The Express.
London, England, 1859-01-28 00:00:00

EQUALISATION OF POOR RAMS.

A very large meeting was held on Monday even-
ing. In the New Covered Market, Stafford, for the purpose of
considering the principles of the bill about to be introduced
into parliament with reference to the equalisation of poor
reties. The lIATOU (ii. T. Lomax, Esq.) presided.
The first resolution, to the effect that u poor rates gear
rally throughout the country are very unequally le=
meeting weeof opinion that the rates should be eq
over the whole country, was moved by Mr. Alditotan J wen.
but in oonsequenoe of the uproar that prevailed (rum an im-
preation among the operatives that Mr. Jones, who is s
manufacturer, ta favourable to the use of the mashies in the
manufacture of boots and shoes, it wee impossible to hear
any of his remarks.
The motion was seconded by Mr. CHARLES WRIGHT, •
member of the Town Council. _

ThTmolutiou;easauppcited by JOHN A. Wm; Esq.,
one of the borough members, whose well-deserved popularity
obtained for him a most patient and impartial hearing.
The Bev. 0. H. one of the deputation, and the
Seine of Christ Church, St. Oeorge'e Bast, London, was
the next speaker. The rev. gentleman was warmly cheered
on resuming hie seat; sad on the Mayor putting thnresolu-
We to the meeting of nearly 2,000 persons, it was carried
without a dlisentient voice.

The next resolution, pledging the meeting to support the pro-
posed roesattre, was wowed and seconded by two ratepaytes,
and supported by Mr. W, Gilbert, chairman of the executive
eurindttee, who, In cluaequencs of indisposition, was unable
to speak at any length on the subject. This resolution was
also unanimously adopted, as wu a vote of thanks to the
mayor for presiding. Several hearty cheers were then given
for Mr. Wise, and the meeting separated.

A large and influential meeting was held in the
Town hall, Macclesfield, on Tuesday evening, for the pur-
pose of adopting resolutions in favour of • more equitable
adjustment of the mode of levying the poor rats. The
Mayor prided, and was supported by John Brocklehurst,
Esq., M.P., and several borough magistrates. Letters, ex-
planatory of absence, wars read from E. C. Egerton, Eeq.,
M.P.; G. Cornwell Ugh, Esq , M.P.; and Wil-
braham Egerton, Esq., M.P. Mr. J. Blackford,
vice-cbairman of the exscu!ivs committee, and Mr.
Cheater, also of the exectriva to London, attended;
and the meeting was addressed by Mr. Alderman Oldham
and Councillors Howe, Bullock, Higginbotham, and Potts;
and by three working men, Merin. Dix, Meredith, and
West. Itosolutiona were weed condemnatory of the pm-
' sent mode of levying the poor rate, and urging that a uni-
form oounty rate would be preferable, insomuch as under
that system much creams would he saved in the removal of
poor and in litigation between parishes; the aggregate ex-
peaditure would. be reduced; whilst s uniform county nits
would not unduly burden say parish. In order to carry out
this • resolution was passed for a voluntary subscription;
and it was resolved to presents petition, embodying the sen-
timents of ratepayers, to parliament.

MIDDLE TIMPL/L—The undermentioned gen•
demon were called to the tor by the lion. Society of the
Middle Temtle:—William Pais Weston Noteworthy,
Req., of Salt-bill, Slough; James C. O'Dowd, Erg., of Tri-
pity College, Dablia, and of 6, Paper-buildings; Charles
Edward Jernmett, EN., of Exeter College, Oxford, 8.A.,
and of 41, Chancery-lane; Joseph William Bums William',
Eel, of Trinity College, Dublin ; Richard Boyle, Req., of
6, Here-mut; Richard John Hodges, Req., of Worcester
Collage, Oxford. M.A., and of Little Barrington, near Bari
ford; Hoary Richard Bars, RN., of Worcester College,
Oxford, and of G, Bloomfield-cresoent, Weetbourne-terrace;
and Peter Clarkson Reed, Reg., of 2, Middle Temple-hue.—
TIMPLII.—The tandermentloned gentlemen were on

Wednesday celled to tie Let by the I.lon. Societe of the
Imes Temple. : Hyre Lloyd, Eq., 8.A.; kiVtard
Frerille Shelly, Eq., 8.A.; John Bolt, jun., Eq.t 8.A.;
Hobert John °errantly, Esq.; Richard Thomas Mortis,
Esq. ; Matthew Charles
jos., Bog.. MA. ; John Batmen,
Bee., BA. ; Charles William Woodall, Esq., E.A.; Jeep*
Fenwkli, Bog., RA.; William John Swim Bennett, Ea •
BA.; Joseph Stanfield Grisoshavr, Esq.. B.A. ; Hoe. Ba-
yard Chandoe WO, MA.; William Emmen Tennant.
Bag.; William Bacon Orey, Beg., 8.A.; Thomas Rsq ale, E. ;
John Thomas Fit:Adana, Rm.; end Thomas Bond Sprague,
M.A
Tan
T DrTY oN Conn.—Me duty on foreign corn
Mb. a quarter, and in the )ear coded the 31st March it
ansonnted to 486,0264

LECO:7IIAND PIANOFORTKIL-atAitm
IIIL&L; mad Inve Ira ilddilndad empunollrad Kr*.
lb• did 4 alwasd mirk se pm* lama iiive.-411.

get expreoo.

TO COIULUTONDINTS.
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LONDON, FRIDAY. -lAN. 28.

-.A--
QUEEN VICTORIA must be one of the youngest
grandmothers in England. To those who are seen,-
tamed to see her among her own young family, sod
still with an infant on her knees, it appears like •
mistake that the venerable title of grandmother
s►ould belong to her. The honours of that relation
are seldom acquired before forty ; and moat people
think fifty quite early enough, considering what a
sacrifice of the free and improving years of youth it
implied in the early marriages which bring on a
new generation so rapidly. In her entrance on •
new stage of her natural, honoured, and happy life,
however, the Quote will bare the hearty sympathy
of her subjects, as on every prior one. Some of us
still remember the day when she was in her mother's
arms, as the widowed Duchess received the condo-
lence of the many mourners of the Duke of KENT.
During her entire childhood and youth her future
people were preparing their admiration and loyal
love, on the ground of her vigorous and most appro-
priate education. The fervour of loyalty on her
secession was really dangerous, so far did popular
expectation transcend any fulfilment that it was pos-
sible for a constitutional sovereign to afford. Bat in
this, again, sympathy did not faiL When it appeared
that the beet sovereign that England has had for
generations could not core all the evils of the State,
and abolish the sufferings of human life in her
dominions, she was not made to suffer for the follies
of the sanguine, but gratefully credited with what
she was able to do, and not ask(d for mote. Her
domestic life has been exemplarily respected—the
popular fueling in regard to herself securing due
recognition of the scholarly and the business-like
qualities of her ho-band, while dealing gently with
such of his political tendencies and foreign notions
and habits as may require to be kept in cheek ; ten-
dencies which have never created such difficulties es
must have arisen if she had herself enjoyed
less of the national respr:t and attac►ment.
As soon as she became a mother, her infants had the
whole nation for sponsors. They have lived, sad
lie, always will live, under • truly national gam-
diaosldp, se eetbusiesta of protection which mast
elect the twic►motherly heart which presides at
IMOD ever the boom and the empire. Last winter,
the flat marriage in her family was a national festi-
vaL eldest daughter was England's eldest
daaghter ; and we were all moved and melted toge-
ther, with the bridal joy and tenderness, when the
first of the royal children left home. Not ono oldie
wide circle had departed in the drearier way.
Death has never yet intend that household. All
the sympathy Las been joyfal thin far ; and now,
within forty pen from the tts* when we first heard
of her, we are called apes to welcome the first of a
third generation. Everybody Teloises, of coarse.
This child is born, not only at an effecting moment,
when the Sovereign of Penman is withdrawn from the
mese by a Honig death, and the sceptre is transferred
to the hoe I. which the new-born infant belongs, list
at a salmis whoa the fowl of Prussia, as to liberty
and progress, ee loading-strings and a permanent
childhood, is to be &tided, as far se the will of rulers
can decide each matters. The date of this child's
birth will be connected with • new start for the
Prussian people, or with a perilous lapse into national
helplessness and ignominy. Prussia will be followed
by every Continental Power in re-arranging its no-
tarial affairs,—soine changing their theory,and others
satisfied with rectifying their practice. In many of
those countries the progeny of England will erelong
be satire; and the hope that they may work moms-
fully is tranefasing the spirit of English Liberty
and Progress into the various life of the Continental
nations is one of the brightest and strongest in
which we sympathise with our Sovereign on the
opening of a new period of her domestic life and her
regal relational.

THE carious cue of " HATILAND e. MORTMOT,"
which has occupied the High Court of Chancery for
five days, and filled some dozen columns of the news-
papers, has just been brought to a eouclusion.
In delivering his elaborate judgment Lord
CHELMSFORD expressed an opinion that, look-
ing at the iutricacy of the evidence, the
time of the Court had not been unnecessarily occu-
pied. If so, since of the assay residers who took a•
intertet in the chin in its early stages few can have
followed its remarkable evolution, we may render
service by presenting the facts in • brief summary.
On the morning of the 26th February, 1824, •
man and WOOll2l presented themselves at Bt. Paeans
Church as J•si es M AtTEIL4 and M.illTiOnie, widow,
and were married. Oa the Bth of March followiag,
only ten (Lye afterwards, the same female was
married at 3larylebons Church, in the name of MART
WALL, to JOHN SHEPPARD. Mr. and Mrs. SHILF•
PAID lived together from the time of their marriage
until 1843, when they agreed to a separation. In
1846 the husband died worth 8,0001., and his widow,
having administered, dietribsted his estate, reserv-
ing to herself the portion to which she would be en-
titled as his widow. In January, 1431, she died
also, diapering of ►ee property in favour of the chit.
dna of Mr. MolTi•oT. the family of Mr. Suer-
r.a•n. disappointed at this disposal of mosey to
which they °smoldered they had some claim, saw
no means of obtaining any share of the pm-
perty, until an accident, as they allege, placed
In their possession • certificate of Mrs. Soar.
I ,1.1,4 earlier marriage with 'Lanus, of which
tL• y e. re then unaware. Upon dimoverieg this
tLry tiled their bill in this snit, ll•vm.sirD

being the next of kin of JOUR, and 'MO/11110Y the
' executor of Mcar, Sneress.D. The plaintiffs con-
tended that the first marriage, with Miirrerts, ren-
dered the second, which followed immediately upon
it, illegal. The defendants replied that the two
marriage* were those of the same parties nude:
different names—that, indeed, not only was 31ear
JONES" MART WALL, as both sides admitted, but
that JAME/ MASTIRS was also lons SHEPPARD.
The VICE-CHANCILLOR decided aphid them, and
condemning the second marriage as illegal,
thereby annulled the rights of the testator
as SIIIPPARD'S widow, with all the testamen-
tary dispositions which had been built upon
them. It will readily be supposed that to ascertain
by ritrbal testimony the identity of parties to a
ceremony which took place fire and thirty years ago
was no easy matter. Yet this was to be done before
either the legality or the illegality of MARY WALL'S
second marriage could be established. The defend-
ants, dissatisfied with the 'ICI-Cwsucruku'e &-
shim, appealed, and the plaintiffs were required
owe more to prove their case.

MALT WALL, to speak of her first in what proves
to have been bee maiden name, appears to have ow-
menced life by trading on her personal attractions. In
the words of Lord Justice KinGnr Bacce, she was "a
" member of the detni-monde." She is first heard of
as living in lodgings at Gloucester-place, where she
was visited by a nobleman, who for the purposes of
their intercourse condescended to be reputed a com-
mercial traveller, and to bear the unaristoetatic name
of JOWLS. This person, on breaking off his connexion
with MART WALL, appears to have bought for her the
leers of a house in Mornington-place, in which she
afterwards lived. Hermit is certain that she wu visited
bye person named MASTERS,W hose name she bore for
a time, as she had before borne that of the pseudo-
Joins. The question for the Court to decide was, who
was this MArreas? The plaintiff.' case was, that hews'
a mechanic, mean -look ing, and 45 years old, facts which
it is hard to reconcile with the woman's mercenary
way of life. The defendants' witnesses say he was
a gentleman ; and supposing him to have been a man
of property, his acceptance, notwithstanding his per.
serial inferiority, bemuses intelligible. According to
the plaintiffs' theory, MART WALL committed bigamy
without apparent motive, almost on the morrow of
the first miming, and MASTERS acquiesced in it
against his interest. It was proved that he alledat
the door one morning, satisfied himself that the
marriage had taken place, and was never heard of
afterwards.. Upon the plaintiffs' showing, be thus
lightly abandoned, needy as he was, a well-furnished
how and • wife with money, while, on the other
hand, that wife, in obtaining her settlement on her
marriage with SHEPPARD, never thought of securing
herself against MASTERS. On the supposition of the
defendants, that MASTERS was a " man of property,"
that Maar WALL wee his mistress, and
that Elnarruin had been induced to marry her
by a pecuniary cansideration;Offered by MASTERS,
the circumstance presents no difficulty. Some-
body of consequence, at any rate, had an interest in
bringing about the second marriage, for the settle-
ment of MART WALL'S property contains the name
of a trustee occupying a station in life higher than
those who usually act for the wives of working
jewellers. But admitting all this in favour of the
defendants, it may be asked why the same
persons should choose to be married twice over,
and how the difference of name is explained. The
conduct of the fema's is not unintelligible. The
fiction of • former marriage with Mr. JONRB was
one she would naturally favour for her own credit,
as landlady of a respectable house. The assumption
of a second name by SHEPPARD is accounted for, If
we remember that MART WALL had became known
to many persona by the 010111 of Mrs. ittsstlas, and
that she would like to receive some sanction for
bearing it, while BnerrAin was a man who would
last object to take any name which would
promote his interests. Bat when the settle-
ment, to which, as we have seer., persons of
more intelligeoce than the newly married pair were
parties, was to be made, it was probably seen that
the see of fictitious names would be fatal, and • re-
marriage with real names was resolved an. Beek
was the suggestion of the defendants' counsel. and it
removes the teat difficultly from the ease. The Loan
CHAECILLOR, the Lord Justice KNIGHT BIUCZ, and
the Lord Justice Tuanut., upon a review et the
facts, were unanimouly of opinion that Manus
WY one with SHEPPARD as was WALL with JONES,
sad that Mrs. tlinkre•an, therefore, was the widow
of ions Ilmart•an and entitled to her moiety at
the property.
In reviewing the judgment of the Court below
the LORD Column-ton and the Lumps it:nicks
amply acknowledged the usefulness of one of
the moat important of the recent Chancery reforms—
that which permits the rico rem examination of
witnesses. For four days the Court was occupied
in hearing witnesses, and the result was that the case,
instead of being presented to the Judges in fixed
and rigid inoompletmese, grew into form under the
searthiog questions of counsel. We find the LORD
CnAirczu.oa stating that when the appeal was
brought to . the Louts Justices, they were of
opinion that " it was essential to the ascertaining of
" the truth in a ease of such strange and conflicting
" improbability that there should be a vita twee ex-
" amination of the witnesses in open Court and
" before the fall Court;" and that " tie proceedings
" before this Court had added materially to the
" evidence, and had placed the case in a different
" position to that is which it stood before the Vies-
" CHARczt.coa." Yet only recently this innovation
was energetically opposed as something incompatible
with the quiet dignity of the Court of Chancery,
and even now that the Court has the power of
ogling witnesses before it, some of the Judges main-
tain their old prejudices against the lessons of ex-
perience and the dictates of common stoma

Malta lotion &amebae the return to that %lead
as Us* likk tram Taste, of his Royal Highness Pittes
Alfred. Oa tits sane amain Lady Ls Iterchaat pis •
ball at the paw% bat his royal highness did i5,,4 loaves it
with his preseasa Yy.K Cowril, his governor, basins (s•
the Salk ourw give oat) domed It most esessaal that
the primes Wadies bs wit No math broken tale by •
saarwelea at seisdars. Prepseallasa were, bowing, bin
modeler • peed ball ea the tlith et 'unary in Ist:saraz of
the prima, by the geniers, the slims of which subscribe
offend days' pay, sad the nee of Lleatenant-Osareal
_ .

commadiag, Bit last Peasseithar, heads the sabscelftica

A letter from Alexandria, of the 18th, ear :
" Aeoordleg to ths pre-mete programme wen UM
littryalas, with Prism Alfred on board, is mooted la eight,
cos of the Vicerefs steamers will pat of to sea to mot bar
with oar meal ad sass of the Wain mambas of the
Egyptian promnssaf. The menet abs drops bar afficear lb
ill. limber a rola' sales ell Is thawherod forth fns ths
fats and Rupee we reels, to be Naha repeated whoa
the y press we Ids hot at sera There Mei will
pablie nospeas sad a red bail, which the eiosroy hes
sigailled he lesatiea of attssidiag, accompanied by the
heads of the MINA deportinente of his government. Our
diplomatis body will, of course, also be meet at the Um,
hi the mesas of ths easel/az allele. A Msit this wise
be W fled Duke Coastaatias of Rue is Use's
spabia of."

Wit (CUlinsford Chronicle) are happy to be able
is aide dat dr Rev. Sir John Page Wood, Bach hr now
gaits naraind from h•. tato attack of Maar% which at or
garb/ wan sr mbar as to eacito the fear. of him fried&

Clic Court.

WINDBOII., JAIL 27.
At three o'clock thin afternoon the Queen and
the Prince Coomirt received Intelligence, by iderbla Worn&
from Beetle, announcing the 000flannent ei Princess Fre-
dii William, and the birth of a Prtnen

- .
Her Majesty's dinner perry yesterday Welded the Duke and
Dachas d Bkhotond and Lady Cecilia Gorden Lennox,
Lord and Lady Cololuder, Colonel the Hon. Bir Charles
Phipps, and the lion. Mrs. Biddulph ; also, the Berl end
Cowden cif Donoughineeet and Lieutenant-General Bailey,
who arrived on a visit in lie afternoon.

billd of as Ownmbar Outtls----played daring dinner
?limn " Dim linibe WWJiat

........ ,