The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-03 00:00:00

THE MEXICAN EXPE_DrrroN.

The following letter, dated Vera Cruz, Dec. 31,
appeared in the A toniteur of Saturday :
The lass, courier would make you acquainted with the
arrival of the Spanish forces before Vera Cruz, as well as
the complete abandonment of the city and forts by the
Mexicans.

After the 17th, the day when possession of the city was
taken, General Gasset issued a proclamation in which he
announced to the inhabitants that the Spanish army had
not come to Mexico with any view to conquest, but solely
to exact satisfaction for insults given to Spain and violence
committed against the subjects of her Catholic Majesty,
The most rigorous discipline would be observed, property
respected, and order guaranteed.

In the meantime the city was placed in a state of siege,
a military commission was charged to take cognisance of
all crimes, and the inhabitants invited to deliver up their
arms.

The carrying away of the archives of all the public
administrations, and the departure of the functionaries of
the Mexican Government rendered it a duty to provide as
soon as possible for the different public services; those of
the Cu: tom House and the Post Office possessed an interest
-of the greatest importance for the people of the country and
for foreigners. The administration of the Customs was,
therefore, provisionally reorganised, under the direction o f
an intendant and warehouse .keepers belonging to the ex-
pediticnary corps, and the surveillance of a commission
composed of the consuls of France, England, and the
United States.

In consequence of this now organisation all merchan-
dise discharged from on board ship must remain until fresh
orders en entrepot in the warehouses of the custom-house
without being subjected to any entrance duty. Goods
liable to injury, and those which, on account of their weight
or size, would expose the merchants to considerable charges
if they were warehoused, might be taken away by the con-
signees under certain guarantees.

The pcstal service has also been re-established, but only
with foreign countries, General Gasset not wishing to un-
dertake the responsibility of sending despatches without
escort into the interior of the republic.
Since the entrance of the Spaniards tranquility has
prevailed in Vera Cruz; a portion of the inhabitants who,
either willingly or unwillingly, had followed the troops of
General Uraga are returning to the city.
Tho debarkation of the troops was not completely effected
until December 22; a part of the war material is still on
board the transports ; but the organisation of the army
goes on, and General Gasset has received from his Govern-
ment a formal order not to make any movement before the
arrival of General Prim and the commanders of the English
and French forces.

This inaction is not without inconvenience however, for
the guerillas who scour the country render the procuring
of provisions difficult, and the price of food has greatly in-
creased, and continues to increase.
To give an account ae soon as possible of the dispositions
of the chiefs of the Mexican army the French Minister
caused to be stated to General Uraga, who commands the
corps of observation, his (the Minister's) desire to have an
interview with him (General Uraga.) A meeting was
fixed for the morning of Dec. 25, and M. Dubois de
Salign3, accompanied by M. do Chaille, command% of the
frigate La Foudre, went to the Tejeria, a station at the
extremity of the Puebla railroad, which is about 25
kilometres from Vera Cruz. At some distance from the
city the French Minister found a detachment of Mexican
cavalry, composed in great part of volunteers, who,
dressed in their Picturesque costumes, ranged themselves,
in ordor to do honour to him, on each side of
the road, and having arrived at the 'Nark, ho was re-
ceived by an aide-de-camp, who immediately afterwards
conducted him to the presence of Gen. Uraga. The general
is a man 45 or 50 years of age, of distinguished manners
and intelligent countenance. Formerly Minister of War in
Mexico, and for a long time Minister Plenipotentiary at
Berlin and at Washington, ho speaks French with facility.
The reception given by hint to his visitors was courteous in
the extreme ; and the latter became convinced that he un-
derstands well the political situation of the country, as well
as the difficulties with which he has to struggle, possessing
only his own resources with which to make head against
the combined forces of the three powers. His army is com-
posed of the most diverse, not to say inharmonious elements.
General and superior officers abound ; but, with the excep-
tion of some old officers who served in the war of indepen-
dence, they are for tho most part young men who were
a short time ago commercial agents in Mexico and Puebla,
managers of estates, landholders, or advocates. As to the
soldiers, they were jarochos, or peasants, habituated, it is
true, to great fatigue and privations, but incapable of hold-
ing out for any length of time against European troops.
Everything leads to the belief, besides, that there will be
no serious struggle. The extraordinary excitement pro-
duced by the declamations of the journals begins to calm
down, and the idea of an arrangement is no longer rejected
a priori as treason to the nation.

There are serious indications of an intention to form
a party disposed to repudiate the Government which has
beta so fatal to the country ; enlightened men have no
wish for war. What is desired by the sensible portion of
the people is to see the country united under an indepen-
dent and constitutional monarchy. A foreign Prince
would rally all sympathies around him ; but the allied
powers are bound themselves not to put forward any pre-
tensions which imply the idea of conquest, as they could
not fail to wound the national self-love,

News from the city of Mexico and Puebla, received to-
day, brings us the proclamation of Juarez, dated December
26, and in this he calls the people to arms. A forced loan
of 2 per cent, on capital has been decreed. -We are assured
also that the Mexicans are fortifying all the roost easily-
defensible points on the two roads leading from 'Vera Cruz
to Mexico, and on which are placed about 10,000 or 12,000
volunteers.

FEA.RFUL SERIES OF CRIMES IN
IRANCE.

An extraordinary trial was brought to a close, at
Bourg, in France, on Saturday. The prisoners were
Martin Dumollard and his wife. For many years
back, the man had been in the habit of accosting
young women who looked like domestic servants,
representing himself as a person sent to hire a ser-
vant for a gentleman's country house, inducing
them to accompany him some distance until they
reached a neighbouring wood ; and there, throwing
a cord round their necks, attempting to outrage and
murder them. In one very recent instance, a
girl escasped from his hands; and, seeing
the lights of a railway line at a distance, ran
in that direction and obtained a refuge. Her
description of her assailant, combined with
the fact that similar statements had been made
at distant intervals by other girls, caused
an inquiry to be vigorously set on foot, and
Dumollard was suspected. In his house an immense
quantity of female garments was found, forty bon-
nets, fifty-seven pair of stockings, fourteen dresses,
and a heap of corsets, petticoats, &c. Dumollard,
being identified by the girl who had escaped, con-
fessed that he had been for years in the habit of de-
coying girls into the forest, but stated that he was
only the agent of a gang who employed him for the
purpose, and who gave him the clothes for his
reward. He denied that he had himself committed
any of the outrages or murders. The woman who
lately escaped, and eight others, who likewise iden-
tified Dumollard, stated, however, that there was no
one with him or near him when he attempted the
crimes. A search in the forest discovered the
dead body of a young woman, very recently
buried. The body was quite naked, the
hands were found clasped, full of the fresh earth
heaped above, and the legs were drawn up, thus
giving rise to more than suspicion that the un-
fortunate girl bad been buried before life had.
wholly departed. The skull was marked with two
terrible wounds. In another part of the forest
another body was found in a decayed condition—
likewise that of a young woman, and stripped of
all clothing. Subsequent researches, directed in-
deed partly by Dumollard himself, discovered two
female skeletons. It is ascertained that within
ionic years many other girls have disappeared from
the neighbourhood, some of whom had left their
homes with the intention of seeking employment iu
Lyons or Paris. In the course of the trial it was
proved that during the last eight years the male
prisoner had outraged and murdered six girls in
the manner described. Dumollard was condemned
to death, and his wife to twenty years' imprison-
ment.

Sir Willoughby and Lady Jones and Miss Jones
have left Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, for the Con-
tinent.

SAD ACCIDENT AT THE EXHIBITION BUILDING.
On Saturday morning whilst a smith, named Richard Gale,
was driving in the rivets of ens of the girders of the Exhi-
bition building, by striking repeated bloWs with a weighty
sledge hammer, Wm, Powell, his assistant, suddenly raised
himself to an upright position, and received the full force of
the blow intended for the metal on his head. The unfortu-
nate man's death was hist antaneous, his skull being shivered
to atoms.

A prospectus has been issued of the Bristol Port
Railway and Pier Company, with a capital of £125,000, in
shares of £lO. The object is to obviate the delay and
convenience of the present water transit from the mouth of
the Avon to the city and decks of Bristol. The line, which
will be 51 miles through an attractive district for building
purposes, has been strongly recommended by leading engi-
neers as an essential work for the prosperity of the port.
In consequence of the suit brought agair st another
of tho writers of " Essays and Reviews"-=the Rev. 11. B.
Wilson—the defence committee have made a further ap-
peal for subscriptions. They say :—" The finds already
subscribed will, in all probability, be insufficient to
defrayed the large expense incurred in defending 1)r.
Williams ; the committee therefore earnestly appeal to the
public for further subscriptions to aid the authors of the'''.
' Essays and Reviews' in defending themselves against
these proceedings."