The Express.
London, England, 1847-10-27 00:00:00

burden itself in relieving the highland or semi-agri-
cultural portion. Already some of the Glasgow fea-
r tories have been going at half time, and this week it
is expected that some of them will be workiug only
five hours a day. City distress may therefore come
to be more clamant than rural penury yet has been.
The recent high price of bread has led to frequent
comparisons between the relative prices of wheat and
the quartern loaf, and one statist brings a charge
against the Edinburgh bakers of having made profits
of 45 per cent.. during the last fourteen months—the
calculation is based on tke assumption that a sack of
flour yields ninety loaves, and that pure flour has
been used throughout. It is hardly possible that
such calculations can be correct, as the necessary
competition of trade must have kept the profits down
to a lower mark ; however, it is in the meantime be-
lieved in many quarters, and amateur baking is
threatened on all sides.

COMMISSIONS BY THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF AYRSHIRE.
—W. F. Hamilton, Gent., and G. J. Campoell, Gent., to be
comets in the Ayrshire kteniment of Yeomanry Cavalry.

PROVINCIAL•
__ LA.XCASIIIRE.

A CHARGE OF KIDNAPPING'''' under the in-
vestigation of the magistrates at Manchester, yesterday, of
which some of the circumstances will be read with interest.
The charge was brought by an Irish pedlar named Crania,
and the prisoners (who, however, were not placed in the
dock) were a Mrs. Jackson, wife of a beer-hoiee keeper, and
her two maiden sisters. In 1839, Crimes wife had two
children at a birth, both of which were boys, and one of
them, in a very weakly state, at the age of seven weeks, was
taken by Mee. Jackson (with the consent of her husband) to
nurse. For a couple of years, or rather more, Crinan held
himself liable to a payment of 4s. per week for the child,
but being very poor, and Mrs. Jackson being in more
thriving circumstances, she offered to reduce the charge fur
the child to 2a. per week, and this was accepted. At the
end of about four years the Jackson. having grown very
fond of the child, and the child exhibiting more affec-
tion fur them than its parents, they (having no chil-
dren of their own) agreed to adopt it, to excuse any further
payment for it;.; and the parents appearing satisfied
the child, now eight years old, has been regarded by the
Jacksons as their own, and well attended to and educated.
A short time i.iuce, to the astonishment of the Jackson',
Crinan laid claim to the child, and they, with the fear of the
law before their eyes, suffered it to be borne away. Taking
courage, however, after a week's reflection (and probably
some legal advice), Mrs. Jackson sought out the child and
enticed it back again. The father took it away a second
time, and, to prevent further difficulty, was taking it to the
station of the Birmingham Railway on Monday evening,
intending to place it under the care of some person in the
country, when, strange to say, the imaiden sisters of Mrs.
Jackson set upon him with such energy that he was obliged
to relinquish his hold and let them carry away the child.
Subsequently he got the assistance of the police, and it was
for this act that he brought the charge of kidnapping.—Mr.
Harding, on behalf of Crinan, attempted to support the
charge of felony.—Mr. Pollock, in defence, examined the
prosecutor, and showed, by his evasions and falsehoods, that
he was not trustworthy, but failed in showing ground for
belief that the parents were not able to identify the child from
its being taken from them at such an early age. He contended,
however, that there was no ground for a charge of felony,
denying that the magistrates had any jurisdiction.—Mr.
Harding : Then do you mean to say we have no remedy ?
Mr. Pollock If you have any remedy, it is by habeas.—
Mr. Harding: That will require money.—Mr. Pollock
Which I sincerely hope you will net be able to raise. The
object of attempting to reclaim the child is one of the greatest
superstition ; and one which, for the sake of religion, I
should not like to state in this court.—Mr. Maude, the
chairman of the magistrates, intimated that he agreed se.th
Mr. l'ollock in thinking there was no pretence for the charge
of felony, and dismissed the ease.—The reporters, when the
can had been dismissed, were anxious to learn what the
super,titious motive seas (alluded to by the learned counsel)
which had impelled Crinan to reclaim his child and mani-
fest so much affection for it, after the passion had lain dor-
mant for eight years, when a paper was handed to them
stating that Cnnan's wife, who is a catholic, having let it
slip at confession that the child was in the keeping of Pro-
testants and was receiving a protestant education, had
thereupon been dismissed with the threat that no absolution
would I.e dispensed till the. child should have been reclaimed
and should have been brought to the true church. llow far
this statement was worthy of credit our correspondent had no
means of ascertaining.
COLLISION ON THE MERSEY.-011 Sunday night
last, a strong northwest breeze caused an extraordinary swell
upon the Mersey, and fears were 'excited fur the safety of
numerous vessel lying at anchorage, detained by adverse
winds, from proceeding on their outward voyage. The
Patrick Henry, one of the New York line-of-packet ships,
was lying at anchor off the Prince's pier, with another Ame-
rican ship, the Brooklyn, belonging to Boston, ...tern, whew,
from the violence of the wind, which, early on Monday
morning, had increased to a tempest, the former vessel drag-
ged her anchors and came in contact with the Brooklyn, car-
rying away her bowsprit and m tinstay. From the force of
the callision the Brooklyn sustained considerable injury, her
bowsprit being completely tarn away, and her stern much
crushed and mutilated. Early on Monday morning one of
the Steam-tug Company's vessels was called to her assistance;
and, steaming against the wind, the stress which bore upon
the Brooklyn's cables was much diminished, the fears enter-
tained for the safety of the vessel's mashfrom the lons of the
mainstay were alleviated, bringing her, ultimately, in a posi-
Lion of safety.
CHESHIRE.
Bus'. ---•••.neement Nee

An-AlRS.—me
(Liverpool Mercury) made on Fr.dsy has been confirmed,
and "something more." It is now understood that the
docks are to be finished by Mr. Itendell, and according to
big plans in their entirety; and it is rumoured that the
chairman of the new board of commis‘ioners, who is to be
nominated on the part of the crown, will be Mr. Jackson,
M.Y. This is deemed highly probable in the best-informed
quarters.
_ _ CUFFOLL

EDUCATION.—On Monday a large meeting was
held id the Town-hall, Ipswich, for the purpose of suiring
the funds of a society formed at Cheltenham, for the purpcse
of training and educating young persons for schoolmasters
and mistresses, in connection with the church of England,
under the government patronage. I.V. Long, Esq., of Hurts.
hall, was called to the chair, and was surrounded by the
clergy and gentry of the neighbourhood. The ILev. F.
Clore delivered an address, in which he detailed the rise and
progress of Sunday-school and day-school education from the
time of Raikes to the present period. He complimented the
present government for their honesty and intelligence in
bringing forward the hest scheme that was ever propagated,
or could be propagated, for the education of the people, and
more especially for the training system. After giving a his-
tory of the institution which had been formed at Chelten-
ham (the building belonging to which would cost 9,0001.,
one-third of which would be given by the government), he
informed his audience that the education would be scrip.
tural, evangelical, and protestant.

FlRE.—Yesterday, soon n after seven o'clock, an
express reached Oxford with the intelligence that the home-
stead of ldr. Gale, a large farmer,residing at Cuddesdon, was
in flames. In a short time two engines were on the spot, but
before they could arrest the progress of the flames, four large
ricks of corn were consumed, sad other property was also
more or less destroyed. There is too much reason to believe
that the fire was caused by an incendiary.