The Express.
London, England, 1847-04-06 00:00:00

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
THIS DAY, Four o'Clock.
Her Majesty's steamer Sidon, Captain Henderson,
C. 8., left Spithead yesterday for the Tagus, with im-
portant despatches for the British minister at Lisbon.
She has taken out a considerable quantity of stores,
and a large detachment of marines. It is said that
Sir W. Parker's squadron will be immediately re-
inforced.

ELECTORAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
BEDFORDSHIRE.
This is the most purely agricultural county in
England. It hes the fewest of its inliebi.ants retuned as
engaged in manufactures of nay kind. It stands noisily
alone (on a careful comparison of the Census Tables, and
the Population Returns classified from those tables, et each
of the decennial periods of 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, and 1841),
for the almost Oriental or caste-like inflexibility with which
the numbers engaged in the various classes of agricultural
and other occupirions have maintained their relative pro-
portions each to the other. This is, no doubt, a conse-
quence of the natural nece.aity which the accidents of its
geographical distribution, of its geological conformation, and
of its physical outlines and relations have imposed upon it of
remaining, through a long succession of ages, a district princi-
pally devoted to tillage and pasturage—to the latter in by
teethe larger proportion. The want of large navigable rivers
(excepting the Ouse, by which it communicates with the beet
part of the county of Norfolk) must long prevent its trade,
except in such staples as butter end corn, turnips, &c., from
being of much consequence, notwithstanding the extent to
which this deficiency is being every day supplemented by
lines of railroad, that traverse alike the fiats of Bedfordshire
and the moors of Devon. It may bo assumed d priori, that
these natural conditions are not very favourable to the deve-
lopment of any sustained independent exercise of the elective
franchise by a constituency whn must be brought within the
sphere of the large landlord influence so immediately and
directly, this county comprising within its rather narrow
limits some of the largest private estates in the same division
of the kingdom. We cannot but remember that the elee.
torsi franchise in this. B'3 ire has been, accordingly, from time
out of mind, subjected to that disturbing action which not even
the prescriptive constitutionality of the house of Russell ten
always be trusted to, to wield without abuse. In a small
county, where the estates are not very multiplied, but in
many instances very considerable, the holdings of the tenants
cannot be expected often to merge into freehold properties ;
and few facilities for establishing new freeholds in land will
be afforded by the great owners in question—always indis-
posed, in proportion to their freedom from incumbrances,
and to the consequently ample scale of their rent-rolls, to
subdivide their ownership. On the other hand, the lace-
making, the basket-working, the Dunstable straw-plaiting,
which are about the only articles of its external trade, hold
out little reason for expecting the constitution of new house
freeholds in sufficient quantity to supply any available coun-
terpoise against the extraordinary influence of the great land-
owners. Yet we find that, between the years 1801 and 1531
for example, the increase of inhabited houses, which
we have very good data for estimating, had fully kept
price with the increase of population in Bedford-
shire. This infers, it must be allowed, something more
than a mere commensurate power of producing houses.
Bedfordshire reckoned, in 1801, inhabited houses, 11,888.—
In 1831, no less than 17,978. In 1811, the return for the
previous decennial period, showed an increase of 1,400,
or 12 per cent. ; in 1821, the increase is twenty years was,
3,566, or 30 per cent. In 1831, as we have seen, it had
amounted in thirty years, to 6090, or 51 per cent Between
the two extreme terms of the mme period, the population
had increased only 47 per cent. In 1841, by the last census,
the population had increased between 1801 and 1811, 39 per
cent.
The position of Beds integrally, ani in all its relations, at
all points, determines it to be one of the most essentially
agricultural and inland counties. With three exceptions,—
namely, the counties of Middlesex, Rutland, and Hunting-
donshire—it is the smallest county in England. Its figure is
an irregular oval, the greatest length of which, measured
from nearly north to *oath, is 36 miles ; and the greatest
breadth, from east to west, 23 miles. Its boundaries are,
Huntingdonshire, on the N. E., Northamptonshire on the
N. W., Cambridgeshire on the East, Bucks on the W.
and 8. W., Herts, on the B. E. and 8. Its area is
computed at 463 square miles, or, including all the
measurements of the different parishes, 297,632 acres. It is
divided into nine hundreds, the present names of which are
precisely those under which they ere entered in " Domesday
Book" (namely, Burford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flett,
Igamlead, Redbourne, Stodden, Willey, end Wtheantree) ;
three half hundreds Wenedoe, Btanborge, and Bockelos.
These are subdivided into 120 parishes, of which one extends
into Huntingdonshire, another into Hats, and a tLird into
Northamptonshire. It has no city. Bedford, the county
town, is intnalaid at a point nearly in the centre of the shire.
Of its other market towns, Ampthlll, Biggleswade, Dun-
gable, Leslghlnei Buzzard, Luton, Woburn, Toddington,
Patton, Sheeted, and Harrold, the lag may be considered
the principal emppoorium of its lam and its viral. plaits.
In thesetwo man , it would appear from the evidence
to qualification, &c., tendered at the last registration of
county voter, that a respectable proportion of the consti-
tuency have embarked, or are intereeted in the investment
of, a capital which gives employment of a permanent cha-
racter to • large number of industrious artisans of both sexes.
There is, pprobably, more female labour profitably employed
in Bedfordshire than In any other county not purely and
° y a seat of manufactures..
Srelative bearings of the fiscal contributions, the poor-
est* assessments, and the periodical aggregates of the port.
'Aaiun of Beds are curious and usterartmg. But coupled
with the return of freeholders on the county registry for the
year 1841, and (the last) 1848, they present no more anim-
ating; auguries for the free and sosbutreed exercise of the
elostive franchise by this constituency, at the serf general
Adios, than we have been able to detect in the ems of
Make or of Cambridgeshire. Forty years ago, aceording to
Mr. corquhoon, the total return of the income of this county,
under the property-taxsesessment, was 591,8161. It is now
increased in a proportion much greater than the usual test
of the relative amount of poor-rate levied on all property