The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.

TIMES.—It has long been felt in this country,
and in every part of Europe except in Germany, that
the indefinite prolongation of the sanguinary contest
between Denmark and the Duchies of Holstein by
the underhand support and reinforcements afforded to
the Stadtholderate by its German neighbours, is a
gross breach of good faith and an outrage on justice
and humanity. There can be no doubt that in pro-
portion as the German States, and especially Prussia,
have abandoned the cause of liberty and improvement
at home, and have taken up arms against their own
subjects, they have kept open this vent to popular
excitement at the expense of the rights of Denmark ;
and perhaps they have witnessed without regret the
removal of the most turbulent of their own subjects
to the ranks of the Holstein army. But this base ex-
pedient, which has been masked by every kind of dis-
simulation and treachery, is not the less a violation of
the principles recognized by all the independent powers
in the protocol of London, and of the direct engagements
entered into by Prussia herself on behalf of Germany
and under the mediation of England. We have long seen
reason to regret that the English Government, from
an extreme forbearance to the Court of Be.rlin,allowed
its mediation to be trifled with, and did:not showithat
it was earnestly resolved to uphold the conditions of
peace and terminate this disgraceful war. Perhaps
the want of energy shown by this country in this
transaction bas led the other great Powers, in our
default, to propose a more preremptory course of ac-
tion, calculated to give effect to that principle of the
integrity of the Danish Monarchy which has been
formally recorded by the conference of London. We
cannot suppose that at the present moment more than
a demonstration was actually contemplated by Russia
and France on the eastern and western frontiers of
the Prussian Monarchy ; and the interference they
may have thought practicable could have had no
pretence for proceeding beyond the amount of coer-
cion required to induce Prussia and the rest of Ger-
many to fulfil their own engagements towards Den-
mark. The English Government, however, anxious to
avoid the appearance of menace to a powerful nation,
and to prevent any increased irritation caused by mili-
tary intervention in so questionable a shape, still adheres
to a more lenient line of policy, and still relies on the
effect of a renewed remonstrance to the Prussian
Court. It cannot escape observation that if any se-
rious demonstration were to be made on the frontiers
of Germany by the neighbouring Powers, that occur-
rence would at once revive the torrent of national and
democratic feeling now pent up in so many discon-
tented German bosoms—that Prussia would avail her-
self of such a crisis to play the part of a patriotic cham-
pion—and that Austria itself would be carried away
by the stream of national excitement. A foreign war
would be regarded by some of the reckless statesmen
who have brought Germany to her present condition
as an alternative preferable to the embarrassment and
confusion of their present internal affairs ; and it
might prove unwise to offer them, on the responsibi-
lity of foreign Powers, that means of escaping from
their own dilemma. But although this country has
declined to assent beforehand to any scheme of ope-
rations which might lead to incalculable conse-
quences, it is not less inclined than Russia or France
to remonstrate in the strongest manner against
the double-faced proceedings of Prussia and other
German states, which have prolonged, and are still
keeping alive, theillolstein war; and we trust that the
Cabinet of Berlin will now learn that it has still an
opportuniry,of withdrawing from this disgraceful con-
test. It is notoriously false that Prussia, with her
excellent military organization, has not the power of
preventing her disbanded soldiery from flocking to
the standard of an adjacent insurrection; and, unless
she means to carry on by clandestine sympathizers a
war she has pledged herself openly to terminate, she
is bound to recall every Prussian subject serviug
against the King of Denmark, from General Willisen
down to the lowest drummer boy who heats the Pots-
dam March. We are confident that a distinct and
sincere intimation of the resolution to use all the
means in their power, as a neutral state, to end this
struggle, would immediately be followed by the sub-
mission of the Stadtholderate. She alone is respon-
sible for that bloodshed and those breaches of faith
which have threatened, and may again threaten, very
serious consequences in Europe. The remon-
strances of England, Russia, and France, will not
we hope, be the less effectual because they will not
be accompanied by any language that could be con-
strued into hostility against Prussia. No one of those
states entertains hostility towards Prussia; but no
one will admit that she alone can depart with impu-
nity from her own engagements to foment civil war
in a neighbouring kingdom, that she may humour the
popular party she is endeavouring to repress at home.
It may clearly be inferred from the language held
by the French and Russian Ministers in Berlin and
London, that if the Danes should suffer reverses in
their unequal struggle, those Governments will not
submit any more than that of England to the dis-
memberment of the Danish dominions by what is
in fact a German invasion ; and although it may be
inferred, from the reluctance shown on this occasion
to concert measures of apparent hostility against
Prussia, that the three Powers are constant to their
pacific policy, yet it must be remembered that the
future lies open to each of them ; that they have
singly and collectively recognised the rights of the
Danish Crown ; and that Prussia herself, standing
as she does on this question without an ally
in Europe, can alone prevent the recurrence
of the formidable discussion which has for the present
been postponed. It is especially to be hoped that the
Court of Berlin will not erroneously infer from the
very guarded course which has been pursued in Lon-
don, that this country is less in earnest than France
or Russia in upholding the rights of Denmark, and
condemning by every rule of moral and political con-
duct the rapacity and bad faith of the German party.
We have already seen with great regret that this de-
plorable war has estranged the policy of Germany
from our own, and has degraded a large number of
German statesmen in the estimation of Englishmen,
and this has occurred at the very time when the
progress of constitutional freedom had led us to anti-
cipate a more cordial union between the two nations.
The ominous combination of French and Russian
diplomacy, tending perhaps to some future concert of
French and Russian armies, ought at least to rouse
them from their frantic pursuit of illusions and their
foolish neglect of positive duties; and, as no ex-
isting Government or nation can set at defiance all
laws and all engagements, we venture to think that
Prussia and Germany will find their account in
yielding to the disinterested counsels of England
rather than in provoking the sterner opposition of
other Powers, more able to injure and less willing to
befriend them.

HER ALD.—A Birmingham paper of yesterday
gives us the following piece of intelligence :—" We
understand that on Sunday next the Right Rev. Dr.
Ullathorne will be enthroned at the Cathedral in
this town, as Lord Bishop of Birmingham, on which
occasion a Pontifical High Mass will be celebrated by
his Lordship, and a sermon preached by the very Rev.
Dr. Newman, Superior of the Oratorians. Tne see
assigned to Dr. Ullathorne includes the counties of
Warwick, Worcester, Stafford, Berks, and Oxford,
with the administration of Nottingham." Thus there
is no faltering in the Romish enterprise. Upheld
himself solely by French bayonets, sure of expulsion
from Rome within a week after the withdrawal of the
French troops, Pio Nono still, with unabated auda-
city, claims " the government of the Universal
Church ;" and, in virtue of that most impudent of all
claims, appoints rulers and governors over provinces
and churches which he never saw, and of whose
wants and circumstances he knows nothing.
The question, though a new and a strange one,
must be answered—What should we do if it pleased
the King of Naples or the Queen of Portugal to
begin conferring all manner of titles, offices, and
dignities in this realm of England ? It might be
thought very absurd, but would it be allowed to pass
off with a smile ? 'Would not her Majesty's Secre-
tary of State for Foreign Affairs soon be instructed
by the Government to demand explanations, and to

l state that this sort of conduct would not be tolerated?
But it may be said that we have already received
explanations, for that " His Holiness" has just made
known his reasons in his "Apostolical Letter," which
will be found in another column, But this document,
as sent into England, and published here in contempt
of her AI jesty's rights, is itself an insult of the
grossest kind. In the recesses of his own Lateran,
guarded by French soldiers, Pio Mono may maintain
that this globe is the centre of the universe, that the
sun is only two yards in diameter, and that he himself
is the Sovereign of the earth, with as many other ab-
surdities of the same kind as he chooses. But it is a
different thing when he sends his "Apostolical
Letter," as he foolishly calls beginning
with these words—" The power of governing
the universal Church, entrusted by our Lord
Jesus Christ to the Roman Pontiff, in the
person of Sr. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, has
maintained for centuries in the Apostolic See the
admirable solicitude with which it watches over the
welfare of the Catholic religion in ull the earth, and
provides with zeal fora its progress"—and ending
thus:—" We decree that this apostolic letter shall
never be taxed with subreptice or obreptice, nor be
protested for default either of intention or any defect
whatever, but always be valid and firm, and hold good
to all intents and purposes, notwithstanding the ge-
neral apostolic edicts which have emanated from
synodal, provincial, or universal councils, the special
sanctions as well as the rights of former sees in Eng-
land, missions apostolic, vicarages constituted in the
progress of time—notwithstanding, in one word, all
things contrary whatsoever. We likewise decree that
all which may be done to the contrary by anyone, who-
ever he may be, knowing or ignorant, in the name of any
authority whatever, shall be without force. We decree
that copies of this letter, signed by a notary public,
and sealed with the seal of an ecclesiastic, shall be
everywhere received as the expression of our will."
About a century and a half ago it occurred to the last
of the Stuart Kings, in his exile, to create certain
English peers • and he doubtless sent over to his
friends in England from time to time letters of in-
structions. But any one who recognised those patents
of nobility, or who obeyed the orders given in those
letters, did thereby place himself in the attitude of a
rebel, and would have been so dealt with by the Go-
vernment of that day. And in what does the present
case differ from that of King James's time ? We
know that the pretext thrust forward will be, that the
authority claimed
.is " only in spiritual matters." But
it cannot be too often repeated, that "spiritual mat-
ters" encircle and include all temporal matters. When,
for instance, has it happened in Pope-ridden countries
that any contest has arisen between different claimants
of the throne, without the whole power of the Church
being thrown into the scale of her favourite can-
didate ? But the "spiritual claims" of the Papacy are
in themselves offensive and insulting. Here is this
Pio Nono, sending throughout all England the broad
assertion, that " the power of governing the Univer-
sal Church was entrusted by our Lord Jesus Christ
to the Roman Pontiff?' Of course every well edu-
cated English school-boy knows, that it is scarcely
possible to put a grosser historical falsehood into
words—but, nevertheless, here is the assumption
boldly put forward, implying without the least re-
serve, that the Queen of England, her prelates, and
the whole Church of England, are in open rebellion
against the Lord Jesus Christ I And then, to add
sarcasm to the insult, forth comes poor Mr. Oakeley,
and tells us, that we ought to feel it " a compliment"
that the Pope has been pleased to honour West-
minster with an archbishopric, and to send such
a man as Dr. Wiseman to fill it I Another class
of persons, however, are inclined to pooh! pooh !
the whole affar, telling us that "it is all very
absurd, no doubt; but that it is only a change
of names, and that we shall feel no real dif-
ference." These gentlemen fancy that the whole
pretence of a "government," on the part of the Church
of Rome, is a sham, and that there is nothing real
about it. We recommend to their notice some "Re-
collections" of the late Bishop Baines, which appeared
in the Catholic Magazine of last month. This, it will
be observed, is a purely " Catholic" source, and cannot
be suspected of "Protestant exaggerations." The
writer tells us that in consequence of a quarrel and
an intrigue at home, Bishop Baines was suddenly
summoned to Rome. lie says :
" The following is a literal translation of this curious
document:—

here, require indispensaily the presence of your Lord-
shipotsrte
ated serious
of
aff:irsslcoosLelrllnuisntgrioruelsigaionnd
tßhaetv.huLvoerdt,o—bikre
yourself thither with all eagerness; since the earlier
be-
take l
the more agreeable it will be to the holy
your arrival in Rome. Therefore it is that I engage you to
congregation and to the Holy Father himself. And
kindly preserve and prosper you.
ithout enlarging further, I pray the Lord that he may
" Of your Lordship,
" Rome, from Propaganda, 14th April, 1840.
As a most affectionate brother,
" F. F. CARDINAL FRANZONI, Prefect,
" J. ARCH. op EDESSA, Secretary.'
" Dr. Baines requested me to take an exact copy of
this letter, that I might make it known in England if
need should be. He was nervous and anxious. The
twhaosu
tag
ehnt t f sour s,pi
norei o
howus ; hehe kmni
ge kw t
bn
eo tt r
ewa
ti
et with
style of the letter was somewhat unusual ; its excessive
foihi eadntedtol aibnijneeescdst heilf once in Rome. It might be necessary
to appeal to the English Catholic public, or even to the
Governmf-nt; and he left it to me to act in his defence
as circumstances might require."
This will be seen to be something more than form.
Observe Dr. Baines's own view of the case. He is
alarmed at " the excessive friendliness" of the Italian
ePstle. He fancies that he may be " detained" (a la
eet inn d
a himdy by
or ant w sop, peal, if necessary, to
and will endeavour
Achilli) at Rome ; and he leaves it to his friend in
England
Lord Palmerston against the Pope ! We shall return
to thisl subject
to explain a little more fully what will be the assigned
duties and obligations of the new " Roman Hier-
archy."
ad tl otjdefe

DAILY NEWS.—The tide
of reaction, the gra-
dual swell of which for these
eighteen months we
marked and deprecated and
it, has at length reach
warned men against,
whilst all our contemporarieswered rejoicing and
t. ap-
plaudingewinch threatens to submerge
liberal and independent in Europe.an destroy_a
bayonets
has
pijustr iet partitioned
udaal
sup-
ported on his throne by the Ther
of oe
military
ofilaltbiatutdia
Roman Catholic powers, England,
like another Poland, into s compartments no
doubt, but in the undisguised and domineering lan-
guage of a temporal sovereign, we are not yet re-
covered from the surprise occasioned by this menace,
when we learn that another, the only other great Pro-
testanttipar-
titioned t
power
0 ,
notin spiritually,
but by actual occupation
Europe, is menaced with being par-
and conquest. Russia is to take Silesia, we are told, and
France the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, unless that
power shall prove able to prevent German sympathisers
from joining the ranks of the defenders of Schleswig-
Holstein. We must own that we cannot quite credit the
fact of so brutal an insult having been offered to Prussia
and to Germany. The conduct of Prussia and the
Germans, with respect to Holstein, is somewhat ana-
logous to the conduct of the French, after 1830, with
regard to Belgium. French sympathy was so strong,
that the rulers of France could not restrain it, and
then resulttw erp,
aand weall
placedknow on
was,t
ne t thatbrn n theeo f
Belgium axing
French stormed
A
of its own immediate alliance. If, in 1830, Prussia
or England was to have menaced France with the
invasion of Alsace or of Normandy, unless she de-
sisted, how would the French have felt the insult,
ialiasn es t-
and how would they have answered it? Or suppose
that, as
ic institutions,having aided
Rus.d Spaniards
orSicilians to
hvl ibeara
sia were to have threatened to disembark an
army in the Wash. Such is the nature of the
threat made not merely to Prussia, but to Ger
many. Such is the intelligence that this day's
post will bear to the populations on the Rhine and on
the Oder. The Ministerial Times, in treating of this,
the greatest and most outrageous insult that has been
offered to an independent nation since the days of
Napoleon, seems to admit that it is justified by the
conduct of Prussia in Holstein, and that it has been
occasioned by the profound interest which France and
Russia feel in the subjugation of Schleswig-Holstein.
As to Louis Napoleon, what on earth are Denmark
or Hecuba to him ? We will be bound to say he
values them not the rinsing of a champagne bottle
except as affording an opportunity to ingratiate him-
self with Russia, and to offer the Czar a bribe to
favour his dynastic claims. And Russia! Why, if
Russia was really so anxious to settle the Holstein war,
the active interference of her fleet, or of a few troops
on the Eyder, would have settled the dispute at once.
But the settlement of the Schleswig-Holstein war
is not the great object of the reactionary powers.
The
great object, especially of Russia and Austria, is to
force the King of Prussia out of the constitutional
attitude which he has taken, both with regard to his
own kingdom, and to the minor powers who have
adhered to its union. If the reactionists could force
Prussia to submit once more to the old Frankfort
Federation, and share with Austria the despotic
management of Germany, the ultra-Tory and anti-
Constitutional party in Prussia could alone be the
Ministers to steer such a course. And with them
in power, every remnant, not only of the freedom
gained in 1848 by Germany, but in the fifteen pre-
vious years, would be totally swept away. To bring
back Germany to what Aletternich made it iu 1825,

with the popular element suppressed, that is what
Russia aims at, as the requisite preliminary
to bring back Western Europe, France, and Spain
to the political livery of despotism. Schleswig-
Holstein is a mere stalking horse to them, and when
Russia decoyed our English Minister to sign the pro-
tocol f)r restoring Holstein to Denmark, she did but
trick him into an alliance against the political and re-
ligious freedom of Germany. To explain the aim and
nature of the present combined menace, we must re-
vert to intelligence forwarded by our Frankfort cor-
respondent many days hack, and indeed corroborated
by the Augsburg Gazette. That active agent gave us
information of the congress of Sovereigns at Bregenz
a meeting at which Count Nesselrode was present.
The object of their deliberations was how to overhear
the support which Prussia gave to Constitutionalism,
especially in Hesse Cassel. To effect this purpose,
the Monarchs signed a protocol, which was approved
and countersigned by Count Nesselrcele, as represent-
ing the great Suzerain of European kings, the Czar,
pledging themselves to raise an army of 200,000 men,
150,000 to be found by Austria, and the rest by
the other monarchs ; this army to be placed at the
disposal of the mock Diet cf Frankfort, whose de-
crees it was to enforce. The attitude, however, which
Prussia assumed in opposition to these threats, and
the determination of the Court of Berlin to uphold the
Hessians, and at the same time to keep aloof from the
Frankfort Diet, suggested the necessity of aid from
other powers. The unfortunate London protocol
furnished precisely what was wanted. England and
France were parties to that protocol. If one or either
could be brought to enforce it, Russia with France
might threaten Prussia from east and west, at the same
time that the alliance of Bregenz menaced it from the
south. The whole is a mere trick to force Prussia
back into absolutism. And it is quite evident
from the very tenor of the joint remonstrance,
which, we believe, is not such as the Times
represents it. The partitioning powers menace
Prussia with vengeance, not unless it withdraw
Prussians from Schleswig, but unless the Frankfort
Federation proves able to restore peace in North
Germany. Russia and France, in pursuance of the
London protocol, come forward, not to give peace to
Schleswig, but to restore the old Frankfort Confede-
ration. Thus, out of a question which is purely Ger-
man—that is, what k;nd of a government or a fede-
ration Germany shall have—Russia and France have
made a European question. And this question they
have inflamed, and tortured, and vexed, until it has
produced a menace so outrageous that, whatever be
the immediate result, it cannot but lead to the bit-
terest and most inveterate of wars. That in the year
1850 the French should have actually menaced a
seizure of the Rhenish provinces, and Russia at the
same time menaced an occupation of Silesia—these
are not merely words, but events, which will sink
into the military as well as into the popular mind of
Germany ; and we must confess that we shudder to
think what must sooner or later be the terrible result.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES

Sir,—The only Roman (or, as he describes himself,
Catholic) Bishop in England must think but mode-
rately of the intellect of your readers.
I can only suppose that W. B. Ullathorne with a
cross prefixed conceives that by affecting simplicity he
can beguile the simple.
He is good enough, in his concluding remarks on
the late Papal Bull, to express his approbation of it,
and that he has 6. no fear or alarm for consequences."
Probably not; but we of the Church of England may
be allowed to think differently, or we have read the
history of the world to little purpose.
We do not desire to see the establishment of this
local episcopacy; we are unable to see a boon in what
we feel to be an aggression, and we pay to Mr. Ulla-
thorne's expressed assurance that "no political ob-
jects are contemplated in it " just as much respect as
such an asertion from such a quarter deserves.
I agree with " A London Clergyman" that the
trumpet should sound in every parish in England,
and that the voice of her millions should speak With
the unity of one against this insolent and arrogant
assumption ; and if it be really true that these Bishops
are no longer revocable by the Pope, so that we can-
not act upon his fears, there is nothing to prevent
our obtaining a short Act of Parliament to put an
end at once to the whole scheme. At any rate, it is
high time for all Churchmen, or liberty-loving Eng-
lishmen, to follow your example—take the bull by the
horns, and speak out.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A LAYMAN.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
ABERDEEN.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
at Radley's Hotel, Bridge-street, Blackfriars, yester-
day ; Mr. Pirie in the chair.

The advertisement convening the meeting having
been read, and the seal of the company affixed to the
register of proprietors, the report was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN having apologised for the absence
of Lord James Hay, the chairman of the company,
called attention to the fact that this was the first time
they had been enabled, under the power of their
amended Act of Parliament, to hold their ordinary
meetings in London. Their line was now com-
pleted, with branches to Montrose and Brechin, and a
station at Aberdeen, not, as originally proposed, at
the market-place, ut within 600 yards of that spot,
at Ferryhill. The Bill which they had brought into
Parliament last session had met with considerable
opposition from the southern companies, which, had
it been successful, would have entirely deprived them
of their independence or the control of their property.
The inquiry which had taken place before the Commit-
tee of the House of Lords had proved the advantage of
the policy adopted by the Aberdeen Company to de-
velop the northern traffic. In the report the directors
had laid before the proprietors, they bad given an ap-
proximate estimate of the amount which would be re-
quired to complete the line, which, he believed, would
be found to be correct, within 1,0001. or 2,0001. when
the directors met the committee of investigation they
had several claims against them from contractors for
works uncompleted, which, having been since sub-
mitted to arbitration, had proved to very much exceed
what was really due to them. There was also a large
claim against the company from the law agents which
the directors denied to fairly exist. In April, 1849,
the law agents were changed, and the late law agents
claimed a sum of 3,987/. as a balance of account due
to them. The directors disputing that claim, there
only remained one of two courses to pursue, either to
go to law or arbitration, and the latter course was
adopted. The law agents then made a further claim
of 67,0001., which, had it been previously tabled, the
directors would never have consented to arbitration.
The arbitrator agreed with the directors that they had
nothing to do with that claim, and awarded the law
agents 1,0471. in settlement of their first claim, and
7,000/. for business charges. The law agents stated
that they still had a claim for 61,0001. for share trans-
actions, which the directors denied, and the point
must be left for a legal tribunal to determine, if
the law agents thought fit to appeal to it. Messrs.
Blakie had objected, by a letter published in
a newspaper, to the statements of the direc-
tors with regard to their contract. The fact,
however, was not denied that, while Mr. Blakie
was chairman, a contract was entered into, in the
name of his nephew, at 81. 10s. per ton, being 2/. or
21. 53. more than was being paid by neighbourieg
companies ; which, upon 3,000 tons, would make a
difference of upwards of 6,0001. The whole amount
of the contract would have been about 25,0001. or
30,0001. The contractors had nearly received that
amount, and yet they claimed 1,7001., 1,0001., and
10,0001. for breach of contract—amounts which, the
directors were convinced, never could be recovered.
The revenue account for the first eleven months of
the working of the line showed a surplus of 22,551/. ;
but the accounts would also show them that the di-
rectors had debited against that sum the interest
which had been paid on the six per cent. preference
shares to the Ist of November, 1849, 5,178/. ; de-
benture interest from the opening of the line to the
31st of July, 1850, 6,025/. ; rent to Arbroath and
Forfar Company to the 31st of July, 17,975/. ; and
other charges, amounting to 29,6161., a balance of
7,6111. having beeen taken from the general balance
account to make up that amount. Therefore the six
months' interest on the six per cent. preference
shares, due on the Ist of May last, remained unpaid,
for which the directors proposed to ask the share-
holders permission to issue deferred dividend warrants
as well as the dividends falling due on the Ist of No-
vember next. The revenue of the last four months,
being the first since the line had, been completed,
had produced them a clear surplus of 3,4231. after
paying debenture interest, and one-third of the Ar-
broath and Forfar rent, which would give them about
10,3001. per annum to meet all preference dividends,
present and prospective, of about 26,0001. There
was one good thing in the reserve account, viz., that
the expenditure, which had hitherto been very large,
had been reduced to 42 per cent., every expense hav-
ing been brought against them except the mainte-
nance of way of 34 miles of line, which at present re-
mained in the hands of the contractors ; and if they
had any increase in their traffic, the 42 per cent. ex-
penditure would not be increased by that item. A
working arrangement with other companies was now
in course of negotiation, which, if carried out, would
so reduce the expenditure per train mile as to meet
all depreciation of stock, which was not at present

allowed for. The directors, sir. their report, had
placed before the shareholders a statement of what
was required to pay certain dividends upon the va-
rious classes of shares. They found that 1,5591. per
week, or 1401. more than they had received per week
during the last four months, would pay the interest
on the debenture debt, the Forfar and Arbroath rent,
and the dividends on the six per cent. stock. That
was provided they raised the 150,0001. new capital
to meet their present obligations. It they did
not do so they must continue to pay interest on their
obligations, which, at 5 per cent., would render it
necessary that the weekly income must be 1,891/.
before the shares he had alluded to could get their 6
per cent. At the same time, however, he wished it
to be clearly understood that the old preference shares
must be paid interest before anything could be paid on
the new capital to be raised. The directors were
disappointed with the traffic, they having expected
that on the second six months' traffic they would
have had a revenue sufficient to pay the first pre-
ference dividends cf 6 per cent., which was not the
case. From the Ist of July last their traffic had ave-
raged 1,6081. a week, which, however, would be re-
duced as the winter months approached. He, how-
ever, had not lost confidence in the line, as he was
convinced that they had not hitherto been able to
develop their traffic owing to the disputes of the dif-
ferent southern companies with regard to the northern
traffic. When in the corresponding week of last year
their line was opened only thirty-three miles, their
receipts from goods were 3871., while this year,
with thirty-nine miles additional line, their
receipts from that source had only been 4871., or
1001. additional. They bad, however, recently en-
tered into arrangements with the London and North
Western Company, which would enable them to com-
pete with the steam-boats, and carry cattle to London
at rates as remunerative as t'. -y ever expected to ob-
tain. They were opposed for the thorough traffic by
the steam-packet company between London and
Aberdeen, that company baying a revenue of 54,000/.
or 55,0001. per annum, a great portion of which he
believed, with proper management, could be brought
over the line. With regard to their western traffic
by Glasgow, they were opposed by steamers, by the
Leith and Glasgow Railway, and by sailing vessels;
and, looking at what had been going on for the last
two years, he believed that a great portion of that op-
position would shortly cease. Arrangements were
also in course of completion by which a great portion
of the traffic between Aberdeen and Hull, and through
that place with the midland counties, would be
brought over their line.—(Cheers.) By the last Bill
they had been able to put an end to the amalgama-
tion with the Great North of Scotland line. That
line, he believed, would be made by independent
parties, and would prove of great importance to
that company, though be was glad they bad
been released from their obligations with regard
to it. In conclusion, he begged to move—firstly,
that the report be received and adopted ; secondly,
that in the event of the additional share capital
authorised to be raised under the Act of 1850 being
created, and two• thirds actually taken up by the
shareholders, the directors be empowered to issue de-
ferred dividend warrants to the holders of the existing
81. 6s. Bd. preference shares, for thcreamount of inte-
rest due thereon in May last, and also for the divi-
dend coming due in November next; and the di-
rectors be empowered to fix the time by the warrants
for the payment of such dividends ; and thirdly, that
Lord James Hay and the other retiring directors be
re-elected.

Mr. FRENCH thought it desirable to have an infu-
sion of new blood into the direction, and begged to
propon the election of Mr. J. Spicer in the room of
Captain Fraser, who had resigned.
The CHAIRMAN had great pleasure in supporting
the proposition, the board having previously requested
Mr. Spicer to join the direction.
It being suggested that one motion only should be
taken at a time, it was arranged to prpcced with that
only for the adoption of the report.
Mr. SPICER declined the honour proposed to be con-
ferred upon him.
_ _

Mr. WILsoN urged the propriety of at once closing
the capital account, and letting any surplus they pos-
sessed go towards the reduction of the liabilities of the
company. He would, therefore, move that no further
sum should be expended for the extension of the line
to the harbour, and the 30,0001. assets, when realised,
be applied to the reductiOn of the debts.
After a short conversation, in which it was under-
stood that Mr. Wilson's motion should be allowed to
stand over for a time; that the directors should put a
statement in print, showing the amount of dividend
due which the company had not the money to meet,
and which would come as a charge against future re-
venue; and that the directors would not take any
steps to extend the line from Fernhill without the
consent of the proprietors, the motion for the recep-
tion and adoption of the report was put to the meet-
ing. Upon which,

WILLts moved that the reception of the report
should be suspended until the capital account was
completely closed.
Mr. Lzwlrt seconded the amendment, which was
negatived by about 8 to 1, and the original motion
carried.

The CHAIRMAN then moved the second resolution,
for the issue of the deferred dividend warrants.
Mr. SPICER could not see how they could issue
those dividend warrants without placing them in their
books, and thereby making them a debt against the
company.
The CHAIRMAN said, of course the amount would
be shown in their books, but only as a debt against
the revenue.

Mr. DAVIDSON thought that, if it was desirable to
issue dividend warrants at all, the carrying out of
that measure ought not to be made contingent on the
raising of the new capital. He would therefore move
that the proposed dividend warrants should not be
issued.

Mr. SPICER seconded the amendment, and con-
tended that the creditors of the company were not en-
titled to so much consideration as the chairman
seemed to think, they having obtained the contracts
at very high profits. He thought that if these new
shares were issued they might be deposited with the
contractors as security for any money due to them.
Mr. ERRINGTON (the engineer) explained that, un-
der the law of Scotland, and the arrangements en-
tered into with the contractors, the debts due to them
must be paid in money.
After a short conversation, the amendment was
withdrawn and the original motion carried, with two
dissentients, omitting the words " by the shareholders,"
so as to leave the shares to be taken up by any party.
The retiring directors were then re-elected ; the
Chairman explaining that the directors had not filled
up the vacancy caused by the retirement of Captain
Fraser, i❑ consequence of the recommendation of the
committee of proprietors for the reduction of the board.
Mr. Smith was re-elected as an auditor.

Mr. Wilson having, on the pledge of the directors,
withdrawn his motion relative to the non-carrying
out of the extension of the line and the application of
the 30,0001. assets, the half-yearly meeting was ad-
journed, to allow the business of the special meeting
to be proceeded with.
The meeting having been made special,
The Chairman proposed, in order to pay off the
debts of the company, that a new capital of 150,000/.
should be raised by 51. shares, bearing a preference
five per cent. interest and eight per cent., under cer-
t lin circumstances, to be allocated among the various
classes of shareholders—the eight per cent. to be only
paid upon those shares not originally taken up—and
the said shares not to be issued unless two-thirds
were taken up at five per cent. He believed that
nothing so depressed the value of the stock of
the company as its being borne down by debts,
without the prospect of their being paid off. The
directors had endeavoured to make arrangements for
getting off the stock so as to press as little as possible
on auy class of the shareholders. He believed, look-
ing at their present revenue, which if they were clear
from debt would immediately pay the preference in-
terest on the six per cent. shares, that those shares
now at 2 discount would at once be at par, and be
therefore called upon the preference holders to take
up a portion of the new stock—the more particularly
as it would enable the company to reduce the in-
terest on their debenture debt. He also believed that
it would be to the advantage of the original share-
holders to take up the new stock, and he trusted all
parties would go hand in hand in endeavouring to
put the company in a good position. The Chairman
concluded by having a long series of resolutions read
to carry out the proposition of the directors ; one of
these resolutions was to the effect that the deferred
dividend warrants should be received in part payment
' of calls from the preference shareholders taking up
new shares. This was objected to, on the ground that
it would he paying dividend out of capital ; but the
Chairman explained that it would net be so, but it
would only be creating a debt against the revenue due
to capital, which the future revenue would have to
meet. After a long technical and uninteresting dis-
cussion, a division took place on the subject, which
resulted in the proposition of the directors being ap-
proved by a majority of 21 to 19. This decision ap-
pearing somewhat unsatisfactory to both parties, d
to a further discussion, which resulted in the directorsl
consenting to the withdrawal of the clause, which,
howev
was ultimatelyer,wasojected to by
ylvesom2woifththtehprereoprdieistsoern.
proprietors,
and it