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

TO till IDIrOI OP TIP DAILY NW/.

BALAHLAVA, JAN. It
81114—As a veteran soldier of the British Empire-,
one who has contended against her enemies in some
twelve actions, sad earned the medals of two wars
(if you refer to Hart's" Army List") not ingloriously
—I should not do justice to my own feelings if I did
not, through you, thank the people of Eogland for
their generosity and noble support towards that army,
who are only too proud to die in maintaining the
rights of so noble a Dation.
But, sir, it is time that the people of England
should interfere, and that the British soldier should
_ .

cease to fight tinder the dark cloud ofaristocratic
influence; and that rewards for gallantry in the
field should extend beyond the range of old and in-
competent generals and their no less incompetent
relatives, who but too often form the staff of the
British armies. These, sir, are the men that set the
machinery going, and to them are to be attributed the
bloody victories and resultless battles that form so
prominent a feature in the history of the British
army. The bravery of the Anglo-Saxon race, as re-
presented by its soldiers, triumphs in spite of defec-
tive organisations, incompetent generals, and ignorant
staff. But these, sir, are the men who obtain the
honours and rewards ; titles and orders are showered

on the general and on his connexions (the staff)—their
names appear in every Gazette—but no mention
is made of their victims, those noble soldiers, whose
courage supplies their want of skill, and whose blood
achieves their victories. Our soldiers fight, they
conquer, or they die ; but if they survive, " Fame"
wreathes no garland to adorn their brows. Accord-
ing to our system, the hero and the coward, the man
who has fought many actions and the man who has
fought none (if he should be only present before the
signing of a treaty), the man who gallantly defends
his post and the man who shamefully abandons it—
all, all wear the same medal. This, sir, should
cease to be. The gallant soldier who first entered
that terrible battery on the Heights of Alma, and
siogle-haoded bayoneted three Russians, is as enti-
tled to hiv ribbon as the general who commanded or
the staff that beheld the feat. No less so is that
gallant *meant of the Guards whose stalwart arm
netped tffturn the fight at Inkermann—a battle that
would have been fought but through the neg-
lect of those who obtain those honours to which (on
that occasion) he has much stronger claims. If the
Order of the Bath is not to be given but to the
higher ranks, create a fresh order; but do not cheat
the soldier—the man who undergoes the greater
amount of danger and privations—of his hard-earned
laurels.—l am, &c.,
A SOLDIER OF THE CRIMEA.

FRANCE.

!MINT Or Till DAILY iciwl.)
PARIS, TIFESDAT ETXIUNO.

The news of the vote which must necessarily sweep
away the Aberdeen Ministry produced suprisingly
small effect at the Bourse. The rents at no period of
the day fell more than 40c. from yesterday. It reco-
vered towards the close, finishing at 67.80, with a full
of only 13c. Some of the railways declined 10t., bu•,
upon the whole, securities were wonderfully welt
sustained.

The Austrian general who I informed you was
coming to Paris as a military commissioner at the
court of Napoleon 111.. is stated to-day in the Moniecur
to be Genet al Count de Crenneville.
A Russian telegraphic despatch, dated St. Peters-
burg this day, Jan. 30, and given of course " with all
reserve," states that " Prince Mentchikoff writes
from the Crimea, under date of Jan. 22: In the night
of 19th to 20th we made a sortie against the left
flank and centre of the French trenches, which was
completely successful. The enemy (the allies) suf-
fered greatly. Two officers and several soldiers were
made prisoners. Having need of fuel, our adversaries
did not even respect the ancient temple of Cherso-
nestle. They took off the roof and the cupola, and
burnt several of the internal ornaments."

An Imperial decree nominates as ladies of the
palace to the Empress the Countess de Labkdojere,
Countess de la Poeze, Countess de Lourmel, Countess
de Itsyneval, Mme. do Saucy, and Mine. de Smiley.
Among the new ladies of honour to the Empress,
appointed to-day, the army will see with pleasure
the name of the Countess de Lonrmel, the widow of
the young and heroio general who met his death,
under the walls of Sebastopol. This appointment
was made at the immediate request of the Empress.
A fifth battery of artillery of the Imperial Guard
is now being organised, each of the other regiments
of artillery having to furnish 20 privates, one corporal,
one sub-officer, and one bugleman. These are all to
be picked men.
The detachments of 75 men from each regiment of
infantry, which had been ordered to leave on the 20th
for the East, have received counter-orders. They
will not now leave until the beginning of next
mouth, but us they will proceed by the most rapid
conveyances' they will reach the Crimea u promptly
as if they had taken their departure when first
ordered.

The Consist utionnel says : "Rear-Admiral Fehvrier-
Despointes, who commanded the French squadron in
the Pacific and in the affair at Petropauloweki, has, it
is said, been reca'led. He will be replaced by M.
Fourichon, lively Governor of French Guyana. The
latter officer is replaced, u Major-General at Brest,
by M. de Chabannes, who commanded the Charle-
magne in the bombardment of Sebastopol, when the
allied troops made their first attack. Rear-Admiral
Lugeol is, it is said, to be replaced in Greece by Com-
mandant Baudin."

Admiral Dundee, arrived last evening in Paris, and
alighted at the Hotel Mirabeau.
An extraordinary assembly of literary men fol-
lowed the body of poor Gerard de Nerval to the
grave this morning. The funeral was conducted by
the Societe des Gene de Lettres with the concurrence
of the Minister of State. M. Francis Wey, the
president of the society, in a speech over the coffin,
said that Gerard de Nerval issued to the pub-
lic an ill-considered page, never, even when strug-
gling with necessity, sacrificed his convictions or his
innate good taste, and that his name would assuredly
be honoured by posterity. There were at least 508
mourners present. M. de Nerval, although not rich,
was not in any such desperate pecuniary position as
to have committed suicide on that account. He had
been more than once in a lunatic asylum, and was
doubtless deranged when he destroyed himself.
M. Victor Luzarche, an eminent antiquary, has
just published a drama of the 12th century in Anglo-
Norman lately discovered among the manuscripts in
the public library at Tours, and said to be the earliest
known play written in any French dialect.
The Poles residing at Lyons caused a funeral mass
to be celebrated on Saturday, in the cathedral of that
city, to the memory of the late Lord Dudley Stuart.
Count de Germiny, having been nominated governor
of the company of Credit Foncier, has resigned the
post of Regent of the Bank of France; and in the
recent general meeting of the Bank shareholders M.
Guilhem, receiver-general of the Nord, was appointed
to succeed him.

In consequence of the great amount of heavy traffic
on the Northern Railway for some months past, it is
in contemplation to have locomotives of immense
power pat on the line, capable of carrying from 600
to 600 tons. These gigantic engines would be placed
on 12 wheels, in order to divide the weight more '
equally. It is also intended, should the plan of in-
troducing theme powerful locomotives be carried out,
to employ, in future, rails of 42 kilog. whenever
any part of the line requires renewal in that time.
Letters from Algiers of the 25th ult. announce
the arrival in that port of the Inflexible, the Breslau,
and the Tone, ships of the line, of the frigates Didon
and Labrador, and of the steamer the Tenger. These
vessels were about to sail for the Crimea with two
battalions of the 86th, detachments of the 100th, a
detachment of the 4th foot chasseurs (riflemen), and
some offiara, also with 25 horses and a number of
mules. On the 19th the Reins Hortense, steam
frigate, having in tow an English vessel freighted
with wooden houses for the army in the Crimea,
arrived at Algiers; but she only stayed a few minutes,
to receive despatches.