Sbt _Metropolis.

The Lord Mayor, as Conservator of the Thames, went to Oxford on Tuesday; travelling by the Great Western Railway. On Wednesday he gave a banquet, in the large room at the Star Hotel; the Aldermen and their wives constituting, apparently, the bulk of the guests. On Thursday the civic party were regaled by Mr. James Morrison, M.P., at Basildon Park.

A Court of Common Council was held on Monday; and the following grants were made: to the Waghorn Testimonial, 100 guineas; to the National School fund, 1,000 guineas; to the Elizabeth Fry Refuge, 200 guineas.

A preliminary meeting, convened by the National Philanthropic-Asso- ciation, was held at the London Tavern on Tuesday, to devise protective measures against the spread of disease in the Metropolis. The Reverend Mr. Harris presided. Several gentlemen, whose means of information were extensive, stated that there was not the slightest ground for supposing that the least taint of Asiatic cholera prevailed in the Metropolis; and that the wonder was that so little fever existed, looking at the intense heat of the weather. It was stated, that since the great storm of Saturday, the cases of diarrhcea had greatly diminished in number. The meeting appointed a deputation to wait on the Lord Mayor to consult as to precautionary mea- sures for preserving the public health. The result of the conference was communicated to an adjourned meeting; held on Thursday. The Lord Mayor received the deputation courteously, but declined to call a public meeting; thinking that the sanitary measures adopted by the Commissioners of Sewers were as good as any which could be adopted. A permanent committee to watch over the sanitary' condition of the Metropolis was re- solved upon by the meeting. It was generally admitted that the great desideratum is a good supply of water.

The new baths and washboases erected for the use of the labouring classes in the North-western district of the Metropolis were opened for. the first time on Monday. "The World's Temperance Convention" commenced its annual session on Tuesday, at the City of London Literary and Scientific Institution, Aldersgate Street. About two hundred delegates from various parts of England and America were present. Much of the time was occupied in reading statistical accounts of the progress of Teetotalism, and in diluting anti-alcohol resolutions, deemed too strong as originally presented to the Convention. One long resolution, which seemed to embody all the smaller ones, was passed on Wednesday, giving it as the opinion of the Convention that a knowledge of the deleterious effects, physical, moral, and religious, of alcohol in its various shapes, would operate effectively in promoting the Teetotal cause; that total abstinence is the only effectual protection against the consequences of intemperance &c. Yesterday evening there was "a great demonstration" at Covent Garden Theatre; the elite of the delegates being selected for speakers.

The Metropolis was visited on Saturday by a remarkable thunder- storm. The weather had for some days before been very sultry, and especially on Thursday. On Friday afternoon, clouds began to gather from the South-east; and at night there was much lightning, though the stars shone brightly. At midnight, the horizon to the South-east was incessantly illumined by repeated flashes. [At that time a tremendous storm was raging at Southampton.] The dawn of Saturday was hazy; but as day advanced the mists cleared away, and the heat became intense. Clouds, however, still remained in the South-east; and although the lower current of wind blew from the North-east, those clouds gradually spread them- selves over the heavens with increasing density. At two o'clock, peals of thunder were heard; and about twenty minutes after three the great storm burst over London with violence. The thunder was now loud and sudden, and the flashes of lightning were very vivid. The rain came down with such violence that it seemed in every part like a little mountain-torrent falling from a vast height—more broken than a larger waterfall, but not in drops like rain—pouring with a continuous and heavy weight. The wind rose, veering rapidly from South to North, and changing often; and the gusts drove along the rain like a fog. The streets were suddenly converted intObrawling streams. A little after four o'clock there fell a vast quantity

of hail of great size. Then there was a followed by:a renewal of the storm, with more lightning, rain, and hail, but less violent. The thunder and lightning, however, were incessant: the thunder kept up a perpetual rumble; and the lightning, for the most part faint and vague, seemed to possess the whole atmosphere; striking upon the sense at every second, like a visible pulse. It was observed that those who sat turned away from the window (especially if reading or writing so as to have their eyes bent upon white paper) could perceive the lightning more distinctly than those who looked out for it. The storm was at its greatest height after four o'clock: it lasted three hours and ten minutes; terminating at half-past six o'clock.

The effects of this storm were most disastrous. The hail—large lumps of ice, falling in a complete torrent—shattered to pieces an immense quantity of glass; and the amount of water was so great that all low-lying parts were flooded. Even where the drainage was good, the sewers were not capable in every case of carrying off the water which accumulated so rapidly. The foads in many places where there was any depression were coLvarted for a time into large lakes • cellars, underground kitchens, and in many cases the basements of buildings, were placed under water; while wherever skylights were broken by the hail a stream of water flowed into the tops of the houses. We select some items of the damage inflicted by this re- markable stoim.

At Buckingham Palace the mischief was considerable. Much glass in the roof of the picture-gallery having been broken by. the hail, the apartment was flooded; but the pictures were not injured; those in the greatest danger having been promptly removed. Many other rooms were similarly injured; and so much glass was broken that the damage is estimated as high as 2,0001. Though the floors of many of the apartments resembled rivers it does not appear that much injury has been done to the furniture and decorations; plentiful assistance having been obtained from the police and military. From the Palace to James Street was one sheet of water, so that carts plied to carry passengers; and many other parts of the Parks were inundated.

Glass was shivered in every direction. At the Houses of Parliament and West- minster Hall, seven thousand panes- Police office, Scotland Yard, three hundred; Oubitts' factory, Millbank, and Broldwoods' pianoforte manufactory, Horseferry Road, many thousands; St. James's Theatre, eight hundred squares; Burford 's Panorama, ten thousand; at the Italian Operahouse, a great number. A long list of this kind might be given. The skylights in the Quadrant, Burlington Arcade, and other such places, were more or less shattered; while the windows of private houses at the West-end shared the same fate. The documents at the Public Re- cord Office' in Carlton Ride, were in some danger from the rain pouring through the broken skylights; but they were hastily removed, though at the expense of putting them in disorder. The kitchens of the Reform Club were so flooded that the cookery could not proceed—in fact, the water is reported to have been ten feet deep!

Much injury was done in the Western suburbs. The market-gardens of course suffered severely; the glasses being smashed, while conservatories were riddled by the hail. The plants, too, were much damaged. At Walham Green there was a heavy shower of small frogs. The incidents on the river Thames were startling. The Citizen steamer B was struck by the lightning off the Red Honse at Battersea. A portion of the paddle- box was shattered; but no one was hurt. The sewers poured forth torrents of water. There was such a rush from the Fleet Ditch that the iron covering over the upper part of the mouth of it was blown off, and the stream that then flowed forth was so great as to drive a steamer which was passing against the bridge, quite dis- abling it. At Clerkenwell the flood was very great; the drains being quite inadequate to carry off the rain. About Mutton Hill, the water rose as high as seven feet; the inhabitants having not only to retreat from the cellars, which were rapidly filled, but even to take refuge in the first floors. Many people were saved from the flood by men who swam to their assistance. Some houses were even washed down. A great deal of furniture was carried by the streams into an open part of the Fleet ditch, and thence into the Thames. On the following day, chests of drawers, hogsheads, a butcher's block, and many articles of furniture, were res- cued from the month of the sewer at Blackfriars Bridge. Many poor people having been rendered honseless, the Clerkenwell authorities gave a general order for their temporary admission into the Workhouse. On the Surrey side of the river the storm was very violent; more so, apparently, than elsewhere. The Surrey Theatre was so flooded by the streams of water which flowed through the broken skylights that the performances for the evening could not take place. Astley's was in almost as bad a predicament. Churches, chapels, manufactories, and private dwellings, were all severely damaged where the windows were in an exposed state: thus, in the Walworth Road, on the West side, there are rows of houses hardly one of which has escaped without some windows broken; while at Kennington, Brixton, Clapham, and Vauxhall, the

destruction is said to have been still greater. For upwards of a mile and a half down the Wandsworth Road, nearly every square of glass in the South fronts of the houses was demolished. The nurserymen in this district have been great suffer- ers. Mr. Chandler has not only had his extensive conservatories riddled, but his flowers and shrubs are cut to pieces, the hail in many instances having left nothing but the stalks of plants standing. At the Surrey Zoological Gardens the glass carnivora-house was greatly damaged. The tanners of Bermondsey have been lasers to a large amount, their tan-pits and premises having been flooded. At Bankside the low-lying buildings, inhabited by poor people, were completely inundated. The publicans' cellars were filled with water in a great many caws bah North and South of the Thames, but more generally on the Surrey aide.

In numerous instances the damage done to the lower parts of houses was not confined to the mere entry of rain-water, but the sewer which passed beneath them burst up, and filled kitchens, cellars, and other places, with the polluted current. The lightning does not appear to have done much harm. Several persona were stunned for a time, but no fatality is reported in London. The injury to property does not seem to have been greater than the destruction of a wall here and there, the knocking down of a chimney, or the shattering of a tree.

At Bromley, Greenwich, and that vicinity, the market-gardeners suffered greatly. The storm had one good effect in Kent—it cleared the vermin pretty generally from the hop-bins. At Windsor and the neighbourhood the hail-storm did much damage; but the torrents of water are declared to have done more "in 'clearing, deepening, and improving' the drains and culverts of Windsor Castle, than all the Commissioners: of Woods and Forests' the Board of Works, and a whole corps of sappers and miners, have been able to accomplish during the last three or four month?'— greatly to the joy of the loyal inhabitants of the borough, who consider that Royalty has been kept away from the Castle by the slow proceedings of the drain- age authorities. At Ditton Park, the residence of the Duke of Buccleuch, two thousand panes were broken.

There was another storm on Sunday morning, but it was of a compara- tively mild character.

Again, at an early hour on Wednesday morning, another tempest of lightning and rain burst over London, and it lasted for many hours.

The inquest at Hounslow on Frederick John White, the private of the Seventh Hussars, was concluded on Monday. The proceedings were very lengthy, and did not terminate till past midnight; but much of the evidence was irrelevant, or mere repetition. Sergeant Darley, the man whom deceased struck with the poker, declared that he had had no quarrel with White: he was a man that knew himself very well, and, in fact, a superior and respectable man—by no means an habitual drunkard. The assault was not provoked. A letter from White to his brother, written on the 25th June, and couched in desponding tenns, was produced: it said nothing of the punishment, but spoke of the ' most horrid and wretched duty. of a soldier. The official records of the court-martial were presented. From thes.e it appeared that White pleaded guilty, throwing himself on the mercy of the court: he said that he had no vindictive feeling towards Dailey—it was all the work of the drink he had taken. The Jury viewed the ladder in the barrack-yard to which White had been tied. On their return, Mr. Coroner Wakley remarked to Dr. Warren—" I find nothing in the authorities I have consulted about the handles of the lash, or the weight of it, or the number of knots: are there any instructions given to the medical officer as to what he is to do on such occasions? if there are, they must be produced." Dr. Warren—"None: there are no such instructions in the British Army." The Coroner—" The British Army must be a queer sort . of machine. It is very extraordinary that there should be nothing for your guidance. But T must confess that, after looking at the law fon the su.bject, I can find not a word. • Nothing is said about the mode in which 'a .man us to be ex- ainined who is to undergo a court-martial; whether he is to be" stripped, or examined with the stethoscope." Dr. Warren—"I have done as I believe every medical officer has done in such cases for the last fifty years in the British Army." Mr. Clarke, who appeared for the officers—" Do say 'yes' or no,' Dr. Warren. I wish to God I could get you to say 'yes' or 'no.' (Laughter.) There is nothing to be guided by in military flogging but the customary rules of the service—Con- suetude tacit legent." Colonel Whyte—" The words of the Articles of War are, according to the custom of war in like cases?", The Coroner—" I can find nothing to define that custom; for though the custom may be law, we don't know that it is. Farrier Evans said, he learned how to flog by practising in a sack with the cat. The Coroner made some inquiries of Farrier Cntton as to how the cats were made. "What are you told when buying the whipcord ?" "To get cord as nearly as possible like the cord used before." Adjutant Ireland—" The cords sometimes get untied ; and then, by chance, there may be a double knot." The Coroner- " But is there no law ?" Adjutant Ireland—" No, none. This is called a cat-o'-nine tails; and that means, of course, nine knots." The Coroner—" But was there never any law about it?" The Adjutant—" I don't know. I am not bound to know the law—only to carry it into effect." Critton said he had no en- mity with White. Evans was very good friends with White. Both he and Evans had spoken to White in a friendly way before his death. Had seen men sometimes, in their struggling, pull down the ladder to which they were tied. The Coroner- " Then, you flog as you think best?" "Yes, Sir." lhe Coroner—" You have no instructions and never had, from the Adjutant, how to strike, where to strike, or with what force to strike?" " No, Sir." The Coroner read a letter from a brother of White respecting the sanity of the deceased. The writer says he often feared his brother would go mad. "When a boy at school and about thirteen years of age, be suffered severely from aberration of intellect, canied, as it was said, by fright occasioned by a fall from a wall. For some months he was excessively weak in his mind, indeed insane. Then on several occasions he has displayed towards members of his family such extraordinary conduct as could proceed from none other than a deranged person. In truth, the very fact of his enlistment in the Hussars so soon after his discharge from the- Guards coupled with his repeatedly expressed dislike of a military life, proves anything but perfect sanity." His father in his latter years was not of perfectly sound mind, and was obliged in consequence to resign a Government situation Which Ile held.

A good deal of time was taken up with stitements made by Colonel Whyte as to what he had said and what he had not said to certain soldiers, pending this in- quiry. He denied the truth of statements made by Private klatthewson; the man reiterated them; and the soldier and commanding officer contradicted each other point-blank before the Jury ! The depositions of the medical witnesses were read over to them. They ad- hered to their former views the military surgeons refusing to assent to Mr. Wil- son's hypothesis of the cause of death ; and Mr. Wilson reaffirming, in the most decisive terms, his belief that the flogging was that cause. The Coroner summed up, and the Jury retired. After an absence of half an hour, they returned with this verdict-

" That the deceased soldier, Frederick John White, cued on the 11th of July 1846; from the mortal effects of a severe and cruel flogging of one hundred and filly lashes, which he received on the 15th of June 1846, at the cavalry barracks on Hounslow Heath, at Heston; that the said flogging was Inflicted upon his back and neck under the sentence of a district court-martial, composed of officers of the Seventh Regiment of Hussars, held on the 10th of June previous, duly constituted for his trial ; that the said court-martial was authorized by law to pass the said severe and cruel sentence; that the dogging was Inflicted upon him by two farriers In the presence of John James Whyte, the Lieutenant-Colonel, aud James Low Warren, the Surgeon of the said regi- ment ; and that so and by means of the said flogging the death of the said Frederick John White was caused. In returning this verdict, the Jury cannot refrain from ex- pressing-their horr r and dngust-ate Cilt tame of any law amongst the statutes or regulations of this realm which permits:he revolting punishment of flogging to be In- flitted upon British soldiers; and at the same time, the Jury implore every man in this kthedom to join hand and heart In forwarding petitions to the Legislature, praying In tlie Most urgent terms for the abolition ()revery law, order, and regulation, which per- mits the disgraceful practice of flogging to remain one moment longer a slur upon the humanity and fair name or the people of this country."

The Coroner said he cordially concurred in the verdict which had been returned. Ilis own impression was, that the unfortunate deceased was a man of unsound mind; and the reflections which must arise from a conviction of that fact could only be most painfuL At the Mansionhouse, on Wednesday, Henry Bidwell Dunn, clerk to a solicitors firm in Lincoln's Inn Fields, was charged with forging a check and uttering it. The prisoner had speculated in railway shares, and had employed Mr. Rickards as his broker. In November last, some blank checks were stolen from Mr. Rickards's office; and on the l&th of that month, his bankers (Barclay's) paid a check for 2481. 15e. purporting to be drawn by him in favour of "R. Leeson." The check was afterwards discovered to be a forgery; and the notes in which it was paid having been found in the posse.ssion of the prisoner, he was suspected to be the forger. He is remanded.

The Lord Mayor was robbed of a valuable gold watch, while waiting for his carriage at the City terminus of the Blackwell Railway, on Monday night. Two men appear to have been engaged in the theft; and one is in custody.

Late on Sunday night, two houses in Holborn, part of the block constituting Addle Row and facing Gray's Inn Lane, fell down. Symptoms of the coming disaster had warned the inmates to escape in time, and the passers by to avoid the danger. The buildings seem to have been very decayed; and they sank down between the houses at the sides and back, the materials and furniture forming a mere mass of rubbish.

An explosion occurred on Saturday at a firework-maker's in Hatfield Place, Westminster Road. The roof of the warehouse was blown off. Fortunately no pemon was in the building at the time; and, engines having soon arrived, the flames, which had spread to the dwelling-house, were speedily extinguished.