The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-29 00:00:00

Coun.

The Duchess of Kent dined with her Majesty and
Prince Albert yesterday evening, at Buckle Aron l',,'.les.
The Duke and Duchess Augustus of Saxe Coburg
and their three infant children have la en tee: ice' at Buck-
ingham Palace by her Majesty and Prince Albert, and
Ire far the present residing there. The infant daughter"(
the Duke de Nemoors is likewise for tha prevent receiving
her Majesty's hospitality.
The Duchess of Gloucester visited their Royal
Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterdd■ay,
at Cambridge-house.
A cabinet council was held at half-past two o'clock
yesterday afternoon, at the Foreign-office. Tin ministers
present were:—Lord John Rusell, the Inn 1 Chancellor.
the Marquis of Lsnadowne. Sir G.•orge Grey. Vislount Pal-
merton, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Hee: quer, the
Eal of Auckland, Sir Jo ,n Hubhouse, Lor•t Campbell,
Viscount Morpeth, the Right Hon. H. Lab.ruchere, and the
Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay. The council sat one hour
and a half.
Prince Castelcicala, the Neapolitan Minister, and
the Chesali,r Bunsen, Prus.ian min.ster, transacted business
yesterday at the Foreign-office.
•

I)E.tiff OP PRINCV. GRANDIIOTHER.--i
The Court has been thrown into the deepest inflaming by
the account received yeas-easy, by spccial mess( nger, Boron
Hrandenstein, of the sudden demise of the Dowager
DoLhess of S to Gotha and Altenbo, rg, the maternal grand-
mother of His Itoyal Highness Prince Al.b.rt.—ller royal
highness was sister of tho late Elector of Hess and grand-
child of the sister of George 11. She died at Gotha on the
4221 id Mat' in her 77th year, lamented and revered by all
who knew her. The life of thi- estimable lady was devoted
to acts of charity, and she has died leaving the whole of her
property to the poor of the town of Gotha.

ABANDONMENT OF THE PROPOSED
ADDITION TO THE INCOME TAX.
It will be seen by our parliamentary report that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer made last evening the
gratifying announcement that the government had deter-
mined to ahautlon the propos.d addition of two per cent.
to the property and income tan. The strong opposition to the
measure expressed out of doors has, it wound r em,
the ministry to yield. This repugnar.eo to the projected
ase was exhibited yesterday more strongly a td more widely
.hrou.ihout the country than ever. In the, City of Loudon
mettle of the livery took place in Oui!dhall, at which the
Lord Mayor presided. Several resolivions expressing the
utmost condemnation of the increased tax were passed. In
every other part of the =trap Ai+ parish and ,ntriet meet-
ings were also held with a similar result—in every ease
arrived at with perfect unaninnty. Our pro: iociit cor-
ns!. indents have also rent us reports of anti-incometax
meetings held yesterday in various parts cf the country. The
Wesaing announcement, however, of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer supersedes the necessity of our doing more the
merely waffling the fret in general terms of their having
leen held.

MERCHANT SEAMEN'S 4/EFII3T4 ASVT.UIL Yea-
terd.sy a general meeting of the donors and subscribers to
this tharitv was held in the London Teem, Cep•. Nebo&
in the chair. The report stated that there were eighty-five
children in the asylum; that the late Thomas Ward, Eeq
qoeuth. d 5001. ; that the receipts fleun d 2,8141. ; and
taw the expenditure left a balance of n 371. The report was
adopted ; and four girls and tour hoes were, by election,
placid upon the books of the insulation.
NIERCIIANT Sr ,MEN'S SOClETY.—YesteTeey, tbs
annual elecioa of inmates into the asylum connected with
this society took place, at the Loudon Tavern, lesbopseate-
street ; Capt. Nelson, R.N., presiding. From a statement
of the society's accounts it appeared that the total reseepts of
the Jut year leaving,91 16e., and the expeuelitare
24,7671. oe. old., a balance to 1848 in favour of the
society of S'2ll. Ifs. Id. Amongst the receipt: were:—Duty
tram London vessels, 13,3821. 13s. 7d. ; du'y from outp erts
vessels of ports under the management of the corporation.
8,3671 2: id.; Coneolielated Three per Cent. Beath Annuities,
for 3 01101. sold at 884 per cent., 2,6551. ; o.d South Sea
Ale:nee., far 1,0001. sold at 824 per cent., 8251. Amongst
the items of expenditure were :—Paid to London pensioners,
13,9641. 2e. od.; paid to outports pensioners, 5,6741.; tem-
enterer nllef, &c., 2,2001.; Seamen's Respite! Soceey,
5551,:31. 43. Four additional inmates of the asylum were
ceded, and the usual routine business hi ving been disposed
et, the meeting separated.
NORFOLK EsTUARY COMPANY. —A half-yearly
meeting of proprietors was held en Saturday at the London
Tavern. Mr. Steward presided. The directors' report
stated that they did not think it necessary to recommend
any call upon the proprietors at prevent. They still recom-
mended that no steps should be taken for the purchase of
hod, or making the cut before the nest half-yearly meeting,
unless &suctioned by a majority of the shareholders precept,
a- an extraordinary meeting to be convened in the mean-
time pursuant to the comeany'it act will full notice of the
u juct. The peciunts showed that, inclusive id* a previous
balance, 4,9291.0, 81. had been received, out of which a
present balance remained of 021. Bs. loci. Tee report was
adopted, and was followed by the re-election of directors and
auditor, retiring by rotation.
SUFFERINGS OF EMIGRANTS.--Sir,—Your remarks
on the proposed new law relative to emigrant ships seising
to America deserve every commendation. If the govern-
ment are sincere in their desire to diminish the sufferiege,
during the voyage, of the poor who seek a new home in
America, they will take the only step likely to Effect that
purpose, by ordering every 'hip to carry a turpeun.
Emf-
grar.t ships to other countries are compelled to carry a
.nedical man, but a special exception was mode in favocr of
the American shippers, although ten times more passengers
go by their ships than by any other,. The owners pretend
shot surgeons are not to be had. They know much better.
They know that surgeonmare almost 11.1 plcn'y as stewards,
and it is not the ant they are afraid ue Ihe real see ret of
their opposition is that, if surgeons were appointed to emi-
grant chips sailing to America, the owners would not be
allowed to cram their unfortunate paesergers bet seen decks,
without ventilation, without sufficient room fur e.learitinew,
or provision far decency, as at present. Lest year the
vessels were more like slavers than ships for the carriage of
free emigrants. The accommodation for convicts is priucely
as compared with that afforded to the honest poor who bet
year crossed the Atlantic. The result is well known. The
course of the floating pest-houses was marked armee the
Atlantic by the dead bodies cast overboard they by day, as
they sailed from Liverpool to Canada. Those who rived
through this " middle mange" were sent whore to fill the
hospitals of Quebec and Montreal, to spread thecae in those
cities, and to be a burden on the pockets of their iuhabitanta.
Surgeons in tie ships would have preteetd ageinet a dan-
gerous over-emwding, would have resisted upon ventilation,
would have insisted upon wholaeme water and bread, and
would, by proper medicines, have checked in its °obit ak the
dangerous fever that destroyed sa many lives. But a sur-
geon by so doing would, by lessening to a safe point the
number of passengers, diminish the profit. of the Shipowner;
and hence the objection to any officer of the kind. The
plea that surgeons could not be bad is unfounded. Any
intiliesl agent could tell them that the average pay of a qua-
lified medical assistant is about 407. a year and his board and
lodging, or about 701. and provide himself with house and
feed. The poor-law commissioners get surgeons for OW. a
year to attend the poor of several pare hes fiteding medeises
to hoot; and not a he spital or medical school to Eneland,
Ireland, or Scotland but has numbers of young surgeons idle
for lack even of such poor engagements as those just named.
If the ministers would in their pr .posed new law substitute
the word "surgeon" for "superintendent" there would be
plenty of applicants for the appointment, quite willing to
perform the duties of the past ter the proposed rewind of
201. a voyage and a shilling a head for all pawner, r, leaded
in health. Let them make the experiment and you will
not have again to report so dreadful a story of uitease,
misery, end death as that which marks the f ntory of last
year's emigration to our North American colonies.—H.
THE "TIMES" AND TILE 4' CILOBE."—We have,
during the last week, notched with curiosity and interest
the prom. ding, of our high-priced contemporaries, and,
even with all our past experience, have been startled and
astonished at the shamele's manner in welch they have
“eonverd " from us without once mentioning the name of
the Daily News or Express. They would net have dared to
pursue such a course towards one of the birth-priced
Journals, for every other would ha, e denounced the
mee.mete; and do they believe. because they combined to
exclude us from all conjoint operations, and to crush us if
possible, by compelling us to hear the uneivided expense of
expresses, that they are therefore at liberty to combine to
rob us ? The Times and the Globe ',ate given Vagrant ex-
amples of this. The Globe is a peer piteul provider
in this and most other matters. Al we have stated twenty
limes, whenever a peragraph in the Timer is quoted from
the Glolre, the reader may be reasonably cernin it was take n
by the latter, without ack..ote !edam, at, front the Daily News.
But P., no is a limit to all thi. gs, and, atneugst othere,
to our patience. Here is the history in tittle of somo
twenty hips of news published mud placarded in the Globe.
As we mentioned yeso rday morning, the post-office in Paris
was closed on the first outbreak of the revolution; the railways,
too, sosereeled operations; and our cern speodent, consider-
mg the importance of the newr, resulted to scud his
despatches by a riding courier. But ow Thursday even
cons iers were not allowed to leave Paris, and our's was cone
peiled to pev the beater disguised ewpayaan, aid cr. e
ventured to mount a horse when sa:ne eietonce kola t:
city. Thence be rode at tamest speed to Boulogne. A. Ste: t 1
it sterday morning, the weather there was fearful, and even
the ste:em'.oets did not dare to leave the harbour. Our
ag nt at Beelogue, however, found a pilot who ua.dertook
•u carry the despatches across to Foikestoce. In this
the man failed, but succeeded in landing at Deal, aid
ferthwith, according to instructions, transmitted by electric
telegraph the important news which appeared in our second
Edition on Saturday. This despaoh. procured at such cot
and risk, the Globe copied without one word of acknow•
lEdgment ! It was formally set forth that it had been re-
ceived by electric telegraph, leaving the teileic to ,nfer
that
it had been so transmitted to the oldie. 'lb thing waadorie
ece boidy that we ourselves thought it p., that a duple.
cate copy might in error and by ..ceident, have been sent to
the Globe edict. The reply, however, from the mem-