int Illttropolis.

A Court of Common Council was held on Thursday, for the despatch of business. On the motion of Mr. L. Jones, the City Lands Committee were appointed to confer with the Court of Aldermen on the propriety of adopting a plan of enlarging the Compter. Deputy Brown, the Chair- man of the Bridge-House Committee, brought up a report on the con- struction of a steam-boat pier at Blackfriars Bridge. It stated that the Committee were of opinion, that the plans should be received and con- sidered before they came to a decision as to the coarse they should re- commend to the adoption of the Court. The farther consideration of the report was deferred. The sum of 100/. was voted to King's College Hospital ; and 50/. towards the National and Infant Schools in the dis- trict of St. Thomas, Stepney. The Court then adjourned.

The Thames Tunnel was opened for foot-passengers, with much ceremony, on Saturday. The place of rendezvous for those who took part in the proceedings was the Rotherhithe shaft, on the Surrey side; where two marquees had been erected, one for the accommodation of the Directors and proprietors with their friends, and the other for therecep- flog of visiters. Among the company were. the Earl of Lincoln, Lord Dudley Stuart, Sir Robert Inglis, Sir Edward Codrington, Sir William Clay, the Honourable Mr. Byng, the Lord Mayor, Mr. Hume, M.P., Mr. Roebuck, M.P., Mr. Hawes, M.P., Mr. Warburton, Mr. Rennie, Mr. Babbage, Dr. Wollaston, Dr. Farraday, Mr. Maudslay, Mr. Field, and other scientific persons. At four o'clock, the company assembled at the larger marquee, and formed in a procession, headed by a band : they descended the staircase in the shaft ; passed along the western archway of the Tunnel, 1,200 feet long ; ascended the shaft at Wapping, and paraded ; and returned by the Eastern archway to Rotherhithe. Some watermen hoisted a black flag at the Tunnel Pier to indicate their feelings upon the occasion ; the " Redriffe Ferry," and their interests, having been undermined.

In the evening, the Directors entertained their friends at the London Tavern ; and more than a hundred guests sat down to table. Mr. Hawes senior, Chairman of the Board of Directors, presided ; and among the guests were Major General Pasley and Sir Isambard Brunel, the architect of the Tunnel. " Prosperity to the Thames Tunnel" was drunk in some wine which had been preserved from the commencement of the enterprise to celebrate its completion.

A general meeting of the Metropolitan Improvement Society was held at their rooms, in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, on Wednesday ; Lord Robert Grosvenor in the chaii.. The Secretary read a report an- nouncing considerable progress in abating the nuisance arising from the smoke of great furnaces, but suggesting legal proceedings in some instances. A resolution was passed, recommending the Government Commission to consider the practicability of a new line of road, to begin in the Strand, opposite Duncannon Street, to proceed by a short diagonal line to the projected Thames embankment, along that nearly to South- wark Bridge, and thence, in two branches, to the Bank and the Black- well Railway. Mr. G. A. Walker commenced a discussion on the re- moval of burial-places from the Metropolis : in the paramount necessity of which, Dr. Southwood Smith and Mr. W. E. Hickson concurred ; but Mr. Hickson pointed out some objections in the mode by which Mr. Mackinnon's bill proposes to effect that object, and made some sug- gestions—

By Mr. Mackinnon's bill it was proposed to give every parish the power cf

rating the parishioners for the formation of a cemetery out of London. He thought this power was objectionable, as the organization of most of the parishes was exceedingly defective, and the object would not be obtained by such a mea- sure. There were no less than 112 parishes in the city of London, some of them not containing 50 houses. To give each of these parishes the power of establishing a cemetery, would ,lead to an enormous expense, and the whole 112 cemeteries would in fact be only so many ill-regulated churchyards removed to a greater distance. In Paris, three cemeteries upon a large scale bad been con- sidered sufficient for the whole population ; and would have proved so but for the practice of selling freehold plots for the erection of tombs—a practice which was about to be abohshed, and which, if national cemeteries were to be formed here, should also be disallowed:by our own Legislature. In Paris it was found that the freehold plots occupied by tombs had, within forty years, covered a space of 100 acres ; and it was feared that if the system continued to be pur- sued, every town in France, within a century, would be completely encircled by monuments of the dead. The Municipal Council had: therefore determined to sell no more freeholds, but to grant instead long terminable leases. Other of their regulations might be copied with advantage. By a tax upon inter- ments, which produced 9,000/. per annum, and a percentage upon all funeral charges, rich men deceased paid for the burial of the deceased poor : 7,000 per- sons were buried gratuitously, but certainly with too little attention to the forms of religion; and 14,000 persons were buried at a charge of only five francs each for coffin and attendance.

It was resolved that the Executive Committee should prepare a peti- rion to Government on the subject.

Drury Lane Theatre was again crowded on Wednesday by the weekly meeting of the Anti-Corn-law League. Several Members of Par- liament and other supporters of the League were presuat. The speakers were, Mr. James Wilson of London, Mr. W. J. Fox of Finsbury, Mr. Thomas Gisborne, and Mr. Cobden. At the commencement of the proceedings, the Chairman, Mr. George Wilson, expressed the regret of the Council that several persons had been unable to obtain admission on the previous nights : the applications were so numerous, that the Council felt that had the theatre been twice its size they would stall have been unable to supply all those who had done them the honour to request tickets of admission. Most of the speakers alluded to the movement in the City in favour of systematic colonization. Mr. James Wilson remarked, that, of 600,000 persons who had emigrated during the last ten years, 300,000 had gone to the United States ; which were in themselves a British colony ; and it appeared to him strange, that the first idea should not have sug- gested itself of establishing free trade with those colonists who were already settled and producing. Besides, there were other countries in the world already made to our hands—as Java and Brazil. The im- portance of Colonies was much overrated: of all the exports of this country, only one-fourth go to the Colonies, and three-fourths to foreign nations.

Mr. Fox described the Corn-laws as making England no longer the home of Englishmen— Was it not a deportation of human beings, exporting men rather than permit the population to import food. The spirit of the law was not different from the practice in England many centuries ago. The Saxon lords of the soil bred the English youths up for sale as slaves. They exported them to other countries and made their market of them; but they fed them for their purpose. They gave them food to enhance their price, and the Corn-law starves our people to enhance the price of food. Mr. Cobden dilated upon the subject at considerable length. Emigra- tion, he said, was not a new question in connexion with the Corn- laws— Whenever our restrictive system had produced unendurable distress in this country, they had always found that a cry had been raised of " send away the people." It had been found so in 1819, in 1829, in 1839, and it was so now in 1843. In all those years they had the same cry, "Get rid of your super- abundant population." Horses, cows, and even swine still retained their mar- ket-price; but as for that superabundant animal man, the only anxiety felt by the Legislature seemed to be how to get rid of him, even at a loss. He recommended keeping the emigrants at home— He lately saw in one of the New York papers an estimate made by a jour- nalist to prove that any Englishman landing in New York was worth to them not less than 2,000 dollars. They sell a Negro there for 1,000 dollars. Now did not they think that it would be a better plan to keep their population— which was worth more than double the same number of people of any country on the Continent—at home? would it not be better to keep them to support and defend their native country, rather then to send them abroad ? He dwelt on the difficulty of transporting 1,500,000 paupers across the seas ; and asked who was to support them, in Canada for example ? The population could not be transported to another soil without carry- ing out the capital which was to employ that population. He assumed that the signers of the City memorial had been practised on—" some people in the City seem to have forgotten how to think for themselves": and he asked, whether, among the originators of the memorial, there were any shipowners, any owners of waste lands in Canada, or any holders of shares in not very profitable speculations in New South Wales and New Zealand ? It was his belief that the people would not allow themselves to be transported ; he could speak at least for the peo- ple of Stockport. He did not offer a syllable of objection to voluntary emigration ; but if they had seen the parting of emigrants and their friends at St. Katharine's Dock, they would not talk lightly of a sys- tem of forced emigration. He suggested a scheme of his own— Let the manufacturers work in bond. Let the people of Lancashire be placed in bond; not that they might escape the payment of their taxes to the Queen—no, they did not wish to escape the payment of one farthing that ought to go to the revenue of the country—but let a cordon be drawn round Lancashire, to satisfy the Duke of Buckingham that none of the demoralizing corn grown in foreign countries shall find its way into Cheshire or Bucking- hamshire; and then let them work in bond in Lancashire, paying every far- thing of the Queen's taxes, but emancipated from the exactions of an oligarchy of monopolists. Let that scheme be carried out, and there would be no diffi- culty in obtaining abundant support for the whole population of Lancashire, densely peopled as it was ; and so far would he be from dreading the increase of that population, that he believed it might go on increasing for many genera- tions without the least inconvenience to thespeople themselves. Mr. Gisborne told an anecdote. After two years' absence from London, he met the other day with a distinguished Whig, who rallied him on being connected with League— He told his friend that he was only a humble admirer of the League: but the latter said, that he might just as well call himself a member of that body, for that he was no better than they ; adding, that they were making no way in London—(" Oh, oh !" and laughter)—at least among people of consequence; able, and content themselves with a fixed duty, that they would receive the, support of every commercial man in London. "Indeed!" he had said on hearing this ; "and when did the London merchants change their opinions?" He supposed they wanted a fixed duty when they returned two Members, and were very near returning other two, to turn out the fixed-duty Ministry. (Laughter.) Why, the political author of the fixed duty had been obliged to desert it ; he had changed from a fixed duty to a jumping duty. (Laughter.) He jumped for no other reason that he could see ;than because he was ashamed to slide, for certainly between 8s. and nothing, a slide would be the more easy movement of the two : if he were to jump from 8s. to nothing, he would pro- bably break his neck. (Cheers and laughter.) Describing the progress of opinion on the subject, Mr. Gisborne re- marked, that though the late Cabinet had been put forth to support the Corn-laws, and though not six County Members would have dared to avow their support of the new Corn-law and the new Tariff, those mea- sures, under the pressure from without, had been brought forward by the Ministry, in spite of the constituencies and in spite of Parliament.

A special meeting of the Catholic Institute of Great Britain was held at No. 14, Soho Square, on Thursday, to consider the Factories Bill. The chair was taken by Lord Stourton. The Honourable E. Petre said that the Catholics would be quite unable to derive any advantages from the bill : he pointed out several provisions to which they objected, and among them the use of a version of the Bible which they denied. The Chairman contended, that the moment the State went beyond the bounds of the Established Church to provide for the wants of other de- nominations, they admitted the Catholics to have an equal right with those denominations. Resolutions were passed, approving of a measure for the education of the rising generation, but objecting to the provisions in the Government bill respecting religious instruction. Another reso- lution thanked the Earl of Surrey for his speech in the House of Com- mons on Friday night, and requested him to present any petitions on the subject that might be intrusted to him.

A meeting of the National Charter Association was held on Tuesday, at their hall in Holborn, to adopt a " remonstrance " to the House of Commons for having refused to listen to the petitions of the People in favour of the National Charter. Resolutions were passed unanimously, declaring that it was the duty of the Representatives of the People in the House of Commons to legislate for the general interest ; that, year after year, laws had been made in open defiance of the petitions of the People, showing the Parliament still to be the relic of the feudal ages and an impediment to national regeneration ; and that unless the applications of the People were attended to, the course pursued by the House of Commons bade fair "to render further application to the Legislature a by-word and a derision." A remonstrance founded on the resolutions was agreed to, to be sent to Mr. Thomas Duncombe for presentation.

A meeting of the watch and clock trade was held on Tuesday even- ing, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, to oppose the bill before Parlia.. ment for establishing the British Watchmakers Company. Nearly 2,000 persons were present. Mr. Watson, the Chairman, stated that companies had been got up in France and other places under the super- intendence of Mr. Ingold, who was to be the head of the new company. A committee of the trade had in vain applied to see the machinery of the company, which it was said would finish a watch in an hour. A petition to Parliament against the bill was adopted, and ordered to be sent to Mr. Thomas Duncombe' to be presented to the House of Commons.

The annual General Court of Proprietors in the Canada Company was held, at their house in Great St. Helen's, on Wednesday. Mr. Charles Franks, the Governor, read the report-

" The sale of lands on the Company's estates effected during the past year amounted to 37,477 acres, at an average price of 12s. 11d.iper acre currency and in the Huron tract 28,127 acres had been disposed of at the rate of lls. id. per acre ; giving a total of 65,064 acres, and producing, together with other sales, a net profit of 66,270/. The expenses of management in London amounted to 2,3301., and in Canada to 5,070/. The total on the debit side of the account was 28,6501., and upon the credit side 69,580L; leaving a balance in favour of the Company on the year's operations of 40,9304 being an in- crease of 11,000/. upon the profits of the previous year. This was principally to be attributed to the progress which bad been made in the Huron tract, where the sales of land had increased from 8,000 to upwards of 72,000 acres, and the population by an addition of 1,849 settlers, possessing a capital of 21,0004 and holding their land on a new plan of leasing, which has proved highly successful. Fresh settlements of large bodies of emigrants, from East- ern Canada and elsewhere, were likely to take place in the present year ; and the only thing now wanting to promote the ultimate prosperity of the colony was the opening of the British market to the staple commodities of Canada."

The report was adopted. Mr. R. Biddulph, Mr. J. Gooden, Mr. M. T. Smith, and Mr. A. Stewart, were reElected Directors, and Mr. Poynder and Mr. Evedson Auditors. It was announced that the divi- dend on the profits for the year would be declared at the meeting in July. The usual vote of thanks to the officers of the Company was passed.

The parish of Braintree has given occasion to another judgment on the subject of Church-rates ; the case of Veley and Joslyn versus Gosling having come, by appeal from the Consistorial Court of London, before Sir Herbert Jenner Fust, in the Arches Court; and he pro- nounced his decision on Saturday. In 1837, the Churchwardens pro- posed a rate of 3s. in the pound ; but by a vote of the Vestry it was postponed for twelve months, which was equivalent to a refusal of the rate. A few days afterwards, the Churchwardens met and by them- selves made a rate of 3s.; and a Mr. Harder refused to pay it, on the ground that it was illegally made. The rate was pronounced to be . illegal in the Court of Queen's Bench ; and, carried on a writ of error to the Court of Exchequer, the question was argued before the Lord. Chief Justice and seven other Judges. It was then decided that no rate was valid unless made by the parishioners in Vestry assembled; but it was held that the parishioners were at common law bound to repair the church. In 1841, the dilapidation of the church having increased, a rate was again proposed to raise the sum of 7331. Os. 6d.; an amend- ment was carried by the majority of the Vestry, refusing the rate on religious principles : the minority, however, passed the rate proposed by the Churchwardens; who proceeded to levy it. A Mr. Gosling now

refused to pay it, on the ground that it was made by the minority. The Churchwardens instituted proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Court ; but when the case came before Dr. Lushington, he decided against admitting the libel. Sir Herbert Jenner Fust, however, judged that the parishioners were bound to repair the church ; that, the necessity of repairs not being denied, they had no right to refuse a rate, but only to settle its amount ; and that the rate made by the minority was in this case good. The sentence of the Court below was therefore reversed ; but the Judge expressed a desire that an appeal from his present decision might be prosecuted, as then the whole points would be settled. If not, the Court would proceed to enforce the rate. No order was for the present made as to costs.

At Bow Street, on Saturday, Jeremiah John Kelly, a middle-aged man, was charged with having been found in the lobby of the House of Commons in a state of intoxication. He repeatedly inquired for Lord John Russell ; and on his removal by a Policeman, a large carving- knife was found in his pocket. He gave a very confused account of himself at the time ; but explained his conduct to the Magistrate by saying that he was a dealer in cutlery, and he had put the knife in his pocket to send it to Sheffield as a sample ; but he was too late that day. He afterwards had something to drink at a public-house ; and hearing there was an interesting debate at the House of Commons, he was in- duced to go there to ask Lord John Russell, to whom he had given his vote, for a ticket. Mr. Jardine ordered him to enter into his own recog- nizances in 2001. and to find two sureties in 100/. each. He was sent to Tothill-fields House of Correction.