Zbe filttropolis.

The first Court of Aldermen under the new Mayoralty was held on Tuesday. In his opening address, the Lord Mayor, who presided, pro- mised to be punctual, and hoped that the Court would observe regularity in their proceedings. Thanks were unanimously voted to the late Lord Mayor.

The first Court of Common Council under the present Mayoralty was held on Thursday; the Lord Mayor presiding. According to custom, a vote of thanks was moved to the late Lord Mayor. It found an opponent in Mr. W. Lawrence, who moved " the previous question " ; as he did not deem the conduct of Sir George Carroll in the matter of the Conservancy Bill deserving of approbation. Several members spoke on the amendment; which was eventually carried by a majority of 40; the numbers being— for the previous question 81, against it 41.

" A grand demonstration in favour of a sound and comprehensive sana- tory bill " took place on Monday evening, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern. The various sanatory associations of the Metropolis combined their resources, and the hall was well filled. The chair was taken by Mr. Bond Cabbell, M.P.; who was supported on the platform by Mr. Mackin- non, M.P., Mr. Charles Lushington, M.P., Mr. Charles Cochrane, Dr. Eller- man, and a number of other gentlemen. Mr. Mackinnon proposed a general resolution, declaring the insufficiency of the drainage and sewerage of the Metropolis, the inadequate supply of water, and the ill effects of intra- mural interment. In doing so, he said there were five requisites fo: every place inhabited by human beings,—namely, pure air, good drainage, the to- tal absence of putrid vegetable or animal matter, a supply of pure water, and no stagnant pools or cesspools within a quarter of a mile of any build- ing; and he asked whether any of these requisites were to be found among the dwellings of the working men of London?

Mr. Cochrane, in seconding the resolution, observed that her Majesty's pigs were better lodged than many of her poor subjects. He had lately examined some houses in Field Lane, Holborn—

In a house where lodgings were let, he found a cellar which was inhabited, sur- rounded on all sides, within and without, by unmentionable abominations, while an open sewer passed down the centre of the apartment. In the whole house there was not a room more than ten feet square, and each contained families from four to six in number. The atmosphere was in all of the rooms almost insupportable; filth and wi etchedness prevailed on every side; and yet they were paying from Is. 3d. to 2s. 6d. weekly for their lodgings. In a house for lodgers he had found equal wretchedness, with four or five persons sleeping in rooms from six to seven feet square, each paying 4d. a night and having Sunday clear, or 2s. a week. These poor creatures were paying 4d. a night for a bed in a pesthoase; while in the new model lodging-houses just erected, working men could get for the same sum all the accommodation which the most respectable persons present could require. Some of the speakers interrupted the harmony of the proceedings by attacking the Health of Towns Association, for exhibiting lukewarmness on the question of interment in towns. But the resolution was ultimately carried unanimously; together with another, that pledged the meeting to support the Government in any effort to pass a comprehensive sanatory measure.

The annual fancy dress ball in aid of the funds of the Literary Associa- tion of the Friends of Poland took place on Wednesday, at Guildhall. The embellishments prepared for the Lord Mayor's banquet were retained for the occasion, and the hall presented a very splendid appearance. The company, which at the height of the festivities numbered about 2,000, in- cluded the Earl of Munster, Lord Dudley Stuart, Lord and Lady Beau- mont, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, the Sheriffs and several Alder- men, the Rajah of Sarawak, besides a number of Members of Parliament and military and naval officers.

In the Court of Queen's Bench, on Monday, Lord Denman delivered judgment on a motion for a uew trial in the case of Evans versus Lawson. The proceedings arose out of an alleged libel published in the Times newspaper, in the form of a letter from Sir Harris Nicolas, impeaching the genuineness of a sword sold by the plaintiff to Lord Saye and Sele as that worn by Nelson at the battle of Tra- falgar. The plaintiff was nonsuited; and he now moved for a new trial, on the

rIof misdirection. Lord Denman said, that he had left it to the Jury to etdmnine whether that portion of the letter which related to the sale of the relic had imputed fraud to Evans. The Jury thought, as he did, that it had not. With regard to the letter attributed to Mrs. Smith, there was no innendo in the declaration that made it proper to inquire whether that portion of the letter im- puted misconduct to the plaintiff. That being so, the direction and the verdict were both right; and the application must be refused.

In the same Court, on Tuesday, an application was made by the Attorney-Ge neral on behalf of the Reverend James Prince Lee, the newly-appointed Bishop of Manchester, for leave to file a criminal information against Mr. Gutteridge, a sur- geon of Birmingham, for certain libelous attacks on Mr. Lee's character. The libels consisted of a letter which had been sent round to the Archbishops, Bishops, and members of the Government, and otherwise extensively circulated; and also of a communication addressed to the editor of the John Bull newspaper. Mr. Lee was charged with being morally disqualified for the office of a Bishop, on ac- count of his " lying, drunkenness, and malignity." These offences were alleged to have been committed in Birmingham while he was Head Master of King Ed- ward the Sixth's School, he being at the same time a Trustee of the Birmingham Blue Coat School. According to the libels, the lying consisted in certain false representations inserted in a report made by the Master on the affairs of the Hos- pital; the "drunkenness," in having visited the deathbed of one of the pupils when intoxicated, and of having subsequently read prayers in Bishop Ryden Church when in the same condition. The affidavits read from various parties, including the Bishop of Worcester, two clergymen, several private friends, and a medical man, contained absolute denials of the charge; imputing the appearances on which it was founded to nervousness arising from indisposition. The charges had already been inquired into, and disproved; and would not now have been recurred to on Mr. Lee's part, had it not been for the position he was about to occupy, which rendered it desirable that Mr. Gatteridge should have an opportu- nity of publicly substantiating his attacks. The Court granted the role; cause to be shown forthwith.

In the Court of Queen's Bench, on Wednesday, Sir Fitzroy Kelly appeared in support of a writ of error in the case of the Queen versus Chadwick. The real question at issue, though it is but incidentally involved in the proceedings, is the validity of the marriage of a widower with the sinter of his deceased wife. The defendant, Chadwick, had been indicted at the Liverpool Amine, in December 1846, for bigamy, in that he had married Eliza Foster, his wife Anne Fisher being alive. Chadwick's defence was, that he had been married to one Hannah Fisher, after whose decease he had married her sister Anne; and that the second mar- riage was void by the 5th and 6th William IV. cap. 54; so that he had legally contracted the third marriage with Eliza Foster. Sir Fitzroy Kelly's speech ably marshalled the usual arguments to show the validity of the marriage with Anne Fisher. Mr. Apsland spoke against its validity; and the case was adjourned to this day, when Sir Fitzroy Kelly is to reply.

In the Court of Exchequer, on Thursday, the Lord Chief Baron gave judgment in the case of Gondy versus Duncombe, M.P. The proceedings arose out of an application to the Court to rescind an order made by Mr. Justice Williams, in the vacation, for the discharge of Mr. Duncombe out of custody, by reason of his pri- vilege as a Member of Parliament. The Court now expressed its concurrence in the decision of Mr. Justice Williams, and declared Mr. ID1 ancembe entitled to his discharge; mainly on the ground that the Members privilege extends to forty days before aad forty days after every session. The rule to rescind the order was therefore refused.

At Marylebone Police-office, on Wednesday, the examinations with respect to the robbery of Messrs. Marshall and Co., of Vere Street, were brought to a close.

Some evidence was adduced which, incidentally, tended to show that Mr. Hick- man had not been cognizant of the girl's dishonesty. Anne Simons and her father were committed to prison for trial; but Mr. Hickman was allowed to go at large on heavy bail.

At Westminster Police-office, on Thursday, M`Koy, Doyle, and Sale, were exa- mined on the charge of robbing and murdering Mr. Bellchambers. Sale had only been arrested that morning. A surgeon stated that a wound on the heir!

of deceased appeared to have been produced by a blow; an iron bolt might have been the weapon. The landlord of the King's Head said, Itl•Koy and Sale saw

what valuables Mr. Bellchambers had about him; witness advised him to put up

his watch-chain and seals, and button his cost before he left the place: deceased was not drunk. Policeman Prongar saw the prisoners together on the morning

of the murder; they followed Mr. Bellehambers; who was walking as if he were sober. A man who lives in Wilton Street heard some one exclaim to another- " Knock the — down!" Then there was a heavy fall, and a groan. He thought he heard two men run away. A heavy iron bolt was now produced, which had been found in a garden near the scene of the murder. It was identi- fied as one which had been taken away from a house where Sale had lodged. There was a red spot on the sleeve of M•Koy's shirt. When Sale was arrested he resisted and tried to escape. The men were remanded, in order to their being committed.

At Clerkenwell Police-office, on Monday, Eliza Saxton was charged with buy- ing oxalic acid to poison herself; and Charles Williams was charged with at- tempting suicide by swallowing the poison. The man did not appear, as he was ill in the hospital. It was stated that the couple had been courting, but their bad circumstances had prevented marriage: recently, Williams had foresworn the young woman, because he had seen her walking with another man; this preyed upon her spirits; and on Saturday she bought a pennyworth of oxalic acid. Wil- liams called at her mother's house in the evening; Eliza told him that she in- tended to destroy herself, and showed him the poison; Williams snatched it from her hand, and, chewing paper and all, swallowed the dose. The temfied female gave the alarm, and Williams was carried to the hospital. Eliza Saxton expressed sorrow for what she had done; and she was held to bail on her own recognizance,.

William Sheridan, the Excise clerk charged with poisoning his mother, was reexamined at Worship Street Police-office on Tuesday. The evidence Liddell little to the suspicion against him. It was stated that he allowed his mother 81. every six weeks. The family seem to have lived unhappily together, some of them drinking a good deal. No direct proof of the prisoner's guilt was adduced. He was remanded.

As the investigation into the poisoning ease at Hackney proceeded, it rendered the suspicion against the boy Allnutt stronger. Mr. Nelme was a retired City mer- chant, in his seventy-fourth year; with him and his wife resided Mrs. Allnutt,

who was a daughter by a former wife, and the boy ; Mrs. Allnntt's other children being at school or in the country. This lady is a widow. Some time since, ten

sovereigns were missed; inquiry was made, and eventually William confessed that lie had taken them, to buy a watch; but he said that they had been stolen from him. This offence was overlooked; and inure recently, while the old gentleman and his grandson were walking in the garden, a pistol was fired close to Mr. Name's head. The boy called out, that lie saw a man, who had fired it, escaping over the wall; but for some days the affair was a mystery. A pistol was found, however, in the next garden; and this weapon has been traced to the grandson, who had bought it in the Minories. Shortly after this, Mr. Nelme was taken ill, and soon died, in great agony. Mrs. Nelme and Mrs. Allnutt were also attacked by sickness. Suspicion was excited; and it was found that a large quantity of arsenic had been mixed with some pounded sugar that was kept in a vase. It was sur- mised that William Allnutt had placed the poison there; having obtained it from a bureau in which his grandfather kept it for the purpose of poisoning rats. The cause of Mr. Nelmes death has been proved at the inquest. The post mortem examination showed the organs in a state denoting the presence of poison; and Dr. Letheby found by chemical analysis that the poison was arsenic: there were traces of the poison in the brain, which led the Doctor to believe that the victim had been swallowing it for a week or longer; while its presence in the in- testines showed that a dose had been taken recently. A key of the bureau was

found in a hiding-place, and the boy confessed that he had hidden it. It appears that Mr. Nelme used to eat the pounded sugar with baked apples. Mrs. Nelme

stated that William was hardly twelve years old; he is a clever boy, but mis- chievously inclined. On the last occasion, he pounded the sugar and placed it in the vase; but the old lady stood by. He had ample opportunities of being alone in the dining-room, where the vase was kept. Mrs. Nelme's suspicion rested en- tirely on the boy.

Tue inquest closed on Thursday. Mrs. Allnutt was examined. She said that when her son was very young he had fallen on a ploughshare and cut his nose

severely, so that his recovery was deemed hopeless, and his health had been deli- cate since. She thought the boy was aware of the deadly properties of arsenic: lie had asked her about it. The day before her father died, she had sweetened his gruel with sugar from the vase. She herself had some of the gruel, and was very sick in consNlience. Mrs. Nelme was ill after taking arrowroot sweetened with the sugar. Her son was subject to walking and talking in his sleep; and he had complained of "hearing voices in his head." Her husband was decidedly in- sane when he died, two years since. Superintendent Waller stated, that when the boy was taken into custody for theft, he said that he had been tempted to do it— a voice had said to him, "Do it, do it ! you will never be found out." After the Coroner had summed up, explaining the law of the case, the Jury returned a ver- dict of " Wilful murder against William Newton Allnutt.

A very adroit robbery was committed on Sunday night at the Paddington ter- minus of the Great Western Railway. The thieves chose the time at which the last train arrived, when the few officers on the premises were engaged in receiving the passengers. By unbolting a door which was very badly &smiled, they got into the booking-ofhces. Here they broke open all the tills, about a dozen in num- ber, and cleared them of their contents. In a closet was an iron safe containing some 8001. in notes, gold, and silver, with a number of railway securities: the robbers burst open the closet, and carried away the safe. To quit the place, they opened the front door of the second-class booking-office; and then made clear off In the closet were two boxes of bullion; but these were not removed. The cul- prits were doubtless well acquainted with the place. Messrs. Bridlands' pianoforte manufactory, in Wardonr Mews, Wardour Street, was almost destroyed by fire on Tuesday night.