be jattropolis.

A meeting of inhabitants of the borough of Southwark was held on Wednesday, at the Bridge-house Hotel, to consider the scheme of Cor- poration Reform which has recently been submitted to the Common Council. Mr. Pilcher was in the chair. Mr. emu stated, that in 1836, the borough had, in a petition to the Common Council, sought the restoration of its ancient rights ; but a Committee of the Council reported on the petition, that its prayer could not be granted without a special act of Parliament, for which it was not then expedient to apply. There was now an opportunity of attaining the object in view. Mr. Corner referred to historical records, to show that the houses on old London Bridge did not constitute, as was generally supposed, Bridge Ward Without, but that they belonged to Bridge Ward Within ; the whole borough of Southwark forming the outer Ward. Of course, it could not now be made one ward ; bat, in accordance with his view, Mr. Scovell moved a resolution, which directed that a petition should be presented to the Common Council, praying "that in the bill about to be brought before Parliament for certain improvements in the con- stitution and government of the City, provision might be made for more effectually uniting the borough of Southwark with the city of London, according to the intention of the charter of Edward the Sixth, and for giving to the inhabitants of Southwark a fair and adequate representation in the councils of the city of Loudon. The resolution was affirmed; and a committee was appointed to further the object of the meeting.

The Anti-Corn-law League held their usual monthly meeting at Covent Garden Theatre, on Thursday evening. The President, Mr. George Wilson, took the chair at seven o'clock ; at which time the stage was crowded with leading members of the League, and the whole house was filled to overflowing. In his introductory speech, the Chair- man stated that the Manchester subscription towards the League Fund amounted to 17,6001.; and at a meeting in Rochdale, on Tuesday last, which was attended by Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and Colonel Thomp- son, 1,6501. had been raised, in addition to a previous subscription of 1,100L

Mr. Cobden alluded to the Salisbury election ; and from his observa- tions it appears that "exclusive dealing" was the great means of com- pulsion used by the opposite party ; more tangible kinds of corruption being difficult to get at— To put down bribery would be to take a step that would give the League the strongest hold upon those classes which they were most anxious to have among

their supporters—those distinguished for their moral and religious qualities.

Nothing, then, would they more gladly do than discover a case of bribery, and prosecute it at the expense of the League. But there were difficulties in the

way. Both bribers and bribers took care to have no witnesses of their trans-

actions; and therefore it was not easy to get up such evidence as would lead a jury to convict. But the League's reward of 100/. was offered both in London

and in Salisbury ; and they did not despair of finding a case yet, if not for a jury, at least for the House of Commons. He was not disposed to say that Salisbury might not turn out a Durham yet. The audience might depend upon it that if a case of bribery should be detected, the League would prosecute it with the utmost possible diligence and to the utmost possible extent.

He commented at some length on the new movement of the Times in favour of a fixed duty on corn ; but, he asked, why was there to be a fixed duty ? why was the bread of the people to be taxed at all ?-

What argument was there for a fixed duty? Was it for the benefit of the people who ate the corn, or of the merchant who paid the duty ? No. Was

at advantageous to the farmer? The farmer knew that he would pay a rent precisely in proportion to the additional cost of the corn. Was it for the good of the farm.labourer ? As his friend Colonel Thompson said, "Look at his calves." Well, then, for whose benefit was a fixed duty to be maintained ? Why, the landlord, particularly and exclusively. What right had the landlord to tax the people's bread ? Was it on the ground that he endured exclusive burdens ? That was what they wanted him to prove; and frequent opportuni- ties had been offered to the landlord in the House of Commons, but he had always run away.

After pursuing several arguments against a fixed duty, he contrasted the miserable wages of agricultural labourers with the higher amounts received by manufacturing labourers ; producing several details. He touched upon the incendiary fires which are noted by the papers—the Globe on Saturday mentioned ten : if his own works were set on fire, the only danger would be, that the people would throw the incendiary into the flames. He charged the Morning Post with using such lan- guage—Socialist and anarchical—towards the manufacturers and their workpeople, that if applied to employers and labourers in the agricul- tural districts, must produce the most mischievous results : the Post and those who wrote it were greatly chargeable with the incendiary fires. Referring to the agitation in London for the relief of the house- less poor, be asked what was to be done for those who were not yet wandering in the streets ? and he recommended repeal of the Corn. laws, as relief for all.

The next speaker was Mr. Lambert, Chairman of Mr. Bouverie's Committee at Salisbury ; who stated that 1,008 inhabitants of that town had now enrolled themselves members of the League.

Colonel Thompson followed, with congratulations on the improved circumstances under which the League met— Be remembered that at one time serious doubts were entertained as to whether they might not be put down by authority. It was said that in that

house nothing but dramatic entertainments could be lawfully exhibited : he began, therefore, to think that his honourable friend the Member for Stockport must, like Urania, descend from a cloud to the sound of soft music. He had

no doubt, if the cause of free trade could be promoted by it, that the Members for Durham and for Wolverhampton would consent to dance a pas de dens. Great laughter.) For his own part, he was perfectly ready to appear as Blue Beard or Timour the Tartar, according as the riding-master of the establish- ment announced that the pied charger or the little elephant was ready for use. (Renewed laughter.) But all fear of their being put down was now at an end, and they would go on in the course which they had commenced—. none mak- ing them afraid."

Mr. Bright having addressed the audience at some length, the Chair- man stated that preparations had been made for public meetings next month, in aid of the fund, in the principal towns of Yorkshire and Lan- cashire. The meeting broke up at ten o'clock.

The annual meeting of subscribers to the Scottish Hospital was held at the London Tavern on Thursday, St. Andrew's Day; the Duke of Sutherland in the chair. Mr. Adair, the Secretary, read the report ; from which it appeared that during the last year 300 cases of distress had been relieved in each month, and pensions paid in addition to 80 aged and infirm persons, natives of Scotland. Passages had also been granted to 65 persons, for their native land. The Reverend Mr. Cum- ming was elected-Chaplain, in the room of the Reverend Mr. Brown, Who had resigned. After the meeting, two hundred gentlemen sat

down to the usual dinner. The evening's subscription amounted to 300/.

A public meeting of Metropolitan tailors was held on Monday, at the Hall of the National Association, to consider the state of the trade, and charges made against some members of it, that they give miserably insuf- ficient wages to their workpeople. Mr. Reynolds was in the chair, and between five and six hundred members of the trade were present. The chairman said that the depression in the business was unparalleled ; and he mentioned as one of the principal causes the system of underselling in the market. Mr. Barker, the secretary, stated that the Metropolitan Trade Protection Society had resolved to resist the " aggressions" of the cheap establishments, by appealing to Parliament and the public. He adduced evidence to show that the misery and starvation in the trade were caused by the reduction of prices in the cheap establish- ments. Mr. Thomas Duncornbe had promised his assistance. Reso- lutions were passed unanimously, for effecting a more general union of the trade, for withstanding the reductions in the price of labour, and for petitioning Parliament to take into consideration the depressed state of the business.

In the Court of Exchequer, on Thursday, Mr. John Dennis Blake, late a landing-waiter of the Customhouse, was condemned in a penalty of 4,350/., for having been concerned in the fraudulent unshipment of silk goods imported by Messrs. Dean and Candy, without payment of the proper duty, in June 1840. The penalty is treble the amount of the duty evaded.

Yesterday, a verdict was obtained against Mr. Candy, for his share of the same transaction ; and the Jury assessed the "single value" of the goods at 1,050/.

In the Court of Common Pleas, on Saturday, a rule nisi was granted for a new trial in the case of Gregory versus the Duke of Brunswick and another. Mr. Gregory, the editor of the Satirist, formerly brought an ac- tion in damages against the Duke and his solicitor, Mr. Valiance, for a conspiracy to hiss him off the stage when he appeared at Covent Garden Theatre ; but a verdict was given for the defendants. A new trial was now sought, on the grounds that the Jury had been misdirected by the Chief Justice, and that the verdict was against the evidence. In giving judgment on the present application, Mr. Justice Coltman disallowed the ground of misdirection, but granted a rule on the other ground.

At the Central Criminal Court, yesterday, Edward Dwyer was con- victed of murdering his infant child ; whose brains he dashed out, at a public-house in the Borough, on the 24th October, in a fit of passion ceased by his wife's reproaches. He was sentenced to death, by Chief Justice Denman, with an intimation that the sentence might be com- muted to transportation for life.

Charles Rosenberg was also tried, for stealing certain articles, the property of M. Bohain, the editor of the Courrier de l'Europe. It will be remembered that the things were taken by Madame Bohain, in her flight from her husband's house. Evidence having been adduced, Mr. Baron Parke said, that no ease had gone to the extent of deciding that where a woman leaves her husband's house alone and brings property to her adulterer, that was a felony in the adulterer : it ought certainly to appear, in order to constitute that offence, either by direct evidence or by implication, that the adulterer had a hand in taking away the goods, or knew of the intention of the wife to do so : it did not appear that there was any such evidence in this case. By the Judge's direction, the Jury returned a verdict of acquittal.

Jeremiah Caylor and Henry Harvey were convicted of a burglary in the house of Mr. Knapp, the jeweller at Islington, on the 15th October ; and Caylor, of a violent assault in the attempt to escape. Sentence of death was recorded against him ; Harvey was sentenced to ten years' transportation.

One of the most revolting of the many cases of distress that occur at this season came before Mr. Broderip, at the Thames Police- office, on Tuesday. A Mrs. Holloway stated that her son, twelve years of age, had died in consequence of a fall on board ship ; she was desti- tute, but, owing to some parochial dispute, the body remained unburied at her lodging in Turner's Court, Shadwell; another of her children was ill with typhus fever ; and the rest of the family, six children, had no other room to sleep in but that which contained the mouldering corpse and the diseased boy. Having ascertained the truth of the state- ment, Mr. Broderip ordered steps to be taken without delay to relieve the living, and to buy a piece of ground for the burial of the body.

Although the Model Prison at Pentonville has been opened so short a time, and the prisoners have been carefully selected from the various gaols in point of health, two have become insane this year, and have been transferred to Bethlehem ; viz. John Reeve, on the 24th June, and John Hill Stone, on the 17th August.—Times.