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The following resolutions, intended to improve the existing system of legal education, have been sanctioned by the deputations appointed by the four Inns of Court: the step, however, is only a preliminary- " That it is expedient to institute rewards or honours, by way of encourage- ment to students willing to undergo examinations. " That for the purpose of preparing students for such examinations, there be established four lectureships, in addition to that on civil law and general jurispru- dence already established by the Middle Temple. "That subjects of additional lectures should be--1. Constitutional law, criminal and other Crown law. 2. The law of real property and conveyancing, devises and bequests. 3. Those branches of the common law which are not included in the two last heads. 4. Equitable jurisprudence as administered in the Court of Chancery.

"That the lectureship for constitutional law, criminal and other Crown law should be maintained at the joint expense of the four societies. That the lecture- ship of civil law and general jurisprudence should be maintained, as now, at the sole expense of the Middle Temple. And that the other three lectureships should be maintained at the expense of the three other societies respectively, one for each, as shall be hereafter arranged among themselves. "That no examination should be required of any student as a condition prece- dent to his call to the bar. " That every student should be required, as a condition precedent of his call to the bar, to produce a certificate of his baying attended two of the courses of lectures. The selection to be determined by himself."

The Committee who conducted the public subscription for " The Thus Testimonial," gave a dinner to Mr. Walter and other proprietors, at the Louden -Tavern, on Wednesday; the Lord Mayor in the chair. It will be remembered that the Testimonial originated in the gratitude of the mercantile world for the exertions of that journal, in 1841, in bringing to light a remarkable fraudulent conspiracy organized and carried out on the Continent. Among the routine toasts one was given in an unusual form. The Chairman paid a compliment to Sir Alan M'Nab, as a gentleman who peculiarly represented in his own person all the interests indicated in the toast, "The Army and Navy, Ships, Colonies, and Commerce." Sir Alan, in returning thanks, spoke of the various avocations in which he bad been en- gaged. He had entered life as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, and after- wards he had had the honour of serving in five regiments of the line; subsequently he bad been chosen Speaker of the House of Assembly of the United Province of Canada. In proposing the health of the proprietors of the Times, the Chairman begged to couple with the toast the name of Mr. Walter. He knew that for some time past Mr. Walter had taken little share in the management of the paper; but he was one of its original proprietors, and had at all times taken a great interest in its conduct.

Mr. Walter acknowledged the compliment at some length; modestly allowing merit to other journals, and astutely hinting at the superior virtue of the Leading Journal under the form of a disclaimer. He alluded to the temptations which assail the virtue of the press-

" Yon have not undertaken the invidious task of deciding between the political merits, the independence, the ability, the eloquence, of the daily. papers. On those points the public are the judges. With them your memorials and this day's festivities have nothing to do. One single act has called forth these flatter- ing, these overpowering testimonies—one single act, not above the honourable de- sires of otherjournals, but possibly beyond their means of execution. When all are doing what they can to serve the public, the Times was fortunately enabled to do what it did by the manifold resources at its disposal—its numerous and trust- worthy Continental agents, its regular correspondence, and the other facilities of an establishment which has grown up into unprecedented magnitude. But I need scarcely say—for nowhere are the ways to greatness better known than in this city—that this journal could not have achieved the service you this day re. ward, unless it had been long and successfully engaged in similar labours. Its power is the fruit and the proof of its honest exertions. * * The press is ex- posed to unexampled temptations. Politicians and speculatorsare only too happy to secure its assistance, or its silence, by a share in their public or their private spoils. In fact, the bribery at the disposalof speculators in one species of enterprise, and of statesmen and politicians in the promotion of their views and the attainment of their objects, is enough to corrupt all the newspapers in the kingdom. If this great and increasing power of the press is to be cherished in a right direction, I do not know where it can look for support except to the commercial and other great interests of the country. By none are strict integrity, truth, openness, and straightfor- wardness, more prized. You know that the complicated and delicate structure of the mercantile system depends on the maintenance of these qualities. They are your school and your code. You quickly detect their absence; and, as all may see by the example of this day's proceedings, you immediately perceive their pre- sence, and no less promptly reward it. With all my partiality for the press, you will see that I am not blind to its faults. It is a really free press I am advo- cating. It is in your power to preserve the press free. To the immeasurable value of that influence I will quote the testimony of one of the most celebrated men of his day—I mean Mr. Sheridan. With all his faults, I question whether we shall see in our time a man of equal talents or more consistent politics. These were his words—' Give me but the liberty of the press, and I will give to the Minister a venal House of Peers—I will give him a corrupt and servile House of Commons—I will give him the full swing of the patronage of office—I will give him the whole host of Ministerial influence—I will give him all the power that place can confer upon him to purchase up submission and overawe resistance— and yet, armed with the liberty of the press, I will go forth to meet him undis- mayed—I will attack the mighty fabric he has reared with that mightier engine

— I will shake down from its height corruption, and bury it beneath the ruins of the abuses it was meant to shelter.' "

Mr. Alderman Hughes Hughes mentioned that the " Times Testimonial" had been contributed to in all countries, and by all classes. He gave an analysis— Thirty-eight public companies; 64 Magistrates and officers of the Corporation of London; 58 London bankers and joint stock banks; 129 London merchants, manufacturers, and traders; 116 country bankers, manufacturers, and traders; 21 foreign bankers, merchants, and public companies; and 129 individuals and anonymous. The subscriptions from foreign bankers, merchants, and public companies, were from Alexandria, Antwerp, Cadiz, Calcutta, Cologne, Dental°, Florence, Geneva, Hainburgh, Laguayra in South America, Macao, Malta, Mes- sina, Naples, Newfoundland, Ostend, Paris, Venice, Vevey, and Weisbaden—thus literally embracing the commercial representatives of different languages and blood from Antwerp to Cadiz. The subscribers amounted in all to 555; and al- though the amounts were restricted, 2,7001. was collected. The sum of 1,8007. had been appropriated in the purchase of stock for the support of two scholar- ships; and commemorative tablets had been erected at the Royal Exchange and at the Times printing-office.

Lord Ashley presided on Thursday evening at a public meeting held in the Queen's Concert-room, Hanover Square, with the object of forming an Evangelical Society for the benefit of Foreigners. Resolutions approving of the employment of missionaries, the distribution of books, the preaching of the gospel in different languages, and such other agencies as may from time to time be available for furthering the purposes of the society, were adopted. The number of foreigners in this country is estimated at 100,000.

The new pavement in Fleet Street, which the contractor boasted would last twenty-five years, has not answered the expectations of the public. Although only laid down a few days, the centre of the street from Gos- ling's bank to St. Dunstan's Church has in many places sunk nearly a foot. The whole of that portion must be repaved; which will again stop- the thoroughfare between Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane for a few days.

— Globe.

An animal, so singular in its characteristics as to baffie the ingenuity of its exhibiters to classify it, was exhibited on Monday at the Egyptian Hall. " Open-eye " unravelled the mystery, and " classified " not only the ani- mal but its exhibiters, in a letter to the Times- " Being naturally a bit of a naturalist, and consequently anxious to see the ' What is it?' at the Egyptian Hall in its first wildness, I arose two hours earlier than usual, proceeded thither in a kind of feverish excitement, paid my shilling magnanimously, and was shown into the sanctum of the wild man of the. prairies.' Yes, there What is it?' was, with its keeper, playing toss' with an India-rubber ball. Oh, ghost of Baffin! what was my surprise, when at the first glance I found ' What is it?' to be an old acquaintance--Hervio Nano, alias Hervey Leech himself! I will not take up your valuable space by relating bow Mister Leech sucked raw flesh and cracked nuts, nor how I volunteered (although ' What is it?' is very savage with strangers) to go alone into his den,—which was refused: but T will tell you how the wild man, finding his hair dress and the fervent expressions of his visiters too warm, shrank into himself and horse-cloth, and went to his kennel to argue with the proprietor on the pro He of returning my shilling. The coin was handed back; and I suppose Mr. will take an early departure for the wilds of California' again.

An extraordinary charge of forgery was partially investigated at the Mansion- house on Saturday. The party accused was Captain William Richardson, chair- roan of the Tenbury, Worcester, and Ludlow Railway Company. On the 20th of July last, a check for 5,0001. was paid by Coutts and Co., the bankers to the railway company; that check was correctly signed by the chairman, and by Mr. Thomas Stevenson and Mr. William Letchmore Whitmore, two directors; but it had been originally drawn for ten pounds only. The matter was put into the bands of Messrs. Bush and Mullen, the solicitors to the committee of bankers for protection against forgeries and frauds; the inquiries of Mr. Bush led him to sus- pect Captain Richardson, and he gave him into custody. The check, when drawn, was given to the chairman to pay to a certain party: this he declared he had done; but that person told Mr. Bush he had never received it..

When the prisoner was brought before Alderman Musgrove, Mr. Bush said he should merely produce sufficient evidence to warrant a remand. He attended as agent to Messrs. Fry and Co., the agents to the Tenbury, Worcester, and Ludlow Railway Company; and he charged Captain Richardson with having altered the amount of a check originally drawn for 101. to 5,0001., and with having received and applied to his own use part of the proceeds of the check so altered. The check was drawn on the 7th July. Mr. Hare, a clerk at Contts's, deposed that he paid the check on the 20th July; he gave five notes of 1,0001. He did not know the person to whom he paid the money. Of course, he had no ides that the check had been altered. Mr. Gimingham, clerk at the Bank of England, gave gold for three 1,0001. notes on the 20th July; the notes were three of those given by Mr. Hare in payment of the check. The person who changed the notes said his name and address were "J. Jones, Linen Hall, Dublin." Mr. William Hip- man, of the Issue Department, corroborated this. He went to the applicant for the gold, and questioned him as to his address, which he had originally given "Dublin" only. "I asked the gentleman, who I have no doubt was the prisoner, what part of Dublin? I think I said, 'Dublin is a large place; what part of Dublin do you reside in?' He said, The Linen Hall.' I asked him to write it co one of the notes, and I handed him a pen for the purpose. He appeared very nervous, and requested me to do it for him. I wrote on one of the notes Linen Hall '; and asked him his address in London. He said, Furnival's Inn Hotel'; which I also wrote on the note. As the sum was a large sum for gold, I went to consult Mr. Marshall, the chief cashier. I think I asked the person from whom he had received the notes; indeed, I am certain I asked him; and he said, 'From Coutts and Company.' I stated this to Mr. Marshall when I took the notes in; and Mr. Marshall requested me to trace to whom the notes had been first issued. I did so, and found that they had been issued to Coutts and Company. On coming from Mr. Marshall's room, I found the prisoner had left the Bank; and I told Mr. Ager, who reckoned the gold, to fetch him back. It was while I was tracing the notes I found that the prisoner had quitted the hall. Mr. Ager brought him back, under pretence of checking the gold. Mr. Ager had not the slightest doubt that the prisoner was the person who changed the notes. The prisoner did not pat any questions to the witnesses. When the evi- dence was closed, Alderman Musgrove asked the prisoner if he wished to say anything. Captain Richardson—" Mr. Bash can himself bear evidence that I took considerable trouble to ascertain who really did forge this check. I did so as chairman of the company." Mr. Bush—" I am open to cross-examination upon my statement; but I now say, that the prisoner and others consulted me on the subject of this forgery; and what took place has led to this result." Captain Richardson—" I also went to Coutts's with the solicitor upon the subject, unac- companied by any other persons connected with the company."

The prisoner was remanded till Tuesday.

On that day a reexamination took place before the Lord Mayor and two Alder- men. The witnesses who gave their testimony on Saturday now repeated it. A number of others were also examined.

Mr. Pulsford, the secretary of the company, produced the minute-book con- taining the proceedings of the Board of Directors. Under the date of the 7th July was this entry—" And also that a check for 101. be given to Mr. Howell's messenger for his services," with the initial letters W. R. attached. He found an entry in the check-book in Captain Richardson's writing—" No.11, messenger from Mr. Howell, his services, July 10." He received a check for ten pounds, which agreed with two exceptions with the counterfeit, from Captain Richardson, to ob- tain the signatures of two directors; this he did, and returned the check to Captain Richardson. The forged check had two alterations: the amount had been changed, and the figure " 1 " inserted, making the date 17th July. Mr. Pulsford was at Mr. Bush's offices on Wednesday week, when Captain Richardson said he had delivered the draft to a person with thin mustachios, rather sallow complexion, and thin stature. Witness thought the prisoner then stated that he had never seen the person before, but was not positive about that. Thought that the prisoner said that the man called upon him at his private house, and he thought he said he delivered the check to him there. The man was Howell's messenger. Mr. Fry, the solicitor to the company, stated that Mr. Whit- more and Mr. Stevenson were travelling; he had done all in his power to find them, but had not accomplished that object. He believed that if time was given Mr. Whitmore would attend, and that no warrant was necessary to compel the attendance of either gentleman. Mr. Pulsford was recalled, and examined by the solicitor for the prgioner. As a cautious man, (he replied to one question,) he should say he had never seen the identical check for 5,0001. before. Mr. Coult- hurst, a partner in Coutts's bank, deposed to the fact that the accused and the so- licitors of the company came to him respecting the forgery. Mr. Coulthurst said to the prisoner, "This is a frighful fraud"; to which he answered, it was. He then said he had drawn the check for 101., and that it had been altered to 5,0001.; that his signature was genuine, and that he believed the other two were also. He said that the number of the check was in his handwriting, and that all was except the figure 1 and the 5,0001. He said that he had given the check to some per- son in the employ of an individual on the Stock Exchange. Mr. Payne, an inspector of notes in the Bank of England, stated that the prisoner, on the 20th of July, applied to him for gold for the notes; stating that the com- mission for transferring money to Dublin was so heavy that he thought it better to take it over himself. Witness had no doubt of the prisoner's identity. Two Bank of England porters spoke to the identity of the prisoner with the person who took away 8,0001. in gold on the 18th July. Dyme, a cabman, drove that individual: he was hired at Gray's Inn; on his return he was told to drive to Furnival's Inn; but when he arrived there he was directed to drive on to Mon- tague Place, where his fare entered a house. In cross-examination he said, he thought there was a gentleman in court more like " the fare " than the prisoner. When asked to point out the person, he pointed, amidst considerable laughter, to the secretary for the railway company. Mr. Howell, who had been extensively employed by railway companies, stated that he never did apply, by himself or messenger, for 101., and never received that stun. A City Policeman stated that the accused had remarked in the Justice-room, " Supposing that all the Bank clerks say is true, it is my own mosey; I have the power, as chairman, to sign checks." Clerks and Policemen stated the result of searches which had been made at the prisoner's residence, in Charlotte Street, Russell Square: in gold, bank- notes, and bank post-bills, 3,2251. had been discovered in various receptacles. The prisoner was remanded to next Wednesday.

On Friday week, a person of gentlemanly appearance was taken into custody in the evening, for attempting to pass a forged five-pound note to a jeweller In Oxford Street. The Police having sent a notification to neighbouring tradesmen to beware of forged notes, a number of jewellers and other shopkeepers came to the station-house, and identified the prisoner as having passed forged notes on them. At midnight, the prisoner committed suicide, by suspending himself with a handkerchief to the grating of his cell, and placing himself in a kneeling pos- ture. Nearly 201. was found on his person in money, a forged 51. note, and several articles of jewellery.

An inquest was held on Saturday. It then turned out that the deceased, Charles Walter Thornton, had been Colonel in the East India Company's service, and had recently been in the service of the Indian Overland Transit Company in Egypt. At his lodgings were found more money and a variety of 'ewellery, some of which was identified by tradesmen who bad been paid by foig notes. These notes were very badly executed, apparently lithographed. The widow of the de- ceased was examined. She had been married six years; she always thought her husband was a man of independent property; she could not account for his pos- session of the forged notes. Mr. Thomas Vi arren said he had known the deceased for several years: had considered him an independent gentleman. The Jury re- turned a verdict, " That the deceased hung himself, but in what state of mind ho was at the time there was no evidence to show."

At the Westminster Police-office, on Saturday, Mr. Burrell gave a very ex-, traordinary decision in a case of robbery. Two soldiers, Mills and Dodd, and Huff, a tailor, were charged with stealing nine handkerchiefs and a night-gown from the bedroom of a beer-shop in Westminster. The door of the bedroom was broken open, and there was no doubt that it was done by the accused. When arrested in the street, the property was found on Mills and Dodd. The prosecutor thought the soldiers had been drinking; a Policeman considered that they were both sober. Mr. Woolfe, who defended the prisoners, put it to the complainant whether lie wished to prosecute the men? He replied, that he didn't. want to hurt any soldier; but he wished the Magistrate to teach them that they were not to break open his bedroom-door and steal his property. Mr. Woolfe made an appeal in behalf of his clients. Mr. Burrell observed, that under the circumstances of the case he might dispense with sending it for trial, and should fine Mills and. Dodd 51. each for he unlawful possession of the property, or commit th m for one month each: it was impossible for him to overlook so very serious an offence; but as they were in a state of intoxication, added to other circumstances, be was dis- posed to take a humane view of the case. Huff he discharged.

At Worship Street Police-office, on Saturday, Root, the Beaton of Spitalfielde Church, Pilbrow, the beadle, and Policeman Watson, were charged with assault- ing Captain Prassynski, a Polish refugee. On the preceding Sunday, a Polish officer was buried in Spitalfielda churchyard. After the burial-service was con- cluded, Captain Prassynski, having first asked leave of the sexton, proceeded to read a funeral oration; in a few minutes, however, he was interrupted by Boot, who declared that he should not speak; the Captain continued to read; where- upon Root ordered the beadle and constable to take the orator into custody; in which process the sexton himself assisted, the three captors behaving with much violence. Until this interruption, the funeral oration had created no sort of dis- turbance or annoyance to any one. In the first reports, the clergyman came in for a share of blame; but it appeared that he had taken no part whatever in the affair; and he rather disapproved of the men's officious conduct. The Magis- trate held the three defendants to bail to answer any charge which the complain- ant might prefer at the Sessions.

An inquest has been held on the body of the child who was killsd by eating of a pie made of bilberries, with which berries of the deadly nightshade mixed. One witness declared that the vender, Hillard, was told by a young man lean the berries which he offered for sale were poisonous; but the countryman denied and continued to hawk them. A verdict of "Manslaughter " was returned against Hillard.

The hideous story about the body of a child sent in a pie to a baker's in Nassau Street turns out to be an entire fabrication.

Eighteen Irish labourers were last week accused of assaulting a number of Englishmen at the Camden station: they have been committed for trial by the Marylebone Magistrate, on a charge of "feloniously wounding with intent to do some grievous bodily harm."