The Express. — London, England, 1847-02-26 00:00:00

Zbe eoun. The Queen will hold a privy council to-morrow 18aturdaylafternonn, at three o'caoek,at Buckingham Palace. The royal dinner party at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening i eel udeather Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent,the Duchess of Sutherland, their Excellencies Prince and Prinene Callimaki, their Excellencies Monsieur and Madame Van de Weyer, Lord John Thlatitll, the Earl Spen cer, Lady Fanny llCward, Baroness de Speth, Lord and Lady Charles W eVealey. Lord Marcus Hill, and the Right lion. Sidney and Mrs. Herbert. Yesterday morning her Majesty and her Ituyal Consort look their usual early walk. Ilia Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge visited the Queen and Prince Albert yesterday. The Duke of Northumberland had an audience of her Majesty yesterday at Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out on horseback yester day, attended by his Equerry in Waiting, Ca; .talc the Hon. A. H. Gordon. Their Royal Highueswai the Prince of Wales, l'rinee Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Prince*. Alice took their accustomed walks and rids, yesterday. The Queen and Prince Albert honoured with their presence, lost evening, the performance at Her Majesty's Theatre, for the bauetit of the Fund for tne distressed trash and Secteb. Wednesdav was the birthday of the Duke of Cambridge. fiin Royal Highna o Prince Albert paid a visit to the Royal Duke at Cambridge House. Many of the nobi lity and gentry called during the tiny and left their names for his Royal Highness. In the evenne. the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, accompanied by Prince Frederick of Hesse, dined with her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester nt Gloucester House. Hcr Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited the Duchess of Catribrulge yesterday. The name of Mr. Ewart, M.P., was accidental' v emitted in the list of company present at her Majesty's levee en Wednesday. The Chancellor of the Exchequer rind Lord John Russell, accompanied by the Lords of the Treasure, the Secretaries of the Treasury, and also by Mr. J. B. fiesta, the Governor of the Bank of England, and the Deputy Governor, received a number of tapitalissi of the City of Loudon, yesterday morning, at the Treasury, on the subject of the terms and conditions of the new loan of eight millions The Commissioners of Railways, the Right Hon. Edward Strait, Earl Granville, Sir Edward Ryan, and Major Brandreth, accompanied by the Inspector of Rail ways, Captain Coddington, visited the great Western Rail way yesterday. 'f he Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a meeting yesterday. The Marquis of Lansdowne and Earl Grey left town yesterday for Cambridge. A Deputation of the Committee of the Spanish Bondholders Association, consisting of the chairman, Mr. Dempster limning, and Mr. Henry Chard, had an interview with the Earl of Clarendon yesterday, at the office of the Board of Trade. Major 11. L. Playfair had an interview yesterday with the Earl of Clarendon. A Deputation from a meeting of the Railway Interest, consisting of Mr. Hudson, M.P., Mr. Russell, M.P., Mr. Glyn, Mr. M'Gregor, Mr. Saunders. Mr. Swift, Mr. Ellice, and Mr. Mangles, had an interview on Wednesday with the Right Hon. E. :gnat. Despatches were sent off last evening from the Colonial Office, for the Governor of the Mauritius. CILLNICELLORSHIP OF CAMBRIDGE.-TIIE ELECTION. The election of a Chancellor for the University of Cambridge, in the room of the late Duke of Northumber land, commenced yesterday. At a quarter before ten the doors of the Senate house were opened, and shortly after wards the galleries were completely tided by the undergra. duates, who amused thcinselves by cheering and groaning in their usual vociferous attic. At ten o'clock the Vice-Chan. cellor (who was received with loud cheers) entered the Se nate-house, and took his station at the table, and, with the L waroetors and the junior doctor in divinity present, in scrutiny. The Rev. R. Birkett, of Emma nuel, and Mr. Mills, of Pembroke, acted as asses sors for Prince Albert ; end Dr. Snowball, of St. John's, and Mr. Cookson, of St. Peter's, for Earl Powis. The proceedings were commenced by one of the beadals read ing the 33rd statute of Elizabeth. The Vice-Chancellor then gave his woe (for Prince Albert), rant the senior Proctor (Earl Pools), and thea the junior l'roctor (Prince Albert) ; after which, the votes of the members of the Senate generally were received. The votes are written on a card, which the voter delivers to the Vice-Chancellor, who, hav ing read it aloud, drops it into a box, which stands before him, having too divisions, one labelled " For Prince Albert," the other " For Earl Powis." Amongst the earliest voters for H.R.H. Prince Albert were the Bishops of Norwich, Ely. and Hereford, the Mar. quis of Exeter, Lord Pdonteagle, Sir J. Herschel', and tha Right Hon. H. Goalburn. . . The poll for the first three hours was strongly in favour of Earl Powis. Thus, at 12 o'clock the numbers were—Prince Albert, 148 ; Earl Powis, 214; showing a majority of 86. By a quarter to one o'clock this majority had increased to 82, the numbers being—for Prince Albert, 219; for Earl Powis, 301 ; when the polling ceased till evening : it recommenced at 8 o'clock, p m., continuing until 9, for the convenience of non.reddent members of the Senate. The train, which seri.' at Cambridge from London at 10 minutes before eight, brought down a great number of graduates. The Senate-house was divided into two compartments, and it was so arranged that those who voted for the Prince turned to the left on entering the hall, whereas those who gave the preference to Earl Powis took the opposite direction. Each party was lustily assailed by the supporters of the rival candidates, and as warmly cheered by friend Language would fail to convey the excited state of feeling which prevailed during the last hour. The Senate-house was a complete Babel, and had it not been that the election was conducted by means of written papers, it would have been impossible for the scrutineers to hove caught the name of the candidate for whom the votes were tendered. At length 9 o'clock arrived, and there was a general rash to the committee rooms to ascertain the state of the poll. Hundreds sought to obtain admission into close rooms, into which thirty persons would have with difficulty found admission. Urgent claims were made upon the clerks for immediate returns, but most of them were pressed up into corners of the room, from which they were unable to extricate themselves. After consider able delay it was ascertained that the committee made the following returns : By Prince Albert's committee, H.R.H. Prince Albert Earl I'owia 17 By Earl Powis's committee, Earl Pawls H.R.H. Prince Albert Majority for Earl Towle 8 These declarations led to the most indescribable confusion. Nothing definite could be arrived at, nor is there any chance et the difficulty being cleared up until to-morrow morning. Both parties are in the highest degree sanguine of success. Although special trains to and from London were running all day, upwards of 1,000 persons presented themselves at the station to be conveyed to London by the nine o'clock train, upwards of 30 carriages being called into requisition. Our Cambridge correspondent says ,—"The greatest excitement prevails in the University. Every train continues to bring up a large number of non-resident voter'. The general impreosion is, that however the contest may eventually end, the majority will he but small. A feel ing of disappointment prevails amongst a great number of the non-resident members of the senate, who, presuming from the Prince's reply to the memorial that there would be no opposition to Lord Posit, promised their vote, to his lordship's committee. The Master of St. John's having circulated a printed copy of a private letter, addressed by the Master of Trinity to a member of that college, the hitter bu issued the following explanation: TRINITV Lino, bus. 24, It47.—The Master of St. John's having printed and eireulated a private letter of mine addressed to a mem ber a this college, lam compelled to state, in es planation of the es proisions there used, that Lord Powis's failing to comentudcate lathe acting ottiwrs of the Univetwity his Intention when he had declared himself a candidate for the Once of Chancellor, his not enabling them to comniunicste with hbn in lew than sin days alter that time, and his giving in reply to their communication no .R.llWer but the resolution of a committee, Antibes the expressions there mild.— The following is the letter alluded to by Dr. Whewell : Trinity Lodge, Feb. 23, ISl7.—My dear Sir: I hope you will glee us the benefit of your vote in favour of Prime Albert on one chnnorllnr. In biro we stub hoer powerful protection, sympathy In our studies, and freedom from polit ica l arty. In Lord Powis we should only lure • Chancellor of St. John's; for the emiduct of his Mends, in whose hands he hoe entirely plated himself, has estranged the acting Put of the rest of the university from him altogether.—l em, dear sir, yours veq trrily, W. W.W.I, ThiA turmal attempt to represent the present contest for the ciao rellorship as a striimrle between colleges, I. unjust wad unprecedented. That it is not so nmoded by the great nisjmity of the Senate, may be inferred from the list of lord Powis's committee In London, which contains about forty Trinity names; and the result of the poll will clearly thew how Moving a sympathy with Lord Fowl, is entertained *thin every en legs. It. T \TRIM. Mader of R. John's College, St. John's I edge, Feb. 23, 1347. The Marque e . of Laa.downe, Earl Grey, and the Bishops of Lincoln and Norwich, voted for Prance Albert in the course of the morning, and left for London by the three o'clock train. Amongst the votes for Lord Powis was Sir Lancelot Sbadwell. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. CORrORATION OF LONDON REFoll3l.—Yesterday, the coraMttee of the whole court assembled in the Council Chamber for the purpose of receiving the report of the sub committee on the subject of the privileges of the court. Deputy PEACOCa in the chair. The minutes of the pro- Qediags of the last committee having been read, several members declared that they did not perfectly understand the Roaition in which they stood, or the exact nature of the ques tion by which the Ceurt of Common Council was agitated, and that it was therefore =emery that they should be in. formed by legal authority. Mr. ASHrIiST immediately brought up the report of the sub-conunittee, which stated as follows: " Ist. That hi order to prevent the delay of public business, it is expedient that the election of officers should be proceeded with at the next mart, prior to the discussion of any other questions. 2. That the corporation requires to be reformed, which ion only be done by the aid of parliament, and for th a t purpose we recommend that it be referred to us (the nib-committee) to prepare such a bill for each reforms sad alterations as we may see fit, the Nose when prepared to be submitted to this committee for consideration." The sub committee were, he raid, influenced to recommend three two resolutions by adequate reasons. It would be men, from statements contained in several journals, that Mr. Bullock, the judge of the Sheriff's court, had declined to preside in that court in consequence of the fact that his up pointment had not as yet taken place in the Court of Com mon Connell. Now at the present moment Mr. Bullock happened to be performing his duty in the very seat which he had been represented :is having refused to occupy. The report had evidently been manufactured to pre judice the court by an implication that the mem bers were interfering with the course of public justice. That the question which the member required to be put from the chair was a lawful que-lion there could be no doubt, and there MRS no assembly that would not approve of the measures adopted by them to accomplish their meet reason able object. (Hear, hear.) They had endeavoured to assert their r!ght to freedom of discussion. They had the right; but it •es evident they hail not the power to carry it into effect. It would be therefore for this court, after the elec. Lion of floe officer., to take the necessary steps by applying to vehement to reform the corporation, and put an end to the obstinacy to which they had Seen subjected by enlarging the numbers and powers of the constituency. It would be de sirable that both branches of the corporation should agree iu their views upon so important a subject, but if the Court of Aldermen persisted in the course they had been pur. suing, a separate application could be made to the legisla ture. The citizens of London had long been of opinion that reform was indispensable. The constituency was limited to persons who were compelled to take out their freedom by the tenor held over them that they should not carry on businras except upon ouch condition. The Court of Common Council had done all they could to prevent the poor man from being oppressed by the obligation to pay for that which the rich man, as was . proved by the judicial opinion of the R ecor d er , was justified in repudialog. In other respects, the Court of Com mon Council hail nsonifested an earnest disposition to reform itself. Of the Court of Aldermen he could not say that a similar anxiety existed amongst that body. They had lately testified their disposition to reform by carrying Alderman Humphery's motion for a committee, aa a preparatory Insp. and then refusing to advance another step. (Hear, hear.) They admitted that the necessity for reform existed, and one of them (Alderman Wilson) declared with a great deal of propriety, that the court of which ho was a inember was a disgrace to the corporation, and that it must be reformed. (Hear, hear.) It wool Ibe seen by their fellow-citizens that the actions and intentions of the two courts had been essentially different, and that in order to eff,ct the changes which time and circumstances impera tively ca"A for, recourse must he had to the aid of Parlia ment. (Hear, hear.) Again, he hoped for the co-operation I of the old: rmen, but if the acquiescence of that body could not be obtained, the other members of the corporation would not be at a loss for the requisite facilities. Mr. LtWHENCE said that, however undeniable the right of the Common Council was, they had not the power to enforce that right, and they ought, certainly, to do all they could to prevent the public from se ffering in consequence of any act of theirs. There had appeared in the newspapers a misrepresentation as to the sitting of the judge of the she riff's court. The Common Council were charged with haying been the cause of postponmest of business. If any delay took place, the blame lay upon the Lord Mayor, and not upon them. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Lawrence) was for going to parliament to effect that which it was evident they could not accomplish themselves. He was anxious to get the co-operation of the Aldermen. He would be willing to make • sacrifice to obtain the consent of the whole body. By a conference with a deputation of the Court of Aldermen, a system of reform might be produced calculated to effect the moot beneficial changes. It was well known that a large number of the Aldermen agreed with the Common Council in the opinion as tc the necessity :or reform, so that it might be no difficult matter to arrive at a proper understanding on the question. The Courtof Common Council had no notion of interfering with the magistracy of the City. (Hear, hear.) Believing, then, that the Common Council, though possessed of the right which they load endeavoured to assert, were not a-med with the power to enforce it, he thought it would be advisable to proceed to the election of officers the moment the Court should be formed. Several members spoke in favour of the first resolution, as it stood, unconnected with the second, in the report, and expreoeed a wish that the consideration of the second reso lution should be postponed. Mr. Atomism was decidedly for !agreeing to the report, embodying, Lit did, the two resolutions. Mr Butts advised that the latter portion of the report which referred to an application to parliament, be postponed, in order that the opinion of the law oflicers should be taken on the question; and he moved an amendment to that effect. Mr. KING seconded the amendment. The amendment was negatived by a large majority. Mr. T. H. HALL then moved that the first resolution be put, and that the second be postponed for future considera tion, as being a subject of too gr.tve importance to be hurried over. Mr. Harrison seconded the amendment. A great deal of confusion took plat: at this stage of the businees of the committee, so that it became extremely dif ficult to ascertain the exact state of the question. The Lord Mayor was announced, and his lordship entered with the sword-hearer and mace-bearer, and the business of the com• mittee necessarily was at an end. As our reporter was able to collect from those around him, the committee adopted the reeommtmdation to proceed in the court to the election of the officer:, and postponed the latter part of the report of the sub-committer.. A court was held immediately after the committee of the i whole court broke up. There was a large attendance of aldermen as well as of commoners —Mr. Wine, when it was moved that the pressure of business which related to the election of the officers (and no other business), be proceeded with, rose to state his reasons for agreeing to allow the election of the officers to take precedence of all other matters. —Alderman SIDNEY mid, that if Mr. WIEE's reasons were listened to, the demand of every other member to be heard on the same subject could not be rejected.—Mr. Wins said he had no notion of obstructing public business, and would not give any person a pretence that such was his intention. I lie consented to the precedence of the election, relying upon the independent anti honorable support of the court, in adopting such steps as would put them in a right position by going to parliament. The court proceeded to the election of the officers. Some conversation took place upon the motion for the election of Mr. Bullock to the office of Judge of the Sheriff's Court, and it was argued that much inconvenience was [Mai to arise from the annual election of a judicial officer. fhe court agreed in the opinion that the learned gentleman should be chosen "guantelitt re beta gesserit," and he was accordingly appointed for so long a time as he should act properly in the office. As the court proceeded to the election of the other officers, some of the members took occasion to refer to a railway action in which one of their officers was concerned, and to condemn any connexion with speculations of the kind, at the same time that they cast no Imputation upon the honour or integrity of the gentleman to whom they a _ _ CHARGER AOAIXBT THe latan SOCIETY.—The mayor of Londonderry and a deputation front the corporation of that place attended to present a petition, complaining of the inannerin which the Irish Society had discharged its duties and trusts towards the county of Londonderry generally, and the city of Derry in particular, and praying that the court would secure to the petitinnen their independence and just rights, by restoring the lands and fishing% intended for the use of the citizens of Deny, and direct such an allocation of the funds of the society de rived from other sources, as might render their city worthy of its foundation, and its connexion with the city of London.—Alderman Ilumphery, in moving thatthe petition be read, said that it contained grave charges, which the society could completely disprove. He wished that the greatest facilities should be granted to the gentlemen who attended as petitioners, and that every attention should be paid to them by the court. tie Dished that their own time might be appointed for the consideration of the case, and he exorcised ha conviction that the Irish Society would prove satisfacterily to the court that they had acted towards Lon donderry in the true spirit of liberality, at the same time that he admitted the petitioners had some reason to complain. Some conversation took place on the subject of the most advisable mode of proceeding, and it was at last determined that counsel should be heard at the bar of the court a month hence, on any day which might he consi dered convenient to the petitioners. The Conn of Common Council will act judicially upon the occasion. We omit the details of the petition, which, as the Recorder observed, was the first presented during the lad 200 years against the Irish Society until the answer shall have been given. J Mr. J . WOOD gave notice that be should, at the neat court, move that the third reading of the qualification hill be put. (Hear, hear.)—The Lord Mayor said he did not know that he could accept that notice of motion.—Mr. W. Jones intimated that he should move, on the occasion, the re-committal of the bill. The court then broke up. ST. MART LAMBETH AND THE COMMISSIONERS or Szwins.—Last evening a meeting of the inhabitants of the pariah of St. Mary, Lambeth, was held in the vestry room, Mr. Churchwarden Bolt in the chair, to oppose the bill before parliament for extending the juris diction of the commissioners of sewers for Surrey and Kent, and to adopt other measures for the protection of the rste payers' interests. Mr. O'Grady explained the nature of the bill and its objects. He said that it would extend the juriv diction of the commissioners of towers over iVandsworth, Claphawoomnson, and in that direction to the Timm at Greenwich, exclusive of the fifteen parishes of Lambe& • depotatium was appointed to wait upon the commissions of highways sad the inhabitants of the other tourism paddhoy for the purpose of inducing them to unite in sa spraddaa to the proposed bill, and in an effort to wake ilts eseads. sioners of sewers a representative body, responsible to tb• rate-payers for the public fonds confided to their care. CHARING-CROPS BRIDGE COMPANY. —The half yearly meeting of the proprietors of this company was held yesterday, at the offices of the company, No. 9, Villiers street, Strand, for the purpose of receiving the directors' re port of the proceedings of the carnally, for the half-year i ending 31st of January last. Mr. W. Hawes, the deputy chairman of the company, in the chair. The chairman mid, that legal proceedings had lately commenced against this company. The question in dispute between the two parties had, however, been considerably narrowed by the directors of the Bridge Company undertaking to admit, under certainly difficult and complicated arrangements, the steam-boat passengers to land upon the float, and so on to the bridge, without the removal of the line of barges which connect that float to the wharf. It was clear that in doing so the company were exposed to great evasion of the tolls by persons passing along the barge, on to the float up the steps, and so on to the bridge. If the passengers were admitted free to the steam boats, some mode of identi fication should be instituted, by which the toll collectors of the bridge should be enabled to know who were really steam boat passengers, and entitled to pare free. In consequence of the difficulties which had arisen in borrowing money for the completion and finishing of the bridge, a sum of between three and four thowand pounds being required for that pur pose, it was considered necessary to meet that additienal espewar by charges upon the receipts of the company. Fur Una reason the director. did not feel justified in proposing a larger dividend than 2 per cent. upon the half veer s nding the 31st of January. The report wan then read, and, after an unimportant discussion, the tut sting *lT:anted. PROVIDENT CLERKS' MUTUAL BEN EFIT ASSOCIA TION.—The sixth annual meeting of the friends of this um nation was held last evening, at the Linden Tavern, John Abel Smith, Esq., presiding. The secretary read the report of the directors, of which the following is an abstract : The managers had great pleasure in statute, that the solemn: of patronage previously announced bad, during the pan year, teen not only maintained hot also increased. The report recommended to the meeting that two additional annuitants be sleeted during the present year: the one to be a member, and the ether the widow el a member. In 1840, the sum of 7151. had beeu lent to members in sum s varying from lot, to 2 ;1., and ninny Instances had come before the managers, in which .01 aid had keno( the weanst service. The report alluded to the continued gratuitous aisle° of the rue heal tankers in London, and of the honouralde conduct of many of the movincial ineetcal referees. The balance sheet showed that the MA of 1,4211. It,. ed. had been received during the post year for the benevo lent fund, and that after pump all I KEW A, Ul,ll, remained a sur plus of 41.51. Os. 05. sin the year's account. Mr. Mark Boyd proposed the adoption of the report. The report having been adopted unanimously, Mr. Maitland moved, and Mr. Hudson seconded, the resolution for the election of two new annuitants. After which, thanks were voted to the chairman and secretary, auditors, and the officers of the society. ' SALE OF RENTERS' SHARES IN THEATRES.— Yesterdsy, the following shares in the Theatre Royal Drury-lane, were dis of by auction, by Mr. Lovell, at the auction-mart. he first lot consisted of two MO/. Reuter's shams. They entitled the possessor to the privilege of a free admindon, which was transferable, and to a charge on the theatre of Is. 3d. per night, during every night it was open for performance. The sum paid on them last year was 31. 10.. Bd.; as transferable they respectively realised three guineas per annum. They were sold for 621. each. The next lot consisted of five 1001. proprietor's shares, all paid-up, and subject to no further liability. There were no return, upon them, but the holder of them was eligible to be returned on the committee of management. 'they fetched 101. There were three other :imilar lots, each of which went for 91. 10.. Mr. Lovell also put up for sale a 500/. renter's share in the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. It entitled the possessor to a free admission (that for the present season having been sold), was held for a term of nearly 50 years, and the sum of 12/. 10s. was paid on it annually. Tne auctioneer stated that there was a prospect of a great increase in the value of these shares. The first offer for it was 1501., when, after an active competition, it was knocked down for '20.11. THE POST-OFFICE DIRECTORIES. SIR, Every person acquainted with the subject must admit that roue com• meets on the publication called the Post Office Directory, in your paper of this day, are perfectly just. But, among other omissions, you notice that of the South Western Rail way from the Conveyancing Directory. Are you aware, sir, of the cause of this omission ? This directory professes to give a great deal more information than the publishers of it endeavour to furnish. If I look into a banking, a convey ance, or an insurance Directory, I expect to find therein in formation touching all establishments for either object in the metropolis that have any pretension to respectability. And if some are purposely emitted, I am imposed on, and likely to be misled. The purchaser, of this costly and bulky spub lication ought to be made aware that they will find in it no notice of public bodies (and those not the least respectable) who are unwilling to submit to the annual payment of a , sum for that for which the price charged would amply re munerate the publisher. To persona engaged in business, like myself, this publication is • nuisance, for it has stopped that others which, while they existed, were far more con venient and leas costly. A few years back the price of the Commercial or Post-office Directory war is. or 65., bound in a convenient form for use. It contained all that was required in a merchant's counting-house. But now, to obtain es much, less conveniently arranged, a great deal that is use less must be taken, and, at the lowest charge, at more than double the cost of the old Directory.—X. POST-OFFICE NEWSPAPER READERS,—Sir,—I have been a subscriber to your paper from the day of its com mencement. Previously a daily newspaper was an expensive luxury, and beyond my means. The Daily News has be come to me, if not one of the necessaries of life, certainly one of its great comforts. To be baulked of its due delivery is, therefore, a serious privation • and it is about this that I would trouble you lathe or dinary course the paper should be delivered to me by the post at seven in the evening, and it is only after that hour that my occupations admit of an hour's reading. Frequently it is brought to me on the morning after it is due ; a few day. since one so deli vered had been torn open and hastily crumpled and rolled up, and tied with a piece of cord. Yesterday's paper came not at all. To-day's hoaduly arrived. As it may be impossible to discover which of the post-ollice officials it is who makes so much more free than welcome with his neighbour's pro perty, perhaps you will allow me, through your valued columns, to present my compliments to the gentlemen, and to assure him that he shall be quite welcome to the loan of the paper early the next morrow, if he will send for it ; and I hope he will consider this a fair compensation for his kind num in letting it run its course in future.—E. F., Renshaw street, Liverpool. A SEASONABLE. SUBSTITUTE FOR BERLIN WORK.— Sir,—Whilst the daily papers bear noble testimony to the generous sympathy of the English nation for the over whelming diotreee in Ireland, it has struck me that we , Englishwomen can at this moment render essential service (and that at small cost) to our suffering fellow-beings. It is this. Let every mistress of a family lock nut the house hold stores that accumulate in every house, and let these, whether curtains, chintz, woollens, &e., be worked up into thickly lined clean garments for women and children of the simple Irish form. Let our unmarried ladies, especially for some months, lay aside their elegant Berlin work, embroidery, and knitting, and collecting materiels from front their more fully occupied friends cheerfully give their labour thus to carry comfort and warmth into many a sinking family.—A Harry EsioIASIINCOMAN. BA L MASQUE AT CROCK FoitH's.—The speculation of the proprietor of the St. James's Assembly Rooms, late Crockford's, appears to have met with succesa to judge from the extra entertainments which are continually being put forth. That of last evening was a masked ball—the first probably that has taken place within the walls of this estab lishment. Considerable expectations were entertained with regard to its attraction; and we believe nobody was disap pointed. The promises of the programme indeed appeared to be realised as fully as those works of fiction aro capable; and the result was a really brilliant scene. The company were rather late in arriving, but from half-past eleven o'clock flowed in, m au almost unceasing stream, equipped mostly in the motley garb befitting the occasion. The conclusion of the opera, too, was the preliminary to a still greater influx, so that it may be conceived there was no lark of spirit for want of number,. The rooms were brilliantly lighted, and tastefully decorated with flowers. That great necessity—the band— was unwearied in its exertions; and every accessory ' arrangement worthy of commendation. The amusements were doubtless prolonged to a late hour, for at the time of our writing this, there did not appear a probability of many of the guests " going home till morning." FlRE.—Yesterday morning, between the hours of four and five, a very destructive fire broke out in the lofty building termed the Red Lion Tavern, situate 123, Jennyn street, St. James's. The flames originated in the lower por tion of the premien., from some unknown cause, and when first discovered, they had obtained such a strong hold, that it soon became apparent that the entire building would fall a prey to their fury. The inmates, consisting of nine per sons, were, after much trouble, made sensible of the great danger to which thee were exptieed, and they immediately made an attempt to descend the staircase. They had, how ever, barely got upon the landing, belore a shower of sparks, and volumes of smoke, rushed upwards, and cut off all re treat by the regular means. What to do for the best the poor creatures hardly knew. but having run into one of the front rooms, they closed the door, and then appeared at the windows, supplicating the crowd to assist them. A ladder was soon brought, but that proved too short to be of any amiatanoe, and whilst parties were gone to fetch the escape, the whole of the residente got out of the window, and by paw ing along a narrow lead flat, they were enabled to reach the balcony of the next house, and were then taken through the windows without receiving any personal injury. Not one of them was able to save an article of clothing. The engine of the County office was the first that arrived. and was fol lowed by numerous others of the London establishment. and the West of England one from Waterloo-road. Fortunately an abundant supply of water was obtained from the plugs in the street. The flames were confined to the premises in which they originated; but they were not extinguished until the furniture, stock-In-trade, and other effects were de stroyed and the house nearly gutted. The owner was insured. INQUEST. —FOUND DROWNED.—By Mr. W. Payne, at the Vestry-hall, St. John's, Horsed down, respecting the death of Joseph Harris, aged thirty-four years, lately re siding at No. 17, Morton-street, Newington, who was found dead in the river. The deceased, a Jew, who obtained a livelihood by buying and selling old clothes, left home on the morning of the 27th ult., as was his usual custom, with a bag, and about 30.. in silver in his pocket, but was never seen alive afterwards. Nothing was heard of him until Wednesday morning last, when a waterman discovered the body of the deceased man floating in the river near London bridge. The deceased's pockets were searched, and only one halfpenny was found in money. Ilia head was much bruised The general supposition is, that the deceased got on board one of the cheap steamboats at Westminster-bridge, which he was in the habit of doing, and by some mesas fell over board and was drowned. The jury, in the abeenee of deci sive evidence, returned& verdict of "Found drowned." THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1847. THE ALDERMEN OF LONDON AND THE COMMON COUNCIL. As the Lord Mayor and aldermen still persist in their attempt to stop the proceedings of the Common Coun cil in a measure of municipal reform, by refusing to put to the vote a question! legitimately before the court, we shall make some remarks ea the power thus claimed, together with an account of the circumstances which have led to the present conflict. The mayor and aldermen me a constituent part of the Common Council, sad ars there to exercise their rights of discussing and voting on all questions, together with the commoners, in one assembly. In this way has the business of the city been conduct op to the prevent day, with the exception of the twenty-one years from 1726 to 1746, during which short period the aldermen were empowered, by a clause in the act of 11 Geo. 1., to usurp upon and annul the rights of the citizens, by exercising, as a separate body, a veto upon the proceedings of their representatives. This clause was the subject of general dissatisfaction and reproba tion, from the time of its enactment to that of its deserved repeal; and the nesrative which it had given to the alder men, though thus abrogated, after a short-lived and odious existence, they now seek to revive in a more intolerable form. Of this power, the revival of which is thus sought, the following opinions were expressed in the protests of a large number of dissentient peers who in vain endeavoured to induce the House of Lords to take the opinion of the judges upon the legality of the measure : " That the new constitution of the Common Council enacted by this bill, whereby a negative is given to the mayor awl aldermen ... is • dangerous innovation upon the city, unsupported by any evidence of the ancient constitu tion; and though in late times mentioned to be claimed, yet contrary to a clear, uninterrupted and convincing proof of the exercise of the powers and authorities of the Common Council, in all ages. to the 29th of January, 17'23:"—" the written evidence offered in support of the claim of; • nega tive by the mayor and aldermen being also conceived in general terms inapplicable to that claim, and not maintained by subsequent practice, or drawn from proceedings in times of trouble and confusion."—" That the petition of the many thousand freemen of the city against this bill ought to be of far greater weight against this bill than the petition of fifteen aldermen for it."—" That the extraordieary . power given by thy bill to the mayor and aldermen will vest in them new and exorbitant authorities over all the citizens, their rights, liberties, and franchises of all kind*, inconsistent with that balance of power in the City by which the lame have been preserved; and in the future exercise thereof must, as we conceive, lay the foundation of constant and lasting disputes," The passing of the bill was strenuously opposed in the House of Cemmoris, by those able and patriotic Aldermen Sir Francis Child and Sir John Barnard, who justly pre ferred the ;rights of their fellow-citizens to the oligarchic pretensions of their brotneealdermen ; and it was upon the motion of the latter member that the clause was afterwards abrogated by l'arliament. Ever since the repeal of the obnoxious clause in the act of 11 Geo. 1. the legislative and administrative functions of the Common Council have been exercised, as of old, by " the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons, in Common Council assem bled," the present being the first din et attempt of the aldermen to assert, in addition to their voice in the general couniil, a power of stopping any of its proceedings through the instrumentality of the Lord Mayor. With regard to the immediate occasion upon which the aldermen hese seen fit to put forth this claim, it is not to be supposed that any real objection to the Qualification Bill now before the court for a third reading has anything to do with it. The bill has been for more than two years in pre paration in • committee of which twelve aldermen are mem bers; and neither in committee nor in the common council has any alderman ever specified any objection to it. Mr. Richard Taylor moved the inquiry which led to the order for preparing it as far back as 1841, in consequence of the state of things manifested by the election for alderman in Breadstrcet Ward, which the newspapers of the day and the whole of the public justly reprobated. During the long scrutiny which followed, the hair-splitting and inconsistent opinions and decisions as to the household qualification, ex posed this portion of the civic institution* to general censure. the Lord Mayor and the It corder sat side by side disperse iug each other's judgments, and reproaching each other as deciding contrary to law and to common sense, to the great scandal of all who wish to maintain a reverence for such worshipful authorities and the scrutiny ended in reducing the whole constituency by which an alderman of London was elected for life (with the mayoralty in reversion), to about thirty persons, and even some of those would have been disqualified had the scrutiny been continued. The decisions of the Court of Aldermen upon disputed elec tions of Common Council at different timeshare been equally conflicting; and the judgment of one Recorder has been directly at variance with that of another. Upon the legal meaning of the ambiguous word "Householder," the Common Council have had volumes of opinions from the law officers. They had Mr. Common Serjeant Knowlya' at great length and for Mr. Common Pleader Norton's ample investigation of the subject the court voted him • large gratuity. The present learned recorder's opinion differs from that of his predicessor; and hitherto, to the great profit of gentlemen of the bar in the case of a disputed election, the whole matter has been kept in a delightful state of doubt and uncertainty, whether a qualified householder be simply, as the term im plies, one who holds a house, for which he is rated, and therefore in scot and lot; or whether he must also be an in habitant, or resiant, or resident householder,—and then what may be the various possible legal imports of any or all of these terms —moreover, how far sleeping in the house is the essential requisite : also, whether the said sleeping must be personal, by himself, or by his servants wh they if he does not actually sleep he has Mill the animus rlortniendi: whether it must be by night in a bed, or, as in the case of old Deputy Hooper, after dinner in his arm.chair, before hia back counting-house hoe or, if a servant or watchman, whether on a truckle-bed, or on a heap of shavings ; whereas, all the while, the citizen who occupies his warehouse or manufactory, for which he pays large taxes, where he is habitually to be found, at his business, gaining hie living and employing a number of persons there, and liable to be summoned there, has no qualification at all. according to this construction of City law, unleas he shall have recourse to one of the aforesaid sleeping subterfuges. The Common Council having in 1841 referred the sub ject to the Committee of General Purposes, of which twelve aldermen are members, the recorder's opinion (or, more correctly, his oracular and obscure substitute for an opinion) wax after • long delay (Sept. 1842) obtained, on a case, pre pared by the City solicitor, and to this effect :- 1. That the qualification of electors being fixed by act of parliament, can be varied only by application to parlia ment :—but, 2. That the qualification of a person to be elected de pended upon records, ordinancea, and acts of Common Council. The first question being already in the hands of the Free dom Committee, to whom it had been referred to cinsider of an application to parliament for a repeal or amendment of the 11th of George 1., cap. 13, with a view to an extension of the franchise the second question, as one with which, on the recorder's own showing, the corporation itself was com petent to deal, was on the 13th of May, 1845, referred again, on the motion of Mr. Richard Taylor, to the committee of general purposes, with orders to prepare a bill, under the advice of the law officers, for art act of Common Council to declare " what is the qualification of a person to be elected." The hill, after having received much consideration in the committee, assisted by the townelerk, was read a first time Oct. 29, 1846, and amended in some particulars, no alder man having opposed its object ; and some of them, whose opinion had been consulted, havingexpressed their approval otri measure which would remove ambiguities and prevent conflicting decisions in cases of disputed elections. Even to this hour the aldermen have nothing to allege against the provisions of the bill itself, but an objection ts started aa to as having been originated in the Court of Common Council, —the only place, however, where acts of Common Council, so far as we know, have originated, or can originate, as in legislative proceedings there are no separate houses as in parliament, but all sit, and discuss, and vote together in one body. Those persons, therefore, who speak of a dispute between the " two houses," or " two courts," misled by an imagined analogy with the parliament, are ignorant ot the constitution of the council,which is the entire body, including "Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons, in Common Council as sembled." Apart from this, the aldermen, as magistrates, and for certain matter, delegated to them, form a board, in their collective capacity, which has been designated a court, but which has no distinct legislative power. It is not true that the bill, if passed, would "do away with the ancient qualification ;" since that is carefully pre served, at the s ,me time that tke additional one is declared. ' The term in the:former ordinance is simply " Householder," and the bill only provides that this term shall not be nar rowed by arbitrary decisions and legal subtleties, but taken in a wider and more liberal sense. BROKERS AND FACTORS. A contest has recently arisen, or rather has been revived, about the claims of brokers to charge brokerage in their sales both to the seller and the buyer, or, say to the merchant, whose goods are consigned for sale to their care, and to the dealer, factor, or consumer, who makes the pur chase. The more special ease in point upon which the question is now raised, and at issue, concerns the hide trade, to which, therefore, the few observations following mast be understood to be addressed. Although nominally the parties in the came are the broken only, and the tanners (after all, but a portion of the body), who are called up in the character of complainants, yet, in reality, there is a third party, which should he prominently in court, and who must evidently be considered to have pushed the tanners into the advanced poet of a controversy, In which really they can be said to have no interest at stake, and no grievance to allege as against the brokers. That Party ie the leather-factors, when bye play consists in keep. lug in the back ground certain interests of their own, whilst, as it seems to us, somewhat harshly endeavouring to depre ciate those of their neighbours engaged in another branch of the same trade. Some of the country tanners are made to feel aggrieved about the brokerage they are compelled to pay to the broker, according to the conditions on which the goods are put up to publics sale. It may be assumed that the exorbitant amount of the brokerage is not so much the grievance, as the right of exacting it, for the matter in litigation refers only to one half per cent, wkich is levied upon the buyer, the other half, which constitutes the entire commission of the broker, being paid by the mer chant owner of the goods sold. Now, 'supposing the entire one per cent. to be laid upon the owner—what then ? Does the tanner conceive therefore that he should he able to buy one half per cent. more cheaply ? It seems scarcely pos sible that any man could fall into so egregious a mistake. For the owner would naturally lay the half per cent. additional upon the value of his goods, with some fractional amount more to make up round numbers in prices. If no advantage therefore could possibly result to the tanner, why should an old custom of the trade (a century old), be quarrelled with, when it has at least the merit of linking the interests and sympathies of the broker, in favour of the buyer. as well as the seller, and of leading him to deal in • certain spirit of impartiality between both. An old custom is not necessarily an abase ; it may be, as in the present case, a real advantage, not to the tanners only, but to the leather factors as well, for it must not be supposed that the brokers do not give a sufficient quid pro goo in their mot for the half per cent. in question. The custom of the trade is, that goods sold should be paM for in fourteen or twenty-eight days, which is milled the prompt. The broker need not deliver the goods before the expiration of the prompt, when at the same time the value ' should be paid. The purchaser ham an equal right to decline receiving them until the some period. Bet, in the usual honourable spirit of British credit and confidence, the broker waives this condition, and at his own risk too. " If," said Mr. Rim, at a recent public sale of Marrs. Goad and Rigg " a 51-• buys goods from us, and comes the next day for his delivery order, from the moment that order passes from our hands to his, we are responsible tea the seller (the owner), and if anything happened to the factor within those twenty-eight days, we alone would be the sufferers." The delivery on demand is never refused to any respectable factor or buyer, and to show the extent of risk to which the broker in nth caw roam himself liable, take the following passage from the speech of the same gentleman, referring to the transactions of his own house: " I would just observe, that one house alone, which is the prime mover in this appo sition to the buyers' brokerage, h • frequently owed us large sums of money; at one time 29 , 600/., at other times 20,20 W., 22,0001, 20,5001., for goods bought and delivered to them, and for which payment was not demanded until the prompt, we being, dunng that period, without one penny of security for the mountourd alone responsible to the miler. When es er they buy largely, they invariably hive a prompt of twenty-eight days. Is not that an accommodation worth one-half per cent. ? " It is not to be supposed that the, brokers always escape without heavy losses upon such a system. Ina letter of the hide-brokers to the merchants, explanatory of the nature of the controversy on foot, it is observed that " Goods are almost always delivered without the payment of money, and many of the buyen are drawn upon by us (at our risk) at two or four months' date for the payment; and it is a notorious fact in the trade, that we have all suffered heavy losses, from time to time, in debts so contracted." The merchant own ing the goods shares no part of the risk ; the broker is bound to pay him the amount realised by the sale, whether he receive it or not, And, lastly, the fact may be stated that the twenty-eight days credit thus afforded is nearly equal in interact account alone to the one-half per cent. in liugation, leaving the risk out of the question. As, at the sale referred to, it was inti mated that the brokers made one per cent. on their charges, Mr. ltigg thus repelled the insinuation : "I do not hesitate to say that we have no secrets whatever in our business, and that if you select a gentleman to inspect our books, we will gladly show them to him, and he will find that in ne can have we charged more than the usual brokerage." Several of the most respectable and extensive tanners and hide-houses, such as Mr. Patient., Mr. Drake, Mr. Meek, B:c., spoke highly of the upright and honourable con duct of the London brokers during the discussion in the sale room on the occasion referred to. And it should be borne in mind, that if, as stated, the same custom of charging half per cent. to the buyer does not gain in Liverpool, Hull, and other ports, the brokers there are not debarred, as the London broken absolutely are, from dealing and jobbing on their own account. A handsome testimony was recorded by Mr. John Drake (said to be the largest tanner of foreign hides in the kingdom) of a Liverpool mer e:hint in favour of the London brokers, to the effect that "the selection of goods by broken in London is made in a much fairer way, as regards the manufwiturer, than takes place in Liverpool." Mr. Drake added, that the selec tion was " worth one-half per cent. more." Let us hope that these disagreeable alterations, arising out of unworthy clam jealousies between members of the acme trade, will be heard of no more. There is room for the exercise of the honourable industry of all, and whilst the leather factors themselves charge the tanners some 2 or 2l per cent. commission for buying or for selling for them, with other advantages, they are surely little entitled to complain !of the broker ', hlt per cent., fee which they themselves obtain such ample accommodation and compensation. IRELAND. DUBLIN, Fan. 24. As I have often before stated, Mayo alurnates with Cork in the display of intense misery. Not withstanding the greater sympathy which the remote districts of Cork have created, and the assistance which has been so liberally bestowed, I am disposed to believe that, relatively to the population, the mor tality in Mayo is greater. The last May. Constitu tion contains another catalogue of " deaths from star vation," running up to twenty. Some, it is true, are dated so far back as the 10th, which leads to the pre sumption that some of the deaths had been duplicates. But the roll is altogether of new materials, and none of the victims have hitherto been chronicled. Of the number, two are reported to have died on the public works. In the neighbouring county of Roscommon, the distress is acute, and the state of the calendar represents the connexion between crime and misery. Judge Ball, in charging the grand jury yesterday, regretted the number for trial, amounting in all to 260, but of these nearly ono-third was for sheep stealing, an offence for which that fine country pre sents a very tempting field ; and another large sec tion compnsed petty larcenies. Turning southward, we tied sheep and cattle-stealing a prominent offence in the calendars. Is Cork 20 prisoners in the county gaol await their trial, of whom one-fifth are for thefts of sheep and cattle. The whole number in gaol reaches the immense amount of eight hundred, the largest number I believe ever contained within the prison walls. On the home circuit the calendars are in general light, and in the north-east, which in cludes the chief manufacturing districts, offences are neither serious nor numerous. A petition of some importance is now being signed by the clergy of the diocese of Raphoe, to the effect that, among the sources of profitable labour is the better cultivation of such portions of the glebe lands as are actually occupied by the clergy ; and that the clergy being debarred from the facilities enjoyed by other landholders, and by the nature of their tenure, would not be justified in effecting permanent improve ments at their own expense. As a remedy it is pro posed that power should be given to the incumbents of parishes occupying glebe lands to borrow money from the board of works for thorough draining and subsoiling, to be repaid half-yearly, in twenty years ; and to bind themselves and their successors to the repayment. Considerable irritation has been excited in many portions of the south midland districts, in oonse quence of a recent regulation of the Irish Inland Navigation Company. The company have determined upon raising the freightage of several classes of goods, amongst others, that of cern and breadstuffs. Latterly a considerable traffic in these articles has sprung up, and the inland navigation is mach used for transmit ting them from Dublin to the south by Portumna, Dromineer, Killaloe, and Limerick. The advance of freights in corn, flour, rice, and Indian meal, ke., equals one hundred per cent. Whatever profit the company shall net by this pro ceeding, seems likely to be more than counterbalanced by the public disfavour it must necessarily produce ; and it seems more than doubtful whether even on the grounds of profit, it would not be better to trust to an increase of traffic which must flow into the com pany if not repelled by such an anti-commercial policy. STATE OF THE COUNTRY. From every county from which iceo - ,;;;1;;;e reached us, the intelligence is of a distressing character. In Waterford, even at fertile Lismore, two deaths by starvation are recorded. In Kilkenny the city relief fund amounts to 2,8141., of which 8081. remain in hands. Want is universal in the county of Kerry ; Killany, Kenmore, andPingle, and those localities within which famine has made many victims. So many as twenty deaths are said to have occurred from Narration in one parish of that county within one welt. The accounts from Tipperary to-day are less painful in every respect. I shall conclude ray notice of the state of the country to-day by a gratifying fact, which I have upon the authority of a gentleman of the county of Kildare, namely, that in that county there is not one onensployed labourer, and that the landlords afford that employment. I need not assure you further, that there are no deaths by destitution in Kildare. SCOTLAND. EDINBURGH, Fra 24. Pursuant to 8 and 9 Viet., cap. 38, the Scotch banks are at present publishing lists of their shareholders, and the publication reveals very strikingly the sta bility. of these institutions. In some instances the proprietary are eo numerous that their names occupy five or columns of a newspaper, and gathered as these names are from all quarters of the country, and embracing every kind of rank and profession, nothing short of national insolvency could bring them into disrepute. Five of the Sooteh banks are chartered— a privilege which is generally understood (it has never yet been tried) to limit the responsibility of partners to the amount of their shares, but even in them the wide distribution of risk is such as to insure the utmost confidence. Thus, of these five, the lowest number of partners is 222, and the highest 1,512. If any doubt were entertained as to the stability of the establishment having the least number of partners, the circumstance of its dividend being 8 per cent. at once settles that point The Short Time Bill will not affect Glasgow, just now. Already • number of the power-loom factary employers have put their workers on short time--some of them, indeed, working only during day light. The manufacturing business II represented as being in a more distressed state in Glasgow than it has been for some years previous. Independently of other obvious reasons, the ir regular way in which births, &c., are registered in Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland sufficiently warrants the introduction of the new bill proposed by the Lord Advocate. When • birth is registered at present, the names of the parents and child, and date of birth are given into the memion-clerk, who furnishes a certificate for out shilling : but then no proof is asked or given of the identity of the parent, or of the reality of the birth. Hence, although a certificate furnishes legal proof of the important matter of a birth no steps are taken t• verify the circumstances which constitute the legal proof. To do this, medical or other collateral testimony should be made obli gatory, otherwise facilities are afforded for frau dulent registration in cases where bequests are made contingent on the birth of children. Similarly, the present system provides only for eccle siastical proclamation previous to the solemnization of marriage; but it is left to the optioa of the parties to return to the authorities for the purpose of recording that the ceremony has actually been performed. Generally the officiating clergyman subscribes a declaration that be has effected the nuptual tie, but when the document happens to be lost no register remains behind. And in regard to deaths, the recorders of the different burying-grounds keep records for their own convenience, but the diseases and other particulars being furnished by the relations, their medical value is worth little; and besides this, there is no machinery for collecting into one general national register the returns, such as they arc, which are kept by individual parties over the whole king dom. The parochial divisions of Scotland afford every facility for a system of vital statistics, but the co-operation of the clergy and medical practitioners is also indispensably necessary ; and it is to be hoped that the Lord Advocate will not overlook this. PROVINCIAL. SEX. ENID...ORDINARY AND WHOLL•ALe BURAINu Or if ORAns. —At the Essex adjourned quarter sessions at Enelmsford, yesterday, Edward Bentley, a knacker, was indicted for kil liug by suffocation • gelding, the property of Mr. Stock, a termer, of East Hanningfield. Several witnesses prortel the following facts : —On the night of the ith of February, about twelve o clock, as a labourer named Mason was returning to the proeecutor's farm, he heard a groaning noise, and shortly afterwards by the light of the woe's taw • horse lying on the ground in a shed, and a man whom lie believed to be the prisoner kneeling by the side of it. Mason went up and asked him what he wanted there; he made no answer, but ran off. He was followed to the gate, and the labourer being unable to seise him, he struck him over the head with a stick. A light was then procured, and it was found that the horse was dead, but quite warm. There were two wisps of hay and a halter lying near the head, and Mason believing that the beast had been strangled, it having been seen quite well shout four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, he called up his master, Mr. Stock. The latter was of opinion that the horse had been destroyed, rod hearing from his ser vant that the prisoner, who bought dead horses in the neighbourhood of East Hanningfield, was the party seen by the side of the animal, instructions were given to the police to apprehend him. A constable went to the house of the prisoner at the village of Runwell, at four o'clock on the following morning. He was found in bed, and on the constable asking him if he had been at East Hanningtield on the previous night, he replied that he had not. The officer first took him to the farm, and Mason then identified him as the man he saw kneeling near the horse. Prisoner remarked that he had not been there. On being searched, a piece of cord stained with blood. and • knife were found in hie pockets. One of his eyes was blackened, ae if from the blow of the stick. A with,s em ployed at a neighbouring farm deposed to the halter found by the side of the dead beast being the prisoner's. About three weeks ago his master said the prisoner • dead horse, and the halter in question was the very same the prisoner used to remove it. The evidence of the veterinary surgeons who examined the body of the gelding, showed that the entire viscera were in a healthy state, with the exception of the right lobe of the lungs being immersed in blood, from the rupture of some vessel, which might be caused by sutfoca• tion. Such might be occasioned by the wisps of hay produced being introduced into the nostrils with the jaws tied up, which might be done while the horse was standing up. A decided opinioa was given as to the death of the horse being caused by suffocation. The police produced the wive and the halter, and it was explained to the bench and jury how they could be used in destroying rattle. The jury found the prisoner guilty. The Chairman (Mr. flarnar diston), told the prisoner that he had been convicted of a very berious offence, and for the protection of the public, he was bound to inflict a severe punishment. The court, therefore, sentenced him to transportation for fifteen years. It is alleged that in no lees than twenty-four recent instance. the prisoner has been known to call upon the owners of horses suddenly dead, and offer to buy the carcass. In nearly all these cases, it is now believed the animals had been " burked." ANDRESS:STATION OE MANCIIESTER.—IS m confidently rumoured in Manchester that Lord Lincoln has declined to become a candidate upon the requisition which hi, com mittee have been able to present. The deputation appointed to wait open his lordship on Tuesday, however, hid not returned to make a report up to the time our express left. MEDICAL OPTICS* FOR LIVERPOOL.—Sir George Grey has refused to sanction the appointment of Dr. Duncan to the aim of medical officer under the sanitary bill, not in re ference to Dr. Duncan's fitness, but because the Ilome.effice is decidedly of opinion that the medical officer should devote his whole time to the duties of the situation, and refrain altogether from practice. Of course his salary ought to cor respond to these circumstances. Sir George Grey, we (Liverpool Albion) believe, has written to the mayor on this subject, and gives, at some length, his reasons for declining to sanction the appointment of the council, except on the conditions he spectate. A FRIEND TO TAR SCHOOLMASTER.—Mr. Edward Statham, of Liverpool, has recently given 8001. fur the sup port of St. Peter's Charity Schools, at Wadden, near War. nngton. Tile COLLISIONS IN TIM M ERNES. —Capt. Denham, R.N., of the Admiralty, has far the last few day, been holding an inquiry at Liverpool relative to certain steamboat collisions on the river Mersey. The IRISH FAMINN.—ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS UPON LtvERl•OOL.—At the select vestry meeting on Tuesday, it appeared, from returns mad, by the parish oflieen, that the expenditure for the relief of the Irish immigrants now averages 6001. per week. Under the new eysteas of admi nistering relief at their own temporary residences, after inquiry by officers specially appointed for the purpose, two facts have been made evident : first, that under the former syst•an of relief a great deal of imposition was promised upon the parish; and secondly, that the overcrowding of the po pulation in certain low localities of the town, in consequence of the influx of paupers, has superinduced en alarming amount of sickness, which has rendered necessary a much greater amount of relief. Although, in the first place, a number alleged to amount to 24,000 . per day were relieved at a cost to the parish of about 378/. per week, the cost to the parish for the last week, upon one-third of the number, amounted to 4431. The great reduction in numbers is accounted for by what has since proved to he the fact, that, in the first instance, the childrea of the lowest class of Irish residents were lent out for the purpose of exciting commiseration. The additional expense to the parish for extra examining and relieving officers, amounts to Oil. per week • so that, to use the words of the chairman, the Rev. Recto:. Campbell, " the plain fact which ought to be made known is, that the parish of Liverpool is expending 6001. per week at the present time upon the Irish immigrants ; and, in addition to that, through the public charities of the town, Mt. more per week is devoted to the relief of the same class of persons. What further sum may be expended in private charity of emus' cannot be known, though there eau be no doubt that it is veer considerable." The arrivals of these poor creatures daring the last week amounted to 4,043. It further appeared that the Irish who arrived in Liverpool, and emigrated thence to America, since the Ist of January, without any eisistaace from the parish, amount to the very unprecedented number (for this period of the year) of 9,000. Another feet worthy of notice is, that ou Saturday last, 43 healthy Irish paupers were set to work at the industrial schools, at breaking stones; but on Monday only three of them returned to their work, and the others have not since been seen or board of. WA!tl THE BIRMINORAM BLNIINti CuI4PLNY held their mutual meeting on Wednesday. The pronto for the past year were Mated to be no leas than 35,1441. 9s. 10d. A dividend was declared of 10 per cent., with 5 per cent. additional se a bonus to the shareholders. A further sum of 10,0001., being • surplus after the payment of this dividend, was recom mended to be earned over to the guarantee fund. The b dance-sheet showed that the busi ness transactions of the bank during the year had exceeded six millions sterling, being considerably more than in any preceding y ear. WORCESTERSHIRE CONTEST BETWZIN TRZ POOZ-LAW COMMISSZONEILS AND THE Woncerris• OahhotiNe.—We reported some time since an inquiry into the circumstances of the death of an infant child from supposed starvation. From the evidence adduced, the relicoing Miser was dismissed by the poor-law comminsionen, but than Wei a straw feeling in Worcester that his conduct had been blemeless, he was re-elected, but the commissioners retard t• sanction his re-appointment. At the board meeting ea Monday, further evidence was heard, impeaching the meaty of the witnesses at the inquiry. Ater a dimeniiiim with dosed doors, it wee announced that the kMYg resolutiem bad been passed, two of the guardians wily waft agaiael It:— That then brad amid= in meat d the poor-law eamels. ushers arlitnmy sod usslesibilleY Illsmishag W. (rim to the *le of Taloa, Aber, le walla be wee Weir aniteaaW n. del* miler are et *sty the We bard aged to the iehebitama dale aka Se Merge d whoa wiwe rat slemesi, eseromed in a alereal lapel brae nem, theteepleelea dash wavy, elarea. wader. swims, Ned reterweseet Wawa., , asetlm the lewd to read W. aim eat the emaisieree le ess sprig. meet Awl Ode bead Mesa • le earn te the cablea it amulet la piehilott et Wt. OdWe wake ha. beta toelimed the waft et We pieta= Ity the sow dale gabs • Aar Teele, aid Its mam le mire tram We Mild duties et the oak* If theeestatimiames mat la works Ileir semettaa." It was then proposed *at *s elelemat et Ann Poole should be forwarded he del ileataimilaere with the above resolution • but two sr daft the guardians objected to it. On the qu estion Wins Ala the vote it was carried by seven voices to four, three of Sto= not voting. _ _ RiPILESINTATION 07 Airsevas.--We (liaMplaire Guar dian) announced in we het west's parr that Mr. Cubitt hai accepted the invitation el die Osaservative party to be come a candidate far tits bereestr. his stated that he is about to commence a rend ewes 1011. etthe electors. 00Melitt81 RII.IIIBIINTATION OF Wan GLorconmasmar.—Mr. Hunt bas published a letter in reply to Mr. G. Berkeley. We make room for an extract:—" His ire is evidently di rected against me beams I have dared to express an bites non of openly opposing his re-eleetion, and on account ci the prominent part I taken in endeavouring to form a Liberal Registration Amoeiation. It is true that other in dependent elector with myself have dared to express such intention, but our resolution is not of resent date. Our resolve wee taken nearly two years ago, partly because we believe him to be a bad member generally, but especially with reference to his conduct on the Guns Laws. We oomaidered that he had mad* West Gloucestershire the derision of the country, and we determined to with stand him in the eleeteeel lad, and to afford our fellow electors au oppor tun ity of eapreedne their opinions by their votes. At tt time we expected to be in opposition to Lord Fitshardinge, end our intentioa wet no secret, as Lord F. had intimation of the Sit We were uninfluenced by any other consideration than a fumes d public duty, end without 1 imilwiMiniliil