The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-14 00:00:00

THE sit-NI LONDON', FitlDAy EVENING, AUGUST 14, 1846.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
THE SEASON 1846.

On Friday next this immense establishment, for six months
the scene of unceasing exertion and toil, will be deserted—
the many hundreds of persons, English as well as foreign,
mentally or mechanically engaged, will disperse to all quar-
ters of the globe—more than one of the great artists being
destined singly to draw crowded houses in other less privi-
leged capitals than ours.
Lablache goes until the Bth of October to Naples.
Grisi, Mario, and Corelli, after their tour in the provinces,
to Paris.

Castellan goes to Italy. She is "offered engagements in
Russia, which she has refused, and another at Milan. She
previously goes to enact operas at Dublin and elsewhere, with
Fornasari, Marras, &c.
Sanchioli is engaged at Palermo.
Fornasari intends, after his provincial tour, to visit
Verona.

Botelli is engaged at Lisbon.
Corbari and Brambilla follow Castellan, and then go to
Milan.

Taglioni returns to her beautiful residence at Como after
a tour in the provinces.
Grahn is engaged at Rome till next season, and has, be-
sides, offers innumerable.

Cerito and St. Leon go to Pesth and Berlin, but previously
they will dance at the principal theatres in our great com-
mercial towns.

L. Taglioni goes back to Naples, where she is engaged, but
on her way will dance three times at the Academie de
Musique in Paris.
Perrot, the poet of the, ballets, goes to Milan, to produce
some of his successful works.

Mdlles. Honore, Demelisse, and Cassan, to Brighton, and
thence to Paris to study.
Mdlles. Juliano and L'Amoureux remain in England, to
pursue their studies under M. Gosselin, the professor of
choregraphy in the school maintained throughout the year
by her Majesty's Theatre.
Miss James ;s engaged at Madrid.
The nightly lists published, which are always incomplete,
and which can in no other respect deceive the public, will
prove by comparison that up to the present moment the at-
tendance at the Opera this year has been greater than in any
previous season. This is the more remarkable, as the diffi-
culties to be surmounted have been this year great beyond
precedent. The crisis of political affairs, so intense andpro-
longed, absorbed society, and the over-speculation of all
classes in railroads impoverished the affluent, whilst her
gracious Majesty's necessary retirement for two months
naturally threw a gloom over all pursuits of pleasure, and
kept numbers of the most exalted personages in the country.
Illness, on the one hand, and on the other breach of faith,
produced by thirst of lucre, deprived the establishment
of the presence of certain talents expected, and it became
suddenly necessary to substitute new attractions, not only
as great, but greater. To another adverse circumstance with
which the management has had to combat, we attribute little
importance—we allude to personal enmity and to that
malice which follows, like sharks do men-or.war, all great
establishments the more prosperous they are, seek-
ing what they can devour. As the greatest light produces
the most numerous, the most eccentric, and the darkest
shadows, so does an institution like the Opera, when it
shines with unwonted éclat, awaken the most intense
and fantastic malignity. The public, however, soon
perceive the cause; for fair criticism deals not in abuse and
venom, and mendacious contrast and supposition is a well-
known form of compliment. The headlong inventions,
incalculable in variety and number, such as the soi-disant
rival companies, the stupid assertion so oft repeated, that an
august personage had condescended to take part in a question
of theatrical discipline; that one great artist engaged was
dead and buried ; that another still greater, if possible, was
about to marry and retire; that other virtuosi had resolved
not to come, &c. &c.—all these barefaced inventions for a
moment might make one or two of the subscribers hesitate
at the beginning of the season; but, ultimately, the more
virulent the attacks, the greater was the success. No
artists, and no performances generally achieved such sur-
passing triumphs as those who were the objects of the most
unsparing abuse. We have heard a story of the parents of a
celebrated performer hiring persons to hiss, when they
thought the applause was becoming lukewarm from ex-
haustion, which immediately awakened unbounded enthu-
siasm. We would submit to the attention of managers, after
the example we have had before us, whether under similar
circumstances they should not purchase an enemy to keep
attention alive.

The Opera, as an assemblage of the most exalted art, and
the rendezvous of the highest fashion, has always been a
source of great interest to our readers. We have conse-
quently endeavoured this year to extend the information re-
garding its progress. In every department of theatrical
art our (columns bear witness to our wish to second honest
effort. As regards her Majesty's Theatre, we have felt that,
whether we looked to the past or to the present, to the im-
mense difficulties vanquished, or to the splendour achieved,
our warmest encouragement was due to a management
which has rolled back the adverse tide which for half a cen:
tury overwhelmed this magnificent institution, and made it,
in a commercial as well as in au artistic point of view, a
disgrace to the country.
Let us now pass in review the events of the season.

The performances during the season 1846, up to Thursday,
August 13, have been :
Subscription nights 45
Benefits .. . 9
Extra nights — 10

Total
The following are the opera
performed, and the number of
OPE]
Times.'
_ _

is, ballets, and divertissements
times each has been enacted :

Anna Bolena
Belisario
Barbiere
Ernan i
Don Giovanni
Don Gregorio
Gazza Ladra
Lucia di Lammermoor

Times.
Matrimonio Segreto 4
Nino
Norma .......
Don Pasquale 4
Pirata 1
Puritani
Sem ira m ide
Sonnambula (3 times
only partly)
La Prova
L'Elisire d'Amore 1

(partly or wholly) 6
Lucrezia Borgia
Lombardi ll
Linda di Chamouni 4

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

The directors and proprietors held their usual half-yearly
meeting yesterday, in the boardroom of the Bristol ter-
minus, Mr. Charles Russell, M.P., chairman of the board, in
the chair.

The CHAIRMAN said—lt has now been my duty for a grea.
number of years to lay before you, in the month of February
in each year, a statement of the progress we have made in
Parliament with the affairs of this company, and in the
month of August in each year to report the result of those
proceedings; and upon the present occasion I trust that the
report we have to lay before you will prove most satisfactory,
notwithstanding that our progress through Parliament, in
what I may now call the late session, was carried on under
owni
tl
hbaeta
tr
hien
rne
on
rdt that
hi
et
Gw
aa
us
gt
eh ec co ern%
seeni
oc
ne me r es nwt
aosf
firstth i this
circumstances of great difficulty and disappointment; and
13sa.eoisdusiupon the table of the House of Commons ; and if the recom-
mendation contained in that report had been carried out and
adopted by the Legislature, I need scarcely tell you that the
result would have proved deeply injurious to the broad gauge
generally, and particularly so to the interests of this com-
pany.— (Hear.) The Government and the Legislature how-
ever, have not seen fit to adopt that recommendation, for they
did not think it would be wise, or just, or fair to interfere so de •
trimentally as that recommendation, if adopted, would unques-
tionably do, with rights and property which had been called
into existence and had grown up under the sanction of an
Act of Parliament. The adoption of that recommendation
would not only have that effect upon- the Great Western
Company, but it would in fact operate as a discouragement
to all enterprise and improvement in railways.—(Hear.)
• But we must admit that the question was one of great diffi-
culty and embarrassment, for the Government, in dealing
with it, had to compare and to reconcile a great many con-
flicting interests and adverse statements, and I believe their
intentions were honest, and that they had no desire but to
act fairly by all parties and by the public.—(Hear.) But I
think that the resolutions of the Gauge Commissioners were
premature, for, in recommending the Legislature and the
Government to determine what should be the future gauge
for all railways in this country, due regard should have been
had to existing railways. Of course the intention was to
diminish and do away with the inconvenience attendant
upon two gauges, and though that inconvenience has been
greatly exaggerated, still it must be admitted that great
evils would result from a break of gauge.—(Hear hear.)
But notwithstanding that, the Government and the Parlia-
ment did not deem it of sufficient moment to warrant them
in adopting a course which involved a question of such
moment to the future regulation of this important branch of
science, and one of such deep interest not only to this corn.
pany but to the country at large.—(Hear, hear.) At the
commencement of our labours in this session we met
with some obstacles and difficulties, but I am happy to
be able to state that these have been more than
counterbalanced by the success which has since
crowned our efforts.--(Hear, hear.) And if you will but for
a moment consider the position we were in at the commence-
ment of the session in February last, and compare it with the
position in which we now stand, I do think you .will find
ample ground for satisfaction and congratulation.—(Hear,
hear.) It may, however, be desirable that I should give you
a short outline or summary of those proceedings, which I will
endeavour to do' and if you will accompany me while I do so
down the Great Western line, you will find that the broad
gauge has been deemed to be the most safe, easy, and rapid
railway that can be constructed, and you will say you have
had every reason to be pleased at the results of our labours.—
(Hear, hear.) Suppose, then, we start from Paddington, the
first opponent we had on our line was the line proposed to
be made called the Direct Oxford line. That project under-
went a most clear and patient investigation by the committee,
and the result was that it was found to be a project so full of
engineering difficulties, and the gradients were so steep that
the route by Didcot, though it was admitted to be somewhat
more circuitous, yet it was in fact deemed to be shorter, and
was preferred, and therefore the Committee rejected that
project, and the district through which the line was to pass
is now proposed to be accommodated by a short branch from
our line.—(Hear.) Well, then, in the southern district, and
proceeding westward, we had no fewer than four opponents,
amongst whom were the Richmond and Staines, the
London, Staines, and Windsor, and the Atmospheric,
which was a line proposed to be run from Lon-
don to the west, and on to Newbury, and which
was therefore a rival or competing line to the Great Western,
and every one of those, I have the satisfaction to inform you,
were rejected by the ommittees of the House of Commons.
—(Hear, hear.) Well, then, further on the line, we found a
project brought forward for affording a railway communica-
tion between Oxford and Cheltenham. That was one of the
first projects about which we felt anxious, and we felt a deep
regret at its failure; but owing to the vast amount of railway
business which came before Parliament this session, it was
found impossible to go on with it, or to hope that it could be
passed. The gentlemen of Cheltenham felt this, and they
placed the utmost reliance on our good faith, and the result
is, that another company will be formed for the prosecution
of this project, to whom the delay will be advantageous, in-
asmuch as it will afford time for the consideration of a better
plan, and the Cheltenham people will have a line suggested
which will be more in accordance with their wishes.-
-(Hear, hear.) I shall now, having disposed Of these, take
you to the west, where we had not the good fortune to carry
the Hungerford Extension and other lines by which to afford
a more direct communication with Exeter and the west; but
in reference to that I have only to say, if it was thrown out,
there were several other projects which shared the same fate
—(Hear)—and the question is still left an open question,
which may be decided in the next session.—(Hear, hear.)
I feel great confidence in our project for that district being
deemed the most useful to the public, for the object is to
make a shorter line, and I have no doubt it will be passed
in the next session, when a Bill will be also introduced to
amalgamate the lines. We will come before the Legislature
next session with those advantages in our favour—(Hear.)
Well, then, with regard to the Cornwall and West Cornwall
lines they are certainly of great importance in regard to the
relation which they bear to us. The West Cornwall line pro-
poses to pass through a district of country, the most popu-
lous and industrious that exists in that direction, and it will
open up resources of traffic which have hitherto not only not
been developed, but which, in fact, are not yet known.—
(Hear, hear.) It will not only be a means of affording ac-
commodation to West and East Cornwall, bat it will also be
of great benefit to the west of Cornwall, as the packet station
and will be the means of bringinggreat additional traffic upon
our line.—(Hear, hear.) It will be of importance to us, not
only in relation to the immense accession of traffic which it
will bring to us, but it will also be made upon the broad
gauge, which it is now admitted is the gauge which must pre-
vail throughout the whole of the west of England.—(Hear,
hear.) And I cannot quit this part of the subject without
expressing my regret that the Company which was formed
for making a line for the north of Devon have failed before
the Committee of the House of Commons, for that was a
scheme which was calculated to afford ample accommodation
to the whole of the north of Cornwall, and the Taw Vale was
passed, the effect of which will be to throw impediments in
the way of the formation of more useful 'and comprehensive
schemes. However, it is impossible that the line can be done
without, for the north of Devon must have the accommo-
dation it requires; and I feel confident that the Great
Western Company will get that line into their hands if you
will only come forward and aid the undertaking with that
zeal and determination to carry it out which have always
marked your proceedings.—(Hear, hear.) I now turn from
the western districts in order to congratulate you upon the
success which has attended on our efforts in the late most
arduous contest we had with the Oxford Company.—(Hear,
hear.) That contest was not sought for by us in any spirit
of aggression upon our part; it was forced upon us by cir-
cumstances over which we had no control; however our Bill
has passed the Legislature •, it has received the sanction of the
Crown, and it will accomplish all the great and useful pur-
poses for which it was intended.—(Hear, hear.) Well, now,
having disposed of those subjects which occupied our atten-
tion during the past session, I will next take up those mea-
sures which we propose to bring on in the next session, and I
will divide them into three classes : the first of them will be
the short branches, which we propose to make from our own
main line; the second will be those various lines of railway
by which we propose to connect Exeter and the western dis-
tricts (and here 1 may mention that this is a subject which
has undergone our most serious and deliberate consideration) ;
and the third class has reference to the main line from Oxford
to Cheltenham, which is a line of great importance,
inasmuch as it proposes to afford a through means
of communication, by Oxford and the south of Wales,
to London ; and I cannot mention the south of Wales ,
without remarking upon the great importance which that line
will be to the Great Western Company, in fact, it would be
impossible to overrate the importance of it to our line, not
only in regard to the traffic it will bring to us, but also as a
means of communication with the whole of the south of Ire-
land ; and, therefore, it is of great importance that we should
advance that project by every means in our power; and we
have also the satisfaction of knowing that while we partici-
pate in the advantages which may follow the formation of
that line, the company who propose to undertake the for-
mation, will also undertake all the risk and liability.—
( Hear,hear.) We therefore propose to enter into a negoti-
ation with that company, the details of which will be laid
before you at a special meeting to be called for that purpose,
before the terms shall be carried into effect.—(Hear, bear.)
Having directed the attention of the meeting to the table of
the income and expenditure of the company for the last half
year as compared with that of 1845, and adverted to the fact
of the company having reduced their fares, he went on to
say that, notwithstanding the reduction of fares, there would
still remain a balance of 189,956/. at the disposal of the share-
holders ; and he would beg of them, at the same time, to
bear in mind the fact that those favourable results arose from
a line which was yet unfinished and undeveloped, and was as
yet receiving no tribute from the south of Wales. This
company were now, for the first time, about to get lines of
communication with the coast and the west of England, and
also from Staffordshire and the north, and when these ad-
ditions were taken into consideration he felt assured
that the proprietors would not say he had been
over sanguine in saying that the property would
pay eight per cent. and that in a very short time
they might look still higher.—(Hear, hear.) Now, in
order to meet the expenses to be incurred by the works on
the new lines, it would be necessary to raise a sum of money,
which proposed to do by means of an issue of
new
Act of 1844 a line was proposed to
uhtahr e
se .
directors
By
th e
Oxford and Cheltenham as an amalgamation line, the ca-
pital for which would amount to 8,160,000/., and the amount
of shares issued for that line 6,975,0001., leaving about
1,800,0001. to be provided, and which it was proposed should
fur him to dwell upon that sub-
ject at any length;
nCompany. He did not
be provided by the issue of the shares.—(Hear, hear.)
He now came to the consideration of the question of the
theltihaibniklitiiteswooufld n
Greatec
but the reason he alluded to it at all
was, because some statements had :appeared in black and
white in reference to these liabilities, these " enormous lia-
bilities," as they had been called. These statements, he
understood, first appeared in a railway paper. Now it might
be considered a
matter, d
of bad taste in him, or might ben o t
deemed a dereliction of _7.1 his part; but be it what it
might, he should certainly plead guilty to the charge of not
that paper.—(Laughter.) Ent h
having tead is attention
called to the statements a
having been _ et forth in that paper
be
in reference to the liabilities of this Company, he would just
say this: that at the commencement of lastsession the Great
Western Company were to have made the Cheltenham and
Oxford line, for which they were to raise 9,710,000/ and
~
they were to borrow one-third of that sum, namely,
about 3,237,0001 a which would make a total of over
12,000,0001., and that was to constitute the whole of the
liabilities of the Great Western Company.—(Laughter)
—and in that sum was to have been included the branches
he had already mentioned namely, the South Devon
Branch, which was .
to cost 150,0006 • the South Wales
Branch, 560,0001. ; the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth,
500,000/. ; the Cornwall, 75,0001. ; the Gloucester and Forest
of Dean, 25,000/. •
and the West London, 30,000/. ; making
a total of ,
1,340,6006 which would make about 14,000,0001.
altogether, though be bad good reason for knowing that
12,000,0001. would be
snore than sufficient for all these pur-
poses ; and now, he would ask, what was to become of the
statements in Mr. Herapath's paper, in which it was set
forth that the liability of the Great Western Company
amounted to the enormous sum of 43,000,0001, sterling?—
(Laughter.) He had been informed that the secretary had
received a letter from a proprietor of the company, in which
the writer stated that be had it " upon authority" that the
. liabilities of the company . amounted to 70,000,0006
, (Laughter)—and that he was therefore deterred from making
any further myestmouto by ouch rePuto,—(Laughter.) Nov,

it was impossible for the directors to deal with such shadows
1
as those reports; but the best answer that could be given
them was to lay before the proprietors the actual state of
the accounts of the company, which accounts were pre-
pared by the executive officers of the company with a de-
gree of care and exactness which, when compared at the
end of every month, did not vary to the amount of even
one farthing; and he trusted that it would not be neces-
sary for him here to say anything in vindication of the
directors of the company.—(Hear, hear.) The directors
were not bound to take any step in vindication of themselves
in respect to any such reports, beyond answering any questions
which might be put to them, but he did think it necessary
to say this much in vindication of them from such malignant
statements, and to clear themselves from such false and scan-
dalous aspersions as that the Great Western Company had
incurred such monstrous liabilities.—(Hear, hear.) But he
believed the best course to adopt would be, to use no harsher
term than to say that they would treat such statements in
future with silence.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. CHARLES Se UNDERS, the secretary, read the report,
the substance of which was to the following effect:—
"']'he traffic of the Company has continued to increase very
satisfactorily during the last half-year, as compared with the
same period of last year; the comparative earnings having
been 496,4281. 12s. id., in 1846, against 433,2961. 16s. 2d.,
in 1845. The former sum embraces the receipt from about
twenty- five miles of additional railway, worked for nearly
four months and a half longer in 1846 than in 1845. The
expenses on traffic have been heavier than usual, arising
from the necessity of augmenting the establishments of the
company, to carry on the increasing business of merchan-
dise, and especially for the more efficient inspection and re-
pair of the carriages, waggons, &c., having due regard to the
public requirements and the importance of that service. The
result of the half-year, as will appear from the appended
statements, leaves, after providing for all interest on loans
• and rents, the net sum of 189,956/. Bs. 7d. disposable
by the proprietors, from which a dividend on the
total sum called, viz., on 4,670,6564 at the rate of four
per cent. for the half-year, wiil abstract 186,8261. 4s. 9d.,
and leave 3,1301. 3s. 10d. to be carried forward in
the usual manner. An Act has been now obtained for
amalgamating the Oxford and Rugby, Berks and Hants, and
Monmouthshire and Hereford Railways, with the Great
Western Railway, as authorised by a previous general
meeting of this company. The amount required for the con-
struction of those lines may hereafter be created as Great
Western stock, in addition to that which was previously
sanctioned as the capital of the company for the Great
Western Railway, comprising the Cheltenham and Oxford
Railways. As more than one-half of the whole capital has
been paid up since the recent call on the quarter shares, a-
formal resolution will be submitted at this meeting to autho-
rise the directors to borrow on mortgage upon the security of
all the amalgamated lines, the remaining sum to complete
the amount of 3,236,6661., which may be raised by such
mortgage debentures. The out-standing calls on shares
already created still exceed the amount required to pay off
those debentures and loan notes which were issued in antici-
pation of calls; but the directors think it expedient upon
this occasion, in order to provide for the construction of the
other lines sanctioned by Parliament, to issue new shares to
make up the capital from 6,975,0001. to 8,160,0001., which
latter sum was the aggregate authorised to be raised in
Great Western shares before the recent Amalgamation Act
passed. To carry this intention into effect, the proprietors
will be entitled to receive a new share of 17/. in proportion
for every 100/. of existing shares held by them. The number
of such new shares, in order to bring them within the
Parliamentary sum, must be 69,700, instead of 69,750, to
which may be added five extra shares of 20/. each,
to adjust the small fractional difference arising from the
subdivision in their nominal value—which can be easily ar-
ranged in the final appointment of them. It is recommended
that these shares shall be offered to proprietors who may be
registered on the sth of September, and a deposit of 2/. per
share be made payable on the 7th of October. The dividend
will be made payable on all calls on the 171. shares, pro rata
with the calls made on any other shares of the company, and
the future calls will be made as the money may be required
for the construction of works. The share capital will then
consist of 25,000 shares, 1001. each, 2,500,0001. ; 28,000 shares,
501. each, 1,400,000/. ; 93,000 shares, 251. each, 2,325,000/. ;
37,505 shares, 20/. each, 750,1001.; 69,700 shares, 17/. each,
1,184,9001. Total, 8,160,0001. The broad gauge extension
lines from Plymouth to Falmouth and Penzance, have been
santioned by the Legislature, after a very protracted opposi-
tion, and the construction of them to the most westerly ports
in the Channel, must bring considerable traffic to this line.
The Birmingham and Oxford, and the Birmingham,Wolver-
hampton, and Dudley Companies have already determined,
and given orders to proceed with their works with the ut-
most dispatch, in order to have this second independent line
for a portion of the London traffic opened at the earliest mo-
ment. These important extensions, in addition to those
sanctioned in 1845, cannot fail to insure, in due time, to the
shareholders of this company, a valuable increase upon the
present rate of dividend. In the next session, it is proposed
to apply to Parliament for a short branch line to connect
Windsor with Slough, besides renewing applications for such
of the rail% ays already approved by the proprietors, as
may still seem to be required for public accommodation
with benefit to this company.
" C. RUSSELL, Chairman."