The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-17 00:00:00

secure sites for their meeting-houses was to devote their
private dwellinp.to that purpose.—(Hear, hear.) It
was related -of some particular man that he tried all
kinds of means to keep his horse alive, and
yet he could not do so till some one asked
whether he had tried corn.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.)
Now, they had heard. a good deal about the
Free Church congregations suffering from the cold,
snow, sleet, and rain; but how was it that no one had
ever advised them to hold their meetings in their own
d well ings ?—(Hear, bear.) Scotland must be reduced to
a sad state, indeed, if in this advanced period of cons:
tnercial and mercantile prosperity its people could not
get sites for their churches either for love or money;
but he doubted whether this could be so in a country
where money had always been considered so powerful.
He thought that the Bill had been rightly described
when it was said of it, that it would institute a system
of " religions tyranny." It would establish an entirely
new principle in religious matters. He should like,
therefore, to have time to consult his Dissenting friends
with respect to it. He regretted to be obliged to give
his vote against the Bill.
Mr. OSWALD explained the grounds on which he had
voted against the Bill in its last stage. He admitted that
those who could not get sites had a grievance, an impe-
rial grievance to complain of, and if the 13111 were modi-
fied, he should not unlikely support it. At any rate he
should move in Committee that the Bill be extended to
Great Britain and Ireland.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. COWAN rose to support the Bill. He did not
think the House sympathised with the aspersions cast
upon the character and motives of Dr. Chalmers by the
Hon. Gentleman (Mr. B. Cochrane), for his was a name
revered throughout the world.—(Hear, hear.) He as-
sured the House that if the object of those who
supported the Bill could have been brought about by any
other means, the Bill would not have been introduced ;
and if it could be accomplished before the
third reading, he should be prepared to vote
against the further progress of the Bill.
It would be five years to-morrow since the move-
ment of the Free Church began, and though those who
supported its doctrines had done all in their power to
accomplish the purpose- for which the Bill was intro-
duced, they had not succeeded. It was a matter of
sincere regret that so largo a body of zealous Christians
should in many cases be compelled to worship their
maker in tents in the open fields.—(Hear, hear.) One
eminently gifted young minister had, in the neighbour-
hood of Cannobie,. fallen a victim, owing to the severe
nature of his duties. So zealous were the members of
the Free Church to promulgate their doctrines, that
1,313,966/. had been collected, and there were now
840 congregations, and 700 ministers, besides missions..
ries. Two hundred churches were erected before
the disruption. Ile hoped the Government would ac-
cede to a motion which he had upon the
subject.
Colonel LURE explained the paper on the
felt it his duty to
Mr. F. MAULS against the Bill.
grounds on which he
to bring in a regretted that they had been obliged
pulsory taking„measureo having for ita object the corn-
weighing
the
subject for
but after waiting and
found out no other for five years, he had
the m
Ipal
na
dine edd p
roof jmeeeatns of remedying the grievance
mind
srievance Which, in his opinion,
of the public mind. ought to take out of the category
felt by a small body It
of people, a grievance which was not
said, but ono which affeelt:re, as
Mr.
Cowan had
consisting of very nearly One a
.religious community
he had thought there was any chance
of persons. if
land-
lords to grant sites to the Free Ci.riiieues of persuading
not have been a party to bringing forward
people,
he would
but after waiting five years without sewe'ir
rd the measure,
pect he considered that some remedy for)gthauch a pros-
was necessary, and be trusted the Hour© e grievance
of the Bill. e would approve
Mr. HENLEY said the whole argument for the Bill
was founded upon special grievances alleged to have
been suffered by the Free Church, and thinking that it
was dangerous for the House to legislate upon such a
principle, he would give his decided opposition to it.
Mr. F. SCOTT objected to the principle of the Bill,
and regretted that it had been brought forward.
If there were 700 congregations who had obtained sites
for churches, and only seven who had not and had been
refused, he thought that the Bill ought not to apply to
the whole of Scotland.
The Bill was then ordered to be recommitted on the
7th June.
Mr. OSWALD gave notice that be should move that
the operation of the Bill be extended to the United
Kingdom.
JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES BILL.

The House then proceeded to the further considers•
,ion of the report on the Joint-Stock Companies Bill,
which, after some verbal amendments, was agreed to.
The Bill was ordered to be engrossed, and read a third
time on Friday.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of,
and she House adjourned at Six o'clock.

WATERFORD AND KILKENNY
RAIL NV AY.— (THIS DAY.)
The half-yearly general meeting of this society was
held to-day, at one o'clock, at the London Tavern ; Mr.
P. Butler, in the chair.

The advertisement convening the meeting having
been read, the Chairman called upon the Secretary to
read the report, the substance of which was, that, since
the last Ineetin, it had become necessary to push the
works between 'Kilkenny and Thomastown to a conclu
with a view to opening the line between those '
places. The directors had the satisfaction of announc-
ing to the meeting, that the several stations being
finished, and the woi ks in other respects completed, the
railway between Kilkenny and Thornasrown was in-
spected by the officer appointed by the Ra,llway
missioners on the 6th instant; and tinnily openro to the)
public on the 11th instant, in the presence of a majority!
of the hoard.
The engineer's report stated that since the latter part
of last year the works had been advancing as speedily
as the funds admitted. The works from Lyratlr junc•
non to Thomastown station had been carried to com-1
pletion so far as to be ready for public traffic; and the:
Government inspector having inspected all the works
has expressed himself in satisfactory terms as to their'
condition. The ballast trains which have been running

singe the Ist inst. between Kilkenny and Thomastowl;
have shown that the permanent way is perfectly
steady. The engines and carriages are all at Kil,
kenny, and probably at present sufficient in number
for the immediate traffic on opening the line. The
estimates made of the works on the deviation lines,
for which the Bill is now before Parliament, show tbai
a saving of more than 20,0001. will be made on them, 4
compared with carrying out the works originally del.
signed, while, at the same time, the gradients and gener4
course of the line is improved for the public. The delay
of the South-Eastern Company in completing their 144
from Carlow to Kilkenny will prevent a junction for al
Dublin traffic for some months to come; and if, durin
that pesiod, they should be able to carry on tht
works, so as to open, for five miles further, to the v 4
lage of Knock william, which lies upon the main road tip
\V aterford, and only fifteen miles from that city, they'
would, when joined by the Carlow line, be in a positiop
to receive on this railway at least as much traffic. per
mile as that which has been experienced upon the Gre4t
Southern and Western Railway.
The cash account showed the receipts, from calls and
other sources, to amount to 221,1801. lls. Bd., while the
expenditure was 213,571/. 6s. 4d.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
said that he was happy to congratulate the proprietary
on the cessation of the opposition which had hitherto
been ofThred in Parliament to their branch and deviation
lines; so that, as money was now a very different matter
to what it was two years ago, this NI as a cause f
peculiar congratulation, both to the directors and t e
other shareholders. The line to Thomastuwn, s
stated in the report, was already completed, and
from personal experience he could say, that although
he had travelled on almost every line in England,
Scotland, and Ireland, he had never traversed one
in which there was a more equable motion than tin
that from Kilkenny to Thomastown, and such was his
opinion of its safety, that on the very first trip he had
not only gone himself, but had also taken his wile and
his children. After naming the three gentlemei
who retired from the directory, the Chairman pro
ceeded to say that, not only had they redu ei
1 their expenses, but they were prepared sit
further to retrench, for he was aware that the shake
were at a discount, but from the measures which ha
already been:taken, he and his fellow-directors were Ott
impressed with the conviction that a very different prig
would soon be realised.
A SHAREHOLDER inquired what was the reason tlis
the expenses of engineering this halt-year was so moe
as 1,6641.?

Captain MoaßlsoN said, in reply, that he did not think
that 3,0001. was an excessive expenditure on a line
thirty-one miles long, especially if the shareholders
recollected that for-four months consecutively titers had
been nothing but rain.
Mr. Ms.asif expressed his dissatisfaction at the outlay.
He thought the expenditure injudicious, and that the
money matters had been badly managed. There was
also a sum of 9,000/. lent to the Cork Company at a
time when calls were being made.
G. ANDERSON, Esq., stated that the 9,0001. lent to
the Cork Company had since been repaid with interest.
Captain Moonsox stated that he had originally esti-
mated the cost of the line at 13,0001. per mile, and there
had been an outlay of as much as 166,0001. for the twelve
miles from Kilkenny to- Thomastown... It should be re-
membered that out of that sum 22,000/. had beennte.n-
prided for the station at Kilkenny, which was..n bad
the first instance contemplated, but which
as
already
been found necessary to construct, and it t
inwthe report
returning a rent. Then he had 21_
that the expense of laying down ttliiieasttlintteheeonfoirtswidaitffi,enrienotf
portions way as 8 to 5, that
is,
dsThoinastown would cost
the line between Kilkenny
the formation of eight
as much for five mile as would the
Waterford, so that the
miles between Thomastown
laying down the lines for the remaining nineteen miles
would not exceed the gross estimates.
To an inquiry of a shareholder,
Captain Cuenr replied that the payments due on the
unpaid calls was 11,000/., of which about 9,0001. would
be realised.
To another shareholder the SOLICITOR stated that
there had not yet been a single share forfeited, and that
it was optional with the directors either to forfeit the
unpaid shares or to sue for the payment. It was, how-
ever, necessary to leave the matter undecided, as it was
known that the non-payment of the calls reduced the
value of the property, and in one instance the proprietor
of shares in a foreign railway had actually forfeited his
shares in order to reduce their value, and had then actually
gone into the market and bought u much larger number
of shares than he had previously held.
After an explanation of the law expenses,
remarks on the prices of the shares, me. and some
Emery, Mr.
Hulse, and Mr. Smithwick
.were re-elected directors.
Mr. Bain, one of the auditors, Wa3 $l6O 1.6.611Gted.