Xtr 311rtrupu1is.

A special meeting of the Court of Common Council was held at the Guildhall on Monday, the Lord Mayor presiding, " to consider the bill in Parliament for the better regulation of the Corporation of the City of London." Mr. W. Cox, formerly Member for Finsbury, moved that the franchise should be extended to Si. householders, instead of 101., as pro- posed by clause 3. The motion was negatived. Mr. Cox also moved that "in the municipal elections votes should be taken by ballot." This was negatived. A considerable discussion on the preservation of the rights of the Livery as participators in the election of the Lord Mayor, resulted in the adoption of the following resolution, moved by Mr. Alder- man Lawrence—" That the rights of the Livery be preserved in the election of Lord Mayor and Sheriffs conjointly with the ratepayers, and that the clauses of the bill be altered accordingly." The consideration of several clauses was postponed to a future Court."

The Earl of Elgin was presented with the freedom of the City on Thursday. The gold box containing the written instrument is one of the finest works of art in gold ever produced. It is made of 18 carat gold, covered with bouquets of flowers, intermixed with elaborate piercangs, and surmounted by three figures, viz., that of Britannia in the centre, with a Chinese upon her right hand and a Japanese upon her left hand, n the costumes of their respective countries. A deputation consisting of Sir John Shelley, Sir M. Farquhar, Dr. Ltuakester, Dr:Woolley, Mr. A. Hayman, Mr. J. Rennie, sad Mr. Lil- wall, had an interview with Mr. Cowper on Saturday, to induee him to stop further progress with the plan now in course of execution intended to cleanse the Serpentine. They :argue that the 17,0001. to be spent on Mr. Hawkesley's plan will be wasted ; that the filtering bed will spoil the beauty of Kensington Gardens without cleansing the Serpentine ; and they asked the First Commissioner to adopt another plan and to fill up the holes in the bottom of the lake. Mr. Cowper admitted the force of their arguments? and styled Mr. Hawkesley's "an insufficient plan" at beast; but he said his hands were tied. For himself, he should never have thought of adopting such a plan.

A deputation on the subject of providing a plot of ground for a museum and library for the 660,000 inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets, had an interview with the President of the Board of Works on Wednesday.

A deputation from the parish of St. Luke's, Chelsea, waited upon the First Commissioner of Works, on Monday, for the purpose of urging upon the Government the equity of expending 38,150/. now in their hands, and voted by Parliament for that purpose, in continuing the em- bankment from Chelsea Hospital towards Battersea Bridge. Mr. Cow- per said that the landowners whose property would be improved by the works had not contributed to the expense of the works, and he would re- commend them to wait for a more convenient time than the present, and then ask for a sum of money sufficient to carry out the undertaking in a satisfactory manner.

A lecture was delivered at the house of Mr. Russell Gurney, No. 8, Kensington Palace Gardens on Wednesday afternoon, in aid of the funds of the Ladies' Sanitary Association. The lecturer was Dr. Edward Pick ; the subject "a new and natural method of strengthening the mental faculties, and facilitating the acquirement of knowledge.' The room was filled with a cultivated and attentive audience, of which about two- thirds were ladies. The lecturer is a German, who has systematized a method of improving the memory, which, if practised in the education of the young, will be undoubtedly of great use to them, and if adopted at any period of life will be beneficial. The lecture we heard on Wednesday explained the general principles on which the method was based, and ex- hibited some of its results. A course of five lectures on this system will be delivered by Dr. Pick at the Beethoven Rooms, to a class now in course of formation. In these five lectures the whole system is taught ; and we should imagine, from what we heard on Wednesday, that it will be efficiently taught.

At the Royal Geographical Society on Monday evening, Lord Ripon, President of the Society, in the chair, a paper was read "On the Rocky Mountains and Vancouver Island," by Captain J. Palliser. He stated, that he and his secretary, Mr. Sullivan, had found a route practicable for horses' from Edmonton, Westward, across the Rocky Mountains, as far as the longitude of Fort Colville, and entirely within British territory.

The first annual meeting of the Cabmen's Club was held at the Staf- ford Rooms, on Tuesday evening. Lord Shaftesbury, President of the Society, occupied the chair. He said that among other pleasing effects of the movement was this,—that .compared with previous years, the number of forfeitures of licenses for misconduct during the past year had been less by one half. Lord Henry Cholmondeley, the Reverend Mr. Chalmers, and other gentlemen addressed the meeting; and Lady Har- riet Cholmondeley presented Mr. Bennett, the secretary, with a hand- some gold watch and a Bible, the gift of the cabmen of London for his exertions in their cause.

The case of the Aberdeen Bank—Davidson and others versus Tullock- was heard on the 23rd ultimo in the House of Lords, before the Lord Chan- cellor and Lords Brougham and Cranworth.

In 1828, the directors of the banking company arranged to continue the copartnery under the old name for twenty-one years longer, and not to em- ploy the funds of the company for any but banking purposes. Mr. David- son, however, the manager of the Aberdeen Bank, involved himself in mone- tary transactions with Messrs. Milne, Cruden and Co., and engaged in speculations with William Pine. In 1828, there was owing to the bank 157,4101., the knowledge of which was kept from the shareholders by David- son and his accomplices, but in 1848 there was owing to the bank 621,7271., of which 357,924/. proved a total loss. Dr. Tulloek, one of the defrauded shareholders, sued Davidson's representatives for the losses be had sustained in consequence of Davidson's frauds. The representatives of the bank ma- nager would have all the other directors included in the action as defenders, and urged that as representatives no action for fraud would lie against them. The Lord Chancellor's judgment amounts to a permission for the parties de- frauded to sue the fraudulent directors or their representatives.

At the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Dryden Elstob, was sentenced to hard labour for eighteen months, for having fraudulently obtained sub- scriptions for the benefit of the Consumption Hospitals at Victoria Park and Brompton ; he having no connexion whatever with those institutions.

Two cases of fraud were heard at Bow Street on Saturday, which Ur. Henry hoped would be made public. William Reeves, a ticket-of-leave man obtained a cheque from Sir William Maynard Gomm, under the pre- tence of using it to pay the passage to Australia of a lad of bad reputation, whom the directors and guardians of Bramdean—where Sir William's country seat is situate—were anxious to get rid of. Reeves represented himself as Joseph Boyce Ross, one of the overseers of Bramdean. The story was a fabrication and Reeves was committed for trial. In the second case, Mary Jane Lambden was sentenced to two months' imprisonment for obtain- ing money on the strength of forged signatures of clergymen and gentlemen "recommending her ease."

Robberies in St. George's-in-the-East have for several weeks past been very frequent. On Saturday, at the Thames Police Court,—Gordon, Pro- theroe, Dickinson, Adams, and a woman, M'Grath, were charged with being concerned in them. Mary Ann Davis, as evidence for the Crown, admitted having pawned stolen goods for the gang. Police Sergeant Copping found stolen property, principally articles of dress, in possession of Gordon and Protheroe, and skeleton-keys and other burglar's tools in the house of the latter. Several persons in court identified their property amongst the mass of articles produced. In each case, the parties were either sleeping in a room adjoining the one plundered, or in the room itself.

The prisoners were reexamined on Thursday and committed for trial. In the districts of Camden Town and Chelsea lately, some thieves have been in the habit of entering houses with latch-keys between the hours of

five and seven o'clock in the evening and carrying off anything to hand. John Richardson and Thomas Burrows were examined at Guildhall on Wedneslay, charged with having committed, or been concerned in, this series of novel robberies. They were remanded for a week.

At Worship Street Police Court on Tuesday, Lavinia South, a well- dressed young woman, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in the House of Correction, for stealing children's clothes from St. Mark's schools. By means of" cunning applications and devices," she had been in the habit of gaining admission to the school, and "when once so admitted, was en- abled to walk about the corridor and rooms where the clothes were sus- pended, and take the clothes unobserved." The articles identified, capes, cloaks, 8:c., which had been taken away and pawned, were valued at about 61.

The adjourned inquest on the accident at the Tottenham station of the Eastern Counties Radway was resumed on Thursday. The examination was very full. It appeared probable, from the evidence, that the tire of the wheel that broke and caused the accident was imperfectly welded. A little sulphur from the coal in the operation of welding might have led to the defect. Mr. Beale, one of the injured passengers, died on Wednesday. Mr. Empson, another sufferer, remains in a precarious state. The scientific evidence on the part of the company will be adduced next Thursday.

Au explosion of gas took place on Monday, at Messrs. J. L. Morley and Co.'s, 122, Wood Street, which was followed by the burning dowu of that establishment and considerable injury to the premises adjoining.