gbe Ifitttapolis.

A meeting of the electors of Westminster was held on Monday evening, at the Crown and Anchor, to hear from Mr. Charles Lushington a decla- ration of his political principles. The Honourable E. P. Bouverie presided. Mr. Lushington expressed his unqualified concurrence in ten propositions put forward as a test by the Westminster Reform Society; beginning with Vote by Ballot and Extended Suffrage, and ending with Church Reform and National Education. The meeting passed a resolution pledging itself to promote the return of Mr. Lnshington at the next election.

A Committee of the Court of Common Council was held on Monday, in the Council Chamber; Deputy Peacock in the chair. Mr. Ashurst sub- mitted, that as the Lord Mayor continued to refuse to put in the Court of Common Council any question of which he disapproved, it was necessary to proceed with determination to accomplish a reform through the aid of Parliament. He accordingly moved a resolution directing that the Sub- Committee should prepare a bill providing for the necessary reforms and alterations. After some discussion, this resolution was carried. Mr. Ashurst next submitted other resolutions, recommending the issue of an instruction to the Chamberlain not to pay any money upon the order of the Court of Aldermen which they were not legally entitled to draw; and declaring the right of the Court of Common Council to regulate its own business. The Committee having likewise passed these resolutions, a string of eight questions, prepared to elicit an opinion on the legal points at issue, was adopted, and ordered to be sent for the opinions of all the legal authorities connected with the Corporation.

A meeting of " the Irish party" was summoned for Monday; but when Lord Monteagle arrived, at one o'clock, nobody had come. Lord• Mount-

cashel, Mr. Smith O'Brien, and Mr. G. A. Hamilton, soon made their ap- pearance; but no other members arriving, a meeting could not be held.

A. meeting of the directors and other officials of the principal Railway Companies, to the number of about eighty, took place on Wednesday, at the Bing's Head Tavern, iu Palace Yard, to consider how the new Govern- ment Railway Bill should be opposed. Mr. Hudson was called to the chair. The speakers took a high tone. They would have the bill modified, or they would take measures to insure its defeat. It was ultimately settled that Mr. Hudson should seek an interview with the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, and learn what were the intentions of Government. The meeting adjourned for that purpose.

It met again later in the day; and Mr. Hudson communicated the result of his mission. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was anxious to meet the wishes of the railway interest so far as was consistent with public safety. He allowed that he had not examined the bill carefully; but he would do so, and he undertook to let the representatives of the various, companies know when he had mastered the details. Until he had done so, he pro- mised that no further step should be taken. A committee was then formed to' watch over the interests of the general body.

The first. French lodge of Freemasons in England was installed on Tue.' clay evening, at the Freemasons Hall, Great Queen Street. It is denomi- nated " Loge Franealse de la Tolerance," and ladies will be admitted. The ceremonies occupied three hours, and were followed by a sumptuous banquet.

The rooms of the Society of Arts were opened on Wednesday evening, for the exhibition of select specimens of British manufacturing and decora- tive art. Mr. Scott Russell explained to a numerous auditory the general objects of the Society, and in particular the end aimed at through the present exhibition.

A public meeting was held at Freemasons Tavern, on Tuesday, to peti- tion the Crown on the annexation of the free city of Cracow to the Aus- trian empire, in violation of the treaty of Vienna. The chair was taken by the Marquis of Northampton. On the platform were a great number of Peers and Members of Parliament, and of others who had been conspicu- ous for taking an interest in Polish affairs. The body of the meeting was -distinguished by a striking air of general respectability. Letters of con- currence were read from the Duke of Bedford, Earl Fortescue, and other noblemen and gentlemen. Lord Ashley wrote, that he thought the meeting an indiscreet step, but he expressed strong indignation at the seizure of Cracow. Sir Stratford Canning wrote to Lord Dudley Stuart, that he was obliged to waive his personal inclination, which would have brought him to the meeting, on account of his official position as an Ambassador come home on leave of absence; but he declared- " That the whole proceeding is an open violation of the treaties concluded at Vienna, can hardly be doubted by any impartial inquirer. Its tendency to dissolve the most sacred ties of international engagement, and to shake to its very founda- tion the peace of Europe, and to substitute detached and adverse alliances for a comprehensive system of general confidence, is also, unfortunately, bat too manifest."

Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Wharncliffe, Sir Edward Codrington, the Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Lord Beaumont, Mr. M. D. Hill, Mr. David Urqu- hart, Sir limy Verney, the Lord Mayor, Mr. E. Beales, Sir Charles Na- pier, Mr. J. S. Buckingham, Captain Jablonski, President of the Commit- tee of Poles, and Lord Dudley Stuart, were the speakers. They all ex- pressed unqualified indignation at the conduct of the Three Powers in seizing Cracow; all joined in attesting the fact, that the people of Great Britain ["and Ireland," said Sir Harry Verney] unite in condemna- tion, and echo the denunciation in the Queen's Speech against the breach of treaty and many of the speakers expressed an opinion, from which none expressed dissent, that the protest of the Crown ought to be followed up by some practical earnest of sincerity. A. few of the speakers traced the his- tory of Poland's gradual extinction, from the partition—" the first mon- strous sin," Lord Beaumont oalled it—to this last act; and they repeated the standing arguments by which the breach of treaty is made out. The speeches were generally characterized by moderation of tone, and, where the nature of the subject admitted, by closeness of argument. Sometimes they diverged into declarations of sentiment,—sympathy for the Poles, in- dignation at oppressive conduct, belief that that conduct would meet with retribution, glances at the consequences which the Three Powers might draw upon themselves in Italy, on the Rhine, and in the Baltic. All manifesta- tions of this kind met with an instant and hearty response on the part of the meeting. Sir Edward Codrington delivered this warning; which may be taken as a sample of many others to the like effect—

They heard rumours of its being the intention of France to take possession of the Balearic Isles; and why should not they, when Austria was allowed so easily to get hold of Cracow? If the principle professed by Austria was right, it was right for others; and, therefore, not one of the smaller states in Europe was now to be supposed safe frpm the aggression of its stronger neighbours. Great Bri- tain, if she regarded only her immediate interest, could not object to the new doctrine; for contiguous to her dominions there were many little outlying places

which were very desirable. (Laughter.) * * This was a detestable mea- sure on the part of Austria; and they might depend upon it, if it was submitted to by the other Great Powers, they would be driven to have recourse, in self-defence, to reprisals. They would then see a scramble on a great scale; everybody would take what they could get and do what they pleased.

Lord Beaumont, whose speech was at once an historical review and a strong call to arms, responded to this warning— Now was the time for the nation which was strong to seize the territory of the weak; now was the time for France to repossess herself of Belgium, and to wave again her eagles on the walls of Mayence ; now was the time to cross the Rhine and then the Po. Now, too, was the time for the Italians to drive over the Alps the soldiers of Austria; and now might the Hungarians claim their constitution and independence. (Loud cheers.) Several of the speakers insisted on the policy of a cordial union between France and England on the subject. Mr. Beales, who seemed to have been in Paris at the time, described the effect which the news from Cracow had oa the French people. They unanimously glowed with indignation, and there was an instant and general disposition to sink the Montpensier dis- pute with England, in order to a united action in the Northern affair. He suggested an Anglo-French league for the restoration of Poland. This idea was cheered. Sir Harry Verney declared that the French nation was not alienated from the British nation; a declaration which elicited a cheer so sharp, sadden, and loud, as to prove the spontaneity and heartiness of the feeling among the audience.

The most argumentative speech was Mr. M. D. Hill's. The treaty of' Vienna, he observed, had been violated; but a treaty is not like a china bowl—when broken it is not destroyed; and the Powers represented at

the Congress of Vienna could not acquiesce in this infraction without eter:" nal disgrace. If they remain silent now, they will be debarred from com- plaining of any future violation. Their stand must be taken now, or they must be silent for ever. He warned the meeting that it was engaged in no holyday recreation, but that the course it was now advocating might lead Co serious consequences. Ho glanced at the peculiar conflict of two prin- ciples in the settlement of Europe at the peace, always excluding that great anomaly Italy. In the South and South-west, the principle adopted at the treaty was finally to establish the "status quo ante bellum "; in the North, the principle was the " uti possidetis ": in the South and West, it was to be the restoration of legitimate power; in the North, the gains of conquest were to be retained. But there were remarkable exceptions. Finland was not restored to Sweden, because Russia wanted it; and, in compensation, Norway was taken from poor dead Denmark and given to Sweden. The natives of Norway held the anarchical doctrine that Norway belonged to the Norwegians; but there was little sympathy for that doctrine in those days; and Bernadotte was left to conquer the free people at his leisure. Russia stil wanted more; and, luckily, honest John Bull is always delighted to finds friend's hand in his purse. Russia had borrowed a large sum of money from Holland; Holland was adjudged to pay the expenses of the war by which she had "gained her independence" [she was in fact to forego the Russian debt]; but she was too weak to take the whole of this burden on her shoulders, and England undertook to pay the Dutch creditor the 25,000,000 florins borrowed by Russia. England still pays the interest on that debt—about 120,0001. a year. In 1831 there was a new convention between England and Russia; Russia consenting to the separation between Holland and Belgium; and in the convention it was stated that the payment to Russia was still due, on account of the general arrangements to which Russia had acceded at the peace. Where are those. arrangements now? The Queen has declared the annexation of Cracow to be a manifest violation of the treaty of Vienna; and, as a law- yer, Mr. Hill declared one consequence of that violation—the claim for 120,0001. a year no longer exists. Perhaps be might be said " to take too much upon himself "; but he might cite in support of his assertion the opinion of that eminent civilian Dr. Addams. Now, what would be the opinion in Europe of England's sincerity, if after the declaration from the Throne that the treaty is violated this sum were still paid?

Several resolutions, setting forth the sentiments developed by the speakers, were affirmed unanimously; and also a memorial to the Queen, based upon the resolutions, and praying her Majesty "to command such measures to be adopted as may appear calculated to avert the evils which must other- wise inevitably accrue to all the states of Europe from the continued acts of violence exercised by Russia, Austria, and Prussia, towards Poland, and to ameliorate the condition of that oppressed country."

Dr. Addams's opinion has been published by the Times. It goes over the treaty in detail, and concludes-

" It appears to me, that if Great Britain makes any further payments on ac- count of the Russian Dutch loan, it must be on political considerations only, (as to which I give no opinion,) and not by any means as obliged thereto by the con- vention (into which the former convention merged in that respect) of November 1831."

At a meeting of the Society for Promoting the Amendment of the Law, on Wednesday, Mr. Stewart introduced the following resolutions; which stand for future discussion- " That much of the delay and expense which now arise in the progress of a suit in Chancery is to be traced to the present practice of bringing the suit in the first instrance before a Judge, who refers either the whole or part of the matter in dispute, or involved in the suit, to the Master to be inquired into; which matters the Master reports on, and these are again brought before the Court.

"That it deserves consideration, whether in many suits, the whole of the matters in dispute between the parties, or involved in the suit, might not be disposed of by the Judge, sitting in court or in chambers, as might best suit the circumstances of the case.

" That it further deserves consideration, whether in many cases the whole matters in dispute between the parties, or involved in the suit, might not be satis- factorily disposed of by the Master without any reference to the Judge. " That it further deserves consideration, whether the business of the Court of Chancery might not be distributed between the Judge and the Masters, in some mode better calculated to insure the more speedy and effectual administration of justice. " That it further deserves consideration, whether the judicial duties which are now discharged by the Masters should be performed by an officer of court sub- ordinate in rank and of limited powers. " That it further deserves consideration, whether a more effectual machinery for taking accounts, and for disposing of the administrative business of the Court than now exists, might not be devised; and that therefore it is expedient that the present resolutions be referred back to the Committee on Equity, with the view of extending their report to them."

In the Court of Queen's Bench, on Saturday, the case of " the Queen versus Dunn "—a prosecution of the well-known Mr. Dunn by Miss Burdett Contts, for perjury—came on for trial before Lord Denman and a Special Jury. It will be recollected that Mr. Dann had suffered imprisonment in consequence of some in- convenient demonstrations of his professed affection for the wealthy lady. His love gradually took a less disinterested turn, and•he began at length to seek for a pecuniary compensation for his wounded feelings. With this view, in January 1846, he advanced a sudden claim for 100,0001. He professed to found it on a written paper, alleged to have been received from Miss Contts, authorizing him to draw to that amount on Messrs. Coutts and Company's bank, in which Miss Burdett Coutts is a partner. His draft for 100,0001. being dishonoured, he had interviews with Mr. Marjoribanks and Sir Edward Antrobus, two of the pardiers, to whom he produced bis authority: it proved to be a copy of doggrel verses, signed with the initials A. B. C., [Angela Burdett Coutta,] and commencing in the following manner- " Oh, Mr. D.

You've spoilt all our fun By your very imprudent advances ; Why didn't you meet

Me, except in the street—

Why not meet me at routs or at dances ?"

The poem goes on to describe the lover's pilgrimage to Harrogate ; where A.B.Q.

Could hear your heart bump As we stood near the pump."

An allusion is made to subsequent wanderings, a ducking, and an imprisonment; and finally, "A. B. C.," relenting, consoles Mr. D." by thus authorizing him to

draw for his compensation-

" Send to Coutts'e your bill— There are lots in the till—

I'll give the clerk orders to do ft : Then get your discharge; Your dear body enlarge, And in Stratton Street do let me view it.

"And, by the by, love, My affection to prove, For your long cruel incarceration,

Fill a good round sum In

(As I've plenty of tin)

To make you a fair compensation.-A. B. C."

The sum of 100,0001. was arbitrarily fixed by Mr. Dunn in one of his letters, as being, "under the circumstances, compensation for the injuries inflicted on me by Miss Coutts"-

"Contrasting the injuries I have received, and my consequent position, with the po-

sition of your partner and her immense wealth, I shall draw fur one year's income, which I understand to be 100,0001. I am content to receive the amount of one year's income, be it less-if I am paid the amount, If it be more."

Unable to obtain his "compensation," Mr. Dunn affected to regard the refusal as an act of bankruptcy, and he took formal steps to make Miss Barlett Coutts a bankrupt: to that end he swore an affidavit of the debt before the Registrar of the Court, in which he declared that Miss Burdett Coutta was indebted to him to the amount named, and that she had recognized the debt, iii her own hand- writing, as " compensation for divers injuries and imprisonments inflicted." This was the perjury.

In addition to the formal proof that the affidavit had been sworn by the de- fendant, witnesses were called to show that it was wilfully and corruptly false. Miss Burdett Coutts swore that she bad not written the supposed authority, and bad never in her life written to the defendant. She had forwarded all letters sent to her within the last few years by the defendant, to her solicitor, unopened, when his handwriting was recognized on the superscription, and so soon as others, not BO superscribed, were found to be his, they were sent unread. Her solicitor had general directions that every legal measure to protect her from the defendant should be taken. Mr. Marjoribanka and Sir Edmund Antrobus, and two of the clerks in the bank of Coutts and Co., deposed that the defendant had twice pre- sented the order for payment, and had each time been refused; that on each of these occasions he had produced the supposed authority, and had been distinctly told that it was not in the handwriting of Miss Coutts; and that he had written letters, the object of which was to induce Miss Coutts or her partners, under the pressure of an abuse of the bankrupt-laws, or a reluctance to encounter the an- noyance of legal proceedings, however ill-founded, to compromise his alleged claim by payment of the sum of 100,0001. The defendant addressed the Jury at some length; protesting that the suffer- ings and persecution which be had met with from Miss Contts and her friends had led to the belief that she had been at length induced to make him compensation, and had therefore sent him the authority on which lie had acted. lie endea- voured to elicit, in his cross-examination of Miss Coutta, proof that the prosecu- trix and her friends bad taken no direct steps to remove his false impression. He produced witnesses of his own to show that letters from him to Miss Coutta had passed through the posts-wishing to establish the feet of a correspondence; that he had received the alleged authority by post; and that he had compared the handwriting with that of Miss Coutts, and from the result of that comparison was justified in arriving at the conclusion on which he had founded his subsequent conduct.

Lord Denman having summed up, the Jury instantly returned a verdict of "guilty." The defendant then moved in arrest of judgment, on two grounds: first, that the affidavit did not allege a positive debt by Miss Coutts, but an hypothetical debt only, depending on the fact whether or not the authority had been signed by her, and therefore had not given to the Court of Bankruptcy jurisdiction to ad- minister the oath; secondly, that there was a variance between the affidavit Set forth and that proved. Lord Denman ruled against him on both points; and then sentenced him to be imprisoned in the Queen's Prison for eighteen months, and after that until he should enter into recoguizances for good behaviour, him- self in 1001. and two sureties each in 501.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Wednesday, a Mint prosecution gave rise to some animadversions from the Bench on the manner in which such cases were °Deducted by the official lawyers with respect to Police witnesses. A man and a woman were charged with having coining-implements in their possession. The evidence was by no means conclusive. In the examination of Police-Sergeant Brennan, it was elicited that he and other Policemen were paid so much a day by the Mint Solicitor for attendance at such trials: Brennan received 7s. a day from the Mint, his Police pay still going on. The Chief Baron directed the Jury to acquit the prisoners; and he condemned the practice of paying Policemen on the part of the Mint: it might lead to the horrible crime of getting up cases against innocent persons: it ought to be discontinued for the future. In returning aver- diet of acquittal, the Jury expressed their entire concurrence in the remarks made by the Judge.

On Thursday, Robert Kerr, the master of the ship Levenside, was tried for stealing four hundred rough diamonds, valued at some 4,0001. The particulars of this case were stated last week: the evidence fully proved the .accusation, and Kerr was sentenced to be transported for seven years.

As Mr. David Urquhart was leaving the Cracow meeting on Tuesday, Major Beniowski, a Pole, assaulted him in the passage. The policeman who was in at- tendance refused to take the assailant into custody, because he had not witnessed the assault; but on Wednesday, Major Beniowski appeared at the Bow Strest Office to answer Mr. Urquhart's complaint. That gentleman stated, that as he VMS quitting the Freemasons Tavern, Beniowski accosted him, requesting an in- terview; Mr. Urquhart passed on; the Pole seized him by the back of his neck; and in trying to release himself, Mr. Urquhart was mach hurt and cut, his face coming against the ground. The charge was fully made out. The defendant said be had no intention to deny it; but he would state the provocation he had endured. In the year 1840, Mr. Urquhart published a pamphlet in which Beniowski was denounced as "the agent of the Russian and the spy of the English Government." The statement was a calumny, and had greatly injured him. Conceiving that the writer had made the statement in error, be had used every means to obtain an inter- view, that the wrong impression of Mr. Urquhart might be removed : but though be had sought such an interview ever since 1840, he had not succeeded. He was at the meeting on Tuesday; heard Mr. Urquhart speak; and tried to have a com- munication with him; and on the complainant's shunning him, he certainly en- deavoured to detain him: the injuries inflicted must have been accidental. Major Beniowski was held to bail to appear at the Middlesex Sessions.

At Worship Street Police-office, on Wednesday, Thomas Lord, a countryman, was charged with offering poisonous roots for sale. Mr. Imray, a herbalist, stated that the prisoner bad asked him to buy from a quantity of roots which he carried in a basket, asserting that they were "English gentian"; while in fact they were mandrake-roots, and decidedly poisonous, though slow in effect. Lord said he had sold a great quantity, and had himself drunk a decoction of the roots without any it effects. He was remanded.

A fatal collision occurred in the Thames early on Sunday morning. The schooner Rose, of Exeter, was lying at anchor two miles below Tilbury Fort: from some mismanagement, a large steamer, on her outward voyage to Scotland, ran into the schooner, and cut it down to the water's edge. It was evident that the vessel would immediately sink, and the people on board the steamer did what they could to save the crew of the Rose: they got one man on board; but five seamen perished, with, it is supposed, two passengers. The steamer was so little damaged by the concussion that she proceeded on her voyage. The Rose lies in deep water.

It has since been ascertained that the steamer was the Royal Victoria, plying between London and Ltith. A river pilot was in charge of the vessel as far as Gravesend, when be quitted it; a slight fog them came on, and seems to have been the cause of the disaster. The man who was saved was the master of the- schooner; he was taken from the water insensible, but was recovered by prompt attention.