The Sun. — London, England, 1862-02-03 00:00:00

NEW ROYALTY THEATRE, Dean-street, Oxford-street. Immense success of the new Operetta. THIS EVENING (2d time) A CHINESE ROMANCE. After which Offenbach's Opera Buffo, entitled LE MARI AGE AUX NTERNES. Mr. John Morgan, Mesdames Stanley, Payne, LA. and Mason. To conclude with THE EARLIEST EDITION OF IL TROVATOKE. Commence at half-past 7. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.- Last 6 Nights of the Pantomime. —Last 12 Nights of The Colleen Bawn. EVERY EVENING THE COLLEEN BAWN. To be followed with the wondrous feats of the greatest Equestrians in the World, Young Gunerius, Madlle. Halvor sen, and Mons. Goldkette. Concluding with the Grand Comic JO HNNY GILPIN'S RIDE TO EDMONTONPantomime of . In prepar ition, a gorgeous Eastern Spectacle, introducing Two of the finest PCITOrMing Elephants ever seen in this country. Stage Manager, Mr. W. Searle. AND FINE CANTERBURY HALL ARTS GALLERY. "THE ENCHANTED HASH " (SECOND EDITION) by Mr. E. Marshall, with Eleven Wonderful Transformations (the most talented perfoanc ever attempted by a singl person), at a quarter-past rm ten. e Also the following extraor e dinary.combination of Comic talent, viz.: Mr. Randall, Mr. Frederick French, Mr. J. G. Forde, Miss Harriet Coveney, and Miss Greene. Grand Selections from LA TRAVIATA, by Mdlle. Mr. Herbert, Signor Tivoli, and a powerful Chorus, at Ten o'clock. - - - Musical Director, Mr. Jonghmans. Admission—Hall, 6d. ; Stalls and Balcony, ls. VICTOR JULIEN, " THE FLYING MAN," at CANTERBURY HALL, Every Evening at half past Nine o'clock. T HE 0 X F O RD, 6, OXFORD-STREET, • Two Selections Every Evening alternately from " Ernani," "Lucrezia Borgia," "La Traviata," " Simon Boccanegra," "La Circassienne," &0., by the entire Company, Full Band send Chnrus.—C , cmdnetor. Mr. F. Jon a hmana. Solos by Mr. Vi o tti Collins (the great English vioiini.p. And other at tractive Entertainments, the Comic portion by Miss Harriet Coveney, Messrs. Sam Collins, Wood and Son, E. Marshall, M. P. Foster, and W. Randall. - Hall, 6d. ; Stalls and Balcony, Is. ; Private Boxes, 100. 6d. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tilts DAY.—Morning, 4h. 40m.—Afternoon, 4h. 58m. To-mmtitow.-Morning, sb. 14m.—Afternoon, sh. 30m. THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, FEBRUARY 2, me THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 52—highest since noon yesterday. 46—lowest this morning and during the night. 50—this day at noon. _ BAROMETER-30.18. WIND—South -Westerly ; rather fresh, with dull cloudy weather. FEB. 3. THERMOMETER, IN THE SRADB. 51—highest since noon yesterday. 46—lowest this morning and during the night. 52—this day at noon. BAROMETER-30.23 ; rising. WIND—South -Westerly ; light, with fair weather. . r le • ;VgA- d • . S rp vt e , . , •• • 3 , • /) „a-75- THE SUN• LONDON, MONDAY, FEB. 3, 1862. After so long delay something like a breaking of day on the Federal cause has appeared. It is far, indeed, from anything like an unmistakeable reflec tion of light beneath the horizon, sure ultimately to dawn upon us—still it looks as if midnight were past. There seems to be evidence that M'CLELLAN, and, doubtless, the President acting with him, have a plan—that they have entire confidence in their plan—and that their confidence has begun to change the tone even of their critics. It is encou raging to see that M'CLELLAN'S subordinate gene rals, in the country where every man is a sovereign, begin to know their duty to their military chief. A committee has been appointed on the conduct of the war. One of the generals was summoned before it. He was asked whether he knew that the General Commanding-in-Chief had a plan of operations. He replied that he knew that he had. Havin g subsequently acknowledged that he had attended councils of war in which the plans were discussed, and being asked to state to the commit tee what these plans were, the General replied, "No, sir ; not until I am ordered to do so by General Iq‘CLELLAN.'' Now we like that. It is as hopeful a fact as we have seen on the Confederate side of the Potomac for a long time. If M'CLELLAN can only imbue his officers with the idea of implicit military obedience, though they will still want much training and professional skill, he will ac complish the first thing towards success. His sub ordinates have had training enough in perf ec t self-will, an d li cense—but po liti c al independence, they have had nothing to teach them the value of obedience in war , as of inde p ende nce is peace. But General APCLELLAN himself has also been before the committee, and the effect seems to have been very re-assuring. His subordinate's reply seems to have made the committee modest, and they became aware of the fact that they were intermed tiling with matters which belonged not to them. But the Commanderin• Chief was' not supercilious, and he appears to have met the committee per sonally, with frankness, and to have revealed to it, we presume under pledges of secrecy, his whole scheme of operations. We have not of course, a hint of what they are, but we read — "Without entering into any details of his plans, he convinced the members of the committee that the result which all desire—the suppression of the re bellion and the end of the war—will be attained with certainty, and even more despatch than the most sanguine were inclined to believe. General M'CLELLAN'S firm and dignified position, taken before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, has produced a most wonderful change in his favour. His startling narrative of the detail work of raising, equipping, and drillin g the army showed him to be a man o f won d e rf u l genius and I great executive ability. The tone of public senti ment towards General M'CLELLAN has altogether changed, growing out of the sudden right about face of certain Congressmen towards him since his appearance before the committee." It cannot be denied that this looks more like system, and a system of good promise, too, than the wearying accounts we are con tinually receiving of purposeless skirmishes and not very fruitful expeditions. It may also be in accordance with the knowledge professed by Mr. BAZLEY at Manchester, which he may have had from authentic sources, of a compara tively early breaking up of the blockade, if not termination of the war, next summer. We are assured, at least, that in Washington itself, the foreboding and dissatisfaction at the inactivity of the army is rapidly disappearing before the evi dence of energetic preparations " for a grand blow at the vitals of the rebellion." Preparation is beginning to be recognised as the means of insuring success, and confidence in the General Commanding-in-Chief is continually increasing. If on reasonable grounds, not from despising the enemy, but through taking ample pains not to let themselves be despised, the Federals begin to have hope, we also may begin to hope for them. The civilians are beginning also to do their part of the wotk. A congressional committee is looking into—" how the money goes"—and the causes of its rapid disappearance are being dragged to the light and gibbetted in terrorem. Such things as cavalry horses sold twice over to the GOvern ment, and colonels receiving bonuses of 1,500 and 2,000 dollars from rival railway companies, to award to the bribing line the enormous profit of carrying the Federal troops—are not likely to be repeated. Americans like smartness, to be sure; but when the smartness results in inconvertible paper and intolerable taxation, smartness in bleed ing the nation, is not unlikely to be repaid by smartness in bleeding the unprincipled contractors and colonels. It looks well also that Congress has got as far as a resolution to raise £30,000,000 by annual taxation, in order to meet cur rent expenses, to pay the interest on the loans, and to provide a Sinking Fund for their ex tinction. True, so far as we understand the accounts of their war expenditure, and their receipts from all sources, this seems but a " flea bite," compared with what will be 'needed merely to keep the war on foot. Nor, can we tell how Congress will suc ceed in levying the taxes which it is comparatively easy to impose. Still it looks like an opening of their eyes to the fact, that fighting and paying must always go together, and the paying long out lasts the fighting. Already the effect of the finan cial measures on the gold and bullion of the country is felt, and a committee was discussing how to pre vent hoarding, melting down, or exporting gold or bullion. They are not yet aware that law is powerless among the money-mongers. Southern accounts of their own condition in the Confederate States become worse and worse. Re cently we had in the Richmond Enquirer itself so strong a picture of the demoralisation of the Southern army on the Potomac, as to suggest the thought that it might have been written to tempt M'CLELLAN to a premature attack on well-prepared entrenchments. But this time, in a review of the whole position of both parties, the same paper writes in a strain of censure on the Southern com manders, and of discussion of new plans which it is difficult to conceive to be otherwise than what it appears. The defensive system of the South is shown to have serious disadvantages. It leaves " a moral stain on an army to await repeated and end less attack, and the country which becomes the seat of war is exhausted. The courage of the Southern Volunteers, and the difficulties of the invasion, have saved, the Enquirer says, much loss in the war ; but then the_ enemy has had unin terrupted leisure to prepare and drill a vast army, and arrange it at leasure against the season for the resumption of hostilities. While Southern engi neers have been skilfully erecting works, which may be of as much use as the Chinese wall in one place, the Federals have been allowed to envelope the Confederacy by their armies and fleets, and will, when the fitting weather arrives, be able to strike, for the interior from many alternative points. Generals BEAUREGARD and JOHNSTON, mean time, are held by 111`CLELLAN, as in a vice, on the Potomac. Such is the view which the ablest of the Southern papers takes of the Confederates' and Federals' rela tive position. It would hardly seem as if there could be any trickery or plot in such a description ; the proposed plan for the South is quite a new one. The net, it is said, is now drawn all around, and the only resource is to cut it in one direction. The Confederate General in Kentucky is designated as the man ; the Federals there are to be hurled back by a competent force, and Ohio invaded in turn. By such transference of the war the Confederate States may escape being overrun in the spring, and the Federals be compelled to defend their own ground. "Beyond the flittering possibilities of a foreign intervention," this plan of taking the offensive, instead of standing on the defensive only, affords the sole rational hope of a speedy termina tion of the war. It is even affirmed that the , character of Federal preparations show that they anticipate such a change of Southern policy as the worst thing for them. To give any opinion on stich a policy may be premature. It may never be adopted, most likely indeed will not. Suspicion still clings to a pub lished plan of campaign, and there can be no doubt that the Confederates, separated from their own territory, and plunged into the midst of a free state, would find themselves completely over matched. ?hey cannot have the commissariat and equipments for a hostile:movement. Congress has already reported a bill for the confiscation of Con- fed4rates' property and liberation of their slaves ; and all :things look as if both North and South were becoming desperate. As certainly as the late appalling catastrophe at Hartley New Coal Pit will put an end at length for once and for all to the cruelly parsimonious system of working so many of our mines with a single shaft instead of with two distinct shafts, as Reason and Humanity would seem alike of themselves to dic tate —so also we may be perfectly confident that this frightful accident down at Bedlington will as effec tually put an end in its turn to the no less cruelly parsimonious system of unsecured or unguarded machinery. The monstrous folly in each instance has been proved now to absolute demonstration. That visible in regard to the single shaft sys tem at our mines we have already commented upon repeatedly of late. After the dreadful destruction of those " two hundred lives save one" down in the pit at Hartley, one hundred and ninety-nine boys and men all huddled together promiscuously in the fatal yard seam, and there stifled by the deadly stythe impregnated with poisonous gases, simply because the Accidental blocking up of the single RO YAL E NGLISH OPERA, COVENT GARDEN. Under the management of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison. THIS EVENING, THE PURITAN' S DAUGHTE R. Miss Louisa Fyne, Miss Susa n Pyne ; Mr. Santley, Mr. H. Corti, Mr. G. Honey, Mr. A. St. Albyn, and Mr. W. Harrison. To conclude with HARLEQUIN GULLIVER; or, Giants an d Dwarfs. Messrs. W. H. , F., and H. Pa yn e, S. Lauri, and Miss Jenny Lauri. Conductor, Mr. ALFRED MELLON. Commence at Seven. -col RA TRI_?,•RO YAL, HAYMARKET, Les gee, Mr. J. B. Buokfitone. THIS EVENING, to commence with OUR AMERICAN COITsIN. Lord Dundreary, Mr. Sothern ; Asa Trenchard, Mr. Buckstone. After which, a Comic Christmas Pantomime, LITTLE MISS MUFFET AND LITTLE BOY BLUE ; or, Harle quin and Old Daddy Lonzlegs. Louise Leelereq, Charles Le clercq, Herr Cole, G. Becket, and Miss Rosine. Commence a 7. p O YAL LYCEUM THEATRE. U Manager—Mr. Edmund Falconer. THIS EVENING, Feb. 3, the new and original Drama, entitled PEEP O'DAY ; or, Savourneen Deelish. Dlessrs. Walter Lacy, Hermann Vezin, Charles Selby, Edmund Fal coner ; Mrs. D. P. Bowers. Miss Clara Weston. After which, a new and original Burlesque Extravaganza, entitled LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD ; or, The Fairies of the Rose, the Thistle, and the Shamrock. Principal charac ters by Mr. Chas. Selby, Mr. Warlow, Miss Cicely Nott, and Miss Lydia Thompson. Acting Manager—Mr. F. B. Chatterton. Prices as usual. Doors open at half-past 6, to commence at 7. Box-office open daily from 11 tills. OYAL P L R ess l ee N I C gr E A S I TS rip. THEATRE.-- THIS EVENING, THE IRISII EMIGRANT. Mr. W J. Florence. Followed by THE YANKEE HOUSEKEEPER. Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Florence. After which a Comic Christmas Pantomime, WHIYI:TINI.?- goN AND HIS CAT ; or, Harlequin King ICollywobbol and the Genius of Good Humour. The grotesque opeuin„. invented and written by Henry J. Byron, Esq., author of the Princess's Pantomime of " Jack the Giant Killer. ' The scenery by Mr. James Gates, Mr. H. Cuthbert, and numerous assistants. Good Humour, Miss Helen Howard ; Princess J'opsiwopsi, Miss Rose Leclercq ; Alice, Miss Pauline Le clercq ; Messrs. Garden, Cathcart, Morland, Collett, Hast ings, Raymond ; Dick Whittington, Miss Maria Harris; Robin Goodfellow and the Cat, Maste r John Haslem, (pupil of the celebrated Gabriel Ravel; Clown, Mr. Hildyard ; Harlequin, Mr. John Lauri ; Pantaloon, Mr. Paulo ; Colum bine, Miss Caroline Adams. Morning Performances will take place at Two o'clock every Monday till further notice. NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI,- Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. 342 d, 343 d, 314th, 345th, 346th, 347th Nights of the Engage ment of Mr. and Mrs. Dion Boucicault.—Last weeks of The Octoroon and The Colleen Bawn. THIS EVENING, at 7 o'clock, the great American Drama, entitled THE OCTOROON ; or, LIFE IN LOUISIANA. After which, at 20 minutes past 9, the great Irish Drama of THE COLLEEN BAWN Mr. and Mrs. D. Boucicault ; Messrs. Emery, Fisher, Billington, Eburne, Jamison, Grace, Stephenson, C. J. Smith, Lewis ; Mrs. Billington, Mrs. H. 3larston, Miss C. Denvil, Miss Latimer, and Miss Woolgar. Box Office open from 10 till 5. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY shaft to the mine in which they worked had trapped them in a living tomb, shutting them out from the reach of all timely aid— after a result so appalling as this, the inhu manity of the wretched single-shaft system will require no further illustration. And now, quite as conclusively demonstrative of the folly and cruelty of the system of allowing mills and other the like establishments to be worked with un guarded machinery, comes this hideous casualty occurring on Friday afternoon, a few miles from Morpeth, in the extensive iron works in Bedlington—ironworks formerly be longing to Messrs. LONORIDGE, but about three months since transferred from that firm to the pre sent owners, Messrs. MOUNSEY and DIXON, late of Monkwearmouth. The Rev. SIDNEY SMITH used to say that the most effectual means perhaps for getting rid of the system of locking the railway carriage doors upon a journey, would be the burning ing of a Bishop in one of those conveyances ! Here it is the sudden death, under the most frightful cir cumstances, of the wife of the head partner in one of the great "Houses" in the iron trade of the North, that proves, in a way nobody can now mis apprehend for an instant, the cruelty and the folly of allowing powerful and complicated pieces of machinery to be worked in our manufactories, without the whirling wheels and the whizzing straps and bands being effectually screened from the passer by ! On Saturday we gave a brief account of the accident, so far as the particulars had then come to our knowledge. The more detailed description of this horrible casualty, given elsewhere in our impression of this evening, will show more dis tinctly how easily the whole accident might have been guarded against—how by a very trifling pre caution it might have been rendered absolutely im possible. The partners, on Friday afternoon, it will be observed, were conducting a group of ladies over the establishment, then in full operation. Among these ladies there was Mrs. MOUNSEY, the wife of the head partner, and accompanying that unfor tunate lady, now deceased, there were three of her children. " About ten minutes," says the account of the reporter, " after four in the afternoon, the party, after examining the other portion of the works, proceeded to the new mills to witness the process of sawing iron with the circular saw. After doing so they proceeded to cross a spindle connecting the saw with the engine that drove it, and which also drove the machinery in the rolling mill. Mr. DIXON and Mrs. MOUNSEY were first to go over this spindle, Mr. MOUNSEY remaining a little behind to assist over the young people. Mrs. MOUNSEY had stepped over it, but unfortunately her dress had not cleared one of the bolts or nuts at a joint in the spindle. The conse quence was, that she was thrown over, and in the twinkling of an eye she was dragged underneath the spindle by the whirling of the machinery—the spindle only stands six inches from the ground ; she was drawn in up to her breast, and her limbs and the lower parts of her body were literally crushed to atoms, and life was extinct in a few seconds." The words italicised by us in the above sufficiently hor rible description, point to the very folly, cruelty, and parsimony that there has been so often before such miserable reason to inveigh against. Here was the " circular saw" (for the "sawing of iron") revolving with dreadful velocity—here was the " spindle connecting the saw with the engine that drove it," and that also drove the machinery in the rolling mill—and a party of ladies and children were being 0-)nducted through the machinery in such a direction that they were compelled, in order to make their way, to step over the dreadful spindle. One of the bolts or nuts in that very spindle which the first of the ladies (Mrs. MOUNSEY) is stepping over, has but to catch in the skirt of her dress—and, in an instant, in the presence of her husband and of three of her children, and of the friends who were accompanying her, in the twinkling of an eye she dies a death of the most appalling character. In that single throb of the pendulum her body up to the breast is crushed into a horrible spectacle. The machinery is stopped immediately. But the horror ht 6 already been accomplished. That the poor lady thus destroyed was the mother of a young family and at the moment of her death even was enciente—these particulars can only be regarded as enhancing the angaish caused by the catastrophe a catastrophe in itself sufficiently appalling. Upon first hearing the simple fact of the accident, the general supposition will have been that it was attributable to the prevailing fashion, the expansive birdcage petticoats, the steel hoops, or the crinoline. Nothing of the kind, however, is it in the present instance—the lady being a Quakeress, the whole family of the MOUNSEYS, in other words, being of the Society of Friends. It is not the crinoline, therefore, that we have here to protest against —it is the old story, merely, of the unguarded machinery. Poor factory girls have often before now, while engaged in cleaning the machinery at the cotton mills, for ex ample, been caught up by a strap or a spindle, and draggee, among the whirling maze of machinery and so destroyed, But now that a lady visitor to the ironworks at Bedlington, and that lady visitor the wife of the head partner of the firm owning the establishment, has been destroyed in her turn, in like manner, we may hope at last that the Legislature will take measures during the approaching Session to guard against the possible recurrence of any similar accidents. Attention should be drawn to the prospectus put forth by a new Railway Company, the Turin and Savona Railway Company, with a branch to Acqui, destined, we are satisfied, to aid very considerably in the development of the fortunes of Italy. The Trunk Line between Turin and Savona will tend directly to bring France and Italy into more complete and direct communication with each other, both socially and commercially. The capital set down for the construction of the main line is thus announced—Shares, £BOO,OOO ; subven tions (or free gift from Government and Com munes), £480,000; obligations, £760,000 ; total, £2,040,000. The board of direction, moreover, is very remarkable—having for its president Signor RATAZZI, the President of the Chamber of Deputies ; for its vice-president Signor PALEOCAPA, senator, late Minister of Public Works ; and for its Council of Administration in Turin Signor BOMBRINI, director of the National Bank, Turin, and six members of the Chamber of Deputits. Ns to the Board of Direction in London, the names there upon the list will bu recognised more familarly —and afford themselves every one of them a guarantee as to the validity of the whole enterprize. The distance from Turin to Savona is set down at 90 miles, and the length of the branch line to Acqui at 30 miles, making the whole distance to be laid down and traversed just 120 miles altogether. And the real cost of laying down these 120 miles of railway, ninety from Turin to Savona, and thirty for the branch line to Acqui, has already been calcu lated at the rate, every expense included, namely, 4 , purchase of land, stations, rolling stock, and all incidental expenses, together with payment of in terest at 6 per cent. on the capital during construction," of £2,408,000, " being at the rate of £20,000 per mile over the entire distance." But then, it is added, that "as the subventions of £480,000 will come in aid of this amount, the real cost of the railway to the shareholders is virtually reduced to £16,000 per mile." No such unreasonable cost after all. The whole scheme looks propitiously for those who care to embark in it. And most propitious are the auguries it gives to the increasing commerce, and the advancing civilisation of the Roman peninsula. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, with Colonel the Hon. James Macdonald, Captain the Hon. J. R. Drummond, R.N., Colonel Clifton, and Colonel Tyr what, concluded the shooting season by a day's sport in Richmond Park, on Saturday. Upwards of 40) head of game fell to the five guns. _ _ The Duke of Rutland is expected in town to mor row or "Wednesday from Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire. The Duke of Montrose is expected to arrive at his residence in Belgrave-square to-morrow evening, from his seat in Scotland, for the meeting of Parliament. The Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury have been entertaining a succession of visitors at Savernake, Marlborough, during the past week. His lordship is ex pected in town in a few days. Maria Marchioness of Ailesbnry has returned to her residence in Hertford-street from visiting the Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury at Savernake Forest, Marl borough. The Earl of Clarendon will come to town on Wednesday from the Grove, near Watford. The Earl and Countess of Durham have arrived in Grosvenor-square, from their seat in Durham. The noble earl and countess contemplate a visit to the Continent at the end of the month. The Right Hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons and Lady Charlotte Denison will arrive at tho right hon l gentleman's official residence at the New Palace, Westminster, to-morrow, from Ossington, Notts. Lord and Lady Ashburton have been entertaining a succession of visitors at The Grange, Hants. Lord Herbert of Lea has left Florence on her way to Nice. Her ladyship's younger sons, the Hon. Reginal and Sidney Herbert leave Belgrave-square to-day for Folkestone, on their way to join her ladyship. The Countess Dowager of Jersey and Lady Harriet Ponsonby have left Berkeley-square for Middleton Park, Oxon. Sir John and Lady Kirkland have left Brighton for their seat in Surrey. Sir Frederick Johnstone has arrived in town from his seat in Scotland. MINES AND PRISONS.—In consequence of the resignation of Sir John Kincaid some modifications and re ductions will be made in the duties of the inspectors of pri sons and of the inspectors of Mines. There used to be four inspectors of prisons and four inspectors of mines and col lieries. These were reduced on death or resignation to three. On the resignation of IN4. Leonard Horner, Sir John Kincaid took the mining district of Scotland in addi tion to the prisons of that part of the United Kingdom, at an additional remuneration of £2OO a-year, instead of the full salary, which was saved. The place of inspector of mines will not be filled up, the present remaining inspec tors, Mr. Baker and Mr. Redgrave, having consented to divide the duties between them. The inspectorship of prisons will be modified in consequence of the large increase of reformatories having added considerably to the duties to be performed.--Observer. SOUTHAMPTON, Saturday. The Hamburg- American Company's screw steamship Teutonia, Captain Taube, sailed hence at 10 30 a.m. to-day for New York, after taking in 400 tons of cargo at this port. She had up wards of 110 passengers from Hamburg, Havre, and South ampton, 18,000 f. in specie from Havre, and 1,500 tons of cargo. The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamship Valetta, Captain J. C. Almond, left to-day for Marseilles, to resume her station between that port and Alexandria, relieving the Massilia, which will come home to refit. THE RIVAL AMERICAN VESSELS AT SOUTH AMPTON.—SOUTHAMPTON, FEB. 2.—The Federal war steamer Tuscarora, since she left Southampton Water, has been lying at the mouth of the Lymington River in the Solent, for the purpose, no doubt, of being as near as pos sible the telegraph station at Hurst Castle, to hear tidings of the movements of the Confederate war steamer Nashville. On Saturday afternoon the royal mail steamer Tyne met the Tuscarora outside the Needles, steaming to the west ward. She passed close to the Tyne. A pilot reported that she had been round the Isle of Wight. She was ex pected to return to Yarmouth Roads to-day. The Nash ville is apparently preparing to leave Southampton. She has moved from her position near the graving docks to near the dock entrance. Attempts have been made to put fire arms on board of her, by the crew taking on beard one or two rifles at a time, but they wore seized by the customs. The captain of the Nashville has, it is said, determined to fight the Tuscarora, and sink his ship in the attempt rather than surrender. A notice has been issued of the proposed Inter national Supplementary Exhibition Company, to be erected in immediate proximity to the Great Exhibition building, for the purpose of affording space for the surplus products for which it is impossible to obtain room at the latter, and also to furnish opportunities for the sale of the articles dis played at either place. The building is to bo completed for opening on the 15th of May, and it is hoped that arrange ments may be effected for the gratuitous admission of all visitors from the Great Exhibition. The charge for space will be 12s. per square foot for the floor and 6s. for the walls, being less than one-half of the annual rental of the London bazaars, and the period will be from the 15th May to the end of October. The design and supervision of the structure will be by Sir Joseph Paxton, and the trustees are Sir Robert Carden, Alderman Finnis, and Mr. William Jackson, M.P. The company, before taking any steps, as certained that the project would not be objected to by the Royal Commissioners of the Great Exhibition, and the spirit in which it will be conducted will be that of making it an agreeable and useful auxiliary. LETTS'S POST-OFFICE OFFICIAL MONTHLY DIRECTOR FOR JANUARY, 1862, is a decided improvement upon its predecessors, and really a great acquisition to mer chants, brokers, postmasters, and all who have heavy cor respondence passing through their hands. There is always much convenience in obtaining this class of information on a sheet, and hence the advantage of the abo vo over th e Government manuals. But on the present occasion the publishers have so reconstructed the original form as to introduce (in addition to all the old matter) several tables of immense value, especially to the corresponding clerk when pressed for time, viz. of the su ms t o b e p a id on letters at from I oz. up to B±sz., and on books, &c., from 4oz. up to 20oz. The contents, however, will best explain the pre tensions of this broadside to public favour, and are as fol low :—Mails, daily despatch to all parts of the world, with average return mails due in England ; period of transit ; letter postage from toz. to 81oz. by quarter ounces ; book postage from 4oz. to 20oz. ; fees for registered letters ; newspaper, &c., postage ; packets sailed and arrived last month ; ships advertised to sail ; ships arrived last month ; a postal almanack for the month, indicating what day va rious mails will be made up, what are expected, and other general information, concluding with a complete list of all the cities throughout the world to which our mails aro de spatched. Price Is. per copy, or Bs. for a twelvemonth's subscription. Letts, Son, and Co., Royal Exchange, Lon don, and all booksellers. THE DEATH-RATE OF OUR MINING POPULATION. —Persons accustomed to believe that the greatest of the miner's perils consist in explosions, will probably be sur prised to hear that in every coal-producing locality but one this kind of catastrophe is little more than half as terrible as the other. Notwithstanding the wholesale nature of the slaughter which frequently attends an explosion, and the large number of blackened corpses even a small disaster from fire will leave within the recesses of a mine, the effects of these violent occurrences are far less deadly in the long run than those of the apparently unimportant, because more subtle, agency of falls. For every death by the former means we raise 257,000 tons, while 170,000 tons only are got out with the same amount of mortality from falls. No matter how large a number of victims ono or two ex plosions—such as Lundhill or Risca—may occasionally im molate, this less generally known, but constantly active destroyer soon restores the balance of mortality, only tem porarily disturbed by the more appalling, though, in reality, less fearful calamity.—Once a Week. EMBEZZLEMENT By A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER. —At the Police Office at Birmingham, on Friday, Thomas Willcox, an agent for Messrs. Bateson and Co., woollen merchants, of Leeds, was brought up on a remand, charged with embezzling sums of money amounting to upwards of £1,500, the property of his employers. It appeared that the prisoner, on a recent occasion, admitted that he had falsified his accounts for a period of five years ; and that, finding himself in arrear, he had taken to betting on horse races with a view to extricate himself, but had by so doing made matters much worse. Evidence was put in of ac counts received by the prisoner from tradesmen in Dudley and other places which had not been entered as paid. Tho result w,is that he was committed for trial at the assizes. The tenders for 40,00,000 rupees in bills of ex change on India were opened.to-day in presence of a mem ber of the Council of India and the Governor and Deputy • Governor of the Bank. Tho official minimum declared was, for bills on Calcutta ls. 11d., and on Madras and Bombay 2s. The whole amount has been taken. All Cal cutta tenders above the' minimum will be allotted in full, and those at the minimum will receive about 60 per cent. of their tender. Bombay tenders above the minimum will be allotted in full, and those at the minimum rate will re ceive about 11 per cent, Madras tenders at the minimum rate will be allotted in full, FORTIFICATIONS AT TENBY.—The proposed erec tions at St. Catherine's-rock for the defence of Tenby have been retarded in consequence of the contractors whose ten ders had been accepted having thrown up their contracts. The other contractors have in consequence been invited to send in fresh tenders, and the works will be pushed on with the utmost promptitude. 'EVENING, FEBRUARY 3, 1862. LATEST NEWS. BERNE, FEB. 1. The Federal Council has sent a reply to the last note of the French Government in reference to the Valley of Dappes affair, which it persists in viewing in the same light as at first. BERNE, FEB. 2. The mixed commission which has been sitting at Berne for the purpose of drawing up a final report of the affair of Ville-la-Grand has loft this city without coming to a decision. FLORENCE, FEB. 1. Popular demonstrations were made to-day be fore the offices of the reactionary journals .17 Com mercio and ll Contemporaneo, but the interference of the authorities prevented any disturbance taking place. WARSAW, FEB. 2. The efficial journal publishes verbatim the decla ration made by Mgr. Bialobrzeski during his trial:; according to which his sole object in ordering the churches of Warsaw to be closed was to prevent their being profaned by the singing of forbidden songs. INDIA. BOMBAY, J.k N. 13. The exportation of saltpetre from India, except to British ports, has been prohibited. A company has been formed in Bombay for working a large gold-field, which has been dis covered by an Australian gentleman in the Southern Mahratta country. North Canara is to be forthwith ceded by Madras to Bombay. The Bheels continue to be troublesome in Khan deish. Much dissatisfaction exists in Bombay at the nomination of five natives and one Englishman to be new members of the Couneil. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. BOMBAY, JAN. 13. Shirtings dull and declining. Cotton quiet. Broach, 170 rupees. Sawginned Dharva, 212 rs. Copper : a fair inquiry for sheathing at 60 rupees; tile dull, at 58 rupees. Malwa opium, 1,497 rs. Exchange on London, 2s. 03d. ; Government Secu rities : 4 per Cents., 851 ; ditto 5 per Cents., 98 ; ditto 51 per Cents., 1041. Freight for cotton to Liverpool, 555. to 575. 6d. CALCUTTA, JAN. 11. (By telegraph to Bombay.) Shirtings dull and declining. Mule twist dull and unchanged. Copper in favour request at pre vious quotations. Indigo tending downwards. Fair inquiry for linseed, but prices barely main tained. Exchange on London, 2s. }ad. ; Government Securities-4 per cents., 851 ;51 per Cents., 1041. Freights to London, seeds, 80s. FRANCE. The Sleds says :—" The Russian Government, in the midst of the difficulties by which it is sur rounded, persists in employing a part of its forces in the impossible struggle it has undertaken with Poland. The P atrie publishes heart-rending de tails on this subject. Eight priests, a Capucian monk, and two children 14 years of age figure on the list of persons sent into Siberia. The two last named were attached to a chain of notorious thieves. The families of the victims were not informed of their condemnation and of their departure, and chance alone, or some fortunate device of the prisoners revealed the fact to their parents. Along the long journey which takes them into exile the unfortunate Poles have at least the consolation of receiving marks of sympathy even from the Russians them selves. At Kasan, in the very cradle of the empire, the people testified by their attitude when the string of convicts passed the feeling of deep horror inspired by the cruelty of the Government. Pity is stronger than national hatred, perhaps the most implacable of all hatreds. The Emperor Alexander 11. will do well to rcflect on those new feelings of the Russian people. BOURSE, Feb. I.—The operations of the settle ment have gone on satisfactorily, the market con tinues firm, • and in the business done prices show a slight improvement on the closing rates of the previous day. For the end of the month, Threes are now at 71f. 30c. Railway Share Market also firm, and some of the lines rather higher. The following are the last quotations :- 4 per per Cents ... 99 30 Credit Foncier 1265 Do, end month.... 99 40 Belgian 41 lOl 3 per Cents Do. end month 7l 35 Roman Bank Shares 3000 Austrian Credit Mobilier.... 746 25 Spanish Threes 4B 50 Do. Account 747 50 Home Debt RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans 1352 50 .. 1353 75 Northern O9O .. 992 50 New ditto .. . .. • Lyons and Mediterranean 1082 50 .. 1085 --- Geneva Southern 705 700 25 Western Eastern Sardinian Austrian .. Lore bard 540 542 50 POLAND. FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. WARSAW, JAN. 24. The Government does not appear in the least disposed to relax its severity towards the clergy, and itis reported that it has in view entirely to suppress both the salaries of the priests and the revenues derived from the different religious estab lishments. Certainly as far as the arrests and con demnations can go, there seems to be no end of them. Offences, if they can be so called, committed and overlooked long ago, are now being made ground for a fresh exercise of the Muscovite tyranny. Thus Abbe Pizalski has just been charged with stop ping some soldiers on the 15th of October last, with no other weapons in his hands than those of a cross, from forcibly breaking into the Cathedral, and sent away for this crime to the citadel of Petro- Paulowski, at St. Petersburg. These acts of a sys tematic persecution are repulsive even to the feel ings of the majority of the Russian nation, who understand well that the true interest of the empire requires the independence of Poland. The clandes tine journal of St. Petersburg, Wielkorus (Great Russian), publishes article upon article to that effect, and wherever the inhabitants can manifest their opinion they are unanimous in regard to this feel ing. In proof of this fact I will only state that when the Russians who were studying at the Uni versity of Heidelberg, and which is also frequented by many Poles, had recently celebrated, by a sump tuous banquet, the arrival among them of the son of Mr. Herzan, editor of Kolokol, a Russian paper published in London, they invited the Poles to join them, who eagerly accepted this mark of friendly feeling. When they entered the banqueting room, the band struck up, with the assistance of Russians, the Polish national anthem, " Poland, thou are not yet lost," and everything passed off gloriously. When, at the end of the banquet, a Russian rose and proposed a toast for the fusion of the two nations into one great people, he was interrupted by his own countrymen, who protested against such an absorptien. 'Moreover, the chairman begged pardon of the Poles for such words which naturally were hurtful to their patrioth feel ings, and declared, in the name of the assembly, that the first and most vital condition of a sincere alliance between the two nations is, their separation in two distinct States, and their thorough indepen dence ; a declaration which was received by all with the most enthusiastic cheers. These are ominous signs of a progressive change in Russia, which no ukases, decrees, knout, or transportation to Siberia can stop or alter, and must ultimately tend to raise Russia in the estimation of civilised Europe. The news of the rigours practised in other pro vineeS is no less favourable. Numerous arrests have recently taken place at Kowno without any legal motive, solely on a simple denunciation. Among the persons imprisoned on that ground are Mr. Zylinski, Marshal of the Nobility; the two brothers Temoszewski, Mr. Korsun, and Mr. Owsiany, all belonging to the class of wealthy landowners. Fresh additions have been made to the Council of State for the year 1862. Messrs. Melachowski and Starzenski have been called upon to join that body permanently. Among those nominated only for one year are the Bishop of Lublin ; Pientkowski, the Canon of the Chaptre of Warsaw ; Zwrolinski, the administrator of the diocese of Kielce Majerczok, Mr. Stowinski, a landowner, who, in the months of February and March, 1861, had formed a part of the civic delegation. The old councillors are almost all confirmed in their functions for the year which is to commence. Nothing can be more plausible or business-like than all these official announcements, tend it is a policy of the Russian Government always to throw dust in the eyes of the European public, whose opinion they cannot help to respect. What would have been said during the reign of Nicholas had an official gazette in Warsaw noticed the accusations of the foreign press against Russia; and yet the Government organ at Warsaw, Dziennik, Powszechny came out not long ago with a lengthy justification of the conduct of the Czar's Government, in reply to the French and English papers, trying to disprove allegations based on facts which, as you may imagine, have remained un shaken. The best justification for the Russian Government would be to fulfil honestly the stipu lations of the treaty of Vienna, and thereby make an apology for its sins and transgressions. I am almost eprtain that the national feeling of the Poles, which during the late trials has been invigorated, and more than ever matured, would receive this tardy justice in the spirit in which it ought to be rendered, pending the realisation of the ultimate wishes to get rid of foreign oppression, wishes that fill the heart of every right thinking Pole. CANADA. arms. LIVERPOOL, FEB. 2. The Canadian mail steam-ship Bohemian has arrived, with the mails of the 18th ult. The Quebec Chronicle of the 17th announces the following movement of troops : "The head-quarters of the army in Canada are to be at Montreal, and there are to be at least two dis tricts in Upper Canada, with a general officer in command of each. The first of these is called the Hamilton district, the head-quarters being at the city of Hamilton, where Major-General G. Napier, C. 8., is to be in command. It will extend along the frontier from Port Hope, on Lake Ontario, to Long Point, on Lake Erie, and include Toronto, Brantford, Simcoe, St. Catherine's, &c. The second is called the London district, to be commanded by Major-General David Russell, C. 8., whose head-quarters are at London, and it includes the extreme west of the peninsula of Upper Canada. Whether there will be a third district in Upper Canada, with Kingston as head-quarters, will de pend on future events. In the meantime, that part of the country is under the charge of the officers at Montreal. The Guards are to be quartered at Montreal, where the Rifle Brigade was arriving. The idea of the authorities seemed to be that the regiments at present at Quebec, or even one of them, would be sufficient to garrison that city, to gether with the local militia and a detachment of Royal Engineers. " The first detachment of the 62d Regiment, from Halifax, which arrived at Riviere du Loup on Wed nesday morning, left that place for Montreal direct, by express train, yesterday morning. They numbered about 160 men. A second detachment of the same regiment was expected to leave Riviere du Loup at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, for Montreal. The 63d, also from Halifax, numbering about 900, will soon be due at Riviere du Loup. This regiment left at the same time as the first brigade of Guards, and one of the batteries of Artillery by the last steamers. The 62d and 63d had both been in Nova Scotia garrisons for some time past. Their final destination will be made known on reach ing head-quarters at Montreal. In future express trains will be in readiness daily, at Riviere du Loup, for the purpose of immediately for warding to their destination the large bodies of troops now on the march between New Brunswick and that station. We are informed that Major Villiers Lieutenants Berkely and Jarvis, .100 non commissioned officers and privates of the 47th Regiment, and a detachment of Royal Artillery will proceed to Isle aux Noix Noix next week to garrison that important post. Lieutenant King and 25 men of the same regiment have been sta tioned at St, Lambert's since Monday for the pur pose of guarding the Victoria-bridge. Two build ings in the vicinty of the bridge have been partially leased, with the ultimate view of increasing the guard to 250 men," The private secretary of the Archduke Maximi lian, M. Scherzenlechner, has left Vienna for Mexico; and despatches from Vienna speak again of the proposition of erecting a monarchy in Mexico. The proposed Sovereign is the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. It seems to be a wild scheme ; nevertheless, an exchange of views are said to have taken place on the subject between the Cabinets of the great European Powers. The Go- vernments of European States seem to admit the necessity of establishing a new form of Govern ment in South America, if ever they are to be tran• quil. But what favour an Austrian Archduke would find amongst the bastard Spaniards is surely very problematical ; and will America, tranquillised, look with indifference on the establishment of a royal and kingly throne in America? The ques tion of offering Herzegovina to Austria, if she would give up Venetia, is again mooted ; Turkey is to be compensated by money. I very much doubt if Francis Joseph would ever renounce Venetia by peaceful negotiations. MEDITERRANEAN EXTENSION TELE GRAPE COMPANY (LIMITED). The follo wing is the report of the directors of this company to the ordinary general meeting on Fri day next—" It is satisfactory to the directors to be enabled to submit the annexed statement of accounts for the half-year ending Dec. 31 last. The receipts for messages, as compared with the previous half year, have more than doubled, whilst the expendi ture has notmaterially increased. Since the opening of the Alexandria line in November last the traffic has greatly augmented, and is still increasing. The shareholders are aware from previous reports that the directors have experienced considerable diffi culty in securing a systematic transmission of tele graphic communication through the Italian king dom, but they are glad to say that there is at length a probability of their efforts being successful, the Italian Government having entered into arrange ments which, when completed, will, it is believed, secure the object in view. The attempt made by Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., for the restoration of the old submarine cables, failed, and there is now little hope of success in that direction. It will be satisfactory to the shareholders to know that their new cables, the one connecting Malta with Sicily and the other connecting Corfu with Otranto, continued to work most efficiently. The directors have lately received information through the company's agent at Turin, that it is the imme diate intention of the Italian Government to lay a submarine cable connecting Sicily with Sardinia, by which means the route via Naples, Rome, &c., which has been the cause of so much difficulty and delay, will be avoided, and a more regular and speedy communication obtained. The usual pay ment of the dividends on the preference shares is recommended. The directors regret that they can not announce a dividend on the original shares for the past half-year. An examination of the com. pany's position will show that the prospects of the co mpany are more cheering at the present moment than they have been for a long time past; and the directors confilently hope that the operations of the company for the current half-year will enable them in August next to declare a dividend on the original shares." The National Bank aro about to open a branch at Bayswater, additional facilities being required for that large and wealthy district. TILE )MEXICAN 'EXPEDITION. The following letter, dated Vera Cruz, Dec. 31, . . appeared in the Moniteur of Saturday : The last courier would make you acquainted with the arrival of the Spanish forges before Vera Cruz, as well as the complete abandonment of the city and forts by the Mexicans. Atter the 17th, the day when possession of the city was taken, General Gasset issued a proclamation in which he announced to the inhabitants that the Spanish army had not come to Mexico with any view to conquest, but solely to exact satisfaction for insults given to Spain and violence committed against the subjects of her Catholic Majesty, The most rigorous discipline would be observed, property respected, and order guaranteed. In the meantime the city was placed in a state of siege, a military commission was charged to take cognisance of all crimes, and the inhabitants invited to deliver up their The carrying away of the archives of all the public administrations, and the departure of the functionaries of the Mexican Government rendered it a duty to provide as soon as possible for the different public services ; those of the Custom House and the Post Office possessed an interest of the greatest importance for the people of the country and for foreigners. The administration of the Customs was, therefore, provisionally reorganised, under the direction o f an intendant:and warehouse •keepers belonging to the ex pediticnary corps, and the surveillance of a commission composed of the consuls of France, England, and the United States. In consequence of this new organisation all merchan dise discharged from on board ship must remain until fresh orders En en . trepot in the warehouses of the custom-house without being subjected to any entrance duty. Goods liable to injury, and those which, on account of their weight or size, would expose the merchants to considerable charges if they were warehoused, might be taken away by the con- signees under certain guarantees. The postal service has also been re-established, but only with foreign countries, General Gasset not wishing to un dertake the responsibility of sending despatches without escort into the interior of the republic. Since the entrance of the Spaniards tranquility has prevailed in Vera Cruz; a portion of the inhabitants who, either willingly or unwillingly, had followed the troops of General Uraga are returning to the city. The debarkation of the troops was not completely effected until December 22; a part of the war material is still on board the transports ; but the organisation of the army goes on, and General Gasset has received from his Govern ment a formal order not to make any movement before the arrival of General Prim and the commanders of the F4nglish and French forces. This inaction is not without inconvenience however, for the guerillas who scour the country render the procuring of provisions difficult, and the price of food has greatly in creased, and continues to increase. To give an account as :soon as possible of the dispositions of the chiefs of the Mexican army the French Minister caused to be stated to General Uraga, who commands the corps of observation, his (the Minister's) desire to have an interview with him (General Uraga.) A meeting was fixed for the morning of Dec. 25, and M. Dubois de Saligny, accompanied by M. de Chaille, oommander of the frigate La Foudre, went to the Tejeria, a station at the extremity of the Puebla railroad, which is about 25 kilometres from Vera Cruz. At some distance from the city the French Minister found a detachment of Mexican cavalry, composed in great part of volunteers, who, dressed in their picturesque costumes, ranged themselves, in order to do honour to him, on each side of the road, and having arrived at the Tejeria, he was re ceived by an aide-de-camp, who immediately afterwards conducted him to the presence of Gen. Uraga. The general is a man 45 or 50 years of age, of distinguished manners and intelligent countenance. Formerly Minister of War in Mexico, and for a long time Minister Plenipotentiary at Berlin and at Washington, he speaks French with facility. The reception given by him to his visitors was courteous in the extreme ; and the latter became convinced that he un derstands well the political situation of the country, as well as the difficulties with which he has to struggle, possessing only his own resources with which to make head against the combined forces of the three powers. His army is com posed of the most diverse, not to say inharmonious elements. General and superior officers abound ; but, with the excep tion of some old officers who served in the war of indepen dence, they are for the most part young men who were a short time ago commercial agents in Mexico and Puebla, managers of estates, landholders, or advocates. As to the soldiers, they were jarochos, or peasants, habituated, it is true, to great fatigue and privations, but incapable of hold ing out for any length of time against European troops. Everything leads to the belief, besides, that there will be no serious struggle. The extraordinary excitement pro duced by the declamations of the journals begins to calm down, and the idea of an arrangement is no longer rejected a priori as treason to the nation. There are serious indications of an intention to form a party disposed to repudiate the Government which has been so fatal to the country ; enlightened men have no wish for war. What is desired by the sensible portion of the people is to see the country united under an indepen dent and constitutional monarchy. A foreign Prince would rally all sympathies around him ; but the allied powers are bound themselves not to put forward any pre tensions which imply the idea of conquest, as they could not fail to wound the national self-love. News from the city of Mexico fowl Puebla, received to day, brings us the proclamation of Juarez, dated December 26, and in this ho calls the people to arms, A forced loan of 2 per cent, on capital has been decreed. We are assured also that the Mexicans are fortifying all :he most easily defensible points on the two roads leading frtm Vera Cruz to Mexico, and on which are placed about 10,(00 or 12,000 volunteers. FEARFUL SERIES OF CRIMES TN TRANCE. An extraordinary trial was brought to a close, at Bourg, in France, on Saturday. The prisoners were i‘lartin Dumollard and his wife. For many years back, the man had been in the habit of accosting young women who looked like domestic servants, representing himself as a person sent to hire a ser vant for a gentleman's country house, inducing them to accompany him some distance until they reached a neighbouring wood ; and there, throwing a cord round their necks, attempting to outrage and. murder them. In one very recent instance, q• girl escasped from his hands ; and, seeing the lights of a railway line at a distance, ran in that direction and obtained a refuge. Her description of her assailant, combined with the fact that similar statements had been made at distant intervals by other girls, caused an inquiry to be vigorously set on foot, and Dumollard was suspected. In his house an immense qnantity of female garments was found, forty bon nets, fifty-seven pair of stockings, fourteen dresses, and a heap of corsets, petticoats, &c. Dumollard, being identified by the girl who had escaped, con fessed that he had been for years in the habit of de coying girls into the forest, but stated that he was only the agent of a gang who employed him for the purpose, and who g ave hi m th e c l ot h es f or his reward. He denied that he had himself committed any of the outrages or murders. The woman who lately escaped, and eight others, who likewise iden tified Dumollard, stated, however, that there was no one with him or near him when he attempted the crimes. A search in the forest discovered the dead body of a young woman, very recently buried. The body was quite naked, the hands were found clasped, full of the fresh earth heaped above, and the legs were drawn up, thus giving rise to more than suspicion that the un fortunate girl had been buried before life had wholly departed. The skull was marked with two terrible wounds. In another part of the forest another body was found in a decayed condition — likewise that of a young woman, and stripped of all clothing. Subsequent researches, directed in deed partly by Dumollard himself, discovered two female skeletons. It is ascertained that within some years many other girls have disappeared from the neighbourhood, some of whom had left their homes with the intention of seeking employment in Lyons or Paris, In the cou rse o f t h e tr i a l i t was proved that during the last eight years the male , prisoner had outraged and murdered six girls in the manner described. Dumollard was condemned to death, and his wife to twenty years' imprison ment. Sir Willoughby and Lady Jones and Miss Jones have left Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, for the Con tinent. SAD ACCIDENT AT THE EXHIBITION BUILDING. On Saturday morning whilst a smith, named Richard Gale, was driving in the rivets of one of the girders of the Exhi bition building, by striking repeated blows with a weighty sledge hammer, Wm, Powell, his assistant, suddenly raised himself to an upright position, and received the full force of the blow intended for the metal on his head. The unfortu nate man's death was instantaneous, his skull being shivered to atoms. A prospectus has been issued of the Bristol Port; liailway and Pier Company, with a capital of £125,000, in shares of £lO. The object is to obviate the delay and in convenience of the present water transit from the mouth of the Avon to the city and docks of Bristol. The lino, which will be 51 miles through an attractive district for building purposes, has been strongly recommended by leading engi neers as an essential work for the prosperity of the port. In consequence of the suit brought against another of the writers of "Essays and Reviews" —the Rev. 11. I 3• Wilson--the defence committee have made a further ap peal for subscriptions. They say :—" The funds alreadY subscribed will, in all probability, be insufficient to defrayed the largo expense incurred in defending Dr. Williams ; the committee therefore earnestly appeal to the public for further subscriptions to aid the authors of the Essays and Reviews' in defending themselves against these proceedings."