The Express.
London, England, 1846-12-15 00:00:00

gbe Court.

-
The Queen and Prince Albert walked early yester-
jay in th • plantations vaf Osborne House.
.The non. and Rev. C. L. Courtenay loft Osborne
House yesterday.
Mr. Wickham, Chairman of the Stamps cud Taxes,
bad en interview with the Chancellor of tho Exchequer
yesterday, at his official residence, Downing-street.
Mr. C.
at the Colonial-office. . Warner had an interview with Earl Grey
yesterday
Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-
office from the G .yernor of Gibraltar.
The Chancellor of the Excher and Lady Mary
Wood left Bowood-Park, Wilts, then seat of the Marquis of
' Lansdowne, yesterday morning, for town. Mr. C. °Emilio
goo left yesterday for London. The Earl of Clarendon will
Hare Bowood-park to-day, for his seat, Grove-park, Herts.

DISTRESSED NEEDLEIVOINIEN"S SOCIETY.
A meeting of the committee and subscribers of this
institution was held yesterday. at the Crown and Anchor
Tavern; Luke Hansard, Esq., in the chair; convened by ad-
vertisement from Alderman FurArother, to consider a charge
which the Alderman preferred against Lord Ashley, of a
wish to damage his reputation by sending the following cir-
cular to the subscribers to the institution, and to the Ald, r.
men and others of the City of London ; bat although the
proceedings were protracted for several hours in a long ad-
areas from Alderman Farebrotner, and the reading of a volu-
minous correspondence, the real merits of the case, as Lord
Ashley said, " lie in a nut-shell;" and no resolution or mil-
lion of any description was come to.
The following is the circular complained of :
Nov. Is.--Lord Ashley, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Jeffreys, and Mr. Cowper,
base deemed it to be their duty to notify to the subscribers to the So-
sway for the Aida Distressed Need:CW[lMM their withdrawal front
' the ommlttee in July List. They do so in of a speech re-
in the Times of 28th Oeiriber, and attributed to the president,
)Ir. Alderman fandmither. The Chairman is rcportei to have said,
age weed to express Ids regret at the loss the Institution had sus-
• iglied Irma the reaftement of Lord Ashley front its mantatement ; but
. at the sane time, he believed the noble lord continued to have the
best wishes for its success. . . . And he believed the reason of his
11'61%30 retirequent was, that he did not wish to be chairman of iwo
froristies of a similar land at the same tune." This erroneous state-
: mint requites correction. The reason of the retirement of Lord
, matey sod of the three othergentlemen was set forth in the following
biter horn Lord Ashley to the president, the decision in which was
matioefed be letters from each of them :
d 7 G_jir, The result of the meeting of the committee fur eon-
* apenng the atitits of the Needlesomen's Society was so unsatisfae-
: aray, the accounts appeared to be in such dborder, and the registra-
' dell so imperfect, that lean have no hope of any benefits to arise to
theabjects of toe institution, or of credit to ourselves ms patrons or
'rder peertdcntr. I must therefore request you, as president, to wits-
draw my name from the list of the othee-bearers of the sociely.-Iv. am,
ad, %mar very obedient servant, Asitte
(r. Alderman Farebrother.
After leading the circular, the Alderman suggested the
unfairness of privately giving it currency without forwarding
*copy to hint, or appending to it the answer he had sent to
the letter of Lord Ashley. This he thought was due from
one 100(10111ln to another, especially as it seemed to convey
. the imputation that the Alderman was cognisant of the
• mismanagement which led to the resignation of Lord Ashley
and the other gentlemen named.
On the other head, Lord Ashley. contended that he
was not only justified, hut bound in fairness to him-
self and to thos he h
oe induced to subscribe to
the institution, state the real cause of his re-
signation, in contradiction of the cause assigned by
• Alderman Farebrother, the President, in a speech made ny
dim, at a meeting of the subscribers in October last. In that
speech the Alderman alleged that the retirement of Lord
Ashley, as Vice-President, arose from his being also Pre-
sident of the Des makers and Milliners Society, and think-
ing that the duties of both were incompatible. But his
lordship would still continue to be a z alous supporter o
the institution, as an instance of which he stated that Lady Ash-
. .

by had sent her subscription since his lordship's re-ignatiou.
His lordship said he had been greatly misrepresented,
for it was the duty of the president to have read
to the meeting, his (Lord Ashley's) letter ut resigna-
tion, which he had previously received, and which
set forth the real grounds, namely, the unsatisfactory state
of the accounts, and the general mismanagement of the
affairs of the society, which lid also to the resignation of
kr. Shaw, the late treasurer, and the other members of the
committee named in the circular. It was found impossible
to procure from Mr. Roper, the honorary secretary, any
statement of satisfactory accounts. and his lordship, tbere•
fore, coup:di:red that it would be lending himself to a great
irregularity if he any longer continued to be vice-president,
or did not acquaint the subscribers with the grounds of
his dissatisfaction. As to the Alderman not having
received any copy of the above circular, it must have been,
his lordship sid, an accidenl oission on the part
of the persoan who undetrtaookm to forward it to
all the subscribers, and with no wish to damage
the alderman; nor was there any. desire or inten-
tion to involve the alderman in the irregularities of the
accounts, further than that as president it was his duty to
see that they were correctly kept.
Alderman Farebrother contended that it was as much
the duty of his lordship and the others of the committee
who resigned to attend to the state of the accounts as it
was his, instead of flying away from the difficulty by a
resignation. As to Mr. Roper, the alderman admitted
that he was an incompetent person as to accounts, but
still, as far as those accounts had lately been audited, they
were found to be correct, and no such ground of complaint
could in future exist, as Mr. Roper had been removed, and
a paid secretary appointed.
Lord Ashley having agreed to a resolution of thanks to
Mr. Roper for his past zeal and actisity in the interests of
the society, the lion. W. Cowper, Mr. Shaw the Rev.
Mr. Browne, and others of the committee, addressed the
meeting in complaint of the state of the accounts and in
support of Lord Ashlez's views and course of proceeding;
after which Alderman k arebrether made a short reply, end
apologised to Lord Ashley for some unseemly observations
he had made towards his lordship in the course of his
statemen, which the noble lord acknowledged the courtesy
of, aad thanks, on the motion of his lordship, having been
voted to the chairman, the meeting separated, without any
practical result. The late Lord Mayor, and Mr. Laurie,
late sheriff, were present during the proceedings, but took
no part in them.
FEMALE ORPHAN ASYLUM, WESTMINSTER-ROAD.
—A special court of governors of the above charitable
institution was held yesterday at the Asylum, for the pur-
pose of electing ten children juts) the school. At twelve
o'clock, W. Shadbolt, H.q., J. P., took the chair, and the
balloting was proceeded with. At four o'clock the success-
ful candidates were declared • to be—Allen, 1,659 votes ;
• Craven, 1,538 ; Rye, 1,245 ; Bantus, 1,239 : Norman, 1,15.5 ;
Harrison, 1,133 ; Furness, 960 ; Burt, 939 ; Seyfang, 826 ;
Gisbome, 767. The candidates were numerous, and, judg-
ing from the crowded state of the room, and the active can-
vass going on throughout the day, the election excited very
considerable interest. The total number of female orphans
now enjoying the benefits of the charity is 106.
WesTMINSTER-eitIDGE.—A public meeting Was
held at the New Inn, Bridge-road, Lambeth, last evening,
to consider the proposed erection of a bridge at Charing-
moss, B. Hawes, jun., Esq., M.P., in the chair. The room
was thronged by the most respectable inhabitan s of West-
minster and the locality. The chairman, in opening the pro-
ceedings of the meeting, mid, that there had been no mani-
festation of public feeling in favour of the proposed new
bridge to Charing-cross, although the money fur erecting it,
amounting to upwards of 2,000,000/. would be taken tram
the public purse. The new bridge had not been sanctioned
by the government, further than that a public department
had consented to give certain notices prior to the introduc-
tion of the bill. Ile hardly thought any member for Lam-
beth, Westminseer, or Surrey would be found to support such
a measure; and it might reasonably be asked whit public
reason was to be ass'gned for it ? He understood
the architect of the new Houses of Parliament
thought the present bridge an eye-sore ; but could it
not be repaired and beautified, or rebuilt on the existing
site ? There were many reasons for retaining it: first of all,
on the ground of economy. All the approaches to the pee•
sent bridge were the property of the bridge commissioners.
In the next place, a bridge lower down, as was proposed,
must be longer and larger, and all the approaches would
have to be bought. But was it jest to existing interests to
build a bridge elsewhere ? There were at present two private
bridges close to the site of the new bridge—Waterloo and
Hungerford bridges—the first of which did not pay a farthing
to the sebseribers, and the other paid but very badly. From
the proposed bridge to Waterloo-bridge there would be a
distance of only about 200 feet, whilst the Hntsgerford-bridge
would be close to it; and Westminster-bridge being taken down
there would be no accommodation for the public from the
thasing-croasbrisige to Vaeshall-beidge—a distance of about
a mile. When the prevent bridge was built, the site was a
matte of cosiderable discussion, it was, moover, selected
as ther n most beneficial for the public at largere ; and, he be-
lieved, that from the corner of York-road over the new
bridge to Charing-cross, would not be 20 yards nearer than
by the present route. Besides this, there was a great traffic
westward over Westminster-bridge to Belgrave-equare,
Pimlico, Knightsbridge, &c., and access to the Houses of
' Parliament, and the law courts. He pledged himself to
*Rose the bill in every stage, and he did not believe that dee
gentlemen would be found in parliament to sanction such an
unnecessary waste of public eroney. Mr. Edwards charged
the honourable gentleman with being a member of the
"select committee on Westminster-bridge and the New
Pidace," which had sanctioned the erection of a new
• bridge, and he was therefore inconsistent in presiding over a
meeting the object of which was, to prevent it.—The Chair-
Loan stated that although he was a member of the committees I
he did not vote in favour of the erection of the peopled neve
the aims
bridge.—Mr. Wilkinson stated that the report of
mittee was decidedly in favour of the existing site —Amble
of resolufions condemnatory of the erection of a new bridge
at Charing-cross, and the removal of Westminitee-bridge,
was then moved and seconded by Messrs. Arehbutt, Page,
Wood, Elliott, Withal!, Wilkinson, and Wiltshire, and tins-
adopted.—Mr. Offesell stated that as frequent re-
("tine had been made to Mr. Barry, the architect of the
▪ new Rouses of Parliament, he begged to say that gentlemen
had had nothing to do with the proposal of a new bridge
to Chanligewoss, and he had reason to believe that he was In
favour of the present struttnee.—Thanks having been voted
to the chairman, the meeting separated.
NEW BRIDGE ACROSS THE 'THAMES.--The Coos-
mimioners of Woods and Forests have given notice that it
g:
is their intention, early in the ensuing season of parlien
to make application for an set to alter, amend, and re7e
it the several acts of p" li• t passed during the reigns of
is George 11. and ill. relative to Westminster-bridge; also
es to transfer and vest in the Commissioners of Woods, Forests,
;he . Anal Revenues, Works, and Buildings, all the estates, ma-
set fad effects belonging tithe Commissioners of West-
eas —ITIA and to empewerehina to pull down and re-
tea 1/I"Zlaisridge, and sell the estates, fends, and effects,
Alas materials of the bridge, and appropriate the pro
'awe, after satisfying and discharging all just claims and de-