The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-05 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL CORPORATION.

Thomas Jefferson Hogg, and George Hutton Wilkinson,
Esqrs, the commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire
into the charters, management, &c. or the Liverpool Corpora-
tion, commenced their labours yesterday, in the Sessions-house.
The inquiry did not draw a very numerous audience, consi-
dering the importance of the business, and the number of inha-
bitants who may be affected by it. At the time the commission-
ers. entered, (a quarter before eleven,) there were nut two
hundred persons present.. The commissioners were accompa-
nied by the Mayor, and several gentlemen of the Corporation,
and took their seats in the centre of the bench. John Wright,
Esq , the Mayor, sat at their right hand, and we observed Al-
deruieu Sir beorge Driukwater, Sir John Tobin, Lawrence,
Bourne, and Case, present, at the commencement of the pro-
ceedings.
Mr. WILKINSON read the commission, which set forth that
the commissioners had the power of summoning before them
the Sheriffs, Mayor, Bailiffs, Aldermen, Common Council-men,
and others, to give evidence touching any matters connected
with the Corporation, and to produce the charters,. titles, rolls,
and other documents, by which the Corporation was constituted.
The- proclamation being read,
Mr. Ildbo, the other commissioner, rose, and addressing
himself to the persons present, said;-that in the inquiry which
was about to be .instituted there was no objection to an open
court, but although persons were not prohibited from taking
notes, the publication of the proceedings would be pro-
hibited, as had been the case at other places, iu the course
of the commission of inquiry. The plan of proceeding in
the inquiry would be first to examine upon oath all the of-
ficers of the Corporation fully upon every point connected
with the constitutional rights and privileges of the Corpor4iuti,;
after which they would take any Rerson's testimony who thought
proper to give them any information respecting the constitution
and proceedings of the corporate body. The aldermen and other
officers of the Corporation would then be recalled, for the pur-
pose of re-examination, and to explain any part of their evi-
dence previously given, if any misunderstanding should arise.
That course had been pursued at other places, and he (the
learned-commissioner) did• not see any reason for deviating
from it. They would commence by taking the names, ages,
and residences of the Corporation officers, when elected, &c.,
and commence with the Mayor first.
The Town CLERK said that he had a list of the Corporation,
with their names and residences, and if the court had no ob-
jection they would commence by seniority.
• Alderman George Case was first upon the list ; he is an alder-
man, elected on the 4th of October, 1775, and resided in Liver-
pool, age 86.
Alderman Peter Whitfield Brancker, was formerly a mer-
chant, elected 4th December, 1793, resides in Liverpool.
Alderman Thomas Molineux, a county magistrate, residing
at Newsharn House, within two miles. of Liverpool ; he was for-
merly a merchant, and was elected. the 3d of October, 1798, age
831 years.
Alderman -Samuel StanifOrth resides at Everton, was for-
merly a Merchant, and elected the &I:of October; 1804, aged
64 years. .
Alderman John Boirne, a magistrate of the- county, and for-
merly a merchant, elected 3d'of -May," 1809, resides in Liver-
pool. -
Alderman Thomas Case, magistrate for the county, and a
deputy lieutenant, merchant, has an office of business in Liver-
pool,-residence at. Summer Hill, Appointed to the council on
the 3d of May, ISO 9, aged 56. • - •
Thomas Corrie, Common Councilman, formerly a merchant,
now the receiver of town dues, resides in Liverpool, appointed
to the Councilodthe 3d July, 1811, aged 55.
Alderman John Wright, the present mayor, a county magis-
trate; resides at Everton Crescent, elected to the Council on the
7th of April; 1813:
Alderman Charles Lawrence is a magistrate of the county
and a deputy-lieutenant, a raerchant, residing at Wavertree-
hall, within the borough, elected the sth May, 1813, aged 57.
Alderman Nicholas Robinson, merchant, resides at Aighurth,
between four and five miles" from Liverpool,, has esti office of
business in the town,' and was elected to. the Common Council
4th January, 1815.
Alderman. Sir George 'Drinkwater, resides in Liverpool,
formerly a merchant, elected 4th of January, .1815, aged 53.
Alderman Richard Leyland, a magistrate for the county, and
a banker, resides' in Liverpool, elected 4th January, 1815.
William Wallace Currie, a Common Councilman and ma-
gistrate for the county, a merchant and agent for an insurance
office, resides in Toxteth-park, within the jurisdiction of the
borough, has a place of business iu Liverpool, elected 4th Jan ,
1815, aged 49.
John Dean Case, a Common Councilman, formerly a mer-
chant, and now treasurer to the Corporation, elected 4th of.
October, 1815, aged 47.
Isaac Oldham Bold, Common Councilman, a merchant, re-
sides at Edge-hill, elected 3d of July, 1816, aged 48.
William Earle, a Common Councilman and merchant, re-
sides in Liverpool, a county magistrate, elected 3d of Decem-
ber, 1817, aged 46.
Alderman Sir John. Tobin, a merchant, resides at Oak-hill,
but has a place of business in Liverpool, elected 2d September,
-1818.

Alderman Thomas Littledale, a merchant, has a place of
business in Liverpool, but resides at Highfield-house, elected
lit of March, 1820.
John Shaw Leigh, a solicitor, Common Councilman, lives at
Edge-lane-hall, out of the parliamentary borough, elected 3d of
January, 1821, aged 42.
Alderman Peter Bourne, merchant, a magistrate of the
county, resides within the borough, elected 4th of April, 1821.
James Clarke; Esq., recorder, elected 3d of October, 1831, a
barrister of thirty years standing, resides at Lancaster.
William Ripley, Common Councilman, not in business, for-
merly a Captain in the 52d regiment, elected sth of February,
182.3, age about 42.
Alderman Sir.Thos. Brancker, a merchant, resides in Liver-
pool, elected the. sth .of November, 1823, age SU.
Henry Moss, banker, in Liverpool, Common Councilman,
aged 43, resides at Aigburth, elected 6th of October, 1823.
John Ewart, merchant and broker, Common Councilman,
lives at Mosley-hill, elected 7th of June, 1826, age 36.
Samuel Thompson, banker, resides in Liverpool, elected the
Ist of November, 1826, Common Councilman, age 66.
Richard Houghton, Common Councilman, never in business,
resides in Liverpool, and elected 7th of February, 1827.
4 Antho Moliuoux, merchant, resides in Liverpool, elected
.6th of June, 1827, Common Councilman, aged 43.
Thomas Shaw, resides in Liverpool, not in business, lives at
Everton, elected• lit of August, 1827, age 38, Common Coun-
cilman.

.Alderman Samuel Sandbich, Merchant, resides at Aigburth,
but has an office in Liverpool, elected the sth of December,
1827, age 64.
R. B. B. Hollingshead, merchant, resides at Deysbrook, has
a place of business in Liverpool, elected" 2d of January, 1828,
Age 40.
Alderman Charles Horsfall, the late Mayor, merchant, in
Liverpeol„ resides at Everton, elected the stii of August, 1829,
age 58.
Thomas Foster, attorney and town-clerk, age 42, Common
Councilman, lives at Little Woolton, five miles from Liverpool,
elected 3d of February, 1830.
Henry Ashton, Common Councilman, merchant, resides in
Lodge-lane, elected 7th of July, 18.30, age 38.
James Aspinall, not in business, a Common Councilman,
elected the 2d-of November, 1831, age 38.
Robertson Gladstone, Common Councilman, merchant, re-
sides in Liverpool, elected the 4th of April, 1832, age 29.
James Croshie, one of the present bailiffs, Common Council-
man, a. merchant, elected 2d of May, 1832, age 56.
Ambrose Lace, Common Councilman, attorney, resides in
Liverpool, elected the 7th of November, 1832, age 40.
James Cockshott, Common Councilman, merchant, resides in
Liverpool, age 48, elected 7th of November, 1832.
James Pownall, Common Councilman, merchant, resides at
Wavertree, elected. the 2d of January, 1833, age 42.
Mr. FOSTER having given in the shove names and places of
residence, stated that there was at present a vacancy in the
Common Council by the death of Mr. Thomas Colley Porter;
he then handed to, the commissioners a map and description of
the limits and jurisdiction of the borough of Liverpool.
Mr. Hogg,-the commissioner, then administered the oath. to
Sir John Tobin, Alderman P. Bourne, Mr. James Pownall,
Mr. C. Okell, Mr. Foster, Mr. Aspinall,.Mr. Case, Mr. Deane,
Mr. Thompson, Mr. Shaw, Mr. John Sudlow, clerk in the trea-
surer's office,-and other gentlemen connected with the Corpora-
tion ; it was to the effect---That they should true answers give
to the commissioners appointed by. virtue of a commission of
inquiry into the Municipal Corporations of England and Wales,
to all questions dthnanded of them touching the affairs of the
Corporation of Liverpool.
Mr. FosTen. then stated, in evidence, that the map and
description handed to the commissioners was an accurate spe-
cifieation of the jurisdiction of the borough, included in which
was a portion of Toxteth:park, and that it extended also over
the Mersey. The boundaries of the borough were perambulated
every year, about a week before the election of Mayor, which
took place on the 18th of October; the limits were confined by
act of parliament, and the boundaries had never been the subject
of litigation. The act of parliament was 10th and 11th of William
111., chap. 36, entitled, an act to nuild a parish church, and to
constitute Liverpool a parish of itself. An act of parliament,
Bth of Queen Anne, for making a convenient dock for vessels
coming into the port, gave the borough of Liverpool jurisdic-
tion over the water, which extended to Hoylake, Warring-.
ton, and Frodsham Bridges. The borough 'coroners exercised
jurisdiction over the water, and the civil processes of the May-
or's court also extended over the water. The Ist of George
111., char.. 143, section 135, empowered the justices of the
county of Lancaster and Chester, and the borough magistrates,
to levy fines and inflict punishments for offences committed on
the water. Mr. Foster then produced the charters of Liverpool,
from which copies, signed. by himself, were presented to the
commissioners; they were as follows :—The 9 h of John, dated
the Bth of August, 1207; the 13th of Henry 111., 1229; the 6th
of Edward 111., dated January, 1333; the sth of Richard
11., dated 1382; the Ist of Henry IV., dated 29th of May,
1400; the 24 and 3(1 Of Phillip and Mary, dated 4th of Jan.,
1556; the 2d. Charles 1., .4th of July, 16`26; the let James
11., 4th of April, 1685 ; the 3d of William and Mary ; the
Ist of Charles 11., (these three last are now abrogated;) the
7th of William 111., the present governing charter of the Cor-
poration, dated in 1695, and a copy of the same charter under
the seal of the Duchy of Lancaster; the 25th George 11., dated
the 26th of March, in that year; the Bth of George 111, dated 19th
January, 1768, which constituted all the aldermen magistrates,
they hiving previously filled the office of Mayor; the Bth of
George IV., dilated in April, 1828, which made the bailiffs for the
time being coroners for the borough; the coroner under the old
charters having been the Mayor of the year preceding. The
Town-clerk then put in a document, not in the form of a charter,
by which the Mayors of Liverpool were constituted county ma-
gistrates ; it was aiAwn up in the 12th of William 111. He then
put in a list of the-magistrates of the borough, with the date
of their respective appointments, and gave proof that the copy
of the governing charter, presented to the -commissicmers, bad
Y been carefully examined with the approvedthe translation. of the
p rcharter.essioo3
ofThe followinghieh
he wasseiaol
instructed
t rwereocte d t to
heft
stoners, naraely, the seal of the Corporation,pr
oodrutcheed
cboymhmnoni
prepare for the commsiewliosi
of the borough ; the Mayor's sealhfoorowers of attorney or other
official documents; thet ;seal of t
proceedings of the Court of Record Mayor
oo and
andth eß,ariol
'Town Clerk's
f tI
official seal. He (Mr: Foster) then ;declared the title of the'
Corporation to be "The May
of the town of Liverpool, in the Coour'n' t:r3oafilinneaanstder,Bouorgetrost
the Corporation consisted, according to the governing charter,
NY .1-I°lollrne
of the Mayor, two Bailiffs—fort honest and discreet men,
as Common Council-men, from
hc rtkh
e;
Commonan cl t two
Council. Sub-bailiffs
Besidess e n
were to be chosen ; a Recorder the Mayor and Bailiffs
learned
in the law; a Town-
under the Corporation, a treasurer from among the burgesses,
by set
treasurer'shere were,ele
clerk and
tilde
as-
sistant clerk, whose salaries were paid by the Corporation; a
general collector of rents; a su
assistant draughtsmen; three rveyor; a principal and three
under the Building Act, the survey
under buildings, appointed
Geo. IV., cap. 75; an out of
door assistant to the surVevor• , a clerk of committees ; a sword
bearer; a sergeant-at-ma-ce •
, a bi.let-master ; beadles ; bell-
man ; water-bailiff; a superi
ntendent of the ' d ck •
hraving o s ,
three market inspectors; a g
superintendent of police; a iiioverirr of the borough gaol; a
•iyor s servant; a keeper of the
town-hall; a market leave I k oo er • four turnke • )s to the borough
gaol; a watchman for the l• gao , a deputy water-bailiff; a keeper
of the bridewell •, housekeepers, &c. The town dues,
e on he said, were
.collected by Mr. Corrie, who received
per. centag the
amouitt ; the dues at Reucorn wore similarly seceivedb
by Mr.

Richard Jones. The Mayor was elected annually by the bur-
gesses, oii the 18th of October, being the feast of St. Luke
and the charter day, the hustings being erected at the town-
hall, and the business carried on in the presence of the Mayor
and bailiffs for the preceding year. The candidates are
put in nomination by burgesses; if more than one, a poll is
grants& and the burgesses vote by tallies of ten. After
the election of the Mayor that of the bailiffs takes place,
under similar circumstances. The Mayor is sworn in as soon
as elected. The polling has sometimes gone on for a
week. There ' was a poll for the present Mayor, which was
closed at half past threse on the charter day, because the're were
no burgesses to poll. When it is not possible to finish pulling
at 10 or 11 o'clock in the night of the first day, the polling is
adjourned, and continued for eight. hours per day as long as
necessary. There were two candidates nominated at the last
election, and the votes at the close of the poll were,—for Mr.
Wright 339, for Mr. Bold 304.. There is seldom any polling
for bailiffs. The Mayor exercises the privilege of appointing
a deputy in his absence, or in case of sickness. The witness,
after reading the minutes of the last election for Mayor and
bailiffs, went on to say that the Mayor was a justice of the peace
for the borough and county, in virtue of his office; and was
presiding officer at the quarter sessions and in the Common
Council. He is also the returning officer for members of par-
liament. The only privilege he enjoys is that of nominating
a free burgess, which he is enabled to do by the courtesy of the
Common Council, and makes tae nomination generally at the
first Common Council after the expiration of his Mayoralty.
.The form of oath taken by the Mayor was then read, which
does not differ materially from that of other corporations.
Examination continued. The Mayor has no peculiar right
as to the nomination of officers. He has the usual magisterial
power of dismissing officers for dereliction of duty. lie has
no salary or emoluments. After his mayoralty has expired, it
is usual for the Council to vote a sum of money to reimburse
the Mayor for civic entertainments. It is now £1,200 per an-
num; at one time it was only £BOO. The deponent then read
the resolution of the Council in November, 1832, giving thanks
to the late Mayor, presenting £1,200 to him, and permitting
him to nominate a free burgess, and a vote of thanks to the
bailiffs. Expenses of a very heavy nature fall on the Mayor-
Some Mayors entertain 40 or 50 gentlemen per week. This is
optional, as is the vote of the Council. He has to make
public donations, and has many private ones to bestow.—
In every ease the expenditure ot the Mayor must exceed
the amount voted by the Council. Mr. John Clarke, in
1810, received £BOO. The Mayor has no emolument.—
The wine is provided by the Corporation, who also pro-
vide a carriage for the Mayor. The carriage has been
kept for the Mayor since 1821. The bailiffs are elected from
the Common Council. Common Conncilineu may vote for
bailiffs as burgesses, as also for mayors. There was a poll for
bailiffs in 1830. It did not continue beyond an hour. Mr.
Foster then read the form of the oath taken by the bailiffs,
by which it appeared that these functionaries exercise the duties
of sheriffs. The recent charter made them coroners. Except-
ing an allowance for the billet master, who billets the soldiers,
the bailiffs receive no salary or allowance. It is £4o7lser an-
num, and is only a portion of what the billet master is paid.
lie has £lOO a year. The bailiffs, in virtue of their office, are
elected churchwardens Of St. George's Church by the Com-
mon Council. As coroners they act along with the preceding
Mayor. It is an onerous office, requiring almost daily attend-
ance for several hours. Any one of the three can act as co-
roner. The inquisitions average, at least, four a week. The
county coroners do not act in the borough. - Dues not know
that they cannot. A county magistrate's warrant extends
to the borough. The pound allowed by the county on each in-
quest goes to the witness as coroner's clerk. The expenses of
jurors, surgeons, witnesses, &c. on the inquisitions are paid by
the corporation. The coroners appoint their own clerk. The
expenses of inquests last year were £220155. The jurors have ls.
each inquest, and the surgeon £l, unless the body be opened,
when he 'has-£2. These expenses would fall on the township if
not paid by the Corporation. The jurors must be free bur-
gesses. jurors in other townships are paid more than
one shilling, and the surgeons are allowed mileage. The
recorder is elected by the Common Council; he has power,
witness believed, to appoint a deputy, in case of absence or
sickness • he is expected to be .a discreet person, learned in the
law. The practice has been to elect barristers to the office of
recorder for a long period—always since the charter providing
for the election of recorder. The present recorder was elected
in 1821; he had been deputy-recorder for some time previous.
The recorder is elected for life, or during ability and good be.
haviour; he is a magistrate by virtue of his office. The Court
of Passages, for defended causes, is held quarterly. The last
sessions occupied ten days, of which the Court of Passages
required three. The calendar contained, for felony, besides
misdemeanours, one hundred and twenty-nine prisoners, and
there were eighty-one causes. The recorder is the assessor, in
assistance of the Mayor; he is retained as such by courtesy.
His salary is five hundred guineas per annum. At assizes, he
generally holds the corporation briefs. He generally holds
briefs at the assizes, in criminal cases, as a matter of courtesy.
A party may be made a Common Councilman and elected
recorder at the same court. The duties of Town-clerk are,
in that office, confined to the legal and parliamentary business
of the Corporation. Witness read the terms of his appointment
in August, 1832, as Town-clerk. Witness is clerk ot the Court
of Passages, clerk of the peace, and clerk to the coroners.
Mr. John Topham is clerk to the borough magistrates. Wit-
ness's predecessor had a salary of £5OO per annum, including
business of an extra nature. fhe duties having been separated
when witness was appointed, he receives but 100 guineas a-year,
as common clerk. Of witness's fees as clerk of the court and
clerk of-the peace, and for extra business he makes out an
account, so that his income varies with the amount of business
he has to transact. His allowance at the sessions, as clerk of
the peace, is determined by a bill of costs, signed by the judges.
He has no rent of offices to pay; and the stationery is found by
the Corporation. He has a public office as town-clerk. Pays
all his own establishment of clerks. It was a general impres-
sion that his predecessor's place was worth £5OOO a-year. Does
not know what his own emoluments will average. Understands
the salary of 100 guineas to be for the usual duties of common
clerk. At present he pays between £6OO and £7OO a-year in
salaries to clerks. Each magistrate has four weeks' duty in the
year, in the daily business of the town, and nearly as many on
the business at the Dock Police Office. Their attendance is
regulated by a list. (Witness put in that of the present year.)
The business of the town is full four hours 'a day; often it is
much more. At the Dock Police Office an hour or 441 hour and
a half will usually suffice. There were ninety-three cases for
the present day. On Saturday and Friday forty-six. Thurs
day there were sixty-three. On Wednesday sixty-one. On
Tuesday sixty-five. Ou Monday eighty-nine. The average per
day is about seventy. The parish appeals are about eighty
or ninety a-week. There are many cases requiring the
attendance of two magistrates, which is extra to the gene-
ral routine list ; such as assault cases, smuggling, &c. The
magistrates have no salary or emolument whatever. At' the
last meeting of the Common Council there were twenty-nine
members present, and at the meeting before that there were
thirty-two. The recorder is bound by an oath for the faith-
ful discharge of his duties; the oath read is the one taken by the
recorder, and the other is taken by the town clerk; the re-
corder assisted the Mayor iu the legal business of the sessions;
and it was the duty of the town clerk to record truly every thing
connected with the corporation in the Mayor's time, and all
warrants and other legal business were made out and trans-
acted by the town clerk. Mr. Foster here read the oath of the
town clerk, and the Common Councilmen's oath, after which
he resumed answering the questions of the commissioners.
The meetings of the Common Councilmen are held the first
Wednesday in every month, which is according to ancient cus-
tom. There was generally forty-eight hours notice given in
summoning the council, (the commissioners here expressed a
wish to see the form of a Common Council summons, when one
was handed to them by a Common Councilman, who had re-
ceived it to meet the Mayor in Council, on Friday last, on the
subj eet of the Corporation Commissioners Inquiry.) The Com-
mon Council attend upon committees. There must be twenty-
five members present at the committee according to the charter,
otherwise the meeting is not legal. The notices are, to attend
at ten o'clock, and if at that time there are not 25 present the
rest disperse. Every member of the Council is subject to serve
upon committees. The principal committee is the Finance
Committee. A gentleman, named John Taylor, here handed a
letter to the commissioners, containing some information relative
to the investigation; and Mr. Hogg having read it, repeated to
the informaut what he had stated at the opening of the court,
viz., that he should take the evidence of the corporate officers
first, and then should be happy to receive information from any
of the other inhabitants. Mr. Taylor said he should be ready to
give the information he desired to do when the commissioners
thought proper to receive it. Examination of the Toss-n
-clerk
resumed.— The management of the Corporation funds is invested
in the Select Finance Committee, of which all the aldermen are
members. There are some members of the Finance Committee
who are not aldermen ; witness is a member and not an alder-
man, so is Mr. S. Thompson, Mr. Corrie, and Mr. John Leigh :
there are nineteen members altogether, exclusive of Mr. Thomas
Colley Porter, deceased. There are other committees framed
from the Common Council, viz., the Improvement Committee,
the Committee for Managing Schools, the Committee for In-
specting the Claims of Freemen, the Custom-house Committee,
the Town Dues Committee, for the purpose of conducting
the business at present in litigation regarding the town dues
—the Audit committee, to audit fhe accounts of the treasurer
—the East India committee, and the Disfranchisement com-
mittee. There are other committees often formed out of the
body of the Council for occasional purposes. There is no emo-
lument attached to the committees. The sub-bailiffs of the
borough are appointed annually by the Common Council to
execute the processes of the court. The' sub-bailiffs have a sa-
lary of £2O per annum for assisting the bailiffs and 'summoning
jurors, the summonses are directed to the sub-bailiffs and other
constables of the borough; they are paid by the Corporation.
The deputy Mayor is, appointed by power of attorney under
seal of the 'lSlayor ;_ he is sworn in the same as the Mayor, and
he is appointed to do the duties of the Mayor in his absence;
for instance, if the Mayor has occasion to go to London or else-
where, the deputy Mayor acts in his absence, but on the Mayor's
return his (the deputy Mayor's) power ceases, and the docu-
ment by which he was appointed is destroyed. The Common
Council appoints the sword bearer; the present one is
Elias Jones • the salary of that officer has been raised seve-
ral times, and is now fixed at £2OO per annum. Elias Jones
has been fifty-two years in the service of the Corporation,
not all that time as sword bearer, but for about twenty-
two or twenty-three years he has been sword bearer. Before
that time he was the Mayor's servant, and his salary was in-
creased to the present amount, partly in consequence of his giv-
ing up certain fees, which it was customary to give him on the
admission of freemen, and partly as a reward for his long ser-
vices. Cannot tell what salary he had previously, but can as-
certain at what time the rise in the salary took place.
At this stage of the inquiry the commissioners intimated that
they should close their labours for the day, and resume them
at ten o'clock this summing.

DERIVATION OF THE WORD "BUMPER."—When the Ro-
mish religion was in the ascendant in England, the health of
the Pope was usually drank in a full glass immediately after
dinner—Au bon Pere,—hence the word Bumper."
POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE FAIR SEX.—In a few years
the finest kingdoms of Western Europe will he.under the go-
vernment of the fair sex, and they will rule the destinies of the
numerous states, as well as thoie who compose them. A young
princess, Donna Isabella the Second, 'aged three years, has al-
ready ascended the throne of Spain and the Indies, under the
superintendence of her mamma and her aunt, Donna Charlotte:
Donna Maria is established in Lisbon and Oporto, and when
our own KinC shall, in the course of nature, cease to reign, the
throne of the-British Isles will be filled by the Princess Victoria.
In this manner not less than a hundred and fifty millions of the
human race, in the four quarters of the globe, will bow to the fair
sex, and the ladies may boast, like the former Kings of Spain
and the present rulers of Britain, that the sun never sets on their
dominions. It is impossible to help feeling something more
than ordinary degree of interest in the three young Princesses,
who seem likely, in a few years, to possess so large a share of
power and influence, and on whose character so much depends.
One of them, Donna Maria, has already
.passed through a
stormy career, and a career equally stormy is, we fear, in re-
serve for the infant Queen of Spain. -Our own Princess will
succeed to an undisputed throne, and if her reign should he less
famous for military exploits than those of her royal predecessors,
the Queens Elizabeth and Anne,it will, we hope, acquire a more
lasting and a purer glory from the triumphs of freedom and
science, and the extension of the rights and increase of the.hap-
piness of a free, loyal, arid prosperous