'hr aittruptio.

The resumption of the inquiryinto the City Corporation by the Royal Commissioners took place on Wednesday. Several officers of the Cor- poration were present ; including Mt. Stuart Wortley, Recorder, Mr. 'Merewether, Town-Clerk, Sir John Key, Chamberlain, and Mr. Charles Pearson, City Solicitor. Before the evidence was taken, a conversation was held on the course of the inquiry. The Chairman, Mr. Labouchere, -said it had been thought desirable that a sort of prima facie case should be made out by those who proposed alterations in the Corporation, and then that the evidence of its officers should be taken : but the Commis- sioners would not preclude themselves from taking other evidence after- wards on points which they might not have sufficiently considered. Mr. 3f erewether said, the Corporation had apprehended that their witnesses would be heard last. Mr. Labouchere replied, that the Commissioners must reserve in their hands the most unfettered discretion.

Aa chief officer of the Corporation, but in no one sense as an advocate, the Recorder said he appeared to put forward a written statement, .authorized by the whole Corporatidn, to vindicate its administration. This document was of great length, and took by point,by point the state- ments previously made before the Commission. It denies that the -income of the Corporation is excessive. •" The proper income averages .about 200,0001. per annum ; of which a little less than one-half is derived from freehold and leasehold rents, and a little more than one-half front tolls, offices, and casual sources of \revenue." Besides this, 111,000/. is raised for lilhting, paving; sewers, and *slice. The sources of the income arcedefended. lZhe ■ 'City bas -possessed a large portion of its property fortwiive hualdridlyears. 1The tolls, dues, and offices, are con- sidered unobjectionable. ..s& slong hiatory -af • the suit with the Crown respecting thw soil and 'bed of the Manes is - given ; and it is asserted that the sum derived from " embankments " amounts only to 11004 which is expended on the river. The statement defends the charge for the admission of freemen ; and the coal-tax, which is expended on im- provements within and without the City; but the ancient customs of metage and porterage are thought to require modification. In like man- ner, the expenditure of the Corporation is defended as not excessive : the inauguration banquet, and the pageant which precedes it, are ancient customs affording a holiday to the poor, and should not be abolished. As regards the allowances to Committees for tavern-expenses, it is shown that while the number of meetings has increased the allowances have been decreased. It is denied that the accounts are unintelligibly kept ; those who have given evidence have misunderstood them. In answer to the assertions that the corporators of the present century are inferior in position to those of former times, a long statement of abuses perpetrated in the eighteenth and reformed in the nineteenth century is put forward. Thus, the Corporation of the nineteenth century has put down common informers ; abolished the sale of offices ; improved the finances, and lifted the revenue above the expenditure • provided that no office can be held by any member of either Court, and that seats of corporators are vacated by insolvency or bankruptcy ; restricted tavern-bills of the Committees to 1200/, a year, instead of 4000/. ' • erected almshouses ; admitted the public to the deliberations of the Courts.

" Having nothing to conceal, and acknowledging the weighty trusts re- posed in them, the Corporation and all its members appeal from prejudice and uninformed abuse to the impartiality and judicial wisdom of this tribunal ; and while they seek the means of improved and more effective action in extending the basis of popular confidence, on which alone their institutions can safely stand, they challenge the severest scrutiny, and, con- tending for the maintenance of their just rights, they trust to the truth for their vindication."

Mr. Benjamin Scott was examined. He hid been twelve, years chief clerk in the office of the Chamberlain ; and should say that there is no foundation for the assertion that the accounts are unintelligibly kept. The discrepancy between the accounts of the Controller and the Cham- berlain arises from the fact that the former estimates the amounts that ought to be received, while the latter puts down the actual receipts. The discrepancies represent the arrears at the commencement of the preceding year, and the arrears at the close, carried to the next year's account. Mr. Scott explained the story of the establishment of the Citizen news- paper. It was established independently of the Corporation, and pur- chased by Mr. Touhnin Smith. Mr. "Scott advanced " a sum of money out of his private funds" to keep it afloat, in the hope that the Con- solidated Committee would take it up, and make it their organ for reporting Corporation proceedings. He expected to-be repaid, and in fact was repaid, as "a matter of grace " to him, "out of the Corporation funds." The sum paid, 250/., was placed under the head " Miscellaneous Expenditure." The sum spent on newspapers by the Committee was about 1851. annually on an average. In the following dialogue Mr. Labouchere is the questioner.

" Is there any fund at all in the nature of the secret-service fund which is used by the City of London ? "—" There is no fund under that name, and nothing which approximates to the secret-service fund, which is voted an- nually by Parliament to the Government ; but there are matters which are considered confidential, the object of whicMotild be defeated if they were known to the public."

" What class of subjects can that be on which a corporation could spend money which ought not to be avowed and,published to the world ? "—" It was considered that such a matter as originating the newspaper was one of those subjects." "Has there been any expenditure in Parliamentary matters or in any other things, by the City, except the transaction.to which you have referred, which may be called of a confidential nature, and of which a full account has not been given ? "—" I am not aware of any sums of money respecting which a perfect knowledge has not existed in the minds of those who ad- ministered the funds, although the matter may have been sufficiently confi- dential to be referred to a sub-committee of a few persons, instead of to a large number."

'Is there any system of expending money for what you call 'private and confidential' purposes, of which no detailed account is rendered ?"—" There are very many entries in the accounts of which the totals are given but the details are not rendered. The details of , Parliamentary expenditure would not be given."

"Is that because there is anything in that expenditure which requires to be kept secret ? "—" It is not desirable in matters of that kind to publish to the world the precise nature of the expenditure."

"Why not ? "—" It has been so considered." " Why has it been so considered ?"—" Because it is thought, probably, that the opposition would be more effectual by not publishing to the world the precise means by which the bill is opposed or public opinion elicited."

On Thursday, Mr. Scott, gave further evidence respecting the con- fidential expenditure of the Corporation. He was confidentially aware of the expenditure in opposing the bill for the removal of Smithfield Market and promoting the plans of the Corporation. The Market Im- provement Committee disbursed 2750/. in obtaining opinions and expres- sions of public opinion against the Government measure. Mr. Acland was employed to get up petitions from all parts of the country ; 2650/. passed through his hands, and 100/. was paid for "literary assistance." 'The sum paid appeared in the accounts as having been paid by the Re- membrancer for disbursements of the Market Improvement Committee.

Mr. Sergeant Merewether, Town-Clerk of the Corporation, was ex- ' :mined. He has held the office eleven years ; attends to the whole busi- ness of the Corporation ; is present at the meetings of both Courts ; and receives a salary of 20001. a year, paid by fees, which fluctuate con- siderably—only once has his income exceeded that amount. The Lord Mayor is willing to throw open his Court ; but the question of compen- sation to those privileged to attend has not been settled. There are one kindred and twenty charters ; the embstance of all has been printed. The complaint that persona cannot see lhe charters in the event of litigation is '" frivolous and unfoUnded." He wesildnot allow a non-freeman, liti- .gating with the City, to inspeet the charters. The Commissioners might ase them if they chose. Examined as to the duties and.emoluments of The Bishop of London has held a Court of Inquiry, this week, as Visitor of St. Paul's Cathedral, to examine into the constitution of the Chapter touching the 'position of Minor Canons. Sir John Patteson and Sir Stephen Lushington sat as assessors. The inquiry arose out of a me- morial presented by two of the senior Minor Canons—the Reverend Col- lier Packman and the Reverend James Lupton—who prayed the Bishop to exercise his authority and place the Minor Canons in the position which the Ecclesiastical Commission intended they should occupy, but which the Dean and Chapter had withheld from them. The Minor . Canons contend that their number ought to be reduced from twelve to six; that the value of the canonries ought to be advanced to 150/, out of the Capitular funds; and that the Canons ought to have in rotation the option of every piece of preferment, under the late Cathedral Act. The arguments were sustained, at great length, by Mr. Hely on behalf of the memorialists, and Mr. Rolt and Dr. Phillimore on behalf of the Dean and Chapter. A great many legal points and interpretations of charters and statutes are involved in the inquiry. The judgment will be given at a future day.

The Bishop of London informs the public through the newspapers, " that though he had "approved of the principle" embodied in the plan for the removal of the City churches, he had not sanctioned the plan with regard to the number of churches to which it may be applied. "The principle is, that in any case where it can be clearly shown that a church is not required, it may be advantageously removed to a place where it is. Each particular case,.' the Bishop adds, "must of course be dealt with by itself, after careful inquiry and a full consideration of all the circum- etances."

A deputation from the Protestant Alliance, headed by Lord Shaftes- bury and the Honourable Arthur Kinnaird, waited upon Lord Clarendon on Monday, and presented a memorial adopted by a public meeting recently held at Freemasons' Tavern. The memorial pointed out the intoler- ant laws existing in Tuscany, Portugal, and Spain, and prayed that a better understanding might be had with those Governments, and also that intolerant enactments might be prevented in Malta. Lord Cla- rendon promised that the memorial should receive his best attention. With regard to Portugal, he had ascertained from our Minister at Lisbon, that British Protestants are not in the least interfered with in the freest exer- cise of their religion. As to Tuscany, he did not think we should have cause to complam again.

An official inquiry into the administration of the affairs of Coldbath Fields Prison has been going on for some time. The head of the finance department has absconded, and serious defalcations have been found in his books. , The Royal Geographical Society met on Monday ; Sir Charles Fel- lowes, Vice-President, in the chair. Among the papers read was one by Mr. T. Baines, on a proposed exploration of Southern Africa, recom- mended by General Cathcart. A letter was read from Dr. Irving, R.N., who has been sent out to Western Africa by the Church Missionary So- ciety. He has served nine years on the coast, and has made some excur- sions into the country. In 1852 he was at Abbeocuta ; and be speaks of the great capabilities of the people, and the productiveness of the soil, as favourable to an extensive and lucrative commerce with England, espe- cially in cotton. There were three million " Yarubas," clothed in cloth of their own manufacture. He goes to examine the country -between the Niger, the Bight of Benin, and Lander's route between Badagry and Boussa. A letter from Mr. Macgregor Laird stated that the steamer to ascend the Niger and Chadda will shortly be ready.

The rooms of the 'Marylebone Free Library, at 27 Gloucester Place, New Road, were opened to the public on Monday. The Library con- tains 3000 volumes.

The poultry mania suffers no abatement. This week the show of the Metropolitan Poultry Club has been held in Baker Street. It contained 1800 pens of birds. Several pens were claimed at the prices affixed by the owners. The Queen claimed a beautiful pen of gold-laced Seabright bantams, bred by Mr. Uriah Spurey, of Market Street, Dunstable. Prince Albert claimed a Dorking cock, bred by Mr. Fisher Hobbs. Prince Al- bert's pen of Bramahpootras were claimed by Mr. Fox, of Skinner Street, Snow Hill.

The patients at the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, 650 in number, were entertained, on Wednesday last week, in the exercising-hall. Cakes and fruit were served out; and a series of dissolving views succeeded, followed by glees and songs. The lunatics were greatly delighted. A 'piece of ornamental drapery caught lire, but it was speedily extinguished, and the spectators kept to their seats. '

Mr. Austin, Poor-law Investor, has been oonducting an inquiry into the circumstances connected with the death of Caroline Callowen, on the 10th December, in the Betty France Workhouse, York Street, Westminster. A. peat mass of evidence Ilea been taken, and the inquiry is not yet concluded. It appears that Canoe/am-much exhausted from want of food, applied for ad-

the Lord Mayor, Mr. Merewether said the duties are nufnerous and heavy ; he had known Lord Mayors sink under the weight of their la- bours. He thought the elections of Aldermen were conducted with great fairness : as to the inequality of the Wards, that has been often considered by the Corporation. If there is one privilege more dear than another to the citizens, it is the power of electing their own magistrates.

The annual great Court of Wardmote was held on Plough Monday, by the-Lord Mayor, for the presentation of the inquests of the various wards. In the main they, have no general interest. The Inquest-men of the Bridge Ward complained of the dirty state of the foot-ways of London Bridge, and the slippery state of the carriage-way, and requested that the Police might be instructed to report on the cleanliness of the thorough- fares, and to summon contractors who fail to remove Stith. The Ward of Farringdon-Within presented the following resolution-

" The Inquest take this opportunity of expressing their opinion that the most important duties they take oath to perform are now more efficiently discharged by permanent officers ; and that, therefore, the reasons for which the inquest was originally instituted now no longer exist, and that the great personal inconvenience and loss of valuable time to which the gentlemen composing the inquest are subjected are of no public utility." The Lord Mayor—" We are living under a very ancient constitution, and, no doubt, some changes respecting the Ward inquest, among other matters, will shortly be made."

mission to the workhouse, and was told they were full. She sat on the steps outside, and a policeman saw her there. Next morning she was found.by another policeman lying on the pavement, and by him taken to the work- house. The porter said she was drunk : this the policeman denies. It does not appear that she was drunk at the time, but some of the witnesses de- posed that she smelt of rum. She died in the workhouse, from the effects of a fall on the pavement, which brought on concussion of the brain. A woman with whom she had lodged just before going to the workhouse, the policeman who found her in the street, and an inmate, say she was not drunk ; but the surgeon and the nurse both assert that she must have been drinking. The question, however, is, whether the woman was improperly denied admission, on a cold night, on the plea that the house was full.

An action has been brought in the Court of Common Pleas to recover 2501. claimed as deposit upon shares in a company for making mines in Belgium. One of the defendants is M. Drouet, who was a Minister of the Belgian Go- vernment at the British Court. He denies that he was a director of the com- pany, and has a good defence on that ground; but he has been advised to assert -the privilege of an Ambassador not to be sued in the country in which he resides as such. On Thursday, Mr. Willes moved for a rule calling on the plaintiff to show cause why the proceedings in the suit should not be stayed or set aside, on the ground that the Court has no jurisdiction over M. Drouet. Rule granted.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Monday, George Strutt, a hairdresser of Camden Town, was convicted of stealing gas, by the insertion of a small pipe into the main before it entered the meter.

A Middlesex Jury has persevered in a verdict against evidence. Joseph Bluff, while trespassing with another on Mr. Newdegate's lands at Harefield, was encountered by a keeper, William Neal. Bluff attacked Neal with a stick, and cut his head open with blows from a gun-barrel, which he took from his pocket ; aid came up-for Neal, and Bluff was beaten in turn. Bluff was accused of "inflicting grievous bodily harm." Mr. Parry urged that Neal had no right to interfere with Bluff. The Jury convicted of a "simple assault "—some were for entire acquittal : they thought Bluff had received "provocation," while he was beaten in turn. The Assistant-Judge, though he could not agree with the verdict, was of course obliged to receive it. Sen- tence, three months' imprisonment.

Apropos to the conviction of two City lightermen for stealing goods from barges which they had been employed to navigate, Mr. Giffard, counsel for the prosecution, complained that his clients were compelled, by the mono- poly of-the Waterman's Company, to emplo1 servants not of their own choos- ing, and were so exposed to be robbed. fhe Assistant-Judge expressed a hoperthat the time would come when something like common sense would rule in these matters.

Mr. George Wildbore, keeper of the New Inn, Waltham Cross, and the George Inn, Bishop's Stortford, was brought before Mr. Corrie, the Clerken-

well Magistrate, charged with having conveyed away from Old Street, on the 31st October, the boy Medhurst, whose body has since been found at East Acton. Wildbore is a portly man, with grey hair and ruddy com- plexion. The Police first had their attention attracted to him by a man re- porting that he had made a chaise-cart for him similar to the one seen in Old Street. The two chief witnesses against the prisoner were George Jack- son and John Sleigh, young boys, who saw Medhurst taken away in the chaise. Jackson said Wildbore was the man : it was a dark night. Cross- examined, the boy could not say if the man who took away Medhurst had bushy whiskers or moustache—whether he wore a Quaker's hat or a wide- awake. Sleigh pointed out Wildbore in the Police Court as the person he saw in Old Street ; but he contradicted himself in several material points. Sergeant Gunn described the recognition of Wildbore at Bishop's Stortford by Jackson—after Gunn had accused him, apparently. Jackson recognized a chaise in the prisoner's stable, but not very satisfactorily ; and also Wild- bore's greatcoat. Wildbore said he had not been in London with the vehicle for six months. After a private conference with the Police, Mr. Corrie re- manded the accused, as it was a case for further inquiry ; and he refused bail.

The inquest, at East Aston, was resumed on Monday. Dr. Glover de- posed, that on a chemical examination of the viscera he could find no traces of poison ; but the stomach was inflamed in a way that might have resulted from an irritant poison, from cold, or from starvation. He ascribed death to starvation, though the blows on the head would also have been fatal. The state of the lungs might have resulted from a few weeks' disease caused by ill-treatment. Mr. Francis, a surgeon, thought death had been caused by the disease of the lungs ; though he would not say the blows on the head might not have been fatal. There was a good deal of conversation about the production of Wildbore before the Jury ; and the inquest was adjourned, that the Coroner might apply to Lord Palmerston on the subject. In the course of his remarks, Mr. Wakley observed that the question of identity -is often a very nice one. On one occasion he held an inquest near Acton on a young woman who was found drowned ; the body was identified by the father and mother ; a few days afterwards, the female who had been de- clared to have been drowned called on Mr. Wakley, to assure him that it was not true that she was dead—her father and mother even had erred in supposing they had seen her body.

Willis, an aged and drunken law-writer, has been committed, by the Bow Street Magistrate, for stabbing his wife in the throat: he attempted to kill himself afterwards. When a witness spoke to him about his wife's wound , he replied, "If she is not dead my hand must have been nervous."

At Marlborough Street Police Office, on Monday, " Count" Scheer Those was charged with fraudulently obtaining two gold watches and a gold chain from Mr. Walker. The particulars of the case were not entered into, but there was a peculiarity in the arrest of the "Count." He has just come out of prison, after a years confinement for a similar offence ; there had been a number of charges against him ; two or three were selected for prosecution, Mr. Walker's among them; but he was tried for only one. It seems custo- mary in these cases not to put a culprit on his trial again when liberated. The Magistrate, Mr. Bingham, would not say that an indictment could not be preferred under such circumstances, but there was an appearance of hard- ship about the matter. He remanded the prisoner, to consider the case.

It appeared on Wednesday, that Mr. Walker had not preferred an indict- ment at the time of the trial because he had received a pianoforte from Thoss as security ; it turned out that this had been fraudulently got by the Count, and Mr. Walker has been put to an expense of 1001. by law proceedings. However, after the Magistrate had remarked that there was little chance pf a jury's convicting, Mr. Walker withdrew from the prosecution : he had no wish to deal harshly with the accused; he had himself been the person most hardly treated.

Thomas Harrison attempted to get possession of a packet of confectionary -bylpalming off a brass medal for a half-sovereign. Twenty other medals were found on him. At Guildhall Police Office, a gentleman from the Trea- sury Solicitor advised that the matter should be treated as a fraud : Harrison had not counterfeit coin in his possession, but merely ",medals." These medals, it seems, are of the size of sovereigns and half-sovereigns ; one side

does not resemble a gold coin, but the other does. The sitting Alderman thought that the case was really one of uttering counterfeit coin, especially as the prisoner had exhibited the counterfeited side of the medal to the con- fectioner's man. The case stands over for further consideration by the Trea- sury Solicitor.

John Abbot, formerly collector to the "West-end Refuge for the House- less Poor," having been accused before the Westminster Magistrate of fraud and forgery, a curious revelation resulted. The prosecutor was Mr. Gwy- nette, the "manager" of the Refuge ; who alleged that Abbot had received subscriptions when he was no longer employed as collector. Cross-examined, Gwynette, among other things, admitted that he is "the only proprietor" of the Refuge ; he is subject to a committee, who meet twice a year ; he started the institution in 1838; if there is a surplus the committee give it to him ; he has had bill transactions with Abbot ; he " makes this society sufficient to live by" ; he has 25s. a week as manager and collector; one of the com- mittee is an old friend of his. The Magistrate remarked upon these state- ments, that he hoped the public would be put upon their guard against this so-called " society." He held the prisoner to bail for the present.

On Thursday, a solicitor appeared for Gwynette, to endeavour to improve his position ; but he signally failed. Gwynette admitted that he had been tried for uttering a forged note, but acquitted : on the former occasion he had stated that he was liberated by the Magistrate. As there was no chance of Abbot's conviction on Gwynette's evidence, the solicitor consented to the prisoner's liberation.

Floyd, a cab-master, Simes, a cabman, and Boyd, coachman to Mr. Alex- ander, a wholesale jeweller in Hatton Garden, are in custody for stealing a packet of jewellery worth nearly 200W. Mr. Pike, nephew to Mr. Alexan- der, left the packet in a brougham while he was in a shop in the Strand. On his return to the vehicle, it was gone. Boyd pretended ignorance. He was subsequently arrested ; and while in prison he gave information to his brother which led to the arrest of the cabmen. According to Boyd's state- ment, the jewellery, carried off with his connivance, was sold for only 951.

Two ruffianly fellows, known thieves, have been captured at a house in St. George's Road, Lambeth, which was undergoing repair, and which they en- tered apparently to steal tools. A most formidable weapon was found upon one of them. "It is composed of gutta percha, about two and a half feet long, with one end tapering off to a point, and at the other is a round knob of lead weighing upwards of half a pound. From its appearance it would seem to answer the double purpose of twisting round the throat to effect ga- rotte robberies, and of levelling a victim."

On Monday, the bakers of the Metropolis made a simultaneous advance in the price of bread ; the four-pound loaf, which was selling last week at 9d., 91d., and 10d., cannot now be obtained for less than W., 10d., and 11d., re- spectively. Household or country bread is advanced a penny, namely, from 8Sd. to 91d. The League bakery bread is at 10d. the four-pound loaf, and the beat, or full-priced, is from Ls to 18. Oid.