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The new Hall of Lincoln's Inn was opened by the Queen on Thursday. The day was fine, and a considerable crowd collected to witness the arrival of the Royal cortege; which took place at half-past one o'clock. Her Majesty and Prince Albert did not come in state, though accompanied by a numerous suite in several carriages, and escorted by a party of Life Guards. A band of the Coldstream Guards was in attendance and the National Anthem greeted the Royal approach. The Duke of Wellington, the Lord Chancellor, Sir James Graham, and many of the Ministers, were present; but Sir Robert Peel was kept away by indisposition. On alighting, the Queen was conducted to a retiring-room, and thence to the Library; where, her Majesty sitting on a chair of state, the benchers, with a depu- tation of the barristers and students, presented the following address- " Most gracious Sovereign—We, your Majesty's faithful subjects, the Treasurer and Masters of the Bench, the Barristers and bellows of the Society of Lincoln's Inn, entreat your Majesty's permission humbly to testify the joy and gratitude inspired by your august presence.

The edifice in which, under such happy auspices, we are for the first time assembled, is adorned with memorials of many servants of the Crown, eminent for their talents, their learning, and their integrity. To the services' as recorded in history, of these our distinguished predecessors we appeal, in allhumility, for our justification in aspiring to receive year Majesty beneath this roof. "Two centuries have nearly passed away since the Inns of Court were so ho- noured by the presence of the reigning Prince. We cannot, therefore, but feel deeply grateful for a mark so conspicuous of your Majesty's condescension, and of your gracious regard for the profession of the law. "It LS our earnest desire to deserve this proof of your Majesty's favour by a zealous execution of the trust reposed in us, to guard and maintain the dignity of the bar of England.

"In our endeavours to this end, we shall but follow in the course which it has been your Majesty's royal pleasure to pursue. Signally has year Majesty fostered the independence of the bar, and the purity of the bench, by distributing the honours which you have graciously bestowed on the profession among the mem- bers of all parties in the state. "Permit us, also, most gracious Sovereign, to offer to your Majesty our sincere congratulations on the great amendments of the law which have been effected since your Majesty's accession to the throne, throughout many portions of year vast empire. "The pure glory of these labours will be dear to your Majesty's royal heart; for it arises from the welfare of your subjects. "That your Majesty may long reign over a loyal, prosperous, and contented people, is our devout and fervent prayer to Almighty God. The Queen delivered this reply- " I receive with cordial satisfaction this dutiful address.

" My beloved Consort and I have accepted with pleasure your invitation: for I recognize the services rendered to the Crown at various periods of our history by distinguished members of this society; and I gladly testify my respect for the pro- fession of the law, by which I am aided in administering justice, and in maintain- ing the prerogatives of the Crown and the rights of my people. " I congratulate you on the completion of this noble edifice: it is worthy of the memory of your predecessors, and of the station which you occupy in connexion with the bar of England. "I sincerely hope that learning long may flourish, and that virtue and talent soay rise to gainence within these walls." The Treasurer now conducted the Queen and the Prince to the where her Majesty took her seat under a canopy of state; Prince Albert on her right hand. The Lord Chancellor, principal guests, and dignitaries of the Inn, sat at the same table. The banisters were seated, in the order of seniority, at tables ranged across the Hall; and a collation set for the oc- casion was gravely disposed of. Alter the collation, the Treasurer pro- posed a toast—" The Queen"; followed by "Prince Albert "—that morning admitted as a bencher: his Royal Highness appeared in the legal costume. The Queen and Prince Albert having retired, the chair was taken by Lord Campbell as the senior bencher present; and the ladies, admitted by special favour to a gallery at the lower end of the room, descended to the floor, to participate in the banquet, varying the monotony of black gowns and white wigs by their gayer dresses. Lord Campbell gave one snore toast: the Queen had signalized the occasion by conferring the honour of knighthood on their Treasurer; and he proposed the health of the new Knight, Sir John Francis Simpkinson.

A Court of Common Council was held on Thursday. The Lord Mayor reported, that on the previous day he had held in the Guildhall a Court of Governors of the various Hospitals; which was attended by about twenty Governors. Answers to the demand for amended lists of Governors were received: Christ's Hospital replied that the list had been delivered on St. Mathew's Day, according to the ancient custom; Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals, that the return should be made to a Court of Governors in Christ's Hospital, and not in the Guildhall; St. Thomas's took further time for consideration. At the Court of Governors, two members observed that there were not present the requisite number to constitute a legal Court, (thirty-two, including four Aldermen); but the Lord Mayor said that he had summoned a sufficient number. The Lord Mayor having ceased, Mr. Lott moved "that the whole matter be referred to the Royal Hospitals Committee, with power to consult counsel thereon "; which was agreed to. The Court of Common Council then proceeded to other business: but it being observed that only one Alderman was present besides the Mayor, the Lord Mayor declared that there was no Court; and the sitting ter- minated.

There was a public dinner in Southwark on Wednesday, at the Bridge- house Hotel, to celebrate the election of Sir William Molesworth. Nearly three hundred persons sat down to table. There were two Chairmen — first, Mr. Emanuel Cooper, who had to go away before the close; and then Mr. William Wilson: two Members, Mr. Christie and Mr. Bright, were among the guests. In the principal speech of the evening, Sir William Molesworth set forth the principles that would regulate his votes. He dilated on the advantages of railways, and their influence as a means of social and political enlightenment; making them in that way "the sure forerunners of universe lfree trade." He augured success for repeal of the

Corn-laws in the signs of the times—the multiplied adhesions to free trade among the Conservatives. As a party opposed to free trade, the Conserva-

tives are disunited, broken to pieces, and politically defunct. The question of free trade in food is of urgent importance just now, when scarcity threatens the most disastrous consequences; but he hoped that good would come out of evil-

" So alarming, indeed, is the state of the crops, especially of the potato crops in Ireland, that, according to the Times of this morning, a Cabinet Council is to be immediately held for the purpose of either opening the ports for the free admission of corn, or of summoning Parliament to consider the propriety of so doing. I trust this report is well founded. It would be a wise and prudent act on the part of Government. And be assured, if the ports be once opened, we will never permit them to be closed again." In his opinion, the extension of the commerce of the country should be the great practical object of every British statesman; and on that ground he

advocated colonization, as a means of establishing markets for the inter- change of British industry. He referred to the subject of civil and religious liberty; the approval of his principles on that subject having mainly pro- cured his election. To call a man to account for his religions belief he denounced as an attempt wholly at variance with the spirit of the age- " It is an attempt to return to the policy of times long gone by, when the Ro man Catholic Church was at the summit of its power, and endeavoured to pat down every opinion of which it disapproved. In saying this, let me not be sup- posed to speak with want of reverence or of respect for the ancient Church of Rome, or in any way to deny or underrate the important services which in times long past it rendered to the human race. It preserved among the barbarian in- vaders of the Roman empire the remains of ancient civilization and literature. It formed the only bond of union between their scattered and hostile communities. It taught their feudal chiefs that there was something nobler and better than brute force. It inculcated peace, charity, and equality among them. It was the civilizing principle of the dark and middle ages. All knowledge, all learning, and all philosophy were confined to the members of its hierarchy; and among them there were very many acute and profound thinkers, able reasoners, illus- trious statesmen, great moralists, and learned divines. It aspired, however, to a dominion not only over the actions, but over the feelings and reason of men. It did for a moment reach this summit of power, and constituted a theocracy. No one dared to think, to act, or reason in opposition to its will; no one dared to hold opinions in science, philosophy, or religion, in opposition to its decrees; and the mightiest monarchs of Europe were humbled at its feet. From that moment its power began to decline. The sovereigns of Europe resisted its tem- poral authority. With the progress of learning and investigation, with the dis- covery of the art of printing, and with the consequent facility of acquiring know- ledge, the infallibility of the Church of Rome in matters of science began to be doubted, its decrees in religion were questioned, and the Reformation commenced. The great principle of the Reformation was the right of private judgment and free agency. The Reformers protested against the authority of Rome: they contended that reason, that argument, not the will of Rome, should guide a man in his belief; and then, for the first time in history, the principle of religious liberty and equality was proclaimed. Alas! it was little attended to or put into practice. It was soon lost sight of in the conflict of contending sects, who demanded liberty to disagree with Rome, but refused a like liberty with regard to themselves. Each sect persecuted its neighbour with a fury more intense in proportion to the smallness of their doctrinal differences. Thus, Cal-

vinists persecuted Lutherans, and Lutherans Calvinists. Episcopalians, Presby- terians, Nonconformists, and every denomination of dissent, were equally intolerant, equally persecuting when they had the power, and equally forgetful of those prin-

ciples of religious liberty and equality to which they owed their existence. These times, unfortunately, cannot be said to be passed, though I trust they ate

fast passing away. The repeal of the Test and C-orporation Acts, the emancipa-

tion of the Roman Catholics, the majorities in the House of Commons in favour of tl?e emanci tion of the Jews, the conduct of that House with regard to education in

Ireland, and the establishment of universities in that country, all prove the pr-

grass of public opinion, and that the most important branch of the is Favourable, on the whole, to religious liberty and equality. Much, however, still

remains to be done to give practical effect to that principle, and especially in the great matter of the education of the people. The want of a good system of na- tional education is the subject of great and well-merited reproach to the country. if any danger is to be apprehended from the progress oP free institutions, and from the growing power of the people, that danger can only be averted by educa- tion and instructing the masses. Therefore both the friends and the foes of the extension of popular rights ought to be equally anxious for a good system of na- tional education. What has prevented it in this country ? What has defeated the efforts of the friends of education? I answer, religious bigotry and intole- rance; which have required that, in the education of the people, religious tenets should be inculcated; and we cannot agree what. these tenets should be. The Church of England insists that the people should be instructed in its own peculiar doctrines; so do the Roman Catholics; so do the Dissenters. Thus a general sys- tem of education is rendered impossible."

Mr. Bright took the occasion to make an Anti-Corn-law speech; several other neldresses were delivered; and the whole evening passed off well.

Mr. Charles Knight, the author-publisher, has passed some severe stric- tures on the late great soirée at Manchester. He presided at a periodical meeting of the Literary and Scientific Institution in Aldersgate, on Satur- day; and in acknowledging the vote of thanks for his services in the chair, he alluded to the provincial rival—

He had just returned from attending the splendid soiree of the Manchester Allis:swum. He had felt that it was a rare and perhaps unequalled spectacle— that of three or four thousand ladies and gentlemen comfortably seated in a vast hall glittering with light, to listen to the addresses of popular writers. But, at the same time, he could not avoid feeling that there was something in this display which would not bear the test of sober examination. He ventured to think that it was a mistake to tempt authors out of their proper sphere to come forward as orators; to ask them to play upon an instrument to which they were unaccus- tomed; and, of necessity, to feel a proportionate disappointment when some one, who had afforded unmixed delight in his own vocation, was found, as a speaker, not to drop all pearls and rubies from his mouth, like the princess in the fairy tale. He felt that it was a pleasing sight, when a distinguished writer, without any ostentation, came forward to take his place at a public meeting as any other gentleman would do, in the cause of benevolence or education. Such was the case when Mr. Dickens, whose kindness of heart was as remarkable as his genius, presided over the first soiree of the Manchester Athenmum, for the purpose of assisting the funds of the institution. But an annual display of popular writers to an un-English curiosity was, he thought, a different affair, and not quite cal- culated "to give an impulse to the progress of literature," which the directors of the soiree professed to do. Literature, he thought, needed no such stimulants. At the meeting of Thursday last, he had heard it proclaimed, and he had heard it with some amazement, that authors in this country had not taken their proper social position, and that the Manchester Athenmum had first called them out of their monkish seclusion to raise them to their right sphere of action. He thought that such a boast could only be founded upon an ignorance of what was the social position of authors in this country, and a prejudiced view of what was their right sphere. The exhibition at Manchester has had the effect of drawing an unusual them of public attention to its institution; but he begged to say, not dispa- ragingly, but by way of encouragement to other literary institutions, that there was nothing peculiar in the usefulness of the Manchester Athemenm, in its plan or in its extent, which gave it paramount claims to this disproportionate regard. The soiree was a happy thought to relieve it from a load of debt. It was not es- sentially a literary institution; it was an excellent cheap club. Let the numerous literary and scientific institutions of the Metropolis not believe, from this over- whelming publicity, that in real usefulness and in aggregate importance they are in the least degree behind the Manchester Atheneum.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Tuesday, Anne Craft, a decent-looking young woman, was tried for stealing various articles of sheeting, stockings, &e., the property of her master, the Reverend F. Reeves, incumbent of Mortlake. From the charge it would have appeared that the woman had stolen really valu- able property; but when the linen and stockings were produced in court, they tamed out to be mere rags, utterly worthless except as such. Mr. Clarkson commented on the unchristian spirit exhibited by the reverend prosecutor in placing a young female in the position of the prisoner for so small an injury. Many witnesses gave the woman a good character. The Jury returned a verdict of "Guilty," but accompanied it with a strong recommendation to mercy. The Recorder said the prisoner should not be exposed to contamination by associating With hardened felons; and her sentence was imprisonment in Newgate for four- teen days. Mr. Reeves has addressed a letter to the Times, declaring that his conduct towards the accused was not of that vindictive nature which the proceedings at the trial, and especially the published reports, would make it appear. Anne Craft had taken much of his linen, and cut it up to make herself clothes; he had offered to forgive her if she would cease to persist in declaring that the articles she bad stolen had been purchased by her; she is not a girl, but a woman of twenty-nine; he could have proved that she was deceitful, and given to drinking. The reverend gentleman concludes thus—" The result, however, of Tuesday's proceedings has tally convinced me, that whoever goes to prosecute a thief at the Old Bailey must be prepared to be abused, and treated as if he were a thief himself."

On Thursday, Bridget Smith, alias Thomas, was tried for sending oxalic acid mixed with sugar to Patrick Henry Smith, with intent to murder him. Smith had been intimate with the woman; who, indeed, declared that they were married, but this was denied. The oflhnce was clearly revved. But as Mr. Doane was about to Break for the defence, be was interrupted by Mr. Justice Mauls, who said that the indictment could not be held good, for these reasons: Smith was culled in the in- dictment Patrick Henry; he had been christened as Patrick Henry; he was con- firmed as Henry; and being a Roman Catholic, the law was that only the name of Henry could be considered as his. Mr. Justice Coleridge concurred, and the prisoner was acquitted.

The woman was then tried for the same offence with regard to Caroline Smith, the mother of Henry. The same witnesses were produced; and the Jury, after a short deliberation, found a verdict of "Guilty."

Glazier, the railway-porter charged with stealing a dressing-case on the Great Western Railway in July last, has been committed for trial by the Magistrate at Idarylebone Police-office. A member of the Greenwich Literary Institution, apparently a "respectable " Man, has been detected in purloining newspapers and magazines from the reading- room. A meeting of the society is to be held to consider in what manner the delinquent shall be treated. Six corporals of the Gentlemen Cadets of Woolwich have been reduced from their rank, and one hundred and thirty of the privates have been confined to their barracks for a stated period of time, for breaking out of barracks and rioting at Charlton fair, recently held in the neighbourhood. A blacksmith employed on the Croydon Atmospheric Railway was killed, shortly after- midnight on Saturday, by a train of ballast-waggons which was !tinning on the Atmospheric line. The man had been drinking during the even- ing, and had expended the greater part of his week's wages; and it appears probable he had strayed upon the rails while in a drunken state. At all events, he placed himself in the way of a train, which knocked him down. The night Was foggy; there was a lamp in front and another at the rear of the train. Two men have been killed at Messrs. Taylor and Company's brewhouse,at

Limehouse, by the incautious entry of one into a vat filled with carbonic acid gas, which collects in vats after the beer is drawn off. Perrin, a cellarman, asked Spicer, a drayman, to help him to clean out the vat, which is sixteen feet deep: while Perrin went for a light to test the air in the vessel, Spicer began to descend into it; he was overpowered by the gas, and fell senseless to the bottom. On the eellarman's return, with a generous impulse lie rushed into the vat to rescue his fellow-workman, but only to share his fate. It was not till a hole had been cut in the vessel, that the men could be drawn out; grappling-irons having been tried in vain: they were both dead.

The filthy ditch which used to surround the Penitentiary has been filled, as well as the low ground by the side of the road; and, it is said, it will now be used as a florist's garden.—iforning Post.

The Registrar-General's return of mortality in the Metropolis for the week end- ing on Saturday last shows the following general results. The weekly averages for the autumnal season and the year are calculated on the deaths occurring in the five years of 1840-4, and are corrected for the increase of the population to the middle of the present year.

Number of Autumnal Annual deaths, average. average.

Zymotie (or Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagions)

Diseases 195 201 184 Dropsy, Cancer, and other Diseases of uncertain or variable seat 91 109 106 Diseases of the Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and

Senses 118 155 159 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of

Respiration 206 323 291 Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 31 27 24 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 62 63 • • • 71 Diseases of the Kidneys, &c 13 6 • • • 6 Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c 5 12 • • • 10 Rheumatism, Diseases of the Bones, Joints, &e. • • • • 6 • • • 6 1 Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, &c 1 1 • • • Old Age 30 74 • • • 70

Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intem 12 perance 27 - • • 26

Total, (including unspecified causes) 774 1,020 963

The temperature of the thermometer ranged from 66.10 in the sun to 32.6° in the shade; the mean temperature by day being colder than the average mean temperature by 3.9°. The mean direction of the wind was West-south-west.