The Sun. — London, England, 1833-11-01 00:00:00

,';SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.. An article in the Chronicle of Monday last seems to have produced a strong sensation in the City. No revolution was ever yet effected without giving pain to some individuals. The Lord Mayor's Committees have, it seems, so managed matters, that it has been deemed expe dient to get rid of them ; but though it is per fectly well understood why this determina tion was taken, there are few who like to state the reasons in a plain and explicit man ner. Mr. Deputy Wood attacked the writer of the paragraph in the Morning Chronicle with great fury. But really we are at a loss to see in what respect the paragraph was unfounded. Al derman Harmer said he had great confidence in the Committee ; but it would appear that his confidence did not extend to reposing any trust in them. "In limiting the number of tickets to the Guildhall, the Lord Mayor Elect and the Sheriffs (he said) were only anxious that all the guests should be provided with seats. Upon the last occasion so many tickets had been issued by the Committee, that the friends of the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs were left to shift in many instances for themselves." Alderman Harmer's confidence in the Committee reminds us of Mr. Rothschild's confidence in a gentle man's word. When examined by the Committee on the finance and accounts of the East India Company last year, he gave an explanation of what he meant by confidence. The following question having been put to him—" The value of a cargo, of course, must depend upon exa mination : would you take a gentleman's word as to the value, or examine the cargo ?"—he answered, most characteristically, " I would take the gentleman's word, and exmine the cargo be sides." The Lord Mayor Elect and Sheriffs find that the Committees are deserving of every con fidence, but that it would be better not to trust too much to them. It is quite clear that the Lord Mayor is somewhat of Mr. Rothschild's opinion, that there would be no harm in examining the accounts of the Committee. "As for the accounts of the expenditure of his Mayoralty, he had, he must say, never yet seen them, and he was rather astonished at the amount." Mr. Figgins honestly owned " that very great mean nesses were practised by Lord Mayors' Commit tees, and he did not confine himself to general charges, but stated, that in 1825 and 1822, the Committees had acted with the utmost meanness; that in one of them they had charged for a barber, and a glover, and a cutler, and in both they had accumulated upon the three individuals who had to bear the brunt, a series of the most useless and ridiculous expenses." It is quite clear that the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs have not set aside the Committee from any apprehen sion of excessive parsimony. The paragraph in the Chronicle was a gross libel, it seems ; but if it had been true to the letter, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs could not have acted otherwise than they did. Mr. Deputy Wood says, " the Committee of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs retired because they were mistrusted." They were not distrusted, mind, in consequence of the paragraph in the Morn ing Chronicle ; but they were distrusted ; and the paragraph in the Morning Chronicle merely endeavours to enlighten the public with respect to :the cause of the distrust. Mr. Alderman Harmer says, indeed, that the Committee were not distrusted by him, but that the members of the Committee could not trust one another. " Several gentlemen on the Committee," he said, " had declared that reform was necessary i iCommittees of the kind. They were not distrusted, but the Hon. Gentleman who says so admitted to me that he could not control the Committee." The public will have little dif ficulty in understanding the whole affair. The' Common Councilmen are very worthy men, and deserving of the utmost confidence; but in all matters of eating and drinking at the expense of others, it may be well to watch them closely. —Morning Chronicle. TThe following account of the commerce of Portugal, drawn up under our direction, will, we think, be found at once interesting and accu rate :—The commerce of Portugal dates its origin from a very early period. At a time when the Romans held possession of the country, its exports of corn, wine, and oil, were not in considerable ; but confining our investigation to a more mod ;rn epoch, we may reckon the com mencement of Portuguese commerce from the year 1092, when the reign of the first dynasty of monarchs began. From that period until the present day the trade of Portugal has ex perienced a striking vicissitude of prosperity and decay. At one time the gallant exploits and valuable discoveries of the Portuguese navy, and the enterprising spirit of the people raised it to a pitch of enviable splendour, from which it has since fallen in consequence of the neglect of Government, the distractions of war, and the encroachments of powerful rivals. The mystery which the absurd jealousy of the old system of Government threw round every subject connected with the administration of the kingdom, effectually concealed from the eyes both of natives and foreigners the real state of Portuguese commerce ; and it is not therefore surprising that imperfect information, and conclusions oftentimes come to on mere con jecture, should have given r ise to various false no tions respecting this matter. Even its condition during so late a period as a few years preceding the removal of the Royal Family to Brazil has been the subject of conflicting statements. By some writers the trade then carried on has been de scribed as exceedingly trifling, while M. Balbi, who enjoyed the privilege of inspecting official documents, and who consequently is entitled to the greatest credit, declares it to have " reached such a point of splendour as, considering the obstacles it had to encounter, the absence of all internal trade, the small extent of the king dom, and the low amount of population, not only equalled, but surpassed that of every otter European state, England and Hamburg ex cepted." He also mentions that more than five-sixths of the Portuguese trade is conducted by native houses, some of them possessing very considerable capital, and he records the name of one merchant who has amassed a fortune of upwards of 15,000,000 cruzados.* The most lirilliant epoch of Portuguese commerce bega n in 1600, and continued to 1595. During this period the wealth acquired by the Portuguese created among the nation s with whom they trafficked a very magnificent idea of their im portance ; and an old Persian geographer, con ceiving that no other power could by possibility exist in the same quarter of the globe w ith so The gold cruzado, equal to 2 s. 3 d. , and the milr ee (a thousand reis), valued in gold, equal to 6'7 4.1. It appears, however, from assays made at the London Mint, in 1812, on modern silver crusrlos, that the average value of the milree in silver may be estimated at 60d. or bs. sterling.—Macculloch, Dic. Com. All accounts of money exceeding 400,000 reis are kept is the cruzado, the value pf which is 400 reis..—Baloi. mighty a people, speaks of Portugal as the capi tal of Europe. It must not, however, be ima gined that the commerce of Portugal was sus tained by the internal resources of that country alone. Blessed with a fertile soil, capable of producing a great variety of exportable articles, Portugal has, nevertheless, benefitted but little from the advantages lavished on her by nature ; and the want of proper communications by roads, canals, or navigable rivers, has kept stagnant the internal industry of the country. If, then, we limit our view of Portuguese commerce to that portion which depends on the exporta tion of the produce of Portugal, the balance ap pears anything but favourable ; but the case as sumes a different aspect when we take into our consideration the trade which she fbrmerly car ried on by the aid of her colonies. The articles which she imported from her establishments in South America, Asia, and Africa, formed the basis of a most profitable commerce, and the dependency of Brazil was particularly valuable to the Portuguese people. Being the only en trepot by means of which the produce of Brazil could gain admission to the rest of Europe, Portugal possessed in that country a source of almost inexhaustible riches, But the opening of the ports of Brazil to the ships of all nations, which took place on the government being transferred to Rio de Janeiro, the introduction of foreign wines, the occupation of Lisbon by the French, and, as M. Balbi adds, the admis sion of British manufactures into the mother country as well as the colony, on payment of half the amount of duty imposed on the importation of the goods of other countries, inflicted a severe blow on the commerce of Portugal ; for the monopoly which the Portuguese had hitherto exclusively enjoyed of supplying the wants of the inhabitants of this vast and rich part of the world was thereby opened to the merchants of other countries. The principal articles imported into Portugal from Brazil are sugar, cotton, skins and hides, tobacco, coffee, rice, cocoa, Peruvian bark, indigo, gold, sarsa parilla, ipecacuanha, Brazil wood, building wood, diamonds, and other precious stones, brandy, wax, copper, cinnamon, whale oil and whalebone, ginger, balsam of copaiva. The Brazil wood, tobacco, and diamonds, are Royal monopolies; but, owing to the improvident manner in which the wood has been cut by the Government agents, it is now rarely found within several miles of the coast. The quantity of Brazil wood imported into England is but inconsiderable. The trade in salt and the whale fishery also used to belong to the Crown, but for many years past they have been declared open. In return for these articles Portugal exports to Brazil wine, butter, dried fish, oil, brandy, salt, Dutch cheese, vinegar, bacon, biscuit, flour, iron, worked and in bars, arti cles in copper, tin, lead, and other metals, medi cines, colours, acids, spirits, pitch, tar, paper, books, parasols, house furniture and church decorations, mirrors, window glass, spectacles, bugles, woollen cloth, German linen, cotton cloth, cambric, &c. The immense importance of the Brazilian trade to Portugal is demon strated by the fact of its being considerably more extensive than that of all her other pos sessions put together. The following tables exhibit the amount of trade carried on by Por tugal with Brazil, Madeira, the Azores, and the Portuguese establishments in Asia and Africa. The three years, 1796, 1806, and 1819, have been selected, for the purpose of showing the gradual increase and decay of the trade : IMPORTS INTO PORTUGAL IN 1796. Value in Reis. From Brazil... .. 11,474,863,935 Asia 1,667,063,372 Africa Madeira and the Azores 246,049,485 Total 13,413,265,042 IN 1806. From Brazil Asia Africa Madeira and the Azores 118,016,014 Total 16,103,975 250 IN 1519. From Brazil Asia 1,585,490,637 Africa Madeira and the Azores 310,393,877 Total 9,413,093,583 EXPORTS FROM PORTUGAL IN 1796. Value in Reis. To Brazil 6,982,356,245 Asia Africa Madeira and the Azores... 269,887,825 Total 7,527,648,710 IN 1806. To Brazil Asia 1,622,806,430 Africa 777,365,900 Madeira and the Azores 488,043,325 Total 11,314 313,554 IN 1819. To Brazil Asia Africa bladeira and the Azores 530,625,210 Total The trade of the eastern coast of Africa is comprised under the head of Asia. Goa is the mart for the productions of India, Macao for those of China. The other settlements export and import articles of much the same sort as those which compose the Brazilian trade, with the exception of Angola and Benguela, on the western coast of Africa, which furnish a supply of slaves for the market of Brazil. In the ac count of the commerce of Portugal with other nations England holds a conspicuous station. It is well known that the relations between the two countries are of a very old date, and so early as the year 1353, it is recorded that Edward 111. gave the Portuguese, by treaty, the right of fishing off the coast and ports of England for fifty years. The period of commerce most profitable to the English was from 1722 to 1738, during which time the balance in their favour amounted to more than 1,000,0001. sterling annually. From 1797, two years after the Portuguese had extended to other nations the privileges before exclusively enjoyed by the English, to 1811, the balance was constantly in favour of Portugal, with the exception of the two years 1800 and 1808. In 1811 Portugal lost by her transactions with England 43,090,000 cruzados ; in 1812 26,601,000 cruzados ; and in 1813 29,550,000 cruzados. Two thirds of the importations from England are received by Lisbon, which returns only one third of the exportations. Oporto gains greatly by the exportation of wine for England. The principal articles imported from this country are woollen cloths and stuffs, butter, salt fish, cheese, salted meat, copper, lead, iron, tin, toys and trinkets, steel andiron tools, coal, &c. The articles exported by Portugal in return are cotton, wines, oranges, citrons, indigo, oil, ipecacuanha, salt, dried fruits, &c. The follow ing tables show the state of the commercial transactions of England and Portugal in the three years we 'have before seleeted—naThely, 1796, 1806, and 1819 :-- IMPORTS FROM ENGLAND. Value in Reis. 1796 4,951,737,334 1806 6,587,150,292 1819 7,466,156,836 EXPORTS TO ENGLAND. Value in Reis. 1796... 1806 8,201,116,990 1819 4,209 087,095 The insports from England to Portugal ex ceed those of any other nation. What the present condition of Portuguese commerce is it would be superfluous to describe. There can scarcely exist a person so dull as not to perceive that a state of anarchy is incompatible with the progress of peaceful occupations, and that capital, which gives motion to the springs of industry, and imparts vitality to commerce, will not long remain in a country where all property is insecure. The intolerance and despotism of the late Government have, as might be expected, paralyzed trade, and destroyed the energies of the people ; but the eye gladly turns from the melancholy picture of the past to the fair pros pect which seems opening on the future. Times. The civil war still rages in the north of Spain ; and, it would appear by the latest intelligence in the French Papers, with yet varying success. Extinguished by the superior power of the Go vernment troops in one district, or kept down by their temporary presence in another, the spirit of revolt flies away to other quarters, where it breaks out with fresh vigour, and shows throughout a vivacity which, though not per haps formidabl e enoug h t o create f ears f or t h e , ultimate result, is nevertheless quite sufficient to give occupation and uneasiness to the ruling party. Hitherto the strife has been confined to the provinces of Navarre and Biscay. Now it is reported to have reached Catalonia and Asturias, though the former was counted amongst the Queen's steadiest supporters. The Carlists are said to have broken out at a little town called Vic, to have encountered the Governor, killed him, and dispersed his followers. It was also reported on the Bourse, on Tuesday afternoon, that an Aide-de-Camp of General Harispe had arrived in town, bringing intelligence of an in surrection in the Asturias ; and that Cuebillas, a former Chief of Guerillas against the French, and afterwards one of the leaders of the Army of the Faith (in 1822-23), had taken the field for Don Carlos. The Marquis of Torre Alta, lately appointed member of the Junta of St. Sebastian by General Castagnon, and the Duke of Grenada, a Grandee, had joined the Carlists of Biscay. With these exceptions, the tendency of the desultory accounts from Spain in the French papers is all the other way. At Tolosa, in Guipuscoa, which seems to be the head-quarters of the party, though the bulk of the people are said to be indifferent to the cause, the Carlists were attacked upon the 22d ; but so vigorous was their resistance that the affair ended in a drawn battle. Next day the combat was renewed, and in the result the Carlists were broken and dispersed. The latest accounts from Madrid were brought by M. Mignet, who left that city on the 22d inst. At the period of his departure it was known in Madrid that the priest Merino had declared in favour of Don Carlos, and organized several bands of Guerillas in the direction of Lerma and Aranda. At Madrid and the chief provincial capitals all was reported as still tranquil. A change had taken place in the Spanish Ministry, but not of so conclusive a character as to point intel ligibly to any material change in the policy of the Government. The Count Ofalia, who had come into office at the same time with Zea Bermudez, but by no means agreed with him in politics, had resigned the Ministry of the Interior, a place in itself of recent creation and real unimportance, and was about to confine himself altogether to the duties of Secretary to the Commission of Regency, to which he had been appointed by the will of Ferdinand. If this new arrangement was the result of a collision between the influences of Bermudez and the Count, it may be important, as showing the superior strength of the former ; but if it be a mere accommodation of persons to functions assigned to them, it proves nothing. There is at present no satisfactory evidence to enable us to decide one way or the other. The disgrace of Bermudez is now distinctly denied, and he is said to possess a hold upon office, derived from the favour which he finds in the eyes of the absolutists of the North, which the Queen herself, tied up as she is by anxiety for her daughter's acceptance by the despots in question, does not venture to loosen. The successor of Count Ofalia in the Ministry is Senor Xavier de Burgos, a man of considerable Statesman like acquirements, and a decided Liberal. His accession to office has greatly heartened the liberal party.—Morning Herald. We have received communications from 1101- land which enable us to confirm in the most positive manner, the information which we laid before the public several days ago, to the effect that the King of the Netherlands had determined to humour the strange whim of the Governments of France and England by applying to the German Diet for its consent to the alienation o f a part of Luxemburg. This the King of the Netherlands has determined to do, from his earnest desire that every impediment to the renewal of the negotiations for the final settle ment of the affairs of the Netherlands should be removed, although he, of course, cannot but retain his original impression that the step required of him by the imperious mediators with whom it is his misfortune to have to do, is, in the present stage of the negotiations, both irre gular and absurd. The note containing the request of the King of the Netherlands to the German Diet, that it will declare its acqui escence in the transfer of a portion of territory over which it possesses certain rights, in order that his Majesty may be enabled to prosecute a negotiation in which he is engaged, and which negotiation may after all end in nothing, is now ready for transmission to Frankfort. It is , certainly a state paper which presented many difficulties, and, if the Foreign Secretary of the King of the Netherlands should have had ingenuity enough to prepare it in such terms as to avoid the appearance an d negat i ve t h e sup position of disrespect towards the Diet, he will have established an unquestionabl e title to he considered henceforth as a diplomatist of the highest order. The King of the Netherlands, in taking this step to gratify the humour of certain liberal statesmen, whose single object appears to be to humble Holland, has exposed himself to a rebuke from the Diet, to which, if it should be administered, we own we do not see how it will be possible for him to make any reply. The Diet may very properly say, " It would have been time enough to ask us to concur in that particular arrangement which we have a right to oppose after all the other arrange ments which you have a right to conclude, as an independent Prince, without asking the consent of any other power, are finally settled. We have never been in the habit of promul gating unnecessary and gratuitous declarations of our will. We are the friends of Hol- land, and are actuated by the strongest desire to do whatever may be supposed by her Govern ment likely to conduce to her legitimate advan tage. But we cannot listen to an application in the tenor of which we look in vain for the indications of that mutual respect which ought to characterise the intercourse of States; nor can we surrender any portion of our power and our rights from the vague notion that such surrender may be convenient or beneficial to Holland in a certain contingency which, however confidently it is expected, may never arise." To this rebuke the King of the Netherlands has exposed him self. That he has done so reluctantly and tardily can excite no surprise. That he should have been driven to take this step is in the highest degree dishonourable to the character of the Statesmen with whom he has had to do, we will not say for magnanimity, for that is plainly out of the question, but for ordinary candour, equity, and moderation. He has, however, taken the step demanded of him, and has thus afforded the most unequivocal proof of his determination that nothing shall be wanting on his part to bring the difficult negotiation in which he has so long been engaged to a successful issue. What will be the reply of the German Diet to the request of the Grand Duke of Luxemburg, preferred in the circumstances to which we have alluded, we do not venture to anticipate. The circumstances, as we have seen, are such as would justify not merely refusal but reproof. And when it is moreover considered that the Diet cannot but be cognizant of a fact which is notorious to all the work!, namely, that this request has been preferred merely to allay the pettishness or to humour the arrogance of the British and French Governments—when the Diet has heard besides, as it must have heard, that the Foreign Minister of England does not scruple to go from one coterie of gossiping dowagers to another, lisping with all the affec tation of fashionable nonchalance the mighty menace that he will make the King of Holland, as he thinks fit to call him, bend to his high will, when it knows, as it cannot but know, in short, that the request does not proceed spon taneously, but is literally extorted from the Prince who offers it—the circumstances, taken altogether, certainly do not seem to warrant any very confident expectation that the Diet will show itself very prompt or eager to re turn an answer in the affirmative. It is a Fact not, we believe, generally known that some time ago the Minister of the King of the French at Frankfort attempted to ascertain the disposition of the Diet with respect to the transfer of the territory in question, and even went so far as to endeavour to predispose some members of that assembly in favour of such a proceeding. To what extent the representative of Louis Philip succeeded in these objects, or either of them, may be conjectured from the language which the President of the Diet was understood to have addressed to him on the occasion of his interference. The President intimated his opinion that it was a matter of great uncertainty whether the Diet would con sent to the proposed arrangement under any circumstances, and that certainly the Diet would never consent to it unless a wish to that effect were distinctly expressed by the King of the Netherlands. While we are speaking of the Netherlands negotiation we may as well say a word to allay the anxiety expressed l as t night by a Ministerial Journal on account of the protracted stay at Frankfort of Count Dietrichstein and Baron Arnim, who are said to have been appointed by the Austrian and Prussian Governments respectively as their Mi nisters at the Court of Brussels. The Globe thinks we ought to explain this delay. We are not surprised at the impatience of the organ of Lord Palmerston for the moment when these or any other Ministers shall enter upon the mission it is pleased to assign to them. But we are a little surprised that a journal which enjoys the confidence of the Foreign Department of Great Britain, should affect to be at a loss for an ex planation in a case so plain. If the Ministers whose names are mentioned seem to our eager contemporary to travel slowly towards their as sumed destination, the probability might surely have occurred to him that they travel at the exact rate that is most agreeable to the Governments of which, as he informs us, they are about to become the Representatives.—Morning Post. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. Yesterday a Court was held for the despatch of much business of public interest. LIBEL UPON TILE LORD MAYOR'S COMMITTEE. Mr. Deputy WOOD rose to call the attention of the Court to a paragraph in the Morning Chronicle newspaper, which he said was a most gross libel upon several of the members of the Court, and in every point destitute of truth. It alluded to the conduct of the 'Committee of the late Mayoralty, and accused them with having sanctioned an unne cessary and enormous expense, so that the enter tainment of the 9th of November, which used to be limited to the sum of 1,8001., extended, under their superintendence, to 3,0001. This was one of the charges. Now the cause of the increase was, that a ball was added to the customary feast, amounting in charge to 996/., and additional gas embellish ments had been made, and additional musicians had been engaged at the desire of those who were prin cipally interested. The consequence was that the dinner cost 2,2421. The Committee were also charged with having appropriated 24 tickets each to themselves. This was false. The customary number was six each, which upon the motion of Mr. Ledger was increased to eight, so that the exaggeration was just triple the actual number which had been voted. The Committee were also charged with having, during their authority, expended the sum of 6001. in dinners. The falsehood of this state ment was as palpable as that of the rest with which the paragraph abounded. The fact was, the din ners of the Committee, which were four in number, for sixteen people, did not exceed the sum of of which the wine after all this accusation of guttling and guzzlng, cost no more than 71. 4s. In fact; the Committee, instead of meeting to dine together, used after their l a b ours to take nothing but tea—a very proper sort of tipple, which in a cours e o f 40 meetings reached the price of 71. as., s o th at t h e guzzling and guttling and expenditure did not excet d 301.—(Cheers.) Mr. Wood then alluded to the alleged expense of the ornamental tickets issued on the 9th November, and declared the cost in that in stance had been in a corresponding manner exagge rated. The next item referred to in the lit el was the charge for a barber.—(A laugh.) No such charge had been made. This item he noticed to show that the calumnritor ventured upon statements for which l ie had not the shadow of a foundation. The Se cretary was present to prov e , b y wr i tten d ocuments, that the contradictions thus g i ven were accurate . Thus were sixteen gent l emen, who had the con fidence of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, most vilely traduced to gratify the spleen of a wretch who screened himself in impenetrable darkness; and the organ Which had given dissemination to the slander refused to give up its authority. He trusted that the Press would give this plump and positive denial of the truth of the accusation brought forward un der such circumstances. The newspapers owed it to themselves to assist in the refutation of such as sertions.—(Cheers.) Mr. LEGG (the Chairman of the Lord Mayor's Committee) said that the only injunction laid by his Lordship upon his Committee was, that the enter tainment should be conducted in the most splendid manner. The LORD MAYOR said that he had never been with his Committee but once, and upon that occa sion he had stated what Mr. Legg had just men tioned. As for the accounts of the expenditure of his Mayoralty, he had, he must say, never yet seen them, and he was rather astonished at the amount. .—(A laugh.) He had consented to give the ball, which increased the expenses of the Guildhall en tertainment, in consequence of the representations made to him that it would relieve the Mansion house, then under repair, and that in Alderman Thompson's Mayoralty a similar ball did not cost more than between 5001. and 6001. The ball which he was thus recommended to entertain his fellow citizens with, however, cost him 9001. It was re ported that the Cocket Office produced 1,4001. an nually. Now all he received in his year from that source of emolument amounted to no more than 8351., so that the whole of his income from the city was 7,5501., while his expenditure was about 11,500/., being about 4,0001. above the allowance for supporting the dignity of his office. He had not asked the price of the wines or the liveries, or any other of the necessary appendages to the situ. ation • but he wished, at the same tim e th a t h e sought not to surpass any man, not to be surpassed. —(Hear, hear.) Alderman HARMER said that the paragraph alluded to was certainly a great misstatement of facts. The arrangements made by the Lord Mayor elect and the Sheriffs were not made with any view to the abatement of expense. To save expense was not their object by any means. In limiting the number of tickets to the Guildhall, they were wily anxious that all the guests should be provided with seats. They had so arranged the business of the entertainment, that all the Common Councilmen and their ladies should have adequate accommoda tion. Upon the last occasion, so many tickets had been issued by the Committee, that the friends of the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs were left to shift in many instances for themselves. The fact was, that he saw many highly respectable merchants and barristers and their ladies without seats, until the waiters had concluded their labours, and then badly accommodated. It was desirable that such a scene should not again occur; but he (Alderman Harmer) disclaimed all idea of having no confidence in the Committee. Alderman WILSON regretted that the paragraph had appeared, and disclaimed all knowledge of it. Mr. DIXON said, it was notorious that for many years the general cry at the Guildhall entertainment was, that there were no seats to be had. Mr. FIGGINS said that it was only necessary to look into the books to be convinced that very great meannesses were practised by Lord Mayors' Committees.—(Murmurs, and cries of "Name, name.") Mr. R. TAYLOR said that the question before his Court related to the Committee of last year, and not to any other. The LORD MAYOR thought that it would be better not to stifle the subject by any forms. Mr. LAURENCE said it appeared that there was a disinclination amongst certain gentlemen to hear this interesting subject discussed. Alderman HARMER said that several gentlemen on the Committee had declared that reform was ne cessary in Committees of the kind. Mr. WOOD—Ths Committee of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs retired because they were distrusted. Alderman HARMER—They were not distrusted; but the Hon. Gentleman who says so admitted to me that he could not control the Committee. Mr. FIGGINS begged the attention of the Court to the years 1825 and 1822, in both of which the Committees had acted with the meanness of which he had spoken. In one of them they had charged for a barber, and a glover, and a cutler; and in both they had accumulated upon the three individuals who had to bear the brunt a series of the most use less and ridiculous expenses. It was notorious, too, that if the Lord Mayor happened to want a ticket after the Committee had made their arrangements to oblige a friend, he was compelled to appeal to his Committee, who, upon acceding to his request, took two for each of themsslves.—(Laughter, and cries of " No, no !") Mr. TICKNER declared that the libel alluded to contained a tissue of falsehoods. He ridiculed the objections made by Mr. Figgins, and he expressed his satisfaction at hearing the Sheriffs disclaim all knowledge of the paragraph alluded to. He hoped the Lord Mayor elect would make a similar disclaim. Alderman HARMER said, that the Lord Mayor elect had already publicly stated, that he knew no thing of the paragraph, and altogether disapproved it. Mr. WILLIAMS said, that the citizens should know that the expenses of the Mansion-House, with the exception of the eating and drinking, were all paid by the citizens. Not a lock was picked, nor a pane put into a window that was not paid for by the citizens. The Lord Mayor too, it would, he believed; be found, was in possession of a great many freedoms—six, eight, or ten, which added to his income considerably. The LORD MAYOR—If the accounts were in spected, the gentleman would find himself much mistaken. Everything except the furniture is paid for by the Lord Mayor. Mr. WILLIAMS said, he hoped this discussion would lead to such a reformation in the eating and drinking department as would place the corporation on a respectable footing.—(A laugh.) Is would be most desirable indeed if the system of eating and drinking were done away with entirely in the city. —(Loud laughter.) He meant at the expense of the citizens. He liked a good dinner himself as well as anybody, but he paid for his dinner himself, and never putt his fellow-citizens to expense in the performance of his duties. Mr. R. TAYLOR said that the paragraph which Mr. Wood had quoted was certainly in every re spect incorrect, according to the statement which had been made in refutation. It had been stated that the editor of the .Morning Chronicle had re- fused to give up his authority. He was convinced that when the editor was informed of what took place in that Court, he would no longer allow the calumniator to remain in the dark. If the allega• tions were true, there was nothing to be afraid of; and if they were false, the stigma of inserting a falsehood should not rest upon the shoulders of a respectable conductor of a journal.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Taylor then quoted an article from the Morn ing Chronicle in reprobation of the dissemination of falsehoods—a charge which, as it was made against Tories, could not be for a moment supposed to be participated in by Whigs.—(Laughter.) Mr. GALLOWAY said lie was convinced the editor would give his authority for the calumny. Mr. PRIO R state d that tie was one of the Com mittee, but he denied that he had derived the least advantage from the distinction. The Court then proceeded to the orders of the day, after having been iu a state of great excitement for an hour arid a half. THE NEW STREET NEAR THE MANSION-HOUSE. Alderman WILSON preseated a petition from Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith, the bankers, of Lombard -street, praying the corporation would not interfere with their property in forming the new street from London-bridge, as any diminution of their premises would seriously inconvenience the establishment, and as the Committee had already made arrangements with them, which were cot.- sidered binding. It was moved that the petition be referred to the London-bridge Committee. Mr, SLADE seconded the motion, and stated tbat he ps titioners had already made a. great saerifies property for the benefit of their fellow-citizens., Mr. COPE said, it appeared that the PI et referred to another petition to an opposite c o i which had not yet been presented, and Wl'. id l that Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith's Pent zi, should lie on th e t a bl e un til th e o th er should 7 brought forward. d sil l Mr. WIRE seco n d e d t hi s amen d men t, an d why the as the petitions re f erre d t o a d ocume nt of oP re, the Court were ignorant, if they decided not W oo ject it altogether, it wou ld b e a d v i sa bl e to poP its reference to the Committee. • ritis This suggestion was adopted by a large Mar THE PAVEMENT OF FLEET-STREET. t b e l Mr. R. TAYLOR requested to be informed by I , e . Commissioners of Sewers whether the new P o l o' ment in Fleet. street h a d b een yet pa id f o r, or 00 ther any arrangem en ts h a d b een ma d e to iteP t o b its present condition, which appeared to be ° b e d worse than it had been before the alteration s been made ? bot% Mr. DAW said that the New River Compaq re st by their pipes, which certainly would b e of got future service, caused the evils of which con 1 0( was made. The C omm i ss i oners h a d no co ntro l that Company. It w as i m p oss ibl e to ma ke l o ve foundation for th e p avement unt il i t was we lle d over. No blam e w h atev e r was to b e ett . „ 4 l " - ei to the party who had contracted. He had coot iii to do the work well, a n d unt il t h at was e ff e cte d ') bill would remain unpaid. He (Mr. Daw) reg f el that everything done by the Commissioners of Se ac od was represented as wrong and a job, but he o il) any one to prove th a t th e y h a d anyt hi ng t o u° jobbing to the value of sixpence.—(Hear, beg NEW STREET THROUGH MOORGATE. I g i l Mr. JONES (the Chairman of the London Oa Committee), in bringing up the report of the fe don Bridge C omm i ttee , state d t h at i t was. ior that su ffi cient fund s , were l e f t to extend t h e cit ) provements, after Princes -street should b e oPe P ot right through to Moorgate, by a street fifiCp o r wide.—(Cheers.) This i m p rovements t h e v i t , mittee calculated, would greatly contribute I° oo crease the traffic of London. In consequence 1 14, innumerable stoppages in the streets in that 1 1 0 bourhood, people were reluctant to venture int ° „o heart of the city. Th e f orma ti on o f ano ther t' il e in the line he described would be of immengy vice to trade in every respect ; an d h e b e gged'oo to introduce another topi c o f i m p roveme ntqo was on that important subj e ct. Th e c ity or ,/ don was greately overburdened with e hurch e t yt (Laughter and cheers.) It occurred to him' cti f i the citisens of Londo n , as we ll as t h e bee r ," clergy, would derive co ns id era bl e a d vanta ges l'i/ the removal of some of those churches-0 1°1. 0 which were comparatively deserted. Now.de plan he had to propose was the appointment ' 6 4 Committee to inquire into the propriety of o n ;clit some of the parish churches with others. ,411 churches which it might b e ex p e di ent to t a ke u; re r would, by their removal, supply room for the_ A li tion of residences for the clergy. The public l o re be saved the enormous expens e of k ee pi ng them I t o pair ; and as they belonged, almost without excel ) , 0 to public bodies, the inju r y to i n di v id ua l s won't:di nothing. He believed that the heads of the eh p i, would throw no obstacle in the way of thelie which he had every r ea s on t o su pp ose won't' 0 1 mensely improve the city of L on d on .—(Che e ' He then moved that the report be agreed te. Mr. SLADE seconded the motion. • lei Mr. COPE wish e d th a t th e i mproveme nts ie l .oo diately in the nei g hb our h oo d o f L on don O r/ r 49 should be compl e t e d b e f ore any ot h ers were ''' menced. Mr. PEWTRESS spoke to the same effect. . The LORD MAYOR sa id t h a t no thing was 10 tie 3 - t bs portant to the city as a f ree commun ication 10 , 400 ' streets through any part of the metropolis.---Cuty hear.) The new improvements would have A , effect of producing that of which this want 5 daily seen in th e c o n di t i on of the populati oo a (Hear, hear.) He trusted that the suggested r I would be adopted. the A C t o e u r mously agreed to. f $ r s t om in e ofabvsoeurrvaotfiuntshefrormeposertv,eriati mwaesmboeuvrf, Mr. JONES then moved for the appointment °. 11 6 Committee to consider the propriety of reit° some of the churches, &c. &c. Unanimously agreed to. t bl After the transaction of some other business, Court adjourned. DIED.11:00 On the 29th ult., at the house of he r son-in.lavt• Harrison, Esq., of Fullwell-grange, near Sunderland, Hall, relict of Thomas Hall, Esq., of Park-street, Grog square, and Grove.cottage, North.end, aged 92. On the 29th ult., Dorothy, wife of William Bell, tP 4 Well-street, Hackney. AS S ' On the 29th ult., in Upper Harley-street, Margaret A infant daughter of Le Marchant Thomas, Esq. 1 " On the 30th ult., at Trowbridge, Wilts, Lieut. Tl' ° thorne, R.N. .lo bri tl o ' On the 28th ult., at Mortimer Vicarage, 8erk5 , ,,0 0 4, Merchant, only son of the Rev. J. J. Vaughan, a ged iLr On the 30th ult., at her house at Stratford-green, t widow of the late Mr. Thomas Long, l a t e o f P en ton-ort ee p tonville. On the 31st ult., at Walthamstow, in his 31st Y ear' ote g Christopher Starkey. On the 30th ult., at Gittisham, Devonshire, Lydia' v ett daughter of the late Mr. John Guy, of London. ttl° On the 29th ult., Mr. Robert Ho war d, o f FenchU e 1 aged 60. 04" On the 29th ult. at her residence, Albany-stree t, ~ of Park, Miss Butler. 6 0131‘" , On the 28th ult., Mary Sophia, wife of Mr. Robert jor Ludgate-hill, in her 62d year. . c .. a Of 7 On the 28th ult., at Bath, D. 0. Parry Okeden, , '''' ‘ylie ( Crichell, in the county of Dorset. „ge,..,tir On the 23d ult., in Montagu-street, Portman-A" fi' Ellen, eldest daughter of the late Rev. R. Mesh a lleti l 'oin of Ripple, Kent, and Vicar of Bromh am c um Oakley'fot ' On the 29th ult., at Swedinore House, Dorset, 10 ,op year, Mrs. M. S. Richards. o JO On the 17th ult., at his house in Castlemarthyr, prt , Esq., a ged t h e . lac e, 0 (0 On 20th ult., in Douglas Bourn, Market - P o D O Henry Spencer, aged 26. His widow was brough t t t pe fine boy on the evening of the same day. E 54 , 1 0 f t 0 0 On the 15th ult., at Dartmouth, George Porter , „ lo t° 89th year of his age, tormerly Comptroller of th e u ~0 that port. a Inif On the 19th ult., at his residence, Grafton gan-rbelu t Worcestershire, John Harriott Rowe, Esq., Iloilo „ef i office of Recorder of Macclesfield for nearly thirty Y of tjek On the 19th ult., Jonathan Pendlebury, E s q"' of ,„ 0 c p. near Chorley. Elizahew'lll° On the 16th ult., at Winster, Derbyshire, ,„..11, the late Thomas Carill Worsley, Esq., of Platt ::: .... 7 shire, aged 67. lilli - o I PRINTED AND PUBLI SHED BY MURDO Y•••-• Seat OFFICE, 112, STRANPf BIRTHS. 110 6 On the i' , ..2d ult., at Brighton, the lady of C. H. Seale Esq., of a son. o f CO P On the 30th ult., the lady of John Stephens, EN.* sham-rise, near Reading, of a son. ~ el IP On the 30th ult., at the Vicarage of Great Baddov4 of the Rev. John Bramston, of a daughter. __,_ ir On the 31st ult., Mrs. Henry Rob er t s , Conduit.strv''' nover.square, of a son. 0 0 On the 31st ult., in Mecklenburgh.square, Mrs. Tall °r ' _../ son. MARRIED. On the 26th ult., at Milton Church, next Gravese llti V George Sunley, to Elizabeth, youngest daughter of A le% A , Forbes, Esq., late of his Majesty's Customs, L on don. On the 29th ult., at Topsham Church, Captain W. ban, 25th Regiment, son of Major-General Sir il e 11 1 : f D'Urban, K.C.8., to Mary Elizabeth Stewart, only o'ol late Samuel Mitchell, Esq., of Newport, Devonshire , Hope Vale, in the Island of Grenada. tr On the 29th ult., at Lamesley Ch a pel, Durban . ), CO kit e, Trotter, 2d Life Guards, of Dyrham Park, Hertford , " the Hon. Charlotte Amelia Liddell. .„. 4 ? A t On the 22d ult., at Ellangowan, Francis Mollison, chant, of Dundee, to Eliza, youngest daughter of ter, Esq., of Ellangowan. or On the 30th ult., at Kingston, Surrey, Mr. Benjamin ; " son, of Brewer-street, to Susannah, only child of Joseph ' A Esq., of Kingston. On the 2 29th ult., at St. George's, Bloomsbury, DP . ' l o l p e ? Westbrook, of Heston, Middlesex, to Hannah Frances, daughter of the late Mr. William Smith, of SoutharaP i° sr Russell-square. 0 1 00 On the 23d ult., at Lydney, in Gloucest ers hire, Aft. 4, , Henry Tayler, of Little Bell-alley, London, to Eleano r ' 0,0 4 daughter of Mr. Robert Young, of the former place. On the 31st ult., Mr. Eiden, of Cheapside, to Harri et ' daughter of Mr. William Walker, of Norwood, Sorrel. it a; a ,Mt ,L. I' 4 ' . 'i,o,. ' 4 Ol ikite ers Ntd L_ Arc •it 1 1 4 8 i th e 2 k' A, of C ol ! o Pti fk l 'el Itltd°,ti I 'l P gret ti t il Y totl,rot