The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-08 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1867.

iii the o discs A ky. It 1- the purchaser
cannot be prejudiced by the employment of
puffers, since these persons will never, for ot.vi-
OUR reasoni. go beyond the reserved price. The
public, nevertheless, have a very great dislike to
seeing prices run up by the agency of these
gentry. One consequence of the dishivovr with
which puffers are regarded is, that a respectable
class of men cannot be induced to addict them-
selves b. the employment, and those who do
follow it are very apt to bid injudivionsly, or make
',TOM mistakes, so as to greatly prejudice saki,.
For this and other reasons, the system has bee me
nearly obsolete, while, if this Bill passes, it must
itecessarily be revived.

The:— ie a clause in the Bill of Lrd Sr.
LKONAI'...• making it illegal for a vendor to .dter
the reserved price during a sale. But surely
he has a right to change his mind any time
the fall of the hammer, and every inducement not
to do ao capriciously. What is still more extraer-
dinary, the vendor has not power to take less th:di
the reserved price, even after the property has
been bought in. Owners of land are prone to set
a higher value upon it than it has in the estima-
tion .1 other people, and when alterations have to
be made in reserve prices, it is invariably in the
way of redwing them to meet the public. Who
can say that the purchasing portion of the public
is danedfied `thereby'

Tli,re are other clauses in this Bill calcuLted
to place serious obstacles in the way of business,
protricting sales, and wasting a large amount of
time of the public during the most valuable hours
of the day—such, for instance, is the clause
making it compulsory to read the conditions of
sale before taking hiddings. Such a regulation
vorihi be intelligible if proposed in a rude com-
munity where investors in land had not acquired
the accomplishment of reading and spelling. I 1n-
p0,10,1 41 the busy worldof London f.r enforcement
dining just those hours when business 11101 are
impelled by the urgent stress of affairs to save
every fraction of time it is simply vexatious. The
c,,,,,litions of sale almost invariably relate to
matters which cannot receive due consideration in
the sale room, while intending purchasers have had
the opportunity .4 showing a copy to their solicitors
xid taking advice thereupon.
At a time when the advantages attending the
disposal of p:- :ierty by free and open competition
are more and :lore appreciated, and the practice is
extending to every department of trade—being
adopted at cattle markets, wool falls, and even f..r
the sale of stocks and shares—it cannot be sup-
posed that the House of Commons will so far in-
terfere with the course of business, and especially
with sales of estates, as to impose restrictions
which would render such sales exceedingly diffi-
cult, depreciate the value of property, and call into
activity a set of harpies who would soon become
as great a nuisance at the Auction Mart as the com-
mission brokers are found to be at the con-
non auction sales. It will he necessary, however,
fur all who are interested, whether as auctioneers,
land agents, or owners, to be on the alert. One of
the law lords on the second reading of the Bill in
the House of Lords expressed a wish that its provi-
sions might be extended to all kinds of sales,
specifying those of tea as exceeding in value all I
the sales of land effected in London. While such
is the disposition of some of the peers we trust
that the House of Commons will be true to the
principles which have guided our legislation for
the last twenty years, and prevent the imposition
of vexatious restrictions on the buying and selling
of any kind of property, but especially of pro-
perty in land, the transfer of which is already ren-
dered sufficiently difficult by the present cumbrous,
slow, and expensive process, which now ahnost
prohibits dealings in it except for permanent in-
vestment.

Ws fear there is no room to doubt the
mournful intelligence of the death of Livin.wrosz,
communicated by Dr. KIRK, on the authority of
the Johanna men who accompanied the great tra-
veller, and report that they saw him murdered by a
barbarous tribe, and themselves buried his remains.
Dr. Krag, who is Vice-Consul at Zanzibar, had an
opportunity of examining the witnesses and be-
lieves thes statement, and is further of opinion
that we shall never know more than the little
they tell. Thus has fallen one of the greatest of
modern travellers, a man full of enterprise and
daring, always directed to a definite aim, and that
the noble one of extending the influence of civi-
lization. This is not the tune for attempting
to estimate the precise value of Li viNowroNE's dis-
coveries, pronounced by Sir RODERICK MURcHIsON
ten years ago to be " of incalculable importance,"
and since greatly extended. He himself was con-
tent to venture into regions where no European
had been before, mastering the languages of savage
tribes, taking astronomical observations, and care-
fully noting the natural features of new countries,
in the firm belief indispensable to discoverers, that
no knowledge is useless, but that sooner or later
every fact finds its place in the great whole of
human science. He has died like JOHN WILLIAMS
by the hands of those whom he sought to benefit.
Prudence will, doubtless, have much to say to the
exposure of his valuable life among savages ; but
v iNosvoNz knew as well as anyone the risks he
incurred, and was satisfied that it was necessary to
encounter them. He has fallen as a soldier on
the field of battle, and his name will be remem-
bered by his countrymen as one whose life did
honour to his generation.

THE ABYSSINIAN PRIiONEIL9. —We read in the
broadenr of yesterday:—" According to correspondence
from Massowsh, brought by to-day's mail, the last expedi-
tion of the Emperor Theodore against the tribes which
have not submitted to Abyssinia is said to have led to no
result, the rebel leaders whom he pursued as far as Gondar
having succeeded in escaping from him. The anger of the
Emperor turned against the ancient capital of the sove-
reigns of Ethiopia, which, by his orders, was first pillaged
and then destroyed. The English prisoners are still at
' Magdala, and the Emperor has not yet given any reply to
the letter of the Queen of England."
SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAORNENT OP THE FINE
Aare.—lsut evening Mr. 13.Ottley delivered an interesting
lecture on the History of Engraving before a numerous
meeting of members and their friends. Al ter adverting to
the importance of the art, both as the means of per-
petuating and disseminating examples of painting and
other kindred arts, and as the precursor of printing, he
proceeded to point out the error which had so long pre-
vailed, of attributing the invention of, or first use of,
engraving to the Germans. The investigations of Lath
and W. Young Ottley had now fully established the claim
of the Italians to the invention of copper-plate engraving
and among historical evidence went to show that the
same people first used wood engraving in Europe, though
probably deriving it from Chinese and Japanese. The
lecturer, treating of the historical part of the subject,
briefly described the various processes, which he illustrated
by a small selection of subjects from various masters. A
discussion followed.

CAMBRIDGE LOCAL EXAMINATIONS.—in these
examinations, 32 candidates from Christ's College,
Finchley, out of 35, were succeseful. Fifteen of these were
placed in honours, being the largest number so passed ;
seven were in the first class and six in the second.
Eighteen distinctions were gained in special subjects.
This college was instituted in the year 1857. by the Rev.
T. R. White. rector of Finehley, and the profits arising
from it are expended solely in promoting its efficiency.
The English Independent states that Dr. William
Smith, who last week resigned the classical professorship
at N-m C.lllego, is tube the new editor of the British
Quarterly Be•iew.

OUR CON TEMPORARIII3.
(THIS DAY.)

flu (Curt.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. ftt non 7.

The Queen, accompanied by Princes Christian,
drove out this morning in a carriage and four. attended by
the Duchess of Roxburgbe.
Major-General HOD. A. N. Hood and Colonel lion. A.
Har!lnge were also in attendance upon horseback.
Her Majesty drove out this afternoon, aCCollipaaiea by
Prince,. ('bristien, and attended by the Lot) •in-w siting,
and visited the Princess of Vales at Marlbortrlgh bou.e.
Colonel Hon. A. Hardinge was in atten.l..nce horse.
back.

Princes* Louis also drove out, attendrd I.y Lady Caro-
line IL,tTine,don.

Prince Arthur urrbed At the Palace this Lunt.in4 from
Greenwich-park, attended by Major Elphinbtw,..

A committee of the Lonls of her Majesty's Mod Hon.
Privy Council sat yesterday at the Privy Council office,
Whitehall. on matters relating to quarantine. The Lord.
present were the Lord President, the Duke of Marlbo-
rough, the Duke of Richmond, the Right Hon. H. Corry.
and the Right Hon. Stephen Cave. Mr. Harrison attended
the committee.

A committee of the Lords of her Ntajesty's Moat Hon.
Privy Council sat yesterday at the Privy Council-office
upon the subject of the cattle plague. The lonls present
were the Lord President, the Duke of Marlborough, the
Duk•., of Richmond, and the Right Hon. Stephen
Mr. thrri.con and Dr. A. Williams htirmled the
committee.