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A public meeting of Lambeth electors was held on Thursday evening, at the Horns Tavern in Kennington, to consider the Parliamentary conduct of Mr. Hawes and Mr, Tennyson D'Eyncourt. The two Members had been invited to attend; but in two joint letters they declined, on these grounds—that they were prevented by engagements incident to the cele- bration of the Queen's birthday; that they had not had sufficient notice; and that the meeting was not an authorized meeting of electors. The as- sembled electors were by no means unanimous, and were very disorderly. The Reverend John Burnet censured the conduct of Mr. Hawes, especially for having resisted total and immediate repeal of the Corn-laws, extension of the suffrage, repeal of the rate-paying clauses, and abolition of corporal punishment in the Army; for having supported the grant to Maynooth, and for having accepted office without having consulted his constituents. Mr. Burnet moved a resolution condemning the conduct of Mr. Hawes. Mr. Grady defended the Member, and moved an amendment; but the ori- ginal resolution was carried, by a large majority. Mr. Tennyson D'Eyn- court's merits underwent a similar process of discussion and condemnation. A letter was read from Mr. George Thompson, withdrawing a previously- given consent to stand. Another letter was read from Mr. Daniel Whittle Harvey, replying to an invitation. Mr. Harvey expressed great willing- ness to be elected; but pointed out that the City Police Act declares that the Commissioner of Police shall be incapable of election; therefore he must resign his office before he could stand; and it was incumbent on the electors to make certain of his election before they should call upon him to resign his office. A resolution in favour of Mr. Harvey was put to the meeting, and carried.
During the week, an active canvass has commenced in Marylebone on behalf of Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart.
A special general Court of Proprietors was held at the India House on Wednesday, in pursuance of a requisition signed by nine proprietors, to consider what steps should be adopted in consequence of the refusal of the Board of Control to furnish certain papers connected with the deposition of the Rajah of Sattara. Mr. Lewis condemned the retention of the papers in the Secret Department, as "improper, illegal, and unjust "; and moved a resolution to that effect, calling on the Court to declare the necessity for an immediate inquiry. The motion was met by a proposal of adjourn- ment; which, after a long discussion, was carried, by 46 to 28.
A fancy bazaar for the distressed Irish was held on Wednesday, in the Riding-school of the Regent's Park Barracks; under the immediate patron- age and superintendence of the Dutchess of Gloucester, the Marchioness of Londonderry, and a strong committee of noble ladies, all of whom had stalls at which they presided in person. Immense eclat was given to the affair by the announcement of a visit from the Queen. About eleven o'clock, the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge, the Dutchess of Gloucester, and Prince George, arrived; and soon afterwards, the Queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by the Prince of Leiningen, drove into the barracks yard. Her Majesty visited all the stalls, and bought largely. After the Queen retired, the publics were admitted; and the place was thronged during the whole day. Upwards of 1,000/. was taken at the doors for admission.
An interesting festival was celebrated at Bow, on Wednesday; when thv. workmen engaged in the Fairfield Works, belonging to Messrs. Adams, railway-carriage manufacturers, gave an entertainment to their employers. The company mustered about 800 strong, of whom 450 were workmen in the factory; the remainder consisted of their wives and children, and a number of guests. The establishment is said to stand alone for possessing a library, schools, a benefit society, and adult educational classes, supported by the unaided efforts of the workmen. The chair was taken by Mr. Ws B. Adams; sitting near him were Sir Alexander and Lady Duff Gordon, Mr. Thomas Carlyle, Mr. Sergeant Kinglake, Mr. Mazzini, Mr. S. Adams, Mr. W. J. Linton, and several other gentlemen, some from provincial towns —Leeds, Sheffield, &c. The entertainment was varied by speeches and music, and concluded with a dance.
The anniversary festival of the Royal Naval School was celebrated on Wednesday, at the London Tavern; the Earl of Auckland in the chair, supported by Earl Waldegrave, Lord Byron, and a host of Admirals and Captains. The subscriptions announced by the Secretary amounted to 1,5001.; including 1,000/. given by the present Earl of Yarborough to found a scholarship in commemoration of the late Earl, and to provide the outfit of boys from the school entering the Navy.
Fever is very prevalent among the poorer class of people in St. Giles's. The applications for admission to the Infirmary of the Workhouse is at the rate of more than a hundred a month.
Pertinacious Dr. Lynch insists on exposing the sanatory wants of the City. On Tuesday, accompanied by a number of the inhabitants of Far- ringclon-Without, he waited on the Lord.Mayor, to represent the immediate necessity for the adoption of measures to prevent the spread of disease im- ported by the Irish now pouring into London, and nourished by the filth, bad ventilation, and scarcity of water, in the districts to which they resort. Dr. Lynch adduced much evidence. We take some specimens of his state- ment: it does not form very nice reading, but the subject is too vitally im- portant to be blinked— "Of all the thirty-six Metropolitan districts, the Ward of Farringdon-Without is perhaps the worst as to its narrow localities. The houses are built back to back, and admit no ventilation. The privies are situated under the staircases, and communicate with cess ls of the most horrible description, which poison the air and pollute the dye 1*.gs of the poor. In such places, where there are sewers, they become the source of disease, hi consequence of the want of treks and an adequate supply of water to cleanse and to facilitate the escape of pesti- ferous gases from the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter. In Crown Court, within a few yards of Fleet Street, the cellars of the houses are in a moat revolting condition, from the overflowing of cesspools and the accumulation of im- purities of every description. In some instances we find that the dust-contractors had not removed the offal from one to nine months, and that they refused to per- form that duty unless they received a gratuity. * * • The inquest of St. Sepulchre beg to state, that the courts around Smithfield and the Old Bailey are undrained; that in several of the courts there is but one privy, to which the in- habitants of both sexes and all ages resort. • * "No proper authority or board which understands the subject in its magnitude is to be found in the City; in the several places the cesspools overflow the cellars; in some cellars, under the privies, eight people lodged in a place of twelve feet
Name; and cow-sheds, slaughter-houses, and knackers-yards, are buffered to exist in the midst of a crowded population. The gentlemen of the inquest, after enu- merating other horrors, and showing that the wretched habitations are full of plague-vapours, express their fear that if sultry weather supervene fever will make awful ravages amongst the poor." Vast numbers of the poor Irish are imported direct from Cork. The Fever Hospitals and St. Bartholomew are over-filled with fever patients, and cannot find accommodation for the increasing cases. In corroboration of Dr. Lynch's statement, one of the Overseers of St. Bride's, a member of the deputation, said that the pestilential nuisance was much closer to the habitations of some of his acquaintances than they imagined. Although he had for some time occupied premises in Fleet Street, he ascertained that there were two houses within twenty yards of those premises in a state of filth which it would not actually be consistent with decency to describe. Mr. George Walter, a member of the Commis- sion of Sewers, complained of the difficulty experienced, in getting parties who keep houses to go to any expense at all in rendering the tenements fit for habitation. The Lord Mayor appointed Monday next for holding a Court of Common Council to consider the representations of Dr. Lynch and the other gentlemen. • The following is the Bishop of London's decision in the case of the Cripplegate Vicarage—" The Bishop of London, Visiter of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, having taken into consideration the memorial of the Sub-Dean and the various documents laid before him, and having heard counsel thereupon, with the advice and concurrence of his assessors, the Right Honourable Stephen Lushington, Chancellor of the Diocese of London, and the Honourable Mr. Justice Patteson, declares that the Sub-Dean has failed in establishing his claim to the Vicarage of St. Giles's Cripplegate." This decision confirms the presentation of Archdeacon Hale.
At the Mansionhouse, on Monday, Mr. Goldham, clerk of Billingsgate Market, applied to the Lord Mayor respecting the Bale of mackerel on Sunday. An act of Parliament passed some years since clearly prohibited the sale of fish in the mar- ket on Sunday; but as its general meaning was not so clear, salesmen out of the market disposed of mackerel wholesale on the Sunday morning to be vended throughout the town.: the market-salesmen thought this unfair and illegal, while residents were annoyed. The Lord Mayor said he would always construe acts affecting the comfort of the poor liberally: the fish were very perishable, and thus of old their sale on Sunday had been legalized; and he would not wish the poor to be debarred from the cheap luxury on the only day on which they might be able to enjoy it. After some consultation as the meaning of the act was very doubtful, his Lordship suggested that the framers of it should he called on to say what they meant.
A long investigation before the Westminster Coroner into a mysterious and extraordinary case of suspected child-murder was brought to a close on Wednes- day. A "Mrs. Cleveland," living in Upper Wellington Street, Covent Garden, was delivered of a child. The woman was visited by two men, one named Hill alias "Dolly," the other a Mr. Harry Hartnell. Mr. Lawson, a surgeon, who knew Hartnett many years ago, deposed that that person bad called upon him, asked him to deliver a woman, and suggested that he might manage matters so that the infant should not be born alive. Mr. Lawson expressed indignation at the proposal; on which Hartnell remarked that they were not so particular in France. The surgeon declined to have anything to do with the case; and Hart- nett said, that if the child were born alive, it would be neglected afterwards. Mrs. Cleveland made hardly any preparations for her confinement; saying that she thought the child would not live; at another time she said she was sure it would not live. The infant did die, a few days after its birth. It had been left by the nurse in the custody of the mother and " Dolly "; and surgeons declared .`Mt If had peeished from suffocation. At the inquest, Hartnell at first offered himself as a witness; but on further consultation with his solicitor, he refused to be examined. The Jury returned a verdict of "Wilful murder" against Cleve- land and Hill; both of whom are in custody.
The crowd that filled Stepney Fair at mid-day on Wednesday met with an unexpected source of excitement—the extensive rope-works of Mr. Marna, which ran along one side of the fair-field, were on fire! There was manual aid in aband- mice, as thousands crowded round the spot, and engines were speedily obtained; but, from the inflammable nature of the contents, nothing could be done to save the buildings; which, together with an adjoining rope-works, were entirely de- stroyed. Adjacent to the fire were a number of dancing-booths; and to save these it was necessary to pull them down. Though the concourse was so large and so much excited, no personal accident occurred.
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