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of Assembly had gone further than:the general good required.
The object of the ascendant party in Canada, was to work
revolution. He and the Government, though anxious for im-
provement in the colonies, would never sanction anything like
revolution or convulsion.

Mr. ROEBUCK spoke at some length in reply, but bis
low tone of voice.

Sir ROBERT PEEL asked, Was the appointment of the
Commission complete ?
One of the MINISTERS said it was.
Sir ROBERT PEEL then asked was it intended to com-
municate to Parliament the objects the Government had in
view respecting the settlement of the Canadian question.
We understood the answer to be that when the proper time
arrived the House should be put in possession of all the facts.
Mr. HUME said a few words which were not understood.

This whole debate was conducted in so subdued and con-
versational style, that we found it impossible to do more than
guess its import.
SCOTCH CHURCH.

The House then proceeded to the Orders of the day.
Mr. JOHNSTON brought on the question of the Church
of Scotland. The Hon. Member entered at considerable
length into the legislative history of the Church of Scotland,
detailed the measures enacted for its reformation, and the
abolition of episcopacy, in 1649, and inveighed against the
duplicity and ingratitude of Charles 11., who repealed the
reforms and restored the Bishops, in 1661. He described
the state of abeyance in which it remained till the accession
of the Prince of Orange in 1668, who had previously recog-
nized the principles set forth in the celebrated " claim of
rights" by the Scotch Reformers, " that the right of presen-
tation to livings had been greatly abused, and that it was in-
convenient to continue it." He stated the particulars of the
Act passed by William 111. on his accession, re-abolish-
ing episcopacy, the right of presentation, &c., and pointed
out the compensation of 600 marks secured to every patron,
to be levied by compulsory assessment on the heritors of
every parish, lest succeeding Parliaments should attempt to
restore the privilege, on a plea of injustice to the possessors of
vested rights. Thus matters continued till the Union with
England, during which space of Scottish history the reformed
system had (he contended) worked well, though too short a
time had been afforded to give it a fair trial. He then entered
into a narrative of the intrigues of the Parliament in the reign
of Queen Anne for the restoration of the exiled Stuarts, and
the measures which resulted in reference to the Church of
Scotland. The Hon. Member next descended to the modern
history of the Kirk, and animadverted on the evil influence
produced by the ascendancy of the High Church party—the
defective discipline which ensued—the bad effects, spiritual
and practical, of the system of patronage still in existence—
the limited degree of education tolerated in aspirants to the
Ministry, and the consequent evils resulting to the laity—in-
difference and apathy on the one hand, schism and secession
on the other.

The Hon. Member was continuing his address, during which
a very thin House bad grown gradually thinner, till at length
about 30 Hon. Members remained ; when,

Mr. POTTER rose, and said—This is a subject too im-
portant to be discussed in such a House. I move, Sir, that it
be counted.

This was done accordingly, and the SPEAKER declared the
House counted out at ten minutes past seven.

IRISH MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

The following is an abstract of some of the principal
points of the first Report of the Commissioners appointed
to inquire into the Municipal Corporations of Ireland—a
Report which appears to have been framed with great care
and ability :
" In submitting to your Majesty our general view of the re-
sults of the inquiry, it will be convenient to arrange then► under
the distinct heads pointed out by your Majesty's Commission,
and in the following order, namely :
" I. The Existing State of the Municipal Corporations in
Ireland.

" 11. The Mode of Electing and Appointing the Members
and Officers.
"111. The Defects in their Constitution.
" IV. The Privileges of the Freemen and other• Members.
" V. Their Jurisdictions and Powers in the Administration
of Justice, and in all other respects.
" VI. The Nature and Management of their Income, Re-
venues, and Funds, whether Charitable or otherwise.

" VII. The Tolls and Customs within their Receipt, or
under their Management.
" VIII. The several Local Jurisdictions existing within the
limits of the Corporate Towns.

" I. The Existing State of the Municipal Corporations in
Ireland.

" Before we state the Corporations now actually existing,
we think it may be useful to enumerate all the Municipal
Corporations which appear to have exercised any functions, as
such, within the last century, and to allude to some other
boroughs which returned Members to the Irish Parliament at
the period of the Legislative Union between Great Britain
and Ireland, though, as it appears, not then, or for many
years before, possessing or exercising any other functions of
Municipal Corporations.
" From the information we have been able to collect, the
number of the Municipal Corporations in Ireland, appearing
to have actually exercised any functions as such, within the
last century, is 99, consisting of the Corporations of the fol-
lowing cities and towns :
Cities and _Towns. Counties of
A Mee I outh
Ardferte Kerry
Armagh Armagh
Askeaton Limerick
A th boy !Meath
Athenry Galway
Athlone Westmeath &
Roscommon
Athy Kildare
A ugher Tyrone
Ballynakill Queen's Co.
Ballyshannon Donegal
Baltinglass Wicklow
B ataghar King's County
Bandonbridge Cork
Bangor Dawn
Bail now Wexford
Bei fast Antrim
Pelt whet Cavan
Biessington ......... Wicklow
I loy le Roscommon
Callan Kilkenny
Carirsfurt
al li.gfurcl Louth
Carlow Carlow
Carl iekfergus County of the
fowl) of

Carrick-on-Shannon Leitrim
Cashel Tipperary
CaNtlebar Mayo
Castlemartyr Cork
Cavan Cavan
Charlemont Armagh
Charleville Cork
Clog hnakilty Cork
Cloomel Tipperary
Coleraine Londonderry
Cork County of the
—..

City_ of
Dingle Kerry
Donegal' Donegal'
Drogheda County.of the
~.

Toivn of
Dublin County of the

City of
Duleek Meath
Dundalk .
Dungannon Tyrone
Dunteer Louth
Ennis Clare
Enniscorthy Wexford
Enniskillen Fermanagh
Feathard Tilperary
Feathard Wexford
Fore Westmeath
Galway County of the
Town of

rK itios and Towns. Counties of
Granard Longford
Gorey Wexford
Gowran nilkenny
Harristown Kildare
liillsborough Down
Jamestown Leitrim
Inistiugue Kilkenny
Irisittown County of the
City of Kil-
kenny
ells 'death

Kilbeggan Westmeath
Kildare ' Kildare
Kilkenny County of the
City of
Killibegs Do,.egall
Killileagh Down
Kilniallock I imeriek
Kinsale Cork

Knocktopher Kilkenny
Lanesborough Longford
Liffind Donegan
Limavaddy I o:nlonderry
Limerick County of the
City of
Londonderry Londonderry
Longford Longford
Maryborough Queen's County
Middleton Cork

Monaghan Monaghan
Naas Kildare
Navan ....... Meath
New Castle, near
Lyons Dublin
New Ross .. Wexford
Newtownards Down
Old Leighlin Carlow
Philipstown King's County
Portarlington King's County
and Queen's
County
Roscommon Roscommon
Sligo Sligo
St. Johnstown Donegall
St. Johnstown Longford
Strabane Tvrone
Thomastown Kilkenny
Tralee Kerry
Trim Meath
"l'uam Galway
'Fula ke Roscommon
Waterford County of th,,
C►ty of
Wexford Wexford
Wicklow Wicklow
Youghal Cork.

In addition to these Municipalities, there were, at the
period of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and
Ireland, 18 boroughs, which returned Members to the
Irish Parliament, into which we deemed it our duty to in-
quire, with the view of ascertaining how far they partook
of the character of Municipal Corporations. The result
of the inquiry has established that of these boroughs seven
were, at not very remote periods, Corporate Municipalities,
acting, or at least constituted, under Royal Charters still
on record, viz.:—

Towns.. Counties of Towns Counties of
Baltimore Cork Mallow Cork
Clogher Tyrone Newry Down
Dungarvan
Lisin..re Waterford

With respect to the following five, the existence, either
of a Corporation or of burg-age tenure, is noticed in ancient
records, but no Charter of incorporation has been disco-
vered, viz. :

Towns. Counties of Towns. Counties of
Clonmines Wexford Sword, Dublin
Dow npatrick Down Taghmon Wexford
Ratoath . Meath

Aril the six remaining boroughs, though possessing char-
ters empowering them to return Members to Parliament,
never, as far as we have been able to trace, possessed the
character of Municipal Corporations. They are—
Towns Counties of Towns Counties of
Antr,, Antrim Mullingar Westmeath
Doneraile Cork Randalstown Antrim
Lisburne Antrim Ratheormac Cork
* * * st S S S S * *

Of the several Municipal Corporations we have men-
tioned, the following only (which we have arranged accord-
ing to the respective amount of population of the districts
with which they are connected) appear to be now effectively
existing, and exercising the functions of such bodies :-
" Dublin with its suburbs, 265,316 inhabitants ; Cork (the
entire, county of the city), 100,716 ; Limerick (the entire
county of the city), 66,554 ; Belfast, 53,287 ; Galway (the
entire county of the town), 33,120; Waterford (the entire
county of the city), 28,281 ; Kilkenny and Irishtown (the en-
tire county of the city), 23,741 ; Londonderry with its su-
burbs, 19,620 ; Drogheda (the entire county of the town),
17,365 ; Sligo, 15,152 ; Clonmel, 15,134 Kinsale (the en-
tire liberties), 14,412; •Athlone, 11,406; Youghal (the (.Itire
liberties), 11,327 ; Wexford, 10,673 ; • Dundalk, 10,078 ;
Bandonbridge, 9,917 ; Tralee, 9,668 ; Armagh, 9,470 ; Car-
ln%l, 9,114 ; Carrickfergus (the entire county of the town),
8,706 ; Ennis, 7,711 ; Cashel, 6,971 ; Tuam, 6,883 ;
6,111 ; Enniskillen, 5,056; Enniscorthy, 5,955; Coleraine,
5,752 ; New Ross, 5,011 ; Charleville, 4,766 ; Strabane,
4,700 ; Longford, 4,516 ; Athy, 4,494 ; Navan, 4,416 ;
• Dingle, 4,327 ; Kells, 4,326; Ardee, 3,975 ; Moilagivn,
3,848; Naas, 3,808; Cloghnakilty, 3,807 ; Dungannon 3,515;
Boyle, 3,483 ; Feathard (Tipperary), 3,405 ; Trim, 3,282 ;
Nlaryborough, 3,22:1 ; Portarlington, 3,091 ; Gorey, 3,044;
Thomastown, 2,871; Bangor, 2,741 ; Wicklow, 2,472 ; Mid-
dleton, 2,034 ; Belturbet, 2,026 ; Kilbeggan, 1,985 ; Balt-
inglass, 1,674; Hillsborough, 1,453; Athenry, 1,319; Kil-
n:allot...lc, 1,213; Killileagh, 1,147 ; Inistioge, 906 ; Castle-
martyr, 830.
" In the following towns, the Corporations have become

extinct since the period of the Legislative Union between
Great Britain and Ireland :

" Castlebar, 6,373 inhabitants; Ballyshannon, 3,775; Ros-
common, 3,306; Banagher, 2,636; Limavaddy, 2,428; Gra-
nard, 2,069; Athboy, 1,959; Ballinakill, 1,927; Carrick-on.
Shannon, 1,870 ; Askeaton, 1,515 ; Philipstown, 1,454 ;
Gowran, 1,009 Donegall, 830 ; Killibegs, 724 ; Dunleer,
710 ; Knocktopher, 475 ' • Blessington, 426 ; New Castle
near Lyons, 395 ; Jianesborough, 390 •Feathard (Wexford),
350 ; Jamestown, 311 ; St. Johnstown (Longford), 255 ;
Augher, village; Bannow, ditto; Cariesfort, ditto; Fore,
ditto; Harristown, ditto : Old Leighlin, ditto; St. Johns-
town (Donegall), ditto; Tulske, ditto.
" hi the following places, although it appears from the local
Reports that Corporations do not effectively subsist in them,
there is either some continuing exercise of corporate functions,
or a remnant of corporate property :
" Newtownards, 4,442 inhabitants ; Cavan, 2,931 ; Kil-
dare, 1,753 ; Carlingford, 1,319 ; Duleek, 1,217 ; Lifford,
1,096 ; Charlemont, 523 • Ardfert, village."
Under the second andthird heads of Inquiry we find the
following observations on the very important subject of the
admission of non-residents, and the results of. the control
exercised by the governing bodies over admission :
" In counties of cities and counties of towns the ackno;s-
ledged rights of the freeholders to vote at elections for Mem-
bers of Parliament, while it has served to maintain the general
independence of the community, has had a decided though in-
direct tendency to the depression of the freemen as a class.
The freeholders, who thus possessed the most valuable civil
right, without control of the Corporate authorities, had less
motive to seek admission as freemen, while the existence of an
independent body of electors led, for the purpose of counteract-
ing their influence, to the creation of non-resident freemen—a
practice, on the part of the Corporations, for the correction of
which the Legislature has lately interposed by one of the pro-
visions of the Reform Act. In many Corporations (we may
instance those of Galway, Limerick, Cork, and Drogheda),
the creation of non-resident freemen has prevailed to an extent
apparently only limited by the necessity of providing a sufficient
number in the interest of the Corporation to bear down the
resident freehold constituency. As Members of the Corpora-
tions for general municipal purposes, the non-resident free-
men do not appear to have interfered ; but such rights as they
may have in that respect remain unaffected by the provisions
of the Reform Act ; and if the subject of contest should be of
sufficient importance, they might still be resorted to by the
governing body on occasions of the exercise of Corporate powers
where vested in the freemen at large.
" The admission of non-residents to such an extent seems
quite inconsistent with the principles of municipal government
and incorporation, and with the spirit of the charters, which
are addressed to the citizens. commons, inhabitants, or com-
monalty of the corporate city or town, and abound in provi-
sions for the benefit and exclusive advantages, commercial
and civil, of those residing in the incorporated districts.
We find the Legislature itself, at a very early period, sanc-
tioning and enforcing the principle and policy of a resident
municipality, by a statute of the Irish Parliament, passed
in the tenth year of Henry VII. (c. 7), which enacts,
That no city or great town receive or admit any person to be
alderman, juror, or freemen, within any of the said cities or
towns, but such persons as have been prentice or been con-
tinually inhabitant in the said cities or towns ; ' and (after
some other provisions), that if any city or town offend the
premises or any part thereof, the mayor and commons of any
such city or town, by whatever name they be incorporated by,
to forfeit an hundred marks of money to the King, as often
as they, or any of them shall offend the premises, or any part
of them.' In practice, however, the terms of the charters
and the intention of the Legislature have alike been dis-
regarded, and the provisions of the Act of Parliament have
been considered as penal, but not prohibitory; imposing the
prescribed penalty on the Corporation which violates them,
but not invalidating the admission of the persons in whose
favour they are infringed.
" Election Committees of the House of Commons have, in
the cases of Limerick, 'Wexford, and Waterford, decided that
the rights of election there were limited to freemen resident
at the time of admission ; but these decisions, which asserted
a principle theretofore habitually violated in modern practice,
have proceeded on evidence of the ancient bye-laws and usages
of these Corporations, and in the case of Wexford on the spe-
cial terms of the charter. In the case of Limerick, the Le-
gislature has interposed by the Act for the regulation of that
Corporation, 4 Geo. IV. chap. 126 ; and made residence at
the time of admission a necessary qualification for freedom.
" In Carrickfergus, also, the usage has been in conformity
with this principle.
" That the existence of such control and influence in such
a body over the admission of the members is a main defect in
the constitution of the Municipal Corporations, the results,
contrasted with the objects of the institutions, appears to us to
demonstrate.
" We apprehend the term Municipal Corporation may, in
reference to our present inquiry, and on a view of the several
charters which have come under our notice, be fairly consi-
dered to mean an incorporation of persons, inhabitants of, or
connected with, a particular place or district, enabling them
to conduct its local civil government. Accordingly, the regu-
lation of the municipal district and its inhabitants, the preser-
vation of the public peace within it by a magistracy chosen by
and from the incorporated body, and the administration of
justice to the community in domestic tribunals, are among the
principal objects for which provision is made in the various
charters of incorporation appearing to have been granted from
time to time to the corporate cities and towns in Ireland.
Another important object of many incorporations was the elec-
tion of Members to represent their respective cities and towns
in Parliament. A further, and one which appears to have
engaged more attention in former times than at present, was
the protection and regulation of the local trade by means of
commercial societies or guilds.
" It appears to have always been considered conducive, if
not necessary, to the attainment of the first object above
noticed—that of providing for the regulating of the municipal
district and its inhabitants—that the Corporate Body should
be invested with powers to make ordinances or bye-laws for
the purpose, and that such ordinances would be the more
binding on the inhabitants of the districts, and suited to their
interests, if made with their common assent. We find, there-
fore, that in nearly all the charters of Municipal Corporations
in Ireland, in which the power of making bye-laws is expressly I
given (even in those the most restricted in other particulars),
this power is vested in the whole body, including the com-
monalty equally with the other members.
" All the other objects sought by their creation alike imply
that these institutions were originally designed for the peculiar
and common benefit of the residents of the Corporate district,
and were intended to be identified in interest with them, and
entitled to their confidence and support.
" Birt the consequences of such exercise as we have de-
scribed, of the power of admission to the freedom of the muni-
cipal Corporations of Ireland, have been to establish a very
different condition of those bodies. It has followed that in
many towns there is no recognised commonalty ; that in others,
where existing in name, it is entirely disproportioned to the
inhabitants, and consists of a very small portion, of an exclusive
character, not comprising the mercantile interests, nor repre-
senting the wealth, intelligence, or respectability of the town.
The Corporations are, not without reason, looked on by the
great body of the inhabitants of the corporate districts with
suspicion and distrust, as having interests distinct from, and
adverse to, those of the general community, whom they thus
studiously exclude from a participation in the municipal
government. Their members frequently consist entirely of
the relatives and adherents of particular individuals or fami-
lies, and the principles of their association, and those which
regulate admission or exclusion, have rarely any connection
with the common benefit of the district, or the wishes of
its inhabitants. In far the greater number of the close
Corporations, the persons composing them are the mere
nominees of the patron,' or proprietor' of the borough ;
while in those apparently more enlarged, they are admitted
and associated in support of some particular political inte-
rest, most frequently at variance with the majority of the
resident inhabitancy.
" In the town of Belfast the whole municipal Corpora-
tion consists of the sovereign, the lord of the castle, tho
constable, his appointee, twelve self-elected burgesses, and
six freemen.

" In Armagh it is as close."
The Report then proceeds to observe on the effect of
this system, in reference to the exclusion of Roman Ca-
tholics :

" This system deserves peculiar notice, in reference to your
Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects. In one Corporation
alone, that of Tuam, the majority of the governing body is
Roman Catholic, one only of the burgesses being a Protes-
tant. The laws which for a series of years operated to ex-
clude those professing the Roman Catholic religion from Cor-
porations, were repealed in the year 1793,. by the statute 33d
Geo. 111., c. 21 ; but the Roman Catholics have hitherto
derived little practical advantage from the change. In the
close boroughs they are almost universally excluded from all
corporate privileges. In the more considerable towns, they
have rarely been admitted even as
.freemen ; and, with few
ex coptions, they are altogether excluded from the governing
bodies. In some—and among these is the most important
Corporation in Ireland, that of Dublin—their admission is
still resisted,. on avowed principles of sectarian distinction.
Even in those Corporations where rights to freedom are ac-
knowledged and conceded, the long operation 9f the penal
code having preiTented the acquisition of freedom by the im-
mediate ancestors of the present Roman Catholic_ population,
very few have been enabled, since its repeal, to establsh the
requisite titles.

;‘ The admissions which have taken place, whether upon a
claim of right or by favour, have, for the most part, been either
the result of personal influence with the members of the go-
verning body, or compliments to individuals of wealth or popu-
larity. With the exceptions of Tuam, Galway, Wexford, t.,nd
Waterford, the rule is exclusion.

" In Loi.tdonde;;Y,ar the passing of the Reform Act, there
were only three Roman Catholic freemen..
" Pre% to the relaxation of the penal code the number
of opulent Roman Catholics residing in the corporate cities
and towns was necessarily Hooted. But since those changes
in the laws which have enabled them to share in the general
diffusion of wealth and in the benefits of unrestricted industry,
they have risen and multiplied in th,, middle and upper classes,
so that, in most of the cities and towns, they constitute not
only a majority of the whole population, but a large p.opor-
tion of the more opulent orders. We feel bound to submit to
your Majesty that a system of municipal polity, which excludes
sucli a class of your Majesty's subjects from all substantial (,!r-
-prate privilege and power, must be essentially defective in its
structure. It fails to secure to the different classes of the local
community participation in the regulation of their own con-
cerns ; and it operates far more widely, and more mischiev-
ously, than by the mere denial of equal privilege to persons
possessing perfect equality of civil worth ; for in places
where the great mass of the population is Roman Catholic,
and persons of that persuasion are, for all efficient purposes,

excluded from corporate privilege, the necessary result is that
the municipal magistracy belongs entirely to the other reli-
gious persuasion ; and the dispensation of local justice, and
the selection of juries, being committed to the members of one
class exclusively, it is not surprising that such administration
of the laws should be regarded with distrust and suspicion by
the other and more numerous body.
" The unpopular character of the municipal bodies is thus,
in too many cases, aggravated by their being considered ini-
mical, on the ground of sectarian feelings, to a great majority
of the resident population, and they become instrumental to
the continuance of the unhappy dissensions which it has so
long been the policy of the Legislature to allay."
The Report then goes on to describe the state and con-
dition of the governing bodies of the Irish Corporations,
which, with few exceptions, are self-elected and irrespon-
sible, and it is a fact, that the majority of the members are
frequently non-residents : yet in such bodies as these, the
admission of members, choice of local judges, &c., Corpo-
ration patronage, administration of Corporation affairs,
funds, &c., are absolutely vested.
The manner in which the system of Parliamentary
patronage arose and was perpetuated, is thus described :
" Some charters gave a direct power of interference and
control in the corporate elections to the lord of the manor or
landed proprietor of the town in which the Corporation was
established, while, in others, the powers given to a small self-
elected body, became naturally centered in its most influential
member.

" With few exceptions the influence once acquired by per-
sons of rank or property in the Corporations was without dif-
ficulty perpetuated by the powers of self-election in the ruling
bodies ; until, by degrees, in many, the corporate bodies
came (as we have found them, and as they appear to have
been for a series of years) composed almost exclusively of the
family or immediate dependants and nominees of the in-dividual
recognized as the patron' or proprietor,' and acting sol ly
according to his dictation, and for his purposes, in the elec-
tion of the municipal officers, the administration of the corpo-
rate property and affairs, and the return of Members to Par-
liament for the borough.
" The power of electing non-resident burgesses, given by
the statute we have referred to, was instrumental in preserv-
ing to the patron this predominant influence.
" We cannot reconcile with any reasonable principles of mu-
nicipal government the condition to which so great a number
of the Irish Corporations have been thus reduced, the inhabi-
tants excluded from participation in the election of the corpo-
rate authorities or the management of the corporate affairs,
and the whole power of local government vested in a non-
resident body, exercising or neglecting it, as suits the wishes
or convenience of their patron.
" The influence thus acquired became regarded as the pro-
perty of its possessor, and was transmitted as part of the family
inheritance to his descendants. In some instances it was made
the subject of pecuniary purchase ; in some, as in the case of
Waterford, partitioned, by agreement, between contending in-
terests ; and this species of property was formally recognised
as the subject of compensation, when the Legislative Union
between Great Britain and Ireland deprived many of the cor-
porate towns, or rather their patrons or proprietors, of the
privilege of returning Members to the Irish Parliament.
" The list of towns we have given, in which the Municipal
Corporations have become extinct since that period, shows the
purposes to which the patrons looked in the preservation of
the nominal constitution of the corporate body, and demon-
strates the inefficacy of the corporate institutions to answer the
useful objects of their foundation."
The following are the observations of the Commissioners
on the general defects of these Corporations :
" In treating of the defects in the Municipal Corporations,
regard must be had to two perfectly distinct considerations—
First, of their structure and operation with reference to the
classes which compose them ; secondly, of their structure and
operation with reference to the nature of the communities in
which they are placed, and to the condition of civil society at
the present day, contrasted with what it was when these muni-
cipalities were first called into existence.

" As to the structure and operation of these bodies, with re-
ference to their component members, particular defects in the
constitutions are noticed in the separate Reports as they came
under our observation. Those which appear to us to prevail
generally, and to influence most injuriously the conditions of
the Corporations, are,
" First, the power of self-election in the governing bodies ;
" Secondly, the absolute control vested in these bodies over
admission to the Corporate franchise ;
" Thirdly, the dispensation with residence, as a qualification
in their members and officers.

" But the most important consideration, relative to these
municipalities, is that which has reference to the nature and
condition of the existing communities with which they are
connected, and to the exclusion of the inhabitants at large
from an effective place and voice in the management of the
local concerns and funds, and in the appointment and control
of the officers."
"If self-election were abolished—if residence were en-
forced—if all existing rights to freedom were everywhere ad-
mitted, and the freemen at large shared the power of electing
the officers and regulating the concerns in each municipality,
the basis of Corporation would be enlarged, but the change
would not ensure a fair representation of the whole local
community.
" The freemen in Corporations the most popular consist of
two classes ; those entitled by birth, servitude, or marriage ;
and those admitted, not upon any claim of right, but by mere
favour. It follows, that if the whole Corporate power were
given to the freemen at large, the Corporate body, so far as
there was admission by right, would consist of persons not r•c-
cessarily possessed of substantial property, nor necessarily in-
cluding a representation of the different classes of the commu-
nity. So far as there was admission by favour, it would be in
effect purely self-elected. It is plain that such a body might
exist, with all the forms of popular election, and with a large
number of freemen as its basis, and yet continue for genera-
tions to represent only a: section of the inhabitants.
" The creation of a class exclusively privileged, from its con-
nection (by servitude, birth, or marriage) with the Members
of the Corporation, whether divided into guilds, or not com-
prising such establishments, may have been a scheme of local
polity accommodated to the constitution of things which ex-
isted at the origin of these institutions. But the changes which
society has since undergone, the diffusion of wealth, and the
security of its enjoyment, among persons engaged in traffic,
who have not served any apprenticeships to particular trades,
demonstrate that the structure of these Corporations was
planned for purposes which, in the altered condition of society,
are not suited to the wants, or accordant with the circumstances
of existing communities.
" We do not hesitate to submit to your Majesty, as one
great and pervading defect in the structure and constitution of
these Corporations, that they provide no means and contain no
constituency by which the property, the interests, or the wishes
of the whole local community may be secured a fair represen-
tation in the corporate body.
" The ill effects of withdrawing the management and direc-
tion of municipal affairs from the control and vigilance of the
community, and from responsible authorities, have been long
felt ; and endeavours have been made by Parliament to remedy
the evil, and to provide for the due exercise of municipal func-
tions, in relation to the paving, lighting, cleansing, watch-
ing, and improving of corporate towns, by various local
Acts, vesting such authorities in separate boards, either, as
in Dublin, under the appointment and control of the Crown,
or, as elsewhere, in select bodies of the inhabitants, under
the names of Counnisf_.ioners, elected by the resident house-
holders, who contribute to the necessary assessments ; in the
latter class of cases recognising the value of election by the
general inhabitancy, without other distinction than the degree
in which they contribute to the exigencies of the town, as well
as the necessity of submitting the expenditure and accounts of
the public funds to the vigilance and control of the people
themselves.

" These principles have been extensively adopted in the
recent enactments of the statute 9 Geo. IV, c. 82, which pro-
vide for the establishment in corporate and other towns, in
Ireland, of a resident board for these useful purposes, elected
triennially by and from the inhabitant householders, and the
provisions of which we have found already in force in many
corporate towns. _ _

"These and other Acts of the Legislature relating to bo-
rough constituencies in the several parts of the United King-
dom, we humbly submit to be deserving of your Majesty's Royal
consideration, in determining what constituency is required,
and may form the surest basis for any reform or new establish-
ment of the municipal corporations in Ireland."

With reference to the defective administration of justice
in the various municipal local courts of record, the Com-
missioners make these remarks :

" The legal course and forms of pleading in these courts are
conformable to those of the superior courts of justice, the pro-
lixity of which adds considerably to the delay and expense of
the proceedings. In--some • cases the' practice has, though,
without authority, deviated into the simpler forms of the civil
bill courts. The costs, which are to some extent at the dis.
cretion of the Judges of Those courts, are quite dispropor-
tionate to the usual amount of the debts sued for in them ;
the comparative cheapness of proceedings by civil ))e.
fore the assistant barristers, and in suits for wages before
the magistrates at petty, sessions, have tended --to" diminiA,
to a considerable extent, the practice of the corporate tri-
bunals. The long intervals Which 'elapse between the tim: s
of sitting, of the civil bill court, the distance, in some
cases, of the town in which that Court is held, the power
of attachment peculiar to the c. poratc jurisdiction, and the
course of trial by jury prevailing in the latter, appear in most
cases to be the main causes why the local courts are still re-
sorted to. They might, unqueslioriably, be made highly cop-
ducive to the cheap and convenient administration of justice,
by the introduction of more simple forms of procedure and
pleading, the attendance 'of a competent professional judge,
the establishment of regular sittings at reasonable intervals, a
reduction of the costs to a scale more suitable to the'amount
of the demands usually contested in them, and the substitit-
tion of an appeal under proper regulations, instead of allow-
ing a defendant, by the present dilatory and expensive process
of removal of causes by writs of certiorari or habeas corpus,
capriciously to withdraw himself or the cause from the local
jurisdiction ; proceedings whiCh seriously obstruct the adminis-
tration of justice in the local courts, being too often resortel to
for delay, or to harass a plaintiff by removing a claim for a
small amount to a remote and expensive tribunal, accumulating
costs and deferring judgment.
" Whether the official fees paid by the suitors should go di-
rectly to the judges or officers, or form a fund to provide for
their payment by fixed salaries, we submit for your Majesty's
gracious consideration."
The Commissioners, however, state that in the few cities
and towns where municipal courts of conscience for the re-
covery of debts under 40s. (late Irish currency) have been
established, great benefits have resulted, and. .that much
local advantage would be derived from the general estub-

lishrnent of such courts in large towns upon one uniform
system.
The Commissioners then proceed to inquire into the man-
ner in which the sheriffs of counties of cities and towns,:
chosen by the Municipal Corporation, have exercised their
functions—a branch of the inquiry which appears well to
deerve the attention that has been bestowed upon it.
‘;‘ We refer to the local Reports for the particulars of those
functions, and the manner in which they are exercised, They
are, generally speaking. those of the sheriffs of counties at
large. The most considerable, in reference to the is
the return of jurors to assizes and quarter sessions. We have
found the exercise of this power, especially in the return of
grand jurors, by whom the public taxation of the county of
the city or town is imposed, a subject of much jealousy and
well-founded complaint against the corporate authorities, as
might be expected from the constitution of the corporate bodies.
" A large proportion, frequently the majority, of the .grand
jurors, is empanelled from the members of the governing cor-
porate bodies—an arrangement which, as these bodies are at
present constituted, practically vests and preserves, in limited
corporate councils, the extensive powers of local taxation given
by law to the grand juries. The composition of the grand
juries, which ought to be generally and impartially taken from
the inhabitants at large, is thus directly and effectively that of
the Corporations, and partakes of their defects and unpopu-
larity. The Corporations and Grand Juries of Dublin, afford
striking instances of this connection between the two bodies.
In' Waterford we find a singular arrangement, made to guard
against the practice, by an agreement between the Corpora-
tion and the inhabitants, that no more than a certain number
of the common council should be on the grand jury.
The exercise of this branch of their functions by the cor-
pdrate sheriffs in the return of petty juries on occasions of in-
terest to the Corporations, or affecting their influential mem-
bers or supporters, obviously affords the means of giving an
important advantage to parties in their interest, or professing
the same local or general political views.
The Legislature has already interposed to prevent the
abuse of these functions on such occasions, whether on civil or
criminal trials, by the provisions of the statute of 1 Geo. 111.
c. 17. as to issues concerning tolls, in which the Corporation
may be interested ; and the 6 Geo. IV. c. 61, enabling the
courts to remove the trial of issues joined in corporate cities
or towns to an adjoining county.
" The great importance of the duties intrusted to sheriffs, in
relation to the administration of justice, and thq extent of in-
terests involved in their due exercise, especially in the metro-
polis, almost demonstrate that such corporate bodies as we
have described, limited in numbers, sectarian, exclusive, and
often intolerant in opinions, ought not to have the appoint-
ment of officers intrusted with these duties. Confidence and
faith in the impartiality of the officers and ministers of the laws
are necessary, as well to insure due respect for the due tribu-
nals by which they are administered, as to protect the laws
themselves from suspicion and contempt. That such confidence
is not generally placed in the conduct of corporate sheriffs in
Ireland, in reference to the selection of juries on political oc-
casions, is matter of notoriety. Whether a better system may
not be adopted by the removal of the prominent defects of the
corporate institutions, and placing this branch of the general -
administration of the law in hands more directly responsible
for its faithful exercise, we humbly submit to your Majesty's
gracious consideration."

Of the nature of the income of Municipal Corporations
in Ireland, the Commissioners say that
" The income, revenues, and funds of the Municipal Cor-
porations in Ireland, as at present enjoyed, are, in some, de-
rived from landed estates ; in some from tolls and customs ;
and in a few from bop. The present incomes of very many
are inconsiderable in value, and insufficient for the due remu-
neration of the corporate officers, while the revenues of others
are of large annual amount.
" The management of the corporate estates, as developed
in the transactions of more recent periods, displays, in many
instances, a marked disregard of the public interests on the
part of the bodies under whose control they have fallen, and
affords evidence from which the character of the earlier appro-
priations may be inferred.
" The Members of the Common Councils, or governing bo-
dies, frequently appear in the rentals of corporate property as
the favoured grantees, or the lessees of long and valuable
leases, amounting in many instances to perpetuities, at inade-
quate rents, which appear to have been made without survey
or advertisement, the same parties being thus, substantially,
the lessor and lessee, and exercising without scruple, or regard
to public duty or trust, in their own favour, a complete domi-
nion over the estates of the community.
" In other cases, the influential station of the patron has
been used to secure the appropriation, to his own use, of the
corporate property.
" Amongst the most flagrant, as well as recent, are the cases
of Cashel and Naas, the peculiar and extraordinary circum-
stances attending which are detailed in the Reports on those
Corporations, and demand grave consideration.
" Other Corporations present similar, though not so very
remarkable or recent examples of violation of the public duties
of the governing bodies, and demonstrate the ill effects of that
misapprehension of the character or perversion of the princi-
ples of Municipal constitution, which has enabled such bodies
to abuse and misapply the extensive powers and properties
intrusted to their administration."

As might be expected where such cases of mismanage-
ment or rather mal-management occur, the proceedings of
the Corporations, in relation to the disposition of their re-
venues and property, are altogether secret ; and it even
happens that in some boroughs where corporate property
once existed, it has now entirely disappeared, whilst in
others, as in Dublin, Londonderry, and Waterford, consi-
derable debts have been incurred and are charged upon the
corporate property. In some instances, indeed, the officers
intrusted with the receipt and expenditure of the corporate
funds have continued for years without accounting for them,
whilst in other cases public and private accounts are found
to be most curiously intermixed. The difficulties attendant
upon any legal inquiry into the expenditure of the Coro-
rations are thus stated :

" The payment of the municipal officers forms the chief
head of expenditure in the greater number of the Corporations
possessed of property.
" In some, a portion of the revenues is also directed to other
purposes of local utility ; but the funds applicable to such pur-
poses are generally very inadequate, compared with what
would have been at the disposal of the municipal body under
more correct management of the estates. The corporate ac-
counts present frequent entries of improvident disbursements
to individuals, and for purposes inconsistent with a due appli-
cation of the revenues to the public uses of the community,
which will be found noticed in the local Reports.
" The existing state of the law precludes (save at the ha-
zard of enormous expense) the institution of a judicial inquiry
into the propriety of such expenditure, and the right of the
governing body to dispose of the corporate property at plea-
sure, for their individual and private benefit.
" The Corporations insist that they are entitled to the es-
tates in absolute dominion, to dispose of at their will and plea-
sure, and not upon any trust whatever."
With the exception of the Corporations of Limerick and
Galway, the Commissioners have not found sufficient evi-
dence to enable them to say that the income and funds of
these Corporations were in their nature charitable, but some
instances have transpired of abuse of funds intrusted by
certain benevolent individuals to the management of Cor-
porations, to be applied to the support of schools, or other
charitable foundations.

Reasonable complaints have also been made to the Corn-
missioners of the exaction by some Corporations of exces-
sive and unreasonable tolls. The system of collecting these
tolls calls (say the Commissioners) " for a thorough revision
by legislative authority."

The Commissioners sum up and conclude their Report
as follows :
" In these Reports, and the remarks we have thus made
on the matters pointed out by your Majesty's Commission, we
have abstained from any reference to the political views with
which many of the Municipal Corporations may have been
Created, and the constitutions of all modified or controlled by
the general enactments of the Legislature. Whether those
views or alterations were consistent with sound aid judicious
policy, or were justified by events—whether the institutions
and modifications, created at particular periods and for par-
ticular purposes, answered the expectations of those by whom
they were established, in reference to the general policy of
the state, We have not deemed it within ourprovince to inquire.
We have considered these bodies in the direct and immedi-
ate relation which they bear to the respective communities to
which they are aciatally or nominally attached, and as the
instruments of local advantage, or the contrary, to the
bitants of the corporate district.
" In this view, and with this object, we have, in these Re-
ports, humbly endeavoured to point out wherein, either in
principle or practice, their constitution or prOCeedings appear
to us defective, and where those defects result from the ori-
ginal frame of the Corporate Society, or have been produced
by unauthorized deviation from, or violation of, its arrange-
ments. The operation of these defects extend beyond what
may be deemed mere Corporate limits. The Corporations
have long been unpopular, and oljects of suspicion. As at
present constituted they are, in many instances, of no service to
the community; in others, injurious; in all, insufficient and
inadequate to the proper purposes and ends of such institu—
tions. The public distrust in them attaches on their officers
and nominees; and the result is a failure of that respect for,
and confidence in, the ministers of justice and police, which
ought to subsist in well regulated communities, which, where
they do exist, conduce so much to the peace and good order of
society, and without which the authority of the law may be
dreaded, but cannot be respected or effective.
" We have not thought ourselves authorized to recommend
specific measures of improvement in our Reports—save so
far as the notice. of, and necessary observations upon, the
defect, and cause of evil, tend to suggest the remedy. But
we feel it to be our duty humbly to represent to your Ma-
jesty that the early and effectual correction of the existing
evils, and the prevention of future mischief, are anxiously de-
sired and essentially requisite ; and that these benefits can be
attained, only, by means of a general and complete reform of
the constitutions of the Municipal Corporations to
"We humbly submit this Report to your Majesty's royal
consideration,
" LOUIS PERRIN, MAZIERE BRADY,
JAMES MOODY, JOHN IL CORBALLIS,
WILLIAM HANNAH, PHILIP FOGARTY,
MAURICE KING, DAVID. PIGOT,
WILLIAM E. HUDSON, HENRY •BALDWIN, add
ACHESON LYLE, MATTHEW R. iAUSSE."

The reports that Colonel Hodges, General Barnard,
and Colonel Bacon, are engaged in the Spanish expedition,
are without fbundation.