TUE KING.—HIS Majesty arrived at Windsor Castle on Tuesday soon

after Ion 1' o'clock, attended by his suite, and took up his residence there for the winter season.

THE Comm—His Majesty held a Court at Windsor on Thursday. It was at. tended by the Lord Chancellor, the First Lord of the Treasury, the Secretaries of State for the Home and Foreign Departments, Sze, The Recorder was intro. duced, and his report occupied the attention of the Kim, in Council between three and four hours. His Majesty gave audience to the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Wellington, and Mr. Secretary Peel.

The Duke of Wellington, the Earl of Aberdeen, and the Earl and Countess of Verulam, took their leave of Prince Leopold at Claremont, on Wednesday evening.

It is said that the Earl of Rosse is to be the sole Postmaster-General, when the Post Office departments of England and Ireland are united.

It is stated, in the City that the visit paid by the Governor and some of the Directors of theBank of England to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Wednes- day, had reference to the projected reduction of the four per cents. It is also asserted that the reduction is to be attempted immediately after the 'payment of the April dividends.—Morning Herald.

The Bishop of London consecrated upwards of thirty priests and deacons, in St. James's Church, on Sunday last. Dr. Bourne, Lord Lichfield's Clinical Professor in the University of Oxford died at Oxford on Wednesday.

The Council of the London University have appointed Dr. Malkin, of Cam- bridge, Professor of Ancient and Modern History ; and the Reverend Mr. H oppus, Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of the Human Mind.

The Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England attended on Wed- nesday at the Treasury, and had a long conference with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The great Capitalist, who scarcely limits himself to any object or country, wile- titer a few pence or a million or two are to be turned, is said to have been lately engaged in forwarding to the Bank large supplies of gold, contenting himself with the moderate gross profit of fourpence per ounce for the transaction.—.-Morning Herald.

The election of Common Councilmen, in the various Wards of the City, com- menced on Monday and terminated on Wednesday. Things seem to have gone very smoothly everywhere but in the Portsoken Ward. Mr. Scales, whose after- dinner oration we noticed last week, was elevated to the dignity for which he panted; and in returning thanks to the electors who had returned him' enlarged, in a somewhat boisterous manner, on the subject ot City abuses, and his deter- mination to reform them.

Snow has not till this year been seen in London on Christrms-day since 1814.

Cxuaen REFoam.—We believe that the assaults on the Church will resolve themselves into a commission, which will be appointed by the Crown, to inquire into the course of proceeding in the suits carried on in the ecclesiastical courts; that one of the main reasons for the appointment of this formidable commission may be found in the legal proceedings which have been instituted, at so great an expense and with so unprofitable a result, in the case of a Dr. Free, who was charged with gross indecency of conduct, and general unfitness for the discharge of his sacred functions. And, unless we are deceived, the duty of conducting these inquiries, which are to shake the foundations of the property and the doc- trines of the Church of England, has been or will be committed to those well- known enemies of the Church—the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Lincoln, the three Chief Justices, Sir John Nicholl, Sir Christopher Robinson, and three or four other persons of equal obscurity, and congenial hostility to the Establish- ment in Church and State.—Courier.

MR. 111:CEINGHAM'S LECTURES ON THE EAST.----011 Tuesday, Mr. Buckingham delivered the first of his oriental lectures, at the Argyll Rooms. He was listened to, as lie al,ways is in these oral effusions, with a fixedness of attention which few

public declaimers can command. His next theme will be the monuments of

ancient Egypt. Egypt is now a subject of hope as well as of memory. The virtual downfal of the Turkish power has opened up prospects of social improve- ment in that country, to which it has been a stranger for thousands of years; and it, no less than India, may perhaps ere long furnish equivalents to a great extent for the products of our manufacturing skill.

Comma's Leeruees.—Cobbett is playing the itinerant in the North of Eng- land, for the purpose of delivering his political lectures. The most remarkable circumstance that preceded his departure ; from town, was the strain of adulation in which he indulged towards the press—that press which for twenty years he has denounced as rotten and incurable. After thanking, in his Register, the ournals that have noticed his exhibitions at the Mechanics' Institute, he depre- cated the discussion in future of the points that have divided them and him ; de- clared, that " talents pulling different ways" had done incalculable mischief; and that their union in sentiment will " produce something beneficial to the country." We see at least, how the notice of the press may increase the attrac- tion of his prelections on state farriery. Cobbett retains his fine talent for the description of rural beauty. Here is a sketch by him of the appearance of the country as he passed along to Bir- mingham. " We came yesterday from Brickhill to this town. It had snowed very little in the night; but we found the fields here all covered with snow, and the woods, having the snow sticking on the windward side of the :trees, lying upon the limbs and clinging to the twigs, were very beautiful. I have always thought coppices, that is to say, plantations of underwood, much more in- teresting in the winter than in the summer. In the summer, they present you with nothing but a solid bank of green on the outside, and on the inside you cannot see a yard before you. In the winter, on the contrary, you see to a great distance ; you observe the various forms of the wood, its various colours, its endless variety of manner of growing.; you find out the secrets of the birds, see their nests of the summer before ; you see the birds themselves, hopping about; whereas, in summer, you get merely a glimpse at them. In summer you see neither hares, nor rabbits, nor pheasants, nor partridges, except by mere chance; and then only for a moment. In winter, you see them all, and that for a con- siderable space of time ; and in the snow, particularly, you trace all their move- ments of the night ; and, looking at these woods yesterday, brought me back to the time when I used to clump about with a stick in my hand, without any notion of killing anything, tracking these animals in the snow, distinguishing the track of the hare from that of the rabbit, prying into the night-workings of the weasels, the stoats, and the pole-cats, and particularly those of the fox the natural enemy of all farmers and farmers' wives, and of their boys and girls, of course. There was a pretty high quickset hedge on the side of the road between Daven- try and Dunchurch, in which I counted no less than eleven bird's-nests, which had escaped the clutches of the boys during them summer, and which made me recollect how I used to be engaged with them when I was a boy, and made similar discoveries in the winter."

There was a meeting at Colchester, on Saturday, for the purpose of consider- ng the propriety of petitioning for the repeal of the malt and beer duties. The speakers did not confine themselves very closely to the subject. Mr. Western, M.P., sported his opinions on the currency, and others enlarged on the state of agriculture. The licensing system was never alluded to, but the strongest dis- taste was manifested towards a property-tax. At Leeds on Monday, there was a numerous meeting for the purpose of pro- moting Radical Reform. A meeting of the magistrates, manufacturers, and weavers of Norwich took place in that city on Tuesday last, for the purpose of discussing the policy of a reduction in wages. Several gentlemen entered into statements, with a view to show that the bombasin manufacture was in a very depressed state, and that the labourers could notsubsist if their wages were lowered. The Mayor, in answer to a statement made by Colonel Harvey, said that not only was the market for bombasins in a shocking state, but the demand had decreased 50, if not 75 per cent. Mr. Watts corroborated this statement, and said that the manufacturers of the city were absolutely doing nothing ; but it would be impossible to effect a further reduction of wages. Another speaker said, that about 2id. and a fraction were about the average amount of the earnings of a hard-working man and a family ; and gave his opinion that it would be better for a man to be transported than to continue in the bombasin trade, if it did not improve. Some gave their opinion that the distress had been exaggerated ; but it was generally admitted that much distress prevailed.

At Halifax, an epoch has arrived in the history of weaving, which promises to lead to the most important results. There power-looms are now standing, and the work which they did is given to hand-weavers ; and it is confidentlyexpected, that if the weavers can continue to live on their present wages, power-looms will cease to be profitable, and finally cease to move.—Leeds Mercury.

The manufacturers of Ireland gave their first annual dinner on Tuesday week. The company was highly respectable, and comprised men of all parties. Mr. Maliony has addressed to the editor of the Times copies of the letters which passed between O'Connell and himself when the Waterford election was expected to take place. Truly, Mr. O'Connell's memory must be at fault when he attempts to recall the nature of the advances which were made him by the Beresfords, and of the indignation with which he spurned them. Here is his reply to Mr. Mahony's first communication on the subject. It will be observed that the amount of his fee had not been previously alluded to.

(Private) " Eilrush, 14th June,1829.

"My dear Alahony,—You may rely upon it that the communication to me shall be strictly confidential. I am exceedingly delighted at the offer made me, as it proves that the memory of former dissensions is to be buried in oblivion. No man living more heartily desires that consummation than I do. Before I accept the retainer, I wish to have distinctly understood, that if I do accept it, there is to be no expectation that I will do anything beyond my professional duty,—that is, there is to be no sale by me, nor any purchase by them, of my political exertions. I made this stipulation with Vil- liers Stuart ; and although I went beyond that duty for him, it was only because the political sentiments I then advocated were more mine than they were his. This is a point must be distinctly understood, before I even consider whether I shall or not accept the retainer. If the offer of it, under those circumstances, should be repeated—a matter of which I entertain some doubt, as out of term, I made Villiers Stewart pay me 6001.— my professional remuneration I will leave to you and your brother' should the offer be repeated, and should I be able to accept of it. I need not tell you that there could not be a greater inducement held out to me than the fact, that you and your brother are the law agents of the Beresford family on this occasion. I have always been exceed- ingly well treated by that family when they employed me as a professional man."

The Scotch papers contain an official announcement, that the chief office of Ex- cise in Edinburgh is to be discontinued, and that the entire superintendence and management of the Excise revenue in Scotland is to be placed under the board la London COMMISSION OF LUNACY.—The case of Mr. Davies has been before the Coin. Mission during the whole of this week, and is not evert yet decided. The ex. pense of each day's sitting is said to be enormous, and must be defrayed out of Mr. Davies's property. To accumulate evidence as the supporters of the petition to the Chancellor have done, seems extreme cruelty, for the evidence is all of the same kind, and to the same purpose No progress seems to have been made since the second day. All the wiLiesses agree in stating Mr. Davies to have been wild in manner, but few venture to declare that he was mad previous to his confinement at Clapham; and of the few who deemed him mad then, but one deems him still incapable of managing his affairs. A number of" mad-doctors" have been examined on the case, and among them Dr. Burrows. On Tuesday Mr. Wright addressed the Jury in support of the petition. He contended, that no sane men could on weighing the evidence doubt Davies's insanity. Should, how- ever, the Jury be weak enough to turn him loose upon society, he would in all probability acknowledge their kindness by shooting the first of them he migt chance to meet. On Wednesday, Mr. Brougham on behalf of Davies made one of the most admirable speeches that has ever been addressed to a Jury. We shall not pretend to give even an outline of his speech ; but we cannot refrain from giving the spirit of his remarks on the powers which " mad-doctors " are permitted to wield. "To him," he observed, " it seemed a grievous thing that doctors should be regarded as paramount judges in a case of this kind ; and he called on the Jury to look at the I terrible machine which might be put in motionhy three or four lines written by any ; two medical men, whether doctors, surgeons' or apothecaries. Their mere sig- nature to a paper, with the connivance of a fiend or a member of the family, or indeed of any one who is ready to become responsible for the expenses, is suffi-

cient to authorize a man's being withdrawn from the protection of his fellow -1

nd for his being immured in a madhouse. Let the Jury, besides, attend I to the light grounds on which doctors were ready to grant such certificates, the trust with which they are invested becomes still more alarming. The greateri number of the medical witnesses were what is called mad-doctors ; and like all men who have studied but one part of a science, they were apt to take narrowi views of a question. Gentlemen who look only after insanity are somewhat dm.. gerous ; they look at things and actions with a view peculiar to themselves— they are, on all occasions, madness-hunters, twist-finders, delusion-sk. Your medical man, too, is very apt, when a brother has got into scrape, to indulge in a little learning to get him out—actuated, probably, by a) natural wish that the craft should not come to shame." On the subject of Mr. Davies's letters, he observed, that "the worst which could be said of them was that they abounded with unsound quotations : but merely un- sound quotations are not to be taken as proofs of an unsound mind. If so, in what a situation would my learned friend Mr. Wright stand ?—Little bits of speeches are very different from whole speeches ; and if a Mrs. Wardell had come into this room yesterday, now and then, during my learned friend's address, I know not what might have happened. Supposing-she had only heard a little bit about reason filling the throne, till delusion pulled her down, seduced her, and then occupied the seat.' (Laughter.) And yet this was very good, as my learned friend gave it. (Laughter.) What would have been the consequence if Mrs. Wardell had heard him say this ? Would it not at least have been, that somebody was getting up to the Throne of Heaven for the purpose of seducing the moon ? Then, too, when my friend talked of'grasping infinity in your palm, and measuring eternity with a span.' (Laughter.) Why, all this controlling and measuring—palming and spanning—infinitizing and eternitizing. were very rational in my friend (Great laughter); but if a person only moderately learned had heard it, would there not have been danger of its being worked up into some most horrible delusion ?"—Onl'hursday, Dr. Macmichael, who had been appointed by the Chancellor to inquire into the state of Mr. Davies's mind, was examined. He deposed that he had visited Mr. Davies in September—had found him very wild—and unfit, in witness's opinion, to conduct his own affairs. He had seen him a few days before the trial, and considered him perfectly sane now.

MRS. PHILLIPS'S Daarn.—Tuesday having been appointed for the investigation of this case by the Bow Street Magistrates, the office was crowded at an early hour by persons of respectability, and before twelve o'clock all the parties were in attendance. It was stated that Mr. Cox and Mr. Phillips had not attended on a former occasion, in consequence of a mistake which they very much regretted. Sir Richard Birnie and Mr. Halls then assured the parties, that they had gone through all the papers submitted to them with the utmost care ; that they had come to a conclusion which might disappoint some of the parties, but which they trusted would satisfy the public; and, lest there should be misconception as to its import, they had agreed to reduce it to writing. After this solemn state- ment, the opinion in question was read, as follows. "After perusing the various statements which have been laid before us respecting the death of the late Mrs. Charlotte Phillips, it does not appear to us that the evidence is sufficient to enable us to disturb the verdict taken before the Coroner, arid pronounced by a competent authority." Mr. Phillips observed that he must be allowed to say a few words. He was positive, from the beginning, that the Magistrates could not come to any other conclusion ; but he had hoped that the Magistrates would have given clear and distinct reasons for not prosecuting the inquiry further, and by such explanation blame would attach only where it appeared there had been negligence or guilt. He hoped the Magistrates would most clearly and fully state the grounds upon which they had come to their present decision. Somebody said that the papers ought to be published, to enable Mr. Phillips to satisfy the public as to the falsehood of the attacks which had been made upon him. Mr. Churchill said, that Mr. Phillips had his remedy by bringing actions against the newspapers. Mr. Phillips...." Sir, I have higher game in view." (Hear !) Mr. Halls—" We have nothing whatever to do with the newspapers ; the higher Courts, which have jurisdiction, may be applied to by any parties who feel aggrieved. All we have had to do was to satisfy ourselves if there were such facts stated in the papers laid before us as amounted to a criminal charge or not; and as we find that they not, we have done with the affair." Mr. Phillips begged to observe, that from the bulk of the papers before the Magistrates, the greater part of them had been supplied by himself, and—Mr. Halls interrupted Mr. Phillips, and expressed his anxious wish to do him justice by admitting that fact. He was aware that the greater part of the written statements had been supplied by Mr. Phillips; to whom he felt most warmly obliged for the great trouble he had taken. Sir Richard Birnie said, that he ;had not read any single document which had been supplied by Mr. Phillips, though he had read all the others. Mr. Cullington said that this must be highly satisfactory to his client Mr. Phillips, because Sir Richard had come to the decision which had been given solely upon the evidence furnished by the prosecutors. Mr. Cox observed, that as solicitor to the executors, he could not advise them to give up documents

till a decision nad taken place. Mr. Halls here banded the different papers to those gentlemen who had supplied them, and he returned the brief which Mr. Adolphus had when the first inquiry took place to Mr. Snow.

Mr. rhillips--4 will give you ten guineas for your brief, Mr. Snow." Mr.

Snow—" I will have nothing to do with you, Mr. Phillips. Sir Richard Birnie- " I ar/i very sorry to witness such asperity between the parties; really all this angry feeling ought now to subside." A gentleman stated that the brief ought to be detained by the Magistrates. Sir Richard Birnie said he should not like to he subpcenaed in a court of justice to produce the documents, and he therefore re- commended their being all given up. Mr. Halls said he would take leave to say one word more on this very serious matter. A great deal of very angry feeling had been excited during the proceedings ; but he sincerely hoped, as they were now arrived at the close, all parties would, upon cool reflection, become recoil- ciled. He was not so arrogant as to express a decided medical opinion as to the cause of the death of Mrs. Phillips—he would not presume to do any thing of the kind ; but he would suggest, as a question for the consideration of medical practitioners, whether it was not possible, that as the opiate called black drop when compounded with verjuice became partially neutralized in its soporific effects, so laudanum, when compounded with senna, might lose its power in the like manner. It was well known that laudanum, taken at different seasons of the year, or taken by persons of different constitutions, and in fact if taken at a different period of the day, was very different in its effects upon the patient. A great deal of the mystery of this case might have arisen from the senna keeping the laudanum in abeyance, if he might, as a lawyer, he allowed to use such a term. In that case, supposing Mrs. Phillips took a dose of the medicine in the morning, and another in the afternoon, the senna might have retarded the power of the opiate, and she might have been (as was stated by some of the witnesses) merely drowsy during the day ; but after taking the third dose at night, and falling asleep, it might be that the opiate then commenced its deadly effects. Mr. Snow said there was no laudanum in the bottle. Mr. Phillips—" There was, Sir." Mr. Churchill—" We can prove there was not." Mr. Halls—" I have merely put a suppositious case, taking it for granted there were senna and lauda- num in the bottle." Mr. Snow—" She took two doses out of the bottle during the day, and it could not at that time have contained the laudanum." Mr. Cox asserted; that from the commencement of the business he had been only anxious for a full investigation of the matter, that truth might be elicited and jus- tice be satisfied. Mr. Phillips said that he would reply to no one except the medical gentlemen ; and he would observe, that they had asserted that the bottle contained four ounces—now he would assert that it contained only one. Mr. Cox—" Mr. Phillips can put this question at issue by indicting Mr. Swan Hill, Mr. Snow's itssistant." Mr. Halls—" You may du as you like upon that subject, Mr. Phillips ; I know that it is such advice as lawyers would give: but I say again, I do not see where blame is to be attached to any parties ; they were all anxious for investigation ; and, whether the parties are now satisfied, or whether they intend proceeding further by indictment, or by action, or otherwise, all I will say is, for God's sake, let all the ill-feelings which have been engendered die away, and all animosity cease." This advice was followed by the discovery that some of the papers had not been seen by the Magistrates: it was agreed that new copies of them should be furnished, and that if the Magistrates found any thing in them to alter the opinion already expressed, the parties should receive notice. Next day, Mr. Halls announced, that Sir Richard Birnie and himself had perused the additional papers, and that they deemed them most important_ but important as tending fully to remove the suspicion of guilt from any quarter. He considered the question as now set at rest.

tailor appeared at the Mansionhouse on Saturday, to claim !,'..i.10cer against a fellow who had procured from him a suit of clothes and forgot to pay tor them. Mr. Ilobler—" the Lord Mayor can give you no redress; you have trusted a swindler with a suit of clothes, and you must take the cOnkequences. One half

; the tradesmen in London have reason to complain of you tailors, for affording the means of fraud. Your promptitude to give credit for clothes fosters a disposition , to extravagance in other things beyond • the means of payment. Your readiness to supply all persons gives to swindlers the exterior by means of which they cheat . honest tradesmen. By your high prices you make the honest pay the bad debts of spendthrifts and swindlers, who do not pay. Sir, you must not expect the " Mayor to assist you, by criminal process, in recovering payment for your goods: you must do as other tradesmen do—send the bum-bailiff after your debtor." The Tailor—" I do not want payment." Mr. Hobler—" Indeed ! You are really , a very goodnatured fellow to give your goods away. I think I shall allow you to ' serve me on those terms." The Tailor—" I want justice." Mr. llobler—" Well ; you hate it, in hearing the consequences of giving, 'without due caution, the ‘means by which many other tradesmen may be injured."

Sarah Batt was committed at Bow Street on Saturday last, for robbing her master, Dr. Robinson, of Long Acre, of a quantity of silver plate. She had written to a man of the name of Bravington to be in waiting near her master's house to carry till the articles. The man showed her letter to the Superintendent of Police—went by his instructions to the place of appointment—received the things, and handed thent to the Superintendent. The prisoner had given the room from which the plate was taken the appearance of having been broken into, by throwing everything into disorder, and leaving the window open.

George Jones was committed at Guildhall on Tuesday, for a burglary on the house of Nr. Heath, on Snow Hill.

Mrs. Mary Stubbs, a lady of fortune, residing in Sloane Street,. Chelsea, was committed at Marlborough Street on Tuesday, for a singular kind of robbery. She had gone into a confectioner's in St. Martin's Lane, and when the shop- woman turned round the prisoner contrived to swallow a tart ; she disposed of a few in her muff besides ; and on risirbes to go away, offered payment for three halfpenny buns which she had received from the mistress of the shop. A gentle- man had noticed her manceuvres, and gave the people a hint ; the prisoner was searcked, and many cakes were found in her muff, besides a store of fruit which it is supposed she had stolen somewhere else ; she had several sovereigns and some silver in her purse. The lady was proved to be notorious for tricks of this kind.

William Burton Was committed by the Magistrate at Mary-le-bone, on Thurs- day, for stealing a quantity of silver plate from the house of a gentleman in Regent's Park. A watchman stopped him on the road with his booty. He had been visiting one of the servants in the house, and had taken the opportunity of assisting himself unobserved to the articles in question.