(nt 33iittrnputis.

The Local Management Metropolis Aet is now fairly under weigh. The Local Boards or Vestries have all been elected ; and in most cases the old Commissioners have given place to new men. The Vestries have met this week and have elected their contingent of delegates to sit at the Central Board; and the superseded bodies have transferred or are transferring their powers to the new authorities. With much ado, and many wry faces) on Wednesday, the Court of Common Council appointed Mr. De- puty Harrison, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. T. II. Hall, as their representatives at the Central Board. The names of the delegates elected on the same day by the Vestries are these—Mr. Nicholay and Mr. D'Iffanger for Marylebone ; Mr. Corrie and Mr. Wilkinson for St. Pancras; Mr. Pas- call for Clerkenwell ; Mr. Robert Seely for Holborn district ; Mr. Henry Burslem for Paddington; Mr. Collison for St. George the Martyr South- wark ; Captain Burnett for St. Giles's district; Mr. Thomas Turner for St. John, Hampstead ; Mr. C. H. Howes and Mr. Joseph Ware for St. Leonard's, Shoreditch ; Mr. Chalmers for St. Luke's Chelsea; Mr. Jo- seph Morland for St. Luke's Middlesex ; Mr. Bristow and Mr. Thwaites for Greenwich and Deptford ; Mr. Charles Atkins for Plumstead, Lewis- ham, and Charlton ; Mr. Lewis Davis for Woolwich.

A report from Dr. Letheby to the City Commissioners of Sewers re- specting the shocking condition of the churchyard of St. Andrew Holborn has excited considerable feeling in the City. The soil of the grave-yard is from ten to fifteen feet above the level of the road ; it is rising higher and higher by the daily addition of fresh bodies, there being three burials, on the average, every day ; the grave-diggers have found it necessary to support the earth against the railings by means of planks, in order that the soil and the protruding bones may not fall upon the passengers as they travel on the public road. The place is literally crammed with dead bodies ; in several parts the coffins are not more than three feet from the surface, and in one case the coffin was found to be covered with less than two feet of earth. During the present year 1026 bodies have been in- terred in this churchyard, which is considerably less than an acre ! In May 1853, the Secretary of State ordered the place to be closed immediately. For some unexplained reason, it was closed but for one day, and since that time the number of interments have been 3000. The result is described in the words of the report addressed by Dr. Letheby to the Commission- er/I—

" Everywhere on the surface of the ground bones and decaying wood were abundantly scattered about, and the soil itself was saturated with decom- posing organic matter ; indeed, it exhibited in a very marked degree that peculiar oily or unctuous quality which is characteristic of the overcharged soil of the London graveyards. I took away a portion of the earth for ex- periment, and I place before you the disgusting, fetid liquor, which I ob- tained by a distillation of only two ounces of the soil. This will convince you that churchyard-earth is not so innocent or innocuous a thing as many have supposed.

A copy of the report was ordered to be sent to Sir George Grey imme- diately.

The poll for the election of an Alderman for the Bread Street Ward closed on Saturday with these numbeeeeesionweence, 43 ; Nicoll, 31 ; ma- jority for Lawrence, 12. Before the.polt comegepeed, Mr. Nicoll handed

tk %Ace, *at %a Mr. ice had nut leentproposed and seconded by legally quali4ettelectont,• ties nominesfee of that gentleman was null and void,

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The first public meeting convoked with the view of raising funds for the erection of a testimonial to the late Joseph Hume was held on Thurs- day, in the Marylebone Court-house ; Sir Benjamin Hall in the chair. It was a numerous gathering. Among the speakers, besides the chair- man, were Mr. Secretary Osborne, Mr. Roebuck, Mr. William Williams, Sir James Duke, Mr. Apsley Pellatt, Mr. Nioholay, and Mr. D'Iffanger. The speeches dealt with well-worn topics —Mr. Hume's early labours in India, his entrance into the House of dommons, and an enumeration of his services there ; his industry, integrity, persistence of character; and his relations with the working classes, whom he always served, but to whose prejudices he never gave way. Mr. Roebuck stepped beyond these limits, and described the nature of Mr. Hume's position and power in the House of Commons.

"I think that to have the penetration and power to control an assembly like the House of Commons, to occupy their attention, and amuse their lei- sure, was in Mr. Hume one of the greatest proofs of the greatoese of the Man himself. He had that power in the House of Commons, not by anything he did either to captivate or attract the Members thereof, but he had that power over them by virtue of his power in the country, and he acquired that power by propounding reforms at a time when reform was unpopular in the House. He was a man who acquired power in the House of Commons without any of the arts of the House of Commons. L know something of the Members, of the House. I know that no one can browbeat them, or in any way make them quail, for they are courageous to a man ; but you can amuse them, you can occupy their attention, you can do something that makes them be- lieve they are doing business ; that is the most satisfactory thing you can do. Now, without having any arts of this sort, Mr. Hume went there backed by the people of England ; and he was backed by the people because by his persevering industry, by his undoubted strength and determination, and by his courage and honesty, he bad acquired a power which_ the Rouse of Commons could understand,"

The meeting resolved that a testimonial should be erected to Mr. Hume ; that a subscription for that purpose should be set on foot through- out the United Kingdom ; and that the manner of expending the money raised should be determined when the subscription is closed. It was also resolved to petition the House of Commons to set up a statue of Mr. Hume in the vestibule of the House. The sum subscribed at the meet- ing was 1401.

Sir Charles Napier dined with some of his constituents, on Tuesday, at the Bridge House Hotel ; and of course made a speech, repeating his profession of faith in Lord Palmerston and touching on his Baltic came paign. He truly went into the Baltic on a voyage of discovery ; for he assured them all, that when he went to the Gulf of 'Finland he did not know where to turn—whether to the right band or to the left. He was without charts and pilots, and bad men who were picked up about the streets, and hardly knew their right hand from their left. He was an agent of the Govern- ment ; but instead of having to deal with wise men, of business, who would inquire and learn from him the difficulties of the position, be was ignomi- niously dismissed, and not a single question of the kind was put to him. The person who treated him so ill will for his own sake be obliged to bring this subject before Parliament ; and their Sir Charles will put the saddle on the right horse. He had a saddle for the right horse, and when he got it on it would give him a sore back. Questions of great importance, the con- cealment of letters, and things of that sort, must be brought out. With re, gard to the war, he was persuaded the people of England would carry it on till they obtain an honourable peace.

Cardinal Wiseman delivered a second lecture on the Austrian Concor- dat at Moorfields Chapel on Sunday. The discourse, however, does not carry us much nearer to an appreciation of the Concordat from a Roman Catholic point of view. Suppose that the Church of England were so satisfactorily re-arranged, as to embrace even the Dissenters, and that the writers in the Roman Catholic press of the Continent declared it insuffer- able that the Church of England should be thus made Protestant, what,. asks the Cardinal, would the English press reply ? Naturally enough, that the people. of England might be permitted to look after their own affairs without the interference of others, Apply the argument to the. Concordat. Should it be judged on a Catholic, or on a Protestant basis ? People are indignant with the Emperor of Austria for consulting the Pope on the rearrangement of the Catholic Church in Austria; but the Em- peror had only done his duty in applying to the highest ecclesiastical au- thority, for the Pope has supreme power over the Church. Had he not applied to the Pope, the Emperor would have abandoned the first prin- ciple of Christian unity, and by that act he would have ceased to be a Catholic. He had, consistently with his duty, made the Church of his em- pire more Catholic, had protectedit against the introduction of heterodox opinions, and had prevented it from sliding down the inclined plane of German Protestantism into the lower depth of German Rationalism. The Concordat in its present form is a necessity. It is a mistake to suppose that the Emperor conceded something, and that the Pope conceded some- thing in return. Every concession has been made by the Holy See. The Concordat is not a retrograde movement, for it will confer inestimable benefits on the Austrian peoples

On Monday evening, Cardinal Wiseman delivered a lecture in the Ha- nover Square Rooms, "On the perception of natural beauties by the ancients and moderns." His main doctrine was, that the modems, es- pecially modem poets, have a more sterling love of nature than the an- cients had; and that the moderns derive from the Scriptures great ad- vantages over the ancients in the perception of Nature's beauties.

The appeal to the Arches Court, and even to the Privy Council, against Dr. Lushington's recent decision respecting the churches of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, will be steadily pressed. Mr. Beresford Hope boa-headed a subscription opened to defray the expense ; and the machinery of the Church Unions has been set in motion to carry out such proceedings as may become necessary. The London Church 'Ohio. regards Dr. leish.; ington's judgment " as an act of individual legislation, rather then as a. sound interpretation of existing law."

Hackney is disturbed about its chureleontes. Some time ago a church-rate was refused : the Dissenters dewed voluntarily to subseeibe-

more money than was demanded,—Mr. Samuel Morleyto con- tribute 501. a year,—if the rate were given up. The Iteetemmdaa66n.ed, alleging that he was bound to raise the money in a particular way. On Thursday a rate of three-halfpence in the pound was proposed at a meeting-of the Vestry, and refused by a very large majority. A poll was demanded on the part of the. Rector.

There is a Reformatory Institution. for vagrant and criminal boys in the Belvidere Crescent, Lambeth ; but its scope was limited for want of funds. A public meeting was held on Thursday, at Hawkestone Hall, Waterloo Road,—the Rector of Lambeth in the chair —far the purpose of placing the institution in an effective state. Mr. chair,—far Mr. Gilbert a Beckett; the Reverend Joseph Brown' and others, supported the objects of the meeting. It was resolved that it is not desirable that the Metro- polis should occupy a secondary place in the general reformatory move- ment; and that the best way of furthering that movement would be by tmity of purpose and concentration of effort.

At the Monday meeting. of the Royal Geographical Society, Dr. Shaw read a letter from Mr. John, Kent giving information respecting the

North Australian expedition inland the Victoria River. Sir Rode- eiek Murchison pointed out the proposed route.

It, is intended to ascend the Victoria River to its source, and determine the boundaries of the drainage towards the North coast to the interior. The ex- pedition, passing Eastward, would probably skirt the Northern limits of Mires Central Desert,. and reach the head-waters of the rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria ' • thence it is hoped that it would be in a condition to penetrate Southwards the great bend of the Berea River, which was the Northernmost point reached by Sir Thomas Mitchell and Mr. Kennedy, on their journeys from Sydney towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. These opera. Lions would greatly extend our knowledge of Northern Australia, and open up communication between it and the Southern Colonies,.

Dr. Shaw also read ..communication, upplied by the Foreign Office, giving farther details of the progress of hr. Livingston in Africa. Helaad penetrated to. Catango, a large trading stationon the river Chiomha.

The annual Smithfield Club Cattle Show, held this week in the Baker Street Bazaar, does not seem to be quite up to the average. There have been no monstrosities exhibited, and only one ox and one pig that passed " the juat limits of natural proportion." But complaint is raised that the managers of the Club discourage cross-breeds, and stick steadfastly to pure breeds; while the allegation runs, that immense improvements might be made in the breeding of stock if more encouragement were offered to oross-breeding5. This especially applies to cattle and sheep; some very fine pens of the cross-bred sheep, exhibited in the yard; it is urged, show what could be done. The first prize in Devons is carried off by the Earl of Leicester, the second by Prince Albert. Mr. Isaac Nthlett. of Fitton, Bristol, bears away the that prize in Herefords. In short horns, the Reverend J. Holmes of Brook Hill, Norwich, is the vic- tor ; in the Welsh breeds, Colonel Pennant of Penrhyn Castle, in cross- breeds, the Earl of Radnor, take the first prizes. For long-woolled sheep, the Earl of Leicester wins the first prize ; for short-woolled, Mr William Rigden of Hove, Brighton ; for pigs, Mr. John Coate of Hammoon, first, and Prince Albert second. The Marquis of Exeter carries off the gold medal for the best steer or ox in any class ; Mr. Henry Ambler of Wat- kins= Hall, Halifax, the gold medal for the best heifer ; Mr. Bradshaw of Burley-on-the-hill, Oakham, for the best one-year-old long-woolled sheep; and Mr. Rigden of Hove, for the. best short-woolled sheep. Mr. Coate also got a gold medal fin. the best pig:

The usual dinner, with the Duke of Riehmondin the chair, took place at-the Freemasons' Tavern on Wednesday. The chief incident of the evening was the presentation of a handsome testimonial to the Secretary; Mr. Brandreth Gibbs ; consisting of a candelabrum for six lights, the base surmounted by figures of cattle. In acknowledging the compliment, Mr. Gibbs suggested that the Club might enlarge the seope-of its exer- tions. It would be a benefit to- the agricultural interest, if, in addition to the prizes offered for animals, prizes were also offered' for treatises- on the best mode of feeding and managing them; on the chemical qualities of their food, and its action on their systems. They had to deal with nature ; and to deal with nature successfully, they mast understand its laws.

A case decided in the Court of Queen's Bench on Wednesday respecting crossed cheeks is worth attention. A solicitor's clerk, sent to pay a number of crossed checks into Dixon's bank, retained one, got it eashed by a. tavern- keeper, paid over a portion to the account of his employers, and absconded with the remainder. An action to recover the balance was brought against the tavern-keeper. The defence was, that full value had. been given, and that he had reason to believe the clerk was a respectable man. Lord Camp, bell instructed the Jury, that no person is legally bound to exercise caution in taking crossed checks, and that the sole questions for their consideration Were, whether full value had been given, and whether the defendant was ignorant that the cheek had been stolen. After an hour's deliberation, and with one dissentient, the Jury found Ear the defendant. This verdict was accepted by the plaintiffs counsel.

In the Bankruptcy Court, on Monday, Mr. Commissioner Evans gave a decision of some importance in the case of Strahan and Co. The assets of Strahan and Co. as bankers were very small, but as navy-agents, trading as Redford and Co., their books showed little deficiency. The creditors of Hal- ford and Co. were naturally anxious that the two businesses should be treated as separate ones. Counsel argued the matter pro and con. Mr. Bagley urged that the estates were separate—that' Mr.. Bates was not really a partner in the navy agency—that people did not know that "Raiford and Co." were really Stratum and Co. Mr. Ifannen combated thie view. Mr. Commis- sioner Evans had no diffieulty in deciding that all the assets must be treated aa belonging to one firm only.,

At an adjourned examination meeting in the case of Strahan, Paul, and Bates, held on Tuesday before Mr. Commissioner Evans, Mr. Turquaild pre- sented a report on their affairs. The bank was one of the oldest on record, dating its origin from the early part of the reign of Charles the Second. In 1813, Robert Snow, William Sandby, and John Dean Paul, formed the parte nership. On the death of Mr. Sandby in 1816, the partners were indebted to the bank in a sum of 29,0001. Sandby's share was paid off by his execu- tors in 1826.;._ but at that date the debt due by Paul and Snow had increased to 53,600/. This debt was to be gradually liquidated ; and at the death of

the late Wu John Dean Paul the amount gradually been reduced to 28,5001., and farther reduced at the date of the bankruptcy to 23,5001. In December 1851, the respective members of the firm may be considered to have been pperfectly solvent as recently as-four year's back. At that period—namely, 1851—the books show an admitted deficiency of 66,5421.; which was in- creased to 110,000/. by an advance on the Mostyn colliery, bet unencumbered property was possessed by Mr. Strahan worth 100,000/. and by Sir John Paul worth 30,000/. It was not until 1852 that their connexion with the Gandelle commenced, and the advances made to those people to carry out their railway and drainage schemes in France and Italy were undertaken for no other profit than a half per cent commission on all payments made, and the expectation of recovering a debt of 18004 which had been considered bad- They were rapidly, however, drawn into the common and fatal course of increasing their loans in order to avoid the necessity of facing tho loss already incurred, until, after-their credit had been pledged in every possible way, their private property sold, and their customers plundered, they found the amount to have increased to nearly half a million sterling. The actual deficiency of the bank is stated at 652,593/. ; and of this sum 483,0001. is i involved in the transactions with the Gandells and the Mostyn collieries. The estimated assets are placed at 127,670/. ; and if these should be realised a distribution may be hoped of nearly 4s. in the pound. After the reading of the report, an adjournment took place to the 11th of March.

Mr. Commissioner Goulburn has granted Mr. Mestere, the projector of the Crystal Palace Hotel, Sydenham, a first-class certificate. Mr. Masters laid oat many thousands in erecting the hotel, and he had a fair prospect of reaping great profits; but the. Crystal Palace Company resolved to supply refreshments within the Palace itself, and Mr. M.astera's business received an unexpected and fatal blow. At the time he became embarrassed, be had the further misfortune to break his leg, whereby he was incapacitated from at- tending to his affairs.

Two foreigners named Schebl are in custody for having had plates en- graved to produce counterfeit Prussian bank-notes. They applied to Mr. Appel, the patentee of the " anaatatic" process of printing, to engrave plates, imitate water-marks on paper, and provide a press to print the mates; he communicated with the Prussian Minister and the Police, and then proceeded with the work ; when it was completed the two foreigners were taken into custody. The notes printed by Mr. Appel were produced at the Marlborough Street Police Office, and they are said to have " proved the striking and dangerous fidelity of the new process" in imitating engraving and water- marks.

A most daring robbery with violence has been committed at Walworth. Mr. Towell, a middle-aged gentleman, at four o'clock in the afternoon was asked for alms in the street by a man of colour ; he gave it ; a few minutes after, as Mr. Towell was opening his gate at Brunswick Terrace, he was knocked down by a tremendous blow on the head, which rendered him in- sensible; and then his gold watch, chain, and seals were violently torn from his pocket. Two boys saw the man of colour and three other fellows knock down Mr. Towell and run off with the booty. The coloured man has been apprehended. Mr. Towell was suffering from nervous headache at the time of the robbery, which gave him the appearance of having been drinking, and doubtless induced the robbers to select him as a victim.

Another impudent railway-robber has been caught in the faot. William Wilson pounced upon a farmer's-carpet-bag the moment it was turned out of a luggage-van on to the platform at London Bridge ; but he was stopped by the owner as he was hastening away : the farmer had been put on the qui vive by having been robbed a week before in the same way. A German is also in custody on suspicion of having stolen articles from the waiting-room of the Waterloo terminus.

John Jones has been killed in a prize-fight with Mike Madden, in the Kentish Marshes, Long Reach : a tremendous blow on the head from his antagonist proved fatal.

From the researches of the Lambeth Magistrate, caused by a complaint this week, it appears that a poor man who receives short weight in coals, if the quantity be less than two hundredweight, cannot punish the fraudulent dealer : he can see them weighed at the dealer's shop, but there is no penalty if they are sent to his house deficient in weight—such is the efibct of the act of Parliament.

The Goldsmiths' Company have this week forwarded their seasonable gift of 201. to each of the Metropolitan Police Offices.

The severity of the weather, sustained during the week, gave way yester- day. The water in the Parks was frozen over on Thursday, and some thou- sands indulged in skating and sliding at the risk of their lives. In St. James's Park several were immersed by the breaking of the ice, and one lad was drowned.

By the accident on the North Kent Railway, no fewer than twenty-eight passengers were more or less hurt, but only three dangerously,—Mr. Allen, both of whose legs had to be amputated ; Mr. Priced, of Brixton ; and Miss Eyre, of Lewisham.

Au inquiry into the cause of the accident was instituted by the Railway Company on Saturday. It seems that an engine had passed over the points on to the Bricklayer's Arms branch just before the passenger-train arrived; when the latter came up, half of it passed on to the rails of the branch ; the points were then altered, the couplings snapped, and the hindermost portion of the train was crushed against a wall. Had a11 the train passed on. to the branch there would merely have been a. slight loss of time in shunting it back ; the portion that went on did not overtake the pilot-engine. The people who had charge of the passenger-train allege that the pointsman nee sleeted his duty, not turning the points till half the train had got on to the wrong line; but the pointaman, Beattie, explains the matter in his own fa- vour thus,—he had not time to change the points after the pilot-engine passed before the passenger-train was upon the spot ; he then held the points with all his force to make the whole train pass on to the branch; but a very heavy "saloon" carriage in passing the points jerked the handle out of his hand, and the disastrous crash followed. Beattie was produced before the Greenwich Magistrate on Monday, charged with neglect of duty. He is a man of sixty, has been engaged on the rail- way for twenty years, and has never been complained of before. The prin- ci new point m the evidence at this first examination was the statements

pal of two policemen who took the accused into custody : they said that he ad- mitted that he had neglected to put the points right for the passenger-train; that he lost his presence of mind when be caw the train going on to the main line, and altered the points when too late.

On the 28th of last month there was a collision between a coal-train rune ning on the West London Railway and a goods-train on the Great Western, by which John Moore, a guard on the West London train, was killed. The death of this poor man promises to insure greater safety to every one hence- forth travelling on the lines. It appears that the two lines intersect each other at right angles at Wormwood Scrubs ; the West London being on a rapid decline and ascent, the road looking as if it had been arranged to make collisions : there is a difficulty in insuring safety by signahnen ; and it is wonderful that eleven years have passed without fatal effects till. nose' The West London is used for coal-traffic by the London and North-Western. In consequence of the inquiries at the inquest, which made manifest the perils of the present crossing, the North-Western and Great Western Directors have rewired to apply to Parliament for powers to carry the West London

over the Great Western line by means of a bridge. The Jury found that Moore's death arose from the lines intersecting on the level.

The inquest on the four men who were killed by the explosion in the rocket-factory at Woolwich terminated with this verdict—" That the de- ceased expired from injuries received by the explosion in a rocket-shed ; and the Jury were of opinion that due precaution had not been exercised in an inspection of the tools used, that slippers should be provided for the work- men, that the sheds should not be so close together, and that the process of finishing rockets and sifting the composition should not be carried on in the same shed."