The Express.
London, England, 1847-01-07 00:00:00

cleansing, with that of the present system of once s-day.
Amongst the recent 'autuicriptions to the institution are his
Royal Highness Pat Duke of Cambridge, the Bank of Eng-
land. de.
CONVICT", UNDER SENTENCE OF TRANSPORTATION.
—A letter., of which the following is a copy, has been trans
mitted to the visiting magistrates of all the county and
borough gaols in England, and has caused considerable dis-
cussion at the several quarter sessions, many of the prisons
not being sufficiently capacious to accommodate more than the
usual number of prisoners sentenced to short terms of im-
prisonment
Whitehall, Dec. -Gentlemen,—l w Meted by secretary Sir
of suspension
P.L.teit..ll.7l=ti.t.l*.
requisite to maw ai
Imesellstejnisidees firt m. vat and im-
rcesTeillit'Alitate the measuth. requisite tar Sbaftac"...:mh pth t
of this *at it appears to Sir George Grey Out the temporiser
im-
prkwemrt la He leanly aid borough prima et a proportion of
male andsis Slaw amass
sies goLs=wlngissi may be necesuary
Oboe lbw le eighima he Irk neeption, and
where groper arrogemestseiht miumelselendleetird.; I am,
therekee, to request thst you WI state for the of slr
Osseo Grey what number of prligners can M ssinasnleietly lodged
le the Rkaa seder poor sepertelesiseee, without fessltrine with iu
ire sod end sear- whet his Wen the puled sweater of or:-
BMM sir* NOW In Os wises teeny or ems ger*/ the past
yar awl what spews at elesigilas is now In ben In the prison.
Sir o.orey directs me to inform yea that a rote baring been taken
in the Lna: session of parliament lar &fraying the coot of :maintaining
convict prisoners is gaols, no additional expense will be imposed
upon the counties and boroughs in respect of the maintenance of
of prisoners who may be retained in, or sent to, any prLons in peso.
once of the convict arrangements.—l am, gentietnen, your most
obedient servant, S. M. Fundaers.—To the Visiting Justices, Re.
By the adoption of this plan the Millbank prison, which bas
now between 1,000 and 1,600 or:evicts under sentence of
transportation within its walla, will be prevented from being •
ever crowded.
" Posen's " MP.SSAGE TO CONGRESS.—Orntlemen,
—Brevity is the soul of Punch ; he will not therefore, like
Polk, write ,ou a letter as long, but not so lively, as a
volume of Sant Slick. Your thanks are due to your national
stars fat the successful settlement of the Oregon Question.
You will learn with regret that you are in a decided fix.
With a view to business you have marched into Mexico;
but you have no business there. You arc likely to meet
with more drubbings than dollars. You had better imitate
a former king of France, with his thirty thousand men, and
march back again. If you do not take care, you will in-
volve yourself in a national debt. You owe quite enough
already; and I recommend you to paw it as soon as possible.
I advise you to repudiate—not indebtedness, but—slavery.
Industry is more profitat,le, and less hazardous, than an-
nexation. The amendment of the law of Lynch is worthy
of your coneideration. Gentlemen, 1 wish you a merry ses-
sion, and a happy New-year—Punch.
THE WAR WITH MEXICO AND THE UNITED
STATES.—Yesterday an office was opened in the vicinity of
Tower-hill, to Grant letters of marque sad reprisal, according
to the decrees of the Mexican government, against the
United States. A similar occurrence has not taken place in
England for upwards of forty years,
THE FAMINE IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.—Iip t.O
yesterday the total amount contributed towards the relief of
the distress in the remote parishes of Ireland and Scotland
was 13,6511. 14s. 6d., of which her Majesty contributed
20001., end Prince Albert 600/. To the Irish and Scotch
Famine Relief Society 1,1521. 10s. 3d. has been recently for-
warded, making 6,9311. 15e. 2d. placed at their disposal. In
addition penny subscriptions are actively carried on by
tradesmen in the metropolis, the sums thus raised being also
weekly forwarded to the distressed districts.
DISGRACEFUL JOKE.—On Tuesday afternoon, Mr.
Joseph Healey, of Commereial.place, went into the parlour
of the !Castle Tavern, Kentish-town. Mr. Carter, the land-
lord of the tavern - Mr. Coldwell, a baker; and a young
mace named Georg Parker, tradesmen to the neighbour-
hood, were at the time sitting in the room, and in the course
of conversation Mr. Healey said he was queer about the
ohest, and wanted an emetic. Shortly after, some of the
parties mentioned quitted the room, and procuring the ser-
vices of a labourer, sent him, in the first place, to Mr.
Healey's brother, who is a chemist in the town, telling
him to ask for a strong emetic; the strange appearance of
the man, however, induced Mr. Healey to refuse to serve
him. The labourer subsequently went to the shop of Mr. I
Thompson, another chemist, and having told him he wanted
a very strong emetic for himself, and being a very powerful I
man, he was served with four grains of tartarised antimony
(a dose stated to be enough for four persons). This was con-
veyed back to the Castle, and introduced into the unfor-
Innate Mr. Healey's ale, who, in the course of a short time,
was so ill that he was conveyed home in a state of insensi-
bility, in which condition he remained for several hours. Se-
veral medical practitioners were called in to see him, and but
slight hopes are entertained of his recovery. On Tuesday
night Mr. Healey was so bad that he was not expected to
survive for five minutes together, and becoming sensible,
he named the parties engaged in the transaction, against
whom his family intend to institute legal proceedings forth-
with.
NOTE OP WORK FOR 1547.—The coming year pro-
mises to be a buoy one. A revised buildings act, the me-
vention of interments in towns, the abolition of the window
tax (a tax on cleanliness, health, and morals), the prevention
of smoke, and general eanitory regulations, will probably
come before the legislature, and will demand our attention.
The new buildings commenced and projected are numerous.
Amongst these, in the metropolis alone, we may mention the
additions at Buckingham Palace, concerning which the
public, up to this time, are entirely ignorant; the Carlton
Clubhouse; Bridgewater-house new Westminster-bridge,
or whatever else it may be called, if the preposterous pro-
posal to remove it be notlefeeted ; Covent-garden Theatre ;
the new theatre in Leieekeraquare ; a building for the re-
cords; improvements in the City ; a score of churches of
more or lees pretension ; and works in connexion with the
railway*, of surprising magnitude. In the provinces, too,
much is contemplated.—The Builder.
CLOSE OF THE VACATION.—Lord John Russell,
St. Stephen's House, Westminster, will expect to meet his
Young Friends, to resume their Liberal Studies, on the 19th
instant —Punch.
FIRE AT IRONOATE WHARF.—WEDNESDAT NIGHT.
—From inquiries instituted, of Mr. Coleman, the occu-
pier of Irengate-wharf, it was ascertained that the work-
man who has been missing since the night of the fire was
named John Brown. It appears that it was Brown who was
the innocent Muse of the disaster. He had been sent to
examine one of the bales of goods, and not being able to see
the number or letter on the same with the light of the
lantern, he took the candle out, and a spark Sew from It
and set the mill waste in a blaze. Mr. Coleman informed
the reporter that when the accident took place he was stand-
ing on the wharf at the river-tide, talking to the age& of
one of the vessels, when he was suddenly astonished et swim
a bale of goods fall from the loop hole in a general Mei&
The wife of Brown and his brother are in a dreadful state of
mind ; the only conclusion that they can come to is that be
has perished in the flames. The firemen as yet have net
been able to find say trace of a human being in the
and some of Mr. Coleman's workmen state that they had
heard of Brown having been seen alive as late as Saturday
morning. Mr. Coleman, however, is perfectly satisfied that the
fire was purely accidental, and should the man be alive, be says
that he need not fear any ulterior measures being resorted
to. The outer walls of the wharf are in such a dangerous
condition (they having bulged out several inches) that they
are obliged to be shored up from the bed of the river.
INQUEST, YESTERDAY. SUICIDE. Before W.
Carter, Esq., the Coroner for East Surrey, at the Prima
Charlotte, Albany-road, Camberwell, on the body of Mrs.
Gregory, aged 60. Mrs. Burgess stated that the deceased
resided at 1, Albany-place. She was the aunt of Mrs.
Smith. of St. John's-wood, who left a fortune for the educa-
tion of her children, and the witness, was executrix. Wit-
ness stated how deceased had taken poison.—Coroner : Did
want possibly cause this ? Mrs. Burgess : Oh, no ! She
had a private fortune, bat even whilst she lived in private
lodgings, she denied herself the common necessaries of life,
The witness had no doubt her mind was not in a proper
state. The deceased was under the impression that every
thing they had for dinner waste* expensive. She would say
at a common dinner, " why, :can we afford this, Martha ?"
when in feet she was the trustee for children of great
property, and powering good property herself. The
Coroner observed, it was a strange case of monomania. Ver-
dict, 't Temporary insanity."

DIVISION OF PROPERTY.
(From the (hierterty Review.)
The enperficies of France (exclusive of Eresish acres.
Corsica, which we shall leave altogether out
of the question) is about 128,000,000
Of these, roads, streets, rivers, lakes, and the
public forests and domains occupy about 8,000,000
Remains of land more or leis productive 120,000,000
The population of France in 1836 (the latest account
given) was 33,333,021, or nearly one person to every four
uses.
Now, it appears by theDocumens Statistiques, published by
the French government in 1835, that there existed on the
Ist Sept., 1834, no less than 123,360,338 different lots craw-
oaks of land, each a distinct division on the cedeafre
of something less, on the average, than an English sore of
the cultivable soil. This fact, however, though it evidences
an almost incredible subdivision of the soil, is, it is admitted,
no index to the present state of property. In the first plum
It will be observed that houses and buildings, of which fifty
might stand on an acre, are each reckoned as at least MO
percale, and there are 7,000,000 of them, with, we Fume,
their subdivisions, to be deducted from the gross number,
leaving, of merely territorial parcelks, perhaps. shoat
110,000,000. But the number of these pumas+ is of ass
great importance to our present inquiry, because though
mass separate or derived under different tithe, tbegaar
bona frequently and extensively reunited in gumbo
end the reel question is as to the number, not of • , _bet
of proprietors. But that unlueldly cannot -meet iced
with as degree of precision, from the hareafritY,
as staled the ministerial reports, of disoovexing how many
of these cute pacelks, scattered over the face of France,
and under a constant process of alternate reunions and
diviaions, may new belong to the same individual ; but some
approximate estimates have been attempted: for instance:
There are about 11,000,000 (10,83(,794) persons rated to
the land-tax (cote Atka re), being proprietors of any number
of parcel/es situated within one commune, This at once
reduces the number of proprietors to one-tenth of the
number of porrelka of land. But as the same person may,
and most of the sealer classes do, possess land in more
than one commute, " those who," say our authors, " have
studied the subject, have arrived at the conclusion that there
are about live millions and a-half (5,446,763) distinct
proprietary families in France." We find in the table of
communal rates (p. 100), that there are no less than 5,163,000
proprietors rated at less than 5 francs, = 4a. ; and the averaje
of the contribution fawn. re for the whole of France being
24 francs per hectare, equal to 10d. the English acre, we have
thus upwards of 5,000,000 of proprietors whose average hold-
ings would be under 5 acres, and a great majority of course
considerably under ; and there are 3,300,000 other communal I