The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-15 00:00:00

STT N, APRIL 15, 1847.

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

A Court was held on Tueschy for the thspatch of
ou•itsess.

'f HE THROWING OPEN OF THE LORD MAYOR'S COURT.
Mr. William Henry Ashurst appeared at the bar,
4nd Alderman Hooper pretented the following peti-
tion:—

" To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor and Aldermen
of the City of London. The respecttul p titian of Wil-
lem Henry Ashurst, of 137, Cheapside, in the City of
I.ontion. attorney-at-law,
"Sheweth—That your petitioner has obtained from
her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench, her Nlajesty's
neremptory writ of mandamus, commanding your Lord-
'hip steel the Court of Aldermen to cause your petitioner
t i he admitted an attorney of the Mayor's Court of the
City of London.
" That he has caused such writ to be duly served upon
~he Right lion. the Lord Mayor and other Aldermen of
the City.
" That the said writ of mandamus was issued aftt r
argument and discussion raised by the attorneys of
the said Court asainst your petitioner, and they have
)t.it him to very considerable expense and delay through
the medium of the City solicitor, and your peritioner
tttlieves at the expense of the citiz-ns of London.
That your petitioner has heard and,bslieves that the
attorney s of she sail Court have again applied to your
llonourable Court to further resist your petitioner's
stp;lication, and that instructions may be given by your
fionourable Court that the City Solicitor may ho
directed to bring a writ of error upon the said judge
„stunt. and further postpone obedience to the said writ of
mandamus.
tour petitioner submits it would not be wise to do
either, but to allow the lawyers on both sides to fight
ont their oss n litigation, and that it would be right for
tour Honourable Court to obey ths Queen's writ, unless
•hose who wish to keep the Lord Mayor's Court shut up
From the public can Convince her Majesty's judges that
sourts of justice are not at this day intended to be open
to all her Majesty's subjects, and will themselves bear
the costs of so hopeless a task.
" Your pt,titi .ner respectfully prays to be heard in
oppositisn to the petition of his opponents."
Mr. Ashurst, upon being asked whethfr he wished
to add anything to his petition, said he was desirous to
say a few words. About three years had elapsed since
he had commenced his efforts to throw open the Mayor's
\lett to the citizens of Loud, in, against whom it was
'Practicably shut, inasmuch as the attorneys employed
by individuals were not allowed to act. there in cases with
which, from their aequeettance with the affairs of their
clients, they were best qualified to act. As a peremptory
mandamus had been issued by the Court of Qie&n's
liench to admit him to that Court, the Court of Alder-
men ought sot now to allow the City purse to be
resorted to fur the purpose of opposing an individual by
by a process involving great additional expense. Ile
sought a public good, and seeing the way in
which justice was administered in the Mayor's
Court, the Court of Aldermen ought to
wish to have the facilities and privileges
of that place extended. So slight was the practice there,
arising from the contracted sphere of its operations, the
business being confined to three ptrsons, it was fre-
quently the case that on the day appoin;ed for the sitting
of the Court, no Court sat. Now, at a time when the
Government were throwing open all the courts in the
empire, it appeared most preposterous that the City
Court of justice alone should be attempted to be made
the exception. It appeared that the attorneys of the
Mayor's Court were petitioning to continue the exclu-
sion, against the unanimous opinion of the judges, and if
tfieTourt of Aldermen determined that the expenses of
these gentlemen should be defrayed out of the City
purse, it was certainly but reasonable that his expenses
should be paid out of the same fund. He would answer
for it, that if such should be the intention of the Court
of Aldermen, from a fondness for disputation, they
should have abundance of litigation. He hoped
the Court would not give to the attorneys
of the Mayor's Court the opportunity of
adopting the means of further procrastination, and
thus putting him to additional expense Ile was
merely desirous of the simple privilege which was ex-
tended to all other corporations. He wished that the
public should be allowed to come into the Mayor's Court
with their own attorneys. As the case was now, if he
wanted anything done for a client in that Court, he was
obliged to co to a stranger, so that double lawyers were
to be paid, for gentlemen of that profession had not the
reputation of acting for nothing.--(Laughe r.)
Alderman Wools said it was wrongly asserted, that
he Court of Aldermen in the course they were pursuing
:n this case assisted the attorneys of tha Mayor's Cott' t,
l'he proceeding in the Qat-en'. Bench was against the
Mayor and Aldermen. and not against the attorneys of
the Mayor's Caurt, and the app ication for the new re
.urn to the writ of mandamus was, tinder all the cireurn-
.,atices of the case, the only course while h the Court
could adopt, sse

7 r the following report of the Committee was then read:
We whole names are her. unto subscribed, yen,
Committee for General Purposes, to whom, on the 23r1
,lay of Msrch last, it was referred, to con-id”r Mr.
Recorder's communication in relation .0 the
'judgment
I -livered in the Court ot Qu, en's Bench on the manda-
Itus granted by that Court. csliing upon the Ix.rd
,nd Aldermen of the City of London to admit tVAliam
Henry Ashurst (an attorney of one of the Sup-rior
Courts of Westminster) to be an attorney of th-- Lord
Ilayor's Court ; and to whom it was likewise referred
to confider Vie petitions of Messrs. George Thomas.
Robert 1t1n..11, .I..hti Carter, and George Ashl-y, thr.
•if the att rneys of the Lord Mayor's Cowl, in relation
the said judgment, do certify that we have proceeded
the co.nsidera6(n of the said referent,., and have ad-
vised and consulted airh Mr. Recorder and Mr. Solicitor
P.-arson, and have also been attended by Messrs. Rey-
nen, Carter, and Ashley. three of the attorneys of the
said Court., who purchas. d their respective situ ‘tions,
who were heard and examined upon their pAitions ; and
it apreariag to be indispensable that a return
or apple tion must be made to the Court of
QuPen'a Bench on the first day of term, for the Cor-
poration to be permitted to make a new return to
the writ of mandamui ; we referee it to the solicitor,
under the advice Of the Record( r, Mr. Gurney, and Mr.
Hugh Hull, .the Counsel f. m .loyed on the part of the
City in the previous proceet:ings in this matter, to take
,uch measures ther,in as, und.-r the circumstances,
should appear to thew gentlemen to be must expedient.
" All which we submit to the judgment of this Ho-
nourable Court.

44 W. T. COPELAND.
" THOS. CHALLIS.
" Toes. WoOD "
Alderman WOOD said it was ohjeoted to the Court of
Aldermen that they k.pt the great body of the profes-
sion out of the Mayor's Court. Now, what was the ef-
fect of the mandamus? To admit the petitioner to
practice in that Court. What would the petitioner do
there ? It was the fact that nine-tenths of the
business were dependent upon the customs of the city
of London ; and some opinion might he formed of
the consequences of ignorance of those customs,
when he stated that one of the attorneys of the
Mayor's Court had been obliged to pay 6001. in conse
quence of an overt act in the simple matter of taking
recognisances. He was anxious to throw open the
court, but the Court of Aldermen should take care that
they were not involved in pecuniary responsibilities by
the ignorance of the profession To accomplish such a
change as was contemplated by the petitioner it would
be necessary to have an Act of Parliament calculated to
reform it entirely. It was said that there was an analogy
as regarded the courts between the City of London end
all other corporations. He had thought that such was
the case, but he found that by the Municipal Act the
customs of the courts of all the other corporations were
annihilated, while the proceedings in the City of London
Court entirely depended upon their customs. Alderman
Wood concluded by stating that the Court of Aldermen
were perfectly justified, upon legal grounds, in issuing a
writ of error.

The RECOILDER said the Court of Alderman was
undoubtedly in this case the defendants nominally, and
they were acting under his and Mr. Gurney's, and Mr.
Hill's advice, in instructing the City Solicitor to apply
for a writ of error. The gentlemen of the Mayor's
Court had purchased their places for very large sums of
money, and the Court of Aldermen were bound to show
that they did n it loosely hull the character of the
offices, or the responsibilities attached to them. They
were bound not to yield to the application for admission
to the Mayor's Court till it was clearly ascertained by the
opinion of the other fudges that the writ of mandamus
was maintainable. He should be glad if the Mayor's
Court caild be put in such a position that gentlemen
could practise in that as they practised in other courts,
but it was impossible to regard the question without re-
ference to the peculiar practice, the heavy liabilitiesttrising
from errors of judgment or ignorance, and the losses to
which the attorney's of the Mayor's Court would be sub-
jected, if the whole profession were to pour in upon them.
The Learned Recorder then more particularly described
the nature of the duties of the attorneys of' the:Mayor's
.9ourt, and stated that the Court of Aldermen were act-
ing upon his suggestion to proceed deliberately, without
in the slightest degree prejudicing the interests of either
party.
Alderman Witsom considered, that instead of ex-
pending the City's cash, the Court of Aldermen were
doing all they could ta save it. He wished the Court
of Common Council, to which the petitioner belonged,
would show some disposition of that kind.—(A laugh.)
What the attorneys of the Mayor's Court wanted was,
not to exclude Mr. Ashurst, but to receive compensa-
tion for the 9,000!. which the gentlemen of the Common
Council had taken from them for their offices.—(Hear.)
Alderman HIIMPHERT said the Court was bound to
drop the matter altogether, as Mr. Ashurst had ob-
tained the writ of in indamus, and let the attorneys fight
it out amongst themselves. The opinion of the Queen's
Bench would, he had no doubt, be confirmed, and wha!
would' the Court of Aldermen do then ? The silest
way was to allow Mr. Ashurst to fight cut his battle in
the Court of Queen's Bench, and not trouble the Cor-
poration with more law.
Alderman linsoaovE suggested that the petition of
Asburst should be referred to the committee from
which the report had emanated, and thought that Some
means might be adopted for the avoidance of litigation.
some conversation here arose on the subject of re-
forming the corporation.
Alderman Wu,sozi started up and said, "By the bye.
what progress is Alderman 14teunberi, mall* with his
IWO* rAmaigkutater.4

PRICI SD.

Alderman lIIIMPHERT said the answer to that ques-
tion would in some degree involve the Recorder. His
preposition had been agreed to, and the Resetubrancer
had been instructed to draw up a Bill to repeal the 11th
of George 1., without the opinion of the Recorder and
Common Sergeant ; however, that officer could not get
on, and the li,,corder happened to be so oecupied that
he could not give any opinion, on the subject. The
Le,rned Genii -mar, however, gave an opinion in the
committee, which they followed. He said they ought
not to proceed wirh the Bill, and the msj .ri,y agreed
with that opinion, which showed what sound reformers
they were.—(Laughter.) Now he was prepared to sup-
port the Bill which he suggested, anti which with on,-
clause would effcct all that was n2cessery, and he w.is
convinced it would meet with the approbation of Par
liament.

The RECORDER willingly took upon himself the blam
of-opposition to the grand remedy of, the. lionourahl,
Alderman. He fervently hoped that the Court would
not think of proceeding with a Bill so limited. Ils
hoped the Corporation would not meddle with the qua-
lification of electors without looking also to the qu•sliti
cations of the elected.—(Hear, hear.) lie thought
was contrary to the ihterests of the Aldermen to go to
Parliatner.t to legislate without the acquiesenee
of the other bra►►ch of th. Corporation—to .attempt
to alter . imp of the institutions of the City with-
out the conaeut of the Court of Common Council.—
(Hear, hear.) He was oppsose•d to the idea of cobbling
the Corp ration with a single clause—of carving out a
little novelty to send to Parliament to be licked into
shape.—(Laughter and cries of Hear, hear.")
The petition of Mr. Ashurst was then referred to the
Committee, and the Court adjourned.

IRELAND.
DUBLIN, APRIL 12.—PathaRESS OF EMIGRATIoN.—
The extent of the emigration this season from all part
of the country will tar surpa'a all the calculati ns 'ha
have been made upon the subject. The peasantry—ti
large as well as the small farmer and cottier—the ca►.tic
and pig dealers, the small traders and shopkeeper
flying from the country in all directions. A vast nuinb,r
of vessels employed in the importation of food are taking
return cargoes of emigrants; but still there it not hali
enough of shipping accommodation at the various out-
ports, although great numbers proceed every tide to
Liverpool, or some other English port, to seek a passage
across the Atlantic. The progress of emigration from
tfie metropolis is thus described by the Dublin-Evening.

" There are • now eleven"vessels in berth in the-river,
one for Quebec, tied two for the United States. Every
one of these will sail within the next five days fat the
American coast with nearly 5,000 emigrants from Ire-
land. About half the number of these will be provided
by their late landlords with a free passage, rations on
the voyage, and money on their arrival in America. We
believe the remainder of that number will proceed on
their own account, and after defraying the expenses in-
cident to their passage they will carry with them a very
considerable sum of money, the produce of their own
chattels which had been submitted to sale, added to the
remittances they had received from their friends, who
had had the good fortune of being on American ground
before them. •
CORN, APRIL 10,—The tide of emigration to America
seems, within these few days past, to have reached its
full height in this city. Though there are this year less
vessels leaving
.direct from Cork than usual, and the
passage money to New York is increased 50 per cent.,
the demand is beyond the power of local agents to ac-
commodate. The quays are daily thronged with cars
containing bedding, boxes, Etc., belonging to the emi-
grants, the greater number of whom are from Kerry,
Limerick, and Tipperary. This morning the Nimrod
steamer, bound to Liverpool, left the quay with 1,080
deck passengers, besides children, who had paid the
passage money, 10s. each, to Liverpool, and it was cal-
culated there were at least 200 more who rushed on
board, arid who were to have paid, as the veseel cleared
out between the quay and the passage. It may be easily
conceived what those poor creatures would suffer on the
passage, being absoluakly as densely packed together
on the deck of the steamer, as any " monster meeting "
we have ever seen assemblscl. On Tuesday six hundred
and ten deck passengers sailed in the Ajax, direct to
London, nut one of whom came under the denomina-
tion of a pauper, the greater number being able-
bodied labourers and their families, and agricultural
and domestic servant?. Many of the former were t.
proceed to France, where they expatted to get work
on the railroads. There were a great many females.
also, who went to loek for employment as domestic
servants in England. Yesterday a vessel from Scot-
land, in which 500 berths were engaged at Cork, passed
the harbour without calling, basing made up her full
complement there, and the agtnt %ill hive to send the
ptople, by Liverpool, the best way he can. 03r quays
are almost impassable from the crowd congregated on
them, al seeking to obtain a passage to a• the lard of
plenty," whi'e numliers are every mom. nt hurrying
through the stis eta making preparation for their respec-
tive voyave. Mo-t ot these emigrants are of the better
class of fermi rs, and, generally speaking, have had in•
terests in their farms, and small sums of money at their
inspaed. t the folure of the pot ito cr p, and the con-
sequent burdins which have been place f on I h,•• land fir
dm repayment of the in, net advent; d by the 13 art ot
Works, c tpled with the fear of the introduction of sus
contemplated systern ot out door relief, hes .rented sue h
a pine° emong.t them, that they have thrown up their
farms to the iandlorda, drawn out what money they had
been saving for years from the bank. awl ere le acing
country in which they saw nothing hut ruin atarng them
in the face. Tile laud which they have throw. tip i in
many cases, left untillel, in consequenCe of the inability
of the landlords to cultivate such large tracts ; but there
are many in Lances in which the ground has been broken
tip and sown with nats. In many districts of the country
the cultivation of this crop during the present year is
unprecedented, but it is iar from le-ing as economical a
grain for food as barley.—Cork Reporter.
EYRECOURTi COUNTY GALWAY.—Deep and dire is
the distress which prevails here, and were proof of this
melancholy fact required, evidence of its truth may b.
evinced from the immense crowds of emigrants daily
departing from this land .of wretchedness and woe,
leaving behind them friends, home, and country, and
not caring whither they may tie borne trom this scene of
misery. Some are going to America. mai, to Australia,
and, in fact, to mostly every quarter of the known world,
where there might be a prospect of ameliorating their
present condition. Not atone persons who a ere eking out
a miserable subsistence by their daily labour, but men
who possessed many " broad acres," and aho could live
comfortably on their farms, are abandoning their hold-
ings, eager to fly. Some landed proprietors in this
neighbourhood have purchased the farms of as many of
the tenants as may be disposed to emigrate; and, iv
consequence theretif, the people, for miles round, are
busy making preparations for the long journey, and so
intense is their desire to be away that they are
disposing of their effects at half their value, and.
not even procuring the articles necessary for the
voyage. I can safely say one third of oar people
are going, or have gone. I have counted no less than
from 16 to 18 families who have left a small district,
the extent of which is not more than a mile in circum-
ference ; and from one village near this town, sixtet n
young women are on the point of embarking for Am--
rice, the majority of whom, if they staid at home, could
obtain a dowry of some 201. each ; but still they are
better satisfied to trust themselves to chance in a pros
perous and free country than live here at home, where,
like many others, they might end their days in misery
anti wretchedness. lam glad to have to inform you that
mortality is considerably on the decrease since my laA
eummunipation.—Galway Mercury.
WarneroßD.—Etnigratiun from the port of ayater-
ford is increasing every day. The etsamer
William
Pena sailed from our quay on Friday,' carrying tent to
Liiorpool about six hundred American emigeants. Every
available portion of her decks, fore and aft, from stem to
stern, was crowded with passengers. It is confidently
asserted by persons who have an opportunity of knowing
that those emigrants carry out with them upwards of
10,000/. in cash.— IT atinford Freeman.
GRAND CANAL.—Great inconvenience has been fell
for the last two days in the town, by poor emigrants
and other passengers, in consequence of the baao.s beiag
prevented running as usual, by the bursting of a tunnel
batween Shannon harbour and Tullatnore. It will take
some days to repair thedamage, and in the meantime the
passengers from Dublin will be conveyed on cars from
the breach to the fly-boat, by which means they will
reach Ballinasloe in the course of the day. The poor
emigrants who have been delayed here are the greatest
sufferers.—Ballinasloe Star.
STATE OF THE PROVINCES.

Cork, Sligo,;nd two or three other southern and western
counti 5, are still most s 'rely of acted by pestilence.
:,übjoiaed are some details supplied by the provincial
journals
Cottle, APRIL 10.—MORTALITY AMONGPobourar—
In consequence of orders received from the constabulary
authoritie,,, the police of this city have ces.ied t
have been furnished to Thursday night, the day
coffins to the poor. The accounts from the several
oon which
matable Casey ob-
tained the Gaol-road district Acting C,
the aid of the constabulary, in this particular, ceased.
tained 53
number of ,amtethpeeolpslte t.o.btohebB,tdh
Bird
dtawntil
within
nr that
t
etronffifonrstuf7l
period ; and on yesterday, up to about two o'clock in
the evening, 24 or 25 more applications W. re made to
him, which,
however, he was obliged to refuse. l
same period (Ist to the Bth instant) Constable P.rter
supplied 57 c..ffins—l6 of which were given out on Wed-
nesday. In eleven of these cases the bodies were brought
to the barracks, and left there, or in the old m irket, fur
the police to coffin and bury! In 22 cases, out of the 57
just mentioned, Constable Porter was obliged to hire men
to convey the bodies to the graves, there being none to
care whether they r.4ted in the ground or above it. We
understand that Diaj,;r Beamish, with his characteristic
humanity, has made arrangements for the supply of
coffins, till the operations of the new relief committee are
in full work. The d_.aths from fever and destitution are
still as numerous as ever, and, notwithstanding the re-
duction in the price of food, the people are fast dying off,
relief having come to them at too late a period. Any
person walking up Great George's-street w. led be horri-
fied at the scenes which meet the eye. There is scarcely
e hall door, or unoccupied shop, the door of which is
not taken up by a group of starving and exhausted crea-
tures, and when the public thoroughfares present such
. m piCtlge, tia wit st4to ;fa% VI() ;145444
C 411e0 Pd