The Express.
London, England, 1849-06-29 00:00:00

CANADA COMPANY.

Yesterday a general oonri"of proprietors of this
company was held at Canada Houle, St. Helen's-place, for
the purpose of declaring a dividend for the half-year ending
the 10th July nut. The governor, Charles Frank, Fog.,
was in the chair.
Mr. PllB2, the maretary, having read the minutes, aid
the notice convents( th.. meeting,
The 00111811101 R briefly stated the object for which the
proprietors were assembled, and commented upon the
state of affairs is the colony, remarking that it
was still comparatively more difficult to obtain pay-
moat of the amounts doe to the company in Canada than it
had been in prenotnyean, and this arose chiefly from the
same cause as bad affected the commerce and industry of
other countries. The direction were ambled, however. KY
reonusend the usual half-yearly dividend, via.—at the rate
of 8 per cent. per annum. He was ready to answer an
question*. and the following was a stateliest of the salsa iall
lumen Jane 7, 1849 :
Sake:

Crowal/7eierval 520 acres at 16a. 2d. average
Harm Tract
-1,731 at 14a. ad. „

Loan:

Crams Rorrervas. 8,418
llama Tract 18,323
-25,338

T0ta1......27M9 Aare.
Reoeipts In Omuta to 9th Juno £12,623 10 II
After a few remarks by one or two Proprirton, the divi-
dend was agreed to, and the meeting adjourned.

THE "ABODE OF LOVE" NEAR
BRIDGEWATER.

The came of " Nottidge v. Ripley and another,"
which recently occupied the Court of Exchequer for thrive
days, and was fully reported in this paper, hu &Meeker
much attention to the " Agapemone," or " Abode of Love,"
near Bridgewater, at which one of the pathes to the snit
resided. The founder of this blissful retreat is the Rev.
Mr. Prince, and its inhabitants are styled tt Prineitew"
The ("Lowing description of the establishment is from the
Bridgewater Times
" The Rev. Thomas Starkey held formerly the living of
Charlinth, and whilst there a gentleman of the name of
Prince assisted him as his curate, until his deetrines became
so wild and his behaviour so eccenttie that his diocesan row
pended him from performing service. Mr. Starko y, hewn so ri
adopted the same views as his curate ; again the bishop inter-
fered, and eventually the vicar and his curate were forbidden
to promulgate their new-(angled religious notions in this
diocese. Religious madness or most subtle scheming
now marked the course of these men, they went about form-
ing a new sect, announcing themselves as being personifiea-
tions of the deity, and inducing poor witless men, and far
more witless women, to trust their fortunes in their hands
and join them in their new belief. We understand that
numbers in Weymouth, Wales, and other parts of the king-
doms, as well as from this neighbourhood, joined their
standard, brought their money into the treasury, and were
permitted to join the elect. And, if we mistake not, more
than once has the law stepped in to preserve the property of
some excited and deluded persons tram the power of these

" After spending some time in this town and Taunton, and
after bting the subject of rumours of a strange and extremes
dinary nature, as to their mode of living, and religious tenets,
which, if a tithe only be correct, equally shock us on moral,
social, and religious grounds, they at last purchased some
property near Chsrlinch, and erected their large premises,
surrounded with every convenience and luxury, and congre-
gated together in large numbers, gave their establishment
the name of Agapemnne,' or Abode of Love.
" Here with every luxury money can procure, beautiful
equipages, splendid hones, and other adjuncts of wealth,
these furies under the name of Prineires, live together,
numbering amongst them four clergymen, an attorney, a
civil engineer, a surgeon, and others under the general
term of geftrlemen, together with a number of the
weaker sex, who, whether married or single, maids or
mothers, we have no opportunity of sscertarning. Such ms
establishment in a rural district necessarily excites great
eurheity amongst gentle and simple. Some are curious to
know where the money comes from, others strive to discover
;what mysterious orgies are carried na within these walls, it
'being generally admitted that Mr. Prince is regarded as su-
perior to the others, if not the personification of the being
whom they worship. This is quite certain, that our sebhath
is not regarded by them as we regard it, the %Masers around
noting that more frequently on Sundays than on any other
day does the cavalcade of the Prineires, with their splendid
heroes and dogs, sweep through their villages as if going to
the hunt, er the net field, and this whilst the Tillage hells
may be eolemnly inviting them to prayer. Such is the esta-
blishment now in full fig at New Chit:leach."
Some of the " orgies" nu taloned by the local paper con-
sist of an athletic game called " hockey," as would appear
from the following report of a case trod last week in the
T tunton County Court. It is thus reported in the Exeter
Flying Post of yesterday:
•• the suit was instituted for 201. by Isaac Thomas, a
labouring man, as damages for an assault committed on him
by Thomas Starkey, Lewis Prince, and Thomas Wilkins,
woo belong to a mysterious community called • Princiteel
living in a place called the • Abode of Love,* which adjoins
the public road nest Bridgewater. The plaintiff, overhear.
in,, some noises inside the pre mists, got on a hedge on the
other side of the road, from which he could look into the
opposite ground, where he saw about forty men aael
women playing at • hockey.' Defendant and about tweet/
of his companions rushed out with their bandies in hand,
and very severely beat him. On the part of the defendants
it was urged that the inmates of the • Abode's had been
repeatedty annoyed by the plaintiff and others, without any
provocation. On the sth of May, while smusMo themselves
at ' hockey,' a stone was thrown at them which struck Mr.
Prince, and the party rushed out to punish the offender.
They had so frequently been insulted as to compel them to
raise the wall ut the 'Abode,' and the windows of the
house had he a repeatedly broken. His Honour, J. M.
Carrnw, , said that nothing could justify the assault—all
the parties having come out with the intention of commit-
ting it, and that the only proper me& of suppressing insults
IMO by sn appeal to the low.—Judgment was given for
'H. Ile."

TER PAVILION AT BRIOMTOIL—Mr.Iter. sod
the Char.eellor of the Exchequer have brought in a hill to
authorise the sale of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, and to
epply the money arising from such sale. The act provides
that, whereas her Majesty his signified her desire that the
Pavilion shall no longer be retained as a royal palace, the
eomminieners art woods and Imes.* may sell the materials
wed in the construction of the same. and may lay out and
appropriate a ;Konen of the Ate as a public street for the im-
provement of the town of Brighten and for the accommoda-
tion of the inhabitants. The bill also provides the: in the
Mt instance the expenses of obtaining the set shall be dee
frayed out of the proceeds of the sale, and that the balance,
alter providing for the expenses incurred in the laying oat of
the new street, shall he applied to the completion of the
works at Bodin gham Paine.
TUE EXPLOSION AT DUDLEY PORT.—Tho jury as-
sembled yesterday, I r the purpose of viewing the bodies—es
very arduous duty—these lying at the res;intive homes of
the dreamed men in various parts of the district. Raving
performed this duty, the inquiry was adjourned until Mon-
day next. There were 70 men in tbe pit et the time of the
explosien, and not 20, as erroneously stated.
RUSH'S BLUNDIERBUSE.—Notice hos berm given h
the R.v. Edward Pestle, to bring before the sessions on the
6th of July all the circumstances relative to the finding and
custody of the blunderbuss discovered at Potash funs.
Nnm TOWN HALL, BRENITORD.—YeSIEWIRy the
'ceremony of laying the forodation stone of a new town ball
lead market-house at Brantford was performed by Lord
Robert On:owner, in presence of a large weemblage of ladies
and gentlemen. The company, which has been establithed
for the purpoes of carrying this building into effect stet, that
It has long been a source of regret to the inhabitants of
Brentford and its vicinity, that they bad no suitable building
in which any kind of public meeting could be held even
the petty sessions, and other business meetings, ore
of neconity hed at public inns, or now quite
inadequate to the wants of the town. The esta-
blishment of the county courts—already so useful,
and likely to be of much greater importance—was
considered • Attic, opportunity for an attempt at improve-
ment • and accordingly it has been determined to effect the •
removal of the present unsightly shed, under which the
market hoe hitherto been held, and erect in its steads build-
ing combining the advantages of a covered market, with the
warm-deuced for public limitations, and for the holding of
the comity courts, petty sessions, lectures, concerts. dtc., the
accommodation for which is now so evidently deficient."
Preparations were made with a view to give importance to
the scene, and the band of the horse Guards (blue) was in
attendance. Lord R. Grosvenor discharged the duty en-
trusted to him in so graceful • manner as to
induce many of the gentlemen present to c ompliment
him upon his skid is masonry. A silver trowel was
presented to his lordship on the motarrine, and at the conclu-
sion of the ceremony a large portion of the cow any sat doers
to a cold collation prepared at the Three Pigeons lon. Mr.
Jam Montg mery took the @heir, and was supported by
Mr. Cooper, Mr. Atinetrong, and Mr. Baillie, all of whom
are magistrates of the district. Various tomb were pro-
and wannest them was "Success to the n-w Town-
hall and Market-house." Three churn were given for Lord
RohertGrosvenot, and much excitement prevailed during the
whole of the afternoon.
FIRE AT 7118 ARMY AND NAVY CLEM HOUSE.—
Dot night, between nine and ten ote:ocle, considerable
alarm was canted in St. James's-square and its immediate
vicinity, to cenarquence of a report being raised that the
Army and Navy Club Rouse wee on fire. 31ewengers were
immediately despatched in various directions for the nein-
anee of the firemen, and forthwith the Brigade and West of
England engines attended, when tee firemen found that the
flames were raging amongst the killings under the first (tear
back. and bad it not been for the opportune discovery, the- re
is no doubt that the whole of the splendid now of premises
would have been de.troyed. A lone time elapsed before the
firemen could reach the exact scene of the fire, en(
not until they had pulled up nearly the whole of the floe:
Inc in that part of the building in which it began,
had cut away the g-eater portion of the ceiling in the
kith.„. owing to the arrival of thi- firemen
the a ,osea were pronnted from estending ; hnt before the}
were tot-lly t stinguithed muck dosage was dere. Pros
tdot examination made after the fire we. got out, there is in
deute that the outbreak was r0.e,0h00.0 fen in rue of the- rim
here running into th,: kitolten chi-one y, and the s 0..h0p imirg
ignited at an early hoar of the evening had fi ell she timber.
The premises were fully insured in veriime Alen. As a
protection to the building, three of the firemen were left on
duty ter the whole of the night.

• 1'