The Express. — London, England, 1853-12-19 00:00:00

Witt eroveoS. TO CORRESPONDENTS. Sexed &Wan of ••Tee Lemma," ontanuee the rem evrethe's ••Gasette," r pubLiberl every iseedey awl Inlay alibi. is Wee for port. eleertateuerste tut ended fee "The Lapeer," tit.toe more, art be et the Odic% IS, Seheerimereet. by Tee e'eleelt ea the day et pubtlasual. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tins Ws -14on5Isg, 4n. I Anersoun, N. I9ss. To•nosasw 414. 446, Ananias*, M. Sm. LONDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 19. These are trying days for statesmen in all parts of Europe, and most of all, perhaps, in England. In a few weeks now the Cabinet will have to explain themselves fully on the whole subject of our doings and sayings un the Eastern question ; and they need not reckon on any remarkable patience in either Parliament or people. The indignation against Lord ABERDEEN, as the wet blanket which is turning the national fire into smoke, is very strong and nearly universal. It has been gathering now for many months; and the PREMIER may prepare himself for such a burst of it as could not have happened if diplomatic openness, instead of the existing secresy, had encouraged the gradual formation of a national qpinion, and a well-timed expression of the national will. And is Lord PALMERSTON to appear when the day of explanation comes? If he could show a better case for himself in regard to our foreign policy when he was in office, be might, in the present mood of the English people, make great political head way. Ile would be ►upported in opposition in a great amount of elimination of Lord ABERDEMed policy, but not to the extent of supplanting him. He does net deserve any such extent of support as that, and will not have it, nor indeed any amount of approbation beyond that which is always ac corded to a dexterous parliamentary combatant, unless he shows an unmistakeable repentance for his past misdeeds, by which he has gravely impaired the chances of liberty where its struggles are hardest. Is it possible for one of his years to repent and amend? If we thought it was, we could show him cause in his past life for that wholesome regret which must precede amendment. He was once, by the testimony of his contemporaries, "serious and modest." If he could be so now—if the mood of his youth could return open him—woat might not be the benefit to the world ? " Mentem mortalia tanguot," said Fox, when PITT lay dying, and Fox refused, in strong emotion, to debate the Address; and those words might make Lord PAL imams recur to his youthful mood, if he would meditate for an hour on the beginning of his career. He canvassed for his first election (which he lost to Lord LersoowNE) to the tolling of the bell for PITT. He entered Parliament to the tolling of the bell for Fox. ROMILLT was there, under the fresh honours of his first public appearance, on occasion of the MELVILLE trial. HORNER took his seat at the same time, and WILLIAM LAMB, and WARD. CANNING was criticised as a juvenile statesman ; and the then Lord Howtcx made the best speech that had yet been heard from him. These names are enough to.make any man serious; and the survivor of them all may well say, " Mcntem mortalia tangunt." Premature death, suicide, lunacy, and the wearing out of a political existence, longer or shorter, amidst conflicts and disappointments—these must be grave remembrances to the one who is still living and at work while the gram is long on so many graves. The whole career of CANNING, whom, foreign policy gave hope to freedom throughout the world, most be a deeply interesting contemplation to a penoaal friend who has had so mach longer a space anctlarger an opportunity for sarryingout s policy,and has not succeeded in doing so. Lord P•unitirrou entered upon office as linder-Secretary at War in that PERCEVAL ministry which CANNING WWI est enter, in 1809; and it was to second the essuegeset Address that "Young Pan" first rose to speak, in connexion with any government. Surely such facts as these should make Lord PALMERSTON feel that it is time for him to be staid, and wise, and consistent, according to his early promise, if he does not mean to end in the failure which his discrepancies have so often threatened. By consistency we do not mean that he should not have progressed with the times, like his friend CAN NING, and PEEL, and every other statesman who is worth anything. The consistency we want is between the avowed principle and the oonduct—between the speech and the act. Lord PALMERSTON was a member of that Ministry which CASTLE REAGH represented in 1816—that Ministry which betrayed the liberties of Sicily by breaking our pledges to support her ancient constitution, and in curred from MACKINTOSH, when the truth became known five years after, the reproach of plunging us in "perfidy and dishonour ;" yet we censure Lord PALmaarrox for inconsistency—not because he after wards encouraged constitutional government in Spain, Portugal, and elsewhere, but because he failed to sustain the efforts he induced, and played into the hands of the despots while cheering on those whom despotism called rebels. In 1822, he was a colleague of the Minister who entered upon the amusement at Ve rona of parcelling out Europe for the convenience*: the sovereigns, who considered themselves a kind et planters on a large sale—proprietors of lands and people at once ; but we do not charge him with in consistency, because in five or six years after he had become semi-liberal, with Lord DCOLET, MOSKIS- I SON, Lord Oterreloo, and other friends of eittetsti. Oa the contrary, the whole Liberal party in Eng land were thankful ; and when, two years after, he became our Foreign Minister, there seemed every reason to hope that in the changes ushered in by the French Revolution of 1830, we should be able through him to secure the best and speediest peace by strengthening the cause of liberty from end to end of Europe. " The world war all before him where to choose" to apply the moral power of Eng land, while his singular activity made us certain that our authority would be mighty for good or for evil. How has the expectation been fulfilled? How fares Constitutionalism in Spain? and how have we succeeded in securing the welfare of the young QVer.s, and the settlement of the royal line? How fares Coestitutiooalissa in Portugal, and how are we repaid by the blessinp of the Portuguese? How do the Greeks like Lord PALMERSTON ? and who is grateful to' him there except, perhaps, Don Foam() ? How did he manage the Boundary Question, and that of the Right of Search, and the Tahiti business, and the Opium quarrel ? Why was he three months before answering one urgent letter from China, and four months in answering another—so as to complicate the question, and enhance the miseries of the war in China? How fared the continent in 1848? In what state are the cities and people of Sicily, and of Naples, and of Lombardy, and of Hungary? Many fillipping letters of Lord PALNIEILSTON'A Can be produced from the bureaus of probably all thew countries: but what did he do, and let us do ? He laughs at the nonsense of charging him with being bribed by Russia; but it may possibly strike him that that nonsense could never have been uttered if he bad done either of two indispensable dui les —t brown open diplJ matic action to public observation, as is done in countries both more and less free than our own, or checked the course THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 1853. of despotism and aided that of freedom. These things naturally prevent our feeling any great con fidence that Lord PaLMIASTON would do our dirty by Turkey even now, if he were at th• head of affairs to-morrow. There is a persuasion that he is a continental, if not an English, liberal at heart— and the lovers of freedom in all countries often turn to him with hope, on account of the hatred said to be borne him by the despots. But these sentiments excited by some acts of his life are so overshadowed by so many things repugnant to the national good sense, that weighed in the balance for future high office he will be found wanting. Like Mr. DISRAELI, Lord PALMERSTON has hundreds of admirers of his cleverness, but no " following" in the House of Commons secured by any lofty faith in his morale. LATEST FROM ABROAD. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. -.---• - PARIS, SENDAY EVENING. The Moniteur gives the following from Vienna, dated 17th : " According to a Russian telegraphic despatch from Bucharest of December 14, a Turkish corps' of ten thousand men suffered an important defeat on November 26, in the environs of Achalzick, in Asia. "The Turks are said to have lost a thousand men, two hundred prisoners, thirteen cannon, and some colours. The affair lasted eleven hours. The Rus sians admit but a hundred men hors de combat. nine officers wounded, and among them Gen. Freitag." The Press. of Vienna publishes a letter from Bucharest of the sth announcing (for the fifth or sixth time) that a Russian general had left for Kra jowa, with formal orders to attack the Turks, and drive them out of Little Wallachia. Letters from Odessa, of the sth, affirm that an army of reserve of 40,000 men was forming at Sebes topoL According to some accounts this corps was destined to make a descent upon Varna, but the general opinion was that it would form a reserve to supply the losses of the army in Asia. A letter from Odessa of the 6th states that a divi sion of Russian war steamers is cruising off Varna, far the purpose of intercepting any Turkish convoys. TILE AFFAIR AT SDIOPE. A contemporary says: We have received telegraphic information from oar own correspondent et Vienna. which brings the latest news from Constantinople down to the 9th inst. The English and French steamers which had been despatched to Sinope on the 4th had returned to Con- I stantinople, bringing with them 400 wounded, and ne further particulars of the late engagement. It appears that no less than 4,000 Turk, perished in the battle ; they fired first, and are said to have behaved with great bravery,—the Russians, who were the real aggressors, with great cruelty. The arrival of the English and French steamers pro bably rescued the wounded survivors of the Turkish squadron from a miserable death. The movements of the combined fleets consequent on the return of the steamers were not known with certainty at Constantinople on the 9th inst., but it was reported that they were immediately to enter the Black Sea ; and it was further reported that the Turkish fleet would attack Sebastopol. This last rumour, however, must be received with great distrust. The Belgian Minister of Finances has presented to the Chamber of Representatives the promised bill relative to the duties on foreign coal. The bill does not fix the duties, but authorises the Government to reduce, suspend, or re-establish them. AMERICA. ARRIVAL OF THE CANADA. (T9.01t OUR OWN CORRISPONDINT.) THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. LIVERPOOL, SVXDAT, MIDNIGHT. By the arrival of the Royal Mail steam-ship Canada, Capt. Stone, from Boston and Halifax, with the usual mails from the United States and British North America, we have received a copy of the Mee sage presented to the Congress of the United States by the President, of which the following is a sum mary : The Preident opens his message with a thanks giving for the general prosperity the country enjoys. The diplomatic relations of the United States with foreign powers are stated to be essentially unchanged since the last assemblage of Congress. The pending questions still under arrangement with some of these states are in course of amicable adjustment. Negotiations are in progress with England re specting the ii,hery question, and there are fair pro spects that a settlemeat of a favourable character for American fishermen will be come to. _ _ The President next refers to questions of an em barrassing nature that have arisen between the United States and England respecting Central Ame rica. England proposes arrangements calculated to produce an amicable adjustment of the matters to be arranged, and the American minister, now in Lon don, is at present engaged in the pending negotia time. _ _ The President recommends that the boundary line, between the United States and the British North American Provinces in the north-west, should be traced and marked. . . The Message reports that some progress has been made in negotiating a treaty of commerce and navi gation with France. In reference to the piratical expeditions against the island of Cuba, the message declares that, since ' the last Coogrems, no attempts have been made by an unauthorised expedition within the United States against the Spanish colonies; and that, should any movement be made with such an object in view, all the means the President has at his command shall be vigorously exerted to repress the attempt at any such organisation. Congress is recommended to make prompt payment of the Spanish claims in the case of the schooner Amistad. _ _ With respect to the Hoists affair, the President declares that, after a careful consideration of the matter, he has arrived at the conclusion that 'Coast* was illegally seized at Smyrna, and that he was wrongfully detained on board the Austrian ship at war ; that at the time of his seizure he was clothed with the American nationality. The acts of the American officers under the circumstances are also declared to have been justifiable, and they are fully approved. The compliance with the subsequest demandsof Austria is declined, while the principles maintained by the It■ited States Secretary of State in his correspondence with the Austrian minister, Berea nableMlll2o, will on all similar occasions be applied and enforced. A brief reference follows with regard to the expe ditions despatched to China and Japan. The dispute between the United States and Mexico regarding the Mesilla Valley is stated to be un settled. _ _ . . The message reports that the United States minis ter at the court of the Brazils has been instructed to ternuncio of Austria, dated Nov. 23, will be found below. The public will not fail to mark the noble liberality which again distinguishes the proceedings of the Turkish government. It will also be remem bered that an Ottoman passenger steamer with a valuable freight of copper was seized by a Russian captain before the expiration of the time allowed before captures were to bs made. Reschid Puha says: I have had the honour of reniving the note of your es eellency, dated Nov. 9, containing a passage according to which notice is said to have been given to the Russian mer chant vessels that such of them as should nut have quitted the Turkish ports within the delay of a fortnight should be sonfiscated, and considered fair prises. The sentiments of 'oscillation and moderation of my august sovereign, the Solna, are known to the whole world, and are a sufileleat l guarantee that he will act consent to se extreme a measure, and I think I can hope that your ezeellency, with the equity which distinguishes you, will admit with us that the rumour which has been disseminandof such a notification is entirely the effect of a malevolent Intention. The soli- &union which was really addressed to the Russian weer- I "haat vessels, does not contain anything else than a warn ing that the y ought to quit the Ottoman ports within the delay of a fortnight. Already, before the reception of year excellency's note, the Grand Admiral bad asked fur Instructions as to the manner of acting with respect to such vessels as should not conform to that intimation, and he received orders to submit to the decision of the Sublime Porte each individual case that should occur, for it was to be supposed that a prolonged stay could be occasioned may by grave motives. The Sublime Porto is not ignorant how much the Russian agents in Moldavia and Wallachia have molested the Turkish merchants sad vessels which hap pened to be in the Principalities, giving them orders to leave in 48 hours; nevertheless, the Imperial government, Ibeing anxious that the war existing between the two governments should not cause any damage to commercial men, will not aepart from the system of moderation which it has adopted, and, consequently, is still disposed to accord to Russian merchants all possible facilities in every point that does not prejudice the direct interests of its own sub , leen. In conformity with these principles and with a decree of hie Majesty, orders have been given to toe Turkish authori ties not only to accord to such Russian vessels.", for any valid reason, should prolong their stay in an Ottoman port all the time which they rosily want, but even in the case that Russian vessels passing from an Ottomoa port in the Black Pea, or the Mediterranean, should be obliged, not for me. tives of commerce, but from contrar y . winds, to seek r efuge In another port of the Otters= empire, to receive tiil s t a friendly manner and to accord them all the aid sacsossry until the weather should permit them to depart. As to the general commerce with Europe, the government of the Sultan will never allow obstacles to be thrown in its way. On the contrary, in consideration of the scarcity of earn which 'lists, it desires to aid it in every manner. Considering, besides, that the Russian vessels which intend proceeding from the Black Sea to the Me-' diterranean with corn are at present either already laden or in course of being so, and that, looking at the distance which they have to pass over, they have no need of a long term, we accord to these vessels in addP tion to the delay already fixed, another term of 45 days, daring which time they can without obstacle enter from the Black Sea into the Bosphorus and pus through the Dardanelles. In fine, as to the Russian merchant vessels which are on the coast of Europe, of Africa, or in the Atlantic with cargoes appertaining to friendly states, we think that a term of three months is sufficient for their no turn into the Black Sea by the Dardanelles, and necessary instructions to that effect have been sent to the commanders of the two straits. Orders have likewise been given to the captains of vessels of war not to molest during that I term merchant vessels under the Russian flag. The Sublime Porte in no respect doubts that what precedes will correspond to the desire expressed by your Excellency, Ise well as to commercial interests.—l seize on this occasion Ito "mare your Excellency of my perfect consideration. (Signed) RESCH ID. The following is the text of the address of the reign merchants at Constantinople to the Sultan: Sire,—The European merchants established at Constan tinople lay at the foot of his Majesty's throne the expres sion of the profound sentiments of affection, gratitude, and admiration, with which the imposing spectacle of a great people confiding in the wisdom of its sovereign, inspires them. In the midst of extraordinary circumstances and of l unforeseen events, order sad security have never eased to reign, and the respect for persons proves the intelligent direction of your Majesty's government. That calm and patriotic eethusium which we behold exhibited on every side shows the space leavened by the Ottoman nation in the path of progress since your Majesty's secession has inaugu rated a new era of material and moral prosperity, which will constitute the grandeur of your reign. The re• ligioas and commercial tolerance existing in Turkey commands the admiration and respect of all natiens towards the sovereign who presides over the des tinies of that vast empire. It is with delight that the European colony offer to your Majesty the homage of its profound gratitude for the constant protection which your ministers have ceased to accord to commerce, which, with agriculture, constitutes the grandeur aid force of your empire. May your Majeety deign to accept the respectful homage of the undersigned, who proclaim aloud the benefits of your ;government, and who address their prayers to H for the duration and prosperity of your reign, and fur the glory of your noble dynasty,—prayers marked by fervour and sincerity, and which will find an echo amongst their countrymen in the west.—(Signed) Black, &ikon, Hanson, David Glavany, Durand, Lafontaine, BT. lager, Batumi, J. Glavany,Castelli, Beuf, Balm, Arland, Camondo, Watson, Ch. Ede, E. Shanxi, Zino, Dodero, Csespin ' Mori., &c., &e. The Preis of Vienna, of the 13th, ass the instruc does given to the ambassadors at Constantinople, in esoosipmsoe of the conference of Vienna, are :-1. To dommad efficacious guarantees for what concerns the immunities and privileges of the Greek church; 2. To accede to any propositions of the Porte which are not directly opposed to those of Russia. The confer ence reserves to itself to deliberate definitively on the demands of the Porte. M. de Fenton, a Russian councillor of state, has left for St. Petersburg, in obedience to orders from his government. We are mitred that he will proceed to the Russian head quarters to take part in the negotiations. The Km Gazette of Berlin, under date of Vienna, 13th, says :—We learn that 4ie note of the new pro ject of mediation was not sent off to Constantinople until after the opinion of the cabinet of St. Peters burg on it was ascertained. It Is known that Baron de Meyendorff had already handed to Count Buol Schauenstein a note from his cabinet, to the effect that Russia was disposed to negotiate provided that the propositions come direct from the Ottoman Porte. The Russian ambassador is said to have added verbally that the Danubian principalities would not be evacuated until after the Ottoman Porte shall have admitted the pretensions of the Czar. SERVIA. The Berrien Minister for Foreign Affairs has written the following letter to the Independance of Brussels: Sir,—The Independancelgo of Nov. 21 published a correspondence from the " Banks of the Danube," in which it is said, amongst other things, that the Prince of Berri* refused to consent to the passage of Turkish troops through his territory; that he resisted the augmentation of the Turkish garrisons in that principality ; that he, under these circumstances, applied to the Austrian agents, who approved his conduct, and promised him assistance; and that this was the ezplanation of the concentration of Austrian troops near Temesvar. lam in a position to de clare is you, sir, that the Ports never applied for permis sion to send troops through Servia, and still less to send fresh 'garrisons into that principality, and consequently that the Servian government cannot have refused a thing which has never been asked for. There is still less reason for mining up the Austrian agents in this matter, and therefore the cencentration of Austrian troops or the Ser visa frontier, if say such have taken place, cannot have been provoked either by the conduct of Service or that of her government. I have the honour to request you to insert this in your journal. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Beryls, Ataxes SUMS. Belgrade, Nov. 23 (Dec. 5), 1853. THE VIENNA PROTOCOL. The Journal dee Debate and the Patric give the following as the test of the protocol signed on Dee. 5, at Vienna, by the representatives of the Four Great Powers : The undersigned, representatives of Austria, France, Great Britain, and Prussia, in conformity with the instruc tions of their courts, have assembled at a conference for the purpose of seeking out means of arranging the difference which has arisen between the court of Russia and the Sublime Porte. The proportions which that difference has a-sumed, and the war which has burst out between the two empires, in spite of the efforts of their allies, have become for all Europe the object of most serious preoccupations : in consequence, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the Fienco, tne Queen of Great Britain, and the King of Prussia, equally penetrated with the necessity of putting an end to these hostilities, which cannot be pro longed with nut affecting the interests of their own states,have resolved to offer their good offices to t►e two belligerent parties, in the hope that they would not themselves incur the I apoi sibility of a conflagration, when by an exchange of loyri explanativns they may still prevent it, in again placing their relations on the footing of peace and cf a good understanding. Tie assurances given on several occasions by the Emperor of Russia exclude the idea that that august sovereign entertains any wish to interfere with the integrity of the °roman Empire. The existence of Turkey, in the limits winch treaties have emir ed to her, has in fact be c •me nueol the necessary conditions of the European equi librium, and the undersigned plenipotentiaries declare with satisfaction that the present wet cannot in any case involve moditi:ations in the territorial circumscriptions of •ne two empires, calculated to alter the state of possession which time has consecrated in the east, and which is gorily necessary for the tranquillity of all the other powers The Emperor of Russia, besides, has not confined himself to such assurances, but has declared that his inten tion had never been to impose on the Porte new obligations, or any that were not exactly in conformity with the treaties lof Kutcheek-Kainardji and Adrianople, according to which the Sublime Porte has promised to protect is the whole ex tent of its states the Christian religion and its churches. The court of Russia has added, that in demanding from the Ottoman government • testimony of its fidelity to its sateen engagements, it had in nu respect intended to attenuate the authority of the Sultan over its Chriitiss sabjects, and that its only object was to obtain explanations • nature to prevent every motive of doubt and every Teem for misunderstanding with a friendly and neigh bouring power. The sentiments manifested by the Sub lime Porte during the last negotiations prove, on the other hand, that that power was ready to recognise all its contracted obligations and to pay full attention, in the measure of its sovereign rights, to the in terest entertained by the Emperor of Russia for • religion which is his own and that of the msjority of his people. la that state of things, the undersigned are convinced that the surest and most ready means of attain ing the object desired by their courts, is to make a commu nication in common to the Sublime Porte, to explain to it the wish of the powers to contribute by their friendly in tervention to the re-establishment of peace, and to give it i an opportunity of stating the conditions on which it would be disposed to treat. Such is the object of the collective note adjoined, addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultan, end of the identical instructions transmitted at the same time by the courts of Austria, France, Great Britain, and Prussia, to their representatives at Constanti nople. The following is the collective note, or, more pro bably, en adridgment of it: The undersigned, representatives of Austria, France, Great Britain, and Prussia, assembled at a conference at Vienna, have received instructions to declare that their re spective governments behold with a profound regret the commencement of hostilities between Russia and the Porte, and desire exceedingly, by intervening between the belli gerent powers, to prevent any fresh effusion of blood, and to put an end to a state of things which menaces seriously the peace of Europe. Russia having given an usuranca that she was disposed to treat, and the undersigned not doubting that the Porte is snimated with the same spirit, they request, in the name of their respective governments, to be informed on what conditions the Ottoman Empire would consent to negotiate • treaty of peace. negotiate a treaty with that empire, by which the ravigation of the Amazon may be opened up. The recent dispute with Peru arising out of the occurrences that took place at the Chinches Islands, is represented to be in a fair way of settlement, Peru agreeing to grant indemnity to the parties outraged. The Treasury Report shows a surplus for the fiscal year of thirty-two million dollars, out of which some thirteen million dollars of the public debt has been paid, leaving the present debt of the United States at fifty six million dollars. The President recommends that further progress be made towards extinguishing the debt of the Union. lie also recommends a reduction of the tariff. _ _ _ . . The navy is declared to be in an inefficient state, and measures for its improvement are recommended. An increase in the army is also considered as ne cessary, especially on the frontiers. The Post-office revenue is reported to be deficient to the extent of two millions of dollars. The President declares himself to be in favour of aiding the Pacific railroads by all constitutional means, and the message concludes wth a brief allu sion to the death of the late Vice-President King. The Canada reached the Mersey at half-past eleven o'clock, and besides the mails has brought 100 pas sengers, and 700,000 dole. in specie oa freight. The Royal Mail Steamship Europa, from hence, had arrived at New York on the 6th inst. The United States Mail steam-ship Humboldt, from Havre and Southampton, had got ashore near Halifax, on the sth inst. She was expected to be come a total wreck. Whatever character New Orleans may have hi therto borne, that ill-fated city is earning for itself exclusively the title of the " City of the plague." The last victim to that scourge of tropical countries, the yellow fever, had hardly been buried, and the affrighted and runaway citizens returned to their homes, when a fresh scourge made its appear ance in the shape of cholera, which has already, up I to last advice. from thence, carried off 214 persons. THE WAR. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. The following extract from a private letter from Odessa of the 7th, relates to the destruction of Turkish vessels at Swope : " It is said here that the Turkish squadron was going to attack the Russian forts on the Circassian coast, and had on board a very large quantity of powder, which was one of the causes of its entire destruction, there being one steamer only that could effect its escape. No ship was taken, and I hear only a couple of hundred men taken out of the water. It is said that the fort of Sinope is destroyed and the town burnt. The Russian fleet had returned to Sebastopol to refit. The seven Turkish frigates were of 64, 60, 52, 50, 56, 36, and 44 guns—the last an old Russian frigate, the Rafael, which had fallen into their hands in 1828. It is also said that among the transports was a British merchan t schooner." MALTA, Dec. 12.—We have news from Constan- Itinople that a battle has been fought at Sinope, the Russians sailing in and attacking the Turks six fri gates laying there. One of those, a steam frigate, made h er es cape , and arrived at Constantinople very much Fury has gone to Varna; Retribu tion and } rench steamer Gomer have gone to Sinope. Letters from Alexandria of the 6th state that the troops intended to reinforce the Egyptian contiogent on the Danube have been for some time ready. They men, amount in number to 12,000 and were waiting for vessels to convey them to Constanti nople. Letters from Syria to the 20th state that that pro vince, although the garrison had been so much re duced, enjoyed the most perfect tranquillity. Nu merous Turks, Draws, and Christians had left for Constantinople to serve as volunteers against the IRussians. A letter from Constantinople of the 3rd states that the British Chargé d'Affaires in Persia had pro tested against the line of conduct adopted by the government of the Shah, and that he was to quit Teheran early in December. We read in the Press of Vienna of the 13th According to a telegraphic despatch from Czernowitz of the 11th, 2,000 infantry of the corps of Osten- Sacken arrived on the Bth at Jassy. On the 9th they left for the south by forced marches, and on the same day 2,000 more arrived to replace them. These troops are concentrated at Fukschany. According to a communication from Belz, in Bessarabia, the advanced guard of the 3rd corps of infantry had arrived there; it consisted of a regiment of light infantry of the Bth division of infantry. Three other regiments of the same division, and General Oaten- Sacken in person, were expected. The third corps, after having left a garrison in R►dut Balch, has left for amine. A cordon is being drawn from the Dneistcr. The preparations for the quarantine are made. The Debate, in commenting upon the telegraphic summary of the news brought by the Nile, says : The important polar of this news is the entry of French sad English ships into the Black Sea (see, however, says the Dibate the paragraph from the Palm throwing doubts upon the f act.) The Retribution and the Mcgador are the two meat powerful steam frigates of the two squadrons. The Mogador particularly distinguished herself in towing Admiral 'lamella's ship from the Dardanelles to Beicoe. The line ship Charlemagne, who= entry into the Black Sea is announced as immediately probable, is • screw vessel of 80 guns, armed two years since, and although her =gin= are only of 450 horse power, she has displayed excellent tualities Captain de Chabannes is now the c maunder. The English frigate to accompany the Charlemagne will probably be the Aesthete, 60 guns • very fine new ship, greatly admired by bo th squadrons, sad now commanded by Captain Symonds, sea of the government shipbuilder of that name. If it be true that the English merchantman Heise has been fired upon and boarded by the Russians, as announced in the despatch, the fret is very serious, especially in the state of irritation of the public mind in England, caused by the affair of Sinop*. However the experience we gain every day of the short comings and inaccuracies of te`egraphic despatches leads us to wait for more ample informalon before we can believe that the Russians attacked the English flag. The letters we plosive this very day from Constantinople, dated Dec. 1, confirm the necessity of this reserve. It will be remem bered that a few days since we published from the Journal of St. Peteretnerg • Russian bulletin, amounting that the Turks had been beaten by the garrison of Onmri (Alezan dropol), and pursued to Arpatchay. Our letters of to-day say precisely the contrary. They state that after a sanguinary battle the Russians were routed, and retired to a fortress, leaving several hundred dead on the field of battle, and that the Tusks took poueuion of the place. The telegraphic despatch mentioned above goes to coefirm this news. On which side is the truth ? One letters also annotatee the success of the mission con fided to the Turkish Admiral, Mestapha Pasha. He was to land a considerable quantity of arms and =enigmas of war on the coast of Circassia. He safely disembarked the whole contained is three frigates In the harbour of Ver des, in the centre of Groat Abesia. The news from Georgia is a little more clear than what we have heretofore re ceived. Is it more authentic ? We cannot say. It is said that Schamyl, the hero of !gaDagheetan, when he learnt the commencement of hostilities , ass bled all his forces, and, placing himself at the head of a body of 18,000 men, with 10 pieces of artillery, divided the rest of his army into three columns, one of 6.000 men, commanded by the Naib Ernie, and two others of 3 000 men each, commanded by Abdurrhaman and Daniel Bey. Schaal''', after having himself taken four little forts from the Russians, attacked Zakatala, the most important place in the province of Giarhelekan, and after a combat 0136 hours, drove the Russians out of it, burnt their barracks end storehouses, and spiked their guns. The Russians fled to Tiflis. The fact of the taking of &kite= was known the day before yesterday. Daniel Bey is said to have attacked Khalet, an important strive ' getical point, because it commands the mountain road, and, I after many days continuous fighting, he made himself mat ter of it. The entire garrison, it is affirmed, perished, not a Magic Russian escaping. After these successes Schamyl marched upon Tato, and Daniel Bey to the province of Chirwan, to effect his junction with the Turkish army. Should this junction be effected the position of the Rus sians in Georgia will be very seriously compromised, and one of our correspondents announces that at the moment of closing his letter be was informed that Tie , ' itself, the capital of the province, was taken. The substance of this news is confirmed by the G. rman papers, and parti cularly by the Ost Deutsche Post of Vienna. All this, it will be observed, corresponds but little with the telegraphic d. - 'patch 1111110UUCilIff that General Andronikoff had dispersed the besiegers of Akhalzik, and beaten the Turks in a bloody affair, in which the latter lost 4,000 or 6,000 men, guns, colours, &c. Nothing was known of this battle at Constan tinople on Dec. 1. Our letters merely say that the siege of the place was energetically pushed on, and that all the roads by which succour might arrive to the Russians were occupied by the Turks. The note addressed by Reschid Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, to Baron de Bruck, In- FRANCE. PARIS, SATURDAY EVENING. The retirement of Lord Palmerston from the English government is thus noticed in the " latest news" of this evening's Patrie: The news of the retirement of Lord Palmerston at first produced a certain sensation in Paris. Some persons thought they saw in this event a check to the policy which since the commencement of the Turco-Russian conflict has constantly directed the common action et the two cabinets, united by the same sentiments and the same intere4a. This appreciation does not seem to us correct. Lord Pal merston, whose policy was more decided than that of hie colleagues, has made an internal question very secondary in presence of the existing state of foreign affairs the pretest (or his retirement. Re retires—bat having public opinion on his side, at a time when a movement of public opinion perhaps unparalleled in the annals of Great Britain may be expected to declare itself, and there is every probability of his speedy return to power. Those who know the con stitutional habits of England cannot deny the ability of this course. We will go further and say it is doubtful whether the opposite party in the cabinet will dare to face the coming session and expose itself to a signal overthrow. Unless I am much mistaken the above paragraph is indicative of some sudden and unexpected resolution taken by the head of the French government. It is reported that at the last cabinet council held at the Tuileries the ministers were greatly divided in opi nion, and the Emperor, after thanking them for their advice, said he would reflect and decide himself what should be done on a future day. The uncer tainty which has prevailed in political circles here for the last few days is, to a certain extent, a confir mation of this rumour. A fresh cabinet council was held this morning, and now the Patric comes out with a species of manifesto totally at variance with the tone of the government morning journals (which encouraged the notion that Lord Palmerston's retire ment had nothing to do with foreign politics), and even contrary to the spirit of a leading article in its own columns composed an hour or two earlier. According to to this paragraph in the Patric the element of con cord with France has left the English cabinet with Lord Palmerston • and Louis Napoleon, distrustful of Lord Aberdeen and the influences surrounding the British court, looks to Lord Palmerston's return to power as the actual or virtual head of a ministry, elevated by a manifestation of popular opinion, be fore he can co-operate with England in the settlement of the Eastern question according to his own views. If the Patric does not mean this, it is the instrument of some mystification. The Preece thinks the retirement of Lord Palmer ston itself nothing but a mystification. Lord Pal merston will, it has no doubt, come back to power before Feb. 3, 1854, and Lord Aberdeen will then have disappeared ; but in the mean time his policy will have prevailed. The substitution of Lord Pal merston for Lord Aberdeen will be made merely as a sacrifice to public opinion, and public opinion will consent to be so humbugged. To give you some idea of the confusion in which the public mind is here, I may mention that in the course of the day, before the Patric appeared, it was very confidently . asserted that the Emperor, disgusted at the vacillation of the English government, had sent orders to recall the French fleet. At the Bourse the confirmation of Lord Palmer ston's resignation was very much talked of, but it produced no perceptible effect upon the funds which have been remarkably steady. Although many con flicting opinions prevailed as to the probable results of this event nobody believed for a single instant that the reason assigned by the Times for his retire ment was the trite one. The rente opened at yes terday's closing price, 74.76, and closed at 74.70. The Orleans railway fell 7.50, and the Southern 5f., but in the other lines there was no change worth noting. The Duke de Carigliano, whose betrothal to one of the daughters of Queen Christina of Spain was recently announced, has just died at Florence. M. de Lacour, the ex-ambassador at Constantinople, has arrived in Paris. A telegraphic despatch from Mezieres announces that the court martial, by a majority of four to three, has acquitted Captain Laporte. It is said that at the reception of January 2, a striking modification of court etiquette will be made. The corps diplomatique instead of passing in proces sion before their Majesties will be ranged round the throne, as is the practice in Spain. This change is stated to have been ordered in compliance with the wish of the Empress. We read in the Moniteur de l'..4rmee The classes from 1842 to 1847, as *very one knows, were in 1848 called out. Since 1848, on the contrary, the political situation of the country has so much improved that only the first portion of the contingents of the last five classes from 1848 to 18.52 have been called into active service, whilst the annual liberations from service have been applied to the whole of the contingents. This is what will again take place on the 31st inst., the period at which the whole of the class of 1846 will be liberated from service. This dif ference between the number of those called out and those discharged has hitherto rendered easy the consi.lerable re ductions which the gent ral effective strength of the army has successively undergone. This, however, cannot be continued without bringing it below the most imperative wants of the service. The Minister of War has therefore just adopted a measure intended to fill up at least in pull the fresh vacancies which will be caused by the approach. ing liberations. By a decision of the 9th inst., voluntary engagements are opened for all the corps which recruit themselves by that means, with the exception of three regi ments of &unveil, the first company of workmen for con structing military equipages, and for the detachments of military hospital men employed in any hospitals, except those of the Bth and 9th divisions. PARIS. SENDAI EVENING. Lord Palmerston's resignation is thus officially noticed in the Monitetsr : . ----- The news arrived be-day from London confirms the report circulated yesterday that Lord Palmerston had resigned the poet he held in the English cabinet as Secretary of State for the Home Department. This retirement, as all the English journals are agreed in stating,* is the consequence or a dif• (creme of opinion that has arisen in the cabinet upon a question of parliamentary reform. Foreign policy has nothing w:tatever to do with the noble lord's resoluion, and this incident cannot, we are assured (nous en aeons Cassumnee), in any respect affect the understanding so happily established between the French and English governments regarding the great in terests which pre-occupy Europe. It will not, however, be thought strange that our regrets should accompany in his retirement from the cabinet a statesman who has so actively contributed to bring about this contort, and whose senti ments have at all times been pleasing to his Majesty the Emperor's government (et des sentiments do qua le gnu vernment de S. 31. l'Entitereur n'ajainalis en get' d se toner.) Although the studied official language of the above note &tiers widely from the expressions rind by the Patrie last night, the fundamental idea is the same, and I have good reasons tor believing that the two paragraphs proceed from the same pen. There is as yet no official rupture, but Lird Palmerston has taken with him in his retirement all the sympathy that existed between the English Cabinet and Louis • This is a mistake The English journals arc by no mums agreed on this point. Napoleon. Of this you may be sure, let theint et 7" -. " 1 from the fact be what they may. According to the despatch published in the 3/,. (cur this morning, the Russians have already de . ducted 4,000 from the 5,00 0 Turks they at firs t pre, tended to have killed at Achalzik. ith the sieg e exception of the disaster of Sinope, all the nett s brought here by the last mail from Constantinople it favourable to the Turkish arms in Asia. lutelligeaaa of the taking of Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, teas daily expected. The Turkish army was p re y hard upon it, and had penetrated very near ta Koutais, in ancient Colchis, now the capital of Imeritia. Abdi-Pacha's forward movement was greatly favored by the diversion operated by Scharnyl, With respect to the affair of Siuope itself, although the accounts are generally hurried and evidently incomplete, several letters concur in stating th at a t least two of the Russian ships of the line were sunk by the fire from the fort. The ltussians attempted% land but were vigorously repulsed. It may perhaps have already occurred to you that had the Itussi aa , gained such a complete victory as they p tet „ d, they would have taken possession of the important town and fortress of Sinope, instead of sailing away as fast as they could for Sebastopol. A hi g hl y important fact, as bearing upon the conduct of Rosie, is disclosed by these letters. The Turkish shire were not, as has been pretended, in the act of trans. porting ammunition and troops for the purple o f attacking any Russian possession. The battle did not begin in the Black Sea, and it is not true the the Turkish flotilla ran into the harbour of Sieope i a escape from the Russian fleet. They had b eta tying at anchor fur Arleen tlagi, and th e Russian ships of the line stole in under cover of a fog, and opened a murderots fire upon them in the harbour. Thus, the tine dzi unction drawn by the Tinael (if it were ever worth anything) falls to the ground. The Russian at tack was not an ordinary operation of de• fensive warfare. It was as decided en get of aggression upon the Turkish territory a l it is possible to conceive: it was an insolent de& ante to the French and English fleets, crippled is they are by the deplorable policy of the French and English governments, and if there was ever any gin. eerity in the arguments put forward in hectoring language, though in a hypothetic form, for emerge. tic action, those arguments are now more than ever valid, and without the encumbrance of an hypothesis The cholera, in Paris, which since its breakingoot in the autumn, has never been very virulent or widely spread, has sensibly diminished within the last few days. M. Arnold Scheffer, the brother of the celebrated painter, Ary Scheffer, and a well-known writer in the National, under the management of Armed Carrel, is just dead. SPAIN. - 7. • 7- According to the ParisConstitutionnel, the Sane. rius cabinet, in Spain, will attempt Wine viuieut act to rid itself of its opponents if these should prove a- accessible to the ordinary persuasions of the Spate& government. The Constitutionnel says It is thought at Madrid that the ministry, before advs. ing the measures called for by t lusting circumstances, vii ' endeavour to exhaust every possible means of cuneilicial, and that it will negotiate with the chiefs of the opposite who are paramount in the Senate, in or. et to make them understand what a heavy responsibility will weigh on then if they persist in impeding they rogress of pubic dkin from personal feelings of pride or ambition. If an honour able means of cninpromige be accepted, the ministry e l l yield to it, but if not, the present advisers of the am will not hesitate to fulfil their task to their end. They vial have energy and patriotism enough to follow the moment of public opinion by causing to disappear from the paned stage those elements of disorder which hare for so long opposed invincible obstacles to the tranquillity, the gm. deer, and the prosperity of Spain. A Madrid letter of the 10th says:—" The Cooed of Ministers assembled yesterday evening after the vote of the Senate, and then went to the Palace to hold a Council, under the presidency of the Quiet. Before the President of the Council could speak, the Queen said that she was well informed of all tint had taken place ; that she was of opinion that the opposition of the Senate was not based on any WE- Meat reason, since it did not attack a single mine. tonal act; that the Cabinet possessed all her cad. deuce; and that it might act as it thought right. The President of the Council then proposed to the Queen a suspension of the Cortes. lier Majesty im- mediately acquiesced. It is said that the Ministry is determined to dismiss all the high functiontriesd the state, who, in the Senate, did not hesitate tosco against it." PORTUGAL. LISBON, Dec. The ceremony of "breaking the shield" took place on the 3rd. This is an ancient custom which should have taken place the day after the monarch's funeral, but it was forgotten. A platform beg created in each of three localities—Commercifl (Black-horse) square, Don Pedro's-square, and tha Square of St. Antony—a procession took place it due order from the Municipal Chamber, and at each of the places the following words being audibly spoken, namely, " Weep, Portuguese, because yoa Queen, the Lady Donna Maria the Second, is dead' a shield was broken, and thrown on the floor; site which a religions ceremony took place in St. Ai' thony's church. Lord Talbot and Colonel IVylde are here. Thu minion was ostensibly to condole with the hug Regent on the part of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert ; but they have, doubtless, directions to oh. serve the course of events, at any rate their apper ance and the squadron of Admiral Corry may to considered a demonstration on the part of IX British government of no ordinary import. I mg venture to say, that all the occult preparatsid now making will be reserved until the terunssof of tialdanhes life. In the meantime every de will be made to obtain a dissolution of the Chosabm The result of the proceedings against the Sac,o!si of Oporto, on the part of the Minister of the lotente for abuse of the liberty of the press, has esc.ui much surprise here: the jury having returned tha: Jr numbers were equal, the judge sent them back, k° several divisions took place, the last of which as I to 5, with a fine of 10,000 rein, to which effect . * tenoe was pronounced. A tie on the part of theiktYt or even a return of 7, amounts to an acquittal; 1 1 6 judge, therefore, acted wrong in sending them WA and wrong also in sentencing the accused, both!' turns being an acquittal, as the law requires S , 0 21 for a conviction. When Lord Talbot and Colonel Wvlde arrlat they had free pratique given them. the Amensk minister, although on board the same packet, Ali consigned to quarantine, but on writing a tele*/ stiff note to the Minister for Foreigniffairs,its pratique was given him also. Exchange, 54; discount of notes, 2 per cent. GERMANY. —.— The Prussian government having , pleasure some of its least loved former tering and travelling through the State, the rights of American citizens, has cc some new passport regulations to the cabinet. In future native Americans Prussia by the sole authority of their ment, but Prussians by birth, who I citizenship in the great republic must port from the Prussian authorities. It seen whether the American governmei nise a regulation which sets limits to rights. ITALY. - PIEIIiiONT. The Piednontesc Ga:ettc contains a the members of the new Chamber attend a preliminary meeting on the to agree upon certain measures relating sitting of the following day. Among the men of note rejected of the Kingdom of Sardinia, during tile is Count Costa della Torre, the chief can. clerical party, who has been thrown ote Moncalieri, Carmagnola, • and Pant al co.. exiled Archbishop of Turin. Nlunsignor 1 had one vote given him at Vigevan.). The Piedrponttse Ga:efte publishes a .lilt towns that have sent addresses to Count Caa, seen witt ler subjeeta te, armed communix:s he Waahitr• raitioit t a may own go , hare aci 2. " t obtain a :1 remelts!! tent will Go its sown uotke, iaai of 0 a , to tat t o F hr the e , •• Ili: late elicaoaa .. an d‘dato of : 11 ,ett at 11r.