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General La Marmom has left the Crimea and is on his way to Turin. It is reported that a Council of War will shortly be held in Paris to de- liberate on the next campaign ; that it has been arranged at the solici- tation of Marshal Pelissier ; and that on the part of England, it will be attended by the Duke of Cambridge, Sir Edmund Lyons, and Sir Richard Airey.

What has become of the Turkish Loan ? The Daily News of Monday made some serious statements on the subject, especially when we remember how the loan was required for titto maintenance of the Turk- ish army," and how Ministers alleged that its refusal "would be attended with the most disastrous consequences in regard to military operations." "At the present moment no less than 2,500,0001. of the 4,000,0001. already paid by the subscribers to the Turkish Loan are lying idle in the Bank of England. Of the remaining 1,500,0001., 600,000/. were handed over to the Messrs. Rothschild in repayment of an advance ; 600,000/. were remitted to Constantinople about the close of August, but did not come into the hands of the Turkish Government till the 28th of November ; and 400,000/. may by this time have reached Constantinople, but when they will be paid into the Sultan's exchequer no one can tell The greater part of the loan, with- out which the Turkish Government could not put its armies in motion, has been paid up ; but of the five millions the Turkish Government has only re- ceived four hundred thousand The delay in paying over the money appears to be occasioned solely by the red-tapist impediments presented by the Commissioners at Constantinople who have been charged to see that the money is applied to its legitimate objects. The Commission insist upon the observance of formalities, perfectly familiar in this our Western world, but with which Orientals are entirely unacquainted, of which they cannot see the use, and to which they cannot be brought to conform. It does appear that this pedantic adherence to Western practice on the part of the Commis- sion is sacrificing essentials to matters of mere form."

Tho Morning Post states that Baron Parke is to be raised to the Peer- age, under the title of Baron Ampthill

One of the most eminent of the Polish exiles of 1831—Count Valerian Krasinski—died at Edinburgh on the 22d instant. He was a member of a distinguished family in the ancient Polish province now called White Hauls. Previously to 1831, Count Krasinski was Minister of Public Instruction in the kingdom of Poland : while in this post he established a college at Warsaw for the education of the Jewish Rabbis, and intro- duced stereotype printing in-Poland. When in 1830 the Poles revolted, he was sent by Prince Adam Czartoryski on a diplomatic mission to England ; and after the suppression of the revolt he remained here, a penniless exile. From that time to this he has supported himself mainly by literature. His chief works were the translation of a Polish novel called "Sigismund Augustus, or Poland in the Sixteenth Century "—hie first English work ; a "History of the Reformation in Poland" ; atid a "Sketch of the Religions History of the Sclavonio Nations." He was a constant contributor to the British periodicals; and in 1848 and subse- quently came forward as a political pamphleteer. He has left unfinished a "History of Poland," already partly published in monthly numbers. For his "History of the Reformation in Poland," the late King of Prus- sia bestowed on him the gold medal of literary merit; and made hint offers, such, however, as he could not accept. Latterly he resided in Edinburgh, where he wars much esteemed.

Undeterred by the exposure of Dr. Davega's romances on the state of things in the Crimea, the New York Herald has devoted several columns to descriptions of the interior of Russia by one "Col. Tal. P. Shaffner, who has come direct from Russia, where he has been travelling for the last five or six months." This "traveller" states, that the nobility are the most strenuous supporters of the war, ready to give up serfs, money, land, for its maintenance ; that there is no brigandage in Russia ; that the serfs go to the war with the "utmost cheerfulness "; that the grain destroyed at Kertch belonged to the Greeks, and that Russia was quite indifferent to its destruction ; that the Greeks were employed to sink vessels in the Straits of Yenikale, but that they filled theta with sand instead of stones, so that the ships were washed away, and thus they lost their grain—a matter of no moment to the Russian Government ; that the wheat crops are more extensive than ever; that perhaps Todtle- ben borrowed the idea of the fortifications of Sebastopol from the earth- works at Bunker's Hill! that the evacuation of the South side of Sebas- topol was in fact a "triumphant "- manoeuvre; that the bombardment of Sweaborg was profitable to the Russians, inasmuch as the flames only consumed a number of old buildings which the Russians had intended to remove. The veracious Colonel also draws a pretty picture of the wealth of Russia ; the domes of some of whose churches are of gold, studded inside with diamonds and precious stonee.

Lord Leigh has recently visited Mettray and other institutions of a similar kind in France, and has embodied the results of his inspectiain a communication to a fellow labourer in the cause of juvenile reformation in Warwickshire. Most of the facts are familiar to many of our readers; but even to them the story will bear repetition.

The institution at Mettray was established about seventeen years ago, by M. Demetz and his friend the Vicomte de Bretignie' res de Courteilles. It has been supported by private subscription, by the benevolence of M. Demetz and his friend, and Government aid at the rate of 'Id. per head per day, with a gift of thirty-five francs on the admission of the pupil into the colony, and a like sum at the end of two years. The buildings of the in- stitution are remote from any town or large village ; they include a church, twelve cottages, and some farm-houses, and are unencloeed. The number of boys at present is 681, and the number of employes 56. The children are divided into families of thirty or forty ; a chef de famine, as- sisted by two eleves, or young men in training to become masters and- two frame eines, chosen from and by the boys, are at the head of each di- vision. The town boys are taught trades, the country boys are occupied on the farm.. M. Demote has found that town boys do not take readily to a country life. The houses are of three stories. The upper form the sleeping and living rooms, the ground-floor is used as a workshop. The whole of a family are, by day and night, constantly under the eye of the chef or an &eve, except when they are in the workshop, where boys, attached to different families, mix together to learn the same trade, under a chef de Peeler. The children sleep in hammocks. They have three meals a day—meat twice a week ; the cost of their diet averages 4isf. per head per day. The boys take turns in the kitchen and wash their own clothes. Every three months rewards are adjudged by the chef de Patelier ; but if the chef de famille sees reason he can puts veto on the reward. Part of the money is put in the savings-bank at Tours, and one-fourth given to the pupil. The boys wear a brown tunic or blouse, canvass trousers, sabots, and a straw hat. There is church service only once a week ; but as the church is always open the boys can, in play-hours, enter when they please. There are six fartim attached to the institution,, and at. each farm there is a chef de familia. There is also a ship set up, a sailor to instruct the boys in seamanship ; and a fire brigade has often been usefully employed. The children are marshalled soldier-fashion before and after work, and before and after meals. They also practise gymnastic exercises. Indeed much that is military pervades the institution. The discipline is very strict. Offenders are punished sometimes by dry bread, more frequently by solitary imprisonment. There were only four undergoing punishment daring Lord Leigh's stay. The offences were very slight ; one had refused to sing ; two had taken chestnuts;. one had been found near the cellar, where he had no business to be. Lord Leigh lays great stress on the family principle, as he con- wives that in no other way can every individual be properly attended to ; and he looks favourably on the military customs of the institution. The non-industrial instruction given to the children is firmly based on reli- gion; and includes little beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, and part, singing, In some cases linear drawing is taught.

According to some statistics supplied by Colonel Jebb to the Times, it appears that the number of convicts released with tickets-of-leave, up to the 30th September 1855, was 3253; and that 1474 left balances of their gratuities in the hands of the governors of the different prisons, of which number 1041 have applied for the amount due to them, "all but twenty of whom have afforded sufficient evidence that they were supporting themselves by honest means at the expiration of three months after their discharge." Between the 1st July 1851, and the 31st October 1865, the number of reports received at the Home Office against ticket-of-leave holders was 247.

The great change of temperature that. occurred between Saturday and Sunday was not confined to London. Saturday was cold and dusty ; there were skaters in the Parks and ice in the river. It was intensely cold. Next morning, June seemed to have elbowed out December, and the warmth of the atmosphere out of doors oddly contrasted with the chill within. Here is a description, from the correspondent of the Guardian at Paris, of &similar change.

"By one of those violent changes to which the Parisian climate is so pe- culiarly liable, we were yesterday suffering. from the most poignant cold, and are Way steeped in unnatural humidity and warmth. The aspect of the.oity, yesterday [the 22c1] was of a most Muscovite description. The cold. had descended to nearly 11 deg. below freezing-point ; and in consequence of the excessive dryness of the atmosphere, and the brilliant sunshine, though seemingly devoid of all warmth, the dust from the now universally macadamized streets-lay almost as thick, and rose in clouds as offensively, as in the Dog Days. In strange contrast to this feeling, the Seine lay oom- pletely hidden under ponderous masses of ice, which slowly floated down its overcharged surface, seemingly only waiting for one more such night wholly to arrest their progress. Everything fnaezible was fast bound up by the icy fangs of as keen a wind as ever blew across the Place de la Concorde, whose basins were converted into solid blocks of ice, clear as glass, andmany inches thick. The moon rose upon an equally stringent state of things, and even some time after midnight no symptoms of a change were visible. At eight this.morning, if not earlier, a soft rain was falling fast, and the change in the temperalaue could hardly be leas than 30 deg."

This has been &Busy week of Post-office-announcements. In our ad- vertising columns will be found the substance of an important treaty with France, providing for a considerable reduction of. rates, Fcc. Sub- ject to the reestablishment of regular steam communication, mails to Australia will be sent from Liverpool twice a month in clipper ehips,— namely, on the 7th and 2latJanuary, the 6th and 21st February, the 6th and 22d March, the 5th and 21st April, the 5th and 19th May, the 4th and 19th Tune, the 5th and 21st July, the 4th and 19th August, the 4th and 20th September, the 4th and 20th October, the 4th and. 19th Novem- ber, and the 4th and 20th December. The packets will leave Liverpool, in each case, on the following day. A third notice relates to the Swedish mail. As the mail-steamers between Grimsby and Getteeburg- have ceased to run, no more mails can be sent by that route until the opening of the navigation next spring.

-A. correspondent, who has the best information writesin correction of a paragraph among our Notes and Queries last week. He combats the idea that letters are generally delayerlin the Post-office. He denies-that M. Rowland Hill proposed the plan of alphabetical receiving-boxes : what he proposed, in order to accelerate delivery, was, that the receiver should sort the letters before despatching them from his office ; although thereis net much time to be saved.new in the sorting. Mr. Hill also proposed to accelerate conveyance by means of cross-posts trued between the different districts of London.

Most of the Cabinet Ministers left town for the Christmas holidays on Saturday. Lord Palmerston received his Christmas party at Broadlands.

Lord Lyndhutst has returned from. Paris, and is staying at Turville Park, Maidenhead, in excellent health.

The Emperor of the French ha e sent the Sultan the grand cross of the Le- gion. of Honour. This is the first time that the Sultan has received a deco- ration from a Christian power.

The Spanish Golden Fleece vacant by the death of the Emperor Nicholas is to be given to Jerome Bonaparte, uncle to the Emperor of the Frenoh.

Professor Owen has just received the decoration of the Legion of Honour, in which order he holds the rank of Chevalier.

A French Imperial decree promotes Sir Joseph 011iffe to the rank of Officer in the Legion ef Honour,. and uominates Mr..Taylor a Knight in the same order, both having been members of the Jury of the Universal Exhibition.

A nephew of. the Viceroy of Egypthas arrived at Rome with a letter to the Pepe from Said Pasha.

The Archdukes Albert and Reignier of Austria have paid a visit to Rome. They received great attentions from the Papal authorities, and their inter- view with the Pope was "Most affectionate.'

Sehiller's Don Carlos was given on Sunday last in the Court Theatre, Vienna-; but, to the astonishment of the audience, Domingo, the King's confessor, appeared as a mailed knight. The ecclesiastical censorship has already begun.

Here is another instance of the revival: At a party in a gentleman's- &use' at Vienna, a dance was got up; one of the guests volunteered to play e quadrille on the pianoforte; presently a gendarme entered, seized the mu- sician, and took him to prison! The Archbishop of -Vienna had ordered that no dance-music should be played during Advent.

The Reverend W. Wheeler, for many years Vicar of Old and New Shore- ham who had long held high Traotarian views, has gontrover to the Church of Eome.

Prince Mese, President of the Prussian House of Notables, died rather suddenly, at Berlin, on the 20th.

The remains of Colonel Sibthorp were interred on Saturday, at Canwick, near Lincoln, where the deceased had a mansion : the funeral was attended by great numbers of people.

On Thursday, the remains of Mr: Rogers. the poet were deposited in a fa- mily-vault at Homey churchyard. The funeral, in accordance with wishes expressed by the deceased, was quite private.

Dr. Oppoker, one of the physicians attending Prince Paskiewitch, wrote to a friend that he believed his patient—whose case was considered desperate— might recover; and late accounts say that the Prince is so much better that he can daily attend to some official duties.

The Queen has forwarded to Private Thomas Walker, Ninety-fifth Re- giment, a present of 101. On her Majesty's last visit to Fort Pitt, Chat- ham, she was struck with a carpet brought to her notice as the work of Walker, and desired that. it might be forwarded to her, which has recently been done through Colonel C. B. Phipps.

A mural monument has been erectedin York Cathedral to the memory of the officers and men of the Fifty-first Foot who fell in the last Burmese war. The cost has been borne by the surviving offiene. The name of every sol- dier is recorded on a tablet beneath the monument

Two large bodies of the German Legion embarked on Saturday for the East : in the spring-there will be 5000 of" this force at Scutari ready for as- tit'e service.

Shells are now cast at Low-moor Iron-works of the extraordinary dimen- sions of thirty-six inches in diameter ! They weigh, unfilled, upwards of a

ton auff a quarter. The mortars to discharge these monsters, in course of nuinnfuture, by Me. C. I. Mare will weigh about thirty-five tons each. These formidable weapons are intended for use in the Baltic.

The Government, it is calculated, when army-agencies are abolished, and the business transferred to the War Department, will be gainers to the ex- tent of 40,000/. annually. The allowance paid to army-agents is 300/. per annum-for each regiment, and 6001. for regiments having two battalions.

Mr. Thomas Baines, one of the eons of the late Mr. Edward Baines- of Leeds, who for twenty years has been proprietor and editor of the _Liverpool Times, has announced his retirement from connexion with the press. The Liverpool Albion regretfully surmises that this is the result of changing the Liverpool Thnes from one of the beat weekly provincial papers to a cheap tri-weekly one,—an unfortunate step.

A few days since, a "Lancashire men," a near relative of a well-known manufacturer in the neighbourhood of Manchester, was travelling in a rail- way-carriage in which were two other Lancashire men discussing the peace or war question, without, as is usual in such cases, either party being able to convince the other that his doctrine was the best and the most desired by the country. At last one of the two, turning to our friend, said, "Nam our, to-judge Ira yaur appearance an elooas, aw thud say yew'd be an advocate o' pc-ass; but aw shud laake to hear yaur opinion on't." "Sees yaw shall," was the response ; " Avem as much for pc-au as yaw or any other moo, but aul be d—d if aw'd gie threehaupence for a pennorth met." —Liverpool Albion.

The late Mr. R. Dixon, of Stanstead Park, near Emsworth, Hampshire, left property valtipd at more than a million sterling. Mr. Dixon was a wine- merchant. He Was very liberal with his wealth ; he erected and endowed a church and school, and almshouses for decayed merchants, and was ever ready with temporary aid for the distressed. He was childless. Helms left hie widow estates worth 30001. a year and 400,0001. in the Funds; to two sisters he has bequeathed 200,0001. each ; to every servant he has left 50/. a year, besides sums of money toe portion of them. Two months before hi& death lie distributed no less that 85,490/, among personal friends, to NM legacy-duty.

The Picoolomini, regarding whom the Turinese nearly went mad, has-been engaged for the Italian Opera at Paris.

A dramatic company engaged for a theatre at Kamiesch has embarked front Marseilles for the East. .

Mr. W. Thomas, of Batton in Sussex, has sent to the Crimea a pack of fox-hounds, for his brother Major Thomas, of the Royal Horse Artillery ; 813 that the officers of the army will be able to try the mettle of Russian foxes.

After a silence of-twenty-five years, the peal of bells in Canterbury Cathe- dral gladdened the hearts of the citizens on Christmas-eve. Some of the bells which had been cracked have been recast, and the whole peal is hung in a satisfactory manner.

There has been some discussion of late regarding the destruction of spar. rows by English 'Sparrow Clubs" ; and the Paris Constitutionnel has treated the subject with humour and science, and shown that they manage these things differently in 'France. Sparrows really do some mischief to farmers ; but the ignorant rustics quite overlook the fur greater benefits they confer by their extensive destruction of insect pests. Buffon stated that a pair of sparrows will destroy 4000 caterpillars weekle in feed- ing their young. "Nash Stephenson," writing from Shirley Parsonage, golihull, informs the Times that a gross perversion of funds occurs in some places to promote the foolish war against sparrows and hedgehogs. "Iii couptry places, the custom of paying for 'sparrows' heads' out of the church-rates; still existe. The Churchwardens of Solihull, in Warwickshire, annually pay a considerable sum for the destruction of these unfortunate innocents, and are reimbursed,. at the end of their year of office, by the trustees of the parish charities out of moneys bequeathed to their trust for 'pious and charitable uses.' The same enlightened parties expend a further sum out of the same source in the slaughter of hedgehogs, under the vulgar notion that they plunder the udders of the cows and extract the milk. The principal food of hedgehogs consists of worms, carrion, the larva!) of insects, and sometimes the farinaceous roots of plants. Hence they are of consi- derable service to man ; and, owing to the smallness of the mouth, are phy- sically incapable of the crime alleged against them. It is to be hoped that Lisa publicity given to these absurdities will attract the notice of the Charity Commissioners, and that that body will shortly give the trustees of Solihull a practical lesson in natural history, by compelling them to replace- the money they have so palpably misapplied ; and-that the Churchwardens will be left, should they still persist in their turreted prejudices, to pay the future premiums for urchins' and sparrows heads ' out of their private purees. This effected, a conversion to the opinions of Buffon and Bewick will certainly and speedily follow."

Result of the Registrar-General's return of mortality in the Metropoliefor the week ending on Saturday last.

Ten Weeks Week of 1815-544 et T. Zyniotle Diseases 253.1 .... 26

Dropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable mat 46.7 ..... 4 Tubercular Diseases 177.1 .... 173

Diseases of the Brain, sound Marrow, Nerves•and genies 133.9 6... 146

Diseasee of the Heart and Blood-resseis 45.7 .... 33 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of Respiration ... 276.0 .... 293 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, soul other Organs of Digestion 53.0 .... 60 Diseases of the Kidneys,g.c 13.8....10 Childbirth, diseases of the Uterus, Ae. 9.1 .••. it' lIketunatlina, diseases of the Bones, Jointa, ite 0.1 . • .. 1g Diseases of the Skin, CeUular Tissue, Sc 2.0 .... t

Malformations 2.9 ..... a

Premesure Birth 29.3 • • •, 28

Atrophy 23.9 .••• 21. Age 69.4 •••• ow Sadden 16.s .... es Violence, PriyatIon,Oold, and Intemperance 51.0 .•,.. 75 - Total(inciudIng Unspecified caused) . 1239.2 1257

Later accounts from California confirm in some measure the reports of great gold-discoveries at Table Mbuntain. Some diamonds also have been found.

Sanders and Brenham, bankers at San Francisco, have stopped payment: their liabilities are not very heavy-84,000 dollars; but their assets are if?.

The cholera has ceased at Naples. Many of the upper classes have fallen victims to the disease.

AVMs awl at Bahia the cholera has neasty disappeared:.

A. company has been formed to light Paris with gas : they are to have a concession of privileges for f"y years.

Arrangements have been made at Christiania for receiving Greenwich time there by means of the telegraph, so that masters of vessels on leaving home may set their chronometers by that standard. The communication 18

to take place once a week, every Sunday morning at nine o'clock. • A fire broke out at night in the prison of Baden, Canton of Argau : the prisoners in the lower part of the building were saved or found means to de- liver themselves ; but a staircase communicating with an upper floor having been consumed, the prisoners confined there perished. At the last accounts fifteen charred corpses had been found.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—Return of admissions for six days ending Friday, De- cember 28th, including season-ticket-holders, 11,533.