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A Court of Common Council was held yesterday. A report from Committee of Health—narrating its proceedings, recommending gratul of thirty guineas to be paid to eleven medical officers who had assisted Committee with professional service, particularly in house-to-house vie tion, and advising the Court to dissolve the Committee itself—was and adopted. Several hours were passed in a heated discussion on a tion presented by the Great Central Gas-consumers Company, praying the Corporation would enrol themselves among its prospective mimosa in so far as supplies of gas might be needed for the Mansionhense, Gui hall, and the public offices. The opponents of the proposal spoke acted against time, and were successful in staving off a decielon; the Co being " counted ont," at a quarter before five o'clock.

The members of the Artillery Company met on Friday, in great bars, and much excited, in consequence of a recent warrant issued by' Crown, disbanding twelve Captains and nine Lieutenants, and reducing the Sergeants to the :mks, as well as depriving the corps from electing future, its officers, the Crown reserving to itself the appointee—' _ corps, considering this to be an invasion of theirprivi Proce99i though not without strenuous opposition from the C 'erandend party

pass amended laws, so as to prevent the " newly-appointed officers " from taking any part in the management of the money affairs of the company. The new regulations prevent the Captain-General and Colonel, Prince Albert, from officiating at their Court without the sanction of the corps.

The annual general meeting of the Smithfield Club took place on Tues- day. The usual routine business of the club was transacted, and the officers for the ensuing year were elected. The exhibition of prize stock opened at nine o'clock. The stock was all of first-rate quality: the sys- tem of over-feeding seemed to be entirely abandoned. The purchasers were early in attendance, and the demand surpassed that of any preceding year.

The annual meeting of the Society for the Proteotion of Agriculture and British Industry took place on Wednesday, at their office in Old Bond Street; the Duke of Richmond in the chair. Mr. Newdegate, M.P., read the report of the Council, to the effect that the experiment of free trade "can never be brought to a successful issue "; that protection must be re- stored; and that " the whole question of local and general taxation must be brought again under the consideration of Parliament," with a view to the relief of the owners and occupiers of real property. Several speakers ad- dressed the meeting; all insisting that the adjustment of taxation, though desirable, was but "an adjunct to the more important principle of pro- tection." Mr. W. Bennett complained that a "great deal of indifference and tardy spirit had been shown by the landowners." The meeting was adjourned till Friday.

A meeting of nearly 1,500 working-tailors was held at the British School- room, Shadwell, on Tuesday evening, to consider what practical remedy could be adopted to relieve them from the evils under which they are at present labouring, arising from the depressing influence of the slop-trade, and the competition among masters and workpeople. The men gave a miserable account of their sufferings and privations, caused by the low price paid for their labour; the average weekly earnings of those in the re- gular trade being from 8s. to 15,s, whilst those in the slop received from 4s. to 6s. only—nearly all having families to support. It was considered that emigration should be encouraged; though the prevailing opinion seemed to be that .the only practical relief would be found in an equitable protective policy pursued to all classes.

The second series of "Concise Statements of the Main Features of the Plans sent in for the Drainage of the Metropolis" has just been issued. The character of the series is nearly the same as that of the first; the dis- tinguishing feature being the increased importance assigned to the question of an improved water supply, as not only paramount, but inextricably connected with the disposal of the Metropolitan sewage. The series com- prises abstracts of about sixty plans.

On Tuesday, a meeting of the representatives of the various Metropolitan parishes met in the Workhouse of St. George's Southwark, by adjourn- ment from the Vestry-room, to take into consideration the propriety of forming an association for the supply of pure water, at a cheap rate, to the inhabitants of the Metropolitan and suburban parishes, under the title of " The Parochial Water Supply Association," in pursuance of resolutions come to at a meeting held on the 13th November. Mr. Edward Collinson, Chairman of the Board of Guardians of the parish of St. George, was called to the chair; there being present 137 gentlemen, representing 33 unions and parishes of the Metropolis, containing a population of upwards of 1,500,000 individuals. Several of the gentlemen present had been deputed to attend, to represent the interests of their respective parishes, either by the vestries or the ratepayers assembled in public meeting. Re- solutions were passed, forming the "Parochial Water Supply Association," asking for a fund to defray expenses, and recommending the parishes to order statistical returns upon which to base their operations. To these resolutions there was but one dissentient; the various speakers deprecating Government interference.

A meeting of St. Pancras ratepayers, held on Monday, at the Vestry- rooms,-passed a resolution approving of the street-orderly system, acid recommending the various Paving Boards to adopt it, " in the courts and alleys of the poor, as well as in the streets of the rich, throughout the parish."

The shareholders and friends of the Metropolitan Association for Im- proving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes met on Wednesday, at the Metropolitan Buildings, Albert Street, Spitalfields, to view the portion of the buildings at present completed. This portion is adapted for 234 single men; and comprises a large and lofty coffee-room, with reading-rooms and kitchens, for general use, besides for each man a sleeping-apartment, 8 feet by 4 feet 6, furnished with iron bedstead, bed furniture, and locker for linen. Each apartment is also provided with a distinct key, and with means of ventilation; the whole well supplied with water and gas. Ad- joining this completed portion of the plan, dwellings for sixty families are in progress. After inspecting the building, the shareholders and their friends were addressed, in explanation of the objects and course of the association, by the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Ebrington, Dr. Southwood Smith, and others. So far as it has gone, the experiment is highly successful in every respect: the inmates are healthy, punctual in theirpayments, orderly, and highly sensible of the advantages conferred.

The foundation-stone of a new school-house for the Heaton Ragged Schools Union was laid by Lord Ashley, on Tuesday, in Hammond Square, Heaton Old Town. The freehold site was the gift of Mr. H. C. Start.

The Marylebone baths and washhouses, on the site of the Yorkshire Stingo tea-gardens, were opened on Tuesday. The establishment contains 107 separate baths, besides shower and vapour and two capacious swimming baths. The washing department has 84 pairs of tubs, with a separate drYing-closet for each, and a large ironing-room.

The Law Amendment Society, after a discussion on Monday evening, Passed a resolution in favour of the appointment of authorized reporters for the superior Courts of Law and Equity. '

The important appeal of " Gorham versus Bishop of Exeter" was commenced before the Privy Council on Tuesday, and prolonged through Wednesday and Fri- day. The point at issue between the reverend appellant and the Bishop is the real meaning of the Prayer-book as to the efficacy of Baptism,—Mr. Gorham con- tendieg that baptism is only the alga of regeneration, and that regeneration is not aagessarilygiven in and by baptism ; and the Bishop pronouncing such opinion to Da heretical, and thereupon ref using to induct Mr. Gorham into the living of Bram- fotd Spoke. In the Court of Queen's Bench, Westminster, on Monday, an action was tried on behalf of Emma Queleb, a girl about eleven years of age, brought in forma panperis in the name of her father, against Thomas Henry Wakley, one of the consulting surgeons of the Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Lane, to recover damages for alleged negligence in the treatment of a fracture of the thigh-bone, for which the plaintiff had been a patient in the hospital. The most remaik-able feature of the case was the endeavour made by Mr. Wakley, and also by his fa- ther, the Coroner, to prevent the public trial. It appeared from the evidence, that the plaintiff had taken the scarlet fever from a fever patient who was ad- mitted into the same ward; and this had seriously retarded her recovery. Another disease was communicated to her by impure bandages. The Jury re- turned a verdict for the defendant; several medical witnesses attesting that be had done for the particular illness of the girl all that was possible under the cir- cumstances. [Mr. Wakley had been elected a Fellow in the College of Surgeons a few days before the trial.]

The Earl of Albemarle has long been in a state of ill health, and the fact has at last come before the public in the shape of a commission de lunatic* inind- rendo; which was held on Wednesday, at Farrance's Hotel. From the evidence it appeared that Lord Albemarle had been in the Asylum of Dr. Sutherland. Several medical witnesses were examined, with others, who described the delu- sions under which the patient laboured. He thought that he could make watches of dirt; that he had lived in the time of the Apostles, and had died three times and risen again; that he had been to heaven to baptize fifty thousand persons, one of them a speckled child; that he had fought at Bunker's Hill with Captain Brown, who had cut off his head, but who afterwards put it on again, as firm as ever, with the exception of its being a little shaky; that he had been called the Fire King, and had performed at the Lyceum, four thousand years ago; that he was Jesus Christ, and had been crucified after the Flood, &c. &c. The Jury found that Lord Albemarle had been of unsound mind since the 23d July 1849.

The body of a male child two years old was lately sent in a box by railway to Mr. Burton, at North Leverton in Nottinghamshire. An inquest was begun, and it appeared probable that the child had been sent by Sarah Drake, a woman living in London, sister to Mrs. Barton. About five years ago, a dead child was sent in a box to Mr. Barton's brother: an inquest was held upon the body, but nothing transpired which could fix guilt upon any party. In the present instance, Sarah Drake was speedily arrested, and was examined at Marylebone Police-office last Friday, on a charge of murdering her child, Lewis Drake. The prisoner appeared to be about forty; she is a single woman, and lived as housekeeper and cook at the heuse of Mr. Frederick Huth, in Upper Harley Street. It appeared that a Mrs. Johnson, who had been nursing the child, brought it to Drake; Johnson was not seen to take it away again. The prisoner packed a box, covered it with canvass, got the butler to address it, and sent it by the footman to the railway. The child was seen no.more. The most important witness was Mary Ann Bridge, the searcher at the station-house. While searching her, she had asked Sarah Drake what she was charged with. " She at first made no answer, but pre- sently said to me, Are you a married woman ?' I told her I was, and had a large family; when she said, ' Then you can feel for me, and 111 tell you: it's all about a child. I asked her if it was a new-born baby: she answered that it was net; that it was two years old, and she had hung it. I asked her how she came to do such a thing as that: she said she didn't know; a woman who had had it to nurse, and to whom she owed a good deal of money, brought it to her, and she was afraid of losing her place. She did it (the hanging) in a moment, no one else being present. She then packed up the child, and sent it into the country to her sister, to get it buried; and she thought that the sister had made all the noise about ire She said she supposed she should be hung." When the Magistrate asked Drake if she had anything to say, she sobbed, and re- plied, " Nothing, Sir. Can I have counsel?" She was remanded.

It has since transpired, that in 1842 the prisoner was tried for the wilful mur- der of an illegitimate child, was then convicted of concealment of birth, and sen- tenced to six months' imprisonment. She was at that time living with a family at Layton in Essex as cook. In that case the child was also packed up in a box

which was addressed to the porter of the Knutsford Union; ere' ee — • - • made by the Police the transmission of the box was tr-

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Saturday, Thorns. Bat- tery his son, and William M'Donell, were tried • fee] pos-

session of a cottage in East Lane, Stepney, P ... Ins cottage had belonged to Battery's father, but there IV: .41,,-At on it: Battery's younger brother lived in it. Many disputes ar• e norms Battery said that he, as eldest son, ought to have possession of e place. These squabbles went on for years. At length, Battery determined o *trey the cottage altogether. Early one morning, the prisoners, with other en, went to the cottage, and actually be- gan to pull it down while the occupie and his family were asleep in it. The destruction of the building was sewn accomplished, involving the destruction of the furniture within. The verdict as "Guilty." The Judge ordered Battery senior to pay a line of 100L, bet said time would be given to bun to come to some arrangement with the mortgagee; udgment on the other prisoners meanwhile being postponed. But on Monday, no arrangement having been made, the Court revoked the first sentence and or ed Battery senior to be imprisoned for two months and to pay a fine of la young Battery to be imprisoned for fourteen days, and M'Donell for two moat s.

Mr. Edward Nairne, the ci-d turday, at Guildhall Police-offi that of not surrendering to be misappropriating 1,7001. in E chased the bilis; for safety h iron chest; the prisoner sold trial on both charges. An Mintz, respecting 1,8001. fr ant stockbroker, was finally examined on Sa- Two charges were preferred against him,— xamined at the Bankruptcy Court, and that of Leper Bills. Mr. Spurgin, a publican, had pur- left them is Nairne's hands, to be locked up in his em, and used the money. He was committed for indictment is also threatened by the Reverend Mr. udffiently appropriated by Nairne.

Joseph Ady has been MT moned before the Lord Mayor for 111 Gs. postage on letters sent by him unpaid persona who refused them; and be has been com- pelled to pay forthwith, s• to of his impudent manoeuvres to avoid it. He made

marks on the letters to u' it appear that stamps had been attached and taken off again.

The Police have dis a gang of coiners in Charles Street, Drury Lane. *ergeant Thompson go' up a ladder and looked through a skylight upon the peo- ple at work—two men and two women. He watched them for an hour. They made large quantities of counterfeit coins, which were placed in a basket. Du- ring the time Thorn on was getting assistance and preparing to enter the place, the men and one wo ran went away with the basket of counterfeits; the other woman was seized. Plenty of coining-materials and implements were found in the room: there w a framework inside the door to prevent its sudden opening. The woman—who 'retended that she was a most innocent creature—has been committed for tri• by the Bow Street Magistrate. .

Laurie, Gordo and Federman, the men charged with having procared imita- tions of Russian ank-notes to be engraved, were reexamined at the Mansion- house, on Wedn day. Mr. Feger, the engraver, added to his former evidence; in- creasing the gth of the case against the prisoners. He mentioned, that on two occasions f.ey had sworn him on a Bible to lose no time in completing the work. The a used were again remanded, as witnesses are required from Russia. The notes pri ted were of the nominal value, it is said, of some 150,0001.

At the G. Police-office, on Wednesday, George Clamp was reexamined on a charge of uttering a forged check for 4901 upon Child and Co. There is some strange hitch in the matter, not yet made clear. The check purported to be written 'by Mr. Temple; he repudiated it. A clerk from the bank produced a bundle of Mr. Temple's checks, gave them to the Alderman, and pointed out es- pecially one for 20I.: that check closely resembled the one for 4901. Alderman Musgrove asked Mr. Temple if it was his writing ; and he replied, "Yes, I be- lieve it is." Then he said positively it was—" although some persons say it is not." A Mr. Coyle owed him 301.; he gave a fifty-pound note, and Mr. Temple gave him this check in change. He denied the 4901. check. The case was again adjourned, in order that Mr. Coyle might attend and give evidence.

The body of Mr. L. H. Shadwell, second son of the Vice-Chancellor, was found in a ditch near Barn Elms Park, (the Vice-Chancellor's residence,) on Monday morning. Mr. Shadwell was in the habit of sleeping at a lodge in the park, about a quarter of a mile from the family mansion ; and it is believed that he lost his way in the fog on Sunday night, and, falling inadvertently into the ditch, was unable to extricate himself.

Two watermen, on Sunday, found the body of a gentleman in the mud off the Commercial Dock entrance. It has been identified as that of Mr. Charles Whit- burn, of Kennington Terrace; who was drowned about a month since, in going on board a steamer at night off the Tower Wharf.