The Express. — London, England, 1853-12-28 00:00:00

Feu ervrEoo. TO COItitF.SPONDENTS. shard E 01 - .l'cie e.,:t..u.an the ruse eTraiwer ••t;anue,' pub:dihed every luandry and Friday night, an um" fur port. tiWeertteen , eve toteretwl fee °Tie Expreee," Lowlots Keening PePer. insist be r tne t otike, lu, UOIATOTIO-O W nst, by Two o'cloei oo the day al I. 4.. 6A:102. 1111;11 WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. T 11,4 I , AT —l4orntag, Uh. 00... Afterovon, vb. 7e. turning. 00.310 Afternoon. D. 3m LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24. A NEW fleet is about to be fitted out for service (it is said) in the Baltic, and there can be little doubt but the name of Sir Cnsnies NAPIF.R will be found in the list of candidates for the command of it, Without now discussing the question whether or no the new fleet is needed, we may well hasten to say that any official proposition fur extra force afloat ought to be accompanied by an official offer to get rid of some existing naval abuses. The upper ranks of the service are sadly overstocked, whilst good and most active dicers are kept on the shelf. Our Navy, moreover, is encumbered by a host of vessels, scores of which are fit 1.. r nothing but coal-hulks. Why should a large portion of our Navy be a costly sham? The worthless ships should be sold out of the way at once, that we might really know how we stand. An immense paper fleet is a mere excuse for keeping an inordinate number of useless officers, whilst we have the greatest difficulty in mustering enough able seamen. Indeed no step in naval reform would be more valuable than one that got rid of the " top hamper" of our Navy List,—which per mitted the best officers to get promotion and active service,—which weeded out what is useless, and which expended the money saved by getting rid of worthless admirals and worm-eaten ships, in giving better ray and more comforts to the able-bodied sailors. We might have the finest fleet in the whole world, and could, if need be, sweep the seas of all evil-doers, come wheooe they might, if we had the good sense to insist on putting our Navy thoroughly to rights. We find that the Russians are taking a wise ate;s of this kind. They have turned out the worthless portion of their Baltic fleet, and have ordered • large number of 'crew line-ot-battle ships—foie Ina by t °retract. What a story this tells. The Cos has the .vit to find out which is the cheapest sad quickest and most business-like way of getting a powerful fleet to sea. He goes with cash and esa tract in hand and lets the shipbuilders of Europa and Am: rice compete with each other for his custom. In this way he will get his twenty or thirty sail of the line at a fixed price, and if his contract is care fully worded (as it doubtless will be) no ship will be paid fur unless it will steer, steam, and sail well. Our plan has been totally different to this. We have built our vessels in Govern anent yards by men who have been hired because they were safe voters—not because they were good shipwrights—and the consequence has been that ships of war ale produced at a huge cost, some of them rolling so enormously th►t the lower guns are useless unless the sea is smooth as glass; others that will not sail, and others that will net steer. Our wasteful blunders have been innumerable, but these proofs of mismanagement are allowed to float idly, en cumbering the Navy List, costing large sums of money for repairs and superintendence, and forming a con stant excuse for hanging upon the taxes a host of aristocratic idlers as Admirals and Post-Captains on half-pay, or on nominal service. What we need is a thoroughly efficient navy—every ship equal to the work her size fits her for, and a body of the best sea men in the world, willing to man our ships when required to do so. At present we waste a large portion of our Naval Taxes on useless officers and worthless ships; and then, to make both ends meet, we so starve down the wages of the seamen that the best A. B.'s run off to America and elsewhere for the very simple and practical reason that in said America and elsewhere they get better pay and better provisions than they are offered in the British Service. Since a new fleet is in contemplation, the only terms on which it should be sanctioned are that with such new force we have also a naval reform. Sir JAMES GRAHAM is in the position to make the needful changes, and he ought, for his own reputation's sake, no lees than as an honest minister, to take proper steps for the purpose. He has an active good Reformer, the popular Member for Middlesex, as a Secretary—a man whom the public rely upon to see all the justice done in these matters which a Secretary is per mitted to do, and surely between a Reforming First lord and a Reforming Secretary to the Admiralty we might well calculate upon having, in the year before us, a good instalment of naval reformation, as some set-off against certain backslidings of the Cabinet in other matters. l But do not let any mistake be made. Naval reform does not mean any cheese-paring that may weaken the Navy, hut wise re-arrangements that shall give us a more efficient force by far than we have at present, without (it may be) much extra cost. What the country asks, and has a right to ask, is a thoroughly efficient English fleet. Ships for the Black Sea, ships for the Channel, ships for the Baltic, if requisite. All these we ought to have for the 6,233,4931. voted fur the Navy for the year 1833-4; more espe cially when we find the Navy List published in January of the present year telling us that we have no less than Mb ships of war—their names running all through the alphabet, from the heavy Aboukir at Davenport, to the hundred-horse steam ship Zephyr, then of Woolwich—all built and paid for. Surely with • force of this sort on paper, and with the sum of mere than siz-and a quarter millions sterling voted for a single year's pay, food, and repairs, we ought to be able to fit out • fleet or two beyond those now in service. Admiral DVNDAS has but comparatively few ships of these five hundred and forty-five. Where are all the rest ? There are some, we know, as usual, in the Tagus; but if we estimated the complement of Chan nel and Mediterranean fleets together, at the odd forty-five ships of war, we still have fire hundred vessels unaccounted for. Out of these let us, if need be, have a Baltic fleet, and a good one; and if we are told that the whsle five hundred will sot furnish such fleets as we ought to have afloat, or that first class A.B. seamen and good Runners are not to be had to man such additional fleets, without • la►ge increase of the 6,233,4931. Navy Estimate of last year, let us, we say, have a common sense consmis.ion, such as the Cata recently sent to over haul ht. fleet in the Baltic. Let us hive the shams picked out and sold (they will fetch a good price just sew), and with the money so gained, and the money saved by not manning and officering useless hulks, and not keeping • little army of half-pay lumber, let good ships be built by contract, and better wages be given to the seamen. Our marines, too, are a force of value and importance. Let them profit by our reformation.. We may get marines when we cannot get seamen. Let us have more marines for our money, and (we repeat) let Sir JAMLA 611.111.01—n0w a Cabinet Minister of consi derable Admiralty knowledge—inaugurate these im portant changes. lie should r. it try any cheese paring, but mash a tine liberal eco:wasy of the enor mous res .urees voted by the Ileum of Commons as shall .ive England what she s'lould always enjoy —the undoubted mastery of the Sea. Whatever else THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1853. comes, let u maintain to the full extent the pre eminence of that force which has so long given to Great Britain her position amongst the nations of the earth—our Wooden Walls. But let our sides , yours to that end be wise ones. WE have the best authority for stating that the Russian High-Admiral having ra*Ltiy inapant.O. thg Czar's Baltic fleet, one half of the ships were at once condemned as worthless, and it was determined , to build, on contract, a number of screw line of battle ships—one account says no less than thirty! We may possibly find some of these contracts taken in the Clyde, or the Thames, and may safely calculate upon a portion of the vessels being built by the Americans. But it will take at least two years to get so large a fleet fit for sea,—even if the cash is forthcoming. scenery. The Greek love of nature did not follow them into the church. Somewhere near Varna, in some bay or creek, whose name I neither known or care to know, our valorous captain anchored in the night after lea ving Burgas, so as not to arrive at Varna before daylight, all entrance to the port in the dark being prohibited since the commencement of the war. I was inclined to excuse his caution after I had seen his engine. I walked forward on day : and is ahem liatja ;, occupied myself for a few minutes in looking down into the engine-room. I was amused to find that this specimen of the great " power " of mo dern times was mended in two places with cord. I am not enough of a mechanician to designate properly the parts which were thus for tified; but in one case the shaft appeared strongly lashed, as if it had been spliced : whatever may have been the nature of the repair, I can vouch for the fact itself. This discovery was, of course, not calcu lated to increase our comfort; and when to all this you add general want of accommodation of every sort, exorbitant charges, and a rate of exchange lower by 20 piastres in the Turkish I‘ledja than at Constanti nople, you will have a tolerably accurate notion of voyaging in the Black Sea at present by the Aus trian Lloyds steamer—always remembering that the cold was intense, with high northerly winds. Wo have met with a most hospitable reception here, under the roof of Colonel Neale, the British Consul, whose house happens to be the only one in the town open to strangers, excepting the khan, a bare room, to which the outer air has always easy access through innumerable crannies—the domestic manners of the Turks not permitting the admission of men of any nation into their households. His kindness has, during the past autumn, been put to a very severe test, in consequence of the great num bers of English travellers who have passed and repassed on their way to and from Schumla, and all of whom owed more or less of the comforts of their journey to his assistance. His spirit of practical benevolence was displayed in a still more remarkable, and even more praiseworthy, manner towards the Polish and Hungarian exiles, who sought re fuge on the right bank of the Danube in 1849. Many of them have spoken to me of his conduct towards them in terms expressive of the warmest gratitude— deeply felt, I have no doubt, not only towards him, but through him towards the nation he represents. These little acts of charity performed by British agents in far-off corners of the world towards men who, God help them, have no country and no home, will I am sure prove rich in blessing to England one day, when the rotten despotisms of the world are scattered to the wind, and the outcasts of to-day be come the statesmen of a new and better era. In connexion with the affair at Sinope described in my last, I may mention that the French admiral some days ago, on learning from the Capitan Pacha that a detachment of his fleet was lying at Sinope, expressed his surprise that it should be allowed to remain in so exposed a situation. Two days after wards, when the above news arrived, the Capitan Pacha sent to Admiral Hamelin to know whether he had had any previous inowledge of what had oc curred, thus unconsciously paying a very high tri bute to the foresight of the latter. A Russian war-steamer came in here on the 6th ult. with topgallant sails set, and showing no colours. As she kept her bows towards the batteries, it was supposed she was a sailing vessel, till, on arriving right opposite the town, she wheeled completely round, and thus showed her funnels. The British consul, who was standing in front of his house, at once perceived her real character, and informed the authorities, who were quite taken by surprise. She got off, under full steam, before there was time to give her a suitable reception, for which, it appears, she was fully prepared, as she had her guns loaded and matches lighted. The object of her visit seems to have been to ascertain whether any vessels of war, foreign or otherwise, were lying in the harbour. Ever since this, great vigilance has been shown by the military Pacha of Varna, lest any similar event should take place. Everything is in constant readiness at the various batteries to bring the whole available force on the seaside into instant action. Varna has often played a prominent part in the mili tary history of the Turks, particularly in the war of 1828, when it was taken by the Russians, owing to the treachery of the Pacha, after a siege of four months, and the fortifications totally destroyed. They were restored completely three years after by European officers, and are at present four times stronger, both in extent and in the number of guns -in position. The defences are much larger, and the guns number two hundred,' nearly all of English make, and mostly sixty-eight pounders, none being of less calibre than forty-eight pounds. These are distributed over eleven batteries, and do not include those mounted on the outworks along the harbour. The latter are four in number, besides two batteries at Cape Galata, at the entrance of the bay, which command the whole anchorage, and could, in conjunction with some of the town batteries, sweep it with a tremendous cross fire, besides which, one of them is so elevated as to be out of the reach of ship's guns. The total number of guns in the outworks is twenty-five. In the hands of Turkish soldiers I need hardly say that these masses of artillery would render a repetition of the event of 1828, by the Russians at lent, all but impossible. A distinguished English officer of engineers, who passed through here a short time ago, expressed great admiration of the whole of the defences. The town is also surrounded by a wall and ditch, the former pierced with loophole° for musketry. It would of course be of little use tist artillery, and perhaps not of much use any whe except next the sea. The beach is too small for the landing of a large body of troops, as they would not have room to form, and a small one would of course be destroyed by musketry alone, as soon as they left the boats. General Prim and his staff have left Sebum's foe the winter, and many of the troops are going into winter quarters in the large towns. Omer Pacha does not intend, I believe, to attempt any fresh operations before spring; but it is thought by no means improbable that the Russians may attack his position at Kalafat as soon as the frost sets in hard. They are greatly chagrined by their defeat, and it is even rumoured that General Dannenberg, who com manded the force at Oltenitze, has been sent into exile. But when we remember that be is one of the best generals in the service, it is hard to attach much ' credence to the report. I should mention that their numbers in the affair of the 4th at Oltenitza have been greatly under rated. It must have reached at least 15,000. Every Turk from his infancy is familiar with the use of fire arms, and are nearly all, except where some physical defect exists, good marksmen. This was the first time that their infantry have been seen under fire since the European system of training came fully into operation, and the result has excited the admira tion of all the foreign officers present. Perfect steadi ness, perfect silence, and thorough devotion to the terrible work before them, prevailed throughout. Of the artillery it is needless to speak. The only arm in which they are deficient is the cavalry; and I have no doubt that Omer Pacha's exertions will at last bring this up to as high a standard as any of the others. LATEST FROM ABROAD. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. •-, • - Telegraphic despatches from Constantinople of tho 16th, state that war has been officially declared by Persia. Letters from Tabriz, received Constantinople, state that two camps are being formed, one of which will march on Bayazid. The Porto had assured the ambassadors of its desire for peace with Russia, and that it was disposed only to attach such conditions to negotiations as were obviously necessity for the maintenance of its in disputable rights. Letters from St. Petersburg of the 13th, state that the Court Gazette publishes a violent attack upon the French government for allowing a play called " The , Cossacks" to be performed in Paris. Turks () r), and particularly the fire of the batteries, which compelled us to employ bombs as the en+l means of silencing them at once ; bat the p r i nc i pa l damegs caused to the town has certainly been pr o d uce d b y the in flamed fragments of Turkish vessels, for the most part set on fire by their own crews. As soon as the fire of the enemy permitted it, I sent g boat's crew with au officer, for the purpose of 'Walnut my true intention to the authorities of the town. The officer remained an hour without finding any ene. During the whole of yesterday no person presented him self except some Greeks, who said that they were deputed by their compatriots of the town to supplicate me to take them on board the fleet. My instructions authorising m e only to act against Turkieh vessels of war, I have referred these unfortunate people to the European consuls. Now that I leave the port I count upon your good offices to maks known that the imperial squadron has had no hostile inten tions either against the town or against the port of Sinop.. (Signed). NAKILINIorr. The following is a translation from the .Iwirml de se. Pelerebnury of the bulletin sent by General Prince Beboutoff, to the commander-in-chtcf of the Russian army in the Caucasus, _and dated th e 3 r d inst. A summary of it has already appeared in the Daily News: "1 have already in my last report informed your high ness of the retreat of the Turkish corps from Bayandoury upon Kars on the 25th ult., and of my marching in pursuit on the 26th. I added, that not being able to overtake the enemy I fell back upon Bash-Shouragel, where I took up my quarters. " On the 30th ult. I was informed that the said Turkish corps rallied before reaching Kan, and that again conceit trated in the vicinity of Subotane, they had formed a camp near the hamlet of Bash-Kade k Lar. I resolved at once upon compelling the enemy to accept battle, with a view to their punishment, by a decisive defeat, far the outrage and robberies perpetrated by the Tnrks on our territories previous to the commencement of hostilities. " Early on the Ist December 1 advanced against the enemy. My force consisted of one battalion and three companies of the Constantin Nicolsjewitsh Grenadiers, three battalions and three companies of the C witch Carabiniers, one battalion of your Highness's Chasseurs ; the Ist and 2nd battalion of the Prince of Warsaw Infantry, one battalion of Caucasian Rangers, two companies of Cau casian Sappers, the regiment of Wurtemberg Dragoons the 4th Don Cossacks, one regiment of Cossacks of the line' three softiies (hundreds) of detached Cossacks, '2l heavy battery and Ist light battery of the Caucasian Grenadier, the sth heavy battery of the 21st Brigade of Artillery, the 7th battery of the Don Cossacks, sod one sotnia of mounted militia. " After ascending the heights in front of the hamlet of Ougonzly, I saw the Turkish troops fully prepared for the fight. They marched out from their camp near Bash- Kadyk-Lar, and took up a position on the heights in front of that hamlet, at some little distance from the hamlets of Grazla and Gamza-Kerial. I advanced immediately to within two gunshot distance from the enemy's lines, when I formed my troops in order of battle, and then marched upon the Turks. My first line, composed of the Ist batta lion of your Highness's Chasseurs, two battalions of I'rince of Warsaw Infantry, and seven heavy batteries under Major General Kiabinsky, was directed against the centre of the enemy's position, Against the regular cavalry of the Turk. and the numbers of their Kurdish auxiliaries, I pushed at the same height with the first line on the left four squa drons of Wurtemberg Dragoons, four pieces of Cossack artillery, and seven sotnias of Cossacks, under Major-Gene ral Raggowut. " In the rear and to the right of our first line I placed en echelon two squadrons of Wurtemberg Dragoons, four guns of the flying battery, and two sotnias of Cossacks, under Major-General Prince Tsharichavadze, for on this side our right was threatened by the Kurds and by two regiments of Turkish horse. "My second line consisted of two battalions of the ConstantinNicolajewitshGrenadiers and two battalions of the Ceaarewitsh Carabibiere, under Major-General Prince Be ' gration Mukhranski. The 3rd and 4th battalions of the Carabineers, the Ist Light Battery, and the 4th Don Cci sacks, formed the reserve. "At noon my first line had taken up its position, and the cannonade commenced on various points. We worked 16 guns, and the Turks worked 20. As the fire of the artillery could only serve to increase the slaughter, I was desirous of terminating it, and my batteries had scarcely opened upon the enemy, when I prepared to dislodge the Turks at the point of the bayonet. " For this purpose I detached from the second line the Cesarewitsh Grenadier, and placed them under Major- General Prince Orbcliani, and the Constantin Nicolejcwitsh Grenadiers under Prince Bagration. These two detach ments were ordered to march to the left of our first line, ascend the heights, and attack the right of the Turkish position. This mancouvre was most admirably executed. Notwithstanding their obstinate resistance, the Turks were driven back and compelled to give up part of their posi tion. lam sorry to say that Prince Orbeliani received two wounds in the course of this attack. "In the meantime our cavalry, under Major-General Raggowut, pressed closer and closer upon the Turkish horse, and at the charge of the Grenadiers and Carabineers a column of four squadrons of Dragooas rushed simultane ously upon the enemy's squares, and, supported by the In fantry, drove them upon the Turkish left. On this occa sion we took 22 guns fiom the Turks. " While these events were taking place on our left, our artillery was still busy in the centre. Our extreme right, under Major-General Kishinaki, was closely pressed by part of the Turkish hone, and the Turks had, moreover, de tached four battalions from their centre, which, posted in a ravine between their position and our first line, opened upon us from that point. But our artillery and infantry repulsed the Turkish horse, and their detachment, which occupied the ravine, fell (upon seeing the advantages gained by our grenadiers and carabineers) back upon their centre, and soon afterwards took to flight. " When the combat commenced we had on our right only certain hordes of Kurds and two regiments of Turkish horse, but when this force deployed, and advanced against Prince Tsharichavadze, it was found that' the Turkish cavalry was supported by four pieces of artillery and six battalions of foot. This circumstance compelled the Prince to make several attacks against the enemy's in fantry and cavalry, in order to remove them from our right. The contest continued to 3 p.m., and terminated on this point likewise with a general rout of the Turkish forces. Our dragoons took two field pieces. " Although the Turkish horse endeavoured to cover the flight of their foot, still we pursued them until late in the evening." LETTER FROM TILE BLACK SEi. --*-- OXON OCR SPICIAL CO VARNA, Dec. 8. I arrived here on Wednesday, by one of the Austrian Lloyds' steamers, after a most tedious and vexatious passage of nearly five days from Constan tinople. The distance is about 172 miles (English), Ind F boat of 'ordinary powers ought to be able to accomplish it in eighteen hours. Previous to the outbreak of the war there were Turkish boats on this line, which ran two or three times a week both ways ; and, owing to their regularity, and, above all, to the civility and attention with which the passen gers on board of them were treated, they left the Lloyds' boats with very little to do. They have, however, ceased running within the last three or four weeks, as one of them was captured not long ago by a Russian frigate. The Austrians now have the route all to themselves; and, accordingly, manage matters in a manner quite charac teristic of the nation. I had made arrangements to leave Constantinople for the Danube on the 29th ult., in company with an English officer, who is about to pass the winter at Schumla en amateur, by the boat which is advertised to sail regularly every Tuesday. To make sere, we called at the office to inquire, and were told by the agent that the steamer would start as usual. The day arrived, and brimful of blissful confidence we put ourselves in marching order, and proceeded to the Custom-house with our baggage, to have it examined previous to embarka tion, various articles of home manufacture, inch as chibouks, saddlery, &c., being in Turkey liable to a small export duty. This troublesome ceremonial over, we got into • boat, and commenced to cruise about the harbour in search of the steam boat for Varna. There were plenty of Aus trim ones at anchor, but neither flag nor smoke gave sign that any of them had the smallest intention of going anywhere. We hailed them all, but the crews not only denied that they were about to sail for Varna, bat seemed rather doubtful whe ther there was such a place at all, and whether we were not a couple of eccentric Englishmen whom " the natives " were galling. There was nothing for it but to return to the office, where we gave vent to our indignation, rather to take the load off our hearts than in the hope of producing any effect upon the obdurate official, who heard us with a face calm and impassible as that of a Sphinx. As soon as we had done, he informed us that they had two beats missing on the Danube, which was the cause of our disappointment, but that if neither of them arrived that day (Tuesday), they would send an extraordinary boat on the Thursday following. We waited accordingly, and on Wednes day evening went down to inquire once more re garding the " extraordinary boat," but then learned, to our astonishment, that the despatch of such a beat was not one of the measures contemplated by the "administration," and we were moreover unable to ascertain whether the Steam Navigation Company of the Austrian Lloyds would ever again send another vessel to Varna in the whole course of that distin guished body's existence. We started off directly to the Porte, and applied for firmans to enable us to travel overland on horseback by Adrianople—a ride of at least ten days—no very plea sant prospect in the present state of the roads, and with heavy snow in the Balkan, and the thermometer down very near zero in Con stantinople. We were promised them at the same hour on the following day. Thence we proceeded to the post-office, and arranged for horses, a Tatar, and a Swindji or postilion, all necessary but expensive items in our equipment, reserving to ourselves the right of countermanding the order within 24 hours if we thought proper. On the Thursday, when welk in over for the firmans, we called in at the Austrian Lloyds' office—mor3 from curiosity than any other motive, as rumours were afloat that they had re solved a hint from their government, in the interest of Russia, to break off the co"— '-'lion by sea between Constantinople and Varna—to inquire whe ther they had received any news of their missing boats. No, they had not, but had made up their minds in any case to send one on the Saturday. Seeing an incredulous smile on our tiers the functionary waxed warm, became slightly imperious, and swore and protested in the most solemn manner that the boat would positively sail on the day he mentioned. Thinking there might be some truth in his statement, and being unwilling to impute deli berate perjury to a man of whom we knew nothing, we determined to wait once more, and accordingly countermanded the horses. On t he Saturday we started from the hotel with our baggage again, but this time took the precaution to call again at the office on oar way down. No boat till the morrow ; the weather on the previous day was really so stormy, and the "mer ss groue," that it was impossible to put the cargo on board. As all this was undenia ble, we remained silent and patient, and meekly took oar places at the table-d'hiite once more in the evening, to the great amusement of those of our fellow-travellers who were aware of oar two abortive attempts at getting away. On the Sunday we made a third and last trial, and this time were partially successful. I say " par tially," because, though we got on board, and were made certain, humanly speaking, of reaching to the mouth of the Bosphorus that night, we heard such terrible moaning and groaning amongst the captain and officers over the horrors of Black Flea navigation, that getting out of the Bosphorus seemed: to be a feat which we could only hope to accomplish after many efforts and great and sustained exer tion. We resigned ourselves to our fate, and to the contemplation of the glories of the scenery around us, as we slowly passed up the strait. lam not about to describe it, or attempt to describe it, lest it should be found that I was the one hundred thousandth individual who had done so; but I may remark that, in gazing on Constantinople, it was not hard to - understand why a rapacious and ambi tious man, like the Czar, backed up by a sensual and luxury-loving nobility, should be ready to fling away the lives of a few thousands of serfs, if only in the hope of advancing one day's march nearer to so splendid a prize. The imagriation of the elegant barbarians who shiver in their palaces on the Neva, ender the cold and cloudy skies of the north, may well kindle, when they hear or read of the sunny slopes, the pleasant glades, the balmy breezes, the calm eternal blue of the waters, which sake the sail from the Sea of Marmora to Tbsrapia a sucoession of delights. But let us hope that no plots against human liberty and peace will ever again be hatched in scenes eo blessed by nature, and that the fleets and armies of tyrants will never again issue from the Hellespont on a crusade against the dearest interests of mankind. We found the fleets moored in Beikos Bay, the English squadron close to the southern shore and the French farther out. The Turkish ships lay on the other side of the strait. The coupd'ail was magnifi cent ; but the sight of such tremendous might slum bering there, when so much wrong and mischief was being enacted a few miles away, was to me anything but a pleasing one. The Russians are carrying their ravages to the very mouth of the Bos phorus' when two English first-rates would make their flag invisible for long enough to come, at least in those waters. Our anticipations regarding the Black Sea proved only too well founded. After getting out a few miles we found the sea running very high, the sky black enough in all conscience to keep the sea in countenance, and our captain's face very long indeed. So, as we expected, we put about, and, running back into the strait, came to anchor under one of the forts. We had no sooner done so than the Fury steamer us at full speed, followed by a French one, and, as we have since learned, for Varna. We did not proceed on our way until noon on the fol lowing day, and on Monday, about noon, after a deal to do, reached Burgas, a small village, possessing a very good harbour, and a small trade with Constantinople. At the entrance to the port on a narrow rock, some distance from the shore, stands a Greek convent. A more lonely and desolate abode can hardly be imagined—lonely and desolate enough, one would imagine, to satisfy the most thoroughgoing anchorite. I have been struck by the total want amongst the Greek monks of that eye for the picturesque, that love for pleasant, shady, or romantic abodes, for which the holy men of western Europe were in old times so remarkable. Barren rocks, difficult of access, trackless wastes, or lonely dens of various kinds, in which no delights for the senses were to be found, are the places in which the Greek recluses mostly sought to expiate their offences. There are no MelrOses or Mucrosees amongst the abbejs and convents of the east. Even Mount Atli& hei little to recommend it in the way of 'CO Court. WINDSOR, Dab. 21. The dinner party yesterday included the Duchess of Kent, Prince Leopold of Size Coburg, the Lady in Waiting to the Duchess of Kent, the Bironess de Speth, Lord James Manny, and Lieut.-Col. lion. N. and Lady Mary Hood. The band of the Ist Life Guards attended in the Castle during dinner, and performed the following pieces : Munk, Pairs BearL Overture, " arum's" Mererheer. Walser, " DM Previa:Welt" Feetdein Tans, Open Mad Ilelegion, '• lloantalo Sylph o Barnett. Polka, . Bonsivant" Berson. Her Majesty's private hand was afterwards in attendance, and performed the following selection:— Overture, . Egmont " Trio, "Guillaume Tell" Selection, "La Proph4tit " Scene de Dense, "La harndfre" Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg left the Castle early this morning for Lisbon, rid Southampton. The Queen and Prince walked in the Home Park this morning. His Royal Highness and the Oentlemen-in- Waiting enjoyed the diversion of skating. Her Majesty will hold • Ferry Council to-morrow (Thursday). at Windsor Castle. Despatches were received at the Cotont-I-office yesterday, from the Lord High Cummiaaioner of the lonian Wends, and the Ouvernor of Malta. A large circle of relations and friends are assem bled at Blenheim to celebrate the anniversary of the birth day of the Duke of Marlborough. The Doke yesterday completed his 60th year. The festivities are to be kept up during the whole week. The Marchioness of Blandford does the honours. A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE CZAR NICHOLAS AND COUNT NESSELRODE. [From BAVAOII Li.111:00105 New Book—" Last Fruit from .e Old Tree "j P. ICUOLAIL—It Mealy Count Ne;selrode, that you have not a word to soy. NUSELItODI.—Your Majesty bad not spoken. !Cie.—lndeed! I thought I had. N majesty seemed pre-occupied. wonder. These cursed Turks, Nadjid at the head of them, affront me. I did believe the young man was effeminate. Naas.—The effeminate are sometimes unwieldy, the weak intractable. Ntc.—l did believe that the couceuions he had already surreddered to we in favour of my protectorate, or rather my headship at the Greek Church, would have alientred from him all devout Mahometans. Instead of which, tolerant ; end generous as they always are wherever the government is concerned, the miscreants applaud him for his exercise of ' thew virtues, and are rabid against me for demanding more and greater concessions. Nass.—Certainly they are reused, and even exasperated. Nic.—That would be nothing; I might, indeed, have de-', sired it; but the voice of Europa is encouraging them in', their obstinacy. Ness.—Too true. Ntc.—Too true le that all ? Has a minister of state, a prime minister, to say nothing but too true ? Ness.—Mey it please your Majesty, it seldom has hap pened that ministers have been censured for the objection. able too true. Ntc.—l do believe thou but by nature a grain or two of wit in the vortexes of thy brain. The smallest of these quantities is enough to undo a politician. Speak seriously; for matters and times ate serious. . . . . Nass.—Sire, it is in such =Wen and times that a single thought of less gravity than the rest is a godsend. Nn.—Worse and wone ! First • witticism, now a reflection ! Nesselrode, I can well believe that you are growing old, but not in a court. What is to be done ? No, Ido not ask what is to be done, but how to do it. lam resolved to execute my design, to continue my operations. Consistency and firmness have always bees among my attributes ; n must I lose them in the eyes of my people and of the world. Naas.—lt would indeed be disgraceful, and what is worse than disgraceful, it would be dillicult and detrimental to retract. _ . Ititc.—lf France had been silent and quiet about the Hole Places, I might hays been too. Ness.—Louis Napoleon wanted to conciliate the Pope and to bring him for bis coronation to Paris round by Jeru salem. Louis Napoleon is long•sighted and puts out an arm without an object which he is certain he can seise. If the Pope refuses him now, he will bring his Holiness by the ear into Notre Dame. _ _ Nte.—l admire the man's resolute character, and only wish I may a have to deal with it. I ought to have' entertained a suspicion that he would, directly or indi rectly, thwart me in my steps against the Ottoman empire. Noss.—Sire, it might have been seen easily and clearly. I was not encouraged by your Majesty to deliver my opinion at full length upon that subject; military men and noble. of ancient family, your Majesty deigned to assure me, had sot their hearts upon it. Nic.—Searcely was there a courtier who had not fixed wen the sits of palace, and villa, and garden, round Con stantinople. Moss.—This I knew ; but I likewise knew that those hearts, whetter light ones or heavy ones, must be cast down from the pleasant places they were set upon, sad that the Turks will continue to lie along them at full length, or with legs erased nadir them, Ea some time yet. Nic.—this is vexatious to think of. It may not he. Rather would I bawd a war with half Europe. Naes.—Pcrhaps your majesty might encounter Mrs than half Europe in this enterprise. Nte.—lmpossible ; Austria is under my thumb. No.a.—Under the soft part of it, may it lbw your Ma jesty. Austria is greatly more interested W Foveae the absorption or the partition of Turkey than any ethos power is. The Danube rolls indolently now shag hardeminions ; it might swell into formidable activity against her under the steam and the fortresses of your majesty. Dim —France has always turned her eyes towards th East; England will counteract her interference. Miss.—England has even a greater interest in maintain ing the Ottoman Empire than France has. England will tie so insane as to take an active part in hostilities on this question : bat the catholic powers and the conterminary powers will unite, if necessary, in active opposition to your Majebty's progress. Rte.—lles France forgotten that we once spared her ? Hs. Austria that we lately saved her ? Naas.—No, Sire; and neither of them ever will forget or forgive it. Nic.—l am not the man to eat my words, and my threats are the least digestible of any. NEB.l.—We may so masticate our words, and remove so Mich, by a dexterous use of the fingers, of what is gristle as husk, that the operation is far from diflicalt or un pleasant. ffic.—France and England can never act together. Nees—They did at Navarino. Nic.—lt was but for the day. You ace grown over cautious and somewhat timid—l would not willingly gay conscientious ; I would not hint at incapacity, ia a We/Mu who ha, served me so long and faithfully. Yon sssa dome to apprehend a coalition against me. Nass.—God forbid Luckily for us, the.. is only IWO vigirous mind among the arbiters of human affairs. Nic.—Nesselrode ! Neeselrode ! No battery l WWI makes you siert ? Ness..—Sire, my incomplete =waist; was, that at pm seat there is only one vigorous nsisd sown on the powers of Europe which could inspire the fear of me liundlistion. Certainly, too certainly, the time is saissaiar when the sikkf continental powers will unite ht *at maisderaey. Already there is not a single one of them that doe not see distinctly that Russia is too formidable ; Persia hea lag seen it. While the kings of bring Omsk and Latin close together, Persia and Turkey will unite their sects in one common cause abissuitiog " There is but one God, mid Mahomet is his PrOgimpt." _ _ tc.—You shall:newt be mine. You an capable of ma naging the weak ministiti of Potentates round about me, be• sot me. Constantinople is already island!, before me. NESS.—The Greeks deprecate the doignistlem of their ciureh in its transfer from Mascow or Pesseebeng ; and the )I,:sscovite nobility - , is the c:ty of their easeassee, are pier mend the Kremlin than they ever :will be round the Smo Tower,. Those firs, of Constantinople will crack and split your trui,:re. GIBRALTAIL—The accounts received from the Rock, per Enzine, represent the inhabittnta as still suffer- leg all the evils of restricted trade and famine prices. A private letter, dated the 17th inst., says:—" There is no alteration in affair' here—great &palely prevails to learn the result of the deputation to Eng:and. No supplies of any kind are buffered by the Spaniard' to COOS from Spain. Relict trim Melrid seems hopeless. The officers of the Garrison contemplate a meeting of the Calpe Hunt at Tan oa Id.widay neat. It is generally believed that the 6r4 rep towards reemeilicion with Spain would be by removal of Sir it. Gardiner, our Governor, to whose in discreet and insulting conduct towards the neighbouring autl.orities is to he attributed the late retaliatory measures ..1...,Q(C11 which t aAb so heavily on the poor of the community." FRANCE. PARIS, TUESDAY. The Pattie publishes the following in a conspicuous position : " We reprinted in oar last a letter published by the ',dependance Beige on Eastern affairs because we saw in it an expression of the firm resolve of France and England to adopt prompt and decibive measures for the termination of this great question, which has so long held Europe in suspense. In doing so we only echo the public sentiment, which in both countries calls more and more loudly for a solution." To-day the Three per Cent. Renter closed for money at 74.80; the Four-and-a-Half per Cents. at 101.50 and Bank Shares at 2,650. Compared with the depressed closing rates of yesterday, the Three per Cents. show an improvement of 80c., and the Four and-a-Half per Cents. of 1 per cent. THE WAR. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. Although the Patrie and other organs more or less connected with the two Western cabinets announce in the most absolute manner that France and Eng land are about to lend an active support to Turkey, the intelligence which we receive from Germany makes it all but certain that such a course would be fatal to the concord between the Four Powers to which from the beginning of the negotiations so much importance has been attached. In another column, under the head of Germany, will be found an arti cle from the official organ of the Austrian government which shows with sufficient clearness that Austria enter tains no design of risking her friendship with Russia, and that she only understands her engagements with France and England as limited to moral intervention in the pending dispute. Private correspondence from Galatz of the 12th inst. states that General Luders was in that town with a numerous staff. He had made several recon noissances, and had attempted several operations, but the marshy state of the country was such as not to permit the execution of any movement of im. pnrtance. The latest news from the Bosphorus still tends to justify the belief that the ambassadors, notwithstand ing the affair of Sinope, would not send the squadrons into the Black Sea until the receipt of express instruc tions to that effect. The Irieste Zeilung, with Constantinople corre spondence of the 12th, has reached us. One writer, after confirming the accounts which we have already published, says that of the Turkish crews, which amounted to 5,900 men, at most 1,500 are alive. Another, who is favourable to the Russians, refutes the account published at St. Petersburg, and confirms that forwarded from Constantinople. lie says that for some time the Russians were completely sheltered from the guns of the strand batteries by the Turkish ships; and as the liners fired from a distance, they suffered very little from the lighter metal of the frigates. The Turks having at last cut their cables, and let their ships drift on shore, the strand batteries opened their fire. The Russians then began to shell the town, which, with the frigates, was soon in flames. Theses of fi re, the roaring of the arti Ilery, t he continual explosions, and the fragments of human bodies which were hurled about in all directions in the air, formed one of the most fearful spectacles man ever beheld. The Turkish quarter was completely burned, and..the houses in the other parts of the town, where no bombs had fallen, were perforated with balls. The corpse of Hussein Rama Pacha, the Turkish Rear- Admiral, was found in the water the next morning. A British trader which lay in the port of Sinope htid two men killed by ehota from the Russian ships, and being subsequently run foul of by a burning Turkish frigate, she was destroyed. Her captain and crew, who escaped, say that the Turks " fought like devils," blowing up their own ships rather than that they should fall into the hands of the Russians.' The loss Gazette, under date of Vienna, 21st, says: " A conference took place yesterday between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the ambassadors of' France, England, and Prussia. Count de Buol Schauenstein presented a report from M. de Bruck, the Austrian internuncio at Constantinople, the en semble of which appeared satisfactory. The Ottoman Porte is, it is said, disposed to send a plenipoten tiary to represent it at the conferences. As to the evacuation of the Principalities, it is certain that before the arrival of the last note from Vienna, it was resolved not to give up that as a sine qua non condition. The ambassadors had been instructed to recommend the Porte not to insist on the question, and to declare to the Divan that the integrity of the Turkish Empire will be maintained, and that the political relations between the Porte and the Princi palities will be re-established on the footing on which they stood before, so soon as the Turco-Ituasian dif ferences shall have been settled." A letter from Bucharest of the 13th, in the Breslau Gazette, says: "There is no doubt that the Russians have been beaten near the village of Saetscha, about three hours' march from Krajowa, to which place FRANCE. they retreated in all haste. It was General Mastrow --4. at first, and General Aurep afterwards, who com- PARIS, MONDAY Evzsmso. mended the Russians, of whom the loss is consider- The Presse very positively confirms the story told able. The wounded Russians were brought to Kra- by the Independance Beige about:the peremptory jowa, and even the school was transformed into an message lately sent by Louis Napoleon to the Eng hospital." lish government. It is, says this journal, perfectly The Press of Vienna says: "According to a letter true that France called upon Great Britain to take from Bucharest of the 14th, troops of infantry, the course which became imperatively necessary cavalry, and artillery had left for Lesser Wallachia after the disastrous affair of Sinope : it is perfectly on that day and the two preceding ones. A letter true that France declared to Great Britain that if from Braila states that the Russians were firing from the British squadron did not receive immediate their redoubt opposite Braila, on a cafe close to the orders to enter the Black Sea conjointly with the bank, which the Turks had converted into a sort of French squadron, the latter would enter alone to fort. Another letter from Bucharest states that the protect Turkey efficaciously. It is, moreover, per- Russians were making preparations for a war of fectly true that Lord Aberdeen, " faisant centre for some duration, and that Lesser Wallachia was to be- tune bon mar," replied, without hesitation, without come the theatre of war. A letter from Krajowa of delay, on the very day the application was made, by the 13th gives the same indications. Krajowa was the most complete adhesion to the categorical decla perfectly tranquil at that. date, and there was no ration of France. The orders given to the squadrons THE CHRISTMAS RAILWAY TRATTIO.—The amount idea of an immediate encounter , between the two of the Christmas traffic on all the leading metropolitan armics are said to be to cruise in the Black Sea in such a railways, would appear from the usual returns to have con - •" A letter ~ . . . . from Semlin, of the 16th, states that the Way . as to constitute a sort of impassable mari sidersbly exceeded that of any previous year. On the London time barrier from Varna to Battoum, not permitting and North Western during the period nominally called Administrative Council of the Principalities of the " Christmas week" extending over seven days, there passed Danube has again published a notice that any per- either Turkish or Russian fleets to cross the line, but leaving each of them perfect freedom of action on " down" the line 27,000 parcels and Chrietma. presents, son who shall be detected in correspondence with and " up" 12,250, for distribution throughout London, this their own side. The Press.• argues that war on any the Turks shall be tried by a court-martial. being exclusive of many thousands of parcels coming by Since the large scale is now much more improbable than it made the ' goods trains. Last year on this line the " down" parcels were 25,000, and the " up" 12,000. In the passenger tract Czar, the Council has ceased to be national, and is lie there was a corresponding irerease. The Great Western degraded to a mere instrument in the hands of Gen. lis not an admissible supposition that Russia will conveyed, exclusive of large coileignrutia s by the goods B a db erm devote her Black Sea fleet to destruction by pro trains, 16,000 parcels and presents by their down pawnor , '• yoking the united French, English, and Turkish trains to all pens of the West, and 13,000 from the West The following is the translation of a letter addressed naval forces to an unequal combat. Nicholas will , up, to the metropolis. The Great Northern disembogued by Vice-Admiral Nakhimoff to the Austrian Consul . therefore, be placed between these two alternatives : from their depsts at King's Cross, 10.000 parcels " up," at Sinope on the 2nd instant, before leaving that and about the same number "down," exclusive of Roods! port : either he must indefinitely prolong a situation exces sively humiliating and inconvenient to him, or ho trains consignments, and the Eastern Counties in four days k carried 15,000 parcels up from the sgriculhiral distric•s. and I Monsieur le Consul,—Permit me to address you, as the i must speedily evacuate the Principalities. The latter about hall that 'umber down, besides a large tonnage to I sole European representative whose flag I perceive here, 1 in the port course will hurt his pride less than to let his fleet l ead Iro of agricultural and dead stook. la each case for the purpose of enabling you to state to the authorities of remain practically blockaded of Sebas special arrangements had to he made on a large scale fur I the sate and speedy transmission of these Christmas cargoes, 1 i the unfortunate town of Sinope the sole object of the visit topol. , . _ sad a large additional staff was in requisition. of the Imperial fleet to these roads. The Bourse was a good deal excited to-day, and CM:VI:LEA. IRON MINES. —On Thursday last Hoeing learned that the Turkish vessels which went con• there has been a considerable fall. All sorts of dis , tinually to the coasts of Abuja in order to encourage revolt q thirty tuns of pig iron, the produce of the mines, were de- meting reports were flying about. The uneasy livered at the Ballast•quay, for shipment to Liverpool. This amongst the tribes subject to Russia had taken refuge in feeling is eke first delivery of icon by the company as the prepare- the roads of Sinope, I have been reduced to the deplorable , was added to by the absence of the usua l telegraphic quotations of Consols. It was stated tha t ,l tory labours were of a most extensive and arduous nature; necessity of combatting them, at the risk of causing damage according to a telegraphic desratoh from Vienna, but the mines are in full working order, and us the supply of iron ore is now unlimited, the shipments may, we learn, to this town and port. I with news from Constantinople of the 15th, the fleets be expected shortly to reach two or three hundred WOAD I feel for the sad lot of the town and its unoffending in- were still at undor in the Bosphorus, but the . . o . rder week.—Stiye citrottiele, habitants ; for it was only the obstinate detenoe of the l fur their entry must have arrived by the 201 n or 22ad. tv por The 1 were clew the t' 15, N bourg 12,50 It I nary morn &num nasal actual quenc paper ante. The Seine The sarnn for th Bclgii A 11 aian c Bents Franc camp The Estorl at St. cillor ' mini( The convol The Austri arisen clergy solicit Vienn the p mem TN article to tt evidei royal with to re. leant neigl On Deter the I of few stuc the cite' yet Opel new will