The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-03 00:00:00

dieted for perjury ; and yet such a person was the confi-
dential friend of the Arch-Commissioner. He asked if there
was no Member of the -Committee of the House of Com-
mons who would move that Mr. Lewis be called to the
bar of the House of Commons, in order that he might
receive condign punishment, for having deli‘ erately pre-
pared the evidence in order to deceive t( .e House of
Commons, and that if it was overlooked the proceedings
of the Committees of the House would become
a farce. He (Sir Frederick Thesiger) thought it unne-
cessary to read any other document. Mr. Ferrand had
admitted writing the letter. He had the affidavit of Mr.
Lewis and the affidavit of Sir James Graham,
denying the truth of those parts of the letters
which were directed against them, and both positively
denied that any instructions whatever were given to Mr.
Mott for the purpose of obtaining a partial report for
any purpose whatever. It was positively denied by them
that when the motion of Mr. Ferrand was before the
House, on the 26th of May,that the report of Mr. Mott had
been communicated to Sir James Graham, and they, in
the most positive and direct manner, stated that the state-
ments with respect to the verdict were utterly unfounded.
Mr. Lewis, knowing that the charges were false, and
that they were likely to injure his character, and render
it impossible for him, while they remained unexplained
and uncontradicted, to pursue his duties, he had felt it
his duty to apply to the Court for a criminal information.
Lord DENNAN—Take an order to show cause.

sonal property cannot be effected with greater facility
or in less compass than mortgages of real estate; on the 1
contrary, the assurances requisite for the purpose
(making allowance for the different characters of the
property) are in both cases precisely the same, with this
exception—that in mortgages of personal estate greater
care and skill are requisite to guard against an execution
creditor and the effects of bankruptcy and insolvency, so
far as these effects-are capable of being provided against.
As to settlements of personal property,they are frequently
as lengthy as corresponding settlements of real estates,
as any counsel, solicitor, or law stationer or if needs be,
Mr. Stewart's own book of precedents will testify. So
much, therefore, for the doctrine of assimilation contended
for by Mr. Stewart. As to the expeditiousness (if I may
be allowed the term), which Mr. Stewart suggests as
requisite to the assurances of real property, it may be
sufficient to remark that the operation of such assurances
is at present instantaneous ; so far as respects greater
expedition in the preparation and execution of them,
this, it is obvious, must be a matter wholly out of the
range of legislative provision.
With respect to the fourth of Mr. Stewart's sugges-
tions, namely, "A greater certainty as to time in com-
pleting the sale and mortgage of land," it may be
sufficient to apprise the agriculturista, and others
interested in land, that they are already in a position to
effect this object for themselves, without the aid of the
Legislature, by simply making time of the essence of
the contract. The following extract from the first
volume of "Bythewood's Conveyancing," by Parken and
Stewart, p. 79, will probably be deemed a sufficient au-
thority for this statement :—"A provision may be
inserted in agreements making time of the essence of the
contract, in case the purchase money be not paid at the
time appointed ; but, of course, clauses making agree-
ments void, if a title bo not made, or the purchase money
paid by a certain time, should never be inserted unless it
be the express intention of the parties ;" and the follow-
ing note by the editor(!):—" It was at one time doubted
whether time could be made of the essence of the con-
tract, but it has lately been decided that it may."
The sth and last "
that some mode of Mshould be r. Stewart's suggestions, namely
adopted for shortening in-
qeiry as to title," involves most serious considerations ;
inasmuch as the only apparent mode by which this ob-
ject can be obtained, is that of shortening the duration of
human life, in relation to which the rule as to length of
title had its origin. It is submitted, that as long as the
days of man are three score years and ten, and life es-
tates are permitted, so long will a deduction of a sixty
years' title be essential to a purchaser's protection ; for.
otherwise, if we suppose a case of not unusual occur-
rence (namely), that of a tenant for life, assuming the
absolute ownership, and making a conveyance in fee,
under which possession is enjoyed for the period which
Mr. Stewart would establish as the maximum of title
which a purchaser could require, we should have this
anomalous state of things—either the purchaser must be
protected, and the parties entitled in remainder defeated
by the illegal Act of the tenant for life, against which
they could not have guarded ; or else such persons in re-
inainder must be allowed to recover the estate as against
the purchaser, whom a court of equity may have com-
pelled to accept the title ; which would be equally
unjust.
I have now carefully gone through the five remedies
proposed by Mr. Stewart, and have, I trust, satisfacto-
rily shown, that out of these five remedies four are either
useless or impracticable ; and that the fifth, namely, the
conversion of copyhold and customary estates into free-
hold, may be deemed to have been delayed or frustrated,
principally through the introduction, by Mr. Stewart
himself, of a clum'sy and inefficient measure for the
purpose.
Before concluding it may be proper to remark, that
there is one point in which Mr. Stewart and I cordially
agree, namely, that the future revision of the law should
he entrusted to competent and unprejudiced persons, ap-
pointed by the Government.
Owiag to some of the profligate measures of the last
few sessions, the law of real property is at present in a
highly unsatisfactory state. It is, in fact, utterly impos-
sible at present to complete a purchase of real estate with
a certainty that the purchaser may not be evicted by
claims against which no skill or foresight of his profes-
sional adviser can protect him. 'What folly, then, to be
nigling about a few shillings in the cost of trans-
fer, when the safety of the whole inheritance is at stake!
The present is a crisis which demands all the talent and
experience the profession can supply, to protect us from
the inextricableeconf usion with which we are threatened.
That there are men of character and experience in the
' profession competent to act in the emergency we know—
men of undoubted ability, whose past exertions in sim-
plifying and improving the law have never been con
trolled by partiality or prejudice for institutions w:tich
they were the means of abolishing, and whose position
places them out of the reach of selfish or interested
motives. It is to such men as these, then, that the task
of revision should be committed; and I feel assured that
the landed proprietors will much better consult their
true interests by bringing about this result than by giv-
ing further countenance or encouragement to the sense-
les. extravagancice recommended for their consideration
by Mr. Stewart.

MR. STEWART AND -THE-LAW
OF REAL PROPERTY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—A regard for the credit of the profession of
which I am a member, has induced me to trouble you
with a few remarks on a letter published in your journal
a few day ago, on the subject of the law of real pro-
perty, and addressed by Mr. Stewart, the conveyancer,
to members of agricultural societies, and others inter-
ested in land.
There can be but one opinion entertained of this pro-
duction by any person conversant at all with the subject
on which it treats ; and, accordingly, I should have
spared myself the trouble of making any observations
on the matter, had not your own comments on this letter
given it a publicity and importance which I trust further
consideration will induce you to think unmerited.
You preface your remarks by a statement, that Mr.
Stewart's well-known character and reputation as a
lawyer might afford some guarantee that his senti-
ments had been well digested and considered. Now,
it is by no means an enviable task for one profes-
sional man to have to criticise the character and re-
putation of another ; but I think I am fairly justi-
fied in doubting whether Mr. Stewart's character and
reputation, amongst the profession, are calculated to
enhance his qualifications, either as a censor or reformer
of the laws of real property. So far as lam at present
informed, the public acts with which Mr. Stewart's
name is directly associated, are that of the 4th Victoria,
c. 21,-a somewhat clumsy provision for dispensing with a
lease for a year, which the more sensible measure of last
session, by Mr. Kerr, has superseded ; and the Act for
the Enfranchisement of Copyholds, notoriously one of the
most remarkable instances of legislative impotency and
bad drafting on record.* Mr. Stewart is also the author
of a kind of hash of " Blackstone's Commentaries,"
strongly recommended by some persons for the use of
students, and has also contributed, jointly with Mr.
Parken, to an edition of " Bythewood's Practice of
Conveyancing. A comparison of the difference be-
tween the price and circulation of this edition 'and
the more able one by Mr. Jarman, will show
the estimation in which the respectivp editors are
held by the profession. What part Mr. Stewart may
have taken in some of the disreputable measures of the last
few sessions I know not; but from certain expressions
in his letter, I collect that the most mischievous of these
measures has, at all events, received his sanction and
approbation. But to the letter in question, for upon
this must Mr. Stewart's character and reputation for the
present rest.
After commencing his address to members of agricul-
tural societies and others interested in land, by informing
them that " if they are wise they will know nothing" of
the subject which he proposes to discuss, Mr. Stewart
proceeds to a comparison of the value of land in England
as compared with that on the Continent, from which he
arrives at this conclusion :—That, inasmuch as the value
of land in France, Belgium, and Prussia exceeds that of
land in England, such difference is not unreasonably to
be attributed, in part at least, to the difference in the law
regulating the transfer. Now, the utmost extent to
which the expense of transfer could, in ordinary prin-
ciples of reasoning, influence the difference in value,
would be the excess of the expense of transfer in Eng-
land over that on the continent ; but Mr. Stewart has
himself satisfactorily shown, that owing:to the increased
stamp duty payable on the continent, the difference of
such expense can he but trifling, and wholly inadequate
to account for any substantial disparity in value, sup-
posing such disparity to exist. If Mr. Stewart be desi-
rous of pushing his researches into this matter further,
he will probably discover that the difference in question
is attributable principally, if not wholly, to the superior
a.lvantages which England possesses for the application
of capital in commerce and speculation. It would not
ise sufficient, however, for Mr. Stewart's argument to
establish that the additional expense of transfer occa-
s;oned a difference in land ; but he must maintain this
turther proposition, that such increased expense of trans-
fer constitutes a serious impediment to the free aliens-
:ion of land in this country. Now, after the pains he
took to institute a comparison between the disposition of
land in England and on the continent, it might have
b ei, expected that he would have been prepared with
some evidence of alienation being more frequent on the
continent than in England, in order to have made good
his position that the excess of the expense of transfer ie
England was the cause of the limited alienation in the
country as compared with the continent ; but he has of
(bleed no such evidence,
_and therefore it is a :-
ference, iu the abseiled of- some proof to the contrary
that, with respect to such portion of the real property
of this country as is not rendered inalienable by set-
tlement, alienation is as frequent as on the con-
tinent. To attribute any practical influence' to the in•
significant amount of difference in the expense of trans-
fer would be ab-urd. Will Mr. Stewart venture •to as-
sert, 'that a ,party was ever deterred from purchasing an
estate he bad set his mind upon by any consideration of
the expense of conveyance ? It mght be possible, in-
deed, to find one of that class of persons whom your
commissioner 'styles " hard-fisted," who might growl at
the costs, or beat down his attorney into an abatement
of the ordinary scale of charges ; but there are few, I
apprehend, who would allow such considerations to defeat
an intended purchase, or even to form an estimate in their
computation of value. The true cause of the frequency
of alienation in this country, it is submitted, are—lst,
The practice of locking u? estates in settlement, which
applies to most of the large estates in the kingdom; and,
2dly, The strong disinclination which exists on the part
of landowners in general to part with an acre of their
inheritance. It is a well-known fact, that a man will
encumber his estate to the last farthing of its value, anal
annually starve upon it before he will permit a partici,
of it to go into the market. It must be admitted, then,
that there is no foundation whatever for the position as-
sumed by Mr. Stewart, that the costs of conveyance
practically either retard or prohibit the free sale and dis-
position of land in this country. It still remains, how-
ever, to consider, first, how far the grievances of which
Mr. Stewart complains really have any existence ; and,
secondly, how far the remedies suggested by him are
calculated to be of service in removing them. The re-
medies suggested are five,- namely :-
1. Simplicity and-uniformity of tenure.
2. Easy, cheap, and expeditious modes of transfer.
3. Shorter and more simple deeds.
4. A greater certainty as to time in completing the
sale and iortgage of land ; and,
5. Some mode of shortening inquiry as to title.
Now, as regards simplicity of tenure, it is scarcely
Necessary to remark, that with the exception of copy-
holds and customary freeholds, and, perhaps, some few
cases of grand sergeantry, the tenure of lands, in this
country, is as simple as it can possibly be made. If Mr.
Stewart imagines that he can add anything to the sim-
plicity of free and common socage tenure, he ought in
fairness to have given some intimation of it. In the ab-
sence of some enlightenment on the subject, it is utterly
impossible to divine what he can mean. But Mr.
Stewart's powers of imagination seem, in many in-
stances, to have got the superiority over his reason. He
tells us, in a former part of his letter, "that the spectre
of feudality still haunts the land, clanking its chains,
and rising at the most unforeseen moment to scare the
lawful owner from doing what ho will with his own."
Now, rhapsodical nonsense such as this is scarcel'
the language a man of " character and reputation'
would indulge in on a serious matter-of-fact subject.
The truth of the matter, however, is, that there are no
feudal remains which in the slightest degree interfere
with the full and free dominion over freehold estates in
this country. The spectre in question is therefore only
a " bodiless creation ' of Mr. Stewart's own, conjured
up to answer the part of a scarecrow for the occasion.
As to the uniformity of tenure, by the conversion of
copyhold and customary estates into free and common
socage, it is well known that this has long been a desi-
deratum, and would dobtless ere this have been accom-
plished by efficient measures, prepared under the su-
perintendence of experienced and competent parsons,
had not Mr. Stewart himself foisted on the public an
enactment for the purpose which has been wholly un-
productive of any practical good. This may enable us
to account for Mr. Stewart's recommendation, that the
preparation of the necessary measures of reform should
be entrusted to able and competent persons to be ap-
pointed by the Government.
The second and third remedies suggested by Mr.
Stewart, are easy, cheap and expeditous modes of trans-
fer, and short and more simple deeds. So far as these
terms comprehend the ordinary assurances for transfers-
ring property, every one is well aware that, owing to the
exertions of the profession, without taking into consider
ration the questionable measures of last session but one,
these assurances have obtained a degree of conciseness
which excludes the possibility or advantage of any
further reduction. When a conveyance of land, ex-
clusive of the parcels, can be prepared in a form as short
as that of a transfer of stock, so that the Legislature
has thought it needful to provide remuneration for the
party preparing it, additional to what the length of the
transfer would have entitled them, it becomes impossible
to see what just ground of complaint can exist on this
head. It is true that in many cases the conveyances of
real property extend to a great length ; but this, it is
well known, is owing not to the operation of the instru-
ment of transfer, but to the complication of interests in-
volved in the transaction. As long as the present prac-
tice prevails, of subjecting property to limitations in
strict settlement, with all the powers and charges inci-
dent to this species• of disposition. so long must The
ultimate discharge of the property from these interests
necessarily be complicated, and the assurance by which
it is effected proportionably lengthy. But it is obvious
that the Legislature can afford no remedy for such a state
of things, unless by imposing a restraint on the powers
of disposition, which Mr. Stewart's friends, the agricul-
turists, would probably be the first to reject. If landed
proprietors would be satisfied with a simple owner-
ship in fee, the transfer of land might be effected as
simply, and.perhaps more conveniently, than a transfer
of stock ; but if they are determined to adopt a more
preservative policy, they must submit to entail on them-
selves and their posterity the necessary consequences of
such a course. It will be apparent, from what has been
said, that as the inordinate length to which conveyances
of real estate are sometimes extended, is occasioned -not
by the specific effect of the form of transfer, but by the
number and intricacy of the interests involved, the same
result may be applicable to dealings with personal estates.
We find, therefore, that in (lisp tsitions of personal estate,
where varied or partial interests are created or dealt
with, there is precisely the same nee ssity for lengthy
andintricate assurances as in cases of real estate.
On this subject Mr. Stewart has displayed most
lamentable ignorance. His language is as follows :
" Intricate and difficult questions will no doubt arise
in civilised states ; but the familiar transactions, the sale
and the mortgage, should be easily understood and easily
performed. We know they are so in personalty, in
produce' in stock in the funds." Now, any professional
person will bear me out in the assertion (which is abun-
dantly evidenced by a reference to Mr. Stewart's own
published volume of precedents) that mortgages of per..

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Nov. 2
COX V. DREW.-DERBY RACE-COIIRBE.

Mr. Sergeant CLARK moved fora rule to set aside a
verdict granted in this case, which was tried at the last
Derbyassizes before Mr. Justice Patteson and a special jury,
and to enter a verdict for the defendant on certain issues
preferred at the time, which stated that the property in
question had been used from time immemorial by the
corporation of Derby for the benefit of the inha-
bitants. The plaintiff denied that the property was
so situated, but that the corporation had only, been
allowed, for a limited period, the privilege of using
the ground for the purpose of the races, and had
no right to the exclusive employment of it. The
Learned Gentleman went at some length into the
history of the case, from which it appeared that ever
since the year 1799 races had been run over the course,
the ground being set apart from the 16th of January to
the 16th of July, while during the rest of the year
cattle were turned into it. Recently the right of the
corporation to the use of the property in the manner
named had been opposed by certain parties, who had
religious objections to the running of races, and the ac-
tion had been brought through the person who was
stated to be the real proprietor, in order to stop the
races. After a long trial a verdict had been given for
the defendant, but leave was given to move in the supe-
rior court for leave to enter a verdict for the defendant,
on the plea that the corporation had established the
right to the use of the property for the purpose named,
from the long time the races had been permitted, and
therefore that the plaintiff had no right to exclude the
inhabitants or the corporation in the mode attempted.—

Rule nisi granted.
NEW QUEEN'S COUNSEL. - Messrs. Walpole, Hum-
phrey, Bacon, and Bolt, all of the Chancery bar, were
severally called within the bar as Queen's Counsel. Mr.
Sergeant Murphy and Mr. Sergeant Byles were also
called, having had patents of precedence conferred on
them.

THE QUEEN ON THF: PROSECUTION OF BRIAN v,

EDISWORTEL

The defendant in this case, who had been guilty o
contempt of court for the non-fulfilment 'of af
award made by the Court in this action, callin
on him to deliver up certain wine warrants, came
to -day in . an enlarged rule, granted last
since which which he has been out on bail. The defenda,
put in a number of affilavits, which were read at length
by the clerk, praying to be discharged by the Court, on
the ground that the alleged contempt of court had arisen

;erm

'rum. the fact that, in the interim between making

lard and its ex,eation the defendant had boil
bankrupt, and his assignees had se:zel en the wir

wirranis:so as to render the completion of the away
impossible.

BAIL COURT, Nov. 2.
(Sittings in Banco.)
At half past one Mr. Justice Putt-son took his sea
the bench, and several applications were heard, but z
of them posicsJed Lny f.attre of public interest.

it in.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
NSION-HOUSE.
A well dre(sed young man, who stated that his nam
V 2•3 Alfred Simp.gon, was brought b'-fore the Lord Mayo
apoa the charge of having attempted to pick the peke
of the Rev. Mr. Bird, of Chad well, in Essex.
The complainant said, about four o'clock on Satur
day, as I was going along the platform of the Black
will Railway, through the door-way, I felt my pocket
anti, on looking round, I saw my coat-pocket
pulleh out, and the prisoner withdrawing hi; hand, my
lrn halog at the same time in the act of failing down
into my pocket. I accused the prisoner of attempting
co rola me, which he- denied, and he passed on to a rail-
way carriage, into which I followed him. I there re
newel my accusation, and he again denied the truth of
it, and I asked him whether he could satisfy me with a
respectable reference or address. After some hesi-
tation, he said that his name was Alfred Simpson, cf
Newingter. I (lid not think that a satisfactory reference.
but he would give no other, and, upon arriving at Black-
wail, I gave him into time custorly of an officer.
Mr. nob;nson, solicitor for the prisoner—Did you see
your purse in hid hand? Witness—No. I said nothing
of the kind. I saw him withdraw his hand from to)
p,,cket, and I felt my purse fall into my pocket.
Mr. Robinson—And you would probably have let him
go if he had given you a respectable reference? Wit
Mess—Probably that would have been the case, for, iron
the respectability of his appearance, nobody would have
suipased him capable of such an act.
Mr. Robinson—Why did you not give him into cus-
tody on the platform of the London terminus ? Wit-
nessCL--tecause there was no policeman.
It will be recollected that it was near this spot that
the present Lord Mayor was robbed of his watch and
-.eels, on returning from Blackwall, and that at that time
a heavy charge was brought that not one policeman was
employed there for the protection of the pubiic.
The LORD MAYOR—I suppose, prisoner, you can pro-
duce some respectable friends?
Mr. Robinson—l beg your Lordship's pardon, but he
is not hound to do anything of the kind. It has not
been know that he is a suspected person, or that he
went there with intent to commit a felony.
The LORD Ma-vost-Then I am not to ask him
whether he can give a respectable reference ? Mr.
Robinson—No, my Lord. There is no proof that he
was there to commit a robbery.
The LORD MAYOR—Why the prisoner's hand was in
the man's pocket.
Mr. Robinson—That's nothing.—(A laugh.) Mr.
Goodman knows that.
Mr. Goodman, (the chief clerk)—That's quite enough
to make a person suspected.
The LORD MAYOR—I wish to know where the pri-
soner is to found ?
Mr. Robinson—That's a question which your Lord-
ship may ask when he comes before you again.—(A
laugh.) He is not bound to say under the present cir-
cumstances.
Mr. Goodman—Perhaps the Lord Mayor would think
proper to make the experiment, by committing the pri-
soner to Newgate, whether he is not liable to imprison.
ment for two years for the attempt to commit a felony.
Mr. Robinson—l never knew that.—(Laughter.)
Mr. Goodman—A man was committed from this ins-
tce-room last session under similar circumstances, and
he was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for
twelve months. I happen to know several instances of
the sort.
The LORD MAYOR—WeII, I shall either remand him
till to-morrow, that he may give a respectable reference,
or I shall send him to prison for fourteen days. Which
does he prefer ?
Mr. Robinson—He prefers the latter, my Lord.—
(Great laughter.)
The prisoner was then committed for fourteen days.
A yoUng man named George Beckett, was charged with
having given to Mr. C. Day, at Newmarket, about three
weeks ago, a bank-note for 10/., which had been stolen
There had been a bet between them, and the prisoner did
not deny subsequently that he had paid that identical
note to the complainant, but declared that he knew not
from whom he bad taken it. The prisoner assured the
complainant that he would assist in tracing tha note, and
observed that the complainant ought to have passed it off.
The complainant did not know how many bets he had
made at Newmarket.
The LORD MAYOR discharged the case.
TUE FREE HOSPITAL.---Mr. W. Puncher and H. H.
Sugg, churchwardens of St. Margaret's Westminster,
waited upon the Lord Mayor, and stated, that having
seen in the Times newspaper of Saturday a statement
made by some gentleman who applied at the Mansion-
heuse relative to the Free Hospital, they were desirous
to have an explanation of the affair made before his
Lordship. It had been mentioned in the Times, that
one of the applicants observed to the Lord Mayor, that
two poor persons from the workhouse at Westminster
had been refused admission into the Free Hospital, in
consequence of his Lordship's opinion that the poor
should not be sent from such places to that institution.
Now, they, (the churchwardens of St. Margaret's,
Westminster), had called together all the officers of the
workhouse of St. Margaret's, and questioned them strictly
upon the subject, and the result of the inquiry was, the
positive denial that any poor person had been sent to the
Free Hospital from that workhouse.
The LORD MAYOR said, he had expressed to the gen-
tlemen who had waited upon him on the- subjec', his sur-
prise at such a statement, an l his• intention to call a
hard and make inquiry into tit* matter. He was glad
that the prompt atntion of the churchwardens rendere
arty further proceeding t-nnec ,scary.

AN OMNIBUS MtsnaP.—Thursday morning, an
oontibu4, newly painted, was on its road to the owners
at Peckham, the vehicle being drawn by a single horse.
Whilst the animal was crossing the Surrey Canal-bridge,
at the bottom of George street, Albany-road, Camber
well, it missed its footing, and the weight of the omnibus
being too much fur the horse to stand against, it. slipped
1 04,11 the incline of the hrid4e, and, on getting to the
butt on, and slowing suddenly round the towing path,
backed over the bank, and fel! into the canal. The horse
instantly became suspended to the pole, where he ro-
inained kicking and plunging for some time. Fortunately
the driver succeeded in jumping off the box before
the
vehicle got into the water. The police and other parties
having gone to the man's assistance, the horse was re-
leased, and the vehicle was drawn out of the canal.
CHURCH EXTENSION IN THE PROVINCES.—The
eN,o:n.,,r tiri,iiutf,n
,lt!cßiailwav Company have presented the handsome
of 3,030/. towards the erection of the Thorpe
Dllscpanteewheeshwucr,reell,rNecoerifvoealk.
yesterday at the Colonial.
ogee fr.ra the Governors of Now Zealand Nev South
Wales, Van Diemen's Laud, Malta, and Gibraltar.

a 11-port- assigns the authorship of this Act to ➢lr.
Stewart, but if he is not responsible for it I shall have plea-
sure in withdrawing my observations upLn lit so far a.I tliey
may affect him personally.

THE SUN,
_LONDON, TITESIiAY EVENING, NOVEIVIBER 3, 1846.

signature of their names, the sentiments which you in-
vite them to record. Your past success, in eliciting the
latent genius of the men of your generation, gives an
earnest of your capacity for this noble function. Ad-
vance, then, in the same course ; combine and concen-
trate the energies of minds of varied character ; direct
and regulate the patriotic enthusiasm which you have
kindled ; encourage self. reliance and the manly virtues
which individual responsibility calls forth, by securing
fame and national gratitude to every man who can pro-
mulgate a thought calculated to ennoble his race or to
elevate their destiny.
" Need I advert to the multiplicity of subjects the
illustration of which may be made instrumental in in
spiring a spirit of nationality? What branch of human
knowledge is not capable of being rendered subservient
to the aims of patriotism? The history and antiquities
of Ireland, its legislation and jurisprudence; its ex-
ternal policy and internal administration, its resources,
military, commercial, and agricultural; its mines, its
fisheries, its manufacturing capabilities; the advance-
ment of our people in abstract practical science; the
cultivation of the fine arts whatever bestows true
dignity upon individuals, whatever contributes grace
and accomplishments to society, whatever confers hap-
piness and strength and honour upon nations; such are
the studies to which it ought to be your pride to allure
the men who are entrusted with the future destiny of
Ireland.

" May I take the liberty of adding that enough has
been said in vindication of the motives and conduct of
the party with whom you act. The time has arrived
when the two sections into which the Repeal force is now
unhappily divided ought to abandon mutual recrimina-
tion, and to vie with each other in fidelity to Ireland and
in devotion to her interests.

" I remain, very faithfully, yours,
" WILLIAM S. O'BRIEN.
" Charles Gavan Duffy, Esq."

RAIL WA Y INTELLIGENCE.

NORTH BRITISH.
EDINBURGH, SATurtretx.—Yesterday a special general
meeting of the proprietors was held here in the saloon
of Gibbs's Royal. Hotel, to determine whether the com-
pany should proceed with the Bill for the formation of
the Edinburgh and Perth line.
Mr. Joust LEARMONTEI, of Dean, chairman of the
company, presided, and stated the views of the directors
regarding their present position, observing that the di-
rectors have felt that they were placed in circumstances
of very considerable difficulty in regard to the Edin-
burgh and Perth line. They have ascertained beyond
all question that there is a very considerable body of the
shareholders of the North British Company strongly op-
posed to that line. They have also ascertained within
these few days the notorious fact that the opposition
which will be given to that line in Parliament has been
greatly strengthened by the additional strength which
has been imparted to the Scottish Central Railway by
their association with that powerful body reaching from
London to Perth. There also occurred to their con-
sideration various legal difficulties ; and, influenced by
these various views, they have come to a resolution
which I must now state to you, namely, that under
these altered circumstances, they deem it inexpedient
to continue their support to the Edinburgh and Perth
line.—(Great applause.) I can assure you that my own
views, at least, of the value of that line to this company
are unchanged. I wish that that line had been made.
We have a strong interest in it ; for I am persuaded that
neither this nor any other company ought to be confined
within its own strict limits ; but I cannot give my own
judgment that weight so as to induce me to go on with
what I believe to be almost impracticable. I believe it
to be difficult, and very difficult indeed, for the Edin-
burgh and Perth Company to obtain their Act in the
face of the opposition which I have stated to you ; and I
believe still more if ere go to Parliament for a Bill to
enable us to amalgamate with that company, opposed as
we certainly are by a very important section of the
North British Company, although a minority—for I
am prepared to tell you that section is in a minority—it
will be impossible for us to obtain from Parliament the
power to amalgamate with the Edinburgh and Perth. In
this attempt we will unquestionably have the opposition
of a considerable body of our own shareholders to con-
tend with, backed by other and foßign interests.—
(Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances, and looking
to the variety of legal difficulties that will arise from
various quarters, as I have now stated to you, it is the
desire of the directors not to vote for going on with the
Edinburgh and Perth scheme so far as they are concerned.
Of course we have no right to dictate to that company;
but so far as your interests are concerned, if it is your
pleasure to concur in the views I hare now stated, the
directors of the North British Company will take those
measures which present themselves, and of which they
will make the best use, to withdraw their support from
that company.—(Applause.)
Mr. WOTHERSPOON, of Liverpool, intimated his con-
tinued and determined opposition to the Edinburgh and
Perth. They would be opposed by the London and
North Western Company, and the whole of the lines
now incorporated with that line, extending from London
to Carlisle. They would likewise have the opposition
of the Caledonian, the Scottish Central, and the Edin-
burgh and Northern Companies to contend against; and
last, but not least, the opposition of a powerful and
determined body of their own shareholders, who would
not suffer snch a scheme to be carried out in Parlia-
ment.—(Applause.) lie concluded by moving to the
effect that the thanks of the meeting be given to the
chairman and directors of the company for the gracious
manner in which they had acceded to the expressed
wishes of a large body of the shareholders in with-
drawing their support from the Edinburgh and Perth
Company; and that they be instructed to take the most
prompt and effectual means to realise the scrip of the
Edinburgh and Perth • Company, and that they charge
any loss arising therefrom in the accounts for the cur-
rent half-year.
Captain RICE, of York, seconded this.
Mr. SPENCE, a. representative, from Birmingham, sup-
porting.
Mr. DEAS, advocate, opposed. The question was
simply this—the directors first spent 90,000 Z in buying
a railway, and then some demur having arisen about the
purchase, the directors agreed to reconsider the matter.
This they had accordingly done, and after giving to it
the fullest consideration, they had issued a report to the
shareholders, recommending that line, saying that they
were of the same opinion as they were before, as to its
value to the North British Company, and that it ought
by all means to be made. Now he must say that the
recoinmendation of the directors was to him one of the
strongest reasons for going on with that line, because he
found that the giving of it up was recommended by par-
ties who had good reasons for wishing that it should be
abandoned, such as the Edinburgh and Northern. He
was perfectly petrified, oncoming to the meeting to sup-
port that report, to find that the directors had turned
round and moved its disapproval. This certainly was
pertinent to the matter before the meeting.
Mr. JAMES AYTOUN, advocate, contended that the cir-
cumstances with regard to the Edinburgh and Perth
Railway were entirely changed, and that was the ground
on which the directors had come to the determination to
abandon the scheme, which was a good scheme at the
time they entered upon it. Last year the Edinburgh
and Perth line had almost a certainty of passing ; at
that time an agreement was made with the Edinburgh
and Northern, by which no opposition was to be offered;
and at that time also there was a similar agreement with
the Scottish Central; all of which circumstances afforded
a good reason for the North British entering into the
arrangement that they had done. Mr. Aytoun then
showed that, as the Edinburgh and Perth Bill had been
lost in Parliament, the agreement with the North Bri-
tish was at an end; and having quoted the authority of
Mr. Rutherford to support this argument, he went on to
maintain, with regard to the proxies, that the directors
had acted in a fair and proper manner in using as they
had done those which left the matter to their discretion.
Mr. WILLIAMSON, of Kinross, moved approval of the
views expressed in the directors' report in regard to the
Edinburgh and Perth Railway, and that the directors be
instructed to carry these into effect.
Mr. DEAS seconded the motion. •
After a good deal of discussion, Mr. Williamson at
length consented to withdraw his motion, on the condi-
tion that it should be recorded in the minutes that 2,202
proxies had been received by the directors for going on
with the line. The motion of Mr. Wotherspoon was ac-
cordingly declared to be carried.
themselves into the hands of the
f n Before
The fo
They
ehT teyse
CHAIRMANhnaI dAe eTtEpi nau gDISASTERS
• d
lateTanldE
the disasters RisntKeeST.:
asonsuthrel.
most eminent engineer in Scotla• lnldNe,
been
eys
nfe
misfortunes
trbuoensf
see
srye
have
ai
nt
d washgar greatly
apo
tepl
happened
en
dee opened
taogto
g theer theat
e line, d . public.uo but they
tmhCertainly,eayy
haveh ave
seen a letter in the newspapers from the secretary, in-
forming you of the extent and of the original cost of the
bridges which have fallen down. That statement is cor-
rect, and, therefore, you may judge yourselves of the
cost required for the reparation of the bridges.
The expense is very trifling indeed, but cer-
tainly we have suffered greatly by the inconvenience
that has occurred in travelling upon the line. Tho
traffic has been greatly interrupted. In order to meet
the convenience of the public, we have been at very
sgevreearet
oexnep.ensTe,hen.l3ffiittynwrioasoffiupsuwiaclntdrahciantgwoeuwrsielllvbees
aabnlye,wifayihelweaam.
thhaeprpcyotnotiacnucleusasiuncth as it is at the present moment, to
open the line throughout in ten or fourteen days. I
have only to say that no one could lament more than
the directors did this matter. We, of course, being
placed in the more prominent responsibility, have felt
it most severely, and it has occupietvdwwetalsigenotechptohnesri.derTabhlee
share of our thoughts. I believe that it will be ad-
la nbde,lietvhee
trhe
ad-
mitted that the flood from which we suffered was a most
lime and whinstone requiwrsehehtdarhiaveepethirimdafwliaeyielwletgaohnylcement, and time
had not been given for that to take place.
ee
whether
thee
odmTr
thehaleal
mean-
time
if;rte've have
gained gtitbniharmeeii
rndeeegrllayeoa bridges,
hwohtearhY:lawotbsehyswvaeedtorriaab
have
ee been
sustained. opened
the loss we have experienced.

In answer to a question as to whether General Pasley
had given in any report to the directors on the present
condition of the line,
The Own:ilex said that they had not received any
written replrt from that gentleman on the subject. lle
was, however, happy to acquaint them that General
Pasley had in conversation stated that he was most
highly satisfied with the line, and with the new repairs
which had been made upon the works. General Pasley
believed that they were most substantial, and were most
properly done, and he expressed his most complete satis-
faction with the works now in progress. He (the Chair-
man) believed that there was no better line in the king-
dom than the North Britis}, The misfortune they had
met Kith had certainly caused them to take very great
pains with the line to flawick. Every attention had
been paid to that branch, and he could assure them that
not a single conduit had given way in the works there.