The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-27 00:00:00

THE GUARDS AT SOUTARI.

The following letter has been received from Constan-
tinople. It was written by a private of the Scots Fusi-
lier Guards, and is addressed to his mother :
" Scutari Camp, May 2.
"Dear Mother,—We sailed from Malta on Saturday,
April 22, and had rather a stormy passage, especially the
first two days. The name of the vessel that we sailed in
was the Kangaroo, and well named she is, for I don't
think the animal she is called after can go through more
antics than she did. The Grenadier Guards sailed at the
same time the name, of their vessel was the Golden
Fleece; so did the Coldstreams ; their ship is called the
Vulcan, one of her Maj es ty's troop-ships, all screw-steamers.
Our vessel was the smallest ; there was only,room for one
half of us below, consequently the rest had to be on deck
24 hours at a time. Ours is intended for an Australian
packet, to take out emigrants. Being the fastest sailer
she soon left the others behind. We soon had a hint
of what sort of weather we might expect as we
left the harbour, by meeting two of her Majesty's
steam-ships, ono towing the other, that had lost one
of her paddle-wheels and her funnel. I took up my
quarters on a seat in front of the galley, and wrapped my
blanket round me, to make myself as comfortable as possi-
ble. I was rather amused at seeing the troops rolling about
the decks; they were almost all sick, with very few ex-
ceptions. I could have had as much victuals as would
have served me a voyage half round the world. On Mon-
day morning the storm abated. We were very nearly run-
ning on a rock, the weather being hazy, and the man on
the look out did not see it ; the captain was the first to
notice it ; he had been up all the night and gave strict
orders for the seamen to look out. We were not six yards
from it when it was first noticed. Shortly after we
passed one of the islands of the Greek Archipelago and
anchored in Gallipoli Bay on Tuesday night, at 11 p.m.
There were seven French and one English wen-of-war lying
there, and our regiments were encamped some miles from
where we lay at anchor. The French occupy the town,
and were busy fortifying it. A sergeant of the 93d came on
board ; he said the French and English soldiers agree very
well, and are quite sociable together. We sailed from
Gallipoli on that night, and had a stiff head-wind all the
way that we sailed up the Sea of Marmora, and arrived
at Stamboul at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The country all the
way from Gallipoli appeared to be well cultivated, and
put me in mind of the sea coast of Sussex. When I first
saw Constantinople I thought it the finest city I ever be-
held, it is so nobly situate, and the minarets and domes
glitter in the sun ; but I believe it will not do to inspect
it closely. Close to where we landed there is a fine square
building that was intended for us, but it was swarming
with vermin, so they have sent us to camp. There is
a regiment of the line there ; they showed some of our
men their arms and breasts ; they were quite flayed.
We did not disembark before Friday, and went to our
present station. The place where we are is like Hamp-
stead, only it is all green grass. The regiments of the line
are stationed on a sloping hill on the left, and we on an-
other at the extrema right. At the bottom there is a
fine green valley with a brook running through, where
I go to wash my shirt, for I have turned my own washer-
woman. since I left London. Close to the encampment there
is a Mussulman burial-ground, three or four miles in length,
it looks like a Scotch fir wood ; it is thickly planted with '
cypress trees and has a most gloomy and funereal appear-
ance. The gravestones have a strange look ; they are
shaped like turbans, and the flat ones have a place that
holds water, where the pious Mussulmans wash themselves
when they pray. In fact, everything around puts me in
mind of being amongst a people of strange manners and cus-
toms. Close to the wood there is a publicroad and the well
where we draw our water, and not a day has passed
since we have been here but a troop of wild, savage-looking
horsemen have passed, headed by their sheik or chief, from
the interior, I had a close look at a troop the other day,
and a more villanons cut-throat lot could not be got to-
gether ; they were of all colours, from a red to an ebony,
and armed with all manner of weapons, and such wretched-
looking horses ! Tho Sultan's artillery barracks are close
to our encampment; I cannot say much for the soldier-
looking appearance of the men. Tho place seems quite
a Primrose-hill for the inhabitants. They come here
in all manner of strange-looking machines, from a bul-
lock cart to a donkey ; the young roll about the grass, and
the old smoke the pipe of meditation. We have quite a
bazaar here, and it is principally tenanted by Jews and
Greeks. The suttling tents are kept by Greeks, and a ras-
cally lot they are ; I would sooner take a Turk's word than
a Greek's oath. They have got a Greek in prison for at-
tempting to poison two soldiers of the 88th Regiment. It
is only of the lower class of Greeks that I talk this way ;
the better class are well enough.

" Lord Raglan and the staff have arrived hero. I don't
know how long we shall be here. We are all in the best of
spirits and health, and havenot lost a single man, but left a
few behind at Malta to be sent to England. The Grenadier
Guards had three men die while there, and the Coldstreams
two by fever. The Turkish women, when they walk or
ride out, have their faces covered all but their eyes. It
gives them a strange look. They seem to be as inquisitive
as their sex in England. I have not received an answer
to the two letters that I have written you, one from Malta,
the other before we sailed from Spithead ; this will be the
third."

SURREY SESSIONS—May 25.

(Before T. Puckle, Esq„ and a Bench of Magistrates.)

SENTENCE OF THE REV. (!) MR. GIBSON.
Just before the rising of the Court, Robert Gibson, alias
the Rev. Robert Gibson, was brought up for judgment,
he having been found guilty on the previous night, after
a very lengthy trial, of committing an aggravated assault
on Samuel Cookson. Kelly, a young man 19 years of age,
and son to a female whom he had cohabited with, having
seduced her from her husband and family.
On the previous day, dnrium' the trial, he exhibited the
utmost levity, and at one time distributed handbills among
the auditory, maligning the character of' the husband
whose peace of mind he had destroyed, and vindicating
that of the base woman who had so far disgraced herself,
and dishonoured her husband and family, by living with
him in open adultery. However, when placed in the dock
to receive sentence, he seemed much chop-fallen and
dejected.
On the Chairman asking him whether he had anything
to say why sentence should not be passed upon him, he
said that he had indicted four other parties at the last
sessions for assaults upon him, and true bills were then
found, and he should like them to be tried. He had, how-
ever, to say that, if he struck the blow with the jug, it
was in self-defence, as he was much pressed upon and
threatened by a number of persons. He might have
struck the first that pressed -upon him, as he was much
frightened, and knocked about himself.
The Chairman said he should then proceed to, tit ; en-
tence. The defendant had not been sentenced on the pre-
vious evening, as it was the wish of the court that he
should be brought up to-day, wllich would enable them
to calmly and deliberately look over all the circumstances
of his case and see what sentence he really deserved. They
considered it a very gross and shocking ease, especially in
a man who professed himself a minister of the Gospel, and
by such facilities as were afforded him by that profession
to introduce himself into the bosom:of a respectable family
and ruin the peace of mind of those he ought to comfort.
He had opportunities of seeing the dishonoured husband
and disgraced children, and if he had ever any faith in the
words he formerly preached, he ought to have comforted
them rather than seduce the mother and wife from her
family. And what did he do that for ?—to live in adultery
with her. However, he' had to remark, that he was not
tried for adultery, but for committing a very aggravated
assault on a lad—one of thesons of the unfortunate woman
he was living with. It was feasible that her children must
have a desire to see her, and when they were in her pre-
sence he ought to have humbled himself, or conducted
himself in a much milder manner to the injured children.
It ill became him, in his disgraceful position, to take up a
jug and throw it at the head of one of these children. The
Court, it must be considered, in passing their sentence, did
not punish him for adultery; that. they would now
entirely forget, and merely look to the offence he was con-
victed of. The opinion given by the jury that his witnesses
had perjured themselves, greatly aggravated his case and
no fine that the Court could inflict upon him would be
adequate punishment. The sentence of the Court was,
that he be imprisoned in the House of Correction at
Wandsworth, with hard labour, for three months.
The defendant received the sentence with much surprise.
The other cases stand over until next sessions.

LAMBERT'S MAP OF THE SEAT OF WAR, Price is. 6c/.,
in neat case, 2s.—lt would be difficult to produce a Map
more satisfactorily distinguished by the merits of clear-
ness in printing and accuracy in arrangement. It
cannot but be eagerly welcomed, by our intelligent
population.—Sun. It is an easily intelligible, accurate,
and complete delineation of a region with which every
one should now be as familiar as with the Map of Eng-
land or Palestine.—Nonconformist. We have already
found it of great We for reference, and can confidently
recommend it to our readers, for it is, in our opinion, the
most useful Map of the Seat of War yet published.—
York Herald. London : Dobbs, Kidd, and Co.;Edin-
burgh : Menzies ; Newcastle : Lambert, and all Book-
sellers.—A dvertisentent.
A. YEAR'S EXPORTO.—The declared value of our pro-
duce and manufactures exported in 1853 was no less
than 98,933,7811., an increase of above 20,000,0001.
over the export of the previous year. The export of
cotton manufactures increased from 23,233,4327.t0
25,817,249/. ; of woollen manufactures increased from
8,730,934/. to 10,172,1821. ; of kon and steel, wrought
and unwrought, from 6,684,2761. to 10,84
from
apparel, from 1,246,6771. to 2,766,6961. (1 of
cheese, from
754,6271. to 1,291,3571. ; of butter an beer, 4221.
; of
r and 393,3191. to 520,6561. ; of haberdashery and millinery,
from 2,074,180/. to 4,156,494/. ; of hardwares
cut-
lery, from 2,691,6971. to 3,605,0511 ha .
; of leather, from
60,3041, to 1,278,011.