The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-08 00:00:00

NOVEMBER, 8, 1833. LIVERPOOL CORPORATION INQL IRY, 2d DAY. This d (Tuesday,) th e comm i ess i oners resum ed the la hours o f the investigation, in the Sessions-house; they corn nlenced sho r tl y a f ter ten o'clock in the forenoon, at whichtime firstthe n dfu l nb ier of person, present did not appear so great as on the • inquired O entering blowte court Mr. Commissioner WiLKIN e....7„ from the n Clerk whether he had been " t ° l ti to procure the ages of some of the Aldermen and C ommonen Were Councilmen named yesterday, and for which blanks a s h e _ .` he was anxious to procure them as soon as possible, Th,:xlshed to dispatch the proceedings to London. furnish them Cutrix replied that he should be enabled to handed d°rtesto the commissioners a written definition of the ,of Town Clerk of the borough, fur the correctness e 0. ,• :tlch he vouched by adding his siguatute thereto. li e d n uoeggetl leave to ma k e a f ew correct i ons u p on the evi e:eec t be had given yesterday. He was not sure that., in the duty d uty to serve as jurors; and, with regard to the functions of Ton Councilmen, he had not enumerated all the commit teesthe ormed from that body. In the first place, thirteen of eud Common(2, Council were members of the Duck Committee, , tle t _lir of them were annually appointed Commissioners for .n-nditttig the Dock Accounts, nine of them formed a part of the trunissioners of Sewerage and Pavements, and four were ap tnuted, by the Connnon Council Commissioners of the Court of i ' lo ecitle't. '' and all the aldermen, having served the office of Mayor, , ol inissi oners for Watching and Lighting the Town, under. a l ocal ace of Parliament, a copy of which would be furnished. with the corrections he had thus made, all the functions of the ‘eultemon Council had been stated. or e il e commissioner in qu i re d f or the copy of the deputationucuraent, by virtue of which the Mayor appointed a deputy, as alluded to yesterday, which was handed to him. In a il. FOSTER resumQ-L,The document was the mode by which n t "Puty waseippointed, and a deputy had been appointed in com e waY• There were re s oluti o ns of the Common Council , e to, that noti ce was to b e g i ven t o a b sen t mem b ers , th a t mould be removed from the Council if they did not attend. the9th Nov., 132.3, in the may reify of Charles Lawrence, ire a motion was made for the removal of Mr. John Weston, saga ll ‘ , ..i e einence of his' non-attendance from residing abroad, ' 4 , fallowing meeting, it should be rescinded by a corn- F• ', 4 nication from Mr. Weston, stating his intention to attend in tlture. Mr. Weston resided at Brussels and was written to on the subject of the motion of the Council, and an answer was se to th e T own -Clerk, and by him communicaed to the ~ e2 a9cil; it was to th e e ff ec t th a t M r . Weston had not decided "'Lher or not he should reside in Brussels, or again return '‘er to Li • poe • if the latter, he wished to retain his seat in the en iu ,e au-. Subsequently a letter was received from Mr. Weston giving in his reeignation, having decided to stay in Brussels. j . eCher i nstances of the removal of Common Councilmen for .. al o - attendalice were on record. With regard to his (Mr. Fos frs) situation as town clerk, he had omitted to mention that taere tsar a principal clerk in the public office (Mr. Ellis) s ern •occupied a part of the building attached to the office as a • taace of residence rent free, which was conceded to him for the acCoi.amodatiou ormagistrates havinoccasien to call on busi iless, and i u fact t o facilitate public business generally. There I ' sl a place of residence for the superintendent of police een tignous .to the public office, which he had rent free. In the het of the fees of the court to which the bailiffs of the bo rough Were entitled, there was 2s. 6d. allowed for every certio ifri and hoh.,as corpus. The bailiffs, however, did not receive the fee, but it was received by the town clerk as a part of the Thurt fees. As regards the appointment of Mr. 'Popham, he a ppeared s t o have been appointed by the Common Council. hut " was chosen by the magistrates, who had a right to appoint their own clerk. The office of treasurer to the corporation had existed f or rat h er more t h an a century. Th e a pp o i n tment to Jn office lay with the Common Council. The present treasurer Cas E- ••appointed the sth of July, 1820, in th e a, eq., was on , place of Mr. Golightiv. The letter of appointment was given • top he commoners ana read. aalnina.tion resumed—Mr. Case, the treasurer, found two nretiee in th e sums o f £5OOO each, for the faithful discharge of !ns duti es . H e was one of the Common Connell at the time of 41 's appointnient. Mr. Thomas Case, • his father, is an alder !non, and the oldest member of the Common Council, as read i n the list yesterday. He has been fifty-five years in the Com -41711 Council, and has discharged the duties of. chairman of The committees for the greater portion of that time. duties of the treasurer were to keep the funds of the cor toration in safe custody, and to pay the disbursements of the I.9rPoration, but he pays no money without an order from the Council Committee. Mr. Case, in pursuance of the order of fro G auen, found two sureties of £5OOO each, and was prohibited t a carrying on any business. The fixed salary attached to e e °Mee is £lOO3 per annum. That salary was an increase upon ae salary of the preceding treasurer, which was £5tYO &er year, but Wa s, hi Was not tied out from entering into business. Mr. elightiv ""9.l a pPoitited treasurer in the year 1788; he was a merchant Sir Geor ge Drinkwater was then sworn. Mr. Fossil stated that the resolution appointing a treasurer 'was passed the 24th July 1820. Sir GEO. DiUNKWATER.—The bond of the treasurer was to be to the extent of £O.lOO for every £lOO of salary. The resolution relative to the appointment of treasurer, and the em.ount of bond. himself in £lO,OOO and two sureties of £5,0 00 • eves then r ea d, as was an order of the Bth October, 1837, - relative to the refusal of Mr. Leyland to act as coroner, and a '11 ) 1 3 Y of resolution that the clerk should write to such members of the Council as had not attended to their duties, to•which are ' Ply was r ece i ve d f rom one of t h e C ommon Councilmen, at a s ;Osequent Council, Nov. 5, 1817, containing his resignation as • uoorraou Couucilman. By the minutes of the Council it also ap peared that, in December following an appointment took place "-Mr. Earl e ,* as C ommon Councilman, - in room of the gentle - man who had resigned.. . • , E xamination of the Town Clerk resumed..'--The treasurer has Two clerks, a clerk in chief and an assistant clerk; these are Paid by the Corporation, arid are generally appointed on the "cons.rnendatian of the treasurer. Mr. John Sudlow is the present check, and Mr. William Sudlow is assistant. Mr. I. Stelluvr succeeded his father, who was chief clerk thirty-two years, end had been second clerk for some time previous.. The chief clerk is receiver of the Graving Dock dues, which receipt e - -"*' - ' 4 ' 44 •fortner,.- , been made- ley the Harbour-master, as receiver. Mr. John Sudluiv's' salary is £262 10s. per annum. The as , sistant clerk has £l5O per annum. The two desks are bro. then • The treasurer has an office in the 'Town-hail.. The clerks find security to the treasurer. Mr. John Sudlow has the • management of tile wine in the Town-hall, which is an extra duty, and for which he receives £5O a-year. Lir. Commissioner Wieetaesoen—lt must be quite a sinecure to‘lnitnage the wine, by merely keeping the key of the cellar. Joiner Suneow.—lt is no sinecure, sir, [.assure you. The Tome CLERK.—There had been much waste of the *wine before. (A laugh.) Mr. James Pearson is the out-of . o nr.-collector of rent. Has been thirty years in the office. e increase of 'd u tie s requ ired the appointment. Mr. Pearson was the first apointed. The rents are in small sums , over a - I Fge:ext en t oft Property, as would be seen by the accounts. The gross amount is about £l4OO or £1501) a year. The ' • surveyo r is appointed. by the Common Council, but is not a member.., Pre was, appointed on the 18th February, 1824. resolution of appointment was then read, confining the surveyor to Corporation work, and placing his salary at £lOOO annum. Mr. John Foeter, jun. received the appoint 'Lent- Occasionally he ha s obtained permission of the Council to attend oth er arc hit ec t ura l b us i ness . Mr. Foster succeeded bit father. The resolution consequent upon the resignation ofofM r. F os t er, sen., was t h en rea d . H e was not a member of . Common Council; he was a freeman, and employe d as etzrr. , ”-or a t l east '4O years, at a salary which was progressively raised _from £lOO to £5OO. During his servitude he was not txatrieted f rom pr i vate b us i ness, as is his successor. The pre f!eut siirvevor has the commission of an architect on the Custom : - louse now building. Mr. Commissioner WiteresoN.—Rather a good thing, I should thinic Mr, Posyee.—The government provides £150,000 towards the e rect i on of the Custom-house. The Corporation has paid the £25.000 required to make up 4 '175,000 for the Custom .'"se, and en gag e s t o p ay a ll the surplus charge, and to keep i t iet repair for t en y ears a f ter the building is completed. The Cite on which it is erecting, except a small portion given by the Dock Estate as a consideration for offices• to be provided for their use, has been given by the Corpffi Corporation. Theeuilding Till comprise offi ces for the Customs, Excise, and Postoce epartme u t s , and for the Distribution of Stamps. The value of th e l i te is above 480,000, so that, if the estimate be not _ • e lf, e "ded, the Corpor a ti on w ill h ave con t r ibuted upwards_ of 'AVM. Certain contingent expenses have been already incurred, to the amount of . £5OOO b the Corporation. The . Rhvert unent advances money by instalments upon the usual e rtfficates. The surveyor receives architect's commission on the whole £175000, at live per cen t. The amount already dis hursed is about 125,003. Three instalments of £35,000 each have been received from government. The works have been P a uli; On for six - Mr years. • June: FOSTER, the surveyor, explained that the building eo t uld have b een roo f e d ere t hi s, if i t had not been for the turn nv . among the workmen. Being then sworn, he proceeded to s tate that h e app li es to the Common Council for leave of ab pence. In ' 11 ° ,, 4 cases he has obtained it, between the periods cif meeting of th e C ommon C ounc il , f rom t h e M ayor , f or periods 0 .. not exceedi ng t h ree days. Lastyear h e was at Birmingham for three days, by of the Mayor. Ile had similar ,permission to go to Buckingham. The business of the Custom-house _vottld almost fully occupy his time. He has private business °estates that of the Custom-house. Has a fixed salary of £lOOO a_ Year from the Corp ora ti on .. Cannot say at this moment what • ?art of eommission he has received on the Custom-house.— ‘Y. Id , prefer b e i ng pa id comm i ss i on on hi s wor k b y th e C or p ° - l ion. The charge of Liverpool architects is £5 per cent.— ee elaried architects in London who receive £5OO a year, have £3 .. per cent. per annum all owe d. Has an officer provided for him, h!it no advantage or emolument unnamed by him. Whatever • the extra. work on the Custom-house he will not have commis . =hen beyond the amount of e s ti ma te, namely, on £175,000. He have to sup er i n t en d any necessary repairs o f the Custom house for ten years after its completion, as part of his duty to the Corporat'on Lx a - , • Initiation. of Town Clerk res ume d. There is one princi- Pat draughtsman and three assistants in the surveyor's office, ...tenrpointeri, upon his recommendation, by the Corporation. The f as incival, Jobn Weightinan, is paid £3OO per annum; the other . R. Barrow, John Barclay, and John Turner, have each , 105. a-year. There is an out-door assistant, John Smith, rto has £lO4 P er annum. _ Jowl Fos rEn said, that with the as s i s tance of these, lie c onsidered hi mse lf to be short handed. He has private clerks also, •,. the town, Town Clerk.—There are three surveyors of buildings in town, to prevent unsafe or improper erections; James Woodward has £lOO, George Barton and Benjamin Cooke . the building £5O each. They are apointed by the magistrates under building act, and are paid by the corporation. With regard to the sword bearer, he had 200 guineas a-year i t ', o ll his fi rs t appointment without fees On common surnmouscs. ( 44" a -year, prede cessor h ad £BO with the right of taking fees s .4 lllmonses, by w hi c h i t was su pp o sed that the number of ailvolous.sunirc • increased,lie also had a portion of the f summonses was ees on the admission of frcemen• which is not received by r eseut sword hearer who has no fees or emolument be- Y`in his salary. The town clerk had the benefit of that ar rangere"-• The'fee on admission of freemen -is one pound, the" p.ound is also payable for the stamp of admission. At "a common council, 3ei March, 1824. it was resolved that in 1 -- : ° ,, nsec lurfiee of the resignation of the secretary, a clerk should as pointed to attend the committees, take minutes, and ma the'correspondenCe o f th e comm i ttees, an d that :Mr. Chas. .hauld he appointed. at £250 per annum, which was sub ntly raised - by degrees to £6OO per annum. The resolu -0;n.! inereasing the salary to £4OO, d ate d the 4th August, 1824, ikAlae Ist F e b . 1826, i ncreasing it to £5OO, and of Sept, 3d. ' t ° £6OO, were then read. Th e d u ti es o f M r . Okill fully c uPY him ti e. ' s moth), Parkinson, the Serjeant at Mace, examined.— (I,e a i PPointed the 4th J u l y , 1832 , by the Common Council. o m ution of appointment read.) His salary is £lOO per P r l e l .a n c z Ile takes an oat h . The form of the oath was then Q/1 , 1 t . : e n'ell coupled together the duties of the seri eant at mace as water bailiff. Witness stated that he serves processes, his sal in the oath. He has some ca t=on fees in addition to cis t4 ZrrY• The fees are specified in the table of fees. The as p lock-up houses, receive these tees. iiThe T?svn-Clerk.The billet-m as t er , J osep h D ar li ng , is r h i a a s te f i by the Common Council at a salary of £lOO a year. us billet th e soldiers passing through the town, andiP THE Lilitll4 3 ooL STANDARD. not allowed to carry on business. Ile has no fees or emolu ments. The beadle, Humphrey Lyon, has a salary of £6l 2s. per annum. His chief duty is to summon juries on inquests, &,.!. Ho is also a constable. The serjeant-at-mace has a cloak. The beadle has the constables clothing. He gets a m shilling each inquest. Nathaniel Saul is the bellruan, or crier, His ' Salary is £l5 per annum, and fees upon crying. H e i s a l so found. clothes. The water-bailiff, and superintendent of the graving docks, is one and the same person, performing the dit ties of both offices. His name is John Askew. He has also the appointment of harbour-master. He superintends the gra ving ducks of the dock estate, as well as that of the Corpora tion. its water-bailiff and superintendent of the three Corpo ration graving docks he receives £2OO a year. He is also paid £3OO a year by the dock committee, or trustees. He is prohi bited from following any trade. As water-bailiff he performs the duties of harbour-master, the latter being the modern ap pellation. Mr. John Cummins was his predecessor, on whose death, in 1816 or -1817. Mr. Askew was appointed. James Ainsworth, one of the constables, is the deputy water bailiff, and receives a salary of £2O per year. He executes the processes. He is not a freeman. Mr. Neighbour, the governor of the borough jail ; receives a salary of £350 per year for that office; he is not a freeman. He has four turnkeys and a watch man, paid by the Corporation. Two of the turnkeys have £7O 4s. per year, and two have £6B 45.; the watchman has £52 per year. The superintendent of police, Mr. Win. Parlour, receives £lOO per annum; the salary was raised a Week or two ago from. £3o'o, by his giving up all perquisites attached to the. office: The perquisites were fur executing warrants, rewart4,- , and other matters. A county magistrate had complained of some expenses attending the execution of a Warrant, and it was determined by the magistrates nut to allow him any perquisites in future, and they in consequence raised his salary. Mr. Par lour has a house to live in rent free. Mr. RICHARD RADCLIFFE here got pup, and said that it was suggested to him by several persons present to ask the Town- Clerk if Mr. Askew complied with the conditions of not fol lowing any business. " Mr. FOSTER replied that he believed he did. Mr. As kew should be sent for, and asked the question. It had been said that he had some interest in steam-boats; but he belie ved that it was nothing more than his having a mortgage on some of them. 111 r. Askew was sent for. • Mr. FOSTER resumed- - --The keeper of the Town-hall, Mr. Solomon, has a salary of £75 10s. per year; he has a house to live in rent free. The market officers -are appointed by the Common Council.. The leave-looker, George Dixon, has a salary of £lOO per annum.. The principal market-looker, Mr. Graham, has £2OO per annum. At the south market, Henry Lace has £l6O per year. The north market-looker, John Riding, has £l4O per annum. On the - 7th of Feb„ 1821, the Finance Committee came to a resolution of appointing Mr. Thomas Corrie, in place of Mr. Alderman Crosbie, as receiver of the town-dues. MT. Currie is. a member of - the Common Council; his predecessor was an alderman. Mr. Askew eyamined.-1 do not carry on any business, nei ther have I any interest in any business; I have had an interest in steam-bolts since I held the situation, but I undersiood the prohibition applied to trailing vessels only. carrying cargoes. I bad for a time an - interest in carrying passengers by steam boats, but I received positive orders from the dock committee to get rid of them before September last, which I did. The boats I was concerned with were merely river craft. I have now ceased to have interest in any steam-boat whatever. Mr. RAnctiFFE.—Therefore, the court inquire to whom Mr. Askew transferred his business. Mr. Askew• replied, that he transferred his business to his nephew; and two steam-boats he sold to Mr. Stanley Garner. Mr. RADCLIFFE asked whether - Mr. Askew had any mortgage upon the vessels. Mr. Askew replied, that he had, with the exception of one vessel, (the Locket,) which he had received the money for. Mr. RADCLIFFE stated to the court that the object of asking Mr. Askew th3se questions was to show whether or not the sale of the vessels was not a delusion, and that Mr. Askew was still, in point of fact, the owner of the vessels, and he wished to inquire from Mr. Askew if he did not hold for some of his vessels the mortgage for the full amount? Mr. ASKEW, in reply to the question said, that he certainly did, for a good reason, viz. he could not get the money from them. Orders for the vessels were not left at his (Mr. Askew's) otlice at the present time, nor had been to his knowledge since he sold the vessel to his nephew. Mr. FOSTER resumed.—According to the resolutions of the Dock Committee, the receiver of dues forgoes all other business whatever. The receiver originally had a commission of three percent. upon the amount collected, but a second resolution of the Common Council reduced the commission to two and a half per cent. The reduction took place five or six years ago. There is also a collecter of dues appointed at Runcorn, named Richard Jones, and, by a resolution of the Common Council, dated the sth of October, 1831, his salary was fixd at 30s. per week, with the per centage of two and a half per cent. The expenses of the offices of both collectors of dues was paid by themselves out of their commission. The appointment of collector at Runcorn is recent, as it is only within the last few years, since the establishment of a port there, that vessels were allowed to enter Runcorn. Jones finds security for the faith ful discharge of his duties iw the sum of £5OO. His business is to receive all the dues and rates, and to pay them over, once a month, to the treasurer, when his accounts are audited. There is no other emolument attached to the situation of collector of dues but what has been stated. Mr. RADCLIFFE, the attorney, wished the Commissioners to take upon their notes, the distance of Runcorn from Liverpool, and to make a minute that it was in another county. The Commissioner stated his intention of doing so. Mr. FOSTER resumed :—Runcorn is about 18 or 20 miles from Liverpool by water, and within the limits of th'e port. There is £3OO per annum paid to' an auditor of the port dues accounts. The auditor is M.r. Bridge, a Custom-house officer, not a member of the Corporation. Four assistant clerks are paid a salary of £5O per year each. Mr.' Come, the collector of the dues, who had previously been asked for by the commissioner, now entered the court, and ex . , plained that he had made an average of the amount he received as per centage for 12 years, and that the amount had progressed each year. T he average amount of his claim was about £l,OBO per year. . Mr. - Bor.rox, of the firm of Bolton; Ogden and - Co., inquired whether Mr. Corrie in his calculations bad taken in the £35,200 , . lodged in the hands of Mr. 11 , ywood, the banker, the disposal of which awaited a decision in the Court of King's Bench. Mr. Corrie replied, that he had credited himself with the commission upon that amount, and•should be entitled to receive it from those wham it was decided were entitled to it. M r . B o lton was satisfied. Mr. FOSTER continued.—The mode by which persons became free of the borough was by being bound by indenture of appren ticeship for seven years. to a freeman, or by being the son of a freeman, horn within, the borough. The Common Council occasionally nominate a freeman. The indenture of apprentice ship is enrolled in the Town-clerk's office, and the Town-clerk receives a fee of 2s. Upon the expiration of seven years the indentures are produced at the Freeman's Committee and exa mine,d. On examination they are passed or entered as the re sult of the inquiry may be determined. The committee reports to the Common Council, who determine as to the admission of the freemen. On birthright claims of admission, certificates and identifications are necessary. On some occasions a midwife gives evidence. (Read copy of the freeman's act.) The stamp on admission of honorary freemen, who take the same oath, is a three-pound one. The certificate of swearing in and enrolment is signed the Town-clerk. The presentations of the freedom of the town by the Mayor are not frequent, and are given only in particular cases. The minutes of the Common Council giving the freedom of the town to J. Nichol, Esq., M.P.,the 4th Sept., 183.3, were read; as were those conferring the reedom on R. Stephenson. Esq., C. W. Williams ' Esq., and Jesse Ha r tl e y, Esq. ; being the three preceding that of Mr. Nichol. On the 3d April, 1833. the freedom was given to Lieutenant-Colonel Jordan, the minute of which was also read. Mention was then made of other honorary freemen since the witness had com• menced the duties of Town-clerk. Mr. RossoN wished the commissioners to inquire if the Com mon Council elected honorary freemen without restriction. The Commissioners.—The question has been already put, and answered affirmatively. The Town Clerk.—ln 1792 there was a sale of the freedom to a person named Wm. Lloyd. Fot eleven years previously there had been no sale of the freedom. From 1774 to 1792, there had been £526 9s. 10d. received for the sale of the free- Cloinoi the town, in sums of from 12 guineas to 100. William Lloyd paid 100 guineas for the freedom. There was no rule as to the amount. His (the town clerk's grandfather) paid 5 gn i_ neas. The next on the list gave 12, and the following one 15 guineas. Mr. Alderman Bourne's father ,(rave 50 guineas. There had been no sale of freedom since 1792. On the Ist Nov. 1815, the freedom of the borough was given to the Duke of Wellington, to Lieut. Chas. Dawson, of the 52d Regiment, a native of Liverpool, to Lieut. Nippon, of the 52d Regiment, a native, and to other officers military and naval, natives of the town, of which the town clerk read the minutes. In January 1816, honorary freemen were similarly made. None of these presentations of the freedom were made for electioneering pur poses. Nothing appeared on the records of the corporalien to warrant a supposition that there had ever been any makings of freemen in batches for electioneering purposes. In Oct. 1812, there were a great. number of freemen admitted, who were entitled to admission by birth-right or servitude. In 1827, at another contest, there was a similar admission of free men. All these claims were previously examined. In 1830, also, at the contest bet Ween Mr. Denison and Mr. Ewart, there was a large admission of freemen. At that period the Witness was one of the bailiffs. Freemen, and freemen alone, are sum moned on juries. They serve on the grand and petty juries, and on traverse juries at the court of passages, upon - the summons of the bailiff. They attend the monthly court of passages on undefended cases. And they attend as jurors on coroner's in quests. They alone are eligible as common councilmen, and they have the election of Mayor and bailiffs. The greatest pri vilege of the freemen is the exemption from the payment of town dues. Mitigation is now going on to determine whether the freemen can claim a right to be exempted fr o nt serving on county juries. They claim that exemption, but the case being still pending, they are compelled to fulfil the duties of county jurors. At present, in summoning these juries, some consi deration appears to be had for the resident Liverpool freemen. The litigation has been going on for four or five years. For a long time the freemen were exempted under a supposition that they had a right of exemption. One of the freemen's committee books was handed, by the witness, to the commissioners, and after some examination re turned. The Town-Clerk.—The freemen of Liverpool are exempted from town dues at Waterford, Wexford, and Bristol, upon their own goods, as arc the resident freemen of those places exempt from town dues in Liverpool. lie knows of no other advan tage or emolument the freemen enjoy. The Corporation pos sesses no charity money, but has charity monies on loan. The Common C ounc il have erect e d two large schools, but he does not know that the freemen have any claim. Some old alms' houses having been removed for the imp ovement of the town, new ones have been erected by the Corporation, in which the representatives of the founders of the original alms' houses en joy the right of nomination. The number of registered free men for this year is 3733. On the hooks about 5O() appear, but sonic of these may be non-resident or afloat. Some may be deceased. The Council is the governing body, and in case of vacancies fill them up themselves. In 1791 there was a meet ing of the burgesses, and at that meeting a gentleman was elected to a vacancv in the Common Council, and he was sworn in before the Mayor and Bailiffs in the usual manner. He believed it was the lat e M r . Walker. Proceedings were taken upon this, and Mr. Walker defended his claim. on the grounds of the previous custom of the borough. Issue being joined, the case was decided at Lancaster, by the jury deciding against the claim of Mr. Walker. In the following year, a similar case occurred, in which Mr. Joseph Birch was elected to the Common Council. Proceedings, as before, were had hereupon, and the trial came on before another judge and jury, wbo de cided against the election of Mr. Birch. No subsequent case has occurred, nor can the witness find that any previous one had occurred since the granting of the charter by William 111. There are instances on record of a party being sworn in Mayor and Common Council man on t h e same day. Since the witness has been a member of the Common Council, no application had been made by freemen to the Mayor to call a common-hall. Mr. Alderman Lawrence being sworn, stated, that during his mayoralty In 1823-24, application was made in writing . by certain burgesses to call a common hall generally, to take into consideration tire affairs of the Corporation ? or freemen. Mr. Win. Earle: ar.d dlr. Wallace Currie were the bailiffs at that time, and concurred in declining to call a common hall. Mr. JOHN AYLOH, who had suggested the examination on this point, said there were other instances. There was one iu the mayoralty of Mr. Leyland. Mr. Commissioner Wiemssor; suggested that Mr. Taylor had better postpone the subject until the examination of the Corporation officers was concluded. The Town Clerk's examination resumed.—Of the 20s. paid above the stamp, on the swearing in and enrollment of a free man, 2s. went to the sergeant at mace, Is. to the deputy water bailiff, and the remaining 17s. to the witness for his trouble in ascertaining the claim of the freeman, and otherwise. The stamp duty of £3 for honorary freemen, is usually paid by the Corporation. The court adjourned at a few minutes past three; the commmissioners determining, that, as the Council would have to assemble at eleven o'clock on the following morning, they would come down to the Session-house at ten, according to the advertisement issued,.and adjourn the inquiry from that 1 to one o'clock. THIRD DAY. This morning (Wednesday), th,;,..esettimissioners of the Cor poration Inquiry resumed thesieWestigation, at least they met at ersei 10 o'clock, pro iSe,..neeiirdin,,e to advertisement ; b u t, in con. sequerice s ol s a s yierting of the Court of Common Council then in debate s itekive to some part of the proceedings of the commis siofiare's'and the town-clerk being then in his capacity of coun -eirman and town-clerk in attendance at the council, the court was adjourned until one o'clock. Shortly after that hour the commissioners took their seats upon the bench, but the Coin mon Council not having risen, and the town-clerk not being pre sent, there appeared no person anx i ous t o furnish information present; the court, however, was crowded. In a short time Mr. Foster entered the court, and explained, that in consequence of the meeting of the Council he was unable to furnish the commis sioners with some information they requested him to procure on the previous day, but by the next (lay he should be abl e to l ay it before them. Before they proceeded any further in the i nqu i r y, he wished the commission e rs t o have the kindness to inform him of the mode and kind of inquiry they intended-to prosecute respecting the Dock Committee. He asked the question in consequence of some _examining questions having been put yesterday to a corporate officer, who also filled a situation under the Dock—Committee, and he wished to be informed of the nature of the investi g ation regarding the Dock Est a t e, for his own guidance. The Dock Estate and that of the Corpo ration were double trusts of a portion of the Common Council. The trust of the Dock Estate was created in the reign of Queen Anne, the management of which, by the act of Parliament then passed, was invested, not in the Corporation, but a select body of the Common Council were by that act empowered with the control over certain dues and rates paid by ships entering the dock. By the provision of that act of Parliament, the committee emanating from the council were entitled to collect the dues arid rates; and it was provided in the act, that the committee were to have the control over the disbursements of the dues and rates raised, which were to be disbursed for such purposes directed in the act of Parliament, and none other. In the act of Queen Anne there WIS a )provision for building the docks, and keeping them in repair. Several other acts had since passed, and in them the Common Council were continued to execute the trusts. By an act passed in 1821 an alteration took place Its to the expenditure of the funds; and a certain portion of the Common Council were created a committee for the expenditure of the money raised upon the docks, and the disbursement of it. No alteration took place respecting the trustees, but the commit tee had the maintenance and direction of the Dock Estate, and they had also the power to annul any previous act of the trus tees prior to the passing of the act, by a special meeting called within a month of the time; but the vete against the act of the pre vious committee could only be received by two thirds of the trustees of the committee of forty-one appointed from the Common Coun cil according to the Act. The committee of 41, as constituted by that Act of Parliament were nominated by the merchant rate payers. He, Mr. Foster, wished to know how far they, the commissioners, intended to go into the investigation of the dock committee. The Act of Parliament passed in 1825 solely in vested the power and management of the docks in that com mittee, and he, Mr. Foster, and the Common Council, were perfectly willing to furnish every information respecting the dock committee up to the period of the act of investment to the present trustees passing. Mr. Duncan, the solicitor to the committee of rate pavers of the docks, said that he appeared for that body :Mr. Foster had been so far correct as to state that the governing part of the committee were a part of the Common Council. The Act of 1825 left only 13 members of the Common Council governors of the Corporation estate, and the rest were still trustees . of the dock estate, thus having the supreme control over both estates. The question respecting the Corporation control over both estates had been discussed in the House of Commons, and a petition pres en t e d by th e d oc k ra t e - payers t o ta k e ie trust of the docks out of the hands of the Corporation, as it had been seen that the interests of the Corporation, and the dock rate payers was frequently conflicting. An argument on the ques tion had arisen in th e H ouse o f - Commons, and the subject had been referred to the committee of municipal corporations. Mr. M. D. Hill had also presented a petition to the House of Commons from Hull, when it was argued that it was a question . of a trading company, and ought not to be referred to the municipal corporation committee; but it ultimately was so, and although he did not mean to say that they (the commissioners) were to be controled by the House of Commons, y et he did think that it was a portion of the in qu i r y w hi c h their com mission contemplated; for, as they were probably gathering information for the purposes of legislation, a thorough inquiry into the nature of the dock trust was necessary. A portion of the Common Council being trustees for both bodies, their report might be the means of changing the system of voting, and otherwise alter the interests of the Corporannn, and without such information, he (Mr. D.) thought that the House of Com mons would be legislating in the dark. If they (the comnaiss sinners) erred at all in the inquiry, he thought that they had better err upon the side of taking too much information than too little ; he should, therefore, submit that a full inquiry into the Dock Estate should take place. Mr. Foster rose and said, that in stating what he had he did not for a moment presume to dictate to the commissioners the line of conduct they ought to pursue, but he merely wished for information to guide him in what he had toll°. However, it was a question embracing interests of considerable importance, and be thought it would be better if they, the commissioners, gave it due consideration before they came to a decision. He would wish them carefully to examine the acts of parliament, and then to give their opinion as to the way they should act. Mr. Duncan here said, that the Corporation, in their double capacity, had sold to themselves, as trustees of the docks, land and property to the amount of £300,000, and if inquiries into such matters were not prosecuted, the object of the commission would be lost. He thought that the whole of the proceedings of the Corporation should come before them, and however they might decide, there ought, at least, inquiries to be made as to the sums of money paid for the sales alluded to. Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson said that the question was un doubtedly one of great importance, and previous to giving a decision, they would take an opportunity of ex amining the acts of Parliament. Notwithstanding which, it was his opinion that an investigation of the affairs of the Dock Estate came within the meaning of the present commission of inquiry, and he thought that the Town-Clerk being the office r o f th e Corpora tion, should furnish the information required. Mr. Foster said the observations of the learned commissioner was an answer to his question, and he begged leave to state that the officer of the Corporation could not give the information. If they deemed tit to prosecute the inquiry into th e D ock Estate beyond that information which he was able to give, they (the commissioners) must order the Dock officers • before them to give evidence. Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson.—Very well, we will consider the question, and give our opinion in the morning. Mr. Foster expressed his willingness and that of the Corpo ration to furnish every facility to the object the commissioners hard-in view. The Commissioner. - -We will now go on with the inquiry. Are there any corporate trades in Liverpool, Mr. Foster? Mr. Foster.—There are not, sir. , - Mr. Foster's examination resumed.—Mr. Topham, the clerk to the magistrates, is a corporate officer. He exercises no other office than that of clerk to the magistrates. His appointment had previously been handed in. Although Mr. Tophain might be considered as being appointed by the Common Council, the magistrates retained their right of appointing their own clerk ad libitum. Mr. Topham had for several years been in the em ploy of the late clerk previous to his appointment. Mr. John Topham sworn.—Had been 38 years townelerk. Has •no fixed salary as clerk to the magistrates, but derives his remuneration from fees of the court, as allowed by the sta tute. The fees have been the same ever since he knew the °face. The estimate of the value of the situation, after paying all expenses, is from 000 to 1:1000 per annum. Has two clerks to pay out of the fees, and by increasing business may have occasion for a third. The fees to a certain extent increase with the business,. but there was a deal of business done to which no fees were attached. Considers himself as clerk to the magistrates, and to hold his office during their pleasure. There are no additional fees than those allowed by the statute. 'lucre are matters of prosecution, but does not receive them as a right, but is employed the same as another attorney. The Town-Clerk does not receive prosecutions; as clerk of tile peace he would be liable to a penalty. The prosecution's are open to every attorney; but persons very frequently empl oy hi m t o prosecute from the situation he holds, rather than take them to another person. -• Mr. Foster's examination resumed—The criminal court for the borough is held four times in the year. The duties of the court leet have emerged into the quarter sessions, excepting the presentment of the grand jury. The grand jury book will be produced. Does not know any thing at resent of the exer cise of the, laws of the ancient court leet. Ihe borough magis trates sit on the bench at the sessions, and the Mayor presides, assisted by the Recorder. - The county magistrates occasionally sit on the bench; but are not recorded as magistrates attending the sessions. Mr. Foster then described the process of the Quarter Ses sions, commencing with the summoning of the juries. He produced the . Grand Jury Book, and the table of fees and costs, being a copy of that approved on the 25th March, 1815, at Lan caster, by the judges. At the last session, a question was raised as to the expences of a solicitor attending the court from Manchester ; the court decided that his allowance should be determined by the table produced. He also produced an ac count of the number of prisoners tried in the borough during the last seven years, being 4,136, and stated that the average cost of each prosecution was £7 155., paid by the county, and then handed in a list of fees received 13V himself, as clerk in criminal cases, agreeing with that allowed_ by the Duchy. The employment of council to prosecute criminals is of fifteen years' standing. There is no other criminal court besides, excepting the daily sittings of magistrates in the Sessions-house and at the Dock Police-office. There are cases in which the coroner's attention is required, independent of the inquests. The duty of a coroner is almost daily. The duties are generally thrown upon the two bailiffs, the Maor of the preceding year being put in less requi s iti on . Th ere 'is no appointment ot a medical man to attend inquests. It is seldom that the service of a. surgeon is dispensed with, and oniy in case of an obvious acci dental death. The form of proceedings of the Civil Borough Court were then read by the clerk. It is entitled the Court of Passage, anciently Paysage nr Pays-sage. The Mayor and Bailiffs preside, one o r other of the Bailiffs being constantly in court with the Mayor. The cause of action must arise within the borough. The court cannot try ejectments. It is intended to apply for that power in the next session of Parliament. The total number of cases en tered for trial in the Borough Court, for the last seven years, is 1603—the number actually tried 498. He produced the cause list of the last court. There is no limitation of amount, but if it be for under £5 the cause cannot be removed by certiorari.— If under £2O, may be removed by giving - bail for debt and costs. _ The court sits every Thursday ; every month for inquiries of damages, and every quarter for the trial of causes. The clerk explained the process, and handed in the usual forms ; as also a set of rules of the court, and a table of fees agreed to by the Mayor and Bailiffs. to govern the practice of the court from and after the 16th instant; the rules being remodelled to agree with the altered practice of the courts above. The average of costs to the plaintiff, in a common case, is now £lO 3s. 10d. ; costs on judgment by default, 1:4 Os. 2d. ; and on a serviceable writ, if the debt be paid withih four days of service, £1 55.; for a bailable process £1 15s, besides the officer's fee of 10s. 6d. for each defendant. At, action of account had been tried in the court for £5OO. At present it. is netewry for the Mayor and Bailiffs to go up to London when any bill of exceptions is tendered and writ of er ror brought, to acknowledge their seal to the record of the pro ceedings. It might be of advantage that the court for trial should be held more frequently than quarterly. The Corpora tion finds all the accommodations of the court. The Judges have Iren offered tie - use of the Court of Sessions-house, and ample accommodations of residence, to hold the county as sizes. The insolvent debtors' commissioners sit also in the Ses sions-house three times a year, for three or four days each sit• ting. There is a Court of Requests held in the borough for the recovery of debts under forty shillings. Mr. John Topham gave evidence.—He sat as clerk in the Court of Requests for several years. The calla is held under the act of the .25th Geo. 11. cap. 43. Commissioners preside, who are appointed by the Common Council, and are the Re corder, two Aldermen, four Common Councilmen, and ten housejtolders. The court is occasionally visited by the Mayor. Was merely the clerk to record the proceedings. It is always 'necessary to have (any) three Commissioners present. The clerk is appointed by the Common Council. There are two clerks appointed under the provisions of the act The pre sent clerks are Mr. Edward Parr and Mr. William Statham. Witness described the process. The appointments of the clerks are for life, or during ability and good behaviour. The clerk has the power of examining the parties giving evidence. The commissioners are the jury, a majority of whom decide, and either dismiss the complaint or order the debt to be paid instanter or by instalments. Execution may follow against the goods or body. The general practice is to take the body. The summons' days are Wednesdays, and the order days Mon days. The greater number of cases determined by the court are made payable by instalments. Imprisonments are twenty days for sums under twenty shillings, and forty days for sums between that and forty shillings. The Town Clerk.—Those are all the sitting courts. He then handed in the copies of the appointments and duties of the clerk to committees of the treasurer, of the receiver of the town dues at Liverpool, of the receiver at Runcorn, and copies of the bye-laws for the admission of freemen, and other copies and documents ordered previously by the commissioners. He also read a list of the sums received for sale of the freedom, referred to previously:- 7th December, 1773, John Foster, 12 guineas. Ist August, 1775, Cornelius Bourne, 50 guineas. Bth :30th 1775, Henry Walsall Lake, 20 guineas. 7th March, 1776, Thomas Manly, 70 guineas. Bth April, 1776, Charles Mathews, 10 guineas. Ist Feb., 1780, John Beckwith, 12 guineas. John Fazakerley, 30 guineas. 11th Sept., 1780, William Dixon, 20 guineas. 29th ,• George Boden, 15 guineas. Executors of William Gregson, town clerk, £2lB Its. 101 6th Sept., 1792, William Lloyd, 100 guineas. Making a total of £626 9s. 10d. Mr. Foster said he had discovered, by reading a publication of the late Mr. Roscoe, that the abrogated charter of Charles the Second contained a clause by which the self-election of the Common Council was sanctioned, as did that of James the First, which also gave to the King the power of removing, and which power was exercised by him in the case of a deputy mayor and others ; the chatter orrames the First was also abrogated. The juries for quarter sessions are selected by the bailiffs from a list of respectable burgesses, and as additional freemen are admit ted, they are added to that book. It is so contrived that the duties of grand jurors fall on the parties selected about once in two years. The foreman of the grand jury is sometimes a Com mon Councilman, and sometimes not. On reference to the minutes book it was found that in general the foreman was one of the Common Council. The rigfit was claimed by the grand jury of electing their own foreman, and conceded to them. Sir. Wm. Rathbone, who had suggested the question relative to the appointment of the foreman of the grand jury, declined further questioning, as he was satisfied that it had been shown the practice was to appoint a Common Councilman, with few exceptions. The Town-clerk, in continuation.—The petty jury is selected from the body of freemen, due regard tieing had to their respect ability. Never heard other than the most unqualified approba tion, from gentlemen of the bar, of the intelligence and patience of the petty juries. It is the practice always to select the grand and petty juries from the burgesses. Persons who are not free men sometimes sit on sheriffs' juries. Special juries are some times selected from merchants and other gentlemen about 'Change, for coroner's inquests. Some old burgesses are gene ' rally looking out for inquests, as much as the beadle is on the loot:-out for the jury. The coroner, in extraordinary cases, has a select jury; but in ordinary cases the burgesses are called upon. There are about two hundred inquests in a year. The surgeon is pail his fee by an order on the treasurer, signed by the coroner. Besides these juries there is only the sheriffs' jury, for taking the value of property under the improvement act. Lieutenant Morrison, R.N., presented a letter on the sub ject of the docks. _ . Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson promised attention to the sub ject, and desired Mr. Morrison to attend at the conclusion of the examination of the corporate officers, which he promised to do. The court was then adjourned to the following morning at :en o'clock. FOUIITH DAY. This morning (Thursday), the commissioners resumed their sittings, and the chief commissioner (Mr. Wilkinson,) address• ing the to:en-clerk, stated that he and his colleague had ma turely taken into consideration the subject respecting the inquiry into the Dock Estate, and the result was, that they were clearly of opinion the matter came within the scope and meaning of the Commission of Inquiry, consequently . they should proceed with all the usual means of obtaining the infor mation required, which would be by examining the trustees and officers connected with the Dock Estate. Probably they would take that part of the inquiry on Monday morning, when the whole routine would be gone through. Mr. Ratcliffe, the solicitor, remarked, that there was one gen tleman to be examined on the Dock Question (Mr. R. Gladstone), who would probably be out of town next week, and it would be a convenience if the commissionns took his evi dence some day in the present week. The commissioners re plied, that if the gentleman could not attend on Monday they would hear him on Saturday, and Lieutenant Morrison at the same time. Mr. Foster, in continuation of the subject of freemen alluded to yesterday, said, that from the year 1746 to 1747 the sum of £322 18s. 4d. was received for fines, but from 1717 to 1718 only £l5 of fines appeared to have been received. Mr. Bolton, the gentleman at issue with the Corporation on the subject of the Town Dues, interrupted Mr. Foster, by say ing the diminution of receipts of the Corporation at that time was in consequence of the fines inflicted on persons opening shops in the borough being done away with, from the result of a trial between the Corporation and a Mr. Fazakerley. Mr. Sudlow, the treasurer's chief clerk, had made a search fora document from the treasurer's office alluded to yesterday, which he handed in. Mr. Foster put in a copy of the names of the commissioners of the Court of Requests, and said that with respect to the Court of Requests, there bad been repeated ap. plications to the Common Council for the purpose of increas ing the power of that court, so as they could recover to the amount of £5. Some years ago the Common Council intro duced a bill into the House of Commons, for the purpose of effecting this object. It passed through t heHouse of Commons; but in consequence of some misunderstanding in the House of Lords, Lord Eldon being opposed to it, it was withdrawn with an understanding that Lord Eldon would have introduced another bill equally as effective. There was also another bill introduced into the House of Commons, to extend the powers of the Borough Court without the limits of the New Borough, and Mr. Ewart, the present member, was 'anxious to effect that change in the Court of Passage. Mr. Peter Hope, the president of the Guardian Society, here handed a paper from that body, calling the attention of the commissioners to the state of the present Courts of Passage and. Req,uests. It stated that the Court of Passage had not juris diction over Toxteth-park, Edgt-hill, and other populous places, and that the society wished such a remodelling of the court, as to allow them to decide causes under £5O, and so to do away with the projected county court. They also wished for an ex-. tension of the powers of the Court of Requests, and that an al teration should take place so as to allow suitors to obtain debts of £5. instead of the present limits of 405., and that it should extend without the limits of the borough. They were also anxious for a sitting barrister at the court, to be assisted by three tradesmen iu lieu of the present commissioners. The document stated, that such was the plan upon which the Manchester Court of Requests was conducted, and it was found to answer every expectation. The commissioners took the memorial, and placed it upon their notes. The Commissioner inquired if there was any accumulation of runts in the hands of the Court of Requests. Mr. Case, the Corporation Treasurer, said that he received the money in the name of the Corporation, in trust, for the suitors of the court. The interest allowed was 22 per cent.- . -- The gift of appointment of clerks lay with the Corporation, afreeablv to the act of Parliament. There are two clerks, Mr. Edward 'Parr, solicitor, and Mr. William Statham. Mr. Parr, jun., frequently acted for his father. The amount received, now in hand, as the funds of the Court of Requests, is £BlB 10s. Mr. Foster resunitcd.—Mr. Statham, the cierk to the court of Bequests, is son of the late Town-clerk. At the Council on the 3d of October, 1832, a resolution was passed, that all money of the said Court of Requests should be deposited in the hands of the treasurer'of the Corporation. The funds to he deposited every mouth with the treasurer. A copy of the resolution was rend, and given to the commissioners. The examination into the state of the Borough Police then went on, and Mr. Foster stated that the. Borough Police is under the ma nagement of the magistrates. There is a Nightly Watch of v , hich all the aldermen and eighteen householders are com missioners. The appointment of commissioners was according to an act of Parliament, 21st Geo. 11., chap. 24; there was also an amended act of Parliament, 28th Geo. 111., for in- creasing the powers of the former act. Under those acts of Parliament the watchmen, officers, and local police were appointed. Mr. \Vales sworn.—ls a printer and stationer. _llas been a commissioner of the watch about ten years. Has attended every meeting nearly in each year. During the ten years he had been a commissioner, he had only,seen a couple of alder men on two occasions; one time was on the formation in May last of the present commissioners, for introducing the fire po lice into the borough. The other occasion was in the year 1830, when two aldermen attended. The act of Parliairient for forming a fire police was passed the sth day of May, 1826, being part of the provisions of the improvement act. Mr. Peter Woods, the law clerk, attends to note the proceedings of the commissioners every meeting. His fixed salary is 7u guineas, but he has other perquisites by the service of summonses and warrants for poors' rates. He also conducted the prosecutions arising from the trust, which were paid by the county. There was a force of about 140. The watchmen and officer 4 are paid by a rate of 81c1 in the pound, and Id. for the Fire Police. The rate is limited to Is. by act of Parliament. The act of Parliament giving the above mentioned power wasthen read by the clerk. There is a superintendent who has the control of the whole establishment. His salary at present is 200 guineas. There are also sixteen captains of the watch, appointed for the six teen districts of the town ; the salary of each captain is 28s. per week. They are appointed by the commissioners at the recommendation of the inhabitants. The watchmen have 18s. per week, of which ls. is deducted for the payment of cloth ing found them by the commissioners. There is a treasurer appointed by the commissioners, but he is paid no salary. He has a clerk who receives a salary of 4,140 per annum. The treasurer's clerk's assistant receives £6O per annum,- the amount raised by the rate is £20,000. It is for lighting, watching, and cleansing the town. The balance last year in the hands of the treasurer was £785 13s. 7d. The treasurer's clerk gives security in the amount of 1.:1000, and he, in fact, is, bona fide, the treasurer. The security is given to the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Wales then handed an account, published at the close of every year, of the statement of the receipts and disbursements. Mr. Foster resumed.—The total number of officers of police appointed by the Corporation is fifty-three. There are nine head constables. _ _ _ . . . The Town-Clerk put in the list of the salaries received by the constables. The respective ages would be added. The average expense, for the last seven years, of the police is £5826 per annum in wages, clothing, and expenses, the expenses of the Bridewell included. The cost of the Bridewell was £3588 3s. Id. The cost of the Police-offices for the constables was £4824. There is a Pollee establishment for the Docks, under the 51st Geo. 111., cap. 133, sec. 103 to 120. The expense is paid by the Dock Estate. The costs of constables at tue landing places is paid by the Corporation. The head constables get 28s. per week. A regulation was made some time ago that the consta bles should deposit part of their wages as a superannuation fund. Witness read the regulation. £412 ss. 10d. is the amount already received by the Treasurer to the Corporation, and placed to the credit of the respective coutributors. On par ticular occasions special constables are sworn in and paid for by the Corporatiou. At the last festival many were so em ployed. These constables receive three shillings and sixpence per day. The constables receive one common dress a-year, and a great-coat every three years. This refers to the old system of police, not to the modern. The Borough Gaol is superintended by visiting magistrates appointed at the sessions. There is also a Bridewell and Lock-up-houses, all at the Corporation expense. The Borough Gaol was built in 1783 by the Corpora tion, at the cost of £07,348. The site of the old Gaol was sold. The average cost of the gaol for seven years, including repairs and est a bli s h men t, is £2410 Is. 9d.; entirely paid by the Cor poration, including the salaries of the gaoler, surgeon, turn keys, chaplain, watchmen, and 6d. a-day allowed under the seal of the Corporation to insolvent debtors confined in the gaol. The gaol was erected for the use of the borough, and part of it was let to the government as a place of confinement for pri soners of war, for some years. It is sufficiently spacious to accommodate countyprisoners occasionally, for whichthe county pays. During the raging of the cholera part of the Bridewell was apporti one d to the use of patients. Ihe chaplain has 100 guineas a-year. He is the Rev. John Winstanley, the son of the late chaplain, and has filled the office about eighteen mouths. Service is performed twice on the Sunday, and prayers are read one day in the week. The chaplain keeps a journal, which is regularly laid before the magistrates in sessions. He visits the gaol daily. There is no treadmill. The hard labour is princi pally picking oakum. The magistrates exercise their discre tion as to the employment of the prisoners. Persons convicted under the excise and customs laws are sent, generally, to the Borough Gaol. The surgeon is Mr. Forshaw, who has 6‘i guineas per annum. lie charges for medicines. In the last year the cost for medicines was £43 3s. ltd. The medicines are supplied by a chemist. The allowance to insolvent debtors in the last year was £550. The gaoler furnishes the annual return to the home department. Mr. Wales re-examined.—There are three lock-up houses for the Nightly Police; their erection was occasioned by the in convenience experienced in the watchmen having to leave their beats and to go a grea t distance to the general Bridewell. The keepers live on the premises, and have rent, coal, and candles free. They have a sitting-room and two bed-rooms. Each keeper has 21s. per week. Tire-bells are affixed to the lock-up houses. They were erected twelve or fourteen years ago. There are about a dozen a-night confined, who are removed to the general Bridewell at six o'clock in the morning. On Sun days, the prisoners so sent remain in the Bridewell. The Town-clerk resumed.—The magiStrates, after returning from church, frequently take bail for the appearance of such prisoners. They are chiefly taken up for drunkenness. The keeper of Bridewell has £9l per annum, and his wife £l3. The two turnkeys have £l3O a-year, and there is a superannuated turnkey who still assists occasionally. The turnkeys take al ternate duty. The prisoners from the docks are taken to a Bridewell belonging to that estate. respect to fines, there are none levied by the Corporation on each other. In former days, if a man did not conic clean shaved, or if he appeared in a check shirt, lie would be fined; but there is no occasion for such fines now. In fact, there are no fines levied at this time, nor have there been for a considerable period.— [The ages of the constables handed M.] There is an entry in the corporation books of a right claimed to preventnon-freemen carrying on trade in the town. No case is remembered of an attempt to enforce a fine since that of Fazakerley, alluded to before, which was in 1749. With regard to the power of mak ing hve-laws, two trials had taken place, and the verdicts de ciderthat the power was not in the Common Council, but in the body of the freemen at large. After each verdict the Court of Kiug's Bench granted a ru'e for a new trial; but the trill has not been yet had. The Common Council has not exercised the right of making bve-laws. Mr. Erskin e was co unsel in the first case, and Lord Ellenboroug,h in the second, for the Cor poration. Lord Kenyon granted a new rule in the last case.— Exhibited two maps, and referred to acts passed in the years 1786, 1821, and 18' , '5. The first map shows hoss the town stood before the act of 1785, and the improvements in Castle-street, and other parts, including Brunswick-street and other ave nues to the docks. In the map appears an old castellated house, th en used as a place of confinement for the borough. The second map referred to the acts of 1821 and 1825, showing further improvements, such as the widening of Lord-street, Dale street, Smith and North John-street, Manchester-street, and several other places in various parts of the town. Under a sub sequent act for paving and sewering the town, to which the Cor poration contributed £5(0) a year, the new boundary street was cut. The maps would also show the recent improvements in the docks, under the dock act, coloured differently from the improvements made at the cost of the Corporation. By the act separating Liverpool from Walton , the Corporation has the patronage o f the Rectory of Liverpool, which is divided into two mediates. The present incumbents are the Rev. Jonathan Brooks, A.M. and the Rev. Augustus Campbell. Mr . Brooks succeeded t o the rectory . in 1829. The late Town-Clerk and one of the rectors married two sisters. Mr. Brooks was an officiating minister in two churches in Liverpool for twenty-' seven years previous to his appointment to the rectory. He now chairman of the county sessions. (The appointment of the Rev. Jonathan Brooks read, giving him a yearly salary of £ 350 .) Each rector has £360 a year from the parish, by an nual vote of the vestry. He has no house, but should have. Formerly, it is said; the rectors gave up considerable property in the expectation of having a house from the Corporation . They gave up the right to small tithes in the parish. The pa rish fees, which are fixed by act of Parliament, bring up the in come of each rector to about £lOOO a year. There are tour ser vices at the churches on Sundays. 'l' he rector is assisted by two curates, who are paid by the Corporation. In consideration of the curates giving up certain parochial fees, the Corporation indemnified them last year in the sum of £67 10s. The churches are those of fit. Peter's, and St. Nicholas's. Mr. Campbell's appointment took place in January, 1829, to the second mediety. Mr. Campbell married a sister of Mr. As pinall, the Common Councilman, but Mr. Aspinall was not then elected to the Council. One of the family of Mr. Aspinall was a candidate against Mr. Campbell at St. George's. The first appointment of Mr. Campbell tinder the Corporation was to St. George's Church, and the second to the rectory ; the appointment to St. George's was after his marriage. The Old. Church is called St. Nicholas'. Mr. Campbell has the same allowance from the parish as Mr. Brooks, and the situation may also be worth £10(X) per year. but it is only a matter of opinion. Mr. Campbell was originally the rector of Wallasey, which was given to him by the Bishop of Chester, and he now holds the vicarage of Childwall, in Lancashire, giving up the rectory of Wallasey. Childwall is about five miles from Liverpool. The vicarage and the rectory were both given to him by the Bishop of Chester. A curate is appointed for Childwall, but Mr. Campbell himself occasionally does the duty. He resides at Liverpool. Mr. Brooks resides at Everton, within the Parlia mentary borough. There was a resolution of the Common Council passed in March, 1830, allowing the rectors to reside out of the parish, until such time the Corporation provided suitable houses for their residence in the borough. There are three services at St. Nicholas's, but no night service. Mr. Campb e ll d o es not receive more than ERA'I per annum from Childwall. With regard to the right of presentation of the Corporation to the rectory, it was by act of Parliament ; all their other patronage was also by act of Parliament, in con sequence of their having built the churches themselves, or con tributed largely to the erection of them. The C or p oration have the presentation to St. George's Church, under au act of Parlia ment authorising its erection. The rector is the Rev. IL B. Monk, w h o was elected the 4th of November, 1829. His salary is £420 per annum, received from the Corporation. There are no other emoluments except the church fees, which are small. Before his election, he was master of the Liverpool Royal Institution, to which the grammar school is at tached. Mr. Monk had no relations in the Common Council; his father was parish curate for half a century. There are two • services. He has of course, his ecclesiastical duties for visiting the sick. The other clergyman at St. George's is the Rev. Thomas Gerard Leigh, who was appointed by the Corporation, at a salary of £315 per annum. Appointed 4th November, 1827. He has a brother in the Common Council, and is the son of a deceased Common Councilman. Mr. Leigh has no other preferment. The appointment under the act of Parlia ment .8 that the clergymen should do their duty in person. The first cost of St. George's, from 1773 to 1832, was £4500. It had once been rebuilt, and the steeple taken down. The church costs the Corporation £5OO or £6OO a-year. The net cost of St. Luke's, from 1803 to 1832, was £5380. The Rev. James Aspinall is the first minister, and appointed there Ist of December, 1830, at a salary of £250, according to act of Par liament. Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson.—lie eras a lucky man, his father being in the Council. (A laugh.) Mr. Foster.—His father was not in the Council then, sir. Mr. Aspinall resides in Liverpool, according to the direction of the act of Parliament. The other clergyman is the Reverend Charles Washington Lawrence, appointed the 4th of November, 1829, at a salary of £250 per year. Cannot say whether there were competitors for the situation. Mr. Commissioner Wilkinson.—lt is seldom that £250 per year is given away without competitors. Mr. Foster.—Mr. Aspinall had no other preferment. The appointments were made by the Common Council, without any other examination than a knowledge of the capabilities of the candidates. The next church was St. Michael's, which was originally built by act of Parliament; but afterwards completed by the Common Council, who gave the site of it, and incurred an expense of £16,000 in its completion. It was finished in :1826. The first minister appointed under the act of Parliament was the Rev. Ambrose Dawson, at a salary of £250 per annum, according to the act. Being unwell, he resides out of the parish, and pays £l5O per year to a curate to do the duties. The curate is appointed by the Common Council, with his consent. The curate is the - Reverend Cyrus Morrall. A previous curate was appointed, named Lingard, under similar circumstances, and on his death Mr. Cyrus Morrall was appointed. The other minister is the Rev. Thomas Johnson, appointed the sth of January, 1830, at a salary of £250 per year, paid by the Corporation. The church fees are small. Th e nex t c h u rch is St. Martin's, partly built by the commissioners for building churches. It was commenced by them, and the Corporation completed it, at an expense of . £6600. The first minister is the Rev. Nicholas Robinson, the son of an alderman of Liver pool of the same name. The other minister is the 11ev. Charles Thomas Gladwin, appointed the sth of February, 1830, at a salary of £2OO per annum. Mr. Robinson has £3OO per an num. Mr. Giadwin has no other preferment, and resides in Liverpool. The next church is St. Paul's, built by the parish under act of Parliament. The Corporation gave the site. — There are two ministers, the Rev. George Monk, and the Rev. Roger Ilesketh Formby.- Mr. Monk, has a salary of £l7O .per annum. Mr. Formby was appointed the 7th Feb., 1827, and receives £lOO per annum. The latter dues the duty; but Mr. Monk has a curate paid out of his salary. The evening lecturer, the Rev. Richard Cardwell, is paid by the Corpora tion a salary of 1(X) guineas per annum. The next church is St. Thomas s church, built under an act of Parliament; the Corporation keep it in rapair, but witness is not aware whether they built it. The ltev. John Smythe is the first minister, and receives a salary of £220 per annum from the Corporation. The other minister is the - Rey. Charles John Price, who re ceives a salary of £165 per annum, paid by the Corporation. Believes he holds some small preferment in Ireland. rile next church is St. John's, built by the parish, under the same act of Parliament as St. Paul's, and on the Corporation ground. The first minister is the Rev. Thomas Moss, who receives a salary of £lBO per annum from the Corporation. Ile also holds the vicarage of Walton. Does not exactly know what the vicarage is worth; but some Years ago it was worth from £3OO to £4OO per annum. Mr. Moss resides at the vickarage. The next church was St. Ann's, built by an individual, and, after a term of three presentations, the Corporation had the right of presentation. The Rev. William Blundell was ap pointed 3d of February, 1803. He has some connexions in the Corporation. 11is salary is £l4O per annum, paid by the Cor poration. Ile resides in Liverpool, and does the duty. The church called St. David's was built by subscription for the Welsh, the Corporation giving the site. The Rev. Robert Davies is the minister, and receives a salary of £lOO per year; the Corporation also give him £25 per annum for officiating as minister of the Infirmary. The Corporation further pay to the Rev. Thomas Bold the sum of £l5O, having taken dawn St. Catharine's Church, it being stipulated with the bishop of the diocese that the salary of the minister should he continued dur ing his lifetime. Mr. Foster.said that he had stated the extent of the Corporation ecclesiastical patronage. The Rev, James Case was appointed to St. George's; but soon after his appoint ment he had the misfortune to lose his sight, and he consented to resign his situation on condition that the Common Council allowed him 200 guineas per annum for life, which they did. Mr. Foster read the appointment of Mr. Case to the chaplain ship of St. Geore's, at a salary of £is per annum, with a fur ther salary of I:2A added, and also the resignation of Mr. Case, the appointment of his successor, and the grant of the annual stipend of 200 guineas for life. The appointment of Mr. Case to St. George's was dated 2d of January, 1822, and his resigna tion the 3d of August, 1825. The Church for the Blind, ceded St. Mary's Chapel, is invested in four trustees, viz., the Mayor for the time being, and the three senior aldermen, who were appointed by an act of Pariament, and the patronage, by the act, was invested in them. There are other churches in the town established under different acts of Parliament. Some were built by private individuals, and others by subscription. The pa tronage was in the hands of the builders for forty years, viz., three terms, after which it reverted to the Corporation. No other churches but those named have as yet fallen to the Cor poration. The Commissioners requested the Town-clerk to favour them. with the acts of Parliament relative to the Corporation churches •, which he expressed his willingness to endeavour to procure. Mr. Duncan, the solicitor, requested to know the gross amount of the cost of St. Luke's Church, and was answered £52,918. To some further questions The Town-Clerk said that he had - understood that some of the bills for the erection of the church were not yet settled, but he could furnish no information why they were not. Mr. Duncan understood that neither the joiner's nor the stone-mason's bills were yet paid, and he should like the com missioners to receive information on that point, upon which a gentlemen, named Grindrod, stepped forward and said, that he could furnish the court with some particulars relating to the bills. _ _ Grindrod was then sworn.—He said that he was execalkor to his late father's will, who was the stone-mason employed at the church. His account had nor been sent in, in consequence of the surveyor to the Corporation holding the working plans, and the admeasurement accounts, without which he could not make them out. He had repeatedly petitioned the Common Council, but had received very unsatisfactory answers. He had applied also to the surveyor; but all he said was that the ac count should-be settled. lie has reason to suppose that there was a considerable balance due, but could give no estimate as to the amount. He had been taken unawares to give evidence. The Commissioners said they should be glad to receive in formation from the witness the next day, when he would be better prepared. The Town-Clerk said that Mr. Grindrod had presented a petition in March, 1832, as he found it upon the record. Mr. John Foster, the surveyor to the Corporation, said that the appication had been made, but a variety of difficulties had arisen to prevent the settlement of the account, one of which was owing to the multiplicity of occupations of Mr. Stewart. the surveyor on the part of Mr. Grindrod. The work had been measured by witness's principal assistant, and he and Mr. Stewart had recently been together, and the matter was nearly approaching to a settlement. Mr. Duncan inquired from the Town-Clerk if he could inform him of the cost of the wall built round St. Luke's Church, and terwards pulled down? Ile had heard that it cost £1 , 1,061 Mr. Foster did not know the cost of the wall. Mr. Duncan also made inquiry whether the expense of pul ling down of the houses in Leece-street was included in the gross amount of the cost of St. Luke's Church. Mr. Foster replied that they were taken down under the improvement act. The improvement act gave power to take down those houses. Mr. Duncan said he was given to understand that the wall was built previously to the building of the church. The Town-Clerk said he believed that the building of the church was suspended for many years, for want of funds. Mr. Alderman Case—The foundation stone was laid in 1811. He was then one of the bailiffs. The Town-Clerk.—The present street is wider than the ori ginal one. The houses in the old street, were it now remain ing, would stand between the church and the present street. Mr. John Taylor suggested a question relative to St. Michael's church. Did it not cost £44,000 in all? The Town-Clerk said that he had stated the contribution of the Corporation at £14,000. Mr. John Taylor.—The remaining £33,003 was contributed by the parish. The Town-Clerk would not say, of his own knowledge, how much the parish contributed; but the funds of tl)e parish were insufficient, and the Corporation advanced the £14,000 to com plete it, with an understanding that, under the act of ParEa rnent, they were to have the patronage. The commissioners then adjourned the inquiry to the fol lowing morning. COMMON COUNCIL. The monthly meeting of this Body took place on Wednesday last. As customary, the proceedings of the previous Council, with those of the Dock Estate, the Se lect Finance, and other Committees, were read by the Town Clerk. These having been comfirmed, Sir GEORGE DRINEWATER rose to propose a rote of thanks to the late Mayor, Charles Horsfall, Esq. for the able and efficient manner in which that gentleman had discharged the many and important duties connected with his office, during the past year. In speaking of these, Sir George expressed, in the most complimentary terms, the satisfaction which he and every member of that Body could not fail to entertain towards that excellent magistrate, knowing how conscientiously and ably he had succeeded, in not only doing justice to his official situation, but at the same time proving him self deserving of the high estimation of his fellow towns men generally. He likewise moved that the usual grant of £1,200 towards defraying the expenses of the enter tainments at the Town Hall, with the power of nomina ting a freeman, should be voted to the late Mayor. This was seconded by JOHN BOURNE, Esq. When Mr. Alderman HORSFALL addressed the Coun cil, thanking them for this distinguished mark of their kindness, and nominated his son, Robert Horsfall, Esq., as a Burgess of this Borimigh. - Mr. Alderman CASE begged to propose a vote of thanks to James Aspinall and Robertson Gladstone, Esqs., the late Bailiffs and Coroners of the Borough, for the effici ent discharge of the duties of their office. JOIN BOURNE, Esq., seconded this proposition, and Mr. JAMES ASPINALL thanked the Council for the com pliment which had just been paid to his colleague and himself. The subject of forming landhlg places for passengers from the various ferries having been previously referred to the Select Committee of Finance, and subsequently a resolution passed by them, without determining upon am plan for carrying this object into effect, several members of the Council resumed the consideration, and stated their conviction as to the urgent necessity that existed for some plan being devised so as to afford secure and sufficient means for landing passengers, more particularly at low water, where the difficulty and danger were said to he increased. It was stated that the Surveyor to the Docks, and also the Surveyor to the Corporation, had been usable to succeed satisfactorily in arranging a plan that would answer the purposes required. • . Mr. WILLIAM EAurx, considered, that if such was the case, the course would' be to offer a premium of fifty pounds, and he had no doubt but that many schemes would he framed and proposed immediately to the Council. Mr. J. D. -CASE spoke at considerable length, and entered very fully into the subject. He clearly pointed out, from 'having resided himself on the Che shire side, the danger and inconvenience arising from the want of proper landing places, and the W.Jsolute ne cessity for some step to be taken. The TOWN CLERIC referred to the minutes of the pro ceeding-9 of the Select Finance Committee at. a previous meeting, in September last, n here he found that a plan had been brought forward, and also approved of by the Surveyor. A resolution was then moved by Mr. J. D. CAsE, se conded by Mr. Alderman CASE, requesting the select Finance - Committee to reconsider the subject, and to report thereon at a future meeting. A letter from Mr. Rowson, of Present, the Under- Sheriff of the County, was read by the Town Clerk, re questing the usa of the Borough Court for the Sheriff once a month, or alternately at Liverpool and Manches ter, as might be arranged. The Mayor's reply to this communication was read, stating that the proposition would be brought before the next Council fot their consi deration. The Town Clerk said, that he thought it would be of material benefit to the suitors of that court, if the change were made; but that acceding to the request might very much interfere with the regular local business, which recillired almost eon slant employment at the Court Room, independent of the addition which would be made by the judges holding their circuits here. A second letter from Mr. Rowson, in answer to that from the Mayor, was then read, communicating that the Sheriff had fixed on hold ing his court in Liverpool, on the 20th instant, and 15th of January next. A resolution was passed, granting , the Court-room for these two periods; but not under taking to provide the same accommodation (which is given - free of expense) on future occasions. A memorial was read from the Directors of the Liver pool and Manchester Railway, requesting pezmission•to lay down a railway on the dock quays for the conveyance of merchandise, from the north to the south end of the town. Some discussion to!..k place on the subject, and as it was deemed to be a matter of serious importance to the town, further - consideration was postponed ; and, in the mean time, the question referred to the Finance Committee. A letter from Captain Colquitt was read, calling the attention of the Common Council to the propriety of pre senting Captain Ross (with whom he had served,) with the freedom of the borough. The Mayor proposed, and Mr. Alderman Horsfall seconded, that the freedom of the borough he presented to Captain Ross, which was carried unanimously. The MAYOR presented a petition, praying for the use of the North School, for the purpose of holding the even ing meetings of the Auxiliary Bible Society—granted. The TOWN-CLERK moved that a pew should be granted in St. George's Church for the accommodation of the family of the Mayor for the time being. This was car ried without opposition. The MAYOR communicated to the Council the vacancy that. had occurred by the death of Mr. Alderman Porter. and gave notice that it would be tilled up at. their next meeting. RI