The Express.
London, England, 1853-07-22 00:00:00

ASSESSED TAXES BILL.

The house went into committee on this bill.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER brought
up resolutions reducing the duty on pod-horses. He stated
that the aggregate reduction would be about fifty or sixty
thousand a year, ►nd that the arrangement had nai t with
the approbation of the parties interested. The resolutions
were agreed to, and the house resumed.

eke ennosg.

A tteeend Edition ;11' Nunn ftrith,
Gazette," to yublialind every Tuesday and frilly niebt. in Um
bt pent.
Atertueoneenta Intended for The Ennio," Loncio2 Entwine paper,
mow kg at tbe °flea, 10, Sonveritestraaa, by Two o'clock on the
do of paldanntion.

NIGH WATNR AT LONDON BRIDGE.
TIM Dor —illandan. fl.. 84n.....—.Af00rn00n. Bb. 3Uso.
itmonnow—iliaerinr. Pr ..........Afternoon. 4k. 14m.

LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 22.

THE North Derbyshire Election just over is in
every respect a noticeable occurrence. The contest
and its result were equally unexpected. It lay be-
tween two Liberals in an electoral division dear to
Liberalism ; and of the two candidates it is difficult to
say who is the preferable politician, both being well
(nullified for legislative usefulness. As tho contest
did not originate in, so neither was it decided by
territorial arrogance or influence—it sprang from
that good old sturdy feeling of independence which,
intending and giving no offence to reasonable beings,
is one of the oldest, as it is also one of the most valu-
able, characteristics of English society. Were

counties generally like North Derbyshire, then, in-
deed, the English constitution would, in its opera-
tion, approach much nearer to political perfection
than it can at present.
In one respect, however, North Derbyshire is
like other counties ; it has its Grand Seigneur, its
great territorial Lord, its Norman. But—happy
North Derbyshire and even happier Lord—he is
unlike his Order generally; he is an exception to his
clue ; he is an example to the Peerage he adorns.
Were the Duke of DEVONSHIRE so inclined he could,
with huge power and influence, have destroyed the
independence of the division ; he could swamp the
intelligence of the yeomen and the small manufac-
turers, numerous though they be in its cheerful dales
and along its clear and rapid streams. By the votes
of his tenantry, ho could render the leave and license
of Chatsworth the first and an indispensable step of
candidates; and in doing so he would only have
trod in the well-beaten tracks of nearly all the other
great Dukes and belted Earls, and half the petty
squires, too, in their smaller way, of the kingdom.
But the Duke of DEVONSHIRE has done nothing of
the sort. What he prizes most around Chatsworth is
just what Aristocracy elsewhere will not tolerate—
independence, and its sure accompaniment, intelli-
gence. OAT wu described by POPE all

- the best good Christian hi,
Although he knows it not.

And so we may say of the Duke of DEVONSHIRE,
" the beat good Liberal he, although he knows it not,"
for there is an agreeable unconsciousness about his
Grace's perfect toleration. And the consequence of
the Duke of DevoNsittite thus setting so good an
example of large and dignified, yet unostentatious,
Liberalism, and never thinking or inquiring or speak-
ing (much less interfering and directing) about
votes, is, that politics in North Derbyshire have fair
play, and for sixteen years the division has returned
to the House of Commons two admirable Liberals
one of them being Mr. W. EVANS.
In referring to that gentleman, we speak of one
whom the whole Liberal party, leaders as well as
rank and file, Contents and Malcontents, Whigs and
Radicals, regard with esteem and even affection. His
was one of those old, steady, accustomed, and re-
spected faces whose absence will constitute a personal
loss to tho House of Commons. His vote, too, how
regular, dependable, and thoroughly liberal; and then
his high moral worth, his social excellences, his use-
practical generosity—they reflected credit on his
political friends and associates. But, on Mr.
EVANS the House of Commons work at last began to,
tell; nearly twenty sessions of late hours and ardnousl
listening produced their effect ; they hastened and
ripened old age. So, a month ago, Mr. EVANS re-1
solved to retire, and, accepting the Chiltern Hundreds,

on the ith of July, issued his farewell address to
North Derbyshire.
Side by side by this address, however, came one
from his eon, Mr. T. W. EVANS, soliciting, in modest
language, the seat vacated by his father ; professing
the same principles, too ; but disclaiming all inten-
tion to thrust himself on the electors against their
wish. Now great lords are succeeded by their sons ;
in ducal families one generation of Toryism suc-
ceeds another in divisions territorially ruled ; and
young squires often rest their pretensions on old
squires who have sat for the county before them. The
EVANSES, pore et fill, were therefore only following
a system for which precedents were superabundant
and overflowing, and following it, too, in a spirit
in their cue void of all offence or arrogance. Still
the system is not an agreeable one. We have a
hereditary House of Legislation in the Lords; there
is, consequently, no need of extending the hereditary
principle into the Commons; and, excellent a mem-
ber as it is admitted Mr. T. W. EVANS would make,
not even that consideration can reconcile people to a
family arrangement, which they have no more to do
with than to sign and seal.

Nevertheless, Squirearchy, even in North Derby-
shire, seemed to rest content. All appeared smooth
and clear; no opposition or objection showed itself ;
a canvass was unnecessary; polling booths were un•
thought of; and the momentous day was fixed.
But the independence and spirit of the bolder and
moro sensitive part of North Derbyshire were
wounded. What the squires did not at first appre-
ciate, the yeomen, small freeholders, and little manu-
facturers, keenly felt; and they are a resolute race.
They grumbled, and talked, and threatened, until at
last (so the story runs) a country medical practi-
tioner, a publican, and a retired gamekeeper, took
counsel together and vowed, much as they liked the
EVANS family, and in spite of the obligations they
owed to their old member, " they would not
stand it;" and oppose, at Bakewell, Mr. T. W.
EVANS they would. And in a true business-
like and very rational way they set to work.
They never thought of a Tory, and would have
nothing to do with Charlatans or Malcontents. They
confined themselves to their own county; and find-
ing, in a country gentleman of character and position
there, a politician who had been a Liberal and a Free
Trader before Mr. T. W. EVANS was born,—Mr.
THORNHILL was nominated as a candidate. It was
soon apparent that this brave spirit had struck
the popular key-note; and in favour of
Mr. Molt: mu North Derbyshire sentiment—
for the whole affair was a matter of feeling—
was so completely roused, that at only two out of
nine polling places had Mr. T. W. EVANS a majority.
So far behind was he at the other seven, that a
minority of NO on the first day's poll induced him,
very gracefully and properly, to retire; and Mr.
THORNHILL will to-morrow be declared member
for North Derbyshire.
With this North Derbyshire burst of independ-
ence (even though it may give pain to two excellent
Liberals) popular opinion elsewhere will completely
sympathise. There is true English " pluck" about
it. It went on a right principle, and gallantly did
its work. It was honest, and true, and unaffected,
and inoffensive. The men who originated it relied
on themselves and their singleness of purpose; and,
having good motives and a good cause, they found a
cheap and inexpensive support on all hands. Oh!
that we had such brave apothecaries and publicans
and ex-gamekeepers in every county ! And why
should we not have? North Derbyshire has no mo-
nopoly of English spirit and love of independence,
though it has some other advantages no doubt. But
what are electoral and representative difficulties in
counties but things to be overcome? And they cannot
be overcome without a struggle. The Reform Bill of
1834 will, let us trust, do much. But without such
courage and spirit as that of North Derbyshire,
legislation will be comparatively lifeless. Those qua-
lities must be roused in counties. Thanks, therefore,
to the honest men of Bakewell, Castleton, Buxton,
and Chesterfield, for the example they have set !

A WOMAN

TO DEATH.

It will be seen by a report in another column that
a miserable woman, named Baker, has been sentenced
to tho gallows at Stafford. The jury before whom
she wee tried joined in a recommendation that
mercy should be shown to the convict, but the
•
judge " held out no hopes that it would have any
effect in saving her life." We are unwilling to
believe that the superior authorities, to whom the
merciful wishes of the jury must be conveyed, can—
after considering all the circumstances of the woman's
wretched case—endorse the harsh view which Mr.
Justice Crompton seems to entertain in this matter.