The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-15 00:00:00

ADULTS AND JUVENILES,

Business of E. MOSES & SON provides
1 amply the Attire for this Season, and secures the best quality
at the most reasonable prices.
The Establishments of w. Moses and Son are now replete with
every new and fashionable article of Dress for Adults and Juveniles,
and to order or ready-made the goods are sure to give the highett
satisfaction, the materials being the most superior, the styles of
workmanship unequalled—cecuring comfort to the wearer, and com-
bining Eterance, Cheapness, and Durability in Dress, Hosiery, Boats
and "Shoes, &c., &c.

Emigrants are Outfitted in the best possible manner. Ship-sailing
inform stion is given. Full List of Dints are sent post free ; and
the Wholesale Department furnishes the most decided advantages
to Merchants, !Shippers, and others.

SPECTAL NOTVIE,—TTntiI March 1, 105, E. IVIORES`suId SON'S
ESTABLISIIIINNTS will be CLOSED at EIGHT O'CLOCK EVERY
EVENING, except Saturday, when they will be open till 11 o'clock.

, •
CAITTION. —E. Vloslifi and SON regret [laving to guard ate
pablic against i•nposttion. having learned that the nntradesman-like
falsehood of " Ttem; connected with their Establishment," or " It's
the same concern," has been resorted to in many instances, and far
obvious reasons, they beg to state that they have
NOCONNEKION WITH ANY &ram noose IN Olt OUT OT LONDON,
except their own Establishments, as follows :
London City Establishment, 154. 155. 156, and 157, Minories, 84,
85, and 86, Aldgate. opposite the Church. all communicating.
Lon.ion West-end Branch, 506, 507, 508, New Oxford-street, 1,2,
kid 3, Hart-street. all communicating.
Bradtord (Yorkshire) Branch, 19 and 20, Bridge-street.
Sheffield Branch, 38. Fargate.
Colonial Wholesale Branch, Melbourne, Australia.
Merchant Tailor, Clothiers, Hatters, Floaters, Fenders, Boot and
Shoe Makers, and General Outfitters for Ladies and Gentlemen.
IMPORTANT.—ShouId any article not give satisfaction, it will be
exchanged if desired, or, a preferred, the money will be returned
without hesitation. Al goods are marked in plain tlgu'es, the lowest
price, trom which no abatement can be made.

The Establishments are closed from sunset on Fridays to sunset
on Satarrtrrys, when business Is msuirted till 11 o'clock.
A..natv Book for Autumn and Winter. " The Commercial Cornu.
en is," containing full lists of prices, our system et self-measure.
ment, Poe., may he had on application, or poet-tree.
Id I'on parle Francais. Qui si parla Rails no.
Hier spricht man Deutsch Aqua sit habla Espano.
lUtutrated Almanac for 185,5 graUsionoppllcatloo, or rat fro

SOUTH AMERICAN MAILS.

• The Royal Brazilian mail packet Severn, Capt.
1. M. Gillies ; Admiralty agent, Lieut. Darby,
R.N., arrived at Southampton yesterday, with the
South American

.-Dates of sailing--Thienos Ayres; Dec. 2, 1854 ;
Monte Video' •5 ; Rio de Janeiro, 15 ; Bahia, 20 ;
Pernambuco, 23 ; gt. Vincent, 31 ; Teneriffe, Jan.
5' • Madeira, 6 ; Lisbon, 9. , .
The Severn brings-31 passengers. ' •
' RIO DE JANEIRO, bEe...14.
The Brazilin squadron sailed for Paraguay on
the 10th, and six more vessels of war are to follow
in a few days • but it is the general opinion that
the dispute will be amicably arranged. •• • "•
ProvisiOns of all kinds are becoming exceedingly
dear in Rio. The supply of cattle is falling.off. to
an extent'whiCh threatens a great scarcity of fresh
rseat. The poorer' classes are beginning to suffer
severely. The fact is,. that the want of hands
conseque,at upon the suppression of the slave trade
is , beginning to be felt.
The , yellow fever has entirely, left us, and. the
city was never more healthy than at present.
Our coffee and exchange markets have been very
active. In imports generally little has been done.
Exchange opened on the 9th at 27id. to 2771,
and some bills were negotiated at 28d. The total
amount passed since the Ist we estimate at
340,0001. on. London, 800,000 francs on France,
and 330,000 mares banco on Hamburg. The mar-
ket closes very firm at our quotations.
In coffee nothing was done until the sth, when
dealers submitted to a decline of 150 reis, and a
large business was done. The Severn's news,
although unfavourable, did not produce 'a corres-
ponding effect in the market, but great activity has
continued to prevail, and we estimate the total
sales since the Ist at 150,000 bags, of which 100 are
for Europe and 50 for the States. Yesterday we
noted an improvement in the market, and the better
qualities were sold at an advance of 50 or 100 reis.
Supplies come forward very freely at the rate of
10,000 bags per day.
Freights have ruled somewhat higher.
Discounts rule at 7 to %per cent.

Of affairs in Buenos Ayres, the B: itish Packet
of Dec. 2, says, in its monthly retrospect, that
business is at a dead standstill. The invasion of
Nov. 5 paralysed everything : the horizon is de-
scribed as turbid and lowering. The Government
was hesitating, and the wisest hesitate between the
disadvantages which attend both a peace and a
war policy. No hope .is entertained for a long
peace while Urquiza is president of the Argentine
Confederation, and the present rulers in Buenos
Ayres are in power. On the export market the
Packet thus reports :
After a courageous stand tallow holders have at last
given way, and, instead of 26 reals, one of the latest
transactions, a lot of 450 pipes, was done at 22i reals,
and we believe there is a contract pending for all that
can be got up at a certain Saladero, to the 19th inst., at
211 reals. The actual stocks on hand mint be very low,
and it is still doubtful on what scale the Saladeros may
work for the present season. At the present prices of
live cattle and export produce we would predict very
limited operations. At the same time strenuous
efforts are being made to regulate rural property and
collect strayed cattle, many of which have become wild;
and of the latter it is not unlikely that a considerable
number may be condemned to the shambles, to save
their owners the trouble and expense of taming them.
But in the meantime these operations of collecting and
separating are virtually suspended by the embodiment
of our rural militia, which leaves us in nearly the same
state of uncertainty.

Of dry ox and cow hides considerable stocks have
accumulated, say upwards of 100,000 hides. In heavy
hides the effective reduction may be about 20 per cent.
on the extreme prices of August. The North American
demand for light bides has been completely at abeyance
for the last two months ; but they have found a new
channel principally for the Continent, at a reduction of
little more than 5 per cent. on previous rates., As an
indispensable requisite for trimming vessels salted hides
have been taken up readily at nearly former prices,
and of these we believe the stocks on hand are very low.
Movements of her Majesty's Ships.—Left at Rio de
Janeiro, her Majesty's ships Indefatigable, Madagascar,
and Trident ; at Pernambuco, her Majesty's brig Spy ;
at Lisbon, her Majesty's ship Meander.
Movements of Foreign Ships of War.—Left at Rio de
Janeiro, United States ships of war Independence and
German Town ; also French frigates Andromeda and
Courier. At Madeira, United States frigate Consti-
tution.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 14.
Exchange on London, 27h to 28, firm ' • France, 347
to 348, firm ; Hamburg, 650 to 655, Bank shares
(commercial), 720 milreis; Brazil, 280 milreis prem, ;
ditto New, 115 milreis prem. Six per Cent, stock, 111
to 112 ; Provincial, 104 to 105 ; sovereigns, 8,850.
COFFEE.—Superior, 4.200 to 4.400 ; good first, 4.000
to 4.100 ; American assortrments, 4.000 to 4.200 ;
European, 3.600 to 4.100. Sales since the Ist, 160,000
bags ; shipped, 116,476 bags ; stock, 50,000 bags.
FREIGHTS.—EngIish Chinnel, 60s. to 625. 6d. ; Medi-
terranean, 58s. to 755. ; United States, 80c. to 85c. ;
France, 80f. Other markets are unchanged.
FOREIGN SHIPS OF WAR ON THE STATION.—Ame•
rican :—lndependence, John Adams, Savannah. Eng-
lish :—Madagascar, Indefatigable, Sharpshooter, Tri-
dent. French :—Andromede, Catinat, Chasseur,
Galathea.

THE MEDITERRANEAN.

----~--

MARSEILLES, Jan. 11.—The following British
and French steamers are now waiting in the port
of the Joliette to receive troops from the Crimea,
but the troops are not ready. The Vulcan British
steam frigate the Tamar, Alps, Rhone, Hydaspes,
and Ripon , the French sailing frigate, Psyche, the
transport Giraffe, and the French steamers, La
France, Byzantin, Assyrien, and several transports.
The British captains complain of the great loss of
time, but they are consoled with the excuse that
they are detained to convey the portion of the
Imperial Guard to embark for the Crimea, and
which are impatiently expected at Marseilles.
The British steamer Jura sailed on Tuesday
morning for Constantinople with a battalion and
the staff of the 49th regiment. The Jura had been
waiting here since the 27th of December. The
Thabor brought about 100 wounded soldiers, who
were carefUlly looked after on their arrival, and
those whd were unable to walk were carried on
stretchers to the military hospitals. General Ros-
tolan, the commander-in-chief, is most attentive to
the sick and wounded. On the arrival of every
steamer from the Fast, he either rides down to
the port or sends an aide-de-camp to receive the
invalids. A fatigue party is likewise, in waiting
on the quay, witha number of stretchers. Among
the wounded arrived are several amputated and
some who have had a leg frozen. They describe the
cold as very intense during the night. In con-
sequence of the numerous assassinations which had
taken place lately at Constantinople, a military
police had been established by the French,and their
soldiers patrolled the streets day and night. A Pri-
vate letter from Trebizonde, of the 21st Dec.,states,
on the authority of a Persian traveller arrived from
Tauris, that the Russian corps which it was sup-
posed had evacuated Bayazid, had returned there,
after having made an excursion during three days
in the direction of Erivan. It is said that the
British Consul at Trebizonde had protested against
the conduct of the Pasha Governor, who had re-
fused to permit the exportation of wheat, flour,
and barley, in violation of the order issued by the
Grand Vizier at Constantinople, permitting the
free exit of such produce. The population of Sam-
soun and Trebizonde, whose interests were con-
siderably injured by the prohibition decreed by
their Pasha, were impatiently waiting the result of
the British Consul's protest.

A letter from Toulon, received this morning,
states that the repairs of the ship of the line
Charlemagne had been completed, and the Fleurus
had taken her place in the dockyard. A battalion
of the 18th Light Infantry`had arrived for embar-
kation to join the army of the East. The ship of
the line Duperro had sailed for the Crimea, having
on board 24 officers and 932 non-commissioned
officers and privates of the 14th of the line.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. —At a meeting of
this society, held on Wednesday last—Benjamin
Austen, EN., in the chair—Mr. Watkiss Lloyd com-
menced a paper "On the Sculptured Frieze of
the Parthenon," in reply to certain opinions of Dr.
Braun, of Rome. The paper will be concluded at the
next meeting of the society.
PENINSULAR MAILS.—Tbe Peninsular and Oriental
Company's steam-packet ,Madrid, Captain Cook, Ad-
miralty agent, Lieutenant Hay, R.N., arrived at South-
ampton yesterday with the Peninsular mails. Her dates
are—Gibraltar, Jan. 3d; Cadiz, 4th; Lisbon, 9th ;
Oporto, 10th ; Vigo, 10th. The Madrid brings 39 pas-
sengers, amongst whom are Major Smith, 54th Regi-
ment ; Capt. Downman, 66th Regiment • Lieutenant
Stirling, R.H.A. ; Lieutenant Llewellyn, R.A. ' • and 13
British subjects (distressed). There is nothing of import-
ance. The quarantine at Lisbon, Cadiz, and Vigo is
removed from the steamers from Southampton.
At Gibraltar—coaling for the Crimea, H. M.S. Malacca ;
HA, steamer Reda ; Lisbon-744 Alp Meander.

THE WAR AND. T.llll INDEPENDENCE
OF POLAND.

In compliance with a numerously signed requisition a
public meeting was called by his worship the ,Mayor,
last evening (Wednesday)-, -to consider the question.
We confess we attended with great doubts as to the in-
terest which the subject would create amongst us, but
upon entering the hall at 7 o'clocii we found it rapidly
filling, and it soon became crowded in every part. -
His worship the Mayor, John Browne, Esq., on
taking the chair, read the requisition, and declared his
readiness to comply with the wisheS of the inhabitants,
and had therefore convened the:present meeting.
The Rev, S. A. Steinthal moved the first resolution,
which was seconded by R. Smith, jun.,
" That this meeting being deeply impressed with the
importance of the present war being concluded by, such a
peace alone as shall effeCtually check the aggressive policy
of Russia,and thus insure the future tranquillity and free-
-dem of urope, would declare its opinion, that this desir-
able end Can be best attained by the re-establishment of
the Independence of the Polish Nation."

The Rev. Gentleman succinctly and rapidly traced the
past and present position of Poland, and pointed out how
we, in'forme'r days, had done. much mischief to mankind
by consenting to that which was iniquitous, and as we
had not done our duty in times gone bye, it behoved us
now, when engaged in war with Russia, to endeai7r
to repair that mischief by doing justice to Poland. The
speaker alluded to Poland,-.as
past times, celebrated
for her chivalrous love of liberty, for her advance in
civilisation and literature, and for her tolerant spirit in
religious matters. At the eonclusion of his remarks, he
alluded to the presence of a distinguished Pole. present,
who, by favour of the meeting, would enter into detail
upon the state of his country. (Cheers.)
R. SMITH, jun., Esq., most ably and forcibly seconded
the resolution, and denounced the aggressive and gigantic
strides which the policy of Russia had and was taking,
and declared that if• not permanently shut up in her
natural
_barriers she would, like the barbarous hordes of
olden time, overrun and trample with the heel of despot-
ism the freedom of Europe. Mr. smith called upon the
people to speak out;. they were in danger of being sold
by the diplomacy of Government if they allowed Minis-
ters during the recess of Parliament to patch up a treaty
of peace with Russia. He declared that in his opinion
the Ministers, by their conduct,- were the cause of the
war, were guilty of the blood which had been spilt, and
would be, unless the people spoke out, guilty of joining
a treaty of no value in order to patch up a false peace
and bolster,-them for a short time in their position as
Ministers. (Hear, hear.)
His Worship, after the cheering had subsided, intro-
duced the Polish exile—whose name we caught as Mr.
Zaba—to the meeting. •
This gentleman, in a speech of upwards of two houre
duration' most eloquently, feelingly, and powerfully
sketched the past and present position of his country,
geographically, socially, politically, and religiously, and
was repeatedly interrupted by bursts of applause from
the meeting. It is completely out of our power to offer
anything like an approximate sketch of his oration, as
time and space precludes us from doing justice to even
an outline of his speech, which was listened to with the
most eager attention by the meeting, we caii bear tes-
timony that at few meetings have we witnessed greater
enthusiasm and eager desire to carry out the objects of
the speakers than we remarked at the large meeting last
evening. Bridgwater has taken up the question right
heartily, and with her well known sturdiness will not
turn back from the mark she has once desired to reach.
The 'eloquent stranger commenced by expressing his
gratitude and joy at the manifestations of interest ex-
pressed in his cause, and paid rs' beautiful and feeling
compliment to the memory of the late Lord. Dudley
Stuart, the philanthropic and warm friend of the Polish
cause in and out of the British Parliament. He consi-
dered that an honourable and lasting peace could only
he permanently established by the restoration of Poland,
and believed that the pregmt war was a just retribution
on England and France for their past apathy and ne-
glect, and wholly the result of the dismemberment of
Poland. The spark of justice which had ion• been slum-
bering
in their bosoms was now raised into a flame. It
was not sufficient that the Czar should be bumbled,—it
was necessary that he should be crippled, and the only
means of doing so effectually was by a restoration of
Poland. The learned gentleman then reviewed the
early condition of his beloved country on the dawn of
the Christian era. The clemency of their religious tenets
and general toleration of religious freedom ; the asylum
she offered to the persecuted ; and the high moral
character which the right appreciation of religious
views had given her, reflected greatly to her honour
as a nation. The early Polish nation was divided
into two classes, the nobility and the peasantry.
A citizen of Poland was ‘forbilden to hold- any
title they were all brethren. Every indixidual
could be admitted to the order of tie institution, which
was based upon the most honourabb principles. - When
an individual was raised to the rink of nobleman, all
•
his family participated in the honour. It was an insti-
tution that stimulated the energiss of all, creating a
noble • spirit, and a love and interest for their country.
The order enjoyed many privileges; an audience with
the king could be commanded by Clem at all times. The
noblemen of Poland could be compared to the members
of our Parliament ; and the only stepping-stone to that
honour was bravery and devotion to their country.
Poland had produced men of eminence, amongst them
Copernicus, who had laid the foundation of the glory of
Newton; and he was proud in saying that Poland gave
birth to so great and eminent a man. Mr. Zaba then com-
pared the peasants of Poland with the serfs of Russia ;
the one inspired with all that wrai ennobling in nature,
a lova of country, with a heart ever alive to the bless-
ings of religious liberty and independence ; the other
dull, somnific, and cringing, their every action ruled by
the whim arid caprice of their owner and master, who
were obliged to think as he thought, and to be the goods
and chattels of his business transactions—selling them
or gambling them away as he chose. Russia had im-
posed upon Poland a pseudo protection of her religi-
ous members, similar to that which she has unsuccesfully
thrust upon Turkey. Treaties had been made by
Prussia, Austria, and Russia, and each had acted
treacherously towards her, and under the mask of
friendship had assisted in breaking up the kingdom
of Poland, which they had decimated and divided
amongst themselves, Russia having the lion's share of
the spoil. Poland resisted, but with her handful of
men could not contend against the troops poured
in by her sworn protectors. The only way of insuring
safety from the despotic spirit of Russia was reducing
her to her ancient limits and restoring the kingdom of
Poland. It was •by the annihilation of the kingdom of
Poland that Russia had grown into importance.
Russia it was reported had accepted the • four points
of the treaty, but he believed the restoration of Poland
was the only guarantee for the permanent peace of
Europe.
An address was then read by Mr. Steinthal embodying
the opinions of the meeting, and the following resolution
was moved by Mr. J. R. Smith, secOnded by Mr.
Rossitor

" That the address now read be signed by the Mayor
on behalf of the meeting and be forwarcled by him to
Lord Palmerston."

Mr. ROSSITOR, in seconding the above, attributed the
whole of the bungling and mismanagement during the
present campaign to those who held the reins of Go-
vernment. Was the Earl of Aberdeen—who was the
known friend to our bitterest, enemy, the Emperor of
Russia—a fit person to be at the head of the Govern-
ment? Was Sidney Herbert, who is the son of a
Russian lady, fit to be the Master of the War Office,
who had remained inactive till war was commenced by
Turkey herself, and England was obliged to help her 1
The speaker then drew a melancholy picture of the
state of our troops after the battle of Inkerman, and
ridiculed the idea of employing foreign mercenaries when
a legion of Poles, who had an interest in the cause, could
be easily called around the English standard—a noble
legion who would be fighting for their fatherland.
Mr STRINTHAL then read petitions which were in-
tended to be presented to the houses of Parliament.
Mr. TAYLOR in a short but pithy speech proposed the
following resolution 1" That the petition now read be
adopted by this meeting and signed, and be forwarded
by the Mayor, the one to the House of Lords to the
Earlof Harrowby, and that to the House of Commons to
the members for the borough, requesting them to sup-
port the prayer of the petition.
The following address of sympathy for the Poles in
this country was read by Mr. Steinthal

" TO PRINCE ADAM CZARTORYSKI.
geimSbldire, desire
—Thain
to'ha approach
bitants
you,of Brn
id gawd t ateor' in public hall
assembled, express through
you to your fellow-countrymen, the noble patriots who
have suffered in behalf of Polish independence, their deep
and sincere sympathy with their noble and patient perse-
verance in behalf of freedom during so many years of exile
and distress.
"'They would express their earnest prayer that the dawn
of better days may be approaching for Poland, and hope
that soon a free nation, governed by institutions framed
according to their own desires and, necessities, they may be
able to oppose a firm barrier against Russian despotism
and barbarism. With profound respect for all who have
been engaged in the arduous struggle for independence
they would urge upon the Polish people the necessity of
continued self-sacrifice and sold-devotion, and would com-
mend the cause of all oppressed to that just God who will
not suffer the wicked to prevail for ever."
The following resolution, proposed by Mr. STEINTHAL,
seconded by Mr. J. HIIEUAN, was passed unanimously
—" That the address now read be signed by the Mayor
on behalf of the meeting, and sent to Prince Adam
Czartoryski."
A vote of thanks to the Mayor terminated the pro-
ceedings. '
The address to be presented to,Parliament will lie on
the table at the Burgess Hall to-day (Thursday) for sig-
nature, the Mayor recommending that every one present
at the meeting should come himself and bring two others
with him to sign the document.—Briciggater 211140.

OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE CRIMEA.

We reap, at any rate, this advantage from the
miserable miscarriage of all our military depart-
ments, that we are free henceforth to criticise and
suggest. The stereotyped question, " What can
civilians know about it?" has lost its terrors,' for no
civilian need be afraid of suggesting anything which
could more completely miscarry than the arrange.
ments of our military oracles. We are most anxious
that the heavy price which we are paying for expe-
rience and for the right to tell heads of military
i departments that they do not understand their
own business should not be paid in vain, and that,
if they are fated to accomplish upon our troops
that destruction which storm, sword, and pestilence
have essayed in vain, the fall should, at any rate,
bring down with it the system to which it is to be
attributed. We have been favoured with the notes
of a distinguished officer now on active service in
the Crimea on many of these subjects, and, though
-sdrne are of too minute and technical a nature for
the columns of thisjournal, and only fitted for the
pages of an exclusively military publication, there
are others to which we think we shall do good ser-
vice in drawing the attention of the ptiblic.
The infantry, in the opinion of our authority—
in which, we believe, he is supported by the una:.
nimous assent of Europe—consists of the very
best material out of which soldiers can possibly be
made. Their steadiness, their docility, their great
physical strength, and unfaltering confidence in
each other, render them susceptible of the very
highest discipline, and make their appearance on
parade and on the battle-field as splendid and im-
posing as their mevemente are solid and regular.
Their regimental organisation, also, we may add,
and the feeling of emulation between different
corps, give them a spirit and an energy unknown
to armies in which everything is referred to the
whole rather than to its subdivisions. But when
employed on outpost duty or in the came---in a
large proportion, in fact, of those matters which go
make up a soldier's existence during a campaign
—the British Grenadier by no means maintains
the unquestionable superiority he evinces on a field
of battle. Confident in their personal valour, and
contemptuous of the prowess of an enemy to
whom they may be opposed, our soldiers are
accused of being negligent sentries and very
improvident pickets. They are, moreover, al-
leged to be deficient in resource, and to want
altogether that intuitive perception and military
tact which enable the Frenchman to seize an oppor-
tunity, to cover a retreat, or to repair a disaster.
Our soldiers and regimental officers, according to
the same authority, when on detached duty and
exposed situations, frequently allow the enemy to
take strange liberties with them, and are often
reduced to win back by great personal exposure
and loss advantages which a little care and dex-
terity would have secured to them. In camp the
same thing is observed ; soldiers and officers are
said to be very helpless in providing for their
wants, and to evince no aptitude in turning to the
best account the resources which every country
places at their disposal. We give the criticism as
we find it, and make no doubt, arguing both from
the experience of former wars as well as from cer-
tain indications in the present, and, indeed, from
the peculiarities of our national character, that it
has a foundation in justice. Our men„ it is
added, know nothing of campaigning, and our
officers, whose duty it is to instruct them,
have no more practical, and, in general, we fear,
little more theoretical knowledge. Both will
learn these things from experience, but that
experience is acquired by immense suffering and
loss. So far as this fault exists, it. points to a de-
fect in military education which it is quite possible
and highly desirable to correct. It would not be
difficult to give the soldier an idea of the ordinary
incidents attendant upon military life in the face
of an enemy, instead of confining his knowledge to
the rare occasion of a great battle, and to instruct
the officers, and through them the men, in the use
of those manoeuvres which constitute the tactics
and evolutions of la petite guerre. Nor would it
be difficult, we should think, to teach both officers
and men, together with their drill, some rudiments
of the culinary art, together with some hints as to
the way of making the best of a bivouac or of tent
life. Certain sanitary rules might at the same time
be enforced with no little advantage to the health
and comfort of the troops.
We have given these criticisms as we found them,
believing from the experience of the late Kafir
war, and, indeed, of all occasions in which our
troops have been called upon to display extraordi-
nary resources and ingenuity, that they are not de-
void of foundation. At the same time, we must
protest against these or similar criticisms being
accepted as accounting in any considerable degree
for the miseries of our army in the Crimea, or tend-
ing in the least to transfer the blame of their suf-
ferings and misfortunes from the heads of depart-
ments here and at the seat of war to the troops
themselves. No doubt our pickets have been
more than once surprised and our sentries bayonetted
by the pitiless foe, but these were men who had been
exposed during eighteen out of every twenty-four
hours to censtant labour in the trenches, or at
the outposts, or in doing the duty of beasts of
burden in the conveyance of artillery and pro-
visions ; and overtasked human nature, and not
any laziness of the men, must bear the blame,
if the danger of instant death and the danger of
'exposing the whole army to a surprise as dreadful
as that of Inkerman could not keep open eyelids
weighed down by such cruel and unceasing labour.
There is, indeed, one of our contemporaries, not
much prone to too favourable a consideration of
any one except her Majesty's Ministers, which has
revived against our army that charge of effeminacy
which Gibbon has brought against all modern sol-
diers, and, rather than admit the maladministra-
tion of officials, accuses their victims of being too
soft to bear up against the hardships incidental to
a state of war. Never was accusation more unjust.
In rags, in famine, in cold, in wet, in mud, and
in snow the English regimental officers and
soldiers have struggled on, under what fearful
inflictions let the death and disease which
have swept off their hundreds a.day testify
against these heartless critics. Nor in this cam-
paign can the soldier's want of skill be said
to have caused, though it may, in some degree,
have aggravated, his miseries. Our soldiers have
had hardly any implements for cooking, and yet
have been forced to feed on substances—raw coffee
anti raw pork—to convert which into human food
a thorough cooking was absolutely indispensable.
Had every private in the army been a Soy er or a
Ude, he could not have made for himself a com-
fortable meal without firewood, with a dry spot to
kindle it upon, without a pot, a saucepan, a grid-
iron, or a frying-pan. That our soldiers are help-
less in these matters we believe, but in this instance
the helplessness of their commanders has monopo-
lised the whole blame, and withheld from the pri-
vate soldier all means of showing whether or not
the soldier is capable -of providing for his own corn-
fort. With this qualification, we accept our mili-
tary critic's observations on the private soldier and
regimental officer, and commend them, as the fruit
of long experience and attentive observation, to
those whose business it is to supply with fresh men
the rapidly thinning ranks of the army in the
Crimea.—Times.

SUDDEN DEATH OF SIR G. WOMBWELL, BAUT.—We
regret to announce the sudden death of Sir George
Wombwell, Bart., who was found dead in his bed yes-
terday morning, at his town residence in George-street,
Hanover-square. We are nformed that Sir George re-
tired to rest at ten o'clock, apparently in his usual health
and cheerful spirits ; yesterday, at half-past eight, his
servant went as customary to his chamber to call him,
but not receiving any reply ho approached the bed, and
discovered his master quite dead. Sir George's medical
attendant, Mr. Fuller, was soon at hand, but it was
thought life must have been extinct at least three hours
before the discovery was made. The deceased baronet
had died to all appearance without a struggle, as be
seemed to be in a sound slumber. Sir George was well
known in the circles of fashion, and his sudden dissolu-
tion will be regretted by a numerous body of friends.
Sir G. Wombwell was second son of Sir George, second
baronet, by Anne, daughter of Henry, Earl Falconberg,
and was born 13th April, 1792. He married first, 23d
June, 1824, Georgia.na, youngest daughter of Mr. Orby
Hunter, of Crowland Abbey, Lincolnshire ; and secondly,
Eliza, daughter of Mr. J. E. Little, of Hampton. The
deceased succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his
father, 29th October, 1846, and the baronetcy and family
estates now devolve on the late baronet's son, Lieutenant
George Wombwell, of the 17th Lancers ; the other son
of the deceased baronet is also serving with his regi-
ment, the 62d, in the Crimea. The present gallant ba-
ronet has only recently been promoted for his distin-
guished gallantry at the memorable cavalry charge of
Major-General the Earl of Cardigan, at the battle of
Balaklava, when he had his horsekilled under him, and
was taken prisoner by a Russian trooper ; while being
carried off the field, he succeeded in unhorsing his cap-
tor, fired his pistol and wounded him, and then rapidly
mountine, the horse of the Russian soldier, made his
escape back to his comrades, by whom he was loudly
and heartily commended for his bravery. For this
igallant act he was promoted, a few days since, to a
lieutonntoy in his regiment,