The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-16 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The following is from a correspondent at Malta :—" The
Wand° returned to port on the 6th, having on the morn-
ing preceding at 9 o'clock, when off the coast of Sicily,
near Trapani, been struck by a severe white squall, which
hove her bodily on her beam ends, and when in this position
her main and fore yards were carried away, both breakit g
off at about 4ft from the end. As she was at the time of the
accident considerably ahead of the rest of the squadron,
Capt. Randolph waited for the Marlborough to come up,
and when Admiral Smart heard what had happened, he at
once ordered her back to Malta to replace her lost yards.
The other ships would have reached Palermo on the 6th,
and after two days' stay will proceed to Naples. Her Ma-
jesty's steamsloop Trident left on the 3d for the Pir,'etes of
Athens. The paymaster of this vessel was dismissed the
service on the Ist of Sept. by sentence of a naval court-
martial of which Capt. Provost, of her Majesty's ship Gib-
raltar, sat as president, which was held on board of her Ma-
jesty's chip Hibernia. Her Majesty's screw steam corvette
Racer, from Woolwich, Falmouth, Gibraltar, and Algiers,
having in company (the greatest part of the voyage in
tow) the Syrian and Wizard screw steam gunboats, on the
application by telegraph to the Commander-in-Chief at
Palermo of the representative of Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and
Co., is preparing to put to sea to assist the screw steamer
Fanny Lambert, which left for Bengazi on the Bth, in lift-
ing, to seek the ruptured part, repairing, and submerging
the telegraphic submarine cable between Bengazi and Alex-
andria, which ceased speaking' on the night of the Gth of
September. The position of the break is said to be from
180 to 200 miles :rota Bengazi, from which last mentioned
place to Malta communication is uninterrupted. Her Ma-
jesty's despatch steamer Pysche left for Palermo on the
forenoon of the Bth, with despatches for the Admiral and
mails for the ships accompanying him to hand from Eng-
land, via Marseilles, by the Peninsular and Oriental ,Com-
panyis mail steamer the Ellora. The present distribution
of the Mediterranean squadron, composed of 30 steam and
one sailing vessels--namely, four screw steamships of the
line, four steam frigates, two ironclad screw steam frigates,
four screw steam corvettes, eight screw steam gunboats,
one steam sloop, two surveying steam vessels, two de-
spatch steam vessels, two steam tugs, one line-of-battlers-
ceiving ship, and one selling gunboat, tender to same, is
as follows :—Tbe Marlborough screw steam line-of-battle
ship, bearing the 111 g of the Commander-in-Chief, Vice•
Admiral R. Smart, K H., with the Gibraltar, 81, screw
steam line-of-battle ship, the Royal bak, 35, and Resist-
ance, IG, ironclad screw steam frigates, are on a cruise to
the p its of Sicily and Naples, and this morning were at
Palermo. Tare Revenge, bearing the fig of Roar-Admi-
ral It. 11. Yelverion, C. 8., with the Chanticleer, 17, screw
steam corvette, is in the Bay of Tunis. The Pboebe, 35,
act ew steam frigate, and the Fexheural, le screw steam
gun'oat, are at Susa. The Pelican, 17, screw steam cor-
vette, is at Sfax. The Firefly, 3, surveying steam sloop
off the coast of Sicilly, near Marsala—the Wanderer, 4,
screw steam gunboat, at Corfu—•the Magicteane, 16,paddle-
whe,1 steam frigate, and the Hydra, 1 paddlewheel steam
survey inn sloop, are at Patras—the Liff3y, 39, screw steam
frigate—the Surprise, 4, screw steam gunboat—and the
Trident, 3, paddlewheel steam sloop, at the Piraras of
Athens—the Ccckatrice, 2, screw steam gunboat, is in the
Danube—the Caradoc, 2, paddlewheel steam despatch ves-
sel at Constantinople—the Cossack, 20, screw steam cor-
vette, at Beyrout—the Hibernia receiving ship, bearing the
flag of Rear-Admiral Horatio Thos. Austin, C. 8., Super-
intendent of Malta Dockyard—the Orlando,46, screw steam
frigate—the Racer, 16, screw steam corvette—the Weser, 6
—the Tyrian and Wizard, screw steam gunboats—and the
Azof sailing gunboat, and Hearty steam tug are at Malta
—the Meeanee, 60, screw steam line of battle ship—and
Procris, 2, screw steam gunboat, and Redpele, 1, screw
steam tug at Gibraltar—and the Psyche despatch steamer,
is on her way to Palermo from Malta."

The armament for the screw corvette Cadmus, 21, 400,
porse power, sh.pped from the Chatham ordnance-wharf
on board the War Department transport Bomarsund, was
landed at the dockyard yesterday, and will be placed on
board to-day. The Cadmus takes 16 of the 8-inch GO
pounder cast iron smooth bore guns, for throwing hcllow
shot, four 40 pounder naval Armstrongs, and one 110
pounder 81 cwt. naval Armstrong, together with the
usual complement of light Armstrongs and brass
guns for field and boat service. In consequence of the amount
of work still remaining to be executed on board the corvette
in the way of fitting, the Cadmus will not be sufficiently
advanced to leave the dock during the present spring tides,
but it is probable she will be so far completed as to allow of
her being fluted out of dock by the end of the present
ni,,nth. The sum originally ordered to be expended on the
Cadmus in the way of repairs—£lo,oo0—will be very con-
siderably exceeded, in consequence of the additional work
which it was found necessary should be executed as the re-
pairs were in progress. It is understood that the Cadmus
will join the West India squadron, under the command of
Commodore P. Cracroft, C.B.

The whole of the 100-pounder wrought iron smooth-bore
guns with which the iron-clad frigate Achilles, 20, 1,250
horse power, will be armed have been despatched from the
Chatham gun wharf to that vessel in the War Department
cutters employed on that duty. Although the Achilles ori-
ginally figured in the Navy List as a 40 gun frigate, her
armament has since been cut down to 20 guns, the whole of
which were to have been of the new kind of 100-pounders.
Within the last few days, however, the authorities at
Whitehall have again decided on some alterations in the
armament of the Achilles, and instead of the iron frigate
carrying
20 of the 100-pounders, in accordance with previ-
ously received orders at Chatham, it is now intended she
shall mount only 16 of that description of guns, the remain-
der of her complement of guns being made up, according to
exieting intentions, of several of the 100-pounders which
are to undergo the process of rifling. The decision of the
Admiralty not to place any of the 300-pounders on board
the Achilles has created considerable surprise in naval circles
especially when it is considered that in any future naval
engagements in which our iron-clads will take part every
other description of armament, with the exception of the
300 pounder and 600 pounders, will be comparatively in-
effective against armour plated ships.
The first, step on the part of the Admiralty to dispense
with the expensive system of hand labour in the manufac-
ture of ships' cables and ropes, and permit the number of
workmen thus released to be employed on some more profit-
able labour in our royal dockyards', has just been carried
into effect at the ropemaking establishment at Chatham
dockyard, where a number of the largest and most expen-
sive of the spinning jennies for preparing the hemp for the
manufacture of the largest kind of rope cables are now in
course of erection. The machines in questioa have been
constructed for the Admiralty by Messrs Fairbairn and Co.
of Leeds, who have erected a considerable portion of the
machinery used in preparing the iron work for the armour
clad ships under construction at the same dockyard, and are
of the most approved design and finish. Eight of the new
machines are to be erected in the first instance, and addi-
tional machinery of a similar kind will be brought into use
as the resources of the establishment demand it.
An announcement has been received at Chatham of th
playa
hitsifstuaticbtrsto underprthdr
regardseianst saileanet
intention of the Lords of the Admiralty to shortly make
some important alterations in the rig of the whole of the
a
e
ouhn ex-
perimentalrtednu sailingteoohr
regiricciagat
‘up,
oilianfstbgeoihlueiartf ;adducedevtnsheoesowf, iertlbcsh)
enoooci iron plated epas(nlei
important
recognised
vessels composing the squadron of ironclads, the recent
fleet,f
f
s
ome
f
ptsasti
pwt bsht
part to the steaming capabilities of each ship, In our mo-
dern system of naval warfare the ultimate victory will un-
doubtedly incline to that vessel which can beat her antago-
nist in mance wring and in superiority of steaming, should
the latter be even as small ns a fraction (,f a knot per hour.
Acting on this well understood principle the Admiralty
have decided on dying away with much Qf the rigging which

crowds most of the ships of the ironclad squadron, and
giving each a lighter rig, the fact cf the Enterprise and the
Defence beating all the other ships of the Channel Fleet on
a wind, when under full sail, having induced the Board to
take the necessary steps for altering the other vessels of the
squadron to the description of rig of the vessels mentioned.
The machinery of the screw steam frigate Constance, 39,
at Devonport, which is in charge of Chief Engineer Joseph
H. Fills, is undergoing some alteration. When completed
she will no doubt be put in commission.
The iron screw steamship Defence, 16, Capt. Augustus
Phillimare, from Bristol, which arrived in Plymouth Sound
on Wednesday, embarked yesterday a number of men for
the Channel Squadron, and will protably leave to-day to join
the flag of Admiral Dacres at Portland or Torbay.
Yesterday morning the Ist battalion of the Scots Fusileer
Guards, under the command of Col, Hepburn, Col. Gordon,
and Lieut.- Col, Hay, left the Sheet-street Barracks, Wind-
sor, for the Windsor-station of the Great Western Railway,
en route for the Tower of London. The battalion, which
consists of 17 officers, 693 non-commissioned officers and
privates, 96 women, and 110 children, proceeded to town in
three divisions (the trains starting respeelvely at 7 10, 7 40,
and 8 15 a.m. from Windsor), via the Great Western and
Metropolitan Railway to the Farringdon-street terminus,
whence the troops marched through the city to the Tower.
The 2d battalion Coldstream Guards, from the Wellington
Barracks, numbering 10 officers and 604 non-commissioned
officers and men, commanded by Col. St. George Stepney,
C,8., left the Victoria Station, Pimlico, at 8 10 a.m. yester-
day, and proceeded by special train, via the Great Western
Railway, to Windsor, where it relieves the Ist battalion
Scots Fusilier Guards. The battalion on leaving the station
marched at once to the Sheet-street Barracks, which it
now occupies.

The following detail of officers and men belonging to the
Ist battalion 6th Fusileers from the Tower yesterday
marched into Woolwich garrison and took up their winter
quarters at the Royal Artillery Barracks, vacated on the pre-
vious day by the three batteries of the 13th brigade garrison
artillery on their removal to Dover :--2 field officers, 6
captains, 10 subalterns, 3 staff officers, 27 sergeants, 17
drummers, and 424 rank And file—namely Lieut. and
Brevet-Col. William C. Master, C. 8., in command ; Major
William Lyons, Capts. Thomas S. Bigge, William H, P.
Meara, Brevet-Major Edwin J, Oldfield, Edward Town-
shend, and J. J. Mathew— Lieuts. G. Herrick, J. Hartley,
A. Nichols, and A. M, Hill—Ensigns 11. R. W. Miles, J.
H. Clutterbuck, T. A, Cook, J. Marker, J. J. Dakin, and
J. B. Kempts Tynte—Paymaster F, B. Forster, Lieut. and
Adjt. W. Enderby, and Quartermaster F, Drake-65 women
and 75 children.

The departure of the head-quarters of the 13th brigade
Royal Artillery, in command of Col, Hamley, from Wool-
wich to Dover, is deferred until the 28th inst.
Major-Gen. A. F. Crawford died at Jersey on Saturday
last. The deceased General entered the Royal Artillery as
Second-Lieut. Aug. 17, 1803, and became Lieut. Sept. 12
following. lie served in the lines in front of Sobral, Portu-
gal, in 1809, and was made Capt. Aug. 3, 1810. He was
next engaged at the capture of Genoa in 1814, and subsea
quently in the American war, including the taking of
Washington and engagements before New Orleans. His
commissions bear date as Major July 22, 1830—Lieut.-Col.
Jan. 10, 1837—C01. July 20, 1847—and Major-Gen. Nov.
28, 1864.

The following appointments have been made in the Royal
Naval Reserve :—To be Lieuts., William- Kingcome and
Francis Duncan; to be Hon. Lieut., Richard Wrankmore.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—Fifteen railway accidents, with their
causes, incidents, and results, are carefully chro-
nicled and philosophically discussed in a paper now
before us, issued from the Board of Trade. It has
become a regular practice, which ought to be very
satisfactory to the human freight of excursion wag-
gons, that as soon as a smash has happened, and
while the delinquent engine is yet hissing and splut-
tering among the ruins of the broken carriages,
Captain Tyler, or Captain Rich, or Colonel Yolland
appears upon the scene, and with full powers and
all the necessary knowledge of every mystery of
railway craft inquires into the whole mischief, and
makes a full and lucid report of it to the Board of
Trade. What " my Lords" do upon receiving this
report does not clearly appear. It would be reason-
able to suppose that they have some powers, for it
seems scarcely possible that so important a body
as " my Lords" of the Board of Trade should exist
as a railway jurisdiction only in order to receive re•
ports of accidents, and to send copies of those re-
ports to the homicidal corporation against which
they are directed. We fear, however, that they
can only act by this variety of that mysterious force,
called " mond influence," which forms so important
a weapon in the armoury of the Foreign_office. How
little eff.ct it has upon a Railway Company we
need not explain. For ourselves, we prefer the
effective responsibility enforced by Lord Campbell's
Act. Whether, indeed, anybody ever reads these
realty valuable reports, whether they are much
studied at the Beard of Trade, or by the secretaries
and directors to whom copies are addressed, may,
as we fear, be doubted. Inconvenient statements
seldom attrsct much attention unless under the
dread that they may be but the preceding shadows of
disagreeable acts. Toe probability is that Col. Yol-
land and Capt. Tyler, although writing always what
well deserves careful attention. write bat too often
for the waste-paper basket. Yet, if there should
be an intending excursionist of unstrung nerves jusN
contemplating the purchase of a cheap ticket to
some far-off place, and doubtful as to the nature of
the danger to which he is about to subject himself,
we can recommend to him these thirty-seven pages
of descriptive matter and these three diagrams of
the fragments of exploded engines as good sensa•
tional reading between the purchase of the ticket
and the day of departure. With very small talent
for generalisation, he will be able, after turning
over the pages, to class the perils he is about to
affront. First, there are the perils of the perma-
nent way, and he will learn that " longitudinal
irregularity in the level of the rails" is an ordinary
reason for the engine " leaving the rails," and that
Captain Tyler is constantly reporting upon acci-
dents arising from " trenail fastenings," which
seem to be specially productive of this longitudinal
irregularity. As Captain Tyler's reports have
hitherto failed to extirpate the trenail fastenings,
we do not see what is to be done under this head by
the excursionist except to put up a prayer against
trenail fastenings in general and every longitudinal
irregularity in particular. Having made up his
mind to endure the risk of the permanent rail, the
danger from a recalcitrant locomotive will next
come before him. These diagrams will show him
exactly how they burst. It may, however, be con-
solatory to him to know that Captain Tyler thinks
" there is no reason. in the present state of our
knowledge, for the explosion of a locomotive from
any cause." But the occurrence of three explo-
sions in one month on passenger railways shows,
nevertheless, that they do explode. There is an
instance of a smash occurring from a "flying
shunt," which will be very pleasant reading to our
nervous friend. A flying shunt is defined to be " the
sudden turning the engine upon one line and the
waggons upon another, while all are in motion"—a
very delicate operation, upon the success of which
our excursionist may be made to stake his life
without his consent being asked to the wager.
Then coma the countless dangers arising from the
trains being late. In cases of collisions and flying
shunts the trains are always late. Our friend had
better shut his eyes to this class of perils, and coca-
fort himself by recollecting that in railway accident
actions a sensible juryman invariably now asks
whether the train was late, and, if it was, trebles
the damages he would otherwise have given. It is
too terrible a reflection that if during all the six
weeks of our friend's projected tour any one signal-
man should omit to make the signal at the proper
moment, or any one engine-driver should omit to
sea it at the proper moment, then our friend may
never come back again. His fate momentarily
depends upon the manipulation of those little lever
handles he will be constantly passing. Under these
circumstances he will naturally take some interest
in the description given in this paper of how these
levers are sometimes managed, and how the casual
workmen on the line and the guards of the trains
are accustomed to arrange these delicate operations
by vague shouts and promiscous exhortations. Cap
tain Tyler sayr, in accounting for the meeting of
two trains near Preston :—"The goods engine
would have proceeded along the down line without
getting in the way of the passenger train, if it had
not been for the interference of a foreman platelayer
who happened to be standing close to the lever by
which these points were worked. This man had
been putting in a new crossing, and had just com-
pleted his work. He was about to leave the spot to
go over his 'own length,' which was en the other
side of the Preston Junction, when he heard, or be-
lieves that he heard, some one say, Turn them
across.' He has no idea from whom this instruction
came, but he pushed the lever of the cross-over road
Points over, and turned the goods engine across to
the up lino as the passenger train was approach.
ing ; and he thus caused the collision which I have
described." It is clear, therefore, that it was not
considered an unpardonable offence fur a labourer to
touch the lever, and that it was not an unexpected
thing fur him to get an order from the gu led, or
some one, to da so. With all these chances against
the railway traveller, the wonder would seem to he
that he ever gets to his jeurney's end with his bones
unbroken. It would appear that, after calculating
for tho temptation to cheapness and had workman-
ship, and ft r low wages and the ignorance of the
class which alone low wages can buy, the wonder-
ful fact is that sooner or later the passenger geue-
rally does get to his journey's end, and that the
evils so pos4ible am in reality scarcely appreciable.
What it might bo if there worn no Lord Campbell's
Act wo leave to any Irnagin4ti.)n in want of a bubjeet

of calculation, but what it is with coroners'juries and
Lord Campbell's Act is of a very mild and limited
character. If our friend the excursionist will push
his inquiries into the statistics of railway travelling
he will find that the chances of his coming back
safe, so far as the rail is concerned, are quite a mil-
lion to one in his favour. What were the chances
when we. used to hold on tight by the seat while
the Engiueer, the Quicksilver, or the Victoria,
swinging and rocking like cockboats, were racing
down Shap Fells or over Hartford Bridge Flat in
the last days of coaching opposition ? The fair bet-
ting was about ten to one against a spill, and the
guard always had stirring stories to tell of the last
upset of his rival. The risk by rail is now practi-
cally nothing, and from these reports we obtain a
further and a most valuable fact—that these rail-
way accidents, rare as they are, are never unavoid-
able. When they occur, if men are killed and share-
holders baulked of their dividend, it is because the
way has not been properly repaired, or the engines
and carriages properly examined, or the time pro-
perly kept, or the signals made and observed. The
railway system itself is not, like ocean travelling,
subject to dangers which human prudence cannot
always provide against, and to natural forces which
human reason cannot always control.
DAILY NEWS.—Of all the consequences of the
war in Denmark one of the most interesting to the
English people, with their domestic tastes, is per.
haps the destination in marriage of the royal children
of King Christian. When the Princess of Wales
came over for her wedding, attended by her family,
we were told that her sister was to marry the heir
of the Russian Empire. The engagement has now
been made public ; and with it comes the news that
the King of Greece is to marry a daughter of the
Czar. Without giving way too much to feelings of
compassion for these children of a happy home—
feelings natural to the English heart, which cares
so much more for welfare than for glory—we may
permit ourselves to glance into the murky future of
an empire now reaching ct great crisis of its history,
and to shape out the life and experience of these
young people, who were reared in the most modest
of princely homes, and are now to fill two of the
most conspicuous thrones in Christendom, and to
prosper or pine, or stand or fall, with the fortunes
of the Russian empire. Most of us feel that this is
as true in the case of the King of Greece as of his
sister; for nothing can be plainer than the obj▪
ect
of Russia in attaching Greece to her interests. So
young a Sovereign of Greece, a son-in-law of the
Czar, is the best instrument available for keepi▪
ng
access to the Mediterranean open for Russia. The
southern gate thus guarded, the western is pro.
tooted by the other marriage. Tbohe who are sur-
prised at the first moment that the Emperor of All
the Russias should take a son and a daughter-in-law
from the most reduced and bitterly humbled of
reigning houses, have forgotten that the conquerors
of Denmark are precisely the powers most
formidable to Russia in their unscrupulous long-
ing for ports in the Baltic, and for the command
of the entrance from the North Sea. The more
the German Powers triumph over Denmark,
the stronger grows their cupidity of dominion
over the sea; and again, the more they tyrannise
over their victim, the stronger becomes, in the
opinion of the Czar, the probability of a Scandina-
vian Union, strengthening Sweden, already hostile,
endangering his possession of Finland and putti▪
ng
to hazard his freedom, of the Baltic. Before tl e
treaty of 1852 was formed, we used to hear mourn-
ful bodings about the Russian claims to the throne
of Denmark, and the certainty that they would be
well maintained on account of the Russian interest
in the passage out of the Baltic; and this interest
may well explain the supposed condescension of
Russia to Denmark in the hour of Danish humilia-
tion. But how does this consist, some people ask,
with the terms the Czar is supposed to be on with
the enemies of Denmark ? Whether Lord Russell
be right or wrong in his confidence that the day is
past for Holy Alliances, there can be no doubt that
the idea and feeling embodied in such an allianee is
in full force in the three military Powers which li
have held such frequent and close consultations of
late. The uppermost apprehension of all the three
Sovereigns—of Austria, Prussia, and Russia—is
now, more than ever, of what they call " the Re-
volution." Anxious as the Czar's agents are to dis-
claim any special relations, any private alliance
with Austria and Prussia, there can be no doubt
whatever that they have a common aim in putting
down all attempts of their victims and dependents
and their proper subjects to obtain any increase of
freedom. While this sympathy does not prevent
them quarrelling among themselves, and being
jealous of each other about the Baltic or the Adri-
atic or the Levant, it opens a prospect of keen heart-
sorrow for the chiltiren of Denmark, as for all of
the rising generation who are growing up in a
free country, where aspirations for liberty are r -
garded as E.,t virtue—not as a crime. If the young
Princess, who is to be Empress by and by,
rears of the trials going on in Poland, what
can she think of them ? What can she think
of putting irons on Polish ladies, who are shut up
in fortress prisons, wearing iron for vindictive pur-
poses and not for security ? What can be thought
by any modern young people of the vengeance on
the Circassians—of the who'esale extirpation of
enemies which takes place under the immediate
of dere of the Czar ? It is the Czar's notion of keep-
ing things safe and quiet to root up whole popula.
Lions, and carry them by brutal methods to places
hopelessly remote, and set them down there to live
or die as may happen. His father did this; end he
does it, more than ever, though finding the ill effects
of the policy wherever the victims have been oarried.
It cannot bat strike everybody that his son again
will have to reap the whirlwind from this sowing of
the wind. Polish children sent to Georgia after the
catastrophe of 1831 have grown into men—not lov-
ing Russia. Tens of thousands of Poles, and of men
and women of other nations, have been peopling
Siberia from that time to this; and well-informed
persons tell us that thence will arise, at no very
distant date, the disruption of the Empire. It is
the place of banishment of a choice selection of the
best political minds of Europe. In that vast region,
where they are settled in groups, nothing can pre.
vent their holding intercourse, though they cannot
escape. Sooner or later that vast dominion will
separate itself from European Russia, and its inha-
bitan is will repeat the institutions they have left
behind. This, at least, is what they believe; and
the design forms a part of the prospect of the Im-
perial family, whether it is to be baffled or to suc-
ceed. Not only will the ghosts of Polish insure
rections thus arise to scare the reigning house,
but there will be a remnant of the people of the
Caucasus, as truly indomitable as their fathers,
and ready to draw their swords in any company
against Russia. The Hungarians have unpar-
donable injuries to avenge. The Cossacks of the
Don are not yet won over ; and the Czar knows
it. His fears of the Fins are unconcealable. The
only land frontiers on which he can feel anything
like safety are the wild regions adjoining to Cen-
tral Asia, and those which border on Austria and
Prussia. He would fain render his European fron-
tier safe by Rasslanising it ; but he cannot carry
this point, which indeed none but a Czar would
have attempted. He can render villages, towns,
and districts desolate; but he cannot fill up the
emptiness with loyal subjects. Nobody will buy the
lands, and nobody will live on any terms in the
vacated towns. To people reared in freedom there
is something appalling in the thought of passing,
never to return, into an empire fenced in by a
desolation like this. And the empire is no oasis
lying in the midst of barren wastes. There is
more to fear within than without after all that we
have seen. The Emperor's agents and advocates
extol the Russian polity as democratic when the
object is to flatter the Americans or to stop rumours
of a Holy Alliance; and it is considered enough to
show that it is not an aristocratic Government.
Whatever its description, it is a polity as favour.
able to revolution as to tyranny, and the most
wonderful breeder of corruption on record. The
Czars themselves proclaim this, one after another,
in the anguish of their hearts, when they can find
no good service in an hour of extremity, At pre-
sent the interior of Russia presents a spectacle
I which awes those who will never set foot on its soil.
No middle class is there, and therefore no life in
the social or political organisation. There is no
money, either in the Treasury or in private hands.
Commerce is at a stand; public works of the most
indispensable character are standing still. The
landed proprietors can do nothing with their crops ;
many have no crops because of the drought, and
others have lost all they reaped by incendiary
fires. In many places the freed serfs are main-
taining themselves and giving no trouble; but in
others they make the nobles weary of their lives.
After'six years' rest from the conscription the raising
of soldiers is as difficult as ever; and there is no mo-
ney to pay them. Under all these troubles, and many
more, there is felt to be moving an explosive force
which may at any hour throw into ruins the defec-
tive structure of Russian society—and when the
chances of the only possible method of attaining to
safety and soundness are calculated, the most san-
guine of observers will hardly say that there is
time for the empire to be saved. Things cannot
remain as they are. Great changes must be at
hand; and when the change must come upon an
empire which has ne principle of unity in it, which
is so full of corruption as to have no room for liberty,
there can be no doubt as to the fearfulness of the
spectacle. The only way of escaping the dread cf
it is—not to look beneath the surface of court and
city life, which is gay enough for those who are
lightmiuded enough to enjly it. Beneath
and beyond this the stoutest-hearted of Russian
Princes-may well shrink from locking. The child-
ren of Denmark will doubtless be wooed to look
another way.

Extraordinary Charge against a Gentleman
of Locking up his Wife.

At the Lambeth Police-court, yesterday, Mr Ed ward
Hammond, a gentleman residing at Laurel House, Peck-
ham, was charged with locking up and keeping in close con-
finement his wife, Rosalind Hammond, without just cause.
Mrs Rosalind Hammond, a wretched, dejected, but as
intellectual-looking woman, and who gave her evidence with
perfect clearness alai composure, was sworn, and examined
by Mr Beasley. Her evidence was to the effect that she
had been locked up altogether for about two years, that
when she remonstrated with her husband, he laid the blame
upon two female servants who lived with them, and that
on one occasion, viz., at Christmas, 1862, he has severelY
beaten her with his fists.
Mr Beasley—With his closed fist?

Witness—Yes. The women urged him on ; they saw he
was under the influence of beer.

Mr Beasley—Were the women present ?
Witness—Yes, The women were present, and urging
him on to do it. Not Allen, but the other woman.

Mr Beasley— is that woman's name Emily Whiteman ?
Witness—Yes. Emily Whiteman. She was present,
urged him on, and told him to do it.
Mr Norton—Have you had any quarrel with them ?
Witness—We have had many quarrels, but not without
reason.

Mr Beasley—Before you were taken up had you been
down to Emily Whiteman's family ?

Witness—yes.
Mr Beasley—Did you tell your husband what you went
to see her parents about ?
Witness—Yes. About her adultery.
Mr Beasley—With whom P
Witness—With him, my husband.
Mr Beasley—Did yon tell your husband you had been to
see Emily Whiteman's parents about his adultery with their
daughter ?
Witness—Yes.
Mr Beasley—Was that before you were locked up?
Witness—That was the reason I was shut up, out of
revenge.

Mr Beasley—When your husband struck you in 1862 did
you suffer much from his violence P

Witness—Yes—l suffered a good deal about the temple.
It is a dangerous part to strike. I protected myself as much
as I could with my hands against his violence.
Mr Beasley—Were you subjected to violence at the hand 6
of other persons in his presence?
Witness—Never in his presence, but I have been severely
knocked about the head by these two women, which I
believe was unknown to him.

Mr Norton—How recently have you been struck by either
of these two women ?

Witness-1 cannot count the times ; they have been so
often.

Mr Norton—ATe you fearful of seeing the woman of whoa%
you have been speaking as one of the persons who had
assaulted you ?
Witness—Ob, no.

Mr Norton—:Then let Allon be brought in and placed
alongside Mr Hammond, as she is implicated in the
change,

This was done, and Mrs Hammond was again sworn as
to her evidence against Alien, which was read over in her
presence.

In answer to the further questions of the learned counsel
the witness said she had had two children, one of whom was
still living, and whom she had occasionally seen from her
window, and the other only survived its birth a few hours.
On the last occasion she was attended by Dr. Nine, but he
had not arrived until after its birth. He continued to at-
tend her for a month, and from that time, January last, she
had not seen or been visited by any medical man.
Mr Beasley here remarked that Mrs Hammond was taken
away from the wretched apartment in which she had been
shut up with scarcely decent clothing on her, and but for
shawl which she had round her, and a cloak and bonnet
which had been lent to her, she could not be removed.
She was destitute of proper under clothing, and he (Mr•
Beasley) wished his worship would call on her to throw
off her shawl in order that he might see the forlorn ooll'
di:don in which a lady of the highest respectability, and
who had brought her husband £6OO a year was at present
placed,
The unfortunate lady here divested herself of the bor•
rowed cloak and shawl, and presented such an appearance
of utter wretchedness as caused a universal thrill of horror
to pervade the court, and perhaps such a squalid, miserable"
looking being never came before a magistrate to demand
justice.

The defendant said he was unprepared with legal assist-
ance, and time was given to him for that purpose. In the
meantime Le was ordered to put in bail, himself in VA
and two sureties of £5O each, to appear, and his own bail
was taken for his servant Allen to be present also on a future
day.

'DEAR DOCTOR, what do you advise P I
advise Alfred Mellon's Concerts, afterwards to
.VANS', Covent-garden, hear some charming singing, order
one of their capital chor.s and magnificent potatoes, and that
is the best advice I can give you.

INAHAN'S LL WHISKY v. CDGNAO
BRANDY.
This celebrated Old IRISH WHISKY rivals the finest
FRENCH BRANDY,
It 14 Pure, Mild, Mellow, Delicious, and very Wholesome.
Sold in Bottles, 35. Sd., at the Retail Houses in London; by
the Agents in the principal towns in England; or wholesale

S, GREAT WINDMILL-STREET, LONDON, W.
Observe the Red Seal, Pink Label, and Cork branded
"Ainahan's LL Whisky."

THE ROYAL INSURANCE COMPANY,
29, Lombard-street, London; and
Royal Insurance•buildings, Liverpool.

At the Annual Meeting, on'the sth inst., the following were
some of the leading results disclosed in the Report to the
shareholders.

FIRE BRANCH.
The Premiums of the year 1863 reached the sum
of £340,668
Being an advanTe of
Over 1862; an amount of increase exceeding that of any pre-
V.num year.
The Revenu. from Fire Premiums has been en-
hanced in four years by the large sum of £113,353

The Duty paid to Government in 1862 was
Ditto ditto, 18u3 88,966

Showing an Increase in one year of
Amour the incidents which have tended to the advance-
ent of the Royal within the last few months mar be reckoned
its a tion with respect to the losses sustained by the explo-
sion of th' Lotty Sleigh, which although on y con latent with
the eeneral tenor of the conduct of the Company, and ulti-
ThatelY proved to be no more than what had been done in 1 or-
b:ter times by the oldest and most proverbial'y honourable
among its contemporaries, yet attracted attention and public
favour by its unhesitating prompt•ess.
As the largest total of Revenue and the largest rati3 of
progression have been attained In the p-esent year, so it
liar Dens that the largest Profit which it has ever :alien to the
Directors to record has likewise on this occasion to be an-
nounced. The balance of net profit on the year has amounted
to £83.515 • of which sum £34, too only has been appropriated
to Dividend and Bonus, and the large balan.e of £49,444 been
carried to Reserve.

LIFE BRANCH.
The Progress of the Life Branch, as shown by the New
Business transacted in tke last year, is most promising. and
the advances made, year by year, in the amount of New In-
surances effected, sh-rw clearly the estimation in which the
Company is held. The following is a statement for the last
lye years:—

Net Sum Assured on New Policies
atter deducting Guarantees. Net Premiums.
1859
1860
1861
1862
1E 63
This rapid growth, amounting to 73 per cent. on the Sum
Assured, and upwards of 80 per cent. on the Premium re-
ceived in the course of five years, may justly be considered as
larger than any which could have been reasonably expected.
The first half of the current year 1864, however, far outsti ips
the ratio of increase indicated by the figures just quoted, as
the sum assured for that period of six months only actually
exceeds Half-a-Mil ion sterling.
The rate of Mortality, likewise, still presents highly favour-
able features and augurs well for the result to be shown by
toe quinquennial investigation, which is to take place when
the present year is conclud d.
PERCY M. DOVE, Manager and Actuary.
JOHN B. JOUNSTON, secretary in London.
August, 1864.