The Express.
London, England, 1846-10-05 00:00:00

thought still, that good would come of it. He had had no
ill feeling or personal animosity to airy man through the
whole affair. He was quite aware beforehand that his
motives would be questioned, but his conscience acquitted
him.—Mr. Brake This is too bad; I cannot stay to hear it.
There is no truth in it; it is too bad; there is no truth in

newspapers.
The farmers then rose and walked out, and the meeting
broke up. The inquiry had lasted above seven hours. Some
of the labourers came up to Mr. Osborne as he left the
school-house, and thanked him for the trouble he had taken.
lie addressed a few words to them as he passed on, entreat-
ing then not to let what had occurred make them less willing
to oblige their masters, and do their utmost to give satisfac-
tion. The men were all neatly dressed, but they had not
the appearance of robust health.

LE VERRIER'S PLANET.—A great triumph in then-
retical astronomy has been achieved by the ascurate prediction
and discovery of another new planet. Sir F. Herschel writes to
the Atheneum that, on July 12,1842, the late illustrionsastro-
nomer, Besse', convening with him, " on the great work of
the planetary reductions undertaken by the Astronomer-
Royal—then in progress, and since published—M. Bessel
remarked that the motions of Uranus, as be had satisfied
himself by careful examination of the recorded observations,
could not be accounted for by the perturintions of the known
planets; and that the deviations far exceeded any possible
limits of error of observation. In reply to the question,
whether the deviations in question might not be due to the
action of an unknown planet ? he stated that he considered
it highly probable that such was the case—being systematic,
and such as might be produced by an exterior planet."
These unaccounted-for perturbations became the subject of
calculation, and. Le Verrier having resolved their inverse
problem, pointed out, as now appears, nearly the true situa-
tion of the new planet. Other observations and calculations
carried on by Mr. Adams, a young Cambridge mathematician,
quite independent of those by M. Verrier, produced the same
result, of the correctness of which Sir F. Herschel was so
convinced, that, speaking of the indicated planet, he said,
"We ace it as Columbus saw America from the shores of
Spain. Its movements have been felt, trembling along the
far-reaching line of our analysis, with a certainty hardly infe-
rior to that oracular demonstration." This has at length been
afforded. Mr. Hind recently announced in the Times that
he had received a letter from Dr. Brunnow, of the Royal
Observatory et Berlin, giving the very important informa-
tion that Le Verrier's planet was found by M. Gallo on the
night of September 23rd. It is a star of the Bth magnitude,
but with a diameter of two or three seconds. Mr. Hind
observed the planet at Mr. Bishop's observatory, in the
Regent's-park, on Wednesday night last. "It appears
bright," he says, "and with a power of 320 I can see the disc.
The following position is the result of instrumental compari-
sons with 33 Aquarii :—Sept. 30, at Bh. 16m. 21s. Greenwich
mean time—Right ascension of planet, 21h. 52m. 47•15 a. ;
south declination, 13 deg. 27m. 205."

BRITISH Nos-COMMISSION ED OFFICERS.— Acs to the
characters of the generality of non-commissioned officers at
present, wisdom cannot be considered as forming their most
prominent trait; but they possess a great deal of what is de-
signated cunning, which seems to be the peculiar forte of
the class. Unlike the private, they are not independent of
their superiors even while they do their duty ; and conse-
quently they are obliged to propitiate them by servility
and meanness, and to mould themselves to their wills.
Thus, from studying the passions and weaknesses of others,
and being obliged at the same time to conceal their own,
they become adepts in duplicity, and doubly dangerous to
those beneath them who may happen to incur their dis-
like, and whom they will endeavour jesuitically to crash
by indirect means. The exercise of petty power
sharpens the wit, and stimuLdes hitherto latent pro-
pensities;
and deep strokes of policy are sometimes
made in a corps by the non-commissioned grade,
which would do credit to a disciple of Machiavelli. In many
instances, serjeant-majors, by sinister methods, exercise more
real power, as regards the private, than the commanding
officer, who permits himself to be influenced by his artful
representations, personally, or second-hand through the ad-
jutant, whom he wheedles by " ear-tickling." So admirably
skilled are they in this art, that they sometimes even procure
commissions by means of it. In one instance, especially,
which came in a measure under my own observation, a man
who had been tried and convicted by a general court-martial
for sleeping on his post, and was afterwards arraigned for
perjury, receiving three months' imprisonment for the latter
offence, was yet able to manage matters so, that he was re-
turned in certain official documents as of the most exemplary
character; and finally, by flattering the foibles of an adju-
tant and others, succeeded in getting • commission.—The
Camp and the Barrack Room.
A MODERN HERO.—Many 'who rend romances
about the days of the Crusades, and whose hearts beat over
the romance of history—the narratives of heroes like William
Tell, who waged a hely war against the invaders of their
' country—are unaware that as great a hero lives in our i
day, and is conducting as holy and undying a struggle.
How few care to read of Abd-el-Kadcr ! yet who will ven-
ture to say that William Tell was nobler? The Emir
Abd-A-Kader is the indomitable foe of the French, who
have conquered Algiers, and colonised, or attempted to cola
nice, the neighbourhood. He is a Mahomedan, and hates
the Christians. He is a native, and hates the intruders. He
is a prince, and hates the conquerors of his country. Ile
cannot drive them out; but he has done everything short
of it. He leaves them no peace or rest. They in fact own
no land but what they stand on. Every head that is put out
beyond the cordon Is cut off. Every straggler from the
camps disappears. The settlers cannot till the fields, nor go
on commercial errand ; for Abd-el-Kader comes down upin
them whichever way they go. A company cannot pass from
camp to camp without its numbers being thinned. If
there is a burning. sun, Abd-el-Kader pounces upon
the troops in their hour of lassitude. If wintry
weather comes up from the mountains, Abd-el-Kader
comes up with it, as if he rode upon the blast. If snow
blocks up the way, Abd-el-Kader issues from the thickest
drift. If there is a drought, he drives the for far from the
water brooks by harassing them flank and rear. He is
always on the eve of being caught; but no man has ever
caught him yet, nor any Christian touched his white ban-
ner. His tribes are dispersed, his stores taken, his supplies
cut off, his horses shot under him, his allies bound over to
deliver him up ; but he has always yet escaped. He is re-
ported dead ; but is presently seen and felt again. He has
worn out and brought to disgrace French field-marshals ;
and caused, destitute as he himself is, an expenditure of men
and money such as no nation can long endure for the sake
of so wretched a colony. Ile has now sent a summons to the
tribes of the south to be ready to renew the war spinet the
invader, ; and all but those who are within immediate reach
of the French answer with fervour to the call. One cannot
but look forward wistfully to see the issue,—to divine the
lot and death of such a man—to watch whether his power of
hope can sustain itself against such odds; whether he dies on
I the field or in a cave of the rocks—as a warrior or a prisoner,
or as one of Nature's princes in one of Nature's
The only thing we know is, that the man himself— is
—will never be conquered. Being well assured of this, it
would be endurable that his country and native tribes should
be brought under European sway, if there were a fair pro-
bability that it would be ultimately for their real good. But
it is for their invaders is show that it would be so ; and till
they do, our sympathies must inevitably be with the indo-
mitable Abd-el-Kader, before whose majesty—the native
majesty of the soul—every Mahomedan bows his head, and
every Christian quails."—Miss Martineau, in the " People's
Journal."
THE CENTRAL SUGAR FACTORY SYSTEM.—We
passed under review some time since the interesting and in-
structive pamphlet in which Mr. A. G. Fyfe elucidates, with
copious calculations of comparative cost, and pro forced esti-
mates of working results, the superior advantages which are
claimed for the new system, over the present time-honoured
routine, in the manufacture of sugar. It will insure economy
of labour and capital, with a larger ratio of profitable pro-
duct, in bulk as well as in quality, of primary substances and
accessory values. Mr. Fyfe, in connexion with various
respectable West India proprietors and merchants interested
in the prosperity ef the sugar colonies, who are persuaded of
the soundness of his views, and the great practical utility of
his plans, has been endeavouring to raise, by joint-stock
association, the capital required to carry them out on a pro-
portionate scale ; but such is the depressed state of West
Indian property, and consequently the indifferent credit
which it enjoys in the money market, that capital, however
in excess for enterprise and industry otherwise, cannot be
tempted to flow in this direction. A fund of • certain
amount has been raised from the almost exhausted resources
of West Indian interest, anxious for the success of a system
which promises a happy solution and redemption to existing
difficulties, but the amount is understood to be quite inade-
quate to work out, upon any proper and enlarged scale,
the objects of the sugar factory system, the machinery for
which, with the buildings, must necessarily be of expensive
construction. The heaviest outlay must be in the outset of
the undertaking. In these circumstances a memorial has been
prepared, and is now in course of signature by the " proprietors
of estates, merchants, and others interested in the British
West Indies," in this city and elsewhere, addressed to Earl
Grey, as Secretary for the Colonies, in which after declaring
their conviction of the " advantages" to be derived from the
"operation of central sugar factories, and the consequent
separation of the culture of sugar from the process of manu-
facture," they "declare that so paralysed is the West India
interest that, without the aid and co-operation of the Go-
vernment, they feel themselves unequal to the task of raising
the requisite amount of money to carry out the measure."
The memorial concludes with a request that the Joint stock
company may be endowed with a royal charter, and that
assistance may be afforded by " way of loan, by the issue of
Exchequer Bills, on the security of the proposed works, for
such amount, and on such conditions" as the Minister might
see fit.
GLASS EYES NOT WARRANTED TO SEE.--A Teri
curious cause has just came before the Juge de Paix of
Neuilly. Some time ago, Madame Pluyette, a widow lady
of fifty, but who still attaches much importance to personal
appearance, had the misfortune, in playing with a lap-dog,
to receive from it so severe a wound in one of her eyes that
it came out of the socket. Having heard much of artificial
eyes, and being recommended to apply to an expert manu-
facturer in this way, named Tamisier, she gave an order for
a glass eye, for which_. Tamisier charged. her 100 francs.
Refusing to pay this charge, the manufacturer summoned
her be:ore the juge de pail. Madame Pluyette haying
appeared, holding the glass eye in her hand, the juge de
pais asked her why. she refused to pay the bill which M.
Tamisier had sent ? " For a very good reason," replied
the defendant, " I can see no more with it than I could be-
fore."—" What !" said the juge de pais, " did you really
imagine that you would be able to see with a glass eye?"—
" Did I think so ?" retorted the aagry dame ; " certainly,
I did. Will you be so good as to tell me what eyes are for,
but to see with ? I ordered the eye for use, and, until M.
Tamisier makes me one with which I can see, I will not pay
him a sou. I wear a wig, which is quite as useful as natural
hair. I have three false teeth, which answer as well as
those which I have lost, and why should I pay for an eye