The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-18 00:00:00

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 large a body of zealous Christians
should in many cases be compelled to worship their
Maker in tents in the open fields.—(Bear, 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 missiona-
ries. Two hundred churches were erected before
the disruption. Ile hoped the Government would ac-
cede to a motion which he had upon the paper on the
subject.
Colonel MURE explained the grounds on which he
felt it his duty to vote against the Bill.
Mr. F. MAULE regretted that they had been obliged
to bring in a measure having for its object the com-
pulsory taking of lands; but, after waiting and
weighing the subject for five years, he had
found out no other means of remedying the grievance
complained of—a grievance which, in his opinion,
the landed proprietors ought to take out of the category
of the public mind. It was a grievance which was not
felt by a small body of people, as Mr. Cowan had
said, but one which affected a religious community
consisting of very nearly one million of persons. If
he had thought there was any chance of persuading land-
lords to grant sites to the Free Church people, he would
not have been a party to bringing forward the measure,
but after waiting five years without seeing such a pros-
pect he considered that some remedy for the grievance
was necessary, and he trusted the House would approve
of the Bill.
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 he should move that
MtoPANthe
the operation of the Bill be extended to the United
Kingdom.
l'!'s',p)rCoclLdCeOd
considera-
tionlEfurSthßerilL
of the report on the Joint-Stock C
The JOINT-STOCK
Companies
which, after some verbal amendments, was agreed to.
time on Friday. engrossed, and read a third

The other Orders of the day were then disposed of,
and the House adjourned at Six o'clock.
WATERFORD AND KILKENNY

RAILWAY.
The half-yearly general meeting of this society was
held yesterday, at one o'clock, at the London Tavern; Mr.
P. Butler, M.P., 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 meeting, it had become necessary to push the
works between Kilkenny and Thomastown to a conclu-
sion, 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 works in other respects completed, the
railway between Kilkenny and Thomastown was in-
spected by the officer appointed by the Railway Com-
missioners on the 6th instant, and finally opened to the
public on the 11th instant, in the presence of a majority
of the board.
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 Lyrath junc-
tion to Thomastown station had been carried to com-
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 Thomastown,
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 tbat
a saving of more than 20,000/. will be made on them, as
compared with carrying out the works originally de-
signed, while, at the same time, the gradients and general
course of the line is improved for the public. The delay
of the South-Eastern Company in completing their line
from Carlow to Kilkenny will prevent a junction fur the
Dublin traffic for some months to come; and if, during
that period, they should be able to carry on the
works, so as to open, for five miles further, to the vil-
lage of Knock william, which lies upon the main road to
Waterford, and only fifteen miles from that city, they
would, when joined by the Carlow line, be in a position
to receive on this railway at least as much traffic per
mile as that which has been experienced upon the Great
' Southern and Western Railway.
The cash account showed the receipts, from calls and
other sources, to amount to 221,1801. I Is. ad., 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 offered 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 was a cause of
peculiar congratulation, both to the directors and the
other shareholders. "j The kne to Thomastown, as
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 on
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 wife and
his children. After naming the three gentlemen
who retired from the directory, the Chairman pro-
ceeded to say that, not only had they reduced
their expenses, but they were prepared still
further to retrench, for he was aware that the shares
were at a discount, but from the measures which had
al ready been taken, he and his fellow -directors were quite
impressed with the conviction that a very different price
would soon be realised.

A SHAREHOLDER inquired what was the reason that
the expenses of engineering this half-year was so much
as 1,6641.?

Captain Mooasom 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 there had
been nothing but rain.

- Mr. MARSH 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 9,0001. 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 Moonsoht 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 166,0004 for the twelve
miles from Kilkenny to Thomastown. It should be re-
membered that out of that sum 22,0001. had been ex-
pended for the station at Kilkenny, which was not in
the first instance contemplated, but which it had
been found necessary to construct, and it was already
returning a rent. Then he had stated in the report
that the expense of laying down the line on its different
portions was as 8 to 5, that is, that the formation of
the line between Kilkenny and Thomastown would cost
as much for five mile as would the formation of eight
miles between Thomastown and Waterford, so that the
laying down the lines for the remaining nineteen miles
would not exceed the gross estimates.
To an inquiry of a shareholder,
Captain CURRY replied that the payments due on the
unpaid calls was 11,0001., 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 proer 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 ranch larger number
of shares than he had previously held.
After an explanation of the law expenses, and some
remarks on the prices of
the shares, Mr. Emery, Mr.
Hulse, and Mr. Smithwick were re-elected directors.
Mr. Bain, one of the auditors, was also re-elected.
The
s e report
fhaving been adopted, the meeting was
madpecial or approying the Bill for the branch now
before Parlian:ient,
meeting was dissolvedwhich having been confirmed, the

THE ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT
circumstances of the frightful accident occurred
The
at the Shrivenham station on Wednesday, to the
train, which left Bristol at two o'clock for LonWe ,asss
we learnt them on the line immediately after the
melancholy occurrence, were these:—The train was
a few minutes after time, and the porter at the station,
who had been away at dinner, concluded, on his return
that it had passed, and brought a horse-box and truck
near to, if not on to, the rails, ready for the down train.
The express train came on at $ rate of fifty miles
an hour, telegraphed, if we understood rightly,
that all was clear. A collision was, of course,
the result; the horse-box was swung round, and the
carriage next the tender was dashed to pieces, killing
four, if not more, and maiming all the other passen-
gers, with the exception of one of the company's ser-
vants, who happened to be seated in a corner, and
marvellously escaped. The writer of this notice was
hastening over Bristol-bridge to proceed to town by
this train, and was stayed
.against his will through a
fire in the extensive warehouses of the Messrs. King,
the well-known Bristol merchants, by which they were
entirely destroyed. With some repining he took his
seat in the train which went immediately after;
and his feelings when he reached the scene of the
disaster need not be described,—they shake him even at
this moment, though thankfulness is predominant. If
our readers, when matters appear to go crossly, chance
to remember this occurrence, they may perhaps feel
better able to say, " Everything is for the best ;" and
pursue their way, if it be a right one, with renewed
vigour and an assured heart. —Builder
of the gentlemen connected withCITY SEWERS COMUISSION the Ta.ubeosvdeaycoammmeiestsiinogn
was held at the Guildhall, Mr.. Deputy Peacock in the
ter, no points nose during thebeing
sitting at all interesting