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A Court of Common Council was held on Thursday. The report from the Committee appointed to inquire in conjunction with the Court of Al- dermen into the necessity for improving or increasing the City prisons, re- commended the erection of a new prison at Ho loway, on Mr. Trego's ten- der, for 92,2901. The report was opposed by the party who join in Mr. Charles Pearson's views, as they wanted a more general reform of disci- pline; but their amendment was negatived, by 39 to 22; and the report was agreed to,—on the distinct understanding that the money to be applied should not exceed 80,0001.

At a Special Court of Directors of the East India Company, held on Sa- turday, Sir Charles James Napier was sworn in as Commander-in-chief of the Company's Forces and Member Extraordinary of the Council of India. In the evening, the Directors gave a grand entertainment, at the London Tavern, in honour of Sir Charles. The Duke of Wellington, Viscount Hardinge, Sir George Grey, Sir Francis Baring, the Marquis of Clanri- carde, the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Sligo, Sir James Graham, Vis- count Jocelyn, and many Members of Parliament of all parties, were pre- sent. Lord John Russell sent an excuse, on the plea of having company at his own house. Sir James Lushington, G.C.B., Chairman of the East India Board, presided. The following selections from the speeches after dinner, will give the reader, who had not the advantage of a seat at the banquet, a sufficient idea of the scene, the men, and the circumstances. The Chairman, on the toast of Sir Cherries Napier.—" Called by her Majesty to the command of her Majesty's troops in India, the Court of Directors have also conferred upon Sir Charles Napier the command of the forces of the East India Company. We must all feel the greatest confidence in the qualifications of that gallant officer for military command. (Loud cheers.) The victory of Meeanee reiterated with most impressive force a lesson often before inculcated in Indian warfare. It taught that an able and devoted commander may infuse his own spirit into the native soldier, and that success is the result of discipline in the soldier, of skill and science in the General. In placing the sword in the hands of

Sir Charles ce arles Napier, we feel that his former distinguished services are the best possible security and pledge of what we may expect from him. (Cheers.) The gloom which recent accounts from India have cast over the public mind will, we trust, prove transient. We hope it will have passed away before the gallant officer can assume his command; but if when he arrives in India there should unhappily be a necessity for continued military operations, we are quite sure their conduct could not be confided to abler hands, and that the sword will never be replaced in the scabbard but with honour and glory." (Loud cheers.) Sir Charles Napier, in reply.—" Igo to India at the command of her Majesty, by the recommendation of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and I believe I go also with the approbation of my countrymen. (Muria cheering.) I might well have been excused had I declined, under the pretence that 1 have not ability to sus- tain such a command in the trying circumstances of the present hour. Two con- siderations prevented my declining this grand and honourable command. The first avassthat I have the kind advice and assistance or the greatest soldier in the world. (Loud sheers.) The next was, that Igo forth with the most full and perfect confidence in the 'support aid cooperation 'which I shall receive- from her Majesty's. Ministers and the honourable Court of D:recters. (Loud cheers.) But at present, you will, I think, all agree with me that the old pro- verb amlies—' Least said is soonest mended'; and that I should conclude by praying to God that I may not disappoint the confidence of her Majesty, the re- commendation of his Grace the Commander-in-chief, the expectations of the Court of Directors, and the hopes of the people of England." (Loud cheers.) The Duke of Wellington, to reply for himself and the Army.—"In my own behalf and on behalf of the Army, I beg leave to return you thanks for the honour you have done me in drinking my health, and for the notice you have taken of the military service. It trust that the Army will longeontinne to deserve the approbation of such societies as I now see before me. Mr. Chairman, I have frequently enjoyed your hospitality on occassions of festivals which you have given upon the appointment of Governors-General, Governors, and Commanders-in-chief of the armies at your different Presidents; but I have never attended with more satisfaction than upon the present occasion. The officer whom you have selected to command your armies in the East Indies has been distinguished already in that country by his public services. (Loud cheers.) He has conducted most important and difficult operations, wider most trying circumstances, with the utmost ability. He has fought general actions, extraordinarily well contested by the enemy, with uniform success. (Cheers.) He has shown that he deserved the confidence of the Government he served, and of the troops he commanded. (Cheers.) It is not, therefore, surprising that those whose duty it is to advise the Sovereign, and those intrusted by law with the administration of the British government in India, should have selected my honourable and gallant friend to he Commander-in-chief in the present circumstances. As the period of the service of the noble Lord who now commands in India will soon expire, and he will be desirous of returning to his country, it is desirable that an -officer of such distin- guished services and ability as my honourable and gallant friend should be on the spot to take command of the Army. (Cheers.) it is well known that I • do not consider the existing state of things as one o most extraordinary -emer- gency. (Cheers.) I have seen that the object of the war has been attained. A great fortress, which it was perfectly necessary to possess in order to maintain our power, has fallen into one hands, after a long siege, by the unqualified Barren- der of the enemy. True, great loss has been sustained; but I must say, if we are to fight great battles, if great risks are to be run, we must expect to incur losses in the attainment of great ends. (Cheers.) If such actions could be fought and such victories gained without loss, it might be considered that little honour was acquired in achieving them. While, therefore, I do consider it most important that such a man as my honourable and gallant friend should be at the head of the armies in India, I cannot look at the circumstances of the moment in that country to be such as should be regarded with gloom or discouragement. (Cheers.) I am glad my honourable and gallant friend ems inken the command there. I have done everything in my power to accomplish that object, both with my honourable and-gallant friend-and-elsewhere; and,1 have no doubt, if occasion should offer, my honourable and gallant friend will so conduct himself as to do honour to himself and to satisfy this country by some of the most splendid suc- cesses of which it has ever received the account." (Loud rind -contoured cheer- ing) Sir John Hothouse, in reply as President of the India Board—"The gallant General is not one of those who commit the fatal mistake of undervaluing his

opponents. He knows well the foe with whom he may have to contend. Re knows that the nation, if nation it can be called, now in arms against you is one of the most formidable that ever met us on the battle-field of India; and this would be enough to daunt any man who belonged to another race, who was con. scions of less virtue, and who had not to command soldiers he had formerly lea to victory, who now wore on their breasts•the medals of Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and Sobraon. In treating with this people, he will have to make use of that modern. tion which belongs to power; for the powerful and the erect can afford to be

moderate. (Cheers.) To my noble friend on my left--Viscount iIardinge--we owe, among other things, the exhibition of that moderation which only great and

victorious nations can afford to give to the vanquished. (Cheers.) And if on this occasion the gallant General is sent to contend against your enemies, he has at least one of the best guarantees of victory, namely, the justice of his cause: for from the moment of the invasion which my gallant friend on my left repelled.... from the moment the Sikhs crossed the frontier and the Satlej—from the hour of victory, which was the hour of moderation, while we governed them because they asked us to govern-them—from first to last we have shown them that we knew not only what were their duties as subjects, but our duties as conquerors. (Cheers.) The noble Duke • has told you, with an authority which can come from nobody but him, but which comes home to our business and bosoms as Englishmen, that it would be idle to talk of what has occurred in India as any great reverse. We have not forgotten the campaigns of Mysore and Nepali'. We have not forgotten the long struggles with the Mahrattas. We have not forgot.. ten the days when the Nepaulese came to Benares—when even Bhurtpore foiled the successful General and broke the heart of the gallant Oehterlony. All these thing, have happened in my own time and yours; but what has been the great and general result? It has been this—your zeal, energy, perseverance, skill, have triumphed over all obstacles and enemies; and we are now met here to wel- come the General who, crowned with imperishable laurels, goes to India to take command of our armies. I have no doubt whatever that, under Providence, he will assist in accomplishing the great destinies of British India; and when be does restore into your harem the command with which you have this day invested him, he will have applied to him the words which one of your Governors- General, then Governor of Bombay—Lord William Beotinck—addressed to the Great Captain, the Duke of Wellington, You leave this command amidst the regrets of all—of all, both civilians and military—of all, both Europeans ane natives.' " (Loud cheers) Lord Hardinge, in reply.—" I can never forget the great debt of gratitude and obligation which I owe to that glorious Indian Army, the native portion of which

has always emulated the services and bravery of the British portion, and on all occasions nobly upheld its former reputation, I will add more especially on those occasions which came under my own observation, when the Army was commanded by my noble, brave, and intrepid friend Lord Gough. (Loud cheers.)- I have received-this evening the greatest satisfaction from the manly, judicious s

of my noble friend the Duke of Wellington. I am of opinion with his Grace, that there is no room for gloom under existing circumstances. I will Bay, from every observation of that gallant army, that it is equal to cope with any diffi- culty with which it may be surrounded. (Cheers.) I left on the frostier in the beginning of last year, 54,000 men, 124 field-guns, 100 siege-guns. It has since been reinforced by the Bombay army. Our force within the Panjaub exceeds

60,000 men and 250 pieces of cannon. When was there before such an army collected in India? Never, I believe-' and I have the greatest confidence in the

result. There may be a momentary depression on account of the difficulties of the ground, but that army will be triumphant. The appointment of my gallant friend, Sir Charles Napier, is the best that could be made. He knows very well this is no merely congratulatory speech of mine for the occasion. 'He knows that when we were struggling under much more serious difficulties on the.Satiej than at present exist in the Punjaub, I felt it my -duty to -send for him.from

Scinde expressly to be second in command of the army. (Cheers.) The Duke of Wellington is also aware, that when I was asked who, in my opinion, -should succeed Lord Gough when his term of command should expire, -I. naMed my gallant friend Sir Charles Napier." (Cheers.)

A Quarterly Court of East India Proprietors was held on Wednesday. Colonel Dickenson. moved., that all copies of correspondence -between the Court of Directors and- the Board of Control regarding the Hyderabad booty be laid before the Court of Proprietors. He had no wish to revive the discussions which had occurred between the Court of Directors and Sir Charles Napier; but a general impression was felt by the officers who served in Scinde, that a great injustice had been done them with regard to the distribution of booty; and it was most important that no such feeling should prevail.. Mr. WigranLexplained, that the Court of Directors had nothing to do with distributing the prize-money: it belonged to the Queen, and the Lords of the Treasury alone determined to whom the bounty should be given. The motion was negatived by.a large majority.

A meeting was held at Exeter Hall, on Monday, in furtherance of mea- sures for the liberation of Mr. James Shore from the prison of St. Thomas at Exeter. Mr. Charles Lushington, M.P., presided; the Earl of Duels, the Reverend G. H. Stoddard, of the Established Church, and the Honour- able and Reverend Baptist Noel, were present, and took part in the pro- ceedings: Mr. Thomas Binney, minister of the Weigh-House Chapel, opened the proceedings by a history of Mr. Shore's case, the lead1 g facts of which are familiar to our readers. In concluding his speech he-said--

There was no power to release Mr. Shore without the payment of the debt; and by whom was that to be paid ? He could only point out three persons who ought to pay it, and might perhaps do so,—first, the Bishop of Exeter. (Laugh- ter and kisses) It was no laughing matter. The Bishop, although somewhat altered, had possessed a truly Christian and charitable dieposition, and he might be content IV t h his victory, without enforcing oppression on a poor man. Next he looked to the body of Evangelical clergyman, for it was their cause that Mr. Shore had espoused, and that Mr. Gorham was then vindicating. Thirdly, he looked to parties who from a feeling of interest in the laws of England would not permit this-stain to rest upon them. It was resolved—

"'That this meeting having frilly considered the case of the prosecution and imprisonment of the Reverend J. Shore, affirms that he has a strong claim to the grateful sympathy of all friends of civil and religious liberty; and resolves that an affectionate address be sent from this meeting to him in the gaol of St. Thomas, Exeter." And also, that the bill now before Parliament under the care of Mr. Bouverie ought to be made retrospective, so as to embrace Mr. Shore's case.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Tuesday, William Curtis, a rogue who has been for some Slum cheating ladies and timid people in the streets, was put on ids trial for an offence of the kind. He used to bawkmictures, and pretended to sell them at sixpence a dozen; when a person had taken a dozen, he declared that the price was Ss , and 'demanded the balance with threats. In the case that was tried, he attempted to retain half-a-crown which a lady had given him that be might take sixpence, and declared that he must have .sixpence more. Lieutenant- Colonel Malcom happened to be passing, interfered, and forcibly regained the money for the lady. Being convicted, Cnrtis was sentenced to imprisonment, with hard labour, for six months. There were three other indictments against him.

On Wednesday, Charles and John Remington, brothers, the young men sons of a clergymen who were accused of stealing clothes from fellow lodgers, pleaded guilty to the charge; and the sentence on each was three months' imprisonment, with hard labour.

Another burglary attended with violence has been perpetrated at Chelsea. In the course of Monday night, two or more thieves entered the house of a widow lady in the Terrace, King's Road. They ransacked some rooms, and then de- exuded to the back-kitchen to carouse; here they seemed to have tested the plate, and finding it was not silver, they resolved to enter the bedrooms to obtain more valuable plunder. While endeavouring to force open a drawer, they awoke a French gentleman and his wife who were on a visit: a struggle ensued, and the lady and her husband were both seriously wounded, apparently by blows from a sharp instrument. The robbers succeeded in carrying off a costly gold watch and some rings.

"Mary Watt" alias Wilkins alias Mathews, the woman who was engaged in the attempt to steal a banker's parcel, was reexamined, at Clerkenwell Police- office, on Tuesday. More evidence was brought against her. It was shown that she was connected with a returned transport who broke his leg by falling from the wall of St. Pancras Workhouse, when a robbery was committed there. A num- ber of empty jewel-cases were found at her lodgings.