The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-15 00:00:00

THE THROWING OPEN OF THE MAYOR'S COURT.

Alderman and Sheriff MUSGROVE presented a memo-
rial to the Court from Mr. W. H. Ashurst, the Chair-
man of the Secondaries' and the Officers and Clerks'
Committee, praying that the Court would appoint a Sub-
Committee to confer with the Committees of which he
was Chairman, on the subject of the Mayor's Court,
with a view to some arrangement, likely to be more be-
neficial to the public than that which existed under the
present constitution of that tribunal.
Mr. ASHURST, in supporting his memorial, stated that
from the County Courts Bill, which it was expected
would pass in the present session of Parliament, all
England, with the exception of the City of London
alone, would derive great advantage. It was, therefore,
necessary that the Corporation should immediately take
into consideration the necessity of making an attempt to
participate in an improvement from which inattention or
neglect might soon altogether exclude them.
Alderman MuscaovE moved that the prayer of the
memorialist be agreed to.
Sir P. LAURIE seconded the motion. The matter

had, he .said, assumed an entirely different shape from
what it at first appeared to be. Upon the application
of certain attorneys to practise in the Mayor's Court,
acting on the advice of the Recorder, than whom no man
was better qualified to judge, the Court had declined to
admit the petitioners. Since that refusal a mandamus
had been applied for, and until that question was de-
cided the Court would not be justified in interfering. He
could not, however, see the least objection to a confe-
rence ; on the contrary, he was convinced that it would
lead to the complete protection of the interests of the
Corporation. It tappeared by Sir Francis Palgrave's
report, that when an attachment was made in the
Mayor's Court, and judgment went by default, the plain-
tiff's costs did not exceed 41., and when the action was
defended, the costs, including the expenses of execution,
did not exceed 15/. • and in ordinary suits, if the sum to
be recovered was above 50/., the costs would be between
121. and 13/. When he saw such anxiety for the public
amongst the attorneys, he was put in mind of the
importunity with which the wolves asked leave to pro-
tect the sheep ; and he could not help declaring
that he looked upon the application of the gentlemen
who had appeared at the bar of the Court as a scheme
merely for their own advantage at the expense of the
public. He considered that it would be most dangerous
to allow every law attorney to use the extraordinary
powers of the Court. If such license were given the
bankers in the city would very naturally make a move-
ment to the other side of Temple-bar.
The RECORDER strongly advised the Court to agree
to a conference, and stated that the Corporation ought
to avail itself of every opportunity of sharing in the
advantages intended to be bestowed upon the community
at large.
Alderman WOOD recommended that the prayer of
theimemorialist should be granted, and said he could not
see what possible objection there could be to go to the
Legislature upon the subject.
The motion was then agreed to, and, after the trans-
action of some business of no public interest, the Court
adjourned.

A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF ALL LIVING
NAVAL OFFICERS.—Our readers will observe that a work
of great interest and importance to the Service—" A
Biographical Dictionary of all Living Officers"—is in
course of preparation by W. R. O'Byrne, Esq., ,?..f
Doughty-street, Russell-square: The want of
with therl'
of this kind has long been felt • and, in common
profession generally, we hail 'Mr. O'Byrn
wish
announce-
ment with pleasure and satisfaction.
We will
him every possible success, and trust
this very arduous
evince their sense of the value of _
e:seerely
undertaking, by affording him every facility
Gazette.
information.—. Naval and Military
ndon, Pegasusy next,
THE DERBY.—B ell's Life in t s
byin acquiring
May 19, will contain :—Form_vraoril
egy, —lndex
Life of last Sunday,
a_nd important pre-
liminary information. Coonfte of
sporting events. An epitome of
to the Winner—The Derby
Contents
May 12, 16 folio columns
news, and a hundred advertisements
the week's miscellaneous.
matters. The insertion of a
with sporting
chiefly connected
inPP.Beell's
Bell's Life may be equally beneficial
advertisement .
single 0 e in some journals. A sixpence, or six
to that of h
alf-ao-diLnClement, junior, 170, Strand, will at
penny stamps, t
all times ensure acopy of Bell's Life by return of post. The
weekly. sale .
of Bell's Life exceeds 20,000 copies. It is pub-
lished in time for the Saturday afternoon railways.
DEATH or A HIGHLAND BARD.---Alastair Buidhe
Mac- lodhair, the celebrated Gmlic bard, died lately at Gair-
-1 och, Ross-shire. Ile was poet to the lairds of Gairloch,
from whom he had a pension, which he enjoyed up till the
period of his death. Alastair reached the patriarchal age of
eighty-four—a longer term of life than is usually allotted
to the poetical tribe. Ile was at a wedding some years ago,
when a miserly gentleman, observed that "the bards were
extinct." " No," said Alastair, "but those who rewarded
them are gone." He may be considered the last of the High-
land bards, with the solitary exception of the author of
"Loch-Aic," Maccoll.—lnverness Courier.

The bark harvest, as it is termed, is at this moment
being prosecuted with great activity in most of the woods
near Keswick, where vast numbers of people are employed in
cutting down the young oaks and stripping the trunks and
branches of their bark.

A FEL&LE LABOURER.—At the corn mill in course
of erection by Messrs. Potter, corn merchants, a woman is
now working as a bricksetter's labourer. She was formerly
a drawer in a coal mine, but is now prevented following that
occupation by the recent statute prohibiting boys' and female
labour in coal mines. The contractors and architect speak
of the very great strength possessed by. her as equal to a
man, an the ease with which she carries up a " burn" of
bricks or d mortar on her head to the top of the building. The
females residing near have expressed their indignation of the
step by hooting, but she says she must do it or starve,—
Manchester Courier.