The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-07 00:00:00

MONTENEGRO,

The Journal de Cumeantinoplc of the 10th ult. con-
firms the news already communicated relative to the
blockade of the Albanian coast. The semi-official
organ of the Turkish government says that it is to
extend " from Ukinia (lluleigrio being meant) to the
extremity of the Turkish frontiers."

'Et)e Court,

WINDSOR, lAN. 6.

The following had the honour of dining with her
Majesty yesterday :—tte Duchess of K,..nt, the Duchess of
Cambridge, the Princess Mary of Cambridge, the Princa of
Leiningen, the Princess Adelaide of Itobenlohe, l'rince Ed-
ward of Sale Weimar, and the Countess of Dornburg,
Monsieur and Madame Van de Weyer, the Earl of Aber-
deen, the Lady-in-Welting to the Duchess of Kent, the
Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchess of Cambridge, Viscount
and Viscountecs liardinge, the Baroness de Spcth, M.
General Sir George Bowles, and Baron Knesebeck.
The band of the Grenadier Guards attended in the castle
and played during dinner.
lice Majesty's private band was in attendance in the
evening, and performed the following selection :
Ovcrcure, st Hay.tee,"
Ottqte, Op. 20, Ana. con funo,Andante,Schcrza—folr
two violas, and two violoncellos—lies= re.
Salmon, Day, E. Cbipp, Cuatca, lilt, Nickel, 11.
LlApp, and L. debri•der, jun lundei,obn.
Salaam, Ba:let, Aglae,"
_ _

Her Majesty was visited yesterday afternoon by the
Countess de Neuilly, the Duke and Duchess do Nemours,
the Prince and Princess de Joinville, the Duke and Duehrs
I.4uinale, and the Prince and Princess Augustus of

Cobourg..
The following have received invitations, and are expectr.l
to-day :—The Count end Countess Colloredo (Austrian
Minister), the Earl of Clarendon, Lord end Lady John
Russell, and Viscount and Viscountess Mahon.

The Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, President of the
Board of Trade, attended yesterday, for the tint tilde, at
the Board of Trade.
. . . .

The Lord Chancellor will receive the Judges, Queen's
Counsel, &c., on Tuesday next, the first day of 'diary
Term, at 12 o'clock, at ha lordship's residence, in Upper
Brook-street.
The Duke of Newcastle has returned to town from his
seat at Clumber-park, Notts.

The Colon°ley of the 39th Regiment has become
neant by du) death of Lieutcaant•Geueral George Burrell.

ST. JAMES'S VESTItY.-SEWERS
COMMISSION.

A meeting of the vestry of St. James, Piccadilly,
was held 3esterday, Mr. CuANE, Churchwarden, in the
chair, for the purpose, amongst other business, of consider-
ing the propriety of appointing a deputation to wait upon
Lord Palmerston, the Home Secretary, on the subject of the
Sewers Commission; and upon Sir William Moleseserth,
the new Commissioner ot Works, with respect to the Me-
tropolitan Buildings Act and Metropolitan Improvements.
Mr. NELSON introduced the subject by saying that,
since the year ISSO, the question of the sewers had been
considered by no tower than 19 vestry meetings, which
showed that the present system was founded on radically
defective principles. However high might be the reputa-
tion of the members of the Sewers Commission, they could
not give satisfaction to the two millions of ratepayers in the
metropolis, because they did not represent the opinions and
wished of the inhabitants. (Hear, hear.) They had acme
hopes of getting the evils ot the present system remedied at
last, because Sir William Molesworth declared, before the
electors of Southwark, that the reason why he became a
member of the administration was, that he might
assist in developing the great principles of local
self-government. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the
Metropolitan Buildings Act, it could not be too gene-
rally known that the wretched class oft houses which
were :Waif en all sides of London were being built under
this act. They were built on the minimum size of 25 feet
by 16, so that the accommodation for a whole family WPS
not larger than that for a gentleman's dining room. Cap-
tain Hay had recently presented a report to the Secretary
of State on the inadequacy and wretched condition of the
common lodging-houses, and yet 5,000 of a similar size
were being added annually to the metropolis. (Hear, hear.)
On the subject of metropolitan improvements, n petition
had been already presented to parliament by that vestry,
which had been everywhere received with approbation.
And what they wanted was to have the principle it ad-
vocated carried out. As an example of the present mode of
conducting metropolitan improvements, he might mention
that there was a house at the corner of John-street, Tall-
man, which had been marked for removal for the 13st
century. That heath had been sold by auction tor 2,00 J/.,
and he understood that 5,0001. would be required to pur-
. chase it now. A short time since, the House ot Commons

voted 150,0001. to purchase the site for a National Gallery,
without requiring any plan to be furnished to them. With
all the faults of the French government, they conducted the
metropolitan improvements of Paris in a far better manner.
There they purchased the house property, and sold the
sites, and struck a balance at once ; whereas the accourts
for Regent-street were never mails up to the present mo-
ment, though it was built 30 years. (Hear, hear.) Ile
hoped that ssith the existing government, at the head of
which stood the Earl of Aberdeen, the first amateur artist
of the day, and which contained such men as Sir William
Molesworth and Mr. Osborne, the present state of things
would be soon remedied, and that the people of the metro-
polis would obtain municiped representation. (Ilear,hear.)
Mr. Nelson concluded with a motion for deputations on
these points.
Mr. JACKSON, of Piccadilly, seconded the motion.
Mr. OEESIN said that, in order to show the evils of the
present system, he could not do Intuir than direct the at-
tention of the vestry to the report of the Commissioners of
Sewers, which agpeared in the Daily News of yesterday,
which contained figures of a most startling character.
(Hear, hear.) It appeared that no less than 21,0001. had
gone for the expenses of the sewers commission
out of 48,0001. received, and that a new rate was to
be levied to the amount of 150,0001. It was not surprising
that this should be the case when they spent 40,000/. on a
speculation of flashing the sewers and only 10,0001.
on works of utility. (War, hear.) Tney should
instruct their representatives to call for a return of the ex-
pense of the commission siuce its first establishment.
If uninterested and practical mon had the manktement of
these matters there would be very little difficulty iu setting
them right, but things would never be properly managed
as long as the to:eaters—district surveyors and such per-
sans—were consulted. (Rear, hear.) lie would receru-
mend his friend Mr. Nelson to add to his =Aloft the ap-
pointment of a deputation to Lord Palmerston ou the sub-
ject of the police rate, on which the late Home Secretary
bad most shamefully broken faith with them. (Rear)
Ito would again recommend the meeting to peruse the re-
port in the Daily News
Mr. CiAItILETT (churchwarden) said that 10,000/. a year
was spent in that parish for sewers rate, and they got
scarcely anything for it. (]tear, hear.) Tue commissioners
might he very able men but:they could never cope with the
question unless they devoted their whole time to it, and
that they could not be expected to do. What they wanted
was representative government.
Mr. CnisixocK was glad that these questions bad been
se pr imply taken up by tho vestry of St. James's, and he
hoped that other parishes would follow their example, for
the evils of Cie present system were becoming so gigantic
that they were scarcely bearstble (Rear.)
The motion was then put mid carried unanimously, the
poline-rate question being added agreeably to the suggestion
of Mr. Geesio.

IlAnoN W.:rm.—Letters from Vienna of tho 2nd,
state that our al,:e and fortun:te countryman, Baron Ward,
first minister of the Dul,o waa at that date
dangcrouey and had so bccu for several days.