The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-08 00:00:00

NEW YEAR'S SONG, A HAPPY new year ! Oh, the faces that beam In memory's people land, As again, in the spring of my youth I seem The wildest of home's sweet band ! The Christmas log, and the ruddy blaze, And the smiles by that warm hearth shining; Recollection hath nothing, in after days, Round its ruins more firmly twining. Breathe it once more—for I love the strain, But whisper, " A happy new year ;" For the echo is fraught with tones that again In our world I shall never hear. To dream of crushed flowers—of broken chords — Of kindness long passed from earth — Of silvery laughter—of gentle words— Doth that simple wish give birth. Though the woodman's axe may have rent the tree, Yet summer'sventle rain Will summon to life and radiancy, From the seared trunk, leaves again ; So those sweet sounds come in freshness back, And fall upon sorrow's ear, Till Memory's flowers spring on Time's worn track, As ye wish me " A happy new year." I feel that trial and pain for me Round the untried months must coil, But I know there's a haven on life's rough sea, Where the billows in tumult boil. Yes, Bethlehem's star, when the skies are dark, With its Christmas light will appear; So away—l boldly launch my bark On the depths of the untried year ! LITERATURE. Journal kept during the Russian War : from the Departure of the Arm from England in April, 1854, to the Fall of Sebastopol. By Mrs. Henry Duberly. London : Longman and Co. The volume of her experiences and reflections which Mrs. Duberly has given to the world, relative to her observations of scenes, incidents, and events connected with the war, from its commencement to th e comple tion of the irst act of the great and tragic drama, will be read with interest by all, but with very dif ferent feelings by many. Differing from most, if not from all, the narratives which have yet been pub lished, this journal is chiefly valuable from the cir cumstance that it consists entirely of memoranda jotted down on the instant at which the occurrence was noted. It is consequently more thoroughly the reflex of feeling instantly excited than can be found in those more laboured narratives, in which the ex pression of sentiment is cautiously evoked, and the indication of feeling is sedulously built up. The authoress, Mrs. Duberly, seems to have been ad mirably fitted to enact, with becoming spirit, the arduous character of a soldier's wife, in a hard and harrowing campaign. Active, light-hearted, and un repining, she shared the anxieties and viscissitudes, dared many of the dangers, and experienced many of the hardships of the army. She accompanied her husband from England, and with him encountered the perils of the camp at Varna, endured the yet greater perils of the winter of 1854-5 before Sebas topol, continuing her spirited narrative through the dreadful storm of battle and conflict which preceded the crowning glory of the strife, and which enabled the gal lant victors to plant the standards of the Allies over the ruined citadel of Sebastopol. Under all the vary ing circumstances which accompanied these harrow ing and often disheartening scenes, and bearing up against the privations by which they were so fatally marked, she pursued the tenor of her journal, which is always lively, and frequently freighted with matter of suggestive interest ; its chief characteristic being the fidelity with which it reflects the predominating feel ing of the camp. It is often sad and sorrowful, though never desponding; and it is obviously con structed more con amore when the authoress was contemplating the bright than when studying the sombre side of camp life. Undismayed by the perils, and unsubdued by the sufferings which surround her at every interval of actual danger, and at the slightest relaxation from the physical miseries which they endured, Mrs. Duberly was ready to enjoy the pas times and chronicle the sports of the soldiery. An enthusiastic equestrian and a passionate admirer of horses, the steeple-chases by which, in the spring, the officers of the light cavalry sought, in some degree, to relieve the horrors of the winter, were to her a source of satisfaction and delight. More serious matters than the " events "of a steeple-chase form the general material of her diversified narrative. Caught in the dreadful storm of the 14th of November, in the har bour of Balaklava, she scrambled with desperate forti tude, from ship to ship, until she gained the cliff, where she witnessed, and thus describes A SCENE OP SHIPWRECK. At the moment after my arrival, the devoted and most beautiful little clipper-ship Wild Wave " was riding to her death. Her captain and crew—all but three small boys—had deserted her at nine o'clock; and she was now, with all her masts standing, and helpless freight on board, drifting, with her graceful outlines and her heart of oak, straightway to her doom. She is under our feet. God have mercy on those children now ! Captain Frain, Captain Liddell, and some seamen heave a rope downwards, at which one boy springs, but the huge wave is rolling backwards, and he is never seen again. A second time they hurl it down to the boy standing on the stern frame, but the ship surging down upon the ruth less rocks, the deck parts beneath his feet, and he is torn, mangled and helpless, but clinging still, until a wave springs towards him eagerly, and claims him for the sea. The third and last survivor catches at the friendly rope, and, swooning with exhaustion and fear, he is laid upon the rock ; while in a moment, with one single bound, the little ship springs up wards as though she, too, was imploring aid, and falls back a scattered mass, covering the sea with splinters, masts, cargo, hay, bread, and ropes. As a delineator of battle-pieces, Mrs. Duberly pos sesses considerable power, and much minuteness of description ; the following is her narrative of THE STORMING OP THE MAMELON, AND THE UNSUCCESSPUL ATTACH UPON THE MALAKHOPF. What a vehement fire ! and all directed on the one spot. Two rockets in quick succession are gone up, and a moment after comes the third. Presently the slope of the Mamelon is covered with men, ascending separately and rapidly ; not marching up in line, as our infantry would have done, but scattered like a flock of sheep. Two guns, hitherto masked, in the Mamelon open quickly upon them ; but they rush up, and form when they reach the entrenchment. For a time we can see nothing but clouds of smoke. The guns are all silent now,—nothing but the volley and file-firing of musketry. The Russians, standing on the fort, fire down on the advancing French ; but presently some men are seen leaving the Mamelon and rushing towards the Malakhoff. * * * The noise in front commences again, and I see men in hundreds rushing from the Mamelon to the Malakhoff. Per Dio ! they are not satisfied with what they have gained, but are going to try for the Malakhoff, with all its bristling guns. Under what a storm of fire they advance, supported by that impenetrable red line, which marks our own infantry ! The fire from the Malakhoff is tremendous—terrible; but all amidst that the steadiness of the French under it is magnificent. On our left the sun is setting with all his glory, but looking lurid and angry through the smoky atmosphere, that is becoming dense and oppressive from perpetual firing. Pre sently the twilight deepens, and the light of rocket, mortar, and shell falls over the beleaguered town. All the world knows that the attacks on the nearly impregnable fortresses of Sebastopol were, at last, crowned with victory ; the curious sojourners in the camp were, of course, eager to behold the captured batteries, which it had cost so much of labour and of life to subdue, and our heroine was an early visitor to the scene of conflict and of triumph. Here is her DESCRIPTION OP THE CAPTURED REDAN. What wonderful engineering ! What ingenuity in the thick rope-work which is woven before the guns, leaving only a little hole, through which the man laying the gun can take his aim, and which is thoroughly impervious to rifle shot ! The Redan is a succession of little batteries, each containing two or three guns, with traverses behind each division ; and bidden away under gabions, sandbags, and earth, are little huts in which the officers and men used to live. Walkiag down amongst these (for we were obliged to dismount),, we found that tradesmen had lived in some of them. Henry (her husband) picked up a pair of lady's lasts the precise size of my own foot. Coats, caps, bayonets lay about, with black bread and broken guns. Thelair journalist gives a description, equally gra phic and interesting, of her EXPERIENCES IN SEBASTOPOL. Actually in Sebastopol! No longer looking at it through a glass, or even going.dewn to it, but riding amongst its ruins an d through its streets. We had fancied the town was almost uninjured—so calm, and white, and fair did it look from a distance; but the ruined walls, the riddled roofs, the green cupola of the church, split and splintered to ribands, told a very different tale. Here were wide streets leading past one or two large handsome detached houses built of stone ; a little further on, standing in a handsome open space , are the bar racks, with large windows, a fine stone façade of great length, several of the lower windows having carronades run out of them, pointing their grim muzzles towards our batteries. Whilst I am gazing at these, a sudden exclamation from Henry, and a violent shy from the pony, nearly start me from my saddle. It is two dead Russians lying, almost in a state of decomposition, at an angle of the building; while in the cor ner a man is sitting up, with his hands in his lap, and eyes open, looking at us. We turn to see if he is only wounded, so life-like are his attitudes and face ; no, he has been dead for days. This journal is interesting and curious on many grounds. It is full of vigorously-hit-off pictures of camp life. It is lively in tone, and is remarkable as a chronicle of the actual incidents of war from the pen of an observant and courageous woman. Dort, A 'odor Antonio : A Tale. By the Author of " Lorenzo Benoni." Edinburgh : T. Constable and Co. This is a story constructed on the sam e sor t o f mo d e l as that by which its author won his way cleverly and securely into the good graces and affections of the reading public. The story, which is domestic in its commencement, and pleasingly sweet and touching— so long as it retains that form—towards its conclusion becomes burde ne d w ith the heavy air of political speculation, and is rendered in no small degree repul sive by the int ro d uc ti on o f an official report of the oppressive events resulting from the political tragedy which opened rather than terminated, in Sicily, on the 15th of May, 1848. This is a sort of doctrinal engraftment which we look on as reprehensible, on many accounts. It is a mixing up of truth and fiction in a way bewildering to common notions. It is, to some extent, equivalent to the proceeding of a man who obtains entrance to your domicile by presenting the credentials of another. When established, he may turn out a very proper and estimable 'man, but we can never get rid of the idea that however candid and well behaved Mr. Tompkins may prove to be upon acquaintance, he is not the Mr. Smith he represented himself to be, and must, therefore, continue to labour under the odium of having been introduced into the family under false pretences. This is a great pity. The author of " Doctor Antonio" requires no such artifice. If he wants to tell a story of political wrong, suffering, and cruelty, he is obviously quite competent to the task of efficiently and persuasively telling it. His tale of fiction is well and beautifully conveyed, artistically contrived, and ingeniously worked out. The language, too, is nervously expressive and un encum beredly pure. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman .Empire. By Edward Gibbon. With variorum Notes. Edited, with further illustrations from the most recent sources, by an English Churchman. Vol. VII. London : Henry G. Bohn. The seventh volume of this work completes it, and adorns with a handsome and cheap copy of Gibbon's great historical work, the admirable series of British classics which Mr. Bohn has for so many months past been spiritedly carrying on. A criticism on Gibbon at this time of day would be as much out of place as it would be superfluous, and might be deemed presump tuous ; but it cannot be open to the same objection to offer gratulation to the book-buyers of the middle classes on the completed publication of so important a work, at a rate which places it readily within reach of their purchase. It is complete in all respects, is amply illustrated by notes of reference and explanation, is furnished with a copious index, and consists of an unmutilated text. These advantages, combined with its cheapness, form the best recommendation of this edition, and an enumeration of them constitutes its highest eulogy. CALVIN'S CORRESPONDENCE.—In a letter written by Dr. d'Aubigne, which has appeared in the Record, the learned historian says : A few days before he expired, in 1564, Calvin was in his library with Theodore de Beza, and, showing him the immense correspondence he had kept up, for above a quarter of a cen tury, with the most Evangelical Christians and the highest personages of Europe, proposed to him to publish it for the Church's instruction. This wish of the dying Reformer was but tardily and partially accomplished in the sixteenth cen tury ; but a literary man and a Christian of our days, M. Jules Bonnet, Docteures-Lettres, has undertaken, after the lapse of three hundred years, to fulfil Calvin's wish ; and five years spent in travelling in Switzerland, in France, and in Ger many, careful studies and researches in the libraries of these different countries, have enabled him to form a collection which will throw a fresh light on the history of the Reforma tion. This correspondence, which terminates only on Calvin's death-bed, embraces every period of his life, and contains at the same time the familiar effusions of friendship, grave theo logical statements, and elevated views of the politics of Pro testantism. We see in it the Reformer reproving, with all respect and dignity, the Queen of Navarre, Marguerite de Valois, sister of Francis 1., exhorting the young King of Eng land, Edward VI., as a Chiristian Mentor speaking to his Telemachus, conversing with Melanchthon, Bullinger, Knox, Conde, Coligny, the Duchess of Ferrara, daughter of Louis XII., Jeanne d'Albret, mother of Henry IV., we see him with standing libertines, strengthening martyrs, upholding all the Churches. This correspondence is published in Paris in the original languages. An English edition is published by Thomas Constable and Co., of Edinburgh, and the first volume has just appeared. The English publication is, in some re spects, superior to the French. NEW MUSIC. Cathedral Chimes, and The Gondola. By Albert Lindahl. We do not know Albert Lindahl ; but we have two of his compositions before us, from the house of Cramer, Beale, and Co., of a very high character— " The Gondola," and " Cathedral Chimes," both for the pianoforte. " All was silent and still, when sud denly, in the distance, there were heard the low tones of .a flute, whose sounds accorded so harmoniously with the mild rays of the moon, that it might have been imagined that the music was its beams, which thus melodiously fell upon the earth," is the motto prefixed to " The Gondola ;" and it embodies exactly the character of its music, which is extremely beautiful, it having " a dying fall, that comes o'er the ear like the sweet south breathing o'er beds of violets." It is very delightful to listen to. The " Cathedral Chimes" is a more ambitious, but an equally successful effort. Who has not loved to listen to the carillons played upon the bells of any of our minsters ; whether they strike the ear amidst the glare of day, or come stealing upon us in the silent hours of the night ? Then most musical and solemn, bringing back the olden times, With their strange unearthly changes, rang I he melancholy chimes; Like the psalms from some old cloister, when the nuns sing in the choir, And the great bell toll'd among them, like the chantingof a friar. Thus sung Longfellow ; and, in the music of Albert Lindahl, we find all the ideas here suggested, except that of melancholy ; Jessica was " always melancholy when she heard sweet music." Such strains have not that effect on us. A delightful feeling of resignation, peace, and hope, is inspired in our minds, the very reverse of melancholy. Such feelings " The Cathedral Chimes" are well calculated to produce ; they sink into the heart, and remain there. A more charming artistic composition we have not heard for some time. It should be in the music Porte feuille of every body. —Yorkshire Gazette. VAR LE TIE S. ANOTHER RIGHT MAN IN THE RIGHT PLACE.—We un derstand that the direction of the city electric telegraph has been entrusted to Alderman Wire.— Conic Times. A JUDGE OF POR K .—" N o man, " says M rs. P art i ngton, " was better calculated to judge of pork than my poor husband was; when he was a living man, he knew what good hogs were, for he bad been bro ug ht up w ith ' em f rom childhood. ' - A PUBLICAN'S WIT.—A publican in Stokes'-croft, pro voked, a few days ago, by the impropriety of some Land Transports billetted on him, exclaimed, " I honour and wish every success to her Majesty's arms, but as for their sup porters, they are beasts.—Bristol paper. THE WAY TO THE WORICHOUSE.—John Reeve was ac costed on the Kensington-road by an elderly female, with a small bottle of gin in her hand. " Pray, sir—l beg , your pardon—is this the way to the workhouse ?" John gave her a look of clerical dignity, and pointing to the bottle, gravely said, " No, madam, but that is." DISCIPLINE IN CHILDHOOD.--I am firmly persuaded that indulgence infallibly produces selfishness and hardness of heart, and that nothing but a pretty severe discipline and control can lay the foundation of a magnanimous character.— Lord Jeffrey. WHICH Is THE WEARER SEX P—Females are called the weaker sex, but why? If they are not strong, who is ? When men must wrap themselves in thick garments, and encase the whole in a stout overcoat to shut out the cold, women in thin silk dresses, with neck and shoulders bare, or nearly so, say they are perfectly comfortable! When men wear waterproof boots over woollen hose, and encase the whole in indiarubber, to keep them from freezing, women wear thin silk hose and cloth shoes, and pretend not to feel the cold ! When men cover their heads with furs, and then complain of the severity of the weather, women hang an apology for a bonnet at the back of their heads, and ride or walk about in north-east winds, professing not to suffer at all ! NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S HUNTING DIARY.—A correspondent of the Northern Ensign says a book is shortly to be published by Colonel Rawlinson upon further discoveries he has made : " He found Nebuchadnezzar's hunting diary with notes, and here and there a portrait of his dogs, sketched by himself, with his name under it. He mentions in it having been ill, and whilst he was delirous, he thought he had been turned out to graze like the beasts of the field. Is not this a wonder ful corroboration of Scripture ? Rawlinson also found a pot of preserved in an excellent state, and gave some to the Queen to taste. How little Nebuchadnezzar's cook dreamt, when making them, that, 26 centuries after, the Queen of Eng land would eat some of the identical preserves that figured at her master's table." FROM, PUNCH'S ALMANACK FOR 1866. ----- SCIENTIFIC PROBLHAL—If electricity annihilates time, how abont,the electric clock ? GOOD Lucs will drive hedge-hogs to market, and when he gets 'em there, will find 'em all guinea-pigs. How TO BB HAPPY.—Reason yourself out of as many desires as you can, and gratify as many of the rest as possible. HIGH ART.—The highest specimens of art in London are undoubtedly Sir James Thornhill's paintings in the dome of St. Paul's. 'WINTER ADVICE TO YOUNG- LADIES.—Thin shoes lead to damp feet; damp feet bring on a cough; a cough may termi nate in a coffin. THE PICILOSOPIIY OF SMOKING.—Fast young men smoke a great deal, for it is the nature of a rake to have a quantity of weeds about him. WHAT is A BABY ?—why, a b a b y i s a living I. 0. U. a " little Bill" drawn upon Manhood, that is only honoured when it arrives at maturity. INFALLIBLE REMEDIES AGAINST THE GOUT.—Turn post man or get a situation as usher in a cheap school, or go into the workhouse, or, better still, board with a Scotch family. CLASSICAL BUT TRUE.—Dandies should remember, that when Diana wished to punish Acton in the most degrading manner, she turned him into a buck. THE BEST DOOIL-MlT.—The mat that, on his return home, cleans the husband's shoes of every bit of out-door care. N.B. No family should be without one. CRUEL KINDNESS.—The parish would present Mr. Dobbs with a silver cake-basket, and Mrs. Dobbs (it is the complaint of D.) will ruin him in giving parties to show it.—Beware of testimonials. ADULTERATION or FooD.—A cockney wag of unculti vated aspirations was heard to s a y, th a t b a k ers ' b rea d re mindedhim of the middle ages : because he always associated the idea of it with Hallam. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. THE WAR. DESPATCHES have been received during the week from General Codrington, the most important feature of which is the report of Dr. Hall, the principal medical officer to the Bri tish army. From that we learn the gratifying fact that the troops continue healthy, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, which has been wet and stormy. The total num ber of patients admitted to the hospital, in the week ending Dec. Bth, was 1,093, and the deaths were 38; against 1,059 ad missions and 37 deaths in the previous week. From the Crimea the news communicated continues to be but little "stuffed with epithets of war," and it remains, as it has done for some weeks past, more fertile in conjecture and more rife with criticism than full of incident or rich in stirring events. The Times' correspondent, writing on the 13th of December, from the camp before Sebastopol, says in reference to A STORM OF RAIN AND WIND : The storm howled and raved fearfully over the camp last night, and was laden with a deluge of rain, which it dis charged in waterspouts, driving it through huts and tents, and forcing it in streams through the minutest interstices. The gusts were extremely violent, and the beating of the rain kept many a one awake with only one topic of consola tion, namely, that there was " No trench guard to-night." Until four o'clock the wind seemed to come from the south westward, but at that hour it veered round towards the north, and became bitter cold ; the rain at once was changed into hail and snow ; the wet ground began to freeze ; and, at eight o'clock, by one of those magical changes which can only be equalled by the chemical landscapes of our childhood, the whole camp, which was an expanse of blackish mud, dotted with white tents and huts, at sundown last night, became a sheet of dazzling white, marked with lines of dusky grayish habitations of canvas and wood. The wind has now diminished in force, but it is exceedingly cold and penetrating. The unfortunate natives of Southern Europe or of Asia, em ployed in such myriads in the service of the army, suffer greatly on such occasions, and perish like flies when the frost comes. The wind ceased about mid-day, and it froze sharply ; the sun was bright and the sky tolerably clear. Black tracts already appear in the white snow, as the men and carts toil across the plateau. In the distance, on the heights over the Tchernaya, the Russians can be seen at drill. There is some reason to believe that the position from Inker man to Aitodar is partly occupied by militia regiments, and no doubt they undergo a good deal of goose-step these quiet times. SUFFERINGS OF THE NATIVE DRIVERS. One may witness even now some few of the incidents of the scenes of last year repeated. It was but yesterday that I saw an old Turk in a moribund state carried into Balaklava on the back of a native almost as wretched-looking as himself ; and, riding on to the Land Transport camp, between Kadikoi and the Col, I beheld a native bearing in the same way a living skeleton from one tent to another. These men, who are gene rally employed as muleteers, are provided by Government with long Turkish gregos, but, somehow or other, exposure to bad weather produces disastrous results on them, although their frames seem very vigorous. I am afraid the Temperance Society won't forgive me if I express a private opinion that a little stimulant might be " exhibited " on these poor fellows, who eat largely of vegetables, and are saturated with onions, garlic, and leeks, and that under present circumstances they might without injury partake of a moderate quantity of spirits. There is this morning a very pretty little rebellion among the native drivers of the Land Transport Corps of the Fourth Division They won't stir, in spite of eloquent exhortations in the best Hindostanee addressed to them by Captain Dick, who is standing knee-deep in snow and mud, and haranguing them as they lie inside their tents. They "sahib" away and shrug their shoulders, and plaintively express a decided desire to be flogged, accompanied by suggestions also that they should be at once executed; but they one and all declare that work they will not on such a raw and gusty day as this. Many of these Hindostanees will be sent away forthwith. The same correspondent remarks, on THE RUSSIAN FIRE ON SEBASTOPOL : The Russians keep up a pertinacious fire on the town. The reports of their guns shake my hut this fine day at the rate of about two a-minute, and the sound is tolerably loud with this wind. Sebastopol is a disagreeable place to go to on pleasure, for shot and shell are continually lobbing along the streets, houses are falling piecemeal, and the stones flying about from the shock of cannon-balls. The casualties, however, are very few, and the French have displayed great ingenuity in erect ing comfortable magazines and shops in out-of-the-way parts of the town, where one can get a cup of coffee and a cigar without much danger. But to the uninitiated the roar of a ball and the twittering hiss of a shell fail to give zest to these luxuries. It is no longer an occurrence of every week to go down to Sebastopol once or twice, and few people resort to the docks unless they are on duty, or have just come out, and are under the painful necessity of going en amateur. The whole establishment of a cantinie're went to smash the other day through the operation of a shell, and, although it was tolerably well filled, the only damage done was to the poor proprietress, who lost her hand and an immense amount of crockery, comestibles, and customers. The labours of the Sappers and Miners have been very heavy in making the mines to destroy the docks, and it is to be hoped they will receive some extra reward for their laborious duties, which have only begun with the end of the siege. FRIDAY, Dec. 14.—The frost continues and the thermometer marks 20 deg. this morning, but there is a clear fine sky and a bright sun above. The mud is now a rigid furrowed lake, with iron waves cast up by old cart tracks and horses' hoofs, and the roads are crowded and blocked up by the vast num bers of fourgons, carts, horses, and pack animals so suddenly forced upon them. With the fine weather and the cessation from hard work the mortality among the mules of the Land Transport Corps has ceased, but the natives are sickening and dying from the effects of cold, to which they are unaccustomed. Colonel Wetherall is indefatigable in visiting the camps, and in making himself acquainted with the minutest details of the department over which he has been called upon to preside. Severe weather continues to try the endurance as well as the stamina of the troops, yet, heavy as the effects of the weather are, they do not seem materially to impair the health of the troops. The correspondent of the Daily News, under date the 21st December, says, in reference to THE FROST AND THE HEALTH OF THE TROOPS :-- • Notwithstanding the season and the trying weather, the health, of the British troops continues very satisfactory. As might be expected, there has been an increase of the number of sick admitted into the hospitals, the prevailing ailments being those which usually follow exposure to wet and cold ; but there has not been a proportionate increase in the number of deaths, indicating that they have not generally been of a dangerous character. Our French allies are said to be suffer ing more severely, and one division is named as losing no less than 25 men daily, although without cholera or any other epidemic prevailing. The cause assigned is the influence of sudden change in the weather, which occurred a short time since, and the continuous rain and cold which followed. Lieut. Basil H. Browne, of the 77th Regiment, a young officer, who had not been long in the Crimea, died, on the 16th instant, from fever. Frost has continued during the past week, and the cold has been, intense. The lowest temperature which has been met with during the present winter occurred during the night between the 18th and 19th instant. Its effects were felt the more severely on account of strong northerly gales prevailing at the same time. At seven a.m. of Wednesday, the 19th, the mercury stood at five degrees below .zero in Fahrenheit's thermometer. During the night mentioned, and in the course of the following day, many soldiers and others were frost-bitten, but it would seem that, in the majo rity of instances, this was the result of imprudent negligence. In some instances the men-had brought it on by lying out while in a state. of _intoxication.; in some, the frost-bite had occurred during sleep in ill-secured tents ; in a few cases, it took place while the men were engaged at target practice or employed on fatigue duties. The parts frozen were generally the fingers, feet, or. ears. I only heard of one death, and this was. evidently in consequence of excess in drinking, for the man was found lying in the snow, frozen, but bearing evi dences of previous intoxication. No men were frost-bitten who were properly clothed, or whose occupation admitted of their wearing gloves. The woollen mits served out to the soldiers might be much improved: they are put on and off with difficulty, they shrink in washing, and the sharp wind, by entering between the meshes of their texture, chaps the skin of the hands. The dark-coloured cloth-mits of the Rus sian soldiers are much more appropriate: they reach higher, protecting the wrists, and are as easily removed as put on, while a large loop attached to them admits of their being suspended, when not worn, to a convenient part of the uni form. The four fingers are together in one space, the thumb being in a second. The texture is close, so that no wind can pass through • at the same time the cloth is suffi c i en tly pliable to admit of every necessary movement of the hand while the glove remains on. Their cost must be comparatively trifling, especially when their durability is taken into account. The long boots this year have proved a failure ; in most instances the material, sewing, and shape, all are bad; and the troops are on many occasions resorting to the short ammunition boots, which they had in wear previously to the issue of the winter boots.:The transport animals are still suffering severely ; as many as sixty in the establishment, it is said, die daily. The greater number of those which are sick appear to be disabled by sore backs, and the debility resulting from excessive discharge from the sores. Many are also said to be suffering from diseases of the lungs, consequent on exposure during the late wet weather, and some also from glanders. In some divisions the officers' private bat horses are being employed for purposes of public transport, and this is a subject of discontent. The officers of the Land Transport say, however, that the stabling of all the animals will soon be completed, and that after a short rest the department will be in full operation again. The French troops encamped in the plain and towards Baidar are said to be suffering a good deal from diarrhoea and other sickness. The English troops con tinue healthy. Although the number of sick has increased, the proportion has not been great, and the cases, generally attributable to the changeable character of the season and its temperature, have not been of a serious character. Our allies have no fuel served out to them, as we have; in addition to which they are not warmly clothed, have no gloves or stockings, except what they themselves buy at the stores. As they walk along they appear half starved, and to be suffer. ing greatly from cold. Th e i r hands, from the severity of the weather and hard diet, a pp ear i n most cases almost black. Yet they are very industrious, hard-working, and fortunately have no pride. I have seen many picking out bones and discarded cheeps'-heads from our ashpits or dunghills, and I have also seen others in camp selling paper which they have perhaps bought tolerably cheap by going to Kamiesch or Kadikoi. Every French soldier you meet, from a Chasseur-A-Pied to a Zouave, will tell you, if asked, that a great many of his regi ment are frost-bitten in the toes and fingers, and that a large proportion of their new arrivals are dying from a kind of cholerar—just as our men did last winter. On the night of the 18th;and during the following day, laa rge number of our soldiers were frost-bitten. Our regiment, the 90th, had an officer and eight men frost-bitten when out ball-firing. The 56th and 34th also suffered. One man—l think of the 33rd — is likely to lose both his hands ; he was on sentry, and had no inits on. The thermometer, last Sunday, between sunrise and sunset, stood at 11, 14, and 16—rather cold work to have to attend divine service on such a morning for three-quarters of an hour. On Tuesday night it was 6 below zero, and during Wednesday morning it stood at 3 deg, or 29 deg. of frost. Since then the weather has been a little milder, but no thaw— just the weather to suit an Englishman, and keep our army healthy. A SNOW-BALLING ENGAGEMENT. Last Monday evening the 7th Fusiliers had a great snow balling. One wing of the regiment had to assault and take a hastily-thrown up redoubt from the other wing. Rifle pits and barricades were made on the occasion, and a great deal of amusement was caused by the plucky manner in which one of the besiegers' pits, formed of snow and barrels, was destroyed by a sortie from the garrison. At last, after some hard fight ing on both sides, the work was carried by assault. Similar challenges have taken place in various regiments during this week, one company attacking another, and so forth ; and in many cases several casualties have been caused by wounds in the face. For example—Major Watson, 7th Fusiliers, and others. The correspondent of the Daily News, writing from the camp before Sebastopol, on the 22nd December, makes the following observations on the POSTPONEMENT OF THE DESTRITCTION OF THE DOCKS. CAMP BEFORE SEBASTOPOL, Dec. 22.—After our allies the French had postponed blowing up one of the docks of their half portion last Monday, they gave out that the anxiously looked for demolition would take place the following Thursday ; but, much to the annoyance of the whole army, the engineers, or else the commander-in-chief, Marshal Pelissier, again postponed the event, and no further day for the effectual destruction is yet mentioned. Yesterday I heard, on good authority, that, owing to the water percolating through the soil into the galleries in greater measure than had been expected, the French were rather in a fix, as they don't happen to have made arrangements like our engineers for being supplied with pumps in case of emergency. This circumstance, together with the severity of the weather, not permitting the prosecution of the underground works at night, will, it is generally expected, prevent the entire demolition of these famous stone docks being completed, or ready for com pletion, for some days to come. The destruction of these five dry docks, basin and entrance, may be considered by many as a great piece of barbarism ; still, unless Sebastopol is declared a free port, this sacrifice of property, tantamount to about 20 millions, is a necessary evil. The last rumour with reference to the movements of the generals is, that La Marmora, whose head-quarters are at Kadikoi, is going to Paris, and that Sir George Brown, G.C.8., is also ordered from Nice to that capital. THE FAILURE OF THE L AND TRANSPORT CORPS. ----- The failure of the land transport is still a subject of conver sation in camp. It is said that last month the loss in mules and horses missing and dead amounted to twelve hundred or upwards, and that in one week after the bad weather set in five hundred animals were lost. If this statement be only an approximation to the truth, what a serious expenditure of money is involved in the account. Surely there ought to be some searching public inquiry into the subject. The means adopted for the protection of the animals, and the cause of so many being permitted to stray and be lost, should be investi gated. Even now it can be seen, on riding through the camps, that many of the divisional transport animals are without a shed, roof, or any other protection against the inclemency of the weather than their clothing. Engines of greater power are required for the railway, and it is understood have been sent for. We are now experiencing the benefits of having formed central and divisional commissariat depots, the absence of which was one of the many sources of the calamities which befell the army on these heights during the last fatal winter. THE CASUALTIES FROM THE RUSSIAN FIRE. No casualties of note have occurred in the English portion of Sebastopol, although both on public works and in the pri vate occupation of fetching firewood and other materials, the number entering the Karabelnaia has been by no means a limited one. There has been no intermission in the enemy's fire from the north aide. They have lately been employing red hot shot, with a view of setting on fire some of the few buildings which retain their timber, but have hitherto been unsuccessful in their attempt. TIIE Secretary of State for War, says The United Service Gazette, has re-considered the small amount of daily allow ance to officers when ordered to proceed to the head-quarters of Militia regiments to receive volunteers for the Royal Ar tillery, and decided that for the present the personal allowance of 15s. per night be granted to all officers of that branch of the service performing such duties. TIIE MITITAEY CONFERENCE IN PARIS.—The approach ing military conference at Paris will, in all likelihood, be at tended by the Duke of Cambridge, Quarter-Master-General Airey, General Sir H. Jones, Sir Edmund Lyons, and Admiral R. S. Dundas, on the part of England. It is said that his Im perial Majesty the Emperor, General Neil, General Martini pret, late chief of the staff to the French army in the Crimea, and Admiral Penaud, will be the representatives of France at the conference. • THE Polam AMNESTY.—A telegraphic despatch from Vienna, dated Friday, says :—" The amnesty granted in Poland includes some foreigners, among them ten Germans and three Frenchmen. Prince Paskiewitsch has suffered a relapse. Colonel Manteuffel was received yesterday by the Emperor of Austria. The chances of an understanding between Prussia and Austria are improved." REPORTED RESIGNATION OF 03IAR PASHA.—Late ad vices from Constantinople state that Omar Pasha had been requested to resign his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish army in Asia, for not having exerted himself to hid uttermost to relieve Kars. This report is believed by some, but disbelieved by the many. EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS.—A new exchange of prisoners between the French and Russians took place recently at Odessa. Among the French prisoners given up were three officers of the Vautour, who were captured, it may be remem bered, some time ago by the Cossacks whilst out shooting in the neighbourhood of Kinburn. We read, in the Presse d' Orient, under date Sevastopol, 18th ult. :—" The Russians, encamped on the north of the bay, must feel rather uncomfortable, for they have not one half of the little conveniences we enjoy. As far as we can judge, with the aid of telescopes, their installation is most deficient and incomplete, and their supply of wood very insuf ficient, for we frequently see numbers of their men seeking fuel amid the 'brushwood of Inkerman and on the sites of some ruined houses close to the bay. They have become of l i late more sparing of their gunpowder and projectiles. We have remarked for some days considerable movement in the Russian camp, from which it is inferred that Prince Gortscha koff must have received reinforcements. The works intended to blow up the docks are nearly terminated. An officer of the Engineers told me the day before yesterday that eight cham bers were ready for the purpose, but not yet loaded. The destruction of these gigantic works will not be the least curi ous episode of the great drama we have been acting here for upwards of a year. I visited, some days ago, the Sardinian camp, where we have many friends. I found our brave com rades in excellent condition. Their General-in-Chief pays every attention to the welfare of his troops, and they will get over the winter as comfortable as it is possible in the Crimea. The number of sick is quite insignificant. Cattle were begin ning to be scarce in the Sardinian camp, and the intendant had been obliged to apply to the English commissariat for a number of oxen. THE LIVERPOOL HOM(EOPATHIC DISPENSARY. THE annual meeting of the subscribers to, and friends of this institution was held yesterday afternoon, at the Clarendon. rooms ; Mr. Yate Lee in the chair. Mr. CAPPER, the secretary, read the following REPORT. This dispensary was first established in 1841, and has now, therefore, been in existence fourteen years. The number of patients treated during this period has been 37,000. The number of new patients during the last year was 3,407. The total number of prescriptions dispensed in 1855 was 16,161. Throughout the year the charity has had the benefit of the services of a qualified house-surgeon, and his exertions have been attended with the greatest success. Since the Ist of March, a special register has been kept of patients visited by him at their own houses. The number of patients thus visited has been 353, and the number of such visits paid, 2,367. The subscribers to the dispensary will be much gratified by the following official testimony to the success of the homoeo pathic practice in acute disease. In a return made last May to the House of Commons, of papers and letters addressed to the Board of Health, relating to the treatment of cholera, which were produced, on the motion of Lord Robt. Grosvenor, the following passage occurs. Dr. Macloughlin, one of the medical inspectors of the Board of Health, addressing one of the medical officers of the Homoeopathic Hospital, Golden square, says:— " You are aware that I went to your hospital predisposed against the homcepathic system, that you had in me, in your camp, an enemy rather than a friend, and that I must, there fore, have seen some urgent reason to come away so favour ably disposed as to advise a friend to send a subscription to your charitable fund ; and I need not tell you that I have taken some pains to make myself acquainted with the rise, progress, and medical treatment of cholera, and that I claim for myself some right to be able to recognise the disease, and to know something of what the medical treatment ought to be; and, that there may be no misapprehension about the cases I saw in your hospital, I will add that all II saw were true cases of cholera, in various stages of disease; and that I saw several cases which did well under your treatment which, I have no hesitation in saying, would have sunk under any other. In conclusion, I must repeat to you, what I have already told you, and what I have told every one with whom I have conversed, that, although an allopath by principle, educa tion, and practice, yet, were it the will of Providence to afflict me by cholera, and to deprive me of the power of prescribing for myself, I would rather be in the hands of a homoeopathic than an allopathic adviser." In addition to this important testimony the committee have great satisfaction in adding a tabular statement of the acute cases and the results, the patients in such cases having been attended at their own houses by Dr. Gwynn, the present house-surgeon, since the Ist of March last. [This statement showed that the total number of acute cases under treatment was 204, of which 177 recovered, 2 were relieved, and 13 only died.] The above evidence adduced, from official as well as local sources, is in itself sufficient to disprove the statement that homoeopathy is unable to cope with acute disease. Returns of the number of cases treated at the dispensary are published in the Albion, Mercury, Journal, and Mail. The daily average lately has been fifty-eight. The committee take this opportunity of again noticing the handsome supply of soup placed at their disposal by Mr. Jesse Sorton• during the inclement season early in the last year, for which they have already tendered their thanks, and which they now state was most acceptable to the poor, and received with gratitude by numerous families in distress. Subscribers will, on payment of their subscriptions, receive tickets of recommendation, entitling patients presenting such tickets to priority of attendance and medicine. Subscriptions are due the Ist of January in each year, for which printed receipts should be required; they may be paid either to the Treasurer, Mr. Edgar, No. 1, Upper Duke-street ; at Messrs. Thompson and Capper's, 43, Bold-street; or to the Collector, Mr. Townshend, Courier-office, Castle-street. The expenses of the institution having of late increased with the increase of patients, the friends of the charity are earnestly requested to use their endeavours in adding to the funds so requisite to support it.—J. YATE LEE, Chairman. The statement of accounts showed that a balance remained in the treasurer's hands, after allowing for the year's expendi ture, of £2B 17s. 7d. On the motion of the Chairman, se conded by Mr. J. Muir, the report was unanimously adopted, and copies ordered to be printed and circulated amongst the subscribers. The meeting then proceeded to some routine business, after lobo despatch of which the proceedings closed, with the usual con*Liments to the chairman and the officers of the dispensary, THE RUGELEY POISONING CASES. ON Monday, an adjourned inquest was held at Rugeley, to inquire into the circumstances connected with the deaths of Mary Palmer and Walter Palmer, the wife and brother of William Palmer, the sporting surgeon of Rugeley, who has been committed for trial at the Staffordshire Assizes on the charge of having poisoned Mr. J. C. Cook, late of Lutter worth, in Leicestershire. In consequence of an intimation from Dr. Taylor, to the effect that the analysis by himself and Dr. Rees, of the intestines of the two deceased, which had been submitted to them for examination, had not been completed, the inquest was further adjourned till the analysis can be finished. As the coroner was about to retire, the chief-constable of the county of Stafford made application for a copy of a letter which had been addressed by the prisoner Palmer to the coroner, containing information relative to the inability of Dr. Taylor to find any trace of arsenic in the stomach of the deceased J. C. Cook. How such information could have been obtained by the prisoner was a mystery, and he (the chief constable) apprehended treachery somewhere, by which, he feared, the ends of justice might be defeated. The letter, it seems, was sent by Palmer to the coroner at the time the inquiry was pending concerning Cook's death, and before the result of Professor Taylor's analysis had transpired. It is said to intimate that Palmer had seen a letter from Professor Taylor, stating that he had not been able to detect in Cook's stomach any trace of mineral poison. A letter to that effect was received by Mr. Gardner, the attorney acting for the Insurance companies, who is positive that he did not divulge the information. The police authorities cannot understand how Palmer became acquainted with what was then a secret. Disclosures of a most startling character, and of a nature almost unsurpassed in the history of crime, are expected to be made before the termination of the inquiry in this extraordi nary case. It is confidently asserted that, upon resuming the inquiry, evidence will be given to show that Mrs. Palmer, before her death, exclaimed to a female attendant in reference to her husband, "Is that wretch in the house ? He's mur dered me." The symptoms exhibited during her illness and at her decease are alleged to be precisely similar to those detailed as manifested by the unfortunate Cook. A surgeon in Stafford, who attended Walter Palmer several times during the short illness which preceded his death, will depose that on the occasion of one visit Walter complained to him that the pills he had sent him to take the previous night had made him awfully ill. The surgeon, not having sent his patient any pills, told him so, and was answered that he must be mistaken, for hitt brother (William Palmer) had given him the pills, and declared that he (the Stafford surgeon) had sent them. Of the £23,000, for which William had insured Walter's life, we are assured not a farthing was paid by any of the various offices, and therefore, if the crime of fratricide, as supposed, was committed with the view of gaining that sum, the intent was happily frustrated. Startling as it may appear, the names of no fewer than 16 persons are mentioned at Rugeley, respecting whose death by poison, at the hands of the prisoner, statements are made. The coffins containing the remains of the deceased Ann and Walter Palmer were, upon their exhumation, conveyed from the family vault to the Talbot Inn, a Rugeley, and opened, in the presence of the coroner and jury, in the commercial room of the inn. The coffin of Mrs. Palmer, made of oak, was first opened. Having been buried a long time, and the gaseous exhalations being able to escape through the porous wood, the corpse was com paratively dry, and the smell educed endurable. On the removal of the outer coffin a hole was bored in the leaden re ceptacle in which Walter Palmer's body was confined, and instantly a most sickening and noxious effluvium escaped, which permeated the entire building, affected parties at the other end of the inn, and produced a sickening effect on all in the immediate vicinity of the coffin. Subsequently the leaden lid was removed, and the spectacle presented by the body was absolutely frightful. The cheeks were so terribly distended as to extend to either side of the coffin ; one eye was opened, and the mouth partially so, presenting the appearance of a horrible grin and grimace. Each limb was also swollen to prodigious proportions, and the sight was revolting in the ex treme. Nearly all the jurors were afflicted with vomiting and fainting. After the re-interment of the corpses considerable time elapsed before fumigations could make the house at all bearable. Even a week afterwards the close room in which the bodies were opened strongly smelt of the disgusting odour, and it was found necessary to have the walls scraped and re-papered, the doors and woodwork re-painted, and a portion of the floor on which foul matter had dropped from the coffin of the male deceased re-laid, it being found impos sible, by planing, to divest the boards of the noxious stain and stench. Many extraordinary statements are current relative to the transactions of William Palmer with the different life assu rance offices in London. Of these, the following may be relied on as authentic :—ln the early part of 1855, Mr. Walter Palmer, the brother of the accused, called at the Prince of Wales Assurance-office, Regent-street, accompanied by Mr. Pratt, who, he stated, to be his brother William's solicitor, and intimated his wish to insure his own life for £13,000. From inquiries then made it was ascertained that Mr. Palmer had suffered from detirium tremens, and the office, therefore, declined to grant . the policy unless at an increased rate of premium. It was stated on that occasion that Mr. William Palmer and his mother had both advanced money to Mr. Walter Palmer, and that the policy would be eventually assigned to Mrs. Palmer as security for such advances. The life was ultimately accepted, and in the month of February last the first premium was paid by a check of Mr. Pratt, the family solicitor ; but it has since transpired that the money to pay the check was found by William Palmer. The Prince of Wales office, not wishing to take so heavy a risk wholly upon themselves, divided the responsibility with 21 other offices, retaining for themselves only £5OO. In the month of June following, two other assurances, each for £13,000, were offered to the Indisputable and Athenaeum offices, but they both declined them, the latter office having already taken part of the risk from the Prince of Wales. On the 16th of August last, Walter Palmer died, and immediately afterwards notice was given to the Prince of Wales office. An assign ment was also sent of which no previous notice had been given at the office. It was not to Mrs. Palmer, as first alleged by the deceased Walter Palmer, but turned out to be in favour of William Palmer, the accused, and the consideration was stated to be £4OO. It has since transpired that the only loan from William Palmer to Walter Palmer was one of £6O. The Prince of Wales Assurance-office received a letter from a person in Staffordshire, who alleged that William Palmer had used him badly, and containing information which led them to suspect that the deceased had died by unfair means. Rely ing on this information, Mr. Hornby, the actuary of the Prince of Wales, put himself into communication with the other offices sharing the risk, and the result of their delibera tions was the formation of a committee, for the purpose of obtaining evidence, with the view of ascertaining whether the suspicious circumstances were of sufficient gravity to justify the offices in resisting any demand that might be made upon them in respect to the payment of these claims. In pur suance of this arrangement, Mr. Hornby, accompanied by Mr. Deane, of the firm of Chubb, Deane, and Chubb, solicitors, of Gray's-inn, and by Field and Simpson, detective officers, pro ceeded to Staffordshire to obtain information as to the habits of the deceased, and the connexion of William Palmer with his pecuniary affairs. On arriving at Rageley, the party pro ceeded to make inquiries, the result of which was, that they , ascertained that William Palmer was the person really inte rested in the policy of assurance in question, and that he had also been in the habit of making propositions for insurances to several London offices, and that he had received £13,000 from the Norwich Union, Equitable, and Sun offices on the life of his wife, who had died a short time previously under very mysterious circumstances. The deputation having been informed that William Palmer had made a proposal for insuring the life of "George Bates, Esq.," inquired at the post-office for " George Bates, Esq.," ad were informed that he would be found at Mr. Palmer's ; that he was a gentleman, and that, in all probability, he would give "the gentlemen from London" a bottle of old wine, as he had a capital cellar. Field proceeded to Rugeley, and, to his amazement, found "'George Bates, Esq.," who had been represented as a gentleman of property and position in the county, in the act of cleaning out Palmer's stable. A con versaiiim ensued, in the course of which Mr. Field said, " I understand you are going to insure your life ; for what amount do you intend to insure ?" Bates replied that he had left all that to Mr. Palmer, but that he was to have some money for himself,the amount of which he did not state. The subsequent inquiries made by Mr. Hornby, Mr. Deane, and the officers, led them to the conclusion that Mr. William Palmer had in duced the medical man, by false representations as to his brother's habits and general health, to fiill up the documents forwarded by the assurance offices in such 'a way as to lead them to suppose that the life was one which they could safely accept. The result of the investigation made in Staffordshire was, that the offices resolved to defend themselves to the utmost, on the ground of fraud, against any legal proceedings that might be taken by William Palmer or the representatives of the late Waiter Palmer, to recover the amount of the policies. We are informed that the Attorney-General and Mr. Scot land are retained for the prosecution of Palmer. Mr. Huddlestone is mentioned as engaged to assist Serjeant Wilkins in defending Palmer. In addition to the persons who have been already referred to as supposed victims of William Palmer, another has been _ recently named. Information has just been given to Captain Hatton, the chief of the Staffordshire constabulary, that a gentleman connected with the turf, who was accompanied by Palmer to the races at Leicester not a great while since, whose horse won there, and who was said to have realised a large sum of money by his betting on the race, became dangerously ill immediately afterwards, and was attended professionally by Palmer. _Before his death the poor fellow's wife had arrived at his bedside, summoned there by the dying man. He had strength sufficient to tell her that he had won a large sum from Palmer, and in a day or so afterwards he expired. As soon after death as was compatible with the melancholy posi tion which the widow occupied, she told Palmer what her husband had said to , her, and, as 'there was scarcely any money found in the deceased's pockets, asked him for a portion of the money w hich her deceased husban d had won from him in betting. Palmer, it is said, replied that she was greatly misled; that, on the contrary, her husband was largely indebted to him. In consequence of Palmer's refusal to pay her any money, she had to borrow money to bury her husband and to enable her to return to her home. Searching inquiries continue to be made relative to the various proposals made by William Palmer, the prisoner, to the insurance -offices, Inspector Field being in the neighbourhood for the purpose of institu ting such inquiries. It appears that a solicitor, well known in Birmingham and the Midland Counties, between whom and Palmer and his family a peculiarly intimate connexion is said to exist, applied at the Midland Counties Insurance-office to' be appointed an agent to that establishment. The directors caused Mr. Andrews, secretary, to make his report rela tive to the eligibility of the appointment. Ascertaining that the applicant had been for some years upon the rolls, Mr. Andrews reported in favour of the appointment, and the solicitor succeeded in the object of his application. Complying with the custom in such cases, the solicitor nominated his medical referee, and he nominated Palmer for that appoint ment. The directors appointed Palmer. In a few days after wards, the Midland Counties Assurance Company received a proposal from their new agent, in which one George Bates was mentioned as solicitous of becoming assured in that office to the extent of £lO,OOO. George Bates was the name of the person on whose behalf a proposal was made by Palmer to the Solicitors' and General Life Office, for a policy of the value of £25,000. It was this George Bates whom Inspector Field, when pfoousltdi n h s ew that N e v e a p ge making iovua i ts ap n ag q ie u mn i inquiries s respecting smasntalbi him,ple. hoel hisun t p h upon n the own3,ds Midland ci - Counties Office inquired into the circumstances and prospects of " George Bates," they were told that he wished, by means of his life policy, to raise the necessary capital required for taking to a farm. The explanation was not satisfactory to the directorate, and inquiries were continued until they were con vinced that fraud was intended, and peremptorily refused to accept the proposal. So strong, indeed, was the feeling of the directors on the subject, that they declined any longer to acknowledge Palmer as one of their medical referees. JANUARY 8,1856. j EXECUTION OF THE .ROCHDAL E MU.RDERER. • win te r JONATHAN HETWOO;11 was convicted at the assizes for South Lancashire, of the murder of Margaret Jones at Rochdale in July last, was e x ecut e d a t Ki r kdale Gaol 0 : Saturday. It' will be remembered th a t on th e night of tide 21st of July, a man of s h a bby a pp earance , a ttended by , woman, whom he represented as his wife, went to the moon Inn, Rochdale, where he engaged a bed for the .A for which he paid Bd. to th e l an dl a d y, M rs. A squ ith. r past ten o'clock they retired t o th e i r c h am b er, an d soon all e s the inmates of the house wen t t o th e i r respec ti ve a partmen ts. Nothing occurred durin g th e n i g ht t o arouse sus pi c ion, or d. rect attention to the strange couple, although the adjoi n room was merely divided f rom th e one th ey occup i e d by 3 thin te partition. Soon after s i x o ' c l oc k on th e f o ll ow i ng mo rning P „ . visia rose and went out, explaining that he would take a before breakfast, and that he should return in about tin' quarters of an hour. Six hours elapsed without witnessi n g the fulfilment of the promise, and the occupants of the in n wondered much at the cause of his absence, and still more a the non-appearance of the wom an . At noon th e servant n, instructed to investigate the cause. She knocked at the door, and, receiving no answer, w e n t iri, w h en s h e was horrifiedtO a find the lifeless body of th e woman on th e b e d . Th e re Wa s , fearful gash on the throat, and a razor, spotted with blo lay in the hand, but in such a position as to lead to the ho e that it had been placed there after death—a belief which th e e early flight of the man quickened into supposition that he ha committed the heinous crime o f mur d er. F or a time t ae police failed to obtain evidence as to the identity of the body' but it was ultimately ascer t a i ne d t o b e th at of Meet Jones, a widow formerly residing with two sons in Pin street, Chorlton-upon-Medlock, in the borough of Manchester. S te ‘ picion fell upon Heywood, who was apprehended, and t he evidence given at the trial left no doubt that the murder 05 committed by him. On Friday the prisoner was informed that a memorial ha l: been forwarded to Sir Geoege Grey by the local agents , for th i e abolition of capital punishments, praying for a reprieve, a n d that it had been referred to M r . J us ti ce Wi g ht man, w ho O P no reason why the sente n c e s h ou ld b e re l axe d , an d th a t, co sequently, the execution would t a k e pl ace . H e was no t niofe l in the slightest degree by the intelligence. On the same da,./,C Mr. Thos.Wright, of Manchester, "the prison philanthrop_is 4 who had seen him once before s i nce hi s t r i a l , aga i n v i s it e d My' In the course of the several hours devoted by Mr. Wright t 1 the criminal on that day, Hey woo d, w h o appeare d a ff ec ted b y the kindly and untiring e x e r ti ons o f M r. W r i g ht , so ften . the obstinacy of his temper, and somewhat freely opened In a mind. He confessed, with expressions of deep regret, that had spent a life of unusual wickedness, and appeared no le' deeply sensible of the injuries he had inflicted upon his la te wife and children, to whom, he said, he had been a bad n 3 a l:l ' He stated that his wife used t o p ray th a t G o d would punis, him for his wickedness, an d h e b e li eve d th e Al m i g hty , ~t b punishing him for it now. H e we pt , an d seeme d to be pealten e for the sins of his past life to which he made allusion, but never uttered a word in acknowledgment of his guilt of th.e, murder, for the commission of which he was so soon to for his life. He also begged that Mr. Wright would look after hi!, younger son, a boy 12 years of age, and appeared cornforW upon receiving a promise that his request should be attended t'a' The boy is at present living with the mother of the crimina l ' at Rochdale, works in a factory, and attends a Wesleyan Sunday school. In allusion to his sentence, he said he thoug h ' it would have been bett er if h e had been sentenced to Pe, transported for life. Mr. Wright rema i ne d i n th e condemn!, cell until eleven o'clock, s o on a ft er w hi c h ti me th e cr i m ina l ' partaking of his u sua l even i ng mea l w ith great hear'. ness, went to bed, and slept so un dly un til 6 o ' c l oc k on SOL' day morning. Mr. Wright, who has visited 41 crimina l ' under sentence of death, states that he never, in his exile' rience, met with any one in that awful situation who appear'', to feel more poignant grief than H eywoo d did f or the wro nv he had inflicted upon his family by his neglect of them for vicious course of life. Though the culprit had maintained 8 stubborn reserve in regard to the murder of Margaret Jones, he occasionally let fall a word which showed his guilt. I le acknowledged that the razor found in the murdered woman: a hand was his, and that he was with her on the night l question, and he said that she h a d been a curse to him. A A about half-past ten o'clock in th e morn i ng th e c h ap l a in a" Mr. Wright had another interview with the criminal in hi s cell. The wretched man continued to express sorrow for the sins and follies of his past life, and engaged in prayer, but lie made no allusion to the crime for which he was about to off; As early as ten o'clock a crow d b egan t o assem bl e in I"' brickfields facing the north-west angle of the Kirkdale prison , from which an unimpeded view of the scaffold could be oh' tained. A space was kept clear under the drop, the barricade s round which were guarded by a detachment of police, val ° ' by this time, had taken up the positions assigned to theT• Notwithstanding the rain, the throng steadily increased, addi tional numbers pouring into the brickfields from every dir ee. tion, until the hour appointed f or th e f a t a l ceremony, wne",„ there could not have been less than 8000 or 10,000 people present. Early in the morni ng severa l t own m i ss i on aries ail" plied for permission to see the condemned man, but they Were informed by the Governor that he had no power to gra nt their request, the express order of the Secretary of State Pro hibiting the access of any but officials to criminals under sew tence of death. The missionaries then dispersed themselves among the crowd, exhorting the young especially to lead vir tuous lives, and take solemn warning by the fate of the man about to expiate his enormous criminality by a dreadful death. Their exertions were, at least, attended wit h ' some beneficial result, they excited the attention of the main rity of the dense throng, and thus succeeded in maintaining a greater appearance of decorum than is generally witnessed on these occasions. Precisely at twelve o'clock a murmur ran through the crowd, " they're coming !" and immediately afterwards th e condemned man, though his arms were pinioned, sprang . lightly on the scaffold, jumping up the two steps leading fron; the interior to the drop. H e a d vance d w i t h out ass i s t ance , an with a firm step, placing himself immediately under the centre of the beam. His face, though sallow, and bearing evidence of a dissipated lifer contained no indication of fear. On the" contrary, as he glanced rapidly over the dense multitud e which stretched out before him, an expression of subdued )ol overspread his - features. He was i mme di a ly f o ll owe d by (Al"(A craft, to whom, as he stepped on the scaffold, he observe", " What a number of people!" In the background were ob served the chaplain, reading the solemn service appointed for such occasions ; the under-sheriff, Mr. W. Wood; the governor of the prison, Captain Gibbs • and Mr. Wright. Calcraft caw meneed the " work of dreadful preparation." With coolness he pulled the white cap over the criminal's face ; adjusted the rope ; hooked the fatal cord into a link of the stout chain de pending from the beam overhead ; and, having given a grasP to the murderer's hand, he withdrew to the scaffold. Another moment the bolt was withdrawn, and a corpse was swinging before the eyes of the mob. Heywood has had sixteen children, three of whom are alive , a daughter and two sons. The daughter is married ; the elder son is nineteen years of age, and is a soldier; the younge r is the boy already mentioned, aged twelve years. QUARTER'S REVENUE. AN Abstract of the Nett Produce of the Revenue of the United Kingdom, in the Years and Quarters ended Dec. 31, 1.5 6 ) compared with the corresponding periods of the preceding year, showing the Increase or Decrease thereof. YEARS ENDING DECEMBER 31. _ 1855. 1854. . Increase. I Decrease. -- e £ e .t Customs. 21,291,712 20,682,429 609,283 • • Excise Stamps 6,993,148 6,988,787 4,361 • • Taxes 2,967,742 3,028,384 .. 60,642 Property Tax. 13,884,114 7,366,588 6,517,526 • • Post-office Crown Lands. Miscellaneous 1,103,007 777,839 325,168 .. Total income Total income Deduct de, 64,457,993 Tease 56,324,597 8,327,053 193,657 193,07 ~__f Increase of the year.. 8,133.396 QUARTERS ENDING DECEMBER 31 1855. 1854. Increase. ' Decrease. -- ------/------- 4 4' 4' 1 4' ~,, Customs Excise Stampir 1,695,369 I 1,786,769 . 01,46 0 ' Taxes Property Tax 1,260,942 826,589 434,353 .. Post-office Crown Lands 85,000 80,000 5,000 Miscellaneous 1.---- Total income Deduct decrease I 406,906 .. Increase on the quarter 321,475 CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD Ren,weir.—The traffic for the week ended December 30rd, 1855, was as follows :—Passengersf parcels, &c., £2,580 ss. Od. • steam-boats, £385 7s. Od• goods, £2,167 9s. 9d. ; total, including Carnarvon traffic, £5,133 is. 9d. Corresponding week last year :—Passengers, parcels, &c., £1,999 6s. Od. ; steam-boats, £424, ss. 7d• ; goods , £1,617 12s. 10d. ; total, including Carnarvon. traffic, £4,041, 4a. sd. Increase, £1,091 17s. 4d. FOREIGN ENGRAVERS.—The admirable productions of British professors in this department of art, have long been con sidered to surpass those of all continental artists,-and to.present specimens of perfect and inimitable beauty. A reference to our- advertising columns will show, that Messrs. Perkins, Bacon, and Co. have produced, in a label, a specimen of engraving so b eau tiful and perfect, as totally to prevent counterfeit ? and set the public on their guard against ritaun and imposition as regards that indispensale appendage of the toilet—" HowLANDS' MAeAssAs 0n.." CIGARROS FABRICA DE HABANA. mESSRS. ESTERO AND COMPANY, 41, NORTH JOHN-STREET, NEAR LORD-STREET, LIVERPOOL, Have been induced to Open the above Establishment for the Sale of FOREIGN CIG IRS only, - and lo'suit Pri vate Consumers. Messrs. E. and Co. sell them in Cases from One Pound and upwards, at a i 2s. 6d. per lb- They being Manufacturers in Havana, are enabled to obtain the most choice Leaf for their Cigars, together with the best Brands of other celebrated Houses, and in condition suitable for immediate consumption. Thus the Public will have the advantage of obtaining -- - GENUINE HAVANA CIGARS, without the necessity of Purchasing, in Bond, Cases of from One to Two Cwt., and without paying those extra vagant charges usually demanded for small quantities. An Extensive Supply always on the Premises and in Bond for Exportation and Soaps' Stores. The Trade, Hole:keepers, and others have now an op portunity of supplying their customers with a genuine Havana Cigar, which has been until now so very difficult to procure in convenient quantities; they will, at the tame lime, be liberally treated with. Parties at a distance sending Post-office Orders for £1 2s. lid. will, per return, receive a Case containing One Pound of Cion Rs. In sending Orders, please state if Mild, Medium, or Full Flavoured is required. SAUL DAVIES, AGENT. ~..