The Sun. — London, England, 1835-06-19 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR. The King attended by Sir Andrew Barnard, arrived, in town at a quarter before three o'clock yesterday afternoon in a carriage and four, escorted by a party of Light Horse, from Windsor Castle. His Majesty gave audience at St. James's, in the afternoon, to the Bishop of Madras. The King left St. James's Palace at twenty minuteA past seven o'clock last evening, attended by Sir Andrew Barnard, Chief Equerry, and Colonel Bowater, Equerry in Waiting, for Apsley House, to dine , with the Duke of Wellington at his grand military dinner to the General Officers and Officers and Staff who served with his Grace at Waterloo. The dinner yvas served in the Waterloo Gallery. Covers were laid for between sixty and seventy. The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria drove at an early hour yesterday morning in St. James's Park. The Landgravine of Hesse Homburg visited the Duchess of Gloucester yesterday. Her Royal Highness honoured the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland with her company at dinner last evening. The Duke of Cumberland honoured the Earl and Countess of Lonsdale with his company on Wednesday evening. His Royal Highness visited the Princess Augusta yesterday. The Rev. Dr. M'Farlane, the Rev. Messrs. Simpson, Claxon, and Buchanan, had an interview with Lord Gk rie l g Yesterday at the Colonial Office. A deputation, including Sir Henry Martin, Mr. Patrick Stewart, M.P., Mr. Burge, Agent for Jamaica, and Mr. Hib bert, had an interview yesterday with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Do w ning -street, - on business connected with the West Indies. The Spanish Minister transacted business yesterday at the Poreign-office. The Attorney-General for Ireland and Alderman Wood had interviews yesterday with Viscount Melbourne, in Downing street. The Commander of the Forces, the Earl of Gosford, and Lord Stanley, visited Lord Glenelg y esterday. The Cabinet Ministers dined with Lord John Russell on Wednesday evening, in Wilton-crescent. Lord Glenelg entertained a large party to dinner last even ing at his residence in Great George-street. The Lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Coun cil sat yesterday in the Council-chamber, and were °marbled during the whole of the day with the further hearing of . the ease " Swift v. Kelly," on appeal from the Arches Court. Phillimore resumed his address on the part of the appel lant. Sir Charles \Vetherall afterwards commenced his reply on the part cf the respondent, and in support of the deeisi,,,, o f th e J u dge of the Court below. Their Lordships adjourned at 4 o'clock. There was present the Lord President, Lord Brougham, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr. Baron Parke, and the Chief Judge in Bankruptcy. The Hon. William Bathurst Was the Clerk of the Council in waiting. Viscount Palmerston arrived at Windsor Castle on Wednes daY, and dined with their Majesties. WINDSOR, JUNE 17.—Yesterday Madame Caradori Allan and M. Lewi, a professor of the horn, recently arrived from Sweden, had the honour of performing before their Majesties and the distinguished party assembled at the Castle. The Inusie produced the most captivating effect, and at its conclu sion her Majesty issued commands for another similar concert by the same distinguished artists this evening. WILLIAM COBBET T. This powerful and original writer died yesterday at ten Minutes past one P. M., at his farm, in Surrey, aged 73. He retained his faculties till the very last moment, and died with Perfect composure. In an account of himself, to be found in the collection of the Works of Peter Porcupine, Cobbett states that he was horn in 1 766. As, however, we have derived the above particulars f rom his family, there can be no doubt of their accuracy ; and It would appear, therefore, that he was inaccurately informed 11 3 to the particulars of his early life, on his return from Ame rica to England in 1801. Nis was a self-taught man in the true sense of the word. es father possessed a small piece of ground at Farnham, in Surr e y, and Cobbett himself was brought up as a common 4 Pricultural labourer. In 1783 he quitted his father's roof, and repaired to London, where he succeeded in finding em _ P l qment in the office of an attorney. Having enlisted as a c ommon soldier, he was sent to Nova Scotia, and attained the rank of Sergeant-major. On the return of the regiment to England, he became involved as prosecutor in a ,ourt-rnartial, but did not await the issue. He left England I , ( „>r France, and sailed from a French port to the United states, where he maintained himself for some time by teach- In English to Frenchmen. At that time the French, or democratic party in America, were loud in their abuse of tngland and Cobbett was induced to espouse the cause Of his mother country. He published a succession of Pamphlets, under the assumed name of Peter Porcupine, Written w i t h great f orce an d v i v acity, some of which were reprinted_ a t th e ti me i n E ng l a nd. He was convicted of a libel agai ns t D r . R us h, an d su bj e cted to heavy damages. • 1 801 he retu r n e d to England and established a morn ing paper under the title of the Porcupine, in which he warmly supported Mr. Pitt. That paper, however, soon and he so on afterwards set up the Register , which has been co n ti nued to t h e present time. Cobbett co rn t - enced his caree r as a p u bli c wr it er in E ng l an d under very favourabl e c i rcumstances . H e was p ower f u lly pa t ron i se d i!Y the Ministry. Mr. Wyndham went even so far in the House of Commons as to declare that a statue of g old ought to be erected to him. His health was drunk at Tory dinners throughout the island. His letters on the subject of the Treaty of Amiens produced a great sensation both here and on the Con tinent. Of this production it was said by the celebrated Swiss tistorian, Muller, that it was mo r e elo q uent th an any thing tNtt had appeared since the days of Demosthenes. It is erterally understood that Mr. Pitt gave offence in some way to Cobbett; for on his return to power, Cobbett lost no oppor tunity of attacking his Ministry with great bitterness. Of Mr. Wyndham he long continued to speak favourably, but to him he became also hostile. From a Church and King man, Cobbett became, in 1805, a Radical. In 1810 he was sen tenced t o two years' imprisonment in Newgate, and a fine of 1 .0001. From an idea that he would be deprived of his liberty, under an anticipated suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, he left England for America in 1817, whence he returned When the suspension terminated. It had long been a great object of his ambition to sit in the House of Commons, and after the passing of the Reform Bill he was returned for Oldham, through the influence of Mr. Fuller, an extensive m anufacturer at Todmorden. By his death a vacancy takes Place for Oldham. , We have merely noticed a few of the incidents in Mr. Cob bett's life. In fact he has been so continually before the Public during the last 40 years, and his Register is so complete a record of all that lie ha.s said and done—felt and thought, t hat there is no man, perhaps, of whom so little can be told that would be new to any class of readers. Cobbett was perhaps the greatest egotist that ever lived : and as every thing that he did, and every sentence that he ut ered, was important in his own estimation, ho is the constant t heme of his voluminous writings. it would be vain to deny that William C obbett was one of t he 1 , most powerful writers that England has ever p roduced. He felt keenly and observed accurately, and he never failed to )7a alLe a strong impression on his readers. His last Register, Published on the 13th inst., is as animated as his first American p a mphlet, published in the full tide of youthful vigour. The t °ander is, how a man writing every day for upwards of forty Pars should never exhibit any symptons of coldness or indif ference, but communicate to his pages a constant interest. As an advocate he was without an equal. In that first of re aoisites--the statement of a case—he particularly excelled. He ll ?ltinctively seized on the circumstances which favoured the ; t ell's he wished to support, and he seldom failed t o p roduce the i mpression at which he aimed. What he could not effect by direct Itatement, he attained by inuendo. He was shrewd beyond roost m en , and he could detect and expose a subterfuge more S uccessfully than most men. But, after all, Cobbett was not Wise man. We question if, in the whole course of his life, e ever set himself seriously down to discover the truth. He W as a man of impulses. William Cobbett was the ob j ect to- Wards which the thoughts of William Cobbett were constantly d irected. Hence the constant changes of o p inion, with re lPect to all subjects and all men. There is not, p erhaps, a pestion which he has not by turns advocated and opposed— ere is not a man whom he has not by turns pra ised and a bused. Hazlitt supposed this change of opinion was th e re lilt of a fickleness of disposition, and th at without this fickle ness we should also have been without his freshness. It is C ertain that it was always sufficient to be in the way of Wil lato Cobbett to incur his enmity and become the object of his abuse. As a reasoner, in the proper sense of the word, Cobbett (lid not rank high. He never saw the whole of a subject, and his Mews were, therefore, always partial. But give him a special "Me, and he could make more of it than any man. His ilhis rations were peculiarly forcible, and whatever he had to describe he described well. His ccßural Rides" contains , p erha p s, the very best descriptions of English scenery that ever were W ritten. His descriptions of rural life in Pens y lvania, when e left E ng l an d in 1817, are also admirable. Bei n g an gac curatew observer, his language was always g ra p hic. His style :1 alway s racy and idiomatic. In his earlier pr oductions he W as somewhat declamatory , and indica ted a familiarity with F r ench writers. As he advanced in years hi s lan g ua g e and a t Yle became more Saxon. Though Cobbett upon the whole was a good speaker, he was a t a good debater, and therefore was not i n his element in the p i %se of Cont-iOnq lie could (Yet on well enough in a lec ture, when he " had . all the talk to himself ; but he could not bear opposition with temper, and he had not a cote i"jod o f resources sufficient for the exigencies of a discussion. "hat he might have been, had he entered Parliament at an earlier period of his life, we know not ; but he was evidently % old at seventy years of age to cut a figure as a ready s peaker. H e ma d e one or two good speeches • ' but be re nted himself, and always made the same speech. To a e,,r -`4411 extent, indeed, his Register was liable t o the same charge earueness ; but his hi:l3l)y ation• and d , ..seriptio;:s ni :de 9tr forget that you had heard the same opinions repeated by I to a hundred times before. Ne has left a widow and a large family. Two of his seas O ne • at th e Bar, and are, we believe, exceedingly well iikk-d. of them wrote the well-known description of the turning 11 1 1 ) of the R a ts, quoted by the Quarterly Review as one of the happiest of Cohbett's effusions. , 1, 1; man could have occupied the public so constantly wi t h I nself as Cobbett has done, without poss e ssing great tal enis. T ake him with all Lis faults as a writer, and he will still be • extraordinary man. It is said that Captain Hindmarsh, R.N., had been appointed to the Government of South Australia. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. 110 USE OF LORDS, ANX 18. Lord DENMAN took his seat on the Woolsack at five o'clock. The second reading of the Highways Bill was postponed till the 26th of the present month. The Earl of RO SEBE RY presented a petition against any further grant for the endowment of the Church of Scotland. A message from the Commons, by Mr. Tooica and others, Vrought up the Grosvenor Paving and Lighting Bill, Moore's Divorce Bill, and some Private Bills, which were severally read a first time. Papers were presented by Mr. Crafer from the Treasury. The London and Birmingham Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. The Bishop of EXETER moved for a return of the Rev. Mr. Stoney's answers to the queries of the Public Instruction Commissioners in Ireland.—Ordered. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE presented two petitions from Wilts and Bristol against dram-drinking, and praying that no beer-shop should be licensed to sell beer on the premises. The House then adjourned till to-morrow morning. HOUSE OF COMMONS, JuNB 18. Committees to try the Belfast and Carnarvon election peti tions were to have been balloted for this day, but the parties for the petitions not appearing, the order for their considera tion was discharged. The gallery was opened at a quarter past four. Mr. STRUTT brought up the report of the Committee on the Monmouth election petition, declaring that the sitting Member, Benjamin Hall, Esq., had been duly elected, but that the petition was neither frivolous nor vexatious. Sir R. MUSG RA VE presented a petition from Lismore, in the county of Waterford, complaining of Grand Jury rates. Mr. ROBINSON presented a petition from two individuals, named Pincher, proprietors of a vessel which had beer, wrecked near Dover. A portion of the property saved from the wreck had been carried to Dover, and was in the possession of the Warden of the Cinque Ports. More than twelve months had elapsed before the petitioners became informed of where their property was, and in consequence of its not having been claimed within that time it was now altogether withheld. The Hon. Member said that if this was the iaw it was, in his opinion, a very unjust one. Mr. HUME had never known property of this description to he withheld from the owner if properly identified. Mr. STRUTT presented petitions from Derby, praying for a removal of the taxes on newspapers, and others in favour of vote by ballot and Municipal Reform. Mr. ROEBUCK and Mr. HUME presented petitions in favour of a removal of the stamp duties on newspapers. Mr. ALSAGER presented petitions from Surrey, which, from their numerous signatures, and the respectability of the parties whose names were attached to them, merited the con sideration of the House. One of these petitions had reference to a resolution affecting the Church of Ireland, which had lately been carried in that House. The petitioners prayed of the House to pause before it appropriated Church property in Ireland to any other than strictly ecclesiastical purposes. The other petition which he had the honour to present was in favour of the grant to the Church of Scotland. When he considered how small was the sum required, and the purposes to which it was proposed to be devoted, namely, administering to the spiritual wants of the poor in that country, he confessed he was surprised at the opposition that was made to the grant. Major BE AUCLERK freely admitted the respectability of the petitioners, but he was sure that the Hon. Member who presented the petition would not say that it represented the bulk of opinion in the county of Surrey. The petition bore 2,000 signatures. He had heard of it before, and indeed it was so much talked of that he expected to find in it a proof of re-action, in seeing 6,000 or 8,000 names attached to it. So far from a re-action having taken place in Surrey, he felt con vinced that if he got up a petition of a contrary character, he could soon procure 8,000 or 10,000 signatures to it. As to the resolution of the Noble Lord (Russell), its being carried into effect would rather tend to serve than to injure the Pro testant religion. Mr. FR — ESHFIE LD said that if the Hon. Gentleman (Major Beauclerk) waited until a dissolution of Parliament took place, he would then learn what were the feelings and opinions of the country upon the subject. Mr. E. BULLER presented a petition from certain occu piers of land in Staffordshire, complaining of the misapppro priation of ecclesiastical funds. Mr. FRENCH presented two petitions from Sligo, one praying for an inquiry into the state of the Irish Fisheries, and the other in favour of Church Reform. Alderman WOOD presented a petition from the parish of St. Dunstan's, complainining of church-rates. CANADA. Mr. ROEBUCK presented petitions from Canada, com plaining of the appointment of obnoxious officers and other abuses existing in that colony. The H on . and Learned Member then passed some severe strictures upon the Canada Land Association, which he said had been unfairly esta blished, through the means of a Bill smuggled through the House, for the purpose of depriving the people of the Canadas of their land, and jobbing it away for the benefit of specu lators in the mother country. He commented upon the recent appointment of Lord Gosford to the Government of the Ca 'lades' and the instructions with which he had been supplied, which differed materially from those prepared on a similar oc casion by the late Government, and were wholly inadequate to the purpose for which they were designed. He predicted that the moment his Lordship planted his foot in the Canadas all the people would fly from him, and disdain to lay their grievances before him. The Hon. Member concluded by contrasting the unfriendly and illiberal treatment experienced by the agents of the Lower Canadas from the present Colonial Government with the urbane and conciliatory conduct ex perienced on all occasions from the late Noble Secretary ( Lord Aberdeen), who, he said, had always shown himself willing to listen to suggestions, even when partly informal in their mode of communication. Sir G. GREY said that, considering the importnnt and painful nature of the subjects of the Hon. and Learned Mem ber's address, he hoped he should not be considered as acting disrespectfully to the Hon. and Learned Member if he declined at present from entering upon a discussion of the various po litical questions which it involved. He thought he should best consult the true interests of all parties concerned by ab staining from a premature discussion of the dissensions which unhappily existed between the mother country and her Cana dian Colonies—dissensions which it was the sincere desire of the Home Government to have amicably and fairly accommo dated. With respect to the instructions furnished by the Co lonial Office to Lord Gosford, and which the Honourable and Learned Member had said were not so good as those pro posed by the Noble Lord ( Aberdeen) for the Commission which the late Government intended to have sent out, all that he ( Sir G. Grey) would say was, that he was at a loss to understand how the Honourable and Learned Member had been able to form a judgment on the subject at all. The Hon. and Learned Member might, for all he knew, have been is the confidence of the late Government—( Hear, hear, and a laugh) —and might have been shown the instructions prepared by Lord Aberdeen for the Canada Commission, but the Hon. and Learned Member certainly was not in the confidence of the present Government, and had not seen their instructions in the matter, and which he proposed to compare with those of their predecessors in offine.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. ROBINSON said that, as Chairman of the Canada Land Association, he felt bound to say a few words in reply to the animadversions cast by the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath upon that body, whose object he ( Mr. Robinson) maintained was a perfectly fair one, and he thought a very useful o ne . Th ey did not wish to deprive the native Cana dians of what was their right, but merely proposed to culti vate lands which they were not able or willing to turn to good account themselves. With regard to the charge of the Hon. and Learned Member, that the Bill which incorporated this association had been unfairly smuggled through the House, he could only observe what he thought would place the Hon. and Learned Member in a very awkward predicament with his Canadian constituents, namely, that the Honourable and Learned M em b er was a Member of the House at the time the Bill was passed, and that during eleven weeks the proceedings of the Bill were constantly being announced on the papers of the House. This being the fact, it was cer tainly also true that either the charge of unfairly smuggling the Bill through the House was false, or the Hon. and Learned Member would have objected to it at the time, or that the Hon. and Learned Member had neglected his duty in suffering the Bill to pass without exposure and opposition, and now sought to relieve himself from the onus which attached to that neglect, by alleging that something like unfair means had been adopted by the supporters of the Bill to smuggle it through the House.—( Hear, hear, hear.) In conclusion he could not but express the strong sense of regret he felt at beholding the course of constant agitation and irritating in terference which the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath persisted in keeping up upon the subject of the alleged grievances between the Canadian colonies and the mother country. No good possibly come of such a course of proceed. ing, whilst a more temperate and cordial co-operation with those who wished to effect an amicable adjustment between the parties might probably lead to the desired result. Mr. HUME said he would repeat, for the twentieth time, that no good could be done, and no terms of adjustment be listened to by the Canadians, until a separate and independent legislature, having the entire management of their affairs and their funds, was secured to them —a boon which, in England, by the Bill now before the house on the subject, was about to be awarded to every petty corporation in the kingdom. Let this be done, and the Government of this country would be troubled no more with the grievances of the Canadian settlers; and nothing but aceleenations of loyalty and gratitude would be heard from their shores. He maintained that the Canada Land Association was an unjustifiable infringement of the natural rights of the Canadians to the enjoyment of their native soil. By means of this Company the land of the Cenadas was sold by speculators, and the proceeds appropriated not to the benefit of the Canadians themselves, but for all sorts of jobbing purposes, under the auspi ces o f the Colonial Secretary in Downing-street. His Hon. and Learned Friend the Member for Bath was not to blame for havin g suffered the Bill for the ineorperat;en of this society to pass without opposition. The Bill tis as brought in as a private Bill ; and H e , m em b e r s could not be supposed to have their attenti on fi xe d upon every private Bill which came before the House, even though it was entered E the(iay. Mr. strongly dep recated the interference of rn t House to supp ort or instigate a spirit of insurrection in Canada. thenoticesi c tih Ea The Gentl eman who was hins.--If delegate of the of Canadian complainants, w as hi g h ly pleased with the mode in which ywe o the affairs of the colon re taken up by the Government. Surely the statement of the Hon. Gentleman, that the condition of the colony es a m os t den gerous one, was in itself dangerous, by leading to, if not ld en couraging, revolution. There was much evidence given be forewou not be for th e genera l the Committee, which it awl to publish. As to Mr. Neilson ? he stated that the House ~ ~,.. __ r ._. 7 _,-,- - THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1835. of Assembly had gone further than:the general good required. The object of the ascendant party in Canada, was to work revolution. He and the Government, though anxious for im provement in the colonies, would never sanction anything like revolution or convulsion. Mr. ROEBUCK spoke at some length in reply, but bis low tone of voice. Sir ROBERT PEEL asked, Was the appointment of the Commission complete ? One of the MINISTERS said it was. Sir ROBERT PEEL then asked was it intended to com municate to Parliament the objects the Government had in view respecting the settlement of the Canadian question. We understood the answer to be that when the proper time arrived the House should be put in possession of all the facts. Mr. HUME said a few words which were not understood. This whole debate was conducted in so subdued and con versational style, that we found it impossible to do more than guess its import. SCOTCH CHURCH. The House then proceeded to the Orders of the day. Mr. JOHNSTON brought on the question of the Church of Scotland. The Hon. Member entered at considerable length into the legislative history of the Church of Scotland, detailed the measures enacted for its reformation, and the abolition of episcopacy, in 1649, and inveighed against the duplicity and ingratitude of Charles 11., who repealed the reforms and restored the Bishops, in 1661. He described the state of abeyance in which it remained till the accession of the Prince of Orange in 1668, who had previously recog nized the principles set forth in the celebrated " claim of rights" by the Scotch Reformers, " that the right of presen tation to livings had been greatly abused, and that it was in convenient to continue it." He stated the particulars of the Act passed by William 111. on his accession, re-abolish ing episcopacy, the right of presentation, &c., and pointed out the compensation of 600 marks secured to every patron, to be levied by compulsory assessment on the heritors of every parish, lest succeeding Parliaments should attempt to restore the privilege, on a plea of injustice to the possessors of vested rights. Thus matters continued till the Union with England, during which space of Scottish history the reformed system had (he contended) worked well, though too short a time had been afforded to give it a fair trial. He then entered into a narrative of the intrigues of the Parliament in the reign of Queen Anne for the restoration of the exiled Stuarts, and the measures which resulted in reference to the Church of Scotland. The Hon. Member next descended to the modern history of the Kirk, and animadverted on the evil influence produced by the ascendancy of the High Church party—the defective discipline which ensued—the bad effects, spiritual and practical, of the system of patronage still in existence— the limited degree of education tolerated in aspirants to the Ministry, and the consequent evils resulting to the laity—in difference and apathy on the one hand, schism and secession on the other. The Hon. Member was continuing his address, during which a very thin House bad grown gradually thinner, till at length about 30 Hon. Members remained ; when, Mr. POTTER rose, and said—This is a subject too im portant to be discussed in such a House. I move, Sir, that it be counted. This was done accordingly, and the SPEAKER declared the House counted out at ten minutes past seven. IRISH MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. The following is an abstract of some of the principal points of the first Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Municipal Corporations of Ireland—a Report which appears to have been framed with great care and ability : " In submitting to your Majesty our general view of the re sults of the inquiry, it will be convenient to arrange then► under the distinct heads pointed out by your Majesty's Commission, and in the following order, namely : " I. The Existing State of the Municipal Corporations in Ireland. " 11. The Mode of Electing and Appointing the Members and Officers. "111. The Defects in their Constitution. " IV. The Privileges of the Freemen and other• Members. " V. Their Jurisdictions and Powers in the Administration of Justice, and in all other respects. " VI. The Nature and Management of their Income, Re venues, and Funds, whether Charitable or otherwise. " VII. The Tolls and Customs within their Receipt, or under their Management. " VIII. The several Local Jurisdictions existing within the limits of the Corporate Towns. " I. The Existing State of the Municipal Corporations in Ireland. " Before we state the Corporations now actually existing, we think it may be useful to enumerate all the Municipal Corporations which appear to have exercised any functions, as such, within the last century, and to allude to some other boroughs which returned Members to the Irish Parliament at the period of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland, though, as it appears, not then, or for many years before, possessing or exercising any other functions of Municipal Corporations. " From the information we have been able to collect, the number of the Municipal Corporations in Ireland, appearing to have actually exercised any functions as such, within the last century, is 99, consisting of the Corporations of the fol lowing cities and towns : Cities and _Towns. Counties of A Mee I outh Ardferte Kerry Armagh Armagh Askeaton Limerick A th boy !Meath Athenry Galway Athlone Westmeath & Roscommon Athy Kildare A ugher Tyrone Ballynakill Queen's Co. Ballyshannon Donegal Baltinglass Wicklow B ataghar King's County Bandonbridge Cork Bangor Dawn Bail now Wexford Bei fast Antrim Pelt whet Cavan Biessington ......... Wicklow I loy le Roscommon Callan Kilkenny Carirsfurt al li.gfurcl Louth Carlow Carlow Carl iekfergus County of the fowl) of Carrick-on-Shannon Leitrim Cashel Tipperary CaNtlebar Mayo Castlemartyr Cork Cavan Cavan Charlemont Armagh Charleville Cork Clog hnakilty Cork Cloomel Tipperary Coleraine Londonderry Cork County of the —.. City_ of Dingle Kerry Donegal' Donegal' Drogheda County.of the ~. Toivn of Dublin County of the City of Duleek Meath Dundalk . Dungannon Tyrone Dunteer Louth Ennis Clare Enniscorthy Wexford Enniskillen Fermanagh Feathard Tilperary Feathard Wexford Fore Westmeath Galway County of the Town of r K itios and Towns. Counties of Granard Longford Gorey Wexford Gowran nilkenny Harristown Kildare liillsborough Down Jamestown Leitrim Inistiugue Kilkenny Irisittown County of the City of Kil kenny ells 'death Kilbeggan Westmeath Kildare ' Kildare Kilkenny County of the City of Killibegs Do,.egall Killileagh Down Kilniallock I imeriek Kinsale Cork Knocktopher Kilkenny Lanesborough Longford Liffind Donegan Limavaddy I o:nlonderry Limerick County of the City of Londonderry Londonderry Longford Longford Maryborough Queen's County Middleton Cork Monaghan Monaghan Naas Kildare Navan ....... Meath New Castle, near Lyons Dublin New Ross .. Wexford Newtownards Down Old Leighlin Carlow Philipstown King's County Portarlington King's County and Queen's County Roscommon Roscommon Sligo Sligo St. Johnstown Donegall St. Johnstown Longford Strabane Tvrone Thomastown Kilkenny Tralee Kerry Trim Meath "l'uam Galway 'Fula ke Roscommon Waterford County of th ,, C►ty of Wexford Wexford Wicklow Wicklow Youghal Cork. In addition to these Municipalities, there were, at the period of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland, 18 boroughs, which returned Members to the Irish Parliament, into which we deemed it our duty to in quire, with the view of ascertaining how far they partook of the character of Municipal Corporations. The result of the inquiry has established that of these boroughs seven were, at not very remote periods, Corporate Municipalities, acting, or at least constituted, under Royal Charters still on record, viz.:— Towns.. Counties of Towns Counties of Baltimore Cork Mallow Cork Clogher Tyrone Newry Down Dungarvan Lisin..re Waterford With respect to the following five, the existence, either of a Corporation or of burg-age tenure, is noticed in ancient records, but no Charter of incorporation has been disco vered, viz. : Towns. Counties of Towns. Counties of Clonmines Wexford Sword, Dublin Dow npatrick Down Taghmon Wexford Ratoath . Meath Aril the six remaining boroughs, though possessing char ters empowering them to return Members to Parliament, never, as far as we have been able to trace, possessed the character of Municipal Corporations. They are— Towns Counties of Towns Counties of Antr,, Antrim Mullingar Westmeath Doneraile Cork Randalstown Antrim Lisburne Antrim Ratheormac Cork * * * st S S S S * * Of the several Municipal Corporations we have men tioned, the following only (which we have arranged accord ing to the respective amount of population of the districts with which they are connected) appear to be now effectively existing, and exercising the functions of such bodies :- " Dublin with its suburbs, 265,316 inhabitants ; Cork (the entire, county of the city), 100,716 ; Limerick (the entire county of the city), 66,554 ; Belfast, 53,287 ; Galway (the entire county of the town), 33,120; Waterford (the entire county of the city), 28,281 ; Kilkenny and Irishtown (the en tire county of the city), 23,741 ; Londonderry with its su burbs, 19,620 ; Drogheda (the entire county of the town), 17,365 ; Sligo, 15,152 ; Clonmel, 15,134 Kinsale (the en tire liberties), 14,412; •Athlone, 11,406; Youghal (the (.Itire liberties), 11,327 ; Wexford, 10,673 ; • Dundalk, 10,078 ; Bandonbridge, 9,917 ; Tralee, 9,668 ; Armagh, 9,470 ; Car ln%l, 9,114 ; Carrickfergus (the entire county of the town), 8,706 ; Ennis, 7,711 ; Cashel, 6,971 ; Tuam, 6,883 ; 6,111 ; Enniskillen, 5,056; Enniscorthy, 5,955; Coleraine, 5,752 ; New Ross, 5,011 ; Charleville, 4,766 ; Strabane, 4,700 ; Longford, 4,516 ; Athy, 4,494 ; Navan, 4,416 ; • Dingle, 4,327 ; Kells, 4,326; Ardee, 3,975 ; Moilagivn, 3,848; Naas, 3,808; Cloghnakilty, 3,807 ; Dungannon 3,515; Boyle, 3,483 ; Feathard (Tipperary), 3,405 ; Trim, 3,282 ; Nlaryborough, 3,22:1 ; Portarlington, 3,091 ; Gorey, 3,044; Thomastown, 2,871; Bangor, 2,741 ; Wicklow, 2,472 ; Mid dleton, 2,034 ; Belturbet, 2,026 ; Kilbeggan, 1,985 ; Balt inglass, 1,674; Hillsborough, 1,453; Athenry, 1,319; Kil n:allot...lc, 1,213; Killileagh, 1,147 ; Inistioge, 906 ; Castle martyr, 830. " In the following towns, the Corporations have become extinct since the period of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland : " Castlebar, 6,373 inhabitants; Ballyshannon, 3,775; Ros common, 3,306; Banagher, 2,636; Limavaddy, 2,428; Gra nard, 2,069; Athboy, 1,959; Ballinakill, 1,927; Carrick-on. Shannon, 1,870 ; Askeaton, 1,515 ; Philipstown, 1,454 ; Gowran, 1,009 Donegall, 830 ; Killibegs, 724 ; Dunleer, 710 ; Knocktopher, 475 ' • Blessington, 426 ; New Castle near Lyons, 395 ; Jianesborough, 390 • Feathard (Wexford), 350 ; Jamestown, 311 ; St. Johnstown (Longford), 255 ; Augher, village; Bannow, ditto; Cariesfort, ditto; Fore, ditto; Harristown, ditto : Old Leighlin, ditto; St. Johns town (Donegall), ditto; Tulske, ditto. " hi the following places, although it appears from the local Reports that Corporations do not effectively subsist in them, there is either some continuing exercise of corporate functions, or a remnant of corporate property : " Newtownards, 4,442 inhabitants ; Cavan, 2,931 ; Kil dare, 1,753 ; Carlingford, 1,319 ; Duleek, 1,217 ; Lifford, 1,096 ; Charlemont, 523 • Ardfert, village." Under the second andthird heads of Inquiry we find the following observations on the very important subject of the admission of non-residents, and the results of. the control exercised by the governing bodies over admission : " In counties of cities and counties of towns the ackno;s ledged rights of the freeholders to vote at elections for Mem bers of Parliament, while it has served to maintain the general independence of the community, has had a decided though in direct tendency to the depression of the freemen as a class. The freeholders, who thus possessed the most valuable civil right, without control of the Corporate authorities, had less motive to seek admission as freemen, while the existence of an independent body of electors led, for the purpose of counteract ing their influence, to the creation of non-resident freemen—a practice, on the part of the Corporations, for the correction of which the Legislature has lately interposed by one of the pro visions of the Reform Act. In many Corporations (we may instance those of Galway, Limerick, Cork, and Drogheda), the creation of non-resident freemen has prevailed to an extent apparently only limited by the necessity of providing a sufficient number in the interest of the Corporation to bear down the resident freehold constituency. As Members of the Corpora tions for general municipal purposes, the non-resident free men do not appear to have interfered ; but such rights as they may have in that respect remain unaffected by the provisions of the Reform Act ; and if the subject of contest should be of sufficient importance, they might still be resorted to by the governing body on occasions of the exercise of Corporate powers where vested in the freemen at large. " The admission of non-residents to such an extent seems quite inconsistent with the principles of municipal government and incorporation, and with the spirit of the charters, which are addressed to the citizens. commons, inhabitants, or com monalty of the corporate city or town, and abound in provi sions for the benefit and exclusive advantages, commercial and civil, of those residing in the incorporated districts. We find the Legislature itself, at a very early period, sanc tioning and enforcing the principle and policy of a resident municipality, by a statute of the Irish Parliament, passed in the tenth year of Henry VII. (c. 7), which enacts, That no city or great town receive or admit any person to be alderman, juror, or freemen, within any of the said cities or towns, but such persons as have been prentice or been con tinually inhabitant in the said cities or towns ; ' and (after some other provisions), that if any city or town offend the premises or any part thereof, the mayor and commons of any such city or town, by whatever name they be incorporated by, to forfeit an hundred marks of money to the King, as often as they, or any of them shall offend the premises, or any part of them.' In practice, however, the terms of the charters and the intention of the Legislature have alike been dis regarded, and the provisions of the Act of Parliament have been considered as penal, but not prohibitory; imposing the prescribed penalty on the Corporation which violates them, but not invalidating the admission of the persons in whose favour they are infringed. " Election Committees of the House of Commons have, in the cases of Limerick, 'Wexford, and Waterford, decided that the rights of election there were limited to freemen resident at the time of admission ; but these decisions, which asserted a principle theretofore habitually violated in modern practice, have proceeded on evidence of the ancient bye-laws and usages of these Corporations, and in the case of Wexford on the spe cial terms of the charter. In the case of Limerick, the Le gislature has interposed by the Act for the regulation of that Corporation, 4 Geo. IV. chap. 126 ; and made residence at the time of admission a necessary qualification for freedom. " In Carrickfergus, also, the usage has been in conformity with this principle. " That the existence of such control and influence in such a body over the admission of the members is a main defect in the constitution of the Municipal Corporations, the results, contrasted with the objects of the institutions, appears to us to demonstrate. " We apprehend the term Municipal Corporation may, in reference to our present inquiry, and on a view of the several charters which have come under our notice, be fairly consi dered to mean an incorporation of persons, inhabitants of, or connected with, a particular place or district, enabling them to conduct its local civil government. Accordingly, the regu lation of the municipal district and its inhabitants, the preser vation of the public peace within it by a magistracy chosen by and from the incorporated body, and the administration of justice to the community in domestic tribunals, are among the principal objects for which provision is made in the various charters of incorporation appearing to have been granted from time to time to the corporate cities and towns in Ireland. Another important object of many incorporations was the elec tion of Members to represent their respective cities and towns in Parliament. A further, and one which appears to have engaged more attention in former times than at present, was the protection and regulation of the local trade by means of commercial societies or guilds. " It appears to have always been considered conducive, if not necessary, to the attainment of the first object above noticed—that of providing for the regulating of the municipal district and its inhabitants—that the Corporate Body should be invested with powers to make ordinances or bye-laws for the purpose, and that such ordinances would be the more binding on the inhabitants of the districts, and suited to their interests, if made with their common assent. We find, there fore, that in nearly all the charters of Municipal Corporations in Ireland, in which the power of making bye-laws is expressly I given (even in those the most restricted in other particulars), this power is vested in the whole body, including the com monalty equally with the other members. " All the other objects sought by their creation alike imply that these institutions were originally designed for the peculiar and common benefit of the residents of the Corporate district, and were intended to be identified in interest with them, and entitled to their confidence and support. " Birt the consequences of such exercise as we have de scribed, of the power of admission to the freedom of the muni cipal Corporations of Ireland, have been to establish a very different condition of those bodies. It has followed that in many towns there is no recognised commonalty ; that in others, where existing in name, it is entirely disproportioned to the inhabitants, and consists of a very small portion, of an exclusive character, not comprising the mercantile interests, nor repre senting the wealth, intelligence, or respectability of the town. The Corporations are, not without reason, looked on by the great body of the inhabitants of the corporate districts with suspicion and distrust, as having interests distinct from, and adverse to, those of the general community, whom they thus studiously exclude from a participation in the municipal government. Their members frequently consist entirely of the relatives and adherents of particular individuals or fami lies, and the principles of their association, and those which regulate admission or exclusion, have rarely any connection with the common benefit of the district, or the wishes of its inhabitants. In far the greater number of the close Corporations, the persons composing them are the mere nominees of the patron,' or proprietor' of the borough ; while in those apparently more enlarged, they are admitted and associated in support of some particular political inte rest, most frequently at variance with the majority of the resident inhabitancy. " In the town of Belfast the whole municipal Corpora tion consists of the sovereign, the lord of the castle, tho constable, his appointee, twelve self-elected burgesses, and six freemen. " In Armagh it is as close." The Report then proceeds to observe on the effect of this system, in reference to the exclusion of Roman Ca tholics : " This system deserves peculiar notice, in reference to your Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects. In one Corporation alone, that of Tuam, the majority of the governing body is Roman Catholic, one only of the burgesses being a Protes tant. The laws which for a series of years operated to ex clude those professing the Roman Catholic religion from Cor porations, were repealed in the year 1793,. by the statute 33d Geo. 111., c. 21 ; but the Roman Catholics have hitherto derived little practical advantage from the change. In the close boroughs they are almost universally excluded from all corporate privileges. In the more considerable towns, they have rarely been admitted even as .freemen ; and, with few ex coptions, they are altogether excluded from the governing bodies. In some—and among these is the most important Corporation in Ireland, that of Dublin—their admission is still resisted,. on avowed principles of sectarian distinction. Even in those Corporations where rights to freedom are ac knowledged and conceded, the long operation 9f the penal code having preiTented the acquisition of freedom by the im mediate ancestors of the present Roman Catholic_ population, very few have been enabled, since its repeal, to establsh the requisite titles. ;‘ The admissions which have taken place, whether upon a claim of right or by favour, have, for the most part, been either the result of personal influence with the members of the go verning body, or compliments to individuals of wealth or popu larity. With the exceptions of Tuam, Galway, Wexford, t.,nd Waterford, the rule is exclusion. " In Loi . tdonde;;Y,ar the passing of the Reform Act, there were only three Roman Catholic freemen.. " Pre% to the relaxation of the penal code the number of opulent Roman Catholics residing in the corporate cities and towns was necessarily Hooted. But since those changes in the laws which have enabled them to share in the general diffusion of wealth and in the benefits of unrestricted industry, they have risen and multiplied in th , , middle and upper classes, so that, in most of the cities and towns, they constitute not only a majority of the whole population, but a large p.opor tion of the more opulent orders. We feel bound to submit to your Majesty that a system of municipal polity, which excludes sucli a class of your Majesty's subjects from all substantial (,!r -prate privilege and power, must be essentially defective in its structure. It fails to secure to the different classes of the local community participation in the regulation of their own con cerns ; and it operates far more widely, a n d more mischiev ously, than by the mere denial of equal privilege to persons possessing perfect equality of civil worth ; for in places where the g reat mass o f t h e popu l at i on i s R oman Catholic, and persons of that persuasion are, for all efficient purposes, excluded from corporate privilege, the necessary result is that the municipal magistracy belongs entirely to the other reli gious persuasion ; and the dispensation of local justice, and the selection of juries, being committed to the members of one class exclusively, it is not surprising that such administration of the laws should be regarded with distrust and suspicion by the other and more numerous body. " The unpopular character of the municipal bodies is thus, in too many cases, aggravated by their being considered ini mical, on the ground of sectarian feelings, to a great majority of the resident population, and they become instrumental to the continuance of the unhappy dissensions which it has so long been the policy of the Legislature to allay." The Report then goes on to describe the state and con dition of the governing bodies of the Irish Corporations, which, with few exceptions, are self-elected and irrespon sible, and it is a fact, that the majority of the members are frequently non-residents : yet in such bodies as these, the admission of members, choice of local judges, &c., Corpo ration patronage, administration of Corporation affairs, funds, &c., are absolutely vested. The manner in which the system of Parliamentary patronage arose and was perpetuated, is thus described : " Some charters gave a direct power of interference and control in the corporate elections to the lord of the manor or landed proprietor of the town in which the Corporation was established, while, in others, the powers given to a small self elected body, became naturally centered in its most influential member. " With few exceptions the influence once acquired by per sons of rank or property in the Corporations was without dif ficulty perpetuated by the powers of self-election in the ruling bodies ; until, by degrees, in many, the corporate bodies came (as we have found them, and as they appear to have been for a series of years) composed almost exclusively of the family or immediate dependants and nominees of the in - dividual recognized as the patron' or proprietor,' and acting sol ly according to his dictation, and for his purposes, in the elec tion of the municipal officers, the administration of the corpo rate property and affairs, and the return of Members to Par liament for the borough. " The power of electing non-resident burgesses, given by the statute we have referred to, was instrumental in preserv ing to the patron this predominant influence. " We cannot reconcile with any reasonable principles of mu nicipal government the condition to which so great a number of the Irish Corporations have been thus reduced, the inhabi tants excluded from participation in the election of the corpo rate authorities or the management of the corporate affairs, and the whole power of local government vested in a non resident body, exercising or neglecting it, as suits the wishes or convenience of their patron. " The influence thus acquired became regarded as the pro perty of its possessor, and was transmitted as part of the family inheritance to his descendants. In some instances it was made the subject of pecuniary purchase ; in some, as in the case of Waterford, partitioned, by agreement, between contending in terests ; and this species of property was formally recognised as the subject of compensation, when the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland deprived many of the cor porate towns, or rather their patrons or proprietors, of the privilege of returning Members to the Irish Parliament. " The list of towns we have given, in which the Municipal Corporations have become extinct since that period, shows the purposes to which the patrons looked in the preservation of the nominal constitution of the corporate body, and demon strates the inefficacy of the corporate institutions to answer the useful objects of their foundation." The following are the observations of the Commissioners on the general defects of these Corporations : " In treating of the defects in the Municipal Corporations, regard must be had to two perfectly distinct considerations— First, of their structure and operation with reference to the classes which compose them ; secondly, of their structure and operation with reference to the nature of the communities in which they are placed, and to the condition of civil society at the present day, contrasted with what it was when these muni cipalities were first called into existence. " As to the structure and operation of these bodies, with re ference to their component members, particular defects in the constitutions are noticed in the separate Reports as they came under our observation. Those which appear to us to prevail generally, and to influence most injuriously the conditions of the Corporations, are, " First, the power of self-election in the governing bodies ; " Secondly, the absolute control vested in these bodies over admission to the Corporate franchise ; " Thirdly, the dispensation with residence, as a qualification in their members and officers. " But the most important consideration, relative to these municipalities, is that which has reference to the nature and condition of the existing communities with which they are connected, and to the exclusion of the inhabitants at large from an effective place and voice in the management of the local concerns and funds, and in the appointment and control of the officers." "If self-election were abolished—if residence were en forced—if all existing rights to freedom were everywhere ad mitted, and the freemen at large shared the power of electing the officers and regulating the concerns in each municipality, the basis of Corporation would be enlarged, but the change would not ensure a fair representation of the whole local community. " The freemen in Corporations the most popular consist of two classes ; those entitled by birth, servitude, or marriage ; and those admitted, not upon any claim of right, but by mere favour. It follows, that if the whole Corporate power were given to the freemen at large, the Corporate body, so far as there was admission by right, would consist of persons not r•c cessarily possessed of substantial property, nor necessarily in cluding a representation of the different classes of the commu nity. So far as there was admission by favour, it would be in effect purely self-elected. It is plain that such a body might exist, with all the forms of popular election, and with a large number of freemen as its basis, and yet continue for genera tions to represent only a : section of the inhabitants. " The creation of a class exclusively privileged, from its con nection (by servitude, birth, or marriage) with the Members of the Corporation, whether divided into guilds, or not com prising such establishments, may have been a scheme of local polity accommodated to the constitution of things which ex isted at the origin of these institutions. But the changes which society has since undergone, the diffusion of wealth, and the security of its enjoyment, among persons engaged in traffic, who have not served any apprenticeships to particular trades, demonstrate that the structure of these Corporations was planned for purposes which, in the altered condition of society, are not suited to the wants, or accordant with the circumstances of existing communities. " We do not hesitate to submit to your Majesty, as one great and pervading defect in the structure and constitution of these Corporations, that they provide no means and contain no constituency by which the property, the interests, or the wishes of the whole local community may be secured a fair represen tation in the corporate body. " The ill effects of withdrawing the management and direc tion of municipal affairs from the control and vigilance of the community, and from responsible authorities, have been long felt ; and endeavours have been made by Parliament to remedy the evil, and to provide for the due exercise of municipal func tions, in relation to the paving, lighting, cleansing, watch ing, and improving of corporate towns, by various local Acts, vesting such authorities in separate boards, either, as in Dublin, under the appointment and control of the Crown, or, as elsewhere, in select bodies of the inhabitants, under the names of Counnisf_.ioners, elected by the resident house holders, who contribute to the necessary assessments ; in the latter class of cases recognising the value of election by the general inhabitancy, without other distinction than the degree in which they contribute to the exigencies of the town, as well as the necessity of submitting the expenditure and accounts of the public funds to the vigilance and control of the people themselves. " These principles have been extensively adopted in the recent enactments of the statute 9 Geo. IV, c. 82, which pro vide for the establishment in corporate and other towns, in Ireland, of a resident board for these useful purposes, elected triennially by and from the inhabitant householders, and the provisions of which we have found already in force in many corporate towns. _ _ "These and other Acts of the Legislature relating to bo rough constituencies in the several parts of the United King dom, we humbly submit to be deserving of your Majesty's Royal consideration, in determining what constituency is required, and may form the surest basis for any reform or new establish ment of the municipal corporations in Ireland." With reference to the defective administration of justice in the various municipal local courts of record, the Com missioners make these remarks : " The legal course and forms of pleading in these courts are conformable to those of the superior courts of justice, the pro lixity of which adds considerably to the delay and expense of the proceedings. In--some • cases the' practice has, though, without authority, deviated into the simpler forms of the civil bill courts. The costs, which are to some extent at the dis. cretion of the Judges of Those courts, are quite dispropor tionate to the usual amount of the debts sued for in them ; the comparative cheapness of proceedings by civil ))e. fore the assistant barristers, and in suits for wages before the magistrates at petty, sessions, have tended -- to" diminiA, to a considerable extent, the practice of the corporate tri bunals. The long intervals Which 'elapse between the tim: s of sitting, of the civil bill court, the distance, in some cases, of the town in which that Court is held, the power of attachment peculiar to the c. poratc jurisdiction, and the course of trial by jury prevailing in the latter, appear in most cases to be the main causes why the local courts are still re sorted to. They might, unqueslioriably, be made highly cop ducive to the cheap and convenient administration of justice, by the introduction of more simple forms of procedure and pleading, the attendance 'of a competent professional judge, the establishment of regular sittings at reasonable intervals, a reduction of the costs to a scale more suitable to the'amount o f the demands usually contested in them, and the substitit tion of an appeal under proper regulations, instead of allow ing a defendant, by the present dilatory and expensive process of removal of causes by writs of certiorari or habeas corpus, capriciously to withdraw himself or the cause from the local jurisdiction ; proceedings whiCh seriously obstruct the adminis tration of justice in the local courts, being too often resortel to for delay, or to harass a plaintiff by removing a claim for a small amount to a remote and expensive tribunal, accumulating costs and deferring judgment. " Whether the official fees paid by the suitors should go di rectly to the judges or officers, or form a fund to provide for their payment by fixed salaries, we submit for your Majesty's gracious consideration." The Commissioners, however, state that in the few cities and towns where municipal courts of conscience for the re covery of debts under 40s. (late Irish currency) have been established, great benefits have resulted, and. .that much local advantage would be derived from the general estub lishrnent of such courts in large towns upon one uniform system. The Commissioners then proceed to inquire into the man ner in which the sheriffs of counties of cities and towns,: chosen by the Municipal Corporation, have exercised their functions—a branch of the inquiry which appears well to deerve the attention that has been bestowed upon it. ‘;‘ We refer to the local Reports for the particulars of those functions, and the manner in which they are exercised, They are, generally speaking. those of the sheriffs of counties at large. The most considerable, in reference to the is the return of jurors to assizes and quarter sessions. We have found the exercise of this power, especially in the return of grand jurors, by whom the public taxation of the county of the city or town is imposed, a subject of much jealousy and well-founded complaint against the corporate authorities, as might be expected from the constitution of the corporate bodies. " A large proportion, frequently the majority, of the .grand jurors, is empanelled from the members of the governing cor porate bodies—an arrangement which, as these bodies are at present constituted, practically vests and preserves, in limited corporate councils, the extensive powers of local taxation given by law to the grand juries. The composition of the grand juries, which ought to be generally and impartially taken from the inhabitants at large, is thus directly and effectively that of the Corporations, and partakes of their defects and unpopu larity. The Corporations and Grand Juries of Dublin, afford striking instances of this connection between the two bodies. In' Waterford we find a singular arrangement, made to guard against the practice, by an agreement between the Corpora tion and the inhabitants, that no more than a certain number of the common council should be on the grand jury. The exercise of this branch of their functions by the cor pdrate sheriffs in the return of petty juries on occasions of in terest to the Corporations, or affecting their influential mem bers or supporters, obviously affords the means of giving an important advantage to parties in their interest, or professing the same local or general political views. The Legislature has already interposed to prevent the abuse of these functions on such occasions, whether on civil or criminal trials, by the provisions of the statute of 1 Geo. 111. c. 17. as to issues concerning tolls, in which the Corporation may be interested ; and the 6 Geo. IV. c. 61, enabling the courts to remove the trial of issues joined in corporate cities or towns to an adjoining county. " The great importance of the duties intrusted to sheriffs, in relation to the administration of justice, and thq extent of in terests involved in their due exercise, especially in the metro polis, almost demonstrate that such corporate bodies as we have described, limited in numbers, sectarian, exclusive, and often intolerant in opinions, ought not to have the appoint ment of officers intrusted with these duties. Confidence and faith in the impartiality of the officers and ministers of the laws are necessary, as well to insure due respect for the due tribu nals by which they are administered, as to protect the laws themselves from suspicion and contempt. That such confidence is not generally placed in the conduct of corporate sheriffs in Ireland, in reference to the selection of juries on political oc casions, is matter of notoriety. Whether a better system may not be adopted by the removal of the prominent defects of the corporate institutions, and placing this branch of the general - administration of the law in hands more directly responsible for its faithful exercise, we humbly submit to your Majesty's gracious consideration." Of the nature of the income of Municipal Corporations in Ireland, the Commissioners say that " The income, revenues, and funds of the Municipal Cor porations in Ireland, as at present enjoyed, are, in some, de rived from landed estates ; in some from tolls and customs ; and in a few from bop. The present incomes of very many are inconsiderable in value, and insufficient for the due remu neration of the corporate officers, while the revenues of others are of large annual amount. " The management of the corporate estates, as developed in the transactions of more recent periods, displays, in many instances, a marked disregard of the public interests on the part of the bodies under whose control they have fallen, and affords evidence from which the character of the earlier appro priations may be inferred. " The Members of the Common Councils, or governing bo dies, frequently appear in the rentals of corporate property as the favoured grantees, or the lessees of long and valuable leases, amounting in many instances to perpetuities, at inade quate rents, which appear to have been made without survey or advertisement, the same parties being thus, substantially, the lessor and lessee, and exercising without scruple, or regard to public duty or trust, in their own favour, a complete domi nion over the estates of the community. " In other cases, the influential station of the patron has been used to secure the appropriation, to his own use, of the corporate property. " Amongst the most flagrant, as well as recent, are the cases of Cashel and Naas, the peculiar and extraordinary circum stances attending which are detailed in the Reports on those Corporations, and demand grave consideration. " Other Corporations present similar, though not so very remarkable or recent examples of violation of the public duties of the governing bodies, and demonstrate the ill effects of that misapprehension of the character or perversion of the princi ples of Municipal constitution, which has enabled such bodies to abuse and misapply the extensive powers and properties intrusted to their administration." As might be expected where such cases of mismanage ment or rather mal-management occur, the proceedings of the Corporations, in relation to the disposition of their re venues and property, are altogether secret ; and it even happens that in some boroughs where corporate property once existed, it has now entirely disappeared, whilst in others, as in Dublin, Londonderry, and Waterford, consi derable debts have been incurred and are charged upon the corporate property. In some instances, indeed, the officers intrusted with the receipt and expenditure of the corporate funds have continued for years without accounting for them, whilst in other cases public and private accounts are found to be most curiously intermixed. The difficulties attendant upon any legal inquiry into the expenditure of the Coro rations are thus stated : " The payment of the municipal officers forms the chief head of expenditure in the greater number of the Corporations possessed of property. " In some, a portion of the revenues is also directed to other purposes of local utility ; but the funds applicable to such pur poses are generally very inadequate, compared with what would have been at the disposal of the municipal body under more correct management of the estates. The corporate ac counts present frequent entries of improvident disbursements to individuals, and for purposes inconsistent with a due appli cation of the revenues to the public uses of the community, which will be found noticed in the local Reports. " The existing state of the law precludes (save at the ha zard of enormous expense) the institution of a judicial inquiry into the propriety of such expenditure, and the right of the governing body to dispose of the corporate property at plea sure, for their individual and private benefit. " The Corporations insist that they are entitled to the es tates in absolute dominion, to dispose of at their will and plea sure, and not upon any trust whatever." With the exception of the Corporations of Limerick and Galway, the Commissioners have not found sufficient evi dence to enable them to say that the income and funds of these Corporations were in their nature charitable, but some instances have transpired of abuse of funds intrusted by certain benevolent individuals to the management of Cor porations, to be applied to the support of schools, or other charitable foundations. Reasonable complaints have also been made to the Corn missioners of the exaction by some Corporations of exces sive and unreasonable tolls. The system of collecting these tolls calls (say the Commissioners) " for a thorough revision by legislative authority." The Commissioners sum up and conclude their Report as follows : " In these Reports, and the remarks we have thus made on the matters pointed out by your Majesty's Commission, we have abstained from any reference to the political views with which many of the Municipal Corporations may have been Created, and the constitutions of all modified or controlled by the general enactments of the Legislature. Whether those views or alterations were consistent with sound aid judicious policy, or were justified by events—whether the institutions and modifications, created at particular periods and for par ticular purposes, answered the expectations of those by whom they were established, in reference to the general policy of the state, We have not deemed it within ourprovince to inquire. We have considered these bodies in the direct and immedi ate relation which they bear to the respective communities to which they are aciatally or nominally attached, and as the instruments of local advantage, or the contrary, to the bitants of the corporate district. " In this view, and with this object, we have, in these Re ports, humbly endeavoured to point out wherein, either in principle or practice, their constitution or prOCeedings appear to us defective, and where those defects result from the ori ginal frame of the Corporate Society, or have been produced by unauthorized deviation from, or violation of, its arrange ments. The operation of these defects extend beyond what may be deemed mere Corporate limits. The Corporations have long been unpopular, and oljects of suspicion. As at present constituted they are, in many instances, of no serv i ce to the community; in others, i njurious ; in all, insufficient and inadequate to the proper purposes and ends of such institu— tions. The public distrust in them attaches on their officers and nominees; and the result is a failure of that respect for, and confidence in, the ministers of justice and police, which ought to subsist in well regulated communities, which, where they do exist, conduce so much to the peace and good order of society, and without which the authority of the law may be dreaded, but cannot be respected or effective. " We have not thought ourselves authorized to recommend specific measures of improvement in our Reports—save so far as the notice. of, and necessary observations upon, the defect, and cause of evil, tend to suggest the remedy. But we feel it to be our duty humbly to represent to your Ma jesty that the early and effectual correction of the existing evils, and the prevention of future mischief, are an x i ous ly de sired and essentially requisite ; and that these benefits can be attained, only, by means of a general and complete reform of the constitutions of the Municipal Corporations to "We humbly submit this Report to your Majesty's royal consideration, " LOUIS PERRIN, MAZIERE BRADY, JAMES MOODY, JOHN IL CORBALLIS, WILLIAM HANNAH, PHILIP FOGARTY, MAURICE KING, DAVID. PIGOT, WILLIAM E. HUDSON, HENRY •BALDWIN, add ACHESON LYLE, MATTHEW R. iAUSSE." The reports that Colonel Hodges, General Barnard, and Colonel Bacon, are engaged in the Spanish expedition, are without fbundation. IMMEIN MIME 4.) I_ ,~ , aad re ;de Lnd in rico ni the nd. fa the the by & With ,nro• ; To and. Oil' agst Y .lll y v Or oohs, Aikio, , asts, De. w ith by ! oltg, %tit. gos cif tall Lure jog- a , for b'• , 9it" , 141 1 aaee• E.- - lie% fra? ►laIL ha rd, Jean, -;"'" 0 p A plo• a pOl. 4 -0 .105% ;293 651. v MEM ~ ,J -