The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-22 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 22, 1848.

----
is any case form the 'abject or tha occasioa of local
squabbles and intriguer.

A Yowl intolerable system of oppression and misery
is not easily to be found than in the existing state of
society produced at Sierra Leone by the present worm
than useless means now in operation on the western
coast of Africa for the suppression of the slave trade.
Wearied as the public mind is with the sickening
details of life and public property, sacrificed to little
if any purpose, in the well-meant attempts to stop
an abominable traffic; not one half of the wretched
fruits of this unphilanthropic preventive service has
been brought to light. Full well do the intelligent
traders and officials at Sierra Leone know this ; and
did they dare to utter the honest truth they would
roi ax
.ressmat,hneoir
lesseontteiminpnt
social,
diatisegvusilto awt
htihnehnareioranol and
nti
n.
a ly exposing the utter fallacy of our present plan
of trying to do away with it.
It is not, simply, and exclusively, in the loss
of life and property, and this, heaven knows, is bad
enough that we discover the worst abuse of ineffec-
tual means, more ineffectually carried out. It is not
merely because in such a service so many are immo-
lated at the shrine of that sympathy which originates
in the exaggerations of noisy eloquence.
To talk about and argue the question in the quiet
retirement of the closet; to write on its merits and
demerits, thousands of miles from the pestilential
shores, where alone the mischief of its progress can
be truly sten, is very easy ; and Jour.' Butt. will
greedily swallow the composing potion, just as'
his stomach is inclined. But it is on the spot
that its worst feature is to be detected in the limn-
lions and sensual indulgences, and the petty trickery
1 of office, to which the very nature and character of
the service in such a climate yield so ready and fatal
opportunities. One hundred and three slave vessels,
captured and brought into Sierra Leone in little more
than a twelvemonth, averaging at least from 1,000 to
1,500 victims. tell a sad tale against the decrease of the
slave trade. Not to speak here, therefore, of the de-
cline, proportionate, on a decreasing scale, of the slave
trade, to the means used to suppress it, we would
ask, What aro the advantages to the liberated P
Cedes, not a good exchange. Now, dating from
the timo of their happy arrival at Free Town—the
metropolis of Sierra Leone—let us take a glance at I
their improved condition, their ',teflon' fats! Off
they are sent to a place set apart for their reception,
close adjoining the colonial gaol, called the Africa* I
yard. Here they are deposited, speciously, with great
regard to the rules of morality ; for the women are
in one department, the men in another, with a wall
between them; but the habits of the place require
something more coercive and preventive than a few
bricks and an easy superintendent to preserve
the inmates from the indulgencies of corruption!
No sooner are they safely Loused than with sa
intuitive quickness peculiar to the followers GC
the profession, and, of coarse, ermine roam-1
dicente, an officer, commissioned or non-com-
missioned, hurries down from the barracks. A
tolerable batch of these captured slaves, the finest
and most promising of the men, having been exa-
mined as to their corporeal qualifications, are picked
out for military service. They are not asked for their
" yes," or " no," because it would be vain to put
such a question to people ignorant of every thing
around them ; and be it remembered the said yard is
kept particularly private, and not accessible without
authority. They are, is short, MADE soldiers; the
articles of war may be read to them; their meaning,
if it is explained, ;tie hard to say ; and a red coat and
musket are the exchange they undergo for I3razilian
servitude! The bullying and injustice, to which
these miserable wretches are often subject from young
and intemperate officers set over them would provoke
the commiseration of even the Iron l)uke!
The ingenuity of l'ity has devised for others a dif-
ferent mode of relief from slavery. Some are :este:
to labour pro bona public°, and "remise mutate " an
overseer marches them to and from their qualified
confinement to the scene of their labours, which are
not of the lightest description. The appetites of these
poor creatures, naturally voracious, by this
I wholesome and profitable occupation, are, we
presume, sharpened to a high pitch of gastric
irritation ; and to work they go at the rice, and
what Inside is given them: 'tis hard to say, be it
little or much. However, sometimes hundreds of
these prisoners of hope thus live and feed for weeks
at government expense. Those who are on terms
with the " powers that be," and are not scrupulous
in flattering princes, obtain at prime coat the ser-
vices of such as are not let loose in the colony
under the convenient cognomen of appren-
tices. Nor is any facility wanting to favour
the gratification of those passions by the sa-
crifice of many of these hapless victims to un-
blushing sensuality, to satisfy which numbers
of them are often undisguisedly sacrificed. As
for those who emigrate, they are but few in num-
ber, and still fewer in inclination. And it is no
wonder that efforts to induce them should prove so
comparatively unavailing, and the system, itself a
wise and good one, if properly employed and worked,
be unpopular amongst the thinking portion of the
community in the colony, when the measures to effect
't are so faulty.

Übe Court.
WINDSOR, FRIDAY.—The Rev. Dr. and Mrs.
Whewell took their departure from the Castle to-day. The
royal dinner party at the Castle this evening will include
the Duchess of Kent, the Earl sad Countess Cowper, the
Earl of Liverpool, the lady in waiting of the Duchess of
Kent, the Baroness de Speth, Sir George Cooper, and Col.
and Mn. Bouverie. - -

A cabinet council was held at one o'clock yesterday
afternoon, at the Foreign-office. The ministers present
were the Marquis of Lansdowne, Sir George Grey, Viscount
Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
the Earl of Auckland, Sir John Llobhouse, the Hight Hon.
H. Labouchere, Lord Campbell, the Marquis of Clanricarde,
and the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay. The council sat two
hours and a half.
Lord John Russell was prevented by indisposition
from attending the council. His lordship remained yester-
day at his residence in Richmond-Park.
Sir John Guest had an interview with Sir George
pre yesterday, at the Home-office.
The Earl of Zetland has consented to lay the
foundation stone of she new docks at Sunderland, on which
occasion there will be a splendid masonic display, from the
noble earl being Grand Blaster of the fraternity. The noble
earl and countess are expected in town from Yorkehise the
second week in the ensuing month.

(From lost night's Gazelle.)
FOREIGN-OFFICE, JAN. 21.—The Queen hne been
graciously pleased to appoint Walter Charles Metcalfe Plow-
den, Bog., to be liar Majesty's Consul in Abyssinia. 1
WARTOFFICE, Jan. 21.
3rd Drag. Gds.—See. Lieut. J. Winterbottom, from the Ceylon Rifle
Reg. (riding master), to be cornet, by pur., vice William., app. to the
12th U. Drag.
14th Lt. Drags.--Cornet T. Barrett, to be lieut., by pur., vice Holder,
who retires; 8. 0. Black, 'gent., to be cornet. by mar., vice Barrett.
29th Reg. of F.—Lieut. J. singleton, from the 64th F., to be lieut.,
vice Francis, app. to the 64th F.
31st F.—Capt. G. F. White, to be major, by pur., vice Itulkeley,
who retires; Lieut. J. P. Robertson, to be rapt., by per., vice While;
E.C. J. O. Clwallield, to be Beat., by par., vice Robertron ; Floe. T.
E. redder, from the 50th F., to be ens., vice &TIMM, who each.
44th le—LieeL W. F. Wyndowe, to be adj., vice Wheeler, who re.
signs the Militancy only.
56th r.—.an. F. R. Bernard, from the 31st F., to be ens., vice Fel-
der, who enchanget.
64th Y.—Lieut. J. Canavan, to be rapt., without par., vice Jopp,
dec.; Fos. R. Mockler, to be lieut., Tice Canavan; Lieut.H. Francis,
from the 29th F., to be lieut., vies Singleton, anp. to tke 29th F. ;
Gent. Cadet W. Ball, from the Royal Mil. College, to ho ears., vice
Mockler.
6711 F.—Gent. Cadet W. 1.. Ingle., front the Royal Col., to be,
ens., without par., vice Davy, who reigns.
76th F.—Lieut. W. C. Bancroft, from the 3rd West India Regt., to
be lieut., vice Dudgeon, who exchanges.
80th F.—Em. A. Scheberras, to be lieut., by pur., vice Gordon,
who ret. ; It. D. D. Cocky, gent., to be enc.., by par., vice Schelierrar.
86th F.—Cent. Cadet 11. E. Jerome, from the Royal Nit. Cell., to be
ear., without par., vice Stuart, promoted.
3rd Went India Regt —Lieut. R. Dudgeon, from the 76th F., to be
lieut., vice Bancroft, who exchanges.
Ceylon stifle Rcgt.—G. C. 11. Waters, gent., to be sec. lieut., by
par., vice Winterbottorn, app. to the 3rd Drag. Gds.
STAM—Asoiat.-Sarg. J. H. Brummell, from 40th F., to
be stafreurg, of the second clam.
CONIOSPARIAT.—Deputy-Comenimary-Gen. F. E. Knowles to be
commieriery-gen.; Commissariat Clerks: J. 11. Allinaon, It. B. B.
Bower, H. Hanle, J. F. Rogers, H. F. Durnford, T. Strickland, C. T.
%Velem, J. W. Woodley, It. 11. Smith, P. O. Julyan, to be deputy-
amist,commiesartetHgen. The commiseions of the mid commimariat
officers to bear date 28th Dee. 1847.
Eiterven IN Tan DAM= or JAN. 14, 1848.-22nd Y.—For Lieut.
Y. U. 11. G. Williams, from 41st F., to be lieut., vice Hunt, who exch.,
read, Lieut. W. Couch, from tint 1., to be lieut.., vice Hunt, who
;
exchanges
and
—For Lieut. W. Hunt, from the 22nd P., to be lieut., vice
Williams. who each., read, vice (bock who exch.

ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERY.—It is announced that
the utronomers of Pulkova have ascertained the existence
of a third satellite of the planet Uranus. Herschel, the dis-
coverer of this planet, thouitht to have perceived as many as
six satellites revolving round the parent luminary : but astro-
nomers had only succeeded in determining the or ,it of two
amongst them, and it may even be doubted whether a trace
of the others had ever been discovered. The discovery of a
satellite which only occupies 91 hours in effecting its revolt'.
tion round Uranus confirms a remarkable fact—amongst the
four planets nearest the sun, tke earth is the only one that
whilst the most remote planets all poi-
possesses a satellite,
sees several.

INTRA-MURAL BtlittalA.--illikoday a meeting of
the vestrymen of St. James% Wealininster, was held, the
goy. Jaw Jackson, D.D., rester, in the chair, in oom-
plianeemith a requisition signed by 860 rate-payers, to con-
sider fee propriety of peoning the legislature against
ja burial', and on other besinesa—The rev. Chair •
man ea that the subject was surrounded with difficulties,
hat he was of opinion that the overcrowded churchyards
should be eiceostl.—Mr. Churchwarden Gersten said that when
he ,ermeirlegei erowded state of certain metropolitan
bistalvonnos, he wu decidedly of opinion that govern-
ment was Woad is interfere, and protect the living against
Wag brought in such cline contact with putrid and
putrefying memo, which necessarily impregnated the
barman ag atmosphere with a deadly poison. He
therefore most willingly moved the adoption of a
petition for the abolition of intramural burials.—
Tim Hon. F. Byog, one of the sanitary commissioners, se-
conded the resolution, awl availed himself of the opportu-
nity to assure the vestry that the clergy were dt cidedly favour-
able to the suppression of burials in cities and towns.—Mr.
ex-Cburchwarden Austen said that when he wen in oasis a
portion of the churchyard wall wu forced out by the hemp
of dead bodice that were raised up against it, to the height se
several feet.—A Vestryman declared that the dead huried
in the churchyard half hid his house, they were piled
over each other so clue' up to it.—The motion was carried,
and the Chairman, thi Hon. F. Byng, Messrs. Compare,''
Beeson, and Austen, were appointed a committee to draw up
the petition.—Mr. Gauen brought up a petition for the re
peal of the window tax, which was laid in the vestry for sig-
natures; after which, and the disposal of some parochial
business of no importance, the vestry broke up.
MARINE SOClETY.—Yesterday a quarterly general
court of the governors of this society was held at the room in
13ishougatestreet, when the chair was taken by Rear-
Admiral Sir Charles Malcolm, who was supported by Major-
General James Caulfeild, C. 8., Beer-Admiral Henry Hope,
C. 8., Lord Henry Cholmoudeley, Ralph Ricardo, Esq., &c.—
After a few prefatory observations from the gallant chair-
man, the Secretary reed the report, by which it Appeared
that the number of boys admitted and apprenticed fi om the
Ist of October to the 31st of December last was as follows :
Boys remaining on board the society's ship the 30th
183;Sep-
ember, 1847, 96; admitted during the quarter, 84 ; total,
1 of which number there were sent to the royal navy, 31 ;
ditto merchants' ureic°, 47 ; discharged, 3 ; dead, 2 ; on
board the 31st December last, 100. The financial statement
represented the total amount of receipts as 2,2331. 4s. 6d.,
including a small balance from the previous quarter, whilst
the expenditure extended to 2.1401. de. 2d., which left a ba-
lance in kind of 921 19s. 4d. The report having been
adopted, the anniversary dinner was filed to be held on the
22nd March next, and some other business having been dis-
posed of, the usual compliment was paid to the gallant chair-
man, and the court broke up.
ASYLUM FOR IDIOTB.—The first election of this
charity, which was instituted in October last, for the care
and education of idiots, took place yesterday at the London
T . The committee met shortly after eleven o'clock—
Sir George Carroll in the chair—and opened the proceedings.
The board announced that they. felt justified in electing ten
of the applicants on that occasion, in consequence of the
numerous cases of a dis:reuing character which bed arisen
to notice. The elections would in future occur in April and
October. Such candidates as might not succeed in the first
instance would have credit given them for their amount of
votes on the first and two succeeding elections, so that their
friends would have the fullest encouragement. Person,' be-
coming subscribers might vote immediately. The poll cloud'
at two, when ten candidates were declared duly elected. ,
OMNIBUS TRAPPIC IN NEW YORK AND LONDON.—
An American correspondent gays: " 1)o the purple of New
York, or the dwellers upon Broadway themselves, know er
imagine the amount of travel carried on by those heavy car-
riage.? I suspect not. On the '2oth day of October 1 had
a count made of all the omnibuses and their passengers that
passed the corner of Chambers-street, for ten hours—say
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. During that time 1,420 omnibuses,
conveying 10,928 persons, passed ; being an average of one
in 25t seconds, if regularly distanced from each other. I
compute, that by estimating (or the five hours not counted,
and for the changes of passengers during the route of each
coach, • very moderate increase, no less than 18,000 persons
must have ridden in the omeihwies traversing Broadway in
whole or part above the Astor House." We are told that
the average number of omnibuses passing the Adelphi
Theatre in the Strand during the day is 2,2so.—Builder.
DEATH OF MR. ISAAC 1)18n/tem.—To the author-
ship of England Isaac Disraeli and Benjamin Disraeli, his
son, have been, in their respective walks of literature, ex-
tensive and distinguished contributory. The pure and
honourable career of the former reached its close en Wednes-
day last. Be had attained the advanced age of 82 years ;
and a few weeks ago was in the full possession of his usual
Health, and in the complete enjoyment of his intellectual
powers. The prevailing epidemic, however, suddenly as-
sailing a constitution enfeebled by age, soon assumed an ag-
gravated form, and at length this venerable gentleman sank
under the attack. He was born at Enfield, in the month of
May, 1766, and was the only child of Benjamin Disraeli, a
Veuetisn merchant, who had been many years settled in
this country. The death of Mr. Disraeli took place at his
country seat, Bradenham-house, in Buckinghamshire ;
and it may most truly be said, that few lives extending
to upwards of b 0 years have been passed with lee' vicissitude.
Mr. Disraeli was the author, in his youth, of several works
of fiction, some of which, published anonymously, obtained
considerable reputation. Among these the more remarkable
was Mejnoun and Leila—the earliest Oriental story in our
literature which was composed with any reference is the
propriety. of costume. The author was, in this production,
much assisted by Sir W. Ouseley, who first drew his atten-
tion to the riches of Persian poetry. The Rabelaisian ro-
mance of Flint k'lams and the novel of Vaurien, written in
all the lord blaze of French conventions and corrc-
spending societies, have both, we believe with autho-
rity, been attributed to him. His acknowledged works
were Lines on the Abuse of Satire, which appeared
in the 59th volume of the Gentleman's Magazine; the
Infence of Poetry (1791). In his 24th year, Mr. Disraeli
published the first volume of the Curiosities of Literature,
which was afterwards extended to several volumes is/feed
between the years 1817 and 1824. Other compendia of lite-
rary history and anecdote followed, viz. he Quarrels of
Authors, Calamities of Authors, Illustration, of the Lite-
rary Character and Amenities of Literature. liis fame,
however, chiefly rents on hie Commentaries on the Life of
Charles 1., comprised in five volumes, published at intervals
after 1828. For this great work Mr. Disraeli received the
honorary degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford.
He died a widower, having lost his wife, to whom he hail
bee a united for more than forty years, in the spring of 1847.
Ile has lett one daughter and three sons, the eldest of whom
is the member for Buckinghamshire.
AN APPROACHING COMET.—If we can give any
credit to the opinion of cometographs, 1818 will have the
advantage of witnessing the return of a large and beautiful
comet, mentioned by historians and chroniclers of 1264, and
which was observed in 1556 by Fabricius. It is known that
in the month of March, 1556, a singularly brilliant comet
was seen, equal in magnitude to a half mom. Its tail was
rather short, it was not invariable in its lustre and its light,
bore great resemblance to that of the flame of • candle
tated by the wind. It terrified the Emperor Charles V.,
who, convinced that the moment of his death was approach-
ing, exclaimed, it is said,
His err indiciis me mea fats vacant.
"In this brilliant sign I read my approaching end." This
panic contributed greatly, if we can believe the historians of
the time, to the design formed by Charles, and which he
put into execution a few months later, of abdicating in fa-
TOUT of his brother Ferdinand. The famous Halley, the
friend of Newton, determined the orbit of this comet, which
it his been proved was similar to that followed by
a beautiful comet which appeared in 1264. From
thence it has been concluded that the comet of
15d6 was • retum of the comet of 1261 ; that
this comet employed 02 years in accomplishing its revolu•
tion round the sun, and thus it must re-appear in 1848. It
now remains Lobe seen, whether the comet will conform to
human previsions or deceive them ; whether the appearances
of identity be a delusion, or the expression of a reality. At
all events
i it is fitting attention should be excited to an event
which, if t bo realised, would be of very great astronomical

importance.
DUTY AND OLORY.—The Duke of Wellington,
being asked if he had seen a French criticism on the fourteen
volume• of his Despatches, replied in the negative, and in-
quired, " What do the French say of them ?" He was told
that the reviewer remarked the word glory did not once
occur, but that duty frequently did.—D'Aubigny's Ger-
many, England, and Scotland.
SINGULAR FlRE.—Yesterday afternoon a fire of a
very angular character occurred in Fleet-street. One of
Messrs. Spalding's vans, containing upwards of 40 reams of
paper, was returning from Dowgate-wharf in Thames-street,
to their warehonses in Drury-lane, and while passing the
Sunday Times office smoke was observed to issue from the
interior of the van. Upon a search being made it was dis-
covered that the paper, which consisted of what is technically
termed " news," had caught fire by some means or other
which could not be divined, and before the fire could be
subdued upwards of 20 reams were unfortunately destroyed.
SIIIP ON FIRE.—The Viceroy steamer, on her
voyage from Glasgow to Dublin, on Tuesday night, took fire,
and hefore its suppression, her two cabins were nearly de-
groped. She succeeded in getting into Loch Ryan, and it
was not until four hours after the fire was extinguished.
The Viceroy is insured for 16,0001., and has been one of the
finest and fastest vessels engaged in the Irish trade.
ATTEMI-TED MURDElL—Yesterday morning,
__a de-
liberate attempt to murder an aged woman, named Wilke, .
was made by a man named George Mason, a coach painter,
who has absconded. Mrs. Wilke resides in a small tenement
in Norman's-huildings, Cannon-street-road, St. George's-in-
the-East, with her daughter, who is the mother of one child,
and had been keeping company with Mason, who wiiheil
her to leave her parent and live with him. At the instigation
of her mother she refused, and Mason repeatedly threatened
the most deadly revenge against Mrs. Wilks and her daugh-
ter. Those menaces were ili4regarded, and at 1 o'clock yes-
terday morning the inhabitants of Norman's-buildings were
alarmed by cries of murder, proceeding from the house
inhabited by Mrs. Wilke. It was some time before any one
wcut to her as4stance, when, upon entering a room up-stairs
she was found stretched on her bed weltering in her hived,
which proceeded from a deep wound on her throat, and cuts
on her arms and hands, while by her side was a little girl
three years of age, who in the greatest terror was clinging to ,1
her grandmother. The house was soon filled with police
constables, and no time was lost in sending fur the nearest
surgeon. Mr. Broadwatcr, a medical practitioner, who
resides in Cannon-street, adjoining the railway arch,
was soon in attendance, end ascertained that the woman
had received eleven wounds, of which the chief
was on the right side of the throat. It appeared that Mrs.
Wilks had received the wounds on her hands and arms
while they were uplifted, and in protecting her grandchild,
whom the man attempted to stab. The injured woman was
conveyed at her own request to the residence of her son,