2Ebt _Metropolis.
A Court of Aldermen was held on Tuesday. Leave was given to the Spectacle-makers Company to add a hundred more persons to the Livery of that Company. The rest of the business possessed no general interest.
A Court of Common Council was held. on Thursday. A letter was read from the City Solicitor, stating that he had received a communiea tion from the solicitors to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, enclosing a subpeena from the Court of Chancery requiring certain of the City authorities to appear in answer to a bill filed by Government against the Corporation, for the purpose of ascertaining the respective rights of the Crown and of the Corporation to the strand or soil of the Thames. After a good deal of discussion, a Select Committee, headed by the Lord Mayor, was appointed to confer with Mims' tem an the subject.
A numerous meeting, composed of deputations from several of the Metropolitan parishes, assembled in Marylebone Court-house, on Men. day, to oppose the bill before Parliament for amending the Poor-law Act. Among the parishes represented were those of St. Luke, Middle- sex ; St. James, Westminster ; St. George, Hanover Square ; St. James, Clerkenwell ; St. Pancras ; St. Mary, Islington ; St. Margaret, St. John, and St. Leonard's, Shoreditch. Mr. Kirby, a barrister, took the chair: Sir Benjamin Hall was present; and letters of concurrence were read from Mr. Leader, M.P., Mr. Thomas Duncombe, M.P.,, and. Captain Rous, M.P. Another letter was read, from Sir Charles Napier, M.P., stating the result of an interview obtained by a deputation of Members with Sir James Graham on Friday. The Home Secretary declined to touch upon the question of district asylums for the destitute; promised to consider the question of schools, and to alter the 56th clause so as to prevent it from bringing Unions now under local acts within the authoi- rity of the Poor-law Commissioners, but obliging the Guardians of such Unions to meet as often as possible, and to appoint a Chairman and Vice- Chairman each. The reading of this letter war received with derisive cheers ; and Mr. Daniell declared that it was at variance with the bill. Resolutions were passed, praising Local Boards, deprecating "a further centralization of power in an irresponsible body," objecting to the Dis- trict Schools as entailing expense and separating parent and child, and to the District Asylums as tending to increase vagrancy. The resolute dons passed without opposition, except that two gentlemen declared the parishes of St. Luke and St. Mary to be in favour of District Schools. A deputation was appointed to wait on Sir James Graham. Thanks were voted to the public journals for advocating the rights of the people and the poor and asserting the duties of the Legislature and of private benevolence ; and the last resolution awarded thanks to the Chairman.
[The central " Agricultural Protection Society " has at length been formally constituted. The Duke of Richmond is President, the Duke of Buckingham Vice-President ; the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Cleveland, and the Earl of Yarborough, Trustees- with a numerous Committee, including several leading advocates of Pro ; tection. The principles on which the Society will act are embodied in three of the seven regulations ; the rest merely relating to the govern- ment of the body-
" That the object of this Society is to maintain protection to British agri- culture, not less than that at present existing. " That the Society shall, through the press, repel the imputations and point out the inconsistencies contained in the statements of those who oppose such protection.
"That party politics shall not be introduced into the proceedings of this Society; and that the Society shall on no account interfere in any election for a Member to serve in Parliament."
Some statements at a meeting of the Spitalfields Broad-silk Hand- loom Weavers' Union, on Saturday night, throw a light on the meeting of " The National Anti-League Association " at Freemasons Tavern, last week. Mr. Sherrard made one disclosure— According to an arrangement with Mr. N. Doran Maillard, who attended the last meeting of the weavers, he and the Secretary met the Committee of the Anti-League Association on the Monday evening about five o'clock. Mr. N. D. Maillard and a few gentlemen were there. After speaking upon the business about to come before the meeting, he mentioned to him that he and the Secretary had been requested to appear there to support the resolutions ; that they had lost nearly two days; and that it was but just they should be paid for their time. Mr. D. Maillard then took a half-sovereign from his pocket, which he gave to him ; and remarked that he had no money in his pocket to remunerate the Secretary, but that he should hear from him on Tuesday morning. The Secretary, however, has never heard any thing of his half-sovereign. Mr. Boroughs, the Secretary, reminded the meeting, that Mr. Mail- lard had said that Mr. Oastler had promised to attend at Freemasons Tavern. He had consequently written to Mr. Oastler ; and bad re- ceived an answer on Saturday, in which the writer declared, that who- ever said he had promised to be present told " that which was untrue."
A dinner to Mr. O'Connell, which has been advertised for some weeks, under the ostensible management of Mr. Coppock, the well- known Whig electioneering agent, took place at Covent Garden Theatre on Tuesday ; the professed object being " to show on the part of Eng- lishmen the admiration entertained towards Mr. O'Connell for constant and consistent advocacy of the rights and privileges of Irishmen." The theatre was specially fitted up and decorated for the occasion ; the pit being boarded over, and the boxes appropriated to the use of ladies. It was filled in every part ; and upwords of a thousand persons sat down to table. Mr. Thomas Duncombe was the Chairman ; among the company were, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Camoys, Lord Dunboyne, the Honourable F. H. Berkeley, the Honourable Charles Langdale, Sir John Easthope, Mr. Sharman Crawford, Mr. Morgan John O'Con- nell, several more Members, including some Irish, Major Revell, Mr. James Harmer, General Washington Barron, and among others, Senor Olozaga I The Reverend Dr. Magee, designated as " chaplain to-Mr. O'Connell," said grace before and after dinner.
Mr. Duncombe accommodated his eloquence to the occasion, and did not spare "strong language." Alluding to Sir Robert Peel's aspiration that the Queen might land in Ireland, he asked, who prevented her? That faction which in 1830 prevented King William from witnessing the loyalty of his subjects in the City : " they feared to show themselves among the people whose origin, whose language, and whose religion they had so scandalously traduced, maligned, and insulted." Amid " immense cheering," waving of handkerchiefs, and the like, the Chair- man proposed " Health and long life to Daniel O'Connell"; asking the assemblage " to join him in wishing health and happiness to this con- victed conspirator "— klocould assure him that this building—had it been ten times more spacious, that space would have been insufficient for those who were anxious to come forward, not only to testify their esteem and respect for him as a patriot and a may, bat for the purpose of expressing by their presence, their disgust and in- dignation at the persecution—at the injustice—at the treachery and mean- ness—the malignity and vindictiveness which had marked the recent State trials, as they were called, in Ireland, and of which he and others were attempted Wise made the victims.
It was with great satisfaction that he had heard Lord John Russell say that Mr. O'Connell had not had a fair trial. Mr. O'Connell had declared that he did not care how Ministers treated him, so that they brought in measures for the benefit of Ireland— What return had these Ministers made to this man? (Cheers.) What was their reply to the proposition ? Why, the reply was this, that concession had seen its utmost limits, and that condign punishment must be his reward. (Cheers.) It was quite clear that the last act of that contemptible drama which had been played in Ireland had yet to be enacted ; and that the Govern- ment, hallooed on by the blood-hounds of the Tory press—( Great cheering)— meant to send their Law-officers of the Crown again Into the Court of Queen's Bench in Dublin, there to demand the vengeance of the Court upon their victim. (Cries of "Never, never ! " .• No, no!" and cheers.) Nay, at this moment you could not go into any society, bat if you met any person who be- longed to what was called the Orange faction, with that peculiar delicacy which invariably attached to all their proceedings, they were heard commenting as to the number of years for which Mr. O'Connell was to be incarcerated. (Laughter.) More than this, they might be heard speculating on the relative strength of the gaols of Kilmainham and Carrickfergus. (Hisses and derisive laughter.) He told them in their name, and he told them in the name of the people of England—( Great cheering)—yes, and in the name of the toiling millions of England—that how dark soever might be his cell, how strong soever might be his dungeon, how gross soever he the indignities they might heap upon his head—he told Mr. O'Connell, in that vast and gorgeous assembly, that he might lay his head in peace upon his pillow, for that the petitions, ay, and the remonstrances too, of millions of the virtuous, the patriotic, and the good, would not only attest to his innocence, but would proclaim his liberation from within the very walls of Parliament itself. (Great cheering.) -Oa the proposal of the toast, the company rose en masse ; "and at that moment," says the report of the Morning Chronicle, " words would fail to impart an idea of the magnificence of the scene: the ladies in the three tiers of boxes, the company in the galleries, as well as those who were at the tables, vying with each other in rapturous applause ; whilst every individual appeared to have been specially provided for the eceessems mid a white handkerchief or scarf to wave!" Mr. O'Connell's appearance produced another " scene which it would be quite vain to attempt to describe " ; and the cheering lasted for some minutes. Early in his speech, the audience called on him to come more forward: he said he knew that he could make his voice heard ; but, says the report aforesaid, they wanted to see him, and he came forward. He began thus, interrupted by frequent cheers- " I was about suggesting to you, that this is the first occasion during a long and variegated life, on which I could with truth say that I felt unmanned—I feel overpowered by your kindness. The dungeon which your enemies and mine have prepared for me has no terrors for me; and believe me, that if the scaffold or the rack were prepared for me, the consideration of that fate could not affect my mind with such sensations as the awful magnificence of this scene—of this expression of your sympathies—impresses upon me. Oh, how ardent must be your love of justice—how steady and deep must be your hatred of judicial partiality—how you must delight to see justice rendered to all—how you must desire to see it with the same fervour that you hate partiality and in- justice—this scene will testify. What are my claims upon your sympathy ? I will tell you—simply because I am the victim of injustice ; simply because the impartiality of the law has been injured in my person. • • * I must assureyou with all the sincerity of my heart and mind, that you have impressed upon me the persuasion which I now acknowledge, that there is a sympathy is England with Ireland, and a desire to see justice done to her." He went on to comment on the trial, which he said was not preseen- don but persecution ; reiterating old charges, but stating some of them more confidently and boldly. He was convicted on no crime defined in the law-books, but on something which the Judges had spelled out of the law-books ; and he likened Chief Justice Pennefather to Scroggs and Jefferies! "Now see," exclaimed Mr. O'Connell, "how I am coaxing him to pass a lenient sentence on me!" (Laughter.) He explained to the E'iglish audience the omission of the sixty-three names from the Jury-list, and the traversers' consequent " challenge of the array"- " We alleged that they were fraudulently removed—that they were spoliated; and we further alleged that their fraudulent removal had been effected in order to prejudice the interests of the traversers ; and we put that plea upon record. Now, the Attorney-General bad a right to join issue on that plea, and to have it ascertained whether the removal of those names had been frau- dulent or not. If he had joined issue, triers would have been sworn in the court, and the charge of the fraudulent removal of the names would have been tried, and the issue determined ; but the charge would then be substantiated or refuted. But the Attorney-General did not join issue for the purpose of allowing the allegation of fraud to be determined upon. He allowed the alle- gation to go uncontradicted, and it remains uncontradicted to the present day I He acted iu another manner. He relied on the fact that the Judge would tell him—as he told us—that as we did not know who committed the fraud we must remain without a remedy. (Laughter.) Oh ! but it is literally true—the Judge did tell us that. ("Shame, shame! ") It was said that as we were ignorant of the persons who caused the omission of those names, we could get no redress. (Laughter.) That was the way in which we were treated : it was as much as to say that if a mau is robbed, and does not know the name of the person who robbed him, it is no robbery at all. (Renewed laughter.) \'l by, if a man were to go before Sir Peter Laurie, or any other white witch like him—(Laughter) —and say to him, ' A strange man has robbed me, and I caught him when he was just escaping from my premises with the goods,'—why, if a person stated that, the public would laugh even more than they do at Sir Peter Laurie if he said, Oh, I cannot assist to obtain any redress if you don't know his name.' (Great laughter.) It was on the very same grounds that we were refused redress when we complained of the fraudulent omission of these sixty-three names."
He impeached the Jury ; asking if a Jury of Anti-Repealers was likely to be more impartial than one of Repeaters. He hailed his threatened sufferings in prison, if they could add to the freedom and happiness of his country, and vaunted the influence that he should still retain through the winged messengers of the press. A great deal more of his speech consisted in the usual Repeal statistics, illustrating the leading Irish grievances of deficient representation, Parliamentary and Municipal, the Established Church of the minority, the extreme poverty of the people in a most fertile land, and so forth. He reminded the audience of the aid which he had given to English popular measures—the Reform Bill, vote by ballot, manumission of slaves ; declared that by repealing the Union he desired to avoid separation of the two countries,—hinting, but not explicitly asking, payment in kind, in the shape of English support of the Repeal.
The Earl of Shrewsbury proposed " the People"; urging the neces- sity of making Ireland a willing ally of England, and justifying the ei-. hibition of physical force at the monster-meetings- " Did Ireland seek to obtain her object by the display of her physical force without a just and paramount necessity ? I speak, of course, of that species of display which comes within the limits of the law ; or rather, I should say, within the spirit of the constitution, because it has now become necessary to distin- guish between a legal and a constitutional act. (Loud cheers.) Did she seek to redress her wrongs by the display of her physical strength, without a just necessity, she would evidently be exceeding the true prerogative of a people; because the constitution only recognizes the recurrence to a strong pressure from without when there is a just and undoubted cause to be vindicated. But if she can show such a cause, and that all other means have been unavailing— if she can prove that reason and justice are working with numbers—we have not far to look for the right of the people to display their monster-power. Magna Charts and the Bill of Rights are our title-deeds for that. (Cheers.) Yes, gentlemen, when the moral is ready to guide the physical powers of a nation, then union becomes a duty—if a duty it be to alleviate sorrow and to resist injustice." (Cheers.) The minority of the Peers who voted for Lord Normanby's motion having been toasted, Mr. Duncombe observed that justice must be done to the majority ; which he did, the audience laughing and applauding much- " It is my duty to tell you, that among that majority of Peers who over- whelmed the minority on the Marquis of Normanby's motion, there are to be found the names of Lord Ellenborough, who is in India; Lord Saltoun, who is. in China; Lord Tweeddale, who is in Bombay ; and there is also to be found the name of Sidmouth, who, after a long life of political mischief, votes against the rights of Ireland even out of his coffin I There is also to be found the name of Brougham : he who was the esteemed of men has now sunk into the mere mountebank of faction, and is absolutely bringing the assembly to which he belongs into well-merited contempt."
Speeches were delivered in a similar spirit by Mr. Langdale, Lord Camoys, Mr. Berkeley, and others.
A very different assemblage filled the Theatre on Thursday night— a numerous meeting of Irish Repeaters in London, with a few English or Scotch intermixed. The reporter of the Morning Chronicle was " reminded somewhat of a Christmas audience on boxing-night." The chair was occupied by Mr. W. J. O'Connell, " Grand Repeal Warden for London." The stage was kept by gentlemen wearing in their bats cards inscribed " O'Connell's Police." Several persons wore the Repeal cap. The proceedings rather resembled those of a " monster-meeting " subdued to a London tone. The first resolution expressed loyalty to the Queen ; and the mover, Mr. Hyde, said, "It was loyalty to the Queen which slaked the thirst of an irritated and goaded people." Mr. 31•Lean declared, that if Mr. O'Connell were imprisoned, they would have a meeting on Kennington Common to show English sympathy. Mr. Fall, " an English Protestant gentleman," proposed a vote of un- limited confidence in Daniel O'Connell ; after which an address to the Liberator was read. Mr. O'Connell was received with boisterous wel- come. He asked permission to keep on his hat—" As the wind blows strongly, it is necessary for my health ; and I must take care of it, fer I know not how long I may be locked up " His speech consisted of some usual Repeal materials, mixed up with allusions to his own re- ception by the English, delight at such sympathy for Ireland, and advice to the London ReFealers to cultivate the friendship of their English countrymen. He exhorted them to convince the English that Repeal does not mean separation. " If we do not have Repeal whilst I am alive, I fear that the struggle will end in all the horrors of a civil war, and in a sanguinary separation." The meeting on Kennington Common, he said, was " all nonsense," and it would be laid hold of by their enemies. Towards the close of his speech he said- " When I bid you be peaceable and observe the law, I bid you at the same time to redouble your exertions. Revenge me, revenge me by double assiduity in the Repeal struggle. Discountenance not the struggle of the English people, whenever it is made; join with them whenever you can. There is an excellent set of men looking for the Complete Suffrage—join with the good and the quiet—join with all of them. I confess to you frankly that I do not wish you to join the Chartists. I tell you at once why—because they do not allow others to meet without disturbing their meetings. Do not interfere with their meetings. Be perfectly civil to them when you meet." Mr. Morgan John O'Connell moved a vote of thanks to the Chair- man ; which closed the proceedings.
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