gbe _Metropolis.

The revision of the lists of Parliamentary electors began in the Metropolis on Monday, and has proceeded daily; but the disputes, turning mostly upon trivialities, or on the driest questions of law, undecided by any final judgment, are quite uninteresting.

The Proprietors of the Bank of England held a general meeting on Thursday, for the declaration of a dividend. The Governor proposed, on the part of the Directors, that a dividend of 3 per cent should be de- clared for the half-year; and he made an explanatory statement— The dividend now proposed was out of interest and profits that bad been re- alized. As had been intimated by his friend Mr. Cotton, when Governor, would be the case, the Bank's accounts were now made out didihrently from the practice fa- therly adopted. instead of calculating fer a shoat time the profits in anticipation as to what the real amount applicable to a dividend mightbe, it was now settled by ascertained data, as tIsi books of the Corporation showed them to be on the 28th February. and the 31st August; and the positien of the operations of the Bank for the first half-year was most satisfactory. After providing for the divi- dend of the half-year and for the Income-tax, there would remain to be added to the " rest " the sum of 15,363/. 14s. 8d. The gross amount of the rest on the 31st August last would therefore stand at 3,588,8871. 188. 10d.; from which the half- year's dividend of 494,5091. 78. 6d. would have to be deducted; making the balance of the rest at the date stated (the 31st August last) 3,094,3781. lls. 4d. The Governor repeated, that after providing for the dividends, the balance of profits he had stated had been actually realised. Mr. Dyer suggested that the dividend should be increased to four per cent. The Governor was in hopes that they would ere long be enabled to declare such a dividend. It should, however, be recollected, that the rate of interest had for some time been very low ; and the proprietors ought to agree with the Directors that the Bank's accounts showed a most satisfactory result. Mr. Clarke said that he would leave it to the discretion of the Directors. In reply to Mr. Fielder and other proprietors, the Governor said that the Branch Banks continued to be profitable: the establishment of a Branch Bank at the West-end had been under consideration; but as yet the Directors had come to no decision. The proposed dividend was una- nimously agreed to; the dividend-warrants to be ready on the 11th Oc- tober.

Sir James Emerson Tennent was entertained by a party of his friends, at Lovegrove's Hotel, on Wednesday, as a farewell on his departure for Ceylon, and an acknowledgment of his services in founding the Irish Society. Sergeant Murphy presided, with Dr. Croly in the vice-chair; and among the guests was Dwarkanauth Tajore, the great Indian banker; with several gentlemen of commercial, literary, and professional distinction. Mr. Robert Bell read an address on presenting a splendid dessert service, valued at 700 guineas, the gift of the Irish Society; suitably acknowledged by Sir James.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Wednesday, Mr. William Vickers, an Alderman of Sheffield, was tried on a charge of fraudulently obtaining a check for 500/. from Messrs. Foster, brokers, of Tokenhouse Yard. Vickers obtained the check in exchange for one of his own on the London and Westminister Bank; stating that he wished to draw out all the money that he had deposited there. When his check was presented, it was found he kept no account at the bank; he had, however, got the money for Messrs. Foster's check. It appeared that, after this transaction, Messrs. Foster had made extensive purchases of Shares for the accused. It was alleged for Mr. Vickers, that about the time of this changing of checks, he had been temporarily insane; and it was suggested that Mr. W. S. Foster, who had acted in the matter, had not understood Mr. Vickers's proposition

correctly. Mr. Vickers afterwards gave a check for the 500/., which Mrs. ' Fitch, the wife of Colonel Fitch, had promised to honour; but on the Colonel's arrival from Madrid, he refused to ratify that promise: the result was this criminal prosecu- tion and a civil action for the money. An excellent character was given to the accused by several gentlemen. After a brief consultation, the Jury acquitted him.

Howard Augustus Styles was tried for forging the acceptance of Gunter and Company to several bills of exchange. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be transported for life.

On Thursday, Louis John Lemoine and Thomas John Hall were tried, the one for forging the signature of a Mr. Dethick to the contract-deed of the Portbury Pier and Railway Company, whereby be obtained an allotment of Shares; and the other for inciting Lemoine to commit the forgery. They were found guilty; but the Jury recommended them to mercy, on the ground that they had probably been the dupes of others. They were ordered to be imprisoned for two years.

Charles Maynard, the estate-agent, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with bigamy. • Yesterday, Charles Lander was tried for forging the name of Mr. De Lisle to the contract-deed of the South Midland Railway Company. Lander applied for an allotment of Shares in the name of Mr. De Lisle; and as that gentleman was known to be a merchant and banker, the shares were allotted, and Lander after- wards signed the deed. The case was clearly proved. The Jury returned a ver- dict of guilty; but recommended the convict to mercy, on the ground that be was apparently an instrument in the hands of other parties, and that there had not been sufficient care exhibited by the Railway Company. Mr. Justice Wigbtman did not coincide with the Jury's view of the matter; but, in conse- quence of their merciful recommendation, he pronounced the comparatively mild sentence of transportation for seven years.

One Garrett has been arrested for participation in the late robberies on the Great Western Railway; and he was examined at Guildhall Police-office an Wed- nesday. In his lodgings were found parcels and the remains of parcels which had been lost on railways; there were also four portmanteaus and one carpet-bag, and one of the portmanteaus had several Great Western Railway labels on it The prisoner was remanded.

At the Guildhall Police-office, on Saturday, Mr. Denton, a paper-stainer of Lea- denhall Street, was fined 51. for imitating a registered pattern for paper-hanging, which belonged to Mr. Boswell, of Dublin. Mr. Denton promised not to sell any more of the paper.

At the Southwark Police-office, on Saturday, Mr. Wardley, a person living at Paddington, made a complaint to the Magistrate against Mr. Cope, the Secretary to the Anti-Bridge-Toll Association. He said that about five years .ago he was solicited by Mr. Cope to subscribe towards a fund supposed to be raised for the purpose of opening Waterloo, Vauxhall, and Southwark Bridges. He not only gave several pounds himself, but solicited his friends to do so, and many subscnbed several hundred pounds. He had since ascertained that it was a swindling transaction, and that the money was not expended for the purpose professed. He had made application to Mr. Cope, and bad attended at the Mansionhouse about two years ago, when Mr. Cope removed his office from Queen Street, Cheapside, to Agnes Place, Waterloo Road. He now refused to return the money to the subscribers, or to give them any satisfaction. Mr. Wardley thought several thousands of pounds bad been collected; yet Mr. Cope refused to give any ac- count of it. The Magistrate said, he would require Mr. Cope's attendance on Monday. On that day, Mr. Cope attended, and gave a rather different aspect to the matter. It appeared that Wardle', had been employed by the Association as a canvasser; and he claimed a remuneration, which was denied to him. Mr. Cope declared that all the money collected, about 2,5004 had been expended in a legitimate way, and he was quite willing to give an account of it. The Association was governed by a body of respectable Directors. The Magistrate admitted that no proof had been adduced that the money collected had been misappropriated; and there the matter terminated.

The Globe, in a leading article, asserts that very improper methods were

adopted to obtain subscriptions for the Association. We can tell Mr. Cope, if

he be not already, as we know he is, acquainted with some of the modes by which his canvassers for signatures to the petitions, which they hawked about from house to house, actually extorted money from the timid, and wheedled it, by false- hood, from the unwary. In one case, a tall stalwart fellow knocked at the door of the private dwelling of the writer of this article, and on its being opened by the servant forced himself into the parlour. The mistress of the house came down stairs. The petition was unrolled, and the lady urged to sign it. On this being re- fused, a book was produced; a subscription was first solicited, and then impudently demanded, with a refusal to leave the house until it was obtained. Fortunately, the writer was within call; and the fellow was only too glad to escape while search was being made for a policeman. Several such instances were published in letters to the public journals, and more than one were brought before the Magistrates at the police-courts."

At Clerkenwell Police-office, on Tuesday, a boy was charged with obstructing the carriage-way in Chapel gtreet, St. Pancras, by exposing fruit for sale in a basket- The accused, with tears in his eyes, declared that he had no other way to get a living. The Magistrate, Mr. Combo, fined him 2a. 6d.; and in default of payment he was sent to prison. George Hill, the soldier who accused himself as the murderer of Eliza Grim- wood, has been discharged out of custody by the Magistrate at Southwark Police- office; evidence adduced proving the utter improbability of the declaration which the man made in Dublin.

A destructive fire, attended with the loss of at least one life, occurred at mid- day on Tuesday, on the spacious premises of Sir Charles Price and Com- pany, oil and colour-merchants, in William Street, Blackfriars. The buildings extend from William Street to the river-side, and are bounded on one side by Messrs. Hoppes's coal-wharf, and on the other by the City Gas-works. Between one and two o'clock,. while the men were absent at dinner, an ostler disco- vered that a large brick building, used as a turpentine-warehouse, was on fire; and in a few minutes there was a great blaze. Engines soon arrived, and among them the floating-engine; but the water seemed to make little impression. For some time the firemen continued to work without encountering any great

obstacle, except sundry explosions caused by the bursting of oil and turpentine reeks; but towards three o'clock a fearful noise was heard to proceed from the buildings on fire; the contents of one of the turpentine vats having ignited and exploded, with a violent outburst of flames. At that time about thirty men were em- poyed in pumping one of the Fire-Brigade engines; and to escape from the flames many of them had no alternative but to jump into the Thames: a general rush was made to the water-side, and many persons threw themselves into the river; but the burning turpentine ran in the same direction, and on falling into the water floated along the surface, setting six or seven barges on fire. At a moderate cal- culation, there must then have been nearly a hundred persons standing upon the different craft in the river, and to escape from being injured by the flames they also leaped into the river; but even there they were surrounded with fire. A number of small boats quickly put off to render assistance, and several of the swimmers were rescued and conveyed in safety to the shore. The boat belonging to one of the watermen who put off speedily became surrounded with fire and VMS in a blaze. Some hats were picked out of the river, for which owners could not be found. The engine which the men had abandoned was completely de- stroyed by the fire, with the exception of the iron-work; and near the wreck was found the body of a man, literally burnt to ashes. There is little doubt that he was one of those who were working at the ill-fated engine; and that, instead of jumping into the river, he became fixed against a wooden gate, compelled to remain in that situation until death terminated his sufferings. The fire was at length arrested just as it had laid hold of Messrs. Iloppes's premises; but it was not till seven o'clock that it was safely extinguished. The building in which the fire originated and its contents are entirely destroyed, the adjoining premises in- jured, and several barges and the floating-engine much damaged. Sr Charles Price and Company are fully insured. Some apprehensions were felt of an ex- plosion of the gas in the gasometers at the City Company's works; and all the shopkeepers in the neighbourhood were requested to light up in order that the quantity of gas might be diminished; the gas was also allowed to escape at some distance from the fire.

There is every .probability that only one life was lost. The remains of the individual who perished were recognized on Wednesday, by a brother and sister, as those of George Spencer, a young man who had been in the habit of earning small BUMS by attending at fires to work engines. The catastrophe is ascribed to the explosion of the large vessels in which the turpentine was kept: there were forty or fifty puncheons stored in the warehouse, with some ten tuns of cod-oil, and quantities of other oils. The origin of the fire is still unknown.

An inquest was held on Thursday. None of the witnesses could tell the cause of the fire; though some surmised that it was spontaneous combustion. A ver- dict of " Accidental Death " was returned.

A dreadful disaster, involving the loss of seven lives, occurred at the Royal Ar- senal, Woolwich, about ten o'clock on Wednesday morning. While five men and two boys were engaged in the laboratory, extracting the composition from old fusees, from some unknown cause the mass of inflammable matter around them ignited, causing a terrific explosion, and setting the building in flames. The Ar- senal engines were immediately set to work; and as soon as the fire had been sufficiently subdued, search was made for the people. They had all perished. It would appear that when the explosion took place they made a simultaneous rush towards the door. Unfortunately, the door opened inwards, and to this circum stance the destruction of the men is attributed. By the side of the door their blackened corpses were found, fearfully disfired: their clothes, and even their boots, were either wholly or partially consumed, their bodies literally roasted, and the flesh in many cases deeply cut; every particle of hair was consumed off their heads; and their features were so disfigured as to render their identification almost impossible. The inquest commenced on Thursday; when the Jury viewed the bodies, and they were identified. The inquiry was then adjourned. The Jury particularly observed that the shoes still on the feet of the deceased were thickly studded with nails; which must have been dangerous in a place where so much loose powder was strewed on the floor.

Yesterday, several officers were examined, and they described the process of splitting the fusee: it is placed on a steel chisel fixed in a copper can, and then divided with a copper knife, struck by a wooden mallet, in a copper can. The smaller end of the fusee ought to be placed on the chisel; but it appeared that the men were seen to strike both ends of the fusee; which was considered dan- erons. The steel chisel was lately introduced at the suggestion of Colonel Dansey• who said that it is not much more dangerous than copper, as the heat evolved by friction is almost as great in one case as in the other. The Jury, after deliberating for about three quarters of an hour, returned the following verdict- " That the deceased came by his death by the explosion of combustible materials; but from what cause the explosion took place, there is no evidence to show." They also added—" That the Jury in returning their verdict in the case of John Crake i beg to state, that without imputing any want of caution on the part of the au- thorities in directing the mode of carrying on the work which the deceased was engaged in, at the same time submit for their consideration the propriety of dis- continuing the use of the steel chisel, and adopting, as formerly, the copper knife; and also, that the men ought not to be allowed to work at such employment in nailed shoes or boots." Colonel Cockburn Director of the Royal Laboratory, said he would willingly adopt the suggestion of the Jury; but he intended in future to boil out the saltpetre, which would prevent any danger. A woman was drowned in the Thames, off Dyer's Wharf, on Sunday evening, in consequence of the drunkenness of three young men who were rowing a boat. The deceased, another female, and the three men, were retorting from Woolwich; the men ran their vessel against a barge; the boat was upset; all the people were thrown into the water, and only four were rescued.