The Express.
London, England, 1861-12-30 00:00:00

(Stamped, Id. Additional.)

Finance Minister of Turin, is shortly expected iu
Paris, hie mission being to remove certain difficulties
which stand in the way of the definitive conclusion
of a commercial treaty between France and Italy.
He will also endeavour to stay the panic which has
lately affected the Italian loan.
A company has obtained permission from the
government to build • new theatre for Italian
operas on the Boulevard Malesherbes.

THE MEDITERRANEAN.

(noM OUR OWN CORIZSPONDENR)
MALTA, Da. 23.

At 7 a.m., on Friday, the 20th, the whole of the
troops cad military prisoners in Malta ensemble& on the
parade-ground at Fort Ricasoli, for the purpose of seeing
carried into effect the sentence of a court-martial con-
demning John Edwards, a gunner of the Royal Artillery,
to be shot for firing at his adjutant, Captain Keats. The
prisoner, accompanied by a protestant clergyman, was
marched down the entire front, preceded by the band,
playing the " Deed March" in Saul, and followed by
twelve artillerymen who were to shoot him. It took some
time, this marching round in slow time, after which the
usual formalities were gone through, which occupied about
half an hour. The prisoner then marched to his coffin and
on one bass beside it, and the twelve men, his former
emundes, who were drawn up at a very abort distance
faun him, fired at the word of cornmeal, and the prisoner
fell ea his tight arm. This was a little after 8 o'clock.
The provost marshal then advanced and fired a pistol
through his ear. The provost marshal was so nervous that
he fired • first ineffectual shot by accident. The whole of
the troops were then marched in slow time, the bends again
playing the "Dead March" peettheompse, which lay huddled
up just as it fell, and front the dust of the marching troops
soon became • mass of blood and dirt. After this the
whole of the troops returned to their quarters. On the
Sunday previous Edwards was measured for his coffin, and
the same evening was conveyed to Fort Ricasoli. He was
about 24 years of age, and of an indifferent character. After
his condemnation the conducted himself with great firmness
and nerve. On the morning of his execution he cleaned
his accoutrement. and boots, sod appeared on the parade
mound a clean-looking soldier. He marched through- '
out the whole trying ceremony with great firmness.
without the least swagger or bravado, and knelt down upon
one knee at the word of command to be shot to death as
calmly as if it bad been a common portion of his exercise.
Her Majesty's ship Neptune arrived from Syracuse on
the 22nd. Her Majesty's ship Megan left for England on
the 21st, having been detained to have her engines patched
up. She carried home sack and invalids. The Marlborough
went out cruising on the 20th for the purpose of exercising
her crew in firing, and re-entered the port next day. Her
Majesty's ship Foxhound returned from Marseilles on the
20th. The Aboukir, after repairing her rudder, returned
to Gibraltar. Her Majesty's ship Liffey has gone direct to
Halifax. The Trident left on the 21st for Corfu. The
Growler arrived on the 18th from Sulia• and Karisto-bay,
and will be probably paid off at Malta.
Her Majesty's chop James Watt still remains here, but is
ready to start at a moment!. notice.
The Commander-in-Chief, Sir William Martin, paid a
visit to the Naval Hospital last week, with a number of
friends, and highly praised the whole arrangements.
On Saturday last a Roman catholic priest, Don Francisco
Desire, and his brother Guiseppo, were tried by jury for
a voluntary attempt to murder • civilian; both were found
guilty, sod sentenced to nine yaws' imprisonment each, with
hard labour.

Whilst her Maierty's ship Marlborough wu on her cruise
trying her guns (from which she fired about thirteen rounds)
an accident happened to a 40-pound Armstrong under the
break of the poop, slightly wounding three men, and doing
some damage to the bulkheads, but the loss was more among
the crockery than elsewhere The Marlborough was at
Gibraltar on the 15th of December.

The Confederate man-of-war steamer Nashville
will, it is expected, leave Southampton to-morrow.
COLLISION IN THE Hawser.—Thu steam ship
Crimean, which arrived in the Mersey on Friday, in reaming
up the river came into oollisiou with the steam ship Standard,
for Dublin. The funnel of the Standard was knocked over-
.

board, and she was so seriously damaged that She went
dowu near the Waterloo Pier. There will be great difficulty
in repairiog the vessel, as she is injured next the keel. the
was luaded with grain.
A CIIILD LIURNZD TU DEATH.—OD Saturday
afternoon an inquest was held by Mr. John Humphrey;
coroner for East Middlesex, at the City of Loudon llospiud,
upon the body of a little girl earned Elizabeth Maori, aged
five years, who was burned tode.th onChnstruits.day, under
very melaocholy circumstances. It appeared, from the
evidence, that the mother of the deceased, who is a widow,
left her two children—the youngest being only two years
old—ia her room, at 1, Grove-street, Commercial-road,
while she went out to oaks some purchases for the Christ-
mas dinner. There wee a little tire in the grate at the time,
and she cautioned the demised not to go over it. After
being absent about half en, hour sbe returned, and to her
horror found that the eldest girl had set herself on fire, and
her drew was completely burned off, she being absolutely
mode—even her hair being consumed. The other child said
that Elizabeth had put some paper on the fire to make a
blsze and that it fell out and set lire to her dram. The un-

[I:W °PENCE

INDIA AND CHINA.

The Overland Mail has brought advices from
Calcutta to the 22nd Nov., from Madras to the
27th, and from Hong Kong to the 15th of the same
month.

The Friend of India gives the following summary
of the news of the fortnight entlingen the 22nd Nov. :
Never has there bees such • unanimity of feeling among
all climes in Bawdas in the expreseion of regret and
mpathy called forth during the past few dam by the
sympathy celled forth during th. peat few day. by the
death of Counter Canning. Previous to the departure of
Lord Canning for Allahabed last month, Lady Canning went
to Darjeeling, and there enjoyed the healthy exercise to
which its bracing climate invites. Forgetting that the
deadly character of the malaria which always hovers over
the feral, • belt of dense vegetation 16 miles broad
skirting the Himalayas, had been intensified by
the heavy rains and recent inundations, Lady
Canning, on her return in the beginning of this
month, seems to have caught the germs of dis-
ease which laid her low a few days after her arrival in Cal.
mita. She lingered for only a week, though enjoying the
highest medical skill the Presidency could afford, and paned
away a little after two o'clock on Monday morning. At
daybreak on the succeeding day, she was interred in thegam
den heating the Government House of Itarraori which
Lord Wellesley built on the banks of the y, just
opposite Semamore College. The residents ofCalcutta
had expressed a wish to attend her remains to the grave,
but the strictest privacy was observed. All classes of the
Christian community, however have testified their reaped
for her memory and symey with Lord
✓ivulet to wear marring weeks. It iergg.,l
u
icigoseroeszermenent testimony of the respect in which the da-
ndy wee always held will he paid. She was a mod
active patroness and liberal supporter of all philanthropic
movements, having taken a warm personal interest in such
isetitutioas as the Asylum far Orphan European Girls. It
has been said with truth, that no higher eulogy can be
=on the late countess than this—that she has bees to
all that the Queen is to Euglaod.
This sad and unexpected event has postponed the leper
taus of Lord Canning for the Godavery and British Burnsah,
for which he had arranged to mail in the Peruse last Satur-
day. His visit will be made, but will be necessarily cur-
tailed to allow of the despatch of the steamer to Suez for
Lord Elgin. The delay is tuffortanate, moreover, as the
river Oodavery is fast fading, and it will not be possible to
emceed it so far as war &tarsi inteeded. Our readers will
with interest Lord Canning', emphatic address to the
rarookdar d Gude, oaths oocrudoe of his last visit to Locknow.
The canoe of infanticide, there so vigorously condemned, was
only too commas during the anarchy of the native adminis-
tration, as Slam= shows in his work. It is not yet extiut,
but the step takes will prove effectual. The movement is
due to Mr. Yule, the chief commissioner. At Deflates, on
his way back to the capital, Lord Canning replied to an
address from the Maharajah and • thousand of the native
residents of that wealthy city, in terms which are dignified
enough looked at in a political light, but which attach •
value to Hindooism, and and a slight on Christianity, sin-
gularly at variance with the frank avowal of her Majesty's
proclamation of Ist November, 1858. There was an upper-
tainity for an house declaration of a similar character,
afforded by the address of the natives, of which the viceroy
ought to have taken advantage.
The Madras Athenerno& says:
With regard to the cotton question we have to mention
the fact that the matter has bees taken up by the Madras
government. A minute by his Excellent y the Governor
has been published, from which we learn that he has made
a minty of inquiries and given the subject much cossiders-
tioa, not only here but in Australia likewise. The result of
the inquiries made is first, "that the great surplus of
cotton supposed to exist in the interior of the country
is the product of the imagination of those whose
object it is to show that there is traffic sufficient
to defray the nest of transport, as well as
the interest of money invested in railroads, or canals, as the
case may be;" and, secondly, "that the extensive districta
of what is emphatically called cotton soil, though well
adapted to produce native cotton, which is shirt in the
staple and streem not toes) comes is the fibre, is not con.
paid to the growth of the fine species of American cotton."
His excellency is therefore of opinion that, without
disooureging any experiments which may be made to
grow American cotton, attention should be principally
directed to improving the indigenous staple. The
mode in which this is to be effected is as fol-
lows From the seed pods of this year's
take out those seeds to which the largest fibres are a
establishing a minimum length of fibre, throwing away all
thou seeds the cotton of which does not lamb this standard;
them selected seeds will be used for the next crop, and a
similar proems will be followed with this, the minimum
length being increased every year. In this way in the
course of a few year. it is probable that a permanent addi-
tion will be made to the length and possibly to the fineness
of the fibre, and it will then be easy to spread the seed of the
improved kid over the whole of the Indigenous cotton
fields of India." Land is to be given, free of muss-
ment for five years, to those ryots who are willing
to undertake the cultivation ; prices varyirg in amount
from its. 100 to Ks. 5,000 are to be awarded for the best
specimens, whether of native or foreign spades, „according
to some scale to be hereafter deterinieol, the highest pre.
miuni being given to the successful cultivator of cotton
whose value per pound and the value of the crop per acre
should not be less than the sums determined upon." In-
structions have bees, issued to the collectors of Bel-
!toy, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Kiang*, Madura, Tinnevelly,
and Coimbatore to carry out the intentions of
the Governor to the utmost of their power.
Whatever other merits this plan may have it is evident
that it does not possess the one which will renommend it to
Manchester manufacturers—immediate supply of the raw
material, of which they stand so much in need. In con-
nexion with this subject it may be mentioned that our
Chamber of Commerce has undertaken the duty of awarding
the primes ; and that the new Australian colony of Queens-
land hes applied for Madras labourers to cultivate ootton
there. To this request the answer which has been returned
is, that es soon as regulations are passed providing for the
proper treatment of the aonlies, emigration will be allowed.
Dr. Gull, Bishop of Madras, was formally installed
on the 27th November.

fortunate child was instantly conveyed to the hospital, but
all•died in a short time. The coroner said that, sumo the
winter season comineuced, he had had nineteen eases of CHINA.
children being burned to death, and in nearly every iustems
the calamity arose through the egrelesenesa of others The Overland Ch;oea Moil of the 15th of Novem-
leaving children alone with fires whilst they went out on ber says that the preceding fortnight had been
rather barren in news of general interest ; and wide
business. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental
death."
ourF ""nr caw, wusejoar warn, Treereuisodevrserytooltatoe beinteeiniliteirs .amSODong'eth4e
might Are oralmositattk.F.par♦thisa ChiailltiO.LglNstaEndiAngeti•olDr Edyly.
JairlDPIN islands, nod they will no doubt exercise some in-
frequent sow are the melancholy cases chronicled under it.
flueuco as regard' the safety of our countryman in that
Information was received by Mr. John Humphreys, coroner
for East Middlesex, oo Satunlay, of the death of &nth strange land.
Ow dates from Peking are to October 27th ;Sir. Bruce
Wainwright, a young girl of fourteen years of age, who ex-
was then fast recovering from a bad fall out of his ear.
pired that morning at the City of Loudon Hospital, from
the /flame of injuries received through the igniting of her risme. The new Emperor would leave the Zehol on the
crinoline late on the 'previous weaning. It appears that the f2Glathbeof.
co°c,,tl,,ixber.;.mwtonfolliulogw.t4atterhe
attesinteanremajr.mtehant: his
unfortunetellirl,wbo wealth° daughteref n*PectablePtrell"' new Emperor would receive the imperial coffin in due form.
residing at Stepney, was dam in a room, when her dress
The arrival would moat likely take place about the 4th of
caught tire at the grate, sad, her crinoline being very large,
the present month. In the meantime,
be
that few foreigners as
before the names could be extinguished her whole body was
possible are invited to the capital. We believe this is
aimed roasted, the only part of her person which escaped
to deference to the wishes oral advice of Prince Kung, who
unburned being her feet, which were protected by her boots.
would promote foreign interests as cautiouely an he vas, and
She was inimediately cooveyed to the hospital in a cab, and in such a way as to avoid giving needless offence to the
was attended by Mr. 1). H. Dyte, the houses surgeon, under
whose are she survived only a few hours, when death put '""
From the northern perm we have no intelligence Radi-
an end to her sufferings. tiered to that communicated by last mail. Admiral Hope is
EXTRAORDINARY ATTEMPT TO SHOOT • MAN.— said to have visited the port of Newchwang, in Manchuria.
At the Liverpool_ police-court on Saturday, a coloured man The Yang-tune river and the rebels do not afford any
Paned Edward Wilmer was brought before Mr. }tern", the further NOM for comment; it has been said that some tad
stipendiary magistrate, under the following circumstances. feeling is arising at the port of Hankow, but such reports
Itappears that a man named Michael Dalton, together with are divers going about and do not require serious attention.
some companion, visited a spirit vault in Brill-street, end ma expoditam that am. to have started from focus
while there Wilmer came in and amused one of the men of with a view of making Hank.w overland, will
having stolen his knife. It was denied that the knife bad not set out, as Mr. Bruce has refused to getm passpo
been taken, and When and his companion went due through Thibet. The reason for this oh.. ; the
another room to escape the annoyance to which the Emperor's authority in Thibet is of a nature merely Demi-
Prisoner was exposing them. Wilmer was not allowed to nal ; were the psuisporte to be disregarded we could not
follow than, and he then went and hid behind the door complain; and if we did not complain in such a case, it
until the men came out. When they come into the street, would funs a bad precedent.
sal when at about ten yards distance, the prisoner was From Shanghae, we du not learn, by the letest account',
observed to take a revolver from hi. breast and lire three any further alarm on account of the rebels and their proxi.
times at Dalton. The cry of "Police" was raised, and the miry to that city ; matters in fact, seem to remain much as
prisoner was secured. When taken into custody be dropped they were when we last wrote.
The rumoured vicinity of the rebels to Ningpo has caused
a revolver, which was loaded with powder end belle iu three
barrel., and three barrels had the appearance of having thousands of the inhabitant. to become so much alarmed for
been recently discharged. Dalton had received a wound ou their personal safety as to seek every means of conveyance
the Luck part of one of his thighs, but a surgeon who to Aaimkaa, and many had already arrived at that city at
examined it did not think it was caused by • pistol shot. the date of the lot advice'. The rebels are credibly
The case was amended. ported to have completely invested Hangchow, after having
MURDER If; LIVERPOOL—Late on Friday even- sakaa
log a seaman named Antonio Lopez, was murdered in From the various other ports on the coast we have no
Liverpool by another seaman (a Spaniard), named Louis I news of interest, except that at Swathe/ a boat's crew of her
Rlmood, one of the crew of the barque Victoria, bin in I Ma*ity's gunboat Firm, engagd in surveying the river,
King's Dock. It appears that about 11 o'clock on Friday I had been assaulted by the vilrs, stoned, and two of the
eight the deceased, in company with a girl named Mary seamen wounded.
Junes, went to Frame*. dancing saloon, in Hood-street. I From Canton we learn that Mr. Burlingame, the Ameri-
Here they were taking scene drink together, when the who- can plenipotentiary, visited his Excellency Taos, the
ner came in and cormaemeed quarrelling with the woman, Governor-Geuend of the Two Kinn, ou the !,th inst. ;he
and at last 'struck her with a cane. Lopez then interfered, was aceanpanied by three miesionanes and two merchants,
and the men adjourned to the street for the purpose of fight- and, we uoilentrind, was very well received. The Governor-
log. After several blows had been struck Edmond Geuend returned their visit on board of the Hankow, which
drew his sheath knife and stabbed the de- be preferred to Russell and Co.'s bong, politely pleading a
clewed in the lower part of the abdomen. inflicting a curiiedty to inspect thy new steamer. IL is understood that
frightful wound, from which the poor fellow's entrails pro- the United States minister addressed • body of merchants
traded. The wounded man was conveyed to the Royal In. on board of the Hankow, after the Goveruor-General of the
Annoy, where he died about hellion two in the morning. Two Kweng had left that vessel. Mr. Burlingame Imagoes
The prisoner was soon after apprehended by laspecar to Shanghai, on his way to the capital.
Rigby, and his knife was found oo the ground. The prisoner
was taken to the infirmary and placed amongst six other
men, and the deceased at once selected him as the person ! LtrzarooL, Du?. 48.—1 t is rumonred here that
coed the large steamers milling between Liverpool and
who dabbed him. The prises." was afterward* taken to the '
Central Police-station, and here again he was picked out
New York, has been edged by the Euglish government
from a number of men by the woman Jones. The prisoner
authorities ►at Queenstown, on the ground that she was
will be brought before Mr. Raines today, and an inquest
will also be bald on the deceased's body. s tarrying rifles and other contraband of war.