11 SEPTEMBER 1847, Page 2

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A Court of Common Council was held on Thursday, for the despatch of general business. Amongst other matters, a magnificent salver was ex- _ hibited, which had been voted by the Court to Captain Don Bernardino Camp, in testimony of his heroic conduct in saving the lives of the ship- wrecked passengers and crew of the Tweed steamer.

Mr. Henry James Prescott was elected, on Wednesday, to the office of Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England; vacant by the recent appeint- ment of Mr. Morris to the Governorship.

The Middlesex Magistrates held a special meeting on Tuesday, at the Sessions-house in Clerkenwell, to receive the report of a Committee ap- pointed two years ago to revalue the property of the county. The report declared the present value of the land and house property to be 7,754,3301., or an increase of 1,387,0131. over the old rental. The assessments had of late years amounted to 3id in the pound; on the new valuation they will • not now exceed eid. The tumual expense of the county is 80,0001.; in- cluding county bridge repairs, maintenance of felons, coat of prison-officers, arid expenses of Coldbath-fields Prison, the largest establishment of the ,kind.in the kingdom.

A very full meeting of the Directors of the Poor of St. Pancras was held on Tnesday, in the Vestry-room, to consider the charges recently brought against the Workhouse authorities. A report was read from Mr. Heaton, the Mas- ter of the Workhouse, disposing of the charges seriatim. To the accusa- tions that paupers were not allowed to go out on Sundays except in the Workhouse dress, and also that a blind and paralytic pauper had been re- ' fused permission to visit his mother, the Master gave a positive denial. He also denied that poor women, only a fortnight after their confinement, were compelled to go out at six o'clock every morning to fetch their bread from the store-room: a rule of the house is, that no woman shall leave the lying- in room until after the period of a month. In answer to the charge that short rations of bread were issued, the blaster explained the invariable practice to be to weigh out every ration amounting to 1,500: now and then . a mistake might occur, but it was immediately rectified on the rations being brought back for the purpose. On the motion of Mr. Douglas, it was re- solved to forward the Master's answers to the Vestry.

The Globe has put forth a new explanation of the grounds on whioh 'Baron Lionel de Rothschild will claim to take his seat in Parliament- " In consequence of doubts which have been raised with regard to the difficulty in the way of Baron de Rothschild taking his seat in the House of Commons, some parties, feeling interested in the matter, laid a case before Mr. C. Egan, the Chancery barrister; and the view taken by the learned counsel is highly favourable to the honourable Member's return. It is to the following effect. First, I am of opinion, that Baron de Rothschild, having been duly elected one of the Members of Parliament for the City of London, is not, by reason of his being a member of the Jewish persuasion, debarred from taking his seat in the House of Commons. Secondly, I am of opinion that Baron de Rothschild may lawfully be permitted to -take the oath of abjuration according to the usual manner of Jews, viz, on the Old Testament Thirdly, I am of opinion that the oath of abjuration may law- fully be administered to Baron de Rothschild, omitting the latter words contained in stet. 0 Geo. III. cap. 53, "upon the true faith of a Christian."'—The learned counsel supports his opinion by a most erudite argument; and cites various ancient charters and legal decisions to show, (notwithstanding what some writers infer to the contrary,) that for upwards of seven hundredyears the manners, customs, and religious principles of the Jews have been respected and admitted in judicial matters; that whenever a member of the Jewish persuasion has had occasion to make an affirmation, he has been allowed to do so 'on his book,' e. the Old Testament; that this right existed so early as the reign of King John (a.n.1200); and that there does not appear to be any ordinance, statute, or legal decision, to the contrary."

The members and friends of the Association for Removing the Civil and Religions Disabilities of the Jews dined together on Tuesday evening, at the Fishmongers Hall, .Aldgate, in celebration of their recent triumph in the return of Baron Lionel de Rothschild for the City of London.

Dr. Adler, the Chief Rabbi of the Jews in England, has taken measures to check the following of certain unlawful trades by individuals of his na- tion. It has been ascertained that a large number of houses into which young and inexperienced females are inveigled are kept by persons of the .Jewish persuasion; and Dr. Adler has intimated that henceforward all Jews either directly or indirectly concerned in keeping such places, will be excluded from the Synagogue and will also labour under other disabilities equivalent to what is understood by excommunication. The "National Alliance for Promoting "the-Real Representation of the People" had a meeting on Wednesday evening, at the Eastern Institution inicsammercial,Road: upwards of two Lhounaed persons attended. The thainevas taken by Mr."George Thompson, ,M.P.; 'and the Secretary an- nounaed several donations, iucluding ene,,of 10/. from Lord Radnor, and anneher of 501.4mm an 9-unknown friend." 'Nerions resolutions were pro- posed and carried for promotiag an extension oethe suffrage, vote by ballot, abolition of property qualification, and the remuneration of representatives. The crack speech of the evening was delivered by Colonel Thompson; who expatiated upon the rapidly approaching union of the middle and working Oneties- He rejoiced to know that at the latealection there were exhibited many symp- toms of great progress having been made in the cause of popular rights. The tone of their adversaries had been greatly moderated. One set of them, the Tories, had gone off the field altogether, and left it to a gentle lamb-like thing called "Conservative," the members of wbich.had raised their gentle voices in a very subdued strain against the friends of an extended suffrage. And if they looked at the friends of the Liberal cause—the moderate-going friends of popular rights, they found that in many places their eonduct.had undergene a very promising change. He came from a place that had giventhe most marked proof of pro- gress in this direction. There was no place in England where the extension of the suffrage walked in such good clothes as it did at Bradford. And why ? Because those who were formerly spat at for having holes in their jackets had evinced in their whole coeduct a prudence a judgment, and a propriety, that gave the lie to the abuse with which they had been wailed. There was not a power in this country that could prevent the working classes, when they conducted themselves with propriety and m an orderly spirit, from taking their right position in society. If they themselves chose they need not longer remain as a slave class, to use an expression uttered by a great man whose voice they would never listen to again. And why: should the working men remain as they were? Was not everything changing? Were not new modes of mechanism introduced into every species of art and manufacture? and was the political position of the working classes Acme to stand unchanged? Was there to be no improvement in their condition? He would not believe it. The COMM sense of mankind must re- trograde—their judgments must be wheeled backwards, before such an anomaly could exist.

The other principal speakers were Dr. Epps, Mr. Edward Miall, and Mr- Henry Vincent—who recommended the adoption of a plan recently pro- pounded at Norwich for gradually acquiring freehold votes in- counties by means of widely-extended subscriptions among the working classes.

A meeting of Roman Catholics and others interested in Italian affairs was held on Monday evening, at the Literary and Scientific Institution, Commercial Road East, for the purpose of considering the recent aggres- sion by Austria on the Papal States. The chair was taken by the Reverend John Moore. Resolutions were adopted with perfect unanimity expressing unbounded esteem for Pope Pius the Ninth, and a determination to aid WM by every lawful means; denouncing, with indignation the conduct of Aus- tria; and setting on foot a subscription £1.13 the best mode of testifying their sympathy for the cause. The. chairman was also requested to prepare an address to the Pope embodying the spirit of the resolutions.

The British Museum, which has been closed for the usual period, was reopened to the public on Wednesday last. The hours are to be from ten to four until the 7th of next May.

Two of the largest Literary Institutions in the Metropolis, the Western in Leicester Square and the Eastern in the Hackney Road, have been broken up during the past week. Their extensive libraries, museums, and collections of philosophical apparatus, are to be sold by auction.

The members and friends -of the City of London Literary and Scientific Institution assembled. in great numbers on Thursday evening, to celebrate the completion of extensive repairs and the opening of the new theatre. The chair was taken by Mr. Grote, the President; and he opened the pro- ceedings with an address. Mr. Grote referred to the nature and extent of the alterations, and to the cost, towards which large contributions had al- ready been received. He confessed himself disappointed, however, at not finding in the list of donors a greater number of the eminent merchants aed bankers of the City. He was the more surprised at this considering the advantage derived by merchants and bankers from institutions which had so strong an influence over the good conduct of their clerks. Alluding to the attractions of society afforded by the institution, he emphatically-re- ferred to the benefits derived from the frequent presence of ladies, by which that society had been so sensibly upheld and improved- " I number it among the serious and important points of the institution that ladies partake in ita. advantages. I never have understood the arguments of those who would shut out ladies from studies which exalt,-ennoble , and invigorate the mind, or from associations in which such studies were the object pursued. The duties of the female sex are indeed different from those of our sex; but they are not at all less important to be well performed; and all those improving influences which tend to strengthen the intelligence and enlarge the mental view, if they are good for one sex, cannot be otherwise than good for the other. And wheal, from the serious side of our institution (if I rnay so call it) we pass to what is in the nature of attraction and recreation, I need not say how essential the presence of ladies is to such meetings. I need not remark how much their presence tends to soften the unconscious roughness of assembled men, and to repress those ebulli- tions of ill-temper which it is so difficult always to guard against. I consider that the admisaibility of both sexes to our institution is one of its most valuable features; and I venture to rely upon the lady members, both those present and those absent, for a steady adherence to its interest—an earnest sympathy with their male relatives, husbands' fathers, or brothers, who may be engaged in its proceedings; and, above all, a frequent disposition to grace by their personal pre- sence the meetings of the lecture-room which we are now opening." At the conclusion of the President's speech, Mr. Rind recited an address, written for the occasion by Mr. F. Lawrence. The entertainments-were varied by,musie in the reading-room, and they closed with a ball.

Through the Times Mr. George Alston describes the success which has attended the formation of the Victoria Park-

" Of the manner in which the park has been laid out by the experienced gentle- man (Mr. Curtis) to whom this part of the undertaking has been intrusted, it is impossible to speak too highly : indeed, but one opinion prevails, viz that the Victoria Park m the course of a few years will be amongst the number of the chief ornaments of the Metropolis." * * * " There have been planted in various parts of the park roses and other flowers of various kinds, entirely unpro- tected; and in only one solitary instance throughout the summer has a rose or flower of any kind been either plucked or injured: this fact alone is sufficient to refute the unjust aspersion that the poorer classes are not to be trusted in public places without the dread of the police before their eyes." * * • "Many a man whom I was accustomed to see passing the Sunday in utter idle- mess, smoking at his door in his shirt-sleeves, unwashed and unshaven, now -41rasses himself as neatly and cleanly as he is able, and with his wife or children ID seen walking in the park in the Sunday evenilig. Indeed, the multitudes who avail themselves of this recreation speak very plainly how much it is esteemed and valued."

At the Judges' Chambers, on Tuesday, an application was made to Mr. Justice Williams on behalf of Mr. Thomas Drurcombe, ALP. for Finsbury, that he might be released from the custody of the Sheriff of Yorkshire, by whom he was held a prisoner at the suit of Elizabeth Goody, for a debt of 8,4001. Mr. Duneombe's election took place on the 28th July; the arrest was made on the 2d September, and Parliament was to meet on the .21st September. It was therefore contended -that Mr. Drincornbe was protected from arrest under the forty days' privilege allowed by law. On the other side it was maintained,- that, by an order in Conn- ta , Parliament had been prorogued to the 12th October; and as the arrest was made exactly forty days after the dissolution of the late and exactly forty days before the meeting of the present Parliament, the privilege could not be leaded as protecting Mr. Dencombe from the arrest, or as entitling him to be disc But another argument was raised on the authority of the only case recorded, t of Martin in 1586; in which it was held by the Blouse of Commons' that a Mem- ber must be allowed " a convenient time to come up to' Parliament: Martin was arrested within fourteen days from the next meeting of the Parliament; the Lords had declared twenty days a reasonable time, but in the case of Martin the Commons refused to define a period, only declaring that he had been arrested within what VMS a convenient time; and so he was discharged. It was now con- tended that if twenty days was then deemed to be sufficient, that period was equally sufficient in these days of improved transit; and that therefore, even if the 21st of September were taken as the day for the meeting of Parliament, the privilege would not shield Mr. Duncombe. Mr. Justice Williams, relying on Judge Blackstone's dictum of forty days of privilege, orderedilr. Duncombe's discharge. The Member was entitled to forty days to come to Parliament; which, on the sup- position that he set out on the 2d September, would expire on the 11th October, 'the day before the meeting of Parliament. The Judge held, however, that prao. tically the time allowed would be within twenty days; for Parliament would meet on the 21st instant, though only for prorogation; the farther postponement to 'the 12th of October being a second prorogation, not an extension of the first term.

At the Mansionhouse, on Monday, George Haywood and William Alexander, very young men, were examined on a charge of uttering a forged check. On the 19th of June last, a check for 147/., purporting to be drawn by John Fenton in favour of" Beresford and Co.," was presented by a youth at Glyn and Company's; and it was paid, a fifty-pound note forming part of the payment. This check turned oat to be forged. Mr. Fenton's signature seems to have been obtained for the pur- pose of imitation through a sham Inquiry about a ship by Haywood, under the name of "Charles Smith." The fifty-pound note was traced to Alexander. The check-book from which the check was taken was obtained from Glyn's by an order purporting to come from Mr. Fenton: it is supposed that the order was presented by John Constable, call-boy at the Pavilion Theatre. The check-book was after- -wards found in the street. At Haywood's lodgings Daniel Forrester found a piece of blotting-paper; on close examination he detected a blot of "John Fenton upon it, corresponding with the signature on the check. The prisoners were remanded.

Haywood was then charged with forging and uttering a check for 89L 4s. on the house of Jones Loyd and Company; purporting to be drawn by Thomas and James Murray, customers of the bankers. The check was paid. It had been taken from a book fraudulently obtained on a pretence that Mr. T. II. Peile re- quired it. Haywood had been in the service of a solicitor who was formerly in partnership with Mr. Fells. Witnesses .proved that the writing in the check was the prisoner's. He was remanded on this charge for a week.

Mary Anne Hunt, the young woman under sentence of death for the murder of Mrs. Stowell, has confessed the crime. She states that the deceased had often quarrelled-with her, on account of her owing money for lodging; on the day of the murder, Stowell upbraided her, and attempted to strike her; Hunt struck the old woman-to the floor, and continued her violence till life was gone.

The inquest on the bodies of the persons killed by the explosion of the boiler of the Cricket was resumed on Monday; but the proceedings were of no interest. Some medical evidence was given to show the cause of death. The Coroner stated that the Government had appointed two scientific gentlemen to examine the steamer and report on the cause of the explosion; they were then engaged in the investigation; and to allow them time for it, it was necessary that the in- quest should be adjourned. The inquiry was then adjourned to next Tuesday.

The shipwrights, caulkers, and labourers of Woolwich Dockyard, who were suspended on account of the attacks on Mr. Chatfield, were permitted to resume their employments on Saturday morning, with three or four exceptions. Two men have been identified as actors in the disturbances: one struck Mr. Chatfield when he was leaving the yard, and the other struck at him but missed his aim.

A new instance of indecent treatment of the remains of the dead has just come to light. At Ampthill Square, near the Hampstead Road, a "awn of the " rubbish " employed for snaking the road consisted of broken co,, and bones. Children were seen raking among the remains to find teeth; and it is added that pieces of flesh were attached to some of the bones.