The Express.
London, England, 1846-10-14 00:00:00

day next.—Dr.arn IN A CIItraCHTAIRD.—By Mr. G. I.
Mills, deputy-coroner fur Middlesex, at the Six Bells public-
house, Queen-et:eve Hammersmith, on the body of
Eliztlecth Rogers, aged 60 years. On Thursday morning
Lst, about nine o'cluele, the deceased was siting crumpled
up behind a tembstione with her head re; lining on a child's
grave, in a retired part of the churchyard. Decease.l had
nothing on but a chemise, with two peaked*, and a night-
cap, but neither shoes tier stockings, and died soon after b.ing
discovered. Mrs. Hamilton deposed to being sister-in-law to
the deceased, who was respec:ably connected, and had been
in attendance on her for several days previously. Deceased
bad been indisposed for some time, and was iu such a very
weak gate that she was at times considered out of her mind :
821 - her last alive at four o'clock on Thursday morning,
when she took her up some gruel. Demised said then that
she was much better, and requested witness to go and lie
down on the bed, which witness did, and on going again to see
deceased at five o'clock she found she was not there, and was
nowhere to be found. It was witness's impression that
deceased went to the churchyard for the purpose of geeing
her father's tomb, whom she was very much attached to.
—Mr. Roy, one of the parochial surgeons, living at Brook-
green, deposed that he had made a posemoreem examination
of the body of deceased, and had found the liver very much
enlarged, and considerable effusion in the chest. Witness
considered deceased's death was accelerated by the exposure
in the churchyard to the 11( verity of the weather. Verdict,
"Died from natural causes."—Amemen 31teseett.—
By Mr. C. J. Carttar, coroner, at the United Service Tavern,
Woolwich, on the body re a male infant, aged three weeks.
In this ease the child of a woman named Goldfinch, died
(roma dose of syrup of poppies, given by a woman of the
name of Simcock, who, on the discovery, used some words
which led to a suspicion that she had caused the death of her
own child in a similar manner. Under these suspicious cir-
cumstances the inquest was adjourned. The body of Simeock's
child was ordered to be exhumed for pate-mortem examina-
tion, and Simeock and her husband were held to bail to
answer any charge that might be brought against them.—
SUICIDE. —By Mr. Mills, on the body of Mr. Merchant,
aged sixty-seven, a mastersrnith and farrier, residing at
Walham-green. For the last three weeks deceased ap-
peared exceedingly depressed in spirits, and complaiue3 of
pains in the head. On Sunday morning lie was found lying
on his back in the wash-house, with a wound on the left side
of his throat, from which a large quantity of blood had
escaped. A earvingknife was grasped in his right hand, and
a large-bl ided penknife was found stained with blood near
him. A verdic. of "Temporary mental derangement" was
returned.

THE ANTI-SLAVERY LEAGUE :AT MAN-

CHESTER.

A meeting was held on Monday evening, at seven
o'clock, in the great Free Trade-hall, to receive a deputa-
tion from the Anti-Slavery League, on the subject of Ame-
rican slavery. The deputation was announced to consist of
Mr. George Thompson, Mr. \V. L. Garrison, and the escaped
slave, Frederick Douglas. About 3,000 persons were present,
amongst whom were a goad number of the Society of
Friends. Mr. W. Shutt!e worth was called to the chair.
Mr. Geonos THOMI'SON explained 1.1:e object of the meet-
ing, which was to show that the members of the Evangelical
alliance, recently held, offered, if not a tacit acquiescence in,
a lukewarm opposition to slavery, inconsistent with Christian
principle.
Mr. WRIGHT followed. Speaking of the New School
Geueral assembly of Presbyterians which met at Philadel-
phia, be said that it is a branch of the General Assembly of i
the Presbyterian Church of America, which is divided into
the old and the new schools. In 1794 that (March adopted
the following principle—'. That all who ate concerned in
bringing men into slavery, or retaining them; all who buy
or sell slaves, are man4teilers, guilty of t'h'eft, and sinners of
the first rank." This was the discipline •of the Presbyterian
Church in 1794; but in 1816 these men-stealers had so mul-
tiplied in that Church that they got the erasure of that prin-
ciple. Well, there were more than 30 taco-stealers in the As-
sembly last spring. The following ease came before the Assem-
bly for adjudication. In 1844, Res-. W. Graham, a member
of the Synod of Cincinnati, published a book to prove that
slave-holding is in accordance with the word of God. He
woe tried by the Synod, and deposed from the ministry for
fathering American slavery upon God. He appealed to the
General Assembly. So numerous and powerful were the
slave-holders in that body, that, by threats of disunion, they
brought the Assembly to condemn the decision of the Synod
in regard to William Graham, and to request it to reverse
that decision and continue him in the ministry. They also
brought the Assembly to decide that it was contrary to the
constitution of the Presbyterian Church, to exclude a man
from the ministry because he considered slavery a divine in-
stitution, and fathered it upon a God of love and justice.
Mr. ARCHIBALD PRENTICE stated his belief that 19.20tha
of the gentlemen forming the Alliance had as just aud right-
' eons an abhorrence of slavery as the gentlemen of the
deputation. (Applause and disapprobation.) After this an
altercation took place between Messrs. Thompson and Pren-
tice, when it had subsided,
Mr.Geonoe l'uosseeoer called upon the meeting to affirm
the following motion:
.• That the conduct of Use Evangelical Alliance, first, in adopting a
proposition declaring that men might be slavehuliters without any
fault of their owe, and from disinterested motives, and then, to gra-
tify the proalavery spirit of the .Imeriean detentes, reusing from
their proceedings all reference to the subject of slavery, in order to
prevent a disunion, was at variance with the uncompromising spirit
of Christian truth, and a virtual approval of the objects of those who,
while they profess to be the followers of the Great Redeemer, make
merchandise of the bodies and sou 6 of men." (Loud cheers.)
Mr. Fast). Dora LAS seconded the motion.

Mr. PaSNTICE, in the face of great disapprobation—the
meeting refusing f r some time to listen to him—moved an
amendment. He said, if Mr. Thompson would propose a
revolution condcmniug, in every Whist, of the word, both
slavery and slaveholders, in every part of the globe, instead
of censuring a body of men in the bulk, amongst whom were
many as strong opponents of slavery as any that could be
found in the rinks of the abolitionists themselves, he would
not oppose him, and he believed the motion would pas: una-
nimously. He threw out this suggestion fur the sake of
peace. His amendment was :
' That this meeting expresses its utter abhorrence of slavery and
slavc-bulding, under any name and under any circumstances; end
thanks tbo friends of liberty in America (or their efforts to obtain the
abolition of slavery in that country."
—( Partial cheering.)
Mr. Titomrsost said he should have hailed the proposition
for peace, but the fact was, it was not they who had sought,
the alliance, but the alliance who had made war on liberty
by their virtual recognition of slavery at Birmingham.—
(Hear, hear.)
Mr:DOI:I:LAS again spoke at some length, and ultimately,
about twelve o'clock, the intended seconder of the amend-
ment having let the meeting, the chairman, amidst some
impatience and confusion, put the triginal motion, which
appeared to be carried all but unanimously.
The meeting then broke up.
THE PRISONS OF IRELAND.

The 24th Report (1843) on the general state of tho
prisous of Ireland, presents a gratifying Oegree of improve.
ment in the moral government and discipline of these esta-
blishments contrasted with their condition in former years—
especially as regards the important points of industry and the
minute classification of prisoners ; while it at the same time
freely admits that much has still to be effected ; which, how-
ever, it is considered possible to effect only through legisla-
tive interference. The gaola of Ireland are described to be, upon
the whole, in a high state of good order and regularity ; hut it is
stated that, before they can bear a comparison with those of
other countries, the Prison Act 7 Geo. I V., c. 74, should be
amended in the following particulars: 1. The appointment
and selection of prison officers to be given to a ceutral board,
as in Scotland ; or to his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant.
2. The salaries of officers of prisons to be regulated perma-
nently, according to extent of duty and population ; and not
left as at present to the discretion of grand juries. 3. The
establidiment of penitentiaries for young criminal*, male and
female. 4. The preventing by law the committal of lunatics
to county gaols. 5. The removal of debtors from county
gaols, when they occupy accommodation that could be alloca-
ted to separate confinement for criminals.
Tile Inspectors'-General, from whom this report has
emanated, observe, that as it will be their last, they
deem it desirable to leave on record a short account
of the state of the prisons in 1821, when the Inspec-
tors-General were appointed, what improvements had
since taken place, and • hat still remained to be done.
They observe, that in the year 1821, the county
gaols of Ireland, with a few exceptions, such as Lime-
rick and Cork, presented for the most part scenes of filth,
fraud, and vice; w 4 scarcely one good resident officer;
without accommodation, clothing, classification, employment,
inspection, school instructioa, order, or cleanliness; the law
totally disregarded; male and female prisoners often not
separated ; spirits sold openly in many gaols, and frequently
by the under officers; the expenditure in the diet often
amounting to 9L, and sometimes to Is., per head per day ;
and the families of prisoners being frequently fed from the
ovcrplus of fond issued to each prisoner, a manifestfraud upon
the county. This and all such abuses having been swept
away, a continual progress discipline and general improve-
ment followed; enabling the authors of this report to state,
that every county in Ireland had, within the last twenty
years, either erected a new prison, or added materially to the
accommodation of the existing one, giving, in most cases, a
cell for every prisoner at night, and as much classification of
crime in day-rooms, and of work by day, as the law requires;
—that the Act permitting total separation of each prisoner is
in progress in some gaols, and under consideration
in all ;—that in nearly all employment and indus-
trious habits, school instruction, and a prison dress,
are now fully established;—and that the female pri-
soners are, without any exception, attended to by quail
fled female matrons and assistants.
They strongly recommend, in addition to the amend-
ment of the Prison Act, as already specified, the build-
ing of a national model prison in Ireland, such as
exists at Pentonville, near London, and at Perth, in
Scotland; with ample funds from the public purse to pro-
vide everything necessary to secure • full and just experi-
ment, as to the expediency of total separation, or any other
improvement in moral government; adding, as a matter of
justice to the county of Antrim, that a county house of cor-
rection has been erected at Belfast, at a vast expence, on the
model of Pentouville Prison, and containing more than 300
cells, fi,ted up for separation; but that, considering the
amount of funds necessary to carry out all the details of such
a system, they greatly fear a perfect trial of it cannot be
made without government assistance. They also suggest, as
an obvious source of good, the building of a juvenile prison,
similar to Parkhurst, in the Isle of Wight; and express
their belief that the new depot about to be erected in or
near Dublin, for the reception of convicts from all parts
of the kingdo:n, previous to embarkation for ,112
will prove a grant improvement in our prison discipline.
Descending from generalit'es to particulars, they describe the
prison of Newg.lte in the ci'y of Dublin, what, indeed, it hoe
long been acknow'edoed to he, as old and dilapidated, con-
taining many obtainer abuses and imperfections, and giving
rise to the question whether it would not be better to abolish
it altogether and erect a new one is some other lomlity.