The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-01 00:00:00

he *y coeceal, hers irreeone.leable with hie leaden
eelf-eetens?
•

Tax Court of the Haberdashers' fkr• i
sea to-day ; for it is on the first of that t
Salt till up the office of Gel : ;
1 tali he popa:ar church pine ere
f t
deguished church pluralists tllflepolic
sandidates for their favocrli' Tel~‘Tnoie
Data, who has long held this mach coveted piece of
preferment, no longer presents himself for re-election
sow that pulifils attention Earibirillied on'ai maii-
situde and on the remuneration of his other benefices;
. . by his abstinence, the appetite of some twenty
we thirty Louden echeriantice is !betted for the
"prise." •
Small are the duties, substantial are the emolu-
ments of this lectureship ; irresistible, therefore, are
its &tree:goes to principals of colleges with great
*selaries, to rectors with enormous parishes, and to
vicars with small regiments of assistant clergy; but
to the hard-working curate., to the ill-paid incum-
bents. to the devoted mini&ers of our church, it
glistens in the distance an unattainable, unapproach-
able luxury. Yet, honest Wimakit Jonas, its
founder, wont it for some "learned and faithful
." and it is very sincerely to kw hoped that
Etlenhtettlons will this day prevail in Haberdashers'
Hall.
A lecture every Tuesday in St. Margaret's Loth-
bury, is the requirement of the office; from 4001. to
6001. a year itre its receipts. The lectures nobody
ever hears • bat good and eeriest coin of the realm is
paid the leCttires notwithstanding. People may, to
be sure,.go if they choose ; the church is open •, there
is room in abundance ; the lecturer is there ; Lis dis-
course is read; his salary is paid • but few are
the wiser, none the better except, indeed, the lec-
turer himself. Now this, in spite of worthy Wit-
Lux Jonas' excellent object, is an uteatisfactory
state of things ; it is one which, in judos to that
good man's memory, we think he would b s the Bret
to wish to see improved if he had survived to these
ear days ; and it is one, we submit, that the Haber-
biers' Company would do honour to his memory to
reform, for in good truth it is what CARLYLE would
call a sad " sham.'
Litt'e thought WILLIAM Jorres that his bequest
would ever be so attractive to the " great ones' of
the church : for 701. a year was all he intended to
leave the lectureship. Time, however, and the growth
of society and wealth, bare done that for it which he
never thought of; and it is now worth, some say,
6001. a year. Wtuld it not be possible, then, to ad-
here strictly to the rate of remuneration stated in the
founder's will, and to apply the large balance to 'eels-
identical objects more generally useful than unattend-
ed discourses in St. Merger**, Lothbury? If the
Ilabniasher's Company were so disposed, the Court
of Chancery would, we clare say, sanction any reason-
able scheme of improvement they might propound.
Lt t the lectureship be preserved by all means: but
without the gold. The court might not in that case
have so many candidates for the post ; but they
would have more real satisfaction in dealing with the
revenues : and what its members lost in pummel im-
portance they would gain in public esteem.
The election of to-day will be memorable b: eases
of the candidature of the Rev. }LIMY MELVILL.
This gentleman was for many years a very popular
and eloquent preacher in a proprietary chapel in one
of the metropolitan suburb, where crowds flocked
every Sunday to be edified by his discourses. Load=
has, however, lost his eloquence for some years ;
though he is chaplain of the Tower and incumbent of
the parish of St. Peter ad Vincula; and liaileybury,
the Beet India Company's College,has had the &dean-
Uge of his presidency. There he has to develop the
mends, to form the morals, and to cultivate the mid. r-
standing of the future civil servants of India, its mem-
bers of council, its collectors, its judges, and its magi-
strates. An arduous task this, and one which, it we
are to credit the accounts of the Indian newspapers, is
difficult of sum's. At all events, enougo, it
may be presumed, might be found to do at
Haileybury to occupy all the time of its me
;
and if paiticipation in the divine service of our me-
tropolitan churches be indispensable to the reverend
gentleman's comfort, he might find the means of gra-
tifying his active seal in his benefice of St. Peter ad
Vincula. It may however be, that the smallness of
that cure—for the population is under 1,500—0 r the
mallet es of its revenue, for it is not worth more than
1001. a year—offer no other attraction than leaving
him free to be first in the race for the golden lecture-
ship ; and, strange to say, be is backed in the contest by
all the influence of the directors of the East IndiaCJm-
piny. Such competition is, we are rude enough
to think, meetly fair to lees highly rewarded merit ;
it is sparsely just to Haileybury College ; and it is
scarcely decent in times when ecclesiastical pluralism
is highly offensive to public opinion. It is then to be
earnestly hoped that the bounty of WILLIAM Jones
will not this day fall on the already burthened
shoulders of the Rev. Herm Mauna., distinguished
in his profession though be be.
Mr. Met.vu.t. is of a family remarkable for their
a/hoteliers and ability ; bat even still more remarkable
for their great success in life. Some years ago an
eccentric proprietor of Rut India Stock made out
and put into circulation an account current between
the MELVILL family and the revenues of India from
1808 to 1845 ; by which he made out that the money
balance then in their favour was no lees than
277,2151., without interest. The document is a
curious one; perhaps too curious to be quite correct.
But, error excepted, India mast have done wonders
for them. What it has done for some of them the
following lint will show :
1. J. 0. Meliilll, secretary of the Name India Coraaaay.
Silary, 2,6001.__a Ice: ; wawa arataity, 6001. ; and a how..
lie la also caoW director of the Isaias Railway Com-
pan2.ies J..
C. Melvin, tan., secretarial clerk.
3. Philip lislviU, military suntan, 2,0001. a year.
wor.h 1
4. Henry Kelvin, principal of Hafieybery, ,5001.
seem,.
6. Philip RelvBl, jam., saidevettretary to the govenomma
of India.
6. P. 8. Meleill, extra assistant at Lahore.
7. Peter Molvili, military secretary to the Bombay genre-
meat.
And from these parent stocks, branch off en
of sons, cousins, sons•in-law,
brothers-in-law, all engaged, at home or abroad:
innumerable race
in the service of the East India Company;
all good men, doubtless; fortunate men, cer-
tainly ; " Enghind hath ten thrummed Nona
as good as they,* arquartered on any bloat-
meat of the state; and the chances a-e tied this po- 1
dominance of family is any one department Is wok
much calculated to promote the public welfare. At
all events, this is not a monopoly of place, pttronage,
and Ace, that the Haberdasher's Company ought to
extend, If India be a legitimate field for the ability
of the MaLvu.t.e, they ought not to poach on St. Mar-
garet's, Lothbugr. When they have an empire to
sportMver, lardy they might refrain from trespas-
sing on a parish.

Mottos the 'theme of railway audit propounded
by the representatives of railway companies is far
from perfect, it is mere mtirtepresentation and imper-
finesses to call those gentlemen aDirectorial Cabal; and
to stir up ill blood between railway shareholders and
their directors is certainly the worst of all ill policies.
Railway affairs are, in all conscience, bad enough, with-
out introducing passion, prejudice, and vituperation
into their discussion. Nor is the pima of shares at
all likely to be improved by making
.confusion worse
confounded. If relives: proprietaries are now in
favour of a government audit, their directors have
given them the opportunity of stating their chugs of
opinion. Bet, as their unanimity against any mob
interference in their affairs some six months ages wan!
as "wonderful" u that of Sheridan's players whoa 1
they did agree, their directors have only performed
their duty to them, and fulfilled the promise made to
parliament on their behalf,. in_propounding a scheme
for their sanction or rejection. The scheme itself
may be a defective, an inadequate, or a radically bed
one ; but that its propounders have, in bringing it
under the oonsideration of their conatituenciee, acted
in bad frith, or have erred from interested motives,
is, we take it, sheer oaltunny. They have Wei 1
to the best el their judgment in the matter ; aid it is
now for railway proprietaries to decide whither they
are right or remote. We dare say that Mr. GLYN
Mr. Clun.nr, BacionreDinnsow, and Lord Lora-
DAM& are all quite ready, if their constituents wish,'
to bow and make way to other and better men: foe
it can be anything bet pleasant in ;oath men of their
high character to stiffer in public opinion because of
the rogueries of Mr. HI7DION, and to Lave affiliated
on their meet honourable sots motives such as swayed
that miserable impostor.
Railway ftreti have, no doubt, in several

instances been betrayed and deluded by their
directors; but to aquae, the present position ot
railway aff *rs entirely to these partial, though %can-,
es el.: ' j• irtl9.lokPlChaNl
Tr' have emapet aerie ai*.
-.• ha lc, ! reds and d mils have boas
1• . aced • in 1845 Mid 18480 be leaffilatore beg 1
111.‘ ' , 7: pos=9l: :I; ir4.lMkAlrellte iwtat
are sew reedy to netlike directors to-their wrath
and loss of property. Who forced the No Western,
e South Western, the Eastern Counties, into all
the extensions which have pray• d so destructive of
is
dividends? Virto, but the shareholders, the puslie,
and parliament! It is idle, then, to ascribe the fallen
fortunes of railway companies to directors eel). Tt e
proprietaries are themselves fer more to blame. And
lif in their anger they are desirous of handing these
undertaking. over to government, the parties really
most interested in the transfer are the directors
I themselves; for who would willingly be baited and
bullied as Mr. CHAPLIN NU at the South-Western
meeting on Wednesday.
We make these remarks for the purpose of remind-
ing shareholders that, whilst injustice may have been
dose them, it is quite possible for them to be flagrantly
unjust to directors. The proper conduct of these great
compaw es requires unanimity amongst the proprietors,
and confidence in the directors. Wherever such con-
fidence has ceased, far bet•er change the directory at
once than goon wrangling and disputing, and abusing,
and badgering, meeting after meeting, until the board
scarcely knows whether it stands on its head or its
heels. For our own part, we think that changes
in the direction have been far too seldom made
by shareholders, that there is far too little
of the popular principle in railway repreeenta-
don, sad that boards should take the opinion
of their constituencies on every matter of importance.
But ii these opinions prevail generally amongst rail-
way shareholders, they have the power of giving
efficacy to them, without turning meetings of their
companies into bear-gardens. All that is necessary
for their practical application is a little determination,
a little previous consultation, and a little organisation.
These prelisnisaries secured. moons is their own ;
railway boards will yield as a matter of course, capita-
bite without resistance.
Thus, for instance, as to this audit scheme, share-
holders have only to dissent from it, and its abandon-
ment is certain ; they have only to point out how it
may be improved and enlarged, and the improvement
and enlargement will follow ; or they have only to
decide in favour of a government audit, and Mr.
LABOUCHERE will oblige them to their hearts' content
in that respect. They are, in truth, all-powerful in
the question ; their representatives in Palace-yard
have no authority except what they bestow. To re-
present them as the victims of a cabal in this matter,
is therefore the idlest hyperbole that ignorance ever
resorted to. Such, however, is the imputation cast
on Mr. GLTN and his associates by a journal that
trades on bad passions.
But shareholders ought not to rash into a govern- I
ment audit, or ix o a, y scheme of audit, unaware of its
provisions, or whither it may ultimately lead. Hi.l
therto the plan of government audit proposed, bas been,
as we formerly showed, quite unworkable; it was be- I
gotten in ignorance and formed on principles of
obstruction. That plan shareholders themselves
rejected. Before then they express an opinion is
favour of another, it would surely be advisable is
wait and know what it is: for it is quite pendia*
that a government plan may be as ineffective
or as illusory as an independent scheme. And
government, it ought never to be forgotten, having
already the right on certain terms arid at fixed
periods, of purchasing railroads, has meanwhile
a direct interest in making their affairs appear as bed 1
as facts and figures will permit. So it is within
the region ot probabilities, that the practical effectil
of government mterferer.ce would be a permanent
depression of railway prices. I
Whether the plan of audit to be adopted be govern-1
mental or independent, we would puss this fact cal
railway shareholders, that they will never have satis-
factory audits until the capital accounts of their com-
panies be closed; for until they be closed, a govern-
ment auditor may be quite as much in fault in inves-
tigating the general accounts of a company as inde-
pendent auditors. The line between construc-
tion and revenue has not been drawn with any
certainty; and so long as the capital account is kept
open it never will be drawn with precision.
Yet with uncertainty on this all-important
point, and with the facility for fraud and error which
it opens, there is not a railway company in the
kingdom which has closed its capital accounts.
indeed, there is only one—the Brighton Compaty—
which holds out any. early certainty of doing so! All
are anxious and desirous to close capital ; but all are
doubtful when they shall be able. Now shareholders
have it in their power to insist on this account being
closed. And if the future development of t,affic re-
qu're further expenditure, and it be inexpedient
to meet it by draughts on revenue, why should not
railway boards come down with estimates before their
constituents, just as the CHANCELLOR OF THE ETCHE-
Quits asks for supplies from the House of Commons?
When the capital accounts of railways shall have
been closed, the difficulty will be, not to secure, barto
prevent, satisfactory audits; for then principles of
audit of the most stringent sort can be laid down and
acted upon.
But, unless the audit scheme now before the pub-
lic shall be improved in these respects, we cannot say
that it is worthy of general support.

The nmes of this morning, in a leading article, cor-
roborates the statement made in our paper of the 24th
inst. that the Blench government had determined on
removing its naval force from the coast of Africa, and
bad given the British government warning to that
efftot.

BXTLOSIONS AT TIIS ESITR COLLIIRT.—RtpIo•
dans, by which a number of collies—amouutiog, in the
whole, to about 20—rastained more or lees iojurier,occurred on
Wednesday and Thursday last, at the Ethyr Colliery, on the
Big'rehash estate, worked by Mean. Penrose and Evans.
It appears that about three o'clock on Wednesday morning
the working of the emulator was suspended, in consequence
of the disarrangement of the engine by which ft Is worked,
and which required to be repaired. About six o'clock the
men commenced wcekine, but °riffles, the overman, it
appears, cautioned them against going into certain portions
of the colliery. A man named Arthur, however, diem-
g riled the easion, having commented working with a
naked I•ght. An explosion immediately took place, by
which several men were burnt. It had likewise the
elect 'of knocking down the air dons and brattices in
the upper range or level of the colliery. In consequenee
of this circumstance, the ventilator was not worked at we
great en advantage as it otherwise would have been—,
the passage of air through certain stalls of the colliery
being suspended. The ventilator (B•ruvi's) effectually
prevented the return of the after-damp, which, apt&
such occasions, is usually so destructive. The Eaglesbnit
portion of the collier; continued at work without intends.
sion. After the sondem, men were immediately pat In to
restore the doors and circulation of the air in that pert of the
colliery where the explosion had taken place. Os Thursday
monies the men were again allowed to descend and work ia
that perigee of the colliery which was considered safe, with
dlreMan towork double or two in each stall which was cleat,
untildodoors and ventilition had bean restored in the others
Witia,herrever, they refused to do, on the ground of being
Is In can another's way," and Insisted on working in their
MO% 100egh two of the semen endeavoured to use
, their alealmelli to prevent it. The men declared teen was
me diegiere'd tM natibtor was giving pl-sty of air • and,
at MN* uneenundsly, proceeded so an unventilated Prue of
thellabity, sees with asked tights; and gene with=
esmosemace of this reckless conduct was, that
enpiedmoissed. more imesidalg• than the one on Weiner
_benedgeheall nudes men, some severely, though tel
eels( se es apprehend that death will ensue. In this
intend the adaptation of the ventilates was well tried, and
the meek wee fraught with the most important cones.
Meioses to the colliers, who by their negligeoos and folly,
minowly escaped the tate of those who lost their lives it
the same colliery about big Assn months ago; for these
MO be no doubt that, had it not been for the ventilator, the
men weed invite:My have been suffocated by the Am.
=watlt is en %storm:sate bedded' in emosedele with ills
Mutt several of the mug snared is essseguesse et
the as4pabd4 of ethos, sods of the Men employed In
-11/11=the dew beintlesrat This second exdo•
des y set have occurred, had it tel
r. Peeress and the overman had given en-
dirt adds= that the whole of the men (both dud d •
the upper and lowa rel) abould work two in a 18.1
the lower nage, some ef eine who unary worked is the I
iipper persevered in waking in their own steal, became
O. it earnings could not be se much when working two he
• stall.—Seermsea Herod.
AliCtele2 BRITISH VILLAGE.—Some very inteteet-
isg reataths of an ardent Bri:ish village have been die-
Oimered by Mr. H. Hared; the ladefir igable medal, of the
Norfolk and Nesmith Archeological Bodily, on the nest
of • rugs oftille at Weybourne, near Holt. They consist
of a collection of pits, of the tubiform depth of font and
diameter of debt feet, amounting in number to some hun-
dreds, sad extending upwards of a quarter ore Lin At •
short /Wean tram the village are the remains of sepulchral
thank probably the banal-place of the aboriginal ann.—
/My Pea.