The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-26 00:00:00

COURT cIRCULAR.

The Queen and Prince Albert, attended by the Equer-
ries in Waiting, took equestrian exercise yesterday morning,
in the riding-school near Buckingham Palace.
Her Majesty, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and the
Princess Royal, and attended by the Dowager Lady Lyttle-
ton, took an airing in the Regent's Park yesterday afternoon,
in a carrive And four. Celonel Buckley, Equerry in Waiting,
was in attendance.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert presided yesterday at a
meeting of the Commission tor Promoting ana Encouraging
the Fine Arts in the re-building the Palace of Westminster.
The meeting was held at Gwydyr House, Whitehall, at
half past two o'clock. The Prince arrived at that hour.
attended by Colonel Wylde, &perry in Waiting. The Corn •
missitners present were the Marquis of Lnnsdowne, Viscount
Palmerston, Lord Colborne, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Mr.
Henry Hallam, Mr, Thomas Wyse, and Lord Mahon.
The meeting broke up at live o'clock.
His Royal Highness Prince Alfred was taken an airing in
the Royal Gardens yesterday.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge visited Pi ince
Albert yesterday at Buckingham Palace.

The Countess of Dunmore has succeeded the Countess of
Mount Edgecumbe as the Lady in Waiting on the Queen.
The Earl of Morton has relieved the Marquis of Ormonde in
the duties of Lord in Waiting; and Mr. R. Ormsby Gore has
relieved Captain Meynell, R.N., as the Groom in 'Waiting on
her Majesty.
The royal dinner party yesterday, at Buckingham Palace,
included the Earl of Deuon, Viscount and Viscountess Can-
ning, Lord and Lady Stanley, Lord Glenlyon, the Right Hon.
George Dawson Darner, and the Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie
Courtenay.
The French Ambassador and the Danish Minister trans-
acted business yesterday at the Foreign-office.
The Earl of Devon had an interview with Sir Robert Peel
yesterday.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a meet-
ing yesterday afternoon, at the, office in Whitehall-place.
There were present the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop
of London, the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Hereford, the
Bishop of Lichfield, the Bishop of Llandaff, the Bishop of
Norwich, the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of Worcester,
Lord Ashley, the Right Hon. H. Hobhouse, and the Dean of
Westminster.

Mr. John Browne had an interview with Lord Stanley
yesterday, at the Colonial-office.
A deputation from the North Wales Railway, consisting
of Mr. Ormsby Gore, M.P., Chairman, Sir John Rennie, Mr.
Chadwick, Mr. Archer, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Williams,
transacted business yesterday, at the Railway Department of
the Board of Trade.

Dispatches from the Governor of the Mauritius were re-
ceived yesterday, at the Colonial-office.
Dispatches were also received yesterday from the Governor
of the Ca* of Good Hope.

CORNWALL AND DEVON CEN-
TRAL RAIL W AY.

Yesterday a special general meeting of the Shareholders
in the Cornwall and Devon Central Railway was held at the
Offices of the Company, in Old Broad-street, for the purpose
of considering what steps should now be taken, the Board
of Trade having reported against the line.
Mr. TURNER, M.P. for Truro, occupied the Chair, and in
opening the business of the meeting the Hon. Member di-
rected the attention to the adverse Report of the Board of
Trade, and told the Proprietors that it was for them to de-
termine what was the best course to adopt for the general
interest of the Company. He would not detain them with a
long speech, but at once request their secretary, Mr. T.
Harvey, to read the report which had been prepared for the
occasion.

The report commenced by stating that the standing orders
relative to the deposit of plans were only complied with on
the day on which the adverse opinion of the Board of Trade
was made known to the public; and this had rendered it im-
possible for the Directors to lay before the Proprietors the rela-
tive advantages of this and the Cornwall coast- line. Previously,
to this time, however, a suggestion was made that a confer-
ence should be had with the competing line, to see if their
Parliamentary opposition against the coast-line could not be
got rid of. Accordingly it was proposed by the Cornwall
and Devon Central Railway Directors that the coast-line
from Falmouth to Bodmin be abandoned, and the central
line substituted, but the Directors of the coast-line declined
to entertain the proposition. A petition had been presented
to the House of Commons against the coast-line, on the
ground that they had not complied with the stand-
ing orders of the House ; but should this oppo-
sition be attended with success, the Committee recommended
that the application to Parliament for leave to construct
their line should be postponed till next session. But, if
otherwise, the Committee thought it advisable to go to Par
liament at once for power to make so much of the line as
extended" from Falmouth to Bodmin, in order that they
might be in a position to support the. coast-line. The
capital to be disposed of amounted to 18,7501., being three-
fourths of the originally estimated capital for that portion of
the line of 500,000/. The Committee felt strongly that the
decision of the Board of Trade was manifestly unjust. Such
a decision could not have been carried out if they had not
misapprehended the facts, for in many instances the
gradients of the coast-line had been found to be totally
false. The report proceeded to lay before the meeting the
state of the Finance Committee. The present liabilities of the
Committee amounted to upwards of 9,0001., and the assets
including certain deposits to 27,000/. The Finance Com-
mittee had examined the accounts, and they recommended
that the sum of 7s, be deducted from the paid-up capital, to
enable them to meet their liabilities; and if application were
to be made for/ the Bodmin line, they recommended a fur-
ther deduction to the extent of 7,000/. If, however, the
meeting thought it advisable not to proceed to Parliament,
the Committee would take immediate steps to return the
balance of deposits.
_

The report having been adopted,
Mr. HAZLEWOOD said he understood a great many Share-
holders had not paid their deposits, and he wished to be
informed if they were not responsible for the amount.
Mr. TILLY, the Solicitor to the Company, replied in the
affirmative.

Mr. linnuarr suggested that the names and addresses of
those who had failed to pay up their deposits should be
published. _ _

Tne CHAIR3fAN said if they were to do so, they would be
laying themselves open to an action for libel.
Mr. HEMMETT thought it was exceedingly unjust these
defaulters should be allowed to creep out of their liabilities.
He certainly thought his suggestion ought to be adopted to
prevent other Companies allotting them shares.
Mr. HOLLAND submitted the following resolution for the
consideration of the meeting :—" That in the opinion of this
meeting, every subscriber to this undertaking. may withdraw
his deposit on condition of his forfeiting 7s. per share, as his
portion of the expenses incurred up to this day."
Mr. Wnsorr seconded the motion.
After some further discussion the resolution was put and
carried.

The CHAIRMAN then proposed that they should make an
offer to the coast-line to abandon their opposition, on condi-
tion of their transferring to them 1,750 shares, and adopting
the central line from Falmouth to Bodmin.

Mr. TILLY strongly resisted the proposition, declaring
that the Cornish people were averse to any other line than
the Central Railway. The Company, he said, had nothing to
do with the opposition. The petition was certainly signed by
Mr. Harvey, the secretary, but he had done so on behalf of
several shareholders in the country.
A stormy discussion ensued, and Mr. Tilly resigned his
office of solicitor to the Company, and declared his determina-
tion, on principle, not to shrink from the opposition.
The Chairman, Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Hemmitt were then
appointed to wait upon the committee of the coast-line, and
endeavour to make terms, it being understood that, if none
could be made, the Company were to proceed with the op.
position.

A vote of thanks was then awarded to the Chairman, and
the meeting broke up, after a protracted sitting, extending
upwards of lour hours.

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

Ye. tmlay a Court of Aldermen was held for the
dispatch of busine,s.

The first matter of interest which came before the
Court was the case of Mr. Knill, who, after his election
as Common Councilman for the Ward of Billingsgate,
had declined to take, when required, the oath of ab-
juration,.

- Tile TOWN CLERK intimated to the Court that he bad
r,.w,ivc:d a communication from Mr. Kutli, dt-clario::,- his
intention to attend in his piece in the Court of Common
Council ou Thursday next. On this intimation Mr.
Kull], was excused from further attendance in the pre-
sent Court of Ald.rmen; but
Mr. KNILL to address a few words
to Ve Court. Ile saiii decay taken hi.;
the Court of Common Couticii, alai had subserib, at two
of the oaths which had been tendered to him on two
previous elections. It was only at the last wardmote
that the obnoxious oath of abjuration had been tendered
to him, which he had conscientiously refused to take.
He had, however, to take and subscribe the oath pre-
scribed to be taken by persons who, like himself, were of
the Roman Catholic persuasion ; but it appeared that
neither the alderman of the ward, nor the ward clerk,
knew anything about it. He (Mr. Knill) could not but
complain that he had been dragged before the public iu
this matter, and been made the subject of comment in
the newspapers, as having refused to serve the office to
which he had been re-elected.

A long discussion followed, from which it appeared
that there was no uniform practice subsisting in the
City with regard to the administration of the Roman
Catholic oath to Members elected to the Commoß
Council.

Mr. KNILL having withdrawn,
The Lt_RD MAYOR announced to the Court that he
had appointed the Rev. the Lord Bishop of Peterbo-
rough and the Rev. Dr. M'Caul to preach the Spital
sermons for the present year.