The Express.
London, England, 1847-10-22 00:00:00

RIGHTS OF TRADESMEN.

A meeting of tradesmen and inhabitants of West-
' minster was held, last evening, at the Crown and Ancher
Tavern, to take into consideration the late decision of the
judge of the Westminster County Court in the case of " Lord
Bury r. Clark."
C. Lysalsorosr, Esq., M.P., presided, and introduced
the business by observing that the meeting related to the
rights of tradesmen. The subject concerned not Westminster
or London alone, but every shopkeeper in the kingdom. The
notion that a man's house was his castle was shaken by the
recent decision in the Westminster County Court ; a right
which had been hitherto undisputed from the days of blagna
Charta. The judge of the County Court had refused an ap-
peal, that the matter might be brought before the Lord Cha-
ncellor, and ultimately, through parliament, before the nation
itself, by which justice would be sure to be obtained. (Hear.)
Such was the course intended to be pursued in this case.
Mr. WYLD, M.P., moved—
That In the opinion of this meeting the law laid down by the judge
of the Westminster Countyoourt, In the case of " Lord Bury r. Clark,"
is contrary to melon and justice, browse eubversive of the rights of
ownership, which every tradeesnan, as an Loglishman, to entitled to
mercies in him home.
. . .

Recently as improvement, MI some persons thought, had
been made by the establishment of the county courts ; for
his part, he would rather have seen an extension of the
powers of the courts of requests—(no, no)—because in them
the principle of trial by jury was conserved. (Hear.) In
this cue, the dictum of a single judge mulcted the defendant
in a heavy penalty, from which there was no appeal, as in
the case of other courts. For the grossest case of assault a ma-
gistrate could only inflict a fine of 61. ' • but here the defend.
ant, for asserting his rights in his own house, was mulcted in
the sum of 201. This law, if indeed it were law, must be
wrong ; and their busmen ought to be to get it rectified.
As a shopkeeper, and also a member of the legislature, he
had thought it his duty to raise his voice on this important
question.
Mr. T. Paorr seconded the resolution, which was agreed
to, as was each of the eneineding ones.
Mr. T. BMW wed—
That itie the eivlaten delis that if the law laid town by
the judge el Or Wedulenew Omar Is the ars of Lard
Burr e. OlailVeheln het the yeammt law the lug. lumen to be
shteersdd., mil We einenumhb with resseftleathe. sot the tights of
enAgl istenea In Ws own lien; and that W seels le met ths taw elf
the lend. the pwerment eenlet to tthemilmwres rwitewardi and
preventlisi the madden of the Westin Ulla via due Is that raft
He sudemdell that the judge wee wrestle& la =r
and the fete. As to the law of the cue, Ile
or at least affected to doubt, the right et aj&eemius to
revoke at discretion the license which he pee people to
enter his shop
.by placing ticketed goods In hie window.
This was quite in the teeth of the law as laid down by Baron
Parke, and confirmed by all the judges, in the case of
" Wood o. Leadbitter," (3 Masson and Webby, 48) where it
was held that a party might be ejected from a grand stand i
after paying his guinea for admission. That the defendant
kept a post-office was clearly immaterial in this case ; for
Lord Bury did not enter the shop as a he entered
it to buy, and stayed in it to insult. ear .) The defend-
ant had dace) a right in equity if not in law, to have the
money refund oi which he had lOst ; but the individual con-
sideration was as nothing compared with the great principle
involved. (Hooe.). Lord Bury and those like him, ought
to be taught that civility and politeness were not by them to
be confined to their awn clue, from whom shopkeepers bore
much, and whom they endowed with much. If the aria.
toom, wished to motinue to exercise the privileges they pos-
sessed:let them beware hOw they insulted end misbehaved
towards tradesmen. (Hear.)
Mr. BERNARDI seconded the rs'solution, and gave details
of some cases in which he had bee.: concerned before the
judge of the Westminster Court, in which that functionary
hadthreatened to commit him. . . .

Mr. Witsas moved the adoption of a Memorial to the
Lord Chancellor, setting forth the facts of the ease, submit-
ting that the defendant was justified in what he had done,
and that the law had been incorrectly laid down, and pray-
ing his lordship's consideration of the case, and the adoption
of some remedy.
' Mr. Comtism seconded the resolution. Fortunately this
judge had not acted on the old maxim, " Decide boldly, but
, never give your reasons ;" he had given Nis reasons, and
this enabled them to bring the mats:: aims hilly Wove the
Trot.. "• • 1 - •
yard Obigek,„.. -.•..k9•06
little better then slaves. (Rear.)
Mr. W. Onment wed:
That Inannate so a pahelsoriedela is involved in the ensof
"Lord Bee, Clark, "• ealetriptise be forthwith entered into
to re Kr. Chat limps and nommen which be boa been
condemid Inlay; sod KM Kr. It. D. Cumming, of 4, Regeot-etreet,
to roquated to Est as tremor.^
Though not •• trediemen himself, he sympathised with those
who WIITO in trade, sod van anxious to see them protected.
(Hem) Greet win INS dm to Mr. Clark for the pains he
had taken Wowilulty to this matter, and thus get rid
of Isrlic
books beim amonded,
Thu IDEAKIKAX add be yes pond of representing trades-
men; he should thew en be OM to be allowed to give a
men subseription.—lt MU ?wired that the chairman, Mr.
WYldi H.P. and Mr. Chain should present the memorial
to the Lord Chancellor.—A vote of thanks to the chairman
terminated the proceedings.

HER MAJESTY AND THE OPERATIVE BLOCK
PRINTER/I.—A fortnight ago, the committee of the Society
of Operative Block Pointers in Manchester and the nedgh-

~.

bourhood forwarded to her Majesty a mousseline de lake
dress piece, of a new and beautiful pattern. The committee
have since been apprised of the gracious reception the
letter and dress met with from her Majesty, Mr. Graham,
the chairman of the committee, having received letter ad-
dressed to hint by the Under Secretary of State, conveyingthe
Queen's acceptance of the mousseline de lain dress, and her
Majesty's desire that patterns of the same material may be sub-
mitted for her in specbon. The committee, proud of the honour-
able office imposed upon them, are desirous of transmitting u
large a number of the but patterns of mousseline: de lain
as possible, and for this end are anxious to receive the con-
tributions of any master who may think fit to forward speci-
mens for royal inspection.
THE ROYAL SEA-BATHING INFIRMARY.—The fifty.
second anniversary of this valuable charity was celebrated
yesterday evening, by a dinner at the London Coffee-house,
Ludgate-hill. The Lord Mayor presided • Alderman Gibbs,
the treasurer of the institution, being on bin tight hand, and
the sheriff., Mt airs. Cubitt and Dill, on big left. Mr.
D. W. Wire, the under-aheriff, E. Poynder, Esq., the Lord
Mayor's chaplain, &c. The report having been disposed of,
and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts given, the Lord
Mayor proposed, "Prosperity to the Royal tea-bathing In-
firmary," prefacing (the toast by an eloquent statement of
the great benefits the charity conferred on the community.
Amongst the disease, by which the poorer inhabitants of
large cities were afflicted, none were more insidious in their
progress, or more fatal in their effects, than wraith. Sea•
bathing, it was well known, was essential as a means of re-
medying that scourge; but the advantages of sea-bathing
could only be obtained by the afflicted poor by means of this
institution. The great advantages this infirmary (which
had been established more than half a century) con-
ferred could not be questioned, and the only reason
that it did not obtain the same amount of patronage as
some other institutions, must be that, being far removed from
London (the institution itself being at Margate), it was re-
moved :item the every-day cognisance of the charitable.—
The toast was responded to ; atter which the secretary, Mr.
J. Paul, announced that the subscriptions collected at the
table amounted to 3.351.—The hcalths of the Lord Mayor,
the Corporation of London, the Sheriffs, the Under-Sheriffs,
Alderman Gibbs, the Treasurer, the Secretary, and other
officers of the institution, were given severally, and responded
to, moat of the speakers adverting to the ill-ventilated dwell-
ings and defective drainage in the metropolis, as being the
cause of scrofulous complaints, and as a reason er supporting
the Royal Sea Bathing Infirmary.
NEW RAILWAY SIGNAL—A signal of a novel descrip-
tion his recently been fixed to the guards' carriages on the
South Western line, consisting of an enormous bell and a
red flag. Upon the guard discovering anything wrong in
the train, he can, by merely pulling a wire, cause the bell to
ring very loud, and at the same time a red flag flier up, as a
signal that the engine driver is immediately to stop the
train.

INQUESTS, YESTERDAT.—PUNISIDIENT OF SICK
PRISONERS IN THE BRIXTON GAOL.—By Mr. W. Carter,
at the Brixton House of Correction, on the body of Samuel
Langley, aged 31, late a prisoner in that poi—John Line,
gate porter to the prison, said deceased was admitted on the
sth of April last, convicted of felony, and sentenced to one
year'scontinement with hard labour and to be once flogged.—
try a Juror : There was no solitary confinement.—William
Simpson, a prisoner, deposed that about half-past 10 in the
forenoon of Monday last, deceased was in the Chapel-yard
crowing to the °skein shed, where witness was at work, and
in two minutes afterwards ho fell suddenly into witness's
arms and expired in less than five minutes, having just pre-
viously said he felt as well as ever he did.—By the Coroner :
Deceased had complained of difficult breathing from his ad-
mission—he had not spoken of the corporal punishment to any
one—nor were the prisoners allowed to talk to one another.
—Mr. W. Harris, prison surgeon, stated thst deceased first
nine under his especial care on the 17th of September, when
he complained of pain in the left side of the chest, and he
was ordered to the hospital, and remained there under wit-
ness's treatment up to the period of his death. Deceased
suffered from chronic inflammation of the pericardium, but
not of an acute character. On a post- ',torten examination,
it was proved that death was the result of chronic pericarditis.
—The Coroner: Do you net as superintendent when a
prisoner is flogged here 7—Witness: Yea—Coroner What
was the state of his health when he underwent this 7—Wit.-
nese : Tolerably good, and he only received thirty stripes.—
By the Jury : lie did not complain until the 17th of Septem-
ber; was satisfied that the whipping did not in any way tend
to set up the disease.—A Juror: The deceased was stated to
have been ill from the time he was admitted, and I think if
he were labouring under any symptoms of disease,
the fieggin,t would have a strong tendency to pro-
mote it.—After much more testimony the jury at
length recorded a verdict of " Natural death."—
SUSPECTED MURDER OF AN INFANT.—At the Grasshopper
publiehouse, Charles-atreet, Mile-end New-town, on the
body of a male child unknown. Two men, named Walker
and Mooch, stated that on Tuesday evening last they were
passing through Dunk-street, Mile-end New-town, when
they discovered the deceased lying upon the ground in the
centre of the road in a basket.—Adcock stated that several
reports had been circulated in the neighbourhood that a
female who bad been separated from her husband, and
had been cohabiting with another man, had given birth
to a child, who had since disappeared from the neighbour-
hood.—The inquiry was adjourned for further evidenee.—.---
SUSPICIOUS C•on.—At Marylebone workhouse, on the body
of a newly-born male child. G. Butlers, watchman of the
church, stated that a lady, at 11 o'clock in the morr.ing of
Friday last, brought to him a box, and, giving him two four-
penny pieces, desired him to take it to Smith, the grave-
digger of Paddington. He did so; and, on the box being
opened, it was found to contain the dead body of a male
child not arrived at its full period of birth, and exhibiting
proofs that no medical attendant was at the birth.—Verdict,
" Child still-born, found in a box ; but whether it ever lived
is to the jurors unknown."

IRELAND.
• • • DrzLiv Ocr. 20.

The address of the bishops will undergo long and
careful elaboration. Some are in favour of a strong
remonstrance to the government—others, and I be-
lieve, the more numerous party, suggest more gentle
courses. In order to ensure unanimity, the address
will be a calm and temperate document, fairly reflect.
ing the actual condition of the country. There is
some doubt as to the subsequent mode of procedure—
some being in favour of a transmission through the
Earl of Clarendon, while others insist on a personal
interview with Lord John Russell by a deputation
from their body. Should the majority be against the
latter course, it is not improbable that a few of the
prelates will bear the address at their own ex-
pense. The questions which should enter into
the address also create a difference of opinion
—tenant-right, modification of the poor law,
employment, &c. After determining the address,
it is supposed the question of subsidising the
Pope will be brought before the synod. The " nerves
of war " are wanted, and from no quarter could the
required aid come with more grace than from catholic
Ireland, and from none with more intense cheerful-
ness, if the people were in a better condition. An
appeal on behalf of his holiness by the catholic
hierarchy of Ireland world, it is believed, realise
20,0001. even in our hard adversity.
The Young Ireland party has just sustained a
smart rebuke at the hands of the bishops. A long
memorial, signed by Messrs. Duffy, O'llagan,
Kenyon, and Meehan, "on behalf of the other
catholic members of the confederation," was pre-
sented to the synod yesterday. The subject involved
the whole dispute with the Repeal Association, and
entered at some length into the physical and moral
force doctrines, with sundry sharp cute at the Bishops
of Ardagh and Elphin for their former accusations of
infidelity and Voltairism against the sectaries of
Burgh Quay. The memorialists, representing them-
selves and their principles as knit
holdingthareselvia up its faithful oisservers of catholic
Principle and practice, pray of their lordships to ad-
vise them in their hard necessities. The court pleaded
no jurisdiction. The secretary, the 'tight Rev. Dr.
Derry, came forth, memorial in hand, and civilly re-
turned it unread. There VMS not even a motion to
consider it.

BOARD OF CHARITABLE BROOME—MT Daniel Mac
Dermott, it is generally understood to-day, has been ap-
pointed " catholic secretary" to the above beard, in the room
of the late Mr. R. I'. oTarroll. Mr. Mac Derntott
member of the Munster bar.
BOARD OP NATIONAL BDOCATION.—II is rumoured to.
day that the Most Rev, Dr. Murray is no longer a member
of this ►oard.