The Express.
London, England, 1847-09-07 00:00:00

CATHOLIC DEMONSTRATION RESPECTLNO

THE POPE.
Last evening a numerously-attended meeting of
catholic* was held at the Eastern Institution, Commercial-
road East, for an expression of opinion, and to take mea-
sures with regard to the late Austrian aggression upon the
papal territories. The Rev. John Moore presided, an"
having opened the proceedings,
Mr. F. LUCAS proposed the first resolution. The main-
tenance of the holy see was a question of so much impo}
tune, that he hardly knew how to describe the interest ab
tutted to it. The Pope was the sovereign of a small state
not rich in wealth, or any of the materials by which, in the
present day, riches were measured; yet he knew no power
greater than his, for they were not to consider the Pope as
the ruler of the least wealthy part of Italy, but as the spiri-
tual ruler of the greater part of Christendom, and as exec-
(doing a most potent influence over almost every civilised end
uncivilised country. But although the Pope had the largest
empire to administer, his was one of the poorest
sovereigns of Europe. It was therefore impossible for him
to attend to the temporal administration of his states, end
bad government had been the consequence. During that
time which they, as catholic*, were strzunomed to call the
better period of the Christian world, every part of that
world contributed its share of the common expense
to that which was the common interest of all;
lately, however, another order of things prevailed,
and the bad government of which he spoke could not be
ascribed to any other cause. There were other reasons why
the catholic* of this country were bound to give the Pope
every support in their power, one of which was his conduct
towards their Irish brethren, by which a derp debt of gra-
titude was entailed upon them. He wished it werepossible,
as a testimony of their estimation of his services, to raise a
British legion for Italy. He believed that sufficient funds for
such a purpose could be raised among the English and Irish
catholic*, and he did not doubt but that the time was coming
when the appearance of a British legion would fortify tin
papal throne from any hostile attack.. But present that
was too great an stadertaki.4 for them • they could but begin
the movement, ant their example would doubtless be followed
out in every district and in every country where catholicism
could be found to exist. He believed that a great result
would fellow from that aid, and a great blow would be
struck against the southern despot of Europe. He did net
consider the designs of Austria so unimportant as they were
believed to be by some. In 1830, that country possessed an
army of 400,000 men, which in a single year was increased
to 530,000, and that without adding one shilling for taxes to
the public burdens of the state. He left them then to judge
of what a position Rome was in with her 20,000 troops with
regard to the Austrian power. He thought that under these
I circumstances the sympathy and assistance of the English
and Irish catholic' might be productive of great &dean-
Lege, in encouraging the Pope in his resistance, and
enabling him to gain time until the other powers of Europe
should adopt some distinct course upo'i the subject.. He
moved :_ . . . .

That Pope Pius the Ninth has won for himself the admiration and
unbounded esteem of every lover of rational liberty, by the comp-e-
-berodrensm of his p ilk'', the practkal wisdom of his views, and the
generous impulse he has given to civil, social, and national ameliora-
tion; and that we deem it our duty to proclaim before the world our
sentiments, and to aid and assist Pius the Ninth by every Lawful
meson in our power, In his present arduous struggle against the focs
of constitutional government.
The resolution wan seconded by Mr. Kelly, and carried
with but one dissentient voice,

The Rev. Wm. Kelly, Mr. Acheson, and the Rev. Mr.
Kyrie spoke in support of other resolutions to a similar pur-
port, the latter of which recommended a public subscription
in furtherance of their objects. Previously to the litter
being adopted by the meeting, Mr. Brooks and Mr, Priest,
two gentlemen, who stated that they did not belong
to the catholic church, made some observations expressive
of their opinion, that the object for which they were assem-
bled was one in which all were equally interested, whether
catholic or protestant, the cause being that of liberty and
constitutional government, and that the subscription should
be extended accordingly. The opinion was received with
considerable applause, in which the chairman expressed his
hearty concurrence. The proceedings then terminated, the
contributions of the assembly being collected at the doors.

POSTAGE STAMPS FOR FOREIGN LETTERS.—The
arrangements for enabling the public to prepay the postage
on foreign letters by means of stamps, are nearly completed.
One shilling stamps will only be issued for the present, and
the postoffices entitled to sell them will be only those in
some of the principal towns in the kingdom, until further
arrangements are made. The foreign stamps will be about
the size of the penny postage stamps ; they will be of an
octagonal shape, and the colour of them will be green. They
willbe principally serviceable for preparing letters to India,
China, British West Indies, Gibraltar, Malta, lonian
Islands, Honduras, United States, Bermuda, Halifax, New-
foundland, Panama, Chili, Peru, Venezuela, western coast
of America, Prussia, Belgium, Holland, Java, New South
Wales, and New Zealand. The following instruction has
beta issued to the deputy-postmasters :

The Lords other MaioStyi 'treasury hiring authorised the issue of
nnstage damps of the value of one shilling, • specimen is forwarded
separately to tame deputies, Sic., who obliterate postage stamps, ter
the pommel of Wog eorapired, in use of doubt, with the stamped
hams at this demeiptioa that may pose through the post-oftlee. With
elthelmworthosarow postagestemP• pswinirders. for sale
rCi
t tholhatiloatico by the post-other will be ootirlecd, t!rthe
poiallesen oft he undermnewcnsUonsd placzlnatshe inred
embi.h=bst sriththc lY Pow ble
The with the We of them postage stamps will
WI Is the pales of the rats elms shilling each, whatever may
Iss fee ell bor es% mud posattege, at the rate of one per rent.
▪ lbe Ws, Till to 'Dowd to postmasters who are entrusted with
110 iblitiwtkes of those Maps to the public. Thu instructions on
th=otesseelliss stamps, Are., contained In the book of general
Lined to poslnuseters in leis, most be carefully acted
upon will signed to the oew stamps. Amended forms of amounts
fee stamps will be tranenaltted to all postmasters, and upon
user reel a supply they will return to thb deportment the pre-
wit forme for stamps m their powasiori.

PRISON DISCIPLINE CONGRESS AT BRUSSELS.—
At the first meeting of this hodj (last year in Frankfort-on-
the-Maine) Mr. Whitworth ussell. the late inspector of
prisons, and Mr. Rotch, the Middlesex magistrate, were
appointed the corresponding members of the association in
England. On Thursday last, the county-day of the Middle.
sex September Sessions, Mr. Rotch now, in consequence of
hie colleague's death, the only corresponding member in
England, invited his brother magistrates, in the name of the
congress, to take part in the proceedings of the meeting to be
held at Brussels on the 20th inst. Several members of the
bench accepted the invitation. We understand that the new
member for Lambeth, Mr. Charles Pearson, has already en-
gaged apartments at the Hotel de Flandre, with a view to
be present at the congress, and submit to it his views of
prison discipline. To this end he is, we have been informed,
preparing a pamphlet, in the French language, for distribu-
tion among the members. Our readers will recollect that in
Mr. Pearson.' addresses to the electors of Lambeth his anxiety
to press upon parliament the reform of prison discipline was
the principal reason assigned for his wish to get into the
House of Commons.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN INEITITIITE.—A meeting of
the shareholders of the British and Foreign Institute was
held yesterday at their rooms, in George-street, Hanover-
square, W. Camps, Esq., M.D., in the chair, when the ac-
counts were audited, and the following financial results con-
firmed —The total liabilities of the concern, including all
the expenses connected with the winding-up its affairs,
amounted to 14081. 1 le. sd. The total proceeds of the sale
of the property amounted to 16611. 18s. Bd., leaving there-
fore a surplus of 2631. 7s. Id. for the shareholders, after the
payment of all its debts in full. In addition to this there
has been repaid to the life members of the institute, as the
residue of their respective life commutations, the sum of
14541 9s. 9d., which was invested in government securities
in 1844, when Consols were at 99i, and sold out in 1847
when Commis were at 89, eta low of more than 10 per cent.
The original estimate of the expenses of supporting the
institute was 2,500/. per annum, and it may be mentioned
as a very rare occurrence, that this estimate was never once
exceeded, the actual expense of each year varying but little,
yet keeping always below the sum named. The list of de-
faulter. who were to eerier in the payment of their subscrip-
tion, and against whom, from technical difficulties, no legal
proceedings can be had for their recovery, showed an aggre-
gate sum of 2,9741. 6s. 6d. due to the institute; so that, if
all parties had fulfilled their engagements, the association
would have been still as flourishing as ever. A statement
was also produced of the sums relinquished and expended by
Mr. Buckingham, the resident director, out of his own pn-
rate means, for the benefit of the institute, which
were never charged to, or re-imbursed out of, its
funds, which amounted to 1,3601. 118,11 d.; in addition to the
devotion of his entire time and labour to the direction of the
institute for a period of nearly five years, without salary or
emolument of any kind beyond the occupation of apartments
on the premises. The sense entertained of this gentleman's
services, however, by those of the members who were most
conversant with the affairs of the institute, is manifested by
contributions to a testimonial to Mr. Buckingham, amount-
ing to about 7001.
The BARON DE
M.P.—ln consequence of doubts which bore bum raised
with regard to the difficulty in the way of SIMKO as Roths-
child taking his seat in the Rouse of Commie, some parties,
feeling interested in the matter, laid a ease before Mr. C.
Egan, the Chancery barrister, and the view taken by the
learned counsel is highly favourable to the hon. member's
return. It Is to the following effect :—First lam of opi-
nion, that Baron de Rothschild, having been duly elected
sae of the members of parliament for the City of London, is
not, by reason of his being • member of the Jewish persua-
sion, debarred from taking his seat in the Heusi of Commons.
—Secondly am of opinion, that Baron de Rothschild may
kwfully be permitted to take the oath of abjuration
according to the usual manner of Jews, viz., on the Old
' Testament —Thirdly lam of opinion that the oath of ab
Juration may lawfully be administered to Baron de Roths-
child, omitting the latter words contained in shit. 6, Geo.
111., cap. 53, " upon the true r'os of a Christian." The
learned counsel rapport* his opinion by y erudit^ karn-
mtli'T, and 7!.Z; ..sent charters and legal decisions
snow (notwithstanding that some writers infer to the con-
trary), that for upwards of 700 years the manners, customs,
and religious principles of the Jews hero been respected and
admitted in judicial matters ; that whenever a member of the
Jewish persuasion has had occasion to woke an affirmation,
he has been allowed to do so "on Ass book," i. e., the Old
Testament; that this right existed so early as the reign of
King John (A.D. 1200), and that there does not appear to be
any ordinance, statute, or legal decision to the contrary.—
Globe.

AS AN

EFFECTS OF STAGNANT WATER.—At a recent
sitting of the Academy of Sciences a paper was received
I from M. Fleurian de Bellevue on effects arising from stag-
nant water. The author states the results of his observations
and inquiries, that in marsh lands which are covered with
water to a considerable depth during the great beats
of summer, the inhabitants of the localities in which
they exist are not more unhealthy than in other localities;
but that where the stagnant water is of slight depth the
decomposition is attended with frightful consequences, and
the mortality if gnat. He recommends that 111 all low

lands where there is water daring the summer of so
alight a depth as to render decomposition certain, the
inhabitants should form axe general reeereoir, into which the
different masses of water may be conveyed by means of
channels of oommunication.-111. Person reed a paper on the
congeletion of mercury, and the latent heat of fusion. The
result of M. Person's experiments is, that the heat requisite
for the fusion of mercury is about 80 times that required to
change the temperature of water one degree. Id. Person
observes that the quantity of heat necessary for the fusion
of metals was according to the order of their tenacity.—ld.
Pedillet communicated some observations on the phenomena
of etherisation, u witnessed by him in the hospital of &me-
: burg, but they do not differ essentially from the accounts
which have already been published.
THE FORTHCOMING REOISTRATION.—A question of
the great, at importance will be argued at the next r
tion court for the borough of Lambeth, in whiche=
alone nearly 9,000 names have been added to the list of
voters since 1841. An objection h.• been made to a person
whom the overseers have placed upon the register, and it is
intended to try, in this single instance, the right of persons
living in shat are called ' compounded houses" to exercise
the elective franchise. Should the objection be held valid, it
will have the effect of disqualifying not leas than 10,000 or
15,000 voters in the metropolitan boroughs alone, who shared
this year for the first time in the election of members of par-
liament. The custom of " compounding" for the payment of
rates has become very general in all large towns. It is an ar-
rangement between the parochial authorities and the owners of
hoists, by which the latter agree to pay, all the year round,
the rate. charged upon their property, whether occupied or
empty, on condition of the parish making a deduction of 50
per cent. upon the rateable value. The system is said to
benefit both parties. The collectors make no bad debts, and
are saved a world of trouble; and the landlords, who ere,
able to keep a sharper watch, and who take care to charge
the tenants with the full rate, find that a reduction of one-
half the parochial claim makes up for losses by empty
houses. Daring the four elections which followed the Re-
form Bill the occupiers of these houses were never pissed on
the register' but the labours of that indefatigable body, the
Anti-Corn-Law League, effected a revolution in this respect.
Relying upon the strength of a decision pronounced by the
late Chief Justice Tindal which established the right to
vote of certain operatives claiming to be separately rated for
the portions of a mill which they occupied, though the owner
paid the whole of the rates and taxes, the scents of the
League succeeded in placing, without opposition, in many
instances, the names of all persons on the list of voters
who had rented a " compounded" house during the pre-
ceding twelve months. The result has been such an
accession to the radical party is Lambeth, the Tower
Hamlets, and other large boroughs, that the quality of
the constituency is entirely changed ; and hence the
altered character of the late returns to parliament. Above
half of the electors have never before exercised
the right of voting, and of course adopted, as was
natural, extreme views, were it only for the sake of novelty
and excitement. It is more than likely that the question
now in dispute will be settled next session by legislative
enactment. The authors of the Reform Bill will no doubt
feel themselves bound, whilst concurring in the propriety of
widening the basis of the franchise, to fix some limits to the
growth of a system which leaves the power of disfranchising
thousands of voters in the hands of a few landlords, who, if
they find their tenants indisposed to sutler dictation, have
only to neglect paying the rates of the 20th of July to de-
prive them wholly of the right to vote. It is not reason-
able to enact that one man shall lose his privilege unless in
his own person ho fulfils all the requirements of a vexatious
law, whilst another enjoys the right without being
called upon to trouble himself at all iu the matter. Nor is
it consistent with the principles of constitutional law that a
privilege which's, man claims in his own right, by virtue of a
legal enactment, should onl be exercised at the will of an
indifferent person. From the magnitude of the interests in-
volved it is highly expedient that the question should be set
at rest, which it will be, no doubt, so far as the registration
courts are concerned, in a couple of months at furthest
Observer.

ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.—
An accident of a serious nature, though happily unattended
with any loss of life, occurred on the Great Western Railway
on Sunday morning. The first mixed class down train,
which leg Paddington at half-put six, had made its usual
stoppage at the Ealing station, and was proceeding on its
coarse, when within about half a mile two of the closed
boxes, attached towards the hinder part of the train, got off
the rails, and were dragged on to the other line. The
place where it occurred was at one of the switches,
or turning points, though the immediate cause of
the occurrence is reported to have been owing to
one of the wheels having caught fire. The train
not having long before started from Ealing, it wax
proceeding but at a slow rate, otherwise the accident
must have been attended with a frightful result. As tiny be
imagined, however, the greatest consternation was produced
among the passengers in the crowded carriages by the almost
sudden stoppage of the train, nearly all of whom instantly
alighted. An express was immediately sent up the line, and
aid was at once despatched down for the removal of the
boxes which had been thrown:off the line ; but owing to the
occurrence, the train was delayed at all the intermediate
stations along the line, where it produced the utmost alarm
for nearly two hours. Several of the officials at Paddington
arrived at the spot, and we hear that a searching inquiry
will be instituted into the origin of the accident; but at
present we are not aware of any blame being attached to any
Party.