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

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yceterday a mart Wait held foe the despatch of
public business.
THE Pic-rune PRESENTED HT THE KING OF THE
FREINCH TO THE CORPORATION.—The LORD MAYOR rose
immediately after the formation of the court and said: I
have the honour to state to this court that I have received
a letter from the French ambassador conveying a request
that I would be pleased to present a picture from his Msjeety
the King of the French to the Corporation of London. The
picture is intended to commemorate a most iatereeting event
in the annals of the corporation, and I trust that his ma-
jesty's gift will be ' y received. (Hear, hear.) The
following is a copy (tithe latter
Here, thit. 114 I.llo.—lfyLeed : The pleura orthe
of the Memo the_eseposties of London to ble Ma-
=l"kitiails. of the Pm* at MEM Cestle (Melt free Ware-
em wramees Ma beam deer/ mlel Ike praise ter) is saw
eel dkeelloi by kis Mysey to that yea will
tamest helmets praise it to Melee payer, Menem and mo-
ms eseselletheasepeattoo of Lasion.-1 have the rawer to
.y Lard Myer, your kedship's abeam! servant, V. Baosue.—To
the Mitt Ms. the Lord Mayor.
Upon Me motion of Sir P. Laurie, who brought up the
report of the deputation, stating the particulars of the pre-
sentation of the address, seconded by Ald. Moon, it was
resolved unanimously, " That this court tender their
acknowledgment to his Majesty, the Yin of the French, for
the picture representing the protestation of the address of
the oorporation of the City of Louden to his Majesty, at
Windsor Castle, on the 12th of October 1144, upon the ora-
tion of his Majesty's visit to her , the Queen Vie.
tolls, which he has been pleased to promo* to this city, in
commemoration of that memorshie meat, and which this
court recollect with feelings of ma seadisaltieu." It was
aloe resolved that the Lord Mayor_biled to issommai-
eats this resolution, through the FNMA ansbasamilar, Is the
King of the French, and it was refined to the committee of
general purpose' to select a pine be width to hang the pic-
ture, which is one of very large dimeedeas.
THE FREEDOM OP THE CITY TO Na. Baooig.—Sir Peter
Laurie, in rising to submit the motion of which he had given
notice, rejoiced at finding that the Lord Mayor had invited
Mr. Brooke on the 9th of October to the Mansion-house,
where that distinguished person had met with such a recep-
tion as must have convinced him that his high merits were
not unknown to the people of England. He rose for the
purpose of proposing that the freedom of the City of London
be presented to his Excellency James Brooke, in testimony
of the admiration and respect of that corporation for the emi-
nent services he had rendered to this country and to the
cause of humanity and civilisation during his residence at
Borneo. He thought the corporation would feel it an honour
to do honour to such • man ; and he felt it a grad distinc-
tion to propose that mark of respect, while at tke same time
he felt inadequate to sketch thc-ertliatilary Merits of Mr.
Brooke. The walls of that chamber were decorated with
paintings of 137;&1...11:71.:Zie, and fasts of arms, but Mr.
Brooke's career was a victory of philanthropy over oppres-
sion and slavery. (Hear, hear.) The court were too well
acquainted with the points of Mr. Brooke's life to render any
detail necessary. The son of an English gentleman, he
easily obtained a commission in the East Indian army, and
served with distinction in the Burmese campaign, where he
was severely wounded ; and it was after returning from that
service, and during a casual visit to China for health and
amusement, that he conceived the grand project, with respect
to the Indian Archipelago, which he had so gloriously
effected. Seeking no aid from government, ke devoted kis
private fortune and all his energies to national purposes sod
objects of Christian benevoledee. Some 9 or 10 years ANS
an English stranger landed on the coast of Borneo from hie
yacht, with a crew of 12 oft, and 0 small guns; but he
landed with the olive branch, and not with the sword, and
he had founded a little kingdom of happy and contented and
' peaceful subjects, who obeyed his woe and poident laws,
and wlzo loved him for the purity of his motives and the in-
tegrity of his manly character. That EMS& .sirmigerhad
suppressed j,.leacy in the pathway of our ootitmeivial Marine,
protected the ocyreased, emancipated the slave, and civilised

the savage ; and he had associated the name of our country
with justice and humanity, (Hear, hear.) The importance
of Mr. Brooke's cervices, in a commercial view, were teo evi-
dent to require remark, while his seal for the spread
of our common faith was governed by a discretion which pro-
mised an abundrnt and &glorious harvest. Could the corpo-
ration ever find a nobler example to reward than such a man ?
Sir P. Laurie expressed an anxious wish that Mr. Richard
Taylor should second the motion. (Hear.)—Mr. It. Taylor
said he considered it a very high compliment to be called
upon to second such a proposition. (Hear.) He won happy
to (Ind that amongst the other advantages with which the
island of Borneo abounded, the article of coal was provi-
dentially discovered, so that the facilities of navigation would
be added to the enlightened labours of Mr. Brooke in the
progress of the natives in the arta of civilisation. The island
was inhabited by two races of people, the descendants of
the aboriginal inhabitants and the Malays, who before the
arrival of Mr. Brooke held them in the bonds of slavery the
moat intolerable. Mr. Brooke had interfered successfully
in abating that evil, in changing the character of the
Malays, and introducing the great blessings of civilisation
and Christianity. Mr. Taylor then stated that a friendly
feeling existed between Sarawak and the Dutch poesmsions
on the island, and anticipated the highest advantages from '
the spread of education amongst the natives.—After some
temerks from Sir James Duke and Mr. Wire, the motion,
" that the freedom of the City in a gold box be presented to
James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak," was carried unani-
mously.
THE POLISH EMIORANTS.—A deputation from the Lite-
rary Auociation of the Friends of Poland, headed by Lord
Dudley Stuart, M.P., attended with a petition, that the court
would be pleased to grant the use of their Guildhall, for the
purpose of giving a ball in aid of the funds of the Literary
Association of the Friends of Poland.--On the motion of
Deputy Peacock the petition was unanimously granted.
BvTENRIVa IMPROVEMENTS IN THE. CITY or LONDON.
—Deputy Allan brought up what was des)grated a most im-
portant report relative to the ~.:,i.cnded improvement of the
City of London, invvl;ing an expense of 300,000/, It was
not read, it was ordered to be printed, and a copy to be
IT.1: to every member of the court.—Adjourned.

MEETING OF MII)DLESEX MAGISTRATES.
A numerously attended meeting of magistrates for
the county of Middlesex, was held yeaterday, at twelve, in the
Court-house, Clerkenwell-green, Mr. Pownall in the chair.—
The Deputy Clerk of the Peace read the report of the vitit-
ing justices for the House of Correction, Coldbath.fields,
from which it appeared that the number of prisoners con-
fined therd wee 821 males and 219 females. The general
health of the prisoners was good, and the chaplain reported
most favourably of the result from the educational system
adopted in the prison. The report was unanimously
adopted. The report of the committee on accounts having
been brought forward and approved of by the meeting,
on the motion of Mr. Hall, an order upon the county trea-
surer was given for the several bums named in the report.
The report of the i isiting justices for the House of Correc.
tins, Westminster, was laid before the court, from which it
appeared that the number of prisoners in custody was 70.5 • of
whom 502 were males and 203 females. The general health
of the prisoners was stated to be above the average, the per
ventage of cues of illness to the number of prisoners being
only 2j in the case of malts, and .51 in that of females. The
court then proceeded with the appointment of visiting
justices for the several county prisons until the neat court
day, in the room of those gentlemen who retire.
Mr. Wilke c died the attention of the court to the effects
that had been produced on the Westminster House of Cor-
rection by the tranatuission of prisoners there instead of to the
New County HOLM of Detention. From Michaelmas, 1816,
no less than 6,500 prisoners had been sent to that prison, who
otherwise would have been sent to the House of Detention.
The lion. magistrate then gave notice that, at the next court,
he should move that sums of 1001. be presented to Lieut.
Tracey; the Rev. G. A. Hine, the chaplain ; .1. Ladies, Esq.,
the surgeon ; 501. to the chief warder ; and 101. to each of
the g deportees at the House of Correction at Westminster,
as a remuneration for the extra duties.

A report from the visiting justices of the new House of
Detention was laid before the court, stating that the prison
would be open for the reception of prisoners after the 26th
inst. After noticing a breach of the regulations which two
of the gaolers of the Detention Court had been guilty of, in
receiving money from the wife of a prisoner, the justices
thus proceed :
Connected with Vie ease of the prisoner alluded to in the foregoing
paragraph, and as [ening to show the cruel and heartless advantage
taken of persona charged with Wieners by sham attorneys and others,
they deem it right to mention that the wife of the prisoner
before alluded to, In her examination before them, stated
that a person of the name of Rsbinaon wes employed
to defend her husband. the did not know whether or
not he was an attorney. Ile wanted live guineas ; she told
him she had but four pounds, and gave that sum to him. He
mid it mast be guineas, and in the evening she took him 3a., being
unable to raise the other shilling. hhe pledged her things to procure
the money--oven the shoes off her own and children' feet; a friend of
her bustand'S also paid Robinson If. Its. 6d., thus making altogether
5/. Its. Gal.—mild for defending a prisoner, who mated that, knowing
he bad committed the offence with which he was charged, and that
there was no hope of his being acquitted—he had made up his mind
to plead guilty, but that Robinson was Bent for at the suggestion of
Mitchell, the gaoler of the Marylebone police court, who mull that the
ease was a very bad one, and that Robinson was the beet person he
could hare. The wife also stated to the slaking Justices, that whilst
her husband was locked up at the pollee court, ltarylebone she gave
Mitchell, the gaoler there, 2s. to allow her to MT her husband, that
she also paid for mane gin, and that ager that she was allowed to me
M
m.
Mr. Roves( said that this certainly was a most crying evil,
and one which surely somebody had the power of remedy-
ing. Tho poor woman only wanted to know of her hus-
band what clean linen he would require, and, for asking
that, it appeared that Mitchell had received 25., and 2s. 6d.,
and some gin. It was a system in vogue, he was sorry to
any, at all the metropolitan police courts, for the officers to
recommend certain persons to prepare defences; and Robin-
son, the fellow mentioned, had not only taken every fartr
the woman possessed in the world, but he had the barefaced
audacity to lay hold of the woman's pocket, and turn it out,
to assure himself that she really had no more. (Cries of
" Shame.") Some further discussion ensued, which resulted
in the court ordering the particulars of the charge against
Mitchell to be forwarded to the Secretary of State and the
magistrates of the Marylebone court.
Oa the motion of Mr. Wilke, • committee was appointed
to consider the propriety of holding weekly sessions of the
peace.
A lengthy discussion then took place regarding the steps
which should be taken with reference to the late present-
ment of the grand jury as to the inefficiency of the Sessions.
house as a court of justice. Finally, the matter was referred
to a committee.
On the motion of Mr. Willis, 3001. wan granted for the
erection of two additional schools in the House of Correction.
Messrs. Reynolds, Child, Reeve, and Wright were re-ap-
pointed inspectors of weights and measures, and after some
further routine business, the court adjourned.