The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-14 00:00:00

Intrb Initioni

SUN QFFICL, Seven 0' Cluck.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(THIS DAY.)
SQUIRES V. WHILtTEN.
The LORD CHANCHLLOR, at he conclusion of the
arguments, gave judgment, dismissing the appeal
with costs.

EXCHEQUER.—(THIS DAY.)
(Trial at Bar,' before Mr. Baron PARKE, Mr.
Baron ALDERsoN, Mr. Baron ROLFE, and Mr.
Baron PLATT.)

BURON V. DENMAN.
This important case was at length brought before
the Court. The Attorney-General, the Solicitor-
General, Mr. Godson, Q.C., Mr. Cockburn, Q.C., and
Mr. Willes, appeared on the part of the crown, who
was the real defendant in the case. Mr. M. D.
Hill, Q.C., Mr. Martin, Q.C., and Mr. Robinson,
for the plaintiff. The defendant, the Hon. Captain
Denman, took his seat by the side of the Attorney-

General.
Mr. ROBINSON having opened the pleadings,
Mr. M. D. HILL rose to address the jury,
and said that he did so deeply impressed with
the importance of the point at issue. For half
a century some of the ablest men of this
country had been earnest and fervent in filling the
minds of their countrymen and the world with a
hatred of negro slavery. It was not possible that
they who had been born since this system had been
agitated in the manner he had described, should not
come to this inquiry with their minds preoccupied
upon the question. When they recollected that such
men as Pitt, Fox, Wilberforce, Sheridan, and in later
times Brougham, and last, though not least,
Denman, had exhausted the powers of their great
minds upon this subject—who had brought to
its consideration and its advocacy, eloquence
of every kind arguments the most forcible,
and statements so clear from time to time of the most
appaling facts, then the most thrilling or persuasive
eloquence, and when we consider that all which was
uttered in Parliament upon the subject war re-echoed
from pulpit to pulpit throughout the land, and pro-
duced upon the stage, that it had occupied the
minds of both sexes at the great public meet-
ings which had been held from time to time, and
when some of them recollected that lips which
were then silent in death had spoken to them in
their early days of infancy and childhood,
of the sufferings of the negro, and the horrors of the
slave trade, and the wickedness of slavery itself, how
ceuld ho hope that he was addressing a jury at that
moment which was enabled to give a cool and impar-
tial judgment upon the question ? But he trusted that
they would do their best, and that was all he asked
of them ; they would stand upon the law ; they were
there not to indulge any pleasurable emotions, but to
carry into action strict, and it might be stern
justice. The plaintiff came before them a foreigner,
unprotected, with every honest prejudice against him.
But he came before them the full confidence of
British justice to lay his case before them, and to
demand from that justice that it should be decided
according to law. It was necessary that he should
call their attention to the state of the-law as regarded
this case. At the present moment if any English-
man in any part of the world engaged in the slave-
trade, or became the owner of slaves, he became
amenable to the law of England, and any person being a
foreigner who might carry on the slave-trade in any part
of the English dominions, which extend to all regions
of the earth, would become amenable to the law of
England, but a foreigner holding slaves in any
country not belonging to her Majesty, in no part of
the British possessions, these slaves being on the land
and not upon the sea, had no responsibility upon him,
and had no right to be interfered with by anp person,
whether such person held command under her
Majesty or not, whether private or public no matter,
such interference was contrary to law. For many
centuries this country had been the greatest slave
dealer in the world; it had forced more human
beings into the horrors of the " middle passage,"
it has caused more slaves to be overwrought to death
upon their landing in America and the 'West Indies
than all the other nations upon earth put together.
For two centuries and a half from the time of Elisa-
beth they would find that all the exertions, all the
Acts of Parliament, were devoted to the subject of
fostering, enlarging, and protecting the traffic in
slaves. A great deal had been said latterly about the
Treaty of Utrecht, but one of the articles of that
treaty they were silent upon in which it was solemnly
stipulated between England and Spain, guaranteed
by the other Powers to the treaty, that this country
should have the monopoly of supplying the Spanish
colonies with slaves to an enormous amount. It was
this country which also forced upon the United States
the making of slavery a part of their institutions, which
was now the object of detestation by the enlightened
people of this country. By the labours of great and
good men—the gigantic labours of Clarkson and
Wilberforce—a great change had been wrought in
the system before the end of the last century.
The great question of the slave trade, its lawfulness,
of its consonance with the Christian religion—these
matters were brought before the country and before
the Parliament, and slowly and silently they have
made their way. Twenty years, twenty-five years
had elapsed before the seed brought forth its fruit,
and then when in the year Mr this traffic was sup-
pressed by Act of Parliament such was the tenderness
for vested xights that two years were given to them to
continue the traffic, in order that no portion of
the capital engaged in the traffic should be lost. But
although so slow fled careful with regard to British
interests in the reformation of their errors, they had
not but a few years done so, before they turned
round and erected themselves into the great friends
of the negro, whom for two centuries and a half
they been prosecuting; and they took upon themselves
to coerce minor and independent states into treaties for
the purpose of enabling them not only to prevent the
slave tradeamong their own people but in other coun-
tries. In the year 1817 a treaty was entered into be-
tween this country and Spain,afterwards rectified and
extended by a treaty of 1815. The first of these
treaties was recited in the 58th of George 111. c. 36,
and the last in 6th Will. IV. c. 6, in the year 18341.
As the defendant relied to some extent in the pleadings
upon. those various treaties he would not now trouble
the jury by going into the question of law upon them.
The rse sections, however, gave power only with regard
to vessels afloat with goods or slaves upon them, and
autliorized that the goods or slaves se captured should
be c arried to some convenient port to be adjudicated
upot 1 for the purpose of securing an impartial inquiry.
With( respect to the legality of the slave trade,
Lord. Stowell had said, " that the slave trade was
not :against the law of nations." The trade was
not illegal, except it was made so by Act
of Parliament in the British possessions or
by sot ne law of Spain for Spanish subjects and so
forth, Oy each country legislating for itself. Sup-
pose, for instance, that the defendant in this case,
brought up frora his childhood with a proper feeling
of host ility to the practice of polygamy as prac-
tised by , the Turks, should have taken upon himself,
if stationed in the Levant, to take away some
of the t; lave wives of some great Turkish pacha,
No dud. t such a proceeding would at the time have
been a far more pleasant occupation than giving
passage tts about 800 negroes ; and the voyage from
that coun try to Circassia or Georgia, from whence
they cam', might not have been perhaps without its
agreeable l ailments, but no British commander ever
thought of doing so, nor would he be able to stand for
one momen tin an English court ofj ustice if the Turkish
pacha shot tld bring an action to recover the value of
his wives ; or suppose, to come nearer the present
case, some iserson had left the door of the harem open,
and the wis es of the Pasha were seen flying in all
directions u .pon the approach of the commander ; that
then the gal pant admiral should, upon landing,and should
sho find
the variote s chambers untenanted,
take the pipes, and the handsome salvers,u
and the grand robes of the Turkish ladies,
and offer them to the
people as asuch bribe, a
to
bring bacl:-. the wives to the harem—could
proceding be justified in any British court of justice,
or could the circumstance of the Turk beingg
foreigner r ire
dvent his recovering ample damages for
the wrong one ? Or, suppose the defendant had
gone to Cl tina and robhed some of the temples of their
gs
gods, or one to the sculptor wi
hh m
ade the goods, and
cleared his store-room of sckdities.
There •was no sin more awfully denounced
in Script ure, and no crime which had brought down
more frequent or more signal visitations from the
Divine 'hand, than the sin of idolatry, and yet strong
as they should feel the horror of idolatry, was there
a single man who would not put away such thoughts
when called upon to do justice between the Chinese
as complaining, and the English as offending ? In the
late opium case, too, of China the same principle had
been recognised, and the assertion• of it had ena-
bled them to stow away in their coff,rs between
two and three millions of Chinese silver. The
Chinese Government had passed some laws prohibit-
ing the use of opium in that country ; but in the over
zeal of some Chinese Captain Denman, if there were
such a gallant officer in the command of his Imperial
Brother of the Sun and Moon, came beyond the
coast line, and seized certain vessels containing opium.
This coutatr y 'had said thatthtehecyhinheasde
inothing
r
to do with the regulations of
own country ; they had taken the law into their own
hands, they had come out oftuhsetirherefore pay every
own country, and
seized the opium, and they
m
farthing of the value of the article
This 'was precisely- the case with the plaintiff by them.
tiff in this
case. He said, " I will not enterg wuestionys
you
iinto the
discussion of moral or religious
amenable to your laws. I am not a member of your
not
faith. You have no control over me but such
as
as is given to you ,if I came into your country, when

I owe to your Sovereign a temporary allegiance." The 11
judgment in the case of Madransoe v. Willes, re-
ported in the 3 Barn. and Ald., p. 353. fully bore
out that view of the case. In the present case a trial
at bar had been demanded on the part of the Crown,
and the defendant, who in his person had brought
back the idea of the ages of chivalry, with the ex-
ception that, instead of his riding upon a large
horse, cased, like himself, in sheet iron, he tra-
velled about more comfortably in a steam-boat,
but still he had the same object ; it was the
universal redress of grievances, the succour of the
oppressed, and the destruction of the tyrannical. But
if they could imagine the case of any buccaneer who
had gone to the coast of Africa for the purpose of
plunder he could not conceive of any different kind of
pleadings which he would put upon the record had put
upon than the present defendant had done. From the
imperial height to which he had been raised he had been
made to plunge into all the muddy sea of the
quirks and quibbles of a special pleader.
His advisers seem determined to construct the plead-
ings in such a manner as that, per fas et nefas, they
should be able to snatch a verdict at any expense.
The Learned Counsel then proceeded to call attention
to the various pleas of the defendant. In the first he
had pleaded "not guilty," whereas it was for that
very act that he had been raised to the post of
captain in the navy. The next plea stated that
he was not. lawfully possessed of the goods
and slaves in question. A third that they were
captured by the defendant by command of King
Siachi, which was a Spanish name for King Jack,
given to that personage by the sailors, and that this
Siachi, King of the Gallinas, was at war with the
defendant, who was a trader and merchant in that
country. Another plea set forth that it was not done
at the command of Siachi, but by command of her
Majesty Queen Victoria. Further pleas set forth
that a certain treaty with Spain made the slave treaty
illegal, and that the plaintiff, being a Spanish sub-
ject, would obtain no redress in Spain; that Gallinas
was under the rule of an absolute monarch, the aforesaid
Siachi, and lastly, that the country of the Gallinas
was a lawless country. The whole defence appeared
to be in the style rendered in a great authority, viz.,
Hudibras _ _

" I would not give with Hudibras
A straw to know the case,
Without the admirable skill
To turn and manage it at will,
To steer and tack and veer the cause,
Against the weather gauge of laws,
And ring the changes on the case,
Clear as the nose upon the face."
The facts of the case were as follows :—On the
19th of November, 1840, Captain Denman found him-
self in the command of three vessels off Gallinas, on
the western coast of Africa, called the Wanderer of 16
guns, the Saracen and Rollo of JO guns. Upon that
day Captain Denman ordered the boats to be manned.
Upon their landing at the place, he found the slaves
flying from the place. The defendant entered the
stores, took possession of great quantities of the things,
the gunpowder was increased in the river, the casks
of spirits were started into the sand, and defendant,
with his own hands, discharged two rockets, which
set fire to the buildings upon the other side of the
river, and they were burned to the ground; some of
the goods were given away to the people, as bribes,
to bring back the slaves, who, being collected, were
taken on board the vessels, and from that time the
inhabitants of iGallinas had seen no more of them.
The Learned Counsel went on to say that
he thought some short interval should have been
allowed to intervene before this country should have
raised itself from the position of a criminal to that
of a judge—from the dock to the bench. It would
have been far better for this country to have acted in
the spirit of Milton, who said "that it was the pre-
rogative of England to teach the nations how to
live," and to have allowed the same means to operate
in other countries as had been successful in this, viz.,
reason, arguments, and religion. They would then
have done no injury. It was now admitted that
the efforts of the country to suppress the slave
trade had been productive of the greatest evils ;
it had multiplied the numbers and increased
the horrors of the middle passage, and the slave
might now well say, " Your hostility was dreadful to
us, your hostility covered us with evils which we had
imagined could not be augmented, but we did not
know the miseries of your friendship." The mor-
tality in the " middle passage" alone had increased
from 9 to 24 per cent. under the system now adopted
to put down the traffic in slaves. " Oh," exclaimed
Madame Roland when she ascended the scaffold, " oh,

liberty, what crimes have not been committed in thy
name !" The negro might say, " Oh, philanthropy,
how much of evil have we not endured in thy name!"
This country, said the Learned Counel, stood before
the other nations of the world either as the foulest
hypocrites or as lunatics. We are raising hundreds
of thousands and millions to prevent slavery, and
when our prevention was found to be no cure, then
we paid those very persons whom we have been
chasing across the Atlantic for the produce of the
blood of those very negroes. Such was British
friendship to the slaves 1 A Learned Chancellor,
who was now dead, had said in his advice to
his son, "Go and see with how litle wisdom
the world is governed." If that person were
DOW to rise from the dead he would say,
" Go and see with what mighty folly the world is
governed '—men taxing their overlaboured poor to
raise hundreds of million, to -expend en treaties to
abolish the slave trade, and then bringing a power into
the field to uphold that trade, which, without any
disrespect to the power of the defendant, was tenfold
greater than any naval or military power could exert,
via., the power of trade, a power which Napoleon
could not crush with all his Milan and Berlin decrees ;
and this country was now carrying on the two op-
posing systems at one and the same time. Against the
whole nation a writ de enquirendo lunatic° ought to be
issued for persevering in such insane and preposterous
conduct. Such was the nature of the case into which
the jury had to inquire, he trusted that they would
perform that duty in such a manner as the case de-
served, and that decision would be one of the most
memorable acts of their life, one which upon reflec-
tion would produce, though accompanied with pre-
sent pain, solid and permanent satisfaction.
Mariano Dinars, a Spaniard, in the employ of the
plaintiff, was then examined through the mediam of
an interpreter. His evidence went entirely to corro-
borate the statement of facts made in the opening
speech of the Leaned Counsel.
Upon his cross-examination by the ATTORIIET.•
GENERAL, he stated that King Siacha was in the
habit of purchasing goods from the plaintiff, which he
paid for partly in slaves and partly in money. He
did not know how many slaves plaintiff had embarked
at the Gallinas during the six years he had lived with
him. He had embarked but a few. The value of a
slave was about fifty dollars. The plaintiff had 300
slaves in his baracoons, just previous to the descent
upon them by the defendant. Some of them were
prisoners of war ; about twenty or twenty-five of
them were in chains. Among those slaves
there were no British subjects. The prisoner,
a woman called Tri Norman, was not on
the remises. She did not know either John Fraser
or john Parker. Ghindama was the capital of the
Gallinas. The island upon which the plaintiff's
premises were belongs to King Siacha. He knew
his Majesty King Siacha. He was a very old man,
and confined to his bed through sickness. He
knew his eldest son, Prince Mannna. He knew
the Raja's family they were chiefs, they were
descended from an English mulatto, they were now
quite black. There was a woman named Tri Nor-
msn, in prison at Dombocorroh, when Capt. Denman
came there. Witness was not there at the time. She
was not at Buron's. He saw Prince Manna and the
chiefs go to Captain Denman at Dumbocorroh.
Captain Denman took possession of the factories be-
fore he saw Prince Manna and the chiefs.
He saw Captain Denman fire a rocket from
Dombocorroh to Coomasarie on the 21st.
He did not see Prince Manna standing beside
him at the time. He saw two or three Chiefs. He
saw Captain Denman before he came came to Dom-
bocorrch at Sandhamanarrah, there were some black
prisoners of war in that village, who were in chains
and between boards placed across the chest and back.
They were taken in the war between Sandham-
anarrah and the Gallinas. Prince Mamia and the
Chiefs took possession of the goods ; they were
given to him, he thought by Captain Denman, i
Witness had charge of the goods cf Buron at De-'
jairoh ; he was not there the whole time. Captain
Denman was at Dombocorrah ; he went ii cm there
to Tindoh. He did not go to any of the stores
while Captain Denman had possession of them. He
was in the villages with the negroes. He saw
Captain Denman set fire to the village of
"rlii7c; there was no factory there ; goods
were kept there for the purpose ; buying
palm-oil, ivory,
gold-dust, and some for slaves.
In the year 1840 a ship, called the Alexander, laden
with ivory, dyewood, and
palm-oil, left the Gallinas.
oil, o
which c
es
thheaenb,sirtoouregsh othertt
hferroem wße
things.ruer
v, :ene
Captain Denman was at Mr.
She was an American vessel of 160 tons ; she had
a
blrooou pgihpte sa o fc
arg
Baron's about 200 chairs and manacles kept for the
slaves who were suspected of running away:
Re-examined by Mr. M. D. HlLL—Part of the
powder, about 50 barrels, taken from Mr. Buron,
wash
of November. the thrown i, n t into the riovenr C22apdthe saw the spiritsain Denman on the
i
started into the sand at a place called Camassora,
and every day after that he saw something else
brought out. The war carried on by Gallinas in the
interior had lasted for eight or nine years before the
arrival of Captain Denman. The war was between
King Siacha and a " gentleman" within the domi-
nions of his Majesty ; it was not a rebellion, but "a
dispute" between a gentleman and King Siacha. The
people of the country took charge of the prisoners of
war taken in this war by the King Siacha, He re-

membered the ships Eliza Davidson, the Theopilus •
Chace, the Siminole, the Argus, all of which, but the
first-named, which was seized as a slav,?r, took some
of the goods of the ccrantry back with them.
Pedro Marane, examined by Mr. Robinson, a na-
tive of Spain, also examined throngh the medium of
an interpreter—He was at the Gallinas, in the
employ of a person of the name of Xumenes in tho
capacity of clerk. He knew Mr. Buron, also his
factory and store houses at the Gallinas. He was in
a large way of bnsiness there. He saw Buron's
store houses shortly before the 19th of November,
when they were full of every sort of things. Upon
the 19th he saw some men land from three vessels of
war. Captain Denman was with them. He was
then in Dombocorroh. He saw them, after they
landed, place sentries upon the gates of the es-
tablishment and store rooms of Mr. Buron.
Captain Denman then went on to Coomassoriah,
He saw the goods of Mr. Buron in the hands of the
natives for the first time on the 2nd of November.
Captain Denman's men gave the goods to the natives.
He did not see Captain Denman give, nor was he
present when he told, his men to give the things to
the natives. He saw some rockets fired. He was
not on the spot. He saw Captain Denman there and
many natives. He could not tell who fired them ; he
was too far off to see. Captain Denman was near
the spot. The rockets went to Camassariah, where
it set fire to some magazines or stores filled with
merchandise belonging to Mr. Buron. The buildings
were all burnt down, and the goods they contained,
which were not carried away, were burned and de-
stroyed. The magazines were destroyed either on
the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th of November.
At the conclusion of this witnesses examination,
the case was adjourned till tomorrow.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.
(THIS DAY.)
GREAT YARMOUTH.
The Committee re-assembled at the usual hour this
morning. Mr. Seymour in the chair.
Mr. ANDREWS, Q.C., addressed the Committee at
great length on behalf of the sitting Members.
The room was then cleared, and the Committee having
remained in consultation together for some time,
strangers were re-admitted, when,
The CHAIRMAN announced that the Committee had
come to the following resolution:—That the Hon.
Arthur Lennox. commonly called Lord Arthur Lennox,
is not duly elected a burgess to serve in the present
Parliament for the borough of Great Britain.
That Octavius Edward Cooper, Esq., is not duly
elected a burgess to serve in Parliament fur the borough
of Great Yarmouth. That the last election of the said
borough is a void election. That the Hon. Arthur
Lennox, commonly called Lord Arthur Lennox, and
Octavious Edward Coape, Esq.. were, through their
agents, guilty of bribery at the last election for the
borough of Great Yarmouth. That several cases of
bribery were proved before the Committee. That these
acts of bribery were committed with the know-
ledge and consent of the said Arthur Lennox and
Octavius Edward Coape, Ell. The Committsel are
them that gross systematic and extensive bribery pre-
vailed at the last and at the previous election for the
borough of Yarmouth, amongst the freemen of the bor-
rough, and they consider it their duty to express to the
House their unanimous opinion that the freemen of the
borough of Great Yarmouth should be disfranchised,
and that no new writ should be issued for the said
borough until legislative measures have been taken.for
the purpose of such disfranchisement.
The Committee then broke up.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, and SOUTH-
EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.—(THIS
DAY.
The adjourned meeting of this company was held
this morning at eleven o'clock, in the large room of
the London Tavern. Owing to the statement made
at the meeting on Friday, that a vast number of per-
sons had gained access to the room who were not
shareholders, the most stringent regulations were
instituted and put in force at the door, and lest any
person refused admission should become re-
fractory a policeman was stationed at the
door to keep order, and if necessary to
remove any disorderlies to the nearest station-house.
Every person, even those connected with the press
were obliged to sign their names, the reporters being
strictly enjoined to give the name of the paper for
which they attended. A staff of clerks were therefore
employed during the morning. Before half-past ten
about 200 persons had taken their seats, and when
the reporters came full half an hour before the
hour for which the meeting was announced, they
found nearly all the seats usually reserved for the
press occupied by shareholders, and it was only with
great difficulty and solicitation that those represent-
ing the principal papers were enabled to obtain just
sufficient room to pursue their avocations with in-
convenience. The inconvenience to-which all were
put was wholly inexcusable, inasmuch as a represen-
tation was made to the secretary on Saturday to
reserve accommodation for the press. At eleven
o'clock the directors entered and took their
seats. They were received with cheers. At
this time not more than three hundred persons
were in the room. The gallery contained but one
tenant, showing that the room used on Friday could
have contained all entitled to be present ; it is impos-
sible, therefore, to avoid the inference that a very
considerable number of persons were present who
were not shareholders, and who created the unseemly
disturbance which led to the adjournment of the
meeting until to-day. Mr. Grenfell, M.P., occupied
the chair.
Mr. BUCKTON having read the report and accounts,
which we gave in The Sun of Friday,
The CHAIRMAN proceeded to address the meeting.
He said, in consequence of what passed at the meeting
on Friday, it was not his intention to detain them at
any length, as he concluded from what then took place
that some strong grounds of opposition were to be
raised against the directors, and he and his brethren
directors there courted the utmost inquiry, as he and
they were moat anxious that no one should leave the
room without being fully informed of the exact posi-
tion vf their affairs. Without saying more at present
be would conclude by moving that the report be re-
ceived and adopted, which having been seconded,
Captain WISLIAR rose and said, he had a motion to
propose, which he believed would meet the wishes of
all the shareholders, the majority of whom were dis-
satisfied with the management of the directors. These
shares were depreciated, their weekly expenses were
still high, their capital remained at its enormously
high rate, and at the last meeting he apprehended
that the dividend would be small indeed. Their
amount of expensesa were enormous, as they increased
from 311 in 1844, and now 48. The locomotive
expenses were alsso enormous; the cost of coke in
1844 was 10,0001.—it was last year 19,5431. This
was at the rate of Old. a mile, but on an adjacent
line it cost no more than 41d., and the working ex-
penses of other lines averagd from 35 to 42 per
cent. He blamed the directors for gradually increas-
ing the capital of the company to an enormous rate.
It was 6,092/., and in 1845, 4,9221., and in 1846
and in 1847 it was $,760,3831.—(Hear,
hear)—and yet there was a deficiency of
78,7411. in the capital account.—(Hear.) He also
blamed them for entering into the arrangements they
had with the Portsmouth Company, for carrying a
third line into Portsmouth, which must compete with
the South Western and their own line. He blamed
them also for entering into an arrangement with the
South Eastern, by which they would lose 12,0001. a
year, and obtain but a few acres of land in return.
He found that the mismanagement of the directors
was in all men's mouths; and when this was the case,
he could not help saying that there must be something
in the management radically wrong.—(Cheers.) The
incompetency of tho director was generally spoken of
and complained of. Stations had been shut up with-
out any sufficient reason, and meetings had been held
at various parts of the line, at which complaints were
made that the line did not give all the accommodation
the parties had a right to expect. Persons had also
been dismissed from the company without sufficient
cause, with a view to the promotion of the interests
of the company ; he begged to move as an amend-
ment, that so much of the report as related to the
dividend be adopted, and that a committee of share-
holders be appointed to inquire into the financial
affairs of the company, and repor thereon.—(Cheers.)
Mr. HORD seconded the motion, and, after advert-
ing to the past dividends that had been paid, com-
plained that if the expenses were so high the rates
ought to have been increased.
The CHAIRMAN interrupted the hon. proprietor,
and stated that their fares were at their maximum—
(Hear) ;—the Legislature had put its hands into their
pockets and those of the shareholders of other lines,
and, for the information of all, he might state that
the time was not far distant when railways might have
occasion to make common cause against this restric-
tioo.—(Hear.)
HOORD proceeded to say that if this were so
the directors should have abandoned the branches.—
(Hear.) Be was utterly at a loss to understand how
the working expenses could present so anomalous a
result as they did ; in 1843 they were 261 per cent.,
in 1834 23, 1.845 24, 1846 29, whilst they were
40: they were 40 per cent., with a capital of
a quarter of a million, whilst they were but
26 with a capital of 100,000/.—(Hear.) j,.he Hon
Proprietor went on to explain the explain the exact
nature of the mortgege deeds ; which led to some
explanations between himself and Dr. PARSONS, at
the protracted nature of the details of which, the
meeting manifested much impatience.
The CHAIRMAN said, all these things were mere
matters of detail, which could not be answered with-
out the expenditure of much time. They could be
better investigated by a committee; and on the part
of the directors and himself he had to state, that they
should not object to the proposed committee, which
announcement was received with loud cheers.
Mr. LETT congratulated the directors on the tone
and temper of the meeting. The great complaints
received against the directors were the purchasing of
the Brighton, and Chichester and Brighton, at 12

premium, when no one would have given 5 discount,
and that they had put a good deal of money into
their pockets by these arrangements.—(Laughter.)
Mind, he did not say this ; others said it, and he
merely repeated it—(Hear) ; he did not wish to
abuse the directors because they were directors, be-
cause if they turned them out, they might get worse,
who would perhaps take some new and objectionable
course.—(Hear.) Looking at the castigation—par-
ticularly from the Atmospheric (Croydon)—they had
received from the lines he had mentioned, he thought
20s. was not so bad. Let them not be dis-
mayed.—(A voice, "You don't say anything
about tthe Croydon). He liked to be challenged ;
he, like Mr. \Vishaw, was a great advocate of an
amalgamation with that line; he had always opposed
the Epsom branch ; bnt he might take that oppor-
tunity of saying, that all the branches of which he
had spoken at past meetings, had turned out as he
had predicted. Looking at the ccmmercial embar-
rassments of the past year, and to the great expense
they had been put to, he thought they should take
the lOs. without a murmur.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. Mainsis said he had received a note from the
Chairman sometime ago, stating that the dividend
this half-year would be 74 per cent.; and
that on this promise, he kept his shares.
when they went down, and when he remonstrated
with the Chairman, he replied that he had expected
per cent., adding that he had been as much disap-
pointed as he had at not being able to pay more. He
complained that he had only been able to obtain
access to the register of shares, by a favour and in
confidence, and in order that access might at all times
be obtained to it, he begged to move that holders of
25 shares and upwards should have access to the
registers seven days before and seven days after each
meeting at ss. for every hour he required it.
Mr. Cash seconded the proposition.
The CHAIRMAN said he had been almost forced into
the direction; he took office much against his will;
and he believed that during the whole time he had
been connected with the case he had never done any-
thing that an honest man could blvsh at.—(Hear,
hear.) Surely he could not be now held responsible
for an opinion given twelve months ago.—(Hear,
hear.) If he had disposed of some of his shares, he
had not done so for stock-jobbing purposes—he did
not say he could be 'blamed for that—(Hear, hear)
but he migh. say that the deputy-chairman held
more shares than he did at any former time, (and
that gentleman, he might say, devoted his life to the
service of the company.) They all held, in
short, 10,000 of the number of shares held by
them last year. Great injury might result from
giving too great access to their books. For instance
the greater number of forgeries on the Bank of Eng-
land had been perpetrated by parties getting access
to their books; for a person by getting a view of one
share got a clue to all those held by the same person.
Mr. SONSTER reminded the meeting that they were
obliged to run their trains whether full or empty ;
and that the expenses incidental to the opening of
all new lines were enormous. He was firmly of
opinion that the time was not far distant when they
would pay seven per cent. again.—(Hear, and no,
no.) On an average of the entire line opened the
weekly expenses were 5781. less last year than in
1845 ; and if they multiplied that by the miles
opened in 1845, they would, at the same rate, have an
increase of 200,000/. in the next year.—(Hear.)
Mr. COHEN complained that the fares had been re-
duced from 25 to 50 per cent. In giving increased
public advantage they had injured themselves. He
moved for a return of the names of the parties who
held shares in the Brighton and Chichester line be-
fore it was purchased, and those to whom thay were
transferred. They bought up the shares at 1/. or 21.
premium, and sold them at 251. premium. It was
rented by the Brighton at 4 per cent. for ten
years, and he asked, therefore, why they
bought it at 6/. ? We blame them for
their connexion with the Portsmouth and Croydon,
after it had wasted half its capital, and for which
they got the miserable line to Epsom ; the cost of
plants during the last half-year was 162,0001., or
one-half more than any former year. The fares had
been generally reduced, and if they went on the same
way they would have no dividend. There was a loss
of 3501. for light gold, giving encouragement for its
being offered to the company. There was one thing
he wished to have inquired into, namely, the giving of
information by the company to the Stock Exchange
with respect to the dividend. He knew the parties.
—(Name, name.) He should be ready to give the
names to the committee. The shares had been cried
up at 315., when they could not expect a highar
dividend than 32s.—(Hear.) When the real amount
was known the shares were poured into the market.
The information must have come from head-quarters.
—(Hear.) He hoped the directors ;would inquire
into the matter, and rather dismiss the whole office
than allow any such persons to remain in it. He
was at a loss to know how the directors could adort
new lines when Parliament had fixed their maximum
fairs so low that they could not pay 8/. per cent.
The CHAIRMAN said Mr. Cohen should give the
names of the parties to whom be referred.
Mr. COHEN declined to do so, except to the com-
mittee. He did not charge the directors with the
" bearing" of the shares ; he could not well do that
if they did buy at 315., they did it through third
parties. Directors were too cunning now-a-days to
do these things openly. He considered that their
interests would not be cared for until they removed
the present directors.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. COLEMAN inquired if 13,0001. had been lent to
the Steam-boat Company connected with the company.
The CHAIRMAN declined, in reply, to give any
answer to the:agent of the General Steam Navigation
Company, and who had filed a Bill in Chancery
against the company.
Mr. COLEMAN then said, as some of the new lines
had not been opened, the company would lose at the
rate of 1,0001. a year in interest so long as they
remained unopened.
Mr. COHEN said as it had been whispered that he
had giuen information to kis brother and others with
respect to the dividend, he wished to have a letter
read from his brother on the subject.
The SECRETARY read the letter, which was as fol-
lows :

(Copy.)
" Dear John,—The following are the facts to which
your note refers :—About a fortnight since I learnt at my
friend Hutchinson's once that Brighton dividends were
offered at the Stock Exchange at 31s. per dividend.
Recollecting that at the corresponding period of last
year 355. had been declared, and finding at the same
time the amount of increased receipts, and the additional
mileage since opened, I thought there were reasonable
data to anticipate an equal ;dividend for the past half-
year.
" I purchased in consequence four hundred dividends,
in conjunction with two friends, who took an equal share
in the speculation. I retain my :interest entire, and shall
hence sustain a loss of about seventy guineas.
" This circumstance having transpired, most dis-
creditable inferences have been drawn from it, implying
thatll possessed a knowledge of what the dividend would
be, and that I had entered into this transaction for the
purpose of raising the price, to enable me to make spe-
culative sales. A most infamous imputation, and so far
from the truth, that with this exception, I have not had
one transaction of any kind in Brighton shares during
my residence in London, which comprises a period of
upwards of two years.
" You can make what use you like of this note; I
write it solely out of consideration to your position at
the:Brighton board as a director, otherwise I should not
take any notice of the calumny, as I know it would be
impossible to discover its author.—&c.
(Signed) " GEORGE PARSONS,
22, St. James's-street, Feb. 9.
" J. M. Parsons, Esq."
' •

Mr. PARSONS said he would as soon put a pistol to
a man's head on the highway as inform any one of
the amount of dividend before it was made public.
Considerable discussion then ensued, in which Mr.
Alderman Wilson complained that the line was in a
disgraceful state of dilapidation and want of efficient
accommodation.

Mr. WILKINsoN, the late chairman of tie Croydon
Company, who defended the general conduct of the
directors, and said the management of the line had
been cheaper than the North Western and
Eastern Counties Railways, but who said the
locomotive mismanagement of the line entirely to the
door of Mr. Peter Clarke, who, he said, practised
false and extravagant economy, as he had disgusted
the servants under his control, and dissatisfied the
public—Mr. Cash and others.
The appointment of a committee of seven share-
holders holding forty shares was carried, the report
was confirmed, so much as had reference to the
dividend, the borrowing of 176,598/., and the con-
version of the fifteenths into stock.
The meeting was then adjourned until the 30th of
March next.
The following are the names of the Committee :
Mr. Wishaw, Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. Cash, Mr.
Sterry, Mr. Cornelius Nicholson, Mr. S. L. Griffiths,
and Mr. East.
A dividend at the rate of 1/. per 501. share for the
half-year was then formally declared. The motion
with respect to the register was declared by the
solicitor to be contrary to the Railways Consolidation
Acts, and that it would be in the power of any one
shareholder who was dissatisfied to obtain an injunc-
tion ; the motion was therefore withdrawn.
A vots of thanks having been passed to the chair-
man and directors, and suitably acknowledged, the
meeting adjourned at half-past three.

TATTERSALL'S—THIS EVENING
Six o'CLocR.

LIVERPOOL STEEPLECHASE•
15 to 1 agst Sir Arthur
20 to 1 agat Jerry
20 to 1 agst The Curate
NEWMARKET HANDICAP.
12 to 1 agst Palmer
15 to 1 agst Cracow
METROPOLITAN HANDICAP.
111 to 1 agst Jericho

20 to 1 agst Gannet
25 to 1 agst Vampyro

2,000 c:Tryvr. S STAKES.
5 to 1 agst Daze—taken
5 to 1 agst Surplice
CHESTER CUP.
25 to 1 agst Jonathan Wild
30 to 1 agst War Eagle
40 to 1 agst Keleshe
40 to 1 agst Swallow
40 to 1 agst Swiss Boy
40 to 1 agst Queen Mary
50 to 1 agst Joc o' Sot
50 to 1 agst Bantam
50 to 1 agst Nirs. Taft
50 to 1 agst Lady Wildair
50 to 1 agst Mendicant
60 to 1 agst Lightning
DERBY.
12 to 1 agst Glendower
20 to 1 agst Springy Jack:
25 to 1 agst Assault
30 to 1 agst Cervus
35 to 1 agst Beshorough
40 to 1 agst Swiss Boy

MPE RIA L PA It LIAM
(THIS EVENING.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the
Woolsack shortly after Five o'clock.
The Earl of EGLINTON presented petitions from
Arbroath and Ayr praying for an alteration in the
Currency L awa.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE presented certain
papers by command of her Majesty.
The Bishop of EXETER gave notice that he
should, to morrow, present a petition from certain
clergy of the county of Bucks, praying' for the repeal
of Henry VIII., subjecting Deans and Chapters to a
pritmunire in certain cases.
Their Lordships then adjourned.