The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-30 00:00:00

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

At half-past one o'clock a Court of Aldermen was
held at Guildhall, for the purpose of swearing in Mr.
Moon as Alderman, and upon other business.
Sir PETER LAURIE rose and said he had great pleasure
in movinc, a vote of thanks to Sir William" Magnay,
Bart., for his dignified conduct in the grand ceremonial
visit of her most gracious Majesty on the opening of the
Royal Exchange.
Sir C. S. HUNTER seconded the motion.
Mr. Alderman LUCAS, Mr. Alderman WILSON, Mr.
Alderman WOOD, and Mr. Alderman FAREBROTHER,
congratulated the Lord Mayor on the dignity which had
been conferred on him, and hoped he would live long to
enjoy the honour.

_
The motion was put, and carried unanimously.
Sir WILLIAM MAGNAY said he sincerely thanked the
Court for this mark of their kindness, and he could
assure them he felt gratified at the high honour which
had been conferred upon him.
Mr. CAcHEE, from the Lord Mayor's Court, then read
the return of Mr. Moon, as well as the protests from
Mr.p.Salomons and the inhabitants.

Mr. Moon was then ordered to be called in, when
Mr. WIRE rose and said, on the part of Mr. Salomons,
he protested against the return.
Mr. Alderman FAREBROTRER—Your protest cannot
be received.

A GENTLEMAN said he also wished to protest.
The RECORDER—It can only be done by memorial.
Mr. Moon was then ordered to come in, but the Court
was so crowded as to render it impossible for the newly
elected Alderman to enter.

Mr. Alderman COPELA.ND moved that the Court be
cleared, which was done ; and Mr. F. G. Moon was then
sworn in as Alderman of Portsoken ward.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT-EVENING SITTINGS.

Alderman WOOD rose to move " That it be recom-
mended to the Judges and Commissioners of the
Central Criminal Court to discontinue the evening
sittings, and to hold three daily courts for the better
dispatch of business." He thought it would be ad-
visable to divide the motion into two parts, and there-
fore, without discussing the merits of the question, he
should move the recommendation of the discon-
tinuance of the evening sittings. As the Judges were
to meet on Saturday to adopt the regulations for the
sittings during the next Mayoralty, he thought there
could not occur a more favourable opportunity.
Alderman FAREBROTHER insisted that notice ought
to be given of the division of the motion.
Alderman COPELAND declared that such an altera-

tion as that suggested by Alderman Wood would be
productive of the greatest possible inconvenience to
him and other commercial men in the Court, whose
business necessarily occupied them in the early part
of the day, and- made it impossible for them to change
their habit of sitting in the Central Criminal Court
at any other time than the evening, without prejudice
to their families. If these early courts were esta-
blished, he for one should be obliged to throw up his
gown. He protested against talking to the Judges
upon such a subject.
Alderman LUCAS said the Court had better agree
amongst themselves on the propriety of such a change
before they talked to the Judges about it. They
ought to consider whether juries and witnesses, as
well as magistrates, would not be inconvenienced by
such an innovation, and certainly they were bound to
feel the pulses of their constituents on such a theme.
Sir PETER LAURIE believed that the doing away
of evening sittings in the Central Criminal Court
would do serious injury to the ..public. It was ob-
jected that after-dinner sittings were for certain rea-
sons calculated to operate against rational and judi-
cious discussions. But it would be remembered, that
for several hundred years not a single law had been
made before dinner. The members of that Court
were willing to give up their time to the public, but
they were not ready to sacrifice themselves to public
caprice. But the motion had no seconder, and must
fall to the ground.
Alderman Woon said he had not discussed the
subject, for it was one which could not properly be
discussed in many respects openly. There were ob-
jections to evening sittings which might be very well
imagined, but which he did not think it would
be prudent to describe.—(A laugh.) Sir Peter
Laurie had argued that Acts of Parliament
were made after dinner. Perhaps that was one of the
reasons why some of them were so unintelligible,
obscure, and nonsensical.— (A laugh.) But the
making of an Act of Parliament was very different
from the proceedings necessary to be adopted in a
court of criminal justice, where the lives of our fel-
low-creatures were perhaps dependent upon a close,
and scrupulous, and clear attention to everything
connected with the case. In circumstances of such
a serious nature it would not do to ring a bell, as was
done for a division on making Acts of Parliament, to
rouse the Members from their dinner and wine, to
decide upon a question of the merits of which they
were often grossly ignorant. lie saw that the Court
was oppose to a change which would effect great
benefit to the community ; but they would probably,
before long, get a hint from Parliament, which would
convince them of the necessity of adopting the mea-
sure he suggested.
No seconder having appeared, the subject dropped.
—Adjourned.

It is our unpleasant duty to announce the death of
Theobald Spottswood, Esq., J.P., of Caherciveen, and
two boatmen, father and son, by drowning. On Satur-
day last these parties went out to fish near Valentin,
and, unfortunately, the boat upset, and they all met with
a watery grave.—Kerry Evening Post.
ACCIDENT TO THE HON. GEORGE EGERTON.—The
Hon. George Egerton, second son of Lord and Lady
Francis Egerton, has been thrown from his horse, a high-
spirited animal, in the Fulham-road, and received some
very severe contusions in his fall. The horse was so in-
jured as to be obliged to be killed. The Hon. Gentle-
man is going on favourably, and no serious apprehension
is entertained as to the result.
ACCIDENT ON THE BRIGIITON RAILWAY.—AS an
engine, which had carried down a special train on Satur-
day, was passing through Folly-hill Cutting, a short
distance from Hayward's-heath, on its return to town, a
jolting motion intimated that the wheels had passed over
some obstruction on the line. The engine was at once
stopped, and, on the driver returning to the place, he
found that a man, who must have been lying on the rails,
was nearly cut in two by the wheels, which had pased
over the abdomen. He was quite dead. The man
turned out to be a labourer, named Mitchell, and on in •
reohnahSlaytutradhayen
quirt' we learn that he had been drinking at several
go
home,pa o n
and a t t ten o'clockhad p
public-houses and beer-shops during Saturday, and that
night,he p a r ti end
ofrrodmer atocom
the railroad as his nearest road, ,till, overcome by liquor,
he probably lay down to sleep,