The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-10 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND.

- -
Extract of a letter from a valued and enterprising s 4•
tier in New Zealand to a friend in India, which, although
not intended for publication, is of too interesting a chr
racter to be kept from the public
2.iy dear —, many thanks for your two letters of
July and August, I must say that you are an uncom-
mon croaker. You anticipate all sorts of difficulties in
our settlement, and I recollect before we left England
your foreboding no goad to the expedition. Consider'
ing your own courage this is surprising; but I think the
tone of your last letter is better, and looks as 3'
even you thought that w should succeed. My owri
opinion is, that no settlemevt ever went ahead so fa 4
as this has done. In fifteen ~months we have a pop',
lation of 2,000 English and 800 natives, all on the most
friendly terms, not one serious quarrel havitg occurred
during the time. One magistrate and thirty soldiers are
our only government. A large town has s 1 rung up
Every, Commodity, and most of the luxuries of rife, are
found here at reasonable prices, and the necessaries of life
are cheaper here than in England. We have always te,11.,
or twelve vessels lying in the harbour, and every booi,
seems to be making money. (,due voulez vous de pius
Races I a theatre ! and a variety fair. You Indians nansir
have carriages, and palanquins and bearers, and flrflar
pers, and nurse-bearers, but climate renders us able to 0'
for ourselves. There has not occurred one death 0C
an adult from natural causes since we landed. Tyre'
or three infants, and a few persons drowned by Reel--
dents, have been the only thing like casualties. N.)thing,
I can assure you, can exceed the' salubrity of the elv
mate. The men can work more than in any
.country
that I ever saw, and your sex looks more blooming than
in England. I hope before long my Emily will come out.
whom I shall hope to have at the head of my house. I
heard once from --, who talked of coming out here.
If yon write to him, say how glad I shall be to see him,
and that his fears as to roughing it,' are groundless.
We have several good hotels, and houso are to be hired►
not quite so fine as at Brighton,perhaps,b,ut good enough
even for an invalid. I hope some of yoi.'r neighbours
will try this climate, as it probably will be g,ood for In-
dian constitutions. It seems to me to put lit :e into the
most shattered, and everybody grows fat. I really feel
ten years younger in health and spirits since .1 carne
here. This goes direct to Bombay by the Martha,
way; it is our short way of sending to. England. Our
town is called Wellington."

A meeting of Ministers and other gentlemen
belonging to the United Dissenteilng Congregation of this.
aswashreeldsolartedYtoorkdeCpuhteap
the great Convention of o
be held at Manchester this month, Mondayonnth
Corn-laws. It was stated at the meeting a townttwheneattend
d itw
the Rev. C. Thompson to
ge Ministers,sthubawjte,hci
as
te 7:
f‘ni isi 1
tne
rht o
g:.
may be ministers in this district who cannot at,%end
the Convention, it would be very desirable for them t°
drop a line to Mr. Thompson, appointing him their c.'e-*
-ence in this great
g.i: it
tate e t Thehat amseleatrignega considered it of the greatest imp -
p,k,
numberunder
taat possibleing._ c undertaking.—Cambrian.
the ft •
CLEM': 41' RETuRT.—Our readers, we dares
comm. .
say, itill ~,ree with us in thinking that the followin
FT
anecdote of a deruzil friend not a hundred miles dis--
W .
Int; is decidedly ..too good to be lost :"—Sabbath last
IO tilye sacramental la.
st here, some difficulty
was eXpOiemed in
procurin; a minister to o
ciate to the cavalry in the Low Green. The
ffi-
clergyman- to whom we allude having submitted
the application of the Colonel to the judgment of his
reverend helpers, assembled at the time in the parlour
of the manse, and unbending in a little social conversa-
tion after the Saturday's services, the temporary
sub appoint"
ment of " chaplain to the forces became the sect of
jocular discussion, in the course of which our fri
eld:
end
took occasion to speak rather disparagingly of fi
preaching generally. "In that case I doubt you wont
have made but a poor covenanting preacher, Mr. S--,
observed one of his brethren, who unluckily is in the ha-
bit of reading his sermons—a practice still far from be-
ing popular in Scotland. " And what kind o' a COO.
nanting preacher wad ye hae made," retorted the othe
bitsgr,.
gin a puff o' wixd had Come and blawn awe; yir •
papert"--Ayr Observer

•16]

,EVENING SUN

LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAIL-
WAY COMPANY.

The general half-yearly meeting of the Proprietors in
;he above undertaking, was held in the London Tavern

yesterday.
The Chair was taken at one o'clock by J. Harman,
Esq., the Chairman of the Company. The formal business
having been disposed of,
The CHAIRMAN said it was most gratifying to himself
and his brother Directors to meet so large a meeting of
the proprietors, for he was convinced that before they
left the room they would be perfectly satisfied with the
statements that were to be laid before them. The most
important occurrence since the last meeting was the
partial opening of the line—the result of that opening
was important, because it had convinced every one who
had seen the working. of the line on that part which had
been opened that their traffic when the line was opened
throughout would be immense.—(Cheers.) He had
also the pleasure of informing the Proprietors that the
line would very soon be thrown open; indeed, he might
say that it was the intention of the Directors to open it
on the 14th of next month.—(Cheers.) They had, how-
ever, been unable to bring the works so forward without
expending more money than he had led them to antici-
pate on the last occasion of meeting: He had then stated
that the line would be completed for 2,070,0001., since
that meeting it was well-known to them all, that they
had met with some exceedingly heavy slips, wjiich bad
caused them much anxiety. However, in so great and
stupendous a work as theirs, considering that good judges
had said their plan was almost impracticable, yet it was
now nearly finished, and Sir F. Smith, who had inspected
it, said it was nearly the best line, if not the best, it had
yet been his duty to inspect.—(Cheers.) He had also
much pleasure in informing them that even with the ad-
ditional outlay caused by the slips, the line would be made
perfect throughout—it would be completed 'without the
Directors calling for any further assistance from the.
Proprietors.—(Cheers.) Even during the last half year
many persons said that they would be compelled to
borrow another half million before they could complete
the line, and he could scarcely disabuse their minds of the
error ; he was, therefore, much and highly gratified in
being able to state most confidently that they would re-
quire no more aid. He did not wish to detain them ; he
would therefore simply say that they had raised all
the money they were entitled to, and he was happy to
say that even in such an undertaking as theirs, only the
small sum of 12,000/. was outstanding. Considering the
nature and extent of their difficulties, he thought they had
been well overcome. The clerk would read the Reports
of the Directors and the Engineer, after which he
would be happy to answer any question which might

be put.
The SECRETARY then read very voluminous Reports,
which at length embodied all which had taken place
since the last meeting.
The CHAIRMAN said they had now heard the Reports
of the Directors and the Engineer read, and be would be
happy to answer any questions that might be, put to him.
A PROPRIETOR inquired whether it could be stated
with certainty at what period the line would be opened?
The CHAIRMAN said the line , would be certainly
opened throughout on the 14th of September.—(Hsar,
hear.) He had very lately gone over the whole of the
line, and the gentlemen who accdmpanied him, and him•
self, could bear testimony to the accuracy of Mr. Ras-
trick's Report. Nothing but exceedingly bad weather
would prevent the opening at the time fixed. There had
been a trifling delay from the delivery of the rails, but
these had all arrived since the date of the Report.—(ear.)
Mr. PARSONS, a Proprietor, begged to know under
what heads the excess of expenditure would occur?
The CHAIRMAN said the great excess would be for
completion of the contracts and for extra works, and it
would amount to something like 130,000/.
Mr. PARSONS said there was no detailed statements
of the expenditure which was yet to be incurred.
The CHAIRMAN said their Report was only made up
to the 30th June, and they had, in addition, given the
amount estimated for the completion of the works,
which would be something about 2,289,000/. When the
nature of the works was taken into consideration, and
their vast extent, it would be seen that while they were
in progress it was extremely difficult to come to any
thing like a close calculation. A good deal of extra ex-
pense bad been incurred in making four lines of railwa
as
y
at each station, and that had been done to prevent,
far as possible, the liability of accidents.—(Hear, hear.)
On their line, when a train arrived at a station, it stood
out of the ordinary line, and another train passing the
station either way could not, as had been the case on
other railways, come into collision. Looking at the
nature of the traffic, which they might reasonably expect
upon their line, they considered that they ought not to
stand at any reasonable expense to make it as complete
as possible.—(Hear, hear.) He had no doubt that when
the line was finally opened, it would be found that the
expenses of keeping it in thorough repair would be very
small. All would agree that the first expense was always
the least, and they were not likely to have any heavy
charges for its working or repair for some time to come.
Mr. PARSONS said it appeared that 94,000!./had been
expended since the 30th June, and he wished to know
whether that included all the arrangements of the Com-

pany ?
The CHAlRMAN—Certainly not. They had given as
an act of courtesy to the Proprietors a statement of the
money expended up to the present time, but the det ailed
items could not be given till the next half-yearly meeting.
A DIRECTOR said the Hon. Proprietor must see that
it was impossible to make up the accounts in a satisfac-
tory manner until the completion of the contracts.
Mr. PARSONS wished to know if there was any con-
tract actually finished ?
Mr. RASTRICH, the Engineer of the Company, said
the only contract actually completed, and on which the
accounts were balanced, was the Shoreham branch.
There were still some little matters to be done on the
contracts for the part of the line actually opened, and it
would require two or three months before all the work
would be actually finished off and the accounts sent in. The
heavy works were all completed, and they were able to
approximate very nearly to the sum that would be re-
quired for completing the line. At the last meeting of
the Proprietors they had the Earlswood embankment,
and two or three other very heavy works in hand, and
one of them was of such a nature that for two months
they made scarcely any progress. Now all these diffi-
culties bad been overcome, but it required both perse-
verance and increased expense to overcome them, and
the works which remained to be completed were of such
a character that they could estimate almost to a fraction
what would be required to be expended on them.
Mr. PARSONS' object in putting these questions was
to ascertain what was the actual sum they would have
to pay, because on many other lines considerable ex-
tra expenses had been incurred after their opening.
Mr. RASTRICK coulk assure the Hon. Proprietor that
the London and Brighton line would be an exception.—
(Hear, hear.) They had expended a great deal of money
in making the stations complete, by having four lines of
railway, so that one train could pass another in the same
direction. On other lines, the train at a station was on
the main line, and there was no possibility of passing ex-
cept at particular places. They had also provided load-
ing places for carriages and horses, sidings, and other
conveniences, and they were enclosing their stations ;
whereas, if they looked at other lines, they would find
that these matters were left till after the line had been
opened.—(Hear, hear.) Indeed, it would be found
that there would be a very trifling expenditure on the
Brighton line after its opening, and they had as much
rails and chairs in stock as would nearly enable them to
make their arrangements for the conveyance of merchan-
dize and coals.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PARSONS said the explanations of the Engineer
and the Directors were very satisfactory, and he had
made his inquiries, because, in many instances, he had
seen 20 per cent. added for extra expenses.
The CHAIRMAN said they were anxious to give every
information to the Proprietors, but it was not always
judicious to go into items where there were unsettled ac-
counts.—(Hear, hear.) They did not wish, to hide
any thing, only he trusted that a little discretionary
poa er, as regarded details, would be allowed the Direc-
tors. He was glad the questions had been put, because
there might have been an impression that a large sum would
be charged for extra expenses after the opening of the
line. Now, they had made it a rule to pay for all the
extras every month, and he was fully persuaded that the
amount they had put down in their Report would cover
all the expenses of the line.—(Cheers.)
A PROPRIETOR begged to ask the worthy Chairman
under what head would be charged the expenses of the
rand entertainment given by them a fortnight ago,
(Laughter.)
The CHAIRMAN was very glad the:question had been
put, because he had received many letters upon the sub-
ject, some of which were signed and some were anony-
mous, complaining of the entertainment given on the
occasion of the opening of the railway, and stating
that the Shareholders who went down the day
after got only bread and cheese, while the Di-
rectors and their friends got champagne, &c.—(Loud
laughter.) Now, after three years anxious employ-
ment, he did not think it was too much that the Direc-
tors should have the power to treat themselves and
friends upon such an occasion.—(Cheers.) He must '
deny that Shareholders had been excluded. Each Di-
rector had the power of inviting two friends, and none
other than those were invited except those who had been
of great use to the undertaking.
Two Proprietors expressed themselves much dissatis-
fied with the conduct of the Direction upon the occasion,
and a Mr. Mayhew moved a resolution approving of the
Reports, and ordering them to be printed and circulated,
but condemning the conduct of the Directors in giving
the entertainment in question, and preventing its being
drawn into a precedent.
The CHAIRMAN said the Proprietors could not enter-
tain such a proposition for one moment, if they placed
any confidence in the Directors.
lir. WALEY moved as an amendment, simply that the.
Reports be printed and circulated amongst the Proprietors
which, being seconded, was at once adopted, only four
hands being held up in favour of the original motion.
begged to ask the Chairman whe-
theArirthßeyE• Nlisar c'oti.ePio' any understanding with Mr. Gold-
smid respecting
The CHAlRMAhNissapirdopNeor.
.tyMr. Goldsmid had given up
his seat in the Direction. He had filled a bill in the Court
of Chancery, to which the Directors had given in teir
answer. When Mr. Goldsmid saw that, he thought he
would not proceed any furter.
Mr. RENNIE was very unfond of law. Was there no
middle course that could be pursued ?—could not the
matter be settled by arbitration ?:
The CHAIRMAN said, that course could not be taken,
becauSe Mr. G. wanted to introduce a clause in the
deed conveying his land, which the Court cou
of Par
ld not pos-
sibly accede to without a violation of their Act -
liament. He wanted to have power to re-enter on his
land, if any coals were carried upon the road. The Di-
rectors acceded to that, in fact ; but they never could
agree that it should form part of the deed. It would be
against the express provisions ; and such being the fact,
no other power could decide between them 0111 the Lord
Chancellor.