The Sun. — London, England, 1854-12-30 00:00:00

Ir i: I; • ~, t • 1 I; /., f • 1 1 .... * r . s • ;'-' , , 1 ‘, r ' s ._ .... •; l -,' , -, t,,,, ,4 , ...k 1 1-. t i „.....i 1 1 4 i< , ‘,.., , ~., ~,, • ~ „ , ,t , k t!'...: A i 1 . s 1 't t I • '.. L : i r ,y- -.) , `., t , 1 i E r i Z . i li ' ' 4 '4 I ,i , t i I:. 1 i I' 1 t • I: k` • } L C 1 : t r • ~ i.:. iA 11: 0 . , l i ''. iv , i ~.. i. fl .. f it t. it‘. , 1 n k .r, , ,. -- a .i 4 MON'EY MARKET A li D COMME.ROIAL INTELLIGENCE. CITY, WA 0 o'CLOCK. The gales of cotton at Liverpool yesterday were estimated at 6,000 bales. The market was quiet, but steady at previous rates. Railway Shares were rather firmer. The position of the Bank of England during the week to the 23d inst. was in most respects " simi lar to that shown by the return of the correspond ing period of 1853, when e demand for money increased as usual towards the end of the year. We have now, however, an addition to the private deposits, which was not observable in the state ment made at this time last year, and which can only be explained upon the supposition that after the recent failures in they United States, and the partial distrust that prevails here as the result of the late suspensions, parties deem it wise to keep a good balance ht their bankers. The addition to the bullion is very satisfactory under the circumstances, but we have no idea that it will continue now the French loan is brought out, and the receipt of bullion from America is, temporarily at least, suspended. The amount to the credit of the Government increases, but it would have to receive a, much greater addition ere it could be pronounced sufficient, without ex traneous aid, to meet all the demands upon the country. From the nature of things, however, we may assume that large sums are paid away in satisfaction of war expenses, without remaining long in the Bank, and that, according to the defi ciency baplan, many ehanges in this item may be but for a day. Compared with the previous week the changes were as iollows Active circulation £19,125,445 Increase Bullion Increase 108,225 8,140,652 8,613 6,560,414 524,739 10,009,957 299,445 938,622 54,490 11,609,583 44,346 14,581,403 712,116 8,352,740 21,960 Rest Increase Public Deposits Increase Other Deposits Increase Seven-Day and other Bills Decrease .. Government Securities Increase Other Securities Increase Notes unemployed Increase On the 24th December, 1853, the amount of bul lion in the Bank of England was 15,819,0411., con sequently the sum at present held must be consi dered large after nine months of active warfare. Tito public deposits " tell a tale," having been 11,157,7241. at this time last year, or 4,597,3101. more than at present. The other securities are about 2,000,0001. less now than in December last, explicable by the dulness of trade, &c. The active circulation of notes payable on demand has dimi nished 1,684,7101. There was a decline yesterday afternoon in the rate of exchange on Paris to 25 27t to 30 for 90 days' paper, but Hamburg was firmer at .13 5} to bi, Trieste was 12 37 to 45, and Amsterdam 11 17k to 17 1 , being the same as previously. The shipments of' gold direot from London dur ing the week to Thursday last were 2,999 ounces, and of silver 202,584 ounces. The Funds are inanimate and without buoyancy, for although the Bank return is good, the deluge of complaints from the Crimea is dispiriting. Consols have been 91k and are now 91i ±. Ex chequer Bills realise 4s. to 75., and India Bonds 12s. premium. Foreign Securities are mostly nominal. The Turkish Stock keeps up at 75/ Mexican is -farmer at 21. Dutch 4 per Cents. have been 91 to Olf. The following are the nominal prices of foreign stocks :—Grenada Deferred Bonds, 5 to 6 ; Mexi can, 20f to 21 ; Peruvian, 69 to 71 ; Ditto 3 per Cents., 48 to 50 ; Portuguese 4 per Cents., 41 to 43 -; Russian 5 per Cents., 97 to 99 ; Ditto 4} per Cents., 87 to 89 ; Spanish New Deferred, 18i to 181 ; Ditto 3 per Cents., 38k to 38i ; Ditto Certifi cates, 5 to 5i ; Ditto Passive, 41 to 41. 'For Railway Shares there has been a tolerably firm market, and with moderate transactions, but prices are not generally higher. The Great Northern Shares are in request, and the A. stock is dearer. Foreign Shares are about the same. The Colonial Mining Market is dull. The Joint Stock Banks are steady. Crystal Palace maintains its price. 'BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.—CLOSING PRICES. ( Prom the Official List. ) Eu•iness done 3 per Cent Corsols Annuities India Bonds. £1000 Consols for Account, 10th January Exchequer Bills, 21d. 11000 2500 7 4 Small ' 7 4 PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY. Mexican 3 per Cent. - Ditto for the Account 2l Buenos Ayres Bonds, 6 per Cent -52 1 3 Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent — Ditto Passive (Converted) Turkish Scrip, paid up in full Ditto for the Account 751 i Dividends on the above payable in London. Dutch Exchange, 2i per Cent. 12 Gull — D:tto.4 uer Cent. Certifieates. ... THREE O'CLOCK. nonsola Ditto, January Account 911 3 g d THE FRENCH IN - ALGERIA. The French Minister of War has recei ved the 76 following report from the Governor-General ad 5 interim of Algeria : 5 20 " Algeria, Dec. 15. " Monsieur le Markhal,—By the mail of the 10th I addressed to your Excellency a statement of the poli -100 tical situation of Algeria. That situation has since im -100 proved, and we are everywhere in the way of progress. 100 The following is a hasty sketch of affairs. I yes- 100 terday gave the investiture to the Cheik of the Ka byle tribe of the Beth Raten, which is an important 20) fact. The measure, by which , on the 15th November 100' last, by order of the Governor-General, bands were laid 20 throughout the whole of Algeria, from the frontier of 5 Tunis to that of Morocco, on all the men belonging to 20 that tribe who were travelling on onr territory, was per fectly successful. These mountaineers, who are the 4 richest of the Jurjura, immediately comprehended 20 that the prolongation of this measure was for them 20 equivalent to a tegular blockade ; that it would 20 destroy their commerce ; and that the fall of that 20 commerce would lead to that of the political influ- 33! ence which they exercised in the Upper Sebaou. They 10 therefore immediately demanded to treat, and notwith- 2 P standing their pretensions, I firmly maintained the con -20 ditions imposed by General Bandon in his spring cam -20 paiga. The questions of taxes and hostages were 16 settled without dispute ; in a word, they accept a 20 situation similar to that of the other Kabyle tribes who have submitted to our authority. All was decided on in one morning, and yesterday they swore on the Koran to fulfil their promises, and I gave the Inn-nous to their Caids. While things are thus improved on that part of 20 the Tell our affairs in the south are going on satisfactorily. On the B th Col. D esvaux was occupied in regulating the g organisation of Tuggurt, the possession of which has 40 been already made known to your Xxcellency. At 20 Ouargla our success has exceeded eur hopes . Captain 20 Colomb, who arrived in tha t oasis with a simple escort 20 of spahis and the goum of our khalifat, Si-Hamza was re- 20 ceived by a public fete, but he boldly interrupted these 20 demonstrations, and in the midst of the people, who we re 5 s tupified with astonishment, he reproache d Ben Bab i a, the cs,id of Negonca, with having had relations with 20 the cherif, and ordered him to point out his accom - 20 plices. Ben Babia hes itated, bnt Capt. Colomb seized on 20 of the principal inhabitants of the town as hostages, gi enforced the payment in advance if four-fifths of the tax, 10 replaced Ben Babia by his brother, restored the a utho- 20 rity of Si Gonbir in all the oasis of Ouangla, and after 20 leaving with that chief the means of maintaining his po. 6 shims, retired with our khalifat, Si Hamza, who was slur- 20 prised and overjoyed at the display of so much energy and so much confidence in our strength. The restoration of our power at Ouargla, and the submission of Tuggurt give us an excellent attitude in the South ; never have we yet ruled under such conditions asfaras the southern limits indicated by Nature for our Algeria. Beyond that our influence can only reaoh by means of commer cial relations, and commercial interest wil; connect us with those parts without our having to occupy ourselves 1 with them. They are too distant to se rve as the basis 1 of operations for the agitators if the Sahara. You thus see, Monsieur le Marechal, that the political situation of the country is good, and we have reason to congratulate ourselves on it:—Accept, &c., " PELISSIER MINING INTELLIGENCE. (From the Mining Journal of this day.) The Mining Market has varied but little during the week ; generally speaking, shares are fiat, though a few enquiries are made for Bullers, East Basset, West Bas set, and Clijah and Wentworth. Bassets are firm at 5501. ; Bulle r 5701. to §9O/. ; Devon Consols, 3801. ; Clijah and Wentworth, 141, to 14/. les. ; East Basset, 201. ; Uny, 4/. to 4/. 10i. • North Basset, 19 /. to 20 /. ; Sortridge Consol e , 1/. Ide. to 21. ; South Tarnars are better, at 61. 15s. t o v. gs. ; Alfred Consols, 17/. ss. to 171. 15e. ; West Alfred Consols, 19/. to 21/. ; Great Al -601. to $l./. West Bamet, 40/, to SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) RAILWAYS. RAumATI. 10105Ing Pee°. thtsday. Shr: 100 I Aberdeen 81 Ambg. Noting: Bost. and Eastn. all Belfast & Ballymena. all Binning. Wolverh. Stour Valley .......• 294 Birkenhd. Lancsh. Cheshiro Juliet all Do. Chesh. tt Birk., £5O and 225 Cons. 19 Do., £2O 30 Blyth & Tyn original £25 (issd. at £45). 100 Bristol and Exeter 100 Caledonian. 21s. Carmarthen and Car digau . _ . all Chester ez Holyhead all Cork and Banclon... all 'Cork, Black, & Pas 3. 16 Cornwall 1 Orion' Junction 46 Dublin &Belfast June all Dundee Perth &Aber dean Junction all Do. New 100 East Anglian ill F,astern bounties 00 14:astern Union, A Stock 10C Do., B. Stock 8:! Do., New A ...... 100 East Lancashire LOO Edinburgh & Glasgow l Edinb. and Peebles 1 LOO - Edin. Prth & Dundee 1 'Forth & Clyde June, .00 Glasgow&S. Western .00 Great Northern 100 Do., A. Stock 300 Do., B. Stock 00 t. Sth. &West.(lre ) 100 reat Western 100 Do. Stour Val. Rail Gun. all Irish k h South-Eastern St all Lancaster & Carlisle' 14? Do., Thirds 4 Do. New Thirds 1 100 Laneash . andYorksh 194 Do., Fifths 21.1 Do., Wst. Riding Un all Liv.Crsby.&Southpt all London & Blackwall 1100 Lond. Bright & S.Cst. 100 Lond. and N. Westn. 12 Do. Fifths _ 1 1D0.101.5h.,M&8... 2Do. Eighths 100 London and S. Westn 42 Do., £5O 134 Do. £4O all findladrry& Coleraine all Lndndrry. & Ennisk . 100 Nlanch.Shef.& Lincln ~44i Do., Man. & Lin. I.ln 100 Midland 100 )o. Birmng. & Derby all Slidld. G. West. Om ) 22? Do, Half Shares qll' "Newcastle & Carlisle { 54 iNewmkt.BuryEaten. 2I 'Nwpt. Aberg. & H dd. 8 N . ewry & Enniskillen all gewry Warrenpoint and hostrevor 1 100 Norfolk 3i Northn.dounties Un 100 North British all 4 North Devon, No. 1 all Do., No. 2 all Do., A A Deferred all Do., B Guaranteed 100 N. Eastern—Berwick 20 Do. do. Extension 13 Do.do. G.N.E. Parch. all Do. Leeds 100 Do. York all North London Eq Do. New £lO h lc N.&S.Wstrn.,Hanw stead, and City Jn 17 North Staffordshire all North Western.. all N. &S. Westrn. June. 1 Nuneaton, Hinckley and Leicester.. .00 Oxford, Woreester,& Wolverhampton ... 6 Portsmouth LOO Scottish Central ..... LOO Scottish Midland all 3hrewsby. dt Herefd ,L Shropshire Union Do. A, B, C,& paid up at per col. Lll South Devon 00 ,South Eastern 1.11 South Wales 5 S. Yrksh. & Riv. Dun 5 Do 8 Staines, Wok &Wok 11 tockton & Darling. Stockton (Sr Hartlepl. 100 re Vale .. 9 Do. .£lO shares. 100 Do. Pref No. 1 21 Thames Haven Dock and Rtilway all Vale of Neath all Waterfd. k Kilkenny, all Waterforcl&Limerick 18 West Cornwall. 3 West End of London and Crystal Palace.. all West London 1 1 1 a. Rr, flrovanl, 20 - 20 a 4i - 5 8 - 8i 13 12 d' 16 - 17 8 - 7 92 - 94 60i - 614 13j - 14 9 - 11 4 3 6i - 74 13i - 144 11 - 1141 28 - 30 20 - 22 71 - 72 54 - 56 5i = ioi 67 - 69 90i - 914 78 - 80 123 - 124 89 =9l 694 70 58 - 62 72 - 77 1 6 - 8 6 - 8 5i 54 -73 i .1 - A LOB 108 01 —101 a —_ I (cli _ d —84 A 9 . 8 9 Bdi 24 = 25 6,§1 694 41 - 42 - 4 104 - 94 - 24 49 - 51 3i 31; 31 32 8 10 64 73 74 75 6 64 4 4 ' 12 —12 i 52 53 52 64 par p P 44 —4 4 d 6 6§ id— p 31 - 32 96 - 98 61 - 63 8 - 8 0 45 - 47 12 - 14 hBl • 591 281 - 291 - 35 - 37 3 n 174 4 - 20- '22 6 - 7 6 - 7 FOREIGN. all Antworp&Rotterdam 33 Bolgian Eastn. June. 8 Boziers to Graisseasac 2s. Bombay, Baroda, and Central India,Serip Central of Italy all Demerara 14 Dijon andßesancon 10 Dutch Rhenish all Eastern of France 10 Do. New all East Indian 2 Do. Extension all Do. 4i p. c. Bds., pay. '57, convertible all Do. do. do., '59, do 10 CA. Junct. of France 12 Cd.Tkof CanadaA is. all Do. do sll Do. St. Lawrence & _ Atlantic do. all Do. Cert. of Deben., con. into Stk, till '63 all Do. Comp. 6 p..er, - do. 10 Gt. Central of Francs all Gt. Indian Peninsula 1 Do. New 5 per cont. all Gt. Western of Canad 3 Shares all Do. Bds., payable's7, with option till '55. all Do. do., '62, p.'56 , all De. do., '76, p. '6O all Do. do., '73, withoni I option all Hamilton & Toronto all Do. 6 per c'nt. 11 Lake Cond. & Basle all Lucca & Pistoja 5 p.c prof 12 Great Luxembourg Constituted Shares all Do. Obligations 10 Lyons and Geneva 12 Lyons ck Mediterran 16 Madras Do. Now :;ti Niaria Antonia 1.1 l Do. do. New 2 Melbourne Dk. di Ry all Namur di Liege (witbl interest) - all Do. (ex interest) all Northern of France. all D 0.20/. Shs.late Char leroi and ErTtelines guar. 31 p. c. & red. at 224/. dur. 88 yrs. from 1 Jan. 1854 all Do. 20/. 3 p. a Bdr. (fmy.B. & Ams. Shs.) all NorwegianTrunkPref 14 Paris and Lyons all Ditto Bonds . ...... all Paris and Orleans all Paris and Rouen 10 ParisCaen & Cherbrg. all Rouen and Hare 20 Royal Danish 3 Royal Swedish all Sambre and Meuse all DO. 5i p. cent. Pref. 10 Southern of France.. 14 St. Andrew's and Quebec (A) all West Flanders all Do 54 per c. Prof 12 Western of France 16 West. of Switzerland all Wiesbaden 20 Zealand r 0 all 110 all JOINT-S' British nk Brashnd u ColonialaAustralasian.noota Chartd. Bank of Asia Chrtd. Bilk. of India, Australia, & China Colonial Commercial of Lond English Scottish and Australian Loud. Chart. Bk. of Australia London and County London Joint Stock Loud. & Westminster National Provineia: of England Do. New National of Ireland , New South Wales Oriental Bank of Corporation Provincial of Ireland Do. Now Royal Anstraln.Bkg & Gold Imp Co all South Australia all Union of Australia 2 Do. New prie!on of London.. ml 20 10 20 35 - 6 - am , . ...I d- i p p 3i -- 3 d 3O -- 31 4i -- 5i -- lit par ip 7 3 / 4 - 6 3 / 4 'l 8 - 7 9 - 7d 10 84 i k - i P lir - ip 16i - 17 . -...- .... id ---- ii; 2 d par 2 d par 2 d par, l• ''' ... ... dill 2 2 24 2i 1 d b i•:: .•• -- .., ~. ..• .., 6b 7 iii -- 34 121 -- 12 - 191 - 19 44 46 36 28 pm 204 21; par 1p 2i lid 7t 7i ••• '''. ... Fa ' 3 / 4 -- l it - stp ..• "-- 14 BANKS. 79 - 7 $1 1 . • • d •--. i d •• • 3i - 3 214 ••• ''.- • • • ...... . ia :.. 40 37 - 39 39 -- 42 64 - 67 8 - 10 Business dons this day. 50 50 20 20 25 St. 20 St. 25 25 St. 8/2i St. 20 20 10 10 ISt. 50 20 20 St. 10 St. 25 20 20 50 20 10 5 20 20 TILE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING DECEMBER 30, 1854. 100 It. LOO 30 It. 100 ?,0 5 It. 100 L 5 all 3i I all 5 all 7i 2 6t all 6 all LO all ! , 0 all 5 all 10 all ,t. all it. 100 5 all 5 I all too it. 100 it.loo t. too '.O 8 6i all it. 100 it. 100 it. 100 8 all 10 all 10 all >t. 100 !0' all l 6 6 It. [OO It. 100 It. 100 It. 100 It. 100 L 2 all ',5 all AlO all 6 4), .2i all 26 all L6i llf X, 10 It. 100 It. 100 3t. 100 It. 100 It. 100 a. 100 5 10 13 2i 9 15 10 X) all it. 100 I'li D. 61 all It. 100 l 0 all M:, all .',O all !,5 all PREFERENCE SNARES. Aberdeen.. Do. No. 2, 7 p. c Blyth and Tyne lOper c. pref. (issd. at 50l) Bris. & Ex. 4 p. c. St. Do. 4 p. c. Shares Caledonian £lO Chester & Holyhead Guar. 54 per cent Do. do. Pref. No. 2 Do. do. Pref. No. 2., Cork &Bandons ip.c. IDundeoPerth &Aber-. decn Junction EastAnglian (£3los) 6 per cent Do. (X 5) 7 per cent ' Do. (X 7 17s) 7 p. c Eastern Counties Ex-, tension,s p. s. No. Do. No. 2 . Do. New 6 r. c. Eastern Union, Scrip Guar. 6 per cent , Do. 51., 10 per cent.; Do. 101. Debentr.Sh- Do. do. 4 per cent East Lancash. 6 p. de East and West York-, shire June. Fifths Edi nb Prth. &D under 4 per cent. Glasgow & S.Wcstern Guar. 5 per cent Great Northn. 5 P.C Do. 5 p. c. Redeem., at 10 p. c. Do. 4 p.c Gt.N. of Scot. Ist Pref Gt. Southn. &Westm. (Ireland) Eighths) , Do. 4 per c. Pref. St Gt. Westn. (Berke & Hants Ex. 5 p. c) D o . e on. red. 4i p.c Do. con. red. 4 p. c Do. irred. 4p.0. Do. Birm. Pref. Sh Do. Chester 8 p. c.P.S Ds. do. 5 p. c. do Do. Birm. Gua. Do. Ches. Gua. Stk. Do. do. do Do. do. do ......•••••• Lan. &York. F. £2O Do. 6 p. c. Stock London and Brighton] Guaranteed 5 p. o Do. Pref., 5 p. c. St Do. New Guar.6 p. o Lon. &N. W., Coy. Nuneaton 5 p. et London & S. Western Con. Thirds Londonderry& Coler Shares Londy. & Ennia. Sh. Ilan., Shot, & Lin. Shares, No. 1.. , Do. New, £lO Do. £6 larypt.&Carl.4p c .Do 4i per emit Do Consol .6 p.c.St Do. Consol. Bristol & Birm. 6 per cent Do. Pref. 4 per cent Norfolk Debenture Do. Pref. 4 p. c. Stock Do. 5 p. c. Ext Do. 5i per ct. pref._ Do. Way. Val. 5 p. c Nortk British N. E. Berw, 4 p.c. P Do. do. do Do. Leeds 6 p.c Do. do. Quarters 4S Do. Yorkil. & Pur. North Staffordshire.. Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverh. £l5, 610. c. Scot. Cent. , New Fret Do. 5 per cent south Devon 97 - 100 89 - 91 ii =i6 51 - 61 'A 1 5 21 all - r 6 - r 12i - 13 Do. fixed,4A per cent 3. Eastern (Reading Ann.) of £1 Os. 6d. Do. 4A per cent 3.Yorksh.4p.c.Guar 3 Wales Gila. 4p. c Do. do. 4A p. c....• Stockton and Dar- 60 - 65 1113 -- 115 108 - 110 99 - 101 5 .4 6 -- 6A 91 -- 96 gg 91 91 -- 93 gi -10 i 16 -- 17 10 -- 101 71 -- 73 181 -- 191 9# -- 9 1 13i -- id -14 a It 134 136 elm ''''' N. 2i- 3 F na 12 I - il, 133 135 11 id S 7 - 90 104 - 106 100 - 102 90 - 92 3 - •• ••• 1 id lington, 5 per cent Do. do. do, Stockton and Hartle. 111 -- 113 12 -- 14 id — t Pal 221 -22 i 95 -- 100 15 -- 18 ... sia iP pool, guar. 5 p. C. till Ist July, 18501 Watorfd.kKilk.,l3p.o, 24 2 d i Pin 124 pm 112 11i SPORTING NOTES. ROUSE, BROTHERS, ROUSE. The Christmas festivities over, turfites are beginning to stir themselves and prepare for active business. Attention is now steadily directed towards the future, and the rising prospects of sport are eagerly watched. Clerks of courses are not idle, but are working ener getically, and with a generous spirit of emulation to procur I nominations for the stakes advertised to close On Tuesday next—a day fraught with no little interest and anxiety to race officials. That the entries for tine leading events will show some slight diminution in numerical strength is expected ; still the shortcomings will not be sufficiently marked to cause uneasiness. The promoters of steeplechases seem little die couragcd by the uninterrupted series of failures which have distinguished the current season. They aro preparing their programmes with a gently deter mination to render them attractive. The new year's sports will be inasugurated at Manchester on Mon ' day, but the ceremony promises to be dull and uninte resting. The events to be decided are three —the Man chester Steeplechase, the Stretford Steeplechase, and the Railway Plate. Nine horses only have accepted for the first-mentioned race, and four for the second ! Still, perhaps amusement enough will be afforded to the Man chester holyday-folk, who are the main supporters of the gathering.. An attempt is about to be made to get up a day's sport at Croydon, but unless the business be con ducted on an improved system, I entertain but slender expectations of the ultimate popularity of the under taking. The managers of the Oundle meeting are actively employed. Their promises are fair enough, and if report be true the sport will ba ample, and of a superior character. They have strong assurances of patronage from many of the oldest aid staunchest supporters of /steeplechases. Still, so many ani mals aro being reserved for the Grand National Steeplechase that a probability exists that the fields will be somewhat insignificant. I have great pleasure in recording the liberality and patriotism which have bdsn displayed in the principal training establishments, the members of which from the head lad down to the smallest stable boy, from the housemaid to the scullery girl, have each contributed their mite in aid of the fund for the relief of the soldiers' wives and families. The Danebury Stable, followiag the example so worthily set at New market, sent twenty-two pounds seventeen shil lings and sixpence, John Day, Alfred Day and Wal ter Day heading the list with a contribution of 51. each. John Scott has contributed ill. himself, the aggregate amount collected at his stable being twenty-five pounds ten shillings. By the way, Mr. Scott has been feeding and entertaining the poor of his locality right royaly, and in a style%worthy of the good old times. A correspondent to a weekly paper has been indus triously calculating the amount of forfeits due from owners and nominators of different horses for stakes during the season '53-'52. From his statement, it ap pears that the nameaof upwards of 700 horses are down on the list, and that the total amount of forfeits due is eleven thousand five hundred and thirty-five pounds This announcement strikingly indicates the vast pecu niary interests involved in horse-racing. Some changes—at present not particularly marked or significant—have been made in the Derby betting, Next week I will enter into a discussion of the preten sions of the leading favourites. Dec. 30. A FRESH MAN. LLOYD'S SHIPPING-(THIS DI Y.) LONDON, Dee. 30.—Wind this. day at Noon, S. ; light airs, and hazy. PORTSMOUTH, Dec. 29.—Wind, W.N.W. Sailed— Louisa, for Callao • Sylphide, Crimea. DARTMOUTH, D ec. 29.—Wind, W. Sailed—Camilla, for St. John's ; Martha Jane, Cape of Good Hope. SHEERNESS, Dec. 28.—The Iris, of Plymouth, from London, has been assisted in very leaky, after being on shore. FALMOUTH, Dec. 29.—Wind, W. Arrived—Pearl, from Quebec, for Swansea. Off Port—Mary Sines, for Liverpool. PLYMOUTH, Deo. 29.—Wind, N.N.W. Arrived—Re gular, from Havre, for New York ; Hooghly, London, for Adelaide, S.A. Sailed—The Adelaide (transport), for Ba laklava. DOVER, Dec. 29.—Wind, N. to W. Sailed—Malvina, for St. Croix. COWES, Dec. 29.—Wind, W. Arrived—Budget, from Laguna. GLOUCESTER, Dec. 29.—Arrived—South Durham, from Tatmagouche. , CARDIGAN, Dec. 29.—The Francis, which grounded at Newport (Pemb.), on the 26th instant, has discharged her cargo, much damaged. NEWPORT, Dec. 29.—Sailed—Swea, for St. Thomas. PORTLAND ROADS, Deo. 28.—Sailed—Dunsandle, for San Francisco. CARDIFF, Dec. 29.—Wind, W. Sailed—Kelvin, for New Orleans ; Lavinia, Rio Janciro . JERSEY, Dec. 28.—Arrived--Lady Maxwell, from Gaspe; Alliance, do. (PER ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) LIVERPOOL, Saturday Morning. Wind, S.W. ; moderate. Arrived—Ann Lawson, from Coquimbo ; Volant, New Orleans • Santa Cruz, Bilbos.; Isabella, Buenos Ayres ; Jane, dobile ; Emulous, Demerara. Off Port —Boomerang, from Callao. Sailed —United States steamer Baltic, for New York. QUEENSTOWN, Dec. 28. Wind, N. ; calm. Arrived —New York, packet, from Quebec ; Indus, from Iquique ; Crescent City, Callao, for Bristol. sailocl—Blalioll, for gelbmume, frbtrb lafttion. SUN OFFICE, Six o'Clock. RUSSIA. The following is given as an extract of a letter addressed by the Emperor of Russia to Prince Menschikoff, after receiving the report of the bat tle of Inkerman " Most inward thanks to my brave army in my name for their immutalele fidelity. Tell them that the eye of their Sovereign, and of all Russia, looks upon them with admiration. They are the pillars and foremost cham pions of right. Russia's honour will, through them, come forth untarnished from this war." POST-OFFICE NOTICES. REDUCTION OF POSTAGE ON LETTERS TO EGYPT. General Post-office, Deo., 1854. On and from the Ist Jan. next, the postageupon letters addie , ;sed to Alexandria or any other place in Egypt, and forwarded by British Packet via Marseilles will be reduced as follows : For a fetter not exceeding oz, Exceeding toz and not exceeding ! J oz., „ oz loz., 3s. 29 loz., 4s. and so on increasing Is. for each quarter of an ounce. Oa and from the same date, the postage on a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight addressed to Egypt, and forwarded by the direct packet via Southampton, will be reduced from ls. 6d. to ls., heavier letters being chargel in proportion according to the scale for charg ing inland letters. The prepayment of postage is optional in the case of letters addressed to Alexandria, but upon letters fer any other part of Egypt the postage must be paid in advance or the letters cannot be forwarded. PERIODICAL WORKS, &o. On and from the Ist January next, periodical works, not strictly newspapers, published in the United King dom and addressed to Holland, may be sent in the closed mails, vits Belgium, under the following regulations : let. The British postage must be paid irradiance. 2d. They must be sent in covers open at th• sides. The rates of postage on such works will be as follows : Not exceeding 2 ounces in weight ld. Exceeding 2 ounces, and not exceeding 3 ounces 6d. Exceeding 3 ounces, and not exceeding 4 ounces Bd. Twopence being chargeable for every additional •unc•, up to th• weight of 16 ounces, beyond which weight ao publication can be forwarded. From the same date, newspapers brought to this country in the mails from Holland will not be liable to any charge on delivery, as the postage paid by the sen der will defray the whole charge to destination. In like manner, newspapers forwarded from the United King dom to Holland, will not be liable to any charge on de livery, but a postage of one penny must continue to be paid on each newspaper, , when posted. • ESTABLISHMENT OF OPTIONAL PRE-PAY MENT OF POSTAGE TO ST. HELENA AND THE GOLD COAST. On and from the Ist January next, the postage upon letters between the United Kingdom and the Island of St. Helena, and between the United Kingdom and the British Settlements on the Gold- Coast, whether con veyed by paoket or private ship, may either be paid in advance or left to be collected on the delivery of the letters, at the option of the sender. The postage upon letters to and from the above -men tioned Colonies is, Not exceeding ioz. in weight, 6d. Exceeding ioz. and not exceeding loz., is. Exceeding loz, and not exceeding 2ozs., 21. and so on, increasing one shilling for every additional ounce or fraction of an ounce. THE GERMAN STATES AND Tag WAR. A Prussian ministerial paper gives the text of the documents by which Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Denmark effected their adhesion to the supple mentary article of the Austro-Prussian treaty of April 20th. The language held ia the name of these states is instructive : BAVARIAN VOTB.—Considering the dangers of the political situation of Europe, guided bylthe earnest wish to guarantee the interests of Germany by strict unity, and looking to the intentions of Austria and Prussia as great European powers, intentions known by means of the confidential reports we have received from them, the royal Government of Bavaria votes for the proposed resolution of the Diet. WURTIMEERIit'S VOTE.—In consequence of the state of European relations becoming more and more threaten. ing, and guided by the conviction that the guarantee of German interests is endangered fur the future, and that the union of all the Germanic federal states is indispen sable, Wurtemberg votes for the proposition. DENMARK'S VOTE.—His Majesty the King, ardently desiring the speedy re-establishment of European peace, has deigned to order his ambassador, in so far as the ad ditional article agreed upon on tits _26th ult. between the most high courts of - Vienna and Berlin is concerned, to express aga;n how highly his Majesty apprebiates the joint and uninterrupted efforts made by the two great powers for guaranteeing the common interest of Ger many and for opening to the belligerent powers the avenues to peace. The ambassador is further authorised by order of the King, referring to the declaration made during the sitting of August 3, 1854, to vote in the name of Holstein-Lauenburg, for the adhesion of the Diet to the new additional article, as also for acc?pting the pro posed resolution respecting which an understanding has been come to. MARKET NEWS--(THIS DAY.) COVENT GARDEN. The supplies continue seasonably good, and the demand is steady, as follows :--r_ FRIIIT.—Pine apples, English, 5s to 7s sa per lb; apricots, Os to Os per doz. ' • hot-house grapes, 5s Od to 9s Od per lb ; foreign ditto, 10cl to is 8d ; melors, Os Od to OA each peaches, Os Oct to Os ; nectarines, 01 Od to Os per dozen ; apples, 4s Oct to 12s Oct per bushel ' • pears, 2s Oct to 6s Od per half sieve ; Orleans plums and green gages Os to Os Oct per punnet ; ditto, Os to Os Od, and common pintos, 3s 0 i to Os Oct per half sieve ; cherries, Oct to Os per ponnd ; lemons, 6d to is per doz.; oranges, 4s 0d to 108 per 100; fil berts, 95s per 100 lbs ; cobnuts, 180 s to Os ; almonds, Os to Os per lb. ; walnuts, Oct to 01 per 100; figs, is Oct to 2s Gd per lb. VEGETABLEb.—Savoy cabbages, Gd to is Od per dozen ; red ditto, 2s Oct to 4s per dozen ; French beans, Os 0 1 to Os per half sieve ; brocoli, Gd to is 4d per bundle ; potatoes, 1000 tol3os per ton ; vegetable marrow,Od each ; peas, Os Od to Os Oct per bush.; broad beans, 9d to is per half sieve ; turnips, 10. to 2id per bunch; carrots, 2id to 6dper bunch ;' cucumbers, is 6d. to 2s each ; garlic, Os Oct to Os 8d per pound ; spinach, is 3d to is 9d per sieve ; onions, 2s sa to 4s Od per bush. ; Spanish ditto, is to 3s per doz. ; leeks, 2d to Oct per bunch ; shallots, 4d to 8d ; horse-raddish, 22 Od to 5s Od per bundle ; parsley, 2d to 3d per bunch ; celery, 9d to is 3d p' bunch ; endive, Oct to is 6d per score ; beet, 6d to is per doz. ; parsnips, is Od. to 2s Od per dozen ; smelt salad, 3d to Oct per punnet ; mushrooms, is Od to is 6d per pottle ; artichokes, 4s to 68 per doz. ; cabbage lettuces, 9d to is Od per score ; sorrel, 6d to is per half sieve ; radishes 9d to 1s per dozen hands ; tomatoes, 3s Oct to 4s Oct per half move ; chillies, is to is 6d per 100; Brussels sprouts, is 3d to 2s Oct per half sieve ; capsicums, is to 2s per 100. NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL. Turkeys, 4s 6d to 16. 0(1; Geese, 4s 6(1 to 8s Od each Ducks, 2s Od to 3s Od ; tame Rabbits, Os Od to Os Od; wild do., is to 2s Od each; Pigeons, 8s to 10s per doz. ; large Surrey Fowls, Os Od to Os Od ; middling, 2s Od to 3s Gd ; Chickens, is 9d to 2s 6d ; Capons, 3s Gd to Gs Od ; Hares 3s Gd to 4s Od ; Grouse, 2s Od to 2s 3d each ; Partridges, 1s 8(1 to 2s Od; Pheasants, 3s 6d to 4s Od; Loverets, 2s 6d to 3s 6d such. Ostend fresh butter, 11s 6d to 12s 6d, and English us 6d to 14s 6d per dozen lbs. English Eggs, 10s Od to us Od; French ditto, 7s Od to Es Od per 120. NEWPORT. Beef from 38 4d to 4s 8d ; mutton, Ss 10d to 4s MI veal, 4s Od to 5s 2d ; pork, 3s 4d to 4s &I per 811 as. WHITECH.A.PEL. Beef, 3s 2d to 48 8d ; mutton, 38 6d to 48 8d ; veal, 43 4d t• 5* 4d ; pork, 3s Od to 4e 6d per Sibs. by the sarcasm. BILLINGSGATE. Turbots, 2s 6d to 15s ; Brills, 2s 6d to 7s each; Salmon, Os Od to Os per lb; Cod Fish, 2s 6d to 15s each ; Soles, 3d to 28 6d per pair; Eels, 8d to ls Od per lb; Lobsters, 6d to 2s 6d ; Crabs; 6d to 2s 6d ; Whitings, 38 to 12s per doz.; Common Oysters, 10s to 168 ' • Natives, 40s to 50s per bsh; Mackerel, Od to Od each ; Smelts, is to 3s 6d per doz.; Skate, 6d to Os per lb; Shrimps, is Gd to 2s 6d per gallon; Bloaters, is 6d to 2s Od per doz. ; Fresh. Herrings, 6d Od to 8s per 100. ; Scotch do., 6d; Sprats, 2s 6d to 5s Od p e r bushel ; Doreys, 25 6d to 14s each ; Haddocks, 8a to 20s per doz. ; Pike 6d ; Sturgeon, Gd per lb ; Prawns, 2. 6d to 3s. BREAD. The prices of wheaten bread in the metropolis ar• front 10d to lid; of household ditto, Bid to 9id per 41b loaf. HIDES AND SKINS. Market hides, 561 b to 641 b, 34d to 30; 641 b to 7211,, 3Ad to Od ; 721 b to 801 b, 3d to aid ; 801 b to 881 b, 31d to 4d ; 831 b to 961 b, 4d to 40 ; 961 b to 1041 b, 40 to lid ; 104 to 1121 b 5d to Od ; upwards, 5d to Od ; Horse hides, 5s Gd to N Od ; calf skins, tight, 2s Od to 3s Od ; ditto, full, Gs Gd to Os Od ; polled sheep, Gs Od to 7s 6d ; Kents, 5s Od to Ga 0(1 ; Half-breds, 5s 0(1 to 8s Od ; Downs, 3s 9d to 4s 9d ; Lambs, Os Gd to 03 Od. HAY MARKETS. SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, 21 15s to 41 15s Od ; clover ditto, 31 Os to 5115 s ; and straw, 1/ 2s to 11 9a per load. Supply moderate, and trade rather dull. CIIMBEULAND.—Meadow hAy, 31 Os to 51 Os ; clover ditto, 31 Os to 5/14s ; and straw, 11 4s to 11103 per load. Both hay and straw wore in moderate request, at our quotations. WHITECHAPEL.—Meadow hay, 2115 s to 4/ 14s; clover ditto, 31 Os to 5/ 17s; and straw, 11 2s to 1/ Os per load. A moderate supply and a slu'ggish demand. CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the week ending Dec. 24, 184:4 £4,425 I.i 6 Corresponding week last year . 4,236 2 1 Increase in 1854,, DEPLORABLE STATE OF OUR ARMY. (From the Times.) Are we, or are we not, to publish the letters that pour in from the Crimea? The question no longer concerns the graphic narratives of " Our Own Correspondent," for in this respect, just now, thanks to some amiable eooentricity of the post, we are rather behindhand. The ' question now concerns letters long and many, some ori ginal, from sergeants and privates, some copied by fair and anxious hands, from officers of all ranks in the army, from old colonels to youthful lieutenants—from everybody, in fact, excepting only the members of that faithful cordon that surrounds each general. Two months ago we could not have seen the letter of an officer containing some trifling reflections on the inevi table mishaps of an army on the march or in the field without being laid under the most solemn obligations not to publish it, or at least to disguise the source of our information. Now the whole army rushes into print. Parents, wives, brothers, the whole family circle, as if they no longer cared for promotion, and had forgotten the Horse Guards, urge us to publish, and tell the whole truth. It is life that is now uppermost in their thoughts—life, ex cepting only that a still sadder alternative than even death will occasionally obtrude itself. It is possible to purchase life by disgrace, but there is not a soldier's wife or parent in this country who would not rather hear of his d , ath, even by famine, by cholera, or at his post in the trenches, than that the honour of England had been compromised, and this vast human sacrifice wholly thrown away: While such, however, are the thoughts that distract half the noble and gentle households of this country, no wonder that reserve and the fear of official anger are cast aside, and we are entreated to publish each miser able narrative scrawled in the camp before Sebastopol. If we do so, it is the necessity of our position to let our comments follow the course of our intelligence, and not to cling to old hopes or idle conventionalities when we are confronted by the stern realities of the case, as re lated in our own columns. We can take no other basis than authentic intelligence, and hundreds of letters tell, in uniform language, the almost total disorganisation of our army in the Crimea, and its awful jeopardy, not from the Russians, but from an enemy nearer home —its own utter mismanagement. If we closed our columns and refused to publish a single let ter silly school boy, from the Crimea, it would only be t o g i ve greater weight to the letters that fill the colu mns o f our contemporaries, and which they are obliged to pub lish, sh written, v with thoughth the in flippancythe very f same an ill-conditioned pagealea ch d o r l: boy, affects to make light of our " exaggerations." It can no longer be doubted, or even denied, that the expedition to the Crimea is in a state of entire disorgani sation. All attempts to deny it only end in admitting the fact, and all excuses only throw the blame from one department to another. There is'net a single thing re quisite to the efficiency of an army, excepting only the personal courage of officers and men, that is not gone almost beyond the reach of remedy. At the last date the army was on half rations ; some regiments were two days without food ; the soldiers, and even most of the officers, were miserably ill-clad and ill-shod ; still without any sufficient protection from the rain overhead and the .pool under foot ; they lived in perpetual water and damp ; there was no drainage, and the whole camp was a sea of mud and filth, the hospital marquees being surrounded by the worst nuisances. There was still no road from the port at Balaklaya. Three or four thousand horses had pe rished from hunger, exposure, and overwork, and the remaining few were reduced to mere skeletons ; several regiments had been dranghted off to do the duty of beasts of burden, in tarrying food and other supplies from the port to the camp ; the winter clothing that had arrived at Balaklava could not be distributed, simply because there were not the means of conveying it to the camp ; the mortality was certainly not less than 60 a-day, while the number daily sent to the hospitals and not expected to resume service during the winter was very much greater ; there was a want of guns, of mortars, of shot, of shells, of fuel, of materials to make huts—of every thing whatever necessary not merely to offensive or de fensive operations, but to mere existence ; and the army was disappearing or only sustained by daily reinforce. ments, not because it was in the face of an enemy, but simply, as it would be in the heart of a desert, for want of all things by which life is supported. We cannot glance over the letters before us with out discovering more and more deficiencies. As for the soldiers, poor fellows ! they know their own wants, and that is all they can tell. The officers either look for death in the face, and resolve to stay on, or escape home on some pretence or other, sick• ened of a service which refuses fair play to the greatest courage and skill. The rnedicAl officers, no ill judges, were predicting that two-thirds of the army would perish before March. Everybody of any energy or. sense was sinking, not into apathy or inertness, but into despair. Meanwhile, Lord Raglan had scarcely been seen since the Battle of Inkerman. There was a general belief that he did riot know the state of things, that be felt himself wholly unequal to amend it, and that he accordingly kept out of sight of the ills he could not remove. Unfortunately for the credit of those in command, but fortunately fer truth and the eventual interests of this country, there existed the means of ascertaining how far this frightful disorder was inseparable from the design of the expedition, the situation of the army, and the cli mate, and how far it was the result of mismanagement. There was the French army, nearly twice in number, hard by. Here all was different. The men were still well fed and well looking, not the skeletons and scare crows to which our own countrymen have dwindled ; they were well clothed, and retained even some smart ness of uniform, while cur soldiers were creeping about with haybands round their feet, and in greatcoats that scarce held together ; their huts were generally up and weather-tight ; they had plenty of food, with the com mand even of luxuries; they had a sufficiency of waggons and ambulances, with great abundance of mules in good condition ; they could lend men to make a road for us, having completed a hard road from their own harbour before the bad weather sets pre vailed ithromosout -, v. hien , ' • - ' pain't and was :vier in the most . • with something be .s • ..1 disgust that the British seen anything more than the 1.0 for many a ,` v. i which was harm.., 540t0.) ag up - ,w tho balance mules lent us by the Fie:r.r..l , 1— , ;wan , * of the sick as well fed and strong as the tivy • ware landed at Gallipoli. Whererer the British come across •-r ' ... ~~ • rkly, the French it is to witness the same mortifying con trast, and it is impossible not to draw the conclu sion that the French are an army, and the British are not. In all domestic and civil affairs we pride ourselves on our organisation, order, neatness, comfort, and abun dance of all the materials of health and strength. Ii the scale of war we are found utterly wanting in these things. It is impossible to check the process of reason ing which refers to the fault of system a difference so marked and so disgraceful. The British soldier can not but perceive that the Frenchman is commanded by officers who understand their profession, and, what i■ more, feel a paramount interest in the condition of the common Bolan ; whereas this cannot be the case in his own army. But what is to be done t The answer, of course, in some quarters is " Nothing." There are indeed people, and they not without patriotism, who would rather the expedition were wholly unsuccessfdl, and that the Bri tish Isles sank under the ocean, than that one iota of the official system of patronage, of seniority, and of all that semblance of order that has kept up the Masi** of military strength through a profound peace of forty years, should be rudely ■wept away or reformed. There are people who would think it a less unhappy consum mation of affairs that the Commander-in-Chief and his staff should survive alone on tke heights of Sebastopol, decorated, ennobled, duly named in despatch after de spatch, and ready to return home to enjoy pensions and honours, amid the bones of fifty thousand British sel -1 diers, than that the equanimity of office and the good humour of society should be disturbed by a single recall, or a new appointment over the heads of those now in command. These people, of course, assume that success is no test of energy and skill, or that energy and skill are of no importance in the conduct of an army, which in war, as in peace, is only a Government organ for the advancement of the aristocracy and the support of the Ministry for the time being. We protest most solemnly against this view of our army, or any other view, except the simplest possible one,—that an army is an organ for the defence of a country against its enemies, and the maintenance of its interests and honour, and should, at every reasonable cost of money and of feeling, be made as effective as possible. We will not admit that that which has been must continuo to be, or that the present working of the army in its higher ranks has at all justi fied its management for the last 40 years, even though the name of the Great Duke be cited in favour of it. No. If thewreek of the army, if the honour of our country, if the great cause at, stake, if the position of the British empire, are to be saved, it must be by throwing over board, without a day's delay, all scruples of personal friendship, of official punctilio, of aristocratic feeling and courtly subservience, and immediately putting experi. ence, ability, energy, and merit, even in their roughest and most unpalatable forms, in the conduct, and even at the head of affairs. There can be no interest greater than that of the whole common weal, for with its down fall every other must sink to a common destruction. So no reason can be given, and no excuse will be admitted, against immediately superseding in their commands those who have proved themselves unable to be incap able of performing the duties to which favour, seniority; or mistake has advanced them. After all, it is no dis grace to a man that he does not possess the genius of a Wellington or even of a Hill. But it is a crime in a War Minister to permit an nfficer to remain for a single day in the nominal discharge of duties the neglect of which has brought a groat and victorious army to the verge of ruin. (Front the Morning Herald.) Tn our article of Friday vindicating Lord Raglan's oonduct upon certain points against the attacks of the Times, and the perhaps equally injurious defence of the Globe, we mentioned that there were matters upon which his lordship's conduct was really open to censure, and that we should point these out, though without unneces sary bitterness. Oae of the circumstances from which our unlucky but glorious soldiers have suffered most in the Eastern ex pedition has been the utter recklessness and favouritism with which the officers appointed to staff situations have been selected. Our readers are well aware that to the hard-working regimental officer an appointment to a staff situation is an object of the most intense ambition, as being almost the only opening by which he can make his way to distinction and honour. These appointments, we need hardly say, are left al most entirely in the hands of the officers of the line, when their duties are to be performed in India, at the Cape, China, or other remote and barbarous localities, which have been the ordinary theatres of our wars for about 40 years gone by. From this it results that by the officers of the line is monopolised almost the entire experience of the army in the performance of staff duties. Notwithstanding this, when the war broke out nearer home, and that staff appointments became objects of ambition to those who had never had an occasion or op portunity of acquiring a knowledge of the duties required in such positions, the experienced officers of the hard working line were in a great degree set aside, and the posts in question were bestowed with a disregard to knowledge and fitness on the part of the authorities which the public can hardly be expected to credit. Now we beg to disclaim, in the most explicit man ner, any wish or intention to join in the vulgar cry which has often been raised against the household troops. Further than that, we should wish to see mat ters managed in such a way as would not expose them to unmerited—as far as they are individually concerned —unpopularity, and that the array in general should not suffer by any preference shown to them. In one word, we concede that finer, nobler, bolder, or better soldi ers th an th e G uar ds an d th e i r officers do not exist upon the face of the earth • but that, in the ordi nary course of even t s, i t i s simply a matter of impossi bility that the latter should or could have acquired a knowledge of staff duties in the field. Now, from the duties devolving upon them, the pro per selection of the staff is of more importance to the army than that of any other class ; and although we are quite aware that every man must begin at some time, we maintain that they ought invariably to begin in subordinate situations, and that men should not -be chosen to fill important situations from family connec tions, or from the mere fact of their having filled offices in the Horse Guards of a nature requiring for their per formance more the merits of a civilian than those of a soldier. This is, as we have said, a matter involving the safety of the army and the honour of the country, and requires in the selections for those posts more than any other, to be guided by the merits of the candidates, and by their merits alone. Now, bearing in mind what we have said of the prima facie difficulty, not to say impossibility, of certain classes acquiring the field practice necessary for the perform ance of those duties, we shall merely say that Lord Rag lan's personal staff, consisting of six individuals, was composed of three guardsmen, one peer, and two honourables. Again, we protest. against its being supposed that we object to anything in this except the almost necessary want of apprenticeship implied in the seleetion. The duties may have been right well per formed ; but we merely state that the probabilities at first sight were against it. Of course what we may say of the household troops must apply to the cavalry regi ments which do not ordinarily serve in the colonies. We do not wish to go ,through the list ; but any old soldier, going over the names of the general and per sonal staff of the army, will agree with us, that through the entire staff the selections were made more with consideration for private and public favour and affection than with an enlightened view to the safety and well-being of the army. No proof of this can be more convincing than the fact, easily ascertained, of the number of appointments in the expedition given to gentlemen who had been long enjoying easy berths in the Horse Guards and War-office, and who were so permitted to appropriate the ehoice posts both in pence and war. Again, we beg to assure our readers that it is a system which we are objecting to, and that we have no motive but a public one in referring to it. Our readers will hardly believe that officers who had served several campaigns abroad, and were ps n ectly conversant with field duties, were refused employment upon the plausible grounds that "it was necessary to give others a chance cf learning their duties." This might be very well if only applied to the very subordi nate ranks, but was utterly inapplicable to the higher posts, where experienco must he acquired at the expense of and by means of injury suffered by the army in ge neral. As a proof of the necessity of employing per sons who have acquired a practical knowledge of their profession, we shall take the example of the utter de• struction of the Light Brigade, not only by means of the iatal charge at Balaklava, but by what we must call the most astounding mismanagement after that event. . . We do not wish to mention names in the reference to this unhappy event ; but our readers must recollect that an order was given by one stag officer—conveyed by an other—received by a third—and that the result was the most useless massacre, among many such, of British troops recorded in our military annals. With reference to this we shall oily farther remark, that so utterly ignorant did all parties appear to be of the nature of their duties, that the officer who carried the order absolutely-headed the operation which a major general was conducting, and was killed far in advance of the brigade. Now, this officer's absolute duty was to return to the general is..om whom he brought the order, and report the delivery and execution of the in stractions with which •. entrusted. We can fancy Gen en's face had any subordi nate officer +.lrizr ' , section with his division. Upon this 1 7-.4 I not dwell further than to remark that it . • c •ral ignorance of staff duties. The charge was b... 1 • . but what are we to say to what followed! Immediately after the fatal day of the 25th the re• mains of the brigade were ordered up from the neigh bourhood of l3alaklava, and placed in the rear of the siege works, at a distance of several miles from the post. TI , J commissary represented to the authority, that when . up it paid be physically 'l,o_o_ , Me horses with forage. No •mtif.7e was taLen of his remonstrance. The horses Nve._ J. ought up, and left exposed, not only to hardship—standing up to their knees in slush with out any shelter, but to starvation. The commissary was right, and for several days the unfortunate horses were supplied with 31b of oats or barley per diem, which as the nose-bags were worn out, and frequent requisitions for new ones had never been attended to, the men were obliged to lay on the muddy ground before the horses, when, of course, the half of even this scanty allowance was of necessity buried in the mud, and lost. The natural consequences ensued—the poor horses wore starved, died in dozens at their pickets, and, in fact, were reduced to such a state that the survivors absolutely ate the hair off the ribs of their dead comrades. This looks like exaggeration, but is a literal authenticated fact, and was entirely owing to staff ignorance or neglect. In reference to the qualifications neeessat I for the performance of staff duties, an officer who has been himself for 20 years employed, and has ably performed his duties in that department, has given us the following list. The staff officer, to be efficient should beacquainted with— Field fortification. Duties of infantry. Duties of cavalry. Duties of artillery. Re should be a good horseman. Unierstand military sketching. lie should be acquainted with, at least, two foreign lan guages, and should have a general knowledge of military history. We should like to know how many officers on the staff of the army of the Crimea have been selected with reference to any of the above acquirements, • and we fear we should be obliged to make answer, in the words of the able and efficient solder whom we have quoted above, that the majority of them do net know a bastion from the Tower of Babel. We find that we have again reached our limit for the day, and that we shall be obliged to recur once again to the painful consideration of how much of the sufferings of the soldiers are due to radical errors in the organisation of the expedition, and how much of them might have been prevented by the most ordinary precaution and foresight. TIIII CIVIL SERVlClL—Registrar-General's Depart ment, Scotland ; Mr. John Stewart has been appointed chief clerk in the Registrar-General's office, Edinburgh, under the recent act for the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Scotland. Customs: Mr. W. C. Maclean, controller at Dover, has been promoted to be collector at Truro. Mr. J. Bull, collector and land ing-surveyor at Rye, has been promoted to be controller and landing-surveyor at Dover. Mr. W. A. Gent, con troller at Barnstaple, has been promoted to be collector and landing-surveyor at Rye. Mr. J. H. Davidson, sub-collector at Ramsay, Isle of Man, has been pro moted to be controller &0., at Wesport. Mr. Ratart Hicks, clerk at Grimsby, has been appointed to be sub collector at Ramsay, Isle of Man. Mr. E. Cullen has been appointed clerk for general business in London. Mr. C. Fogden has been appointed clerk for general business in London. Mr. J. A. Stebbin has been ap pointed clerk to the inspector-general of imports soil ex port; in London.--Civi4 Senio Onftte. 911 1 1 60a ex arre 107 100 i li 241 5 68 SI 69i / 52 I t 143 13 I 21 9i MEMORANDUM ON THE BATTLE OF INKERMAN. We learn from numerous communications by the last mail from the army that the account of the battle of Inkerman contained in Lord Raglan's public despatch has excited strong feelings of sur prise and dissatisfaction among an important part of the forces engaged in that memorable action. The accounts already received from many other sources have already enabled the Ministers of the Crown in Parliament, and the public throughout Europe, to do full justice to the heroic achieve- ments of the brigade of the Guards on that day ; but, in order to remove all uncertainty as to the conduct of these gallant troops, we publish the following authentic account of the position and, Movements of the Guards in the battle, which will effectually remove the erroneous impression that any part of the Brigade wore " obliged to retire" in the course of the action : "The Brigade of Guar's were the fr3t on the scene of action on the right, and in advance of the Second Di , vision, and not tie Light, Division, as might be inferred from the latter being mentioned first in the official de spatch. The Grenadier 9. , A1 Scots Fusilier Guards, upon the first a'a - rn being given by the advanced pickets of the Second Division, fell in, and marched off without a moment's de'ay towards the extreme right of the Second Division. The Grenadiers led the advance, the Fusi liers followirg. These two regimen's—one in support of the other, neither of them being as that time above 400 strong—immediately advanced in front of the align. inent of the second Division, and perceived that the Russians had just taken possessiou.of a sandbag bat tery, out of which they had driven a small picket of the 55th Regiment. The Grenadiers came down to the charge and drove the Russians out. So quickly had the advance of the Guards been effected that the Gre nadiers succeeded in driving the Russians out of this small work, which was 700 yards in front of the right of the Second Division alignment, befor e that division had been able to send any troops to supp ort its own picket. Having reached the battery, and cleared it of the Russians, the centre of the Grenadiers o ccup i e d it, while their right and left flanks were thrown back nearly at right angles, so as to line the ridge of the long projecting tongue of land at the extremity of which the sandbag battery was erected. The Soots Fusiliers continued the line on the left of the Grenadiers, their left also thrown back towards, but not meeting, the right of the Second Division. These two regiments, and subse quently the Coldstreams, now commenced an action. against almost overwhelming numbers of the enemy, who were at one time trying to turn the right, at another the left flank of the Guards, and constantly sending up fresh troops to drop before the iron line opposed to them. "The official despatch states that the Brigade of Guards went to the front and took up most important ground on the right of the Second Division • it was, in fact, 700 yards in its front. It is also stated that powerful columns of infantry attacked with vigour the Brigade of Guards ; yet, notwithstanding this and the acknow ledged importance of the position, no reinforcement came up to the assistance of these two weak battalions. The Russians, finding they made no impression on the fron t of the Guards, attempted to turn their right flank, and came up the hill in a large mass to the right rear of the Grenadiers. To prevent this the Grenadiers withdrew about 50 or 100 yards, 'so as to keep the enemy in their front, and at that moment the Coldstream Guards made their appearance on the field ; and the Grenadiers feeling that they had a support, extended a little to their proper right, and charged the enemy clear of the sand bag battery a second time, also driving them away from the side of the hill up which they had come to turn the right flank. The Grenadiers and Fusiliers now took up their position as before ; the Coldstreams formed line in continuation of the left of the Fusiliers ; the 20th Regiment also formed line to their left again ; but still this line did not touch the Second Division position. It was n ow about h a lf-p as t 9 a.m . Th e hottest fire was kept up against the repeated attacks of the advancing columns. The ammunition already began to fail ; the men made use of that of their dead and wounded com rades, and in some instances of that of dead and wounded Russians. A fresh supply at last came np from the rear, which enabled the men to keep up this unequal contest for three more hours, not a man of the brigade quitting ranks but by order, to reinforce sometimes the right, sometimes the left, acoording tomhere the Rus sians appeared most numerous. During this prolonged and determined attack, part of the Fourth Division arrived from the right rear, and, keeping on the side of the hill on the extreme right of the Brigade of Guards, commenced a manoeuvre to outflank the Russian left. Part of the Brigade of Guards joined in this move ment ; the remainder, much reduced by casualties and the advance on the right, as above described, continued to maintain themselves in their former position, with the right of the Grenadiers resting on the battery. Again the ammunition was beginning to fail, many fire locks would not go off, and were exchanged for others on the field. The Russians at last advance i in very great force against the centre of the English position, in front of which the Brigade of Guards were considerably ad vanced, and the enemy for a time succeeded in forcing it. The Coldstreams, seeing this movement, and seeing that their left flank would he turned, faced their men ' fours left,' and continued in a parallel line with the Russians till they reached the Second Division align ment, followed by part of the Fusiliers, where they both I halted and fronted. "The Grenadiers, now only 100 strong, with their two colours, and the right flank of the Fusiliers, not seeing the advance of the Reskirins against the centre of the position, in consequence of the thick brushwood that interposed arid the undulating nature of the ground, continued to maintain themselves against the ever-re peated attacks of the Rusr,ian divisions opposed to them, notwithstanding the inereasing failure of their ammuni tion. It was now about half-past 12. The brigade had been uninterruptedly under fire fer between fire and six hours, when the Russ:sns having advanced in great force towards the centre of the English position, the left of that attack brought their right shoulders forward, and were seen coming down upon the rear of the small remnant of the Grenadiers and few Fusiliers. Thus circumstanced, those men who still hail any Ammunition were ordered to fire to the front, while the remainder charged through the advancing line that was coming down upon them in rear, broke it, and, with their colours in safety, took up their posi tion on the extreme right of the position, not in rear of (as has been stated), but in line with parts of several regiments of the Second Division, which were then in a breastwork in front of the Second division encampment. It was not till a few minutes later—that is, at about half-past 12 or 1 o'clock—that the French regiments for the first time came up to that part of the field where the Brigade of Guards had been for six hours. Men of different regiments of the line were during the whole morning most gallantly fight ing in the ranks with the Brigade of Guards, but only two or three companies of the line, as reinforce. ments, came up to or near the sandbag battery to assist in keeping possession of it during the whole day. The Guards were now soon served out with fresh ammunition, and were again ready to meet the enemy as soon as their services might be required. After remaining in the breastwork abovemeutioned about an hour, they were ordered by the Duke of Cambridge `e unite with the remainder of the brigade (that lad advanced with the Fourth Diviqion to outflank the Russian left), and which was now in the centre of the Second Division encampment. This was done, and the brigade lay down in line rear of the bat teries, against which the Russians opened, for above an hour more, a heavy fire '•onr large field pieces. The brigade while in this position lest several more men. About 3 p.m. the firing ceased ; the troops marched to their respective encampments at half•past three ; and the Russians, having withdrawn all their artillery, were seen retiring in considerable disorder across the valley of the Tchernaya, leaving 7,000 or 8,000 killed and wounded on the field ; some say 10,000." STATE OF TRADE. ( From the Manchester Guardian of this day.) MANCHESTRR, Dec. 29.—Since Tuesday, no notice able change has shown itself in our market, which has a quiet Christmas like air about it. NOTTINGHAM, Dec. 29.—This having been holiday week, most of the warehouses have been closed. In the hosiery and lace trades there is as much doing as is usual at this season. The hosiery trade is expected to take a turn for the better in consequence of the United States tariff being altered in favour of this production, and which comes into operation on the let of January. BRADFORD, Dec. 29.—Wool—There is no improve ment in the demand for wool. The prices sought in the country act as a drawback to its coming freely to mar ket. Yarns—This being a holiday market, the quan tity of yarns spun has been very trifling ; there is no inducement to increase the supply, and this can only be effected by higher prices becoming current. Pieces— There is no change since our last, but the general opinion augurs more favourably for the coming year. The stocks of goods were never, during the last twenty years, known to be anything like so small. LEICESTER, Dec. 29.—This being a holiday week, manufacturers are employed in taking stock and preps. rations for the coming year. ►WOOLLEN TRADE. (Prom the Leeds Mercury of this day.) a n L ie E r E e n ly s, n D om ec i . n 2 al 9 .—kinTdh.e mßaroktehtsotnhissawteuerkdahyainedbeTueneosf. day the-e was a very slight attendance in the Cloth•balls, and only a very indifferent business was done. There has been eery little business done in the warehouses this week hoyond stock-takin g , which is the principa employment at prese n t. I HUDDERSFIELD, Dec. 26.- —The market has been so very flat for a long time back, that we could hardly find language to vary the dull m onotony. This peek the best description would be to say no market at all. ROCHDALE, D ec . 26.--We have bad a very thin at. I 1 tendance of buyers in the market to-day, and a limited 1 , amount of business transacted at last week's prices. There will not be much business done besides making up the Christmas accounts till the new market, which will be the first Monday after the 6th of January. j HALIFAx, Dec. 23.—We have had quite a lifeless market to-day, very much different from the two pre ceding a v w e e t e o k s r e ; m b a u r but as furthera s dul dulness etshsait prices ntrad e o is f the rauswualmacha racteristic of this particular season, we think less of it, , and have rial are maintained with steady firmness as quoted a 1 fortnight since. Stocks of wool do not accumulate at i present. 61 i 21 2i 2 16i i 21 i