Star.
London, England, 1818-09-11 00:00:00

deaths rdatleite iota itiuitellialrftfiriierformaixe of
this duty *iodic SPAM ilen.4llollllltaildisi, if the wlicati•
liesirsa titgalle iisfilfrilD body, it was
Olissoilltosalltojoodiss a two

provided that

each, sod tbet four Monde druid the easse Ow carry
on the inquiry, with an expoillsle 1184 seeeterate4, and.with
a salutary rivalsltip 'among ihritsaves. The Ministers in the
House of Lords, changed 6e'reartiot fromlte• fe tliree, and left
the whole number of Commiulotierceitit, m befea ; thus re-

ducting the number of Boards from /our to hey, and leaving two
Commissioners wholly unemployed. As it is perfectly well
known, even to beginners in arithmetic, that eight is not divi-
sible by three, I am reduced to the necessity of suspecting that
the authors of this change have no serious intention that the
• shall ever be divided at all ; end that they mean to make
the Commissioners proceed by written interrogatories sent to
different parts of the country. It is already stated out of doors
that such a plan has been formed ; I can only say, that it must
renderthe'vrhole Inquiry a perfect mockery; and the lab Ours
of the last !Barbel, for the correction of abuses, will have ended
in adding one' of peculiar grossness to the former number, by
the creation of about a dozen sinecure places.
" An. addition was proposed by his Majesty's Ministers,
which we cheerfully adopted, regarding it as an iniprovement.
They suggested the prOpriety of naming six honorary Commis.
sinners, whet might form a siperbstending and ventral body, to
advise and to regulate the proceedings of the whole. The per-
sonages who were proposed to fill this department, united to
great weight in the country, commanding talents and confirmed
habits of business. I need only mention the Speaker, Sir s%.
Grant, the Marquis. of Lansdovrn, Lord Grenville, and the
Bishop of London, to justify the satisfiscdon experienced by the
Committee at this part of the arrangement. It seemed even to
furnish a security against the consequence of any defects in the
choice of the stipendiary Commissioners ; and some whose con-
fidence in the measure had been shaken by that choice being
left in the Crown, felt It revive when they were told that such
men as I have named, would at all events be placed at the head.

of the department.— (To be continued.)

EDINBUIIGH, SEPT. 7.

We lately mentioned the a-rival of Mrs. FRY in this
country. During her short stay she has already, ac-
companied with her brother, Mr. GURNEY, visited
Cupar, Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen, and Perth ;
and it will afford the public much satisfaction to'
learn, that in all these places she has found little to
complain of, though in some respects ameliorations
are, desirable. At Aberdeen the bridewell was found
extremely well attended to, and on an excellent foot-
ing but the jail is old and bad, and the unfortunate'
inmates but ill provided for. At Perth the jail is new,
I large, and-commodioin, and the only thing required
to complete the establishment ancars to be some
more effectual means for securing religious atten-
dance, there being no clergyman appointed for that
prpose. On her return to Edinburgh on Saturday,
Mrs. FRY visited all the jails of this place, and the
Loap PROVOST having been informed of her inren,
Lion, politely met her at an early hour for that pur-
pose, and went over the whole establishment of the
new jail, giving every necessary elucidation and fa-
cility that was desired. Mrs. Far was particularly
pleased with the economy of this place, and was much
gratified at hearing oldie punctual and unrernittill g
attendance of the Rev. Mr. Portmous—the ;men-
tion paid to the comfort of die pri.ohers and the
complete system of -surveillance were also much
ad=mired. The only thing to be regretted, was,
the entire want of employment for the prisoners, a
circumstance which, we hope, may yet be remedied.,
It is highly gratifying to know tliat Mrs. Div con-
stantly expressed her surprise at the small number of
criminal prisoners in this country ; in some j&ls she
found none, and in all very few.

MANSION Hotisz.—Ye•Fterday Mr. Thos. Bignold,
Secretary of the Norwich Union Insurance Office,
appeared before the Loan MAYOR, in ansOrer to a
summons, at the instance of. Mr. Sherwood, of Pater-
noster-row, and Mr. George Gravtif of Walworth,
charging that Gentleman with an assault.
Mr. Sherwood stated, that he went to the Office in
Bridge-street, as the friend of Mr. Graves, who had
a claim upon the Society to the amount of £600:
that he and Mr. Graves went to the Office on the day
in question, with permission of the Committee, to in-
spect certain articles in the possession of Mr. Bignold.
Mr. Wilson, one of the Committee, was present when
the complainant and his friend went up stairs. Mr.
Bignold, upon-their entering the room, put himself
in a rage, and opposed their entrance, threatening,
that if they did not go away he would break their
necks, by pushing them down stairs. He caught
hold of the complainant by the shoulder. This was
the assault complained of.
Mr. Wilson, one of the Committee of Bridge-street,
corroborated Mr. Sherwood's statement,, as to the op-
position shewn by Mr. Bignold;. but stated, that the
latter put his hand gently upon the other's shoulder,
and without violence. He had not interfered, when
Mr. Bignold ordered.the gentleman out of he room,
because the apartment was in Ur. Bignold's private
dwelling, and any interposition upon his part was
not warranted.
The LORD MATOR—' " Ad he tell Mr. Sherwood,
before he laid his had ori him, the House was his ?"
Mr. Wilson—je Hi certainly did."
The LORD MATOR *as of opinion, that the com-
plainant (Mr. Sherwood) had not gone far enough
prole an assault. His Lordship, however, thcnight
That the privilege of Mr. Bignold did not extend to
those apartmerts where business was transacted for
the Association, although the house in which the
apartments were situate was his property.
The charge was dismissed, and a similar charge
exhibited on the part of Mr. Graves was withdrawn.
' HATTON GAIDILN.-TWO Irishwomen, named Co-
nolly and Kelly, were committed on a charge of an
outrageous assault upon a poor woman of the name
of M'Carthy, whom they had treated so barbarously
that the child of which she was pregnant had been
killed by their violence. The woman Conolly, it ap-
peared, was jealous of her husband with a girl living
in the same house with Mrs. M'Carthy, and not be-
ing able to find the guilty person, assaulted and half
killed an innocent one. •

SHAD WELL.—An elderly man, named. James Ma-
lany, was committed under Lord Ellenborough's
Act for maliciously cutting and stabbing John Black
' with a cutlass. The prisoner, in the first instance,
had ,threatened to cut off his daughter's head ; but
Mr. Black interfering, he had transferred his mur-
derous attempt to him.—He w•as remanded, to give
him time to procure witnesses.