Vlbe _Metropolis.

A Common Hall was held on Wednesday, for the election of, a Lord Mayor for the ensuing year. The proceedings passed off without the slightest excitement. Alderman Pine and Alderman Thomas Wood, the two next in rotation, were nominated by the Liverymen ; and Alderman Pine was selected by the Aldermen. The Recorder then declared that the election had fallen on Mr. John Pine, Alderman and plasterer. In returning thanks, the worthy Mayor elect said that he little thought forty years ago, when he came to the city of London a poor lad from the banks of the Tweed, that he should arrive at such a high distinction. Thanks were voted to Mr. Alderman Gibbs and Alderman Farncombe, for their services as Sheriffs during the past year.

In the afternoon, the Lord Mayor gave a splendid entertainment at the Mansionhouse to the Lord Mayor elect. Among the company, were Sir Robert Stopford, Sir Charles Napier, Captain James Stopford, Mr. Robert Stopford, Mr. John Walter, Dr. Stebbing, Dr. Croly, seve- ral naval and military officers, several Aldermen, the Recorder, and other City dignitaries. The list of toasts started with " The Church and Queen." The " Navy and Army" was coupled with thanks to Sir Robert Stopford for his exertions in Syria. In returning thanks, the Admiral distributed a due share of honour to his colleagues, British and foreign, including both "those who were there and those who were not " ; for he did not omit Sir C. Smith, the military commander, in whose absence, on account of illness, Sir Charles Napier commanded the land forces— He regretted he did not see present Sir C. Smith, his colleague, who was in- tended to command the troops at the siege of Acre. His severe illness pre- vented him taking any active part at the commencement of the operations ; but when, subsequently, on his return from Acre to Beyrout, Ibrahim Pash& was reported within two days' march, and when Sir C. Smith was strongly urged to march across the mountains and attack him in the valley near Damas- cus, that gallant officer saw the inutility of attacking him with but a small body of cavalry, owing to the advantage of the position which he occupied; yet his gallant friend nevertheless predicted, that before a certain number of days Ibrahim Pasha would be compelled to decamp and proceed towards Da- mascus for want of food. And so the fact really turned out ; so well did Sir C. Smith know the situation of Ibrahim's army.

Sir Robert laughingly contrasted the summary and successful conduct of affairs in the hands of the naval officers, with the dilatory punctili- ousness of the diplomatic gentlemen. Alluding to the decorations of honour which he wore, the gift of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, he said he believed that he was himself the first English naval officer who had appeared among his fellow-citizens in Prussian decorations.

The Recorder, in returning thanks for his own health having been drunk, related a complimentary anecdote of the Lord Mayor— They all knew that at the early age of fifteen, when riots convulsed the City and spread terror through all its districts, a boy of Christ's Hospital gallantly shut its gates against an infuriated mob. Such an exploit, at so early an age, gave token of the firmness and spirit which had characterized the subsequent career of the present Chief Magistrate. In proposing the health of Mr. John Walter, the Lord Mayor alluded especially to his connexion with the Times, and the services of that journal in exposing the late fraudulent transactions on the Continent, and to Mr. Walter's exertions in the cause of the poor. Mr. Walter thanked the Lord Mayor for connecting his name with "the greatest blessing which this country enjoyed above all other European states "; and as a preparative to drinking "All your good healths," Mr. Walter waxed eloquent on a great subject— While he replied—he hoped with modest exultation—to the honour which had now been paid to him, and through him to that organ of which it had been his lot to have had in part the direction, could he forget that there was, and always had been, another element of success, without which enterprise how- ever daring—talents however brilliant—industry however unwearied—in- tegrity however unsullied—another element of success, be said, there had been, without which all these eminent qualities, could say single man have possessed them, would have been unavailing. And what was that other element of success? He answered, in one word, London—that great coin- merciaLcity, that emporium of the whole world. How could he sum up in one short speech all that was meant by that short word London, or The City 2— what it was, and what it contained ? And what would the journal to which his Lordship had alluded—what could it have been, without London ? Such a vessel could have swum in no other sea than that.

The company did not separate till a late hour.

The Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and City officers, assembled on Tuesday, in Guildhall, for the purpose of swearing in the two new Sheriffs for London and Middlesex, Alderman Magnay and Mr. Rogers. A con- siderable number of the Livery attended. After the ceremony of the swearing-in, the Keepers of the Gaol of Newgate and the Debtors Prison, Whitecross Street, entered into fresh bonds. In Whitecross Street there are, according to the lists, 335 persons, twenty-nine of whom are imprisoned by order of the Courts of Requests. In Newgate there are, in consequence of the recent gaol-delivery, only 130 prisoners.

On Thursday, the Sheriffs were presented for the approval of the Crown, in the Court of Exchequer ; and were duly approved and com- plimented by Mr. William Bankes, the Cursitor Baron. Alderman Gibbs, the senior Alderman present who has not passed the chair, did service on the part of the Corporation for certain estates in Shropshire, by chopping two bundles of sticks and counting six horse-shoes and sixty-one hobnails. In the evening the Sheriffs gave their annual dinner.

A special meeting of the .Marylebone Vestry was held on Saturday, to petition the Queen against the prorogation of Parliament while the

Corn-laws are still undiscussed. Mr. Gibson, who had given notice of the motion, introduced a memorial in a speech which undertook to prove that the Corn-law was a parochial question— In the Workhouse of that parish, there were at the present time one hundred and sixty more persons than at the corresponding period of any previous year;

and the increase of pauperism, consequent on the infamous and exorbitant taxes on provisions, was such, that in that parish alone they would have to levy on the parishioners an extra burden of 4,000/. or 5,000/. It was well known that the late Government had taken upon themselves the responsibility of

grappling with the admitted distresses of the nation by proposing a fixed duty upon the importation of foreign corn. The Queen had sent a message to Par-

liament, calling upon them to consider that important question, with a view to

the amelioration of the distresses of the people ; and what, he would ask, bad been the result ? Why, the Landlords' Parliament had answered, that their shooting and other amusements mast not be interfered with ; and therefore the people must starve during the whole of the ensuing winter. It was very clear that the amount of distress was regulated by the price of bread ; for he found from a statement he had before him, that in the year 1836, when the average price of wheat was 48s. 6d., the number of poor relieved in that parish weekly amounted only to 3,295. In 1840, when its price was 66s. 4d., the amount of poor increased to 3,968; and on January 8th in the present year it was 5,231. On the 22d of the same month they increased to 7,304; and in the month of February, distress became so appalling that the amount of poor relieved weekly was no less than 10,705 persons. At the present time there were up- wards of 1,200 more persons receiving relief than at the same period last year. He could also show, that at periods when food became cheap crime was less.

From a statement he held in his band, he found that the number of persons

committed in England and Wales, for various crimes, amounted in the year 1835, at which the average price of wheat was 395. 4d., to 20,731. As the price of corn increased, crime increased in proportion ; and in the year 1839, when its average price was 70s. 8d., the number of persons committed amounted to 24,443.

Mr. Gibson moved the adoption of the memorial. Mr. Thomas, although he felt that the question was not strictly parochial, had great pleasure in seconding the motion. Mr. Kirby took up the ground that a Vestry, being purely a parochial body, bad no right to interfere in political questions ; and he moved an amendment to that effect. He was seconded by Mr. Cochrane, on the same grounds ; for he was not opposed to Corn-law Repeal, having been the mover of a resolution in the Marylebone Anti-Corn-law Association. He thought that a public meeting of the whole parish would have more weight than a petition presented from the hundred persons composing the Vestry. In some more discussion, Mr. Soden, to prove the strictly parochial bearing of the question, stated that the taxes on bread for that parish alone amounted to 76,000/. a year. Ultimately the memorial moved by Mr. Gibson was carried, with only two dissentients ; and a deputation was ap- pointed to wait on the Duke of Sussex to request him to present it.

Meetings to petition against the prorogation of Parliament have been held in Farringdon 'Without, Somers Town, St. Mary's Marylebone, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, St. Luke's, Shoreditch, Whilechapel, Mile End, Portland Town, Deptford, St. Paul Deptford, Hammersmith.

On Saturday, at the City of London Registration Court, Mr. F. Bayley, the Revising Barrister, gave a decision in the case of Mr. Bag- galey and Mr. Nicholls, as to whether freemen and liverymen are en- titled to vote in the election of Members of Parliament. The first proviso in the thirty-second section of the Reform Act enacts, that "no person who shall have been elected, made, or admitted a burgess or free- man, since the 1st March 1831, otherwise than in respect of birth or servitude, shall be entitled to vote as such in any election for any city or borough." As this is a disfranchising enactment, Mr. Bayley said, it is to be construed strictly ; and therefore he doubted whether the words "burgesses or freemen" could be taken to exclude freemen and liverymen ; and so he decided in favour of the claim.

Blakesley, the murderer of Mr. Burdon, who was supposed to have committed suicide, has been discovered. The Police were sent in search of him ; and Inspector Hodgson and Edward Bristow, a Police- man, went in pursuit down the Hertford road. They heard of a person answering his description, at Potter's Bar, on the Hatfield road. They traced the wanderings of this man until they found him in cus- tody of the Rural Police, at Hitchin, on Sunday. He had begged from several people on the way ; and at Langley toll-bar he offered a razor- strop, a corkscrew, and a hair-brush for sale. The toll-keeper would not purchase them, and gave him a penny for charity. At Welwyn, he was very anxious to see a London paper; and at Hitchin again he asked for one at a public-house. On Monday morning, he was brought to London and examined before the Lord Mayor; several Aldermen being also present on the bench. Blakesley is a young man, with a mild

expression of countenance, and dark hair and eyes. He seemed to suffer severely ; and, being placed at the bar, he sank back upon the

shoulder of the Policeman who accompanied him. He was seated in a chair, and was supplied with a glass of water. As the examina- tion proceeded, he frequently turned his eyes with timidity towards the avenue to the desk at which evidence is generally given, as if he expected to meet the gaze of some of the family he had so dreadfully injured. Robert Dunn, one of the Hertfordshire Police, gave the following account of his encounter with Blakesley-

Having received directions from Inspector Albyn to pay particular attention to some lodging-houses in his district, in consequence of some information which had been received, the witness was in the market-place at Hitchin on Saturday night last, along with another constable. At about a quarter before one o'clock, he observed the prisoner loitering about the market-place; and going up to him, said, " It's a fine night." The prisoner's answer was, liceman, I am almost mad." Witness said to him, "Can we render you as- sistance in any manner?" The prisoner said, "You must take me into cus- tody." Witness said, "What for?" The prisoner said, "I suppose you have heard of the circumstance in London ?" Witness then said, "You mean about stabbing the landlord and your wife ? " The prisoner replied, " Yes, stabbing the landlord and my wife." [Here Blakesley shook with agitation, and fell back upon the shoulder of the Policeman who supported him.] The prisoner then stated that he wished to say no more; and witness said, I do not wish to ask Ton any more." Witness then took him to the Station-house; and upon searching found letters upon his person, apparently from his wife and mother. While the prisoner was at the Station-house, he frequently cried out, "Oh, that shriek, that shriek ! 1 think I hear it now. I did not mean to hurt Burdon or his wife. I meant to kill my own wife and then myself. If Burdon had not got between me and my wife, 1 would not have hurt him; for the blow was aimed at my wife." He had no money about him. William Bratten, a Policeman who had known Blakesley intimately for three or four weeks, and who had been with him from six to eight o'clock on the night of the murder, and Edward Bristow, who had known him about as long, were examined as to his identity. The following- colloquy then took place— The Lord Mayor—"Robert Blakesley, you have heard the statements made by these officers. If you have any thing to say with respect to them, this is the time."

The Prisoner—" No, my Lord, not until the day of trial, and then the truth will come out. It is not so as Mrs. Burdon has stated it."

The prisoner then turned about and whispered to Dunn ; and that offices said, "The prisoner states, my Lord, that he wishes not to be left alone." The Lord Mayor—" Very well ; his wish shall be attended to. Mr. Cope, the Governor of Newgate, will look to that." Dunn—" Ile says also, my Lord, that during the time he was with us he had a Bible and other religious books to read, and he is very desirous to have the same sort of accommodation."

The Lord Mayor—" Certainly, be shall have books of the kind."

Blakesley was then committed to Newgate, for trial at the next ses- sion of the Central Criminal Court.

On Monday, Blakesley wrote a letter and sent it to his wife. A messenger from the prison delivered it to Mrs. Burdon, telling her it was from Mr. Cope, the Governor, as he supposed it was ; but she saw Blakesley's signature, and tore it up in a passion. It was afterward& put together, and a copy is annexed : it is.in a fine bold hand- " My dear Wife—For still I shall consider you to the last hour of my life— although you might have prevented the awful termination of all our happiness, by consenting to what (I consider) a request I as your husband had a right to make (I mean that money); but I forgive you, as I well know that you were over-persuaded against use by others. We ought never to have been parted when we came from Sevenoaks, and then we might all have still been happy, without driving me mad. I pray to God, my dear wife, that this letter will find you almost recovered, which I night and day pray for. "if you will condescend, please write me a note, and let me know your real state, as I have not heard for three days ; and please let me have a change of clean things. The bearer of this will be sent by the Governor of this prison. I will write more to you at another time. And now, my dear wife, accept my fervent prayers for your speedy recovery, and accept my sincere love. "Your miserable husband, ROBERT BLAKESLEY. "I solemnly declare I never intended to have hurt poor James."

The reporters of the daily papers supply a mass of gossip all about the murder. Here is a scrap-

" Since Monday, the King's Head in Easteheap, the scene of the late hor- rible occurrence, has been literally besieged and crowded by the public from six in the morning until twelve at night. The effect of this has been to keep no less than four or five of Mr. Burdon's relatives employed behind the bar; and Mrs. Burdon also occasionally makes her appearance with the child, a little boy about eight years of age, and which creates great sympathy in some and surprise in others. It is, however, stated that the business cannot go on without her. On Monday, it not being generally known that Mr. Burdon was buried on the Sunday previous, a report was extensively circulated that the body of the murdered man was to be viewed at the King's Head, and several respectable persons were sufficiently gullible to make application for that pur- pose."