The Express. — London, England, 1853-11-24 00:00:00

Clte entreos. TO CORRESPONDENTS. a Sewed I'tlon of .•Tlie Capreee." e.suusiag iii• mere evening's .I.lseette, - V pubLetted every Tueeley sod Yrsday Web; to une Ist pow. biotitvwtoesto tounele4 "Th. Faspnwo," Landow Royals( rya. art be et the ttliw. 141. lloweetwatrost, by Two Vilest ow the la et prairies. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Taw D&Maralog. ?L 21. Iflarseolt. $ll. "ma_ Ualuasaiw—Motaiag, M. Sim... ....Altossoa. LONDON, THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 24. ONLY yesterday we pointed oat the Free Trade tendencies of an article about corn in the Paris Monitcur, and to-day we give from the same journal a Decree of the French Emerson, reducing the duties on coke and on iron. This is an admirable step on the part of Loris NAPOLEON, and one that has often been looked for since the day when he took power to regulate the Tariff of the country he rules. To reduce the duties on fuel and on iron im ported into France is to administer to the comforts and to encourage the industry of the French people. An instalment of free trade will assuredly whet the Gallic appetite for more ; and the wise coun cillors who are said to have been consulted by the French Government, before this reduction of duties took place, do not limit their views of political economy to such an infinitesimal reform as the one now made. MICHEL CHEVALIER, and others, know full well the benefits that would flow to their country if the policy that has recently enriched England could be extended over France. Long ago two special Commissioners went from this country to Paris to discuss with the first men in the sister country the wisdom of a Free Trade policy, and the best modes by which the tariffs of France and England could bo modified for the benefit of both. Although Sir HENRY ButwEn and Dr. BOWRING en that occasion obtained no sa tisfactory decisions from the shuffling Government of the cunning, but unwise, Louis PHILIPPE, the doctrines then preached did not fall on barren soil. There has been a farsighted band of French thinkers and writers, who, since M. Tunas sent the English Commissioners empty away, have gone on preaching the Free Trade doctrines, and of late the French Political Economists have been able to preach with additional success, from their ability to point to English prosperity in proof of the soundness of the policy of commercial freedom. Let us hope that this reduction of duties on iron and coke only foreshadows the fate that overhangs the stern array of prohibitions and duties which for thirty-seven years has weighed with such severity upon France. The late modifications in the import duties on food, though caused by the dread of approaching famine, have given a shock to monopoly under which the whole system has reeled. In other branches of industry, and notably in those connected with iron manufactures, the demands for fiscal relaxa tions are urged with increasing energy by the parties best qualified to pronounce an opinion, and most interested in seeing it adopted. The Free Trade question has indeed become the centre of a " move ment" throughout the country. At its head. we are told, is the Mimeo& himself, to whom the evils of the restrictive policy have been somewhat curiously manifested in their personal application. Among the splendid works now executing in Paris, under Imperial superintendence, by no means the least memorable is the completion of the Louvre. Constantly designed and frequently attempted, but always postponed or interrupted by changes of plan, troubles in the State, or lack of money since the days of limn IV., the glory of turning that gorgeous fragment into a whole, forms a special object of ambition with NsrotEott 111. The works for this purpose have been prosecuted with all possi ble activity for many mouths past. Latterly, how ever, the progress of construction has grown dilatory, and, when the cause of delay IRIS inquired into, it tran spired that ell the workmen were paralysed by the repeated stopper of the supply of ironwork. Fur ther investigation showed that, although the necessary articles had been duly and abundantly contracted for, the manufacturers had omitted to keep their engage ments, and replied to all remonstrances on the subject by positively refusing to complete their =tracts. They offered, however, to resume their supplies if the articles were paid for at the price of the day, what ever that might now be, or might become, under the influence of an increasing demand se time went on. Thus strong, even against the Imperial pleasure, did the manufacturers feel themselves In their law created monopoly. And for the moment they have succeeded. Bather than discontinue his favourite project the EMPEROR has yielded to their use dens. Bat it doss not seem to be the charm terietic of his ISM to be baled by private interests. )teetiags of forge-owners and iroetnesters have accordingly teen held, upon Government summon, to consider the subject of the price and taxation of iron in all its bearings, with an eye to their diminu tion. The journals also, so tightly curbed is all poli tied dimensions, an now allowed to my what they piens in favour of Fres Trade, and it is even reported that the Government itself is about to start a Free Trade journal What is better than all, as promising a more immediate result, the Conseil B■pfiienr do Commerce has been convoked, and held on the 12th instant the first of a series of sittings, in which the moat important branches oloommene are to undergo examination in detail, with the view of suggesting beneficial changes in the system of donne. From what has transpired of their intentions, it is believed that such changes will take the form of Customs relaxation in many instances. Iron and coke, we see, have already been dealt with. The Free Trade views of the Farms, and the practical teachings tithe Louvre builders, seem both to have had their influence in inducing this first step in a good path. Iron holds is the French system of protection the same position which corn once held in that of Eng land. Both are articles of first necessity. Both are prisduced athose under somewhat difficult conditions, requiring incessant improvements in the appliance of production is order to maintain a tolerable equality between the supply and the demands of an increasing population. Both absorb large capitals, give great employment, and yield immense returns. Both form the interests of • numerous and influential class, diverging also into collateral channels—since the proprietors of forests in France believe their fortunes to depend upon the price of iron quite as much u the horse-dealers of England think theirs would fluctuate with the price of corn. Of both articles, also, the con sumption is practically limited only by the quantity produced, while the effects of scarcity in different trades, but in an equal degree, are damaging to every branch of industry, and every class of operatives. When, then, we see the iron duties relaxed or abolished in France, we may hope the whole fabric of protection will fall there quite as certainly as it has fallen on this side of the Channel, with the Corn-laws. Without anticipating, for some time to come, anything like actual free trade in iron, the taxes levied on the article, afford an ample margin for wise reductions. At present all iron and steel manufactures, including iron plates, are altogether prohibited, with the narrow exceptions of steam engines and spinning machinery. Cast iron has hitherto paid a duty of ;7f. per 1,000 kilogrammes or per ton ; box iron pays Mt. ; common steel, 660 f.; THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 24, 1853 his wan-out belt, mounting his sugar-loaf two feet high "forlorn hope" cap, with the wounded shreds flying in the wind, u a Math of honour, of wounds in war, and putting himself at the head of his Kurdish horeemewnwoe more, to ride seventy days spin to offer his services to "our old master's son, the Sultan of all the faithful!" Think of Afghanistan sending to Teberiyi to compel them to the war against the Rowan' Angier ! Verily, the mask • under which the more ambitious than wise Autocrat intended in Europe to hide his preparations against England in Asia will turn out to be the chief of his two faces before he is well aware of it! The diplomatists and Russia have already found out, what we began to discover last June, that there is a Turkey yet in the world; and a Constantinople, too, of 1853 far in advance (notwithstanding Mac Farlane) of the Constantinople which we saw under the reforming hand of Mahmoud IL in 1831 ; but the procrastinating note makers have yet to discover that this contest for one sultan and one faith will prove a bond of union to the Massulonns which will give the last grand impulse to their reformation, civilisa tion, and Christianity—fabulous as the last word may sound now. There is no civilised nation that is not also Christian, and Turkey will receive also faith and freedom toget her. Wonderful event of our ap, that, out of the proverbial seat of the most unbridled des potism,4iberty should arise like a new sun in the east; and that the coming change over the followers of the false prophet should be destined to crush and destroy the disgusting idolatrous mummeries of a pretended orthodox Christian faith, that is, in actual practice, infinitely below (at Jerusalem even, for we saw the great fire) the half-untrue and half-true hnt devout and simple creed of " There is no God but But England and France must now delay no longer. At any rate, it is to be hoped they will not pre vent the Turks from conquenng, for all Asia is able to do that from the south which winter prevented Na poleon the Great from accomplishing on the west. The only way . to put an end for ever, or at least for a pair of centuries, to the ever restless, unscrupulous, ambitious, despotic, and deadly designs of the Czar is to use the glorious opportunity which Nicholas has , now offered, of giving him a most thorough, severe, and wholesome chastisement. I say glorious oppor tunity, for he is openly, confessedly (by all Europe), wholly and distinctly, and altogether in the wrong. He has not one particle of justice, right, or reason upon his side, and he knows it himself, notwithstanding the air of injured innocence, good lack ! which breathes out of his war manifesto. The outrageous Turks, it seems, those powerful barbarians, have again been taking advantage of the weakness and helplessness of their innocent and =offending neighbours of the north, who had simply and quietly marched down into Moldavia and Wallachia in hopes of finding warm weather for the winter. Omer Pacha is likely to niche their thermometer stand at a figure which it never "reached before" within the memory of the oldest %Machina ! Allah and the Prophet grant him success ! for the time is now come to decide whether Europe shall be Cas socked or not! How strange that England and France still delay ! This fight must be fought out, sooner or later ; and there never can be so good a chance again to fight it out as now. It is time to leave talking, and act, and act now. Let the English people rise in their irresistible majesty, and throw overboard every member and every minister who dares prove recreant in this war of centuries, of principles, of liberty! Now is the time. The great and long-expected battle has begun. England! say, how shall it end? Comprehend its greatness! Tim the weal or woe of the world which is now at stake. This fight is not a skirmish between the Sultan and the Czar : between the Crescent and the Cross ! How degraded is that Cross, and scarcely worthy of the name; it is not, in fact, the Cross of Christ, but the invention of a degraded and ignorant priesthood! No! it is the great war between heaven daring," juredivino," implous,self-exalting, autocratic despotism, and trodden-down liberty. It is the war between a towering giant-tyrant and the threatened world. It is a war between freedom of the press, of speech, almost of thought, of families, of villages, of towns, and cities, and nations, against the tyrant who rules by spies, police, soldiers, and the knout. Shall one man "bestride Europe like a Colossus" and will ye "peep about to find disho nourable graves?" Thanks to the geography of the world, shall I say ?—nav ! thanks to the great Clod of Liberty, that a wide ocean rolls between my fatherland and the Mediterranean Sea! But the danger to the pesos and progress of the world, threatened by him who surpasses the Madman of Sweden, — (Think nothing gained while aught remains, he aim, And all be mine beneath the Polar skim) —is now so great, that I would my voice were louder than a thousand brazen trumpets, that it might crow even the broad Atlantic, and arouse the young western Anglo-Saxon, and vigorous giant, front his false security. If the Russian advances to Constan tinople, the day will come when America even must fight him there. 'Tis useless to disguise this truth. This war is aimed against the "Little Island," against our own dear glorious mother-land. 'Tie the war of one against the peace of all—the war of an earthly would-be demi-god against the liberties of the Lilliputian world. For the governments of Eng land and France, hitherto (if we know the truth), have acted like the great rulers of Lilliptt. And now the only way in which permanent peace. for mankind and centuries, can be secured, to by the mt, energetic, downright declaration of war again prop st him who knows himself to be all in the wrong. He never receded one step—he never yielded anything but to force. Turkey will never, can never , raise such an army . again. That army now disbanded would be her nun ; for death, civil war, misery, bloodshed, will accompany its fiery, furious, discon tented homeward march. Punish the great world robber now. He never yielded anything—grant him nothing. No more dilly-dallying. Drive him back defeated, disgraced, foiled at every step, at every moment Recede with honour," say the diplomatic chil dren. Drive him back with dishonour. " Conquer" from him a pesos dishonourable to him, which shall and for ever destroy the untried idea of Reagan might. Reduce him to a second-rats power in Europe. Give to him who, last September, was the one great overbearing, arrogant Nesseirode-Men ohikoff explainer of the Vienna note, the lemon which he has so richly merited. I speak strongly, but truly and soberly. It is better for this one ma n , this Nicholas, to be humbled, punished, or even destroyed, than to subject all Europe to Rus sian caprices again. What has he done ? Look at the work of this single man, and ask if he shall do it again ? He has created misery which no tongue can tell, and of which we have not yet seen even the beginning. Look at this reckon' ng between him and outraged Europe—the outraged wo r ld — na y, outraged Heaven ! Famine, pestilence, fire, sword, blood, widows' wails and orphans' misery, death's desolation, a goodly aasemblar, and all for what P Because, forsooth, Nicholas is proud, his son must have a throne, and England must be destroyed! It came out in goodly Naples the other day : " The world will never be at peace (the quiet of death) until this island, this robbers' nest, is rooted up out of the earth." August Naples will be (Ilsdstoned no more from the dear " Little Island." Scratch it out; scratch it out ! But, seriously, England and France, and even America, must now, and before the Turks are beaten (for they will then do so of course) join in one terrific outburst of just indignation, and drive the great White Bear for ever back into his legiti mate icebergs. THE SOUTH OF INDIA IRON MONOPOLY• and cut steel, 1,320 f., with heavy surcharges if the import takes place by land, or under a foreign flag. As the first result of these imposts, the price of iron is kept up to a level which renders the manufacture re munerative, even in localities where coal costs 40 or 80 f l ues per ton, and affords, or course, more enollooll.ll profits where the furnaces are more favearably situated ---41 in the Aveyron, for example, where the mineral fuel can be extracted for 41 francs. But the next ooasequenee is this—that the whole trade languishes for want of a wholesome stimulus, while the high price reduces the total consumption to leas than one sixth of the English average, according to the pro portions of the population. Easily-got profits are in the aggregate neither large nor lasting, as our own West India colonies can bear witness. From the lAveyron district already mentioned the whole quan tity of iron now consumed in France, viz., 600,000 tons annually, might easily be drawn, iron ore and coal lying there in as rich profusion and u favour able proximity to one another as in the best English localities. Bat, as it is, the product barely reaches a tenth, or 60,000 tons a year. French in drafty, according to an able writer in the Dibals, pays twelve hundred millions of francs per annum to the iron masters beyond the natural price of the commodity they furnish. From the agriculturists alone, it is stated in a report of the Departmental Council of the Hautes Aiwa, a sum equal to the whole taxation, or 200 million francs a year, is ex acted directly in the enhanced prices of their tools. Indirectly they suffer still more severely; this enhanced pries obliging them to use smaller and ruder implements, such as, in the words of the Debate, " merely scratch the ground," and rendering the very names of the most ordinary agricultural instruments employed everywher; in England or Belgium utterly unknown throughout whole pro vinces. Railways are also visited heavily and doubly— their shareholders suffering in purse, and the unlucky passengers in person, through the artificial scarcity of iron. Accidents constantly happen from the absence of a double set of rails. One very recently, on the Bordeaux line, which cost several lives, was ascribed solely to this cause. The company had long ago determined to lay down the duplicate rails, but their contracts for the deliveries of the requisite quantity of iron ex tend over the greater part of next year. Until Sep tember, 1834, accordingly, the travellers by this line must encounter extra risks while waiting for the French ironmuters to supply a weight of material which Staffordshire or South Wales would turn out, with scarcely an effort, in a single week. Locomo- tion by water is injured in a great degree. Iron built steamers are considered extravagant luxuries even by the Government which does not stickle for economy ; and are made far too dear for the pur poses of commercial enterprise. On every bide the system works against the welfare of Frenchmen, diminishing their productions, crippling their indus try, and placing them at heavy disadvantage in their competition with foreigcers. All this evil is incurred for the sake of a single interest. And as usual, the favoured interest does not flourish after all. There may be a few rich masters and prosperous establishments in the iron trade. But comparing the actual results with the natural oppor tunities, we are forced to conclude that of all French industries damaged by absurd legislation, the iron business fares the worst. The reduction of the Iron duty, therefore, is an admirable " Sign of the Times" for France. _ A VOICE FROM HUNGARY. PESTH, N0v.14. Diplomacy and the Danube were puma together, but the river was not the Rubicon of this war. The arrogant and impudent Menchikoff note, which startled Europe out of its winter slumbers, was the Russian declaration of war, and was intended as such by the modern Cmear of all the Russias. The ungodly Mussulmans are now giving him lessons in the art of civilisation. We here laughed outright yesterday, when we read the newspaper account of the message of the Ottomans to the Servians. The solemn Turks sent a requisition for the assistance of that Principa lity, and you will see that they fully comprehend the greatness and glory of their " mission " by their concluding answer. The Servians replied that they were not able to go out to war against the Russians, who were believers of the same faith with themselves. When the imperturbable and logical sons of Islam, who have been lately dealing out the most admirable lessons to Europe in the moderation, sublimity, and elegance of their public documents, surpassing all that have appeared in this century at least, quietly answered, that the English and French were Christians, too, but that the heart of the question did not lie here; as this war was not for religion, but was simply the battle of civilisation *pint:barba rism" Was not that cool, convincing, and tri umphant ? The other day there was no Turkey in the world ; and I wrote you that the diplomatic boys who had been playing at Vienna would find out that an in depeadmit Sultan, cad a most solemn, beard-stroking, and immovable divan, would raise its milked head is the midst of their deliberations, and say, " 0 ye children of diplomacy, do ye me this Turk's head ?" Bantam is not dead yet, end Europe begins to look into the weird ghee with wonder; for it shows the long Rae of the coming descendants of the great Belvieu', and Amuraths, and the other "Boas of the Lightning." If Omer Paella has really tams Bucharest, be deserves the surname of Rd/wises,' at the least. But we get no news here. Everything is published after it has appeared in the Moniker at Paris, and it is a remarkable and in structive truth that our first information as to facts frequently comes from the London newspapers!! though we are within fourteen hours now of the capital of the chief principality. But let It be noted that everybody, exospt the post-office, &c., sympathims with the Turks. It seems to be an established fact, that with the exception of the great power of Monte umro, and the unsettled kingdom of Greece, every bWy is on the side of the Turks. When, last June, we saw the handsome English ships at _anchor in Besika Bay, while French "brothers" as well as " men" of war, were majestically sailing in to join them, it certainly did look probable that the broad sides would accomplish more than' the zealous, but apparently over-sanguine, sons of Alcorau,who were packing up all the old muskets in the Arsenal at Constantinople. They told us then, weak as they seemed in June, that their cause would not be cast upon any assistance from the west : that they were somewhat afraid of England and France ; that they thought on mature consideration—and they stroked their beards complacently—that they were able to defend themselves a gai nst the world. The enthusiasm was delightful, becaaae it was so grave, solemn, and deep ; but one could not help thinking that the Q. E. D. was not yet at the end of the ch giv enanged proposition. But now app ear ances have indeed All Asia is stirred to her inmost depths, and not a mountain so inaccessible or a valley so remote that does not echo a war-cry which has gone forth from Constantinople. Fate and fanaticism are turning into fury against the . unscrupulous invader. Think of my old friend Del i Bash, t who told me twenty years ago that he had been fighting a dozen years, eves since he was twenty, and in his half-Greek half- Turkish: "S ly i xaward Pants, Effendim" —girding on his old scimetar again, tucking his pistols into • lightning. A surname of one of the old conquering sultans. I have no books here, but I believe Noma Ilderim. t Literally, " Head of rnadrnen;" i.e., " Captain of forlorn hope:' " I never had any quiet, sir !" TO THZ ZDITOR OF VIZ DAILY NEWF. Sia,—l concur in every word that you say as to the creation of this scandalous monopoly. It may be remarked, as an excuse, that to encou rage any body of men to embark in iron speculations in the Madras presidency extensive privileges were necessary. I do not believe it; but let ue assume they were; surely, in that case, the East India Company ought to have thrown the speculation open to general com petition ? Whereas they have secretly and clandes tinely granted the monopoly to a private company. That they have any legal power t o g i ve it a right of pre-emption of iron ore raised by natives on their own lands is preposterously absurd. The crown itself, if in full possession of India, would have no each power, and the grant is manifestly illegal. But the attention of parliament must, and will, be called to the case.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, Nov. 23. M. P. LATEST FROM ABROAD. PORTUGAL PROCLAMATION OF THE REGENT. SOUTHAMPTON, WZDNISDAT NIGHT. The mail steamer City of London has arrived, with the Peninsular mails. Her data are—Gibraltar, Nov. 14; Lisbon, 19. The Queen of Portugal was to be buried on the 19th. The son she gave birth to is deal. The Portuguese men-ot Tear at Lisbon had been firing every three minutes, night and day, since the Queen's death. The City of London embarked at Ca&i: the Prince and Princess De Joinville and suite for Lisbon, and on arrival at that port the princess dreamt of the death of her royal sister having occurred but a few hours before. The royal party were subse quently escorted to the hones of the Duchess of Braganca. The King Consort had assumed the regency, and had issued the following proclamation : Porteguese,--Ged has been pleased to call to his Glory to-day, at half-put eleven o'clock in the fore noon, the Queen Lady Dona Maria the Second, my much-loved and highly-prized spouse—a severe loss, which plunges me and my dear children in the deepest grief, and fills the sensitive and faithful Portuguese nation with mourning. u In these sorrowful circumstances, obliged to fulfil those 'awed duties imposed upon me by the law of the 7th of April, 1846, confirmed by the additional act to theconstitutional:charter of the monarchy,' take upon myself the exercise of the regency of these king doms, and, in conformity to the said constitutional charter, I swear to maintain the Roman catholic apostolic religion, the integrity of the kingdom, and to observe and cause to be observed the political con stitution of the Portuguese nation and other laws of the kingdom, and provide for the general good of the nation to the utmost of my power. " I also swear to preserve fidelity to the Kiog, Lord Don Pedro VIII. my above all much loved, and highly prized son, and to resign the government to him immediately on his attaining his majority." The government is triumphing in the municipal elections. Exchange, M. At Lisbon and Vigo there is no relaxation of quarantine. At Gibraltar there is no quarantine with clean bills of health. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. VIENNA, Nov. 19. Travellers arriving at Vienna report that military executions are of daily occurrence at Bucharest. It is expected that the Turks will shortly evacuate the islands in front of Turtukai and Rustchuk, as the Danube is recovering its accustomed height, and they will soon be nearly covered with water. ODESSA, Nov. 8. The Rumian tear steamer Senikale has gone down near Yalta, in the Black Sea. The men were saved. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. The following items of news are extracted from the Vienna journals of the 19th :—" The greater part of the Russian troops who are encamped round Budeschti and Negojachti, have, it is said, received orders to march towards Little Wallachia. Near Turnnl, on the 15th, the Turks attempted a surprise, but were driven back by a detachment of Cossacks. The affair does not appear to have been important, u there is no mention oflcilled or wounded on either aide. A letter from Bucharest states that Prince Gortscha koff intended to sesame the offensive about the 15th. It is known that the Prince had positive instructions to remain on the defensive ; but, on the Bth of this month, he received from St. Petersburg orders to commence war, and to prosecute it with energy. The Wallachian soldiers are incorporated by companies in the Russian army. Strong columns are in march towards Kalaradsch and Giurgewo. Every day there are slight skirmishes and combats of advanced Rasta. In the late a ff airs several of the staff were killed. Cholera, fevers, and pleurisies prevail, and sick are constantly arriving at Bucharest. No Turkish pri soners have reached that place." The Wanderer of Vienna states from sassy, 11th : " All the Russian troops have left our town. The corps of Osten-Sacken is not expected until about the 10th December ; for even by forced marches he could not, and with the greatest difficulty, arrive in lees than 35 days. 'Die Russians have enlisted men in their service in our city. They had forcibly enrolled in their ranks a number of Jews, but on the following day they released them, after compelling the pay ment of a considerable sum of money." The same journal quotes a letter ftom Bu charest of the 10th, stating that the son of Prince Vogorides, residing at Bucharest, has been sent to St. Petersburg in chains, Prins Oortsehakoff having intercepted letters from him to Omer Pacha, contain ing particulars concerning the movements of the Russian troops. It is said that six Boyards have been transported to Siberia, for having had secret correspondence with the Turks. The Oat. Deutsche Peat of Vienna states, from the frontiers of Sera* 14th, that the Pacha of Belgrade has made strong representations to the Servian government, in order to induce it to send away the Russian Consul-General, but that hitherto the Ser vian government has maintained strict neutrality. It is said the French Consul at Belgrade supports the demands of the Pacha. The Patrie professes to know that Krajowa, the capital of Lesser Wallachia, has been taken by the Turks, after a smart nnggaaggeemeet between Ismael Pacha's troops and the e ßussian General Fischbach, and that Omer Pacha was about to deploy 40,000 men on the left bank of the Danube, and to fortify himself in the strongest manner in the triangle com prised between Kalafat, Krajowa, and NaracaL If this be true, and it is not improbable, it is strange that we do not hear of it from other quarters, as the Patrie bases its announcement on letters received from Vienna. It will be disgraceful if, with tele graphic communication within eighteen hours of the seat of war, we receive important news in the old fashioned way of correspondence. According to letters from Constantinople of the 9th inst., a diuiaion of the Turkish and Egyptian squadron, composed of the Egyptian s ip of the line Fayoum. the Turkish ship of the line Penmen, and the frigates Fadoullah and Biriead, had driven off a Russian division proceeding to land suppling at Poti. The Russian ships had escaped in consequence of a thick fog. This squadron kept a strict watch on the coast of the Black Sea, from Trebizond to Redont %midi, in which district the army of Abdi Pasha is operating. A Turkish garrison had been stationed in fort St. Nicholas, which was placed in an excellent state of defence. According to the Preen of Vienna, the Turks have 24,000 men near Batoum under the command of &Um Paella, and 46,000 on the frontier of Georgia under Abdi Pasha. The Vienna Frew has a private letter from Bucharest, in which we read: " Yesterday and to day, the 11th and 12th, there must have been sharp fighting in the neighbourhood of Oltenitza, as wag gon loads of wounded men were brought in along that road. Some of the wounded men, to whom I spoke, told me that the Turks had been beaten ; but here people are not so sure that the victory was on the side of the Russians, as Prince Gortschakoff sends courier after courier to Osten-Sacken and Ludera to urge them to advance u speedily as possible. Several Russian staff officers, severely wounded, have just been brought in. The city is in considerable com motion." The bulletin of Prince Gortachakoff plainly asserts that no battle took place before the removal of the Turks from Great Wallachia, and the Cronatadt Gazette tends to confirm the statement, but speaks of I encounters of outposts, after the battle of Oltenitza of the 4th, which it says were kept up day and night, and filled the hospitals with wounded much more rapidly than such engagements are wont to do. In fact, it plainly appears from the casual notices of army surgeons and travellers that the "skirmishes," as they are called, which have taken place at Krngowa and elsewhere, have been much more extensive and serious than the manner of their announcement would indicate. A Bucharest correspondent, writing on the 10th, says that the wounded were coming in at each and all of the 24 hours. The Turkish troops in the first line are chiefly Arabs, whose dark visages and sharp eyes very much aggravate the Russians. The behaviour of the Turkish soldiery is said to be such as could only be expected from the best disciplined ti ltreduction of the fort of Nioolai, or Shefkatil, of which we have now published both the Turkish and Russian narratives, has inspired the warlike tribes of the neighbourhood with a respectful regard and • fellow-feeling for the Turks. The maim of Laristan, which the Czar had well armed and equipped, under the impression that Russian ascendancy in that quarter was asserted for ever, have just gone over to the Turks. Notwithstanding that the difficult position of Turkey demands that no portion of Ottoman public feeling shall remain unimproved, the government persist in refusing to give the present war a religious charac ter. When the war was declared the Scheik-ul- Islam contented himself with certifying, by a fetwa, that it was not contrary to the Koran, and the standard of the Prophet was not exhibited, as used invariably to be done. The latest Constantinople letters state that in the mosques the war has been proclaimed as the struggle of justice against oppres sion and tyranny, with which matters of faith have nothing in common ; and, despite all the newspaper talk in the West, no one in Turkey thinks of a reli gions war against the unbelievers. "We are assured," says the Pattie "that the Consul-General of Resale, at Alexand r i a , received orders to quit the country. On all put occasions the Russian agents in Egypt had remained at their posts, but the energetic way in which the Viceroy has adopted the cause of the Sultan, has been regarded by the cabinet of St. Petersburg as an open rupture." The Cologne Gazette states from Constantinople, 7th, that an association, called the Teutonic Society, had, in the sole interest of truth, published a decla ration numerously signed, and addressed to all the German papers, stating that all the reports published in the Augsburg Gazette relative to persecutions against the Christians in Turkey are false and un founded. SERVIA. We have letters from the interior of Servia of the 13th inst. The population is described as being in a very excited state. The common sentiment is not inimical to Turkey, except so far as the march of Turkish troops is objected to as destroying the neu trality of the state. The politicians of Servia—and there are politicians there—men of enlightenment, public spirit, and courage—rightly conceive that if they can maintain the neutrality of their country during the 'mutest between the Sovereign and pro tecting state, their independence will have been greatly promoted. A late despatch by electric telegraph, dated Vienna 22nd, states that the Turks have erected a camp near Utzitza, on the Servian frontier, have com menced throwing a bridge across the Drina, and have sent out pickets. It is added that the Servians, greatly excited, have risen as one man to defend the frontier, and cannon have been sent there from Kra gujewatz. It is much to be hoped that no conflict will take place. When Russia and Turkey last quarrelled, the Sultan and the Servian nation made common cause. For the defence of the country Servia could call 200,000 men under arms. FRANCE. PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING. The Bourse opened with much firmness. No con- I firmation of the entry of the Anglo-French fleet into the Black Sea had been received. The government journals copied the English despatches on the sub ject with cautious reservations as to their truth, and the conclusion drawn was that the report was un founded. The Threes opened at an advance of 10c., and rose to 741 r. 25c , but the usual telegraphic notice of the price of Consols not being posted led to some uneasiness, and about 2 o'clock securities began to decline. It was afterwards said that Consols had fallen I. The Rente went down to 74fr., and only recovered to 75fr. sc. for the close. The rail way market was favourably affected by the decree lowering the duties on iron. St. Germain rose 30fr.; Lyons and Mediterranean, 10fr. • Rouen, sfr. ; Dijon, 7fr. 50e. These were the closing prices, but they had been considerably higher in the course of the day. In allusion to the reported entrance of the English and French ships into the Black Sea, the Conatitu tionuel says: The facts announced by the London journals are too serious, end not sufficiently certain for as to make any com ment upon them. We must not only wait for their confirma tion, bat before we can thoroughly appreciate the °ha. carter and bearing of the movements of the fleets spoken of, we most be precisely informed as to the emus and object of the movement, assuming it to have taken place. Until we shall have received such ample intelligence we could only indulge in conjectures, and we prefer for the moment to play the part of chroniclers merely. There is much talk about the " fusion" to-day. The legitimists profess to be entirely contented with what has been done at Frohsdorff. They emphatically deny the truth of the report that before the meeting between the royal cousins could be arranged a stipula tion was made that they should not allude to polities. The fusion, they say, is complete, cordial, and based upon the only terms that the Count de Chambord could listen to, namely, the unconditional renuncia tion by the Orleans family of their separate proton alone to the throne. The Moniteur contains an Imperial decree, :re ducing the duty on foreign coals and iron. Coals imported by sea from Sables d'Olonnes to Dunkirk in national vessels, 30c., and foreign vessels, 80c., in stead of SOc. and If. ; on the rest of the coast, 160. and 6.3 c., instead of 30c. and 80e. By land, from the sea to Hallnin, 30c. instead of 60c. At other' points present duties. Coke, half en-sue, instead of double. The duty on raw cast iron (fonts brute), sf. and sf. SOc., instead of 7 and 7.50. Platina, 25f. and 27f. 60c., instead of 40f. and 44f. Other reductions are at the same time made, and those given above are to be brought yet lower in 1855. GERMANY. The tone of the Prussian press leaves it to be inferred that extraordinary efforts are now being made to decide the Prussian cabinet for an active and open alliance with Russia. The influence of the cautious Manteuffel is again secretly assailed, and a crisis is hastened on in the hope that the Xing will choose the Czar, rather than England with Louis Napoleon. Against such a ruinous choice the most enlightened portion of the Prussian press raises betimes a warning voice. It is now much regretted that the practice of excluding foreign affairs from the sphere of parliamentary dim/Ilion has been so far established by the present ministry. The Deutsche,. Reieliszeitung remarks that Louis Napoleon is not more dangerous to Belgium than is the Czar to Prussia, and asks how can deputies apply themselves to form and mould the interior affairs of a country if they do not know whether they work for their country or for a foreign master. The Ifreser Gazette treats of the great interest 'which Germany has in the eastern question, in virtue of its geographical position. " Let Turkey fall to Russia," says thin journal, " and the Baltic and Adriatic coasts will be alike under the guns of Rus sian men-of-war." Having developed his position, the writer concludes that Austria and Prussia must take a decided part with England and France, and say plainly to the Czar," Thus far and no farther." Emigration to America is still a favourite resource of the Austrian people. A great movement in that direction is noticeable among the Bohemians: a week ago 130 persons left the north of Bohemia by one train. It is also remarkable that numbers of Bohemians have lately left their country to settle in Prussian Poland. The Austrian government looks with disfavour on these movements, and has again increased the stringency of passport regulations. According to the law. of Austria a person leaving the monarchy without the permission of the govern ment loses his rights as an Austrian subject. The government has long since notified to the, people that those who choose to emigrate to Australia must not expect to be allowed to come back again to their mother country. Now it is becoming usual for the authorities, when delivering papers to emigrants, to warn them against thoughtlessly taking a step which they are told must lead to the ruin of themselves and their families. The Austrian troops in Transylvania, which g month since did not amount to more than o,ooe mem, I arc being reinforced ; the corps of observation, about 133,000 strong, will be posted between the fortret.see of Temesvar and Arad; the men on furlough, be. 'longing to the regiments under marching o r d er ,. Ihave been recalled, and the state of siege in th e Hungarian provinces is even more rigorous thin it was In 1850. ITALY. -• PIEDMONT. The Turin papers contain reports of the proceed ,' inga of the Senate which more immegiately caused I the appeal to the country. The bill for transferring the accounts and deposits of the state to the National Bank of Sardinia was, in the view of Count Cavonr, a measure esser.tial to the executi on o f hi s general scheme of financial policy. The minister had justi fied the measure before the Senate in a brilliant dis cussion, and there was every reason to expect that it would be carried oa a division. On the 18th lost. it was put to the vote, when it was supported by 32 and condemned by 60 senators. It is not on account of this one vote that tho Cavour ministry considers itself bound to ask the opinion of the nation. The acts of the Senate have been dilatory or posi, tively obstructive of the reforming policy of the present administration, as well as of that of the cabinet of which M. d'Azeglio was the head, and it was not until all other means for its improvement bad been tried in vain, that the judgment of the country upon its conduct was called for. There is not the least doubt that the cabinet will have a large majority in the election. M. Ratazzi, the new Minister of Justice, pleases the priestly party in Sardinia no better than his predecessor. He has just hit the clergy on a tender point, by requiring from churchwardens a return of their cures incomes. This measure is an execution of the royal decree of September 6, by which it is ordered that the state salary of 500 francs shall no longer be paid to cures who have an income of 1,000 francs. Many of the clergy do not reply at all; others, instead of return ing their incomes, abuse the minister. It is said that should the opposition prove general, the govern ment will withhold the grant altogether until the poorer cures come in and make their claim. SPAIN. -- .. The Herald() of the 1i th contradicts the rumouti respecting a projected Montemolinist movement. It also states that the Spanish fleet is to be stationed at the Balearic Isles. The Marquis de Viluma has arrived at Madrid. The ministerial candidate for the Presidentship of the Chamber of Deputies is M. Martinez de La Rosa. It is ezpectcd the Minis try will have a large majority in the Chamber. THE LEJLIN ESTATE FUND. Yesterday, at the Bow-street police court, after the night charges had been disposed et Mr. Bodkin (who was instructed by Mr. Reynolds, of the Treasury) applied for summonses against the secretary and nominal trustees of a company calling itself the "Leman Estate Fund," for having conspired to commit the offence of "maintenance and champerty," and with having further defrauded George E. Stanley of a sum of money. The learned counsel exhibited a printed prospectus of the society or company, which, he stated, had been very exten sively circulated throughout the country, besides being partly advertised in the public newspapers. The protessed object of the company was to recover possession of certain valuable estates, known as the Leman estates, which were located in various parts of the kingdom, and were at present in the baud. of the Accountant General, together with a large fund, amounting, through various accumula tions, to nearly half a million sterling. The esti mated value of the entire property, real and personal, was about three millions sterling, and the c mmocters of the scheme in question announced that they had discovered the rightful heir to the property in the person of • Mr. Edward Godfrey Leman, of Nottingham, whose claim had been successfully established in the Scotch court', in 1842, and who now bare the title of Sir Edward Leman —an official announcement of these proceedings having sp. peered at the time in the Edinburgh Gazette. Some parti culars of the alleged property were given in the circular, which stated that it comprised a " city in itself," in the neighbourhood of Whitechapel and the London-dicks, be sides princely domains in Huntingdonshire, Herta, Cam bridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, &c., independently of the immense and " still accumulating fund " already men tioned. it was said that, " for the exclusive benefit of sub. scribers to the Leman Estate Fund, it is proposed to realise these possessions, and appropriate to each certificate acknow ledging a subscription of 10s., an equal share of the produce so that a subscriber of 101. might ultimately receive 154, one of 205., 301., and so on in proportion. It was also stated that, with the iiew of anticipating all difficulty and preventing delay, the present claimant, Sir Edward Leman, had executed proper legal instruments, pro►iding for the effectual vesting in the trustees for the benefit 01 certificate holders, and also for the early and energetic prosecution of his claims. After intimating that the subscribers were guaranteed against all liability, the prospectus announced that a division would take plate amongst the shareholders "as often as the funds in the hands of the trustees amounted to or exceeded 50,0e01.," due public notice of the same being given" by at least three ad vertisements in each of the four daily London papers, and by sending a circular letter to the address of every subscriber." Finally, it was notified that the pedigree of the claimant, as well as • copy of the patent granting the baronetcy, eke., would be exhibited at the offices of the company. By means of the publicity given to this scheme, and to the temptations which were held out to subscribers, an immense amount of money had been realised by the promoters, especially in some parts of the provinces, where branch offices were established, and a large amount of business was being carried on. The attention of the government, how ever. had been drawn to the proceedingslof the company; and owing to certain inquiries that bad been instituted by the officers of the crown, an advertisement had since ap peared in some of the newspapers announcing a " division" among the subscribers in the month of February next. Now it had been ascertained that the property known as the "Leman Estate Fund" was duly distributed as long ago as 1810, pursuant to a decree of the High Court of Chancery, made in the case of " Csaamajor v. Strode.' This decree, which established the validity of the will of William Strode, was dated the 17th August, 1810; and from that time, nearly 43 years ago, no other claim had been set up, and no litigation whatever had taken place in reference to it. Some portion of the estates was still held in trust for infants, but the whole of it would be distributed in des course. Under these circumstances, and after certain proofs which he should be able to submit to his worship, he (Mr. Bodkin) believed he should be entitled to proceed against the several persons named, both upon the charge of conspiracy to defraud, and for the offences of maintenance and champerty. _ . _ -- - . George Edward Stanley wu then sworn. He deposed that on the 13th of September last he applied at the chief office of the Leman Estate Fund, at 3, Bridge-street, West minster, and saw Mr. Waters, the secretary, who gave him the prospectus produced. Witness made some inquiries about the property in question, and Waters told him that there was half a million of money in the hands of theaccountants general, standing to the account of " Counselor and Strode," every farthing of which would be available to the purchasers of these 10s. certificates. Witness referred him to an advertisement in the papers relative to a proposed division among the subscribers, and asked him where the money was to some from for that purpose. He replied that the company had just obtained possession of some of the property in Goodman's.fields, and they should be in a posi tion very shortly to establish their claim to the entire half million. Witness asked him if their proceedings were per fectly legal, and he replied in the affirmative, adding, " That when he took the company's advertisements to the Times newspaper the proprietors refused to insert them without first consulting their legal advisers upon the sub ject—that they then took the opinion of Mr. Weleby, the barrister,who considered the project perfectly legal." Wit ness accordingly purchased a share, or certificate, and paid 10e. for it, and said he should probably buy several more. Mr. Henry—As the case is opened to me, I think there is ample grounds for a summone, for the offence of chew• petty. The summonses were issued accordingly. LONDONDERRY AND COLERAINE ItAILwAY.—T raffle for week ending Nov. 19, 1853 :—Passengers, 111!. 11s. 44.; goods, 991. Os. 3d. Tots), 2101. 11.. id.