'apt glitetrairolis.

The formal presentation of the National Testimonial to Mr. Rowland Ell, the Postage Reformer, took-place at a public- dinner- on Wednesday, at-the West India Dock Tavern; Blackwell. In the unavoidable absence of Sir. George Larpen Mn Warburton, M.P., presided; and among the company-were, Viscount- Ebrington, M.R, Mr. Villiers, M.R, Mr. Hutt, MT., Mr: Ross,- KR, Mr: Moffatt, M.P:, Mr: Thornelyi ME, Mr.- Blunts, M:P., with several gentlemen of mercantile-eminence in London and from distant parts. Letters explanatory of the-cause of absence, and expressing a hearty sympathy in the object of the meeting, were read by Mr. Wansey the Secretary, from Sir George Larpent, Earl Fortescue, Earl- Radnor, Lord Ashburton, the Bishop of Durhamf Lord' Robert Grosvenor, Lord James Stewart, Mr. Wallace, late Member for Greenock, and Mr. Ward, M.P.

The report of the Testimonial Committee embodied the following among other-particulars- The gross amount of subscriptions, was 1517251. 48. and the- expenses- 2,3641. ba. MA; leaving a net .1,anm, of 13,3601..19s, 5S1. This, had beaten- counted for to. Mt. Hill in the following manner—

By check-to Mr: HID, 27th Jauuary- 1845 £10,000 0 0 Remitted from Manchester 1,432 4'10 Ditto from Liverpool 729 IT 9

Ditto Item Edinburgh- 626- 8 4,-

Balance: 573 8. 6 £13,86019 5

This amount wouldliave been larger had not the maxiimun.rate of subscription been: restricted to 101. 10s. Regret was expressed by:some of the subscribers that the execution of Mr. Hill's plan, instead of being intrusted to himself, had been transferred, to the Post-office.authorities, the undisguised and constant op- ponents of that plan. Others-expressed a hope that Mr. Hill may soon be afforded an opportunity of perfecting his plans; and in that hope the Committee sym- pathize. Had Mr. Hire services been retained by the Government, the Com- mittee believe that the surplus revenue would by this time have- been nearly brought up to the old level, and that the administration of- the Post-office would have been in much greater repute with the public:

Mr. Warburton, in proposing the health of ' Mrs Rowland thwanthor of 'Penny Postage," made some interesting-statements-

The public subscription had been a liberal one, but it was a moist inadequate ex- pression of the admiration which Mr. Hill's services had excited in the public mind. Sir-Robert Peel's Government had unwisely-determined to dismiss Mr. Hill from his employment at the Treasury in organizing the new methods; but it must not be forgotten that among the subscribers to the testimonial was Sir Robert Peel himself. Mr. Warburton trusted that, under the present or some future Govern- ment, Mr. Hill would be installed in offieei not in a subordinate capacity, but in a commanding position, from which he mid superintend the details of Post-office

administration. •

Mr. Rowland Hill made his speech of thanks. the medium of fresh in- struction as well as.-of gratifying retrospect. One of his prominent topics was a generous recognition of the services of others; among whom he enu- merated— Mr. Wallace, the indefatigable Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of 1833; Mr. Warburton, who drew up the report, the ablest document of its kind ever issued; Mr. Ashurst, the agent of the London Mercantile Committee. In the House of Peers the cause found able advocates in Lord Ashburton, Lord Brougham, Lord Radnor' and the Duke of Richmond. An acknowledgment was also due to Mr. Baring, late Chancellor of the Exchequer, for the manner in which he ex- ercised the powers conferred by the Act of Parliament. Personally, Mr. Rowland Ifilfelt indebted-to that gentleman for the confidence and-friendship with which he wasrhenoured. duringthe two years he acted under him. He contrasted-the anomalies which existed under the old system with the results of the new. In considering these results, it. should be borne in mind that the execution of the plan, hisome of its essential parts, is still very incomplete. On the subject of revenue he made the following statement. The year 1837, which was adopted by the Parliamentary Committee- as the standard. of com- parison, gave a gross revenue of 2,340,0001., and a net revenue of 1,641,0001. He had' estimated that under the new system the same gross revenue-would be ob- tained, but that the net revenue would be reduced by about 300,0001. Last year, the gross revenue actually obtained was 1,902,0001., or full four-fifths of the esti- mated amount; and the net revenue was 776,0004 or -nearly- three-fifths of the estimated amount. The return, however) whioh showed, this result had scarcely been issued before it was followed by another, stating that the " real net receipt of Post-office revenue " is 47,5824., On which discrepancy Mr. Hill observed—" As I am very desirous of avoiding all points of controversy on this happy occasion-, I shall not notice the return further than to state that it is a repetition of the fay the attempt to establish which so notably failed three years ago, and that anyealeolation of net revenue whichshall accurately adjust both sides of the account, by charging on the one hand a fair-share of the whet, service, and by giving credit on the other-hand for the cost of distributing news- papers,. will show a net-revenue larger even than-that-exhibited by the accounts made out in the ordinary manner. In short, the-real net revenue, instead of being under 50,0001., is above 800,0001.

" The number of chargeabledetters delivered is the United Kingdom, in 1838, wasascertained to be about 75,000,000; the number in,1845 was. 271,000,000. And in January of the present year, the-latest period to which the returns apply, the-number was at the rate of 303,000,000 per annum, or-four times the number in 1838. The increase of letters necessary to sustain the gross revenue, I esti- mated at fivefold. This estimate was attacked at the time as much-too low; but it is now indisputable that the gross revenue will be made up when the increase of letters amounts to four-and-a-half fold. In the London District Post, (the old Twopenny Pest,) the increase has been from thirteen millions in 1838 to thirty- one millions in 1845, or much more than twofold. The gross revenue of-this-de- partment is.larger now than at any former period. This fact appears to be con- clusive as against a general -twopenny rate. As to the increase-of letters generally, it may be stated thus—there are now as many letters- delivered in the London District,: that is to say within twelve miles of the Postzoffic& in St. Martin's-lo- Grand, as there were under the old system in the whole United IGagdom." But- this increase, vast as it is- amounts to less.ferevery man, woman,- and child inthe United Kingdom, than a letter per month.

He quoted the opinion of the Chancellor of the-Exchequer-as expressed in his last Budget speech, to show the good hopes of increased revenue which that gen- tleman entertains from the Post-.offie.e.

He should not go into the question of deficiencies in Post-office management.

A long--list of them, with the remedies, appears in the Report of the Committee' of 1843; and-he was sorry to say that the-lest three years had done but little to reduce the number. He would mention one or two instances of improvement. Two years ago, the Posteffice very reluctantly made an approach towards the hourly-deliveries in the London district, which formed part of his original plan; and although only three deliveries were added,-instead of six, the effect was im- mediately to advance the annual rate of increase in the London District post-let• tern frorriel,800,000 to nearly 2,700,000, or 50 per cent. By the adoption of toe.other suggestions, which at the time he proposed them were deemed im cable, 11,0001. a-year had been saved. He was justified in assuming, thatut kat • thwinterruptionen the progress of the measure which took place on the retirement. of the late Government, all his • expectations would have been realized. Other countries had participated in the advantage: reductions in the rate of postage, had taken place in Russia, Prussia, Austria, Spain, and the United States of America, in consequence of the good example set by the English Parliament. He had been more fortunate than many other reformers; for he bad seen his, plan brought into practice, imperfectly as it might be. There was, however, one: period of his course to which he could not allude without pain. It was that when; with health impaired, after six years of incessant labour and anxiety, he was:dismissed from the Treasury, and left to seek afresh the means of supporting his family. He had expressed his thanks on a former occasion to Sir Robert Peel for the manner in which he had spoken of his labours; he now thanked him for contributing to the National Testimonial; but bad Sir Robert yielded to his en- treaties, and allowed him, at any pecuniary sacrifice, to work out his plan—as he did or to work it without cost to the publie—his gratitude would have been unbounded. Still, even at that moment of disappointment, he could say that he felt no regret at havingenabarked in the great work of Post-office improvement. By the and of Sir Thomas Wilde, Mr. Baring, and some other friends, he was enabled to fulfil the only duty which remained, and that was to place the facts on record.- The National-Testimonial was then proposed; and the progress it made was-such that all anxiety on his part as to pecuniary resources for the future wee' soon-at an end. Nearly the whole fund has been safely and advantageously in- vested; and this investment, added to his own small property, is, with his frugal- , habits; amply sufficient to relieve his mind from anxiety with regard to a perms* .nent provision fortis family.

The foundation-stone or the new laboratories of the RoyalCollege Chensistry, was laid on Tuesday, by Prince Albert, in the presence of the Council and members of the Institution, and many ladies. The Earl of Clarendon thanked the Prince, in the name of the Council; and the Bishop of Oxford tendered the thanks of the Vice-Presidents. Prince Albert made a suitable reply; expressing his belief that a school of practical chemistryia much wanted in this country, and that the Royal College will supply that want. From chemical researches "the nation must derive the greatest advantages in the improvement of our arts, manufactures,, and commerce,. and, I am sure I may confidently say, our agriculture."

The Proprietors of the East India Company held a quarterly court on- 'Wednesday. Mr. Hogg, the Chairman, stated that Op Directors had taken proper measures to secure that the pension granted to Lord Hardinge should be paid irrespective of his salary as Governor-General of India. The former Directors were reelected. Mr. Poynder withdrew the motion of which he had. given notice for the abolition of idolatrous usages in India; resting' satisfied with an assurance given him by the Chairman that he would be at liberty to submit from time to time to the Court any matters bearing on the subject that"might reafitt him. The motion to consider the service& of Lieutenant Waghorn, in4.1filag up the overland route with India, fell to the ground, the propos& rfol. being present. Illness prevented Mt4 ' George Thompson from ettering again into the case of the Rtjah of Setters.

The Duke of Wellington gave his customary banquet at Apsley Hon" in commemoration *De great day of Waterloo, on Thursday the 184. Prince Albert was one of the guests. Death has ;men thinning the ranks of the veterans: in the list of those who have died since the celebration of last year, the names of Major-General Dick and Colonel Durwood appear. The recent victories in the Punjaub ormed a congenial subject among the after-dinner speeches.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Wednesday, Joseph Carter was tried for the- murder of John Oddy. The case against the prisoner so far as it regards the killing of Oddy was clear enough. The two quarrelled in a public-house: Carter' threatened " to do " for his opponent; went home for a knife; returned to the- public-house; nd advanced towards Oddy: the latter was warned, and, advan- cing towards-the accused, he exclaimed, 'I'll stick him !" he then took hold Of Carter and attempted to ascertain what weapon he had got; upon which the pri- soner stabbed him, twice. It was admitted that both the men were drunk, and that the prisoner had been greatly excited by the jeers of Oddy and his com- panions. The Jury found the accused guilty of manslaughter only; and he was-' seatenced to transportation for life.

On Thursday, John Graham was tried for the manslaughter of Thomas Blewitt;, by !hooting him, in Drury Lane, on the 25th of April. The evidence was the sante as in the preliminary investigations. The prisoner shot the man, an entire stranger to him, while passing along the street at night. After he was seized, he said' en

it was entirely an accident. One witness said, shortly before he heard the re- port of the fire-arms, he saw the prisoner in a position as if in the act of re- ducing the pistol from full to half-cock. Another admitted, that in the crowded.. state of the street Graham's arm might have been jogged; yet this witness thought the prisoner intended to shoot. The accused had an altercation with s girl m Pritice's Street just before, when he produced a pistol and threatened. to shoot her. Mr. Clarkson, for the defence, declared that the whole was accidental. The story of the prisoner (which, of course, he was not in a condition to prove) was, i that on the evening in question he was on his way to practise at a shooting- gallery in Drury Lane; and, as he was going along, he recollected that the pistol- was on full-cock: fearing it might do some mischief, he took it out of his pocket;, and was in the act of uncoeking it, when some person passing by tan against him, and caused the pistol to explode. Where was the motive for the act if it WAS in- tentional ? Some witnesses were called, who gave the prisoner a very good cha- racter for humanity, kindness, and general propriety of behaviour. Mr. Baron Rolfe summed up, and with a clear statement of the law left the case to the Jury; who, after deliberating a short time, retired. They were absent for five hours. The Judge then seat for them, and again addressing them, pointed out that what they had to consider was, whether the prisoner had been guilty of a merely venial or of a culpable negligence: if the latter, his offence amounted to manslaughter; but if the former, or if the Jury should think that the discharge of the pistol was the result of accident, in either of those cases the prisoner was entitled to an ac- quittal. The Jury in ten minutes returned a verdict of " Not guilty "; and thli prisoner was at once discharged.

Samuel Eales, the third, man engaged in the extortion- by threats of 101. from a gentleman living at Camberwell, was convicted, and sentenced to he .transported: fonlife.

The Middlesex June General Sessions were held at Westin:Mater on Moody:

There was but one prisoner for trial, a girl charged with stealing a pin, value 6d. The Assistant Judge, in charging the Grand Jury, pointed out the ridiculousness. of holding these Sessions in addition to those at Clerkenwell, which would com- mence on the following day. Here were a bench of Magistrates, a Grand Jury, a Petty Jury, and a number of officers, all called together, at an expense of 601., to try a girl for stealing a sixpenny pin! He hoped such farces as these would soon be put an end to.

At the Mansionhouse, on Saturday, Mr. Harward, one of the City Inspectors of Weights and Measures, made a statement, by the desire of the Lord Mayor, re- specting the frauds practised by shopkeepers in poor neighbourhoods. It is the custom with some tradesmen, on the ground of saving time in serving their cus- tomers, to make up at their leisure large numbers of parcels of the goods they sell ready for disposal; some they never weigh when purchased; and the officer stated

i

that in many cases there was a great deficiency in weight, of which the customers were unconscious, as they took it for granted that the right amount was in the parcels. The Lord Mayor said he would bring the matter before the Court of Aldermen.

The mysterious case of the murder of a woman at Shadwell was again inves- tigated at the Thames Police-office' on Thursday. The evidence told more strongly than before against the accused man Gibbms. The witnesses could not account for his employment of several hours on the night of the murder, after the woman was heard to fall down stairs, but before she was known to be dead. But the most singular evidence against the man was that of Mr. Ross, a surgeon, and Dr. Letheby, Professor of Chemistry at the London Hospital. They were of opinion that some of the blood on the jacket and waistcoat of Gibbins had been spirted on it from a living body—that the blood possessed vitality at that time: the prisoner had said that his clothes had got bloody in moving the dead woman.

The young gentleman who was drowned at Battersea last week was Mr. James Clarke, a civil engineer. The women were the wives of a cabman and a fishmon- ger. Neither was known to Mr. Clarke: but as they walked along the river- bank, he accosted them, and inquired if they would like a ride on the water: they replied, in a jocular manner, that they should, if lie would not drown them. They had scarcely been seated five minutes when the boat was upset.

A great number of inquests have been held during the week on the bodies of persons who have been drowned in various places while bathing.

An extensive fire occurred at Bermondsey Wall on Tuesday night; when the premises of Messrs. Bayley and Son, sail-makers, were completely destroyed: the surrounding buildings also suffered more or less.

Renewed complaints of Dr. Reid's 'plan of ventilation at the Central Criminal Court are heard. The Doctor appears now to be trying some new scheme for im- proving the air by means of explosions; probably, suggests the Times, he is en- deavouring to clear and cool the atmosphere by a little thunder-storm of his own. The reporter of the proceedings in the Court on Tuesday makes this statement. " The Recorder in the course of the day complained of the great heat in the court: he said the thermometer stood at 70 degrees, and he should be very glad to have a little fresh air: He was informed that by Dr. Reid's new ventilating process all the windows of the court were nailed down; so that it was hopeless to expect any supply of fresh air from that quarter. In a short time some explo- sions appeared to take place in the neighbourhood of the court; and the proceed- ings were interrupted by repeated bang! bang ! bangs ! The Recorder inquired what the guns were firing for? Mr. Flight said, that the reports which had at- tracted the attention of the Court did not proceed from guns, but were occasioned by some new experiment by Dr. Reid to ventilate the court. (Roars of laughter.) Mr. Ballantine said, he hoped theysheqld not be all blown up by some of the Doctor's experiments. The business then proceeded, and in a little ivhile the

e xplosions ceased; but the court remained as hot as ever."

The wooden pavement in the Old Bailey, except a small portion in front of the Courts, has been removed by order of the City Commissioners, and-replaied with granite. The practical effect of the late award respecting the Spafields Burial-ground has been to greatly reduce the number of interments; on Sunday there was but Mr, and the average if only three or four.