the South-Eastern Railway Company to make a railway frem the North Kent Line of the South- Eastern Railway at Lewisham to Tunbridge, with branches to Dartford, Sevenoaks, Maidstone, and Paddock Wood. 4. A Bill to enable the South-Eastern Railway Company to make a railway from the South-Eastern Railway at Maid stone to the same railway at Great Chart, near Ashford, in the county of Kent. 3. A Lill to enable the South-Eastern Railway Company to make branch railways from the North Kent Line of the South-Las - teen Railway, near Lewisham, to Croydon and Bromley. 6. A Bill to enable the South-Eastern Riilwny Company to make a railway front the South-Eastern Gravesend and Rochester Railway at Strood, to Maidstone. 7. A Bill to enable the South-Eastern Rail vay Company to widen the London and Greenwich Railway, and to enlar their London -bridge station. 8. A Bill for providing increased station ac commo d at il the terminus of the South-Eastern, and London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, at or near London-bridge, and for the arrangement thereof. And also fear the purpose of making, extending, and alter ing bye-laws, orders, and rul es fur t h e management ofthe undertakings belongttrg to or in lease to the South-Eastern R . tilway Company. And also for the purpose of determining whether interest at any, and what rate, shall be paid on the shares of this com pany commonly called the No. 3 shares. And also whether intt:reet at any, and what rate, clash! be paid on the amounts paid and to be paid up in respect of the shares of this company commonly called the No. 4 shares. Mr. GREGORY, chairman of the company presided. Mr. Feamate, solicitor, having read the titles, preambles, and marginal notes of the several Bills, The Cilillol,tX then said, that the projects which they were about to promote in this reaaion of Parliament had all received the approbation of the sharehoide:s, with one single exception—that of the Lewisham, Bromley, and Croydon Bill. There had been much public and private discussion with re turd to the conflicting interests of the South- Western and Londonland Brighton and East Coast Junc tion Railway Companies. Statements had been made unwarranted by the circumstances, and it would be his duty to relate 'these circumstances as they actually occurred. They were aware from the cor respondence which had already been made public, that a conference had taken place, on the 4th November, between a deputation of the South- Eastern Company and the Brighton C nnpany's Board, arid misunderstandings having anima as to what had passed at that conference, in order to pre vent atecurrence of the sante error, it was suggested that a ahort-hand wriier should be in attendance at the next meeting. The. sh.areholders had had already a verbati m report o f w h at fore took place circul a t e d among them, and he should not, there 'oceepY their time with comments upon the proceedings. The deputation had had two more interviews since that period with and a the chairma and Mr. Sh us t er, o f t h e B r i ghton Company, a endeavOnt 1T `vas settlement the made to bring about an amicable w,ences existing between the com panies. In -eager that had taken pM e 14,m tl e le i meeting might be aware of what later interviewe he would read to them the *aft sulenitted the Brighton Company. The Chairman then proce e d e d t r, briefly that threea(lS the terms of the draft the Tioriutlitt-Eaatern Company which were should pay, for the use of p t re h i at the Brighton n a n t at t ir of their the stllll 20,e00/. for five years g • t"n Company's n Bill ; Company should discontinue the North Dent projects, the South Easter withdrawing their Lewisham, Bromley, a n d eL s re time that both companies should enter into an agreement not hoitile to the int to make or support any line • ereeta of the other • that with regard to the enlargement of the London -bridge Station, the arrangement should be left with Messrs. Ste phenson and .Cubitt, the engineers, to report thereon that in the event ; o f the Brighton Company accepti ng the accommodation of the Bricklayers' Arms Station from the South-Eastern Company, any difficulties which might arise as to the cost of • erecting warehouses, or other expenses, should be refeffed to other and disinterested parties; that in the event of an amalgamation being decided on between the companies, a term of years (to be agreed upon) should elapse in order that the proportionate amount - - EAST ANGLIAN RAILWAYS of capital to be paid by either company sh ou ld b e d eterm i ned by the amount of traffic on either line, such traffic at the COMPANY (LYNN AND ELY RAILWAY). present time not having been fully developed. These A special meeting of the shareholders of this company,n_ suggestions were placed in the hands of the chairman and Mr. Shuster, and they, after some considera waa held yesterday, et the London Tavern; Sir W. 1: wieee, Bart., the president, in the chair. - tion, returned them with certain amendments, which could the not be acceded to by those representing the Eastern Counties convening The SECRETARY read ad vertisement otherwise, a pro ting, for the purpose of confirming Lynn, or and Ely, Ely' and Company. This as oa Thursda •and Saturday the}' 3, on meeting, agreement, for leasing the Railways, to the metaghin, and a desire for a settlement of these differences Huntingdon, and Lynn and Dereham ll as to consider Bills, was evinced by all present. It was then suggested by the Eestera Counties Company, as resolutions. chairman of the Brighton Company,that the South-Eastern which are specified in the directors hadthehonour s h o uld line . lease that Thepropositionwas well worthy their _ 'd that when the The CHAIRMAN said they were empowered to pro- attent i on, but it was one on which they had no data on which of meetia: the shareholders to found to the Eastern Counties Com- a conclusion. If any arrangement should be come pose terms of 7% per cent. had not been able to obtain to which they could safely recommend for the adoption of • They (the directors) . the shareholders, they would lose no time in convening a pang. • htto call the atten they thought it brit rig at ten- terms, and .special meeting, in lay the terms of the agreement order to übject. A communication 1 reholders to that s tion of the LAS before them ; b u t w h e th ersuc h an arrangement were come to made to the Eastern Counties Company, proposing had been or not, they had the fullest confidence in an impartial hear turned, to which no answer was u tile terns of the shareholders,. from which it was . quite clear that they did not in- ing before Parliament, and they believed, also, that they of the s tend to accede to their proposition. The terms - had the public opinion with them, that their wants would be submitted to the meeting. be better served by their lines. The Lewisham, Brom ment would ley, and Croydon line was one which the directors would have The SECRETARY then read the agreement, which was to the effect that the lease should be. for a term of 999 years, to asked the shareholders to sanction, even if they were already c ommence on the day when the lines were completed and united to the Brighton Company. It was a sur f ace li ne , with good gradients, and would bring the traffic of Wool the annual rent should be such as would pay a clear dividend of ready for being opened. That fur the first year of the term wich, Greenwich, and Gravesend some seven m il es nearer t o C 5 per cent. on 884,000/., the amount of the share capital Croydon. It was their duty to recommend the ca r r yi ng ou t of this project. He would now move that the shareholde r s of the three companies, and that f u r th e res id ue o f the term the annual rent should b e suc h as would sanction the introduction of a Bill to enable the South payEastern Railway Company to make a railway to co nnec t a clear dividend on such share capital less by 21. per the London and Greenwich Railway and the N or th K en t cent. than the dividend for the time being, payahle on the line of the South-Eastern Railway with the Bricklayers' Arms Eastern Counties share capital converted into 20/. shares, Branch Railway. The estimate for this project was 55,0001. The tettment further stipulat ed, should in no cue be l tha tess th the L} n 61. pern and cent. Ely, Ely The agree and - Bricklayers' Arms station had a l rea dy cos t a sum c l ose l y approaching to 300,0004 and he believed that this line Huntingdon, and Ely and Der e h a m proprietors should, would, by giving increased traffic, assist in defraying that until the lease commenced, receive interest at 5/. per heavy expenditure. cent s on all a ims p a id by th em f or deposits a n d calls en their shares from the day when such Mr. LEVY said that he had always considered, and had on every occasion stated his opi n i on , t h a t th e B r i c kl ayers ' aims were respectively payable; but that the Ely and Hunt- Arms station would turn out, as it had done, a failure; and ingdon proprietors should, on receiving such interest, give unlez , s assured by the chairman that there was a legitimate credit for the interest already received by them. That the ground for believing that the scheme now proposed would Eastern Counties Company should pay the interest on all amend matters, he should oppo s e th e i n t ro d uc ti on o f moneys borrowed by the Lynn and Ely, Ely and Huntingdon, the Bill. and... Lynn and Dereh am Companies, or any of them to the extent The CHAIRMAN admitted that the Bricklayers' Arms Sta of 294,8001., and should indemnify those companies against tion had entailed a heavy expense upon the company; but the repayment of such moneys. That the Eastern Counties matters were beginning now to assume a brighter aspect, and Company should provide all further money beyond the said they should not so much look to the past as to the future. capital and borrowed moneys necessary for completing to The station would be found really useful in times coming, as their satisfaction the works of the three railways, and that that at London bridge was so circumscribed, and he believed t h e Eastern Counties Company should take at cost price the that the line now proposed would be a really healthy adjunct stores belonging to these companies on the day when the to it. lease should commence. Mr. Caste hoped the line would pass unanimously. The Clestastaia—Having heard an abstract of the terms , Ile motion was then put and carried. of the agreement, he felt bound, as chairman, to say that The CHAIRMAN then put the other projects seriatim to the these terms were such as they should accept. The Eastern meeting, and, after some remar k s f rom t h e s h are h o ld ers i n Counties Company would be able to carry on their (the different parts of the room, they were carried unanimous)y. shareholders) line from them at a much less expense than It was also moved and carried that 5 per cent. interest they themselves could, and in a more satisfactory manner. He would submit the should be paid on the shares o f th e com p an y, common l y first resolution to the meeting. Mr. Cuieris seconded the reeolution, which was to the called the Nos. 3 and 4 sh ares , respec tively. Thanks were then voted to the Chair ma n, an d th e meet effect that the meeting approved of the terms of the agree- ing broke up. ment, and confirmed the same, and authorised the directors to take the steps necessary to carry the same into effect. Mr. LACY, on being called for, said the opinion which he had expressed as to their throwing away their time by ac , cepting the terms proposed remained unchanged. They were, however, placed io cicurnstances which rendered it difficult to adopt a course different to that proposed by the directors, and he thought the beet thing that could be done was to ac • cept those terms. The CIIAIILMAN, in reply to a question, stated that al the lines would be completed at the end of the year. WATERFORD, WEXFORD, WICK LOW, AND DUBLIN RAILWAY. The adjourned meeting of the shareholders was held yes terdar, at the offices, 449, West Strand; Lord Courtown in eht chaisr Mr. SLADE, one of the scrutineers, then announced the re sult of the poll, yesterday, to be in favour of the re-appoint ment of the former directors; majority 16,833 shares and 1,620 votes. The report further stated, that certain proxies tendered by Mr. Boyce subsequently to the last meeting had been rejected. Mr. DICKSON questioned the propriety of this rejection. The CHAIRMAN said such a discussion would be quite irre levant, and declared the directors' list carried. Mr. PERRY protested against the report of the scrutineers being received, and intimated that the rejection of the proxies would form the basis of future proceedings at law. The CHAIRMAN moved that the directors should be em powered to apply to Parliament, during the present session, for a Bill amending last year's Act, in reference to the space between the 45th and 49th miles of the line, and such parts of the Act as restricted the compulsory purchase of land, till all the shares should be taken up, and to enable the company to pull down the Ferry Carrig-bridge, over the Shirley, and build a new one. Seconded by Mr. LEWIS. Mr. PERRY moved that the directors should be empowered to go to Parliament fora Bill dissolving the Waterford, Wex ford, Wicklow, and Dublin Railway Company. The Hon. Proprietor then read a printed draft of the proposed Bill. Dr. GRAY seconded it. Mr. Ilaymn, M.P., considered that such an amendment could not he put, no notice having been given in the adver tisement making the meeting special for the purpose. Mr. PERRY handed in his motion, and begged it would be noted by the secretary. Mr. REYNOLD moved an amendment negativing the motion. The Criain3rAN put the amendment and the original mo tion, and declared the latter carried. A poll was demanded, and Messrs. Slade and D. W. Harvey were appointed scrutineers, the poll to remain open till six o'clock last evening, and the meeting to stand ad journed from that hour till eleven o'clock to-day. MADRAS RAILWAY COMPANY. A general meeting of the proprietors of the Madras Railway Company took place yesterday, at the offices of the company No. 2, Winchester-buildings. Colonel Duncan Sim in the chair. The SECRETARY read the following report, which was unanimously adopted. The following is the substance of the report:— " The directors of this company have still to regret their inability to inform the shareholders that any material progress has been medo in forwarding the objects of the company since the last half-yearly meet ing. On the 3d of September last, a letter was ad dressed to the secretary of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, with a request that the same might be submitted for their coesideration. " No reply having been received to this communica tion, another letter was addressed to the India House, I on the 26th of November last. " Not having received any answer, the chairman and secretary waited on the Chairman of the East India ICompany, at the India House, on the 14th tilt , with a view, if poss;ble, to ascertain the sentiments of the Court: it was suggested, at this interview, that the attention of the authorities at the India House sisould again be called to the subject, and, in consequence, another letter was sent to the India House on the 29th ult. " No reply has been received to this letter up to this time ; but, from private inquiries made by the chairman, it is understood that the following is the present state of the case:— " From statements which have appeared in the public ylpers, it is generally known, that tf(e authorities at the India House, and the Board of Control, have offered certain encouragement for the construction of a line of railway to connect Calcutta with the north-west frontier of the Bengal territories : from a state ment made in Parliament by the President of the Board of Control, it appears that it is not yet 4 decided whether the company, or companies, to whom this offer has been made, will acceptit, or not. As the directors consid er th at our li ne d eserves a preference I over any other, of the same extent, that can be made in India, they deem it advisable to await the result of the negotiation now pending between the Government and the Bengal lines, rather than to press for an immediate decision, which perhaps might not, under existing circum stances, offer to the shareholders a sufficient induce ment to go on with the line. " The directors are in daily expectation of hearing the issue of the negotiation with the Berge' lines. And as soon as they can ascertain the effect of that upon the prospects of the Madras Railway Company, they will lose no time in calling a special general meeting of the shareholders, for the purpose of laying the same before them ; and offering their opinion as to the advisability of proceeCieg with the line or taking steps to wind up the company." The following is an abstract of the letter sent by the directors of the East India House : " The grounds upon which it is considered that the Madras and Arcot line is entitled to the support of Go vernment are the following : " let. Great facility of construction. " 2,1. A confident expectation of its proving a remu nerative undertaking. "3d. That the risk incurred by Government in guaranteeing a dividend upon it, will, in consequence, be little more than nominal. "4th. That the construction of a paying line of such moderate length, as may render its completion within a short period probable, will be of the utmost importance in its bearing upon the future extension of railways in India. "sth. That the advantages to be derived by Govern ment from this line, both in a financial and political point of view, will far exceed those which will accrue 1 from its construction to the shareholders, as a commer cial investment. "6th. That the Presidency of Madras, which has no moans of water-carriage, for the transport of the produce of the interior to the ports of shipment, is so situated as to derive the utmost conceivable advantages from the in trbduction of railways. "From the inquiries of the provisional committee at Madras, it appears that the cost of this line, constructed in the most substantial manner, with a single line of rails, and a roadway capable of admitting a double line hereafter, would not exceed 4,6501. per mile ; the opinion of Mr. Simms is, that, although he thinks this line might be made for 500,0001., or about 7,0001. a mile, yet he considers that, in prudence, the capital should be fixed at 600,000/. " The grounds upon which the expectation that this r line will be remunerative rests have already been laid before you in my letter of the 23d of May last. It is there stated, that the immediate traffic which would come on the line would yield a net income of about 16,0001. per year, exclusive of mails ; and this would be sufficient to pay a dividend of 5 per cent. on the capital which we have estimated as sufficient to make the line at the rate of 5,000/. per mile. All ex perience warrants the assumption that the traffic upon a railroad judicioudy situated goes on increasing in a ratio to which no limit has yet been assigned ; it is im possible for .-.ny line in any country to be more favour. ably situated ; it is the road by which a very- large pro. proportion of the whole produce of the interior must pass to the only considerable shipping port on the mast, and there never can be any line of road, or water, to compete with it. Upon these grounds, then, we think that the capital invested in the construction of this line may be expected to yield a return of from 10 to 15 per cent. when its effects upon the commerce of the country shall have been fully developed, and the probability is, that, before the expiration of a year, the profit available for a dividend would amount to full 5 per cent, upon the capital estimated to be necessary by Mr. Simms. If Lelia is to have railways, it appears to be of the gi.tremaateyst importance that the first undertaking of the kind should he one that may soon be in action, and that be a paying line. The Madras and Arcot line ofl sl o manner , a a t zflicient length to demonstrate, in the fullest long ase trheesulitlvoefrthe system in India. It is twice ae re nn s do u r l al ts noou o ws f pool and Manchester line, the the constructionpa of which led to the diervieloprogress of the system accomplished, not so long as to require the this country. It is e large capital b e f ore i t can bo broug h t e9diture of a very into a ctua l opera tion. Th ere i s , pro b ably, no proposed line, of equal ex- tent in India, that could be constructed in so short a time, and at such a moderato• cost; and as there can be little doubt of its yielding a reraunerative return from the date of its being opened, its influence upon the future extension of the railway system in other parts of India would be of incalculable iar?ortance. " Of the advantages of railroads. to Government, in a political point of view, it is quite impossible to form a pecuniary estimate, but upon tiOs ground ; the line from Madras to Arcot, leading, a. it does, to all the principal military stations within that Presidency, can be considered as second in importance to no line throughout India. " Of the three Presidencies in. India, the territories under the Government of Madras are by far the worst off, for the means of internal transit of produce. There is a considerable grain trade coastwise; but so little available is this for equalising the effects of failure of the crops, that famine is constantly recurring in some part or other of the Madras provinces ; there is no means of water-carriage to any extent wortb speaking , of, for any of th e p ro d uce f rom, or i nto the interior of the country ; and if ever means of transport are to be provided in that part of India, it can assuredly be done by railroads, in a more effi cient manner than by the construction of common roads." The following is an abstract of the account, which was received with great satisfaction. Dr. f s. d. To balance from last half-year 7,938 0 3 Calls paid and interest. Half- year's interest received from Lon• don and Westminster Bank.. 113 8 6 8,130 6 10 Cr. By postages, salaries, and stationery £l36 4 10 Office expenses, rent, advertising, and registry Balance carried to next half-3 ear's account 7,841 4 7 £8,130 6 10 A vote of thanks was then passed unanimously to the Chairman, and the meeting separated. SOUTHAMPTON DOCK COMPANY The half•yearly meeting of the proprietors of this company was held yesterday, at the offices of the com pany, 19, Bishopsgate-street Within ; Mr. G. E. Pratt in the chair. The SECRETARY having read the advertisement calling the present meeting, anti the minutes of the last meet• ing, proceeded to read the report, from which we give the following extracts " In submitting the accounts for the half•year ending 31st December last, the directors have much pleasure in calling the attention of the proprietors to the continued and steady increase of their business, exhibited by the censparative statement of the half-yearly receipts for the last three years, and by the return of the aggregate amount of tonnage of the shipping which entered the docks during the past year ; the amount of tonnage which entered the docks in 1845 having been 158,680 tons; in 1846, 228,777. " The revenue account shows a surplus, which, in the opinion of the directors, warrants their submitting to the meeting the propriety of declaring a dividend, clear of iacome-tax, of one pound per cent. for the half year (ten shillings per share), being at the rate of two per cent, per annum. After payment of this dividend, the revenue account will still retain a credit of 1,514/. 15s. Bd. It will be f or th e meet i ng to determine whether it is not desirable to begin to make a return upon the capital of the proprietors by declaring an immediate dividend, though small, in preference to awaiting a postponed one of larger amount—and to deal with this question as it may think fit. " The directors have to report that they have executed an agreement with the Commissioners of her Majesty's Customs, to build on the Dock Company's !tied, and lease to the Crown for twenty-one years,a Custom-house on an enlarged scale ; an arrangement affording greatly increased facilities and accommodation to the trade of the port of Southampton generally, as well as to that carried on through the company's docks. A contract has been entered into with Messrs. Baker and Son for the comple tion of the work by the 30th June next ; and the build ing is in rapid course of construction. " The dry dock•has been in constant work, and has proved a most important addition to the accomodations of the company's docks ; but already sin ce th e open i ng, the Oriental Comp an y have been obliged to send two of their large steamers to Cowes to be repaired, in conse quence of the dry dock having been at the time occu pied by other vessels ; and it is apparent that a second dry dock could be advantageously employed in afford ing accommodation to the smaller class of steamers and sailing vessels, and thus render the large dock (now at times unprofitably occupied by small vessels, to the exclusion of th e l arge steamers,) more available for the first-class steam ships which frequent the Southamp ton Docks. The directors propose, therefore, to place by the side of the other a smaller dock of much cheaper construction, which, it is expected, may be completed by the month of November next ; and they have reason to believe that both docks will be fully occu,nied, and will afford a fai r return on t h e cap i tal expended on them. " The directors have not lost sight of the important advantages which will result to the Dock Company from the extension of the South-Western Railway to London bridge, for which extension an Act was obtained during the last session of Parliament, and which they have reason to believe will be carried out with all possible expedition. " The directors propose to secure suitable warehouse accommodation, with a water frontage contiguous to the London bridge terminus of the South-Western Railway, and thus realise the object they have long had in view, of being able to offer to merchants the option of housing such portion as they may think fit of their cargoes 1 in the company's warehouses at Southampton, and the remainder in L on d on ; an d o f transferring their goods from o ne t o t h e ot h er b y a railroad running from the doors of the warehouses at - Southampton to those of the warehouses at London-bridge. The directors contemplate including in this arrangement the removal of the London office to the London-bridge terminus, and than, by means of the railroad and electric telegraph, place the Lond on establishment and warehouses of the company in direct and immediate communication with their docks and Warehouses at Southampton. " The directors have the satisfaction to repor , that the boring for water in the docks has been attended with complete success, and that an abundant supply of pure fresh water has been obtained at a depth of 220 feet. Pipes round the whole of the quays have been laid down; and the company will very shortly be prepared to deliver, by hose into the hold of every vessel at her berth, any quantity of pure fresh water that may be required." The CHAIRMAN, before putting to the meeting a reso lution for the adoption of the report, asked if any gentle man was desirous to make any observations, or to ask any questions on the points referred to in it? A PROPRIETOR then asked what per centage the dry dock paid? The CHAIRMAN observed, that it had been only open for a period of six months, and there hail been two large ships that had entered and had not been charged, but the amount it paid for that time was 4 per cent.' He should say that the most expected from it was 5 per cent., and, in conjunction with the small dock, it was expected that it wou:d be a great deal more The great importan ce , h owever, o f the dock was to afford - facilities of accommodation, and to bring addi• tional trade to Southampton. Another PROPRIETOR asked what had become of the agreement with Mr. Pitcher. The CHAIRT,IAN said that that agreement was still in abeyance. A PROPRIETOR wished to draw the attention of the Chairman to a paragraph in the report, which says that " The directors hale further to report, that they have entered into an agreement to erect on the Dock Com pany's land, and lease to the Royal Steam Packet Company, workshops on a large scale for the repair of their ships and machinery." Now, he was desirous to know if-any agreement had been made with the I{oyal Mail Steam-packet Company for a definite term, as it would be desirable to fix them, as had been done so advantageously with the Govern ment. The CHAIRMAN observed that there was a lease for twenty-one years. Several other questions having been put, and answered satisfactorily, The CHAIRMAN then put the m9'ion that the report be adopted and circulated, which was unanimously agreed The CHAIRMAN then put the next resolution—" That the dividend mentioned in the report, of los, per share for the half year, should be declared, and that the same be paid on the Ist March proximo." A PROPRIETOR asked, before the resolution was put, whether from the past proceedings and future prospect of the company, they might expect that such a dividend as that now proposed would be continued in future half years ; otherwise he thought it was a matter for consi deration whether they should not decline making any dividend at present. The CuarastAx said it would not be prudent i❑ the directors to pledge themselves to future dividends, but if they had not anticipated a probability of that amount at least, or perhaps a larger amount, they would nothave proposed the present dividend.—(Elear.) A conversation ensued as to the working of the com pany, and the advantages to be anticipated from the railways to Southampton, in progress and projected. he resolution was then unanimously agreed to. A vote of thanks was then given to the auditors, Chairmen, and directors, and the outgoing directos were re•electe I. The meeting then separated. PETITIONS UN PRIVATE BILLS. fIOUSE OF COMAIONS. (Room 22, before Mr. Examiner Smarr.) UNOPPOSED LIST. The cases numbered from 32l to 339 inclusive in the general list were disposed of to-day by Mr. Smith. The standing orders were complied with in each case. They were as follows: Caledonian Railway (Purchase or lease of Wishaw and Ccltness Railway). Wilsontown, Morningside, and Col tncss Railway (Branches to Banham Coal Works). Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway (Devi. ations, &c.) Strat'any and Breadalbane Extension Railway. Glasgow and Shotts'-road Act Amendment. Thorne and Crowle Moor Drainage and Improvement. Colchester and Stour Valley, Sudbury and Halstead Rail way (Purchase of Stour Valley Navigation). Dublin and Drogheda Railway (Amendment of Acts and Purchase of Navan Branch Railway). Southwark Improvement. Ross, Cromarty, and Nairne District Road Act. Aberdeen Improvements. Worcester Improvements. Shrewsbury and Chester Railway (New Branches). East Lothian Central Railway. Cork and Bandon Act, 1845 (Amendment of and Devia tion). Cork, Blackrock, and Passage Ameadrnent Act. There were no opposed cases in Mr. Smith's HA to-da,y. THEATRE ROYAL AIANCLIESTER. rs. Butler :late Miss Fanny Kemble) appeared on the boards of the Theatre Royal, Manchester, on Tuesday evening, after a re tirement from the British stage of more than a dozen years' duration. It will be recollected that an overture had recently been made to Mrs. Butler by Mr. Bunn, of Drury-lane Theatre, to select his house for her first re-appearance, and that Mrs. Butler declining to play for less than 1001. a night, the negotiation speedily ended. Mr. Knowles, the enter prising proprietor of the Manchester Theatre Royal, anxious to do honour to that town, entered at once into an engage ment with Mrs. Butler, the terms being, we are informed, 5001. for six nights. Mrs. Butler was partly induced to give 'Manchester the preference for her debut from the filial and affectionate consideration that her honoured father (Mr. Charles Kemble) had been cordially and nobly tr:ated in the town in his recent visits for the purpose of giving his read- ings en ShakEpeare's dramas. Mrs. Butler's reception on Tuesday evening was in every sense most gratifying. Th e play chosen w as Sheridan Knowles's Hunchback, and the part assigned to Mrs. Butler was that of Julia. The house was crowded to the ceiling, and the audience was not more liberal than just in their plaudits. On her entrance she was greeted with rapturous and long-continued applause, and at tile cicse of th e play she was again honoured with enthu siastic cheers from all parts of the theatre. She was ably supported by the company, and the anise en scene Was q u i te equal to anything of the kind ever displayed in the metro polis. Mrs. Butler is to play Juliana in l'fie Honeymoon this (Thursday) eYening, fwd Lady Macbeth ou Saturday. (Room 23, before Mr. Examiner MAYO OPPOSED CASE. EDINBURGH AND NORTHERN. Mr. May was engaged the whole of the day in hearing the allegations in this opposed case. Several of them were sus tained, but the inquiry had not terminated when the exami• ner rose. ANOTHER SPANISH MARRIAGE. MADRID, FEB. 9.—The following is a transcript of the civil contract between Don Enrique and the sister of the Marquis of Caste!lane:— "In the Royal Palace of San Juan, situated in the royal patrimony of the Buen Retiro, the residence of his Serene Highness the Infante of Spain, Don Francisco de Paula Antonio de Bourbon, and with the d ue permis sion of his Royal Highness, was pleased to appear before me, the undersigned notary public of Madrid, and in the presence of the witnesses whose names are also appentled hereunto, his Most Serene Highness Don Enrique Maria de Bourbon, the august son of the said Infante I)on Francisco de Paula Antonio, and of the de ceased Infanta Donna Luisa C ar ld ta, having been de clared of legal age, in virtue of a decree of her Majesty the Queen Donna Isabel it, his au ust cousin, under date the 16th of last month, of unmarried condition, born and residing in this Court; and Donna Elena de Castellar y Shelly Fernandez de Cordova, native of the city of Valencia. legitimate daughter of their Excel lencies the Count and Countess of Castellane, of Villa nuevaof mature ag e , an d ad ministering, n ist e a r n i n d f in Cartel, deceased, consequence tiereof, her own property on her own account; and th e y b oth, b y common accord, said—That as Prince, and as gentleman, his Royal Highness has contracted a sacred obligation, and pledged his word, to marry the said Donna Elena de mutually profess towards each their free and spontaneous will, they Castellane, forth he purpose of affiancing honourably and presents,. which constitute the p op r teh ot re i t s u e aani a di nd ef engage mutually their faith and word to contracting, legitimate and true matrimony, and in accordance with the Council of Trent, on the 12th of the present month; and that neither of the obligation marry, in virtue o con t o r f a parties aforesaid shall contract, directly or indirectly, betrothal with any other person, unless with the consent and license of one or other of the contracting parties; and should either do so, any such contract to be null and void and of no effect; and in guarantee th ereo f t h ey join their right hands; and, in further pl e d ge o f f a i th, his Royal Highness gives to the said Donna Elena a necklace of brilliants and green enamel, and the said lady gives on her part to his said Royal Highness a ring; and which gifts or pledges are mutually exchanged, and to which exchange I bear testimony. Also, the said con tracting parties bind themselves not to undo this con tract ; and though they should attempt to do so, inde pendently of not being heard judicially, nor extraju dicially, they can be compelled to its observance, as if it were on the definitive sentence of a competent judge, in jurisdiction of a matter judged and decreed ; and they are bound to its faithful observance, in their persons and chattles, by the competent authorities. " And this Act is signed and delivered, with the sig nature of his said Royal Highness, by his Most Serene Highness the Infante Don Francisco, in proof of his consent, in this very heroic city of Madrid, this 6th day of February, 1847, at the hour of 1 of the clock in the morning ; and the witnesses thereof are, the Most Excellent Don Miguel do Ibarrola y Gon zales, Senator of the Kingdom, Lieutenant-General of the National Armies, Marquis of Zeinbrano, Councillor of State, &c. ; the Must Lxcellent Don Jose, Santos de la Hera, Count of Balmaseda, Lieutenant- General of the National Armies, Senator of the King dom, Gentleman of the Chamber of her Majesty, with exercise, &c.; the Most Excellent Don Manuel Munoz de Vaca, Major General, Knight Grand Cross of San Hermenegildo, Gentleman of the Chamber of her Ma jesty, aid now in the service ofhis Serene Highness the Infante Don Francisco de Paula Antonio ; and the Most Excellent Dun Vicente Palavacino, Marquis of Mirasol. And I, the undersigned notary of his Royal Highness, and of his Royal house, bear testimony hereof to the p art i es con t ract i ng an d delivering these presents. FRANCISCO 1)E PAULO ANTONIO DE BOURBON, Infante of Spain. " ELENA DE CASTELLANE. " ENRIQUE MARIA DE BOURBON, Infante of Spain. " Before me, " GABRIEL SANTIN DE QUEVEDO. " I, Don Gabriel Santin de Quevedo, Notary of her Mujesty,;and of the illustrious faculty of Madrid, have been present at this act, and in full faith thereof I sign the said act the same day of its delivery. " GABRIEL SANTIN DE QUEVEDO." POLICEi.NTELLIGENCS., MANSION-HOUSE. TIIE ROBBERY AT SAVORY'S IN CORNIIILL—A young man, who stated his name to be William Jones, but who is known by the police as Billy Jones, was brought be fore Alderman Gibbs, in the custody of George Trew (City policeman 26), charged upon suspicion of having been concerned in the robbery of Mr. Savory's shop in December last, on which occasion watches of the value of 1,0001. ware stolen by some very expert thieves. Joseph Bassett, clerk to Mr. T. Cox Savory and Co., of No. 54, Cornhill, said at about eight o'clock on the 15th of February, I came to work. At about twenty five minutes past nine o'clock I had to go out for a few minutes, and I came out leaving everything safe in the shop, and locking the door after me, and taking the key. I remained away about five or six minutes at the fur thest, and upon my return I found the door open, and that the whole of the property which had been left safe on the counter had disappeared. Alderman Ginna—you had nobody in the shop with vou ? Witness—N. , body w hatever. Alderman Ginns—And at what do you estimate the value of the watches ? Witness—At 10001. Trew (policeman 26)-1 have been engaged since the robbery took place in endeavouring to trace the goods and the thieves, and I apprehended the prisoner in con sequence of information which I received, that two men, one of whom answered to the description of the pri soner exactly, had,on the morning of the robbery, hired a cab suddenly in the neighbourhood, deposited a heavy bag in it, and gone off to Beth na l G reen. I have two witnesses here, one of whom has been w ith me on the lookout h al%tt ia t nfnoiprn Pitta, oa s t o f m : ° e el oadebaki man, on sa. Wedne s d ay, the 15th D, cem o No. 2,116 , stated, that at about ber, as he was on his stand, opposite to Iron monger's Hall door, a man came out from the neighbourhood of Trinity-square with a black bag under his arm, and stepping into the cab, desired him to drive to the Bird Cage public-house, Bethnal-green. Another man came from Billiter-square, and got upon the box, and witness's companion drove. There were then three on the box, and one inside with th e bl ack bag, in which ' there appeared to be a weight. Wh en the cab arrived at Tysoe-street, Brick-lane, the outs i de passenge rs got house., t h e i nside fare got w h o had hf, off the box and disappeared, and witness's fellow servant then drove off to Bethnal -green, w h ere presently came op an d when th e , after which b ot h rl t i h ni a ng t st t hi h oe e r p i' r i i saner was t h e 113311 who directionfa re of P o ll ar d street. gt a h r oe r t i co v a e ub d t ataott look T tll 3 e . so ß an i t r . so d tor Cage a ifi p ldi t i s b w l eh i ocosm the black b ag . The prisoner—My friends will, I have no d ou b t, bring gl v p v i o a a ti i l d t k irai e: t d . so i s t a r te l w h e o s e a u s y lct t ia t w b c; ww e ( s ,i t a h t h hr i e l an action for false imprisonment for this business. Alderman GIBBS—Do you wish to ask the witness any question. Prisoner—l have only to say that it is all f a l se. my wife was near her confinement at the time, and I was engaged on her business. Trew said, the cabman, Pitt, before they went to look for the prisoner, stated that the man who had the bag, wore the collar of his coat, which was much worked on the concealed sile, up about his ears, and described him ir, so accurate a manner, that there could be no mistake about him. every man's collar i s wor k ed now, assure you The prisoner's collar was then exhibited. It a p peared to be as it had been described. The prison Joseph Cooper said he drove the cab on the seat of which his fellow-servant, Pius, and the companion of I o, prisoner , —Why Lord it is all false. the inside party, who had the black bag, sat. As soon as they got to the Bird Cage public•house, the p erson the bag inside, and t o ld w i tness inside got out, leaving and his fellow-servant to go into the house and have a drop of something. They did so accordingly, and th e part}' witness's comrade on the h ea d , put two shillings into his hand. Alderman GIBI3S—Do you know the prisoner as one arrived, w h and, gotapping at Tysore- street soon a ft erwar d s of the two persons who hired the cab P Witness —I s cannot swear to the person who - had the bag, but I can to him who sat on the box. I cannot swear to th e prisoner as being one of them. '1 he prisoner —I do assure you, Sir, that lam not at all acquainted with it. I have not been out of my own place these three months from night till morning, for my wife has been in her confinement. Alderman GIBBS—She cannot have been in her con finement for three months, The prisoner—Well, I am entirely innocent. This will upset my w if e; I assure you , my Lord. Alderman G/BBS —H ave you got any one here as to your character ? • The prisoner made no answer. Trew—lle was tried at the Old Bailey. Alderman GIBBS—For what offence ? Trew—For burglary. Ile was acquitted. The trial took place when the juryman died.. I had been after him myself about five or six years ago for what they call " starring the glaze," breaking a window to get property out. Prisoner—l am innocent of this here, at any rate. The prisoner was then remanded. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 18. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY took his seat upol the Woolsack at Five o'cicck. DISTILLING FROM SUGAR BILL. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from the landed proprietors, farmers, and others of Dunferm line, against the use of sugar in distilleries; also a peti tion from the county of Forfar to the same effect. POOR REMOVAL ACT. The NOBLE DUKE also presented a petition from the board of guardians of the Cardigan Union against the Poor Removal Act of last session. Lord VIVIAN presented a petition from the board of guardians of Swaffham Union to the same effect. DISTRESS IN IRELAND. Earl MOUNTCASHEL presented a petition from Kilkenny (as we understood), supplicating the attention of their Lordships to the famishing state of the poor of Ireland, and earnestly praying them to devise immediate remedies. ELECTORAL DISTRICTS. The NOBLE EARL also presented a petition from Kin sale, complaining of the unequal mode of rating 'electoral districts for the support of the poor, and praying that the poor -rates might be equalised througllout tip 4 whole country. POOR REMOVAL ACT. The Earl of STRADBROKE presented a petitioi against the Poor Removal Act from a number of per. sons in Suffolk. BANXING. Lord EGLINTON said, that on Monday next he would move for copies of the correspondence which passed between the Government and the Scotch and Irish bankers. DESTITUTE PERSONS (IRELAND) BILL. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY brought up the report upon this Bill. The Earl of ELLENBOROUG H said that he viewed the Bill with great distrust. It assumed that the people of Ireland would be capable of giving money for the food to be supplied. He saw no measure yet passed by Parliament, or known to be in progress, which would effect the object to be attained by the Bill within the limited period for which the measure was to remain in operation. It was to be substituted, as he understood, for what was improperly called the Labour-raie Act. He confessed that he had a feeling almost of despon dency with respect to the future in Ireland, from the reports contained in the large blue book upon the table. That feeling did not arise from the state of the potato crop, but from the picture contained iu that large blue book of the intimidation under which the relief committees acted, and the jobbing which pre vailed in the administration of the law.--(Hear.) He confessed that be had great doubts as to the suc cessful operation of the present measure. It was his opinion that it would not work as well as the Labour-rate Act of last session. The landlords of Ireland, he appre hended, would not take advantage to any extent of Lilt provisions of the measure, and the people, therefore, would not secure those benefits which the Government contem plated. Some great measure of public works would be of far greater use than any of the plans now proposed. He confessed ho thought the principle of the Labour-rate Act of last year preferable to the one now proposed. No doubt the present was a good measure as an auxiliary to other measures, although standing by itself it only meant an Act to take from the hard earned money of the people of this country, to give food to the people of Ireland, without any prospect of a return. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE wished to direct the attention of the Noble Lord to the form of the Act. Although a sum of only 300,0001. was specified, yet the Noble Lord would find in the 17th clause that a power was given to Parliament to advance other sums as they might think fit. 'I he Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—The clause says " granted." The Marquis of LANSDOWNE—What relief the committees might think proper to recommend, that the Parliament had power to advance or grant as thee might think fit. The Noble Lord had expressed much veneration for the former Act. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH—" Oh, no." The Marquis of LANSDOWNE—He was not cer tain whether the Noble Earl was present when he (the Marquis of Lansdowne) had moved the second reading of this Bill : at that. time he had stated to the House his own opinion, that it would be bet ter if they had considered these Bills concur rently with the others Eefore the Legislature on the same subject. He considered that this measure would stimulate labour in Ireland ; and although the Noble Earl had expressed an opinion that landlords would not avail themselves of the Government offer, he (the Marquis of Lansdowne) entertained no doubt that they. and especially landlords of entailed estates, would do so. He did believe that the efforts of the Government had been of the greatest service in obtaining the advantages which were anticipated from this Act. The Noble Earl (Ellenborough) had allowed that there was a great moral principle in the Labour-rate Act; but he was sorry to say that the Government had found that great abuses had been practised under this Act, and that, above all, great intimidation had been used for the employment of parties who ought never to have been engaged. No man could more sensibly feel the injury arising from these abuses than he (the Mat quis of Lansdowne), bat he mu-4 say that great advantages had been enjoyed under the Act, and the efforts of her Majesty's Government had been very effectual in putting down these abuses, and great progress had beet, made in different parts of the country in the prevention •1 this employment altogether, and, he was happy to say, that the employment of labour was now being carried on in the most peaceable manner; and he could assure the House that her Majesty's Government had great hopes of putting down this intimidation altogether. And he did believe, if he might use such a phrase, that the system would be rendered watertight. Under all the circumstances the matter was too important not to secure the vigilant attention of her Majesty's Govern ment. He proposed to move the third reading of the Bill on Monday. PORTUGUESE TROOPS. Lords BEAUMONT and BROUGHAM both rose at the same moment, and a slight altercation as to priority of right took place, but ultimately Lord Brougham gave way, and Lord BEAUMONT said, that be rose to put the question to the Noble Marquis, of which Ee had given notice the last time the House met. The question he wished to ask was respecting the treatment of the prisoners taken by the Queen's troops in Portugal after the late battle of Torres Vedras. In putting this question he wishes to guard himself against any supposition that he desired to interfere with the do mestic affairs of any Other coun:ry, except where British interests were at stake. Whether in a case of war or otherwise, he conceived that there was no right whatever to interfere with the internal affairs of any other country; but in the present case, for the Government to remain passive was only to increase the difficulties attendant upon the position of affairs in Portugal. The circum stances of the case were as follows: A division of the Army opposed to the Queen's Government, under the command of Count Bomfim, advanced to Torres Vedras with the intention of moving on to Lisbon, and after a severe battle, which terminated in the success of the forces of the Queen, the remnant of the division, under Count Bomfim, retired into the castle of Torres Vedras. The Duke of Saldanha; commanding the Queen's forces, called upon them to surrender,—they refused to do so, but subse• quently they surrendered on condition of receiving all the honours of war. To this proposition the Duke of Saldanha agreed, and the stipulations were drawn up in writing, and si gne d b y the commander of the Queen's forces. On the faith of these stipule tione the remnant of the division in the castle surrendered. But, notwithstanding the agreement and stipulations were drawn up in writing, the officers of that divisien were marched to Lisbon and taken on board a frigate lying in the Tagus, where they were confined, with scarcely any of the necessaries of life, with scanty clothing, and the poorest description of food. In consequence of some rumour that the prisoners were about to escape, they were taken out of the frigate, and placed on board a small brig -of-war, and the Portugue se Govern ment came to the resolution to send the officers to Angola, on the coast o f Af r i ca. one of the most unhealthy places on the coast of Africa. In their passage to that place they endured the greatest hardships, being crammed into a less space than even that which was allotted for slaves in the slave vessels. He believed, that though the fleet was there for the pro tection of British interests,the officers in command would, if the diiision under Count Bomfim had been successful, have covered the embarkation of the Queen's forces, and protected them from any injury that might have been offered to them. IF, then, protection was to be given to that side, he thought that they were bound to see that the cor vettes to which he had adverted should be protested against, lest the feelings of the country should be ex cited against the Queen's Government. In order, there fore, to preserve their neutrality, the British Govern ment should exert their influence before those officers perished, to induce the iortuguese Go vernment to revoke the decree against them, and to place them in the sameta position they ought to have been after the surrendered, namely, as prisoners of war. As some impatience . had been manifested by the Noble Lord opposite (Lord Brougham) he would not detain the House longer, but proceed to as k the Noble Marquis whetherany corre spondence had passed between the Portuguese Govern ment and her Majesty's Government relative to these circumstances, and, if so, whether any steps had been taken by this Government with respect to them? The Marquis cf LANSDO WNE said the question was one of considerable importance, and one which ho was most desirous, and he trusted able, to - give him and the House a satisfactory answer to. Before giving that an swer, however, he could only express that regret Which he felt in common with the Noble Lord and the House, that the country to which he had alluded should be in a state to give rise to transactions to which the Noble Lord had so pointedly, and not impro perly, adverted. Ile regretted that that country which was connected with this by so many ties—so much community of interest—so many historical relations and r ecollections—should be in the state which Portu gal was in at the present moment.—(Hear.) And it would be a matter of the deepest satisfaction if any effort on the pact of this country, if even par partially applied, could promote an amendment of that state of things. As their Lordships well knew, in the course of last year an insurrection broke out in Portugal, which had assumed most decidedly the character of a civil war, in the course of which, from the opposition not only of particular factions, but of particular families, which was deeply to be deplored, and which were apt, on too ma n y occasions, to exceed those limits, and those rela tions which generally subsisted between nations, considerable animosity was excited. A body of persons were taken with arms in their hands, and made pri. 1 so hers, on the understanding that they would he treated as prisoners of war. A great num ber of this party consisted, he understood, of principal officers, and numbering about 40, were placed stream a smell brig in the bay of Lisbon, for the pur pose of being transpnted to Africa, but many of them were too unwell or too sick to undergo the voy age, and a representation was made to that effect by the captain and the surgeon to the Government. From the moment the conduct of these persons was made known in Lisbon, great interest was excited, and her Majesty's charge d'affaires, :Sir G. Seymour, who :Jr rived immediately after the resignation of Lord Howard, as well as the representatives of the French and of the Belgians, who acted separately, made similar representations, and he (the Marquis of Lans downe) hoped that these representations would not be without avail, and that they would he sent to a more unexcerionable place than Africa. He was in a condi7ion to state that that was the case ; but he entertained a confident belief that the destination of the ships had been altered, and that their prisoners would be sent to a place less fatal to their health, and more consonant with their position. fie had been informed that in no instance had anythieg like ade pate punishment been inflicted, and he argued, therefore, that the sentence would be re• versed, which would be a source of great satisfection to her Majesty's Government, who had sent a force to Oporto anti the Bey of Liston—but their object in sending that free had been in no way to interfere in the eontest, but to til . lerd protection to British enterprise. ft would be a satisfection to that force, if they were also enabled to give a refu - ation to such persons as were in danger of their life and it would be, above all, their duty to give protection to the Queen, it she would require it, as long as the contest lasts. Maintaining the character which it now holds of a civil war, it could not be the inclination of her Majesty's Government actively to interfere, nor was there, tinder any existing treaty, a justification for :heir so doing, but circumstances might assume a different character, and if 1)om Miguel, or a party acting for him, should appear, a new state of things would arise, which would revive former treaties. Such a course might strengthen the Portuguese Govern ment, and tend to allay the existing dissension& It must be the earnest wish of this . country to see peace established in that country, at present so much disturbed. The Earl of ABERDEEN said that he was not quite satisfied with the course to be pursued by her Majesty's Government. It must be the desire of every person, as much as possible, to mitigate the calamities attendant upon a war, and therefore it was perfectly praiseworthy and necessary that all persuasions should be used to produce a humane and merciful conduct on the part of these persons. But if the Noble Marquis had made up his mind to make an official representation from the Government of this country to the Government of Portugal on the subject. He (the Earl of Aberdeen) begged to differ from him. As far as private solicitation and perstation, and personal influence could be employed there could be' no ob jection ; but if once, -in a contest of this descrip tioe, the Government should officially interfere with the course the Portuguese Government might think proper to adopt, it was to establish a precedent exceedingly dangerous, and to the prin ciple of which he had a great objection. It might be s!ated to the credit of the Portuguese Govern ment, that in the various disturbances which had taken place of late years in that country, there'had been very little cruelty exercised, and there was very little appearance of a sanguinary disposition in any parties. That furnished a very strong contrast to the people of the neighbouring nation, where they had seen acts of vengeance and bloodshed committed on all sides. An other reason why the Government should be particularly cautious at present in any interference of that description was—he knew not how it had arisen—but the bslief was strong and general in Portugal, that the cause of the insurrection possessed the good wishes of her Ma jesty's. Government. He could not believe that to be the case, but he believed it to be indisputable that the persuasion of the generality of Uheneeople in Portugal was such, and therefore it was incumbent upon her Majesty's Government to be very cautious in any act that might lead to confirm that opinion. The Government undertaking to protect the lives and property of British subjects, and the personal safety of the sovereign was a legitimate course ; but he submitted that the naval force in the Tagus, was more than sufficient for that purpose. That force was overwhelming, and he did not know the cause of it, but from the feeling regarding it which pre vailed in Portugal, it seemed to strengthen the belief which he had referred to. Several years the Government of this country had taken an active part to place the present Queen on the throne of Portugal, and having done so, he thought they would be justified in supporting the Government with that moral force which would at least convey the impression that they disapproved of the insurrection, instead of appearing to countenance it. One party of the insurgents were against the monarchy, and in favour of the republic, and the other were supporters of des potic power. Ile thought the presence of the large fleet at present in the Tagus gave countenance to the insurrection, whereas it might be made to operate otherwise and in favour of the Queen's Government. The Marquis of LANSDOIVNE replied that the anxious wish of her Majesty's Government was to main rain the Queen on the throne, and he knew not o. any act that, gave ev , dence to the contrary. le defied any one to point out a single instance wherein they had countenanced the insurree• don. The Noble Earl must be aware that it wouh' , cession the greatest dissatisfaction if it were knee,vr. that the Government supported one side in preference te another. tindeubtedly rumours such as those rel;neeid to may have circulated, but they were false rurnoure. It was not, however, on the Queen's side alone that such rumours prevailed, but on the other side, it had been surmised that the leaning of this Government Wa3in favour of the Government of the Queen of Portugal. He did not wish to pronounce an opinion on the dis sensions that at present preveiled in that country, but this he was bound to say, that there had been no instructions to the admiral, to the Minister, or to the Envoy sent to that country, that had not for their object the preservation of a perfect impartiality, and in any advice re spectfully tendered to the Portuguese Government the object had been to conform strictly to these in structions, and such friendly councils could only have been given with the view of proving that the English Government would not in the slightest degree, tither directly or indirectly, lend its support or influence to the insurgents. It had bee n thought expedient that (under circumstances such as those which existed in Portugal) a squad ron superior to that which any other power would be likely to send, should be placed in the Tagus, for the preservation of the interests of England; but the officer who had been appointed to the command was not only one of the most able in her Ma jesty's service, but one remarkable for _judgment, dis cretion, and th e care w i t h wh i ch he carried out his instructions. He believed that that officer would pro serve a sirict impartiality, and he believed that he had not in any the slightest degree deviated from the matter of his instructions, or that anything he had done weeld militate against that which was the anxious wish of her Majesty's government, namely, non•interference whh tie civil contest in that country. He trusted that that contest would be brought to a speedy termination, and without any necessity for the intervention of this coun try. England would only interfere in one case, and he hoped that that important.exception would not arise. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGII did not consider the measure a very constitutional one, by which the Queen of Portugal had commenced this civil war.— (Laughter.) Her Majesty's course of proceeding was this. She imprisoned the out-going Ministry—(Laughter)— and reinstated the old ones. The newly constituted Government had violated every principle of personal liberty to a greater degree than had been known under the worst of despotisms. All representation to the Government of Portugal was a mere farce if they had nothing to support it, if, instead of asking that Govern ment to release the unfortunate sufferers on the coast of Africa, they had given instructions to Admiral Parker to demand it ; if it were to be understood that in the event of these representations not being attended to, that Sir William Parker would leave the Tagus, he had not the slightest doubt but that they would receive im mediate attention.—(Hear, hear.) So far from the British squadron having been in any way instru mental in the support of the insurrection in Portugal, there was no question whatever in his mind that, but for the presence of the squadron on the coast of Portugal, the Queen would have met Dom Miguel in London, and that the victorious troops would have marched as they had done before, from Oporto to Lisbon.—(llear.) CRIMINAL LAW—JUVENILE OFFENDERS. Lord I3ROUGHAM did not intend to take any part in this very irregular conversation, and he was glad that it was at last br o u g ht t o a c l ose , but thismuh h say, that Noble he Friend who agreedquite h a with d the just satdown, that concludingobservation e pih e of his sense insurrection, ofth e squadron,had so far from main m havingeans f encouraged ec the g been the the Queen of Portugal upon the throne. He would now important beg to present the very petition from Liver pool of which he had given notice. It was not usual to give notice of the presentation of petitiots but he had taken this somewhat unusual course, and had given notice, because he wished to express his ()Orden:, on that very important subject.—(Hear, hear.) He esteemed it a high honour to present this petiiion, which was signed by the May or o f Liverpool, by elr. Rushton, the official magistrate, and nineteen other ma gistrates. He should feel it his duty to bring the heads of this long and very important document before the louse, not perhaps in the chosen terms or the apt nhraseology of the document itself; but as well as he was able to do it. He had taken the pains to make himself acquainted with the subject on which it treated, not only by reading the communicatiens of the Government, but also a variety of other papers which bore on the subj, c. of this petition ; he meant the report of the Prison In spectors—the reports made to those benevolent and use fui societies whose attention had hem. turned to the impor tant subject of the criminal law, not only in this country but also in France, Germany, and Holland, and wherever this matter had been examined. He had also received ri report front Mr. Hill, the Recorder of' Birmingham.. whose experience in the working of the criminal law had been very great. He had also received another report from Mr. Tidd Taylor. It was impossible to underrate the importance of it. It was no less than the structure' of the criminal law, and its operation on the criminal lie would now go over the heads of this important subject, so far as they bore or the petition before him. The petitioners spoke as practical men—as magistrates administering the tae over a population of 300,000 persons—as the tribune , before whom offenders were tried, and they came before their Lordships as the last tribunal—the last resource —to unbosom their difficulties, to prefer their corn. plaints, and to warm them of the consequence of ne glecting to remedy the evils which they disclosed. The. country. _ Earl GREY agreed with the Noble loud who just acl" results of their experience were these: That in a pore lation of 300,000 persons t h ere h a d b een com mits and tried, during the last seven years, 51, 0 persons !—ln the course of seven years ! ! Of tiles! persons, no less than one-tenth, or 5,500 odd, ho been offenders uneer seventeen years of age; and thll of those, not le ss th an one-fifth—(he meant of the whale. 51,000, not of juvenile offenders)—no less than one-0 or 10,000 upwards had been committed during thee seven years five times on an average. Consequenail with respect t o th ose offenders, the immediate, ill inevitable re su lt was , t h at t h ose o ff en d ers bad bee! punished four tim es a ft er t h e i r fi rst con viction,.! undoubtedly effica c i ous h a d b een t h e pun i s hment wlnlal their laws had i n fli c t e d.—(H ear, h ear. ) Th os e magic' trates went further. They had made investigatiod. which he thought w as .o f i nca l cu l a bl e va l u e, and ! trusted he might be permitted to tender them the thane' of their Lordships for them. They had examined fe e teen cases taken perf ec tly indiscriminately, out of thel number of juvenile offenders —(he wished to direct eat' titular attention to those offenders, because he Wisheel o ; reform the discipline with respect to them—not to tret t i to punishment, but trust to reforming them, because after offenders became a certain age , al ' became hardened in wickedness, that reformate r { principle ceased to p ossess t h e pr i nc i p l e o f arnendmen to the same extent ; he therefore looked to the younge r offenders, and he wished to direct attention to the sett; ments put forward i n th e p e ti t i on — statements , w hich . was merely embedying in his own mi n d. They select, as he had said fou r t een juvenile offenders at random , 0 . 11 ,. carefully examined their circumstances. He should CI only two or three instances out of the fourteen, but he shore observe that, th e w h o l e o f t h e f ourteen ha d b een a PPr hended on the average fifteen times each. Earl FITZ WILLIAM—There were not 51,000 per sons convicted ; that number only represented the og r mitments. Lord BROUGHAM—C er t a i n l y h e b a d n ot sal otherwise, but they had a ll b een f requent l y discharge d without beingeom m itt e d t o tr i a l . Th ey had b een commit7f on an average, nine times each, during that period seven years. He wou ld s i ng l e out t h ree persons in 2 r. der to show the good effects of the prison disciplit o The first case was that o f a b oy t we l ve years of age ; could neither read or write; he was first apprehended:l a September, 1838, and for the last time in January, 18 _11 In three years he was apprehended sixteen times, 7 , he was committ e d f or tr i a l n i ne t i mes. se tences were for vari ous t erms o f i mpr i sonme nt is the common gaol, and he was convicted no 1 7 . than three of those ei g ht ti mes i n t h ree years an d s he" and ended by being transported for ten years. The... cond case he would bring under the consideration of the House, was the case o f a b oy age d ten years. He 11 d been fourteen times apprehended, and eleven times co s ' victed. The third case was t h at o f a b oy on ly sw years old, who, in the space of two years, was apprej hended sixteen times, and convicted four times, ended by being transported for seven years. He hadloef been engaged in the study and administration of law s o i he was, however, bound to open his ears to the voice wisdom, and not to shut his eyes to such a fearful stri of things as this. What were the expenses this state of things? Why, the expense of ,conviet h ) these 14 individuals, amounted to 8891. In consequenc e the admirable arrangements of the magistrates of Liver pool, they were en a bl e d t o conv i ct at much less cos t sha m in most other places, but even with their good arrang ments the cost of th o s e conv i ct i ons amounted to s y Was it not time then seriously to inquire into this st ll , of juvenile crime. Were the Government dealing rig ew h" with human beings, even according to their knoWlm o f of human nature, in always appealing to the fears the prisoners rath er th an to t h e i r h opes, their feel hegiv„ their capacities, a n d th e i r w i s h es. H e would cal l an d tion to the prayer of the petition, and request It t; Lordships to a pp o i n t a searc hi ng i nquiry into rh o subject. The present state of the law was to tak e e criminal, place him in the prison and convict hits, anted when convicted he was either imprisoned or transpor o —that was the only a lt erna ti ve . H e was no f r i e nd 4 transportation. It was ne i t h er. econom i cal to kP ro country, nor justifiable to the colonies w he w the convict was sent. His principal objeet l , e , to that species of punishment was, that it was not en' t - t , ciently appalling ; it did not terrify the persons about, g commit crime. All the persons who knew anyth t r i e about the feelings of prisoners, concurred in saying imprisonment had far more horrors for them than 17 b : portation. Then again look at the cost of this por ib i s ment ; 4000 persons were selit out every year from country to the penal settlements, the cost of which 7, 0 half a milli on a - year ; t h e expense of keeping the ss:o number of pers ons i n pr i sons i n th i s country, fort: years, would b e on l y 300,000 1 . The system o f trm g. portation was therefore i ne ffi c i ent to the en d, sod a „ NlZee pensive in its machinery. Their lordships should, care that if they could not deter others from °Zs mitring crime, they s h ou ld at l east ta k e ca re w oo the prisoners did not come out of prison lee 4. than when they went in. The total number of cant o tions in each year were 100,000 ; of this number, 96, "" - ee s remained in p r i sons at h ome. Di d not imprisontne, actually make thes e p ersons worse ? Did no t theyei re 99 cases out of 100, come out of prison infinitely 131 U_ . .. demoralised th an w h en they entered ? And what wool the poor convi c ts t o d o when they came out ? Wa s their char a cter gone ? t h e i r f am il y attac h men ts gon e Were they not debased in their own eyes, and disgrar s : in the ee es of th e i r f r i en d s, upon w h om t h e i r own di e' grace was refle c t e d ? Th ey carr i ed with them, w h e t i re r of they went, th e sa d e ff ects of the bad system at punishment. W as i t t h en to be wonder,— they should again go on to pursue a coures of crime? Short imprisonments he denounced on the authority of Mr. Pitt Taylor, and numerous other authorities, as highly improper. The criminal thought but little of the punishment, it was but a fer days, they thought only of passing the time the hes t way they could, and made no efforts to improve their mural condition. What, then, could be done to make punishment reformatory, and to prevent these persons at die end of their sentence from falling into the salve course of evil which had brought them there? He Wss proud to say that there were establishments calculate" to produce that end near Hamburgh, and in the depart' snout of the Loire, at Metteray. He would call the attention of the House to the mode of proceedings': Metteray. The establishment was opened in the Yes: 1839, since which period 521 persons had bee, : received. No p erson was a d m i tted but 040 e convicts under s i xteen years of age. establishment was conducted by one master and two assistants, called brethren, chosen to that situation by the convicts fr om among t h emselves, the fear of bet_irit, g sent back to prison was over t h e pr i soner as a cheeael their bad cond uc t. Th e i nmates were educated i n a ge s' cultural and oth er p ursu i ts . Wh at was the resul t this system? Of 521 persons admitted, 17 had died, 12 were sent back to prison, 144 had been placed in valeta situations, and 128 were s till rema i n i ng i n the esta blish . ment. He did not envy France its Algeirian cole e nfr its Spanish marriages, or the glories of •L‘ v poison and Turenne, but he did envy them. their model establi s h men t s , an d h e hope d the , soon this country would join in laudable rivalry with them in the establishment of those institution s ' He would not enter further into details, but proceed to s report which was made by the Rev. John Clay, th e chaplain of the Preston prison. The Rev. Gentlema n stated that there were in that prison 1,050 prisoner* 562 of whom were utterly unable to read, and 226 who could write a little. Now, just let their Lordships loolgf, to the effects of that ignorance. There were 514 ne e them who did not know the names of the months, s f. slid not kno w th e Q ueen ' s name, and 490 of them were unable to understand the plainest words addressed to them, and did not know what the words virtue and vice meant ; 62 of them cou ld not count one hundred, 24 1 could read and wr i te a li tt l e ; and of the whole thousan d there were only twenty who had received anythin4 like an education. Those who were able to vs° a little had read all those wild, detestable and disgusting productions which issued from the pres s of this country, such as histories of bandits, highway' men, murderers, thieves, and every species of di s gusting crime, with which th e press of this country and of rang was polluted. All these persons had perused such i' famous productions as these, and made him (Le' Brougham) almost think that the ability to read was * ckrse to them rather than a blessing. The proportion of persons convicted to the population of North Lancs . shire was as one to eleven hundred, but in South Lan' cashire it was as one to five hundred. He maintained that they could not go on as they did at present. Times had changed since the days of Sir Richard Ark wright. The manufacturing population then numbered only a few thousands, but now it amounted to 800,000• and when any portion of this large population was out of work, they had no provision made for a bad day, and the consequence was, that they fell into criminal courses. That was a reason hy their Lordship's should interfere to reform the criminal law, that these persons should escape the evil influences to which they were now sub jected. It was with these views that he brought the subject before them, and if they agreed with hive, and should think that the time was come to apply in good earnest to amend the administration of the law, not only as regards the law itself, but the prison discipline also, they would be prepared for a pro position, that he intended to submit to them shortly for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the whole subject. The Duke of RICHMOND concurred with his Noble Friend, that their thanks were due to the magistrates who had ca ll e d t h e i r attention to this subject, and to the Noble L or d who had pr esen t e d t hi s petition. No thing could be of more importance than the subject of criminal law, and h e also believed that prison discipline , under a judicious system might do much to effect a rO - in juvenile offenders. They might at present send a child of about nine years of age to prison, and keep him there for six w ee k s or t wo mont h s b e f ore t r ial, and if convicted, the county magistrates, did not know wha t to do with him. If they stamped on his brow the word felon, they precluded him ever after obtaining employment. He should like to know whether in the es t ebbs hment at Metteray, which had been referred to, they had been taken as they came, or had been selected• l'he prestige of this country was greatly against giting f mployment to any one who had been once convicted o t crime, and any one so situated had no chance what' ever of employment. He knew an instance of this, where a man who had been sentenced to be transported eel was afterwards sent to Pentonville prison, in con e quence of his good conduct there, he was, after 800 3 ? me, liberated. H e su b sequent l y o b ta i ne d employment reom a railway company, and, by his good conduct Pi its situation, obtained promotion; but some busybody made a complaint to the directors, and informed them int be had been a convicted felon. Ile was, therefore, lisinissed from his situation, and was now starving: If, therefore, they sent a boy to Parkhurst prison, and eterwards got him a situation, they might get them elves int o a scrape, f rom suc h cause as t h at t o whichle low referred. H e s h ou ld b e ver y g l a d if his Nob l e _ e Friend wo u ld move f or an i nqu i ry i nto th e s ubject, as b bought the result would be highly advantageous to the