Aug 



24,] 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



[1844. 



castle and Darlington, 1042/. 



Dover, 6517/. ; Sheffield and Manchester, 048/. ; York 

 and North Midland, with Leeds and Selby, 3310/. ; 

 Preston and Wyre, 597/. —The Great Western Company 

 held their half-yearly meeting at Bristol last week, Mr. 

 C. Russell, M.P., in the chair. This report stated that 

 the revenue for the half year exceeds that of the corres- 

 ponding period] in 1843 by 39,056/. 5s. Id., a consider- 

 able portion of which increase is to be attributed to the 

 greater length thrown open of the Bristol and Exeter 

 Railway. The receipts, however, on the Great Western 

 line itself, without difference of distance, have increased 

 to the extent of 24,137/. 5*. lid., the whole amount for 

 the half year being 299,443/. 7*. 6d. The expenditure on 

 the half year has been 127,235/. 4s. 2d., or 34.457 on the 

 receipts, a reduction from that of the preceding year. 

 Under these circumstances, the directors have ordered a 

 dividend of 3£ per cent, on the paid-up capital of the com- 

 panv, a balance of 4702/. 11*. Id. remaining to be carried 

 to the credit of the current half-year. The amalgamation 

 of the Cheltenham and Oxford lines with the Great 

 Western had been sanctioned during the session, and the 

 power of raising money on debentures obtained. The 

 works on the South Devon line had been commenced so 

 as to have 20 miles between Exeter and Newton ready in 

 the ensuing summer. The Bill for the Newbury line had 

 been rejected, mainly as it was supposed from the oppo- 

 sition of landowners, and the rival line from the 

 South Western had also been thrown out, coupled with a 

 declaration from the Lords that the Great Western pre- 

 sented the greatest public advantages. The Directors 

 would consequently renew their application for the line 

 in the next session, as also for a line to unite with the 

 northern ones at Rugby, and the prolongation of the 

 Trowbridge and Bradford branch to Frouie, Salisbury, 

 and Devizes. The University authorities had given 

 their consent to the former, and at meetings held at 

 Banbury and Oxford resolutions had been passed in its 

 favour. The line by Trowbridge, Bradford, and West- 

 bury, to Frome, and through Warminster to Salisbury, 

 was much required, for bringing a populous manufactur- 

 ing district into connexion with the metropolis, by means 

 of the Great Western. The traffic of the line would yield 

 six per cent., was easy and inexpensive, and would be 

 called the "Wilts and Somerset Railway." The directors 

 intended giving their support to the projected South 

 Wales, Cornwall, and Worcester and Wolverhampton 

 lines, and had agreed to take a lease of the latter at an 

 annual rent of 35,000/. This report was unanimously 

 adopted, and the dividend of 3± per cent, declared. — At 

 a meeting of the Norwich and Brandon Company last 

 week, it was resolved that the Directors be empowered 

 to construct a branch line to Diss and East Harding ; 

 and it was also resolved by a large majority that power be 

 given to the directors to enter into an arrangement with 

 the Norwich and Yarmouth Company for the amalgama- 

 tion of that company with the Norwich and Brandon. — 

 The new line of railway between Gravesend and Roches- 

 ter will be opened to the public, for the conveyance of 

 passengers on the 25th instant. It is laid down 

 on the level of the Thames and Med way Canal, 

 and consists of one line of rails, half the width of 

 the canal remaining for the traffic of barges, which 

 arc towed by a steamer, the line of road being laid upon 

 piles over the remaining half, and the towing path. The 

 line is upwards of six miles in length, nearly two of 

 which is a tunnel through the chalk hills to the terminus 

 at Fnndsbury, near Stroud. Gen. Pasley has examined 

 the state of the tunnel, and has expressed himself per- 

 fectly satisfied of its safety — At the meeting of the Ash- 

 ton, Staleybridge, and Liverpool Junction last week, the 

 Report stated that under the agreement entered into with 

 the Manchester and Leeds Company, prior to the appli- 

 cation to Parliament for the Act of Incorporation, the 

 Company was entitled at any time within three years 

 from the passing of the Act to sell, convey, and transfer 

 all their estates, &c, to the Manchester and Leeds Rail- 

 way. The latter Company had intimated their intention 

 of making a purchase of the undertaking, and it was 

 therefore proposed to pass a formal resolution authorising 

 the Directors to make the sale. The Report was adopted, 

 and a resolution adopted authorising the sale.— The 

 Grand Junction Company, in announcing a change of trains, 

 add, that " arrangements are in progress for attaching 

 second-class carriages to the fast trains, for reducing the 

 fares,and for adding a cheap train for the poorerclasses."— 

 On Sunday morning another cheap excursion train of ex- 

 traordinary length left the London-bridge terminus for 

 Brighton. The train consisted of 46 carriages, contain- 

 ing 1/10 passengers, and was propelled by four engines. 

 As early as 6 o'clock the office doors were literally be- 

 sieged it being announced that the train would leave at 



iat Tt*T n *-\°a tbe 8carcit y of carriages, the train did 

 and T«Z f 8 / xJ he train "tended foil half a mile, 



werekfthl- a 5 l** hUm * U ' Neariv 300 P ersons 

 X^ ^regular train 



train of 42 can?." £ c^^lSX™^"^'' 1 



S tarted from the station «*^™* JE^ 



the fare to and from Liverpool being 30,. each The 



passengers may return at the end of seven or ten days! 



and will have the opportunity of visiting several interest-' 



ing places in Lancashire, as well as in England and 



Scotland the fare to Glasgow being reduced to 5, 



Trip* to Wales and Ireland, as well as to Fleetwood 



will form part of the amusements for these holydays — 



The poor of Preston, to the number of 1000 were treated 



with a gratuitous trip to Fleetwood, on Monday week. 



The arrangements were made by the Temperance Excur- 



South-Eastern and forty for 20*., to benevolent individuals anxious to give a 



treat to those who were unable to treat themselves. 



»on Committee, and tickets .ere sold at the rate of, Sordine tu^c^^ 



IRELAND. 



Dublin.— The weekly meeting of the Repeal Associa- 

 tion took place on Monday. Mr. Dillon Browne, M.P., 

 was in the chair, and addressed the meeting at some 

 length on the Charitable Bequests Bill, which he de- 

 nounced in the most emphatic terms, and stated that if 

 the Irish members had exhibited the least opposition to 

 the measure, it would not have become the law of the 

 land. In the course of many interviews with Lord Eliot 

 on the subject, his lordship unequivocally stated that if 

 it were the wish of the Irish members, he would either 

 withdraw the Bill, or, at ajl events, postpone it. Mr. D. 

 O'Conneli said, that before the business of the day com- 

 menced, he had to move a resolution adopted by the 

 parliamentary committee, and which he was sure would 

 meet with the hearty concurrence of the meeting. He 

 then read a resolution of thanks to Mr. Smith O'Brien, 

 M.P., " for the services he has rendered to Ireland, not 

 only by hia powerful and unanswerable advocacy of the 

 rights of his country in Parliament, but for the still 

 greater benefits he has conferred upon us by his constant 

 and unremitting attendance upon this (the parliamentary) 

 committee. " The resolution was carried by acclamation, 

 and Mr. D. O'Conneli after handing in various remit- 

 tances read a letter from Mr. Wyse, M.P., acknowledging 

 a vote of thanks for his motion in Parliament respecting 

 the Jury at the late trials. In this letter Mr. Wyse 

 says : — * I earnestly wish it had been in my power to 

 have established some stronger claim to public gratitude 

 than the honesty but successless effort to vindicate trial 

 by Jury from even the suspicion of partiality, and an 

 attempt to obtain at least an inquiry into allegations 

 which, if true, as I believe them to be, go far to vitiate 

 the whole proceedings, and inflict a serious injury not 

 only on Mr. O'Conneli and his fellow sufferers, but on 

 the rights of all, and the cause itself of public justice. 

 These opinions I entertained, and entertain, and shall 

 never cease to say so, until met by some stronger argu- 

 ment than assertion, both in and out of Parliament." 

 Sir V. Blake then read a letter from Dr. M'Hale, arch- 

 bishop of Tuam, respecting a resolution for the more 

 extensive diffusion of his Irish translations. The arch- 

 bishop says, " Though I cannot but feel gratified by so 

 valuable a personal compliment, coming from a body 

 which reflects more of the national mind and feeling 

 than was ever yet concentrated in any Irish association, 

 my chief satisfaction springs from the growing attach- 

 'ment to our country, and its long neglected literature, 

 of which that resolution is a sure indication. To advo- 

 cate Irish rights, to stimulate Irish industry, to push 

 forward Irish enterprise, and to foster Irish education, 

 would still be an imperfect work without the cultivation 

 of the Irish language, still so generally spoken, than 

 which there is no European tongue more capable of 

 undertaking the historical treasures of antiquity. To 

 Mr. S. O'Brien my special thanks are due, who, by 

 introducing this subject entirely unsought, has given a 

 proof of his appreciation of the genuine language and 

 literature of Ireland. I am rejoiced that, far younger 

 than Cato, he is about learning the language of his 

 fathers. It requires, perhaps, not less moral courage 

 and vigour of mind to disentangle one's self from the fine 

 meshes of small and foolish anti-national fashions, than 

 it does to grapple with the more formidable difficulties 

 of anti-national misrule. It well becomes him to be the 

 foremost in asserting and cultivating the venerable lan- 

 guage of his country, whose ancestor stands out the most 

 prominent name in its dark annals, and to the celebra- 

 tion of whose reign, in achieving the freedom of Ireland, 

 the most precious specimens of its ancient literature 

 have been devoted." Mr. D. O'Conneli, jun., made 

 the usual report from the prison, stating that his father 

 was well and full of hope. A letter was read from 

 Mr. O'Brien to the secretary, desiring that the cor- 

 respondence which had taken place between him and 

 the secretary of the Agricultural Society, should 

 be read to the meeting. It appeared from this 

 that at the dinner of the Royal Irish Agricultural 

 Society on the 16th, the Earl of Erne, Vice President of 

 the dinner, introduced in the course of his speech a 

 strong political allusion, in violation of a fundamental 

 law of the institution. The passage of his Lordship's 

 speech which contained this allusion was as follows :— 

 " Improvements, and great improvements, had been 

 recently effected in the condition of the tenant-classes in 

 Ireland. He made the assertion fearlessly, for he was 

 in a position to vouch for its veracity. Great improve- 

 ments had, he repeated, been effected in their condition, 

 and by what agency, he asked, had these salutary changes 

 been brought about ? By whom were they effected but 

 by the landlords ? By what other agency could they be 

 effected? Surely it was not the large sums of money 

 which were collected from year to year, from month to 

 month, and from week to week, that could have done 

 this ? [The enunciation of this sentiment produced a 

 marKed sensation amongst the company— some cheered 

 loudly, others hissed and groaned, and amid loud cries 

 of « order, order, from all parts of the house, Mr. Smith 

 O Bnen, who was seated in the vicinity of the chairman 

 on the right hand side, rose from his chair and walked 

 out of the theatre. He was followed immediately by 

 Mr. Maher, Member for Tipperary, and both gentlemen 

 were cheered loudly by the greater number of those who 

 were sufficiently near them to observe their movements.] 

 Lord Erne continued his address unconcernedly, and 

 again repeated his conviction that it was to the resident 





salutary changes which he described as having taken pl«. 

 in the condition of the tenant classes. He would not W2 

 far as to say that there was no such thing in Ireland as * 

 bad landlord. There were of course good and bad amonest 

 them as there were amongst all classes in the communitr- 

 but this he would say that the great majority of the 

 Irish landlords were good." Lord Erne's reference to the 

 Repeal Association elicited immediately a letter from 

 Mr. Smith O'Brien to the Secretary, requesting to be in. 

 formed whether the Council sanctioned such language The 

 Council replied that, « Lord Erne having come forward 

 and expressed in the promptest and most handsome 

 manner his regret that any observations should have 

 fallen from him of a political tendency, and calculated to 

 offend the feelings of any member of the Society, and 

 which expressions were contrary to one of its funda- 

 mental rules, it was unanimously resolved— That it is a 

 matter of the greatest gratification to the Council that so 

 satisfactory an explanation has been given by the noble 

 Earl, retaining as they do the strongest conviction that 

 the security and prosperity of this great Society can be 

 only preserved by a complete abstinence at all its meet- 

 ings from allusions of a political tendency." Mr. S. 

 O'Brien acknowledged this resolution in a letter from which 

 the following is an extract :— " I trust that the prompt, 

 honourable, and explicit reparation which has been 

 offered by Lord Erne to those whose feelings may have 

 been hurt by his unguarded expressions will be deemed as 

 satisfactory by others as it is by me, and that this inci- 

 dent may prove serviceable, rather than injurious, to the 

 interests of one of the few national institutions in regard 

 of which Irishmen of every class, creed, and party are 

 enabled to co-operate for the common good of all." The 

 whole of this correspondence was ordered to be entered 

 on the minutes. Mr. Grattan, M.P. then addressed the 

 meeting, and spoke highly of the Agricultural Society. 

 Mr. D. O'Conneli also adverted to the Society, and 

 expressed himself perfectly satisfied with what had 

 occurred subsequent to the speech of Lord Erne, and 

 with his Lordship's frank and ingenuous admission of 

 his error. He then proposed a vote of thanks to their 

 chairman, Mr. R. D. Browne, for his patriotic conduct 

 at all times, but particularly during the late session of 

 Parliament, which was carried. The Rent for the week 

 was 1162/. 3s. 9d. — The Earl of Devon held an inquiry 

 under the Land Commission at Nenagh on Friday. The 

 Commission were to attend at Kilmallock, county 

 Limerick, on Tuesday, the 27th, and at Ennis on Wednes- 

 day. — A Report from the Drainage Commissioners states 

 that, although the Act has not yet been two years in 

 operation, 48,293 acres have been surveyed and reported 

 on, and measures devised for their improvement, in- 

 cluding works extending along 291 miles of river and 



and main drains. 



Cork.— On Wednesday week as H. M.'s steam-ship 



Stromboli, Lieut. Hon. E. Plunket, was on her passage 

 from Cork to the Shannon, she struck on a reef of rocks 

 at the mouth of Bantry Bay. She had a Gal way pilot on 

 board, not well acquainted with the Cork and Kerry 

 coast, to which the casualty is attributed. The guns, 

 ammunition, and stores, having been taken out of the 

 Stromboli and landed on Bear Island to lighten her, the 

 Tartarus and Hecate steamers broke their chain cables 

 on Friday in the effort to draw her off, but eventually 

 succeeded, and she returned to Cork. 



SCOTLAND. 



Aberdeen.— The Bishop of Aberdeen has just con- 

 cluded his triennial -visitation of his diocese, and the 

 number of confirmations this year has been most gratify- 

 ing to the well-wishers of the Episcopal Church of Scot- 

 land. The following table exhibits the numbers con- 

 firmed since last visitation :-Aberdeen m the three 

 years, 491; St. Andrew's, 100; St. Johns, 3d; St. 

 Paul's, once, 16 ; in all, C40. Je , , , 



Jedburgh.-O* the 15th inst, the church of St. John 

 the Evangelist was consecrated by the Bishop of Glas- 

 gow A long procession of clergy, in their surphces 

 Laded by four Scotch bishops, entered the church .when 

 the petition of consecration was read by Earl Talbot. 

 The service of consecration then commenced and morn- 

 inir oraver was chanted by a most efficient choir. The 

 efsonswere read by the Rev. Lord Henry Kerr and 

 Ar hdeacon Wilberforce. A sermon was preached t>y 

 the Rev. Dr. Hook, vicar of Leeds ; after which, the 

 communion was administered to the clergy •£•**» 

 bodv of laity. The offertory amounted to upwards oi 

 ml At evening service, the second lesson -as read by 

 the Rev. John Keble, at the conclusion of which, me 

 Rev W S. White, domestic chaplain to the Marchioness 

 of Lothian, was 'instituted to the incumbency of the 

 church by the Bishop of Glasgow, who delivered an ap 

 nronriate address. The sermon was preached by Arcu 

 En Wilberforce. Besides the Scotch ^clergy , a con- 

 siderable number of English clergymen attended the con 

 serration, among whom were the Hon. and Ker. John 

 Z Carles Gre g y, Rev. W. Dodsworth &c. The chur b, 

 which is of the decorative style, is said to be a perfect 

 development of the ritual of the reformed church, and is 

 admired for the beauty of its architectural arrangements. 

 In he windows are of stained glass ; the floor ,. inhud 

 with encaustic tiles ; the open benches are of oak and 

 beautifully carved. The altar, credence P««»*? d £* 

 and pulpit, are of stone, and were presented by Lady uo 



thian and the Queen Dowager. . 



Glasffow.-The Aberdeen and Inverness paper , g^e 



favourable accounts of the sport in the north, w*h which 



he reports from the moor-grounds at Ea^sham^Bam 



Portmark at the head of Loch Doon, and the Stew»rtry 



of Kirkcudbright, coincide. The accounts from keepers 



