The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-04 00:00:00

EDINBURGH, SErr. l.

STOCK ExcnrANGE.-The sales are-Aberdeen, 31. 10s.-
Arbroath and Forfar, 251.-Ditto, Half Shares, 151.-British
and Irish Union, 3/. I Is.-Caledonian, 121.-Caledonian Ex-
tension, 31. I ls.-Clydesdale Junction, 101. 2s. 6d.-Direct
Northern, 21.-Dundee And Arbroath, 37/. Is. 6d.-Ditto,
New, 18/.-Dundee and Perth, 51.-Edinburgh and Bath.
gate, 21. 17s. 6d -Edinburgh and Glasgow, 904-Ditto,
Quarters, 21/. 155.-Ditto, New, 151. - Edinburgh, Glas-
gow, and Dumbarton, IL 10s.-Edinburgh, Leith, and Gran.
ton, 251. 10s.-Ditto, Preference, 171. 10s.- Edinburgh and
Northern, 21. 25.-Ditto, New, 1/. 7s. 6d.-Edinburgh and
Perth, 1/. 135.-Glasgow and Ayrshire, 711.-Ditto, New
Stock, 224-Glasgow and Garnkirk, 41/.-Glasgow and
Greenock, 214-Ditto, New Stock, 101. 55.-Ditto, Prefer-
ence, 24-Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle, 21. Is. 6d.-Great
North of Scotland, 3/. 75.-Inverness and Elgin, 14 2s. 6d.
-London and York, 61. 10s.-Monkland and Kirkintilloch,
33/.-North British, 291.-Ditto, Halves, 91. 55.-Perth and
Inverness, 21. 55.-Scottish Central, 71. 145.-Scottish Mid-
land, 2/. 75.-Slamannan, 18/. 10s.-Stirling and Dunferm-
line, IL 17s.

•RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
MANCHESTER AND LEEDS.

MANCHESTER, WEDNESDAY.—The half-yearly meeting of
the Proprietors of the Manchester and Leeds Railway was
held to• day at noon, at the Palatine Hotel.
At the conclusion of the half-yearly meeting, a special
general meeting of the Shareholders was held, for the purpose
of authorising the Directors to create an additional number of
shares, for raising further capital for the Manchester and Leeds
Railway, the Ashton, Staleybridge, and Liverpool Junction
Railway, and the Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole Railways
respectively, amounting to 1,209,1001.; also, for paying off
the mortgages, which amount to 862,000/. And for taking
into consideration and deciding upon certain arrangements be-
tween the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company and the
Leeds and West Riding Junctian Railway Company, the West.
Yorkshire Railway Company, the Huddersfield, Halifax, and
Bradford Union Railway Company, the Huddersfield and Shef
field Junction Railway Company, and the Leeds and Brad-
ford Railway Company, in reference to the making of new lines
in the West Riding.
There was a crowded attendance of the proprietary.
HENRY Houtnswoaxn, Esq., Chairman of the Board of
Directors, took the chair, and said this was the eighteenth
half-yearly meeting of the Manchester and Leeds Railway
Company, and he trusted that the statements which they
would have to lay before the Shareholders would confirm the sa-
tisfaction which the Proprietors had been pleased to express
since the commencement of the undertaking.
Mr. DUNSTAN, one of the clerks, then read the report of
the Directors, of which the following is an extract:—
" The satisfactory state of trade during the period on which
your Directors have now to report, has produced its natural and ex.
pected effect upon the income of the company. Although an im-
portant reduction was made early in the year on the passenger
fares and in the rates on certain classes of merchandise, the
receipts of the six months present an increase over those of the
corresponding period of last year of 23,892/. 12s. 9d.
Towards this sum the passenger traffic has con
tributed £6,618 14 11

And the goods traffic
£23,892 12 9

The gross income of the six months amounts to £153,279 10 8
The working expenses, including rates, taxes,
and duty, to

Showing a balance of £101,232 12 7
The progressive increase of businessis shown in the following
comparative statement :
PASSENGERS. _ _

Number booked in six months, viz., January to 30th June.
1845. 1844. 1843.
Ist Class
2d Class
3d and 4th Class 627,493 487,031 381,570

T0ta1..—..... 851,497 673,605 552,639

Miles travelled... 12,167,480 10,024,141 7,955,339
The accounts show that the groat receipts of the twelve months
have been 315,0981. 19s. Bd.; and the gross disbursements, in-
cluding allowance for depreciation, 110,247/. Os. 2d. ; leaving a
profit on the year's business of 204,8511.195. 6d.; which shows net
a return of 6k per cent. for the year on the total expenditure.
Since the Ist of January, one call entitled to dividend at the
present period has been received, increasing the paid-up capital
to 1,487,389/., and by the annexed account, No. 2, it will be seen
that the total sum expended from the commencement in 1835,
to the 30th June last, has been 3,372,240/. 9s. The net ba-
lance on the six months' business, applicable to dividend, is
60,344/. 2s. 6d., which, added to the undivided surplus of the
previous half-year, makes a disposable balance on the present
occasion of 67,9011. Bs. 9d. (as per account No. 4). Your
Directors recommend that a dividend of 4 per cent. for the
half year upon the paid-up capital be sanctioned, viz., 2/. 18s.
on the 1001. shares ; 11. ss. 4d. on the 501. shares, and the
usual 2s. per share on the quarter shares, all subject to the
income-tax. On the subject of their ate prooeedings in
Parliament your Directors have to report that they have
been successful in obtaining the following Acts, viz.:—
An Act to raise additional capital ; an Act to make
a branch railway from Todmorden to Burnley, also a
branch from Heywood to Bury, also a branch from branch
Oldham to Mumps ; an Act to make a Junction between the
Manchester and Birmingham Railway and this Company',
line ; an Act to wake a line from Wakefield to Goole. In
the case of the Leeds and West Riding Junction Railways
Bill, which had been favourably reported on by the Board of
Trade, one part of the scheme, extending from Cooper Bridge
to Huddersfield, was, after a week's contest, granted by the
Committee of the House of Commons to whom it was re.
ferred, to the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway Company,
and another part, extending from Dewsbury
.to Leeds, to the
Leeds and Dewsbury Company ; the remainder, however,
comprising about three-fourths of the whole, was, after a
farther contest of two weeks, assigned by the same Com-
mittee to this Company, but the Bill was subsequently lost by
an unexpected decision of the Committee of the House of
Lords. In respect to the Bill for authorising the amalgama-
tion with the Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Canal and Railway
Company, it was postponed until nest session, in consequence
of an objection on standing orders ; but every needful step
will in the meantime be taken, and provision made for
carrying out and obtaining from Parliament its sanction to
the existing agreement between the two Companies. The
total capital which the Company has power to raise under their
various Acts of Parliament, now amounts to 4,720,9001., of
which is already capitalised 2,589,6001., remaining uneapi-
talised 2,131,3001., but deducting 60,000/. (part of the capital
under the Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole Act, not yet con-
vertible), it is proposed to divide the remaining 2,071,300/.
into 103,565 shares of 20/. each, to be called fifths, and to
allot of such shares to each registered proprietor (less the
fractional parts of a share) a value equal to 75 per cent. of
the nominal amount of the aggregate stock standing in his
name on the 20th day of this present September. It is in-
tended that a first call or deposit of IL per share upon the
new creation shall precede the issue of the certificates, and
shall be payable on or before the 20th of October, next, but the
time of the remaining calls will depend in the first instance
upon the progress of the new works, and afterwards upon the
periods when it may be thought expedient to pay off the mort-
gage debt. It is anticipated, however, that at least, 71. per
share may be called up within the next three years. It is also
proposed that the new shares shall participate in dividends im-
mediately in proportion to the nominal amount of the said
shares, subject, however, to a deduction for interest at the
rate of 5 per cent. per annum upon the proportion from time
to time not paid up, such proportion being determined by the
amount paid up at the commencement of each half year. They
have now the satisfaction of reporting, in furtherance of the
objects proposed, that they have made arrangements for apply-
ing to Parliament in the next session for an extension of rail-
ways Oldham, under the title of the
in conjunction with local
Oldham the District neighbourhood
Rail
ways of
Company,
parties of influence whose co-operation will be beneficially
in
exerted to promote the scheme in questien, under an agreement
based upon that entered into last year with the West Riding
Company. They have also to report that a line from Bacup
to Rochdale has been surveyed and determined upon to connect
with the main line and with that part of the Oldham District
scheme which extends from Rochdale to Ashton, and also a
short line to Middleton, both of which, with your sanction,
will be applied for by this company as branches of the parent
line ; and that the projects have been moat favourably received
by the inhabitants of the populous districts through which they
are intended to pass. They have also to state that they have
agreed with the Directors of the Wakefield, Pontefract, and
Goole Company to proceed at once (the consent of the land-
owners having been already obtained) with the branch from
the Goole to the North Alidltnd line at Methley, to connect
the port of Goole directly with Leeds, which was made a con-
dition by Parliament in the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole
Bill ; and further, in applying for the formal sanction of the Legis-
lature to that branch, to seek powers to extend it in a south-
easterly direction from some point on the Goole line to a junc-
tion with the London and York at Askern, thus connecting Leeds
more directly with Lincolnshire and the south. The attention
of your Directors has also been drawn by parties of local in-
fluence to the rich mineral district lying between Horbury on
the Manchester and Leeds line and Sheffield, a tract of country
unprovided with railway accommodation, containing an active
population, including the town of Barnsley, and the connexion
of which distr:ct with the populous valleys of the Calder and
the Aire it appears a desirable and legitimate object to pro-
m )te. It is proposed that your Directors be authorised to
enter into an agreement with the promoters of the line, on the
basis of the arrangement with the Wakefield, Pontefract, and
Goole Company. The most important measure, however,
which your Directors have adopted in reference to the next

, session, is an arrangement with the promoters of the opposing
schemes in the West Riding of Yorkshire, by which an union
has been effected on the principle (more than once approved of
by the Proprietors of this company) of a thorough identifica-
tion of the interests of the respective parties. This arrange-
ment had been concluded to the entire satisfaction of the re-
presentatives of the various compenies concerned, and if sanc-
tioned by the present meeting will obeiate, it is to be hoped,
further opposition in Parliament in respect to that dis-
trict, and secure at the same time the important influence
of a vast majority of the inhabitants in carrying out the
complicated and extensive system of railways essential to
its convenience and prosperity..( Cheers.) By the agree-
ments entered into it is proposed to carry otst the net-work of
lines required to connect the various important towns and
villages in the West Riding with each other, and frith the
Manchester and Leeds Railway, in. conjunc' ion with this corn,
pany. The capital to be furnished, 187,500/., by the promoters
of a line between Huddersfield, Halifae, and Bradford, and the
Huddersfield and Sheffield Railway Company, and the rest to
be contributed in three equal parts by the Yorkshire section of
the West Riding Company of last year, the promoters of the-
west Yorkshire Company, and the Manchester and Leeds
Company, such capital to become an integral part of the Man-
chester and Leeds stock upon the Act or Acts being obtained,
and to be entitled to dividend when and in proportion as the
lines are opened.—(Cheers.) One immediate advantage of
this arrangement is, that it brings the Manchester and Leeds
Company at once into harmony with the district, and gives to
the inhabitants an immediate interest in the parent line ; and
the more effectually to secure a spirit of union and co-opera-
tion, it provides that six or eight gentlemen residing in
different parts of the West Riding shall become at once
members of the Manchester and Leeds board, in anticipation of
which, powers to increase the number of Directors of this
Company from twelve to eighteen have been obtained. At a
future day a special meeting will be called to consider all ques-
tions connected with the Parliamentary proceedings of the next
,ession. In the mean time, however, your Directors beg to
intimate that it is their intention to recommend that the capi-
tal which may be required for the new projects then to be sub-
mitted to you shall be issued in the form of scrip, and offered
pro rata to the Proprietors, under the condition of subscribing
a deed or deeds in the usual form. In conclusion, it may be
desirable on the present occasion to repeat, for the information
of those who have recently become Proprietors in the Manches-
ter and Leeds Company, that the calls upon the existing stock
will take place as nearly in accordance with the annexed speci-
fication as the engagements of the Company will admit, and
that the quarter shares will, by their original constitution, rank
with the original shares from the Ist of January, 1847, and
lie entitled to receive dividends from that date, on the calls
from time to time paid up at the same rate as the original
.hares."
The CHAIRMAN, adverting to the business of the company
(luring the past half-year, congratulated the Proprietors on the
important advance in the prosperity of the company. For a
long period they had exercised a great deal of patience and
a considerable amount of faith. But now, from the develop-
(Dent of traffic, and the improved state of the country, their
increase had arrived at such a point as to afford a firm founda-
tion on which to build the prosperity of the company, and
to establish its value in the public mind. .They could .now
'eel assured that their undertaking ranked amongst the
most successful of an enterprising country. It was now ten
years within a few weeks since the first meeting was held and
the company originated. Much exertion, time, and labour

had been► expended since then, and many calls had been made
upon the proprietary for a continuance of their confidence in
those who had undertaken the responsibility of the management.
The Proprietors would see, on reference to the report, that they
had only arrived at the end of the first half-year since the com-
pletion of the works of the Company. The receipts amounted
to 204,8511. 19s. 6d., which would show that the amount re-
ceived would give a return of 64 per cent. He was aware
that this would fall short of the anticipations of many ;
hut when they looked at the vast excess of the expendi-
ture beyond that contemplated in the first instance, they
could not look to the return of 6 per cent. but as confirming in
a strong point of view the opinions of those gentlemen who had
. .

originated this company that theenterprise would be eminently
successful. It was impossible to conceive that such an
amount of expenditure would be required, and had they been
tble to restrict themselves within the bounds that were at first
contemplated, it was clear that their undertaking would have
been the foremost of all the lines up to the present period.
[his was owing no doubt in part to the improved condition of
the manufacturing districts, and to the increaae in the various
classes of passengers, which latter circumstance had been at-
tributed to the reduction that had taken place in the fares.
The total increase in passengers had been 26 per cent. The
first-class passengers had increased 50 per cent, the second-
class 11 per cent., and the third-class 33 per cent. He was
sure that it would not detract from the satisfaction that this
statement would afford when he stated that the increased ac-
commodation to the public had resulted in increased gain
to the Company; though the sum received was absolutely less.
If the public had paid the same fares this year as in the
last, the receipts would have been 11,000/. more, which was
in effect the carrying of 100,000 people fourteen miles on the
line for nothing. There would be a balance of 11,000/.
which, added to the reserve fund, would make that fund
'mount to 36,0001. Having alluded to the purposes for which
the depreciation fund was intended and applied, the Chairman
next referred to the Acts which they had obtained in the late
session of Parliament. These would place the Company in a
more advantageous position than they stood in with regard to
many of the populous towns in the neighbourhood of the main
line of railway. The railway to Burnley, looking at the ex-
'ension of the line towards Clitheroe, must be a great advantage
to the main line. They had long known that there had been
a considerable traffic in grain from the Calder navigation to
that district. The branch from Haywood to Bury would con-
nect their line with the populous town of Bury. The im-
portance of this line would be felt from the circumstance of
Parliament having granted a direct line from Liverpool through
Wigan to Bury; which would make the most direct route from
Liverpool to the valley of the Calder that could possibly be.
The next branch was from Oldham to Mumps, and those
*ho were connected with that district had stated that it
gas impossible to overrate the importance of the connexion
between the Leeds line and the series of railways that would
be formed in the Oldham district. Another Act had been
passed for connecting the Leeds line with the Manchester and
Birmingham, by which there would be nearly a direct line from
Birmingham south, to Todmorden and Burnley north, which
would be a most important channel of communication from
north to south. There was another line from Wakefield to
Goole, which was granted by Parliament to the Wakefield and
Goole Company, but which would be worked by the Man-
chester and Leeds Company, and might be looked upon as an
extension of their main line in that quarter. Having referred
to the capital stock of the Company, the Chairman alluded to
the course to be adopted by the Company in the next session
of Parliament. They had previously stated to the Share-
holders that when they considered the excited state of the rall-
y, ay market last year, it was impossible for this Company to
stand still. That excitement was a matter of serious conside-
ration to those gentlemen who had invested money in railway
property for the purpose of an investment, whether they
ought not by every means in their power to discountenance the
various new schemes that were now daily being brought
forward. Lines were brought forward with the view of ex-
torting from existing lines that which the parties had no real
claim for, or for the
.purpose of taking advantage of the pre-
sent speculative spirit; and the consequence of such a course
must, at no very distant period be ruin, and at the same time
a great national waste of capital. As he saw a great many
gentlemen present from Yorkshire, he would advert to an un-
dertaking which had appeared before the public within the
last few weeks, entitled the Liverpool and Leeds Railway. He
believed that no company ever appeared before the public with
a more respectable list for a provisional committee than that
company. He knew many of the gentlemen whose names
were on the list, and it was to him a matter of surprise that
they should have lent their names to an undertaking of that
kind. But he knew sufficient of provisional committees, and
of the way in which they were got up, to induce him to acquit
the gentlemen of the committee in question of a false repre-
sentation of their prospects. He held in his hand a letter
from one gentleman well known to many gentlemen
present, repudiating all connexion with the line in
question (which he read); and with reference to the
line itself he wondered why they had not called it the
Liverpool and Leeds Direct. But the prospietus state*
that the line was not going to start at Liverpool, but some
miles from that place—at Bury ; and, so far as the iseality was
concerned, it might be called the Direct and Independent. It
seemed to be of a somewhat matrimonial character, for the
Committee held out the prospect that they would not be unwil-
ling to ally themselves to some other parties. He next referred
to the amalgamation with the West Riding Junction Company.
He said that, at the termination of the recent parliamentary
contest, they had the assurance that the contest would be re-
newed with vigour, but their opponents, like themselves, had
sat down to count the cost of the contest, and, after an inter-
view, in which their opponents manifested the greatest cor-
diality, an offer was made which was ultimately accepted by the
Manchester and Leeds Company,: and the presence of a great
number of gentlemen at that meeting, who were formerly their
opponents, showed that they had them with them heartily as
Proprietors of the Manchester and Leeds Company, and they
had thus placed the prosperity of the Company on a grand
basis. That iron link would now bind them together, and
they would promote the interest not only of one line but the
other, as the Manchester and Leeds Company, as men of sense,
and as men of business.—(Cheers.) The Chairman concluded
by moving the adoption of the report.
The motion having been seconded, passed unanimously.
The other formal motions with reference to the dividend,
Sze., was agreed to nem dia., and Messrs. G. Pollard and Ed-
ward Ackroyd, of Halifax, William Rand, of Bradford, William
Frith, of Leeds, J. T. Clay, of Raistrick, aniC. H. Jones, of
Huddersfield, were appointed as an addition to the Board of
Directors.

Colonel Por.LARD (late Chairman of the West Riding Junc-
tion Company) paid a high eulogium to Mr. Houndsworth, the
Chairman of the Leeds Company, throughout the whole affair
between the Companies.
The CHAIRMAN said that the Board had derived great as-
sistance from Mr. Hawksworth and Captain Lewis.
Mr RAND, of Bradford, said he felt great satisfaction at the
termination of the late contest. The West Yorkshire Com-
pany sought possession of the whole of that particular district,
And it was again proposed to apply to Parliament to get their
Bill; but he spoke the sentiments of the whole of the West
Yorkshire body, when he said that they would prefer a share
of their scheme of lines in conjunction with a more powerful
and ably conducted Company, than have it all to themselves.
No event of his life had given him greater satisfaction than the
termination of the late contest. With regard to the Chairman,
although once in opposition to him, his conduct had been
marked with honour and ability, and even though he (Mr.
Band) had respected him as an opponent, he felt a stronger
attachment to him as a friend.—( Hear.)
The business of the special meeting then commenced, and
resolutions in accordance with the wishes of the Directors, as
set forth in the circular, were proposed.
WILLIAM MARSHALL, Esq., of Penwortham, having taken
the chair,
J. C. HARTER, Esq., of Manchester, moved that a suitable
testimonial be presented Henry Houldsworth, Esq., in proof
of the high opinion entertained by the shareholders of his ser-
vices to the cotnpany.—( Cheers. )
DANIEL GRANT, Esq., seconded the motion.
After several gentlemen had spoken in support of the motion,
it was suggested that Capt. Laws was worthy of the considera-
tion of the Proprietors.
The motion for a Committee to prepare a testimonial to Mr.
Houldsworth then passed with loud cheers.
Mr. HouLDSWORTH acknowledged the good feeling with
which his services had been viewed by the proprietary.
Mr. BEDDOWES moved that a testimonial be presented to
Captain Laws, perhaps in the shape of 'some of the frac-
tional shares of the Company, as had been the case on other
railways.
The motion having been put from the chair passed.
Captain LAws briefly acknowledged the compliment,. arid
the proceedings terminated at twenty minutes past two o'clock

WEST LONDON.
A meeting of the Shareholders of this Company was held
A.behurch•lane, Mr.
yesterday, at the Company's Offices, 11,
Grounds, the Chairman of the Directors, in the chair. After
the usual formalities,
The CHAIRMAN rose to address the meeting. He said he
was vleased to meet the Shareholders under the improved
condition of their affairs. He was glad to say that they had
now got rid of nearly all their debts, there being only a few
claims remaining unpaid. With regard to the debenture debts,
the Directors had offered to pay them off at par, but so im-
proved had become the prospects of the Company, that only
one holder had taken advantage of the offer. After making
reference to the arrangements respecting the leasing of the

line to the London and Birmingham Company, which was to
come before a special meeting at two o'clock, the Chairman
concluded his observations.

The SECRETARY then read the report, which was principally
a congratulation of the Shareholders at the improved pros-
pects of the Company, and an expression of hope that the new
arrangements would still further advance the interests of the
Shareholders. It was stated that the receipts for the half-
year were 38,039/. lbs. 3id., and the whole since the beginning
256,7401. 3s. 7id. The disbursements up to the last general
meeting, in December. were 218,7001. 4s. 4d., and to the
present time 256.7401. 3s. 7id., the disbursements of the half-
year being 37,607/. lOi. 7d.
Mr. RIGBY moved the reception and adoption of the report.
In the course of his remarks, he said, the very great improve-
ment which had taken place in their affairs was attributable in
a great measure to the exertions of the Directors.
Mr. WHITE seconded the motion, and took occasion to refer
more particularly to the great exertions of Mr. Thomson, the
Secretary. It was, he was persuaded, that gentleman's exertions
which had saved it from ruin. He thought that some recom-
pense or testimonial of respect should be tendered to him for
his great and unremitting exertions.
11r. GuNTEIi bore testimony to the truth of the observations
of Mr. White respecting the value of Mr. Thomson'a labours,
and said had it not been for that gentleman's cheerful pro-
ceedings and encouragement, he should have thrown up his
shares in disgust long ago. He hoped some means would
be taken to testify the respect of the Proprietors to that
gentleman.
The resolution for the adoption of the report was then
unanimously agreed to.
_ _

Mr. WiriTE said, that as the business of th• meeting was
finished, and as two o'clock had not arrived, he would recal
their attention to the subject which had been previously re-
ferred to—that in reference to Mr. Thomson. He would move
that some suitable provision, annual or otherwise, be presented
by the proprietors to that gentleman, as a recompense for his
efficient services.
Mr. WHITE seconded the resolution.
Mr. TnomsoN said he was much gratified at the manner in
which his name had been received, With respect to any tes-
timony of respect in the manner named, he would suggest the
postponement of the matter till a future meeting, when the
whole affairs of the Company would be wound up, and placed
in their hands. That would be the proper time to discuss such
a proposition.
Mr. Golowric thought the resolution ought to be passed at
once. He had witnessed the great assiduity and spirit with
which Mr. Thomson had conducted the affairs of the Com-
pany, and he considered the resolution ought to be passed forth-
with.
Mr. RAY said he could not allow the matter to go by with-
out also bearing his testimony to the great ability and urbanity
with which he conducted the ordinary affairs of the Company.
The CHAIRMAN, in rising to address the meeting, said he
had never proposed a resolution with greater pleasure than the
present.
The resolution was then put, and unanimously agreed to.
Mr. THOMSON returned thanks in suitable terms.
SPECIAL MEETING.

The Proprietors then resolved themselves into a special meet-
ing, to consider the propriety of leasing the line, works, &c., to
the Loddon and Birmingham Company.
Air. CUEITT then moved that the line, works, &c., of the
Company be leased to the London and Birmingham Company
for 999 years.
After the reading of the agreement with the London and
Birmingham Railway Company on which the resolution was
founded, setting forth that the present Company should receive
one-fourth of all the gross receipts of traffic worked by the
engines and carriages of the former Company, and one-half the
proceeds of all traffic worked by the carriages and trucks of
private parties, the resolution was agreed to.
A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman and Board
of Directors, and the meeting separated.

THE CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.
(From the Dumfries Courier of Tuesday. )
A great deal of interest has been excited throughout Annan-
dale by the commencement of the works of the Caledonian
Railway. About the head of the valley of the Avon, huts to ac-
commodate 500 men are in the course of erection, as it is here
that the heaviest excavations on the line will be made. The
most of the workmen will be drafted from the Carlisle and
Lancaster line, as the Alessss. Stephenson are contractors for
both. Already several waggon-loads of shovels, spades, pick-
axes, &c., have arrived from Penrith. Lower down little has
been done as yet, save marking off the line, by placing wooden
pins in the ground at every little distance, making slaps in
fences, and cutting down a tree here and there to prevent
mistakes. Engineers after engineers have followed each other,
shifting pins backwards and forwards, which in some instances
eventually landed in their original holes. The line, after en-
tering Dumfriesshire, runs north-west to Ecclefechan, where
there will probably be a station at the distance of less than a
quarter of a mile from that village. This will be the nearest
point on the main line for the accommodation of the town of
Annan and the surrounding district. From this the line runs
west of Burnswark to Lockerby, passing right through the vil-
lage, crossing the street which leads to the hill a little below the
Free Church. It is supposed that the station here will be
close to that building. The line then runs up the valley of
the Annan, and comes upon the Edinburgh and Dumfries mail
road near Craigielands ; this road for some distance will be
taken up by the railway, and it is intended to join the road with
the Carlisle and Glasgow one about Kirkpatrick-Juxta
Church. It has not been fixed whether the station here will
be at Craigielands or Beattock, The line then runs up the
Avon valley, till it enters the wilds of Lanarkshire. A great
deal of money will, no doubt, be circulated in the district
during the progress of the works ; and in this tranquil rural
district a good deal of annoyance may be expected, as the
" navies" are not the most peaceable of her Majesty's subjects.
It is to be hoped that due precautions will be taken to prevent
riots about pay time ; and something like Donald Caird's
warning should be impressed upon all the good folks of Annan-
dale, as, although the workmen themselves are well paid and
want for nothing, a swarm of idlers generally attend them, who
are not very particular as to meum and tuum, and the blame of
whose ill deeds is often thrown on the innocent " navies."
Three of these gentry were lodged in the Dumfries gaol the
other day, having been detected in supplying themselves with
shirts just washed and laid out to dry, and all should re-
collect—

" Steek the awmrie, lock the kist,
Or else some gear will sune be mist."
It is understood that Mr. Hope Johnstone has contracted for
supplying the Company with railway sleepers to the tune of
10,0001., and that there is abundance of timber in the noble
woods of Raehills to supply double the quantity, or even more.
To no place on the line is this railway likely to do so much
good as to Moffat, from the facilities which railway travelling af-
fords to all, and especially to invalids, who may be, by-and .bye, ex-
pected to test the healing virtues of Moffat Well, and enjoy the
beautiful scenery and various attractions of this delightful wa-
tering-place, from all parts of England and Scotland ; while,
in course of time, the British and Irish Union may transport to
its quiet hills and waters many who are fretted with agitation
in the Emerald Isle.

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN
IRELAND.

The second number of the Oxford and Cambridge Re-
view, a periodical in the " Young England" interest, has
a leading article from which we make the following ex-
tract :

The scenes enacted even in the Petty Sessions Courts,
where " Church and State men" were rampant, would
scarcely be credited. We recollect ourselves once wit-
nessing the manner in which justice was dealt out, some
years previous to 1830 :—The bench consisted of three
magistrates, two of whom were always at feud ; the
third, who was the chairman, being also the rector of the
parish. A man entered the room, he had summoned
another for an assault, connected with that fruitful source
of litigation, the division of their land. The moment he
appeared, the gentleman who had granted the summons
opened his case. " Here," said he, addressing the par-
son, "is a poor, honest man, who has been very badly
treated by one of the greatest scoundrels in the parish."
" I would not," interposed the other lay Rhadamanthus,
" believe one word he would say or swear; for," said he,
turning to the parson, " I have every reason to believe
hint to be the paramour of two sisters." This abominable
charge the poor fellow most vehemently denied, without
being able to make any impression upon his accuser.
" He voted the right way at the election," whispered his
protector to the chairman ; " we must support him, take
his examinations." " Dismiss the case," said the other,
nudging his reverence. The parson, who was a very droll
and humorous man, and had church preferment to the
tune of some thousands a year, did not well know how
to act, as he was unwilling to dislodge either ; " I will
take the examinations," he said aloud, arid, turning to
his dissentient brother, he whispered, " I'll punish him
t ) his heart's content fur you." The complainant thanked
their honours, and was about to depart in triumph, when
the chairman addressed him. " Easy. my lad, not so
fast ; it is some time since I had the pleasure of seeing
you ; you owe me three years' tithe, and I have no
idea of allowing a man of your immorality to spend
my money in improper pursuits. Constable, put him
in the corner. Send for the proctor, until we
see exactly what he owes, and keep him until
he pays it." The man was taken, amidst roars
of laughter, from the spectators, who thought it
a capital joke ; he was put in the corner and kept
there too, until he paid every shilling which was de-
manded of him ; and we leave it to our readers to sup-
pose what opinion he must have formed of the justice of
the laws, and with what feelings towards the Church he
must have quitted the Court, when he was so illegally
and perhaps so unjustly fleeced for its support ; he was
quite aware that he had been treated in a manner which
the law did not justify, but at that time he knew that it
was hopeless to expect redress. This anecdote is
literally true, and similar occurrences were by no
means rare at the period when it took place. But
at length reform did reach the Church, ten out of its
twenty-two bishoprics were abolished, twenty-five
per cent. was struck from its rental, and its clergy-
men were removed from the administration of jus-
tice. And what has been the consequence of this re-
duction in her wealth ? in the diminution of her po-
litical power ? and in the number of her hierarchy ?
Why, that the duties of their station are at least as well
performed by the present limited number of her digni-
taries as they ever were by her more crowded bench ;
her livings have been divided, and, certainly, without
detriment to her efficacy, for the smallness of the in-
comes have not induced the scions of the aristocracy to
undertake duties for which they were unfitted, as
her sinecures and fat pensions formerly did ; and men
of humbler birth and better dispositions have been ad-
mitted and promoted, to the manifest advantage of their,
religion. Why, then, should we not persevere in a'
course which has been productive of so much good ? Why
should we not still further reduce the unnecessary staff?
Lord Grey, when introducing the Church Tempora-
lities Bill in 1833, stated—" Before the Church
Temporalities Act, each Bishop in England super.
intended 370,000 members ot. the Church, and
400 benefices ;in Ireland, 45,000, and 66 benefices' Ant
amount
0 pop and
u.
tt, ito benefices
eaect
present each Bishoptn liesitnanlcrlenlea-nfodurtithe
00
persons,
i 8
than
has to attend to, and one-
2eiiiceEnglish ;less
fourth of the benefices. Suppose the Irish bishops re-
duced to four, there would still be a m r numberll of
persons and benefices under the chargesa smaller
eacht
than
in England ; each Irish bishop would then have
250,000 persons, and 364 benefices. The see of Lin-
coln contained as many benefices as were in the
whole of Ireland." Now, may we not ask,
why this further reduction should not be carried into
effect ? Why should an overpaid Irish bishop be only.
required to attend to the spiritual instruction of 83,000
persons and 131 benefices, while an English bishop
has 370,000 members of the Church and 400 be-
rmes subject to his charge ? Things are at least as well
ordered since the duties of the Irish prelates have been
increased ; why not promote a still further amendment,
by giving them still more with which to occupy them-

selves. A reduction to the number of four would di-
minish the absurd disproportion of the Establishment to
the amount of the duties its hierarchy are expected to.
perform, and would allow the Church to be stripped
without detriment to its efficacy of a portion of those
temporalities, the possession of which have entailed
so much of odium and scandal upon it. But sup-
posing an excuse can be found for employment of the
number of bishops at the present moment belonging to
the Irish branch of the Establishment, in fact, that how-
ever limited the number subject to their jurisdiction, stilt
there are in reality persons whose religious instruction
they are called on to superintend, what justification can
be adduced for the payment of the members of the subor-
dinate grades of the clergy in whose favour no such pre-
text can be pleaded ? To pay a large sum to a bishop
for lending his aid to the salvation of a select fcw, may
be justifiable, for in Ireland a high value has always been
placed upon orthodox principles ; but to pay men for do-
ing nothing, to tolerate the employment of parsons where
there are neither churches for them to preach in, nor con-
gregations to avail themselves of their teaching, is a piece
of folly surpassing our comprehension. And to attempt
to continue this, too, in a country ruled over by an al-
most democratic form of government, in the face of a
population professing a different religious belief, of a mi-
serable peasantry from whose very vitals the support of
such an extravagance is wrung,* of able and influential
demagogues, who are capable of turning to their own
account every mistake made by their adversaries, and of
a Church which, though it has been pronounced to be
" without a religion," still manages to include within its
pale nine-tenths of the population which has struggled
with, and triumphed over adversity, and ROW stands
forth in the strength which persecution and poverty have
lent to its principles, willing and able, and eventually
destined, no matter what obstacles it may encounter, to
assume and maintain supremacy in the real sense of the
word, over any other form of belief with which it may
be brought into competition : not the ascendancy of
pounds, shillings, and pence, but that which can be alone,
with truth entitled ascendancy—the prevalence of its
principles amongst men, the influence of its doctrines
over the opinions of others.
But let us see what the present condition is of what
we think is rather facetiously called " the reduced Es-
tablishment" of that Church in whose temporalities so
many reforms have been already effected, reforms which,
even in the opinion of a not very friendly statesman,
were admitted to be " a heavy blow, and a great dis-
couragement to her principles." What proportion does
her wealth bear to her duties ? What the price which
the country pays for the instruction of each person
whose spiritual welfare she superintends. The follow-
ing summary of both is taken from the Daily Reporter,
May 23, and is, we believe, in all its statements per-
fectly correct. As regards its wealth and its duties, the
income of—

Archbishops and Bishoprics £151,127 12 4
Deans and Chapters
Glebe lands
Tithe composition
10,000 0 0 Ministers' money .

£807,533 12 4
Of the 2,348 parishes, 155 have no church, clergyman,
or Protestant Episcopalian ; 496 parishes have under 20
Protestant Episcopalians ; and 895 parishes have under
50 Protestant Episcopalians, including men, women, and
children. As so many parishes are without either a
church or a clergyman, 87 unions have been formed.
In Kilcooly, ten parishes are thrown together. In
13allymabill, there are nine parishes, one of which is
27 miles from the church. In the union of Burnchurch
there are fourteen parishes, three of them are at the
opposite extremities of the county of Kilkenny.
In the 1,385 benefices, there are 99 in which there are
not 20 Protestant Episcopalians ; 124 benefices, with
between 20 and 50 in each. The following table of
seven benefices may give some idea of the state of things
in different parts of Ireland :