The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-11 00:00:00

from Sutton-in-Aslifitld states that the rate-payees of that
unfortunate village are in • sad condition. Although the
. Radford poor rites for the current year will amount to ten
shillings in the pound upon the rateable value, yet at Sutton-
' in.Ashfield the same impost will reach the enormous
proportion of fifteen shillings in the pound.
sCatroi.x.
THE NORFOLK AND NORWICH ARCILEOLOGICAL
Sectary held their second anniversary meeting on Thursday,
at the ?Caitlin. the lord bishop in the chair.—The secretary
read a report for the past year, in which a most gratifying
sonnet of the society's progress was laid before the sub- I
scribers. The committee feeling justified by the present
financial state of the society, stated their intentkin of print-
ing several papers now in their hands for that purrose.—
Mr. Harrod then read a paper on some ancient shields in
the ceiling of the south aisle of St. Nicholas Church, at
Yarmouth, by T. W. King, Esq., Rouge Dragon in the Cel-
• lege of Arms, to whom the shields had been confided to be
re-embleruned. When Mr. King saw them, previous
to their removal from the ceiling, he was led to
conclude that they were the arms of King Edward 111.
and his five eons minuter inspection, that
supposition was found to be erroneous; and in the
paper now read, Mr. King showed to whom the shields
respectively belonged. The entire number of shields were
thirty-two, of which, however, two were mere imitations,
and bore no devices. In his present paper Mr. King
described several of them, accompanying each description
with suitable details and identifying data. The first 'Mild
bore the emblem of the Holy Trinity ,• the second the arms
of the emperor, or an eagle with two heads displayed sable ;
the third shield was that of Edward 111. ; the fourth, of
Edward the Black Prince ; the others noticed in this paper
were, those of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, of
Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, and Thomas of Wood-
stock, Duke of Gloucester, also sons of Edward III.; of
John, Duke of Bedford, third son of Henry IV.; and of
Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, fifth eon of 1
Edward I.—The Rev. J. Bulwer made some remarks on',
several drawings of mural paintings in Crostwiek
ehu
lately discovered by clearing away the plaster which covered
them.—Sir John Boileau mentioned the circumstance of ea
extensive discovery of first brace Roman miss, to the num-
ber of nearly 200, at Cbesterford, on the hoe of railway.—
After some further desultory conversation, the president
vacated the chair, and the company assembled round the
table to inspect the curiosities and antique relics which were
there exhibited.

BISUIMILUeuuIua.
PROPOSED NEW GAOL AT BEDPORD.—The advo-
cates for • new gaol have advanced one step nearer the con-
summation of their wishes; and, judging from the feeling
displayed by the court of quarter sessions on Tuesday, it
is expected there will be either a very considerable alteration
is the present buildings, to adapt them to the new system, or
an entirely new erection upon the principle of the Penton-
vale prison. The court decided upon °tiering premiums for
the best plane and estimates for altering the present prisons
and, in the event of these not proving satisfactory, there will
be no alternative but to adopt the extreme course, the erec-
tion of a new gaol, a majority of the magistrates having
affirmed that the present prisons are totally inefficient to
carry out the provisions of the act. The expense involved in
the latter course is estimated at 15,0001.; but it is feared this
calculation is much within the mark.

li lAn LE.a r as. a.s.r.
THE NEW COUNCIL-HOUSE AND THE STOCK Ex-
CHAMOIS, BRISTOL, were yesterday placed in imminent peril
of being destroyed, by a lire which broke out on the pre-
mises of Mr. Smith, tailor, Exchange, which divides the
two buildings. The conflagration extended from the shop
and offices of Mr. Smith to the workshops of Mr. Lander,
engraver. The flames burnt with great fury, and there can
be little doubt that the justice-room of the council-house
would have been seriously damaged, if not entirely de
stroyed, but for the active and well-directed exertions of
some of the officers of the corporation, who, by passing
water over the roof, and pouring it upon the building,
averted the threatened injury. The dome which lights the
justice- room had at one time caught fire, and the building in
which the mischief originated was so far burnt, that nothing
remained between it and the Stock Exchange but the wall
of the room in which the brokers transact their business.

ILAMPSHIRE.
SALE OF MARSH LAND.—The second sale of build-
ing land on the Southampton Marsh took place last week by
direction of the committee of the town council, to whom are
entrusted the carrying out of the Marsh Improvement Act.
The land is let at an annual charge for a term of seventy-
five year', at the expiry of which the property built thereon
is to be absolutely yielded up to the town council. Upwards
of 8001 par annum is already secured, for about 60 lots let,
and shoot 240 lots remain to be submitted at future sales.
Previous to the commencement of the sale on Tuesday the
town clerk stated that the railway company had 'served the
committee with notice of their intention to acquire the land
set oat in their deposited plans under the powers of the act
for which they will apply in the forthcoming ees>ion. The
amount of ground rents secured at this sale was very nearly
440/. The proceeds of the marsh encl. sure will be devoted
to the enfranchisement of the common lands, and draining.
planting, and rendering them ornamental for purposes of
public recreation. The prices obtained at the two sales
already held for most of the lots were very far beyond that
which any othet building land in the town or neighbourhood
has hitherto realised. Some of the " fancy lots," for which
the highest prices were given, brought sums equivalent to the
rate of 20.0001. to 30,0001. per acre !
THE TENANTRY OF BADLY FARMED DISTRICTS.—
A Hants correspondent of the Go) deners' Chronicle says:
" When Mr. Huxtable was asked if he would allow the
tenants to remain On their farms around him, his reply was—
None! Why? Because they possessed neither capital nor
Ain. The same answer may be made of hundreds of tenants
who are perfectly unfit to occupy farms. Many temente have
had the mortification to return to the condition of a labourer
(though better for them), whilst others have obtained the
situation of bailiffs, and at the same time very little fitted
to he ouch. Tradesmen who have failed in business will
take a farm, become tuined, and are swain seeking more
humble employment. Many farms in Hampshire, as well
a+ in Dorset, are in the hands of men unfit to
cultivate them. Where rents are moderate, the tenant
ploughs and sows his best fields, and leaves others overrun
with weeds and furze which might be very profitably cul-
tivated. Again, others occupy farina at a high rent, which
have been cropped and scourged by half a d. zen bankrupt
tenants before them, and can barely pay their rent and
wawa a. In both these cases the tenant, were badly se-
lected, and the great fault lies with the proprietor or his
agent in the letting of these farms. Land agents or stewards
who have manors and farms to manage, demand rents where
the estate cannot produce the rental; but they do this
splay to gain favour with their employers, and in many in-
stances deal very harshly with tenants. Lord Stanley very
lately made some most judicious and practical observa-
tions on the leasing of farms, and pointed out the injus-
tice dealt out to tenants in general. Ladies of manors
are well known to make very bad squires, but the real blame
rests with their agents. If an owner of an estate taken it into
his ow n hands, he is told he is depriving a glass of men (i, e.
tenants) of their livelihood—that they know nothing of the
custom of the country—that any new system or experiment
they may try or adopt are so many " Maggots." And many
farmers, who might derive great benefit by being spectators
of these msieeotty operations, joinin the outcry that no gentle-
man ought to manage his own estate, still less rent any land.
They show a decided hostility to those who employ
many hands, or pay more reasonable wages; abuse new
implements, and endeavour to excite a prejudice against
V.ein. Some of the Hampshire tenantry are now dis-
charging ene and twe labourers each from their farms; and,
as a consequence, the poor-rates wilt be increased; and
nothing can be so 100,CTIV as the state of the hedges and
ditches on these farms. We go not for one moment wish to
condemn ail these men; there are many good tenants. It is
the ch iff ..f the tenantry we would wish to winnow. The
time is at hand when a different class of men will become
tenants, persons of a superior education and intelligence,
and also possessed of a larger amount of capital; and it is by
such men as these we trust to see the land improved and its
products increased."
CHANNEL ISLANDS.
THE VACANT GOVERNOR-GENERALSHIP. The
Guernsey Slar, of Friday, says:—" Frost a private letter
received by a gentleman in this island, it is believed that
Meier-General John Bell, C. 8., an old Peninsular officer, in
to fill the post of Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey, ren-
dered yamint by the removal of hlajor.General Napier.
General Bell's appointment has not yet appeared in the
London Gazette, nor, we believe, has any official intimation
of it been received in the island. The statement, therefore,
Mt. entirely on the private letter above mentioned ; but
from the position and means of information possessed by the
writer, we consider that there is no reason to doubt of its
perket accuracy. Under this belief, we give the following
notice ot Major-General Bell's services, jor-General
Bell served in Sicily in 1806 and 1807 ; in the Penin-
sula and France from July, 1808, to February, 1809 ;
and again from May, 1809, to July, 1814, including the
battle of Vimiera, the action at the bridge of Almeida,
the battle of Bunco, all the actions during the retreat of the
French from Portugal, the siege and storming of Ciudad
Rodrigo, the siege and storming of Badsjoz, the action at the
heights of Castrillos, the battle of Salamanca, the action of
Sabijana de Merinos, the battles of Vittoria, the Pyrenees,
Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse. He served afterwards with
the army employed against Louisiana, from December, 1814,
to June, 1814, and has received a cross for the battles of the
Pyrenks, Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse. Major-Oen.
Bell is married to one of the daughters of the Earl of Malmes-
bury, another of whom was married to the late General Sir
Lowry Cole, father of Capt. Cole, tn. some time in garrison
in this island in the depot of the 27th Regt."

LITERATURE.
Italy, s
is Past anektfssent. By L. Mmuor
it. 2 vole. 1848.
Thi an exceedingly seasonable, ntelligent, and
interesting work, written evidently by. an Italian
who has shaken off the mat, and classicism, and too
amiable simplicity of domestic Italian writers. The
author has obviously dwelt long and observed much
amidst each great nation of the civilised world—the
English, the French, the German, and the Anglo-
American—and this gives a fullness and value to his
observations and comparison, which render them
most worthy of attention.
We must, however, confess that we have confined
our perusal chiefly to the last volume, the first being,
in, a great measure, critical and historical, and being
emphatically styled the Past, whilst the Present
heads each page of the second volume. The past of
Italy, even of modern Italy, is an interesting and
fertile subject, one ,to which we may recur : but its
present has so much more powerful attractions, and
is so difficult to get a might of, exoeit by persoaal

lih,