forrigu ant tnluitial.

FRANCE.—The usual ceremonies in celebration of the New Year have been observed in Paris: The Emperor reviewed 20,000 troops on Satur- day; and held the customary official receptions. But, fatigued by these, he could not attend the family dinner on the Your de l'An ; and Prince Jerome presided over the members of the Imperial Family collected on that occasion.

The subscriptions for the new loan were opened on Wednesday morn- ing, at the offices of the Minister of the Finances, at the mairies of the twelve arrondissements of Paris, and at the savings-banks. Notwith- standing a wet disagreeable morning, great numbers attended for the pur- pose of subscribing ; and, as far as can be judged, the present national loan will be fully as successful as the one of March last.

THE CRIMEA.—Since the Allies landed at Old Fort there has scarcely been a week in which less intelligence has arrived from the Crimea. But the information supplied is of a cheering character. It consists of these official documents, made public in Thursday's Mon iteur.

From the French Chargé d'Affaires at Constantinople to the Minister for Foreign Affairs at Paris.

"Pens, December 27. "General Canrobert writes to me under date of the 25th—' We shall soon be able to take the offensive. We make good our losses more promptly and more solidly than the enemy can. We are full of confidence.'' General Canrobert to the Minister of War. " December 22, 1854.

"Monsieur le Marechal—The bad weather has continued, with rare and short intervals of improvement. We nevertheless continue, as much as possible, to encircle the place with our trenches; and all the siege operations become perfect and solid-, notwithstanding the rainy season, which rendeto the transport very difficult. " The two armies mutually assist each other. I am indebted to the Eng- lish army for the transport of nearly all the cavalry I have under my orders in the Crimea ; and on my part, I have placed at the disposal of Lord Rag- lan my mules to convey his sick to Balaklava, and teams to convey his am- munition. These exchanges contribute to keep up excellent relations and

perfect cordiality between the two armies. • "There scarcely passes a night without some points of our lines being attacked by sorties, which generally cost dear to the assailants. "Yesterday, at two a. m., the Russians, after having made a sortie on the third parallel of the English, who vigorously repulsed them, made also a demonstration upon the centre and left of our works. Received by a very brisk and well-directed fire, they withdrew before our soldiers, who pursued them at the point of the bayonet. The enemy left a great number of dead upon the ground.

"To make the guard of our trenches more efficacious, I have organized a corps of volunteers, whose duty it is to keep the approaches of our works clear of the enemy at night. I expect good results from this institution, which completes that of the francs-tireurs, organized since the commence- ment of the siege, and who do duty by day in the trenches. They have already done much injury to the enemy.

"As I have already informed you, our works extend actually to the bottom of the Quarantine Bay. The enemy's attention is drawn to the efforts we are making on that side, and his artillery sharply disputes the ground with us ; where, as nearly everywhere, we are obliged to hollow out the rock ; but our progress is not the less real, and we remain in possession.

"I have informed you that the enemy had withdrawn his left, and eva- cuated the portions of the valley of Balaklava where we formerly saw them in considerable numbers. I was desirous of ascertaining their exact position in that direction, and the day before yesterday I pushed forward a recon- noissance to the vicinity of the village of Tchergoun, consisting of a brigade of cavalry, under the orders of General d'Allouville. They came upon some hundred riflemen behind the village of Camara, and drove them back into the ravines. Detachments of cavalry, accompanied by their artillery and some battalions of infantry, appeared on the flanks of the reconnoissance, but did not attempt to interrupt its operations; which were happily accom- plished.

"At the same time, 1000 infantry, Highlanders and Zouaves, left Balak- lava, on the right of our position, and explored the heights which exteud towards the valley of Balder. They only met a post of Cossacks. tA,

"To resume, I am of opinion that on the left bank of the Tohernaya theta are only pickets of the enemy observing our positions from a distance. A movement has evidently taken place in the Russian army, caused probably by the landing of the Turkish troops, which continues at Eupatoria. I shall soon know the real state of the case.

"Although the number of the sick has somewhat increased in consequence of the perpetual wet in which we live, the sanitary condition of the army is satisfactory, and its moral condition perfect.

"If the troops have suffered much from the rain, it has not yet been cold: the snow, which for some time has covered the tops of the mountains inland, has not yet fallen upon the plain which we occupy, and the thermometer has not yet in a single instance been below zero. These general conditions are rendered better by the care taken of our men ; and, thanks to the wise fore- sight of the Emperor and his Government, the army enjoys relative comforts, which make it gaily support the fatigues it has to undergo. "The number of sick in our military hospitals at Constantinople is 3734, of whom 1387 are -wounded. I have established in the Crimea, near the Bay of Saratsch, a depOt of convalescents, where the men who leave the army ambulances, and who only require rest, will regain their strength, and be enabled to return to their duty. This measure will diminish the number

sent to Constantinople. - "His Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon, still retained at Constantinople by the malady which forced him to leave the Crimea, wished to rejoin us. I opposed his return, which might compromise the health of the Prince.

"I am, &c. CANROBERT, General-in-chief."

Shoals of letters from officers and privates of the British army con- tinue to appear in the journals ; but they are mostly of an old date, and speak of the period of depression in the first days of December. The letters of the men are hearty and full of spirit, in spite of the wretched state of the camp. The 'croaking" is chiefly to be found in the pub- lished letters of officers.

The arrival of reinforcements in considerable numbers has been re- ported by the French authorities- and the first detachment of Mr. Peto's navvies must have reached the authorities; by the end of the year, as they

had passed through the Bosphorus on the 25th Dederaber.

A Supplement to the Gazette of the 29th DeAeniber was published on Saturday last, containing a despatch from Lord Raglan, and a return of killed and wounded.

Lord Raglan to the Duke of Newcastle. "Before Sebastopol, Dec. 13. "My Lord Duke—Your Grace will be happy to hear that the weather has continued fine since I had the honour to address your Grace on the 8th in- stant.

"The enemy has made no movement of importance, and nothing of any material consequence has taken place before Sebastopol.

"The Russians moved upon our advanced pickets in front of our left at- tack the night before last in some force ; but they were instantly driven back by a detachment of the First battalion Rifle Brigade on the right and by one of the Forty-sixth on the left. The firing, however, was kept up for some time and the Third and Fourth Divisions were held in readiness to support, in case their assistance should have been required.

" I enclose the return of casualties to the 10th instant.

"I have, &e.

"His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, &c."

Return of Casualties from the 6th to the 10th December 18541::::::. Royal Sappers and Miners-1 rank and file killed. 4th Regiment of Foot —1 rank and file killed, 2 rank and file wounded. 1st Regiment-1 rank and file wounded. 38th Regiment-2 rank and file killed, 1 rank and file wounded. 41st Regiment-1 rank and file killed. 47th Regiment-1 rank and file killed. 49th Regiment-1 rank and file killed. 50th Regiment- 2 rank and file wounded. 55th Regiment-6 rank and file missing. 57th Regiment-2 sergeants, 3 rank and file, wounded. 1st Battalion Rifle Bri- gade-1 rank and file wounded. Total-7 rank and file killed ; 2 sergeants, 10 rank and tile, wounded ; 6 rank and file missing.

Letters from the camp, but meetly of an old date, flood the journals, and serve to illustrate the temper and state of officers and men. From an Officer of the Fourth Light Dragoons.—" Our horses are im- proving, and our men regaining their former good spirits very rapidly. Drafts of all regiments continue to arrive almost daily. The weather for the last four days has been beautiful—quits like summer. Pray don't send any more warm clothing, as I have plenty. Ships have lately all brought out some, and supplied us all."—Dee. 12.

From an Indian Officer.—" In my opinion, had the men a change of clothing, they would be just as healthy here as anywhere else. The weakly

die off, as they always will in a hard campaign. I hear little complaint

among the men ; the officers are the ones who complain, and in two days upwards of two hundred sent in their resignations. This shows our faulty military system. There is no want of gallantry among the officers, but the army is not their profession. They do not look to it as their home—as the only thing they have to look forward to. On the day of battle they are ever foremost ; but it is the work— this incessant hardship without any apparent end—that they cannot and

will not stand. Some of our regiments are nearly without officers. I think more promotion from the ranks might be tried with success. I do not think

it generally answers during peace, but I think it might be tried on a greater scale during war : you then get a class of men whose home is the army, who must live and die by it."

Tunxev.—The Sultan has paid to the Duke of Cambridge the same honour he paid to Prince Napoleon. He visited the Duke, at Missiri's hotel, on the 23d December.

. There is a strange story told by the Constantinople correspondent of the Daily News. It is said that, in compliance with the request of the Allied commanders, the Porte ordered Omar Pasha to head the Turkish reinforcements to the seat of war ; but that the Ottoman General, instead of obeying the, order, sent objections, alleging the critical position of the Allies, and his reluctance to take part in an enterprise likely to fail. The Grand Council, we are told, assembled to consider this astonishing pro- ceeding, and ordered Omar Pasha, "to proceed forthwith to Sebastopol at the head of his contingent, and there to expose to the Commanders-in- chief of the Allied armies his motives and opinions ; the Porte being no longer in a position to modify a resolution which had been adopted in common with them."

The version of the story in the Moniieur is simply, that Omar Pasha has been ordered "to hasten the embarkation of his troops, and to proceed immediately, in person, to join the Generals of the Allies, and to concert his movements with them.'

The correspondent of the Times intrusted with the administration of the fund for the relief of the sick and wounded at Scutari and Balaklava has sent home an account of his stewardship up to the 18th December, a period comprising upwards of a month's experience. He furnishes a list of the articles of food and clothing which he had purchased and distributed during that time,—articles consisting chiefly of comforts, such as arrow- root, sugar, sago, wine, spirits, tea, maccaroni, and pearl barley ; and such clothing as shirts, flannels, socks, comforters, slippers, boots and shoes, towels, soap, sheets, and quilting; and some much prized pipes and tobacco for the convalescents. He has also supplied basins, bowls, scrubbing-brushes, kettles, sponges, linseed meal, and castor and olive oils. A house has been furnished for washing purposes, with a fair prospect of supplying the hospitals with clean linen.

At the latest date increased supplies had arrived in transport ships. There had also been discovered, in what he calls "the tumuli of the pur- veyor's department," a case of lint and linen 16 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 18 inches deep, and "some well-constructed stretchers." He thinks that it will eventually turn out that "a considerable portion of the things most urgently needed during the last two months were all the time in store." Miss Nightingale had established a kitchen of incalculable utility, where comforts are prepared, and brandy, wine, and a variety of things can be obtained with promptitude and cleanliness and without formality. Miss Nightingale and her corps thus act as reformers of hospital practice, and supply omissions. Thus there were 900 flannel jackets in store which could not be distributed without the sitting of a board ; the fund in the mean time supplied these necessaries in urgent cases.

"What I see here," the correspondent remarks, "leads me irresistibly. to the conclusion, that, notwithstanding all professions to the contrary, the in- tention was to carry out strictly, as applied to a state of war, the stringent system, with a view to economy, upon which the medical department of the army has been worked during peace times. It might have been expedient when we had no battles to fight nor the hardships of campaigning to en- counter to exact from the inmates of our military hospitals under all cir- cumstances stoppages amounting to 10d. per diem; but this was surely very hard treatment of convalescents whose health and strength had suffered in the field, who rose from bed to find themselves in want of nearly everything requisite for their comfort, and who, being still unfit for duty, could not be put upon barrack rations. I hear that this crying grievance has at length been rectified ; but it should have been foreseen and obviated ere now ; and it certainly serves to prove how inveterate official habits are, that the small saving to the country hitherto made in this way upon hospital stoppages should be kept steadily in view, white our brave soldiers were suffering so severely. I can only explain in the same way the perseverance with which the chief medical officers have denied that they wanted anything in their hospital stores. Having stubborn facts now accumulated in sufficient quan- tity to appeal to confidently, I am ,justified in saying that however great the devotion of Dr. Menzies may have been to his duties, he and those under him, with one or two exceptions, have steadily persisted in a course of concealment not creditable to them as intrusted with the lives and health of our soldiers. They have perseveringly opposed themselves not only to my mission, but even to the extraordinary powers of intervention which the Ambassador holds. Had it not been for the firm manner in which Miss Nightingale has acted, I very much question whether any quantity of that large amount of aid could have been afforded which has during the last six weeks been through her agency unobjeetionably supplied. Perhaps, had it been the only question whether it was proper to draw upon a fund subscribed by private benevo- lence, some colour of defence for such conduct might have been raised, on the ground that soldiers could not accept charity. But the Ambassador's Powers were treated exactly in the same way. When he offered to exercise them, he was told they were not wanted; when finding they were required, he did exercise them, a passive resistance was perseveringly presented to his means of usefulness."

The arrangements for receiving patients appear to have been deplorable. " Men were landed from the Gertrude last week, and allowed to crawl up the hill to the barrack hospital, who were quite unfit for the effort ; and when, at length, they reached this hospital, many found that there was no room for them there, and that they had to find their way to the general hospital. I am credibly informed that it took some of the poor wasted fellows three hours from the point of disembarkation, till they reached their beds, though the distance cannot be a quarter of a mile. The average time consumed in getting into bed from leaving the ship's side would, I believe, be found even greater than this, and might, with proper attention, be much diminished."

Recent letters from Constantinople complain of nightly brawls in Pera and Galata, by " Jack ashore." It seems that both the British and French tars on leave have managed to bring about the absence of the Turkish women from the Christian suburbs, by their mad freaks and drunken outrages. Jack and the Greeks also, were greatly addicted to quarrelling ; and foul play on the part of the Greek riffraf, for the sake of robbing sailors at large, is more than suspected. There was talk of establishing an European police, as the Turkish cavasses were naturally afraid of the drunken tars.

GERMANY.—Further details and additional information of the diplo- matic proceedings at Vienna have come to light this week. One credible- looking account is, that the conference on the 28th December, which took place at the residence of Lord Westmoreland, was requested by the Rus- sian envoy. Prince Gortschakoff there repeated the profession that his master was ready to accept the four guarantees as "points of departure"

for a negotiation ; adding a request that the representatives of the Triple Alliance would explain the meaning they attach to the guarantees As England, France, and Austria, had previously come to an understanding on the subject, a single answer was read to the Prince, in their collective names, by M. de Bourqueney. This reply—under protest that it was not an official act, but merely written for the sake of clearness and precision —was communicated to the Russian envoy. Two days afterwards, Prince Gortschakoff demanded a new conference. It was granted ; and here he put in a document giving the interpretation which the Emperor of Russia puts on the four guarantees,—which, differing "in some re- spects from the interpretation of the representatives of the Allied Powers, did not differ very considerably on several points." But, having fixed their conditions, the Allies declined at first either to receive the note or to discuss its terms. Prince Gortschakoff having insisted, his note was ultimately received "a titre de renseignements" as to the disposition of the Russian Government. But he was requested expressly to understand their reception of the note would make no change in the official position of the question ; that the conditions insisted upon by the Allied Powers, as set down in the interpretation of the four guarantees, remained entire ; and that it would be of those conditions that Russia would have to declare her acceptance or refusal. Prince Gortschakoff then repeated his decla- ration that he would be obliged to refer the matter to St. Petersburg ; and he promised to give in the answer of his Government that day fort- night—that is to say, on the 13th of January.

Another account, in the Patric., states that Prince Gortschakoff did not request a conference : "there was no conference ; but a notification of the result of former conferences."

On the 19th December, Baron Manteuffel addressed a despatch to the Prussian envoys in Paris and London, conveying to them the views of the Government of Berlin on the treaty of December 2. [It should be read with care, and the reader should try to penetrate through the Ger- man mysticism to the views it is intended to suggest.. The amusement will repay the trouble.] "Berlin, December 19, 1854.

"Monsieur le C‘omte—As I have had the honour of informing your Ex- cellency by telegraph, it was on the evening of the 16th instant that the Envoys of France, England, and Austria, came to communicate to me offi- cially the treaty which their Governments signed on the 2d of December at Vienna, and to express to me, conformably to article 6, the desire of seeing Prussia adhere to it. I lost no time in submitting that important commu- nication to the King, our august master. His Majesty fully appreciates its great importance ; and in making it the subject of a conscientious examina- tion, he has been guided by the sincere desire of associating himself, as much as his convictions and the interests of his country permit him, to the common work of the reestablishment of general peace on just and durable bases.

"It is with satisfaction that the King saw reference made to the protocols 'of "Vienna. His Majesty does not discontinue to regard them as the expres- sion of the concert of the Four Powers, and attaches a particular value to everything which is of a nature to confirm the duration of that accordance. It is true that Prussia did not participate in the exchange of the notes of the month of August. The Government of the King did not think, in the theu general state of things, that it ought to bind himself in that respect by any engagement whatever ; but the language which, at various times, it has herd at St. Petersburg, and which has not remained without effect, proves that it endeavoured to assure a practical force to the guarantees formulated at Vien- na, by inducing the Imperial Russian Cabinet to adopt them.

"While on the one hand the diplomatic concurrence of Prussia is then already obtained to the efforts of the other Powers to fix the bases of a general peace, her transactions with Austria prove no less, on the other, that the Cabinet of the King, penetrated with the gravity of the interests com- promised by a prolongation of the menacing attitude of Russia, has, withiu the limit of certain eventualities, engaged even its military cooperation. "Under all these respects the analogy of the attitude between Prussia and the Powers who have recently signed the treaty of the 21 of December already exists; and the King, our august master, is too far from being under any illusion on the incalculable dangers with which the ulterior unchaining of warlike passions would threaten all Europe, not to be disposed to cement, in the interest of a prompt and equitable peace and the real equilibrium it is destined to guarantee' by new stipulations, an accord of which the paci- floating weight would be summoned to exercise a salutary and decisive influence.

"Looking upon the treaty of the 2d of December in this point of view, and recognizing with satisfaction that it comprises the elements of the above indicated nature, the King, our august master, has ever found in most of its articles the impress, very natural, it is true, of its special destination, that is to say, of an entente between the Western Powers and Austria. It would follow—and certainly the justness of this observation will not escape the equitable appreciation of the three Courts who signed the treaty—that Prus- sia, to adhere eventually to the general tendency of that transaction, and to some of its particular stipulations, does not find herself in a position to accede

to a treaty already concluded, but rather to conclude, if there is still the op- portunity, on her part, an analogous arrangement. "To that end, and to fix clearly his eventual decisions, our august master has thought again to put the question to himself, what sort of interpretation is to be given to the four points agreed upon in the month of August as the base of the negotiation between the Cabinets of Paris, London, and Vienna, referred to by them in their treaty, supported by Prussia at St. Petersburg, and now adopted, without reserve, and in their original draft, by Russia. It is evident that the interpretation is destined to form, so to speak, a centre round which all steps (demarches) to arrive at the reestablishment of general peace will turn, and from which whether diplomatic or military, they will borrow their real character.

"Moreover, the King, our august master, appreciates the high importance of the step taken by the Cabinets who signed the treaty of the 2d Decem- ber by inviting Prussia to adhere thereto; and the more desirous his Ma- jesty is to respond to the sentiments which dictated that measure, the more reason have we to hope that confidential explanations of the interpretation of the four guarantees will enable us to judge of the bearing of the engage- ments we should have in that case to contract.

"Consequently, the King charges you, Monsieur le Comte, to speak in this sense to M. Drouyn de Lhuys, [" Lord Clarendon" in the English copy,] giving to your language that character of frankness and abandon which is the best proof of a sincere wish of coming to an understanding.

"Receive, &e., DE IIANTEUFFELP Russia.—There appears to be both military and financial activity in Russia at this moment. The movements of troops on the Austrian.fron- tier continue without interruption ; and as the force in Poland increases, large detachments are pushed on to Volhynia and Podolia, and so on to Bessarabia. From this province and Odessa, still occupied by about 60,000 men, three divisions, numbering about 32,000 bayonets, with 140 guns and 3200 horse, the whole under General Read, have been sent on to the Crimea via Perekop. This augmentation, when it reaches Sebas- topol, will increase the Russian army to something like 91,000 men ; giving 25,000 for garrison-duties, and 65,000 infantry, 12,000 horse, and 300 guns, for the field.

According to the Augsburg Gazette, Prince Menschikoff complains that "the severe weather makes great ravages among his troops, as well as among his cavalry and artillery horses." The departure of Marshal Paskiewitch for St. Petersburg, on the 30th December, is again announced by the telegraph from Warsaw.

A new manifesto by the Emperor was published on the 16th (28th) December, in an extraordinary supplement of the Journal of St. Peters- burg.

"By the Grace of God—We, Nicholas the First, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Missies, &c. &c. &e., make known—

"The causes of the war, that still lasts, are well understood by our be- loved Russia. The country knows that neither ambitious views nor the desire of obtaining new advantages to which we had no right were the motives for those acts and circumstances that have unexpectedly resulted in the existing struggle. We had solely in view the safeguard of the solemnly- recognized immunities of the Orthodox Church, and of our co-religionists in the East. But certain Governments, attributing to us interested and secret intentions that were far from our thoughts, have complicated the solution of the question, and have finished by forming an hostile alliance against Russia.

"After having proclaimed as their object the safety of the Ottoman em- pire, they have waged open war against us—not in Turkey, but within the limits of our own realm, directing their blows on such points as were more IDT less accessible to them, in the Baltic, the White Sea, the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and even on the far distant coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to the Most High, both in our troops and in all classes of our subjects-they everywhere meet with intrepid opponents, animated by their love Mr us and for their country ; and, to our consolation in these troublous circumstances, amidst the calamities inseparable from war, we are constantly witnessing brilliant examples and proofs of this feeling, as well as of the courage that it inspires.

"Such are the defeats more than once inflicted on the enemy's troops on the other side of the Caucasus, notwithstanding a great disparity of force. Such was the unequal conflict sustained with success by the defenders of the coasts of Finland, of the convent of Solovetsky, and of the port of Petro- paulowsky in Kamschatka. Such, above all, is the heroic defence of Sebasto- pol, signalized by so many exploits of invincible courage and of indefatigable activity, as to be admired and done justice to by our enemies themselves.

"Beholding, with humble gratitude towards God, the toils, the bravery, the self-denial of our forces both by land and sea, and also the general out- burst of devotion that animates all ranks of the empire, we venture to re- cognize therein the pledge and augury of a happier future.

"Penetrated with our duty as a Christian, we cannot desire a longer effusion of blood, and certainly we shall not repulse any offers and conditions of peace that are compatible with the dignity of our empire and the interests of our well-beloved subjects. But another and not leas sacred duty com- mands us, in this obstinate struggle, to keep ourselves prepared for efforts and sacrifices proportioned to the means of action directed against us.

"Russians ! my faithful children ! you are accustomed to spare nothing when called by Providence to a great and holy work; neither your wealth, the fruit of long years of toil, nor your lives—neither your own blood, nor the blood of your children. The noble ardour that has inflamed your hearts from the first hour of the war will not be extinguished, happen what may ; and your feelings are those also of your Sovereign.

"We all, monarch and subjects, if it be necessary—echoing the words of the Emperor Alexander in a year of trials similar to those of today, the sword in our hands and the Cross us our hearts—know how to face the ranks of our enemies, for the defence of the most precious gifts of this world, the security and the honour of our country. "Given at Gatchina, the fourteenth day of the month of December in the year of grace 1864, and the thirtieth of our reign. NICHOLAS."

The appointment of General De Berg to the command in chief of Fin- land, in the place of Rokossowski, under whose term of office Bomarsund ,fell, is thought to imply more than a censure on the dismissed officer. General de Berg commanded at Revel, and wow the favour of the Czar ; and it is supposed, that as hostilities with Denmark and Sweden are ex- pected at St. Petersburg, De Berg has been appointed to meet the emergency.

A letter from St. Petersburg, dated the 20th December, gives a curious sketch of the business of the Russian Ministers- " The Ministers, Nesselrode, Dolgorouki, and Panin, have a great deal to do. The first has had to abandon his favourite pleasure of playing at whist and ombre; Dolgorouki is required to present every day an increase of the army ; and Panin to present a new register of voluntary donations. Unfor- tunately, most of these augmentations only figure on paper."

Poland is in an unhappy condition provisions rising in price ; hard cash scarce ; the exportation of sheep-skins prohibited; "in short, ttude is stagnant, misery staring us in the face, the poverty almost.hrupporte ble, and the whole country on.the eve of a general bankruptcy.'

SWEDEN.—A new tariff was to come into operatioirin Sweden- on the- 1st instant, by which all prohibitory duties on importri and exports, with the single exception of brandy, were abolished ; but it has been deferred to the 1st of January 1856.

Jastsrat.—The Atrato arrived at Southampton on Sunday, bringing advices from Kingston to the Llth December. On the 28th November the Governor opened the Legislature under the new constitution. In his

inaugural speech, Sir Henry. Barkly expressed his gratification that one of

the first objects of his mission, the establishment of responsible govern- ment, had been accomplished; but at the same time he urged upon the Legislature that much more remained to be done to rescue the island from its critical position. Commending the energy of the planters who still cultivate the sugar-cane and the coffee-plant, he urged that immi- gration should be encouraged at the public expense, especially of the Negro population of the United States ; that attention should be raid to the mineral treasures of the island, and to various species of shrubs and trees yielding fibrous substances for the manufacture of paper. He di- rected the attention of the Legislature to the fact that the Militia had not been embodied for some time, and suggested the raising of a corps of Vo- lunteers. In the financial section of his address, he recommended them not to incur fresh debts, but to authorize the raising from year to year of a revenue adequate to meet the expenditure. The address of the House of Assembly was passed and presented on the 1st December ; in substance it concurred with the speech of the Governor.

Terasr.—An account of the visit of Sir James Stirling's squadron to Japan in September and October has been supplied to- the Times by a

medical officer. The squadron arrived off Nagasaki on the 7th Septem-

ber. As the ships were running in, and the crews were viewing with Some surprise the many batteries commanding the entrance, they were

arrested by boats from the shore requesting them to stop, with the alter- native verbally hinted of being blown out of the water. Subsequently, however, permission to go in was given. Here they remained many

days ; Japanese officials going on board frequently, but the British not

permitted to land. At length, on the 4th October, the Admiral went ashore, accompanied by five boats and the band ; and, entering the inner harbour, with much ceremony, they rowed up to the landing-place, admiring the pretty scenery on either side. At the landing-place a guard received them ; guards lined the road to the Governor's house, and ushered the strangers into the presence of the Governor and the Inspector of the province. "Their appearance and manners were dignified • the Court dresses were very curious, and the silk portion of rich quality. 'The style and degree of politeness practised among themselves is so extreme that it disgusted us con- siderably. The persons communicating between the Governor and our interpreter were on their knees, and frequently kissing the ground and speaking in a low tone of voice, while they rested their fingers on the ground. After the interview, we were taken to two rooms ; ours had the number of arm-chairs required for officers not of the Admiral's set, who were in another room. Tea was brought on small stands; no sugar, no milk used. In a short time trays with pipes, tobacco, lighted charcoal, and spot for ashes; pipe of brass, small ; stem, bamboo. After some time a box of cake and sweetmeats, with chopsticks, was placed before each officer, and

was afterwards sent on board to us, as we wrote our names on the hd by order. Again our wants were attended to ; octagonal deal boxes were placed.

before each of us, the contents a block. of sponge-cakes, two cakes of jelly, two rolls of sweets, two birds of flour, and a sugar-fish—chopsticks to eat with. The name of the Governor is ifelzono Chikfoono Kann; his dress a

black gauze overcoat, white vest -and sleeves, green silk petticoat, open at the sides, showing wrapper or trousers, and reaching to the feet, which were covered with white cotton socks; shoes and sandals not worn in the palace. In the afternoon suet pudding and syrop were brought, with large silver fork and spoon (European form) and chopsticks. I had an opportunity of seeing paper used instead of. pocket-handkerchiefs; although the latter article is in. use when the heat oppresses, ventilation not being attended to. Our gold watches pleased much. It appears that two hours of our time make one hour Japanese ; the day begins at six in the morning and ends at six in the evening."

Two other interviews followed this. Many presents were sent by the Emperor to the officers. At length the treaty was signed, and the squad- ron departed on the 20th October.