The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-01-27 00:00:00

FEARFUL DISASTER IN ALGERIA

A letter from Setif, dated the 10th inst., gives the follow-
ing details of the disaster which has befallen the French
column under General Levasseur

" On December 12 or 13, Colonel Herbillon, of the 61st,
commandant of the circle of Batna, left this point with
two battalions of his regiment, to put a stop to the insur-
rection which threatened to extend to this country." The
letter then gives an account of the operations from the
23d ult. to the 2d inst., which comprised a succession of
butcheries, burnings, the razing to the ground of every
house and hovel, the cutting across of every fruit tree, the
destruction of every morsel cf food, and otherwise most
completely depopulating and desolating various districts
of the country. After this prelude, the letter proceeds—
"On the 2d January, about three o'clock. the snow be-
gan to tall, blinded our eyes, and rendered the ground to-
tally impassable for the mules. On the 3d, after a night
of continual snow, the column renewed its march. As it
went on the snow still came down and covered the roads
to the depth of eighteen inches, so that the troops could
no longer find their way. At midnight they were in the
middle of a vast plain without a morsel of wood for fir-
ing, the men dying with cold, and the Arab guides com-
pletely lost. The men continued to sink under hunger,
cold, and fatigue, till a feeling of desolation pervaded all
hearts, and order and discipline were at an end. The few
tents there were became so crowded that the men stifled
ea 7,11 other, amidst the groans of the dying. Never was
so afflicting a spectacle seen since the Russian campaign.
The dawn of the 4th came on at last, and all the men and
baggage that could be mustered and collected moved on,
the covalry taking the lead, towards Setif. which was
about ten leagues off. The men had been two days with-
out food, and fell every moment from weakness and be-
came frozen. At four in the afternoon the cavalry
reached Setif, and gave the sad news to the inhabitants,
who hastened out to the assistance of the exhausted men,
taking all their cattle and conveyances to bring in those
who were no longer able to march—finding at every step
unfortunate soldiers without shoes, and dying with cold
and hunger. From the 4th up to the present day, we are
every minute seeing men brought in by the inhabitants,
but between two and three hundred are still missing."
The Alyer,ie gives a sketch of the above disastrous af-
fair, which includes a statement that 30 officers have been
taken into the hospital at Setif, with their extremities fro-
zen—the detachment of the African chasseurs had five
men and several horses killed by the cold ; of the waggon-
train 15 are dead ; of the 431 of the line, which was mak-
ing its first campaign in Africa, the grenadier company
has almost entirely disappeared, and nearly all,the mule-
teers put in requisition have perished. The Notfrie states,
that on the Bth more than one-third of the column had
not got back to Setif, consequently the fate of 800 men
remained unknown.

Lord and Lady Francis Egerton had the honour of
dining with her Majesty on Saturday.
The Rev. Dr. Booth, Vice Principal of the Collegiate
Institution, bas, in consequence of his contributions to
mathematical science, been elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society.

THE. EXCHANGE BUlLDlNGS.—Yesterday the annual
meeting of the proprietors of the Exchange Buildings was
held at the Cotton-Salesroom. R. S. Henderson, Esq.,
occupied the chair, and announced that during the past
year the committee had considered the question of con-
verting the buildings into offices, but that, after a great
deal of labour and discussion, they eventually came to
the conclusion, that such a step would be extremely
doubtful, and that the most judicious course to pursue
would be to renew the leases for seven years. The leases
were accordingly renewed, from the 31st of December
last. Mr. Sodlow, secretary, read a statement of the
financial accounts. from which it appeared that the re-
ceipts for the past year were upwards of £6OO over and
above those of the year preceding. The accounts were
approved, and ordered to be printed and circulated ; and
upon the motion of Mr. T. Bolton, a dividend of 9 guineas
per share was declared, and ordered to be paid. In lieu
of five retiring members of the committee, the five fol-
lowing gentlemen were appointed :—Mr. Harwood Ban-
ner, Mr. Thomas Bolton, Mr. Henry It. Sandbach, Mr.
Wm. Titherington, and Mr. James H. Wrigley. The
committee were then authorised to act on behalf of the
proprietors in such manner as they might think right, ex-
cept where restricted by the act of parliament ; and after
a vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting separated.

We understand that Messrs. WlLLmmt-and SMITH
will, on Wednesday next, by a special express, receive all
the London Morning papers about noon.
DECREASE OF CRIME WITH THE INCREASED PROS-
PERITY OF THE COUNTRY.—" My right hon. friend at
the head of the Home Department stated that reductions
had taken place in the number of commitments in the
year 1842; in 1843 there was also a decrease; and the
decrease in the commitments remarkable in 1813 and
1814 continued in 1845. The total number of commit-
ments in 1845 was 24,350, that is, 2,237 less than in the
lowest preceding year, 1842—a decrease of f 4 per cent.
on the crimes of the preceding year. In 1843 there was a
decrease of 51 per cent. ; in 1844 a decrease of 10 3-10
per cent. ; in 1845 a decrease of 54 per cent., and all this
in an increasing population. This decrease of crime in
the last year has taken place in all the chief manufac-
turing districts, and not only in all the chief manufac-
turing districts, but, with the exception of five, there has
been a corresponding and almost equal decrease in all the
chief agriculturist districts. (Cheers.) What is the
state of Wales? In Wales, the decrease of commit-
ments is more remarkable than in almost any other part
of the kingdom. So much for actual crime. With re-
spect to crime connected with sedition, discontent, and
disaffection to the Government,—why, in the last two
years the office of the Attorney-General has been a sine-
cure. There has been no prosecution for seditious libel
during the whole of the last year. Government has no
right to take credit for lenity ; it is because the crime of
sedition did not exist. 1840-1-2-3,—listen to this, and
seriously consider it,—there were 1,257 persons commit-
ted on charges of seditious and serious offences. In 1843-
4-5, only 124 persons were committed so charged, instead
of 1,257 ; while, in the last year, I believe there was not
one. (Cheers.) In 1845 there were 422 persons sen-
tenced to transportation less than in 1842. In the last
three years there were 1,701 persons sentenced to tran-
sportation less than in the three preceding years.
(Cheers.) This has been during a period of comparative
abundance, and low prices. Is it possible to resist the
inference that employment, low prices, comparative
abundance, contribute to the diminution of crime ?"
(Loud cheers.)—Sir Robert Peel's Speech on the Debate.
THE MACKEREL FISHERY.—Vast quantities of mack-
erel have been caught off Brighton during the last few
days. Some of the boats have returned with 10,000 and
21,000 each, realising upwards of £lOO each boat.