The Express. — London, England, 1855-02-01 00:00:00

• • , L „I t • • I • 1 I! THE NEW' RETURN OF NEWSPAPER STAMPS. The return of newspaper stamps jag Wawa gives W koilowiag melte: Pint Quarter. &weal Quarter. Daily sew.. . 319,191 348,044 Meseta; Harald . . 303,000 WOW Mersin Net . . 206,000 226.001 Mersin. Omani*. . 162,500 166,600 llkpress . . 177,133 198,389 Glebe . . . 176,000 154,00 San . . . 168,000 192,000 peeler! . . 103,000 104.000 enartol4. TO CORRESPON DENT& • llossod Widow of "The Ewer," containing tba ease Mabee .pt latob * y Welland ovary Towalay awl Friday 11 4 2 4 dm kr pow. llaiortimewoobehelasiWl Ow Th 4, Ilfa prow." Wades Rwolier paper. sow be ea tho Oak% 10. Bowwwwwtreeet, by Two o'clock es log se pabilmalea HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tao U.,—Manta. Ib. Um Attensous. IC lbs. Twal4babm—lborbu,l. Vb. 3los Allot be" ft. Uta. LONDON, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY]. LATEST NEWS FROM ABROAD AND IMMIX TILSOIAPHI (wawa 11111 COSILIONIPSPOJIT Or Tli 041.11:1 NEWS.) • PARIS, raOILIDAY. A despatch from Admiral Brunt, dated Kanciesch, l Jan. 23, states that a blockade has been notified by commanders in the French fleet, at Odessa, Ca11,,,1 Kertch, Anapa, and Soujuk-Kaleh. The fortifica tions of all these places are being strengthened. The Russians in Sebastopol are throwing op an em bankment to connect the detached bastion with the other works. For the last two days a brisk fire has been kept up from the tower called Malakoff, on the English batteries. NEW PRUSSIAN CIRCULAR. The Second Editions of the morning papers pub lish • despatch, addressed by the Government of Berlin to its agents n Berlin and Paris, under date of lan. 21, and which may be considered u a reply, is some respects, to the despatch of M. Drouyn d'Lhnys. Premising that the representatives of the Western Powers and of Austri► have confidentially settled with the Plenipotentiary of Russia the bases preliminary to a negotiation for peace, the despatch continues : The Cabinet of Paris (London) is too clear in its judge men?, and too impartial in its appreciation,uot to be struck, as we are ourselves, with the evidence of the most intimate sonneetion that saints between the dip'omatic underatandias that has taken plate at Vienna, and the ulterior questions for the solution of which Prussia would eventually be ready to assure her concurrence by elms@ obligations. But his Majesty's Cabinet knows nothing of the details of the confidential diecusions that have taken plate. It knows nothing of their precis* result. The Cabinet of St. Peters burg has officially communicated to as a Memorandum that was eonfidentially presented by Prince Oortachakoff to the representatives of the three other Powers. We discovered in it a conciliatory and pacific disposition. We have not been able to appreciate the bearing of this manifestation, because it seemed to be but the corollary to some draft of the three representatives, of which we know nothing. It is, in fact, incontestable that to enable us to form a melee opinion on our eventual engagements, it will no! longer suffice for us, seeing the turn that events have takes, to have togn'aince of some document on which the other repressotatiees assembled at Vienna have entirely or is part , perhaps agreed, but as to which, for that end, we ought t• know the whole of the motive, that influenced their delibers. 'ions, and, n it were, presided at the birth of the doenatellt The - attaching to the preceding, and to which I will sat give greater development, have only confirmed the King, oar august master, in the deep soaves. ties that all negotiation on the put of his Government foe teneluding an arrangement in reference to his mammies is eventual complications, will be fruitless, unless it be pry ceded by the presence of a representative of his Majesty at the deliberatioas that have been opened at Vienna between the hell* t Powers, and to which our august muter appeals with all his heart far a result likely to ensure to Larope as speedily as possible the benefits of a solid and durable peace. The despatch closes with a summary of various other reasons, which have guided the King in " making his conviction a groundwork for his future attitude." ARRIVAL FROM BALAKLAVA. (lIT ILI (nom vas IDIOT OP TOR DA17.2 31111FO.) FALMOUTH, WIDNISDAT. The screw steamer Mauritius, from Balaklava, has put in bete. She has on board, pawners from Malta, Captain Barlow, 14th Regiment ; Lieut. Thornhill, A.A. ; Dr. Herring, sad Mr. Brown, assistant-surgeon; ale, from Gibraltar, Major Harbert, 13th Regiment; and Captain Lovell. sad 112 sick sad wonaded, rank and ale, from the Crimea. This total camber as board, including female pas sengers and other vomits and children, is 309. Her Majesty's steamer Heels was on shore at Gibraltar, on the night of the 22nd, with her masts cut away. Captain Cbarleeworth, of the Strew steamer MUM), is • passenger by the Manvieus. Tba Mercury foundered swing to • collision on the Ilth of January off Galant. The miptaia sad crew reached Gibraltar in safety. A DERBY CABINET. the Deus party, of some lune of the Conservative 1 pretext will sot bo coalition to that pretty , who, with professions of their months, are at all selves to be paid with • told that si this moment English Ministers is to - energies upon the vigorous proneentioe of the war. It will be told that, until the war is terminated, all other questioes, upon which the leading parties in Parlia ment are at variance, must necessarily remain in abeyance; and that consequently Conservative and Liberal statesmen may co-operate for the time being to promote their common object. It will not, however, be added—though it will be perfectly understood— that since Free Trade has become irrevocably the policy of England, there is in reality ne material difference, in respect of political opinion and sentiment, between Lord Datum and Mr. GLADSTONE. or be tween Lord DEADY and Lord PALMERSTON. AU three are equally hostile to further reform of me electoral system, and to extension of the suffrage. All three are alike anxious to preserve a monopoly of the sgh offices of state, their honours and emoluments, within the narrow circle of the aristocracy, and the fewpersents who can contrive by some chance or other to elbow their way into the circle. A Cabinet of which these three statesmen should be the leading members, would, in the most bland and digage manner possible, talk Liberalism, and act Coo„ ',realism, and appeal to the hereditary politics of Lord DERSI'e house as an unanswerable proof that be is zealously attached to the rights and privileges of the people. At the crisis which appears to be impending over us it is not the time for indulging in what is called "strong" or "slashing articles." But it is a time for the calm, deliberate, fearless assertion of sound principles and policy. To any Ministry of which Lord DERBY shall be the head, and which shall be principally composed of his party, it is un necessary to say that our relation must be one of distrust, and active, earnest, uncompromising opposition. But we konestly confess that we have no fears of such a Ministry being able to do any material harm during the very short time that it can possibly remain in power ; and if we cannot immediately have a strong Liberal Government, composed of the best of our tried Liberal statesmen, with an accession of a number of new men from the body of the peoples we are not sorry that the experiment bf a DERBY Miuistry should be tried. It is one consolation that the conduct of the war cannot possibly be worse or weaker in the bands of any Ministry than it has been in the hands of that which has just been dissolved. It is also probable that the exemplary punishment which has recently been inflicted upon Lord ABER DEEN and his War Ministers will have the effect of frightening their successors in office into more vigorous and systematic exertion. But it must not for one moment be forgotten, that from a Government constructed and led by Lord DERBY, it would be the veriest insanity to look for those searching and radical reforms in our civil and military administra tion, which afford the only guarantee for an effective and honourable prosecution of the war. Under Lord DERBY the Government will be more exclusively aris tocratic than under the late Coalition. Nepotism will still be the rule in all promotions in the civil service and in the army. Under Lord DERBY, talent and merit will have no chance unless backed by lordly kin or lordly patrons. Under Lord DERBY. all those vices of our administrative system which have taralysed our civil departments, and left the army desti tute of organisation and competent leaders, will be fostered and perpetuated. Again the country can have no faith in the zealous and uncom promising opposition of Lord DERBY'S Government to the despotism and ambitious projects of Russia. With a RUSSELL in the Cabinet, the dangerous and delicate experiment of an alliance with Austria. might be hazarded ; but will the honour and interest of the country be equally safe when men who enter tain the sentiments expressed by the Marquis of GRANBY, in the debate on Mr. ROEBUCK'S motion, are entrusted with the conduct of the negotiations, which, under the auspices of Austria. are about to be renewed with the Court of St. Petersburg ? If we can look with equanimity on the advent of Lord DERBY to power, it is because of our rooted convic tion that he cannot hold it long enough to do any material harm. That Lord DERBY should believe himself able, with the assistance or connivance of certain PeeMee and Conservative Whigs, to form a Government, is a proof that the exclusive aristocratic factions form an impervious barrier between the QUEEN and her people. That barrier—we speak it with all the calmness of conviction and determination that cannot be shaken—must be broken down. There is no hope, no safety for the country, but by bringing the Crown into direct and immediate contact with the people, in order that each may understand and appreciate the other. To the promotion of this end) Lord DERBY'S brief tenure of office is not unlikely to contribute. Appeal to the people by a dissolution he dare not ; and he can only make sure of a majority of the present House of Commons by associating with himself in office a number of retrograde Peelites, and Conservative place-hunting Whigs. He will be a sponge to suck out from the Liberal party all those wavering and faithless professors, of whom it may be said, as of the Patriarch of old, " unstable as water thou shalt not excel." The Liberal party will be all the better, all the more pure and compact, after this extraction of the rotten portion of its ingredients. An unbridgeable gulf will have yawned between the few of our libe ral statesmen who, like Abdiels amoeg the faith lees, stand proof against the blandishments of Tory ism and the jobbers and place•hunters; and the Liberal party throughout the country will rally round them with renewed confidence. Respect ing the person upon whom the leadership of this purified liberal party ought to devolve, there can be no doubt. If the reports that Lord PALMERSTON has been accessary, by assistance or connivance, to the formation of a DERBY Cabinet s be true, that step on his part will terminate, and for ever, all connexion be. tween him and the Liberals of England. It will be said that be has returned to his old Tory prepossessions and connexions as the dog returns to its vomit; and the sentence will go forth against him—" EPHRAIM is joined to his idols ; let him alone." But even though Lord PaLmetts•rors should shrink from the lasting degradation of a DERBY alliance, the people of England have more confidence ) in Lord JOHN RUSSELL than in him. They admit the superior dexterity of Lord PAtur.osroo in the i war of political management and intrigue. They , admit that Lord JOHN RUSSELL is singularly deft ; dent in the tact and talent for carrying on political ) contests. They admit that in almost every instance when he has attempted a political coup, his fate has I been that of the "engineer hoist with his own pa I tard." And this is precisely the reason why they prefer Lord Jour; to Lord Patina:m . oo. They have p more confidence in Lord PALMERSTON'S cleverness I han in his principles and intentions; they have more confidence in Lord JOHN'S principles and intentions , than in his clevern es s, Lord Jonres character 6 accords more with the taste and temper of English r man than Lord Paugzsorox's. Therefore it is that Or the progress made towards the construction of a new Ministry we can only state what is generally understood and believed. The most probable of the stories current is briefly as follows :—Yesterday, a little after 11 a.m., the Qum"; , accompanied by Prince ALBERT, arrived at Buckingham Palace from Wind sor ; at 3 p.m. the royal pair left London for Windsor. Boon after her MAJESTY'S arrival at the Palace, Lord DERBY waited upon her, and had • lengthened audience. Immediately after its termination, Lord DERBY visited Lord PALMERSTON, with whom he remained for a considerable time. Lord DERBY then returned to his own residence, where he was visited by the Marquis of LANSDOWNE, and subsequently by some of his own supporters. Before the Queen left town Lord DERBY again waited upon her MAJESTY, and at this audience he is said to have accepted the charge of forming a Cabinet. If these statements are true, the only possible inference to be drawn from them is, that Lord DERBY .has accepted office on the understanding that Lords .I.axstiowna and PALMERSTON are either to take gam in his administration, or, at least, not to go into de, *led opposition. Lord DERBY'S party in the Ho*. 'se of Commons, though perhaps more numerous than of the other sections of that body, is not a nta i tr iil in the House. That his lordship should visit Lem ' Palatiarrrox before he would definitively undertake to . eorne a Ministry irresistibly points to th o oon d,,,j ou t h e ,: he has not accepted office until' eration of some of the mi ke was secure of the e,"" 0 1; dairy Ministers and the i:."ltialitY of others. The necessary inference is that w v axe to have a Coalition Government, compos e d c! Members ci THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1. 1855. make Mosulf the people thih power to do the Grew" must make _ loses time, bias—end over murmurs of dir content, at the accession of a DERBY Mitagry to power, will reach our ears from the provisoes like the distant sound of a mighty host rooming itself for battle. The most dreaded enemy of the exclusive aristocratical traffickers in plus the isme who trampled them down in the Reform Bill and Corn Law struggler—is about to take the field against them.—Daily News. OPINIONS OF OUR It is believed, according to the Times, that Lord Palmerston did not accede to the proposals addressed to him by Earl Derby at yesterday's interview. Animadverting upon the late resignation of the Lord President of the Council, the limes makes the' following extraordinary statement :—" The Queen herself is known to have expressed to Lord John' Russell, in an autograph letter, her sense of conduct so much at variance with the common principles of truth and honesty, and we are convinced that nothing but absolute necessity will induce the Queen to sum mon to the head of her couscils • minister who, for his own selfish objects, has not hesitated to betray them." In the "not improbable" event of Lord Derby's failure, the Times relies " with unabated confidence on Lord Palmerston as the fittest and ablest man to be placed at the head of the govern ment at such a crisis, and he would be fairly entitled to demand the support of the Conservative party, since the only remaining alternative would be to fling back the administration into the hands of the Chesham-place The Morning Herald gives no information as to the personnel of the new Ministry, but film the abuse which it lavishes upon the late Cabinet, evecially upon Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Sidney Herbert, it is difficult to believe that our contemporary aspects to see any of the late ministers (exoeptieg Lord Palmerston) in the new coalition. The Morning Chronicle still entertains the hope that the Queen will entrust the formation of her government to Lord Lansdowne or Lord Palmerston. It is not expected, the Chronicle says, :hat Earl Derby will be able to ally himself with any leading politicians not hitherto numbered amongst his _pro fessed adherents, except Lord Ellenborough. " That clever, dashing, and eloquent, but erratic aid unsafe, statesman, will possibly be tempted by tie hope of being able to enact the part of Chatham at the War-office. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. also, is spoken of as likely to lend his powerful aid to the so-called Conservative cause. But we cannot believe that either Lord Palmerston, or any other eminent member of the L.beral or Liberal-Conservative party, will join Lori Derby, except upon a condition which we take to be utterly inadmissible—namely, the abandonment of Mr. Disraeli. The refusal to act with this individual is not a matter of prejudice, or caprice, or personal dis like, but a principle in which the best of the Derby ites themselves coincide. There is an end cf every thing like firmness or conscious integrity, if any in stinctive and well-grounded repugnance of this sort can be overcome by superficial considerations of ex pediency." The Chronicle seems prepared to give up the Earl of Aberdeen, the Duke of Newcastle, and even Mr. Sidney Herbert; but it would view the removal of Mr. Gladstone, Sir J. Gratam, and the Earl of Clarendon, as an act of madness The Morning Post devotes its first "leader" to a series of arguments showing, as it thinks, that Mr. Roebuck's committee is "alike impossible and impo litic." As to Earl Derby's prospects, the Post thinks that his lordship will find it no easy task to present to a House of Commoos circumstanced like the present, "a Cabinet which will have a majority lon band, or which will be free from liability to such accidents as displaced his government in 1852" Abe court. . 'AO (Ism sad Albert, attended by Os Mar /blooms of li e GM of Wallington, Colonel ta. r Hon. C. B. Wee-General the Him C. Grey. Culoaal &pito the Master of the limmelsold, left Windage Cases it tom minutes put ten o'clock yeaterday morning, traveilcd by a spatial train on the Great Western Railway to Paddington, and arrived at Buckingham Palace at ten mioates put eleven o'clock. The Earl of Derby had an audience of the Quin. The Duke of Cambridge visited her Majesty. Her Majesty sad Prince Albert sad the ladies and gentlemen is waiting left Buckingham Palace, in two of the Queen's carriages, at eight minutes before three o'clock in the attracts, for the Paddington Suntans of the Great Western Railway, sad retarned by a special train to Wind nor Cutle. The royal suite consisted of the Marchioness of Ely, Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, Major• General the Hon. Charles Grey, Colonel Seymour, and the Muter of the Household. The Queen and Prince Albert were con ducted to their carriage by the Earl Spencer, Lord Steward. The Duchess of Cambridge and t►e Princes' Mary and the Duke of Cambridge visited the Duchess of Gloucester yesterday, at her residence, Gloucester Hones, Piccadilly. A Committee of the Lords of her blejesty's most Honour able Privy Council had a meeting lesterday at the Privy Council Office, Whitehall, to Battle the roll of sheriffs for the oounties of England and Wales for the present year. The lords reseal were Lord Cranworth, Lord Chancellor; Viscount Palmerston, Secretary of State for the Home De partment; the Earl of Clarendon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ; Sir Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control; Earl Granville, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ; and Earl Spencer, Lord Steward of the Queen's Household. ;The Earl of Derby had an interview with Viscount Pal- merston yesterday, at Ms residence in Piccadilly, after the noble earl bad bad an audience of the Queen. The Cathedral Commission met at No. 1, New-street, Spring•gardens, en Wednesday. The commissioners present were the Earl of Harrowby, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Orford, the Hon. and Rev. H.M. Villiers, the Rev. Canon Selwyn, and Mr. Henry Kingscote (secretary). A deputation from Stage Carriage Proprietors of Meryl°. bone had an interview yesterday with Sir Benjamin Hall, at the office of the General Board of Health, Whitehall. The deputation consisted of Hewn. Henry Edmonds, John Trevett, Thomas Bird, James Willing, Augustus Lines, Samuel Heaton, and J. E. Bradfield. Despatches from the Governors of the North American Provinces were received yesterday at the Colonial-office. LORD CARDIGAN AND THE UNITED SERVICE CLWI. —The members of this, the oldest military and naval club, intend to invite the noble lord to become an honorary mem ber, in consequence of his distioguithed gallantry at Bala klava on the 25th of October last. •Hie Serene ROYAL POLYTECHNIC __.--- Highness Prince Nicholas of Neal. % and Lady Bunsen, accompanied by the Sardinian Minister and Dr. Lyon Play fair, visited this institution on Tuesday evening, and wit nessed the whole of the entertainments provided for the occasion, the chief objects of attraction being a lecture by Dr. Bachoffner on " Philosophy in sport made science in earnest" (introducing some of Professor Wheatstone's ex periments on the transmission of musical sounds), the illu minated cascade, and the new optical diorama, illustrating the voyages of " Sinbad the Sailor." The Solicitor-General for Scotland, Mr. Thomas blacken:4e will, we have reason to believe, succeed to the vacant seat on the Scotch bench, caused by the death of Lord Itobortoon.—Olothr. THE ALLEGED NEW COALITION. The rumour at the clubs last night was, that if Messrs. Gladstone and Sidney Herbert, and any one of the whigs in the late administration, could be induced to take office along with him, Lord Palmerston was willing to take the lead in the House of Commons, and thus form a Derby• Palmerston coalition. It was said that Mr. Disraeli was to be left out, in the first instance, to propitiate the whigs and Peelite/. Lord Clarendon's name was menuned in con nexion with these statements, but that part of the tale met with little credence. It is believed in some quarters that the following have onsented to fill offices in the new Cabinet: Earl of Derby, as Premier; Lord Palmerton, as Minister of War; Mr. Disraeli, as Secretary of State for Foreign Affsire ; Earl Grey, as Secretary of State for tho Home Department; Sir J. Pakiugton, as Chancellor of the &chequer. Mr. beaten was among the political friends received by the Earl of Derby on his return from the Palace yesterday At an early hour yesterday Viscount Palmerston had an interview with the Marquis of Lansdowne at hie lordship's residence in Berkeley-square. The Secretary of the T ry, the Right Hon. W. G, Hayter, was very busy yesterday at the clubs. The right hon. gentleman paid a visit to the Earl of Aberdeen during the morning, at Argyll House. The Marquis of Lansdowne visited Lord John Au sell yesterday at his residence in Chesham-place. The Earl Grey was visited yesterday by al of his political friends. Lord John Russell entertained a select circle at dinner last evening. Lord Dunkallin, recently returned from St. Petersburg, was amongst his lordship's guests. Shortly before 12 o'clock last night, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Kr. Gladstone) and the Right lion. Sidney Herbert arrived together at the Admiralty, and had an Interview with Sir Jame. Graham. The right hon. gentle men came direct from the Earl of Aberdeen (with whom the, had had a lengthened interview) to the Admiralty. WAR. 11 latter from Warsaw, in the Cologne Goutis, eldjii that the louses of the Russian army on active seethe amounted, in 1864, according to official re tons, to 107,124 men, of whom 29,204 died natu rally, 53,304 were wounded, 8,450 deserted, and 18,158 died from wounds. The Wanderer of Vienna says : "The Ambassa dors of France and England received a few days back despatches from their governments, in conse quence of which the conferences between them and (bunt de Buol, for some time interrupted, were resumed. These conferences relate to the military measures to be taken in accordance with the treaty of Dec. 2." A despatch from Sebastopol, of the 19th, in the Palrie, announces " that at that date the tire was almost suspended on both sides, every one seeking to take shelter from the snow. The moral and physical situation of the besiegers was good; the horses alone suffered severely from the cold." The Military Gazette of Vienna informs its readers that the Emperor of Russia has requested an armis tice of six weeks. A letter from Sebastopol, 13th January, in the Courrier de Marseille, lays: I have been endeavouring in vain to write to you for several days past, but the weather is so cold that I scarcely dared to move in my sheepskin cloak, or shake about my legs in their thick coverings. You cannot imagine the ex tent of our sufferings. Picture to yourself a snow storm luting forty-eight hours, lying round our tents and our huts to the depth of several feet. Then suddenly Dunes a heavy rain, which melts the snow, leaving in our precarious Nemo( shelter a liquid mud from which we hate no pro tection. Notwithstanding all this, the spirits of our soldiers are not east down, ant' the state of their health is superior to the sufferings they endure. Our soldiers amuse them selves with nuking men with snow. One heap of snow has been cut into caricatured representations of the Emperor Nicholas and Prince Mentchikoff, and on the pedestal of the statues the artist has engraved, with his bayonet, a very witty inscription. Unfortunately, the Eoglish are not so well off. Their sufferings are much more severe than ours; they have within the last few days lost several men from suffocation in their huts from charcoal, which they burned i/itllGltt allowing proper ventilation; others were found dead in the trenches from cold. On other point., whole regiments are absolutely destitute of fuel to cook their food, which they are often obliged to eat raw. It is this which canoes the debility which affects so great a num ber ef the English soldiers. Our allies have abandoned their advanced redoubt of Inkermann, the position being too much exposed to the batteries on the north of the place. They have constriarted another entrenchment, lower down, which commands the port. and they have already mounted three heavy guns there. For our parts, we have within the last few days begun to throw some shells into the town, and it; is said that it the weather improves the siege (the real siege) will begin before the 20th. Oar officers of en• pincers do not thine that the earthworks raised by the Russians can stand long; neither will the batteries on the south hold out very long, but the fortifications on the north will certainly give us some trouble. We have been ready for some time, but our allies h►ve not yet all their guns complete. While waiting for the general chorus, one of our batteries, mounted with 10 mor tars, has been practising a solo which cannot be at all to the taste of the Russians, who have received on an average 600 shells a day, each mortar firing about 60 times. These pro. jectiles do immense mischief in Sebastopol. A part of these shells are directed en the Garden batteries,when 10 or 12 of the Russian guns have already been dismounted, but the Rus sians have hitherto regularly repaired all their damsgen during the night. We have more then 60 mere mortars and heavy guns ready to bring into play. A terrible alarm was caused a few nights since by the cry of " fire" from the Queen, English transport, laden with gunpowder, but fortunately the fire was got under without any serious damage. We bate received accounts from Eupstoria by the Colomb , , • which brought 250 horses in very bad condition to the Eog It appears that the weather is not better there than here, and that the Turks suffer as much as we do. The English are about to send a number of their sailors on board the ships and only keep 400 or 500 on shore. This is a measure to be regretted, but it is rendered necessary by want of accommodation for them. The COB ' sacks continue to show tbem,elves in the plain of Bala klava. some of the PeeUlm, and of it is now in the power of Lord Infix to mah native Whip. A • the leader of the great movement of tl wanting, to iseSUy Against glikapiste sad political !abbeys. r numerous class of politicians mpacitirUeil loan will have it in his poi of principle mod monsistenop =s more tree eievios to Die country and to tl 11 times ready to allow diem- than even le martyred ancestor. Bat hen words.' The semidry will Di his choke tabby ; for, it he hesitates aid 1 mime the one greet duty 'of the movement will go on without him— o concentrate all their energies him. Is a few hours the that low mama SOCIETY OF ARTS. At the ordinary meeting of the Society of Arts last evening, JOHN ticorr Ruesem.,F.R.B., vice-president, in the chair, the paper read was "On the chalk strata coasidered as a source for the supply of water to the me tropolis," by Mr. 8. C. Homenhazo, M. Inst., C.B. The author commenced by stating that in many districts of , Great Britain, whoa the soil rests upon clay, millstone, or other matter impermeable to water grit, it is usual to collect the water flowing off the ground after heavy rains in very large reservoirs, to supply canals and towns. Such a it exists in the valley of the Brent, situated about 51 miles in a north-westerly direction fruin Cumberland gate, Hyde-park, and is used to store the superabundant rain-water fl awing eft an extensive district of the London clay geological formation, the surface of which is principally co. vered with grass. On the other hand,where the soil rests upon chalk as on the Chiltern ridge, and the North Downs, the heaviest rain, instead of flowing off, sinks into the ground directly it falls, giving back little to support vegetation, as is evident when the luxuriant vegetation on the London clay is compared with the scanty vegetation on the chalk downs. The notoriously moist character of the air over a clay district, and the dry character of the air over a chalk district, were instanced as familiar proofs that but little of the rain-fall was evaporated from the surface of a chalk country, compared with a clay country. The author showed that while on a clay district 2,000 yards in length of stream and river courses existed per square mile, to say nothing of great lengths of drains and ditches, an the chalk there was only 780 yards of stream and river MIMS and no drains or ditches. The bridges crossing clay streams were shown from numerous examples to have from five to tea times as much water way as bridges crossing chalk streams, notwithstanding the Wily bridges were frequently choked with water, while the chalk bridges were nearly fall. The author stated that the amount of water flowing down clay streams fed by a large area of drainage ground was larger in dry weather than from a chalk stream with a similar area of drainage. As much as 200 square miles of chalk country lying altogether was pointed out to the north of London without a spring, stream, or river upon it. From these well authenticated facts it fol. lowed that the rain sank into the chalk and flowed out through the interstices between the planes of stratification that lead direct to the sea. The water was traced between high and low tide flowing into the sea up through the beach where the chalk was exposed, as at Dover, Deal, Brighton, &c. The proposal of the author was that before the water reached the sea it should be intercepted for the supply of the metropolis, for which it is well adapted, from its even and agreeable temperature, its clearness its aerator., and freedom from organic matter. The only drawback to its quality in this respect consisted in the water holding in invisible solution about 171 grains of chalk per gallon, as' bicarbonate of lime ; this chalk, however, could be easily withdrawn from the water by a process invented by Dr. Clark, cf Aberdeen, without injuring the other good quali ties of the water. The author had lately constructed works that were now aupplyisg the important parishes of Plumstead, Woolwich, and Charlton with water derived from the ehslk strata, after having the chalk taken out of it by Dr. Clark's process. The water is much liked by the consumers for all purposes—washing, bathing, and drink ing. Practically au inexhaustible supply of pure soft water is thus within the reach of the metropolis. It was announced that there would be a special meeting on the evening of Fri lay next to discus the proposed con gress at Paris next spring in reference to the improvement of international commercial law; also that the society's seventh annual exhibition of inventions would be opened on Monday, the 2nd of April, (or which the assistance of the members and their friends was asked in procuring speci mens, models, and drawings of the invention'', whether patented, registered, or net, of the past twelve months. CITY OP LONDON LYING-IN 1108PITAL.—Yester day the usual half-yearly meeting of the governors of this institution (foundel a century ago for the benefit of the wives of soldiers, sailors, end mechanics) was held at the hospital, City-road; Sir J. Tyler in the chair. The simnel return of patients showed that daring the past year, 468 poor women were attended in the hospital, being an in• CMS@ of 112 over the previous year. The committee had been obliged to borrow 1001. of the bankers, in order to defray the current expellees. but 791. having been r ece i ve d from a leper, bequeathed by the late Mrs. Laugher, the loon bad been repaid. Up to the present period 41,615 patients bad been relieved; and, in order to alleviate spe cial eases of distress, a Samaritan Fund had been attached to the hospital, but so limited were the resources of the in stitution, that the committee ware only able to distribute 51. a year ; and they therefore earnestly appealed for fur ther support. The receipts had amounted to 2,0051. 12e., and the expenditure to 1,899/. 3s. 7d., leaving at the banker's a b a lance of 1081. 8.. 6d. _ Tut WEATHER—The cold at Turin has increased to en unprecedented degree. On the 26th the thermometer of Reaumar masked 121 dames (3.8 Fahrenheit). COBH AND BANDON RAll.WAY.—Betitat of traffic for the week ending Jan. 27, 1666, 1961. 18e, U. TraSe he wreoptelding week hut par, 1711.65. Pd. NAVAL AND MILITARY. ADMIRALTY. JAN. 31.—Pa0xoTION8.—Maistant Surgeons A. Williams and W. L. Gordon (1846), M.D., promoted to the rank of Surgeons, from the 26th inst. APPOINTKINTIL—Lientesaat E. F. Kirby, to the Ariel, 9, screw steam•sloop, of 60. horse power, at Portsmouth. Clerks K. Itunday (18.50) to the Duke of Wellington s 131, screw steam-ship, of 700 horse power, at Spithead ; sad H. Gray (a) (1848) to the Nile, 91, screw steam-ship, of 600 horse power, at Devouport. Clerk in Charge W. E. Kelly (1849) to the Minden, store ship, at Hoeg Kong. Clerks' Assistants H. F. Johnston., to the Orion, 91, screw steam-ship, of 600 horse power, at Sheerness ; C. D. Lee, E. Lean, and P. W. Rouse, to the Winchester, 50, flag-ship, Ent India station. PORTSMOUTH, JAL 31. The weather has been exceedingly severe in this town and neighbourhood since last night. The whole of the latter portion of yesterday the wind blew very strong, and it was feared daring the night that some casualties would occur to the shipping. We have only at present heard of one—the Excellent, gunnery ship, having parted from one of her chains during the night. She however ►eld on by the other. At an early hoar this morning the snow began to fall very heavily, and has continued to do so all day almost without intermission. Frost is also very severe; the ther mometer being three or four degrees below freesiug point. As night comes on the wind gets higher, the mercury falls, and more ,now threatens to come down. More snow has fallen in Portsmouth during the hut fortnight than is recollected to have fallen for 18 or 20 years past. Up to the present time there has been no delay in the arrival of the trains on the railways into this town, but should an additional quantity fall to-night it is feared that such delay will be occasioned. The party of convicts taken out of the Seindian at Spit head, yesterday afternoon, for eonveyanos to Gibraltar. could not be put on board, owing to the roughness of the sea from the strong wind, and had to be brought into harbour again. The Sampson, 6, paddle-wheel frigate, was paid off to day, and her crew received six mouths leave of a►sence. DEVONPORT, JAN. 31. The Ctesar, 91, screw, Captain Robb, sailed from this port on Monday for Queenstown, to embark troops for Gibraltar. The Dragon, 6, paddle-wheel, Capt. Wil cox, arrived here yesterday from Portsmouth. The Magi ciente, 16, paddle-wheel, Captain Fisher, is in harbour to make good &frets. Captain Fisher is appointed to the Retribution, and will be succeeded in the Magicienne by Captain Vansittart. The Canadian, troop skip, sailed yes terday for the East. She wee detained longer than ex pectvd, to make good defects occasioned by the deck taking Sr. under the hearth used by the troops. She embarked a detachment of the 34th Regiment here, and was inspected by Major-General Eden, Brigade Major Ibbetson, and Dr. routes% deputy inspector of hospital.. The Stag, convict ship, in coming into the Sound, touched the ground, but hes not sustained any serious damage. Site will fill op from the Dartmoor prison', sad ilea proceed to Western Metcalf& TURKEY. (FROM THE COIRESPONDENT OP THE DAILY NEWS.) CONSTANTINOPLE, JAN. 18. In my last, I communicated the substance of a de spatch of the 13th instant, from General Canrobert. Another of an earlier date-10th instant—delayed by some accident on the way, reached this after the , departure of the mail, and which contributes unfor tunately, with a variety of other evidences, to estab lish a melancholy fact—that the British army is con siderably reduced. „ The English have ceded to us," says General Csnrobert, " a portion of their lines, namely, the works commanding and destined to batter iu breach the Malakoff Tower, on which a serious attack will most likely be made within a short delay." The following is also the substance of tho latest intelligence from the same source " During the night of the llth-12th inst., a body of the Russians, amount ing to two hundred and fifty men, sallied forth to attack a point on the French lines. After a sharp, close conflict with the bayonet, which lasted about 10 minutes, the enemy, as usual, was repulsed, and forced to retire within the walls, with a loss of 20 killed and seven prisoners captured. On the French side the casualties amounted to seven wounded in this encounter." I have to correct a lapsus calami in my last. The total effective force of the French army actually in the Crimea, amounts to sixty-eight thousand men—eight divisions ; and, as already noticed, the ninth is daily expected, but to remain at Constantinople till further orders. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, it is reported, are also on the way; and this gallant and formidable force will amply supply all deficiencies, and suffice alone for every object. Their noble an d intrepid leader is; besides, according to the concurring testimony of all with whom I have conversed, the inspiriting genius of the camp—soldier-like, active, indefatigable, übi quitous ; watching with anxious solicitude day and night the details of service in every department of the besieging army. He is well known along the lines—his diminutive stature con trasting strangely with the massive proportions of his favourite white charger. He is, of necessity, well known by sight to the great majority of our own officers and soldiers with whom I have come in contact—and which, I must confess, is not invariably the case with their own Commander.in-Chief. No later than yesterday Captain told me—" Can robert is a soldier, a hero ' • he cares not a d— for storms and tempests, for shot and shell, for all the privations and hardships attendant on warfare. His generous sympathy, moreover, and constant readi ness to supply with his own resources the sad defects in every department of our military legislation, is a theme of universal admiration throughout the British ranks. On reviewing, for instance, a point of our lines where the labours and duties were far beyond the forces and superhuman efforts of our heroic soldiery—about 2,500 men, I think, of the 3rd division—Canrobert did all in his power to induce the commander to allow them a little quiet and repose, and retire to the camp—and I that he would order instantly 6,000 of hiss own troops to do duty meantime, and prosecute their arduous labours. Strange to sant' my informant adds, "the British commander had a comfortable house on that point, which, it is presumed, was a sufficient and legitimate motive for rejecting that generous offer." The French, I have learned from the same source, after twelve hours duty is the trenches, are relieved, and have not again till the fifth day to resume these labours; whereas, a respite of twelve hours is all that can be allowed to our own poor fellows, under existing circumstances. On the 16th inst., I have good reason to think, a courier arrived here with despatches dated 9th inst. for M. de Block, announcing that Prince Gortchakoff had bees authorised to negotiate on the terms stipu lated by the Western Powers, and enjoining the inter nuncio to demand of the Porte that instructions be transmitted to her representative at Vienna, em powering him to take part in the conferences. Lord Radcliffe, it appear., has not received as yet in respect to this matter advice. from his govern ment, and did not appear disposed to coun sel the Porte to conform in this point to the wishes of the Austrian minister However, the affair, it is said, has been submitted to the de liberation of the grand council, and the result will be in all probability compliance with the solicitations of the Austrian cabinet. The Russian palace at Pera has been finally given up to the French, and M. de Bruck withdrawn his protest; on condition, however, of the occupants being responsible for all damage or losses possibly accruing, either in respect to the furniture or tka edifice itself. It appears that the mining operations at Sebastopol had been carried to an enormous extent, and that some officers and soldiers now in the French hospital have been within the walls of the city, and brought off, among other trophit s, a couple of greyhou n d s and some altar ornam en t., w hi c h are displayed glu t much pleasure to visitors. The ground is covered with snow , and the theme. meter at zero; but th e sun is bright, the horizon without a speck, and the wind, I am sorry to say, perpetually from the same quarter. THE CONDITION OF VARNA. (7101 t IIiLE S)ICILL ziltws.) OP Till OMIT e. 7. The English depot is slowly an d by d egees I dim. appearing from Varna. In a few days more tot a vestige of this magnificent and efficient establish. ment will be left beyond an immense number of dead horses, whose carcases strew all the roads and fields, and scent the air for an English mile and a half mend the town. Its history is a curious illustration of the management in the commissariat and transport KT „. vice, and throws no small amount of light upon the darker and sadder side of the expo. ' dition to the Crimea. When I was here in Varna last summer, I informed you, remember, that Colonel Dickson, of the Rae. neer., was bringing up a large number of ponies for the baggage, which were being brought in daily from all parts of the country. He finished by making the government proprietor of about 2,5110 of them, at an average cost of about 71. each, all in tolerably good condition, strong, and, in most respects, admirably fitted for the work for which they were intended. They were to carry the baggage of the army ; and for rapid movements, such as every one supposed at that time were to be the order of the day, they certainly presented many points of superiority to carts or bullock-waggons. Owing to the general absence of any movement in particular during its stay in Bal. garia, their services were never called into requisition at Varna, except when a small number of them car. vied the " troops" of the Light Division to this place. They were accordingly eoclm•ed by wattled pall. Hader, committed to the keeping of a large number of facetious Bulgarians, fed twice a day, watered as often, and allowed to pass the night in furious corn. bits, generally leuling to similar outbreaks of hoe. tility on the part of the grooms before quiet was restored. The weather, however, was fine, the days were long, and if the animals were not over-well cared for, they were hardy, and suffered little. When the expedition sailed for Sebastopol, none but field officers being allowed horses or more baggage than they themselves could carry; and in fact the whole affair being looked upon as a sort of pic-nic party, the main fun of which lies in little wants and inconveniences, and which would be over in a few days; the baggage ponies were left behind in charge of the depot, a large body of soldiers being turned into grooms,and the Bulgarians ignominiously dismissed, as they deserved. The army sailed in the middle of September. During the remainder of the month, as well as during the month of October, the weather was magnificent. These were the last brief hours of comfort the ponies etjoyed. In the beginning of November the winter began—rain, mud, wind, &c.—the pack animals being now picketed in a large open space between the town and the walls, exposed to the pitiless pelting of every storm, without any covering of any sort whatever, they stood in mud knee high; they lay down in mud ; they ate off mud; they were covered with mut ; and they never moved from the same spot except twice duriog the twenty four hours, when they were led to water. No attempt was made to house them or even provide cants for them. The consequence was that before very long the majority began to glee symptoms of what in America is called " caving in," or, in other words, in dications of approaching dissolution. Very soon every diseaso that horseflesh is heir to began to make its appearance—farcy, glanders, splints, ringbones, coughs, &c.; and, in addition to this, they all dwindled down into long hairy skeletons. Frequently they ' had not half enough to eat ; and, in tact, at the time of my arrival here, the spectacle they presented was at once one of the most pitiable and the most dis graceful I ever wituessed. The poor brutes were all suffering the most intense misery from cold and exposure, the thermometer at night showing six or seven degrees below freezing point, although plenty of excellent horsecloths, lined with a coarse blanket, and almost waterproof, were to be had in Varna or Constantinople for sa. a piece. They fre quently were on short allowance of barley, more frequently still without any hay or straw, though there has been an assistant commissary-general with the depot ever since the departure of the army, and though forage is to be had in abundance at a little distance from Varna, if one has but money and means of transport, which the English commissa riat ought to have. The consequence has been that 500 of these horses at least are dead—some from natural causes, others shot from being incurably diseased ; 800 have been handed over to the Turkish Pacha, to be taken care of by him, at the rate of Bd. a day, as, owing to their extreme debility, it was thought useless to send them to the Crimea. Of the feeble remnant which have lately been packed cif in the transports, the vast majority are reduced to the last extremity of weakness, and about half have the mange, brought on by extreme filth and the total absence of grooming. A miserable attempt was at one time made to separate the mangy horses frosts the sound, but they were invariably mingled again in twenty four hours afterwa r d s; be c ause, said the keepers, they broke loose in the night. Another, and perhaps still more proximate cause of the spread of the distemper was the promiscuous use of the pack saddles, the nearest at hand being always made use of whenever a horse was wanted for any trifling duty. Of those now gone up to the Crimea, not one in ten will survive more than a fortnight, if worked. The slightest exertion will prove fatal to by far the greater number, and many will not survive the voyage. They have been in many instances crammed into the ships like sheep or pigs, as in the case of the War Cloud, where three times as many horses were put on board as she was capable of accommo dating, without boxes or pi oper partitions. The con sequence was, that a gale coming on in the night, the animals broke loose, fought and rolled over one another, and in the morning, when the ship put back into Varna, out of one hundred and fifty only about thirty were alive, and these dreadfully cut and disabled. What I have now said of the commissariat baggage ponies applies equally to the horses of the officers left behind at the sailing of the expedition for the Crimea. All are hopelessly, irre coverably lost. Let me remind you that all the while that these wretched brutes were dying here from neglect and exposure, the army was suffering dread fully at Sebastopol, for want of th e means o f trans ' port and stores. The men ate raw salt beef, and the officers burnt charcoal in their tents for want of wood, though there was wood in abundance, by all accounts, at Balaklava. The roads were bad, it was said—no doubt too bad—for waggons or drays, but there were at Varna 2,000 ponies and pack saddles capable of supplying 50,000 men with wood enough and to spare, across any line of country indicated, road or no road—and several hundred men, whose services were sorely wanted in the trenches, were here taking care of them. Stores of all kinds lay rotting on the wharf; there was no public horse to bring the letters up to the camp; in fact, every thing went wrong fur the same reason. The fact is, that such is the woeful confusion into which every thing has been plunged, that the depot at Varna seems to have been totally forgotten. The persons left in charge of it enjoyed too much their snug obscurity ever to think of reminding the authorities of their existence. They fondly hoped to pass tho winter in a sort of coma tose, caterpillar existence, and to come forth sleek and shining when the frost and snow and hard fighting were over. As to the horses, they were left to nature and Providence. It took several letters from the consul here to call Lord Raglan's attention to the fact that there was at Varna 17,0001. worth of baggage ponies for the transport service. Orders then came down for their instant transport to Bala ' klava; but, unfortunately, owing to the fact that ships were absolutely necessary to proceed to their dgati nation, and that ships were not supplied regulirly nor in sufficient numbers, nearly three months have elapsed gale that order arrived, and there are No'