Zbe ttropolts.

An amended bill of ten clauses is about to be issued to the members of *5 City Corporation, "for the regulation of elections be the city of Lon- don, connected with the Corporation thereof, and fin preserving the peace, good order, and Government of the said city." The clause defining the new qualification of voters is- " Clause 2. That the right of voting for Aldermen, Common Council, or Ward officer for any Ward in the city of London, be vested in every freeman who shall occupy within the said city or the liberties thereof, as owner or tenant, or solely or jointly with any other person or persons, any house, warehouse, counting- house, office, chambers, shop, or other building, and shall be rated at not less than 101. per annum to the police-rate, or to such other rate as the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council may determine; and in case of the discontinuance or amal- gamation of the police-rate, with any other rate."

The Court of Proprietors of the New Zealand Company held its annual general meeting on Thursday; Mr. H. A. Aglionby, 11.P., in the chair. From the statement of accounts appended to the' report, it appeared that the receipts of the Company, up to the 5th April 1849, were 114,332L; in which were included the balance on hand on the 5th April 1848, amounting to 20,7641., a further loan from Government of 72,0001, and a loan from the Company's bankers of 15,000/ The expenditure had been 72,4731 The largest items of home ex- pense were, salary of the Royal Commissioner, 1,1611.; attendances of Directors at Courts and Committees, 1,1801. The line of ships for the conveyance of passen- gers and emigrants, with attendant expenses, had cost 16,1531; but 9,3391. of this

sum had been received for freight and passage-money. Among the colonial ex- penses, was an item of 3,5001. for 1,005 acres of land purchased at Nelson as the Company's private estate. Debentures amounting to 33,0001., and a banker's loan of 10,0001., had been paid off. The balance in hand on the 5th April 1849 was 41,8591. Mr. W. H. Burnand moved an amendment, postponing the payment of the 8,2771 granted last year to the Directors, and the 2621 for the Auditors, until a better state of the Company's affairs should justify their payment.

The Chairman explained, that the Directors had taken into consideration the posi- tion of the Company's affairs, and the absence of dividends for the shareholders, and they had unanimously determined to devote the money to the advancement of the interests of the Company itself. The whole of the sum, therefore, bad been set aside under the head of the " Directors' Reserved Fund," and vested in trusteev, for carrying out special and particular objects in the colony; and a committee had been appointed to direct its distribution. A considerable portion of the money had been expended in promoting objects calculated to advance the prosperity of the various settlements, and the balance which remained would be disposed of in the same way. Mr. Burnand was perfectly satisfied on these points; but moved a further amendment, to the effect that a committee of proprietors be appointed to con-

sider the best means of reviving emigration to the colony, and of securing a legal title to the lands already purchased by the proprietors of that company. He blamed the Directors for the inefficiency of the measures taken to place promi neutly before the public the advantages of the island for emigration; advising the employment of lecturers, and the establishment of a loan company. He also complained that no title has yet been obtained for the lands purchased; and urged the necessity of procuring a cheap and simple mode of conveyance.

The amendment was not seconded; but the Chairman deemed these remarks worthy of attention. Considerable expense had been incurred in publishing the advantages of the colony; but to the employment of lecturers there are strong objections, founded on the difficulty of obtaining the services of persons who could be trusted to make statements and give pledges on behalf of the Company. In the present condition of the property acquired in the colony, the loan project is impracticable. More than 14,000e beyond the sum specially placed. at their disposal for thepurpose has been expended labour in Plymouth settlement. The question of cheap conveyancing has already been under their serious Con- sideratiom The report was adopted; and also the following resolution, with some others-,

" That this meeting do authorize the Directors to make such application to Parliament for enlargement of the powers of the Company in reference to the execution in New Zealand of conveyances by the Company of land sold by them as to the Directors and her Majesty's Government shall seem expedient."

The Directors retiring by rotation were reelected.

The chief May meetings of the week have been the anniversaries of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, the League of Universal Bro- therhood, the Clergy Orphan Corporation, and the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Society; with the annual meetings of the British Philan- thropic Pension Society, the Royal Maternity Society, the Distressed Nee- dlewomen's Society, the Incorporated Society for the Refuge for the Destitute, the Surrey Dispensary, and the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress.

At the second annual meeting of the League of Universal Brotherhood,—Mr. Joseph Sturge in the chair,—it was stated that the Peace meeting at Brussels is to be repeated in August next at Paris, and that M. de Lamartine would be an adherent. The question of "ocean penny postage" was discussed in its con- nexion with the objects of the League; and it was stated that letter-envelopes have been prepared with a device for disseminating the idea.

The report of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Society contained this passage—" The fearful storms which ravaged the coasts of the United Kingdom during the past year, and especially on the coast of Scotland, have added greatly to the usual number of recipients of the bounty of the society: 225 widows, 508 orphans, and 80 aged parents of drowned fishermen and mariners, have been liber- ally succoured in their bereavement; 2,861 shipwrecked persons have been boarded, lodged, clothed, (when necessary,) and sent to their homes; and 293 fishermen, heads of families, suffering from the eff Tut of storms, have been variously relieved; making a total of 3,965 persons." Two thousand vessels now sail under the so- ciety's colours, and 22,258 pilots are enrolled as its members. The income has in- creased by 1,0461. since 1846; and the capital stock (the interest of which is de- voted to provide temporary annuities for widows and orphans of drowned fisher- men and mariners) has increased in the same time from 9,1931. to 14,6051. The receipts for the year were 7,1831., including very handsome donations from the great dock and shipping companies; the expenses were 8,0571

The Royal Maternity Institution has existed a century, and in that period bas administered relief to 400,000 poor married women. Last year presented an in- crease of 231 cases.

The financial report of the Distressed Needlewoman's Society was not promising: the total income of the society in 1847-8 was 5581; last year, only 591. An earnest appeal was made to the public for support, lest a society doing so much good should entirely decay.

The meeting of the Incorporated Society for the Refuge of the Destitute was an extraordinary general meeting called to sanction the disposal of the male and female establishments of the society at Hackney and Holton. The giving up of the female establishment in the hlechney Road was a change for the better; free- hold premises at Dalstob having been purchased, which will be ready for use in a few weeks. But the relinquieliment of the large male refuge at Horton is cense quent on the withdrawal of the Government grant. An asylum will be obtained elsewhere.

At the anniversary festival Of ahe Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress, —the Dake of Cambridge presiding,—it was announced that them bad bass a

necessity in the past year for diminishing the capital stock, by sale, from 10,4001. to 9,4001. The society had expended 1,0911. in giving casual relief in 2,653 in- stances, and in assisting 236 individuals to return to their native countries; 9431. in weekly payments to 80 pensioners, and 3431. in regular allowances to 93 aged persons. Upwards of 2,0001. in donations was collected on the spot.

The Independents have for many years past supported, in the neigh- bourhood of the Metropolis, three separate institutions for the education especially of theological students,—namely, Homerton, Highbury, and Coward Colleges: but the trustees and committees of these institutions have wisely resolved no longer to divide their strength and distract their ener- gies, but to unite these three so as to form one really efficient college, with a larger staff of professors than were connected with the older colleges, and with a more extended course of study in the various branches of theology, literature, and science. An eligible piece of ground has been purchased for the site of the new college, in St. John's Wood, at the junction of the Avenue and Finchley Roads; and it is expected that the building will be completed by the autumn of next year. This will account for the sale of Highbury and Homerton, which some of our contemporaries announced a short time since as ominous of the decrease of Dissent.—Daily Naos.

At the Mansionhouse, on Thursday, Thomas Roberts' a labouring man, was charged with attempting suicide, by leaping from London Bridge into the Thames. As the case proceeded it produced shouts of laughter—the man had jumped into the river from that fearful height simply to regain his hat! He bad been drink- ing a little on the Wednesday afternoon; he was seen to leap from the bridge; then he was observed swimming in the water, endeavouring to overtake his hat, which was rapidly retreating from him carried along by the tide into the Pool ; a waterman pulled him into his boat; but the supposed suicide was very averse to leave the water. Roberts told the Lord Mayor that a man knocked his hat into the river; it was quite a new one, and he did n't like to lose it; so, as be was a good swimmer, he jumped in after it; and if they had left him alone he'd have

cotched" it. The Lord Mayor discharged the man with a caution as to repeat- ing such dangerous exploits.

At Guildhall Police-office, on Wednesday, Mrs. Stela was reexamined on charges of defrauding stock-brokers by giving them orders to buy shares for her, though she had not money to pay for the shares or the expenses of transfer. As the value of the shares had fallen since the transactions, the brokers have been losers to a large amount: in one case the loss was 421., and in another 1141. Had the value risen after the purchases, the woman would have been entitled to the advantage. She was again remanded.

At Worship Street Police-office, on Tuesday, Eliza Schollenberger was charged with attempting to poison her husband, Philip, a German cabinet-maker. The couple bad been married four years, and had one child: at first they lived happily together, but during the last two years the case had been the reverse. From the evidence it would seem that the wife had frequently administered poison to her husband: Schollenberger stated that he had suffered recurring illnesses for the last six months,—severe pains in the head and bowels frequently after his meals. At length he noticed suspicious circumstances: the woman one day intended to give him some potion in his tea; but on his remarking it, she said the child must have put it in the cup, and she washed it out. Subsequently, he discovered a packet of powder secreted between two boxes, which his wife said was salt of prunella; but he secured it, and Dr. Ryan found that it was white arsenic. Dr. Ryan administered remedies to' he man, who was at that time suffering from ill- ness. More powders bad beeadound secreted in the house since his wife had been taken away by her parents: taise had yet to Ise tested. A good while ago, and also recently, the woman made vagee admissiopti of having done, something wrong. Certificates were prodaced.fiam Dr. Rpm respecting the arsenic first discovered, and the symptmairs for arhichshe lied treated the man. On Thutiay, Dr.-Ity.an wimeininitiedS'He stated orally the facts mentioned in his certificates; the powders he hid eaiSmined was a mixture of arsenic and com- mon salt. The Milanstrate,after remarking on the lamentable facility tea which ,tiesdly pekoes are Obtained, committed the woman for trial.

"Colonel Count 'Sexico Durnbieki," who called himself a Polish refugee, was charged at Westminster Police-office, on Monday, with begging. The " Count" is about Bitty: he was "attired in a kind of undress blue uniform," and in one buttoh-hole were a number of ribanc6, orders or imitation orders. A policeman saw him'beg,' WO in the street and at houses. On his person were found beg- gingaiettelanptidn-papers and testimonials, a new Court Guide, several pieces of riband, and dtherairtieles. The prisoner's description tallied with that of an im- poster denounced by correspondents of the Times as having got alms in the guise of an Egyptian Admiral and of other foreigners in distress. -When addressed by the Magistrate, be pretended that he knew neither French nor.English, and became suddenly. deaf; but he unwittingly showed that he could speak English and hear a remark in a low tone. Mr. Burrell, finding that he would not understand or hear, wrote in French and English that he must go to prison till Friday, in order that inquiries Might be made; and the foreigner immediately understood the un- pleasant intimation in English. This, it appears, is by no means his first visit to gaul, acid he has operated largely as a beggingsletter-writer since 1844. He was yesterday definitively committed for three months' hard labour. Robertson; ,a boater, has Met his death while engaged in a robbery. He had entered'a house in Niesan Street, Soho; by cliinbing up the water-spout. While he was. packing up some plate, the owner, who had been roused from his sleep, entered, the:room; and the thief jumped from the window, hoping to alight on the projection over the street-door; but be fell upon the area railing, and was impaled. Still he managed to get off, and ran a short distance; but a policeman took him to the hospital, and he died in an hour.