The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

nlttrogolit an.

THE LORD MAYOR GAVE A GRAND BANQUET OR
Monday to upwards of 200 guests. After the usual
toasts had been drunk, his lordship, in a brief
speech, proposed the health of the American Consul
at Liverpool. Mr. Hawthorne, in returning thanks,
alluded to the relative position of the two coun-
tries :

I will only say that it is some time since I have been in
my native land. but the people of America must be greatly
changed indeed if they are not ready to respond by as
kind a word and as kind a deed to every friendly demon-
stration on the part of England. Providence has connected
the two countries by the most indissoluble ties. Even
this rich old soil of England. on which my forefathers
were born, may be said to impart an interest to us—an
interest which tends to the advantage of both countries ;
while, in our own expanding territory, if the miracle of
Midas be again realised, the very gold we gain comes by
shiploads to your shores. If I can put any faith in what
I have heard passing among Englishmen and Americans,
and being an American myself, I would ask who would
dare to say that Englishmen do not dare to say what they
feel —then, my lord, and then, gentlemen, I feel that the
friendly relations at present existing bet'xeen the two
nations can never be broken.

The health of the Lord Mayor having been proposed
by Mr. Adderley, M.P., and drunk amid much en-
thusiasm, his lordship, in reply, alluded to the trust
reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, the privileges
of which he hoped to transmit unimpaired to his suc•
censor, and referred immediately to Sir G. Grey's
present Corporation Reform Bill :

Without venturing to introduce on that occasion any
controversial subject, he might be permitted to say that a
bill for the reform of the corporation was now lying on the
table of the House of Commons which, while it changed
everything. in his opinion improved nothing. He trusted
those members who felt an interest in the subject would,
at least, take care to change something, in which case they
could scarcely fail to make an improvement.

A MEETING OF " SWELL•MOBSMEN," under the
auspices of Mr. Mayhew, took place on Monday
evening at the White Lion Tavern in Spitalflelds.
The object of the meeting was similar to that held by
ticket-of-leave men a short time since at the National-
hall—viz., to obtain a public expression of opinion
with respect to founding an institution to assist all
those who may really desire to lead an honest life.
The meeting was attended by upwards of one hun-
dred well-dressed, well-fed " tnobsmen," "cracks-
men " (house-breakers), and "fences " (receivers of
stolen goods). Mr. Mayhew addressed the meeting
at great length, pointing out the object and advan-
tages of the proposed society, and appealing to the
men present for a fair expression of opinion upon the
question. Several speakers, and among them some
returned convicts, spoke in succession, expressing
their desire to lead an honest life, but referring to
the tyrannical interference of the police as the great
cause of their being compelled to take again to their
old courses. On the whole, the meeting was very
orderly, and the expression of feeling was decidedly
in favour of the foundation of such an institution as
proposed.

THE CAMBRIDGE ASYLUM FOR SOLDIERS' WIDOWS
SOCIETY held their first triennial festival in aid of
the funds on Wednesday evening, at the London
Tavern. His Grace the Duke of Wellington occu-
pied the chair, while tho company included his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge, and upwards of one
hundred military officers and gentlemen who have
identified themselves with the itibtitution.

the Duke of Cambridge, in returning thanks for the
health of the Royal Family, called attention to the
present period as one in which the resources of the
asylum would be heavily taxed in relieving the
distress and sorrow caused by the war, and appealed
to the highmindedness and nobility of feeling of the
military profession to prevent the institution from
languishing for want of support. The Duke cf
Wellington, in making a brief statement of the pre-
sent financial condition of the asylum, stated that
twentytwo,soldiers' widows were now receiving the
benefits of the institution, tbat°eight more were
shortly to be received into the asylum, and that it
was proposed to add twenty additional rooms to the
asylum, the endowment of which would cost 3.300/.
General Thorn, of the Buffs, had offered to build at d
endow eight rooms in addition. A list of subscrip-
tions was then read amounting to nearly 1,4001., in-
cluding 501. from the chairman.
THE CLERXENWELL CHARITIES, founded in 1577
were subjected to an inquiry by the official inspector'
on Monday. Tbe inquiry it is expected will last
several weeks.
A COLLECTION OF NINEVEH MARBLES, the ITIOEt
important fruits of the excavations conducted by dr.
Rassam and others, under Sir Henry Rawlinson's
directions, has just reached this country, and will to
shortly deposited in the British Museum.

THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION
held their annual meeting on Thursday. Darin g
the past year the Society has expended 3,7261., whi e
its whole income did not exceed 2,0351. To meet so
large an expenditure on lifeboats and their appur-
tenances, the Institution bad incurred large liabili-
ties, which with a former balance had amounted to
3,0001.
SEVERAL SERIOUS FIRES have happened in different
parts of the City this week. The number of fires in
London during the last. month has been remarkable,
and is stated to be considerably above the average.
No lives were lost in the fires this week, and the
firemen on each occasion succeeied in getting the
flames under before the buildings were wholly
destroyed.
THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON will be
compelled to give up Chiswick grounds, unless they
can raise 5,0001. by subscription t, pay off liabilities.
The loss of these fine grounds will, we hope, not be
permitted by the public. A subscription has already
commenced, beaded by 1001. from the Duke of
Devonshire.

THE JERIDICIAL SOCIETY held a meeting on Mon-
day, when Mr. A. Best read an able paper on the
codification of the laws of England.

Sat anb Volta.

CELEsnwz SOWNER, chargf d with the murder of her
illegitimate child on the 16,h of Feb. last, by cutting
her throat in the coalhole of a house in Fenton-
street, Islington, was triei on Thursday before Mr.
Justice Cresswell and Mr. Justice Crampton, at tl rr
Central Criminal Court. The facts of the case ate
so fresh in the memory of all, that we need only
observe the servant girl, Caroline Fisher, repeats d
her evidence given first before the coroner without
any variation, and with remarkable clearness de-
tailed all that she heard of the horrible act, the cries
of the child, the imprecations of the mother, and the
final death-throes of the poor girl. The finding of
the body in the cellar was proved by the police con.
stables; and though Mr. Ballantine made an eloquent
attempt to obtain a verdict in favour of insanity, Mr.
Justice Crampton summed up, and the jury after ten
minutes' deliberation returned a verdict of Guilty.
Sentence of death was then passed. The prisoner
heard the sentence without much emotion.

ELIZABETH Maim, charged with the murder of
her two children at Uxbridge, was tried before tl e
same judges on Wednesday, found guilty and sei
tenced to death. Upon the delivery of the verdic',
and during the passing of sentence, the prisone',
who had an infant at the breast, betrayed terrib
emotion, and continued praying for mercy and
shrieking out that she was innocent, until borne
away by the turnkeys.
ANOTHER SUSPECTED CASE OF, WIFE POISONING IS
at present under investigation at Lichfield, in Star;
furdshire. It appears that a Mr. Ashmale,possessing
a farm near Ediale, lost his wife very suidenly abort
a twelvemonth since. Mrs. Ashmale's health had
been delicate for some time, but her death was sud-
den. No suspicion, however, was excited at the
time, but the late marriage of Mr. Ashmale with h'e
servant, and the fact that no medical certificate had
been produced stating the cause of death becoming
known, the Staffordshire people, at this moment
peculiarly alive to anything like a suspicious case of
death, communicated with the chief constable, who
laid the matter before the Home Secretary. An
order for the exhumation of the body and a
mortem examination was given by Sir George
The body was exhumed last week, and the into
subjected to an analysis, and there the
at present.

eorge urey.
e intestines
natter rcsts
A