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quenting his establishment. trusted, that as the guilty parties in the present instance had been very properly prosecuted to conviction, such a result would not follow, but still he was bound to look at all the circumstances of the case; and, as the object of punishment was to deter others from the commission of a similar crime, he must take care to pass a sentence calculated to have such an effect. It might be very true that Lake had been induced by Bowen to commit the offence, but it was also clear that after having been for a considerable time in the service of a kind and indulgent master, he had very readily entered into a plan to commit a robbery to a large amount upon one of the guests in his house. Under all the circumstances, he felt compelled to order the prisoner Bowen to be transported for 15 years, Lake for 10 years, and Duncock and Bates for 14 years.

7. THE FRENCH IN ALGIERS.The French journals contain an account of a brilliant advantage over the indomitable Abd-el-Kader in person by General Jussuf.

On reaching the valley of the Temda, General Jussuf was soon on the trace of the enemy, who had just raised his camp. The numerous cavalry of the Emir had proceeded in one direction, and his baggage in another. General Jussuf resolved to attack the latter. A portion of the baggage was already in the hands of the pursuers, when the Emir presented himself on the left, at the head of 700 or 800 regular cavalry, who trotted up in excellent array. General Jussuf immediately charged them, with about 450 chasseurs, gen-d'armes, and spahis, who were received with a murderous fire of

musketry when they came within 50 yards of the enemy. The latter opposed an obstinate resistance; they were, however, soon put to flight, but rallied at some distance from the field, round the white banner of Abd-el-Kader. The French cavalry again attacked them in that position, and again routed them with considerable loss. During this second engagement the Emir's horse was killed, and his men were seen to gather round him and place him on another horse. The fugitives then took a third position, from which they were driven with the same intrepidity. Abd-el-Kader ultimately retreated, leaving in the hands of the French his killed, wounded, horses, tents, and baggage. difficult nature of the country, and the great distance which separated him from the Marshal's infantry, did not allow General Jussuf to derive more advantage from his victory.'

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This advantage, however, was more than outweighed by a painful disaster which occurred to the column of General Levasseur, resembling the retreat from Moscow on a small scale. The General had issued from Constantina to chastise the tribes of the Monassa and Ouled Adjaz; his operations consisted of a succession of butcheries, burning, razing of houses, cutting down the fruit trees, in short completely depopulating and devastating the entire district. Retribution, however, was in store for these savage warriors.

"On the 2nd the weather suddenly changed, snow fell in abundance, and covered the ground to a considerable depth. In the morning of the 3rd it ceased to fall, and I deemed it prudent to quit the mountains without delay, and return to Constantina.

In order to reach the plain, we had to cross a defile of about 1,500 yards in length, but that passage, which already offered natural difficulties, threatened to become impracticable when the snow recommenced. We moved forward at 7 o'clock A.M.; one half of the convoy, the cavalry and the battalion forming the advanced guard, had reached the plain, when, at 10 o'clock, we were assailed by a snow storm, and an icy wind checked the thaw, and rendered the passage almost impracticable. The horizon was completely darkened at a distance of about 25 yards. To fall back or stop was equally impossible; I consequently pushed forward in spite of every obstacle, and proceeded in the direction of Setif, from which we were only 15 leagues distant. It was nearly 5 o'clock before the convoy had passed the defile. I remained until that hour at the rear guard, after sending on three battalions under the command of Colonel Herbillon. At that moment I left at the rear a safe guide, and three hours afterwards I arrived, with Colonels Herbillon and Bouscarin, amidst the douars of the Righa tribe. I resolved to spend the night there, and distributed my men amongst the douars. We suffered sadly that night, upwards of two feet of snow covering the earth. On the morning of the 4th, the moment daylight permitted us to see our way through that immense plain, I marched for Setif, where I arrived about 4 o'clock P.M. During the whole distance the snow never ceased to fall, and the wind blew with the same intensity. Nevertheless, the march had become less painful, and we reached Setif without having had to deplore any other accident.

"The cruel day of the 3rd had unfortunately occasioned deplorable losses, and our road was marked by the bodies of the unfortunate soldiers killed by the cold. The Arab goums suffered as severely as the European soldiers. On the 4th, previous to my departure, I had recommended the most debilitated of the men to the care of the Caid of the Righas, and placed them under the protection of a detachment of troops, commanded by an officer of spahis. On the 5th I sent a squadron of chasseurs, with a surgeon, and waggons to convey them to Setif. I am happy to inform you that a great number of the missing have joined, and that every day others who had lost their way in the snow, arrive at Setif. This circumstance renders it impossible to fix the exact number of the dead."

Subsequent accounts state, "that upwards of 500 sick had entered the hospital of Setif, and that a number of others had been committed to the care of the inhabitants. On the 5th, the snow having ceased to fall, waggons were sent in the direction followed by the column in its retreat, and on the 6th they returned, bringing back to the camp 283 corpses, amongst which were 130 belonging to the 43rd regiment of the line. On the 7th, 500 men were still missing, but so many had lost their way that it was impossible to ascertain accurately the number of dead. The extent of the disaster may be imagined from the fact that the column, composed of 2,500 men, scattered on the road 1,200 muskets and abandoned the military chest, contain.. ing 2,000f., its tents, mules, provisions, &c. The officers suffered, perhaps, more than the men; none

of them, however, remained behind. Seventeen or eighteen entered the hospital on their return; one of them, a lieutenant, subsequently died.

8. DARING ROBBERY.-Central Criminal Court.-Thomas Smith, aged twenty-four, was indicted for having committed a robbery, accompanied with violence, upon Thomas Phillips, and stealing a 107. bank-note, his property; and Anne Jones, aged thirty, described as a married woman, was charged with feloniously receiving the note, knowing it to have been stolen.

Francis Galloway deposed, that on the night of Sunday, the 14th of December, she was living in the house of a Mr. Hamblin, near Crayford Road, Camberwell, and about eight o'clock in the evening, upon hearing a knock at the door, she went to open it, and found the prisoner standing outside with a letter in his hand, which he requested her to deliver to the lady of the house. She asked him whom the letter came from, and he replied that it was all right. She hesitated at taking the letter, and the prisoner threatened to shoot her if she did not, and at the same moment produced what appeared to be a pistol from his coat-pocket, and under the terror of his threats she consented to take the letter, and went up stairs with it to the drawing-room, leav ing the prisoner standing in the passage. A gentleman named Phillips, who happened to be in the house at the time, having read the letter, which contained a threat of violence if money were not given, came down stairs and asked the prisoner what he meant by endeavouring to extort money; he replied, that if he did not immediately give him 107. he would

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call in his men, who were standing outside, and they would plunder the house. When the prisoner said this he pulled a horse-pistol from one pocket and a dagger from the other, and Mr. Phillips then gave him a 107. note. prisoner then went away, and as he was going out of the door he told Mr. Phillips that if he dared to follow him, or to make any alarm, he would immediately shoot him.

Mrs. Catherine Hamblin spoke to the same facts, and she likewise produced the letter referred to, and stated that before Mr. Phillips interfered she had attempted to leave the house, but the prisoner, who had a pistol in his hand, prevented her from doing so.

Mr. Thomas Phillips gave the same account of the transaction, and stated that he was solely induced to give the prisoner the 10l. from a fear of violence.

A police constable proved the apprehension of the prisoner Smith, and to show the guilty knowledge on the part of the woman it was proved that she had changed the stolen note at a pawnbroker's to redeem a watch, and had purchased a quantity of new wearing apparel; and it likewise appeared that she and the prisoner lived together as man and wife.

The female prisoner, in her defence, declared that although she and the other prisoner went by different names, she was really his wife, and that they were married at Northampton. She admitted that she had changed the stolen note, but she said her husband gave it to her and told her to do so, and she did not think there was any harm in it.

Mr. Justice Erle having summed

up, the jury acquitted the female prisoner, and returned a verdict of guilty against Smith.

The learned Judge having commented upon the very aggravated character of the offence of which the prisoner had been convicted, sentenced him to be transported for life.

Alfred Jones was subsequently arrested and charged as accessory to this robbery. Some days after the robbery a letter was sent threatening a repetition of the visit; this letter was in the same hand as that presented by Smith, and was identified as the writing of Jones, who was known to be an associate of Smith. He was tried and proved to have kept watch about the house while Smith committed the robbery, convicted and transported.

10. FALL OF A VIADUCT. About six o'clock in the morning a fearful noise, which was heard as far as Pavilly, aroused the inhabitants of Barentin, through which village the railway now in construction between Rouen and Havre passes. The twenty-eight pillars which supported the arches of the viaduct which at that place span the valley through which the river St. Austreberthe flows, fell one after the other, and almost instantaneously. If these enormous pillars had not providentially fallen in a straight line, had they fallen but a few yards to either side, a great number of persons must have been destroyed in their sleep. One detached building only, a corn-mill, was destroyed by the falling mass. The river St. Austreberthe, which runs beneath the viaduct, turned from its course by the fallen materials, flooded the country at either side, and the manufactories situated upon its banks below the viaduct, and which are

worked by that stream, were suddenly brought to a stand-still. The viaduct was commenced in the spring of 1844, since which time between 200 and 300 workmen have been daily employed upon it; it was not quite completed at the time of its destruction. It was composed of twenty-seven brick arches, each presenting a span of fifteen metres, and supported by twenty-eight pillars, likewise of brick, each of which was four metres thick. The greatest elevation was thirty-two metres. The entire length of the work was 500 metres. The disaster is attributed to defective materials and bad workmanship, further deteriorated by the effect of the wet and frost upon the mortar. The loss will fall upon the contractors.

THE RAILWAY MANIA.-The uncontrollable madness for speculating in railway shares, which produced such an unheard-of number of schemes towards the close of last year, the Bills for which are to come before Parliament during the present session, now began to produce its inevitable fruits, and the fortunate (?) holders of scrip became aware of the awful liabilities they had incurred. effects upon the money market and upon trade were very depressing, and the public organs were earnestly engaged in discussing the means of meeting and avoiding the peril. The following extract from the city article of the Times will convey a good impression of the general feeling :

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"The chief matter which is regarded at this time as a cloud over the money market is the lodgment of the 10 per cent. on railway capital with the AccountantGeneral, which, according to the standing order, must be made within

seven days from the assembling of Parliament, and consequently is due on the 29th of this month, less than three weeks distant. When the abstraction of millions at one time from the circulation is the point at issue, this is a very short time for preparation, and yet it may be asserted, on the best authority, that as yet no arrangement for the purpose is made, the officers of the Crown declining to sanction any deviation from the mode directed by the Act of making these payments. In vain has it been urged to them, and to the presiding officer of the deposits, the Accountant-General himself, that this era of railway enterprise forms a special case, in which, if some special interference does not take place, a disturbance of the circulation will ensue which must affect not only the parties immediately concerned, but the whole of the banking and trading community. The assurance that this absorption of the currency will be but temporary, that only a few days need elapse before the reinvestment of the funds, on the application of the parties to whom they belong, will take place, does not help the present holders of the deposits out of their dilemma, who allege that the abstraction of such large sums for a few days, or even for a single day, will do great mischief. Still the Government will yield nothing, and the Bank, which has not, indeed, sufficient power for such a purpose, will not interfere.

"The directors and committees of the various railway companies might possibly give some help over the difficulty, but an appeal to them is not likely to be more successful than to the government officers. It has been urged upon them that they might anticipate the period prescribed by law, and

begin at once to pay in their de posits, following up that step by an application in due form for their investment; but they contend in reply, that they see no reason why they should lose a day's interest agreed to be paid on these large sums, and that the kind of investment they should select for them so as to avoid risk is a great puzzle to them; that they would rather in fact have the money untouched at their disposal for subsequent operations. They profess to have nothing to do with the possible pressure on the money market; they have lodged their funds in hands where they expect it to be forthcoming when wanted, and look only to the fulfilment of that engagement.

"There are many versions current, but still nothing like certainty, of the sum these railway payments will amount to. Some, who are in a good position to form conjectures, consider that they take a low estimate in fixing 10,000,000l.; but it is the opinion of the best practical bankers, that even one-half that amount could not be locked up for a week with the Accountant-General, without leading to the greatest and most diffused inconvenience and pressure."

RAILWAY SUBSCRIBERS.-A most voluminous and interesting return, prepared in conformity to an order of the House of Commons, has been issued in the form of a catalogue of upwards of 540 folio pages, consisting of an alphabetical and numerical list of the names of all persons in England, Ireland, and Scotland, who subscribed towards the railways of last session for sums less than 2,0001. The return is a curious collection of the names, addresses, and amount of interest of every invester in the lines before Parliament last session, to a less