gbe jirtetropolis.

A Court of Aldermen was held on Tuesday, for the despatch of business. On the Sheriffs making their usual return relating to the prisoners of the City, Alderman Sidney took the opportunity of asking Sir Peter Laurie whether a speech attributed to him by the Times was authentic. At a late meeting of the Middlesex Magistrates, Sir Peter was reported to have made these statements concerning certain classes of convict lunatics in Bethlem Hospital— "If they wanted a proof of the ill effects of that baneful system, let him tell them that, since the year 1843, not fewer than forty-nine convict lunatics had been sent to Bethlem Hospital, every one of whom had fallen a victim to the inhuman system of solitary confinement. Of those poor unhappy victims, nineteen had been sent from the Millbank prison, ten from the Model Prison at Peutonville, and not fewer than twenty had come from the hulks. All criminal lunatics were sent to the hospital with which it was well known he had been for many years associated. Whilst, however, they had received forty-nine from these Government prisons, where the Solitary system was practised, how many did the Court suppose had been sent from all the other prisons in England? Not more than six."

The published report of the state of Bethlem Hospital gave a decided negative to these statements. Would Sir Peter Laurie, as a Governor of the Hospital, lay before the Court an account of the names of the persons con- fined as Government prisoners, of the prisons from which they were trans- ferred to Bethlem, and other particulars which might be necessary to lead to an authentic conclusion on a point of so serious a nature? It was a matter of the more importance to the Court of Aldermen, as they were just about to spend 100,000/. in building a new prison: it would be most lamentable to introduee the new system there if Sir Peter Laurie's state- ments were founded on filets.

Sir Peter Laurie avowed the speech attributed to him, and revonohed the facts mentioned in it; but he would not consent to the return asked for, without the authority of Government. Nor could he recognize any power in the Court to order such returns, if that were intended.

A Common Council was held on Thursday; but no matter of interest occurred.

A Court of Sewers for the City of London was held on Tuesday, at the office in Guildhall. Mr. Deputy Peacoek, the Chairman, stated that the report of Messrs. Walker, Cubitt, and Brunel, had been received, and was now in the hands of the printer. It proved the City sewers to be in the excellent state which had been alleged of them, and had in fact much assisted in procuring the passage of the new City of London Sewers Act, in opposition to the attempt to take away all local authority. New Com- missioners would be appointed, and everything desired be done.

Mr. Daw, the chief Clerk, read a letter from the Metropolitan Court of Sewers Commissioners, requesting that the City Commissioners would ap- point one of their body to sit with them upon the Metropolitan Survey Committee. A very lengthened discussion upon this point ensued; and it was ultimately referred to the consideration of a select Committee.

Mr. Pierrepoint of Worcester obtained leave to put up, on trial, a con- venient places in the City, twelve patent lamps, which he promised should give a better light at sixty yards distance than the common one does at ten yards.

A numerous meeting of the labouring classes was held on Monday even- ing, at the Working Man's Institute, Stratton Ground, Weetminster, to re- ceive the report of a Committee on the subject of forming an emigmtioa club. Mr. Aitchison, the chairman, stated that lectures had lately been delivered on the subject of emigration, and had led to the appointment of the Committee; whose report he now read. The Committee proposed that a society should be formed, to consist of an unlimited number of members, and to be connected with the Society for the Promotion of Colonization; that the subscribers should pay 9d. per week per share, and one shilling entry; and that the election of members for emigration should take plaoe every three months, and be deeided by a lot. It was calculated that thus the society would send out 100 members in four years. Mr. Standford, in moving the formation of a society based on the resolutions of the Com- mittee, went at much length into the question of surplus population; and contrasted the advantages to be derived from properly organized emigration clubs, with the visionary prospects held out by the Chartists and their land scheme. The motion was carried unanimously, and a committee formed for the purpose of carrying out the recommendations of the report.

A dinner was given at the Bow Street Police Station, on Saturday evening, to the constables of the F division. A much larger sum than was needed had been subscribed towards the cost of the entertainment given to the special constables of St. Paul Covent Garden; so it was resolved to feast the regnlarpoliee of the district, in acknowledgment. of their steady meat under extra dutiee. Messrs. Frost sod Denison, two loyal pub- licans, supplied ale and brandy gratuitously. The Churchwardens, seve- ral of the other local authorities, and Mr. Pearce the Superintendent of the division, were present.

An act of Parliament has been obtained for the removal of the colon- nade of the Regent's Quadrant; and the work was commenced on Monday last. The materials have been sold by private contract, it is said for rail.. way purposes. The cast-iron pillars 145 in number, realized 2,9001. The total cost of this alteration is estimated at 3,9001.; to be defrayed by the sale of the old materials and by a rate on the inhabitants.

Sanatory cautions were extensively circulated in Bethnal Green and Whitechapel, on Monday, warning persons of the penalties incurred by a usage prevalent there, of keeping pigs near dwelling-houses. In the parish of St. Ann Westminster, the inhabitants were warned not to cast refuse or offal into the public street. At Leadenlaall Market, notice was issued that no raw or undressed hides would be allowed to be brought into or remain in the market before or after the market-days.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Wednesday, three boys—two eleven years old and the other fourteen—were tried for assaulting Charles Black, a little boy.

The child was beaten with sticks and stones, so that he has been crippled, it is feared, for life. It did not appear how the outrage arose; but the reporter says it was from some fend between two charity schools at Poplar, one Roman Catho- lic and the other Protestant. The boys were found guilty, and ordered to be im- prisoned for six months.

At Westminster Police-office, on Monday, Mr. Thomas Mitchel, a fat-melter of Great Peter Street, was summoned for not discontinuing a nuisance after receiv- ing a notice from the parish authorities. The defendant had been mulcted in five

penalties of 20a. each a fortnight before for the nuisance. Witnesses now proved that an offensive odour was caused by the defendant's operations on the 28th Au- gust ; one tradesman attributed the considerable amount of illness in his family to Mr. Mitchel's fat-melting. It was urged for the defendant, that these pro- ceedings against him were tantamount to doing away with his business altogether; also, that the smell, though offensive, was not unwholesome. But Mr. Burrell, the Magistrate. decided that another penalty of 20a. had been incurred. It was announced that Mr. Mitchel intended to appeal against all the conviction& At the Mansionhouse,. on Monday, Mr. Benjamin Sinclair appeared in answer to a summons for refusing to pay the sixpenny fares of himself and four friends, to William Freeman, the conductor of an omnibus running between Kennington Gate and Islington. The contest was whether 3d. or 6d. was the proper fare from the Elephant and Castle to the Post-office. Mr. Sinclair stated that he

had frequently paid 3d. only to the same omnibus. The conductor relied on the 6d. marked in great letters on his omnibus; but he admitted he wine- times took 3d. for the half distance. Mr. Alderman Challis dismissed the sum- mons on hearing it admitted that 3d. was sometimes paid, though it WM not painted according to law on the outside of the omnibus.

At the Worship Street office, on Monday, Charles Henry Foote was charged with assaulting William Arthur, a signalman at the Mile-End station of the

Eastern Counties Railway. Foote was tipsy' and insisted on entering a first-

class carriage for a second-class fare. He became outrageously violent, and pushed Arthur headlong down a steep flight of steps. Arthur was caught mid- way in his fall by a porter, who snatched hold of his collar and checked him with an effort of great strength. Foote again grappled with Arthur at the ma meet it was his duty to turn on a danger-signal as a warning to an approaching

train, and accident was only prevented by the promptitude of a passenger, who ran and worked the signal for Arthur. The prisoner was very pen tent, and prayed for mercy, as he had a large family dependent on his daily labour. He was fined 208,, and locked up till the fine should be paid.

At the Thames Police-office, on Saturday, Julia Lennard, a woman of the town, was charged with highway robbery, in Fieldgate Street, WhitechapeL As Mr. W. Ebblewhite was going homewards on the night of the 8th instant, he was surrounded and hustled by a party of women, one of whom stunned him with a heavy stone: while he lay on the ground, he was robbed of his watch and of 41.

Benjamin Benjamin, a Jew boy, saw the whole affair, and pursued the prisoner

as she ran away with the watch; he overtook her and snatched the watch from her, but she escaped through the interference of a man who hit him with a stick. Benjamin was directed to go outside and see if he could identify any confederates in the crowd. As he did this, several women made off; hut he recognized in one Furlong the man who struck him with the stick. Furlong was placed at the bar. In the end, Julia Lennard was committed for trial, and Furlong remanded for a week.

Mr. John Hotson was summoned for wages by the crew of the Fire King steam-boat, of which so many stories of overloading, &e., have been heard. The

evidence threw some light on the dangers the public court in their pursuit of the

cheapest travelling. We take the report of the Morning Chronicle. Mr. Hotson hired the Fire King (formerly. the Pence George) of Morris and Hopkinson for

301. a week, and ran her between London, Gravesend, and the Nore, at very low prices. He lost upwards of 1,0001. in a few weeks-by the speculation; and the boiler of the vessel was so very old and in such a leaky condition, that accidents were of frequent occurrence. On one occasion Mr. Hotson lost the fares of 600

passengers, who left the Fire King in consequence of the defective state of the boiler; and on another occasion there was a break-down off Greenwich while 900

passengers were on board; and a scene of dreadful confusion took place, so that the Lord Mayor publicly reprimanded Mr. Hotson for navigating such a dangerous boat. It was also stated that Morris and Hopkinson guaranteed to return ii per week to Hotson if the consumption of coals exceeded 25/. Owing to the

defective condition of the boilers, the consumption of coals exceeded 301. per week; bat no deduction was made in the rental." -It seems that Messrs. Morris and Co.

have seized their boat for unpaid hire; and Mr. Hotson pleaded the hardship of

having to pay wages for working the boat while it was not in his hands. Mr. Bel- lantine, however, referred him to hislegalremedy, andordered payment. "From

the revelations made relative to the condition of the Fire King, it was clear she ought not to have been permitted to ran at all. Mr. Pelham said that Mr. Hotson was not aware the boilers were out of order when he hired the vessel, or he would have had nothing to do with her. Mr. Hotson said he was completely ruined by the unfortunate speculation, and asked for time. Scarcely a.day passed while the Fire King was running without two or three dangerous leaks breaking out. Mr. Ballantine-= I am sorry for your misfortune, but these men must be paid. I shall give you three days: let the men be paid on Tuesday.' Mr. Hotson—' That shall be done.' "

At Bow Street Police-office, on Monday, Emma Beaumont, ,Tane Fitzgerald, and Thomas Fry, were again examined on a charge of having been concerned in set-

ting fire to the European Coffeehouse in Long Acre. Mr. Story detailed a volun- tary confession made by the servant Fitzgerald. She related how the fire was proposed by her mistress • Bagster had been asked to do it, but though he took 31.

he had refused; Beaumont then asked her to do it but she also refused; Beaumont and Fry talked about emigrating when they get the money from the insurance- office, and Fitzgerald could go as their servant if she liked. On the night of the lire, the gal declared, she was in heel at the top of the house when it broke out; for she did not think her mistress "had set any trap for her." When ahe went to bed, Beaumont and Fry were from home having gone to Cremorne Gardens. Fitzgerald detailed how property was taken from the house before the fire. Mil. Williams, a person who lodged in a house to which Fitzgerald went after the fire, stated that the girl had told her that she was the only person who knew the ori- gin of it, and that she had a hand in it herself. She added that she was very miserable, and would have taken poison if Bagster had allowed her: she thought she should "make a hole in the water." Mrs. Robinson, wife of a shoemaker in Oxford Street, had known the Beaumont family for many years: she called on Ass Beaumont on the morning before the fire, and in the course of conversation that prisoner said, "We are going to have a fire here tonight." Fitzgerald after- wards explained to her what her mistress meant; and said she herself had pro- mised to fire the house. The witness remarked that Miss Beaumont must be mad; and she warned Fitzgerald. After some further evidence had been re- ceived, the prisoners were again remanded. Fitzgerald is described as "a poor ignorant Irish girl."

On Wednesday, more witnesses were produced. Ann Garrett stated that she had lived as servant with Beaumont; her mistress said she wanted the place fired, that she might get the insurance-money; one evening she wanted her to go to the theatre, as Bagster was to fire the house; in consequence of these things, witness left the service. The prisoner Fitzgerald made a long statement to the Magistrate, very similar to the one she had made to Mr. Steer, with additions. On the night of the fire, she placed some aprons on the horse before the stove, "near enough to catch ",; there were "lots of old files and papers" lying close to the horse; after this she went to bed. She had been led astray by her mistress. Beaumont could hardly be restrained by her solicitor from making a statement— she wished to confess it alL When hail for Fry was talked of, she exclaimed, "For God's sake, detain him ! for they are all guilty. I must tell all" Eventu- ally, the prisoners were committed for trial; but bad was accepted for Fry.

At an inquest on a child which had died soddenly in Cross Street, Newington, held on Monday, it came out that the whole family to which the child belonged, that of James Evans, a marine-store dealer, had been suffering from a very ma- lignant fever; arising, according to the view of several medical men, solely from the foul vapours of old bones, grease, dirty rags, and other filth accumulated by Evans in his business. The Coroner remarked, that he had no power to inter- fere; but the pari‘h officers could do so, under the Public Health Act. Several tithe Jurymen undertook to see the Churchwardens on the subject.

A fire oecurred on board the Teaser schooner, as she lay in St. Katherine's Dock, on Monday night. A great deal of property was destroyed; but the hall of the ship was preserved. One of the crew, the only man on board, was suffo- cated: he was found dead in his berth.

An inquest was held by Mr. Carter, on Saturday, upon the body of Mrs. Eliza- beth Shields. It was proved that the deceased was an habitual drunkard, and that on the 30th August she quarrelled with her daughter Mary Aim West. The mother and daughter fought violently. At last the mother fell down, and drew her daughter upon her. Her head struck against the ground and she was stunned; she died on the 7th instant, from the wound on the head. The daughter was ar- rested at the time of the quarrel, on the mother's charge of stealing 101. from her, and as she went to prison vowed she would "murder the old faggot." A verdict of " Manslaughter " was found against the daughter, and she was committed for