The Sun.
London, England, 1826-12-01 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL

Yesterday a Court of Common Council was held for the die.
patch of important public business.
Mr. Deputy ROUTH moved, that the thanks of the Court should
be given to the late" Lord Mayor, for the manner iu which he had
performed the duties of his Mayoralty.
Ot.nxam seconded the motion. •

All. S. DIXON praised his Lordship for his speedy attention to
the complaints and. applications of his Fellow-citizens for relief,
and his regular performance of the Magisterial duties.
The vote of thanks was then put, and carried unanimously [for
the terms see Advertisement.]
• The Rill for increasing the number of Representatives in the
Ward of Cripplegate Without, wag brought up to be read a third
time.

Mr. COPE, as an Amendment,. moved, that it should be read a
third time on the Ist of.lanuary.
Mr. STEPHENS said, he tl usted that the Col►rt would not now
allow the measure to be defeated, or even delayed.

Mr. SAVAGE* said, thatafter the Court had, by a large majo-
rity on the former occasion, virtually given the privileges, he
hoped they Would now get rid of the measure.. -

After some further discussion, the amended motion was nega-
tived by a considerable majority, and the bill was read a third time
and passed.

THE CITY FRANCHISES.

Mr. COPY; AA Chairman of the Committee of General Purposes,
brought- up a Report on the subject of the Petition of the Inhabi-
tants of the Ward of Cripplegate Without, for a restoration of the
ancient Franchises of the Freemen of London.
The Petition set forth that the Freemen, inhabitants of the
City, were entitled to vote for the Representatives in' Parliament
tin• the City of London. This right had been molt sacredly con-
firmed to them by IS 'Zino; in between 'SO and 40 different
Charters, all of which 'they conceived had been unalterably fixed
by the ',Statute of William and Mary, cap, 8. The Petitioners
were convinced that these charters had been At:tined by purchase,
by conquest, or by valnabla services ; and that, therefore, they (the
citizens) were as much the lawful inheritors of the rights as any
possessors. of freehold-• property, either by purchase or by in-
heritance. •

The Committee now reported, that in their opinion it wet it
expedient to.comply with the prayer of the Petition.
Mr. ft. TAYLOR. oppoted the Report, nn the ground, that
Ore no reason% for the recommendation it made to the Court.

Mr. VAVELL expressed his opinion in favour of the principle of
the Petition, and said, he hoped that a general revision of the City
FrauOgee would shortly he considered. He moved, that the
Report should lie on the table.

Mr. 01.ratAst was decidedly of opinion, that something should
he done to obtain the explanation or amendment of the Statute of
the Ilth of (eo. I. respecting the right of Franchise in the City.
Mr. I)ixorc said, he knew no one so well qualified as the Gen-
tleman who het spoke to take upon himself the task of bringing
forward these important measures, if he were again returned to
this Court, of which event there could be little doubt. Mr. D.
then proceeded to express his conviction of the necessity of revising
laws respecting the right of franchise,. the confusion and uncer-
tainty of which had been li•arfnlly increased by a recent decision,
which he could not help characterising as absurd. He alluded to
it decision oft ne Lord Mayor, in the election of an Alderman for
'N'intry Ward, by which it was decided that persons who did not
sleep on their premises were not entitled to vote as inhabitant
householders in the Ward. fly this decision, four or more part-
nets might carry on business in a Ward► pay rates, &c. ; and yet,
if they did not sleep on the premises, they were not entitled to
vote. Who ever before contemplated that persons should sleep on
the premises in order to entitle them to their franchises?

Mr. OLouAm, in favour of this doctrine, cited the opinion of
their late Pleader, Mr. Norton, who, in an excellent work upon
the subject, said it was not to he contended that a person who
spent the active part of the day in the City,- should be disfranchi-
sed. because he went for his health to spend the residue of the
'night out of the City.—(l•fear.)
Mr. Dlxow said, that upon this novel and extraordinary doc-
trine, those • who took a nap in the City in the afternoon, might
be qualified as Voters, whilst those who waited until night, to take
it elsewhere, were not. •

The Loan MAvon said, that the Counsel on both sides, on the
occasion alluded to, agreed that all persons must sleep on their
premises, either by themselves or their servants, to entitle them
to vote.

Mr. DIxoN was not inclined to accept as law the argument of
those Learned Gentlemen, in opposition to the common sense of
the case, and the opinion of the Chief Justice.
The Loan slAyoa declared, that little reliance was to be placed
on the Newspaper reports of argued cases. He had had the au-
thorized report of the case cited by Mr. Dixon in his own hand,
and he could state positively, that sleeping on the premiftes, by
themselves or servants, was expressly stated Asa qualification.
T „ a toy int! dictum
to be the qualification of an Elector, what would they coma to
—(Laughter) ?

A lung diiicustion ensued, in which Mr. Routh, Mr. Stevens,
and Mr. Ledger, spoke in favour of a revision of the Laws, re-
specting the City Frtinehives : and the Report was ultimately or-
dered to lie on the Table.
THE CITY FINANCES',

Mr. FAVELL brought 'up the Report ;el& City Finance
Committee, on the state of the City Revenue. The ordinary
iN-
come of the City was now 114,922/. , The expenditure was
118,006/. The excess of expenditure above the income was
therefore 8,173/.—(llear !)—From the statements of the casual in-
come above the expenditure, it appeared that during the last five
years, there was an excess of expenditure to the amount of
62,291/. beyond the receipts. They attributed this excess of ex-
penditure to extraordinary payments, to the amount of upwards
of 107,100/. The present embarrassments of the Corporation
were chiefly occasioned by such items as the following:—
The New Debtors' Prison. £9,304 15 10
The New Post Office - • 17,352 0 0
Improving the Navigation of the Thames 15,000 0 0
Making the New Courts of Justice at Guildhall-13,800 0 0
Gifts in Charity and Rewards 6,967 6 0
Opening Yantlet Crick
Improvement of Fleet,;market - 9,895 0 0
Old Bailey New Court • • - 4,600 0 0
Buying the right of alienating places. in the Lord
Mayor's, Household 6,463 10 6

Total ..C84,612 I I 4
Mr. Pavel' stated that some of the expenditure here mentioned
would not be entirely unproductive to the Corporation, but they
were i►► such an alarming state as required an immediate retrench-
ment of their, expenditure. lie therefore proposed, that, to keep
a contralti over it, no motion for any extraordinary expenditure
should be brould before the Court, until it had been first sub-
mited to the Finance Committee, that they might report as to
whether the funds were available, or whether such expenditure
was expedient.
11r. OLDHAM seconded the motion.
A long debate ensued, in which it was avowed that .the Cor-
poration was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Mr. Dsxorr, at a late hour in, the afternoon, moved that the
debate should be adjourned ; and the motion being carried, the
Court adjourned accordingly.

QUICK TRAVELLING I—At a late meeting of the
Brighton Mechanics' Institution, the lecturer having remarked,
that it would take 520,000 years for a cannon ball to reach the
nearest fixed star, if shot from the guns of the battery ; one of the
parish beadles who was present, struck with astonishment, ex-
claimed, " Lord, Tom, when shall I get to heaven ?"—Brightun
Gazette.

DANGER OF EATING MUSHROOMS.—A few
days ago (according to this veracious son of Esculapius), the
Sub-L►eutenant of the Custom House of Anzat (Ariege), a man
about 30 years old, imprudently devoured a quantity of mushrooms
which he hail gathered from the mountains. A very few hours
after, he was seized with a swimming in his head ; his ideas be-
came confused, and a sort of frenzied joy seemed to possess him.
Immediately afterwards his whole frame shook violently ; his
eyes were fixed, and his countenance denoted the most vacant
stupidity. The unfortunate roan imagined that he had been
suddenly transported to some ►most beautiful country, and
continually cried out---" Oh I what a charming landscape!"

in a few hours, however, the scene seemed -us change,
and as he appeared to be fast verging towards that
" bourn, from whence no traveller returns,' a clergyman was
sent for to administer spiritual consolation. Upon the first ap-
pearance of the clergyman, the sufferer assumed the most penitent
aspect, and prayed with the greatest fervour. lie then suddenly
started up, anti Writing into tears, cried out with a voice of
thunder, " The Devil has got hold of sue !" which he repeated
several times. He now seemed in a litate of perfect phrenzy, and
his conduct became so violent that it was found necessary to apply
a strait-waistcoat, though his strength seemed so great that it
required eight men to secure him. Whenever any one approached
he called in the most fervent manner to God that be would pro-
tect him from the Satanic agents that were coming to destroy
him, and who wanted to convey him to hell. This access of de-
lirium lasted about three hours, when it gradually became calm,
and reason rapidly resumed her wonted empire.-21forniny
Paper.
•

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.

CORN TRADE.

Extract from the Order of the Cabinet of his Majesty the King
of Prussia, dated 12th September, 1801.

. .
(Appendix No. 40. of the Report on the State of Agriculture in
1821.)
TO THE AtINISTIER OF STATE, BARON VON SelitiOETTElt.

With respect to taking off the new Doti' on Wheat, I do. not
sec that the country can suffer from its continuance to the end of
this year, as the shipments of the present calendar year cannot con-
tinue much longer ; the thrashing out a the wheat will not be
finished before the end of the current year, and therefore the
supply- to the seaport towns eau only beg►n within the month of
January next year. •
It is the fault of the merchant himself if be has encumbered
himself With a larger stock than he could send to England bethre
the Ist of October, as he is 'sure Jof a good price to that time; and
the new measures of the English Gnve►►►,i►ent for reducing the
bounty, having occasioned an unnatural rise in the pricey of the-
best wheats, will make up to him in price what he would other-
Wise have received in bounty. Under these circumstances, I con-
sider it so much the more advisable to postpone the taking off the
duty on wheat till the month of December,- as we shall then be
able to _judge with more certainty whether the report of an un-
usually abundant wheat harvest in England is founded or not, and
regulate our measures accordingly. Should the prices in England
continue to that time between bOa. and 60s. per quarter, the duty
shall then be taken off, and shall only be continued in full if they
rise again till 80s. or 90s. ; should they in this 'period rise spine-
thing less than this last-mentiOned prime, the duty can be modified
accordingly.

(Signed)

FREDERIC!! WILHELM.

(COPY.)
INFORMATION received by the Lords of the CoMmittee of Privy
Council for Trade, from Mr. Claude Scott, relative to the
CuAßOrs and Fastowc of CoaN, to and. from differeht.Coun-
tries, or carried Coastwise to and from the several Porta of
this Kingdom.—(First ordered to he printed, 7th April, 1791,
and ordered, by the House of Commons, to he re-printed, 28th
November, 1826.)
LONDON TO HOLLAND.

The Medium Charges per Quarter of } Not including Commission
each sort of Corn, from
s. d. 10 per Cent. on the amount
Wheat, Beans, Pease, Rye 1 6 of the Freight in lieu of Port
Parley