The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-30 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

Upon the paper of business stood the following no-
tice of motion by Sir Peter Laurie :
" To consider what steps are requisite to be taken by
this Court in consequence of the lamented decease of the
late Duke of Wellington."
That question was, of course, allowed to take pre-
cedence of all others.

Sir PETER LAURIE rose, he said, for the purpose of
moving,—

" TEftt a committee of the whole Court be appointed
to co-operate with that appointed at the last Court of
Common Council, to consider and report upon the best
means of testifying the respect of the Corporation of the
city of London for the memory of Field-Marshal the
Duke of Wellington." _ _

Even if he considered himself qualified to delineate
the character and stupendous career of the Duke of
Wellington (and the publications of the day supplied
inexhaustible materials for executing the task), he
would not attempt to perform such a task, for the
attempt would argue a doubt of that anxiety which
he knew his brethren felt to record by some appro-
priate testimonial their sense of the loss the country
had sustained. He would, however, venture to allude
to some characteristics which might not unfitly be re-
ferred to by a bench of magistrates.—(Hear.) The
Duke's great authority in the councils of the nation,
his vast moral influence with foreign Cabinets, the
veneration in which he was held by his countrymen,
were owing not more to his success as a warrior
and his talents as a statesman than to the uni-
versal belief in his inviolate faith, his unhesitating
truthfulness, and his single-minded devotion to his
country.—(Loud cheers.) Unlike the diplomatist
Talleyrand, who said and acted upon the belief
that language was given to man to conceal his
thoughts—au expression, by the by, borrowed from
Oliver Goldsmith—truth and sincerity seemed to be
instincts of his nature, and, while his guiding star
was duty, that star led him only through the path of
honour. These were great principles which all of us,
in our various spheres, might struggle to imitate. He
would add but one more observation, and that would
be iu noticing the Duke of Wellington's moderation
in success, when, in the eloquent words of Mr. Ab-
bott, the Speaker of the House of Commons, " that
ascendancy of character which, uniting the energies
of jealous and rival nations, enabled him to wield at
will the fate and fortunes of mighty empires."—
(Cheers.) Never was he dazzled with success, nor,
in days of gloom and doubt, were his calmness and
enduring fortitude for a moment shaken. Through-
out that unexampled career no foreign historian had
ever assailed the reputation of the Duke of Welling-
ton, while numberless eloquent tributes to his justice,
his moderation, and his disinterestedness, flowed
from their pens.—(Hear, hear.) With these few ob-
servations he would leave his motion in the hands of
the Court, fully satisfied that the corporation would
act worthily of themselves upon the occasion. Nothing
that they could erect was needed to perpetuate, the
fame of Wellington, for his name alone was an im-
perishable monument ; but he knew the corporation
were anxious to do honour to themselves by honouring
the memory of the greatest subject of the realm and
the brightest name upon their freemen's roll.—
(Cheers.) Sir Peter Laurie concluded by expressing
his opinion that Nelson's funeral would be the prece-
dent, so far as the citizens of London were to be con-
cerned, for the last ceremony in honour of the illus-
trious warrior whom the nation lamented ; and hoping
that both courts would cordially join in producing a
testimonial adapted to the high reputation of its object,
of whom it might truly be said,
"He was a man, take him for all in all,
We shall not look upon his like again."
Alderman FAREBaontEet, in seconding the motion,
said he perfectly acquiesced in the observations made
by Sir P. Laurie in honour of the illustrious man
who had just been taken away from a world in every
part of which his great deeds and glorious character
were sure to be commemorated.—(Cheers.) Sir P.
Laurie had wisely abstained from enlarging upon the
subject of the merits of the Duke of Wellington—a
subject which had already engaged the ablest pens in
the empire. He would follow that example, and
simply express his extreme sorrow at being obliged
to second a motion announcing
.so severe a national
loss.—(Hear, hear.)
The motion was then unanimously agreed to.
TREATMENT OF EMIG/CANTS.

Alderman COPELAND said he had to entreat the at-
tention of the Court to a subject upon which one of
his brethren (Sir K. Carden) had recently very much
distinguished himself. He meant the fraudulent
conduct of persons who acted as ship agents, and ob-
tained money from poor emigrants.—(Hear.) As
the Court of Aldermen were in the habit of licensing
brokers, he considered that they should take imme-
diate steps for the more effectual protection of un-
fortunate persons who wish to emigrate.

Alderma❑ SIDNEY called Alderman Copeland to
order. There was, he said, no notice of motion on
the paper, and if the Court were to go into the ques-
tion of frauds committed by brokers at such a time,
the business on the paper must necessarily be ne-
glected.
Alderman COPELA.ND said it was true there was no
notice of motion upon the paper, but the subject was
really of so pressing a nature that he thought the
strict rule of the court might be relaxed. As he saw
no disposition to indulge him with permission to sub-
mit a motion upon such an emergency, he would call
upon the Lord Msyor to convene a special court
upon the matter to which he referred. He could show
that the most gross frauds were at the present mo-
ment being !perpetrated—that in fact the Court was
not justified in the delay of a moment. (Alderman
Copeland'a motion stands for a future day.)