The Sun. — London, England, 1859-02-14 00:00:00

TILE BRITISH ARMY IN OUDE. (From the Times' Correspondent.) BRITISH CAMP, NANPARAH, Christmas Day. My last letter brought my narrative of the ope rations and marchings of the column under Lord Clyde down to this day. As the rain ceased, and the tents dried, his lordship seemed to entertain intentions of marching in the afternoon ; but Christmas, the ruin to puddings and dinne r s , and a thousand little projects for celebrating the great English festival, and, above all, the'absence of any very definite or decided good to be gained a n y were all so ably urged by various inte rested persons that the intention was abandoned. Hospitality had ample exercise. The Carabineers, the Rifles, the 7th Hussars, the Artillery, the Engineers, had their guests and their state banquet. Nor let it be supposed that in this out-of-the-way camp at Intha, where no Christmas was ever kept by Europeans before, there was any poor fare or parsimonious menu and garniture. How diffe rent from our first poor Crimean banquets ! Here were mighty barons of beef, great turkeys, which in Galway phrase were " big enough to draw a gig," mutton of grain fed sheep, adipose poultry, game, and fish, without any flavour of tin and rosin, made dishes, poulets aux truffes fricandeaux, rissoles, and all the various triumphs of the French cuisine, somewhat tarnished by na tive practice and tradition, all spread on snowy white tablecloths in well-lighted tents, well-served by numerous hands. Here, too, were beakers of ale, Bass and Tennent, from distant Trent and Glasgow, and Dublin and London porter ; moselle , " Simkin , " which is Anglo-Indian for champagne, of curious growths and unknown fabricators ; sherry from places far more recondite than Xeres ; rare old port, rather bothered by travelling 20 miles a day, but strong as bottled lions. Then the plum puddings and minced pies, made by heathen hands and black-faced cooks, were objects for the envy of the subtlest artists in all broad England. The Artillery' sang Christmas carols, the Rifle band played its best and choicest, and there was rejoicing in the wide expanse of tents till 10 o'clock came, and by degrees voices and lights died out, and Christmas had passed at Intha. Our enemies, by all accounts, did not pass the day so pleasantly. Bainie Mad hoo, with some 4,000 men under dif ferent leaders, was reported to be at, Churda some 18 miles in our front. They had fallen back from Nanparah the night before our arrival at Intha, and Bainie Madhoo had succeeded in persuading them to come to Nanparah and attack us on our march, but the rain prevented the movement, and the Sepoys and Nujeebs are still posted in gardens and enclosures near the Fort of Burjiddiah, which the Nana is believed to occupy : There is a report th a t they are badly off for provisions. SUNDAY, DEC. 26. The first bugle sounded at 5.15, and at 6.15 the column was on its way northward to seek the enemy. It was exceedingly raw and cold, a thick fog obscured the face of the country, but we could make out that it was still level and well cultivated, and the hoof and the cannon beat down rising crops of young corn. About ten o'clock the fog cleared away, and soon afterwards we came in sight of a belt of jungle, spread like a green wall across the horizon. Some of our spies returned, and declared the enemy were at Nanparah, a few miles in our front. They had left them the night before full of the determination to fight, stimulated by the idea, perhaps, that we were only 500 British and a lot of Chuma (cobblers) natives. About 11 15 we halted, and, as the enemy were reported to be still several miles ahead, we drew up at Nanparah, and the whole force breakfasted, having started fasting. At 1 o'clock the column reformed and moved on again. A part of the Rifles were sent forward to clear the jungle in skirmish ing order, and the cavalry flankers were called in. Just at this moment two sowars rode in sight in the jungle, surveyed us for a moment, and at once turned their horses and disappeared. There was a little trouble at first in finding the path which led into the recesses of this natural fortress, and, had the enemy chosen to have occupied it, they could have held it, and inflicted great loss on us without much risk to themselves, till we had ascertained their position. The jungle consisted of trees fas tened together by a network of prickly shrubs, long creepers, and branches. Here and there it was broken into knolls, with open spaces of hard soil. The sur face was intersected by watercourses, now dry, in the soft sand of which could be traced the tracks of wild beasts and the footprints of elephants, proba bly those of Bainie Madhoo, when falling back from Nanparah. This latter place, by the by, we find nearly deserted, and surrounded by the marks of the rebel encampment. A strong fort occupied one angle of the town, which was further protected by mud bastions, on which much labour had been re cently bestowed, and Bainie Madhoo had in vain endeavoured to induce his followers and the Sepoys to dispute our prog ress here. The jungle was not more than a mil broad, fortunately for our skir mishers. As we were passing through it a knot of our spies started from a bush, and announced that A — Fokilribtlna-ii?WiltrouJ• Nal; were awaiting our arrival, two or three miles further on. As we emerged from the jungle every eye was strained to distinguish their vedettes along the level horizon, broken here and there by clumps of trees and a few cottages which peered above the dall fields. Imaginary polks of sowars were resolved by the glass into herds of white cattle, which were very numerous and very wild. Mile after mile was passed, and no sign of the enemy ; the day was waning, the sun was getting low. Sud denly our flankers on th e l e ft h a lt, an d we seen in their front a moving body, which this time consists of horsemen riding away towards a tope in the dis tance. The lower part of the dark green of the tope is fringed with a white border. A few gleams of light flash from it in the sun. " There they are —we have them at last !" The Commander-in-Chief and his staff rode in advance and examined the enemy, while the column halted. We could not make out their guns, but we could determine that the enemy were not more than 3,000 strong, of which some 800 or 900 were cavalry. Elephants could be seen on the flanks, and camels and carts behind the tope. Their position was by no means well chosen. Their proper right was partially co vered by a tope in advance, and on their left was a village unoccupied, but we could not make out their position to the rear, as the trees covered it. It was now 3.15. The Chief at once made his dispositions for the attack. Taking with him the squadron of the Madras Cavalry, he placed the 7th Hussars on our right, under Sir W. Russell ; the Carabineers on our left, under Colonel Bickerstaff, supported by the Ist Punjab Cavalry, which came up fresh and willing after a march that day of 38 miles from Buraech, having done 100 miles in the three previ ous days. The portion of Horsford's Brigade in two lines, preceded by skirmishers of the Belooch battalion and Rifle Brigade, moved on behind the cavalry ; h er M a j esty ' s 20 t h, an d th e re mainder of the Beloochees on the left, and five companies of the brigade on the right, the heavy guns in the rear, the light guns in front, and Horse Artillery w ith the heCavalry. At about 1,800 opened yards the enemy fi re from four guns. None of their balls came up to our line, which advanced till it was nea r ly in ran ge. The Cavalry were rapidly advanc ing , directd by enemyord Clyde, b u t a s an they could do nothi ng aga i nst covered in dense trees, th e y were directed to make a wide sweep to the right, round the villag e. ineffectually. e. All this time the en em y fi re d briskly, but They actually t r i e d grape shot at half a m ile. Th ey were, however, tailing away fast, as we afterwards discovered, and the moment the Cavalry turned the village, perceiving their line of retre at was endan gered, they dashed off in two bodies through the dall field. At this moment Lord Clyde , gall oping at full speed to overtake an eager ymingffiaceio-pinhg had gone off with the horse artillery guns, came into broken ground; his charger, a perfectly safe footed animal, fell and threw him with great force. He sat up in a moment, his face was bleeding ; he tried to move his right arm, it was powerless. Hi s shoulder was dislocated. Fortunately, Mr. Mac kinnon was close behind him. In a few moments, assisted by Dr. Gordon, who came up a moment after the accident, he had reduced the dislocation ; but the gallant Chief was much shaken by the fall, though he at once got up and walked towards the front, talking as if nothing had happened. Our guns were now opening on the enemy; they were pursued by : Sir W. Mansfield till darkness came on, but we inflicted no loss. I regret that I shall have to defer my diary of the rest of the day, and of the 27th, when we took the Fort of Mejiddiah, till the next mail. Constant marching is a great enemy to writing. DEC. 29. At 8 o'clock a.m. orders were sent round for the retur n of the corps to Nanparah—the first bugle to sound at 11 o'clock, the force to march at noon. There was, of course, much speculation as to the causes of this change in the orders issued the pre vious evening, and as the rumours which sprang from those s peculations were exceedingly absurd, a plentiful crop of myths may be expected in a week or two raising their beads in other places. The fact is, that the reasons for our return from Mejiddiah to Nanparah were simply that we could hear no thing of the enemy in our direction, that Christie was well up on our left flank and front, and that Nanparah seemed a better point not only for con centrating supplies for commissariat purposes, but for watching the progress of operations, and aiding them by any military movement th at might be re quired. Of the Nana s retreat no inf ormation could be had, and the only news of the enem Y Ras to the effect that the Begun and 3 , oooo ePori 140, 4 ought and obtained shelter in the Nepaulese territory. This story requires confirmation. The Court of Nepaul cannot regard the Begum and her followers as political offenders unless they break the alliance with the British Government. Some of the refugees are certainly not political offenders, but criminals guilty of mutiny, murder, and assassination. It is said that the sepoys were opposed by the Nepaulese Guards, but that after a time they bribed away the opposition. They have only secured an asylum for the moment, as I cannot believe Jung Bahadoor will permit them to remain in the kingdom. The report states that they have been already deprived of their arms. Should it be true, there can be no doubt that such a step was preparatory to their extradition or expulsion. The Begum has fled from the sepoys as much as from us. Ere we departed from Mejiddiah a wing of the Belooch battalion, 400 strong, and 50 of the Ist Punjab Cavalry, were left to occupy the fort, and complete its demolition, and as the y were little pleased at being left behind, they will no doubt work well, and work the coolies too, till the ram parts have been thown into the ditch. The whole of the north-east of Oude, up to Khyreeghur, now seems tolerably secure. The great di ffi culty is caused by the numerous rivers, of which the enemy know every ford, while to us they are obstacles and impediments worse than baggage or heavy guns. Before Lord Clyde left to day he received a direct communication from the corps on the right of the Chouka. Any ordinary map of Oude will show the course of the latter stream, as well as that of the Gogra or great Surjoo, ere they unite at Beyramghat, but none will exhi bit that of the Gagee or Dhour, w hich, leaving th e Chouka opposite Thindoa, falls into the Gogra be low Easanuggur, and above Mullapoor. I n th e lower island formed by this stream is the town o f Buragaon. Brigadier Troup is now at the right bank of the Chouka , opposite this town, whence he will advance up to Thindoa. He has pushed a small column, under Cot. Dennis, 60th Rifles, two guns and one squadron of Cureton's Mo o lt anee H orse , a cross the Cbouka, which on the 26th was engaged in crossing the Gagee or Dhour, and it would be no less than two days ere th e y go t th e i r b aggage across. This column, having passed the river, would clear the Easanuggur Doab towards Khyreghur. Our old enemy Nirput Singh, together with Gholab Singh, with 200 Sepoys and 400 Nujeebs, were on ' the G ages on Christma s -d a y, b u t th e y f e ll ba c k o n thejungles of Khyreghur when they heard of Den nis's advance, where it does not seem possible for them to live or us to pursue them. The political agent with the column had made a last appeal to these rebels. He sent them copies of the proclama tion, pointing out that only five days of the amnesty remained, and ordering them to come in with all their followers. The Daorera Rajah has already made his submission. The direction of movements in this district is left to Brigadier Barker, whose head quarters are at Seetapore, subject to the instructions of the Chief of the Staff. In order to strengthen Troup, H.M.'s 93d Highlanders are marching from Seetapore, and have joined him before this date. Our march to-day presented no very interesting features. By taking a short cut our guides actually for once shortened the distance and reduced it to 12 or 14 miles. Lord Clyde is much better to-day. DEC. 30. It is probable that we shall have a night march to-night—a secret expedition —very disagreeable, inasmuch as the postmaster has just told us he must change the hour of post departure on account of " tigers." The postmen won't face them. Lieut.- Colonel Nicholson, of the Royal Engineers, a most deserving officer, has met with a serious accident. His suffering will be deplored by all who knew him, and his absence from active service will be a public loss. I have not heard tho full particulars, but I have seen a letter from Sir Hope Grant's force, to whieh poor Nicholson was attacked, dated Bulram pore, Dec. 24, in which it is stated that on the pre ceding day, while drawing his ramrod, the gun went off, shattering one hand by the ball, which then went through the other hand and up the arm. Sir Hope is sending him at once to Allahabad. RETURN OF CAPTURED ORDNANCE. BURJIDDIAH, DEC. 26. One 9-pounder brass gun, native make, in park. Two 4-pounder brass guns, native make, in park. One 21-pounder brass gun, native make, in park. One 1-pounder iron gun, native make, destroyed. One 3-pounder brass howitzer, native make, in park. MEJIDDIAH, DEC, 27. Two 6-pounder brass guns, native make, in park. One 18-pounder iron carronade, English make, in park. One 3-pounder brass gun, native make, in park. One 21 . pounder brass gun, native make, in park. One 6 - i nch brass mortar, native make, in park. Total 12 piecee. Two iron wall pieces and one wooden rocket tube, of native manufacture, destroyed. DEC. 31. I have yet to make up my narrative of the events of the 26th and 27th of December. The escape of the enemy on the first day was wonderfully rapid. It is now known that the Nana was in the neigh bourhood, and some elephants were seen to go off to the left the moment the enemy opened fire. The movement of the cavalry to the right set the rebels iu full retreat, and just at that moment, Lord Clydo, kagliCitevv i nd fghb e SiY e ntlia Vigal*stPuM e ßSFAl and guns. But the day was too far advanced, the enemy too scattered, and covered by dust fields, for sabre or gun to do much. I am persuaded that they were informed of our advance long before the column came to the jungle. They withdrew either five or six guns at the very outset, and part fell back or ran to Bankee, others towards Mejid diah. " Common domestic case," as Sir William Russell calls that aggregated missile, when deli vered at 200 yards had, of course, no e ff ec t on men who were nearly a mile ahead. In some in stances the cavalry passed men in thick cates, who fired at them, and whom they could not reach. Gun after gun, however fell into our hands. They are set forth in the return of ordnance appended to my previous letter. At last darkness began to set in, the artillery horses were " pumped out," and orders were given to. retire. I saw few bodies of the enemy along the route back; but just as we approached the village of Burjuddiah the Beloo chees on the left flank of the Rifles, close to me, began firing furiously into a cate. Some few of the enemy were discovered and shot down, and for the second time we made prisoners. On returning to camp it was quite dark, not a tent was pitched ; the baggage was coming up in darkness and in storms of angry voices. As the night was cold the men made blazing fires of the straw and . grass of the houses of the neighbouring hamlet, in which Nana Sahib's followers had long been quartered. At one of those fires, surrounded by Beloochees, Lord Clyde sat with his arm in a sling on a char poy, which had been brought out to feed the flames. Once, as he rose up to give some orders for the dis position of the troops, a tired Beloochee flung him self full length on the crazy bedstead, and was jerked off in a moment by one of his comrades,— " Don't you see, you fool, that you are on the Lord Sahib's charpoy ?" Lord Clyde interposed,—" Let him lie there ; don't interfere with his rest," and took his seat on a billet of wood. The groups round these fires were most picturesque and wonderful in effect and colour. Native soldiers, camp followers, general officers, aides-de-camp, prisoners, subalterns, all circling round holding out their hands to the genial glow, or guarding their faces from the fly ing embers as the roof of a shed or a fresh bed stead or truss of straw was thrown on the fire. I took - particular interest in a " budmash," who, with his arms tied behind his back, joined the social circle of which Sir William Mansfield was the prin cipal personage. He sat down on his haunches with great coolness, and conversed affably with those around him, his only inconvenience being, he said, from want of food. Indeed, he favoured us with some extracts from his private history. He had been a servant of Ali Nucky Khan, late Prime Minister of Oude, and he fought against us at Lucknow: When the place fell he wandered about from place to place with one rebel band or another till he got tired of being always beaten and went back to Lucknow. There, however, everything was changed. His ho use was p u ll e d down, his relatives and friends all gone. What could he do ? He heard that Bainie Madhoo would pay and feed men to fight for him; and so a month ago he left sword tmustPeoro a r to buy amu L o n o cknow an d j o i ne d B a i n i e M adhoo, but he was and a r s eb h el e e c b o i n ef ld we o u n l l d y and shield the e not have him , but by hanging about the force he got a morsel of food. He was an elderly man, of truculent, coarse feat expression. H e ev. _ ures, and no very amiable the Sepoys. The i r d e e . ntly had no love fo r us o r f or with you now," he salisd no one left in I n di a t o fi g ht the people with you r S e _o " for you have beaten all As Ys, and now you beat th e Sepoys themselves." P we were not then aware that the enemy had been firing supposed from the rush of the sst,ot grape at us, and not being heard that the enemy fired blank cartridges, we asked him the reason. " They had, I suppose, blank and ball cartridges in their limb ers , said h e , and their hands and feet are so swelled with fright they could not tell one from the other." Our tents were pitched late; our dinner was eaten in the ope n by the light of the stars and of the burning villag e , and to bed we went, and slept as only men can sleep who have done 30 miles over rough ground on horse or foot. The early part of the morning of the 27th was munition spent in destroying the enemy's am and , bury ing round shot, chain shot, grape, canister. Some of the pieces were very composite in their various accessories. The tumbril of one was made out of a wine case, addressed "W. Johnstone, Esq., Shahjehanpore." Another had on the fore wheels " Patent mail axle." A coarse quoin instead of an elevating screw injured the efficacy of the best piece. Megultinze effortbeadbeen =do to find out the position of the runaway enemy. It was ascertained that Churda was evacuated, and for a time - no cer tain intelligence could be got of the Nana's move ments, but Bainie Madhoo was reported to have gone to a fort called Mejiddiah, about seven miles to our left, where he would, it was said, make a hard fight of it. It appears that the Nana had for some weeks past resided at the fort of Burjuddiah, which belongs to the Rajah of Churda, and that his followers were in the village close at hand, which we burned on the 26th. A villager whom we ques tioned said he had seen " the Nana Rao" once, that he was a stout man, with pock-marked face, but that when he went to walk in the garden the by standers were driven away, and that it was very difficult to get a sight of him. Early in the morn ing orders were sent round for the march of the force at 10 a.m., and while the tents were being struck I went over to the fort, which is a wall of mud enclosing a large garden of fruit trees, with a well and fountain prettily laid out, and well kept for a native place. In the centre there was an or dinary house, but it was burning, and only the hot ruins remained. It was quite empty when we en tered. The outer walls of the fort were flanked by bastions, but no guns could be discovered. It was a poor position, open to assault on any side, and was wisely abandoned by the enemy. There was a disagreeable feeling in walking about the garden when one reflected that the Nana had been recreating there but a few days before. It is surprising that the natives should shield a monster whose deeds they repudiate with horror. Maun Sing says the Nana is not a Brahmin and has ho religion, or he would not have murdered women and children ; but we have too many examples of the massacre of both to believe that the detestation of such offences can be very deeprooted or ener getic. There is much treachery still to be dreaded. At the very moment when one of our district officers was proposing that rewards should be con ferred on Hushmut Singh and Murdan Singh, two Hindoo chiefs who had rendered us service and were supposed to be faithful, evidence turned up to create suspicions that there were emissaries of those very mon in Feroze Shah's camp at the time of his escape and that therefore they were acquainted with his intentions. _ _ _ At ten o'clock the force marched off towards Mejiddiah, where it was now ascertained beyond a doubt that the enemy were in some force. No in formation could be got as to the strength or posi tion of the force. Mann Singh affected not to know it. As we advanced the spies and villagers gave 'still more perplexing accounts. Some said the place was empty; others that a cavalry force was posted in the jungle at the back of the fort,and that there were a few men inside, but all agreed that whoever was there would fly the moment we ap proached. We passed through a thick jungle without opposition at 11 o'clock, and advanded over a fine plain .till 12, when we came upon another jungle extending as far as the eye could reach. It was, however, not very broad, for in half-an-hour we had debouched on a plain, and Burjuddiah was before us. All we saw was a dun-coloured parapet of mud, with three embrasured bastions, in the front of a dense forest, which extended interminably on the flanks and hit the rest of the work. Colonel Harness, of the Engineers, proceeded to reconnoitre the place, and found a spot on the right where we could place ow heavy guns. The cavalry, under Sir William Russell, were sent round to the left, where the ground seemed more open, the Carabineers being in support, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bickerstaff. The Commander-in-Chief, who was carried in a .dooly with a led horse by his side, suffering from the dislocation and shock of yesterday's fall, but full of mental activity, gave the general direction of the attack to the Chief of the Staff, and remained in front, just under fire, the rest of the day. We could see the enemy in the bastions watching our motions, but the greater part of our force was screened from their view by a heavy crop of dall, which stood on a slightly elevated field, just in front of the spot on which our troops and baggage debouched from the jungle. The bit of the place we could see gave one a disagreeable impression of its strength—a ditch and abattis were visible, and the place might contain 10,000 men, for all we knew. As there was only space for the heavy guns on the right, it was resolved to send our mortars to the left. All this time the enemy had observed us in silence. I had gone towards the left, having a fair glass, to see what could be seen, and found myself in front of the fort. I could see a man in purple and fine linen, attended by several natives, going round from bastion to bastion, and encourag ing the men. I could see the artillerymen looking along their pieces, and the Sepoys strutting about very confidently inside the parapets. Presently Sir William Mansfield and a /few officers came past, riding to the left to reconnoitre. Bang went a gun from the western bastion but it was laid too high, and. the shot went whistling through the air above our beads, and plunged with a heavy thud into the ground 300 yards behind us. The ' General went on at a canter ; bang went gun number two, and, again, gun number three, as fast as they could load and slew the piece round. The C4 '"'"" l "Ile nZNI? tfro — tivAi*, "PeffiFnitig• mor tars on the (Lauer the fire as before—one good shot which passed close and sharp being very near emptying one of the saddles. As the heavy guns were being sent round, the enemy opened on them, and one shot disabled a soldier, and killed and wounded a couple of gun bullocks, but they were soon placed in safe cover; then they opened on the mortars going round to the left, but were less fortunate, though their round shot sadly discomposed some groups of dooly bearers, and one of them had the side of his face shattered by a round shot. But the vivacity of their fire was soon diminished. Part of the Rifle Brigade, of the Belooch Battalion, and of the 20th Regiment were sent up to the fort in skirmishing order, and, extending themselves, a s f ar as their numbers would admit, from the open front to the right round into the jungle, got close up to the parapets, and poured a constant flight of bullets through the embrasures, clearing the parapet of Sepoys, except a few resolute fellows who kept up their fire very steadily. The heavy guns opened on the right ; the mortars answered on the left. Shell after shell burst inside the place, the round shot tore great clumps of earth off the parapets. I could see that in ten minutes the number of the defenders of the place, never very great, had become much diminished, but some of the enemy remained at their posts with steadiness and determination. One man in particular I could see serving a gun by himself. He fired, sponged out, served, rammed home, aimed, for round after round, throwing grape at the Rifles and round shot towards the front, till he suddenly disappeared, and the gun only opened once more. Nearer and nearer crept our riflemen, less and less became the fire of musketry from the parapets and the flashes of the answering guns, while our mor tars and heavy artillery kept up a heavy,monoton ous, uniform battering and bursting and pounding inside, outside, and above the fort. About 4 the firing had almost ceased. Major Dillon, of the Rifle Brigade, soon afterwards came up t o th e Chi e f o f t h e S taff, to announce that the fort was evacuated, just as Colonel Harness, suspecting suchto be thexase, had gone with a few men to ascertain if it was so. I went in with the Rifles, who were ordered to ad vance and occupy it, and as we approached the abattis a spatter of musketry was heard, which pro ceeded from the last of the enemy leaving the place and who fired probably on Colonel Harness's little party. This abattis was a thick fence of thorns and pointed branches, inside which was a thickset hedge, then the ditch 25 feet deep, 28 feet broad, filled in places with several feet of mud and water, and opposite us the face of the bastion, fully 35 feet high from the bottom of the ditch. Falling, scrambling, and climbling, we got up through the embrasure—a feat which few of us would have per formed had there been an enemy inside, for it re quired hands and feet to do it. The first impres sion produced was wonder at the small size of the interior, and at the strength of the place. A small low wall pierced for musketry surrounded some houses in the centre, which probably served as the residence of the Rajah and his followers. The ground was covered with cooking places, thatched sheds, cooking utensils, and quantities of ammuni tion. There were rockets, blue lights, port fires, cartridges, hammered shot, newly cast brass shell, very well made, moulds for making them, fuses, heaps of English cartridges, and bags stuffed with percussion caps. The rockets were most ingeniously providedwith a contrivance, of which our engineers took a note, to prevent the rocket flying back, an occurrence which is too probable not to be guarded against. I recollect poor Sir William Peel saying one day at Lucknow, " If the rascals arc half as much frightened as we are at every rocket we fire we will soon clear the place," and no one under stood rockets better. A buggy stood under a shed —in that shed was a horse. With most remarkable presence of mind an active officer walked to the place as if he knew all about it, saw that a com bination of the two might be effected with advan tage, harnessed the horse, and put it to the buggy, and drove out of the gate in great glory. The magazines were well made—the best I have s e e h e a n rg in in l g ndia. *Great quantities of food were found in the storehouses—rice, grain, and atta. Wild gun bullocks lashed their sides with their tails, and, ni would fortunatelyu s rheat vree furiouslyabt e.fastenede n Aa verya bmyof splendidnot e theformidable invaders, caused those who had never fled before to take to ignomi nious ratherohcow f swwheitßdnraoabshleem foeti n o e e ian rdoe rope, bull, ed wwhoa ands tbeyrya death dp ri o ea f cue a g low-spirited in consequence of the t with . t w hichhteu Bullocks—some a .ss t_ o s ns o o m tmh e ee :1 0 :1 sf loins--w ere c so l d k w i b l e l a e rt d e. also found in the ditch. It was evident that the ford had been fcr fiQMQ tim e Qcopicai and that those who told us it was empty were deliberately deceiving us in order to befriend the enemy. A 141 b. mortar limber was found in one place full of ammunition. There was not a dead body inside, and only in one place was there trace of any of the enemy being wounded, but it is scarcely possible for the fire to have left them unscathed. The parapets were injured in places, bits of shell lay over the ground, and the embrasures were scored in every direction by our rifle balls. Probably they carried of their dead and wounded through one of the numerous sallyports which led out into the jungle on the rear. _ _ _ The fort of the Mejiddiah is of a pear shape, run ning north and south, about 400 yards long by 350 in breadth across the middle. The stem is hidden in jungle, and it is the principal gateway. It is sur rounded by a ditch, with an abattis on the south and east up to the stem. The west is quite covered by jungle, hidden in which there is another gateway, protected by a small lunette in advance. Two lu nettes are also in the jungle in the west. There are four or five round towers or bastions along the ram part, pierced for guns. The ditch at the north gate is 28ft. broad and 20ft. deep from the ground, the face of the scarp to the top of the parapet being 37ft. high, the top of parapet seven feet thick, and the exterior fenced by a heavy abattis. In some places there is a double ditch, and the ramparts are perfo rated by sallyports, which run into the outer ditches. In the centre of the fort is a semi-circu lar citadel, or keep, about 150 yards long by 100 yards broad. It is certainly the strongest and best fort we have yet seen in Oude. As it fell dark the Rifles were marched out, and their place was taken by the Beloochees. One of their sentries next morning spied five men walking towards the fort, three of whom were armed. When they were close to the gate he challenged them. The men dropped into the jungle, but, on his threatening to turn out the guard and shoot them down, they came up and surrendered—the Rajah's barber, his steward, and three armed followers, who had been out in the district, and had not heard of the fall of the place. Some grasscutters of the 7th Hussars, who had been missing since the 26th, returned to day, and reported that they had been taken pri soners by a party of the enemy's cavalry ; and the monshee of Captain Fremantle of the Rifle Bri gade, whe fell into their hands, was permitted to go, after he had been offered a high place in their army if he would join them. On the 28th the engineers were employed in demolishing the fort, which was too good to leave behind us, and our companies were out in all direc tions to ascertain what had become of the enemy. Churda was found to be empty. As the work of de molition was difficult, owing to the absence of coolies, though the enemy's gunpowder was largely used, and 1,4001 b. was available, it was resolved to garrison the place on our departure with a wing of Beloochees and 50 of the Ist Punjab Cavalry till the Coolies had levelled the parapet and filled up the ditch. On the 29th the Chief, being quite in the dark as to the locality of the enemy, moved south at noon, and pitched his tents at Nanparah. Our appearance on the plain caused some anxiety to the garrison of Oude police, who had been left in the place, but they recovered their equanimity on seeing the force de bouch on the plain and show the English camp colours. It was dark before our tents were pitched, On the 30th information was received that the Nana Sahab, •Bainie Madhoe, and some thousands of Sepoys and desperadoes had collected near Bankee, about 20 miles north of Nanparah. The news was verified about four o'clock in the afternoon, and at six Lord Clyde had made his arrangements for a night march, of which the details and the object must be left for another letter. CAMP AT BANKEE, New Year's-day. The well-conceived secret night march, planned by Lord Clyde and executed yesterday, has caused great consternation among the desperate rebels who still hold out on the verge of Nepaul. The loss of their guns, the suddenness of the attack, the sur prise, have all told on them, and they feel they are now no longer safe wherever they may go, and that the information of our movements which stood them in such good stead while they were at large is now failing them as our columns occupy mile after mile of the country. It is much to be regretted that we missed Nana Sahib, but we shall not have him yet. We must wait till the bands of the enemy are more thoroughly dispersed. I saw to-day a Sepoy of the 72d Bengal Native Infantry who was with the Nana's own force yesterday, being one of his armed fol lowers. He said that the first intimation of an ad vance was the sound of the guns opening upon the head of the column. The Nana was in the wood a couple of miles in the rear. He at once gave orders for flight, had his eight elephants loaded, and made straight off for the Raptee, which he crossed, no doubt, long before our cavalry reached its banks. But, although that particular body of the rebels may not have been warned of our approach, that which defended the entrance into the jungles was no doubt advised of it by their cavalry pickets before we came in sight. Living in a state of constant apprehension, the rebels are ever on the alert, and throw out nyVT-tcrteil Iv/woad-kw, thOtigfr r t r ge said to affect their energy. Indeed, we heard at one of the villages that a picket galloped past with the news of our advance half an hour before our ad vanced guard made its appearance. Under every tope we saw horse litter, cooking places, and recent signs of the Sowars. In the night we passed one large party on the left, which remained perfectly still. Some of our officers observed the lights in the distance, but they were supposed to proceed from a village, and it is the custom in Oude to plough by torchlight, as the earth is soft, and yields to the plough when moistened by the dew, and no notice was taken of them. Had there been we should have given the alarm to the main body by our firing, and warned them to escape. The picket quietly re mained on their ground after we passed, but when the guns opened they fled away towards the west, and probably broke up. The sepoys tells us that there are great dissensions among the rebels. Whenever our force approaches the recriminations and reproaches of one to the other are only silenced by the opening of our fire. " Where will you fly to now ?" they ask. " What a fine example you set the other day!" It was you who brought me to this; but for your advice I should have been well clad and fed and my family looked after. Now I am hungry and in rags, and no c h ance o f esca pi ng death." For food, however, so far as rice and grain go, they must be well' off, as the country is teeming both. The new year, which opens upon us full of hope, to them presents no prospect but of disgrace, suffering, and death. The last day of grace and amnesty has passed, but even yet the gates of mercy are not closed, and the prerogative is still free to be exercised as the Viceroy pleases. REGISTRATION OF REAL ESTATE. Besides the luminous arrangement, and the clear and accurate statement which adorned it, the speech of the Solicitor-General on Friday night was dis tinguished from most of those usually heard within the walls of Parliament by the abstract and philo sophical nature of the principles on which it was based. We have passed the time when the reforms and improvements which the age requires can be met by obvious and popular remedies. The mere abolition of restrictions and prohibition of abuses no longer satisfy the spirit of the times in which we live. Whatever may be thought of the Parlia mentary eloquence of our time, we exact from our statesmen tasks never dreamt of before, and require them to become the inventors, or at least the expo nents, of doctrines much fitter for the closet, ac cording to ordinary conception, than for the atmos phere of a popular assembly. Look, for instance, at the chain of abstraction by which the exact truth with regard to. the exercise by the State of the power of conferring a Parliamentary title is, step by step, elicited and demonstrated. A great emer gency arises, which startles our Government out of the narrow limits of its mediocrity. A vast mass of the property of Ireland is discovered to lie in the hands of persons whose interest in it is merely nominal, and whose right really resolves itself into the barren privilege of representing an imaginary surplus over existing encumbrances, which the estate, when sold, was never destined to yield. It was felt to be absolutely necessary that these pro perties should be sold and the power of the law was called in to facilitate this salutary transac tion. For the first time the purchaser was relieved from the necessity of inquiring into the title and negotiating with the encumbrancers. The State undertook all this herself, and gave to the pur chaser an absolute assurance that he should receive his estate as free from all charges and questions as if he had taken it from the hands of the great purifier of Irish titles, Strongbow himself. Nothing could app ear a t first sight more local and temporary than such a measure ; but in this mass of temporary and fleeting elements there was dis covered something which was not temporary and fleeting—a permanent truth. It was soon ob served that the principle of relieving the purchaser from the investigation of title, and giving him an indefeasible right, was not necessarily connected with the encumbrance of the estate or the division of the purchase-money among the different claim ants ; and then it came to be seen that such a pro cess could be carried on and such a title given lust as well where no sale was in contemplation as other wise. The result was the proposition to establish a Court with power to inquire into titles, and when those titles are found good, to accredit them by a certificate which protects the purchaser for ever against all claims prior to the date of his convey ance. In all this there is nothing peculiar to the law either of England or of Ireland. The principles giro afa capable o oppliggtiwi tv the law Qthe land of one country as to that of another. They are, in fact, universal truths, and may be considered as the axioms lying at the base of a new science, the pro blem of which is, without interfering with the sub stantive law, to establish a perfectly clear, simple, and indefeasible title to land. The truths thus established have proved, as is the nature of new truth, eminently fertile and prolific. It could not fail to be observed that this process of purifying the title, however complete and perfect for the moment, contained initself no power of self-perpetuation. The stream issued from the fountain, but it was liable to be rendered turbid by the muddy rivulets which emptied themselves into it as it rolled along. The glees is soon worn off a Parliamentary title • the purchaser mortgages, grants annuities, makes a marriage settlement, has judgments entered against him, becomes a Crown ' debtor makes an ambiguous will, or dies leaving a son of doubtful legitimacy. The stone of Sisyphus has rolled down the hill, and the labour has to be gone through again. Immediately there arise the further questions—Cannot the purity which it has cost so much trouble to attain be retained un soiled ? Cannot the rivulet be guarded from its muddy affluents ? Cannot the title be kept clear from the causes which contaminate it ? One happy thought leads to another. The operation of the Encumbered Estates Court showed the possibility of separating the beneficial ownership of land from the power of disposing of it, and the application of the same principle will secure to us the advantage ' thus gained. Let people continue as before to exercise the unbounded licence at present possessed of dealing with land in any manner their conve nience or caprice may dictate, but let the land be represented for all future purposes of transfer by persons who appear as the owners of the fee simple, and who claim by direct transfer from the previous owner. Let notice of all dealings with the bene ficial interest of the land be carefully excluded from the register, and the land in the hands of the fiftieth transferee from the man who acquired the Parlia mentary title will be just as easy of sale as in the hands of the first. Thus has the principle of recog nising two species of ownership in land, the one public and notorious and undivided for the pur poses of transfer, the other private and susceptible of every kind of modification for the purposes of beneficial ownership, been established. The Bank of England had already hit upon a somewhat similar device in dealing with the proprietors of stock. The operation really consisted in issuing annuities of a certain amount and of perpetual duration in exchange for ready money, and the contract which the bank made with its annuitants was, that it should not be obliged to pay the annuities to any but themselves and their transferees entitled to the whole interest in the annuity. In the same way the lord of the copyhold, when he admits one tenant instead of another, refuses to take any notice of the interests which the ownership of that tenant may represent or protect, and the same prin ciple has been applied with great success to the registration of ships. It remains to show what protection can be de vised for those whose names and interests do not appear on the register. In the case of stock there is no protection at all, but the measure of the Solicitor-General is more careful of the interests of those beneficially entitled to land. It distin guishes between the disclosure and the protection of an interest, and avoids the first, while it attains the second, by the simple device of entering a caveat or inhibition from transferring on the regis ter, which must be removed before the land can be transferred. To procure this removal will be the business of the seller, and the purchaser will have nothing to do but to suspend the completion of his transfer till no caveats are left. Another equally simple and ingenious protection is founded on the observation that in almost every instance in which stock has been fraudulently sold out by a trustee it has been by a single survivor, and that instances of a joint fraud of this description are almost un known. The protection will therefore consist in negativing the doctrine of survivorship, and requir ing that before the power of transfer is executed the place of the trustee who is dead shall be sup plied. Thus, by a machinery at once simple and effec tive, has been solved the mighty problem how to render the immense property which is locked up in the lands of England available and negotiable for the purposes of commerce, to increase its value by removing all doubt as to the title of the vendor, and to enable its owner to enjoy nearly the same facilities for pledging and selling as are possessed by the proprietor of stock or shares, and all this without diminishing the security or invading the privacy of settlements, mortgages, or other similar transactions. Such a measure will, if passed, be equivalent to a gift of many millions in the shape of increased value of land to the proprietors of the soil of England, and will give an impulse to all improvements that depend on the acquisition of land, which it is hardly possible to over-estimate. We have a good right to feel gratified at the intro duction is a practical shape of this great improve- ment, for the readers of the Times are well aware that many years ago, and while the attention of P Mne+ i„, - .22. w a register of deeds—a measure which, at a vast expense, would only have aggravated and stereo typed the defects of the present system—we earnestly advocated instead the assimilation of the transfer of land to the transfer of stock, and ex pressed our belief that, with a few slight modifica tions which the difference of the subject matter reqnired, the same principles were just as applicable to the one as to the other.—Times. DREADFUL FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE. On Saturday morning, between the hours of five and six o'clock, a fearful fire broke out on the pre mises belonging to Mr. Walton, wholesale tea dealer, No. 85, High-street ,Whitechapel, and was attended with loss of life to two human beings, and a serious destruction of valuable property. The fire was discovered by police-officer No. 160 of the H divi sion. A fire escape, under the charge of Conductor Wood, was soon on the spot, when three persons were seen at the second floor window. The con ductor brought these down his escape, then raised his upper ladders to the third floor, where three other parties were getting upon the window sills, for the purpose of jumping into the street. He called to them to remain until he got to them. He then brought them down the ladder to the canvass bag and passed them doyen in safety. He inquired whether any one else, was in the house, and was told that the two female servants were in the back room third floor. He repaired to the third floor front again, entered the room, and reached the door of the apartment ; but the handle of the door was very hot, and whilst he was endeavouring, with the aid of his coat, to turn the lock, the door fell upon him, to some extent sheltering him from the flames. He managed to crawl on his hands and knees to the front window, where the flames had preceded him, and had actually set fire to the top of the machine; was obliged to get out head fore most, nearly stifled with smoke. He next un shipped the short ladder of his escape, by great exertions succeeded in placing it on the roof of the next house, and managed to get to the room where• the unfortunate females were; but it was then in one body of flame. In the course of a few minutes the whole of the interior of the build ing fell with a loud crash. The engines went to work lin an admirable manner, but the only good they could do was to protect the adjoining houses, the premises in which the misfortune commenced being totally consumed. Search was afterwards made for he missing persons. One was found lying across the other in the cellar. They were placed in shells and removed to the dead-house to await an inquest. Their names were Charlotte Law, aged 33, and Emily Williams, aged 15. The foreman, a person named Watford, rushed through the fire, and made his escape at the front door, but was so badly burnt that he was obliged to be taken to the hospital. The origin of the fire is unknown. THE LAW OF MARRIAGE IN FRANCE.—Another case respecting the validity of a foreign marriage was a few clays ago submitted to the Imperial Court of Aix. In 1850 a Jew named Cohen, who was born at Geneva, but whose parents are now domiciled at Marseilles. married at Calcutta where he was established in business, a young Frenchwoman named Muret, of the same city, who had sometime lived with him as his mistress. Mademoiselle Muret being a Roman Catholic, the marriage was celebrated in the Ca tholic church of the Sacre Coeur in that city. M. and Madame Cohen had four children, whose births were duly registered at the French Consulate. Cohen informed his parents of his marriage, and in 1854 he brought his wife to France to introduce her to them, but they refused to receive her He returned to Calcutta, and on the 18th February, 1856, accidentally fell into a huge boiler filled with boiling syrup, and was so dreadfully scalded that he expired. By his will he left his wife a life interest in all he possessed, and the Supreme Court of Calcutta awarded the property to her. Notwithstanding all these circumstances, Cohen's . father in Maylast called on the Civil Tribunal of Marseilles to declare the marriage null and void—first, because it was clandestine, inasmuch as ithad not been published in France; and, second, because a Catholic priest cannot legally cele brate the marriage of a Jew and a Christian. The tribunal, however, after hearing lengthened pleadings, decided that by the Code Napoleon a marriage between French people celebrated abroad need not necessarily be published in France, when there was no reason to suppose that the par ties wished to elude the French law, when they had been some time established abroad, and when they had mani festly acted in good faith—all which was the case to this affair. As to the second objection, the Tribunal ruled that even supposing a religious marriage between a Roman Catholic and a Jew was void according to the canon law—a point it was not called on to decide—yet, as by the English law the marriage at Calcutta by the Roman Catholic priest was admitted, it must be regarded as valid in a legal point of view in France also. The Tribunal therefore rejected the action, and declared the marriage valid. M. Cohen appealed to the Imperial Court of Aix against that decision, but the C9O 1 92 1 g 'NSW cmfulincl it, • A NEW FRENCH MAP OF EUROPE. Public attention has been attracted a good deal to a new map of Europe which for the last few days has been exposed for sale in every part of Paris. It has for its title " L'Europe en 1860," and is headed with a cross, with this motto, " In hoc signe vinces." It was rumoured on Friday that the whole impres sion was seized; this is not true, as copies may be had at this moment on the Boulevards and Quays. The sale of this map at the present moment seems to produce nearly as much effect as the late pamphlet " Napoleon 111. et l'ltalie." The arrange ment of European States according to this new plan is somewhat is follows : EunorE IN 1860. Victoria 1., Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, India, and Mesopotamia, acquires the Island of Cyprus and the source of the Euphrates, which is the shortest road from the British Islands to the Great Islands. _ _ _ Napoleon 111., Emperor of the French, preserves his pre sent limits. Alexander 11., Emperor of All the Russias and King of Poland, acquires Galicia. Frederick William IV., King of Prussia, cedes to Hol land and Belgium the left bank of the Rhine ; acquires Hanover, Mecklenburg, Brunswick, Electoral Hesse, the Principalities of Waldeck, the three Anhalts, the two De Lippes, and part of that of Schwarzburg-Sond ershausen. Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and Egypt, ac quires Egypt, Servia, and Bosnia, and cedes Galicia to Rus sia, and the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom to Piedmont. Victor Emmanuel 11., King of Italy, acquires the Lom bardo-Venetian Kingdom, the duchies of Parma and Mo dena, and the Legations. Pius IX., of the States of the Church, acquires the two Abruzzi, and cedes the Legations to the kingdom of Italy. Leopold 11., Grand Duke of Tuscany, preserves his limits. Ferdinand 11., King of Naples and Tunis, cedes the two Abruzzi to the Pope, Sicily to the Duke of Parma, and ac quires the Regency of Tunis. Robert 1., Duke of Parma, King of Sicily, cedes to the kingdom of Italy the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, and acquires Sicily. Oscar 1., King of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, ac quires Denmark as far as Schleswig. William 111., King of Holland,. acquires the left bank of the Rhine to the Roer and to the latitude of Julier, and cedes to Belgium her possessions to the south of those limits. Leopold 1., King of Belgium to the entire left bank of the Rhine, between Holland, France, and Bavaria, with the exception of Oldenburg Birkenfeld. Tomb-of Christ, Jerusalem, free town of Palestine. George V., King of Hanover, King of Constantinople, acquires Roumelia, and cedes Hanover to Prussia. Frederick Francis, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, King o f the Roumans, acquires Moldavia ! Wallachia, and Bulgaria, and cedes Mecklenburg to Plussia. Daniel 1., Prince of Montenegro, acquires the north of Albania, as far as Scombi to the south. Otho 1., King of Greece, acquires the south of Albania as far as Scombi, and the province of Tricala. Nicholas Frederick Peter, Grand Duke of Oldenburg, preserves his limits. John, King of Saxony, preserves his limits. Charles, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, cedes Allstadt to Prussia. _ Louis 111.. Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, preserves his limits. Bernard, Duke of Saxe-Mebaingen, preserves his limits. Ernest 11., Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, preserves his limits. Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, preserves his limits. Henry XX., Prince of Reuss-Greitz, preserves his limits. Henry XLVII., Princelof Reuss-Schleitz, preserves his limits. Frederick Gunther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, preserves his limits. Adolph, Duke of Nassau, preserves his limits. Maximilian 11., King of Bavaria, preserves his limits. William 1., King of Wurtemberg, preserves his limits. William Louis, Grand Duke of Baden, preserves his limits. Switzerland.—The Helvetic Republic preserves its limits Isabella 11., Queen of Spain and Morocco, acquires Mo rocco. Dom Pedro V., King of Portugal, preserves his limits. Abdul Medjid Khan, Sultan of Asia, cedes all his pos sessions in Europe, and all those on the coast of the Medi terranean. The Crescent returns into Asia Minor, after three centuries of usurpation aid disgrace to Christianity. (From the Times) Frenchmen are skilful in writing history —even the his tory of events which have not happened. They will expa tiate on what would have been the result if victory had not, by a concurrence of the most unforeseen circumstances, de serted their colours and:taken fromthem the possession of Ca nada, or India, or Egypt. A few years since one imaginative writer publishe d a work called "Napoleon Apocryphe," in which he narrated what the Emperor would have done had he not been overthrown at Leipsic and Waterloo. Among other great events was the conquest of England in the year 1817. An immense fleet issuing from the ports of the Channel and the North Sea conveyed the armies of the Empire to the shores of the Wash. The Emperor com manded in person. A fearful conflict took place at Ipswich; the English retreated ; and then followed the great and de cisive Battle of Cambridge, in which three sons of George 111. were slain ; the English lost vast numbers in killed, wounded, and prisoners, all duly stated in the text ; and the House of Hanover ceased to reign. England was annexed to France, and divided into 26 departments, London being situated in the " Tamise Inferieure." George 111. was subsequently permitted to retain the Throne of Scotland. The Code Napoleon was translated into English and ren dered imperative on our Courts. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge became academies, the University of Eng land being established in London. English regiments formed part of the Imperial A rm y. " After a time," says the historian, " England felt herself French, qnd was con tent." In England, if we do not deal in ideal history, a certain set of crazy people are always busy in interpreting prophecy, but we have just received from France a publica tion which rivals the boldest effusions of our prophetic Dress. The Ruth app nr calvoi P Lyre tne key to the future ; his sole inspirati o n is the power of France. France, chivalrous and unselfish as she is, will in the space of only one year revolutionise the States of Eu rope and Asia, distributing realms and regions among its monarchs, though without advancing her actual frontiers by a single kilometre. The publication we speak of is a map of Europe and the Mediterranean basin, and is entitled " L' Europe en 1860." It represents that " agglomeration of the peoples" which is to be carried out by the arms of France, and of which the march of the Piedmontese across the Ticino is to be the signal. But far be it from the reader to suppose that any prince or potentate is to suffer from this great popular millennium. France, at once despotic and democratic, with an empire which is peace, and boasting of launching half a million troops against an enemy—France is able to reconcile the extension of monarchical power with the increase of national 1 independence. Even her enemies gain by the blow which prostrates them, and are vanquished only to find themselves the possessors of richer provinces and more lordly domains than could ever have rewarded victory. We are to suppose a series of campaigns conducted with a rapidity beyond example, and ending . in the complete triumph of the French arms. Austria's twice-taken capital is taken for the third time ; Prussia and the Bund are worsted in their endea vours to succour the Imperial house ; and Turkey, with base ingratitude, commits an act of treachery to France, which is punished by a total overthrow. Morocco, in the meantime, is swept from the list of States for some reason that is not clearly shown. As for England, we are in doubt whether she is intended to be one of the vanquished foes, or the faithful and justly recompensed ally of Napoleon 111. But it does not matter. The victorious potentate distributes rewards to all, and England has, as will be seen, a splendid share of the spoil. The state of Europe in 1860, or after 23 months at furthest, is to be as follows :—The Queen of Great Britain retains all her territories, and acquires the island of Cyprus and the course of the Euphrates, which, it is observed, is the shortest road from the British Isles to India. We are not allowed, however, to have any port on the Syrian coast, the Gulf of Alexandretta being the only means of communicating with our new territory. When the phrophecy is fulfilled we shall have to petition our Imperial ally for a little strip of territory to the southward ; indeed, Lord Malmesbury may as well take up the affair at once. Happy Austria I She was once told to leave wars to others, and seek by marriage the realms she coveted. Now her fate is still more strange; she gains by defeat and conquers a de pendency by the ruin of an army. In 1860 Francis Joseph's title will be Emperor of Austria and Egypt ; he acquires Egypt, Servia, and Bosnia, ceding Galicia to Russia, and the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom to Piedmont. Although certainly the semi-barbarous provinces of the Turkish fron tier may not be a possession equal to the plains of the Po, still the gain of Egypt and the status of a great maritime Power must make Austria bless the day when she encoun tered the chivalrous spear of France. As was usual in the days of old, Francis Joseph will be dismissed by the con queror laden with benefits, to tell the world that there never was a more perfect gentle knight than his Majesty Napoleon. the Third, who distributes thrones to the Kings he has van quished, while with the high-mindedness of a Paladin his empire "conserve ses limites actuelles." Frederick William IV. cedes to Holland and Belgium the left bank of the Rhine, and acquires Holland, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Electoral Hesse, the Principality of Waldeck, the three of Anhalt, the two of Lippe, and part of that of Schwarzburg-Sonderhaut3en. This is circumstantiality in deed. The French armies have made short work of Ger- man federation. It will be seen Hanover is gone. Although George the Fifth has carried off Queen Victoria's diamonds in rather an indelicate manner, we Englishmen retain enough interest in the ancient family of the Guelphs t o b o curious to know what becomes of their male representative. Do not be afraid; he is well provided for. George the Fifth becomes King of Constantinople, acquires Roumelia, and cedes Hanover to Prussia. Here is an unexpected honour for us. The Eastern Empire is revived in the per son of an Englishman—an. English Duke. The Saxon Varangians who took service with Alexis after the battle of Hastings will doubtless rise from their graves by the swift flowing Bosphoms, and shout a welcome. We must be brief with the other dispositions of territory. Victor Emmanuel becomes King of Italy, acquires the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, the Duchies of Parma and Modena, and the Legations. The Pope, in return for the Legations, receives the Abruzzi. The King of Naples cedes Sicily, which is given to the Duke of Parma, and re ceives in return—we suppose as a compliment to his humanity—Tunis ! Isabella of Spain acquires in the same way Morocco. The Duke of Mecklenburg becomes King of the Roumans, with Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria for his dominions. The King of Greece receives a large accession of territory. It will be seen that Turkey and the Mahomedan States are pretty severely treated. Everybody is indemnified at their cost. The map . is headed with a Cross, with the motto "In hoc signo moos ;" so we, may be prepared for a policy of " Thorough" as regards un happy Islam. In 1860 Abdul Medjid Khan will take the title of " Sultan of Asia." " He yields all his possessions in Europe and on the shores of the Mediterranean. The Crescent returns into Asia after three centuries of usurpa tion and shame for Christianity." It may be asked why we have noticed this absurd but elaborate production. We answer, because this map is drawn on the presumption. that Franco can by a war as short and decisive as those concluded by Jena and Fried.. land tear to pieces the Treaties which govern Europe, and that the tendency of such speculations is to perpetuate a state of peace almost as anxious and as burdensome ask ar. Material prosperity has, indeed, weakened the aspirations for conquest in the mass of the French people, but not in the soldiery, and notoriously not in the Chief of the State. The Austrian occupation of Italy presentsan tohpepmor.tuniutiyt for their indulgence, but does not originate t l h ib e ert w y ro in nas ße o l i were not the oppression of Italy, it would be the right to the left bank of the Rhine, or the e s_pa xce in ss Bel um, or the political anarch3 . , of , es or of 1 . 811 ;1 1,14Q 4; giorpt or Th um Qr hritalcw, whit Imo be the pretext for war►'ike demonstrations. It should be the stern resolve of every Cabinet to intimate that Europe is already settled, and t hat the age has gone by when Empires are to be parcellod out by the sword of conquerors. MURDER BY A LUNATIC AT HAN- WELL ASYLUM. On Saturday a most deplorable event, which has taken place at Hanwell. County Lunatic Asylum, was investigated by the local bench of magistrates , and subsequently by Mr. Wakley, the coroner. On Thursday morning a man named William Roberts and another man named John Brady were taken out as usual, with about twenty other patients, for the purpose of being employed, under the superin tendence of James Birch, one of the gardeners, in spade husbandry. Roberts, who is 28 years of age, has been in the asylum 14 years, and having three years ago made a sudden attack upon a fellow patient, he was considered a dangerous lunatic, and was therefore, while at work, kept twenty yards from any other inmate. On Thursday morning Brady happened to both' next to Robert, who was working a large iron pronged fork. Suddenly hear ing a noise, Birch, the gardener; on. turning round, saw poor Brady on the ground, and Roberts bela bouring him about the head with the iron pronged fork with all his might. On assistance going to the spot Brady's head and face were found covered with blood, and one of his eyes laid out of its socket upon his cheek. Roberts was immedi ately secured, and Mr. Begby, the medical officer sent for, who had Brady removeei. to the infix mary and put into a warm bath, bu t he was found to be dead. On taking the accused to his room, Birch said to him, " William, are you not sorry that you have committed such a :rash act on a brother patient ? " to which he replied, " I meant to kill some one." The magistrates felt it their duty to commit the accused to New gate for trial on the charge of murder, but as the c oroner was about to sit, directed that his removal should not take place till the inquest had been held. Before the pry Mr. Begby, the surgeon, proved that the in juries were the cause of death, and that the accused was an epileptic patient, who beca me exceedingly violent before his fits, and that he vas not respon sible for his acts. e added that if there was all increase of the medical staff, each patient might be inspected every morning before going to work. The coroner, in summing up, expressed his conviction that it would be useless to put the county to the expense of sending the irresponsible being thejurY had had before them for trial, as no jury in tbe. world could convict him on the capital charge 01 wilful murder. The jury concurred with the coro ner, and returned a verdict of m isadventure, at' taching thereto the following :—" The jury sitting on the inquest on John Brady would earnestly recommend that no patient who has committed anY serious assault on any person should never after, while kept in the asylum, be entrusted with all tool or instrument with which he could inflict anY serious injury on any other patient, or upon anY officer." The jury also recommend that the meal' cal staff of the asylum shall be strengthened, in order that the patients may be subjected to a more frequent medical inspection." Notwithstanding this verdict, the accused was subsequently removed to Newgate on the magistrate's warrant. CO UNRTY MARKETS. CHELMSFORD—FEB. 11. The wheat trade is dull to-day. Millers are looking for lower prices, and the farmers refuse to give way. To effect sales a slight decline had to be submitted to. Wheat, white 40s to 45s Peas, Partridge ..44s to 460 red 32s to 41s White 41s to 43 1 Barley 34s to 41s Boiling . 42s to 485 Chevalier 37s to 45s Dun . g ...44s to 468 Grinding 27s to 33s Beans, Tick ....38s to 40 8 Malt 70s to 73s Harrow Ticks 38s to 425 Chevalier 72s to 73s Mazagan 36s to 3 95 Oats 25s to 35s NOTTINGHAM—FEB. 12. At the opening of the market supplies were good, but out of condition, and millers seemed indisposed to purchas e ; In some instances the best selected samples of wheat declined is per qr. Other articles much about the same. White wheat, new, 45s to 51s Barley, grinding.. 27s to 303 Red do. 4os to 43s Oats, old, .. —s to - -5 Old white 44s to 49s N ew do 2Bs to 3 01 Red do. 38s to 42s Beans.. 4Bs to We Barley, malting.... 38s to 44s Peas ... ....—s to -- 3 Super. flour, 33s to 36s ; fine, 30s to 33s per 20 stone. NORWICH—FEB. 12. The supply of wheat at our market was tolerable, and the currencies of last week were generally realised. Wheat 3Bs to 42s I Oats.. White do —s to 46s Beans, new —s to - -- s Barley 32s to 36s I Ditto, old . .388 to 4 1 e Flour, 26s 6d to —s per sack from the miller. LEICESTER—FEB. 12. There was a fair quantity of wheat on offer, and prices for all descriptions gave way fully is per qr. Barley 0 ' fair demand, and about the same as last week. Beans were fully as dear. Oats a slow sale. Wheat ...40s to 42s i Oats.... White .44s to 48s Beans 50s to 628 Barley .34s to 36s Pea s .... —s to - - 's Fine flour, 31st Seconds, 98 I Thirds, 27s per sack. LIVERPOOL—FEE. 11. We had only a small attendance of millers and dealers it our corn exchange this morning, and the business done in wheat and flour was quite on a restricted scale ; holders, however, showing no anxiety to press sales, there is no quot able alteration to make in prices. Indian corn dull of sale, at previous rates. Oats and oatmeal steady. Egyptian beans are held at full prices, but meet a slow sale. • Feils and barley unaltered. WAKEFIELD—FEE. 11. Sellers of fine samples of wheat held for former prica , but millers were unwilling to give them, and the farmers were unwilling to make any concession. Barley and beans were is higher. Averages for the week : Wheat 6,181 qrs., at 41s 81d 8ar1ey.........1,629 ~ 348 91d Oats 222 „ 24s lid Rye "-:, —B Od Peas Beans 71 ~ 43s 814 ••• • -- )1 —B --d EXETER—FEB. 11. An average attendance. Many of the samples were out of condition, and no improvement in prices. Wheat, white.. 5s 2d to 5s 3d Barley. 4s Od to 4s 34 I Ditto red .. 5 s Od.t o 5 s ld Oats ..... 2s 9d to 3s 2d Flour, fine, 29s to 30s; seconds, 27s to 28s per sack. CATTLE. —The market was poorly supplied with stock, The attendance of farmers small. Pork carcases a toler able supply. Fat beef,p score,9s6d to 10s6d Ewes, per lb .... 6d to Od Pork carcases, do 7s6d to 8s 3d Wethers, d 0..... 60 to Od Lambs, per lb. Od to Od Fat calves, do ....6id to 7d Rough fat, 41-d per lb. DUBLIN—FEB. 11. At the market this morning there was a moderate sup" ply of wheat, for which the trade was rather active, at last week's extreme currencies. Barley in fair supply, and all superior qualities realised late prices. Oats a good sup' ply, with no c h ange i n va l ue. I n I n di an corn there we re limited transactions. • s. d. s. d. Wheat, white 22 6 to 25 6 Do., red 2l 6 to 23 0 Do., new Barley Oats Do., black lO 6 to 11 0 s. d. s. d. Do., new ll 6 to 13 0 Bere . lO 0 to 12 9 Rapeseed 26 0 to 29 0 Oatmeal l2 6 to 14 0 Bakers' flour Indian corn BRISTOL SUGAR—FEB. 11. The market has been very dull this week, .and we are without transactions to report in any description of raw sugar. The refined market is also quiet, and to effect sales of importance lower prices would have to be submitted to. Rum steady, but business is checked by the increased views of holders, who are asking higher prices. [ADVER TISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills and Ointment. -- • Lowness of Spirits, Hypochondriaism, Insanity.—These formidable diseases are usually caused by a disordered con dition of one or more of the digestive organs, and most deplorably commence at the meridian of life. The distress ing symptoms need no enumeration : they are known 1 11 some degree to the wisest and best of mankind, as well as the weakest. Whenever the liver, stomach, and kidneys are roused, the morbid feelings and ideas vanish ; to effect this happy result nothing more is needed than friction over those organs with Holloway's ointment, whilst his pills are likewise taken. The change of thought is immediate, happy, and la s ti ng. Those whom these medicines have cured confess that their influence over the mind is magical BIRTHS. BUTLER. —on the 11th inst., at Bayswater, Mrs. J. H. Butler, of Ashford, of a daughter. CRAFTER.--On the 11th inst., at 10, Doughty-street, the wife of George Crafter, Esq., of a son. LE MAHCHANT.—On the 11th inst., at Dawlish, the wife of the Rev. R. Le Marchant, of a son. RAVENHILL.—On the 11th inst., at Clapham-common, the wife of Richard Ravenhill. Esq., of a son: . _ _ , - MARRIAGES NraLL—ASTLEY.—On. the 10th inst., at St. Michael's, Chester-square, Captain M'Neill, second son of Edmund Alexander M'Neill, Esq., of Cushinnun, Ireland, to Nannette,_ the eldest danght er o f Sir Francis Dugdale Astley, Bart. PARS—RIEKIE.—On the 19th Nov. last, at Christ Church, St. Kilda' near Melbourne Adam Steele Park, Esq., Manager Colonial Bank of Australasia, Ballarat, to Mar garet, eldest daughter of M rs. Ri e ki e, l ate of Old-street , Finsbury. ,BA B RF arf O O O O T t, .—.Esci.,on the 1 1 D th E ins A t., T at il Ealin S. g) Middlesex, Henry aged 78. CLEWETT.—On the 10th inst., at 5, Adelaide-street. Strand, Miss Charlotte Clewitt, aged 64. MA RSTIAM.—On the 10th inst., at Sculthorpe Rectory, Norfolk, the Rev. Edward Marsham, aged 71. MUSKETT.—On the 10th inst. in the Upper Close, Norwich, Mr. James Muskett, late of Newton Flotnian, Norfolk, aged 85. SCOTT.—On the 10th inst., at 68, Eaton-square, John Scott (Captain Scots Fusilier Guards), second son of Sir Wm. Scott, Bart., of Ancrum. WOOD.—On the Bth inst., at Street House, near Glaston bury, suddenly, Charles Wood, jun., Esq. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the enuty API IsDuclah rebritery 11, 1859, THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, 'EBRUARY 14, ,chn and live) ernp Corn stew they arrii rive] grea out