The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-12 00:00:00

MEMORIAL

A memorial from the owners and occupiers of houses in
Bridgewater-street, was read, and referred to the Finance
Committee.

CONFIRMATION OF PROCEEDINGS

The proceedings of the last special council, and of the se-
veral committees since that meeting were then read and con-
firmed.

APPOINTMENT OF MR. HARVEY AS ALDERMAN

It being understood that the Town-clerk had taken the
opinion of counsel on this question, he was called .upon by
several members to state the result. He stated, in effect,
that after the election of Mr. Harvey, by a majority of
thirty-three to thirty, and the Council had broken up,
Mr. G. H. Lawrence, accompanied by several other mem-
bers, came in and protested against the election, on the
ground that his name was not in the burgess list at the time
being. The objection was that his (Mr. H.'s) name was
not in the list for 1839, and as the list for 1840 was not re-
vised throughout, and the old list of 1839 fallen back upon,
that list therefore remained in force till Ist November, 1841,
and Mr. Harvey was elected on the 30th Oct., while the list
for 1841, in which his name appeared could not come into
legal operation till the November following. It was there-
fore contended that Mr. Harvey was not duly qualified to
sit as alderman. He (the Town-clerk) thought at the
time the objection was fatal, and had he heen then asked his
opinion, he should so have stated it. There were two lists
required—one by the overseers, to be completed in August,
called the burgess list—and another, revised by the mayor
and assessors, coming into force on the first November,
called the burgess roll. The opinion, however, which
he had first entertained against Mr. Harvey's eligibi-
lity, was considerably shaken by his attention being
called, by a barrister, to the words " entitled to be (at the
time of election) on the Burgess List", the other being
called the Burgess Roll. He had finally been led
to the conclusion, from several clauses of the act, the words
referred to the overseers' list, and he therefore had formed
an opinion favourable to the election in question. He then
stated that he had drawn out the case of Mr. Harvey as
clearly as possible, and submitted it to eminent counsel, Sir
Frederick Pollock, Attorney-General, Mr. Starkie, M r.
Cowling, and Mr. Crompton. Their reply was, " We are
of opinion that Mr. Harvey was entitled to be on the burgess
list at the time he was elected alderman."
A long and rather stormy discussion then took place as to
whether the Council should proceed to have the question
decided in the Court of Queen's Bench, or should leave the
matter to rest on the opinions obtained.
Mr. G. H. LAWRENCE moved, in effect, " That the ques-
tion be referred to the Town-clerk, to take further legal
opinions upon it, and that he report upon the same to the
Council at a future. day. He wished it to be understood,
however, that in any ulterior proceedings that might be
taken, the expenses should not be thrown upon Mr. Harvey,
but be taken out of the corporate funds.
Mr. Aikin, Mr. Evans, Mr. Earle, Mr. Mellor, Mr. Bol-
ton, and others spoke in favour of leaving Mr. Harvey iu
possession of his seat, without any legal proceedings being

taken : Mr. G. H. Lawrence, Mr. H. Lawrence, and Mr.
Gladstone, in favour of inquiry.
Mr. HARVEY stated that whatever proceedings were in-
stituted against him out of doors he should retain his seat;
but if the council instituted proceedings, he should refrain
from attending or voting until the decision was obtained.
Finally, MR. ALDERMAN EVANS moved us an amend-
ment that " after the legal opinions taken, the council do'not
consider it necessary to proceed further in the case of Mr.
Harvey."
The votes, were then called for, but betore they were
taken, the amendment was withdrawn.

.
Mr. G. H. Lawrence's motion was then put, and car-
ried on a show of hands by a very large majority.

THE MAYO& S ALLOWANCE

On the motion of MR. HOLMES, seconded by MR.
HODGSON, the Mayor's allowance was fixed at the usual
amount, namely £2,000, subject to a reduction of £7OO,
payable to the Town Hall Egablisliment Committee.

QUARTERLY MEETINGS.
The quarterly meetings of the council were appointed for
the first Wednesdays in February, May. and August.

APPOINTMENT OF ANNUAL OFFICERS.
The officers who are annually appointed, as well as those
who held office during pleasure, were next appointed. No

change whatever was made

STANDING ORDERS

On the motion of Mr. Birkett, seconded by Mr. Cooper,
the standing orders were ordered to be printed, and taken
into consideration at the next meeting, the existing orders to
continue in force in the meantime.

THE BOROUGH SESSIONS

The MAYOR presented a report from the visiting justices.
The report embodied a resolution from the visiting justices,
to the effect that it would be desirable to hold the sessions
more frequently, in consequence of. the numbers of persons
who *ere committed for trial. It appeared that a commu-
nication had been made on the subject to the recorder. The
latter replied, that he would accede to any arrangements
which would not affect the present attendance of the bar.
He further stated, that his duties exceeded those of any
other recorder, and that he hoped that would be taken into
consideration.

The report was referred to the Finance Committee,
RLVISION OF THE BURGESS LISTS.

Tha TOWN-CLERK' submitted, for the consideration of the
council, whether the Finance Committee should not be in-
structed to take into their earliest consideration the state of
the law as to the revision of the burgess lists, and to adopt
such measures as may appear to them advisable, reporting
from time to time to the council.
Referred to the Finance Committee.
APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES.

Finance Committee (15).—0n the motion of Mr. George
Lawrence, seconded by Mr. Cooper, the following gentle-
men were appointed the Finance Committee Richard
Houghton, H. Lawrence, G. H. Lawrence, Robinson, Bu-
shell, Aspinall, Alex. Smith, Birkett, Wood, Bolton, J.
Holmes, Freme, Mather, Moon, and Shaw.

Improvements Committee (10).—Sandbach, Blundell, Jas
Lawrence, Hodgson, Cooper, Kilshaw, Barclay, Earle, H
Holmes, and Turner.

Watch CommitteP (25).—G. H. Lawrence, Toulmin, Jas.
Lawrence, Jones, jun., Robinson, Procter, John Smith,
Hodgson, I. Holmes, Copeland, Rae, Parker, Trotman,
Bushell, Kilshaw. Edwards. Harbord, Thornhill, Mellor,
R. V. Yates, Jordan, Mather, Richard Bright, Preston, and
Frame.

Market Committee (9).—James Lawrence, Toulmin, Jno.
Smith, Kilshaw, Isaac Holmes, Rigby, Bulley, Evans, and
Priestley.

Education Committee (16).—The following were proposal
as members of this committee :—G. H. Lawrence, Alexan-
der Smith, Sandbach, Priestley, Parker, Harbord, Hodgson,
Crook, Birkett, Shaw, H, Holmes, Aiken, Platt, Bright.
Molyneux, and Chilton.

Mr. Aiken, Mr. Bright, and Mr. H. Holmes, severally
requested to be excused from being appointed on this com-
mittee. A very long, aad warm discussion followed, and
eventually an amendment was moved that the council do ad-
journ by Mr. Sandbach, who gave it as his opinion that
if the committee was constituted as proposed, there would be
no prospect of good from it. He could not see any hope
whatever of the schools being worked to advantage. He,
therefore, begged to move that the council adjourn in order
to afford time for consideration.

The motion was seconded, and the Council adjourned at
20 minutes past four o'clock, till Monday morning next.
The new Mayor, on leaving the Town-hall, was greeted
with most enthusiastic cheers.

MEETING OF THE LIVERPOOL POLYTECHNIC
SOCIETY.

On Tuesday evening this society held its usual monthly
meeting, in the lecture room of the Royal Institution. John
Grantham, Esq., occupied the chair, and several interesting
communications were laid before the members.

The first was " A Paper on. the Utility of Medals," by
C. F. SALT. The essayist attributed the neglect of the study
of medals to the prevailing ignorance of the importance of
their history, which arises, in great measure, from medals
being less numerous among the moderns than they were
among the ancients. With the latter they were the current
coin of the realm, on which were stamped the virtues of their
emperors, as well as the public benefits they conferred on
their subjects. This is an admirable method of transmitting
to posterity the most important facts connected with the
history of a country. _ _ _

Medals are highly important in an historical point of view,
being public records of interesting national events : a regular
series, indeed, forms a complete body' of history. I❑ geo-
graphy and chronology they are valuable auxiliaries in throw-
ing additional light upon many obscurities connected with
these pursuits. On the civil institutions of a country, on the
general habits and private customs of a people, great infor-
mation is derivable from medals. Many noble edifices of
antiquity, of which nothing remains but a few scattered frag-
ments, to bespeak their former grandeur and beauty, are
preserved entire on medals. The specimens of ancient sculp-
ture are no less remarkable than those of architecture. The
fact of the four most beautiful statues extant, viz., the Far-
nese Hercules, the Belvidere Apollo, the Medicean Venus,
and the famous Marcus Aurelius on horseback, being faith-
fully represented on medals, favours the opinion that other
beautiful reverses are copies of statues which have not escaped
the ravages of time. Nor are there reasons wanting to con-
firm the sentiment that many medals are copies of ancient
paintings : certain it is, that the best modern painters have
studied medals with particular interest and advantage. The
assistance derived from medals in clearing up many obscure
passages In those inimitable productions of the ancient Greek
and Roman writers, is more extensive and complete. Their
assistance in other departments of curious and elegant litera-
ture was adverted to, and, in conclusion, Mr. SALT expressed
the hope, that as the electrotype process affords a facile and
cheap method of multiplying copies, so it will bring the pleas-
ing study of medals into general vogue, and thus lead to the
multiplication of these enduring records of interesting and
important events, as they transpire among us.
Mr. R. H. CHILTON then read a paper " on the Medals
of the present Reign." This gentleman has appeared before
the society before on these subjects, and skilled as he is in
such antiquarian research, he is always listened to with great
attention. He stated that the medals on the table had not
the charm of antiquity to recommend them, the events they
recorded being within the memory of every one present. In
considering what constituted a good medal, the sister art of
historical painting should be referred to, for both aimed at
the same objects, and were guided by the same rules. The
lights and shades of the painting were expressed by greater
or less relief in the medal; and the great distinctness of out-
line that this enabled the artist to give, quite compensated
for the want of colouring. To illustrate this, a medal was
shown taken from the painting of the Holy Family, by
Raphael. The medalist had a great advantage over the
painter in the legend or inscription ; this was the part that
was generally abused in modern medals. In some the in-
scription not only extended round both sides, but also round
the edge; some more were written in Latin Hexameter verse.
The following, copied from a Roman medal, was more eru-
dite still :