Tattrninlliff.

The proposed meeting in the Metropolis to forward the scheme of a national memorial of Sir Robert Peel was held on Monday, in the Egyp- tian Hall of the Mansionhouse. The Lord Mayor presided ; and the at- tendance of the City magnates was very large' representing all classes. Among those present were, Mr. Joseph Hume, Mr. Henry Drummond, Mr. Masterraan, Sir James Weir Hogg, Baron Rothschild, Mr. Raikes Currie, Mr. Monad], Mr. Scully, and Major Blackill, with some eight or ten other Members of Parliament ; the Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England, and representatives of most of the great banking, mercantile, and trading firms and a large number of Aldermen and members of the CounciL A bust of Sir Robert Peel, by Mr. J. G. Jones, had been placed in the entrance-hall.

The first resolution, moved by Sir Peter Laurie, expressed the profound and universal regret at the loss which the country has sustained in the death of Sir Robert Peel, and the desire of all to cooperate in perpetuating the memory of his public services and private virtues. Sir Peter Laurie would have what the Duke of Wellington said of Sir Robert Peel put upon his monument—that his word was truth, and his character integrity itself. Captain Shepherd, Chairman of the East India Company, se- conded the resolution, and echoed Sir Peter Laurie's desire. A Mr. Joshua Beardmore, from some place near Nottingham, essayed to move an amendment, which made an exceptional reference, "with the deepest feelings of anguish and regret," to Sir Robert Peel's encouragement of the slave-trade by lowering the sugar-duties : but amidst general mani- festations of disgust at the interruption, the Lord Mayor decided that the amendment was out of order ; and the original resolution was carried unanimously. Sir John Pally, Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company and an Elder Brother of the Trinity House, moved the next resolution-

" That the Lord Mayor and the other gentlemen on the platform do form a Com- mittee, with power to add to their number, to collect subscriptions, and to devise the best means of carrying into effect the resolution of this meeting ; and that the Lord Mayor. Mr. Masterman, Sir James Duke, and Baron Lionel de Rothschild, be requested to act as Treasurers." Sir James Weir Hogg seconded the resolution, with a testimony to de- parted worth, couched in language of great warmth— "In the fullness of his mental powers, when his last accents of wisdom and conciliation yet hung upon our ears, it pleased the Almighty suddenly to withdraw him from us. But his memory is hallowed in our breasts ; and the voices of men of every party, every creed, every. class, and every occupa- tion, unite in pronouncing -him one of the best, the wisest, the most dis- interested, and the most distinguished statesmen, that ever guided the poli- tical helm of any country. It was England's blessing to have such a states- man in times of trial and transition, and I believe it will be England's glory to record her sense of his services."

Mr. Hume repeated his avowal of admiration for the unmatched disin- terestedness of the services which have been lost to the nation; and he recalled a practical suggestion already made public—

It was to be hoped that, besides a statue, means might be found of form- ing some memorial by which in all time to come the country would be be- nefited, and the example held up for imitation of an honest and straightfor- ward career. The motion was for the appointment of a committee ; let it be remembered that everything would depend upon that committee. They should take into consideration the opinions of the whole community, and it was to be hoped they would make the testimonial as honourable to the de- parted statesman as to the community. Sir G. N. Buxton directed attention to "a hospital connected with the City of London, the London Hospital—the hospital par excellence of bide "; and wished that a "Peel wing" could be added to that hos- pital. Alderman Salomans, with the like civic partiality, hoped that the t.oporation would give the committee an opportunity of erecting a statue

In • ; so that "beside our great naval hero, and the two great Minis- ters of War, they might have a statue to the great Minister of Peace, who excelled in civil and peaceful administration." Mr. Henry Drummond was invited by the Committee to move a vote of thanks to the Lord Chair- Man; and the Chairman seems to have intimated some desire which prompted the fine eulogy that Mr. Drummond immediately uttered- " I am not sorry, I confess, to have been thus invited. I was the schoolfellow of Sir Robert Peel ; I was at college with him afterwards ; we entered the House of Commons together ; I heard the, first speech he made there, and I bstened with attention to every word of -the list (Mr. _Drummond was so mush moved with this recital as to be (chime unabk to proceed.) Our paths: in life lay wide asunder; but at no time did we ever meet when we found that the intimacies of our childhood were impaired. We always met with the same cordiality, even to the last ; and up to the latest period did I have the honour of enjoying his uninterrupted friendship. The points in his cha- racter which I call upon you to remember this day shall be such as serve for a useful example to ourselves. For it so happens that, with the exception of one great political event, I believe there is not a remarkable occurrence in our history for forty years back to which the name of Sir Robert Peel is not emphatically attached. You remember, that it was under his adminis- tration, when quite young, that the Conatabulary force was established in Ireland ; you remember it was he, shortly afterwards, that conden- sed your Criminal Law, and abrogated hundreds of useless statutes; you remember that it was he who acted so ably in the repeal of the Test Laws ; and you remember, down to the very last, how many similar acts are associated with his name. But there is this remarkable circumstance con- nected with another series of public events to which I be your attention— that in pursuing what he believed his country' a good he violated some of his dearest private affections. At the time, for instance, of the Bullion Report, he was put in by his patron Lord Liverpool to watch the proceeding on the part of the Government; and he came out of the Committee deciding against the Government. Afterwards, in 1819, when he brought in the famous bill which goes by his name, he was opposed in the House by his own father.. Then, when he carried the Catholic question, you remember by he sacrificed. his friendships at Oxford. Again, if you take the very last act of his official life, you know how bitter it was to his party associations. But in all these- he had but one object in view—his country's good, and that he followed to'. the end. A remarkable circumstance about Sir Robert Peel was this too, that, from the day he entered the House until the last, he not only but marked, learnt, and inwardly digested every report that was presented to that House ; and the consequence was, that he had a mastership over sub- jects that no other man ever had, knew more than any other individual in . the House, and could always bring forth out of his well-stored mind a mass of information which settled debate. Now, every one of you may labour—and above all, if you are young representatives, I would call upon you to imitate his example, and labour for your country as he did. There is another point very re- markable in Sir Robert Peel's character. The honourable Member for Montrose is old enough, as well as myself, to remember how violent party rancour ran in those days. At that time persons of opposite factions hardly associated together. Happily those evil days are at an end. We can now oppose one another, and still unite in all the intimacies of private society. But Sir Robert Peel, more than any other man within my remembrance, was the. victim of private personalities ; and of all men I ever remember he is the- man that replied to them the least. He commended himself to Him that judgeth righteously,' and did `not answer win.' The way in which he was enabled to do this was by keeping the good of his country steadily in view. as the pole-star before him ; and whether the waver of friendship or of op- position tossed him on the one side or the other, he never lost sight of that object. By conduct like this, not undervaluing the testimony which you will raise and which shall be raised in many other parts of the country, I feel that Sir Robert Peel might say, Exegi monumentum awe perennius.' "

Among the subscriptions announced, was one of 2101. by the Merchant Tailors Company, of which Sir Robert Peel was a liveryman ; "one day's pay" by the City Police ; and small sums by more than one "Poor Man."

The Marylebone Vestry has swelled the number of mourning and ad- miring tributes to the memory of the late Sir Robert Peel. In moving the resolution, Mr. Joseph Hume declared his belief that at present it is impossible to conceive the full extent of the loss sustained by the country._ Although it might appear to many not acquainted with the matter, that during the last three or four years Sir Robert Peel had not taken any active part, still Mr. Hume was aware that he had been the mediator in the House of Commons between _parties, and had thus so guided them in their delibera- tions as to act for the best interests of the country. No statesman had shown so marked a disinterestedness and so much singlemindedness as the late Sir Robert Peel ; and that which had lately come out had tended to raise his character still higher in this respect than before. In 1835, he not only refused the honour offered him by the King, to place him in the House of Peers, but said, "I commenced my career in the House of Commons, and in the House of Commons I will end that career."

Mr. John Williams, M.P., seconded the resolution ; and it was unani- mously carried in a very full Vestry. The Earl of Manvers, with Mr. Plowden, Mr. Moffatt, and several other Members of Parliament, were present.

The Society for the Reform of Colonial Government had a dinner on Wednesday, at the Trafalgar Hotel, Greenwich. Lord Ilfonteagle pre- sided; Lord Lyttelton, the Bishop of Oxford, the Reverend T. Jackson,.. Bishop-designate of the new settlement of Canterbury, New Zealand, Sir William Molesworth, Mr. Hum; Mr. Adderley, with some other Mem- bers of Parliament, and several well-known Colonial writers, were among the company. After a very late dinner, there was much capital speak- ing, which, as a consequence of the lateness, was but inadequately re- ported in the newspapers of next morning : it may be described in general terms as of a retrospective tone, highly congratulatory on the advance of the Society in the labour it proposed to itself on its formation,—that of.' popularizing Colonial subjects, and teaching the English both the causes of the existing maladministration of our Colonies and the means of curing the evil. Lord Monteagle paid especial homage to, Sir William Molesworth's labours, and coupled his name with the toast of the evening—" Prosperity to the Colonial Reform Society." Sir William Molesworth doubted not that it was the Colonial So- ciety which induced the Prime Minister to make his celebrated speech at the beginning of the session, in which he laid down sound principles for the government of the Colonies, and supported them by the authority of the principles set forth by this Society. The Bishop of Oxford proposed "The Canterbury Association," with praise of Lord Lyttelton's earnest devotion to the business of the Canterbury colony : its principle, which illustrates the ancient " solvitur ambulando," show- ing to men, that instead of speculating upon the difficulties of a great work, they would achieve success if they once in a virit of integrity, honesty, and good Saxon sense, set about it. Lord Lyttelton was not so sanguine as some of his Mends on the progress of the cause of Colonial self-government, and viewed the success of the Australian Bill with such regret that he might have even preferred it to be rejected rather than ac- cepted- in its present state. Mr. Hume took a more favourable view of the Australian Bill: indeed, the veteran but simple Reformer caused consider- able amusement by his ready acceptance of Lord John Russell's fresh pro- fessions on the subject., in place of those acts which it has been the object of the Society to extort from the ever-professing Government. While gently implying censure of the Cape of Good Hope colonists for the dangerous course—nearly verging on actual rebellion—which they had pursued, Mr.

Hume admitted himself bound to any that no relief has ever been granted to any colony until it was on the verge of rebellion : he looked on the Cape as an example to all the Colonies. Mr. Adderley, being called on to reply to the toast of "Success to the Cape of Goad Hope," could net quite subscribe to' the doctrine of holding out the Cape as a precedent to be invariably followed, but avowed his pride at their success, and at his identification with that success. Mr. Robert Lowe, the eminent Austra- lian colonist, returned thanks for a toast to his colony, in one of those torrents of argumentative invective which have been his characteristic eloquence, since he first sought distinction as a debater in student exerci- tations at Oxford.

Contrasting Sir William Moleswortle as the Solon of Colonial legislation, with Lord Grey, as the Pisistratus of the Colonies who by his fulsome pro- fessions induced them to displace better men their himself, and then most foully broke faith with them, he hastened on to a rapid review of what re- mains yet to be won by Colonial Reformers. The reservation of the veto by the Colonial OMee in Downing Street attracted his bitterest animadversion. "It is as if the Emperor of China had a veto on all our acts of Parliament —only with this deference in favour of the Emperor, that he is a reasonable man, which Lord Grey is not; that he would probably think that people understood their own affairs best, which Lord Grey does not ; and, that he is not, like Lord Grey, hampered by countless speeches despatches, little mess- es, piques, and crotchets, which render him as unwilling to act on a con- viction as he is incompetent to form it. The effect of this is, to disgust pub- lics men with their duties ; so that the offioe of representative, which at first was an object of honourable ambition has latterly been hawked about, and even rejected, by ill-educated and disreputable persons, to whom it should never have been offered. Lord Grey rejoices in this apathy, and says it is a sign of good government. If no respectable man could be found to sit in the House of Commons, would that be a sign of pod government ; or would it not rather show that the House has become a sham, and the substantial power has departed elsewhere ? The power for these reasons was falling into disre- putable handsrand will become the prey of low and vulgar agitators. Raeland cannot withhold these rights from her Colonies long—stop by step they will wring them fronther. Rebellion prospered in Canada—resistance at theCape ; the lesson willnot be lost on Australia. The Colonial Office—so powerful and vexatiousin quiet times--will offer no resistance to popular passions. It will be- come the elave of these over whom it tyrannizes. And when the last- of these Tights is conquered, will the colonists return to that loyalty which they nowleel —to that veneration for everythingehiglialt which is with them almost weeper- stition ? No, they will hate you, as America hates you—as Canada and the Cape are learning- to hate you. It is not the mere possession of territory or military posts that constitute the value of a colony—these are but burdens to your revenue and weakness to your empire. It is the similarity of feel- ings, of ideas, of principles which constitute the value of a colony. Take these away, and it is worthless. When the last link of those chains which you now refuse to remove shall be wrenched asunder, the sun of British as- cendance will set on the Australian continent—and for ever. But for what purpose Is this sacrifice of feeling and power—this dismemberment of our empire—this =setting of the brightest Jewels of our Crown ? Is it for the of the people ? 111 it for the honour of our Government, or the deve- lopment of our internal or external resources ? No it is only to gratify the pride of a miserable bureaucracy, and to perpetuate a domination equally disgraceful to those who rule and fatal to those who serve. It seems rilli- .e..ulous to compare the two,. but the choice really is between the Colonial Office and the Colonial Empire—you cannot keep both."

The last fete of the Horticultural Society, at Chiswick, took place on Saturday, under a most favourable sky. The gardens of the Society were in beautiful order' and those of the Duke of Devonshire were like a real _fairyland. Lord and Lady John Russell were among the company,. -which was full, notwithstanding the gloom thrown over the aristocracy by recent deaths. The military bands wore mourning, in respect for the late Duke of Cambridge.

At the Central Criminal Court, last week, William Edward Eicke aged twenty-mile' pleaded " Guilty ' to an indictment for stealing a debenture for 2,000e, the property of the South-western Railway Company. By aa ar- rangement between the counsel for the prosecution and defence the judg- ment was postponed, and no evidence was offered on a second indictment for forging a name to the-debenture.

In the case of assault by Mr. Montgomery on Mr. Thomas Rol ,t an amica- ble arrangement was effected between the parties : when Mr. Montgomery -was indicted, no evidence was_ offered, and a verdict of acquittal was taken.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Wednesday, George Taylor was indicted for defrauding three persons of sums of money by the false pretence that he was sent to repair pipes and drains by the Commissioners of Sewers. He pleaded "Guilty and told a very lame story of his having been the dupe of another man. The three terms of imprisonment to which he was condemned amounted in the aggregate to nearly a year.

An application has been made to the Marlborough Street Magistrate with regard to a ticketing linendraper's in Oxford Street. Two women saw dresses exhibited in the window marked, salt appeared to them, 110. each; on en- tering to purchase, they were told 18. lied. was the price, and that only five yards were given for that. Two corded petticoats were offered them for 28. M. They put down the money ; but were then told that they must take three of the dresses or they could not have the petticoata ; in the end, they .got neither money nor petticoats. Mr. Bingham told the women that the -County Court would soon procure the restoration of the money.

At Weatminster Police Office, on Saturday, Eliza Medland, the begging letter writer who attempted to impose on Prince Albert, was brought up for reexamination. A second case was proved against her. She tried to extract money from the Marchioness of Londonderry, by pretending that she had a dead child and had no means to bury it : in this ease, she represented her- self as a "Mrs. MBride," with a husband out of work. The accused tried to get off by offering promises of amended life for the future : but Mr. Burrell sent her to the House of Correction for three months; remarking, " If you have formed any resolution of amendment, you can put it into effect after you come out."

At Worship Street Police Office, on Monday, George Frederick Masterman, a youth of seventeen, was reexamined on a charge of attempting to strangle his master, Mr. Finer, a surgeon in the Kingsland Road. Mr. Clarkson at- tended for the prisoner. hfr. Finer was examined. In the afternoon of Sunday week, the prisoner did not come to his tea when his master sent for him ; Mr. Finer sent a second message„that if he did not come then he should have no tea; the pewee man came into the room much excited; .words arose, and he struck his master in the face. A struggle ensued, and the master threw the apprentice on the floor he " shammed " to be dead, but got up when a pail of water was threatened. Mr. Finer followed Master- Man to his bedroom, to turn him out of the house. Here another struggle ensued ; Mr. Finer was struck on the forehead, and Masterman nearly' strangled him by twisting and knotting his neek,erchief. Cross-examined, the prosecutor admitted that he and his apprentice were completely at log- gerheade; he had a premium of 301. with him ; the apprentice had pro- ceeded against him at -law. Mastexman had nearly s him once be- fore. Mr. Baker, a surgeon, described the state in which e found Mr. ner he was "nearly dead. ' Mr. Hammill remanded the case for a week, but admitted the accused to ball.

At the Greenwich Police Office, on Tuesday, John Edward Spooner was charged with attempting to drown Captain Alexander Sheriff, the Superin- tendent of the East Country Dock. Spooner had been employed as a labourer at the dock ; Mr. Sheriff, for particular reasons, directed that he should be so no longer ; on the day of his dismissal, Spooner accosted Mr. Sheriff who re- fused to held any converse with him ; whereupon the prisoner pushed Mr. She- riff into the water of the -dock. The fall to the surface was eight feet, the de of water eighteen ; any one not a swimmer would probably have

under such circumstances; but Mr. Sheriff; though seventy-five years aide. managed to keep afloat till he was reseued.--Committed.

Two suicides were committed' in Newgate Prison at the close of last weeke one by Watts, former lessee of the Marylebone and Olympic Theatres—wka- was- probably a victim to a sense of shame; the other by Donovan, a pugi- list—who killed himself probably under the influence of sullen passion. In- quests were held on Saturday, lay Mr. Payne and a. Jury of twenty-three citizens.

Walter Watts received judgment last Friday on his conviction for steal- ing the -cheek of the Globe Insurance Company : he had expected a. sentence of twelve months imprisonment, but received. one of ten years' transports. lion. He is said to have mentioned the sentence as "very severe," but be. was. noticedto continue in his usual excellent spirits. He slept in a cell with three other prisoners and went to bed at about nine an Friday evem- ing, havingeonversed cheerfully iipto that time. At three o'clock on Saturday morning, one- ells fellow prisoners awoke, and lay awake till nearly four' o'olook ; about that time, turning round, he saw that Watts was not nt his bed, and yet that his slippers and dressing-gown were not removed. He awakened another fellow prisoner; who instantly searched for Watts, and found him dead in a water-closet at the end of the cell. He had hanged himself to some ben bane whide crossed a window, with a piece of cord out from the

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sacking of his on bedstead. He was in hia night-dress, ancLhadtied hiafeet. - together with a silk handkerchief. On his breast was tied a napkin, and round his neck was suspended a locket. He was cold and stiff when cut down' so that his felloveprisoner "carried him likes pease of timber" to lay him on the floor of the cell : the medical officers of the prison found.that he had been dead seve- ral hours. Theriame medical menstated that Watts had been under their care from the day he came into prison. When he entered the rison he was a state bordering on delirium tremens, caused by drink ' . he had taken. brandy is huge quantities, to drown reflection. The medical treatment had greatly inipneved„ him, but ha was still under a regular muse of medicine: He-was very cheerful throughout, and very well conducted to all ; he-com- plained much of headaches, but less latterly ; "ho was very excitable, hut it is difficult to say whether an unexpected sentence would derange his brain or not"; he repeatedly declared that he had "much difficulty about, his theatres, and in other ways" ; "the pains in his head were moot likely brought on through a diseased condition of the brain caused by hard drink- ing." The Jury found a verdict of suicide under the influence of temporary insanity. In the case of Daniel Blackstaff Donavan, the deceased had been convicted on Friday of throwing his wife out of window with intent to murder her. His wife and two children were the witnesses. The wife was brought from the infirmary incompletely recovered after a marvellous escape from death,, one side of her skull had been smashed, and for some time she bedpan-louse symptoms of concussion of the brain. Donovan conducted his own defence. and cross-examined his wife and children minutely ; but he did not shaV their simple statements. He was sentenced to death; but the Jury re- commended him to mercy, and Judge Alderson rented that the recome mendation would be made "in order that his life may be spared." He persisted in his innocence of the charge, and' retired to prim in a sullen mood. He asked for his dinner, but could not eat it when it was brought to him; he asked to see his wife and was told he should see her ; and then he asked te wile a letter, but was told that he must first get leave of the Governor. This was at about five minutes past two in the afternoon. At half-past two, when the turnkey came agent to leek in at him, he was dead. He bed hanged himself-by a handkerchief to some window-bars, winch he bad reached by standing on bed. He was still a /itt/e warm, but the usual remedies to resuscitate—the bath, 84e.—though promptly administered, proved unavailing. By the pri- son-regulations,when a prisoner is. ordered for execution, two persons remain in the cell with him constantly night and day " ; but this is not the case "when sentence of death is only recorded"; nor are such prisoners fettered. The instructions to the officers In such eases "are general—to watch the pri- soners generally. There is no fixed time for looking into the cells. The officers must examine them as often as they can." The deceased was a black- smith by trade, and a prizefighter ; h.e was of an ungovernable temper. The Jury of twenty-three citizens were as nearly as possible equally divided on their verdict - eleven considered the deceased was of sound mind when he hanged himself, the ether twelve considered him of unsound mind at the time. The decision went with the majority, and the verdict affirmed that the suicide had been committed under the influence of temporary insanity.