The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-28 00:00:00

their commissions, and many who were as innocent as him-
self.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") The Gallant Admir,l
then alluded to the case of Rowland Milliner, which
has already been before the public in our Parlia-
mentary reports. He also alluded to the impolicy of allow-
ing a civilian to be the judge in cases affecting the
character and honour of naval men, as if they were not as
good and competent to take care of it as any other per-
sons, and concluded by thanking them for the flattering
mark of their approbation which they bad just bestowed
upon him, and which he should refer to with pride to the
latest hour of his existence.—( Much cheering.)
The CIIAIRMAN then gave " Lord Minto and the Admi-
ralty."—( Cheers.)
" The Duke of Wellington and the other Members of
the Military and Naval Commission, upon whose justice
the Navy tested with confidence."
Sir E. CODRINGTON spoke at some length in reply to this
toast, and concluded by proposing tke health of the Chair-
man, who returned thanks in an approp►iate manner. _

.
The VICE • PRESIDENT, Lieut. Somerville), in proposing
the healths of their advocates in Parliament, Captains
Peeiell and Dundas, observed that nothing had delighted
him more than in reading in The Sun newspaper, which
had so warmly advocated the interests of the Navy, a lead-
ing article on the 10th of December last, on the subject
of Naval Reform, in which it was stated that matters of
that description were British—that the question had no-
thing to do with one administration or the other, but was
the question of the nation generally.—( Loud cheers.)
The toast was drunk with great applause.
Captain PECHkLL returned thanks on his own behalf
and Captain FORBES on behalf of Captain Dundas.
The healths of the Vice-President, Admiral Thomas,
Captain Codrington, " and may be follow the footsteps of
his distinguished father," the Secretaries and Committee,
and several other toasts, were subsequently drank. We
regret that we have not room for even an outline of many
of the speeches delivered. The evening passed off with
the utmost harmony and conviviality.

LONDON HIBERNIAN SCHOOL

SOCIETY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
BRISTOL, FEB. 26.

Sia—ln The Sun of the 23d instant is a very comi•
cal jeu d'esprit, in which I am playfully caricatured ;
and were this good humour merely bestowed on my de-
ficiencies or errors, I would be bound to share the laugh
thus raised against myself. lam sure, however, you
will see the necessity of saving me from an imputation
which I do not deserve, being represented as having
expressed (at the Hanover Rooms on Feb. 20) the very
reverse of what I really said.
I was rebutting the charge brought against the
friends of Irish Educational Schools, and showing, that
so far from feeling enmity towards Roman Catholics,
we were willing to attend to the wants of their bodies
as well as of their souls ; to illustrate this I introduced
the story of the Irish Clergyman, who showed some
trifling attention to Mr. O'Connell, M.P., at Birming-
ham, and I asked the meeting " Whether they would
blame that Clergyman for doing so when it was in his
power ?" I admitted that the act might be condemned
by some, or seem merely ludicrous to others ; to me it
appeared justifiable, and I followed this by saying " That
it was our wish not merely to provide for Roman Ca-
tholics the meat that perisheth,' but (better still) the
bread of life "

The story as connected with Mr. O'Connell, though
told in the third person, really belongs to the first, and
so far from reproaching any individual from showing
courtesy to Mr. O'Connell, I am not ashamed to con-
fess I was that individual, a confession well worth mak-
ing, had not the impression gone abroad that an Irish
Protestant Clergyman could be guilty of such unbecom-
ing conduct as to forget the biblical maxims, " Love
your enemies," " Be pitiful, be courteous."

Your obedient Servant,
THOMAS DREW,
Minister of Christ Church, Belfast.

SHEFFIELD, ASHTON-UNDER-
LYNE, AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY.

The Half-Yearly meeting of the Shareholders, of the
Sheffield, Ashton, and Manchester Railway Company,
was held yesterday at the Albion Tavern, Manchester.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE said, before the Secretary re,id
the report, he wished to address a few words to the
Shareholders, as to the general prospects of the Rail-
way, and also as to the course which the Directors had
thought it proper to pursue. He would venture to say
that from the first beginning of their directory, and, in-
deed, before the Act of Parliament was obtained, the
object of all those who promoted the railway, had been
to take care not to engage in any expensive and arduous
undertaking, unless they saw their way clearly. These
principles they had kept in view constantly. The rail-
way, great as were its objects, had to encounter at least
one very great difficulty, and until the Directors could
see their way to the completion of the work, and the
overcoming of that difficulty they would avoid, as
much as they could, calling upon the shareholders
for their subscriptions ; and they hoped their abstinence
in this respect would induce them, whin they were
called upon to view the call with more favour than they
might otherwise do. The report contained a history of
the state of the works. Undoubtedly, very little pro-
gress had been made on those works. The Directors
had given their attention to the summit where the tun-
nel was to pass—they had ordered a shaft to be sunk,
and contracted for that part of the work which leads to
the western end of the tunnel. From the examinations which
the engineer had been able to make as to the strata, &c.,
every ting had been found perfectly satisfactory ; and
although this had been considered by many as a work
of great difficulty, he knew that those in Yorkshire
who were accustomed to mining operations, did net
see the difficulty in the view those did where these
operations were not so common. When this difficulty
was overcome, he had little doubt that the railway
would afford the communication between Manchester
and Sheffield which had been so long desired, and
would put-Manchester, in point of time, within a distance
of 40 miles of Sheffield, whereas it was now 60 or 70 ;
and when this railway was completed, the Company
would command the whole of the intercourse between
Sheffield and Manchester, and the intermediate places,
without any possibility of competition. These were
the views which the Directors had taken of this railway
from the first, and they had only to pursue the course
they had hitherto done, namely, that of caution, and of
avoiding as much as possible calling upon the Share-
holders for payment upon their shares until it should be
necessary, in order to pay for work done or for land
bought, to carry the undertaking out with advantage.
With respect to the quantity of land purchased, the
greater portion on the western side of the summit had
already been agreed for. On the other side the pur-
chases were not so forward, but measures had been
taken which would enable the Directors, if necessary,
to make use of the compulsory clauses of the Act.
The purchases on this side had been made at a rate
which caused the Directors to be very sanguine that the
whole of the land occupied by the line would be bought
at a less rate than the estimated amount. It would also
appear from the Engineer's Report, after a careful re-
vision of his plans and estimates, that the expense of
the railway would be within the sum subscribed for.
The reports, which were of groat length, and went
very much into detail, were then read by the Secretary
and the Engineer.

SAMUEL LEED, Esq. moved that the report of the
Directors be received and printed.

The motion was seconded by - THOMPSON, Esq.
of Sheffield, and carried unanimously.
DAVID WADDINGTON, Esq., moved that the report
of Mr. Vignolles, the Engineer, be read and printed.
The motion having been seconded, and agreed to,
Lord WHARNCLIFPE said the next business would be
to choose four Directors, that number retiring according
to the provisions of the Act. The retiring Directors
were Messrs. Thomas Ellison, George Sidebottom,
Joseph Sidebottom, and Charles Appleby. The hard
had found these gentlemen very efficient members, and
were desirous that they should be re-elected.
JOHN TURNER, Esq. of Clodby, proposed that the
retiring Directors should be re-elected, which was se-
conded by JoHN CHAPMAN, Esq. of Hill-end, Mottiaja.
The Rev. R. BASNETT proposed that Ur. David
Warrington be one of the new Directors.

The nomination was seconded by --BRIDGE, Esq.
of Grove-house, Ardwick, who did so on the grouuct
that it was desirable to have some Director at the end
of the line.

The name of Cornelius Raudale, Esq. was also put
in nomination,
4 ballot then took place, the result of which was
declared to be as follows :
Personal Votes, No. of Shares.
Mr. Appleby
Mr. G. Sidebottora ~. 23
Mr. T. Ellison
Mr. J. Sidebottom
Mr. Warrington ll
Mr. Randale

The first four gentlemen were accordingly declared
to be duly elected.
The Rev. R. BASNETT moved, and Mr. WHITE-
LEY seconded, a vote of thanks to the Directors, which
was carried by acclamation, and acknowledged by W.
Sidebottom, Esq.
MICHAEL ELLISON, Esq., proposed that the nordial
thank of this meeting be given to Lord 'Wharncliffe,
not only for his able conduct in the chair on this occa-
sion, but also for the great seal and attention with which
he hivA 'I supported the interests of the Company, in the
capacity of Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Lord WIIARNCLIFFE briefly returned thanks, stating
be should be at all times anxious to promote the interest
and prosperity of the undertaking.
The meeting then broke up,

Yesterday morning, as one of the men employed
by the Now River Company was clearing out the river, by
the bridge opposite Duncan terrace, City-road, his drags
secured themselves in some heavy substance, which on his
reising, proved to Ile the body of a female apparently about
eighteeu years of age; on searching the deceased, ncthing
was found in her possession that could in any way lead to a
discovery who she was; the body was in no way decom-
posed, suggesting the idea that she had not been any length
of time in the water. She was dressed in a light brown
cotton gown, no bonnet or cap. The body was removed
in a shell to the vaults in Islington church, where it awaits
a Coroner's inquest.