Vat lattropolfs.

The Lord Mayor attended the service performed on Wednesday after- noon in St. Paul's Cathedral. Several dignitaries of the Church were also present. The Bishop of London, who had preached at the Chapel Royal in the morning, now repeated his sermon at the Cathedral. Service was of course performed in all the churches. Some of the jour- nals next morning published abridged reports of a few sermons, and the texts used by the clergymen at other churches. The Times was most co- pious: it had more than ten close columns of sermons, and more than two of texts!

The Committee of the whole Court of Common Council had a meeting last Saturday, on the all-engrossing subject of the privileges of the Cor- poration. A Select Committee of seven members, specially appointed on the motion of Mr. Ashurst, held a confereuce with the Committee of Al dermen ; who consented that the case as well as the opinion, of Mr. Wilde should be laid before the Select Committee. This result may be regarded as the first movement towards a reconciliation.

A Court of Common Council was held on Thursday; and the report from the Committee of the whole, asking powers to prepare a Parliamentary bill to reform the Corporation, was sharply discussed; but ultimately the report was agreed to, by a very large majority.

Several more of the new County Courts were opened on Monday,— namely, the Bloomsbury Court, in Berners Street, Oxford Street; the Westminster Court, in Castle Street, Leicester Square; and that for the Eastern division of the Metropolis, in Osborne Street, Whitechapel.

A general Court of Bank-of-England Proprietors was held on Tuesday, to determine by ballot whether, in addition to the dividend of 31. 10s. per cent interest and profits for the half-year ending the 5th of April next, a bonus out of the interest and profits be made of 1 per cent on the capital stock of the corporation. Mr. Clarke's late amendment to this effect was sustained, by a majority of 196 to 57 votes.

At a special General Court of East India Proprietors, on Thursday, Mr. Lewis moved for the production of all correspondence relating to the Rajah of Sattara's case: this was meant to include the secret correspondence for which Mr. Hume moved in Parliament, and which Sir John Hobhonse re- fused to give because it had been surreptitiously obtained and " purloined." To this statement Mr. George Thompson referred: he denied that the documents had been surreptitiously obtained: he had them, and he had ob- tained them honourably; but he would never divulge the name of the per- son who communicated them to him. He insisted that they would esta- blish the innocence of the Rajah. Mr. Thompson's statement made a great impression, eveir some Directors avowing that a case had been made out for the production of the papers. Eventually the motion was carried, by 40 to 38.

The Highland Society of London met on Monday evening, at the Free- mason's Tavern, to celebrate the anniversary festival of the battle of Alexandria. The Duke of Cambridge presided; supported on his right by Prince Albert, and on the left by the Duke of Wellington. The Prince Consort, who had recently been appointed " Chieftain of the Clans," re- turned thanks in a " neat " speech on his health being drunk. Several toasts were given, and drank " with enthusiasm "; including that of the evening—" the memory of the late Sir Ralph Abercrombie and the heroes who fell with him at the battle of Alexandria."

A special meeting of the Farmer's Club was held on Monday, in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, to consider the subject of the Poor-law Settlement; Mr. Fisher Hobbs in the chair. Mr. Edwin Chadwick attended, and de- livered an elaborate exposition of the evils of the law of settlement. The following brief indications will show the line of his argument— He traced the injurious effects of the present system in the overcrowding of lo- calities in the neighbourhood of towns, which led to the generation of fever. The agricultural labourers are driven to this injurious congregation by the pulling down of cottages in order to avoid parochial settlements and their liabilities. But the policy is a shortsighted one, and results in loss to all parties. On the labourer, in particular, it entails the evil of living far from his work. This leads to waste of power, and loss of wages, through the necessity of paying higher rent, and- missing the natural employment of the children. As an illustration, Mr. Chadwick mentioned the case of Stephen Turner, a Berkshire labourer, who, from being forced to live near Reading, had to walk seven miles a day to and from his work. He thus expended in wasted labour two hours and a half daily. If he bad resided on the spot, the two hours and a half would have been engaged in productive work, by which he would have gained an extra 2s. 6d a week. There are instances of labourers walking as much as twelve miles a day, or seventy-two miles a week. In the long run, the tenant-farmer and the owner participate in this loss. It is ascertained that high wages make men work better. Mr. Chad- wick illustrated this by reference to a farm in Essex, on which the owner working the land with common parish-labour at ls. 6d. a day lost money; whereas an able farmer now works it with free labour at 2s. 6d. or as. 6d. a day task-work, and makes it pay well. It is important that there should be a free and unrestricted circulation of labour. To this end, it is neces- sary to abolish the law of settlement, by extending the chargeability from the parishes to anions, comprising from twenty to thirty parishes. With so large a field open, labourers would settle naturally, according to the requirements of their work; and the whole advantage of their labour would be shared by all parties. To meet the increasing wants of a population yearly augmenting to the extent cf 230,000, agriculture ought to be followed more skilfully. Improvements in draining and manuring, with the increased use of machinery, and better-paid la- bourers, would make the land far more productive. As it is, English labour, comparatively high-priced, is far cheaper than the labour of any other country. The yield of English land is seldom less than twelvefold; in France it is not more than fivefold; in Poland and Russia, not more than threefold.

Several other gentlemen spoke. Mr. Wood mentioned a circumstance in corroboration of Mr. Chadwick's view: about two years ago, Mr. Wood for- bade a tenant of his, a tailor, from taking as an apprentice a young man residing in a neighbouring parish; the youth, who was lame, thus lost an opportunity of gaining an honest livelihood, entirely owing to the present objectionable restrictions.

Long and argumentative resolutions were adopted, embodying the views propounded by Mr. Chadwick and the other speakers; and concluding with an emphatic declaration that the law of parochial settlement should be immediately and wholly abolished, and relief administered in districts so large as not to restrict the free action of the agricultural labour-market.

A meeting of Congregational Dissenters was held at the King's Head in the Poultry, on Thursday, to receive the report of a deputation that had waited on Lord John Russell on the 9th instant, to oppose the Govern- ment scheme of education. The deputation having made their report,— which described Lord John as courteous but unyielding,—a petition was adopted, calling upon the House of Commons to refuse grants of public money for educational purposes, and to present an address to the Crown praying that the powers vested in the Committee of the Privy Council for Education be revoked. The petitioners frankly confess, that in 1839 they presented a petition in favour of the recommendation of the Educational Committee, dated June 3; but subsequent experience, the unjust distri- bution of the money, statistical information as to the vast increase in the means of education, the altered and irresponsible character of the inspection demanded by Government, &c., have led to their present conviction.

A succession of five meetings has taken place in the hall of the "Co- operative League," King's Arms Yard, Snowhill, to discuss the merits of the Government plan of education. Invitations were extensively sent to the clergy and religious ministers of various sects, and to laymen of all shades of opinion; and the discussion was carried on by opponents and advocates of the measure, speaking alternately for a 'given period. Among the former were the Reverend Mr. Hinton and some Sunday School teachers; a National School teacher and several working men maintaining the advantages of the plan. The discussion terminated by the adoption of a petition praying the House of Commons to give immediate effect to the Minutes of the Council on Education.

A public meeting was held on Tuesday evening, at the Town-hall, Pop- lar, to uphold the Navigation-laws. Mr. Jonathan Pickering presided; being supported by Mr. George Frederick Young and other influential gentlemen connected with the shipping interest. Mr. Young spoke very- strongly against any tampering with the Navigation-laws. Several reso- lutions to the same effect were passed, and a petition to the Legislature was adopted.

The Law Amendment Society met on Friday evening, to resume the adjourned discussion on the following resolutions; which were unanimously agreed to. It will be observed that the latter motion is so framed att to include the resolution previously proposed by Mr. Stewart. "That the report of the Equity Committee the object of which was to get ricl of what are called hourly warrants] be received.

" That this Committee be requested to direct their valuable labours to the con- sideration of any further alteration that can be made in the whole system of the jurisdiction, practice, and constitution of the Masters and Masters' Offices, with a view to obtain a more speedy and cheap administration of justice in the Court- of Chancery."

In the House of Lords, on Tuesday, a Committee of Privileges assembled to consider the claim of Mr. James Tracy, of Gresshill in Queen's County, to the Barony and Viscounty of Tracy. Thepeerage has been dormant since 1797. The. claimant's father petitioned the Crown in 1836, bat died before the proceedings had made any way. The present claimant then petitioned; but failed in establishing his claim, both in 1839 and also in 1843. By the evidence given in 1843 it was proved, that the right to the title rested in the male descend- ants, if any, of the Honourable Robert Tracy, a Judge of the Common Pleas in. England between 1700 and 1726, the only surviving son of the second Viscount.. It was also shown that the claimant was the descendent and heir of a William Tracy, who married one Mary O'Brien, in Dublin, about the year 1714. The diffi- culty in the claimant's case was, to show that this William Tracy was of the family of the English Judge Tracy. His statement for that purposa was, that the Judge had three sons,—first, Robert, who died without issue; se- cond, Richard, who left an only son, who died without issue•' all of which WAS clearly proved; and, third, William, who was the same William Tracy that went to Ireland and married Mary O'Brien, and was claimant's ancestor. It was said that this marriage displeased the family; who refused to recognize either William Tracy or his descendants. The relationship of William Tracy to the Judge was sought to he "roved by certain entries in a Prayer-book, and by an inscription on a tombstone in the parish-church of Castlebrook, in Queen's County. The tomb- stone bad, however, disappeared from the church for many years. This evidence was not deemed sufficient; and the claimant having amended his case, now sought to prove, by the evidence of Mrs. Elizabeth Lambe, a direct descendant of Judge Tracy, the identity of the William Tracy who went to Dublin and married Miss O'Brien with the William Tracy who was related to the English Judge. Frag- ments of the tombstone with the inscription on it would also be produced. After the examination of Mrs. Lambe and several other witnesses, the farther hearing of the case was adjourned.

A fatal accident occurred at the Camden station of the North-western Railway on Tuesday afternoon. Messrs. Pickford, the carriers, are making great additions to their warehouses at the Railway; in the basement there are stables covered by arches, with the warehouses above: at the time mentioned, while workmen were engaged in the basement, four arches gave way, and the men were buried in the rums. Four were taken out insensible, and dreadfully crashed; one died soon after he had been conveyed to the University College Hospital, and the others lie in a dangerous state.