The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-27 00:00:00

THE DANISH QUESTION.

conveyed, so that the only carriage road of the many
which intersect Hyde-park which will be in the
slightest degree interfered with, is the comparatively
little frequented drive parallel and close to the Ken-
sington•road, and this will merely be interrupted by
the carts and waggons crossing from one side of it to
the other. The saunterer by the south bank of the
Serpentine, and the horseman in Rotten-row, will
not find their comforts in the slightest degree inter-
fered with.

At the conference held on Friday at the Foreign-
office the Court of Austria signified its adhesion to
the principles laid down in the protocol of the 2:1 of
August, relating to the Danish question, without
prejudice to the rights of the Germanic Confederation.
This adhesion hag been accepted by the Danish
Plenipotentiary, who, on the part of his Government,
has declared that it is well understood that those
federal rights extend only to the duchy of Holstein
and of Lauenberg, forming part of the German Can-
federation.

" Madame,—You have handed to the Rev. Peter
Daily, on behalf of the Sisters of Mercy, 5001. sterling,
the sum amed to be received for your daughter, Har-
riet M'Donnell. on her being professed a nun in this
community, which sum we engage to return you, free of
interest, should either the nuns or your daughter change
their minds before the period of her said profession ar-
rives or in the event of her decease before then.

" AMELIA WHITE.

" Dirs. Eliza M‘Donnell."
In the month of August, 1847, Miss M`Donnell took
a malignant fever. After all hopes of recovery were
over the nuns had her a professed nun. They gave
no notice to her family of her illness until she was
past recovery. They now contended that as she was
professed on her dying bed they had complied with
the terms of the agreement. The jury found a ver -
diet for the plaintiff for the sum claimed.

Within the space marked out the workmen are now
busy in rearing the needful workshops, and in staking
out, under competent direction, the proportions of the
intended edifice. Instead of reproducing, as we
might, in our own language, Mr. Paxton's account of
what that edifice will be, we prefer, as the simplest
and surest mode of impressing upon the public the
idea of its dimensions and its proportions, to print the
description of his plans given by the architect him-
self, at the recent interesting meeting at Bakewell :
" The building would be 2,100 feet long by 400
broad. The centre aisle would be 120 feet broad, or
ten feet wider than the conservatory at Chatsworth.
The building is divided into broad and narrow
compartments, and by tying these together there
is little for the cross-ties of the centre to
carry. The building is entirely divided in twenty-
four places—in short, everything runs to twenty-four
—so that the work is made to square and fit without
any small detail being left to carry out. The
number of columns, 15 feet long, is 6,024; there are
3,000 gallery bearers ; 1,245 wrought-iron girders ;
45 miles of sash bars; and 1,073,760 feet of glass to
cover the whole. The site will stand upon upwards
of 20 acres of ground ; but by an arrangement of his
(Mr. Paxton's) the available space which may be
afforded by galleries can be extended to about 30
acres, if necessary."

The above declaration has been received by the re-
presentatives of France, Great Britain, Russia, and
Sweden, who have unanimously rendered full justice
to the intentions which have induced the Court of
Austria to give its adhesion to the principles stated in
the protocol of the 2d of August as being in con-
formity with the general interests of peace and of the
European equilibrium.
The protocol was signed by the Plenipotentiaries of
the respective Powers present. This document is im-
portant, as it sets at rest the question of the preserva-
tion of the integrity cf the Danish monarchy, which
consideration, in fact, forms the main feature of the
former protocols of the 4th of July and the 2d of
August.
Austria, it appears, hesitated in the first instance
to express her assent, on the ground that, as one of
the great German Powers, she considered it necessary
to reserve the rights of the Germanic Confederation.
These rights were not in any way jeopardiz d, it
being clearly understood that no alteration could take
place in the existing relations between the duchies of
Holstein and Lauenbarg and the Confederation. Tha
ill-founded pretension of the Ultra- German party in
the duchy of Schleswig might alone have given rise
to some difficulty and misconstruction. This diffi-
culty has now, fortunately, disappeared. The decla-
ration of the Danish Plenipotentiary, forming part of
the protocol signed yesterday by all parties, distinctly
places on record the limitation of the rights of the
Confederation to Holstein and Lauenburg.
This solution, acknowledged by all the parties
(with the sole exception, we regret to say), of Prus
sia), may be considered as one step more towards the
establishment of peace in the Duchies—a result tf
such great European interest.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

Charles Sharp, a young man very respectably con
netted, was charged with indecently expo.itig his per.
son in Kensington-gardens.

.. _—
The evidence, which is unfit for pu!dication, rested on
the testimony of three lurk cenitables, who distinctly
proved the charge, and of a wo:na', who deposed to
similar indecent acts on Wednesday List.
Mr. BINGHAM committed the offender to hard labour
for three months.

An old gentleman, a relative of the prisoner, applied
to Mr. Bingham to reconsider the sentence, on the
ground that the charge could he disproved.
Mr. BINGHA.M said he could not on the conclusive evi-
dence brought before him do otherwise than he had done.
If the applicant thought he could shake the credibility
of the witnesses, he might collect evidence for that pur-
pose, and then make his application to Sir George Grey,
at the Home-office.

In the course of the day Mr. Fisher, from the office
of Mr. Dod, applied to the Court to admit Charles Sharp
to bail, having, as he said, some evidence to establish an
alibi on one of the days when he was charged with
having indecently exposed himself.
Mr. BINGHAM. from the youth of the prisoner, was
very glad that his judgment was to 131 appealed against.
However, he would remind the applicant, that the evi-
dence of indecent exposure on the last occasion was so
fearfully strong that it was impossible he could do other-
wise than convict. Before admitting to bail, he must
have some clue to the station of life of the prisoner.
Mr. Fisher replied, he might s4y that the prisoner was
the prolige of a Noble L.;rd. who was about to interest
himself to get him an appointment in Lloyd's banking-
house.

THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY,
The London Gazette of Friday contains the addi-
tional instructions directed by the Queen in Council
to be forwarded to the Governor-in. Chief of New
Zealand, for the purpose of modifying the royal in-
structions to that officer, so far as they relate to the
disposal of lands in that colony.. These further in-
structions have become necessary in consequence of the
notice given, under the seal of the company, that they-
are ready to surrender the charters which they hold
to her Majesty. After reciting the provisions of the
various Acts of Parliament under which the waste
lands held by the company were distributed, and
the proceedings which must- be taken to effect the
dissolution of the said company, the paper proceeds as
follows :
.‘ Whereas the directors of the New Zealand Company
-did, on toe sth day of July last past, give to the Right
Honourable Earl Grey, our Principal Secretary of State
for the COlonies, bitch notice as aforesaid, in pur.uacce
of the- above-recited provision; and whereas on the
giving of such notice as aforesaid, all the land's, tene-
nietit, and heifdttaruents of the said company, in New
Z.- alaLd, reverted to and beeame vested in us, as part of
the der*sne lands' of the . Crown in New Zea:an i,
subject, nevertheless, as -afo'reiaid, to any contracts
whiCh were then subsisting in regard to any of the -said
lands: - ' '

Mr. BzNotram said he would take two sureties in 100,
each.

LAMBETH.

Edward Goden, of 27, Royal-street, Lambeth, a
dealer in furniture, was charged with haying violently
assaulted Sarah Goden, his own daughter, a li tle crea-
ture not yet ten years of age, on the night of Saturday,
the 24th inst.

A Mr. R. Jones and several other neighbours proved
that the child had been most inhumanly beaten by her
father on the night in question, that it ran out into the
street in a state of pertect nudity, and that its little
body was all covered with weals and bruises inflicted on
it by the unfeeling father with a cane, which was then
produced in court. The poor child had been generally'
allowed to run about the streets with scarcely a stitch of
shoe or, stocking on.
Mr. Goden' with the greatest sang-froid imaginable,
expatiated on his paternal right to-act as be pleased in
his domestic affairs, and reprobate! the idea of any per-
son interfering therein; he seemed strongly impressed
with the idea that he, like many other much greater
men. had a right to do what he liked with his own.
Mr. ELLIOTT, however, happening to differ with him
materially on the subject, said he should tine him the
sum of 205., or send him to prison for fourteen days; he
also required him to enter into his own recognizance fLr
20/. to keep the peace for six months.

.
l'And whereas certain contracts have' been entered
into between . the New Zealand ComPany;and certain
bodies or settlers and others,- in regard to lands in. New
Munster 'aforesaid, namely, with the settlers at Welling-
ton, Nelson, and New Plymouth, and the Associations
of Otago and Canterbtiry:
"And whereas "it is apprehended that the provisions
contained in the 13th chapter of the said Instructions
are, iti certain respects, inconsistent with the aaidcon-
tracts between the New Zealand Company and the said
respective' settlers' and associations; and it is expedient
that the said instrlitetions should be repealed, so far as
regards the lands comprised in or affected by, the said
contracts, as far as the came may be inconsistent with
the said contracts respectively or any part thereof:
Now, therefore, kaow you, that we have revoked ,
and determined, and 'do by these our instructions under
our sign manuerand signet, revoke and determine so
much and such' part only of the thirteenth chapter of
the said instructions-as relates to the lands comprised
in or affected by' the aforesaid contracts between the
New Zealand Company anti the seitlers at Wellington,
Nelson, and New Plymouth, and the-associations of Ot-
.tago and Canterbury, and so far as the same may be in- i
consistent with the said contracts respectively, or any '
part thereof.
" And we do hereby declare that the said contracts
respectively, or any amendments in such contracts which
may hereafter be made by and between us, our heir and
successors, or parties on our or their behalf lawfully au-
thorisPdi and the said bodies respectively, are and shall
'be in-force as regards the lands cAnprised in or affected
by the said contracts; prbvided always that on the ex-
piration or sooner determination of any such contract,
the regulations comprised in the !aid thirteenth chapter
of the s:4id zecited Instructions shall again become and
re,nain in force as regards the lands comprised in or af-
fected by such contract."

WORSHIP-STREET.
George and Alexander Meehan, two respectable.look-
ing brothers, were brought up before Mr. Hammill,
charged with disorderly conduct. and obstructing the
officers of the Eastern Counties Railway, tinder the fol-
lowing circumstances:—
Stephen Badgery, inspector of' the railway police, and
Molloy, a metropolitan constable of the H division, stated
—the former, that while on duty on the departure plat.
form at half-past two o'clock that afternoon, just as one
of the Stratford trains was proceeding on its journey and
had g )t clear of the station, the-prisoner George Meehan
ran down the platform on to the line cf rails, and open-
ing one of the carriage doors, attempted to force his way
inside. The carriage had its full complement of passen-
gers, who objected to being inconvenienced by him, and
an elderly gentleman remonstrated with him on his con-
duct, and endeavoured to keep him out; but he persisted
in forcing his way into the vehicle, assisted by his
brother, who pushed him forward, and seizing the
gentleman by the collar, swung to it, and tiled to
pull him out: The gentleman was so incensed by
the' violence of the prisoner's conduct that he would
have given him into custody, but that he must
have lost bis train if he had done so, and witness
having expostulated with and endeavoured to re-
move him in vain, was obliged, from the perilous posi•
tion in which they were both.placed, to call for the as-
sistance of the police. The constable quickly made his
appearance, but the instant he attempted to secure him
ho was struck by George a very heavy blow upon the
shoulder, and it was only after a severe contest and
struegle upon the step of the carriage that he was at
length overpowered and taken back to the platform, to
sisting most violently all the way. The prisoner's gross
misconduct exposed them all to the greatest danger, as
the passenger train was going at least at the rate of tour
miles an hour, a goods train, which had just come in,
was standing on the line of rails to which the passenger
train bad to be shifted, and but for its being signalled to
the engine-lriver of tho latter to stop his train, the in-
terval between the two wus so trifling, they must some
of thein huvo been forced off the s,ep between the car-
riages and trucks, and most probably crushed to death.
• Molloy gave a similar account of the transaction, and
added that his position was SG perilous that it was only
with the greatest difficulty he had saved himself from
death or some very serious injury.
The first prisoner denied having struck the officer
as described, and Alexander said that he was not

aware there was nu room in the carriage or he would
not have attempted to enter it himself or help his brother
in, which was the only part that he had taken in the
matter.

Mr. HAMMILL commented upon the outrageous nature
of the conduct displayed by the prisoner George Meehan,
and, having ordered Alexander to be discharged, sen-
tenced the former, under the provisions of one of the
company's by-laws, to pay a penalty of 405., or in de-
fault to stand committed to the House 9f Correction
fir three weeks, for resisting the inspector in the exe-
cution of his duty, and then to undergo a further term
of a fortnight's imprisonment fur his attack upon the
constable.

WANDS w' ORTH.
Lewis Isaacs, a Jew, said :tohbe well-known on the
principal race-courses some years since, as a proprietor
of roulette and French hazard boards and tables, was
' brought before Mr. Beadon, charged with being con-
cerned with three others not in custody in robbing and
defr,inding Mr. John Oldtleld, an artist, residing at No.
100, Upper Ebury-stre-t, Pimlico. of notes and gold to
the extent of 40/., in Battersea-fields, on the 27th June
last.
The facts connected with the apprehension of the pri-
soner, and another man named Robert Gibbins, and their
examination at Guildhall, on Saturday, have already ap-
peared in our, journal; and it will be recollected that the
offence occurring within the jurisdiction of Wandworth
Police Court, the prisoners were remanded to that court.
On their arrival, however, at Wandsworth, the sitting
magistrate had left for Hammersmith, and the prisoners
were taken there. A recapitulation of the evidence
taken the same day at Guildhall was made, and ulti-
mately Mr. PAYNTER, considering there was not suffi-
cient evidence to detain Gibbins upon (who was the man
supposed to have beckoned to the gang immediately
prior to their breaking up), discharged him; the prisoner
Lewis Isaacs !wing remanded to be further examined at
this court yesterday.
Mr. Oldfield's evidence was taken afresh, and he re-
peated much the same account he had given at Guild-
hall. -Ho said that having been twenty years at Brussels
and returned to England very recently, he was perfectly
ignorant of the snares that are set for strangers. The
parties he met in the steam-boat appeared to be perfect
gentlemen, and the assumed ignorance they had of the
thimble-rig man (the prisoner) was inimitable. The
prosecutor said be could not undertake to say that the
prisoner was the man who snatched the 101. note out of
his hand, the act was so sudden. He had at that time
801. in 101. notes rolled up in his hand, and the one that
was stolen was just detached from the others to lay on
the table or board. He had no doubt it was the in ten-
tion of the party who made the snatch to have had tbe
bundle.

next.

City policeman Daniel May, 337, said he had no fur-
ther evidence to offer than that be found 4Z 17s. on the
prisoner, arid on Cabins three thimbles,
a pea, and a
pack of cards.
Mr. W. Galbraith, of Wellington-cottage, South
Lambeth, who was in attendance in another case, said
that seven or eight weeks since, on a Tuesday, he was
going to a shooting-match at the Red, house, when he
saw the prisoner with a board, thimbles, and pea, hard
at work. Re was asked to "try his luck," but he de-
clined. On the following day he again saw the prisoner
near the same spot; there was a pile of half-crowns on
the board.
Mr. BEADON said there was no evidence to establish
the charge of felony, but there was ample evidence to
show that he was a regular gambler, and as such he
should commit him to Guildford Rouse of Correction
for three months' hard labour. The money found upon
him was evidently partly the produce of the fraud or
the robbery, and he should order the expenses incurred
in the prisoner's apprehension to be paid out of it, as
also his keep in prison, and the residue would be given
him when he left the gaol. The magistrate also re-
marked that he hoped it would be a warning to Mr.
Oldfield for the remainder of his life not to become
intimate with strangers he might casually meet on a
steam-boat.
The prisoner was then removed to the cells, apparently
well satisfied with the re'ult.

A labourer in the employ of Mr. William Brown,
of Horton, was last week digging for chalk on the down,
about a mile north of Tan-hill, when he came upon a human
skeleton, burried in a sitting posture, and perfectly entire.
There is little doubt that the body, of which this is the re-
mains, was buried in the time of the ancient Britons,
earthen vessel being found with the skeleton, constructed of
sun-burnt clay, and otherwise bearin the character Rf the
domestic nteneils of that remote period.' Remains of pottery
of the ain,e character and age are very frequently found on
thr:e downl.—Bath Herald.

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 27, 1850.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

SHEFFIELD, ROTHERHAM, BARNSLEY, WAKE-
FIELD, HUDDERSFIELD, AND GOOLE.
The ordinary half-yearly meeting t,f this company
was held at Wakefield yesterday. Mr. E. B. Beaumont,
the chairman of the board, presided. ' The line is leased
to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company at five per
cent. in perpetuity, with half surplus profits. The re-
port stated that the total cost of the railway would
not exceed 3,2534 over the amount of the rent
guaranteed by the lessees. The liabilities bad been
reduced to 16,0001 The rent from the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Company would be payable on the Ist of Sep-
tember, and the dividend warrants would be issued imme-
diately afterwards. Two directors had been nominated to
seats at the Lancashire and Yorksbire board, who would
act without remuneration. The statement of accounts
gave the following results :—Total receipts up to the
30th of June, on the guaranteed stock, 256 071 i 16s. 3d.,
which sum had all been expended except 352/. Bs. 2id.,
which remains in the banker's hand. The receipts on
the shares for the southern division of the line, which is
not guaranteed, amount to -69,7874 7s. 7d., and dis-
bursements to 66,352/. IBs. Bd., the balance in hand being
3,4341. 9s. 4d.

The CuAnnum said his had great confidence that the
line would eventually yield more than 5 per cent.; and
tofu r alluding to the various matters in the report, he
moved its adoption, which was carried.
The dividend, at the rate of 5 per cent., was also
agreed to, and ater some discussion the meeting sepa-
rated.

CHESTER AND HOLYUEAD.
The following repart, will be submitted on Friday
next, at the half-yearly meeting of the shareholders •
`• It will be in the recollection of the shareholders that
t the last half-yearly meeting your directors obtained
their approval of a Bill authorising this company to
lease their line to the London and North-Western Rail-
way Company, or to make other arrangements with that
company for its working. They h med that long before
this time they should have been placed in a position to
convene a special meeting, to which, after receiving the
tormal sanction of the measure required by the House of
Lords, it would have been their duty to submit the plans
by which the scheme then contemplated' might, in the
judgment of the directors, be most beneficially carried
into execution. They regret that they must now an-
nounce to you that these expectations have been entirely
frustrated.
" Parties having interests at variance with those of the
London and North-Western Company, and seeking to
encroach upon its traffic, took occasion, from the pro-
motion of the Bill in question by this company, to urge
upon the Committee of the House of Commons the intro-
duction of a clause giving to those parties powers and pri-
vileges quite incompatible with any practicable arrange-
ment between this company and the London and North-
Western for the completion or working of the line; and, in
spite of the earnest remonstrances of your directors, they
succeeded in effecting that object. The House, how-
ever, threw out the clause, and when the same parties
made an attempt to reinstate it, it was again rejected.
But the same shortsighted hostility pursued the Bill
before the Committee of the House ef Lords, although
it was certain that with such a clause the Bill would be
valueless fur any public or private object, because the
London and North-Western Company would refuse an
alliance coupled with the conditions imposed; and the
issue proving unfavourable, the measure has been nen
cessarily abandoned, to the serious detriment of your
interests, and without a particle of benefit to the parties
whose opposition to the London and North-Western
Company led them to strike at that body through this
company.
" The result is a matter of deep regret to your direc-
tors. Their best hopes of improving your position were
founded on the possibility of combining your interests
with those of the London and North- Western Company,
and of rendering it sate and profitable fur that power-
ful body to aid iu extricating you from your embarrass..
meats. But your directors could not, of course, expect
that that company would undertake so arduous a task,
under the addnional pressure of an Act of Parliament,
which proposed to deprive them, in favour of a third
party altogether without rightful claim, of a large
share of the legitimate advantage of the projected en-
terprise..

'Nor is this the only disappointment which your di-
rectors have experienced. In March last you were ap-
prised that they were 'in communication with her Ma-
jesty's Government. baying for their object such assist-
ance as would enable the company to complete the un-
dertaking at the earliest period;' and they continued
their endeavours to this end until a very recent date.
Th4y urged upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with
all the force which they felt to be warranted by ihe
justice of the case, their claim to temporary aid from
the public press, on the ground—lit, that the contract
tor the mails having been granted to the company, be-
fore it broke ground in its works, for the avowed reason
that the traffic was insufficient in itself to afford recom-
pense for so great an undertaking, the loss in that re-
spect resulting from the visitation which bad desolated
Ireland ought not to be thrown exclusively on the com-
pany, without any contribution from the Government,
so greatly benefitted by the opening of such an import-
line of communication; and, 2dly. that the peremptory
requisition of the Admiralty, backed by a Parliamentary
Gne:live°, in regard to the mode of crossing the Menai
Straits, having imposed on the company an additional
and unlooked-for expense of nearly half a million ster-
ling, it was equitable that the Grov,,rernent, thus re-
lieved from all share of the cost necessary to reconcile
two public obj,cts (to wit, the free navigation of the
straits, and the continuous line of railway from London
to St. G•orge's Channel), should afford some assistsnce,
by way of a loan, to enable the company to complete its
works, in order to its reimbursement.

" Your directors are sorry to state that, whilst they
have been personally treated with every consideration
and courtesy. the Goverfiment has refused to entertain
these reasonable and moderate claims for a contribution
in the shape of mere temporary aid, althoud,h it was
shown in the clearest manner that no risk could he in-
volved in the transaction. The only conce,sien midi- to
the company—at the same time that its success in over-
coming not merely the vast natural difficulties of the un-
dertaking, but the impediment thrown in its way by a
public department, was used by the Prime Minister as a
cogent argument for the abolition of the Lord-Lieute-
nant of Ireland—has been the abandonment by the Go-
vernment of its claim for a contribution of 200,0001 to-
wards the new harbour at Holyhead. The directors feel,
however, that such a demand for a contribution to a
public refuge harbour is one which never ought to have
been made. In the same spirit of indifference to the
difficulties of a company eng9ged in carrying out an eu•
terpri.e of pre-eminent public importance, the contract
for the performance of the mail service between Holy-
head and Kingstown was given to parties who have
a direct interest in diverting the traffic to the route
by way of Liverpool. And this was done notwith-
standing that a Select Committee of the House of Com-
mons, of which the lamented Sir Robert Peel was chair-
man, after considering the question whether this com-
pany should be permitted to own steam-boats, had ex-
pressed
a deliberate opinion with respect to the advan-
tage of placing the management and control of the
whole line between London and Dublin in the hands of
a single piny.
•

" Under ttie heavy discouragemeuts briefly described
in the foregoing paragraphs, and labouring constantly
under the pressure of ttie pecuniary difficulties with
which the company has had to struggle, your directors
have exerted themselves to the best of their ability to
accomplish, at the earliest possible date, such a comple-
tion of the line as may fit it for general purposes of use-
fulness. In furtherance of this end, the last tube of the
Britannia Bridge has been raised to its intended place;
and your directors hope that that wonderful structure
will be filially completed during the month of October

'ln their last report, your directors stated their in-
ention to open a separate revenue account from the lst
of January last. That course has been taken, and the
net proceeds have been applied towards the payment of
the half-) ear's interest on debentures due on the 10th of
July last, which, amounting to 24,549/. 10s. 5d., aves
a balance of 8,5211. 16s. 7d. chargeable against the
earnings of the current half-year.
" The proprietors will observe that the gross traffic
of the six months under review has yielded a return of
38,652/. 3s. 3d. contrasted with 31,9831 5!. Id (irre-
spective of the mails in both cases), earned during the
same period of 1849; and your directors are using all
the means at their command so to increase their power
of meeting the demand tor accommodation for minerals
as to afford all the desired encouragement to that im-
portant branch of business. As an instance in point,
they are now engaged in arranging for the construction
by private parties of several sidings and short branches,
for the purpose of bringing upon the line the produce of
adjacent quarries and the like' with the stipulation that
the expense of the work shall be repaid to the construc-
tors from the proceeds of the 011. A resolution will be
submitted for your approval, giving your sanction to ar-
rangements of this description, which cannot but con-
duce to the advantage of this company.
" The attention of your directors nas been earnestly
given to the cost of working the line and its adjuncts,
with a view to every practicable and prudent reduction
of expenditure, in respect especially to the packet-
service; and they have now so organized the system
Of managing the steam-boats that they have
good reason to expect that, taking into account
the earnings of those vessels, and of the express trains
to which they are exclusively attached, and which would
be useless without them, the proceeds will more than
counterbalance the expenditure. It may be added that,
finding the payments on account of insurance to be ex-
tremely heavy, amounting in the aggregate to 6,497,
from the Ist August, 1848, your directors are of opinion
that it will be expedient that the company should become
the insurer of its own steam-boats, setting aside a certain
sum annually to cover the risk of loss, and they request
your sanction aceordingly.
" The arrears of calls duo at the last half-yearly meet-
ing amounted to 40,666/. 103., since which 2,8161. 10s.
has been received. Your directors have declared the
forfeiture of 65 shares, which requires the confirmation of
the present meeting."
The report of the engineer, Mr. Robert Stephenson,
says—
" It affords me very great satisfaction to report to you
that the whole of the tubes of the Britannia Bridge are
now safely deposited in their final positions. Nothing
now remains to be done but to complete the junctions
between those composing the second line.
"A fortnight will finish the junctions in the Britannia
Tower; three weeks more will complete the junction
with the Carnarvon small tube; and by the end of Octo-
ber I have no doubt all the remaining preparations for
the opening of the second line will be brought to a satis-
factory conclusion.
"As this will probably be the last report I shall have
the honour of addressing to you in reference to the
works of the Holyhead Railway, I deem it only proper,
after several years of intense anxiety respecting the
Conway and Britannia Bridges, to return you my sin-
cere thanks for the unwavering eonfiienve you hare 11- I

ways displayed in the views I have boon called upon to
express in recorence to tl,e structures; with ,ut this can-
fiAence the task would have pr v. d touch more dilfiyult
than it has proved; but. I assure you the value of this
confidence is much enhanced in my estimation by the fact
that you gave it when the balance of opinion was de-
cidedly against me."

EAS ' INDIAN.
The report of the directors, to be submitted to the
proprietors on Thursday next, says— •
" Mr. Stephenson, the managing director, and Mr.
George Turnbull, the resident engineer-in-chief, em-
barked for India on the 20th of March last, arriving et
Calcutta the latter end of April.
" The directors have received a very intsresting report
from Mr. Turnbull as to the line of railway which, in
his opinion, should be first constructed; and the directors
have the gratification to mete that the report entirely
confirms tee views already taken by the board un this
question.
" The board understand that the Government engi-
neer has also made a report to the Government of kola
on the Caine subject, and that the views of this officer and
of Mr. Turnbull, upon all essential matters, are in per-
fect harmony.
" The board further understand that the report of the
Governeneet engineer has been torwardee by the Legis-
lative Council of India to his Excelleecy the Governor-
General. for sanction. In the meantime Mr. S:ephenso❑
has received, through his Excellency's Secretary, his
Lordship's assurance thet his best and coast ant attention
will be given to the undertaking, and that he entertains
an anxious desire to oacilitate, by every means at his
command, the operations of this East Judie Railway
Company, and to secure the successful conduct of an en-
terprise in which both the Government aad the share-
holders have so great an interest.'
Pendiog his Lordship's decision, the board consider
that it would be premature to print Mr. 'Turnbull's re-
port, but it is open for the inspection of any shareholder
who may wish to see it.
" The statements which have appeared in some portion
of the Indian press, and thence copied into the home
journal?, announcing the abandonment of the under-
tskoig, are totally untrue.
" The directors think it right to correct a misappre-
hension which has been industriously circulated, to the
effect 'that the capital of the company is limited to
1,000,000/. sterling; and that, in consequence of such
limitation, and of certain proposed details of construc-
tion, the experimental line to be laid down by this com-
pany must terminate at such a point as to prevent its
being remunerative.' The line first to be made is to be a fair
experiment, and is to be curried to such a desirable
point as, in the opinion of the Government of India, will
render it sure of being so. If the neillien of capital be
insufficient for this object, new capital is to be raised
under the guarantee of the East India Company, on pre.
cisely similar terms as the original capital.
" In a return presented to the House of Commons, in
July last, on the subject of Railway Communication in
India,' is a copy of a dispatch addressed by the Court of
Directors of the Supreme Government of India, on the
subject of the contracts between the East India Company
and the railway companies, and contains, in explanation
of this particular point, the following extract:—
" ' Clause 17 provieles for the excess of capital which
may be required above the respective sums of 500,0001.
and 1,000,0001., in order to complete the exact length
of line which may be determined upon. In the first
place, our guarantee extends only to those sums, but as
it is impos,ible exactly to define the cost of the under-
taking beforehand, and more especially as in neither
case is the exact route fixed, and in the case of the East
Indian Hailwey the point of its termination is not even
fixed, it was necessary that some provision should be
made for any margin either of excess or deficiency of ca-
pital necessary to complete these experiments. Li the case
of the Great Indian Peninsular Company, the two points
of Bombay and Callyan are determined, but in the case
of the East Indian Railway, the starting point (Cal-
cutta) only is fixed. You will not only have to deter-
mine the exact route of this line, but also the point to
which it would be most expedient, with a view to a lair
triad of the experiment, it should he carried, always hav-
ing reference to the sum which is contemplated to be
expended. And you will have to determine, in the
event of the sum meittioned in the contract (1,000,0000
appearing sufficient only to bring the line to some inter-
mediate point, at which it would be undesirable to stop,
whether you will make your terminus at nearer or
more distant point, and to that extent increase or de-
crease the capital as the case may be, and the surplus or
deficiency will be dealt with as provided for in the 17th
and 27th clauses of the contract. I❑ the one case, the
capital will be increased on the same terms as the original
capital; in the other case, the excess will be returned to
the shareholders.'

" Upon a requisition from Mr. Turnbull, the board,
with the sanction of the East India Company, have sent
out by the steamer of the 20th of the present month
three additional engineers, and have authoriied the ap-
pointment of a fourth on the spot. The services of these
gentlemen will, therefore, be avail.ble at the cummence•
went of the eti,uing cold season in India.
" The board adopt this medium of acknowledging and
communicating to the shareh Iders the liberality of the
Peninsular and Oriental riteam Navigation Company in
reducing the passage money of the engineers and nth-1-s
who have proceeded to India in the service of the
company.

" The accounts are made up annually, and, conse-
quently, are not submitted at the halt-)early meeting;
but it will be satisfactory to the propriettry to know
that the interest guaranteed by thP East India Compan)
is now accruing upon the sum of 354,567/. 55., tieing the
ttmount paid into the tr, a,ury ',airlift up to thf, 30111
June last, and upon 2,4241 ls. 81 , the amount paid into
tint Government treasury ttt Mad, as.
" Pending negotiations for carrying out the detals
the contract in India, the company% funds in Calcutta
were invested in Government loans. The last mail
brings intelligence of arrangements baying been con-
cluded with the Government for the tt :Lower of thes,
furds to ti,e treasury, in accordance with the terms of
the coutruct."

EASTERN UNION.
The report of the directors, to be submitted to the
shareholders at the half-yearly meeting on Friday,
states that the net revenue of the company, which
amounted, at the corresponding period of 1849, to 9,9261,
has gene on increasing, and now, in the least favourable
ha:f-year of 1850, amounts to 26,562/. The director
concur entirely in the belief expressed by Messrs. Webb
and Head, the auditors, that the shareholders during
the current half-year may look forward to a further con-
siderable increase of revenue. The liquidation of the
liabilities, which are the main causes of the preference
stacks being at a discount, demands the earliest consi-
deration of the directors. The proprietary, if they are
united in a resolution to clear away the outstanding
debts, might do it, not only without any sacrifice what—
ever, but with a certainty of raising every portion of the
compaey's stock. The Act which passed in the late ses-
sion has enlarged the time fir making the Harwich line;
and the Eastern Counties Company having admitted that
it and,
be a great advantage to themselves as well as
to the public, and having ahown a willingness to cc-ope-
rate with this company to insure its construction, the oi-
recters'hope, before they:need expend any further money
upon the undertaking, that the arrangement of 18 s 5
way be entered into between the two companies to pro-
tect the shareholders from any uuretnuneretive
outlay in carrying a line into flacevich. The directors
have referred all unsettled professional accounts to Mr.
Dax, the senior TaxingeMaster of the Ceurt cf Ex-
chequer. They trust it will be a means of reducing
some of the demands against the company. With a
view to stimulate the local traffic, several excursion
trains are now running and carrying great numbers of
the inhabitants of Norwich, Bury St. Edmund's, and
the vicinities towards Harwich, and of tho,e of Colches-
ter, Ipswich, and Bury, through Norwich to Yarmouth.
This traffic, it is believed, wid tend to improve th.-
present halt-year's revenue. The report of Mr. P. Bruff,
the engineer, states that the working expenses continue
to diminish, being now 2681. per mile, or 49 per cent.
upon the receipts. The rolling stock, permanent way,
and works continue to be maintained in excellent condi-
tion. The Trowse branch to connect the Eastern Union
line with the Norfolk line at Norwich will undoubtedly he
of great service in facilitating and economising the traffic
arrangements of both companies; the estimate of cost
including land and every expense is 16.000/. The line
is set our, and the works can be commenced forthwith
upon
.the land being given up to the contractor. The au-
ditors state in their report that the liabilities of th,
company are in course of reduction, and they see no
reason why the whole amount should not be easily de-
frayed from the powers possessed by the company; that
it would greatly improve the value of the whole stock
of the company if the preference and ordinary share-
holders were to co-operate in assisting the directors in
some scheme by which the simple contract creditors et
the company should be satisfied by the issue of the fur-
ther preference stock at a moderate rate of interest, and
the re-issue of debenture bonds as they fall due at a
lower rate. The preference stock, as well as the ordi-
nary stock, would not then fel to acquire an increased
value, whilst the company would be placed in a sound
and proper position. The capital account to the 30th of
June last shows that 2,104, 6401. had been received, and
2,098,6381. expended, leaving a balance of 6,0011. The
company are authorised to raise 1,860,0001. on shares,
and 620,000/. ore loans, total 2,480,0001. The amount of
shares issued, and loans raised, is 2,115.9791., leaving
'powers to raise 364,021/. unexereised. The loan account
shows that 523,5741. has been obtained on mortgage
bonds, of which 56,6001. was borrowed at 6 per cent.
per annum, 441,7681. at 5 per cent., 20,655/. at 4f per
cent., and 4,550/. at 4 per cent. The amount falling due
in 1850 is 221,759/., of which 198,5531, is at 5 per cent.
The revenue account for the half year ending June 30
states that 52,321/. had been received, and 25,5751, ex-
pended, including 880/. for Government duty, and 6161.
rates and taxes, leaving a balance of 26,7461, to pay in-
terest on borrowed money, 12,3951.; on 6 per cent.
stock 8,9361., interest on 10 per cent. stock, 2,2741.; rent
to Stour Valley Company, 2,00/ ; rent to Stowmarket
Navigation, 5351., and rent to Lark Navigation, 1861.;
making together 26,3271., and leaving a balance of 4181.,
of which 183/. is appropriated to the renewal fund.

MIDLAND.
At the half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the
Midland Railway, held at Derby, on Friday last, Mr.
Iroaside carried a motion that the names, duties, and
salaries of all the servants of the company m the receipt
of 1001 a year and upwards be published and circulated
with the half-yearly statement of accounts. The folk:w-
ing is the list of salaries according to Mr. Ironside's
motion :

Secretary's department—J. F. Bell, secretary, Derby,
701/4 John Moore, dttto clerk, ditto, 1551; John 0.
Burton, accountant, ditto, 1951. ; W. H. Hodges, ditto,
clerk, ditto, 1001.; W. Coulton, cashier, ditto, 1851.
Engineer's Department—W. H. Barlow, engineer.
Derby, 8001.; T. H. Merchand, assistant ditto, ditto,
2501. ; J. Eckert, clerk, ditto, 125/. ; F. Campion
erau.;hteman, ditto, 1104; Vf iof.pfatio,