The Press.
London, England, 1856-02-16 00:00:00

ti-rranean hand just pushing the masses a short distance
out of their places, turning them upside down, and rolling
them over each other in a cloud of smoke and dust. There
were probably two reasons for the care with which the
engineers measured th.:ii charges. One may be that by
leaving the docks encumbered and filled up with their own
ruins they bequeath a harder task to any future rebuilder
than if they scattered the stone linings tar and wide, and
left the chasms comparatively clear. The second reason
may be that by more violent explosions they would probably
have shaken down buildings, overthrown the dockyard wall
k which already totters and loses stones from its summit
when a mine is let off Land perhaps have caused accidents.
As it is, these operations have been the occasion of ex•
tremely little loss of life or injury to limb.
Twenty-six men of the light division, who were
taken prisoners at the last assault on the Redan,
were la‘ely exchanged at Odessa

They state that they were hurried across the raft bridge
early in the afternoon, immediately after the failure of the
attack. They met troops still coming over towards Fo.-t
*Nicholas. As they crossed the bridge to reach the north
side, and even after reaching Fort Michailoff on the north
shore, they were in frequent danger from our shot and
shell. They were detained two days in an inclosed fort
on the north side, immediately above Fort Michailoff, and
then removed to Simferopol. After a short stay there,
they were marched to Elizabethgrad, where they were kept
one month, and then sent to Odessa. At Odessa they
remained until given up to the Firebrand. They appear to
have been on the whole well treated, more especially during
the time they passed at Odessa. 4ccording to reports
brought by the officers of the Firebrand, peace was con-
fidently expected by the merchants at that volt when the
vessel left.—D. News cor., Jan 28.

An attempt at murder has lately been committed
in one of the camp hospitals. A young boy of nine-
teen, in the 77th Regiment, had been sent to hospital
to be cured of wounds self-inflicted for the purpose
of rendering himself unfit for military service. In
one of the huts attached to the hospital was an artil-
leryman, slowly recovering from a wound by the
bursting of a shell, in the great explosion of the
15th November last. On the 25th the 77th man
went into this hut and borrowed a few shillings of
the artilleryman :

The latter kept his money under his pillow, and, while
handing the shilling or two which he had been asked for,
showed at the same time a number of sovereigns which he
had in his purse. The sight of this money, twelve pounds,
acted as the temptation to the crime which followed. The
following morning, taking an opportunity when all the
hospital attendants were away from the hut, and fancying
apparently that his victim was asleep, the 77th soldier
seized a bar of iron, and aimed a blow at the ar.illeryman's
head. He was awake, however, or roused, and had time
both to call out " murder," and to raise his arm. The arm
was broken, and a second blow stunned him, but the alarm
brought the hospital sergeant to the hut before the perpe-
trator of the crime could effect his escape. A struggle en-
sued, but the villain was quickly secured, and is now a
prisoner awaiting his trial for murder. The artilleryman
lingered till the afternoon of the day following that on
which he was assaulted, and then died. It is stated that
the prisoner—who has not long enlisted in the 77th Regi-
ment—has acknowledged to have enlisted for the purpose
of escaping from the consequences of a robbery he had
committed in England.—D. News cor., Jan. 28.
The bombardment of the 29th, though doing little
damage to the allies, was very severe for the time it
lasted :

Between nine and ten o'clock on the night of the 29th
ult, the camp was startled by the heaviest cannonade that
has ever been heard since the fall of Sebastopol. Although
the night was pitch dark, offic,2ra flocked up to Cathcart's-
hill, and from a considerable distance down the road
curious spectators hurried to the front. The cause of the
firing appears to have been as follows :—Six boats, full of
men, put off from the Russian side of the harbour
with the intention, as some suppose, of effecting a landing
in Sebastopol, although it is difficult to conjecture what
advantage the enemy could have expected to reap from so
hazardous an enterprise. Fire was opened upon them;
the French are said to have sunk one of them, and then
they retired, and the Russians commenced a furious
cannonade from all their batteries right round to hiker.
mann. It is reported that they sent shells into the
Malakoff, and even into the Retlan. As usual, the
damage done was very small. A shell fell into the French
guardboat, carried off a man's arm, and went through the
boat's bottom; but the crew stuffed a coat into the hole
and got safely to shore. A round shot went through the
roof of the Town• Major's house in the English part of
Sebastopol, but hurt no one. The fire was chiefly directed
against the French, who replied vigorously. Very heavy
while it lasted, it was not long sustained.—Times car.,
Feb. 1.

Religious differences among the clerical officials
appears to have already broken out in camp. The
rage for proselytism also, adds the Times correspon-
dent, has reached the Crimea :

An Englishman, here apparently as an amateur, but
who is said to be the authorised agent of a religious society
at home, has been distributing Italian bibles among the
Sardinian troops, and attempting to convert them. Gene-
ral de is Idarrnora complained to General Codringtou,
who was rather puzzled to know what to do in the matter,
and, as I am informed, told the Sardinian commander to
deal with the person in question, should he be caught
repeating the offence, according to the Sardinian law and
regulation. —lb.

The entente between the French and English is
not quite b 0 cordiale as we are generall led to