The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-10 00:00:00

THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW.

It was a mistake to put Gob and. Magog under
.ock and key. If we are to have an annual Show

in the streets of London why should it not be a

good one ? If the interests of the little boys and
servant-maids are to be considered on each suc-

cessive 9th of November, why not give them a
downright good Show,—one which, if inferior
to the entertainments at Astley's, might be consi-

dered equal to a good Surrey spectacle ? There
really was no reason why the traffic of the town
should be interrupted for the sake of such a dull
prosaic affair as the Lord Mayor's Show of yester-
day. The little boys saw through the deceit, and
could not be reconciled to the absence of the accus-
tomed splendour,__ \Vhat was it to them that the

Beadle of the Worshipful Company of Tallow-
chandlers ventilated his dignity in the East wind ?
or that the Watermen who followed that remark-

able functionary held up to a none-admiring world.
" the banner of the arms of Mr. Alderman Farn-
cemb ?" and " the banner of the arms of Mr. Alder-
man Humphery ?" We have seen far more splendid .
results achieved by a first-class advertising van.
Messrs. Farncomb and Humphery—most respect-
able gentlemen, no doubt—could scarcely hope that
the world cared to be indulged with a sight of their
coats of arms. Gratifying as such a display might
have been to persons of well-constituted mind it
was difficult to discern in the crowd yesterday any
emotion than disappointment. The procession
was merely an aggregate of such units as we have
already described.. In place of the tallowchandlers
you had the wheelwrights ; in place of the wheel-
wrights the plasterers ; in place of the plasterers
the innholders, each section preceded by its appro-
priate Bumble, and each displaying " banners of the
arms of Messrs. Aldermen So-and-So." As a spec-
tacle, then, the thing was a decided failure, and
therefore we say again, if we are to have a show, let
it be a good one of its kind. Let us have the men
in armour, especially the men in chain armour,
from the Tower—the champions, the squires, and
every adjunct of the olden times preserved in such
a way as would satisfy the _critical manes of poor
Charles Lamb. It may be a question if it be worth
while to interrupt the business of the principal
thoroughfares of London even for so gorgeous a
result as that of an ancient Lord Mayor's ,Show,
but surely such a miserable display as that of yes-
terday can scarcely find a defender. Something
might have been said in favour of the former
pageant as a relic of the olden time—as a spectacle
intertwined with the childish associations of so
many excellent people that the suppression of it
might have caused annoyance and disappointment.
This was all very well as long as the Show retained
any feature of antiquity; but now that it has been
carefully divested of all pretensions of this kind this
argument fails. We much doubt if the Society. of
Antiquaries, or even a grand jury of London gowns.,
would vote for the continuance of the Lord Mayor's
Show if it is to remain what it was but yesterday
as it draggled uncomfortably along the streets in.
the cheerless east wind. The very pickpockets
were not in good heart.
The Show, however, is but:the shadowy precedent
of the.substance, which is the Mayoralty itself. It
is a very remarkable instance of the vitality of such
institutions in England that the Civic Mayoralty*
should have survived the many assaults which it
has encountered. Just as it is on the point of de-
struction some accident ever intervenes to give it a
fresh spell of life and a little longer tenure of power.
At the beginning of last session it s.?.emed ready for
its doom, and, had not an Italian gentleman taken
it into his fervid head to assassinate the Emperor
of the French, it may be questioned if the banners
of Messrs. Aldermen This and That would yester-
day have been given to the breeze. There was
the report of the commission, and the bill of the
Home Secretary, and all the machinery in gear to
put the Lord Mayor's house in order, when the
Ministerial change occurred, and the evil day was
again put off. It will be curious to watch
the action of Lord Derby's Government in this
matter when they have had time to forget the
extravagant compliments of last night. Is Mr.
Walpole prepared to follow in his predecessor's
footsteps, and to bring in a remedial bill in pur-
suance of the suggestions of the commission ? Will
he ignore those suggestions altogether, treat the
report of the commissioners as a nullity, and leave
it to another hand to carry it out ? This would be
a terrible confession of weakness—as, on the other
hand, it is a great proof of strength when a Minister
is found willing to deal with an abuse which can
still number influential defenders. The evils of the
present system are universally acknowledged, save
by- the few persons who are directly interested in
its support ; but, though they are few, they are
in earnest. The story or the London Corporation.
is just that of the East India Company upon a
smaller scale. True it is that the Mayor and his civic
councillors do not assume to wield the authority of
the nation over millions of the Queen's subjects, but
they do assume to be the chief municipal authori-
ties in this huge metropolis, whereas the true area
of their jurisdiction is but a very small section
of it. The consequence is, either that the Lord
Mayor and Corporation affect to represent about
one million and three-quarters of people whom they
do not represent ; or, if not, seven-eighths of the
population of London are without municipal autho-
rity altogether. If the exercise of such authority,
be good for one-eighth part of London, why should
it not be good for all ? If it be useless for seven-
eighths of London, why should it be suffered to
exist in the remaining eighth ? It is preposterous
to speak of the Lord Mayor—as the guests at the
Guildhall always speak—as the Chief Magistrate of
London. He is simply the Chief Magistrate of
what may, speaking comparatively, be taken as an
inconsiderable section of it. It might be unwise
to vest in the hands of any one individual the
chief authority over the whole of London ; but it
is clearly absurd to consider the magistracy of the
City as the magistracy of the whole town. We may
want more Mayors, and Corporationg, or we may
want no Mayor and Corporation at all ; but cer-
tainly we do not wantto reverse the old geometrical
axiom and solemnly affirm that a part is greater
than the whole.
It is clear enough, even as far as the City is con-
cerned, that the Mayor and Corporation are not
elected from the most eminent citizens. The re-
presentatives of the liverymen of London they may
be, but they are not the representatives of the great
merchants and bankers—of the intelligence and
wealth of the City of London. It may be said that
gentleman of that class do not care to be troubled
with civic dignities or oppressed with civic respon-
sibilities. Perhaps not, as matters stand at present ;
but with a change of circumstances their views
might be very seriously modified. Again, it should.
be remarked that the,City of London is perhaps the
most uninhabited quarter of this great metropolis,
if by the term " inhabit " be meant to have one's
home in "a particular place.. The banks, and ware-
houses, and
,counting-houses of London are deserted
after business hours. They are left in the charge
of a few caretakers. The citizens of London are off
to their suburban villas, and to other quarters of the
town where their families reside, and where their
own non-working hours are invariably spent. Look
at the attendance at the City churches on a Sunday
and ask, where are the citizens ? It cannot be that
this quarter of the town should much longer be
permitted to act upon the extraordinary assump-
tion that the City is London, as the City was Lon-
don when the members took refuge there from the
tyrannical dealings of the First Charles. In some
shape a another the question- must shortly be dealt
with, and men are anxious to see whether Lord
Derby will have the nerve to take it up.--T macs.

THE LATE COLLISION BETWEEN THE RECORDER
OF NEWCASTLE AND THE BAR.-At a recent meeting of
tie Newcastle and Gateshead Law Society, the late proceed-
ings between the Recorder of Newcastle and the bar (which
were reported in the Sun) came under discussion,
and the following resolution was adopted :—" That this
society has observed with much regret that, since the ap-
pointment of W. D. Seymour, Esq., as Recorder of this
borough, the ancient usage as to the holding of the general
quarter sessions of thepeace, burgess and non-burgess courts,
and jury days for the trial of causes on fixed and certain
days, has been departed from. That the former usage was
well known and understood by the public as well as by at-
torneys, and suited admirably the convenience of the bar.
That the chanov introduced by the present Recorder in this
respect is productive of much inconvenience. That the so-
ciety entertains a strong opinion that so long as the Durham
and Northumberland Sessions are holden as at present, on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays of the sessions weeks,
the Wednesdays of the same weeks seem the proper days for
holding the Newcastle Sessions as heretofore. That the se-
cretaries be instructed to memorialise her Majesty's Secre-
tary of State for the Home Department to re-establish and
confirm the former usage ; and that they do also communi-
cate these resolutions to the mayor and corporation of New-
castle." • That the best acknowledgments of this societybe
conveyed to the Law Association of Bristol for the hand-
some manner in which they received and entertained the
members of this society who attended the late aggregate
meeting of the Metropolitan and Provincial Association
at Bristol ; and likewise to the right worshipful the mayf
and the solicitors of that city for their distinguish( d hosp:"
tality, as well as to the president, vice-president, and secre-
taries of the Law Association, for their courtesy and eaten-,
tion to the strangers, as dulyeommunicated tothis meeting.
EXECUTION OF MEER A3IANUT ALLEE.—A
private letter from India states that Meer Amanut Allot
Subadar Major of the Grenadier Regiment Scindia's Con-
tingent, who was elected, on the breaking out of the mutinY
General-in-Chief of the Gwalior Contingent, and who suc-
cessfully drove back our troops under Windham, nee,:
awripore, was captured and hanged very recently. Araae-k'
the strange facts connected with this great mutiny it nia)'
be recorded that this leader was regarded for mall;
years as a most devoted and trustworthy officer, a person
singularly attached to the British Government and to the
European officers under whom ho served ; yet he was the
chosen chieftain of a fine body of troops whose, defection,c 10,
was marked in the first instance by the massacre of offie
women, and ' children in the .ioorar cantonments 11
ear
Scindia's capital.