The Sun. — London, England, 1833-10-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. We can add almost nothing to the informa tion which we yesterday communicated respect ing the progress of the civil war in Portugal, and the apprehensions of a similar struggle in Spain• We say apprehensions, because we can scarcely reckon the partial disturbances in Biscay as the c ommencement of a serious national contest. They have been excited by a class of persons who are not likely to resist long the Queen's troops,—they are limited to a comparatively in significant and unconnected district,—and they have originated in a mistake, which can easily be rectified, namely, that the Queen's Government had resolved to abolish the ancient provincial rights of the Biscayans. As we observed yes terday, so little had the insurrection spread, that the highways had not been obstructed, and it was supposed that a very small detachment of troops would be able to restore order. We never looked for any formidable resistance to the existing Government at Madrid from the peasantry in the mountains of the Basque provinces. The tempest destined to shake the throne of the young Queen, if it come at all before its consolidation, must come from the west, and be " directed" by the mili tary rebels who may have engaged their swords and their troops to Don Carlos. It, on the Portuguese frontier, the army of General Sears field is faithful, and if in the three provinces of Galicia, Estremadura, and Andalusia the Captains-General and military force may he re lied on, the cause of the Pretender may be re garded for the present as desperate. We shall not, however, he long left to conjecture on this important point. The experiment of a rival banner is soon to he tried, and in a few weeks we shall see what fitvour it will attract, or by what force it will be upheld. The Globe of last night stated that M. Cordova, the Spanish Am bassador at the Court or rather in the camp of Don Miguel, had written to Lord William Russell to apprise him, that on hearing of the death of his brother, the Pretender had imme diately set out for Estremadura. If we can credit , the terms of the alleged message, it would seem that our noble Lisbon envoy was expected to do more on this emergency than probably lies within the compass of his instructions. The fact, however, of the communication having been made seems extremely probable, and the truth of the announcement is as little to be ques tioned. M. Cordova, though opposed to the Constitutional cause, and though accused by the Ministers of Don Pedro of having supported Don Miguel, is known to be firmly (though, perhaps, not consistently) attached to the suc cession of the Infant Queen of Spain, and there fore hostile to the pretensions of her uncle. It was natural, therefore, that he should give the alarm, when he observed the suspicious move ment of the Infante, and he could not do so more effectually than by communicating the event to the English Ambassador, who had the hest means of transmitting the intelligence to the Spanish frontier, either by sea or laud. In the course of eight or ten days we shall probably learn whether his Royal Highness has been hailed as a King or detained as a prisoner by the troops of Saarsfield, for his return to Spain at the pre sent crisis cannot be such an indifferent proceed mg as not to be followed by such an alternative. A Spanish Royalist in Paris has written a letter to the Gazette de France, assuring the European public that Don Carlos, so far from being an enemy of the liberties of the Spanish people, had resolved immediately on his accession to re store thefiteros, or franchises of the kingdom of Arragon ! These franchises, as most of our readers know, were of the most extensive kind, enabling the States to tell their Sovereign that if he acted in a certain manner he would be called to the throne, " if not, not ;" but why Jinn Carlos should dig out of the forgotten archives of Arragon rights and liberties buried for SOO years, and should not speak of reviving the Cortes of Castile, which had their existence continued to a later period, we cannot con ceive. Though the Spanish people in all the provinces of the monarchy have, perhaps, al lowed centuries to pass over them with fewer changes in their manners and customs than any other nation in Europe, still the political insti tutions of the Arragonese in the " time of the Grand Justiciar" would suit as little the politi cal wants of the present generation as the ar mour of the Cid would fit the body guard of the existing Queen Regent. Perhaps the cunning Cellist, thinking that the Government of the young Queen was about to announce important popular changes in the Spanish constitution, thought of making his idol out-bid her Ma jesty in the market of popular rights. If such was his design, he has reckoned without his host, at least for the present. The mani festo of the Queen Regent to her people and to Europe, published in the Madrid Gazette of the sth instant, is calculated to show that her Majesty intends to establish no rivalry in politi cal innovations. This important announcement is calculated to destroy the hopes of the Con stitutional party, without, perhaps, allaying die fears or regaining the confidence of the Aposto lical. It breathes the policy of Zea Bermudez in every line, and is nearly a transcript of the famous declaration published on his accession to the 'Ministry last year, a declaration made before he left London, and submitted to the Holy Al liance Ambassadors, both in this metropolis and at Paris, on his way to place himself at the head of the Cabinet at Madrid. The publication of such principles shows that M. Zea Bermudez still rules the Spanish councils, and therefore that his pest conduct may be taken as a correct commen tary on the meaning of his present publication. The Renal Manifesto professes the resolution of the Queen to support the Catholic religion and the absolute monarchy of Spain as they at present exist, in all their plenitude of power and abuses. It speaks of " dangerous innovations," by which, of course, it means all constitutional or liberal changes ; and when it declares the pur pose of the Queen to transmit the sceptre to her descendants " without any diminution of its power," it means without the establishment of any popular control over the exercise of the Royal prerogatives as they are at present held and have hith erto b een exerc i se d ! S uc h a de claration may satisfy the Apostolicals at borne, and the Holy Alliance abroad, but we are afraid that it will alienate from the Queen' s G overn _ ment the party of inprovement, who would have been her most zealous supporters, and that it will make it a matter of perfect indifference to the people whether an arbi trar y mini ster reigns under the auspices of Charles V. or Isabella 11. —Times. Time lovers of venerable abuses—the fond admirers of the beauties o f privileged injustice and immemorial barbarism, mu st be exceedingly edified by the description of the machinery and . working of the Sheriffs' Court of the city of London, which Mr. Charles Pearson sketched the other day in the Common Council. One of the most singular features of the whole ex. hibition was, the amusement which a faithful and graphic detail of certain absurd and ludi crous civic privileges seemed to afford to the worthy citizens themselves, who, though nursed in the lap of corporation monopoly, were not aware of the extent of the immunities which charter conferred or custom sanctioned, as part and parcel of the dignity of the Corporate Go vernment that presides over the " first city in the world." But there are serious matters con nected with this subject, too serious and sad, indeed, to be a source of pleasant excitement, whatever may be the absurdities with which they are connected. The law of imprisonment for debt—a law which confounds poverty with crime, and takes away the liberty of the subject on an ex parte affidavit, is bad enough, Heaven knows, even when best administered, but let us hear the description of its operative process in connection with the machinery of the Sheriffs' Court, as eiven in Mr. Pearson's speech : "By the law of England, in the Superior Courts, no man can be sent to prison but upon the oath of some one who is ame nable to the penalties of the law, as a perjurer, if he swear falsely to the debt." We must here observe, that is not always the case. It is possible, and it has sometimes hap pened, that a person owing nothing has been sent to prison on the affidavit of somebody swearing to a fictitious debt in a fictitious name, and who thereby escaped detection and the pe nalties of the law. Such instances are, of course, exceptions to the general practice ; but Mr. Pearson speaks of tl►e ordinary practice of the Sheriffs' Court. He says, according to that practice, the oaths to imprison or hold persons to bail for debt, " if tendered at all, are but idle mockeries, administered by a youth invested with no legal authority, who deals out process for the incarceration of our fellow-citizens in a prison, as if they were tickets of admission to a theatre.—(Cries of Shameful,' and cheers.) Not satisfied with having sinecure Judges, who have for years fed at the Corpora tion crib, without doing adequate service for their pay, within the last year or two some fresh sinecurists have been enlisted into the corps, in the shape of clerk sitters of the Court. The business had before been found inadequate to furnish a respectable provision for the clerk sitters, and yet their number was increased to eight ; and, as if to show the perfect uselessness of the appointment, seven out of these gentlemen concurred in appointing a de puty to do the work for the whole, while they shared the surplus emoluments among them. He hated sinecures, and he hated worst of all those sinecures which fastened themselves upon judi cial proceedings. He was therefore not likely to be an advocate for any such ; but he would say, that if the corporation of London tolerated these appointments, they ought for ever to shut their mouths when similar sinecures in high life were the theme of observation. The clerk sitters were the signers of the writs in the She riffs' Courts. They did their work by deputy, and made the office a sinecure ; and although, because the practice of the Court was happily small, their remuneration was small in propor tion ; yet the amount levied on the public in such a case was nearly double the sum which was taken by the Noble Lords who enjoyed those privileges in the superior Courts, and were fre quently held up to public observation as corm°. rant oppressors of the people." After some al lusion to the legal sinecures of the Duke of Grafton and Lord Ellenborough, he proceeded : —" The Court would learn with astonishment and indignation that the person appointed by the clerk sitters to administer the oath of arrest had no legal authority to do so, and that 110 punish ment for perjury could be inflicted on the guilty authors of a poor man's imprisonment under the process of these courts."—(Here the cries of " Shame" were repeated.) Mr. Pearson then went on to detail some of the practices of the notorious Coster and " his myrmidons" in the Sheriffs' Court, where that accomplished swind ler was in the habit of issuing out in his own name personally a great many writs. Would it be believed that he actually used the process of the Court to incarcerate his creditors and persons whose property he had plundered by his infa mous ingenuity ? Here is a picture of civic justice, in all the virgin glory of antique barba rity, safely enshrined in the sanctuary of Corpo rate privilege from the violating rudeness of re form ! How it continued so long undisturbed, and without a ray of daylight let in upon its system of grotesque, yet most grievous oppres sion, is a question that may well be asked of the reformers of the London Corporation. Have they been so busy in reforming the abuses of the State that they had no time to wield the besom in clearing out their own Augean stable ? The existence of such things in the nineteenth cen tury makes us believe, with Sir Edward Coke, that Corporations have no soul. Nay, more, that they have no shame. After the exposure which has now taken place, however, the Corporation of London can no longer plead ignorance of the system of oppres sion—the mockery of justice of which its own Courts are the degraded scene. Indeed the manner in which Mr. Pearson's speech was received afforded gratifying proof that whatever iends of corruption, venality, and jobbing were present, felt it impossible to resist the case which was made out, and which they must be conscious the power of public opinion would uphold until it triumphed. It remains for the corporate body now to make some atonement for their long tole ration of the exposed abuses, by earnestly and actively setting about the reform 0f ;heir own Courts, that they may become what they were originally intended to be—a benefit to the inha bitants of London, and an assistance to public justice, instead of being a source of fraud and oppression, and a disgrace to the civilization oh the nineteenth century.—Morning Herald. We refer our readers to an account of a meeting of the Governors of the AldersgAte Dispensary, on the subject of the disputes be tween the late medical officers and the Commit tee of Management. The result has not dis appointed us. We are far from wishing to give any body of men a power which may be abused, and if medical officers intending to resign, tinder the existing regulations, could, by giving secret information of their intentions to their friends, enable them to get the start in a canvass, this evil might have been obviated. But the proper re medy fcr this evil was not certainly to make elections m ere l y a matter o f we i g h t o f purse . However, otherwise.the Governors An of this Institution Institution determined of this kind is chiefly supported by the middle class, and the decision of a meetin g of Governors may be supposed to reflect T e i t t t l y l e ve accurately respect thefor feelings of shopkeepers. pretty that valuable class, who possessrymany good qualities, we are at the same time quite aware of their disposition to turn their knowledge of business to the best account. We have no doubt that it is generally thought among them, that it was all very fair that Mr. Herring should avail himself of his situation as Committee-man to supply the Institution with drugs ; and that the naive proposition of a Mr. Bishop, that the me dical offices should be put up for sale, had not a few admirers among those who have no other estimate of merit than amount of property. That his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, however, should continue to connect himself with an institution, after the principle of jobbing had been sanctioned in so barefaced a manner, would have slrprised any one acquainted with the purity of his prin ciples. We are not surprised that medical gentlemen of liberal education shou►d feel un easy under the management of such men as the most of those are who contrive to push them selves into Parish Boards. From the speci mens of vulgar swaggeri , ig at the Meeting yester day, an idea may easily be formed of what they are when all reserve is thrown off. The me dical officers have done well in closing their connection with the establishment. or course, no medical men of respectability will take their places ; but Mr. Herring will take care that the patients shall be in no want of drugs ; and the other members of the Committee will no doubt apply themselves to the supply of the other wants of the Institution.—Morning Chronicle. It will be seen that Sir W. Horne, in a written answer to an invitation to attend a meet. ing for the repeal of the assessed taxes, states that no one is more fully sensible than himself of the oppressive nature of these taxes, and no one is more anxious for their repeal, but— (there is much virtue in a " but")— they are necessary for the purposes of revenue, and cm not be repealed with safety. The Globe a few days ago acknowledged in a similar fashion that the Ministers and a majority of the House of Commons had solemnly pledged themselves to the repeal, but—that the national faith could not be maintained without them, and that, therefore, all oromi , es were void. But s'as Sir W. Horne ignorant that there was a revenue to he kept up for the public service, and w ere his Majesty's Ministers and the House of Commons ignorant that Etere was such a thing as national faith to be maintained at the time these promises were made ? No ; they knew as much then as they do now; but then there were places to be kept, and seats to be obtained, by any means, however dirty or dishonest ; now both places and seats are thought to be secure, and the mask is boldly thrown off; too boldly and un blushingly in our opinion.— Morning Post. SOUTHWARK SESSIONS, OCT. 14.. The general Quarter Sessions, for the town and borough of Southwaik, commenced this morning at the Town Hall, before the Riebt Hon. the LORD MAYOR, the RECORDER, the HICII BAILIFF, &C. The calendar contained a list of 36 prisoners for trial, including - felonies and misdemeanors. The RECORDER in his address to the Grand Jury said, the calendar presented no case of novelty to himself, nor did he apprehend that any difficulty was likely to arise which their experience was not likely to surmount. The Grand Jury were no doubt aware that it required at the least 12 of their body to concur in finding a true bill, and he recommended to them not to find a true bill in any case, unless such evidence was produced before them as would unexplained lead them as Petty Jurors to a conclu sion of the guilt of the party, and in such a case, although all the circumstances of apparent guilt might be hereafter disproved or explained, it was their duty to find a true bill. RIOT AND ASSAULT.—John Ford and James Bar rington, Irish labourers, were indicted, together with Thomas Sullivan and James Gracey, not in custody, for creating a riot, and assaulting two officers of the Me tropolitan Police, named Fuller and White, in the execu tion of their duty. Richard Fuller, police constable, No. 120, Division M, stated th it, on the evening of the Sth June, he was pass ing along Tooley-street, and saw a large crowd; three in:•n were beating a woman severely, and seeing witness she ran to him; witness identified Ford as one of the men beating her; witness advised the men to go away, and not heat the woman, on which Ford struck bbn i❑ the face several times. Ford and several others dragged witness along for thirty yards, into a court, and then knocked him down, and, while laying in the gutter, one of the party jumped on him. Ford was the worse for drink, hut was not drunk. Ford declared he did not know the witness to be a policeman. The witness said he was in plain clothes, but he re. peatedly called out that he was a policeman. John Miller, policeman, 24 division M, stated, that being informed of the riot, he went to the spot, and saw the first witness lying on the ground on his back, and th e two defendants not in custody were beating and kicking him. lie also saw Ford beating Fuller. As they brought Ford along in custody, the defendant, Barry, struck wit. ness in his mouth. About a dozen persons were rioting, but about a thousand persons were collected. He (lid ❑ ot know the cause of the crow d assembling ; they were close to a publichouse, and the defendants appeared to have been drinking. A respectable inhabitant of Tooley-street stated that the crowd was created by a quirrel between two females, and the men took part in it. He corroborated the testimony of the policern in as to the assault. One of the jurymen said he saw the transaction, and he believed it was the defendant Ford's wife wt .o was as saulted by a prostitute, mod that in Ford's endeavour to protect her, he (Ford) was most grossly ill-used. The RECORDER said it would have been hater if the gentletn,n hart nut been on the jury to try the ca•e. Hr could, however. be sworn in behalf of the defendant. The ju yman, who gave his name William Hewitt, a hair dresser. was then sworn, and deposed to the tact,. as above stated; but the greater part of his infot w,s what he had heard from others. As for the other tw,. defendants he knew they cull be itnihediately found, for he w ,s frequently seeing them. rut er, the constable, declared that those two men had n out of the way ever since this occurrence. Juryman—lt is not ti tie, for I can rind them in twenty winu•es. The RECORDER directed the policerrrin to adopt the nec,ary steps to take them into custody. The jury found the defend,n7l Guilty of assaulting the office's in the execution of their duty, hut not guilty of cleating the riot. For; was sentenced to two montis' hard labour, and Barry to one month's hard j:iseph Smith, aue t ihirtren, was indicted for stealing in unihr Ili, the property of Mr. James Morton. On the 11 th of July, as Andrews, a polic , man, was in t e H gh s reef, Southw irk, he saw on the opposite side of the way, near Mr. M irton's shop, the prisoner and another boy. He watched them for anout ten mi nutes, and then S:IW the prisoner pot his aim into Nlr• Mot ton's shop and take out an umbrella, which he hand:a to his comp inion, and then they both tan off. The po liceman lohowed, whrn Ii succeeded in taking the prisoner; the oilier b y escap,d, h a v in g pr e vi ous ly dropped the umbrella, whi c h was picked up by the policeman. The prisoner was found Guilty. The prosecutor recommended him to mercy, as he believed it was his first offence, and that he had no friends. Mr. LaW, the governor of the gaol, said the prisoner had been in custody ever since the 11th of July, an d not a single person bad been to see him. The Collar ordered him to be put hack for the present, to ascertain if there was any asylum to which he could be sent, instead of sending him to prison, where he would associate with more experienced off nders. SCONE PALACE.—The Earl and Countess of Mansfield are now in Scotland, where they intend to pro long their sty until the spring, when they will resume their residence at Caen Wood, near Ifighgwe, where many improvements have Lien recent►y made. The Palace of Scone, in Perthshire, so celebrated by Shakspeare i❑ the tragedy of Macbeth, and of which the Noble Earl is here ditary keeper, has within a few years been repaired. The ancient and venerable portion of it, however, so dear 0 ) the recollection of antiquarians, now no longer exists. Sir James Scarlett has been paying a visit to his Noble Friend and colleague, Lord Stormont, at Scone, COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL Yesterday a Court was held, for the purpose of considering the report of the Committee appointed to inquire relative to the Court of Aldermen, and also relative to municipal corporations. The present investigation into corporative abuses had given a high degree of interest to the occasion. It is rather ominous of an advance in civic civilization that this Committee, whose exertions have been very great, never once dined at the expense of the citizens of London, and the account given of it will, it is trusted, inspire other Committees with the genius of intellectual competition. THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION COMMISSION. Mr. Deputy WOOD, in bringing up the report of the Committee, said a few words about the expenses which necessarily attached to the aid given by the city to the Commission, and expected a hearty con currence in the proposition submitted to the Court. 'the reports stated that the Committee had met Sir Francis Palsgrave, and conferred with him upon the subject, who stated that at present his inquiry extended to documentary evidence and the charities and recotds of the City; that the period had not arrived for the examination of persons viva voce, but when the documentary evidence was collected that would probably take place, anti that would be the time for persons to be examined both as to the past and the existing practice, and on",any future improve ments which might be deemed essential or desir able ; and that it would be material if the Com mittee could afford him, in addition to other informa tion, assistance with respect to the local boundaries of the Ward,t, and whether any and what inconve nience or dfficulty arose from the inequality as re garded population, space, and the intersection of each other, as that formed one of the objecrs of his inquiry, and any suggestion for improvements therein would be received, and might be appended to the result of the inquiry. The report went on to state, that the Committee had heard Sir Francis Palsgrave on the subj-ct of the City's charters, very many of which were not set forth in the Inspeximus Charter of Charles II , and that they considered it highly essential that the City should be in possession of a correct copy of the whole of these important docu ments, with a transla ton, and that the copy should be duly authenticated ; that Sir Francis had expressed his willingness to afford every facility, and that it would be beneficial to all parties, as the whole of the charters must come under his review, end that the copy required under the Commission, and that for the use of the city, might proceed simultaneously, and should be cerified by him; and that Mr. Hardy, one of the Sub-Commissioners of the Re cords of the Kingdom, should be appointed to make such copy. At a further conference Sir Francis delivered in the following questions : " MUNICIPAL COMMISSION-LONDON. " 1. All by-laws, or acts of Common Council, now considered as in force, and regulating or concerning the election, appointment, duties, or functions of the corporate Magistrates, members of the Coinii.on C aincil, or officers, or otherwise, to the government of the city. " 2. Resolutions or orders of the Court of Aldermen, or Common Council, appointing the different Standing Com mittees. "3. Reports upon the duties or functions of corporate officer,. "4, 01ths taken by the Magistrates, members of the Common Council, or officers. "5. A table of all customs and dues to which the Corporation are entitled upon the importation of goods, wares, or merchandise. "6. A similar table of all street or gate tolls. "7. A similar table of all fair and market tolls and dues. " 8. Farms of precepts issued for the summoning of Courts or election of corporate officers. " 9. Forms of process in the Mayor's Court, Court of Hustings, Sheriff's Court, and the Borough Court of Southwark, and all other Courts belonging or incident to the Corporation. " 10. An accurate statement, as well as a map or maps of the wards, with the returns of the number of freemen resident in each ward, and the number of dwelling.houses. " 11. A similar statement, as well as a map of the boundaries of the City, distinguishing London within the walls from London without the walls. " 12. A specification of such districts Iseally included within the City boundaries, but exempt, or chiming to be exempt, from the City's jurisdiction. " 13 The present duties of the judicial and ministerial officers of the Corporation." . . The report stated that, upon receiving this com munication the Committee referred it to a Select Committee to prepare the answers and returns, and that Committee had given instructions accordingly. It further stated that directions having some time ago been given to make extensive extracts from the city records, charters, and other documents, with translations of them, they were now nearly com plete, and a collection of highly valuable and useful evidence had been obtained, and that as expenses had consequently arisen, and must naturally arise, from the investigation, the Committee should draw upon the Chamber for a sum of money amounting to .500/. Mr. WILLIAMS objected that the communications ought to have been through the medium of the Town Clerk, who was a responsible officer. The Committee were not answerable to any authority ; besides, the public looked upon the majority of that body as hostile to all principles of reforpri.—(Mur rnurs and laughter.) He considered that before the Court could be justified in voting 5001., it should be made manifest that the translating of the ancient records were complete and accurate.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. CHARLES PEARSON thought that. the Com mittee were over stepping that which had been set down for them, and that the information they were possessed of would, he supposed, like Coriolanus's scars, be the people's in private.—(Laughter.) He had before argued in favour of an open answer !o the propositions of the Commissioners by that Court, but his proposition had been over-ruled to his regret. He thought it nec,.sary to state that he had had an interview with Mr. Blackburn, the Chairman of the Committee, anti M. Pukes, on the subject of the wishes of the Government, and he found that those gentlemen bad altogether set their faces against expense; that they disclaimed being Fr p trty to any uneconomical priceedings in (he Coormi•sion; that they declared that the maps of the ward• procured at -he rime when the cholera was prevalent were quite accurate, and specific enough to answer thi-ir piirpo-e-, and t .at they did trot care a straw whether or not one ward hap pened to thrust its nose into aeot her ward.— (Laughter.) lie had no object'on, of course, to .tie expense of a use'ul and enlightened inves tigation, but he could by no means relish the idea of making his Majesty's Commission a cloak for the infliction of an expenditure to which it was by no means a par• y.—(Loud cheers.) rite most absolute economy was observed by the Commissioners, as was evident from an illustration riven by Mr. Pukes, who declared to him that the •um of 61. was all that had been allowed for tratisla -ions all over the kingdom.—(L oid cheers.) The object was not to indulge in the amusing but a ntiquarian research, but to ascertain what was ob noxious in the existing corporate institutions of the City. He objected to the idea of the authentica tion of the Charters by Sir Francis Palsgrave, and declared, if their validity itdtnhtohte‘hva w atGi a t bi s iorelev d foxoe i ri s rtsre p ritam t e i rrn t :es e c ; eatit%nivo t ose l nu t r e sgel y ol a;t s egu l ttl i t o odta u ibit l : r yoee l be authenticated legally.—(Cheers.) bad.f n b eai‘Admlierra..dt DIXON e l e A x x L mo c L e os O p t l i t t : h A e t 011 GALLOWAY l o og s s;e: ascertained. Mr. PRIOR defended the Committee, which had in this instance acted with great energy. Mr. PRITCHARD also justified the Committee. They had, he said, found the records in the greatest imaginable confusion; and they proceeded to arrange and methodize them in such a manner, as would, vlieti exhibited, remove all unfavourable and uncan did impressions.—(Cheers.) They had had 40 dif ferent sittings, and their labours had nothing for their reward but tt,e gratification of contributing to the benefit of their fellow citizens.—(Cheers.) Mr. R. TAYLOR objected to the report, that it treated de omnibus refzis e t qu ib us da m ahis,(Gene ral laughter.) He wished to see it proved that the labours of the Committee were productive of an ad vantage corresponding with the size of the expense. Mr. STEVENS said the object of the Government was to ascertain whether the Corporation required any reform, and he thought that required very little translation of language.—(Laughter.) Mr. Deputy WOOD (the Chairman of the Com mittee) very ably refuted the objections to the Com mittee. lie declared that they were as willing to give every information to the Court as they were to give it to the Commissioners. lie assured the Court that the Charters and ancient documents were in such confusion, and so badly translated, that it was actually a disgrace to the City of London to exhibit them. The exertions of the Committee would altogether remedy the evils so palpably ex isting, and the whole was conducted upon the most economical plan. Mr. WOOD sat down amidst cheers, and his mo tion for agreeing with the Committee was unani mousiy adopted. GAS.-COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS, CITY OF LONDON. On Friday evening a deputation from the Char tered Gas Company attended the court, to meet a deputation from the numerous petitioners on the subject of a reduction in the price of gas. Mr. Livesay, the Deputy Governor of the Company, expressed his regret that they had not earlier an opportunity of communicating to the consumers of gas in the City of London the intention of the company to meet their wi•hes. He stated that their board had agreed to reduce the price of gas burnt by meter 10s. 6d. per 1,000 cubic feet, and to those who did not burn by meter they would charge the No. 6 burner 3/. Bs. instead of 3/. 12s. per year, and that in this reduction it would be perceived there t‘as a mere shadow of a shade of tbff , rence between their charges arid those of the Dorset street company. Mr. Deputy DAW, the chairman of the commis sion, observed, that this reduction did not met-t the prayer of the petitioners, and that there was con siderably more than a shade of dleience. The Dorset-street company only charged 10s. per 1,000 cubic feet to those burning by meter, 3L 4s. for the No. 6 burner, and 10s. per cent. reduction on all other private lights. The petitioners prayed to be served as cheap as their neighbours, or that the commi-sioners would allow some other company to enter the city, who would supply them at a fair and reasonable rate. To this the commissioners generally assented. Mr. BATEMAN, a director of the company, strongly urged that they had a larger capital than their c,)m pctitor,—.that while the Dorse•-•treet Company were paying a dividend of from 9 to 10 per cent., the Chartered Gimpany were only paying 6 per cent,—that the former had their customers in a very populotH district, wfile the Chartered Company, in addition to the populous part of the city in which the petitioners re s ided, carried their pipes a great distance through courts and streets out of the city, where the number of private lights did not pay their expenses; and, further, that in many parts competi tion compelled them to charge below cost price. He therefore hoped the commissioners would feel they ought not to be governed in their charges by the other company. _ _ Mr. STEVENS, of Bishopsgate, one of the peti tioners who has several times been before the com missioners on the subject, begged to say that the reasoning of the worthy director was altogether fal lacious. The petitioners considered the commis sioners as their protectors, and they called upon them in the first instance to use , their best endea vours to obtain a pledge from the Chartered Com pany that no higher price should be charged for their gas than was charged by the Dorset-street Company, from whom their neighbours were sup plied. This reasonable request was met by the di rectors of the company by art evasive reply. It was well known to those gentlemen that the great ma jority of the petitioners used the No. 4 burner, on which they made no reduction, and very few burned by meter, on which they made a partial reduction. The petitioners therefore fell back on the other part of their petition—" That you withdraw your exclu sive protection from this company, and allow 'ano ther line of mains to be laid along the line of the Chartered Company," in the same manner as had been allowed the Dorset-street Company, who, by permission of the commissioners, had laid a second line of mains through their district. They can didly stated that at this moment they had no other company in view, but the petitioners, rather than submit to such imposition, would immediately set about forming a company; ay, further, they had the matter seriously in contemplation, and only awaited the sanction of this commission, in the event of those gentlemen not supplying them on the same terms as their neighbours. They knew the commission would protect their fellow citizens, and they relied on the prayer of their petition being granted. Mr. HALL, one of the petitioners, stated the in convenience of burning by meter, as a greater pres sure was required at the gas works. The commissioners showed a strong feeling in favour of th e p r ayer of the petition, and urged the directors to come to the point at once and meet the wishes of the petitioners. The directors had no power without the consent r ß iic , a a t t e d, in an w d ri r ti e l q ,g ue t s h t e e i d r t w h i e sh c e h s, air a m nd an in w a o f u e l l d v of f m th m ei u r days a dr finite answer should be returned. Titus the matter stands at ptesent. LOSS OF TUE CI CY OF WATERFORD STEAM-VESSEL. A private letter, dated Lisbon, Oct. 5, contains the following account of the loss of the CTity of Wa terford steam-packet, otf Peniche:— " On Sunday morning, the 221 ult., about half past eight o'clock, while in the midst of a thick fog, I heard the cly rd a-port,' when in an instant we were fast on a steep sandy shore, with a tremen dous swell, which at each s roke shook the vessel in a frightful manlier, that few could even k•ep on Their feet. In about half a minute the great funnel fell overboard, tile water began to come in at the ports into the cabin among the ladies, setting every thing afloat, and throtsrng all the inmates into the greatest alarm. On deck everything was it, confu sion, for the cap'ain was much agitated. We then lowered the ladies and passengers as well as we could, got them through the surf, and landed them safe on shore before the waves broke over th, decks. We succeeded in saving some considerable property; but the main stock, in value about 30,000/., re we could not move, as the vessel began r o b rea k up fast, arid we were surrounded by a v il e t hi eving neighbourin gb p e u t l ., a )r t e im i l la f t r k om we th s e ueeeededin Ve w abut six or eight mil es horn Sin Martinho. Just getting trom that place for the ladies; and af , er a ride of three or four hours over rugged hills and woods, we got there, a wretched pour village, where we had the greatest difficulty to procure the commonest ne cessaries of life, as the Miguelites had only left it three or four days previously, and had taken every thing with them: they wt-re only two leagues off, so we spent an uneasy night. Next morning (Mon day), before day-light, I t•ent a messenger to the Governor of Peniche, with an account of our situa tion, and requested succour either by lard or water. My messenger and letter, as it appeared afterwards, were taken by the Mtguelites, and in the evening, just as night was setting in, we saw a body of troops and guerillas (about GO, horse and foot) coming on the town, They advanced in order, hemming us all in, and the officer, advancing, told us lie knew all about us, and we and our chattels must go to Obidos, six miles off. This I positively refused to comply with, on the ground of my being an Englishman, and that all of us were wrecked under the British flag. They threatened, and thrice presented their pieces to fire on us ; but knowing their bravado, 1 stuck fast to my text, on the score that I had a lady with me, and as she could not go, I would not leave her. At last they consented of let me stay; but they took our Captain, mos t d the crew, a n d th e two youn g E ng li s hmen, a" marched off. In a very short time two boats ca m from Peniche, and to avoid further attacks we enl i barked in th e m, an d l ay a ll n i g ht i n t h e middle i ° the bay, whi c h i s a narrow entrance of the sea. Lri r the morning 300 men f rom P en i c h e came to suc c° :( us, anti all was joy. To go by land was imp o96l " i e for the ladies ; and f or th ree d ays a f ter wards t' le weather continued too boisterous to go in the M t " : so for that time we were huddled, eight or ter:, 1, dies and gentlemen, all in one room, where we '. (1 , - n t ate and slept on the floor—such a scene you ea ° o 7, o conceive. On Friday, to our great joy, the 0° ) and Salamander, with JBO men, Admiral Napieraat Baron de Str, Governor of Peniche, came to tak e :: away, as th e y f eare d we m i g h t h ave a ll b e en c 7, aired. On S a t ur d a y we a ll arr i ve d sa f e i n LiS b° ,; / ; Two days a f ter our arrival in the capital, o ur Car a. , and crew were sent in here by D on Miguel'' 6 1 11e 1 ral, after bein g ver y we ll use d. Af ter t h e i r ar r ' (3 o at Obidos, th e G overnor t h ere sent o ff 1 0 0 ale rl ,jf, bring away the Portuguese gentlemen and 1 11 Y 6 , - 0 I suppose I m us t cons id er t h at I h a d a na r ,;,6 escape, for altho ug h t h e troo p s wou ld pro b a bly spared me, the guerillas might not." LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 9,4 d. l e r 4!b. Loaf. There are others who s ell from to Iy.O. that price. PRICE OF SEEDS.—Oct. 14 'ew English Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) —B. —s. fine —L Old Ditto Ditto —s. —s. floe ~- ' Foreign Ditto —B. —8 fine - -4 • Old Ditt ,, f. er • Seed _ s2 - s : B s s I s :: :•.., sfifi fif i fi fi cz n nn n n ec ee e e: = F-j on i e. • : . —s. 78s. fine lI —s. 14s. fine — 4 . 41 : 1i , .(per Quarter)......—... 425. 445. fine 465 , —s. —s. new 403.›, —s. —s. new — 4 . cop —B. 545. fine Ditto, for 445. 525. —s. fine . Canary Seed, New---.-- —a. —s. 70s fine , at° Old —B. — s. fin e , White Mustard Seed—(per —s. 12s. 14s. fin e ." Brown Ditto.. —s. 2 Is. 245. fin' Ns , rural') Seeds, Rounds —s. —s. IBs. Green and Red Ditto Cares, Old 4s. 9d, fine . 1 od , Ditto New .—. 4s. id. fine 45 : 0.. t. New Wh Old Ditto Ditl STew Trefoil . Rib Gr English Carraway FJreign Ditto coriander „ St. Foin Rye Grass Pacey Ditto Linseed, for feedin I tai.eSeed, Foreign - • ritICES 1 - 14/PS.—Oct. 14. New li , nt Pockets (per cwt.) —5/ ss. 6/. 12,, to OD ice 8i Os. Gt. Os. to East Kent C; owe K Choice New S ',sex Pockets Superfine Ditto Th, Hop I N. 01.0..t0 "-. . 03. W. Os. to UV l op .1. Cs. 01. 04 to 81 ' os. 0/ Os. 0/ 01 to 64 51 . rs. 01. Os. to 5( , , , 0 ,, 61. 103 0/ Os. to aated at 155,000/. -- •-• :; i, col. ()IL. in.q Rape Oil, brown Refined iU Lnseed Oil ,nseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand t• Cake, per ton ' 0 1:2 6 10 t(iU;F. Uk 1 Al 01,S. —Oct. 14. Marsh Champions 3s. 1 d. to lts. 9d. ditto. Middling Chats Os Od. to 2s. td. Will FP:CHAPEL rio t 01 A itti i —Oct. flay 6th. Od. to 813. Od. 10ver....., Oil. to 11S- 0 ' Od. to 30.. Od. PRICES OF Per lb. d. to d. Butts, English 15 25 Ditto, Foreign.„..—_. 14 21 Dressing 12 15 Ditto --- l4 17 Ditto, light Clop Hides, 1ight,.,,.,, 12 14 Ditto—w....4o to 501 b 13 18 Oitto , SKINS. to M' r n Polled Skins „„4s. Cd-- 4 Downs PRICE OF RAW FAT, per stone of Slb. . 0 0 'rice of Tallow (as stated by the Tallow Melters).-5 LEATHER. o(t. Per lb. I,;' 1 1 English Horse Hides.. r, 9 7 Spanish I)itto , Per dozen. Calf Skins.,. St) to 4(ltb. Ditto 40 to fil)lb. 18 a Ditto '7O to 901 b. Id Small Seals. Greenland Ih 16 Large SHEEP Polled Lambs 3s. Od. to 4s. 6d. Down Lambs 2 6 4 0 PRICE OF TALLOW ['own Tallow Od. Yellow Russia Od. Od. Soap Ditto— Nlelted Stuff% Ditto Rough —s. Od. 375. Od. 21s. Od. PLUCE 01. The price of Store Candles, in th, Candles, per cloz. 7s. Od. to Si. Od. SOAP, &c. per 11Y 1b .61$. Yellow Mottled NV 11 4 ,1; el Graves Good Dregs CANDLES. e i T r )i,‘T e i o 11 , 4 I.l :j i .06 0. 0, Per Ton. Walls End Newmarcm. , Ditto Northumberland., 1 8 0 Walls End Riddell's "*"' l 9 Walls End %% alker , 9 Walls End BraddylPs..... 19 ; Walls End Hetton 1 9 Walls End Smwart's... o I I ; Walls End Urpeth 11 Walls End Butter KnoWI 1 6 4 Walls End Tees ........•••••••° 0 Peareth Trader last market-day, O. COAL MAR Per Tor, a. d. kdalr'e 15 6 Beaumont.. l5 0 East Percy— 16 0 Hebburn Main H dywell Ord's liedlnieh 15 U Pontop Windsor.--..„. 15 0 Lantield,...... 16 6 l'ownley 15 3 West Hartley . l7 6 W.E. Bell, Robson, & Co. 17 0 Walls End Bewicke & Co. 18 9 ,Ils End ( arr Lid Co. 16 0 W.E. Clarke ant Co . 15 6 Ships arrived since WEYHILL SHEEP FAIR. be This Fair commenced on Thursday. The our sheep penned was from 70 to 30,000. The day vt3g pter t fine and the buyers were very numerous. Purchasey c if made freely, and the business of the day went off spirit. The whole of the sheep were disposed of at e s pi the following prices:—Down ewes, from 2Ss• to 56 ,1 Down lambs, fr His. to 265. ; wethers, 25 to 4.0 some few as I t •11 as 40s. ; four-tooths, 3Sat to lo e , The Horse Fait ,:as fully attended, and many P er i 10° were made on the sheep fair day. The show ° r e f horses and hunters was better than usual; there Wa lti a good show of yearling and two years old cart ea o tieli very superior gu owth. We noticed a string of e Ott' off the hill, purchased by a buyer from Kent. ."." ther being fine, it is expected that the lair will b e t i veering one, in consequence of Sunday intervening' al; quantity of hops as yet is small ; but as the teael,tler, have to come but once this year, we anticipate th at ° frit than two hundred waggon loads will he down by oa r night. We have not heard of any price being y et i s p",., for hops : the business does not begin until Sa te ' . i i sol No transactions worthy of notice have yet been d o boleti r Cheese Fair. When our account came off, the not arrived. (FROM ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT.) thi/1 The Sheep Fair at Weyhill, on Thntsday, was b". r , 0: 06 1 supplied, the numb e r being 20,000 less than last Y e i l e o about 10 000 short of an average of years. The to 7 s : consequently was good. Lambs sold at from I higher than at Wilton Ftir. Mr. Noy es , Ibr , li el; o 6 obtained for a prime lot 3I s. There was a fair a ti o lambs at flow 21s. to 275. For w e th ers there :0'1; " improvement in value of about 2 s . p er b ea d. Mr. of Horton, obt a ined 46 s f or four-tooths; ter ery ‘ fetched from 28, to 365. Amonttst the Wiltshire oot, masters we noticed some excellent ewes, particul arlr d ) ff lit belom,ing to Mr. James o f Tidworth , . an A Northeast; the farmer, we understand, were aila'!' t i,„„e fur his M jesty. Those in the Hunpshire shone conspicuously, were from the stocks 0 ' oe t i Longman, Sunders, and Pain. Ptiees of etl i e ing to quality, varied much ; say from 275. to 42r f o r ' of t the whole, we con•ider it to have been a good Fa' he ' ll o f seller, which is only to be ace toyed fiir from t he t i n tntity of sheep stock in the ki n gd o m, as the ,' o rts corn and sheep were never k nown t o be so wide a' MEETINGS OF CREDITO S rtE AT THE COURT, BASINGHALL-ST- (From the London Gazelle.) T, Oct. ° C. Burrell, cheesemonger, mitßow Northumberland-plac" coo ~ lot merc.al.roact ...................................................... yt ieo ..... DI V I DEN OS. D Fraser, ship-owner, Pulteney-terrace, Pentonvilie. , J. Turner, tailor, Great Pottlind-street .............. tie h G. Friend, wine -merchant, Great tharlotte-streett .0 --- d ,,i' MARRIED. , CO te t er In France, at Villecomte, Department de ' 3 , L e. 01 , Augustus Hennessy, , Esq , to Claudine Irene, ur3rojc, ,er Baron C. d'Anthi.ts, and niece of Baron de If 3 „ r!," ", f Charge d'Affaires at Constantinople. . ders ° ' - ' i" - . C .• of the corporation of that town, in his 84th Y On the '26th ult ,at Swansea, Mr. Robert 11,° MO' clv' ' e1.........„ t , 0 r at t oe ,. Bowen, of the same place, aged 45. The haPPY P 3 ,1 re ..ar ° of the ceremony were greeted with a discharg e °I- e caro l ( car ~ D lED. i &est Fib' On the 18th of November last, in the East . 01 „ e ll, Mansell, second daughter of the late Wa lter $l3O-- ale'' Oaken Hall, Staffordshire. Otir tor' ~ J O On the 10th inst., at Slaugham Park, F ranc/ 'lli' ~ VP Esq., aged J. ~a,, , On the 9th inst., at his seat, Trevethow, Corn' , poet 4,10 Praed, Esq., aged 83. tS t C Last week, at his residence in Danford -street' P ne ,,,n , 5 0 1 , 0 the Rev. Robert Cox, Perpetual Curate of S t °, o f Sl!i f° Domestic Chaplain to the Most Noble the Marq.u" rhilio„, At St. Michael's Terrace, Devonport, 1 ‘ 13)( 1 1 0 Ca n Courtlende, late Deputy Barrackmaster-General PRINT&D AND PUBLISHED BY MC/ it 00Y . ° 141‘. Sum Orncu, 112, STRAND. Thi r r I 13, Ag ee„h I:4it:4l'n Thi l day THE ( 4 tNre.d ~.s ._.t . 13] No • In t ey Tin REP A ut , +hi% ,°P of A w , b acne • AZent s Urgh al, t ; t ki„ vi mrt