The Sun.
London, England, 1853-11-28 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR. 1 CITY OF LONDON COMMISSION

WINDSOR, Nov, 26.
TY: 0, an. "Vi,,!ltl'';'),("ti ll
pained by the
by the Marchioness of Eiv, the Count and Conn ess G us-
tave de Lannov Lord Charles Fitzroy, the Hon. Mary
Seymour, and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. A Gordon,
left Windsor at half-past ten o'clock this morning for
ii
Osborne.
The Marchioness of Ely has succeeded the Countess
of Desart as Lady in Waiting to her Majesty.
The Earl of Aberdeen and Lord and Lady Robert
Grosvenor left the Castle this morning for London.
OSBORNE, Nov. 27.
Her Majesty, Prince Albert, the Duke and Duchess
of Brabant, and the whole of the royal family, arrived at
Osborne yesterday, at two o'clock.
The Duke of Brabant, attended by the Count de Lan-
noy, left again in the afternoon for Dover and Ostend.
CABINET COUNCIL.—A cabinet council was held at
the Foreign-office, Downing•street, on Saturday. The
ministers present were the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord John
Russell, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Mar-
quis of Lansdowne, Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of
Clarendon, the Duke of Newcastle, Sir James Graham,
Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, and
Sir William Molesworth. The Council sat three hours
and a half.

After the breahing.up of the Council, the Marquis of
Lansdowne left town on a visit to Lord Ashburton, at
the Grange.
The Earl of Aberdeen arrived in town on Saturday
morning from a visit to the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Despatches were sent from the Colonial-office on Satur-
day to the Governor of Gibraltar.

PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 26.
Her Majesty, Prince Albert and the royal family,
accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, ar-
rived at this port to-day per South Western Railway
from Basingstoke), at 12.45 having made the run down
from Basingstoke in little more than an hour. The
following officials of the South Western Railway accom-
panied the train down :—Mr. Crombie, secretary ; Mr.
Scott, traffic manager ; Mr. Beattie, locomotive depart-
ment ; and Mr. Godson, superintendent. Her Majesty
was received by the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral
Sir T. J. Cochrane, K.C.B. ; the Lieut.-Governor,
Major-General Simpson • Admiral Superintendent Fan-
'
shawe, C.B. ; Captain Courtenay, Superintendent of
Clarence-yard; Captains the Hon. J. Denman and
Crispin, of the Royal Yacht ; Mr. Davies, of Clarence-
yard ,• the Flag-Lieutenants of the Commander-in-Chief
and Admiral Superintendent; Town-Major Maitland
and Brigade-Major Purvis, and a guard of honour fur-
nished by the 42d Highlanders, with the band of that
regiment. Having alighted from the royal train, her
Majesty immediately proceeded on board the Fairy
steamer, and crossed over to the Isle of Wight, amid the
usual salutes from the ships in harbour and at Spithead
and the garrison. The shipping was dressed in colours.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Brabant received
three messages per electric telegraph in the course of the
day requiring his immediate return to Brussels on mat-
ters of moment. One came direct from Brussels by
submarine telegraph, and another was from Dover, 'in-
forming him that a Belgian steamer had arrived there to
convey him across the Channel. His Royal Highness
having accompanied her Majesty across to the Isle of
Wight, immediately returned again in the Fairy, and
left per special train on the South-Western Railway.

The Queen has bestowed the vacant Garter upon the
Earl of Carlisle.
The piiblic will learn with peculiar satisfaction that
Sir Edward Parry, the veteran voyager of the Arctic
Seas, has been appointed Deputy-Governor of Greenwich
.Hospital.
The Queen has appointed the Rev. John Colvin to the
living of Maryhill, and the Rev. Frederick Cruikshank
to the living of Lethnot and Navar, in the Church of
Scotland.
The Lord Chancellor has presented the Rev. Charles
W. Doherty to the rectory of Pilham, in the diocese of
Lincoln.
The Rev. Dr. Crawford and Mr. Charles Millie, ad-
vocate (1830), are appointed to fill the vacancies at the
Bible Board in Edinburgh.

The Royal Commissioners re-as:o abled at twelve o'clock
on Friday, in the Privy Council Uhamber, and continued I
iitto th, sts.tt of the City corporation. ,
Commis3ioners preseut—the Right Hon. Mr. Labouehere,
Sir J. Patteson, and Mr. Cornewall Lewis.
The first witness examined was
Captain Williams, one of the Government prison inspec-
tors, who stated that he had filled that situation for about
18 years. He had had the charge of the home district now
for more than the last six years. The City prisons came
under his jurisdiction, and he had, therefore, been enabled
to form an opinion of the manner in which they were con-
ducted. He had inspected them very regularly.
The Chairman—What is your impression of the manner
in which the City prisons are conducted ?
Captain Williams—l will first state that the prisons
under the jurisdiction of the city of London are as fol-
lows :—Newgate, which is the county gaol for Middlesex,
and the gaol for the city of London ; the New City
Prison at Holloway, which is the House of Correction
for the city of London ; the City Bridewell, which belongs
to the Bridewell Hospital, but to which the aldermen
have the right of committing in conjunction with the
chamberlain, and (as I have latterly understood) with the
comptroller of the City lands ; and there is also a debtors'
prison in Whitecross-street, for London and Midddlesex,
and also the Borough Compter, which is now is-
used, but which was lately occupied solely by female pri-
soners who had been removed there from the Giltspur-
street Compter, owing to some (14.utits having arisen in
the mind of the Secretary of State as to the power of the
City magistrates to commit to the latter prison. The whole
of these prisons, with the exception of the House of Cor-
rection at Holloway, are within the limits of the City. A
very extraordinary power is given to the city of London
undei statute ; because, under the 4th of Geo. IV., cap.
64, the Court of Aldermen are constituted a court of quar-
ter sessions at all times for prison purposes. This act
gives a power which ought never to have been given to the
city of London, viz., the power of excluding strangers
from the court of quarter sessions, which is not possessed
sub-
ject
atthe Court
ra
eon
fymotfyoh
steAehl
fN:
Aldermen
c e
wrbo
auocu rte
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ands. Twhhi se
when
powerth
o
standing Prison
having I
sus-
pended, I was excluded with all other strangers, an the
same practice may be resorted to when superannuations to
officers
are discussed ; whereas, but for the clause in the
act to which I have referred, the business would neces-
sarily take place in a public court of quarter sessions.
Mr. C. Lewis —Do the aldermen vote pensions and
allowances ?
Captain Williams—They have the power to do so under
statute, but I am not aware of a case in which it has been
exercised. I know, however, that they have not adhered
to the provisions of the act in one instance. In the case of
a late superannuation, or rather pension, to the governor
of the late Giltspur-street Compter, the act of Parliament
was not adhered to. Why it was not, I am unable to

explain.
Mr. C. Lewis—Was the decision upon which that grant
was made come to in one of the courts you have described
—that is, with closed doors, the public being excluded ?
Captain Williams—l understand that it was, but I can-
not positively state. It was done upon a recommendation
from the gaol committee, which is composed of the Lord
Mayor and the aldermen, and that committee reports to
the Court of Aldermen.
The Chairman—Are there no members of the Court of
Common Council on the gaol committee ?
Captain Williams -No; it is composed exclusively from
the Court of Aldermen. The pensions granted in the case
in question, I believe. amounted to 500/. a-year.
The Chairman—What do you think c tn be the object of
excluding the public on the occasions to which you have
referred ?

Captain Williams—l have not the least idea. I only
know that I attended as a mere spectator, and was ex-
cluded. I know that any alderman can move the suspen-
sion of the standing orders and shut out the public.
The Chairman—But must not any resolutions to which
the aldermen come for the spending of money be after-
wards made public ?
Captain Williams—l do not know. I have seen no notice
of any such resolution in the newspapers, and I generally
pay attention to such things. I now come to the subject
of the management of the City prisons by the Court of
Aldermen, and my belief is that there are no prisons in
existence where the visitations are so well kept up as in
those of the City. The general man gement of the prisons
reflects very great credit on them, and has done so espe-
cially of late years, since I have been connected with the
district. The new prison at Holloway is managed in such
a way as will make it always the pattern prison of the
country.
The Chairman—By whom is the visitation made ?
Captain Williams—By the aldermen who are the visiting
justices on the rota. The duty is exceedingly w ell perfor med,
and, perhaps, the visitations are more frequent in the City
than they are anywhere else. But with regard to the gaol
of Newgate itself, the construction of the building is such
as renders it totally impossible, even as a well-regulated
prison, to do anything satisfactory with it. It is without
exception a complete mass of quarried stone, without any
order or arrangement, and nothing can ever make it a good
prison. It was built in 1780, shortly after the riots, and,
perhaps, it has the most imposing exterior to be found,
and that, indeed, may have been of some use in deterring
from crime ; but it has the very worst interior. It is,
however, exceedingly clean.
Mr. C. Lewis—You mean that the only remedy is the
entire abandonment of Newgate, and construction of a
new prison ?
Captain Williams—My opinion is that the House of
Correction at Holloway is most admirably situated. It
has many unoccupied cells, and is infinitely too largo for
the City. The prisoners in Newgate could be advantage-
ously transferred there, and then the City would be able
to build ample courts on the present site of Newgate.
During the intervals between the sittings of the Central
Criminal Court there are scarcely any prisoners in New-
gate, and especially since the business of the Middlesex
Sessions has increased, before Mr. Sergeant Adams, the
labours of the Central Criminal Court have been much
diminished, which circumstance would render the removal
from Newgate to Holloway much more easy than it other-
wise would be. At present none but convicted prisoners
are in Holloway New Prison. This prison has been open
about a year and a half. It was built at the exclusive
expense of the City, and it is one of the most convenient
prisons I know of, and reflects great credit on the archi-
tect. One reason for there being so many unoccupied cells
in Holloway Prison is partly because of the decrease of
crime. The salaries of the officers of Newgate Prison aro
very enormous, amounting to 3,9531. annually, besides fees
and emoluments. They are fixed by the Court of Alder-
men. lam well acquainted with the general scale of pri-
son salaries throughout the country, and the salaries at
Newgate are far too large, especially for the small number
of prisoners. The keeper has a salary of 7001., and 351. of
other emoluments. The chaplain receives 5001. a year, be-
sides various other curious allowances. The cost per annum
of the maintenance of each prisoner in Newgate is 3:'/. 3s.
2d., but in other prisons 201. or even as low as 181. is the
average. The excessive cost at Newgate is owing to the
large salaries paid, and the small number of prisoners con-
fined there. The condition of the prisoners in Newgate is
not better than that of the inmates of other prisons. There
are large bequests and charitable funds connected with
Newgate Prison, which are increased by voluntary dona-
tions from various parties, in addition to which the sheriff
makes an annual contribution. These funds include
8,1001. of Three per Cent. Stock, 2,0001. of Three-and-a-
Quarter per Cents., and 1,0001. of Reduced Annuities.
They are applied for the benefit of prisoners who have been
tried and acquitted ; and also for the advantage of con-
victed prisoners who have undergone sentences of impri-
sonment, whose wants are supplied, and they are often as-
sisted to emigrate. In short, these charity funds are well
and liberally administered. I come next to the City Bride-
well, situated in Bridge-street, Blackfriars' and which is
an appurtenance of Bridewell Hospital. It is one of the
most inconvenient and ill-arranged prisons that I ever saw,
and I may add that it is a most useless one. The prisoners
sent to that prison are generally of the class of vagrants,
who are committed by the chamberlain, and, as I now un-
derstand, also by the comptroller of the City lands. Both
of these officers have also the power of committing City ap-
prentices to the Bridewell Prison in criminal cases. These
cases of apprentices- -who are both boys and girls—
generally number about ten per annum. and the prac-
tice of sending them to such a prison as the. Bridewell,
where the vagrants are confined, is very prejudicial to their
reformation. I believe, however, that there is now a dis-
position on the part of the governors of the city of Bride-
well to place this jurisdiction in abeyance, because it is
most injurious to the boys. I have recommended them to
send the boys an girls to the House of Occupation, which
is a most excellent institution, attached to Bethlehem
Hospital. The Bridewell Prison cannot be made a useful
establishment ; and if the governors are obliged by their
charter to maintain it as a prison, the sooner they are re-
leased from that obligation the better. The present cost
of prisoners in the Bridewell Hospital Prison actually
averages
501. a year ; and the average number of prisoners
confined there is only 30. The Giltspur-street Prison, I
have already stated, has beon abandoned, and the Borough
130 mPter, also, is not now used, all the prisoners being sent
to the House of Correction at Holloway. I come next to
the debtors' prison for London and Middlesex, which was
erected in 1812 ; and there is scarcely a prison in England
which is in so bad a state with regard to its construction
and its internal arrangement ; but I believe it is exceed-
ingly well managed as to discipline and visitation, and the
present governor is a very humane and discreet man. This
prison has a series of four distinct prisons within itself.
There were formerly three old debtors' prisons in London,
viz., Ludgate, Poultry, and the Giltspur-street Compter,
into which debtors were received. By an act of George
111. the prison in Whitecross-street was ordered to be
divided into four compartments. Now the whole four
are amalgamated, with the exception of the prison for
the women, who are all placed together. There are
charities connected with these prisons which are ex-
ceedingly large in amount, and realise from 1,6001. to
1,7001. a year—a sum which is likely soon to be greatly in-
creased. These charitable funds are distributed for the
advantage of the prisoners belonging to the Ludgate and
the Giltspur-street divisions ; but the Middlesex prisoners,
who are by far the most numerous
onrt.peos
rte
ifuonndosf the
in-
mates, are excluded from the benefit of
gifts
w. Besides
the
i
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gifts in
twopenny loaves,
stance is a gift of thirty
ambadecieueevsetryfrommontthhe,
famousfor the psriesllonaewrsyuofufeL.udTghatees-e
tedt for a sum of money, they
allowing them to be commu
kind are often very inconvenien, and an act were passed
would be much more advantageous.
The Chairman—Do you think the existence of these
prison charities is beneficial?
Captain Williams—That is very doubtful. Pin my own
experience I have known that where there are large chari-
ties of this nature, low practitioners will procure the im-
prisonment of persons for the mere sake of getting their
costs. That the benefit, however, which arises from these
charities far exceeds the abuses to which they give rise, I
have not the least doubt. Ido not, therefore, go so far as
to say that the charities ought not to exist, but I think
that where such large sums as 1,6001. or 1,7001. a year are
distributed over so small a surface, they are liable to ex-
treme abuse ; and I do not think that the administration
of such a fund ought to be entrusted, as it is now, to any
prison-keeper, however trustworthy or conscientious he
may be. These gifts are very frequent among the pri.
tit/11R of the country. They were often given during
Catholic times, when the religious houses existed ; but
ic•eogmninlaotenclly,
since that period I believe they have not been so nume-
rous. If these bequests to prisoners were properly
mladedoin nottim times when
there could be a better
mode of bestowing charity, but I believe they were most
ignafir.dnitoteltyhe worse than the state of the prisons was
magisterialit isservi ntetehse
ofp retsheen t
city,da I aWmi thr
quitee-
os satisfied ti
transactingsfle d that one stipendiary BvitihPoein:oilamagistrate would be capable
with both of the city police-courts
duties at present connected
fornrt stileanClt the appointment
of a stipendiary magistrate
opinion, he one of the greatest boons
thatiy would, in my
conferred on the inhabitants. could possibly be
I Mr. Martin Pratt examined—l am s tary to the

General St earn Navigation Company, which office I have
held for th e last four.years. I have to complain, on the
part of the company in whose gru ploy I am, of the imper-
fect state i n which the navigation of the river is kent by
the corpora Ltion, who are its supposed conservators. Nume-
rous shoals and other impediments are suffered to exist in
the course of the river between London-bridge and Frith,
which cause great delay and inconvenience to our com-
pany's fleet. Vessels ofthdeoordn areinary stoppeddraugon reaching
ht of water (12
or
rels h
3e
feet)when
I"'ssingliP and 7
the tide is within two hours of low
water.
The Chairms,n—Do you mean that proper care is not
taken by the city to keep the river free from shoals ?
Mr. Pratt—l do ; and the best evidence of this to which
I can refer the 'commissioners is the report of the commis-
sion issued in 11346 on the subject of tidal harbours, and of
which Captain ',Washington, R.N., was the chairman. Our
vessels experience very great obstruction and detention
from the shoals in the river, and they also sustain serious
damage when One pilot tries to pass over them, and the
ship comes in contact with the hard substance of which
they are formed:.
The Chairman—Do you consider that the shoals have
been growing worse from year to year ?
Mr. Pratt—They remain very much the same. The city
sometime ago improved the river near Limehouse by in-
creasing the dept of water eighteen inches, but still the
navigation is in a very bad state. The present harbour-
master does his duty very efficiently. By his exertions the
water has been deepened at the piers where steamers of a
large draught of water are lying. The regulations of the
City and the regulations of the Admiralty are at variance
with each other. The 38th by-law of the City, revised and
published in 1852, requires all steamers passing up and
down the river between the sunset and sunrise to hoist
one light at the mast-head, and another at the bowsprit
head ; but by au Act of the 14th and 15th of Victoria
power is conferred on the Admiralty to issue regulations
of the same nature, and accordingly in 1848 the Admiralty
published an order requiring steam-vessels to carry a green
light on one paddle-box and a red light on the other ; and
in the concluding clause the rights of the corporation to
issue such regulations are saved. The consequence is that
the conflicting regulations of the City and of the Admiralty
are both continued in existence, simultaneously.
The Chairman—Do you think the corporation is a fit
body to be entrusted with the conservancy of the river.
Mr. Pratt—No ; I think it would be managed better if
it were placed under the control of the Government.
The Chairman—ls your company affected by the dues
which the City imposes on the commerce of the port of
London ?

Mr. Pratt —lt is. The metage, tillage, and lastage dues
exacted by the City interfere with our grain trade very
much ; and in some instances they amount to one-third of
our freight, which of course makes it impossible for us to
compete with carriage by railway. Again, the Watermen's
Company of the corporat ion have very exclusive and injurious
privileges. No barge or lighter can be navigated on the
Thames except by a freeman of the Waterman's Company ;
and the number of these men being limited, and the business
very large, it is difficult to get cargoes discharged in
sufficient time to leave at the appointed hours. There are
not barges enongh to discharge and load vessels lying in the
stream. The proper remedy would be to throw the trade,
open, which would lead to a great saving of expense. Our
company's vessels could also make more voyages in a year
if we could load and discharge them ourselves. A short
time ago there was a strike of the privileged lightermen on
the Thames, which nearly threatened the entire suspension
of business on the river.

Mr. John Mathews examined —I am a solicitor practising
in the city of London, and have had to apply to the City
authorities on behalf of my clients with respect to tha con-
servancy of the river. My clients were wharfingers, and
they had complaints to make or applications for privileges
to send in ; and my experience, which extends over a
period of 30 years, leads me to believe that the City either
wants authority or is incompetent to discharge its duty to
the public.
The Chairman—On what ground do you make thst
assertion ?

Mr. Mathews—From the fact that the navigation com-
mittee always endeavour to make a compromise in all
matters of dispute, or they defer and delay them, or if they
are forced to come to judgment, execution does not follow,
and relief does not arrive. I have conducted my cominuni-
cation with the sub-committee of the navigation committee,
which consists of about twenty persons, none of whom have
any knowledge of the river beyond what they have picked
up as committeemen. They have harbour masters and a
water bailiff, but the duties of these officers are of an execu-
tive nature, and they cannot be present at the deliberations
of the committee to assist them with their advice. A client
of mine, Mr. George Simmons, occupies on the bank of the
river at Gravesend certain warehouses and premises, in
which he carries on business as a mast and block maker. He
and his predecessors have occupied these premises for up-
wards of 60 years. They front the river on the north, and
have also a river frontage on the east, where there is a sort
of harbour or lay-by place for small craft, near which my
client placed his masts, in order to convey them with
greater facility to vessels which had lost them from stress
of weather, and required to be supplied with fresh ones at
a moment's notice. In the year 1850 my client was sur-
prised to find that a powerful neighbour had made an ap-
plication to the navigation committee for power to enclose
and fill up the harbour or lay-by place which he and his
predecessors had used for their business in common with
the fishermen and watermen of the neighbourhood. This
would have been destructive of my client's business, and
he and 330 of the fishermen and watermen appealed to the
navigation committee of the corporation not to comply
with the application. After some delay the navigation
committee inspected the locus in quo in December, 1851,
and in the month of April following came to the resolution
to make no grant to the party wishing to enclose the
ground, but intimating that it would be advantageous to
the neighbourhood to fill in the spot, and would not be
detrimental to the navigation. Upon this hint the party
who wished to enclose the ground lay by until August,
when the courts of law were not sitting, and then began
with a large number of men to pull down some of his old
houses and to fill in the bay with the rubbish, driving out
the fishermen and watermen, and displacing the stock-in-
trade of my client. Information was given to the water-
bailiff, but my client was compelled to apply to the
Court of Chancery for an injunction to restrain the party
from occupying the river to his detriment. An in-
junction was granted on condition that the question
as to the right should be tried in a court of law.
It was so tried in December, 1552, and the City of-
ficers afforded him every facility at the trial, and al-
lowed him to inspect the City documents. A verdict was
given in favour of my client's right to use that part of the
Thames, and the Court of Chancery granted a perpetual
injunction to restrain all persoes from casting rubbish into
the bay. I afterwards called on the water-bailiff of the
City to cause the rubbish which had been deposited to be
removed, and Mr. Merewether, the town clerk, afterwards
sent me a letter stating that the navigation committee
were of opinion that it was not desirable that the water-
bailiff should interfere in the matter. The result, there-
fore, is that the obstruction continues, the fishermen are
deprived of their anchorage, and my client has been seri-
ously injured. What I complain of, therefore, is, that the
City are exceedingly polite, but they either compromise
all matters of complaint, or they do nothing to uphold
what are their assumed rights over the river. In other
cases my clients have been seriously injured by encroach-
ments and obstructions which the City, as the conservators
of the Thames, have allowed to be made, and have not
ordered to be removed. One client in particular lost from
7,0001. to 8,0001. by parties being permitted to make such
an encroachment, but the corporation would afford no re-
dress. In fact, the practice of the City is to interdict en-
croachments if the parties about to make them choose to
yield ; but if the parties show themselves to be determined,
and are bold enough to question the City's right to inter-
fere with them, the City does not resist or put its rights in
force against them. In 1842 the navigation committee re-
ported to the Court of Common Council that serious com-
plaints had been at different times made to them of pro-
jections obstructive of the navigation, which had been
carried out in defiance of their authority, and that they
(the committee) wished to be authorised as to the means of
enforcing their authority. Now, the same state of things de-
scribed in that report of 1812 still continues, and seeing that no
redress can be obtained by parties who complain of these en-
croachments and obstructions, I am driven to the conclu-
sion that the City feels that it either has no title or but an
imperfect one to enforce the rights of conservancy which it
claims. I therefore think it is absolutely necessary that
in so important a matter as the conservancy of the Thames
there should be a tribunal consisting of a permanent chair-
man, with legal acquirements, with an infusion into the
committee of persons specially connected with shipping,
similar to the Trinity masters. Whilst lam before the
commissioners I may also add, on the general question, that
as a citizen of London I would purge the corporation of all
anomalies and incongruities, and of every abuse, but that
I would otherwise keep the City intact. I think the
citizens have well earned their privileges and immunities,
and I do not consider that there ought to be a fusion with
the whole metropolis, as respects the City property and
City rights. I would have a Government auditor ap-
pointed to audit the City accounts, with power to disallow
all illegal payments ; and there might, I think, be an
appeal to the recorder. In short, my view is that the
municipal institutions of the City ought to be preserved,
but that whatever is injurious to the community at large
should be purged away.
The next witness was—

Mr: P. Richardson, solicitor, practising in the City.
The Chairman—ls thero not a newspaper, called the
Citizen, with respect to which, Mr. Richardson, you can
give us some information ? _ .

- Mr. Richardson—There was a newspaper of that name
established in the City in the latter end of 1848, or the
beginning of 1849. _ .

The Chairman—Have you any objection to give us in-
formation with regard to it ?
Mr. Richardson—l can state that I was employed profes-
sionally in purchasing the copyright of the Citizen on
behalf of Mr. Scott and Mr. Toulmin Smith. It was
purchased from a person named Peet. I have no objection
to state the circumstances of the negotiation. I received
instructions from Mr. Scott and Mr. Smith to do so. Ido
not know with whom the idea originated of purchasing
this paper—whether it was with Mr. Scott or with Mr.
Smith ; but I think it was with Mr. Scott. I think a
theyacmtahnenexeni
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inefficientlyr
tr
tsis
onc
Scott
fmta that
tweht ,
haaolsetf
given, and, in fact, almost wholly suppressed from one cir-
cumstance and another ; and he thought that it would be
desirable that the corporation should have some organ
whereby their proceedings might be reported, and the re-
ports of the committees published, and expression given in
some measure to the views of the corporation.
The Chairman—You mean by newspaper articles ?
Mr. Richardson—No, I mean by reporting the pro-
ceedings.
The Chairman—Were they not to have leading articles,
like ordinary newspapers ?
Mr. Richardson—No ; I believe only reports. At all
events, if the design was that there should be leading articles
on behalf of the corporation, that design was not carried
out. The paper was very short-lived. What occurred was
this. A representation was made to the Lord Mayor, of this
Council, croettih
te Court u
referredr t o f
monto
supposed want, viz., a paper to report the procee hogs.
This was presented
eseannd it
tedbssy,atsh,elLor(l
believe, Mayormi•
tthe consolidated committee. It was so referred, and the
committee considered the subject, but what decision they
came to I do not precisely know ; but I know this fact,
that the solicitor of the City (Mr. Charles Pearson) and
Mr. Scott did, by authority, I believe, wait upon Mr. Toul-
min Smith, with the desire that he should act as editor.
Mr. C. Lewis—You say that certain officers of the cor-
poration established the paper by their subscriptions, but
that whether they were recouped the outlay you do not
know ?
Mr. Richardson—No '• I say that Mr. Smith and Mr.
Scott purchased it, and then the officers of the corporation
assisted in supporting it by their subscriptions.

Mr. C. Lewis- Do yon know what officers subscribed in
that way ?
Mr. Richardson—l have no certain information.

---- -----
Mr. C. Lewis—Have you any belief ? -----
Mr. Richardson Yes ; I believe the remembrancer was
one.

Mr. C. Lewis—Hate you any belief as to any other
officer ?

Mr. Richardson—l believe that Mr. Scott himself also
endeavoured to support the paper, with the object I have
mentioned—that is, the furnishing of reports of the pro-
ceedings of the corporation.
The Chairman—How long did this paper continue in
existence ?

Mr. Richardson—l think only ten numbers appeared in
all, and eight of them, I believe, were published after Mr.
Scott and Mr Smith purchased the copyright.
Mr. C. Lewis— You say that Mr. Smith was applied to
to act as the editor, and you say that he was also one of
the parties who originally purchased the paper. What
was his object in purchasing it with Mr. Scott?
Mr. Richardson Mr. Toulmin Smith had given much
attention to the subject of municipal iistitutions. He had
entirely gratuitously, previous to this, taken up various
matters connected with the City, and he was desirous of
doing that in the most effectual way ; and I think upon the
strong representation of Mr. Scott of the utility of this
paper in advocating his own general views, as well as Mr.
Scott's, he was induced to become a purchaser.
Mr. C. Lewis—What was the reason why the paper was
discontinued ?

Mr. Richardson—l think the reason was this—that Mr.
Smith's views as to the management of the paper did not
accord with those of the officers of the corporation who
were interested in its establishment.
The Chairman—Have you any objection to state what
the amount was that was given for the purchase of this
paper ?
Mr. Richardson—l think, if you will pardon me, that I
would rather refer that question for Mr. Scott himself, who
said that he had not the least desire to withhold the facts.
The Chairman—Very well.
The witness then withdrew.
Mr. Sidney Waterlow examined—He was a liveryman
of the Stationers' Company, and wished to call attention
to the practice of electing some score of inquestmen
every year in the various wards of the City. This
election was an annoyance to the citizens, and was per-
fectly needless ; because the duties of inquestmen have
now almost entirely lapsed into the hands of paid
' officers of the corporation. The hardship is that al-
though the inquestmen have no longer any duties to per-
form, they are yet compelled to waste their time in attend-
ing the inquest meetings. The inquestmen are solemnly
charged, for instance, to assist in maintaining the Queen's
peace—duties which the City police now discharge. They
are required also to see that the common ground of the
City is not encroached upon ; but the City surveyor looks
after that matter much better than they could do. They
are also formally required to examine all weights and mea-
sures ; but there is a hired inspector to do that duty in-
stead of them also. They are directed, further, to see that
no parties open shops in the City who are not freemen ; but
the Court of Aldermen, by requiring the ward beadles to
give a list of all such persons, have relieved the inquestmen
of this duty likewise. The whole thing is, therefore, an
antiquated and empty form, which is only troublesome and
annoying to the citizens, who are elected to an obsolete
office, and who, if they do not serve—that is, attend the in-
quest meetings—are liable to a fine of five guineas. -Witness
knew of seven or eight cases this year in which this fine
had been enforced, and with the proceeds of which those
inquestmen who did serve claimed to do as they pleased.
The only part of the duty of the inquestmen which was
not an idle form was this : they went about at Christmas
time collecting money, and in the ward of Bread-street
about 4001. a year had been collected in this way for some
years past.
Mr. W. M. Christie and Mr. Benjamin Steel also pre-
sented themselves to the commissioners as witnesses, but
their evidence, although generally condemnatory of the
corporation, did not add any material fact to the testi-
mony already adduced, and the chairman repeatedly in-
formed them that he would not trouble them to enter into
any detail.
_

The commissioners then adjourned till Tuesday next.

BURY ATHEN.XUM-STRIKES.

( From the Times)

Fortune, which the poets tell us delights in contrasts,
presented us the other day with one as surprising and
unaccountable as her lawless caprice ever imagined.
What contrast, we say, can be greater than that between
the inauguration of the Bury Athenreuin and the present
unhappy position of employers and operatives in that
borough ? On the one hand, we have the philanthropy of
the higher classes exhibited, not only in large subscrip-
tions, but in careful inquiries into the proper nia,nagement
of such institutions, in able lectures, and eloquent ad-
dresses. On the other hand, we have the relations of capi-
tal and labour reduced to an apparently hopeless entangle-
ment. On the one hand, there is such a flood of
illumination—so we are told—that former centuries were
night in comparison with it ; and, on the other hand,
we have an unparalleled example of popular ignorance.
Now is the time, exclaim lords and bishops, to teach, to
lead, to train, to ennoble the people ; to disabuse them
of antiquated error, to show them who are their proper
guides, to raise them from sensual enjoyment to ma-
terial knowledge, from material knowledge to spiritual
apprehension, and from that to the graces and amenities
of Christian life. The people to whom they appeal, and
to whom they have reiterated this appeal now for a
whole generation,—the populace, that has successively
passed from the Infant School to the National or
the British, and thence to the Mechanics' Insti-
tute, are suffering a thraldom from which they can
neither escape nor be delivered, except by that fell
necessity that cuts all knots in time. It is said that
out of every hundred operatives now on the strike in
Lancashire ninety-nine would gladly return to work if
they saw only the way ; but that the remaining hun-
dredth part of the class possess so thoroughly the key
of the present position of affairs, and are so interested
in its continuance, that nothing can be done. Talk
of despots and emperors, talk of Councils of Ten,
Inquisitions, Carbonari, Whiteboys, and all the forms
of religious, agrarian, or industrial conspiracy, what
can be worse than a system which robs ninety-
nine men of their independence, ties their tongues,
and dries the very brains in their heads, in order to
swell a few rogues or sots, the very brambles of the
forest, into well-paid and consequential agitators and
rulers ? Yet, so it is at Bury and other parts of Lan-
cashire. The ninety-nine are chained like a convict
gang, and some public-house charlatan, whom they all
despise in their hearts, is leading them at his will. This
takes place in the middle of the nineteenth century,
when the worthy son of an able and eloquent statesman
is addressing himself especially to the absent operatives
of Bury, and his generous appeal is as ably and as fruit-
lessly seconded by one of the most distinguished educa-
tionists of his time—the first Bishop of Manchester.
No wonder that, under these circumstances, a certain
mixed tone of encouragement and caution should pervade
noble and episcopal harangues. " Elevate yourselves,"
we hear it emphatically urged ; " rise a step over the last
generation, and raise the next above yourselves ; learn,
go on learning all your lives, till death alone stops the
flight of your new-winged intellect ; look to the United
States, that tax themselves heavily and right gladly, not
for admirals and field-marshals, but for schoolmasters
and lecturers ; do something more than flock to an
occasional lecture ; read, study, select your own lines,
and follow where your tastes lead you ; learn to soar
above material and utilitarian knowledge ; love literature
and science for their own sakes ; follow the noblest instinct
implanted in you by the Author of your being, and be
assured that lie will bless the result." The people to
whom this vision of glory is thus unfolded were not
there. They for whom it is chiefly designed, as the class
whose manual employments leave them little time for
study, and much to do in that little time, are moping in
cheerless homes, listlessly sauntering in lanes, idly crowd-
ing thoroughfares, or drinking at public-houses, to drown,
if possible, the sense of their perplexities. Hence the re-
actionary expressions that obtrude themselves even in the
glowing anticipations. "You must read
you must think as well as read ;
withoutl
common sense, is folly ; without
kaf
religiongsniww flowelelld
igotafesits h
ldei sseteaetnh ;
; without kindness it is fanaticism ;
without method it is waste. Educate your children, or
they will do no good in libraries and lecture-rooms.
Refine your taste, and seek a higher learning, or you
will never be more than mechanics, copyists, and
drudges." The Bishop of Manchester looks for his
people at church and in the Schools of Design, and finds
them equally wanting in both places. What is more
immediately to the purpose, they are not even present
to hear these expostulations. What a lesson on the
vanity of even the noblest designs ! And yet it is
not vanity, unless we are to fall into the morbid tone
of those who think to build up society as they would a
house or a steam-engine, and are then disappointed to
find the material has a will of its own. In nothing
human are we to expect the entire success of the arith-
metician, who makes his calculation. and finds it comes
true. It is true that Athenmums, institutes, and all the
new means for bringing science within reach of the work-
ing man, 411 miserably short of the ideal success their
projectors desired. But where is the perfect success of
our universities, of our public schools, of our church
establishment, or of the Legislature itself ? The most
staple class of this country, and the rude material out
of which Providence creates and fashions the great fabric
of British society, is the native peasantry. Can their
condition, under a patriarchal and religious regime a
thousand years old, be called a success ? We fear it
.annot.

There are savage tribes that are said to worship their
implements and arms. They deify air axe, offer sacri-
fices to a canoe, propitiate a net, avert the caprices of a
bow and the spontaneous aberrations of an arrow. The
shortcomings of the tool they ascribe to the wayward-
ness of some spirit within. Now, what are the most
elaborate and pretending institutions of civilised society
but so many passive instruments, the success of which
depends on the zeal and address of the user ? It may be
assumed as an axiom that whenever a thing is really
good it will be appreciated and sought for, unless the
approach to it be rendered disagreeable or difficult.
A book may be a good one, but in a cramped style
or an unreadable type. A preacher may be well
informed and wise, but his delivery thick and unem-
phatic. But a book or a preacher that is good both in
matter and in style is sure to be popular and useful, and
we cannot see what binders that an institution for the
improvement of the people should be as widely popular
as a man or a book. There are books that nobody reads,
and there are preachers that nobody would listen to but
from a sense of sacred obligation. What of that ? It is
no discouragement to those who think themselves
capable of teaching and pleasing. Mechanics' in-
stitutes have been worshipped in their time, like
the nets and bows of the above-mentioned savages.
They have been invested with a sort of sacramental
efficacy for the regeneration of mankind. As
savages who have long worshipped in vai❑ some-
times beat their idols or break them in despair, so these
institutions have been given up by many a man who is
distressed to find they cannot work miracles. Miracles
are not the order of this day. It is as vain to expect
an immense and entire success from any human scheme
as the cure of an inveterate disease or the restoration
of a limb at the prayer of faith. For our part, we
ars ready to accept these institutions, among many

others, as parts of the system in which we happen
to find ourselves. They are open to criticism. What
is not open ? They do no good in idle or inju-
dicious hands. All that we have to do, if our voca-
tion lies that way, is to make the best of them. Genius
and goodness will bring sweet music out of the very
worst instrument ; they will quicken the very stones,
and fill the dead husk with nourishment and flavour.
Nowhere can a man of real power and honest aims pre-
sent himself without doing a good work, whether from
his place in the House of Commons, or from the pulpit,
or from the chair of the mechanics' institute. The man
is the thing. All depends, not on the building, or the
name, or the rules, or on any material or nominal affair,
but on the spirit that moves within both speakers and
hearers—the knowledge, wisdom, and grace of the one
—the capacity and willingness of the other.