II.Lbt Metropolis.

In accordance with annual custom, the Lord Mayor Elect, accompanied by the. Lord Mayor, the Recorder, and several Aldermen, and attended by. the Sheriff, Remembrancer, and other civic officers, waited on the. Lord Chancellor, on Monday, for the purpose of obtaining the Queen's approba- tion of the selection made by the Livery. The Recorder having duly in- troduced Sir George Carroll. the Lord Chancellor formally signified the. Royal approbation; and the deputation withdrew, after partaking of the "'loving cup."

At a Court of Aldermen, on Saturday, Mr. Dodgson, stock-broker, of the firm of Palmer, Hope, and Dodgson, Royal Exchange, appeared to answer the complaint of Mr. John White, of Prince's Street, Westminster. The chief point, as in the case of Messrs. Roches, was the refusal of Mr. Hodgson to furnish Mr. White with a statement of the name and address of the party from whom certain railroad shares had been purchased for him, and also to allow an inspection of the entries of the transaction made in the partnership-books. No charge of fraud was preferred. It came out in the course of the investigation, that the name of Mr. George Palmer, who had been dead many years, stood at the head of the firm of Palmer, Hope, and Dodgson; a circumstance of which the Court- disapproved, as calculated to deceive the public. The Court decided that the transaction was irregular, but that as there was no fraudulent intention the bond would not be put in suit: they merely required a stricter compliance for the future with the terms of the bond.

" Another Court was held on Wednesday. The Lord Mayor read a letter from the son of the late Sir Robert Sale„acknowledging the receipt of the vase which together with the freedom of the City had been forwarded to the deceased General at Simla]]: the vase has been given by Lady Sale to her son, to descend as an heir-loom in the family. At the close of the Plainness, the Lord Mayor took an official leave of the Court; it being the last to be held in his Mayoralty.

A public meeting was held at the London Tavern, on Thursday, to consider the institution recently proposed by Mr. Bond Cabbell at a pub- lic meeting in St. Alban's. The Lord Mayor presided; on the platform were Mr. Cabbell, Mr. Ewart, M.P., Mr. Luke James Hansard, Mr.

D. W. Wire, the Reverend Henry Kemble, the Reverend Mr. Harris, and semen. The Lord Mayor began the proceedings by a state- bell repeated, that the original title for the histitu- -Poor-law Union," had been abandoned: it is hence- Provident and Benevolent Union." The project

is, to afford the industrious classes, insane institution, the threefold advan- tage of benefit societies, of building societies, and of life-insurance associa- tions: It is proposed that to all these branches those to be benefited should have access at a smalLscale of contribution ; while the expenses of working the scheme should be defrayed out of the contributions of the opulent and wealthy. It was stated that a thousand clergymen had sent in their adhesion to the scheme. There was some discussion on points of detail; but resolutions adopting the plan were affirmed unanimously; and a committee, headed by the Lord Mayor, was nominated to carry it out.

The Society for Promoting the Amendment of the Law recommenced its meetings on Wednesday; Dr. Lushiugton, V.P., filled the chair; and we noticed, among others, Mr. M. D. Hill, Mr. Koe, Mr. Spenser, Commis- sioners Farr and Fonblanque, Mr. J. Parker, M.P., and Mr. iwart, M.P. But the great novelty was that the public press-was- also admitted: which shows the good feeling of the more liberal portion of, the bar. A report organizing the formation of- a. library was agreed to Mr. J. Stewart read a report from the Property Committee, which recommended the insurance of titles as likely to assist the sale of real property. After some discus- sion, this report was ordered to be printed, and taken into consideration at the next meeting.

The London Homeopathic Hospital,in Hannver Square, was opened on Monday for the reception of in-patients suffering under acute disorders. The number of out-patients affficted with chronic diseases is upwards of eight hundred.

A company has been formed to accomplish-a- long-desired improvement

—the construction of a viaduct between Holborn Hill, and Snow Hill. '

Michaelmas Term commenced on Monday; and, according to custom, the-Judges and Queen's Counsel breakfasted with the Lord. Chancellor.

In the Court of Queen's Bench, Sir Frederick Thesiger applied on behalf of Mr. George Cornwall Lewis, one of the Poor-law Commissioners, for liberty to file s. criminal information against Mr. William Busfeild Ferrand, M.P., for the publi; cation of two letters which had-appeared under the signature of Mr. Ferrand in the Times of the 8th and 10th of August last These. letters reflected on the character and conduct of Mr_Lewis, and their authorship was admitted by Mr. Ferrand. From the, statement of counsel it appeared, that in the -early part of the year 1842, the Poor-law Commissioners were confidentially informed of certain abuses with respect to the payment-of wages out of the rates, which existed in the Keighley Union, in the West- Riding of Yorkshire, of which Mr. Ferraud was Chairman. Mr. Lewis, therefore, wrote to-Mr. Mott, the Asaistante Commissioner for the district, desiring himto inquire into and report on the truth of the representations- so made. On the 2,9 of April 1842, Mr. Mott made a report, in which he stated that relief d. f in aid of wages, as well as payment of rents, was made out of the rates "to an alarming extent..- He also reported that there was no religious instruction provided by a minister of. the Church of England: and that there existed great abuse lir the encouragement given to the local attornies to.create litigation. This report induced the Poor-law Commis.. sioners to issue, on the 30th of.April, an order for establishingn aont-door labour test, and for abolishing.the practice. of paying rents and giving relief in money without requiring, work. Mr. Ferranti', shortly afterwards put a notice on the- order-book of the- House of- Commons for an address to her Majesty praying that, she would command the PoOrelaw Commissieuers to rescind their order of the 3flth of April. In consequence of this, a communication was made to Sir James Graham, who directed that steps should be taken for ascertaining the accuracy of Mr. Mott's report. Sir John Waltham was ac- cordingly appointed to visit the Keighley Union; and on the 9th June 1842, he made-a report, which confirmed that of Mr. Mott, and mom especially those por. titres of it which related- to the irregularities in the Keighley Union House. A Committee of the House of Commons was appointed, in consequence of a motion by Mr. Ferrand; and the accuracy of Mr. Mott's report was investigated. This, Committee made a report which censured the too great generality of some expres- sions used by Mr. Mott, but stated that -the very witnesses who had been called' to impugn the statement made by him respecting the proceedings. of previous Boards, had in fact confirmed them: the-fact thateelief had been given by pay- ment of rent, and in money without requiring work, had been made out. In the month of August last, Mr. G. C. Lewis was examined before a Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the Admiiiistrationof the Poor-laws in the Andover Union: some inquiries were made of-him respecting the steps which had been adopted in consequence of the notice of motion given by Mr. Fermi rand in 1842, and in his answers he confounded Mr. Mott with Sir John Wel; sham. Immediately afterwards, the first of the two letters complained of appeared in the Times. It began. by alluding to certain resolutions condemnatory of. Mr.: Ferrand's proceedings in the matter of Mr. Mott's report, and then launched out into invectives highly libellous, accusing both Mr. Lewis and Sir James Graham of deliberate falsehood, and declaring " the Graham-Lewis-Mott infamous report" a "foul and infamous conspiracy on .the • part of Sir James Graham and Mr: Lewis to crush" Mr. Ferrand "in the House of. Commons." The second letter, charged Mr. Lewis with " the-most deliberate falsehood for the purpose of _de- ceiving the House of Commons"; and accused him of prevarication' which, if lue had been guilty of it a a police-office, would have caused him "to be packed offi in the prison-van and indicted for perjury." Sir Frederick Thesiger moved- on affidavits made by Sir James Graham and Mr. Lewis, which distinctly nega- tived the charges brought against them; and he submitted, that in, such a Me the Court could not for a. moment hesitate about granting the.application. rule to show cause was granted.

The Under-Sheriff of Surrey held a court on Friday and Saturday, at the Horns Tavern, Kennington, for the assessment of the amount. of compensation to be awarded for certain property required by the South-western Railway Company for their extension to Waterloo Bridge. The Reverend Mr. Streeten, of Swindon, i

claimed 20,0001. for nine houses in the Westminster Bridge Road: the Jury found: a verdict for 16,7001. Mr. Magennis claimed 1,0001. for a housein Stokes Ter- race: the Company had deposited 200L: which eventually was accepted, and a verdict for that amount was recorded. Mr. Rigby, a lucifer-match-maker, occu- pying a house at 17L a year in Glasshouse Street, Vauxhall, made the modest demand of 4,6001. as compensation for loss of trade, &c. A great many wit- nesses were examined. The Attorney-General, who appeared for the Company, denounced the whole case as one of gross fraud. The Jury found a verdict for 1071., the amount paid down by the Company: this confirmation of the offer of the Railway Company will saddle the greater part of the costs upon Rigby.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Tuesday-, James Powell, late steward of the ship Dalton, was indicted for an assault on William Moss, the master of the ves- sel. The assault was proved; but it was also manifest that the captain had treated the man with violence, and that, subsequently to the assault, Powell had been bound on the deck by ropes, and afterwards kept in irons for some Itimee The Jury found the defendant guilty of the assault, but strongly recommended him to mercy on account of the treatment he had received on board the ship. The Common. Sergeant sentenced the man to be imprisoned in Newgate for eight' days; and as the sentence would commence with the session, he was at once set at liberty.

It was announced that Mr. Chambers, the chief witness against Kernot, the late Postmaster of Rayleigh, who wasin custody ona=charge of stealing a five+

pound note from a letter, had declined to appear against him, on the grounds that the accused had a wife and large family, and had lost his appointment as Post- master. Mr. Chambers resides at Boulogne, and so he cannot be compelled to ap- pear. Under these circumstances, application was made to order the prisoner to enter into his own recognizances to surrender and take his trial at any future period when the prosecutor might appear against him. The application was granted.

An extraordinary burglary was committed at Ealing, on the night of the 20th October, by a woman. From the confession of the offender; who was taken into custody last week, and from circumstances which have come to light in other ways, the following seems to have been the method in which the robbery was com- mitted. Hester Elizabeth White, a woman in her twentysthird year, was ac- quainted with a female servant at Mr. Jones's, Woodland Cottages, Ealing. On the 20th October, she paid a visit to the servant; and she appears to have then re- saved to rob the house. During the evening, she furtively unpinned the bar of the shutter of the kitchen-window, so that it might be opened from without; she also managed to drop a table-knife on the lawn: at nine o'clock she came up to Lon- don by the last train from Ealing; no sooner had she arrived at Paddington, than she set out to walk back to Ealing, though the rain was falling in torrents: arrived at Mr. Jones's, she scaled a wall six feet high which separated the grounds from a field; and, throwing, the kitchen-window up, she by means of the knife lifted the bar up, opened the shutters, and entered through the window: she made her way in the dark to the front drawingroom, where a writing-desk was usually kept; and having secured that, she left the premises by the way she had entered. She then started. with her booty on her return to town, walking all the way; and about eight o'clock the next morning reached her lodgings in Crown Court, Pall Mall, in a very exhausted state, completely drenched with rain. The desk contained 401. in bank-notes, 10/. in gold, and 201. in old gold and silver coin, together with two valuable rings and other property. The woman was traced by the notes, which she paid away to various tradesmen. She was ex- amined before a Magistrate, at Brentford, on Saturday; but, being very ill from what she had suffered on the night of the 20th, she was sent to the Infirmary of Westminster Bridewell, till the next examination.

Two deaths occurred on the Thames during the fog. on Saturday. A boat was run down by a billy boy, and one of the two lads who were in it was drowned. A collier sank a sand-barge, and the man who was navigating it perished.

The other evening, as a gentleman was inspecting the interior of the General P,ost-office, he expressed a desire to travel up the machinery which has been lately erected for the purpose of hoisting the letters, newspapers, bags, and men, from the lower to the upper floor of the office, and which is worked by a powerful sMarn-engine erected in the basement. Nut understanding that it was necessary, or being too frightened, to step from the platform upon which he stood as soon as he reached the upper floor, he was in imminent danger of being crushed. Seeing his danger, he called out lustily: some of the men raised an alarm; the machine was stopped, and the gentleman rescued. An order has since been issued strictly prohibiting any visitor from ascending by the machinery.

The Garrick Theatre, in Goodman's Fields, was burnt down on Wednesday morning. One of the Performances of the previous evening had been The Battle of Waterloo, in which of course a good deal of firing occurs; and a piece of burn- ing wadding from a cannon is supposed to have lodged somewhere in the flies. Be- tween four and five o'clock in-the morning, a policeman observed sparks and smoke rising from the roof of the building.; he immediately gave an alarm; in ten mi- nutes half the theatre was inflames; and the fire, from the nature of the place, spread with great rapidity. Engines were soon on the spot, and every effort was made; but all that could be done was to save the surrounding premises, which were in the utmost danger• and this was effected, the damage done to them not being very great. The theatre itself, with the whole of its contents, including the dresses of the performers, was destroyed. Whilst the firemen were directing the water on the theatre, the outer wall in the Tenter Ground fell with a crash—the police and firemen having barely sufficient time to escape—and completely blocked up the road-way. One of the police-constables was severely injured, and was obliged to be removed to the London Hospital. The building was par- tially insured. The Garrick Theatre, constructed within a large building for- merly used as a cotton-factory, was opened about 1830. It occupied a consider- able space of ground, extending from the back of the houses on the West side of Leman Street to the Tenter Ground, adjacent to St. Mark's Church. It was fitted with the usually formed pit and gallery, had one tier of boxes, and was capable of holding 2,000 persons. It is remarked that Astley's was burnt down after a performance of The Battle of ll'aterloo.