The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-10 00:00:00

THE BISHOP OF OXFORD AND DR.

HAMPDEN.

The following corresoudence had taken place be-
tween Dr. Wilberforce and Dr. Hampden, in reference to
the postaipt of a letter addreseed by the latter to the Row.
Mr. Faulkner, of Cambridge, in which Dr. Hampden denied
that he had mad• any such cones ions to the Bishop of
Oxford as the Bishop of Oxford had implied in • letter
which appeared some time siuce in our columns
"Cnddesdon Palace, Jan. 24.—My Lord Bishop (Elect);
My attention has been called to a letter bearing your signa-
ture, and addressed to Mr. Faulkner, which has appeared in
the newspapers. As no contradiction of its authorship has
to my knowledge been made public, I imagine that I am not
wrong (notwithstanding its unusual language) in attributing
it to you. I beg, therefore, to cal your attention to its
postscript, and to request from you an answer to my coo-
eluding question.
" I witadrew the' letters of request' against you in COG-
sequence of an assurance from your own pen, that you were
not during the two years to which the Clergy Diicipline Bill
limits your responsibility, answerable for any circulation of '
the "Observations on Religious Dissent," the only work which
in my judgment, could have subjected you to ecclesiastical
penalties for utterring false doctiines. t must therefore beg
you to inform me, whether the words to which I have called
your attention ore intended to deny the truth of that assn.
ranee, which was conveyed to me in the following words as
your own :
It is with no sanction amine, and, indeed, against my '
wish, that any copies of the first edition of my " Observations
on Religious Dissent" are now sold and eivulated. In fact,
I have not put forth any copies even of the second edition,
since the time of its publication ; sod this is out of print, so
far as my knowledge goes. Some ore, therefore, must have
been giving, I conceive, a trash publication of that also with-
out my leave.'-1 am, my lord bishop (elect), most faithfully
yours, " S. Oxox.
" The Lord Bishop of Hereford (elect)."
" Hyde-park gate, Kensington, Jan. 26.
"My Lord,—l did not authorise Mr. Faulkner to publish
my letter to him, nor the Provost of Oriel to communicate
to your lordship the note to him, from which you have ex.
trected the passage contained in your letter of the 24th inst.
" Each was intended only for the person to whom it was
addressed. I regret that either has gone further.
"The statements contained in my note to the provost,
and extracted from it by your lor,lst,ip, are of course per-
fectly true ; I never denied ur wished to deny them, but I
never desired or even contemplated their comrnun'e.dion to
)our lonlahip.—l lis.o the htie..ur to it, me 1 your
lordship's faithful servant, R. D. HtiILEFORD.
" The Lord Bishop of Oxford."

FRANCE.—INPOUTATIONY OF ZINC, SESAME, AND
LIN:qIED.—A royal ordonnance, dated the:lnd, declares that
eine, whether in the raw state or in loses destined to be rolled
in France, and then re-exported, may be imported free of duty,
either by land or sea ; but, it by sea, it must be under the
French flag, or under that of the country in which it we,
produced. By another ordonnsuace, of the same date, it is
declared that sesame and linseed intended to be pressed into
oil, and in that state exportsd again, shall be temporarily ad-
mitted duty free, either by land or by sea ; but, if by sea,
they must be under the French flag, or under that of the
country in which the seeds were grown.
SWITZERLAND.—BERNE, FRB. 3.—THE DIET.
—The discussion on the 3rd was on two prepositions by the
canton of Berne for en insivaun to the canton of Lucerne
to open an inquiry against t' e principal auth-Jrs of the
Sonderbund, and to ti., eeitens It the ex-league in general,
to grant an'amnesty to all persons who had only taken part
I in the resistance to the tederal government through the
influence of seduction. Dr. Ferrer, the reporter of the com-
mittee on these proposition,, supported the proposition for
punishment, and said that the question as to the imposition
of the costs of the war on the authors of it belonged exclu-
sively to Lucerne itself, in virtue of tke principle of catholic
sovereignty. The deputy of Lucerne, on the contrary,
expressed a wish that the prosecution of the partial should be
detegated to a superior tribunal of another canton, in order
that his own canton might rot be reproached with having
Instituted an exceptional tribunal. The debate was ad-
journed.
LeCERN E.—The Grand Council of Lucerne, at its
sitting on the 3rd, came to the following resolution: The
members of the late Grand Council shall pay, in proportion to
their means, a part of the war expenses. the members of
the late Executive Council are responsible for the detic.t of
J 230,000 t., and shall be constrained by force of law to reit:l-
- buth that sum. Nevertheless, the Council of Regency is
authorised to enter into arrangements for time for these
payments, on having sufficient security. The promoters
' and abettors of the Sonderbund shall be brought to trial be-
fore the competent judges.
POLYNESlA.—lntelligence from the Sandwich
Islands has been received to the 31st of August lest. The
bland was in a great state of prosperity. Since the occupa-
tion of California by the United States, many of the Ame-
rican whalers had resorted to the Sandwich Islands to
refresh, and resolutions of the legislative coun6la had been
passed to encourage the visits of such vessels, by exempting
them from anchorage fees and tonnage dues.

VACANT COLONELCIFB.—We understand that the
colonelcies vacant by the decease of Generals Maitland and
Vincent, and of Lcei_t.-General Sir John Morland, will be
thus tined up: Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Darling from the
41st Relict. to the 69th ; Major-General A'Court to the 41st
Ragt. ; Major-General D'Aguilar to the 58th ; and Major-
General W. F. P. Napier to the 27th.