The Sun.
London, England, 1827-11-30 00:00:00

• cotter,: OF COMMON COUNCIL.
The first Cofirt :of COmmon Council, since the
commencetnenv of the present Mayoralty, was held
yesterday at
,Gitildhall.
The Loup MAYOR, on taking his seat, briefly ex-
pressed his acknowledgments for the high honour
VIM)" the kindness of his fell Ow-citizens had Con-
ferred upon him, and bespoke .the' indulgsnee and
support of this Court, with whose assistance he
hoped to be enabled to discharge his duty to their
satisfaction.—(APplause.)
Mr. HAN'sON moved a vote of thanks 'to Mr.
Alderman Brown,' the late Lord Mayor, for the man-
ner in which he had filled the office of Chief Ma-
gistrate during the past year.
Mr. OLDHAM, in seconding the motion,, observed,
that after the series of domestic afflictions with
which the late Lord Mayor had been visited during
his Mayoralty, he having lost one son at the com-
mencement of it, a second son a few months after-
wards, and a daughter at its close, it was delightful
to find that he had sufficient firmness to discharge
its duties in the way in which he. had done. •
Tbe resolution was agreed to unanimously, and
ordered to be engrossed on vellum, framed, and
glazed, and presented to Mr. Alderman Brown; and
to be published in the morning and evening papers:
A ptirse of fifty guineas was voted to the Rev..
Mr. Watkins, Chaplain to the late Lord Mayor.
ACCIDENT AT THE CIVIC DINNER.
Mr. DIXON called the Lord Mayor's attention to
the accident which had occurred at a dinner given
by his Lordship at Guildhall, and which had caused
a considerable sensation out of doors. He hoped
that that disaster would not be allowed to pass by-
Without being made the subject of the most strict
inquiry.
The LORD MAYOR said, that he did not, so far as
he-or his family were concerned, wish to hurt the
feelings of any one; but as regarded his guests,
some of whom were so'nearlyallied to the Throne,
lie would not say whether t his Court could or could
not, consistently with what they owed to their own
dignity, suffer, the matter to pass without inquiry;
and lie therefore left it entirely in their hands.
Mr. DIXON then moved .that the subject be re-
ferred for enquiry to the Committee of. General
Purposes. ' •
After a few words from Mr. Saunders, the subject
was referred to the Committee of City Lands.
NEW LONDON BRIDGE.
A report was brought lip from the New London-
bridge Committee for sealing a deed of security to
the Lords of the Treasury for the further advances
of 40,0001., which was agreed to sub silencio.
OFFICE OF SECONDARY.
A petition was presented from Mrs. Sarah Col:
lingridge, widow of the late Secondary, praying to
be allowed to purchase the vacant office for one of

her sons.
A petition was also presented from Mr. Charles
Pearson, stating that numerous abuses were; com-,
nutted by the Secondaries and their Subordinate
OffierS,' 'bldth in the exaction of illegal fees, and in
acts of oppression when executing their process ;
and after detailing various evils attendant upon the
systeni pursued by these offices, and therefore depre-
cating the sale of the office as alike discreditable to
the corporation and injurious to the citizens, the pe-
tition concluded by praying that the, Court would
institute an inquiry.into the duties of: the office of
Seentidary-and Under Sheriff, and their officers,
within the city of Landon.
Mr. PEptsoN then addressed, the Court at great
length, in support of his petition.' This corporation,
he said, held the appointment in trust for public
purposes, and not as a source 'of emolument to pri-
•vate persons. They should not, hp Contended, sell
the office, because.- they thereby gave the purchaser
vested rights inconsistent with their dignity, and in
violation of the rights Of the citizens. It was not
his desire'at present, to refer to that period in the'
history of this corporation, when justice was sold
Juke Meat in the, shambles, -together with measures
of oniOus and apples. When he had a seat in this
Court, he had looked into the abuses of those offices
in the appointment of the, corporation, and discover-
ed the gross and corrupt manner in which the duties
were perfortned.. His statement wa's supported by'
,the report-of the committee then appointed to in-
quire into them, from Which it appeared that they
had been guilty of the most corrupt conduct, parti-
cularly in packing juries who were summoned to try
political otTenceS. It was unnecessary to go into the
details of that repOrt now, as be saw before him the
faces of many gentlemen, and one Worthy Alderman
in particular (Mr. Alderman Waithman), who had
signed it. He had also the honour of calling the
attention of the Court to another crying evil, the
illegal exactions of the officers, and if all the gentle-
men whom he was now addressing had heard the
details of the evidence adduced on that occasion,
they would be most glad to haVe the,power of put-
ting an end to theM. What had been, the conduct
of one of the Secondaries on that occasion ? Did
he come for Ward when called upon by the Court for
an account of the nature and amount of the fees of
his office, and-show that his conduct was not only,
pure in his own conscience., but that he would not,
like twsar's wife, allow it even to be suspected
No; his answer was, that he was not bound to de-
liver the statement of his fees required by the order
of the Court,—that the Courts in Westminster-ball
were empowered to punish any illegal exaction of
which be could lie proved guilty,—and that he Was
besides, open to an action at law by the aggrieved
party. Mr. Pearson then went on to observe upon
the oppressive nature of the process issuing from
this office, pressing alike upon the male and
female poor ; and mentioned an instance , where
a poor woman in her, confinement was obliged
to send the covering of her bed to a pawn-
broker's, to enable her to pay the feeS of an
execution. However, when. the Court came to
consider how they, were to'get rid of the evil; they
found they could not, because the office had been
. purchased for 10,0001. Now, however, that they
had the disposal of the office once more in their
hands, he hoped they would not again place it from
under their own control!l by selling it. When he
had mentioned this subject out of doors, he was told-
-that "the Corporation was poor, and wanted money:
it was powerful aril Nyould have it." He would not
here repeat the answer which be made to that ob-
servation,—namely,-that that was 'a Bagshot-heath
argument—but he would take the liberty of saying,
that it was contrarrta Act of Parliament to sell it.
j What were the duties of the, Secondary ? He was
the party who issued the process,
who empanelled
the jury, who sat-as judge, and who executed the
final process. Now,, there was all Act of Parliament,
passed in the 29th. ytiar of the bite King, which im-
posed a heavy penalty on arty man who dared to.
purchase or make sale of any offices relating to the
administration of: law or justice. Now this was an I
office, from beginning to end, relating to nothing else
but the administration of justice. He (Mr. Pear-
son) was the last man in the world to violate the
sanctuary of the dead, or say that of any man which
he
i would
found 'an presence. He believed
there could 'an individual whose con-
duct not s
in priVate life was more amiable, whose family
not ay
be
Was more respectable, or whoSe'charaater was more
honourable, than the gentleman to whom he alluded.
But that furnished another strong argument against
the sale of this office;. for if it could have tempted
such a man as that to swerve from the strict path of
duty, it showed the necessity of not intrtrsting it to
the controul of any man, however high his character
for integrity and honour.
Mr. FAVELL moved that both petitions be referred
to "the Committee of City Lands.
Mr. Alderman ..rAITIBTAN came forward to saw a
few words on this subject, because he bad taken a
considerable part indrawing up the report which
had been referred. to., :The subject was undoubtedly
one of great importance; and this, Court would.not
do its.dnty unless it instituted all investigation into
the nature of the duties and emoltunents of that office.
Mr. DIXON hoped that this subject would be dis-
cussed coolly and dispassionately.
Mr. Alderman FicannoTHEß Was most anxious