The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-23 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

Mr. WOODTHORPE, the Town Clerk, at the re-
quest of the Lord Mayor, read a letter which had
been addressed to his lordship and the Corporation
of London by the Royal Commissioners for the In-
ternational Exhibition, conveying the expression of
their warmest thanks for placing at their disposal
the various works of art belonging to the corpora-
tion, which had been displayed in the Fine Arts
department. The Commissioners added that they had
much satisfaction in calling to mind how cordially
their efforts to secure an adequate representation of
the rise, progress, and present position of British art
were seconded by those patrons of art whose co-
operation they invited. The friendly rivalry which
was established between the choicest works of Bri-
tish masters and those of foreign countries had been
admitted to have been in the highest degree honour-
able to our national schools, and this gratifying
result had only been attained by the prompt and
liberal response given to the applications of the
Commissioners by those whose property had for a
season been confided to their care.

On the motion of Mr. KELDAY,tbe Commissioners'
letter wqs ordered to be printed with the minutes
of the Court.

THE FREEMEN'S ORPHAN SCHOOL.
A motion was made by Alderman HALE, pursuant

to notice, that the Freemen's Orphan School, being
capable of accommodating 50 children in addition
to the present number of 100, and the applications
being much in excess of admissions, the Court be
empowered to elect five children half-yearly in ad-
dition to the vacancies until the above number be
completed, and that the additional expense be paid
from the increased rental of the Carpenter Estate.
In the course of a very animated discussion to
which this proposition gave rise it became a ques-
tion what the Carpenter Estate really was. Mr. H.
Lowman Taylor, in moving an amendment to refer
the subject to a committee, with cei tain instructions,

For consideration and report, commented upon the

very large sums of money which the corporation
had expended during the last 20 years for purposes
of education, and notably in connexion with the
City of London School. Deputy Pewtress, on the
other hand, alleged that the corporation had been
in the regular receipt of a large revenue derived
from Carpenter's Charity which was established
centuries ago for clothing and educating four poor
boys; that years ago the Charity Commissioners
discovered that the corporation, although in receipt
of the funds, had entirely neglected to carry out
the objects of the charity, and that that discovery
ultimately led to the establishment of the City of
London School. He added that the revenue from
Carpenter's Charity would be very nearly doubled
in a couple of years, and he submitted it would be
only reasonable to apply a portion of the funds,
when so augmented, to extend the benefits of
the Freemen's Orphan School, as proposed by
Alderman Hale. Mr. De Jersey reminded De-

putt' Pewtress that, since 1849, £35 000 had
been expended by the corporation on tue Freemen's
Orphan School. Deputy Harrison, though long a
member of the Common Council, confessed that he
had never before heard of Carpenter's Estate, and
appealed to the Chamberlain if there was such a
thing. Mr. Kelday pleaded similar ignorance,
though he had been three years chairman of the
City Lands Committee. The Chamberlain explained
that for centuries the rental of Carpenter's Estate
had been included i❑ that of the city itself, and he

could not separate the one from the other. Alder
man Dakin said the land in question was originally
left by John Carpenter to the corporatimi in the
reign of Richard IL, chargeable with the education
of four boys, and the corporation executed the trust
until 1837, when they made it the nucleus of a far
larger and nobler educational institution—the City
of London School—on which they expended then
and since something like £lO,OOO, and at which
about. 800 pupils were being constantly educated.
At that time Lord Brougham cited the case in pub-
lic as one of the most creditable within his recol-
lection of a corporation giving up funds for the
public good. Alderman Hale expressed his sur-
prise that the Chamberlain, of all men, should have
said that he did not know anything of John Car-
penter's Charity, and that Mr. Kelday should have
been equally ignorant, seeing that in his capacity
of chairman of the City Lands Committee he had
actually been in receipt of the rents of the charity
for three years. Mr. Lowman Taylor's amendment
was lost on a division, and at length the Court re•
solved, on the motion of Alderman Hale, to refer it
to the Freemen's Orphan School Committee to in-
quire the additional expense of accommodating 50
more children, and how it should be defrayed.
FINANCES OF THE CORPORATION.
Mr. JOHN YOUNG, jun., chairman of the Coal,
Corn, and Finance Committee, presented a report
relative to certain proceedings taken by them for
the renewal of bonds from the corporation, and
which had fallen due in the course of last year, and
generally to the finances of the corporation. The
committee in their report entered into these matters
hole
in much detail, and from a revie wthoalt
tthee fi
circumstances they they deduced thet
cial position of the corperalB:B7estioce the date of
was manifestly
their report in Decerobrto
the balances of cash
improved, having regar
liabilities due by the corporation on the closing of
the successive accounts since that time. At the end
of December the balance of such liabilities was
£659,697; of 1860, 1575,688 ; and of 1861,
£490,200. It would, they said, be still further re_
duced on the settlement of the accounts for the year
just ended. The reduction of the bond debt of the
corporation in the same period had also been consi-
derable. The debt amounted at the end of Dec.,