The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-17 00:00:00

his employer's possession belonging to the prosecutor 1
except the picture produced.
Mr. HALL was of opinion that it should be forthwith I
delivered to the proper owner, and the primner for the
present should be discharged.
The shopman said that the article was only of a no-
minal value, and Mr. Burgess had no objection to act as
the Magistrate wished, but he honed to be exonerated
from any- blame for taking it in pledge.
A oung min dressed in black, and wearing a white
y
cravat, supposed to be t. country clergyman, was charged
with improper conduct tovra,,,.ls two female children in
1 Covent Garden-market, on Sunda; evening, between
seven and eight o'clock. The case was ,:.i'vcd, and he
was o-dered to pay a fine of 5/. or be comh:itted to
1 the House of Correction for a month. The fine IC."

paid. The prisoner refused to mention his name, or •
state where he lived, but he communicated in writing
with Mr. Hall. The nature of the communication,
however, was not made known. Our reporter, on ap-
plying to Mr. Burnaby, the Chief Clerk, for the name
of the defendant, was informed that, in consequence of
the communication being made confidentially, Mr. Hall
did not feel at liberty, as a Magistrate, to give it up,
and on making a similar application at the station-house,
(as the name and address of the defendant had been
put upon the police sheet when he handed it to the
Bench), it was again refused.

THE POOR-LAW IN TIM CITY OF

LONDON.

On Thursday, the 12th inst., a dinner took place at
the London Tavern, on the presentation of pieces of
Place to Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Gums, the
Chairman, and Mr. THOMAS WATKINS, the Vice-
Chairman of the Board of Guardians of the City of

London Union.
A very numerous and respectable company, consisting
ef;upwards of 120 of the Guardians and Churchwardens
of the several parishes, were assembled oil the occasion.
The Chair was taken by Mr. EDWARD CONDER, the
Guardian for St. Swithin, London Stone.
Amongst the guests were Mr. Alderman Thomas
Wood, Mr. Alderman Magnay, Mr. Sheriff Farncombe

and others.
The cloth being removed, and the usual toasts dis-
posed of,
The CHAIRMAN rose and said—Mr. Aldermen and
Gentletnen, I rise with feelings of peculiar gratification
to propose to your notice the next toast, which may be
called emphatically one of the toasts of the day. I
mean 6‘ The health of my much respected and worthy
friend, Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Gibbs, our Chairman
of the Board of Guardians."—(Loud applause.) And
in doing so, I shall make a few observations. It is un-
necessary for me to enter into the question of the pro-
priety of the introduction of the New Poor-law into the
city. Whatever may have been the difference of opi-
nion upon that point, I can safely say as a Guardian,
that we found the law in existence, and the Board of
Guardians being formed, we set ourselves to work as good
subjects, to perform the duties which the law had cast
upon us, taking as much care as we could, in carrying
out its provisions, to soften down the harshness of some
of its clauses, and so, by doing a little wrong, to endea

sour to do a great right. I will now with your per-
mission, Gentlemen, address a few words exclusively to
my worthy friend, Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Gibbs.
Nearly four years since you were by a large majority
elected Chairman of the Board of Guardians, and al-
though your election was not unanimous, the Guar-
dians very soon discovered the propriety of their choice,
by the business-like method of your proceeding, by
your constant attendance at their meetings, and by
your continued and zealous perseverance in promoting
the ultimate success of the Union. For the second
year, you were again appointed as our Chairman, with-
out one dissentient voice, when shortly afterwards a new
sphere of usefulness presented itself, and you were
unanimously elected by your fellow-citizens to the high
dignity of Alderman of the Ward of Walbrook. And
although your Magisterial duties deprived us of a por-
tion of the fostering care which we had hitherto enjoyed,
your master-mind had taught us a lesson in our various
duties which rendered the loss far less than we should
otherwise have felt. With the highest feelings of gra-
titude you were again chosen by acclamation as our
Chairman for a third and a fourth year. You have
recently again been summoned by the admiring gratitude
of your fellow-citizens to fill the high, honourable, and
responsible office of one of the Sheriffs for the City of
London and County of Middlesex. It was seen, after
your election to this new office of honour and trust,
that it was suggested by some few of my brother guar-
dians that a fit opportunity had arrived for presenting
to you a tribute of respect, which would be worthy of
ourselves to offer, and of you, Sir, to receive ; and I
have now the gratifying duty, in the name of about 100
parishes and Guardians connected with this Union, to
present to you this testimony of the high estimation in
which they hold your services. (The Chairman here
pointed to a silver epergne, of chaste and beautiful work-
manship, raised upon a handsome plateau.) It is ap-
propriately emblazed on three aides, with your own
arms and the arms of this City and the County of Mid-
dlesex, and the fourth side bears this inscription :
PRESENTED
From Parishes, Guardians, and Officers,
Connected with the City of London Union,
TO
MICHAEL GIBBS, ESQ.,
Alderman and Sheriff,
- -

As a Testimony of their sincere Respect towards him
and of the sense they entertain
of his zeal, ability, and highly valuable Services,
in promoting the interests of the Union,
as the Chairman of the Board of Guardians,
From its Commencement in 1837.
L2th November, 1840. _ .

We trust you will accept it, and long ecjoy,
with every earthly happiness, the use of it ; and
when we are all gathered to our fathers, future
generations of your posterity, may hold forth this as a
proof that they have an ancestor who had the abilility
and the courage to do his duty to, the rich and to the
poor—to the rate-payer, and to the pauper—to the
virtuous and to the vicious—and that his public ser-
vices were thus appreciated by his admiring cotempo-
rary fellow-citizens. Gentlemen I conclude with pro-
posing " Long life and happiness to Mr. Alderman and
Sheriff Gibbs, our respected chairman of the Board of
Guardians."
The toast was drunkavith three times three, and loud
and long continued enthusiasm.
Mr. Alderman GRINS then rose and said,—Mr.
Chairman and Gentlemen, I speak withrgreat sincerity
when I assure you diet. I want words to express my
feelings of gratitude for this superb and beautiful tribute
of your respect, and for the flattering manner in which
it has been conveyed to me. It is true that I have en-
joyed the high honour of presiding at your meetings as
Chairman of the Board of Guardians fdr nearly four
years, during which time it has been my anxious desire
to perform the duties which devolved upon me in such
a manner as to promote the
,interests of the Union
For my exertions I have three times received the
unanimous thanks of the Board of Guardians, and I
assure you that I looked for no other reward. What-
ever may have been the opinions of individual guar-
dians with respect to the introduction of the Poor-law
into the city, I can with truth declare that we consi-
' der it our duty to bow in obedience to the law, and
did so, with the determination, as far as possible,
to endeavour to carry out its provisions with le-
niency and humanity. I think I may now point with
feelings of satisfaction to the result of our united
efforts. I rejoice that the word " Economy" has never
entered into our consideration in comparison with our
other great object of providing for the comfort of the
poor, although every care has been taken to prevent un-
necessary expenditure. But I may with truth say that
we have greatly ameliorated the condition of the aged
and deserving poor, whilst we have taken effectual means
to discourage the idle, the dissolute, and the young oble-
bodied pauper. This is not the proper occasion for
statistical details, but I could easily prove the correct-
ness of my statements from authentic documents. Now,
Gentlemen, it is to the children then we look for our
great reward. We have provided them with every
comfort, and placed them under a system of instruction,
which, by inculcating the lessons of order, regularity,
and decorum, cannot fail to make them useful and honest
members of society in after life. Nor have we forgot-
ten their religious instruction, which has been confided
to the care of a gentleman now present, the Rev. Mr.
Brown, upon whose appointment and peculiar talents
for the t rust reposed in him, I congratulate the Board.
Gentlemen, by our mode of proceeding, by our uninter-
rupted unanimity, and with the assistance of the able
officers we have appointed, we have been enabled to
produce these great results, and, I believe, have
shown to the country at large, that it is pos-
sible to pay obedience to the New Poor-law,
and, at the same time, to consult the feelings of
humanity by softening tho rigour of some of its clauses.
I regret that from the pressure of my magisterial and
other duties I have not been able to attend so constantly
at your meetings as I have done in former years ; but I
have less reason to care on this account as the worthy
and talented Vice- Chairmen whom you have appointed
have inure than made up for the loss of any poor scr •
vices of my own. I conclude, Gentlemen, with again
assuring you how deeply I feel the honour you have
done me in presenting
me with this mark of your es-
teem.—( Loud cheering.) .
The CHAIRMAN again rose and said—Gentlemen, I
have as yet performed but half my duty. There is an-
other gentlemen present to whom we arc anxious to pay
honour on this occasion. This gentleman is also an old,
valued, and much respected friend of mine—Mr. Thos.
Watkins, our Vice-Chairman of the Board of Guar-
dians.—(Loud cheering.) Gentlemen, Mr. Watkins,
like myself and many others, has been a Member of the
Board of Guardians from its commencement. We had
been in the habit of attending our meetings, and ming.
ling unobtrusively in the crowd like one of yourselves ;
but his talents and great merit had been silently ob-
served by his brother Guardians, and as soon as the oc-
casion arose by the retirement of their former Vice-
Chairman, Mr. Watkins was unanimously elected to fill
the vacant office ; and this is now the second year of his
labours in that position• it is unnecessary for me to