The Express.
London, England, 1851-12-17 00:00:00

Stepney; the tradespeople of Whitechapel; the
weavers of Spitaltields ; the pigeon-fanciers of Beth-
nal-green ; the clerks who lodge at Haggerstone ; the
suburban residents at Hackney ; the stockbroker who
lives at Clapton ; the merchant who has his villa upon
Stamford-hill—classes the most dissimilar, interests
the most diverse, arc all mingled together in
this amazing district. That they should ever unite
in returning a member to parliament at all, only
showe, I think, how little interest the bulk of them
can really feel in a representation which must neces-
sarily be so ineffectual. Amid such a multitude, the
most influential man must know that his voice
won't'. be as nothing. Ile consequently refrains from
taking any part; the representation goes a begging,
; and tso often the least qualified man gets it.
I My lord, you may have electorates too large as
well as too small. In times of difficulty an indiffc-
rent electorate is almost as dangerous to the nation
as a corrupt electorate. In the cases I have cited
and also in a number of other cases, you have indif-
ferent electorates. It was an indifferent electo-
rate that allowed Sir Francis Burdett to tri-

umplt in his apostacy on the Westminster bus-
tings in 1537. It was an indifferent electorate
that allowed Colonel Fox to sit for the Tower Ham-
lets for seven years. It was an indifferent election
that returned Lord Teigntnouth for Marylebonc, in
MN; and, my lord, in another sense of the word, it
will be an exceedingly indifferent electorate indeed
that allows your lordship to rule this nation after
if you do not do something to remedy the cry-
ing injustice which is now done to the mighty in-
terests of these enormous boroughs.
I am, my lord, your lordships most obedient,
ItUNNYMEDE.

THE KAFFIR WAR.—The following is an extract
of a letter from an officer of rank at the head-quarters of
Sir Harry Smith, dated King William's Town, Oct. 19 :
" The lancers and rates have just arrived. Both of them
appear a very fine body of men, and are in high spirits and
full of ardour to attack the enemy. The Rifles are already
gone out on patrol, and the former will do $0:05 soon as they
get mounted, as the horses, such as they are, arrived before
them; but, notwithstanding this addition, Sir Harry Smith
does not feel himself capable of taking the field with that
prospect of succere which is so necessary in the present war-
fare ; indeed, the liatfires act with the greatest bold-
ness and effroutery, and actually come close to
our sentries, and fire into our very tents. To show
you an instance of this it was only last night, when I was
going my rounds, my orderly, who was only a short way
behind me, was fired at by a Kaffir, and both he and myself
narrowly escaped afterwards, as one or two shots were again
discharged close to us. I of course reported the circum-
stance; but, as it was nothing unusual, no notice was taken
of it. The heat here now is dreadful, especially in the tents,
but I luckily have had a hut lent to me by our of the offi-
cers on patrol, which is w great luxury, although it re-
sembles the worst kind of Irish cabin. Even Sir Harry
Smith's habitation, which is considered a very nice house
here, is far inferior to what you would give your game
keeper in England. I have now got three horses; though
they are thought goal ones in this country, they are
not much larger than a good sized pony at home ; and the
Lancers will dud it very difficult to get horses strong enough
to carry those men who are tall and of much weight. This
regiment is less than -100 strong, audit is said is to go imme-
diately to the Orange River, with two inf intry regiments, a
distance of 500 miles from this ; hut how Sir Harry Smith
can •hink of weakening his present force here by sending till
such a detachment to such a distance is beyond my com-
prehension, for even by his own words, lately expressed, he
thinks, and we all think, that we should have double the
number of troops that are now in the colony before any-
thing effectual can be done; and you in England may de-
pend upon my word that, unless at least another cavalry
regiment and five more of infantry are imme..iately sent
out, in 6 or 7 months the Kettles and their allies will require
sonic 20,000 men to subilte them. There is one thing that
everyone complains of, viz., that the enemy is made perfectly
aware of all our movements, and consequently are enabled
to take advantage of them; and this intelligence is sup-
posed to he given by the Hottentots in our pay, especially
the Cape Mounted Corps, which latter should have been
disbanded at first; instead of which Sir H. Smith made
them all lay down their arms, and after making a speech to
them, gave them their arms back again, and told them to be
good boys in future,—a new way of punishing wholesale
desertion to the enemy. These Cape Mounted men oecia
sioually behave very well, but it is only when backed by a
' strong force of Englishmen, when, perhaps, showing the
white feather would be more dangerous than charging the
enemy. I understand that when the Kafiri heard of the
arrival of the Lancers and Rifles they made quite a joke of
it, and chat ngly said, We will serve them as we served
tho 2nd Queen's.' We are all obliged to be on the alert,
even during the night, as these fellows have the impudence
of the devil, and have no fear whatever. I sleep with my
revolver under my head, with the six barrels loaded, in ease
of actidente. I must now bid adieu, but I again repeat, try
to get the government to send us out more regiments, as it
is quite disgusting to see our little force ' marching up the
hill and down again,' that being the full amount of our
operations."
THE SLAVE TRADE ON THE COAST OF AFRICA.—A
letter from an officer on board her Majesty's brig Spy,
dated Sierra Leone, Not ember 6, ISM, says—" The slave-
trade is very far from being extinct; they now appear to
be sending over from Rio the frames of slave vessels to be
put together in the rivers, by which plug their escape is
greatly facilitated. Whilst off this place, on the 3rd of this
month, we received intelligence that two large canoes,
which were then in sight, contained slaves. It being calm,
our whale boat, with tire men and two officers (Messrs.
Barstow and Michell) were started in pursuit, and atter a
most animated and exciting chase, we captured them both,
containing 56 slaves, and manned with 19 Mandingo men.
I and two men, well armed, took possession of the first, and
found about 40 slaves in her and 10 men ; the other officer
and three men pursued and captured the other, and found
16 slaves and 9 men in her. Had the fellows in my best
possessed the slightest pluck, thee could certainly have
thrown us overboard and got away clear, but I made them
pull their own boat up to the Spy, and soon afterwards the
other boat came to us with her prize in all ;56 slaves."
COTTON FROM INDlA.—Yesterday morning, Mr.
Haab Fleming, secretary of the Manchester Commercial
Association, received from Mr. W. Rathbone, agent in
Liverpool to the East India Company, for sale in Man
cheater, 256 bales and 3 half bales of cotton, the produce of
the Kandeiah, Dharwar, and Ahmedabad collectorates, re-
ceived per Theodore, from Bombay ; and 9 bales grown
haw New Orleans seed en the collectorate farm in Coim-
betore, received per Aztec, from Madras. Of the cotton
per Theodore, 214 bales are rons New Orleans seed, two are
known as "sugar loaf," one is from the indigenous seed of
the Dharwar district, and 12 of Ahmedabesl ginned. A
letter from the collector at Coimbatore, speaks of the nine
bales sent from that district as being of a very superior
quality. Samples have been submitted to an experienced
broker, who reports them es the best qualities of cotton yet
Imported. The sugar loaf cotton he says, is, in point of staple,
equal to bowed', and the other portion of good colour and
flue staple. Re values the lot at 4d. to 411. per lb.
GAS AND ITS USES.—Last evening Mr. Henry
Gore delivered a lecture at the Literary and Scientific In-
stitution, Highgate, on the uses and advantages of coal gas.
The lecturer traced with mach minuteness the various

sources of artificial light, and went on to detail the che-
mical laws which regulate its production. He then pro-
ceeded to give a brief sketch of the history of gas lighting,
and described the principle of coal gas as being economical
in comparison with other sourest of artificial light or heat.
He then illustrated by practical means the various contri-
vances employed for increasing the illuminating powers of
coal gas, and also pointed out the use and
application of the different kinds of burners. He
next described the properties of the bade light, and ob-
served that its extreme intensity rendered it unfit to be used
in a small room, but that it was very applicable to the pur-
poses of illumination in any large area, where a strong and
undiffused light was required. Mr. Gore then descanted
upon the application of gas to heating purposes, and stated
that, in this respect, it possessed many advantages over
ordinary fires. He also recommended the use of gas for
culinary operations, and demonstrated the properties
of the "gas kitchen," which he contended sup-
plied a much more satisfactory and economical
means of cooking than was to be found in the
time-honoured custom at present in vogue. In proof
of this statement the lecturer went through the operation of
roasting a joint of beef, which he afterwards handed round
to the audience, many of whom pronounced it to be much
more palatable than meat dressed by the ordinary method.
Mr. Gore argued that there were many reasons for coming
to the conclusion that the application of gas to the purposes
of cooking was not only an improved method, but was, at I
the same time, so economical, that a piece of meat weighing
141bs. might be properly cooked at a cost of not more than
lid. for gas. Many other advantages to be derived from
the use of coal gas were minutely detailed, and the lecture
was illustrated throughout by a series of models, diagrams,
and experiments, each tending to prove that gas was the
safest and most economical }aeons that could be adopted for
the purposes of lighting, warming, ventilating, and cooking.
A PLURALIST.—The death of the Rev. George
Robson, of Erbistock, near Wrexham, will cause a number
of vacancies in this neighbourhood in situations which ha
had held for a great number of years. It is supposed
since his nomination by Bishop Haseley, he has raised !
100,0001. from the livings he held.—Carnareon Herald.—
[A reference to the " Clergy List "befhthc current year I
ilneaTdidicattramateotliCisit-kock (rntisiti)re)"; titeldvYtirori
Robson,
the former living is 5701., and of the latter 2541., per annum.]
RtINNING TWENTY MILES IN LESS TITAN ONE
Horn THIRTY-RIGHT MIN. THIRTY Sec. —Thu match !
against time came off yesterday at Copenhagen-grounds; !
more than 2,000 spectators were present. Minks made his
start at apparently a very easy pace to himself, going over
the first mile in five min. 56 sec., and completing his 10
miles in 56 min. 56 sec. At the commencement of the 20th
or last mile Manks had just six minutes and three seconds
to go over it to win the match, or to perform 20 miles in less
time than Maxfield did the same distance on the Staines
turnpike road in 1844. This Manks succeeding in accom-
&stung, having just 42 seconds to spare. At the finish
Monks ran, or rather fell into the arms of his backer, evi-
dently considerably exhausted. Bating before starting
was 6to 4 on time ; considerable sums were taken at those
odds.