The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-21 00:00:00

DEPRECIATION OF t.\ NORD PROPERTY.

The depreciation of real propertyOcc:a:l;nel by the gene-
ral feeling of the present insecurity of title, and of the ap-
prehension of the delay and expense attending transactions
relating to real property, is matter of no doubt whatever ;I
land the main object of registration is well described by Mr. I
Henry Drummond, in the able speech introducing his bill of
1849, :—" To enhance the value of landed property, I
and to enable landed proprietors more easily to effect sales ,
of small portions of the same, in order to liberate them out i
of their difficulties, and to give them facilities for investing
more capital in the cultivation of their lands." At present,i
what is the language of the law, or rather of the profession,
to the landowner ? Let the writer of a powerful article in
the Law &riot) state it Before you can dispose of your
land, either by sale or mortgage, you must show a sixty
years'title to it, as it is called, that is to say, you must show
the whole of the transactions and dealings respecting it, for
at least that period of time ; and you must show that all
the encumbrances which have affected it during this period, I
have been paid of. You must verify all the facts connected
with it, as birth, deaths, etc., by legal evidence ; and you
must show that either you, or those over whom you have
control, can convey to the purchaser or mortgagee every
particle of what are called the legal and equitable estates.
This must be done in the case of every and any sale, though
having 1,000 acres, you wish to sell only one acre. It must
he done in the case of a mortgage, whether you want to
borrow the money for a short or for a long period ; whether
you want to borrow 1001., or 1,0001., or 10,0001. The
landowner who borrows money on his land imagines he
' gets his money for 41. or IL per cent. ; but add
to the interest the expenses of the investigation,
always paid by the mortgagor, and the best se-1
curity m England may find itself mulcted of 101. per'
cent. upon a loan. But the mortgage money is called in,
what happens then? The same investigation of title usually
takes place by another person, and very nearly the same i
expense is again incurred. It is easy to see how this state
of the law mu,t affect the value of the land, and more es_pc-
Melly the smaller proprietors. But this is not all. The
greater the necessity of the man, the greater the number of
his mortgages; the more his necessities thicken around
him, the Larger and thus the more expensive becomes his
abstract of title ; the less he can afford to pay, the more ho
has to pay ; the more money ho wants, the less he gets."
Yet there is nothing in the nature of landed property which
renders it impracticable for ready transfer. Railroad pro-
perty, mining property, canal property, all manifestly inte-
rests in land, have been rendered, by acts of parliaments,
the subject of simple registration and of simple transfer.
Why not, then, landed property altogether ?
Surely we have said and quoted enough to arouse
the attention of our readers to the subject, and shall
only further add, that Mr. Hazlitt deserves well of
the propertied classes for this effort to advance a
reform long needed.

The Theology and Morally of the Great Exhibition. By
• SPIRITUAL WITCRXAS of the CIIURCII of ENO-

Paulter.

_...._. _ __.._..
Whether the writer of this pamphlet be, as he
gives himself out, a minister of the Church of Eng-
land, or not, he is a moody bigot, insensible to the
large and generous sentiments of the Scriptures
whose letter he wrests. Thus, abusing the sublime
imagery of the prophet, he says of the Great Exhi-
bition,—" The enemy is come in like a flood ; " and
as if to balance his impiety, he immediately perverts
the language of an apostle,—" It is required of
stewards that a man be found faithful "—to
sanction his ignorant protests against the no-
blest efforts of our age. Nothing seems to
please this gentleman. The Crystal Palace
was opened with a prayer, upon which he ejacu-
lates, "We live in strange and perilous times !" Ho
seems to have a notion that the act of prayer gives
a sort of sacred character to the Exhibition—as if it

expressed anything more than the spirit of the wor-
shipper. This " spiritual watchman" has read Paul's
writing to small purpose, when Paul enjoined that
every act should be performed in the name of the
Divine Being. Then, again, Prince Albert offends
hint. Among the good things said by the Prince at
the Mansion-house was this :
So man is approaching a more complete fulfilment of that
great aad sacred mission which he has to perform in this
world. His reason being created in the image of God, he
has to discover the laws by which the Almighty governs his
creation, and, by making these laws his standard of action,
to conquer nature to his use, himself a divine instrnmcnt.
Whereupon the clergyman finds that this doctrine
leads to atheism, and that, "so far from having any
mission to pry into the laws by which the Almighty
governs his creation, he was expressly forbidden so
to do. The only forbidden tree in the garden was
the tree of science and intellect." Beyond this
' point, wrong-headed acts cannot go. There is
not a Sunday scholar in any third-rate town
who could not tell this clergyman that, &word-
ing to the book he misrepresents, man is expressly
told to " subdue" the creation ; which certainly
can never be done except by ascertaining its laws.
Rose or Florence is the true sphere for our new
teacher. What makes
of oon the matter woreagb4 add
e:4)lades
quotations, misapplied sse, from

-- ---
(old John Bunyan, the subtle discrimination and
masculine common sense of religion, to give a 'Ali-
tsible sanction to his morbid notions. These arc the
wounds which Christianity receives in the house of
her friends.

1851; or, the Adrentares of Mr. and Met. Sandboys and
Family, who came up to Gondon to enjoy thentselres, and
to see the Great Exhibition. Part V. by Haxur Mar.
HEW. Illustrated by George Cruikshaak. Bogue.
The fifth instalment of the Sandboys' history is
devoted to an account of more disasters. Since they
came to London, these devoted eountryfolk had been
made to suffer so many indignities and losses—
having penetrated the mysteries of a station-house,
been taken hundreds of miles out of their way, been
duped to the tune of some 10 pounds by a flower-
seller, and been ignominiously turned out of their
lodgings—that it was not unreasonable to expect in
the fifth part a glimmer of sunshine. But no. On
all sides are they ingeniously hedged about with the
most various disasters; and for the present month
Mr. Sandboys is left in prison, being remanded by
the magistrate on suspicion of robbery in the Exlu-
bition building.
It is almost unnecessary to add that Mr. Sandboys
is entirely innocent. The opening of the Exhibition
—welcome intelligence to most people—only served
in the history of Mr. Sandboys to precipitate himself
and lady into the Serpentine, whence they were
rescued by members of the Humane Society. Mr.
Sandboys is not even allowed to journey to Kensing-
ton on an omnibus without an accident—for the roof
gives way, and the Cumberland farmer is precipi-
tated upon the heads of the inside passengers. These
improbabilities arc so crowded together, that they
almost lose the force of humour and dwindle to bald
pantomime. Mr. Mayhew has proved already how
dexterously he can manage equivoque, and how
sharply he can seize upon the salient points of human
weakness and folly; and the fact that this power is
recognised by the public should warn him against
,descending to absurdities, and absurdities, too, in
which the reader is allowed to scan everything that
influences the trick. The part, however, begins ex-
cellently well with a picturesque account of the
opening of the Exhibition, part of which we
extract :

LONDON BEFORE THE OPENING.
London, for sonic time previous to the openine of the
Great Exhibition, had been a curious sight even to Lon-
doners. In all the main thoroughfares, especially those
leading from the railways and the docks, heavy vans,
piled high with unwieldy packing cases, or laden with some
cumbrous machine, and drawn by a long team of horse,
crawled along, creaking, on their way towards the Crystal
Palace. The greater part of the principal streets were being
repaired, preparatory to the increased traffic ; shops were
being newly painted, and newspapers were announcing in
huge placards that they proposed publishing supplements in
several languages.
Is almost every omnibus some two or three foreigners
were to be seen among the passengers—either some light-
haired Germans, or high-checked Americans, or sallow
Turks, with their " fez-ups "of scarlet cloth. In the pit
of the theatres, Chinamen, with their peculiar slanting
eyes and old-woman like look and dress, might occasion-
ally 'be seen gaping with wonder at the scene ; while from
the number of gentlemen in beards, felt hats, and full pan-
taloons, visible at the West End, Regent-street had much
the Anglo-Frenchified character of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
New amusements were daily springing into existence, or
old ones being retired. The Chinese Collection had re-
turned to the metropolis with a family from Pekin, and a
lady with feet two inches and a half long, as a proof of the
superior stending she had in seciety ; Mr. Catlin had re-
opened his Indian exhibition; Mr. Wyld had bought up
the interior of Leicesterequare, with the view of cramming
into it—" yea, the great globe itself!" The geographical
panoramas had rapidly increased, no less than three Jeru-
salem having been hatched, as it were, by steam—like
eggs, by the patent incubator—within the last three weeks.
" Australia " and " New Zealand," like floating islands,
had biliftVtl their quarters from Miss Linwood's Gal-
lery to the Strand, while the cost of immigrating
thither for half an hour was reduced from sixpence for
each country to " threepeuce all the way ; whilst
those who felt indisposed for so long a journey could
make the " Grand Tour of Europe " for one shilling, or
take the " Overland Route to India " fur the same fence,
I or be set down by the Waterloo omnibus at the entrance to
the " Dardanelles," and see all over " Constantinople "
for less than a trip to Gravesend.
The road to the Crystal Palace had for a long time been
an extraordinary scene. Extensive trains of waggons
stretched far away, like an Eastern caravan, each waiting
for its turn lobe unloaded, monopolised one side of the car-
riage way, Omnibuses, with their roofs crowded with
people, went dashing by, while carts laden with building
materials crept leisurely along.
At almost every one of the public-houses some huge flag
was flying from the upper window., and around the doors
were groups of men and soldiers either about to enter or de-
: part. Along the edge of the footpath stood hawkers,
shouting out the attraction of their wares—some had trays
filled with bright silvery-looking medals of the Exhibition
—others, pictures of it printed in gold on "gelatine cards "
—while others had merely barrows of nuts, baskets of
oranges, or trucks of the omnipresent penny ginger-beer.
Groups of foreigners, their beards yellow with dust,
walked along with their hands stuck in their 'Rickets, so as
to make their full pantaloons even fuller than ordinary;
and as the omnibuses stopped to "pick up " or " set down"
their passengers, parties of Germans or Frenchmen were
heard jabberiug.loudly within. Along Rotten-row, endless
troops of equestnans galloped noisclesslyalong on the soft loose
ground at the rear of the Crystal Palace—in front of it an
interminable line of carriages drawled slowly pest, and
while some of those within thrust their heads out at the
windows, others leant back, so as to be able to sec the height
or length of the giant building.
Oa every side were mobe of spectators pressing close up
to the rails, and standing on tip-toe, with their necks out-
stretched, in the hope of getting a peep of what was going
on within. All along the building were ladders, one beside
each of the columns, with painters perched high upon them,
busy colouring the iron. work against the opening day. On
top of the huge glass arch that farmed the roof of the tran-
sept, the tiny figures of workmen were to he seen, some
walking along the crystal covering, and making one wonder
how the fragile substance bore them.
At the end of the building were steam-engines puffing out
their white clouds of steam, and amid the debris of a thou-
sand packing-cases stood giant blocks of granite, mammoth
lumps of coal, stupendous anchors, and such huge articles as
were too bulky to be placed within the building itself.
AU was bustle, life, confusion, and amazement.
Those who were not working were wondering at those
who were ; and many, as they looked at what still remained
to be done, shook their heads in doubt as to the possibility
of completing it against the appointed time.
Nor was it difficult to read disappointment in the Wall.'
tenances of the new comers on their first beholding the
building. To soy the truth, the engravings and the ima-
gination had failed to convey any adequate legion of the
structure. The very name of the Crystal Palace had led
people to conjure up in their minds a phantasm that could
not be realised—a transparent edifice, pellucid as if built of
blocks of ice instead of stone—a prismatic kind of fairy
mansion, glittering in the sun, and breaking up and scat-
tering the light all around in a thousand rainbow tints.

NorrINGHAM Se!mot Or Mill:lN.—On Thursday
the annual meeting of the friends and supporters of this
useful local institution was held in the upper class-room of
the building in Beck-lane, Nottingham. Mr. Alderman
Heard, chairman of the committee, took the chair. Wm.
Enfield, Esq., the honorary secretary, read the eighth
annual report, which was of a satisfactory nature. It stated
that the number of students was still increasing, and it al-
luded in a very lucid manner to the importance of the insti-
tution in spreading a taste for art among the public;
and its decided effect in improving the designs in
the local manufactures ; hence it wits matter of
surprise that the subscriptions from the neighbour-
hood could not be increawd annually from 1001.
to 2001. By the financial statement it appeared there
was a balance in hand of lle. 2d.—Mr. Alderman Herbert
moved the adoption of the report, which he was pleased to
see of such a favourable character.—Mr. Heymann se-
conded the motion, and, alluding to his visit to the Exhibi-
tion, he observed that while the English excelled in every-
thing that was useful and stood unrivalled, they had agrcat
deal to do in matters of taste so that the articles which
were made so cheap as to excite the wonder of the world
might be produced, as they could be, by the employ-
ment of less Labour upon it with still more taste. It
could not he denied the English were thoroughly
beaten in matters of taste. He therefore strenuously
urged upon the students of this school, and all de-
signers, to pay more attention to those matters,
and to inspect closely the productions and follow
the example of their continental neighbours. He referred
to the rapid advance made in the school dutang. the eight
years since its commencement, and the stimulus it had al-
ready given to the manufactures of. the town. Although
there was a small balance in hand, ,t was because the ex-
ethedwasto
ottlhearooolun. tAolf
thhad .locale,
1501. they were liable at any time to have the school taken
incomeuit un undertakenb been
iepa cat ie
accommodated
sme
nsc: a ahho oi I was estabylished tofu t u s h
from them and given to any other town who would sub-
scribe the required amount. !?.very exertion should then
be made to increase the amount, to show the government
that while they were doing so much for them, they were
not slow in supporting an institution like the present.—The
motion was carried nem. dos.—Nottingham Review.
DEATH OP SIR CHARLES BANNERMAN, BART.--.
We have to record the demise of Sir Charles Bannerman,
Bart., of Elsick, N. 8., who died on Wednesday last, altar
a short illness. The deceased was the eighth baronet of
the family, which is of considerable antiquity, being de-
scendedfrom the hereditary banner bearers of the Kings of
Scotland in the 10th and 11th centuries. Sir Charles was
born in 1782, and married, in 1821, his cousin, daughter of
Mr. Alexander Bannerman, father of the late member for
Aberdeen. The deceased baronet is succeeded by his eldset
son, Alexander Bannerman, born in 1823.