The Express.
London, England, 1847-04-29 00:00:00

%/4-7-1--i2.

spee“ag the purport of his visit, sad it was not null the
eve of hie departure that it became known. It has rime
transpired that some months ago, some canons awl Fiala,
counselled by some goserrunaat employ.* wall known as
staunch partisans of the Jeeuita, secretly addressed a letter
to the Pope, pointing out the advanced age of the Bishop of
Malta—upwards of ninety—his incapacity to fulfil the
duties of his diocese, and recommending the appointment of
I a coadjutor. The Popc sent Dr. English to Malta to in-
vestigate the affair. Dr. English unfortunately fell into
the Jesuit snare, and recommended his Holiness to appoint
a coadjutor in the person of Bishop Publics Saul, Bishop of
Lands, an excellent person as a man, bat one totally unfit,
setting aside his being a staunch friend to the Jesuits, to pre-
side over the church of Malta. The clergy of Malta are, con
sequestly, at war ; the Jesuit party wish for Bishop Saul,
the liberal part oppose it; and strong protests are about to be
addressed to Rome upon the subject, especially as this ap-
pointment appears to have been made without the sanction of
the British government. On the Bth, in the evening, as &ca-
tholic priest, a canon, and master of the government school
as Suites, by name Dedoseenioo, was going horns, he was
stopped by a sentinel of the 97th regiment, whilst on duty,
who desired him immediately to give him some money. The
canon said be had none to give, and was proceeding on his '
way, when tho sentry collared him, kept him prisoner,
and delivered him over to the "wpm' of the peed, charged
with having improperly assaulted him. of course,
the canon denied, and told his tale ; the sentry per-
sisted in his, and the police was emit tor. After hearing
the charge, the police allowed the canon, as he was well
known, to go home. The noon tossulted with his Mends,
sad early the nest morning waited upon his excellesey the
goveracwireanal, Sir Patna Stuart, stating the cam. Ma
excellency told hint he could say nothing until the Me had
been heard, and reported upon by the police and the com-
manding officer of the 97th. The poor eanon, who is a talented
young man, much respected by everybody, and of modest
and retiring habits, was horror-struck at the idea of having
to meet such a diabolical charge clothed in his sacerdotal
robes, before a court of justice. lie went home, retired to
his room, and cut hi. thrat : the wound was not however
mortal, and he y, t lingers in hie misery. The success of this
soldier of the 97th encooraged another of the 64th to try
thesame trick. On Saturday morning, the 10th, about eight
o'clock, u • Greek gentleman, a merchant here, was taking
his customary morning walk in the sipper barrage, over-
looking the grand harbour, the sentinel on duty
idea and asked him kg some monez. The Greek
gle, him exp. Toe sentry then took WM prtedaer, and
when the -tetlef came dimmed him with having im-
properly assaulted him. He was handed over to the
police, but allowed to go at large upon his own ricog-
MiZaltill. - .

Them diabolical attempts at extortion and vilification
hays filled men's minds wtth horror and dread. No man
considers himself safe when near ► soldier, a sentry especially,
unless he has a eomp►oion. If this is allowed too 00, BOON-
thing serious will occur. The natives, if they find them.
selves exposed to the accusations of every armed ruffian,
and have no further remedy than their own conscientious
denial for an unjust ezposi in a rolice-court, will be apt to
take the law into their own hands and punish the offender
on the spot. The idea of persons assailing men an duty,
armed with a musket, bayonet, and ball cartridge, is too
absurd to admit of a moment's consideration. . .

7he Penasular and Oriental Company's steamer Ariel
arrived last right at 10 r.x. fromAlesandris, with Calcutta
and Bombay mails and passengers. The passengers and
mail, rid Southampton, were transhipped to the Ripon.
H.M.S. Spitfire railed this morning at eleven with the
overland mail fur Marseilles.
A French line-ofsbattle ship passed the island on Sotnr-
ay, the 10th, steering with a strong N.W. to the cast. She is
b.:hewed to he one or the linen which are to form a squadron
for Prince de Joinville at Salamis. A letter received here
from Beyrout, mentions that three Jews have been
united at Jerusalem, charged with having bound
and gagged a christian boy of twelve years of age,
wids the intent of opening the veins is his legs,
to procure ehristian blood for the celebration of
their passover. The boy managed to make his cries heard; the
Jews were seized, and the boy taken to the French consulate.
The affair is being investigated. Speculators in corn here
have made a nice harvest. The corn trade here is a perfect
monopoly in the hands of half • dozen persons. They
charge what they please, and cannot possibly lose; for if
their foreign speculations do not turn out so well as they ex-
pected they rise the price in Malta to make up for it.
Wheat here is now 70e. per qr. first quality °down, and
yet the loaf, weighing 111 b. English weight, and of •
rinality far inferior to what is called English seconds, costa
31d., r more than 2d. per lb., for brown bread. There are
upwards of 23,000 qrs, in deposit, many of them pur-
chased some months ago at 30e. per qr. ; so they am
making • pretty profit. The government will not in-
terfere, the people asked for an abolition of the govern-
ment reserve stsres of grain, kept to meat a case of scarcity
like the present, and for the trade to be left entirely in the
hands oi the merchants; they obtained it, and now they see
the consequences of what was foretold them. Every other
article of primary necessity is consequently enormously dear.
Prince Charles, of Capon, and his consort and family, are
still ileitis at Sliema, quite retired. Nothing is known here
of the truth of that article in the Augsburg Gazette, that a
reconciliation had taken place, de., between the prince and
his august brother, the King of Naples, neither is it believed,
although such an occurrence would create universal batiste°.
tiou. English vessels are not so much in demand, and
freights are much lower. They aro now 7s. to Bs. to Liver-
pool or London, per quarter. There are upwards of twenty
vessels in barboar. Ezebange en London, 80 days, 544. the
dollar of 4a. 2d.

THE FORTRESS or SAN JUAN D'ULLOA.—The
following is on extract of a letter in the last number of the
Nem York Tribune, from an officer on board the United
States ship Albany: " As from the deck, with my glass,
swept over the city of Vera Cruz, its environs, and the
strcughold which covers it—said to be impregnable to the
combined fleets of the earth—it was with a rather serious
feeling that my eyes rested upon this grim, grizzly pile,
barbed and bristling with its hundreds of cannon. The ques-
tion at once arises, can it be taken ? Shall we ever see our
fleet moving up over the expanse before me to attack it ? I
doubt it very much. Certainly not, with any force we have,
or have had hem. Let people prate as much at home as
they please about it. If ever it is done, it will be by
• tremendous array of cannon, and a most awful loss
of life. The castle of Vera Crux is no more what it was when
the French carried it, than you are now to what you were
when a nursling is your mother's arms. Then there were
no guns above the calibre of 24 pounds, and but very few of
them well served. The magazines, una'ched, were not
bomb-proof. The powder was of such an inferior character
that not a shot pen -rated the side of a French ship, but at
the close of the enga;:ement were stuck about the sides of the
shipping, like so mat.: balls of mud ; and in addition to all this
the commanding officer, having been instructed not to fire the
tint gun, permitted the French squadron to come up and take
its position as quietly as though mooring to pass the winter
season. Now, let us see what a change time and a severe
lemon have effected in this same castle. There are at pre-
sent mounted within its periphery nearly 300 cannon, and
these all 32's, 42's, and 8 sad 10 inch Paixhans, there being
• very largo number of the latter; and wherever it has
been possible to train a gun upon the channel of approach,
they are planted, enbarbette, so that a fleet moving up to the
attack must be exposed to a concentrated fire of 70 cannon,
over a distance of two miles before it can get into position to
return a single shot. The Zastle of San Juan trouts the city
at • distance of about 3-Bt'ra of a mile, and is supported by •
water-battery, at the north-west angle of the town, of 50, 32,
and 42-pound guns ; all of which would pour their volleys on
the squadron paying up, bows on, from the moment it arrived
within range of the shot, until its anchors were down with
erezrhanoccaporosketahlu.lcucte,
Zreinntshuat a fothreeecawbioueUmithreinq
uired
and at what an immense 'orifice it wouid be accomplished,
if at all. The garrison at this moment is composed of 2 000
men. In the event of an attack they would, with the most
perfect safety, retire within the casemate* (which are as im-
pervious to shot as the sides of Mount Orinba) until the
ammunition of the wailing force was expended, when they
would return to their guns aril sweep the waters before them
with the most terrific, destructive effect. The officer com-
manding the castle lately sent official word " that if the
commodore would bring his fleet up, he might fire until
there wu not a shot left in the locker, and he would pro-
mise him not to return a gun until he was done firing."

THE AMERICAN SOUADION IN THE GULF OF
MExlce.—We understand that the following fs a corrected
list of the United States naval forces now concentrating in
the Gulf of Mexico. They furnish a formidable armament
on the seaside to cover the debarkation of our troops and to
assist is taking the Castle :—Line-of-battle ship Ohio, Capt.
Btringham,74 gune ; frigate Potomac, Capt. Aulick, 44; frigate
Raritan, Capt. Forest, 44; sloop of war John Adam., Cons-
ll'Cluney, 20 ; sloop of war St. Mary's, Com. Saunders, 20;
sloop of war Albany, Capt. Fleeces, 20; sloop of war Ger-
mantown, Com. Buchanan, 20; sloop of war Saratoga, Com.
Faragut, 20; sloop of war Decatur, Com. Pinckney, 16;
brig of war Porpoise, Lieut. Hunt, 10; schooner of war
Bonito, Lieut. Benham, 1 ; schooner of war Reefer, Lieut.
Sterret, 1 ; schooner of war Petrel, Lieut. Shaw, 1 ; steamer
Mississippi, Corn. Adarns(Paixham), 10 ; steamer Princeton,
Coin.Engle,9; ateamerSpitflre,Com.Tabiall,3;stearnerVizeu,
Com. Sands, 6; steamer Maclean, Capt. Howard, 3; Ecarner
Union, Capt. Rudd, 4 ; steamer Router, Lieut. M'Laughlin,
6 ; steamer Scorpion, Com. Bigtow, 64-pr., 1 ; steamer
I Scourge, Lieut. Hunter, 1 ; stare-ship Relief, Lieut. Bullus,
6- store-ship Supply, Lieut.Colhouo, 2; store ship Fredonia,
Lieut. Chatiocey, 2; bomb ketch Stromboli, Com. Van.
Brunt, 93-pr., 1 ; bomb ketch Mos, Com. Walker, 93-pr.,
1; bomb ketch Vesuvius, Com. Magruder, 93-pr., 2;
bomb ketch Ueda, Lieut. Fairfax, 93-pr., 1 ; onali
ketch Electra, Lieutenant Hunt, 1; cutter Forward,
Capt. Nones, 6. Total number of guns, 354. The whole
tantalum of guns, according to the ratings of the ships
enumerated, is 254—which is less, however, than the
actual number. This enumeration does not include several
small vessels captured from the enemy and taken into ser-
vice by Commodore Connor. The brig Washington (one
gun), Lieutenant Commander S. P. Lee, also destined for
the Gulf of Mexico, will sail in a few days ; and the Percy
(10 guns), Lieutenant Commander Barron, will sail as soon
as a crew can be obtained (or her. The steamer Alleghany
(10 guns), Lieutenant W. W. Hunter, is completing her
equipment at Memphis, and will soon be ready for sea.
14 of the vessels named have bees purchased by the depart-
ment since the commencement of the war.—Neer York
Tribune.

ON VENTILATION.
At the last meeting of the Institute of British
Architects, a paper of some public interest was read, by Mr.
Toynbee, on ►entilation.
Mr. TOTNBEI commenced by Aging that the result of the
extended in►estigations, so long conducted by the medical
profcsdon, into the nature and treatment of disease, demon-
strated that the great duty of every man was to carry out
pre►entive measures. English people seemed to be but little
aware of the amount of disease by which man at the
present time isa ; and yet the details in Lord Morpeth's
recent speech, the returns of the registrar-general, and statis-

lice from various Downes, showed that them disease
was the rule, and health was the exception. Let it to eosin-
nually repeated, and never forgotten, that one-fourth of the
children born in England die before they reach the fifth
year; and out of 49.089 people who died in London in the
year 1848, 22,275 died before they remised thsattesnth year,
and only 2,241 of old age,. which Baerhateve stated to be the
only disease natural to man. In addition to this it must be
known that, as a general rule, when the body is
examined atter death, whether of • child or adult,
one or more organs is found in a state of disease,
• fact which induced • physician to state, that he
looked upon every adult he met in the streets of
London as • walking museum of morbid anatomy. Of the
causes of the 49,089 deaths in 1846 he examiued, it will be
found that the enormous proportion of 14,368 was from die-
canes of the organs of respiration. Now, it has been shown
that the great sources of these diseases was the respirations
of impute air. To suggest measures for the removal of
this great evil, and to present some of the most
dist 'easing diseases to which mankind is subject, was
his object in responding to the request of the society that he
would deliver the present add:via. Mr. Toynhee then pro-
ceeded to consider the subject of ventilation in its various
bearings. In proof of the necessity for ventilation, he stated
that it was of great importance that air should be continually
is motion, for, like water, when stagnant it became offensive
and injurious this was accounted for by the fact that the air
always contained a large quantity of animal and vegetable j
matter in the fora of the ova of infusoria and the seeds of
the lower vegetable organisms. But the act of respiration
was the groat cause of the deterioratiou of the air. The air
in the lungs was exposed to 170,000,020 of cells, having •
surface equal to 30 times that of the body; that euringirai
Vadat the sir ems deprived et oxygen, and litiaMn•
with deadly embank acid gas, mid was refidertel totally
unfit for a second respiration, being in reality no longer at-
mospheric air, but a poisonous gas. A second cause of the
deterioration of the air is the combustion of lamps, gas-
lights, candles, &c. A single candle is nearly as injurious to
the air as a human being. Two fourteen-hole Argand burners
consumed as much air so eleven men. A third source vf at-
mospheric impurity is, the vapour, loaded with animal matter,
given off from the lungs and the skin. Each of these parts
pours out an ounce of fluid every hour, so that, in a church
containing 500 people, 14 gailons of noxious Nuid are given
off in two hours. A fourth ileum of bad air in towns is the
large quantity of decomposing animal and vegetable matter
left to give off its effluvia, and the difficulty there is in the
renewal of the air in towns by means of the winds, on se.
count of the vicious mode of then. construction and their
large size. In reference to the impurity of the sir of Lon-
don, Dr. Mantell st ites, that various classes of infosoria
which he was in the habit of keeping alien in his
house at Clapham, all died in London, and it is
well known that scarcely any plants will livo in
London. It was then stated that certain diseases were ells-
taictly traceable to the absence of ventilation, viz., fever,
c insumptien, scrofula, tleafnete, and that most fertile origin
of numerous diseases, the common " cold." It was shown
that 120,000 people in England and Wales are always slowly
dying from consumption; that .there is double the amount
of this disease among in-door than there is among out-door
labourers. That this disease was More frequent among
women than among men ; that in 1839, out of 33 milliners
who died in London, 28 died of consumption. Mr. Toynbee
then showed that, up to the present time, the subject
of vmtiertion had been entirely neglected in the eon-
structisn of no-ens, houses, towns, and cities; that the
greatest injury had been inflicted upon mankind by this
neglect, and, as the po?ulrtion increased, and towns became
larger, the evil must become crra'er, unbes remedies were
at once carried into ME. et. Under these circumstance., until
society should be sufficieutly informed voluntarily to secure
its well-being, it was the bounden duty of a government, the
enlightened guide of its people, to suggest measures and see
them carried t ut, to prevent the large amount of misery that
the absence of ventilation was producing. The important
question, then, was, hs.w far could government interfere
with advantage in enforcing plena of ventilation by legisl i.
live enactments? Mr. Toynbee then submitted the following
propositions for the adoption br government, to the consi-
deration of the institute:—l. That no living, sleeping, or
work-room shall contain less than 141 superficial tett, or
shall be less than ei;ht feet high. 2. That such room shall
have one wiudee, at least. opening at the top. 3. Also, an
epen tire-place. 4. That in every living, sleeping, or work
room erected in future, some method shall be adopted of
allowing the foul air to eacape from the upper part of the
room. He then pointed out the practicability of car-
rying out this provision, either by the introduction
of Arnotete vale. into the chimney, thousands of which
were at this time in operation, and which might also be
adapted to existing chimneys without fear of smoke by the
addition of a simple contrivance which he described, or al
distinct channel might be made for the purpose. As a peel(
that eentileition mast largely conduce to the prevention of
disease, he stated that during the pat year there was a
diminution of nearly 800 in the number of sick applying for
admission to the St. George and St. James's Dispensary,
and it was believed that this, in part at least, was due to the
improvement made by the Samaritan Fund, attached te the
dispensary, in ventila: iog the abodes of the poor in the dis-
trict. 5. That every such room erected in future shall have
some means of continually admitting fresh air. 6. In every
public building in which gas is us,l, to Mina upon the use
of plans to carry off the product of combustion, and not to
allow them to escape in • room. Various plans having this
object are in operation in hundreds of shops, and may be seen
in many shops in Regent-street. By their use not only are
the goods in the shop raved from injury, but the health of
the people is improved. Ho was happy to hear that in
Covent Garden Theatre, not a particle of the products of
combustion from the gas was allowed to enter the theatre.
7. That all churches, schools, theatres, workshops, work-
houses, and other public buildings, shall adopt such methods
of ventilation as are approved by the medical officer of health.
—Mr. Toynbee pointed out how these desirable objects were
to be earned out, and showed that every house and roam
must be au arranged that it cm be supplied with fresh
air to replace the vi iated air which has been re.
moved. Professor Honking had carried out these
plans in every part of his house, and, until they were
general, the diseases dependent upon the want of ven-
tilation must be a scourge to society. lie observed that in
all the stables now erecting, admirable plans of ventilation
were adopted. Hosing given this subject deliberate con- j
sideration, he had arrived at the above conclusions, in which, i
among many others, he was supported by Dr. Sutherland,
of Liverpool, and Dr. Gay, of London, two of his many '
fellow-labourers in the public health cause,whose enlightened
intelligence was only eq tilled by their benevolence. In
conclusion, he stated that the various health of towns as-
sociatiens were at work heart and soul instructing the MAWS
of the people as to the best means of promoting their physical
welfare, a labour in which every enlightened man should
join, and he felt that if government would lend all the aid in
its power towards currying out sanitory measures, not
only would an enormous amount of misery be saved,
but an extent of happiiiess would be gained of which we had
at present only a faint ides.

THE MARRIAGE LAW OF SCOTLAND.
Subjoined is the Lord Advocate's bill to alter the
law of Scotland effecting the constitution of marriage, as
proposed to ba amended by the committee.
Whereas It te expedient that the law of marriage in Scotland should
be amended as far s the same afticte the consunition of marriage in
OW country; be It muted, by the Queen's Mont Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and consent of the Leeds Spiritual and Tem.
petal, and Commons, in this present parliament easeinhed, and by
the authority of the same, that from and after the last day of
Match, IS A, excepting to the rime of Jews and Quakers, as
heteinafter excepted, no marriage shall be contracted in Scot:and
otherwise than by solemnization in presence of a clergyman, or by
registration, m terms of an Act passed in the present mean of ratite-
meat, Minuted, " An Ast (or registering births, deaths, and mar-
riages in Scotland," the parties proposing to marry by registration
appearing ix preeence of the registrar, and then and there signing be-
fore witnewee the entry of their marriage in the register, and haling
the same otherwise registered In the manner provided by the sal
Act, In the ewe of the registration of marriages by the parks them-
selves contracting marriage ; upon and by which registration only the
marriage shall be held to be contracted or valid or effectual to any ef-
fect or purpose whatever.
And be It enacted, that it shall be lawful for the registrar to register
any marriage in the following eases cooly, coed in nose other; ant, if
the marriage shall be solemnized in presence of a clergyman, and re-
gistered at the time; or, secondly, if there shall be produced to the
registrar a certificate under the hands of the clergyman mielanielng
the marriage, that the marriage was Bolcmuiscd Whin presence, end
in the treat of oath clergyman not being either the minister of the
parish formlrg se eontained in the district in which each marriage I.
to be registwed. ce usually ollaiatiag W some Mown emgregstl®
within such peke, the registrar before ricking're shall require the
subscription of Mk AMOY to each urgings to be attested by
the soperinteadeut rasishaw of the district, or the raglan: of the
subdistrict la saga gash dergyrnan resides or le ellolatee; or.
thirdly, Otte* watnalise garde., one or both of them. being of the
Jewish religion, lave selmulned their marriage oceirdiselothe tits
ateerred by peremegrelmslag the Jewish religion, or, big a gnaw
or Quaker.' have their marriage accordingg te the ilerms oe
usages ohms-red by perms belonging t . the Society at /rinds, wise-
monly aided Qualm% sad swab marring. between leslaidd a the
Jewish mile= d
te ull be metilled to the reran= by the ...nal
the omegas whish the losidand emirs, Ling stank
Israel* Pe have ben performed weeding to dr= oar-
Ades bialfesa Mem belonging to the sodety of bleb shall be
Naga/ be the miaow by the registering ogles of the misty to
which seas peewee Mang to bare been duly performed sateadtag to
the he et Mei society; or, fourthly, It hath. M ere at
least of the to contract marriage SIM lam ken
reeidest "MGT-medial...Mr( twenty deer days preying tithe dale
et registration, and maim doll have twee given to Or registrer of
nth district Si their reglioNr such manage. lea deer
dap pre, loos to the segieWedita, week sots
.sating the Cheletian
motes and essmemes, eat dedgastkas rig agreeoae sad raddieseas
the sontraotargair=ead la sash hot sow Mos retrainee ratahing
sash rake be. Nam at tsessay-kar hoon. glee seam
to the swabber the diming b wigs h the other endear:des party,
grallatat Is anallier SOK sad reit* who shall forthwith weer-
Ida sod mart le sea Togletra whether dr diets-
sag la eadi mode booorreet : and if it shell appear and he waged
tai the letemisiet 1r haerreet, the eerie tratka Men not tab=
aid meth Maw solibe pabliebadi in the Weals% err in both
(as the owe mg be). by ann.. • copy thereof igen the doses ig the
=edinetb, la theater =NM ea oaf, firstatery maws =
or at sable essi= *tee as or war die door or
ot the whim et*, elputt it shall be aw-
ful lo Tegielser-grierid. ;16" twilled. lip of one of her
Idegiate seesolestee of elate, to boot snob other or addl.
Waal of seek loam be be mania or given sa to him shell
Ael aesamag or proper.
Prosikd YR" and be a austal„ that it any party shall baw-
-1 sal 'Way We las eantrery of what is hereinbet ire enacted,
damns aceml Won contracting parties, or es registrar,
ay nageles of tamaiep, ezetpting in one or other of the awes here-
intake, walls& sob ty or teglstrar stall be held guilty of an
odes" sod hi by due, not exceeding two bundr: pounds
or by laprisemest, tony period not exceeding one year,
that Ohs regime shsa not be thereby affeettal, Out the
shall be Wall Woes rad purpose* valid sad effectuaL
And be It emiabile. that where any registrar shall ressise notice

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207.] LONDON, TI