Common Council.
The Times, 1824-10-29T00:00:00

A Court Of Comranoh Council was held yesterday at the Gau(id- hail, for the general. despatch of btiiiness and in particular for ebe electioln of a rector lor the parish of St. Peter, Coenhilli, its the room of the late Rev. Dr. Roberts. N-v RivEn COAIPAN~Y-rXADEQUATE SUPPLY OF WATEE Before the business of the day, was gone into, Ailr. FAV ELL begged to call the attention of the Court to a sub- ject which was o1' very conaiderable importance to the city, and to which hiis attention, as a member for Aldgate, hiad been very press- ingly directed by somne Of his constituents-...he meant the very in- sufficient supply of water to tbat part of the city. In the outset he woud dclare,that be was, not a memller of, nor did he hold anyi s#hares in, any of the new Water Companies which had been lately formed. He 'had no disposition hostile to any, of the WVater Coin- panies already establisbed, and in what he was now doing, he only discharged his duty in bringing forward what he considered to be a grievance calculated to produce the most alarming con sequences. A fire took place a short time back' Iin Aldgate, when two houses wore burnt down, and several others very nearly destroyed. On that occaion there was a very gene- ral, and, he understood, a well'founded complaint of the insufficient supply of water ; and to that circurmstance was to be attributed thc great extent of the ddmage sustained. Bie was one of the deputies wiho had, on the part of the Corporatien, entered into the contract I%with the New River Company, on taking au-ay the water-works from LloncdoNb.ridge. On that Occasion, he astked wkether the New River Cmpanv could keep up a supply of water sItfficiert for Lao.- don ; to which tt was answered, that tie Chairman of the Company had declared that they could not onlv supply- London, but cotild de- luge it if required. Hie (Mlr. Favell) did not mean to say that the ~omnpany hadl not water enougli; but if they, had, still it wAas 50055: important to inqRtire whly the tutpply' on the occaion of the late Fire had been so intsufficient. He felt it his duty to menition the fact to tke Conirt let them deal with it as they should think Iproper. He would move a resolution, to refer the subject to a committee. He then moved, " That it haring been stated to the Court, that at the late lire in Aldgtate considerable damnage had ac.. cruedI in consequence of the very inadequate supplY of water-Re- solved, l'I'at it be referred to a committee to inquire into thee cir- cumstance, and also to examine whether the New River Company have periormed the conitract into which they entered when the ,n. don-bridge Water'works were delivered up to them." Hethut thiat some such resolution as this was called for by the nature of the case, but he wrould leave the matter in the hands of the Court. 11r. Dix-ox had no objection to the subject being referred to a committee; btit he would suggest, that as there were more insitances- than one in which t~he sup?ly of water had been complained of, the wordling of the motion might be more general, and not confine the- necessity ot inquiry to a single ease. .Jr. P7AVELL had no objection to have the motion worded gene- rally, ini the iray proposed. Ar. HpancoyuBp seconded the motion. It was, he said, of the- utitnost importance to the city, that a subject of this kind should, be' most minutely inquired into, and be hoped the comnmittee w~ould bet dirtmed.t to report up-in it with all convenient des?atch. TIhe motion was then put, nod carried. THE HtIGH nArLIFF OF SOtTTHWARK AN%D HIS DEPVITY. John Pnnsen, Esq., the Hligh Bailiffof Southwark, appeared at the bar with a p,etition or memorial addressed to the Court. The memorial was read by the officer. It expressed the Highi Bailiff's sorrow at having leiirned that any acet of his had excited the dlispleasure of the Court, and his so)semn d.eclaration that in what he had dole hie had no intention whatever of giving offence to the Court, or otacting in, any Manner contrary to its rules or orders. The me-. morial thcn went on to state a numiber of circumstances connected with the appointment of Alr. Lindsay as Deputy Bailiff, and added, Fthat thoughi the appointment of the Deputy had 'been ratified by the' Court, vet that he (the High Bailiff), acting on the best lezaf ad-e vice he could get, consideredt that suchi appoinitment was revocable by him at pleasure, ang the mo-e Iatclrya teDpt a entirely lo6t his confidlence. It denie that the ~3ailiff'lhad allowed Air. Jackson to act as his Deputy in his presence, and concluded by proving that the Court would reconsider thieir resoution of the last we'ek, as far as the mnemorialist was concerned ; and allow the. case-a-s to his right to remove his Deputy..to proceed in a legpl course, and to allow him to he hieard by c-ounsel at the bar on the, subject.Balf'hehr low Allr.JA S begged to atsk the High Bii beherlehad alw ed Mr. Jackson to act as his Deputy, in his presence, since the 29th of July last ? The IHigh Bailiff....Never. Ailr. SAk'AGE.-1 wish to ask the High BailifF whethier he did not say at a Co,urt beet, held since the last sitting of this Court, that Mr. Lindsay was not his deputy, and never should be? Thle iigh BaiiifF.-I did say that he was not my deputy. Mr. SAVAGE.l), id you. not say, that if' this Court interfered to nrevetit3viour having your own (feputy, you wouid apply to the Court of'King's hlerch tor a 7ntandarnuu ag~inst them? The High Bailifd:-1 never said so. The High Bailiff' having left the bar. MIr. JAMES said, he hoped thisquestion would be discussed with- that calmniiess which becamne thie Court. The real question was, whlether the Highi Bailiff was or was not guilty of a breach of pri-- vilege in whiat he had done. He contended, tlhat according to the resolution of the 290ii of JTid v, declaring- that the C-ourt would not reccognize the appointment rtf any other deputy, the High Bailiff' was not precludedi from revoking the appointment of' Air.Lindsay;- for it would toit, hie supposed, be inaintained that hie was to have no. depuity, or that he should. against his will, retain a per,,on in that situation who, he declared, had lost his contidence. The question asto, legal rg wslf y htrslto j ust whore it was. I n conclusion, 'lie expressed a hcops that the Court would reconsider and rescind ihe resolution,whiichi he could 4ot but say that it had come to on the last court-day rathier totiprecipitaIelv. Witih thiis imprEssion.he would movre-"Thajt the resolution of the C~ourt ofThiursday, the 21,st inst., respecin he conduct of the High Bailiff, be resrinded, and that that rsltioni, together with the niemiorial of the High Bailiff, be referred to the Conimitrer of General Purposca" Mlr. W ELcH seconided the motion. 'The LouDAnlAYOR observed, that by a st.anding order of the Court. ito resolution could be irescinded, -but on motion, of whichi notice mnust he given. Mlr. JAMES hoped, that as there was thien a very fLall Court, the. subject miight be discussed and set at rest, and for that purpos he ho ed the standling order would be rescindedi. Slr. Dixox thought there was too great n disposition to rescind standing ordlers ;a;zd thiough he hatd no patticular objection to the discussion of the question at present, he hoped his friend, Mlr- James, wrould allOw it to stand as' a notice fot the next Court. if it hadl only thiis effect-that gentlemien would come to the coinsi- dIeration.tf the case with their minds coole-d. He tli(toght th-at gtn.- tlemien were wanting in that cool and dispa-ssiona-te view of the cas"e, whlichi ought to guidec the Court in every decision, When they, came toI he resolttuioit on the last Couirt day. No motieti could be more mt'il(Iad Snl,temrte thwn the amtendmnent which was th-n proposed, for allowing thie qu'lestion to stand over. vet it hatd no influence upent those whe pressedi the origitial ituestion.. Hc hoped, howexver, that the suhiect would be alloi d Lto go ('vertto ano:her fdav. AMr. JTAXE5sSaid, lie had no obi-edton to allow his m-otion, to stand as a notice. Al r. Ro 6 st1 said, lie teld In his handI a miem-orial froin Mr.. lair.Ad,iy, iti which mnany of the circumstances statedi in the rneio- rial of Mlr. Prinsep werec positively contradicted. The memorial was very long, and he (lid 00ot wish t-o delav the Court withi it at present, hut he wouldI move, that it he referred to thie Committitee of !(ecral Plurposcs, along withi that of' die High Baihid.: (Cries of' read, read.'') The uie-morial ol' AIr. Lindsay was; then read. It was of very- considerable lenjgth, and aave a long detail of the circumstances in diepute between th ie parties. Amongst other things, it coniplained ol'iei contductof tllr. Primsep, irn first itiduicirg Air. Lindsay to take' AIr. Jackson as his articled clerk (to the pecuniary loss of Air. binid- say, who mighOt have had another w-iih a preniiumi). andi afterwards enmplceing him (Jackson j.for thie great er pato iiclerkship, as his (the II iglt lBailtill'.s) own clerk ;atnd. fnally, whnMr. Jackien was atdmitted an attorner, ofetmployintg tiint as hiis D)eputy. to the injury of Ale. Lrndsay. Mr. ',AVAOE nioreti. that this mnemorial be referred to the Cotn- itittiec oft eneral Purposes. 11Ir. liVA'I'RS (tiheghiinietian of that Cntnitnttee1 wihed to pre.- veCtit (report on the Aulij-C.' of the memsorials of thjose saine parties., which t zad been, ref'erred to it on a former day. Alderman L,UCAS regretted that so touch' f the time of the Court should he tsken tilp withj the2 disputes of it, officers. He hoped the Conintittee would de~cidt. atidI put ati end to theim at onct. It twas now nmovetd atsi au.iietidmricotthat the report of thecoin.'m inittec be received. A nie;tmber asked whlethlIr the Coit1ntniee, ill conming to their tie- cision, haFd collies of' the memtorials. jutst read in Court betore theoim Ale. WATEtiS answered, that they had. The qtuestion was then fiut, and the amnendmient for readingi the tepirt wvas atgreed to. TIhe Report was thien read. it stated that it was the unanimious' opitijon of Ihe Committee, that all the charges brought by the fig Bailiff azainatt,Mlr. Lindsay, his Depult.y. were wholly wAith- out founadlationthiiat there wasi no g'round whatever for remiovinig httn fromn his edhice. and therefore theyv recommiended that the pet.- tioti of the Iligh Bailiff for his Depuity's, removal should not be comtpited with.. Alr'. JAOtEs asktd wlhether the opinion of iheConimitleehad beets cotfiretine l v that ot' the law-offiere of' the Corporation Airt. WAiERS Said, tliat the opiniion of the law officers& had been i0oifinnr.d by that 0t the Committee. It Ws,s trow inoveti that the report of thec Committee be agreed to. whlich Was carried. with) only two or three dissentients. I'5iE $ 6tiTUFTELD ~HORSE-SARSEET. Aldlernman Wlooun said lie had a petition, signed by 4fiht int,abil-'- antis of' Smtihficld aud its neighibourhood, praying that the'horse titarketl, which was nogw held in the afternoon of' Friday, should in future be hold on 'Wednestday', at nine o'clock in the niorninig- TIhe cries of Election."' tiow became so loud, that we could net. learn what became of this petition. ELECTION OF RECTOR FORt ST. rr'ETER's, coiiN(ilt.i- The Coutt thien proceeded to receive the petitions of theCaeit'. for thec rectorship of'St. Peter's, Corishill. Alderituin LuCAS presented the petitioti of the Rev. John Pape 'ut oodh. Lb. B.. of Trinitv C'ollg,Cn,rde iaigt,b~an ted_as a candidate.leg,aibig,ryngtbedmt The rev. gentleman appeared at the bar while hiR petitionwas read and on beig asked whether he had anv thing te add to tile prayer of his petition, answered in the negative. As soon as lie retired, Mr. Dixo.: called the attention of the Court to one of its stand- ing orders. ot' the date of February, 1804, which dgclared thcat any person w}o had not been two years a freeman of the city (except lie ltd succeedled thereto by servitude or patrimony) coald not be eli- gible to any office or place of emolument in tie gift of tlic Corpo- ration. Alderman W'OOD said, that although he believed that his son was the only one of tbe candidates who could not be affected bytltis stattd- lug ordler, vet he would move that it be suspended for the present. (Hear, hcar.)-.This question was put, and carried. Air. Dixox then called the attentiorn of the Court to another standing order, which stated that the election to aU places ot trust and emoluiL'ent in the gift of the Corporation shon!d be held only oil the second court-day atler St. Tbomaihs's DaN' t but The l,ito nD Al Aon observed, that this applied only to officrs ef the Corporation. Ae DiXoN said he would move that this orderbe also suspended- After a few words on the sugiect of another standing order from AMr. DixoN, the petition of thleAev. James Judkins, A.?., was read. It stated that the petitioner wasa freeman and liveryMan of LOD- don that he had been nine years in ordets, and had no other church preeernient except the lectureship of Sc. Lawrence Jewry. Alr. Judhins did not add anp thing personally to the prayer of his petition. The petition of the Rev .Jame& Rudze, D. D., member of the RoYal4 ociety, &c., was next read. When it was concduded1 the Rev. Getl'emet Rddaresged the Court, and obsesyed that he had often before aVpeared at that bar in diecbaige of the duties of Christian char4v: .He had been before 'them on behalf of some of the very numertis charitable establishrnents witb which their city abounded but he now appeared an his own behalf. holiciziui6,the ap intmnent to the vacantliving in their gift. Ie was deepsly itioeseed with the great importance attached to the situation whicN ie sotlghit to fill, and he trtsted that, should he be elected, he should discharge them in a mranner which would ref'ect credit on their appoisuitetiet The petition of the Rev. Williamn Bell Williams, A. ., wuas next read. The petition stated, that he had been thirty-seven years in orders, for 17 of which he "ad been a lecturer in the parish of St.Peter, with a salary of only 161. a-year, atnd had no other church %referment, nor any expectatiott of it. When asked by tbe Lord layor whether he had any thing toadd to the prayer of his petition, the reverend gentleman obserYed, that, having bcen so long a time an humble labourer in the vineyard, and having been so warmly re- coiiniended by the parishioners, he did hope that the Court would consider his claims to the situation which he had aspired to. He was in declining years, yet he still had sufficient strength to perform the duties of that office. If he should be disap- pointed in his expectation to.day, he had no other hope. He could not retire from their bar with the light and buoyant step of youth-satisfied that if that eflort did not succeed some other would. He had no one to cheer him with the consoling words- Son, keep up your heart, for if you kave not succeeded in this, something else win occur." ' To him Dno ether hope was open. This v/as a situation to which, from his humble but zealous lsboutrsi he had looked forward. Should the Court elect him, he would to the utmost of hi.; power endeavour so to discharge its duties as to merit the approval of Itis own conscience, and to,justify their choice. Alderman BROWSN said that the Rev. Dlr. King had declined to come forward on this occasion. The ballot now commenced and closed at half-past three, after vhiich, the LoRD iNi AV 0o5 declared the numbers to be- For the Rev. iMr. WVood 1031 Rev. Air. Judkins, . . 31 Rev. ilr. Williams . 6-2 Rev. Dr. Rudge . . 26 Mr. Wood was then declared to be duly clected. Air. Wood was then calletd to the bar, when The LORD) AIAYOR said, that he had great pleasure ip informing him, that the Court had elected him to the rectorship of St. Peter's, Cornhill, and by a considerable rnajority. He congratulated him on his election, arnd trusted that lie would prove himself every way worthy of the trust which had been repo3ed in him. The Rev. Oentleman in reply said, that he felt the great im- piortance of the trust reposed in him atid hoped that he should so discharge its duties as to render himseaf worthy of the choice of his s ery kind patrons, to whox lie begged to return his most grateful ackcnowledgments. The presentation to the living was then read, and it was ordered that the cit aral be affixed thereto, and that a deputation from ithe Court .ssold wait upon and present it to the Lord Bishop of Lonidoa.Bso IThe living of' St. Peter's is, we understand, worth from 7001. to 80ML per annum. COMMON co_UvcIL.