The Express.
London, England, 1847-01-28 00:00:00

more competitors into the home market, whilst more
and more hostile tariffs abroad render foreign markets
more difficult to compete in. Each year increases the
temptation to English capitalists to invest their
money in manufacturing speculations abroad, where
it is exempted from the property-tax, and where
there is great prospect of remunerating prices.
Such propositions as those of Mr. FIELDEN, delu-
sive and dangerous at any time, are doubly so at the
present moment. All history shows that the only
weans of obtaining a transition in industry from agri-
culture to more refined employments is through the
influence of security of property. It is the absence
of such security, that has prevented the extension of
manufacturing in many different branches to Ireland.
The decay of old manufactures in many parts of the
continent is traceable to the same cause. Did no
other reason illustrate the danger of interfering in
the manner proposed with the disposal of private
property, the consequence to our growing population
would sufficiently justify our fear of the principle.
Will the shortening of the hours of labour limit the
growth of oar labourers numbers ? Are not they
like other classes of the population increasing
at the rate of I I per cent. per annum ? Place artificial
limits to employ, and you probably commit murder in
the name of humanity.
The measure, tan, will be most unjust if not gene-
ral. Is the injunction to be confined to factories
worked by steam, or is it to include those worked by
water power? The owner of a water-mill has some
claim to indemnity, if the power that he at all hours
commands, be curtailed one half. But who is to in-
demnify the labourer or labourers who must be dis-
missed because he is reduced to working half-time ?
The consequence of enforcing this regulation on a
foundry would be the prohibition of smelting. The
blast furnace ought not to be blown out for years.
The whole economy of the production of iron, to which
this country owes so much of its wealth, would be an-
nihilated by the enactment, that furnaces were to be
worked only ten hours at a time. Glass-houses are
in the same predicament. Mines during fourteen
hours' rest would fill up with water, and mining
would have to be abandoned. Do Mr. FIELDEN and
the committees shrink from this extension, or if
not, will they undertake to provide for the mass
of labourers who would thus be thrown out
of employment? Will they engage to remu-
nerate their fellow-townsmen for the fall in wages
which the competition of so many unemployed hands
must occasion ?
But why should the labourer on shore be alone
protected ? Why not decree that no ship shall sail
more than ten hours in the twenty-four ? Fish caught
out of the time fixed by law, were we to be consistent,
should be excluded from our markets. Even vessels
arriving at or leaving our ports would be unable to
avail themselves of the assistance of the tides, if the
law were not at least so far relaxed as to allow of a
choice of the ten amongst the twenty-four hours
which suited the captain's purpose.
The answer to all this is, that no such thing is
intended—no such principle is to be generally acted
on. Cotton alone, and the textile manufactures are
to be meddled with because they employ women
and children. An ironmaster need not be afraid ; it
is only the cotton lords, that are menaced.
Mr. COBDEN said the wisest of things, when he
recommended the ten hours law to be left to the
workmen themselves. Mr. FIELDEN triumphs in de-
claring that the workmen have made no attempt or
progress of the kind. Of course, as long as there
is an agitation to enforce the regulation by the legisla-
ture, the workmen will look to this promise of com-
pulsion. And they cling to it from the belief that
compulsory short hours will be accompanied by com-
pulsory full wages. In this the attempt is either to
make the artisans dupes, or their employers victims.
Mr. FIELDEN points to the mills working short
time, and boasts they would have been compelled all
to work ten hours and pay the wages of twelve,
bad his bill been passed last session. Does Mr.
FIELDEN imagine that his bill would have kept
open the markets of central Europe, closed by panic
and famine? Would his bill have doubled the
cotton crop, and given the raw material of manufac-
tures at the usual price ? Would his bill have pre-
vented the dearness of corn, and ensured those ad-
vantages which, from the repeal of the corn-laws,
would have naturally accrued to the manu-
facturers ? When Mr. FIELDEN talks of his
Ten-hours Bill, as calculated to remedy the pre-
sent suffering and suspensive state of manufactures,
he utters an absurdity, which discredits and disen-
titles hint to belief on other points, on which he may
be most earnest. and even with which he may be best

acquainted.
We must conclude by repeating our observation,
that there never was a period at which the experi-
ment of shortening the hours of labour in factories
was more dangerous and uncalled-for than the

secular education, in any nat;Anal system, has been
briefly and admirably stated 'oy the present Biehop of
EXETER, in the memorabl d words, " No RESTRICTION
AND NO COMPULSION." 'To this principle no one, that
we know of, has mesas any objection : though too
many have caviled t.t every possible means by which
it could be put int," prutice.
It is easy to see. that such a principle is perfectly
compatible •„rith a unilci system of national educa-
tion—and •rio system can be national which is not
united. All that is required is, that no restriction
should be imposed on the ministration of such special
relig:.ous instruction as the natural guardians of the
chadren desire, either on the school premises or in
their several places of worship, at such days and
hours as might be found convenient; and that no
compulsion should be used to bring children under
the influence of doctrines disapproved by their na-
tural guardians. " Where there is a will, there is a
way." Wherever there is a will for the carrying
into effect the great principle of religious freedom
enunciated by the Bishop of EXETER, the way will be
found easy, and the means abundant ; but wherever
there are lurking
.plans tbr proselytism—wherever
there are pharisaic principles of self-sufficiency—
wherever there is a feeling of bigotry and intole-
rance, which is, perhaps, not acknowledged even to
one's-self, there will be found cavil, and ob-
jection, and hair-splitting, and a perverse ingenuity
setting forth the most ren.ote of possibilities as the
probabilities that make the nearest approach to moral
certainty. "Nature," said the Caliph OTIIMAN, when
reproaching one of his lieutenants for turning back
from the conquest of Khorassan, "Nature never
placed such high mountains and broad deserts in a
warrior's path as reluctance finds there." The apho-
rism is one of universal application.
We regret to find that the delay of a national
system of education has led some persons to speculate
on the possibility of a separate system, in which each
denomination should establish and regulate its own
schools. To such a plan there is this insuperable ob-
jection, that the principle of separate education in-
volves that of separate social existence. If persons of
different religious persuasions cannot be safely trusted
together in school, so neither can they in office—in mu-
nicipal council, at parochial board, or in ordinary
market. The separate system is based on exclu-
siveness; it trains to controversy, and educates
to strife ; instead of a generation brought up to spread
peace and good-will to common humanity, and there-
by to glorify a common GOD, we shall be drilling
the soldiers of rival camps to fight the battle of sec-
tarianism as fiercely as it was fought in the seven-
teenth century. There arc enthusiasts in all parties
who would not shrink from such a consummation,
because overweening confidence leads them to antici-
pate the triumph of their own party. But we firmly
believe that there is in all parties a preponderating
majority of men of moderation and common sense
who fear that in such a struggle true religion would
be the greatest loser, whoever may be the ultimate
gainer. " When rival theologians,' says Qulssr,
" rush into the arena and call on Reason to preside
as judge of the field, they should address her as the
gladiators of old did the Roman Emperors :—Behold,
those who ore come to die before thee, salute thee."

GERMANY.—The Diet Extraordinary was opened
by commission at Dresden on the 21st of January.
ITALY.—Route.—The festival in honour of the
Magi wan held on the 10th instant, when hymns, celebrating
the nativity, were chanted, or recited, in a great variety of
the oriental languages and dialects, as well as ua almost all
the languages of Europe.—Allgeneine Zeitung.

RUSSIA.—The St. Peterebury Journal of the 15th
publishes an account of the repulse of en attack upon the
Itiessian fortress of Golowin in the Caucasus. The enemy is
stated to have retired, after sustaining a loss of 50 men. The
Russians state their loss at 4 killed and 12 wounded. The
emperor, as a proof of his satisfaction at the brilliant de-
fence of the garrison, has promoted some of the officers, and
granted decorations to some of the privates.
CHINA.—The following memoranda by the Rev.
Mr. Gutzlaff, which were read recently to the Asiatic
Society of London, are calcul steel to increase our stock ofknow
ledge respecting China on a few minor but interesting points.
The writer generally limit, his remarks to Hong Kong,
Ningpo and Chu san. The consumption of opium is a prominent
subject of discussion. At Hong Kong, where the population
comprehends many desperate adventurers and criminals,
the scum of the adjacent islands, the consumption of opium
is enormous. The revenue on the article is fanned at 1,560
dollars per month, which will argue a sale of at least twenty
times that amount; and more than half this quantity is
smoked by the inhabitants of the island, about 'AM) per-
sons. At Chosen, on the other band, where the population
is 13 times as great, not one-fifth of the above quantity is
I imported—an Index of the disposition of the people, who
are sober and well-conducted. Many of the smokers are
soldiers, sailors, and mandarins—who appear to think
it a manly habit, as indicating a bold recklessness.
The peasantry hardly ever touch it. Mr. Gut:left"'
position as police magistrate of Chosen afforded the best
means of knowing the character of the people; and he says
that the persons brought before him rarely averaged above
three in a month, and these chiefly for petty pilfering. He
gives, however, a remarkable instance of Lynch law, which
tells rather oddly for the strength of the Chinese govern-
ment, as well as for European notions of pacific conduct.
Some outlaws, who were said to have been employed by the
government to kidnap our soldiers, settled themselves at
Chosen, where they committed all kinds of depredations in
the neighbourhood. They were warned off, but treated
the warning with contempt. The popular indignation was
roused ; the ruffians were seized—put on board a boat, with
stones tied about their necks—and dropped into the sea.
Nothing was ever heard after of this affair. The Chinese
law is theoretically excellent, but utterly disregarded in
practice. The mandarin appears to have the power of life
and death ; and he certainly has the power to inflict any de-
gree of torture —even such as may cause death. In order to
get rid of the legal necessity of procuring the imperial assent
before putting a criminal to death, blank forms of assent are
kept to be filled up when wanted ; and the condemned man
is executed often before the court breaks up. Schools are
numerous at Hong Kong, and in the south generally ; and
almost all can read—while at Chosen and Ningpo ignorance
of letters is very frequent--and even literary graduates are
inferior in acquirements to the older school-boys of Kwan-
I Tung. There is no practical provision for the poor ;
and thousands annually die of starvation. But mendicity
is universal ; and begging fraternities are more numerous
and well organised. A beggar can hardly ever exer-
cise his calling without joining one of thaw bodies.
Mr. Gutzlaff thinks the Chinese the most prolific nation in
the world. All marry, and not one marriage in a hundred
is unproductive. In the census which he made of Tinghae,
a city containing 30,000 inhabitants, there was but one un-
married female, and she was an English lady. He also
states that wherever they have settled, whether in Thibet,
Manchuria, or Mongolia, they rapidly become more numerous
than the aborigines. The mass of the people know nothing
of the politics of their country, and are scarcely aware that
their government is held by a prince of foreign descent.
Mr. Gutzlaff never heard of any denunciations against
the Tartan except amongst the literati and a few bigoted
Chinese.ldolatry appears to have decreased consi-
derably, in consequence of the success of the British, and
of the non-resistance of the idols in the many cases in
which their shrines were desecrated by our soldiers. In a
number of instances, this passiveness has caused their entire
rejection and removal. Christianity has made some advances.
Catholic and Protestant places of worship have been built ;
and native Protestant converts have in several instances
established churches in the interior. One native bookseller
has even promised to publish the New Testament. The
Chinese government appears to look on with indifference ;
and the indigenous priesthood have in no instance stood up
in defence of their own dogmas. Mr. Gat:l2ff finally thinks
that the native mind is improving where the people cocas
into contact with Europeans ; and that greater liberality of
feeling prevails in many instances, though not yet in a suffi-
cient degree to product any effect on a large scale.

A dictum of Lord BRA:lnca/01's is now circulated in
the clubs; it is to the effect that " the people of Eng-
land believe themselves anxious about education, and
really are not so." The inference attempted to be
drawn from this sage maxim is, that it would be a
safe game to raise a cry against any fair or liberal
scheme of education which might be proposed by the
ministry, and thus overthrow the cabinet by an ap-
peal to the passions of the interested and the pre-
indices of the ignorant. Whether such an inference
was intended by his erratic lordship, we presume not
to say, bat we do know that the inference has been
drawn, and that the feasibility of the project
it suggests has been very seriously canvassed.
And we farther know, that the decreasing mino-
rity, which advocated sectarian in op.. :tion to
national- education, have recently fresh
courage infused into their ranks by the whispered
probability, that Lord BROUGHAM and VAUX will
head them in their battle against the principles advo-
cated by the HENRY BROUGHAM of olden time. We
should deeply lament, but we should not too bitterly
resent, such a phenomenon : sincere grief does not
always pass into anger. There is an old Spanish ro-
mance which tells of a Christian cavalier who, after
having fought gallantly against the Saracens through
a glorious youth and manhood, became a renegade in
his old age, and took the field with the Moorish chi-
valry against his old companions in arms; but when
he appeared in the fight none of the Christian knights
would raise weapon against him ; each contented him-
self with warding off his feeble blows, and then,
saluting him with the lance according to the courteous
customs of a tournament, passed on to seek an en-
counter with a Moorish champion. The lesson was
efficacious ; what reproach, contumely, and reciproca-
tion of injury would- have failed to accomplish, was
effected by forbearance and courtesy ; the renegade
died a penitent.
Leaving the anecdote to find its own application,
we regret that the delay of a system of national edu-
cation menaces the country with the danger of a
sectarian education. It is seriously proposed that the
different religious denominations should have sepa-
rate schools, as they have separate places of worship;
and the dissenting bodies point to the code of laws
adopted by what is termed the National Society as a
'ustafication for adopting a similar course themselves.
It must, however, be remarked, that the system of
the so-called National Schools, though professedly
founded on exclusively church principles, is in its
very essence opposed to the principles advocated by
the fathers and founders of the Anglican church.
No doctrine is more emphatically taught in
the canons and in the rubric, than that
" Sacred things should be taught by conse-
crated persons in consecrated placer." With such
a doctrine nothing can be more inconsistent than
a system which has a tendency, however remote, to
convert schools into conventicics and schoolmasters
into lay-preachers. The rubric allows tho catechism
to be learnede at home, as a compendious summary,
but it enjoins that this summary should be lectured
upon and explained by the clergyman in the church
at stated periods. The framers of our ritual were
aware of the importance of combining hallowed arm-
ciationa with religious instruction ; they believed that
divine truths came most impressively from a
pastor having claim to reverence, and in a
place where all around was suggestive of devo-
tional feeling. From those who remembered
the venerable JonN WESLEY, we have heard that
he entertained a similar opinion. They loved to
dwell on his affectionate addresses to the young
Assz<abled in the Methodist chapel; on the patriarchal
aimplicii; with which he explained the narratives
and the aoetzfizo of 11017 Writ ; on the cautions he
gave to wawa, that DOJO= should not be made dis-
pleasing by being in2po..-ot; as a task, and that it
should not be degraded by tile associations of house-
bold routine. In our own day, 5e true principle on
which religious instruction should be eePlhinall with

UNITED STATES & MEXICO.
IBy the Zenobia, which reached Liverpool yesterday
a&rnoon, we have news from New York tothe Bth inst.
It is not important; the President sent a message to
Congress recommending, as we stated on Monday, an
increase of the army in Mexico, and the appointment
of a general officer, whose services, at the conclusion
of the war, could be dispensed with. The Union, in
allusion to it, says—,We have no doubt that the pro-
position will be duly and deliberately weighed, without
regard to individuals, and with a single eye to the
more efficient and successful organisation of the
whole army.• • • Action is necessary here—action is
necessary in Mexico. Santa Anna has repeated, in
his last letter to General Taylor, his insolent demand
to withdraw all our troops from Mexico, and all our
squadrons from her eau. And if an experienced
statesman, who has studied the Mexican character,
be correct in telling us to-day that the Congress of
Mexico may repeat this demand, as a preliminary
for a negotiation for peace, we ought to put our
armour on, meet the crisis, and strike boldly for peace."
On the 4th, Mr. Preston King offered a bill to the
House of Representatives, containing the following
provisions. It was rejected by a vote of 88 to 89 :
I. That the President of the United States receive from
.gorigrla;:, fthorethTene.muy notf tatting measures appropriated,
Vt.
procuring a peace with eselice, whenever it is deemed com-
patible to secure such peace by an offer for renewed nego-
tiations.

2... Rat in any territory which may be secured to tho
Unite,' States from Mexico, slavery sod involuntary servi-
tude dui: bt for ever prpbibited, provided, t oWeter, that. it

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 28, 1847.

shall be lawful to deliver up any servants belongirg to the
United States who may have escaped into such territory.
3. That the sum of 2,000,000 dollars may be appropriated
towards securing a result of any settlement of boundary, and
securing any territory which may be the result of negociation
between the two governments
The Washington Union makes some bitter and
biting remarks on the Democratic party, for refusing
to tax tea and coffee during the war with Mexico.
The markets were quiet. At Philadelphia, the
state of feeling had improved. Cotton had been sold
at a little further advance. But little flour had been
bought for export. The demand for wheat, grain,
and meal, was steady. The business at the New
York market had also improved. Cotton had ad-
vanced from ito c. on the last quotations. Business
in flour, provisions, &c., remained inactive. Freights
at Philadelphia still kept high.
No later news had been received (rout Mexico.
Private letters, published in the papers, however,
furnish a few more items of intelligence. It is stated
positively that General Taylor has not more than
14,000 effective men ; while, on the other hand, Santa
Anna's troops numbered 37,000. This great dis-
parity, however, had caused no uneasiness in the
American camp. Tampico was held by Colonel
Gates with 1,200 men. An attack, it was under-
stood, would shortly be made on the town by
a body of Mexicans, 3,000 strong, stationed at
Tula, a town eighty miles distant from Tampico. A
gentleman, lately arrived at New Orleans from thence,
states that the town was attacked on the 16th Dec.,
but after some firing the assailants retired. An
American prisoner, lately released by Santa Anna,
declares that the Mexican army at San Lois Potosi
numbers 23,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry. Provi-
sions at the camp were getting scarce, and the sup-
plies obtained from Chihuahua were but limited.
ll'ant of money was also beginning to be felt, so
much so that Santa Anna had considerably reduced
the pay of his soldiers, pledging his word, however,
that at some future time they should be reimbursed.
On the receipt of the news from Mexico that a pro-
nunciamento had taken place, Santa Anna had dis-
patched General Valencia with seven regiments of
infantry to the capital to watch over his interests.
AWFUL CASUALTY AT SEA.—THE CAPTAIN AND
EIGHT HANDS OF THE COLUMBIA PACK ET-sIIIP
DROWNED.—The Lady Falkland, Captain Smith, ar-
rived at Liverpool yesterday from New Orleans, hav-
ing sailed on 20th Dec. On 2nd Jan., saw two large
ships on shore on Florida Reef, near Bahia Honda.
On the 18th, in lat. 47, lon. 31, fell in with the
packet-ship Columbia, from New York to Liverpool,
in distress, having on the 13th lost overboard the
captain (Rathbone), first and second mates, five
men and a boy, while scudding in a heavy gale.
The vessel was quite tight. The Lady Falkland put
her mate on board to navigate the Columbia. The
Lady Falkland experienced a succession of violent
gales daring the last sixteen days. Capt. Rathbone
was much respected in Liverpool, and this sad
intelligence has filled his friends with deep regret.

Niece Tong. •1111 6..—Cotton Zeirv;;ZYthe marketekord
on the sth with a firm feeling, at an improvement of ie. to in per lb.
above our lest quotations.
flour remained inactive; 5 dot. 50e. to 5 dot. 561 c. ens quoted on
the ruling rates of ()wiener, and 5 dol. 374 c. to 5 dol. 50e. for other
descriptions of Western Curial corn. Common Southern ranges from
5 dol. 25e. is 50 dol.; 500 barrels Pennsylvania sold at 5 dol. 23e.;
200 tombs Richmond city-mils, 6 dol. 7 5c.; Troy, arc., S dol. Sic. ;
corn meal is in good demand at 3 dol. 87Se.; barley, Glic. ; rye, 85e. ;
corn, at 73e. to 75e. for New Southern; and Ste. for Old Jersey and
Northern.

COLONIAL.
CAPE OF_GOOD HOPE.

We yesterday re ceived journals from the Cape of
Good Hope, in time to admit of the most important of their
contents appearing in the Express.
Tile Scar OF WAIL—The truce having been extended,
was to terminate on the 28th of November. The Frontier
Times of the 24th of that month publishes a summary of the
arrangements in contemplation for the settlement of the
Kaffir disturbances. They are in brief: 1. No Kaffir to be
permitted to settle in the neutral territory : it is to be inha-
bited by coloured people of other races, and such persons
(white we presume) as shall hereafter be permitted to settle
there. 2. Chumie Hoek, having proved a stronghold of
marauders, is not to continue part of the neutral territory,
but to be annexed to the colony. 3. To the east of Chnnue
Hoek, as far as the Buffalo, and from the source
of that river to its mouth, is also to be an-
nexed to the colony. Kaffirs are to be allowed
to remain in this district : but no chieftainship
will be recognised among them; they are all to be subject
to the British magistrates. 4. This tract is to be divided
into sections, each witri a Kaffir authority, analogous to a
ftelthcomet , each Kraal Is to have a headman, responsible
for depredations committed, or connived at, by its in-
mates ; British magistrates, with a military force, to give
effect to their decisions, are to have authority over both
classes of native magistrates. 5. If stolen cattle are spoored
to any Kraal, the full value, and enough over to pay the ex-
penses of recovery, may at once be seized ; if the spoor can
be traced beyond, the inhabitants of the Kraal will be
assisted in their attempts to secure the actual thief, but
shall be responsible until the cattle, or their value, with all
expenses, are restored to the owner. 6. While due allow-
ance is made for national habits and customs, the predomi-
nating law within the extended colony shall be British. 7.
Peace to be settled on such a basis as shall not restrain
our government from causing its officers to enter Kaffir-
land in search of stolen property, and seize it wherever it
may be found. 8. Ample garrisons to be placed on the
frontier along the Buffalo, and patrols kept up to prevent
invasion. From the same paper we learn that a chief magi-
strate has already been appointed for the district which the
Kaffirs are to be compelled to cede. Sir Peregrine Maitland, '
when he made this appointment, can scarcely have been in
ignorance that his successor was on his way to the Cape.
There is something very indecent in this precipitate exercise
of patronage in a territory not yet acquired.
A public meeting of the inhabitants of Albany was held
in the Graham's Town Court-house, on Monday, the 16th of
Nov. The objects of the meeting were—To address the home
government on the present Kaffir war ; to consider the best
means of securing eompens aloft ; and to deliberate on the
propriety of adopting measures to secure an agent or re-
presentative in the mother country. A number of resolu-
tions were adopted, declaring the condition of the colony,
and a committee of ten appointed to prepare a petizon
accordance with them. The meeting then adjourned till the
25th of the same month, when the expediency of raising a
fund for a parliamentary agent was to be taken into consi-
deration.

On the 17th of November, the Circuit Court at Graham's
Town was opened for the trial of civil causes, after an inter-
regnum of all months.
Cars TOWN.—The letter of Mr. Joseph Sturge, which
appeared in the Times of August 25, laying the blame of the
hair war upon the colonists, has been emphatically contra-
dicted, not only by the colonists themselves but by the whole
body of mirsionaries, and even by Mr. Fairbura, of the
South African Commercial Adrerliser. We do not believe
Mr. Sturge capable of inventing the aspersions on the cha-
racter of the colonists which he has circulated; but he has (in
this instance at least) shown that he is too prone to believe
—even at the hazard of taking up an ill report against his
neighbour—whatever coincides with his own prepossessions.