The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-11 00:00:00

eh; Royal

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lady /dary
Plod returned to their residence in Downingatreet yester-
day, from • visit to the Marquis and Marchioness of Lane-
dome, at Bowood Park, Wilt..
His Excellency the Mexican Minister has left
town for the Continent.

TOWER WARD - ELECTION OF AN
ALDERMAN. _ _

Yesterday a wardmote of the ward of Tower was
held in Bakers' Hall, Herp-lane, for the parpou of eleeting
an &Merman in the room of Matthiae Prime Luca., Esq.,
deceased. At three o'clock the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor
took the chair, and proclamation having been made in
the usual manner,
Mr. SIMPSON proceeded to address the meeting. He con-
'reedlike' them on being presided over by a gentlemen who,
during his short tenure of office, had given such decided
proofs of urbanity and attention to the duties of the mayor-
alty. He (Mr. Simpson) bad been selectee for the duty he
was about to perform on the ground of being, with one or
two exceptions, the oldest inhabitant of the ward, having
lived among them man and bey upwards of 54 years, and
never Wittig been during that loag period absent from the
ward for more than a month at a time. He regretted,
m all who heard him must do, the death of the
lamented gentleman whose place they were about to
supply. 'lie bad known that gentleman from his
earliest days, and considering the education he had received
be book
upon him as little less than a prodigy. The late
Alderman Lucas had, at a time when the country war
threatened with invasion, organised a force on the river
Thames, call. d the River Feucibles, and, under the auspices
of the government, exerted himself continuously and sue.
woefully for the safety of the city. (Hear, hear.) In 1819
Alderman Lucas was chroeu deputy, and, in 1821, alder-
man of the ward of Tower, and in both capacities had he
distinguished himself by unceasing attention to the duties of
his office. His successor, consequently, would have an
onerous duty to perform, and it was, therefore, with great
pleasure that he (Mr. Simpson) proposed Thomas Quested
Finnis, Esq., as a fit and proper rson to represent the
ward in the Court of Aldermen. (Cheers.) A week since
he had heard that a stranger was coining amongst them, but
be supposed that their influential requisition had frightened
him, as there were no symptoms of his coming to the
scratch. (Laughter.) Mr. Fiunis was one of themselves—
one who had lived amonget them for thirty.four
years, whom they well knew, and, therefore, whom
they could entirely depend on. (Hear, hear.) He was a
man who had received a sound mercantile education, and
who, having been chosen deputy of the ward in 1837, hail
ever since distinguished hires. lt by his talent, energy, and
devotion to the business of the ward. He, therefore, with-
out a shadow of hesitation, named Mr. Finals, as a gentle-
man most worthy the suffrages of the electors.
Mr. M. CLARK had great satisfaction in seconding the
nomination, and be did so on no light grounds. Mr. Finnis
had come into the ward in 1814. and had served his appren-
ticeship with credit to himself ; so much so, that within six
months of its expiration his ma-ter handed the entire busi•
pewterer to him. (Hear, hear.) He had entered the com-
mon council is 1833, and in consequence of the age end in-
firmities of the late Alderman Lucas had almost ever since,
as deputy, transacted the principal businessof the ward. Mr.
Finnis had also been chosen as chairman of the City Lands
Committee, an office which tcstifi .d the high place he held
in the estimation of the corporation. (Cheers.) He (Mr.
Clark) hail been 40 years in the ward, in 38 of which he had
carried en bueieess, and therefore he trusted his opinion
would be allowed to have some weight wile the electors.
He had thought it his duty, previous to his seconding the
nomination of Mr. Finale, to ssk that gentleman a few
questions respecting his family and connexion*, and hal
been happy to find that they were both in the highest degree
respectable. Mr, Finials came of an ancient Kentish family;
his father had been a magistrate of Hytl.e for 50 wear, and his
eldest brother, a captain in the navy, was killed in action on
en
American hike. So great on that occasion had been his I
valour, and so distinguished his conduit, that the American I
commander sent home his sword to be kept as a memento I
by the family. (Cheers.) Another brother was a major in
the Indian army, au(' his sister had married Major
Lynch, who fell at the storming of Badajez. That
distinguished officer bequeathed to his country eleven
acne, wholly uuprovided for, and of these seven
were provided for by Mr. Finnis and his family.
(Hear, bear.) He mentioned these facts to show that he had
not proposed Mr. Fannie without having fi:st ascertained
that by property and station he was calculated worthily to
fill the aldermanic dixnity. He did not think that classical
attainments and liters. y taste were what were wanted in an
alderman of the City of London. (Hear, hear.) Whet
they wanted was a man of sound judgment, aptitude for
business, and quick perceptive powers. For all practical
purposes he considered that the possession of such powers
gave the hest augury of success ; he considered them to be
possessed in an eminent degree by Mr. Finnis, and therefore
he had the greatest pleasure in seconding his nomination.
Mr. BARKLEY, who stated himself to be an inhabitant of
thirty years' standing, wished,before the nomination was pat
from the chair, to ask Hr. Fiunis three questions. He was
not willing to depend on the professions of any man, seeing
that the late Alderman Lucas, having every year a pre-
sentation to Christ's Hospital had, for the last twenty )ears,
invariably given it out of the ward. (Hear, hear.)
The Lotto MAYOR called Mr. Berkley to order. The
question was the nomination of Mr. Finnis, not the conduct
of their late alderman.
Mr. BARKLEY would then proceed to ask his questions,
which he put out of no hostility to Mr. Finn* as it was his
intention to support that gentleman. He wished first to
know whether, if it were proposed to give the aldennanic
office a tenure of three years instead of a life tenure as at
present, Mr. Finnis would support that motion ? Secondly,
whether he would, of the patronage of his office, presenta-
tions to Christ's Hospital and elsewhere, dispose e fair por-
tion within the ward? Thirdly, whether, if he should become,
by pecuniary embarrassment or the infirmities of ewe, unfit
for the dules, he would he willing to reeien his gown, on
being called en to do AO by his constituents ?
Mr. FINNIS said that hie Mend Mr. Barkley had known
him fur fourteen years, and therefore meet have known
that in the common council he had resolutely refused to
pledge himself to any particular line of conduct. He still
retained the same views, and therefore he had no hesitation
in telling his friend that while in the matter of patronage
the ward should have his first consideration, he would not
by a pledge preclude himself from giving part of it else-
where, ehould it be required by a meritorious object.
(Hear.) On the question of retirement in the event of
CardeZledori,ilund atl.hpersehseonu,l_dp.eltisounl,t.t.hdoz kgiunis.dlef,ri Ix: who
by their advice. On no other understanding would he hold
office, which he did not seek with any views of revsonsl
aggrandisement. 110 had no family to serve, and tneref arc
his whole object would be the efficient discharge of the
duties of his office. (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR then put the question, which was car-
ried unanimously ; after which his linenhip d. dared Thomas
Quested Esq , to have been duly elected alderman of
the ward.
Mr. FINNIS returned his warm thanks for the honour
conferred, and nominated Mr. Selson as his deputy for the
ensuing year. A vote of sympathy and condolenot with the
family of the late alderman was then put and agreed to,
after which thanks were voted to the Lord Mayor, and the
wardmote terminated.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE NORTH-WESTERN
RAILWAY STATION.—INQUEST.
An inquest was held yesterday, at the University
College Hospital, before O. I. Mille, EA., deputy coroner
for Middlesex, on the bo ' yof John Shea, one of the labourers
who were cru-hed under the mass of brickwnrk that gave
way on Thursday last, at the Euston- square terminus of the
Birmingham Railway. The jury having been sworn, pro-
ceeded to view the body; on their return—
Charlotte Glass, one of the nurses, was called and sworn.
The witness stated that the deceased, John Shea, was under
her care in the hospital, and that he died on the 7th irea..
at half-past three, a.m. He was brought into the hospital
on Thursday, the 6th info., a little before eleven a.m. Seve-
ral other w unded men were brought in at the same time.
Two other* besides deceased were placed under the care of
wrote s. The deceased said very little whibt. living. Ile
observed that he could tell nothing of the way the accident
happened: it was so sudden. His spine and ribs were
broken. He blamed no one as having occasioned his death.
He could talk intelligibly and rationally. The other two
men under witness's care were very badly bruiac4 and
wounded.
Mr. Parke, one of the hospital surgeons, was present at
thepost modem examination of the body. Mad previously
visited the deceased, and found that he had sustained severe
internal injuries, several of which were in vital parts : several
of the ribs were broken in two places. Therewas considerable
hemorrhage in the cavity of the cheat. There was a double
fracture of the spine : the third and fourth dorsal verrebne
wire disjointed, and there was a displacement beta en the
last dorsal vertebne and the lumbar. There were, emissive
fractures at the base of the skull a xtending to the jaw-hones,
which were also broken. The eye was injured, and exten-
sive bruises existed all over the body. The hemorrhage in
the cavity of the chest was the immediate cause of death.
The deceased made no statement of the cause of the acci-
dent. In tact, he was not in a fit state to question. Wit-
ness could not say how many men were brought at first
to the hospital, for some were taken away. Eleven of
them remained, three of whom were under the care of wit.
news, all of whom were progressing towards recovery. save
one, whose ribs being fractured, had caused inflammation of
the lungs, and consequently placed him in great danger.
Some of the injured men were fit to give evidence,and would
do so.
John Hickman was a bricklayer in the employment of
Mr. Cubits. Was on the scaffold when the accident hap.
paid. It was at seven in the morning of the 6th inst.
The deceased was also in Mr. Cubitt's employment. He was
a hodsman, carrying mortar to the bricklayers at the time
the wall fell. Shea was a sober man. Witness never heard
him object to the manner iu which the work was carrying
on U being unsafe or too rapid. Witness was standing on
the scaffold, when he saw something moving at the wall
which WAS being built. He immediately ran to the other
and of the scaffold, towards the corner of the party wall.